JPH10244892A - Driving support device for vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] The gaze distribution of a driver (driver) is a so-called
Attention is given to unhealthy gaze distribution such as inattentive look, look aside, and fixed gaze. A gaze position of a driver 32 during driving is detected,
For example, the visual line maps 71 to 73 representing the frequency distribution in the visual line direction for the past 5 seconds are created. Gaze maps 71 to 71 created
73 and the sum of deviation squares between the gaze map 71 and the line-of-sight map 71 are healthy. If the sum of deviations is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, it is determined that the pilot 32 has not made a sound line-of-sight distribution. Estimate and generate an alarm. The gaze map 72 is an example of a gaze map during inattentive driving, and the gaze map 73 is an example of a gaze map during gaze fixed driving.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a driving support system for a vehicle that detects the line of sight of a driver of a vehicle and provides information to the driver to assist driving.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When driving a vehicle, a driver constantly
It is necessary to pay attention to the speed of the own vehicle, the front, rear, left and right of the own vehicle, and quickly and surely grasp information necessary for steering, such as road conditions, presence or absence of people and vehicles, and their movements.

[0003] The information necessary for maneuvering is recognized by the pilot's eyes and ears.
There are rearview mirrors and side mirrors, and recently,
By using a so-called HUD (headup display) technology, an auxiliary digital display of a speed (own vehicle speed) and the like is also performed on a front windshield.

[0004] As a vehicle driving support device for informing a driver of a vehicle of information on a moving object or the like present in the traveling direction of the vehicle, there is a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-230132.

In this technique, a portion including the operator's eye is irradiated with an infrared illumination light, and an infrared camera photographs the operator's eyeball. The gaze direction of the pilot is detected from the captured image, and the observation area of the pilot is set in an area corresponding to the gaze direction on the front windshield. On the other hand, the position direction of the obstacle around the vehicle is detected using the infrared radar head, and an alarm mark is displayed between the position direction of the detected obstacle and the center of the observation area.

In the above publication, the warning mark is displayed near the operator's line of sight so that the appearance of an obstacle can be surely known, and the warning mark is displayed in any direction from the center of the observation area. Since the direction of the obstacle is indicated by the presence or absence, it is described that the obstacle can be easily confirmed.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a driving support system for a vehicle which enables a driver (driver) of the vehicle to recognize a deviation in the line of sight. .

Further, the present invention provides a vehicle driving support device which can provide driving support information based on line-of-sight information of a vehicle operator, vehicle information, environmental information, individual information of the driver, and the like. The purpose is to provide.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a vehicle driving assistance system mounted on a vehicle, comprising: a line-of-sight direction detecting means for detecting a line-of-sight direction of a driver; A frequency distribution creating means for creating a frequency distribution in the direction, and a warning signal creating means for creating a warning signal based on the frequency distribution are provided.

According to the present invention, the warning signal is generated by the warning signal generating means based on the frequency distribution in the line-of-sight direction generated by the frequency distribution generating means. There is a possibility that driving can be supported based on the vehicle.

In this case, the gaze direction is determined based on the direction of the head and the gaze direction.

The warning signal generating means compares the generated frequency distribution with a reference frequency distribution, and generates a warning signal in accordance with the comparison result.
A warning signal is generated when the sum of squares of the difference between the created frequency distribution and each frequency corresponding to the reference frequency distribution is larger than a predetermined value, or the frequency distribution and vehicle information, environmental information,
Alternatively, by generating a warning signal according to at least one of the operator information, the line-of-sight information and the vehicle information,
There is a possibility that driving can be supported based on environmental information, driver information, and the like.

[0013]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a vehicle driving support device 10 according to this embodiment mounted on an automobile as a vehicle.

The vehicle driving support apparatus 10 changes the direction of the line of sight of the driver (driver) for a predetermined time (for example, 0.
(1 to 1.0 seconds), and head position detecting means 14 for detecting the direction in which the pilot's head is facing, that is, the head position, every fixed time. These outputs are supplied to the line-of-sight information conversion means 16.

The line-of-sight information conversion means 16 calculates the actual line-of-sight direction of the pilot, in other words, the true line-of-sight direction, based on the supplied line-of-sight direction information and head position information. The calculated true line-of-sight direction data is recorded in the line-of-sight information recording unit 18 in time series.

The line-of-sight information analyzing means 20 constituting the warning signal generating means 19 continuously generates a frequency distribution of the line-of-sight azimuth data for the past 5 seconds, and defines the generated frequency distribution and a predetermined standard (standard 2) performs a predetermined calculation in comparison with the frequency distribution, and analyzes the line-of-sight information with reference to the output information of the general information reading means 22;
Is supplied to the warning signal generating means 24.

In this embodiment, the general information reading means 22 is means for reading and collecting vehicle information, surrounding environment information, driver information and the like. In this case, the vehicle information is information such as a vehicle speed and an angular velocity obtained from a vehicle speed sensor and a yaw rate sensor, and the surrounding environment information is an image of a moving object obtained by a stereo camera or an infrared radar, for example. Obstacle information when it is considered to be possible, furthermore, day / night discrimination information obtained from a stereo camera, weather (rain / rain) information that can be determined by operating a wiper switch, current position information obtained from a navigation device, an expressway The driver information is, for example, information such as the number of years of pilot experience, age, gender, and physical characteristics of the driver.

The warning signal generating means 24 generates a warning signal based on the analysis result, and outputs the warning signal to the warning output means 26 with reference to the general information reading means 22.

The warning output means 26 comprises a buzzer, a speaker, an LED (light emitting element) or the like, and outputs a warning such as a warning sound, a voice message, and a flash (blinking display) according to the warning signal.

Note that microcomputers functioning as control, storage, and judgment means are mounted on the above-mentioned respective means constituting the vehicle driving support device 10, such as the line-of-sight information analysis means 20, as necessary.

Next, a more detailed configuration of the example of FIG. 1 will be described, and based on the flowchart shown in FIG.
The operation will be described.

First, the line of sight of the pilot is detected by the line of sight detecting means 12 and the line of sight information is supplied to the line of sight information converting means 16, and the head position detecting means 14 detects the position of the driver's head. Direction) and supplies the head position information to the line-of-sight information conversion means 16. Thereby, the line-of-sight information conversion means 16 acquires line-of-sight and head position information (step S1).

Line of sight detecting means 12 and head position detecting means 14
As shown in FIG. 3, if a device using a HUD (headup display) is used, the dashboard 30 of the vehicle 28 is used to photograph a portion including the head 33 of the pilot 32. Is configured to include the eye-gaze measurement camera 34 disposed at The line-of-sight measurement camera 34 detects the line-of-sight direction and the direction of the head 33, that is, the line-of-sight and head position information, and supplies the line-of-sight information conversion means 16.

The line-of-sight detecting means 12 and the head position detecting means 14 are provided by an HMD (headmount display).
4A and 4B, a transmissive liquid crystal display device 42 that can be attached to and detached from the head 33 of the pilot 32, and a support for the transmissive liquid crystal display device 42. Eye gaze measuring camera 4 integrally attached to body part 44
6 and a head position direction sensor 48 including a yaw rate sensor
And a half mirror 50 disposed in front of the transmissive liquid crystal display device 42 and integrally therewith. The yaw rate sensor is a sensor that detects an angular velocity.

The eye-gaze measuring camera 46 includes a half mirror 50.
It measures the information of the eye 35 reflected by the, detects the gaze direction (viewpoint position) and supplies it to the gaze information conversion means 16. In addition, the yaw rate (angular velocity) output from the head position direction sensor 48 disposed at the top of the pilot 32 or the head position data obtained by integrating the yaw rate are also supplied to the visual line information conversion means 16. You.

Next, the line-of-sight information conversion means 16 calculates the actual (true) line-of-sight direction (line-of-sight direction and line-of-sight position) of the eye 35 from the line-of-sight information and the head position information (step S).
2). That is, the head position information, in other words, the vehicle 28
When the eyes 35 are looking straight ahead in the direction in which the head 33 faces (the angle is θ °) with the traveling direction (forward) of the eye as the reference (0 °), the reference (0 °) By adding the direction of the line of sight, that is, the direction in which the eye 35 faces (the angle is φ °), the line of sight (the angle is α °) with the traveling direction of the vehicle 28 as a reference (0 °). ) Can be calculated by the following equation (1).

Α = θ + φ (1) For example, as an extreme example, when the head 33 is facing the front, θ = 0 °, and in this case, the line-of-sight direction φ related to the bias of both eyes 35 is , True gaze direction α (α = φ). On the other hand, when the head 33 is rotating and the rotation angle is θ ° and the eyes 35 are not biased, the line-of-sight direction φ is φ = 0 °. The azimuth α is calculated as α = θ.

Of course, instead of the simple addition as shown in the equation (1), the true gaze direction α can be calculated as a function of the gaze direction φ and the head position direction θ. In this case, the function can be determined by, for example, measuring a number of persons in advance and approximating the function using a least squares method or the like.

Next, the true line-of-sight azimuth α calculated in this way is recorded in the line-of-sight information recording means 18 in time series together with the time information at that time (step S3).

Next, the line-of-sight information analyzing means 20 obtains a frequency distribution (line-of-sight map or line-of-sight distribution table) of the line-of-sight azimuth α for each horizontal azimuth component from the past recorded data of the line-of-sight azimuth α obtained, for example, for five seconds. (Step S4).

It is assumed that the visual line maps (also referred to as visual line distributions) 71 to 73 schematically shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C are created. The horizontal axis ri of these line-of-sight maps 71 to 73,
xi represents a horizontal component obtained by dividing the line-of-sight azimuth α within a range of ± 90 °, and the vertical axes Dri and Dxi represent the frequency of the line-of-sight azimuth α detected in 5 seconds, in this case, the line-of-sight stationary time T. .

For example, assuming that the vehicle 28 is traveling straight ahead, the line-of-sight map 71 shown in FIG. 5A shows that the left and right sides are balanced with respect to the 0 ° direction, that is, the traveling direction of the vehicle 28. Can be considered as a gaze map in which the driver 32 is operating in a healthy manner. The line-of-sight map 72 shown in FIG.
2 can be considered as a so-called inattentive driving gaze map. Further, the line-of-sight map 73 shown in FIG.
The viewpoint is fixed too much in the center, and in this case the pilot 3
The second driving can be considered as an unhealthy gaze map.

Then, next, the line-of-sight information analysis means 20 calculates the sum of squares of deviations S between the line-of-sight map Dxi for five seconds detected and the line-of-sight map 71 (Dri) for sound driving.
｝ Calculate the product-sum operation reference by equation (2)｝ (step S5). In the equation (2), i is related to the sum symbol の, and i = −90 ° to + 90 °.

S = Σ (Dxi−Dri) ² (2) Next, the magnitude of the deviation sum of squares S and a predetermined constant (threshold) a are compared (step S 6). ≤
In a), assuming that the line-of-sight distribution Dxi at this time is sound, the processing from step S1 to step S6 is repeated again. It is not necessary to wait for 5 seconds from the second processing, and the sum of deviation squares S is continuously calculated each time the line of sight and head position information is acquired.

When the determination in step S6 is satisfied (S>
In a), it is estimated that there is an abnormality in the visual line map Dxi.

At this time, by referring to the contents of other information supplied from the general information reading means 22, the visual line map Dx
It is determined whether i can be regarded as abnormal.

That is, when the vehicle speed exceeds 10 km / h (the determination in step S7 is positive), the age is 6
When the child is over 0 years old (the determination in step S8 is affirmative) and when there is an obstacle around the vehicle (the determination in step S9 is affirmative), the estimation is not overturned and is regarded as abnormal.

At this time, a warning signal is generated by the warning signal generation means 24, and based on the generated warning signal, the warning output means 26 displays a warning buzzer and / or an LED display, or a speaker to indicate the possibility of inattentive driving or the like. There is a warning to the pilot 32 (step S10). Hereinafter, the processing from step S1 to step S10 is repeated.

In the above-described embodiment, the value of the reference threshold a in step S6,
The value of each reference in S9 can be made more suitable for the pilot 32 by changing it according to the driving proficiency of the pilot 32 or the classification of the road (whether or not it is an expressway). Property is obtained. You may make it change for every different operator 32. Further, in the calculation in step S5, the sum of the deviations may be calculated instead of the sum of the squares of the deviations.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to instantaneously detect whether or not the line-of-sight distribution of the driver 32 during driving is appropriate and to immediately give a warning such as a warning. Is done.

As a result, since the line of sight of the operator 32 is set to a preferable distribution, there is a possibility that occurrence of an unexpected situation can be avoided.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can adopt various configurations without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention, the frequency distribution in the line of sight of the driver of the vehicle is obtained, and the warning signal is generated based on this frequency distribution. The effect that driving can be assisted is achieved.

For example, by alerting the deviation of the frequency distribution of the line-of-sight information, the effect that the pilot can be surely recognized of the line-of-sight deviation is achieved.

According to the invention, when the warning signal is generated based on the frequency distribution, the frequency distribution and the
Since the warning signal is generated according to at least one of the vehicle information, the environment information, and the driver information, as a result, the line-of-sight information of the driver of the vehicle and the vehicle information, the environment information, the driver Thus, the effect that the driving can be supported based on the individual information or the like is achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the example of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view diagram used for describing an example of arrangement of a visual line measurement camera.

4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining the arrangement and the like of a visual line measurement camera and a head position / direction sensor. FIG. 4A is a front view and FIG. 4B is a side view.

5A and 5B are diagrams showing frequency distributions in the gaze direction of the pilot, where FIG. 5A is a frequency distribution in which the gaze distribution is considered healthy, and FIG. 5B is a frequency distribution in which the gaze distribution is laterally biased. FIG. 5C is a diagram showing a frequency distribution in which the visual line distribution is fixed at the center.

[Description of Signs] 10: Driving support device for vehicle 12 ... Eye gaze detecting means 14 ... Head position detecting means 16 ... Eye gaze information converting means 18 ... Eye gaze information recording means 20 ... Eye gaze information analyzing means 22 ... General information reading means 24 ... Warning signal generating means 26 Warning output means 28 Vehicle 32 Driver (driver) 33 Head (head) 35 Eye 42 Transmissive liquid crystal display device 46 Eye-gaze measuring camera 48 Head position direction sensor 50 Half mirror 71-73 ...
Gaze map

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A vehicular driving support device mounted on a vehicle, comprising: a gaze direction detecting means for detecting a gaze direction of a driver; and a frequency for recording the detected gaze direction and generating a frequency distribution of the gaze direction. A driving assistance device for a vehicle, comprising: a distribution creating unit; and a warning signal creating unit that creates a warning signal based on the frequency distribution. 2. The driving support device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said line-of-sight direction detecting means detects a true line-of-sight direction from a head direction and a line-of-sight direction. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the warning signal creating means compares the created frequency distribution with a reference frequency distribution, and generates a warning signal according to the comparison result. Driving assistance device for vehicles. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the comparison generates a warning signal when a sum of squares of a difference between the generated frequency distribution and a corresponding frequency in the reference frequency distribution is larger than a predetermined value. A driving assistance device for a vehicle, comprising: 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the warning signal generating means generates the warning signal based on the frequency distribution, the warning signal generation means and the vehicle frequency information, the environmental information, or the driver information. A driving assistance device for a vehicle, wherein a warning signal is generated according to at least one of the information.