Road surface projection control device

Abstract

The purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a road surface projection control device that allows for safe pedestrian movement. This road surface projection control device comprises a user detection unit that detects the presence of users of a self vehicle within a predetermined target range from the self vehicle, an approaching vehicle detection unit that, when the user detection unit has detected a user, detects approaching vehicles that are approaching the self vehicle or the user, and a road surface projection control unit that, when the approaching vehicle detection unit has detected an approaching vehicle, gives instructions to output a road surface projection that gives a warning to the approaching vehicle.

Description

Road surface drawing control device

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a road surface drawing control device that controls road surface drawing to notify approaching vehicles of the presence of the user of the vehicle.

[0002] Conventionally, a technology has been disclosed in which light is projected onto the path that pedestrians should travel in order to guide the user of their vehicle to the location where the vehicle is parked in a parking lot (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] JP 2012-30613 A

[0004] When a user parks their vehicle in a parking area and gets out, and then moves between vehicles, the driver of the approaching vehicle (the other vehicle) may be late in noticing the user's presence, especially at dusk or at night. As a result, there is a possibility of the user coming into contact with the approaching vehicle. Examples of parking areas include public parking lots, parking lots at commercial facilities, parking lots at apartment complexes, parking lots at sports facilities, and roadside parking lots, regardless of size.

[0005] Patent Document 1 does not mention anything about notifying approaching vehicles of the presence of the user while the user is moving, so there is room for improvement in order to achieve safe movement of pedestrians.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made to solve such problems, and aims to provide a road surface drawing control device that can realize safe movement of pedestrians.

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, the road surface drawing control device according to the present disclosure includes a user detection unit that detects the presence of a user of the vehicle within a predetermined target range from the vehicle, an approaching vehicle detection unit that detects an approaching vehicle approaching the vehicle or the user when the user detection unit detects the user, and a road surface drawing control unit that instructs the output of a road surface drawing that shows a warning about the approaching vehicle when the approaching vehicle detection unit detects an approaching vehicle.

[0008] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to achieve safe movement of pedestrians.

[0009] The objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

[0010] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a road surface drawing control device according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of a road surface drawing control device according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a road surface drawing pattern according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a road surface drawing pattern according to an embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of a road surface drawing control device according to a first modification of an embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a road surface drawing pattern and an auxiliary drawing pattern according to a first modification of an embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an auxiliary drawing pattern according to a first modification of an embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a road surface drawing pattern and an auxiliary drawing pattern according to a first modification of an embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a road surface drawing pattern and an auxiliary drawing pattern according to a first modification of an embodiment. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of a road surface drawing control device according to a second modification of an embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a road surface drawing pattern according to a second modification of an embodiment. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of a road surface drawing control device according to a third modification of an embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a road surface drawing pattern according to a third modification of an embodiment. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a road surface drawing pattern according to a third modification of an embodiment. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a road surface drawing pattern according to a third modification of an embodiment. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a road surface drawing pattern according to a third modification of an embodiment. FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a road surface drawing control device according to a fourth modification of an embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a road drawing pattern according to a fourth modification of the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a road drawing pattern according to a fourth modification of the embodiment. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a road drawing pattern according to a fourth modification of the embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a road drawing pattern and a pedestrian mark according to a fifth modification of the embodiment. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a pedestrian mark according to the fifth modification of the embodiment. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a road drawing pattern and a pedestrian protection mark according to a sixth modification of the embodiment. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a road drawing pattern and a pedestrian protection mark according to the sixth modification of the embodiment. FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a road drawing control device according to a seventh modification of the embodiment.Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a road surface drawing pattern according to a seventh modified example of an embodiment. Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a road surface drawing pattern according to a seventh modified example of an embodiment. Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a road surface drawing pattern according to a seventh modified example of an embodiment. Fig. 13 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a road surface drawing control device according to an embodiment. Fig. 14 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a road surface drawing control device according to an embodiment.

[0011] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a road surface drawing control device 1 according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the road surface drawing control device 1 includes a user detection unit 2, an approaching vehicle detection unit 3, and a road surface drawing control unit 4.

[0012] The user detection unit 2 detects that the user of the vehicle is present within a predetermined target range (target range 14 shown in FIG. 3 ) from the vehicle itself, based on the information acquired from the periphery monitoring device 5 and the vehicle information 8. The user detection unit 2 may also use information acquired from the remote key 9 instead of the information acquired from the periphery monitoring device 5. Hereinafter, the user of the vehicle itself will be simply referred to as the "user." The user includes the driver and passengers.

[0013] The periphery monitoring device 5 detects the position, direction of movement, and speed of movement of a user present in the vicinity of the host vehicle. The periphery monitoring device 5 also detects the position, direction of movement, and speed of an approaching vehicle present in the vicinity of the host vehicle. An approaching vehicle refers to another vehicle approaching the host vehicle or the user.

[0014] The periphery monitoring device 5 includes a periphery camera 6 and a ToF sensor 7, and monitors the periphery of the vehicle. Examples of the periphery camera 6 include a front camera, a rear camera, a side camera, a DMS (Driver Monitoring System), and an OMS (Occupant Monitoring System). Examples of the ToF sensor 7 include a radar, a lidar, and a sonar.

[0015] The subject vehicle information 8 is information obtained from various sensors provided in the subject vehicle, such as information on the vehicle speed, information on whether the ignition is on or off, information on a switch indicating whether the seat belt is fastened or unfastened, information on a switch indicating whether the user is seated, and information on whether the doors are open or closed.

[0016] The remote key 9 has a communication function with the vehicle, and can remotely open and close the vehicle's doors using this communication function. The remote key 9 also uses the communication function to detect information about the user's (e.g., the driver's) relative position with respect to the vehicle (e.g., the distance between the vehicle and the user, and the direction the user is moving). Note that instead of the remote key 9, a smartphone with the same functions as the remote key 9 may also be used. In this case, the user detection unit 2 can, for example, obtain information about the respective positions of multiple users who carry smartphones.

[0017] The approaching vehicle detection unit 3 detects an approaching vehicle approaching the vehicle itself or the user based on information acquired from the periphery monitoring device 5. The approaching vehicle detection unit 3 also acquires information about the approaching vehicle (the position, moving direction, and moving speed of the approaching vehicle).

[0018] When the user detection unit 2 detects the presence of a user within the target range and the approaching vehicle detection unit 3 detects an approaching vehicle approaching the user's vehicle or the user, the road surface drawing control unit 4 instructs the road surface drawing lamp 10 to output a road surface drawing (road surface drawing pattern 18 shown in Figure 3) that warns of the approaching vehicle.

[0019] The road surface drawing lamp 10 projects a predetermined road surface drawing pattern onto the road surface in accordance with instructions from the road surface drawing control unit 4. The road surface drawing lamp 10 is, for example, built into or attached to at least one of a headlamp, a marker lamp, and a side mirror.

[0020] <Operation> Figure 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the road surface drawing control device 1. Figures 3 and 4 are diagrams showing an example of a road surface drawing pattern 18 that is projected onto the road surface by the road surface drawing lamp 10 in accordance with the control of the road surface drawing control device 1. Hereinafter, the driver 12 and the passenger 13 will also be collectively referred to as "users."

[0021] The road surface drawing control device 1 determines the start of the operation shown in Fig. 2 based on the host vehicle information 8. Specifically, the road surface drawing control device 1 determines that the host vehicle 11 has been parked and that the user has begun to move away from the host vehicle 11 based on information such as the host vehicle 11 being stopped (vehicle speed is zero), the engine being stopped (ignition is off), the seat belt being unfastened (seat belt switch is off), the user leaving the seat (seating switch is off), and the door of the host vehicle 11 being opened and then closed. At this time, if the peripheral camera 6 is a DMS or OMS, it can detect the presence of multiple users and determine that all or specific users have dismounted and moved away.

[0022] In step S1, the user detection unit 2 detects that the user of the host vehicle 11 is outside the host vehicle 11 based on the host vehicle information 8. Then, the user detection unit 2 detects the position, movement speed, and movement direction of the user relative to the host vehicle 11 based on information acquired from the periphery monitoring device 5. Note that the user detection unit 2 may detect the position, movement speed, and movement direction of the user using information acquired from the remote key 9 or a smartphone instead of the information acquired from the periphery monitoring device 5.

[0023] In step S2, the user detection unit 2 determines whether the user of the vehicle 11 is present within a predetermined target range 14 from the vehicle 11. If the user is present within the target range 14, the process proceeds to step S3. On the other hand, if the user is not present within the target range 14, the process returns to step S1. The target range 14 refers to the range from the location where the user dismounts to the location where the vehicle moves to a safety zone where the vehicle cannot travel, excluding the vicinity 15 of the vehicle. The safety zone is, for example, an area separated by curbs. In large parking lots, the movement of the user can be monitored using ground monitoring equipment and communication devices, making it easy to set the target range 14 and determine whether the user has moved outside the target range 14. The target range 14 may also be the range the user moves from the vehicle 11 to locking the doors. The vicinity 15 of the vehicle may be, for example, the same size (total length and width) as the vehicle 11 or larger than the vehicle 11.

[0024] In step S3, the approaching vehicle detection unit 3 detects an approaching vehicle 16 approaching the user or the vehicle 11 based on the information acquired from the periphery monitoring device 5. At this time, the approaching vehicle detection unit 3 detects the position, moving speed, and moving direction 17 of the approaching vehicle 16.

[0025] In step S4, when the user detection unit 2 detects a user present within the target range 14 and the approaching vehicle detection unit 3 detects an approaching vehicle 16 approaching the user or the user's own vehicle 11, the road surface drawing control unit 4 determines whether or not there is a possibility of contact between the user and the approaching vehicle 16. If there is a possibility of contact between the user and the approaching vehicle 16, the process proceeds to step S5. On the other hand, if there is no possibility of contact between the user and the approaching vehicle 16, the process returns to step S1.

[0026] Specifically, the road surface drawing control unit 4 calculates the intersection position where extensions of the movement directions of the user and the approaching vehicle 16 intersect, based on the position, movement speed, and movement direction of the user detected by the user detection unit 2 and the position, movement speed, and movement direction of the approaching vehicle 16 detected by the approaching vehicle detection unit 3, and calculates the time at which each of the user and the approaching vehicle 16 will arrive at the intersection position. Then, when the time at which the user arrives at the intersection position and the time at which the approaching vehicle 16 arrives at the intersection position are the same or within a predetermined time range, the road surface drawing control unit 4 determines that there is a possibility of contact between the user and the approaching vehicle 16.

[0027] In step S5, when the road surface drawing control unit 4 determines that there is a possibility of contact between the user and the approaching vehicle 16, it instructs the road surface drawing lamp 10 to output a road surface drawing pattern 18 that warns the approaching vehicle 16. The road surface drawing lamp 10 projects a predetermined road surface drawing pattern 18 onto the road surface in accordance with the instruction of the road surface drawing control unit 4. Note that while the example in FIG. 3 shows a case in which the road surface drawing pattern 18 is projected in front of each of the driver 12 and the passenger 13, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, one road surface drawing pattern 18 may be projected in front of the driver 12 and the passenger 13.

[0028] In step S6, the user detection unit 2 determines whether the user is present within the target range 14. Specifically, the user detection unit 2 determines whether the user has moved outside the target range 14. If the user is not present within the target range 14 (i.e., the user has moved outside the target range 14), the process proceeds to step S7. On the other hand, if the user is present within the target range 14, the process returns to step S1. Whether the user has moved outside the target range 14 (the above-mentioned safety zone) may be determined based on map information and location information acquired from the remote key 9 or the smartphone.

[0029] In step S7, the road drawing control unit 4 instructs the road drawing lamp 10 to end road drawing. The road drawing lamp 10 ends the irradiation of the road drawing pattern 18.

[0030] <Effects> When the user detection unit 2 detects a user present within the target range 14 and the approaching vehicle detection unit 3 detects an approaching vehicle 16 approaching the user or the user's own vehicle 11, the road surface drawing control device 1 according to the embodiment determines whether there is a possibility of contact between the user and the approaching vehicle 16. When there is a possibility of contact between the user and the approaching vehicle 16, the road surface drawing control device 1 instructs the road surface drawing lamp 10 to output a road surface drawing pattern 18 that warns the approaching vehicle 16. This makes it possible to warn and make the driver of the approaching vehicle 16 aware of the possibility of contact with the user, thereby enabling safe movement of pedestrians in areas where vehicles and pedestrians coexist.

[0031] <Modification 1> The configuration of the road surface drawing control device according to Modification 1 is the same as that of the road surface drawing control device 1 according to the embodiment (see FIG. 1), and therefore a description thereof will be omitted here.

[0032] Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the road surface drawing control device according to the first modified example of the embodiment. Note that steps S1 to S6 in Fig. 5 are the same as steps S1 to S6 in Fig. 2, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted here. Steps S11 and S12 will be described below.

[0033] In step S11, the road surface drawing control unit 4 instructs the road surface drawing lamp 10 to output an auxiliary drawing pattern that indicates the direction in which the approaching vehicle 16 is located to the user or the vehicle 11, based on the movement direction of the approaching vehicle 16 detected by the approaching vehicle detection unit 3. The road surface drawing lamp 10 irradiates the road surface with a predetermined auxiliary drawing pattern in accordance with the instruction from the road surface drawing control unit 4. In the example of Fig. 6, the auxiliary drawing pattern 19 is irradiated to the right of the driver 12 (the direction in which the approaching vehicle 16 is located).

[0034] The auxiliary drawing pattern 19 does not have to be irradiated together with the road drawing pattern 18. For example, as shown in Fig. 7, only the auxiliary drawing pattern 19 may be irradiated. It is easier for the driver of the approaching vehicle 16 to see the auxiliary drawing pattern 19 alone than to irradiate both the road drawing pattern 18 and the auxiliary drawing pattern 19. Therefore, in an emergency, it is effective to irradiate only the auxiliary drawing pattern 19.

[0035] 8 shows an example in which a road surface drawing pattern 18 and an auxiliary drawing pattern 19 are projected ahead of a driver 12 moving along a line of vehicles when an approaching vehicle 16 is parked obliquely in an empty space 20. Because the approaching vehicle 16 moves along a movement direction 17, the auxiliary drawing pattern 19 is projected on the side of the driver 12 on which the approaching vehicle 16 is located (the left side of the driver 12).

[0036] 9 shows an example in which a road surface drawing pattern 18 and an auxiliary drawing pattern 19 are projected ahead of a driver 12 moving away from the line of vehicles when an approaching vehicle 16 is parallel parking in an empty space 20. Because the approaching vehicle 16 moves along a movement direction 17, the auxiliary drawing pattern 19 is projected on the side of the driver 12 on which the approaching vehicle 16 is located (to the right of the driver 12).

[0037] 10 shows an example in which a road surface drawing pattern 18 and an auxiliary drawing pattern 19 are projected ahead of a driver 12 moving along a line of vehicles when an approaching vehicle 16 is parallel parking in an empty space 20. Because the approaching vehicle 16 moves along a movement direction 17, the auxiliary drawing pattern 19 is projected on the side of the driver 12 on which the approaching vehicle 16 is located (on the left side of the driver 12).

[0038] 5, in step S12, the road drawing control unit 4 instructs the road drawing lamp 10 to end road drawing. The road drawing lamp 10 ends the irradiation of the road drawing pattern 18 and the auxiliary drawing pattern 19.

[0039] As described above, according to the first modification, by projecting the auxiliary drawing pattern 19, the direction in which the approaching vehicle 16 is present can be conveyed to the driver 12 in an intuitive and easy-to-understand manner.

[0040] <Modification 2> In Modification 2, an operation will be described in which the user moves from outside the target range 14 into the target range 14 and gets into the vehicle 11. Note that the configuration of the road surface drawing control device according to Modification 2 is the same as that of the road surface drawing control device 1 according to the embodiment (see FIG. 1 ), and therefore a description thereof will be omitted here.

[0041] Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the road surface drawing control device according to the second modified example of the embodiment. Note that steps S3, S4, and S7 in Fig. 11 are similar to steps S3, S4, and S7 in Fig. 2, and therefore will not be described here. Steps S21, S22, S23, and S24 will be described below.

[0042] In step S21, the user detection unit 2 acquires, from the remote key 9 or smartphone, the user's position, movement speed, and movement direction relative to the vehicle 11. If the communication between the road surface drawing control device 1 and the remote key 9 or smartphone is short-range communication, the road surface drawing control device 1 can acquire the user's position, movement speed, and movement direction once it is within a distance where communication with the remote key 9 or smartphone is possible.

[0043] In step S22, the user detection unit 2 determines whether or not the user is present within the target range 14. If the user is present within the target range 14, the process proceeds to step S3. On the other hand, if the user is not present within the target range 14, the process returns to step S21. The fact that the user is present within the target range 14 means that the user has moved from outside the target range 14 into the target range 14. The example in FIG. 12 shows the driver 12 moving from outside the target range 14 into the target range 14.

[0044] In step S23, if the road surface drawing control unit 4 determines in step S4 that there is a possibility of contact between the user and the approaching vehicle 16, the road surface drawing control unit 4 instructs the road surface drawing lamp 10 to output a road surface drawing pattern 18. The road surface drawing lamp 10 projects the road surface with the road surface drawing pattern 18 in accordance with the instruction of the road surface drawing control unit 4. In the example of Fig. 12, the road surface drawing pattern 18 is projected in front of the driver 12.

[0045] In addition, when there are multiple users, for example, a road surface drawing pattern 18 may be projected in front of each user as shown in Figure 3, or one road surface drawing pattern 18 may be projected as shown in Figure 4.

[0046] The size of the target range 14 may be different when the user moves from inside the target range 14 to outside the target range 14 (when getting off the vehicle) and when the user moves from outside the target range 14 to inside the target range 14 (when getting on the vehicle). For example, by setting the target range 14 when getting on to be wider than the target range 14 when getting off the vehicle, the presence of the user can be notified to approaching vehicles 16 at an early stage.

[0047] As described above, according to variant example 2, the road surface drawing pattern 18 is projected even when the user moves from outside the target range 14 to within the target range 14, thereby contributing to the safety of the user while riding.

[0048] <Modification 3> Modification 3 is characterized in that when there is a possibility of contact between the user and the approaching vehicle 16 and the predicted time until contact between the user and the approaching vehicle 16 falls within a predetermined time, the shape of the road surface drawing pattern is changed to be more conspicuous. Note that the configuration of the road surface drawing control device according to Modification 3 is the same as that of the road surface drawing control device 1 according to the embodiment (see FIG. 1), and therefore a description thereof will be omitted here.

[0049] Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the road surface drawing control device according to the third modified example of the embodiment. Note that steps S1 to S3 and steps S5 to S7 in Fig. 13 are similar to steps S1 to S3 and steps S5 to S7 in Fig. 2, and therefore will not be described here.

[0050] In step S31, the road surface drawing control unit 4 determines whether the predicted time until contact between the user and the approaching vehicle 16 is within a predetermined time (e.g., within 3 seconds) based on the position, movement speed, and movement direction of the user and the position, movement speed, and movement direction of the approaching vehicle 16. If the predicted time until contact between the user and the approaching vehicle 16 is within the predetermined time, the process proceeds to step S32. On the other hand, if the predicted time until contact between the user and the approaching vehicle 16 is not within the predetermined time, the process proceeds to step S5. At this time, the road surface drawing control unit 4 performs the same process as step S4 in FIG. 2 and determines that there is a possibility of contact between the user and the approaching vehicle 16.

[0051] In step S32, the road surface drawing control unit 4 instructs the road surface drawing lamp 10 to output a road surface drawing pattern 18 that is more conspicuous than the road surface drawing pattern 18 that was projected in step S5. In accordance with the instruction from the road surface drawing control unit 4, the road surface drawing lamp 10 projects the more conspicuous road surface drawing pattern 18 onto the road surface.

[0052] 14 to 17 are diagrams showing examples of highly salient road surface drawing patterns 18. FIG.

[0053] FIG. 14 shows an example in which a road surface drawing pattern 18 resembling a pedestrian crossing is projected. The road surface drawing pattern 18 may be selected from a hue with high contrast (complementary hue) according to the color of the road surface (one of the road surface drawing patterns 18 shown in FIG. 15 may be selected). The selected road surface drawing pattern 18 may be flashed or modulated in intensity at regular intervals. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the road surface drawing pattern 18 may be a sequential pattern that moves in the direction of the user's movement.

[0054] Although the above description has been given of a case where the road surface drawing pattern 18 having high salience is projected, the auxiliary drawing pattern 19 described in the first modified example may also be projected with high salience in a similar manner.

[0055] The highly conspicuous road surface drawing pattern 18 is not limited to a pattern that resembles a pedestrian crossing, but may be the road surface drawing pattern 18 shown in FIG.

[0056] As described above, according to variant example 3, a highly conspicuous road surface drawing pattern 18 is projected when the predicted time until contact between the user and the approaching vehicle 16 falls within a predetermined time, so that when the risk of contact between the user and the approaching vehicle 16 increases, the driver of the approaching vehicle 16 can be made aware of this early on.

[0057] <Modification 4> Fig. 18 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a road surface drawing control device 21 according to Modification 4 of the embodiment. As shown in Fig. 18, the road surface drawing control device 21 is characterized by including a movement direction detection unit 22. The other configuration is the same as that of the road surface drawing control device 1 according to the embodiment (see Fig. 1), and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0058] The movement direction detection unit 22 sequentially detects the movement direction of the pedestrian from the information on the user's position, movement speed, and movement direction detected by the user detection unit 2, and outputs the detection results to the road surface drawing control unit 4.

[0059] The road surface drawing control unit 4 instructs the road surface drawing lamp 10 to output a road surface drawing pattern that follows the movement direction of the pedestrian detected by the movement direction detection unit 22. At this time, the instruction from the road surface drawing control unit 4 to the road surface drawing lamp 10 includes the irradiation position of the road surface drawing pattern (irradiation direction, pattern length, etc.).

[0060] 19 to 21 are diagrams showing an example of the road surface drawing pattern 18. FIG.

[0061] 19 shows an example of a road surface drawing pattern 18 that is projected when the driver 12 moves along a line of diagonally parked vehicles. The road surface drawing pattern 18 is projected along the moving direction 23 of the driver 12.

[0062] 20 shows an example of a road surface drawing pattern 18 that is projected when the driver 12 moves away from a line of parallel-parked vehicles. The road surface drawing pattern 18 is projected along the direction 23 of movement of the driver 12.

[0063] 21 shows an example of a road surface drawing pattern 18 that is projected when the driver 12 moves along a line of parallel-parked vehicles. The road surface drawing pattern 18 is projected along the direction 23 of movement of the driver 12.

[0064] As described above, according to the fourth modification, the road surface drawing pattern 18 is projected along the direction of movement of the user, so that the driver of the approaching vehicle 16 can be informed of the user's line of movement. In particular, in a situation such as that shown in Fig. 20, there is a high possibility of contact between the driver 12 and the approaching vehicle 16, but by projecting the road surface drawing pattern 18 along the direction of movement of the user, the driver of the approaching vehicle 16 can be informed of the user's line of movement as soon as possible, thereby ensuring the safety of the driver 12.

[0065] <Modification 5> The configuration of the road surface drawing control device according to Modification 5 is similar to that of the road surface drawing control device 1 according to the embodiment (see FIG. 1), and therefore a description thereof will be omitted here.

[0066] FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of a road surface drawing pattern 18 and a pedestrian mark 24 according to the fifth modification of the embodiment.

[0067] The road surface drawing control unit 4 instructs the road surface drawing lamp 10 to output a pedestrian mark 24 (user drawing) indicating the presence of a user (driver 12) in a position directly facing the approaching vehicle 16, so that the pedestrian mark 24 is superimposed on or adjacent to the road surface drawing pattern 18.

[0068] It should be noted that the pedestrian mark 24 is not limited to the mark shown in Fig. 22. The pedestrian mark 24 may be, for example, a mark as shown in Figs. 23 and 24. The pedestrian mark may also be selected according to the user's attributes. For example, a mark such as male, female, child, or elderly may be selected according to the user's age or gender. If the user has a pet, a mark according to the type of pet may be added.

[0069] Although FIG. 22 shows an example in which both the road surface drawing pattern 18 and the pedestrian mark 24 are projected, it is also possible to project only the pedestrian mark 24 .

[0070] As described above, according to the fifth modification, by illuminating the pedestrian mark 24, it is possible to allow the driver of the approaching vehicle 16 to intuitively recognize the presence of the user.

[0071] <Modification 6> The configuration of the road surface drawing control device according to Modification 6 is the same as that of the road surface drawing control device 1 according to the embodiment (see FIG. 1), and therefore a description thereof will be omitted here.

[0072] FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example of a road surface drawing pattern 18 and a pedestrian protection mark 25 according to the sixth modification of the embodiment.

[0073] The road surface drawing control unit 4 instructs the road surface drawing lamp 10 to output a pedestrian protection mark 25 (drawn by the user) indicating the presence of the user (driver 12) in a position directly facing the approaching vehicle 16, so as to be superimposed on or adjacent to the road surface drawing pattern 18. The pedestrian protection mark 25 is illuminated at the user's feet, aligned with the user's position.

[0074] 25 is a bright dot mark, but is not limited to this. The pedestrian protection mark 25 may be a block mark as shown in FIG.

[0075] As described above, according to the sixth modification, by illuminating the pedestrian protection mark 25, it is possible to allow the driver of the approaching vehicle 16 to intuitively recognize the presence of the user.

[0076] <Seventh Modification> Fig. 27 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a road surface drawing control device 26 according to a seventh modification of the embodiment. As shown in Fig. 27, the road surface drawing control device 26 is characterized by including a risk detection unit 27. The other configuration is the same as that of the road surface drawing control device 1 according to the embodiment (see Fig. 1), and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0077] When multiple users are present within the target range 14, the risk detection unit 27 detects a risk level indicating the degree of possibility of contact with the approaching vehicle 16 for each user.

[0078] The road surface drawing control unit 4 instructs the road surface drawing lamp 10 to output a road surface drawing according to the risk level detected by the risk level detection unit 27 .

[0079] For example, as shown in FIG. 28 , assume that multiple users (driver 12 and passengers 131-134) are disembarking from their own vehicle 11 and moving away. The risk detection unit 27 determines whether each user is likely to come into contact with the approaching vehicle 16 based on the position, speed, and direction of movement of each user detected by the user detection unit 2 and the position, speed, and direction of movement of the approaching vehicle 16 detected by the approaching vehicle detection unit 3. The risk detection unit 27 then calculates the predicted time for each user to come into contact with the approaching vehicle 16, and determines the risk level for each user based on the calculated predicted time. In the example of FIG. 28 , both the driver 12 and passenger 131 are likely to come into contact with the approaching vehicle 16, with the driver 12 being at a higher risk than the passenger 131. Therefore, the road surface drawing control unit 4 instructs the road surface drawing lamp 10 to project a road surface drawing pattern 28 ahead of the driver 12, who is at a higher risk.

[0080] 29 shows a case where the passenger 131 is at a higher risk than the driver 12. In this case, the road drawing control unit 4 instructs the road drawing lamp 10 to project the road drawing pattern 29 ahead of the passenger 131 who is at a higher risk.

[0081] 29 illustrates an example in which the road surface drawing pattern 29 is projected only in front of the passenger 131, who is at the highest risk, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 30, the road surface drawing control unit 4 may project road surface drawing patterns 30, 31 in front of the passenger 131 and the driver 12, who are at risk of coming into contact with the approaching vehicle 16. In this case, the road surface drawing pattern 30 projected in front of the passenger 131, who is at a higher risk, may be made more conspicuous. Furthermore, if the driver 12 and the passenger 131 are at the same risk, a single road surface drawing pattern 18, as shown in FIG. 4, may be projected.

[0082] As described above, according to variant example 7, a road surface drawing pattern is projected according to the level of danger, thereby reducing the clutter of road surface drawing when multiple users are present and enabling necessary road surface drawing to be performed preferentially.

[0083] <Hardware Configuration> The functions of the user detection unit 2, approaching vehicle detection unit 3, and road surface drawing control unit 4 in the road surface drawing control device 1 described in the embodiment are realized by processing circuits. That is, the road surface drawing control device 1 includes a processing circuit for detecting the presence of a user of the vehicle within a target range, detecting an approaching vehicle approaching the vehicle or the user, and instructing the approaching vehicle detection unit 3 to output a road surface drawing when the user is present within the target range and an approaching vehicle is approaching the vehicle or the user. The processing circuit may be dedicated hardware, or may be a processor (also referred to as a CPU, central processing unit, processing unit, arithmetic unit, microprocessor, microcomputer, or DSP (Digital Signal Processor)) that executes a program stored in memory.

[0084] When the processing circuit is dedicated hardware, the processing circuit 201 may be, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a combination of these, as shown in Fig. 31. The functions of the user detection unit 2, the approaching vehicle detection unit 3, and the road surface drawing control unit 4 may be realized by the processing circuit 201 individually, or these functions may be realized together by a single processing circuit 201.

[0085] When the processing circuit 201 is the processor 202 shown in FIG. 32 , the functions of the user detection unit 2, the approaching vehicle detection unit 3, and the road surface drawing control unit 4 are realized by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware. The software or firmware is written as a program and stored in the memory 203. The processor 202 realizes each function by reading and executing the program recorded in the memory 203. That is, the road surface drawing control device 1 includes the memory 203 for storing a program that ultimately executes the steps of detecting the presence of a user of the vehicle within a target range, detecting an approaching vehicle approaching the vehicle or the user, and instructing the approaching vehicle detection unit 3 to output a road surface drawing when the user is present within the target range and an approaching vehicle approaches the vehicle or the user. Furthermore, these programs can also be said to cause a computer to execute the procedures or methods of the user detection unit 2, the approaching vehicle detection unit 3, and the road surface drawing control unit 4. Here, the memory may be, for example, a non-volatile or volatile semiconductor memory such as RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), flash memory, EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or any storage medium that will be used in the future.

[0086] It should be noted that some of the functions of the user detection unit 2, approaching vehicle detection unit 3, and road surface drawing control unit 4 may be realized by dedicated hardware, and other functions may be realized by software or firmware.

[0087] Thus, the processing circuitry can implement each of the above-described functions through hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof.

[0088] The road surface drawing control device 1 shown in FIG. 1 has been described above, but the same applies to the road surface drawing control device 21 shown in FIG. 18 and the road surface drawing control device 26 shown in FIG.

[0089] Furthermore, within the scope of the present disclosure, the embodiments may be modified or omitted as appropriate.

[0090] Although the present disclosure has been described in detail, the above description is illustrative in all respects and is not restrictive. It is understood that countless variations not illustrated can be envisioned.

[0091] 1 Road surface drawing control device, 2 User detection unit, 3 Approaching vehicle detection unit, 4 Road surface drawing control unit, 5 Periphery monitoring device, 6 Periphery camera, 7 ToF sensor, 8 Vehicle information, 9 Remote key, 10 Road surface drawing lamp, 11 Vehicle, 12 Driver, 13 Passenger, 14 Target range, 15 Vicinity of vehicle, 16 Approaching vehicle, 17 Direction of movement, 18 Road surface drawing pattern, 19 Auxiliary drawing pattern, 20 Vacant space, 21 Road surface drawing control device, 22 Movement direction detection unit, 23 Movement direction, 24 Pedestrian mark, 25 Pedestrian protection mark, 26 Road surface drawing control device, 27 Risk detection unit, 28 Road surface drawing pattern, 29 Road surface drawing pattern, 30 Road surface drawing pattern, 31 Road surface drawing pattern, 131 Passenger, 132 Passenger, 133 Passenger, 134 Passenger, 201 Processing circuit, 202 processor, 203 memory.

Claims

1. A road surface drawing control device comprising: a user detection unit that detects the presence of a user of a vehicle within a predetermined target range of the vehicle; an approaching vehicle detection unit that detects an approaching vehicle approaching the vehicle or the user when the user detection unit detects the user; and a road surface drawing control unit that instructs the output of a road surface drawing showing a warning to the approaching vehicle when the approaching vehicle detection unit detects the approaching vehicle.

2. A road surface drawing control device according to claim 1, wherein the road surface drawing control unit instructs output of an auxiliary drawing indicating the direction in which the approaching vehicle is located, in addition to the road surface drawing.

3. A road surface drawing control device as described in claim 1, wherein the user detection unit detects the presence of the user when the user enters the target range from outside the target range.

4. A road surface drawing control device as described in claim 1, wherein the road surface drawing control unit changes the form of the road surface drawing to make it more conspicuous when the predicted time until contact between the user and the approaching vehicle falls within a predetermined time.

5. A road surface drawing control device as described in claim 1, further comprising a movement direction detection unit that detects the movement direction of the user, and wherein the road surface drawing control unit instructs output of the road surface drawing along the movement direction detected by the movement direction detection unit.

6. A road surface drawing control device as described in claim 1, wherein the road surface drawing control unit instructs outputting a user drawing indicating the presence of the user in a position directly facing the approaching vehicle.

7. A road surface drawing control device as described in claim 1, further comprising a risk detection unit that detects a risk level indicating the degree of possibility of contact with the approaching vehicle for each user when multiple users are present within the target range, and the road surface drawing control unit instructs the output of the road surface drawing according to the risk level detected by the risk detection unit.

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