JP2007304880A - Driving support device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a driving support device for improving safety at a junction spot by an inexpensive means without performing any unnecessary junction guide or warning. <P>SOLUTION: This driving support device 1 mounted on a vehicle traveling on a trunk line road having a plurality traveling lanes, that is, a trunk line road on which junction spots exist, and junction paths joining the trunk line road exist at the junction spots is provided with a self-vehicle location detection means 10 for detecting the location of its own vehicle; a traveling lane decision means 20 for deciding the traveling lane of its own vehicle among a plurality of traveling lanes; and a driving supporting means 40 for supporting driving based on the decision result of the traveling lane decision means 20. The driving supporting means 40 is characterized to inhibit driving support when it is detected that the location of its own vehicle is present by a predetermined distance ahead of the junction spot by the self-vehicle location detection means 10, and it is decided that its own vehicle is traveling on a lane which is not at the junction path side of the trunk line road by the traveling lane decision means 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a driving support device that performs driving support when approaching a junction.

  Conventionally, there is a navigation device that measures information such as the current position and traveling direction of a running vehicle using an artificial satellite, a geomagnetic meter, a odometer, etc., and informs the driver by displaying it on a screen or reproducing it by voice. is there. When a vehicle equipped with this device approaches a merging point such as an entrance of an expressway or an exit of a service area where there is a high possibility of a collision between vehicles, the navigation device performs merging guidance / merging warning.

  Various inventions have been made for the purpose of further improving the safety at such a junction.

  In Patent Document 1, a camera is installed at a junction, the position and size of a vehicle traveling on the main road are measured, and the vehicle traveling on the main road is driven on the main road. An invention is disclosed in which the information on the running state of the existing vehicle is provided to improve the safety at the junction.

Further, in Patent Document 2, a camera is installed at a merge point, and the vehicle information such as the position and the vehicle speed of the vehicle traveling on the merge side lane of the main road and the vehicle traveling on the merge path is merged. An invention is disclosed that attempts to improve safety at a merge point by displaying availability and merge timing on a display board installed at the merge point.
JP-A-11-86192 JP 2001-134900 A

  However, in the conventional navigation device, when the vehicle approaches the merging point, regardless of the lane position where the vehicle is traveling, the guidance / warning of the merging is performed, so the vehicle is not running on the merging side lane. That is, there is a problem that unnecessary guidance / warning is performed even when the merge is not directly affected.

  Further, in the inventions disclosed in Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2, in order to improve safety at the junction, a vehicle monitoring camera and a display device that provides information on whether or not the junction can be provided in the vicinity of the junction. There is a problem that it must be installed, and the capital investment is enormous.

  The present invention has been invented in order to solve this problem in view of the above points, and does not perform unnecessary merging guidance / warning and improves driving safety at a merging point by inexpensive means. An object is to provide an apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, the driving support device of the present invention is a main road having a plurality of driving lanes, where a merge point exists on the main road, and merges with the main road at the merge point. In a driving support device mounted on a vehicle traveling on a main road with a junction, a vehicle position detection unit that detects a position of the vehicle and a travel lane of the vehicle among the plurality of travel lanes are determined. A driving lane determination unit; and a driving support unit that performs driving support based on a determination result of the driving lane determination unit, wherein the driving support unit detects the position of the host vehicle by the host vehicle position detection unit. When it is detected that the vehicle is a predetermined distance until the vehicle is traveling on a lane that is not on the side of the main road on the main road, the driving lane determination means prohibits driving assistance. It can be formed.

  In order to achieve the above object, the driving support device of the present invention includes a merging vehicle detection unit that detects a merging vehicle that merges from the merging path to the main road, and the driving support unit includes: The vehicle position detecting means detects that the position of the vehicle is a predetermined distance to the meeting point, and the traveling lane determining means is that the vehicle is traveling in a lane on the merging path side of the main road. When it is determined and a merged vehicle is detected by the vehicle detection means, it can be configured to provide driving assistance.

  In order to achieve the above object, the travel lane determining means of the present invention is based on the map information mounted on the own vehicle and the position of the own vehicle detected by the own vehicle position detecting means. It can comprise so that the driving lane of the own vehicle among several driving lanes may be determined.

  In order to achieve the above object, the driving support apparatus of the present invention has a traveling lane information acquisition unit that acquires information on the traveling lane of the host vehicle, and the traveling lane determination unit of the present invention includes Based on the travel lane information acquisition means mounted on the host vehicle, the travel lane of the host vehicle can be determined among the plurality of travel lanes.

  In order to achieve the above object, the traveling lane information acquisition means of the present invention can be configured to be a front camera or a back camera that is attached to the front part or the rear part of the vehicle body and images the road surface.

  Further, in order to achieve the above object, the travel lane information acquisition means of the present invention detects that the position of the own vehicle is a predetermined distance to the joining point by the own vehicle position detection means. It can be configured to start the acquisition of travel lane information.

  In order to achieve the above object, the driving support device of the present invention includes a merging vehicle recognition unit that recognizes a merging vehicle that merges from a merging path to a main road, and the merging vehicle detection unit includes Based on the joining vehicle recognition means mounted on the own vehicle, the joining vehicle can be detected.

  Moreover, in order to achieve said objective, the said joining vehicle recognition means of this invention can be comprised so that it may be a side camera attached to the vehicle body side part and imaging the said joining vehicle.

  In order to achieve the above object, the merged vehicle detection means of the present invention may be configured to detect information of the merged vehicle based on inter-vehicle communication between the own vehicle and the merged vehicle. it can.

  In order to achieve the above object, the joining vehicle recognizing means of the present invention joins when the own vehicle position detecting means detects that the position of the own vehicle is a predetermined distance to the joining point. It can be configured to start vehicle recognition.

  In order to achieve the above object, the driving support apparatus according to the present invention includes a crossability determination unit that determines a crossover possibility between the merged vehicle detected by the merged vehicle detection unit and the own vehicle. The driving support means provides driving guidance when the vehicle position detecting means detects that the position of the own vehicle is a predetermined distance to the merging point as driving assistance, and the merging vehicle detecting means detects the merging vehicle. When the vehicle is detected, a merge warning is generated, and when the cross possibility determination unit determines that the merge vehicle and the host vehicle are likely to cross, a warning notification or automatic speed control can be performed. .

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the driving assistance apparatus which improves the safety | security at a junction can be provided by an inexpensive means, without performing unnecessary junction guidance and warning.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  First, a first embodiment of the driving support apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a vehicle including a driving assistance device according to a first embodiment and a traveling road.

In FIG. 1, vehicles A and B equipped with the driving support device of the first embodiment are traveling on a main road L _b having a plurality of traveling lanes (here, L _b1 and L _b2 ). In junction M, main road _{L b} is merged with the combined channel _{L a.} Driving support apparatus 1, when the vehicle is traveling on a merging road lane L _b1 on the main road (in FIG. 1, the vehicle A), reaches the predetermined distance to the merging point M, to implement the driving support. When driving on the lane _Lb2 that is not the combined flow path lane (vehicle B in FIG. 1), driving assistance is prohibited, that is, not performed. Although the number of travel lanes on the main road is two here, it may be plural.

  Next, the functional configuration of the driving support device 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the driving assistance apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment.

  In FIG. 2, the driving support device 1 includes a host vehicle position detection unit 10, a traveling lane determination unit 20, a road information database 30, and a driving support unit 40. The driving support means 40 includes driving support information generating means 401, display control means 402, display means 403, sound reproducing means 404, and sound reproducing means 405. In the following description, the vehicle equipped with the driving support device 1 is assumed to be the own vehicle.

  The own vehicle position detecting means 10 detects the position of the own vehicle on the road. For example, on the basis of the current position of the host vehicle received from the host vehicle position information receiving means 2 described later, information on the traveling direction, and road map information stored in the road information database 30 described later, Detect position. The position of the own vehicle on the road is, for example, information on whether or not the own vehicle is at a predetermined distance to the junction. In addition, when the vehicle can be detected with high accuracy, it is information indicating which lane is the traveling lane of the host vehicle. The detected position of the own vehicle is sent to a travel lane determination means 20 described later.

  The traveling lane determining means 20 determines whether the traveling lane of the own vehicle is a lane on the side of the combined flow path on the main road. For example, the determination is made based on the position information of the own vehicle received from the own vehicle position detection means 10. The determination result is sent to the driving support means 40 described later.

  The road information database 30 is a database that stores road map information.

  The driving support means 40 performs driving support. For example, based on the determination result of the traveling lane determining means 20, driving assistance is performed by driving support control information generating means 401, display control means 402, display means 403, sound reproduction control means 404, and sound reproduction means 405 described later.

  The driving support information generating unit 401 generates driving support information such as display contents of merging guidance to be performed as driving assistance and voice reproduction contents. For example, a determination result is received from the travel lane determination means 20, and driving assistance information is generated according to the determination result. The generated driving support information is sent to the display control means 402 and / or the sound reproduction control means 404.

  The display control unit 402 controls the display of the display unit 403. For example, the display content generated by the driving support information generation unit 401 is displayed on the display unit 403.

  The display unit 403 is controlled by the display control unit 402 and performs display. For example, a display mounted on the vehicle.

  The audio reproduction control unit 404 controls the audio reproduction of the audio reproduction unit 405. For example, the audio reproduction unit 405 reproduces the audio reproduction content generated by the driving support information generation unit 401.

  The sound reproduction means 405 is controlled by the display control means 402 and reproduces sound. For example, a speaker mounted on the vehicle.

  The own vehicle position information receiving means 2 receives information on the current position and the traveling direction of the own vehicle. For example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiving device or the like performs. The received information is sent to the vehicle position detection means 10.

  With the functional configuration described above, in the driving support device 1, the own vehicle position detecting unit 10 detects that the own vehicle has reached a predetermined distance to the joining point, and the traveling lane determining unit 20 detects that the own vehicle is on the main road. When it is determined that the vehicle is traveling in the combined channel side lane, the driving support means 40 performs driving support. If it is determined by the traveling lane determining means 20 that the vehicle is traveling in a lane that is not the combined flow path lane, the driving support means 40 prohibits driving assistance, that is, does not implement it.

(Operation example)
Next, an operation example of the driving support apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between the vehicle and the traveling road according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation according to the operation example. Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle D with the driving support device 1 is traveling on a main road L _b. When the host vehicle D comes to a position at a predetermined distance L, here 300 m, to the junction M, the driving support device 1 detects a driving lane using a highly accurate GPS signal. When the traveling lane is the combined flow path lane (in the case of the own vehicle E), driving assistance is performed. In addition, when a driving lane is not a combined flow path side lane (in the case of the own vehicle F), driving assistance is not performed.

  Next, the flow of operation will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the vehicle position detection means 10 detects the position of the vehicle D on the road (S101).

  Next, the own vehicle position detection means 10 determines whether or not the vehicle is at a predetermined distance L, 300 m in this case, to the junction of the main road (S102). When the own vehicle reaches the position of 300 m to the junction (S102, YES), that is, when the own vehicle E or F is in the state, the process proceeds to the next step S103. When the own vehicle has not reached 300 m to the joining point (S102, NO), the process returns to step S102 and enters a standby state. In step S102, the vehicle position detection means 10 detects the traveling lane of the vehicle using a highly accurate GPS signal.

  Moving to step S103, the traveling lane determining means 20 receives information on the traveling lane of the own vehicle from the own vehicle position detecting means 10, and determines whether or not the own vehicle is traveling in the lane of the main road on the combined flow path ( S103). When it is determined that the vehicle is traveling in the combined flow path lane (S103, YES), that is, when the vehicle E is in the state, the process proceeds to the next step S104. When it is determined that the vehicle is not traveling in the combined flow path lane, that is, the vehicle is traveling in other than the combined flow path lane (S103, NO), that is, when the vehicle F is in a state, the operation is ended without performing driving assistance. To do.

  Moving to step S104, the driving support means 40 performs driving support (S104).

  In step S <b> 104, first, the driving support information generation unit 401 receives a determination result that the host vehicle is traveling in the combined flow path lane from the travel lane determination unit 20. Next, a display content indicating that “there is a 300m ahead” is created as the display content of the merge guidance. It should be noted that the audio reproduction content “300 m ahead, the confluence” may be created as the audio reproduction content of the merge guidance. The display content of the generated merging guidance is displayed on a display mounted on the host vehicle as the display means 403 via the display control means 402. Similarly, the voice reproduction content of the generated merging guide is reproduced by a speaker mounted on the own vehicle as the voice reproduction means 405 via the voice reproduction control means 404.

As described above, in the operation example 1, firstly, the vehicle D with the driving support device 1 is traveling on the main road L _b. When the vehicle reaches the junction point M at a position of 300 m, the driving lane is detected using a highly accurate GPS signal. When the traveling lane is the combined flow path lane (in the case of the own vehicle E), driving assistance is performed. In addition, when a driving lane is not a combined flow path side lane (in the case of the own vehicle F), driving assistance is not performed.

  By such an operation, the following effects can be obtained. The effect is that it is not necessary to provide driving assistance such as unnecessary merging guidance and warning when the vehicle is not running in the lane of the merging channel. In other words, driving assistance such as unnecessary merging guidance and warnings can prevent the driver from panicking and performing wrong operations or get confused and improve safety. It is.

  Moreover, such a driving assistance device can be prepared at low cost by, for example, a car navigation device mounted on the own vehicle.

  Next, a second embodiment of the driving support apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  Here, the relationship between the vehicle provided with the driving support device of the second embodiment and the traveling road is the same as that of the first embodiment (see FIG. 3). In the first embodiment, the driving support device 1 detects a driving lane using a highly accurate GPS signal. Here, the travel lane is detected by using a travel lane information acquisition unit 3 described later mounted on the vehicle, for example, an in-vehicle front camera.

  Next, the functional configuration of the driving support apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating functional blocks of the driving support device 1 according to the second embodiment.

  In FIG. 5, the driving support apparatus 1 includes a host vehicle position detection unit 10, a traveling lane determination unit 20, a road information database 30, a driving support unit 40, and an image processing unit 50. The driving support means 40 includes driving support information generating means 401, display control means 402, display means 403, sound reproducing means 404, and sound reproducing means 405. In the following description, the vehicle equipped with the driving support device 1 is assumed to be the own vehicle.

  Since the own vehicle position detection means 10, the road information database 30, the driving support means 40, the display control means 402, the display means 403, the sound reproduction control means 404, and the sound reproduction means 405 are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof will be omitted. . Here, functions other than these will be described.

  The traveling lane determining means 20 determines whether the traveling lane of the own vehicle is a lane on the side of the combined flow path on the main road. In the first embodiment, the determination is made based on the position information of the own vehicle received from the own vehicle position detection means 10. Here, the determination is made based on information indicating the traveling lane of the host vehicle received from the image processing unit 50 described later. The determination result is sent to the driving support means 40.

  The image processing means 50 performs image processing for extracting information indicating the traveling lane of the own vehicle from the image information. The image information is, for example, an image of a traveling lane imaged by a traveling lane information acquisition unit 3 described later. From the travel lane image, the image processing unit 50 extracts the shape of the white line (information indicating the travel lane) from the travel lane image (image information). The extracted information is sent to the travel lane determination means 20.

The traveling lane information acquisition unit 3 is a unit for acquiring information on the traveling lane of the own vehicle. For example, an in-vehicle camera such as a front camera or a back camera mounted on the own vehicle captures a traveling lane image. Get by. The travel lane information is information indicating the characteristics of which lane is the travel lane, and here is the shape of the white line between the lanes included in the captured travel lane image. Here, the white line on the left side in the traveling direction is a continuous line without a break in the combined flow path lane L _b1 , and a discontinuous line having a break at a predetermined interval otherwise (see FIG. 1). That is, the white line is an unbroken continuous line, which indicates the feature that the traveling lane of the vehicle is the combined flow path lane _Lb1 . That is, the shape of the white line is information indicating the characteristics of which lane the vehicle's driving lane is. The acquired travel lane information is sent to the image processing means 50.

  With the functional configuration described above, in the driving support device 1, the own vehicle position detecting unit 10 detects that the own vehicle has reached a predetermined distance to the joining point, and the traveling lane determining unit 20 detects that the own vehicle is on the main road. When it is determined that the vehicle is traveling in the combined channel side lane, the driving support means 40 performs driving support. If it is determined by the traveling lane determining means 20 that the vehicle is traveling in a lane that is not the combined flow path lane, the driving support means 40 prohibits driving assistance, that is, does not implement it. In the driving support device 1 of the first embodiment, the own vehicle position detection unit 10 detects the traveling lane of the own vehicle using a high-accuracy GPS signal. Here, the vehicle-mounted front camera and image processing means 50 which are the travel lane information acquisition means 3 detect the travel lane of the own vehicle.

(Operation example)
Next, an operation example of the driving support device 1 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation according to the operation example. In the driving support device 1 of the first embodiment, the vehicle position detection unit 10 detects the traveling lane of the vehicle using a high-accuracy GPS signal (step S102 in FIG. 4). Here, the vehicle-mounted front camera and image processing means 50, which are the travel lane information acquisition means 3, acquire information on the travel lane of the host vehicle (step S203 in FIG. 6).

  Next, the flow of operation will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the own vehicle position detection means 10 detects the position of the own vehicle D on the road (S201).

  Next, the vehicle position detection means 10 determines whether or not the vehicle is at a predetermined distance L, 300 m in this case, to the junction of the main road (S202). When the own vehicle has reached the position of 300 m to the junction (S202, YES), that is, when the own vehicle E or F is in the state, the process proceeds to the next step S203. When the own vehicle has not reached 300 m to the joining point (S202, NO), the process returns to step S202 again and enters a standby state.

  Moving to step S203, the travel lane information acquisition unit 3 starts acquiring travel lane information (S203).

  Here, the vehicle-mounted front camera which is the travel lane information acquisition means 3 is activated, and the travel lane information is acquired by starting imaging of the travel lane of the host vehicle. The captured travel lane image is subjected to image processing by the image processing means 50, and as a result, information indicating the travel lane of the host vehicle is extracted.

  Moving to step S204, the traveling lane determining unit 20 receives the traveling lane information from the image processing unit 50, and determines whether or not the traveling lane of the own vehicle is a lane on the main road on the main road (S204). If it is determined that the lane is the combined flow path lane (S204, YES), that is, when the vehicle E is in the state, the process proceeds to the next step S205. If it is determined that the lane is not the combined flow path lane (S204, NO), that is, when the host vehicle F is in the state, the operation ends without performing driving support.

  Moving to step S205, the driving support means 40 performs driving support (S205). In step S205, first, the driving support information generating unit 401 receives a determination result that the traveling lane of the host vehicle is the merging channel side lane from the traveling lane determining unit 20, and displays “merge 300m ahead” as display information of the merging guidance "Is created. It should be noted that the audio reproduction content “300 m ahead, the confluence” may be created as the audio reproduction content of the merge guidance. The display contents of the generated merging guidance are displayed on a vehicle-mounted display as the display unit 403 via the display control unit 402. Similarly, the generated audio reproduction content of the merge guidance is reproduced by an in-vehicle speaker as the audio reproduction unit 405 via the audio reproduction control unit 404.

  As described above, in the driving support device 1 of the second embodiment, information indicating the traveling lane of the own vehicle is acquired by the in-vehicle front camera and the image processing unit 50 which are the traveling lane information acquiring unit 3.

  Therefore, the following effects are exhibited. The effect is that even when there is no device that receives a high-accuracy GPS signal as in the first embodiment, it is possible to determine the traveling lane of the own vehicle using an in-vehicle front camera, so that the lane determination can be performed at low cost. Can be realized. Also, by controlling the front camera to be activated when it reaches a predetermined distance to the junction, here 300 m, it is not necessary to always shoot, and therefore the power consumption of the camera can be reduced. It is.

  Next, a third embodiment of the driving support apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of the driving support apparatus 1 according to the third embodiment.

  In FIG. 7, the driving support apparatus 1 includes a host vehicle position detection unit 10, a traveling lane determination unit 20, a road information database 30, a driving support unit 40, an image processing unit 50, a merged vehicle detection unit 60, and a crossing possibility determination unit 70. Have The driving support means 40 includes driving support information generating means 401, display control means 402, display means 403, sound reproducing means 404, sound reproducing means 405, and vehicle speed control means 406. In the following description, the vehicle equipped with the driving support device 1 is assumed to be the own vehicle.

  The driving assistance apparatus 1 of Example 1 and Example 2 implements driving assistance when the traveling lane of the own vehicle equipped with this apparatus is a merging channel side lane of the main road and reaches a predetermined distance to the merging point. Did the operation. Here, in addition to Example 1 and Example 2, when the own vehicle approaches the joining point, driving assistance is performed when a joining vehicle joining the main road from the joining channel is detected.

  Since the traveling lane determination unit 20, road information database 30, image processing unit 50, display control unit 402, display unit 403, audio reproduction control unit 404, and audio reproduction unit 405 are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof will be omitted. Here, functions other than these will be described.

  The own vehicle position detecting means 10 detects the position of the own vehicle on the road. The difference from the case of the first embodiment is that the detected position of the own vehicle is sent not only to the traveling lane determining means 20 but also to a crossability possibility determining means 70 described later.

  The driving support means 40 performs driving support. For example, based on the determination results of the traveling lane determining unit 20 and the later-described crossing possibility determining unit 70, the driving support control information generating unit 401, the display control unit 402, the display unit 403, the audio reproduction control unit 404, and the audio reproduction unit 405. Then, driving assistance is performed by vehicle speed control means 406 described later.

  The merged vehicle detection means 60 detects whether there is a merged vehicle that merges from the merged path to the main road, the position of the merged vehicle, and / or the speed of the merged vehicle. For example, an image of a merged vehicle imaged by a side camera or the like mounted on the host vehicle, which is a merged vehicle recognition unit 5 described later, is received and detected based on this image.

  The cross possibility determination unit 70 determines the possibility of crossing between the own vehicle and the joining vehicle. The possibility of crossing indicates whether or not the own vehicle is predicted to cross with the merging vehicle at the merging point. For example, first, the position information and speed information of the own vehicle are received from the own vehicle position detection means 10 and the vehicle speed sensor 4 described later, and the position information and speed information of the joining vehicle are received from the joining vehicle detection means 60. Next, based on the information regarding the own vehicle and the merging vehicle, it is determined whether or not it is predicted to intersect at the merging point. The determination result is sent to the driving support information generating unit 401 in the driving support unit 40.

  The driving support information generation unit 401 receives the respective determination results from the traveling lane determination unit 20 and the crossing possibility determination unit 70, and generates driving support information according to these determination results. The driving support information is, for example, display contents of merging guidance / warning performed as driving support, audio playback contents, and the like. Further, it is speed control information such as acceleration and deceleration of the own vehicle for avoiding a collision with the merging vehicle. Here, the traveling lane determining means 20 determines that the traveling lane of the own vehicle is a lane on the combined flow path side, and the crossing possibility determining means 70 determines that there is a possibility of crossing between the own vehicle and the joining vehicle. Then, driving support information is generated. If it is determined that the lane is not on the combined flow path side, driving support is prohibited, that is, not performed. The generated driving support information is sent to the display control means 402, the sound reproduction control means 404, and / or the vehicle speed control means 406.

  The vehicle speed control means 406 controls the vehicle speed of the host vehicle by controlling an engine or a brake mounted on the host vehicle. For example, the acceleration / deceleration speed control information generated by the driving support information generation unit 401 is received, and the host vehicle is accelerated or decelerated by controlling the engine or the brake based on the speed control information.

  The vehicle speed sensor 4 detects a signal indicating the vehicle speed. For example, it is mounted on the transmission part of the own vehicle.

  The merging vehicle recognition means 5 is means for recognizing the merging vehicle. For example, an in-vehicle camera such as a side camera mounted on the own vehicle recognizes the image by surrounding the own vehicle. Further, the merging vehicle recognition means 5 may recognize the merging vehicle by inter-vehicle communication such as wireless communication between the own vehicle and the merging vehicle.

  With the functional configuration described above, in the driving support device 1 of the second embodiment, in addition to the first embodiment, the own vehicle approaches the merge point, and the merge vehicle detection means 60 merges from the merge path to the main road. When a merged vehicle is detected, driving assistance is performed according to the possibility of the intersection of the own vehicle and the merged vehicle determined by the intersection possibility determination means 70.

(Operation example 1)
Next, a first example of the operation of the driving support device 1 according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between the own vehicle and the traveling road according to the first operation example. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an operation according to the first operation example.

Here, as shown in FIG. 8 (a), the vehicle G with the driving support device 1 is traveling the merging road lane of the main road L _b. Driving support apparatus 1, a predetermined distance L vehicle G until merging point M, come to 200 meters, the position here, if the merging vehicle H from the combined channel L _a coming joins the main road L _b are present (Refer to FIG. 8 (b).) As a driving assistance, not a merge guidance performed in the first and second embodiments but a merge warning is given. Here, when the merging vehicle H does not exist (see FIG. 8C), driving assistance is not performed.

  Next, the flow of operation will be described with reference to FIG.

  The description from step S301 to S304 (determination of the traveling lane of the own vehicle) is the same as that from step S201 to S204 in the operation example 2 of the first embodiment, and will be omitted.

  If YES in step S304, that is, if the traveling lane determining means 20 detects that the host vehicle is traveling in the lane of the main road, the process moves to step S305, where the merging vehicle recognition means 5 Recognition of the merged vehicle that merges from the road to the main road is started (S305).

  In step S305, the merging vehicle recognizing means 5, here, the side camera mounted on the own vehicle starts imaging of the merging vehicle that merges from the merging path to the main road.

  Next, the merging vehicle detection means 60 detects a merging vehicle that merges from the merging path to the main road based on the image captured in step S305 (S306). Here, the merging vehicle detection unit 60 detects information on whether or not there is a merging vehicle that merges from the merging path to the main road from the image captured by the side camera that is the merging vehicle recognition unit 5.

  When a merged vehicle is detected (S306, YES), the process proceeds to step S307. When the merged vehicle is not detected (S306, NO), the operation ends without performing driving support.

  In step S <b> 306, YES, the merging vehicle detection means 60 sends information that a merging vehicle has been detected to the crossing possibility determination means 70. The cross possibility means 70 receives this information and sends a determination result indicating that the driving assistance is performed to the driving assistance means 40.

  Moving to step S307, the driving support means 40 issues a merging warning here as driving support (S307).

  In step S307, first, the driving support information generation unit 401 creates display contents to the effect that “there is a merging vehicle at the merging point, 200 meters ahead. It should be noted that the audio playback content of “200m ahead, confluence point. Please proceed at this speed” may be created as the audio playback content of the merge warning. The generated merge warning is displayed on a vehicle-mounted display as the display unit 403 via the display control unit 402. Similarly, the audio reproduction content of the generated merging warning is reproduced by an in-vehicle speaker that is the audio reproduction means 405 via the audio reproduction control means 404.

As described above, in the operation example 1, the vehicle G with the driving support device 1 is traveling the merging road lane of the main road L _b. Driving support apparatus 1, a predetermined distance L vehicle G until merging point M, come to 200 meters, the position here, if the merging vehicle H from the combined channel L _a coming joins the main road L _b are present Carry out driving assistance. When the joining vehicle H does not exist, driving support is prohibited. That is, do not implement.

  Therefore, the following effects are exhibited. The effect is that, in addition to the effects in the first and second embodiments, it is not necessary to provide driving assistance such as unnecessary merging guidance / warning when there is no merging vehicle that merges from the merging path to the main road. . In other words, driving assistance such as unnecessary merging guidance and warnings can prevent the driver from panicking and performing wrong operations or get confused and improve safety. It is.

  Moreover, the conventional invention installs a camera etc. in a junction and tries to detect a junction vehicle based on this. For this reason, cameras and the like have to be installed at all confluences, and there has been a problem that the capital investment is expensive. In the present invention, a device for detecting such a merged vehicle can be prepared at low cost by a side camera or the like mounted on each vehicle.

(Operation example 2)
Next, a second example of the operation of the driving support apparatus 1 according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between the own vehicle and the traveling road according to the operation example 2 and the operation example 3. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an operation according to the second operation example.

Here, as shown in FIG. 10 (a), the vehicle I having the driving support device 1 is traveling the merging road lane of the main road L _b. Furthermore, merging the vehicle J is present from the confluent passage L _a coming joins the main road L _b. The driving assistance device 1 provides driving assistance when the vehicle I comes to a position at a predetermined distance L, here 200 m, to the junction M. Here, when it is predicted that the contents of the driving assistance are intermingled as shown in FIG. 10B, it is not the merging warning performed in the operation example 1 but the alarm notification and the automatic speed control. Here, if it is not predicted to cross like FIG.10 (c), driving assistance will not be performed here.

  Next, the flow of operation will be described with reference to FIG.

  Since the description from step S401 to S404 is the same as that from step S301 to S304 in the operation example 1, it will be omitted.

  If YES in step S404, that is, if the traveling lane determining means 20 detects that the host vehicle is traveling in the lane of the main road, the process moves to step S405, where the merging vehicle recognition means 5 Recognition of the merged vehicle that merges from the road to the main road is started (S405).

  In step S405, the side camera mounted on the own vehicle, which is the merging vehicle recognition unit 40, starts imaging the merging vehicle that merges from the merging path to the main road.

  Next, the merging vehicle detection means 60 detects a merging vehicle that merges from the merging path to the main road based on the image captured in step S405 (S406). Here, the merging vehicle detection means 60 determines whether there is a merging vehicle that merges from the merging path to the main road from the image captured by the side camera that is the merging vehicle recognition means 5, the position of the merging vehicle, And the three information of the speed of a merging vehicle is detected.

  When a joining vehicle is detected (S406, YES), the process proceeds to step S407. When the merged vehicle is not detected (S406, NO), the operation ends without performing driving support.

Proceeding to step S407, the own vehicle position detecting means 10 detects the position of the own vehicle, and the vehicle speed sensor 4 measures a signal indicating the vehicle speed (S407).
Next, the cross possibility determination unit 70 determines whether or not the own vehicle is predicted to cross at the joining point with the joining vehicle (S408). When it is predicted that they will cross (S408, YES), the process proceeds to step S409. When it is not predicted to cross (S408, NO), the operation is terminated without driving assistance.

  In step S408, the cross possibility determination unit 70 first receives information on the position of the joining vehicle and the speed of the joining vehicle detected in step S406. In addition, a signal indicating the position of the own vehicle detected in step S407 and the detected vehicle speed is received. Based on these pieces of information, the crossing possibility determination unit 70 determines the possibility of crossing between the own vehicle and the merged vehicle by a determination method described below.

  The determination method here will be described below. For example, the own vehicle travels at a position of 200 m to the junction at a speed of 70 km / h. In addition, the joining vehicle travels a position of 250 m to the joining point. At this time, the crossing possibility determination unit 70 determines that the speed of the joining vehicle is predicted to cross when the speed is the same as that of the own vehicle. If the difference between the speed of the merging vehicle and the speed of the host vehicle is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, it is determined that the vehicle is not predicted to be mixed.

  Moving to step S409, it is predicted that the own vehicle and the merged vehicle will cross each other, so the driving support means 40 performs alarm notification or automatic speed control as driving support (S409).

  In step S409, first, the driving support information generation unit 401 creates a sound reproduction content and a warning that “there is a joining vehicle and is dangerous” as the sound reproduction content of the alarm notification. Moreover, speed control information for acceleration and deceleration may be created as speed control content for automatic speed control. The generated audio reproduction content of the alarm notification is reproduced by a speaker which is the audio reproduction means 405 via the audio reproduction control means 404. Further, based on the generated speed control content, the engine or brake is controlled via the vehicle speed control means 406 to accelerate or decelerate the host vehicle.

As described above, in the operation example 2, the vehicle I having the driving support device 1 is traveling the merging road lane of the main road L _b. Furthermore, merging the vehicle J is present from the confluent passage L _a coming joins the main road L _b. The driving assistance device 1 provides driving assistance when the vehicle I comes to a position at a predetermined distance L, here 200 m, to the junction M. Here, the contents of the driving assistance are alarm notification and automatic speed control when it is predicted that they will intersect as shown in FIG. In addition, when it is not predicted to cross like FIG.10 (c), driving assistance shall not be performed here.

  Therefore, the following effects are exhibited. In addition to the effect in the first operation example, the effect may be a merge guidance when approaching a merge point, and a merge warning when there is a merge vehicle that is not predicted to be merged. When there is a predicted merging vehicle, the driver can be notified by an alarm, or automatic speed control of the own vehicle can be performed, and driving assistance can be switched depending on the situation. .

  In the operation example 2, in step S405, the own vehicle recognizes the joining vehicle by the side camera mounted on the own vehicle. Here, the joining vehicle may be recognized by inter-vehicle communication such as wireless communication between the own vehicle and the joining vehicle.

  At this time, by communicating information between vehicles in both directions, the own vehicle can obtain accurate information such as speed and position information of the joining vehicle. Therefore, the following effects are exhibited. The effect is that it can be more accurately determined whether or not the own vehicle and the joining vehicle are predicted to cross each other.

(Operation example 3)
Next, a third example of the operation of the driving support apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an operation according to the third operation example.

  In the operation example 2, the detection of the merged vehicle that joins the main road from the merge path is started (step S405) because it is determined whether the vehicle is traveling in the merge path lane of the main road (step S404). It was later. Here, detection of a merged vehicle is started (step S506) when a predetermined distance to the merge point, for example, a position of 150 m is reached (step S505, YES).

  In Operation Example 3, the operations from Steps S501 to S504 and S506 to S512 are the same as the operations from Steps S401 to S404 and S405 to S411 in Operation Example 2, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.

  By performing such an operation, the following effects can be obtained. The effect is that it is not necessary to always shoot by controlling the activation and shooting start of the in-vehicle side camera, and thus the power consumption of the side camera can be reduced.

  Although the present invention has been described based on each embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the requirements shown here, such as combinations with other elements listed in the above embodiments. With respect to these points, the present invention can be changed within a range that does not detract from the gist of the present invention, and can be appropriately determined according to the application form.

The figure which shows the vehicle provided with the driving assistance apparatus of Example 1, and a travel road. The figure which shows the functional block of the driving assistance apparatus 1 which concerns on Example 1. FIG. The figure which shows the relationship between the vehicle and driving road which concern on Example 1. FIG. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement which concerns on the operation example of Example 1. FIG. The figure which shows the functional block of the driving assistance apparatus 1 which concerns on Example 2. FIG. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement which concerns on the operation example of Example 2. FIG. The figure which shows the functional block of the driving assistance apparatus 1 which concerns on Example 3. FIG. (A) The figure which shows the relationship between the vehicle which concerns on the operation example 1 of Example 3, and a travel road (b) When a joining vehicle exists (c) When a joining vehicle does not exist The flowchart which shows the operation | movement which concerns on the operation example 1 of Example 3. FIG. (A) The figure which shows the relationship between the vehicle which concerns on the operation example 2 of the Example 3, and the operation example 3 and a travel road (b) When it is predicted that the own vehicle and the merged vehicle intersect (c) The own vehicle and the merged vehicle Are not expected to cross The flowchart which shows the operation | movement which concerns on the operation example 2 of Example 3. FIG. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement which concerns on the operation example 3 of Example 3. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image processing means 20 Own vehicle position detection means 30 Travel lane determination means 40 Driving support means 50 Road information database 60 Junction vehicle detection means 70 Intersection possibility determination means 401 Driving support information generation means 402 Display control means 403 Display means 404 Sound reproduction Control means 405 Audio reproduction means 406 Vehicle speed control means

Claims (11)

Driving support mounted on a vehicle traveling on a main road having a plurality of travel lanes, where a merge point exists on the main road, and where there is a merge path that merges with the main road at the merge point In the device
Own vehicle position detecting means for detecting the position of the own vehicle;
Travel lane determining means for determining the travel lane of the vehicle among the plurality of travel lanes;
Driving assistance means for providing driving assistance based on the determination result of the traveling lane determining means;
The driving support means detects that the position of the own vehicle is a predetermined distance to the joining point by the own vehicle position detecting means, and the driving lane judging means detects a lane that is not the merging path side of the main road. A driving support device that prohibits driving support when it is determined that the vehicle is traveling. A merging vehicle detection means for detecting a merging vehicle joining the main road from the merging channel;
The driving support means detects that the position of the own vehicle is a predetermined distance to the merging point by the own vehicle position detecting means, and the own vehicle passes the lane on the merging path side of the main road by the traveling lane determining means. The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein driving assistance is performed when it is determined that the vehicle is running and a merged vehicle is detected by the vehicle detection means.   The travel lane determining unit determines a travel lane of the host vehicle from the plurality of travel lanes based on map information mounted on the host vehicle and a position of the host vehicle detected by the host vehicle position detecting unit. The driving support device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein Having travel lane information acquisition means for acquiring information on the travel lane of the vehicle,
3. The travel lane determining unit determines a travel lane of the host vehicle among the plurality of travel lanes based on the travel lane information acquiring unit mounted on the host vehicle. The driving support device according to any one of the above.   The driving support device according to claim 4, wherein the travel lane information acquisition unit is a front camera or a back camera that is attached to a front part or a rear part of a vehicle body and images a road surface.   The travel lane information acquisition unit starts to acquire travel lane information when the host vehicle position detection unit detects that the position of the host vehicle is a predetermined distance to the junction. Item 6. The driving support device according to Item 4 or 5. Having a merging vehicle recognition means for recognizing a merging vehicle merging from the merging path to the main road,
The driving assistance apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein the merging vehicle detection unit detects a merging vehicle based on the merging vehicle recognition unit mounted on the host vehicle.   The driving support device according to claim 7, wherein the merging vehicle recognition unit is a side camera attached to a vehicle body side portion and images the merging vehicle.   The driving support apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein the merging vehicle detection unit detects a merging vehicle based on inter-vehicle communication between the host vehicle and the merging vehicle.   8. The joining vehicle recognition unit starts recognition of the joining vehicle when the own vehicle position detection unit detects that the position of the own vehicle is a predetermined distance to the joining point. Or the driving assistance apparatus of 8. Having a crossing possibility determination means for determining the possibility of crossing of the merging vehicle and the own vehicle detected by the merging vehicle detection means;
The driving support means provides driving guidance when driving position is detected by the own vehicle position detecting means to be a predetermined distance from the joining point, and the joining vehicle detecting means detects the joining vehicle by the joining vehicle detecting means. A detection of a merge warning when detected, and a warning notification or automatic speed control is performed when it is determined by the cross possibility determination means that the merge vehicle and the host vehicle are likely to cross. Item 11. The driving support device according to any one of Items 2 to 10.

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