ELECTRONIC CONTROL DEVICE

Abstract

An electronic control device includes a controller, a sound output unit, and a sound input unit. The sound output unit electrically connects the controller to a speaker, and the sound input unit electrically connects the controller to a microphone. The controller is configured to perform an operation test by outputting a sound pattern from the speaker via the sound output unit after converting the sound pattern into an inaudible pattern, and receiving the sound pattern from the microphone via the sound input unit. The sound pattern is at least one of sound patterns predetermined based on warning levels for a driver of a vehicle or vehicle models.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELDThe present disclosure relates to an electronic control device.BACKGROUNDA vehicle includes many ECUs, and the ECUs cooperate to perform various controls in the vehicle. ECU stands for electronic control unit. In recent years, an integrated ECU that integrates various functions has been considered. In addition, the vehicle is equipped with an ADAS function. ADAS is an abbreviation for Advanced Driver Assistance System and refers to an advanced driver assistance system. When the vehicle performs autonomous driving with the ADAS function, if the autonomous driving malfunctions or temporarily interrupts, the driving authority should be reliably transmitted from the system to the driver. At this time, the system outputs visual and / or audible warnings and guidance to instruct the driver to perform manual driving. Particularly, acoustic warnings having high diffusivity are important as a notification method.PRIOR ART LITERATUREPATENT LITERATUREPatent Document 1: JP 2022-002 381 ASUMMARYThere are various types of notification and warning sounds for occupants ranging from light to severe warnings. In addition, notification and warning sounds differ depending on the vehicle model. For example, as described in the background, driving authority cannot be appropriately transmitted when the warning sound is not reliably transmitted to the occupants. For this reason, sound output checking is recommended depending on the type of warning or notification before a notification or warning sound is actually output. However, repeated playing of test sound patterns may obscure or annoying occupants.In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present disclosure is to provide an electronic control device that enables sound output checks in accordance with the type of warning or notification.In one aspect, the electronic control device includes a controller, a sound output unit, and a sound input unit. The sound output unit electrically connects the controller to a speaker. The sound input unit electrically connects the controller to a microphone. The controller is configured to perform an operation check by outputting a sound pattern from the speaker via the sound output unit after converting the sound pattern into an unaudable pattern and receiving the sound pattern from the microphone via the sound input unit. The sound pattern is at least one of sound patterns predetermined based on warning levels for a driver of a vehicle or vehicle models. The controller performs the operation check via the sound output unit and the sound input unit with the sound pattern predetermined based on the warning levels for the driver or the vehicle models and converted into the unobscious pattern. In this way, the sound output test can be easily performed depending on the type of warning / notification. In addition, the operation check with the unobscious pattern does not interfere with the occupants.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSFIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of an electronic control device according to an embodiment; and FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a processing operation.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTSAn embodiment of the electronic control device will be described below. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic control device 10. HMI is an abbreviation for human machine interface (human machine interface) and denotes the function of executing operation input, image output, and sound input / output. ADAS is an abbreviation for Advanced Driver Assistance System, and refers to the functions of the advanced driving assistance system including driving assistance functions such as warnings and driving controls. Examples of the driving assistance functions include automatic braking, lane keeping assist, lane departure warning, and autonomous driving.The electronic control device 10 is equipped with an SoC 20, a sound output unit 30, and a sound input unit 40. SoC is an abbreviation for system-on-a-chip (system-on-chip). The SoC 20 herein corresponds to a controller. The SoC 20 is configured by integration of a microcontroller, a memory 20 a, and the like. The memory 20 ais a nonvolatile / volatile memory configured as a nonvolatile tangible recording medium. The memory 20 astores programs executed by the SoC 20, and the SoC 20 executes the programs to realize various functions. The memory 20a also stores tone patterns for operation checking in a non-volatile form. The patterns of sounds referred to herein are patterns of notification or warning sounds having volume and frequency characteristics common to vehicle models having the electronic control device 10, or a combined pattern of sounds representing a mixture of these patterns. The sound patterns are stored as digital data in the memory 20a.The sound output unit 30 is an interface circuit that electrically connects the SoC 20 to a speaker 31 installed in the vehicle. The sound output unit 30 includes a drive circuit for the speaker 31. the sound input unit 40 is an interface circuit that electrically connects the SoC 20 to a microphone 41 installed in the vehicle. The sound input unit 40 includes a signal input circuit for the microphone 41 and a determination circuit.The SoC 20 is connected to an environment monitoring system 50, an occupant monitoring device 60, and an operation input unit 80. Moreover, the SoC 20 is connected to a vehicle control ECU 90 via an in-vehicle network. The surroundings monitoring system 50 is mainly configured of surroundings cameras 51 that capture images around the vehicle, such as a front camera, a side view camera, a corner view camera, a rear camera, an electronic mirror, a laser radar 52 including LiDAR, and / or a millimeter wave radar 53. The environment monitoring system 50 monitors the situation around the vehicle and transmits the acquired image and monitoring information to the SoC 20.The occupant monitoring device 60 monitors the state of the occupants in the vehicle with a driver state monitoring device (DSM) that captures an image of the driver with a camera and a passenger state monitoring device (PSM) that captures an image of the passenger on the passenger seat with a camera and monitors the state of the passenger. The occupant monitoring device 60 is a powerful recognition system that automatically recognizes the faces and bodies of the vehicle occupants such as the driver with the aid of a camera and detects the driving state of the driver.The SoC 20 is also connected to a display device (not shown) that displays various kinds of information. The operation input unit 80 is, for example, a touch panel on the display screen of the display device or a mechanical switch besides the display screen that receives operation inputs from the occupants, e.g., the driver. The operation switch includes, for example, a switch for switching between a manual driving mode, a driving assistance mode, and an autonomous driving mode. When the operation input unit 80 receives an operation input, the SoC 20 accepts the operation input and performs controls based on operation signals from the operation input unit 80.The SoC 20 can realize various ADAS functions by utilizing the state of the environment detected by the environment monitoring system 50 and the state of the occupants detected by the occupant monitoring device 60. When the driving mode is switched to the manual driving mode, the electronic control device 10 communicates with the vehicle control ECU 90 connected to the in-vehicle network, and the vehicle control ECU 90 controls the driving actuators based on the manual driving. When the driving mode is switched to the driving assistance mode or the autonomous driving mode, the electronic control device 10 communicates with the vehicle control ECU 90, and the vehicle control ECU 90 controls the driving actuators (not illustrated) to provide a certain driving assistance or autonomous driving according to the autonomous driving stage.The following describes the notification sound and the warning sound output to warn the vehicle occupants. In recent years, the vehicle occupants have been able to drive vehicles manually, by driving assistance, or autonomously. For example, when the in-vehicle system automatically switches the driving mode from the autonomous driving mode to the manual driving mode due to a certain effect, the in-vehicle system alerts the driver by displaying an alert on the display device or outputting an alert sound. Conventionally, the display device is used to display the route to a destination, and the audio notification is used to notify the driver of the heading direction as a car navigation function to guide the driver to a destination. In particular, the "sound" having high diffusivity is an important means for transmitting information as this type of notification or warning.For example, as mentioned above, when the driving mode is switched from autonomous driving to manual driving and the occupants cannot recognize a sound from the speaker 31 via the sound output unit 30, the ADAS function does not reliably transmit the driving authority to the driver. For this reason, it is important to diagnose whether the acoustic notification of the occupants is reliably performed before a warning sound or similar alarm is issued to the occupants. In this embodiment, the output of a notification or warning sound is checked as shown in FIG. 2.The process shown in FIG. 2 is executed immediately after the ignition switch is turned on and the vehicle is activated. When the ignition switch is turned on, the electronic control device 10 is energized. In step S 11, the SoC 20 executes an initial process (i.e., an initialization process) for the sound output unit 30 and the sound input unit 40. Immediately after the SoC 20 is activated, the SoC 20 causes the sound output unit 30 to output an unaudable sound pattern for initial operation checking via the speaker 31. The unaudable sound pattern is then input from the microphone 41 to the SoC 20 via the sound input unit 40. The frequency of the unaudable sound referred to herein is a high frequency that is generally unaudable to humans, and is preferably 20,000 Hz or higher, but may also be 10,000 Hz or higher, or a high frequency of several thousand Hz or higher. Conversely, the unaudable sound may be a low frequency sound of a few Hz, less than 20 Hz, which is defined as being unaudable to humans.When the SoC 20 performs an operation check for the sound input and output, a sound pattern having a certain degree of complexity with varying frequency and volume is preferably used. In addition, the consistency of the sound pattern received by the microphone 41 is preferably checked by pattern matching in accordance with the sound pattern. This can increase the reliability of the operation test.The sound pattern of the acoustic notification or warning sound sound sounded during normal running or when the vehicle stops varies depending on the warning levels for the driver or the vehicle models. The acoustic sound pattern for a slight warning that alerts before leaving the lane is, for example, a monotonic pattern at regular intervals such as "piep, piep, piep", while the acoustic sound pattern for avoiding collision with an obstacle includes a higher frequency sound at shorter intervals to indicate a more severe warning.In addition, the sound pattern of the warning sound differs depending on whether it is a lux-class vehicle or a bulk vehicle. Therefore, the audible sound pattern for the operation check in step S12 preferably depends on the audible sound pattern of the warning sound. In this case, the relationship between the frequency range of the unaudable sounds for the operation test and the frequency range of the audible sounds is preferably predetermined.The unaudable warning sound pattern may be prepared, for example, by adding a predetermined frequency (e.g., several kHz to 10,000 Hz) to the frequency of the audible warning sound pattern and converting the obtained sound pattern into an unaudable sound pattern. The process can be simplified by simply adding the predetermined frequency to the audible frequency tone pattern. Here, an example is described in which the unaudable sound patterns are prepared by simply adding the predetermined frequency to the audible sound patterns. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and any relationship between the unobscable sound patterns and the audible sound patterns is acceptable as long as the unobscable sound patterns correlate with the audible sound patterns.When the sound input unit 40 inputs an unaudable sound pattern via the microphone 41, the SoC 20 determines whether the unaudable sound pattern corresponds to an expected pattern in step S 13. The SoC 20 compares the sound pattern stored in the memory 20a with the sound pattern input through the microphone 41. When the SoC 20 determines in step S 13 that the sound pattern input via the microphone 41 does not correspond to the expected pattern, the SoC 20 determines a malfunction of the sound output system of the sound output unit 30 and the speaker 31 or the sound input system of the sound input unit 40 and the microphone 41 (NG in step S 13), and performs an abnormal situation procedure in step S 20. In the abnormal situation procedure, the SoC 20 constantly displays a warning to the driver regarding the sound output / input on the display device or the like, and instructs the driver to have the vehicle repaired by a dealer or the like. At this time, the SoC 20 restricts the function of outputting notification and warning sounds in step S 20, and maintains the restriction of the function until the power supply of the electronic control device 10 is turned off in step S 21. In addition, when the SoC 20 determines in step S 13 that the sound pattern corresponds to the expected pattern (OK in step S 13), the SoC 20 determines that the operation test at the activation has been successfully completed.After the vehicle is activated, the SoC 20 also determines whether it is appropriate timing for performing the operation check in step S 14. The SoC 20 may be configured to output the unaudable sound pattern for the operation check in step S 15 based on the timing determined in step S 14, input the unaudable sound pattern from the microphone 41 via the sound input unit 40, and determine whether the input sound pattern corresponds to the expected pattern in step S 16. If it is not the timing suitable for the operation check, the operation check is shifted and the process proceeds to step S 17.The "timing at which the operation check can be performed" in step S 14 may be determined based on a condition that the processing load for the vehicle is less than a predetermined value. For example, the condition may include that the vehicle is stopped immediately after the ignition switch is turned on or that the vehicle is stopped during manual or autonomous driving. In addition, the timing suitable for the operation check may be when the vehicle is stopped or parked on the roadside during the manual driving mode or the autonomous driving mode where the processing load for the vehicle is relatively low. In contrast, the SoC 20 may make the determination of NG in step S 14 when the processing load is higher than the predetermined value, such as during autonomous driving or the execution of the driving assistance using the ADAS function.The SoC 20 determines whether a warning is necessary during the vehicle movement after the activation in step S 17. When the SoC 20 determines that a warning is required, the SoC 20 outputs the acoustic sound pattern in step S 18. The audible tone pattern output here is the original tone pattern before being converted to the unaudable pattern for the operation check. This ensures that the acoustic warning sound pattern can be reliably recognized by the occupants. Thereafter, the SoC 20 repeatedly performs the processes of steps S 14 to S 18 while the vehicle travels after activation until the power supply of the electronic control device 10 is turned off in step S 19. It can thus be checked whether the loudspeaker 31 and the microphone 41 of the HMI function safely during manual and autonomous driving.The operation check is described above as being performed at the time of activation and during the operation of the vehicle, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the operation check may be performed only at the time of activation as shown in steps S11 to S13, or only during the running of the vehicle as shown in steps S14 to S16.(Pattern details) Hereinafter, patterns for operation checking will be described. The sound patterns used when the SoC 20 performs the operation check may be selected according to the restrictions of the timing for the operation check and the conditions of the vehicle model. The sound patterns may preferably be selected in accordance with the situation of the vehicle to perform the operation check. For example, the sound pattern used for driving assistance when starting the vehicle may be different from the sound pattern used for driving assistance in order for the driver to look rearward when parking the vehicle. Since the volume and pitch of these patterns are different, the patterns are preferably checked immediately before the actual use of the patterns.In addition, the sound patterns may have different loudnesses and frequencies depending on warning levels for the driver. The tone pattern for the operation check may be a separate tone pattern of the tone patterns or a combined tone pattern consisting of more than one of the tone patterns. The warning levels range from weak warnings of low importance to severe warnings of high importance. For example, the sound pattern for an important warning is louder and more frequent, so that the occupants can easily perceive the notifications and warnings.In addition, the sound patterns may have different loudnesses and frequencies, for example, depending on the vehicle model. The sound patterns may be different between mass vehicles and lux vehicles. In addition, the sound patterns may be different between normal vehicles and emergency vehicles. At this time, a tone pattern whose volume and frequency characteristics correspond to the vehicle models is preferably used.When the memory 20 astores a plurality of sound patterns for the vehicle models, the SoC 20 may also select a sound pattern that matches the vehicle model information of the own vehicle from among the plurality of sound patterns stored in the memory 20 ato perform the operation check. When the memory 20 astores common sound patterns that are generally available for a plurality of vehicle models, the SoC 20 may also select at least one of the common sound patterns to perform the operation check.The SoC 20 can sequentially check each of the sound patterns at each operation check. Moreover, the SoC 20 can perform the operation check at once by using a combined tone pattern composed of these tone patterns. By using the combined sound pattern, the warning sounds for the entire warning levels and vehicle models can be checked, thereby shortening the checking time.When the memory 20 aseparately stores sound patterns for a plurality of vehicle models, the SoC 20 may selectively read a sound pattern corresponding to the vehicle model of the own vehicle from the memory 20 aand output the sound pattern for the operation check.(Summary of the present embodiment) Repeated output of an acoustic warning sound for operation checking may obscure and obscure the occupants. It should preferably be avoided that even in the operating test, sounds are emitted that are audible to the driver if no warning is required.According to this embodiment, the SoC 20 performs the operation check by outputting an unobscatable sound pattern predetermined based on warning levels for a driver or vehicle models from the speaker 31 via the sound output unit 30, and receiving the unobscatable sound pattern from the microphone 41 via the sound input unit 40. During the operation test, a sound pattern converted into a human-unaudable area is output from the speaker 31, and this sound is input to the microphone 41. Thereby, the SoC 20 checks emission of the sound pattern. Thus, the sound output can be easily checked depending on the type of warning or notification. In addition, the function of the sound output unit 30, the speaker 31, the sound input unit 40, and the microphone 41 may be checked to ensure that a warning is reliably transmitted to the driver in an emergency.The SoC 20 determines the timing of the operation check to be performed during vehicle operation based on the situations of the driver and the vehicle, and performs the operation check using a tone pattern at the determined timing during vehicle operation. Thereby, the operation check of the sound input / output is performed not only at the time of activation but also during the vehicle operation, thereby improving the reliability of the sound input / output.Since the sound output unit 30 and the sound input unit 40 are commonly used for operating the HMI function, there is no need to provide a separate sound generation mechanism specifically for the ADAS function, thereby reducing the size and cost of the circuit.The control apparatus and method described in the present disclosure are realizable by a special purpose computer configured with a memory and a processor programmed to perform one or more particular functions embodied in computer programs of the memory. Alternatively, the control apparatus and method described in the present disclosure may be implemented by a dedicated computer configured as a processor having one or more dedicated hardware logic circuits. Alternatively, the control device and the method described in the present disclosure are realizable by one or more dedicated computers configured as a combination of a processor and a memory programmed to execute one or more functions and a processor configured with one or more hardware logic circuits. The computer program may be stored on a computer readable non-transitory tangible storage medium as a command executed by a computer.Although the present disclosure is described above in connection with the embodiments, it should be appreciated that it is not limited to these embodiments or structures described in the embodiments. The present disclosure includes various modifications and changes within the scope of equivalents. Moreover, various combinations and shapes, as well as other combinations and shapes including only one element, more than or less than that, are also within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

An electronic control device, comprising: a controller (20); a sound output unit (30) electrically connecting the controller to a speaker; and a sound input unit (40) electrically connecting the controller to a microphone, wherein the controller is configured to perform an operation check by: outputting a sound pattern from the speaker via the sound output unit after converting the sound pattern into an unobscable pattern, wherein the sound pattern is at least one of sound patterns predetermined based on warning levels for a driver of a vehicle or vehicle models; and receiving the sound pattern from the microphone via the sound input unit.The electronic control device according to claim 1, wherein - the sound patterns have different loudnesses and frequency characteristics according to the warning levels for the driver or the vehicle models, and - the at least one of the sound patterns for the operation test is: - a separate sound pattern of the sound patterns; or - a combined sound pattern consisting of more than one of the sound patterns.The electronic control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the controller is further configured to sequentially output the sound patterns for the operation check one by one.The electronic control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein - the sound patterns have different loudness and frequency characteristics and are generally available for the vehicle models, and - the electronic control device further comprises a memory (20a) configured to store: - a separate sound pattern of the sound patterns, or - a combined sound pattern consisting of more than one of the sound patterns, wherein - the at least one of the sound patterns for the operation test is the separate sound pattern or the combined sound pattern.The electronic control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein - the sound patterns are different among the vehicle models, - the electronic control device further comprises a memory (20a) configured to separately store the sound patterns, and - the at least one of the sound patterns is selected for the operation test in accordance with a model of the vehicle.The electronic control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the controller is configured to: - determine a timing of the operation check to be performed during vehicle operation based on a situation of the driver or the vehicle, and - perform the operation check using the sound pattern at the determined timing during vehicle operation.The electronic control device according to claim 1, further comprising a memory (20a) storing the sound pattern, wherein the controller is configured to compare the sound pattern input from the microphone with the sound pattern stored in the memory for the operation check.The electronic control device according to claim 1, wherein - the sound patterns are different among the vehicle models, - the electronic control device further comprises a memory (20a) storing the sound patterns, and - the controller is configured to perform the operation check by selecting the at least one of the sound patterns corresponding to a model of the vehicle.

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