Vehicular projection device

Abstract

To provide a vehicular projection device capable of suitably providing required information to a driver.SOLUTION: A vehicular projection device 1 includes: a normal direction acquisition section that acquires information on a normal traveling direction to be a direction in which a vehicle 2 should travel; an image generation section that generates a normal direction image 31 indicating the normal traveling direction and an actual direction image 32 indicating an actual traveling direction when the actual traveling direction in which the vehicle 2 actually travels has deviation with respect to the normal traveling direction; and a projection section that generates projection light related to the normal direction image 31 and the actual direction image 32 and projects the projection light on a road surface 4 on which the vehicle 2 travels.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle projection device. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique is known in which a drawing device is mounted on a work vehicle and an image is drawn on the road surface ahead in the traveling direction. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-084915 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The above-described drawing device can be used to display images to notify people outside the vehicle of the approach of a work vehicle, as lighting fixtures, advertising lights, etc. However, it has not been used to provide information to the driver of the work vehicle in a suitable manner.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and has an object to provide a vehicle projection device that can suitably provide required information to the driver. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the vehicle projection device of the present disclosure includes a forward direction acquisition unit that acquires information regarding the forward driving direction, which is the direction in which the vehicle should drive; an image generation unit that generates a forward direction image that indicates the forward driving direction and a real direction image that indicates the actual driving direction when the actual driving direction in which the vehicle is actually driving deviates from the forward driving direction; and a projection unit that generates projection light related to the forward direction image and the real direction image and projects them onto the road surface (field) on which the vehicle is driving. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] The vehicle projection device of the present disclosure can provide the driver with the required information in an appropriate manner. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a vehicle projection device according to an embodiment of the present invention and an agricultural machine on which the vehicle projection device is mounted; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic functional block diagram showing the functional configuration of the vehicle projection device. [Figure 3] 6 is a flowchart illustrating a directional lighting process executed by the projection device according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of projection of a normal image. [Figure 5] 1A and 1B are diagrams showing examples of projection of normal direction images and real direction images. [Figure 6] 1A and 1B are diagrams showing examples of projection of normal direction images and real direction images. [Figure 7] 1A and 1B are diagrams showing examples of projection of normal direction images and real direction images. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] An embodiment of a vehicle projection device according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The vehicle projection device according to the present disclosure can be applied to any work vehicle, such as agricultural machinery or heavy machinery, that travels along a predetermined route and performs required work. In this embodiment, an example in which the vehicle projection device is mounted on an agricultural machine will be described.

[0010] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a vehicle-mounted projection device 1 according to this embodiment and an agricultural machine 2 on which the vehicle-mounted projection device 1 is mounted.

[0011] FIG. 2 is a schematic functional block diagram showing the functional configuration of the vehicle projection device 1. As shown in FIG.

[0012] In the following description, "front," "rear," "up," "down," "right," and "left" follow the definitions of "Fr.", "Re.", "To.", "Bo.", "R," and "L" in Figures 1, 4 to 7. "Front" refers to the direction in which the agricultural machine 2 is moving, and "rear" refers to the opposite direction to the direction in which it is moving.

[0013] The vehicle-mounted projection device 1 (projection device 1) is mounted in a position where it can project projection light 33 relating to an image onto a road surface (field) 4 on which an agricultural machine 2 travels. In this embodiment, the projection device 1 is mounted on a roof frame 3 of the agricultural machine 2.

[0014] The projection device 1 includes a microcontroller unit (MCU 11), a GPS 12, an attitude detection sensor 13, an input reception unit 15, an image generation unit 17, a projection optical unit 18, and a housing 19.

[0015] The MCU 11 performs calculations and control processes required to project the projection light 33. Specifically, the MCU 11 acquires required information from the GPS 12 and the attitude detection sensor 13, and performs various calculation processes to project an image. The MCU 11 also projects an image based on instructions from the driver or the like received by the input receiving unit 15. The MCU 11 causes the image generating unit 17 to generate an image based on the calculation results.

[0016] The GPS 12 calculates the current position of the agricultural machine 2 based on GPS signals received from artificial satellites, etc. The attitude detection sensor 13 detects the direction and amount of tilt of the agricultural machine 2 relative to a reference attitude. The attitude detection sensor 13 is, for example, a six-axis sensor made up of an acceleration sensor and a gyro sensor. The input receiving unit 15 receives instructions input by the driver via an input device such as a button or touchpad arranged on the driver's seat of the agricultural machine 2, etc.

[0017] The image generation unit 17 generates a required image based on instructions from the MCU 11. The projection optical unit 18 (projection unit) generates projection light 33 related to the image generated by the image generation unit 17 and projects it onto the road surface 4 on which the agricultural machine 2 travels. The image generation unit 17 and the projection optical unit 18 are so-called known projectors.

[0018] The housing 19 (FIG. 1) houses the MCU 11, GPS 12, attitude detection sensor 13, input reception unit 15, image generation unit 17, and projection optical unit 18. The housing 19 placed on the roof frame 3 or the like of the agricultural machine 2 only needs to house at least the projection optical unit 18, and the other components may be placed in required positions on the agricultural machine 2 and communicate with each other by wire or wirelessly.

[0019] Next, the directional lighting process executed by the projection device 1 in this embodiment will be described in detail.

[0020] The projection device 1 in this embodiment performs a direction lighting process that indicates to the driver the direction in which the agricultural machine 2 should travel (hereinafter referred to as the "forward travel direction") and the direction in which the agricultural machine 2 is actually traveling (hereinafter referred to as the "actual travel direction") when the agricultural machine 2 performs work such as plowing farmland based on a predetermined route, based on the driver's operation. This direction lighting process projects a forward direction image 31 and an actual direction image 32 that indicate the forward travel direction and the actual travel direction, allowing the driver to visually recognize and indicate the appropriate direction in which to travel. This process will be described in detail below using a flowchart.

[0021] 3 is a flowchart illustrating a directional lighting process executed by the projection device 1 in this embodiment. This process is executed repeatedly, for example, from after the ignition switch of the agricultural machine 2 is turned on until it is turned off.

[0022] In step S1, the MCU 11 determines whether or not the input receiving unit 15 has received an instruction to turn on a directional image via the input device. If the MCU 11 determines that the instruction has not been received (NO in step S1), the MCU 11 waits until the instruction is received.

[0023] If the MCU 11 determines that it has received an instruction (YES in step S1), in step S2, the MCU 11 (forward direction acquisition unit) acquires information about the forward driving direction (forward direction information) by being input and set by the driver or the like. The forward direction information is set by being defined on map data, for example, from a display screen provided at the driver's seat or a separate information terminal. Note that, if the projection device 1 previously holds information about a driving route on map information, the forward direction information may be automatically set by the MCU 11 (forward direction acquisition unit) based on the current position acquired from the GPS 12 and the held information about the driving route, without receiving a setting from the driver or the like.

[0024] In step S3, the MCU 11 acquires information (position information) about the current position of the agricultural machine 2 from the GPS 12. In addition, the MCU 11 (attitude acquisition unit) acquires, from the attitude detection sensor 13, information about the attitude (attitude information) such as the direction and amount of tilt as the attitude of the agricultural machine 2 with respect to the road surface 4.

[0025] In step S4, the MCU 11 determines whether the actual traveling direction is misaligned with the forward traveling direction. The MCU 11 makes this determination based on the position information and posture information. If the MCU 11 determines that there is no misalignment (NO in step S4), the MCU 11 causes the image generation unit 17 to generate only the forward direction image 31 in step S5. The image generation unit 17 generates the forward direction image 31 indicating the forward traveling direction 41, such as an arrow along the forward traveling direction 41 shown in FIG. 4, and the projection optical unit 18 projects projection light 33 related to the forward direction image 31 onto the road surface 4. The projection optical unit 18 projects the projection light 33 ahead of the illumination range 5 so that the projection light 33 does not overlap with the illumination range 5 of the headlights of the agricultural machine 2, impairing the visibility of the forward direction image 31.

[0026] At this time, the MCU 11 calculates a correction amount for correcting the image projected onto the road surface 4 based on the attitude information. In other words, if the agricultural machine 2 is tilted with respect to the road surface 4, the forward direction image 31 that should be displayed along the forward traveling direction 41 will unintentionally point in a different direction. For this reason, the image generator 17 generates a corrected forward direction image 31 in accordance with the correction amount calculated by the MCU 11 so that the forward direction image 31 correctly indicates the forward traveling direction 41. The same applies to step S6.

[0027] On the other hand, if the MCU 11 determines that there is a deviation (YES in step S4), in step S6, the image generator 17 generates the forward direction image 31 and the real direction image 32. The image generator 17 generates the forward direction image 31 and the real direction image 32 indicating the forward driving direction 41 and the real driving direction 42, for example, an arrow along the forward driving direction 41 and an arrow along the real driving direction 42 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 , and the projection optical unit 18 generates projection light 33 related to the forward direction image 31 and the real direction image 32 and projects them onto the road surface 4. At this time, it is preferable that the real direction image 32 is displayed in a manner different from that of the forward direction image 31.

[0028] For example, when the actual driving direction 42 is deviated to the left from the forward driving direction 41, the real direction image 32 is displayed on the left side of the forward direction image 31, as shown in FIG. 5. When the actual driving direction 42 is deviated to the right from the forward driving direction 41, the real direction image 32 is displayed on the right side of the forward direction image 31, as shown in FIG. 6. In this case, the image generator 17 may change the real direction image 32 depending on the direction of deviation from the forward direction image 31. For example, when the actual driving direction 42 is deviated to the left from the forward driving direction 41, as shown in FIG. 5, the image generator 17 generates the real direction image 32 in yellow. When the actual driving direction 42 is deviated to the right from the forward driving direction 41, as shown in FIG. 6, the image generator 17 generates the real direction image 32 in red.

[0029] It is also preferable that the real direction image 32 be different depending on the amount of deviation of the real driving direction 42 from the forward driving direction 41. For example, it is preferable that the image generator 17 generates the real direction image 32 in a manner that provides a greater visual attention-grabbing effect as the amount of deviation increases.

[0030] Specifically, when there is no deviation of actual traveling direction 42 from forward traveling direction 41, image generation unit 17 generates forward direction image 31 in green. Image generation unit 17 gradually changes the color of real direction image 32, such as from yellow-green to yellow, orange, and red, so that the effect of calling attention increases as the deviation of actual traveling direction 42 from forward traveling direction 41 increases.

[0031] Furthermore, when the image generation unit 17 flashes the real direction image 32, the greater the deviation, the greater the effect of the warning may be increased by shortening the flashing cycle. Furthermore, if the projection device 1 has an audio output function or if audio output is possible, such as when the speaker of the agricultural machine 2 is available, the MCU 11 may indicate that the actual traveling direction 42 deviates from the forward traveling direction 41 by using an intermittent sound or the like together with the real direction image 32. In this case, the MCU 11 may shorten the cycle of the intermittent sound or increase the volume so that the greater the deviation, the greater the effect of the warning.

[0032] The image generator 17 may call attention to the forward traveling direction 41 by emphasizing the forward traveling direction 41 in order to guide the agricultural machine 2 in the forward traveling direction 41. For example, as shown in FIG. 7 , the display position of the forward traveling direction image 31 may be moved sequentially toward the forward traveling direction 41 to create a visual effect that the forward traveling direction image 31 is moving toward the forward traveling direction 41.

[0033] In step S7, the MCU 11 determines whether the input receiving unit 15 has received an instruction to turn off the directional image via the input device. If the MCU 11 determines that the instruction has not been received (NO in step S7), the MCU 11 returns to step S3 and repeats the subsequent processes until the instruction is received. On the other hand, if the MCU 11 determines that the instruction has been received (YES in step S7), the MCU 11 ends the generation of the image in the image generating unit 17 in step S8 and turns off the image.

[0034] The projection device 1 in this embodiment projects the real direction image 32 along with the forward direction image 31, and therefore can provide the driver with the required information in an appropriate manner. This allows the driver of the agricultural machine 2 to visually grasp the appropriate direction in which to proceed, thereby improving the workability of agricultural work.

[0035] Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and spirit of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents as defined in the claims.

[0036] For example, whether or not the image needs to be turned on is determined depending on whether or not the input receiving unit 15 receives an instruction, but the image may be turned on automatically when the vehicle is located at a predetermined location that has been stored in advance, such as registered farmland, or may be turned on when the vehicle's work implements (agricultural machinery, etc.) begin to operate. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 1. Vehicle projection device (projection device) 2. Agricultural machinery (vehicles) 3 Roof frame 4 Road surface (field) 5. Lighting Range 11 Microcontrollers (MCUs) 12 GPS 13 Attitude detection sensor 15 Input reception section 17 Image generation unit 18 Projection optics section 19. Cabinet 31 Forward image 32 Real-world image 33 Projection light 41 Forward running direction 42 Actual running direction

Claims

1. a forward direction acquisition unit that acquires information about a forward traveling direction, which is a direction in which the vehicle should travel; an image generating unit that generates a forward direction image indicating the forward traveling direction and a real direction image indicating the actual traveling direction when an actual traveling direction in which the vehicle is actually traveling is deviated from the forward traveling direction; a projection unit that generates projection light relating to the normal direction image and the real direction image and projects the projection light onto a road surface on which the vehicle is traveling.

2. The vehicle projection device according to claim 1 , wherein the image generator varies the real direction image depending on a deviation of the actual driving direction from the forward driving direction.

3. The vehicle projection device according to claim 1 , wherein the image generator varies the real direction image depending on a direction of deviation of the actual traveling direction from the forward traveling direction.

4. further comprising an attitude acquisition unit that acquires information about an attitude of the vehicle with respect to the road surface; The vehicle projection device according to claim 1 , wherein the image generator generates the normal direction image and the real direction image corrected according to the attitude.

5. 2. The vehicle projection device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle is an agricultural machine and the road surface is a field.

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