JP2008162429A - Reporting device - Google Patents

Abstract

It is an object of the present invention to provide a notification device that generates a notification sound for a pedestrian who needs notification.
[Solution]
The control processing unit 14 detects a pedestrian from the front object detected by the radar device 11 using the output of the stereo camera 12. When the own vehicle is approaching the pedestrian and the degree of coincidence between the traveling direction of the own vehicle and the pedestrian is high, the control processing unit 14 monitors the distance to the pedestrian and becomes less than a predetermined distance. In addition, the buzzer 13 generates a notification sound. Further, a transmitter may be attached to the visually impaired person's wand and a notification sound may be generated when a signal transmitted from the transmitter is received.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a notification device that notifies a pedestrian in the traveling direction of a vehicle of the passage of the vehicle.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a device that generates a notification sound in order to inform the surroundings of the passage of a low-noise vehicle such as a hybrid vehicle or an electric vehicle (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-136831 A

  However, since the conventional device always generates a notification sound, it generates a notification sound even when there is no pedestrian or when it is not necessary to notify the pedestrian, which is troublesome for people around the passing vehicle. was there.

  An object of this invention is to provide the notification apparatus which determines the necessity of a report and generate | occur | produces a report sound to a pedestrian as needed.

  The notification device according to one aspect of the present invention determines a degree of coincidence between a pedestrian detection unit that detects a pedestrian in a traveling direction of the host vehicle and a traveling direction of the pedestrian detected by the host vehicle and the pedestrian detection unit. Direction determination means, proximity degree determination means for determining the degree of proximity between the host vehicle and the pedestrian detected by the pedestrian detection means, and the degree of coincidence of the traveling directions is a first predetermined degree or more, And when the said proximity degree is more than a 2nd predetermined degree, the reporting means which reports the passage of the own vehicle to the pedestrian is provided.

  A reporting device according to another aspect of the present invention determines a degree of proximity between a pedestrian detection unit that detects a pedestrian in the traveling direction of the host vehicle and a pedestrian detected by the host vehicle and the pedestrian detection unit. Proximity degree determining means, notification target person determining means for determining whether or not the pedestrian detected by the pedestrian detecting means is a notification target person who needs to report the passage of the own vehicle, and the proximity degree is And a reporting means for reporting the traffic of the subject vehicle to the reporting target person when the degree is equal to or greater than a predetermined degree.

  Moreover, the said report subject person determination means may determine with the pedestrian detected by the said pedestrian detection means being a report subject person based on the signal transmitted from a transmitter of a report subject person.

  The transmitter may be provided on a cane for a visually impaired person or a collar of a guide dog for a visually impaired person.

  Further, the pedestrian detection means may detect a pedestrian using image data representing an image ahead of the host vehicle.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the specific effect that the notification apparatus which generate | occur | produces a notification sound can be provided to the pedestrian who needs notification is acquired.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment to which the notification device of the present invention is applied will be described.

[Embodiment 1]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a notification device according to the first embodiment. As shown in this figure, the reporting device 10 includes a radar device 11, a stereo camera 12, a buzzer 13, and a control processing unit 14.

  The radar device 11 is a radar sensor that is used for pre-crash control that prevents a frontal collision or a slanting front obliquely, or for inter-vehicle control (radar cruise control) by an inter-vehicle control ECU (not shown). The radar device 11 is disposed, for example, near the front grille or inside the front bumper so as to monitor the front of the vehicle. The radar apparatus 11 uses the distance from the own vehicle of a front object (typically, another vehicle or a pedestrian) that can exist in front of the vehicle, and the relative direction and speed of the front object to the own vehicle as front object information. Generate. The transmission wave radiated from the radar apparatus 11 may be a radio wave (for example, millimeter wave) or a light wave (for example, laser wave).

  The stereo camera 12 may be any camera that includes two CCD (Charge Coupled Device) cameras and outputs image data including information in the depth direction by simultaneously photographing the same object from a plurality of different positions. . The stereo camera 12 is mounted, for example, facing a room mirror in a vehicle interior. The front object information and image data output from the radar device 11 and the stereo camera 12 are used for detection of a pedestrian. Here, a mode in which the image data is data representing a moving image will be described.

  The buzzer 13 only needs to be configured to be able to notify the pedestrian of the passage of the vehicle by generating a notification sound. This notification sound has, for example, a relatively high frequency among audible sounds (0 .5 KHz to about 2.0 KHz) sound. For example, the buzzer 13 is attached to the inside of the front grill of the vehicle, the front bumper, or the like with the front facing. The output of the buzzer 13 may be set to such an extent that a notification sound can be heard in front of several tens of meters of the vehicle, for example.

  The control processing unit 14 detects a pedestrian by performing predetermined arithmetic processing on the outputs of the radar device 11 and the stereo camera 12, determines whether or not a report to the pedestrian is necessary, and when a report is necessary What is necessary is just to be comprised so that the buzzer 13 may generate a notification sound. This control processing part 14 may be comprised by ECU (Electronic Control Unit) for exclusive use of the notification apparatus of this embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, in order to detect a pedestrian, a forward object is detected by the radar device 11 and an image in front of the vehicle is captured by the stereo camera 12. The pedestrian is detected together with position information in the image data by the control processing unit 14 performing feature analysis using pattern recognition on the image data, and further, a pedestrian is identified from the front object based on the position information. As a result, the relative direction, relative speed and distance of the pedestrian are detected.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a processing procedure performed by the control processing unit 14 of the notification device according to the present embodiment.

  When the control processing unit 14 detects a pedestrian based on the outputs of the radar device 11 and the stereo camera 12, the control processing unit 14 starts processing.

  The control processing unit 14 monitors the change in the distance to the detected pedestrian and determines whether or not the own vehicle is approaching the pedestrian (step S11). It is necessary to prevent a collision accident when the vehicle is approaching a pedestrian, but it is unlikely that a collision accident will occur when the vehicle is moving away from a pedestrian. This is because there is little need to perform the operation. In addition, the distance with a pedestrian is obtained from front object information.

  When it is determined that the host vehicle is approaching a pedestrian, the control processing unit 14 determines the degree of coincidence between the traveling direction of the host vehicle and the pedestrian (step S12). This determination process is a process for determining whether or not the degree of coincidence between the traveling direction of the host vehicle and the pedestrian is equal to or greater than a predetermined degree. The degree of coincidence is derived, for example, by vector calculation of the traveling direction of the host vehicle and the pedestrian. The predetermined degree serving as the determination criterion may be, for example, about 30 degrees in terms of an angle formed by the traveling direction of the host vehicle and the traveling direction of the pedestrian.

  In this step S12, if the angle formed by the traveling direction of the host vehicle and the traveling direction of the pedestrian is 30 degrees or less, it is determined that the degree of coincidence between the traveling direction of the host vehicle and the pedestrian is high. If the angle between the traveling direction and the traveling direction of the pedestrian is greater than 30 degrees, it is determined that the degree of coincidence between the traveling direction of the host vehicle and the pedestrian is low. In addition, the advancing direction of the own vehicle and the advancing direction of a pedestrian are derived | led-out using the relative direction contained in front object information.

  The degree of coincidence of the traveling direction is determined in this way, for example, when the degree of coincidence of the traveling direction between the own vehicle and the pedestrian is low, such as a pedestrian coming from the front toward the own vehicle. If there is a high degree of coincidence between the traveling direction of the host vehicle and the pedestrian, the pedestrian may approach the host vehicle approaching from behind. This is because there is a high possibility that they will not notice and there is a high need for reporting.

  If the control processing unit 14 determines that the degree of coincidence between the traveling direction of the host vehicle and the pedestrian is high, is the distance from the pedestrian less than or equal to a predetermined distance in order to determine the degree of proximity to the pedestrian? It is determined whether or not (step S13). This predetermined distance is set to about several tens of meters, for example. In addition, this predetermined distance may be set to the same distance as the distance that the notification sound generated from the buzzer 13 reaches. This step S13 is repeated until it is determined that the distance between the host vehicle and the pedestrian is not more than a predetermined distance. In addition, the distance with a pedestrian is obtained from front object information.

  Next, when the control processing unit 14 determines that the distance from the pedestrian is equal to or less than the predetermined distance, the control processing unit 14 operates the buzzer 13 to generate a notification sound (step S14). Based on the distance and relative speed with the pedestrian, the control processing unit 14 calculates the time required for the host vehicle to pass the pedestrian and activates the buzzer 13 at least until the overtaking is completed.

  When the operation of the buzzer 13 is ended, the control processing unit 14 ends all the processes. If it is determined in step S11 that the pedestrian is not approaching, and if it is determined in step S12 that the degree of coincidence between the traveling direction of the host vehicle and the pedestrian is low, the control processing unit 14 uses the buzzer 13 Is not activated (step S15). That is, the notification sound is not generated from the buzzer 13. In this case, because the pedestrian is not approaching the host vehicle or the traveling direction is greatly different, it is not necessary to report the passage of the host vehicle.

  As described above, according to the reporting device of the present embodiment, it is possible to report the passage of the host vehicle when approaching a pedestrian traveling in a direction having a high degree of coincidence with the traveling direction of the host vehicle. Like a pedestrian coming from the front of the host vehicle toward the host vehicle, a pedestrian traveling in a direction having a low degree of coincidence with the traveling direction of the host vehicle is likely to be aware of the host vehicle. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a notification device that can make a report to a pedestrian who needs to report without making an unnecessary report to such a pedestrian.

  In addition, although the form which detects the pedestrian using the radar apparatus 11 which generate | occur | produces a millimeter wave radar, and the stereo camera 12 was demonstrated above, a pedestrian is detected by either the radar apparatus 11 or the stereo camera 12. You may comprise as follows. In addition, a sonar device that detects a front object with sound waves may be used instead of the radar device 11, and any means or method that can detect a pedestrian in front of the host vehicle is other than the means or method shown here. It may be.

  In the above description, the form in which the image data output from the stereo camera 12 is image data representing a moving image has been described. However, as long as it is associated with time information representing the shooting time and can detect the movement of a pedestrian. Alternatively, a pedestrian may be detected using image data representing a plurality of still images taken continuously.

  Moreover, although the form which derives | leads-out the degree of coincidence of the advancing direction of the own vehicle and a pedestrian by vector calculation was demonstrated above, as long as it is a technique which can determine the coincidence degree of advancing direction, another method may be used. Furthermore, a predetermined degree as the determination criterion can be arbitrarily set.

[Embodiment 2]
The reporting device of the second embodiment is characterized in that a reporting target person who needs to report the traffic of the own vehicle has a transmitter, and when a signal transmitted from the transmitter is received, a notification is made. Different from the notification device of the first embodiment. This transmitter is attached to, for example, a cane possessed by a visually impaired person.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a notification device according to the second embodiment. As shown in this figure, the notification device 20 includes a radar device 21, a stereo camera 22, a buzzer 23, a control processing unit 24, and a receiver 25. Since the radar device 21, the stereo camera 22 and the buzzer 23 are the same as the radar device 11, the stereo camera 12 and the buzzer 13 in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

  The receiver 25 may be any receiver that can receive a signal transmitted from a transmitter 26 attached to a cane possessed by a visually impaired person. The transmission frequency of the transmitter 26 may be set to, for example, a UHF (Ultra-High Frequency) band (860 to 960 MHz) or an RF (Radio Frequency) band (for example, 2.45 GHz). The receiver 25 may be attached, for example, facing the front bumper periphery of the vehicle so that a visually impaired person in the traveling direction of the host vehicle can be detected. The transmitter 26 may be either a broadcast type or a question type. In the case of the question type, it may be an active type having a built-in power supply or a passive type having no built-in power supply. Here, a mode in which a broadcast transmitter 26 having a built-in power supply is attached to a walking stick for a visually impaired person will be described.

  The control processing unit 24 detects a pedestrian based on the outputs of the radar device 21 and the stereo camera 22, determines whether or not a report to the pedestrian is necessary, and causes the buzzer 23 to generate a notification sound when the report is necessary. What is necessary is just to be comprised. The control processing unit 24 may be configured with a dedicated ECU.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a processing procedure performed by the control processing unit of the notification device according to the present embodiment. The process start condition and the process contents of step S21 are the same as the process start condition and the process contents of step S11 in the first embodiment, respectively, and step S22 is the same as step S13 in the first embodiment. Since this is a process, a description thereof will be omitted.

  If it is determined in step S22 that the distance from the pedestrian is equal to or less than the predetermined distance, the control processing unit 24 determines whether or not a signal transmitted from the transmitter 26 has been received (step S23). This is because the notification is made only when the pedestrian is visually impaired.

  If it is determined that the signal transmitted from the transmitter 26 has been received, the control processing unit 24 activates the buzzer 13 to generate a notification sound (step S24). Based on the traveling direction, distance, and relative speed of the visually impaired person, the control processing unit 24 calculates the time required for the vehicle to pass the visually impaired person and activates the buzzer 23 at least until the passing person is completed. .

  When the operation of the buzzer 23 is ended, the control processing unit 24 ends all the processes. In addition, when it determines with not being approaching the pedestrian in step S21, and when it determines with not having received the signal transmitted from the transmitter 26 in step S23, the control process part 24 makes the buzzer 23. Does not start (step S25). That is, no notification sound is generated from the buzzer 23. In such a case, since the pedestrian is not close to the own vehicle or because the pedestrian is not a visually impaired person, it is not necessary to report the passage of the own vehicle.

  Thus, according to the notification device of the present embodiment, it is possible to report the passage of the host vehicle to a visually handicapped person walking in front of the host vehicle. Therefore, there is provided a notification device capable of notifying a pedestrian who can visually recognize the passage of the own vehicle, but reporting the passage of the own vehicle to a visually handicapped person having the transmitter 26 as described above. be able to.

  In this embodiment, if the pedestrian is a visually handicapped person, the degree of coincidence of the traveling direction with the pedestrian is not determined in order to report the passage of the vehicle uniformly regardless of the traveling direction. However, you may combine with the determination of the advancing direction as needed.

  Moreover, although the form which attaches a transmitter to a visually impaired person's wand was demonstrated above, you may make it detect presence of a visually impaired person based on the signal transmitted from a mobile phone of a visually impaired person. Alternatively, a visually impaired person may be held by a GPS (Global Positioning System) transmitter, and position information transmitted from the GPS transmitter may be received to detect the presence and position of the visually impaired person.

  Moreover, although the form which reports the passage of the own vehicle to a visually handicapped person was demonstrated above, you may be made to report a person with a physical disability etc. to a report object person not limited to a visually handicapped person.

  As described above, the notification device according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the specifically disclosed embodiment, and does not depart from the scope of the claims. Various modifications and changes are possible.

  The notification device of the present invention can be used for a vehicle with low noise during traveling, such as a hybrid vehicle, a fuel cell vehicle, and an electric vehicle.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the notification apparatus of Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a processing procedure by a control processing unit of the notification device according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the notification apparatus of Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a figure which shows the process sequence by the control process part of the notification apparatus of Embodiment 2. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

10, 20 Reporting device 11, 21 Radar device 12, 22 Stereo camera 13, 23 Buzzer 14, 24 Control processing unit 25 Receiver 26 Transmitter

Claims (5)

Pedestrian detection means for detecting a pedestrian in the traveling direction of the host vehicle;
Direction determining means for determining the degree of coincidence between the traveling direction of the pedestrian detected by the own vehicle and the pedestrian detecting means;
Proximity degree determination means for determining the degree of proximity between the host vehicle and the pedestrian detected by the pedestrian detection means;
And a reporting means for notifying the pedestrian of the passage of the host vehicle when the degree of coincidence in the traveling direction is not less than a first predetermined degree and the degree of proximity is not less than a second predetermined degree. Vehicle traffic notification device. Pedestrian detection means for detecting a pedestrian in the traveling direction of the host vehicle;
Proximity degree determination means for determining the degree of proximity between the host vehicle and the pedestrian detected by the pedestrian detection means;
A notification subject determination means for determining whether or not the pedestrian detected by the pedestrian detection means is a notification subject who needs to report the passage of the own vehicle;
A vehicle traffic reporting device comprising: reporting means for reporting the traffic of the subject vehicle to the reporting target person when the proximity degree is equal to or greater than a predetermined level.   The notification according to claim 2, wherein the notification subject determination unit determines that the pedestrian detected by the pedestrian detection unit is a notification subject based on a signal transmitted from a transmitter of the notification subject. apparatus.   The notification device according to claim 3, wherein the transmitter is provided on a cane for a visually impaired person or a collar of a guide dog for a visually impaired person.   The notification device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the pedestrian detection means detects a pedestrian using image data representing an image ahead of the host vehicle.

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