Display control device, display control method, and program

Abstract

To facilitate the recognition of surrounding targets displayed on the screen. [Solution] A display control device that performs display control to display surrounding targets detected by a target detection means mounted on the vehicle on a display device at a predetermined scale, the device acquires the vehicle speed of the vehicle, sets a threshold distance which is the distance from the vehicle to determine whether to display the surrounding targets on the display device based on the acquired vehicle speed, and controls the display device to display first surrounding targets detected by the target detection means whose distance from the vehicle is less than or equal to the threshold distance at a predetermined scale, and to not display second surrounding targets whose distance from the vehicle is greater than the threshold distance on the display device.

Description

[[Technical Field]]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a display control device, a display control method, and a program. [[Background Art]]

[0002] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a display control device for surrounding monitoring that displays targets around a host vehicle detected by an in-vehicle camera or the like on a display device inside the vehicle. The display control device described in Patent Document 1 changes the display range (scale) of a screen according to the vehicle speed of the host vehicle. [[Prior Art Literature]] [[Patent Literature]]

[0003] [[Patent Document 1]] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-051346 [[Summary of the Invention]]

[0004] In the display control device described in Patent Document 1, since the display range changes according to the vehicle speed, the size of the graphics (polygons) that schematically indicate the host vehicle and surrounding targets displayed on the screen is also changed. For this reason, when the screen display is switched along with the change of the display range, an occupant (e.g., a driver) of the host vehicle needs to reconfirm the correspondence between the position of the host vehicle or the actually visually recognized position of surrounding targets that have been displayed before the switching, which poses a problem that recognition takes time. That is, it can be said that there is room for improvement in facilitating the recognition of surrounding targets displayed on the screen.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made to solve the above problem, and an object of the present disclosure is to facilitate the recognition of surrounding targets displayed on a screen.

[0006] The technology of the present disclosure is: A display control device that implements display control for displaying surrounding targets of a host vehicle detected by target detection means mounted on the host vehicle on a display device at a predetermined scale, wherein The vehicle speed of the vehicle is acquired, and based on the acquired vehicle speed, a threshold distance is set, which is the distance from the vehicle to determine whether to display the surrounding target on the display device. The system includes a control unit that controls the display device to display, at a predetermined scale, first surrounding targets detected by the target detection means, whose distance from the vehicle is less than or equal to the threshold distance, and second surrounding targets whose distance from the vehicle is greater than the threshold distance, so as not to be displayed on the display device. It is characterized by the following: [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram showing the hardware configuration of the vehicle according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] (A) is a schematic diagram showing the software configuration of the control device according to this embodiment. (B) is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an overhead view. [Figure 3] This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an overhead view image displayed when additional targets for follow-me driving control exist. [Figure 4] This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an overhead view image displayed when the turn signal is flashing. [Figure 5] This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an overhead view image displayed when there are no additional targets for follow-me driving control. [Figure 6] This is a flowchart illustrating the routine for display control processing according to this embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] The display control device, display control method, and program according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0009] [Hardware configuration] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the hardware configuration of vehicle VH1 according to this embodiment. Hereafter, vehicle VH1 may be referred to as "the vehicle itself" when it is necessary to distinguish it from other vehicles, etc.

[0010] Vehicle VH1 has an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 10. The ECU 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, and an interface device 14, etc. The CPU 11 is a processor that executes various programs stored in the ROM 12. The ROM 12 is a non-volatile memory that stores data necessary for the CPU 11 to execute various programs. The RAM 13 is a volatile memory that provides a work area that is expanded when various programs are executed by the CPU 11. The interface device 14 is a communication device for communicating with external devices.

[0011] The ECU10 is a central device that provides driving assistance such as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). Driving assistance is a concept that includes autonomous driving. The ECU10 is connected to the drive unit 20, steering unit 21, braking unit 22, internal sensor unit 30, external sensor unit 40, position information acquisition unit 50, map database 60, communication unit 70, ACC control unit 80, turn signal switch 85, display device 90, etc., in a communication manner.

[0012] The drive unit 20 generates driving force that is transmitted to the drive wheels of the vehicle VH1. Examples of the drive unit 20 include an electric motor and an engine. The steering unit 21 applies steering force to the wheels of the vehicle VH1. The braking unit 22 applies braking force to the wheels of the vehicle VH1.

[0013] The internal sensor device 30 consists of sensors that acquire the status of the vehicle VH1. The internal sensor device 30 includes a wheel speed sensor 31, an accelerator sensor 32, a brake sensor 33, a steering angle sensor 34, a yaw rate sensor 35, an acceleration sensor 36, and the like.

[0014] The vehicle speed sensor 31 detects the vehicle speed (vehicle speed V) of the vehicle VH1. The accelerator sensor 32 detects the amount of accelerator pedal operation by the driver (not shown). The brake sensor 33 detects the amount of brake pedal operation by the driver (not shown). The steering angle sensor 34 detects the rotation angle (steering angle) of the steering wheel or steering shaft (not shown). The yaw rate sensor 35 detects the yaw rate of the vehicle VH1. The acceleration sensor 36 detects the acceleration of the vehicle VH1. The internal sensor device 30 transmits the state of the vehicle VH1 detected by each sensor 31 to 36 to the ECU 10 at a predetermined interval.

[0015] The external sensor device 40 consists of sensors for recognizing targets (surrounding targets) present around the vehicle VH1. The external sensor device 40 includes a radar sensor 41, a camera sensor 42, and the like. The external sensor device 40 is an example of the target detection means of this disclosure.

[0016] The radar sensor 41 includes a millimeter-wave radar and / or a lidar. The millimeter-wave radar emits radio waves in the millimeter-wave band and receives millimeter waves reflected by surrounding targets within its radiation range. Based on the phase difference between the transmitted millimeter waves and the received reflected waves, the attenuation level of the reflected waves, and the time from the transmission of the millimeter waves to the reception of the reflected waves, the millimeter-wave radar can acquire the relative distance and relative speed between the vehicle VH1 and surrounding targets. The lidar sequentially scans pulsed laser light with a shorter wavelength than millimeter waves in multiple directions and receives the reflected light reflected by surrounding targets, thereby acquiring the relative distance and relative speed between the vehicle VH1 and surrounding targets, the shape of the surrounding targets, etc. The camera sensor 42 takes pictures of the area around the vehicle VH1. As the camera sensor 42, for example, a digital camera having an image sensor such as a CMOS or CCD can be used. By processing the captured image data, the camera sensor 42 can acquire the relative distance and relative speed between the vehicle VH1 and surrounding targets, the type of surrounding targets, etc. The external sensor device 40 transmits the detection results to the ECU 10 at predetermined intervals. Note that the external sensor device 40 does not necessarily need to include both the radar sensor 41 and the camera sensor 42; for example, it may include only the camera sensor 42.

[0017] The location information acquisition device 50 acquires the current location information of the vehicle VH1. The location information acquisition device 50 can, for example, be a GPS (Global Positioning System), GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), or the like, provided by a navigation device (not shown). The location information acquisition device 50 transmits the acquired current location information of the vehicle VH1 to the ECU 10 at predetermined intervals. The location information acquisition device 50 is an example of the target detection means of this disclosure.

[0018] The map database 60 is a database of map information, and is stored in a storage device (hard disk, flash memory, etc.) included in the vehicle VH1. The map information includes, for example, position information of road signs, traffic lights, and the like. Note that the map database 60 may be stored in an external server capable of communicating with the vehicle VH1. In this case, the vehicle VH1 may acquire map information from an external server through the communication device 70. The map database 60 is an example of the target detection means of the present disclosure.

[0019] The communication device 70 performs V2X communication. Specifically, the communication device 70 performs V2V (Vehicle to Vehicle) communication between the host vehicle VH1 and other vehicles, and performs V2I (Vehicle to Infrastructure) communication between the host vehicle VH1 and infrastructure. The communication device 70 can acquire information around the host vehicle VH1 or provide information of the host vehicle VH1 through V2X communication. The communication device 70 transmits the acquired surrounding information to the ECU 10 at a predetermined cycle. The communication device 70 is an example of the target detection means of the present disclosure.

[0020] The ACC operation unit 80 includes, for example, an activation switch for a driver to select whether to activate or terminate ACC, a setting switch for setting a target vehicle speed and a target inter-vehicle time (target inter-vehicle distance) of ACC, a cancel switch for temporarily canceling ACC, a resume switch for resuming ACC, and the like.

[0021] The direction indicator lever 86 is an operating device for a driver to blink left and right direction indicators (not shown). The direction indicator switch 85 detects the operation direction of the direction indicator lever 86 by the driver. When the driver operates the direction indicator lever 86, the direction indicator switch 85 transmits a blinking instruction signal corresponding to the operation direction to the ECU 10. When the ECU 10 receives the blinking instruction signal, it blinks the direction indicator corresponding to the operation direction of the direction indicator lever 86.

[0022] The display device 90 is, for example, a so-called meter display installed on the instrument panel in front of the steering wheel in the passenger compartment of the vehicle VH1. The display device 90 may be a center display, a head-up display, or a horizontal display integrating a meter display and a center display, as long as it is in a position visible to the occupants (mainly the driver) of the vehicle VH1. Furthermore, the technology disclosed herein does not exclude its application to other display devices installed in the passenger compartment of the vehicle VH1.

[0023] [Software Configuration] Figure 2(A) is a schematic diagram showing the software configuration of the control device according to this embodiment.

[0024] As shown in Figure 2(A), the ECU 10 includes a lane recognition unit 100, a surrounding object recognition unit 110, an ACC control unit 120, a display control unit 130, and other functional elements. Each of these functional elements 100 to 130 is realized when the CPU 11 of the ECU 10 reads a program stored in the ROM 12 into the RAM 13 and executes it. Note that all or part of each of the functional elements 100 to 130 may be installed in another ECU separate from the ECU 10, or in an information processing device of a facility (such as a management center) that can communicate with the vehicle VH1.

[0025] The lane recognition unit 100 recognizes the lane in which the vehicle VH1 is traveling (hereinafter referred to as the vehicle's lane), the lane adjacent to the vehicle's lane (hereinafter referred to as the adjacent lane), the lane adjacent to the adjacent lane on the opposite side from the vehicle's lane (hereinafter referred to as the next adjacent lane), the shoulder, and the sidewalk, etc. Here, adjacent lanes and next adjacent lanes may also include acceleration lanes, oncoming lanes, etc. The lane recognition unit 100 recognizes the boundaries of the vehicle's lane, adjacent lanes, shoulders, etc., based on images of the area around the vehicle VH1 acquired by, for example, the external sensor device 40. Boundaries include not only white and yellow lines drawn on the road surface, but also curbs, guardrails, etc. Based on the recognized boundaries, the lane recognition unit 100 recognizes the vehicle's lane, adjacent lanes, next adjacent lanes, shoulders, and sidewalks, etc.

[0026] The surrounding object recognition unit 110 recognizes surrounding objects present around the vehicle VH1 based on the detection results of the external sensor device 40. The surrounding object recognition unit 110 recognizes the type of surrounding object based on images of the area around the vehicle VH1 acquired by the external sensor device 40. The surrounding object recognition unit 110 also recognizes the relative distance, relative speed, etc., between the vehicle VH1 and the surrounding object based on the detection results of the external sensor device 40. Examples of surrounding object types include preceding vehicles, vehicles two vehicles ahead, adjacent vehicles, pedestrians, road signs, traffic lights, etc. Preceding vehicles, vehicles two vehicles ahead, and adjacent vehicles include vehicle types (passenger cars, trucks, motorcycles, etc.). The type and category of surrounding object can be determined by machine learning such as pattern matching. Hereinafter, the type, category, relative distance, relative speed, etc. of surrounding objects recognized by the surrounding object recognition unit 110 will also be referred to as object information.

[0027] Furthermore, landmark information such as road signs and traffic lights may be recognized by referring to the map database 60 based on the current location information of the vehicle VH1 acquired by the location information acquisition device 50. Alternatively, the communication device 70 may acquire landmark information such as road signs and traffic lights from the infrastructure side via V2I communication. In addition, landmark information of other vehicles such as preceding vehicles and adjacent vehicles may be acquired by the communication device 70 by receiving it from other vehicles via V2V communication.

[0028] The ACC control unit 120 performs ACC based on the target vehicle speed or target inter-vehicle time (target inter-vehicle distance). As ACC itself is well known, it will be briefly explained below. ACC includes two types of control: constant speed driving control and follow driving control. Constant speed driving control is a control that makes the vehicle VH1 drive at a constant speed according to the target vehicle speed without requiring the driver to operate the accelerator or brake. Follow driving control is a control that makes the vehicle VH1 follow the preceding vehicle so that the actual distance between the preceding vehicle and the vehicle VH1 becomes the target inter-vehicle time (target inter-vehicle distance) without requiring the driver to operate the accelerator or brake. The preceding vehicle is a vehicle located in the area in front of the vehicle VH1 and directly in front of the vehicle VH1.

[0029] When the ACC operation unit 80's activation switch is turned ON, the ACC control unit 120 searches for a preceding vehicle to follow based on the recognition result of the surrounding target recognition unit 110. If no preceding vehicle exists, the ACC control unit 120 performs constant speed driving control. In this case, the ACC control unit 120 controls the operation of the drive unit 20 and brake unit 22 based on the target acceleration calculated from the deviation between the vehicle speed V and the target vehicle speed. The vehicle speed V can be obtained based on the detection result of the vehicle speed sensor 31. On the other hand, if a preceding vehicle exists, the ACC control unit 120 performs follow driving control. In this case, the ACC control unit 120 controls the operation of the drive unit 20 and brake unit 22 based on the target acceleration calculated from the deviation between the actual distance between vehicles and the target time (target distance between vehicles). The actual distance between the vehicle VH1 and the preceding vehicle can be obtained based on the recognition result of the surrounding target recognition unit 110.

[0030] In this embodiment, the ACC control unit 120 searches for a vehicle two vehicles ahead of the preceding vehicle based on the recognition result of the surrounding object recognition unit 110 while follow-driving control is being performed. For example, if a vehicle two vehicles ahead exists and the vehicle two vehicles ahead slows down while follow-driving control is being performed, the ACC control unit 120 executes deceleration control to slow down the own vehicle VH1 before the preceding vehicle slows down. Also, if another vehicle (a vehicle cutting in) is attempting to change lanes from an adjacent lane or the like into the vehicle's lane ahead of the own vehicle VH1 while constant speed driving control or follow-driving control is being performed, the ACC control unit 120 executes deceleration control to slow down the own vehicle VH1. Whether or not another vehicle is a vehicle cutting in can be recognized, for example, by acquiring the flashing of the other vehicle's turn signal based on the image from the camera sensor 42, or by acquiring the lateral speed (speed of movement in the lane width direction) of the other vehicle based on the recognition result of the surrounding object recognition unit 110. Alternatively, the communication device 70 may recognize the lane change by receiving information from another vehicle via V2V communication.

[0031] The display control unit 130 performs display control to display an overhead view image on the display device 90, which is a view of the area in front of the vehicle VH1 from a virtual viewpoint above the vehicle VH1, while the ACC control unit 120 is executing ACC. Figure 2(B) is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an overhead view image G. The overhead view image G is an image generated based on the recognition results of the lane recognition unit 100 and the surrounding object recognition unit 110. In Figure 2(B), code L1 indicates the vehicle's lane, and codes L2 and L3 indicate adjacent lanes. Code VH1 indicates the vehicle itself, code VH2 indicates the preceding vehicle, code VH3 indicates the vehicle two vehicles ahead, and code VH4 indicates an adjacent vehicle, each representing a schematic figure (polygon).

[0032] In this embodiment, the display control unit 130 preferably displays a figure corresponding to the type of vehicle (passenger car, truck, motorcycle, etc.) recognized by the surrounding object recognition unit 110. For example, if the surrounding object recognition unit 110 recognizes the type of the preceding vehicle VH2 and the vehicle two vehicles ahead VH3 as passenger cars, the display control unit 130 displays the preceding vehicle VH2 and the vehicle two vehicles ahead VH3 using a figure that mimics the shape of a passenger car. Also, if the surrounding object recognition unit 110 recognizes the type of the adjacent vehicle VH4 as a truck, the display control unit 130 displays the adjacent vehicle VH4 using a figure that mimics the shape of a truck.

[0033] Incidentally, if the scale (display range) of the overhead image G displayed on the display device 90 is changed according to the vehicle speed V of the own vehicle VH1, the driver will have to reconfirm the correspondence between the position of their own vehicle VH1 and other vehicles as the screen display switches, which will take time to recognize. Also, if all surrounding objects recognized by the surrounding object recognition unit 110 are included in the overhead image G, it will provide unnecessary information to the driver of the own vehicle VH1, causing annoyance. Furthermore, in areas far from the own vehicle VH1, the detection accuracy of the external sensor device 40 decreases, so the reliability of the object (an index value representing the probability that the object actually exists) also decreases. For this reason, if areas far from the own vehicle VH1 are included in the overhead image G, there is a possibility that incorrect information will be provided to the occupants of the own vehicle VH1.

[0034] In this embodiment, the display control unit 130 does not change the scale of the overhead image G displayed on the display device 90 even if the vehicle speed V of the vehicle VH1 changes while the ACC is being executed by the ACC control unit 120. In other words, the scale display of the overhead image G is fixed. This eliminates the need for the driver to reconfirm the scale of the overhead image G, and effectively reduces the inconvenience of screen recognition.

[0035] Furthermore, the display control unit 130 displays in the overhead image G any surrounding objects recognized by the surrounding object recognition unit 110 that are subject to follow-driving control or deceleration control, or are highly likely to be subject to such control (hereinafter referred to as "control target objects"), while not displaying objects that are not subject to follow-driving control or deceleration control (hereinafter referred to as "non-control target objects"). In other words, only control target objects are extracted and displayed in the overhead image G. This effectively prevents unnecessary information from being provided to the driver of the vehicle VH1 through the display device 90.

[0036] Furthermore, the display control unit 130 assigns priority to the surrounding objects recognized by the surrounding object recognition unit 110 to avoid unnecessarily displaying low-reliability objects that are far from the vehicle VH1, and extracts surrounding objects with a predetermined priority or higher to display on the overhead image G. For example, the display control unit 130 assigns priority to the surrounding objects recognized by the surrounding object recognition unit 110 in order of proximity to the vehicle VH1. For example, if the surrounding object recognition unit 110 recognizes n objects (where n is an integer of 2 or more), the display control unit 130 ranks them as follows: the closest surrounding object is ranked 1st, the next closest is ranked 2nd, and the farthest is ranked nth. The display control unit 130 then sorts these n ranked surrounding objects based, for example, on the time headway. The vehicle head time Th can be calculated by dividing the distance D between the vehicle VH1 and the surrounding target by the vehicle speed V of the vehicle VH (Th = D / V). The distance D can be obtained from the recognition result of the surrounding target recognition unit 110, and the vehicle speed V can be obtained from the detection result of the vehicle speed sensor 31.

[0037] The display control unit 130 extracts and displays, from among the n surrounding targets, those whose vehicle head time is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold time Thv, and includes them in the overhead image G. For example, if the vehicle head time Th of the third surrounding target is less than or equal to the threshold time Thv, and the vehicle head time Th of the fourth surrounding target exceeds the threshold time Thv, the display control unit 130 displays the first to third surrounding targets in the overhead image G, but does not display the fourth to nth surrounding targets in the overhead image G.

[0038] This effectively prevents the driver from being provided with unreliable information about surrounding targets located far from the vehicle's VH1, i.e., incorrect information that may not reflect reality. The threshold time Thv may be a fixed value, or it may be a variable value that is set to be longer the faster the vehicle speed V of the vehicle's VH1 is.

[0039] Here, if there is a preceding vehicle ahead of the vehicle VH1 that is subject to follow-up control, the vehicle two vehicles ahead of the preceding vehicle may be subject to deceleration control, but adjacent vehicles traveling ahead of the preceding vehicle will not cut in front of the vehicle VH1. For this reason, there is little need to display adjacent vehicles traveling ahead of the preceding vehicle in the overhead image G. When there is a preceding vehicle to be followed, the display control unit 130 sets the threshold time Thv used to determine the head time Th for adjacent vehicles to the target inter-vehicle time set by ACC.

[0040] As a result, while follow-me driving control is in operation, the overhead image G will display the preceding vehicle and the vehicle two vehicles ahead in the vehicle's own lane, while for adjacent lanes, only adjacent vehicles located between the vehicle VH1 and the preceding vehicle will be displayed in the overhead image G. In other words, it becomes possible to effectively prevent the driver from being unnecessarily provided with information about distant, unreliable adjacent vehicles. Hereafter, the threshold time Thv used during the execution of follow-me driving control will be referred to as the "first threshold time Thv1".

[0041] On the other hand, if there is no preceding vehicle ahead of the host vehicle VH1 that is to be followed by the follow-up traveling control, there is a possibility that an adjacent vehicle traveling in an adjacent lane may cut in ahead of the host vehicle VH1. For this reason, when there is no preceding vehicle to be followed, it is desirable to display adjacent vehicles present farther away compared to when there is a preceding vehicle. The display control unit 130, when there is no preceding vehicle to be followed, sets a longer threshold time Thv used for determining the headway time Th compared to when there is a preceding vehicle.

[0042] Specifically, when the threshold time Thv in the case where no preceding vehicle exists is defined as a "second threshold time Thv2", the second threshold time Thv2 is set to a time longer than a first threshold time Thv1, which is the threshold for the case where a preceding vehicle exists (Thv1<Thv2). This makes it possible to effectively provide the driver with information about adjacent vehicles that may cut in ahead of the host vehicle VH1 when there is no preceding vehicle to be followed.

[0043] It should be noted that whether to display surrounding targets is not limited to the method based on the headway time Th. For example, the determination may be made based on the distance (relative distance) from the host vehicle VH1 to the surrounding targets. Specifically, surrounding targets whose distance from the host vehicle VH1 is equal to or less than a threshold distance may be displayed on the bird's-eye view image G, and surrounding targets whose distance from the host vehicle VH1 is greater than the threshold distance may not be displayed on the bird's-eye view image G. Even in this case, when the vehicle speed V of the host vehicle VH1 is high, the threshold distance may be set to be larger than when the vehicle speed V is low. Furthermore, when there is no preceding vehicle to be followed by the follow-up traveling control, the threshold distance for the adjacent lane is set to be longer compared to when there is a preceding vehicle to be followed, whereby adjacent vehicles that may cut in ahead of the host vehicle VH1 can be effectively displayed.

[0044] Next, based on Figures 3 to 5, the patterns of the overhead image G that the display control unit 130 displays on the display device 90 during ACC execution will be explained. Note that Figures 3 to 5 are examples of overhead image G and may include other patterns. Also, for convenience, the explanation of road shoulders and sidewalks recognized by the lane recognition unit 100, and pedestrians, road signs, traffic lights, etc. recognized by the surrounding object recognition unit 110 will be omitted.

[0045] [Pattern 1] Figure 3 is an example of an overhead image G that the display control unit 130 displays on the display device 90 while the ACC control unit 120 is performing follow-up driving control. When the ACC control unit 120 performs follow-up driving control, the display control unit 130 displays the preceding vehicle VH2, which is the target of the follow-up driving control, on the overhead image G. Also, although shown by a dashed line in Figure 3, if the surrounding object recognition unit 110 recognizes a vehicle two steps ahead VH3 that is traveling ahead of the preceding vehicle VH2 in the vehicle's lane L1, the display control unit 130 also displays the vehicle two steps ahead VH3, which may be subject to deceleration control, on the overhead image G.

[0046] Here, among the adjacent vehicles VH4 and VH5 traveling in adjacent lanes L2 and L3, adjacent vehicle VH5 traveling ahead of the preceding vehicle VH2, that is, adjacent vehicle VH5 whose head time Th exceeds the first threshold time Thv1, can be said to be a non-control target with an extremely low probability of being subject to deceleration control. On the other hand, among the adjacent vehicles VH4 and VH5 traveling in adjacent lanes L2 and L3, adjacent vehicle VH4 located between the own vehicle VH1 and the preceding vehicle VH2 has a head time Th that is less than or equal to the first threshold time Thv1. If such adjacent vehicle VH4 changes lanes and cuts in front of the own vehicle VH1 in lane L1, adjacent vehicle VH4 may become subject to deceleration control. In this case, the display control unit 130 displays adjacent vehicle VH4 traveling between its own vehicle VH1 and the preceding vehicle VH2 in adjacent lane L2 (or adjacent lane L3) on the overhead image G, but does not display adjacent vehicle VH5 traveling ahead of the preceding vehicle VH2 on the overhead image G.

[0047] [Pattern 2] Figure 4 shows the case in the example shown in Figure 3, where the surrounding object recognition unit 110 recognizes an adjacent vehicle VH5 traveling roughly parallel to the preceding vehicle VH2 in the adjacent lane L3, and the vehicle VH1 flashes its right turn signal in order to change lanes to the adjacent lane L3. While the vehicle VH1 is traveling in its own lane L1, the adjacent vehicle VH5 traveling parallel to the preceding vehicle VH2 is not subject to follow-driving control or deceleration control. However, when the vehicle VH1 changes lanes to the adjacent lane L3, the adjacent vehicle VH5 may become subject to follow-driving control or deceleration control. Therefore, when the vehicle VH1 flashes its right turn signal, the display control unit 130 displays the adjacent vehicle VH5 traveling in the adjacent lane L3 on the overhead image G. The flashing of the turn signal can be acquired based on the flashing instruction signal transmitted from the turn signal switch 85. Furthermore, when the flashing of the right-side turn signal displays the adjacent vehicle VH5 in the overhead view image G, the adjacent vehicle VH4 traveling in the adjacent lane L2 to the left of the vehicle's lane L1 does not need to be displayed in the overhead view image G.

[0048] [Pattern 3] Figure 5 is an example of an overhead image G displayed on the display device 90 by the display control unit 130 while the ACC control unit 120 is performing constant speed driving control. When the ACC control unit 120 performs constant speed driving control, there is no preceding vehicle to follow in the vehicle's lane L1, so the display control unit 130 searches for other vehicles that may be subject to deceleration control in adjacent lanes L2 and L3 based on the recognition results of the surrounding object recognition unit 110. As shown in Figure 5, for example, if there are two adjacent vehicles VH4 and VH6 in the adjacent lane L2 on the left and one adjacent vehicle VH5 in the adjacent lane L3 on the right, the display control unit 130 performs a sorting of these three adjacent vehicles VH4 to VH6 based on the vehicle head time Th.

[0049] Specifically, among the three adjacent vehicles VH4 to VH6, adjacent vehicle VH6 has a vehicle-head time Th that exceeds the second threshold time Thv2, while adjacent vehicles VH3 and VH4 have vehicle-head time Th that is less than or equal to the second threshold time Thv2. In this case, the display control unit 130 displays adjacent vehicles VH4 and VH5 on the overhead image G, but does not display adjacent vehicle VH6 on the overhead image G. Note that if there is no preceding vehicle to be followed in the vehicle's lane L1, and the vehicle VH1 flashes its turn signal to change lanes to adjacent lanes L2 and L3, the process will be the same as in the example shown in Figure 4, so the explanation will be omitted.

[0050] In this embodiment, other vehicles that are subject to follow-driving control or deceleration control (targets to be controlled) are appropriately displayed on the overhead image G, and other vehicles that are not subject to follow-driving control or deceleration control (targets not to be controlled) are not displayed on the overhead image G. This allows the driver of the vehicle VH to be provided with only the necessary information through the display device 90. This effectively reduces the inconvenience of the driver having to sift through unnecessary information from the overhead image G displayed on the display device 90.

[0051] Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating the display control processing routine executed by the CPU 11 of the ECU 10. This routine is started, for example, when the vehicle VH1 is driven.

[0052] In step S100, ECU10 determines whether or not ACC is running. If ACC is running (Yes), ECU10 proceeds to step S110. On the other hand, if ACC is not running (No), ECU10 returns to this routine.

[0053] In step S110, the ECU 10 determines whether or not there is a preceding vehicle in front of its own vehicle VH1 that can be followed by the adaptive cruise control. If there is a preceding vehicle to be followed (Yes), the ECU 10 proceeds to step S120. On the other hand, if there is no preceding vehicle to be followed (No), the ECU 10 proceeds to step S150.

[0054] In step S120, the ECU 10 sets the threshold time Thv used to determine the vehicle head time Th to the first threshold time Thv1. On the other hand, in step S150, the ECU 10 sets the threshold time Thv used to determine the vehicle head time Th to the second threshold time Thv2, which is longer than the first threshold time Thv1.

[0055] When the process proceeds from step S120 to step S130, in step S130, the ECU 10 displays an overhead image G (see, for example, an example in Figure 3) if there is a preceding vehicle to be followed. Specifically, it displays the preceding vehicle in the overhead image G, and if there is a vehicle two lanes ahead, it also displays the vehicle two lanes ahead in the overhead image G. In addition, for adjacent lanes, it displays adjacent vehicles with a vehicle head time Th of 1 or less than or equal to the first threshold time Thv1 in the overhead image G. After displaying the overhead image G in step S130, the ECU 10 returns this routine.

[0056] When the process proceeds from step S150 to step S160, in step S160, the ECU 10 displays an overhead image G (see, for example, an example in Figure 5) when there is no preceding vehicle to follow. Specifically, among adjacent vehicles traveling in adjacent lanes, adjacent vehicles whose head time Th is less than or equal to the second threshold time Thv2 are displayed in the overhead image G, while adjacent vehicles whose head time Th exceeds the second threshold time Thv2 are not displayed in the overhead image G. After displaying the overhead image G in step S160, the ECU 10 returns this routine.

[0057] Although the display control device, display control method, and program according to this embodiment have been described above, this disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications are possible without departing from the purpose of this disclosure.

[0058] For example, although the display control unit 130 was described as displaying the overhead image G on the display device 90 while ACC is running, it is also possible to configure it to continuously display the overhead image G on the display device 90 even during manual driving when ACC is not running. Furthermore, the technology of this disclosure can also be applied to autonomous vehicles that perform some or all of the driving operations automatically. If the overhead image G is displayed on the display device 90 even during autonomous driving, it becomes possible to inform the occupants of the vehicle VH1 of the surrounding conditions recognized by the vehicle in real time.

Claims

1. A display control device that performs display control to display objects around the vehicle detected by object detection means mounted on the vehicle at a predetermined scale on a display device, The vehicle speed of the vehicle is acquired, and based on the acquired vehicle speed, a threshold distance is set, which is the distance from the vehicle to determine whether to display the surrounding target on the display device. The system includes a control unit that controls the display device to display first surrounding objects detected by the object detection means, whose distance from the vehicle is less than or equal to the threshold distance, at a predetermined scale, and to prevent the display device from displaying second surrounding objects whose distance from the vehicle is greater than the threshold distance. A display control device characterized by the following:

2. A display control device according to claim 1, The control unit sets the threshold distance to be larger when the vehicle speed is high compared to when the vehicle speed is low, and displays the first surrounding target on the display device without changing the predetermined scale. A display control device characterized by the following:

3. A display control device according to claim 1, The vehicle is configured to perform follow-me driving control, which causes the vehicle to follow a preceding vehicle traveling in front of it. If the control unit detects the preceding vehicle to be followed by the target detection means through the execution of the follow driving control, it sets the threshold distance based on the relative distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle. A display control device characterized by the following:

4. A display control method for displaying objects around a vehicle detected by object detection means mounted on the vehicle at a predetermined scale on a display device, The vehicle speed of the vehicle is acquired, and based on the acquired vehicle speed, a threshold distance is set, which is the distance from the vehicle to determine whether to display the surrounding target on the display device. Of the surrounding targets detected by the target detection means, first surrounding targets whose distance from the vehicle is less than or equal to the threshold distance are displayed on the display device at the predetermined scale, while second surrounding targets whose distance from the vehicle is greater than the threshold distance are controlled not to be displayed on the display device. A display control method characterized by the following:

5. The computer of a display control device that performs display control to display on a display device the objects in the vicinity of the vehicle detected by the object detection means mounted on the vehicle at a predetermined scale, The vehicle speed of the vehicle is acquired, and based on the acquired vehicle speed, a threshold distance is set, which is the distance from the vehicle to determine whether to display the surrounding target on the display device. The system controls the display device to display, at a predetermined scale, first surrounding targets detected by the target detection means whose distance from the vehicle is less than or equal to the threshold distance, and to prevent the display device from displaying second surrounding targets whose distance from the vehicle is greater than the threshold distance. A program characterized by the following features.

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