JP2003141696A - Vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle which can supply information about the condition of the front side of the vehicle to the rear side thereof. SOLUTION: A vehicle comprises an image pickup unit which shoots an image in front of the vehicle, a signal judging unit which judges whether a signal exists in front of the vehicle, and a display unit which displays the image took by the image pickup unit when the signal judging unit judges that a signal exists in front of the vehicle, wherein the signal judging unit judges whether a signal exists in front of the vehicle based on information obtained from a car navigation system or the like.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a vehicle. In particular, the present invention relates to a vehicle that informs a rear situation of a front situation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, roads have become congested due to an increase in automobiles, and traffic accidents have frequently occurred especially at intersections. At the intersection, the driver of the car
Visually judge (red) and decelerate the car according to the result,
Operations such as stopping are being performed.

[0003]

However, when a large vehicle is traveling in front of the vehicle, the driver of the vehicle cannot see the situation of the intersection because the large vehicle blocks the driver's sight. There are cases.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle capable of solving the above problems. This object is achieved by a combination of features described in independent claims of the invention. The dependent claims define further advantageous specific examples of the present invention.

[0005]

That is, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a vehicle is an image pickup section for picking up an image of the front of the vehicle,
The display unit is provided outside the vehicle and displays an image captured by the image capturing unit. The display may be provided on the rear surface of the vehicle.

[0006] A traffic signal determination unit for determining whether or not there is a traffic signal in front of the vehicle is further provided, and the display unit takes an image captured by the imaging unit when the traffic signal determination unit determines that there is a traffic signal in front of the vehicle. May be displayed.

The vehicle may further include a car navigation system for acquiring vehicle position information, and the traffic light determination unit may determine whether or not there is a traffic light in front of the vehicle based on the information acquired from the car navigation system.

The traffic light sends out a predetermined radio wave,
The vehicle may further include a receiver that receives radio waves, and the traffic light determination unit may determine whether or not there is a traffic light in front of the vehicle based on the radio waves received by the reception unit.

The traffic light determination unit may determine whether or not there is a traffic light in front of the vehicle based on the image captured by the image capturing unit. The traffic light determination unit may determine whether or not there is a traffic light in front of the vehicle based on the size of the traffic light included in the image captured by the imaging unit.

The display unit may display an image captured by the image capturing unit on condition that the vehicle is stopped. The display unit may display the image captured by the image capturing unit on condition that the vehicle door is opened.

The image pickup section has a traffic light image pickup section for picking up an image of a traffic light in front of the vehicle and an oncoming vehicle image pickup section for picking up an oncoming vehicle of the vehicle, and the display section shows an image of the traffic light picked up by the traffic light image pickup section. Alternatively, the image of the oncoming vehicle captured by the oncoming vehicle imaging unit may be displayed.

The image pickup unit has a traffic light image pickup unit for picking up an image of a traffic signal in front of the vehicle and an intersection image pickup unit for picking up an image of the condition of an intersection in front of the vehicle. The image and the image of the intersection imaged by the intersection imaging unit may be displayed.

A traffic signal judging section for judging whether or not there is a traffic signal in front of the vehicle, and a recording section for recording an image picked up by the imaging section when the traffic signal judging section judges that there is a traffic signal in front of the vehicle. May be further provided.

It should be noted that the above summary of the invention does not enumerate all the necessary features of the present invention, and sub-combinations of these feature groups can also be the invention.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the claimed invention, and the features described in the embodiments Not all combinations are essential to the solution of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a vehicle 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
An example of the appearance of 0 is shown. As shown in FIG. 1A, the vehicle 10 includes an image capturing unit 100 that captures an image of the front of the vehicle 10. Further, as shown in FIG. 1B, the vehicle 10 includes a display unit 110 that is provided outside the vehicle 10 and that displays an image captured by the image capturing unit 100. The display unit 110 is preferably provided on the rear surface of the vehicle 10. The display unit 110 may be provided on the side surface of the vehicle 10.

The image pickup section 100 picks up an image of a traffic signal, an oncoming vehicle, an intersection, etc. in front of the vehicle 10. The condition of the intersection is, for example, a condition such as a vehicle traveling at the intersection or a pedestrian crossing the road. In addition, the imaging unit 100 is a vehicle 10
The situation of a vehicle traveling in another lane parallel to the vehicle, a pedestrian crossing in front of the vehicle 10, or the like may be imaged. Then, the display unit 110 displays the image captured by the image capturing unit 100. That is, the display unit 110 displays the status of a traffic signal, an oncoming vehicle, an intersection, etc. in front of the vehicle 10, the status of a vehicle traveling in another lane in parallel with the vehicle 10, the status of a pedestrian crossing the front of the vehicle 10, and the like. indicate.

The vehicle 10 of the present embodiment is, for example, a large vehicle such as a bus or a truck. By displaying the image captured by the image capturing section 100 on the display section 110, for example, a passenger car, a motorcycle or the like running behind the vehicle 10 is displayed. The situation in front of the vehicle 10 can be notified to the driver of the small and medium-sized vehicle.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the functional configuration of the vehicle 10 according to this embodiment. The vehicle 10 includes an image capturing unit 100 that captures an image of the front of the vehicle 10, a receiving unit 102 that receives radio waves transmitted by a traffic signal, a car navigation system 104 that acquires position information of the vehicle 10, and a traffic signal in front of the vehicle 10. A traffic light determination unit 106 that determines whether or not there is a display unit 110 that displays an image captured by the image capturing unit 100; a recording unit 116 that records the image captured by the image capturing unit 100;
A control unit 108 that controls the timing at which the display unit 110 displays an image and the timing at which the recording unit records an image;
The vehicle includes a brake detection unit 112 that detects that the vehicle 10 has been braked, and a door opening / closing detection unit 114 that detects opening / closing of the vehicle 10 door.

The traffic light determination unit 106 determines the vehicle 1 based on the information acquired from the car navigation system 104.
It is judged whether or not there is a traffic light in front of 0. Further, when the traffic light is transmitting a predetermined radio wave, the traffic light determination unit 106 may determine whether there is a traffic light in front of the vehicle 10 based on the radio wave received by the reception unit 102. Good. In addition, the traffic light determination unit 106 includes the information acquired from the car navigation system 104 and the reception unit 102.
It may be determined whether there is a traffic light in front of the vehicle 10 based on both of the radio waves received by the vehicle.

In another example, the traffic light determination unit 106 is
A unit for performing image recognition on the image captured by the image capturing unit 100 may be included. In this example, the traffic light determination unit 106
Is based on the image captured by the image capturing unit 100.
Judge whether there is a traffic light in front of. That is, the traffic light determination unit 110 performs image recognition on the image captured by the image capturing unit 100 and detects the image of the traffic light. Then, the traffic light determination unit 106 calculates the distance between the vehicle 10 and the traffic light based on the size of the image captured by the imaging unit 100. Then, the traffic light determination unit 106 calculates the calculated vehicle 10
Based on the distance between the vehicle and the traffic light, it is determined whether or not there is a traffic light in front of the vehicle 10.

The control unit 108 controls the timing at which the display unit 110 displays an image and the timing at which the recording unit 116 records an image, based on the determination result of the traffic light determination unit 106. Further, the control unit 108 controls the brake detection unit 1
12 and the detection result of the door opening / closing detection unit 114,
The timing at which the display unit 110 displays an image and the timing at which the recording unit 116 records an image are controlled.

The display unit 110 displays the image captured by the image capturing unit 100 under the control of the control unit 106. Specifically, when the traffic light determination unit 106 determines that there is a traffic light in front of the vehicle 10, the display unit 110 causes the image capturing unit 10 to operate.
The image captured by 0 is displayed. Further, the display unit 110 is
The image captured by the image capturing unit 100 may be displayed on condition that the vehicle 10 is stopped. In addition, the display unit 110
May display an image captured by the image capturing unit 100 on condition that the vehicle 10 is braked. Further, the display unit 110 may display the image captured by the image capturing unit 100 on condition that the door of the vehicle 10 is opened.

An image of the front of the vehicle 10 taken by the image pickup device 100 is displayed on the display unit 110 on condition that the vehicle 10 is stopped, the vehicle 10 is braked, the door of the vehicle 10 is opened, and the like. By displaying, the driver of the vehicle traveling behind the vehicle 10 can grasp the situation in front of the vehicle 10.

The recording unit 116 records the image picked up by the image pickup unit 100 under the control of the control unit 106. Specifically, when the traffic light determination unit 106 determines that there is a traffic light in front of the vehicle 10, the display unit 110 causes the image capturing unit 10 to operate.
The image captured by 0 is recorded. By recording the image captured by the recording unit 116 at an intersection where traffic accidents frequently occur, it is possible to provide materials useful for verification of traffic accidents.

FIG. 3 shows another example of the external appearance of the vehicle 10 according to this embodiment. In this example, the vehicle 10 includes a plurality of image capturing units 100a and 100b. For example, the imaging unit 100a images a traffic signal in front of the vehicle 10, and the imaging unit 100b images the situation of an oncoming vehicle of the vehicle 10 or an intersection in front of the vehicle 10. Then, the display unit 110 displays the image captured by the image capturing unit 100a and the image captured by the image capturing unit 100b. Further, the display unit 110 is the imaging unit 1
The image captured by 00a and the image captured by the image capturing unit 100b may be switched and displayed.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a display screen of the display section 110 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4A, the display unit 110 displays an image of the traffic signal captured by the image capturing unit 100. In addition, as shown in FIG.
May display the left turn signal, the straight-ahead signal, and the right turn signal captured by the image capturing unit 100. Further, as shown in FIG. 4C, the display unit 110 may horizontally display the image of the traffic signal captured by the image capturing unit 100a and the image of the oncoming vehicle captured by the image capturing unit 100b. In addition, the display unit 110 includes an image of the traffic signal captured by the image capturing unit 100a and the image capturing unit 100.
The image of the oncoming vehicle captured by b may be displayed vertically side by side. In addition, as shown in FIG. 4D, the display unit 110 is
The image of the traffic signal captured by the image capturing unit 100a and the image capturing unit 10
The image of the intersection imaged by 0b may be displayed vertically side by side. Further, the display unit 110 may horizontally display the image of the traffic light captured by the image capturing unit 100a and the image of the intersection captured by the image capturing unit 100b side by side.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4 (e), the display unit 1
10 may display a character or an image that calls attention to a vehicle driver who is traveling behind the vehicle 10. In addition, FIG.
As shown in, the display unit 110 may display an advertisement. For example, the vehicle 10 may display advertisements related to the area in which it is traveling. Specifically, the vehicle 10 may display the advertisement related to the area in which the vehicle travels based on the position information acquired from the car navigation system 104.
The display unit 110 preferably displays a still image advertisement.

In addition, the display section 110 is shown in FIG.
If the image shown in FIG. 4E and the advertisement shown in FIG. 4F are displayed and the vehicle 10 slows down or stops, the traffic light shown in FIGS. 4A to 4D. It is preferable to display the image of.

According to this embodiment, the vehicle 10 is the vehicle 1
By imaging the situation in front of 0 and displaying it on the rear surface, the driver of the vehicle traveling behind the vehicle 10 can grasp the situation in front of the vehicle 10. For example, a vehicle driver traveling behind the vehicle 10 can confirm that there is a traffic light in front of the vehicle 10 before the vehicle 10 brakes, and thus can slow down in advance. Also,
A vehicle driver traveling behind the vehicle 10 can confirm that there is a pedestrian crossing the front of the vehicle 10 which is stationary. In addition, the driver of the vehicle traveling behind the vehicle 10 can confirm the oncoming vehicle in the opposite lane. As described above, the driver of the vehicle traveling behind the vehicle 10 can grasp the situation in front of the vehicle 10.

FIG. 5 shows the vehicles 10 and 2 according to this embodiment.
An example of the external appearance when 0s are cascaded is shown. The vehicle 10 includes an image capturing unit 100 that captures an image of the front of the vehicle 10, and an image capturing unit 10.
The display unit 110 displays an image captured by 0. Further, the vehicle 10 has a communication unit 118 that communicates with the vehicle 20.
Equipped with. The vehicle 20 also includes an image capturing unit 200 that captures an image of the front of the vehicle 20, and a display unit 210 that displays an image captured by the image capturing unit 200. Further, the vehicle 20 includes a communication unit 218 that communicates with the vehicle 10.

The image pickup unit 100 of the vehicle 10 images the front of the vehicle 10. Then, the display unit 110 of the vehicle 10 displays the image captured by the image capturing unit 100. In addition, vehicle 10
The imaging unit 200 of the vehicle 20 traveling behind the vehicle is
Is traveling ahead, it is not possible to capture images of traffic lights, oncoming vehicles, intersections, etc. Therefore, the communication unit 218 of the vehicle 20 transmits to the vehicle 10 a request signal requesting an image in front of the vehicle 10. And vehicle 10
The communication unit 118 receives the request signal from the communication unit 218 of the vehicle 20 and transmits the image in front of the vehicle 10 captured by the image capturing unit 100. Then, the communication unit 218 of the vehicle 20
Receives an image in front of the vehicle 10 from the communication unit 118 of the vehicle 10. Then, the display unit 210 of the vehicle 20 displays the image in front of the vehicle 10 received by the communication unit 218.

According to this example, even when a plurality of vehicles 10 and 20 are arranged in a row, the front image captured by the leading vehicle 10 is displayed on the display section 210 of the vehicle 20 traveling behind the vehicle 10. Since it can be displayed, the driver of the vehicle traveling behind the vehicle 20 can grasp the situation in front of the vehicle 10.

Although the present invention has been described using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. Various changes or improvements can be added to the above-described embodiment. It is apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0035]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicle for notifying the front situation to the rear.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an external appearance of a vehicle 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the vehicle 10 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of the external appearance of the vehicle 10 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a display unit 110 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an external appearance when vehicles 10 and 20 according to the present embodiment are arranged in a row.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 vehicles 20 vehicles 100 Imaging unit 100a imaging unit 100b imaging unit 102 receiver 104 car navigation system 106 Traffic light determination unit 108 control unit 110 Display 112 Brake detector 114 Door open / close detector 116 recording section 118 Communication unit 200 Imaging unit 210 display 218 Communications Department

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Mika Sugimoto             3-11-46 Izumi, Asaka-shi, Saitama Prefecture, Fuji Photo             Shin Film Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tsuneo Sato             3-11-46 Izumi, Asaka-shi, Saitama Prefecture, Fuji Photo             Shin Film Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 2F029 AA02 AC08 AC09 AC16                 5C022 AA04 AC18 AC69                 5C054 AA01 CA04 CE15 CH01 EA01                       EA05 FE02 FE26 FF06 FF07                       HA28 HA30                 5H180 AA06 AA16 BB04 CC04 GG08                       LL06 LL15

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle, comprising: an imaging unit that images the front of the vehicle; and a display unit that is provided outside the vehicle and that displays an image captured by the imaging unit. . 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is provided on a rear surface of the vehicle. 3. A traffic signal determination unit for determining whether or not there is a traffic light in front of the vehicle, wherein the display unit displays the traffic light in front of the vehicle when the traffic light determination unit determines that the traffic light is in front of the vehicle. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the image captured by the image capturing unit is displayed. 4. A car navigation system for acquiring position information of the vehicle is further provided, wherein the traffic light determination unit determines whether or not the traffic light is in front of the vehicle based on the information acquired from the car navigation system. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein
The vehicle described in. 5. The traffic signal sends out a predetermined radio wave, the vehicle further comprises a receiving section for receiving the radio wave, and the traffic signal judging section is based on the radio wave received by the receiving section. The vehicle according to claim 3, wherein it is determined whether or not there is the traffic light in front of the vehicle. 6. The vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the traffic light determination unit determines whether or not the traffic light is in front of the vehicle based on the image captured by the imaging unit. . 7. The traffic signal determination unit determines whether or not the traffic signal is in front of the vehicle based on the size of the traffic signal included in the image captured by the imaging unit. The vehicle according to claim 6, wherein 8. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays the image captured by the imaging unit on condition that the vehicle has stopped. 9. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays the image captured by the image capturing unit on condition that the vehicle door is opened. 10. The imaging unit includes a traffic signal imaging unit that images a traffic signal in front of the vehicle and an oncoming vehicle imaging unit that images an oncoming vehicle of the vehicle, and the display unit includes the traffic signal imaging unit. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein an image of the traffic signal captured by the vehicle and an image of the oncoming vehicle captured by the oncoming vehicle imaging unit are displayed. 11. The image pickup unit includes a traffic light image pickup unit that picks up a traffic light in front of the vehicle and an intersection image pickup unit that picks up a situation of an intersection in front of the vehicle, and the display unit has the traffic light. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein an image of the traffic light captured by the image capturing unit and an image of the intersection captured by the intersection image capturing unit are displayed. 12. A traffic signal determination unit that determines whether or not the traffic signal is in front of the vehicle, and the imaging unit captures an image when the traffic signal determination unit determines that the traffic signal is in front of the vehicle. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising: a recording unit configured to record the image.