Driving assistance systems

Abstract

To provide a drive support device capable of performing drive support intended by a driver when own vehicle changes its course to a branch passage.SOLUTION: A drive support device 1 comprises: a deceleration control part performing deceleration control of a driver's own vehicle A to a preceding vehicle B on the basis of an inter-vehicular distance between the own vehicle A and the preceding vehicle B; a branch passage detection part detecting whether or not a branch passage P exists ahead of the own vehicle A; an operation state acquisition part acquiring the operation state of a direction indicator 7; and a steering state acquisition part acquiring the steering state of a steering 5. The deceleration control part determines whether or not a driver has an intention to change a route to the branch passage P on the basis of the operation state of the direction indicator 7 and the steering state of the steering 5 when it is detected the branch passage P exists ahead of the own vehicle A during execution of the deceleration control of the own vehicle A to the preceding vehicle B. The deceleration control part finishes the deceleration control of the own vehicle A to the preceding vehicle B when determining that the driver has the intension to change the route to the branch passage P.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a driving support device.

Background Art

[0002] As a conventional driving support device, for example, the technology described in Patent Document 1 is known. In the driving support device described in Patent Document 1, when the direction indicator is operating and the steering angle is less than the threshold value, the deceleration control of the host vehicle is temporarily suppressed. When the direction indicator is operating, the steering angle is greater than or equal to the threshold value, and there is no vehicle in the overtaking lane, the deceleration control of the host vehicle is canceled.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in the above prior art, when the driver of the host vehicle operates the direction indicator switch and the steering wheel to change the driving route of the host vehicle to a branch road, appropriate deceleration control is not performed, and there is a possibility that driving support unintended by the driver is performed.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a driving support device that can perform driving support intended by a driver when the host vehicle changes its driving route to a branch road.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is a driving support device that performs driving support for a host vehicle, A recognition sensor that recognizes the area including the area in front of the vehicle, a preceding vehicle determination unit that determines whether there is a preceding vehicle in front of the vehicle based on the detection data of the recognition sensor, and when the preceding vehicle determination unit determines that there is a preceding vehicle in front of the vehicle, based on the detection data of the recognition sensor, the host vehicle and the inter-vehicle distance from the traveling vehicle calculation to do the inter-vehicle distance Calculation section, the inter-vehicle distance Calculation by the section calculation A deceleration control unit performs deceleration control of the vehicle in relation to the preceding vehicle based on the distance between vehicles, Based on the detection data from the recognition sensor, The deceleration control unit comprises a branch road detection unit that detects whether a branch road exists in front of the vehicle, an operating state acquisition unit that acquires the operating state of the vehicle's turn signals, and a steering state acquisition unit that acquires the steering state of the vehicle's steering wheel operated by the vehicle's driver. When the deceleration control unit is performing deceleration control of the vehicle relative to the preceding vehicle, if the branch road detection unit detects that a branch road exists in front of the vehicle, Based on the determination result of the preceding vehicle detection unit and the detection result of the branch road detection unit, it is determined whether the preceding vehicle is located beyond the branch road, and if it is determined that the preceding vehicle is located beyond the branch road, Based on the operating status of the turn signals acquired by the operating status acquisition unit and the steering status of the steering wheel acquired by the steering status acquisition unit, it is determined whether the driver intends to change lanes onto the branching road. If it is determined that the driver intends to change lanes onto the branching road, the deceleration control of the vehicle relative to the preceding vehicle is terminated.

[0007] The deceleration control unit may determine that the driver intends to change lanes onto a branching road when the direction indicated by the turn signal and the steering direction are the same as the branching direction of the branching road.

[0008] The deceleration control unit is The direction indicated by the turn signal and the steering direction are the same as the branching direction of the road, and When the amount of steering input exceeds a predetermined threshold, it may be determined that the driver intends to change lanes onto a branching road. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, when the vehicle changes lanes at a branching road, the driver can receive the driving assistance intended by the driver. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This is a block diagram showing the configuration of a driver assistance device according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This flowchart shows the procedure for the deceleration control determination process performed by the deceleration control determination unit shown in Figure 1. [Figure 3] This is a conceptual diagram illustrating the process of a vehicle changing lanes at a fork in the road. [Figure 4] This is a conceptual diagram illustrating how a vehicle changes lanes on a branching road connected to a curved road. [Figure 5] This is a conceptual diagram showing how a vehicle changes lanes onto a branching road connected to the right-hand lane. [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 drawings, the same or equivalent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted.

[0012] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a driver assistance device according to one embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 1, the driver assistance device 1 of this embodiment is installed in a vehicle equipped with an autonomous driving function. The driver assistance device 1 provides driver assistance such as following another vehicle to maintain a constant distance when driving on a highway.

[0013] The driver assistance system 1 includes a recognition sensor 2, a steering angle sensor 3, and an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 4.

[0014] The recognition sensor 2 is a sensor that recognizes the area including the area in front of the vehicle A (see Figure 3). As the recognition sensor 2, a laser sensor such as LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) that irradiates the area including the area in front of the vehicle A with a laser and receives the reflected light of the laser, or a camera that takes images of the area including the area in front of the vehicle A, can be used.

[0015] The steering angle sensor 3 is a sensor that detects the steering angle of the steering wheel 5 (see Figure 3) operated by the driver of the vehicle A.

[0016] The ECU 4 is composed of a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, an input / output interface, etc. The ECU 4 has a preceding vehicle determination unit 11, a vehicle-to-vehicle distance calculation unit 12, a branch road determination unit 13, a direction indicator determination unit 14, a steering amount calculation unit 15, a deceleration control determination unit 16, a target acceleration calculation unit 17, and a travel control unit 18.

[0017] Based on the detection data of the recognition sensor 2, the preceding vehicle determination unit 11 determines whether there is a preceding vehicle B (see FIG. 3) in front of the host vehicle A. Specifically, the preceding vehicle determination unit 11 determines whether there is a preceding vehicle B that is a target of deceleration control of the host vehicle A in the travel lane L on which the host vehicle A is traveling. Examples of the preceding vehicle B that is a target of deceleration control of the host vehicle A include a stopped vehicle or a vehicle traveling at a very low speed during traffic congestion.

[0018] When the preceding vehicle determination unit 11 determines that there is a preceding vehicle B in front of the host vehicle A, the vehicle-to-vehicle distance calculation unit 12 calculates the vehicle-to-vehicle distance between the host vehicle A and the preceding vehicle B based on the detection data of the recognition sensor 2. The vehicle-to-vehicle distance calculation unit 12 constitutes a vehicle-to-vehicle distance detection unit that detects the vehicle-to-vehicle distance between the host vehicle A and the preceding vehicle B in cooperation with the recognition sensor 2 and the preceding vehicle determination unit 11.

[0019] [[ID=I12]]Based on the detection data of the recognition sensor 2, the branch road determination unit 13 detects whether there is a branch road P (see FIG. 3) in front of the host vehicle A. The branch road P is branch-connected to the left travel lane L of the highway. The branch road P is a road leading to an exit interchange, a junction, a service area, or a parking area of the highway. The branch road determination unit 13 constitutes a branch road detection unit that detects whether there is a branch road P in front of the host vehicle A in cooperation with the recognition sensor 2.

[0020] Based on the operation signal of the direction indicator switch 6 operated by the driver of the host vehicle A, the direction indicator determination unit 14 determines whether the direction indicator 7 is operating. The direction indicator determination unit 14 constitutes an operating state acquisition unit that acquires the operating state of the direction indicator 7.

[0021] The steering amount calculation unit 15 calculates the amount of steering 5 operated by the driver of the vehicle A based on the value detected by the steering angle sensor 3. The steering amount calculation unit 15 also functions as a steering state acquisition unit, working in cooperation with the steering angle sensor 3 to acquire the steering state of the steering 5.

[0022] The deceleration control determination unit 16 determines whether to perform deceleration control of vehicle A relative to the preceding vehicle B, based on the calculation results of the inter-vehicle distance calculation unit 12, the determination results of the branch road determination unit 13, the determination results of the turn signal determination unit 14, and the calculation results of the steering amount calculation unit 15. The determination process by the deceleration control determination unit 16 will be described in detail later.

[0023] The target acceleration calculation unit 17 calculates the target acceleration of vehicle A based on the distance between vehicle A and the preceding vehicle B. When the deceleration control determination unit 16 determines that deceleration control should be performed on vehicle A relative to the preceding vehicle B, the target acceleration calculation unit 17 calculates a negative target acceleration (target deceleration) corresponding to the distance between vehicle A and the preceding vehicle B.

[0024] The driving control unit 18 controls the engine 8 and brake actuator 9 to drive the vehicle A in accordance with the target acceleration calculated by the target acceleration calculation unit 17.

[0025] Here, the deceleration control determination unit 16, the target acceleration calculation unit 17, and the driving control unit 18 constitute a deceleration control unit that performs deceleration control of the vehicle A relative to the preceding vehicle B based on the distance between vehicles detected by the distance detection unit.

[0026] When the deceleration control unit is performing deceleration control of its own vehicle A relative to the preceding vehicle B, if the branch road detection unit detects that there is a branch road P in front of its own vehicle A, the unit determines whether the driver intends to change lanes to branch road P based on the operating state of the turn signal 7 acquired by the operating state acquisition unit and the steering state of the steering 5 acquired by the steering state acquisition unit. If the unit determines that the driver intends to change lanes to branch road P, it terminates the deceleration control of its own vehicle A relative to the preceding vehicle B.

[0027] Figure 2 is a flowchart showing the procedure for the deceleration control determination process performed by the deceleration control determination unit 16. This process determines whether to terminate the deceleration control of vehicle A after the deceleration control of vehicle A relative to the preceding vehicle B has begun. The preceding vehicle B is either a stationary vehicle or a vehicle traveling at a very low speed.

[0028] In Figure 2, the deceleration control determination unit 16 first determines, based on the determination results of the preceding vehicle determination unit 11 and the branch road determination unit 13, whether the preceding vehicle B is located beyond the branch road P, as shown in Figure 3 (procedure S101).

[0029] When the deceleration control determination unit 16 determines that the preceding vehicle B is located beyond the branching road P, it determines whether the turn signal 7 is activated based on the determination result of the turn signal determination unit 14 (procedure S102).

[0030] When the deceleration control determination unit 16 determines that the turn signal 7 is activated, it determines whether the direction indicated by the turn signal 7 and the branching direction of the branching road P are the same, based on the determination results of the turn signal determination unit 14 and the branching road determination unit 13 (procedure S103).

[0031] When the deceleration control determination unit 16 determines that the direction indicated by the turn signal 7 and the branching direction of the branching road P are the same, it determines, based on the calculation result of the steering amount calculation unit 15 and the determination result of the branching road determination unit 13, whether the steering direction of the steering 5 and the branching direction of the branching road P are the same and whether the steering amount of the steering 5 is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold (procedure S104).

[0032] Here, the steering amount of steering 5 refers to the amount of steering from the steering position of steering 5 when vehicle A is traveling along the driving lane L. Therefore, when vehicle A is traveling along the driving lane L, at the steering position where steering 5 is straight (steering angle is 0 degrees), the steering amount of steering 5 is the absolute value of the steering amount of steering 5.

[0033] The deceleration control determination unit 16 determines that the driver of vehicle A intends to change lanes to the branching road P if the steering direction of the steering wheel 5 is the same as the branching direction of the branching road P and the amount of steering wheel 5 is greater than or equal to a threshold (procedure S105).

[0034] Then, the deceleration control determination unit 16 outputs a signal to the target acceleration calculation unit 17 indicating that it will terminate the deceleration control of its own vehicle A relative to the preceding vehicle B and switch to normal driving control for the preceding vehicle B (procedure S106). Normal driving control for the preceding vehicle B is a control that follows the preceding vehicle B.

[0035] On the other hand, the deceleration control determination unit 16 determines in step S101 that the preceding vehicle B is not located beyond the branching road P, in step S102 that the turn signal 7 is not activated, in step S103 that the direction indicated by the turn signal 7 and the branching direction of the branching road P are not the same, or in step S104 that the steering direction of the steering wheel 5 and the branching direction of the branching road P are not the same and the steering amount of the steering wheel 5 is greater than or equal to a threshold value are not met, in which case it determines that the driver of vehicle A does not intend to change lanes to the branching road P (step S107). Then, the deceleration control determination unit 16 executes step S101 again. As a result, deceleration control of vehicle A relative to the preceding vehicle B is continuously performed.

[0036] Furthermore, when deceleration control of vehicle A relative to the preceding vehicle B is continuously performed, the deceleration control unit 16 may output a signal to the target acceleration calculation unit 17 indicating that vehicle A should be brought to an emergency stop when vehicle A approaches the preceding vehicle B.

[0037] As shown in Figure 3, when a branch road P is connected to the left lane L in which vehicle A is traveling, and vehicle A intends to change lanes from lane L to branch road P, the driver of vehicle A operates the turn signal switch 6 so that the turn signal 7 indicates left, and also steers the steering wheel 5 to the left.

[0038] In conventional control processing, when deceleration control of vehicle A is being performed in relation to the preceding vehicle B located beyond the branching road P, as shown in Figure 3(a), even if the steering wheel 5 is turned to the left to change course from the driving lane L to the branching road P, the deceleration control of vehicle A in relation to the preceding vehicle B continues as is until the overlap rate between vehicle A and the preceding vehicle B falls below a predetermined value.

[0039] On the other hand, in this embodiment, when deceleration control of vehicle A is being performed in relation to the preceding vehicle B located beyond the branch road P, as shown in Figure 3(b), when the direction indicated by the turn signal 7 and the branching direction of the branch road P are both to the left, and the steering wheel 5 is turned to the left by a specified amount, the deceleration control of vehicle A in relation to the preceding vehicle B is terminated. Therefore, the deceleration of vehicle A is reduced, resulting in behavior that is close to the driver's expectations.

[0040] As described above, in this embodiment, vehicle A is decelerated appropriately in relation to the preceding vehicle B by controlling the deceleration of vehicle A based on the distance between vehicle A and the preceding vehicle B, thereby reducing the speed of vehicle A appropriately when vehicle A is stopped or traveling at a very low speed in traffic. If a branch road P is detected in front of vehicle A while the deceleration control of vehicle A in relation to the preceding vehicle B is being performed, it is determined whether the driver of vehicle A intends to change lanes to branch road P based on the operation state of the turn signal 7 and the steering state of the steering wheel 5. If it is determined that the driver intends to change lanes to branch road P, the deceleration control of vehicle A in relation to the preceding vehicle B is terminated. Therefore, when vehicle A changes lanes to branch road P, unnecessary deceleration of vehicle A is suppressed. As a result, when vehicle A changes lanes to branch road P, the driver's intended driving assistance is provided. Consequently, the lane change to branch road P is performed in a manner close to the driver's intention, thus achieving both a sense of security and comfort.

[0041] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when vehicle A changes lanes to junction P, the driver indicates the direction of the turn signal 7 corresponding to the branching direction of junction P, and the driver steers the steering wheel 5 in the direction corresponding to the branching direction of junction P. Therefore, by determining whether the direction indicated by the turn signal 7 and the steering wheel 5 are the same as the branching direction of junction P, it is possible to accurately determine whether the driver intends to change lanes to junction P.

[0042] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when vehicle A changes lanes to branch road P, the driver must steer the steering wheel 5 by a specified amount. Therefore, by determining whether the amount of steering wheel 5 is greater than or equal to a threshold, it is possible to more accurately determine whether the driver intends to change lanes to branch road P.

[0043] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, the branch road P is not limited to the configuration in which it branches off to a straight road as shown in Figure 3, but may also be branched off to a curved road as shown in Figure 4. In this case, when the vehicle A is traveling along the driving lane L of the curved road, the steering wheel 5 is steered slightly along the curved road, so the steering angle of the steering wheel 5 is greater than 0 degrees. Therefore, the amount of steering wheel 5 when the vehicle A changes course to the branch road P is the amount of change from the amount of steering wheel 5 when the vehicle A is traveling along the driving lane L of the curved road.

[0044] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the branch road P is branched and connected to the left-hand travel lane L, but the configuration is not limited to this, and for example, as shown in Figure 5, the branch road P may be branched and connected to the right-hand travel lane L.

[0045] Furthermore, although the above embodiment is a driver assistance device 1 that provides driving assistance when the vehicle A is traveling on a highway, the present invention is not particularly limited to highways, but can also be applied to driver assistance devices that provide driving assistance when driving on general roads.

[0046] Furthermore, while the above embodiment is a driving assistance device 1 that supports follow-up driving to maintain a constant distance between the vehicle A and the preceding vehicle B, the present invention is not limited to such a form. The present invention can also be applied to, for example, a driving assistance device that supports collision prevention to prevent a rear-end collision between the vehicle A and the preceding vehicle B. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 1...Driving assistance system, 2...Recognition sensor (distance detection unit, branch road detection unit), 3...Steering angle sensor (steering state acquisition unit), 5...Steering, 7...Turn indicator, 11...Preceding vehicle determination unit (distance detection unit), 12...Distance calculation unit (distance detection unit), 13...Branch road determination unit (branch road detection unit), 14...Turn indicator determination unit (operation state acquisition unit), 15...Steering amount calculation unit (steering state acquisition unit), 16...Deceleration control determination unit (deceleration control unit), 17...Target acceleration calculation unit (deceleration control unit), 18...Driving control unit (deceleration control unit), A...Own vehicle, B...Preceding vehicle, P...Branch road.

Claims

1. A driver assistance system that provides driving assistance for the vehicle, A recognition sensor that recognizes the area including the area in front of the vehicle, A preceding vehicle determination unit determines whether or not there is a preceding vehicle in front of the vehicle based on the detection data from the recognition sensor, When the preceding vehicle determination unit determines that the preceding vehicle is present in front of the self-vehicle, the following distance calculation unit calculates the distance between the self-vehicle and the preceding vehicle based on the detection data of the recognition sensor. A deceleration control unit performs deceleration control of the vehicle relative to the preceding vehicle based on the distance between vehicles calculated by the distance between vehicles calculation unit, A branch road detection unit detects whether a branch road exists in front of the vehicle based on the detection data from the recognition sensor, An operating state acquisition unit that acquires the operating state of the vehicle's turn signal, The vehicle includes a steering state acquisition unit that acquires the steering state of the vehicle's steering wheel as operated by the vehicle's driver, The deceleration control unit, while performing deceleration control of the vehicle in relation to the preceding vehicle, detects that the branch road exists in front of the vehicle using the branch road detection unit, and determines whether the preceding vehicle is located beyond the branch road based on the determination result of the preceding vehicle determination unit and the detection result of the branch road detection unit. If it determines that the preceding vehicle is located beyond the branch road, it determines whether the driver intends to change lanes to the branch road based on the operating state of the turn signal acquired by the operating state acquisition unit and the steering state of the steering wheel acquired by the steering state acquisition unit. If it determines that the driver intends to change lanes to the branch road, it terminates the deceleration control of the vehicle in relation to the preceding vehicle.

2. The driver assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the deceleration control unit determines that the driver intends to change lanes to the branch road when the direction indicated by the turn signal and the steering direction of the steering wheel are the same as the branching direction of the branch road.

3. The driving assistance device according to claim 2, wherein the deceleration control unit determines that the driver intends to change lanes to the branch road when the direction indicated by the turn signal and the steering direction of the steering wheel are the same as the branching direction of the branch road and the amount of steering wheel is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold.

Images