Vehicle control device, vehicle control method, and computer program for vehicle control

Abstract

To reduce damage due to light-sensitive epileptic seizures experienced by a driver of a vehicle.SOLUTION: A vehicle controller 5 determines whether or not an actual luminance change, which represents a change in luminance in the field of vision of a driver of a vehicle, satisfies a luminance change condition corresponding to a change in luminance that can induce light-sensitive epileptic seizures. When determining that the actual luminance change satisfies the luminance change condition, the vehicle controller 5 controls the vehicle so that the actual luminance change no longer satisfies the luminance change condition, or supports an operation by the driver in at least one control of the vehicle that requires the operation by the driver.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

Technical Field

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[0001] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle control device, a vehicle control method, and a vehicle control computer program that control the running of a vehicle or assist the operation of a driver of the vehicle.

Background Art

[0002] Depending on the environment in which the vehicle is running, for example, when approaching the exit from inside a tunnel, the ambient illuminance may change rapidly. A rapid change in illuminance may deteriorate the visibility of the driver of the vehicle and thus may become an obstacle to safe driving. Patent Document 1 describes a driving support device that determines that the driver's visibility is impaired when estimating a rapid change in illuminance around the vehicle and switches the driving of the vehicle from manual driving to automatic driving.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Repeated rapid changes in the ambient light quantity may change the luminance in the driver's field of view and may induce photosensitive epilepsy seizures. If a photosensitive epilepsy seizure occurs in the driver while driving the vehicle, it may become difficult to drive the vehicle safely and damage may occur. It is required to reduce the damage caused by photosensitive epilepsy seizures during driving.

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a vehicle control device capable of reducing damage caused by photosensitive epilepsy seizures in a driver of a vehicle.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The gist of the present disclosure is as follows.

[0007] (1) A determination unit that determines whether the actual brightness change, which represents the change in brightness in the driver's field of vision, satisfies the brightness change conditions corresponding to a brightness change that can induce a photosensitive epileptic seizure, If it is determined that the actual brightness change satisfies the brightness change condition, the vehicle is controlled so that the actual brightness change no longer satisfies the brightness change condition, or the vehicle control unit assists the driver's operation for at least one control of the vehicle that requires driver operation. A vehicle control device equipped with the following features.

[0008] (2) The vehicle control device according to (1) above, which, as control of the vehicle, reduces the transparency of windows provided on at least the side of the passenger compartment of the vehicle.

[0009] (3) The vehicle control unit is the vehicle control device according to (1) or (2) above, which assists the driver's operation in controlling at least one of steering, acceleration, and deceleration.

[0010] (4) A vehicle control device that controls the movement of a vehicle or assists the operation of the driver of the vehicle, The system determines whether the actual brightness change, which represents the change in brightness in the driver's field of view of the vehicle, satisfies the brightness change conditions corresponding to a brightness change that can induce a photosensitive epileptic seizure. If it is determined that the actual brightness change satisfies the brightness change condition, the vehicle is controlled so that the actual brightness change no longer satisfies the brightness change condition, or the driver's operation is supported for at least one control of the vehicle that requires driver operation. A vehicle control method that includes the following.

[0011] (5) Determine whether the actual brightness change, which represents the change in brightness in the driver's field of view of the vehicle, satisfies the brightness change conditions corresponding to a brightness change that can induce a photosensitive epileptic seizure. If it is determined that the actual brightness change satisfies the brightness change condition, the vehicle is controlled so that the actual brightness change no longer satisfies the brightness change condition, or the driver's operation is supported for at least one control of the vehicle that requires driver operation. A computer program for vehicle control that causes a computer to perform a process that includes the following.

[0012] The vehicle control device described herein can reduce the harm caused to the vehicle driver by photosensitive epileptic seizures. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0013] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of the vehicle on which the vehicle equipment will be installed. [Figure 2] This is a schematic diagram of the vehicle control system hardware. [Figure 3] This is a functional block diagram of the processor in the vehicle control system. [Figure 4] This diagram illustrates an example of the surrounding conditions in front of a vehicle. [Figure 5] This is a flowchart of the vehicle control process. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0014] The following describes in detail a vehicle control device that can reduce the harm caused by photosensitive epileptic seizures to the driver of a vehicle, with reference to the drawings. The vehicle control device determines whether the actual brightness change, which represents a change in brightness in the driver's field of vision, satisfies the brightness change conditions corresponding to a brightness change that can induce a photosensitive epileptic seizure. If it is determined that the actual brightness change satisfies the brightness change conditions, the vehicle control device controls the vehicle so that the actual brightness change no longer satisfies the brightness change conditions, or assists the driver in at least one control of the vehicle that requires driver operation.

[0015] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle in which a vehicle control device is installed.

[0016] Vehicle 1 includes a surrounding camera 2, an illuminance sensor 3, a side window 4, and a vehicle control device 5.

[0017] The surrounding camera 2, the illuminance sensor 3, the side window 4, and the vehicle control device 5 are communicably connected via an in-vehicle network conforming to a standard such as a controller area network.

[0018] The surrounding camera 2 is an example of a sensor that generates a surrounding image representing the surrounding situation in front of the vehicle 1 in time series. The surrounding camera 2 includes a two-dimensional detector composed of an array of photoelectric conversion elements sensitive to visible light, such as a CCD or a C-MOS, and an imaging optical system that forms an image of an area to be photographed on the two-dimensional detector. The surrounding camera 2 is attached, for example, to the upper front part of the vehicle interior in the traveling direction of the vehicle 1. The surrounding camera 2 photographs the surrounding situation in front of the vehicle 1 through the windshield at a predetermined photographing cycle (for example, 1 / 30 seconds to 1 / 10 seconds), and outputs a surrounding image representing the surrounding situation as data.

[0019] The illuminance sensor 3 is an example of a sensor that detects the amount of light in the vehicle interior of the vehicle 1. The illuminance sensor 3 has a light receiving element including a photodiode, and outputs a light amount signal representing the received light amount as data. The illuminance sensor 3 is arranged in the vehicle interior (for example, the upper part of the vehicle interior) so that the light in the vehicle interior is incident on the light receiving element.

[0020] The side window 4 is a window provided on the side surface of the vehicle 1 so as to be able to introduce light from the outside of the vehicle 1 into the vehicle interior. The side window 4 includes a right side window 4-1 and a left side window 4-2. The side window 4 has a window controller (not shown) connected to the in-vehicle network and a dimming glass whose transmittance varies according to a voltage added according to a dimming signal received by the window controller.

[0021] Figure 2 is a schematic hardware diagram of the vehicle control device 5. The vehicle control device 5 is an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) equipped with a communication interface 51, a memory 52, and a processor 53. The vehicle control device 5 determines whether the actual brightness change, which represents the change in brightness in the driver's field of view of the vehicle 1, satisfies predetermined brightness change conditions. If the vehicle control device 5 determines that the actual brightness change satisfies the brightness change conditions, it performs predetermined control of the vehicle 1 or assists with predetermined operations of the driver.

[0022] The communication interface 51 is an example of a communication unit and has a communication interface circuit for connecting the vehicle control device 5 to the in-vehicle network. The communication interface 51 supplies, for example, the surrounding image received from the surrounding camera 2 and the light intensity signal received from the illuminance sensor 3 to the processor 53. The communication interface 51 also outputs the control signals supplied from the processor 53 to, for example, the window controller that controls the transmittance of the dimmable glass of the side window 4.

[0023] Memory 52 includes volatile semiconductor memory and non-volatile semiconductor memory. Memory 52 stores various data used for processing by the processor 53, such as the ratio or difference of brightness in the bright and dark regions in the brightness change, and brightness change conditions including the period of the brightness change. Memory 52 also stores control signals that represent the control content of the vehicle 1 or the driver operation support content when it is determined that the brightness change conditions are satisfied. Memory 52 also stores various application programs, such as a vehicle control computer program that causes the vehicle control device 5 to execute a vehicle control method.

[0024] The processor 53 is an example of a control unit and has one or more processors and their peripheral circuits. The processor 53 may further have other arithmetic circuits such as a logic unit, a numerical unit, or a graphics processing unit.

[0025] Figure 3 is a functional block diagram of the processor 53 of the vehicle control device 5.

[0026] The processor 53 of the vehicle control device 5 includes a determination unit 531 and a vehicle control unit 532 as functional blocks. Each of these parts of the processor 53 is a functional module implemented by a program executed on the processor 53. The computer program that realizes the functions of each part of the processor 53 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. Alternatively, each of these parts of the processor 53 may be implemented in the vehicle control device 5 as an independent integrated circuit, microprocessor, or firmware.

[0027] The determination unit 531 determines whether the actual brightness change in the driver's field of view of vehicle 1 satisfies the brightness change conditions stored in memory 52. ​​The brightness change conditions correspond to brightness changes that can induce photosensitive epileptic seizures.

[0028] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the surrounding conditions in front of vehicle 1. Surrounding camera 2 outputs a surrounding image SP representing the surrounding conditions in front of vehicle 1.

[0029] Vehicle 1 is traveling in lane L2 on road R1, which has lanes L1 and L2. In front of vehicle 1, along road R1, there are several trees T. The shadows of the several trees T are projected onto lane L2. Region A in the surrounding image SP includes a dark region Ad corresponding to the shadows of the several trees T, and a bright region Ab where sunlight illuminates the area and there are no shadows. In Figure 4, for illustrative purposes, the trajectory assumed to be the path the driver's head would take when vehicle 1 is traveling straight is represented as a virtual line HL. The surrounding image SP does not necessarily include the dashed line representing region A and the virtual line HL. The position of the virtual line HL is predetermined according to, for example, the installation position of the surrounding camera 2 on vehicle 1, the focal length of the imaging optical system, the shooting direction, and the standard position of the driver's head on vehicle 1, as stored in memory 52.

[0030] When vehicle 1 travels through the section corresponding to area A in lane L12, the driver's head alternately passes through the section corresponding to the light area Ab and the section corresponding to the dark area Ad. The brightness of the driver's field of vision increases in the section corresponding to the light area Ab and decreases in the section corresponding to the dark area Ad. This repeated change in the brightness of the field of vision may induce a photosensitive epileptic seizure in the driver.

[0031] Conditions corresponding to changes in brightness that can induce photosensitive epileptic seizures are pre-stored in memory 52 as brightness change conditions. The brightness change conditions are expressed, for example, by the fact that the ratio of brightness changes in the driver's field of view is greater than or equal to a predetermined brightness threshold, and the period of brightness change is within a predetermined range (e.g., 0.05 seconds - 0.10 seconds). The brightness threshold may be a value corresponding to the difference in brightness when brightness changes in the driver's field of view. The period of brightness change may be expressed by frequency.

[0032] The determination unit 531 detects the luminance ratio or luminance difference and change period as actual luminance changes in the driver's field of view, when the luminance around the driver's head changes due to the movement of the vehicle 1.

[0033] The determination unit 531 detects bright areas having a brightness higher than a predetermined bright area brightness stored in the memory 52, and dark areas having a brightness lower than a predetermined dark area brightness stored in the memory 52, based on the brightness value of each pixel included in the peripheral image SP acquired from the peripheral camera 2.

[0034] The determination unit 531 calculates statistical representative values ​​such as the average value, median value, and mode value of the brightness of pixels included in the bright and dark regions of the surrounding image SP. The determination unit 531 calculates the ratio or difference between the representative value of the brightness of the bright region and the representative value of the brightness of the dark region adjacent to the bright region as the brightness ratio or brightness difference when the brightness around the driver's head changes due to the movement of the vehicle 1.

[0035] The determination unit 531 estimates the distance from the driver's head to the bright and dark regions based on the position of the virtual line HL on the surrounding image SP through the bright and dark regions and the shooting parameters stored in memory. The determination unit 531 estimates the time required for the driver's head to reach the bright and dark regions based on the distance from the vehicle 1 to the bright and dark regions and the vehicle speed obtained from the vehicle speed sensor (not shown). The determination unit 531 calculates the difference in the time required for the driver's head to reach the bright and dark regions as the change period when the brightness around the driver's head changes due to the movement of the vehicle 1.

[0036] The determination unit 531 determines whether the actual brightness change detected from the surrounding image SP satisfies the brightness change conditions. For example, the determination unit 531 determines whether the brightness ratio or brightness difference between the bright and dark regions in the surrounding image SP is greater than the brightness ratio or brightness difference stored in memory 52 as a brightness change condition. The determination unit 531 also determines whether the period of change in brightness around the driver's head due to the movement of the vehicle 1 is within the range of the change period stored in memory 52 as a brightness change condition. If the detected brightness ratio or brightness difference is greater than the brightness ratio or brightness difference stored as a brightness change condition, and the period of change in brightness around the driver's head due to the movement of the vehicle 1 is within the range of the change period stored as a brightness change condition, the determination unit 531 determines that the actual brightness change satisfies the brightness change conditions.

[0037] The determination unit 531 may determine whether the actual brightness change satisfies the brightness change condition by inputting the surrounding image SP into a pre-trained classifier. The classifier can be a convolutional neural network (CNN) having multiple convolutional layers connected in series from the input side to the output side, such as YOLO (You Only Look Once) or SSD (Single Shot MultiBox Detector). The CNN operates as a classifier that detects brightness changes that can induce photosensitive epileptic seizures by pre-training it using a large number of forward images annotated with regions corresponding to brightness changes that can induce photosensitive epileptic seizures as training data.

[0038] As described above, the determination unit 531 detects changes in brightness that may occur in the driver's field of view in the future as actual brightness changes. The determination unit 531 may also detect changes in brightness that are currently occurring in the driver's field of view as actual brightness changes. For example, the determination unit 531 may determine whether or not the brightness change conditions are satisfied based on whether or not the period of the change in illuminance represented by the light intensity signal output in time series by the illuminance sensor 3 falls within a predetermined range set as a brightness change condition.

[0039] If the vehicle control unit 532 determines that the actual brightness change in the driver's field of view satisfies the brightness change condition, it controls the vehicle 1 so that the actual brightness change no longer satisfies the brightness change condition. For example, the vehicle control unit 532 outputs a dimming signal to the window controller that reduces the transmittance of the dimmable glass of the side window 4. As a result, the brightness ratio of the field of view in the sections corresponding to the bright and dark regions decreases, and the vehicle 1 is controlled so that the actual brightness change does not satisfy the brightness change condition. By operating in this manner, the vehicle control device 5 can suppress photosensitive epileptic seizures in the driver and reduce the damage.

[0040] Furthermore, the vehicle control unit 532 may output a vehicle speed change signal to accelerate or decelerate the vehicle 1 to an acceleration / deceleration mechanism that controls the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle 1 in response to the driver's operation on an acceleration / deceleration operation receiving member such as an accelerator pedal or a brake pedal. As a result, the brightness change period is changed and falls outside the range of the change period stored as the brightness change condition, and the vehicle 1 is controlled so that the actual brightness change does not satisfy the brightness change condition.

[0041] If the vehicle control unit 532 determines that the actual brightness change in the driver's field of view satisfies the brightness change condition, it may, in lieu of or in addition to the control of the vehicle 1 described above, assist the driver's operation regarding the control of the vehicle 1. The vehicle control unit 532 assists the driver's operation regarding, for example, acceleration and deceleration control of the vehicle 1, or steering control in response to the driver's operation on a steering operation receiving member such as the steering wheel. The vehicle control unit 532 assists the driver's operation based, for example, on the position of surrounding objects such as lane markings or other vehicles detected from the surrounding image SP. Assisting the driver's operation of the vehicle 1 includes performing control on behalf of the driver and making driver operation unnecessary. By assisting the driver's operation in this way, the vehicle control device 5 can reduce damage by performing control to avoid danger, such as stopping the vehicle 1 in a safe place such as the shoulder of the road, even if the driver has an epileptic seizure.

[0042] Figure 5 is a flowchart of the vehicle control process. The processor 53 of the vehicle control device 5 executes the vehicle control process described below at predetermined time intervals (for example, every second) while the vehicle 1 is in motion.

[0043] First, the determination unit 531 of the processor 53 of the vehicle control device 5 detects a change in actual brightness in the driver's field of view of the vehicle 1 (step S1). Next, the determination unit 531 determines whether the detected change in actual brightness satisfies the brightness change conditions stored in the memory 52 (step S2).

[0044] If the detected actual brightness change satisfies the brightness change condition (step S2:Y), the vehicle control unit 532 of the processor 53 controls the vehicle 1 so that the actual brightness change no longer satisfies the brightness change condition, or assists the driver in controlling the vehicle 1 (step S3), and terminates the vehicle control process. If the detected actual brightness change does not satisfy the brightness change condition (step S2:N), the vehicle control unit 532 terminates the vehicle control process without performing step S3 described above.

[0045] By performing vehicle control processing in this manner, the vehicle control device 5 can reduce accidents caused by photosensitive epileptic seizures in the vehicle driver.

[0046] Those skilled in the art should understand that various changes, substitutions, and modifications can be made to this disclosure without departing from its spirit and scope. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0047] 1 vehicle 5. Vehicle control system 531 Judgment section 532 Vehicle Control Unit

Claims

1. A determination unit that determines whether the actual brightness change, which represents the change in brightness in the driver's field of vision, satisfies the brightness change conditions corresponding to a brightness change that can induce a photosensitive epileptic seizure, If it is determined that the actual brightness change satisfies the brightness change condition, the vehicle is controlled so that the actual brightness change no longer satisfies the brightness change condition, or the vehicle control unit assists the driver's operation for at least one control of the vehicle that requires driver operation. A vehicle control device equipped with the following features.

2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle control unit reduces the transparency of windows provided on at least the side of the passenger compartment of the vehicle as a control of the vehicle.

3. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle control unit assists the driver's operation in controlling at least one of steering, acceleration, and deceleration.

4. A vehicle control device that controls the movement of a vehicle or assists the operation of the driver of the vehicle, The system determines whether the actual brightness change, which represents the change in brightness in the driver's field of view of the vehicle, satisfies the brightness change conditions corresponding to a brightness change that can induce a photosensitive epileptic seizure. If it is determined that the actual brightness change satisfies the brightness change condition, the vehicle is controlled so that the actual brightness change no longer satisfies the brightness change condition, or the driver's operation is supported for at least one control of the vehicle that requires driver operation. A vehicle control method that includes the following.

5. The system determines whether the actual brightness change, which represents the change in brightness in the driver's field of vision, satisfies the brightness change conditions corresponding to a brightness change that can induce a photosensitive epileptic seizure. If it is determined that the actual brightness change satisfies the brightness change condition, the vehicle is controlled so that the actual brightness change no longer satisfies the brightness change condition, or the driver's operation is supported for at least one control of the vehicle that requires driver operation. A computer program for vehicle control that causes a computer to perform a process that includes the following.

Images