Distraction determination device

Abstract

A distraction determination device 1 changes the determination reference range of a distraction determination unit 27 by a prescribed angle in the curve direction by using a determination reference range change unit 28 based on information on the curve direction detected by a curve detection unit 26. On the other hand, when the line-of-sight direction of the driver detected by a line-of-sight direction detection unit 24 is along the following direction, that is, the relative direction of another vehicle obtained by a relative direction acquisition unit 31 with respect to the other vehicle detected by another vehicle detection unit 30 with the own vehicle as a reference, even if the line-of-sight direction is outside the determination reference range that does not indicate a distracted state, it is not determined as a distracted state. Thus, even when there is another vehicle showing a behavior of merging into the driving lane of the own vehicle, inappropriate determination of a distracted state can be suppressed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a distraction determination device. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, various distraction determination devices for determining a driver's distracted state have been proposed. The present applicant has proposed the following distraction determination device: at a timing before a change in vehicle behavior and before the turning direction of the vehicle changes toward a curved road direction, an object range related to the determination of the distracted state is moved by a predetermined amount, thereby preventing a non-distracted state from being erroneously determined as a distracted state (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).

[0003] [Prior Art Documents]

[0004] [Patent Documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent No. 5184596 Gazette Summary of the Invention

[0006] [Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

[0007] According to the distraction determination device of Patent Document 1, it is also possible to improve the determination accuracy of whether a driver is in a distracted state when entering and passing through a curved road. On the other hand, when the speed of one's own vehicle is low, etc., it is easy for other vehicles to merge into the lane of one's own vehicle. There is a concern that in such a case, the driver's line of sight to other vehicles showing a merging behavior is determined as distracted driving. However, this aspect is not particularly presented as a technical problem in the technology of Patent Document 1.

[0008] The present invention has been completed in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a distraction determination device that can suppress an erroneous determination of a distracted state even when there is another vehicle showing a behavior of merging into the lane of one's own vehicle.

[0009] [Technical Means for Solving the Problem]

[0010] (1) A distraction determination device includes: a line-of-sight direction detection unit (such as the line-of-sight direction detection unit 24 described later), which detects the driver's line-of-sight direction; a distraction determination unit (such as the distraction determination unit 27 described later), which determines that the driver is in a distracted state when the line-of-sight direction detected by the line-of-sight direction detection unit exceeds a specified determination reference range; a curve detection unit (such as the curve detection unit 26 described later), which detects whether there is a curve in front of the own vehicle within a specified distance and the curve direction of the curve and outputs the detection result; a surrounding information acquisition unit (such as the surrounding information acquisition unit 29 described later), which acquires the surrounding information of the own vehicle; an other vehicle detection unit (such as the other vehicle detection unit 30 described later), which, based on the surrounding information of the own vehicle, detects whether there is an other vehicle in the lane adjacent to the own lane in the direction opposite to the curve direction detected by the curve detection unit during the process of the own vehicle driving on the curve; a determination reference range change unit (such as the determination reference range change unit 28 described later), which, when the own vehicle enters a curve, changes the determination reference range of the distraction determination unit by a specified angle in the curve direction detected by the curve detection unit; and a relative direction acquisition unit (such as the relative direction acquisition unit 31 described later), which obtains relative direction information indicating the relative direction of the other vehicle with respect to the own vehicle regarded as a reference through calculation; and when the line-of-sight direction detected by the line-of-sight direction detection unit is within a specified range with respect to the relative direction of the other vehicle obtained by the relative direction acquisition unit, even if the line-of-sight direction faces a range outside the determination reference range, the distraction determination unit does not determine that the driver is in a distracted state.

[0011] (2) The distraction determination device according to (1), wherein the relative direction acquisition unit performs the calculation for obtaining the relative direction information when the surrounding information acquisition unit detects that the other vehicle changes lanes to the own lane in which the own vehicle is driving.

[0012] (3) The distraction determination device according to (1), wherein when setting an XY orthogonal coordinate system with the center of the planar projection of the own vehicle as the origin, the driving direction of the own vehicle as the X-axis, and the vehicle width direction of the own vehicle as the Y-axis, the relative direction acquisition unit obtains the relative direction of the other vehicle in such a way that the angle formed by the straight line extending from the origin to the central part in the width direction of the rear of the other vehicle and the X-axis is calculated.

[0013] (4) The distraction determination device according to (1) above includes a notification unit (such as the notification unit 3 described later) that gives a prescribed notification to the driver when the distraction determination unit determines that the driver is in a distracted state. When the notification unit gives the notification, the relative direction acquisition unit stops the prescribed notification at the timing when the operation related to the acquisition of the relative direction starts.

[0014] (5) The distraction determination device according to (1) above, wherein the curve detection unit detects the curvature of the curve while detecting the curve direction of the curve, and the determination reference range change unit changes the determination reference range using the information related to the curvature of the curve detected by the curve detection unit.

[0015] (6) The distraction determination device according to (1) above includes a vehicle state acquisition unit (such as the vehicle state acquisition unit 25 described later). The vehicle state acquisition unit acquires vehicle information related to the own vehicle state that includes information on the steering angle and / or the turning angle of the own vehicle based on the detection output from a prescribed vehicle state sensor provided in the own vehicle. The determination reference range change unit changes the determination reference range using the information on the steering angle and / or the turning angle of the own vehicle acquired by the vehicle state acquisition unit.

[0016] [Advantages of the Invention]

[0017] The distraction determination device of (1) changes the determination reference range of the distraction determination unit by a prescribed angle in the curve direction using the determination reference range change unit based on the information on the curve direction detected by the curve detection unit. On the other hand, when the line-of-sight direction detected by the line-of-sight direction detection unit is within a prescribed range from the relative direction of the other vehicle acquired by the relative direction acquisition unit, even if the line-of-sight direction is outside the determination reference range that does not conform to the distracted state, the driver is not determined to be in a distracted state. Thereby, inappropriate determination of the distracted state when the other vehicle shows behaviors such as going out of the lane or merging into the own vehicle's driving lane is prevented.

[0018] (2) The distraction determination device further includes, in the distraction determination device of (1) above, a relative direction acquisition unit that performs an operation to acquire relative direction information when the peripheral information acquisition unit detects that the other vehicle changes lanes into the own lane in which the own vehicle is traveling. Thereby, behaviors such as the other vehicle going out of the lane or merging into the own vehicle's driving lane can be added as determination factors for more appropriate determination of the distracted state.

[0019] (3)'s distraction determination device is further in the distraction determination device of (1), and the determination reference range changing unit uses the relative direction information obtained by the relative direction acquisition unit, which represents the relative direction of another vehicle when regarding its own vehicle as a reference, to change the specified range. Thus, the relative direction between its own vehicle and another vehicle can be added as a determination factor to perform a more appropriate distraction state determination.

[0020] (4)'s distraction determination device is further in the distraction determination device of (1). Since the probability that the driver of its own vehicle diverts their line of sight to ensure safety is relatively high, when the relative direction acquisition unit starts the operation related to the detection of the relative direction, the notification unit such as an alarm stops the alarm and other notifications. Thus, redundant alarms and other notifications are suppressed, and it is not easy to interfere with the comfort during driving.

[0021] (5)'s distraction determination device is further in the distraction determination device of (1), and the determination reference range changing unit also uses the information related to the curvature of the curve detected by the curve detection unit to change the determination reference range. Therefore, the curvature of the curve can be added as a determination factor to perform a more appropriate distraction state determination.

[0022] (6)'s distraction determination device is further in the distraction determination device of (1), and the determination reference range changing unit uses the information of the steering angle and / or turning angle of its own vehicle obtained by the vehicle state acquisition unit to change the determination reference range. Therefore, the information of the steering angle and / or turning angle of its own vehicle can be added as a determination factor to perform a more appropriate distraction state determination. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of a distraction determination device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 2 is a diagram showing a case where the distraction determination device according to the embodiment of the present invention determines that there is a possibility that another vehicle exceeds the lane or merges into the driving lane of its own vehicle.

[0025] Figure 3 is for Figure 2 a diagram explaining the calculation of the relative direction of another vehicle when regarding its own vehicle as a reference by the relative direction acquisition unit in the case of.

[0026] Figure 4 is a diagram explaining a case where even if the driver's line of sight is directed towards a direction beyond the determination reference range that does not conform to the distraction state, it is not determined as the distraction state.

[0027] Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing executed by the processing device of the distraction determination device according to the embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0028] Hereinafter, the present invention will be clarified by describing in detail a distraction determination device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 It is a configuration diagram of a distraction determination device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The distraction determination device 1 is installed in a vehicle and includes a processing device 2, a notification unit 3, a light source 11, a passenger camera 12, a vehicle state sensor 13, a navigation device 14, an external camera 15, a millimeter-wave radar 16, and a LIDAR 17.

[0029] The light source 11 irradiates light such as visible light or infrared light on a subject (such as the face of a driver sitting in the driver's seat).

[0030] The passenger camera 12 is arranged so that the shooting field of view at least includes the face of the driver sitting in the driver's seat, and obtains an image output including the face of the driver in the visible light region or the infrared light region.

[0031] The vehicle state sensor 13 includes a vehicle speed sensor, a gyro sensor, a yaw rate sensor, and a steering angle sensor. The vehicle speed sensor is used to detect the speed (vehicle speed) of its own vehicle, the gyro sensor is used to detect the posture and traveling direction of the vehicle body, and the yaw rate sensor is used to detect the yaw rate (the rotational angular velocity of the vehicle center of gravity around the vertical axis). Moreover, the steering angle sensor is used to detect the steering angle of the steering wheel (steering angle) or the actual steering angle (steering angle) corresponding to the steering angle of the steering wheel. The vehicle state sensor 13 supplies signals related to various vehicle information detected in the above-described manner, that is, vehicle speed, posture, yaw rate, steering angle, and steering angle, to the processing device 2.

[0032] The navigation device 14 receives a positioning signal such as a GPS (Global Positioning System) signal for determining the position of its own vehicle using, for example, artificial satellites, and calculates the current position of its own vehicle using this positioning signal. Moreover, the navigation device 14 calculates the current position of its own vehicle by performing autonomous navigation calculation processing based on the detection signals of the vehicle speed and yaw rate of its own vehicle output from the vehicle speed sensor and yaw rate sensor (not shown) in the vehicle state sensor 13.

[0033] In addition, the navigation device 14 has road coordinate data required for map matching processing based on the current position of its own vehicle as map data. In addition, the navigation device 14 has data required for processing such as route search and route guidance, for example, coordinate points (nodes) including the latitude and longitude of specified positions such as intersections and bifurcations, lines (road segments) connecting the nodes, the distances of the road segments, and road data such as the shape (for example, information related to the radius of curvature of a curve), width, intersection angle, and type of the road as map data.

[0034] The external camera 15 is set to capture at least the exterior of the vehicle including the periphery of the vehicle as the shooting field of view, and obtains shooting information in the visible light region or the infrared region. The external camera 15 is typically marked as a box in Figure 1 but may be provided in multiple numbers according to the specifications of the vehicle.

[0035] The millimeter wave radar 16 detects objects around the vehicle and measures the distance to the objects. The millimeter wave radar 16 is typically marked as a box in Figure 1 but may be provided in multiple numbers according to the specifications of the vehicle.

[0036] The LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) 17 detects objects around the vehicle and measures the distance to the objects. The LIDAR 17 is typically marked as a box in Figure 1 but may be provided in multiple numbers according to the specifications of the vehicle.

[0037] The processing device 2 is composed of an irradiation control unit 21, a shooting control unit 22, a face image acquisition unit 23, a line-of-sight direction detection unit 24, a vehicle state acquisition unit 25, a curve detection unit 26, a distraction determination unit 27, a determination reference range change unit 28, a surrounding information acquisition unit 29, an other vehicle detection unit 30, a relative direction acquisition unit 31, and a notification control unit 32.

[0038] The irradiation control unit 21 controls the light irradiation of the light source 11. The shooting control unit 22 controls the shooting of the passenger camera 12. The face image acquisition unit 23 acquires the face image output from the passenger camera 12. The line-of-sight direction detection unit 24 performs recognition processing such as feature quantity calculation and shape discrimination with the left and right eyeballs of the driver as the detection objects based on the face image acquired by the face image acquisition unit 23. The line-of-sight direction detection unit 24 further detects the line-of-sight direction and the fixation point of the driver through a prescribed line-of-sight detection process using the center position of the eyeball iris or pupil, the center position of the Purkinje's figure (Purkinje's figure) as the infrared reflection image on the corneal surface, the eyeball center position, and the position of the eye head, etc., based on the result of the recognition processing.

[0039] The vehicle state acquisition unit 25 acquires vehicle state information related to various states of its own vehicle based on signals of various detection results output from the vehicle state sensor. That is, the vehicle state acquisition unit 25 acquires information such as the speed (vehicle speed) of its own vehicle, the posture of the vehicle body, the traveling direction and the turning direction, and the actual turning angle (steering angle) corresponding to the steering wheel angle (steering angle) as information on the driving behavior of its own vehicle.

[0040] The curve detection unit 26 detects whether there is a curve ahead within a specified distance from the host vehicle (for example, within the distance within 2 seconds before reaching the curve entrance) and the direction of the curve based on the road data of the navigation device 14, the steering angle (steering angle) of the steering wheel output from the vehicle state sensor 13, or the actual steering angle (steering angle) corresponding to the steering angle of the steering wheel, and supplies the detection output to the determination reference range change unit 28.

[0041] In addition to detecting whether there is a curve ahead within a specified distance from the host vehicle and the direction of the curve, the curve detection unit 26 also detects the curvature of the curve.

[0042] The distraction determination unit 27 determines whether the driver is in a distracted state based on the line-of-sight direction of the driver detected by the line-of-sight direction detection unit 24. That is, the distraction determination unit 27 determines whether the line-of-sight direction of the driver is within the determination reference range that does not conform to the distracted state. The distraction determination unit 27 further issues a determination output of the distracted state when it determines that the line-of-sight direction of the driver stays outside the determination reference range for a specified time or more. On the other hand, when it determines that the line-of-sight direction of the driver is within the determination reference range, it issues a determination output of the non-distracted state.

[0043] The determination reference range of the distraction determination unit 27 is changed by the determination reference range change unit 28 described below according to various conditions. Thereby, it is avoided that the determination of the distracted state by the distraction determination unit 27 is inappropriate from the actual driving situation of the driver.

[0044] Based on the vehicle state information obtained by the vehicle state acquisition unit 25, that is, the information of the steering angle and / or the steering angle of the host vehicle, the information indicating the presence or absence of a curve, the direction of the curve, and the curvature of the curve detected by the curve detection unit 26, the information indicating the line-of-sight direction detected by the line-of-sight direction detection unit 24, and the detection information related to the relative position of the other vehicle from the relative direction acquisition unit 31 described later, the determination reference range change unit 28 gives an instruction to the distraction determination unit 27 to change the determination reference range of the distraction determination unit 27 by a specified amount.

[0045] When the turning direction determination range changing unit 28 detects that there is a curve ahead within a predetermined distance from the host vehicle and the curve direction of the curve by the curve detection unit 26, at a predetermined timing before the turning direction of the host vehicle changes toward the curve direction based on the vehicle state information acquired by the vehicle state acquisition unit 25, the determination reference range is changed by a predetermined amount in the curve direction. At this predetermined timing, the driver of the host vehicle is highly likely to shift their line of sight toward the curve direction to ensure safety, thereby avoiding an inappropriate determination of the distracted state in this case. Moreover, in particular, the turning direction determination range changing unit 28 also uses the information related to the curvature of the curve detected by the curve detection unit 26 to change the predetermined range. Therefore, the curvature of the curve can be added as a determination factor for a more appropriate determination of the distracted state.

[0046] In addition, the predetermined timing before the turning direction of the host vehicle changes toward the curve direction is, for example, when the line of sight detected by the line of sight direction detection unit 24 exceeds the determination reference range set at this time point toward the curve direction side and faces a range outside the determination reference range.

[0047] The surrounding information acquisition unit 29 acquires surrounding information related to the state of the periphery of the host vehicle from the external camera 15, the millimeter wave radar 16, and the LIDAR 17. This surrounding information is, for example, information related to whether there are other vehicles or other obstacles in front of, to the side of, and behind the host vehicle, and the distance and azimuth to the existing other vehicles or other obstacles. The surrounding information acquisition unit 29 supplies the acquired surrounding information to the other vehicle detection unit 30.

[0048] Based on the detection output related to whether there is a curve ahead within a predetermined distance from the host vehicle and the curve direction of the curve supplied from the curve detection unit 26, and the surrounding information supplied from the surrounding information acquisition unit 29, the other vehicle detection unit 30 detects the presence or absence and relative position of other vehicles in the lane adjacent to the own lane in which the host vehicle is traveling in the direction opposite to the curve direction detected by the curve detection unit 26 during the travel of the host vehicle on the curve and issues detection information.

[0049] Based on the detection output of the other vehicle detection unit 30, when the other vehicle detection unit 30 detects the presence of other vehicles, the relative direction acquisition unit 31 obtains relative direction information indicating the relative direction of the other vehicle with respect to the host vehicle when the host vehicle is regarded as a reference through calculation, and supplies the relative direction information to the distraction determination unit 27. This relative direction information is information indicating α±θ described later.

[0050] The judgment reference range changing unit 28 gives an instruction to the distraction judgment unit 27 to change the judgment reference range of the distraction judgment unit 27 by a specified amount based on the detection information related to the relative position of other vehicles from the relative direction acquisition unit 31, in addition to the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle state acquisition unit 25, the information on the existence of a curve and the curve direction of the curve detected by the curve detection unit 26, and the information on the line of sight direction detected by the line of sight direction detection unit 24.

[0051] The distraction determination unit 27 changes the determination reference range according to the instruction to change the determination reference range by a predetermined amount from the determination reference range changing unit 28, and issues a determination output of a non-distracted state when the sight line direction detected by the sight line direction detecting unit 24 is within the changed determination reference range. On the other hand, when the sight line direction of the driver stays outside the determination reference range for a predetermined time or longer, a determination output of a distracted state is issued.

[0052] Here, when the distraction determination unit 27 receives the relative direction information indicating the relative direction of another vehicle when taking its own vehicle as the reference from the relative direction acquisition unit 31, it issues a determination output of a non-distracted state even if the line of sight direction detected by the line of sight direction detection unit 24 stays outside the determination reference range for more than a specified time.

[0053] The determination output of the distraction determination unit 27 is supplied to the notification control unit 32. When the determination output supplied from the distraction determination unit 27 is a determination output of a distraction state, the notification control unit 32 gives an alarm control instruction to the notification unit 3 to control the alarm mode of the notification unit 3. The alarm mode of the notification unit 3 is a mode such as a change in the intensity or an intermittent cycle of an alarm sound, a sound of a message, a light emission of a warning lamp or a text display, or a pattern display.

[0054] When the notification unit 3 performs notification under the control of the notification control unit 32, the notification is stopped at the timing when the relative direction acquisition unit 31 starts the calculation related to the acquisition of the relative direction. At the timing when the relative direction acquisition unit starts the calculation related to the detection of the relative direction, the driver of the own vehicle is likely to divert his eyes to ensure safety, so the notification of the alarm or the like by the notification unit is stopped at this timing. In this way, unnecessary notifications such as alarms are suppressed, and the driving comfort is not easily disturbed.

[0055] Next, refer to Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 4 ,as well as Figure 1 The function of the distraction determination device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention when the distraction determination device 1 determines that there is a possibility that another vehicle may exceed the lane or merge into the lane of the own vehicle will be described.

[0056] Figure 2This is a diagram showing a situation where the distraction determination device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention determines that there is a possibility that another vehicle has exceeded the lane or merged into the lane of its own vehicle. Figure 2 In this case, the own vehicle 10 equipped with the distraction determination device 1 is entering a curve. At this time, the line-of-sight direction A of the driver D is more on the inner peripheral side of the curve, which is the forward field of view of the driver D, compared to the traveling direction of the own vehicle 10 at the current time point, that is, the tangential direction with respect to the curve. Figure 2 In this, B is a determination reference range that serves as a reference for the distraction determination unit 27 to determine whether the driver 10 is in a distracted state.

[0057] Figure 2 In this, the line-of-sight direction A is continuously captured by the line-of-sight direction detection unit 24 of the distraction determination device 1. The curve detection unit 26 detects whether there is a curve ahead within a specified distance from the own vehicle 10 (for example, within a distance within 2 seconds before reaching the curve entrance, etc.) and the curve direction of the curve. The curve detection unit 26 supplies the detection output related to the curve to the determination reference range change unit 28 and the other vehicle detection unit 30.

[0058] On the other hand, the surrounding information acquisition unit 29 acquires information related to whether there is another vehicle 90 or other obstacles in front of, on the side, and behind the own vehicle, and the distance and azimuth to the existing other vehicle 90 or other obstacles. Figure 2 The state in this is a state where the surrounding information acquisition unit 29 acquires information indicating the possibility that another vehicle 90 has exceeded the lane or merged into the lane of the own vehicle.

[0059] In this case, furthermore, the other vehicle detection unit 30 detects the presence and relative position of another vehicle in the lane adjacent to the own lane of the own vehicle in the direction opposite to the curve direction detected by the curve detection unit 26 during the travel of the own vehicle 10 on the curve based on the detection output related to whether there is a curve ahead within a specified distance from the own vehicle 10 and the curve direction of the curve supplied from the curve detection unit 26 and the surrounding information supplied from the surrounding information acquisition unit 29, and issues detection information.

[0060] The relative direction acquisition unit 31, based on the detection output of the other vehicle detection unit 30, when the presence of the other vehicle 90 is detected by the other vehicle detection unit 30, obtains relative direction information indicating the relative direction of the other vehicle 90 with respect to the own vehicle 10 as a reference through calculation, and supplies the relative direction information to the determination reference range change unit 28.

[0061] Figure 3 is for in Figure 2The figure for explaining the calculation of the relative direction of the other vehicle 90 with respect to the host vehicle 10 when regarded as a reference. An XY orthogonal coordinate system is set with the center on the plane projection of the host vehicle 10 as the origin, the traveling direction of the host vehicle 10 as the X-axis, and the vehicle width direction of the host vehicle 10 as the Y-axis. The relative direction of the other vehicle 90 with respect to the host vehicle 10 is obtained by calculating the angle α formed by the straight line shown by the dashed line extending from the origin of the XY orthogonal coordinate system to the central part in the width direction of the rear of the other vehicle 90 and the X-axis.

[0062] Figure 4 The figure for explaining the case where even when the line of sight of the driver D is directed in a direction exceeding the determination reference range B, it is not determined as a distracted state. When the driver D of the host vehicle 10 discovers the other vehicle 90 that has the possibility of exceeding the lane or merging into the driving lane of the host vehicle, the driver D will inevitably direct his line of sight towards the other vehicle 90 as shown by the hollow arrow C. The original direction of the line of sight C of the driver D himself is for ensuring safety. However, in the case shown by the arrow C, the direction of the line of sight of the driver D exceeds the determination reference range B for distracted determination. Therefore, if no measures are taken, the direction of the line of sight C of the driver D himself will be determined as a distracted state.

[0063] That is to say, the distracted determination unit 27 supplies the determination output for the distracted state to the notification control unit 32. The notification control unit 32 responds and gives an alarm control instruction to the notification unit 3, causing the notification unit 3 to perform an alarm such as sounding an alarm tone, pronouncing a message, lighting a warning lamp, or displaying text or a pattern.

[0064] In the distracted determination device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned adverse situation of even determining the line of sight movement originally for ensuring safety as a distracted state can be eliminated. That is to say, as described with reference to Figure 3 The relative direction of the other vehicle 90 with respect to the host vehicle 10 is obtained by the relative direction acquisition unit 31 in such a manner that the angle α is formed by the straight line extending from the origin to the other vehicle 90 in the XY orthogonal coordinate system set for the host vehicle 10 and the X-axis. When the direction of the line of sight of the driver D is directed at the angle α, the driver D is not determined as a distracted state. Thereby, inappropriate determination of the distracted state when the other vehicle 90 shows behaviors such as exceeding the lane or merging into the driving lane of the host vehicle is prevented. At this time, more specifically, when the direction of the line of sight of the driver D is within the angle α±θ obtained by adding the angle α to the range fine adjustment parameter (a margin angle for absorbing detection errors or tolerances) ±θ, the driver D is not determined as a distracted state.

[0065] Figure 5It is a flowchart showing an example of the processing performed by the processing device 2 of the distraction determination device 1 representing an embodiment of the present invention. First, the line-of-sight direction detection unit 24 detects the driver's line-of-sight direction through a prescribed line-of-sight detection process (step S1).

[0066] Then, the curve detection unit 26 detects whether there is a curve ahead within a prescribed distance from its own vehicle, the curve direction of the curve, and the curvature of the curve, based on the road data of the navigation device 14, or the steering wheel angle (steering angle) output from the vehicle state sensor 13 or the actual turning angle (steering angle) corresponding to the steering wheel angle, etc. (step S2).

[0067] Next, the determination reference range change unit 28 gives an instruction to the distraction determination unit 27 to change the determination reference range of the distraction determination unit 27 by a prescribed amount, based on the vehicle state information acquired by the vehicle state acquisition unit 25, the information indicating the presence or absence of a curve, the curve direction of the curve, and the curvature of the curve detected by the curve detection unit 26, the information indicating the line-of-sight direction detected by the line-of-sight direction detection unit 24, and the detection information related to the relative position of the other vehicle from the relative direction acquisition unit 31. The distraction determination unit 27 changes the determination reference range by the prescribed amount based on this instruction (step S3).

[0068] Assume the following situation: After the determination reference range of the distraction determination unit 27 is changed by the prescribed amount in step S3, the other vehicle detection unit 30 detects the presence or absence and relative position of an other vehicle in the lane adjacent to the own lane in which the own vehicle is traveling in the direction opposite to the curve direction detected by the curve detection unit 26 while the own vehicle is traveling on the curve (step S4).

[0069] In the assumed situation of step S4, the relative direction acquisition unit 31 obtains relative direction information indicating the relative direction of the other vehicle with respect to the own vehicle when the own vehicle is regarded as a reference, that is, information indicating the angle α±θ, through calculation based on the detection output of the other vehicle detection unit 30, and supplies this relative direction information to the distraction determination unit 27 (step S5).

[0070] Then, when the distraction determination unit 27 receives the relative direction information indicating the relative direction of the other vehicle with respect to the own vehicle when the own vehicle is regarded as a reference, even if the line-of-sight direction detected by the line-of-sight direction detection unit 24 stays outside the determination reference range for a prescribed time or more, the determination of the distracted state is cancelled (step S6). Thereby, it is possible to prevent the determination of a line-of-sight movement originally for ensuring safety as a distracted state even when the other vehicle shows behavior such as going out of the lane or merging into the own vehicle's lane.

[0071] The distraction determination device 1 according to the present embodiment exhibits the following effects.

[0072] In the distraction determination device 1 of (1), based on the information of the curve direction detected by the curve detection unit 26, the determination reference range change unit 28 changes the determination reference range of the distraction determination unit 27 by a specified angle in the curve direction. On the other hand, when the line-of-sight direction detected by the line-of-sight direction detection unit 24 is within a specified range from the relative direction of the other vehicle obtained by the relative direction acquisition unit 31, even if the line-of-sight direction is outside the determination reference range that does not conform to the distracted state, the driver is not determined to be in a distracted state. Thereby, inappropriate determination of the distracted state when the other vehicle shows behaviors such as exceeding the lane or merging into the own vehicle's lane is prevented.

[0073] In the distraction determination device 1 of (2), when the peripheral information acquisition unit 29 detects that the other vehicle changes lanes into the own lane in which the own vehicle is traveling, the relative direction acquisition unit 31 performs an operation to acquire relative direction information. Thereby, behaviors such as the other vehicle exceeding the lane or merging into the own vehicle's lane can be added as determination factors for more appropriate determination of the distracted state.

[0074] In the distraction determination device 1 of (3), the determination reference range change unit 28 changes the specified range using the relative direction information indicating the relative direction of the other vehicle with respect to the own vehicle regarded as a reference, which is acquired by the relative direction acquisition unit 31. Thereby, the relative direction between the own vehicle and the other vehicle can be added as a determination factor for more appropriate determination of the distracted state.

[0075] In the distraction determination device 1 of (4), the probability that the driver of the own vehicle diverts the line of sight to ensure safety is relatively high, so when the relative direction acquisition unit 31 starts an operation related to the detection of the relative direction, notifications such as alarms from the stop notification unit are stopped. Thereby, redundant notifications such as alarms are suppressed, and it is not easy to interfere with the comfort during driving.

[0076] In the distraction determination device 1 of (5), the determination reference range change unit 28 also changes the determination reference range using the information related to the curvature of the curve detected by the curve detection unit 26. Therefore, the curvature of the curve can be added as a determination factor for more appropriate determination of the distracted state.

[0077] In the distraction determination device 1 of (6), the determination reference range change unit 28 changes the determination reference range using the information of the steering angle and / or the turning angle of the own vehicle acquired by the vehicle state acquisition unit 25. Therefore, the information of the steering angle and / or the turning angle of the own vehicle can be added as a determination factor for more appropriate determination of the distracted state.

[0078] As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been explained, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The detailed configuration can be appropriately changed within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, it may be configured such that when a desire to merge into one's own vehicle lane is received from another vehicle using vehicle-to-vehicle communication, the relative direction of the other vehicle that is the source of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication is acquired without waiting for other conditions, and for the line-of-sight direction along the acquired relative direction, it is not determined as a distracted state.

[0079] Reference numeral

[0080] 1: Distraction determination device

[0081] 2: Processing device

[0082] 3: Notification unit

[0083] 10: Own vehicle

[0084] 11: Light source

[0085] 12: Passenger camera

[0086] 13: Vehicle state sensor

[0087] 14: Navigation device

[0088] 15: External camera

[0089] 16: Millimeter wave radar

[0090] 17: LIDAR

[0091] 21: Irradiation control unit

[0092] 22: Shooting control unit

[0093] 23: Facial image acquisition unit

[0094] 24: Line-of-sight direction detection unit

[0095] 25: Vehicle state acquisition unit

[0096] 26: Curve detection unit

[0097] 27: Distraction determination unit

[0098] 28: Determination reference range change unit

[0099] 29: Peripheral information acquisition unit

[0100] 30: Other vehicle detection unit

[0101] 31: Relative direction acquisition unit

[0102] 32: Notification control unit

Claims

1. A distraction determination device, comprising: A line-of-sight direction detection unit that detects the line-of-sight direction of a driver; A distraction determination unit that determines the driver to be in a distracted state when the line-of-sight direction detected by the line-of-sight direction detection unit exceeds a specified determination reference range; A curve detection unit that detects whether there is a curve in front of the host vehicle within a specified distance and the curve direction of the curve and outputs a detection result; A surrounding information acquisition unit that acquires surrounding information of the host vehicle; An other vehicle detection unit that, based on the surrounding information of the host vehicle, detects whether there is an other vehicle in the lane adjacent to the own lane in which the host vehicle is traveling in the direction opposite to the curve direction detected by the curve detection unit during the travel of the host vehicle on the curve; A determination reference range change unit that, when the host vehicle enters a curve, changes the determination reference range of the distraction determination unit by a specified angle in the curve direction detected by the curve detection unit; And A relative direction acquisition unit that obtains relative direction information representing the relative direction of the other vehicle with respect to the host vehicle regarded as a reference through calculation; and Even when the line-of-sight direction detected by the line-of-sight direction detection unit is in a direction outside the determination reference range, the distraction determination unit does not determine the driver to be in a distracted state when the line-of-sight direction is within a specified range from the relative direction of the other vehicle obtained by the relative direction acquisition unit.

2. The distraction determination device according to claim 1, wherein the relative direction acquisition unit performs the calculation for obtaining the relative direction information when the surrounding information acquisition unit detects that the other vehicle changes lanes to the own lane in which the host vehicle is traveling.

3. The distraction determination device according to claim 1, wherein when setting an XY orthogonal coordinate system with the center of the planar projection of the host vehicle as the origin, the traveling direction of the host vehicle as the X-axis, and the vehicle width direction of the host vehicle as the Y-axis, the relative direction acquisition unit obtains the relative direction of the other vehicle in such a way as the angle formed by the straight line extending from the origin to the central portion in the width direction of the rear of the other vehicle and the X-axis through calculation.

4. The distraction determination device according to claim 1, comprising a notification unit that gives a specified notification to the driver when the distraction determination unit determines the driver to be in a distracted state, and When giving the notification, the notification unit stops the specified notification at the timing when the relative direction acquisition unit starts the calculation related to the acquisition of the relative direction.

5. The distraction determination device according to claim 1, wherein the curve detection unit detects the curve direction of the curve and the curvature of the curve, The determination reference range change unit uses the information related to the curvature of the curve detected by the curve detection unit to change the determination reference range.

6. The distraction determination device according to claim 1 includes a vehicle state acquisition unit that acquires vehicle information related to the state of the host vehicle, which includes information on the steering angle and / or turning angle of the host vehicle, based on the detection output from a specified vehicle state sensor provided in the host vehicle. The determination reference range changing unit changes the determination reference range using the information on the steering angle and / or turning angle of the host vehicle acquired by the vehicle state acquisition unit.

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