JP2013095330A - Forward monitoring promotion device and vehicle control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a forward monitoring promotion device capable of more strongly urging a driver to monitor forward safety when automatic driving control is carried out.SOLUTION: The forward monitoring promotion device is installed in a vehicle provided with an automatic driving device 1 and includes a driving state detecting means 24 for detecting a driving state of a driver of a vehicle, a dimming means 70 for modifying a dimming area partially arranged except in a driving monitoring area in front of a driver's seat of a window pane around the driver's seat of the vehicle into a frosted glass state, and a monitoring promotion control means 34 for determining whether or not the driver monitors forward in reference to a driver driving state detected by the driving state detecting means 24 and changing the dimmer area into a frosted glass state by operating the dimming means 70 if the driver does not monitor forward during operation of the automatic driving device 1 to urge the forward monitoring operation.

Description

  The present invention relates to a forward monitoring promotion device that prompts a driver to monitor the front of a vehicle during automatic driving of an automobile, and a vehicle control device using the same.

  In recent years, various automated technologies have been developed for automobiles, and technological development has progressed from driving assistance devices that support driver driving to automatic driving devices that perform part of driving operations on behalf of drivers. . An apparatus capable of partially performing a certain degree of automatic driving has been put into practical use, and further automation of driving is being promoted.

  For example, an auto cruise device that automatically runs at a constant speed is equipped with automatic tracking control technology that automatically tracks the preceding vehicle when a preceding vehicle appears during control, and automatically tracks the preceding vehicle at all vehicle speeds. It has developed into an automatic full vehicle speed tracking control technology. Further, for example, a lane departure prevention support device that supports prevention of deviation of a vehicle from the driving lane has been developed into an automobile lane departure prevention technology that automatically prevents deviation of the vehicle from the driving lane.

  By the way, the driving operation of the car is originally performed by the driver based on the driver's intention, and there is no change in that the driver has duty and responsibility for avoiding accidents. However, as driving automation technology progresses as described above, the proportion of drivers who depend on this automatic driving system increases, and there is a greater risk that the driver will fail to perform safety monitoring that is originally required while the vehicle is running.

For this reason, a technique has been developed that implements automatic driving control only when the driver performs appropriate safety monitoring during driving of the automobile.
For example, in Patent Document 1, the driver detection means detects whether or not the driver is looking forward while the vehicle is running. If the driver is looking forward, the driver performs tracking control for the preceding vehicle. A technique is described in which if the driver is not looking forward, a warning is issued to alert the driver, the tracking control is canceled, and the vehicle is stopped. The driver detection means performs image processing on the driver's face image captured by the camera and determines whether or not the driver is facing forward based on the driver's eyelid opening and face orientation.

  In Patent Document 2, the driver detection means detects whether or not the driver is present in the driver's seat while the vehicle is traveling, and if the driver is present in the driver's seat, the follow-up control to the preceding vehicle is performed. This technology describes a technique for stopping the vehicle by executing an alarm and alerting the driver to cancel the follow-up control if the driver does not exist in the driver's seat for a certain period of time. The driver detection means determines whether the driver is present in the driver seat by performing image processing on the driver seat image taken by the camera.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-166895 JP-A-10-166896

  By the way, in the techniques of Patent Documents 1 and 2, when the driver is not looking forward or is not present in the driver's seat, an alarm is issued to alert the driver, but when the driver gets used to the alarm sound For example, there may be a situation where the driver does not resume safety monitoring promptly in response to the alarm. Therefore, it is desirable to encourage the driver to perform safety monitoring with more effective warning means rather than a simple warning sound.

  Further, Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe that after the warning is issued and the driver is warned, the tracking control is canceled and the vehicle is stopped if the vehicle is running. Stopping is not necessarily the optimal process. For example, when there is no preceding vehicle ahead when canceling the follow-up control, there is no risk of a rear-end collision with the preceding vehicle, but there is a possibility that a rear-end vehicle will be collided when the vehicle is stopped.

  The present invention has been devised in view of such a problem, and when the driver neglects the forward safety monitoring when performing the automatic driving control, the driver can be more strongly urged to perform the forward safety monitoring. The first object of the present invention is to provide a forward monitoring promotion device, and moreover, when the driver does not respond to the promotion of the safety monitoring, the vehicle can be controlled more appropriately. A second object is to provide a control device.

  In order to achieve the above object, the forward monitoring promotion device of the present invention is equipped with a vehicle equipped with an automatic driving device that automatically performs at least a part of the driving operation, and detects the driving state of the driver of the vehicle. A state detecting unit, a dimming unit for changing a dimming region partially provided in a window glass around the driver's seat of the vehicle except a driving monitoring region in front of the driver's seat to a frosted glass state, and From the driving state of the driver detected by the driving state detecting means, it is determined whether or not the driver is monitoring forward. If the driver is not monitoring forward during operation of the automatic driving device, the adjustment is performed. The present invention is characterized by comprising monitoring promotion control means for operating the light means to change the dimming area to a frosted glass state and urging forward monitoring.

  The dimming area is divided into a plurality, and the monitoring promotion control means changes to a frosted glass state in accordance with an increase in the duration of the state where the driver is not monitoring forward during the operation of the automatic driving device. It is preferable to increase the dimming area stepwise.

  The monitoring promotion control means further comprising: display means for performing display for prompting the driver to monitor forward; and driver stimulation means for stimulating the driver to prompt the driver to perform forward monitoring stronger than the display. Corresponds to the increase in the light control area according to the duration of the state where the driver is not monitoring forward during the operation of the automatic driving device, and the display means performs the display at an initial stage, and thereafter In the stage, the driver is preferably stimulated by the driver stimulation means.

  Further comprising stop determination means for determining stop of the vehicle, the monitoring promotion control means terminates all control for prompting the driver to perform forward monitoring when the stop determination means determines that the vehicle is stopped. It is preferable to do.

  The vehicle control device of the present invention includes an emergency avoidance control that performs automatic braking for avoiding or reducing a collision between the front monitoring promoting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 and a front obstacle. From the driving state of the automatic driving device that performs automatic driving and the driving state of the driver detected by the driving state detection means of the forward monitoring promotion device, the driver is not monitoring forward during the operation of the automatic driving device. Vehicle control means for releasing automatic driving by the automatic driving device except for those related to the emergency avoidance control when the duration time reaches a limit time is provided.

  According to the forward monitoring promotion device of the present invention, when the driver does not monitor forward during the operation of the automatic driving device, the light control means is operated, and the vehicle is driving in front of the driver seat among the window glass around the driver seat of the vehicle. Since the dimming area provided partially excluding the monitoring area is changed to the frosted glass state, the driver comes to see the driving monitoring area without fogging, and can urge the driver to monitor forward. This makes it possible for the driver to appropriately deal with situations that cannot be handled by automatic driving.

  At this time, if the dimming area to be changed to the frosted glass state is increased step by step in accordance with the increase in the duration of the state in which the driver is not monitoring forward, the driver who does not immediately respond to the promotion of forward monitoring The promotion of forward monitoring can be strengthened step by step.

  Also, in correspondence with the increase in the light control area of the window glass in accordance with the duration of the state in which the driver is not monitoring forward, a display for prompting forward monitoring is performed in the initial stage, and driver stimulation means in the subsequent stage If the driver is directly stimulated by this, it is possible to enhance the forward monitoring of the driver in a multifaceted and stepwise manner.

  Further, when the vehicle is stopped, all the control for prompting the driver to perform forward monitoring is ended, so that the subsequent driving can be performed comfortably without any trouble.

  According to the vehicle control device of the present invention, when the duration of the state in which the driver is not monitoring forward during automatic driving reaches the limit time, automatic driving is canceled except for those related to emergency avoidance control. The vehicle can be stopped while avoiding the collision.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the front monitoring promotion apparatus, vehicle control apparatus, and driving | operation management system concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the automatic control apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the detection method of the driving | running state of the driver concerning one Embodiment of this invention, (a) is a side view of a vehicle interior principal part, (b)-(d) is a front view of a driver's face image. is there. It is a figure which shows the window glass around the driver's seat of the vehicle for demonstrating the light control of the front monitoring promotion apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the forward monitoring promotion apparatus, vehicle control apparatus, and driving | operation management system concerning one Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 to 5 illustrate an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the forward monitoring promotion device, the vehicle control device, and the operation management system. FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the automatic control device. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a method of detecting the driving state of the driver, FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a window glass around the driver's seat of the vehicle, and FIG. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the front monitoring promotion apparatus, a vehicle control apparatus, and an operation management system.

[Schematic configuration of device and system]
As shown in FIG. 1, an automobile according to the present invention (hereinafter also referred to as a vehicle or a host vehicle) includes an automatic driving device 1 that automatically performs at least a part of driving operation originally performed by the driver, The vehicle control device 3 includes a monitoring promotion device 2, and includes an automatic driving device 1 and a forward monitoring promotion device 2, and an integrated ECU (vehicle control means) 3 </ b> A that integrally controls each part of the vehicle including them. It is configured.

  The vehicle is a business vehicle, and a vehicle management unit 100 that manages the operation of the vehicle is provided at a vehicle base or the like so that each business vehicle including the vehicle can manage the operation. In particular, various information such as vehicle operation information (including driver information during vehicle operation) and vehicle operation instruction information (including driver instruction information) can be transmitted and received between each business vehicle and the operation management unit 100. In addition, the vehicle-side device (vehicle inside device) and the operation management unit 100-side device (driver management ECU as the vehicle outside device) 103 are provided with transmission / reception devices 101 and 102, respectively.

  The driving management system according to the present embodiment includes a vehicle control device 3 that is an in-vehicle device that includes an automatic driving device 1, a forward monitoring promotion device 2, and an integrated ECU (vehicle control means) 3A, and the operation management unit 100 side. The driver management ECU 103 and the database (data recording means) 104 are the above-described devices (vehicle outer devices).

  The driver management ECU 103 receives information as to whether the driver is performing forward monitoring as driver information during vehicle operation, and stores this received data in the database (data recording means) 104. The driver management ECU 103 is provided with a driver analysis unit 103 a that analyzes driver characteristics from driver data stored in the database 104.

  In addition, so-called telematics can be applied to the transmission / reception of information with the vehicle side and the operation management unit 100 side. In this case, both the vehicle and the operation management unit 100 perform transmission / reception of information via the Internet. Existing communication networks can be applied. However, the manner of transmitting and receiving such information is not limited to this.

[Configuration of automatic driving device]
Here, the automatic driving device 1 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, in the present embodiment, an automatic cruise control device 11 having an automatic full vehicle speed tracking control function and a lane keeping control device (vehicle line departure prevention control device) 12 are provided as the automatic driving device 1. Yes.

  The auto cruise control device 11 includes a millimeter wave radar 21 as a forward detection device that detects an object ahead of the host vehicle, a vehicle speed sensor (own vehicle speed detection means) 22 that detects the traveling speed of the host vehicle, and an auto cruise switch 31s. When auto-cruise is set by the auto-cruise switch 31s, the own vehicle is driven at a constant speed at the target vehicle speed, and when there is a preceding vehicle that runs ahead of the own vehicle, detection is transmitted from the millimeter wave radar 21 and the vehicle speed sensor 22. An auto-cruise ECU 31 with an all-vehicle speed tracking function (all-vehicle speed tracking control means) that causes the host vehicle to follow the preceding vehicle in the entire vehicle speed range within the target vehicle speed including the low-speed range based on the information is provided.

  The forward monitoring promotion device, the vehicle control device, and the operation management system according to the present embodiment are provided with various ECUs (Electronic Control Units), all of which are a memory (ROM, RAM), a CPU, and the like. It is a computer composed of

  The auto-cruise ECU 31 controls the vehicle speed to the target vehicle speed if there is no preceding vehicle, and the target vehicle speed setting unit 31a that sets the target vehicle speed, the necessary inter-vehicle distance calculation unit 31b that calculates the necessary inter-vehicle distance with respect to the preceding vehicle. If the target vehicle speed cannot be maintained, a vehicle speed control unit 31c is provided for controlling the vehicle speed so as to follow the preceding vehicle so as to obtain a distance between the preceding vehicle and the required inter-vehicle distance.

The target vehicle speed setting unit 31a stores the vehicle speed at the time when auto-cruise is set by the auto-cruise switch 31s, and sets this vehicle speed as the target vehicle speed.
The necessary inter-vehicle distance calculation unit 31 b calculates the necessary inter-vehicle distance with respect to the preceding vehicle based on the vehicle speed of the host vehicle detected by the vehicle speed sensor 22. The necessary inter-vehicle distance is calculated based on a stop distance (= idle distance + braking distance) that is a distance from when it is determined that the brake operation is necessary until the vehicle is stopped. For example, it is possible to obtain a braking distance corresponding to the vehicle speed of the host vehicle, add a free running distance to this to obtain a stop distance, and add a predetermined margin to the stop distance to obtain a required inter-vehicle distance. .

  When the millimeter wave radar 21 catches the preceding vehicle, the vehicle speed control unit 31c needs to be calculated by the distance between the preceding vehicle and the host vehicle detected by the millimeter wave radar 21 (actual vehicle distance) and the necessary inter-vehicle distance calculation unit 31b. When the actual inter-vehicle distance is less than the necessary inter-vehicle distance, the host vehicle is decelerated so that the actual inter-vehicle distance is more than the necessary inter-vehicle distance. To control the vehicle speed.

  Such acceleration / deceleration control by the vehicle speed control unit 31c is normally performed by increasing / decreasing the output of the engine 41 through the engine ECU 40 (drive control unit). In the case of rapid deceleration, the brake system 51 is operated through the brake ECU 50. (Braking control unit). The output of the engine 41 is increased or decreased by throttle control or fuel injection amount control, and the brake system 51 is operated by operating a brake actuator (not shown) provided in the brake system 51 (braking control unit).

  The lane keeping control device 12 performs lane keeping by a vehicle speed sensor 22, a forward monitoring camera 23 as a forward detecting device that detects a traveling lane (lane) ahead of the host vehicle, a lane keeping switch 32s, and a lane keeping switch 32s. A lane keeping ECU 32 that automatically steers the vehicle so as to travel in the lane in which the host vehicle travels is provided.

  The lane keeping ECU 32 determines that the host vehicle tends to depart from the traveling lane by the lane departure tendency determining unit 32a that determines whether the host vehicle tends to deviate from the traveling lane and the lane departure tendency determining unit 32a. And a steering correction amount setting unit 32b for setting a steering correction amount for automatically controlling steering.

  The lane departure tendency determination unit 32a recognizes the white line of the traveling lane from the road image ahead of the host vehicle obtained by the front monitoring camera 23, obtains the relative position of the traveling lane with respect to the host vehicle, and determines the relative position of the relative position from the reference relative position. And determining whether the host vehicle tends to deviate from the travel lane.

When the lane departure tendency determination unit 32a determines that the host vehicle tends to deviate from the traveling lane, the steering correction amount setting unit 32b calculates the steering correction amount from the deviation amount and the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 22. Set.
The steering correction amount set by the steering correction amount setting unit 32b is sent to the steering ECU 60, and the steering ECU 60 controls the steering system 61 based on the steering correction amount to correct the steering angle. The steering system 61 is provided with a steering actuator (not shown), and this steering actuator is operated to perform steering correction.

[Configuration of the forward monitoring promotion device]
Here, the forward monitoring promotion device 2 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the forward monitoring promotion device 2 includes a driver monitoring camera (driving state detection means) 24 that detects the driving state of the driver of the host vehicle, and a driver that determines whether the driver is monitoring the front of the host vehicle. A dimming area, which is partially provided except for the monitoring area at the time of driving in front of the driver's seat in the monitoring ECU (monitoring state determining means) 33 and the window glass around the driver's seat, is instantly applied to the transparent glass and the frosted glass. If the driver is not monitoring the front during the operation of the glass light control device (light control means) 70 and the automatic operation device, the glass light control device 70 is operated to change the light control region from transparent glass to frosted glass. And a monitoring promotion control ECU (monitoring promotion control means) 34 that prompts the driver to perform forward monitoring by switching.

  Further, in the case of the present embodiment, in addition to the glass light control device 70, a display (display device) 71 and a sheet vibration device (driver stimulation means) 72 are provided as output means for prompting the driver to monitor the forward direction. The acceleration control ECU 34 also prompts the driver to perform forward monitoring by displaying a warning on the display 71 or by operating the seat vibration device 72 to directly stimulate the driver by seat vibration.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the driver monitoring camera 24 is located in front of the driver's seat, near the front window glass 113 on the front lower edge 111 a of the ceiling portion 111 of the passenger compartment 110, or at the top of the dash panel 112. The driver's face seated in the driver's seat is arranged to take a picture. Then, the driver's face image as shown in FIGS. 3B to 3D is taken.

  The driver monitoring ECU 33 determines whether or not the driver appropriately monitors the front of the host vehicle from the driver's face images as shown in FIGS. 3 (b) to 3 (d). This determination can be made, for example, from the face image of the driver, the face direction, the eye position, the pupil position, or the like. When the driver's face F is facing left and right instead of the front (vehicle traveling direction), or when the driver's face F is facing downward from the front as shown in FIG. As shown in (c), when the driver's face F is facing the front but the driver's eyes or pupil IP is not facing the front, it is determined that the driver has neglected forward monitoring (non-monitoring state). it can.

In general, when fatigued, the driver's eyes or pupil IP tends to face downward as shown in FIG. 3C. In this embodiment, the driver monitoring ECU 33 is in a non-monitoring state in this case. In addition, it is determined that the driver is tired.
The driver monitoring ECU 33 determines whether the driver neglects forward monitoring (non-monitoring state) and whether the driver is tired in a predetermined control cycle that is set in advance, and determines whether or not the driver is tired. Send to.

  The glass dimming device 70 is configured such that a dimming area, which is partially provided in the window glass around the driver's seat of the vehicle, excluding the driving monitoring area in front of the driver's seat, from transparent glass to frosted glass or from frosted glass to transparent glass. It is a known device that can be switched instantaneously.

  In this switching technology, for example, if no voltage is applied, the liquid crystal is irregularly arranged and the light is scattered and becomes cloudy, and when the voltage is applied, the liquid crystal is regularly arranged and the light goes straight and becomes transparent. A molecular liquid crystal sheet can be applied, and the polymer liquid crystal sheet is pasted on a transparent glass or sandwiched between two transparent glasses to form a window glass. To make a transparent glass, a voltage is applied to the polymer liquid crystal sheet. In order to make a frosted glass, the voltage is released to the polymer liquid crystal sheet.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, among the window glasses around the driver's seat, the front window glass 113 in front of the driver's seat, the left and right left window glasses 115 and the right window glass 114 of the driver's seat are transparent. There is a light control area capable of switching between glass and frosted glass. In particular, the front window glass 113 is partially provided in the periphery except for the driving monitoring area A0 in front of the driver's seat, and the front window glass 113 is far from the driving monitoring area A0. A dimming area is provided by dividing into an area A3 close to the operation monitoring area A0 inside.

  The monitoring promotion control ECU 34 receives the determination information transmitted from the driver monitoring ECU 33 at a predetermined control cycle, and operates the glass dimmer 70 if the driver does not monitor forward during the operation of the automatic driving device. The driver is urged to monitor forward by switching the light region from transparent glass to frosted glass. The forward monitoring is promoted step by step by the promotion stage determination unit 34a based on the timer count time by the built-in timer 34b. I try to do it.

  That is, if the state in which the driver does not monitor the front for the first predetermined time T1 set in advance during the operation of the automatic driving device continues, first, the left and right window panes 115 and 114 on the driver's seat are adjusted. The light area A1 is switched from the transparent glass to the frosted glass, and a display (message) for monitoring the front is displayed on the display 71 (promotion stage 1). Instead of this display display, an optical display such as an alarm lamp may be used.

  Then, even after starting the forward monitoring promotion in the promotion stage 1, the state where the driver is not monitoring forward while being in the operating state of the automatic driving device further continues, and then continues for a preset second predetermined time T2. Then, in addition to the light control region A1, the light control region A2 at the outer peripheral edge of the front window glass 113 far from the driving monitoring region A0 is switched from transparent glass to frosted glass (promotion stage 2).

  Furthermore, even after the start of the forward monitoring promotion in the promotion phase 2, the state where the driver is not monitoring forward while being in the operating state of the automatic driving device continues further, and then continues for a preset third predetermined time T3. Then, in addition to the dimming areas A1 and A2, the dimming area A3 close to the driving monitoring area A0 of the front window glass 113 is switched from the transparent glass to the frosted glass, and the seat vibration device 72 is operated to operate the driver's seat. Is vibrated (acceleration stage 3).

Note that each control for promoting the forward monitoring is completed when it is determined that the vehicle is stopped. That is, the light control areas A1 to A3 are returned to the transparent glass, the display (message) on the display 71 is erased, and the sheet vibration is also terminated.
Further, the continuation determination of the first predetermined time T1, the second predetermined time T2, the third predetermined time T3 and the following fourth predetermined time T4 is performed by starting or restarting the timer 34b by the promotion stage determination unit 34a (once The count time T of the timer 34b is compared with each predetermined time T1 to T4.

[Configuration of vehicle control device]
The vehicle control device 3 includes an automatic driving device 1 and a forward monitoring promotion device 2, and an integrated ECU 3A that controls each part of the vehicle including them. The integrated ECU 3A is promoted by the forward monitoring promotion device 2. Until the time when the step 3 is carried out, the operation of the automatic driving device 1 is allowed, and the driver does not monitor the front while the automatic driving device is operating even after the promotion of the forward monitoring in the promotion step 3 is started. If the state continues and then continues for a preset fourth predetermined time T4, the operation of the automatic driving device 1 is restricted (control regulation stage).

  In other words, assuming that the continuation of the forward non-monitoring state has reached the limit time after starting the forward monitoring promotion in the promotion stage 3, the automatic driving by the automatic driving device 1 is canceled (operation restriction) except for the emergency avoidance control. . This emergency avoidance control is part of the inter-vehicle distance control, and if the inter-vehicle distance of the preceding vehicle approaches within the necessary inter-vehicle distance on the assumption that the vehicle is not accelerated, the vehicle is braked to prevent or suppress the rear-end collision with the preceding vehicle. It is control to do. In the automatic driving device 1, all functions are canceled (terminated) by stopping the vehicle (release stage).

In addition, if the driver does not perform forward monitoring, the monitoring promotion control ECU 34 and the vehicle control device 3 inform the operation management unit 100 of that fact (forward non-monitoring information at each stage) through the transmission / reception devices 101 and 102 at each stage. Send. In other words, if the driver is not monitoring forward even for a moment, send a status transmission 1, send a status transmission 2 when entering the promotion phase 1, send a status transmission 3 when entering the promotion phase 2, and send a status transmission 3 when entering the promotion phase 3. A transmission 4 is sent, and a situation transmission 5 is sent when entering the stage of releasing (operation regulation) automatic driving except for those related to emergency avoidance control, and a situation transmission 6 is sent when the vehicle stops.
Since the operation management unit 100 accumulates the transmitted information, it can be used as a material for driving guidance of each driver.

[Action and effect]
Since the forward monitoring promotion device and the vehicle control device according to the embodiment of the present invention are configured as described above, for example, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. Done. Note that F in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is a control flag, F = 0 indicates a normal state (a state where the driver is monitoring the front), and F = 1 to 5 is an abnormal state (the driver monitors the front). In particular, F = 2 corresponds to promotion stage 1 for promoting forward monitoring to the driver, F = 3 corresponds to promotion stage 2 for promoting forward monitoring to the driver, and F = 4 represents driver Corresponds to a promotion stage 3 for promoting forward monitoring, and F = 5 corresponds to a stage for regulating automatic driving.

  As shown in FIG. 5, it is first determined whether or not automatic driving is in progress (step S2). If automatic driving is in progress, it is determined whether or not the driver is monitoring the front (step S4). If the driver is monitoring the front, F = 0 is set (step S74), and all automatic driving is permitted (step S76).

  If the driver is not monitoring the front, it is determined whether F is 0 (step S6). If F is 0, F = 1 is set (step S8), and this fact is transmitted to the operation management unit 100 (situation) Send 1) (step S10). Then, a timer is started (step S12).

  On the other hand, if F is not 0, it is determined whether F is 1 (step S14). If F is 1, it is determined whether the timer value T is equal to or longer than the first predetermined time T1 (step S16). If the timer value T is equal to or longer than the first predetermined time T1, F = 2 is set (step S18), and this fact (entering the promotion phase 1) is transmitted to the operation management unit 100 (status transmission 2) (step S20). Then, the timer is restarted (step S22). Further, a warning display (message) for monitoring the front is displayed (step S24, promotion stage 1), and the dimming areas A1 of the left and right left window glasses 115 and right window glass 114 of the driver's seat are frosted from transparent glass. (Step S26, promotion stage 1).

  Note that the first predetermined time T1 is set to a time longer than the forward non-monitoring time required for normal operation such as, for example, looking at the instrument or checking the side. This distinguishes between forward non-monitoring associated with normal driving and forward unmonitoring corresponding to so-called side-arming driving, and in the promotion stage 1 for promoting forward monitoring against forward non-monitoring corresponding to side-arming driving. Control, that is, control for switching the light control area A1 to frosted glass is performed. Thereby, it is possible to avoid switching to an inappropriate frosted glass that interferes with normal driving.

  In step S14, if F is not 1, it is determined whether F is 2 (step S28). If F is 2, it is determined whether the timer value T is equal to or longer than the second predetermined time T2 (step S30). . If the timer value T is not equal to or greater than the second predetermined time T2, the processing of the promotion stage 1 is continued (steps S24 and S26). If the timer value T is equal to or greater than the second predetermined time T2, F = 3 is set (step S32). A message (entering the promotion stage 2) is transmitted to the operation management unit 100 (situation transmission 3) (step S34). Then, the timer is restarted (step S36). Furthermore, in addition to the light control region A1, the light control region A2 at the outer peripheral edge of the front window glass 113 far from the driving monitoring region A0 is switched from transparent glass to frosted glass (step S38, promotion stage 2). Note that the warning display (step S24) continues.

  In step S28, if F is not 2, it is determined whether F is 3 (step S40). If F is 3, it is determined whether the timer value T is equal to or longer than the third predetermined time T3 (step S42). . If the timer value T is not greater than or equal to the third predetermined time T3, the processing of the promotion stage 2 is continued (steps S24 and S38). If the timer value T is greater than or equal to the third predetermined time T3, F = 4 is set (step S44). A message (entering the promotion stage 3) is transmitted to the operation management unit 100 (situation transmission 4) (step S46). Then, the timer is restarted (step S48). Further, in addition to the light control areas A1 and A2, the light control area A3 close to the operation monitoring area A0 of the front window glass 113 is switched from transparent glass to frosted glass (step S50, acceleration stage 3), and the sheet is vibrated. (Step S52, promotion stage 3). Also at this time, the alarm display (step S24) continues.

  In step S40, if F is not 3, it is determined whether F is 4 (step S54). If F is 4, it is determined whether the timer value T is equal to or longer than the fourth predetermined time T4 (step S56). . If the timer value T is not equal to or greater than the fourth predetermined time T4, the process of the promotion stage 3 is continued (steps S24, S50, S52). If the timer value T is equal to or greater than the fourth predetermined time T4, F = 5 is set (step S58). Then, this fact (entering the automatic driving regulation stage) is transmitted to the operation management unit 100 (situation transmission 5) (step S60). And the action | operation of the automatic driving device 1 is restrict | limited (step S62, control regulation stage). That is, the automatic driving by the automatic driving device 1 is canceled (operation restriction) except for the emergency avoidance control. At this time, the process of the promotion stage 3 (steps S24, S50, S52) is also continued.

  In step S54, if F is not 4, F is 5, and it is determined whether the vehicle is stopped (step S64). If the vehicle is not stopped, the process of restricting the operation of the automatic driving device 1 (step S62) is continued. If the vehicle is stopped, F = 0 is set (step S66), and this (the vehicle is stopped) Is transmitted to the operation management unit 100 (situation transmission 6) (step S68). Then, all the controls for promoting forward monitoring are finished (step S70, release stage). Thereby, each light control area | region A1-A3 is returned to transparent glass, the display (message) of the display 71 is erase | eliminated, and sheet | seat vibration is also complete | finished. Then, the timer is stopped and reset to 0 (step S72). The transmission information of the status transmission 6 is vehicle stop information and control end information that ends all the controls for promoting forward monitoring.

  Thus, if the driver is not monitoring the front during the operation of the automatic driving device 1, the light control device 70 is operated, and the driving monitoring area A0 in front of the driver's seat is excluded from the window glass around the driver's seat of the vehicle. Since the dimming areas A1, A2, and A3 that are partially provided are changed to the frosted glass state in order, the driver comes to see the driving monitoring area A0 that is not cloudy, and sensuously urges forward monitoring. Can do. This makes it possible for the driver to appropriately deal with situations that cannot be handled by automatic driving.

In particular, the dimming area to be changed to the frosted glass state is increased step by step as the duration of the state in which the driver is not monitoring forward is increased stepwise for drivers who do not immediately respond to the promotion of forward monitoring. In particular, the promotion of forward monitoring can be strengthened.
In addition, in response to the increase in the light control area of the window glass according to the duration of the state in which the driver is not monitoring the front, a display for prompting the front monitoring is performed in the initial stage, and the vibration is caused by the seat vibration in the subsequent stage. Since the driver is directly stimulated, it is possible to enhance the forward monitoring for the driver in a multifaceted and stepwise manner.

Further, when the vehicle stops, by terminating all the control for prompting the driver to monitor forward, each of the window glasses 113 to 115 returns to the transparent glass, and the subsequent driving can be comfortably performed without any trouble.
Moreover, according to the vehicle control device 3, when the duration of the state in which the driver is not monitoring forward during automatic driving reaches the limit time, the automatic driving is canceled except for those related to emergency avoidance control. The vehicle can be stopped while avoiding the collision. If the vehicle is simply stopped even if there is no vehicle ahead, there is a risk of rear-end collision with the following vehicle. This reduces the risk of rear-end collisions.

  Further, since the monitoring state of the driver is transmitted to the driver management ECU 103 of the operation management unit 100 each time (situation transmissions 1 to 6), the driver management ECU 103 stores the received data in the database 104. The driver analysis unit 103a of the driver management ECU 103 provides guidance to a driver who frequently neglects forward monitoring, for example, according to the frequency of status transmissions 1 to 6, that is, according to the degree or frequency of forward unmonitoring of each driver. For example, forward monitoring can be promoted.

In this case, attention can also be given in real time, and in the case of a malicious driver, it is possible to notify the nearest traffic safety management department (for example, the police etc.) and take a means for ensuring safe operation in real time.
The situation transmission 1 is sent even if the driver is not monitoring forward even for an instant, so it will also be sent in the case of forward non-monitoring due to normal driving. It can be used when a driver who has a lot of unmonitoring history is alerted before the forward unmonitoring state continues for the first predetermined time T1.
However, the situation transmission 1 may not be transmitted to the driver management ECU 103 of the operation management unit 100, and the situation transmission 2 and later may be transmitted to the driver management ECU 103.

  In addition, it is also possible to use the situation information 1 to 6 together with the travel information (vehicle speed, etc.) of the vehicle at this time and the information related to the operation history to find out the cause of neglecting the forward monitoring. The administrator, the driver and other drivers share data, adjust the operation schedule based on the investigation of the cause, check the driver's health, etc., and make the operation safer between the administrator and the driver. It is also effective for planning. For example, when a road environment that induces forward non-monitoring is used as the operation route, it is also possible that the manager guides the operation route with fewer factors causing forward non-monitoring. .

[Others]
While the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the increase of the dimming area according to the duration of the state where the driver is not monitoring the front during the operation of the automatic driving device is set to three stages, but only one stage, two stages, four stages, etc. It can be set appropriately. The dimming area itself can also be set as appropriate.

Furthermore, although dimming control and other control are used together, it is not necessary to use together, and the control used together and the mode of combined use are not limited to this.
In particular, the driver is directly stimulated by seat vibration to promote forward monitoring, but means for directly stimulating the driver is not limited to this. For example, an alarm sound or handle vibration may be used.

  In the above embodiment, an example of adopting a business vehicle has been described. However, not only a business vehicle but also a general vehicle, an operation management unit is provided outside the vehicle such as a group that manages safe operation, and the vehicle outside device is used. A driver management ECU or the like can also be installed and implemented.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automatic driving device 2 Front monitoring promotion device 3 Vehicle control device (vehicle side device)
3A Integrated ECU (vehicle control means)
11 Auto Cruise Control Device 12 Lane Keep Control Device (Automotive Line Deviation Prevention Control Device)
24 Driver monitoring camera (Operation status detection means)
31 Auto cruise ECU with full vehicle speed tracking function (all vehicle speed tracking control means)
32 Lane Keep ECU
33 Driver monitoring ECU (monitoring state judging means)
34 Monitoring Promotion Control ECU (Monitoring Promotion Control Unit)
70 Glass light control device (light control means)
71 Display (display device)
72 Seat vibration device (driver stimulation means)
100 operation management unit 103 driver management ECU as vehicle outside device
103a Driver analysis unit 104 Database (data recording means)
A0 Monitoring area during operation A1, A2, A3 Dimming area

Claims (5)

Equipped with a vehicle equipped with an automatic driving device that automatically performs at least part of the driving operation,
Driving state detection means for detecting the driving state of the driver of the vehicle;
Dimming means for changing a dimming area partially provided in the window glass around the driver's seat of the vehicle except for the driving monitoring area in front of the driver's seat to a frosted glass state;
From the driving state of the driver detected by the driving state detection means, it is determined whether the driver is monitoring the front, if the driver is not monitoring the front during the operation of the automatic driving device, A forward monitoring promoting device, comprising: a monitoring promoting control means for operating the light controlling means to change the light control area to a frosted glass state and prompting forward monitoring. The dimming area is divided into a plurality, and the monitoring promotion control means changes to a frosted glass state in accordance with an increase in the duration of the state where the driver is not monitoring forward during the operation of the automatic driving device. The forward monitoring facilitating device according to claim 1, wherein the dimming area is increased stepwise. Display means for performing display for prompting the driver to monitor forward; and driver stimulation means for stimulating the driver to prompt the driver to monitor forward more strongly than the display;
The monitoring promotion control means corresponds to an increase in the dimming area according to the duration of the state where the driver is not monitoring forward during operation of the automatic driving device, and the display means displays the display at an initial stage. The forward monitoring facilitating device according to claim 2, wherein the driver is stimulated by the driver stimulating means in a subsequent stage. Further comprising stop determination means for determining stop of the vehicle,
The monitoring promotion control means ends all the control for prompting the driver to monitor forward when the stop determination means determines that the vehicle is stopped. The forward monitoring promotion device according to claim 1. The forward monitoring promoting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The automatic driving device for performing automatic driving including emergency avoidance control for performing automatic braking for avoiding or reducing a collision with a front obstacle, and
From the driving state of the driver detected by the driving state detection means of the forward monitoring promotion device, when the duration of the state where the driver is not monitoring forward during operation of the automatic driving device reaches a limit time, A vehicle control device comprising vehicle control means for canceling automatic driving by an automatic driving device except for the emergency avoidance control.

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