JPH0816994A - Judging device for traveling state of automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect the degree of necessity to arouse the attention of a driver so that necessary control can be executed in accordance with the degree of necessity to arouse the attention. CONSTITUTION:On the basis of the deviation in a lateral direction of one's own vehicle and the side edge of a traveling road, the behavior of one's own vehicle against a traveling lane is detected by a behavior detecting means 14. It is judged whether breakaway operation against the traveling lane is repeated or not by a breakaway operation repetition judging means 15. In the case that one's own vehicle repeats the breakaway operation against the traveling lane, it is judged that the degree of necessity to arouse the attention of the driver is high by an attention arousing necessity degree judging means 16. When the degree of necessity to arouse the attention is judged to be high, a sound volume of an alarm by an alarm device 6 is raised higher than usual time by a sound volumg correcting means 17.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle running condition determining apparatus for predicting that a vehicle departs from a running lane in which it is currently running.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, JP-A-63-214900.
As described in the publication, the driver's inattentiveness, carelessness, etc.,
2. Description of the Related Art There is known a device that issues a warning to a driver when a vehicle deviates from a predetermined traveling lane without relying on the driver's conscious steering to call attention. In such a device, the distances D1 and D2 between the vehicle body and the white line are calculated and the distances D1 and D2 are calculated.
It is determined whether or not 2 is smaller than the predetermined values A1 and A2 (corresponding to a predetermined distance that may approach other vehicles or road shoulders if there is a further approach and may cause a lane deviation).

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, the distances D1 and D2 between the vehicle body and the white line are simply detected for a predetermined distance ahead of the host vehicle, and the vehicle traveling in the traveling lane is driven by the vehicle. It only uniformly detects whether to deviate from one of the side edges of the lane, and deviations that do not depend on the driver's intention, such as dozing, and deviations due to the driver's intention, such as overtaking, are the same. When a deviation is detected and the driver's attention is called by an alarm or the like, for example, if there is a deviation, the driver's attention is called by an alarm of a certain volume. Therefore, no distinction is made even when the driver is asleep while driving, such as when he / she does not need to call the driver's attention. As a result, it is not possible to expect a sufficient effect on the driver's attention.

The present invention provides a vehicle running condition determination device capable of detecting the degree of attention required of a driver and performing necessary control according to the degree of attention required. Is.

[0005]

According to the present invention, a side edge detecting means for detecting a side edge of a traveling lane in which a vehicle is currently traveling, and an output from the side edge detecting means are received from the traveling lane. It is premised on a traveling state determination device for an automobile having a deviation prediction means for predicting that the vehicle deviates.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the behavior detection is performed by receiving the output of the side edge detection means and detecting the behavior of the host vehicle with respect to the traveling lane based on the lateral deviation between the host vehicle and the side edge of the traveling road. Means and the output of the behavior detection means, and determines whether or not the departure operation is repeated with respect to the traveling lane, and the output of the departure operation repetition determination means and the departure operation repetition determination means, and receives the output of the departure lane. When the own vehicle repeats the deviating operation to (1), it is configured to include an attention calling necessity determination unit that determines that the attention calling necessity for calling the driver's attention is high.

In the second aspect of the invention, the deviation repetition determining means determines the current deviation in the lateral direction between the center line of the host vehicle and the side edge of the road, in comparison with the past deviation.

In the invention according to claim 3, further,
Receiving the output of the deviation prediction means, outputting the warning means for outputting the warning at the time of deviation prediction, and the output of the attention calling necessity determination means,
When it is determined that there is a high need for alerting, a sound volume correction unit that raises the sound volume of the alarm by the alarm unit compared to the normal time is provided.

Further, in the invention according to claim 4, a departure time detection means for receiving the output of the departure prediction means and determining whether or not the departure of the vehicle from the traveling lane has continued for a predetermined time, and the departure time. When the departure of the vehicle from the traveling lane continues for a predetermined time in response to the output of the time detection means, the attention calling necessity determination means for determining that the driver's attention is required is low. Configure to prepare.

In the invention according to claim 5, further,
Receiving the output of the deviation prediction means, outputting the warning means for outputting the warning at the time of deviation prediction, and the output of the attention calling necessity detection means,
When it is determined that the degree of need for alerting is low, the volume of the alarm of the alarm means is set to be lower than that of the normal time.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the behavior of the host vehicle with respect to the traveling lane is detected based on the lateral deviation between the host vehicle and the side edge of the traveling path, and the departure operation repeat determination means performs the above-described travel. It is determined whether or not the own vehicle repeats the deviating movement to the lane, and as a result, when the own vehicle repeats the deviating movement to the traveling lane, it is highly necessary to call the driver's attention. Judgment is made by the attention necessity judgment means.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the determination of the repeat of the departure motion by the departure repeat determination means is based on the current deviation in the lateral direction between the host vehicle center line and the side edge (white line) of the road. , By comparing with past deviations.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when it is determined that the degree of need for calling attention is high, the sound volume correction means raises the sound volume of the warning by the warning means as compared with the normal time.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the departure time detecting means detects that the departure of the own vehicle from the traveling lane continues for a predetermined time, and as a result, the departure of the own vehicle from the traveling lane is predetermined. When it continues for the time, the attention calling necessity determination means determines that the attention calling necessity degree for calling the driver's attention is low.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, when it is determined that the degree of need for alerting is low, the volume correction means reduces the volume of the alarm by the alarm means to a level lower than that in normal times.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 In FIG. 1 showing the whole of an automobile, reference numeral 1 is an automobile, and a CCD camera 2 is arranged above the interior of the automobile. CCD
The camera 2 captures a scene (running road) in front of the host vehicle within a predetermined range. The scene in front of the host vehicle captured by the CCD camera 2 is input to the image processing unit 3 for image processing. The side edge of the traveling lane is detected by the control unit 4 based on the white line of the road. Reference numeral 5 is a head-up display arranged in the front part of the passenger compartment, and 6 is a voice alarm device arranged on the instrument panel. When the driver is about to depart from the driving lane due to drowsiness, the head-up display 5 While displaying, the alarm device 6 gives an alarm,
It is designed to draw the driver's attention. It should be noted that, in addition to issuing an alarm, if the departure avoidance operation is not performed by the driver after the alarm, the departure avoidance operation may be performed by the automatic steering device and the vehicle may be returned to the traveling lane.

A signal from the vehicle speed sensor 7 is also input to the control unit 4.

The control unit 4 is specifically
As shown in FIG. 3, a side edge detecting means 11 for receiving a signal from the image processing unit 3 for detecting a side edge of a traveling lane in which the vehicle is currently traveling, and an output of the side edge detecting means 11, The deviation prediction unit 12 predicts that the vehicle departs from the traveling lane. In addition, the control unit 4 has first and second departure determination points, which are first and second departure determination points for determining future departure situations on both sides of the own vehicle center extension line that is away from the subject vehicle by a predetermined distance L. The warning points P1 and P2 are the third and fourth deviation determination points P3 and P4, which are the third and fourth deviation determination points for determining the current deviation situation on both sides of the own vehicle, or the center line of the own vehicle or its Distances d1 and d2 in the vehicle width direction to the extension line
Therefore, the point setting means 13 for setting left and right is provided,
The deviation predicting means 12 judges that the deviation from the traveling lane occurs when at least one of the warning points P1 to P4 deviates from the side edge of the traveling lane or the judgment line set inside the side edge. Has become. still,
The vehicle 1, which is the own vehicle, the deviation determination points P1 to P4,
The relationship with the side edge of the driving lane (white line RL) is shown in FIG.

Further, the control unit 4 receives the output of the side edge detecting means 11 and detects the behavior of the own vehicle with respect to the traveling lane based on the lateral deviation between the own vehicle and the side edge of the traveling road. The output of the detection means 14 and the departure behavior repetition determination means 15 for receiving the output of the behavior detection means 14 for determining whether or not the departure behavior for the traveling lane is repeated is output. received,
When the own vehicle repeats the deviating operation with respect to the traveling lane, the vehicle is equipped with the attention calling necessity determination unit 16 that determines that the driver's attention is required to be high. The deviation repeat determination means 15 is configured to determine the current deviation in the lateral direction between the host vehicle center line and the side edge of the traveling lane by comparing it with the past deviation.

Further, the control unit 4 receives the output of the attention demanding degree determining means 16 and the volume correcting means 1 receives the output.
7 is provided, and when it is determined that there is a high need for calling attention,
The volume of the alarm 6 by the alarm device that outputs the alarm by the signal from the deviation prediction means 12 is set to be higher than that in the normal time.

The control of the control unit 4 is performed as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, when starting, white line information is input from the image processing unit 4 (step S1).
). As a result, the radius of curvature RR of the left and right white lines on the road
, RL are calculated. Then, the vehicle speed V is detected by the signal from the vehicle speed sensor 7 (step S2), and the distance L (see FIG. 4) is set based on the vehicle speed V (step S2).
3). After that, the first to fourth deviation determination points P1 to P4
Is set (step S4). Although the distances d1 and d2 can be changed according to the vehicle speed, they are constant in this example.

Then, in order to detect the behavior of the host vehicle with respect to the traveling lane, the current lateral deviation ε (see FIG. 6) between the host vehicle and the left white line is calculated (step S5),
Based on this, it is determined whether or not the host vehicle is moving in the departure direction deviating from the traveling lane (step S6). Here, the left white line is used for the determination, but the left and right white lines or the right white line may be used if necessary. The judgment is
The difference Δε between the current deviation and the past deviation is compared with a certain threshold value, but the current deviation ε is larger than the median value on the travel line because it corresponds to the deviation from the left and right side edges. Whether the threshold is positive or negative is changed depending on whether or not.

If the vehicle is moving in the departure direction, the flag is set to 1 (step S7), and it is determined whether or not the doze count, which is the number of times the vehicle has moved in the departure direction, exceeds the set value B1 (step S8). If the value exceeds the set value B1, the own vehicle repeatedly crosses (or approaches) the lane (see FIG. 7), and there is a possibility of drowsy driving, so the alarm volume is set to a large value (step S9). If not repeated, the process directly proceeds to step S16. The flag is set to 0 at system initialization.

On the other hand, if the vehicle has not moved in the departure direction, it is determined whether or not the host vehicle is moving in the return direction (step S10). If it is moving in the return direction, the flag is 1
Is determined (step S11), and the flag is 1
If so, the energetic count is incremented, the normal time, which is the cumulative time during normal operation, is set to 0, and the flag is set to 0 (step S1
2), shift to step S16.

If it is not moving in the return direction, the normal time is incremented (step S13) and it is judged whether or not the normal time exceeds the set value B2 (step S14). Therefore, the alarm volume is set to a normal value, the sleep count is reset to 0 and the flag is set to 0 (step S15), and the process proceeds to step S16.

At step S16, the present deviation is stored as a past deviation, and subsequently at step S17, any one of the deviation judgment points P1 to P4 is a white line (or a judgment line inside a predetermined amount from the white line). It is determined whether or not the sticking-out portion is sticking out. If the sticking-out portion is sticking out, an alarm is output (step S18).
As FF (step S19), the process returns.

With the above arrangement, it is determined by the departure operation repeat determination means 15 whether or not the own vehicle repeats the departure operation with respect to the traveling lane, and as a result, the own vehicle repeats the departure operation with respect to the traveling lane. In this case, since the attention calling necessity determination means 16 determines that the attention calling necessity for calling the driver's attention is high, it is determined that the attention calling need degree is high in the dozing driving or the like. Can take appropriate action accordingly.

Further, when it is determined that there is a high need for calling attention, the sound volume correction means 17 raises the sound volume of the alarm by the alarm device 6 to a level higher than usual.
The warning is clearly differentiated from the normal warning, and it is possible to effectively call the driver's attention when it is highly necessary to call attention such as drowsiness driving. .

By the way, the side edge detection means 11 detects the side edge of the traveling lane in accordance with a subroutine shown in FIG. In that case, it is assumed that no side slip angle occurs on a straight road, that the vehicle body posture angle with respect to the white line portion is small on a straight road, and that the running locus is a parallel movement of the lane on a curved road. The coordinates are such that the vehicle on the road surface is the origin, the vehicle front-rear direction is the x-axis, the vehicle front is positive, and the left-right direction is the y-axis, and the vehicle left is positive.

Specifically, in FIG. 8, when starting, an image (image data) is first captured (step S21), and a binarization threshold value is set (step S2).
2) Then, binarization processing of 1 or 0 is performed depending on whether or not the brightness of each pixel exceeds a threshold value (step S23).

Then, the left and right scan windows are set so as to correspond to the left and right white line portions (step S2
4) Subsequently, the scan pitch in the front-rear direction of the automobile is set (step S25), the scan window is scanned in accordance with the scan pitch, and the white line candidate points (that is, the points which are set to 1 by the binarization process) are detected. (Step S26),
It is converted into plane coordinates by inverse perspective transformation (step S
27).

Then, the virtual lane candidate points are added to the white line candidate points to estimate the traveling lane based on the left and right white line portions, whereby the side edge (white line) of the traveling lane is detected (step S).
28), return.

The side edges of the driving lane are estimated by white line candidate points,
Approximate curves (y = ax ² + bx + c) by the least squares method for the left and right white line parts using virtual candidate points, specifically, the coefficients aL, bL, cL of the quadratic curve for the left white line part, and the right white line part The coefficients aR, bR, cR of the quadratic curve are calculated. Here, because of the requirement that detection must be performed further forward, the approximation is performed with a quadratic curve (y = ax ² + bx + c), and the coefficients aL and aR are given by assuming that the radius of curvature of the quadratic approximation curve is RL (RR). , A = 1 / 2RL (1
/ 2RR), the coefficients bL and bR represent the vehicle body attitude angle or the side slip angle with respect to the white line, and the coefficients cL and cR represent the lateral deviation amount from the vehicle center to the white line.

Embodiment 2 In this embodiment, when the departure from the driving lane is continued for a predetermined time or longer, it is determined by the driver's intention that the degree of necessity of alerting is low and the alarm volume is reduced. Is.

The control unit 4A is constructed as shown in FIG. 9, and the same components as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. Specifically, the control unit 4A uses the deviation prediction means 12
The departure lane detecting means 21 which receives the output of A and determines whether the departure of the own vehicle from the traveling lane continues for a predetermined time, and the output of the departure time detecting means 21 to receive the output of the own vehicle and the traveling lane of the own vehicle. When the deviation from (1) continues for a predetermined period of time, it includes an attention calling necessity determination unit 16A that determines that the attention calling necessity for calling the driver's attention is low. The sound volume correction means 17A is the attention calling necessity determination means 1
When the output of 6A is received and it is determined that the degree of need for alerting is low, contrary to the case of the first embodiment, the deviation prediction means 12A.
The volume of the alarm by the alarm device 6 which outputs the alarm by the signal is set to be lower than that at the normal time.

The control of the control unit 4A is as follows.
This is performed as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 10, when starting, white line information is input from the image processing unit 3 (step S5).
1) The vehicle speed V is input from the vehicle speed sensor 7 (step S5
2) The distance L (see FIG. 4) is set by the vehicle speed V (step S53), and based on them, the warning points P1 to P4 as deviation determination points are set (step S54).

After that, it is determined whether at least one of the alarm points P1 to P4 is out of the white line (or the determination line set inside by a predetermined amount) (step S55). If it does, the white line crossing time is incremented (step S56), and it is determined whether or not the white line crossing time exceeds a predetermined value t0 (step S57). Since it is considered that there is, the alarm volume by the alarm device 6 is set to be lower than that in the normal time (step S58), and then an alarm is output (step S59), while returning,
If the predetermined time t0 is not exceeded, the alarm is output at the normal volume without changing the alarm volume and the process returns.

On the other hand, if none of the alarm points P1 to P4 extends beyond the white line (or the judgment line set inside by a predetermined amount), the white line straddling time is reset to 0 (step S60), and the alarm is issued. The volume is set to the normal value (step S61), and the process returns.

[0042]

The invention according to claim 1 has the following features.
If your vehicle is repeatedly deviating from the driving lane, it is determined by the alerting necessity determination means that there is a high alerting need to alert the driver. It can be determined that there is a high need for arousal, and appropriate measures can be taken accordingly.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the current deviation in the lateral direction between the center line of the host vehicle and the side edge of the traveling lane is compared with the past deviation, the deviation is repeatedly determined, so that the deviation can be easily determined. The deviation determination can be performed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when it is determined that there is a high need for alerting, the volume of the alarm by the alarm means is set to be higher than that in the normal time. Can be effectively evoked.

In the invention according to claim 4, when the deviation of the host vehicle from the traveling lane continues for a predetermined time, it is determined that the alerting necessity degree for alerting the driver is low by the alerting necessity determining means. Therefore, in the case of a deviation due to the intention of the driver, such as overtaking, it can be determined that the need for alerting is low, and appropriate measures can be taken accordingly.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when it is determined that the degree of necessity of alerting is low, the volume of the warning by the warning means is set lower than that in the normal time. In the case of deviation due to, the alarm volume becomes low, and the driver's attention can be called without giving the driver discomfort.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automobile.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control system.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between a host vehicle, first to fourth departure determination points, and a side edge (white line) of a traveling lane.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control flow.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a current deviation.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of repetition of deviation.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a flow of control for detecting a side edge of a traveling lane.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a control unit according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a control flow of the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 own vehicle 2 CCD camera 4 control unit 11 side edge detection means 12, 12a departure prediction means 14 behavior detection means 15 departure repeat determination means 16, 16A alertness necessity determination means 17, 17A volume correction means

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Nobuhiro Tokichi, 3-1, Shinchi Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture Mazda Co., Ltd. (72) Hideki Nishitake, 3-1-1 Shinchu, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture Mazda Corporation (72) Inventor Hiroshi Nakaue 3-1, Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture Mazda Motor Corporation

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A side edge detecting means for detecting a side edge of a traveling lane in which the vehicle is currently traveling, and an output of the side edge detecting means for predicting that the vehicle deviates from the traveling lane. A vehicle running state determination device having deviation prediction means, which receives the output of the side edge detection means and behaves with respect to the travel lane of the host vehicle based on a lateral deviation between the host vehicle and a side edge of the road. A behavior detecting means for detecting the deviation, a departure behavior repeating judgment means for receiving the output of the behavior detecting means and judging whether or not the departure behavior for the traveling lane is repeated, and an output of the departure behavior repeating judgment means. In the case where the own vehicle repeats the deviating operation with respect to the traveling lane, the vehicle is characterized by including an attention calling necessity determination means for determining that the attention calling need is high for calling the driver's attention. Running State determination device. 2. The automobile according to claim 1, wherein the deviation repeat determination means determines the current deviation in the lateral direction between the host vehicle center line and the side edge of the roadway by comparing it with a past deviation. Driving state determination device. 3. When the output of the deviation prediction means is received, and the warning means for outputting a warning at the time of deviation prediction and the output of the attention calling necessity determination means are received and it is determined that the attention calling necessity is high, 3. The vehicle running state determination device according to claim 1, further comprising a sound volume correction unit that raises the sound volume of the alarm by the alarm unit as compared with the normal state. 4. A side edge detecting means for detecting a side edge of a traveling lane in which the vehicle is currently traveling, and an output of the side edge detecting means for predicting that the vehicle deviates from the traveling lane. A running state determination device for an automobile having a deviation prediction means, the deviation time detection means for receiving an output from the deviation prediction means and determining whether or not the deviation of the host vehicle from the traveling lane has continued for a predetermined time. When the departure of the host vehicle from the traveling lane continues for a predetermined time in response to the output of the departure time detection means, it is determined that the attention calling need degree for calling the driver's attention is low And a driving state determination device for an automobile. 5. Further, when it is determined that the alerting necessity degree is low by receiving the output of the departure predicting means and outputting the warning at the time of the departure forecasting, and the output of the attention calling necessity detecting means, The vehicle running state determination device according to claim 4, further comprising a volume correction unit that lowers the volume of the alarm of the alarm unit to a level lower than normal.