JP2017177882A - Vehicle periphery obstacle notification device and vehicle periphery obstacle notification system - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle surrounding obstacle notification device and a vehicle surrounding obstacle notification system that can notify a user of a state around a vehicle immediately before the vehicle starts to travel.
When a BCM 10 receives an unlocking command for a door lock of a vehicle 1, a periphery monitoring device 30 determines whether there is an obstacle in front of and behind the vehicle 1. When the periphery monitoring device 30 determines that there are obstacles ahead and behind the vehicle 1, the BCM 10 controls lighting of the turn lamps 6 provided on the front right side, front left side, rear right side and rear left side of the vehicle 1. Then, notification is performed so that it can be determined in which direction the obstacle is present. Even when an obstacle exists only in either the front or the rear of the vehicle 1, the notification is performed using all the turn lamps 6 of the vehicle 1.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle surrounding obstacle notification device and a vehicle surrounding obstacle notification system that notify a user when an obstacle exists around the vehicle.

  In Patent Document 1, when a vehicle is parked, the vicinity of the planned parking area is monitored with a clearance sonar, the detected position information of the obstacle is stored in a memory, and a door unlocking signal of the vehicle door is detected. There has been proposed a vehicular lamp device that reads out detected position information from a memory and controls lighting of a turn lamp corresponding to the detected position of an obstacle.

JP 2010-64510 A

  The vehicular lamp device described in Patent Literature 1 stores the state of an obstacle immediately before the vehicle is parked in the parking lot, and stores the state when the vehicle door is unlocked thereafter. This is a configuration for notification. However, there is a high possibility that the state around the vehicle changes after the vehicle is parked until the user unlocks the vehicle door. For example, because people or animals around the vehicle move with time, people or animals that existed when the vehicle was parked do not exist when the door is unlocked or have moved to another position There is a high possibility that there is a possibility that a person or an animal or the like exists in the difference in unlocking the door even if no person or animal or the like exists when the vehicle is parked. In particular, a child or the like may be hidden behind the vehicle body and overlooked, and it is desirable to notify the user of the state around the vehicle just before the vehicle starts to travel.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle surrounding obstacle notification device capable of notifying a user of a state around a vehicle immediately before the vehicle starts traveling, and It is to provide a vehicle surrounding obstacle notification system.

  The vehicle surrounding obstacle notification device according to the present invention includes an unlocking command receiving unit that receives an unlocking command for a vehicle door, and an obstacle around the vehicle when the unlocking command receiving unit receives the unlocking command. An obstacle determination unit that determines the presence or absence of an obstacle, and an obstacle notification unit that performs notification by controlling lighting of the lamp of the vehicle when the obstacle determination unit determines that there is an obstacle. To do.

  Further, in the vehicle surrounding obstacle notification device according to the present invention, the obstacle determination unit determines whether there are obstacles in front and rear of the vehicle, and the obstacle notification unit includes the front and rear of the vehicle. Notification is performed so that it is possible to determine which obstacle is present.

  In the vehicle surrounding obstacle notification device according to the present invention, the obstacle notification unit performs notification by controlling lighting of lamps provided on the front right side, the front left side, the rear right side, and the rear left side of the vehicle. It is characterized by that.

  Further, the vehicle surrounding obstacle notification device according to the present invention is such that the obstacle notification unit has a right front part of the vehicle even when the obstacle notification unit is present only in front or rear of the vehicle. The first notification for controlling lighting of all the lamps provided on the front left side, the rear right side and the rear left side is performed, and then the second notification for controlling lighting of the lamps provided on the side where the obstacle exists is provided. It is characterized by performing.

  Also, the vehicle surrounding obstacle notification system according to the present invention includes an unlocking command receiving device having an unlocking command receiving unit that receives an unlocking command for a vehicle door, and the unlocking command receiving unit receives the unlocking command. An obstacle determination device having an obstacle determination unit that determines the presence or absence of an obstacle around the vehicle, and when the obstacle determination unit determines that there is an obstacle, the lighting control of the lamp of the vehicle is performed. And an obstacle notification unit that performs notification.

  In the vehicle surrounding obstacle notification system according to the present invention, the obstacle determination device performs a first operation state in which the obstacle determination process is performed and a second operation in which power consumption is reduced without performing the obstacle determination process. It is a device that can be switched to any one of the states, and when the vehicle engine is not operating, the second operation state is entered, and the unlocking command receiving device is a device that operates constantly or intermittently. The switching control unit switches the obstacle determination device from the second operating state to the first operating state when the unlocking command receiving unit receives the unlocking command.

  In the present invention, when an unlocking command is received in response to an unlocking operation of the vehicle door lock, the presence or absence of an obstacle around the vehicle is determined. The unlocking operation of the door lock may be performed using, for example, a wireless key, or may be performed using a mechanical key. The presence or absence of an obstacle around the vehicle can be determined using, for example, a sensor that emits radio waves or sound waves to detect a reflected wave from the obstacle. Can be determined. When it is determined that there is an obstacle, the lighting of the vehicle is controlled to be notified. As a result, the obstacle around the vehicle can be detected and notified to the user after the command to unlock the door lock of the vehicle is issued and before the user starts traveling the vehicle.

  In the present invention, the presence / absence of an obstacle is determined for the front and rear of the vehicle, and notification is given so that it can be determined in which direction the obstacle is present. Since the front and rear of the vehicle are directions in which the vehicle may travel, it is possible to prevent contact with obstacles due to traveling of the vehicle by determining whether there is an obstacle present in this direction. It becomes possible. Also, in the left-right direction of the vehicle, there is a high possibility that a user who is going to get on the vehicle exists, and by determining whether there is an obstacle in the front and the rear, the user present in the left-right direction is erroneously determined as an obstacle Can be prevented.

  In the present invention, notification is performed by controlling lighting of lamps provided on the front right side, front left side, rear right side, and rear left side of the vehicle. For example, lamps (turn lamps) used as vehicle direction indicators are provided on the front right side, front left side, rear right side, and rear left side of the vehicle, respectively, so that this lamp can be controlled to be lit. However, a lamp other than the turn lamp, such as a head lamp, a tail lamp, or a brake lamp, may be used. By using the lamps provided on the front right side, front left side, rear right side and rear left side of the vehicle, notification by the ramp is made regardless of the direction the user is in the vehicle. It can be visually recognized.

  Further, in the present invention, even when an obstacle exists only in either the front or the rear of the vehicle, all the ramps on the front right side, front left side, rear right side and rear left side of the vehicle are used. Make a notification. The vehicle surrounding obstacle notification device first performs lighting control by performing lighting control on all the lamps, and then performs second notification for lighting control of a lamp provided on the side where the obstacle exists. For example, when there is an obstacle in front of the vehicle and the configuration is such that only the front lamp is lit to notify the obstacle, there is a possibility that the user existing behind the vehicle overlooks the lighting of the lamp. Therefore, by using all the lamps on the front right side, front left side, rear right side and rear left side of the vehicle, notification by the lamp is possible regardless of which direction the user is in the vehicle. It can be visually recognized.

In the present invention, the unlocking command receiving device receives an unlocking command for the door of the vehicle, and the obstacle determining device determines an obstacle around the vehicle. The notification using the vehicle lamp may be performed by either the unlocking command reception device or the obstacle determination device, or by a device other than the unlocking command reception device and the obstacle determination device.
The unlocking command receiving device needs to receive a door unlocking command regardless of whether or not the vehicle engine is operating, and therefore operates constantly or intermittently. On the other hand, since the obstacle determination device only has to determine the presence or absence of an obstacle as necessary, a first operation state (so-called normal operation mode) for performing a process for determining the presence or absence of an obstacle, and the obstacle The second operation state (so-called sleep mode or standby mode) for reducing power consumption can be switched without performing the process of determining the presence or absence of the vehicle, and the second operation state is entered when the vehicle engine is stopped. . When receiving the unlocking command, the unlocking command receiving device performs control to switch the obstacle determination device from the second operation state to the first operation state, and whether or not there is an obstacle around the vehicle by the obstacle determination device. Make a decision.
Thereby, when it is not necessary to determine the presence or absence of an obstacle, it is possible to reduce power consumption and prevent the amount of power stored in the vehicle battery from being reduced.

  In the case of the present invention, when an unlocking command for the door lock of the vehicle is received, it is determined whether there is an obstacle around the vehicle, and when it is determined that there is an obstacle, the lamp of the vehicle is controlled to be notified. With the configuration, it is possible to notify the user of the state around the vehicle immediately before the vehicle starts to travel.

It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the outline | summary of the vehicle periphery obstruction notification system which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle periphery obstruction notification system which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the obstacle notification process which BCM performs. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the obstacle notification process which a periphery monitoring apparatus performs. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the lighting control process of a turn lamp which BCM performs.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the outline of the vehicle surrounding obstacle notification system according to the present embodiment. The vehicle surrounding obstacle notification system according to the present embodiment determines whether or not an obstacle 101 exists around the vehicle 1 when the user unlocks the door to get on the vehicle 1. In this system, the presence of the obstacle 101 is notified to the user by turning on the turn lamp of the vehicle 1 in a specific pattern when the obstacle 101 exists. FIG. 1 shows an example of the detection range of the obstacle 101 by the vehicle 1 (see the broken line in the figure). In this example, sensors for detecting the obstacle 101 are mounted on the front and rear of the vehicle 1, and the front and rear of the vehicle 1 are obstacle detection ranges. The obstacle 101 may be, for example, a living organism such as a human or an animal, or may be a non-living organism such as a stone or a block.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the vehicle surrounding obstacle notification system according to the present embodiment. The vehicle periphery obstacle notification system according to the present embodiment includes a wireless communication device 3, a BCM (Body Control Module) 10, a periphery monitoring device 30 and the like mounted on the vehicle 1. Further, the vehicle 1 is provided with a door switch 4, an obstacle sensor 5, a turn lamp 6, and the like, and the vehicle peripheral obstacle notification system performs processing using these. Therefore, the wireless communication device 3, the door switch 4, the BCM 10, and the periphery monitoring device 30 are connected via the in-vehicle network 9 of the vehicle 1 and can transmit and receive information to and from each other.

  The wireless communication device 3 is a device that performs wireless communication with a portable wireless communication device 2 possessed by a user. For example, when an instruction from the BCM 10 is given in response to an unlocking operation on the door switch 4 of the vehicle 1, the wireless communication device 3 transmits an LF (Low Frequency) band wireless signal (hereinafter referred to as “LF”) to the periphery of the vehicle 1. Simply referred to as the LF signal). When the wireless communication device 2 receives an LF signal from the wireless communication device 3 of the vehicle 1, the wireless communication device 2 responds with a wireless signal in the UHF (Ultra High Frequency) band (hereinafter simply referred to as a UHF signal). The wireless communication device 3 transmits the LF signal and receives the UHF signal a plurality of times with the wireless communication device 2, and transmits and receives necessary information such as authentication information, so that the wireless communication device 2 can perform proper communication. It is determined whether or not it is a partner (that is, whether or not the wireless communication device 2 is associated with the vehicle 1 in advance), and the determination result is given to the BCM 10.

  The door switch 4 is a switch that is provided at each door of the vehicle 1, for example, and can be locked / unlocked by a user operation. When an operation is performed on the door switch 4 while the door is locked, the operation is accepted by the BCM 10 as an unlocking command. If the door switch 4 is operated while the door is not locked, the operation is accepted by the BCM 10 as a locking command. The BCM 10 that has received the unlocking command or the locking command communicates with the wireless communication device 2 by the wireless communication device 3 and confirms that wireless communication with the legitimate wireless communication device 2 has been performed. Unlock / lock the door lock. In the present embodiment, detailed description of the unlocking / locking control of the door of the vehicle 1 is omitted.

  The BCM 10 is a device that performs lighting control of the lamp of the vehicle 1, door lock control, wiper operation control, and the like. However, in FIG. 2, blocks relating to lamp lighting control are illustrated, and illustration of blocks relating to other controls is omitted. The BCM 10 includes a processing unit 11, a timer 12, an in-vehicle communication unit 13, a lighting control unit 14, and the like. The processing unit 11 is configured using an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro-Processing Unit), and reads and executes a program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) or the like (not shown). By doing so, various arithmetic processes related to lamp lighting control, door lock control, wiper operation control, and the like are performed. In addition, the processing unit 11 of the BCM 10 according to the present embodiment performs a process of notifying the user of the presence of an obstacle around the vehicle 1 using the turn lamp 6. The timer 12 measures time based on the control of the processing unit 11. For example, when performing control to blink the turn lamp 6 in order to notify the presence of an obstacle, the processing unit 11 can measure the lighting time and extinguishing time of the turn lamp 6 by the timer 12.

  The in-vehicle communication unit 13 transmits / receives information to / from other in-vehicle devices such as the wireless communication device 3, the door switch 4, and the periphery monitoring device 30 via the in-vehicle network 9 of the vehicle 1. The in-vehicle communication unit 13 can be configured to perform communication based on a CAN (Controller Area Network) communication standard, for example. The in-vehicle communication unit 13 transmits the information given from the processing unit 11 to other in-vehicle devices and gives the information received from the other in-vehicle devices to the processing unit 11. Accordingly, the processing unit 11 can receive information from the door switch 4 such as whether or not there is an operation on the door switch 4. In addition, the processing unit 11 can transmit an instruction to perform wireless communication with the wireless communication device 2 to the wireless communication device 3 and can receive information related to a result of wireless communication with the wireless communication device 2 from the wireless communication device 3. . In addition, the processing unit 11 can transmit an instruction to perform obstacle detection processing to the periphery monitoring device 30 and can receive an obstacle detection processing result from the periphery monitoring device 30.

  The lighting control unit 14 controls lighting / extinguishing of the turn lamp 6. In the present embodiment, turn lamps 6 are provided at four locations on the front right side, front left side, rear right side, and rear left side of the vehicle 1, respectively. The turn lamp 6 is a lamp for notifying the surrounding vehicle of the traveling direction of the vehicle 1 by turning on (flashing) when the vehicle 1 makes a right turn or a left turn while traveling, and is a so-called turn indicator. is there. The lighting control unit 14 can individually control lighting of the four turn lamps 6 by outputting drive signals to the four turn lamps 6, respectively. For example, when the operation of a direction indicator lever provided near the steering wheel of the vehicle 1 is performed, the processing unit 11 causes the lighting control unit 14 to output a drive signal to the turn lamp 6 to operate the lever. It is possible to perform lighting control of the turn lamp 6 according to the above. Moreover, in this Embodiment, when it determines with an obstruction existing around the vehicle 1, the process part 11 notifies the obstruction with respect to a user by lighting the four turn lamps 6 by a predetermined pattern. .

  The processing unit 11 is provided with an unlocking command receiving unit 21, a mode switching control unit 22, and the like as software function blocks. The unlocking command reception unit 21 opens the door lock of the vehicle 1 by the user based on the information received from the door switch 4 and the result of the wireless communication performed by the wireless communication device 3 with the wireless communication device 2. Processing to accept a lock command is performed. When an operation by the user is performed, the door switch 4 transmits operation information to that effect to other in-vehicle devices via the in-vehicle network 9. The unlocking command reception unit 21 of the BCM 10 receives operation information transmitted from the door switch 4 via the in-vehicle network 9 by the in-vehicle communication unit 13 and wirelessly while the door of the vehicle 1 is locked. When a valid wireless communication is established between the communication device 3 and the wireless communication device 2, it is determined that an unlocking instruction is given from the user.

  The mode switching control unit 22 performs control to switch the operation mode of the periphery monitoring device 30. The periphery monitoring device 30 can switch between a normal operation mode in which the operation of monitoring the periphery of the vehicle 1 using the obstacle sensor 5 is performed and a sleep mode in which the power consumption is reduced without performing the operation of periphery monitoring. The mode switching control unit 22 switches the operation mode of the periphery monitoring device 30 from the sleep mode to the normal operation mode by transmitting an activation command to the periphery monitoring device 30 via the in-vehicle network 9 by the in-vehicle communication unit 13. In the present embodiment, the start command is transmitted from the BCM 10 to the periphery monitoring device 30 via the in-vehicle network 9, but the periphery monitoring device 30 may perform communication via the in-vehicle network 9 in the sleep mode. If the configuration is not possible, the BCM 10 and the peripheral monitoring device 30 may be connected via another communication line and a startup command may be transmitted via this communication line.

  The periphery monitoring device 30 is a device that performs processing for determining whether there is an obstacle around the vehicle 1 using the obstacle sensor 5. The obstacle sensor 5 is a sensor that detects an obstacle existing within a predetermined range by, for example, emitting sound waves or radio waves and detecting the reflected waves. In the present embodiment, at least two obstacle sensors 5 are mounted on the vehicle 1. That is, the obstacle sensors 5 are respectively provided before and after the vehicle 1 and detect obstacles existing in a predetermined range in front of and behind the vehicle 1. The number and location of the obstacle sensors 5 are not limited to the above. The obstacle sensor 5 may be provided, for example, at each of the four corners of the vehicle 1 in the front, rear, left, and right directions, or may be provided at other locations. However, the obstacle sensor 5 is desirably provided so that at least the front and rear of the vehicle 1 are in the obstacle detection range.

  The periphery monitoring device 30 includes a processing unit 31, a sensor control unit 32, an in-vehicle communication unit 33, and the like. The processing unit 31 performs various arithmetic processes related to obstacle determination around the vehicle 1. The sensor control unit 32 drives the obstacle sensor 5 in accordance with an instruction from the processing unit 31 to emit sound waves or radio waves, and outputs an electric signal output from the obstacle sensor 5 in accordance with the detected reflected wave. Is acquired as digital information, and the acquired information is given to the processing unit 31. The in-vehicle communication unit 33 can perform communication based on the CAN communication standard, for example, and transmits / receives information to / from other in-vehicle devices such as the BCM 10 via the in-vehicle network 9 of the vehicle 1. The in-vehicle communication unit 33 transmits the information given from the processing unit 31 to other in-vehicle devices and gives the information received from the other in-vehicle devices to the processing unit 31.

  The processing unit 31 is provided with functional blocks such as an obstacle determination unit 41 and a mode switching control unit 42. The obstacle determination unit 41 performs a process of determining whether there is an obstacle ahead and behind the vehicle 1 based on the information obtained from the obstacle sensor 5. For example, when the electrical signal output from the obstacle sensor 5 is a signal whose voltage value increases or decreases according to the distance to the obstacle, the obstacle determination unit 41 uses the voltage value (sampled digital information) of this signal. By comparing with a threshold value, it can be set as the structure which determines whether an obstruction exists. The obstacle determination unit 41 transmits the determination result of the presence or absence of the obstacle to the BCM 10 by the in-vehicle communication unit 33.

  The mode switching control unit 42 performs control to switch the operation mode of the periphery monitoring device 30. As described above, the periphery monitoring device 30 has the normal operation mode for performing the operation of monitoring the periphery of the vehicle 1 using the obstacle sensor 5 and the sleep mode for reducing the power consumption without performing the operation of the periphery monitoring. Can be switched. Although illustration is omitted, a signal (for example, an ignition signal) indicating the operation state of the engine of the vehicle 1 is input to the periphery monitoring device 30, and the mode switching control unit 42 determines whether or not the periphery monitoring device is in accordance with the engine operation state. 30 operation modes are switched. That is, the mode switching control unit 42 sets the periphery monitoring device 30 to the normal operation mode when the engine is operating, and sets the periphery monitoring device 30 to the sleep mode when the engine is stopped. Further, in the present embodiment, the mode switching control unit 42 switches the operation mode of the peripheral monitoring device 30 from the sleep mode to the normal operation mode when a start command is given from the BCM 10.

  For example, when the user parks the vehicle 1 in a parking lot or the like and stops the engine, the periphery monitoring device 30 shifts from the normal operation mode to the sleep mode, and the periphery monitoring of the vehicle 1 using the obstacle sensor 5 is performed. finish. The user gets off the vehicle 1, locks the door of the vehicle 1, and then leaves the periphery of the vehicle 1. Thereafter, when the user tries to drive the vehicle 1 again, the user operates the door switch 4 to unlock the door in order to get on the vehicle 1.

  In the vehicle surrounding obstacle notification system according to the present embodiment, the user performs an operation on the door switch 4 of the vehicle 1, and legitimate wireless communication is performed between the wireless communication device 2 possessed by the user and the wireless communication device 3 of the vehicle 1. Is performed, the unlocking command accepting unit 21 of the BCM 10 accepts the unlocking command. When receiving the unlocking command, the mode switching control unit 22 of the BCM 10 transmits an activation command to the periphery monitoring device 30 via the in-vehicle network 9. When the activation command from the BCM is received, the mode switching control unit 42 of the peripheral monitoring device 30 switches the operation mode from the sleep mode to the normal operation mode. The processing unit 31 of the periphery monitoring device 30 in the normal operation mode performs driving of the obstacle sensor 5 and acquisition of the detection result by the sensor control unit 32, and forward and backward of the vehicle 1 based on the acquired detection result. The obstacle determination unit 41 determines whether there is an obstacle. The processing unit 31 of the periphery monitoring device 30 transmits the determination result of whether there is an obstacle by the obstacle determination unit 41 to the BCM 10 by the in-vehicle communication unit 33. It should be noted that the determination result transmitted from the periphery monitoring device 30 to the BCM 10 includes information indicating whether an obstacle exists for each of the front and rear of the vehicle 1.

  The processing unit 11 of the BCM 10 that has received the determination result of whether or not there is an obstacle from the surrounding monitoring device 30 has four turn lamps provided on the front right side, front left side, rear right side, and rear left side of the vehicle 1. The process of notifying the determination result is performed by lighting 6 in a predetermined pattern. At this time, the processing unit 11 uses all the lamps on the front right side, the front left side, the rear right side, and the rear left side even when there is an obstacle only on either the front side or the rear side of the vehicle 1. To notify. The lighting pattern of the turn lamp 6 can be, for example, the following pattern. However, the following lighting pattern is an example and is not limited thereto, and various other lighting patterns may be adopted.

  When it is determined that there is an obstacle at least one of the front and rear of the vehicle 1, the processing unit 11 of the BCM 10 according to the present embodiment first has a front right side, a front left side, a rear right side, and All the four turn lamps 6 on the left side of the rear are blinked (lighting on and off is repeated). By blinking all the turn lamps 6, the BCM 10 notifies the user that there are obstacles around the vehicle 1.

  After all the turn lamps 6 are blinked a predetermined number of times, the processing unit 11 of the BCM 10 blinks the turn lamps 6 in the direction in which it is determined that there is an obstacle, in the front and rear of the vehicle 1. Thereby, the BCM 10 notifies the user of the direction in which the obstacle exists. For example, when there is an obstacle in front of the vehicle 1, the processing unit 11 blinks the front right and front left turn lamps 6 of the vehicle 1 and turns off the rear right and rear left turn lamps 6. For example, when there is an obstacle behind the vehicle 1, the processing unit 11 blinks the turn lamps 6 on the rear right side and the rear left side of the vehicle 1 and turns off the turn lamps 6 on the front right side and the front left side. For example, when there are obstacles in both the front and rear of the vehicle 1, the processing unit 11 blinks all the turn lamps 6 on the front right side, front left side, rear right side, and rear left side of the vehicle 1. At this time, in order to distinguish from the flashing of all the first turn lamps 6, for example, the front right and front left turn lamps 6 and the rear right and rear left turn lamps 6 are alternately flashed. For example, blinking may be performed at different timings. Further, a difference may be provided in the blinking speed or the number of blinks.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the obstacle notification process performed by the BCM 10. The unlocking command reception unit 21 of the processing unit 11 of the BCM 10 according to the present embodiment is operated on the door switch 4 depending on whether or not the operation information from the door switch 4 is received by the in-vehicle communication unit 13. It is determined whether or not (step S1). When the door switch 4 is not operated (S1: NO), the unlocking command receiving unit 21 waits until the door switch 4 is operated. When an operation is performed on the door switch 4 (S1: YES), the unlock command receiving unit 21 causes the wireless communication device 3 to perform wireless communication with the wireless communication device 2 (step S2). Based on the communication result given from the wireless communication device 3, the unlocking command reception unit 21 determines whether or not a valid wireless communication with the wireless communication device 2 has been established (step S3). When the wireless communication with the wireless communication device 2 is not established (S3: NO), the unlock command receiving unit 21 returns the process to step S1.

  When wireless communication with the wireless communication device 2 is established (S3: YES), the mode switching control unit 22 of the processing unit 11 starts the periphery monitoring device 30 by transmitting an activation command to the periphery monitoring device 30. (Step S4). Whether the processing unit 11 has received a determination result indicating whether there is an obstacle around the vehicle 1 transmitted from the periphery monitoring device 30 that has shifted from the sleep mode to the normal operation mode in response to the activation command. Is determined (step S5). When the determination result is not received from the periphery monitoring device 30 (S5: NO), the processing unit 11 stands by until the determination result is received. When the determination result is received (S5: YES), the processing unit 11 determines whether there is an obstacle around the vehicle 1 based on the received determination result (step S6). When there is an obstacle (S6: YES), the processing unit 11 performs lighting control of the turn lamp 6 of the vehicle 1 by the lighting control unit 14, thereby notifying the presence of the obstacle (step S7) and processing. Exit. When there is no obstacle (S6: NO), the processing unit 11 ends the process without performing the lighting control of the turn lamp 6.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the procedure of the obstacle notification process performed by the periphery monitoring device 30. The mode switching control unit 42 of the processing unit 31 of the periphery monitoring device 30 according to the present embodiment determines whether an activation command has been received from the BCM 10 via the in-vehicle network 9 (step S11). When the activation command has not been received (S11: NO), the mode switching control unit 42 maintains the operation mode in the sleep mode and waits until the activation command is received. When the activation command is received (S11: YES), the mode switching control unit 42 switches the operation mode of the periphery monitoring device 30 from the sleep mode to the normal operation mode (step S12).

  Next, the obstacle determination unit 41 of the processing unit 31 drives the obstacle sensor 5 with the sensor control unit 32, and acquires the detection result of the obstacle by the obstacle sensor 5 (step S13). The obstacle determination unit 41 determines whether there are obstacles in front of and behind the vehicle 1 based on the acquired detection result (step S14). The obstacle determination unit 41 transmits the determination result of the presence / absence of the obstacle to the BCM 10 via the in-vehicle network 9 (step S15), and ends the process.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the turn lamp 6 lighting control process performed by the BCM 10, and is a detailed example of the process performed in step S7 of the obstacle notification process shown in FIG. When notifying an obstacle using the turn lamp 6, the processing unit 11 of the BCM 10 first lights up all the turn lamps 6 provided on the front right side, front left side, rear right side and rear left side of the vehicle 1. (Step S21), and then all the turn lamps 6 are turned off by turning off all the turn lamps 6 (Step S22). The processing unit 11 determines whether or not all turn lamps 6 have been blinked a predetermined number of times (step S23). When not performing predetermined times (S23: NO), the process part 11 returns a process to step S21, and performs blinking of all the turn lamps 6 repeatedly.

  When all the turn lamps 6 have been blinked a predetermined number of times (S23: YES), the processing unit 11 has an obstacle in front of the vehicle 1 based on the determination result of the presence or absence of the obstacle received from the periphery monitoring device 30. It is determined whether or not it exists (step S24). When there is an obstacle in front of the vehicle 1 (S24: YES), the processing unit 11 turns on the turn lamp 6 at the front (front right side and front left side) of the vehicle 1 (step S25), and thereafter By turning off the front turn lamp 6 (step S26), the front turn lamp 6 is caused to blink, and the process proceeds to step S27. When there is no obstacle ahead of the vehicle 1 (S24: NO), the processing unit 11 advances the processing to step S27 without blinking the turn lamp 6 at the front of the vehicle 1.

  The processing unit 11 determines whether there is an obstacle behind the vehicle 1 based on the determination result of the presence / absence of the obstacle received from the periphery monitoring device 30 (step S27). When there is an obstacle behind the vehicle 1 (S27: YES), the processing unit 11 turns on the turn lamp 6 at the rear part (the rear right side and the rear left side) of the vehicle 1 (step S28), and then the rear turn By turning off the lamp 6 (step S29), the rear turn lamp 6 is blinked, and the process proceeds to step S30. When there is no obstacle behind the vehicle 1 (S27: NO), the processing unit 11 advances the processing to step S30 without blinking the turn lamp 6 at the rear of the vehicle 1.

  The processing unit 11 determines whether or not the turn lamps 6 at the front and / or rear of the vehicle 1 have been blinked a predetermined number of times (step S30). When not performing predetermined times (S30: NO), the process part 11 returns a process to step S24, and repeats blinking of the turn lamp 6 of the front part of the vehicle 1, and / or the rear part. When the turn lamps 6 at the front and / or rear of the vehicle 1 are blinked a predetermined number of times (S30: YES), the processing unit 11 ends the process. The predetermined number of times determined in step S23 of this process and the predetermined number of times determined in step S30 may be the same number or different numbers. The predetermined number of times is appropriate from several times to about several tens of times, but more than this number may be set.

  In the vehicle surrounding obstacle notification system according to the present embodiment having the above-described configuration, when the BCM 10 receives a door lock unlocking command for the vehicle 1, the periphery monitoring device 30 determines whether there is an obstacle around the vehicle. . When the periphery monitoring device 30 determines that there is an obstacle around the vehicle 1, the BCM 10 controls lighting of the turn lamp 6 of the vehicle 1 to notify the user. Thus, the obstacle around the vehicle 1 can be detected and notified to the user after the instruction to unlock the door lock of the vehicle 1 until the user starts to travel the vehicle 1. Therefore, the vehicle surrounding obstacle notification system according to the present embodiment can notify the user of the state around the vehicle 1 immediately before the vehicle 1 starts to travel.

  In addition, the vehicle surrounding obstacle notification system determines the presence or absence of obstacles in front of and behind the vehicle 1 and performs notification using the turn lamp 6 so that it can be determined in which direction the obstacle is present. Since the front and rear of the vehicle 1 are directions in which the vehicle 1 may travel, the presence or absence of an obstacle that exists in this direction can be determined so that contact with the obstacle associated with the traveling of the vehicle 1 is performed. This can be prevented beforehand. Further, in the left-right direction of the vehicle 1, there is a high possibility that a user who is going to get on the vehicle 1 is present. Determination can be prevented.

  The vehicle surrounding obstacle notification system performs notification by controlling lighting of the turn lamps 6 provided on the front right side, front left side, rear right side, and rear left side of the vehicle 1. Further, the vehicle surrounding obstacle notification system is configured so that all of the front right side, the front left side, the rear right side, and the rear left side of the vehicle 1 are present even when there is an obstacle only on either the front side or the rear side of the vehicle 1. The turn lamps 6 are used for notification (with all the turn lamps 6 turned on at least once). For example, when there is an obstacle only in front of the vehicle 1 and only the front turn lamp 6 is turned on to notify the obstacle, the user behind the vehicle 1 turns on the turn lamp 6. May be overlooked. Therefore, when the user exists in any direction with respect to the vehicle 1 by performing notification using all the turn lamps 6 on the front right side, front left side, rear right side and rear left side of the vehicle 1, The notification by the turn lamp 6 can also be visually recognized.

  In the vehicle surrounding obstacle notification system, the BCM 10 operates constantly or intermittently because it needs to accept a door lock unlocking command regardless of whether the engine of the vehicle 1 is operating. That is, the BCM 10 does not switch the operation mode to the sleep mode or the like, and is always operating or intermittently operating at a predetermined cycle. On the other hand, the periphery monitoring device 30 only needs to determine the presence / absence of an obstacle as necessary, and therefore performs a normal operation mode for performing a process for determining the presence / absence of an obstacle and a process for determining presence / absence of an obstacle Without changing the sleep mode for reducing power consumption, and when the engine of the vehicle 1 is stopped, the sleep mode is set. When the BCM 10 receives an unlocking command, the BCM 10 performs control to switch the periphery monitoring device 30 from the sleep mode to the normal operation mode, and causes the periphery monitoring device 30 to determine whether there is an obstacle around the vehicle 1. Thereby, when it is not necessary to determine the presence or absence of an obstruction, power consumption can be reduced and it can prevent that the electric power storage amount of the battery of the vehicle 1 reduces.

  In this embodiment, the obstacle sensor 5 that detects an obstacle with sound waves or radio waves is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the front and rear of the vehicle 1 are imaged by a camera, You may determine the presence or absence of an obstruction by performing predetermined image processing with respect to the image obtained by imaging. Further, the turn lamp 6 of the vehicle 1 is used for notifying the obstacle, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a lamp other than the turn lamp 6 such as a head lamp, a tail lamp, a welcome lamp, a brake lamp, or a room lamp is used. These plural lamps may be used in combination. The notification may be performed by using not only a lamp but also an output of a warning sound or an output of a voice message. Moreover, although it was set as the structure which receives an unlocking command by operation with respect to the door switch 4 provided in the door of the vehicle 1, it does not restrict to this. The door unlocking operation may be performed, for example, as an operation on a button provided in the wireless communication device 2, or may be performed by rotating a mechanical key inserted into a key hole of the door, for example. It may be a configuration. Furthermore, it is good also as a structure which does not require explicit operation by a user and receives as an unlocking command that the user who possesses the wireless communication apparatus 2 enters into the predetermined range from the vehicle 1, for example.

  Further, in the present embodiment, each process performed by the three devices of the wireless communication device 3, the BCM 10, and the periphery monitoring device 30 may be configured to be performed by one or two devices at a time. The structure which the above apparatus performs further sharing may be sufficient. That is, the system configuration shown in FIG. 2 is an example, and the present invention is not limited to this.

1 Vehicle 2 Wireless Communication Device 3 Wireless Communication Device 4 Door Switch 5 Obstacle Sensor 6 Turn Lamp 10 BCM (Unlock Command Accepting Device)
11. Processing unit (obstacle notification unit)
12 timer 13 in-vehicle communication unit 14 lighting control unit 21 unlocking command reception unit 22 mode switching control unit 30 periphery monitoring device (obstacle determination device)
31 Processing Unit 32 Sensor Control Unit 33 In-Vehicle Communication Unit 41 Obstacle Determination Unit 42 Mode Switching Control Unit

Claims (6)

An unlocking command receiving unit for receiving an unlocking command for the vehicle door;
An obstacle determination unit that determines whether there is an obstacle around the vehicle when the unlocking command reception unit receives the unlocking command;
A vehicle surrounding obstacle notification device comprising: an obstacle notification unit that performs notification by controlling lighting of the vehicle lamp when the obstacle determination unit determines that there is an obstacle. The obstacle determination unit determines the presence or absence of obstacles in front of and behind the vehicle,
The vehicle surrounding obstacle notification device according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle notification unit performs notification so as to determine whether an obstacle is present in front of or behind the vehicle. The said obstacle notification part performs lighting control of the lamp provided in the front right side, the front left side, the rear right side, and the rear left side of the said vehicle, The notification is characterized by the above-mentioned. Vehicle surrounding obstacle notification device. The obstacle notifying unit is provided on the front right side, the front left side, the rear right side, and the rear left side of the vehicle even when an obstacle exists only in front or rear of the vehicle. The vehicle surroundings according to claim 3, wherein after the first notification for controlling lighting of all the lamps is performed, the second notification for controlling lighting of the lamps provided on the side where the obstacle exists is performed. Obstacle notification device. An unlocking command receiving device having an unlocking command receiving unit for receiving an unlocking command of a vehicle door;
An obstacle determination device having an obstacle determination unit for determining the presence or absence of an obstacle around the vehicle when the unlocking instruction reception unit receives an unlocking instruction;
A vehicle surrounding obstacle notification system comprising: an obstacle notification unit that performs notification by controlling lighting of a lamp of the vehicle when the obstacle determination unit determines that there is an obstacle. The obstacle determination device is a device that can be switched between a first operation state in which obstacle determination processing is performed and a second operation state in which power consumption is reduced without performing obstacle determination processing, and the vehicle When the engine is not operating, it enters the second operating state,
The unlocking command receiving device is a device that operates constantly or intermittently. When the unlocking command receiving unit receives the unlocking command, the obstacle determination device is moved from the second operation state to the second operation state. The vehicle surrounding obstacle notification system according to claim 5, further comprising a switching control unit that switches to one operation state.

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