JPH06274798A - Safety device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To avoid a driving too much depending on an automatic steering control too much by generating a warning when the frequency of operating a deviation controller is higher than the prescribed value. CONSTITUTION:An automobile M1 shows the present travelling state. An automobile M2 shows it is likely to deviate from the travelling path when the distance to an edged part alpha becomes a threshold value L2. An automobile M3 has the distance L0 to the edged part alpha and shows the state deviating from the travelling road. Whether or not the distance L1 of the present travelling state is lower than the threshold value L2 is discriminated and when it is proved to be lower, a warning device is operated. Further, whether or not the distance L1 is lower than the threshold value L0 is discriminated and when it is proved to be lower, the automatic steering control is performed to keep the travelling of the automobile M1 and to count the number of operations of the automatic steering. When the count value becomes higher than the prescribed value, the automatic brake is operated to reduce the car speed or stop the car.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle safety device for suppressing deviation of a vehicle from a road on which a vehicle is currently traveling due to generation of an alarm or automatic steering.

[0002] In recent vehicles, there are more and more opportunities to carry out driving to continue traveling on a predetermined road, such as when traveling on a highway. From this point of view, when the vehicle accidentally deviates from or is about to deviate from the traveling road, an alarm is issued or automatic steering is performed to return to the original traveling road in order to suppress the departure from the traveling road. Deviation suppression devices have been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 62-149921 and 2-2).
70005).

[0003]

While the deviation restraint device described above suppresses deviation from the traveling path, it reduces the burden on the driver, while the driver tends to rely too much on the deviation restraint control. Then, there is a possibility that a problem such as giving the minimum driving attention required for avoiding a danger that cannot be dealt with by the deviation suppression control.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle safety device which is capable of avoiding excessive reliance on automatic steering in a vehicle equipped with a deviation restraint device for restraining deviation from the current travel route. Especially.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following as a first configuration thereof. That is, when the vehicle deviates from or is about to depart from the traveling path on which the vehicle is currently traveling, in a vehicle equipped with a deviation suppressing device that suppresses deviation of the vehicle from the traveling path, the operation frequency of the deviation suppressing device is set to a predetermined value. When the value is equal to or more than the value, an alarm means for issuing an alarm is provided.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following second construction. That is, when the vehicle deviates from or is about to depart from the traveling path on which the vehicle is currently traveling, in a vehicle equipped with a deviation suppressing device that suppresses deviation of the vehicle from the traveling path, the operation frequency of the deviation suppression has a predetermined value. In the above case, the speed reducing means for forcibly reducing the vehicle speed is provided. In this case, the deceleration means can be configured to perform deceleration until the vehicle stops, where the vehicle speed becomes zero.

[0007]

According to the structure described in claim 1, when the operation frequency of the departure suppressing device is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, it is considered that the tendency of overreliance on the deviation suppressing control becomes strong. An alarm device is activated in order to allow the driver to drive with due caution, which is preferable for ensuring driving safety.

With the structure as described in claim 2, when the tendency to rely too much on the deviation restraint control becomes strong, the vehicle speed is forcibly reduced to improve the safety. Become. Then, by adopting the configuration as described in claim 3, safety is further improved.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 shows the outline of automatic steering.
Indicates the left edge of the road on which you are currently traveling, and M
Reference numerals 1 to M3 denote automobiles to which the present invention is applied.
The automobile M1 indicates the current traveling state, and the actual distance to the edge portion (boundary line of the traveling road) α at this time is indicated by L1. The distance to the edge α of the automobile M2 is L2.
In this case, an alarm device such as a buzzer is activated to warn the driver that the vehicle is about to depart from the road. Further, the automobile M3 shows a case where the distance to the edge α is L0 (L0 <L1). At this time,
If the vehicle travels as it is, it is assumed that the vehicle will definitely deviate from the traveling path, and the vehicle is automatically steered so that the distance to the edge α becomes large, that is, the traveling path on which the vehicle is currently traveling can be maintained.

FIG. 2 shows a control system for controlling the automatic steering as shown in FIG. 1 and prohibiting the automatic steering as required. In FIG.
U is a control unit configured by using a microcomputer, and the control unit U includes sensors S1 to S1.
The signal from S4 is input. The sensor S1 detects the steering angle of the steering wheel. The sensor S2 detects the vehicle speed. The sensor S3 detects whether or not the turn indicator is operating. The sensor S4 measures the distance to the edge portion α of the automobile, and is configured by using either one or both of the radar and the camera.

On the other hand, the control unit U outputs to an alarm device 11 such as a buzzer, an automatic steering device 12 and an automatic braking device 13. The automatic steering device 12 has an actuator linked to a steering system, and has a control unit U.
The steering system is driven prior to the driver's operation of the steering wheel in accordance with a command signal from the steering system. Further, the automatic brake device 13 automatically generates a brake hydraulic pressure to reduce the vehicle speed when the brake pedal is not depressed, and is used in, for example, a traction control device. Things are used.

The control contents of the control unit U are shown in FIGS.
The description will be made with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 and 4 are based on the assumption that a manual switch (not shown) for activating the automatic steering device 12 is ON, and when the manual switch is OFF, the automatic steering device 12 is in the operation prohibited state. It is said that there is no automatic steering.

Based on the above, first, P1 in FIG.
In the above, based on the outputs from the respective sensors S1 to S3,
The current vehicle speed V0, the distance L1 to the edge portion α, and the steering wheel steering angle θH are read. Next, at P2, the steering angular velocity dθH is calculated by differentiating the steering angle θH.

At P3, by looking at the output from the sensor S3, it is judged whether or not the turn signal (turn signal) is OFF. If the determination in P3 is NO, that is, if the turn signal is activated, it is clear that the driver intends to make a right turn or a left turn and deviate from the current traveling path. Is released (prohibition of automatic steering).

If the result of the determination in P3 is YES, whether or not it is in the predetermined region while referring to the map shown in FIG. 5 in which the steering wheel steering angle θH and the steering angular velocity dθH are set as parameters in P4. To be determined. Here, the hatched area shown in FIG. 5 is the predetermined area. That is, when the steering angle θH is equal to or greater than a predetermined value,
An area having a predetermined value or more is a predetermined area.

If the result of the determination in P4 is YES, it is considered that the driver has a strong intention to deviate from the current road even if the turn signal is not ON. At P5, automatic steering is released. That is, when the determination in P4 is YES, the direction indicator O
Not to mention that there is a possibility of forgetting to do N, but when there is a desire to deviate from the current roadway so quickly that there is no time to turn on the turn signal to avoid an obstacle that was suddenly discovered. Therefore, at this time, it is permissible to cancel the automatic steering at P5 and change the direction of the vehicle as the driver operates the steering wheel.

If the determination in P4 is NO, in P6, the current distance L1 to the edge α is the predetermined threshold value L2.
Is less than or equal to. Y is determined by this P6
In the case of ES, the alarm device 11 is activated at P7,
It warns the driver that it is about to deviate from the current road. The threshold value L2 is set to increase as the vehicle speed V0 increases, as shown in FIG.

After P7, at P8, it is judged if the current distance L1 to the edge α is smaller than a predetermined threshold value L0 (L0 <L2). YE in this P8 judgment
At S, automatic steering is executed at P9 to increase the current distance L1. The threshold value L0 is set to increase as the vehicle speed V0 increases, as shown in FIG. If NO in the determination of P6 or NO in the determination of P8, the process returns to P1.

After P9 in FIG. 3, the process shifts to P11 in FIG. 4 and the number of automatic steering operations is counted. Then P
In 12, the initial time when the automatic steering was started,
That is, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time, for example, 20 minutes, has elapsed from the time when the first count was performed from the state in which the counter value of the number of operations described later has been cleared. This P12
When the determination is YES, it is determined in P13 whether the number of times counted in P11 is a predetermined value or more.

If the determination in P13 is YES, it means that the automatic steering operation frequency is too high, and the automatic braking device 13 is activated in P14 to reduce the vehicle speed. After that, in P15, it is determined whether or not the vehicle speed V0 has become zero or less, that is, whether or not the vehicle has stopped. If the determination in P15 is no, return to P14,
When the determination in P15 is YES, both the automatic steering control and the automatic brake control are released in P16, and then in P17, the counter counted in P11 is cleared.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
It is used instead of FIG. That is, after P9 in FIG. 3, in P21 in FIG. 8, it is determined whether the steering state of the steering wheel is 0.001 Hz or less. After all, the determination of P21 is to check whether or not the steering state is extremely slow, and whether or not the driver is in a dozing state or a state close to this.

If the result of the determination in P21 is YES, it means that it is possible that the person is asleep, so in P22, the number of times of automatic steering operation is counted up. After this, the processing after P23 is carried out, and the contents are shown in FIG.
Since it is the same as that of P12 and below, duplicate description thereof will be omitted.

In the above embodiment, in order to simplify the explanation,
Although the deviation from the left edge α of the traveling path has been described, the same can be applied to the right edge. Further, the operation frequency of the automatic steering is not limited to the number of times of operation within a predetermined time, but may be the number of times of operation within a predetermined traveling distance, for example, 2 km. Of course, instead of the automatic steering, the deviation from the traveling road may be suppressed by operating an alarm device such as a buzzer.

Further, P14 and P15 of FIG. 4 (P of FIG. 8)
25, P26), the automatic brake may only reduce the vehicle speed by a predetermined ratio, for example, 20 to 30%. In this case, when the automatic steering operation frequency becomes too frequent, the vehicle will eventually be stopped.

Furthermore, the above P14, P15 (P25,
Instead of the automatic brake of P26), an alarm device such as a buzzer may be operated. In this case, the alarm device operation of P7 in FIG. 3 is abolished, or P14 rather than the alarm of P7. , P15 (P25, P26) can be set to give a stronger alarm or the type of alarm can be changed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of automatic steering.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a control system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a control example of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a control example of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of setting a predetermined area in which automatic steering is prohibited.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of setting a threshold value for operating an alarm device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of setting a threshold value for executing automatic steering.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing another control example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 α: Edge of traveling path M1 to M3: Vehicle L0 to L2: Distance to edge α U: Control unit S1: Sensor (for steering wheel steering angle detection) S4: Sensor (for distance measurement to edge α) 11 : Alarm device 12: Automatic steering device 13: Automatic braking device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle provided with a deviation suppressing device for suppressing deviation of a vehicle from a traveling path when the vehicle deviates from or is about to deviate from a traveling path on which the vehicle is currently traveling. A safety device for a vehicle, comprising an alarm means for issuing an alarm when the frequency is equal to or higher than a predetermined value. 2. A deviation suppression device for suppressing deviation of a vehicle from a traveling path when the vehicle deviates from or is about to depart from a traveling path on which the vehicle is currently traveling. Is provided with a decelerating means for forcibly decelerating the vehicle speed when is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. 3. The deceleration means according to claim 2, wherein the deceleration means decelerates to a vehicle stop state where the vehicle speed becomes zero.