Display control device, information display system, display control method, and computer-readable non-transitory recording medium storing program

Abstract

The present invention assists a driver who wants to pass through another vehicle in front of a host vehicle in recognizing a sense of distance from the host vehicle until the host vehicle approaches. A control ECU (13) for controlling the display of a display medium (11) mounted on a vehicle (1) and displaying information in the direction of travel of the vehicle (1), the control ECU (13) recognizing the distance between the vehicle (1) and another vehicle present in the direction of travel of the vehicle (1) on the basis of the recognition result of an external sensor (21) mounted on the vehicle (1). Distance information for reporting the distance between the identified vehicle (1) and the other vehicle is displayed on a display medium (11), and the distance information displayed on the display medium (11) changes in accordance with a change in the distance between the identified vehicle (1) and the other vehicle.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a display control device, an information display system, a display control method, and a computer-readable non-transitory recording medium storing a program. Background Art

[0002] A reporting device is known that reports information of a vehicle existing in a blind spot area of ​​another vehicle to another vehicle that intends to pass in front of the vehicle (for example, see Patent Document 1). In the reporting device described in Patent Document 1, when another vehicle is identified, it is determined whether there is a vehicle in the blind spot area of ​​the identified other vehicle, and when it is determined that there is a vehicle in the blind spot area, the information of the vehicle existing in the blind spot area is displayed on a display provided on the front surface of the vehicle or the like.

[0003] Prior art literature

[0004] Patent Literature

[0005] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2020-107163 Summary of the invention

[0006] Problems to be solved by the invention

[0007] Imagine the following scenario: the self-driving vehicle is driving on a priority road with no human drivers, and the other vehicles are manually driven vehicles driving on non-priority roads with human drivers. The self-driving vehicle is heading for an intersection without a signal, and the other vehicles are about to enter the intersection. In this scenario, the drivers of the other vehicles may misunderstand the distance from the self-driving vehicle and the time until the self-driving vehicle approaches. In this case, the other vehicles enter the intersection at the wrong time, causing the self-driving vehicle to slow down or stop.

[0008] In view of the above situation, the present invention aims to provide a display control device, an information display system, a display control method and a computer-readable non-temporary recording medium storing a program that assists the driver of other vehicles who want to pass in front of the vehicle in recognizing the sense of distance from the vehicle and the time until the vehicle approaches.

[0009] Means for solving problems

[0010] The display control device of the present invention controls the display of a display medium mounted on a vehicle and displaying information in the direction of travel of the vehicle, wherein the display control device identifies the distance between the vehicle and other vehicles existing in the direction of travel of the vehicle based on the recognition result of an external sensor mounted on the vehicle, causes the display medium to display distance information for reporting the identified distance between the vehicle and the other vehicles, and causes the distance information displayed on the display medium to change according to the change in the identified distance between the vehicle and the other vehicles.

[0011] The information display system of the present invention comprises: a display medium, which is mounted on a vehicle and displays information in the direction of travel of the vehicle; and a display control device, which controls the display of the display medium, wherein the display control device identifies the distance between the vehicle and other vehicles existing in the direction of travel of the vehicle based on the recognition result of an external sensor mounted on the vehicle, causes the display medium to display distance information for reporting the recognized distance between the vehicle and the other vehicles, and causes the distance information displayed on the display medium to change according to the change in the recognized distance between the vehicle and the other vehicles.

[0012] The display control method of the present invention is executed by a display control device, which controls the display of a display medium mounted on a vehicle and displaying information in the direction of travel of the vehicle, wherein the display control method includes: a step of identifying the distance between the vehicle and other vehicles existing in the direction of travel of the vehicle based on the recognition result of an external sensor mounted on the vehicle; and a step of causing the display medium to display distance information for reporting the identified distance between the vehicle and the other vehicles, and causing the distance information displayed on the display medium to change according to the change in the identified distance between the vehicle and the other vehicles.

[0013] The computer-readable non-temporary recording medium storing a program of the present invention stores a program that causes a display control device to execute the following sequence: identifying the distance between the vehicle and other vehicles existing in the direction of travel of the vehicle based on the recognition result of an external sensor mounted on the vehicle, wherein the display control device controls the display of a display medium mounted on the vehicle and displaying information in the direction of travel of the vehicle; and causing the display medium to display distance information for reporting the identified distance between the vehicle and the other vehicles, and causing the distance information displayed on the display medium to change according to the change in the identified distance between the vehicle and the other vehicles.

[0014] Effects of the Invention

[0015] According to the present invention, it is possible to assist a driver of another vehicle who intends to pass in front of a host vehicle in recognizing the distance to the host vehicle and the time until the host vehicle approaches. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 This is a block diagram schematically showing an information display system mounted on a vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 2 This shows an example of a situation in which an approaching vehicle should be reported to other vehicles.

[0018] Figure 3 This shows an example of a situation in which an approaching vehicle should be reported to other vehicles.

[0019] Figure 4 This shows an example of a situation in which an approaching vehicle should be reported to other vehicles.

[0020] Figure 5 This is a table showing examples of distance information displayed by the display medium.

[0021] Figure 6 This is a table showing examples of information displayed on the display medium when the vehicle stops to yield to other vehicles.

[0022] Figure 7 An example of a method of displaying distance information on a display medium.

[0023] Figure 8 It is a flowchart showing the processing of controlling the ECU. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described according to preferred embodiments. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown below, and can be appropriately changed within the scope of not departing from the gist of the present invention. In addition, in the embodiments shown below, there is a part of the structure diagram and description that are omitted, and the details of the omitted technology are appropriately applied to the known or well-known technology within the scope that does not conflict with the content described below.

[0025] Figure 1 The vehicle 1 shown in the figure is a schematic block diagram showing a vehicle 1 equipped with an information display system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle 1 shown in the figure is a vehicle that is driven by an unmanned automatic driving on a priority road 3 (see Figure 2 ) is a public vehicle with an autonomous driving level of Level 4 or Level 5.

[0026] The vehicle 1 includes an information display system 10 and an advanced driver assistance system (hereinafter referred to as ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems)) 20 . The information display system 10 includes a display medium 11 , a driver 12 , and a control ECU (Electronic control unit) 13 .

[0027] The display medium 11 is a display mounted on the front of the vehicle 1, and displays information in the direction of travel of the vehicle 1. Examples of the display medium 11 include LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), LED (Light Emitting Diode) display, and OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display. The display medium 11 is arranged in front of another vehicle 2 (see FIG. 1 ) that is intended to cross the front of the vehicle 1. Figure 2 ) is located at a position that can be visually recognized by the driver of the vehicle 1, and the information is displayed in a manner that can be visually recognized by the driver of another vehicle 2 located about 50m in front of the vehicle 1.

[0028] The driver 12 is a display driver for controlling the display medium 11, and causes the display medium 11 to display information based on the display information sent from the control ECU 13. The information displayed on the display medium 11 includes distance information indicating the distance between the vehicle 1 and other vehicles 2 in front of it. The distance information includes character information and image information. The character information is information that directly identifies the distance between the vehicle 1 and other vehicles 2 in front of it through characters such as 30m, 20m, etc., and the image information includes information that intuitively identifies the distance between the vehicle 1 and other vehicles 2 in front of it through images such as pictograms and signal lights. Various distance information are provided with multiple patterns according to the distance between the vehicle 1 and other vehicles 2 in front of it. In addition, the details of the distance information will be described later.

[0029] The control ECU 13 stores a program for executing display control of the display medium 11, and operates according to the program. Moreover, the program is stored in a non-temporary recording medium that can be read by a computer. That is, the control ECU 13 has a non-temporary recording medium that can be read by a computer and stores the program. Based on the various information sent from the ADAS 20, the control ECU 13 determines whether there is another vehicle 2 that should be reported that the vehicle 1 is approaching, and when the other vehicle 2 exists in front of the vehicle 1, the control ECU 13 calculates the distance between the vehicle 1 and the other vehicle 2. The various information sent from the ADAS 20 includes information for identifying the priority road 3 and the non-priority road 4 (refer to Figure 2 ) information, used to identify intersection 5 (refer to Figure 2), information on the speed of the vehicle 1 and the other vehicle 2, information on the distance between the vehicle 1 and the other vehicle 2, information on the relative angle between the vehicle 1 and the other vehicle 2, and information on the braking operation of the vehicle 1. Then, the control ECU 13 generates display information corresponding to the calculated distance between the vehicle 1 and the other vehicle 2 and sends it to the driver 12.

[0030] ADAS 20 includes an external sensor 21, a navigation system 22, and an ADAS_ECU 23. The external sensor 21 includes a camera 211 for acquiring image data, a distance sensor 212 for acquiring distance data, an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) 213 for acquiring behavior data of the vehicle 1 such as speed, acceleration, and posture, and a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 214 for acquiring position data.

[0031] The camera 211 is a sensing camera that detects objects such as vehicles, road signs, and pedestrians around the vehicle 1 from the acquired image using image recognition technology. The camera 211 is mounted on the front, side, and rear of the vehicle 1, and detects objects such as vehicles, road signs, and pedestrians located in front of, on the side, and behind the vehicle 1, and sends the detection information to the ADAS_ECU 23.

[0032] The distance sensor 212 is a laser radar (Li DAR (Light Imaging Detection and Ranging)), a millimeter wave radar, etc., which detects the distance to the object in front of the vehicle 1 and sends the detection information to the ADAS_ECU 23. The laser radar measures the distance to the object and analyzes the properties of the object. Examples of the analysis of the properties of the object include recognition of the road shape based on curbs, etc., and recognition of white lines using reflectivity. The millimeter wave radar directly measures the distance to the object.

[0033] The IMU 213 includes a three-axis acceleration sensor, a three-axis gyro sensor, etc., and detects the speed, acceleration, posture, etc. of the vehicle 1, and sends the detection information to the ADAS_ECU 23. In addition, the GPS receiver 214 receives the GPS signal to calculate the position information of the vehicle 1. The GPS receiver 214 sends the calculated position information to the navigation system 22.

[0034] The navigation system 22 calculates the driving position of the vehicle 1 based on the position information of the vehicle 1 sent from the GPS receiver 214 and the map information stored in the memory (not shown), and sends the calculation result to the ADAS_ECU 23. At this time, the navigation system 22 determines whether the driving position of the vehicle 1 is on the priority road 3, whether the vehicle 1 is traveling toward an intersection 5 such as a T-junction or a crossroad, etc., and sends the determination result to the ADAS_ECU 23.

[0035] ADAS_ECU 23 performs automatic driving control of vehicle 1 based on various detection information sent from external sensor 21 and various navigation information sent from navigation system 22. ADAS_ECU 23 sends various detection information sent from external sensor 21 and various navigation information sent from navigation system 22 to control ECU 13.

[0036] The control ECU 13 determines whether there is another vehicle 2 to which the vehicle 1 is approaching based on various detection information from the external sensor 21 sent from the ADAS_ECU 23 and various navigation information sent from the navigation system 22. Specifically, the control ECU 13 determines whether the collision margin time TTC (Time to Collision) represented by the following equation (1) satisfies the condition represented by the following equation (2).

[0037] TTC=L / V…(1)

[0038] Wherein, L is the distance between vehicle 1 and other vehicle 2, and V is the relative speed (absolute value) between vehicle 1 and other vehicle 2.

[0039] TTC+α≤T'…(2) Wherein, α is the time that the driver of the other vehicle 2 can grasp the dangerous situation and react (hereinafter referred to as reaction time), and T' is the time (T0+β) obtained by adding the predetermined margin time β to the time required for the other vehicle 2 to pass through the intersection 5 (hereinafter referred to as passing time) T0, and is a predetermined value determined in advance or a value calculated based on various detection information and navigation information of the external sensor 21. In addition, α is preferably greater than 0.75 sec, and examples of α include 0.75 sec, 1.0 sec, 1.5 sec, etc.

[0040] Figure 2 to Figure 4 1 and 2 show an example of a situation in which the approach of vehicle 1 should be reported to other vehicles 2. In these figures, priority roads 3, non-priority roads 4, and intersections 5 between priority roads 3 and non-priority roads 4 are shown. Figure 2 As shown, when the vehicle 1 is traveling on the priority road 3 toward the intersection 5 and another vehicle 2 is about to enter the intersection 5 from the non-priority road 4, the control ECU 13 (refer to Figure 1) determines that there is another vehicle 2 approaching the vehicle 1 that should be reported. Figure 3 As shown in the figure, the other vehicle 2 turns right and passes through the intersection 5, and Figure 4 As shown, another vehicle 2 goes straight and passes through the intersection 5.

[0041] Figure 5 : is a table showing an example of distance information displayed on the display medium 11. As shown in the table, the display method of the distance information displayed on the display medium 11 changes according to the distance between the vehicle 1 and another vehicle 2 (hereinafter referred to as the inter-vehicle distance).

[0042] For example, when the distance between vehicles is long, such as when the distance between vehicles is 50 meters or more, and even if another vehicle 2 crosses in front of the vehicle 1, the braking operation of the vehicle 1 is not required, the display medium 11 does not display, or displays information that gives the driver of the other vehicle 2 a sense of security. Figure 5 In the example of the first distance in the first column from the left, the pictogram A (expression) in the image information is set to a pictogram of a smiling face that makes the driver of the other vehicle 2 feel at ease. Figure 5 In the example of the first distance in the first left column of , the character information, the pictogram B (vehicle and object) in the image information, and the traffic light are not displayed.

[0043] In addition, for example, when the distance between vehicles is 40 to 30 m, when the distance between vehicles approaches the boundary that determines whether the braking operation of vehicle 1 is required when another vehicle 2 crosses in front of vehicle 1, display medium 11 displays a message requesting careful judgment to the driver of another vehicle 2. Figure 5 In the example of the second distance in the second column from the left, the character information is set to the measured value of the distance between vehicles, and the pictogram A in the image information is set to a pictogram of a serious expression that urges the driver of the other vehicle 2 to pay attention. In addition, the pictogram B in the image information is set to a pictogram indicating that the distance between the vehicle 1 and the object is a distance that needs to be treated with caution, and the signal light in the image information is set to a state where one of the three segments (the bottom segment) is lit.

[0044] In addition, for example, when the distance between vehicles is 29 to 20 m, when the other vehicle 2 crosses in front of the vehicle 1, the display medium 11 displays information to urge the driver of the other vehicle 2 to stop crossing. Figure 5In the example of the third distance in the third column from the left, the character information is set to the measured value of the distance between vehicles, and the pictogram A in the image information is set to a pictogram of a confused expression that prompts the driver of the other vehicle 2 to stop crossing. In addition, the pictogram B in the image information is set to a pictogram indicating that the distance between the vehicle 1 and the object is so close that a collision will occur if the brakes are not stepped on, and the signal light in the image information is set to a state where two of the three segments (the bottom segment and the middle segment) are lit.

[0045] In addition, for example, when the distance between vehicles is 19 to 1 m, when the other vehicle 2 crosses in front of the vehicle 1, the display medium 11 displays a message to warn the driver of the other vehicle 2 to stop crossing. Figure 5 In the example of the fourth distance in the fourth column from the left, the character information is set to the measured value of the distance between vehicles, and the pictogram A in the image information is set to a pictogram of a panic expression such as warning the driver of the other vehicle 2 to stop crossing. In addition, the pictogram B in the image information is set to a pictogram indicating that the distance between the object and the vehicle 1 is very close to the extent that a collision will occur if the emergency brake is not stepped on, and the signal light in the image information is set to a state where three of the three segments are lit.

[0046] In addition, for example, after the vehicle 1 or the other vehicle 2 passes the intersection 5, the display medium 11 does not display or displays information that makes the driver of the other vehicle 2 feel at ease. Figure 5 In the example after the fifth column from the left of , the pictogram A in the image information is set to a pictogram of a smiling face that makes the driver of the other vehicle 2 feel at ease. Figure 5 In the example after the fifth column from the left is passed, the character information, the pictogram B in the image information, and the traffic light are not displayed.

[0047] Figure 6 This is a table showing an example of information displayed on the display medium 11 when the vehicle 1 stops to give way to another vehicle 2. As shown in the table, the display medium 11 sets the character information to a message notifying the vehicle to stop, such as "Stop", and sets the pictogram A in the image information to a pictogram showing a friendly expression. In addition, the pictogram B in the image information is set to a pictogram indicating the vehicle stops, and the signal light in the image information is set to a slowly flashing state.

[0048] Furthermore, when the vehicle 1 is traveling or stopped, the display medium 11 may display any one of the character information, pictogram A, pictogram B, and signal light, or may display two or more of them. In the latter case, the display medium 11 may, for example, alternately display the pictogram A, pictogram B, or signal light and the character information, or may sequentially display three or more of the character information, pictogram A, pictogram B, and signal light.

[0049] Figure 7 An example of a method for displaying distance information on the display medium 11. As shown in the figure, the display medium 11 alternately displays character information and image information (for example, as shown in the figure, pictogram A) when the distance between vehicles changes from a long distance to a short distance. As a result, the driver of the other vehicle 2 can intuitively understand the meaning of the numbers directly recognized by the character information through the image information.

[0050] Figure 8 1 is a flowchart showing the processing of the control ECU 13. First, in step S1, the control ECU 13 determines whether the vehicle 1 is traveling on the priority road 3. If the determination in step S1 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S2, and if the determination in step S1 is negative, the process proceeds to step S16. In step S16, the control ECU 13 causes the display medium 11 to continue to display the normal display. In addition, before the start of step S1, the display medium 11 displays the normal display.

[0051] In step S2, the control ECU 13 determines whether there is another vehicle 2 in the traveling direction of the vehicle 1. If the determination in step S2 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S3, and if the determination in step S2 is negative, the process proceeds to step S16. In step S16, the control ECU 13 causes the display medium 11 to continue to display the normal display.

[0052] In step S3, the control ECU 13 determines whether there is a possibility that another vehicle 2 enters the predicted path of the vehicle 1 from the non-priority road 4 based on the TTC. If the determination in step S3 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S4, and if the determination in step S3 is negative, the process proceeds to step S16. In step S16, the control ECU 13 causes the display medium 11 to continue to display the normal display.

[0053] In step S4, the control ECU 13 determines whether the vehicle 1 is stopped. If the determination in step S4 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S13, and if the determination in step S4 is negative, the process proceeds to step S5. In steps S1 to S4, the control ECU 13 causes the display medium 11 to continue to display the normal display.

[0054] In step S5, the control ECU 13 determines whether the distance between the vehicle 1 and the other vehicle 2 in front (the distance between vehicles) is greater than 50 m based on various detection information of the external sensor 21 sent from the ADAS_ECU 23. If the determination in step S5 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S6, and if the determination in step S5 is negative, the process proceeds to step S7.

[0055] In step S6, the control ECU 13 causes the display medium 11 to display the display when the distance between the vehicles is 50 meters or more. On the other hand, in step S7, the control ECU 13 determines whether the distance between the vehicles is 30 meters or more based on various detection information of the external sensor 21 sent from the ADAS_ECU 23. If the determination in step S7 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S8, and if the determination in step S7 is negative, the process proceeds to step S9.

[0056] In step S8, the control ECU 13 causes the display medium 11 to display the display when the distance between the vehicles is 49 to 30 meters. On the other hand, in step S9, the control ECU 13 determines whether the distance between the vehicles is 20 meters or more based on various detection information of the external sensor 21 sent from the ADAS_ECU 23. If the determination in step S9 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S10, and if the determination in step S9 is negative, the process proceeds to step S11.

[0057] In step S10, the control ECU 13 causes the display medium 11 to display the display when the distance between the vehicles is 29 to 20 meters. On the other hand, in step S11, the control ECU 13 determines whether the distance between the vehicles is more than 1 meter based on various detection information of the external sensor 21 sent from the ADAS_ECU 23. If the determination in step S11 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S12, and if the determination in step S11 is negative, the process proceeds to step S13.

[0058] In step S12, the control ECU 13 causes the display medium 11 to display the display when the inter-vehicle distance is 19 to 1 m. On the other hand, in step S13, the control ECU 13 causes the display medium 11 to display the display when the vehicle is stopped.

[0059] From steps S6, S8, S10, S12, and S13, the process proceeds to step S14, in which the control ECU 13 determines whether another vehicle 2 has passed in front of the vehicle 1 based on various detection information from the external sensor 21 sent from the ADAS_ECU 23. If the determination in step S14 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S15, and if the determination in step S14 is negative, the process proceeds to step S4.

[0060] In step S15 , the control ECU 13 causes the display medium 11 to display an indication that the other vehicle 2 has passed. The process ends here.

[0061] As described above, in this embodiment, the control ECU 13 identifies the distance (vehicle-to-vehicle distance) between the vehicle 1 and the other vehicle 2 existing in the traveling direction of the vehicle 1 based on the recognition result of the external sensor 21 mounted on the vehicle 1, and displays the distance information for reporting the recognized vehicle-to-vehicle distance on the display medium 11. Thus, when the other vehicle 2 intends to cross the priority road 3 on which the vehicle 1 as the autonomous driving vehicle is traveling, the driver of the other vehicle 2 can be assisted to recognize the sense of distance from the vehicle 1 and the time until the vehicle 1 approaches. In particular, the control ECU 13 changes the distance information displayed on the display medium 11 according to the change in the recognized vehicle-to-vehicle distance. Thus, the driver of the other vehicle 2 can be made to recognize that the distance between the vehicles is gradually shortened, and can be prompted to make a careful judgment on whether to cross. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the driver of the other vehicle 2 from misrecognizing the sense of distance from the vehicle 1 as the autonomous driving vehicle and the time until the vehicle 1 approaches, and it is possible to suppress the deceleration and stop of the vehicle 1 caused by the other vehicle 2 entering the traveling road of the vehicle 1 at the wrong time.

[0062] In addition, in the present embodiment, after the control ECU 13 causes the display medium 11 to display the distance information, it determines whether the other vehicle 2 starts to cross the path of the vehicle 1 and whether the distance between the vehicles is a distance that requires a braking operation in the vehicle 1 based on the recognition result of the external sensor 21. When the other vehicle 2 starts to cross the path of the vehicle 1 and the distance between the vehicles is a distance that requires a braking operation in the vehicle 1, the control ECU 13 causes the display medium 11 to display stop information for notifying the stop of the vehicle 1. Thus, when the other vehicle 2 intends to cross the priority road 3 on which the vehicle 1 as the autonomous driving vehicle is traveling, the information that the vehicle 1 as the autonomous driving vehicle has stopped can be notified to the driver of the other vehicle 2.

[0063] In addition, in the present embodiment, the control ECU 13 identifies the collision margin time TTC between the vehicle 1 and the other vehicle 2 based on the identification result of the external sensor 21, and determines whether the inter-vehicle distance is a distance that requires a braking operation of the vehicle 1 based on a time obtained by adding the driver's reaction time α to the identified collision margin time TTC. Thus, it is possible to have sufficient information to report to the driver of the other vehicle 2 that the inter-vehicle distance is a distance that requires a braking operation of the vehicle 1.

[0064] In addition, in the present embodiment, the control ECU 13 causes the display medium 11 to alternately display the character information and the image information. Thus, the driver of the other vehicle 2 can intuitively understand the meaning of the numbers directly recognized by the character information through the image information. Therefore, it is possible to assist the driver of the other vehicle 2 in determining whether to start crossing.

[0065] As mentioned above, the present invention has been described based on the above-mentioned embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and changes may be made without departing from the gist of the present invention, and the techniques of the embodiments, the public and well-known techniques may be combined.

[0066] For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the control ECU 13 for controlling the display of the display medium 11 and the ADAS_ECU 23 for executing the automatic driving control of the vehicle 1 of the ADAS 20 are respectively provided, but the ADAS_ECU 23 may also control the display of the display medium 11. In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the vehicle 1 is set as a level 4 or level 5 automatic driving vehicle, and the other vehicle 2 is set as a manually driven vehicle, but the vehicle 1 and the other vehicle 2 may be set as automatic driving vehicles below level 3, or the vehicle 1 may be set as a manually driven vehicle.

[0067] In addition, in the above embodiment, the display medium 11 is provided independently of the headlight and the signal light in terms of function and structure, but the display medium 11 may be provided integrally with the headlight and the signal light in terms of structure in a manner that does not hinder their functions. In addition, in the above embodiment, the external sensor 21 is provided independently of the display medium 11 in terms of structure, but the external sensor 21 may be provided integrally with the display medium 11 in terms of structure.

[0068] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the program for operating the control ECU 13 is stored in the memory of the control ECU 13 and is not updated. However, the program may be updated via a system on the vehicle 1 side such as the ADAS 20 .

[0069] Description of Reference Numerals

[0070] 1: Vehicle

[0071] 2: Other vehicles

[0072] 3: Priority Road

[0073] 4: Non-priority roads

[0074] 5: Intersection

[0075] 10: Information display system

[0076] 11: Display medium

[0077] 13: Control ECU (display control unit)

[0078] 21: External Sensors

[0079] L: distance

[0080] TTC: Time to Collision

[0081] α: Reaction time.

Claims

1. A display control device for controlling the display of a display medium mounted on a vehicle and displaying information in a direction in which the vehicle is traveling, It is characterized in that The display control device recognizes the distance between the vehicle and other vehicles existing in the traveling direction of the vehicle based on the recognition result of the external sensor mounted on the vehicle, The display control device causes the display medium to display distance information for reporting the recognized distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle. The display control device changes the distance information displayed on the display medium according to a change in the recognized distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle.

2. The display control device according to claim 1, characterized in that: After causing the display medium to display the distance information, the display control device determines, based on the recognition result of the external sensor, whether the other vehicle begins to cross the path of the vehicle and whether the distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle is a distance that requires a braking operation in the vehicle. When the other vehicle starts to cross the path of the vehicle and the distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle is a distance that requires a braking operation in the vehicle, the display control device causes the display medium to display stop information for notifying that the vehicle has stopped.

3. The display control device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The display control device identifies a collision margin time between the vehicle and the other vehicle based on the identification result of the external sensor, The display control device determines whether the distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle is a distance requiring a braking operation in the vehicle based on a time obtained by adding a reaction time of a driver of the other vehicle to the recognized collision margin time.

4. The display control device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The distance information includes first distance information and second distance information, the first distance information is character information or image information, the second distance information is character information or image information and is displayed in a different manner from the first distance information, The first distance information and the second distance information are displayed alternately.

5. The display control device according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the vehicle is traveling on the priority road toward the intersection of the priority road and the non-priority road by automatic driving, and the other vehicle is entering the intersection from the non-priority road by manual driving, the display control device causes the display medium to display the distance information.

6. An information display system comprising: A display medium is mounted on the vehicle and displays information in a direction of travel of the vehicle; and a display control device, which controls the display of the display medium, It is characterized in that The display control device recognizes the distance between the vehicle and other vehicles existing in the traveling direction of the vehicle based on the recognition result of the external sensor mounted on the vehicle, the display control device causes the display medium to display distance information for reporting the recognized distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle, The display control device changes the distance information displayed on the display medium according to a change in the recognized distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle.

7. A display control method executed by a display control device, the display control device controlling the display of a display medium mounted on a vehicle and displaying information in a direction of travel of the vehicle, It is characterized in that The display control method comprises: A step of recognizing the distance between the vehicle and other vehicles existing in the traveling direction of the vehicle based on the recognition result of the external sensor mounted on the vehicle; as well as A step of causing the display medium to display distance information for reporting the recognized distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle, and causing the distance information displayed on the display medium to change according to a change in the recognized distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle.

8. A computer-readable non-transitory recording medium, characterized in that: The display control device controls the display of a display medium mounted on the vehicle and displaying information in the direction of travel of the vehicle. The recording medium stores a program for causing the display control device to execute the following sequence: recognizing the distance between the vehicle and other vehicles existing in the traveling direction of the vehicle based on the recognition result of the external sensor mounted on the vehicle; as well as The display medium is caused to display distance information for reporting the recognized distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle, and the distance information displayed on the display medium is caused to change according to a change in the recognized distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle.

Images