JP2008043488A - Driving posture-adjusting device and driving posture adjusting method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the reproducibility of the driving posture of a driver and to allow the driver to stably drive by adjusting the driving posture, especially the posture of the head of the driver. <P>SOLUTION: A face direction detecting device 32 detects the direction ϕ of posture of the head of the driver as the direction of behavior of the head of the driver. A control device 30 varies the state of a seat according to the direction ϕ of posture of the head by controlling a seat adjusting means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a driving posture adjusting apparatus and method for adjusting a driving posture of a driver.

  One direction for improving the performance of automobiles is to realize a car that is easy for the driver to drive. In other words, it is important not only to improve the motion performance of the vehicle but also to drive as expected by the driver.

  By the way, the ease of driving is a subjective evaluation, and it is necessary to actually replace it with a quantitative index. As one of means for replacing with a quantitative index, high reproducibility for operation can be used. For example, when traveling on a predetermined road several times under the same conditions, for example, it is ideal that human behavior such as a steering operation pattern, for example, vehicle behavior such as a vehicle trajectory is substantially the same. It can be evaluated that the reproducibility of drivability is high.

For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique for improving the reproducibility of the head posture by a visual effect and thereby suppressing steering disturbance.
JP 2005-14884 A

  By the way, the eyeball, the semicircular canal, and the otolith that obtain visual information and acceleration information, which are perceptions that are particularly necessary for driving, are concentrated on the head, so if the head posture becomes unstable, steering will be disturbed accordingly. . Then, the disturbance of steering may cause a change in the lateral acceleration of the turn, and the inclination angle of the head may become more unstable.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to improve the reproducibility by adjusting the driving posture of the driver, in particular, the posture of the head, and the driver can perform stable driving. That is.

  In order to solve this problem, the present invention includes a seat adjustment unit, a driver head behavior detection unit, and a control unit in a driving posture adjustment apparatus that adjusts the driving posture of a driver. In this case, the seat adjusting means adjusts the state of the seat on which the driver is seated so as to change the posture of the driver in the yaw direction or the vehicle width direction. The driver head behavior detecting means detects the posture direction of the driver's head or the line of sight of the driver as the driver head behavior direction. The control unit controls the seat adjustment unit to change the seat state according to the driver head behavior direction detected by the driver head behavior detection unit.

  According to the present invention, by changing the seat state according to the head behavior direction of the driver, it is possible to present information to the driver about the behavior direction of the head that has not been considered before. Become. As a result, the driver can recognize the difference between his / her driving image and his / her movement before performing the operation, thereby obtaining an effect of stabilizing driving.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a driving posture adjusting apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. This driving posture adjusting device is a device that adjusts the driving posture of the driver (driver), specifically, the posture of the head of the driver during the turning operation, and includes the seat 10 on which the driver is seated and the control device 30. Consists of the subject.

  The seat 10 includes a headrest 11 that supports the occupant's head, a seat back 12 that supports the occupant's back to waist, and a seat cushion that supports the occupant's buttocks and thighs. A movable mechanism is attached to the inside of the seat 10 so that the state of the seat 10 (the seat back 12 in this embodiment) can be adjusted.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the sheet 10. In the seat back 12, side support portions 13 are formed on both the left and right sides so as to sandwich the upper body of the driver. The side support portion 13 ensures the holdability of the driver with respect to the seat back 12. A seat frame 14 that forms the skeleton of the seat back 12 is provided inside the seat back 12, and a substantially U-shaped side support frame 15 is provided on the seat frame 14 at a position corresponding to the pair of left and right side support portions 13. Each is provided.

  The individual side support frames 15 are rotatably supported with respect to the seat frame 14 via a pair of upper and lower rotation support portions 16. A first link 17 is attached to each of the left and right rotation support portions 16 (the rotation support portion 16 positioned on the upper side in the figure), and the pair of left and right first links 17 is a second link. 18 are connected to each other. These first and second links 17 and 18 constitute a parallel link mechanism including the side support frame 15. That is, when the second link 18 swings in the longitudinal direction, the individual side support frames 15 swing in the yaw direction in the same phase.

  One end of a third link 19 is connected to the second link 18, and the other end of the third link 19 is rotated by a drive motor 20 fixed to the seat frame 14. Axis is connected. The rotational motion of the rotation shaft of the drive motor 20 is converted into a swing motion in the longitudinal direction of the second link 18 via the third link 19. The drive amount (rotation amount) of the drive motor 20 is set by a motor drive device 21 such as an inverter.

  3 and 4 are explanatory diagrams showing the operating states of the side support frame 15 and the side support unit 13. At normal time, as shown in FIG. 3A, the side support frame 15 holds a preset initial position. In the state in which the side support frame 15 is held at the initial position, as shown in FIG. 3B, the side support portion 13 of the seat back 12 is in the neutral state that is the initial position, that is, through the center of the driver in the vehicle length direction. It becomes the state of the right and left line object with respect to the extending center line.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4A, when the drive motor 20 is rotated in the clockwise direction (motor rotation direction MDR), for example, on the paper surface, the second link 18 moves on the paper surface in response to this rotation. Move to the right. As a result, the pair of left and right side support frames 15 change in the same phase from the neutral state to the clockwise direction (side support rotation direction SRD) on the paper surface. In this state, as shown in FIG. 4B, each side support portion 13 changes in the same phase from the neutral state by an angle α corresponding to the left direction (the yaw direction of the vehicle) on the paper surface. The angle change α of the side support unit 13 is defined as a neutral value of 0, for example, a positive value for a change in the left direction and a negative value for a change in the right direction with respect to the traveling direction (forward) of the vehicle. .

  Referring to FIG. 1 again, the control device 30 controls the change of the seat state (in this embodiment, the angle change α of the side support portion 13). In order to control the change of the sheet state, the control device 30 receives signals from various detection devices 31, 32 and the like.

  The vehicle state detection device 31 is a detection unit that detects the state of the vehicle. In the present embodiment, the vehicle state is a lateral (vehicle width direction) acceleration acting on the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as “lateral acceleration”) g. Is detected. In this case, as the vehicle state detection device 31, a sensor that directly detects the lateral acceleration may be used. Besides this, the vehicle state detection device 31 detects, for example, a steering angle and a vehicle speed, The lateral acceleration may be estimated from these detection results. Further, the vehicle state detection device 31 may detect or estimate a state quantity (for example, yaw rate) corresponding to the lateral acceleration. In the present specification, the term “detection” is used not only when referring to a direct detection method but also including an indirect detection method such as estimation.

  The face orientation detection device 32 is a detection unit that detects the posture direction φ of the driver's head, that is, the orientation of the driver's face. This head orientation direction φ indicates the rotation angle of the head in the yaw direction with reference to the head direction (neutral state) with the vehicle traveling direction (forward) in front. Then, the head direction in the neutral state is 0, the head rotation angle in the left direction with respect to the traveling direction (forward) of the vehicle is a positive value, and the head rotation angle in the right direction is a negative value. Output as. An image obtained by imaging an imaging region including a driver's head by an imaging device 33 such as a CCD camera is input to the face orientation detection device 32, and the face orientation detection device 32 is based on the input image data. Then, the posture direction φ of the head is detected. Specifically, the face orientation detection device 32 acquires the coordinates of the face part that can be the first pair and the face part that can be the second pair in the image data, and the face part and the first part that can be the first pair. The feature data necessary to detect the driver's face orientation is calculated from the coordinates of the face parts that can be paired, and the feature data is compared with the driver's face orientation model data calculated in advance. The direction of the face, that is, the posture direction φ of the head is detected. Note that a detailed method of face orientation detection is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-196567, so refer to it if necessary.

  The changeover switch 34 is a changeover means for switching on / off of control, that is, whether to execute control of the seat state. The changeover switch 34 is provided in the passenger compartment so that it can be operated by a driver, and includes, for example, a switch that outputs an on / off signal SS in response to a changeover operation by the driver. Note that the changeover switch 34 is not limited to such a configuration, and using a voice recognition device or the like, it is determined whether the control is on or off based on the utterance of the occupant, and the determination result is output as an on / off signal SS. Such a configuration may be adopted.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the control device 30 according to the first embodiment. The control device 30 calculates an angle change α of the side support portion 13 based on various input signals, and outputs a motor drive command value α corresponding to the calculation result to the motor drive device 21. The motor drive command value α corresponds to the angle change α of the side support portion 13, and the motor drive device 21 changes the angle of the side support portion 13 from the initial position (neutral state) by the angle α, as shown in FIG. As described above, the drive motor 20 is feedback-controlled. The control device 30 includes a low-pass filter 30a, a gain map 30b, and a switching element 30c.

  The low-pass filter 30a receives a signal output from the face orientation detection device 32 (an input signal corresponding to the head posture direction φ), and the low-pass filter 30a performs a filtering process on the input signal. With this filtering process, only the input signal having a frequency lower than the specified frequency is allowed to pass through the input signal from the face orientation detection device 32. The signal that has passed through the low-pass filter 30a has a reduced signal component corresponding to the posture direction φ of the head accompanying mirror confirmation for safety confirmation, and corresponds to the posture direction φ of the head accompanying a turning operation of the vehicle. It will be a thing. In the present embodiment, the cutoff frequency of the low-pass filter 30a can be set to 0.5 Hz, for example, but this value depends on the positional relationship of the seat position, the mirror, etc. It is desirable to set the optimum value through experiments and simulations so as to eliminate variation factors in the posture direction of the part.

  Further, the low-pass filter 30a has a time required for processing of the face orientation detection device 32, that is, the sum of the phase delay in the actual head posture direction detection processing and the phase delay of the filter processing is 0 to 0.0. It is preferable to design so as to be 3 seconds. This is based on the knowledge that the change in the posture direction of the head accompanying the turning operation (that is, the steering operation) is at least about 0.3 seconds before the steering operation.

  The gain map 30b is a map that defines a motor drive command value α corresponding to the angle change α of the side support unit 13 corresponding to the posture direction φ of the head and the lateral acceleration g. The gain map 30b basically outputs a motor drive command value α by multiplying the head posture direction φ by a gain. In the present embodiment, the head filtered by the low-pass filter 30a is used. The motor drive command value α is output by inputting the posture direction φ of the part and the lateral acceleration g detected by the vehicle state detection device 31.

  In the gain map 30b, the motor drive command value α tends to increase linearly from 0 as the head posture direction φ increases from 0, as shown in FIG. The posture direction φ of the head corresponds to the change direction of the side support portion 13). However, the motor drive command value α is regulated by a predetermined upper limit command value (α0) so as not to be larger than the angle upper limit value of the side support portion 13 limited by the mechanical movable range of the side support frame 15. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the motor drive command value α tends to increase as the lateral acceleration g increases even if the head posture direction φ is constant. .

  The gain map 30b shown in FIG. 5 illustrates the correspondence relationship of the motor drive command value α in the case where the head posture direction φ is a positive value, but the head posture direction φ is negative. 5, the motor drive command value α tends to be point-symmetric with respect to the origin in the map shown in FIG. That is, the motor drive command value α tends to decrease linearly from 0 as the head posture direction φ decreases from 0. However, the motor drive command value α is regulated by a predetermined lower limit command value (−α0) so as not to be smaller than the angle lower limit value of the side support portion 13 limited by the mechanical movable range of the side support frame 15. . Further, the motor drive command value α tends to decrease as the lateral acceleration g increases even if the head posture direction φ is constant.

  The switching element 30c determines whether the motor drive command value is set to “α” or “0” by switching the open / close state in accordance with the on / off signal SS from the changeover switch 34. When the driver operates the changeover switch 34 to turn on the signal SS, the switching element 30c is closed, and as a result, “α” obtained from the gain map 30b is output as it is as the motor drive command value α. On the other hand, when the driver operates the changeover switch 34 to output the off signal SS, the switching element 30c is opened, and as a result, the motor drive command value α is “0” regardless of the value obtained from the gain map 30b. Is output.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the driving posture adjusting apparatus having such a configuration will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the driving posture adjusting apparatus according to the present embodiment. The process shown in this flowchart is executed by the control device 30.

  First, in step 1 (S1), various detection values are read. The detection value read in this step corresponds to the head posture direction φ detected by the face direction detection device 32 and the lateral acceleration g detected by the vehicle state detection device 31.

  In step 2 (S2), the filtering process is performed with the head posture direction φ as the processing target.

  In step 3 (S3), a motor drive command value α corresponding to the angle change α of the side support portion 13 is calculated. The motor drive command value α is uniquely calculated by inputting the filtered head posture direction φ and lateral acceleration g into the gain map 30b shown in FIG.

  In step 4 (S4), the motor drive command value α is output to the motor drive device 21. When the ON signal SS is output from the changeover switch 34, “α” calculated in step 3 is output as it is as the motor drive command value α, and when the OFF signal SS is output from the changeover switch 34. Outputs “0” as the motor drive command value α.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the transition of the operation state of the side support unit 13 accompanying the control of the driving posture adjusting device. FIG. 7A shows the transition of the position of the vehicle entering the front right corner, and the vehicle position from the straight road to the point reaching the corner is shown in time series in the order of timings T1 to T4. ing. Moreover, the figure (b) has shown the passenger | crew's head posture and the state of the sheet | seat 10 corresponding to timing T1-T4 shown to the figure (a) from the upper direction, The figure (c) is the figure ( The head posture of the occupant corresponding to the timings T1 to T4 shown in a) is shown from the front.

  At a timing T1 when the vehicle is positioned in front of the corner, the vehicle is traveling straight and the head posture is in a neutral state. In this case, the side support portion 13 is also in a neutral state, that is, in an initial position. At timing T2 when the vehicle approaches the corner from the position of timing T1, the driver changes the head posture direction φ to the corner side (right side) prior to the steering operation. This change in the posture direction φ of the head particularly occurs in the yaw direction, but also occurs in the roll direction at the same time. At this time, the drive motor 20 is driven so that the side support portion 13 has an angle change α in accordance with the posture direction φ of the head, but a time constant of filter processing is added to the drive, The side support portion 13 actually operates at timing T3 when the vehicle approaches the corner from the position of timing T2. Then, at timing T4 immediately before the corner, the steering operation for entering the corner by the driver is started.

  An experimental result using the driving posture adjusting apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a course on which the subject has traveled. This course has a total length of about 1.1 km and is a mountain simulation course having a plurality of corners C1 to C6. Each corner C1 to C6 has a turning radius of about 40 to 100 m. The subject ran this course several times at a vehicle speed of 50 to 70 km / h. In this experiment, the steering angle, the yaw rate of the subject's head, and the yaw rate of the vehicle body are measured, and these measurements are started from a state where they are stopped at the start point, and after passing through corners C1 to C6, at the goal point. The measurement was completed with the vehicle stopped.

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a time-series transition of the steering angle, the yaw rate of the subject's head, and the yaw rate of the vehicle body, which are measurement results of a certain subject. In the vertical axis shown in the figure, the left side is an axis corresponding to the steering angle, and the right side is an axis corresponding to the yaw rate. As can be seen from the figure, the head yaw rate waveform is substantially similar to the vehicle body yaw rate waveform, and the head yaw rate waveform is more in phase than the vehicle body yaw rate (or steering angle) waveform. Progressing. This is because the driver tends to turn to the inside of the corner before starting the steering operation.

  Here, a function indicating a cross-correlation between the waveform of the head yaw rate and the waveform of the vehicle body yaw rate is obtained, and thereby, the phase difference of the waveform, that is, the preceding time of the head yaw rate with respect to the vehicle body yaw rate, In the subject shown in the figure, it is approximately 1.0 sec. Further, when the preceding time is obtained for a plurality of subjects, the preceding time is generally 0.3 to 1.0 sec due to individual differences. Such individual differences are considered to be caused by familiarity with driving and driving skills.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, attention is paid to the above-described variation in the preceding time in order to evaluate the reproducibility of the head posture in the yaw direction accompanying the steering operation. For each individual subject, the course of FIG. 2 was run 10 times, and the preceding time was obtained from the measurement results corresponding to each running, and the variation (standard deviation) of the preceding time of all subjects was analyzed. Further, in this experiment, an experiment was performed in each of the case where the seat control of the present embodiment was not performed and the case where the seat control of the present embodiment was performed in the same vehicle.

  FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the standard deviation of the preceding time. In the figure, “a” indicates the variation (standard deviation) in the preceding time in the case where the seat control is not performed, and “b” indicates the variation (standard deviation) in the preceding time in the case where the seat control is performed. Show. As can be seen from the figure, in the case where the sheet control is performed, the variation in the preceding time is reduced by 30% or more compared to the case where the sheet control is not performed. That is, it can be seen that the reproducibility of the posture direction of the head is improved.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the driving posture adjusting device that adjusts the driving posture of the driver includes the seat adjusting means, the driver head behavior detecting means, and the control means. Here, the seat adjusting means is means for adjusting the state of the seat on which the driver is seated so as to change the posture of the driver in the yaw direction or the vehicle width direction. In the present embodiment, the side support frame 15, The third links 17 to 19, the drive motor 20, and the motor drive device 21 correspond to this. The driver head behavior detection unit has a function of detecting the posture direction φ of the driver's head as the driver head behavior direction. In the present embodiment, the face orientation detection device 32 and the imaging device 33 correspond to this. . The control means functions to change the seat state in accordance with the driver head behavior direction (in this embodiment, the head posture direction φ) detected by the driver head behavior detection means by controlling the seat adjustment means. In the present embodiment, the control device 30 corresponds to this.

  According to such a configuration, by changing the seat state according to the posture direction of the head, it is possible to present information to the driver about the state of the posture direction of the head that has not been conscious of so far. . As a result, the driver can recognize the difference between his / her driving image and his / her movement before performing the operation, thereby obtaining an effect of stabilizing driving.

  For example, when a driver approaches a corner, the driver imagines a traveling line, and toward the imaged traveling line, the head is unconsciously turned to the inside of the corner prior to steering. The reproducibility of the posture direction was low. In other words, it was difficult to drive as the driver had. However, in the present embodiment, by changing the seat state in accordance with the posture direction of the head, the driver can recognize a deviation between his / her driving image and his / her movement, thereby stabilizing driving. Is obtained.

  Conventionally, vehicle control is performed based on sensing of a vehicle state (for example, lateral acceleration). However, this can only provide information after a driver's operation. On the other hand, according to the driving posture adjusting apparatus of the present embodiment, information can be presented to the driver before the operation is performed. This is because the change in the posture direction of the head precedes the vehicle body behavior and steering.

  Further, conventionally, for example, the vehicle control is performed prior to the driver's operation, such as using the map information and the vehicle position using a navigation device, and pre-shifting the transmission when approaching an uphill. Although it was done, there is a possibility that such a method cannot absorb individual differences of drivers. However, according to the driving posture adjusting apparatus of the present embodiment, since the behavior of the driver itself is sensed, there is an advantage that individual differences can be absorbed.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the control device 30 serving as a control means gives a time delay to the transfer characteristic that defines the change in the seat state with respect to the posture direction φ of the driver's head. For example, when handling the machine, there is a case where the reaction that the object moves at the same time that the operation is performed is too fast and the user feels uncomfortable. Similarly, in this embodiment, the change in the posture direction φ of the head At the same time, if the seat state is changed, the driver may feel uncomfortable. However, since the control device 30 gives a time delay between the head posture direction φ and the corresponding change in the seat state, it is possible to suppress a sense of incongruity when the seat state changes. In addition, this time delay is preferably set to a value between 0 and 0.3 sec, thereby reducing the possibility of impairing the merit that the driver can give information before performing the operation. be able to.

  In the present embodiment, the control device 30 serving as a control means is a low-pass device that allows an input signal having a frequency equal to or lower than a specified frequency to pass through an input signal corresponding to the posture direction φ of the head of the driver from the face orientation detection device 32. A filter 30a is provided, and the seat state is changed according to the posture direction φ of the head corresponding to the input signal that has passed through the low-pass filter 30a. For example, a driving driver takes an action of looking at a mirror for safety confirmation. At this time, for example, a waveform as shown in the period S of FIG. 9 is generated in the head yaw rate. In this regard, according to the present embodiment, by performing the filtering process with the low-pass filter 30a, it is possible to suppress the head behavior associated with such safety confirmation and change the seat state corresponding to the steering operation. Therefore, it is possible to reduce a sense of incongruity associated with an unnecessary change in the sheet state.

  In the present embodiment, the driving posture adjusting device further includes vehicle state detecting means. The vehicle body detection means has a function of detecting a lateral acceleration of the vehicle or a state quantity corresponding to the lateral acceleration of the vehicle as a vehicle state quantity. In the present embodiment, the vehicle state detection device 31 includes this function. Applicable. For example, when the vehicle speed increases or the turning radius decreases, the lateral acceleration increases, and the inertial force acting on the occupant increases. Therefore, since the contact pressure between the seat and the occupant increases, the efficiency of information presentation from the seat to the occupant may be deteriorated. However, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to increase the degree of change in the seat state in accordance with the increase in lateral acceleration, so that information can be effectively presented to the driver, and the effect is The range obtained can be increased.

  In the present embodiment, the driving posture adjusting apparatus further includes an operation unit. This operation means is operated by a driver and has a function of switching on and off the control of the sheet adjustment means by the control device 30. In this embodiment, the changeover switch 34 corresponds to this function. According to such a configuration, the seat control can be turned off by the driver's intention in cases such as driving in an urban area where the frequency of viewing with a mirror for safety confirmation is high or the posture direction of the head is largely fluctuated. Unnecessary changes in the sheet state can be suppressed.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the seat adjusting means adjusts the state of the seat by moving a pair of side support portions 13 corresponding to the left and right sides of the seat back 12 of the seat 10 in the same phase in the yaw direction. According to such a configuration, a part of the seat back is made movable, and the change in this part is adjusted, so that the driving posture can be adjusted at a low cost.

  In the above-described embodiment, the side support portion 13 is changed in accordance with the head posture direction φ in the yaw direction. However, as shown in FIG. 7, the head posture direction θ in the roll direction is also used in the steering operation. Occurs in advance. Therefore, when performing seat control, the side support portion 13 may be changed not only according to the posture direction φ of the head in the yaw direction but also according to the posture direction θ of the head in the roll direction. Further, the side support portion 13 may be changed according to the posture direction φ of the head in the yaw direction and the posture direction θ of the head in the roll direction. In this case, the change direction of the side support unit 13 is controlled correspondingly as the change direction of the head posture direction.

  In the present embodiment, the side support unit 13 is controlled in accordance with the posture direction φ of the head, but the behavior of the head that occurs prior to the steering operation also appears in the direction of the driver's line of sight. You may control the side support part 13 according to a gaze direction. Further, the method for detecting the posture direction of the head or the direction of the line of sight is not limited to the form using the imaging device 33, and various methods having the same function may be used.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the side support portion 13 of the seat back 12 is changed in the yaw direction, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, various methods can be employed as long as the posture of the occupant is changed in the yaw direction or the vehicle width direction.

  Here, FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing a modification as a means for adjusting the state of the sheet 10. A seat frame 14 that forms the skeleton of the seat back 12 is provided inside the seat back 12, and a substantially U-shaped side support frame 15 is provided on the seat frame 14 at a position corresponding to the pair of left and right side support portions 13. Each is provided. The pair of left and right side support frames 15 are connected to each other by a fourth link 22 on the upper side and the lower side. The fourth link 22 also serves as a slide rail portion of the linear guide, and the linear guide slider 23 is fixed to the seat frame 14. As a result, the pair of left and right side support frames 15 can be integrated with each other and change laterally (vehicle width direction) with respect to the seat frame 14.

  Further, rack teeth are provided on the back surface of the fourth link 22 (that is, the slide rail), and a pinion gear that meshes with the rack is fitted to the rotation shaft of the drive motor 20 fixed to the seat frame 14. Is done. As a result, the rotational motion of the rotational shaft of the drive motor 20 is changed to the lateral motion of the side support frame 15.

  FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the operating state of the side support unit 13. Normally, the side support frame 15 holds a preset initial position. In this state, the side support portion 13 extends in the vehicle length direction through the center of the driver as shown in FIG. It is in the state of the left and right lines with respect to the center line. On the other hand, when the drive motor 20 is rotated, the fourth link 22 moves in accordance with this rotation. As a result, the pair of left and right side support frames 15 move in the same phase. In this state, as shown in FIG. 4B, the side support portions 13 are moved in parallel in the vehicle width direction, and their center positions are more than the center line extending in the vehicle length direction through the center of the driver. It changes in the vehicle width direction. In the seat 10 having such a configuration, the control of the seat state is performed by the control device 30 so that the change direction of the posture direction of the head corresponds to the change direction of the side support portion 13.

  In addition to this, as a method for adjusting the state of the seat 10, the seat back of the seat or the entire seat is rotated in the yaw direction, or the seat back of the seat or the entire seat is moved in the vehicle width direction. The sheet state may be adjusted.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, in order to reduce the head posture variation factors such as mirror confirmation, the low-pass filter 30a is provided. However, as long as the low-pass filter 30a is provided, the changeover switch 34 can be omitted. is there. Conversely, the low-pass filter 30a may not be provided. In this case, a delay circuit that provides a delay in the posture direction (detection value) φ of the head may be inserted instead of the low-pass filter 30a after the changeover switch 34 is provided. As a result, as described above, it is possible to suppress a situation in which the reaction of the sheet is too fast and the driver feels uncomfortable.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 13 is an overall configuration diagram of the driving posture adjusting apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The driving posture adjusting apparatus according to the second embodiment is different from that of the first embodiment in that the navigation apparatus 40 is further provided. Information output from the navigation device 40 is output to the control device 30. The control device 30 controls the state of the seat 10 after processing information output from the navigation device 40 in addition to the processing shown in the first embodiment. In the following description, differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described. The same reference numerals are used for the same components, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

  The navigation device 40 outputs navigation information around the host vehicle. The navigation device 40 detects the current position of the vehicle based on information acquired from the GPS receiver, the direction sensor, and the vehicle speed sensor. Note that the method of detecting the current position is not limited to the method using GPS, and the current position is detected based on the distance to the base station that receives radio waves transmitted from a plurality of base stations at the same time and is calculated from the arrival times of the radio waves. The position may be detected by triangulation, or the current position of the vehicle may be detected by performing road-to-vehicle communication with road-side infrastructure provided on the road side.

  In the navigation device 40, navigation information is stored in, for example, a hard disk device integrated with the navigation device 40. Navigation information is information used for route search and route guidance, and is mainly composed of node data and road data. In the navigation information, each road on the map is divided by nodes corresponding to points such as intersections, branches, and merges, and roads between individual nodes are defined as road links. Therefore, a series of road shapes can be grasped by connecting road links via individual nodes. The node data is associated with each node such as an identification number (node ID) for identifying the node, absolute position information using latitude and longitude, and a unique number (link ID) of a road link connected to this node. Data. The road data includes, for each road link, a unique number (link ID) for identifying the road link, the length of the road corresponding to the road link, the width of the road corresponding to the road link, and the road corresponding to the road link. This is data in which a gradient, a road surface condition corresponding to a road link, a radius of curvature of a road corresponding to a road link, a road type (highway, automobile-only road, general road), and the like are associated with each other. The navigation device 40 can grasp information on a route on which the host vehicle travels by searching the navigation information based on the detected position information of the vehicle. The navigation information may be stored in a recording medium such as a DVD or a CD-ROM and readable by the navigation device 40. Further, the route information may be grasped by performing road-to-vehicle communication with road-side infrastructure provided on the road side.

  In the relationship with the present embodiment, the navigation device 40 includes information on the position of the host vehicle and road links existing on the course of the host vehicle within a predetermined distance range (specifically, the road link corresponding to the road link). (Length, width, radius of curvature) as navigation information NAV. For example, when a navigation route is set in the navigation device, the course of the host vehicle can be specified by a road link existing on the guidance route. Can be specified by the road link existing in

  FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the control device 30 according to the second embodiment. As in the first embodiment, the control device 30 calculates the drive amount of the drive motor 20 based on various input signals, and sends a motor drive command value α corresponding to the calculation result to the motor drive device 21. Output.

  FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a processing concept according to the present embodiment. When a vehicle approaches a corner that exists on the route, the driver tends to face a line that passes through the vehicle (specifically, driver) position and touches the inside of the corner (hereinafter referred to as “corner tangent”). is there. In addition, it is considered that the driver's posture is ideal for the driver to face the corner tangent. In the present embodiment, the sheet state is controlled in consideration of such a corner tangential direction.

  The control device 30 further includes a calculation unit 30d in addition to the configuration shown in the first embodiment. Navigation information NAV from the navigation device 40 and the posture direction φ of the head filtered by the low-pass filter 30a are input to the arithmetic unit 30d. The calculation unit 30d refers to the navigation information NAV and, as shown in FIG. 15, based on the position of the host vehicle on the road, the distance to the corner existing in advance, the radius of curvature, the road width of the road, etc. The tangent is calculated, and the angle τ formed by the vehicle direction and the corner tangent is calculated. Then, as shown in FIG. 16, the arithmetic unit 30d subtracts the posture direction φ of the head from the calculated angle τ, thereby obtaining an angle difference φ ′ (φ ′ = τ -Φ). The calculated attitude deviation φ 'is input to the gain map 30b. In the first embodiment, the head posture direction φ is input to the gain map 30b. However, in the second embodiment, instead of the head posture direction φ, a posture deviation φ ′ is used. Is entered.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the driving posture adjustment device that adjusts the driving posture of the driver includes the seat adjustment means, the driver head behavior detection means, the navigation means, the calculation means, and the control means. . Here, the seat adjusting means can adjust the state of the seat on which the driver is seated so as to change the posture of the driver in the yaw direction or the vehicle width direction. In the present embodiment, the side support frame 15, The three links 17 to 19, the drive motor 20, and the motor drive device 21 correspond to this. The driver head behavior detection unit has a function of detecting the posture direction φ of the driver's head as the driver head behavior direction. In the present embodiment, the face orientation detection device 32 and the imaging device 33 correspond to this. . The navigation means has a function of outputting navigation information including the position of the vehicle on the road and the shape of the road on which the vehicle travels. In this embodiment, the navigation device 40 corresponds to this. The calculation means specifies a tangent line that contacts a corner ahead of the vehicle based on the navigation information, and calculates an angle formed by the identified tangent line and the posture direction φ of the driver's head as a posture deviation. In this embodiment, the calculation unit 30d, which is a functional part of the control device 30, corresponds to this. The control means controls the seat adjustment means to change the seat state according to the calculated posture deviation or according to the calculated posture deviation and the posture direction of the driver's head. The control device 30 corresponds to this function in the present embodiment.

  According to this configuration, the same effects as those of the first embodiment described above can be obtained, and the difference between the ideal posture and the actual posture can be presented to the driver as information. Therefore, the posture direction of the head can be further stabilized.

  In the present embodiment, the control device 30 gives a time delay to the transfer characteristics that define the change in the seat state with respect to the posture direction φ of the driver's head. However, the control device 30 as the control means can obtain the same effect by giving a time delay to the transfer characteristic that defines the change in the seat state with respect to the posture deviation.

  In the present embodiment, the low-pass filter 30a of the control device 30 performs a filtering process on the input signal corresponding to the head posture direction φ. However, the control device 30 that is a control unit may include a low-pass filter that allows an arithmetic signal having a frequency equal to or lower than a specified frequency to pass through an arithmetic signal corresponding to the attitude deviation. In this case, the control device 30 changes the seat state according to the posture deviation corresponding to the calculation signal that has passed through the low-pass filter. Even with this configuration, the same effect as described above can be obtained.

  Here, the tangent line was obtained with respect to the inner boundary of the corner. However, when traveling on a road having a plurality of traveling lanes, the dividing line (white line) that forms the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling is set to the inner corner. For example, the tangent line may be obtained by considering it as a boundary. In addition, when the map information is created only with the road alignment and the road width information is not included, the lane width is assumed to be a predetermined reference value (for example, 3.5 m), and the assumption is made. The tangent may be calculated assuming that the vehicle is traveling in the center of the lane.

  Further, when the system is configured using the navigation device 40, it is determined whether it is an urban area, a highway or a mountain road from the presence / absence of an intersection, road curvature, and the like, and the highway or mountain road is determined. The sheet state may be changed only when it is determined that this is the case. Thereby, it is possible to suppress unnecessarily changing the seat state in an urban area where the movement of the line of sight frequently occurs for safety confirmation or the like.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a driving posture adjusting apparatus according to a first embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the sheet | seat 10. Explanatory drawing which shows the operation state of the side support frame 15 and the side support part 13. Explanatory drawing which shows the operation state of the side support frame 15 and the side support part 13. The block diagram which shows the structure of the control apparatus 30 in 1st Embodiment. The flowchart which shows the process sequence of the driving posture adjustment apparatus concerning 1st Embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows transition of the operation state of the side support part 13 with control of a driving posture adjustment apparatus Explanation showing the course that the subject drove Explanatory diagram showing the time-series transition of measurement results of a subject Explanatory diagram showing the standard deviation of the lead time Explanatory drawing which shows the modification as a means to adjust the state of the sheet | seat 10 Explanatory drawing which shows the operation state of the side support part 13. Overall configuration diagram of the driving posture adjusting apparatus according to the second embodiment The block diagram which shows the structure of the control apparatus 30 in 2nd Embodiment. Explanatory drawing of the processing concept concerning 2nd Embodiment. Explanatory drawing showing the relationship between the head posture direction φ and the corner tangent τ

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Seat 11 Headrest 12 Seat back 13 Side support part 14 Seat frame 15 Side support frame 16 Rotation support part 17 1st link 18 2nd link 19 3rd link 20 Drive motor 21 Motor drive device 22 4th link 23 Slider 30 Control device 30a Low-pass filter 30b Gain map 30c Switching element 30d Calculation unit 31 Vehicle state detection device 32 Face orientation detection device 33 Imaging device 34 Changeover switch 40 Navigation device

Claims (13)

In the driving posture adjustment device that adjusts the driving posture of the driver,
A seat adjusting means for adjusting the state of the seat on which the driver is seated so as to change the posture of the driver in the yaw direction or the vehicle width direction;
A driver head behavior detection means for detecting a driver head posture direction or a driver's gaze direction as a driver head behavior direction;
A driving posture adjusting apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls the seat adjusting unit to change a seat state in accordance with a driver head behavior detecting direction detected by the driver head behavior detecting unit. In the driving posture adjustment device that adjusts the driving posture of the driver,
Seat adjustment means for adjusting the state of the seat on which the driver is seated so that the posture of the driver is changed in the yaw direction or the vehicle width direction;
A driver head behavior detection means for detecting a driver head posture direction or a driver's gaze direction as a driver head behavior direction;
Navigation means for outputting navigation information including the position of the vehicle on the road and the shape of the road on which the vehicle travels;
Based on the navigation information output from the navigation means, the tangent line that contacts the corner ahead of the vehicle from the vehicle is specified, and the specified tangent line and the driver head behavior direction detected by the driver head behavior detection means Calculating means for calculating an angle formed by
A driving posture adjustment apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls the seat adjustment unit to change a seat state in accordance with the posture deviation calculated by the calculation unit.   3. The control unit according to claim 2, wherein the control unit changes the seat state according to the posture deviation calculated by the calculation unit and the driver head behavior direction detected by the driver head behavior detection unit. The described driving posture adjustment device.   4. The driving posture adjusting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit gives a time delay to a transmission characteristic that defines a change in a seat state with respect to the driver head behavior direction. 5.   The driving posture adjusting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control means gives a time delay to a transmission characteristic that defines a change in seat state with respect to the posture deviation. The control means includes
With respect to the input signal from the driver head behavior detecting means according to the driver head behavior direction, a low pass filter that passes an input signal having a frequency lower than a specified frequency,
The driving posture adjusting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the seat state is changed in accordance with the driver head behavior direction corresponding to the input signal that has passed through the low-pass filter. The control means includes
With respect to the calculation signal from the calculation means according to the posture deviation, a low-pass filter that allows a calculation signal having a specified frequency or less to pass through,
6. The driving posture adjusting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the seat state is changed according to the posture deviation corresponding to the calculation signal that has passed through the low-pass filter. Vehicle state detection means for detecting a lateral amount of the vehicle or a state amount corresponding to the lateral acceleration of the vehicle as a vehicle state amount;
The driving posture adjusting device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the control unit further changes a seat state in accordance with a vehicle state amount detected by the vehicle state detection unit. .   The driving posture adjusting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising operating means which is operated by a driver and switches on and off of control of the seat adjusting means by the control means.   The seat adjustment means adjusts the state of the seat by moving a pair of side support portions corresponding to the left and right sides of the seat back of the seat in the same phase in the yaw direction or the vehicle width direction. Item 10. The driving posture adjusting device according to any one of Items 1 to 9.   The seat adjusting means adjusts the state of the seat by rotating the seat back of the seat or the entire seat in the yaw direction, or moving the seat back of the seat or the entire seat in the vehicle width direction. The driving posture adjusting device according to any one of claims 1 to 9. In the driving posture adjustment method for adjusting the driving posture of the driver,
A first step of acquiring the posture direction of the driver's head or the gaze direction of the driver as the driver head behavior direction;
A second step of adjusting the state of the seat on which the driver is seated so as to change the posture of the driver in the yaw direction or the vehicle width direction according to the driver head behavior direction acquired in the first step; A driving posture adjustment method comprising: In the driving posture adjustment method for adjusting the driving posture of the driver,
A first step of acquiring the posture direction of the driver's head or the gaze direction of the driver as the driver head behavior direction;
A second step of acquiring navigation information including a position of the vehicle on the road and a shape of the road on which the vehicle travels;
A third step of identifying a tangent line that touches a corner in front of the vehicle from the vehicle position based on the navigation information acquired in the second step;
A fourth step of calculating an angle between the tangent line identified in the third step and the driver head behavior direction acquired in the first step as a posture deviation;
And a fifth step of adjusting the state of the seat on which the driver is seated so as to change the posture of the driver in the yaw direction or the vehicle width direction according to the posture deviation calculated in the fourth step. Characteristic driving posture adjustment method.

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