Automatic parking system

Abstract

To accurately detect a line-of-sight angle of a driver to appropriately urge visual confirmation of the periphery of a vehicle during automatic parking.SOLUTION: An automatic parking system 1 performs automatic parking of a vehicle V when a start button B is operated by a driver. The automatic parking system 1 includes: a line-of-sight detection unit 13 for detecting a line-of-sight angle of a driver; a visual recognition determination unit 16 for determining whether or not the driver visually recognizes a visual recognition required area around the vehicle V; a notification unit 17 for performing notification when the visual recognition required area is not visually recognized; and a correction unit 15 for correcting the line-of-sight angle detected by the line-of-sight detection unit 13. The correction unit 15 corrects the line-of-sight angle based on a reference line-of-sight angle determined based on a display position of the start button B and the line-of-sight angle detected by the line-of-sight detection unit 13 when the driver operates the start button B.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an automated parking system. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an automatic parking system that automatically parks a vehicle. This automatic parking system uses external sensors to recognize obstacles around the vehicle and parks the vehicle in a parking area while avoiding the obstacles.

[0003] In the automatic parking system, the driver is requested to visually check the surroundings of the vehicle so that the driver can immediately perform an override operation during automatic parking control. For this reason, the automatic parking system detects the driver's line of sight angle from the image captured by the driver monitor camera. If the driver does not visually check the surroundings of the vehicle during automatic parking, the automatic parking system notifies the driver to visually check the surroundings of the vehicle. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2021-154843 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Errors may occur in the detection of the driver's line of sight angle. For example, there are individual differences in the detection accuracy of the line of sight angle depending on whether the driver is wearing glasses or not, how open the eyes are, etc. For this reason, even if the driver is looking ahead through the windshield, it may be determined that the driver is not viewing the surroundings of the vehicle, and a notification may be issued to prompt the driver to view the surroundings of the vehicle.

[0006] For this reason, the present disclosure describes an automatic parking system that can detect the driver's gaze angle with greater accuracy and appropriately encourage the driver to visually check the area around the vehicle during automatic parking. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The automatic parking system disclosed herein is [1] "an automatic parking system that automatically parks a vehicle when a start button that instructs the start of automatic parking is operated by a driver, the automatic parking system including: a display control unit that displays the start button on a display screen of a touch panel; a gaze detection unit that detects the driver's gaze angle; a visibility determination unit that determines whether or not a visibility-required area around the vehicle has been viewed after the automatic parking has been started based on the gaze angle detected by the gaze detection unit; a notification unit that issues a notification when it is determined by the visibility determination unit that the visibility-required area has not been viewed; and a correction unit that corrects the gaze angle detected by the gaze detection unit based on a reference gaze angle determined based on a display position of the start button and the gaze angle detected by the gaze detection unit when the driver operates the start button on the display screen, and the visibility determination unit makes the determination using the corrected gaze angle when the gaze angle has been corrected by the correction unit."

[0008] The automatic parking system disclosed herein may be [2] "the automatic parking system described in [1] above, in which the visual confirmation determination unit acquires the traveling direction of the vehicle in the automatic parking, and sets the visual confirmation required area so as to include an area in the acquired traveling direction." The automatic parking system disclosed herein may be [3] "the automatic parking system described in [1] or [2] above, in which the visual confirmation determination unit determines that the visual confirmation required area has been visually confirmed if the visual confirmation determination unit has continuously visually confirmed the visual confirmation required area for a predetermined period of time or more after the automatic parking is started."

[0009] The automatic parking system of the present disclosure may be [4] "the automatic parking system according to any one of the above [1] to [3], wherein the display control unit causes the start button to be displayed at a position on the display screen different from the previous time." The automatic parking system of the present disclosure may be [5] "the automatic parking system according to any one of the above [1] to [4], further comprising a head detection unit that detects a head position of the driver, wherein the correction unit estimates a line of sight angle when the start button is viewed from the head position detected by the head detection unit, and uses the estimated line of sight angle as the reference line of sight angle." Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the driver's line of sight angle can be detected more accurately, and the driver can be appropriately prompted to visually check the surroundings of the vehicle during automatic parking. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an automatic parking system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] 2(a) and 2(b) are diagrams showing an example of a display screen on which a start button is displayed. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process flow when the automatic parking system performs automatic parking of a vehicle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the same or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicated explanations will be omitted.

[0013] As shown in Fig. 1, the automatic parking system 1 is mounted on a vehicle V capable of traveling automatically. Here, the vehicle V can perform automatic parking, which is to automatically park the vehicle in a parking space, as an automatic driving mode. The automatic parking system 1 performs automatic parking of the vehicle V when a start button that instructs the start of automatic parking is operated by the driver.

[0014] In addition, the automatic parking system 1 detects the driver's line of sight angle. After starting automatic parking, the automatic parking system 1 determines whether the driver is viewing the surroundings of the vehicle based on the detected line of sight angle. If the driver is not viewing the surroundings of the vehicle V, the automatic parking system 1 notifies the driver to view the surroundings of the vehicle V.

[0015] The automatic parking system 1 includes a driver monitor camera 2, a touch panel 3, a notification device 4, and an ECU [Electronic Control Unit] 5. The driver monitor camera 2 captures an image of the driver of a vehicle V. The driver monitor camera 2 is installed, for example, on the instrument panel or the ceiling portion in front of the driver's seat so that it can capture an image of the driver's face.

[0016] The touch panel 3 is a device that displays information and accepts input operations. The touch panel 3 includes a display screen 30 (see FIG. 2) that displays information. When the driver touches the display screen 30, the touch panel 3 can detect the touch position on the display screen 30 touched by the driver. The touch panel 3 may also function as a display unit of a navigation system. The notification device 4 is a device that issues notifications to the driver. The notification device 4 may include at least one of a speaker, a display screen, and a lamp. The display screen 30 of the touch panel 3 may also function as the notification device 4.

[0017] The ECU 5 is an electronic control unit having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. For example, the ECU 5 loads a program recorded in the ROM into the RAM and executes the program loaded into the RAM with the CPU to realize various functions. The ECU 5 may be composed of a plurality of electronic units. Functionally, the ECU 5 includes a display control unit 11, a driving execution unit 12, a gaze detection unit 13, a head detection unit 14, a correction unit 15, a visibility determination unit 16, and a notification unit 17.

[0018] The display control unit 11 controls an image to be displayed on the display screen 30 of the notification device 4. Here, the display control unit 11 displays a start button B on the display screen 30 as shown in FIG. 2(a). The start button B is a button that the driver instructs to start the execution of automatic parking of the vehicle V. Note that FIG. 2(a) is an image diagram showing the vehicle V viewed from above. For example, the display control unit 11 displays the start button B when automatic parking can be executed after the driver instructs the start of the automatic parking system 1. For example, the display control unit 11 may display the start button B when the parking position P where the vehicle V is to be parked is recognized and the vehicle V can be parked at the parking position P. Note that the driver can instruct the start of the automatic parking system 1 by operating a start button installed in, for example, a navigation system or the like.

[0019] 2(a) and 2(b), the display control unit 11 displays the start button B at a position different from the previous time on the display screen 30. That is, the display control unit 11 displays the start button B at a different position every time the driver instructs the automatic parking system 1 to start.

[0020] When the driver operates the start button B, the driving execution unit 12 executes automatic parking of the vehicle V so that the vehicle V is parked at the parking position P. The driving execution unit 12 controls the driving of the vehicle V by issuing instructions to an actuator that controls the driving of the vehicle V.

[0021] The gaze detection unit 13 detects the driver's gaze angle based on the detection result of the driver monitor camera 2. The gaze angle indicates the direction of the driver's gaze. The gaze detection unit 13 can detect the driver's gaze angle based on a well-known method using the detection result of the driver monitor camera 2. For example, the gaze detection unit 13 may determine the average value of the distribution of gaze angles within a certain period of time as the driver's gaze angle.

[0022] The head detection unit 14 detects the head position of the driver. The head detection unit 14 detects the head position of the driver based on the detection result of the driver monitor camera 2, using well-known image processing techniques or the like.

[0023] Correction unit 15 corrects the line-of-sight angle of the driver detected by line-of-sight detection unit 13. Here, an error may occur in the line-of-sight angle detected by line-of-sight detection unit 13. It is also known that the error in the detection of the line-of-sight angle differs for each driver depending on the way the driver opens their eyes and whether or not they wear glasses. Correction unit 15 corrects such an error in the detection of the line-of-sight angle that occurs for each driver.

[0024] When the driver operates the start button B, he or she needs to gaze at the start button B to confirm the display position of the start button B. For this reason, the line of sight angle detected by the line of sight detection unit 13 when the driver operates the start button B should be directed toward the start button B under normal circumstances. If an error occurs here, this error can be said to be an error in the detection of the line of sight angle that occurs for each driver. Therefore, the correction unit 15 corrects the line of sight angle detected by the line of sight detection unit 13 based on the line of sight angle when the driver operates the start button B on the display screen 30.

[0025] Specifically, the correction unit 15 corrects the line of sight angle detected by the line of sight detection unit 13 based on a predetermined reference line of sight angle and the line of sight angle detected by the line of sight detection unit 13 when the driver operates the start button B. The reference line of sight angle is predetermined based on the display position of the start button B. The reference line of sight angle is a designed line of sight angle when the driver looks at the start button B. The reference line of sight angle is also a designed line of sight angle when the start button B is looked at from a position where the driver's head is estimated to be present. For example, the correction unit 15 offsets the line of sight angle detected by the line of sight detection unit 13 by the difference between the reference line of sight angle and the line of sight angle detected by the line of sight detection unit 13 as a line of sight angle correction.

[0026] The correction unit 15 may use a reference gaze angle set based on the head position of a virtual driver. Without being limited thereto, the correction unit 15 may estimate a gaze angle when the start button B is viewed from the head position detected by the head detection unit 14, and use the estimated gaze angle as the reference gaze angle. In this case, the correction unit 15 can use a more accurate reference gaze angle that takes into account the height of the driver, etc.

[0027] Furthermore, the correction unit 15 may use, as the gaze angle detected by the gaze detection unit 13 when the driver operates the start button B, a gaze angle extracted based on a time series change in the gaze angle from among the gaze angles detected by the gaze detection unit 13. For example, when the driver operates the start button B, the driver's gaze moves from the periphery of the vehicle V to the display screen 30, and then moves back to the periphery of the vehicle V. In other words, when such a change in the driver's gaze angle occurs, it can be said that the driver has visually recognized the start button B on the display screen 30. For this reason, the correction unit 15 can extract the gaze angle when the driver is looking at the display screen 30 (start button B) based on the time series change in the gaze angle, and perform correction using the extracted gaze angle.

[0028] Correction unit 15 corrects the gaze angle when the gaze angle detected by gaze detection unit 13 deviates from the reference gaze angle by a predetermined angle or more. In other words, correction unit 15 does not correct the gaze angle when the gaze angle detected by gaze detection unit 13 deviates little from the reference gaze angle.

[0029] In this way, correction unit 15 calculates the correction amount of the gaze angle based on the reference gaze angle and the gaze angle detected by gaze detection unit 13 when the driver operates start button B. Correction unit 15 corrects the gaze angle detected by gaze detection unit 13 based on the calculated correction amount. Correction unit 15 corrects the gaze angle detected by gaze detection unit 13 when the driver is recognizing the surroundings of vehicle V, for example, based on the calculated correction amount. This allows automatic parking system 1 to accurately obtain the driver's gaze angle during automatic parking after start button B is operated.

[0030] The visual confirmation determination unit 16 determines whether or not the driver has visually confirmed the visual confirmation required area around the vehicle V after automatic parking has been started, based on the visual line angle detected by the visual line detection unit 13. Note that the visual confirmation determination unit 16 may determine that the visual confirmation required area has been visually confirmed when the visual confirmation required area has been continuously visually confirmed for a predetermined period of time or more after automatic parking has been started. When the visual confirmation angle has been corrected by the correction unit 15, the visual confirmation determination unit 16 makes the above-mentioned determination using the corrected visual confirmation angle.

[0031] Here, the visual confirmation required area is an area in which obstacles (other vehicles, pedestrians, etc.) around the vehicle V should be confirmed. The visual confirmation required area may include an area that should be confirmed during automatic parking. Furthermore, the visual confirmation determination unit 16 acquires the traveling direction during automatic parking from the driving execution unit 12. The visual confirmation determination unit 16 may set the visual confirmation required area so that the area on the acquired traveling direction side is included. For example, when the traveling direction during automatic parking is diagonally forward to the left, the visual confirmation determination unit 16 sets the visual confirmation required area so that the area on the diagonally forward to the left is included. Each time the traveling direction during automatic parking changes, the visual confirmation determination unit 16 sets the visual confirmation required area so that the area on the traveling direction side is included.

[0032] In addition, the "predetermined time" used to determine whether or not the visual confirmation required area has been visually confirmed may be changed according to various circumstances. For example, the visual confirmation determination unit 16 may set the predetermined time according to the circumstances around the vehicle V. For example, when an obstacle exists in or around the visual confirmation required area, the driver needs to visually confirm the visual confirmation required area more firmly. For this reason, for example, the visual confirmation determination unit 16 may set the predetermined time longer when an obstacle exists in or around the visual confirmation required area or when there are many obstacles than when there are no obstacles or when there are few obstacles. For example, the visual confirmation determination unit 16 may change the predetermined time according to the weather or brightness. For example, in rainy weather, it is more difficult to visually confirm the surroundings than when it is sunny. For this reason, the visual confirmation determination unit 16 may set the predetermined time longer in rainy weather than when it is sunny. Also, for example, when the surroundings are dark, it is more difficult to visually confirm the surroundings than when it is bright. For this reason, the visual confirmation determination unit 16 may set the predetermined time longer when the surroundings are dark than when it is bright.

[0033] When the visual recognition determination unit 16 determines that the visual recognition required area is not visually recognized, the notification unit 17 issues a notification using the notification device 4. This notification is a notification that prompts the user to visually recognize the visual recognition required area.

[0034] Next, a flow of processing when the automatic parking system 1 performs automatic parking of the vehicle V will be described. In addition, in the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, after the processing reaches the end, the processing starts from the start after a predetermined time. As shown in FIG. 3, the automatic parking system 1 judges whether or not the start button for starting the automatic parking system 1 has been operated (S101). If the start button has not been operated (S101: NO), the automatic parking system 1 starts the processing from the start after a predetermined time. If the start button has been operated (S101: YES), the display control unit 11 displays the start button B on the display screen 30. Then, the display control unit 11 judges whether or not the start button B has been operated (S102). In addition, each time the start button is operated to display the start button B, the display control unit 11 displays the start button B in a position different from the previous time. If the start button B has not been operated (S102: NO), the automatic parking system 1 starts the processing from the start after a predetermined time.

[0035] When the start button B is operated (S102: YES), the correction unit 15 acquires the line of sight angle detected by the line of sight detection unit 13 when the driver operates the start button B (S103). The correction unit 15 determines whether or not the line of sight angle detected by the line of sight detection unit 13 needs to be corrected (S104). Here, the correction unit 15 determines that correction is necessary when the line of sight angle detected by the line of sight detection unit 13 when the driver operates the start button B deviates from the reference line of sight angle by a predetermined angle or more. When correction is not necessary (S104: NO), the automatic parking system 1 performs the process of S106.

[0036] If correction is necessary (S104: YES), correction unit 15 corrects the gaze angle detected by gaze detection unit 13 (S105). Here, correction unit 15 calculates a correction amount for the gaze angle based on the reference gaze angle and the gaze angle detected by gaze detection unit 13 when the driver operates start button B. Correction unit 15 corrects the gaze angle detected by gaze detection unit 13 based on the calculated correction amount.

[0037] Note that, until the current automatic parking ends, correction unit 15 corrects the gaze angle detected by gaze detection unit 13 using the correction amount calculated at the start of execution of the current automatic parking. In other words, after the start of automatic parking, correction unit 15 corrects the gaze angle detected by gaze detection unit 13 when the driver is viewing the periphery of vehicle V, etc., using the correction amount.

[0038] The driving execution unit 12 starts executing automatic parking (S106). The visual confirmation determination unit 16 determines whether or not the driver has visually confirmed the visually required area around the vehicle V based on the line of sight angle detected by the line of sight detection unit 13 (S107). Note that, if the line of sight angle has been corrected by the correction unit 15, the visual confirmation determination unit 16 makes the determination using the corrected line of sight angle.

[0039] If the driver does not visually recognize the visually required area (S107: NO), the notification unit 17 notifies the driver to visually recognize the visually required area (S109). If the driver visually recognizes the visually required area (S107: YES), or after the notification of S109 is made, the visual recognition determination unit 16 determines whether or not automatic parking by the driving execution unit 12 has ended (S108). If automatic parking has not ended (S108: NO), the visual recognition determination unit 16 performs the process of S107 described above. If automatic parking has ended (S108: YES), the automatic parking system 1 ends the current process and starts the process from the start after a predetermined time.

[0040] As described above, the automatic parking system 1 detects the driver's line of sight angle, and issues a warning when the driver does not visually recognize the area around the vehicle V that requires visual recognition. The automatic parking system 1 also corrects the line of sight angle detected by the line of sight detection unit 13 based on the line of sight angle when the driver operates the start button B on the display screen 30. This enables the automatic parking system 1 to detect the driver's line of sight angle more accurately, and appropriately prompt the driver to visually confirm the area around the vehicle V during automatic parking.

[0041] The visual confirmation determination unit 16 sets the visual confirmation required area so as to include an area in the traveling direction of the vehicle V during automatic parking. The automatic parking system 1 issues an alert when the area in the traveling direction during automatic parking is not visually confirmed. This allows the automatic parking system 1 to issue an alert when an area that requires even more visual confirmation when performing automatic parking is not visually confirmed.

[0042] The visual confirmation determination unit 16 determines that the visual confirmation required area has been visually confirmed when the visual confirmation required area has been visually confirmed for a predetermined period of time or more after the automatic parking is started. This allows the automatic parking system 1 to more appropriately determine whether the visual confirmation required area has been visually confirmed.

[0043] When displaying the start button B on the display screen 30, the display control unit 11 displays the start button B at a position on the display screen 30 that is different from the previous time. If the display position of the start button B is different each time, the driver needs to check the position of the start button B before operating the start button B. In other words, the automatic parking system 1 can make the driver more reliably view the start button B when operating the start button B. This allows the automatic parking system 1 to acquire the line-of-sight angle when the start button B is viewed as the "line-of-sight angle when the driver operates the start button B" used when correcting the line-of-sight angle. Therefore, the automatic parking system 1 can more appropriately correct the line-of-sight angle.

[0044] Correction unit 15 estimates the line of sight angle when start button B is viewed from the head position detected by head detection unit 14, and uses the estimated line of sight angle as a reference line of sight angle. This enables automatic parking system 1 to correct the line of sight angle using a more appropriate reference line of sight angle that takes into account the height of the actual driver, etc.

[0045] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Various modifications may be made to the embodiments of the present disclosure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0046] 1...automatic parking system, 3...touch panel, 11...display control unit, 13...gaze detection unit, 14...head detection unit, 15...correction unit, 16...visibility determination unit, 17...alarm unit, 30...display screen, B...start button, V...vehicle.

Claims

1. An automatic parking system that automatically parks a vehicle when a start button that instructs the driver to start automatic parking is operated, a display control unit that displays the start button on a display screen of a touch panel; A gaze detection unit that detects a gaze angle of a driver; a visual confirmation determination unit that determines whether or not a visual confirmation required area around the vehicle has been visually confirmed after the automatic parking is started, based on the visual line angle detected by the visual line detection unit; a notification unit that issues a notification when the visual confirmation determination unit determines that the visual confirmation required area is not visually confirmed; a correction unit that corrects the gaze angle detected by the gaze detection unit on the basis of a reference gaze angle determined based on a display position of the start button and the gaze angle detected by the gaze detection unit when the driver operates the start button on the display screen; and Equipped with The visibility determination unit performs the determination using the corrected line of sight angle when the line of sight angle is corrected by the correction unit.

2. The automatic parking system according to claim 1 , wherein the visibility determination unit acquires a traveling direction of the vehicle during the automatic parking, and sets the visual confirmation required area so as to include an area on the side of the acquired traveling direction.

3. The automatic parking system according to claim 1 , wherein the visual confirmation determination unit determines that the visual confirmation required area has been visually confirmed when the visual confirmation required area is continuously visually confirmed for a predetermined period of time or more after the automatic parking is started.

4. The automatic parking system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the display control unit displays the start button at a position on the display screen different from the previous position.

5. A head detection unit that detects a head position of the driver is further provided, 5. The automatic parking system according to claim 4, wherein the correction unit estimates a gaze angle when the start button is viewed from the head position detected by the head detection unit, and uses the estimated gaze angle as the reference gaze angle.

Images