Driving assistance system, driving assistance device, and driving assistance method

Abstract

This driving assistance system is provided with: a position specification means for specifying the positions of vehicles passing along a road; a selection means for selecting a first vehicle from the vehicles; an area-setting means for setting, around the first vehicle, an attention call area of a prescribed shape that moves following the movement of the first vehicle; a notification means for notifying a second vehicle that has entered the attention call area of the presence of the first vehicle; and, an area change means for expanding the attention call area according to the state of the first vehicle.

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle distance control device that can prevent traffic accidents. Specifically, this vehicle distance control device acquires vehicle position information indicating the location of the vehicle via satellite communication. Furthermore, when there are other vehicles around the vehicle, this vehicle distance control device wirelessly communicates with the vehicle distance control devices installed in the other vehicles to acquire all of the other vehicle position information indicating the locations of the other vehicles. The vehicle distance control device then identifies the other vehicles in front of and behind the vehicle, and if the vehicle distance is shorter than the searched appropriate vehicle distance, it notifies the driver of the vehicle of warning information indicating this fact. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-211265 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The following analysis has been provided by the inventor. The method of Patent Document 1 determines whether the following distance is appropriate based on the vehicle speed of the vehicle itself, and therefore is unable to provide an appropriate warning to the following vehicle. For example, if the driver of a vehicle receives a notification that the following distance is too short and applies the brakes, the following vehicle may be late in noticing this.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a driving assistance system, a driving assistance device, and a driving assistance method that can provide appropriate attention calls in various situations. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to a first aspect, a driving assistance system is provided that includes a position identification means for identifying the position of vehicles traveling on a road, a selection means for selecting a first vehicle from among the vehicles, an area setting means for setting a warning area of ​​a predetermined shape around the first vehicle that moves in accordance with the movement of the first vehicle, a notification means for notifying a second vehicle that enters the warning area of ​​the presence of the first vehicle, and an area change means for expanding or reducing the warning area depending on the state of the first vehicle.

[0007] According to a second aspect, a driving assistance device is provided that includes a position identification means for identifying the position of vehicles traveling on a road, a selection means for selecting a first vehicle from among the vehicles, an area setting means for setting a warning area of ​​a predetermined shape around the first vehicle that moves to follow the movement of the first vehicle, a notification means for notifying a second vehicle that enters the warning area of ​​the presence of the first vehicle, and an area change means for expanding or reducing the warning area depending on the state of the first vehicle.

[0008] According to a third aspect, there is provided a driving assistance method that identifies the positions of vehicles traveling on a road, selects a first vehicle from among the vehicles, sets a warning area of ​​a predetermined shape around the first vehicle that moves to follow the movement of the first vehicle, expands or reduces the warning area according to the state of the first vehicle, and notifies a second vehicle that enters the expanded or reduced warning area of ​​the presence of the first vehicle. This method is associated with a specific machine called a driving assistance device that can identify the positions of vehicles traveling on a road.

[0009] According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a computer program that causes a computer to execute the following processes: identifying the positions of vehicles traveling on a road; selecting a first vehicle from among the vehicles; setting a warning area of ​​a predetermined shape around the first vehicle that moves to follow the movement of the first vehicle; expanding or reducing the warning area depending on the state of the first vehicle; and notifying a second vehicle that enters the expanded or reduced warning area of ​​the presence of the first vehicle. This computer program can be recorded on a computer-readable (non-transitive) storage medium. That is, the present invention can also be embodied as a computer program product. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to give appropriate warnings to following vehicles and the like in various situations. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a driving assistance system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a mechanism by which the driving assistance system of the first embodiment of the present invention identifies the position of a vehicle. [Figure 3] 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the driving assistance system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4A] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the driving assistance system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4B] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the driving assistance system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5A] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of a process for changing an attention calling area performed by the driving assistance system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5B] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of a process for changing an attention calling area performed by the driving assistance system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6]5 is a flowchart showing another operation of the driving assistance system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the driving assistance system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a driving assistance system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9A] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of a process for changing an attention calling area performed by the driving assistance system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9B] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of a process for changing an attention calling area performed by the driving assistance system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of a driving assistance system according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11A] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of a process for changing an attention calling area performed by a driving assistance system according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11B] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of a process for changing an attention calling area performed by a driving assistance system according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12A] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing modified examples of attention-calling areas set by the driving assistance system of the present invention. [Figure 12B] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing modified examples of attention-calling areas set by the driving assistance system of the present invention. [Figure 13] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a computer that can function as a driving assistance device of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] [First embodiment] Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the drawing reference symbols used in the following description are assigned to each element for convenience as an example to facilitate understanding, and are not intended to limit the present invention to the illustrated form. Furthermore, connection lines between blocks in the drawings and the like referred to in the following description include both bidirectional and unidirectional lines. Unidirectional arrows are used to schematically indicate the flow of main signals (data) and do not exclude bidirectionality. Furthermore, ports or interfaces are present at the connection points of inputs and outputs of each block in the drawings, but are not shown.

[0013] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a driving assistance system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 1 shows a driving assistance system 10 including a location identification unit 11, a selection unit 12, an area setting unit 13, a notification unit 14, and an area change unit 15.

[0014] The position determination means 11 determines the position of a vehicle traveling on a road. There are various possible methods for the position determination means 11 to determine the position of a vehicle traveling on a road. An on-board terminal mounted on a vehicle traveling on a road may have a narrowband communication function called DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communications) or a wireless communication function using a PC5 interface, a Uu interface, or the like, and may have the function of reporting its own position. In this case, the position determination means 11 can determine the position of a vehicle traveling on a road by directly or indirectly obtaining position information of each vehicle from the on-board terminal. Note that the vehicles whose positions are to be determined by the position determination means 11 may be limited to vehicles located within a predetermined section of a road that is set in advance. For example, this predetermined section may be limited to a section where position information can be obtained from a roadside unit or a base station, or a section where the position can be determined by a camera.

[0015] 2 is a diagram illustrating a mechanism by which the position identification means 11 of the driving assistance system 10 of this embodiment identifies the positions of the vehicles V1 and V2. For example, the in-vehicle terminals mounted on the vehicles V1 and V2 use wireless communication functions to transmit position information to the driving assistance system 10 via a roadside device 21 or a base station (mobile communication network) 22. Note that the information provided by the in-vehicle terminal to the driving assistance system may include not only the position but also the speed, acceleration, heading, etc. of the vehicle itself. Furthermore, the position information transmitted by the in-vehicle terminal as its own position may be position information measured by a GPS (Global Positioning System) device mounted on the vehicle or position information managed by a car navigation system.

[0016] The position identification means 11 identifies the positions of vehicles traveling on a road using position information received from the on-board terminals installed in the vehicles V1 and V2. Note that if the intervals between acquisition of position information from the vehicles V1 and V2 are long, the position identification means 11 may estimate the positions of the vehicles V1 and V2 using the position information received from the on-board terminals and the aforementioned speed, acceleration, heading, etc.

[0017] Furthermore, the position identification means 11 may identify the positions of vehicles V1 and V2 traveling on a road from images captured by a camera 20 or the like that is installed around the road and is capable of capturing images of the road. Identifying the positions of the vehicles from the images can be achieved by calculating the positions on a plane coordinate system from the displayed positions of the vehicles on the images. Of course, the positions of vehicles V1 and V2 may also be identified using both the positions of vehicles V1 and V2 identified from the images and position information received from the vehicle-mounted terminals of the vehicles.

[0018] The selection means 12 selects a first vehicle from the vehicles identified by the location identification means 11. For example, the selection means 12 selects vehicles that meet predetermined criteria from among vehicles traveling on a road. These predetermined criteria may be used to narrow down target vehicles based on vehicle information such as the vehicle model, vehicle location information, speed, direction, and the direction indicated by the turn signal. Furthermore, these predetermined criteria may be used to narrow down target vehicles based on personal information such as whether the driver of the vehicle has subscribed to a monitoring service or the driver's attributes (age, gender). This information may be acquired from each vehicle together with its location information, or may be identified from images captured by the camera 20.

[0019] The area setting means 13 sets a warning area of ​​a predetermined shape around the first vehicle, which moves in accordance with the movement of the first vehicle. This warning area is a virtual area used by the driving assistance system 10 to monitor the safety of the first vehicle, and can take various shapes depending on the type of accident to be prevented. For example, the warning area may be an ellipse surrounding the first vehicle. By adopting such an ellipse shape, it is possible to warn not only of rear-end collisions but also of other vehicles approaching from the side. Of course, the shape of the warning area is not limited to an ellipse, and various shapes such as a rectangle or a polygon can be adopted.

[0020] The notification means 14 notifies a second vehicle that has entered the warning area of ​​the presence of the first vehicle. The notification means 14 can detect the second vehicle by obtaining the latest vehicle location information from the location identification means 11 and determining whether or not a vehicle has entered the warning area. The second vehicle can be notified of the presence of the first vehicle by, for example, broadcasting a notification or a warning message informing the second vehicle of the presence of the first vehicle to an in-vehicle terminal of the second vehicle. When a notification or a warning message informing the first vehicle is broadcast, it is possible for a vehicle other than the second vehicle to receive the information. However, the information transmitted by the notification means 14 can include information for identifying the location of the recipient or information for identifying the second vehicle. This allows a vehicle that receives a notification or a warning message informing the first vehicle to identify itself as the second vehicle. If the driving assistance system 10 knows the communication addresses of each vehicle, the information can also be transmitted by unicast. Furthermore, the output format of the notification or warning message from the second vehicle informing the second vehicle of the presence of the first vehicle is not particularly limited. For example, the message may be output as text on a display device connected to the in-vehicle terminal, or as audio. Furthermore, the notification means 14 may notify the first vehicle of the presence of the second vehicle when the second vehicle enters the warning area.

[0021] The area change means 15 expands or reduces the attention calling area depending on the state of the first vehicle. In this embodiment, the speed of the first vehicle is used as the state of the first vehicle, which will be described in detail later together with the operation.

[0022] The driving assistance system 10 described above may be integrated into a single device (driving assistance device), or each functional unit may be distributed. Such a driving assistance device may be configured using a server installed on a cloud platform or the Internet. The driving assistance device may also function as an MEC server or roadside unit (reference numeral 21 in FIG. 2) installed physically close to a base station. "MEC" stands for Multi-access Edge Computing or Mobile Edge Computing.

[0023] Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation of the driving assistance system 10 of the first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 3, first, the driving assistance system 10 identifies the positions of vehicles traveling on a road (step S001). For example, as shown in Fig. 4A, the driving assistance system 10 identifies the positions of vehicles V1, V2, and V3 traveling in the left lane of the road.

[0024] Next, the driving assistance system 10 selects a first vehicle from the vehicles V1 to V3 and sets a warning area of ​​a predetermined shape around the first vehicle, which moves to follow the movement of the first vehicle (step S002). For example, as shown in FIG. 4B, the driving assistance system 10 selects vehicle V1 from the vehicles V1 to V3 and sets a warning area A1 around the vehicle. Various criteria for selecting the first vehicle can be considered, but for example, a rule that prioritizes the selection of motorcycles, compact cars, etc. can be used. In this way, vehicles that are likely to cause significant damage if involved in an accident can be given priority as targets for monitoring. Of course, if the driving assistance system 10 has sufficient processing capacity, it may select all vehicles as first vehicles and set a warning area A1 for each of them.

[0025] Next, the driving assistance system 10 expands or reduces the attention area according to the state of the vehicle V1 (step S003). For example, when the speed of the vehicle V1 is less than a predetermined threshold th1, the driving assistance system 10 changes the attention area A1 to an attention area A1+a1, which is expanded behind the vehicle V1, as shown in FIG. 5A. This enables an earlier warning to be given to a vehicle V2 approaching a slow-moving vehicle. The threshold th1 may be a fixed value taking into account the speed limit of the corresponding road, or may be a variable threshold that changes based on the average vehicle speed of the corresponding road during the corresponding time period, etc. The state of the vehicle V1 also includes the state around the vehicle V1. For example, the size of the attention area may be changed based on the state within the attention area A1, specifically, vehicle information such as the type of vehicle V2 that has entered the attention area A1, its location information, speed, orientation, and the direction of its turn signal. More specifically, the attention area A1 may be expanded when the speed of the vehicle V2 entering the attention area A1 is greater than a predetermined value. Also, instead of comparing the speed of the vehicle V1 with the threshold value th1, the attention area A1 may be expanded when the difference between the speeds of the vehicles V2 and V1, that is, the relative speed, is greater than a predetermined value, that is, when the distance between the vehicles is narrowing.

[0026] Furthermore, for example, when the speed of vehicle V1 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold th2 (where th2≧th1), the driving assistance system 10 changes the attention area A1 to an attention area A1-a2 that is shrunk toward vehicle V1, as shown in FIG. 5B. This makes it possible to prevent unnecessary attention from being issued to the rear vehicle V2. Note that the threshold th2 may be a fixed value that takes into account the speed limit of the relevant road, or may be a variable threshold that changes based on the average vehicle speed of the relevant road during the relevant time period, etc. Furthermore, instead of comparing the speed of vehicle V1 with the threshold th2, the attention area A1 may be shrunk when the difference between the speed of vehicle V2 and the speed of vehicle V1, i.e., the relative speed, is a negative value, i.e., when the vehicle distance is increasing.

[0027] Next, a warning operation to a following vehicle (second vehicle) using the attention calling area set as described above will be described. Fig. 6 is a flow chart showing the operation of the driving assistance system 10 of this embodiment. First, the driving assistance system 10 checks at predetermined time intervals whether or not a vehicle has entered the attention calling area (step S101).

[0028] If the check reveals that a vehicle has entered the attention area, the driving assistance system 10 notifies the entering vehicle (second vehicle) of the presence of the first vehicle (step S102). For example, as shown in FIG. 7, when a vehicle V2 enters the expanded attention area A1+a1 set for the vehicle V1, the driving assistance system 10 notifies the second vehicle (vehicle V2) of the presence of the first vehicle V1. This notification may simply notify the second vehicle (vehicle V2) of the presence of the vehicle V1, or may notify the second vehicle that the inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle V1 and the first vehicle V1 is decreasing. This notification may also include the speed of the first vehicle V1, the inter-vehicle distance between the first vehicle V1, etc., or a recommended operation such as "slow down" or "change lanes."

[0029] If the result of the check is that no vehicle has entered the warning area, the driving assistance system 10: Returning to step S101, the process continues to check whether or not a vehicle has entered the warning area (No in step S102).

[0030] As described above, the driving assistance system of this embodiment makes it possible to issue appropriate warnings to following vehicles, etc., depending on the state of the first vehicle. In the above embodiment, the speed of vehicle V1 is used as the state information used to change the warning area. However, other information about vehicle V1 may also be used. For example, if the driving assistance system 10 obtains attribute information about the driver of vehicle V1 or vehicle information from the cloud, camera 20, or the like, the driving assistance system 10 may use this information to expand or reduce the warning area based on this information. For example, if the driver of vehicle V1 has little driving experience or is elderly, the warning area may be expanded. This makes it possible to prevent unintended approaching of vehicles driven by drivers with little driving experience or elderly drivers. Furthermore, for example, if there is an abnormality in the state of vehicle V1, the warning area may be expanded. This makes it possible to prevent unintended approaching of vehicle V1.

[0031] [Second embodiment] Next, a second embodiment in which the method of expanding the attention area by the driving assistance system 10 is modified will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of the driving assistance system of the second embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is that the area change means 15a is configured to expand the attention area from the position of the first vehicle toward the vehicle (second vehicle) when it detects that the vehicle has entered the attention area. Since the other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, their explanations will be omitted and the following description will focus on the differences.

[0032] 9A and 9B are diagrams illustrating the operation of the area change means 15a of the driving assistance system 10a according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 9A and 9B, when the driving assistance system 10 according to the second embodiment detects that a vehicle V2 has entered an attention area A1, the driving assistance system 10 expands the attention area A1 in the direction of the detected vehicle V2 and changes the area to an attention area A1+a1.

[0033] As shown in Figure 9B, when vehicles V2 and V3 enter the expanded warning area A1+a1 set for vehicle V1, the driving assistance system 10a notifies both vehicle V2 and vehicle V3 of the presence of the first vehicle V1.

[0034] As a result, according to this embodiment, it is possible to warn vehicle V3, which cannot see vehicle V1 because vehicle V2 is blocking its field of view, of the approach of vehicle V1. In the example of Figures 9A and 9B described in the above embodiment, vehicle V2 entered the warning area from behind vehicle V1, so the warning area was expanded in the rearward direction of vehicle V1. However, the direction in which the warning area is expanded is not limited to this. For example, if another vehicle enters the warning area from the side or diagonally behind vehicle V1, the warning area can be expanded in the direction of the other vehicle entering the warning area.

[0035] In the above embodiment, the entry of vehicle V2 into attention area A1 triggers the expansion of the attention area. However, instead of uniformly expanding the attention area, other conditions for expanding the attention area can be added. For example, a method can be adopted in which the attention area is expanded on the condition that vehicle V2 blocks the field of view of vehicle V3. For example, when a third vehicle is located in a blind spot of the second vehicle as viewed from the position of vehicle V1 (first vehicle), the driving assistance system 10a can expand the attention area. This is because, in many cases, when a third vehicle is located in a blind spot as viewed from the position of vehicle V1 (first vehicle), it is considered that the third vehicle will often not be able to see vehicle V1 (first vehicle).

[0036] Whether or not a third vehicle is present in a position that is in a blind spot of the second vehicle from the position of vehicle V1 (first vehicle) can be determined from the positions of each vehicle and the type of the second vehicle, etc. For example, after detecting that the second vehicle has entered the attention area, the attention area may be expanded if another vehicle is present in the direction from the first vehicle V1 to the second vehicle V2.

[0037] [Third embodiment] Next, a third embodiment in which the method of expanding the attention calling area by the driving assistance system 10 is modified will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of the driving assistance system of the third embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is that the area change means 15b is supplemented with a determination means 151 that determines whether or not there is a possibility that the first vehicle occupant will leave the vehicle, and the attention calling area is expanded depending on the result of the determination. Since the other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, their description will be omitted and the following description will focus on the differences.

[0038] The determination means 151 is capable of acquiring images of the road periphery from cameras 20 installed around the road, and determines whether or not there is a possibility that a passenger of the first vehicle V1 will exit the vehicle based on the images. Note that whether or not there is a possibility that a passenger of the vehicle V1 will exit the vehicle may be determined based on the behavior of the driver and passengers captured in the images, as well as whether or not the vehicle V1 is flashing its hazard lights, or whether or not the vehicle V1 is a construction vehicle, a route bus, a delivery truck, or the like. Furthermore, the determination may be based on location information acquired from a portable communication terminal owned by the driver or passenger via an MEC server or a roadside device. Furthermore, the determination may be based on information on whether the vehicle doors are open or closed.

[0039] If the determination means 151 determines that the driver of the first vehicle is likely to exit the vehicle, the area change means 15b sets an expanded area of ​​the attention warning area to cover the driver's position. For example, as shown in FIG. 11A , assume that an attention warning area A1 is initially set around the vehicle V1. If the determination means 151 determines that a passenger M1 of the first vehicle V1 is likely to exit the vehicle, the area change means 15b adds an expanded area a1 to the attention warning area A1 to set an expanded attention warning area A1+a1. There are no particular limitations on the method for arranging this expanded area a1, but it can be set very simply by expanding the attention warning area A1 toward the entrance or door of the vehicle V1.

[0040] 11B, the driving assistance system 10b issues a warning to the entering vehicle based on the expanded warning area A1+a1. Specifically, when the vehicle V2 enters the expanded warning area A1+a1, the driving assistance system 10b notifies the vehicle V2 of the presence of the first vehicle V1. In addition to the presence of the vehicle V1, this notification may include information such as a possibility that a person M1 may be present around the vehicle V1 and an instruction to maintain a sufficient distance when passing by the side of the vehicle V1.

[0041] As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to prevent collision accidents between passengers exiting vehicle V1 and vehicles approaching from behind. In particular, in construction vehicles, people may get off onto the median strip or roadway side after arriving at the construction site. In such cases, it is possible to effectively alert vehicles approaching from behind. Furthermore, in the case of route buses or kindergarten / school buses, children who get off the bus may head toward the sidewalk in the opposite lane from the shadow of a stopped bus. In such cases, it is possible to effectively alert the children.

[0042] Although the above describes various embodiments of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be further modified, substituted, or adjusted without departing from the basic technical concept of the present invention. For example, the system configuration, element configuration, data representation, etc. shown in the drawings are merely examples to aid in understanding the present invention and are not limited to the configurations shown in these drawings. For example, in the first to third embodiments described above, a substantially elliptical attention area is provided, but the shape of the attention area is not limited thereto. For example, as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, a triangular (cone-shaped) or polygonal (home plate-shaped) attention area may be used. Furthermore, the attention area does not necessarily have to surround the position of vehicle V1 (first vehicle). For example, as shown in FIG. 12B, an attention area with the position of vehicle V1 (first vehicle) as its vertex may be provided.

[0043] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, no particular mention is made of the size of the enlarged attention area, but the size of the enlarged or reduced attention area may be changed depending on the state of the first vehicle, etc. For example, when the attention area is enlarged or reduced based on the speed of the first vehicle as in the first embodiment, the size of the enlarged or reduced attention area may be changed depending on the magnitude of the difference between the thresholds th1 and th2.

[0044] Furthermore, the procedures shown in each of the above-described embodiments can be realized by a computer that functions as a device constituting the driving assistance systems 10 to 10b. Specifically, they can be realized by a program that causes a computer (9000 in FIG. 13) to realize the functions of these devices. Such a computer is exemplified by a configuration including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 9010, a communication interface 9020, a memory 9030, and an auxiliary storage device 9040 in FIG. 13. That is, the CPU 9010 in FIG. 13 may be caused to execute a program for setting an attention-warning area and a program for determining an entering vehicle.

[0045] That is, each unit (processing means, function) of the driving assistance systems 10 to 10b described above can be realized by a computer program that causes a processor mounted on these devices to execute each of the above processes using the hardware.

[0046] A part or all of the above-described embodiments can be described as, but not limited to, the following supplementary notes. [Appendix 1] (See the first perspective on driving assistance systems above.) [Appendix 2] The area changing means of the driving assistance system can be configured to enlarge or reduce the attention calling area depending on the state of the surroundings of the first vehicle. [Appendix 3] The area changing means of the driving assistance system can be configured to enlarge or reduce the attention area depending on the state within the attention area. [Appendix 4] The area change means of the above-mentioned driving assistance system can take the form of, when the second vehicle enters the warning area, expanding or reducing the warning area based on vehicle information of the second vehicle. [Appendix 5] The area change means of the above-mentioned driving assistance system can be configured to expand the warning area from the position of the first vehicle toward the direction of the second vehicle when the second vehicle enters the warning area. [Appendix 6] The area change means of the above-mentioned driving assistance system can be configured to expand the warning area in the direction of the third vehicle when a third vehicle is present in a position that is in a blind spot of the second vehicle when viewed from the position of the first vehicle. [Appendix 7] The driving assistance system further includes a determination means for determining whether or not there is a possibility that an occupant of the first vehicle will get out of the vehicle, The area change means may be configured to set an expanded area of ​​the warning area to cover the position of the occupant when it determines that there is a possibility that the occupant of the first vehicle may leave the vehicle. [Appendix 8] The position specifying means of the driving assistance system can be configured to specify the position of the vehicle from an image captured by a camera capable of capturing an image of the road. [Appendix 9] The position determination means of the above-mentioned driving assistance system can be configured to determine the position of the vehicle by acquiring position information measured by a GPS device installed in the vehicle from the vehicle via a roadside device or a mobile communication network. [Appendix 10] The notification means of the driving assistance system can be configured to notify the first vehicle of the presence of a second vehicle that has entered the attention-calling area. [Appendix 11] (See the second perspective driving assistance device above.) [Appendix 12] (See the third perspective driving assistance method above.) [Appendix 13] (See the program for the fourth perspective above) The embodiments of Supplementary Notes 11-13 can be expanded into the embodiments of Supplementary Notes 2 to 10, similar to Supplementary Note 1.

[0047] The disclosures of the above-mentioned patent documents are incorporated herein by reference. Modifications and adjustments of the embodiments and examples are possible within the scope of the entire disclosure of the present invention (including the scope of the claims), and further based on the basic technical concepts thereof. Furthermore, various combinations and selections (including partial deletions) of various disclosed elements (including each element of each claim, each element of each embodiment or example, each element of each drawing, etc.) are possible within the scope of the disclosure of the present invention. In other words, the present invention naturally includes various modifications and alterations that would be possible by a person skilled in the art in accordance with the entire disclosure and technical concepts, including the scope of the claims. In particular, with regard to the numerical ranges described herein, any numerical value or subrange included within the range should be construed as being specifically described, even if not otherwise specified. [Explanation of symbols]

[0048] 10, 10a, 10b Driver assistance systems 11 Location identification means 12 Selection Method 13 Area setting method 14 Means of Notification 15, 15a, 15b Area change method 20 Camera 21 Roadside unit 22 Base station 151 Judgment means 9000 computers 9010 CPU 9020 Communication Interface 9030 Memory 9040 Auxiliary storage device A1, A1+a1, A1-a2 Caution Area V1~V4 vehicles M people

Claims

1. a position specifying means for specifying the position of a vehicle traveling on a predetermined section of a road; selection means for selecting a first vehicle from among said vehicles based on vehicle or driver related criteria; an area setting means for setting a warning area of ​​a predetermined shape around the first vehicle, the warning area moving in accordance with the movement of the first vehicle; a notification means for notifying a second vehicle that has entered the warning area of ​​the presence of the first vehicle; an area changing means for expanding the attention area when the speed of the first vehicle is less than a first threshold, and for reducing the attention area when the speed of the first vehicle is equal to or greater than a second threshold that is equal to or greater than the first threshold; A driving assistance system equipped with:

2. 2. The driving assistance system of claim 1, wherein when the second vehicle enters the warning area, the area change means increases the size of the warning area if the second vehicle is faster than the first vehicle, and decreases the size of the warning area if the first vehicle is faster than the second vehicle.

3. 2. The driving assistance system of claim 1, wherein the area change means expands the warning area from the position of the first vehicle toward the second vehicle when the second vehicle enters the warning area.

4. 4. The driving assistance system according to claim 3, wherein when a third vehicle enters the expanded attention area, the notification means further notifies the third vehicle of the presence of the first vehicle.

5. The vehicle control system further includes a determination unit for determining whether or not there is a possibility that a passenger of the first vehicle will get out of the vehicle.

5. A driving assistance system according to claim 1, wherein the area change means, when determining that there is a possibility that an occupant of the first vehicle may leave the vehicle, sets an expanded area of ​​the warning area centered on the position of the occupant.

6. 6. The driving assistance system according to claim 1, wherein the position specifying means specifies the position of the vehicle from an image captured by a camera capable of capturing an image of the road.

7. a position specifying means for specifying the position of a vehicle traveling on a predetermined section of a road; selection means for selecting a first vehicle from among said vehicles based on vehicle or driver related criteria; an area setting means for setting a warning area of ​​a predetermined shape around the first vehicle, the warning area moving in accordance with the movement of the first vehicle; a notification means for notifying a second vehicle that has entered the warning area of ​​the presence of the first vehicle; an area changing means for expanding the attention area when the speed of the first vehicle is less than a first threshold, and for reducing the attention area when the speed of the first vehicle is equal to or greater than a second threshold that is equal to or greater than the first threshold; A driving assistance device comprising:

8. Identifying the location of vehicles traveling on a specified section of a road; selecting a first vehicle from among the vehicles based on vehicle or driver-related criteria; a warning area of ​​a predetermined shape is set around the first vehicle, the warning area moving in accordance with the movement of the first vehicle; When the speed of the first vehicle is less than a first threshold, the attention area is enlarged, and when the speed of the first vehicle is equal to or greater than a second threshold that is equal to or greater than the first threshold, the attention area is reduced; A driving assistance method for notifying a second vehicle that has entered the warning area of ​​the presence of the first vehicle.

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