JPH1079100A - Device for preventing collision - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To notify beforehand the position of its own vehicle to another mobile object or a carrier by transmitting the position of its own vehicle to another mobile object or the carrier. SOLUTION: Each vehicle position detecting means 1B and 2B detects the position of its own vehicle when each obstacle detecting means 1A and 2A detects an obstacle, and generates a detection signal. Each communicating means 1C and 2C transmits obstacle information constituted of the information of the distance or position of the obstacle detected by its own vehicle and the information of the position of is own vehicle when the obstacle is detected to a vehicle traveling in the neighborhood, and receives the obstacle information from the vehicle traveling in the neighborhood. Then, each driver warning mean 1D and 2D receives the obstacle information from its own vehicle, judges whether or not the driver should be warned of the presence of the obstacle according to the content of the obstacle information, and calls the driver's attention by warning the driver by, for example, an alarming demand with a voice or the turning-on of an alarming display lamp when the warning is necessary.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a collision preventing device for preventing a collision between a vehicle and another object (including a person and a vehicle).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, research and development are being carried out by many related organizations and persons concerned in order to realize more comfortable and safe road traffic. For example, an advanced safety vehicle (ASV: Advanced S) for the purpose of dramatically improving the safety performance of a vehicle
afety Vehicle) projects.

[0003] The contents of this project are described in "Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS: Intell.
Everything about the igent Transport System ", published by Nihon Keizai Shimbun, pp62-67. This document, A
It summarizes the efforts and results of each company toward the realization of SV, and reports on an obstacle detection system and a rear side alarm system using an in-vehicle camera, millimeter wave radar, and the like.

[0004] The former system provides a driver with, for example, an inter-vehicle distance or the presence of a falling object detected by performing signal processing on an image in front of the vehicle, and the latter system employs a stereo system. The driver is notified of the approach of a following vehicle detected by a camera or the like by automatically turning on a warning light. In any case, the alarm is intended to reduce the risk of collision with another vehicle or a falling object.

[0005]

However, in each of the systems under development, the target of information collection and signal processing is limited to only the vehicle on which each system is mounted.
That is, only the driver of the vehicle equipped with the obstacle detection system can confirm the presence of the obstacle by the warning of the obstacle detection system.

[0006] For this reason, the following vehicle not equipped with such an obstacle detection system, or even if the obstacle detection system is installed, cannot detect the obstacle because the obstacle is in the blind spot of the vehicle ahead of it. There is a problem that the following vehicle cannot detect the obstacle in advance, and the danger of collision is not reduced at all.

Further, for example, when the vehicle must be stopped due to a breakdown or the like at a point with a poor visibility, or when the vehicle enters an intersection with poor visibility, the vehicle may be in a blind spot for a following vehicle or another vehicle. If there is an own vehicle, the position of the vehicle becomes a blind spot for other vehicles such as a following vehicle, so that the detection of the own vehicle in those vehicles is delayed, and there is also a problem that there is a risk of collision. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and realizes sharing of information not only of the own vehicle but also of other vehicles, and is capable of colliding a subsequent vehicle with an obstacle or a collision with the own vehicle. An object of the present invention is to propose a collision prevention device that can reduce the risk.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, a first aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the collision preventing device is as follows.

[0010] That is, (1) position detecting means for detecting the position of a moving body on which the own device is mounted or a person carrying the own device; and (2) the position of the moving object or the person detected by the position detecting means. Communication means for transmitting information to another mobile body or a person.

As described above, in the first aspect, the position of the own device is determined not only by the moving body on which the own device is mounted, or
It is not used only by the person carrying the device, but is sent to another mobile object or person, so that the state of the own device can be notified to the other object or person in advance. .
As a result, the other party can detect the danger of collision beforehand.

Further, in order to solve such a problem, the second invention is characterized in that the collision preventing device is as follows.

[0013] (1) Communication means for intercepting position information transmitted from another mobile unit or a person, and position detection for detecting the position of a mobile unit equipped with the unit or a person carrying the unit. Based on the position information detected by the position detecting means and the position information of the other mobile object intercepted by the communication means, and Determining means for detecting the positional relationship and determining whether or not to notify the presence of another moving object or a carrier present around the own device; and (3) determining whether the other moving object is present based on the determination result of the determining means. Alternatively, there is provided a notifying means for notifying a driver of a mobile body equipped with the own device or a person carrying the own device of the presence of the own device.

As described above, in the second aspect, the position information transmitted from the communication means of the other mobile unit or the carrier is intercepted, and the relative position between the own device and the other mobile unit or the carrier is intercepted. Therefore, even if the presence of the other party cannot be visually confirmed with respect to the own machine, an operation for grasping and avoiding the danger of a collision can be performed.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(A) First Embodiment Hereinafter, a first embodiment of a collision prevention device of the present invention applied to an ASV will be described with reference to the drawings.

(A-1) Configuration of the First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a collision prevention system using a collision prevention device according to the first embodiment. The feature of this collision prevention system is that the collision avoidance information obtained for each of the vehicles 1 and 2 is communicated and shared between the vehicles so that the system can function as a collision prevention system including not only each vehicle but also surrounding vehicles. That is the point.

This is realized by the collision prevention device in a portion surrounded by a broken line in FIG. That is, the collision prevention device includes obstacle detection means 1A and 2A, vehicle position detection means 1B and 2B, communication means 1C and 2C, and driver warning means 1D and 2D.

The obstacle detecting means 1A and 1B are means for constantly judging the presence or absence of an obstacle to the own vehicle by monitoring the front of the own vehicle. When the presence of an obstacle is detected, the obstacle detection means 1A and 1B emit a detection signal to the vehicle position detection means 1B and 2B to notify the presence of the obstacle.

As the obstacle detecting means 1A and 1B, various existing devices are used. For example, (1)
Devices using various sensors, radars, and cameras, such as “Nighttime obstacle detection system” and “Vehicle distance warning system” described in the above-mentioned documents, (2) Documents “Ito, Yamada,
"A method of driving environment recognition using the edge histogram method", Image Recognition and Understanding Symposium, vol.2, pp119
-126, 1994) (a method of processing a forward image using a Kalman filter on a time-series image of an edge histogram obtained by projecting a differential image of the forward image); A device for obtaining the distance and position to an obstacle by photographing an image of the object with a stereo camera and processing the signal is used. In addition, as for a device using a stereo camera, an open patent publication (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.
2391, “Vehicle obstacle detection device”).

The vehicle position detecting means 1B and 2B are means for detecting the position of the own vehicle at the time when the obstacle detecting means 1A and 2A detect an obstacle and issue a detection signal. As a method of detecting the position of the host vehicle used at this time, for example, there is a method using a GPS (Global Positioning System) radio wave.

The communication means 1C and 2C transmit obstacle information including the distance and position information of the obstacle detected in the own vehicle and the vehicle position information at the time of detection to the vehicles traveling around the vehicle. This is a means having a function of intercepting obstacle information from a vehicle traveling around. As the communication means 1C and 2C, for example, a transceiver or the like can be used. In order to acquire information from another vehicle, the communication means 1C and 2C are used after making a prior agreement on a communication method such as using a common frequency band. Just do it.

The driver warning means 1D and 2D, when intercepting an obstacle signal from the own vehicle or an obstacle signal from another vehicle, warns the driver of the presence of an obstacle according to the content of the obstacle signal. This is a means for determining whether or not to give a warning and giving a warning to the driver by, for example, sounding a warning request or turning on a warning display lamp to call attention.

(A-2) Operation of the First Embodiment A description will be given of how a collision prevention operation is performed for a vehicle equipped with a collision prevention device having the above configuration, with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is an example of an arrangement showing a traveling state of the vehicles 1 and 2 equipped with the above-described collision prevention device. In the case of FIG. 2, the obstacle 4 exists on the road 3,
The vehicle 1 and the vehicle 2 are traveling in order toward this. This situation is a situation in which the conventional collision prevention device cannot find an obstacle from the vehicle traveling in the second vehicle.

First, the operation when the collision prevention device of the vehicle 1, which is the first vehicle, detects an obstacle will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing performed by the collision prevention device at the position of the vehicle 1.

The collision prevention apparatus first performs the first step SP
In step 1, an obstacle detection process is executed by the obstacle detection means 1A, and in the next step SP2, it is determined whether or not an obstacle has been detected as a result. Here, while no obstacle is detected, the process returns to step SP1 and repeats the same determination processing.

On the other hand, if an obstacle is detected, an affirmative result is obtained in step SP2 and the routine proceeds to step SP3, where the vehicle position detecting means 1B executes a process for detecting the position of the own vehicle. Then, in the next step SP4, obstacle information including the direction and size of the detected obstacle with respect to the host vehicle and the position of the host vehicle at the time of detection is created as coast information regarding the detected obstacle.

After the created obstacle information is sent to the communication means 1C and the driver warning means 1D, as shown in step SP5, the communication means 1C transmits the obstacle information to the surrounding vehicles by radio waves. You. In step SP6 executed in parallel with this, the driver warning means 1D determines whether to warn the driver according to the distance to the obstacle or the like.
Is determined. Here, if it is determined that a warning is issued, a warning is immediately issued to the driver as shown in step SP7.

The method of transmitting the obstacle information to the surrounding vehicle surface may be any method as long as the information is transmitted in a form that can be received by the surrounding vehicles. A channel may be secured and transmitted to each communication channel, or a specific frequency band may be provided in advance and transmitted using radio waves of that frequency. The above is the processing operation of the vehicle 1 running on the first vehicle.

Next, an operation in the case where the second vehicle 2 intercepts the obstacle detection information sent from the other vehicle 1 will be described. FIG. 4 illustrates the processing operation of the collision prevention device for the second vehicle 2.

In the collision prevention device of the vehicle 2, the operation of detecting the presence or absence of an obstacle in front of the own vehicle by the obstacle detection means 2A is always performed.
The monitoring of the presence or absence of obstacle information from another vehicle by C is performed (step SP11). The presence or absence of the obstacle information is determined in the next step SP12, and the processing of step SP11 is repeated as long as there is no obstacle information.

Here, when it is confirmed that the obstacle information is transmitted from any one of the surrounding vehicles, step SP
As shown in FIG. 13, the position of the vehicle 2 at that time is detected by the vehicle position detecting means 2B. Then, as shown in step SP14, using the information on the position and distance of the obstacle included in the intercepted obstacle information and the position information at the time of detection of the vehicle that detected the obstacle, the obstacle to the own vehicle is used. Find the relative position of.

When the relative position is obtained, step SP15
Then, based on the relative position, it is determined whether or not the driver should be warned of the presence of the obstacle in the traveling direction.
If it is determined that a warning is to be given, step SP
As shown in FIG. 16, the driver warning means gives a warning about the obstacle to the driver by 2D. The determination as to whether to warn is made in consideration of the shape of the road, the position and the distance to the obstacle, and the like. For example, if it is determined that a warning is issued when the position of the obstacle is immediately in front of the traveling lane, or when the obstacle is immediately in front of the same lane based on obstacle information from a preceding vehicle, etc. good. In addition, when the warning is given, the driver may set the driver warning means 2D in advance.

(A-3) Effects of the First Embodiment As described above, according to the first embodiment, information on an obstacle detected by the obstacle detection means mounted on the host vehicle is transmitted to the vehicle. The information is transmitted to the surrounding vehicles together with the vehicle position information at the time, and it is intercepted whether or not this information is transmitted from another vehicle. Even in a position where it cannot be obtained, it is possible to detect in advance the presence of an obstacle that becomes an obstacle for the host vehicle.

For example, even when an obstacle cannot be detected because it is within the blind spot of the preceding vehicle, the presence of the obstacle is determined by a warning based on information from the preceding vehicle regarding the obstacle. Since the driver can recognize, it is possible to take a collision avoidance action such as deceleration in advance. That is, collision can be prevented beforehand.

(B) Second Embodiment Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the collision prevention apparatus of the present invention applied to an ASV will be described with reference to the drawings.

(B-1) Configuration of the Second Embodiment FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of a collision prevention system using a collision prevention device according to the second embodiment. The feature of this collision prevention system is that each of the vehicles 11 and 12 transmits its own position and traveling direction to the surrounding vehicles, and each vehicle can recognize the positional relationship of the surrounding vehicles including the own vehicle. The purpose is to improve the prevention function.

This is realized by a collision prevention device in a portion surrounded by a broken line in FIG. That is, the collision prevention device includes the vehicle position detection units 11A and 12A, the communication units 11B and 12B, and the driver warning unit 12C.

Here, the vehicle position detecting means 11A and 12A
As A, as in the first embodiment, means for detecting the position of the own vehicle using GPS radio waves can be used. In addition, for example, by detecting the approach path of the vehicle by detecting radio waves received from a radio lighthouse that is laid at an intersection and transmits radio waves in a different frequency band for each approach path, Means for detecting the position may be used.

As the communication means 11B and 12B and the driver warning means 12C, the same means as those described in the first embodiment can be used.

(B-2) Operation of the Second Embodiment How a collision prevention operation is performed in a vehicle equipped with a collision prevention device having the above configuration will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is an example of an arrangement showing a running state of vehicles 11 and 12 equipped with the above-described collision prevention device. In the case of FIG. 6, the vehicle 11 is approaching the intersection 13 from the right side in the figure, and the vehicle 1 is also entering the intersection 13 from the lower side in the figure.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a situation in which the vehicle 2 is entering.

These two vehicles 11 and 12 are located in blind spots from each other from the driver, and it is impossible to confirm that the two vehicles have entered each other.

First, the processing on the side for transmitting the position information of the vehicle will be described with reference to the operation of the collision prevention device mounted on the vehicle 11 in FIG. 6 as an example. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the collision prevention device in the vehicle 11.

As shown in step SP21, the vehicle position detecting means 11A of the collision prevention device in the vehicle 11 constantly detects the vehicle position, and immediately sends the position information to the communication means 11B.

The communication means 11B sends the received position information of the own vehicle to the surrounding vehicles as shown in step SP22. The method of transmitting the position information of the own vehicle by the communication means 11B at this time is the same as the method of transmitting the obstacle information in the first embodiment.

Next, the processing operation on the side that intercepts position information from another vehicle will be described by taking the operation of the collision prevention device in the vehicle 12 as an example. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the collision prevention device in the vehicle 12. This operation is substantially the same as the operation of the collision prevention device for the vehicle 2 in the first embodiment.

First, as shown in step SP31, the communication means 12B constantly monitors presence or absence of position information from another vehicle. Here, it is determined in step SP32 whether or not the position information has been intercepted. If the interception has been confirmed, the position of the vehicle D at that time is detected by the vehicle position detecting means 12A as shown in step SP33. Is done. Then, detection of the relative position of the originating vehicle with respect to the own vehicle using the intercepted position information is performed in step S.
This is performed in P34.

It is determined in step SP35 whether or not the driver should be warned of the presence of the vehicle. If it is determined that a warning is to be issued, as shown in step SP36,
A driver warning unit issues a warning regarding an obstacle to the driver. The determination as to whether to warn may be made in consideration of the shape of the road, the distance to the transmitting vehicle, and the like.For example, when the position of the transmitting vehicle is at an intersection from the side at the intersection, or when the own vehicle It may be determined that a warning is issued, for example, in the case where the user is right beside. In addition, a case in which a warning is given may be set in advance by the driver to the driver warning unit 12C.

The structure of the collision prevention device for the vehicle 11 is as follows.
These are a part of the configuration of the collision prevention device of the vehicle 12, and any of these can be considered as a part of the configuration of the collision prevention device in the first embodiment. Therefore, the vehicle 12
The anti-collision device of the present invention can also have the function of the anti-collision device of the vehicle 11, and the anti-collision device of the first embodiment of the present invention has the function of both the anti-collision devices of the vehicles 11 and 12. Can be.

(B-3) Effect of Second Embodiment As described above, according to the second embodiment, the position of the own vehicle detected by each vehicle is transmitted to other nearby vehicles by the communication means. In addition, since each vehicle intercepts the position information transmitted from the other vehicle, the presence of the vehicle in a position where the driver can not confirm because it is blind spot from the driver is detected in advance. It becomes possible.

As a result, it is possible to obtain a collision prevention device that can prevent the possibility of collision that could not be achieved by the conventional device. Further, if it is only necessary to notify the surroundings of the position of the own vehicle, only the vehicle position detecting means 11A and the communication means 11B as in the case of the vehicle 11 of FIGS.
Lightening and power saving of the device can be realized. For this reason, for example, it is possible to equip a bicycle, a motorcycle, and a pedestrian.

Further, as an additional effect common to the first and second embodiments, for example, even when the vehicle is lost due to theft or accident of the vehicle, the position information transmitted from the vehicle can be used. There is an effect that the vehicle position can be identified early and the early detection is possible.

(C) Other Embodiments (C-1) Each functional block of each of the collision prevention devices described in the above embodiment is the same as the processing procedure shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and FIGS. Although a collision is avoided by this, a program describing this processing procedure may be written in a ROM or the like in the apparatus in advance, or may be read from an optical disk such as a CD-ROM or a magnetic disk and stored. It can be applied to what is being done.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention, the position of the own device is used not only by the moving body on which the own device is mounted, but also by only the person carrying the own device. Since the call is transmitted to the moving object or the user, the position of the own device can be notified to other moving objects or the user.

Further, according to the present invention, the position information transmitted from the communication means of the other mobile unit or the carrier is intercepted, and the position of the own device and the relative position of the other mobile unit or the carrier are detected. Since the relationship can be detected, even if the presence of the other party cannot be visually confirmed with respect to the own apparatus, it can be confirmed beforehand whether or not there is a possibility of collision.

As described above, it is possible to realize a collision prevention device having a superior collision avoidance capability as compared with the related art.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a collision prevention device according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a situation in which mounting the collision prevention device according to the first embodiment on a vehicle is effective.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure executed by a collision prevention device that detects an obstacle.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure executed by the collision prevention apparatus that has intercepted obstacle information.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a collision prevention device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a situation where it is effective to mount the collision prevention device according to the second embodiment on a vehicle.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure executed by a vehicle-side collision prevention device that transmits vehicle position information.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure executed by a vehicle-side collision prevention device that intercepts vehicle position information.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2, 11, 12: vehicle, 1A, 2A: obstacle detecting means, 1B, 2B, 11A, 12A: vehicle position detecting means,
1C, 2C, 11B, 12B ... communication means, 1D, 2D,
12C: driver warning means, 3: road, 4: obstacle, 13
... intersection, 14 ... radio lighthouse.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Akihiro Fujii Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. 1-7-12 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A position detecting means for detecting a position of a moving body on which the own device is mounted or a person carrying the own device, and the position information of the moving object or the person detected by the position detecting means is transferred to another moving unit. A communication device for transmitting a signal to a body or a carrier. 2. A communication means for intercepting position information transmitted from another mobile body or a portable person; a position detecting means for detecting a position of a mobile body equipped with its own device or a portable person carrying its own device; Based on the position information detected by the position detecting means and the position information of the other mobile or carrier intercepted by the communication means, the relative position between the own device and another mobile or carrier. Determining means for detecting the relationship and determining whether or not to notify the presence of another moving body or carrier present around the own device; and, based on the determination result of the determining means, the other moving body or carrier. Notifying means for notifying a driver of a mobile body equipped with the self-machine or a person carrying the self-machine of the presence of the self-machine. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position detecting means knows the position of the own device based on a frequency of a radio wave received from a radio wave transmitting means installed on a road. Anti-collision device. 4. An obstacle detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of an obstacle which is an obstacle to a mobile body on which the own device is mounted or a person carrying the own device, wherein the communication means includes The position information detected by the position detecting means at the point in time when the object detecting means detects the presence of the obstacle, together with the distance to the obstacle detected by the obstacle detecting means and the position information, is used for other moving objects or persons. The collision prevention device according to claim 1, wherein the collision prevention device transmits the message to a user. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit is configured to determine a distance and a position to the obstacle transmitted from the other moving body or the person who has detected the obstacle, and the distance of the other moving body or the person at the time when the obstacle is detected. When the position information is intercepted by the communication means, the presence of an obstacle intercepted based on the information and the position information of the own apparatus detected by the position detection means is determined by the driver of the mobile unit or the own apparatus equipped with the own apparatus. The collision prevention apparatus according to claim 2, wherein it is determined whether or not to notify a person carrying the information. 6. The communication means has a function of intercepting position information transmitted from another mobile body or a portable person, and also transmits the position information of its own device detected by the position detection means to another mobile body or a portable body. The collision prevention device according to claim 2, further comprising a function of transmitting a call to a person.