JPH0769092A - Dozing driving warning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To warn a driver visually of being in dozing at a wheel by using a head up display mounted on a vehicle. CONSTITUTION:A main processor 12 finds a average value of variations of while line positions in plural detecting cycles as a drift degree in steering wheel operation to show a dozing degree according to while line position data obtained by applying image processing to a road surface image containing a white line to divide travel lanes. When the dozing degree is slight, a warning message is displayed in a flashing condition by a display tube 22 of a head up display, and when the dozing is in a medium degree, a buzzer 40 buzzes, and when the dozing is in a serious degree, oxygen-containing air is blown against a driver from a nozzle 32.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dozing driving warning device, and more particularly to a dozing driving warning device capable of visually warning that a driver is in a dozing driving state by using a head-up display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various devices have been proposed for waking up a driver from asleep when a dozing drive is detected. For example, the "drowsiness prevention sheet for vehicle" described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-141135 sends a drive control signal from the output unit of the control device when the drowsiness detection unit of the control device detects the drowsiness of the driver, A driving device that responds to the drive control signal vibrates the driver's seat to stimulate the driver and wake him up from asleep.

The "drowsy driving prevention device" described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-185834 activates an alarm when a sensor detects that the driver's head is leaning against the pillow of the driver's seat. Thus, the driver's head is stimulated by vibration or the like to warn the driver of the dozing.

[0004]

According to the above-mentioned conventional device, since the driver is directly stimulated when the driver is in a dozing state, it is considered to have a considerable effect in awakening the driver from dozing. To be On the other hand, a driver who wakes up from a drowsy driving may be surprised by the stimulus given by the drowsy driving prevention device and may rather perform an inappropriate driving operation.

Therefore, the present invention utilizes a head-up display mounted on a vehicle to visually give a warning that the driver is in a dozing driving state, preferably a dozing warning device capable of giving a warning suitable for the degree of dozing. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION A drowsy driving alarm device according to the present invention comprises a detection means for detecting a drowsy driving state,
The present invention is characterized by including a head-up display for displaying a drowsy driving warning, and control means for causing the head-up display to perform a warning display operation when the detecting means detects a drowsy driving state.

[0007] Preferably, the drowsy driving warning device comprises a judging means for judging the degree of drowsiness based on the detection output from the detecting means, and a warning means for giving a driver a tactile sensation. The means activates the head-up display if the degree of dozing determined by the determination means is small, and activates the alarm means if the degree of dozing determined is large.

More preferably, the dozing driving alarm device is
A second warning means is provided for giving an auditory stimulus to the driver, and the control means activates the second warning means if the determined dozing degree is medium.

[0009]

When the detecting means detects the dozing driving state, the head-up display gives a dozing driving warning display under the control of the control means, thereby visually warning that the driving is in the dozing driving state. In a particular aspect of the present invention, the drowsiness degree is determined by the determination means based on the detection output from the detection means, and if the determined drowsiness degree is small, the head-up display is activated to give a visual warning. . If the degree of drowsiness is moderate, the second alarm means is activated to give a stimulus to the driver by hearing, and if the degree of drowsiness is large, the alarm means is activated to give a stimulus to the driver. Given.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A drowsy driving warning device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below. Referring to FIG. 1, the drowsy driving warning device includes a white line tracing device 10 for detecting a degree of fluctuation in steering wheel operation indicating a drowsy driving state.

The white line tracing device 10 includes a white line (or a yellow line) for distinguishing driving lanes, which is mounted at the center of the upper portion of the front windshield of the vehicle (shown by reference numeral 60 in FIGS. 2 and 3). It has a camera 11 for photographing the road surface, and is adapted to photograph the white lines on the left side or the right side or both the left and right sides of the vehicle. Also, the white line tracing device 10 includes a main processor 12, a memory 13 storing a program for controlling the white line tracing device, and an image sent from the camera 11, for example, 256 × 256 pieces each represented by 1 byte. A / on a grayscale image consisting of pixels
A camera interface 14 for D conversion, a frame memory 15 for storing the grayscale image, and an image processor 16 for image processing the grayscale image to detect a white line position in the grayscale image are provided. Processor 1
The white line position data from 6 is stored in the data memory section of the memory 13.

The main processor 12 includes a memory 13, a camera interface 14, and a frame memory 1 described above.
5 and the image processor 16, an input / output interface 17 is connected via a bus 18. In addition, the doze driving warning device displays either a digital image showing the vehicle speed in units of “km / h” or a message image for warning the dozing driving (for example, English letters “REST”) in the back of the front windshield 60. It has a head-up display for displaying as a virtual image. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the head-up display 20
Has a display unit 21 installed in the instrument panel 70, and a combiner 61 provided at a predetermined portion of the windshield 60, for example, a portion on the right side of the steering wheel when viewed from the driver's seat.

The display unit 21 includes a high volatility fluorescent display tube 22 for displaying a vehicle speed digital image or a warning message image, and a combiner 61 for displaying the digital image and the like.
And a reflecting mirror 23 for reflecting the light toward.
The combiner 61 is a thin-film reflective film, and is formed on the indoor side of the windshield as a part of the glass layer in the manufacturing process of the windshield 60.

Reference numeral 24 in FIG. 2 indicates a speedometer unit, and reference numeral 80 in FIG. 3 indicates a steering wheel. Further, the drowsy driving warning device has an oxygen blowing device 30 as a warning device for giving a driver a tactile sensation (FIG. 1). Oxygen blowing device 30
Is an air source 31 that stores air containing a predetermined concentration of oxygen,
A nozzle 32 for blowing oxygen-containing air toward the driver's face, an electromagnetic on-off valve 33 arranged in the middle of a pipe connecting the air source 31 and the nozzle 32, and its electromagnetic solenoid 3
Drive circuit 34 for energizing 3a.

The drowsy driving warning device is a warning buzzer 4 as a second warning device for giving a driver aural stimulation.
0 and a drive circuit 41 for driving the same (FIG. 1), and the alarm buzzer 40 is embedded in, for example, the ceiling of the vehicle body immediately above the driver's seat. The display tube drive circuit 23 for driving the fluorescent display tube 22 of the display unit 21, the solenoid valve drive circuit 34, and the alarm buzzer drive circuit 41 described above are connected to the output side of the main processor 12 via the input / output interface 17. It is connected to the.

Then, the vehicle speed sensor 50 is connected to the input side of the main processor 12 through the input / output interface 17.
Are connected. Although not shown, the vehicle speed sensor 50
Is a permanent magnet connected to the output shaft of the transmission mounted on the vehicle via a speedometer cable,
It has a reed switch arranged opposite to this, and the reed switch contact opens and closes whenever the magnetic pole of the permanent magnet approaches or separates from the reed switch during rotation of the permanent magnet due to rotation of the transmission, thereby increasing the vehicle speed. A pulse signal having a frequency corresponding to the pulse signal is generated.

The operation of the dozing driving warning device having the above-mentioned structure will be described below. Main processor 12 during vehicle operation
Repeats the dozing driving warning process shown in FIG. 4 at a predetermined cycle. In this alarm processing, each part of the white line tracing device 10 operates under the control of the main processor 12 as a detecting means, and the white line position is detected. That is, camera 1
The image from No. 1 is converted into a grayscale image in the camera interface 14 and stored in the frame memory 15.
Next, the grayscale image from the frame memory 15 is subjected to image processing by the image processor 16, the white line position in the grayscale image is detected, and the white line position data is stored in the data memory section of the memory 13. Hereinafter, a case where two white lines on the left and right sides of the vehicle are detected will be described as an example.

The main processor 12 arithmetically averages the positions of the left and right white lines represented by the white line position data read from the memory 13, thereby calculating the position of the midpoint of the left and right white lines,
The midpoint position data is stored in a predetermined memory area of the memory 13. Next, the processor 12 obtains the absolute value of the difference between the midpoint position data calculated in the current processing cycle and the midpoint position data calculated in the previous processing cycle as the midpoint position change amount in the current cycle ( Step S1). The amount of change represents the degree of fluctuation in the operation of the steering wheel 80 by the driver and thus the degree of dozing.

In step S2, the midpoint position change amount is read out from the memory 13 and added in this time and in each of the N total processing cycles up to (N-1) times before that,
This addition result is divided by the value "N" to obtain the average value of the midpoint position change amount. Next, the processor 12 as the doze degree determining means reads the vehicle speed data V from the vehicle speed sensor 50, refers to the vehicle speed / sway degree map (not shown) stored in the memory 13 in advance, and determines the vehicle speed V. First responded
Thru | or 3rd reference value is calculated | required (step S3). The first reference value is set to a value smaller than the second and third reference values, and represents the lower limit value of the degree of light fluctuation.
Further, the second reference value is set to a value smaller than the third reference value, and indicates a boundary between the degree of light fluctuation and the degree of light fluctuation. Furthermore, the third reference value indicates the boundary between the degree of moderate fluctuation and the degree of severe fluctuation.

The processor 12 then proceeds to step S2.
It is determined whether or not the average value of the amount of change in the midpoint position obtained in step 1 is larger than the first reference value (step S4). The doze driving warning process in this cycle is ended without performing any operation. In this case, the processor 12 causes the display tube 22 of the display unit 21 of the head-up display 20 to perform the speed display operation via the display tube drive circuit 23. As a result, a digital image corresponding to the vehicle speed data V from the vehicle speed sensor 50 is generated by the display tube 22 and projected onto the combiner 61 of the head-up display 20 via the reflecting mirror 23. Then, a vehicle speed digital image is formed in front of the front windshield 60, and is visually recognized by the driver as a virtual image.

If the determination result in step S4 is affirmative, the processor 12 further determines whether or not the average value of the midpoint position change amounts obtained in step S2 is larger than the second reference value (step S5) If this determination result is negative, it is determined that the driver is in a mild dozing state. In this case, the processor 12 causes the display tube 22 of the display unit 21 of the head-up display 20 to perform the warning message display operation via the display tube drive circuit 23 (step S6).

As a result, a warning message image (for example, the English character "REST") is intermittently generated by the display tube 22 and projected onto the combiner 61 of the head-up display 20 via the reflecting mirror 23. As a result, the message image is displayed on the windshield 60 instead of the vehicle speed digital image display.
Is displayed as a virtual image in front of. That is, a visual warning is given to the driver.

On the other hand, if the decision result in the step S5 is affirmative, the processor 12 further decides whether or not the average value of the midpoint position change amount obtained in the step S2 is larger than the third reference value. (Step S7) If the result of this determination is negative, it is determined that the driver is in a moderate doze state. In this case, the processor 12 causes the head-up display 20 to display the above-mentioned warning message blinking, and drives the alarm buzzer 40 via the buzzer drive circuit 41 to ring the buzzer 40 (step S8). This gives a visual warning to the driver as well as an auditory stimulus.

If the determination result in step S7 is affirmative, it is determined that the driver is in a heavy dozing state, and the processor 12 causes the head-up display 20 to display a blinking warning message and sounds the buzzer 40. Then, the solenoid valve solenoid 33a is energized via the solenoid valve drive circuit 34 (step S9). As a result, the solenoid valve 33 is opened, the oxygen-containing air from the air source 31 is supplied to the nozzle 32 via the solenoid valve 33, and the oxygen-containing air is blown from the nozzle 32 to the driver's face. As a result, the driver is provided with a tactile stimulus.

When the driver wakes up from drowsiness and performs an appropriate steering operation, the average value of the change amount of the midpoint position gradually decreases, the oxygen-containing air is ejected from the nozzle 32, and the buzzer 40 is operated.
And the warning message blinking display by the head-up display 20 are sequentially stopped. The doze driving warning device of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, but can be variously modified.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the buzzer 40 is sounded when the driver is in a moderate dozing state, and the oxygen-containing air is jetted when the driver is in a heavy dozing state. Is not essential, and buzzer sounding, air injection, or both may be omitted. Further, cold air may be blown to the driver instead of the oxygen-containing air.

Further, in the embodiment, the white line tracing device 10 detects the degree of fluctuation in steering operation as the degree of drowsiness, but the method of detecting the degree of drowsiness in carrying out the present invention is not limited to this. For example, based on a detection output from a steering angle sensor for detecting a steering angle, the number of times of steering in a predetermined period is detected, and when the number of times of steering is small, it is determined that the driver is in a dozing driving state, and an alarm device is issued. Alternatively, the alarm operation may be performed. The steering angle sensor includes, for example, a slit disk mounted on a steering shaft so as to be rotatable integrally with the steering shaft, and two photo interrupters fixed to a steering column, each photo interrupter including a light emitting diode and a slit disk. With respect to the light emitting diode, a phototransistor is arranged on the opposite side of the light emitting diode so as to face the light emitting diode, and an on / off pulse is generated at a predetermined steering angle in response to passage or blocking of light by a slit disk due to a steering wheel operation by a driver. Any type can be used.

As another modification regarding the detection of the drowsy driving state, when the steering gripping force of the driver detected by the pressure sensitive sensor embedded in the steering wheel is reduced, or when the driver is detected by the pressure sensitive sensor embedded in the headrest. When the weight of the headrest leaning against the headrest increases, it may be determined that the vehicle is in the dozing driving state.

In the mode in which the degree of fluctuation is detected by the white line tracing device, it is not essential to set the reference value used for detecting the degree of fluctuation according to the vehicle speed as in the case of the above embodiment. Further, instead of the average value of the midpoint positions of the left and right white lines, the average value of the positions of the left or right white line in the camera image may be used. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the oxygen-containing air is blown to the driver's face to give the driver a tactile sensation, but the alarm device for giving the tactile stimulus is not limited to this. For example,
A vibration source may be embedded in the side support or the lumbar support of the driver's seat to vibrate the seat when the dozing state is detected.

[0030]

As described above, the drowsiness driving alarm device of the present invention includes the detection means for detecting the drowsiness driving state,
Since a head-up display for giving a drowsy driving warning display and a control means for causing the head-up display to perform a warning display operation when the drowsiness driving state is detected by the detection means are provided in the vehicle for speed display etc. Using the head-up display installed,
You can visually warn that you are in a dozing driving state.

Further, according to a particular aspect of the present invention, the dozing driving warning device is for judging the drowsiness degree based on the detection output from the detecting means, and for giving the driver a tactile sensation. The control means causes the head-up display to perform a warning display operation when the degree of dozing determined by the determination means is small, and activates the alarm means when the determined degree of dozing is large. More preferably, the drowsy driving warning device includes a second warning means for giving aural stimulation to the driver, and the control means activates the second warning means if the determined dozing degree is medium. . Therefore, a warning suitable for the degree of drowsiness can be issued, and the risk of the driver being surprised by the warning and making a mistake in operating the steering wheel is reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a main part of a drowsy driving warning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing a head-up display of the doze driving warning device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing virtual image display by the head-up display of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a dozing driving warning process executed by the main processor of FIG. 1.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Camera 12 Main Processor 16 Image Processor 20 Head-up Display 21 Display Unit 22 Fluorescent Display Tube 23 Reflector 30 Oxygen Blowing Device 32 Nozzle 33 Solenoid Valve 40 Buzzer 50 Vehicle Speed Sensor 61 Combiner 80 Steering Handle

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A detection means for detecting a drowsy driving state, a head-up display for displaying a drowsy driving warning, and a warning display for the head-up display when the drowsing driving state is detected by the detection means. A drowsiness driving alarm device, comprising: a control unit for operating the device. 2. A discriminating means for discriminating a drowsiness degree based on a detection output from the detecting means, and an alarm means for giving a stimulus to the driver as a tactile sensation. The control means comprises the discriminating means. The drowsiness driving warning device according to claim 1, wherein the head-up display is operated to display a warning when the degree of dozing determined by the means is small, and the warning means is activated when the degree of dozing determined is large. 3. A second alarm means for providing a driver with an auditory stimulus, wherein the control means activates the second alarm means if the determined degree of dozing is medium. The dozing driving warning device according to claim 2.