Driving support device, driving support method, and program

Abstract

To provide a driving support device, driving support method, and program, capable of detecting the presence of a curved road present in the distance and appropriately suppressing driving support according to the detected curved road.SOLUTION: A driving support device includes: a recognition section for recognizing a road division line of a lane where a vehicle travels, and an obstacle present around the vehicle, using at least one of a camera and a radar mounted on the vehicle; a determination section for determining whether the road division line indicates a curved road, on the basis of a length of the recognized road division line; and a driving support section for executing driving support for the vehicle according to the recognized obstacle. When it is determined by the determination section that the road division line indicates the curved road, the driving support section makes a correction to narrow a determination region as a range where the recognition section recognizes the obstacle for the driving support.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] In recent years, efforts to provide access to sustainable transport systems that take into consideration vulnerable transport participants have become more active. To achieve this, we are focusing on research and development into preventive safety technologies to further improve road safety and convenience.

[0003] Meanwhile, preventive safety technology faces the challenge of detecting predetermined sections, such as curved roads, in a lane on which a vehicle is traveling, and implementing or suppressing driving assistance such as deceleration according to the detected predetermined section. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a technology that estimates whether a lane on which a vehicle is traveling is a curved road based on changes in the curvature of the lane markings that make up the lane. Patent Document 2 describes a technology that matches objects detected by radar with objects detected by a camera, and implements or suppresses driving assistance according to the matching results. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-197794 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2016-081202 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, in the conventional technology, it is sometimes impossible to detect the presence of a curved road in the distance and to appropriately suppress driving assistance in accordance with the detected curved road.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a driving assistance device, a driving assistance method, and a program that can detect the presence of a curved road in the distance and appropriately suppress driving assistance in accordance with the detected curved road, thereby contributing to the development of a sustainable transportation system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A driving assistance device, a driving assistance method, and a program according to the present invention employ the following configuration. (1): A driving assistance device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a recognition unit that uses at least one of a camera and a radar mounted on a vehicle to recognize road dividing lines of the lane on which the vehicle is traveling and obstacles present around the vehicle; a determination unit that determines whether the road dividing line indicates a curved road based on the length of the recognized road dividing line; and a driving assistance unit that performs driving assistance for the vehicle in accordance with the recognized obstacle. When the determination unit determines that the road dividing line indicates a curved road, the driving assistance unit narrows the determination area within which the recognition unit recognizes the obstacle for the driving assistance.

[0008] (2) In the aspect (1) above, the driving assistance unit corrects the width of the determination area to be narrower when the determination unit determines that the road dividing line indicates a curved road.

[0009] (3) In the aspect (2) above, when the determination unit determines that the road dividing line indicates a curved road, the driving assistance unit corrects the length of the determination area to be narrower.

[0010] (4): In the above aspect (1), the judgment unit judges that the recognized road dividing line indicates a curved road when the length of the recognized road dividing line becomes shorter by a predetermined amount or more.

[0011] (5): In the above aspect (1), the judgment unit judges that the recognized road dividing line indicates a curved road if the length of the recognized road dividing line has been shortened by more than a predetermined amount and the period of time during which the length has been shortened has been more than a predetermined time.

[0012] (6): In the above aspect (1), the driving assistance unit decelerates the vehicle when the time to collision between the vehicle and the recognized obstacle becomes equal to or less than a threshold value.

[0013] (7): In another aspect of the present invention, a driving assistance method is provided in which a computer uses at least one of a camera and a radar mounted on a vehicle to recognize road dividing lines of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling and obstacles present around the vehicle, determines whether the road dividing line indicates a curved road based on the length of the recognized road dividing line, performs driving assistance for the vehicle in accordance with the recognized obstacle, and, if it is determined that the road dividing line indicates a curved road, narrows the determination area within which the obstacle is recognized.

[0014] (8): Another aspect of the present invention provides a program that causes a computer to use at least one of a camera and a radar mounted on a vehicle to recognize road dividing lines of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling and obstacles present around the vehicle, determine whether the road dividing line indicates a curved road based on the length of the recognized road dividing line, perform driving assistance for the vehicle in accordance with the recognized obstacle, and narrow the determination area within which the obstacle is recognized if it is determined that the road dividing line indicates a curved road. [Effects of the Invention]

[0015] According to (1) to (8), it is possible to provide a driving assistance device, a driving assistance method, and a program that can detect the presence of a curved road in the distance and appropriately suppress driving assistance in accordance with the detected curved road. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a driving assistance device 100 mounted on a host vehicle M. FIG. [Figure 2] 2 is a diagram for explaining an outline of driving assistance performed by a driving assistance unit 130. FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining excessive operation of CMBS. [Figure 4] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a method for determining whether a road is a curve by a determining unit 120. FIG. [Figure 5] 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of a method for changing the determination area by the driving support unit 130 when it is determined that the road dividing line indicates a curved road. FIG. [Figure 6] 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of a method for changing the determination area by the driving support unit 130 when it is determined that the road dividing line indicates a curved road. FIG. [Figure 7] 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the driving assistance device 100. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart showing another example of the flow of processing executed by the driving assistance device 100. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart showing another example of the flow of processing executed by the driving assistance device 100. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] Hereinafter, embodiments of a driving assistance device, a driving assistance method, and a program according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0018] [composition] 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a driving assistance device 100 mounted on a host vehicle M. The host vehicle M includes, for example, a camera 10, a radar device 12, a vehicle sensor 14, a driving operator 20, a steering wheel 22, a driving force output device 30, a braking device 32, a steering device 34, and the driving assistance device 100.

[0019] The camera 10 is a digital camera that uses a solid-state imaging element such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor). The camera 10 is attached to any location of a vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the host vehicle M) on which the driving assistance device 100 is mounted. When capturing an image of the front, the camera 10 is attached to the top of the front windshield, the back of the rearview mirror, or the like. The camera 10, for example, periodically captures images of the surroundings of the host vehicle M. The camera 10 may be a stereo camera. The camera 10 transmits the captured images to the driving assistance device 100, and the driving assistance device 100 stores the received images in the memory unit 140 as camera image data 140A.

[0020] The radar device 12 emits radio waves such as millimeter waves around the vehicle M and detects radio waves reflected by an object (reflected waves) to detect at least the position (distance and direction) of the object. The radar device 12 is attached to any location on the vehicle M. The radar device 12 may detect the position and speed of the object using an FM-CW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) method. The radar device 12 transmits the detection result to the driving assistance device 100, and the driving assistance device 100 stores the detection result in the memory unit 140 as radar detection data 140B.

[0021] The vehicle sensor 14 includes a vehicle speed sensor that detects the speed of the host vehicle M, an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration, a yaw rate sensor that detects angular velocity around a vertical axis, a direction sensor that detects the direction of the host vehicle M, and the like.

[0022] The driving operators 20 include, for example, a steering wheel 22 as well as an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, a shift lever, and other operators. The driving operators 20 are fitted with sensors that detect the amount of operation or the presence or absence of operation, and the detection results are output to the driving assistance device 100 or some or all of the driving force output device 30, the brake device 32, and the steering device 34. The operators do not necessarily have to be annular, and may be in the form of an irregular steering wheel, a joystick, a button, or the like.

[0023] The driving force output device 30 outputs a driving force (torque) to the driving wheels for driving the host vehicle M. The driving force output device 30 includes, for example, a combination of an internal combustion engine, an electric motor, a transmission, etc., and an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) that controls these. The ECU controls the above components in accordance with information input from the driving assistance device 100 or information input from the driving operator 20.

[0024] The braking device 32 includes, for example, a brake caliper, a cylinder that transmits hydraulic pressure to the brake caliper, an electric motor that generates hydraulic pressure in the cylinder, and a brake ECU. The brake ECU controls the electric motor according to information input from the driving assistance device 100 or information input from the driving operation device 20, so that a brake torque corresponding to the braking operation is output to each wheel. The braking device 32 may include a backup mechanism that transmits hydraulic pressure generated by operation of a brake pedal included in the driving operation device 20 to the cylinder via a master cylinder. Note that the braking device 32 is not limited to the configuration described above, and may also be an electronically controlled hydraulic brake device that controls an actuator according to information input from the driving assistance device 100 to transmit hydraulic pressure from a master cylinder to the cylinder.

[0025] The steering device 34 includes, for example, a steering ECU and an electric motor. The electric motor changes the direction of the steered wheels by applying a force to, for example, a rack and pinion mechanism. The steering ECU drives the electric motor to change the direction of the steered wheels in accordance with information input from the driving assistance device 100 or information input from the driving operator 20.

[0026] The driving assistance device 100 includes, for example, a recognition unit 110, a determination unit 120, a driving assistance unit 130, and a storage unit 140. The recognition unit 110, the determination unit 120, and the driving assistance unit 130 are realized by, for example, a hardware processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuitry) such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or an SOC (System On Chip), or may be realized by a combination of software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device (a storage device having a non-transitory storage medium) such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or flash memory, or may be stored in a removable storage medium (a non-transitory storage medium) such as a DVD or CD-ROM, and installed by inserting the storage medium into a drive device. The storage unit 140 is, for example, a HDD, a flash memory, a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. The storage unit 140 stores, for example, camera image data 140A and radar detection data 140B.

[0027] The recognition unit 110 performs sensor fusion processing on the detection results based on some or all of the camera image data 140A and the radar detection data 140B to recognize the position, type, speed, etc. of an object. For example, the recognition unit 110 recognizes pedestrians, other vehicles, road structures (road dividing lines, walls, etc.) and the like that appear in the camera image by performing image processing on the camera image data 140A. Furthermore, the recognition unit 110 recognizes pedestrians, other vehicles, road structures (walls, etc.) that exist around the host vehicle M based on the radar detection data 140B.

[0028] The determination unit 120 determines whether the recognized road dividing line indicates a curve based on the length of the road dividing line. The determination process by the determination unit 120 will be described in detail later.

[0029] The driving assistance unit 130 performs driving assistance for the host vehicle M in accordance with the obstacle recognized by the recognition unit 110. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an overview of the driving assistance performed by the driving assistance unit 130. In FIG. 2, the symbol CL represents a road dividing line recognized based on the camera image data 140A, the symbol M1 represents another vehicle, and the area surrounded by the symbol DR represents a determination area for recognizing an obstacle for which driving assistance is to be performed. While FIG. 2 shows, as an example, a case in which the width of the determination area is the same as the width of the host vehicle M, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration and may be different.

[0030] The driving assistance unit 130 provides driving assistance for the host vehicle M based on the recognition result by the recognition unit 110. In this embodiment, "driving assistance" refers to a collision mitigation brake system (CMBS) that automatically activates the brake device 32 to avoid a collision of the host vehicle M with an obstacle present in the traveling direction (in other words, an obstacle present in the determination region DR) or to reduce the collision speed. More specifically, the driving assistance unit 130 determines whether an obstacle such as a pedestrian or another vehicle exists in the determination region DR based on the recognition result by the recognition unit 110. If it is determined that an obstacle exists in the determination region DR, the driving assistance unit 130 calculates a time to collision (TTC), which is the time until the host vehicle M collides with the object, based on information acquired from the recognition unit 110 and the vehicle sensor 14 (e.g., a relative distance to the object and a relative velocity to the object).

[0031] 2, the driving assistance unit 130 calculates the TTC as d1 / v based on the distance d1 between the host vehicle M and the other vehicle M1 and the relative speed v of the host vehicle M with respect to the other vehicle M1. After the driving assistance unit 130 calculates the TTC, it then determines whether the calculated TTC is equal to or less than a threshold. If the calculated TTC is equal to or less than the threshold, the driving assistance unit 130 activates the CMBS in the host vehicle M.

[0032] [Driving assistance suppression] In this way, the driving assistance unit 130 calculates the TTC of the host vehicle M relative to an obstacle present in the judgment region DR, and when the calculated TTC is equal to or less than a threshold, activates the CMBS in the host vehicle M. However, for example, because the radar device 12 is capable of detecting obstacles that are relatively far away, in the prior art, even obstacles that should not be subject to driving assistance may be detected, resulting in excessive activation of the CMBS.

[0033] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating excessive activation of the CMBS. In FIG. 3, the symbol OB represents an obstacle located outside the curved road. In the prior art, a driving assistance unit may unnecessarily activate the CMBS for an obstacle OB located outside the curved road, even though the obstacle OB should not be subject to activation of the CMBS. As a result, braking force may be applied to the host vehicle M at an unnecessary timing, causing discomfort to the occupants of the host vehicle M.

[0034] In light of the above circumstances, the determination unit 120 first determines whether a recognized road-dividing line indicates a curved road based on the length (detection distance) of the recognized road-dividing line. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a method for determining a curved road by the determination unit 120. FIG. 4 is obtained, for example, by converting the road-dividing line captured in camera image data 140A from the camera coordinate system to a bird's-eye view coordinate system. The left part of FIG. 4 shows a road-dividing line CL recognized while the vehicle M is traveling on a straight road, and the right part of FIG. 4 shows a road-dividing line CL recognized while the vehicle M is traveling on a curved road.

[0035] As shown in FIG. 4, the length L1 of a road dividing line CL recognized when the host vehicle M is traveling on a straight road generally tends to be longer than the length L2 of a road dividing line CL recognized just before the host vehicle M approaches a curved road. This is because the road dividing line CL becomes a blind spot as the host vehicle M approaches a curved road, reducing the recognized length of the road dividing line CL. Therefore, the determination unit 120 calculates the length of the recognized road dividing line CL at a predetermined control cycle while the host vehicle M is traveling, and determines that the recognized road dividing line CL indicates a curved road if the calculated length of the road dividing line CL is shorter than the previous length by a predetermined amount or more for a predetermined period of time or more. This allows for accurate detection of curved roads located farther away from the host vehicle M.

[0036] In yet another embodiment, the determination unit 120 may calculate the length of the recognized road-dividing line CL at a predetermined control cycle while the vehicle M is traveling, calculate a moving average distance of the length of the road-dividing line CL over a recent predetermined period (or a predetermined number of times), and determine whether the length of the current road-dividing line CL has shortened by a predetermined amount or more from the calculated moving average distance. Furthermore, for example, the determination unit 120 may determine that the recognized current road-dividing line CL indicates a curved road if a predetermined time or more has passed since the length of the current road-dividing line CL became shorter by a predetermined amount or more from the calculated moving average distance. This allows for more accurate detection of curved roads located farther away from the vehicle M.

[0037] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating how the driving assistance unit 130 changes the determination area when the road-dividing line is determined to indicate a curved road. As shown in FIG. 5, when the determination unit 120 determines that the road-dividing line indicates a curved road, the driving assistance unit 130 narrows the width of the determination area DR to obtain a corrected determination area DR'. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the recognition unit 110 does not recognize an obstacle OB located outside the curved road in the corrected determination area DR', and the driving assistance unit 130 can suppress activation of the CMBS for the obstacle OB. Furthermore, even if the obstacle OB temporarily enters the determination area DR', excessive activation of the CMBS can be suppressed.

[0038] 6 is a diagram illustrating another example of a method for changing the judgment region by the driving assistance unit 130 when it is determined that the road-dividing line indicates a curved road. As shown in FIG. 6, when the determination unit 120 determines that the road-dividing line indicates a curved road, the driving assistance unit 130 may obtain a corrected judgment region DR'' by narrowing the length of the judgment region DR. This allows the driving assistance unit 130 to suppress unnecessary operation of the CMBS for an obstacle OB located outside the curved road, as shown in FIG. 6.

[0039] 5 and 6, the driving assistance unit 130 corrects the width and length of the determination region DR separately as an example, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and the driving assistance unit 130 may correct the width and length of the determination region DR together.More generally, the driving assistance unit 130 may perform correction so as to reduce at least the area of ​​the determination region DR.Even in this case, the driving assistance unit 130 can prevent the CMBS from being activated in response to the recognition of an obstacle that does not require activation of the CMBS.

[0040] Furthermore, in the above description, as an example, a case where the obstacle OB is located outside the curved road has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration, and even if the obstacle OB is located inside the curved road, the driving assistance unit 130 can prevent the activation of the CMBS for the obstacle OB for which activation of the CMBS is not required, according to the above control.

[0041] [Control flow] Next, the flow of processing executed by the driving assistance device 100 will be described with reference to Figures 7 and 8. Figure 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the driving assistance device 100. The processing of the flowchart shown in Figure 7 is repeatedly executed in a predetermined control cycle while the host vehicle M is traveling.

[0042] First, the recognition unit 110 acquires road-dividing lines for the most recent predetermined period based on the camera image data 140A (step S100). Next, the determination unit 120 calculates a moving average value of the length of the road-dividing lines for the predetermined period (step S102). Next, the determination unit 120 determines whether the length of the latest road-dividing line has decreased by at least a first predetermined amount from the moving average value (step S104). Here, the first predetermined amount is a value smaller than a second predetermined amount, which will be described later, and serves as a preliminary determination.

[0043] If it is determined that the length of the latest road-dividing line has not decreased by more than the first predetermined amount from the moving average value, the determination unit 120 returns the process to step S100. On the other hand, if it is determined that the length of the latest road-dividing line has decreased by more than the first predetermined amount from the moving average value, the determination unit 120 next determines whether the speed of the host vehicle M is equal to or greater than a predetermined speed (step S106). If it is determined that the speed of the host vehicle M is less than the predetermined speed, the determination unit 120 returns the process to step S100. This is because, if the speed of the host vehicle M is less than the predetermined speed, there is little need to activate the CMBS in the first place.

[0044] If it is determined that the speed of the host vehicle M is equal to or greater than the predetermined speed, the determination unit 120 then determines whether the length of the latest road-dividing line has decreased by at least a second predetermined amount from the moving average value (step S108). If it is determined that the length of the latest road-dividing line has decreased by at least the second predetermined amount from the moving average value, the driving assistance unit 130 determines that the current driving lane is a straight road and sets the determination region DR to a normal size (step S110). On the other hand, if it is determined that the length of the latest road-dividing line has not decreased by at least the second predetermined amount from the moving average value, the driving assistance unit 130 sets the determination region DR to a narrower size (step S112). This ends the processing of this flowchart.

[0045] 7, step S106 determines whether the speed of the host vehicle M is equal to or greater than a predetermined speed, but this process may be omitted. Also, in step S108, whether the current traveling lane is a straight road or a curved road is determined based on whether the length of the latest road-dividing line has decreased by a second predetermined amount or more from the moving average value. However, multiple thresholds may be set to make a more detailed determination. For example, the driving assistance unit 130 may determine that if the length of the latest road-dividing line has decreased by a first threshold or less from the moving average value, the road is likely to be a straight road (high likelihood of a straight road); if the length has decreased by more than the first threshold and by a second threshold or less, the road is likely to be a straight road (low likelihood of a straight road); if the length has decreased by more than the second threshold and by a third threshold or less, the road is likely to be a curved road (low likelihood of a curved road); and if the length has decreased by more than the third threshold, the road is likely to be a curved road (high likelihood of a curved road). In this case, the driving assistance unit 130 may set the area (at least one of the width and length) of the judgment region DR to be gradually smaller depending on the "high possibility of a straight road," "low possibility of a straight road," "low possibility of a curved road," and "high possibility of a curved road."

[0046] Figures 8 and 9 are flowcharts showing another example of the flow of processing executed by the driving assistance device 100. As with Figure 7, the processing of the flowcharts shown in Figures 8 and 9 is repeatedly executed in a predetermined control cycle while the host vehicle M is traveling, and unlike Figure 7, it utilizes the certainty factor of the curved road to more accurately determine the curved road.

[0047] First, the determination unit 120 sets the curved road confidence level and the counter to zero (step S200). Next, the recognition unit 110 increments the counter and acquires the road-dividing lines for the most recent predetermined period based on the camera image data 140A (step S202). Next, the determination unit 120 calculates the moving average value of the length of the road-dividing lines for the predetermined period (step S204). Next, the determination unit 120 determines whether the length of the latest road-dividing line has decreased by a predetermined amount or more from the moving average value (step S206).

[0048] If it is determined that the length of the latest road-dividing line has decreased by at least a predetermined amount from the moving average value, the determination unit 120 increases the curved road certainty factor by a predetermined value (step S208). On the other hand, if it is determined that the length of the latest road-dividing line has not decreased by at least a predetermined amount from the moving average value, the determination unit 120 decreases the curved road certainty factor by a predetermined value (step S210). Next, the determination unit 120 determines whether the counter matches the determination value (step S212). If it is determined that the counter does not match the determination value, the determination unit 120 returns the process to step S202. That is, the processes from step S202 to step S212 cumulatively increase or decrease the curved road certainty factor to more accurately determine whether the current driving lane is a curved road.

[0049] If it is determined that the counter matches the determination value, the determination unit 120 determines whether the curved road certainty is equal to or greater than a first specified value (step S214). If it is determined that the curved road certainty is equal to or greater than the first specified value, the determination unit 120 determines the current driving lane to be a "curved road" (step S216). On the other hand, if it is determined that the curved road certainty is less than the first specified value, the determination unit 120 determines whether the curved road certainty is equal to or greater than a second specified value (step S218). If it is determined that the curved road certainty is equal to or greater than the second specified value, the determination unit 120 determines the current driving lane to be a "possibly curved road" (step S220). On the other hand, if it is determined that the curved road certainty is less than the second specified value, the determination unit 120 determines the current driving lane to be a "straight road" (step S222).

[0050] The process transitions to the flowchart of FIG. 9, where the driving assistance unit 130 determines whether the current driving lane is determined to be a "curved road" (step S224). If the current driving lane is determined to be a "curved road", the driving assistance unit 130 narrows the determination area (step S226). On the other hand, if the current driving lane is not determined to be a "curved road", the driving assistance unit 130 determines whether the duration of the "possibly curved road" state is equal to or longer than a predetermined period (step S228). If it is determined that the duration of the "possibly curved road" state is equal to or longer than the predetermined period, the driving assistance unit 130 narrows the determination area in step S226. On the other hand, if it is determined that the duration of the "possibly curved road" state is not equal to or longer than the predetermined period, the driving assistance unit 130 sets the determination area to a normal size (step S230). This ends the processing of this flowchart.

[0051] According to the present embodiment described above, the determination unit determines whether the road-dividing line indicates a curve based on the length of the recognized road-dividing line. If the driving assistance unit determines that the road-dividing line indicates a curve, it narrows the determination area within which obstacles are recognized for driving assistance. This makes it possible to detect the presence of a curved road in the distance and appropriately suppress driving assistance in accordance with the detected curve. This, in turn, contributes to the development of sustainable transportation systems.

[0052] The above-described embodiment can be expressed as follows. a storage medium for storing computer-readable instructions; a processor connected to the storage medium; The processor executes the computer-readable instructions to: using at least one of a camera and a radar mounted on the vehicle, recognizing road dividing lines of the lane on which the vehicle is traveling and obstacles present around the vehicle; determining whether the road dividing line indicates a curve based on the length of the recognized road dividing line; performing driving assistance for the vehicle in response to the recognized obstacle; If it is determined that the road dividing line indicates a curved road, a determination area within which the obstacle is to be recognized is narrowed. The driving assistance device is configured as follows.

[0053] The above describes the form for carrying out the present invention using an embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and various modifications and substitutions can be made within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0054] 10 Camera 12 Radar equipment 14 Vehicle Sensors 20 Driving controls 22 Steering wheel 30 Driving force output device 32 Brake equipment 34 Steering device 100 Driving assistance device 110 Recognition part 120 Judgment section 130 Driving Support Department 140 Storage section 140A Camera image data 140B Radar detection data

Claims

1. a recognition unit that uses at least one of a camera and a radar mounted on the vehicle to recognize road dividing lines of the lane on which the vehicle is traveling and obstacles present around the vehicle; a determination unit that determines whether the road dividing line indicates a curve based on the length of the recognized road dividing line; a driving assistance unit that performs driving assistance for the vehicle in accordance with the recognized obstacle, When the determination unit determines that the road dividing line indicates a curved road, the driving assistance unit narrows a determination area within which the recognition unit recognizes the obstacle for the driving assistance. Driving assistance device.

2. the driving assistance unit corrects the width of the determination area to be narrower when the determination unit determines that the road dividing line indicates a curved road; The driving assistance device according to claim 1 .

3. the driving assistance unit corrects the length of the determination area to be narrower when the determination unit determines that the road dividing line indicates a curved road; The driving assistance device according to claim 2 .

4. the determination unit determines that the recognized road dividing line indicates a curved road when the length of the recognized road dividing line is shorter than or equal to a predetermined amount. The driving assistance device according to claim 1 .

5. the determination unit determines that the recognized road dividing line indicates a curved road when the length of the recognized road dividing line has been shortened by a predetermined amount or more and a predetermined time or more has passed. The driving assistance device according to claim 1 .

6. the driving assistance unit decelerates the vehicle when a time to collision between the vehicle and the recognized obstacle becomes equal to or less than a threshold. The driving assistance device according to claim 1 .

7. The computer using at least one of a camera and a radar mounted on the vehicle, recognizing road dividing lines of the lane on which the vehicle is traveling and obstacles present around the vehicle; determining whether the road dividing line indicates a curve based on the length of the recognized road dividing line; performing driving assistance for the vehicle in response to the recognized obstacle; If it is determined that the road dividing line indicates a curved road, a determination area within which the obstacle is recognized is narrowed for the driving assistance. Driving assistance methods.

8. On the computer, using at least one of a camera and a radar mounted on the vehicle, to recognize road dividing lines of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling and obstacles present around the vehicle; determining whether the road dividing line indicates a curve based on the length of the recognized road dividing line; Executing driving assistance for the vehicle in response to the recognized obstacle; When it is determined that the road dividing line indicates a curved road, a determination area within which the obstacle is recognized is narrowed for the driving assistance. program.

Images