Information processing device and information processing method

Abstract

To improve a technique for notifying the positional relationship between peripheral vehicles.SOLUTION: An information processing device 20 comprises a control unit 23 including: determining driving lanes of an own vehicle 10A and an object vehicle 10B on the basis of the positional information of the own vehicle 10A and the object vehicle 10B and map information; determining the direction of traveling of the object vehicle 10B to the own vehicle 10A based on the difference of heading azimuths of between the own vehicle 10A and the object vehicle 10B; and outputting alert information corresponding to the determination result of the driving lanes and the direction of traveling of the object vehicle 10B.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing device and an information processing method. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there are known techniques for reporting the positional relationship of surrounding vehicles. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for reporting the positional relationship of surrounding vehicles to a driver through vehicle-to-vehicle communication using a server that provides map information. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-188406 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] According to Patent Document 1, it is possible to detect a vehicle traveling in the wrong direction while traveling on a one-way road. However, Patent Document 1 does not disclose a technology for detecting whether a vehicle approaching from the front is traveling in the same lane as the vehicle on a road with multiple lanes.

[0005] Therefore, there is room for improvement in the technology for reporting the relative positions of surrounding vehicles.

[0006] An object of the present disclosure, made in consideration of the above circumstances, is to improve the technology for reporting the positional relationship of surrounding vehicles. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] An information processing device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is an information processing device mounted on a vehicle, The control unit determines the driving lane in which the host vehicle and the target vehicle are traveling based on position information of the host vehicle and the target vehicle and map information, determines the traveling direction of the target vehicle relative to the host vehicle based on the difference in the traveling azimuth angles of the host vehicle and the target vehicle, and outputs warning information according to the determination results of the driving lane and the traveling direction of the target vehicle.

[0008] An information processing method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is an information processing method executed by an information processing device mounted on a vehicle, and includes determining the driving lanes in which the host vehicle and the target vehicle are traveling based on position information of the host vehicle and the target vehicle and map information, determining the traveling direction of the target vehicle relative to the host vehicle based on the difference in traveling azimuth angles of the host vehicle and the target vehicle, and outputting warning information according to the determination results of the driving lane and the traveling direction of the target vehicle. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a technique for reporting the positional relationship of surrounding vehicles is improved. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration example of a system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration example of an information processing device; [Diagram 3] 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the information processing device. [Figure 4] 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a traveling azimuth angle of a host vehicle and a target vehicle. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described.

[0012] (Overview of the embodiment) An overview of a system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to Fig. 1. The system 1 includes a vehicle 10 and an information processing device 20 provided in the vehicle 10.

[0013] The vehicle 10 is, for example, an automobile, but is not limited thereto and may be any vehicle. The automobile may be, but is not limited to, a gasoline-powered vehicle, a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), a HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle), a PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), or a FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle). In this embodiment, the vehicle 10 is a host vehicle 10A or a target vehicle 10B that travels on a road having one or more travel lanes. The number of target vehicles 10B may be determined arbitrarily. The vehicle 10 and the information processing device 20 are connected by wire via a controller area network (CAN) or the like, but the standard of the wired connection is not limited thereto.

[0014] The information processing device 20 is, for example, a computer. The host vehicle 10A is equipped with the information processing device 20A, and the target vehicle 10B is equipped with the information processing device 20B. The information processing device 20A and the information processing device 20B are the same information processing device. The information processing device 20A and the information processing device 20B are wirelessly connected via a network 2. The network 2 is an inter-vehicle communication network, but the communication network is not limited to this. The network 2 may be an Internet communication network, a mobile communication network, or the like.

[0015] First, an overview of the present embodiment will be described, and details will be described later. The information processing device 20 determines the driving lane in which the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B are traveling from the position information of the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B and the map information, determines the traveling direction of the target vehicle 10B relative to the host vehicle 10A from the difference in the traveling azimuth angle of the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B, and outputs attention calling information according to the determination result of the traveling lane and the traveling direction of the target vehicle 10B.

[0016] Thus, according to this embodiment, for example, the information processing device 20A can determine the driving lanes and traveling directions in which the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B are traveling on a road having one or more driving lanes, and output attention-calling information according to the determination result to the output unit 14 in the vehicle cabin of the host vehicle 10A. Therefore, when the target vehicle 10B approaches the host vehicle 10A from the front in the same driving lane, the driver of the host vehicle 10A can sense from the attention-calling information that the target vehicle 10B traveling in the opposite direction is approaching. Therefore, the technology for reporting the positional relationship of surrounding vehicles is improved in that the driver of the host vehicle 10A takes risk avoidance action such as changing lanes, thereby improving the probability of avoiding a car accident.

[0017] Next, each component of the system 1 will be described in detail.

[0018] (Vehicle configuration) 1, a vehicle 10 includes a communication unit 11, a positioning unit 12, a measurement unit 13, an output unit 14, a storage unit 15, a control unit 16, and an information processing device 20. The information processing device 20 will be described in detail later.

[0019] The communication unit 11 includes one or more communication interfaces that are connected by wire to the communication unit 21 of the information processing device 20. The communication interface is compatible with a communication standard such as CAN, but is not limited to this.

[0020] The positioning unit 12 includes one or more devices that acquire position information of the vehicle 10. Specifically, the positioning unit 12 includes, for example, a receiver compatible with GPS, but is not limited thereto, and may include a receiver compatible with any satellite positioning system.

[0021] The measurement unit 13 includes one or more sensors. The measurement unit 13 may include a gyro sensor, an acceleration sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, an air pressure sensor, etc. However, the sensors are not limited to these.

[0022] The output unit 14 includes at least one audio output interface capable of outputting audio, and at least one display interface capable of displaying text or video. The audio output interface is, for example, a speaker. The display interface is, for example, a display such as an LCD or an organic EL display. The audio output interface and the display interface are not limited to these. The output unit 14 outputs the attention-calling information received from the information processing device 20 into the vehicle cabin.

[0023] The storage unit 15 includes one or more memories. The memories are, for example, but not limited to, semiconductor memories, magnetic memories, or optical memories. Each memory included in the storage unit 15 may function as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 15 stores any information used in the operation of the vehicle 10. For example, the storage unit 15 may store a system program, an application program, embedded software, map information, and the like. The map information includes road information covering the entire country or a specified area, and position information of the driving lanes of each road. The information stored in the storage unit 15 may be updateable with information acquired from the network 2 via the communication unit 11, for example.

[0024] The control unit 16 includes one or more processors, one or more programmable circuits, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination thereof. The processor is, for example, but is not limited to, a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process. The programmable circuit is, for example, but is not limited to, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array). The dedicated circuit is, for example, but is not limited to, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). The control unit 16 controls the operation of the entire vehicle 10.

[0025] (Configuration of information processing device) As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing device 20 includes a communication unit 21, a storage unit 22, and a control unit .

[0026] The communication unit 21 includes both a communication interface for connecting to the network 2 and a communication interface for connecting to the CAN. The communication interface for connecting to the network 2 corresponds to, for example, a vehicle-to-vehicle communication standard (for example, V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything)) or a mobile communication standard, but is not limited thereto and may correspond to any communication standard. In this embodiment, the information processing device 20A of the host vehicle 10A is wirelessly connected to the information processing device 20B of the target vehicle 10B via the communication unit 21 and the network 2. Meanwhile, the information processing device 20A is wiredly connected to the communication unit 11 of the host vehicle 10A via the communication unit 21, and the information processing device 20B is wiredly connected to the communication unit 11 of the target vehicle 10B via the communication unit 21 by CAN or the like.

[0027] The storage unit 22 includes one or more memories. Each memory included in the storage unit 22 may function as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 22 stores any information used in the operation of the information processing device 20. For example, the storage unit 22 may store a system program, an application program, a database, map information, and the like. The map information includes road information covering the entire country or a specified region, and position information of the driving lanes of each road. The information stored in the storage unit 22 may be updateable with information acquired from the network 2 via the communication unit 21, for example.

[0028] The control unit 23 includes one or more processors, one or more programmable circuits, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination thereof. The control unit 23 controls the operation of the information processing device 20 as a whole.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the control unit 23 functions as a first determination unit 231 and a second determination unit 232.

[0030] The first determination unit 231 determines the driving lanes in which the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B are traveling, based on the position information of the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B and the map information. The first determination unit 231 outputs the determination result of the driving lane, the vehicle speed and traveling azimuth of the host vehicle 10A, and the vehicle speed and traveling azimuth of the target vehicle 10B to the second determination unit 232.

[0031] The second determination unit 232 determines the traveling direction of the target vehicle 10B relative to the host vehicle 10A from the difference in the traveling azimuth angles of the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B received from the first determination unit 231. The second determination unit 232 outputs, to the output unit 14 of the vehicle 10, attention calling information according to the determination result of the driving lane and the traveling direction of the target vehicle 10B relative to the host vehicle 10A.

[0032] (Operation flow of information processing device) The operation of the information processing device 20 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 3. This operation relates to output of attention calling information according to the driving lanes and traveling directions of the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B.

[0033] S101: The control unit 23 acquires the position information p1, the vehicle speed s1, and the traveling azimuth angle d1 of the host vehicle 10A.

[0034] The positioning unit 12 of the vehicle 10A acquires the position information p1 of the vehicle 10A by, for example, a receiver compatible with GPS or the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System. The Quasi-Zenith Satellite System using the Quasi-Zenith Satellite "Michibiki" can improve the positioning accuracy to the centimeter level by itself, compared to the GPS, which had an error of about 5m to 10m, by transmitting a reinforcing signal, etc.

[0035] The measurement unit 13 may measure the vehicle speed s1 of the host vehicle 10A using a vehicle speed sensor.

[0036] The measurement unit 13 calculates the traveling azimuth angle d1 of the host vehicle 10A based on the latitude and longitude of two points on the earth acquired by the positioning unit 12, but the measurement method is not limited to this. The measurement unit 13 may measure the traveling azimuth angle d1 of the host vehicle 10A by a gyro sensor.

[0037] The first determination unit 231 of the control unit 23 acquires the position information p1, the vehicle speed s1, and the traveling azimuth angle d1 from the host vehicle 10A via the communication unit 21.

[0038] S102: The control unit 23 receives the position information p2, the vehicle speed s2, and the traveling azimuth angle d2 of the target vehicle 10B.

[0039] The control unit 23 (first determination unit 231) of the vehicle 10A acquires the position information p2, vehicle speed s2, and traveling azimuth angle d2 that are positioned or measured by the target vehicle 10B from the target vehicle 10B via the network 2 and the communication unit 21. The target vehicle 10B is a vehicle located within a distance range that allows vehicle-to-vehicle communication with the vehicle 10A. In the present disclosure, the distance that allows vehicle-to-vehicle communication is 300 m, but is not limited to this.

[0040] S103: The control unit 23 determines the driving lanes in which the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B are traveling, based on the position information of the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B and the map information.

[0041] S104: The control unit 23 determines whether the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B are traveling in the same driving lane. If both vehicles 10 are traveling in the same driving lane, the process proceeds to S105. If both vehicles 10 are not traveling in the same driving lane, the process proceeds to S107.

[0042] As described above, the quasi-zenith satellite system makes it possible to acquire the position information of the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B with centimeter-level positioning accuracy. Furthermore, the first determination unit 231 can utilize the map information stored in the storage unit 22. Therefore, the first determination unit 231 can determine the driving lanes in which the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B are traveling based on the acquired position information p1, p2 and the map information.

[0043] S105: The control unit 23 determines the traveling direction of the target vehicle 10B relative to the host vehicle 10A from the difference between the traveling azimuth angles d1, d2 of the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B.

[0044] The second determination unit 232 determines whether the difference between the traveling azimuth angle d1 of the host vehicle 10A and the traveling azimuth angle d2 of the target vehicle 10B is equal to or greater than a threshold value using the following formula (1): If the absolute value of the difference between the traveling azimuth angles of both vehicles 10 is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the second determination unit 232 determines that the target vehicle 10B is a wrong-way vehicle and proceeds to S106, and if the absolute value of the difference between the traveling azimuth angles of both vehicles 10 is less than the threshold value, the second determination unit 232 determines that the target vehicle 10B is not a wrong-way vehicle and proceeds to S110. |d2 - d1| ≧ threshold (1)

[0045] For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a traveling azimuth angle of 0° indicates north, a traveling azimuth angle of 90° indicates east, a traveling azimuth angle of 180° indicates south, and a traveling azimuth angle of 270° indicates west. In addition, it is assumed that the target vehicle 10B is located in front of the host vehicle 10A, and both vehicles are traveling in the same traveling lane. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, the road (traveling lane) on which both vehicles actually travel is often curved. Therefore, the second determination unit 232 may calculate a threshold value according to the section on which the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B travel, based on the position information and map information of the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B. If the difference between the traveling azimuth angle d1 of the host vehicle 10A and the traveling azimuth angle d2 of the target vehicle 10B is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the target vehicle 10B is determined to be a wrong-way vehicle, and if the difference is less than the threshold value, the target vehicle 10B is determined to not be a wrong-way vehicle.

[0046] For example, assume that the threshold value is calculated to be 135° in a given section. If the travel azimuth angle d1 of the host vehicle 10A in that section is 25° (traveling north) and the travel azimuth angle d2 of the target vehicle 10B is 180° (traveling south), the difference between the travel azimuth angle d1 of the host vehicle 10A and the travel azimuth angle d2 of the target vehicle 10B is 155°. In this case, the second determination unit 232 determines that the target vehicle 10B is a wrong-way vehicle.

[0047] S106: The control unit 23 determines that the target vehicle 10B is a wrong-way vehicle traveling in the same driving lane as the host vehicle 10A.

[0048] S107: The control unit 23 determines whether the target vehicle 10B is traveling in a driving lane adjacent to the driving lane in which the host vehicle 10A is traveling. If the target vehicle 10B is traveling in the adjacent driving lane, the process proceeds to S108, and if the target vehicle 10B is not traveling in the adjacent driving lane, the information processing ends.

[0049] The first determination unit 231 determines whether the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B are traveling in adjacent travel lanes based on the position information of the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B and the map information. When the travel lane in which the host vehicle 10A is traveling is adjacent to an oncoming lane, the adjacent oncoming lane is excluded from the determination of the adjacent travel lane.

[0050] S108: The control unit 23 determines whether the difference between the traveling azimuth angle of the host vehicle 10A and the traveling azimuth angle of the target vehicle 10B is equal to or greater than a threshold value. If the difference between the traveling azimuth angles of both vehicles 10 is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the process proceeds to S109. If the difference is less than the threshold value, the information processing ends.

[0051] S109: The control unit 23 determines that the target vehicle 10B is a wrong-way vehicle traveling in the adjacent driving lane.

[0052] As in S105, the second determination unit 232 may calculate a threshold value according to the section on which the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B are traveling based on the position information and map information of the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B, and may determine that the target vehicle 10B is a wrong-way vehicle if the difference between the traveling azimuth angle d1 of the host vehicle 10A and the traveling azimuth angle d2 of the target vehicle 10B is equal to or greater than the threshold value, and may determine that the target vehicle 10B is not a wrong-way vehicle if the difference is less than the threshold value. Note that the second determination unit 232 may use the same threshold value as in S105 since the traveling lane on which the host vehicle 10A is traveling and the adjacent traveling lane are parallel to each other, and therefore the degree of turning is the same. However, this is not limited to this. The second determination unit 232 may calculate individual threshold values ​​between the traveling lane on which the host vehicle 10A is traveling and the adjacent traveling lane.

[0053] S110: The control unit 23 determines that the target vehicle 10B is not a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction in the same driving lane as the host vehicle 10A.

[0054] S111: The control unit 23 outputs attention-calling information according to the determined driving lanes and traveling directions of the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B.

[0055] The second determination unit 232 outputs the attention warning information to the output unit 14 of the vehicle 10. The output unit 14 outputs the attention warning information by sound from a speaker, or displays the information on a display by characters, images, or the like. The attention warning information is, for example, "A wrong-way vehicle is approaching from ahead. Please change lanes to the left (or right) driving lane", "A wrong-way vehicle is approaching from ahead in the adjacent driving lane. Do not change driving lanes", or "A wrong-way vehicle is approaching from ahead in the adjacent right driving lane. Please change lanes to the left driving lane", but is not limited to these.

[0056] As described above, the information processing device 20 according to this embodiment determines the driving lanes in which the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B are traveling based on the position information of the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B and map information, determines the traveling direction of the target vehicle 10B relative to the host vehicle 10A based on the difference in the traveling azimuth angles of the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B, and outputs warning information according to the determination results of the driving lane and the traveling direction of the target vehicle 10B.

[0057] According to this configuration, for example, the information processing device 20A can determine the driving lanes and traveling directions in which the host vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B are traveling on a road having one or more driving lanes, and output attention-calling information according to the determination result to the output unit 14 in the vehicle cabin of the host vehicle 10A. Therefore, when the target vehicle 10B approaches the host vehicle 10A from the front in the same driving lane, the driver of the host vehicle 10A can sense from the attention-calling information that the target vehicle 10B traveling in the opposite direction is approaching. Therefore, the technology for reporting the positional relationship of surrounding vehicles is improved in that the driver of the host vehicle 10A takes risk avoidance action such as changing lanes, thereby improving the probability of avoiding a car accident.

[0058] Although the present disclosure has been described based on the drawings and examples, it should be noted that those skilled in the art may make various modifications and alterations based on the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and alterations are included in the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the functions included in each component or step can be rearranged so as not to be logically inconsistent, and multiple components or steps can be combined or divided into one.

[0059] For example, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration and operation of the information processing device 20 may be distributed among a plurality of computers that can communicate with each other. Also, for example, an embodiment in which some or all of the components of the information processing device 20 are provided in the vehicle 10 may be possible. For example, a navigation device mounted on the vehicle 10 may include some or all of the components of the information processing device 20.

[0060] In the above-described embodiment, the information processing device 20 outputs the attention information based on the position information and traveling azimuth of the vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B. However, the information processing device 20 acquires the vehicle speeds of the vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B, and can further calculate the vehicle distance from the difference in the position information of both vehicles. Therefore, the information processing device 20 may output the attention information based on other parameters such as the vehicle distance or the vehicle speed difference between the two vehicles. For example, even if the vehicle 10A and the target vehicle 10B are traveling in the same lane in the same direction, if the vehicle distance between the target vehicle 10B traveling in front and the vehicle 10A is equal to or less than a predetermined vehicle distance, the information processing device 20 may output the attention information such as "There is a risk of collision. Please increase the distance between the vehicle traveling in front." In addition, if the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 10A is faster than that of the target vehicle 10B traveling in front, and the difference in vehicle speed obtained by subtracting the vehicle speed of the target vehicle 10B from that of the host vehicle 10A is equal to or greater than a predetermined numerical value, warning information such as "There is a risk of collision. Please reduce your speed" may be output.

[0061] In the above-described embodiment, the information processing device 20 outputs the attention-calling information to the speaker or display of the vehicle 10A. However, the attention-calling information may be transmitted from the information processing device 20A of the vehicle 10A to the information processing device 20B of the target vehicle 10B by vehicle-to-vehicle communication. When the driver of the target vehicle 10B traveling in the wrong direction in the driving lane hears the attention-calling information such as "It is dangerous. Your vehicle is traveling in the wrong direction in the driving lane. Please stop immediately on the shoulder of the road", the driver takes action to avoid the danger, and the probability of avoiding a car accident is improved.

[0062] Also, for example, an embodiment is possible in which a general-purpose computer functions as the information processing device 20 according to the above-described embodiment. Specifically, a program describing the processing contents for realizing each function of the information processing device 20 according to the above-described embodiment is stored in the memory of the general-purpose computer, and the program is read and executed by a processor. Therefore, the present disclosure can also be realized as a program executable by a processor, or a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores the program. [Explanation of symbols]

[0063] 1 System 2 Network 10 Vehicles 10A Vehicle 10B Target vehicle 11 Communications Department 12 Positioning unit 13. Measurement section 14 Output section 15 Storage section 16 Control section 20, 20A, 20B Information processing device 21 Communications Department 22 Memory section 23 Control Unit 231 1st Judgment Section 232 Second Judgment Section

Claims

1. An information processing device mounted on a vehicle, An information processing device comprising: a control unit that determines the driving lane in which the host vehicle and the target vehicle are traveling based on position information of the host vehicle and the target vehicle and map information, determines the traveling direction of the target vehicle relative to the host vehicle based on the difference in traveling azimuth angles of the host vehicle and the target vehicle, and outputs warning information according to the determination results of the driving lane and the traveling direction of the target vehicle.

2. 2. The information processing device according to claim 1, The target vehicle is an information processing device that is located within a distance range that enables vehicle-to-vehicle communication with the host vehicle.

3. 2. The information processing device according to claim 1, The control unit determines that the target vehicle is a wrong-way vehicle when a difference in traveling azimuth angles between the host vehicle and the target vehicle is equal to or greater than a threshold.

4. 4. The information processing device according to claim 3, The control unit calculates a threshold value according to a section in which the host vehicle and the target vehicle travel, based on position information and map information of the host vehicle and the target vehicle.

5. An information processing method executed by an information processing device mounted on a vehicle, comprising: determining a driving lane in which the host vehicle and the target vehicle are traveling based on position information of the host vehicle and the target vehicle and map information; determining a traveling direction of the target vehicle relative to the host vehicle from a difference between traveling azimuth angles of the host vehicle and the target vehicle; outputting attention-calling information according to a result of determining the driving lane and the traveling direction of the target vehicle; An information processing method comprising:

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