Vehicle control device

Abstract

To provide a vehicle control device that can adjust the amounts of intervention of drive support function to a value suitable for a driver.SOLUTION: A vehicle control device includes a processor that is configured so as to estimate the emotion of a driver on the basis of biological information and determine an amount of intervention of drive support function on the basis of an estimated result.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle control device that can switch between automatic driving (autonomous running) and manual driving. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 09-222922 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] It is desirable to adjust the intervention amount of driving assistance functions such as power steering to a value suitable for the driver.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in view of the above, and aims to provide a vehicle control device that can adjust the amount of intervention of a driving assistance function to a value suitable for the driver. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A vehicle control device according to the present disclosure includes a processor configured to estimate a driver's emotion based on biological information and determine the amount of intervention of a driving assistance function based on the estimation result. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to realize a vehicle control device that can adjust the intervention amount of a driving assistance function to a value suitable for the driver. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle including a vehicle control device according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an outline of the processing executed by the vehicle control device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] A vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that components in the following embodiments include those that are easily replaceable by those skilled in the art, or those that are substantially the same.

[0010] [Vehicle configuration] FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle including a vehicle control device according to an embodiment. Examples of the vehicle 1 shown in FIG. 1 include an internal combustion engine vehicle, a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV), and a battery electric vehicle (BEV). The vehicle 1 is also equipped with a driving assistance function that assists the driver in handling, braking, accelerator, or other operations. Specific examples of the driving assistance function include assistance with the force required for handling (power steering), assistance with the amount of steering of the steering wheel, and assistance with the amount of accelerator or brake operation. The driving assistance function may also include assistance with suspension settings, assistance with setting the driving position, assistance with setting the wiper speed, assistance with automatic setting of the air conditioner, and the like.

[0011] The vehicle 1 includes a control unit 11 as a vehicle control device, a communication unit 12, a storage unit 13, a sensor unit 14, and a display unit 15.

[0012] Specifically, the control unit 11 is an electronic control unit (ECU) whose main components are a microcomputer including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., and executes various programs. By executing the various programs, the control unit 11 comprehensively controls the operations of various components mounted on the vehicle 1. Furthermore, the control unit 11 functions as an emotion estimation unit 111, a control amount determination unit 112, and a vehicle control unit 113 through the execution of the various programs.

[0013] The emotion estimation unit 111 estimates the emotion of the driver based on the biometric information. Specifically, the emotion estimation unit 111 estimates whether the driver is feeling comfortable or not based on the biometric information. The biometric information is, for example, an image of the driver captured by the camera of the sensor unit 14, but may also be the CO2 concentration in the driver's breath measured by a CO2 sensor of the sensor unit 14, or the driver's heart rate acquired by the communication unit 12 from a wearable device worn by the driver.

[0014] Furthermore, the emotion estimation unit 111 may perform emotion estimation based on a trained model that has been trained in advance by machine learning. When using a trained model, input data is biometric information of the driver, such as an image signal capturing an image of the driver. Then, output data is, for example, a numerical value representing the probability that the driver's emotion is pleasant or unpleasant. The method for constructing the trained model used by the emotion estimation unit 111 is not particularly limited, and various machine learning methods such as deep learning using a neural network, a support vector machine, a decision tree, a naive Bayes method, and a k-nearest neighbor method can be used.

[0015] The control amount determination unit 112 determines the intervention amount of the driving assist function based on the estimation result of the emotion estimation unit 111. Specifically, when the emotion estimation unit 111 estimates that the driver's emotion is pleasant, the control amount determination unit 112 increases the intervention amount of the driving assist function.

[0016] The vehicle control unit 113 controls the operation of the vehicle 1 in accordance with the intervention amount determined by the control amount determination unit 112 .

[0017] The communication unit 12 is configured by, for example, a communication module capable of transmitting and receiving various types of information. The communication unit 12 is connected to, for example, a wired or wireless network, and transmits and receives various types of information by communicating with various terminals such as personal computers and smartphones, and wearable terminals worn by the driver.

[0018] The storage unit 13 is configured with recording media such as an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), a hard disk drive (HDD), and removable media. Examples of removable media include disk recording media such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), and a BD (Blu-ray (registered trademark) Disc). The storage unit 13 can store an operating system (OS), various programs, various tables, various databases, and the like. The storage unit 13 may also store, for example, an estimation result by the emotion estimation unit 111 or an intervention amount determined by the control amount determination unit 112. The storage unit 13 may also store a machine-learned model (trained model) used by the emotion estimation unit 111, and the like.

[0019] The sensor unit 14 is for acquiring biological information. Examples of the sensor unit 14 include various sensors such as a camera that captures an image of the driver and a CO2 sensor that measures the CO2 concentration in the driver's breath.

[0020] The display unit 15 is for outputting predetermined information to a user (e.g., a driver) of the vehicle 1. The display unit 15 is provided in a position visible to the user inside the vehicle. The display unit 15 may be realized by a car navigation device, a multi-information display, a head-up display, or the like.

[0021] [Vehicle control device processing] Next, a description will be given of the processing executed by the control unit 11. Here, a case will be described in which the driving assist function is to assist the force required for handling by power steering. Fig. 2 is a flowchart showing an outline of the processing executed by the vehicle control device.

[0022] When the driver operates the steering wheel while the vehicle 1 is traveling, the power steering assists the driver with a predetermined amount of steering force. At this time, the communication unit 12 acquires the driver's biometric information (step S1). Specifically, the communication unit 12 receives an image signal of the driver captured by a camera from the sensor unit 14 as the driver's biometric information.

[0023] Next, the feeling estimation unit 111 estimates the feeling of the driver (step S2). Specifically, the feeling estimation unit 111 analyzes the imaging signal received by the communication unit 12 and estimates whether the driver's feeling is pleasant or not.

[0024] Thereafter, the control amount determination unit 112 determines the control amount of the driving assist function (step S3). Specifically, when the feeling estimation unit 111 estimates that the driver's feeling is pleasant, the control amount determination unit 112 determines to increase the intervention amount of the power steering, which is the driving assist function, from a predetermined value. On the other hand, when the feeling estimation unit 111 estimates that the driver's feeling is unpleasant, the control amount determination unit 112 determines to decrease the intervention amount of the power steering, which is the driving assist function, from the predetermined value.

[0025] Then, the vehicle control unit 113 controls the vehicle 1 using the intervention amount determined by the control amount determination unit 112 (step S4).

[0026] By repeatedly executing the processes of steps S1 to S4 described above, it is possible to bring the intervention amount of the power steering, which is a driving assistance function, closer to a value that the driver feels more comfortable with. Therefore, the control unit 11 is a vehicle control device that can adjust the intervention amount of the driving assistance function to a value that is suitable for the driver. Furthermore, because the control unit 11 uses image signals captured by a camera, there is no need to prepare a large number of parameters in advance, and the intervention amount of the driving assistance function can be optimized without much effort.

[0027] Note that the processing of steps S1 to S4 may be continuously executed while the vehicle 1 is being driven, or the processing of steps S1 to S4 may be repeatedly executed for a predetermined time or a predetermined distance when the vehicle 1 starts to be driven, and the optimized intervention amount may be used thereafter. Also, the driver may be identified using the camera of the sensor unit 14, and the intervention amount optimized for that driver may be stored in the memory unit 13 and used the next time the vehicle is driven. After the intervention amount of the driving assistance function is optimized, whether or not the intervention amount is appropriate may be displayed on the display unit 15, and if the driver performs an operation input indicating that the intervention amount is inappropriate, the intervention amount may be reset and the process of optimizing the intervention amount may be restarted from the beginning.

[0028] Furthermore, if the amount of intervention by the driving assistance function is increased and it is estimated that the driver is confused, the amount of intervention may be maintained for a certain period of time, and if the driver's confusion subsides, the processing of steps S1 to S4 may be resumed, and if the driver's confusion does not subside, the amount of intervention may be reduced.

[0029] Furthermore, the control amount determination unit 112 may determine an intervention amount for assisting the steering amount of the steering wheel, the accelerator, or the brake operation amount according to the driver's emotion. Specifically, when the emotion estimation unit 111 estimates that the driver's emotion is pleasant, the control amount determination unit 112 determines to increase the intervention amount for assisting the steering amount of the steering wheel, the accelerator, or the brake operation amount. On the other hand, when the emotion estimation unit 111 estimates that the driver's emotion is unpleasant, the control amount determination unit 112 determines to decrease the intervention amount for assisting the steering amount of the steering wheel, the accelerator, or the brake operation amount. As a result, it is possible to bring the intervention amount for assisting the steering amount of the steering wheel, the accelerator, or the brake operation amount closer to a value that the driver feels more comfortable.

[0030] The emotion estimation unit 111 may also estimate whether the driver is feeling drowsy. The driver's drowsiness can be determined by counting the number of blinks of the driver using an image signal captured by the camera of the sensor unit 14. The driver's drowsiness may also be determined based on the CO2 concentration in the driver's breath measured by a CO2 sensor of the sensor unit 14. When the emotion estimation unit 111 estimates that the driver is feeling drowsy, the control amount determination unit 112 reduces the intervention amount of the driving assistance function. As a result, even if the driver's emotion is pleasant, if the driver is feeling drowsy, the control amount determination unit 112 reduces the intervention amount of the driving assistance function, thereby reducing the driver's drowsiness.

[0031] The emotion estimation unit 111 may also estimate whether the driver is unable or unfit to drive. Whether the driver is unable or unfit to drive can be determined based on the driver's heart rate acquired by the communication unit 12 from the wearable device. Furthermore, using an image signal captured by the camera of the sensor unit 14, it can be determined that the driver is in a fearful state for driving if the driver is sneezing or gazing at the car navigation system. When the emotion estimation unit 111 estimates that the driver is unable or unfit to drive, the control amount determination unit 112 increases the intervention amount of the driving assistance function. As a result, when the driver is unable or unfit to drive, the degree to which the driving assistance function assists the driver can be increased.

[0032] The amount of intervention of the driving assistance function may also be determined depending on the driving situation of the vehicle 1. Specifically, when the vehicle 1 is traveling on a highway or a motorway, the control amount determination unit 112 may determine to increase the amount of intervention of the driving assistance function. Furthermore, when it is difficult to see the road surface due to thick fog or rain at night, or when it is difficult to see the surroundings due to the morning sun or the evening sun, the control amount determination unit 112 may determine to increase the amount of intervention of the driving assistance function.

[0033] Further advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Thus, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described above. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. [Explanation of symbols]

[0034] 1 vehicle 11 Control section 12 Communications Department 13 Storage section 14 Sensor unit 15 Display section 111 Emotion estimation part 112 Control amount determination unit 113 Vehicle control unit

Claims

1. Estimating whether the driver is feeling comfortable or not based on biological information; Estimating whether the driver is feeling drowsy; If the driver's emotion is positive, the amount of intervention of the driving assistance function is increased; a processor configured to reduce an intervention amount of the driving assistance function when the driver feels drowsy, even if the driver feels comfortable; A vehicle control device comprising:

2. The processor: Inferring whether the driver is unable or unfit to drive; If the driver is unable or unfit to drive, the amount of intervention of the driving assistance function is increased. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 .

3. The processor, It is estimated whether the driver is feeling comfortable, and if the driver is feeling comfortable, a process of increasing the intervention amount of the driving assistance function is repeatedly executed for a predetermined time or a predetermined distance to generate an optimized intervention amount. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 .

4. The processor, Identifying the driver and using the optimal intervention amount optimized according to the identified driver The vehicle control device according to claim 3.

5. The processor, When the driver performs an operation input indicating that the optimum intervention amount is not appropriate, the optimum intervention amount is reset. The vehicle control device according to claim 3.

6. The processor: The amount of intervention of the driving assistance function is determined according to the driving situation of the vehicle. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 .

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