JP2008097279A - Vehicle exterior information display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle exterior information display device for supporting safety drive for improving the safety at road junctions. <P>SOLUTION: When it is decided that the "driving position of a vehicle itself is on a road", before a junction (YES in S110) and there is a mobile object in the blind spot area of own vehicle (YES in S160), an on-vehicle system 1 displays a mobile object pattern, expressing the moving state of the mobile object present in the blind spot area on a display device 17 (S180). Namely, the on-vehicle system 1 notifies the driver of the mobile object present in the blind spot by displaying the mobile object pattern on the display device 17, before entering the road junction. Consequently, the driver can recognize the mobile object present on the blind spot, without significantly moving the visual line during the driving on the road, before the junction which is connected to the road junction and can perform driving, taking into consideration the presence of the mobile object, before arriving at the road junction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle external information display device that includes a display provided inside a vehicle and is mounted on the vehicle in order to display vehicle external information on the display.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a vehicle external information display device that is equipped with a display provided inside a vehicle and is mounted on the vehicle in order to display vehicle external information on the display.
For example, out of the video taken by a CCD camera, a blind spot is cut out by the front pillar of the vehicle when viewed from the driver's seat, and video processing such as symmetrical conversion is performed on the cut out video, and the video processed video is processed. An apparatus for displaying on a liquid crystal display installed in a vertically long shape along the front pillar has been proposed (Patent Document 1).

Moreover, regarding a vehicle periphery monitoring device, a device that enables a head-up display display corresponding to an alarm location by providing a plurality of display positions has been proposed (Patent Document 2).
Furthermore, it superimposes the captured image of the road that becomes the blind spot imaged by the camera installed near the intersection and the captured image of the wall of the private house that becomes the obstacle captured by the camera embedded in the bumper of the car (preceding vehicle), There has been proposed a device for displaying on a side window formed by a transflective liquid crystal monitor of an automobile (following vehicle) about to enter an intersection (Patent Document 3). As a result, the driver of the following vehicle can see the road that passes through the obstacle and becomes a blind spot, and can quickly and surely confirm the safety.
JP 2004-64131 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-48828 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-48828

  However, in the above-described conventional apparatus, there is no proposal for a configuration for improving safety at a road junction where a plurality of roads merge, and there is a problem that safe driving cannot be supported at the road junction. .

  In other words, in a vehicle traveling on a road (pre-merging road) connected to a road junction where a plurality of roads merge, the existence area of other vehicles on the other roads to merge becomes a blind spot. It is difficult to recognize and increases the risk of collision.

  On the other hand, in the prior art described in Patent Document 1, the obstacle is simply seen through, and the presence or absence of a moving body (such as another vehicle or a pedestrian) around the host vehicle is warned. Not what you want.

  Moreover, in the prior art described in Patent Document 2, only a peripheral image that is given the highest priority by the alarm priority determination device is displayed, and a moving body (such as another vehicle or a pedestrian) around the host vehicle. There is a problem that it is not easy to display the information and to understand each risk level at a glance.

  Furthermore, in the prior art described in Patent Document 3, since the moving body (such as another vehicle or a pedestrian) around the host vehicle is displayed on the side window, the driver moves the line of sight largely sideways. Since it is necessary, there arises a problem that it is not preferable for safe driving.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of these problems, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle external information display device that provides safe driving support for improving safety at a road junction.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is provided with a display provided inside the vehicle, and the vehicle external information display mounted on the vehicle for displaying vehicle external information on the display. A vehicle traveling state determination means, surrounding information collection means, moving body presence / absence determination means, road merging state determination means, and movement state display means. It is provided in the pillar part.

  Among these, the own vehicle traveling state determination means determines the own vehicle traveling state including at least the traveling position and the traveling speed of the own vehicle. The surrounding information collecting unit collects own vehicle surrounding information including at least a position, a moving direction, and a moving speed related to a moving body around the own vehicle. The moving body presence / absence determining means determines the presence / absence of a moving body in the blind spot area of the host vehicle based on the host vehicle running state and the host vehicle surrounding information.

  Further, the road merging situation determining means determines whether or not the traveling position of the own vehicle is on a pre-merging road connected to the road merging point based on the traveling position of the own vehicle determined by the own vehicle traveling state determining means. . The moving state display means determines that the traveling position of the own vehicle is on the road before the merging in the road merging situation determining means, and determines that the moving body exists in the blind spot area of the own vehicle in the moving body presence / absence determining means. Then, the moving body symbol representing the moving state of the moving body existing in the blind spot area is displayed on the display.

  In other words, this vehicle external information display device is configured to display a moving body symbol representing the moving state of the moving body on a display provided in the pillar portion inside the vehicle, and thus requires a large line of sight movement by the driver. It is possible to notify the driver of the moving body that exists in the blind spot.

  In addition, when it is determined that “the traveling position of the own vehicle is on the road before joining” and “the moving body is present in the blind spot area of the own vehicle”, the vehicle external information display device moves that exists in the blind spot area. Since the moving body symbol representing the moving state of the body is displayed on the display device, the moving body present in the blind spot is notified to the driver when entering the road junction.

  As a result, the driver can recognize a moving body existing in the blind spot without greatly moving his / her line of sight when traveling on the pre-merging road that leads to the road merge point, before reaching the road merge point. It is possible to perform operation in consideration of the existence of a moving object.

  Therefore, according to the vehicle external information display device of the present invention, it becomes possible for the driver to recognize a moving body in the blind spot area without moving a large line of sight at the road merging point, improving safety at the road merging point. To provide safe driving assistance.

  Next, in the above vehicle external information display device, as described in claim 2, the surrounding information collection means adds the position, the moving direction, and the moving speed regarding the moving body around the own vehicle as the surrounding information of the own vehicle. Thus, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which at least the size of the moving body is collected. And the movement state display means sets at least one display form of color, size, and shape among the display forms of the moving body symbol based on the vehicle surrounding information of the moving body existing in the blind spot area. The configuration can be taken.

  By setting the moving object design in this way, not only the presence of the moving object is simply notified, but detailed information about the moving object (the size of the moving object, the position of the moving object, (Moving direction, moving speed) can be notified.

  Next, in the above-described vehicle external information display device, as described in claim 3, the moving state display means displays the moving body symbol on the display unit according to the position of the moving body in the vehicle surrounding information. A configuration in which the position is set can be adopted.

That is, by setting the display position of the moving object symbol according to the position of the moving object, the driver can intuitively recognize the position of the moving object based on the display position of the moving object symbol.
Next, in the above vehicle external information display device, as described in claim 4, the moving state display means determines whether or not the road on which the moving body travels has a plurality of lanes, and the traveling of the moving body. When the road to be operated has a plurality of lanes, the display area of the moving body in the display device can be set to a different area for each lane.

  Thus, by setting the display position of the moving body symbol in accordance with the lane in which the moving body travels, the driver can intuitively determine the lane in which the mobile body travels among a plurality of lanes based on the display position of the moving body symbol. Recognition. That is, the driver can intuitively grasp whether or not there is a moving body in the lane on the side close to the road on which the host vehicle travels based on the display position of the moving body symbol.

  Next, in the above-described vehicle external information display device, as described in claim 5, the surrounding information collection means indicates the situation of the blind spot area hidden by the pillar portion when viewed from the driver's seat as the surrounding information of the own vehicle. You may comprise so that the background information to represent may be collected at least. The vehicle external information display device may include background information display means for displaying background information on a display.

  Thus, by displaying the background information on the display in addition to the moving body design, it is possible to notify the driver of the condition of the blind spot area hidden by the pillar part, and provide more information to the driver. It becomes possible. That is, since this vehicle external information display device can provide a lot of information to the driver, it is possible to provide safe driving support for further improving the safety at the road junction.

  In the vehicle external information display device including the background information display means, the surrounding information collection means collects at least a photographed image obtained by photographing the outside of the vehicle as background information. It may be configured. The background information display means may be configured to display an image in the blind spot area in the captured image on the display.

  In this way, by displaying the image in the blind spot area of the captured image on the display device, it is possible to notify the driver of the situation of the blind spot area hidden by the pillar portion, and provide more information to the driver. It becomes possible.

  Moreover, in the vehicle external information display apparatus provided with a background information display means, as described in claim 7, the moving state display means is a moving body symbol representing a moving state of a moving body existing in a blind spot area hidden by the pillar portion. May be displayed on the display.

  That is, the vehicle external information display device can display the moving body symbol superimposed on the background information, and can display the presence of the moving body in the background information on the display device in a state where it can be easily identified. As a result, the vehicle external information display device can notify the driver not only of the moving object existing in the blind spot area behind the host vehicle but also of the moving object existing in the blind spot area hidden by the pillar portion. This enables safe driving support to further improve the safety at the road junction.

Embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.
The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiment, and can take various forms as long as they belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

[Description of configuration]
The in-vehicle device system 1 according to the present embodiment is used by being mounted on a vehicle, and includes a display provided inside the vehicle, and has a function of displaying vehicle external information on the display.

In FIG. 1, the block diagram showing the schematic structure of the onboard equipment system 1 is shown.
The vehicle-mounted device system 1 of this embodiment includes a controller 11, a roadside transmission / reception processor 13, a data analyzer 15, a display 17, a surrounding vehicle pedestrian detector 19, a current position measuring device 21, a road Database 23 (road DB 23), safe driving support user setting item database 25 (safe driving support user setting item DB 25), safe driving support essential information item database 27 (safe driving support essential information item DB 27), and fixed object information database 29 (fixed object information DB 29).

  Moreover, the onboard equipment system 1 is transmitting / receiving various information by radio | wireless communication between the roadside equipment systems 5 installed on the road. In addition, the roadside device system 5 is provided at a road junction or intersection to collect information such as a moving object in the road junction and the area around the road junction, and information such as a moving object in the intersection and the area around the intersection. It has been.

  The controller 11 is mainly composed of a microcomputer provided with a CPU, RAM, ROM, I / O interface and the like. The controller 11 includes a data analyzer 15, a surrounding vehicle pedestrian detector 19, a current position measuring device 21, a road database 23, a safe driving support user setting item database 25, a safe driving support essential information item database 27, and a fixed object information database. Various types of information are received from 29 and the like, various control processes described later are executed, and various types of information are output to the display unit 17 and the like.

  The roadside transmission / reception processor 13 transmits / receives information to / from the roadside system 5 by wireless communication. The roadside transmission / reception processor 13 receives safe driving support data (information on moving objects around the vehicle, etc.), guidance data (tourist guidance around the current location, store advertisements, etc.) from the roadside system 5. .

  The data analyzer 15 classifies various types of information received from the roadside system 5 by the roadside transmission / reception processor 13 and transmits each information to a predetermined transmission destination for each classified information. The data analyzer 15 classifies the received various information into safe driving support data, guidance data, and the like. For example, the data analyzer 15 transmits the safe driving support data to the controller 11 and transmits the guidance data to other devices (for example, To in-vehicle TV).

  The safe driving support data includes various types of information, such as “information for transmitting captured images taken with a road camera” and “the position of a moving body (vehicle, pedestrian, etc.) moving on the road. Information ”,“ Information relating to the speed of the moving object ”,“ Information relating to the risk of collision with the moving object ”and the like are included. The safe driving support data sent from the road device system 5 is provided with an identifier for identifying the type of information, and the controller 11 stores various information included in the safe driving support data based on the identifier. The type can be identified.

  The display device 17 is a display for displaying various information (moving body symbols, background information, etc.), and is provided in a pillar portion inside the vehicle. In the present embodiment, the display unit 17 includes an upper display unit 17a disposed in the upper part of the pillar unit, and a lower display unit 17b disposed in the lower part of the pillar unit. Yes. The upper display unit 17a and the lower display unit 17b can be configured by a thin display device such as a liquid crystal monitor or an organic EL, for example.

  The peripheral vehicle pedestrian detector 19 is mounted on the vehicle and is provided for detecting a moving body (another vehicle, a pedestrian, etc.) existing in the vicinity of the vehicle. The surrounding vehicle pedestrian detector 19 outputs information on the moving body detected based on the presence or absence of an infrared reflected signal, for example, when detecting a moving body around the own vehicle by an infrared sensor. In addition, for example, when the moving vehicle is detected by analyzing an image captured by the in-vehicle camera, the surrounding vehicle pedestrian detector 19 detects the moving object by performing image analysis on the captured image by the in-vehicle camera. The information about the detected moving object is output.

  Then, the surrounding vehicle pedestrian detector 19 transmits information related to the moving object existing in the vicinity of the vehicle to the controller 11. Note that the surrounding vehicle pedestrian detector 19 cannot detect a moving body that exists in a blind spot area caused by another moving body or a fixed object because the installation location is a vehicle, but can be directly recognized from the own vehicle. A moving body can be detected with high accuracy. Further, when the surrounding vehicle pedestrian detector 19 is provided outside the vehicle, the surrounding vehicle pedestrian detector 19 can detect a moving body that exists in a blind spot area (for example, a blind spot area generated by a pillar portion) that is peculiar to a driver's seat in the vehicle. It becomes possible.

  The current position measuring device 21 is provided to measure the current position of the host vehicle based on radio waves from a GPS artificial satellite (not shown). The current position measuring device 21 transmits at least information on the current position to the controller 11.

  In the road database 23, information on road junctions and intersections in various places is recorded. Specifically, the road database 23 includes “a background image captured by a camera installed at a road junction or intersection”, “camera installation position (x, y, z)”, “camera shooting parameters (shooting direction). , Angle, target point, optical characteristics: lens characteristics), “camera shooting range schematic image”, “signal position approximate position”, and the like are recorded.

  The “background image captured by the camera” is a background image captured when the camera of the roadside system 5 is operating normally, and is recorded in the road database 23 in advance. The “background image photographed by the camera” is used for comparison with the camera photographed image received from the roadside system 5 in order to check whether there is any abnormality in the photographing range of the camera.

  The safe driving support user setting item database 25 records items that the user desires to provide among all items to be provided to the user (driver) regarding safe driving support. In other words, if the user feels annoyed about providing information for all items, the user selects the items to be provided so that only information on the limited items he / she desires is provided. Priority can be set.

  The items to be provided for safe driving support include, for example, “road information of road merge points (number of lanes of other roads to be merged)”, “shape information of road merge points (self Relative positional relationship between running road and other roads (Right side merge, Left side merge, etc.) ”,“ Road condition after merge (Side road length after merge, etc.) ”,“ Moving object in blind spot area ” Detection "and the like. In addition, the items related to the intersection include “road information to the intersection (number of lanes, presence / absence of signal, presence / absence of right turn lane)”, “opposite lane shape information at right turn of intersection”, “state of right turn road (presence of pedestrian signal”) , Whether there is a pedestrian crossing), “road situation after a right turn”, “detection of oncoming vehicles in the blind spot”, “detection of pedestrians crossing”, “detection of parked vehicles”, “sidewalks” Detecting pedestrians while walking ".

  The safe driving support essential information item database 27 is an essential information item necessary for safe driving support at each road junction or intersection (for example, “road information of road junction (the number of lanes of other roads to be merged)”, "Detection of a moving object existing in a blind spot area", "Detection of an oncoming vehicle in a blind spot", "Detection of a pedestrian crossing a pedestrian crossing", etc.) are recorded.

  Even if the item is set as “item not to be provided to the user” in the safe driving support user setting item database 25, the setting contents in the safe driving support essential information item database 27 in consideration of the risk level of the vehicle and the like. It is also possible to adopt a configuration that provides the user with priority.

  The fixed object information database 29 includes road information (a distinction between roadways, sidewalks, guardrails, vegetation, white lines such as pedestrian crossings / stop lines, road surface information: pavement material, presence / absence of manholes, etc.), traffic-related fixed object information (signs, Information on fixed objects such as traffic lights, guide signs), building information (buildings, signboards), and lighting equipment information (streetlights) is recorded. Information recorded in the fixed object information database 29 is used for generating a fixed object drawing preparation space to be described later.

  The various information recorded in the road database 23 and the fixed object information database 29 is appropriately updated to the latest contents by being replaced with the latest information transmitted from the road device system 5. That is, when an actual road shape or the like is changed, information recorded in the road database 23 and the fixed object information database 29 is updated according to the changed content.

  Based on the information received from the roadside system 5 via the data analyzer 15 and the information received from the surrounding vehicle pedestrian detector 19, the controller 11 is located on which road on which road and the other vehicle ( It is possible to analyze whether or not another vehicle is traveling, and to recognize information (position, speed, traveling direction, etc.) relating to a moving body existing around the host vehicle. In other words, the controller 11 can determine which camera is shooting which field of view based on the information in the road database 23 and the fixed object information database 29. It can be determined whether a moving object exists.

  Further, when the controller 11 recognizes a plurality of moving bodies, the controller 11 recognizes the positional relationship among the plurality of moving bodies, and among the plurality of moving bodies, the moving body that cannot be visually recognized by the driver of the host vehicle (in other words, exists in the blind spot). Mobile body to be determined).

  Further, the controller 11 recognizes the current position of the host vehicle based on the information received from the current position measuring device 21, and obtains information on the fixed object existing around the current position from the fixed object information database 29.

  Then, the controller 11 uses the information on the moving object and the information on the fixed object to generate a drawing image for representing the positions of the moving object and the fixed object in three dimensions, and uses the drawing image as the driver's visual field image. Execute the conversion process. Thereafter, the controller 11 displays information to be provided to the driver on the display unit 17 among the moving objects and fixed objects included in the driver's visual field image.

Here, the block diagram of the display control part for performing display control of the indicator 17 among the controllers 11 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the display control unit of the controller 11 includes a fixed object drawing unit 31, a moving body drawing unit 33, an overall drawing configuration unit 35, an image generation unit 37, and a conversion condition determination correction unit 39. It is equipped with.

  The fixed object drawing unit 31 performs a process of drawing the three-dimensional information of the fixed object by superimposing the fixed object on the three-dimensional fixed object drawing preparation space based on the information regarding the fixed object existing around the current position. . The fixed object arranged in the fixed object drawing preparation space is determined based on the items set in the safe driving support user setting item database 25 and the items set in the safe driving support essential information item database 27.

  The moving body drawing unit 33 executes a process of drawing the three-dimensional information of the moving body by superimposing the moving body on the three-dimensional moving body drawing preparation space based on the information about the moving body existing around the host vehicle. . The moving objects to be arranged in the moving object drawing preparation space are determined based on the items set in the safe driving support user setting item database 25 and the items set in the safe driving support essential information item database 27.

  The drawing preparation space (fixed object drawing preparation space, moving object drawing preparation space) is a drawing memory designation area in which a three-dimensional object such as a fixed object or a moving object is virtually arranged. A point representing a direction and a position called a feature point is set for each three-dimensional object, and a virtual arrangement of the three-dimensional object is determined depending on a position in the drawing preparation space where the feature point is arranged.

  In addition, the moving object drawing unit 33 determines a moving object that exists in the driver's blind spot area for the plurality of moving objects arranged in the moving object drawing preparation space, and the driver's blind spot in the moving object drawing preparation space. A moving object design for representing the presence of the moving object is arranged at a position adjacent to the moving object existing in the region (for example, a position moved upward by a certain distance from the moving object).

  In addition, examples of the display form of the mobile object design include an arrow-shaped mobile object design that indicates the traveling direction of the mobile object, and the display form such as the color, size, and shape of the vehicle and its vehicle It is also possible to change the distance according to the distance from the moving body (or the distance between the road junction and the moving body).

  The overall drawing constructing unit 35 superimposes two drawing preparation spaces (a fixed object drawing preparation space and a moving object drawing preparation space), whereby an entire drawing preparation in which a moving object, a moving object pattern, and a fixed object are virtually arranged is arranged. A process for generating a space is executed.

  The image generation unit 37 assumes a virtual camera for photographing a space, a moving object design, and a fixed object in a virtual drawing preparation space, and uses a known image processing technique to prepare the entire drawing preparation. By converting the space into a captured image of the virtual camera, processing for generating an image captured from the virtual camera is executed. Then, the image generation unit 37 executes a process of displaying necessary items (for example, a moving object design) on the display unit 17 among the generated captured images.

  The image generation unit 37 can generate an image corresponding to the visual field of the driver by setting the position of the virtual camera and the shooting direction to contents corresponding to the driver's line of sight. That is, when the image generation unit 37 sets the position and shooting direction of the virtual camera in accordance with the driver's line of sight with respect to the entire drawing preparation space, the characteristics of the virtual camera, the moving body, the moving body design, and the fixed object are set. These relative positions are identified from the points, and an image corresponding to the driver's visual field can be generated using a known image processing technique.

  The image generation unit 37 is configured to generate a captured image from the virtual camera in a short time (real time) when the position and the shooting direction of the virtual camera that captures the entire drawing preparation space are determined. For example, when the host vehicle enters an intersection, the image generation unit 37 sets an image (driving) as a view of the intersection from the viewpoint of the driver when the virtual camera is set at a position corresponding to the driver's line of sight. Can be generated, or if the virtual camera is set above the intersection, an image taken from any position above the intersection (aerial image equivalent to an aerial photograph) can be drawn in a short time it can. In addition, when the host vehicle travels on a pre-merging road that is connected to a road merge point, the image generation unit 37 merges from the viewpoint of the driver when the virtual camera is set at a position corresponding to the driver's line of sight. It is possible to generate an image (a driver's view image) as a scenery of the front road.

  For example, when the host vehicle turns right, the image generation unit 37 captures a captured image (a driver's field of view) including a moving body pattern of a moving body (such as a moving body that is hidden by the pillar portion and cannot be seen) existing in the blind spot area. Image) is generated, and at least the moving object symbol is displayed on the display unit 17 in the field-of-view image.

  For example, when the vehicle travels on a pre-merging road that is connected to a road merge point, the image generating unit 37 travels on another merged road (in other words, a moving object that exists in a blind spot area). Are arranged in the display area for the merging road in the entire drawing preparation space, and a captured image (driver's visual field image) including the moving object design is generated. And the image generation part 37 displays the information of the mobile body which drive | works the other merge road by displaying the mobile body symbol arrange | positioned at least in the display area for merge roads among the visual field images on the display device 17. 17 is displayed.

  In the present embodiment, an area corresponding to the pillar part (view pillar part area) is set as a display area for the merging road in the visual field range from the driver's seat in the entire drawing preparation space. In the display area for the merge road, the display position of the moving body symbol in the field pillar area is set so that the distance from the road merge point to the mobile body can be determined. For example, the lower end portion of the visual field pillar portion region corresponds to a road merge point, and the upper end portion of the visual pillar portion region is set to correspond to a point separated from the road merge point by a predetermined distance (for example, 500 m). Yes. Thereby, it can be determined that the position of the moving body corresponding to the moving body symbol is approaching the road junction as the moving body symbol display position is closer to the lower end of the visual field pillar part region.

  In other words, the controller 11 configured in this way, when the traveling position of the host vehicle is on the road before joining, the moving body that travels on another joining road (in other words, the moving body that exists in the blind spot area). ) Is displayed on the display unit 17 so that the driver is notified of the moving body existing in the blind spot area when entering the road junction. As a result, the driver can recognize the moving body existing in the blind spot area based on the display state of the moving body symbol on the display unit 17 when traveling on the pre-merging road connected to the road merging point. It is possible to perform driving in consideration of the presence of a moving object before reaching the point. That is, the vehicle-mounted device system 1 including the controller 11 can notify the driver of the presence of the moving body, and is configured to be able to support safe driving.

  Next, the conversion condition determination correction unit 39 determines the conversion condition of the conversion processing (processing for converting the drawing preparation space including the moving body into the driver's front view image) in the image generation unit 37, and more appropriate conversion conditions. The process of correcting to is executed.

  The peripheral vehicle pedestrian detector 19 includes an in-vehicle camera provided inside the vehicle, and this in-vehicle camera is provided in the vicinity of the driver's seat and is arranged so as to photograph the front of the vehicle.

  The conversion condition determination correction unit 39 acquires a captured image captured by the in-vehicle camera and converts the captured image into a captured visual field image (hereinafter also referred to as a camera visual field image) as a driver's visual field image. Further, the conversion condition determination correction unit 39 acquires a fixed object drawing preparation space in which a fixed object is arranged from the fixed object drawing unit 31, and performs conversion processing in the image generation unit 37 (the drawing preparation space including the moving body is displayed by the driver). The driver's line-of-sight image (hereinafter also referred to as a drawing field image) converted from the fixed object drawing preparation space is acquired in accordance with the conversion condition of the process of converting to a front field image.

  Next, the conversion condition determination correction unit 39 compares the coordinate positions of common fixed objects (for example, utility poles, poles, and the like) included in the camera visual field image and the drawing visual field image, and determines the positional deviation amount of the fixed objects. . Subsequently, the conversion condition determination correction unit 39 corrects the conversion condition in the image generation unit 37 so that the amount of positional deviation decreases.

  In this way, by correcting the conversion condition of the conversion process in the image generation unit 37, the error in the display position of the fixed object can be reduced with respect to the driver's visual field image generated by the image generation unit 37, and the moving body The error in the symbol display position can be reduced.

Next, the configuration of the roadside device system 5 will be described. In FIG. 3, the block diagram showing the schematic structure of the roadside device system 5 is shown.
The road device system 5 includes a road device control unit 41, a communication device 43, a plurality of road cameras 45, and a plurality of vehicle detectors 47.

  The road unit control unit 41 collects video information captured by a plurality of road cameras 45, vehicle information detected by a plurality of vehicle detectors 47, and the like, and movement related to a moving body traveling on the road based on the collected information. Generate body information (position, speed, direction of travel, etc.).

  The roadside device control unit 41 executes transmission / reception processing of various information via the communication device 43 with the vehicle-mounted device system 1 mounted on the vehicle moving around the intersection where the roadside device system 5 is installed. Yes. The information transmitted from the road unit control unit 41 to the vehicle-mounted device system 1 includes moving body information, video information captured by the road camera 45, and the like.

  The road camera 45 is installed on the road, images the road and the moving body, and transmits the captured video information to the road controller control unit 41. Also, by installing a plurality of road cameras 45, video information from various angles can be collected at one intersection.

In FIG. 4, the typical image figure of the image | video which the road camera 45 image | photographed is shown.
FIG. 4 is a video image when the host vehicle 61 is traveling on a pre-merging road 111 that is connected to a road junction. There is a subsequent vehicle 64 behind the host vehicle 61, and other vehicles that are connected to the road junction. A situation in which the parallel vehicle 62 and the preceding vehicle 63 exist on the junction road 112 is schematically shown. As described above, when the traveling position of the host vehicle 61 is the pre-merging road 111, the preceding vehicle 63 traveling in the visual field range among the other merging roads 112 can be seen from the host vehicle 61 but is traveling in the blind spot region. It is difficult to visually recognize the vehicle 62 from the host vehicle 61.

  However, since the video image taken from the road camera 45 includes the own vehicle 61, the following vehicle 64, the parallel running vehicle 62, and the preceding vehicle 63, by performing image processing using this video image, The relative position of each vehicle on the road can be determined. That is, it is possible to easily recognize the parallel vehicle 62 that cannot be visually recognized from the host vehicle 61 (in other words, the parallel vehicle that travels in the blind spot area) by using the video image taken by the road camera 45.

  As shown in FIG. 4, an auxiliary line 113 representing a distance is drawn on the video image taken by the road camera 45, and image processing is performed using the auxiliary line 113, so that the position of each moving object is displayed. Discrimination processing such as coordinates and distances between moving objects can be performed.

  Here, FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the photographing range of the road camera 45, the front visual field range of the host vehicle, and the blind spot region. This explanatory view corresponds to a plan view of a road junction where the pre-merging road 111 and another merging road 112 merge.

  In FIG. 11, among the plurality of vehicles traveling on the other merging road 112, the preceding vehicle 63 included in the front visual field range 81 of the own vehicle 61 can be viewed from the own vehicle 61, but the front visual field range of the own vehicle 61. The parallel running vehicle 62 that is not included in 81 (in other words, the parallel running vehicle 62 present in the blind spot area) cannot be visually confirmed from the host vehicle 61. The leading parallel vehicle 62 out of the three parallel vehicles 62 is included in a blind spot area generated by the pillar portion of the host vehicle 61 or a blind spot area generated by a fixed object, and thus cannot be viewed from the host vehicle 61. ing.

  On the other hand, since the road camera 45 is installed at a position different from the own vehicle 61, the shooting range 83 of the road camera 45 includes the parallel running vehicle 62 that moves in the blind spot area. From this, it can be seen that by using the video image of the road camera 45, it is also possible to recognize a parallel running vehicle 62 (in other words, a vehicle running in a blind spot area) that cannot be directly viewed from the own vehicle 61.

  The road camera 45 has a function of determining whether or not it is operating under preset operating conditions and transmitting the determination result to the road controller control unit 41. For example, when the captured image does not have sufficient resolution, the image is insufficient to recognize the moving object due to rain, etc., or when the shooting range deviates from the setting range due to wind or the like, the preset operation If the condition is not satisfied, the situation is transmitted to the road control unit 41.

  The vehicle detector 47 is installed on the road, detects a moving body that moves on the road, and transmits information of the detected moving body to the road device control unit 41. In addition, by installing a plurality of vehicle detectors 47, it is possible to collect information on moving bodies at various points in one road junction.

  For example, a plurality of vehicle detectors 47 can be installed so that the own vehicle 61, the parallel running vehicle 62, and the preceding vehicle 63 can be detected in the same manner as the video image taken from the road camera 45. By installing a plurality of vehicle detectors 47 in this way, it is possible to determine the relative position of each vehicle on the road using information on the moving body detected by the plurality of vehicle detectors 47. That is, the parallel running vehicle 62 that cannot be directly recognized from the host vehicle 61 can be easily recognized by using the information of the moving body detected by the plurality of vehicle detectors 47.

  Further, by using the video image taken from the road camera 45 and the information of the moving body detected by the vehicle detector 47, it is possible to recognize the side-by-side vehicle 62 that is not directly visible from the own vehicle 61. .

  In other words, the roadside device system 5 includes moving body information (position, speed, and information on a moving body traveling on the road based on video information captured by a plurality of roadside cameras 45, vehicle information detected by a plurality of vehicle detectors 47, and the like. Direction of travel). In addition, the roadside system 5 transmits various types of information such as video information captured by the roadside camera 45 and moving body information (position, speed, traveling direction, etc.) regarding the moving body traveling on the road to the vehicle-mounted device system 1. .

  Next, an image diagram showing the display contents of the moving body symbol on the display 17 is shown in FIG. FIG. 5 schematically shows the interior of the vehicle and the shape of the road, and is an image diagram for notifying the presence of a moving body (parallel vehicle) in the driver's right rear blind spot area on the display 17. In FIG. 5, the pillar part 91, the rearview mirror 92, the handle 93, and the door mirror 94 are schematically shown.

  The indicator 17 is installed so as to cover the pillar portion 91 corresponding to the right-side A pillar of the vehicle, and has a width dimension larger than that of the pillar portion 91. The display device 17 includes an upper display unit 17 a disposed in the upper part of the pillar unit 91 and a lower display unit 17 b disposed in the lower part of the pillar unit 91. The indicator 17 is made of a transparent material, and the driver can visually recognize the outside of the vehicle through the indicator 17. The indicator 17 is provided in a visual field range (a range that conforms to safety standards) that does not hinder driving.

  FIG. 5 shows a state where three three-dimensional arrow-shaped moving body symbols 71, 72, and 73 representing the moving body present in the driver's right rear blind spot are displayed on the display device 17. ing. This is because when the traveling position of the host vehicle 61 is the pre-merging road 111, there are a plurality of vehicles traveling on the other merging road 112, and three of the parallel traveling vehicles 62 are present in the right rear blind spot area. It is an example of the display form of a case (refer FIG. 11).

  In FIG. 5, the display forms of the three moving body symbols 71, 72, and 73 differ depending on the distance between the road junction and the moving body. That is, the moving object symbol 73 corresponding to the moving object that is the farthest away is displayed the smallest, and the moving object symbol 71 corresponding to the moving object that is the closest to the distance is displayed most greatly. Performs a process of displaying a moving body symbol larger as the distance between the road junction and the moving body becomes shorter. In addition, the color of the moving object is changed according to the distance, such as green when the distance between the road junction and the vehicle is a long distance, yellow when the distance is medium, and red when the distance is short. You may do it.

  In addition, in the display device 17, an overlapping area (view pillar part area) with the pillar part 91 is set as a display area for the merging road. The display unit 17 is configured such that the lower end of the display area for the merging road corresponds to the road merging point and the upper end of the display area for the merging road from the merging point with respect to the display position of the moving body symbol in the display area for the merging road. It is set to correspond to a point separated by a predetermined distance (for example, 500 m). Thereby, it can be determined that the position of the moving body corresponding to the moving body symbol is approaching the road merging point as the display position of the moving body symbol is closer to the lower end of the indicator 17 (the display area for the merging road). .

  As for the actual road junction, since the width of the pre-merging road 111 and the other junction road 112 is large, the road junction reaches a relatively wide range, so the distance between the road junction and the moving object is accurate. Therefore, it is necessary to specify the reference point of the road junction. Therefore, in the present embodiment, for example, for the road merge point between the road 111 before merge and the other merge road 112 shown in FIG. 4, the most advanced position 114 at the merge point of the road 111 before merge is the reference point of the road merge point. Is set as The reference point of the road merge point is not limited to the most advanced position 114, and may be the rearmost position 115 at the merged point of the road 111 before the merge, or the most advanced position 114 and the most recent position. An intermediate point with 115 may be used as a reference point.

  Further, in FIG. 5, when only the moving body symbol of the moving body (vehicle) existing in the right rear blind spot area is displayed, that is, the moving body (vehicle) deviates from the right rear blind spot area so that the driver can directly recognize it. When it becomes, the image figure in the case of performing the process which erase | eliminates a moving body symbol is represented. That is, in FIG. 5, the preceding vehicle 63 traveling on the other junction road 112 is schematically shown in the upper part of the door mirror 94, but this preceding vehicle 63 can be seen through the side window of the vehicle. The moving body symbol of the preceding vehicle 63 is not displayed on the display unit 17.

  However, the display processing content of the moving body symbol is not limited to such a form, and the process of keeping the moving body symbol displayed until the moving body (vehicle) reaches the reference point of the road junction is shown. You may go. In such a case, by displaying the moving body symbol so that the moving body that can be visually recognized and the moving body in the blind spot area can be distinguished (for example, color change display), the driver can actually see the moving body and the indicator. It is possible to clearly recognize the correspondence relationship with the moving object symbol displayed in FIG. In addition, by performing such display, it is possible to prevent the moving body symbol from suddenly disappearing from the display content of the display device 17, and the driver can ensure that the moving body has moved from the blind spot area to the visible area. It is possible to recognize and accurately grasp the moving state of the moving body.

  Further, even if the moving object exists in the right rear blind spot area, the moving object exists in an area where the risk of collision with the own vehicle is low (for example, a range sufficiently distant from the own vehicle (display unnecessary range) For the moving object), a process of not displaying the moving object symbol may be performed. In other words, it is not always necessary to display a moving object symbol for a moving object that exists in the display unnecessary range, and it is also possible to prevent the driver's attention from being distracted by displaying the moving object symbol. It is to do.

[Description of operation]
Next, processing executed by the controller 11 will be described.
The controller 11 executes various processes for safe driving support, and executes a safe driving support process at the time of road merging as one of them. Therefore, the processing content of the safe driving assistance processing at the time of road merging will be described.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the road merging safe driving support processing.
The controller 11 receives information on the current position from the current position measuring device 21 and executes a current position determination process for determining the current position of the host vehicle. If it is determined that the vehicle has entered a region within a distance of 500 m from the point, the safe driving support process at the time of road merging is started.

  When the road merging safe driving support process is started, first, in S110 (S represents a step, the same applies hereinafter), it is determined whether or not the current position of the host vehicle is the road area before merging. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S120. If the determination is negative, the safe driving support process at the time of road merging ends.

  If an affirmative determination is made in S110 and the process proceeds to S120, it is determined in S120 whether or not the traveling state of the host vehicle is the road merge mode. If an affirmative determination is made, the process proceeds to S130, and a negative determination is made. Finishes the safe driving support process when the road joins. In S120, the traveling state of the host vehicle is determined by determining whether the guidance route by the car navigation system is a route passing through the road junction or whether the own road is connected only to the road junction. Is determined to be in the road merge mode.

  In addition, by executing the determination process in S110 and S120, even if the current position of the host vehicle is outside the road area before merging, the road merging safe driving support process is erroneously started for some reason If the current position of the host vehicle is in the pre-merging road area but there is a course other than the road merging point, the road merging safe driving assistance process is activated when the road merging safe driving assistance process is activated. It can be completed normally.

  If an affirmative determination is made in S120 and the process proceeds to S130, the vehicle position coordinate confirmation process as a subroutine is activated in S130. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the vehicle position coordinate confirmation processing.

When the own vehicle position coordinate confirmation process is started, first, in S310, the current position coordinates and the traveling direction of the own vehicle are measured based on the information from the current position measuring device 21.
In the next step S320, based on the current position coordinates of the host vehicle, map data in the vicinity of the pre-merging road on which the host vehicle travels is read from the road database 23, and fixed objects existing around the pre-merging road on which the host vehicle travels. Information is read from the fixed object information database 29. Then, using the read map data and fixed object information, a process of creating a two-dimensional pre-merging road map representing the situation around the pre-merging road is executed. That is, a process of superimposing fixed object information on map data and drawing a road map before joining (two-dimensional information) is executed.

In S320, after generating a two-dimensional pre-merging road map, a process of placing the host vehicle on the pre-merging road map is performed based on the current position information and the traveling direction of the host vehicle.
In the next step S330, the three-dimensional information related to the fixed object is read from the road database 23 and the fixed object information database 29, and the three-dimensional information of the fixed object is added to the information of the two-dimensional pre-merging road map generated in S320. Thus, a process of generating a three-dimensional fixed object drawing preparation space that represents the situation around the road before joining, including the host vehicle and the fixed object, is executed.

  Note that the fixed object drawing preparation space can be used to estimate the situation of the front vision range of the driver who drives the host vehicle. That is, by estimating the situation of the driver's front visual field range using the fixed object drawing preparation space, it is possible to estimate the arrangement position of the fixed object included in the driver's front visual field range.

  Here, FIG. 12 shows an explanatory diagram for explaining the front visual field range of the host vehicle. This explanatory diagram corresponds to a plan view of a road area before joining including a road joining point where the road 111 before joining and the other joining road 112 join. In addition, in FIG. 12, while showing the own vehicle 61 which drive | works the road 111 before joining, the front visual field range 81 when the front is seen from the driver | operator of the own vehicle 61 is shown. Moreover, in FIG. 12, the road camera 45 installed in the road merge point is shown typically.

When the process in S330 ends, the vehicle position coordinate confirmation process ends, and the process again shifts to the road merging safe driving support process.
Returning to FIG. 6, in the subsequent S140, the moving body arrangement process as a subroutine is started. FIG. 8 shows a flowchart showing the processing contents of the moving object arrangement processing.

  When the moving body arrangement process is started, first, in S410, a process of reading out information related to moving bodies around the host vehicle from the safe driving support data received from the roadside system 5 is executed.

  In addition, when outputting the information regarding a some mobile body, the roadside device system 5 has attached | subjected the identification number for every detected mobile body. In addition, the roadside system 5 outputs information including a detection time, a moving body identification number, position data, a traveling direction, a moving speed, an estimated vehicle size, and the like as information about the moving body.

In the next S420, a process of reading position data from information related to the moving body is executed for all moving bodies existing around the host vehicle.
In the next S430, based on the position data of each moving body, a process of generating a three-dimensional moving body drawing preparation space representing the situation around the road before joining including the moving body is executed. That is, in S430, the mobile object drawing preparation space in a state where the mobile object is arranged is generated.

  In addition, as a form of the moving body arranged in the moving body drawing preparation space, a rectangular parallelepiped image reflecting the size of the moving body or an image image of a normal vehicle or a large vehicle (truck, bus, etc.) is used. it can.

  Here, FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an image of the moving object drawing preparation space in which the moving object is arranged. This explanatory diagram does not represent a three-dimensional image, but represents how a plurality of moving objects are arranged in the moving object drawing preparation space, and is a plan view of the moving object drawing preparation space. It represents as.

  In the moving object drawing preparation space of FIG. 13, as the moving object, the own vehicle 61, the succeeding vehicle 64 of the own vehicle 61, the parallel running vehicle 62 that travels on the other merging road 112, and the preceding vehicle 63 are arranged.

When the process in S430 ends, the moving body arrangement process ends, and the process again shifts to the road driving safe driving support process.
Returning to FIG. 6, in the subsequent S150, a blind spot area determination process as a subroutine is started. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the contents of the blind spot area determination process.

  When the blind spot area determination process is started, first, in S510, all the moving objects (the own vehicle 61, the vehicle 61, existing in the pre-merging road area using the moving object drawing preparation space generated in the moving object arrangement process (S140). The parallel vehicle 62, the preceding vehicle 63, the succeeding vehicle 64, etc.) are subjected to processing for confirming their respective positions (coordinate positions in the space).

  In the next S520, based on the current position of the host vehicle 61, a process of determining the driver's blind spot area in the pre-merging road area is executed. At this time, a blind spot area generated by the other moving body or the fixed object is determined based on the coordinate positions of the own vehicle 61, the other moving body, and the fixed object (such as a side wall of the road).

  In the next S530, for the blind spot area detected in S520, a process for recording the existence range (three-dimensional coordinate data, etc.) of the blind spot area in the moving object drawing preparation space in the storage unit (memory, etc.) is executed.

  In the next S540, a process of determining whether or not a moving body exists in the blind spot area of the moving body drawing preparation space is executed. In S540, the coordinate data indicating the existence range of the blind spot area is compared with the coordinate data of each moving object, and it is determined whether the coordinate data indicating the existence range of the blind spot area includes the coordinate data of each moving object. Thus, it is determined whether or not there is a moving object in the blind spot area.

In the next S550, a process of recording information (position, moving direction, moving speed, etc.) of the moving body existing in the blind spot area in a storage unit (memory, etc.) is executed.
Here, FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an image of the moving object drawing preparation space showing the front visual field range of the host vehicle. In addition, this explanatory drawing does not represent a three-dimensional image, but represents a plan view of the moving object drawing preparation space, and shows a front view range 81 of the host vehicle, and other areas are blind spot areas. Assume that there is.

  In the moving body drawing preparation space in FIG. 14, among the plurality of vehicles traveling on the other merging road 112, the preceding vehicle 63 is included in the front visual field range 81 of the own vehicle 61, but the three parallel running vehicles 62 are It is not included in the front visual field range 81 of the vehicle 61 and exists in the blind spot area. That is, in FIG. 14, it is assumed that a plurality of parallel vehicles 62 that are not included in the front visual field range 81 cannot be directly visually recognized from the host vehicle 61.

When the process in S550 ends, the blind spot area determination process ends, and the process again shifts to the road merge safe driving support process.
Returning to FIG. 6, in the subsequent S160, it is determined whether or not there is a moving object in the blind spot area based on the determination result in S150. If an affirmative determination is made, the process proceeds to S170, and a negative determination is made. Proceeds to S190.

  If an affirmative determination is made in S160 and the process proceeds to S170, a moving body symbol setting process as a subroutine is started in S170. FIG. 10 shows a flowchart showing the processing contents of the moving body symbol setting process.

  When the moving object design setting process is started, first, in S610, with respect to a plurality of moving objects existing around the host vehicle, the presence or absence of the moving object in the display unnecessary range is determined. The non-display flag is set (or the display flag is reset), and the non-display flag is reset (or the display flag is set) for a moving body that exists outside the display unnecessary range.

  The display unnecessary range is a range that does not affect the traveling of the host vehicle, and is a range in which the distance from the host vehicle is greater than a predetermined value (display boundary distance) (for example, a straight distance from the host vehicle is 500 m or more). A remote range) is preset as a display unnecessary area.

  In next S620, with respect to a plurality of moving objects existing around the host vehicle, the presence / absence of a moving object in the danger range is determined, and the danger display flag is set for the moving object existing in the danger range, so that it exists outside the danger range The danger display flag is reset for the moving object to be operated. The danger range is a range where there is a possibility of collision with the host vehicle. In the present embodiment, a range where the distance from the host vehicle is smaller than a predetermined value (danger boundary distance) (for example, from the host vehicle). The range in which the linear distance is 100 m or less is set in advance as the danger range.

  In S620, the collision risk is determined using “information on the collision risk with the moving object” included in the safe driving support data received from the roadside system 5, and the “moving object with a high collision risk” is determined. You may determine as a "moving body included in a danger range."

  In the next S630, with respect to the moving object existing in the visible region, it is determined whether or not there is a moving object that satisfies a certain condition for displaying the moving object symbol, and the non-display flag is reset for the moving object that satisfies the condition. (Or set a display flag).

  That is, in S630, regarding the moving object existing in the visible area, the moving object symbol is displayed when the moving object is present in the blind spot area, and then the presence or absence of the moving object that has moved from the blind spot area to the visible area is determined. The non-display flag is reset (or the display flag is set) for such a moving body (moving body moved from the blind spot area to the visible area).

  The controller 11 records a history of information about the moving body (position, etc.), and determines the presence or absence of the moving body that has moved from the blind spot area to the visible area based on the past history. Further, at this time, the controller 11 can display both display forms (color, color) so that the moving object design of the moving object moved from the blind spot region to the visible region and the moving object design of the moving object existing in the blind spot region can be identified. Set the shape etc. to different forms.

  By performing such processing, the moving object on which the moving object symbol is displayed is included in the driver's front visual field range even if the moving object can be directly viewed outside the blind spot area. In the meantime, the moving body symbol is displayed on the display 17.

  This prevents the moving object symbol from disappearing suddenly when the moving object moves from the blind spot area to the visible area, and the driver can reliably recognize that the moving object has moved from the blind spot area to the visible area. It is possible to accurately grasp the moving state of the moving body. Further, by adopting such a display form, the driver can clearly recognize the correspondence between the mobile body that can be actually visually recognized and the mobile body symbol displayed on the display.

  In the next S640, the non-display flag is reset (or the display flag is set) in the mobile object drawing preparation space (the mobile object drawing preparation space in which the mobile object is arranged) generated in the mobile object arrangement process (S140). The process which arrange | positions the mobile body symbol corresponding to a mobile body is performed.

  When the host vehicle travels on a pre-merging road that is connected to a road merge point, the coordinate position of the moving object symbol is set within the range of the display area for the merged road in the moving object drawing preparation space. The display area for the merge road is set to an area corresponding to the pillar part (view pillar part area) in the view field range from the driver's seat in the moving object drawing preparation space.

  In the display area for the merge road, the display position of the moving body symbol in the field pillar area is set so that the distance from the road merge point to the mobile body can be determined. That is, the lower end portion of the visual pillar portion region corresponds to a road junction point, and the upper end portion of the visual pillar portion region corresponds to a point away from the road junction point by a predetermined distance (for example, 500 m). . Thereby, it can be determined that the position of the moving body corresponding to the moving body symbol is approaching the road junction as the moving body symbol display position is closer to the lower end of the visual field pillar part region.

  In S640, it is determined whether or not the road on which the mobile body travels has a plurality of lanes. If the road on which the mobile body travels has a plurality of lanes, the display area of the mobile body in the display area for the merged road is displayed. Processing to set different areas for each lane is performed. That is, the display area for merge roads is set so that the display area of the moving body symbol is different for each lane when the other merge road 112 has a plurality of lanes.

  For example, when the other merging road 112 has a traveling lane and an overtaking lane, the moving body symbol of the moving body existing in the traveling lane is displayed in the left area of the display area for the merging road and exists in the overtaking lane. By displaying the moving body symbol of the moving body in the right region of the display area for the merging road, it is possible to determine which lane the moving body is traveling based on the display position of the moving body symbol.

  In FIG. 5, the moving body symbols 71 and 73 are arranged in the right region of the display area for the merging road (the area overlapping the pillar portion 91 in the display device 17), and the moving body symbol 72 is the merging road. The display area is arranged in the left area. That is, FIG. 5 shows a display form in the case where the moving body corresponding to the moving body symbols 71 and 73 is traveling in the same lane and the moving body corresponding to the moving body symbol 72 is traveling in another lane. ing.

In addition, with respect to a moving object for which the danger display flag is set, a moving object symbol for blinking display is arranged so that it can be easily distinguished from other moving objects.
Moreover, in S640, the process which changes the display form (a color, a magnitude | size, a shape, etc.) of a mobile body symbol according to the distance of a mobile body and the own vehicle is performed for every mobile body.

  For example, when classifying the distance between the moving body and the host vehicle into three levels (long distance, medium distance, short distance), the color of the moving body pattern is green for long distance and medium distance May be changed to yellow, red for short distance, and so on. In addition, the size of the moving object pattern may be changed such that it is the smallest size for a long distance, an intermediate size for a medium distance, and a largest size for a short distance. Further, the shape of the moving object pattern may be changed to a round mark for a long distance, a rectangular mark for a medium distance, and a star mark for a short distance.

In the present embodiment, the shape of the moving object symbol employs an arrow mark indicating the traveling direction of the moving object (see FIG. 5).
In the next step S650, a process of recording the drawing data of the moving body symbol in the display content memory (display content recording unit) of the display unit 17 is executed.

  In S650, first, the moving object drawing preparation space in which the moving object and the moving object symbol are arranged is converted into the driver's forward visual field image, and the perspective position of the moving object symbol in the converted visual field image is specified. At this time, the perspective position of the moving body symbol in the visual field image is set so as to be included in the display area for the merging road. Moreover, the display area for merge roads is set to an area corresponding to the pillar part 91 (view pillar part area) in the view field range from the driver's seat in the moving body drawing preparation space.

  At this time, the field-of-view image data in which the perspective position of the moving object design is specified is formed as an independent drawing layer for each moving object, and a plurality of moving object symbols are arranged by overlapping these drawing layers. Generated visual field images can be generated.

  Further, based on the contents set in the safe driving support user setting item database 25 and the safe driving support essential information item database 27, only the moving body symbol that needs to be displayed is selected, and the drawing layer of the selected moving body symbol is selected. By superimposing the images, it is possible to generate a field-of-view image including a necessary moving object design.

  Furthermore, in S650, the background information indicating the condition of the blind spot area hidden in the pillar part when viewed from the driver's seat among the information (vehicle surrounding information) related to the fixed object or the moving body collected in S130 or S140, A visual field image is generated by arranging in the display area for the junction road.

  In this way, by arranging the background information in the display area for the merging road in addition to the moving body symbol, the state of the blind spot area hidden by the pillar portion 91 when viewed from the driver's seat is displayed by the processing in S180 described later. It can be displayed on the device 17.

  Then, based on the generated visual field image, a coordinate position representing the perspective position of the moving body symbol is specified, and drawing data representing the coordinate position of the moving body symbol is recorded in the display content memory (display content recording unit) of the display unit 17. .

When the process in S650 ends, the moving body symbol setting process ends, and the process again shifts to the road merging safe driving support process.
Returning to FIG. 6, in the subsequent S <b> 180, a moving body symbol display process for displaying the moving body symbol on the display unit 17 is executed. That is, in order to display the content related to the moving body symbol recorded in the display content memory (display content recording unit), the display unit 17 outputs the display command to display the moving body symbol on the display unit 17. Thereby, a moving body symbol as shown in FIG.

  In next S190, it is determined whether or not the merging operation at the road merging point has been completed. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S200, and if the determination is negative, the process proceeds to S130 again. In 190, it is determined whether or not the merging operation has been completed by determining whether or not the host vehicle has passed the road merging point based on the current position of the host vehicle.

  Until the joining operation of the host vehicle is completed, the negative determination in S190 is repeated, and the processing from S130 to S190 is repeatedly executed, so that the display position of the moving object symbol on the display unit 17 is the presence of the moving object. It will be updated according to the position, and the display position of the moving body symbol will move according to the moving state of the moving body.

  When an affirmative determination is made in S190 and the process proceeds to S200, a moving body symbol display end process for ending the display of the moving body symbol on the display unit 17 is executed in S200. That is, the content of the moving body symbol is erased from the display content memory (display content recording unit) of the display unit 17 and the display of the moving body symbol on the display unit 17 is ended.

When a negative determination is made in S110, a negative determination is made in S120, or the processing in S200 ends, the safe driving support processing at the time of road merging ends.
Each time the controller 11 determines that the host vehicle has entered the road area before merging in the current position determination process, the controller 11 starts the road merging safe driving support process and executes the above-described process. In this way, the vehicle-mounted device system 1 displays the moving body symbol on the display unit 17 to provide safe driving support when the vehicle joins the road.

Next, the conversion condition determination correction process executed by the controller 11 will be described.
FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the conversion condition determination correction processing.
The conversion condition determination correction process is a process activated by an execution command from a user (driver, system installation worker, etc.). For example, the conversion condition determination correction process is performed when the vehicle-mounted device system 1 is installed in a vehicle. Then, correct the conversion conditions to the appropriate content.

  When the execution command is input and the conversion condition determination correction process is started, first, in S710, the captured image captured by the in-vehicle camera of the surrounding vehicle pedestrian detector 19 is read, and the installation position of the in-vehicle camera and the driver's Processing that converts a read captured image into a captured visual field image (camera visual field image) as a driver's visual field image using a known image processing technique while taking into account the relative position to the visual line position (photographed visual field image generation processing) ).

The captured image of the in-vehicle camera is an image obtained by capturing the outside of the vehicle ahead of the vehicle from the inside of the vehicle.
In the next S720, a drawing visual field image generation process is executed.
In the drawing visual field image generation processing, first, the same processing as S130 of the road merging safe driving support processing is executed, and a three-dimensional fixed object drawing preparation space representing the situation around the road before merging including the host vehicle and the fixed object. Execute the process to generate. Further, in the drawing visual field image generation processing, the conversion processing (processing for converting the mobile body drawing preparation space into the driver's forward visual field image) in the processing at S170 (specifically, S650) of the safe driving support processing at the time of road merging. In accordance with the conversion condition, a process of acquiring a driver's line-of-sight image (drawing visual field image) converted from the fixed object drawing preparation space is executed.

  In next S730, one common fixed object included in the photographing visual field image generated in S710 and the drawing visual field image generated in S720 is selected, and the coordinate position of the selected common fixed object is compared, and the photographing visual field is compared. Processing for determining the amount of positional displacement of the fixed object between the image and the drawing visual field image (positional displacement determination processing) is executed.

  In subsequent S740, based on the positional deviation amount obtained in S730, S170 of the safe driving assistance process at the time of road merging so that the positional deviation amount of the fixed object in the captured visual field image and the drawing visual field image is reduced (in detail, A process of correcting the conversion condition of the conversion process in the process in S650) (conversion condition correction process) is executed.

Here, FIG. 16 shows an explanatory diagram for explaining the positional deviation amount of the fixed object in the photographing visual field image and the drawing visual field image.
In addition, in FIG. 16, the imaging | photography visual field image in an intersection is represented, In addition to the fixed thing in a photography visual field image and the fixed thing in a drawing visual field image, other mobile bodies (opposed vehicle 85), rough shape of a road Is also schematically represented. Moreover, in FIG. 16, the simulated image of the utility pole is represented as a fixed object.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the fixed object 75 of the captured visual field image and the fixed object 77 of the drawing visual field image have different coordinate positions, and the difference between the coordinate positions corresponds to the positional deviation amount 79. Then, by correcting the conversion condition based on the positional deviation amount 79, the coordinate position of the moving object or fixed object in the drawing visual field image is changed to the coordinate position in the photographing visual field image (in other words, the actual moving object or fixed object). Etc.).

  In this way, by correcting the conversion condition of the conversion process in S170 of the road merging safe driving support process, the moving object or the fixed image is generated with respect to the driver's visual field image generated in S170 of the road merging safe driving support process. The error in the fluoroscopic position of the object can be reduced. In addition, when adopting a configuration in which the coordinate position of the moving object symbol is determined according to the position of the moving object, the error in the display position of the moving object symbol is corrected by correcting the conversion condition based on the positional deviation amount 79. Can be small.

[Effect of the embodiment]
As described above, since the vehicle-mounted device system 1 of the present embodiment is configured to display the moving body symbol representing the moving state of the moving body on the display device 17 provided in the pillar portion 91 inside the vehicle. It is possible to notify the driver of a moving body that exists in the blind spot without requiring a large line of sight movement by the driver.

  Further, the vehicle-mounted device system 1 is such that “the traveling position of the own vehicle is on the road before joining” (affirmative determination in S110) and “the moving body exists in the blind spot area of the own vehicle” (affirmative determination in S160). If it determines, the moving body symbol showing the moving state of the moving body which exists in a blind spot area will be displayed on the indicator 17 (S180). That is, the vehicle-mounted device system 1 is configured to notify the driver of a moving body existing in a blind spot by displaying the moving body symbol on the display unit 17 when entering the road junction.

  As a result, the driver can recognize a moving body existing in the blind spot without greatly moving his / her line of sight when traveling on the pre-merging road that leads to the road merge point, before reaching the road merge point. It is possible to perform operation in consideration of the existence of a moving object.

  Therefore, this vehicle-mounted device system 1 enables a driver to recognize a moving object in a blind spot area without moving a large line of sight at a road merging point, and safe driving for improving safety at the road merging point. Can provide support.

  Note that in the road merging safe driving support process executed by the controller 11 of the vehicle-mounted device system 1, in S130 and S140, a moving body that exists around the host vehicle based on the host vehicle running state and the host vehicle surrounding information. A moving body drawing image (moving body drawing preparation space) representing the position of the moving object is generated, and in S150, processing for specifying information (position, moving direction, moving speed, etc.) of the moving body existing in the blind spot area is executed.

  Further, in S170 (specifically, S650) of the safe driving support process at the time of road merging, the moving object drawing preparation space in which the moving object and the moving object pattern are arranged is converted into the driver's front view image, and after the conversion The process which specifies the fluoroscopic position of the moving body design in the visual field image of is performed. In S170 (specifically, S650), the coordinate position representing the perspective position of the moving object symbol is further specified based on the generated visual field image, and the drawing data representing the coordinate position of the moving object symbol is displayed on the display unit 17. The process of recording in the display content memory is executed. At this time, the perspective position of the moving body symbol in the visual field image is set so as to be included in the display area for the merging road.

  In addition, in the onboard device system 1, in S140 of the safe driving support process at the time of road merging, as the surrounding information of the own vehicle, in addition to the position, moving direction, and moving speed regarding the moving body around the own vehicle, at least the size of the moving body It is the structure which collects. And this onboard equipment system 1 of the display form of a moving body design is based on the surrounding information of the moving body which exists in a blind spot area | region in S170 (specifically S640) of the safe driving assistance process at the time of road joining. Of these, at least one display form of color, size, and shape is set.

  Therefore, the vehicle-mounted device system 1 not only notifies only the presence of the moving object, but also includes detailed information about the moving object (the size of the moving object, the position of the moving object, the moving direction, the movement) based on the type of the moving object. Speed). In other words, by changing the display form of the moving body symbol in this way, the driver can determine the distance between the moving body and the host vehicle based on the type of the moving body symbol, and the position of the moving body can be determined. It can be grasped in a short time.

  In addition, when the vehicle travels on a pre-merging road that is connected to a road merge point, the vehicle-mounted device system 1 includes a mobile object in the vehicle surrounding information in S170 (S640) of the road merge safe driving support process. According to the position, the display position of the moving body symbol in the display area for the junction road (view pillar area) of the display device 17 is set. In this way, by setting the display position of the moving object symbol according to the position of the moving object, the driver can intuitively recognize the position of the moving object based on the display position of the moving object symbol. Become.

  Further, in S640, the vehicle-mounted device system 1 determines whether or not the road on which the moving body has a plurality of lanes, and if the road on which the moving body has a plurality of lanes, Is configured to perform processing for setting the display area of the moving body in a different area for each lane.

  Thus, by setting the display position of the moving body symbol in accordance with the lane in which the moving body travels, the driver can intuitively determine the lane in which the mobile body travels among a plurality of lanes based on the display position of the moving body symbol. Recognition. That is, the driver can intuitively grasp whether or not there is a moving body in the lane on the side close to the road on which the host vehicle travels based on the display position of the moving body symbol.

  Moreover, this onboard equipment system 1 is the background information showing the condition of the blind spot area hidden in a pillar part when it sees from a driver's seat among the information (own vehicle surrounding information) collected in S130 or S140 in S650. It arrange | positions in the display area for merge roads, a visual field image is produced | generated, and it is comprised so that a visual field image may be displayed on the indicator 17 in S180.

  In this way, by displaying the background information on the display unit 17 in addition to the moving object design, the driver is notified of the status of the blind spot area (information on the moving object, information on the fixed object, etc.) hidden by the pillar unit 91. And more information can be provided to the driver. In other words, since the vehicle-mounted device system 1 can provide a lot of information to the driver, it is possible to provide safe driving support for further improving safety at a road junction.

  Further, in the present embodiment, by changing the display form of the moving body symbol in accordance with the distance between the host vehicle and the moving body, the driver can change between the moving body and the own vehicle based on the type of the moving body symbol. The distance can be determined. In addition, the display form of the moving object may be changed based on the size of the moving object, and the size of the moving object includes the length dimension (front-rear direction dimension), width dimension, height dimension, etc. Determine based on.

[Other Embodiments]
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various aspect can be taken.

  For example, the in-vehicle device system 1 generates background images by arranging background information in the display area for the merged road in S650, but collects captured images of the outside of the host vehicle in the processing in S130 or S140. In addition, an image in the blind spot area of the captured image may be arranged in the display area for the merge road as background information.

  In this way, by displaying the image in the blind spot area in the captured image on the display device 17, it becomes possible to notify the driver of the situation of the blind spot area hidden by the pillar portion 91, and more information is provided to the driver. It becomes possible to provide. In particular, the situation of the blind spot area can be accurately reproduced by using a captured image instead of a drawn image created using fixed object information stored in advance in a database, and more accurate information is provided to the driver. be able to.

  Further, in the vehicle-mounted device system 1, in the process in S150, it is determined whether or not there is a moving body in the blind spot area that is hidden by the pillar portion when viewed from the driver's seat. In the processes in S170 and S180, the background In addition to the information, the moving body symbol of the moving body existing in the blind spot area hidden by the pillar portion may be displayed on the display unit 17.

  That is, the vehicle-mounted device system 1 having such a configuration can display a moving object as background information and can superimpose the moving object symbol of the moving object, thereby further identifying the presence of the moving object in the background information. It becomes possible to display on the display 17 in an easy state.

  Thereby, the vehicle-mounted device system 1 notifies the driver not only of the moving object existing in the blind spot area behind the host vehicle but also the moving object existing in the blind spot area hidden by the pillar portion at the time of the road merge. Therefore, it is possible to provide safe driving support for further improving safety at the road junction.

  In the processing at S150, when it is determined whether or not there is a moving body in the blind spot area hidden by the pillar portion when viewed from the driver's seat, image processing is performed using the captured image of the in-vehicle camera. The presence / absence of a moving body may be determined by using a vehicle-mounted infrared sensor or the like.

  In addition, when displaying the moving body symbol of the moving body existing in the blind spot area hidden by the pillar portion on the display unit 17, the display form of the moving body symbol is displayed to highlight the driver (highlight display mode). Is desirable. Note that examples of the highlight display form include blinking display and red display.

  Furthermore, the highlight display form is not limited to the moving object design of the moving object existing in the blind spot area hidden by the pillar part, and may be applied to the moving object design of the moving object that travels on another confluence road at the time of road confluence. Is possible. For example, by applying the highlight display mode only to moving objects included in the danger range, it is possible to effectively alert the driver.

  About the information regarding the mobile body around a vehicle, in addition to the information received from the roadside device system 5, you may receive information from another vehicle by vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Thereby, it becomes possible to collect more information, and a moving body design can be displayed on a display based on more accurate information.

  In addition, when a display is provided with a some display part, you may limit a display content for every display part. For example, when two display parts (upper display part 17a and lower display part 17b) are provided, the upper display part 17a is a display for displaying a moving object symbol of a moving object existing in a blind spot area behind the vehicle. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the lower display unit 17b is used as a region, and is used as a display region for displaying a moving object symbol of a moving object that exists in a blind spot area hidden by the pillar part.

  Moreover, when a display is provided with a some display part, in addition to the display part with which a pillar part is provided, you may provide the display part arrange | positioned in the area | region which does not have trouble in driving | operation among windshields. By providing more display units, it is possible to provide more information to the driver, and it is possible to provide further safe driving support.

  And the display of a moving body symbol may be performed not only at a road junction but also at a place where a collision accident is likely to occur, such as an intersection. For example, at the intersection, the display of the moving body symbol of the moving body that exists in the blind spot area that appears behind the oncoming vehicle on the display, the presence of the moving body (such as a two-wheeled vehicle) entering the intersection from behind the oncoming vehicle The driver can be notified.

[Correspondence with Claims]
In the above-described embodiment, the vehicle-mounted device system 1 corresponds to the vehicle external information display device in the claims, and the controller 11 that executes the processing of the current position measuring device 21 and S130 is the own vehicle running state determining means. The roadside transmission / reception processor 13, the data analyzer 15, the surrounding vehicle pedestrian detector 19, and the controller 11 that executes the processes of S130 and S140 correspond to the surrounding information collecting means.

  Further, the controller 11 that executes the process of S150 (S540) corresponds to a moving body presence / absence determination unit, and the controller 11 that executes the processes of S110, S120, and S160 corresponds to a road merge state determination unit, and S170 and S180. The controller 11 that executes the process corresponds to the movement state display means.

  Further, the controller 11 that executes the processes of S170 (S650) and S180 corresponds to the background information display means.

It is a block diagram showing the schematic structure of the onboard equipment system. It is a block diagram of a display control part for performing display control of a display among controllers. It is a block diagram showing the schematic structure of the roadside device system. It is a typical image figure of the image | video which the street camera image | photographed. It is an image figure showing the display contents of the moving body design on a display. It is a flowchart showing the processing content of road merging safe driving support processing. It is a flowchart showing the processing content of the own vehicle position coordinate confirmation process. It is a flowchart showing the processing content of a mobile body arrangement | positioning process. It is a flowchart showing the processing content of the blind spot area | region determination process. It is a flowchart showing the processing content of a mobile body symbol setting process. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the imaging | photography range of a road camera, the front visual field range of the own vehicle, and a blind spot area | region. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the front visual field range of the own vehicle. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the image of the mobile body drawing preparation space which has arrange | positioned the mobile body. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the image of the mobile body drawing preparation space which showed the front visual field range of the own vehicle. It is a flowchart showing the processing content of the conversion condition determination correction process. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the positional offset amount of the fixed object in a photography visual field image and a drawing visual field image.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Onboard equipment system, 5 ... Road equipment system, 11 ... Controller, 13 ... Road side transmission / reception processor, 15 ... Data analyzer, 17 ... Display, 17a ... Upper display part, 17b ... Lower display part, 19 ... Peripheral vehicle pedestrian detector, 21 ... Current position measuring device, 23 ... Road database, 25 ... Safe driving support user setting item database, 27 ... Safe driving support essential information item database, 29 ... Fixed object information database, 31 ... Fixed object Drawing unit 33... Moving body drawing unit 35. Overall drawing configuration unit 37 37 Image generation unit 39 Conversion condition determination correction unit 41 Road unit control unit 43 Communication device 45 Road camera 47 Vehicle detector, 71, 72, 73 ... moving body pattern, 1 ... forward view range, 83 ... shooting range, 91 ... pillar part, 111 ... pre-merging road, 112 ... merging road.

Claims (7)

A vehicle external information display device that includes a display provided inside the vehicle and is mounted on the vehicle for displaying vehicle external information on the display,
A host vehicle running state determining means for determining a host vehicle running state including at least a running position and a running speed of the host vehicle;
Surrounding information collecting means for collecting surrounding information including at least a position, a moving direction, and a moving speed related to a moving body around the own vehicle;
A moving body presence / absence determining means for determining the presence / absence of a moving body in a blind spot area of the host vehicle based on the host vehicle running state and the host vehicle surrounding information;
Based on the traveling position of the host vehicle determined by the host vehicle traveling state determining unit, a road merging situation determining unit that determines whether the traveling position of the host vehicle is on a road before merging connected to a road merging point;
When it is determined that the traveling position of the host vehicle is on the pre-merging road in the road merging situation determination unit and the moving unit presence / absence determination unit determines that a moving body exists in the blind spot area of the host vehicle, a blind spot A moving state display means for displaying a moving body symbol representing a moving state of the moving body existing in a region on the display;
With
The indicator is provided in a pillar portion inside the vehicle;
A vehicle external information display device characterized by the above. The surrounding information collecting means collects at least the size of the moving body in addition to the position, moving direction, and moving speed related to the moving body around the own vehicle as the own vehicle surrounding information,
The moving state display means sets at least one display form of color, size, and shape among the display forms of the moving body symbol based on the vehicle surrounding information of the moving body existing in the blind spot area. thing,
The vehicle external information display device according to claim 1. The moving state display means sets the display position of the moving body symbol on the display unit according to the position of the moving body in the vehicle surrounding information.
The vehicle external information display device according to claim 1 or 2. The moving state display means determines whether or not the road on which the moving body travels has a plurality of lanes, and when the road on which the moving body travels has a plurality of lanes, the display of the moving body on the indicator Set the area to a different area for each lane,
The vehicle external information display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The surrounding information collecting means collects at least background information representing a situation of a blind spot area hidden by the pillar portion when viewed from the driver's seat as the vehicle surrounding information,
Comprising background information display means for displaying the background information on the display;
The vehicle external information display device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The surrounding information collection means collects a photographed image obtained by photographing at least the outside of the host vehicle as the background information,
The background information display means displays an image in the blind spot area of the captured image on the display;
The vehicle external information display device according to claim 5. The moving state display means displays on the display a moving body symbol representing a moving state of a moving body present in a blind spot area hidden by the pillar portion;
The vehicle external information display device according to claim 5 or 6.