JP2005230381A - Driver psychological state determination device - Google Patents

Abstract

A psychological state of a driver is determined based on a change in an inter-vehicle distance between a host vehicle and a preceding vehicle in a traveling scene of the host vehicle.
Based on outputs from a vehicle speed sensor and a laser radar, a vehicle speed of the host vehicle and an inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and another vehicle are detected. The vehicle speed fluctuation of the preceding vehicle is estimated by the preceding vehicle speed fluctuation estimating unit 106b, and the psychological state of the driver is determined only when it is estimated that the preceding vehicle is traveling stably. In determining the psychological state, the traveling scene determination unit c determines whether the traveling scene of the host vehicle is an “acceleration scene”, a “steady traveling scene”, or a “deceleration scene”. The psychological state determination unit 106a executes processing according to the determined traveling scene to determine the driver's psychological state.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a driver psychological state determination apparatus that determines a driver's psychological state.

  The driving speed of the host vehicle and the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and other vehicles are detected, and the psychological state of the driver is determined by comparing the inter-vehicle distance and a reference value of the inter-vehicle distance set according to the vehicle speed. A driver psychological determination device is known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151867.

JP 2003-51097 A

  However, in general, the appropriate inter-vehicle distance changes according to the traveling state of the host vehicle, and it is difficult to obtain the inter-vehicle distance according to the vehicle speed as one representative value. Further, there has been a problem that the driver's psychological state cannot be determined when the inter-vehicle distance cannot be measured, such as when there is no preceding vehicle ahead of the host vehicle.

  The driver psychological state determination apparatus according to claim 1 is detected by a vehicle speed detection unit that detects a vehicle speed of the host vehicle, an inter-vehicle distance detection unit that detects an inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and a preceding vehicle, and a vehicle speed detection unit. A travel scene determination means for determining a travel scene of the host vehicle based on the vehicle speed of the host vehicle, a vehicle speed of the host vehicle detected by the vehicle speed detection means, and a distance between the host vehicle detected by the inter-vehicle distance detection means and the preceding vehicle And a psychological state determining unit that determines the psychological state of the driver in each driving scene determined by the driving scene determining unit based on the distance. According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the driver psychological state determination device is detected by a traveling position detecting means for detecting which position the host vehicle is traveling with respect to a lateral position in the lane, and a traveling position detecting means. And a driver psychological state determining means for determining the psychological state of the driver based on the lateral position of the subject vehicle.

  According to the present invention, the traveling scene of the host vehicle is determined based on the vehicle speed of the host vehicle and the distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle, and the psychological state of the driver is determined for each traveling scene. . Thereby, the psychological state of the driver can be accurately determined by a determination method corresponding to each traveling scene. In addition, since it is also possible to determine the driver's psychological state based on the lateral position of the host vehicle in the lane, the driver's psychological state even when there is no preceding vehicle ahead of the host vehicle Can be determined.

-First embodiment-
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a vehicle 100 equipped with a driver psychological state determination device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The driver psychological state determination device determines the psychological state of the driver based on a change in the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle in the traveling scene of the host vehicle. A vehicle 100 equipped with the psychological state determination apparatus of FIG. 1 includes a vehicle speed sensor 101 that detects the vehicle speed of the host vehicle, a laser radar 102 that detects an inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and a preceding vehicle, and sampling intervals of various data. A clock 103 that counts time, a monitor 104 and a speaker 105 that output a determination result of a psychological state to the driver, and a control device 106 that controls the entire apparatus. Furthermore, the driver psychological state determination device includes a state counter 107a, an update counter 107b, a counter storage memory 107c that stores count values of the update counter 107b for each scene, vehicle speeds of the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle, and the host vehicle. Between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle, the history storage memory 109 that stores the history of the inter-vehicle distance at a constant sampling interval, the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle, and the distribution area and the number of distributions A distance distribution database (DB) 109 and a deceleration scene inter-vehicle distance database (DB) 110 that stores the inter-vehicle distance at the time of executing a psychological state determination process in a deceleration scene described later are provided.

  The vehicle speed sensor 101 detects the vehicle speed of the host vehicle by measuring the number of rotations of the wheels and the number of rotations on the output side of the transmission, and outputs the detected vehicle speed to the control device 104. The laser radar 102 is attached to the front grill or bumper of the vehicle and scans infrared light pulses in the horizontal direction. Then, the reflected wave of the infrared light pulse reflected by a plurality of reflectors in front of the host vehicle (usually the rear end of the preceding vehicle) is measured, and the inter-vehicle distance to the preceding vehicle is determined from the arrival time of the reflected wave. To detect. The detected vehicle speed and inter-vehicle distance of the host vehicle are always output to the control device 106 during traveling.

  The control device 106 includes a psychological state determination unit 106 a that determines the psychological state of the driver, the vehicle speed of the host vehicle detected by the vehicle speed sensor 101, and the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle detected by the laser radar 102. It has a preceding vehicle speed fluctuation estimating unit 106b that estimates fluctuations in the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle from each change, and a running scene determination unit 106c that determines the current running scene of the own vehicle based on the change in the vehicle speed of the own vehicle. ing. The traveling scenes of the host vehicle determined by the traveling scene determination unit 106c are classified into three types: “acceleration scene”, “steady traveling scene”, and “deceleration scene”. A method for determining each traveling scene will be described later.

  Hereinafter, processing by the vehicle 100 equipped with the psychological state determination apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described according to the flowchart shown in FIG. The processing shown in FIG. 2 is executed by a program that is activated when an ignition switch (not shown) is turned on. In step S10, based on outputs from the vehicle speed sensor 101 and the laser radar 102, storage of the vehicle speed of the host vehicle and the distance between the host vehicle and the other vehicle in the history storage memory 108 is started. The storage is continued at a predetermined sampling interval set in advance, for example, in units of 1 (s) until the ignition switch is turned off.

  In step S20, it is determined whether or not the ignition switch is turned off. If it is determined that the ignition switch has been turned off, the process proceeds to step S110, the storage of the vehicle speed and the inter-vehicle distance that started recording in step S10 is terminated, and the process is terminated. If it is determined that the ignition switch is not turned off, the process proceeds to step S30.

  In step S30, the preceding vehicle vehicle speed fluctuation estimation unit 106b executes a preceding vehicle vehicle speed fluctuation estimation process. The preceding vehicle vehicle speed fluctuation estimation process will be described later. In step S40, based on the result of the preceding vehicle vehicle speed fluctuation estimation process in step S30, it is determined whether or not the preceding vehicle is traveling stably without fluctuations in the vehicle speed. If it is determined that the preceding vehicle is not traveling stably, the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle may change due to unstable movement of the preceding vehicle. For this reason, when determining the driver's psychological state based on the change in the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle, the movement of the preceding vehicle is included as a determination element of the psychological state. Therefore, in this case, the psychological state of the driver is not determined, the process returns to step S20, and the above process is repeated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S40 that the preceding vehicle is traveling stably, the process proceeds to step S50. In step S50, a travel scene determination process for determining the travel scene of the host vehicle is performed by the travel scene determination unit 106c. The traveling scene determination process will be described later. In step S60, it is determined whether the travel scene of the host vehicle determined in step S50 is an “acceleration scene”, a “steady travel scene”, or a “deceleration scene”.

  If it is determined in step S60 that the traveling scene of the host vehicle is an “acceleration scene”, the process proceeds to step S70. In step S70, a driver's psychological state determination process in an acceleration scene described later is executed. If it is determined in step S60 that the traveling scene of the host vehicle is the “steady traveling scene”, the process proceeds to step S80. In step S80, a driver's psychological state determination process in a steady driving scene described later is executed. If it is determined in step S60 that the traveling scene of the host vehicle is a “deceleration scene”, the process proceeds to step S90. In step S90, the driver's psychological state determination process in a deceleration scene described later is executed.

  In step S100, the determination result of the driver's psychological state determined in step S70 to step S90 is output via the monitor 104 and the speaker 103, so that the driver is notified. Thereafter, the process returns to step S20, and the processes of step S20 to step S100 are repeated until the ignition switch is turned off.

Hereinafter, the details of the preceding vehicle vehicle speed fluctuation estimation process in step S30 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the preceding vehicle vehicle speed fluctuation estimation process. In step S210, the history of the inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle speed of the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle for the latest predetermined period, for example, the latest 10 seconds is read from the history storage memory 108. In step S220, the absolute speed history of the preceding vehicle is calculated by the following expressions (1) and (2) based on the history of the vehicle speed and the inter-vehicle distance read in step S210.
Relative speed of preceding vehicle (km / h) = {(distance between vehicles (m) −distance between vehicles immediately before (m)) / 1000} × 3600 (1)
Absolute speed of the preceding vehicle (km / h) = vehicle speed of the host vehicle (km / h) −relative speed of the preceding vehicle (km / h) (2)

  FIG. 4 shows a specific example of the absolute speed calculation process for the preceding vehicle according to equations (1) and (2). The table in FIG. 4 shows the vehicle speed of the host vehicle for the last 10 seconds read in step S210, the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle, the relative speed of the preceding vehicle, and the absolute speed of the preceding vehicle in the respective columns 4b to 4e. It is shown in 1 to 10 in the column 4a is the elapsed time. The inter-vehicle distance when the elapsed time is 1 (s) is 50 (m), and the vehicle speed of the host vehicle is 60 (km / h). The inter-vehicle distance when the elapsed time is 2 (s) is 45 (m), and the vehicle speed of the host vehicle is 60 (km / h).

  When the relative speed of the preceding vehicle is calculated from the above equation (1) based on the vehicle speed and the inter-vehicle distance at the time points of the elapsed times 1 (s) and 2 (s), it is −18 (km / h). Accordingly, the absolute speed of the preceding vehicle is calculated as 42 (km / h) from the equation (2). By the above procedure, the absolute speed of the preceding vehicle at each time point read in step S210 is calculated.

  When the absolute speed of the preceding vehicle is calculated in step S220, the state counter 107a is reset, that is, initialized to 0 in step S230. In step S240, the absolute speed of the preceding vehicle calculated in step S220 is compared. The comparison of the absolute speed is a comparison between the absolute speed of the preceding vehicle at an arbitrary elapsed time and the absolute speed of the preceding vehicle at the immediately preceding elapsed time. In step S250, the absolute speed of the preceding vehicle at the arbitrary elapsed time is compared with the absolute speed of the preceding vehicle at the immediately preceding elapsed time to determine whether the preceding vehicle is accelerating or decelerating.

  For example, the absolute speed (73 (km / h)) of the preceding vehicle when the elapsed time is 3 (s) shown in FIG. 4 and the absolute speed of the preceding vehicle when the elapsed time immediately before it is 2 (s) ( 42 (km / h)), it is determined that the preceding vehicle is accelerating. Further, the absolute speed (60 (km / h)) of the preceding vehicle when the elapsed time is 4 (s) and the absolute speed (73 (km / h) of the preceding vehicle when the elapsed time immediately before is 3 (s). h)), it is determined that the preceding vehicle is decelerating.

  The absolute speed (42 (km / h)) of the preceding vehicle at the time when the elapsed time is 9 (s) and the absolute speed (42 (km / h) of the preceding vehicle at the time when the immediately preceding elapsed time is 8 (s). h)), it is determined that the preceding vehicle is neither accelerating nor decelerating.

  Based on the above determination, if it is determined in step S250 that the preceding vehicle is accelerating or decelerating, the process proceeds to step S260, 1 is added to the state counter 107a, and then the process proceeds to step S270. On the other hand, if it is determined that the preceding vehicle is neither accelerating nor decelerating, the process proceeds to step 270.

  In step S270, it is determined whether or not the processing in steps S240 to S260 has been performed on all the data for the latest predetermined time read in step S210, for example, 10 seconds. If it is determined that the processing has not been completed for all the data, the process returns to step S240, and the processing of steps S240 to S260 is repeated until the processing of all the data is completed. If it is determined that all data has been processed, the process proceeds to step S280.

  In step S280, it is determined whether or not the count value of the state counter 107a added in step S260 is 2 or more. If it is determined that the count value of the state counter 107a is 2 or more, the preceding vehicle has accelerated or decelerated at least twice during the latest predetermined time read in step S210. Proceeding to S290, it is presumed that the preceding vehicle is performing “unstable running”. On the other hand, when the count value of the state counter 107a is less than 2, the process proceeds to step S300, and it is estimated that the preceding vehicle is performing “stable traveling”. When the traveling state of the preceding vehicle is estimated in step S290 or step S300, the process returns to the process shown in FIG.

  Next, details of the traveling scene determination process in step S50 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the traveling scene determination process. In step S310, the state counter 107a is reset. In step S320, the vehicle speed history of the host vehicle for the latest predetermined period, for example, the latest 10 seconds is read from the history storage memory 108. In step S330, the vehicle speeds read in step S320 are compared. A specific example will be described below with reference to FIG.

  The speed (60 (km / h)) of the host vehicle when the elapsed time in FIG. 4 is 2 (s) and the speed (60 (km / h) of the host vehicle when the elapsed time immediately before is 1 (s). )). In this case, it is determined that the host vehicle is not accelerating or decelerating because the vehicle speed of the host vehicle at the successive time points compared is the same.

  Also, the speed of the host vehicle when the elapsed time is 3 (s) (55 (km / h)) and the speed of the host vehicle when the elapsed time immediately before is 2 (s) (60 (km / h)). ). In this case, it is determined that the host vehicle is decelerating because the vehicle speed of the host vehicle at successive time points compared is decreasing.

  Then, the speed of the host vehicle when the elapsed time is 4 (s) (60 (km / h)) and the speed of the host vehicle when the elapsed time immediately before is 3 (s) (55 (km / h)). ). In this case, it is determined that the host vehicle is accelerating because the vehicle speed of the host vehicle at successive time points compared has increased.

  If it is determined in step S340 that the host vehicle is accelerating based on the result of the comparison process in step S330, the process proceeds to step S350, 1 is added to the state counter 107a, and the process proceeds to step S370. If it is determined that the host vehicle is neither accelerating nor decelerating, the process proceeds to step S370. If it is determined that the host vehicle is decelerating, the process proceeds to step S360, 1 is subtracted from the state counter 107a, and then the process proceeds to step S370.

  In step S370, it is determined whether or not the processes in steps S330 to S360 have been performed on all the latest predetermined time data read in step S320. If it is determined that the processing has not been completed for all the data, the process returns to step S330, and the processes of steps S330 to S360 are repeated until the processing of all the data is completed. If it is determined that all the data has been processed, the process proceeds to step S380.

  In step S380, it is determined whether the count value of the state counter 107a added or subtracted in steps S350 and S360 is 3 or more, -3 or more and less than 3, or less than -3. If it is determined that the count value of the state counter 107a is 3 or more, it can be determined that the preceding vehicle is mainly accelerating during the latest predetermined time read in step S320, and thus the process proceeds to step S390. The current traveling scene of the vehicle is determined to be an “acceleration scene”.

  When it is determined that the count value of the state counter 107a is greater than or equal to −3 and less than 3, the preceding vehicle has hardly accelerated or decelerated during the latest predetermined time read in step S320, or Since it can be determined that deceleration is repeated, the process proceeds to step S400, where it is determined that the current travel scene of the host vehicle is a “steady travel scene”.

  When it is determined that the count value of the state counter 107a is less than −3, it can be determined that the preceding vehicle is mainly decelerating during the latest predetermined time read in step S320. The current traveling scene of the host vehicle is determined to be a “deceleration scene”.

  In step S420, 1 is added to the update counter 107b, and the process returns to the process shown in FIG. The update counter 107b is initialized to 0 when the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned on, and is incremented by 1 each time the traveling scene determination process is executed.

  Next, the driver's psychological state determination process in each driving scene in steps S70 to S90 in FIG. 2 will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the psychological state determination process in the acceleration scene in step S70. In step S510, the current count value of the update counter 107b is compared with the count value stored in the counter storage memory 107c as the count value of the psychological state determination process in the acceleration scene, and the previous count value and the current count value are determined. It is determined whether or not it is continuous. The count value of the psychological state determination process in the acceleration scene represents the count value when the previous psychological state determination process in the acceleration scene is performed, and is stored in the counter storage memory 107c in step S660 described later. Then, when the psychological state determination process in the next acceleration scene is performed, it is read as the previous count value. Therefore, when the previous count value and the current count value are continuous, it indicates that the psychological state determination process in the acceleration scene has been continuously performed.

  If it is determined that the previous count value and the current count value are not continuous, the process proceeds to step S630. In step S630, the current vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 101 is stored in a RAM (not shown) as “low vehicle speed”. In step S640, the current inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle detected by the laser radar 102 is stored in a RAM (not shown) as “inter-vehicle distance at low speed”.

  In step S650, the inter-vehicle distance stored as the “inter-vehicle distance at low speed” in step S640 is set in both the maximum value and the minimum value of the inter-vehicle distance, and similarly stored in a RAM (not shown). Then, it progresses to step S660 mentioned later. Here, the current inter-vehicle distance is set for the purpose of initializing the maximum and minimum values of the inter-vehicle distance. Therefore, in the psychological state determination process in the acceleration scene executed after the next time, the maximum value and the minimum value of the inter-vehicle distance are updated at any time in step S550 described later.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S510 that the previous count value and the current count value are continuous, the process proceeds to step S520. In step S520, the current vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 101 is stored in a RAM (not shown) as “high-speed vehicle speed”. In step S530, the current inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle detected by the laser radar 102 is stored in a RAM (not shown) as “high-speed inter-vehicle distance”.

  In step S540, based on the vehicle speed at low speed, the inter-vehicle distance, the vehicle speed at high speed, and the inter-vehicle distance, the degree of change when changing from low speed to high speed is determined. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the vertical axis represents the inter-vehicle distance, the horizontal axis represents the vehicle speed, and the two points 7a and 7b based on the vehicle speed at the low speed, the inter-vehicle distance, and the vehicle speed at the high speed and the inter-vehicle distance, respectively. Create a graph connected by straight lines.

  In step S550, the maximum value and the minimum value of the inter-vehicle distance are updated based on the current inter-vehicle distance. That is, if the current inter-vehicle distance is larger than the maximum value of the inter-vehicle distance stored in the RAM, the maximum value is updated with the current inter-vehicle distance, and if the current inter-vehicle distance is smaller than the minimum value, the minimum value is updated with the current inter-vehicle distance.

  In step S560, the psychological state determination unit 106a determines the driver's psychological state based on the graph created in step S540. In general, it is necessary to increase the inter-vehicle distance as the vehicle speed increases. At this time, if the driver is in a normal psychological state, a sufficient inter-vehicle distance is taken as the vehicle speed increases. Conceivable. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, the psychological state of the driver can be determined from the change in the inter-vehicle distance accompanying the change in the vehicle speed.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, in determining the psychological state of the driver, the slope of the graph created in step S540 is calculated in order to investigate the increase rate of the inter-vehicle distance accompanying the increase in the vehicle speed, and the slope is The determination is made based on the criteria shown in (1) to (3).
(1) When slope ≧ 5 (m / 10 km / h): Normal psychological state (proceeds to step S570)
(2) When 2.5 ≦ tilt <5 (m / 10 km / h)... Weakly frustrated (proceed to step S580)
(3) When slope <2.5 (m / 10 km / h): Strong frustration (proceed to step S590)

  When it is determined that the slope of the graph meets the condition (1) based on the determination criteria (1) to (3), the process proceeds to step S570. In this case, since the driver takes a sufficient inter-vehicle distance according to the increase in the vehicle speed, it can be generally determined that the driver is in a normal psychological state. For example, when the vehicle speed increases with the passage of time, the driver is in a normal psychological state when the inter-vehicle distance increases smoothly with the passage of time as shown by a curve 9a in FIG. Can be determined.

  However, in this case, even if the inter-vehicle distance increases as a result, the inter-vehicle distance may vary greatly in the process. For example, in FIG. 9, when the inter-vehicle distance 7a is the inter-vehicle distance at low speed and the inter-vehicle distance 7b is the inter-vehicle distance at high speed, the inter-vehicle distance is considered to increase constantly over time, considering only these two points. It is done. However, as shown by the curve 9b in FIG. 9, there is a possibility that the increase / decrease is actually repeated greatly until the distance between the distances 7a and 7b increases. Thus, in a situation where the inter-vehicle distance varies with time, it can be determined that the driver's psychological state is distracting.

Therefore, the following processing is performed to determine whether the driver's psychological state is the “normal state” or the “distraction state”. In step S570, the difference (maximum value−minimum value) between the maximum value and the minimum value of the inter-vehicle distance stored in the RAM is calculated. In step S580, based on the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the inter-vehicle distance calculated in step S570, it is determined whether a large increase or decrease in the inter-vehicle distance has occurred. In determining whether a large increase or decrease in the inter-vehicle distance has occurred, the reference value calculated by the following equation (3) is compared with the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the inter-vehicle distance.
Reference value (m) = current vehicle speed × 0.5 (3)

  If it is determined that the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the inter-vehicle distance is less than the reference value calculated by the equation (3), that is, no significant increase or decrease in the inter-vehicle distance has occurred, the process proceeds to step S610 and the psychological state The determination unit 106a determines that the driver's psychological state is the “normal state”. On the other hand, if it is determined that the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the inter-vehicle distance is greater than or equal to the reference value, that is, a large increase or decrease in the inter-vehicle distance has occurred, the process proceeds to step S620 and the psychological state determination unit 106a determines that the driver It is determined that the psychological state is “distracted state”.

  If it is determined in step S560 that the slope of the graph meets the condition (2), the process proceeds to step S580. In step S580, the driver does not take a sufficient inter-vehicle distance according to the increase in the vehicle speed, but maintains a certain inter-vehicle distance. Therefore, the psychological state determination unit 106a indicates that the driver's psychological state is “weak”. It is determined that the state is “irritated”. If it is determined that the slope of the graph meets the condition (3), the process proceeds to step S590. In step S590, since the driver can determine that the vehicle speed is increased but the vehicle distance is not increased, the psychological state determination unit 106a determines that the driver's psychological state is “strong frustrated state”. To do.

  In step S660, the current count value of the update counter 107b is stored in the counter storage memory 107c as the count value of the psychological state determination process in the acceleration scene, and the process returns to the process shown in FIG.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of the psychological state determination process in the steady running scene in step S80. In step S710, the inter-vehicle distance from the current preceding vehicle detected by the laser radar 102 is stored in the inter-vehicle distance distribution DB 109. The data in the inter-vehicle distance distribution DB 109 is initialized when the ignition switch is turned on, and the inter-vehicle distance data stored up to the present after the ignition switch is turned on is stored. In step S720, the inter-vehicle distance distribution area and the number of distributions are updated to the latest data based on the inter-vehicle distance data stored in the inter-vehicle distance distribution DB 109. The distribution range and the number of distributions of the inter-vehicle distance will be described later with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the distribution of the inter-vehicle distance by a curve 11a, with the inter-vehicle distance on the horizontal axis and the number of inter-vehicle distance distributions on the vertical axis.

  In step S730, based on the latest distribution range and the number of inter-vehicle distances updated in step S720, it is determined whether or not the maximum distribution region, that is, the most frequently measured inter-vehicle distance is biased toward the shorter inter-vehicle distance side. Is done. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 11A, in the graph 11a showing the distribution state of the inter-vehicle distance, whether or not the distribution region where the number of distributions is the maximum is closer to the short side of the inter-vehicle distance as a whole. Judging. As a criterion for determination, it is determined whether or not the maximum number of distribution areas exist within 25% from the end point on the side where the inter-vehicle distance is short in the entire distribution area.

  The fact that the maximum distribution area is biased toward the shorter side distance means that the driver can determine that he / she is driving without taking a sufficient inter-vehicle distance as a whole. In step S740, the psychological state determination unit 106a It is determined that the driver's psychological state is an “irritated state”. On the other hand, when it is determined in step S730 that the maximum distribution area is not biased toward the short side distance, the process proceeds to step S750.

  In step S750, it is determined whether or not the distribution range is wide based on the latest distribution range and number of inter-vehicle distances updated in step S720. If it is determined in step S730 that the maximum distribution area is not biased toward the shorter distance between the vehicles, the distance between the vehicles is distributed as shown in FIG. 11 (b) or FIG. 11 (c), for example. At this time, when the inter-vehicle distance distribution range is narrow as shown in FIG. 11B, the driver is traveling while maintaining a certain inter-vehicle distance, and the driver's psychological state is “normal state”. It is judged that. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 11C, when the inter-vehicle distance distribution range is wide, the inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle varies, so the driver's psychological state is “distracted state”. Judge that there is.

  For the above reasons, when it is determined in step S750 that the distribution range is not wide, the process proceeds to step S760, and the psychological state determination unit 106a determines that the psychological state of the driver is “normal state”. On the other hand, when it is determined that the distribution range is wide, the process proceeds to step S770, and the psychological state determination unit 106a determines that the psychological state of the driver is “distracted state”. When the driver's psychological state is determined by the above process, the process returns to the process shown in FIG.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a flow of psychological state determination processing in the deceleration scene in step S90. In step S810, the current count value of the update counter 107b is compared with the count value stored in the counter storage memory 107c as the count value of the psychological state determination process in the deceleration scene, and the previous count value and the current count value are determined. It is determined whether or not it is continuous. Note that the count value of the psychological state determination process in the deceleration scene represents the count value when the psychological state determination process in the previous deceleration scene is performed, similarly to the process in the acceleration scene in step S510 in FIG. In step S910, the data is stored in the counter storage memory 107c. Then, when the psychological state determination process in the next deceleration scene is performed, it is read as the previous count value. Therefore, when the previous count value and the current count value are continuous, it indicates that the psychological state determination process in the deceleration scene has been continuously executed.

  If it is determined that the previous count value and the current count value are not continuous, the process proceeds to step S820. In step S820, the deceleration scene inter-vehicle distance DB 110 is cleared. In step S830, the current inter-vehicle distance detected by the laser radar 102 and the preceding vehicle is stored in the deceleration scene inter-vehicle distance DB 110. In step S840, the inter-vehicle distance required for deceleration is calculated by a known method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-5736. The calculated inter-vehicle distance required for deceleration is used as a reference value in step S850 described later.

  In step S850, the reference value of the inter-vehicle distance calculated in step S840 is compared with the current inter-vehicle distance, and it is determined whether or not the current inter-vehicle distance is less than the reference value. If the current inter-vehicle distance is less than the reference value, it can be determined that the host vehicle has suddenly approached the preceding vehicle as shown by the characteristic 13a in FIG. At this time, the driver is not concentrated on the movement of the preceding vehicle, and it can be determined that it is delayed to notice that the preceding vehicle has decelerated. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S860, where the psychological state determination unit 106a determines the psychological state of the driver. It is determined that the state is “distracted”.

  In contrast, if it is determined in step S850 that the current inter-vehicle distance is greater than or equal to the reference value, the process proceeds to step S870. In step S870, the average value of the inter-vehicle distances stored in the deceleration scene inter-vehicle distance DB 110 is calculated. In step S880, the average value of the inter-vehicle distance calculated in step S870 is compared with a predetermined reference value. The predetermined reference value is set to a sufficient distance that can be determined that the driver is not frustrated, for example, 10 (m).

  If it is determined that the average value of the inter-vehicle distance is greater than or equal to the reference value, the process proceeds to step S890. At this time, as shown by the characteristic 13b in FIG. 13, the driver can determine that the vehicle is gradually decelerating in accordance with the deceleration of the preceding vehicle while maintaining a sufficient distance from the preceding vehicle. Therefore, in step S890, the psychological state determination unit 106a determines that the driver's psychological state is the “normal state”. On the other hand, if it is determined that the average value of the inter-vehicle distance is less than the reference value, the process proceeds to step S900. At this time, as shown by characteristic 13c in FIG. 13, it can be determined that the driver is decelerating in accordance with the preceding vehicle in a state where the distance between the preceding vehicle and the preceding vehicle is not sufficient. Therefore, in step S900, the psychological state determination unit 106a determines that the driver's psychological state is an “irritated state”.

  In step S910, the current count value of the update counter 107b is stored in the counter storage memory 107c as the count value of the psychological state determination process in the deceleration scene, and the process returns to the process shown in FIG.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(1) When the vehicle speed fluctuation of the preceding vehicle is detected and it is determined that the preceding vehicle is running unstable, the driver's psychological state is not determined. When determining the driver's psychological state based on the change in the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle, it is possible to prevent the unstable movement of the preceding vehicle from being reflected in the determination result. The state can be determined with high accuracy.
(2) The traveling scene of the host vehicle is divided into an “acceleration scene”, a “steady traveling scene”, and a “deceleration scene”, and the psychological state of the driver is determined for each traveling scene. Thereby, the psychological state of the driver can be accurately determined by a determination method corresponding to each traveling scene.

-Second embodiment-
In the second embodiment, the psychological state of the driver is determined based on the change in the lateral position in the traveling lane of the host vehicle. FIG. 14 shows the configuration of a vehicle 100 equipped with the driver psychological state determination apparatus according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 14, the same components as those in FIG. 1 in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals as those in FIG.

  The vehicle 100 stores a lateral position sensor 111 that detects the lateral position of the host vehicle in the lane, and stores the lateral position of the host vehicle detected by the lateral position sensor 111. Is stored in the horizontal position distribution DB 112. The lateral position sensor 111 detects the left and right white lines of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling, that is, the white line on the shoulder side and the center line, and determines the position of the host vehicle in the lane based on the positional relationship between the white line and the host vehicle. To detect. For example, it is realized by a known technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-256854.

  Hereinafter, the processing by the vehicle 100 equipped with the psychological state determination apparatus in the present embodiment will be described according to the flowchart shown in FIG. The process shown in FIG. 15 is executed by a program that is activated when an ignition switch (not shown) is turned on. In step S1010, the lateral position sensor 111 detects the positions of the white lines on both the left and right sides in the traveling lane. In step S1020, the lateral position sensor 111 detects the lateral position of the host vehicle in the lane based on the detected white line positions on both the left and right sides.

  In step S1030, the lateral position of the host vehicle in the lane detected in step S1020 is stored in the lateral position distribution DB 112. Note that the data in the horizontal position distribution DB 112 is initialized when the ignition switch is turned on, and stores the horizontal position data saved up to the present after the ignition switch is turned on. In step S1040, the horizontal position distribution area and the number of distributions are updated to the latest data based on the horizontal position data stored in the horizontal position distribution DB 112. The distribution area and number of distributions in the horizontal direction will be described later with reference to FIG. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the distribution of lateral positions by a curve 11a with the horizontal position on the horizontal axis and the number of horizontal position distributions on the vertical axis.

  In step S1050, based on the distribution area and the number of distributions of the latest horizontal position updated in step S1040, whether or not the maximum distribution area, that is, the most frequently measured horizontal position is biased to the left or right white line side. Is judged. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 16 (a), in the graph 16a showing the distribution state of the inter-vehicle distance, whether or not the distribution region where the number of distributions is maximum is shifted from the center to the right or left as a whole. Judging. As a criterion for determination, it is determined whether or not the maximum number of distribution areas exist within 25% from the right or left end point in the entire distribution area.

  The fact that the maximum distribution area is biased to the left or right means that the driver can determine that he / she is moving to either the left or right side in order to secure the forward visibility because he wants to grasp the road conditions of the destination. In step S1060, the psychological state determination unit 106a determines that the psychological state of the driver is the “irritated state”. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1050 that the maximum distribution area is not biased to the left or right, the process proceeds to step S1070.

  In step S1070, it is determined whether or not the distribution range is wide based on the latest distribution area and number of distributions in the horizontal direction updated in step S1040. If it is determined in step S1050 that the maximum distribution area is not biased to the left or right, the horizontal position is distributed as shown in FIG. 16B or FIG. 16C, for example. At this time, as shown in FIG. 16 (b), when the distribution range of the lateral position is narrow, it indicates that the host vehicle is stably traveling in the center of the lane. Judged to be “normal state”. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 16 (c), when the lateral position distribution range is wide, the host vehicle does not travel while maintaining a certain position in the lane, and the position varies from side to side. Therefore, it is determined that the driver's psychological state is “distracted state”.

  For the above reasons, when it is determined in step S1070 that the distribution range is not wide, the process proceeds to step S1080, and the psychological state determination unit 106a determines that the psychological state of the driver is the “normal state”. On the other hand, if it is determined that the distribution range is wide, the process proceeds to step S1090, and the psychological state determination unit 106a determines that the driver's psychological state is “distracted state”. When the driver's psychological state is determined by the above processing, the process proceeds to step S1100.

  In step S <b> 1100, the determination result of the driver's psychological state determined above is output via the monitor 104 and the speaker 103, thereby notifying the driver. In step S1110, it is determined whether the ignition switch has been turned off. If it is determined that the ignition switch is not turned off, the process returns to step S1010, and the processes of steps S1010 to S1100 are repeated until the ignition switch is turned off. If it is determined that the ignition switch has been turned off, the process is terminated.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the following operational effects can be obtained. Based on the change in the lateral position of the host vehicle in the travel lane, the driver's psychological state is determined from the distribution area and the number of distributions. Thereby, even when there is no preceding vehicle ahead of the host vehicle and the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle cannot be measured, the psychological state of the driver can be determined.

  In the first and second embodiments, the determination result of the driver's psychological state is output via the monitor 104 and the speaker 103 to notify the driver. In addition to this, a message should be output to the driver via the monitor 104 and the speaker 103 so as to calmly drive when the driver is frustrated, and to concentrate on driving when the driver is distracted. It may be.

  In determining the absolute speed change of the preceding vehicle in step S250 of FIG. 3 in the first embodiment and in determining the speed change of the host vehicle in step 330 of FIG. 4, data at an arbitrary elapsed time; The data was compared with the data just before that time. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be modified as follows. For example, an approximate graph may be obtained based on data at three consecutive elapsed times, and the speed change may be determined by examining the sign of the slope, or may be determined by other algorithms.

  The correspondence between the constituent elements of the claims and the embodiment will be described. The vehicle speed sensor 101 corresponds to vehicle speed detection means, and the laser radar 102 corresponds to inter-vehicle distance detection means. The psychological state determination unit 106a corresponds to a psychological state determination unit, the traveling scene determination unit 106c corresponds to a traveling scene determination unit, and the lateral position sensor 111 corresponds to a traveling position detection unit. Note that the present invention is not limited to the configurations in the above-described embodiments as long as the characteristic functions of the present invention are not impaired.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the vehicle 100 carrying the driver | operator's psychological state determination apparatus in 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart figure which shows the psychological state determination process in 1st Embodiment. It is the flowchart figure which showed the flow of the preceding vehicle vehicle speed fluctuation | variation estimation process. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the absolute speed calculation process of a preceding vehicle. It is the flowchart figure which showed the flow of the driving | running | working scene determination process. It is the flowchart figure which showed the flow of the psychological state determination process in an acceleration scene. It is a figure which shows the specific example when determining the degree of change when it changes at the time of high speed from the time of low speed. It is a figure which shows the specific example when determining a driver | operator's psychological state from the change of the inter-vehicle distance accompanying the change of a vehicle speed. It is a figure which shows a specific example about the change of the inter-vehicle distance in an acceleration scene. It is the flowchart figure which showed the flow of the psychological state determination process in a steady running scene. It is a figure which shows a specific example about the distribution area and distribution number of inter-vehicle distance. It is the flowchart figure which showed the flow of the psychological state determination process in a deceleration scene. It is a figure which shows a specific example about the change of the inter-vehicle distance of a deceleration scene. It is a figure which shows the structure of the vehicle 100 carrying the driver | operator's psychological state determination apparatus in 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart figure which shows the psychological state determination process in 2nd Embodiment. It is the flowchart figure which showed the flow of the psychological state determination process in 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Vehicle 101 Vehicle speed sensor 102 Laser radar 103 Clock 104 Monitor 105 Speaker 106 Control apparatus 106a Psychological state determination part 106b Leading vehicle vehicle speed fluctuation estimation part 106c Driving scene determination part 107a State counter 107b Update counter 107c Counter storage memory 108 History storage memory 109 Between cars Distance distribution DB
110 Deceleration scene inter-vehicle distance DB
111 Lateral position sensor 112 Lateral position distribution DB

Claims (11)

Vehicle speed detection means for detecting the vehicle speed of the host vehicle;
An inter-vehicle distance detecting means for detecting an inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle;
Travel scene determination means for determining a travel scene of the host vehicle based on the vehicle speed of the host vehicle detected by the vehicle speed detection unit;
Based on the vehicle speed of the host vehicle detected by the vehicle speed detection unit and the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle detected by the inter-vehicle distance detection unit, in each traveling scene determined by the traveling scene determination unit A driver psychological state determining apparatus comprising psychological state determining means for determining a driver's psychological state. In the driver psychological state determination device according to claim 1,
The driver's psychological state determination device, wherein the driving scene determination means classifies and determines a driving scene of the host vehicle as one of an “acceleration scene”, a “steady driving scene”, and a “deceleration scene”. The driver psychological state determination device according to claim 2,
The psychological state determining means, when the traveling scene determining means determines that the traveling scene of the host vehicle is an “acceleration scene”, and a change in the inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle accompanying the acceleration of the host vehicle within a predetermined time; A driver psychological state determination device that determines a driver's psychological state based on a maximum value and a minimum value of an inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and a preceding vehicle. The driver psychological state determination device according to claim 3,
In the “acceleration scene”, the psychological state determination unit is configured such that an increase rate of the inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle accompanying the acceleration of the host vehicle within a predetermined time is equal to or greater than a first reference value, and the maximum value of the inter-vehicle distance If the difference between the vehicle and the minimum value is less than the predetermined value, the driver's psychological state is determined to be “normal state”, and the increase rate of the inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle accompanying the acceleration of the host vehicle is the first reference. If the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the inter-vehicle distance is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the driver's psychological state is determined to be a “distracted state” and the preceding vehicle accompanying the acceleration of the host vehicle When the rate of increase in the inter-vehicle distance is less than the first reference value and equal to or greater than the second reference value (<first reference value), the driver's psychological state is “weak frustrating state” And the rate of increase in the inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle accompanying the acceleration of the host vehicle is the second Is less than reference value, the psychological state of the driver is the driver psychological state determination apparatus characterized by determining that the "strong irritated state". The driver psychological state determination device according to claim 2,
The psychological state determination unit determines the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle detected by the inter-vehicle distance detection unit when the travel scene determination unit determines that the travel scene of the host vehicle is a “steady travel scene”. The driver's psychological state determination apparatus characterized by determining the driver's psychological state by calculating the distribution area and the number of distributions based on the history of the vehicle. The driver psychological state determination device according to claim 5,
The psychological state determination means is configured such that, in the “steady running scene”, the most detected inter-vehicle distance is biased toward the shorter inter-vehicle distance with respect to the entire inter-vehicle distance data between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle within a predetermined time. If the distribution range of the inter-vehicle distance is within the predetermined range, it is determined that the driver's psychological state is the “normal state”, and the most detected inter-vehicle distance is biased toward the shorter inter-vehicle distance side. If the distribution range of the inter-vehicle distance is wider than the predetermined range, the driver's psychological state is determined to be “distracted”, and the most detected inter-vehicle distance is biased toward the shorter inter-vehicle distance side. If it is, the driver's psychological state is determined to be an “irritated state”. The driver psychological state determination device according to claim 2,
The psychological state determination means, when the travel scene determination means determines that the travel scene of the host vehicle is a “deceleration scene”, the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle detected by the inter-vehicle distance detection means A driver psychological state determination device that determines a driver's psychological state based on an average value of the inter-vehicle distance within a predetermined time. The driver psychological state determination device according to claim 7,
In the “deceleration scene”, the psychological state determination means has an inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and a preceding vehicle that is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value, and an average value of the inter-vehicle distance within a predetermined time is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value. In some cases, it is determined that the driver's psychological state is “normal state”, and when the distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle is less than a predetermined reference value, the driver's psychological state is “distracted state”. When it is determined that the distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value, and the average value of the inter-vehicle distance within a predetermined time is less than the predetermined reference value, the driver's psychological state is “ A driver psychological state determination device characterized by determining that the state is an irritated state. The driver psychological state determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
Preceding vehicle vehicle speed calculating means for calculating the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle based on the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detecting means and the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle detected by the inter-vehicle distance detecting means; ,
A preceding vehicle running state determining unit that determines whether or not the preceding vehicle is traveling stably based on a vehicle speed history of the preceding vehicle calculated by the preceding vehicle vehicle speed calculating unit;
The driver's psychological state determining device, wherein the psychological state determining unit determines the psychological state of the driver only when the preceding vehicle traveling state determining unit determines that the preceding vehicle is traveling stably. Traveling position detection means for detecting which position the host vehicle is traveling relative to the lateral position in the lane;
A driver psychological state determining device, comprising: a driver psychological state determining unit that determines a driver's psychological state based on a lateral position of the host vehicle detected by the travel position detecting unit. The driver psychological state determination device according to claim 10,
The psychological state determination means is such that the most frequently detected lateral position is not biased to the left and right of the lane with respect to the entire lateral position data of the host vehicle within a predetermined time, and the lateral position distribution range is If it is within the predetermined range, the driver's psychological state is determined to be “normal state”, and the most frequently detected vehicle lateral position is not biased to the left and right of the lane, and the lateral position distribution range Is larger than the predetermined range, it is determined that the driver's psychological state is "distracted state", and when the most frequently detected lateral position is biased to the left and right of the lane, the driver's psychological state is " A driver psychological state determination device characterized by determining that the state is an irritated state.

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