JP2006072725A - On-vehicle system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To detect the presence of surrounding vehicles, and quickly and reliably notify the presence of surrounding vehicles to a driver. <P>SOLUTION: An on-vehicle system comprises a sensor system 100 for detecting objects present about an associated vehicle; an image processing device 102 for executing image processing for displaying images of the objects detected by the sensor system 100 with the associated vehicle in the center; and a display 103 for displaying the images processed by the image processing device 102. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle device that supports safe traveling of a vehicle using an Intelligent Transport System (ITS).

  Conventionally, RVC (Road-to-Vehicle Communication) and AHS (Advanced Cruise-Assist Highway System) have been developed as advanced road traffic systems. Using the automatic road system, the roadside device receives the carrier wave transmitted from the in-vehicle device and detects its level, and uses the direction detector to identify the position of the vehicle from the direction of the carrier wave, A technique for obtaining a reception level characteristic in which the position is associated with a reception level has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Further, if the vehicle-mounted device side can obtain information about obstacles ahead of the vehicle from the road side, it can maintain an appropriate inter-vehicle distance from the vehicle ahead based on the information, and if the information cannot be obtained from the road side, There has also been proposed a technique for setting an enlarged requested inter-vehicle distance by expanding a reference required inter-vehicle distance used when information cannot be obtained (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP 2000-207673 A JP 2001-101599 A

  However, in the conventional driving support method, the in-vehicle device can grasp the existence of other vehicles and the distance between the vehicles ahead, but cannot easily grasp all the surrounding vehicles at once. However, there is a problem that it is not sufficient in terms of safety, and that it is difficult to receive sufficient support when traveling at high speed.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle device capable of grasping the presence of a surrounding vehicle and providing the driver with information on the presence of the surrounding vehicle quickly and reliably.

  The present invention provides an object detection means for detecting an object existing around the own vehicle, an image processing means for performing image processing for displaying an image of the object detected by the object detection means around the own vehicle, and the image Display means for displaying an image processed by the processing means. According to this configuration, the surroundings of the host vehicle are searched and other vehicles are detected, and the surrounding vehicle of the host vehicle is displayed on the display means based on the detection result, so that the driver can be promptly and surely informed of the presence of the surrounding vehicle. Thus, oversight of surrounding vehicles can be prevented with certainty even during high-speed driving.

  Further, the present invention is a calculation for calculating a distance and a direction between a receiving unit that receives a signal from a vehicle existing around the host vehicle and a vehicle existing around the host vehicle based on a reception intensity and a receiving direction. Image processing means for performing image processing for displaying an image of a vehicle existing around the own vehicle identified based on the calculated distance and direction, centered on the own vehicle, and image processing is performed by the image processing means Display means for displaying an image. According to this configuration, other vehicles can be detected in a wider range by inter-vehicle communication, and sufficient support can be provided even at high speeds.

  According to the present invention, the surroundings of the own vehicle are searched and other vehicles are detected, and the surrounding vehicles of the own vehicle are displayed on the display means based on the detection result, so that the driver can be promptly and surely informed of the presence of the surrounding vehicles. Thus, oversight of surrounding vehicles can be prevented with certainty even during high-speed driving.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the in-vehicle apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The in-vehicle device includes a vehicle surrounding objective sensor device 100, an image processing device 102, and a display 103. The vehicle surrounding objective sensor device 100 detects the presence of an object around the vehicle on which the device is mounted.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle surrounding objective sensor device 100 includes a plurality of (eight in this embodiment) installed in each direction of the vehicle 200 (front center, front left and right, rear center, rear left and right, both side surfaces). ) Objective sensor 101. Each objective sensor 101 detects an object by detecting a reflected wave using, for example, radio waves, sound waves, infrared rays, or the like. Detection signals of the plurality of objective sensors 101 constituting the vehicle surrounding objective sensor apparatus 100 are input to the image processing apparatus 102. The image processing apparatus 102 performs image processing based on the detection signal of each objective sensor 101 and displays the result on the display 103.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the image processing result in the image processing apparatus 102. The own vehicle 200 is arranged in the center, and other vehicles 201 to 204 are arranged around the vehicle in a distance from the direction in which the presence of the vehicles is detected. To do. In this case, the host vehicle 200 is displayed on the display 103 as a rectangle of a predetermined color, and the surrounding objects 201 to 204 are displayed as a rectangle of a color different from that of the host vehicle 200. Thus, while detecting the surrounding object of the own vehicle 200 with the some objective sensor 101 which comprises the vehicle periphery objective sensor apparatus 100, it is the distance from the own vehicle 200 (it is "respectively" in the case of a plurality). The information is obtained and displayed on the display 103 with a positional relationship with the host vehicle 200. The display 103 may be a dedicated display, for example, a display installed in a vehicle such as a car navigation system, but cost can be reduced by using a display in advance.

  Thus, according to the in-vehicle device of the present embodiment, the vehicle surrounding objective sensor device 100 configured by the plurality of objective sensors 101 installed in each direction of the vehicle 200 detects the surrounding vehicle of the host vehicle 200. Since the distance from each vehicle to the host vehicle 200 is obtained and displayed on the display 103 with a positional relationship to the host vehicle 200, the driver can quickly and reliably grasp the presence of the surrounding vehicle of the host vehicle 200. Thus, oversight of surrounding vehicles can be prevented with certainty even during high-speed driving.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the in-vehicle device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The in-vehicle device includes an inter-vehicle communication vehicle position detector 400 for detecting the presence of a surrounding vehicle of the host vehicle 200. The inter-vehicle communication vehicle position detector 400 includes an inter-vehicle communication device 4001, a reception level detection unit 4002, an azimuth detector 4003, and an azimuth / distance calculation unit 4004, and is mounted on a vehicle existing around the host vehicle 200. Communicating with a vehicle-to-vehicle communication device (similar to the vehicle-to-vehicle communication device 4001), and searching for the direction of the vehicle in the surroundings with respect to the vehicle 200, and calculating the direction and distance from the vehicle 200 To do. A detection signal from the inter-vehicle communication vehicle position detector 400 is input to the image processing apparatus 102. The image processing apparatus 102 performs image processing as shown in FIG. 3 based on the detection signal from the inter-vehicle communication vehicle position detector 400 as in the first embodiment, and displays the result on the display 103.

  Thus, according to the in-vehicle device of the present embodiment, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication vehicle position detector 400 detects surrounding vehicles of the host vehicle 200 and obtains the distance from each vehicle to the host vehicle 200. Since the positional relationship with respect to the host vehicle 200 is displayed on the display 103, other vehicles can be detected in a wider range than in the first embodiment, and sufficient support can be provided even during high-speed traveling.

(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the base station apparatus in the system according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the in-vehicle device of the system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of use of the system according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 5, the base station 500 of the system according to the present embodiment is installed at predetermined intervals along the road, and includes a road-to-vehicle communication transmitter 5001, a road-to-vehicle communication receiver 5002, and a reception level. It includes a detection unit 5003, an azimuth detector 5004, an azimuth / distance calculation unit 5005, and a base station central processing unit 5006, and receives a signal for road-to-vehicle communication transmitted from an in-vehicle device of each vehicle. The signal strength and direction are detected, and the direction and distance from surrounding vehicles are calculated.

  In FIG. 6, the in-vehicle device 600 of the system according to the present embodiment includes a road-to-vehicle communication device 601, an image processing device 102, and a display 103, and includes the vehicle 200 transmitted from the base station 500. Receive vehicle information. Further, as the position information of the vehicle existing in the communication zone of the base station 500 slightly behind the host vehicle 200, the position information of the rear vehicle is acquired by the rear base station 500, and the base station control station 501 shown in FIG. Thus, the surrounding vehicle information from the two base stations 500 is synthesized to obtain vehicle information around the own vehicle including the own vehicle 200.

  For example, in FIG. 7, the base station 500-1 performs communication between the vehicle 200 and its surrounding vehicles 201 and 202 in its own communication zone in a time division manner, and the positions of the vehicle 200 and its surrounding vehicles 201 and 202. Know the information. Base station 500-1 transmits information about surrounding vehicles 201 and 202 including vehicle 200 to vehicle 200. As the position information of the vehicle 203 existing in the communication zone of the base station 500-2 slightly behind the vehicle 200, the position information of the vehicle 203 is acquired by the base station 500-2. Each surrounding vehicle information from base stations 500-1 and 500-2 is transmitted from base station 500-1 to vehicle 200. The driving support device 600 of the vehicle 200 displays the presence of vehicles around the host vehicle as shown in FIG. 3 on the display 103 based on the combined surrounding vehicle information transmitted from the base station 500-1.

  As described above, according to the system of the present embodiment, the base station 500 and the in-vehicle device 600 detect objects around the vehicle 200 and obtain the distance from the vehicle 200 to obtain the positional relationship with the vehicle 200. In addition, since it is displayed on the display 103, other vehicles can be detected in a wider range than in the second embodiment, and sufficient support can be provided even at high speeds.

(Embodiment 4)
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the in-vehicle device according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. The in-vehicle device includes an objective sensor 800 having the same function as the objective sensor 100 in FIG. 1, an inter-vehicle communication vehicle position detector 801 having the same function as the inter-vehicle communication vehicle position detector 400 in FIG. 4, and road-to-vehicle communication in FIG. A road-to-vehicle communication device 802 having the same function as the device 601.

  Thus, according to the vehicle-mounted device of the present embodiment, since it has the functions from the first embodiment to the third embodiment described above, it is possible to detect each other surrounding vehicle with high accuracy and to support driving. Reliability is improved. In addition, it is possible to supplement the presence information of surrounding vehicles even during a period when infrastructure maintenance and on-vehicle devices are not sufficiently installed in each vehicle. In addition, since this Embodiment is provided with the road-to-vehicle communication apparatus 802, a system can be implement | achieved together with the base station 500.

(Embodiment 5)
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the in-vehicle device according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. The in-vehicle device is obtained by replacing the display 803 of the fourth embodiment described above with a projector 900. As shown in FIG. 10, the projector 900 is arranged at the central portion of the console panel 100 of the driver's seat with the photographing direction for projecting the image directed toward the central portion of the windshield, and the output is projected on the windshield 1001 of the vehicle. . As a result, the driver 1002 can check the surrounding conditions without greatly removing the field of view from the front, which contributes to reducing accidents due to carelessness in the front. In addition, since this Embodiment is provided with the road-to-vehicle communication apparatus 802, a system can be implement | achieved together with the base station 500.

(Embodiment 6)
FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the in-vehicle device according to Embodiment 6 of the present invention. The in-vehicle device includes an image processing unit 1102 having the same image processing function as that of the image processing device 102 according to the fifth embodiment described above, a processing device 1101 including an alarm processing unit 1103, and an alarm speaker 1104. is there. Other configurations are the same as those of the fifth embodiment. In the present embodiment, the presence of the surrounding vehicle described in the fifth embodiment is displayed as an image, and when the position of the host vehicle 200 and the surrounding vehicles 201 to 204 becomes smaller than a predetermined safety distance, an alarm speaker is displayed. Since an alarm is sounded from 1104 to prompt the driver, the driver can always travel while maintaining a safe distance from other vehicles. In addition, since this Embodiment is provided with the road-to-vehicle communication apparatus 802, a system can be implement | achieved together with the base station 500.

(Embodiment 7)
FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the in-vehicle device according to Embodiment 7 of the present invention. The in-vehicle device is provided with a function of receiving the speed information of the vehicle speedometer 1201 in the in-vehicle device of the sixth embodiment described above. The alarm processing unit 1103 receives the speed information of the host vehicle from the vehicle speedometer 1201 in addition to the distance information with the surrounding vehicles, and is a safety distance that is determined in advance for each speed of the host vehicle according to the current speed of the host vehicle. When the distance to the surrounding vehicle becomes smaller, an alarm is sounded from the alarm speaker 1104 to prompt the driver to be warned, so that the driver can always travel while maintaining a safe distance from other vehicles even if the speed changes. In addition, since this Embodiment is provided with the road-to-vehicle communication apparatus 802, a system can be implement | achieved together with the base station 500.

(Embodiment 8)
FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the in-vehicle device according to Embodiment 8 of the present invention. The in-vehicle device is obtained by adding a function of receiving the operation information of the direction indicator 1301 and the steering angle information of the steering angle detector 1302 to the above-described in-vehicle device of the seventh embodiment. When the direction indicator 1306 is operated in a direction in which a surrounding vehicle exists, an alarm is sounded from the alarm speaker 1104 to prompt the driver to warn. Further, when a vehicle is present in the vicinity and the steering wheel is operated in the direction in which the surrounding vehicle is present, the alarm speaker 1104 similarly sounds an alarm to prompt the driver, so that the driver can always keep safety. It is possible to run. In addition, since this Embodiment is provided with the road-to-vehicle communication apparatus 802, a system can be implement | achieved together with the base station 500.

(Embodiment 9)
FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the in-vehicle device according to Embodiment 9 of the present invention. The in-vehicle device has a function of adding a control signal to the engine control unit 1401, the brake control unit 1402, and the transmission control unit 1403 while adding an automatic driving processing unit 1105 as a control means to the processing device 1101 of the above-described eighth embodiment. It is added.

  The automatic driving processing unit 1105 includes an objective sensor 800, vehicle-to-vehicle communication vehicle position detector 801, position information of surrounding vehicles from the road-to-vehicle communication device 802, a vehicle speed meter 1201, a direction indicator 1301, steering It is determined whether or not the relationship with the vehicle control information from the angle detector 1302 is in a predetermined dangerous state. When it is determined that the predetermined dangerous state has been reached, a control signal is sent to each of the engine control unit 1401, the brake control unit 1402, and the transmission control unit 1403, and the dangerous state exceeds the predetermined dangerous state. Suppress the control of the vehicle.

  Thus, according to the in-vehicle device of the present embodiment, the engine that controls the engine of the host vehicle when the relationship between the speed information, the direction instruction, and the steering angle information is in a predetermined dangerous state. Since control control commands are output to the control unit 1401, the brake control unit 1402 for controlling the brake, and the transmission control unit 1403 for controlling the transmission, there is a risk in advance even if an operation error occurs due to driver's carelessness. This can be avoided, and safe driving can always be performed. In addition, since this Embodiment is provided with the road-to-vehicle communication apparatus 802, a system can be implement | achieved together with the base station 500.

(Embodiment 10)
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing display contents of a vehicle surrounding image of the in-vehicle device according to Embodiment 10 of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the display position of the host vehicle 1500 is displayed slightly above the display position of the host vehicle 200 in FIG. As a result, it is possible to convey more information behind the host vehicle, which is the presence information of surrounding vehicles other than the front that needs to be supplemented to the driver, to the driver. This embodiment can be easily dealt with by partially changing the display program in the image processing apparatus 102 of the third embodiment. In addition, this Embodiment can implement | achieve a system in combination with the base station 500, when the road-to-vehicle communication apparatus 802 is provided.

(Embodiment 11)
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing display contents of a vehicle surrounding image of the in-vehicle device according to Embodiment 11 of the present invention. In this figure, in the present embodiment, the display of the own vehicle 1600 and surrounding vehicles 1602 to 1605 of the own vehicle is distinguished between the own vehicle 1600 and the surrounding vehicles 1602 to 1605 of the own vehicle. For example, the surrounding vehicle 1602 to 1605 is displayed with a warning color, or blinks, or the color is reversed. For example, the own vehicle 1600 is displayed with blue, and the surrounding vehicles 1602 to 1605 of the own vehicle are displayed with a warning color red. This makes it easy for the driver to recognize that there is a vehicle around the host vehicle.

  In addition, this Embodiment can implement | achieve a system in combination with the base station 500, when the road-to-vehicle communication apparatus 802 is provided. Moreover, the vehicle-mounted apparatus of each embodiment mentioned above can be mounted also in a two-wheeled vehicle. The projector 900 can be realized by providing a film-like liquid crystal display panel in a helmet.

  The in-vehicle device of the present invention searches the surroundings of the own vehicle, detects other vehicles, and displays the surrounding vehicles of the own vehicle on the display means based on the detection result, so that the driver is quickly and surely informed of the presence of the surrounding vehicles. It is possible to prevent oversight of surrounding vehicles even during high-speed driving, and to support the safe driving of vehicles using the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). It is useful as a device.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of attachment to the own vehicle of the objective sensor of the vehicle-mounted apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. The figure which shows an example of the output image of the vehicle-mounted apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1. The block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the base station of the system which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted apparatus of the system which concerns on Embodiment 3. FIG. The perspective view which shows the usage example of the system which concerns on Embodiment 3. The block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 4 of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 5 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of arrangement | positioning and the display position of a projector in the vehicle-mounted apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 5. FIG. The block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 6 of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 7 of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 8 of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 9 of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the output image of the vehicle-mounted apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 10 of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the output image of the vehicle-mounted apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 11 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100, 800 Vehicle surrounding objective sensor apparatus 101 Objective sensor 102 Image processing apparatus 103 Display 200-204, 1500-1504, 1600-1605 Vehicle 400,801 Inter-vehicle communication vehicle position detector 500 Base station 501 Base station control station 601 802 Road-to-vehicle communication device 900 Projector 1000 Console panel 1001 Windshield 1002 Driver 1101 Processing device 1102 Image processing unit 1103 Alarm processing unit 1104 Speaker 1105 Automatic driving processing unit 1201 Vehicle speedometer 1301 Direction indicator 1302 Steering angle detector 1401 Engine control Part 1402 Brake control part 1403 Transmission control part 4001 Inter-vehicle communication equipment 4002 and 5003 Reception level detection part 4003 and 5004 Direction detector 4004 and 5005 Direction and distance Remote calculation unit 5001 Road-to-vehicle communication transmitter 5002 Road-to-vehicle communication receiver 5006 Base station central processing unit

Claims (10)

Objective detection means for detecting objects existing around the host vehicle;
Image processing means for performing image processing for displaying an image of an object detected by the objective detection means around the host vehicle;
Display means for displaying an image processed by the image processing means;
A vehicle-mounted device comprising: Receiving means for receiving signals from vehicles existing around the host vehicle;
A calculation means for calculating a distance and a direction from a vehicle existing around the host vehicle based on a reception intensity and a reception direction;
Image processing means for performing image processing for displaying an image of a vehicle existing around the own vehicle specified based on the calculated distance and direction, with the own vehicle as a center;
Display means for displaying an image processed by the image processing means;
A vehicle-mounted device comprising: A system comprising a base station disposed along a traveling path and an in-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle and capable of communicating with the base station,
The base station calculates a distance and direction between a receiving means for receiving a signal from a vehicle existing around the base station and a vehicle existing around the base station based on a reception intensity and a reception direction. Means, and transmission means for transmitting the calculation result to the in-vehicle device,
The in-vehicle device displays an image of a vehicle existing around the base station specified based on a distance and direction from a vehicle existing around the base station acquired by communication with the base station. A system comprising image processing means for performing image processing centered on the host vehicle on which the vehicle is mounted, and display means for displaying an image processed by the image processing means. The vehicle-mounted device includes: an object detection unit that detects an object existing around the host vehicle; a receiver unit that receives a signal from a vehicle existing around the host vehicle; and the host vehicle based on a reception intensity and a reception direction. Calculation means for calculating the distance and azimuth with the vehicle existing around the vehicle, and calculation means for calculating the distance and azimuth with the vehicle existing around the host vehicle based on the reception intensity and the reception azimuth,
The image processing means performs image processing for displaying an image of a vehicle existing around the host vehicle specified based on the calculated distance and direction and an image of an object detected by the objective detection unit centered on the host vehicle. The system of claim 3 to be performed.   The system of Claim 3 or 4 provided with the control station which synthesize | combines the several calculation result calculated in each base station, and transmits to the said vehicle equipment.   The system according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the display means is a projector that displays an image inside a windshield.   The system according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the in-vehicle device includes an alarm unit that detects an approach to a vehicle existing around the host vehicle and issues an alarm.   The system according to claim 7, wherein the alarm means issues an alarm by detecting an approach with a vehicle existing around the host vehicle by comparison with a distance set for each traveling speed.   The system according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the warning means detects a steering or direction instruction in a direction of a vehicle existing around the host vehicle and issues a warning.   The system according to claim 9, further comprising a control unit that controls an engine, a brake, and a transmission of the host vehicle under a condition that the alarm unit issues an alarm.

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