JPH10283592A - On-vehicle drive supporting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately decide the propriety of proceeding a narrow road and to surely prevent contact with an obstacle. SOLUTION: Each signal is inputted to a controller 5 from CCD cameras 4, sensors 6, 7, 9 and 10 and a mirror switch 11, an image recognizing part 21 acquires an environment in a proceeding direction of self-vehicle with three- dimensional image data of a distance distribution, a road shape and obstacle recognizing part 22 three-dimensionally recognizes the shapes of a road and obstacles, a road and obstacle position calculating and storing part 23 calculates and stores the positions of the road and obstacles on a three-dimensional coordinate, a self-vehicle position calculating and storing part 24 calculates and stores the position of self-vehicle 1 on the three-dimensional coordinate, and a self- vehicle estimated course calculating part 25 calculates estimated course of the vehicle 1 on the three-dimensional coordinate from a driving state. A contact deciding part 26 calculates contact possibilities of obstacles and the vehicle 1 on a flat plane and in a height direction based on the estimated course and a vehicle external form, generally decides the contacts of the obstacles and the vehicle 1 and performs output control to an alarm generating part 12, a sound generating 13, and 1st and 2nd displaying parts 14 and 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention provides accurate information on the possibility of contact with obstacles such as guardrails, side walls, parked vehicles, etc. to enter narrow roads and travel on narrow roads. The present invention relates to a vehicle driving support device that supports driving of a driver so that driving can be easily performed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to improve the safety of vehicles,
2. Description of the Related Art A comprehensive driving assistance system (ADA; Active Drive Assist system) has been developed that actively supports the driving operation of a driver. This ADA system estimates various possibilities such as a collision with a preceding vehicle, a contact with an obstacle, a lane departure, and the like from the traveling environment information of the vehicle and a traveling state of the own vehicle, and is predicted to be unable to maintain safety. In this case, notification and other control are performed to the driver.

As a device for obtaining the traveling environment information of the vehicle, a laser radar device and the like have been conventionally known, but recently, an image of a landscape or an object in front of the vehicle captured by a plurality of cameras mounted on the vehicle. It has become possible to process information to three-dimensionally recognize roads and traffic environments with sufficient accuracy and time for practical use.

A parking space is determined as having a function of judging whether or not to enter a narrow road, which is one of the functions of the ADA system, and a function of preventing contact with an obstacle. There is a vehicle that performs a simple parking assist control to reduce the burden on the driver during parking.

In order to accurately determine a parking space in this parking assist control device, for example, a technique as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-274796 has been proposed. This technology converts the image data obtained by the CCD camera at the rear of the vehicle body into distance data, detects the corner of the parked vehicle, and further calculates the parking entrance straight line calculated using the distance data and the detected corner point. And calculating a straight line or the like approximating the side of the parked vehicle to determine a parking space to be guided.

[0006]

However, simply approximating the side surface of the parked vehicle with a straight line or the like having no unevenness distribution in the height direction, the parked vehicle may be, for example, partially projected such as a side mirror such as a side mirror. It is difficult to effectively deal with the problem. That is, the contact between the obstacle and the own vehicle is determined by the distribution of the unevenness in the height direction of the outer shape of the obstacle and the distribution of the unevenness in the height direction of the own vehicle. Even if there is a part that protrudes, the outer shape of the host vehicle at the height of the part may be depressed, or there may be no possibility that the height of the part has the outer shape of the host vehicle and collide.

[0007] Also, as a representative of the outline of the obstacle as a line projected from above, a process for determining whether or not the own vehicle can travel beside the obstacle is a method often used in determining whether or not to enter a narrow road. However, for example, when the own vehicle 1 as shown in FIG. 9 tries to pass beside the truck 2, even if the door mirror 2a of the truck 2 is a part of the height direction, only the projection from above is performed. In this case, since the protrusions are expressed from the top to the bottom of the truck 2, there is a possibility that it is determined that the vehicle cannot pass even though the height of the host vehicle 1 is lower than the door mirror 2 a of the truck 2. is there.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances. In order to determine whether or not to enter a narrow road and to prevent contact with an obstacle, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not to enter a narrow road, and to reliably determine whether to enter a narrow road. It is an object of the present invention to provide a driving support device for a vehicle that prevents a contact with an object and effectively supports driving of a driver.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a driving support system for a vehicle, comprising: image recognition means for obtaining an environment in a traveling direction of a host vehicle as three-dimensional image data of a distance distribution; Road shape / obstacle recognition means for three-dimensionally recognizing the shape of the road and obstacles in the traveling direction of the vehicle from the image data; and a preset three-dimensional space of the recognized roads and obstacles. A road / obstacle position calculating / storing means for calculating and storing a position; calculating a position in the preset three-dimensional space of the host vehicle at a position relative to the road / obstacle; Self-vehicle position calculation storage means for storing; self-vehicle predicted course calculation means for calculating an expected course of the self-vehicle in the preset three-dimensional space from the driving state of the self-vehicle; Memorize in advance the expected course Based on the obtained vehicle outline, the possibility of contact between the obstacle and the own vehicle on a plane and the possibility of contact in the height direction are determined, and based on these results, the contact between the obstacle and the own vehicle is determined. Contact determination means, and a notification means for notifying the driver based on the result of the contact determination by the contact determination means, desirably, the road / obstacle position calculation storage means, It has means for detecting information on an obstacle, and is formed so as to calculate and store the position in the three-dimensional space set in advance, and preferably, the contact determination means is provided in the vehicle. It has a plurality of information of the vehicle outer shape in each state set in advance, and is formed so as to determine the contact with the vehicle outer shape information corresponding to each set state, more preferably, The notifying unit is configured to determine whether the obstacle is in contact with the vehicle. The state is formed by at least one of a visual display unit of at least one of an overhead view and a projection view from the rear of the host vehicle, a voice generation unit that reports by sound, and an alarm sound generation unit that reports by an alarm sound. It is.

With the above arrangement, the environment in the traveling direction of the own vehicle is obtained as three-dimensional image data of the distance distribution by the image recognition means, and the traveling direction of the own vehicle is obtained from the three-dimensional image data by the road shape / obstacle recognition means. The shape and obstacle of the road are recognized three-dimensionally, and the road and obstacle position calculation storage means calculates and stores the positions of the recognized road and obstacle in a preset three-dimensional space. Further, the own vehicle position calculation storage means calculates and stores the position of the own vehicle at a position relative to the road / obstacle in the preset three-dimensional space. The own vehicle expected route calculating means calculates an expected route of the own vehicle in the preset three-dimensional space from the driving state of the own vehicle. Then, the contact determination means determines the possibility of contact between the obstacle and the own vehicle on a plane and the possibility of contact in the height direction based on the predicted course of the own vehicle and the vehicle shape stored in advance. Then, the contact between the obstacle and the host vehicle is determined based on these results, and the notifying unit notifies the driver of necessary information based on the contact determination result by the contact determining unit. The road / obstacle position calculation storage means also detects information on obstacles below the road surface,
If it is formed so as to calculate and store the position in the previously set three-dimensional space, especially the gutter below the road surface,
It is preferable that the position of a curb or the like can be accurately recognized. Further, the contact determination means has a plurality of pieces of information on the vehicle outer shape in each preset state of the own vehicle, and determines the contact with the vehicle outer shape information corresponding to each of the set states. It is preferable that the contact is determined so that the contact can be determined based on appropriate vehicle outer shape information suitable for various states of the vehicle. further,
The notifying unit is configured to indicate a state of the obstacle and the own vehicle,
If formed from at least one of a bird's-eye view and at least one of a projection view from the rear of the host vehicle, a voice generation unit that notifies by voice, and at least one of an alarm sound generation unit that notifies by an alarm sound, This is preferable because notification can be performed quickly and the driver can accurately recognize the situation.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the vehicle driving support device. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a vehicle (own vehicle) such as an automobile. The vehicle has a function of preventing contact with the vehicle as one function, and is equipped with a vehicle driving support device 3 that supports driving of a driver. Hereinafter, in the embodiment of the present invention, it is determined whether the vehicle driving assistance device 3 can enter a narrow road,
Only the part of the function for preventing contact with an obstacle will be described, and the description of the other function parts will be omitted.

The vehicle driving support device 3 has a set of (left and right) CCD cameras 4 using a solid-state image sensor such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) as a stereo optical system.
These left and right CCD cameras 4 are respectively mounted at predetermined intervals in front of the ceiling in the vehicle cabin so as to stereoscopically image an object outside the vehicle from different viewpoints. Then, a video signal of the traveling (entering) direction of the own vehicle 1 captured by the set of CCD cameras 4 is input to the control device 5.

The vehicle driving support device 3 has ultrasonic sensors 6 and 7 (front left and right ultrasonic sensors 6 and rear left and right ultrasonic sensors 7) at four corners of the vehicle 1. Have been. As shown in FIG. 3, the ultrasonic sensors 6 and 7 are provided so as to detect a shape of a diagonal side under the road, respectively, and a situation as shown in FIG. When there is a side groove 8 or the like on the lower oblique side, the position of the side groove 8 or the like is accurately detected.

The ultrasonic sensors 6 and 7 are, for example, well-known ultrasonic transducers (not shown) of each of the ultrasonic sensors 6 and 7 configured as an oscillator and a receiver.
The directional strong sound wave is emitted while changing the direction within a predetermined range, the oscillation start time of the ultrasonic transducer is detected, then the reflected wave input time is detected, and the difference between the two times and the direction in which the sound wave is emitted are detected. It detects the distance and direction between the ultrasonic sensors 6 and 7 and obstacles (side grooves 8 and the like) obliquely below the road, and signals from the ultrasonic sensors 6 and 7 are sent to the control device 5. Is to be entered.

Further, the vehicle driving support device 3 includes a vehicle speed sensor 9 for detecting the speed of the host vehicle 1, a steering wheel angle sensor 10 for detecting a steering wheel angle, and a door mirror 1a.
Each signal from the mirror switch 11 for instructing storage / return of the image data is input to the control device 5, and the control device 5 transmits the above information (the video signal from the CCD camera 4, Notification means for determining whether or not to enter a narrow road and preventing contact with an obstacle based on the signals from the sensors 6 and 7, the vehicle speed sensor 9, the steering wheel angle sensor 10, and the mirror switch 11. The control output is performed to an alarm generation unit 12, a voice generation unit 13, a first display unit 14, and a second display unit 15 as the above.

The alarm generation unit 12 is, for example, a buzzer or the like, and performs the above-described control when the vehicle travels on a narrow road that cannot be entered, or when there is a possibility of contact with an obstacle if the vehicle continues to travel. A warning sound is issued by an output signal from the device 5 to notify the driver.

The voice generating unit 13 includes a voice recorded in advance in accordance with an output signal from the control unit 5 (for example, “passing ahead”, “caution left front”, “caution left”. , "Right attention", "right attention", etc.), and a speaker (not shown) provided in the cabin emits sound into the cabin.

The first display unit 14 and the second display unit 15 display the positions of the vehicle 1 and obstacles on respective monitors provided in the vehicle in accordance with an output signal from the control device 5. The relationship is visually displayed.

That is, the respective monitors of the first display unit 14 and the second display unit 15 are provided adjacent to each other on one monitor and two screens as shown in FIG.
Is displayed on a screen displaying a bird's-eye view of the host vehicle 1 from above, and a contact between the host vehicle 1 and an obstacle (in FIG. 5, the truck 2 and the telephone pole 17 are illustrated) on a plane. It shows the possibility. Further, the second display unit 1
In 5, the possibility of contact between the host vehicle 1 and an obstacle in the height direction is displayed on a screen that displays a view of the host vehicle 1 projected from behind. Note that the shape of the obstacle projected on the screen may be selected from the object shapes stored in the memory in advance and displayed.
The video taken by the D camera 4 may be used as it is, or either may be used.

The alarm generator 12, the voice generator 13, and the first display unit 14 and the second display unit 15 are operated by the control device 5 so that the driver can recognize them effectively. For example, the status of the host vehicle 1 and the obstacle is always provided on the first display unit 14 and the second display unit 15, and when the vehicle travels from a predetermined distance to the obstacle, the sound is output. The information is provided by the generating unit 13, and when the possibility of contact with an obstacle increases to a predetermined level, the alarm is generated by the alarm generating unit 12.

The control device 5 is formed by a microcomputer and its peripheral circuits. As shown in FIG. 1, an image recognition unit 21, a road shape / obstacle recognition unit 22, a road / obstacle position calculation storage unit 23, It mainly comprises a host vehicle position calculation storage unit 24, a host vehicle predicted course calculation unit 25, and a contact determination unit 26.

The image recognizing unit 21 covers the whole image of a set of stereo images of the environment in the approach direction of the vehicle captured by the CCD camera 4 based on the amount of displacement of the corresponding position based on the principle of triangulation. It is formed as image recognition means for performing a process of obtaining distance information, generating a distance image representing a three-dimensional distance distribution, and outputting the generated distance image to the road shape / obstacle recognition unit 22.

The road shape / obstacle recognition unit 22 recognizes the shape of the road in the approach direction of the vehicle 1 from the three-dimensional image data from the image recognition unit 21, and at the same time recognizes the obstacle three-dimensionally. And the road / obstacle position calculation storage unit 23
It is formed as a road shape / obstacle recognizing means for outputting to the user.

That is, based on the three-dimensional distance data of the individual objects, even if the objects are overlapped, it is possible to easily separate them and recognize what they are, thereby extracting white lines, guardrails, curbs and the like. You. Then, for example, the white line is approximated by a polygonal line, the area surrounded by the left and right polygonal lines is determined to be the own lane, the curve of the road is detected by the horizontal component of the data of the own lane, and the ascending or descending of the road is detected by the vertical component. Thus, the road shape is three-dimensionally detected from the near side to the far side.

Further, only the three-dimensional object that becomes an obstacle is selected from the image data, it is determined whether or not the selected object is an obstacle to the host vehicle 1, and the distance (relative) to the obstacle is determined. The data of the road shape and the obstacle is output to the road / obstacle position calculation storage unit 23.

The road / obstacle position calculation storage unit 23 includes:
The road shape / obstacle recognition unit 22 is formed as a road / obstacle position calculation storage unit that calculates and stores a position on three-dimensional coordinates in which the road shape and the obstacle extracted by the road shape / obstacle recognition unit 22 are set in advance. The previously set three-dimensional coordinates are formed in a range where the host vehicle 1 and the obstacle can sufficiently be accommodated in the plane and height directions.

Further, the road / obstacle position calculation storage unit 2
Signals from the ultrasonic sensors 6 and 7 are input to 3 so that the position of a gutter or curb below the road surface is accurately represented in three-dimensional coordinates.

The self-vehicle position calculation storage unit 24 stores the relative position of the road / obstacle on the three-dimensional coordinates in which the road shape and the position of the obstacle are set by the road / obstacle position calculation storage unit 23. The three-dimensional coordinate data in which the shape of the road, the position of the obstacle, and the position of the own vehicle 1 are set are used as the own vehicle position calculation storage means for calculating and storing the position of the own vehicle 1. The information is output to the predicted course calculation unit 25.

The road / obstacle position calculation storage unit 23
And the coordinates formed by the host vehicle position calculation storage unit 24 are, for example, the coordinates of the relative position of the road / obstacle viewed from the new host vehicle obtained by the road shape / obstacle recognition unit 22 by the previous time. It may be formed by repeatedly adding the calculated road / obstacle coordinates in consideration of the vehicle motion. In other words, the straight traveling / turning of the own vehicle 1 is determined based on the steering wheel angle, and in the case of straight traveling, the vehicle movement amount (for example, calculated by the vehicle speed and the elapsed time) is calculated for all road shapes and obstacles calculated up to the previous time. In the case of a turn, the rotation center and rotation angle of the vehicle 1 are obtained from the movement amount and the steering wheel angle, and the coordinates of all road shapes and obstacles calculated up to the previous time are calculated. Rotate with respect to the rotation center. After this processing, all the stored road shapes and
The data of the obstacles that have come out of the storage area and the data in the field of view of the CCD camera 4 are deleted, and the coordinates of the relative position newly calculated in the field of view of the CCD camera 4 are stored in the storage data. Is to be added to

The predicted vehicle route calculating section 25 serves as a predicted vehicle route calculating means, and includes a vehicle speed from the vehicle speed sensor 9, a steering wheel angle from the steering wheel angle sensor 10, and a vehicle position calculating and storing section. Based on the three-dimensional coordinate data indicating the position of the vehicle 1 and the road / obstacle from 24,
The path on which the vehicle 1 travels on the three-dimensional coordinates is determined by predicting the vehicle's equation of motion or the like set in advance in the vehicle specifications of the vehicle 1. , And the obtained predicted course is output to the contact determination unit 26.

The contact determination section 26 receives the predicted path of the host vehicle 1 and the signal from the mirror switch 11 set by the predicted path calculation section 25 of the host vehicle, and inputs the predicted path of the host vehicle 1 and the mirror. Based on the vehicle shape of the host vehicle 1 stored in advance, which is selected by a signal from the switch 11, the possibility of contact between the obstacle and the host vehicle 1 on a plane and the possibility of contact in the height direction are determined. Based on these results, the contact between the obstacle and the host vehicle 1 is determined, and output to the alarm generation unit 12, the voice generation unit 13, and the first display unit 14 and the second display unit 15 as necessary. As a contact determination means for notifying the driver.

That is, the contact determination is performed by moving a contact determination outline set in advance based on the vehicle outline of the vehicle 1 in accordance with the predicted course, and determining whether or not the moved contact outline contacts an obstacle. It is to be performed in.

The contact determination outline for determining the possibility of contact on a plane takes into account the protrusion of the door mirror 1a when the door mirror 1a is returned and stored when viewed from above, and matches the shape of the vehicle bumper. As shown in FIG. 6B, the contact determination outer shape line 31b is formed in a state where the door mirror 1a is returned, and as shown in FIG.
Contact determination outline 32b with door mirror 1a stored
Are set, and one of them is selected by a signal from the mirror switch 11.

In addition, the contact determination outline for determining the possibility of contact in the height direction is such that the shape of the vehicle can be felt by the driver in consideration of the projection when the door mirror 1a is returned and stored when viewed from the front. As shown in FIG. 6 (a), the contact determination outline 3 in a state where the door mirror 1a is returned.
As shown in FIG. 7A, two types of contact determination outline lines 32 a in a state where the door mirror 1 a is stored are set, and one of them is selected by a signal from the mirror switch 11. Has become.

When the contact determination unit 26 determines, for example, the possibility of contact with the obstacle of the host vehicle 1 after returning the door mirror 1a on a plane, as shown in FIG. 31b is moved in consideration of an inner wheel difference or the like based on the predicted course calculated by the own vehicle predicted course calculation unit 25, and when there is an obstacle in an area to be moved, a result is output when it is touched in the determination on a plane. It is. In addition, the possibility of contact with the obstacle of the vehicle 1 storing the door mirror 1a on the plane is determined, and the door mirror 1a is returned in the height direction.
The stored possibility of contacting the own vehicle 1 with an obstacle is determined in a similar manner, not shown.

The result of the determination of the possibility of contact on a plane by the contact determination unit 26 is displayed on the screen of the first display unit 14, and the result of determination of the possibility of contact in the height direction is It is displayed on the screen of the second display unit 15. Here, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, even if the determination result of the possibility of contact on the plane indicates that there is a possibility of contact, the result of determination of the possibility of contact in the height direction indicates that the possibility of contact is high. Since there is no result, the contact determination unit 26 determines that the own vehicle 1 does not contact the obstacle. That is, the contact determination unit 2
6 indicates that there is a possibility that the own vehicle 1 and the obstacle may come into contact with each other when both the determination result of the possibility of contact on the plane and the determination result of the possibility of contact in the height direction indicate that there is a possibility of contact. Then, the warning is output to the alarm generator 12 and the voice generator 13 to notify the driver.

Next, the operation of the vehicle driving support device having the above configuration will be described. First, when the vehicle travels, C
A video signal of the traveling direction of the own vehicle 1 captured by the CD camera 4, a signal indicating a distance to an obstacle (e.g., a side groove 8) obliquely below the road by the ultrasonic sensors 6 and 7, a vehicle speed sensor 9. , A signal indicating a state of returning and storing the door mirror 1a of the own vehicle 1 by the mirror switch 11 are input to the control device 5.

In the control device 5, in the image recognition section 21, the principle of triangulation is calculated based on the amount of displacement of the corresponding position for a pair of stereo images of the environment in the approach direction of the vehicle captured by the CCD camera 4. A distance image representing a three-dimensional distance distribution is generated and output to the road shape / obstacle recognition unit 22.

The road shape / obstacle recognition unit 22 recognizes the shape of the road in the approach direction of the vehicle 1 from the three-dimensional image data from the image recognition unit 21, and at the same time recognizes the obstacle three-dimensionally. And outputs it to the road / obstacle position calculation storage unit 23.

The road / obstacle position calculation storage unit 23
The road shape and obstacles extracted by the road shape / obstacle recognition unit 22 are calculated and stored in a predetermined three-dimensional coordinate position. The signals from the ultrasonic sensors 6 and 7 are input to the road / obstacle position calculation storage unit 23, and the position of a gutter or curb below the road surface is accurately represented on three-dimensional coordinates. Is done.

Next, the own vehicle position calculation storage unit 24 stores, on the three-dimensional coordinates in which the road shape and the obstacle position are set by the road / obstacle position calculation storage unit 23, relative to the road / obstacle. Calculate and store the position of the host vehicle 1 at the position,
The data of the three-dimensional coordinates in which the road shape, the position of the obstacle, and the position of the own vehicle 1 are set are calculated by the own vehicle predicted course calculating unit 2.
5 is output.

The host vehicle predicted course calculating section 25 calculates the vehicle speed from the vehicle speed sensor 9 and the steering wheel angle sensor 10.
Based on the three-dimensional coordinate data indicating the steering wheel angle from the vehicle position and the position of the vehicle 1 and the road / obstacle from the vehicle position calculation storage unit 24 described above. It is determined whether or not the vehicle is traveling on the course by calculating the equation of motion of the vehicle set in advance in the vehicle specifications of the own vehicle 1, and
The obtained predicted course is output to the contact determination unit 26.

The contact determination section 26 receives the signal from the mirror switch 11 and the predicted path of the host vehicle 1 set by the predicted path calculation section 25 for the own vehicle, and inputs the predicted path of the host vehicle 1 and the mirror. On the plane between the obstacle and the host vehicle 1 based on the stored vehicle outer shape of the host vehicle 1 (whether the door mirror 1a is restored or stored) selected by a signal from the switch 11. The contact possibility in the height direction and the contact possibility in the above are determined, and the contact between the obstacle and the host vehicle 1 is determined based on these results, and the alarm generation unit 12, the sound generation unit 13, The information is output to the first display unit 14 and the second display unit 15 to notify the driver.

That is, the contact determination is performed by moving a contact determination contour set in advance based on the vehicle contour of the vehicle 1 in accordance with the predicted course, and determining whether or not the moved contact contour contacts an obstacle. Done in

When the contact judging section 26 judges, for example, the possibility of contact with the obstacle of the host vehicle 1 after returning the door mirror 1a on a plane, as shown in FIG. Is moved in consideration of the inner wheel difference and the like based on the predicted route obtained by the predicted vehicle route calculating section 25, and if there is an obstacle in the area to be moved, the result is output if it is touched in the determination on the plane. Also, the possibility of contact with the obstacle of the own vehicle 1 storing the door mirror 1a on the plane and the possibility of contact with the obstacle of the own vehicle 1 returning and storing the door mirror 1a in the height direction are determined. Is performed similarly.

The result of the determination of the possibility of contact on a plane by the contact determination unit 26 is displayed on the screen of the first display unit 14, and the result of determination of the possibility of contact in the height direction is It is displayed on the screen of the second display unit 15. Here, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, even if the determination result of the possibility of contact on the plane indicates that there is a possibility of contact, the result of determination of the possibility of contact in the height direction indicates that the possibility of contact is high. Since there is no result, the contact determination unit 26 determines that the own vehicle 1 does not contact the obstacle. That is, the contact determination unit 2
6 indicates that there is a possibility that the own vehicle 1 and the obstacle may come into contact with each other when both the determination result of the possibility of contact on the plane and the determination result of the possibility of contact in the height direction indicate that there is a possibility of contact. Then, it outputs to the alarm generation unit 12 and the voice generation unit 13 to notify the driver.

The alarm generation unit 12, the voice generation unit 13, and the first display unit 14 and the second display unit 15 are arranged so that the driver can be effectively recognized by the contact determination unit 26 of the control device 5. Activated.

That is, the situation between the vehicle 1 and the obstacle is as follows.
Always provided by the first display unit 14 and the second display unit 15 and provided by a predetermined voice prepared by the voice generation unit 13 when traveling from a predetermined distance to an obstacle. The warning is provided by a warning sound or the like by the warning generator 12 when the possibility of contact with an obstacle is increased to a predetermined level.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention,
The possibility of contact with the obstacle of the host vehicle is determined by determining the possibility of contact on a plane and the possibility of contact in the height direction, and judgment is made based on both of these results. Can be accurately determined.

Further, since information on obstacles below the road surface is taken in by the ultrasonic sensor, contact determination is made, so that almost all obstacles in the path to be entered can be dealt with, and more accurate determination can be made.

Further, by taking into account the vehicle outer shape that changes when the door mirror is returned and retracted, it is possible to reliably inform the driver of, for example, a case where the door mirror can be retracted if the door mirror is retracted.

Also, the state of the obstacle and the host vehicle is visually shown on the monitor screen in a bird's-eye view and a projection view from the rear of the host vehicle, so that the driver can quickly and intuitively understand the current state. Easy to judge.

Further, the status of the own vehicle and the obstacle is always provided on the first display unit and the second display unit, and when the vehicle runs from a predetermined distance toward the obstacle, the sound generation unit outputs the information. Information is provided by a predetermined voice prepared in advance, and when the possibility of contact with an obstacle increases to a predetermined level, an alarm such as a buzzer sound by an alarm generation unit is issued,
It is easy for the driver to quickly understand the current state and make a judgment.

Further, since the contact determination outline used for determining the contact between the host vehicle and the obstacle is formed in consideration of the shape of the door mirror and the shape of the bumper, the contact determination matching the driver's sense of the vehicle is performed. . Then, the contact determination outline is moved in consideration of the inner ring difference or the like and used for the contact determination, so that accurate determination can be performed.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the information on the obstacle below the road surface is obtained by the ultrasonic sensor. However, the information may be obtained by another device such as a CCD camera.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, an example in which the case where the vehicle moves forward is controlled, but when the vehicle moves backward, the traveling direction (rearward) of the vehicle is detected by the CCD camera and similarly. Can control.

[0057]

As described above, according to the present invention, the possibility of contact with an obstacle of the host vehicle is determined based on the possibility of contact on a plane and the possibility of contact in the height direction. Since the determination is made based on the result, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not the vehicle can enter a narrow road, and it is possible to surely prevent a contact with an obstacle and effectively support the driving of the driver. In addition, by detecting information on obstacles below the road surface and making contact determination, the position of a gutter, a curb and the like below the road surface can be accurately recognized, and reliability is improved. Further, by performing the contact determination based on the vehicle outline information corresponding to each preset state of the vehicle, the contact can be determined based on the vehicle outline information appropriate for various states of the vehicle. Further, at least one of a bird's-eye view and a projected view from behind the host vehicle, a visual display unit, a sound generating unit notifying by sound, and an alarm sound generating unit notifying by an alarm sound the state of the obstacle and the host vehicle. If at least one of them is formed, the driver can be quickly notified, and the driver can accurately recognize the situation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a vehicle driving assistance device.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle driving assistance device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of mounting an ultrasonic sensor.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of traveling in a situation with a gutter.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a display on a display unit.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a contact determination outline when the door mirror is returned.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a contact determination outline when the door mirror is stored.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a contact determination outline based on an actual predicted course;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of traveling in a situation of passing the side of a truck.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Own vehicle 1a Own vehicle door mirror 2 Truck (obstacle) 2a Truck door mirror 3 Vehicle driving support device 4 CCD camera 5 Control device 6 Left and right front end ultrasonic sensor 7 Left and right rear end ultrasonic sensor 8 Side groove 9 Vehicle speed sensor REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 handle angle sensor 11 mirror switch 12 alarm generation unit (notification unit) 13 sound generation unit (notification unit) 14 first display unit (notification unit) 15 second display unit (notification unit) 21 image recognition unit (image recognition) 22) Road shape / obstacle recognition unit (road shape / obstacle recognition unit) 23 Road / obstacle position calculation storage unit (road / obstacle position calculation storage unit) 24 Own vehicle position calculation storage unit (own vehicle position calculation) Storage means) 25 own-vehicle predicted route calculation unit (own-vehicle predicted route calculation unit) 26 contact determination unit (contact determination unit)

Claims (4)

[Claims] An image recognizing means for obtaining an environment in a traveling direction of an own vehicle as three-dimensional image data of a distance distribution, and a three-dimensional image of a road shape and an obstacle in the traveling direction of the own vehicle from the three-dimensional image data. Road shape and obstacle recognition means to recognize,
Road / obstacle position calculation and storage means for calculating and storing the positions of the recognized roads and obstacles in a preset three-dimensional space; Own vehicle position calculation storage means for calculating and storing the position of the vehicle in the predetermined three-dimensional space; and the predetermined three-dimensional space of the own vehicle based on the driving state of the own vehicle Own vehicle predicted course calculating means for calculating the predicted course of the vehicle, and the possibility of contact between the obstacle and the self-vehicle on a plane based on the predicted course of the self-vehicle and the vehicle outline stored in advance. Contact determination means for determining the possibility of contact in the vehicle direction, and determining the contact between the obstacle and the host vehicle based on these results; and notification means for notifying the driver based on the result of the contact determination by the contact determination means. Vehicle driving support characterized by comprising: Apparatus. 2. The road / obstacle position calculation storage means,
2. The vehicle driving support according to claim 1, further comprising means for detecting information of an obstacle below a road surface, wherein the predetermined position in the three-dimensional space is calculated and stored. apparatus. 3. The contact judging means has a plurality of information on the vehicle outer shape in each preset state of the own vehicle, and makes contact with the vehicle outer shape information corresponding to each set state. The vehicle driving support device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the determination is made. 4. The notifying means includes a visual display unit for at least one of a bird's-eye view and a projection view from the rear of the host vehicle, and a sound generating unit for notifying the state of the obstacle and the host vehicle by voice. The driving assistance device for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1, 2, and 3, wherein the driving assistance device is formed by at least one of an alarm sound generation unit that notifies by an alarm sound.