JP6948210B2 - Driving support device and driving support method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a driving support device and a driving support method.

Conventionally, in Patent Document 1 below, a vehicle steering wheel is provided with a visual pattern P2 that moves independently of the steering wheel operation based on the calculated required steering wheel amount and the detected current steering wheel amount of the steering wheel 1. It is described that the visual pattern P1 that moves in conjunction with the operation of the wheel is moved.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-298196

The technique described in Patent Document 1 calculates the required steering amount required for the own vehicle to travel on the center of the lane from the current lateral displacement amount of the own vehicle with respect to the center of the lane of the traveling lane, and the required steering amount. The visual pattern is moved based on the value obtained by subtracting the current steering amount from. However, with such a method, although it is possible to give the driver a visual illusion that the vehicle is traveling in the center of the lane, it is difficult to give an optimum steering feeling according to the driver's condition. ..

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is a new and improved operation capable of giving an optimum steering feeling according to a driver's condition. The purpose is to provide a support device and a driving support method.

In order to solve the above problems, according to a certain viewpoint of the present invention, the fatigue degree estimation unit that estimates the fatigue degree of the turner and the display of the display object that moves according to the operation of the steering wheel are controlled to control the fatigue degree. A display control unit that controls the movement of the display object with respect to the movement of the steering wheel according to the degree is provided , and the display control unit is the steering wheel when the degree of fatigue is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value. A driving support device for controlling the display of the display object so that the movement of the display object becomes faster with respect to the movement of the display object is provided. Further, in order to solve the above problems, according to another viewpoint of the present invention, the fatigue degree estimation unit that estimates the driver's fatigue degree and the display of the display object that moves according to the operation of the steering wheel are controlled. The display control unit includes a display control unit that controls the movement of the display object with respect to the movement of the steering wheel according to the degree of fatigue, and a steering angle speed calculation unit that calculates the steering angle speed of the steering wheel. , A driving support device for controlling the angular speed of the displayed object with respect to the steering angular speed according to the degree of fatigue is provided.

Further, the displayed object may be displayed on the steering wheel and may move along the circumference of the steering wheel.

Further, the fatigue degree estimation unit may estimate the fatigue degree based on the driver's heartbeat detected by the heartbeat sensor.

Further, the fatigue degree estimation unit may estimate the fatigue degree based on the image information obtained by imaging the driver.

Further, the fatigue degree estimation unit may estimate the fatigue degree based on the information obtained from the outside of the vehicle.

Further, the fatigue degree estimation unit may estimate the fatigue degree based on the traffic jam information.

Further, the fatigue degree estimation unit may estimate the fatigue degree based on the information indicating the road condition.

Further, the fatigue degree estimation unit may estimate the fatigue degree based on a parameter related to steering.

Further, the display object may be displayed on the dash panel or the windshield in front of the driver of the vehicle.

Further, in order to solve the above problems, according to another viewpoint of the present invention, the first step of estimating the degree of fatigue of the driver and the display of the display object that moves according to the operation of the steering wheel are controlled. A second step of controlling the movement of the display object with respect to the movement of the steering wheel according to the degree of fatigue is provided . Provided is a driving support method for controlling the display of the display object so that the display object moves faster with respect to the movement of the steering wheel.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to give an optimum steering feeling according to the state of the driver.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the driving support system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which the pattern is displayed on the steering wheel by the display device. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which the pattern is displayed on the steering wheel by the display device. It is a schematic diagram which shows the arrangement position of a projector when the display device is composed of a projector. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example which the display device provided on the steering wheel. It is a characteristic diagram obtained by an experiment how the steering feeling of the driver changes when the movement (reaction amount) of the pattern on the steering wheel is changed with respect to the actual operation amount of the steering wheel by the driver. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which a driver sensor is taking a picture of a driver. It is a schematic diagram which shows the opening detection which determines whether or not the mouth of a driver is open. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state of determining whether or not the driver eye is closed. It is a schematic diagram which shows the method of determining the facial expression of a driver by the driver state determination part. It is a flowchart which shows the process performed in the driving support system of this embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example which displayed the pattern on the windshield by the HUD apparatus. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example which displayed the pattern on the windshield by the HUD apparatus.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present specification and the drawings, components having substantially the same functional configuration are designated by the same reference numerals, so that duplicate description will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a configuration of a driving support system 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The driving support system 1000 is basically a system composed of a vehicle such as an automobile. As shown in FIG. 1, the driving support system 1000 includes a heart rate sensor 100, a vehicle sensor 150, a steering angle sensor 200, an outside sensor 300, a driver sensor 350, a control device 400, a display device 500, a HUD device 600, and a power steering device 700. , Communication device 800, and navigation device 900.

The heart rate sensor 100 is provided on, for example, a steering wheel operated by the driver, a seat on which the driver sits, or the like, and detects the driver's heartbeat. The heartbeat of the driver 20 detected by the heartbeat sensor 100 is sent to the control device 400. The heart rate sensor 100 may be a wearable device such as a watch-type device. In this case, the heart rate sensor 100 wirelessly transmits the detected heart rate to the control device 400.

The vehicle sensor 150 includes various sensors that detect vehicle information such as vehicle speed, vehicle acceleration, and angular velocity of an axle (drive shaft, etc.). Since these vehicle information is generally communicated by a CAN (Control Area Network) in the vehicle, the vehicle sensor 100 may acquire the vehicle information from the CAN. The steering angle sensor 200 detects the operation of the steering wheel by the driver.

The vehicle exterior sensor 300 is composed of a stereo camera, a monocular camera, a millimeter wave radar, an infrared sensor, and the like, and measures the position and speed of a person or vehicle around the own vehicle. When the vehicle exterior sensor 300 is composed of a stereo camera, the stereo camera is configured to have a pair of left and right cameras having image pickup elements such as a CCD sensor and a CMOS sensor, and images the external environment outside the vehicle. The image information is sent to the control device 400. As an example, a stereo camera is composed of a color camera capable of acquiring color information and is installed on the upper part of the windshield of a vehicle.

The driver sensor 350 is composed of a camera, a line-of-sight sensor, a motion sensor, and the like, and detects the face of the driver (driver). Further, the driver sensor 350 measures the movement of the driver's head and arms, the line-of-sight direction, and the like. When the driver sensor 350 is composed of a camera, the driver's face, the movement of the driver's head and arms, the line-of-sight direction, and the like are acquired by image processing the image captured by the camera. When the driver sensor 350 is composed of a line-of-sight sensor, the line-of-sight is detected by a method such as a corneal reflex method.

The control device 400 is a component that controls the entire driving support system 1000, and functions as a driving support device according to the present embodiment. The display device 500 is a device that projects a pattern on the steering wheel. As an example, the display device 500 is composed of a projector and projects a pattern on the steering wheel. Further, the display device 500 may be composed of a liquid crystal display device (LCD) or the like and may be provided on the steering wheel.

The HUD (Head-up Display) device 600 is a display device that directly displays information in the human field of view, and displays a real image on glass such as a windshield or a rear glass of an automobile. The power steering device 700 is a device that steers the front wheels of a vehicle by generating a driving force (assist force) that assists the steering in response to the steering of the steering wheel by the driver (driver).

The communication device 800 communicates with the outside of the vehicle and receives various information such as traffic jam information and road information. The navigation device 900 searches for a route from the current location to the destination based on the map information. Therefore, the navigation device 900 can acquire the current position of the vehicle by a global positioning system (GPS) or the like. In addition, the navigation device 900 remembers the route on which the vehicle has traveled to the current location.

2 and 3 are schematic views showing a state in which the pattern (display object) 12 is displayed on the steering wheel 10 by the display device 500. Here, FIG. 2 shows an example in which a striped (strip-shaped) pattern 12 is displayed along the circumference of the steering wheel 10. Further, FIG. 3 shows an example in which an arrow-shaped pattern 12 is displayed along the circumference of the steering wheel 10. As an example, FIGS. 2 and 3 show a state in which the white pattern 12 is displayed on the black steering wheel 10. The colors of the steering wheel 10 and the pattern 12 can be arbitrarily selected, such as displaying the black pattern 12 on the white steering wheel 10.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the arrangement position of the projector 502 when the display device 500 is composed of the projector 502. FIG. 4 shows a state in which the driver 20 is viewed from the passenger seat side. As shown in FIG. 4, the projector 502 is mounted on the ceiling of a vehicle, for example, irradiates light toward the steering wheel 10, and displays a pattern 12 on the steering wheel 10.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an example in which the display device 500 is provided on the steering wheel 10. In this case, the display device 500 is composed of a liquid crystal display device 504 having a curved display surface that follows the shape of the steering wheel 10.

The pattern 12 is displayed so as to move in the same direction as the operation of the steering wheel 10 by the driver 20. That is, the pattern 12 moves along the circumferential direction of the steering wheel 10 in the same direction as the steering operation. Specifically, in the present embodiment, the steering force of the steering wheel 10 is changed by changing the moving speed of the pattern 12 on the steering wheel 10 with respect to the actual steering speed of the steering wheel 10 operated by the driver 20. Change the feeling.

If the speed at which the pattern 12 moves on the steering wheel 10 is greater than the actual steering speed of the steering wheel 10, the steering force feeling of the steering wheel 10 by the driver 20 is felt lightly. On the other hand, if the speed at which the pattern 12 moves on the steering wheel 10 is smaller than the actual steering speed of the steering wheel 10, the steering force feeling of the steering wheel 10 by the driver 20 is felt to be heavy.

FIG. 6 shows an experiment in which the steering feeling of the driver 20 changes when the movement (reaction amount) of the pattern 12 on the steering wheel 10 is changed with respect to the actual operation amount of the steering wheel 10 by the driver 20. It is a characteristic diagram obtained in. In FIG. 6, the ratio of the movement (reaction amount) of the pattern on the steering wheel 10 to the actual operation amount of the steering wheel 10 by the driver 20 is used as the horizontal axis, and the interval scale value obtained by the evaluation of the steering of the driver 20 is used. It is shown as the vertical axis.

In this experiment, a simulated device was used to display a changing image reflecting the amount of operation of the steering wheel 10 on the screen in front of the participants in the experiment. Specifically, a black striped pattern 12 at regular intervals is displayed on the steering wheel 10, and the pattern 12 is placed on the steering wheel 10 so that the pattern 12 follows and moves according to the amount of operation of the steering wheel 10. displayed. In the pattern 12, black lines having a width of about 0.3 cm were arranged on the circumference along the steering wheel 10 at intervals of about 2.0 cm.

On the horizontal axis of FIG. 6, when the ratio of the movement (reaction amount) of the pattern 12 on the steering wheel 10 to the actual operation amount of the steering wheel 10 is 100%, the actual operation amount of the steering wheel 10 and the pattern 12 Indicates that the movements of are in agreement. In this way, when the operation amount and the reaction amount have a one-to-one relationship, it is observed that the steering wheel 10 and the pattern 12 are moving exactly the same. The sensory scale shown on the vertical axis of FIG. 6 sets the steering force feeling to 0 when the experiment participant has a one-to-one relationship between the operation amount and the reaction amount, and when the experiment participant feels that the steering force feeling is heavier than that. The value is obtained by selecting a value so that the heavier the value on the plus side becomes larger, and when the feeling of steering force is lighter, the value on the minus side becomes larger as the weight becomes lighter.

As experimental conditions, a total of five levels of 25%, 50%, 200%, and 400% were set based on 100% based on the ratio of the manipulated amount and the reaction amount. Specifically, when the ratio of the reaction amount to the operation amount is 25%, 50%, 200%, and 400%, when the steering wheel 10 is rotated 90 degrees, the pattern 12 is the same as the steering wheel 10. It will rotate 22.5 degrees, 45 degrees, 180 degrees, and 360 degrees in the direction. In addition, an index that swings left and right in front of the experiment participant is presented, and a cursor that moves left and right by the reciprocating motion of the steering wheel 10 is displayed, and the task of following the index with the cursor is set as a task for the experiment participant. I set it. Three types of movement amounts of the steering wheel 10 were set and presented at random. The total amount of movement has been unified. Two conditions were presented in succession as the movement of the index, and the reaction force was evaluated by a paired comparison method by 15 experimental participants.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, as the movement of the pattern 12 increases and the ratio of the movement (reaction amount) of the pattern 12 to the actual operation amount of the steering wheel 10 increases, the reaction force feeling decreases. That is, it was found that the steering feels lighter as the reaction amount increases. As shown in FIG. 6, it can be seen that as the movement (reaction amount) of the pattern increases and the ratio of the reaction amount to the actual operation amount of the steering wheel 10 increases, the scale of the sense of steering decreases. That is, it can be seen that the steering force feeling is felt lighter as the reaction amount increases, and the steering force feeling becomes heavier as the reaction amount decreases.

Therefore, it is possible to change the steering force feeling of the steering wheel 10 by changing the speed at which the pattern 12 on the steering wheel 10 moves with respect to the actual steering speed of the steering wheel 10 operated by the driver 20. be. As a result, the steering force feeling of the steering wheel 10 can be changed without requiring a complicated structure, so that the driver 20 can optimally perform the steering operation.

In particular, in the present embodiment, the moving speed of the pattern 12 with respect to the actual steering speed of the steering wheel 10 is changed according to the degree of fatigue of the driver 20. Therefore, the control device 400 includes an environmental information acquisition unit 402, an environmental state determination unit 404, a driver state determination unit 405 that determines the driver status, a fatigue degree estimation unit 406 that estimates the fatigue level of the driver 20, and a steering angle sensor 200. It has a steering angle speed calculation unit 408 that calculates the steering angle speed when the driver 20 operates the steering wheel 10 from the detected value of the driver 20, and a display control unit 410 that controls the movement of the pattern 12 based on the degree of fatigue of the driver 20. It is configured. Each component of the control device 400 shown in FIG. 1 can be composed of a circuit (hardware), a central processing unit such as a CPU, and a program (software) for functioning the central processing unit.

The environmental information acquisition unit 402 uses the principle of triangulation to reach the object from the amount of deviation of the corresponding positions with respect to the pair of left and right stereo images captured by the pair of left and right stereo images of the stereo cameras constituting the vehicle exterior sensor 300. Distance information can be generated and acquired. At the same time, the environmental information acquisition unit 402 can acquire the position information of the subject from the image information. Further, the environmental information acquisition unit 402 performs a well-known grouping process on the distance information generated by the principle of triangulation, and sets the grouped distance information in advance as three-dimensional three-dimensional object data or the like. By comparing, three-dimensional object data, white line data, etc. are detected. As a result, the control device 400 can also recognize a person, another vehicle, a stop sign, a stop line, an ETC gate, and the like.

Further, the environmental information acquisition unit 402 can calculate the amount of change in the distance between the person and the other vehicle and the relative speed by using the distance information between the person and the other vehicle generated by the principle of triangulation. The amount of change in distance can be obtained by integrating the distances between the frame images detected every unit time. Further, the relative speed can be obtained by dividing the distance detected for each unit time by the unit time.

In this way, the environmental information acquisition unit 402 acquires the image information outside the vehicle obtained from the outside sensor 300, performs image analysis processing, and acquires the environment information outside the vehicle from the analysis result of the image information.

The environmental state determination unit 404 determines the environmental information outside the vehicle based on the environmental information acquired by the environmental information acquisition unit 402. In particular, the environmental condition determination unit 404 determines whether or not there are obstacles such as people, vehicles, and other objects around the vehicle, and the number of obstacles such as people, vehicles, and other objects that exist around the vehicle. do.

The fatigue degree estimation unit 406 estimates the fatigue degree of the driver 20 based on the information detected by the heart rate sensor 100, the vehicle exterior sensor 300, and the driver sensor 350. Further, the fatigue degree estimation unit 406 estimates the fatigue degree of the driver 20 based on the information received from the outside by the communication device 800. Hereinafter, a method in which the fatigue degree estimation unit 406 estimates the fatigue degree of the driver 20 will be described.

When estimating the fatigue level of the driver 20 based on the information detected by the heart rate sensor 100, the fatigue level is calculated from the ratio (LF / LH) of the high frequency component (LH) and the low frequency component (LF) of the time series data of the heart rate variability. presume. Specifically, it is known that the magnitude of the fluctuation wave of the high frequency component (LH) and the fluctuation wave of the low frequency component (LF) to the heart rate variability changes depending on the balance of the tension state of the sympathetic nerve and the parasympathetic nerve. ing. Therefore, this can be used to estimate the balance of the autonomic nerves from the heart rate variability. The high frequency component (LH) corresponds to the sympathetic nervous system component, and the low frequency component (LF) corresponds to the parasympathetic nervous system component. The degree of fatigue can be determined from the degree and balance of tension between the sympathetic nerve and the parasympathetic nerve. If the sympathetic nerve is in a tense state, it can be estimated that the person is tired in a "stressed state". It can be presumed to be in a "relaxed state". That is, the ratio (LF / LH) of the high frequency component (LH) and the low frequency component (LF) decreases as the degree of fatigue increases.

Therefore, the fatigue degree estimation unit 402 can estimate the fatigue degree of the driver 20 based on the ratio (LH / FH) of the high frequency component (LH) and the low frequency component (LF) of the time series data of the heart rate variability. ..

When estimating the fatigue level of the driver 20 based on the information detected by the external sensor 300, the fatigue level estimation unit 406 is used to determine the degree of fatigue around the vehicle, which is determined by the environmental condition determination unit 404 based on the information acquired by the environmental information acquisition unit 402. Get the number of obstacles such as people, vehicles, and other objects. The greater the number of obstacles around the vehicle, the more the driver 20 will drive while paying attention to the obstacles. Therefore, the fatigue level estimation unit 406 estimates that the larger the number of obstacles, the higher the fatigue level of the driver 20.

FIG. 7 shows a case where the degree of fatigue of the driver 20 is estimated based on the information detected by the driver sensor 350, and when the driver sensor 350 is composed of a camera, the driver sensor 350 photographs the driver 20. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state. As shown in FIG. 7, the driver sensor 350 is installed above the steering column 352 as an example.

When the driver sensor 350 is composed of a camera, the image taken by the driver sensor 350 is input to the control device 400. The fatigue level estimation unit 406 detects the position information of the feature points of each part of the face such as eyes, nose, and mouth from the input image, and based on the position information, determines the driver's condition such as drowsiness, drowsiness, and the possibility of forward carelessness. judge.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing an opening detection for determining whether or not the driver's mouth is open. As shown in FIG. 8, the open / closed state of the mouth is determined from the distance D1 between the upper and lower feature points of the mouth, and when the distance D1 between the feature points exceeds a predetermined value (opening state shown in FIG. 8), the driver It can be determined that the mouth may be open and yawning is possible. Further, for example, when a situation in which a certain time elapses in the open state is detected a plurality of times, it can be determined that the risk of falling asleep is increased.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing how to determine whether or not the driver's eyes are closed. As shown in FIG. 9, when the eyes are detected from the distance D2 between the upper and lower feature points of the eyes and the distance D2 between the feature points is equal to or less than a predetermined value (the closed state of the eyes shown in FIG. 9). , It can be determined that there is a possibility of falling asleep. The determination of whether or not the person is dozing can be determined by, for example, whether or not the ratio of the time when the eyes are closed to the reference time (eye closure rate) exceeds a predetermined threshold value. Further, when the eye closure detection is detected a plurality of times, it can be determined that the risk of falling asleep is increased. In addition, blinking may be detected by image processing, and it may be determined whether or not the person is dozing based on the number of blinks. These determinations related to FIGS. 8 and 9 are performed by the driver state determination unit 405. The fatigue degree estimation unit 406 estimates the fatigue degree of the driver 20 based on the determination result by the driver state determination unit 405.

When estimating the fatigue level of the driver 20 based on the information detected by the driver sensor 350, the fatigue level can also be determined based on the facial expression. In this case, the driver state determination unit 405 determines the facial expression of the driver 20. The face image in which the fatigue state is defined in advance is compared with the current face image, and the degree of fatigue is estimated according to the result of the comparison. A plurality of facial images of a person whose fatigue level is defined by subjective evaluation are learned as teacher data, and the driver's current facial image is input and compared to determine the fatigue level.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a method in which the fatigue degree estimation unit 406 estimates the fatigue degree based on a face image in which the fatigue state is defined in advance. As shown in FIG. 10, the image information of the facial expression and the fatigue degree (fatigue degree 1 to 4) corresponding to each image information are associated and stored in advance in a memory or the like in the control device 400. The driver state determination unit 405 compares the image information of the face of the driver 20 acquired from the driver sensor 350 with the image information shown in FIG. 10 held in advance by a method such as block matching, and the image information shown in FIG. Those having a high degree of similarity to the image information of the driver 20 are extracted from the images, and the degree of fatigue of the driver 20 is determined based on the degree of fatigue corresponding to the extracted image information.

Further, when the fatigue degree of the driver 20 is estimated by the communication device 800 based on the information received from the outside, the fatigue degree estimation unit 406 is the driver based on the traffic volume and traffic congestion information around the vehicle received by the communication device 800. Estimate the degree of fatigue. For example, it can be estimated that the greater the traffic volume around the vehicle, the higher the degree of fatigue of the driver 20. Further, when the road around the vehicle is congested, the degree of fatigue of the driver 20 can be estimated according to the degree of the congestion. In this case, it can be estimated that the longer the traffic jam distance, the higher the driver's fatigue level.

Further, the fatigue degree estimation unit 206 estimates the driver's fatigue degree based on the road information around the vehicle received by the communication device 800. For example, based on the road information around the vehicle, it can be estimated that the driver 20 has a high degree of fatigue when the road is narrow or the curves are continuous.

Further, the fatigue degree estimation unit 206 is based on the road information of the route traveled to the current position or the road information of the route traveling toward the destination based on the information obtained from the navigation device 900. Fatigue can also be estimated. For example, it can be estimated that the higher the ratio of the curve section in the predetermined section, the higher the degree of fatigue of the driver 20 in the route traveled to the current position or the route traveled toward the destination.

Further, the fatigue degree estimation unit 206 can calculate the steering angular acceleration from the steering angular velocity and estimate the fatigue degree of the driver 20 based on the number of times the steering angular acceleration exceeds a predetermined threshold value within a certain period of time. .. The greater the number of times the steering angular acceleration exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the higher the degree of abrupt steering operation. That is, the smoothness of steering can be determined based on the number of times the steering angular acceleration exceeds a predetermined threshold value within a certain period of time, and the degree of fatigue of the driver 20 can be estimated based on this. ..

When the fatigue level of the driver 20 is estimated by the fatigue level estimation unit 206 as described above, the display control unit 410 changes the moving speed of the pattern 12 with respect to the actual steering speed according to the fatigue level of the driver 20. ..

The actual steering speed of the steering wheel 10 operated by the driver 20 can be obtained from the detected value of the steering angle sensor 200. The steering angular velocity calculation unit 408 obtains the steering angular velocity of the steering wheel 10 at predetermined cycles based on the steering angle detected value by the steering angle sensor 200. For example, when the predetermined period is 500 [ms] and the steering angle changes by θ [rad] during 500 [ms], the steering angular velocity is θ / 0.5 = 2θ [rad / s]. Become.

The display control unit 410 controls the speed at which the pattern 12 moves on the steering wheel 10 with respect to the steering angular velocity calculated by the steering angular velocity calculation unit 408, and displays the display device 500 so that the pattern 12 is displayed on the steering wheel 10. Control. The speed at which the pattern 12 moves is controlled by the display control unit 410 at each predetermined cycle described above. When the movement of the pattern 12 is made faster than the actual steering speed of the steering wheel 10, the pattern 12 is designed so that the angular velocity of the pattern 12 moving on the steering wheel 10 is faster than the steering angular velocity calculated by the steering angular velocity calculation unit 10. The display of is controlled. Further, when the movement of the pattern 12 is slowed with respect to the actual steering speed of the steering wheel 10, the angular velocity of the pattern 12 moving on the steering wheel 10 is slower than the steering angular velocity calculated by the steering angular velocity calculation unit 410. The display of the pattern 12 is controlled. As a result, the movement of the pattern 12 can be made faster or slower with respect to the actual steering angular velocity of the steering wheel 10.

Further, the control device 400 may control the steering assist force by the power steering device 700 according to the degree of fatigue of the driver 20. In this case, the control unit 400 controls so that when the degree of fatigue is large, the assist force is larger than when the degree of fatigue is small.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the processing performed by the driving support system 1000 of the present embodiment. The process of FIG. 11 is mainly performed in the control device 400 at predetermined intervals. In the process of FIG. 11, the movement of the pattern 12 is changed based on the fatigue degree of the driver estimated by the fatigue degree estimation unit 406. Specifically, when the driver 20 has a high degree of fatigue, the pattern 12 is moved faster to make the steering feeling lighter. Further, when the degree of fatigue of the driver 20 is low, the movement of the pattern 12 may be slowed down to make the steering feeling heavier and the steering feeling may be improved.

First, in step S10, the fatigue degree estimation unit 406 estimates the driver's fatigue degree. In the next step S12, the speed (steering angular velocity) when the driver 20 operates the steering wheel 10 is acquired.

In the next step S14, it is determined whether the fatigue level of the driver 20 is equal to or higher than a certain value. Specifically, the fatigue degree estimation unit 406 digitizes (standardizes) the estimated fatigue degree to obtain the fatigue degree level, and determines whether or not the fatigue degree level is larger than a predetermined threshold value x.

If the degree of fatigue is equal to or higher than a certain value in step S14, the process proceeds to step S16, and the pattern 12 is displayed on the steering wheel 10. On the other hand, if the degree of fatigue is not equal to or higher than a certain value in step S14, the process ends.

After step S16, the process proceeds to step S18, and it is determined whether or not the steering angle by the operation of the steering wheel 10 of the driver 20 is equal to or higher than a certain value. Specifically, in step S18, it is determined whether or not the steering angle exceeds a predetermined threshold value θth based on the steering angle information obtained from the steering angle sensor 200.

If the steering angle exceeds the predetermined threshold value θth in step S18, the process proceeds to step S20. When the process proceeds to step S20, it can be determined that the driver 20 is operating the steering wheel 10 because the steering angle exceeds the predetermined threshold value θth. Therefore, in step S20, the movement of the pattern 12 is controlled so that the angular velocity when the pattern 12 moves on the steering wheel 10 is faster than the actual steering angular velocity of the steering wheel 10 operated by the driver 20. After step S20, the process ends. If the steering angle does not exceed the predetermined threshold value θth in step S18, the process ends.

As described above, when the degree of fatigue of the driver 20 is a certain value or more, it is desirable to lighten the steering feeling of the steering wheel 10 and facilitate the steering operation. Therefore, in step S14, it is determined whether the fatigue level of the driver 20 is equal to or higher than a certain value. The fatigue degree estimation unit 206 of the control device 400 determines whether or not the fatigue degree level is larger than a predetermined threshold value x. Then, when the fatigue level is larger than the predetermined threshold value x, the display control unit 410 of the control device 400 moves the pattern 12 on the steering wheel 10 with respect to the actual steering speed of the steering wheel 10. Control to increase the speed. As a result, when the driver 20 operates the steering wheel 10, the steering feeling felt by the driver 20 becomes lighter, and the steering operation can be performed lightly even when the driver 20 is in a fatigued state. This makes it possible to drive the vehicle stably even when the driver 20 is fatigued.

In the above-described embodiment, the pattern 12 is displayed on the steering wheel 10, but the pattern 12 may be displayed at a place other than the steering wheel 10. For example, the pattern 12 may be displayed on the dash panel or the windshield. FIG. 12 is a schematic view showing an example in which the pattern 12 is displayed on the windshield 602 by the HUD device 600. The HUD device 600 changes the moving speed of the pattern 12 on the windshield 602 with respect to the actual steering speed of the steering wheel 10 operated by the driver 20 under the control of the display control unit 410, thereby changing the steering wheel. The steering force feeling of 10 is changed.

Specifically, the pattern 12 shown in FIG. 12 is arranged concentrically with the steering wheel 10, and the angular speed of the pattern 12 centered on the rotation center axis of the steering wheel 10 with respect to the actual steering angular speed of the steering wheel 10. Is controlled. As a result, it is possible to optimize the steering force feeling of the driver 20 by controlling the movement of the pattern 12 on the windshield 602 as in the case where the pattern 12 is displayed on the steering wheel 10.

Further, as shown in FIG. 13, the pattern 12 moving in the horizontal direction may be displayed on the windshield 602 by the HUD device 600. In this case, the reference speed of the pattern 12 corresponding to the steering angular velocity of the steering wheel 10 is set, and the speed at which the pattern 12 moves on the front glass 602 is set with respect to the actual steering angular velocity of the steering wheel 10 operated by the driver 20. Change with respect to the reference speed. As a result, it is possible to adjust the steering force feeling as in the case of moving the pattern 12 in the circumferential direction.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the fatigue level of the driver 20 is estimated, and when the fatigue level exceeds a predetermined threshold value, a pattern 12 is displayed on the steering wheel 10 and the actual steering wheel 10 is displayed. Control is performed so that the movement of the pattern 12 is faster than the steering angular velocity. As a result, the feeling of steering force of the driver 20 can be reduced, and the steering operation can be promoted even when the driver 20 is tired.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to such examples. It is clear that a person having ordinary knowledge in the field of technology to which the present invention belongs can come up with various modifications or modifications within the scope of the technical ideas described in the claims. , These are also naturally understood to belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

10 Steering wheel 12 Pattern 400 Control device 406 Fatigue estimation unit 408 Steering angle calculation unit 410 Display control unit

Claims (11)

A fatigue level estimation unit that estimates the driver's fatigue level,
A display control unit that controls the display of a display object that moves according to the operation of the steering wheel and controls the movement of the display object with respect to the movement of the steering wheel according to the degree of fatigue.
With
The display control unit is characterized in that when the degree of fatigue is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value, the display of the display object is controlled so that the movement of the display object becomes faster with respect to the movement of the steering wheel. to, luck rolling support device. A fatigue level estimation unit that estimates the driver's fatigue level,
A display control unit that controls the display of a display object that moves according to the operation of the steering wheel and controls the movement of the display object with respect to the movement of the steering wheel according to the degree of fatigue.
A steering angular velocity calculation unit that calculates the steering angular velocity of the steering wheel, and a steering angular velocity calculation unit .
With
The display controller, in accordance with the degree of fatigue, and controlling the angular velocity of the display object with respect to the steering angular velocity, OPERATION support apparatus. The driving support device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the fatigue degree estimation unit estimates the fatigue degree based on the driver's heartbeat detected by the heartbeat sensor. The driving support device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the fatigue degree estimation unit estimates the fatigue degree based on image information obtained by imaging the driver. The driving support device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the fatigue degree estimation unit estimates the fatigue degree based on information obtained from outside the vehicle. The driving support device according to claim 5 , wherein the fatigue degree estimation unit estimates the fatigue degree based on traffic congestion information. The driving support device according to claim 5 , wherein the fatigue degree estimation unit estimates the fatigue degree based on the information indicating a road condition. The driving support device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the fatigue degree estimation unit estimates the fatigue degree based on a parameter related to steering. The driving support device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the display object is displayed on the steering wheel and moves along the circumference of the steering wheel. The driving support device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the display is displayed on a dash panel or a windshield in front of the driver of the vehicle. The first step in estimating driver fatigue and
A second step of controlling the display of a display object that moves according to the operation of the steering wheel and controlling the movement of the display object with respect to the movement of the steering wheel according to the degree of fatigue.
Equipped with a,
In the second step, when the degree of fatigue is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value, the display of the display object is controlled so that the movement of the display object becomes faster with respect to the movement of the steering wheel. How to support driving.

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