Information processing apparatus and information processing program product

Abstract

The present application relates to an information processing device and an information processing program product. An acquisition section of the information processing device acquires a detection result of a vehicle speed detected by a vehicle speed sensor, and acquires a determination result of a determination section that determines whether a travel road of a vehicle is a straight line or a curve based on detection results of a sensor group, and a control section controls in such a manner that a line image of the straight line or the curve is displayed on a display in accordance with the determination result of the determination section, and in a case where the vehicle speed is below a predetermined vehicle speed, the last determination result is maintained, and a line image in accordance with the last determination result is displayed on the display.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to an information processing device and an information processing program product. Background Technology

[0002] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2022-66952 discloses a display device that displays the vehicle and other vehicles traveling in the driving lane together with the driving lane on an information display screen. When other vehicles are located in an area far ahead of the vehicle's direction of travel, outside the display range of the screen, a mark is displayed at a fixed position on the driving lane displayed on the screen. The mark indicates that other vehicles are present in an area far ahead of the vehicle's direction of travel, outside the display range of the screen. Summary of the Invention

[0003] When identifying curves and straight lines by recognizing marking lines, the determination of curves and straight lines can become unstable at low vehicle speeds. If the line image corresponding to the determination result is displayed directly, it may sometimes produce incorrect display, which may cause discomfort to the occupants.

[0004] The present invention was made in view of the above facts, and its object is to provide an information processing device that can suppress the discomfort of occupants when determining and displaying low vehicle speeds on curves and straight sections.

[0005] The first method involves an information processing apparatus comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires a detection result of a vehicle speed and a determination result of a straight line and a curve in the driving road on which the vehicle is traveling; and a control unit that controls the device to display a line image of a straight line or curve on a display unit according to the determination result, and, if the vehicle speed is below a preset speed, retains the previous determination result and displays a line image according to the previous determination result on the display unit.

[0006] According to the first method, when the vehicle speed is below a preset level, the previous judgment result is maintained and the line image based on the previous judgment result is displayed on the display unit. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the discomfort of the occupants when judging and displaying low speeds for curves and straight lines.

[0007] In the information processing apparatus of the second method, if the control unit displays a line image of a straight line after holding the previous determination result as a straight line, the control unit ends the holding of the previous determination result.

[0008] According to the second method, it is possible to prevent the display of curves when returning to a straight line after maintaining the previous judgment result.

[0009] In the information processing apparatus of the third method, if the control unit, after holding the determination result, the previous determination result was a left curve and the current determination result is a straight line or a right curve, ends the holding of the previous determination result and displays a line image of a straight line.

[0010] According to the third method, it is possible to suppress the discomfort of the occupants when transitioning from a left curve to a straight or right curve after maintaining the previous judgment result.

[0011] In the information processing apparatus of the fourth method, in any of the methods from the first to the third method, if the control unit holds the determination result and the previous determination result was a right curve and the current determination result is a straight line or a left curve, it ends the holding of the previous determination result and displays a line image of a straight line.

[0012] According to the fourth method, it is possible to suppress the discomfort of the occupants when they switch from a right curve to a straight or left curve after maintaining the previous judgment result.

[0013] The fifth method involves an information processing program product, which includes an information processing program for causing a computer to perform the following processing: acquiring the detection result of the vehicle speed and the determination result of the straight line and curve in the driving road of the vehicle; and displaying the line image of the straight line or curve on a display unit according to the determination result; and if the vehicle speed is below a preset speed, maintaining the previous determination result and displaying the line image according to the previous determination result on the display unit.

[0014] According to the fifth method, when the vehicle speed is below a preset speed, the previous judgment result is maintained and the line image according to the previous judgment result is displayed on the display unit. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the discomfort of the occupants when judging and displaying low speeds when there are curves and straight lines.

[0015] As explained above, according to the present invention, an information processing device is provided that can suppress occupant discomfort when determining and displaying low vehicle speeds during curves and straight sections. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, the features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance of exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described, in which the same reference numerals denote the same elements, and wherein:

[0017] Figure 1 It is a block diagram representing the hardware structure of a vehicle.

[0018] Figure 2This is an example of a line display showing a straight line image and a curve display showing a curve image.

[0019] Figure 3 This is a diagram used to illustrate a specific control example based on the control unit.

[0020] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating the specific processing performed by the instrument ECU involved in this embodiment. Detailed Implementation

[0021] The vehicle 10 described below is an example of this embodiment.

[0022] Figure 1 This is a block diagram representing the hardware structure of vehicle 10. For example... Figure 1 As shown, vehicle 10 includes an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) 20. Vehicle 10 is an example of a "vehicle" in this invention, and the ECU 20 is an example of an "information processing device" in this invention.

[0023] The instrument cluster ECU 20 comprises a central processing unit (CPU) 21, a read-only memory (ROM) 22, a random access memory (RAM) 23, a storage device 24, an in-vehicle communication interface (I / F) 25, an input / output I / F 26, and a wireless communication I / F 27. These components are communicatively connected to each other via an internal bus 28.

[0024] CPU 21 is the central processing unit, which executes various programs or controls various parts. That is, CPU 21 reads programs from ROM 22 or storage device 24 and uses RAM 23 as the working area to execute the programs. CPU 21 performs control of the above-mentioned structures and various arithmetic operations according to the programs recorded in ROM 22 or storage device 24.

[0025] ROM22 stores various programs and data. RAM23 serves as a temporary storage area for programs or data.

[0026] Storage device 24 is composed of storage media such as an embedded Multi Media Card (eMMC) or Universal Flash Storage (UFS) to store various programs and data. Storage device 24 stores information processing program 24A. Information processing program 24A is used to cause CPU 21 to perform specific processes described later (see reference). Figure 4 (The program).

[0027] The in-vehicle communication I / F25 is an interface for connecting with other ECUs 30, using a communication standard based on the Controller Area Network (CAN) protocol. The in-vehicle communication I / F25 connects to the external bus 29. Furthermore, although not illustrated, the ECU is not limited to ECU 30; multiple ECUs may be present depending on the various functions within the vehicle 10.

[0028] The input / output I / F26 is an interface used to communicate with the on-board equipment 40 mounted on the vehicle 10.

[0029] The vehicle-mounted equipment 40 refers to various devices mounted on the vehicle 10. The vehicle 10 includes a sensor group 42 and a display 44, which are examples of the vehicle-mounted equipment 40.

[0030] The sensor group 42 is configured to include various sensors and camera devices for detecting the state of the vehicle 10 and the surrounding conditions of the vehicle 10. Specifically, the sensor group 42 includes, for example, various sensors such as 3D-LiDAR sensors, millimeter-wave sensors, infrared sensors, turn signal sensors, throttle position sensors, vehicle speed sensors, wheel angle sensors, angular velocity sensors, Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors, illuminance sensors, gyroscope sensors, steering wheel angle sensors, and acceleration sensors, as well as multiple cameras that capture images of the surroundings of the vehicle 10. The sensor group 42 outputs the detection results of each sensor and the image captured by each camera to the specified electronic control units such as the instrument cluster ECU 20 and ECU 30.

[0031] Display 44 is an instrument display provided on the dashboard located in front of the driver's seat of vehicle 10 and used to display operation suggestions related to the functions of vehicle 10 and images related to the explanation of those functions. Display 44 is an example of a "display unit" in this invention.

[0032] The I / F27 wireless communication module is used for communicating with external devices. This wireless communication module uses communication standards such as 5G, LTE, Wi-Fi (registered trademark), and Bluetooth (registered trademark).

[0033] Furthermore, the CPU 21 of the instrument ECU 20 has a functional structure comprising a determination unit 21A, an acquisition unit 21B, and a control unit 21C. Each functional structure is implemented by the CPU 21 reading and executing the information processing program 24A stored in the storage device 24.

[0034] The determination unit 21A determines whether the driving path of the vehicle 10 is a straight line or a curve based on the detection results of the sensor group 42. For example, it determines whether the path is straight or curved by detecting a white line from the camera's captured image and determining whether the white line is a straight line or a curve. For example, the determination unit 21A determines the path as a straight line if the radius (radius: R) of the curve is less than 1200, and as a curve if R is equal to or greater than 1200. In addition, the determination threshold for straight lines and curves is not limited to 1200 and can be set appropriately.

[0035] The acquisition unit 21B acquires various types of information available in the vehicle 10. Specifically, the acquisition unit 21B acquires detection information such as detection results from various sensors constituting the sensor group 42 and camera images from each camera as various types of information. For example, the acquisition unit 21B acquires the detection result of the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor. Furthermore, the acquisition unit 21B acquires the determination result of the determination unit 21A.

[0036] The control unit 21C performs display control related to the display on the display 44. For example, as part of this display control, the control unit 21C displays the surrounding conditions of the vehicle 10 as observed from the virtual viewpoint, and simulates the vehicle image 10A of the vehicle 10 (see reference 21B), based on the detection information acquired by the acquisition unit 21B. Figure 2 (etc.) are displayed on the display 44. Here, "virtual viewpoint" refers to a viewpoint set in a three-dimensional virtual space with the position of the vehicle image 10A as the origin. This virtual viewpoint is defined according to the specified viewpoint coordinates and viewpoint angle (orientation) in the virtual space. As an example, this virtual viewpoint is a viewpoint overlooking the vehicle 10 and its surroundings from a specific viewpoint coordinate located above the vehicle image 10A in the virtual space and from a specific viewpoint angle. Furthermore, as a surrounding situation display, a surrounding vehicle image 32 corresponding to the surrounding vehicles of the vehicle 10 is displayed, or a line image 34 is displayed according to the determination result of the determination unit 21A. Figure 2 As shown, the line image 34 includes a straight line display (displaying a straight line image 34A) and a curve display (displaying a curve image 34B), and one of them is displayed based on the determination result of the determination unit 21A. The acquisition unit 21B is an example of an "acquisition unit" in this invention, and the control unit 21C is an example of a "control unit" in this invention.

[0037] As a display of surrounding conditions, the control unit 21C displays a line image 34 based on the determination result of the determination unit 21A. However, in low-speed areas, the determination performance of the determination unit 21A is unstable, and if the determination result is displayed directly, erroneous displays may sometimes occur. Furthermore, if the curve display is stopped directly below a certain threshold, the vehicle may revert to a straight line display when decelerating in a curve, which may cause discomfort.

[0038] Therefore, in this embodiment, the control unit 21C controls the vehicle in the following manner: according to the determination result of the determination unit 21A, it displays the line image 34 of the straight or curved road on the display 44; when the vehicle speed is below a preset speed, it maintains the previous determination result and displays the line image 34 according to the previous determination result on the display 44.

[0039] Specifically, when the vehicle speed is lower than 60 km / h, which is a preset vehicle speed example, the determination result of the previous determination unit 21A is maintained.

[0040] Then, if the following stop condition is met after maintaining the previous decision result, the previous decision result is stopped and the straight line image 34A is displayed.

[0041] (1) If the previous judgment result was a straight line

[0042] (2) When the previous judgment result was a left curve, and the current judgment result is a straight line or a right curve.

[0043] (3) When the previous judgment result was a right curve, and the current judgment result is a straight line or a left curve.

[0044] For example, such as Figure 3 As shown above, the situation of vehicle 10 traveling on a curve in the order of (1) to (4) will be explained. Figure 3 This is a diagram used to illustrate a specific control example based on the control unit 21C.

[0045] The speed of vehicle 10 is set to 65 km / h at position (1), 65 km / h at position (2), 55 km / h at position (3), and 55 km / h at position (4). Furthermore, the road condition for vehicle 10 is set to a straight line at position (1), a curve at position (2), a curve at position (3), and a straight line at position (4).

[0046] In this example, in the prior art, the position at (1) is a straight line, the position at (2) is a curve, the position at (3) is a straight line, the position at (4) is a straight line, and the position at (3) is a low speed area. The determination performance of the determination unit 21A is unstable, thus resulting in an incorrect display.

[0047] In contrast, in this embodiment, a straight line is displayed at position (1), a curve is displayed at position (2), a curve is displayed at position (3), and a straight line is displayed at position (4). Position (3) is a low-speed area, so the previous judgment result (the judgment of the curve in (2)) is maintained. Thus, the discomfort of the occupants caused by incorrect display can be suppressed.

[0048] Furthermore, at position (4), which corresponds to "when the previous judgment result was a left curve, and the current judgment result is a straight line or a right curve", the stop condition is maintained, and the display returns to a straight line. By returning to a straight line display when a straight line judgment or a curve judgment in the opposite direction is made, the discomfort of the occupants when transitioning from a curve to a straight line or a curve in the opposite direction can be suppressed.

[0049] Next, the specific processing performed by the instrument ECU20 constructed as described above will be explained. Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating the specific processing performed by the instrument ECU 20 according to this embodiment. The CPU 21 reads the information processing program 24A from the storage device 24, expands it into the RAM 23, and executes it, thereby performing specific processing. As an example, the specific processing is automatically executed repeatedly at predetermined time intervals (e.g., 100ms).

[0050] In step 100, CPU 21 acquires the determination result of determination unit 21A and transfers to step 102. That is, acquisition unit 21B acquires the determination result of determination unit 21A based on the detection result of sensor group 42, which determines whether the driving path of vehicle 10 is a straight line or a curve.

[0051] In step 102, CPU 21 acquires the vehicle speed detection result and proceeds to step 104. That is, the acquisition unit 21B acquires the vehicle speed detection result detected by the vehicle speed sensor.

[0052] In step 104, CPU 21 determines whether the vehicle speed is below a preset limit. This determination, for example, is whether the speed is below 60 km / h. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 106; if the determination is positive, the process proceeds to step 108.

[0053] In step 106, the CPU 21 displays the line image 34 on the display 44 according to the determination result of the determination unit 21A and ends a series of processes. For example, if the determination result of the determination unit 21A is a straight line, the straight line image 34A is displayed; if the determination result of the determination unit 21A is a curve, the curve image 34B is displayed.

[0054] In step 108, CPU 21 retains the previous determination result, displays the line image 34 on display 44, and proceeds to step 110. That is, control unit 21C controls the vehicle in the following manner: when the vehicle speed is below a preset speed, it retains the previous determination result and displays the line image 34 according to the previous determination result on display 44. This suppresses discomfort to occupants caused by erroneous displays such as the straight line image 34A during cornering.

[0055] In step 110, CPU 21 acquires the determination result of determination unit 21A and proceeds to step 112. That is, acquisition unit 21B acquires the determination result of determination unit 21A based on the detection result of sensor group 42, which determines whether the driving path of vehicle 10 is a straight line or a curve.

[0056] In step 112, CPU 21 determines whether the preset hold-stop condition for maintaining the previous determination result is met. This determination is affirmative in the following cases: when the previous determination result was a straight road; when the previous determination result was a left curve and the current determination result is a straight road or a right curve; or when the previous determination result was a right curve and the current determination result is a straight road or a left curve. If the determination is negative, the process returns to step 110 and repeats the above process; if the determination is positive, the process proceeds to step 114.

[0057] In step 114, CPU 21 displays the straight line image 34A on display 44 and ends a series of processes. That is, by returning to the straight line display while keeping the stopping condition in place, it is possible to suppress erroneous displays caused by holding onto the previous judgment result and to reduce passenger discomfort.

[0058] In addition, in the above embodiment, in steps 110 to 114, the straight line image 34A is displayed when the preset hold stop condition for holding the previous determination result is met, but it is also possible to omit these steps 110 to 114.

[0059] Furthermore, the specific processing performed by the software (program) read and executed by the CPU 21 in the above embodiment can also be executed by various processors other than the CPU. Examples of processors in this case include field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and programmable logic devices (PLDs) whose circuit structure can be changed after manufacturing, as well as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and other processors with circuit structures specifically designed for executing specific processing, i.e., dedicated circuits. Furthermore, the specific processing can be executed by one of these various processors, or by a combination of two or more processors of the same or different types (e.g., multiple FPGAs and a combination of a CPU and an FPGA). More specifically, the hardware structure of these various processors is a circuit composed of circuit elements such as semiconductor elements.

[0060] Furthermore, a specific process can be a combination of processing performed by software and processing performed by hardware.

[0061] Furthermore, while the above embodiment describes the information processing program 24A being pre-stored (installed) in the storage device 24, it is not a limitation. The information processing program 24A can be provided on recording media such as a compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk read-only memory (DVD-ROM), or a universal serial bus (USB) memory. Additionally, the information processing program 24A can also be downloaded from an external device via a network. Moreover, the technology of this invention can also be applied to programs and program products.

[0062] Moreover, the present invention is not limited to the above, and can of course be implemented in various modifications without departing from its spirit.

Claims

1. An information processing device, characterized in that, have: The acquisition unit acquires the vehicle speed detection results and the determination results of straight lines and curves in the driving path of the vehicle; and The control unit controls the vehicle in the following manner: according to the determination result, it displays the line image of the straight or curved road on the display unit; when the vehicle speed is below a preset speed, it maintains the previous determination result and displays the line image according to the previous determination result on the display unit.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that, If the control unit retains the previous determination result as a straight line after the previous determination result is a straight line, it ends the retention of the previous determination result and displays a line image of a straight line.

3. The information processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that, If the previous determination result was a left curve and the current determination result is a straight line or a right curve, the control unit ends the holding of the previous determination result and displays a line image of a straight line.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that, If the previous determination result was a right curve and the current determination result is a straight line or a left curve, the control unit ends the holding of the previous determination result and displays a line image of a straight line.

5. An information processing program product, comprising an information processing program, characterized in that, This information processing program is used to cause the computer to perform the following processes: The system acquires the vehicle speed detection results and the determination results of straight sections and curves along the vehicle's travel path; and According to the determination result, the line image of the straight line or curve is displayed on the display unit. If the vehicle speed is below the preset speed, the previous determination result is maintained, and the line image according to the previous determination result is displayed on the display unit.

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