Driving assist device for vehicle

Abstract

To provide a driving assist device for a vehicle that performs effective warning by determining a situation where it is difficult or easy for a driver to recognize a possible colliding object from a lateral side.SOLUTION: A driving assist device 1 for a vehicle comprises: a front environment recognition device 2 that acquires front environment information 25 for a self-vehicle 50; side environment recognition devices 6, 7 that acquire side environment information 26, 27 for the self-vehicle 50; a notification device 13 that promotes caution of a driver 200 via a warning or a warning indication; and a control unit 10 to which surrounding environment information including the front environment information 25 and the side environment information 26 and 27 is input and which drives the notification device 13. The control unit 10 calculates a cognitive load value D of the driver 200 from an object detected in a cognitive visual region 30 of the driver extracted from the surrounding environment information, and variably sets the magnitude of a warning level of the notification device 13, which is driven when a possible colliding object has been detected in the side environment information 26 and 27, in accordance with the cognitive load value D.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a driving assistance device for a vehicle that warns a driver of an object such as another vehicle that may cause a collision. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, advanced driver assistance systems have expanded their detection ranges by increasing the number of on-board sensors and widening the angle, etc. As a result, advanced driver assistance systems can detect not only objects in front of the vehicle, but also objects that drivers tend to overlook, such as crossing vehicles approaching from the side.

[0003] The function of detecting a side object is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1. The invention of Patent Document 1 uses a driver's line of sight detection system and a line of sight guidance device such as a HUD. The invention of Patent Document 1 is a technology that guides the driver's line of sight in the direction of an object when it is detected that a collision hazard is approaching from outside the driver's line of sight.

[0004] Also, a prior art example of not issuing a warning in a situation where the driver can easily see an obstacle, so that the driver does not find the warning annoying, is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 2. The invention of Patent Document 2 is a technology that assumes that a state in which the degree of match between a captured image and an object template is equal to or greater than a reference value is a situation in which the driver can easily see the object, and determines whether or not to issue a warning. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2012-234409 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2013-171389 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, in the invention of Patent Document 1, even if the driver's line of sight is not directed toward the collision hazard, the driver may be aware of the collision hazard through the driver's peripheral vision. In such a case, the driver may feel bothered by the line of sight guidance by the line of sight guidance device. In particular, in a situation where side approaching objects frequently appear, the line of sight guidance to the driver is also frequently performed, and there is a problem that this is not a highly convenient safety control.

[0007] In addition, the invention of Patent Document 2 considers the degree of template matching to be the only factor that affects the situation in which the driver is likely to overlook an obstacle. Therefore, the invention of Patent Document 2 has a problem in that it is not possible to comprehensively judge the psychological stress state of the driver. In addition, even if the invention of Patent Document 2 has a high degree of template matching of the image, the driver may fall into a state in which he or she is likely to overlook an obstacle depending on the number, type, environmental state, etc. of objects in the driver's field of view.

[0008] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle driving assistance measure that determines whether a driver has difficulty or ease in recognizing an object that may cause a collision from the side, and issues an effective warning. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] A vehicle driving assistance device of one embodiment of the present invention comprises a forward environment recognition device that acquires forward environmental information of the vehicle, a lateral environment recognition device that acquires lateral environmental information of the vehicle, an alarm device that alerts the driver by displaying an alarm or warning, etc., and a control unit that receives surrounding environmental information of the forward environment information and the lateral environment information and drives the alarm device, wherein the control unit calculates a cognitive load value of the driver from objects detected within the driver's cognitive visual field extracted from the surrounding environmental information, and variably sets the warning level of the alarm device, which is activated when a collision potential object is detected in the lateral environmental information, depending on the cognitive load value. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicle driving assistance measure that judges whether a situation is difficult or easy for a driver to recognize an object that may cause a collision from the side, and executes an effective warning. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] Block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle driving assistance system [Diagram 2] A diagram showing the vehicle's surrounding environment information and the driver's visual field, with few other vehicles. [Diagram 3] A diagram showing the surrounding environment information of the vehicle and the driver's visual field, showing a state where there are many other vehicles [Figure 4] A diagram showing the driver's perceptual visual field that changes depending on the vehicle speed and the driver's line of sight. [Diagram 5] A table showing the baseline load values ​​for objects [Figure 6] Table showing cognitive load influence factors and load value gain adjustment [Figure 7] Table showing driving environment level influencing factors and cognitive load level correction [Figure 8] 1 is a flowchart showing an example of control executed by a control unit; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] An embodiment of one aspect of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings used in the following description, the scale of each component is different so that each component can be recognized on the drawing, and the present invention is not limited to the quantity of components, the shape of components, the size ratio of components, and the relative positional relationship of each component shown in these drawings. In this embodiment, the description will be given on the premise that traffic is on the left side of the road. Therefore, in the case of traffic on the right side of the road, left is read as right.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle driving assistance device 1 of this embodiment has an in-vehicle camera unit 2, a left front side sensor 6, a right front side sensor 7, a vehicle speed sensor 8, a control unit (ECU) 10, a driver monitoring device 11, an in-vehicle camera 12 and an alarm device 13.

[0014] The vehicle-mounted camera unit 2 is a forward environment recognition device that acquires forward environment information 25 of the vehicle 50 (see Figs. 2 and 3), and has a stereo camera composed of a main camera 3 and a sub-camera 4. The vehicle-mounted camera unit 2 has an image processing unit (IPU) 5 that performs predetermined image processing on environmental information, which is an image in front of the vehicle acquired by the main camera 3 and the sub-camera 4. The image processing unit 5 outputs to the control unit 10 forward environment information 25, which is forward driving environment image information (distance image information) obtained by performing predetermined image processing on the image in front of the vehicle.

[0015] The left side sensor 6 and the right side sensor 7 are side environment recognition devices that acquire side environment information 26, 27 (see Figs. 2 and 3) of the vehicle 50, and are provided near the front bumper or door mirror. The left side sensor 6 and the right side sensor 7 acquire environmental information over a relatively wide angle range from the left and right front and the sides to the rear, which are outside the field of view of the vehicle-mounted camera unit 2 described above.

[0016] The left side sensor 6 and the right side sensor 7 monitor the areas diagonally forward, to the left and right sides, and diagonally backward, which are difficult to recognize from images from the vehicle-mounted camera unit 2, and output the acquired information to the control unit 10 as side environment information 26, 27 (see Figs. 2 and 3), which is information on the left and right lateral driving environments. The left side environment information 26 acquired by the left side sensor 6 and the right side environment information 27 acquired by the right side sensor 7 are input to the control unit 10.

[0017] The left side sensor 6 and the right side sensor 7 are distance measuring sensors such as millimeter wave radar, microwave radar, ultrasonic sensor, and LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) or side cameras. The left side sensor 6 and the right side sensor 7 may be configured by combining a distance measuring sensor and a side camera.

[0018] The vehicle-mounted camera unit 2, the left side sensor 6, and the right side sensor 7 function as a surrounding environment information acquisition unit in this embodiment. That is, the forward environment information 25 and the two pieces of side environment information 26, 27 correspond to the surrounding environment information in this embodiment.

[0019] The control unit 10 recognizes three-dimensional objects, obstacles, etc. from the surrounding environment information input from the in-vehicle camera unit 2, the left side sensor 6, and the right side sensor 7. The control unit 10 recognizes, for example, the type of three-dimensional object, the distance to the three-dimensional object, the speed of the three-dimensional object, and the relative speed with respect to the three-dimensional object.

[0020] In the following description, objects such as three-dimensional objects and obstacles recognized based on detection by the vehicle-mounted camera unit 2, the left side sensor 6, and the right side sensor 7 may be referred to as objects.

[0021] The vehicle speed sensor 8 is a vehicle speed detection unit that detects the vehicle speed. The vehicle speed sensor 8 outputs the detected vehicle speed to the control unit 10.

[0022] The driver monitoring device 11 is connected to an in-vehicle camera 12, which is an imaging unit. The driver monitoring device 11 and the in-vehicle camera 12 constitute a driver monitoring system (DMS). The in-vehicle camera 12 is disposed, for example, on a dashboard in a vehicle interior (cabin) not shown. The in-vehicle camera 12 may be installed anywhere in the vehicle interior as long as it is located in a position capable of capturing an image of a driver (see FIG. 4, hereinafter referred to as driver 200) seated in the driver's seat.

[0023] When the notification device 13 detects an object (obstacle) such as an approaching or stopped vehicle 103 on the side outside the range of the driver recognition visual field area 30 (see Figs. 2 and 3) extracted by the control unit 10, the notification device 13 notifies (warns) the driver 200 of the detection and calls for his / her attention. The notification device 13 is composed of a monitor, a speaker, etc. The notification device 13 notifies the driver by characters, images, voice, etc.

[0024] That is, the notification device 13 notifies the driver of warning information by issuing a voice warning from a speaker, or by displaying information around a meter on an instrument panel or on a monitor of a navigation system (none of which are shown).

[0025] The control unit 10 is configured by a microcomputer equipped with a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a non-volatile storage unit, etc. The ROM stores control programs for implementing operations set for each system, fixed data, etc.

[0026] The control unit 10 monitors surrounding environment information acquired from the vehicle-mounted camera unit 2, the left side sensor 6, and the right side sensor .

[0027] Here, the driver perception visual field area 30 of this embodiment will be described. The driver perception visual field area 30 is an elliptical area indicated by a dashed line in Fig. 2 to Fig. 4, which is extracted from the surrounding environment information by the control unit 10. This driver perception visual field area 30 is an effective visual field range that the driver 200 can focus on due to his / her visual characteristics.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 10 changes the set range of the driver perception visual field area 30 from the front direction to the left and right directions according to the gaze direction based on the line of sight of the driver 200 detected by a driver monitoring system (DMS).

[0029] In addition, the control unit 10 changes the distance, front-rear length, and left-right width of the set range of the driver perception visual field area 30 according to the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 8. The higher the vehicle speed, the more the control unit 10 sets the driver perception visual field area 30 to the far side, to be longer in the front-rear direction, and to be narrower in the left-right direction. In addition, the lower the vehicle speed, the more the control unit 10 sets the driver perception visual field area 30 to the near side, to be shorter in the front-rear direction, and to be wider in the left-right direction.

[0030] The driver cognitive visual field area 30 thus set by the control unit 10 is used to detect the cognitive load of the driver 200. The cognitive load here is an index indicating the burden on the cognitive ability of the driver 200 according to the amount of information that the human brain is constantly processing.

[0031] 2, for example, only one preceding vehicle 101 is included in the driver cognitive visual field 30 of the driver 200 who drives the vehicle 50. Therefore, the driver 200 focuses his / her attention on only the preceding vehicle 101. Therefore, the amount of information processed by the brain of the driver 200 is small, and the cognitive load is low.

[0032] Moreover, the peripheral vision outside the range of the driver cognitive visual field area 30 includes objects such as the oncoming vehicle 102 and the side vehicle 103 approaching from a side road or stopping temporarily. In this case, the driver 200 is in a state of low cognitive load, so the driver is unlikely to overlook objects such as the oncoming vehicle 102 and the side vehicle 103 in the peripheral vision and can easily recognize them. In other words, the driver 200 is likely to notice objects outside the range of the driver cognitive visual field area 30.

[0033] 3, for example, the driver cognitive visual field area 30 of the driver 200 includes a lane-changing vehicle 105, a parked vehicle 106, a bicycle 107, a preceding vehicle 108, a pedestrian 109, an oncoming vehicle 110, an oncoming motorcycle 111, an intersection 120, and a traffic light 121. Therefore, the driver 200 must focus on a plurality of objects such as the vehicles (105, 106, 108, 110), the bicycle 107, the pedestrian 109, the oncoming motorcycle 111, the intersection 120, and the traffic light 121. Therefore, the amount of information that the brain of the driver 200 must process is very large, and the cognitive load is high.

[0034] In addition, the peripheral visual field outside the driver cognitive visual field area 30 includes objects such as a vehicle 103 approaching from a side road or stopping temporarily, a preceding vehicle 112 that has passed through an intersection 120, vehicles 113 and 114 waiting for a traffic light on a side road of the intersection 120, an oncoming vehicle 115 that is farther away than the intersection 120, and a bicycle 116 traveling in the oncoming lane. In this case, the driver 200's brain processes a large amount of information, and the cognitive load is high.

[0035] Therefore, the driver 200 easily overlooks and has difficulty recognizing objects in the peripheral vision, such as the vehicles (103, 112, 113, 114, 115) and the bicycle 116. That is, the driver 200 has difficulty noticing objects outside the range of the driver perception visual field area 30.

[0036] Incidentally, the vehicle driving support device 1 of this embodiment detects the amount of information (objects) in the driver's cognitive visual field area 30, and executes effective warning control according to whether the cognitive load of the driver 200 is low or high.

[0037] The vehicle driving support device 1 calculates a driver cognitive load value D by quantifying the level of cognitive load of the driver 200 from outside-vehicle information obtained by the control unit 10 from objects such as three-dimensional objects and obstacles included in the driver cognitive field of view 30 detected by the in-vehicle camera unit 2, the left side sensor 6, and the right side sensor 7. The control unit 10 of the vehicle driving support device 1 performs an oversight determination of the surrounding environment outside the driver cognitive field of view 30 based on the calculated driver cognitive load value D.

[0038] The control unit 10 adds the cognitive load gain (A_αn) of the gain adjustment according to the state of the object to the basic load value (A_n) of the category type for each object, and multiplies it by the correction value C of the driving environment level to determine the final driver cognitive load value D.

[0039] In calculating the driver cognitive load value D, the control unit 10 reads from a map in which the basic load value (A_n) for the corresponding category type, the cognitive load gain (A_αn) corresponding to the state of the object, and the correction value C for the driving environment level are set.

[0040] In addition, the control unit 10 may read the condition values ​​selected by artificial intelligence (AI), such as the basic load value (A_n) for each category type, the cognitive load gain (A_αn) corresponding to the state of the object, and the correction value C for the driving environment level.

[0041] For example, as shown in Fig. 5, when the object category type is a stationary object such as a signboard, the basic load value (A_n) is set to a small value (A_1). When the object category type is a stationary object related to road traffic such as an intersection 120, a traffic light 121, or a road sign, the basic load value (A_n) is set to a medium value (A_2). When the object category type is a movable object such as a vehicle (103, 112, 113, 114, 115), a pedestrian 109, a motorcycle 111, or a bicycle 116, the basic load value (A_n) is set to a medium value (A_3).

[0042] Furthermore, the control unit 10 calculates load value gain adjustment for factors that affect the basic load value (A_n) of the driver 200 due to each object. For example, as shown in Fig. 6, a value of load value gain adjustment (A_α) is set according to the speed of movement of the object, which is a cognitive load affecting factor, whether or not a turn signal, brake, or other lamp is on when the object is a vehicle, and the distance between the vehicle 50 and the object.

[0043] That is, the higher (faster) the movement speed of the object of the cognitive load influence factor, the more the control unit 10 adds (pluses) a predetermined cognitive load gain (A_α1) as the load value gain adjustment. Also, when the object of the cognitive load influence factor is a vehicle, etc., and a turn signal, brake, or other lamp is on, the control unit 10 adds a predetermined cognitive load gain (A_α2) as the load value gain adjustment. Furthermore, the closer the distance between the host vehicle 50 and the object of the cognitive load influence factor, the more the control unit 10 adds a predetermined cognitive load gain (A_α3) as the load value gain adjustment.

[0044] In this way, the control unit 10 calculates an object load value (A_t) by adding the cognitive load gain (A_αn) to the basic load value (A_n) for each object. Then, the control unit 10 calculates a reference load value B which is the sum of the object load values ​​(A_t) of all objects included in the driver cognitive visual field area 30 {B=Σ(A_t)}.

[0045] Next, the control unit 10 multiplies the reference load value B by a correction value C of the driving environment level to calculate a final driver perception load value D (D=B×C). As shown in FIG. 7, the control unit 10 determines the correction value C of the driving environment level according to the level of image contrast in the driver perception visual field area 30, the complexity of the road ahead, and the like.

[0046] For example, the magnitude of the driving environment level correction value C is set according to the level of image contrast in the driver recognition visual field area 30, which is affected by road conditions such as nighttime, backlight, and the illuminance of sunlight or street lights. Specifically, when the image contrast is low, the driving environment level correction value C is set to be large, and when the image contrast is high, the driving environment level correction value C is set to be small.

[0047] In addition, the magnitude of the driving environment level correction value C is set depending on the complexity of the road ahead, such as a straight road, an intersection, a multi-junction, a curve, etc. Specifically, when the road ahead is complicated, such as an intersection, a multi-junction, or a branching road, the driving environment level correction value C is set to be large, and when the road ahead is a straight road with good visibility, the driving environment level correction value C is set to be small.

[0048] Next, an example of control executed by the control unit 10 of the vehicle driving support device 1 configured as above will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0049] First, the control unit 10 acquires surrounding environment information (S1). The control unit 10 acquires surrounding environment information including forward environment information 25 output from the in-vehicle camera unit 2, left side environment information 26 output from the left side sensor 6, and right side environment information 27 output from the right side sensor 7.

[0050] The control unit 10 determines whether or not an object is detected to the side (S2). The control unit 10 determines whether or not an object such as a lateral vehicle 103 approaching from a side road or stopping temporarily is detected in the left and right side environmental information of the left side environmental information 26 and the right side environmental information 27. Note that the control unit 10 may only determine whether or not an object is detected in the lateral environmental information of the left side environmental information 26, since the vehicle is driven on the left side in this case.

[0051] If an object such as the lateral vehicle 103 is not detected in the left and right lateral environment information (step S2: NO), the control unit 10 returns to the determination routine of step S1 and executes the subsequent processes again.

[0052] When an object such as a lateral vehicle 103 is detected in the left and right lateral environment information (step S2: YES), the control unit 10 detects the host vehicle speed (S3). The control unit 10 detects the host vehicle speed input from the vehicle speed sensor 8.

[0053] The control unit 10 detects the line of sight of the driver 200 (S4). The control unit 10 detects the line of sight of the driver 200 inputted from a driver monitoring system (DMS).

[0054] The control unit 10 sets the driver perception visual field area 30 according to the detected vehicle speed and the visual field direction of the driver 200 (S5). The control unit 10 changes the perspective, front-to-rear length, and left-to-right width according to the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 8, and sets the driver perception visual field area 30 in a direction according to the gaze direction based on the line of sight of the driver 200.

[0055] The control unit 10 detects (S6) an object within the driver perception visual field area 30. The control unit 10 detects an object, such as a vehicle, within the driver perception visual field area 30 set in step S5.

[0056] The control unit 10 calculates the driver perception load value D (S7). The control unit 10 calculates the basic load value (A_n) of each object in the driver perception visual field area 30.

[0057] Next, the control unit 10 adds (pluses) a predetermined cognitive load gain (A_αn) to the factors that affect the calculated cognitive load value (A_n) of each object. Then, the control unit 10 calculates a reference load value B, which is the sum of the object load values ​​(A_t) included in the driver's cognitive field of view 30. Finally, the control unit 10 multiplies the reference load value B by a correction value C of the driving environment level to calculate a final driver cognitive load value D.

[0058] The control unit 10 determines whether the driver cognitive load value D is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value Dth (S8). The control unit 10 determines whether the final driver cognitive load value D calculated in the driver cognitive visual field area 30 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value Dth.

[0059] The predetermined threshold value Dth is set in advance as a value of the driver cognitive load value D in a situation where the driver 200 has difficulty recognizing (noticing) an object in the peripheral vision outside the range of the driver cognitive visual field area 30. The set value of the predetermined threshold value Dth can be changed as appropriate.

[0060] If the driver cognitive load value D is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value Dth (step S8: YES), the control unit 10 sets the warning level to high (S9). On the other hand, if the driver cognitive load value D is less than the predetermined threshold value Dth (step S8: NO), the control unit 10 sets the warning level to low (S10). Then, the control unit 10 issues a warning according to the set level (S11).

[0061] When the warning level is set to high, the control unit 10 judges that the driver's cognitive load value D is high, and that the driver has difficulty in recognizing objects in the peripheral visual field and is likely to overlook them. In other words, the control unit 10 judges that the driver 200 has difficulty in easily noticing objects in the peripheral visual field.

[0062] Therefore, when the control unit 10 detects an object such as a lateral vehicle 103 approaching or stopping temporarily from a side road based on the left and right side environmental information of the left side side environmental information 26 and the right side side environmental information 27, the control unit 10 increases the level of the alarm, warning display, etc. of the alarm device 13.

[0063] That is, when the driver cognitive load value D is high, the vehicle driving assistance device 1 executes a warning drive such as increasing the alarm volume of the alarm device 13 or enlarging the warning display so that the driver 200 can easily recognize the presence of an object that may be a side collision, such as a side vehicle 103 approaching from a side road or stopped temporarily.

[0064] In addition, when the warning level is set to low, the control unit 10 determines that the driver's cognitive load value D is low, the driver is easy to recognize objects in the peripheral vision, and the possibility of overlooking the object is low. In other words, the control unit 10 determines that the driver 200 is in a state where the driver 200 can easily notice objects in the peripheral vision.

[0065] Therefore, even when the control unit 10 detects an object such as a lateral vehicle 103 approaching or stopping temporarily from a side road based on the left and right side environmental information of the left side side environmental information 26 and the right side side environmental information 27, the control unit 10 executes a warning drive with a lowered warning level for the alarm and warning display of the alarm device 13.

[0066] That is, when the driver cognitive load value D is low, the vehicle driving support device 1 issues a warning with a reduced volume or does not display a warning even if there is a side collision risk object such as a side vehicle 103 approaching from a side road or stopping temporarily. Note that when the vehicle driving support device 1 determines that the driver cognitive load value D is high by the control unit 10 and sets a low warning level, it may not drive the notification device 13 and may not issue an alarm or display a warning at all even if there is a side collision risk object.

[0067] As described above, the vehicle driving assistance device 1 varies the level of warning activation for a side collision potential object (obstacle) such as the lateral vehicle 103 approaching from the side or stopping temporarily, based on the driver cognitive load value D of the driver 200. This allows the vehicle driving assistance device 1 to execute an effective warning to the driver 200.

[0068] As a result, the vehicle driving assistance device 1 can reduce annoyance to the driver 200 caused by alarms from the notification device 13, etc., by lowering the warning level or not issuing a warning when the driver 200 is in a situation where he or she can easily recognize (hardly overlook) a potential side collision object in the peripheral vision.

[0069] As described above, the vehicle driving assistance device 1 of this embodiment is configured to determine whether the driver has difficulty or ease in recognizing a potential collision object from the side, and to execute an effective warning.

[0070] In addition, under conditions where the driver's cognitive load D is high due to high-speed driving or the like, the vehicle driving support device 1 may expand the range for detecting obstacles from the side (objects with a possibility of side collision) that are the subject of a warning, since the left and right areas of the driver's cognitive visual field area 30 of the driver 200 are narrowed. That is, the areas of the left and right side environmental information detected by the left side side environmental information 26 and the right side side environmental information 27 may be expanded.

[0071] In addition, the width of the visual field angle of the driver 200 varies depending on the individual, age, etc. Therefore, the area of ​​the driver cognitive visual field area 30 for calculating the driver cognitive load value D, the predetermined threshold value Dth, etc. may be appropriately changed by individual setting, learning, etc. for each driver 200.

[0072] Furthermore, it is preferable that the area of ​​the driver cognitive visual field area 30 for calculating the driver cognitive load value D is the visual field of the driver 200. When the driver monitoring system (DMS) cannot detect the line of sight of the driver 200, the control unit 10 extracts and sets the driver cognitive visual field area 30 of a target area on the assumption that the driver 200 is gazing at the center of the front from the surrounding environment information.

[0073] The control unit 10 has a processor including a central processing unit (CPU), and storage devices such as a ROM and a RAM. All or part of the configuration of the multiple circuits of the processor may be implemented by software. For example, the CPU may read and execute various programs corresponding to the respective functions stored in the ROM.

[0074] Furthermore, all or part of the functions of the processor may be configured using logic circuits or analog circuits, and the processing of various programs may be realized by electronic circuits such as FPGAs.

[0075] The invention described in the above embodiments is not limited to those embodiments, and various modifications can be made in the implementation stage without departing from the gist of the invention. Furthermore, each of the above embodiments includes inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriate combinations of the disclosed constituent elements.

[0076] For example, if some of the constituent elements shown in each form are deleted, and the stated problem can be solved and the stated effect can be obtained, the configuration from which these constituent elements are deleted can be extracted as an invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0077] 1...Vehicle driving support device 2...In-vehicle camera unit 3. Main camera 4. Sub camera 5...Image processing unit 6...Left side sensor 7…Right side sensor 8...Vehicle speed sensor 10…Control unit (ECU) 11. Driver monitoring device 12…In-car camera 13...Alarm device 25…Forward environment information 26…Left side environment information 27…Right side environment information 30…Driver perception visual field area 50…Own vehicle 101, 108, 112... Leading vehicles 102, 110, 115...Oncoming vehicles 103…Side vehicle 105…Lane changing vehicle 106…Parked vehicles 107…Bicycle 109…Pedestrian 111...Motorcycles 113,114...vehicles waiting at traffic lights 116…Bicycle 120…Intersection 121…Traffic light 200…Driver A_n…basal load value B: Reference load value C: Correction value D…Driver cognitive load value Dth: Predetermined threshold

Claims

1. A forward environment recognition device for acquiring forward environment information of a host vehicle; A side environment recognition device that acquires side environment information of the host vehicle; An alarm device that alerts the driver by displaying an alarm or a warning, etc.; a control unit to which surrounding environment information, which is the forward environment information and the lateral environment information, is input and which drives the notification device; Equipped with The control unit calculates a cognitive load value for the driver from objects detected within the driver's cognitive visual field extracted from the surrounding environment information, and variably sets a high or low warning level of the alarm device that is activated when a collision potential object is detected in the lateral environment information, depending on the cognitive load value.

2. The vehicle driving assistance device according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit calculates the cognitive load value by correcting the sum of reference load values ​​obtained by gain-adjusting a basic load value for each object detected in the driver's cognitive visual field area based on a cognitive load influence factor in accordance with the driving environment.

3. a vehicle speed sensor for detecting a vehicle speed of the host vehicle; an in-vehicle camera unit for detecting the driver's line of sight; having 3. The vehicle driving assistance device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit receives the vehicle speed and the line of sight direction, and extracts the cognitive visual field area according to the vehicle speed and the line of sight direction from the surrounding environment information.

4. The vehicle driving assistance device according to claim 3, characterized in that the control unit drives the alarm device so that the volume of the alarm and the warning display are increased when the warning level is set to high, and does not display the warning when the warning level is set to low, and drives the alarm device so that the volume of the alarm is lower than when the warning level is set to high, or does not drive the alarm device.

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