JP5410115B2 - Others approach recognition support device for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention alerts the driver to the presence of another person (mainly another vehicle or person other than the host vehicle) approaching the host vehicle that is running or stopped. It is related with the other person approach recognition assistance apparatus for vehicles which assists in recognizing the kind of and the approach degree of others.

  In Patent Document 1, when a moving body approaches the host vehicle, by outputting a sound reminiscent of the moving body, the driver is notified of the approach of the moving body, and immediately before the sound is output, There has been disclosed a moving body approaching recognition device that includes light generating means for prompting a driver to pay attention and a generating means such as a warning sound as a warning means.

JP 2009-15787 A

  By the way, in the apparatus described in Patent Document 1, immediately before outputting a sound reminiscent of a moving body, only a light or a warning sound that causes the driver to pay attention to the sound is generated. Or, if multiple moving objects approach in a very short time, if you can hear the actual running sound from a distance, or if you are easy to hear the actual environmental sound, etc. There is still a problem that it is difficult to quickly identify the type of moving object that is approaching because it is not possible to immediately determine clearly which sound (including environmental sound) should be focused on for warning alerts such as audible sounds. It was.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and its purpose is to promptly recognize the driver's approach degree and the type of the other person approaching the vehicle. An object of the present invention is to provide a device for assisting recognition of other people's approach for vehicles.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the invention described in claim 1 is to detect the approach degree of another person approaching relatively to the traveling or stopped own vehicle and the type of the other person. According to the detection result of the person approach detection means, the other person recall sound creation means for creating the other person recollection sound assigned to each of the other person types and reminiscent of the other person type, and the other person approach detection means A sound output means for outputting the other person's recollection sound created by the other person's recollection sound, and a vehicle other person recognition recognition support device comprising:
Other-person reminding sound creating means for creating other-person reminding sound assigned for each type of the others as a sound that can be distinguished from the driving environment sound and the other-person reminding sound, and the other-person reminding sound Together with a light emitting means for alerting the driver by light emission ,
The voice output means is created by the other-person alerting sound creating means at the same time as the other-person reminding sound or delayed from the other-person reminding sound according to the detection result of the other-person approach detecting means. The other person's alert sound is output together with the other person's reminder sound ,
The light emitting means is characterized by changing a light emission method of the light source according to the type of the other person .

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, the other-person reminding sound is created as sound data continuous over a predetermined time, and the other-person reminding sound is shorter than the predetermined time. The sound output means repeatedly outputs the other person recall sound and the other person's alert sound while the other person is relatively close to the vehicle, The other person's alert sound is output using at least one of a method of shortening the repetition period and a method of increasing the volume as the degree of approach of the other person to the vehicle increases.

In addition to the configuration of claim 1 or 2, the invention described in claim 3 is combined with the other-person recalling sound having a high average pitch in combination with the other-person reminding sound having a high average pitch, The other-person reminding sound having a low average pitch is combined with the other-person alerting sound having a low average pitch.

Note that the degree of approach is set to a higher value as the distance between the host vehicle and the other person is closer, and as the relative speed at which the other person approaches the host vehicle is faster.
Here, the relative speed can be easily estimated by taking the difference from the distance in the previous step every time the distance between the vehicle and another person is detected.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the other person is relatively close to the vehicle, the sound output means recalls the other person's alert sound assigned to each person's type. Because it is emitted separately from the sound, even if the other person's reminder sound is likely to be mixed with the environmental sound such as the actual sound, the approach of the other person and the other person based on the other person's alert sound assigned for each type The driver can surely recognize the type of the vehicle.
Also, when the other person's caution sound is sounded, the other person's reminder sound is also superimposed together, so that the association between the other person's caution sound and the type of the other person can be recognized naturally, thereby , So that it is possible to accurately recognize the approach and type of another person based on the other person's alert sound without waiting for confirmation of the other person's reminder sound when the other person's alert sound is generated Become. In other words, it is not a caution sound that is irrelevant to the type of the other person for the purpose of calling attention as in the conventional example, but the information that enables the discrimination of the other person's type is included in the caution sound itself. It is possible to determine the approaching degree of the approaching other person and the type of the other person only by listening to the other person's alert sound without confirming the other person's recollection sound. Therefore, the support effect of the other person's approach recognition with respect to a driver | operator can be heightened.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the degree of approach of the other person to the own vehicle is low, that is, when the urgency to be recognized is low, the other person's alert sound is repeatedly sounded with a long cycle or is small. The other person's alert sound repeats at the volume. Also, when the degree of proximity of others to the vehicle is high, that is, when there is a high degree of urgency to be recognized, the other person's alert sound is repeated repeatedly in a short cycle, or the other person's alert sound is repeated at a high volume. It rings. Therefore, in the case of the former, it is possible to recognize and support the driver with a low alerting power, and in the case of the latter, the distance to which the other person exists. The driver can be recognized and supported with high alerting power.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the other person recalling sound having a high average pitch is combined with the other person reminding sound having a high average pitch, and the other person recalling sound having a low average pitch is combined. Thus, since the other person's alert sound having a low average pitch is combined, the correspondence between the other person's reminder sound and the other person's alert sound can be easily attached and learned.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the process which the control circuit in the block diagram of FIG. 1 performs. It is a figure which shows the content of the presentation set of the alerting for every approach level emitted in the same embodiment. It is a characteristic view which shows the relationship between the presentation set of the alerting issued in the same embodiment, and an approach level. It is a figure which shows the specific example for every kind of the other person of the presentation set of the alerting issued in the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the attachment possible position of the low frequency speaker at the time of applying the embodiment to a motorcycle. It is a figure which shows the example of the speaker attachment position around a driver's seat at the time of applying the embodiment to a motorcycle, and a light source attachment position.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the other person approaching recognition support device of this embodiment. This other person approach recognition support device is mounted on a motorcycle as shown in FIG. 6, and as shown in FIG. 1, as an input means 10, an inter-vehicle communication system 11, a plurality of visual detection sensors 12, 13, an ultrasonic sensor 14, a radar sensor 15, etc., and a control circuit 20 serving as a control means includes an other person approach detection unit (other person approach detection means) 21 and an information presentation control unit 22, The output means 30 includes a normal sound speaker (sound output means) 31, an ultra-low frequency speaker 32, a light source 33, and the like.

  The other person approach detection unit 21 in the control circuit 20 is based on the input information from the input means 10, and the degree of approach (an approach distance or The function of detecting the relative speed or the like) and the type of the other person.

  In addition, the information presentation control unit 22 assigns each person's type and creates another person's recollection sound for recollecting the other person's type, and other person's recollection sound and driving environment sound. And a part of the voice output means 22c, the other person's alert sound creating means 22b for creating the other person's alert sound assigned to each other's type as sounds that can be distinguished from each other. Depending on the result detected by the approach detection unit 21 (that is, when the degree of approach exceeds a threshold), the other person's evoked sound created by the other person's evoked sound creating means 22a or the other person's caution sound creating means 22b is created. A command to generate the other person's alert sound is given to the speaker 31 for normal voice. The information presentation control unit 22 also gives a control command to the ultra-low frequency speaker 32, the light source 33, and the like so as to generate an output according to the type of the other person.

  Further, the other person's caution sound is configured to be output together with the other person's evoked sound at the same time as the occurrence of the other person's evoked sound or after a predetermined timing from the occurrence of the other person's evoked sound.

  Here, the sound created based on the running sound including road noise, engine and the like is adopted as the other person recalling sound. In addition, as a warning sound for others, a low-frequency sound that is heard as an environmental sound while the vehicle is running, for example, a musical instrument sound is used. Further, the light source 33 is also configured to change the manner of light emission according to the vehicle type.

An example of a combination of a specific vehicle type and alert type is shown in FIG.
Here, the vehicle types are classified into four types from I to IV. The vehicle type I is the motorbike that is the smallest vehicle, the vehicle type II is the next largest motorcycle, and the vehicle type III is the next largest ordinary passenger car. The vehicle type IV is a truck which is the largest vehicle. Here, the combination of alert data for each vehicle type is referred to as a presentation set.

  For each of these vehicle types, the light emission specifications of the other person's recall sound A, the other person's alert sound B, and the light source C are assigned, and the other person's recall sound is the actual vehicle corresponding to each of the vehicle types I to IV. It uses sound data that is recorded and processed.

  In addition, as other person's alerting sounds, a short melody with a piccolo as a sound source, a short melody with a saxophone as a sound source, a short melody with a viola as a sound source, and a tuba as a sound source, corresponding to each vehicle type I to IV, respectively. A short melody is used.

  In this case, the average pitch of the other person's alert sound assigned to each vehicle type is set to a height corresponding to the average pitch of the other person's recall sound assigned to each vehicle type. For example, for a motorbike that has a high average pitch, the piccolo is combined with a high average pitch for the other person's warning sound. In other words, the tuba is combined as a warning sound for others with a low average pitch.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the other person recall sound (A) is created as sound data continuous over a predetermined time (in this embodiment, 2 seconds), and the other person's alert sound (B) is shorter than the predetermined time. It is created as continuous sound data.

  In addition, as the light emission specification, a combination is selected in which the number or color of the light sources is changed depending on the vehicle type, that is, the alerting force becomes stronger as the size decreases from the size. For example, in the case of vehicle type I, one light source emits blue light, in the case of vehicle type II two light sources emit green light, in case of vehicle type III three light sources emit orange light, and in case of vehicle type IV light source The number 4 emits red light.

  Specifically, FIG. 7 shows an example in which various light sources constituting the light source 33 are arranged on the meter visor 100 of the motorcycle. In FIG. 7, a left side light source 201L for left direction presentation and a right side light source 201R for right direction presentation are provided around the left and right speakers 200L and 200R, respectively. Further, a left front light source 202L for presenting a left direction and a right front light source 202R for presenting a right direction are provided in front of them, and a front light source 203 for presenting a front direction is provided in front of the center. In particular, the front light sources 202L, 202R, and 203 have a configuration in which a large number of LEDs 204 are arranged.

  After the light source is arranged in this way, the control circuit 20 can turn on (or blink) the light source in the direction in which the other is relatively approaching, so that the line of sight and attention can be directed in that direction, Smooth recognition by the driver can be achieved. For example, the light emission intensity or the blinking cycle may be changed according to the degree of approach of others.

  As a result, the driver can be informed of the direction and / or vehicle type information that the other person is approaching by using various light sources in the manner in which the light source emits light.

  Note that the ultra-low frequency speaker 32 is built in, for example, a position indicated by hatching in FIG. 6 (seat seat surface S1, backrest S2, handle S3, seat side surface S4 to which the thigh hits, footrest portion S5, etc.). In addition, the low frequency component of the other person's reminder sound or the other person's alert sound is output by the ultra-low frequency speaker, so that the driver can be more strongly alerted.

  In general, perception by tactile sensation has a shorter nerve transmission path to the brain than that of visual and auditory senses, and can transmit alerts to the brain in a short time. Therefore, the level of driver's attention can be increased by the vibration of the ultra-low frequency speaker 32, and thereby the recognition ability of voice perception and light stimulus perception can be increased, thereby enabling recognition in a short time. Can be expected to do.

  While the other person is relatively approaching the vehicle, the control circuit 20 causes the speaker 31 to repeatedly output the other person recall sound and the other person alert sound. In addition, the other person's alert sound is controlled so as to shorten the repetition cycle as the degree of approach of the other person to the own vehicle increases. For example, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), when the level is 0, there is no other person's recall sound, other person's alert sound, and no light emission. As shown in FIG. 3B, when the degree of approach is low (level 1), the repetition period of the other person's alert sound is lengthened. Further, the repetition period of the other person's alert sound is shortened as the level of approach becomes higher (as the level proceeds to level 2 and level 3).

FIG. 4 shows the change in the alerting presentation set according to the change in the degree of approach.
If the other person's approach level exceeds the threshold 1 from the level 0 state where there is no other person's reminder, other person's alert sound, and light emission, the other person's approach degree is determined to be at level 1 and the presentation set corresponding to level 1 The contents of are output. If the other person's approach degree exceeds the threshold 2, it is determined that the other person's approach degree is at level 2, and the contents of the presentation set corresponding to level 2 are output. If the other person's approach degree exceeds the threshold 3, it is determined that the other person's approach degree is at level 3, and the contents of the presentation set corresponding to level 3 are output. Here, when the level is changed in the middle of the repetition cycle of the presentation set, at the time of switching, the presentation set on the rear side after switching is started.

  The control circuit 20 is configured with a microcomputer including a CPU, ROM, RAM, an interface unit, and the like as main components. The control circuit 20 starts to operate as the vehicle ignition switch is turned on, and every predetermined time. The approach recognition support process is repeatedly executed according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When the process of FIG. 2 starts, in step S101, various data from the input means 10 are collected to detect the approach of others. That is, the type, direction, distance, and the like of another person approaching the host vehicle is detected, and the degree of approach is calculated in step S102. Next, in step S103, it is determined whether or not the degree of approach is equal to or higher than the level 1 threshold value. If it is equal to or higher than the level 1 threshold value, the process proceeds to the next step S104. In step S104, a presentation set corresponding to the type of others and the level of approach is read. In step S105, the sound volume and the like are corrected in accordance with the degree of approach, and in step S106, an alert is presented to the driver by sound or light.

  According to the other person approach recognition support device having such a configuration, when another person approaches relatively to the own vehicle, the other person's alert sound assigned to each other's type is the other person's reminder sound. Since the other person's recollection sound is likely to be mixed with the environmental sound such as the actual sound, the approach of the other person and the other person's approach based on the other person's alert sound assigned for each type. The driver can surely recognize the type of the vehicle.

  In addition, since the other person's reminder sounds together with the other person's alert sound, the association between the other person's alert sound and the type of the other person may not come to mind at first. However, it becomes possible to learn and recognize gradually and gradually, so that when the other person's alert sound is generated, there is no need to wait for confirmation of the other person's reminder sound. It becomes possible to accurately recognize the approach of others and the type of others.

  In other words, it is not a caution sound that is irrelevant to the type of the other person for the purpose of calling attention as in the conventional example, but the information that enables the discrimination of the other person's type is included in the caution sound itself. It is possible to determine the approaching degree of the approaching other person and the type of the other person only by listening to the other person's alert sound without confirming the other person's recollection sound. Therefore, the support effect of the other person's approach recognition with respect to a driver | operator can be heightened.

  In addition, according to this device, when the degree of approach of the other person to the vehicle is low, that is, when the urgency to be recognized is low, the other person's alert sound is repeated repeatedly over a long period. The driver can be recognized and assisted with low alerting power. In addition, when the degree of approach of another person to the vehicle is high, that is, when the urgency to be recognized is high, it is configured so that the other person's alert sound is repeated repeatedly in a short period. The driver can be recognized and supported with high alerting power.

  In addition, according to the present apparatus, since the other person's recall sound and the other person's alert sound assigned to each other's type are set to a pitch corresponding to each other, the other person's recall sound and the other person's attention sound are set. Easier to learn how to provoke audible sounds.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the repetition period of the other person's alert sound is changed according to the level of the other person's approach is described, but the other person's alert sound is changed according to the level of the other person's approach. You may make it change a volume and the volume of another person's recall sound. For example, when the degree of approach is low, the volume is controlled to be small, and the volume is controlled to increase as the degree of proximity increases. By doing this, when the degree of proximity of the other person to the vehicle is low, that is, when the urgency to be recognized is low, the other person's alert sound is repeatedly sounded at a low volume, so that the distance to the other The driver can be recognized and assisted with low alerting power. Also, when the degree of proximity of others to the vehicle is high, that is, when the urgency to be recognized is high, the distance to which others are present by repeatedly sounding another person's alert sound at a high volume Can be recognized and supported by the driver with a high alerting power.

  Further, both the repetition cycle change and the volume change may be performed simultaneously.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, A deformation | transformation, improvement, etc. are possible suitably. In addition, the material, shape, dimensions, number, arrangement location, and the like of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary and are not limited as long as the present invention can be achieved.

21. Other person approach detection unit (Other person approach detection means)
22 Information Presentation Control Unit 22a Other Reminder Sound Generation Unit 22b Other Person Reminder Sound Generation Unit 22c Audio Output Unit 31 Speaker (Voice Output Unit)

Claims (3)

Other person approach detection means for detecting the degree of approach of the other person approaching relative to the traveling or stopped own vehicle and the type of the other person, assigned to each of the other person's types and the other The other person's recall sound created by the other person's recall sound creating means according to the detection result of the other person's approach detection means. A device for supporting recognition of others approaching a vehicle, comprising voice output means,
Other-person reminding sound creating means for creating other-person reminding sound assigned for each type of the others as a sound that can be distinguished from the driving environment sound and the other-person reminding sound, and the other-person reminding sound Together with a light emitting means for alerting the driver by light emission ,
The voice output means is created by the other-person alerting sound creating means at the same time as the other-person reminding sound or delayed from the other-person reminding sound according to the detection result of the other-person approach detecting means. The other person's alert sound is output together with the other person's reminder sound ,
The other person approach recognition support apparatus for vehicles , wherein the light emitting means changes a light emission method of the light source according to the type of the other person.   The other person recall sound is created as sound data continuous over a predetermined time, the other person alert sound is created as sound data continuous over a time shorter than the predetermined time, and the sound output means While the other person is relatively approaching, the other person's reminder sound and the other person's alert sound are repeatedly output, and the other person's alert sound has a higher degree of approach of the other person to the vehicle. 2. The other person approach recognition support device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle is output using at least one of a method of shortening the repetition period and a method of increasing the volume. The other-person reminding sound with a high average pitch is combined with the other-person reminding sound with a high average pitch, and the other-person reminding sound with a low average pitch is combined with the other-person reminding sound with a low average pitch. The other person approaching recognition support device for a vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein arousing sound is combined.

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