KR102644363B1 - Apparatus and method for generating directional guide signal for pedestrain safety - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for generating a directional guidance signal for pedestrian safety. According to an embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for generating a directional guidance signal for pedestrian safety is used to measure the amount of change in relative displacement of a pedestrian per unit time. detection unit; A navigation linkage unit for collecting navigation information through linkage with the navigation device mounted on the vehicle; a collision situation prediction unit for predicting a collision situation in which the possibility of collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian is determined to be high using the expected pedestrian path estimated from the change in relative displacement of the pedestrian and the expected vehicle path confirmed from the navigation information; and a signal generator for generating a directional guidance signal toward the pedestrian for whom the collision situation is predicted according to the control of the collision situation prediction unit.

Description

Directional guidance signal generation device and method for pedestrian safety {APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR GENERATING DIRECTIONAL GUIDE SIGNAL FOR PEDESTRAIN SAFETY}

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for generating a directional guidance signal for pedestrian safety. More specifically, the present invention relates to a directional guidance signal generating device and method for generating a directional guidance signal for pedestrian safety, and more specifically, to generate a directional guidance signal toward a pedestrian judged to be highly likely to collide with a vehicle (including an autonomous vehicle). It relates to a device and method for generating directional guidance signals for pedestrian safety to ensure safety.

It is difficult for pedestrians to hear the sounds of vehicles approaching when they listen to music or talk on the phone while walking. Because this may lead to a fatal accident for pedestrians, vehicles need to provide appropriate signals to pedestrians that pedestrians can recognize.

Typically, approaching vehicles sound their horns to provide guidance signals that nearby pedestrians can perceive, but this method can cause noise damage in populated areas or residential areas where an unspecified number of people can hear the vehicle's horn. .

Meanwhile, hybrid cars or electric cars, for which demand has recently increased, generate very little noise when driven by motors, making it more difficult for pedestrians to hear the sound of approaching vehicles.

Accordingly, a method of continuously outputting a virtual driving sound or warning sound to notify the approaching vehicle of a hybrid vehicle or an electric vehicle as a guidance signal that can be recognized by pedestrians has been proposed.

However, this method destroys the inherent quietness of these vehicles and may generate unnecessary noise when there are no pedestrians who need to be notified of the vehicle's approach.

In this way, conventionally, because vehicles provide guidance signals to nearby pedestrians that inform them of the vehicle's approach, unnecessary guidance signals are provided to nearby pedestrians who do not need to be aware of the vehicle's approach, which can cause noise damage. there is.

Therefore, when providing guidance signals indicating the approach of a vehicle, it is necessary to prepare a method to selectively provide guidance signals indicating the approach of a vehicle to only the relevant pedestrians to ensure smooth implicit communication between vehicles and pedestrians. there is.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-1750178 (registered on June 16, 2017)

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a directional guidance signal generating device and method for pedestrian safety to ensure vehicle and pedestrian safety by generating a directional guidance signal toward pedestrians judged to be highly likely to collide with vehicles (including autonomous vehicles). It is provided.

An apparatus for generating a directional guidance signal for pedestrian safety according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a pedestrian detection unit for measuring a change in relative displacement of a pedestrian per unit time; A navigation linkage unit for collecting navigation information through linkage with the navigation device mounted on the vehicle; a collision situation prediction unit for predicting a collision situation in which the possibility of collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian is determined to be high using the expected pedestrian path estimated from the change in relative displacement of the pedestrian and the expected vehicle path confirmed from the navigation information; and a signal generator for generating a directional guidance signal toward the pedestrian for whom the collision situation is predicted according to the control of the collision situation prediction unit.

The collision situation may be any of the following: when the pedestrian's expected path and the vehicle's expected path overlap, when the pedestrian's expected path and the vehicle's expected path are close within a certain range, or when a turn point exists on the vehicle's expected path. This may be one case.

The collision situation prediction unit, when a turn point exists on the expected vehicle path, uses the signal generator to generate the directional guidance signal in the turn direction from the turn point regardless of whether a pedestrian actually exists after the vehicle turns. It could be controlling.

The collision situation prediction unit may control the signal generation unit to generate the directional guidance signal when a turn point exists on the expected vehicle path and information on surrounding features is confirmed at the turn point.

The collision situation prediction unit may control the signal generation unit to generate the directional guidance signal with a stronger signal intensity than usual.

The collision situation prediction unit may control the signal generation unit to generate the directional guidance signal as it checks whether the expected pedestrian path moves along the sidewalk.

The signal generator may be configured to generate the directional guidance signal by dividing the vehicle into a plurality of areas in the forward or rear direction in which the vehicle is traveling.

The directional guidance signal may be a sensory signal that has strong characteristics in a specific direction toward the pedestrian or surrounding objects and can be perceived by the pedestrian.

The directional guidance signal may be a virtual engine amplification sound.

The pedestrian detection unit may be any one of an infrared sensor, a laser sensor, and an ultrasonic sensor.

In addition, a method of generating a directional guidance signal for pedestrian safety according to an embodiment of the present invention includes measuring the amount of change in relative displacement of the pedestrian per unit time; Collecting navigation information through linking with a navigation device mounted on the vehicle; Predicting a collision situation in which the possibility of collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian is determined to be high using the expected pedestrian path estimated from the change in relative displacement of the pedestrian and the expected vehicle path confirmed from the navigation information; and generating a directional guidance signal toward the pedestrian for whom the collision situation is predicted according to the collision situation prediction result.

In the collision situation prediction step, when a turn point exists on the vehicle's expected path, the directional guidance signal may be generated from the turn point in the turn direction regardless of whether a pedestrian actually exists after the vehicle turns. .

The present invention can ensure vehicle and pedestrian safety by generating a directional guidance signal toward pedestrians who are judged to be highly likely to collide with vehicles (including autonomous vehicles).

In addition, in the present invention, when a guidance signal indicating the approach of a vehicle is generated, the guidance signal indicating the approach of a vehicle is selectively generated only for the relevant pedestrians, so that implicit communication between the vehicle and the pedestrian can be smoothly achieved.

1 is a diagram of a directional guidance signal generating device for pedestrian safety according to an embodiment of the present invention;
2 and 3 are diagrams illustrating a case of generating a directional guidance signal;
Figure 4 is a diagram of a method of generating a directional guidance signal for pedestrian safety according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. However, detailed descriptions of known functions or configurations that may obscure the gist of the present invention are omitted in the following description and attached drawings. Additionally, it should be noted that the same components throughout the drawings are indicated by the same reference numerals whenever possible.

Terms or words used in the specification and claims described below should not be construed as limited to their usual or dictionary meanings, and the inventor should appropriately define the term to explain his or her invention in the best way. It must be interpreted with meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention based on the principle that it can be done.

Therefore, the embodiments described in this specification and the configuration shown in the drawings are only one of the most preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not represent the entire technical idea of the present invention, so at the time of filing the present application, various alternatives may be used to replace them. It should be understood that equivalents and variations may exist.

In the accompanying drawings, some components are exaggerated, omitted, or schematically shown, and the size of each component does not entirely reflect the actual size. The present invention is not limited by the relative sizes or spacing depicted in the accompanying drawings.

When it is said that a part "includes" a certain element throughout the specification, this means that, unless specifically stated to the contrary, it does not exclude other elements but may further include other elements. Additionally, when a part is said to be “connected” to another part, this includes not only cases where it is “directly connected,” but also cases where it is “electrically connected” with another element in between.

Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Terms such as “include” or “have” are intended to designate the presence of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, but do not include one or more other features, numbers, or steps. , it should be understood that this does not exclude in advance the possibility of the presence or addition of operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Additionally, the term “unit” used in the specification refers to a hardware component such as software, FPGA, or ASIC, and the “unit” performs certain roles. However, “wealth” is not limited to software or hardware. The “copy” may be configured to reside on an addressable storage medium and may be configured to run on one or more processors. Thus, as an example, “part” refers to software components, such as object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, processes, functions, properties, procedures, Includes subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. The functionality provided within the components and “parts” may be combined into smaller numbers of components and “parts” or may be further separated into additional components and “parts”.

Below, with reference to the attached drawings, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail so that those skilled in the art can easily implement the present invention. However, the present invention may be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. In order to clearly explain the present invention in the drawings, parts that are not related to the description are omitted, and similar parts are given similar reference numerals throughout the specification.

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

1 is a diagram of a directional guidance signal generating device for pedestrian safety according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the directional guidance signal generating device for pedestrian safety (hereinafter referred to as the 'directional guidance signal generating device', 100) according to an embodiment of the present invention has the possibility of collision with a vehicle (including an autonomous vehicle). Vehicle and pedestrian safety can be secured by generating a directional guidance signal toward pedestrians that are judged to be high.

Here, the directional guidance signal generating device 100 is not limited to generating a directional guidance signal only to pedestrians, but generates a directional guidance signal toward surrounding objects (landmarks, animals, etc.) that are judged to need to notify the approach of a vehicle. This is also possible, but for convenience of explanation, the explanation will focus on the case of generating a directional guidance signal to pedestrians.

In addition, directional guidance signals are guidance signals that show strong characteristics in a specific direction toward pedestrians or surrounding objects, and include visual (e.g., light generation using headlamps, etc.), auditory (e.g., sound using warning sounds, driving sounds, etc.) It refers to sensory signals that can be perceived by pedestrians through senses (e.g., a notification signal is generated on a pedestrian terminal through wireless communication), etc. For example, the directional guidance signal may be a virtual amplified engine sound.

The directional guidance signal generator 100 includes a pedestrian detection unit 10, a navigation linkage unit 20, a collision situation prediction unit 30, and a signal generator 40.

First, the pedestrian detection unit 10 is a sensor capable of measuring a change in distance between a vehicle and a pedestrian, and may be, for example, an infrared sensor, a laser sensor, or an ultrasonic sensor.

This pedestrian detection unit 10 measures the amount of change in the relative displacement of the pedestrian, which represents the change in the relative displacement of the pedestrian per unit time, based on the current location of the vehicle, and provides it to the collision situation prediction unit 30.

In addition, the navigation linkage unit 20 collects navigation information through linkage with a navigation device already installed in the vehicle and provides it to the collision situation prediction unit 30. Here, navigation information includes GPS-based map data, vehicle expected route information, vehicle turn information, and surrounding terrain information.

This navigation linkage unit 20 provides navigation information for a predetermined area in real time based on the current location of the vehicle when the vehicle moves along the vehicle's expected route. For example, when the vehicle moves along the vehicle's expected route, the navigation linkage unit 20 moves a predetermined distance (for example, 100 m) along each of the , 200 m, 300 m, etc.), navigation information for a limited area formed by an XY area is collected in real time and provided to the collision situation prediction unit 30.

Meanwhile, the collision situation prediction unit 30 predicts a collision situation in which the possibility of a collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian is determined to be high when the vehicle moves along the expected vehicle path. At this time, the collision situation prediction unit 30 controls the signal generation unit 40 to generate a directional guidance signal toward a pedestrian who is likely to collide with the vehicle.

Here, a collision situation in which the possibility of collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian is judged to be high is when the pedestrian's expected path and the vehicle's expected path overlap, when the pedestrian's expected path and the vehicle's expected path are close within a certain range, and when the vehicle's expected path takes a turn. This may be the case where a point (right turn) exists.

First, the collision situation prediction unit 30 controls the signal generation unit 40 to generate a directional guidance signal as it checks whether the pedestrian's expected path moves along the sidewalk.

That is, the collision situation prediction unit 30 controls the signal generator 40 not to generate a directional guidance signal when the pedestrian moves along the sidewalk, and generates a directional guidance signal when the pedestrian does not move along the sidewalk. The signal generator 40 is controlled to generate the signal.

In addition, the collision situation prediction unit 30 is a signal generator that generates a directional guidance signal in the turn direction from the turn point, regardless of whether a pedestrian actually exists after the vehicle turns, when a turn point exists on the vehicle's expected path. Control (40).

Specifically, the collision situation prediction unit 30 estimates the expected pedestrian path using the amount of change in relative displacement of the pedestrian provided by the pedestrian detection unit 10, and estimates the expected vehicle path included in the navigation information provided from the navigation linkage unit 20. Confirm. Through this, the collision situation prediction unit 30 predicts a collision situation by checking whether the expected pedestrian path and the expected vehicle path overlap or are close within a certain range.

Additionally, the collision situation prediction unit 30 checks the vehicle's turn information through navigation information provided from the navigation linkage unit 20. Through this, the collision situation prediction unit 30 confirms whether a turn point exists on the vehicle's expected path and predicts the collision situation.

At this time, the collision situation prediction unit 30 can determine whether a directional guidance signal is generated in the turn direction from the turn point by checking information on the surrounding terrain of the turn point through navigation information provided from the navigation linkage unit 20. Here, the surrounding terrain information may be information about buildings, infrastructure facilities (e.g., street lights, sidewalks, etc.), road shapes, etc.

For example, the collision situation prediction unit 30 may control the signal generator 40 not to generate a directional guidance signal when the pedestrian can recognize the vehicle's entry because the surrounding terrain information at the turn point is not confirmed. there is.

In addition, the collision situation prediction unit 30 can control the signal generation unit 40 to generate a directional guidance signal when information on surrounding terrain is confirmed at the turn point or to generate a directional guidance signal with a stronger signal strength than usual. there is.

Meanwhile, the signal generator 40 generates a directional guidance signal toward the pedestrian under the control of the collision situation prediction unit 30.

Here, the signal generator 40 is preferably divided into a plurality of areas in the forward direction in which the vehicle travels (i.e., 0°<θ<180°) and generates a directional guidance signal. For example, when divided into four areas, the first area (0°<θ<45°), the second area (45°<θ<90°), and the third area (90°<θ<135°) , it may be the fourth area (135°<θ<180°), and when divided into two areas, the first area (0°<θ<90°) and the second area (90°<θ<180°) It can be.

In this way, the area in which the directivity guidance signal is generated can be implemented in various ways depending on the performance of the signal generator 40 indicating the directivity.

In addition, the signal generator 40 is not limited to the forward direction in which the vehicle travels, and may generate a directional guidance signal for the rear direction of the vehicle (i.e., 180°<θ<360°).

Figures 2 and 3 are diagrams explaining a case of generating a directional guidance signal.

Referring to FIG. 2, when the vehicle 1 moves along the expected path, the directional guidance signal generating device 100 measures the relative displacement changes (Δs1, Δs2) of pedestrian A (1) and pedestrian B (2). Estimate the expected paths of pedestrian A (1) and pedestrian B (2), respectively.

At this time, the directional guidance signal generating device 100 predicts a collision situation in which the possibility of collision is determined to be high as the expected path of the vehicle 1 and the expected path of the pedestrian A 2 overlap or are close to each other. Accordingly, the directional guidance signal generating device 100 generates a directional guidance signal toward the pedestrian A (2), allowing the pedestrian A (2) to recognize the approach of the vehicle (1).

On the other hand, the directional guidance signal generating device 100 determines that there is not a high possibility that the expected path of the vehicle 1 and the expected path of the pedestrian B 3 overlap or are close to each other. At this time, although the directional guidance signal generating device 100 generates a directional guidance signal toward pedestrian A (2), it does not generate a directional guidance signal toward pedestrian B (3).

In this way, the directional guidance signal generating device 100 does not generate a directional guidance signal when a pedestrian moves along the sidewalk, and may generate a directional guidance signal when a pedestrian does not move along the sidewalk.

Referring to FIG. 3, when the vehicle 1 moves along the expected route and passes the turn point, the directional guidance signal generator 100 detects pedestrian C 4 due to the surrounding terrain 5 at the turn point. Since it may be difficult to recognize the entry of the vehicle 1, a directional guidance signal is generated from the turn point in the turn direction so that the pedestrian C 4 can recognize the approach of the vehicle 1. At this time, the directional guidance signal generating device 100 generates a directional guidance signal regardless of whether pedestrian C 4 actually exists.

Figure 4 is a diagram of a method of generating a directional guidance signal for pedestrian safety according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The directional guidance signal generating device 100 estimates the expected pedestrian path using the change in relative displacement of the pedestrian and confirms the expected vehicle path included in the navigation information (S101).

Thereafter, the directional guidance signal generator 100 checks whether the expected pedestrian path and the expected vehicle path overlap or are close within a certain range and predicts a collision situation in which the possibility of collision between the vehicle and the pedestrian is determined to be high (S102). At this time, the directional guidance signal generating device 100 checks the vehicle's turn information through navigation information and predicts a collision situation in which the possibility of collision between the vehicle and the pedestrian is determined to be high.

Thereafter, as a collision situation is predicted, the directional guidance signal generating device 100 generates a directional guidance signal toward a pedestrian that is judged to have a high possibility of colliding with the vehicle (S103, S104). At this time, the directional guidance signal generating device 100 may generate a directional guidance signal in the turn direction from the turn point when the vehicle passes the turn point while moving along the expected route.

Methods according to some embodiments may be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed through various computer means and recorded on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc., singly or in combination. Program instructions recorded on the medium may be specially designed and constructed for the present invention or may be known and usable by those skilled in the art of computer software. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CDROMs and DVDs, and magneto-optical media such as floptical disks. Includes magneto-optical media and hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, etc. Examples of program instructions include machine language code, such as that produced by a compiler, as well as high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter, etc.

Although the above description focuses on the novel features of the invention as applied to various embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate the apparatus and methods described above without departing from the scope of the invention. It will be understood that various deletions, substitutions, and changes may be made in the form and details of . Accordingly, the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All modifications within the scope of equivalency of the claims are included in the scope of the present invention.

10: Pedestrian detection unit 20: Navigation linkage unit
30: Collision situation prediction unit 40: Signal generation unit

Claims (15)

A pedestrian detection unit for measuring the amount of change in relative displacement of the pedestrian per unit time based on the current location of the vehicle;
A navigation linkage unit for collecting navigation information through linkage with the navigation device mounted on the vehicle;
a collision situation prediction unit for predicting a collision situation in which the possibility of collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian is determined to be high using the expected pedestrian path estimated from the change in relative displacement of the pedestrian and the expected vehicle path confirmed from the navigation information; and
a signal generator for generating a directional guidance signal toward the pedestrian for whom the collision situation is predicted according to the control of the collision situation prediction unit; Including,
The collision situation prediction unit estimates the expected pedestrian path using the change in relative displacement of the pedestrian provided by the pedestrian detection unit,
When the vehicle moves along the expected vehicle path, the navigation linkage unit provides navigation information for a predetermined area to the collision situation prediction unit in real time based on the current location of the vehicle,
The collision situation prediction unit checks the expected vehicle path included in the navigation information provided from the navigation interlocking unit, determines whether the expected pedestrian path and the expected vehicle path overlap or are close within a certain range, and determines whether the expected pedestrian path and the expected vehicle path are close to each other within a certain range and determines whether the expected pedestrian path and the expected vehicle path are close to each other within a certain range. Controlling the signal generator to determine whether a point exists, predicting a collision situation in which the possibility of collision is high, and generating the directional guidance signal to recognize the approach of a vehicle toward a pedestrian with a possibility of collision,
The collision situation prediction unit controls the signal generation unit not to generate the directional guidance signal when the expected pedestrian path moves along the sidewalk and the possibility of a collision is not high,
In addition, the collision situation prediction unit is configured to generate the directional guidance signal in the turn direction from the turn point, regardless of whether a pedestrian actually exists after the vehicle turns, when a turn point exists on the expected vehicle path. Control the signal generator,
The signal generator is a directional guidance signal generator for pedestrian safety, characterized in that the signal generator generates the directional guidance signal by dividing it into four areas for the forward or rear direction in which the vehicle is traveling.
delete delete According to claim 1,
The collision situation prediction unit,
Directional guidance signal generation for pedestrian safety, which controls the signal generator to generate the directional guidance signal when a turn point exists on the vehicle's expected path and surrounding terrain information is confirmed at the turn point. Device.
According to claim 4,
The collision situation prediction unit,
A directional guidance signal generator for pedestrian safety that controls the signal generator to generate the directional guidance signal with a stronger signal intensity than usual.
delete delete According to claim 1,
The directional guidance signal is,
A directional guidance signal generator for pedestrian safety, which is a sensory signal that can be perceived by pedestrians by showing strong characteristics in a specific direction toward pedestrians or surrounding objects.
According to claim 8,
The directional guidance signal is,
A directional guidance signal generator for pedestrian safety that is a virtual engine amplification sound.
According to claim 1,
The pedestrian detection unit,
A directional guidance signal generator for pedestrian safety, which is one of an infrared sensor, a laser sensor, or an ultrasonic sensor.
Measuring the amount of change in relative displacement of the pedestrian per unit time based on the current location of the vehicle;
Collecting navigation information through linking with a navigation device mounted on the vehicle;
Predicting a collision situation in which the possibility of collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian is determined to be high using the expected pedestrian path estimated from the change in relative displacement of the pedestrian and the expected vehicle path confirmed from the navigation information; and
Comprising: generating a directional guidance signal toward the pedestrian for whom the collision situation is predicted according to the collision situation prediction result,
In the step of predicting the collision situation, the expected pedestrian path is estimated using the change in relative displacement of the pedestrian,
In the step of collecting navigation information, when the vehicle moves along the expected vehicle path, navigation information for a predetermined area is collected in real time based on the current location of the vehicle,
The step of predicting the collision situation includes checking the expected vehicle path included in the navigation information, determining whether the expected pedestrian path and the expected vehicle path overlap or are close within a certain range, and determining the turn point on the expected vehicle path. By checking whether a collision exists, it predicts a collision situation in which the possibility of collision is judged to be high, and generates the directional guidance signal to recognize the approach of a vehicle toward a pedestrian with a possibility of collision,
In the step of predicting the collision situation, when the expected pedestrian path moves along the sidewalk and the possibility of collision is not high, the directional guidance signal is not generated, and when a turn point exists on the expected vehicle path, The vehicle generates the directional guidance signal from the turn point in the turn direction regardless of whether pedestrians actually exist after the turn,
The step of generating the directional guidance signal is a method of generating a directional guidance signal for pedestrian safety, characterized in that the directional guidance signal is generated by dividing into four areas for the forward or rear direction in which the vehicle is traveling.
delete delete According to claim 11,
The directional guidance signal is,
A method of generating a directional guidance signal for pedestrian safety, which is a sensory signal that can be perceived by pedestrians by showing strong characteristics in a specific direction toward pedestrians or surrounding objects.
According to claim 14,
The directional guidance signal is,
A method of generating a directional guidance signal for pedestrian safety, which is a virtual engine amplification sound.

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