JP7204523B2 - Obstacle detection device, obstacle detection system, and obstacle detection program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an obstacle detection device, an obstacle detection system, and an obstacle detection program.

Autonomous vehicles need to detect and avoid obstacles on the road. For example, when the angular velocity of the attitude angle of the vehicle detected by the gyro sensor is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, the conventional obstacle detection device determines that the road surface under the vehicle is rough, and detects the road surface at that time. It was detected as an obstacle (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2010-211827 A

A conventional obstacle detection device has a problem that it does not consider the comfort of a passenger riding in a vehicle when detecting an obstacle. For example, there are individual differences in whether or not the shaking of a vehicle due to rough road surfaces is uncomfortable. Therefore, when a passenger feels uncomfortable with a rough road surface detected as an obstacle by a conventional obstacle detection device, it is desirable for the vehicle to avoid the rough road surface. On the other hand, if the passenger does not feel uncomfortable with the rough road surface, the vehicle does not need to avoid the rough road surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to perform obstacle detection in consideration of the comfort of passengers in a vehicle.

An obstacle detection device according to the present invention uses an information acquisition unit that acquires vehicle state information, which is a numerical value representing the state of a vehicle, and passenger state information that indicates the state of a passenger in the vehicle, and the passenger state information. According to the result of determining the state of the vehicle based on a comfort level calculation unit that calculates a numerical value representing the comfort level of the passenger and a threshold value set using the vehicle state information and the comfort level of the passenger and an obstacle detection unit for detecting an obstacle in the place where the vehicle is traveling.

According to the present invention, an obstacle is detected using the vehicle state and the degree of comfort of the passenger, so that the obstacle can be detected in consideration of the comfort of the passenger on board the vehicle. can.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an obstacle detection system according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of an obstacle detection operation by the obstacle detection device according to Embodiment 1; 4 is a flow chart showing an example of an obstacle avoidance operation by the obstacle detection device according to Embodiment 1; 4A, 4B, and 4C are diagrams showing examples of avoidance modes by the obstacle detection device according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a speed limit mode by the obstacle detection device according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of an obstacle detection system according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a modification of the obstacle detection device according to Embodiment 1; FIG.

Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an obstacle detection system according to Embodiment 1. FIG. The obstacle detection system includes an obstacle detection device 3 mounted on the vehicle 1 and a server device 10 provided outside the vehicle. Although only one obstacle detection device 3 mounted on one vehicle 1 is shown in FIG. communication is possible with

A vehicle 1 is equipped with sensors 2 and an obstacle detection device 3 . The sensors 2 include, for example, at least one of a gyro sensor that detects the tilt of the vehicle 1, an acceleration sensor that detects the acceleration of the vehicle 1, and a speed sensor that detects the speed of the vehicle 1. The sensors 2 include at least one of a camera that captures the face of the passenger of the vehicle 1, a heart rate monitor that measures the heart rate of the passenger, and a respiratory sensor that measures the breathing pattern of the passenger. The passengers may be all the passengers boarding the vehicle 1 or at least one of the passengers boarding the vehicle 1 .

The obstacle detection device 3 includes an information acquisition section 4 , a comfort degree calculation section 5 and an obstacle detection section 6 . The obstacle detection device 3 may include a communication section 7 , an avoidance determination section 8 , and a control section 9 in addition to the information acquisition section 4 , comfort degree calculation section 5 , and obstacle detection section 6 .

The information acquisition unit 4 acquires vehicle state information, which is a numerical value representing the state of the vehicle 1 , and passenger state information, which indicates the state of a passenger in the vehicle 1 , from the sensors 2 . The vehicle state information includes at least one of tilt, acceleration, and speed of the vehicle 1 . The occupant state information includes at least one of a facial image, heart rate, and breathing pattern of the occupant of the vehicle 1 . The information acquisition unit 4 outputs the acquired vehicle state information to the obstacle detection unit 6 . The information acquisition unit 4 also outputs the acquired passenger state information to the comfort level calculation unit 5 .

The degree-of-comfort calculator 5 calculates a numerical value representing the degree of comfort of the passenger using the passenger state information. The degree of comfort is represented, for example, by a numerical value from "0%" to "100%", and the greater the numerical value, the more comfortable the passenger is. For example, when the passenger state information includes a facial image of the passenger, the comfort level calculator 5 estimates the facial expression using the facial image, and converts the estimated facial expression into a numerical value of the comfort level. If the passenger state information includes two or more of the facial image, heart rate, and breathing pattern, the comfort level calculation unit 5 may calculate the numerical value of the comfort level by combining the two or more pieces of information. A well-known technique may be used to calculate the degree of comfort using facial expression, heart rate, or breathing pattern, so detailed description will be omitted.

When the passenger state information of a plurality of passengers is acquired from the information acquisition section 4, the comfort level calculator 5 calculates a numerical value representing one comfort level representative of the plurality of passengers. A numerical value representing a plurality of passengers is, for example, an average value obtained from a plurality of numerical values representing the comfort level of a plurality of passengers, or the smallest numerical value among a plurality of numerical values representing the comfort level of a plurality of passengers. This is the largest number. The comfort degree calculator 5 outputs the numerical value representing the calculated comfort degree to the obstacle detector 6 .

The obstacle detection unit 6 uses the vehicle state information from the information acquisition unit 4 and the numerical value representing the degree of comfort from the comfort degree calculation unit 5 to detect obstacles that make passengers of the vehicle 1 feel uncomfortable. The obstacle detection unit 6 detects a place where the vehicle 1 is traveling as an obstacle when the numerical value representing the state of the vehicle 1 is equal to or greater than a threshold value. For example, when the amount of change in inclination of the vehicle 1 is equal to or greater than a threshold, the obstacle detection unit 6 detects this location as an obstacle (for example, road surface unevenness).

There are individual differences in whether or not an obstacle is felt uncomfortable. For example, large bumps on the road surface cause a large amount of change in the inclination of the vehicle 1, so many passengers feel uncomfortable. On the other hand, on a small unevenness such as a gravel road, the degree of change in the inclination of the vehicle 1 is small, so there are individual differences in how comfortable the vehicle feels. Therefore, the obstacle detection unit 6 sets a threshold value for obstacle detection based on the distribution of numerical values representing the passenger's comfort level calculated by the comfort level calculation unit 5 in a predetermined period. As a specific example, the obstacle detection unit 6 sets the threshold for the amount of change in the tilt of the vehicle 1 to a numerical value representing the comfort level of the passenger calculated by the comfort level calculation unit 5 during the travel period from the departure point to the current point. and the distribution of the numerical values of the inclination of the vehicle 1 acquired from the information acquisition unit 4 . When the distribution of numerical values representing the degree of comfort of the passenger is biased towards large numerical values, the passenger does not feel uncomfortable with obstacles with small changes in the inclination of the vehicle 1 . In this case, the obstacle detection unit 6 detects an obstacle using a relatively large value as a threshold value from the distribution of numerical values of the inclination of the vehicle 1 acquired from the information acquisition unit 4, thereby detecting obstacles such as large unevenness of the road surface. Detects it as an object and does not detect small unevenness such as a gravel road as an obstacle. On the other hand, if the distribution of numerical values representing the degree of comfort of the passenger is biased toward small numerical values, the passenger feels uncomfortable even with an obstacle with a small amount of change in the inclination of the vehicle 1 . In this case, the obstacle detection unit 6 detects an obstacle by using a relatively small value as a threshold from the distribution of numerical values of the inclination of the vehicle 1 acquired from the information acquisition unit 4. Instead, it can detect even small unevenness such as gravel roads as obstacles.

Further, when the amount of change in acceleration of the vehicle 1 is equal to or greater than a threshold, the obstacle detection unit 6 may detect this place as an obstacle. Further, when the amount of change in the speed of the vehicle 1 is equal to or greater than the threshold, the obstacle detection unit 6 may detect this place as an obstacle. The obstacle detection unit 6 may set these thresholds based on the distribution of numerical values representing the degree of comfort of the passenger, like the thresholds for the amount of change in inclination.

The obstacle detection unit 6 may allow the passenger to set the threshold instead of setting the threshold based on the distribution of the numerical values representing the degree of comfort of the passenger.

When the vehicle state information includes any one of tilt, acceleration, and speed, obstacle detection unit 6 compares the amount of change in any one of tilt, acceleration, or speed with a threshold value. On the other hand, when the vehicle state information includes tilt, acceleration, and speed, the obstacle detection unit 6 compares the amount of change in tilt with a threshold value, compares the amount of change in acceleration with the threshold value, and compares the amount of change in speed with the threshold value. is compared with a threshold. Then, the obstacle detection unit 6 detects the place where the vehicle 1 is traveling as an obstacle when two or more numerical values among the tilt, acceleration, and speed are equal to or greater than the threshold. Alternatively, the obstacle detection unit 6 may detect the place where the vehicle 1 is traveling as an obstacle when at least one numerical value of the tilt, acceleration, and speed is equal to or greater than a threshold value.

The obstacle detection unit 6 outputs information about the detected obstacle (for example, location) and a numerical value representing the state of the vehicle 1 used to detect the obstacle to the communication unit 7 as obstacle information. The obstacle detection unit 6 may acquire position information indicating the location where the vehicle 1 is traveling from, for example, a car navigation device (not shown). The obstacle detection unit 6 acquires a captured image from, for example, a camera (not shown) that captures an image of the surroundings of the vehicle 1, and uses the acquired captured image to detect the position, size, etc. of the obstacle on the road surface. , the position and size of the detected obstacle may be included in the obstacle information.
The obstacle detection unit 6 also outputs the set threshold to the avoidance determination unit 8 .

The communication unit 7 performs wireless communication with the server device 10 . The communication unit 7 transmits obstacle information from the obstacle detection unit 6 to the server device 10 . In addition, the communication unit 7 receives obstacle information about obstacles existing on the route along which the vehicle 1 is scheduled to travel (hereinafter referred to as “planned travel route”) from the server device 10 and transmits the information to the avoidance determination unit 8 . Output. The planned travel route is set by, for example, a car navigation device (not shown).

The server device 10 collects and accumulates obstacle information from the obstacle detection device 3 . The obstacle information accumulated in the server device 10 is shared by a plurality of obstacle detection devices 3 mounted on a plurality of vehicles 1 . When the communication unit 7 requests obstacle information about an obstacle existing on the planned travel route of the vehicle 1, the server device 10 extracts the corresponding obstacle information from the accumulated obstacle information. to the communication unit 7 of the vehicle 1.

Based on the obstacle information received by the communication unit 7 from the server device 10, the avoidance determination unit 8 determines whether the numerical value representing the state of the vehicle 1 included in the obstacle information is equal to or greater than the threshold set by the obstacle detection unit 6. If there is, the obstacle included in this obstacle information is determined as an obstacle that the vehicle 1 should avoid.

Obstacles included in the obstacle information received by the communication unit 7 from the server device 10 are detected by an obstacle detection device 3 mounted on a vehicle 1 other than the vehicle 1 (hereinafter referred to as "another vehicle"). likely to be an obstacle. The obstacle detected by the obstacle detection device 3 of the other vehicle is an obstacle that makes passengers of the other vehicle feel uncomfortable. As described above, there are individual differences in whether or not an obstacle makes an obstacle uncomfortable. Not exclusively.

Therefore, when it is estimated that the occupant of the vehicle 1 feels uncomfortable with an obstacle that the occupants of other vehicles have felt uncomfortable, the obstacle detection device 3 avoids the obstacle and Avoid avoiding this obstacle if it is estimated that it will not make you feel uncomfortable. Specifically, the avoidance determination unit 8 determines a threshold value that matches the sensibility of the passenger of the vehicle 1, that is, the threshold value set by the obstacle detection unit 6. Compare with a numerical value that represents the state. If the numerical value representing the state of the other vehicle is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the avoidance determination unit 8 determines that the obstacle should be avoided by the vehicle 1 because it is estimated that the occupant of the vehicle 1 feels uncomfortable with the obstacle. be judged as a thing. On the other hand, if the numerical value representing the state of the other vehicle is less than the threshold value, the avoidance determination unit 8 determines that the vehicle 1 avoids the obstacle because it is estimated that the occupant of the vehicle 1 does not feel uncomfortable with the obstacle. It is judged as an obstacle that does not need to be moved. The avoidance determination unit 8 outputs obstacle information determined to be avoided to the control unit 9 .

If the obstacle information includes any one of tilt, acceleration, and speed, the avoidance determination unit 8 compares the amount of change in any one of tilt, acceleration, and speed with a threshold. On the other hand, when the obstacle information includes inclination, acceleration, and speed, the avoidance determination unit 8 compares the amount of change in inclination with a threshold value, compares the amount of change in acceleration with the threshold value, and compares the amount of change in speed with the threshold value. A comparison with a threshold value is performed. Then, the avoidance determination unit 8 determines that the vehicle 1 should avoid the obstacle when two or more numerical values of the inclination, acceleration, and speed are equal to or greater than the threshold. Alternatively, the avoidance determination unit 8 may determine that an obstacle should be avoided by the vehicle 1 when at least one numerical value out of inclination, acceleration, and speed is equal to or greater than a threshold value.

The control unit 9 automatically drives the vehicle 1 along a planned travel route set by a car navigation device (not shown) or the like. During automatic driving, the control unit 9 controls the speed, direction, etc. of the vehicle 1 so as to avoid obstacles determined by the avoidance determination unit 8 to be avoided based on the obstacle information from the avoidance determination unit 8. . Details of the obstacle avoidance method will be described later.

Next, the operation of the obstacle detection device 3 will be described. The operation of the obstacle detection device 3 is roughly divided into an obstacle detection operation shown in the flow chart of FIG. 2 and an obstacle avoidance operation shown in the flow chart of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an example of an obstacle detection operation by the obstacle detection device 3 according to the first embodiment. For example, when the vehicle 1 starts traveling along the planned travel route, the obstacle detection device 3 starts the operation shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2, and repeats this operation until the vehicle 1 reaches the destination.

In step ST<b>1 , the information acquisition unit 4 acquires vehicle state information and passenger state information from the sensors 2 .

In step ST<b>2 , the comfort level calculation unit 5 uses the passenger condition information acquired by the information acquisition unit 4 to calculate a numerical value representing the comfort level of the passenger in the vehicle 1 .

In step ST3, the obstacle detection unit 6 uses the vehicle state information acquired by the information acquisition unit 4 and the comfort level of the passenger calculated by the comfort level calculation unit 5 to determine whether the occupant of the vehicle 1 feels uncomfortable. Detect sensible obstacles. If the obstacle detection unit 6 detects an obstacle (step ST4 "YES"), the process proceeds to step ST5, and if the obstacle detection unit 6 does not detect an obstacle (step ST4 "NO"), 2 ends.

In step ST5, the communication unit 7 transmits obstacle information including information on the obstacle detected by the obstacle detection unit 6 and a numerical value representing the state of the vehicle 1 used for detecting this obstacle to the server device. 10.
The communication unit 7 may transmit the obstacle information to the server device 10 each time an obstacle is detected, or collect the obstacle information at a predetermined timing such as when the vehicle 1 arrives at the destination. You may transmit to the server apparatus 10. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an example of an obstacle avoidance operation by the obstacle detection device 3 according to the first embodiment. For example, when the vehicle 1 starts traveling along the planned traveling route, the obstacle detection device 3 starts the operation shown in the flowchart of FIG.

In step ST<b>11 , the communication unit 7 receives from the server device 10 obstacle information regarding obstacles present on the planned travel route of the vehicle 1 . When there are multiple obstacles on the planned travel route of the vehicle 1, the communication unit 7 receives all of the multiple obstacle information. Then, the processing of steps ST12 to ST15 is performed for each obstacle on the planned travel route.

In step ST12, the avoidance determination unit 8 determines that the numerical value representing the state of the other vehicle included in the obstacle information received by the communication unit 7 is equal to or greater than the threshold value set for the passenger of the vehicle 1 by the obstacle detection unit 6. If so, the obstacle included in the obstacle information is determined to be an obstacle to be avoided (step ST12 "YES"). On the other hand, the avoidance determination unit 8 determines that the numerical value representing the state of the other vehicle included in the obstacle information received by the communication unit 7 is less than the threshold value set for the passenger of the vehicle 1 by the obstacle detection unit 6. If so, the obstacle included in the obstacle information is determined to be an obstacle that does not need to be avoided (step ST12 "NO").

In step ST<b>13 , the control unit 9 determines whether the vehicle 1 can avoid the obstacle determined by the avoidance determination unit 8 to be avoided. When the controller 9 determines that the obstacle can be avoided (“YES” in step ST13), the avoidance mode in step ST14 is performed. On the other hand, when the controller 9 determines that the obstacle cannot be avoided ("NO" in step ST13), it implements the speed limit mode in step ST15. For example, if the obstacle can be avoided by changing the traveling direction of the vehicle 1, or if the obstacle can be avoided by changing a part of the planned travel route of the vehicle 1, the control unit 9 implements the avoidance mode. otherwise, implement speed limit mode.

In step ST14, the control section 9 avoids the obstacle by changing the traveling direction of the vehicle 1 or the planned travel route.

4A, 4B, and 4C are diagrams showing examples of avoidance modes by the obstacle detection device 3 according to Embodiment 1. FIG. In the example of FIG. 4A, on a two-lane road, an obstacle 21 exists beside the left lane in which the vehicle 1 is traveling. In this case, the controller 9 avoids the obstacle 21 in the avoidance mode by moving the vehicle 1 to the side opposite to the obstacle 21 in the left lane, as indicated by the solid arrow. In the example of FIG. 4B, an obstacle 22 exists in the center of the left lane in which the vehicle 1 is traveling on a two-lane road. In this case, the controller 9 avoids the obstacle 22 by changing the lane of the vehicle 1 from the left lane to the right lane as indicated by the solid arrow in the avoidance mode. In the example of FIG. 4C, the vehicle 1 is traveling on the planned travel route indicated by the dashed-dotted arrow, and an obstacle 23 exists on the planned travel route. In this case, the controller 9 avoids the obstacle 23 by partially changing the scheduled travel route as indicated by the solid-line arrow in the avoidance mode and traveling on a route where the obstacle 23 does not exist. As described above, the vehicle 1 avoids the obstacles 21 , 22 , 23 so that the comfort of the passengers of the vehicle 1 is maintained during automatic operation by the control unit 9 .

In step ST15, the control unit 9 limits the speed of the vehicle 1 when traveling over obstacles.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of speed limit mode by the obstacle detection device 3 according to the first embodiment. In the example of FIG. 5, an obstacle 24 exists on the one-lane road on which the vehicle 1 is traveling. This obstacle 24 is, for example, a cracked step across the road. In this case, the control unit 9 determines that the obstacle 24 cannot be avoided by executing the avoidance mode as shown in FIGS. 4A, 4B, or 4C, and limits the speed of the vehicle 1 . Specifically, the control unit 9 travels over the obstacle 24 at such a speed that the amount of change in inclination and the amount of change in acceleration of the vehicle 1 do not cause discomfort to passengers of the vehicle 1 . This speed may be given to the control unit 9 in advance, or the control unit 9 may calculate the numerical value representing the comfort level of the passenger calculated by the comfort level calculation unit 5 and the value obtained by the information acquisition unit 4. A speed suitable for the passenger may be set based on a correspondence relationship with a numerical value representing the state of the vehicle 1 . As described above, the comfort of the passengers of the vehicle 1 is maintained during automatic operation by the control unit 9 by the vehicle 1 running at low speed over the obstacle 24 .

In step ST16, the control unit 9 determines whether or not the vehicle 1 has arrived at the destination of the planned travel route. If the vehicle 1 has arrived at the destination (step ST16 "YES"), the operation shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 ends. If the vehicle 1 has not arrived at the destination (step ST16 "NO"), the process returns to step ST12.

When the obstacle detection device 3 performs the operations shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2 and the operations shown in the flowchart of FIG. By comparing the obstacle information received by the communication unit 7 in step ST11 with the obstacle information received by the communication unit 7, it may be determined whether the obstacle has disappeared. For example, when the road is repaired and the obstacle disappears, the obstacle detection unit 6 does not detect the obstacle, but the communication unit 7 receives obstacle information about the obstacle. In this case, the obstacle detection unit 6 notifies the server device 10 via the communication unit 7 to delete the obstacle information. By deleting the obstacle information according to this notification, the server device 10 can keep the accumulated obstacle information up-to-date.

6 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the obstacle detection system according to Embodiment 1. FIG.
The communication unit 7 in the obstacle detection device 3 is the communication device 33 . The functions of the information acquisition unit 4, the comfort level calculation unit 5, the obstacle detection unit 6, the avoidance determination unit 8, and the control unit 9 in the obstacle detection device 3 are realized by the processor 31 that executes programs stored in the memory 32. be done. The functions of the information acquisition unit 4, the comfort degree calculation unit 5, the obstacle detection unit 6, the avoidance determination unit 8, and the control unit 9 are realized by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware. Software or firmware is written as a program and stored in memory 32 . The processor 31 reads out and executes programs stored in the memory 32 to achieve the functions of each unit. That is, the obstacle detection device 3 comprises a memory 32 for storing a program which, when executed by the processor 31, results in the steps shown in the flow charts of FIGS. 2 and 3 being executed. It can also be said that this program causes a computer to execute the procedures or methods of the information acquisition unit 4 , the comfort level calculation unit 5 , the obstacle detection unit 6 , the avoidance determination unit 8 , and the control unit 9 .

The server device 10 is composed of a processor 101 , a memory 102 and a communication device 103 . The processor 101 collects obstacle information from the obstacle detection device 3 via the communication device 103 and stores the collected obstacle information in the memory 102 . The processor 101 also reads the obstacle information accumulated in the memory 102 and transmits the read obstacle information to the obstacle detection device 3 via the communication device 103 . Such functions of the server device 10 are implemented by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware. Software or firmware is written as a program and stored in memory 102 . The processor 101 reads and executes a program stored in the memory 102 to collect and accumulate obstacle information from the obstacle detection device 3 and transmit the accumulated obstacle information to the obstacle detection device 3. Realize the function to That is, when the server device 10 is executed by the processor 101, the step of collecting and accumulating the obstacle information from the obstacle detection device 3 and transmitting the accumulated obstacle information to the obstacle detection device 3 is performed. A memory 102 is provided for storing a program that is to be executed dynamically. Further, it can be said that this program causes a computer to execute a procedure or method of collecting and accumulating obstacle information from the obstacle detection device 3 and transmitting the accumulated obstacle information to the obstacle detection device 3. .

Here, the processors 31 and 101 are CPUs (Central Processing Units), processing units, arithmetic units, microprocessors, or the like.
The memories 32 and 102 may be RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), non-volatile or volatile semiconductor memory such as flash memory, hard disk or flexible memory. It may be a magnetic disk such as a disk, or an optical disk such as a CD (Compact Disc) or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc).

As described above, the obstacle detection system according to Embodiment 1 includes the obstacle detection device 3 and the server device 10 . The obstacle detection device 3 includes an information acquisition section 4 , a comfort level calculation section 5 and an obstacle detection section 6 . The information acquisition unit 4 acquires vehicle state information, which is a numerical value representing the state of the vehicle 1 , and passenger state information, which indicates the state of the passengers of the vehicle 1 . The degree-of-comfort calculator 5 calculates a numerical value representing the degree of comfort of the passenger using the passenger state information. The obstacle detection unit 6 detects obstacles using the state of the vehicle 1 and the degree of comfort of the passengers. The server device 10 collects and accumulates from the obstacle detection device 3 obstacle information including the obstacle detected by the obstacle detection device 3 and the numerical value representing the state of the vehicle 1 used to detect this obstacle. do. With this configuration, the obstacle detection device 3 can perform obstacle detection in consideration of the comfort of the passengers on board the vehicle 1 . Further, by collecting and accumulating the obstacle information by the server device 10, the obstacle information can be shared among a plurality of vehicles.

Further, the obstacle detection unit 6 of Embodiment 1 sets a threshold value based on the distribution of numerical values representing the comfort level of the passenger calculated by the comfort level calculation unit 5, and the numerical value representing the state of the vehicle 1 is determined by this threshold value. If it is equal to or greater than the threshold, the place where the vehicle 1 is traveling is detected as an obstacle. With this configuration, the obstacle detection unit 6 can perform obstacle detection using a threshold value that takes into account the comfort of the passengers on board the vehicle 1 .

The obstacle detection device 3 according to Embodiment 1 also includes a communication unit 7 and an avoidance determination unit 8 . The communication unit 7 transmits obstacle information including the obstacle detected by the obstacle detection unit 6 and the numerical value representing the state of the vehicle 1 used for detecting the obstacle to the server device 10, and the vehicle 1 It receives obstacle information about obstacles existing on the route to travel from the server device 10 . When the numerical value representing the state of the other vehicle included in the obstacle information received by the communication unit 7 is equal to or greater than the threshold value set by the obstacle detection unit 6, the avoidance determination unit 8 determines whether or not the value is included in the obstacle information. The obstacle is determined as an obstacle to be avoided. The obstacle detection unit 6 sets the threshold value based on the distribution of numerical values representing the degree of comfort of the passenger calculated by the comfort degree calculation unit 5 . With this configuration, the avoidance determination unit 8 can determine whether or not the occupant of the own vehicle feels uncomfortable with an obstacle that has made the occupant of another vehicle feel uncomfortable, that is, whether or not the obstacle should be avoided.

Further, the obstacle detection device 3 according to Embodiment 1 includes a control section 9 . The control unit 9 performs control to limit the speed of the vehicle 1 when the vehicle 1 travels over the obstacle to be avoided determined by the avoidance determination unit 8 . With this configuration, even when the obstacle cannot be avoided by changing lanes or the like, the control unit 9 can reduce the speed and travel over the obstacle so as not to make the passenger feel uncomfortable.

Since the vehicle body weight and suspension performance differ depending on the model of the vehicle 1, even with the same obstacle, the amount of change in the inclination of the vehicle, that is, the numerical value representing the state of the vehicle, may differ depending on the model. . Therefore, in step ST12 of FIG. 3, when the avoidance determination unit 8 uses the numerical value representing the state of the other vehicle included in the obstacle information detected by the other vehicle for determination, the model of the other vehicle is different from the model of the vehicle 1. , the accuracy of determination may decrease.

Therefore, the communication unit 7 of the obstacle detection device 3 may transmit the vehicle type information of the vehicle 1 together with the obstacle information when transmitting the obstacle information to the server device 10 in step ST5 of FIG. In this case, the server device 10 stores vehicle type information and obstacle information in association with each other. When the communication unit 7 of the obstacle detection device 3 receives the obstacle information on the obstacle existing on the planned travel route from the server device 10 in step ST11 of FIG. receive obstacle information with With this configuration, the avoidance determination unit 8 can accurately determine whether or not the obstacle should be avoided in step ST12 of FIG.

In the first embodiment, the server device 10 accumulates obstacle information, but the obstacle detection device 3 may accumulate obstacle information.
Here, FIG. 7 shows a modification of the obstacle detection device 3 according to the first embodiment. The obstacle detection device 3 shown in FIG. 7 includes an obstacle detection unit 6a, an avoidance determination unit 8a, and a storage unit 40 instead of the obstacle detection unit 6, the avoidance determination unit 8, and the communication unit 7. be.

The obstacle detection unit 6a uses the vehicle state information acquired by the information acquisition unit 4 and the comfort level of the passenger calculated by the comfort level calculation unit 5 to detect obstacles that make the passengers of the vehicle 1 feel uncomfortable. detect. The obstacle detection unit 6a causes the storage unit 40 to store the obstacle information including the information (for example, location) of the detected obstacle and the numerical value representing the state of the vehicle 1 used for the detection of this obstacle. .

The avoidance determination unit 8 a reads from the storage unit 40 obstacle information regarding obstacles present on the planned travel route of the vehicle 1 . When the numerical value representing the state of the vehicle 1 included in the read obstacle information is equal to or greater than the threshold value set by the obstacle detection unit 6a, the avoidance determination unit 8a determines whether to avoid the obstacle included in the obstacle information. It is judged as an obstacle that should be

In this way, the obstacle detection device 3 can perform obstacle detection in consideration of the comfort of the passengers on board the vehicle 1 even when it has the configuration shown in FIG. 7 .

It should be noted that, within the scope of the invention, any component of the embodiment can be modified, or any component of the embodiment can be omitted.

1 vehicle, 2 sensors, 3 obstacle detection device, 4 information acquisition unit, 5 comfort level calculation unit, 6, 6a obstacle detection unit, 7 communication unit, 8, 8a avoidance determination unit, 9 control unit, 10 server device , 21 to 24 obstacles 31, 101 processor 32, 102 memory 33, 103 communication device 40 storage unit.

Claims (10)

an information acquisition unit that acquires vehicle state information, which is a numerical value representing the state of the vehicle, and passenger state information, which indicates the state of a passenger in the vehicle;
a comfort degree calculation unit that calculates a numerical value representing the degree of comfort of the passenger using the passenger state information;
Detecting an obstacle in a place where the vehicle is traveling according to the result of determining the state of the vehicle based on the vehicle state information and a threshold value set using the comfort level of the passenger. and an obstacle detection unit. the vehicle state information includes at least one of inclination, acceleration, or speed of the vehicle;
2. The obstacle detection device according to claim 1, wherein the passenger state information includes at least one of the passenger's face image, heart rate, and breathing pattern. The obstacle detection unit sets a threshold value based on the distribution of numerical values representing the comfort level of the passenger calculated by the comfort level calculation unit, and when the numerical value representing the state of the vehicle is equal to or greater than the threshold value, 2. An obstacle detection device according to claim 1, wherein said vehicle detects a place where said vehicle is running as an obstacle. a storage unit for storing obstacle information including the obstacle detected by the obstacle detection unit and a numerical value representing the state of the vehicle used for detecting the obstacle;
Obstacle information relating to obstacles existing on a route on which the vehicle travels is acquired from the storage unit, and a numerical value representing the state of the vehicle included in the acquired obstacle information is set by the obstacle detection unit. 4. The obstacle detection device according to claim 3, further comprising an avoidance determination unit that determines that the obstacle included in the obstacle information is an obstacle to be avoided when the obstacle is equal to or greater than the threshold value. 5. The obstacle according to claim 4, further comprising a control unit that controls the speed of the vehicle when the vehicle travels over the obstacle to be avoided determined by the avoidance determination unit. detection device. an obstacle detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3;
a server device for collecting and accumulating obstacle information from the obstacle detection device including the obstacle detected by the obstacle detection device and a numerical value representing the state of the vehicle used for detecting the obstacle; An obstacle detection system characterized by: The obstacle detection device is
obstacle information including the obstacle detected by the obstacle detection unit and a numerical value representing the state of the vehicle used for detecting the obstacle is transmitted to the server device, a communication unit that receives obstacle information about existing obstacles from the server device;
When the numerical value representing the state of the other vehicle included in the obstacle information received by the communication unit is equal to or greater than the threshold value set by the obstacle detection unit, the obstacle included in the obstacle information should be avoided. An avoidance determination unit that determines an obstacle,
7. The obstacle detection system according to claim 6, wherein the obstacle detection unit sets the threshold based on a distribution of numerical values representing the degree of comfort of the passenger calculated by the comfort degree calculation unit. 8. The obstacle according to claim 7, further comprising a control unit that controls the speed of the vehicle when the vehicle travels over the obstacle to be avoided determined by the avoidance determination unit. detection system. The server device collects and accumulates from the obstacle detection device vehicle model information on which the obstacle detection device is mounted together with the obstacle information,
8. The obstacle detection system according to claim 7, wherein the communication unit receives obstacle information having vehicle type information that is the same as or similar to that of the own vehicle from the server device. an information acquisition procedure for acquiring vehicle state information, which is a numerical value representing the state of the vehicle, and passenger state information, which indicates the state of a passenger of the vehicle;
A comfort degree calculation procedure for calculating a numerical value representing the comfort degree of the passenger using the passenger state information;
Detecting an obstacle in a place where the vehicle is traveling according to the result of determining the state of the vehicle based on the vehicle state information and a threshold value set using the comfort level of the passenger. An obstacle detection program for causing a computer to execute an obstacle detection procedure.

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