JP6639558B2 - In-vehicle equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle device that manages control of an automatic driving system for a vehicle.

  In recent years, automatic driving technology has advanced, and vehicles capable of automatic driving are being realized. In such a vehicle capable of automatic driving, the automatic driving system enables the driver to reach the destination without operating the steering wheel or the like.

  Even when a vehicle capable of automatic driving travels by automatic driving, operations such as changing a driving route, changing a destination, changing a driving speed, and specifying a parking lot are necessary. Such an operation can be performed not only by the occupant sitting in the driver's seat but also by an occupant sitting in a seat other than the driver's seat. That is, it is desirable that the control right, which is the right to control the automatic driving system, be given not only to the occupant seated in the driver's seat but also to the occupant seated in a seat other than the driver's seat.

  Patent Literature 1 discloses that in a vehicle in which a display is installed in each seat, when an occupant requests a transfer of control right of the automatic driving system, it is determined whether the transfer requester is qualified to drive, and the control right is determined. An in-vehicle device for deciding whether or not to relocate has been proposed.

Japanese Patent No. 6161856

  The in-vehicle device disclosed in Patent Document 1 considers that the transfer of the control right does not hinder safe driving by determining the adoption or rejection of the transfer of the control right based on the presence or absence of the driving qualification. Even if the occupant holding the control right becomes unable to control due to falling asleep, feeling ill, or operating a mobile phone, or giving a control instruction that unintentionally hinders safe driving due to operation mistakes, etc. If there is no requester for the transfer of control right, the control right will be retained, so there is still a problem on the security side.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle device that manages a control right of an automatic driving system so that automatic driving can be safely continued.

An in-vehicle device according to the present invention is an in-vehicle device that manages a control right of an automatic driving system mounted in a vehicle, and the in-vehicle device acquires occupant information including at least a viewpoint and a face direction of an occupant of the vehicle. The occupant information detecting unit to determine whether or not it is appropriate for the current control right holder of the automatic driving system to retain the control right based on at least the occupant information. A control right transfer priority order determining unit that determines a control right transfer person from other occupants other than the control right holder, wherein the occupant information detection unit captures an image of the occupant, and captures a captured image as an image. Processing, detecting the viewpoint of the occupant and the orientation of the face, and the control right transfer priority determining unit determines the current control based on the presence or absence of the detection of the viewpoint of the current control right holder. Rights holder closes eyes (A) whether or not the current control right holder is paying attention to the front based on the orientation of the face of the current control right holder (b); and At least one of the determinations (c) is performed based on the movement of the viewpoint of the control right holder to determine whether a forward confirmation is being performed. If the determination results in the determinations (a) to (c) are positive, , The current control right holder determines that it is appropriate to hold the control right, and if the determination results in the above determinations (a) to (c) are negative, it is determined that the control right holder is inappropriate, and the on-vehicle device An information input unit receiving at least a first request for relinquishing control from the current control right holder and a second request for transfer of control from the other occupant as input information by the occupant, The control right transfer priority determining unit performs the determination before the determinations (a) to (c). Determining whether or not the first and second requests are present (g), and if the first request is received, it is determined that the current control right holder is not appropriate to hold the control right. If the second request is received, the current control right holder is checked whether to maintain the control right, and if the current control right holder is to maintain the control right, the determination ( a) to (c), the information input unit receives, as the input information, gold or blue color information of the driver's license of the occupant, accident history and private vehicle possession information, and transfers the control right. When the current control right holder determines that it is inappropriate to hold the control right, the priority order determination unit provides the other occupants other than the current control right holder to the other occupants. The other occupant closes his / her eyes based on whether or not the viewpoint has been detected. (D), based on the orientation of the face of the other occupant, and determining (e) whether the other occupant is paying attention to the front, and determining (d) and ( e) the occupant whose determination result in e) is all affirmative is determined as the control right transfer person, and when the determined control right transfer person is plural, the gold or blue color information of the driving license; The priority of control right transfer is determined based on the accident history and the private vehicle possession information .

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to the vehicle-mounted apparatus which concerns on this invention, when a current control right holder of an automatic driving system becomes difficult to control, transfer control right to another occupant, and can continue automatic driving safely. Can be.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of the vehicle-mounted device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the vehicle-mounted device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a determination flow in a control right transfer priority order determination unit of the vehicle-mounted device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of determining a control right transferer in a control right transfer priority determining unit of the vehicle-mounted device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of an in-vehicle device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the vehicle-mounted device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a determination flow in a control right transfer priority order determination unit of the vehicle-mounted device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of an in-vehicle device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the in-vehicle device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a determination flow in a control right transfer priority order determination unit of the vehicle-mounted device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart explaining the determination operation | movement of the control right transfer person in the control right transfer priority determination part of the vehicle-mounted apparatus of Embodiment 3 which concerns on this invention. It is a figure showing an example of an input screen of an information input part. It is a figure which shows an example of the determination standard of the driving skill of the control right transferer. FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of an in-vehicle device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the vehicle-mounted device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart explaining the determination flow in the control right transfer priority determination part of the vehicle-mounted apparatus of Embodiment 4 according to the present invention.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of the vehicle-mounted device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the in-vehicle device 100 is mounted on the host vehicle OV, and includes a peripheral information acquisition unit 1, an information input unit 2, an occupant information detection unit 3, and a control right transfer priority determination unit 4.

  The peripheral information acquisition unit 1 has a sensor group that acquires peripheral information indicating the state of the surrounding environment of the vehicle OV. Examples of the sensor of the peripheral information acquisition unit 1 include a GPS (Global Positioning System), a peripheral sensor, and a navigation system. The GPS receives GPS signals from a plurality of GPS satellites and measures the position of the vehicle OV. The peripheral sensor is a distance sensing sensor such as a millimeter wave radar or an ultrasonic sonar, and detects the position of an object such as another vehicle, a pedestrian, a building, or an obstacle existing around the own vehicle OV, and detects the position. If the object is a moving object such as another vehicle or a pedestrian, the moving speed is detected. The navigation system displays the position of the vehicle OV on the map screen and the route to the destination using the position information and the map information of the vehicle OV acquired by GPS. The sensors of the peripheral information acquisition unit 1 are not limited to these, and an onboard camera or the like may be used as the sensor as long as it can recognize the state of the surrounding environment of the vehicle OV.

  The information input unit 2 is used when the current control right holder requests the relinquishment of the control right (first request) and when an occupant other than the current control right holder requests the transfer of the control right (second request) In this case, the device accepts those requests as input information, and is configured by, for example, a touch panel display. The touch panel display is installed in each seat and has at least a control right release request button and a control right transfer request button. The information input unit 2 is not limited to a touch panel display as long as it can recognize at least a control right relinquishment request and a control right transfer request from an occupant. For example, the information input unit 2 may be configured by a voice recognition device. In some cases, in addition to the occupant request information, gold or blue color information of the driver's license of each occupant, accident history, and private vehicle possession information may be received as input information. This configuration will be described later.

  The occupant information detection unit 3 is a device that acquires occupant information such as the facial expression and posture of the occupant. The occupant information detection unit 3 includes, for example, a photographing device such as a monitor camera and an image processing device that performs image processing on a photographed image. The monitor camera is built in the information input unit 2 installed in each seat, and photographs the appearance of all the occupants and processes the captured video image with an image processing device to obtain the occupant's expression, for example, the occupant's face. Occupant information such as direction, viewpoint, blinking frequency, and posture of the vehicle. The occupant information detecting unit 3 always detects the information of the current control right holder, but determines that the information of the other occupants is not appropriate for the current control right holder to hold the control right. , Or only when the current control right holder has issued a request to abandon the control right.

  When each occupant sits on a seat, the occupant information detecting unit 3 automatically photographs the occupant with the monitor camera of the information input unit 2 of each seat, performs face recognition, and associates the seat position with the occupant. Add to crew information. This information can be used in determining the priority of the transfer of the control right, which will be described later.

  The control right transfer priority determining unit 4 determines whether it is appropriate for the current control right holder to hold the control right based on the occupant information acquired by the occupant information detecting unit 3, and In some cases, a transfer right is determined from crew members other than the current control right holder. The control right transfer priority determining unit 4 can be configured using a computer, and is realized by the computer executing a program. More specifically, the control right transfer priority determining unit 4 is configured by processors such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), and these processors execute programs stored in a storage device (not shown). , A predetermined function is realized.

  The peripheral information of the own vehicle OV acquired by the peripheral information acquiring unit 1, the request information acquired by the information input unit 2, and the determination result by the control right transfer priority determining unit 4 are determined by the automatic driving system 10 mounted on the own vehicle OV. Is input to

  The automatic driving system 10 controls the actuator 5 to perform automatic driving control of the own vehicle OV based on the input peripheral information and the determination result of the control right transfer priority determining unit.

  The actuator 5 is a general term for devices necessary for realizing automatic operation of the host vehicle OV such as steering, throttle, brake, shift, and turn signal. In order to realize automatic driving, automatic braking, automatic acceleration / deceleration control such as ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control), automatic parking control, lane keeping control, and the like are required. The automatic driving system 10 is capable of performing these controls. And a processor such as a CPU and a DSP, which realizes automatic operation by executing a program stored in a storage device (not shown).

  The notification unit 6 is a device that notifies the occupant of various information output from the automatic driving system 10 and the determination result of the control right transfer priority determination unit 4, and includes a liquid crystal display device, a HUD (Head-Up Display), and the like. And an HMI (Human Machine Interface) having an audio output device such as a speaker.

  Next, the operation of the vehicle-mounted device 100 will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. When the in-vehicle device 100 starts operating by turning on the electric system of the vehicle by turning on the ignition key, first, the occupant information detection unit 3 acquires the occupant information of all the occupants, and performs image processing on the captured video image. Obtain occupant information (step S1).

  Next, based on the occupant information acquired by the occupant information detecting unit 3, the control right transfer priority determining unit 4 determines whether the current control right holder is appropriate as the control right holder (step S2). ).

  In this determination, for example, when the viewpoint of the current control right holder moves slightly, it is determined that the awakening degree is high and suitable for holding the control right, but the eyes are closed or the same place for a certain period of time is determined. If the user is still looking at the vehicle or not looking forward, it is determined that the user is not suitable as a control right holder because he is asleep or not focused on driving.

  In addition, the determination whether the viewpoint is moving slowly is, for example, the number of times the viewpoint moves is, for example, one or more times per second, or the movement of the viewpoint is within 180 degrees in front of the windshield. You can judge by drawing a locus that moves all over. As a method of viewpoint detection, there are various known methods such as a corneal reflection method. In the present invention, any method may be adopted.

  Here, an example of the determination flow of step S2 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, first, in step S101, it is determined whether or not the current control right holder has closed his / her eyes. For example, when it is determined that the viewpoint is not detected for a predetermined time and the eyes are closed (in the case of No), it is determined that it is inappropriate as a control right holder because there is a possibility that the user is dozing. On the other hand, when it is determined that the eyes are not closed (in the case of Yes), the process proceeds to step S102.

  In step S102, it is determined whether the current control right holder is careless in the forward direction. For example, when the face is facing down by operating a mobile phone or the like, or the face is facing sideways by talking with an adjacent occupant, etc. Is determined to be inappropriate as a control right holder. On the other hand, when it is determined that the user is not careless in the forward direction (in the case of Yes), the process proceeds to step S103.

  In step S103, it is determined whether the current control right holder has sufficiently performed forward confirmation. For example, when it is determined that the viewpoint is moving diligently and the forward confirmation is sufficiently performed (in the case of Yes), it is determined to be appropriate as a control right holder. On the other hand, if it is determined that the viewpoint remains at the same place for a certain period of time and the confirmation in front is not sufficiently performed (No), it is determined to be inappropriate as a control right holder. The determination in steps S101 to S103 may be performed by executing only one of them.

  Here, returning to the description of the flowchart of FIG. 2, if it is determined in step S2 that the current control right holder is appropriate as the control right holder (Yes), the processing of step S1 and subsequent steps is repeated to perform control. If it is determined that the person is inappropriate as the right holder (No), the process proceeds to step S3.

  In step S <b> 3, the control right transfer priority determining unit 4 determines the control right transfer person from the occupants other than the current control right holder based on the occupant information acquired by the occupant information detection unit 3.

  Here, an example of the determining operation in step S3 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, first, in step S101, it is determined whether one of the occupants other than the current control right holder has closed eyes based on the occupant information, and determines that the eyes are closed. If it has been done (in the case of No), there is a possibility that it may be dozing off, so that the control right is not transferred, and the determination of step S101 and subsequent steps is performed for the next occupant. On the other hand, when it is determined that the eyes are not closed (in the case of Yes), the process proceeds to step S102.

  In step S102, it is determined whether or not one of the occupants other than the current control right holder is inattentive in the front based on the occupant information. The determination of step S101 and subsequent steps is performed for the next occupant, not as the relocated person. On the other hand, when it is determined that the user is not careless in the forward direction (in the case of Yes), the process proceeds to step S103. The determination in step S101 and step S102 may be performed by executing only one of them.

  In step S103, it is checked whether or not the determinations in steps S101 and S102 have been performed for all the occupants other than the current control right holder. If all the occupants have been determined (Yes), the process proceeds to step S104. If there is an undetermined occupant (in the case of No), the determination from step S101 is performed on the undetermined occupant.

  In step S104, the occupant who satisfies the conditions of steps S101 and S102 is determined as the transfer right. If there are a plurality of transfer rights, the control right is determined based on the priority set according to the position of the seat. Determine relocation priorities. For example, when the driver's seat is the first priority seat, the passenger seat is the second priority seat, the seat immediately behind the driver seat is the third priority seat, and the seat immediately behind the passenger seat is the priority priority. A priority order is set for each seat in order from the driver's seat so as to be the fourth seat. In addition, basically, the seat having the highest priority is set so that the occupant sitting in the driver's seat can secure the control right with the highest priority.

  Then, for example, when the occupant A in the seat immediately behind the driver's seat and the occupant B in the seat immediately behind the passenger's seat are the occupants satisfying the conditions of steps S101 and S102, the control right transfer person is determined to be the two. The occupant A and the occupant B are determined in that order. When only one occupant satisfies the conditions of steps S101 and S102, the occupant is ranked first in the rank regardless of the position of the seat.

  Here, returning to the description of the flowchart of FIG. 2, after determining the control right transfer person in step S3, the automatic driving operation is performed so that the control right transfer person can control the automatic driving system 10 as the next control right holder. It instructs the system 10 to set authority (step S4).

  Further, the occupant is notified via the notification unit 6 that the next control right holder has been determined (step S5). At this time, when there are a plurality of transferees of the control right, the names and priorities of all the transferors may also be notified. When a series of steps is completed, the processing from step S1 is repeated. Note that the flow in FIG. 2 can be arbitrarily set so as to be repeated at an arbitrary cycle.

  As described above, according to the in-vehicle device 100 of the first embodiment, when the occupant holding the control right of the automatic driving system 10 has difficulty in controlling the automatic driving system 10, the control is performed. The right transfer priority determining unit 4 selects another occupant having the appropriateness as the control right transfer person and transfers the control right to the other occupants, so that even if the control right is transferred, the vehicle can be automatically driven safely. Can be continued.

  Further, when there are a plurality of control right transferers, the control right transfer priority is set based on the priority set according to the position of the seat, so that the control right can be smoothly transferred.

<Embodiment 2>
FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of the vehicle-mounted device 200 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The in-vehicle device 200 shown in FIG. 5 has basically the same configuration as the in-vehicle device 100 shown in FIG. 1, and the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit 1 is controlled by the control right transfer priority. The difference is that the information is input to the determination unit 4.

  Based on the occupant information acquired by the occupant information detecting unit 3 and the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquiring unit 1, the control right transfer priority determining unit 4 of the in-vehicle device 200 controls the current control authority holder. Determine whether it is appropriate to hold the right.

  Next, the operation of the vehicle-mounted device 200 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the in-vehicle device 200 starts operation, first, the occupant information detection unit 3 acquires the occupant information of all the occupants, performs image processing on the captured video image, and acquires the occupant information (step S1). Further, the peripheral information acquisition unit 1 acquires the peripheral information (Step S11).

  Next, based on the occupant information obtained by the occupant information detecting unit 3 and the peripheral information obtained by the peripheral information obtaining unit 1, the control right transfer priority determining unit 4 determines whether the current control right holder holds the control right. It is determined whether or not the person is appropriate (step S2).

  In this determination, for example, in addition to determining the suitability as a control right holder based on, for example, the movement of the current control right holder's viewpoint, based on information on the preceding vehicle included in the surrounding information, for example, In the case where the current control right holder has made a speed setting that may cause collision with the vehicle, it is determined that the current control right holder is inappropriate as the control right holder.

  Here, an example of the determination flow of step S2 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, first, in step S200, the speed setting of the own vehicle is set based on the speed of the preceding vehicle and the distance between the own vehicle OV and the preceding vehicle in the information of the preceding vehicle included in the surrounding information. It is determined whether or not the speed setting has a possibility of colliding with the vehicle. Then, for example, if the speed setting is such that a collision may occur several minutes later (in the case of No), it is determined to be inappropriate as a control right holder. On the other hand, if the speed is set so as not to cause a collision (Yes), the process proceeds to step S201.

  In step S201, it is determined based on the time change of the position information of the own vehicle OV acquired by the GPS included in the surrounding information whether or not an excessive route change that causes the stress of the occupant has been made. Then, for example, when the lane is changed excessively so as to give stress to the occupant (in the case of No), it is determined to be inappropriate as a control right holder. On the other hand, if the route has not been excessively changed (Yes), the process proceeds to step S202. In addition, the route change may be performed by detecting a wobble of the own vehicle OV based on a change in the distance between the lane and the own vehicle OV detected by using the on-board camera. May be determined as a lane change that gives

  In step S202, it is determined whether or not an excessive speed change that gives stress to the occupant has been performed based on a temporal change in the distance between the host vehicle OV and the preceding vehicle among the information on the preceding vehicle included in the surrounding information. . Then, for example, when the vehicle repeatedly accelerates and decelerates to suddenly approach the preceding vehicle (in the case of No), it is determined to be inappropriate as a control right holder. On the other hand, if the speed has not been excessively changed (in the case of Yes), the process proceeds to step S203. The speed change can also be determined based on the vehicle speed obtained from the wheel speed sensor provided on the tire of the own vehicle OV or the acceleration obtained from the acceleration sensor. In addition, as the determination based on the peripheral information, the determination in steps S201 and S202 may not be performed, and only the determination in step S200 may be performed.

  In step S203, based on the occupant information acquired by the occupant information detection unit 3, it is determined whether or not the current control right holder has closed his eyes. For example, when it is determined that the viewpoint is not detected for a predetermined time and the eyes are closed (in the case of No), it is determined that it is inappropriate as a control right holder because there is a possibility that the user is dozing. On the other hand, when it is determined that the eyes are not closed (in the case of Yes), the process proceeds to step S204.

  In step S204, it is determined whether the current control right holder is careless in the forward direction. For example, when the face is facing down by operating a mobile phone or the like, or the face is facing sideways by talking with an adjacent occupant, etc. Is determined to be inappropriate as a control right holder. On the other hand, when it is determined that the user is not careless in the forward direction (in the case of Yes), the process proceeds to step S205.

  In step S205, it is determined whether the current control right holder has sufficiently performed forward confirmation. For example, when it is determined that the viewpoint is moving diligently and the forward confirmation is sufficiently performed (in the case of Yes), it is determined to be appropriate as a control right holder. On the other hand, if it is determined that the viewpoint remains at the same place for a certain period of time and the confirmation in front is not sufficiently performed (No), it is determined to be inappropriate as a control right holder. The determination in steps S203 to S205 may be performed by executing only one of them.

  Here, returning to the description of the flowchart of FIG. 6, if it is determined in step S2 that the current control right holder is appropriate as the control right holder (Yes), the processes in steps S1 and S11 and thereafter are repeated. On the other hand, if it is determined that the user is inappropriate as a control right holder (No), the process proceeds to step S3. The processing after step S3 is the same as that of the first embodiment described with reference to FIG.

  As described above, according to the in-vehicle device 200 of the second embodiment, based on the peripheral information, an excessive speed setting, an inappropriate speed change, and an unnecessary route Even when there is a problem in the control of the automatic operation of the current control right holder, such as when a change is made, the control right can be transferred, so that the occupant can be less stressed by inappropriate driving.

<Embodiment 3>
FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle-mounted device 300 according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. The in-vehicle device 300 shown in FIG. 8 has basically the same configuration as the in-vehicle device 100 shown in FIG. 1, and the request information from the occupant input from the information input unit 2 is used to transfer the control right. The difference is that the information is input to the priority determination unit 4.

  Based on the occupant information acquired by the occupant information detecting unit 3 and the request information from the occupant input from the information input unit 2, the control right transfer priority determining unit 4 of the in-vehicle device 300 determines the current control authority holder. Judge whether it is appropriate to hold the control right.

  Next, the operation of the vehicle-mounted device 300 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the in-vehicle device 300 starts operation, first, the occupant information detection unit 3 acquires the occupant information of all the occupants, performs image processing on a captured video image, and acquires the occupant information (step S1). Further, when there is an information input from the occupant via the information input unit 2, the input information is obtained (step S21).

  Next, based on the occupant information obtained by the occupant information detecting unit 3 and the input information from the occupant via the information input unit 2, the control right transfer priority determining unit 4 determines that the current control right holder has the control right. It is determined whether the person is appropriate as a holder (step S2).

  In this determination, for example, in addition to determining the suitability as a control right holder based on the movement of the current control right holder's viewpoint and the like, when the current control right holder requests the relinquishment of the control right and When there is a request for transfer of the control right from an occupant other than the current control right holder, the input information of the occupant is preferentially used to determine propriety.

  Here, an example of the determination flow of step S2 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 10, first, in step S300, it is determined whether or not there is a request from the current control right holder to abandon control right based on input information from the occupant. If there is a request to abandon the control right (in the case of Yes), it indicates that there is no intention to control the vehicle, and thus it is determined that the vehicle is inappropriate as a control right holder. On the other hand, if there is no request for relinquishing the control right (No), the process proceeds to step S301.

  In step S301, it is determined whether or not there is a request for transfer of control right from a passenger other than the current control right holder based on input information from the passenger. Then, when there is a request for transfer of the control right (in the case of Yes), the process proceeds to step S302. On the other hand, if there is no request for transfer of the control right (No), the process proceeds to step S303 and thereafter, and the propriety as the control right holder is determined based on the movement of the viewpoint of the current control right holder. I do.

  In step S302, whether the current control right holder maintains the control right is checked, for example, via the information input unit 2, and the current control right holder controls the vehicle via the information input unit 2. If the input information for maintaining the right is received (No), the process proceeds to step S303. On the other hand, when the input information indicating that the control right of the vehicle is not maintained is received (in the case of Yes), it is determined that the vehicle is not appropriate as the control right holder.

  In step S303, based on the occupant information acquired by the occupant information detection unit 3, it is determined whether or not the current control right holder has closed his / her eyes. For example, when it is determined that the viewpoint is not detected for a predetermined time and the eyes are closed (in the case of No), it is determined that it is inappropriate as a control right holder because there is a possibility that the user is dozing. On the other hand, if it is determined that the eyes are not closed (Yes), the process proceeds to step S304.

  In step S304, it is determined whether the current control right holder is careless in the forward direction. For example, when the face is facing down by operating a mobile phone or the like, or the face is facing sideways by talking with an adjacent occupant, etc. Is determined to be inappropriate as a control right holder. On the other hand, when it is determined that the driver is not careless in the front (in the case of Yes), the process proceeds to step S305.

  In step S305, it is determined whether the current control right holder has sufficiently performed forward confirmation. For example, when it is determined that the viewpoint is moving diligently and the forward confirmation is sufficiently performed (in the case of Yes), it is determined to be appropriate as a control right holder. On the other hand, if it is determined that the viewpoint remains at the same place for a certain period of time and the confirmation in front is not sufficiently performed (No), it is determined to be inappropriate as a control right holder. The determination in steps S303 to S305 may be performed by executing only one of them.

  Here, returning to the description of the flowchart of FIG. 9, if it is determined in step S2 that the current control right holder is appropriate as the control right holder (Yes), the processes in steps S1 and S21 are repeated. On the other hand, if it is determined that the user is inappropriate as a control right holder (No), the process proceeds to step S3. The processing after step S3 is the same as that of the first embodiment described with reference to FIG.

  As described above, according to the in-vehicle device 300 of the third embodiment, the control right transfer priority determining unit 4 determines whether or not the current control right holder is appropriate in consideration of the request information from the occupant. Thus, the accuracy of the determination of suitability is improved. For example, when the current control right holder becomes ill and becomes difficult to control, it may be difficult to accurately detect the poor physical condition using only the occupant information, but the control right from the current control right holder When a request for abandonment is received, the current control right holder determines that holding the control right is inappropriate, and the control right can be transferred to another occupant. Further, when a request for transfer of the control right is received from another occupant, the intention of the transfer is confirmed with the current control right holder, so that the transfer of the control right only by the transfer request from the other occupants can be prevented. . In addition, if the current control right holder does not want to maintain the control right, the control right is transferred to the crew requesting the transfer of the control right. This prevents the transfer of control to an unoccupied occupant, and prevents the transfer and relinquishment of control from being repeated.

<Modification>
In step S3, the control right transfer priority determining unit 4 performs control based on not only the occupant information acquired by the occupant information detection unit 3 but also occupants other than the current control right holder based on input information from the occupant. The right transferee may be determined.

  Here, a modified example of the determining operation in step S3 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 11, first, in step S401, it is determined whether one of the occupants other than the current control right holder has closed eyes based on the occupant information, and determines that the eyes are closed. If it has been done (in the case of No), there is a possibility that it may be dozing off, so that the control right is not transferred, and the determination of step S401 and subsequent steps is performed for the next occupant. On the other hand, if it is determined that the eyes are not closed (Yes), the process proceeds to step S402.

  In step S402, it is determined whether or not one of the occupants other than the current control right holder is not careless in the front based on the occupant information. The determination of step S401 and subsequent steps is performed for the next occupant, not as the relocated person. On the other hand, when it is determined that the user is not careless in the forward direction (in the case of Yes), the process proceeds to step S403. The determination in step S401 and step S402 may be performed by executing only one of them.

  In step S403, it is checked whether or not the determinations in steps S401 and S402 have been made for all the occupants other than the current control right holder. If all the occupants have been determined (Yes), the process proceeds to step S404. If there is an undetermined occupant, the determination from step S401 is performed on the undetermined occupant.

  In step S404, the order of the driving skills of the control right transfer person is determined based on the input information from the occupant. Here, the gold or blue color information of the driver's license, the accident history, and the private vehicle possession information included in the input information are used to determine the ranking of the driving skills.

  Here, FIG. 12 shows an example of the information input unit 2 in a case where the information input unit 2 has a configuration for receiving the gold or blue color information of the driver's license, the accident history, and the private car possession information. FIG. 12 shows a license information registration screen 201 displayed on the touch panel display 20 of the information input unit 2.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the license information registration screen 201 is provided with touch buttons for inputting the presence or absence of a license, the color of the license, the accident history, and the presence or absence of owning a private car. By operating a predetermined touch button based on the driver's license information, the driver can input the license information. Note that input of license information is optional, and if input of license information is not desired, an operation such as deleting the license information registration screen 201 may be performed.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the touch panel display 20 of the information input unit 2 also displays a control right relinquishment request button 21 and a control right transfer request button 22, which are set as defaults so that they can be pressed at any time. Is set.

  The control right transfer priority order determination unit 4 determines the order of the driving skill of the control right transfer person based on the input information input through the license information registration screen 201, and an example of the determination criteria. Is shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 13, the driving skills are quantified into eight levels from 1 to 8 and are shown in a table, and the driving skill values are classified into two large types depending on whether the vehicle is owned by a private car or not owned by a private car. Are further classified by the color of the license and the presence or absence of an accident history.

  More specifically, the driving skills are 1 to 4 in the case of owning a private car, and the driving skills 5 to 8 in the case of not owning a private car. It should be noted that the smaller the numerical value, the higher the driving skill. When the driver's license is gold and the driver's license is gold, the driving skill is 1 when there is no accident history, and the driving skill is 2 when there is an accident history. When the driver's license is blue and the driver has a private car, the driving skill is 3 when there is no accident history, and the driving skill is 4 when there is an accident history. The same applies to the case where a private car is not owned, and the driving skills 5 to 8 are classified according to the combination of the color of the license and the presence or absence of an accident history.

  In step S404, the order of the driving skills of the control right transfer person is determined based on such a criterion. If there are a plurality of transferees, the order of the driving skills is determined for all the transferees, and the process proceeds to step S405.

  In step S405, based on the ranking of the driving skills determined in step S404, it is confirmed whether there are a plurality of control right transferers (ranking highest ranks) who have the highest ranking of the driving skills. When there are a plurality of highest ranking driving skills (in the case of Yes), the process proceeds to step S406. On the other hand, when the highest rank of the driving skill is one (No), the process proceeds to step S407.

  In step S406, the priority of control right transfer is determined based on the priority set according to the seat position. For example, when the driver's seat is the first priority seat, the passenger seat is the second priority seat, the seat immediately behind the driver seat is the third priority seat, and the seat immediately behind the passenger seat is the priority priority. A priority order is set for each seat in order from the driver's seat so as to be the fourth seat. In addition, basically, the seat having the highest priority is set so that the occupant sitting in the driver's seat can secure the control right with the highest priority.

  Then, for example, when the occupant A in the seat immediately behind the driver's seat and the occupant B in the seat immediately behind the passenger's seat are the highest-ranking persons in the driving skill, the control right transfer person is determined to be these two persons. The priority order is occupant A and occupant B.

  In step S407, the priority of control right transfer is determined based on the driving skill ranking determined in step S404. In the case where the rank of the driving skill is not the highest, but there are a plurality of persons who have the same control right, for example, those priorities are based on the priority set based on the seat position. What is necessary is just to determine the priority.

  As described above, the order of the driving skill of the person transferring the control right is determined based on the input information from the occupant, and the priority order of the transfer of the control right is determined based on the determined order of the driving skill. Transfer of control to lower occupants is prevented, and occupants with lower driving skills are prevented from relinquishing control, thereby preventing repetition of transfer and relinquishment of control.

<Embodiment 4>
FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of an in-vehicle device 400 according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. The in-vehicle device 400 illustrated in FIG. 14 has basically the same configuration as the in-vehicle device 100 illustrated in FIG. 1, and the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit 1 is a control right transfer priority. The difference is that the request information from the occupant input to the determination unit 4 and input from the information input unit 2 is input to the control right transfer priority determination unit 4.

  The control right transfer priority determining unit 4 of the in-vehicle device 400 determines the occupant information acquired by the occupant information detecting unit 3, the peripheral information input from the peripheral information acquiring unit 1, and the request from the occupant input from the information input unit 2. Based on the information, it is determined whether it is appropriate for the current control right holder to hold the control right.

  Next, the operation of the vehicle-mounted device 400 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the in-vehicle device 400 starts operating, first, the occupant information detection unit 3 acquires the occupant information of all the occupants, performs image processing on a captured video image, and acquires the occupant information (step S1). Further, the peripheral information acquisition unit 1 acquires the peripheral information (Step S11). Further, when there is an information input from the occupant via the information input unit 2, the input information is obtained (step S21).

  Next, based on the occupant information acquired by the occupant information detecting unit 3, the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquiring unit 1, and the input information from the occupant via the information input unit 2, the control right transfer priority determining unit 4 judges whether or not the current control right holder is appropriate as the control right holder (step S2).

  In this determination, for example, in addition to determining the suitability as a control right holder based on, for example, the movement of the current control right holder's viewpoint, based on information on the preceding vehicle included in the surrounding information, for example, In the case where the current control right holder has made a speed setting that may cause collision with the vehicle, it is determined that the current control right holder is inappropriate as the control right holder. In addition, when the current control right holder requests relinquishment of control right or when an occupant other than the current control right holder requests control right transfer, the crew input information is used with the highest priority. To judge suitability.

  Here, an example of the determination flow of step S2 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 16, first, in step S500, it is determined whether there is a request from the current control right holder to abandon control right based on input information from the occupant. If there is a request to abandon the control right (in the case of Yes), it indicates that there is no intention to control the vehicle, and thus it is determined that the vehicle is inappropriate as a control right holder. On the other hand, if there is no request to abandon the control right (No), the process proceeds to step S501.

  In step S501, it is determined whether or not there is a request for transfer of the control right from an occupant other than the current control right holder based on the input information from the occupant. Then, when there is a request for transfer of the control right (in the case of Yes), the process proceeds to step S502. On the other hand, if there is no request for transfer of the control right (in the case of No), the process proceeds to step S503 and subsequent steps, and the propriety of the control right holder is determined based on the peripheral information.

  In step S502, whether the current control right holder retains the control right of the vehicle is checked, for example, via the information input unit 2, and the current control right holder receives the vehicle control information via the information input unit 2. If the input information to maintain the control right is received (No), the process proceeds to step S503. On the other hand, when the input information indicating that the control right of the vehicle is not maintained is received (in the case of Yes), it is determined that the vehicle is not appropriate as the control right holder.

  In step S503, based on the speed of the preceding vehicle and the distance between the own vehicle OV and the preceding vehicle, the speed of the own vehicle is set at a speed at which the preceding vehicle may collide with the preceding vehicle in the information of the preceding vehicle included in the surrounding information. Determine whether the setting has been made. Then, for example, if the speed setting is such that a collision may occur several minutes later (in the case of No), it is determined to be inappropriate as a control right holder. On the other hand, if the speed is set so as not to cause a collision (Yes), the process proceeds to step S504.

  In step S504, it is determined based on the time change of the position information of the own vehicle OV acquired by the GPS included in the surrounding information whether or not an excessive route change that causes the stress of the occupant has been made. Then, for example, when the lane is changed excessively so as to give stress to the occupant (in the case of No), it is determined to be inappropriate as a control right holder. On the other hand, if the route has not been excessively changed (Yes), the process proceeds to step S505. In addition, the route change may be performed by detecting a wobble of the own vehicle OV based on a change in the distance between the lane and the own vehicle OV detected by using the on-board camera. May be determined as a lane change that gives

  In step S505, it is determined whether or not an excessive speed change that gives stress to the occupant has been performed based on a temporal change in the distance between the host vehicle OV and the preceding vehicle among the information on the preceding vehicle included in the surrounding information. . Then, for example, when the vehicle repeatedly accelerates and decelerates to suddenly approach the preceding vehicle (in the case of No), it is determined to be inappropriate as a control right holder. On the other hand, if the speed has not been excessively changed (Yes), the process proceeds to step S506. The speed change can also be determined based on the vehicle speed obtained from the wheel speed sensor provided on the tire of the own vehicle OV or the acceleration obtained from the acceleration sensor. In addition, as the determination based on the peripheral information, the determination in steps S504 and S505 may not be performed, and only the determination in step S503 may be performed.

  In step S506, based on the occupant information acquired by the occupant information detection unit 3, it is determined whether or not the current control right holder has closed his eyes. For example, when it is determined that the viewpoint is not detected for a predetermined time and the eyes are closed (in the case of No), it is determined that it is inappropriate as a control right holder because there is a possibility that the user is dozing. On the other hand, if it is determined that the eyes are not closed (Yes), the process proceeds to step S507.

  In step S507, it is determined whether the current control right holder is careless in the forward direction. For example, when the face is facing down by operating a mobile phone or the like, or the face is facing sideways by talking with an adjacent occupant, etc. Is determined to be inappropriate as a control right holder. On the other hand, when it is determined that the user is not careless in the forward direction (in the case of Yes), the process proceeds to step S508.

  In step S508, it is determined whether the current control right holder has sufficiently performed forward confirmation. For example, when it is determined that the viewpoint is moving diligently and the forward confirmation is sufficiently performed (in the case of Yes), it is determined to be appropriate as a control right holder. On the other hand, if it is determined that the viewpoint remains at the same place for a certain period of time and the confirmation in front is not sufficiently performed (No), it is determined to be inappropriate as a control right holder. The determination in steps S506 to S508 may be performed by executing only one of them.

  Here, returning to the description of the flowchart of FIG. 15, when it is determined in step S2 that the current control right holder is appropriate as the control right holder (Yes), the processing in steps S1, S11, and S21 and subsequent steps is performed. Is repeated, and if it is determined that the user is inappropriate as a control right holder (No), the process proceeds to step S3. The processing after step S3 is the same as that of the first embodiment described with reference to FIG.

  As described above, according to the in-vehicle apparatus 400 of the fourth embodiment, the control right transfer priority determining unit 4 determines whether or not the current control right holder is appropriate in consideration of the request information from the occupant. Thus, the accuracy of the determination of suitability is improved. For example, when the current control right holder becomes ill and becomes difficult to control, it may be difficult to accurately detect the poor physical condition using only the occupant information, but the control right from the current control right holder When a request for abandonment is received, the current control right holder determines that holding the control right is inappropriate, and the control right can be transferred to another occupant. Further, when a request for transfer of the control right is received from another occupant, the intention of the transfer is confirmed with the current control right holder, so that the transfer of the control right only by the transfer request from the other occupants can be prevented. . In addition, if the current control right holder does not want to maintain the control right, the control right is transferred to the crew requesting the transfer of the control right. This prevents the transfer of control to an unoccupied occupant, and prevents the transfer and relinquishment of control from being repeated.

<Modification>
In step S3, as described with reference to FIG. 11 in the modification of the third embodiment, the control right transfer priority determining unit 4 determines not only the occupant information acquired by the occupant information detecting unit 3, but also The order of the driving skill of the control right transfer person may be determined based on the input information from the occupant, and the priority order of the control right transfer may be determined based on the determined driving skill order.

  This prevents the control right from being transferred to the occupant with low driving skill, prevents the occupant with low driving skill from relinquishing the control right, and prevents the transfer and relinquishment of the control right from being repeated. In the present invention, each embodiment can be freely combined, or each embodiment can be appropriately modified or omitted within the scope of the invention.

  1 peripheral information acquisition section, 2 information input section, 3 occupant information detection section, 4 control right transfer priority determination section, 10 automatic driving system, OV own vehicle.

Claims (3)

An in-vehicle device that manages control of an automatic driving system mounted on a vehicle,
The in-vehicle device,
An occupant information detection unit that acquires occupant information including at least the viewpoint and face direction of the occupant of the vehicle,
Based on at least the occupant information, it is determined whether it is appropriate for the current control right holder of the automatic driving system to hold the control right. A control right transfer priority determining unit that determines a control right transfer person from another occupant,
The occupant information detection unit,
Photographing the appearance of the occupant, performing image processing on the photographed image, detecting the viewpoint and the orientation of the face of the occupant,
The control right transfer priority determining unit,
(A) determining whether or not the current control right holder has closed his / her eyes based on whether or not the viewpoint of the current control right holder has been detected;
(B) determining, based on the orientation of the face of the current control right holder, whether the current control right holder is looking forward; and
(C) performing at least one determination as to whether a forward confirmation is being performed based on the movement of the viewpoint of the current control right holder;
If the results of the determinations (a) to (c) are affirmative, it is determined that it is appropriate for the current control right holder to hold the control right in the determinations (a) to (c). If the judgment result is negative, it is judged to be inappropriate,
The in-vehicle device,
As input information by the occupant,
An information input unit that receives at least a first request for relinquishing control from the current control right holder and a second request for transfer of control from the other occupant;
The control right transfer priority determining unit,
Prior to the determinations (a) to (c),
(G) determining the presence or absence of the first and second requests;
If there is the first request, the current control right holder determines that it is inappropriate to hold the control right,
If there is the second request, it is confirmed whether the current control right holder maintains the control right. If the current control right holder maintains the control right, the determination (a) is performed. ) To (c), and
The information input unit,
As the input information,
Receiving gold or blue color information of the driver's license, accident history and private car possession information,
The control right transfer priority determining unit,
If the current control right holder determines that holding the control right is inappropriate,
For the other occupants other than the current control right holder,
(D) determining whether the other occupant has closed his / her eyes based on whether or not the viewpoint of the other occupant has been detected; and
(E) determining whether the other occupant is paying attention forward based on the orientation of the face of the other occupant;
All of the determination results in the determinations (d) and (e) are determined to be positive passengers as the control right transferer,
If the determined number of transferees is more than one,
An in-vehicle device that determines a priority order of control right transfer based on gold or blue color information of the driver's license, the accident history, and the private vehicle possession information. An in-vehicle device that manages control of an automatic driving system mounted on a vehicle,
The in-vehicle device,
An occupant information detection unit that acquires occupant information including at least the viewpoint and face direction of the occupant of the vehicle,
Based on at least the occupant information, it is determined whether it is appropriate for the current control right holder of the automatic driving system to hold the control right. A control right transfer priority determining unit that determines a control right transfer person from another occupant,
The occupant information detection unit,
Photographing the appearance of the occupant, performing image processing on the photographed image, detecting the viewpoint and the orientation of the face of the occupant,
The control right transfer priority determining unit,
(A) determining whether or not the current control right holder has closed his / her eyes based on whether or not the viewpoint of the current control right holder has been detected;
(B) determining, based on the orientation of the face of the current control right holder, whether the current control right holder is looking forward; and
(C) performing at least one determination as to whether a forward confirmation is being performed based on the movement of the viewpoint of the current control right holder;
If the results of the determinations (a) to (c) are affirmative, it is determined that it is appropriate for the current control right holder to hold the control right in the determinations (a) to (c). If the judgment result is negative, it is judged to be inappropriate,
The in-vehicle device,
A peripheral information acquisition unit that acquires peripheral information including at least information on a vehicle ahead of the vehicle,
As input information by the occupant,
An information input unit receiving at least a first request for relinquishing control from the current control right holder and a second request for transfer of control from the other occupant;
The control right transfer priority determining unit,
Prior to the determinations (a) to (c),
(H) determining the presence or absence of the first and second requests;
If there is the first request, the current control right holder determines that it is inappropriate to hold the control right,
If there is the second request, it is checked whether the current control right holder maintains the control right, and if the current control right holder maintains the control right,
(I) Whether the vehicle has a speed setting that may cause a collision with the preceding vehicle based on the speed of the preceding vehicle and the distance between the preceding vehicle and the preceding vehicle in the information on the preceding vehicle. Is determined,
When the result of the determination (i) is positive, the determinations (a) to (c) are performed, and
The information input unit,
As the input information,
Receiving gold or blue color information of the driver's license, accident history and private car possession information,
The control right transfer priority determining unit,
If the current control right holder determines that holding the control right is inappropriate,
For the other occupants other than the current control right holder,
(D) determining whether the other occupant has closed his / her eyes based on whether or not the viewpoint of the other occupant has been detected; and
(E) determining whether the other occupant is paying attention forward based on the orientation of the face of the other occupant;
All of the determination results in the determinations (d) and (e) are determined to be positive passengers as the control right transferer,
If the determined number of transferees is more than one,
An in-vehicle device that determines a priority order of control right transfer based on gold or blue color information of the driver's license, the accident history, and the private vehicle possession information. The control right transfer priority determining unit,
Gold or blue color information of the driver license, the accident history and the private vehicle possession information to determine the ranking of the driving skill of the control right transfer person,
The in-vehicle device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the highest ranking of the driving skill is a plurality, the priority order is determined based on the priority order set according to the position of the seat of the vehicle. .

Images