JP2011221573A - Driving support device and driving support system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable to inform surrounding vehicles more surely of a right/left turn or a course change of a vehicle whose driver forgets to perform a direction indicator operation.SOLUTION: When a navigation device 1 of a vehicle B detects operation omission of a direction indicator in the vehicle B, the device sends notifying information which includes at least indicating information that operation omission of the direction indicator is occurred, to outside of the vehicle B. And, based on the notifying information received from the vehicle B, a navigation device 1 of a vehicle A makes presentation by a display device 19 and a voice output device 20 to indicate a vehicle with operation omission of the direction indicator is present.

Description

  The present invention relates to a driving support device and a driving support system.

  Conventionally, there has been proposed a technique for automatically operating a device when a driver inadvertently forgets to operate the device. For example, in Patent Document 1, when it is forgotten to operate a direction indicator before a left or right turn at an intersection, a right turn or a left turn is determined based on route guidance information obtained from a navigation device, and the direction of the turn is determined. A technique for automatically blinking a lamp of a direction indicator is disclosed.

Japanese Patent No. 4120298

  However, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, when the lamp of the direction indicator of the driver's vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the direction indication forgotten vehicle) that has forgotten to operate the direction indicator is not lit due to a failure or the like. However, the driver of a vehicle other than the vehicle for which the direction instruction is forgotten (hereinafter referred to as the receiver vehicle) has a problem that the driver cannot know the right or left turn or the course change of the vehicle for which the direction instruction is forgotten.

  In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, if the direction indicator lamp failure is left unattended on the vehicle side where the direction indication is forgotten, the receiver vehicle side cannot cope with this, which causes more problems for the driver of the receiver vehicle. Was supposed to occur.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and its purpose is to more reliably turn left and right or change courses around a driver's vehicle that has forgotten to operate the direction indicator. It is an object to provide a driving support device and a driving support system that can be notified.

  According to the driving support system of claim 1, when the detection device mounted on the first vehicle detects forgetting to turn on the left and right lamps in the direction indicator (hereinafter, forgetting to operate the direction indicator), It is possible to notify the driving support device mounted on the second vehicle other than the first vehicle that the forgetting operation of the direction indicator has occurred. Then, when the driving support device receives a notification that the forgetting operation of the direction indicator has occurred, the driving support device presents that there is a vehicle in which the forgetting operation of the direction indicator exists. be able to.

  Therefore, according to the above configuration, even if the direction indicator lamp in the first vehicle in which the operation of the direction indicator has been forgotten is not lit due to a failure or the like, the driver of the second vehicle It is possible to know the first vehicle's left / right turn or course change. Therefore, according to the above configuration, it becomes possible to more reliably notify the vehicles around the driver's vehicle that has forgotten to operate the direction indicator of the left / right turn or course change.

  In addition, according to the configuration of the second aspect, since the travel route searched by the vehicle route guidance device can be used, the traveling direction of the first vehicle can be accurately predicted. In addition, since the moving route and the first current position information which is the information of the current position of the first vehicle can be used, the first vehicle is present at a point where a current right / left turn or lane change is required. It is also possible to determine whether or not. Therefore, it is possible to accurately detect forgetting to operate the direction indicator based on the moving route and the first current position information.

  Here, as a mode of detecting forgetting to operate the direction indicator in the first vehicle based on the above-described movement route and the first current position information, there are modes of claims 3 and 4.

  For example, as described in claim 3, the direction-forgetting direction detection means of the detection device reaches within a predetermined distance before the intersection where the first vehicle is scheduled to turn right or left based on the first current position information and the movement route. A first determination means for determining whether or not a lighting operation has been performed, and a lighting operation detection means for detecting an operation of lighting the left and right lamps in the direction indicator. The first determination means determines that the distance has reached the predetermined distance. When the lighting operation detecting means does not detect the lighting operation when the lighting operation is performed, forgetting to operate the direction indicator may be detected.

  When making a right or left turn at an intersection, the road traffic law stipulates that the direction indicator must be operated 30 meters before the intersection. It becomes possible to detect forgetting to operate the direction indicator in front of the planned intersection.

  Further, as in claim 4, the direction-forgetting direction detection means of the detection device requires a lane change before the intersection where the first vehicle is scheduled to turn right or left based on the first current position information and the movement route. A second determination unit that determines whether or not the predetermined time for reaching the vehicle has reached, and a lighting operation detection unit that detects a lighting operation of the left and right lamps in the direction indicator. If it is determined that the lighting operation has not been detected by the lighting operation detection means when it is determined that the predetermined time has been reached, forgetting to operate the direction indicator may be detected.

  According to the Road Traffic Act, it is stipulated by the Road Traffic Act that the direction indicator must be operated 3 seconds before the lane change when changing lanes of course changes. When a lane change is necessary to make a right or left turn at an intersection, it becomes possible to detect forgetting to operate the direction indicator before the lane change.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the detection device side determination means of the detection device determines that there is a risk of contact between the first vehicle and the second vehicle, it is directed toward the second vehicle. On the other hand, when the notification information is transmitted and the detection device side determination means does not determine that there is the risk, the notification information is not transmitted to the second vehicle. Therefore, the notification of forgetting to operate the direction indicator is not performed for the second vehicle which has no risk of contact with the first vehicle and does not have a high necessity for notification of forgetting to operate the direction indicator. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the driver of the second vehicle who does not need to be notified of forgetting to operate the direction indicator receives a presentation indicating that he / she has forgotten to operate the direction indicator and feels annoyed. Become.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when the presentation control means of the driving support apparatus determines that there is a risk of contact between the first vehicle and the second vehicle, the operation of the direction indicator is forgotten. On the other hand, if the detection device side determination means does not determine that there is a risk, the display indicating that the direction indicator has been forgotten is not performed. Therefore, even when the second vehicle receives the notification information from the first vehicle, there is no risk of contact with the first vehicle, and the necessity of notification of forgetting to operate the direction indicator is not high. In some cases, notification of forgetting to operate the direction indicator can be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the driver of the second vehicle who does not need to be notified of forgetting to operate the direction indicator receives a presentation indicating that he / she has forgotten to operate the direction indicator and feels annoyed. Become.

  Further, according to the driving support system of claim 7, when the forgetting operation of the direction indicator is detected by the detection device mounted on the first vehicle, the forgetting operation of the direction indicator has occurred. It is possible to notify the driving support device mounted on the second vehicle other than the first vehicle via the management center. Then, when the driving support device receives a notification that the forgetting operation of the direction indicator has occurred, the driving support device presents that there is a vehicle in which the forgetting operation of the direction indicator exists. be able to. Therefore, according to the above configuration, it becomes possible to more reliably notify the vehicles around the driver's vehicle that has forgotten to operate the direction indicator of the left / right turn or course change.

  Further, according to the configuration of claim 8, when the detection device mounted on the first vehicle detects forgetting operation of the direction indicator, the first indication that forgetting operation of the direction indicator has occurred. Not only directly from the first vehicle to the second vehicle, but also from the first vehicle to the second vehicle via the management center can be made possible. Therefore, according to the above configuration, the notification information cannot be transmitted directly from the first vehicle to the second vehicle due to the presence of an obstacle between the first vehicle and the second vehicle. In this case, the notification information can be transmitted from the first vehicle to the second vehicle via the management center.

  In addition, as described in claim 9, the management center includes a road obstacle information storage unit that stores road obstacle information, which is information on the position of road obstacles that force the vehicle to run out of the lane, and is detected. The apparatus includes road obstacle information acquisition means for acquiring road obstacle information stored in the road obstacle information storage unit, and the direction indicator forgetting detection means of the detection device includes first current position information and road obstacle information. Third determination means for determining whether or not the first vehicle has reached within a predetermined time to reach a point requiring a lane change in front of the road obstacle based on the road obstacle information acquired by the acquisition means. And a lighting operation detecting means for detecting the lighting operation of the left and right lamps in the direction indicator, and when the third determining means determines that the predetermined time has been reached, the lighting operation detecting means performs the lighting operation. We did not detect In the case, it may be as a mode to detect the operation forget.

  When changing the course, the road traffic law stipulates that the direction indicator must be operated 3 seconds before the lane change. When it is necessary to change the course to avoid an obstacle on the road, it is possible to detect forgetting to operate the direction indicator before the course is changed.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the detection device includes a road obstacle detection means for detecting a road obstacle ahead of the first vehicle (that is, a road obstacle forcing the vehicle to travel beyond the lane), Distance calculating means for calculating the distance from the vehicle 1 to the obstacle on the road detected by the road obstacle detecting means, and the detecting device for detecting direction indication of the detection device acquires the first current position information and the road obstacle information. Third determination means for determining whether or not the first vehicle has reached within a predetermined time of reaching a point requiring lane change before the road obstacle based on the road obstacle information acquired by the means; And a lighting operation detecting means for detecting the lighting operation of the left and right lamps in the direction indicator, and the lighting operation detecting means detects the lighting operation when it is determined that the predetermined time has been reached by the third determining means. If not, Work to forget may be aspects to detect the.

  When changing the course, the road traffic law stipulates that the direction indicator must be operated 3 seconds before the lane change. When it is necessary to change the course to avoid an obstacle on the road, it is possible to detect forgetting to operate the direction indicator before the course is changed.

  Further, according to the configuration of claim 11, there is a vehicle in which a forgetting operation has occurred based on notification information including vehicle identification auxiliary information that is information for assisting identification of the first vehicle. In addition to this, the second vehicle is also presented with information that assists in identifying the first vehicle. Therefore, according to the above configuration, the driver of the second vehicle can more easily identify the vehicle in which the direction instruction is forgotten, using information for assisting the identification of the first vehicle as a guide. Become.

  Further, as in a twelfth aspect, the vehicle specifying auxiliary information may be at least one of a vehicle registration number, a vehicle type, and a vehicle body color.

  According to the configuration of claim 13, forgetting to operate based on notification information including information indicating whether forgetting to turn on the left or right lamp in the direction indicator of the first vehicle is detected. In addition to the presence of the vehicle that has occurred, the second vehicle is presented to indicate whether forgetting to turn on the left or right lamp in the direction indicator of the first vehicle has occurred. It will be. Therefore, according to the above configuration, the driver of the second vehicle can know the direction of the left or right turn or course change of the first vehicle. Therefore, according to the above configuration, it becomes possible to more reliably notify the vehicle around the driver's vehicle that has forgotten to operate the direction indicator, the direction of right / left turn or course change.

  According to the driving support device of claim 14, the driving support device mounted on the second vehicle notifies the driving support device side that the forgetting operation of the direction indicator has occurred in the first vehicle. Can be received by receiving means. Then, when the driving support device receives a notification that the forgetting operation of the direction indicator has occurred, the driving support device presents that there is a vehicle in which the forgetting operation of the direction indicator exists. be able to. Therefore, according to the above configuration, even if the direction indicator lamp in the first vehicle in which the operation of the direction indicator has been forgotten is not lit due to a failure or the like, the driver of the second vehicle Forgetting direction indication of the first vehicle It is possible to know the turn of the vehicle or the course change. Therefore, according to the above configuration, it becomes possible to more reliably notify the vehicles around the driver's vehicle that has forgotten to operate the direction indicator of the left / right turn or course change.

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a driving support system 100. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a navigation device 1. FIG. (A)-(d) is the figure which showed an example of the alerting | reporting of blinker operation forgetting. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation flow of the driving support system 100. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a driving support system 200. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the schematic structure of the navigation apparatus 1a. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a management center 3. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation flow of the driving support system 200.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a driving support system 100 to which the present invention is applied. A driving support system 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes navigation devices 1 mounted on a plurality of vehicles (vehicles A, B, and C in FIG. 1).

  In addition, although the structure which includes the three navigation apparatuses 1 in the driving assistance system 100 was shown in FIG. 1, it is not necessarily restricted to this. Two navigation apparatuses 1 may be included in the driving support system 100, or more than three navigation apparatuses 1 may be included. However, hereinafter, for the sake of convenience, the description will be continued assuming that the route guidance system 100 includes three navigation devices 1 mounted on the vehicles A, B, and C, respectively.

  The navigation device 1 has a function of performing communication with the navigation device 1 mounted on a vehicle other than the host vehicle, in addition to the function of performing route guidance similar to that of a general navigation device. Yes.

  Here, a schematic configuration of the navigation device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the navigation device 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the navigation device 1 includes a position detector 11, a map data input device 16, a storage medium 17, an external memory 18, a display device 19, an audio output device 20, an operation switch group 21, a remote control terminal (hereinafter referred to as a remote control). ) 22, a remote control sensor 23, an external input unit 24, an inter-vehicle communication unit 25, and a control device 26.

  The position detector 11 includes an acceleration sensor 12 that detects the acceleration of the host vehicle, a gyroscope 13 that detects an angular velocity around the vertical direction of the host vehicle, and a wheel speed sensor 14 that detects the speed of the host vehicle from the rotational speed of each rolling wheel. , And a GPS receiver 15 for GPS (Global Positioning System) that detects the current position of the own vehicle based on radio waves from the artificial satellite, and periodically detects the current position and the traveling direction of the own vehicle. I do. That is, the position detector 11 sequentially acquires information on the current position and the traveling direction of the host vehicle. The position detector 11 corresponds to a first position information acquisition unit and a second position information acquisition unit in claims.

  In addition, each of these sensors 12 to 15 has an error having a different property, and is configured to be used while being complemented by a plurality of sensors. Depending on the accuracy of each sensor, the position detector 11 may be configured as a part of the above-described ones, and a geomagnetic sensor, a steering rotation sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, or the like (not shown) may be used.

  The map data input device 16 is loaded with a storage medium 17 and inputs various data including so-called map matching data, map data, and landmark data for improving the accuracy of position detection stored in the storage medium 17. It is a device for. The map data includes road data, background data, character data, and the like. As the storage medium 17, a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, a memory card, an HDD, or the like is used.

  The road data includes link data indicating a road and node data. A link is a link between nodes when the roads on the map are divided by a plurality of nodes such as intersections, branches, and merge points, and roads are configured by connecting the links. .

  The link data includes a unique number (link ID) for identifying the link, a link length indicating the link length, link shape information, a segment length indicating the segment length, and link start and end node coordinates (latitude / longitude). Road name, road type, road width, number of lanes, presence / absence of right / left turn dedicated lane, number of dedicated lanes, speed limit, etc.

  On the other hand, the node data is data such as a node ID given a unique number for each node on the map, node coordinates, node name, a connection link ID describing a link ID of a link connected to the node, and an intersection type. Consists of

  The background data is data in which each facility or terrain on the map is associated with the corresponding coordinates on the map. In addition, regarding the facility, the types, names, and address data of various facilities are included. The character data is data for displaying a place name, a facility name, a road name, etc. on a map, and is associated with coordinate data corresponding to the position to be displayed.

  The external memory 18 is a mass storage device such as a writable HDD. The external memory 18 stores a large amount of data and data that should not be erased even when the power is turned off, and frequently used data is copied from the map data input device 16 and used. . The external memory 18 may be a removable memory having a relatively small storage capacity.

  The display device 19 displays a map for guiding driving of the vehicle, a destination selection screen, and the like. For example, the display device 19 is capable of full color display, and includes a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, a plasma display, and the like. Can be configured. The voice output device 20 is composed of a speaker or the like, and outputs a guidance voice at the time of route guidance based on an instruction from the control device 26.

  For example, a touch switch or a mechanical switch integrated with the display device 19 is used as the operation switch group 21, and various functions (for example, map scale change, menu display selection, destination setting, Route search, route guidance start, current position correction, display screen change, volume adjustment, etc.). The operation switch group 21 includes switches for setting a departure place and a destination. By operating the switch, the user (that is, the occupant of the host vehicle) can set the departure point and the destination from the registered points, facility names, telephone numbers, addresses, and the like.

  The remote controller 22 is provided with a plurality of operation switches (not shown). By inputting various command signals to the control device 26 via the remote control sensor 23 by the switch operation, the same functions as the operation switch group 21 are provided. Can be executed.

  The external input unit 24 is an interface for the control device 26 to acquire information from various sensor groups of the vehicle. For example, the control device 26 acquires information from the left and right turn signal switches via the external input unit 24. Further, when the vehicle is equipped with a camera that captures the vicinity of the host vehicle (for example, a front camera that captures the front), the control device 26 acquires an image captured by the camera via the external input unit 24. become.

  For example, the left turn signal switch is turned on in response to the lamp lighting operation of the direction indicator of the driver at the time of turning left or changing the direction to the left direction, that is, the operation of raising the turn signal lever upward. When the left turn signal switch is turned on, the left lamp in the direction indicator blinks at a predetermined blinking cycle.

  Further, for example, the right turn signal switch is turned on in response to the lamp lighting operation of the driver's turn indicator when turning right or changing the course in the right direction, that is, the operation of lowering the turn signal lever. When the right turn signal switch is turned on, the right lamp in the direction indicator blinks at a predetermined blinking cycle.

  Left and right lamps (hereinafter referred to as turn signals) in the direction indicator include left and right front turn signals, left and right rear turn signals, and left and right side markers.

  The vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 25 transmits and receives information by wireless communication with the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 25 of the navigation device 1 mounted on another vehicle (that is, performs vehicle-to-vehicle communication). The inter-vehicle communication unit 25 may be configured to transmit and receive information by wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), wireless LAN, ZigBee (registered trademark), or the like.

  The control device 26 is configured as a normal computer, and includes a well-known CPU, a memory such as a ROM, an EEPROM, and a RAM, an I / O, and a bus line (all not shown) for connecting these configurations. It has been. The control device 26 is a navigation function based on various information input from the position detector 11, the map data input device 16, the external memory 18, the operation switch group 21, the remote control sensor 23, the external input unit 24, and the inter-vehicle communication unit 25. Processing (for example, map scale change processing, menu display selection processing, map matching processing, destination setting processing, route search execution processing, route guidance start processing, current position correction processing, display screen change processing, volume adjustment processing, cost Decision processing, etc.), detection processing of blinker lighting operation (hereinafter referred to as lighting operation detection processing), processing related to detection of blinker lighting operation forgotten (hereinafter referred to as blinker operation forgotten) (hereinafter referred to as blinker operation forgotten detection processing) , Processing related to the automatic control of the blinker, processing related to notification of forgetting to turn the blinker outside the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as winker) Anchor operation forget notification processing), the processing related to notification of the winker operation forget occurring in another vehicle (hereinafter, performing a notification related processing) and the like.

  In the route search execution process, when a destination is input from the operation switch group 21 and the remote control sensor 23, the control device 26 searches for an optimal route that satisfies preset search conditions such as distance priority and time priority. . The method for automatically searching for the optimum route is, for example, cost calculation by a well-known Dijkstra method, that is, road type, road width, left / right turn, number of passing intersections, presence / absence of traffic jam, link length, and transit time. The evaluation value is calculated using a cost constant such as The part responsible for the route search execution process of the control device 26 corresponds to the vehicle route guidance device in the claims.

  In the lighting operation detection process, the control device 26 detects a blinker lighting operation based on information from the left and right turn signal switches obtained via the external input unit 24. Specifically, when information indicating that the left turn signal switch is on is acquired, it is detected that an operation of turning on the left turn signal is performed. Further, when information indicating that the right turn signal switch is in an on state is acquired, it is detected that an operation of turning on the right turn signal is performed. Further, when the information indicating that the left and right turn signal switches are both on is not acquired, the turn-on operation of the turn signals is not detected. Therefore, the control device 26 corresponds to the lighting operation detection means in the claims.

  In the blinker operation forgotten detection process, the control device 26 obtains the route obtained by the route search execution process (that is, the guide route) and the current vehicle position information and the traveling direction information obtained by the position detector 11. Based on the map data input from the map data input device 16 and the result of the lighting operation detection process, detection of forgetting the blinker operation is performed.

  For example, an example of the blinker operation forgetting detection process when turning right or left at an intersection will be described below. In this processing, the control device 26 is based on the guide route, the current position and traveling direction information obtained by the position detector 11 and the map data input from the map data input unit 16. The nearest intersection where the vehicle is scheduled to make a right or left turn (hereinafter, a right / left turn target intersection) is extracted. Subsequently, the control device 26 calculates the distance of the host vehicle to the right / left turn target intersection (hereinafter, right / left turn target intersection arrival distance) based on the current position information and the map data.

  Further, the control device 26 determines whether or not the calculated left / right turn target intersection reaching distance has reached within a predetermined distance. Therefore, the control device 26 also corresponds to the first determination means in the claims. The predetermined distance mentioned here may be a distance within 30 m, which is a distance required to turn on the blinker in front of the intersection when turning left or right at the intersection, and can be arbitrarily set. For example, the predetermined distance may be set to about 20 m to 30 m. Then, the control device 26 forgets to turn the blinker when it does not detect the blinker lighting operation in the lighting operation detection process when it is determined that the calculated left / right turn target intersection reaching distance is within the predetermined distance. Detect. Therefore, the control device 26 also corresponds to the direction indication forgetting detection means in the claims.

  Furthermore, as another example, an example of the blinker operation forgetting detection process at the time of lane change for making a right or left turn at an intersection will be described below. In this process, the control device 26 extracts a right / left turn target intersection based on the guide route and the information on the current position and traveling direction of the host vehicle obtained by the position detector 11. Subsequently, based on the current position information and the map data input from the map data input device 16, the control device 26 is traveling in a lane appropriate for the vehicle to make a right / left turn at a right / left turn target intersection. It is determined whether or not. For example, it is determined that the vehicle is not traveling in an appropriate lane when the vehicle is planning to make a right turn at a right-left turn target intersection and is not traveling in a right-turn exclusive lane.

  When it is determined that the vehicle is not traveling in an appropriate lane, the control device 26 determines the current position information, the map data input from the map data input device 16, and the speed of the host vehicle obtained from the wheel speed sensor 14. Based on the information, a time required to reach a point 30 m before the right / left turn target intersection (that is, a point requiring a lane change) (hereinafter, a lane change point arrival time) is calculated.

  Further, the control device 26 determines whether or not the calculated lane change point arrival time has reached within a predetermined time. Therefore, the control device 26 also corresponds to the second determination means in the claims. The predetermined time mentioned here may be any time within 3 seconds, which is the time during which the turn-on operation is obligated before the course is changed when the course is changed, and can be arbitrarily set. For example, the predetermined time may be set to about 2 to 3 seconds. When the controller 26 determines that the calculated arrival time of the lane change point has reached within a predetermined time, if the lighting operation detection process has not detected the lighting operation of the blinker, the controller 26 forgets to turn the blinker. Detect.

  In the blinker operation forgotten detection process, the control device 26 not only detects the blinker operation forgotten detection, but also forgets to turn on the left or right turn signal based on the information used in the blinker operation forgotten detection process. What is necessary is just to make it the structure which detects. Which side of the left and right turn signals is forgotten can be determined based on the guidance route. For example, if it is planned to turn right at an intersection, if it is detected that the blinker operation has been forgotten, it can be determined that the right blinker lighting operation has been forgotten. In addition, if it is a case where a right turn is scheduled at an intersection, and if it is detected that the turn signal operation is forgotten when a lane change is necessary, it can be determined that the operation of turning on the right turn signal is forgotten. In the following, the description will be continued on the assumption that it is detected which side of the left and right turn signals has been forgotten to be turned on (hereinafter referred to as the “forgotten operation direction”) in the blinker operation forgotten detection process.

  In the process related to the automatic control of the winker, the control device 26 controls the ECU (hereinafter referred to as the winker ECU) that controls the direction indicator when detecting the forgetting winker operation and the forgetting operation direction in the winker operation forgetting detection process. Then, a control signal for instructing whether to change the left route or the right route and turn on the blinker is output. Note that the winker ECU to which this control signal is input causes the winker on the side commanded by the control signal to blink at a predetermined blinking cycle. Therefore, the control device 26 also corresponds to automatic lighting means in the claims. In addition, the part which bears the blinker operation forgetting detection process of the control apparatus 26 is equivalent to the detection apparatus of a claim.

  From the above, the control device 26 also functions as an automatic lighting unit that automatically turns on the winker (that is, the lamp) on the side where the blinker operation forgetting detection process is detected in the blinker operation forgetting detection process. In addition, it is good also as a structure which includes this automatic lighting means in the detection apparatus of a claim.

  Further, when the control device 26 determines that the vehicle has passed the right / left turn target intersection based on the guide route, the current position information, and the map data, the blinker blinks. Note that, even when the winker ECU is performing the turn signal lighting control in the direction indicator based on the control signal from the control device 26, when the driver's manual operation for the turn signal lighting is performed. The configuration may be such that manual operation of the driver is prioritized.

  In the blinker operation forgotten notification process, the control device 26 indicates that the blinker operation forgetting and the forgetting operation direction are detected when the blinker operation forgotten detection process is detected, and information indicating the forgotten operation direction. Information (hereinafter referred to as notification information) including information on the current position and traveling direction of the host vehicle detected by the position detector 11 and information on the speed of the host vehicle detected by the wheel speed sensor 14 is sent to the inter-vehicle communication unit 25. The notification information is transmitted from the inter-vehicle communication unit 25 to the outside of the vehicle. Therefore, the control device 26 also corresponds to a notification means in the claims. For example, the transmission of the notification information from the inter-vehicle communication unit 25 may be configured to be performed toward surrounding vehicles within the communication range of the inter-vehicle communication unit 25.

  Note that the notification information transmitted to the surrounding vehicles within the communication range of the inter-vehicle communication unit 25 is the vehicle that includes the navigation device 1 among the surrounding vehicles. Is received by the inter-vehicle communication unit 25 of the navigation device 1. Therefore, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 25 corresponds to the driving support device-side receiving means in the claims.

  Further, in the blinker operation forget notification process, the control device 26 also notifies the vehicle identification information (hereinafter referred to as vehicle identification auxiliary information) such as registration number (number), vehicle type, and body color information of the vehicle. It is good also as a structure transmitted from the vehicle-to-vehicle communication part 25 in addition to information. In this case, it is assumed that the vehicle specific auxiliary information is stored in advance in a memory such as an EEPROM of the control device 26. The control device 26 reads the vehicle specific auxiliary information from this memory, and in addition to the notification information described above, the inter-vehicle communication is performed. What is necessary is just to set it as the structure transmitted from the part 25. FIG.

  Here, although the registration number, the vehicle type, and the vehicle body color are listed as the vehicle identification auxiliary information, the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto. In addition to the registration number, vehicle type, and vehicle body color, any information that is effective for assisting vehicle identification can be used as vehicle identification auxiliary information.

  In the notification-related processing, the control device 26 uses the notification information transmitted from the inter-vehicle communication unit 25 of the navigation device 1 of a vehicle (here, vehicle B) other than the own vehicle (here, vehicle A). When it is acquired via the inter-vehicle communication unit 25 of the vehicle navigation device 1, it is determined whether or not it is necessary to notify the driver of the vehicle A about forgetting to turn the turn signal of the vehicle B.

  The control device 26 includes information on the current position and traveling direction of the vehicle B in the notification information, information on the speed of the vehicle B, information on the current position of the vehicle A detected by the position detector 11 of the own vehicle, and information on the own vehicle. Whether there is a risk of contact between the vehicle A and the vehicle B based on the speed information of the vehicle A acquired from the wheel speed sensor 14 and the map data input from the map data input device 16 of the host vehicle. (That is, whether there is a contact risk) is determined. Therefore, the vehicle B corresponds to the first vehicle in the claims, and the vehicle A corresponds to the second vehicle in the claims. Further, the information on the current position of the vehicle B corresponds to the first current position information, and the information on the current position of the vehicle A corresponds to the second current position information.

  Specifically, the presence / absence of a contact risk is determined in the same manner as a known method based on the traveling lanes of both vehicles, the speed of both vehicles, and the distance between the vehicles. As an example, the vehicle A is a succeeding vehicle of the vehicle B, and the inter-vehicle distance and speed of both the vehicles are such that sudden deceleration for turning right or left of the vehicle B or contact of both vehicles due to stopping is predicted. Whether or not there is a contact risk is determined by whether or not. When it is determined that there is a risk of contact, it is determined that it is necessary to notify the driver of the vehicle A about forgetting the turn signal operation of the vehicle B. A negative determination is made that there is no need to notify the driver of vehicle A.

  In the above example, the example of determining the presence or absence of contact risk using map data, information on the current position of both vehicles, information on the traveling direction of both vehicles, and information on the speed of both vehicles has been given. Not limited to this. The presence / absence of the contact risk may be determined by using part of the map data, the information on the current positions of the vehicles, the information on the traveling directions of the vehicles, and the information on the speed of the vehicles. . For example, it may be configured to determine whether there is a contact risk based only on the positional relationship between the vehicle A and the vehicle B (for example, an inter-vehicle distance) obtained from the map data and the current position information of both vehicles. In this case, the information included in the notification information may not include information on the traveling direction of the vehicle and information on the speed of the vehicle.

  If the control device 26 determines that there is a risk of contact, the presence of a vehicle in which the blinker operation is forgotten exists based on the notification information acquired via the inter-vehicle communication unit 25. The display device 19 displays an image indicating at least, or the voice output device 20 outputs a sound indicating at least that there is a vehicle in which the blinker operation is forgotten (that is, the blinker operation is forgotten) Notification). Therefore, the display device 19 and the audio output device 20 correspond to the presenting unit of the claims, and the control device 26 corresponds to the presenting control means of the claims. Moreover, the part which bears the notification relevant process of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication part 25 and the control apparatus 26 is equivalent to the driving assistance apparatus of a claim.

  An example of notification of forgetting to turn the blinker will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 (a) to 3 (d). FIG. 3A to FIG. 3D are diagrams showing an example of notification that the blinker operation is forgotten.

  As an example of the notification of forgetting the blinker operation, it indicates that the blinker operation has been forgotten in the notification information and based on the information indicating the forgetting operation direction, the vehicle in which the blinker operation has been forgotten (hereinafter, What is necessary is just to set it as the structure which produces | generates and displays on the display apparatus 19 the image which shows the operation forgetting operation lighting of which side (direction) of the left and right turn signals has occurred.

  As shown in Fig. 3 (a), an image that indicates which side of the left and right turn signals has been forgotten, such as "There is a possibility of turning left at the next intersection" It may be configured to use a speech balloon with a comment indicating whether forgetting to turn on the left or right turn signal, such as a speech balloon. In addition, since it is speculated that the blinker operation is forgotten, it is preferable to avoid a decisive comment when adding a comment.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, a mark indicating which forgetting operation of lighting on either side of the left and right turn signals, such as an arrow indicating a direction in which the forgotten operation vehicle is scheduled to change the course, is used. It is good also as a structure. Further, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), it indicates which of the left and right turn signals has been forgotten to be operated, such as an animation of blinking the turn signal for which the operation has been forgotten in the forgotten operation vehicle. A configuration using animation may also be used.

  In addition, the notification information does not necessarily include the information indicating that the forgetting operation of the winker has occurred and does not necessarily include the information indicating the direction of forgetting the operation, and includes information indicating that the forgetting of the winker operation has occurred. What is necessary is just the structure which is. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3D, an image indicating that the blinker operation is forgotten is displayed, such as a caution mark. Further, in addition to the mark for prompting attention, a balloon image with a comment for prompting attention may be displayed.

  In addition, when vehicle specific auxiliary information is contained in notification information, it is good also as a structure which uses vehicle specific auxiliary information. For example, when the registration information, vehicle type, vehicle body color, and the like are included in the notification information, the information may be displayed on the display device 19 together with the image described above. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which displays the image of the forgetting operation vehicle matched with a registration number, a vehicle type, a vehicle body color, etc. For example, when the notification information includes information indicating that the vehicle body color is white, the image of the forgotten operation vehicle may be configured to be white. According to this, the driver of the vehicle A can more easily specify the vehicle B that is the forgotten operation vehicle using the specific auxiliary information as a guide.

  Further, when displaying the image of the forgotten operation vehicle on the display device 19, the position of the forgotten operation vehicle in the range of the front windshield seen through the front windshield and the position of the image of the forgotten operation vehicle on the screen of the display device 19 are displayed. It is good also as a structure made to respond | correspond. That is, it is good also as a structure which makes the display apparatus 19 perform the display which imitated the actual positional relationship of the operation forgotten vehicle with respect to the vehicle by which the notification of forgetting blinker operation is performed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the image of the forgotten operation vehicle is generated and displayed on the display device 19 is shown, but the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto. For example, when the vehicle A is equipped with a camera that captures the vicinity of the host vehicle (for example, a front camera that captures the front), an image of the vehicle forgotten to be operated is displayed on the display device 19 using the image captured by the camera. It is good also as composition to do. In this case, for the image of the forgotten operation vehicle imaged by the camera, a balloon or mark with a comment indicating which of the left and right turn signals has been forgotten to be turned on. What is necessary is just to set it as the structure which displays an image combining.

  Moreover, it is good also as a structure which performs highlighting, such as displaying an arrow, a speech balloon, a mark, or enclosing with a frame with respect to the image of the forgotten operation vehicle imaged with the said camera. In addition, when specifying the forgotten operation vehicle in the image captured by the camera, the above specification may be performed based on the information on the current positions of the vehicles A and B.

  In addition, when the HUD device (head-up display device) that projects an image on the front windshield is used as the display device 19, the left and right sides described above are applied to the forgotten operation vehicle that can be seen through the front windshield. What is necessary is just to set it as the structure which displays combining the balloon and the image of the mark which attached the comment which shows which operation of lighting of which side of the turn signal has occurred on the front windshield.

  Moreover, it is good also as a structure which performs highlighting, such as displaying an arrow, a balloon, and a mark with a HUD apparatus, or enclosing with a frame with respect to the operation forgotten vehicle seen through a front windshield. In addition, when specifying the position on the front windshield of the forgotten operation vehicle that can be seen through the front windshield, the above specification may be made based on the information on the current positions of the vehicles A and B.

  In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the blinker operation forgetting notification is displayed using the display of an image on the display device 19 is not necessarily limited thereto. It is good also as a structure which performs notification of forgetting of blinker operation by outputting an audio | voice from the audio | voice output apparatus 20 with the display of the image on the display apparatus 19, or the notification of forgetting of the blinker operation only by the audio | voice output from the audio | voice output apparatus 20. It is good also as composition which performs. The voice output from the voice output device 20 includes a comment indicating which of the left and right turn signals has been forgotten to be turned on, a mere reminder comment indicating that forget of the turn signal operation has occurred, and the like. It is sufficient to adopt a configuration using

  Subsequently, an example of an operation flow of the driving support system 100 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation flow of the driving support system 100. This flow will be described assuming that the vehicle B is a forgotten operation vehicle and that the vehicle A is a vehicle that receives notification information from the vehicle B (hereinafter, a notification receiving vehicle). Further, in this flow, the case where the vehicle A is a vehicle following the vehicle B will be described as an example. Furthermore, in this flow, the case where the detection of forgetting the blinker operation at the time of turning left and right at an intersection is described as an example. In addition, this flow shall be started, for example when the ignition switch of the vehicle B is turned on.

  First, in step S1, the control device 26 of the navigation device 1 of the vehicle B executes the aforementioned blinker operation forgetting detection process, and proceeds to step S2. In step S2, if a blinker operation forgotten detection is detected in the blinker operation forget detection process (YES in step S2), the process proceeds to step S3. If the forgetting to turn signal operation is not detected in the blinker operation forgetting detection process (NO in step S2), the process returns to step S1 and the flow is repeated.

  In step S3, the control device 26 of the vehicle B executes a blinker operation forget notification process, and proceeds to step S4. As a result of the blinker operation forget notification process, notification information is transmitted from the inter-vehicle communication unit 25 of the vehicle B toward the surrounding vehicles. In step S4, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 25 of the navigation device 1 of the vehicle A receives the notification information transmitted from the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 25 of the vehicle B, and the process proceeds to step S5.

  In step S <b> 5, the control device 26 of the vehicle A executes notification-related processing, and determines whether or not it is necessary to notify the driver of the vehicle A about forgetting the blinker operation of the vehicle B. When it is determined that it is necessary to notify the driver of the vehicle A about forgetting to turn the turn signal of the vehicle B, that is, when there is a need for notification (YES in step S5), the process proceeds to step S6. If it is not determined that it is necessary to notify the driver of the vehicle A about forgetting to turn the turn signal of the vehicle B, that is, if there is no need for notification (NO in step S5), the flow ends.

  In step S6, the control device 26 of the vehicle A notifies the above-mentioned blinker operation forgetting and ends the flow. Therefore, the forgotten operation vehicle (here, vehicle B) corresponds to the first vehicle in the claims, and the notification receiving vehicle (here, vehicle A) corresponds to the second vehicle in the claims.

  According to the above configuration, when the navigation device 1 (specifically, the control device 26) of the vehicle B detects that the turn signal operation of the vehicle B is forgotten, the vehicle A is mounted with the fact that the turn signal operation has been forgotten. The navigation device 1 can be notified. And when the navigation apparatus 1 of the vehicle A receives the notification that the blinker operation is forgotten, it can present that the vehicle in which the blinker operation is forgotten exists. .

  Therefore, according to the above configuration, the driver of the vehicle A knows the right / left turn of the vehicle B or the course change even when the turn signal in the vehicle B in which the blinker operation is forgotten is not lit due to a failure or the like. Can do. Therefore, according to the above configuration, it becomes possible to more reliably notify vehicles around the driver's vehicle that has forgotten to perform the blinker operation of the left / right turn or the course change.

  Further, according to the above configuration, since the travel route (that is, the guide route) searched in the route search execution process can be used, the traveling direction of the vehicle can be accurately predicted, and the vehicle can turn right or left or change lanes. Can be predicted. Then, based on this prediction, it is possible to detect forgetting the blinker operation with high accuracy.

  Further, according to the above configuration, when the control device 26 of the vehicle A determines that there is a risk of contact between the vehicle A and the vehicle B, it presents that the blinker operation is forgotten, and determines that the contact risk exists. If not, presentation indicating that the blinker operation is forgotten is not performed. Therefore, even when vehicle A receives notification information from vehicle B, when there is no risk of contact with vehicle B and there is no high necessity for notification of forgetting blinker operation, notification of forgetting blinker operation is not performed. Can be. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a situation in which a driver of a vehicle who does not need to be notified of forgetting to turn the winker feels annoyed by receiving a presentation indicating that the winker operation has been forgotten.

  Further, according to the above configuration, the control device 26 of the vehicle A determines which of the left and right turn signals has been forgotten to be operated based on the notification information including information indicating the operation forgetting direction. Will be presented. Therefore, according to the above configuration, the driver of the vehicle A can know the direction of the vehicle B turning right or left or changing the course. Therefore, according to the above configuration, it becomes possible to more reliably inform the vehicles around the driver's vehicle forgetting to perform the turn signal operation of the direction of the right / left turn or the course change.

  In the above-described embodiment, the notification information is transmitted to surrounding vehicles within the communication range of the inter-vehicle communication unit 25 of the forgotten operation vehicle, and the control device 26 of the notification receiving vehicle needs to notify that the winker operation is forgotten. Although the configuration for determining NO is shown, the configuration is not necessarily limited thereto. For example, the control device 26 of a forgotten operation vehicle may determine a vehicle that needs to transmit notification information and transmit the notification information only to a vehicle that needs to transmit notification information.

  In this case, it is transmitted from the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 25 of the navigation device 1 of the vehicle (for example, the vehicle A or C) within the communication range of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 25 of the forgotten operation vehicle (for example, the vehicle B). Information on the current position of the vehicle A / C is received by the inter-vehicle communication unit 25 of the vehicle B. Based on the information on the current position of the vehicle A / C and the information on the current position of the vehicle B, What is necessary is just to make it the structure which judges the presence or absence of the contact risk with the vehicle B with the control apparatus 26 of the vehicle B. FIG. Here, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 25 of the vehicles A and C corresponds to the driving support device-side transmission unit in the claims, and the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 25 of the vehicle B corresponds to the detection device-side reception unit in the claims. Further, the control device 26 of the vehicle B corresponds to the detection device side determination means.

  Then, the notification information may be transmitted from the vehicle B to the vehicle determined to have a contact risk, while the notification information is not transmitted from the vehicle B to the vehicle determined to have no contact risk. For example, when it is determined that there is a contact risk between the vehicle A and the vehicle B and there is no contact risk between the vehicle C and the vehicle B, the notification information is transmitted from the vehicle B to the vehicle A. The notification information is not transmitted to the vehicle C.

  The determination of the presence or absence of the contact risk in the control device 26 of the vehicle B may be configured in the same manner as the determination of the presence or absence of the contact risk in the control device 26 of the vehicle A described above. In addition, although the structure which transmits the information of the present position of vehicle A * C from vehicle A * C to the vehicle B was shown here, it does not necessarily restrict to this. For example, not only the current position information of the vehicles A and C but also the information on the traveling direction and the speed information of the vehicles A and C are transmitted from the vehicles A and C to the vehicle B. It is good also as a structure which judges the presence or absence of a contact risk in the control apparatus 26 of the vehicle B also using the information of speed.

  According to the above configuration, it is possible to prevent the notification of forgetting the blinker operation from being performed for a vehicle that has no risk of contact with the vehicle B and does not require a high notification of the blinker operation. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a situation in which a driver of a vehicle who does not need to be notified of forgetting to turn the winker feels annoyed by receiving a presentation indicating that the winker operation has been forgotten.

  In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the vehicle A receives the notification information from the vehicle B through inter-vehicle communication has been described. However, the configuration is not necessarily limited thereto. For example, the notification information from the vehicle B may be transmitted to the vehicle A through the center, and the notification information transmitted from the center may be received by the vehicle A.

  Below, this structure is demonstrated using drawing. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a driving guidance system 200 to which the present invention is applied. The driving guidance system 200 shown in FIG. 5 includes each navigation device 1a mounted on a plurality of vehicles (vehicles A, B, and C in FIG. 5) and the management center 3. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those shown in the drawings used in the description of the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  The navigation device 1a has the same configuration as the navigation device 1 except that the navigation device 1a includes a center communication unit 27. The navigation device 1a has a function of performing route guidance in the same manner as the navigation device 1 and a function of communicating with the navigation device 1a mounted on a vehicle other than the host vehicle. (That is, it has a function of performing communication via a communication network).

  Here, a schematic configuration of the navigation device 1a will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the navigation device 1a. As shown in FIG. 6, the navigation device 1a includes a position detector 11, a map data input device 16, a storage medium 17, an external memory 18, a display device 19, an audio output device 20, an operation switch group 21, a remote control 22, and a remote control sensor 23. , An external input unit 24, an inter-vehicle communication unit 25, a control device 26, and a center communication unit 27.

  The center communication unit 27 communicates with the management center 3 via a network. For example, the center communication unit 27 transmits notification information sent from the control device 26 to the management center 3. The center communication unit 27 probes the current position and traveling direction information of the host vehicle obtained by the position detector 11 sent from the control device 26, the speed information of the host vehicle obtained by the wheel speed sensor 14, and the like. Information is transmitted to the management center 3. Further, the center communication unit 27 receives road obstacle information, which will be described later, and notification information derived from a vehicle other than the host vehicle when transmitted from the management center 3.

  The center communication unit 27 may be configured to connect to a network through an in-vehicle communication module used for telematics communication such as a DCM (data communication module) mounted on a vehicle, for example, via a mobile phone connected via Bluetooth or the like. It is good also as a structure connected to a network.

  Further, when a vehicle equipped with the navigation device 1a is equipped with a camera that captures the periphery of the host vehicle (for example, a front camera that captures the front), an obstacle on the road is detected from the image captured by the camera. The information on the detected road obstacle (hereinafter, road obstacle information) may be transmitted from the center communication unit 27 to the management center 3 as probe information. The on-road obstacle referred to here refers to an on-road obstacle that forces the vehicle to run off a lane such as a road parked vehicle. The road obstacle information may be, for example, information (coordinates or the like) of a place where the road obstacle is detected.

  In addition, what is necessary is just to set it as the structure performed by the well-known image recognition which recognizes the object in an image using the dictionary for image recognition, for example for the detection of the road obstacle from the image imaged with the camera. In this case, for example, using a dictionary (specifically, a cascade of boosted class discriminator with a haar-like feature characterized by a rectangular luminance difference) that has been machine-learned about obstacles on the road in advance, the road from the detection target image Obstacles may be detected.

  Further, when the control device 26 of the navigation device 1a can acquire road obstacle information from the management center 3 via the center communication unit 27, in the blinker operation forgotten detection processing, the control device 26 performs route search execution processing. Of the current position and traveling direction of the own vehicle obtained by the position detector 11, the map data input from the map data input device 16, road obstacle information, and lighting operation detection processing Based on the result, detection of blinker operation forgotten is detected. Therefore, the control device 26 corresponds to the on-road obstacle information acquisition means.

  For example, an example of a blinker operation forgetting detection process at the time of a course change to avoid an obstacle on the road will be described below. In this process, the control device 26 has information on the current position and traveling direction of the host vehicle obtained by the guide route and the position detector 11, map data inputted from the map data input device 16, and road obstacle information. In addition, the nearest road obstacle (hereinafter referred to as a course change target road obstacle) that the host vehicle is scheduled to pass through is extracted. Subsequently, the control device 26 calculates a time required to reach an obstacle on the route change target road (hereinafter referred to as an obstacle arrival time on the route change target road) based on the current position information and the map data.

  Further, the control device 26 determines whether or not the calculated route change target road arrival time has reached within a predetermined time. Therefore, the control device 26 also corresponds to the third determination means in the claims. The predetermined time mentioned here may be any time within 3 seconds, which is the time during which the turn-on operation is obligated before the course is changed when the course is changed, and can be arbitrarily set. For example, the predetermined time may be set to about 2 to 3 seconds. Then, the control device 26 determines that the blinker lighting operation has not been detected in the lighting operation detection process when it is determined that the calculated route change target road arrival time has reached within the predetermined time. Detect forgotten operation.

  According to this, when a course change is necessary to avoid an obstacle on the road such as a road parked vehicle, it is possible to detect forgetting the blinker operation before the course change.

  Subsequently, the management center 3 is a base station stationary on the ground, and is configured from a server. Here, a schematic configuration of the management center 3 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the management center 3. The management center 3 includes a communication device 31, a map database (hereinafter referred to as map DB) 32, a traffic information database (hereinafter referred to as traffic DB) 33, and a control device 34. The management center 3 may be composed of a single server or may be composed of a plurality of servers.

  The communication device 31 can communicate with the navigation device 1a via a network. For example, the communication device 31 receives notification information and probe information transmitted from the navigation device 1 a and sends them to the control device 34. Further, the communication device 31 transmits notification information sent from the control device 34 to the navigation device 1a in accordance with an instruction from the control device 34. The communication device 31 corresponds to a center side receiving unit and a center side transmitting unit.

  The map DB 32 stores the same map data as described above. In addition, the traffic DB 33 stores probe information such as the current position of the vehicle, the traveling direction of the vehicle, the speed of the vehicle, and road obstacle information received by the communication device 31. Therefore, traffic DB33 is equivalent to the road obstacle information storage part of a claim.

  The control device 34 is configured as a normal computer, and has a well-known CPU, memory such as ROM, EEPROM, and RAM, I / O, and a bus line (all not shown) for connecting these configurations. Is provided. The control device 26 executes processing related to notification of forgetting to turn the blinker based on various information input from the communication device 31, the map DB 32, and the traffic DB 33.

  For example, when the control device 34 receives the notification information transmitted from the inter-vehicle communication unit 25 of the navigation device 1a of the forgotten operation vehicle (here, vehicle B) via the communication device 31, the control device 34 About forgetting to turn the blinker It is determined whether or not it is necessary to notify a driver of a vehicle around the forgotten operation vehicle (here, vehicles A and C).

  Specifically, the control device 34 includes information on the current position and traveling direction of the vehicle B in the notification information, information on the speed of the vehicle B, and the current position and traveling direction of the vehicles A and C stored in the traffic DB 33. Based on the speed information and the map data stored in the map DB 32, it is determined whether or not there is a risk of contact between the vehicles A and C and the vehicle B. Therefore, the control device 34 corresponds to the center side determination means in the claims.

  Note that the control device 34 makes a positive determination that it is necessary to notify that the vehicle B has forgotten to operate the turn signal for the vehicle determined to be in contact with the vehicle B, and the vehicle determined to have no contact risk with the vehicle B. Then, a negative determination is made that it is not necessary to notify about forgetting to turn the vehicle B. The determination of the presence / absence of the contact risk is performed in the same manner as the determination of the presence / absence of the contact risk in the control device 26 described above.

  The control device 34 transmits notification information from the communication device 31 toward the vehicle that is determined to be informed, and does not transmit notification information to the vehicle that is determined not to be informed. do it. For example, when it is determined that there is a contact risk between the vehicle A and the vehicle B and there is no contact risk between the vehicle C and the vehicle B, the notification information is transmitted to the vehicle A. No notification information will be sent.

  According to the above configuration, it is possible to prevent the notification of forgetting the blinker operation from being performed for a vehicle that has no risk of contact with the vehicle B and does not require a high notification of the blinker operation. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a situation in which a driver of a vehicle who does not need to be notified of forgetting to turn the winker feels annoyed by receiving a presentation indicating that the winker operation has been forgotten.

  Subsequently, an example of an operation flow of the driving support system 200 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation flow of the driving support system 200. This flow will be described assuming that the vehicle B is a forgotten operation vehicle and the vehicles A and C are vehicles around the vehicle B. Further, the description will be made assuming that the vehicle A is a vehicle that receives notification information from the vehicle B via the management center 3 (hereinafter, a notification receiving vehicle). Furthermore, in this flow, the case where the vehicle A is a vehicle following the vehicle B will be described as an example. Moreover, in this flow, the case where the detection of forgetting the blinker operation at the time of turning left or right at an intersection is described as an example will be described. In addition, this flow shall be started, for example when the ignition switch of the vehicle B is turned on.

  First, in step S11, the control device 26 of the navigation device 1a of the vehicle B executes the above-described blinker operation forgetting detection process, and proceeds to step S12. In step S12, when it is detected that the winker operation is forgotten in the winker operation forget detection process (YES in step S12), the process proceeds to step S13. If the forgetting to winker operation is not detected in the winker operation forgetting detection process (NO in step S12), the process returns to step S11 and the flow is repeated.

  In step S13, the control device 26 of the vehicle B executes a blinker operation forget notification process, and proceeds to step S14. As a result of the blinker operation forget notification process, the notification information is transmitted from the inter-vehicle communication unit 25 of the vehicle B to the management center 3. In step S14, the communication device 31 of the management center 3 receives the notification information transmitted from the inter-vehicle communication unit 25 of the vehicle B, and proceeds to step S15.

  In step S15, the control device 34 that has received the notification information via the communication device 31 executes notification-related processing, and the vehicle around the vehicle B that needs to be notified of forgetting the turn signal operation of the vehicle B (that is, the vehicle A · C) Determine whether or not there is. If it is determined that there is a vehicle that needs to be notified of forgetting to turn the turn signal of the vehicle B, that is, if there is a need for notification (YES in step S15), the process proceeds to step S16. If it is not determined that there is a vehicle that needs to be notified of forgetting to turn the turn signal of the vehicle B, that is, if there is no necessity for notification (NO in step S15), the flow ends. In step S16, the notification information is transmitted from the communication device 31 of the management center 3 to the vehicle determined to be informed (here, vehicle A), and the process proceeds to step S17.

  In step S17, the center communication unit 27 of the navigation device 1a of the vehicle A receives the notification information transmitted from the communication device 31 of the management center 3, and proceeds to step S18. In step S18, the control device 26 of the vehicle A notifies the above-mentioned blinker operation forgetting and ends the flow. In addition, what is necessary is just to set it as the structure which does not determine the presence or absence of the alerting | reporting necessity on the navigation apparatus 1a side, when the presence or absence of alerting | reporting necessity is judged by the management center 3 side.

  According to the above configuration, when the navigation device 1a (specifically, the control device 26) of the vehicle B detects that the turn signal operation of the vehicle B has been forgotten, the fact that the turn signal operation has been forgotten has occurred via the management center 3. Notification can be made to the navigation device 1a mounted on the vehicle A. And when the navigation apparatus 1a of the vehicle A receives a notification that the blinker operation is forgotten, it can present that there is a vehicle in which the blinker operation is forgotten. . Therefore, according to the above configuration, it becomes possible to more reliably notify the vehicle around the driver's vehicle that has forgotten to perform the turn signal operation to turn right or left or change the course.

  In addition, according to the above configuration, management can be performed when notification information cannot be transmitted directly from the forgotten operation vehicle to the notification receiving vehicle due to the presence of an obstacle between the forgotten operation vehicle and the notification receiving vehicle. It is also possible to transmit notification information from the forgotten operation vehicle to the notification receiving vehicle via the center 3.

  In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the navigation apparatus 1a detects the obstacle on the road from the image captured by the camera has been described. However, the configuration is not necessarily limited thereto. For example, the image captured by the camera and the information on the position of the imaging location are transmitted as probe information to the management center 3, and the control device 34 of the management center 3 uses the image captured by the camera in the same manner as the control device 26 of the navigation device 1a. It is good also as a structure which detects a road obstacle. In this case, the road obstacle information detected by the control device 34 may be stored in the traffic DB 33 as road obstacle information.

  In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the driving support system 200 does not include the navigation device 1 is shown, but the configuration is not necessarily limited thereto. For example, the driving support system 200 may include the navigation device 1.

  When both the notification information directly transmitted from the forgotten operation vehicle and the notification information transmitted from the forgotten operation vehicle via the management center 3 are received by the notification receiving vehicle, either notification information is It may be configured to ignore.

  In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the control device 26 of the navigation device 1a acquires road obstacle information from the management center 3 and performs the blinker operation forgetting detection process at the time of a course change to avoid the road obstacle is shown. However, this is not necessarily the case. For example, the navigation device 1 or 1a for a forgotten operation vehicle may be configured to detect a road obstacle and perform a blinker operation forgotten detection process at the time of a course change to avoid the road obstacle. This configuration will be described below.

  First, for example, when a vehicle (in this case, vehicle B) equipped with the navigation device 1 or 1a is equipped with a front camera that images the front of the host vehicle, an obstacle on the road ( In other words, the configuration may be such that the path change target road obstacle) is detected by the control device 26 of the navigation device 1 or 1a. In addition, what is necessary is just to set it as the structure performed by well-known image recognition similarly to the detection of the path change target road obstacle from the image imaged with the front camera. Therefore, the control device 26 corresponds to the road obstacle detection means in the claims.

  Further, when the vehicle B is equipped with a sensor such as a millimeter wave radar or an ultrasonic sonar capable of detecting a distance to an obstacle on the road ahead of the host vehicle, the vehicle B What is necessary is just to set it as the structure which calculates the distance from the vehicle B to the course change target road obstacle with the control apparatus 26 of the navigation apparatus 1 * 1a. Therefore, the control device 26 corresponds to the distance calculation means in the claims.

  Furthermore, the time until the control device 26 of the navigation device 1 or 1a reaches the obstacle on the route change target road based on the calculated distance to the obstacle on the route change target (that is, the obstacle arrival on the route change target road) Time) is calculated, and it may be configured to determine whether or not the calculated route change target road arrival time has reached within a predetermined time. Therefore, the control device 26 corresponds to the third determination means in the claims. The predetermined time mentioned here may be any time within 3 seconds, which is the time during which the turn-on operation is obligated before the course is changed when the course is changed, and can be arbitrarily set. For example, the predetermined time may be set to about 2 to 3 seconds. Then, when the control device 26 determines that the calculated route change target road arrival time has reached within the predetermined time, the turn signal detection operation has not detected the turn signal lighting operation. What is necessary is just to set it as the structure which detects forgetting operation.

  In the above-described embodiment, the lighting device detection process, the blinker operation forget detection process, the process related to the winker automatic control, the blinker operation forget notification process, and the notification-related process are performed by the control device 26 of the navigation device 1 or 1a. Although the configuration is shown, it is not necessarily limited to this. For example, it is good also as a structure which performs lamp operation detection processing, blinker operation forgetting detection processing, processing related to the winker automatic control, blinker operation forget notification processing, and notification related processing with devices other than the vehicle-mounted navigation device.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and the technical means disclosed in different embodiments can be appropriately combined. Such embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

1.1a Navigation device (vehicle route guidance device, driving support device), 3 management center, 11 position detector (first position information acquisition means, second position information acquisition means), 12 acceleration sensor, 13 gyroscope, 14 Wheel speed sensor, 15 GPS receiver, 16 Map data input device, 17 Storage medium, 18 External memory, 19 Display device (presentation unit), 20 Audio output device (presentation unit), 21 Operation switch group, 22 Remote control, 23 Remote control Sensor, 24 external input unit, 25 vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit (driving support device side receiving unit), 26 control unit (lighting operation detecting unit, first determining unit, direction instruction forgetting detecting unit, second determining unit, automatic lighting unit, Detection device, notification means, presentation control means, third determination means), 27 center communication unit, 31 communication device (center side reception means, center side transmission) Communication means), 32 map DB, 33 traffic DB (on-road obstacle information storage unit), 34 control device (center side judging means), 100 driving support system, 200 driving support system

Claims (14)

Mounted on the first vehicle,
A driving support system including a detection device including a direction indication forgetting detection means for detecting forgetting to turn on the left and right lamps in the direction indicator provided in the first vehicle,
A driving support device mounted on a second vehicle other than the first vehicle;
The detection device is:
A notification means for transmitting, to the outside of the first vehicle, notification information including at least information indicating that the forgetting operation has occurred when the forgetting operation detection means detects the forgetting operation;
The driving support device includes:
Driving support apparatus side receiving means for receiving notification information transmitted from the notification means;
Based on the notification information received by the driving support device side receiving means, and a presentation control means for causing the presentation unit to present at least that there is a vehicle in which the forgetting operation is present, A driving support system characterized by In claim 1,
The first vehicle is
A vehicle route guidance device that sequentially acquires first current position information, which is information on the current position of the first vehicle, and searches for and guides a travel route through which the first vehicle can reach a destination from a departure place. Have
The direction indication forgetting detection means of the detection device is,
A driving support system that detects the forgotten operation based on the first current position information and the movement route. In claim 2,
The direction indication forgetting detection means of the detection device is,
First determination means for determining whether or not the first vehicle has reached within a predetermined distance before an intersection scheduled to turn right or left based on the first current position information and the travel route;
Lighting operation detection means for detecting the lighting operation of the left and right lamps in the direction indicator,
Driving assistance characterized in that the forgetting operation is detected when the lighting operation detecting means does not detect the lighting operation when the first determining means determines that the distance is within the predetermined distance. system. In claim 2 or 3,
The direction indication forgetting detection means of the detection device is,
Based on the first current position information and the travel route, it is determined whether or not the first vehicle has reached within a predetermined time to reach a point requiring lane change before an intersection scheduled to turn left or right. A second determination means;
Lighting operation detection means for detecting the lighting operation of the left and right lamps in the direction indicator,
When the second determination means determines that the predetermined time has been reached, the forgetting operation is detected when the lighting operation detection means has not detected the lighting operation. Support system. In any one of Claims 2-4,
The driving support device includes:
Second position information acquisition means for sequentially acquiring second current position information which is information on the current position of the second vehicle;
Driving support device side transmission means for transmitting the second current position information to the outside of the second vehicle,
The detection device is:
Detecting device side receiving means for receiving second current position information transmitted from the driving support device side transmitting means;
Whether there is a risk of contact between the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on the first current position information and the second current position information received by the detector side receiving means. Detecting device side determination means for determining,
The notification means of the detection device includes:
When the detection device side determination means makes an affirmative determination, the notification information is transmitted to the second vehicle, while when the detection device side determination means makes a negative determination, the second vehicle is notified. A driving support system characterized by not transmitting the notification information. In any one of Claims 2-4,
The notification means of the detection device includes:
In addition to information indicating that the forgetting operation has occurred when the forgetting direction detecting means detects the forgetting operation of the direction indicator, notification information including at least the first current position information is included in the first information. Send it out of the vehicle,
The driving support device includes:
Comprising second position information acquisition means for sequentially acquiring second current position information which is information on the current position of the second vehicle;
The presentation control means of the driving support device includes:
Risk of contact between the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on the second current position information and the first current position information of the notification information received by the driving support apparatus side receiving means. Determine whether there is
When an affirmative determination is made, based on the notification information, the presentation unit makes at least a presentation indicating that there is a vehicle in which the operation is forgotten. On the other hand, when a negative determination is made A driving support system characterized in that the presenting unit does not perform the presenting. Mounted on the first vehicle,
First position information acquisition means for sequentially acquiring first current position information which is information on the current position of the first vehicle;
A driving support system including a detection device including a direction indication forgetting detection unit that detects forgetting to turn on the left and right lamps in each direction indicator provided in the first vehicle,
Mounted on a second vehicle other than the first vehicle,
Second position information acquisition means for sequentially acquiring second current position information which is information on the current position of the second vehicle;
A driving support apparatus comprising: a driving support apparatus side transmitting means for transmitting the second current position information to the outside of the second vehicle;
A management center capable of communicating with the detection device and the driving support device;
The detection device is:
When the forgetting direction detecting means detects forgetting operation of the direction indicator, information indicating that the forgetting operation has occurred and notification information including at least the first current position information are provided outside the first vehicle. A notification means for sending to
The management center
Center-side receiving means for receiving notification information transmitted from the notification means of the detection device and second current position information transmitted from the driving assistance device-side transmission means of the driving assistance device;
Is there a risk of contact between the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on the second current position information received by the center side receiving means and the first current position information of the notification information? Center side judgment means for judging whether or not,
When the affirmative determination is made by the center side determination means, the notification information is transmitted to the second vehicle. A center-side transmission means that does not transmit the notification information,
The driving support device includes:
Driving support apparatus side receiving means for receiving notification information transmitted from the center side transmitting means;
Presentation control means for causing the presentation unit to present at least that the vehicle in which the forgotten operation has occurred is present based on the notification information received by the driving support apparatus side receiving means. A driving support system characterized by In claim 6,
A management center capable of communicating with the detection device and the driving support device;
The management center
Center-side receiving means for receiving notification information transmitted from the notification means of the detection device and second current position information transmitted from the driving assistance device-side transmission means of the driving assistance device;
Whether there is a risk of contact between the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on the second position information received by the center side receiving means and the first current position information of the notification information Center side judging means for judging whether
When the affirmative determination is made by the center side determination means, the notification information is transmitted to the second vehicle. On the other hand, when a negative determination is made by the center side determination means, the notification information is directed to the second vehicle. A center-side transmission means that does not transmit the notification information,
The driving support device side receiving means of the driving support device is
Receiving notification information transmitted from the center side transmission means;
The presentation control means of the driving support device is
Driving assistance characterized in that, based on the notification information received by the driving assistance device side receiving means, the presentation unit makes at least a presentation indicating that there is a vehicle in which the forgetting operation has occurred. system. In claim 7 or 8,
The management center
A road obstacle information storage unit that stores road obstacle information, which is information on the position of road obstacles that force the vehicle to travel beyond the lane,
The detection device is:
Road obstacle information acquisition means for acquiring the road obstacle information stored in the road obstacle information storage unit,
The direction indication forgetting detection means of the detection device is,
Based on the first current position information and the road obstacle information acquired by the road obstacle information acquisition means, a predetermined time for the first vehicle to reach a point that requires a lane change before the road obstacle Third determination means for determining whether or not the maximum value has been reached,
Lighting operation detection means for detecting the lighting operation of the left and right lamps in the direction indicator,
Driving assistance characterized in that the forgetting operation is detected when the lighting operation detecting means does not detect the lighting operation when the third determining means determines that the predetermined time has been reached. system. In any one of Claims 1-6,
The detection device is:
Road obstacle detection means for detecting an obstacle on the road in front of the first vehicle and forcing the vehicle to run out of the lane;
A distance calculation means for calculating a distance from the first vehicle to the road obstacle detected by the road obstacle detection means, the direction indication forgetting detection means of the detection device,
Based on the first current position information and the information on the distance from the first vehicle to the obstacle on the road calculated by the distance calculation means, the first vehicle changes the lane before the obstacle on the road. Third determination means for determining whether or not a predetermined time for reaching the required point has been reached;
Lighting operation detection means for detecting the lighting operation of the left and right lamps in the direction indicator,
Driving assistance characterized in that the forgetting operation is detected when the lighting operation detecting means does not detect the lighting operation when the third determining means determines that the predetermined time has been reached. system. In any one of Claims 1-10,
The detection device is:
Vehicle identification auxiliary information storing vehicle identification auxiliary information which is information for assisting identification of the first vehicle;
The notification means of the detection device includes:
In addition to information indicating that the forgetting operation has occurred when the forgetting direction detecting means detects the forgetting operation, notification information including at least the vehicle specifying auxiliary information is provided outside the first vehicle. Send
The presentation control means of the driving support device is
Presentation showing at least information for assisting the identification of the first vehicle in addition to the presence of the vehicle in which the forgetting operation is present based on the notification information received by the driving support device side receiving means The driving support system characterized by causing the presenting unit to perform. In claim 11,
The driving support system, wherein the vehicle identification auxiliary information is at least one of a vehicle registration number, a vehicle type, and a vehicle body color. In any one of Claims 1-12,
The notification information transmitted from the notification means of the detection device includes, in addition to information indicating that the operation forgotten has occurred, which direction of lighting of the left and right lamps in the direction indicator has been detected Contains at least information indicating
The presentation control means of the driving support device is
Based on the notification information received by the driving support device side receiving means, in addition to the presence of the vehicle in which the forgetting operation has occurred, in either direction of lighting of the left and right lamps in the direction indicator A driving support system characterized by causing the presenting unit to present at least whether operation forgetting has occurred. Mounted on the second vehicle,
Driving assistance for receiving notification information from outside the second vehicle, including at least information indicating that forgetting to turn on the left and right lamps in the turn indicator in the first vehicle other than the second vehicle A device-side receiving means;
Based on the notification information received by the driving support device side receiving means, and a presentation control means for causing the presentation unit to present at least that there is a vehicle in which the forgetting operation is present, A driving support device characterized by being

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