JP2015087891A - Information provision system, information provision device, and information provision method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology that enables a center to derive optimal information.SOLUTION: There is provided an information provision system that provides travel support information, which is information to support the travel of a vehicle, the information provision system including an information derivation device that acquires information on the vehicle and derives travel support information on the basis of the information on the vehicle, and an information provision device that is mounted on the vehicle to provide a driver of the vehicle with the travel support information, where the information derivation device derives the travel support information by using information on the vehicle acquired during the normal travel of the vehicle.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for providing information to a driving driver.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for providing information related to a driving state to a driver who is driving a vehicle or the like has been proposed. For example, a technique is known in which a center receives vehicle information from a plurality of vehicles, generates information that supports traveling based on the received plurality of vehicle information, and provides the information to the vehicles. In addition, there exists patent document 1 as a technique relevant to this invention, for example.

JP-A-2005-99930

  However, in the above-described conventional technology, the vehicle transmits all acquired vehicle information to the center, and the center generates information that supports traveling based on all the received vehicle information. That is, since the vehicle transmits all the vehicle information regardless of the traveling state, the vehicle information is transmitted not only when traveling normally but also when traveling abnormally. For this reason, the center generates information that supports driving based on all the vehicle information including the vehicle information at the time of abnormal driving, and cannot always be said to generate optimal information.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique that enables a center to derive optimal information.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention of claim 1 is an information providing system for providing driving support information, which is information for supporting driving of a vehicle, wherein the information on the vehicle is acquired and based on the information on the vehicle. An information deriving device that derives driving support information, and an information providing device that is mounted on the vehicle and provides the driving support information to a driver of the vehicle, wherein the information deriving device is a normal running of the vehicle The driving support information is derived using the vehicle information acquired at times.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the information providing system according to the first aspect, the information providing apparatus transmits an acquisition means for acquiring vehicle information and the acquired vehicle information to the information deriving apparatus. Communication means, and the communication means transmits only the vehicle information acquired during normal running of the vehicle among all the vehicle information acquired by the acquisition means.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the information providing system according to the first or second aspect, the time when the vehicle is running normally is when the parameter corresponding to the state of the driver is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the information providing system according to the third aspect of the present invention, the parameter corresponding to the state of the driver is an additional allowable load amount with respect to the current load amount of the driver. It is a parameter to show.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the information providing system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the vehicle is in a normal running state when a safe driving degree of the driver is not less than a predetermined value.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the information deriving device acquires the surrounding information of the vehicle, and the information and the surrounding information of the vehicle are obtained. Based on this, driving support information is derived.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the information deriving device further derives driving support information in consideration of the presence or absence of an oncoming vehicle with respect to the vehicle. To do.

  The invention of claim 8 is an information providing device that is mounted on a vehicle and provides driving support information, which is information for supporting driving of the vehicle, to a driver of the vehicle, the information providing device comprising: Acquisition means for acquiring the information, and communication means for transmitting the acquired vehicle information to the information deriving device for deriving the driving support information, wherein the communication means is a vehicle acquired by the acquisition means. Among the above information, only the vehicle information acquired during normal driving of the vehicle is transmitted.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information providing method for providing driving support information, which is information for supporting driving of a vehicle, wherein (a) the vehicle information is acquired and the vehicle travels based on the vehicle information. A step of deriving support information; and (b) providing the driving support information to a driver of the vehicle, wherein the step (a) uses information on the vehicle acquired during normal driving of the vehicle. Driving assistance information.

  According to the first to ninth aspects of the present invention, the driving support information derived based on the vehicle information acquired during normal driving of the vehicle is provided to the driver of the vehicle, so that more appropriate information can be provided. Become.

  In particular, according to the invention of claim 2, since only the information acquired during normal driving out of the information acquired by the vehicle is transmitted to the information deriving device, the information deriving device uses the driving support information based on the information during normal driving. Can be derived.

  In particular, according to the third to fifth aspects of the present invention, it is possible to easily determine when the vehicle is running normally. Further, according to the inventions of claims 6 and 7, it is possible to provide more appropriate driving support information according to the situation where the vehicle is actually traveling.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an information providing system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the in-vehicle system. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the center. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the lane departure warning process. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the lane departure warning process. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a method for deriving the margin. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a technique for deriving the risk level. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the front of the vehicle as viewed from the viewpoint of the driver. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the vehicle front as seen from the driver's viewpoint. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the front of the vehicle as viewed from the viewpoint of the driver. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the front of the vehicle as viewed from the driver's viewpoint. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the front of the vehicle as viewed from the driver's viewpoint. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the front of the vehicle as viewed from the viewpoint of the driver. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an oncoming vehicle presence / absence determination process. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating the front of the vehicle as viewed from the viewpoint of the driver. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating the vehicle front as viewed from the driver's viewpoint.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<1. First Embodiment>
<1-1. System overview>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of an information providing system 1 according to the present embodiment. The information providing system 1 includes an in-vehicle system 2 and a center 4.

  The in-vehicle system 2 is mounted on the vehicle 5 and provides information related to traveling to a driver (user) driving the vehicle 5. The in-vehicle system 2 can transmit / receive signals to / from other electronic devices 50 provided in the vehicle 5 via the in-vehicle network 58. At the same time, the in-vehicle system 2 can transmit / receive information to / from the center 4 via a wide area network 9 such as the Internet.

  The in-vehicle system 2 acquires various information from other electronic devices 50 in the vehicle 5. The in-vehicle system 2 changes the availability of transmission of the acquired information to the center 4 according to the driving state of the driver or the traveling state of the vehicle 5. For example, information acquired during normal driving is transmitted to the center 4, and information acquired when not normal driving is not transmitted to the center 4.

  If it demonstrates concretely, the vehicle-mounted system 2 will derive | lead-out the parameter according to the driving | running state in the present time based on the acquired various information. For example, the in-vehicle system 2 derives a “margin” that is a parameter according to the state of the driver. The in-vehicle system 2 changes the availability of transmission of the acquired information to the center 4 according to the derived “margin”. That is, the in-vehicle system 2 transmits the acquired information to the center 4 when the “margin” is greater than or equal to a certain level, and does not transmit when the information is less than a certain level.

  The center 4 is configured to be able to communicate with a plurality of vehicles, and transmits and receives various information to and from the in-vehicle system of each vehicle. The center 4 uses the information transmitted from the in-vehicle system 2 to derive information for supporting the traveling of the vehicle 5 (hereinafter referred to as “driving support information”) and provides it to the in-vehicle system 2. That is, the center 4 has a function as an information deriving device. The center 4 can transmit and receive information to and from the in-vehicle system 2 via the network 9, and various information acquired from the in-vehicle system 2 is accumulated. The accumulated information is information acquired during normal driving (that is, when the driving state of the driver is normal). That is, the center 4 derives the driving support information using only the information acquired during normal driving. For this reason, it is possible to derive appropriate driving support information without using abnormal information.

  The center 4 is also communicably connected to an external server (not shown) via the network 9 and acquires various types of information from the external server. The external server in this case is a server that provides traffic information and weather information, for example, and the various information acquired from these is traffic information and weather information. The center 4 can also derive the driving support information by using information acquired from an external server in addition to the information acquired from the in-vehicle system 2. As a result, it is possible to derive travel support information that also considers the surrounding environment in which the vehicle 5 is traveling, so that the travel support information is more appropriate for the vehicle 5.

  As long as the driving support information is information that supports driving of the vehicle, any type of information is applicable, but in the present embodiment, the virtual white line used for the determination of the lane departure is used. An example applied to information (hereinafter referred to as “virtual white line information”) will be described. The judgment result of lane departure is used for the lane departure warning service. The lane departure warning service is a service that warns the driver when there is a risk that the vehicle departs from the lane in which the vehicle is traveling. The virtual white line is a white line that is virtually displayed in a lane that does not have a white line, and is used to determine lane departure as described above. Hereinafter, the configuration and processing of the in-vehicle system 2 and the center 4 will be described in detail.

<1-2. Configuration of in-vehicle system>
First, the configuration of the in-vehicle system 2 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration related to the in-vehicle system 2 together with the configuration of the in-vehicle system 2. The in-vehicle system 2 mainly includes a display 21, a speaker 22, and an information providing device 3.

  The display 21 is a so-called head-up display (hereinafter referred to as “HUD”). The display 21 may be of a type that projects an image on a transparent optical glass element for HUD, or may be of a type that projects an image directly on the windshield. When the former type is used, the optical glass element corresponds to the display 21 of the present embodiment, and when the latter type is used, the windshield corresponds to the display 21. In any of these cases, a HUD unit (not shown) for image projection is separately provided. However, the display 21 is not limited to the HUD, and for example, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or the like may be used.

  The speaker 22 is provided at an appropriate position in the vehicle interior of the vehicle 5 and outputs various sounds to the vehicle interior of the vehicle 5. The speaker 22 provides information to a driver who is driving the vehicle 5 or notifies a danger by outputting sound.

  The information providing device 3 transmits / receives information to / from other electronic devices 50 and the center 4 in the vehicle 5 and performs predetermined processing on the acquired information. Further, the information providing apparatus 3 controls the operations of the display 21 and the speaker 22, displays an image on the display 21, and outputs sound to the speaker 22. Such an information providing apparatus 3 includes an external communication unit 31, an information output unit 32, an in-vehicle communication unit 33, a storage unit 34, and a control unit 30.

  The external communication unit 31 has a communication function using a wireless communication standard such as LTE or WiMAX, and performs communication via the network 9. The information providing apparatus 3 can exchange information with the center 4 by the external communication unit 31. For example, the information providing device 3 transmits information on the vehicle 5 to the center 4 via the external communication unit 31 and receives travel support information (for example, virtual white line information) from the center 4 via the external communication unit 31.

  The information output unit 32 transmits an image signal to the HUD unit, and the HUD unit projects an image on the display 21 so that an image related to information to be notified to the driver is displayed on the display 21. When the driving support information is received from the center 4, the information output unit 32 transmits an image signal corresponding to the driving support information to the HUD unit to be displayed on the display 21. For example, when the driving support information is virtual white line information, the information output unit 32 displays the corresponding position on the display 21 so that the virtual white line appears to be superimposed on a predetermined position on the road that is visible in the driver's actual view. Display a virtual white line image. That is, the information output unit 32 displays the virtual white line on the display 21 as AR (Augmented Reality). The information output unit 32 transmits an audio signal to the speaker 22 and causes the speaker 22 to output audio related to information such as a warning to be notified to the driver. That is, the information output unit 32 has a function of outputting the driving support information to the outside.

  The in-vehicle communication unit 33 is connected to an in-vehicle network 58 such as CAN and communicates with another electronic device 50 provided in the vehicle 5. A peripheral monitoring device 51, a driver monitoring device 52, a vehicle monitoring device 53, and an operation assisting device 54 are connected to the in-vehicle network 58 as other electronic devices 50. The in-vehicle communication unit 33 receives signals including information from these electronic devices 50 via the in-vehicle network 58 and transmits signals to these electronic devices 50.

  The periphery monitoring device 51 is a device that monitors the periphery of the vehicle 5 and acquires information related to objects (such as other vehicles) around the vehicle 5. The periphery monitoring device 51 is a radar device such as a millimeter wave radar or a laser radar that detects the positions of other vehicles in front of and behind the vehicle 5, an in-vehicle camera that acquires an image around the vehicle 5, and in the vicinity of the vehicle 5. Includes clearance sonar that detects existing objects.

  The driver monitoring device 52 is a device that monitors the driver of the vehicle 5 and acquires information related to the state of the driver. The driver monitoring device 52 includes an in-vehicle camera that acquires an image of the driver, a biological sensor that detects biological information of the driver, and the like. The in-vehicle camera is arranged in front of the driver and acquires an image that can analyze the position of the driver's eyes and the like. The biometric sensor is disposed at a site such as a steering wheel that directly contacts the driver, for example. It is desirable that the biological sensor can acquire various types of biological information such as heart rate, amount of sweat, electrocardiogram, blood pressure, brain wave, and body temperature.

  The vehicle monitoring device 53 is a device that monitors the vehicle 5 itself and acquires information related to the vehicle 5 itself. The vehicle monitoring device 53 includes a position sensor that acquires the position of the vehicle 5, a vehicle speed sensor that acquires the speed of the vehicle 5, an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration applied to the vehicle 5, a yaw rate sensor that detects the yaw rate of the vehicle 5, It includes an operation sensor that detects the operation content and operation amount of an operation member (accelerator, brake, steering wheel, turn signal, etc.), a time measuring device that measures the driving time of the vehicle 5, and the like.

  The operation assisting device 54 is a device that assists the operation of the driver by intervening in the operation of the driver. The operation assisting device 54 includes an automatic brake operation for automatically operating a brake based on information acquired by the periphery monitoring device 51, a cruise control device for automatically maintaining the speed of the vehicle 5, and the like.

  In addition, the storage unit 34 of the information providing device 3 stores various types of information necessary for the operation of the in-vehicle system 2. The storage unit 34 is a non-volatile storage device such as a flash memory, for example. The storage unit 34 stores a control program 34a. The program 34a is acquired by reading from a storage medium such as a memory card and stored in the storage unit 34 in advance. The program 34a may be acquired by other methods such as downloading from a communication device connected to the network 9.

  In addition, the storage unit 34 stores an application 34b that supports driving of the vehicle 5, and the function of the application 34b is realized by a driver operating and executing the application 34b. Examples of such applications include an application for realizing a lane departure warning service (hereinafter referred to as “lane departure warning application”).

  The control unit 30 is, for example, a microcomputer including a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like, and controls the entire in-vehicle system 2. When the CPU of the control unit 30 executes the program 34a stored in the storage unit 34 (performs arithmetic processing according to the program 34a), various functions necessary for the control unit 30 are realized.

  The information acquisition unit 30a, the situation determination unit 30b, the information transmission unit 30c, and the warning unit 30d illustrated in FIG. 2 are some of the functions of the control unit 30 realized by executing the program 34a.

  The information acquisition unit 30a acquires various types of information from other electronic devices 50 connected to the in-vehicle network 58 via the in-vehicle communication unit 33. The information acquisition unit 30a acquires information related to the vehicle 5 itself (hereinafter referred to as “vehicle information”) from the vehicle monitoring device 53, and information related to objects around the vehicle 5 (hereinafter referred to as “external world information”). Obtained from the monitoring device 51 and information on the driver status (hereinafter referred to as “driver information”) is obtained from the driver monitoring device 52.

  The vehicle information includes host vehicle information and travel tendency information. The own vehicle information is information relating to the traveling of the vehicle 5 itself, and is, for example, position information, speed, acceleration, snake angle, accelerator information, brake information, and the like. The driving tendency information is information relating to the driving tendency of the driver of the vehicle 5, for example, information relating to the number of lane departures, the degree of safe driving, and the driving route.

  The outside world information includes surrounding vehicle information and surrounding road information. The peripheral vehicle information is information related to other vehicles existing around the vehicle 5, for example, information such as the position of the other vehicle. The surrounding road information is information related to roads around the vehicle 5, for example, information such as lane presence / absence, lane type, lane width, and width.

  The driver information includes information related to the driver such as various types of biological information of the driver. The driver information includes, for example, line-of-sight information derived from the driver's eye position, side-view information derived from the line-of-sight information, in addition to the various types of biological information described above. This look-aside information is information relating to the presence and frequency of the look-aside while the driver is traveling.

  In addition, the information acquisition unit 30 a further acquires various types of information from the center 4 via the external communication unit 31. For example, the information acquisition unit 30 a acquires travel support information from the center 4. In addition, the information acquisition unit 30 a acquires information about the weather around the vehicle 5, information about roads around the vehicle 5, information about traffic jams around the vehicle 5, and the like from the center 4. Note that the information acquisition unit 30a may acquire a part of these pieces of information from a communication device connected to the network 9 other than the center 4.

  The situation determination unit 30b determines a situation such as the current driving state of the driver and the driving environment based on each piece of information acquired by the information acquisition unit 30a. For example, the operating state of the driver is a margin. The margin is a parameter indicating the amount of load that the driver can additionally tolerate with respect to the current load amount (current load amount). A method for deriving the margin will be described later. The traveling environment includes, for example, the presence or absence of a white line in the lane in which the vehicle 5 is traveling. The presence / absence of a white line is determined using external information or the like.

  Furthermore, other examples of the situation such as the driving state and driving environment of the driver include, for example, the degree of danger and the degree of safe driving. The situation determination unit 30b derives a risk level that is a parameter according to the current accident risk level, based on the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 30a. A method for deriving the risk will be described later. In addition, the situation determination unit 30b derives a safe driving degree based on each information acquired by the information acquisition unit 30a. Specifically, the information providing device 3 holds an index that is generally regarded as safe driving in advance, and the situation determination unit 30b compares the driving situation derived from each information with this index to drive safely. Deriving degrees.

  The information transmission unit 30 c transmits information such as vehicle information and external world information acquired by the information acquisition unit 30 a to the center 4 via the external communication unit 31. At this time, the information transmission unit 30 c transmits information in association with the identification information of the driver of the vehicle 5. Moreover, the information transmission part 30c changes the propriety of transmission of the information to the center 4 according to the driving | running state of a driver. Specifically, the information transmission unit 30c transmits information to the center 4 when the driving state determined by the situation determination unit 30b is estimated to be normal, and when it is estimated that the driving state is abnormal. Information is not sent to the center 4. That is, the information transmission unit 30c transmits information to the center 4 when it is estimated that the vehicle is in normal running, and does not transmit information to the center 4 when it is estimated that the vehicle is not in normal driving. Thereby, the vehicle-mounted system 2 can transmit only the information acquired when driving in a normal state to the center 4.

  For example, a margin can be used to determine whether the driving state of the driver is normal. In this case, the information transmission unit 30c estimates that it is in a normal state when the margin is greater than a certain level, and estimates that it is in an abnormal state when the margin is less than a certain level. That is, the driving state is normal when the driver's margin is high.

  The warning unit 30d notifies the driver of warning information when a predetermined notification condition is satisfied based on the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 30a. Specifically, when a predetermined notification condition is satisfied, the warning unit 30d transmits an audio signal to the speaker 22 via the information output unit 32, and causes the speaker 22 to output sound serving as warning information. Further, when a predetermined notification condition is satisfied, the warning unit 30d transmits a video signal to the HUD unit via the information output unit 32, and displays a video as warning information on the display 21. The warning unit 30d is, for example, when there is a possibility of deviating from the lane in which the vehicle 5 is traveling, when the vehicle 5 may collide with another vehicle, when the position of the vehicle 5 is a frequent accident point, Warning information is notified to the driver when there is a junction or level crossing in front of 5.

<1-3. Center Configuration>
Next, the configuration of the center 4 will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration related to the center 4 together with the configuration of the center 4. The center 4 mainly includes an external communication unit 41, a database 42, a storage unit 43, and a control unit 40.

  The external communication unit 41 has a wired or wireless communication function, and performs communication via the network 9. That is, the center 4 can send and receive information to and from the information providing device 3 by the external communication unit 41. For example, the center 4 transmits travel support information to the information providing device 3 via the external communication unit 41 and receives vehicle information, external world information, and the like from the information providing device 3 via the external communication unit 41. Further, the center 4 receives traffic information, weather information, and the like from an external server via an external communication unit.

  The database 42 is a database in which vehicle information and external world information received from the information providing device 3 and traffic information and weather information acquired from an external server are classified and stored. The database 42 also stores data related to the result of the situation determination derived based on the vehicle information and the outside world information. Examples of data stored in the database 42 include user model information, driver model information associated with the user information, road information, white line drawing position information, and the like in addition to the vehicle information described above.

  The user information is information for identifying a user (driver), and is information including an ID number, sex, age, driving history, and the like. Driver model information is information associated with user information, and is information indicating a driving tendency constructed for each driver. For example, the driver model information is information indicating a normal driving tendency of each driver (for example, timing of stepping on a brake, how to take a car, etc.). The driver model information is information derived based on vehicle information, driver information, and the like, and the center 4 updates the driver model information every time it receives vehicle information, driver information, and the like from the information providing device 3.

  The road information is information on roads in the whole country or a certain wide area, and includes the number of lanes, the lane width, the presence or absence of white lines, and the like. The white line drawing position information is information for AR display so that a white line can be seen at an appropriate position in the lane when a virtual white line is superimposed on a lane without a white line. The center 4 has, as a white line drawing position information, information on a position that is a base when a virtual white line is superimposed and displayed for each point for a lane without a white line. That is, the white line drawing position information is associated with the position, line thickness, type (straight line, broken line, etc.), etc., of the virtual white line based on the number of lanes, the lane width, the presence or absence of the opposite lane, etc. Information.

  The storage unit 43 stores various information necessary for the operation of the center 4. The storage unit 43 is a non-volatile storage device such as a flash memory, for example, and stores a control program 43a.

  The control unit 40 is a microcomputer including, for example, a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM, and controls the entire center 4. When the CPU of the control unit 40 executes the program 43a stored in the storage unit 43 (performs calculation processing according to the program 43a), various functions necessary for the control unit 40 are realized.

  The information classification unit 40a, the situation determination unit 40b, the white line derivation unit 40c, and the information transmission unit 40d illustrated in FIG. 3 are some of the functions of the control unit 40 realized by executing the program 43a.

  The information classification unit 40a classifies various information such as vehicle information, external information, traffic information, and weather information acquired via the external communication unit 41 into more detailed information. For example, it is classified into vehicle group information, road information, traffic regulation information, and the like. The vehicle group information is information derived from own vehicle information obtained from a plurality of vehicles, surrounding vehicle information, and the like, and is information obtained by classifying the traffic volume at each point and the behavior of each vehicle by date and time. The road information is information derived from surrounding road information acquired from a plurality of vehicles, map information stored in advance by the center 4, map information acquired from an external server, and the like. Information classified into states (curved roads, narrow roads, mountain roads, bad roads, etc.). The traffic regulation information is information derived from traffic information obtained from an external server, and is classified into regulation sections, regulation periods, obstacle information, accident information, and the like. Further, the weather information is classified in association with a point for each weather type (eg, guerrilla heavy rain, snowfall, fog). These classified information is stored in the database 42 for each classification.

  The situation determination unit 40b determines the current situation of the target vehicle based on each piece of information acquired from a plurality of vehicles, and estimates the future situation. For example, the situation determination unit 40b determines “risk level (macro)” and “margin (macro)”. The risk level (macro) is a current risk level of the target vehicle or an estimated future risk level. The risk level (macro) is a risk level that also considers a risk that cannot be determined by the sensor of the vehicle 5. The danger that cannot be determined by the sensor of the vehicle 5 is, for example, that a dangerous merging point exists 1 km away, or a merging vehicle is approaching.

  Further, the margin (macro) is an allowable load of the target driver. Since the allowable load of the driver may change depending on the driving environment, the situation determination unit 40b periodically derives the latest allowable amount of the driver. For example, when the driver is driving on a familiar road, or when driving on a general road with little traffic, the load tolerance increases and the driver is driving on an unfamiliar highway In this case, the allowable load becomes small. Further, the allowable load may vary depending on the driving situation of the driver. For example, if the driver is drowsy, the allowable amount is reduced.

  In addition, the situation determination unit 40b estimates behaviors such as a traveling direction and a traveling position of each vehicle including the host vehicle and other vehicles in the current or future based on vehicle information acquired from each vehicle. In addition, the situation determination unit 40b determines a traveling scene in which each vehicle is traveling from surrounding road information and traffic regulation information. These determination results are also stored in the database 42.

  The white line deriving unit 40c derives various information (virtual white line information) regarding the virtual white line to be displayed when the virtual white line is superimposed and displayed on a road without a white line. The white line deriving unit 40c is based on the white line drawing position information of the point where the vehicle 5 is traveling, for roads for which it is known from the beginning that there is no white line from road information and the like. Based on the information or the like, the white line drawing position information is corrected, and appropriate virtual white line information for driving the point at the present time is derived.

  Further, when the white line deriving unit 40c recognizes from the road information, weather information, etc. that the snow is piled up on the road surface due to snowfall even if the road has a white line, and the white line cannot be seen, the virtual white line information is displayed. To derive. Furthermore, when the white line deriving unit 40c recognizes a situation such as a case where the lane is restricted by one-side traffic blocking or a case where it is necessary to detour to avoid falling objects from traffic regulation information or the like. In addition, virtual white line information is derived. As described above, the white line deriving unit 40c derives the optimal virtual white line information according to the traveling environment in which the vehicle 5 is actually traveling.

  The information transmission unit 40d transmits and receives information to and from the information providing apparatus 3 via the external communication unit 41. For example, the information transmission unit 40d receives vehicle information and external world information from the information providing device 3. Moreover, the information transmission part 40d transmits the driver model information regarding a driver, when a lane departure warning application starts. The information transmission unit 40d transmits virtual white line information when the driver turns on the lane departure warning service.

<1-4. System processing>
Next, processing of the information providing system 1 will be described. 4 and 5 are flowcharts of processing performed by the information providing apparatus 3 and the center 4 of the information providing system 1.

  The information providing device 3 is activated when the ignition of the vehicle 5 is turned on, and starts processing. When the ignition is turned on and activated, the information providing device 3 activates the lane departure warning application (step S10). And the information provision apparatus 3 will request | require driver model information with respect to the center 4, if a lane departure warning application starts (step S11). As described above, since the center 4 may update the driver model information, the information providing apparatus 3 requests the latest driver model information when the lane departure warning application is activated. Yes. Specifically, the information providing apparatus 3 transmits a signal for requesting transmission of driver model information related to the driver to the center 4 together with a signal for identifying the driver.

  When the center 4 receives the transmission request for the driver model information from the information providing device 3, the center 4 extracts the driver model information associated with the corresponding driver (vehicle) from the database 42 (step S12). Then, the center 4 transmits the extracted driver model information to the information providing apparatus 3 (step S13), and the information providing apparatus 3 receives the driver model information (step S14).

  Upon receiving the driver model information, the information providing device 3 acquires various information (step S15). That is, the information providing device 3 acquires vehicle information, external world information, and driver information from the other electronic device 50. And the information provision apparatus 3 will perform a condition judgment process, if various information is acquired (step S16).

  Specifically, the information providing device 3 derives the driver's margin based on the acquired various information. Here, a method for deriving the margin will be described. The margin is a parameter indicating the amount of load that the driver can additionally tolerate with respect to the current load amount (current load amount). In other words, the margin is a parameter indicating how much the driver has a margin with respect to the amount of load applied to the driver at the present time.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a method in which the situation determination unit 30b derives the driver margin V1. As shown in FIG. 6, the margin V1 is derived by the following equation (1) based on the allowable load amount A1 and the current load amount A2.

V1 = A1-A2 (1)
That is, the margin V1 is a value obtained by subtracting the current load amount A2 from the allowable load amount A1. The allowable load amount A1 is a parameter indicating the amount of load that can be allowed by the driver at the present time. On the other hand, the current load amount A2 is a parameter indicating the amount of load applied to the driver at the present time. The margin V1 is normalized so as to take a value between 0 and 100. When the current load amount A2 exceeds the load allowable amount A1, the margin V1 is set to “0” instead of a negative value.

  The allowable load amount A1 is derived by the following equation (2) based on the driving skill value B1, the ambiguity B2, the drowsiness level B3, the irritation level B4, and the fatigue level B5.

A1 = B1- (B2 + B3 + B4 + B5) (2)
The driving skill value B1 is a value indicating the driving ability of the driver. In general, the higher the driving capability of the driver, the greater the amount of load that the driver can tolerate during driving. Then, by subtracting from this driving skill value B1 values indicating the degree of factors that impede the driving ability at the present time (manageness B2, drowsiness B3, irritability B4, and fatigue B5), the load allowable amount A1 is obtained. Derived. Accordingly, the higher the driving capability of the driver, the higher the load allowable amount A1. In addition, the allowable load A1 decreases as the degree of the factor that hinders the driving ability increases.

  The driving skill value B1 is derived based on driver information D1 such as a safe driving degree and a reaction time. The driver information D1 is acquired from the driver monitoring device 52. The degree of safe driving is a value indicating the degree of safety when the driver is driving, and is derived based on the accumulated information (such as an inter-vehicle distance) related to past drivers. The reaction time is a value indicating the time until the driver reacts to the event, and is derived based on the accumulated information about the past driver. The driver information D1, the safe driving degree, and the reaction time may be derived at the center 4 and acquired.

  The ambiguity B2 is a value indicating the degree of ambiguity of the driver at the present time. The sleepiness level B3 is a value indicating the degree of sleepiness of the driver at the current time. The degree of ambiguity B2 and sleepiness B3 are derived based on biological information D2 such as heart rate, amount of sweat, electrocardiogram, blood pressure, electroencephalogram, and body temperature. This biological information D2 is obtained from the biological sensor of the driver monitoring device 52.

  The frustration degree B4 is a value indicating the degree of frustration of the driver at the present time. The frustration degree B4 is derived in consideration of the other vehicle information D3 in addition to the biological information D2. The other vehicle information D3 is information on other vehicles around the vehicle 5 and includes a distance between the rear vehicles and a traffic congestion level. The rear inter-vehicle distance is the inter-vehicle distance of another vehicle that travels behind the vehicle 5 and is obtained from the radar of the periphery monitoring device 51. The traffic congestion level is a value indicating the degree of traffic congestion around the position of the vehicle 5 and is acquired from the periphery monitoring device 51 or the center 4.

  The degree of fatigue B5 is a value indicating the degree of driver fatigue at the present time. The degree of fatigue B5 is derived based on own vehicle information D4 such as driving time and cumulative operation amount. The driving time is, for example, the elapsed time from the ignition switch ON, and is obtained from the time measuring device of the vehicle monitoring device 53. The accumulated operation amount is an accumulated operation amount of the operation member since the driver started driving, and is obtained by time-integrating the operation amount detected by the operation sensor of the vehicle monitoring device 53.

  The current load amount A2 is derived by the following equation (3) based on the operation load amount C1, the HMI load amount C2, and the visibility load amount C3.

A2 = C1 + C2 + C3 (3)
That is, the current load amount A2 is derived by adding three types of load amounts (operation load amount C1, HMI load amount C2, and visibility load amount C3) applied to the driver at the present time.

  The operation load amount C1 is an amount of load generated when the driver operates the operation members (accelerator, brake, steering wheel, etc.) of the vehicle 5. The operation load amount C1 is derived based on operation information D5 such as the operation amount of the operation member. The operation information D5 is obtained from the operation sensor of the vehicle monitoring device 53.

  The HMI load amount C2 is a load amount generated when the driver receives information from the HMI. The HMI load amount C2 is derived based on the HMI information D6 such as the content type and the information provision amount. The content type is the type of content (news, drama, music, etc.) provided to the driver. The information provision amount is the amount of information such as content provided to the driver. The HMI information D6 is obtained from a server (not shown) such as content mounted on the vehicle 5. Note that when deriving the HMI load amount C2, the amount of conversation and the content of the conversation in the conversation between the driver and the passenger or the conversation of the driver on the telephone may be further taken into consideration.

  The visibility load amount C3 is an amount of load caused by a driver's visibility (a distance at which an object can be confirmed with the naked eye). The visibility load C3 increases as the visibility outside the vehicle 5 is shorter (the visibility of the driver is worse). The visibility load C3 is derived based on weather information D7 such as weather and illuminance. The weather is the weather around the position of the vehicle 5 (sunny, rain, cloudy, etc.), and the illuminance is the brightness around the position of the vehicle 5. The weather information D7 is obtained from the center 4.

  In addition, in this step S16 which performs situation determination processing, the information providing apparatus 3 derives, for example, the degree of danger and the degree of safe driving, and the presence / absence of a white line in addition to the derivation of the margin. Also good.

  Here, a method for deriving the degree of risk will be described. The risk level is a parameter corresponding to the current risk level of the accident. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a method in which the situation determination unit 30b derives the risk level V2. As shown in FIG. 7, the risk level V2 is derived by the following equation (4) based on the potential risk level E1, the apparent risk level E2, and the aside risk level E3.

V2 = E1 + E2 + E3 (4)
That is, the risk level V2 is derived by adding parameters (potential risk level E1, overt risk level E2, and aside look risk level E3) corresponding to the three types of risk levels at the present time. The degree of risk V2 is also normalized so as to take a value of 0 or more and 100 or less.

  The potential danger level E1 is a parameter according to the degree of danger caused by traveling of the vehicle 5 alone, and is a parameter unrelated to objects around the vehicle 5. The potential risk E1 is derived based on the point information G1 such as the point accident rate and the own vehicle information G2 such as the own vehicle speed and the own vehicle acceleration. The point accident rate is an accident rate on a road around the position of the vehicle 5. The own vehicle speed is the speed of the vehicle 5 at the present time, and the own vehicle acceleration is the acceleration of the vehicle 5 at the current time. The point information G1 is obtained from the center 4, and the own vehicle information G2 is obtained from the vehicle monitoring device 53.

  The apparent risk level E2 is a parameter corresponding to the risk level caused by the relationship between the vehicle 5 and surrounding objects. The apparent risk E2 is derived based on the evaluation index F1 and the road surface friction coefficient F2.

  The evaluation index F1 is an index for evaluating the degree of danger for a collision with a forward obstacle, which is generally used, such as TTC (Time To Collision) and SD (Stopping Distance). The evaluation index F1 is derived based on the own vehicle information G2 and the other vehicle information G3. The other vehicle information G <b> 3 includes a relative speed, an inter-vehicle distance, a lateral position, and the like related to the other vehicle traveling in front of the vehicle 5. The other vehicle information G3 is obtained from the radar device of the periphery monitoring device 51.

  The road surface friction coefficient F2 is a friction coefficient (μ) of a road on which the vehicle 5 travels. The road surface friction coefficient F2 is extracted based on weather information G4 such as the weather and the outside temperature. The weather is the weather around the position of the vehicle 5 (sunny, rain, cloudy, etc.), and the outside temperature is the temperature around the position of the vehicle 5. The weather information G4 is obtained from the center 4.

  The aside risk E3 is a parameter corresponding to the risk due to the driver's aside. The look-aside risk degree E3 is derived based on line-of-sight information G5 such as the driver's line-of-sight direction and face direction. The line-of-sight information G5 is acquired based on an image of the driver obtained by the in-vehicle camera of the driver monitoring device 52.

  Next, a method for deriving the safe driving degree will be described. The degree of safe driving indicates the degree of safety when the driver is driving. The safe driving degree may be expressed by a value such as 0 to 100, for example, or may be classified according to the degree of “high”, “medium”, “low”, or the like. In the information providing device 3, an index that is generally regarded as safe driving is stored in advance in the storage unit 34 or the like, and the situation determination unit 30 b derives the degree of safe driving by comparison with the index. Specifically, the situation determination unit 30b derives the driver's safe driving level based on vehicle information, driver information, and the like. Then, the situation determination unit 30b compares the safe driving level with the index of the storage unit 34, and determines that the safe driving level is “high” if the safe driving level is higher. On the other hand, the situation determination unit 30b determines that the safe driving level is “low” if the safe driving level is lower than the index, and “medium” if it is substantially equal to the index. When the safe driving degree is represented by a value, the situation determination unit 30b derives a value corresponding to the comparison result between the safe driving level and the index.

  Next, a method for determining the presence or absence of a white line will be described. The situation determination unit 30b determines the presence or absence of a white line based on external world information. Specifically, the situation determination unit 30b determines the presence or absence of a white line based on an image in front of the vehicle 5 taken by the in-vehicle camera. In addition, when the situation judgment part 30b has the map information of the periphery including the presence or absence of a white line, you may judge based on the map information.

  Returning to FIG. 4, next, the information providing apparatus 3 determines whether or not information can be transmitted based on the derived margin (step S17). Specifically, the situation determination unit 30b determines that information can be transmitted to the center 4 when the derived margin is greater than or equal to a certain level, and transmits information to the center 4 when the derived margin is less than a certain level. Judged to be impossible. That is, the situation determination unit 30b enables information transmission when the driving state of the driver is estimated to be normal, and disables transmission when it is estimated to be abnormal. That is, the situation determination unit 30b enables transmission of information when it is estimated that the vehicle is traveling normally, and disables transmission when it is estimated that the vehicle is not traveling normally.

  In the present embodiment, the margin is used as information for estimating whether or not the driving state is normal (whether or not the vehicle is running normally), but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the safe driving degree of the driver may be used, and both the margin and the safe driving degree may be used. When the safe driving degree is used, it is estimated that the driving state is normal (normal driving) when the safe driving degree is high, and the driving state is not normal (not normal driving) when the driving degree is low. A case where the degree of safe driving is high is a case where the safe driving level is high in comparison with other drivers, or a case where the safe driving level is high in comparison with own ordinary driving.

  When the information providing apparatus 3 determines that the information cannot be transmitted (No in step S17), the information providing apparatus 3 does not transmit the information to the center 4 and proceeds to the next process (A in FIG. 4). On the other hand, when the information providing apparatus 3 determines that the information can be transmitted (Yes in step S17), the information providing apparatus 3 transmits the acquired vehicle information and outside world information to the center 4 via the external communication unit 31 ( Step S18). And the center 4 receives each information transmitted from the information provision apparatus 3 (step S19). Thereby, the information provision apparatus 3 can transmit only the information acquired at the time of normal driving to the center 4. The center 4 may receive information such as traffic information and weather information from an external server in step S19.

  Next, the center 4 classifies each received information (step S20). Specifically, the center 4 classifies various types of information such as received vehicle information, outside world information, traffic information, and weather information into vehicle group information, road information, traffic regulation information, and the like.

  Then, the center 4 executes a situation determination process based on the classified information (step S21). Specifically, the center 4 determines situations such as a risk level (macro), a margin level (macro), an action estimation, and a travel scene based on each classified information. Next, the center 4 accumulates each classified information and the result of the situation determination in the database 42 (step S22).

  Note that when the lane departure warning application is activated, the information providing device 3 monitors whether or not the lane departure warning service is turned on (step S23). This is monitoring whether or not there is an instruction to start the lane departure warning service by the user's operation. If the lane departure warning service is not turned on (No in step S23), the information providing apparatus 3 periodically monitors whether the lane departure warning service is turned on.

  On the other hand, when the lane departure warning service is turned on (Yes in step S23), the information providing device 3 requests the center 4 to transmit driving support information (step S24). The driving support information requested at this time is information for executing the lane departure warning service, for example, virtual white line information.

  When there is a request for transmission of driving support information from the information providing device 3, the center 4 executes a process of extracting driving support information to be transmitted to the vehicle 5 (step S25). Specifically, the center 4 derives a point where the vehicle 5 is traveling based on the vehicle group information and the road information, and extracts white line drawing position information at the point. Then, the center 4 determines whether or not the white line drawing position information needs to be corrected in consideration of road information and traffic regulation information.

  That is, the white line drawing position information is information on a general virtual white line at the point, but at the present time when the vehicle 5 is about to pass the point, the lane is restricted by traffic regulation or needs to be detoured. This is because in this case, it is necessary to change the position of the virtual white line. Therefore, the center 4 extracts the white line drawing position information as virtual white line information when it is determined that normal driving is possible, and the corrected virtual white line when it is necessary to make the virtual white line different from normal. Is extracted as virtual white line information.

  Then, the center 4 transmits the extracted virtual white line information to the information providing apparatus 3 (step S26), and the information providing apparatus 3 receives the virtual white line information (step S27).

  Next, the information providing apparatus 3 determines a position for displaying the virtual white line on the display 21 based on the acquired virtual white line information (step S28). That is, the position where the virtual white line is superimposed and displayed on the actual road that is visible to the driver's field of view is determined. Then, the information providing apparatus 3 transmits information on the thickness and type of the virtual white line to the HUD unit together with the determined position information, and displays the virtual white line on the display 21 (step S29).

  Thereafter, the information providing device 3 executes a lane departure warning service process (step S30). That is, when the information providing apparatus 3 displays the virtual white line, the information providing apparatus 3 monitors whether or not the vehicle departs from the white line based on the traveling behavior of the vehicle 5. When the information providing device 3 determines that the vehicle 5 is traveling so as to deviate from the white line, the information providing device 3 outputs an alarm to the driver.

  The alarm is performed by sound or video. When outputting an alarm by sound, the information providing device 3 causes the speaker 22 to output an alarm sound via the information output unit 32. The sound to be output may be an alarm sound or a voice reading out a message such as “departing from the lane”. Further, in the case of outputting an alarm by video, the information providing device 3 displays the video on the display 21 via the information output unit 32.

  Thereafter, when the vehicle 5 is stopped and the ignition is turned off, the lane departure warning process is ended. The lane departure warning process is also terminated when the user terminates the lane departure warning application.

  Here, an example in which the information providing apparatus 3 displays a virtual white line on the display 21 will be described with reference to the drawings. 8 and 9 are views showing the front of the vehicle 5 as seen from the driver's viewpoint. FIGS. 8A and 9A are diagrams showing an actual landscape seen from the viewpoint of the driver, and FIGS. 8B and 9B are diagrams in which virtual white lines are superimposed on the road. It is. 8 and 9 both show a situation in which a forward vehicle and an oncoming vehicle are traveling.

  As shown in FIGS. 8A and 9A, the vehicle 5 is traveling on a road without a white line. Therefore, the driver cannot grasp the position of the white line on the road. For this reason, the driver cannot visually grasp the danger such as whether he / she is traveling in a dangerous position where he / she is in contact with the oncoming vehicle (eg, deviating from the white line).

  On the other hand, when the driver turns on the lane departure warning service, a virtual white line is displayed at a predetermined position on the road on the display 21 as shown in FIGS. 8B and 9B. That is, the driver sees the virtual white line superimposed on the road. This is the same whether the display 21 is of a type that projects an image on a transparent optical glass element for HUD or a type that projects an image directly on the windshield. As a result, the driver can visually grasp the lane that the host vehicle should travel.

  In the present embodiment, various information acquired from each vehicle during normal running is transmitted to the center 4, and the center 4 derives virtual white line information based on the information. That is, the center 4 does not use information regarding a vehicle that exhibits abnormal behavior when deriving virtual white line information. For this reason, the virtual white line information derived by the center 4 is information that allows the virtual white line to be superimposed and displayed at a more appropriate position.

  Therefore, whether the vehicle 5 is traveling on a straight road as shown in FIG. 8 or when the vehicle 5 is traveling on a curve as shown in FIG. The virtual white line can be superimposed and displayed at the position.

  Next, an example in which a virtual white line is displayed according to the state of the road on which the vehicle 5 is traveling will be described. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the front of the vehicle 5 as viewed from the driver's viewpoint. FIG. 10A is a diagram showing an actual landscape seen from the viewpoint of the driver, and FIG. 10B is a diagram in which a virtual white line is superimposed on the road.

  As shown in FIG. 10A, when there is a road construction point in front of the lane in which the vehicle 5 travels and traffic is restricted, the vehicle 5 needs to travel around. However, if the center 4 derives general virtual white line information without considering the actual road condition or the like, a straight virtual white line is formed at a substantially central position of the road as shown in FIG. It will be superimposed. That is, a virtual white line that causes a traffic lane where a vehicle is not allowed to pass as a travel lane is superimposed and displayed. Such a display is not appropriate in light of the actual driving situation, and if the lane departure warning service is turned on, a warning is output as a departure from the lane.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the center 4 corrects the white line drawing position information based on the traffic regulation information and the like, and derives appropriate virtual white line information according to the situation. FIG. 10B is a diagram in which a virtual white line is superimposed and displayed on the road based on the virtual white line information derived by such correction. As shown in FIG. 10B, a virtual white line that bypasses the construction point is superimposed and displayed, and is an appropriate virtual white line according to the situation. Therefore, even if the vehicle 5 travels along the virtual white line, it is not erroneously determined that the vehicle 5 has protruded from the oncoming lane, and a lane departure warning is not output.

  Next, an example in which an alarm is output when the vehicle deviates from the lane will be described. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the front of the vehicle 5 as seen from the driver's viewpoint, and shows an example in which a lane departure warning is displayed on the display. When the lane departure warning service is turned on, a virtual white line is displayed on a road without a white line. When the vehicle 5 is about to deviate from the virtual white line, an alarm is displayed on the display 21. The alarm can be displayed using, for example, display of characters such as “notice of departure” or a warning mark. In addition, it is desirable that this alarm is displayed at a position that does not hinder the driver's operation and that the driver can reliably recognize the alarm.

  Further, when the lane departure warning service is turned on, in addition to the virtual white line superimposed display, it may be configured to display road information and other vehicle information in a range exceeding the driver's visibility (distance where an object can be confirmed with the naked eye). . FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the front of the vehicle 5 viewed from the driver's viewpoint, and shows an example of displaying on the display 21 road information and other vehicle information exceeding the visibility as viewed from the driver's viewing direction.

  The center 4 acquires vehicle information, road information, and the like from each vehicle, and holds information such as the position and road shape of each vehicle. For this reason, it is possible to extract the information regarding the road shape in the range ahead of the point where the vehicle 5 is traveling, and the traveling vehicle. This extracted information is transmitted to the information providing apparatus 3 as travel support information, and the road and the traveling vehicle are displayed on the display 21 based on the travel support information acquired by the information providing apparatus 3.

  In the example shown in FIG. 12, this image is displayed on the driver side in the display area of the display 21. FIG. 12 also shows an enlarged view for easy understanding of the contents of the video. By displaying such an image on the display 21, the driver can grasp the road conditions up to a range farther than the visibility and the driving conditions of other vehicles.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the front of the vehicle 5 as viewed from the driver's viewpoint. FIG. 13 shows an example in which road information and other vehicle information in a range exceeding the visibility are displayed on the display 21 as images viewed from above the vehicle 5. As in the case of FIG. 12, the information providing device 3 displays the road and the traveling vehicle on the display 21 based on the traveling support information acquired from the center 4.

  Also in the example shown in FIG. 13, this image is displayed on the driver side in the display area of the display 21. FIG. 13 also shows an enlarged view for convenience of understanding the contents of the video. By displaying such an image on the display 21, the driver can grasp the road conditions up to a range farther than the visibility and the driving conditions of other vehicles. Note that the display shown in FIG. 12 and the display shown in FIG. 13 may be configured to be switchable, or any arbitrary video may be displayed by selection of the driver.

  As described above, since the virtual white line information is derived using only the information acquired when the driving state is estimated to be normal (during normal driving), appropriate driving support that does not include an abnormal value is performed. It becomes possible. Furthermore, by considering the driving environment such as traffic regulation information, it is possible to perform the optimum driving support according to the situation.

<2. Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, a configuration has been described in which a virtual white line derived based on each piece of information acquired during normal running is displayed. In addition, the configuration for correcting the position of the virtual white line to be superimposed and displayed from the basic white line drawing position according to the situation such as traffic regulation has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the display position of the virtual white line may be corrected in accordance with the traveling state of another vehicle. Hereinafter, as an example, a configuration in which the display position of the virtual white line is changed depending on the presence or absence of an oncoming vehicle will be described.

<2-1. Configuration and overall processing>
The configurations of the in-vehicle system 2 and the center 4 according to the second embodiment are the same as the configurations according to the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Also, the overall processing is almost the same as the processing according to the first embodiment shown in FIGS. However, in the present embodiment, the center 4 also determines the presence or absence of oncoming vehicles in the current and future in the process of determining the status of the vehicle 5. The center 4 also considers the presence or absence of this oncoming vehicle when deriving virtual white line information. For this reason, below, the difference from 1st Embodiment is demonstrated centering on the determination process of the presence or absence of a corresponding vehicle, and the derivation | leading-out process of virtual white line information.

<2-2. Oncoming vehicle presence determination process>
Details of the determination process for the presence or absence of an oncoming vehicle according to the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a process for determining whether there is an oncoming vehicle. This process is a process executed in the situation determination process (step S21) in the overall process flow of the first embodiment. That is, the processing from step S10 to step S20 is the same as that in the first embodiment. In addition, the processing in step S21 is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and in the present embodiment, a determination process for determining whether there is an oncoming vehicle is also performed.

  Note that the oncoming vehicle is another vehicle that travels in a direction opposite to the traveling direction of the host vehicle 5 on the roadway on which the host vehicle 5 travels, and that is within a predetermined range from the host vehicle 5. That is, among other vehicles traveling in the direction opposite to the traveling direction of the host vehicle 5, the other vehicle is traveling at a position that is close to the host vehicle and passes by within a predetermined time. Although this predetermined time can be set as appropriate, it can be set to 3 minutes or 5 minutes, for example. In addition, the predetermined range can be arbitrarily set as long as it includes other vehicles that may pass within the set predetermined time. For example, the predetermined range may be a range of 3 km from the own vehicle or a range of 5 km. can do.

  When the center 4 starts the process for determining whether there is an oncoming vehicle, the center 4 first determines an estimated vehicle (step S41). An estimated vehicle is a vehicle that estimates whether or not it is an oncoming vehicle. That is, the process of this step is a process of extracting surrounding vehicles that can be current and future oncoming vehicles and making them estimated vehicles. Specifically, the center 4 extracts other vehicles existing within a predetermined range set in advance with the own vehicle 5 as a base point (or set by the driver as appropriate), and determines them as estimated vehicles.

  Next, the center 4 estimates own vehicle information (step S42). The own vehicle information includes information indicating the situation of the own vehicle at the current time and information indicating the situation of the own vehicle at a future time. In this case, the information indicating the status of the host vehicle is vehicle information such as position information, speed information, and acceleration information of the host vehicle, and information indicating a travel locus of the host vehicle from the current time to a future time. The current time is the time at which the present estimation process is executed, and the future time is each future time carved at a predetermined interval from the current time. As the future time, for example, 1 second, 2 seconds, and so on from the current time can be set to each time from 1 minute to 3 minutes or 5 minutes later. However, values such as these time intervals are not limited to this, and can be set as appropriate.

  Specifically, the center 4 first obtains position information, speed information, and acceleration information at the current time of the host vehicle 5 and derives information indicating the situation of the host vehicle. The information indicating the situation of the host vehicle may include right / left turn information, route guidance information, and the like. Then, the center 4 estimates the situation of the host vehicle at a future time. That is, the center 4 estimates the position of the host vehicle 5 at a future time from each position, speed, and acceleration information of the host vehicle at the current time. The center 4 derives a travel locus from the current location based on the position of the host vehicle 5 at the current time and the position of the host vehicle 5 at the future time. In addition, when there are a plurality of candidates for the position of the host vehicle at a future time, a travel locus for each candidate is derived.

  Next, the center 4 estimates other vehicle information (step S43). The other vehicle information includes information indicating the status of the other vehicle at the current time and information indicating the status of the other vehicle at the future time. The information indicating the status of the other vehicle in this case is vehicle information such as position information, speed information, and acceleration information of the other vehicle, and information indicating a travel locus of the other vehicle from the current time to a future time.

  Specifically, the center 4 obtains position information, speed information, and acceleration information at the current time of the other vehicle, and derives information indicating the situation of the other vehicle. The information indicating the status of the other vehicle may include right / left turn information and route guidance information. And the center 4 estimates the condition of the other vehicle in future time. That is, the center 4 estimates the position of the other vehicle at the future time from the information on the position, speed, and acceleration of the other vehicle at the current time. The center 4 derives a travel locus from the current location based on the position of the other vehicle at the current time and the position of the other vehicle at the future time. In addition, when there are a plurality of candidates for the position of another vehicle at a future time, a travel locus is derived for each candidate. This process is performed for all estimated vehicles.

  Next, the center 4 estimates the traveling directions of the own vehicle and the other vehicles (step S44). That is, the center 4 estimates the traveling direction (straight forward, right turn, left turn, etc.) of each vehicle at a future time based on the position and travel locus of the host vehicle 5 and all other vehicles estimated in each estimation process. Specifically, when there are a plurality of estimated travel tracks, the center 4 derives the probability that the vehicle travels for each travel track. Then, the center 4 estimates that the traveling locus with the highest probability is the traveling direction of the vehicle. When there is one traveling locus, it is estimated that the traveling locus is the traveling direction. Probabilities can be derived using vehicle position information, speed information, acceleration information, etc., and more accurate probabilities can be derived by considering right / left turn information, route guidance information, and the driving history of the driver. It becomes possible to do.

  Thereafter, the center 4 determines whether or not there is an oncoming vehicle (step S45). That is, the center 4 determines whether there is another vehicle (that is, an oncoming vehicle) that faces the host vehicle at a future time. Specifically, the center 4 compares the traveling direction of the own vehicle and the traveling direction of the other vehicle with the position of the own vehicle at the future time and the position of the other vehicle, and determines the vehicle road on which the own vehicle is traveling. It is determined whether there is another vehicle traveling in the direction opposite to the traveling direction of the vehicle. The center 4 determines that there is an oncoming vehicle when such other vehicle exists, and determines that there is no oncoming vehicle when there is no such vehicle. Then, the center 4 stores the determination result in the database 42 (similar to step S22 in FIG. 5).

  Similarly to the first embodiment, when there is a request for virtual white line information from the information providing apparatus 3, the center 4 derives the virtual white line information and transmits it to the information providing apparatus 3. However, in the present embodiment, the center 4 derives the virtual white line information in consideration of the presence or absence of the oncoming vehicle. For example, when there is an oncoming vehicle, normal derivation of the virtual white line information is performed, but when there is no oncoming vehicle, the virtual white line is superimposed and displayed at a position where the host vehicle 5 can travel more easily. Virtual white line information is derived.

  This will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. 15 and 16 are views showing the front of the vehicle 5 as seen from the driver's viewpoint. FIG. 15 is a diagram when the host vehicle 5 is traveling on a straight road, and FIG. 16 is a diagram when the host vehicle 5 is traveling on a curve. FIGS. 15A and 16A are diagrams in which virtual white lines are superimposed and displayed on the road when the oncoming vehicle exists. FIGS. 15B and 16B are the oncoming vehicle. FIG. 6 is a diagram in which a virtual white line is superimposed and displayed on a road when no exists.

  As shown in FIGS. 15A and 16A, when an oncoming vehicle is present, the virtual white line is superimposed on the normal position. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 15B and 16B, when there is no oncoming vehicle, the virtual white line is superimposed and displayed at a position farther from the host vehicle 5 than the normal position. That is, to the driver, the width of the lane in which the host vehicle 5 is traveling appears to be wider than usual.

  This is because when there is an oncoming vehicle, there is a risk of contact with the oncoming vehicle unless a virtual white line is superimposed on the normal position, whereas when there is no oncoming vehicle, there is a risk of contact with the oncoming vehicle. There is no sex. For this reason, when there is no oncoming vehicle, the travel lane of the own vehicle 5 is widened by superimposing and displaying at a position farther from the own vehicle 5 than the normal position. This makes it possible to travel based on the lane width including not only the original travel lane but also the opposite lane. As a result, it is possible to travel more centrally on the road, and thus safer travel is possible.

  As described above, since the position of the virtual white line can be changed as appropriate according to the traveling environment of the host vehicle 5, the host vehicle 5 can travel more comfortably and safely. The subsequent lane departure warning service can be performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

<3. Modification>
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible. Below, such a modification is demonstrated. All the forms including the above-described embodiment and the form described below can be appropriately combined.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, a configuration has been described in which virtual white line information is derived in consideration of a travel environment such as traffic regulation information and the presence or absence of oncoming vehicles in order to provide optimal travel support information. This invention is not limited to this, It is good also as a structure which derives | leads-out the virtual white line information in consideration of another driving | running | working environment and surrounding environment.

  For example, when there is another vehicle having an influence on the own vehicle, the configuration is such that a virtual white line is derived in consideration of a travel locus estimated for the other vehicle. Examples of other vehicles that have an influence on the host vehicle include vehicles of a specific vehicle type and large vehicles such as buses and trucks. In this case, vehicle type information may be included in the vehicle information transmitted from the vehicle to the center, and the center may derive the virtual white line information in consideration of the vehicle type information.

  In addition, the virtual white line information may be derived in consideration of the weather around the host vehicle. For example, when the field around the point where the host vehicle is traveling has poor visibility such as rain or fog, virtual white line information considering safety than usual is derived.

  Further, when the virtual white line information is derived in consideration of the above, when the display as described in FIGS. The bad direction may be displayed as a wide area.

  Moreover, although each said embodiment demonstrated the structure which transmits the vehicle information etc. which were acquired at the time of normal driving | running | working of a vehicle to a center, this invention is not limited to this. It is good also as a structure which transmits all vehicle information etc. to a center irrespective of the running state of a vehicle. That is, in this case, the information acquired during not only normal driving but also abnormal driving is transmitted, and margin data is also transmitted. In this case, the center excludes information acquired during abnormal driving and derives various information using only information acquired during normal driving. As a result, the center can derive optimum information.

  It should be noted that the timing when the center excludes data during abnormal running can be set as appropriate. For example, you may exclude at the timing which performs the preparation process of a database, and you may exclude at the timing which extracts driving assistance information.

  The center may create a database excluding information acquired during abnormal running and a database not excluding information. In this case, a database created based on information acquired during normal driving can be used, or a database generated based on all information can be used, which is generated based on information acquired during abnormal driving. You can also use other databases. It is also possible to select which of these databases is used.

  Further, in each of the above embodiments, it has been described that various functions are realized in software by the arithmetic processing of the CPU according to the program. However, some of these functions are realized by an electrical hardware circuit. May be. Conversely, some of the functions realized by the hardware circuit may be realized by software.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information provision system 2 In-vehicle system 3 Information provision apparatus 4 Center 5 Vehicle 21 Display 22 Speaker

Claims (9)

An information providing system for providing driving support information that is information for supporting driving of a vehicle,
An information deriving device for obtaining information on the vehicle and deriving driving support information based on the information on the vehicle;
An information providing device mounted on the vehicle and providing the driving support information to a driver of the vehicle,
The information deriving system, wherein the information deriving device derives driving support information using vehicle information acquired during normal driving of the vehicle. In the information provision system of Claim 1,
The information providing apparatus includes an acquisition unit that acquires vehicle information, and a communication unit that transmits the acquired vehicle information to the information deriving device.
The information providing system, wherein the communication unit transmits only the vehicle information acquired during normal driving of the vehicle among all the vehicle information acquired by the acquiring unit. In the information provision system according to claim 1 or 2,
The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the normal driving time of the vehicle is when a parameter corresponding to a driver's condition is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. In the information provision system according to claim 3,
The parameter according to the state of the driver is a parameter indicating a load amount additionally allowable with respect to the load amount of the driver at the present time. In the information provision system according to claim 1 or 2,
The information providing system is characterized in that the normal driving of the vehicle is when the safe driving degree of the driver is equal to or higher than a predetermined level. In the information provision system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The information providing system is characterized in that the information deriving device obtains surrounding information of the vehicle and derives driving support information based on the information of the vehicle and the surrounding information. The information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The information deriving system, wherein the information deriving device derives driving support information in consideration of the presence or absence of an oncoming vehicle with respect to the vehicle. An information providing device that is mounted on a vehicle and provides driving support information, which is information for supporting driving of the vehicle, to a driver of the vehicle,
The information providing apparatus includes an acquisition unit that acquires vehicle information, and a communication unit that transmits the acquired vehicle information to an information deriving device that derives the driving support information.
The information providing apparatus, wherein the communication unit transmits only the vehicle information acquired during normal running of the vehicle among the vehicle information acquired by the acquisition unit. An information providing method for providing driving support information which is information for supporting driving of a vehicle,
(A) obtaining the vehicle information and deriving the driving support information based on the vehicle information;
(B) providing the driving support information to a driver of the vehicle,
In the step (a), driving support information is derived using vehicle information acquired during normal driving of the vehicle.

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