Control device, driver assistance method and computer program

Abstract

Provided is a control device (5) which is configured to detect that a moving body located in the vicinity of a vehicle enters an assistance area established in the vicinity of the vehicle, and to provide driver assistance based on the positional relationship between the front end position of the moving body and the vehicle or based on the positional relationship between the moving body and an eye ellipse reference line set for each vehicle when the moving body enters the assistance area from a front part of the assistance area.

Description

Field of InterestThe present invention relates to a control device, a driver assistance method, and a computer program.BackgroundJP 2021-026241 A discloses, as a conventional apparatus for attention calling, a blind spot monitor for detecting that another vehicle enters a warning area representing a blind spot area of a driver and providing a warning message to the driver.Summary of the InventionHowever, in the aforementioned conventional warning device, when the host vehicle passes another vehicle, the driver is warned when the rear end portion of the other vehicle enters the warning area. For this reason, when passing a truck, bus, or other particularly long vehicle, for example, there was a risk that the driver would be unnecessarily warned, although he could visually recognize the other vehicle when the rear end portion of the other vehicle has entered the warning area.The present invention has been made focusing on such a problem, and the object thereof is to prevent unnecessary driver assistance from being provided to a driver finally.In order to solve the above problem, the control device according to an aspect of the present invention is configured to detect that a moving body located around a vehicle enters a support area set in the vicinity of the vehicle and perform driver assistance based on the positional relationship between the front end position of the moving body and the vehicle or based on the positional relationship between the moving body and an eye ellipse reference line set for each vehicle when the moving body enters the support area from a front part of the support area.Further, a driver assistance method by a control device for performing driver assistance of a vehicle according to another aspect of the present invention detects that a moving body located in the vicinity of a vehicle enters an assistance area set in the vicinity of the vehicle, and performs driver assistance when the moving body enters the assistance area from a front part of the assistance area, based on the positional relationship between the front end position of the moving body and the vehicle or based on the positional relationship between the moving body and an eye ellipse reference line set for each vehicle.Further, a computer program according to still another aspect of the present invention causes a computer to execute processing for detecting that a moving body located in the vicinity of a vehicle enters a support area set in the vicinity of the vehicle, and performing driver assistance when the moving body enters the support area from a front part of the support area, based on the positional relationship between the front end position of the moving body and the vehicle or based on the positional relationship between the moving body and an eye ellipse reference line set for each vehicle.According to these aspects of the present invention, it is possible to perform driver assistance after judging to what extent a moving body can be visually recognized from a host vehicle, so that it is possible to prevent unnecessary driver assistance from being provided to a driver at the end.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSFIG. 1 is a schematic view of the configuration of a driver assistance device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a distance measurement sensor. FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of a driver assist area set in advance in the vicinity of a host vehicle. FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of a scenario in which another vehicle enters the driver assistance area from a rear part of the driver assistance area. FIG. 5 is a view showing an example of a scenario in which another vehicle enters the driver's assist area from a front part of the assist area. FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of a scenario in which another vehicle entering from a front part of the driver assist area has completely entered the driver assist area. FIG. 7A is a flowchart for explaining details of a driver assist control according to a first embodiment of the present invention for another vehicle that has entered the driver assist area from a rear side of the host vehicle. FIG. 7B is a flowchart for explaining details of a driver assist control according to a first embodiment of the present invention for another vehicle that has entered the driver assist area from a front side of the host vehicle. FIG. 8 is a view for explaining an eye ellipse reference line. FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining details of a driver assist control according to a second embodiment of the present invention for another vehicle that has entered the driver assist area from a front side of the host vehicle.DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTSHereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that in the following explanation, similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals.(First Embodiment)FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the configuration of a driver assistance device 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.The driver assist device 100 is provided with environmental sensors 1, vehicle sensors 2, an HMI (Human Machine Interface) 3, actuators 4, and a control device 5. The environmental sensors 1, the vehicle sensors 2, the HMI 3, the actuators 4, and the control device 5 are connected to be able to communicate via an internal vehicle network 7 based on the standard of the control area network.The surrounding sensors 1 are sensors for generating surrounding data showing the situation around the vehicle in which the driver assistance device 100 performs driver assistance (hereinafter referred to as a "host vehicle"). In the present embodiment, a distance measurement sensor 11 for measuring distances to vehicles, pedestrians, and other objects in the vicinity of the host vehicle is provided as an environment sensor 1.The distance measurement sensor 11 emits a plurality of laser beams, radio waves, ultrasonic waves, etc. having different exit angles θ horizontally and parallel to the distance measurement range of the periphery of the host vehicle (front, side, and rear) as shown in (A) of FIG. 2, and receives the reflected beams of the emitted laser beams or the reflected waves of the emitted radio waves or ultrasonic waves. Note that, in FIG. 2, in order to avoid the imaging being too complex and facilitate understanding, the state in which the plurality of laser beams are emitted toward a front side of the host vehicle is illustrated. Further, the distance measurement sensor 11 measures the distances to the road and obstacles (for example, buildings, preceding and following vehicles on the road, adjacent vehicles, oncoming vehicles, and other such traveling vehicles, stationary vehicles, curbs, fallen objects, pedestrians, etc.) located within the distance measurement range, based on the received reflected beams or reflected waves. The distances to the road or obstacles as shown in (B) of FIG. 2 are obtained for each reflection point (emission point). The distance measurement sensor 11 associates the distances to the reflection points and coordinate information of the reflection points, and then transmits them to the control device 5 as surrounding data (distance measurement data).As the distance measurement sensor 11 for emitting laser beams, for example, a lidar (light detection and ranging device) may be mentioned. As the distance measurement sensor 11 for emitting radio waves, for example, a millimeter wave radar sensor may be mentioned. As the distance measurement sensor 11 for emitting ultrasonic waves, a sonar device may be mentioned, for example. FIG. 2 shows an example of mounting a lidar device as the distance measurement sensor 11 on the roof of the host vehicle, but the mounting location of the distance measurement sensor 11 is not limited to a roof. For example, it may correspond to the front bumper, the rear bumper, etc. of the host vehicle. Further, for example, a plurality of lidar devices, a plurality of millimeter wave radar sensors, etc. may also be provided as distance measurement sensors 11. Further, in addition to the distance measurement sensor 11, a camera that detects vehicles, pedestrians, and other objects present in the surroundings of the host vehicle may also be provided as the surroundings sensor 1.The vehicle sensors 2 are sensors for generating vehicle data showing the situation of the host vehicle. In the present embodiment, as the vehicle sensors 2, for example, a speed sensor 21 for generating speed data showing a traveling speed of the host vehicle and, for example, a position measurement sensor 22 for generating current position data showing the current position of the host vehicle, such as longitude and latitude, etc., are provided. However, the vehicle sensors 2 are not limited to these sensors. The vehicle sensors 2 transmit the acquired data (for example, the speed data and the current position data) as vehicle data to the control device 5.The HMI 3 corresponds to a user interface for transmitting information between the host vehicle and the occupants thereof. The HMI 3 is provided with output devices 31 for providing notifications to the vehicle occupants of the physical sense of the vehicle occupants (e.g., viewing, listening, buttons, etc.) and input devices 32 for the vehicle occupants to perform input and response operations. In the present embodiment, as output devices 31, a display (for example, a meter display, a central display, a head-up display, etc.) 311, and speakers 312 are provided. As the input devices 32, a touch panel 321 and a microphone 322 are provided.The HMI 3 displays information corresponding to a display signal (for example, text information or graphic information) received from the control device 5 on the display 311, and outputs audio signals corresponding to an audio signal from the speakers 312. Further, the HMI 3 transmits data input via the touch panel or voice input by the vehicle occupant via the input devices 32 (hereinafter referred to as the "passenger input data") to the control device 5.The HMI 3 may be mounted in advance in the host vehicle or correspond to a smartphone or other terminal held by a vehicle occupant. In the latter case, for example, information may be wirelessly transmitted over a short distance between the host vehicle and the vehicle occupant's terminal, the vehicle occupant's terminal and an external server (not shown) may communicate with each other, and information may be indirectly transmitted via the server.The actuators 4 are devices used for controlling operations of the host vehicle. In the present embodiment, as the actuators 4, acceleration actuators 41 for controlling acceleration of the host vehicle (for example, the engine and / or a motor), brake actuators 42 for controlling braking operation of the host vehicle (for example, a hydraulic actuator), and steering actuators 43 for controlling steering of the host vehicle (for example, a steering motor) are provided.The control device 5 corresponds to an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) provided with a communication part 51, a storage part 52, and a processing part 53.The communication part 51 has a communication interface circuit for connecting the control device 5 to the vehicle internal network 7. the communication part 51 supplies the various data received from the sensors 1 and 2, the HMI 3, etc. to the processing part 53. further, the communication part 51 outputs the various signals output from the processing part 53 to the HMI 3, actuators 4, etc.The storage part 52 has an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), a semiconductor memory or other storage medium, and stores various computer programs and data, etc. used for processing in the processing part 53.The processing part 53 has one or more CPUs (central processing units) and their peripheral circuits, and executes various computer programs stored in the storage part 52. The processing part 53 is, for example, a processor. The processing part 53 may further include other processing circuits such as a logical operation unit, a numerical operation unit, or a graphic processing unit. The processing part 53 performs processing according to a computer program to function as an object detection part 61 and a driver assistance part 62, and function as a function part (module) that realizes a predetermined function. In the following explanation, when the processing using the functional parts 61 and 62 as subjects is explained, the processing part 53 executes programs for realizing the functional parts 61 and 62.Next, the content of the specific processing performed on the control device 5 will be explained. That is, the contents of the function parts 61, 62, which are realized by the processing part 53 performing processing according to the programs, will be explained.The object detection part 61 recognizes another vehicle located in the vicinity of the host vehicle based on the environment data. In the present embodiment, the object detection part 61 groups reflection points satisfying predetermined conditions from among the plurality of reflection points detected by the distance measurement sensor 11 as reflection points of the laser beams, etc. reflected from the same object, thereby recognizing another vehicle located in the vicinity of the host vehicle. Further, the object detection part 61 tracks the detected other vehicle over time to calculate the position and speed of the object. Note that the method for detecting an object is not limited to such a method. Various known technologies can be used for detection.The driver assist part 62 performs driver assist for the driver when the other vehicle recognized by the object detection part 61 enters a driver assist area in the vicinity of the host vehicle set in advance (see FIG. 3 ). As driver assistance for the driver, the driver assistance part 62 may use, for example, the HMI 3 to perform various notifications of the presence of another vehicle in the driver assistance area (for example, a notification by turning on or blinking an indicator, a notification by a message, a notification by voice, etc.). Further, the driver assist part 62 may use, as driver assist for the driver, actuators 4 to control travel of the host vehicle (for example, acceleration, deceleration, avoidance, etc.), for example, in addition to notifications by the HMI 3. In the present embodiment, the driver assistance part 62 illuminates an indicator on the meter display as driver assistance for the driver, thereby providing a warning message to the driver.Next, with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7B, a driver assistance by the driver assistance part 62 will be described in detail.FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of a driver assist area set in advance in the vicinity of the host vehicle.As shown in FIG. 3, the driver assist area is made the area on the sides and the rear of the host vehicle that a driver is difficult to see directly. In the present embodiment, the front end position of the driver assist area is set to the same position as the front end position of the host vehicle.Here, if another vehicle approaches the host vehicle from behind (if the other vehicle enters the driver assist region from the rear part of the driver assist region), it is preferable to inform the driver of the presence of the other vehicle as early as possible. For this reason, when the other vehicle X 1 has entered the driver assist region from the rear part of the driver assist region as illustrated in FIG. 4, it is preferable to provide the driver with a warning message at the time when the front end part of the other vehicle X 1 enters the driver assist region.On the other hand, the driver recognizes the presence of another vehicle if the host vehicle stops passing the other vehicle on the front side (if the other vehicle enters the driver assist area from a front part of the driver assist area). For this reason, as illustrated in FIG. 5, when the other vehicle X 2 has entered the driver assist area from a front part of the driver assist area, if a warning message is provided to the driver at the time when the rear part of the other vehicle X 2 has entered the driver assist area, a warning message can be provided regardless of whether the driver can recognize the other vehicle X 2. Depending on the driver, such a notification may be perceived as annoying.Therefore, in the present embodiment, the warning message has been provided based on the positional relationship between the front end part of the other vehicle and the host vehicle when the other vehicle has entered the driver assist area from a front part of the driver assist area. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the warning message has been provided after the front end part of the other vehicle X 2 has entered the front end position of the driver assist area determined according to the position of the host vehicle. In other words, the warning has been limited until the front end part of the other vehicle X 2 reaches the front end position of the driver assist area. Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B, details of the driver assist control according to the present embodiment performed by the driver assist part 62 and the control device 5 again will be explained.FIG. 7A is a flowchart for explaining details of the driver assist control for another vehicle that has entered the driver assist area from the rear of the host vehicle. The control device 5 repeatedly executes the present routine in a predetermined processing cycle.In step S 1, the control device 5 recognizes another vehicle that is located in the vicinity of the host vehicle.In step S 2, the control device 5 judges whether a first flag F 1 has been set to "0". The first flag F 1 corresponds to a flag which is set to "1" when a driver assistance is performed with respect to another vehicle that has entered the driver assistance area from the rear of the host vehicle. The output value is set to "0". The control device 5 proceeds to the processing of step S 3 if the first flag F is set to "0". On the other hand, if the first flag F is set to "1", the control device 5 proceeds to the processing of step S 5.In step S 3, the control device 5 judges whether the detected other vehicle has entered the driver assist area from the rear of the host vehicle. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the control device 5 may judge that the other vehicle X 1 recognized by the grouping has entered the driver assist area from the rear side of the host vehicle when the front end part of the other vehicle X 1 on the rear side has reached the rear end of the driver assist area. The control device 5 proceeds to the processing of step S 4 if the detected other vehicle has entered the driver assist area from the rear of the host vehicle. On the other hand, the control device 5 ends the current processing if the detected other vehicle has not entered the driver assist area from the rear of the host vehicle.In step S 4, the control device 5 starts the driver assistance for the driver and sets the first flag F 1 to "1". As explained above, in the present embodiment, the control device 5 sends, as the driver assistance for the driver, a warning message about the HMI 3 to the driver.In step S 5, the control device 5 judges whether the other vehicle that has entered the driver assist area from the rear of the host vehicle has left the driver assist area. In the present embodiment, the control device 5 judges that the other vehicle has left the driver assist area if the rear end of the other vehicle that has entered the driver assist area from the rear of the host vehicle is positioned in front of the front end of the driver assist area or the front end of the other vehicle is positioned behind the rear end of the driver assist area, and proceeds with the processing of step S 6, and if not, ends the current processing and continues the driver assist.In step S 6, the control device 5 terminates the driver assistance for the driver and resets the first flag F 1 to "0".FIG. 7B is a flowchart for explaining details of a driver assist control for another vehicle that has entered the driver assist area from the front of the host vehicle. The control device 5 repeatedly executes the present routine in a predetermined processing cycle.In step S 11, the control device 5 recognizes another vehicle that is located in the vicinity of the host vehicle.In step S 12, the control device 5 judges whether a second flag F 2 has been set to "0". The second flag F 2 corresponds to a flag that is set to "1" when driver assistance is performed with respect to another vehicle that has entered the driver assistance area from the front of the host vehicle. The output value is set to "0". The control device 5 proceeds to the processing of step S 13 if the second flag F 2 is set to "0". On the other hand, if the second flag F 2 is "1", the control device 5 proceeds to the processing of step S 16.In step S 13, the control device 5 judges whether the detected other vehicle has entered the driver assist area from the front of the host vehicle. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the control device 5 may judge that the other vehicle X 2 on the front side recognized by the grouping has entered the driver assist area from the front side of the host vehicle when the rear end part of the other vehicle X 2 has reached the front end of the driver assist area. The control device 5 proceeds to the processing of step S 14 if the detected other vehicle has entered the driver assist area from the front of the host vehicle. On the other hand, the control device 5 ends the current processing if the detected other vehicle has not entered the driver assist area from the front of the host vehicle.In step S 14, the control device 5 judges whether the other vehicle that has entered the driver assist area from the front of the host vehicle has completely entered the driver assist area. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the control device 5 may judge that the other vehicle X 2 on the front side recognized by the grouping has completely entered the driver assist area when the front end part of the other vehicle X 2 has reached the front end of the driver assist area. The control device 5 proceeds to the processing of step S 15 if the other vehicle, which enters the driver assist area from the front of the host vehicle, has completely entered the driver assist area. On the other hand, the control device 5 ends the current processing if the other vehicle, which enters the driver assist area from the front of the host vehicle, has not completely entered the driver assist area. That is, this restricts the warning message.Note that, for example, whether the front end part of the other vehicle has reached the front end of the driver assist area can be judged by the following method. That is, it is possible to divide the total length [m] of the other vehicle X 2 on the front side recognized by the grouping by the relative speed [m / s] of the host vehicle and the other vehicle X 2 after the other vehicle X 2 enters the driver assist area to calculate the estimated time period [s] from the time of the other vehicle X 2 entering the driver assist area to the time of the front end part of this other vehicle X 2 reaching the front end of the driver assist area. Therefore, it can be judged that the front end part of the other vehicle X 2 has reached the front end of the driver assist area when the estimated time period has elapsed from the current time point. Further, for example, it is possible to track the other vehicle X 2 entering the driver assist area from the front of the host vehicle over time and judge that the front end part of the other vehicle X 2 has reached the front end of the driver assist area after it is no longer possible to detect the other vehicle X at the front end part of the driver assist area after entering the driving area.In step S 15, the control device 5 starts driver assistance for the driver and sets the second flag F 2 to "1". As explained above, in the present embodiment, the control device 5 provides, as driver assistance for the driver, warning messages about the HMI 3 to the driver.In step S 16, the control device 5 judges whether another vehicle entering the driver assist area from the front of the host vehicle has left the driver assist area. In the present embodiment, the control device 5 judged that the other vehicle has left the driver assist area, and proceeds to the processing of step S 17 if the front end of the other vehicle, which enters the driver assist area from the front of the host vehicle, is behind the rear end of the driver assist area, or if the rear end of the other vehicle is in front of the front end of the driver assist area (or if the front end of the other vehicle is in front of the front end of the driver assist area). If not, the current processing is ended and the driver assistance continues.In step S 17, the control device 5 terminates the driver assistance for the driver and resets the second flag F 2 to "0".The control device 5 according to the present embodiment explained above is configured to detect that another vehicle (moving body) located in the vicinity of the host vehicle enters a driver assist area (assist area) arranged in the vicinity of the host vehicle, and to provide driver assist based on the positional relationship of the front end position of the other vehicle and the host vehicle when the other vehicle enters the driver assist area from a front part of the driver assist area.Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to perform driver assistance after judging to what extent another vehicle can be visually recognized from the host vehicle based on the front end position of the other vehicle, so that it is possible to provide appropriate driver assistance to the driver of the host vehicle.Specifically, in the present embodiment, the front end position of the driver assist area is at the same position as the front end position of the host vehicle. The control device 5 is configured to perform driver assistance when the other vehicle has completely entered the driver assistance area, that is, when the front end position of the other vehicle and the front end position of the driver assistance area become the same position, and is configured to provide a warning message to the driver as driver assistance via the HMI 3 (notification device) to provide notifications to the driver of the host vehicle.For this reason, it is possible to prevent the driver from receiving a warning message when the driver of the host vehicle can sufficiently visually recognize another vehicle.(Second Embodiment)Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be explained. The present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the point that the driver assistance for the driver (warning message) is started based on an eye ellipse reference line used as a reference for the field of view of the driver when another vehicle enters the driver assistance area from a front side of the host vehicle. In the following, the explanation will be focused on this point of difference.As already explained with reference to FIG. 5, if the host vehicle has passed the other vehicle X 2 on the front side (if the other vehicle enters the driver assist region from a front part of the driver assist region), the driver recognizes the presence of the other vehicle X 2, so that if a warning message is provided regardless of whether the driver can visually recognize the other vehicle X 2, such a notification may be perceived as annoying depending on the driver.Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, it was judged whether to start driver assistance for the driver (warning message) based on the eye ellipse reference line used as a reference for the field of view of the driver.Note that the "eye ellipse" defined in ISO4513 corresponds to the ellipse showing the eye range of the right and left eyes of a driver (statistically, the distribution of eye positions of a driver) in a side view and a plan view. The eye ellipse reference line in the present embodiment corresponds to the reference line in the vehicle width direction (left-right direction) shown on the eye ellipse. The eye ellipse reference line may be set for each model, for example, according to the Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS D 0021; Driver-Eye-Range-Of-Automobiles).As shown in (A) of FIG. 8, if the host vehicle completes passing another vehicle X 2 on the front side when the other vehicle X 2 is located in front of the eye ellipse reference line, that is, when the rear end of the other vehicle X 2 is located in front of the eye ellipse reference line, the driver may visually recognize the other vehicle X 2 as a whole. Therefore, when the rear end of the other vehicle X 2 is located in front of the eye ellipse reference line, no warning message is required.On the other hand, as shown in (B) of FIG. 8, if the host vehicle completes passing by the other vehicle X 2 on the front side when the other vehicle X 2 is on the eye ellipse reference line, the driver may visually recognize the other vehicle X 2 not as a whole but only a part thereof. Therefore, a warning message is not necessarily required when the other vehicle X 2 is on the eye ellipse reference line. Thus, the state in which the other vehicle X 2 is on the eye ellipse reference line may be referred to as a state in which a warning message can be output as needed at any time with the aim of improving the balance between safety and unpleasantness by the warning message.Further, as shown in (C) of FIG. 8, if the host vehicle completes a pass by the other vehicle X 2 on the front side, when the other vehicle X 2 is behind the eye ellipse reference line, that is, when the front end of the other vehicle X 2 is positioned behind the eye ellipse reference line, the driver will soon be unable to visually recognize the other vehicle X 2. Therefore, when the front end of the other vehicle X 2 is located behind the eye ellipse reference line, a warning message becomes indispensable.Therefore, in the present embodiment, if the other vehicle has entered the driver assist area from a front part of the driver assist area, the warning message has been made to be output when the front end of the other vehicle X 2 has reached the eye ellipse reference line. In other words, if another vehicle has entered the driver assist area from a front part of the driver assist area, the warning message has been made to limit until the front end of the other vehicle X 2 has reached the eye ellipse reference line.FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining details of a driver assist control for another vehicle that has entered the driver assist area from a front side of the host vehicle. The control device 5 repeatedly executes the present routine in a predetermined processing cycle. Note that, in FIG. 9, the contents of the processing in steps S 11 to S 13 and S 15 to S 17 are similar to the first embodiment, so the explanations are omitted here.In step S 21, the control device 5 judges whether the other vehicle entering the driver assist area from the front of the host vehicle is behind the eye ellipse reference line, that is, whether the front end of this other vehicle has reached the eye ellipse reference line. If the front end of the other vehicle, which enters the driver assist area from the front of the host vehicle, reaches the eye ellipse reference line, the control device 5 proceeds to the processing of step S 15. On the other hand, the control device 5 ends the current processing if the front end of the other vehicle entering the driver assist area from the front of the host vehicle does not reach the eye ellipse reference line. That is, the notification for attention calling is limited.The control device 5 according to the present embodiment explained above is configured to detect that another vehicle (moving body) located in the vicinity of the host vehicle enters the driver assist area set in the vicinity of the host vehicle and to perform driver assist based on the positional relationship of the other vehicle and the eye ellipse reference line set according to the type (model) of the host vehicle when the other vehicle enters the driver assist area from a front part of the driver assist area.In this way, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to perform driver assistance after judging to what extent the other vehicle can be seen from the host vehicle based on the positional relationship of the other vehicle and the eye ellipse reference line of the host vehicle, so that it is possible to provide appropriate driver assistance to the driver of the host vehicle.Specifically, the control device 5 according to the present embodiment is configured to perform driver assistance when it is judged that the other vehicle is behind the eye ellipse reference line, that is, when the front end position of the other vehicle and the eye ellipse reference line of the host vehicle have become the same position, and is configured to provide a warning to the driver via the HMI 3 (notification device) to notify the driver of the host vehicle as driver assistance.For this reason, it is possible that no warning message is sent to the driver of the host vehicle when the driver sees the other vehicle.Above, embodiments of the present disclosure have been explained, but the embodiments show only some of the applications of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present disclosure to the specific configurations of the embodiments.For example, in the above first embodiment, the control device 5 was configured to perform driver assistance if the other vehicle has entered the driver assistance area from a front side of the host vehicle when the front end position of the other vehicle and the front end position of the driver assistance area became the same position. However, the control device 5 may be configured to perform driver assistance when the distance in the vehicle front-rear direction between the front end position of the other vehicle and the front end position of the driver assistance region has become equal to or shorter than a predetermined distance. That is, the warning message can be issued slightly earlier than the first embodiment when considering the case that the driver overlooks the other vehicle or there is a different risk. This makes it possible to improve the balance between safety and the nuisance by a warning message while transmitting a warning message to the driver.Further, for example, in the above first embodiment, the front end position of the driver assist area was set to the same position as the front end position of the host vehicle. However, the front end position of the driver assist area may be set to any position from the front end position of the host vehicle to the eye ellipse reference line.Further, for example, in the above second embodiment, driver assistance has been performed if the other vehicle has entered the driver assistance area from a front side of the host vehicle when the front end of the other vehicle has reached the eye ellipse reference line. However, considering the case that the driver overlooks the other vehicle or there is another risk, it is also possible to perform driver assistance at each time point when the other vehicle is on the eye ellipse reference line. This makes it possible to improve the balance between safety and the annoyingness due to warning messages while providing a warning message to the driver.Further, in the above embodiments, the computer programs (for example, the driver assist controller) running on the control device 5 may be provided in a form recorded on a computer readable portable recording medium such as a semiconductor memory, a magnetic recording medium, or an optical recording medium.Further, the above embodiments may be combined as appropriate.References included in the specificationThis list of documents cited by the applicant has been produced in an automated manner and is only included for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent application or utility model application. The DPMA does not take any adhesion for any faults or omissions.Patent Literature citedJP 2021-026241 A

[0002]

Claims

A control device configured to: detect that a moving body located in the vicinity of a vehicle enters a support area set in the vicinity of the vehicle; and provide driver assistance based on the positional relationship between the front end position of the moving body and the vehicle or based on the positional relationship between the moving body and an eye ellipse reference line set for each vehicle when the moving body enters the support area from a front part of the support area.The control device according to claim 1, configured to provide driver assistance when the front end position of the moving body and the front end position of the assistance portion become the same position.The control device according to claim 1, configured to provide driver assistance when the moving body has completely entered the assistance area.The control device according to claim 3, configured to judge that the moving body has completely entered the support area when the front end position of the moving body and the front end position of the support area become the same position.The control device according to claim 1, configured to provide driver assistance when a distance in the vehicle front-rear direction between the front end position of the moving body and the front end position of the assistance portion becomes equal to or smaller than a predetermined distance.The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the front end position of the support portion is the same position as the front end position of the vehicle.The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the front end position of the support area is positioned in a range from the front end position of the vehicle to the eye ellipse reference line set for each vehicle.The control device according to claim 1, configured to provide driver assistance when the moving body is positioned on the eye ellipse reference line.The control device according to claim 1, configured to provide driver assistance when the front end position of the moving body and the eye ellipse reference line become the same position.The control device according to claim 1, configured to provide driver assistance when the moving body is positioned behind the eye ellipse reference line.The control device according to claim 10, configured to judge that the moving body is positioned behind the eye ellipse reference line when the front end position of the moving body and the eye ellipse reference line become the same position.The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and 8 to 11, configured to provide a warning message to the driver as driver assistance via a notification device to provide notifications to the driver of the vehicle.A driver assistance method by a control device for providing driver assistance of a vehicle, the driver assistance method comprising: detecting that a moving body located in the vicinity of a vehicle enters an assistance area set in the vicinity of the vehicle; and providing driver assistance when the moving body enters the assistance area from a front part of the assistance area, based on the positional relationship between the front end position of the moving body and the vehicle or based on the positional relationship between the moving body and an eye ellipse reference line set for each vehicle.A computer program that causes a computer to process: detecting that a moving body located in the vicinity of a vehicle enters a support area set in the vicinity of the vehicle; and providing driver assistance when the moving body enters the support area from a front part of the support area, based on the positional relationship between the front end position of the moving body and the vehicle or based on the positional relationship between the moving body and an eye ellipse reference line set for each vehicle.

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