Information display device and relay device

Abstract

To provide an information display device capable of reminding a user effectively and efficiently.SOLUTION: An information display device 10 equipped in a mobile body, comprises: a self vehicle information acquisition unit 13 for acquiring self vehicle information including information on a position, a speed and a movement direction of the mobile body; an other vehicle information acquisition unit 14 that acquires other vehicle information including a position, a speed, and a moving direction of at least another moving body existing around the mobile body; an assigning unit that assigns a priority identifier indicating priorities related to display of other mobile bodies to other vehicle information on the basis of the self vehicle information and other vehicle information; and a display unit 12 for displaying a position of another mobile body in a display mode corresponding to the priority identifier.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information display device and a relay device. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, in which moving vehicles transmit and receive various data to each other using short-range wireless communication such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark), is becoming more common. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a display method for a navigation device that uses vehicle-to-vehicle communication to display the position, traveling direction, and speed of surrounding vehicles. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2004-77281 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the above-mentioned conventional technology, the surrounding vehicles are displayed with display priorities according to whether they are approaching the lane of the vehicle or leaving the lane of the vehicle. However, when prioritizing the vehicles, it is not determined whether the vehicles can actually enter the route of the vehicle. Therefore, for example, when there is a median strip on the road, it is not possible to exclude vehicles that cannot enter the route of the vehicle from the display, and unnecessary displays are made, which is one of the problems.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned points, and one of its objectives is to provide an information display device that can effectively and efficiently alert the user by displaying only the necessary information with a simple configuration. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The invention described in claim 1 comprises an own vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires own vehicle information including information on the position, speed, and moving direction of a moving body, an other vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires other vehicle information including the position, speed, and moving direction of at least one other moving body present in the vicinity of the moving body, an assignment unit that assigns a priority identifier to the other vehicle information indicating a priority regarding the display of the other moving body based on the own vehicle information and the other vehicle information, and a display unit that displays the position of the other moving body in a display mode corresponding to the priority identifier. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information display device. [Diagram 2] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a determination table in the present embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a table indicating classification of display areas in the present embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a determination table in the present embodiment. [Diagram 5] 13 is a flowchart showing a priority setting process. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of information display of another vehicle. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a determination table for displaying a warning. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a warning display. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a determination table when traveling on an expressway. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a determination table when a road has a median strip; [Figure 11] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a warning display when a road has a median strip. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a determination table in the second embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a table indicating classification of display areas according to speed in the second embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a determination table in the second embodiment. [Figure 15] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a determination table in the case where a right-turn exclusive lane is provided. [Figure 16] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a determination table for warning display in the second embodiment. [Figure 17] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of information display of another vehicle in the second embodiment. [Figure 18] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a judgment table in the third embodiment. [Figure 19] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a flowchart of a determination process regarding a warning display. [Figure 20] FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information display system according to a fourth embodiment. [Figure 21] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a judgment table in the fourth embodiment. [Figure 22] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a judgment table in the fourth embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description of each embodiment and the accompanying drawings, substantially the same or equivalent parts are designated by the same reference numerals. EXAMPLES

[0009] 1 is a block diagram of an information display device 10 according to Example 1. The information display device 10 is a navigation device mounted on a moving body such as a vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the host vehicle), and has a function of performing short-distance wireless communication with an external communication device such as a communication device mounted on another vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the other vehicle).

[0010] The information display device 10 includes a communication unit 11 , a display unit 12 , a vehicle information acquisition unit 13 , a different vehicle information acquisition unit 14 , a display priority setting unit 15 , a processing control unit 16 , and a storage unit 17 .

[0011] The communication unit 11 is a wireless communication device that complies with a short-range wireless communication standard such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark), and performs wireless communication with communication devices mounted on other vehicles to transmit and receive various information.

[0012] The display unit 12 is composed of a display panel such as a liquid crystal display, and displays various information under the control of the processing control unit 16 .

[0013] The vehicle information acquisition unit 13 acquires the position information, speed information, and traveling direction information of the vehicle (hereinafter, these are also referred to as the movement information of the vehicle). The vehicle information acquisition unit 13 may be, for example, a GPS device that receives radio waves transmitted from a plurality of GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites and calculates the distance from each GPS satellite based on the received radio waves to acquire the position information and speed information of the vehicle. The vehicle information acquisition unit 13 may also include an acceleration sensor and an angular velocity sensor, and acquire the speed information and traveling direction information of the vehicle by detecting the acceleration and angular velocity. The vehicle information acquisition unit 13 may also acquire information related to steering, such as turn signal information indicating the direction indicated by the turn signal. The vehicle information acquisition unit 13 may also acquire information related to steering, such as turn signal information indicating the direction indicated by the turn signal. may obtain information about the driver who drives the vehicle (for example, information that the driver is a beginner).

[0014] The other vehicle information acquisition unit 14 acquires the position information, speed information, traveling direction information, and blinker information (hereinafter, these are also referred to as the movement information of the other vehicle) of the other vehicle via the communication unit 11. Furthermore, the other vehicle information acquisition unit 14 acquires information on the driver driving the other vehicle in addition to the movement information of the other vehicle. Note that the other vehicle information acquisition unit 14 may be configured integrally with the communication unit 11.

[0015] The display priority setting unit 15 sets a priority for displaying information about other vehicles based on the movement information of the own vehicle acquired by the own vehicle information acquisition unit 13, the movement information of other vehicles acquired by the other vehicle information acquisition unit 14, and the map information stored in the storage unit 17. At that time, the display priority setting unit 15 sets the priority for displaying information about other vehicles by referring to a determination table that determines the risk of collision between the own vehicle and other vehicles and assigning a priority identifier, which is an identifier indicating the priority of information display, to the information about the other vehicles.

[0016] The processing control unit 16 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and controls various processing operations of the communication unit 11, the display unit 12, the host vehicle information acquisition unit 13, the other vehicle information acquisition unit 14, the display priority setting unit 15, and the memory unit 17.

[0017] The storage unit 17 includes, for example, a hard disk, a flash memory, a solid state drive (SSD), a random access memory (RAM), etc., and stores map information and position information of other vehicles acquired via the communication unit 11. The storage unit 17 also stores a determination table for determining the risk of collision between the vehicle and other vehicles when the display priority setting unit 15 sets priorities for displaying information about other vehicles.

[0018] Next, the determination table stored in the storage unit 17 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, and the priority setting process performed by the display priority setting unit 15 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0019] Table T11 shown in Fig. 2(a) is a judgment table for judging the traveling direction of the host vehicle and the other vehicle and assigning a flag. The traveling direction of the other vehicle is classified into (1) the same direction as the host vehicle and the other vehicle, (2) the opposite direction to the host vehicle, and (3) other directions. The other directions are directions that intersect with the traveling direction of the host vehicle.

[0020] The display priority setting unit 15 performs a judgment based on information on the traveling direction of the own vehicle and information on the traveling direction of the other vehicle, which are related to the risk of collision, and assigns a flag to the other vehicle as a basis for judging the display priority (step S101). Specifically, according to table T11, if the traveling direction of the other vehicle is in the same direction as the own vehicle, flag 00 is assigned, if the traveling direction is in the opposite direction to the own vehicle, flag 01 is assigned, and if the traveling direction is in any other direction, flag 10 is assigned.

[0021] Table T12 shown in FIG. 2(b) is a determination table for determining whether or not another vehicle is approaching the host vehicle and assigning a flag thereto.

[0022] The display priority setting unit 15 calculates the change over time in the relative distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle based on the position information of the vehicle and the other vehicle at each time. Then, based on the calculated change over time in the relative distance, the display priority setting unit 15 judges whether or not the other vehicle, which is related to the risk of collision, is approaching the vehicle, and assigns a flag to the other vehicle on which the display priority is determined (step S102). Specifically, according to table T12, if the other vehicle is approaching (i.e., moving in a direction approaching the vehicle), a flag of 0 is assigned, and if the other vehicle is not approaching (i.e., moving away from the vehicle), a flag of 0 is assigned. If the object is moving in the opposite direction, flag 1 is assigned.

[0023] Table T13 shown in Fig. 3 is a table showing classification of display areas, which are areas for displaying information about other vehicles on a map on the screen of the display unit 12. The display areas are classified into display areas I to III, and are set according to the speed of the vehicle. For example, when the speed of the vehicle is 0 to 30 km / h, the area with a distance from the vehicle of 0 to 50 m is the display area "I", the area with a distance from the vehicle of 50 to 100 m is the display area "II", and the area with a distance of 100 m or more is the display area "III". When the speed of the vehicle is 30 to 60 km / h, the area with a distance from the vehicle of 0 to 100 m is the display area "I", the area with a distance from the vehicle of 100 to 150 m is the display area "II", and the area with a distance of 150 m or more is the display area "III". When the speed of the vehicle is between 60 and 100 km / h, the area with a distance from the vehicle of 0 to 150 m is displayed as "I", the area with a distance from the vehicle of 150 to 200 m is displayed as "II", and the area with a distance of 200 m or more is displayed as "III". When the speed of the vehicle is 100 km / h or more, the area with a distance from the vehicle of 0 to 200 m is displayed as "I", the area with a distance from the vehicle of 200 to 250 m is displayed as "II", and the area with a distance of 250 m or more is displayed as "III".

[0024] The display priority setting unit 15 refers to the table T13 based on the speed information of the host vehicle, and sets the display area (step S103).

[0025] Table T14 shown in Fig. 4 is a judgment table for determining a priority identifier, which is an identifier indicating the priority of information display. Here, an example is shown in which priorities are classified into three levels. In the figure, priority identifier "A" indicates the highest priority (top priority), "B" indicates the second highest priority, and "C" indicates the third highest priority (lowest priority). In table T14, priority identifiers are classified in association with display areas I to III and flags assigned to other vehicles by referring to tables T11 and T12.

[0026] For example, information on vehicles traveling in the same direction as the vehicle and approaching the vehicle (flag 00-0), vehicles traveling in the same direction as the vehicle and not approaching the vehicle (flag 00-1), vehicles traveling in the opposite direction to the vehicle and approaching the vehicle (flag 01-0), and vehicles traveling in other directions and approaching the vehicle (flag 10-0) is assigned a priority identifier "A" if the vehicle is located in display area "I", a priority identifier "B" if the vehicle is located in display area "II", and a priority identifier "C" if the vehicle is located in display area "III".

[0027] Vehicles traveling in the opposite direction to the vehicle and not approaching the vehicle (flag 01-1) and vehicles traveling in other directions and not approaching the vehicle (flag 10-1) are assigned a priority identifier "B" when located in display area "I", and a priority identifier "C" when located in display areas "II" and "III".

[0028] In the above case, regardless of which other vehicle it is, in display area "I" it is assigned a priority identifier "A" or "B", in display area "II" it is assigned a priority identifier "B" or "C", and in display area "III" it is assigned a priority identifier "C".

[0029] The display priority setting unit 15 refers to table T14 and assigns a priority identifier to the other vehicle based on the map information read from the memory unit 17, the movement information of the own vehicle acquired by the own vehicle information acquisition unit 13, the movement information of the other vehicle acquired by the other vehicle information acquisition unit 14, and the display area, and sets a priority for displaying information of the other vehicle according to the priority identifier (step S104).

[0030] The display unit 12 displays information about other vehicles according to the priority set by the display priority setting unit 15 under the control of the process control unit 16 (step S105). For example, for a vehicle with a priority identifier of "A", the display unit 12 displays its position on the map in yellow, which is a color that indicates a warning, and displays other information that should be displayed (for example, information that the driver is a novice) if there is such information. For a vehicle with a priority identifier of "B", the display unit 12 displays its position on the map in green, and does not display any information other than the position. For a vehicle with a priority identifier of "C", the display unit 12 does not display the vehicle at all.

[0031] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of information display of other vehicles by the display unit 12. Here, a case is shown in which other vehicles P1 to P5 exist around the vehicle X. The other vehicle P1 is located in the display area "I", and since it is a vehicle (flag 10-0) traveling in the other direction and approaching the vehicle X, the priority identifier indicating the priority of the information display is "A", and the vehicle position is displayed in yellow on the map. In addition, since the driver of the other vehicle P1 is a beginner, a mark indicating a novice driver sign (a so-called beginner mark) is also displayed. In addition, the other vehicle P2 is located in the display area "I", and since it is a vehicle (flag 00-1) traveling in the same direction as the vehicle and not approaching the vehicle, the priority identifier indicating the priority of the information display is "A", and the vehicle position is displayed in yellow on the map.

[0032] On the other hand, the other vehicle P3 is located in the display area "I", but is traveling in the opposite direction to the own vehicle and is not approaching the own vehicle (flag 01-1), so the priority identifier indicating the priority of information display is "B", and the vehicle's position is displayed in green on the map. The other vehicle P4 is located in the display area "II", is traveling in the opposite direction to the own vehicle and is approaching the own vehicle (flag 01-0), so the priority identifier indicating the priority of information display is "B", and the vehicle's position is displayed in green on the map. The other vehicle P5 is located in the display area "II", is traveling in the same direction as the own vehicle and is approaching the own vehicle (flag 00-0), so the priority identifier indicating the priority of information display is "B", and the vehicle's position is displayed in green on the map.

[0033] As described above, the display priority setting unit 15 sets the priority, and the display unit 12 displays information about other vehicles according to the set priority. As a result, information about other vehicles is displayed while switching the display mode according to the traveling directions of the host vehicle and other vehicles, whether the host vehicle and other vehicles are approaching each other, and the speed of the host vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to display only information necessary for the driver of the host vehicle. This eliminates the need for the driver to select information, and allows the driver to effectively and efficiently obtain information about dangers to the host vehicle.

[0034] The information display device 10 of this embodiment is also configured to be capable of performing optional display. For example, the display priority setting unit 15 determines whether or not to display a warning regarding another vehicle based on the turn signal information acquired by the other vehicle information acquisition unit 14 regarding the other vehicle to which the priority identifier "A" has been assigned. The display unit 12 displays the warning according to the control of the processing control unit 16.

[0035] FIG. 7 is a judgment table for determining whether or not to display a warning based on turn signal information. 1 is a diagram showing a table T15 which is a rule for displaying a warning. For example, for a vehicle (flag 00-0-A) traveling in the same direction as the own vehicle, approaching the own vehicle, and having a priority identifier of "A", a warning is displayed when the turn signal instruction is "right turn", "left turn", or "hazard". Similarly, for a vehicle (flag 00-1-A) traveling in the same direction as the own vehicle, not approaching the own vehicle, and having a priority identifier of "A", a warning is displayed when the turn signal instruction is "right turn", "left turn", or "hazard". On the other hand, for a vehicle (flag 01-0-A) traveling in the opposite direction to the own vehicle, approaching the own vehicle, and having a priority identifier of "A", a warning is displayed only when the turn signal instruction is "right turn". Also, for a vehicle (flag 10-0-A) traveling in a different direction, approaching the own vehicle, and having a priority identifier of "A", a warning is displayed when the turn signal instruction is "right turn". A warning is displayed in the cases of "none", "right turn" and "left turn".

[0036] 8 is a diagram showing an example of a warning display by the display unit 12. For example, when another vehicle P6 (flag 01-0-A) that is traveling in the opposite direction to the own vehicle, is approaching the own vehicle, and has a priority identifier of "A", issues a right turn blinker instruction, the display unit 12 displays a warning message on the screen saying "CAUTION! The vehicle ahead is turning right."

[0037] In addition, the display priority setting unit 15 is configured to obtain information on whether the road on which the vehicle is traveling is a motorway such as an expressway and whether there is a central reservation based on map information as a determination option for setting the priority of information display, and to be able to make changes to the assigned priority identifier by referring to tables T11 to T14.

[0038] FIG. 9 shows tables T16 and T17, which are determination tables in the case where the priority identifier is changed depending on whether the vehicle is traveling on an expressway or not.

[0039] The display priority setting unit 15 refers to the table T16 shown in FIG. 9(a) and assigns a flag of 0 if the vehicle is traveling on an expressway, and assigns a flag of 1 if the vehicle is not traveling on an expressway.

[0040] Table T17 shown in FIG. 9(b) is a table for changing the priority identifier of information display when the vehicle is traveling on an expressway. When traveling on an expressway, there is no need to display oncoming vehicles, so the priority identifier of a vehicle traveling in the oncoming direction (flag 01-0, 01-1) is changed to "C" regardless of which display area the vehicle is in. On the other hand, for a vehicle traveling in the same direction as the vehicle and approaching the vehicle (flag 00-0), the priority identifier is changed to "B" in the case of "C" and to "A" in the case of "B" in order to increase the priority of display in the display areas "II" and "III" in consideration of the possibility of merging or changing lanes. For the same reason, the priority identifier of a vehicle traveling in another direction and not approaching the vehicle (flag 10-1) is also changed from "C" to "B" in order to increase the priority of display in the display area "II".

[0041] FIG. 10 shows tables T18 and T19, which are determination tables for changing the priority depending on whether or not the road on which the vehicle is traveling has a median strip.

[0042] The display priority setting unit 15 refers to the table T18 shown in FIG. 10(a) and assigns a flag of 0 if the road on which the vehicle is traveling has a median strip, and assigns a flag of 1 if the road does not have a median strip.

[0043] Table T19 shown in Fig. 10(b) is a table for changing the priority of information display when there is a median strip on the road the vehicle is traveling on. When there is a median strip on the road, there is no need to display oncoming vehicles, so the priority of vehicles traveling in the oncoming direction (flags 01-0, 01-1) is lowered.

[0044] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of information display of another vehicle when there is a median strip. The shaded area indicates the road R1 on which the vehicle X is traveling, and the thick line area indicates the median strip MS. The other vehicle P7, which is a vehicle (flag 01-1) traveling in the opposite direction to the vehicle X and not approaching the vehicle X, is at low risk of colliding with the vehicle X due to the median strip MS. Therefore, the priority identifier indicating the priority of information display is "C". As described above, when the priority identifier is "C", the display unit 12 does not display the vehicle, but for convenience of explanation, the position of the other vehicle P7 is displayed by a dashed line in FIG. 11.

[0045] As described above, by setting the judgment and priority using the judgment option, the information display device 10 of this embodiment acquires information such as road structure from map information, sets the priority of information display by referring to a judgment table for judging the risk of collision between the own vehicle and other vehicles based on the movement information of the own vehicle and the movement information of other vehicles, and displays information of other vehicles. Therefore, according to the information display device 10 of this embodiment, by additionally using information such as road structure obtained from map information, it is possible to exclude information of vehicles with a low risk of collision and display only information of surrounding vehicles that is truly necessary according to the risk of collision with the own vehicle. EXAMPLES

[0046] The information display device of this embodiment has substantially the same configuration as the information display device 10 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, but differs from the information display device of the first embodiment in that the priority of displaying information about other vehicles is set based on the next intersection in the direction of travel of the vehicle.

[0047] The display priority setting unit 15 reads out map information stored in the memory unit 17, and identifies the next intersection located in the traveling direction of the road on which the vehicle is traveling, based on the movement information of the vehicle acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 13. Then, the display priority setting unit 15 sets the priority of information display by referring to the judgment table stored in the memory unit 17, based on the movement information of other vehicles acquired by the other vehicle information acquisition unit 14, using the intersection as a reference.

[0048] Next, the determination table stored in the storage unit 17 and the priority setting process performed by the display priority setting unit 15 will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0049] 12(a) is a determination table for determining the traveling directions of the host vehicle and the other vehicle and assigning a flag. The display priority setting unit 15 performs the determination based on the information on the traveling direction of the host vehicle and the information on the traveling direction of the other vehicle, and assigns a flag of 00 when the traveling direction of the other vehicle is the same direction as the host vehicle, a flag of 01 when the traveling direction is the opposite direction to the host vehicle, and a flag of 10 when the traveling direction is other than the direction.

[0050] Table T22 shown in Fig. 12(b) is a judgment table for judging whether or not another vehicle is approaching the next intersection located in the traveling direction of the vehicle and assigning a flag to it. The display priority setting unit 15 sets a target intersection (the next intersection located in the traveling direction of the vehicle) based on map information and the position information, speed information, and traveling direction information of the vehicle, calculates the change in relative distance over time based on the position information, speed information, and traveling direction information of the other vehicle, and judges whether or not another vehicle is approaching the intersection. The display priority setting unit 15 assigns flag 0 if another vehicle is approaching the intersection, and assigns flag 1 if another vehicle is not approaching.

[0051] Table T23 shown in FIG. 12(c) is a judgment table for judging whether or not there is a traffic light at the next intersection located in the traveling direction of the vehicle and assigning a flag. The judgment is made based on map information, and if there is a traffic light at the intersection, flag 0 is assigned, and if there is no traffic light, flag 1 is assigned. The display priority setting unit 15 uses table T22 only when it is judged that another vehicle is approaching the intersection (i.e., flag 0 is assigned). The judgment is made using T23.

[0052] Table T24 shown in FIG. 13 is a table showing classification of display areas for setting display areas according to the speed of the vehicle. For example, when the vehicle is waiting for a traffic light in front of an intersection and the speed of the vehicle is 0 km / h, an area whose distance from the intersection is 0 to 50 m is display area "I", an area whose distance from the intersection is 50 to 100 m is display area "II", and an area whose distance from the intersection is 100 m or more is display area "III". When the vehicle speed is 0 to 30 km / h, an area whose distance from the intersection is 0 to 100 m is display area "I", an area whose distance from the intersection is 100 to 150 m is display area "II", and an area whose distance from the intersection is 100 m or more is display area "III". An area with a distance of 150 m or more is displayed as a display area "III". When the speed of the vehicle is 30 to 60 km / h, an area with a distance of 0 to 150 m from the intersection is displayed as a display area "I", an area with a distance of 150 to 200 m from the intersection is displayed as a display area "II", and an area with a distance of 200 m or more from the intersection is displayed as a display area "III". When the speed of the vehicle is 60 to 100 km / h, an area with a distance of 0 to 200 m from the intersection is displayed as a display area "I", an area with a distance of 200 to 250 m from the intersection is displayed as a display area "II", and an area with a distance of 250 m or more from the intersection is displayed as a display area "III". The display priority setting unit 15 refers to the table T24 based on the speed information of the vehicle and sets the display areas.

[0053] Table T25 shown in Fig. 14 is a judgment table for determining the priority of information display. A vehicle traveling in the same direction as the vehicle and approaching an intersection is assigned a priority identifier "A" when located in display area "I", a priority identifier "B" when located in display area "II", and a priority identifier "C" when located in display area "III", regardless of whether the intersection has a traffic light or not (flag 00-0-0, 00-0-1). A vehicle traveling in the same direction as the vehicle and not approaching an intersection (flag 00-1) is assigned a priority identifier "B" when located in display area "I", and a priority identifier "C" when located in display area "II" and "III".

[0054] A vehicle traveling in the opposite direction and approaching an intersection is assigned a priority identifier "A" if it is located in display area "I", a priority identifier "B" if it is located in display area "II", and a priority identifier "C" if it is located in display area "III", regardless of whether the intersection has a traffic light or not (flag 01-0-0, 01-0-1). A vehicle traveling in the opposite direction and not approaching an intersection (flag 01-1) is assigned a priority identifier "B" if it is located in display area "I", and a priority identifier "C" if it is located in display area "II" and "III".

[0055] For vehicles traveling in other directions and approaching the intersection, if there is a traffic light at the intersection (flag 10-0-0), the priority identifier "B" is assigned if the vehicle is located in display area "I", and the priority identifier "C" is assigned if the vehicle is located in display area "II" or "III". For vehicles traveling in other directions and approaching the intersection, if there is no traffic light at the intersection (flag 10-0-1), the priority identifier "A" is assigned if the vehicle is located in display area "I", the priority identifier "B" is assigned if the vehicle is located in display area "II", and the priority identifier "C" is assigned if the vehicle is located in display area "III". For vehicles traveling in other directions and not approaching the intersection (flag 10-1), the priority identifier "C" is assigned if the vehicle is located in any of display areas "I", "II", or "III".

[0056] The display priority setting unit 15 refers to the table T25, and determines whether the map information read from the storage unit 17, the movement information of the host vehicle acquired by the host vehicle information acquisition unit 13, and the movement information of the other vehicle information acquired by the other vehicle information acquisition unit 14 are displayed. Based on the movement information of the other vehicles, a priority for displaying the information of the other vehicles is set.

[0057] The display unit 12 displays information about other vehicles according to the priority set by the display priority setting unit 15 under the control of the processing control unit 16. For example, similar to the first embodiment, the display unit 12 displays the position of a vehicle that has been assigned a priority identifier "A" in yellow on the map, and also displays other information that should be displayed (for example, information that the driver is a novice) if there is such information. Furthermore, for a vehicle that has been assigned a priority identifier "B", the display unit 12 displays the position of the vehicle in green on the map, and does not display any information other than the position. Furthermore, for a vehicle that has been assigned a priority identifier "C", the display unit 12 does not display the vehicle at all.

[0058] In addition, the display priority setting unit 15 is configured to obtain information as to whether or not there is a right-turn exclusive lane on the road on which the vehicle is traveling based on map information as a determination option for setting the priority of information display, and to be able to make changes to the assigned priority identifier by referring to tables T21 to T25.

[0059] 15(a) and 15(b) are diagrams showing tables T26 and T27, which are determination tables in the case where the priority identifier is changed depending on whether or not a dedicated right-turn lane is available.

[0060] For vehicles traveling in the same direction as the vehicle (vehicles assigned flag 00 in table T21), the display priority setting unit 15 refers to table T26 shown in FIG. 15(a) and assigns flag 0 if the road on which the vehicle is traveling has a right-turn exclusive lane, or assigns flag 1 if the road does not have a right-turn exclusive lane.

[0061] Table T27 shown in Fig. 15(b) is a table for changing the priority identifier of information display when there is no dedicated right-turn lane. When a vehicle ahead traveling in the same direction as the vehicle turns right, if there is no dedicated right-turn lane, there is a high risk of collision for vehicles behind, so the display area is expanded. Specifically, when a vehicle traveling in the same direction as the vehicle approaches the intersection and there is no dedicated right-turn lane (flag 00-0-1), the priority identifier is changed to increase the display priority in display areas "II" and "III".

[0062] Furthermore, similarly to the first embodiment, the information display device 10 of this embodiment displays a warning regarding another vehicle based on the turn signal information acquired from the other vehicle to which the priority identifier "A" has been assigned.

[0063] FIG. 16 is a diagram showing table T28, which is a judgment table for judging whether or not to display a warning based on blinker information. For example, for a vehicle traveling in the same direction as the vehicle and approaching an intersection, a warning is displayed when the blinker indicates "right turn", "left turn", or "hazard" regardless of whether there is a traffic light at the intersection (flag 00-0-0) or not (flag 00-0-1). For a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction to the vehicle and approaching an intersection, a warning is displayed when the blinker indicates "right turn" regardless of whether there is a traffic light at the intersection (flag 01-0-0) or not (flag 01-0-1). For a vehicle traveling in another direction and approaching an intersection, a warning is displayed when the blinker indicates "none", "right turn", or "left turn" only when there is no traffic light at the intersection (flag 10-0-1).

[0064] Also, by acquiring the turn signal information, the display priority setting unit 15 can determine whether or not a vehicle parked in a parking lot or on the roadside is about to enter an intersection and set a priority. A vehicle determined to be about to enter an intersection based on the turn signal information is classified as a vehicle traveling in another direction and approaching the intersection (flags 10-0-0, 10-0-1), and a priority identifier is assigned by referring to the table T25.

[0065] Fig. 17 is a diagram showing an example of information display of other vehicles in this embodiment. The shaded area indicates the road R1 on which the host vehicle X is traveling, and the shaded area indicates the next intersection CR in the traveling direction of the host vehicle X. The road R1 does not have a right-turn exclusive lane, and a traffic light is installed at the intersection CR. In addition to the host vehicle X, other vehicles P1 to P6 are present in the display area "I" around the intersection CR.

[0066] The other vehicle P1 is traveling in the other direction and is approaching the intersection (flag 10-0-0), so it is assigned a priority identifier "B" and its position is displayed in green on the map. The other vehicle P2 is a vehicle (flag 10-1) traveling in another direction and not approaching an intersection, so it is assigned a priority identifier "C" and its position is not displayed on the map. For ease of explanation, the vehicle positions are shown by dashed lines in FIG. 17.

[0067] The other vehicle P3 is traveling in the opposite direction to the own vehicle and is approaching an intersection (flag 01-0-0), so it is assigned a priority identifier "A" and its position is displayed in yellow on the map. The other vehicle P4 is traveling in the opposite direction to the own vehicle and is not approaching an intersection (flag 01-1), so it is assigned a priority identifier "B" and its position is displayed in green on the map. The other vehicle P5 is traveling in the same direction as the own vehicle and is approaching an intersection (flag 00-0-0), so it is assigned a priority identifier "A" and its position is displayed in yellow on the map.

[0068] Another vehicle P6 is located in a parking lot along road R1 and is about to turn right onto road R1. Because the turn signal information of the other vehicle P6 indicates that it is traveling in the other direction and is approaching an intersection (flag 10-0-0), it is assigned a priority identifier "B" and its position is displayed in green on the map.

[0069] As described above, the information display device 10 of this embodiment sets the priority of information display by referring to a judgment table for judging the risk of collision between the vehicle and other vehicles based on the map information, the vehicle's movement information, and the other vehicle's movement information, and displays information on other vehicles. Therefore, the information display device 10 of this embodiment makes it possible to display only the information truly necessary according to the risk of collision based on the intersection. EXAMPLES

[0070] The information display device of this embodiment has substantially the same configuration as the information display device 10 of FIG. 1 and is similar to the information display device of embodiment 2 in that it sets priorities based on intersections, but differs from the information display device of embodiment 2 in that it displays warnings about other vehicles based on route information in addition to displaying vehicle information.

[0071] When the other vehicle is setting a route, the other vehicle information acquisition unit 14 acquires the route information of the other vehicle as one piece of movement information of the other vehicle via the communication unit 11. When the vehicle is setting a route, the own vehicle information acquisition unit 13 acquires the route information of the own vehicle as one piece of movement information of the own vehicle.

[0072] The display priority setting unit 15 sets the priority of information display by referring to a determination table stored in the storage unit 17 based on the map information read from the storage unit 17 and the route information of the host vehicle and other vehicles.

[0073] The determination table for displaying a warning stored in the storage unit 17 and the determination process for determining whether or not to display a warning will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0074] 18(a) is a determination table for determining the traveling directions of the host vehicle and the other vehicle and assigning flags. The display priority setting unit 15 performs the determination based on the information on the traveling direction of the host vehicle and the information on the traveling direction of the other vehicle, and assigns flag 00 if the traveling direction of the other vehicle is the same direction as the host vehicle, flag 01 if the traveling direction is the opposite direction to the host vehicle, and flag 10 if the traveling direction is other than the direction.

[0075] Table T30 shown in Fig. 18(b) is a judgment table for judging whether or not route information has been acquired from another vehicle and assigning a flag. The display priority setting unit 15 makes a judgment based on the movement information of another vehicle acquired by the other vehicle information acquisition unit 14, and if the route information of the other vehicle has been acquired, If the request is received, flag 0 is set; if the request is not received, flag 1 is set.

[0076] 19 is a flowchart for the determination process for determining whether or not to display a warning. The display priority setting unit performs the determination process on the premise that the other vehicle information acquisition unit 14 has acquired route information from other vehicles.

[0077] First, the display priority setting unit 15 determines whether or not there is route information set for the vehicle (step S201).

[0078] When it is determined that there is route information set by the subject vehicle (step S201: Yes), the display priority setting unit 15 determines whether there is an intersection where the route set by the subject vehicle and the route set by the other vehicle intersect based on the route information of the other vehicle (step S202). When it is determined that there is an intersection where the route set by the other vehicle intersects (step S202: Yes), the intersection is set as "intersection A" (step S203) and the process proceeds to step S207. When it is determined that there is no intersection (step S202: No), the process ends.

[0079] On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no route information set by the vehicle (step S201: No), the display priority setting unit 15 determines whether or not the road on which the vehicle is traveling intersects with the route of another vehicle at the next intersection based on the map information read from the storage unit 17 (step S204). If it is determined that the road intersects (step S204: Yes), the intersection is set as "Intersection A" (step S205) and the process proceeds to step S207. If it is determined that the roads do not intersect (step S204: No), the process passes through the next intersection (step S206) and ends the process.

[0080] When intersection A is set in step S203 or step S205, the display priority setting unit 15 determines whether the distance between the vehicle and intersection A is within 100 m based on the vehicle position information and map information (step S207). If it is determined that the distance is not within 100 m (step S207: No), the display priority setting unit 15 advances 20 m (step S208) and returns to step S207 to repeat the same process.

[0081] If it is determined that the distance between the vehicle and intersection A is within 100 m (step S207: Yes), a predicted arrival time T1 until the vehicle reaches intersection A and a predicted arrival time T2 until the other vehicle reaches intersection A are calculated based on the route distance and speed information (step S209).

[0082] The display priority setting unit 15 judges whether T1-T2=T is within 10 seconds (step S210). If it is judged to be within 10 seconds (step S210: Yes), the display unit 12 displays a warning about the other vehicle on the screen (step S211). On the other hand, if it is judged not to be within 10 seconds (step S210: No), the process ends.

[0083] As described above, the information display device 10 of this embodiment not only displays information about other vehicles based on intersections, but also displays warnings about other vehicles based on route information. Therefore, it is possible to display warnings according to the risk of collision. EXAMPLES

[0084] Fig. 20 is a block diagram of an information display system according to the present embodiment. The information display system of the present embodiment is composed of a relay device 20 and information display devices 30-1 to 30-n. The relay device 20 is installed in a position where it can receive wireless signals from vehicles passing through the intersection, for example, at the side of the intersection. The information display devices 30-1 to 30-n are mounted on different vehicles. The information display system of the present embodiment differs from embodiments 1 to 3 in that the relay device 20 collects information of each vehicle and sets priorities.

[0085] The relay device 20 includes a communication unit 21 , a vehicle information acquisition unit 22 , a priority setting unit 23 , a process control unit 24 , and a storage unit 25 .

[0086] The communication unit 21 is a wireless communication device conforming to a short-range wireless communication standard such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark), and performs wireless communication with the information display devices 30-1 to 30-n and other relay devices. For example, the communication unit 21 receives vehicle information including movement information (position information, speed information, traveling direction information, etc.) of a vehicle equipped with the information display device and information indicating whether the vehicle is an emergency vehicle or a general vehicle from at least one of the information display devices 30-1 to 30-n (for example, the information display device 30-k). In addition, the communication unit 21 transmits vehicle information including the position of each vehicle to the information display devices 30-1 to 30-n according to the priority set by the priority setting unit 23.

[0087] The vehicle information acquisition unit 22 acquires movement information about one or more vehicles based on information received via the communication unit 21.

[0088] When the vehicle information acquisition unit 22 acquires movement information about a plurality of vehicles, the priority setting unit 23 sets a priority of information transmission for each vehicle based on the movement information.

[0089] The processing control unit 24 includes, for example, a CPU, and controls various processing operations of the communication unit 21, the vehicle information acquisition unit 22, the priority setting unit 23, and the storage unit 25.

[0090] The storage unit 25 includes, for example, a hard disk, a flash memory, an SSD, a RAM, etc., and stores map information and information about each vehicle acquired via the communication unit 21. The storage unit 25 also stores a judgment table for setting the priority of information transmission for each vehicle's information. The storage unit 25 also stores information about roads where it is easy to jump out into the road and roads where a high number of accidents occur (hereinafter referred to as accident-prone road information) obtained from statistical data in association with the map information.

[0091] The information display devices 30-1 to 30-n each include a communication unit 31, a display unit 32, a vehicle information acquisition unit 33, and a processing control unit 34. Hereinafter, one of the information display devices 30-1 to 30-n will also be simply referred to as information display device 30.

[0092] The communication unit 31 is a wireless communication device that complies with a short-range wireless communication standard such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark), and performs wireless communication with the relay device 20. For example, the communication unit 31 transmits to the relay device 20 movement information including position information, speed information, and traveling direction information of a vehicle equipped with the information display device 30. In addition, the communication unit 31 receives vehicle information including the position of each vehicle from the relay device 20.

[0093] The display unit 32 is composed of a display panel such as a liquid crystal display, and displays various information under the control of the processing control unit .

[0094] The vehicle information acquisition unit 33 acquires the position information, speed information, and traveling direction information of the vehicle equipped with the information display device 30 (hereinafter, these are also referred to as the movement information of the vehicle). For example, the vehicle information acquisition unit 33 receives radio waves transmitted from a plurality of GPS satellites, and calculates the distance from each GPS satellite based on the received radio waves to acquire the position information of the vehicle. The vehicle information acquisition unit 33 also includes an acceleration sensor and an angular velocity sensor, and acquires the speed information and traveling direction information of the vehicle by detecting the acceleration and angular velocity.

[0095] The processing control unit 34 includes, for example, a CPU, and controls various processing operations of the communication unit 31, the display unit 32, and the host vehicle information acquisition unit 33.

[0096] Next, the determination table stored in the storage unit 25 of the relay device 20 and the priority setting process performed by the priority setting unit 23 will be described with reference to Fig. 21 and Fig. 22. In the following description, an example will be described in which the relay device 20 receives movement information and vehicle information of each vehicle from the information display devices 30 (e.g., information display devices 301-305) mounted on the vehicles P1-P5. Note that the information about vehicle P1 is information 1, the information about vehicle P2 is information 2, the information about vehicle P3 is information 3, the information about vehicle P4 is information 4, and the information about vehicle P5 is information 5.

[0097] Table T41 shown in Fig. 21(a) is a judgment table for judging whether a vehicle related to the risk of collision is approaching an intersection and assigning a flag on which a priority is judged. The priority setting unit 23 calculates the change in relative distance over time based on the vehicle position information, speed information, and traveling direction information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 22, and judges whether the vehicle is approaching an intersection. The priority setting unit 23 assigns flag 0 when it judges that the vehicle is approaching, and assigns flag 1 when it judges that the vehicle is not approaching.

[0098] 21(b) is a determination table for determining whether a vehicle is an emergency vehicle or not and assigning a flag on which priority is determined. The priority setting unit 23 makes a determination based on the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 22, and assigns a flag of 0 if the vehicle is an emergency vehicle and a flag of 1 if the vehicle is not an emergency vehicle.

[0099] 21(c) is a determination table for determining whether the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 22 is information received directly from the information display device 30 mounted on the vehicle or information received via another relay device, and assigning a flag that is the basis for determining the priority. The priority setting unit 23 makes a determination based on whether the communication partner of the communication unit 21 is the information display device 30 or another relay device, and assigns a flag of 0 if the information is received directly from the information display device, and a flag of 1 if the information is not received directly.

[0100] Table T44 shown in Fig. 21(d) is a judgment table for judging whether or not a vehicle is coming from a specific direction, such as a road where it is easy to jump out or a road where a large number of accidents occur, and assigning a flag that is the basis for judging the priority. The priority setting unit 23 makes a judgment based on the accident-prone road information and map information stored in the storage unit 25 and the vehicle movement information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 22, and assigns flag 0 if the vehicle is coming from the specific direction, and assigns flag 1 if the vehicle is not coming from the specific direction.

[0101] The priority setting unit 23 acquires information on the distance from the relay device 20 to each vehicle based on the position information of each vehicle, and stores it in the storage unit 25 together with the flag assigned based on the tables T41 to T44.

[0102] 22(a) is a diagram showing an example of a table T45 that stores a flag assigned to each vehicle and a distance from the relay device 20 in association with information about the vehicle. For example, vehicle P1 For information 1, which is information on the above, the assigned flag 1-1-0-1 and the distance 20 m are stored in association with each other.

[0103] The priority setting unit 23 rearranges the information (information 1 to 5) for each vehicle (vehicles P1 to P5) in ascending order of the total value of the assigned flags. At this time, for vehicles with the same total value, the vehicle with the shorter distance from the relay device 20 is given the higher priority.

[0104] FIG. 22(b) is a diagram showing table T46 in which information 1 to 5 in table T45 are rearranged. Information 2 has a total flag value of 1, which is the smallest among information 1 to 5, and is therefore the first As for information 5 and information 3, the total value of the flags is 2 for both, so information 5 (50 m), which is the shortest distance from relay device 20, has the second priority, and information 3 (89 m), which is the longest distance, has the third priority. Next, information 1, whose flags have a total value of 3, has the fourth priority, and information 4, whose flags have a total value of 4, has the fifth priority.

[0105] The communication unit 21 transmits information 1 to 5 to the information display devices 30-1 to 30-5 of the vehicles P1 to P5 in an order according to the priority order set by the priority setting unit 23. For example, in the example of table T46, the communication unit 21 transmits movement information (position information, speed information, etc.) for each vehicle in the order of information 2 → information 5 → information 3 → information 1 → information 4.

[0106] The communication unit 31 of the information display device 30 receives the movement information for each vehicle. The display unit 32 displays information about vehicles other than the vehicle on which the information display device 30 is mounted on the screen in the order in which the communication unit 31 received the information.

[0107] As described above, in the information display system of this embodiment, the relay device 20 collects information on each vehicle, sets a priority, and transmits the information on each vehicle in order of priority. Therefore, even in places where communication is likely to be interrupted due to being in the shadow of a building, such as at the corner of an intersection, it is possible to exclude information on vehicles with a low risk of collision and display only the truly necessary information on surrounding vehicles according to the risk of collision with the vehicle itself.

[0108] The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to those shown in the above examples. For example, the contents of the judgment table in each of the above examples are merely examples. The judgment table in Example 1 may be one that can set the priority of the display of information about another vehicle according to the risk of collision based on the travel direction of the vehicle and the other vehicle, the time change in the relative distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle, and the speed of the vehicle. The judgment table in Example 2 may be one that can set the priority of the display of information about another vehicle according to the risk of collision based on the time change in the distance of the other vehicle to the next intersection in the travel direction of the vehicle, the travel direction of the vehicle and the other vehicle, and the speed of the vehicle.

[0109] Also, although the case where information on other vehicles is displayed on the assumption that the vehicle is on a road has been described as an example, the present invention can also be applied to a case where the vehicle is located in a place other than a road, such as a parking lot, etc. For example, in the second embodiment, when the vehicle is about to exit from an exit of a parking lot facing a road, the road portion near the exit can be regarded as an intersection, and information on other vehicles traveling on the road can be preferentially displayed based on tables T21-25.

[0110] In the above fourth embodiment, an example has been described in which the relay device includes a communication unit, a vehicle information acquisition unit, a priority setting unit, a processing control unit, and a storage unit. However, the relay device may include only a communication unit. For example, the relay device transmits information about each vehicle to an external server device or the like, and the server device or the like sets the priority, thereby realizing the same processing as in the fourth embodiment.

[0111] Furthermore, the series of processes explained in each of the above embodiments can be performed by computer processing according to a program stored in a recording medium such as a ROM. [Explanation of symbols]

[0112] 10,30 Information display device 11,31 Communications Department 12,32 Display section 13,33 Vehicle information acquisition unit 14 Other vehicle information acquisition department 15 Display priority setting section 16,34 Processing control unit 17 Memory section 20 Relay Device 21 Communications Department 22 Vehicle information acquisition unit 23 Priority setting section 24 Processing control section 25 Memory section

Claims

[Claim 1] a vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires vehicle information including information on a position, a speed, and a moving direction of a moving object; an other vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires other vehicle information including a position, a speed, and a moving direction of at least one other moving object existing around the moving object; an assigning unit that assigns a priority level identifier indicating a priority level regarding display of the other moving object to the other moving object information based on the host vehicle information and the other moving object information; a display unit that displays the positions of the other moving objects in a display mode corresponding to the priority identifier; An information display device comprising:

Images