Obstacle notification system

Abstract

To provide an obstacle notification system by the present disclosure, which is capable of suppressing notification of a low obstacle which needs to be avoided or an obstacle which does not need to be avoided.SOLUTION: An obstacle notification system (100) according to the present disclosure comprises: an information generation unit (11a, 21a, 31a, 41a) for generating determination-purpose information that stores a starting point position passed by a vehicle before a vehicle avoids an obstacle and an avoiding position passed by the vehicle when the vehicle avoids the obstacle; and a notification unit (11b, 21b, 31b, 41b) that notifies the own vehicle of a presence of an obstacle around the own vehicle when the determination-purpose information is received from another vehicle.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an obstacle notification system that detects and notifies a vehicle of an obstacle that exists in the vicinity of the vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, a vehicle driving assistance device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is configured to be able to execute collision avoidance assistance for preventing the vehicle from colliding with an obstacle when an obstacle present ahead in the traveling direction of the vehicle is detected. The driving assistance device of Patent Document 1 executes a correction process for correcting a driving route so as to avoid the obstacle and a notification process using a warning sound as the collision avoidance assistance.

[0003] The driving support device of Patent Document 1 calculates a target driving route that the vehicle aims at to avoid an obstacle and a predicted driving route predicted based on the actual behavior of the vehicle, and when the difference between the two routes is equal to or less than a predetermined value, delays the timing of executing collision avoidance support from the normal timing. In this way, when the actual behavior of the vehicle is roughly following the target driving route for avoiding the obstacle, that is, when the possibility of the vehicle colliding with the obstacle is considered low, the driving support device of Patent Document 1 prevents unnecessary collision avoidance support from being executed at the normal timing. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6500932 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The driving support device of Patent Document 1 delays the timing of executing collision avoidance support from the normal timing when the possibility of the vehicle colliding with an obstacle is considered low, that is, when the need to avoid the obstacle is considered low, but executes the collision avoidance support itself at a later timing. In other words, according to the driving support device of Patent Document 1, the collision avoidance support itself is executed even for an obstacle that is unlikely to be avoided or an obstacle that is not necessary to be avoided, so it cannot be said that the execution of unnecessary support is sufficiently suppressed.

[0006] The present disclosure provides an obstacle notification system that can suppress notification of obstacles that are unlikely to need to be avoided or that do not need to be avoided. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The obstacle notification system 100 according to the present disclosure includes an information generating unit 11a, 21a, 31a, 41a that generates information for determination that stores a starting position passed by the vehicle before avoiding an obstacle and an avoidance position passed by the vehicle when avoiding the obstacle, and a notification unit 11b, 21b, 31b, 41b that notifies the vehicle of the presence of an obstacle around the vehicle when the information for determination is received from another vehicle.

[0008] According to the obstacle notification system 100 of the present disclosure, the vehicle that actually avoided the obstacle generates the determination information, and the presence of the obstacle can be communicated to other vehicles by the determination information. This makes it possible to notify the driver of the other vehicle of the presence of only the obstacle that a certain vehicle actually avoided, and suppresses notification of obstacles that are unlikely to be avoided or that do not need to be avoided. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration example of an obstacle notification system according to the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a vehicle capable of detecting an obstacle according to the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of an obstacle detection incapable vehicle according to the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a software configuration of a vehicle capable of detecting an obstacle according to the present disclosure. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a software configuration of a vehicle incapable of detecting an obstacle according to the present disclosure. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of vehicle information according to the present disclosure. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of a control operation by an obstacle notification system according to the present disclosure. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of a control operation by the obstacle notification system according to the present disclosure (part 2). [Figure 9] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of a control operation by the obstacle notification system according to the present disclosure. [Figure 10] FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of a control operation by the obstacle notification system according to the present disclosure. [Figure 11] A flowchart showing an example of a control flow by the obstacle notification system according to the present disclosure. [Figure 12] A flowchart showing an example of an obstacle avoidance determination process based on the detection of an obstacle according to the present disclosure. [Figure 13] A flowchart showing an example of an obstacle avoidance determination process based on a comparison of driving histories according to the present disclosure. [Figure 14] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of a comparison process according to the present disclosure; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the obstacle notification system of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The obstacle notification system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 is constructed by a plurality of vehicles 10, 20, 30, and 40. The vehicle 10 is an example of an obstacle detectable vehicle that is capable of detecting an obstacle. The vehicles 20, 30, and 40 are all examples of obstacle undetectable vehicles that are unable to detect an obstacle. The obstacle notification system 100 includes at least one or more obstacle detectable vehicles. The obstacle notification system 100 includes at least one or more obstacle undetectable vehicles. Note that the obstacle notification system 100 can be established even if all the vehicles are obstacle detectable vehicles, that is, even if the system does not include any obstacle undetectable vehicles.

[0011] In the traffic scene illustrated in Fig. 1, a vehicle 10 has just passed a curved road C. Vehicles 20 and 30 are passing through the curved road C. A vehicle 40 is before passing through the curved road C. An obstacle S is present at the entrance to the curved road C. The obstacle S may be any of a variety of objects that impede the travel of the vehicle, such as a vehicle stopped due to a breakdown, a construction vehicle at a road construction site, a fallen tree that has entered the roadway, a rock, an animal, and the like.

[0012] 2, the vehicle 10 includes a control device 11, an obstacle detection unit 12, a position information acquisition unit 13, a communication unit 14, a display output unit 15, a sound output unit 16, a navigation unit 17, and the like. The control device 11 is mainly configured with, for example, a microcomputer, and controls the overall operation of the vehicle 10. The obstacle detection unit 12 is configured with, for example, an on-board camera, a radar device, an infrared sensor, and the like, and is capable of detecting obstacles present around the vehicle 10. It is preferable that the obstacle detection unit 12 is configured to be capable of detecting at least obstacles present ahead of the vehicle 10 in the traveling direction.

[0013] The position information acquisition unit 13 is composed of, for example, a GNSS sensor (GNSS: Global Navigation Satellite System) and can acquire position information indicating the position of the vehicle 10. The communication unit 14 is composed of, for example, a wireless communication device and can transmit and receive information with other vehicles, i.e., vehicles other than the vehicle itself, i.e., vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The display output unit 15 is composed of, for example, a display and a meter and can display various information. The sound output unit 16 is composed of, for example, a speaker and can output various sounds and voices. The navigation unit 17 can execute route guidance for the vehicle 10 while reflecting the position information of the vehicle 10 acquired by the position information acquisition unit 13 and the like in map data. The navigation unit 17 can store the driving route on which the vehicle itself has traveled, i.e., the driving history.

[0014] 3, the vehicles 20, 30, 40 include control devices 21, 31, 41, position information acquisition units 23, 33, 43, communication units 24, 34, 44, display output units 25, 35, 45, sound output units 26, 36, 46, navigation units 27, 37, 47, etc. The control devices 21, 31, 41 are mainly composed of, for example, a microcomputer, and control the overall operation of the vehicles 20, 30, 40, respectively.

[0015] The position information acquisition units 23, 33, 43 are configured with, for example, a GNSS sensor (GNSS: Global Navigation Satellite System) and can acquire position information indicating the positions of the vehicles 20, 30, 40. The communication units 24, 34, 44 are configured with, for example, a wireless communication device and can transmit and receive information between other vehicles, i.e., vehicles other than the vehicle itself, i.e., vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The display output units 25, 35, 45 are configured with, for example, a display and a meter and can display various information. The sound output units 26, 36, 46 are configured with, for example, a speaker and can output various sounds and voices. The navigation units 27, 37, 47 can execute route guidance for the vehicles 20, 30, 40 while reflecting the position information of the vehicles 20, 30, 40 acquired by the position information acquisition units 23, 33, 43 and the like in the map data. The navigation units 27, 37, 47 can store the driving route on which the vehicle itself has traveled, i.e., the driving history.

[0016] The vehicle 10 is configured to be able to detect obstacles present around the vehicle by including the obstacle detection unit 12. The vehicles 20, 30, and 40 are configured in such a way that the obstacle detection unit 12 is removed from the configuration of the vehicle 10 described above. Thus, the vehicles 20, 30, and 40 are configured in such a way that they are unable to detect obstacles present around the vehicle.

[0017] 4, the control device 11 provided in the vehicle 10 executes a control program to virtually realize an information generation processing unit 11a, a notification processing unit 11b, and a determination processing unit 11c by software. The information generation processing unit 11a, the notification processing unit 11b, and the determination processing unit 11c may be configured by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0018] The information generation processing unit 11a is an example of an information generation unit and is capable of generating vehicle information H, which will be described later. The notification processing unit 11b is an example of a notification unit and is capable of notifying the presence of an obstacle around the host vehicle when vehicle information H, which will be described later, is received from another vehicle. The determination processing unit 11c is an example of a determination unit and is capable of executing an obstacle avoidance determination process that determines whether the host vehicle has avoided an obstacle.

[0019] 5, the control devices 21, 31, 41 provided in the vehicles 20, 30, 40 execute a control program to virtually realize the information generation processing units 21a, 31a, 41a, the notification processing units 21b, 31b, 41b, and the determination processing units 21c, 31c, 41c by software. The information generation processing units 21a, 31a, 41a, the notification processing units 21b, 31b, 41b, and the determination processing units 21c, 31c, 41c may be configured by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0020] The information generation processing units 21a, 31a, and 41a are an example of an information generation unit and are capable of generating vehicle information H, which will be described later. The notification processing units 21b, 31b, and 41b are an example of a notification unit and are capable of notifying the presence of an obstacle around the vehicle when vehicle information H, which will be described later, is received from another vehicle. The determination processing units 21c, 31c, and 41c are an example of a determination unit and are capable of executing an obstacle avoidance determination process that determines whether the vehicle has avoided an obstacle.

[0021] The notification processing by the notification processing units 11b, 21b, 31b, 41b may be, for example, a visual notification mode via the display output units 15, 25, 35, 45, an auditory notification mode via the sound output units 16, 26, 36, 46, a combination of a visual notification mode and an auditory notification mode, or a combination of other notification modes, for example, a tactile notification mode using vibration or the like.

[0022] The vehicle information H illustrated in Fig. 6 is an example of information for determination, and is generated by the above-mentioned information generation processing units 11a, 21a, 31a, 41a. The vehicle information H includes multiple types of information, in this case, at least vehicle ID information, transmission time information, an enable / disable flag of an obstacle detection function, and position information for determination. The vehicle ID information is unique information for identifying the vehicle for which the vehicle information H was generated. The transmission time information is information indicating the time when the vehicle information H was transmitted to another vehicle.

[0023] The enable / disable flag of the obstacle detection function is information indicating whether or not the vehicle was in a state capable of detecting an obstacle at the time when the vehicle information H was generated.

[0024] For example, in a vehicle 10, if the obstacle detection unit 12 is operating effectively at the time the information generation processing unit 11a generates vehicle information H, the control device 11 determines that the vehicle 10 is in a state in which it is able to detect obstacles, and sets an effective flag for the obstacle detection function to, for example, a numerical value "1."

[0025] For example, in a vehicle 10, if the obstacle detection unit 12 is not operating effectively at the time the information generation processing unit 11a generates the vehicle information H, the control unit 11 determines that the vehicle 10 is not in a state in which it can detect obstacles, and sets an invalid flag for the obstacle detection function to, for example, a numerical value "0."

[0026] The vehicle 10 is a vehicle equipped with an obstacle detection unit 12, and exists as an obstacle detectable vehicle that can detect obstacles as long as the obstacle detection unit 12 is operating effectively. However, when the obstacle detection unit 12 is not operating effectively, the vehicle 10 exists as an obstacle detection incapable vehicle that cannot detect obstacles. Therefore, in the vehicle 10, the setting content of the enable / disable flag of the obstacle detection function changes depending on the state of the obstacle detection unit 12 at the time when the information generation processing unit 11a generates the vehicle information H.

[0027] For example, in the vehicles 20, 30, 40, if the obstacle detection unit is operating effectively at the time the information generation processing unit 21a, 31a, 41a generates the vehicle information H, the control unit 21, 31, 41 determines that the vehicle 20, 30, 40 is in a state in which it can detect obstacles, and sets an effective flag for the obstacle detection function to, for example, a numerical value "1."

[0028] For example, in the vehicles 20, 30, 40, if the obstacle detection unit is not operating effectively at the time the information generation processing unit 21a, 31a, 41a generates the vehicle information H, the control unit 21, 31, 41 determines that the vehicle 20, 30, 40 was not in a state in which it could detect obstacles, and sets an invalid flag for the obstacle detection function to, for example, a numerical value "0."

[0029] The vehicles 20, 30, and 40 are vehicles that do not have the obstacle detection unit 12, and will exist as obstacle detection incapable vehicles that cannot detect obstacles unless a component capable of detecting such obstacles is newly installed. Therefore, in the vehicles 20, 30, and 40, the setting content of the enable / disable flag of the obstacle detection function will in principle remain unchanged as the disable flag.

[0030] The position information for determination includes a plurality of types of position information, in this case, at least starting point position information and avoidance position information.

[0031] The starting point position information is information indicating a starting point position that the host vehicle passed before avoiding an obstacle. The starting point position information includes latitude information indicating the latitude of the starting point position, longitude information indicating the longitude of the starting point position, and altitude information indicating the altitude of the starting point position. The starting point position information includes reliability information indicating the reliability of the latitude information, longitude information, and altitude information. The starting point position information is also information indicating a judgment start point at which the obstacle avoidance judgment process according to the present disclosure is started.

[0032] The avoidance position information is information indicating an avoidance position that the vehicle passed when avoiding an obstacle. The avoidance position information includes latitude information indicating the latitude of the avoidance position, longitude information indicating the longitude of the avoidance position, and altitude information indicating the altitude of the avoidance position. The avoidance position information includes reliability information indicating the reliability of the latitude information, longitude information, and altitude information.

[0033] Next, an example of a control operation by the obstacle notification system 100 will be described. For ease of explanation, the vehicle information H generated by the vehicle 10 using the information generation processing unit 11a may be referred to as vehicle information H1, the vehicle information H generated by the vehicle 20 using the information generation processing unit 21a may be referred to as vehicle information H2, the vehicle information H generated by the vehicle 30 using the information generation processing unit 31a may be referred to as vehicle information H3, and the vehicle information H generated by the vehicle 40 using the information generation processing unit 41a may be referred to as vehicle information H4.

[0034] 7, for example, when the vehicle 10 detects an obstacle S by the obstacle detection unit 12, the vehicle 10 notifies the driver of the vehicle that there is an obstacle S in the vicinity of the vehicle 10. When the vehicle 10 avoids the obstacle S, the vehicle 10 generates vehicle information H1 including a starting position P1 passed before avoiding the obstacle S and an avoidance position P2 passed when the obstacle S was avoided.

[0035] More specifically, as illustrated in Fig. 7, when the vehicle 10 detects an obstacle S present ahead in the traveling direction, the vehicle 10 identifies the position of the obstacle S by analysis processing. The vehicle 10 checks whether or not the vehicle has changed lanes after detecting the obstacle S. If the vehicle 10 has changed lanes after detecting the obstacle S, the vehicle 10 determines that the obstacle S has been avoided. If the vehicle 10 has not changed lanes after detecting the obstacle S, the vehicle 10 determines that the obstacle S has not been avoided.

[0036] When the vehicle 10 determines that the obstacle S has been avoided, it sets the position of the roadway actually traveled by the vehicle that is closest to the obstacle S as an avoidance position P2 and stores it in the vehicle information H1. When the vehicle 10 determines that the obstacle S has been avoided, it sets the intersection point between the roadway actually traveled by the vehicle and a concentric circle D centered on the obstacle S as a starting position P1 and stores it in the vehicle information H1. When there are multiple intersection points between the roadway actually traveled by the vehicle and a concentric circle D centered on the obstacle S, the vehicle 10 sets the intersection point whose position information was acquired the oldest as the starting position P1.

[0037] As illustrated in Fig. 8, the vehicle 10 transmits the generated vehicle information H1 to other vehicles. The vehicle information H1 transmitted by the vehicle 10 is received by other vehicles that are present within a predetermined distance from the vehicle 10. Hereinafter, a case where the vehicle information H1 transmitted by the vehicle 10 is received by vehicles 20, 30 traveling behind the vehicle 10 will be described.

[0038] When the vehicle 20 receives the vehicle-to-vehicle information H1 from the vehicle 10, the vehicle 20 notifies the driver of the vehicle that an obstacle S exists around the vehicle. In other words, when the vehicle 20 receives at least one piece of vehicle-to-vehicle information H from another vehicle, the vehicle 20 notifies the driver of the vehicle that an obstacle S exists around the vehicle. In other words, when the vehicle 20 receives the vehicle-to-vehicle information H from at least one or more other vehicles, the vehicle 20 notifies the driver of the vehicle that an obstacle S exists around the vehicle.

[0039] The vehicle 20 checks whether the host vehicle has passed both the starting position P1 and the avoidance position P2 by comparing the roadway that the host vehicle has actually traveled with the vehicle information H1 generated by the obstacle detection capable vehicle. If the host vehicle has passed both the starting position P1 and the avoidance position P2, the vehicle 20 determines that the host vehicle has avoided the obstacle S. The vehicle 20 may be configured to determine that the host vehicle has avoided the obstacle S when the host vehicle has passed at least one of the starting position P1 and the avoidance position P2.

[0040] When the vehicle 20 determines that the obstacle S has been avoided, the vehicle 20 generates the vehicle information H2. At this time, the vehicle 20 stores the starting point position P1 stored in the vehicle information H1 as the starting point position of the vehicle information H2 to be generated. The vehicle 20 also stores the avoidance position P2 stored in the vehicle information H1 as the avoidance position of the vehicle information H2 to be generated.

[0041] When the vehicle 20 does not pass through both the starting position P1 and the avoidance position P2, the vehicle 20 determines that the vehicle has not avoided the obstacle S. In this case, even though the vehicle 10 has generated the vehicle information H1 in response to the avoidance of the obstacle S and transmitted it to the other vehicle, the other vehicle, the vehicle 20, has not avoided the obstacle S. In other words, it is considered that the obstacle S avoided by the vehicle 10 no longer exists due to some circumstances. Therefore, when the vehicle 20 determines that the obstacle S has not been avoided, the vehicle 20 does not generate the vehicle information H2. Alternatively, even if the vehicle 20 generates the vehicle information H2, the vehicle 20 does not transmit the vehicle information H2 to the other vehicle. The vehicle 20 also discards the vehicle information H1 having the same position information as the vehicle information H2 from the transmission buffer.

[0042] 9, the vehicle 20 transmits the generated inter-vehicle information H2 together with the inter-vehicle information H1 to other vehicles. The inter-vehicle information H1 and H2 transmitted by the vehicle 20 are received by other vehicles that are present within a predetermined distance from the vehicle 20. Hereinafter, a case will be described in which the inter-vehicle information H1 and H2 transmitted by the vehicle 20 are received by a vehicle 30 traveling to the side of the vehicle 20 and a vehicle 40 traveling behind the vehicle 20.

[0043] The vehicle 30 receives vehicle information H1 from the other vehicles 10 and 20, and further receives vehicle information H2 from the other vehicle 20. Here, the vehicle information H1 and H2 are information indicating at least the same starting position P1 and the same avoidance position P2. That is, the vehicle 30 receives a plurality of vehicle information H1 and H2 having at least a part of the same content from the other vehicles 10 and 20. When the vehicle 30 receives the vehicle information H1 and H2 having the same content from the plurality of other vehicles 10 and 20, the vehicle 30 notifies the driver of the vehicle that an obstacle S exists around the vehicle. That is, when the vehicle 30 receives at least one or more vehicle information H from the other vehicles, the vehicle 30 notifies the driver of the vehicle that an obstacle S exists around the vehicle.

[0044] The vehicle 30 extracts the vehicle information H1 for which a valid flag is set as the valid / invalid flag of the obstacle detection function from the received vehicle information H1, H2, that is, the vehicle information H1 generated in a state in which an obstacle can be detected. Then, the vehicle 30 executes an obstacle avoidance determination process for determining whether or not the host vehicle has avoided the obstacle S based on the extracted vehicle information H1.

[0045] That is, the vehicle 30 checks whether or not the host vehicle has passed both the starting position P1 and the avoidance position P2 by comparing the roadway that the host vehicle has actually traveled with the vehicle information H1 generated by the obstacle detection capable vehicle. If the host vehicle has passed both the starting position P1 and the avoidance position P2, the vehicle 30 determines that the host vehicle has avoided the obstacle S. The vehicle 30 may be configured to determine that the host vehicle has avoided the obstacle S when the host vehicle has passed at least one of the starting position P1 and the avoidance position P2.

[0046] When the vehicle 30 determines that the obstacle S has been avoided, the vehicle 30 generates the vehicle information H3. At this time, the vehicle 30 stores the starting point position P1 stored in the vehicle information H1 as the starting point position of the vehicle information H3 to be generated. The vehicle 30 also stores the avoidance position P2 stored in the vehicle information H1 as the avoidance position of the vehicle information H3 to be generated.

[0047] When the vehicle 30 does not pass through both the starting position P1 and the avoidance position P2, the vehicle 30 determines that the vehicle has not avoided the obstacle S. In this case, even though the vehicle 10 has generated the vehicle information H1 in response to the avoidance of the obstacle S and transmitted it to the other vehicle, the other vehicle, the vehicle 30, has not avoided the obstacle S. In other words, it is considered that the obstacle S avoided by the vehicle 10 no longer exists due to some circumstances. Therefore, when the vehicle 30 determines that the obstacle S has not been avoided, the vehicle 30 does not generate the vehicle information H3. Alternatively, even if the vehicle 30 generates the vehicle information H3, the vehicle 30 does not transmit the vehicle information H3 to the other vehicle. The vehicle 30 also discards the vehicle information H1 and H2 having the same position information as the vehicle information H3 from the transmission buffer.

[0048] 10, the vehicle 30 transmits the generated vehicle information H3 together with the vehicle information H1 and H2 to other vehicles. The vehicle information H1, H2, and H3 transmitted by the vehicle 30 are received by other vehicles that are present within a predetermined distance from the vehicle 30. Hereinafter, a case where the vehicle information H1, H2, and H3 transmitted by the vehicle 30 are received by a vehicle 40 traveling behind the vehicle 30 will be described.

[0049] The vehicle 40 receives vehicle information H1 from the other vehicles 10, 20, and 30, further receives vehicle information H2 from the other vehicles 20 and 30, and further receives vehicle information H3 from the other vehicle 30. Here, the vehicle information H1, H2, and H3 are information indicating at least the same starting position P1 and the same avoidance position P2. That is, the vehicle 40 receives a plurality of vehicle information H1, H2, and H3 having at least a part of the same content from the other vehicles 10, 20, and 30. When the vehicle 40 receives the vehicle information H1, H2, and H3 having the same content from the plurality of other vehicles 10, 20, and 30, the vehicle 40 notifies the driver of the vehicle that an obstacle S exists around the vehicle. That is, when the vehicle 40 receives at least one or more vehicle information H from the other vehicles, the vehicle 40 notifies the driver of the vehicle that an obstacle S exists around the vehicle.

[0050] The vehicle 40 extracts the vehicle information H1 for which a valid flag is set as the valid / invalid flag of the obstacle detection function from the received vehicle information H1, H2, and H3, that is, the vehicle information H1 generated in a state in which an obstacle can be detected. Then, the vehicle 40 executes an obstacle avoidance determination process for determining whether or not the host vehicle has avoided the obstacle S based on the extracted vehicle information H1.

[0051] That is, the vehicle 40 checks whether or not the host vehicle has passed both the starting position P1 and the avoidance position P2 by comparing the roadway that the host vehicle has actually traveled with the vehicle information H1 generated by the obstacle detection capable vehicle. If the host vehicle has passed both the starting position P1 and the avoidance position P2, the vehicle 40 determines that the host vehicle has avoided the obstacle S. The vehicle 40 may be configured to determine that the host vehicle has avoided the obstacle S when the host vehicle has passed at least one of the starting position P1 and the avoidance position P2.

[0052] When the vehicle 40 determines that the obstacle S has been avoided, the vehicle 40 generates the vehicle information H4. At this time, the vehicle 40 stores the starting point position P1 stored in the vehicle information H1 as the starting point position of the vehicle information H4 to be generated. The vehicle 40 also stores the avoidance position P2 stored in the vehicle information H1 as the avoidance position of the vehicle information H4 to be generated.

[0053] If the vehicle 40 does not pass through both the starting position P1 and the avoidance position P2, the vehicle 40 determines that the obstacle S has not been avoided. In this case, even though the vehicle 10 generates the vehicle information H1 in response to the avoidance of the obstacle S and transmits it to the other vehicle, the vehicle 40 has not avoided the obstacle S, that is, it is considered that the obstacle S avoided by the vehicle 10 no longer exists due to some circumstances. If the vehicle 40 determines that the obstacle S has not been avoided, the vehicle 40 does not generate the vehicle information H4. Alternatively, even if the vehicle 40 generates the vehicle information H4, the vehicle 40 does not transmit the vehicle information H4 to the other vehicle. In addition, the vehicle 40 also discards the vehicle information H1, H2, and H3 having the same position information as the vehicle information H4 from the transmission buffer.

[0054] The vehicle 40 transmits the generated vehicle-vehicle information H4 together with the vehicle-vehicle information H1, H2, and H3 to other vehicles. The vehicle-vehicle information H1, H2, H3, and H4 transmitted by the vehicle 40 is received, for example, by other vehicles (not shown) that are present within a predetermined distance from the vehicle 40, and the above-mentioned obstacle notification process, obstacle avoidance determination process, generation process of the vehicle-vehicle information H, transmission process of the vehicle-vehicle information H to other vehicles, and the like are executed in the other vehicles.

[0055] There are various possible reasons why an obstacle S detected by a vehicle capable of obstacle detection may no longer exist, such as a vehicle that had stopped due to a breakdown returning to a drivable state and moving away, construction work being completed and construction vehicles moving away, fallen trees or rocks that had entered the roadway being removed, or animals that had entered the roadway moving away, etc.

[0056] The communication distance of vehicle-to-vehicle communication can vary depending on the performance of the communication unit installed in each vehicle and the presence of communication obstacles such as buildings.

[0057] When the accuracy of the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 23, 33, 43 is lower than a predetermined standard accuracy, or when it is difficult to accurately identify the driving path traveled by the vehicle 20, 30, 40, the vehicle may be configured to not execute the obstacle avoidance determination process or the generation process of the vehicle information H, but to transmit only the vehicle information H1 received from the obstacle detection capable vehicle to other vehicles as is.

[0058] Next, an example of a control flow by the obstacle notification system 100 will be described. As illustrated in Fig. 11, the vehicle that constitutes the obstacle notification system 100 checks whether or not it has received inter-vehicle information H from one or more other vehicles (step S1). When the vehicle receives inter-vehicle information H from one or more other vehicles (step S1: YES), it stores the inter-vehicle information H received from the other vehicles in a transmission buffer (step S2). Steps S1 and S2 constitute a storage process that stores the received information in the transmission buffer. The transmission buffer is provided in a memory or storage medium that can store various types of data.

[0059] The vehicle checks whether it has received the same inter-vehicle information H from two or more other vehicles (step S3). If the vehicle has not received the same inter-vehicle information H from two or more other vehicles (step S3: NO), it proceeds to step S5. If the vehicle has received the same inter-vehicle information H from two or more other vehicles (step S3: YES), it notifies the driver of the vehicle that an obstacle exists around the vehicle (step S4). Steps S3 and S4 constitute a process of notifying the driver of the vehicle.

[0060] The vehicle checks whether the driving route of the vehicle can be accurately specified by the position information acquired by the vehicle (step S5). When the performance of the position information acquisition unit installed in the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined reference level, for example, when the vehicle is traveling in a plain with good visibility and accurate position information can be acquired, the vehicle determines that the driving route of the vehicle can be accurately specified by the position information acquired by the vehicle. When the performance of the position information acquisition unit installed in the vehicle is lower than a predetermined reference level, for example, when the vehicle is traveling in a city surrounded by buildings or in a mountainous area and accurate position information is difficult to acquire, even if the performance of the position information acquisition unit installed in the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined reference level, the vehicle determines that the driving route of the vehicle cannot be accurately specified by the position information acquired by the vehicle.

[0061] If the vehicle can accurately identify the traveling path of the vehicle based on the position information acquired by the vehicle (step S5: YES), the vehicle checks whether the vehicle is in a state where it can detect obstacles (step S6). If the vehicle is equipped with an obstacle detection unit and the obstacle detection unit is operating effectively, the vehicle determines that the vehicle is in a state where it can detect obstacles. If the vehicle is not equipped with an obstacle detection unit, if the vehicle is equipped with an obstacle detection unit but the obstacle detection unit is not operating effectively, if the vehicle is equipped with an obstacle detection unit but the performance is lower than a predetermined level, etc., the vehicle determines that the vehicle is not in a state where it can detect obstacles.

[0062] If the vehicle is in a state where it can detect an obstacle (step S6: YES), it executes an obstacle avoidance determination process based on the detection of the obstacle (step S7).If the vehicle is not in a state where it can detect an obstacle (step S6: NO), it executes an obstacle avoidance determination process based on a comparison of the driving history (step S8).

[0063] The obstacle avoidance determination process based on the detection of an obstacle is mainly executed in a vehicle capable of detecting an obstacle, whereas the obstacle avoidance determination process based on the comparison of driving histories is mainly executed in a vehicle incapable of detecting an obstacle or in a vehicle capable of detecting an obstacle in which the obstacle detection function is disabled.

[0064] As illustrated in FIG. 12, in the obstacle avoidance determination process based on the detection of an obstacle, the vehicle checks whether or not an obstacle has been detected (step S7a). If the vehicle has not detected an obstacle (step S7a: NO), the process proceeds to step S7d. If the vehicle has detected an obstacle (step S7a: YES), the vehicle checks whether or not the obstacle has been avoided (step S7b). If the vehicle has avoided the obstacle (step S7b: YES), the vehicle adds the vehicle information H generated by the vehicle to the transmission buffer (step S7c). If the vehicle has not avoided the obstacle (step S7b: NO), the process proceeds to step S7d.

[0065] When the vehicle proceeds to step S7d, the vehicle checks whether or not it has received vehicle information H from one or more other vehicles, in which determination position information that overlaps with the driving history of the vehicle is stored. In this case, the vehicle checks whether or not it has received vehicle information H in which starting point position information that overlaps with the driving history of the vehicle is stored. If the vehicle has received vehicle information H in which starting point position information that overlaps with the driving history of the vehicle is stored from one or more other vehicles (step S7d: YES), the vehicle deletes the vehicle information H in which starting point position information that overlaps with the driving history of the vehicle is stored from the transmission buffer (step S7e) and ends the obstacle avoidance determination process based on the detection of an obstacle. If the vehicle has not received vehicle information H in which starting point position information that overlaps with the driving history of the vehicle is stored from one or more other vehicles (step S7d: NO), the vehicle ends the obstacle avoidance determination process based on the detection of an obstacle. The vehicle may check whether or not it has received vehicle information H in which starting point position information and avoidance position information that overlap with the driving history of the vehicle are stored. Alternatively, the vehicle may check whether or not it has received vehicle information H that contains avoidance position information rather than start point position information that overlaps with the vehicle's travel history.

[0066] As illustrated in Fig. 13, in the obstacle avoidance determination process based on the comparison of the driving histories, the vehicle checks whether or not it has received, from one or more other vehicles, vehicle information H that stores determination position information that overlaps with the driving history of the vehicle itself (step S8a). In this case, the vehicle checks whether or not it has received, from one or more other vehicles, vehicle information H that stores starting point position information that overlaps with the driving history of the vehicle itself. If the vehicle has not received, from one or more other vehicles, vehicle information H that stores starting point position information that overlaps with the driving history of the vehicle itself (step S8a: NO), it ends the obstacle avoidance determination process based on the comparison of the driving histories.

[0067] When the vehicle receives vehicle information H from one or more other vehicles in which starting point position information that overlaps with the driving history of the vehicle is stored (step S8a: YES), the vehicle checks whether the received vehicle information H includes vehicle information H that was generated in a state in which an obstacle can be detected (step S8b). Specifically, the vehicle checks whether vehicle information H in which a valid flag is stored as an enable / disable flag for the obstacle detection function exists. The vehicle may check whether it has received vehicle information H in which both starting point position information and avoidance position information that overlap with the driving history of the vehicle are stored. Alternatively, the vehicle may check whether it has received vehicle information H in which avoidance position information is stored instead of starting point position information that overlaps with the driving history of the vehicle.

[0068] When the received vehicle information H includes vehicle information H generated in a state where an obstacle can be detected (step S8b: YES), the vehicle sets the vehicle information H generated in a state where an obstacle can be detected as a comparison target (step S8c). When the received vehicle information H does not include vehicle information H generated in a state where an obstacle can be detected (step S8b: NO), the vehicle sets one of the received vehicle information H, for example, vehicle information H generated in a state where an obstacle cannot be detected, as a comparison target (step S8d). That is, when there are multiple vehicle information H received from other vehicles, the vehicle selects one of the vehicle information H and sets it as a comparison target. The selection of the vehicle information H to be compared may be based on, for example, vehicle ID information, transmission time information, or other information.

[0069] The vehicle executes a comparison process to compare a position specified by the determination position information of the vehicle information H set as a comparison target with a position specified by the driving history of the vehicle (step S8e). In this case, the vehicle compares a position specified by the avoidance position information of the vehicle information H set as a comparison target with a position specified by the driving history of the vehicle. In this way, the vehicle verifies whether or not the position information of the comparison target overlaps with the driving history information of the vehicle. The vehicle may compare both a position specified by the start position information and a position specified by the avoidance position information of the vehicle information H set as a comparison target with a position specified by the driving history of the vehicle. Alternatively, the vehicle may compare a position specified by the start position information, not a position specified by the avoidance position information of the vehicle information H set as a comparison target, with a position specified by the driving history of the vehicle. The vehicle checks whether or not the vehicle has traveled to a position specified by the determination position information of the vehicle information H set as a comparison target (step S8f). More specifically, the vehicle checks whether or not the vehicle itself has passed through the starting point position P1 stored in the vehicle information H set as a comparison target.

[0070] When the vehicle has traveled through the starting position P1 specified by the vehicle information H set as the comparison target (step S8f: YES), the vehicle adds the vehicle information H generated by the vehicle to the transmission buffer (step S8g) and ends the obstacle avoidance determination process based on the comparison of the travel history. When the vehicle has not traveled through the starting position P1 specified by the vehicle information H set as the comparison target (step S8f: NO), the vehicle deletes the vehicle information H in which the starting position P1 overlapping with the travel history of the vehicle is stored from the transmission buffer (step S8h) and ends the obstacle avoidance determination process based on the comparison of the travel history. The vehicle may check whether the vehicle has passed through both the starting position P1 and the avoidance position P2 stored in the vehicle information H set as the comparison target. Alternatively, the vehicle may check whether the vehicle has passed through the avoidance position P2 instead of the starting position P1 stored in the vehicle information H set as the comparison target.

[0071] As illustrated in Fig. 11, when the vehicle ends the obstacle avoidance determination process based on the detection of an obstacle (step S7) or the obstacle avoidance determination process based on the comparison of the travel history (step S8), the vehicle transmits all vehicle information H stored in the transmission buffer at that time to the other vehicles (step A9) and ends this control flow. If the vehicle cannot accurately identify the travel path of the vehicle based on the position information acquired by the vehicle (step S5: NO), the vehicle proceeds to step A9 without executing either the obstacle avoidance determination process based on the detection of an obstacle (step S7) or the obstacle avoidance determination process based on the comparison of the travel history (step S8). Then, the vehicle transmits all vehicle information H stored in the transmission buffer at that time to the other vehicles (step A9) and ends this control flow.

[0072] The obstacle notification system 100 illustrated above includes an information generation processing unit 11a, 21a, 31a, 41a that generates vehicle information H that stores a starting position P1 passed by the vehicle before avoiding the obstacle and an avoidance position P2 passed by the vehicle when avoiding the obstacle, and a notification processing unit 11b, 21b, 31b, 41b that, when receiving the vehicle information H from another vehicle, notifies the driver of the vehicle that an obstacle is present around the vehicle.

[0073] In the obstacle notification system 100 configured as described above, the vehicle 10 capable of detecting an obstacle transmits the vehicle information H to the other vehicles when it detects an obstacle and avoids the obstacle. When the vehicles 20, 30, and 40 unable to detect an obstacle receive the vehicle information H from at least one other vehicle, they notify the driver of the vehicle that an obstacle exists around the vehicle. That is, according to the obstacle notification system 100, the vehicle information H is generated in the vehicle 10 that actually avoided an obstacle, and the existence of the obstacle can be transmitted to the other vehicles by the vehicle information H. As a result, the existence of only the obstacle that a certain vehicle actually avoided can be notified to the driver of the other vehicle, and it is possible to sufficiently suppress the notification of an obstacle that is unlikely to be avoided or that does not need to be avoided, in other words, the execution of unnecessary assistance.

[0074] According to the obstacle notification system 100, even in a traffic scene with poor visibility, such as a curved road C, if the preceding vehicle is a vehicle 10 capable of detecting obstacles, and the vehicle 10 actually detects and avoids an obstacle S, the following vehicles 20, 30, 40 can be notified of the presence of the obstacle S by the vehicle-vehicle information H1. Also, if there is at least one preceding vehicle capable of detecting an obstacle, the vehicle 20, 30, 40 that cannot detect an obstacle can notify the driver of the vehicle that an obstacle exists around the vehicle based on the vehicle-vehicle information H received from the preceding vehicle. Also, the vehicle 20, 30, 40 that cannot detect an obstacle can determine whether the vehicle has avoided the detected obstacle S based on the vehicle-vehicle information H1 received from the preceding vehicle 10 that can detect an obstacle.

[0075] According to the obstacle notification system 100, the vehicle further includes a determination processor 11c, 21c, 31c, 41c that executes a determination process to determine whether the vehicle has avoided an obstacle. The determination processor 11c provided in the vehicle 10 capable of detecting obstacles can determine whether the vehicle has actually avoided an obstacle detected by the vehicle. The determination processors 21c, 31c, 41c provided in the vehicles 20, 30, 40 that cannot detect obstacles can determine whether the vehicle has avoided an obstacle based on whether the vehicle has passed through a starting point position and an avoidance position stored in the vehicle information H received from another vehicle.

[0076] According to this configuration example, even if the vehicle 20, 30, 40 cannot detect an obstacle, it can determine whether or not the vehicle has avoided the obstacle by utilizing the vehicle-to-vehicle information H received from the other vehicle. That is, it is possible to perform the process of determining whether or not the obstacle has been avoided even for the vehicle 20, 30, 40 that cannot detect an obstacle.

[0077] According to the obstacle notification system 100, in a vehicle 20, 30, 40 that is unable to detect an obstacle, when the judgment processing unit 21c, 31c, 41c determines that the vehicle has avoided the obstacle, the information generation processing unit 21a, 31a, 41a stores the start position stored in the vehicle-vehicle information H received from the other vehicle in the start position of the vehicle-vehicle information H to be generated, and stores the avoidance position stored in the vehicle-vehicle information H received from the other vehicle in the avoidance position of the vehicle-vehicle information H to be generated.

[0078] According to this configuration example, even for the vehicles 20, 30, 40 that cannot detect an obstacle, when they avoid an obstacle, it is possible to generate the vehicle information H similar to that of other vehicles that have avoided the obstacle.

[0079] According to the obstacle notification system 100, in a vehicle 20, 30, 40 that is unable to detect an obstacle, when the notification processing unit 21b, 31b, 41b receives vehicle information H of the same content from at least one or more other vehicles, it notifies the driver of the vehicle that an obstacle is present around the vehicle.

[0080] According to this configuration example, even for vehicles 20, 30, and 40 that cannot detect obstacles, it is possible to notify the driver of the vehicle that an obstacle is present around the vehicle, just as with vehicle 10 that can detect obstacles.

[0081] According to the obstacle notification system 100, in the vehicles 20, 30, 40 that cannot detect obstacles, the determination processing units 21c, 31c, 41c execute the obstacle avoidance determination process based on the vehicle information H1 that was generated in a state in which an obstacle can be detected.

[0082] According to this configuration example, the vehicles 20, 30, 40 that cannot detect obstacles can determine whether or not the vehicle has avoided the obstacle based on the vehicle information H1 generated by the vehicle 10 that actually detected and avoided the obstacle. This makes it possible for the vehicles 20, 30, 40 that cannot detect obstacles to accurately determine whether or not the vehicle has avoided the obstacle.

[0083] In the comparison process for comparing the position specified by the position information for determination of the vehicle information H with the position specified by the travel history of the vehicle, for example, the following may be performed. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 14, for example, when comparing latitudes, a probability density function Fa for the latitude indicated by the position information for determination of the vehicle information H and a probability density function Fb for the latitude indicated by the travel history of the vehicle are generated. The probability density function Fa can be obtained, for example, by calculating an average and a variance based on the latitude and reliability indicated by the position information for determination of the vehicle information H. The probability density function Fb can be obtained, for example, by calculating an average and a variance based on the latitude and reliability indicated by the travel history of the vehicle. Next, the generated probability density function Fa and the probability density function Fb are multiplied, and the maximum value of the multiplication result Fc is compared with a predetermined threshold value Fd. If the maximum value of the multiplication result Fc is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value Fd as a result of this comparison, it can be determined that the vehicle has traveled at the latitude indicated by the position information for determination of the vehicle information H.

[0084] When comparing longitude and altitude, as in the case of latitude described above, a probability density function is generated, the generated probability density function is multiplied, and the maximum value of the multiplication result is compared with a predetermined threshold value, and based on the comparison result, it can be determined whether or not the host vehicle has traveled through the longitude and altitude indicated by the judgment position information of the vehicle information H.

[0085] If the position information for determination in the vehicle information H includes information other than latitude and longitude, such as vehicle azimuth angle information indicating the vehicle's heading direction, the vehicle azimuth angle can also be processed in the same manner as the latitude described above, to determine whether the vehicle traveled at the azimuth angle indicated by the position information for determination in the vehicle information H.

[0086] As a result, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not the host vehicle has traveled at the latitude, longitude, and altitude specified by the position information for determination in the vehicle information H, at the azimuth specified by the position information for determination in the vehicle information H. This makes it possible to more accurately determine whether or not the host vehicle has traveled through the starting position or the avoidance position specified by the position information for determination in the vehicle information H.

[0087] The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and may be modified or expanded as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. For example, whether or not a plurality of pieces of vehicle information H have the same content may be determined based on whether or not only the starting point positions match, whether or not only the avoidance positions match, or whether or not both the starting point positions and the avoidance positions match.

[0088] The vehicle information H may have a data structure that does not hold any other information as long as it includes at least one of the start point position information and the avoidance position information, or may have a data structure that holds additional information. The reliability of the vehicle information H as information can be improved by having a data structure that includes both the start point position information and the avoidance position information, and further includes various information such as vehicle ID information, transmission time information, and an enable / disable flag for the obstacle detection function.

[0089] The process of notifying the driver of the host vehicle that an obstacle exists around the host vehicle can be executed on the condition that vehicle-to-vehicle information H is received from at least one other vehicle, but is preferably set to be executed on the condition that vehicle-to-vehicle information H is received from two or more other vehicles. Furthermore, the process of notifying the driver of the host vehicle that an obstacle exists around the host vehicle can be set to be executed on the condition that multiple pieces of vehicle-to-vehicle information H, at least some of which are identical in content, are received from multiple other vehicles.

[0090] The vehicle capable of detecting obstacles does not have to be the lead vehicle among the multiple vehicles that make up the obstacle notification system 100, and the obstacle notification system 100 can also be applied when there are vehicles that cannot detect obstacles in the surrounding area, including in front, behind, to the left and right of the vehicle capable of detecting obstacles.

[0091] The obstacle notification system 100 of the present disclosure can be defined not only as a notification system that notifies the user of the presence of an obstacle, but also as a detection system that detects obstacles, and can also be defined as an assistance system that assists the vehicle in driving.

[0092] Although the present disclosure has been described based on the embodiment, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiment or structure. The present disclosure also includes various modifications and modifications within the equivalent range. In addition, various combinations and forms, and other combinations and forms including only one element, more than one element, or less than one element, are also within the scope and concept of the present disclosure.

[0093] The control unit and the method described in the present disclosure may be realized by a special-purpose computer provided by configuring a processor and a memory programmed to execute one or more functions embodied in a computer program. Alternatively, the control unit and the method described in the present disclosure may be realized by a special-purpose computer provided by configuring a processor with one or more dedicated hardware logic circuits. Alternatively, the control unit and the method described in the present disclosure may be realized by one or more special-purpose computers configured by 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. Also, the computer program may be stored in a computer-readable non-transitory tangible storage medium as instructions executed by a computer. [Explanation of symbols]

[0094] In the drawings, 11a, 21a, 31a, and 41a denote information generation processing units (information generation units), 11b, 21b, 31b, and 41b denote notification processing units (notification units), 11c, 21c, 31c, and 41c denote judgment processing units (judgment units), and 100 denotes an obstacle notification system.

Claims

1. an information generating unit (11a, 21a, 31a, 41a) that generates determination information storing a starting position that the vehicle passed before avoiding an obstacle and an avoidance position that the vehicle passed when avoiding the obstacle; a notification unit (11b, 21b, 31b, 41b) that notifies the vehicle of the presence of an obstacle in the vicinity of the vehicle when the vehicle receives information for determination from another vehicle; An obstacle notification system comprising:

2. A determination unit (11c, 21c, 31c, 41c) that executes a determination process to determine whether or not the vehicle has avoided an obstacle, 2. The obstacle notification system according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines that the host vehicle has avoided an obstacle when the host vehicle passes through both or at least one of a starting position and an avoidance position stored in the determination information received from the other vehicle.

3. In a vehicle that cannot detect an obstacle, when the determination unit determines that the vehicle has avoided the obstacle, The information generating unit storing a starting point position stored in the information for determination received from another vehicle in a starting point position of the information for determination to be generated; 3. The obstacle notification system according to claim 2, wherein the avoidance positions stored in the determination information received from the other vehicle are stored in the avoidance positions in the generated determination information.

4. In a vehicle that cannot detect obstacles, 2. The obstacle notification system according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit notifies the host vehicle that an obstacle is present around the host vehicle when the notification unit receives the same determination information from at least one or a plurality of other vehicles.

5. The obstacle notification system according to claim 2 , wherein the determination unit executes the determination process based on determination information generated in a state in which an obstacle can be detected.

Images