Notification device, notification method, and computer program for notification device

Abstract

To suppress a sense of impatience of a vehicle occupant in automatic parking.SOLUTION: A notification device includes an output device 31 for providing notification to an occupant of a vehicle, and a control device 4 for controlling the output device 31. When automatic parking of automatically performing driving operation of a vehicle 100 is performed according to a driving plan for parking the vehicle 100 in a parking space or a driving plan for starting the vehicle 100 from the parking space, the control device 4 is configured to notify the occupant of the estimated number of times of quick turn operation in the automatic parking through the output device 31.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0006] , ,

[0001] The present invention relates to a notification device, a notification method, and a computer program for a notification device.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a parking support device for automatically parking a vehicle in a parking space.

Prior Art Document

Patent Document

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] When parking a vehicle in a parking space by automatic driving or starting the vehicle from a parking space by automatic driving, a switching operation may be required. Especially when performing parallel parking, etc., when the parking space is narrow, multiple switching operations may be required. Therefore, if the vehicle occupant cannot determine when parking in the parking space will be completed or when starting from the parking space will be completed, there is a risk that the vehicle occupant's sense of impatience will increase.

[0005] The present invention has been made paying attention to such problems, and an object thereof is to suppress the sense of impatience of the vehicle occupant when parking a vehicle in a parking space by automatic driving or starting the vehicle from a parking space by automatic driving.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To solve the above problems, a notification device according to one aspect of the present invention comprises an output device that notifies the occupants of a vehicle, and a control device that controls the output device. The control device is configured to notify the occupants via the output device of the estimated number of maneuvers required during automatic parking when performing automatic parking, which involves automatically operating the vehicle according to a driving plan for parking the vehicle in a parking space or a driving plan for departing the vehicle from a parking space.

[0007] Furthermore, according to one aspect of the present invention, a notification method using a notification device that notifies a vehicle occupant via an output device notifies the occupant of the estimated number of maneuvers required during automatic parking via an output device when performing automatic parking, which involves automatically operating the vehicle according to a driving plan for parking the vehicle in a parking space or a driving plan for departing the vehicle from a parking space.

[0008] Furthermore, a computer program for a notification device that notifies a vehicle occupant via an output device, according to one aspect of the present invention, causes the notification device to notify the occupant of the estimated number of reversal operations during automatic parking via an output device when performing automatic parking, which automatically performs driving operations of the vehicle according to a driving plan for parking the vehicle in a parking space or a driving plan for departing the vehicle from a parking space. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to these embodiments of the present invention, when automatic parking is performed, the estimated number of maneuvers required during automatic parking is notified to the vehicle occupant, thereby reducing the occupant's anxiety during automatic parking. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of a vehicle system according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This flowchart illustrates the details of the notification process for the estimated number of reversal operations during automatic parking according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3]This diagram shows examples of multiple driving plans created when performing parallel parking using automated parking. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] 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.

[0012] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the vehicle 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] Vehicle 100 includes a surrounding information acquisition device 1, a vehicle information acquisition device 2, a human-machine interface (HMI) 3, and a control device 4. The surrounding information acquisition device 1, the vehicle information acquisition device 2, the HMI 3, and the control device 4 are each connected to communicate via an in-vehicle network 5 that conforms to standards such as a controller area network.

[0014] The surrounding information acquisition device 1 is a device for acquiring data on objects around the vehicle 100 as vehicle surrounding information. The surrounding information acquisition device 1 can consist of one or more devices. The surrounding information acquisition device 1 according to this embodiment includes one or more external cameras for photographing objects around the vehicle 100, and a distance measuring sensor for measuring the distance to objects around the vehicle 100. Examples of distance measuring sensors include LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), millimeter-wave radar sensors, and ultrasonic sensors. The vehicle surrounding information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition device 1 (image data from the external cameras and distance measurement data from the distance measuring sensor) is transmitted to the control device 4 via the in-vehicle network 5.

[0015] The vehicle information acquisition device 2 is a device for acquiring information about the state of vehicle 100, such as the speed, acceleration, attitude, and current position of vehicle 100 (hereinafter referred to as "vehicle information"). The vehicle information acquisition device 2 according to this embodiment includes a speed sensor for detecting the speed of vehicle 100, an acceleration sensor for detecting the acceleration of vehicle 100, a yaw rate sensor for detecting the rate of change of the yaw angle when vehicle 100 turns, i.e., the rotational angular velocity (yaw rate) of vehicle 100 around its vertical axis to detect the attitude of vehicle 100, and a GNSS receiver for detecting the current position of vehicle 100. The vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition device 2 is transmitted to the control device 4 via the in-vehicle network 5.

[0016] HMI3 is a user interface for exchanging information between the control device 4 of the vehicle 100 and the occupants of the vehicle 100, and includes an output device 31 for notifying the occupants through their bodily senses (e.g., sight, hearing, and touch), and an input device 32 for the occupants to perform input and response operations. Examples of the output device 31 include displays (e.g., meter displays, center displays, head-up displays), speakers, and vibration units. Examples of the input device 32 include touch panels, operation buttons, operation switches, and microphones.

[0017] In this embodiment, the HMI 3 displays information (e.g., text information and image information) corresponding to the display signal received from the control device 4 via the in-vehicle network 5 on the displays, and also outputs sound corresponding to the audio signal from the speaker. The HMI 3 also transmits occupant input information received via the input device 32 to the control device 4 via the in-vehicle network 5.

[0018] Furthermore, the HMI3 can be pre-installed in the vehicle 100, or a terminal owned by a vehicle occupant (for example, a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer) can be connected to the control device 4 via wired or wireless connection, thereby enabling the terminal to function as the HMI3.

[0019] The control device 4 is an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) including a communication unit 41, a storage unit 42, and a processing unit 43.

[0020] The communication unit 41 includes an interface circuit for connecting the control device 4 to the in-vehicle network 5. The communication unit 41 supplies data received from the outside (such as vehicle surrounding information, own vehicle information, occupant input information, etc.) to the processing unit 43. Also, the communication unit 41 outputs a display signal and an audio signal output from the processing unit 43 to the output device 31.

[0021] The storage unit 42 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 43.

[0022] The processing unit 43 has one or more CPUs (Central Processing Unit) and its peripheral circuits. The processing unit 43 executes various computer programs stored in the storage unit 42 and is, for example, a processor.

[0023] To give an example of the processing performed by the processing unit 43, for example, the processing unit 43 creates a driving plan for parking the vehicle 100 in a parking space or a driving plan for starting the vehicle 100 from the parking space based on vehicle surrounding information, etc., and performs automatic parking (automatic driving) that automatically performs driving operations related to acceleration, steering, and braking according to the driving plan.

[0024] Also, the processing unit 43 transmits a display signal and an audio signal to the output device 31 as necessary, and gives various notifications to the vehicle occupants via the output device 31. Thus, in this embodiment, the notification device is formed by the output device 31 and the control device 4.

[0025] In automatic parking, it may be necessary to perform multiple maneuvers. This is especially true when parallel parking, where multiple maneuvers may be required in a narrow parking space. Therefore, if the vehicle occupants do not know how many maneuvers are needed to park in the parking space or how many maneuvers are needed to exit the parking space, they will not be able to determine when automatic parking will be complete. As a result, the vehicle occupants may become impatient during automatic parking.

[0026] Therefore, in this embodiment, the number of reversing operations during automatic parking is estimated, and the estimated number of reversing operations is notified to the vehicle occupant via the output device 31. In this embodiment, a reversing operation refers to the switching of the vehicle 100's shift range from a range other than the forward driving range to the forward driving range during parking. Accordingly, in this embodiment, the number of times the shift range is changed from the R range (reverse driving range) to the D range (forward driving range) during automatic parking is defined as the number of reversing operations. The notification process for the estimated number of reversing operations during automatic parking according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to Figures 2 and 3.

[0027] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating the details of the notification process for the estimated number of reversal operations during automatic parking according to this embodiment.

[0028] In step S1, the control device 4 determines whether the conditions for automatic parking are met. Examples of conditions for automatic parking include the vehicle occupants authorizing automatic parking and the surrounding information acquisition device 1 being functioning correctly, but the conditions are not limited to these and can be set as appropriate. If the conditions for automatic parking are met, the control device 4 proceeds to step S2. On the other hand, if the conditions for automatic parking are not met, the control device 4 terminates the current process.

[0029] In step S2, the control device 4 creates a parking plan based on the vehicle's surrounding information and estimates the number of reversals required during automatic parking based on the parking plan. Figure 3 shows examples of multiple driving plans created when performing parallel parking using automatic parking.

[0030] Figure 3(A) shows an example of a driving plan in which, at the start of automatic parking, the vehicle 100 is moved forward along the driving route TR1 from its current location (i.e., the starting point of automatic parking), and then reversed along the driving route TR2 to complete parking. In this case, the number of times the shift range is changed to the D range from the start to the completion of automatic parking is 0, so the number of reversing operations estimated based on the driving plan is 0.

[0031] Figure 3(B) shows an example of a driving plan in which, at the start of automatic parking, vehicle 100 is moved forward along driving route TR1 from its current position, then reversed along driving route TR2, then moved forward again along driving route TR3, and finally reversed again along driving route TR4 to complete parking. In this case, the shift range is changed to the D range only once between the start and completion of automatic parking, so the number of reversing operations estimated based on the driving plan is one.

[0032] Figure 3(C) shows an example of a driving plan in which, at the start of automatic parking, vehicle 100 is moved forward along driving route TR1 from its current position, then reversed along driving route TR2, then forward and reversed along driving routes TR3 and TR4, and finally forward and reversed along driving routes TR5 and TR6. In this case, the shift range is changed to the D range twice between the start and completion of automatic parking, so the number of reversing operations estimated based on the driving plan is two.

[0033] In step S3, the control device 4 determines whether the estimated number of reversing operations is one or more. If the control device 4 determines that the estimated number of reversing operations is one or more, it proceeds to step S4. On the other hand, if the control device 4 determines that the estimated number of reversing operations is zero, it terminates the process without notifying the vehicle occupants of the estimated number of reversing operations.

[0034] In step S4, the control device 4 notifies the vehicle occupant of the estimated number of reversing operations via the output device 31. In this embodiment, the control device 4 notifies the vehicle occupant of the estimated number of reversing operations visually by displaying it on a display. However, the method of notifying the vehicle occupant of the estimated number of reversing operations is not limited to this method, and the notification may also be made through the vehicle occupant's hearing or touch.

[0035] The notification device according to this embodiment, as described above, comprises an output device 31 that notifies the occupants of the vehicle 100, and a control device 4 that controls the output device 31. The control device 4 is configured to notify the output device 31 of the estimated number of reversal operations during automatic parking when performing automatic parking, which involves automatically operating the vehicle 100 according to a driving plan for parking the vehicle 100 in a parking space or a driving plan for departing the vehicle 100 from a parking space.

[0036] Specifically, the control device 4 is configured to calculate an estimated number of reversal operations based on the driving plan. More specifically, the control device 4 is configured to calculate the number of times the vehicle 100's shift range must be switched from a range other than the forward driving range to the forward driving range between the start and completion of automatic parking, based on the driving plan, and to calculate this number of switching operations as an estimated number of reversal operations.

[0037] This allows the system to notify the vehicle occupant of the estimated number of reversals required during automatic parking, enabling them to determine when automatic parking will be completed. Therefore, it helps to reduce the occupant's anxiety during automatic parking.

[0038] 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.

[0039] For example, in the above embodiment, the computer program executed in the control device 4 (notification process for the estimated number of reversal operations during automatic parking) may be provided in the form of a computer-readable portable recording medium such as a semiconductor memory, magnetic recording medium, or optical recording medium. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0040] 4. Control device 31 Output devices 100 vehicles

Claims

1. An output device that notifies the occupants of the vehicle, A control device for controlling the output device, A notification device comprising, The control device is When performing an automatic departure, which automatically operates the vehicle according to a driving plan for departing the vehicle from a parking space, the system is configured to notify the estimated number of reversal operations required during the automatic departure via the output device. Notification device.

2. The control device is Based on the aforementioned operation plan, the system is configured to calculate the estimated number of times. The notification device according to claim 1.

3. The control device is Based on the aforementioned driving plan, the number of times the vehicle's shift range must be switched from a range other than the forward driving range to the forward driving range between the start and completion of automatic departure is calculated. The number of switching cycles is configured to be calculated as the estimated number of cycles. The notification device according to claim 1 or claim 2.

4. A notification method using a notification device that notifies the occupants of a vehicle via an output device, When performing an automatic start, which automatically operates the vehicle according to a driving plan for moving the vehicle out of a parking space, the estimated number of reversal operations required during the automatic start is notified via the output device. Notification method.

5. A computer program for a notification device that provides notifications to the occupants of a vehicle via an output device, A computer program that causes a notification device to notify, via the output device, of the estimated number of reversal operations required during automatic departure, when performing automatic departure, which involves automatically operating the vehicle according to a driving plan for departing the vehicle from a parking space.

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