WO2017061260A1 - Event information storage device, event information reading device, operation assistance system, and event information storage method - Google Patents

Abstract

An event information storage device (10), in which event information containing either an operation performed with respect to a vehicle (1) while traveling or the behavior of the vehicle is stored in association with a vehicle position, is provided with: a vehicle position acquisition unit (12); a road shape acquisition unit (13); a feature position detection unit (14) that detects a feature position on a road by analyzing the shape of the road and extracting a geometrical feature; an event information acquisition unit (11); a vehicle position conversion unit (15) that converts the vehicle position at the time of acquisition of the event information to a relative position with respect to the feature position; and an event information storage unit (16) that stores the event information in association with the vehicle position that has been converted to the relative position.

Description

Event information storage device, event information reading device, driving support system, and event information storage method Cross-reference of related applications

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-199671 filed on October 7, 2015 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-140957 filed on July 17, 2016, which is described herein. Incorporate content.

The present disclosure relates to an event information storage device, an event information reading device, a driving support system, and an event information storage method for storing and using information acquired when a vehicle is traveling on a road.

Information on the operation performed by the driver on the vehicle while driving on the road and information such as the behavior of the vehicle are stored in association with the road in the map data, and the next time the vehicle is driven on the road It has been proposed to be used for control. Information on operations performed by the driver on the vehicle and information on the behavior of the vehicle are hereinafter referred to as “event information”.

Here, the road in the map data is expressed as a series of links. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 13B, the road shown in FIG. 13A is divided into five links and is expressed as a series of these links. Each link has a plurality of interpolation points in addition to the link start and end points. These start point, end point, and a plurality of interpolation points are called nodes. Each node has latitude and longitude information, and the link shape is expressed by a plurality of nodes (see FIG. 13C). A road on the map data is expressed as a series of such links and nodes.

Also, each link is given a unique identification number called a link ID, and a unique identification number called a node ID is given to each node in the link. For this reason, if the node ID is designated, the link to which the node belongs can be specified, and the position of the road on the map data can also be specified. Therefore, when event information is associated with a road of map data, it has been proposed to associate event information with a node ID (Patent Document 1).

However, there is a problem that event information cannot be accumulated efficiently if event information is associated with a node ID of map data. This is due to the following reason.

First, in Japan, the shape of roads is constantly changing and new roads are being added somewhere, and map data is frequently updated accordingly. When a road shape is changed or a new road is added, a new link or node is added, so a new node ID is given. In addition to the assignment of a new node ID, a link ID or a node ID may be re-added including a portion where the shape of the road is not changed.

However, if the event information accumulated so far is used for vehicle control without knowing that the link ID or node ID has been reassigned, inappropriate control will be performed. Of course, the event information accumulated so far can be used for the part of the road where the node ID is not reassigned, but the road where the node ID is reattached and the road where the node ID is not reattached It is necessary to perform a complicated process for identifying. For this reason, in order to avoid situations where improper control is performed or complicated processing is required, the accumulated event information is discarded every time map data is updated. As a result, it has been difficult to efficiently accumulate event information.

JP 2014-199588 A

The present disclosure relates to an event information storage device, an event information reading device, and a driving support system for efficiently storing event information by enabling inheritance of event information accumulated so far even when map data is updated. And an event information storage method.

In the first aspect of the present disclosure, the vehicle is mounted on a vehicle that travels on the road of the map data while reading the map data, and at least one of an operation performed while the vehicle is traveling or a behavior of the vehicle is performed. The event information storage device that stores the event information included in association with the vehicle position on the road includes a vehicle position acquisition unit that acquires the vehicle position, and a shape of the road on which the vehicle is traveling A road shape acquisition unit that acquires data, a feature position detection unit that detects a feature position of the road by analyzing the shape of the road and extracts a shape feature, and event information that acquires the event information An acquisition unit, a vehicle position conversion unit that converts the vehicle position at the time when the event information is acquired into a relative position with respect to the characteristic position, and It was provided with an event information storage unit that stores the event information in association with the vehicle position.

According to the event information storage device, the vehicle position where the event information is stored can be specified based on the feature position as long as the shape of the road has not changed. In addition, since the event information is considered to be information generated based on the shape of the road, even if the node ID on the map data is changed, the event information is not changed if the shape of the road is not changed. It is still considered effective. For this reason, even if the node ID on the map data is changed, the event information acquired and stored previously can be used. Therefore, even when the map data is updated, the event information accumulated so far can be inherited, and the event information can be accumulated efficiently.

In the second aspect of the present disclosure, the driving support system is mounted on a vehicle that travels on a road of the map data while reading the map data, or an operation performed while the vehicle is traveling or the vehicle Event information storage device for storing event information including at least one of behaviors in a database in association with a vehicle position on the road, and detecting the vehicle position on the road and referring to the database Thus, an event information reading device that reads the available event information from the database, and a driving support device that performs driving support using the event information read from the database are provided. The event information storage device analyzes the shape of the road, a vehicle position acquisition unit that acquires the vehicle position, a road shape acquisition unit that acquires the shape of the road on which the vehicle is traveling from the map data, and A feature position detection unit that detects a feature position of the road by extracting a shape feature, an event information acquisition unit that acquires the event information, and the vehicle position at the time when the event information is acquired. A vehicle position conversion unit that converts the vehicle position to a relative position with respect to the characteristic position, and an event information storage unit that stores the event information in association with the vehicle position converted to the relative position. The database is a database that stores the event information in association with a relative position with respect to a feature position of the road. The event information reading device analyzes a vehicle position acquisition unit that acquires a vehicle position of the vehicle, a road shape acquisition unit that acquires a shape of the road on which the vehicle is traveling from map data, and a shape of the road A feature position detection unit that detects a feature position of the road by extracting a shape feature, and the event information stored in the database based on the feature position detected by the feature position detection unit And an event information reading unit for reading.

According to the above driving support system, as long as the shape of the road has not changed, the vehicle position where the event information is stored can be specified based on the feature position. In addition, since the event information is considered to be information generated based on the shape of the road, even if the node ID on the map data is changed, the event information is not changed if the shape of the road is not changed. It is still considered effective. For this reason, even if the node ID on the map data is changed, the event information acquired and stored previously can be used. Therefore, even when the map data is updated, the event information accumulated so far can be inherited, and the event information can be accumulated efficiently.

In the third aspect of the present disclosure, event information including at least one of an operation performed on a vehicle traveling on a road or a behavior of the vehicle on the road is associated with a position on the road. An event information reading device that reads out the available event information by referring to the stored database includes a vehicle position acquisition unit that acquires a vehicle position of the vehicle, and a shape of the road on which the vehicle is traveling. A road shape acquisition unit that acquires from map data, a feature position detection unit that detects a feature position of the road by analyzing the shape of the road and extracts a shape feature, and the feature position detection unit detects And an event information reading unit for reading the event information stored in the database based on the feature position.

According to the event information reading device, the vehicle position where the event information is stored can be specified based on the feature position as long as the shape of the road has not changed. In addition, since the event information is considered to be information generated based on the shape of the road, even if the node ID on the map data is changed, the event information is not changed if the shape of the road is not changed. It is still considered effective. For this reason, even if the node ID on the map data is changed, the event information acquired and stored previously can be used. Therefore, even when the map data is updated, the event information accumulated so far can be inherited, and the event information can be accumulated efficiently.

In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, the present invention is applied to a vehicle that travels on a road of map data while reading the map data, and performs at least one of an operation performed on the vehicle while traveling or a behavior of the vehicle. The event information storage method for storing the included event information in association with the vehicle position on the road acquires the vehicle position and acquires the shape of the road on which the vehicle is traveling from the map data. Detecting the road feature position by analyzing the shape of the road and extracting a shape feature; obtaining the event information; and the time when the event information is obtained. Converting the vehicle position to a relative position with respect to the characteristic position, and storing the event information in association with the vehicle position converted to the relative position Including theft door, the.

According to the event information storage method described above, as long as the shape of the road has not changed, the vehicle position where the event information is stored can be specified based on the feature position. In addition, since the event information is considered to be information generated based on the shape of the road, even if the node ID on the map data is changed, the event information is not changed if the shape of the road is not changed. It is still considered effective. For this reason, even if the node ID on the map data is changed, the event information acquired and stored previously can be used. Therefore, even when the map data is updated, the event information accumulated so far can be inherited, and the event information can be accumulated efficiently.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawing
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a rough internal structure of a vehicle equipped with a driving support system according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the event information storage device, FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the event information storage process executed inside the event information storage device, FIG. 4A to FIG. 4D are explanatory diagrams illustrating how to detect feature positions. FIG. 5A to FIG. 5B are explanatory views showing a state in which the relative position of the vehicle with respect to the feature position is acquired. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of information stored in the database. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the event information reading device, FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a driving support process executed inside the driving support system. FIG. 9A to FIG. 9C are explanatory diagrams illustrating a state in which the detected feature position is collated with a database. FIGS. 10A to 10C are explanatory diagrams showing that previous event information is not read when the road shape of the map data is changed. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a method for predicting the route of a vehicle. FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a rough internal structure of a vehicle equipped with an automatic driving system according to a modification. FIG. 13A to FIG. 13C are explanatory diagrams showing a state in which the shape of the road is expressed using links and nodes on the map data.

Below, in order to clarify the content of this indication mentioned above, an example of a driving support system is described.
A. Device configuration of the driving support system 100:
FIG. 1 shows a rough structure of a driving support system 100 mounted on the vehicle 1. The driving support system 100 according to the present embodiment includes an event information storage device 10, a database 20, an event information reading device 30, and a driving support device 40.

The event information storage device 10 is a device that acquires event information and stores it in the database 20. Here, the event information is information representing the contents of various events that occur when the vehicle 1 is traveling. For example, if the driver performs some driving operation regarding the traveling of the vehicle 1 such as stepping on an accelerator or applying a brake, the event information indicates that the driving operation has occurred. At this time, event information including information indicating the degree of driving operation may be included. In addition to the driving operation by the driver, for example, information indicating the behavior of the vehicle 1 such as the traveling speed of the vehicle 1, the degree of acceleration or deceleration, the turning angle with respect to the straight traveling direction of the vehicle 1, and the like is also event information. Such event information can be acquired based on the contents detected by the various sensors 101 provided in the vehicle 1.

When the event information storage device 10 acquires the event information, the event information storage device 10 acquires the event information in the database 20 in a state of acquiring the position on the road where the event information was acquired and associating it with the position on the road. Remember. Information indicating the position on the road on which the vehicle 1 was traveling when the event information was acquired can be acquired from a car navigation device (hereinafter referred to as the car navigation device 102) provided in the vehicle 1. As is well known, the car navigation device 102 is equipped with a function for setting the destination and a function for route guidance to the destination in addition to the function for displaying the current position of the vehicle 1 on the map. However, here, it is only necessary to know the current position of the vehicle 1 on the map. Therefore, instead of the car navigation device 102, the position information of the vehicle 1 may be acquired using a device called a car locator in which a function for route guidance is removed from the car navigation device 102.

The database 20 stores the event information acquired by the event information storage device 10 in a state of being associated with the position on the road. In FIG. 1, the database 20 is displayed as being mounted separately from the event information storage device 10, but the database 20 may be built in the event information storage device 10.

When the event information reading device 30 acquires information on the current position of the vehicle 1 from the car navigation device 102, the event information reading device 30 refers to the database 20. As described above, since the event information is stored in the database 20 in a state associated with the position on the road, if there is a place where the event information is associated around the current position of the vehicle 1, The location can be easily recognized by referring to the database 20. Therefore, the event information reading device 30 reads event information associated with the location from the database 20.

The driving support device 40 uses the event information read by the event information reading device 30 to perform driving support. Since the event information stored in the database 20 is information acquired when the vehicle 1 actually travels on a road, the event information is used when traveling again on a road that has traveled before. Driving assistance. For example, when driving again on a curve that has previously been suddenly braked, it is possible to perform driving assistance for alerting the driver to decelerate in advance. Alternatively, driving assistance is provided in such a manner that the driving state of the vehicle 1 is automatically controlled, such as decelerating in front of a curve by intervening in driving operations such as a brake and an accelerator, instead of stopping the alert to the driver. May be executed.

Here, the driving support system 100 includes the event information storage device 10, the database 20, the event information reading device 30, the driving support device 40, and the like. However, it is only necessary that the driving support system 100 has the functions of these devices, and it is not always necessary to include these devices. Therefore, these “apparatuses” may be virtually realized as a computer program executed by the CPU. Alternatively, it may be realized as an electronic circuit including an LSI, a memory, a timer, or a combination thereof.
B-1. Device configuration of the event information storage device 10:
FIG. 2 shows the internal structure of the event information storage device 10. As illustrated, the event information storage device 10 includes an event information acquisition unit 11, a vehicle position acquisition unit 12, a road shape acquisition unit 13, a feature position detection unit 14, a vehicle position conversion unit 15, and event information. And a storage unit 16.

Note that these “units” are merely concepts that classify the inside of the event information storage device 10 from the viewpoint of functions, and do not necessarily indicate that the inside of the event information storage device 10 is physically partitioned.

The event information acquisition unit 11 acquires event information based on the content detected by the sensors 101 provided in the vehicle 1. In this embodiment, a predetermined event is set for the content of the driving operation and the behavior of the vehicle 1, and the occurrence of the predetermined event is acquired as event information. However, the sensors 101 provided in the vehicle 1 are general sensors that detect the amount of depression of the brake pedal and the like, and do not detect that a predetermined event has occurred. Therefore, the event information acquisition unit 11 monitors the output of the sensors 101 and acquires event information by detecting that the output has changed in a predetermined pattern. For example, if the output of the brake pedal sensor that detects the amount of depression of the brake pedal increases more than a certain amount within a certain period of time, it is determined that sudden braking has been performed and that is acquired as predetermined event information. To do.

The vehicle position acquisition unit 12 acquires information indicating the position of the vehicle 1 from the car navigation device 102. Since the car navigation apparatus 102 grasps the position of the vehicle 1 on the map data, the car navigation apparatus 102 acquires information indicating the position together with the map data.

The road shape acquisition unit 13 acquires the shape of the road on which the vehicle 1 is traveling from map data. That is, if the position of the vehicle 1 is known, the road on which the vehicle is traveling can be specified, and the shape of the road is acquired from the map data. Alternatively, there may be a case where the traveling road cannot be specified, such as when the traveling road is branched, but in such a case, the shape of the road that may travel is acquired from the map data.

The feature position detection unit 14 analyzes the shape of the road acquired by the road shape acquisition unit 13 and detects the feature position. Here, the feature position is a position determined on the road based on the shape characteristic of the road, and refers to the following position. For example, if the road on which the vehicle 1 is running is a straight line, the straight line will not continue indefinitely, so the straight line will eventually end by switching to a curve or turning right or left. There is a position to do. Such a position is a feature position. The same is true for curves. That is, there is a position where the curve ends, for example, when the curve changes to a straight line or the direction of the curve changes, and such a position is also a feature position. Furthermore, not only the position where a straight line or a curve ends, but also the position where a straight line or a curve starts is a characteristic position. As described above, the feature position is a position determined on the road based on the shape feature of the road, and the feature position detection unit 14 detects the feature position by analyzing the shape of the road acquired from the map data. To do.

The vehicle position conversion unit 15 converts the position of the vehicle 1 (hereinafter referred to as vehicle position) when the event information is acquired into a form of a relative position with respect to the feature position. The information indicating the vehicle position is acquired by the vehicle position acquisition unit 12 from the car navigation device 102, and the feature position is detected by the feature position detection unit 14. Therefore, if the information is used, It can be converted to be expressed in the form of a relative position to the position.

The event information storage unit 16 stores the event information acquired by the event information acquisition unit 11 in the database 20 in association with the vehicle position converted by the vehicle position conversion unit 15. That is, when event information is acquired, the information is not simply stored in association with the vehicle position, but the vehicle position is converted into a relative position form with respect to the feature position, and converted into the relative position form. Is stored in association with each other. Of course, the processing load increases because it is necessary to convert the vehicle position to the relative position compared to the case where the vehicle position is simply stored in association with the vehicle position, but this makes it possible to accumulate event information efficiently. It becomes. The reason for this will be described in detail later.
B-2. Event information storage processing:
FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of an event information storage process executed inside the event information storage device 10. This event information storage process is a process that starts when the engine key of the vehicle 1 is turned on and is repeatedly executed at a constant period until the engine key is turned off.

When the event information storage process is started, first, it is determined whether or not the output of the sensors 101 is an output of a predetermined pattern (S101). For example, when the output of the brake pedal sensor increases rapidly, it may be considered that the brake is applied suddenly. Or when the output of an accelerator pedal sensor increases rapidly, it may be considered that sudden acceleration was performed. Furthermore, when the output of the steering angle sensor suddenly changes, it may be considered that a sudden steering operation has been performed. Thus, the driving operation by the driver and the behavior of the vehicle 1 are reflected in the output of the sensors 101.

Therefore, for a predetermined event (for example, sudden braking or rapid acceleration) that is desired to be detected as event information, a change in the output of the sensors 101 when the event occurs is stored as a predetermined pattern. In S101, it is determined whether or not the output of the sensors 101 matches a predetermined pattern.

As a result, when the sensor output of the predetermined pattern is not obtained (S101: no), the determination of S101 is repeated. On the other hand, when a sensor output of a predetermined pattern is obtained (S101: yes), event information indicated by the sensor output is acquired assuming that a predetermined event has occurred (S102).

When the event information is acquired (S102), map data and information indicating the position of the vehicle 1 are acquired from the car navigation device 102 (S103). If it carries out like this, it will become possible to match | combine the position of the vehicle 1 when event information is acquired, and the event information.

However, if the event information is stored using the position information acquired from the car navigation device 102 as it is, it may be difficult to use the event information later. This is due to the following reason.

First, in the map data used by the car navigation apparatus 102, the shape of the road is represented by a plurality of nodes indicating the passing position of the road. Each node is given a unique node ID. Therefore, the position on the road can be specified by using the node ID. Thus, the position of the vehicle position obtained from the car navigation apparatus 102 is specified using the node ID.

However, node IDs are not always consistent before and after updating map data. That is, the node ID is only given for convenience in order to identify the node in the map data, and therefore the node ID may be changed when the map data is updated. For this reason, for example, the node ID that was given to the nodes in the straight line before the update may be given to the nodes in the curve after the update.

Since the vehicle position obtained from the car navigation device 102 is specified by the node ID of the road, the map data is updated even if the vehicle position obtained from the car navigation device 102 is stored. The correct vehicle position cannot be specified.

For this reason, if the event information is stored using the vehicle position obtained from the car navigation device 102 as it is, the correct vehicle position cannot be specified even if the event information is read later, and eventually, It becomes difficult to utilize event information.

In this embodiment, in view of the above, the vehicle position acquired from the car navigation device 102 is not used as it is, but is used after the following processing is executed to convert the vehicle position.

First, the shape of the road on which the vehicle 1 is traveling is acquired from the map data (S104). As described above, in the map data, the shape of the road is represented using links and nodes, and the data of the shape of the road is acquired.

Subsequently, the acquired road shape is analyzed to detect a feature position (S105). That is, since the road shape read from the map data is displayed as a broken line connecting a plurality of nodes, the shape of the road displayed as a broken line is approximated using straight lines and arcs. At this time, the arc radius is also determined for the arc. Thus, after approximating the shape of the road as a continuous part that is approximated by a straight line (that is, a straight line part) and a part that is approximated by a circular arc (curve part), the result is used as follows. The feature position is detected.

4 (a) to 4 (d) illustrate how to detect feature positions. FIG. 4 (a) shows a vehicle 1 traveling on a road. In the illustrated example, the vehicle 1 travels along a straight portion, and a curved portion is connected to the front and back of the straight line. Therefore, in such a case, the boundary between the straight line portion and the curve portion can be detected as a feature position on the road.

In the example shown in FIG. 4A, the case where the vehicle 1 is traveling on a straight portion of the road has been described. However, as shown in FIG. 4B, the vehicle 1 is traveling on a curved portion of the road. Even so, the boundary between the straight line portion and the curve portion can be identified and detected as the feature position. Also, as shown in FIG. 4C, on a road where a curve that turns to the right and a curve that turns to the left are connected, the boundary between the curve that turns to the right and the curve that turns to the left is detected as a feature position. Can do.

Also, the feature position can be detected at a location other than the boundary of the straight line portion or the curve portion. For example, as shown in FIG. 4D, if there is an intersection, a junction, or a branch point, the position can be detected as a feature position. Of course, the position that can be detected as the feature position is not limited to the position illustrated in FIG. 4. For example, a position where the lane increases or decreases can be detected as the feature position. Alternatively, if it is possible to acquire road height difference information based on map data, the starting position and ending position of a slope can be detected as a characteristic position.

It should be noted that the characteristic shape of the road such as a straight line or a curve may be classified and stored in the characteristic position detection unit 14. In this way, the feature position can be detected by determining which type the shape of the road acquired from the map data corresponds to. For example, the shape of a road in which a straight line and a curve are connected is stored as a type, and the start position and end position of a straight line (hereinafter referred to as start position / end position) as candidate characteristic positions for this type, and The start and end positions of the curve are stored. In this way, when the shape of the road connecting the straight line and the curve is detected from the shape of the road acquired from the map data, the start position / end position of the straight line and the start position / end position of the curve are determined as the feature position. Can be detected as Similarly, if a shape where a plurality of roads intersect is stored as a type, a position where the roads intersect can be detected as a feature position in addition to the start position / end position of the road. If the shape where another road joins or branches from either the left or right side of the road is stored as a type, in addition to the start position / end position of the road, the position where another road joins or branches is the characteristic position. Can be detected as

When the feature position is detected as described above (S105 in FIG. 3), the vehicle position acquired from the car navigation apparatus 102 in S103 is converted into an expression format as a relative position with respect to the feature position (S106).

5 (a) to 5 (b) show how the vehicle position of the vehicle 1 acquired from the car navigation device 102 is converted into a relative position with respect to the feature position. As illustrated in FIG. 5A, when the vehicle 1 is traveling on a straight line portion of the road, the start position of the straight line is used as a feature position, and the vehicle 1 after passing the feature position is used. The travel distance is acquired as a relative position with respect to the feature position. In this way, the relative position of the vehicle 1 can be specified as the relative position with respect to the feature position. Of course, the end position of the straight line may be used as the feature position, and the travel distance from the vehicle 1 to the feature position (here, the end position of the straight line) may be acquired as a relative position with respect to the feature position. Here, it has been described that the vehicle position is specified by the feature position and the travel distance of the vehicle 1 from the feature position (or the travel distance to the feature position). However, as long as the vehicle position can be specified by the characteristic position and the relative position to the characteristic position, the relative position may not necessarily be the travel distance of the vehicle 1.

Furthermore, as a simple method, the vehicle position may be represented by the feature position without using the relative position to the feature position.

As shown in FIG. 5 (b), even when the vehicle 1 is traveling on a curved portion of the road, the vehicle position of the vehicle 1 can be similarly expressed in the form of the relative position with respect to the characteristic position. That is, when the vehicle 1 is traveling on a curved portion of the road, the start position of the curve is used as a feature position, and the travel distance of the vehicle 1 after passing through the feature position is determined as a relative position with respect to the feature position. Get as. Of course, the end position of the curve may be used as the feature position, and the travel distance from the vehicle 1 to the feature position (here, the end position of the curve) may be acquired as a relative position with respect to the feature position.

Further, even when the vehicle 1 is traveling on a curved portion, if the vehicle position can be specified by the feature position and the relative position with respect to the feature position, the relative position with respect to the feature position is not necessarily represented by the travel distance. It does not have to be. For example, in the case of FIG. 5B, since the curve portion has an arc shape with a radius R1 and a turning angle θ1, the position of the vehicle 1 in the curve portion is an angle at which the traveling direction of the vehicle 1 changes (that is, 0 ° or more). , An angle of θ1 or less).

Of course, even when the vehicle 1 is traveling on a curved portion, the vehicle position may be represented by the feature position without using the relative position with respect to the feature position.

Thus, if the vehicle position of the vehicle 1 acquired in S103 is converted into the form of the relative position with respect to the characteristic position (S106 in FIG. 3), the event information acquired in S102 is converted into the form of the relative position. The information is stored in association with the position (S107).

After the above process is executed and the event information and the position information of the vehicle 1 are stored in association with each other (S107), the process returns to the top of the process to determine whether the output of the sensors 101 has become a predetermined pattern again. After the determination (S101), the series of processes described above are repeated.

While the vehicle 1 is traveling, event information is accumulated in the database 20 by repeating the event information storage process as described above.

FIG. 6 shows a specific example of information stored in the database 20. The top row of the illustrated table shows the items of information stored, and the road shape, feature position, relative position from the feature position, and event information content are stored for each subsequent data item. ing. Among these items, information on the road shape, feature position, and relative position from the feature position is information for specifying the position of the vehicle 1 on the road.

For example, looking at the first data, the road shape is “right curve with radius R1 and turning angle θ1”, and the characteristic position is stored as “curve start position”. Here, the longitude and latitude (a1, b1) are included as information on the characteristic position. This indicates that there is a possibility that there is another “right curve of radius R1 and turning angle θ1” having the same road shape. This is auxiliary information added in order to identify the feature position. Even if the feature position itself is not defined by longitude and latitude, it is possible to specify a feature position by setting a range on the map where the same road shape is considered not to exist and defining the range by longitude and latitude. .

“10 m” as the relative position from the characteristic position represents the travel distance from the characteristic position to the position of the vehicle 1. Since the road shape and the characteristic position are specified, the relative position of the vehicle 1 with respect to the characteristic position is specified by the travel distance.

Referring to the second data, the road shape is “straight section from the intersection“ abc town ”to the intersection“ def town ”, and the characteristic position is stored as“ intersection “def town” ”. Thus, when the road shape and the feature position are defined based on the name of the intersection, the feature position can be specified regardless of the longitude and latitude.

Referring to the third data, the road shape is “up of the abc motorway, straight line 575 m”, and the characteristic position is stored as “straight line start position”. When there is one 575 m long straight portion on the abc expressway, it is possible to define the feature position without using the longitude and latitude, the name of the intersection / branch point, and the like.

For simplicity, as shown in the fourth data, the road shape and the characteristic position are stored, but the relative position of the vehicle 1 with respect to the characteristic position may not be stored. Even in such a case, for example, in the fourth data, it is possible to store event information that a strong brake is stepped on somewhere on the right curve specified by the road shape and the characteristic position.

Not limited to these four examples, the road shape and the feature position can be defined in various ways. For example, in the above-described example, the feature position is specified based on the road shape represented by one straight line portion or one curve portion. However, the road shape represented by the connection of a plurality of straight line portions or curve portions. The feature position can also be defined based on. If there is only one straight part or curved part, it is thought that there are multiple sections of the same length and shape throughout the country, but if these sections are connected together and treated as a series, other sections of the same road shape It is also possible to stipulate that it does not exist. In this case, it is not necessary to specify the longitude and latitude, the name of the intersection / branch point, the name of the road, etc. as illustrated in FIG. The feature position is not limited to the start position or end position of a series of road shapes, and a straight line or a curve boundary in the middle of a series of road shapes can also be set as a feature position.

Subsequently, a specific example of the event information shown in FIG. 6 will be described.

”The event data of the first data stores“ strong braking applied ”. Further, since this event information is stored based on the characteristic position on the curve, it can be understood that the event information is information during the curve. The fact that a strong brake was applied while turning a curve indicates that there is a high possibility that the deceleration before entering the curve was not sufficient. Therefore, when driving on the same curve next time, driving assistance is performed in which the driver is alerted so as to sufficiently slow down.

Also, the content of the event information need not be limited to one, and in this example, the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 immediately before the brake is applied may be stored together. In this way, the next time the vehicle travels on the same curve, it will not be alerted until it is sufficiently slowed down.

In the second data, “Sudden braking was applied when turning left” is stored as event information. In such a case, it is conceivable that the driver is late in noticing the pedestrian who is going to cross or the motorcycle trying to pass through the left side of the vehicle 1. Therefore, when driving next time, driving assistance is executed in advance to prompt the driver to check the surrounding safety.

Or, if the “sudden braking when turning left” is due to automatic braking for driving assistance, if you remember that fact together, learn a driving assistance control program to avoid sudden braking It can be used as data.

In the third data, event information “vehicle wobble” is stored. Considering that it is information when driving on an automobile-only road, there is a possibility that the driver felt sleepy. Therefore, when driving the same section next time, driving assistance such as alerting the driver is performed at a stage where drowsiness is lower than when driving in another section.

Or, if it occurs during the driving support that “vehicle wobble” automatically runs at a constant speed along the lane, it is better to store that fact together. In driving assistance that performs such driving control, it is usual to detect the position of a white line from a captured image and grasp the lane. Therefore, the fact that there is a “vehicle wobble” during driving control may mean that the system that performs driving control has lost the position of the white line. Therefore, if the event information stores that “the vehicle wobbled during the driving assistance that automatically runs at a constant speed along the lane”, the white line that divides the lane is not thin. It will be possible to check later.

As described above, as described with reference to a plurality of data examples, if specific event information and the position of the vehicle 1 when the event information is acquired are stored in association with each other, they can be used for various purposes later. It becomes possible to do. Below, when vehicle 1 is drive | working, using for event assistance memorize | stored in the database 20 for driving assistance is demonstrated.
C. Device configuration of event information reading device 30:
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the event information reading device 30. As shown in the figure, the event information reading device 30 includes a vehicle position acquisition unit 31, a road shape acquisition unit 32, a feature position detection unit 33, and an event information reading unit 34.

Note that these “units” are merely concepts that classify the inside of the event information reading device 30 from the viewpoint of function, and do not necessarily indicate that the inside of the event information reading device 30 is physically separated.

The vehicle position acquisition unit 31 acquires information indicating the position of the vehicle 1 from the car navigation device 102 together with map data.

The road shape acquisition unit 32 acquires the shape of the road on which the vehicle 1 is traveling from map data.

The feature position detection unit 33 analyzes the shape of the road acquired by the road shape acquisition unit 32 and detects the feature position.

The event information reading unit 34 collates the feature position detected by the feature position detection unit 33 with the database 20, and if the corresponding feature position is stored in the database 20, the event information corresponding to the feature position is stored. Read information.
D. Driving support processing:
FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of a driving support process executed inside the driving support system 100. This driving support process is repeatedly executed at regular intervals while the vehicle 1 is traveling by the event information reading device 30 and the driving support device 40 in the driving support system 100 (see FIG. 1). Process.

When the driving support process is started, first, map data and position information of the vehicle 1 are acquired from the car navigation device 102 (S201). Subsequently, the shape of the road ahead of the vehicle 1 is acquired (S202), and the feature position is detected by analyzing the shape of the road ahead (S203). The processing so far can be executed in the same manner as the event information storage processing S103 to S104 described above (see FIG. 3).

Next, the detected feature position is collated with the database 20 (S204). As described with reference to FIG. 6, the database 20 stores characteristic positions for each event information. Therefore, by checking whether the feature position detected from the front of the vehicle 1 in the process of S203 matches the feature position stored in the database 20, the vehicle 1 is associated with the position on the road from which the vehicle 1 will pass. The presence / absence of the received event information is known.

FIG. 9A to FIG. 9C illustrate how the detected feature positions are collated with a database. As a result of the process of detecting the feature position in S203, it is assumed that the feature position P and the feature position Q are detected based on the curve portion ahead of the vehicle 1 as shown in FIG. As described above, since the feature position is detected based on the road shape, in order to check whether the feature position detected in the process of S203 matches the feature position stored in the database 20, the matching of the road shape is performed. Will also be collated. The road shape has already been analyzed in order to detect the characteristic position in the process of S203, and the shape of the curve portion ahead of the vehicle 1 is an arc having a radius R2 and a turning angle θ2, as shown in FIG. 9B. Approximate to shape. Along with this road shape, each of the feature position P and the feature position Q is collated with the database 20.

As a result of the collation, if the feature position P is stored in the database 20, the event information corresponding to the feature position P is also stored. Therefore, the event information may be read out. The event information stored in the database 20 is stored in association with the position of the vehicle 1, and the position of the vehicle 1 is represented by a relative position from the feature position (see FIG. 6). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9C, the position of the vehicle 1 on the road when the event information is acquired, such as “event information acquired at a position a advanced from the feature position P by a distance La”. At the same time, event information can be read out. In addition, even if a plurality of pieces of event information are stored in the same curve portion, the position where specific event information is acquired, such as “event information acquired at a position a advanced from the characteristic position P by a distance La”, Other event information can be read out separately from the acquired position.

In addition, since the feature position is detected based on the road shape (see FIGS. 4A to 4D), even if the map data is updated and the serial number of the above shape points is changed. The matching of feature positions (S204 in FIG. 8) is possible. Therefore, the event information and the position of the vehicle 1 when the event information is acquired can be read without being affected by the update of the map data.

On the other hand, when the road shape in the map data is changed due to road construction or the like, the event information acquired before the road shape is changed is not read out. This will be described below.

FIG. 10 (a) shows the current road shape as a solid line and the previous road shape as a broken line. As shown in the figure, when the road shape of the curve portion is changed, it is necessary to change the timing of applying the brake of the vehicle 1 and the steering angle of the steering wheel, etc., and it was acquired before the road shape was changed. Event information cannot be used for driving support.

Here, as a result of the road shape of the curve portion being changed as illustrated, a new feature position R is generated between the new curve portion and the straight line portion. When the vehicle 1 travels on the road after the change, a new feature position R is detected, and the previous feature position P is not detected. Therefore, the old event information stored in association with the feature position P is not read out, and can be prevented from being erroneously used for driving support.

In FIG. 10A described above, the case where the location where the feature position is detected changes due to the change in the road shape of the curve portion has been described. However, the feature position is detected even if the road shape of the curve portion changes. It is possible that the place where it is done does not change. Even in such a case, if event information is stored as described below, event information before the road shape is changed is not read out.

For example, when event information acquired at a point a in the middle of the curve portion is stored, as shown in FIG. 10B, the end position of the straight line portion before the curve portion is defined as the feature position P, and this feature position P It is conceivable to store the position of the vehicle 1 according to the distance traveled by the vehicle 1 from However, when the position of the vehicle 1 is stored in this way, if the road shape of the curve portion is changed without changing the end position of the straight line portion, the feature position P is detected after that, so the road shape is changed. Event information before being read is read out.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10C, the same feature position P can be stored as the start position of the curve portion, not as the end position of the straight line portion. In this way, when the road shape of the curve portion is changed without changing the end position of the straight line portion, the feature position detected for reading the event information (S203 in FIG. 8) and the feature stored in the database 20 Even if the positions are collated (S204), they do not match. Therefore, the event information before the road shape is changed is not read, and it is not erroneously used for driving support.

In the case of FIG. 10C, the event before the road shape is changed even if the position of the vehicle 1 is stored based on the characteristic position Q detected from the end position instead of the start position of the curve portion. Information is never read out.

As described above, when storing the event information, if the feature position is stored based on the road shape including the position of the vehicle 1 when the event information is acquired, the road shape is changed. The old event information is not read out.

As described above, when the feature position detected in the process of S203 in FIG. 8 is collated with the database 20 (S204) and the feature position including the road shape matches, it is stored in association with the feature position. The read event information is read (S205). Here, when the road shape is changed due to construction, the event information acquired in the previous road shape is not read out, so the read event information is used as it is to perform driving support. (S206). The driving support may be executed in any manner such as various alerts depending on the content of the event information and automatic control of the driving state. A specific example is as described with reference to FIG. If driving support is performed (S206), it will return to the head of a process and will perform driving support processing again.

As described above, in this embodiment, the feature positions are used when storing event information (see FIG. 3) and reading out event information (see FIG. 8). Since the feature position can be verified without being affected by the update of the map data unless the road shape is changed, the position of the vehicle 1 when the event information is acquired can be confirmed even after the map data is updated. The event information can be used. Therefore, it is not necessary to discard the stored event information every time the map data is updated, and the event information can be stored efficiently.

Here, a supplementary explanation will be given for the range on the road where the feature position is detected. As described above, the characteristic position detected for reading the event information is detected from the front of the vehicle 1 (see S202 and S203 in FIG. 8). If event information stored based on the characteristic position ahead of the vehicle 1 is read in advance, driving assistance can be executed before the vehicle 1 passes through a position associated with the event information. At this time, it is not limited to the feature position in front of the vehicle 1, and if the event information stored based on the previous feature position is also read out, the vehicle 1 can be decelerated in advance before the curve. It becomes possible to execute driving support. However, since there are many branch points on the road and it is not known which characteristic position the vehicle 1 passes through, the travel route of the vehicle 1 is predicted.

The prediction may be performed by any method, for example, a simple prediction such as “the vehicle 1 travels straight on the road that is currently traveling”. In FIG. 11, the travel route of the vehicle 1 predicted in this way is indicated by a bold line. The illustrated vehicle 1 is predicted to pass through two intersections and then pass a curve when continuing straight from the current location. Characteristic positions a to d are detected from the start position and end position of the intersection and the curve portion, respectively. If event information stored based on these characteristic positions exists in the database, it can be read out. In particular, when the vehicle is traveling straight, the traveling speed is often high. Therefore, it is possible to perform driving support with a margin by reading the event information slightly ahead of the vehicle 1 in advance.

Of course, the vehicle 1 does not actually go straight, but when the vehicle 1 makes a right turn or a left turn, the travel route may be re-predicted each time. For example, when the vehicle 1 makes a left turn at an intersection where the characteristic position b in the figure is detected, the route that goes straight on the road after the left turn is re-predicted as the travel route of the vehicle 1. Even if re-predicting in this way, the vehicle 1 decelerates to make a left turn, so that the event information stored based on the characteristic position e of the left turn can be read out at a timing necessary for driving support. Conceivable. If the car navigation device 102 is in the middle of guiding the route of the vehicle 1, the route may be acquired. In that case, the traveling route is re-predicted every time the vehicle 1 makes a right turn or a left turn. There is no need.
E. Modified example:
In the present embodiment described above, the driving support system 100 that supports driving such as using event information to alert the driver or automatically controlling the running state of the vehicle 1 has been described. However, the automatic control of the traveling state of the vehicle 1 is not limited to driving assistance, and the same can be considered for automatic driving. In this modification, such an automatic driving system 200 will be briefly described.

As shown in FIG. 12, a modified automatic driving system 200 includes an event information storage device 210, a database 220, an event information reading device 230, and an automatic driving device 240. Except for the automatic driving device 240, the driving support system 100 is the same as the above. That is, the event information storage device 210 acquires the event information and stores it in the database 220, and the event information reading device 230 reads the event information stored in the database 220 according to the position where the vehicle 1 is currently traveling. The information acquired from the various sensors 101 and the car navigation device 102 is the same as that of the driving support system 100 described above.

The automatic driving device 240 automatically controls the running state of the vehicle 1 using event information. For example, it is assumed that event information “a strong brake is applied in the middle of a curve” is stored in the database 220. This event information is acquired when the vehicle 1 equipped with the automatic driving system 200 has traveled the corresponding curve before. From this, it can be seen that if the traveling state of the vehicle 1 is controlled according to the control program for automatic driving as it is, the deceleration before entering the corresponding curve is insufficient. Therefore, when traveling on the corresponding curve next time, the traveling state of the vehicle 1 is controlled so as to enter the curve after decelerating further than the deceleration corresponding to the automatic operation control program as it is.

As described above, the automatic driving device 240 can use the event information acquired when the vehicle travels before as learning data for improving the traveling state of the vehicle 1 in accordance with the actual road.

As mentioned above, although this Example and its modification were demonstrated, this indication is not restricted to said Example, It can implement in a various aspect further in the range which does not deviate from the summary.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, it has been described that the event information includes handling control of the vehicle 1 and information related to the behavior of the vehicle 1 by the control. However, the event information may be information acquired when the vehicle 1 actually travels on the road, and information such as the presence / absence of a winker operation and the presence / absence of a wiper drive can be handled as event information.

Further, in the above embodiment, it is determined that a predetermined event such as sudden braking has occurred due to the output of the sensors 101 changing in a predetermined pattern, and event information indicating the contents is stored. Explained what to do.

However, event information can be stored without being limited to when a predetermined event occurs. For example, an accelerator pedal sensor may be defined as the sensors 101 to be monitored in order to acquire event information, and an output value of the sensor may be acquired and stored as event information every time a predetermined time elapses. As in the above embodiment, the event information is stored in association with the position of the vehicle 1 on the road when the event information is acquired, so when the vehicle 1 is traveling on any position on the road It becomes possible to confirm later how much the accelerator pedal was depressed. The smaller the predetermined time, the more detailed the depression of the accelerator pedal can be confirmed.

In addition, the event information stored in the event information storage device 10 or the event information storage device 210 is not necessarily used only for the vehicle 1 that acquired the event information, but is used when other vehicles travel. May be. Furthermore, event information may be collected from each vehicle and used as data for improving a program for driving support control or automatic driving control.

Here, the flowchart described in this application or the process of the flowchart is configured by a plurality of sections (or referred to as steps), and each section is expressed as S101, for example. Further, each section can be divided into a plurality of subsections, while a plurality of sections can be combined into one section. Further, each section configured in this manner can be referred to as a device, module, or means.

Although the present disclosure has been described based on the embodiments, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments and structures. The present disclosure includes various modifications and modifications within the equivalent range. In addition, various combinations and forms, as well as other combinations and forms including only one element, more or less, are within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.

Claims (9)

1. Event information including at least one of an operation performed on the vehicle and a behavior of the vehicle mounted on the vehicle (1) traveling on the road of the map data while reading the map data, An event information storage device (10) for storing in association with a vehicle position on the road,
   A vehicle position acquisition unit (12) for acquiring the vehicle position;
   A road shape acquisition unit (13) for acquiring the shape of the road on which the vehicle is traveling from the map data;
   A feature position detector (14) for detecting a feature position of the road by analyzing a shape of the road and extracting a shape feature;
   An event information acquisition unit (11) for acquiring the event information;
   A vehicle position conversion unit (15) that converts the vehicle position at the time when the event information is acquired into a relative position with respect to the characteristic position;
   An event information storage unit (16) for storing the event information in association with the vehicle position converted into the relative position;
   An event information storage device comprising:
2. The event information storage device according to claim 1,
   The feature position detection unit stores a plurality of types representing a characteristic shape of the road, and the feature position corresponding to each of the types, and the shape of the road acquired from the map data is Detecting the feature position by determining whether it corresponds to any of a plurality of types;
   Event information storage device.
3. The event information storage device according to claim 2,
   The characteristic position detection unit stores a shape in which a straight line and a curve are connected as one of the plurality of types, and the start position of the curve or the end position of the curve is determined according to the type. Remembered as feature position,
   Event information storage device.
4. The event information storage device according to any one of claims 2 and 3,
   The feature position detection unit stores a shape where a plurality of roads intersect as one of the plurality of types, and stores the position where the roads intersect as the feature position according to the type.
   Event information storage device.
5. The event information storage device according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
   The feature position detector stores, as one of the plurality of types, a shape where another road merges or branches from either the left or right of the road, and the position where the road merges or branches is determined as the type. Is stored as the feature position according to
   Event information storage device.
6. Event information including at least one of an operation performed on the vehicle and a behavior of the vehicle mounted on the vehicle (1) traveling on the road of the map data while reading the map data, An event information storage device (10) stored in the database (20) in association with the vehicle position on the road;
   An event information reading device (30) for reading out the available event information from the database by detecting the vehicle position on the road and referring to the database;
   A driving support system (100) comprising a driving support device (40) that performs driving support using the event information read from the database,
   The event information storage device
   A vehicle position acquisition unit (12) for acquiring the vehicle position;
   A road shape acquisition unit (13) for acquiring the shape of the road on which the vehicle is traveling from the map data;
   A feature position detector (14) for detecting a feature position of the road by analyzing a shape of the road and extracting a shape feature;
   An event information acquisition unit (11) for acquiring the event information;
   A vehicle position conversion unit (15) that converts the vehicle position at the time when the event information is acquired into a relative position with respect to the characteristic position;
   An event information storage unit (16) for storing the event information in association with the vehicle position converted into the relative position;
   The database is a database that stores the event information in association with a relative position with respect to the feature position of the road,
   The event information reading device includes:
   A vehicle position acquisition unit (31) for acquiring a vehicle position of the vehicle;
   A road shape acquisition unit (32) for acquiring the shape of the road on which the vehicle is traveling from map data;
   A feature position detecting unit (33) for detecting a feature position of the road by analyzing the shape of the road and extracting a shape feature;
   An event information reading unit (34) that reads the event information stored in the database based on the feature position detected by the feature position detection unit;
   Driving support system.
7. A database in which event information including at least one of an operation performed on a vehicle (1) traveling on a road or a behavior of the vehicle on the road is stored in association with a position on the road ( 20), an event information reading device (30) for reading out the available event information by referring to
   A vehicle position acquisition unit (31) for acquiring a vehicle position of the vehicle;
   A road shape acquisition unit (32) for acquiring the shape of the road on which the vehicle is traveling from map data;
   A feature position detecting unit (33) for detecting a feature position of the road by analyzing the shape of the road and extracting a shape feature;
   An event information reading unit (34) for reading out the event information stored in the database based on the feature position detected by the feature position detection unit;
   An event information reading device comprising:
8. The event information reading device according to claim 7,
   The event information reading unit
   The feature position detected by the feature position detection unit is collated with the database, and when the corresponding feature position is stored in the database, the event information associated with the feature position is read.
   Event information reading device.
9. Event information including at least one of an operation performed on the vehicle or a behavior of the vehicle applied to a vehicle traveling on the road of the map data while reading the map data is displayed on the road. Event information storage method for storing in association with the vehicle position at
   Obtaining the vehicle position (S103);
   Obtaining the shape of the road on which the vehicle is traveling from the map data (S104);
   Detecting a feature position of the road by analyzing a shape of the road and extracting a shape feature (S105);
   Acquiring the event information (S102);
   Converting the vehicle position at the time when the event information is acquired into a relative position with respect to the characteristic position (S106);
   Storing the event information in association with the vehicle position converted into the relative position (S107);
   An event information storage method comprising:
   
   

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