JPH11348696A - Traveling path shape estimating device and running supporting device using it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To always estimate a vehicle traveling path shape with high precision by computing a front attending point of a driver from driver's eyesight and estimating a vehicle traveling path on the basis of this computing. SOLUTION: A CCD camera 10 and an infrared projector 11, by which an image including eyes of a driver is provided, are built in a rearview mirror inside a cabin. The provided image of the driver's eyes is supplied to a traveling path shape estimating unit ECU 13, in which the image is processed and an attending point of the driver is computed. Similarly, information about a previous vehicle detected by means of a radar 12 is also supplied to the traveling path shape estimating unit ECU 13. In the traveling path shape estimating unit 13, a traveling path shape is estimated by using the information about the attending point of the driver or the previous vehicle. In this constitution, the traveling path shape is surely estimated on the basis of the information about the previous vehicle in the presence of a previous vehicle, while the traveling path shape is estimated on the basis of the front visual checking condition of a driver, that is, the driver's attending point, in the absence of a previous vehicle, so that a traveling path can be always estimated stably.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a travel path shape estimating apparatus and a travel support apparatus using the same, and more particularly, to a travel path shape estimating apparatus for estimating a travel path shape on which a vehicle travels, and an apparatus for estimating the travel path shape. The present invention relates to a travel support device for effectively assisting a driver in traveling of a vehicle using a shape of a traveling path.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method of estimating a shape of a road ahead of a vehicle, that is, a traveling path, a method of directly using a traveling state of a vehicle such as a steering angle or detecting information of a preceding vehicle and indirectly proceeding. Various methods for estimating the road shape have been proposed. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-288179 discloses that an on-vehicle radar device detects an inter-vehicle distance and a direction between a host vehicle and a preceding vehicle, and substitutes a preceding vehicle position coordinate calculated based on the distance into a circle equation. Describes a method for calculating the curve radius of the traveling path, and this method makes it possible to estimate the traveling path shape relatively accurately.

[0003]

However, such a conventional method for estimating the shape of a traveling path has the following problems. That is, in the former technique, the shape of the traveling path is directly estimated from the traveling state of the vehicle, which is the steering angle, but the steering angle is based on the steering operation performed by the driver according to the shape of the curve currently traveling. And does not accurately reflect the shape of the forward traveling path.

In the latter technique, the shape of the traveling path on which the host vehicle should travel in the future can be estimated relatively accurately by detecting the position of the preceding vehicle that actually travels, but there is no preceding vehicle. In such a case, there is a problem that estimation cannot be performed. When there is a preceding vehicle, the driver looks at the preceding vehicle as a target and checks the movement (running state) of the preceding vehicle, which is often reflected in the traveling of the own vehicle. It can be said that the need for estimating the traveling path shape is higher in supporting the traveling because the traveling target is lost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and a traveling path estimating apparatus capable of always accurately estimating a traveling path shape of a vehicle irrespective of the presence or absence of a preceding vehicle, and a traveling support apparatus using the traveling path estimating apparatus. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for estimating the shape of a traveling route, comprising: a gaze detecting means mounted in a vehicle interior for detecting a gaze of a driver; Gazing point calculation means for detecting a forward gazing point based on the driver's gaze detected by the first gazing point; first estimating means for estimating the traveling path shape of the vehicle based on the gazing point detected by the gazing point calculation means; , Which is achieved.

According to the present invention, a forward fixation point of the driver is calculated from the driver's line of sight, and the traveling path of the vehicle is estimated based on this. When the driver drives the vehicle, he or she tends to look at the traveling path ahead of the own vehicle, especially when there is no preceding vehicle. If there is a preceding vehicle, the driver gazes at the preceding vehicle as described above, and as a result, the driver places his / her gaze on the traveling path ahead of the own vehicle. Therefore, by detecting the driver's gazing point from the driver's line of sight and estimating the traveling path shape based on the detected gazing point, the traveling path shape can be estimated regardless of the presence or absence of the preceding vehicle.

A method for estimating the traveling path shape is, for example, a case where a trajectory in which both points are drawn in the same circular arc based on the driver's gazing point and the position of the vehicle is recognized as a traveling path shape to which the vehicle will travel in the future. Or, it can be configured to reflect the general road structure and replace it with another curve for recognition.

Further, the present invention provides,
In the above-mentioned traveling path shape estimating apparatus, further, a preceding vehicle detecting means for detecting a preceding vehicle position, and a second estimating means for estimating a traveling path shape of the vehicle based on the preceding vehicle position detected by the preceding vehicle detecting means. And selecting means for selecting and outputting the estimation results of the first and second estimating means according to the detection result of the preceding vehicle detecting means.

With this configuration, when there is a preceding vehicle, the traveling path shape estimated based on the detected preceding vehicle position can be selected, or according to the preceding vehicle position.
For example, if the preceding vehicle does not exist at all, or if it does exist, it is obviously not on the own lane, and the travel path shape estimated based on the driver's gaze point obtained from the driver's line of sight can be selected. As a result, it is possible to appropriately adopt a highly reliable estimation result based on the situation at that place, and the accuracy and reliability are improved.

Further, the present invention provides,
A traveling support device for supporting the traveling of a vehicle, a traveling state detecting means for detecting a traveling state of the vehicle, a traveling state detected by the traveling state detecting means, and a traveling path obtained by the traveling path shape estimating device. And support means for supporting the running of the vehicle based on the estimation result of the shape.

[0012] With this configuration, it is possible to perform driving support using the highly reliable estimation result of the traveling path shape, and it is possible to effectively assist the driving of the driver.

Further, according to the present invention, as set forth in claim 4,
In the driving support device, the driving state detecting means detects a driving speed of the vehicle, and the supporting means calculates an allowable speed of the vehicle based on a traveling path shape obtained by the first or second estimating means. When the traveling speed obtained by the traveling state detection means is equal to or higher than the permissible speed, a warning may be issued to the driver or the vehicle speed may be reduced.

According to the above configuration, based on the travel path shape estimated by the first or second estimating means, the allowable speed at which the vehicle can be determined to be able to travel on the travel path without hindrance and the actual travel speed are determined. By comparing the magnitude relation and warning or decelerating, the traveling of the vehicle can be effectively supported.

Further, according to the present invention, as set forth in claim 5,
In the above-mentioned traveling support device, the traveling state detecting means detects a position of the own vehicle with respect to a traveling lane, and the supporting means issues a lane departure warning based on the own vehicle position. The warning reference or the warning level can be changed based on the result of the estimation of the traveling path shape obtained by the estimation means.

According to the above configuration, a lane departure warning is issued based on the position of the host vehicle with respect to the traveling lane, and the warning reference, for example, a warning is issued based on the travel path shape estimated by the first or second estimating means. By changing the threshold value for determining the timing and the alarm level (alarm volume and display form) issued to the driver, an alarm suitable for the shape of the traveling path can be issued.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a traveling path shape estimation device according to a first embodiment of the present invention and a driving assistance device using the same,
As shown in FIG. 2, the CCD camera 10 and the infrared projector 11
Is built into the rear view mirror in the passenger compartment. More specifically, an image including the driver's eyes is emitted by pulsating the infrared light from the infrared projector 11 toward the driver's eyes in synchronization with the electronic shutter of the CCD camera 10 that operates at predetermined time intervals. To get. The acquired image is supplied to the traveling path shape estimation ECU 13, where the gaze point of the driver is calculated after performing predetermined processing described later. The preceding vehicle information detected by the radar 12 is similarly supplied to the traveling path shape estimation ECU 13. The traveling path shape estimating ECU 13 performs predetermined processing described later using the driver's point of interest information or the preceding vehicle information to estimate the traveling path shape, and supplies the estimation result to the warning / control ECU 14. The warning / control ECU 14 calculates the permissible speed of the vehicle based on the travel path shape estimation result and the traveling speed detected by the wheel speed sensor 15 configured as the traveling state detecting means, by a process described later. Further, by comparing the magnitude relationship between the allowable speed and the traveling speed, the driving of the alarm 16 or the throttle actuator 17 is controlled.

(Gaze and Gaze Point Recognition Method) A gaze and gaze point recognition process will be described with reference to FIGS. First, from the image of the driver's eye acquired by the CCD camera 10, the pupil center and the bright spot due to corneal reflection of infrared light incident from a predetermined direction by the infrared projector 11 are recognized by image processing. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, when the horizontal distance between the center of the pupil and the bright point is 1 h and the vertical distance is lv, the angle θ in the horizontal direction of the line of sight and the angle φ in the vertical direction
Is calculated by the following equation. θ = kh × lh φ = kv × lv where kh and kv are proportional constants. At this time, by observing the driver's line of sight for a certain period of time and successively performing statistical processing (for example, averaging) on the line of sight information represented by θ and φ, the value obtained as a representative value is used to reduce the effect of line of sight fluctuation. Can be. Regarding the gaze recognition method, a known method (IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SYS) is used.
TEMS, MAN, ANDCYBERNETICS, V
OL. 19, NO. 6 "Human-Computer
Interaction Using Eye-Ga
ze Input ”)), so the details are omitted.

Next, a gazing point is detected. As shown in FIG. 4, the gazing point uses the line-of-sight information θ and φ and the line-of-sight height h of the driver obtained as described above on the assumption that the driver is looking at a predetermined point on the traveling route. By calculating the distance L from a person (vehicle), the distance L is represented by parameters θ and L.
L is geometrically calculated by the following equation. L = h / tanφ

(Method of Estimating Traveling Path Shape) A method of estimating a curve radius of a traveling path having a traveling path shape will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the point of regard and the shape of the traveling path when the vehicle is assumed to travel on a road with a constant curvature (curve radius). The gazing point of the driver in the vehicle is at a position indicated by θ in the left-right direction with respect to the center of the vehicle and a distance L from the vehicle as described above. At this time, the traveling path of the vehicle is represented by an arc having a radius R as shown in the figure, assuming that the road has a constant curvature. When this curve radius R is geometrically obtained, it is calculated by the following equation. R = L / (2 × sin θ) When obtaining the curve radius R from the preceding vehicle position, a similar method may be used, and the calculation may be performed by replacing the gazing point position with the preceding vehicle position.

Next, specific processing in the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First,
In step S10, a drowsiness determination is performed based on the driver's eye image obtained by the CCD camera 10 by a known method such as a blink frequency. When it is determined to fall asleep (YES)
Proceeds to step S20 and issues a warning such as a buzzer sound.
If it is determined that the user is not dozing (NO), step S
Proceeding to 30, the presence or absence of a preceding vehicle is determined based on the preceding vehicle information detected by the radar 12. When it is determined that there is no preceding vehicle (NO), the process proceeds to step S40, and the CCD camera 10
The gaze and gazing point information (L, θ) are calculated by the above-described processing based on the image obtained in step (1). At this time, it is also possible to read L and θ using the correspondence table created in advance by the above-described formula. When it is determined that there is a preceding vehicle (YES), the process proceeds to step S50, and the preceding vehicle position (L, θ) is calculated based on the preceding vehicle information obtained by the radar 12. At this time, L is the distance to the preceding vehicle, and θ is the left-right angle with respect to the front-rear center of the own vehicle.

In step S60, a curve radius R is calculated based on the gazing point information or the preceding vehicle position calculated in step S40 or S50 by the above-described method. Next, in step S70, the allowable speed Vs of the vehicle is calculated using the curve radius R.
Is calculated. Specifically, assuming that the allowable lateral acceleration of the vehicle is As, it is calculated by the following equation. Vs = (As × R) ^1/2 As is determined by the vehicle specifications, and is given a predetermined value. In step S80, the vehicle speed V detected by the wheel speed sensor 15 is compared with the allowable speed Vs calculated in the previous step. If the vehicle speed V is equal to or higher than the permissible speed Vs, the process proceeds to step S90, in which a warning sound is issued by the alarm device 16 as a speed warning, and the throttle actuator 17 is driven to turn off the throttle, thereby decelerating the vehicle. When the vehicle speed V is equal to or lower than the allowable speed Vs, the process proceeds to step S100, and if an alarm has been issued in the previous process, the alarm is stopped (OFF). When the processing in step S90 or S100 is performed, the process returns to step S10.

As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, when there is a preceding vehicle, the shape of the traveling path is reliably estimated based on the information of the preceding vehicle. In the method, since the traveling path shape is estimated based on the driver's forward visibility state, that is, the gazing point, it is possible to always perform a stable traveling path estimation. In addition, the allowable speed of the vehicle is calculated based on the shape of the traveling path (curve radius R) obtained in this way, and a speed warning is issued. It is possible to drive with plenty of space, such as paying attention to the shape of the vehicle.

In the present embodiment, the method for obtaining the curve radius R based on the presence or absence of a preceding vehicle is switched between a method based on the driver's gazing point and a method based on the position of the preceding vehicle. Without providing, it may be configured to always seek from the driver's gaze point, and the basic operation and effect of the present invention can be obtained. Further, in performing the driving support, the alarm sound and the throttle OFF are performed at the same time as in the present embodiment, but it goes without saying that any one of the measures may be taken.

Second Embodiment FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a traveling path shape estimating apparatus and a driving support apparatus using the same according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state where the vehicle is mounted on a vehicle. Since the configuration relating to the travel route estimating device is the same as that of the previous embodiment, detailed description will be omitted. A white line recognizing CCD camera 18 is provided on the door mirror of the vehicle. The white line recognizing CCD camera 18 supplies the alarm / control ECU 14 with a relative position of the own vehicle with respect to the white line obtained as a result of recognizing the white line. The warning / control ECU 14 outputs a warning signal to the warning device 19 for issuing a departure warning to the driver based on a relative position of the own vehicle with respect to the white line by a predetermined process described later.

(Departure Warning) A deviation warning will be described with reference to FIG. When the vehicle travels on the lane, the relative position of the vehicle with respect to the white line detected by the white line recognizing CCD camera 18 is represented as x as shown. Normally, that is, when traveling on a straight road, the alarm threshold value xs is set as shown in the figure, but in the present invention, it is changed according to the traveling road shape (curve radius). The change amount Δ is obtained by a process described later, and the relative position of the own vehicle with respect to the white line is compared with an alarm threshold to turn on / off the alarm.

Next, a specific process in the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Steps S10 to S60 are described in the first embodiment (FIG. 6).
Therefore, detailed description is omitted. In step S70, an alarm threshold change amount Δ is calculated by the following equation based on the curve radius R estimated in step S60. Δ = K / R where K is a proportional constant. At this time, it is also possible to read an alarm threshold change amount Δ suitable for the curve radius R from a previously created correspondence table between the curve radius R and the alarm threshold change amount Δ. Next, in step S80, the relative position x of the own vehicle with respect to the white line detected by the white line recognizing CCD camera 18 is read.
And x _s + Δ. Here, if the determination result is NO, it is determined that the own vehicle position has exceeded the alarm reference position, the process proceeds to step S100, the alarm 19 is activated, a deviation alarm is issued, and the process returns to step S10. If the result of the determination is YES, the vehicle position does not reach the alarm reference position, and the process proceeds to step S110. If an alarm has been issued in the previous process, the alarm is stopped (OFF) and the process returns to step S10. .

As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the road criterion of the departure warning is changed according to the traveling path shape estimated based on the preceding vehicle position or the driver's gazing point. This makes it possible to give an alarm taking into account the risk of departure.

In this embodiment, as described in the previous embodiment, the radius of the curve, which is the shape of the traveling path, may be always estimated from the driver's gaze point. Further, in the present embodiment, the alarm threshold, which is an alarm reference, is changed. However, the alarm level (for example, the volume of an alarm by sound, the recognition of an alarm by display) Display modes having different degrees) may be changed.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the traveling path shape is estimated on the basis of the same arc having a constant curvature based on the gazing point or the position of the preceding vehicle and the position of the own vehicle. (Gaze point or preceding vehicle position, own vehicle position) may be used to estimate the shape of the traveling path based on other rules according to the road structure.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention as set forth in the claims, since the shape of the traveling path is estimated based on the driver's gazing point indicating the information ahead, the preceding vehicle can be accurately determined. Even when it does not exist, the travel path shape can be reliably estimated. In addition, it is possible to effectively support the driver's traveling by using the estimation result.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a mounted state of a driver's line of sight and gazing point detection CCD camera and an infrared projector.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a gaze calculation method.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a gazing point calculation method.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a method of estimating a traveling path shape (curve radius).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a mounted state of a white line recognition CCD camera and a radar.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram relating to a departure warning.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 CCD camera (for line-of-sight detection) 11 Infrared projector (for line-of-sight detection) 12 Radar (for detection of preceding vehicle) 13 Traveling road shape recognition ECU 14 Warning / control ECU 15 Wheel speed sensor 16, 19 Alarm 17 Throttle actuator 18 White line CCD camera for recognition

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A gaze detecting unit mounted in a vehicle interior for detecting a driver's line of sight, a gaze point calculating unit for detecting a forward gaze point based on the driver's line of sight detected by the driver's line of sight, First estimating means for estimating the traveling path shape of the vehicle based on the gazing point detected by the viewpoint calculating means;
A travel path shape estimating device comprising: 2. The traveling path shape estimating device according to claim 1, further comprising: a preceding vehicle detecting means for detecting a preceding vehicle position; and a traveling path of the vehicle based on the preceding vehicle position detected by the preceding vehicle detecting means. A second estimating means for estimating a shape; and a selecting means for selecting and outputting an estimation result of the first and second estimating means according to a detection result of the preceding vehicle detecting means. Road shape estimation device. 3. A traveling support device for supporting traveling of a vehicle, wherein the traveling state detecting means detects a traveling state of the vehicle, and the traveling state detected by the traveling state detecting means is determined. A driving support device, comprising: support means for supporting the traveling of a vehicle based on a result of estimating the shape of the traveling route obtained by the traveling route shape estimating device. 4. The driving support device according to claim 3, wherein
The traveling state detecting means detects a traveling speed of the vehicle, and the support means calculates an allowable speed of the vehicle based on a traveling path shape obtained by the first or second estimating means,
A driving assistance device, wherein a warning is issued to a driver or the vehicle speed is reduced when the traveling speed obtained by the traveling state detection means is equal to or higher than the allowable speed. 5. The driving support device according to claim 3, wherein
The traveling state detecting means detects a position of the own vehicle relative to a traveling lane, and the support means issues a lane departure warning based on the own vehicle position, and the traveling state is obtained by the first or second estimating means. A driving support device that changes an alarm reference or an alarm level based on a result of estimating a road shape.