Driving support system, driving support method, and program

Abstract

To provide a driving support system and the like for dynamically and flexibly presenting a route for avoiding danger.SOLUTION: A navigation system 100 is a driving support system that detects the location of its own vehicle and presents a guide route from the location of its own vehicle to a destination. The driving support system includes: a peripheral vehicle information acquisition section 153; an attention vehicle detection section 154b; a route setting section 154c, which is an avoidance route setting section; and a map information acquisition section 158, which is a facility information acquisition section for acquiring facility information that is information about a facility present around the own vehicle. The avoidance route setting section searches for a shelter facility where the own vehicle temporarily shelters on the basis of the facility information, and sets an avoidance route that deviates from a travel route.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a driving assistance system, a driving assistance method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Technologies have been proposed to reduce the possibility of events such as vehicle traffic accidents. For example, a driving support device described in Patent Document 1 predicts that surrounding vehicles have deviated from normal traffic, and identifies accidents caused by the deviation from normal traffic by an accident content identification unit. Then, an avoidance measure determination unit determines an avoidance measure, and assists in the execution of the avoidance measure by presenting a warning and the avoidance measure and controlling an engine control unit, a brake control unit, and a transmission control unit.

[0003] The driving assistance program described in Patent Document 2 extracts multiple candidates for driving routes from a departure point to a destination point, and extracts a route that has a time increase within a predetermined range compared to the route with the shortest time required to reach the destination point from the departure point. The driving assistance program presents, as a safe route, the route with the fewest locations where the frequency of dangerous driving exceeds a predetermined frequency and the most rest facilities among the extracted routes. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2005-115484 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2017-151566 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, even when the above-mentioned technology is used, when a nearby vehicle that is driving recklessly catches or chases the vehicle, it is difficult for the vehicle to avoid the nearby vehicle while traveling along the guide route. Even in a place where the occurrence frequency of reckless driving is not statistically high, the vehicle may suddenly encounter a nearby vehicle that is driving recklessly, and it is not possible to avoid encountering such a nearby vehicle in advance.

[0006] The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and provides a driving support system etc. that dynamically and flexibly presents routes that avoid danger. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A driving assistance system according to the present invention detects the position of the vehicle and presents a guide route from the vehicle's position to a destination. The driving assistance system has a surrounding vehicle information acquisition unit, a noted vehicle detection unit, a facility information acquisition unit, and an avoidance route setting unit. The surrounding vehicle information acquisition unit acquires surrounding vehicle information relating to vehicles surrounding the vehicle. The noted vehicle detection unit detects the noted vehicle based on the surrounding vehicle information. The facility information acquisition unit acquires facility information which is information on facilities present in the vicinity of the vehicle. The avoidance route setting unit searches for an evacuation facility for the vehicle to temporarily evacuate to based on the facility information, and sets an avoidance route that deviates from the travel route.

[0008] A driving assistance method according to the present invention detects the position of a vehicle and presents a guide route from the vehicle's position to a destination. The driving assistance method includes a surrounding vehicle information acquisition step, a noted vehicle detection step, a facility information acquisition step, and an avoidance route setting step. The surrounding vehicle information acquisition step acquires surrounding vehicle information relating to vehicles surrounding the vehicle. The noted vehicle detection step detects the noted vehicle based on the surrounding vehicle information. The facility information acquisition step acquires facility information which is information on facilities present in the vicinity of the vehicle. The avoidance route setting step searches for an evacuation facility for the vehicle to temporarily take refuge in based on the facility information, and sets the avoidance route including the evacuation facility off the travel route.

[0009] The program according to the present invention is a driving assistance program that causes a computer to execute a driving assistance method that detects the position of the host vehicle and presents a guide route from the position of the host vehicle to a destination. The driving assistance method includes a surrounding vehicle information acquisition step, a noted vehicle detection step, a facility information acquisition step, and an avoidance route setting step. The surrounding vehicle information acquisition step acquires surrounding vehicle information related to vehicles surrounding the host vehicle. The noted vehicle detection step detects the noted vehicle based on the surrounding vehicle information. The facility information acquisition step acquires facility information that is information on facilities present in the vicinity of the host vehicle. The avoidance route setting step searches for an evacuation facility for the host vehicle to temporarily take refuge in based on the facility information, and sets the avoidance route including the evacuation facility off the travel route. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a driving support system or the like that dynamically and flexibly presents a route for avoiding danger. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a top view of a vehicle equipped with a driving assistance system. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram of a driving assistance system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] 4 is a first flowchart showing a process performed by the driving assistance system. [Figure 4] 5 is a second flowchart showing the processing performed by the driving assistance system. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a first example of a guide route displayed by the driving assistance system. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a first diagram showing an example of an avoidance route displayed by the driving assistance system. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a second diagram showing an example of an avoidance route displayed by the driving assistance system. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a second example of a guide route displayed by the driving assistance system. [Figure 9] FIG. 3 is a third diagram showing an example of an avoidance route displayed by the driving assistance system. [Figure 10] FIG. 4 is a fourth diagram showing an example of an avoidance route displayed by the driving assistance system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] The present invention will be described below through the embodiments of the invention, but the invention according to the claims is not limited to the following embodiments. In addition, not all of the configurations described in the embodiments are necessarily essential as means for solving the problems. For clarity of explanation, the following description and drawings are omitted and simplified as appropriate. In each drawing, the same elements are given the same reference numerals, and duplicate explanations are omitted as necessary.

[0013] <Embodiment Mode> The configuration of the embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a top view of a vehicle equipped with a driving assistance system according to the embodiment. A navigation system 100 is one embodiment of the driving assistance system. The navigation system 100 can detect the position of a vehicle 900, which is the vehicle itself, and present a guide route from the position of the vehicle 900 to a destination to a driver, which is a user. The vehicle 900, which is a moving body, is equipped with the navigation system 100 according to the embodiment. The navigation system 100 has a positioning information receiving unit 110, a traffic information receiving unit 120, a front camera 130, a rear camera 140, a control unit 150, a display unit 160, and the like.

[0014] The positioning information receiving unit 110 and the traffic information receiving unit 120 are each installed in the center of the dashboard of the vehicle 900. The positioning information receiving unit 110 includes an antenna for receiving positioning information for positioning the position of the vehicle from a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), which is a satellite positioning system such as a Global Positioning System (GPS). The traffic information receiving unit 120 includes an antenna for receiving traffic information from a system called Vehicle Information and Communication System (VICS), a registered trademark in Japan. The traffic information includes information such as congestion information, travel time required for a specific section, and traffic regulations. The positioning information receiving unit 110 and the traffic information receiving unit 120 may be installed at any position of the vehicle 900 as long as they are installed so that desired information can be acquired.

[0015] The front camera 130 captures the front of the vehicle 900 at a viewing angle of 180 degrees. The front camera 130 is installed at the upper center of the windshield in the cabin of the vehicle 900, and can capture other vehicles passing in front of the vehicle 900. The rear camera 140 captures the rear of the vehicle 900 at a viewing angle of 180 degrees. The rear camera 140 is installed at the upper center of the rear window in the cabin of the vehicle 900, and can capture other vehicles passing behind the vehicle 900. The front camera 130 and the rear camera 140 each include an objective lens, an image sensor, an image processing circuit, and the like for capturing the capture range. Note that the front camera 130 and the rear camera 140 are not limited to the configuration described above. The driving assistance system may have an omnidirectional camera that captures the surroundings of the vehicle 900 instead of the front camera 130 and the rear camera 140.

[0016] The control unit 150 is a control circuit stored in an arbitrary position of the vehicle 900, and appropriately controls each component of the navigation system 100. The control unit 150 will be described in detail later. The display unit 160 is a display device installed on the dashboard so as to present information to the driver, and includes, for example, a liquid crystal panel or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) panel.

[0017] The configuration of the navigation system 100 will be further described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the navigation system 100 according to the embodiment. The navigation system 100 has, as main components, an operation unit 170, a speaker 180, and a map information storage unit 190 in addition to the above-mentioned positioning information receiving unit 110, traffic information receiving unit 120, front camera 130, rear camera 140, control unit 150, and display unit 160.

[0018] When the positioning information receiving unit 110 receives a signal including positioning information, it generates, from the received signal, position information that is information indicating the position of the vehicle 900. The generated position information is supplied from the positioning information receiving unit 110 to the control unit 150. When the traffic information receiving unit 120 receives traffic information, it supplies the received traffic information to the control unit 150.

[0019] The front camera 130 and the rear camera 140 each generate shooting data by shooting the shooting range, and supply the generated shooting data to the control unit 150. The shooting data includes the appearance of surrounding vehicles existing around the vehicle 900. In other words, the shooting data is surrounding vehicle information related to the surrounding vehicles. The surrounding vehicle information includes at least the shape and size of the subject included in the shooting range. The surrounding vehicle information may further include information regarding the distance between the camera and the subject. The front camera 130 and the rear camera 140 generate shooting data of 30 frames per second, for example, and supply the shooting data to the control unit 150 every 1 / 30th of a second.

[0020] The control unit 150 is, for example, a control circuit in which a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), a buffer memory, and a plurality of interfaces are implemented, and executes various processes by executing stored programs. The control unit 150 has, as its main components, a position detection unit 151, a traffic information acquisition unit 152, a surrounding vehicle information acquisition unit 153, a calculation unit 154, a display control unit 155, an operation control unit 156, a voice control unit 157, and a map information acquisition unit 158. These components of the control unit 150 are connected to each other via a bus 150B so as to be able to communicate with each other.

[0021] The position detection unit 151 detects the position information supplied from the positioning information receiving unit 110, and supplies the detected position information to the calculation unit 154 and the map information acquisition unit 158. The position information includes, for example, information on the latitude, route, and positioning time of the vehicle 900. The traffic information acquisition unit 152 acquires the traffic information supplied from the traffic information receiving unit 120, and supplies the acquired traffic information to the calculation unit 154. The traffic information includes, for example, congestion information and traffic regulation information on roads around the vehicle 900. The surrounding vehicle information acquisition unit 153 acquires image data from the front camera 130 and the rear camera 140, and supplies the acquired image data to the calculation unit 154.

[0022] The calculation unit 154 performs various analyses and calculations on the information received from each component, and executes processing according to the analysis results and calculation results. The calculation unit 154 includes an analysis unit 154a, a vehicle-at-attention detection unit 154b, and a route setting unit 154c.

[0023] The analysis unit 154a performs an analysis by a preset method on the captured image data received from the surrounding vehicle information acquisition unit 153. For example, the analysis unit 154a detects other vehicles included in the captured image data by detecting a change in luminance from pixel values ​​included in the captured image data. The analysis unit 154a also detects the movement of other captured vehicles by detecting a change in the object for each frame.

[0024] The attention vehicle detection unit 154b detects an attention vehicle from the analysis result of the analysis unit 154a. The attention vehicle is a vehicle that is set so as to be detectable from surrounding vehicle information. For example, the attention vehicle may be a vehicle that is passing in front of or behind the vehicle 900 and is substantially likely to interfere with the driving of the vehicle 900, such as having a high possibility of contacting the vehicle 900. In this case, the attention vehicle may be called a dangerous vehicle. The dangerous vehicle includes a vehicle passing in front of the vehicle 900 while swaying from side to side, a vehicle passing behind the vehicle 900 while approaching the vehicle 900 abnormally, and the like, which is driving aggressively. When the attention vehicle detection unit 154b detects the attention vehicle, it supplies information on the detected attention vehicle to the route setting unit 154c.

[0025] The route setting unit 154c sets a travel route from the vehicle 900 to the destination according to the set conditions. For example, the route setting unit 154c receives position information of the vehicle 900 and information on the destination set by the driver, and generates a guide route from the position of the vehicle 900 to the destination. In addition, when the vehicle 900 traveling along the guide route deviates from the guide route, the route setting unit 154c updates the guide route as appropriate. The route setting unit 154c supplies the generated guide route or avoidance route to the display control unit 155.

[0026] When the route setting unit 154c receives information about a noted vehicle from the noted vehicle detection unit 154b, the route setting unit 154c also plays a role of an avoidance route setting unit that generates an avoidance route to the destination with an additional condition of avoiding the noted vehicle. When the vehicle 900 traveling along the avoidance route deviates from the guided avoidance route, the route setting unit 154c resets the avoidance route.

[0027] The route setting unit 154c also serves as an attention vehicle position estimation unit that estimates the position of the attention vehicle when generating an avoidance route. That is, after the attention vehicle is detected, the route setting unit 154c estimates the position of the attention vehicle on the assumption that the attention vehicle continues to travel the guide route, and calculates the estimated position of the attention vehicle at a predetermined time. The route setting unit 154c sets the avoidance route using the calculated estimated position so that the vehicle 900 and the attention vehicle do not come closer than a preset distance or time interval on the avoidance route. This allows the navigation system 100 to suppress re-encounter with the attention vehicle that was once avoided.

[0028] When generating an avoidance route, the route setting unit 154c can also include congested roads in the avoidance route based on traffic information around the vehicle 900. A congested road refers to a road area on which many vehicles are traveling at low speed. Here, low speed refers to, for example, about 10 to 30 kilometers per hour. By the vehicle 900 entering the congested road, even if the vehicle of interest is traveling nearby, it is unlikely to become a dangerous state in which a serious accident will occur. In addition, when there is a traffic jam that requires the vehicle to stop temporarily, there is a risk that the passengers of the vehicle of interest will get out of the vehicle of interest and approach the vehicle 900, but when the vehicle is traveling at a low speed, such a situation can be suppressed.

[0029] When generating an avoidance route, the route setting unit 154c can extract a waiting facility from facility information around the vehicle 900 and include the extracted waiting facility in the avoidance route. The waiting facility is a facility where the vehicle 900 can temporarily wait in order to avoid the noted vehicle. The route setting unit 154c can set the waiting facility in advance from the facility information stored in the map information storage unit 190. Specific examples of the waiting facility include a police station, a shopping mall, a convenience store, and a gas station. The vehicle 900 can increase the distance from the noted vehicle by temporarily stopping at the waiting facility. In addition, when a police station is set as a waiting facility, the navigation system 100 can be expected to have an effect of providing a sense of security to the driver when the driver avoids the noted vehicle.

[0030] The display control unit 155 controls the display unit 160 to display various information. For example, the display control unit 155 generates image data in which the vehicle 900 is superimposed on a surrounding map of the location where the vehicle 900 is located, based on map information and position information of the vehicle 900, and causes the display unit 160 to display the generated image data. The display control unit 155 also superimposes the route that the vehicle 900 will take to the destination on the surrounding map. In addition, the display control unit 155 causes the display unit 160 to display time information, traffic information, facility information included in the surrounding map, and the like.

[0031] The operation control unit 156 acquires operation information accepted by the operation unit 170, and instructs each component according to the acquired operation information. The operations accepted by the operation unit 170 include, for example, scrolling the map, zooming in and out, setting a destination, and the like.

[0032] The audio control unit 157 outputs a preset sound from the speaker 180. The preset sound is, for example, a guide to turn right or left along the traveling direction of the vehicle 900, a notification that a target vehicle has been detected, or the like.

[0033] The map information acquisition unit 158 ​​acquires map information stored in the map information storage unit 190. For example, the map information acquisition unit 158 ​​acquires map information of the surrounding area of ​​the location where the vehicle 900 is located from the map information storage unit 190 in accordance with the position information of the vehicle 900, and supplies the acquired map information to the display control unit 155. As described later, the map information includes road information and facility information. Therefore, the map information acquisition unit 158 ​​can be called a road information acquisition unit or a facility information acquisition unit.

[0034] The display unit 160 displays various information under the control of the display control unit 155. The display unit 160 is connected to the display control unit 155 and displays a signal supplied from the display control unit 155. The operation unit 170 is an interface that accepts operations performed by the driver on the navigation system 100. The operation unit 170 is a touch sensor or an operation button that is superimposed on the display unit 160. The operation unit 170 may include a microphone that accepts operations by voice input. The operation unit 170 may also be a receiver for infrared rays or wireless communication that accepts signals transmitted from a remote control or the like. The operation unit 170 supplies operation information, which is information related to the accepted operation, to the operation control unit 156. The speaker 180 converts the audio signal supplied from the audio control unit 157 into audio and outputs it.

[0035] The map information storage unit 190 is a storage device including a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory or an SSD (Solid State Drive), and stores map information. The map information includes road information, which is information about roads on which the vehicle 900 travels, and facility information, which is information about facilities existing around the roads on which the vehicle 900 travels. The road information includes information such as the type of road, names of intersections, positions of traffic lights, and entrances and exits to expressways. The facility information includes facilities such as police stations, gas stations, parking lots, shopping malls, and convenience stores.

[0036] Next, the processing performed by the navigation system 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a first flowchart showing the processing performed by the driving assistance system. The flowchart shown in Fig. 3 shows the processing of the control unit 150. The flowchart shown in Fig. 3 starts when the driver sets a destination, the control unit 150 sets a guide route to the destination, and then the vehicle 900 starts traveling along the guide route.

[0037] First, the control unit 150 judges whether the vehicle 900 is traveling along the route (step S10). Whether the vehicle 900 is traveling along the guide route is judged by comparing the position information detected by the position detection unit 151 with the guide route set by the route setting unit 154c. If it is not judged that the vehicle 900 is traveling along the route (step S10: No), the control unit 150 resets the guide route (step S11) and returns to step S10. If it is judged that the vehicle 900 is traveling along the route (step S10: Yes), the control unit 150 proceeds to step S12.

[0038] Next, the surrounding vehicle information acquisition unit 153 of the control unit 150 acquires the photographed data from the front camera 130 and the rear camera 140 (step S12). Then, the analysis unit 154a receives the photographed data from the surrounding vehicle information acquisition unit 153 and analyzes the positions and movements of the surrounding vehicles (step S13).

[0039] Next, the attention vehicle detection unit 154b judges whether or not a attention vehicle has been detected based on the analysis result of the analysis unit 154a (step S14). If it is not judged that a attention vehicle has been detected (step S14: No), the control unit 150 compares the position information of the vehicle 900 with the position information of the destination to judge whether or not the vehicle 900 has arrived at the destination (step S19). If it is not judged that the vehicle 900 has arrived at the destination (step S19: No), the control unit 150 returns to step S10. On the other hand, if it is judged that the vehicle 900 has arrived at the destination (step S19: Yes), the control unit 150 ends the series of processes.

[0040] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S14 that the target vehicle has been detected (step S14: Yes), the route setting unit 154c of the control unit 150 sets an avoidance route (step S15). The process of generating the avoidance route will be described later in detail.

[0041] After the route setting unit 154c sets the avoidance route, the control unit 150 judges whether the vehicle 900 is traveling along the route (step S16). If it is not judged that the vehicle 900 is traveling along the avoidance route (step S16: No), the control unit 150 returns to step S15 and resets the avoidance route (step S15). On the other hand, if it is judged that the vehicle 900 is traveling along the avoidance route (step S16: Yes), the control unit 150 proceeds to step S17.

[0042] In step S17, the route setting unit 154c of the control unit 150 judges whether or not the interval D1 between the vehicle 900 and the estimated position of the noted vehicle at an arbitrary time is larger than the threshold Dth (step S17). The threshold Dth is, for example, a distance at which the vehicle 900 and the noted vehicle can visually confirm each other and can approach each other immediately. Specifically, the threshold Dth is, for example, a distance of 100 m or less. If the interval D1 is not larger than the threshold Dth (step S17: No), the vehicle 900 traveling on the avoidance route is highly likely to encounter the noted vehicle again on the travel route after the avoidance route and the guidance route merge. Therefore, in this case, the control unit 150 returns to step S15 and sets the avoidance route again. On the other hand, if the interval D1 is larger than the threshold Dth (step S17: Yes), the vehicle 900 traveling on the avoidance route is less likely to encounter the noted vehicle again on the travel route after the avoidance route and the guidance route merge. In this case, the control unit 150 proceeds to step S18.

[0043] In step S18, the control unit 150 compares the position information of the vehicle 900 with the position information of the destination to determine whether the vehicle 900 has arrived at the destination (step S18). If the control unit 150 does not determine that the vehicle 900 has arrived at the destination, the control unit 150 returns to step S16. On the other hand, if the control unit 150 determines that the vehicle 900 has arrived at the destination, the control unit 150 ends the series of processes.

[0044] Next, the avoidance route setting process will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a second flowchart showing the process performed by the driving assistance system. The flowchart shown in Fig. 4 is a specific example including detailed processing of step S15 shown in Fig. 3. That is, the process shown in Fig. 4 is started after the vehicle 900 detects the target vehicle.

[0045] First, in step S150, the control unit 150 determines whether or not the noted vehicle is present ahead of the vehicle 900 (step S150). If it is determined that the noted vehicle is present ahead of the vehicle 900 (step S150: Yes), the control unit 150 proceeds to step S151. On the other hand, if it is determined that the noted vehicle is not present ahead of the vehicle 900, that is, is present behind the vehicle 900 (step S150: No), the control unit 150 proceeds to step S155.

[0046] In step S151, the route setting unit 154c of the control unit 150 searches for an avoidance route from map information or the like (step S151). Here, the route setting unit 154c assumes that the noted vehicle continues to travel along the guidance route, and searches for a route to temporarily guide the vehicle 900 located behind the noted vehicle to a route different from the guidance route. By searching for such a route, the navigation system 100 actively guides the vehicle 900 to a road different from that of the noted vehicle.

[0047] Next, the route setting unit 154c estimates the position of a target vehicle that is present ahead of the vehicle 900 (step S152). Then, the route setting unit 154c calculates whether or not the vehicle 900 and the target vehicle will not come closer to each other than a preset distance or time interval on the searched route when the vehicle 900 travels along the searched route.

[0048] Next, the route setting unit 154c of the control unit 150 judges whether the noted vehicle can be avoided by the searched avoidance route (step S153). Whether the noted vehicle can be avoided is judged based on whether the distance between the noted vehicle and the estimated position of the noted vehicle when traveling along the searched route is greater than a preset value. If it is judged that the noted vehicle can be avoided (step S153: Yes), the route setting unit 154c sets the searched route as an avoidance route (step S154) and ends the avoidance route setting process. On the other hand, if it is not judged that the noted vehicle can be avoided (step S153: No), the route setting unit 154c does not set the searched route as an avoidance route and proceeds to step S155.

[0049] In step S155, the control unit 150 acquires traffic information (step S155). Furthermore, the control unit 150 determines whether or not there is a congested road around the position where the vehicle 900 is traveling, based on the acquired traffic information (step S156).

[0050] If there is a congested road around the position where the vehicle 900 is traveling (step S156: Yes), the route setting unit 154c of the control unit 150 sets an avoidance route that passes through the congested road (step S157), and ends the avoidance route setting process. When the noted vehicle is traveling behind the vehicle 900 and tailgating the vehicle 900, the noted vehicle entering the congested road and traveling at a low speed is expected to have an effect of calming the mind of the driver of the noted vehicle.

[0051] On the other hand, in step S156, if there is no congested road around the position where the vehicle 900 is traveling (step S156: No), the control unit 150 acquires facility information (step S158) and searches for a waiting facility. Then, the route setting unit 154c sets an avoidance route that passes through the waiting facility (step S159), and ends the avoidance route setting process.

[0052] Although the avoidance route setting process has been described above, the avoidance route setting process is not limited to the above process. Steps S151 and S152 can be performed in any order. If it is not determined in step S153 that avoidance is possible, the process may return to step S151. At least one of the processes of steps S155 to S157 or the processes of steps S158 and S159 may be omitted as appropriate.

[0053] Next, referring to Fig. 5, a situation in which it is determined in the above-mentioned step S150 that the noted vehicle is present ahead of the vehicle 900 will be specifically described. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a first example of a guide route displayed by the driving assistance system. A screen 200 shown in Fig. 5 is an example of a map screen displayed on the display unit 160 of the navigation system 100 and thereby presented to the driver.

[0054] Screen 200 displays road information in the area where vehicle 900 is traveling using thick solid lines. In the map shown on screen 200, the upper part of the drawing is north and the lower part of the drawing is south. In the lower center of screen 200, a traveling vehicle 900 is displayed as an icon. The vehicle 900 shown in the drawing is traveling from the lower center of the screen toward the upper part (i.e., north). In addition, in the upper left of screen 200, an icon resembling a checkered flag is displayed superimposed on the destination 201 set by the driver.

[0055] The first congestion information 220 indicated by a gray arrow in the lower right of the screen 200 and the second congestion information 221 indicated by a black arrow in the lower left of the screen 200 indicate that the lane heading in the direction of the arrow is congested. The first congestion information 220 is an area where the driving speed is about 10 to 30 kilometers per hour. The second congestion information 221 is an area where the driving speed is 10 kilometers per hour or less. The navigation system 100 generates a guide route taking such congestion information into account.

[0056] The white belt-like broken line connecting the vehicle 900 to the destination 201 is the guide route 210 for guiding the vehicle 900 to the destination 201. The guide route 210 is displayed so as to overlap with the road. Therefore, if the vehicle 900 follows the guide route 210, it will head north from the lower center of the screen 200 shown in Fig. 5, go straight through intersection P10, turn left at a T-junction, and turn right at intersection P11 after proceeding a little further. The driver heads toward the destination 201 while visually checking the map screen displayed on the screen 200 and the vehicle 900 and the guide route 210 superimposed on the map screen.

[0057] 5 further shows that, in this situation, the navigation system 100 has detected a vehicle of interest ahead of the vehicle 900. A black rectangular icon in front of the vehicle 900 indicates the vehicle of interest 800. In the above situation, the control unit 150 proceeds to step S151.

[0058] Fig. 6 is a first diagram showing an example of an avoidance route displayed by the driving assistance system. A screen 200 shown in Fig. 6 shows a state in which the control unit 150 has set an avoidance route, that is, a state in which steps S151 to S154 shown in Fig. 4 have been completed. The belt-like broken line shown in the figure is the avoidance route 211 generated by the route setting unit 154c. The dotted line shown in the portion of the guide route shown in Fig. 5 indicates the estimated position per unit time of the noted vehicle 800.

[0059] The avoidance route 211 is selected as a route different from the travel route of the noted vehicle 800 at the intersection P10 shown in the figure. Therefore, if the vehicle 900 travels according to the avoidance route 211, the vehicle 900 turns left at the intersection P10 ahead and travels on a different road from the noted vehicle 800. In addition, the avoidance route 211 may encounter the noted vehicle 800 again at the T-junction P12 shown in the figure. Therefore, the route setting unit 154c calculates the time when the vehicle 900 passes through the T-junction P12 and the time when the noted vehicle 800 passes through the T-junction P12. The route setting unit 154c sets the avoidance route 211 on the condition that the difference between the respective times is greater than a preset interval. By performing such processing, the navigation system 100 can reduce the possibility of encountering the noted vehicle 800 again.

[0060] Next, a case where the avoidance route is reset will be described with reference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a second diagram showing an example of an avoidance route displayed by the driving support system. The screen 200 in FIG. 7 shows a situation before the vehicle 900, which has traveled the avoidance route 211, passes through the T-junction P12 after the situation shown in FIG. 6. As described with reference to FIG. 3, the navigation system 100 executes steps S16 and S17 while the vehicle 900 is traveling through the avoidance route until the vehicle arrives at the destination. While the vehicle 900 is traveling through the avoidance route 211 shown in FIG. 6, the time at which the vehicle passes through the T-junction P12 may change due to a change in traffic volume or the like. The example shown in FIG. 7 shows an example in which the control unit 150, which has executed the above-mentioned step S17, determines that the distance D1 will be equal to or less than the threshold value Dth when the vehicle 900 selects the route R11 and heads toward the T-junction P12.

[0061] When the control unit 150 makes such a determination, the control unit 150 moves from step S17 to step S15 in Fig. 3. Then, in the example shown in Fig. 7, the control unit 150 calculates that by traveling route R12 instead of route R11, the distance D1 from the estimated value of the noted vehicle 800 will be greater than the threshold value Dth. Therefore, the control unit 150 generates an avoidance route 212, and causes the generated avoidance route 212 to be displayed on the display unit 160. By implementing such processing, the navigation system 100 can dynamically reduce the possibility of encountering the noted vehicle 800.

[0062] Next, an example of an avoidance route when a target vehicle is present behind the vehicle 900 will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a second example of a guide route displayed by the driving assistance system. Fig. 8 differs from the situation shown in Fig. 5 in that a target vehicle 800 is present behind the vehicle 900. The control unit 150 detects the target vehicle 800 behind the vehicle 900. The control unit 150 proceeds from step S150 shown in Fig. 4 to step S155.

[0063] With reference to Fig. 9, a case where an avoidance route that passes through a congested road when a target vehicle is present behind will be described. Fig. 9 is a third diagram showing an example of an avoidance route displayed by the driving support system. A screen 200 shown in Fig. 9 shows a situation after the control unit 150, which has proceeded to step S155, has searched for congested roads in the vicinity and set an avoidance route in step S157. In this case, the route setting unit 154c searches for the first congestion information 220 and the second congestion information 221 from traffic information around the vehicle 900, and sets an avoidance route 213 that passes through the first congestion information 220.

[0064] The vehicle 900 turns right at the intersection P10 ahead, passes through a congested road, turns left at intersection P14, and then turns left again at intersection P15. In this case, there is a possibility that the noted vehicle 800 will follow the vehicle 900 and turn right at the intersection P10. However, as the vehicle 900 passes through the congested road, the travel speed of the noted vehicle 800 can be limited. Therefore, the navigation system 100 is expected to have the effect of suppressing the driver of the noted vehicle 800 from becoming excited while traveling on a congested road.

[0065] Next, a case where an avoidance route passing through a shelter facility is taken when a target vehicle is present behind will be described with reference to Fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a fourth diagram showing an example of an avoidance route displayed by the driving support system.

[0066] 10 shows a state after the control unit 150, which has proceeded to step S158, has searched for a nearby evacuation facility and set an avoidance route in step S159. In this case, the route setting unit 154c searches for a evacuation facility 205 from facility information in the vicinity of the vehicle 900, and sets an avoidance route 214 that passes through the evacuation facility 205.

[0067] The vehicle 900 goes straight through the intersection P10 ahead, turns right at the T-junction P16, and heads toward the waiting facility 205. The navigation system 100 may suggest to the vehicle 900 that it stop at the waiting facility 205 for a predetermined time. There is a possibility that the noted vehicle 800 will turn right at the T-junction P16 while following the vehicle 900. However, it is expected that the noted vehicle 800 will give up following the vehicle 900 as the vehicle 900 remains at the waiting facility 205.

[0068] Although the embodiment has been described above, the configuration of the driving assistance system according to the embodiment is not limited to the above. For example, the driving assistance system may refer to the control unit 150 shown in Fig. 2 and may not include other configurations. The navigation system 100, which is one embodiment of the driving assistance system, may be in the form of a single device, not in the form incorporated in the automobile as shown in Fig. 1.

[0069] The driving assistance system may further include a recording device for recording an image captured by the front camera 130 or the rear camera 140. In that case, for example, when the driving assistance system detects a vehicle of interest, the driving assistance system may record the captured image data of the detected vehicle of interest. The control unit 150 is not limited to an integrated configuration, and may be realized by connecting a plurality of devices so that they can communicate with each other. The control unit 150 may further include a wireless communication function and be realized by a computing device such as a computer located at a position different from the vehicle 900. That is, the driving assistance system may include a computing device that can acquire the captured image data, positioning information, and traffic information generated by the front camera 130 and the rear camera 140 through a communication device. That is, the driving assistance system may be a smartphone, tablet, laptop computer, or the like having a navigation function.

[0070] The surrounding vehicle information acquired by the surrounding vehicle information acquisition unit 153 may be information generated by a distance measurement sensor using a laser or infrared light instead of or in addition to the image capture data. That is, the front camera 130 and the rear camera 140 may be distance measurement sensors instead of or in addition to them.

[0071] As described above, according to the embodiment, it is possible to provide a driving assistance system or the like that dynamically and flexibly presents a route for avoiding danger.

[0072] The above-mentioned program can be stored and supplied to a computer using various types of non-transitory computer-readable media. The non-transitory computer-readable media includes various types of tangible recording media. Examples of the non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic recording media (e.g., flexible disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives), magneto-optical recording media (e.g., magneto-optical disks), CD-ROM (Read Only Memory), CD-R, CD-R / W, and semiconductor memory (e.g., mask ROM, PROM (Programmable ROM), EPROM (Erasable PROM), flash ROM, RAM (Random Access Memory)). The program may also be supplied to a computer by various types of temporary computer-readable media. Examples of the temporary computer-readable media include electric signals, optical signals, and electromagnetic waves. The temporary computer-readable media can supply the program to a computer via a wired communication path such as an electric wire and an optical fiber, or via a wireless communication path.

[0073] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0074] 100 Navigation System 110 Positioning information receiving unit 120 Traffic information receiving unit 130 Front Camera 140 Rear Camera 150 Control section 150B Bus 151 Position detection unit 152 Traffic information acquisition department 153 Surrounding vehicle information acquisition unit 154 Arithmetic section 154a Analysis Department 154b Attention vehicle detection unit 154c Route setting section 155 Display control unit 156 Operation control section 157 Audio control section 158 Map information acquisition unit 160 Display section 170 Operation section 180 Speaker 190 Map information storage unit 200 screens 201 Destination 205 Shelter 210 Route Guidance 211, 212, 213, 214 Evasion Route 800 Featured Vehicles 900 vehicles

Claims

1. A driving support system that detects a vehicle's position and presents a guide route from the vehicle's position to a destination, a surrounding vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires surrounding vehicle information regarding surrounding vehicles of the host vehicle; a vehicle-at-risk detection unit that detects a vehicle at risk based on the surrounding vehicle information; an avoidance route setting unit that sets an avoidance route to the destination on the condition that the host vehicle and the target vehicle are separated from each other by a distance greater than a preset distance on a travel route of the host vehicle; A facility information acquisition unit that acquires facility information that is information on facilities present in the vicinity of the vehicle. the avoidance route setting unit searches for an evacuation facility for the host vehicle to temporarily take refuge in based on the facility information, and sets the avoidance route that is out of the travel route; Driving assistance system.

2. A traffic information acquisition unit that acquires the traffic information around the vehicle, The avoidance route setting unit sets a route for entering an area where other vehicles are traveling at a preset speed range based on the traffic information. The driving assistance system according to claim 1 .

3. the avoidance route setting unit sets the avoidance route including a route deviating from the guide route when the attention vehicle is present ahead of the host vehicle. A driving assistance system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. A driving support method for detecting a position of a vehicle and presenting a guide route from the position of the vehicle to a destination, comprising: a surrounding vehicle information acquisition step of acquiring surrounding vehicle information regarding vehicles surrounding the host vehicle; and a target vehicle detection step of detecting a target vehicle based on the surrounding vehicle information. an avoidance route setting step of setting an avoidance route to the destination on the condition that the host vehicle and the target vehicle are separated from each other by a distance greater than a preset distance on a travel route of the host vehicle; and a facility information acquisition step of acquiring facility information that is information on facilities present around the vehicle. The avoidance route setting step includes searching for an evacuation facility where the host vehicle can temporarily take refuge based on the facility information, and setting the avoidance route including the evacuation facility that is off the travel route. Driving assistance methods.

5. A driving assistance program for causing a computer to execute a driving assistance method for detecting a position of a vehicle and presenting a guide route from the position of the vehicle to a destination, comprising: The driving assistance method includes: a surrounding vehicle information acquisition step of acquiring surrounding vehicle information regarding vehicles surrounding the host vehicle; and a target vehicle detection step of detecting a target vehicle based on the surrounding vehicle information; an avoidance route setting step of setting an avoidance route to the destination on the condition that the host vehicle and the target vehicle are separated from each other by a distance greater than a preset distance on a travel route of the host vehicle; and a facility information acquisition step of acquiring facility information that is information on facilities present around the vehicle. The avoidance route setting step includes searching for an evacuation facility where the host vehicle can temporarily take refuge based on the facility information, and setting the avoidance route including the evacuation facility that is off the travel route. Driver assistance programs.

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