Determination device, determination computer program and determination method

Abstract

To provide a determination device that is able to correctly determine rollover of a vehicle without increasing the manufacturing cost of the vehicle.SOLUTION: A determination device includes: a detection unit configured to detect a first roll angle by which a vehicle has rotated about an axis in a fore-aft direction of the vehicle, based on an image representing an environment around the vehicle; a setting unit configured to set a rollover determination criterion, based on the first roll angle detected by the detection unit; and a first determination unit configured to determine whether or not the vehicle has rolled over using the rollover determination criterion set by the setting unit, based on a roll angular velocity representing a rotation speed about the axis in the fore-aft direction of the vehicle and based on a second roll angle obtained by integrating the roll angular velocity.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a determination device, a determination computer program, and a determination method. [Background technology]

[0002] The vehicle is equipped with a determination device for determining whether the vehicle has rolled over. The determination device detects the roll angular velocity using a roll angular velocity sensor that indicates the rotational speed around the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, and determines whether the vehicle has rolled over based on the roll angle and roll angular velocity obtained by integrating the roll angular velocity.

[0003] When the determination device determines that the vehicle has rolled over, it deploys an airbag to cover the side of the driver's head to protect the driver.

[0004] The roll angle is calculated by integrating the roll angular velocity, with the initial value set to zero when the vehicle starts. Therefore, if the vehicle is parked on a road that is tilted sideways when the vehicle starts, the correct roll angle cannot be calculated.

[0005] Therefore, Patent Document 1 proposes correcting the roll angle obtained by integrating the roll angular velocity with the tilt angle detected by an inclination sensor, and determining whether a rollover has occurred based on the corrected roll angle. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-268699 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] However, since vehicles are not usually equipped with tilt sensors, installing a new tilt sensor in a vehicle increases the manufacturing costs of the vehicle.

[0008] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a determination device that can correctly determine whether a vehicle has rolled over without increasing the manufacturing cost of the vehicle. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] (1) According to one embodiment, there is provided a determination device comprising: a detection unit that detects a first roll angle of a vehicle around a longitudinal axis of the vehicle based on an image representing an environment around the vehicle; a setting unit that sets a rollover determination criterion based on the first roll angle detected by the detection unit; and a first determination unit that determines whether the vehicle has rolled over using the rollover determination criterion set by the setting unit based on a roll angular velocity that represents the rotation speed around the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and a second roll angle obtained by integrating the roll angular velocity.

[0010] (2) In the determination device of (1), it is preferable that the setting unit sets the rollover determination criterion based on the first roll angle detected by the detection unit while the vehicle is traveling.

[0011] (3) In the determination device of (1) or (2), the rollover determination criterion is preferably expressed as a rollover region in a coordinate plane in which the first axis indicates the roll angle and the second axis indicates the roll angular velocity, where the roll angle and the roll angular velocity each indicate a value equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value, and the setting unit preferably sets the rollover determination criterion by moving the rollover region from a reference position in the direction of the first axis by an amount equal to the first roll angle detected by the detection unit.

[0012] (4) In any of the determination devices of (1) to (3), it is preferable that the determination device has a second determination unit that determines whether the first roll angle detected by the detection unit exceeds a predetermined reference roll angle, and when the second determination unit determines that the first roll angle exceeds the reference roll angle, the first determination unit stops determining whether the vehicle has rolled over.

[0013] (5) In the determination device of (4), when the vehicle is manually driven, the second determination unit preferably uses a reference roll angle that is smaller than when the vehicle is automatically driven.

[0014] (6) According to another embodiment, there is provided a computer program for determination, which causes a processor to detect a first roll angle of the vehicle around a longitudinal axis of the vehicle based on an image representing the environment around the vehicle, set a rollover determination criterion based on the first roll angle, and determine whether the vehicle has rolled over using the rollover determination criterion based on a roll angular velocity acting around the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and a second roll angle obtained by integrating the roll angular velocity.

[0015] (7) According to another embodiment, there is provided a determination method, which includes a determination device detecting a first roll angle of the vehicle around a longitudinal axis of the vehicle based on an image representing an environment around the vehicle, setting a rollover determination criterion based on the first roll angle, and determining whether the vehicle has rolled over using the rollover determination criterion based on a roll angular velocity acting around the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and a second roll angle obtained by integrating the roll angular velocity. [Effects of the Invention]

[0016] The determination device according to the present disclosure can correctly determine whether a vehicle has rolled over without increasing the manufacturing cost of the vehicle. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating an outline of the operation of the determination device of the present embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of a vehicle in which a determination device according to an embodiment of the present invention is implemented; [Figure 3] 4 is an example of an operational flowchart relating to a setting process of the determination device of the present embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating rollover determination criteria. [Figure 5] 4 is an example of an operational flowchart relating to a determination process of the determination device of the present embodiment. [Figure 6] 10 is an example of an operational flowchart relating to a determination process of a modified example of the determination device of the present embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of the operation of the determination device of this embodiment. Hereinafter, an outline of the operation related to the determination process of the determination device 12 disclosed in this specification will be explained with reference to FIG.

[0019] Vehicle 10 is on a road 50 that is inclined relative to the horizontal in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of vehicle 10. Therefore, vehicle 10 is in a state of rotation about an axis in the fore-and-aft direction of vehicle 10, with vehicle 10 being on a horizontal road as a reference.

[0020] The vehicle 10 has a camera 2, an angular velocity sensor 3, an airbag device 4, an automatic control device 11, and a determination device 12. The airbag device 4 is disposed above the driver's door of the vehicle 10. When the vehicle 10 rolls over, the airbag device 4 deploys an airbag to cover the side of the driver's head, thereby mitigating the impact on the head.

[0021] The camera 2 acquires camera images showing the environment ahead around the vehicle 10. The automatic control device 11 controls the operation of the vehicle 10 based on the camera images acquired by the camera 2. The vehicle 10 may be an autonomous vehicle.

[0022] The determination device 12 determines whether the vehicle 10 has rolled over using a predetermined rollover determination criterion based on the roll angular velocity, which indicates the rotation speed of the vehicle 10 around an axis in the longitudinal direction, and the roll angle obtained by integrating this roll angular velocity. If it is determined that the vehicle 10 has rolled over, the determination device 12 deploys the airbag of the airbag device 4.

[0023] A camera image 100 captured by the camera 2 shows a road 101 on which a vehicle 10 is traveling. In the camera image 100, the road 101 is shown tilted relative to the horizontal.

[0024] Based on the camera image, the determination device 12 detects a corrected roll angle rotated around the longitudinal axis of the vehicle 10. The corrected roll angle represents the angle (roll angle) of the vehicle 10 rotated around the longitudinal axis of the vehicle 10, with the vehicle 10 being on a level road as a reference. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 10 is on an inclined road, so the determination device 12 detects a corrected roll angle that is not zero.

[0025] The determination device 12 sets a rollover determination criterion based on the corrected roll angle. By setting the rollover determination criterion based on the corrected roll angle, the roll angle determination criterion is corrected by the roll angle corresponding to the inclination of the road on which the vehicle 10 is located. The determination device 12 uses this set rollover determination criterion to determine whether the vehicle 10 has rolled over.

[0026] The camera image is information used by the automatic control device 11 to control the vehicle 10. The determination device 12 can make a correct rollover determination using the camera 2 already mounted on the vehicle 10.

[0027] As described above, the determination device 12 can correctly determine whether the vehicle 10 has rolled over without increasing the manufacturing cost of the vehicle 10.

[0028] 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a vehicle 10 in which the determination device 12 of this embodiment is implemented. The vehicle 10 has a camera 2, an angular velocity sensor 3, an airbag device 4, a user interface (UI) 5, an automatic control device 11, a determination device 12, etc. Furthermore, the vehicle 10 may have another distance measurement sensor (not shown), such as a LiDAR sensor, for measuring distances to objects around the vehicle 10, etc.

[0029] The camera 2, angular velocity sensor 3, airbag device 4, UI 5, automatic control device 11, and determination device 12 are communicatively connected via an in-vehicle network 13 that complies with a standard such as a controller area network.

[0030] The camera 2 is attached to the vehicle 10 so as to face forward of the vehicle 10. It is preferable that the camera 2 is attached so that the optical axis is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle 10 in order to accurately detect the corrected roll angle.

[0031] The camera 2 acquires, for example, at a predetermined interval, camera images showing the environment of a predetermined area ahead of the vehicle 10. The camera images may show the road included in the predetermined area ahead of the vehicle 10 and road features such as lane markings on the road surface. The camera images may also show other vehicles located ahead of the vehicle 10. The camera 2 has a two-dimensional detector configured with an array of photoelectric conversion elements sensitive to visible light, such as a CCD or C-MOS, and an imaging optical system that forms an image of the area to be photographed on the two-dimensional detector. The camera images are an example of images showing the environment around the vehicle 10. For example, the camera images may be acquired at intervals of 0.1 to 0.5 seconds.

[0032] Every time the camera 2 acquires a camera image, it outputs the camera image and the time the camera image was acquired to the automatic control device 11, the determination device 12, etc. via the in-vehicle network 13. The camera image is used by the automatic control device 11 in a process of detecting objects around the vehicle 10. The camera image is also used by the determination device 12 in a process of setting rollover determination criteria. Note that the vehicle 10 may have another camera attached to the vehicle 10 so as to face rearward.

[0033] The angular velocity sensor 3 detects a roll angular velocity that represents the rotation speed around an axis in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle 10, and outputs information representing the roll angular velocity to the automatic control device 11, the determination device 12, etc. via the in-vehicle network 13. A piezoelectric or capacitance sensor can be used as the angular velocity sensor 3. For example, a line connecting the roll centers of the front and rear suspensions of the vehicle 10 may be used as the axis in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle 10. The automatic control device 11 acquires the roll angular velocity of the vehicle 10 based on the information representing the roll angular velocity and controls the vehicle 10. The determination device 12 acquires the roll angular velocity of the vehicle 10 based on the information representing the roll angular velocity and performs a process of setting a rollover determination standard.

[0034] The airbag device 4 deploys an airbag to protect the side of the driver's head when the vehicle 10 rolls over. The airbag device 4 is controlled by a determination device 12. When the airbag device 4 receives a deployment signal from the determination device 12, it passes an electric current through a squib disposed inside the airbag, causing heat generated by the squib to ignite an adjacent explosive. A chemical reaction using the heat from the explosion of the explosive then generates gas inside the airbag, causing the airbag to inflate. Airbag devices may also be disposed above the passenger seat and rear seat doors. Airbag devices may also be disposed to protect the driver from the front.

[0035] The UI 5 is controlled by the automatic control device 11, the determination device 12, etc., and notifies the driver of driving information and warnings about the vehicle 10. The driving information about the vehicle 10 includes the current location of the vehicle 10, notifications to the driver, etc. The UI 5 has a display device 5a such as a liquid crystal display or a touch panel for displaying the driving information, etc. The UI 5 may also have an audio output device (not shown) for notifying the driver of the driving information, etc.

[0036] The UI 5 also generates an operation signal in response to an operation from the driver to the vehicle 10. The UI 5 has, for example, a touch panel or operation buttons as an input device for inputting operation information from the driver to the vehicle 10. Examples of the operation information include a destination location, intermediate destinations, vehicle speed, and a control transition request. The control transition request requests transition of control of the vehicle 10 from an autonomous driving mode to a manual driving mode, or from a manual driving mode to an autonomous driving mode. The UI 5 outputs the input operation information to the automatic control device 11, the determination device 12, etc. via the in-vehicle network 13.

[0037] The automatic control device 11 controls the operation of the vehicle 10, including the driving of the vehicle 10. The automatic control device 11 has two driving modes that differ in the degree of involvement of the driver in driving. The automatic control device 11 controls the operation of the vehicle 10 according to the driving mode.

[0038] For example, the automatic control device 11 has an automatic driving mode (for example, driving modes of levels 3 to 5) in which the driver is less involved in driving, and a manual driving mode (for example, driving modes of levels 0 to 2) in which the driver is more involved in driving. In the automatic driving mode, the automatic control device 11 mainly drives the vehicle 10. In the manual driving mode, the driver mainly drives the vehicle 10.

[0039] In addition, in a driving mode in which the driver is less involved in driving, some or all of the driving operations necessary for the vehicle 10 to operate are automatically performed, and in a driving mode in which the driver is more involved in driving, the types of driving operations that are automatically performed may be fewer or even zero than in a driving mode in which the driver is less involved in driving.

[0040] In the autonomous driving mode, the automatic control device 11 generates a driving plan for controlling operations such as steering, driving, and braking based on map information and detection information from sensors (not shown) mounted on the vehicle 10. The automatic control device 11 outputs automatic control signals based on this driving plan via the in-vehicle network 13 to an actuator (not shown) that controls the steering wheels, a drive unit (not shown), or a brake (not shown).

[0041] In addition, in the manual driving mode, the automatic control device 11 generates manual control signals that control the operation of the vehicle 10, such as steering, driving, and braking, based on the driver's operation, and outputs these manual control signals to the actuator that drives the steering wheels, the drive device, or the brakes via the in-vehicle network 13.

[0042] The automatic control device 11 outputs mode information indicating the current driving mode to the determination device 12 via the in-vehicle network 13.

[0043] The automatic control device 11 can drive the vehicle 10 in the automatic driving mode in areas where the automatic driving mode is permitted (for example, areas where a high-precision map for controlling the vehicle 10 is prepared). The automatic control device 11 controls the vehicle 10 in the manual driving mode in areas where the automatic driving mode is not permitted. Furthermore, the automatic control device 11 transitions from the automatic driving mode to the manual driving mode or from the manual driving mode to the automatic driving mode in response to a request from the driver. Furthermore, if the automatic control device 11 determines that the vehicle 10 cannot be driven safely in the automatic driving mode, it transitions from the automatic driving mode to the manual driving mode.

[0044] The determination device 12 executes a detection process, a calculation process, a determination process, a setting process, and a decision process. To this end, the determination device 12 includes a communication interface (IF) 21, a memory 22, and a processor 23. The communication interface 21, the memory 22, and the processor 23 are connected via a signal line 24. The communication interface 21 includes an interface circuit for connecting the determination device 12 to the in-vehicle network 13.

[0045] The memory 22 is an example of a storage unit and includes, for example, a volatile semiconductor memory and a non-volatile semiconductor memory. The memory 22 stores computer programs of applications used in information processing executed by the processor 23 and various data.

[0046] All or part of the functions of the determination device 12 are functional modules implemented by a computer program running on the processor 23, for example. The processor 23 includes a detection unit 231, a calculation unit 232, a determination unit 233, a setting unit 234, and a decision unit 235. The processor 23 includes one or more central processing units (CPUs) and their peripheral circuits. The processor 23 may further include other arithmetic circuits such as a logic operation unit, a numerical operation unit, or a graphics processing unit. Alternatively, the functional modules included in the processor 23 may be dedicated arithmetic circuits provided in the processor 23. The determination device 12 is, for example, an electronic control unit (ECU).

[0047] Calculation unit 232 receives information representing the roll angular velocity and integrates the roll angular velocity to calculate the roll angle. The roll angle calculated by calculation unit 232 is an example of a second roll angle.

[0048] For example, the roll angle may be 0 degrees in the direction opposite to the vertical. When the vehicle 10 is on a level road, the roll angle is zero degrees. The roll angle may be expressed as 180 degrees clockwise from the direction opposite to the vertical, or as -180 degrees counterclockwise from the direction opposite to the vertical. This is one example of how to express the roll angle, and the roll angle may be expressed based on other standards. Other operations of the determination device 12 will be described in detail later.

[0049] In FIG. 2, the automatic control device 11 and the determination device 12 are illustrated as separate devices, but all or part of these devices may be configured as a single device.

[0050] Fig. 3 is an example of an operational flowchart relating to the setting process of the determination device 12 of the present embodiment 12. The setting process of the determination device 12 will be described below with reference to Fig. 3. The determination device 12 executes information processing in accordance with the operational flowchart shown in Fig. 3 at a setting process time that is set at a predetermined cycle. The initial setting process is executed at the first setting process time after the vehicle 10 is started. Then, even while the vehicle 10 is running, the determination device 12 executes the setting process at the setting process time.

[0051] First, the detection unit 231 acquires a camera image (step S101). The detection unit 231 acquires the latest camera image from among a plurality of camera images output from the camera 2, for example.

[0052] Next, the detection unit 231 detects a corrected roll angle rotated around an axis in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle 10 based on the camera image (step S102). The corrected roll angle is an example of a first roll angle.

[0053] The detection unit 231 has a classifier that has been trained to identify the roll angle of the vehicle from an image. The detection unit 231 detects the roll angle of the vehicle by inputting a camera image to this classifier. The classifier is trained using training data that labels an image and the roll angle of the vehicle at the time the image was acquired. The roll angle is expressed as 180 degrees clockwise and -180 degrees counterclockwise, with the direction opposite to the vertical being 0 degrees. The camera images used to train the classifier are preferably acquired using a camera that is attached with its optical axis oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle 10, similar to the camera 2. When the camera image input to the classifier is an image of the front of the vehicle 10, the image used to train the classifier is preferably also an image of the front of the vehicle.

[0054] Furthermore, the detection unit 231 may use other methods to detect the corrected roll angle of the vehicle 10 based on the camera image. For example, if a camera image shows a window of a building and the upper and lower frames of the window are parallel, it is considered that the camera image shows a window that appears in front of the camera. The upper and lower frames are estimated to be parallel to the ground. The inclination of the lines representing the upper and lower frames in the camera image corresponds to the roll angle of the vehicle, so the detection unit 231 may detect the roll angle of the vehicle based on the inclination of the lines representing the upper or lower frame in the camera image.

[0055] The detection unit 231 detects an area representing a window in the camera image and determines whether the upper and lower frames are parallel. The area representing the window frame in the camera image is detected using, for example, a classifier that has undergone machine learning. If the upper and lower frames are parallel, the detection unit 231 calculates, as the roll angle, the arctangent of the number of pixels representing the deviation in the y coordinates of both ends of a line representing the upper or lower frame in the camera image and the number of pixels in the x direction representing the length of the line.

[0056] The detection unit 231 may detect the corrected roll angle from each of a plurality of camera images acquired most recently and calculate the average value of these corrected roll angles. For example, the detection unit 231 may detect the corrected roll angle from each of a plurality of camera images acquired within the most recent period of 0.5 seconds to 1 second.

[0057] Next, setting unit 234 sets a rollover determination criterion based on the corrected roll angle detected by detection unit 231 (step S103), and ends the series of processes. Figure 4 is a diagram explaining the rollover determination criterion. On a coordinate plane where the horizontal axis represents the roll angle and the vertical axis represents the roll angular velocity, the rollover determination criterion is expressed as a reference rollover region S1 in which, when the corrected roll angle is zero, the roll angle and the roll angular velocity each exhibit values ​​equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value.

[0058] The angular velocity sensor 3 includes a bias in the detection signal of the angular velocity, so that an offset component is added to the roll angle obtained by integrating the roll angular velocity over time. Therefore, by setting the rollover determination criteria even while the vehicle 10 is traveling, the influence of the offset component can be eliminated.

[0059] The rollover determination criteria shown in Figure 4 are an example of a case where the roll angle is between 0 and 180 degrees, and the rollover area is located in the first quadrant of the coordinate system. When the roll angle is between 0 and 180 degrees, the rollover determination criteria where the rollover area is located in the fourth quadrant of the coordinate system are used.

[0060] The setting unit 234 moves the reference rollover area S1 in the direction of the horizontal axis by the amount of the corrected roll angle detected by the detection unit 231. The rollover determination criterion after the movement is represented as a rollover area S2. Here, if the corrected roll angle is zero, the rollover determination criterion is represented as the reference rollover area S1.

[0061] When the roll angle is between 0 and 180 degrees, the reference rollover region S1 moves in the positive direction of the horizontal axis, and when the roll angle is between 0 and -180 degrees, the reference rollover region S1 moves in the negative direction of the horizontal axis.

[0062] Fig. 5 is an example of an operational flowchart relating to the determination process of the determination device 12 of this embodiment. The determination process of the determination device 12 will be described below with reference to Fig. 5. The determination device 12 executes information processing in accordance with the operational flowchart shown in Fig. 5 at a determination time that is set at a predetermined cycle. The determination device 12 executes the set processing at the determination time when the vehicle 10 is stopped and when the vehicle 10 is traveling.

[0063] First, the determination unit 233 acquires the roll angle and the roll angular velocity (step S201). The determination unit 233 acquires the roll angle calculated by the calculation unit 232. The determination unit 233 also acquires the roll angular velocity based on information indicating the roll angular velocity. Note that the determination unit 233 may use the most recent average roll angular velocity as the current roll angular velocity. For example, the average value of the roll angular velocities over the most recent period from 0.5 seconds to 1 second may be used as the current roll angular velocity. The determination unit 233 is an example of a first determination unit.

[0064] Next, the determination unit 233 determines whether the vehicle 10 has rolled over, using the rollover determination criteria set by the setting unit 234, based on the roll angular velocity, which represents the rotational speed of the vehicle 10 around an axis in the longitudinal direction, and the roll angle obtained by integrating this roll angular velocity (step S202). If the point represented by the roll angular velocity and the roll angle is included in the rollover region S2, the determination unit 233 determines that the vehicle 10 has rolled over. On the other hand, if the point represented by the roll angular velocity and the roll angle is not included in the rollover region S2, the determination unit 233 determines that the vehicle 10 has not rolled over.

[0065] If it is determined that the vehicle 10 has rolled over (step S202-Yes), the decision unit 235 decides to deploy an airbag (step S203) and ends the series of processes. The decision unit 235 outputs a deployment signal for deploying the airbag to the airbag device 4 via the in-vehicle network 13. When the deployment signal is input from the determination device 12, the airbag device 4 deploys an airbag to cover the side of the driver's head to protect the driver.

[0066] On the other hand, if it is not determined that the vehicle 10 has rolled over (step S202-No), the series of processes ends.

[0067] As described above in detail, the determination device can correctly determine whether a vehicle has rolled over without increasing the manufacturing cost of the vehicle.

[0068] Next, a modified example of the determination device 12 of the present embodiment will be described below with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is an example of an operational flowchart relating to the determination process of the modified example of the determination device of the present embodiment.

[0069] This modification differs from the determination process shown in Fig. 5 in that step S301 is added. The processes of steps S302 to S304 are the same as the processes of steps S201 to S203.

[0070] First, the determination unit 233 determines whether the corrected roll angle detected by the detection unit 231 exceeds a predetermined reference roll angle (step S301). The determination unit 233 is an example of a second determination unit. The reference roll angle may be, for example, 60 degrees and −60 degrees.

[0071] If the absolute value of the corrected roll angle is greater than 60 degrees, the determination unit 233 determines that the corrected roll angle exceeds the reference roll angle. On the other hand, if the absolute value of the corrected roll angle is 60 degrees or less, the determination unit 233 determines that the corrected roll angle does not exceed the reference roll angle.

[0072] If the corrected roll angle exceeds the reference roll angle (step S301-Yes), the series of processes ends. If the corrected roll angle exceeds the reference roll angle, the road inclination is an abnormal value. The detection unit 231 that detected such a corrected roll angle may not be functioning normally. In addition, the vehicle 10 being on such an inclined road is also an abnormal situation. Therefore, the determination device 12 stops the determination. In this case, the determination unit 233 may notify the driver via the UI 5 that there is an abnormality in the rollover determination process of the vehicle 10. Since the determination is stopped, the airbag is not deployed.

[0073] When the vehicle 10 is manually driven, the determination unit 233 may use a reference roll angle that is smaller than when the vehicle 10 is automatically driven. When the mode information input from the automatic control device 11 indicates a manual driving mode, the determination unit 233 determines that the vehicle 10 is being manually driven. On the other hand, when the mode information input from the automatic control device 11 indicates an automatic driving mode, the determination unit 233 determines that the vehicle 10 is being automatically driven.

[0074] When the driver manually drives the vehicle 10, sudden steering on an inclined road may result in the vehicle rolling over. Therefore, when the vehicle 10 is manually driven, the reference roll angle is reduced. Then, by notifying the driver that there is an abnormality in the rollover determination process of the vehicle 10, the driver can be alerted to the possibility of a rollover.

[0075] On the other hand, if the corrected roll angle does not exceed the reference roll angle (step S301-No), the process proceeds to step S302.

[0076] According to the above-described present modified example, the determination device 12 stops rollover determination when the magnitude of the corrected roll angle is abnormal, thereby preventing the airbag from being deployed due to an erroneous determination.

[0077] In the present disclosure, the determination device, the determination computer program, and the determination method of the above-described embodiments can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to those embodiments, but extends to the inventions set forth in the claims and their equivalents.

[0078] For example, setting the rollover determination criteria in the above-described embodiment is merely an example, and the method of setting the rollover determination criteria is not limited to this. For example, the setting unit obtains a corrected roll angular velocity by correcting information representing the roll angular velocity output from the roll angular velocity sensor by an amount corresponding to the corrected roll angle. The calculation unit calculates the roll angle by integrating the corrected roll angular velocity. The determination unit performs rollover determination based on the roll angle and the corrected roll angular velocity. Setting the rollover determination criteria includes such methods.

[0079] Furthermore, when the environment around the vehicle is rainy or snowy, the setting unit may not set the rollover determination criterion based on the corrected roll angle detected by the detection unit. This is because there is a risk that the corrected roll angle cannot be detected based on camera images acquired in a rainy or snowy environment. In this case, the rollover determination criterion is represented by the reference rollover area S1. [Explanation of symbols]

[0080] 2 Cameras 3 Angular rate sensor 4 Airbag device 5 User Interface 5a Display device 10 vehicles 11 Automatic control devices 12 Judgment device 21 Communication Interface 22 Memory 23 processors 231 Detector 232 Calculation Unit 233 Judgment section 234 Settings 235 Decision Section 13 In-vehicle network

Claims

1. a detection unit that detects a first roll angle of the vehicle around an axis in the front-rear direction of the vehicle based on an image representing an environment around the vehicle; a setting unit that sets a rollover determination criterion based on the first roll angle detected by the detection unit; a first determination unit that determines whether the vehicle has rolled over by using the rollover determination criterion set by the setting unit, based on a roll angular velocity that indicates a rotation speed around an axis in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and a second roll angle that is obtained by integrating the roll angular velocity; A determination device comprising:

2. The determination device according to claim 1 , wherein the setting unit sets the rollover determination criterion based on the first roll angle detected by the detection unit while the vehicle is traveling.

3. the rollover determination criterion is expressed as a rollover region in which the roll angle and the roll angular velocity each exhibit a value equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value on a coordinate plane in which a first axis indicates a roll angle and a second axis indicates a roll angular velocity, 2. The determination device according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit sets the rollover determination criterion by moving the rollover region from a reference position in the direction of the first axis by an amount corresponding to the first roll angle detected by the detection unit.

4. a second determination unit that determines whether the first roll angle detected by the detection unit exceeds a predetermined reference roll angle; 2 . The determination device according to claim 1 , wherein, when the second determination unit determines that the first roll angle exceeds the reference roll angle, the first determination unit stops determining whether the vehicle has rolled over.

5. The determination device according to claim 4 , wherein when the vehicle is manually driven, the second determination unit uses the reference roll angle that is smaller than when the vehicle is automatically driven.

6. Detecting a first roll angle of the vehicle about a longitudinal axis of the vehicle based on an image representing an environment around the vehicle; setting a rollover determination criterion based on the first roll angle; determining whether or not the vehicle has rolled over using the rollover determination criterion based on a roll angular velocity acting around an axis in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and a second roll angle obtained by integrating the roll angular velocity; A computer program for determination, which causes a processor to execute the following:

7. The determination device is Detecting a first roll angle of the vehicle about a longitudinal axis of the vehicle based on an image representing an environment around the vehicle; setting a rollover determination criterion based on the first roll angle; determining whether or not the vehicle has rolled over using the rollover determination criterion based on a roll angular velocity acting around an axis in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and a second roll angle obtained by integrating the roll angular velocity.

Images