Driver assistance control device, driver assistance method, and computer program

Abstract

This prevents unintentional overrides from causing the driver error response driver assistance system to be discontinued even when the driver is in an abnormal state. [Solution] The driver assistance control device 6 of the vehicle 100 is configured to provide driver assistance in response to an abnormal condition in which the driver of the vehicle 100 is unable to continue driving the vehicle 100. If multiple cancellation operations are detected during driver assistance, the driver assistance is stopped. Cancellation operations include pedal operations and predetermined operations other than pedal operations. If no pedal operations are detected as cancellation operations, the driver assistance is not stopped even if multiple predetermined operations other than pedal operations are detected.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a driving support control device, a driving support method, and a computer program.

Background Art

[0002] In Patent Document 1, as a conventional vehicle driving control device, it is configured to determine whether a driver is in an abnormal state, and when the driver is in an abnormal state, perform deceleration stop control to decelerate the host vehicle and keep the host vehicle in a stopped state.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The above-described conventional vehicle driving control device determines that the driver is in a non-driving operation state where no driving operation is being performed when none of the accelerator pedal operation amount, brake pedal operation amount, and steering torque are changing, and determines that the driver is in an abnormal state when the duration of the non-driving operation state exceeds a predetermined time. And when any one of the accelerator pedal operation amount, brake pedal operation amount, and steering torque changes during the deceleration stop control, it is determined that a driving operation intervention by the driver (hereinafter referred to as "override") has occurred, and the deceleration stop control is configured to be aborted.

[0005] However, during deceleration and stopping control, drivers who are in an abnormal state such as tension, rigidity, or weakness may unintentionally operate the pedals or steering wheel. Therefore, if deceleration and stopping control is terminated when any of the accelerator pedal input, brake pedal input, or steering torque changes by 1 degree, as in the conventional vehicle driving control system mentioned above, there is a risk that deceleration and stopping control may be terminated due to unintentional override, even if the driver is in an abnormal state.

[0006] This invention addresses these problems and aims to prevent unintentional overrides that could cause driver assistance systems designed to respond to driver abnormalities to be discontinued even when the driver is in an abnormal state. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To solve the above problems, a vehicle driver assistance control device according to one aspect of the present invention is configured to respond to the determination that the vehicle driver is in an abnormal state that makes it difficult to continue driving the vehicle, to provide driver assistance to address the driver's abnormality, to stop the driver assistance when multiple cancellation operations are detected during the driver assistance, and to stop the driver assistance when multiple cancellation operations are detected during the driver assistance, the cancellation operations include pedal operations of the vehicle and predetermined operations other than pedal operations, and if no pedal operations are detected as cancellation operations, the driver assistance will not be stopped even if multiple predetermined operations other than pedal operations are detected.

[0008] Furthermore, a driving assistance method according to a certain aspect of the present invention is implemented by a vehicle control device and, in response to the determination that the vehicle driver is in an abnormal state where it is difficult to continue driving the vehicle, provides driving assistance to address the driver's abnormality, and if multiple cancellation operations are detected during driving assistance, the driving assistance is stopped. Cancellation operations include pedal operations of the vehicle's pedals and predetermined operations other than pedal operations. If no pedal operations are detected as cancellation operations, the driving assistance is not stopped even if multiple predetermined operations other than pedal operations are detected.

[0009] Furthermore, a computer program according to one aspect of the present invention, in response to a determination that the vehicle driver is in an abnormal state that makes it difficult to continue driving the vehicle, performs driving assistance to address the driver's abnormality, and if multiple cancellation operations are detected during driving assistance, the driving assistance is stopped. Cancellation operations include pedal operations of the vehicle and predetermined operations other than pedal operations. If no pedal operations are detected as cancellation operations, the computer is instructed to perform a process that does not stop driving assistance even if multiple predetermined operations other than pedal operations are detected. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to these aspects of the present invention, it is possible to prevent unintentional overrides from causing the discontinuation of driver assistance systems designed to address driver abnormalities, even when the driver is in an abnormal state. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of a vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a flowchart illustrating the process for terminating driver abnormality response driving assistance according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0012] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, similar components will be given the same reference numerals.

[0013] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] Vehicle 100 includes a peripheral sensor 1, a vehicle sensor 2, a driver sensor 3, an HMI (Human Machine Interface) 4, an actuator 5, and a control device 6. The peripheral sensor 1, vehicle sensor 2, driver sensor 3, HMI 4, actuator 5, and control device 6 are each connected to communicate via an in-vehicle network 9 that conforms to standards such as a controller area network.

[0015] The surrounding sensor 1 is a sensor for generating surrounding data that represents the conditions around the vehicle 100. In this embodiment, the vehicle 100 is equipped with one or more external cameras 11 as the surrounding sensor 1 for capturing images of the area around the vehicle 100. The external cameras 11 capture images of the area around the vehicle 100 at a predetermined frame rate (for example, 10 Hz to 40 Hz) and generate surrounding images of the area around the vehicle 100. Each time the external cameras 11 generate surrounding images, they transmit the generated surrounding images to the control device 6 as surrounding data.

[0016] In addition to the external camera 11, the vehicle 100 may also be equipped with a distance measuring sensor as a surrounding sensor 1 to measure the distance to targets and features in its vicinity. Examples of distance measuring sensors include LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), which measures distance based on the reflected light emitted by radar, and millimeter-wave radar sensors, which measure distance based on the reflected waves emitted by radio waves.

[0017] Vehicle sensor 2 is a sensor for acquiring vehicle data representing the state of vehicle 100. Vehicle 100 according to this embodiment includes, as vehicle sensor 2, a speed sensor 21 that acquires speed data indicating the vehicle's speed, a positioning sensor 22 that acquires current position data indicating the vehicle's current position such as latitude and longitude, a steering sensor 23 that acquires data related to steering operation, including at least one of steering grip, steering torque and steering angle, an accelerator sensor 24 that acquires data related to accelerator operation, such as the amount the accelerator pedal is depressed, and a brake sensor 25 that acquires data related to brake operation, such as the detection of brake pedal input. However, vehicle sensor 2 is not limited to these sensors. Each data acquired by each sensor 21 to 25 is transmitted to the control device 6 as vehicle data.

[0018] The driver sensor 3 is a sensor for generating driver data that represents the driver's state. In this embodiment, the vehicle 100 includes a driver monitor camera 31 as the driver sensor 3 for capturing the driver's appearance, including the driver's face. The driver monitor camera 31 captures the driver's appearance at a predetermined frame rate (for example, 10 Hz to 40 Hz) and generates an appearance image showing the driver's appearance. Each time the driver monitor camera 31 generates an appearance image of the driver, it transmits the generated appearance image to the control device 6 as driver data.

[0019] HMI4 is a user interface for exchanging information between the vehicle 100 and its occupants. HMI4 includes output devices 41 for notifying the vehicle occupants through their bodily senses (e.g., sight, hearing, and touch) and input devices 42 for the vehicle occupants to perform input and response operations. Output devices 41 include, for example, displays (e.g., meter displays, center displays, head-up displays, etc.) and speakers. Input devices 42 include, for example, touch panels and microphones.

[0020] The HMI 4 notifies the vehicle occupants of information corresponding to the output signal received from the control device 6 via the output device 41, and transmits data input by the vehicle occupants via the input device 42 to the control device 6.

[0021] The HMI 4 may be pre-mounted on the vehicle 100, or may be a terminal such as a smartphone owned by vehicle occupants (driver and passengers). In the latter case, for example, information exchange may be performed by communicating via short-range wireless communication between the vehicle 100 and the vehicle occupant's terminal, or communication may be performed between the vehicle occupant's terminal and an external server (not shown), and information exchange may be performed indirectly via the server.

[0022] The actuator 5 is a device used for the driving control of the vehicle 100. The vehicle 100 according to the present embodiment includes, as the actuator 5, an acceleration actuator 51 that performs acceleration control of the vehicle 100 (for example, at least one of an engine and a motor), a brake actuator 52 that performs brake control of the vehicle 100 (for example, a hydraulic actuator), and a steering actuator 53 that performs steering control of the vehicle 100 (for example, a steering motor).

[0023] The control device 6 is an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) including a communication unit 61, a storage unit 62, and a processing unit 63.

[0024] The communication unit 61 includes an interface circuit for connecting the control device 6 to the in-vehicle network 9. The communication unit 61 supplies various data received from the outside to the processing unit 63. The communication unit 61 also outputs various signals output from the processing unit 63 to the outside.

[0025] The storage unit 62 has a storage medium such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid Disk Drive), or a semiconductor memory, and stores various computer programs and data used in the processing by the processing unit 63.

[0026] The processing unit 63 has one or more CPUs (Central Processing Units) and their peripheral circuits, and executes various computer programs stored in the memory unit 62. The processing unit 63 is, for example, a processor. The processing unit 63 may further have other arithmetic circuits such as a logical operation unit, a numerical operation unit, or a graphics processing unit. By executing processing according to the computer program, the processing unit 63 functions as an abnormal state determination unit 71, a recognition unit 72, and a driving support unit 73, and operates as a functional unit (module) that realizes a predetermined function. In the following description, when describing the processing with each functional unit 71 to 73 as the subject, it means that the processing unit 63 is executing the program that realizes each functional unit 71 to 73.

[0027] The following describes the specific processes performed by the control device 6. Specifically, it describes the contents of each functional unit 71 to 73, which are realized by the processing unit 63 executing processes according to the computer program.

[0028] The abnormal state determination unit 71 determines whether the driver is in an abnormal state (hereinafter simply referred to as "abnormal state") that makes it difficult to continue driving, for example, due to a sudden change in physical condition. In this embodiment, the abnormal state determination unit 71 determines that the driver is in an abnormal state if a predetermined abnormal estimated state continues for a predetermined determination time T1[s].

[0029] An abnormal condition is a state in which the driver can be considered to be in an abnormal state. Examples of abnormal conditions include the driver having their eyes closed, the driver having poor posture, and, unless a hands-free driving assistance system is in place, the driver not operating the steering wheel. Poor posture of the driver refers to a state in which the driver is slumped over, looking down, leaning backward, or has their head or upper body tilted or fallen to the side due to muscle relaxation caused by loss of consciousness, etc., or a state in which the driver is arching their back due to rigidity caused by epilepsy, etc.

[0030] Whether the driver has their eyes closed, their posture is poor, or the steering wheel is not being operated can be determined, for example, from the driver's appearance based on the image from the driver monitoring camera 31. Furthermore, whether the steering wheel is not being operated can be determined, for example, based on data acquired by the steering sensor 23, or based on that data and the image from the driver monitoring camera 31.

[0031] The recognition unit 72 recognizes objects and features around the vehicle 100. For example, the recognition unit 72 sequentially inputs the surrounding image received from the external camera 11 into a classifier to recognize objects such as other vehicles, motorcycles, and pedestrians, as well as features such as curbs, fences, and other similar structures (hereinafter referred to as "boundary structures") and road markings (e.g., lane markings defining driving lanes) within the surrounding image. The classifier can be, for example, a convolutional neural network (CNN) having multiple convolutional layers connected in series from the input side to the output side. The recognition unit 72 also calculates the distance from the vehicle 100 to the objects and features and calculates the position of the objects and features by using, for example, the standard size of the objects and features stored in the memory unit 62 for each type of object and feature, and the size of the objects and features recognized in the surrounding image. Note that the method of recognizing objects and features is not limited to this method, and various known methods may be used for recognition.

[0032] The driver assistance unit 73 controls the actuators 5 based on the targets and features recognized by the recognition unit 72, and provides driver assistance that includes vehicle driving control of the vehicle 100. In this embodiment, the driver assistance unit 73 can provide driver assistance that includes vehicle driving control of the vehicle 100 at a driving control level of Level 3 as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), that is, at a driving control level that does not require the driver to operate each actuator 51 to 53 or monitor the surroundings. The driver assistance unit 73 can also provide driver assistance that includes vehicle driving control of the vehicle 100 at a driving control level in which the driver is involved in driving the vehicle 100, for example, at a driving control level of Level 1 or Level 2 as defined by the SAE.

[0033] The driver assistance unit 73, as one of the driver assistance functions involving vehicle 100 driving control, performs driver abnormality response driving assistance to address driver abnormalities when it is determined that the driver is in an abnormal state. Specifically, when the driver assistance unit 73 determines that the driver is in an abnormal state, it first performs notification control, such as providing control warnings or alarms to the driver via the HMI 4. Then, after a predetermined time T2[s] has elapsed since the start of notification, it performs deceleration stop control (deceleration control and stop hold control) to decelerate the vehicle 100 and keep the vehicle 100 in a stopped state. In other words, driver abnormality response driving assistance includes notification control and deceleration stop control.

[0034] The method by which vehicle 100 is decelerated and stopped is not particularly limited, as long as the risk of contact with road users outside the vehicle during deceleration and stopping control is taken into consideration. For example, if the vehicle can recognize the lane markings of its own driving lane, it can decelerate and maintain a stopped state along the lane markings of its own driving lane. If the vehicle cannot recognize the lane markings of its own driving lane, it can decelerate and maintain a stopped state along the trajectory of the vehicle in front. If neither the lane markings of its own driving lane nor the vehicle in front can be recognized, it can decelerate and maintain a stopped state while driving straight. In addition, for example, considering the safety of driver rescue and passenger disembarkation, the vehicle may change lanes and move to a lane on the road side or to the shoulder.

[0035] Incidentally, if the driver intervenes in driving operations such as steering, accelerating, or braking while driver abnormality response driving assistance is in place, i.e., overrides the system, it is desirable to discontinue the driving assistance in question, as it can be determined that the driver's condition is normal and capable of continuing to drive.

[0036] However, during driver abnormality response driving assistance, there is a possibility that unintentional steering operations may be performed by a driver who has lost consciousness and is leaning over the steering wheel, or unintentional pedal operations may be performed by a driver who has become rigid due to epilepsy, etc. In other words, during driver abnormality response driving assistance, there is a possibility that steering or pedal operations may be performed unintentionally by a driver in an abnormal state. In such cases, there is a risk that the driving assistance may be terminated due to an unintentional override during driver abnormality response driving assistance, even though the driver is in an abnormal state.

[0037] Therefore, in this embodiment, even if an accidental, unintentional override occurs once during driver abnormality response driving assistance, the driving assistance will not be terminated. The termination process for driver abnormality response driving assistance according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to Figure 2.

[0038] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating the process for terminating driver abnormality response driving support according to this embodiment, which is performed by the driving support unit 73 and, consequently, the control device 6. The control device 6 repeatedly executes this routine at a predetermined calculation cycle.

[0039] In step S1, the control device 6 determines whether driver abnormality response driving support is in operation. If driver abnormality response driving support is in operation, the control device 6 proceeds to the process in step S2. On the other hand, if driver abnormality response driving support is not in operation, the control device 6 terminates the current process.

[0040] In step S2, the control device 6 determines whether a cancellation operation has been performed. In this embodiment, the control device 6 determines that a cancellation operation has been performed each time a steering operation, accelerator operation, or brake operation is performed. Whether a steering operation, accelerator operation, or brake operation has been performed can be determined, for example, when the amount of change in the operation of each operation exceeds a predetermined amount, or simply when the operation input for each operation is detected.

[0041] Furthermore, accelerator and brake operations, i.e., pedal operations, consist of pressing and releasing operations. In this embodiment, regarding pedal release operations, only the operation of releasing the pedal that was pressed at the start of the driver abnormality response driving assistance is detected as a cancellation operation. The reason for this will be explained later.

[0042] In step S3, the control device 6 determines whether the pedal operation detection flag F is 0. The pedal operation detection flag F is a flag that is set to 1 when a pedal operation, i.e., an accelerator operation or a brake operation, is performed once during driver abnormality response driving assistance, and its initial value is 0. If the pedal operation detection flag F is 0, the control device 6 proceeds to the process in step S4. On the other hand, if the pedal operation detection flag F is 1, the control device 6 proceeds to the process in step S6.

[0043] In step S4, the control device 6 determines whether the cancellation operation performed was a pedal operation. If the cancellation operation performed was a pedal operation, the control device 6 proceeds to the process in step S5. On the other hand, if the cancellation operation performed was not a pedal operation, the control device 6 proceeds to the process in step S6.

[0044] In step S5, the control device 6 sets the pedal operation detection flag F to 1.

[0045] In step S6, the control device 6 increments the count value N of the number of detected cancellation operations by 1. The initial value of the count value N is zero.

[0046] In step S7, the control device 6 determines whether the pedal operation detection flag F is 1 (i.e., at least one pedal operation has been performed during driver abnormality response driving assistance) and whether the count value N, which is the number of detected cancellation operations, is equal to or greater than a predetermined driving assistance discontinuation threshold Nth. The driving assistance discontinuation threshold Nth can be any value of 2 or greater. In this embodiment, the driving assistance discontinuation threshold Nth is 2. If the pedal operation detection flag F is 1 and the count value N of cancellation operations is equal to or greater than the driving assistance discontinuation threshold Nth, the control device 6 proceeds to the process in step S8. On the other hand, if the pedal operation detection flag F is 0, or if the count value N of cancellation operations is less than the driving assistance discontinuation threshold Nth, the control device 6 proceeds to the process in step S9.

[0047] In step S8, the control device 6 discontinues the driver abnormality response driving assistance. Thus, in this embodiment, discontinuing the driver abnormality response driving assistance requires at least two cancellation operations and at least one pedal operation.

[0048] By requiring at least two cancellation operations to terminate the driver abnormality response driver assistance system, the system will not be terminated even if an accidental, unintentional override (cancellation operation) occurs once. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the driver abnormality response driver assistance system from being terminated due to an unintentional override, even when the driver is in an abnormal state.

[0049] Furthermore, if a driver falls into an abnormal state due to muscle relaxation, for example, due to loss of consciousness, the driver is likely to lean over the steering wheel, or their upper body may tilt or fall to the side while leaning over, making unintentional steering operations more likely. It is also possible for a driver to fall into an abnormal state while still gripping the steering wheel, and in this case too, unintentional steering operations are likely to occur. In contrast, by requiring at least one additional pedal operation before the driver abnormality response driving assistance system is to be stopped, the driver abnormality response driving assistance system will not be stopped unless a pedal operation is performed, thus preventing the driver abnormality response driving assistance system from being stopped due to unintentional steering operations.

[0050] In step S9, the control device 6 resets the pedal operation detection flag F to 0 and resets the cancellation operation count value N to its initial value of zero.

[0051] In step S10, the control device 6 continues to provide driver abnormality response driving support.

[0052] In step S11, the control device 6 determines whether it is a predetermined timing during driver abnormality response driving support. In this embodiment, the predetermined timing is set to the time after a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the start of notification control, but it is not limited to this and can be set to, for example, the time after a predetermined distance has been traveled since the start of notification control, the time after notification control has ended, or the time after deceleration control has started. If it is a predetermined timing during driver abnormality response driving support, the control device 6 proceeds to the process in step S9. On the other hand, if it is not a predetermined timing during driver abnormality response driving support, the control device 6 terminates the current process.

[0053] In step S12, the control device 6 resets the pedal operation detection flag F to 0 and resets the cancellation operation count value N to zero. If the driver is in a normal state but the system mistakenly determines that the driver is in an abnormal state and starts driver abnormality response driving assistance, a normal driver will usually perform multiple cancellation operations at relatively short intervals during driver abnormality response driving assistance, and will not perform cancellation operations with relatively long intervals between the initial and later stages of driver abnormality response driving assistance. Therefore, cancellation operations performed with relatively long intervals between the initial and later stages of driver abnormality response driving assistance may be unintentional cancellation operations.

[0054] Therefore, by resetting the count value N to zero at a predetermined timing during driver abnormality response driving assistance, it is possible to suppress situations where, for example, an accidental and unintentional cancellation operation occurs during the initial or later stages of the driving assistance, causing the driving assistance to be terminated even though the driver is in an abnormal state.

[0055] The control device 6 (driving support control device) of the vehicle 100 according to this embodiment, as described above, responds to the determination that the driver of the vehicle 100 is in an abnormal state that makes it difficult to continue driving the vehicle 100 by implementing driver abnormality response driving support to address the driver abnormality. If multiple cancellation operations are detected during driver abnormality response driving support, the driving support is stopped. Cancellation operations include pedal operations of the vehicle 100 and predetermined operations other than pedal operations. If no pedal operations are detected as cancellation operations, the driver abnormality response driving support is not stopped even if multiple predetermined operations other than pedal operations are detected.

[0056] In this way, by requiring multiple cancellation operations to stop the driver abnormality response driver assistance system, the driver abnormality response driver assistance system will not be stopped even if an accidental, unintentional override (cancellation operation) occurs once. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the driver abnormality response driver assistance system from being stopped due to an unintentional override, even when the driver is in an abnormal state.

[0057] Furthermore, as mentioned above, if a driver falls into an abnormal state due to muscle relaxation, such as loss of consciousness, the driver is likely to lean over the steering wheel, or their upper body may tilt or fall to the side while leaning over, making unintentional steering operations more likely. In addition, it is possible for a driver to fall into an abnormal state while still gripping the steering wheel, and in this case, unintentional steering operations are also likely. To address this, by requiring at least one pedal operation in addition to multiple cancellation operations to discontinue the driver abnormality response driving assistance, the driver abnormality response driving assistance will not be discontinued unless a pedal operation is performed. This prevents the driver abnormality response driving assistance from being discontinued by steering operations, which are relatively easy to perform as unintentional cancellation operations. Therefore, it is possible to more effectively suppress the discontinuation of the driver abnormality response driving assistance despite the driver being in an abnormal state due to unintentional override.

[0058] Furthermore, the control device 6 according to this embodiment is configured to detect, among pedal operations, only the operation of releasing the pedal that was pressed at the time of the start of driver abnormality response driving assistance as a cancellation operation.

[0059] As in this embodiment, if multiple cancellation operations are required to stop the driver abnormality response driving assistance, and the driver abnormality response driving assistance is activated when the driver is in a normal state but is mistakenly judged to be in an abnormal state, the driver will not be able to stop the driver abnormality response driving assistance with a single cancellation operation, making it difficult to stop the driver abnormality response driving assistance.

[0060] In contrast, since pedal operation involves both pressing down and releasing, detecting the release operation as a single cancellation operation makes it easier to detect multiple cancellation operations. This prevents the driver abnormality response driving assistance system from becoming too difficult to stop when the driver is in a normal state.

[0061] On the other hand, if the release operation is detected as one cancellation operation, then the operation of momentarily pressing and releasing the pedal will be detected as two cancellation operations. It is preferable that such a momentarily pressing and releasing of the pedal be detected as a single operation rather than multiple operations. In contrast, if the driver is in a normal state but is mistakenly judged to be in an abnormal state and driver abnormality response driving assistance is activated, the driver is highly likely to have pressed the pedal at the start of the driving assistance. Therefore, by detecting only the release operation of the pedal that was pressed at the start of driver abnormality response driving assistance as one cancellation operation, it is possible to prevent the driver's momentarily pressing and releasing the pedal after driver abnormality response driving assistance has been activated from being detected as two cancellation operations.

[0062] In other words, as in this embodiment, among pedal operations, only the operation of releasing the pedal that was pressed at the start of driver abnormality response driving assistance is detected as a cancellation operation. This prevents it from becoming too difficult to stop driver abnormality response driving assistance when the driver is in a normal state, while also preventing the operation of momentarily pressing and releasing the pedal from being detected as multiple operations (two cancellation operations).

[0063] Furthermore, the control device 6 according to this embodiment is configured to determine that a cancellation operation has been performed each time either a steering operation or a pedal operation of the vehicle 100 is performed, and to increase the count value N of the number of detected cancellation operations by 1.

[0064] This allows each of the multiple types of operations, such as steering and pedal operations, that are accepted as cancellation operations to be counted as one cancellation operation.

[0065] Furthermore, the control device 6 according to this embodiment is configured to reset the count value N of the number of detected cancellation operations to zero at a predetermined timing during driver abnormality response driving support. The predetermined timing is, for example, the timing when a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of notification by notification control, the time when a predetermined distance has been traveled since the start of notification by notification control, the timing when notification control has ended, or the timing when deceleration stop control has started.

[0066] As mentioned above, if the driver is in a normal state but the system mistakenly detects an abnormal state and initiates driver abnormality response driving assistance, a normal driver will usually perform multiple cancellation operations at relatively short intervals during driver abnormality response driving assistance, and will rarely perform cancellation operations with relatively long intervals between the beginning and end of the driver abnormality response driving assistance. Therefore, cancellation operations performed with relatively long intervals between the beginning and end of the driver abnormality response driving assistance may be unintentional. Accordingly, by resetting the count value N of cancellation operations to zero at a predetermined timing during driving assistance, it is possible to suppress situations where accidental, unintentional cancellation operations occur at the beginning and end of the driver abnormality response driving assistance, causing the driving assistance to be terminated even though the driver is in an abnormal state.

[0067] Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these embodiments only represent a part of the application examples of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention to the specific configurations of the above embodiments.

[0068] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, for example, the computer program executed in the control device 6 may be provided in the form of a computer-readable portable recording medium such as a semiconductor memory, a magnetic recording medium, or an optical recording medium, or it may be provided as a computer program product. [Explanation of symbols]

[0069] 6. Control Device (Driving Assistance Control Device) 100 vehicles

Claims

1. A vehicle driver assistance control device, In response to the determination that the driver of the vehicle is in an abnormal state that makes it difficult to continue driving the vehicle, the system provides driving assistance to address the driver's abnormality. If multiple cancellation operations are detected during the aforementioned driving assistance, the driving assistance will be stopped. The cancellation operation includes pedal operation of the vehicle's pedals and predetermined operations other than pedal operation, and the system is configured such that if no pedal operation is detected as part of the cancellation operation, the driver assistance will not be stopped even if multiple predetermined operations other than pedal operation are detected. Driver assistance control system.

2. Of the aforementioned pedal operations, the operation of releasing the pedal is configured to detect only the operation of releasing the pedal that was pressed at the start of the driving assistance as the cancellation operation. The driver assistance control device according to claim 1.

3. Each time either the steering operation or the pedal operation of the vehicle is performed, it is determined that the cancellation operation has been performed once, and the number of detected cancellation operations is increased by one. The driver assistance control device according to claim 1 or claim 2.

4. The system is configured to reset the number of detected cancellation operations to zero at a predetermined timing during the aforementioned driving assistance. The driver assistance control device according to claim 1 or claim 2.

5. The aforementioned driver assistance is Notification control, which is initiated after determining that the driver is in an abnormal state and which notifies the driver, A deceleration and stop control is initiated after a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the aforementioned notification, which decelerates the vehicle and keeps it in a stopped state. Includes, The predetermined timing is the time when a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the notification, the time when a predetermined distance has been traveled since the start of the notification, the time when the notification control is terminated, or the time when the deceleration stop control is started. The driver assistance control device according to claim 4.

6. A method for assisting the driving of a vehicle, In response to the determination that the driver of the vehicle is in an abnormal state that makes it difficult to continue driving the vehicle, the system provides driving assistance to address the driver's abnormality. If multiple cancellation operations are detected during the aforementioned driving assistance, the driving assistance will be stopped. The cancellation operation includes pedal operation of the vehicle and predetermined operations other than pedal operation, and if no pedal operation is detected as part of the cancellation operation, the driver assistance will not be stopped even if the predetermined operations other than pedal operation are detected multiple times. Driving assistance methods.

7. In response to a determination that the vehicle's driver is in an abnormal state that makes it difficult to continue driving the vehicle, the system provides driving assistance to address the driver's abnormality. If multiple cancellation operations are detected during the aforementioned driving assistance, the driving assistance will be stopped. The cancellation operation includes pedal operation of the vehicle's pedals and predetermined operations other than pedal operation. If no pedal operation is detected as part of the cancellation operation, the driver assistance will not be stopped even if multiple predetermined operations other than pedal operation are detected. A computer program that instructs a computer to perform a process.

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