Information processing device

Abstract

To provide technology for further appropriately providing notification regarding drive assist using V2X.SOLUTION: An information processing device concerning the present disclosure is loaded on a first vehicle which performs communication by V2X. In the information processing device concerning the present disclosure, a control unit receives first information including information regarding a position and a kind of a first object. The control unit sets a range of a first area corresponding to the first vehicle on the basis of the information regarding the kind of the first object. The control unit outputs second information for prompting attention attraction to the first object from an output device which is loaded on the first vehicle when it is determined that the first object is located in the first area on the basis of position information of the first object.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] There is known a navigation system that acquires position information of an obstacle and a passable width of a road where the obstacle is located, and gives guidance to a passenger based on the acquired information (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a technique capable of more appropriately giving a notice regarding driving support using V2X.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The present disclosure can be regarded as an information processing apparatus mounted on a first vehicle that performs communication by V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything). In that case, the information processing apparatus, for example, receives first information including information regarding the position and type of a first object, sets a first area corresponding to the first vehicle based on the information regarding the type of the first object, and when it is determined that the first object is located within the first area based on the position information of the first object, outputs second information for prompting an alert for the first object from an output device mounted on the first vehicle. It may be provided with a control unit that executes the above.

[0006] This disclosure can also be interpreted as an information processing method in which the processing of the information processing device described above is performed by a computer installed in the first vehicle. Alternatively, it can be interpreted as an information processing program for causing the computer installed in the first vehicle to perform the information processing method described above, or as a non-temporary storage medium for storing said information processing program. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] This disclosure provides a technology that enables more appropriate notifications regarding driver assistance using V2X. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This diagram shows an overview of the system in one embodiment. [Figure 2] This figure shows an example of the hardware configuration of an in-vehicle device in an embodiment. [Figure 3] This is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of an in-vehicle device in an embodiment. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of setting the first area when the first type of object is an obstacle. [Figure 5] This figure shows an example of setting the first area when the first type of target is an emergency vehicle. [Figure 6] This flowchart shows the processing flow performed by the in-vehicle device in the embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] In the information processing device relating to this disclosure, a control unit receives first information. The information processing device relating to this disclosure is a computer installed in a connected vehicle (first vehicle) that performs V2X communication. The control unit relating to this disclosure is, for example, a computer processor. The first information relating to this disclosure includes information relating to the location and type of first object. The types of first objects relating to this disclosure include, for example, obstacles and emergency vehicles. Obstacles, as used herein, include, for example, accident vehicles, vehicles that have suddenly decelerated, work vehicles, broken-down vehicles, and fallen objects. The first information is transmitted by broadcast from, for example, an on-board device of a vehicle corresponding to the first object, an on-board device of a vehicle traveling around the first object, or a roadside device installed around the first object.

[0010] Here, the communication range by V2X is, for example, a radius of several hundred meters to several kilometers centered on the connected vehicle. Therefore, the control unit of the information processing device can receive the first information from other vehicles and roadside devices located within a radius of several hundred meters to several kilometers centered on the first vehicle.

[0011] Here, there is a high need to alert the driver of the first vehicle to obstacles located on the side of the first vehicle's direction of travel (around its path). Conversely, there is a low need to alert the driver of the first vehicle to obstacles located on the opposite side of the first vehicle's direction of travel (behind it), and obstacles located far from the first vehicle's path.

[0012] Furthermore, regarding emergency vehicles, there is a high need to issue warnings not only in the direction of travel of the first vehicle, but also in situations such as when an emergency vehicle approaches from behind the first vehicle, when an emergency vehicle is traveling on a road that intersects with the road that the first vehicle is scheduled to travel on, and when an emergency vehicle approaches from the front of the first vehicle.

[0013] Therefore, depending on the location and type of the first target, measures are needed to determine whether or not a warning is necessary.

[0014] Therefore, in the information processing device according to this disclosure, when the control unit receives first information including information regarding the location and type of the first object, it sets the range of the first area based on the information regarding the type of the first object. For example, if the type of the first object is an obstacle, the control unit may set the first area to extend toward the direction of travel of the first vehicle. In this case, if the obstacle is a first obstacle, the range of the first area may be set to be larger than if it were a second obstacle. The first obstacle includes obstacles that require attention not only to the obstacle itself but also to its surroundings. Examples of first obstacles include accident vehicles where parts may be scattered around the vehicle, and buses stopped at bus stops where passengers may jump out from around the vehicle. The second obstacle includes obstacles that require attention only to the obstacle itself. Examples of second obstacles include broken-down vehicles, work vehicles, fallen objects, and vehicles that have suddenly decelerated. Furthermore, if the first type of target is an emergency vehicle, the control unit may set the first area so as to extend in all directions from the first vehicle in a plan view.

[0015] As described above, once the range of the first area is set, the control unit according to this disclosure determines whether the first object is located within the first area based on the location information of the first object. If it is determined that the first object is located within the first area, the control unit outputs second information to prompt attention to the first object from an output device mounted on the first vehicle. The output device is, for example, a display, MID (Multi Information Display), and speaker of a navigation system mounted on the first vehicle. The control unit outputs the second information Characters or figures indicating the second information may be displayed on the navigation system's display or MID, or audio indicating the second information may be output from the speaker. However, if it is determined that the first target is not located within the first area, the control unit will not output the second information.

[0016] According to the information processing apparatus according to the present disclosure, the range of the first area is set according to the type of the first target. Further, according to the information processing apparatus according to the present disclosure, the second information is output only for the first target located within the first area. Thereby, it becomes possible to output the second information only for the first target for which the necessity of attention calling is high. Therefore, it becomes possible to more appropriately call the attention of the driver of the first vehicle.

[0017] Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described based on the drawings. The hardware configuration, module configuration, functional configuration, etc. described in the following embodiments are not intended to limit the technical scope of the disclosure only to them unless otherwise specified.

[0018] <Embodiment> In the present embodiment, an example in which the information processing apparatus according to the present disclosure is applied to a system for performing driving support of a connected vehicle using V2X will be described.

[0019] (Outline of the system) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of the system in the present embodiment. The system in the present embodiment includes a first vehicle 10 and an in-vehicle device 100. The first vehicle 10 is a connected vehicle driven by a user who is a target of driving support. The in-vehicle device 100 is a computer mounted on the first vehicle 10 and is an example of the "information processing apparatus" according to the present disclosure.

[0020] The in-vehicle device 100 receives the first information using V2X. The first information in the present embodiment is information regarding the first target existing on the road. The first target objects in the present embodiment include obstacles and emergency vehicles. Further, the obstacles in the present embodiment include accident vehicles (airbag deployed vehicles), malfunctioning vehicles, work vehicles, vehicles that have suddenly decelerated, and falling objects. The emergency vehicles in the present embodiment include police vehicles that are driving emergently, ambulance vehicles that are driving emergently, and fire trucks that are driving emergently.

[0021] In this embodiment, the "first information" is information that includes at least location information of the first object and information regarding the type of the first object. Such first information is transmitted by broadcast from an on-board device or roadside unit of a vehicle different from the first vehicle 10. Vehicles different from the first vehicle 10 include, for example, a vehicle that corresponds to the first object and a vehicle that has detected the first object.

[0022] When the in-vehicle device 100 receives the first information, it determines whether the first object is located within the first area based on the location information contained in the first information. The first area is a virtual area set according to the type of the first object. The method for setting the first area will be described later. If it is determined that the first object is located within the first area (for example, obstacle Ob1 in Figure 1), the in-vehicle device 100 notifies the driver (user) of the first vehicle 10 of information (second information) to prompt attention to the first object. If it is determined that the first object is not located within the first area (for example, obstacle Ob2 in Figure 1), the in-vehicle device 100 does not notify the user of the first vehicle 10 of information (second information) to prompt attention to the first object.

[0023] (Hardware configuration of in-vehicle equipment) Figure 2 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the in-vehicle device 100 in this embodiment. As shown in Figure 2, the in-vehicle device 100 in this embodiment includes a processor 101, a main memory 102, an auxiliary memory 103, an output device 104, a position acquisition unit 105, a camera 106, and a communication unit 107. In the example shown in Figure 2, only the hardware configuration related to driver assistance using V2X is extracted and illustrated, but the in-vehicle device 100 may include other hardware configurations.

[0024] The processor 101 is a arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a DSP (Digital Signal Processor). The processor 101 is stored in the auxiliary storage device 103. The stored program is loaded into the main memory 102 and executed, and the in-vehicle device 100 is controlled through this execution.

[0025] The main memory 102 includes, for example, RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read It is composed of semiconductor memory such as (Only Memory). The main memory 102 provides a storage area and a working area for loading programs stored in the auxiliary memory 103. The main memory 102 is also used as a buffer for arithmetic processing by the processor 101.

[0026] The auxiliary storage device 103 is, for example, an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), or It is an HDD (Hard Disk Drive). The auxiliary storage device 103 is a removable media, immediately This may include a portable recording medium. Removable media are disk recording media such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, CD (Compact Disc), or DVD (Digital Versatile Disc). The auxiliary storage device 103 stores various programs and data used by the processor 101 when executing each program.

[0027] The programs stored in the auxiliary storage device 103 include the OS (Operating System), as well as dedicated programs for causing the processor 101 to execute processes related to driver assistance using V2X.

[0028] The output device 104 is a device that presents information to the user of the first vehicle 10. In this embodiment, the output device 104 is composed of a display and a speaker, etc. The display may be a dedicated display, or it may be a display of an existing MID or navigation system installed in the first vehicle 10.

[0029] The position acquisition unit 105 is a device that acquires the current position of the first vehicle 10. In this embodiment, the position acquisition unit 105 acquires the current position of the first vehicle 10. The position acquisition unit 105 is, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver. 5 is not limited to a GPS receiver, but may also be, for example, a wireless communication circuit that uses a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) location information service. The location information acquired by the location acquisition unit 105 is, for example, geographic coordinates such as latitude and longitude.

[0030] Camera 106 photographs the area outside the first vehicle 10. Camera 106 may be a dedicated camera, a drive recorder, or a camera from an advanced safety system.

[0031] The communication unit 107 is a device that performs V2X communication. In this embodiment, the communication unit 107 performs V2X communication using short-range communication (for example, communication within a radius of several hundred meters to several kilometers centered on the first vehicle 10). The communication unit 107 uses wireless communication based on communication standards such as Bluetooth® Low Energy (hereinafter referred to as BLE), NFC (Near Field Communication), UWB (Ultra Wideband), DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communications), or Wi-Fi®. Then, V2X communication is performed.

[0032] (Functional configuration of in-vehicle equipment) The functional configuration of the in-vehicle device 100 in this embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 3. As shown in Figure 3, the in-vehicle device 100 has a control unit F110 as one of its functional components. Note that the functional components of the in-vehicle device 100 are not limited to the example shown in Figure 3, and components may be omitted, replaced, or added as appropriate.

[0033] The control unit F110 is realized when the processor 101 of the in-vehicle device 100 loads a dedicated program stored in the auxiliary storage device 103 into the main memory 102 and executes it. The control unit F110 is an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively, it can be implemented using hardware circuits such as FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays). That's fine.

[0034] The control unit F110 receives first information transmitted by broadcast from other vehicles or roadside devices located within the V2X communication range (for example, within a radius of several hundred meters to several kilometers centered on the first vehicle 10) via the communication unit 107. The first information includes at least location information of the first object and information regarding the type of the first object. The location information of the first object is, for example, geographic coordinates such as the latitude and longitude of the first object. The information regarding the type of the first object may be information identifying the type of the first object, or it may be image data of the first object. If an image database of the first object is used as the information regarding the type of the first object, the control unit F110 may identify the type of the first object by performing image recognition processing on the image data.

[0035] When the control unit F110 receives the first information, it sets the range of the first area based on the type of the first object. In this embodiment, if the type of the first object is an obstacle, the control unit F110 sets the first area to a virtual area that extends in the direction of travel of the first vehicle 10 in the geographic coordinate system. In this case, if the obstacle is a first obstacle, the control unit F110 sets the range of the first area to be larger than if the obstacle were a second obstacle.

[0036] In this embodiment, the "first obstacle" refers to an obstacle that requires attention not only to the obstacle itself but also to its surroundings. Examples of first obstacles include accident vehicles with parts scattered around them, and buses parked at bus stops where passengers may jump out from around the vehicle. In this embodiment, the "second obstacle" refers to an obstacle that requires attention only to the obstacle itself. Examples of second obstacles include broken-down vehicles, work vehicles, fallen objects, and vehicles that have suddenly decelerated.

[0037] An example of how to set up the first area when the first type of object is an obstacle will be explained with reference to Figure 4. Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of setting up the first area when the first type of object is an obstacle. When the first type of object is an obstacle, the first area is, as shown in Figure 4, an area in the shape of a roughly inverted triangle with the position of the first vehicle 10 as its vertex in a plan view. In this case, the first area is set up so that the part corresponding to the base of the inverted triangle in the horizontal direction is perpendicular to the direction of travel of the first vehicle 10. In the first area, the length of the part corresponding to the base of the inverted triangle (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "first length Dl1") is set to be longer when the obstacle is a second obstacle than when the obstacle is a second obstacle.

[0038] Furthermore, in the direction of travel of the first vehicle 10, the part corresponding to the bottom edge of the first vehicle 10 The length up to a minute (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "second length Dl2") may be a predetermined fixed value, or it may be a variable value that is set to a longer value as the travel speed of the first vehicle 10 increases.

[0039] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the type of first target is an emergency vehicle, the control unit F110 sets a virtual area extending in all directions from the first vehicle 10 in the geographic coordinate system as the first area. Figure 5 shows an example of setting the first area when the type of first target is an emergency vehicle. As shown in Figure 5, the first area when the type of first target is an emergency vehicle is a substantially circular area with a radius R11 centered on the position of the first vehicle 10 in a plan view. The radius R11 of the first area may be a fixed value set in advance, or it may be a variable value that is changed according to the relative position and relative speed between the first vehicle 10 and the emergency vehicle.

[0040] As described above, once the first area is set, the control unit F110 determines whether the first object is located within the first area based on the location information included in the first information. If it is determined that the first object is located within the first area, the control unit F110 generates second information about the first object. The second information is intended to prompt the user of the first vehicle 10 to pay attention to the first object. The second information includes, for example, information indicating the direction in which the first object is located, and information prompting the user to prepare for driving maneuvers to avoid the first object. The second information may also include information indicating the type of the first object. The control unit F110 outputs the generated second information through the output device 104. At this time, the control unit F110 may display characters indicating the second information on the display of the output device 104, or it may output audio indicating the second information from the speaker of the output device 104. When displaying characters indicating the second piece of information on the display of the output device 104, a notification sound may be output from the speaker of the output device 104 to alert the user. If it is determined that the obstacle is not located within the first area, the control unit F110 will not generate or output the second piece of information regarding the first object.

[0041] (Process flow) Next, the processing flow executed by the in-vehicle device 100 in this embodiment will be explained based on Figure 6. Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the processing routine executed by the in-vehicle device 100 when the communication unit 107 of the in-vehicle device 100 receives the first information as a trigger. The main execution entity of the processing routine in Figure 6 is the processor 101 of the in-vehicle device 100, but here we will explain it as if the functional component (control unit F110) of the in-vehicle device 100 were the main execution entity.

[0042] In the processing routine shown in Figure 6, when the communication unit 107 of the in-vehicle device 100 receives the first information, the first information is passed from the communication unit 107 to the control unit F110. As a result, the control unit F110 receives the first information through the communication unit 107 (step S101). After the control unit F110 has finished executing the process in step S101, it executes the process in step S102.

[0043] In step S102, the control unit F110 determines whether the first object is an obstacle based on the information about the type of the first object included in the first information received in step S101. If the first object is an obstacle (affirmative determination in step S102), the control unit F110 executes the process in step S103. If the first object is an emergency vehicle, it is determined that the first object is not an obstacle (negative determination in step S102), and the control unit F110 executes the process in step S104.

[0044] In step S103, the control unit F110 sets the virtual area extending in the direction of travel of the first vehicle 10 as the first area, as described in the explanation of Figure 4 above. If the object is a first obstacle, the first length Dl1 is set to be larger than when the object is a second obstacle.

[0045] Furthermore, in step S104, the control unit F110 sets a virtual area (a roughly circular area with radius R11 centered on the first vehicle 10) that extends in all directions from the first vehicle 10 in a plan view as the first area, as described in the explanation of Figure 5 above.

[0046] After completing the processing in step S103 or step S104, the control unit F110 executes the processing in step S105. In step S105, the control unit F110 determines whether the first target is located within the first area set in step S103 or step S104, based on the location information of the first target included in the first information received in step S101. If it is determined that the first target is not located within the first area (negative determination in step S105), the control unit F110 terminates the execution of this processing routine without generating or outputting the second information. On the other hand, if it is determined that the first target is located within the first area (positive determination in step S105), the control unit F110 executes the processing from step S106 onward.

[0047] In step S106, the control unit F110 generates second information corresponding to the first object. As described above, the second information is information to prompt the user of the first vehicle 10 to pay attention to the first object, and includes information indicating the direction in which the first object is located, and information to prompt the user to prepare for driving operations to avoid the first object. The second information may also include information indicating the type of the first object. After completing the processing in step S106, the control unit F110 executes the processing in step S107.

[0048] In step S107, the control unit F110 outputs the second information generated in step S106 through the output device 104. At this time, the control unit F110 may, for example, display characters indicating the second information on the display of the output device 104, or it may output audio indicating the second information from the speaker of the output device 104. After completing the processing in step S107, the control unit F110 terminates the execution of this processing routine.

[0049] (Effects and workings of the embodiment) In the embodiment described above, the in-vehicle device 100 sets the range of the first area according to the type of the first object. The in-vehicle device 100 then outputs the second information only for the first objects located within the set first area. As a result, the user of the first vehicle 10 is alerted only for the first objects that require a high level of attention. Consequently, the inconvenience to the user of the first vehicle 10 is reduced while appropriately alerting the user of the first vehicle 10.

[0050] <Other> The embodiments described above are merely examples, and this disclosure may be modified as appropriate without departing from its essence. For example, the first target is not limited to obstacles and emergency vehicles, but may also be the point where a slip occurs.

[0051] Furthermore, a process described as being performed by a single device may be divided and executed by multiple devices. Conversely, a process described as being performed by different devices may be executed by a single device. In a computer system, the hardware configuration used to implement each function can be flexibly changed. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0052] 10. First vehicle 100 In-vehicle equipment 101 Processors 102 Main storage 103 Auxiliary storage device 104 Output device 105 Position acquisition part 106 Camera 107 Communications Department F110 Control Unit

Claims

1. An information processing device mounted on a first vehicle that performs V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) communication, Receiving first information including information about the location and type of the first object, Based on the information regarding the type of the first object contained in the received first information, it is determined whether or not the type of the first object is an obstacle. When it is determined that the type of the first object is an obstacle, the first area corresponding to the first vehicle is defined as an inverted triangular region extending in the direction of travel of the first vehicle, with the position of the first vehicle as its vertex in a plan view and a base perpendicular to the direction of travel of the first vehicle. When it is determined that the first object is located within the first area based on the location information of the first object, second information for prompting attention to the first object is output from an output device mounted on the first vehicle, It has a control unit that performs the following: The aforementioned obstacles include a first obstacle that requires attention not only to the obstacle itself but also to its surroundings, and a second obstacle that requires attention only to the obstacle itself. The aforementioned first obstacle includes the accident vehicle and the bus parked at the bus stop. The aforementioned second obstacle includes broken-down vehicles, work vehicles, fallen objects, and vehicles that have decelerated rapidly. The control unit, when the obstacle is a first obstacle, sets the range of the first area to be larger by setting the length of the portion corresponding to the base of the inverted triangular shape to be longer than when the obstacle is a second obstacle. Information processing device.

2. When the type of the first object is an emergency response vehicle, The control unit sets the first area such that, in a plan view, it is a circular area extending in all directions from the first vehicle, and the length of the radius of the circular area centered on the first vehicle is changed according to the relative position and relative speed between the first vehicle and the emergency vehicle. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

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