Safety device and control method

Abstract

To improve a technique for braking a vehicle in a standing posture.SOLUTION: A safety device 20 comprises a control unit 24 that measures, using a distance sensor 221, a distance between a manual driving device 10 and a driver operating the manual driving device 10 during travel of a vehicle 1, and transmits a deceleration and stop request to the manual driving device 10 when the measured distance exceeds a threshold.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a safety device and a control method.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a technique for driving a vehicle in a standing posture is known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a brake pedal device that brakes a vehicle by stepping on a brake pedal while maintaining a standing posture.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, a driver driving a vehicle in a standing posture may fall due to vehicle shaking during travel. In such a case, there is a concern that the vehicle may become inoperable. Therefore, there is room for improvement in the technique of driving a vehicle in a standing posture.

[0005] In view of such circumstances, an object of the present disclosure is to improve the technique of driving a vehicle in a standing posture.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] A safety device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is a safety device mounted on a manual driving device, and measures, by a distance sensor, a distance between the manual driving device and a driver operating the manual driving device during travel of a vehicle, and when the measured distance exceeds a threshold value, a control unit that transmits a deceleration stop request to the manual driving device.

[0007] The control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is a control method executed by a safety device mounted on a manual driving device. During the running of the vehicle, a distance sensor measures the distance between the manual driving device and the driver operating the manual driving device. When the measured distance exceeds a threshold value, a deceleration stop request is transmitted to the manual driving device.

Advantages of the Invention

[0008] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the technology for driving a vehicle in a standing posture is improved.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described.

[0011] (Overview of the Embodiment) Referring to FIG. 1, the overview of the vehicle 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. The vehicle 1 includes a braking device 2, a manual driving device 10, and a safety device 20. The safety device 20 is mounted on the manual driving device 10.

[0012] Vehicle 1 is, for example, an automobile, but is not limited thereto and may be any vehicle. The automobile may be, but is not limited to, a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), an HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle), a PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), an FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle), etc. In the present disclosure, vehicle 1 will be described as an autonomous vehicle corresponding to LV4 (Level 4 autonomous driving). LV4 is an autonomous driving level at which all driving operations are automated by the system under limited conditions such as location, weather, and speed. However, vehicle 1 is not limited to an autonomous vehicle corresponding to LV4.

[0013] The braking device 2 is a device that decelerates or stops the traveling vehicle 1, or maintains the stopped state of the already stopped vehicle 1.

[0014] The manual driving device 10 is a portable type driving device that can be installed in a vehicle 1 without a driver's seat (for example, an autonomous vehicle corresponding to LV4). The manual driving device 10 receives a deceleration stop request from the communication unit 21 of the safety device 20 via the communication unit 11 wiredly connected by CAN or the like. However, the communication unit 11 and the communication unit 21 may be wirelessly connected. In response to the reception of the deceleration stop request, the manual driving device 10 transmits the deceleration stop request of the vehicle 1 to the braking device 2 via the transmission unit 13.

[0015] The safety device 20 is a computer mounted on the manual driving device 10. The safety device 20 is communicably connected to the communication unit 11 of the manual driving device 10 by a wired connection such as CAN via the communication unit 21. However, the communication unit 21 and the communication unit 11 may be wirelessly connected.

[0016] First, the outline of this embodiment will be described, and the details will be described later. While the vehicle 1 is in motion, the safety device 20 measures the distance between the manual driving device 10 and the driver operating the manual driving device 10 by means of the distance sensor 221, and when the measured distance exceeds a threshold value, a deceleration stop request is transmitted to the manual driving device 10.

[0017] As described above, according to this embodiment, when the distance measured by the distance sensor 221 exceeds the threshold value, the safety device 20 transmits a deceleration stop request to the manual driving device 10. Therefore, even if the driver operating the manual driving device 10 falls due to vehicle sway during travel, the safety device 20 can decelerate and stop the vehicle 1 by its operation. Thus, the technology for braking the vehicle 1 in an upright posture is improved in terms of increasing the probability of avoiding an accident due to the inoperability of the manual driving device 10.

[0018] Next, each component of the manual driving device 10 will be described in detail.

[0019] (Configuration of the manual driving device) As shown in FIG. 1, the manual driving device 10 includes a communication unit 11, an operation unit 12, a transmission unit 13, a storage unit 14, a control unit 15, and a safety device 20. The details of the safety device 20 will be described later.

[0020] The communication unit 11 includes one or more communication interfaces for wired or wireless connection to the communication unit 21 of the safety device 20. The communication interface corresponds to, for example, the communication standard of an in-vehicle network such as CAN, the wired LAN (Local Area Network) standard, or the wireless LAN standard, but is not limited thereto and may correspond to any communication standard. The communication unit 11 receives a deceleration stop request for the vehicle 1 from the safety device 20.

[0021] The operation unit 12 includes components directly operable by the driver, such as a steering wheel for turning the vehicle 1, a brake pedal for braking (decelerating / stopping) the vehicle 1, and an emergency stop switch 121.

[0022] When the transmission unit 13 receives a deceleration stop request for the vehicle 1 from the brake pedal or the emergency stop switch 121 of the operation unit 12 or from the safety device 20 via the communication unit 11, it transmits the received deceleration stop request to the braking device 2.

[0023] The storage unit 14 includes one or more memories. The memory is, for example, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic memory, an optical memory, or the like, but is not limited thereto. Each memory included in the storage unit 14 may function as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 14 stores any information used for the operation of the manual driving device 10. For example, the storage unit 14 may store a system program, an application program, and embedded software.

[0024] The control unit 15 includes one or more processors, one or more programmable circuits, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination thereof. The processor is, for example, a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or a dedicated processor specialized for specific processing, but is not limited thereto. The programmable circuit is, for example, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), but is not limited thereto. The dedicated circuit is, for example, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), but is not limited thereto. The control unit 15 controls the operation of the entire manual driving device 10.

[0025] (Configuration of the safety device) As shown in FIG. 1, the safety device 20 includes a communication unit 21, a measurement unit 22, a storage unit 23, a control unit 24, and a rope 25.

[0026] The communication unit 21 includes one or more communication interfaces that are connected to the communication unit 11 of the manual driving device 10 either by wire or wirelessly. The communication interface corresponds to, for example, the communication standard of an in-vehicle network such as CAN, the wired LAN standard, or the wireless LAN standard, but is not limited thereto and may correspond to any communication standard.

[0027] The measurement unit 22 includes a distance sensor 221, a pair of touch sensors 222, a microphone 223, and the like. The measurement unit 22 transmits the data measured by the distance sensor 221, the pair of touch sensors 222, and the microphone 223 to the control unit 24.

[0028] The storage unit 23 includes one or more memories. Each memory included in the storage unit 23 may function as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 23 stores any information used for the operation of the safety device 20. For example, the storage unit 23 may store a system program, an application program, a database, and the data measured by the measurement unit 22.

[0029] The control unit 24 includes one or more processors, one or more programmable circuits, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination thereof. The control unit 24 transmits a deceleration stop request for the vehicle 1 to the manual driving device 10 via the communication unit 21 based on the data measured by the measurement unit 22. The control unit 24 controls the operation of the entire safety device 20.

[0030] The rope 25 is a rope. In the present disclosure, the rope 25 connects the clothing of the driver 3 and the emergency stop switch 121. The rope 25 is, for example, a polyester rope, a cotton rope, a nylon rope, a vinylon rope, or a stainless steel wire rope, but the material does not matter. The rope 25 only needs to have a strength that does not break due to movements such as human walking, running, or falling.

[0031] (Operation flow of the safety device) Referring to FIG. 2, the operation of the safety device 20 according to the present embodiment will be described. This operation relates to the transmission of a deceleration stop request to the manual driving device 10.

[0032] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a control method by the distance sensor 221. As shown in FIG. 3, the safety device 20 includes a communication unit 21, a measurement unit 22 (including a distance sensor 221, a pair of touch sensors 222, and a microphone 223), a storage unit 23, a control unit 24, and a rope 25. Further, the manual driving device 10 includes an emergency stop switch 121. In the present disclosure, the deceleration stop request refers to a request to decelerate the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 during traveling or to cause a temporary stop.

[0033] S101: The control unit 24 activates a pair of touch sensors 222.

[0034] The safety device 20 is attached to the steering wheel of the manual driving device 10 and includes a pair of touch sensors 222 that detect the contact of both palms of the driver 3. When the traveling of the vehicle 1 is started, the control unit 24 activates a pair of touch sensors 222 in the measurement unit 22.

[0035] S102: The control unit 24 detects whether the palm of the driver 3 is in contact with at least one of the pair of touch sensors 222. If in contact, proceed to S106; if not in contact, proceed to S103. This determination is referred to as determination 1.

[0036] S103: During the traveling of the vehicle 1, the control unit 24 measures the distance between the manual driving device 10 and the driver 3 operating the manual driving device 10 by the distance sensor 221.

[0037] ​The measurement unit 22 detects whether the palm of the driver 3 is in contact with at least one of the pair of touch sensors 222, and transmits the detection result to the control unit 24. When receiving the detection result, the control unit 24 determines that the driver 3 is in a state where the manual driving device 10 can be operated if the palm of the driver 3 is in contact with at least one of the pair of touch sensors 222. On the other hand, when the palm of the driver 3 has not been in contact with at least one of the pair of touch sensors 222 for a predetermined time or more, the control unit 24 needs to determine whether the driver 3 is at a distance where the manual driving device 10 can be operated.

[0038] The distance sensor 221 is attached at a position facing the driver 3 who drives the vehicle 1 in a standing posture. The attachment position is, for example, the central part of the steering wheel as shown in FIG. 3, but the mounting position is not limited to this. The distance sensor 221 is, for example, LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), but is not limited to this. The distance sensor 221 may be a millimeter wave sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, or a stereo camera.

[0039] When at least one of the pair of touch sensors 222 does not detect contact by the palm of the driver 3, the control unit 24 activates the distance sensor 221 in the measurement unit 22 to measure the distance between the manual driving device 10 and the driver 3.

[0040] Note that the control unit 24 may be configured to keep the distance sensor 221 in an always-on state during the running of the vehicle 1 to measure the distance between the manual driving device 10 and the driver 3 without activating the pair of touch sensors 222 or regardless of the detection results of the pair of touch sensors 222.

[0041] S104: The control unit 24 determines whether the measured distance exceeds the threshold value α. If it exceeds the threshold value α, it proceeds to S105; if it does not exceed the threshold value α, it proceeds to S106. This determination is referred to as determination 2.

[0042] The threshold value α is the upper limit value of the distance between the driver 3 and the manual driving device 10, which is required for the driver 3 to operate the manual driving device 10. More specifically, the threshold value α is the shorter of the upper limit value of the distance required for the driver 3 to grip the steering wheel equipped with a pair of touch sensors 222 and the upper limit value of the distance required for the driver 3 to turn on the emergency stop switch 121.

[0043] S105: The control unit 24 transmits a deceleration stop request to the manual driving device 10.

[0044] The manual driving device 10 that receives the deceleration stop request from the control unit 24 transmits the deceleration stop request of the vehicle 1 to the braking device 2 via the operation unit 12 and the transmission unit 13. When the braking device 2 receives the deceleration stop request from the manual driving device 10, it decelerates or stops the vehicle 1.

[0045] Figure 4 is a diagram for explaining the control method using the rope 25. The difference from Figure 3 is that the clothes of the driver 3 and the emergency stop switch 121 provided in the manual driving device 10 are connected by the rope 25.

[0046] As shown in Figure 4, the manual driving device 10 is provided with an emergency stop switch 121. As shown in Figure 4, the emergency stop switch 121 and the clothes of the driver 3 are connected by a rope 25. The length of the rope 25 may be a length corresponding to the above-mentioned threshold value α. The rope 25 may be configured to turn on the emergency stop switch 121 by the tensile force generated when the driver 3 is separated from the manual driving device 10 by a distance exceeding the threshold value α due to a fall or the like. When the emergency stop switch 121 is turned on, the vehicle 1 is decelerated and stopped. According to such a configuration, the economic burden of introducing an expensive distance sensor 221 is reduced.

[0047] S106: The control unit 24 checks whether the vehicle 1 has parked. If the vehicle 1 has parked, the information processing ends. If it has not parked, it returns to S102 and continues the information processing.

[0048] The parking or stopping of vehicle 1 refers to a state where the ignition switch or power switch is turned off and vehicle 1 is parked in a parking space or a stopping space.

[0049] As described above, during the running of vehicle 1, the safety device 20 according to this embodiment measures, by means of the distance sensor 221, the distance between the manual driving device 10 and the driver 3 who operates the manual driving device 10, and when the measured distance exceeds the threshold value α, a deceleration stop request is transmitted to the manual driving device 10.

[0050] According to such a configuration, when the distance measured by the distance sensor 221 exceeds the threshold value α, the safety device 20 transmits a deceleration stop request to the manual driving device 10. For this reason, even when the driver 3 who is operating the manual driving device 10 falls due to the rocking of the vehicle during running, the vehicle 1 can be decelerated and stopped by the operation of the safety device 20. Therefore, the technology of driving vehicle 1 in a standing posture is improved in terms of improving the probability of avoiding an accident due to the inoperability of the manual driving device 10.

[0051] Although the present disclosure has been described based on the drawings and examples, it should be noted that those skilled in the art may make various modifications and alterations based on the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and alterations are included in the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the functions etc. included in each component or each step etc. can be rearranged so as not to be logically contradictory, and a plurality of components or steps etc. can be combined into one or divided.

[0052] In the above-described embodiment, the control unit 24 was described with an example in which the vehicle 1 is decelerated and stopped when the distance measured by the distance sensor 221 exceeds the threshold value α or when the emergency stop switch 121 is turned on by the tension of the rope 25. However, the method of decelerating and stopping the vehicle 1 is not limited to these. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the measurement unit 22 of the safety device 20 further includes a microphone 223. The safety device 20 may be configured such that, for example, when the microphone 223 picks up voices such as "decelerate" or "stop" uttered by the fallen driver 3, the control unit 24 transmits a deceleration stop request to the manual driving device 10. By registering the voice of the driver 3 in advance in the storage unit 23 of the safety device 20, it becomes possible to make the safety device 20 react only to the voice of the driver 3.

[0053] Also, for example, an embodiment in which a general-purpose computer functions as the safety device 20 according to the above-described embodiment is also possible. Specifically, a program describing the processing contents for realizing each function of the safety device 20 according to the above-described embodiment is stored in the memory of a general-purpose computer, and the program is read out and executed by a processor. Therefore, the present disclosure can also be realized as a program executable by a processor or a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing the program.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0054] 1 Vehicle (Automated Driving Vehicle Corresponding to LV4) 2 Braking Device 3 Driver 10 Manual Driving Device 11 Communication Unit 12 Operation Unit 121 Emergency Stop Button 13 Transmission Unit 14 Storage Unit 15 Control Unit 20 Safety Device 21 Communication Unit 22 Input Unit 221 Distance Sensor 222 Pair of Touch Sensors 223 Microphone 23 Storage Unit 24 Control Unit 25 Rope

Claims

1. A safety device mounted on a manual driving device, During the running of the vehicle, a distance sensor measures the distance between the manual driving device and the driver operating the manual driving device, and when the measured distance exceeds a threshold value, a control unit that transmits a deceleration stop request to the manual driving device is provided. Safety device.

2. The safety device according to claim 1, The threshold value is the upper limit value of the distance between the driver and the manual driving device required for the driver to operate the manual driving device. Safety device.

3. The safety device according to claim 1, The safety device further includes a pair of touch sensors attached to the steering wheel of the manual driving device to detect contact of both palms of the driver, When at least one of the pair of touch sensors does not detect contact by the driver's palm, the control unit activates the distance sensor to measure the distance between the manual driving device and the driver. Safety device.

4. The safety device according to claim 2, The manual driving device is provided with an emergency stop switch, The safety device further includes a rope having a length corresponding to the threshold value, The driver's clothes and the emergency stop switch are connected by the rope, The rope turns on the emergency stop switch by the tensile force generated when the driver is separated from the manual driving device by a distance exceeding the threshold value. Safety device.

5. A control method executed by a safety device mounted on a manual driving device, During the running of the vehicle, measuring the distance between the manual driving device and the driver operating the manual driving device by a distance sensor; When the measured distance exceeds a threshold value, transmitting a deceleration stop request to the manual driving device; A control method including

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