Driving assistance system

• US 20050231340A1
• Filed: 04/14/2005
• Published: 10/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Tauchi, Nobutaka
• Granted Patent: US 7,215,254 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/435
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/008 for anti-collision purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/161 Decentralised systems, e.g. inter-vehicle communication

Abstract

When a driving assistance system of a navigation device in a subject vehicle is able to communicate with a cooperative remote driving assistance system in an oncoming vehicle, images are obtained from individual front monitor cameras of the subject vehicle and the oncoming vehicle. These obtained images are exchanged. From within these images, common objects are recognized to thereby compute a positional relationship between the subject vehicle and the oncoming vehicle. The computed positional relationship is then shown in a display unit by a vehicular model using an outline of a top view of a vehicle. Consequently, a driver can intuitively recognize the positional relationship between the subject vehicle and the oncoming vehicle by seeing the display unit.

Claims

1. A driving assistance system that is provided in a subject vehicle and communicates with at least one of remote driving assistance systems, the driving assistance system comprising:

a detecting unit that detects a position of the subject vehicle and outputs positional information;

a communicating unit that communicates with a remote driving assistance system;

a displaying unit that displays various information; and

a controlling unit that

sends the positional information outputted by the detecting unit via the communicating unit to the remote driving assistance system,

receives comparable positional information of a given vehicle that is provided with the remote driving assistance system via the communicating unit from the remote driving assistance system, and

causes the displaying unit to display using a vehicular model a positional relationship between the subject vehicle and the given vehicle based on the positional information of the subject vehicle and the comparable positional information of the given vehicle, while the subject vehicle approaches and passes the given vehicle,

wherein the vehicular model includes shapes of related vehicles relating to the positional information and the comparable positional information.

2. The driving assistance system of claim 1,

wherein the vehicular model is formed using only outlines of top views of the related vehicles.

3. The driving assistance system of claim 1,

wherein as a distance between the subject vehicle and the given vehicle becomes small, a contraction scale in which the vehicular model is displayed becomes large.

4. The driving assistance system of claim 1,

wherein when a distance between the subject vehicle and the given vehicle is less than a given distance, the positional relationship is displayed by using the vehicular model.

5. The driving assistance system of claim 4,

wherein, when a distance between the subject vehicle and the given vehicle is not less than the given distance, the positional relationship is displayed by using another vehicular model, which includes only positions of the related vehicles without including the shapes of the related vehicles.

6. The driving assistance system of claim 1,

wherein the position of the subject vehicle is determined based on a reference point within the subject vehicle,

wherein, when a position of the detecting unit is different from the reference point, the positional information detected by the detecting unit is modified into positional information that is estimated to be obtained using the reference point, and

wherein the control unit sends the estimated positional information via the communicating unit.

7. The driving assistance system of claim 1,

wherein, when the subject vehicle is parked, the controlling unit memorizes positional information relating to a position where the subject vehicle is parked, and

wherein, when the remote driving assistance system requests transmission of positional information, the controlling unit sends the memorized positional information via the communicating unit to the remote driving assistance system.

8. The driving assistance system of claim 7,

wherein, when the subject vehicle is parked, the controlling unit memorizes parking information representing that the subject vehicle is being parked in addition to the positional information, and

wherein, when the remote driving assistance system requests the transmission, the controlling unit sends the memorized parking information along with the memorized positional information via the communicating unit to the remote driving assistance system.

9. The driving assistance system of claim 1,

wherein, the controlling unit

communicates with a certain remote driving assistance system provided in a certain vehicle following the subject vehicle via the communicating unit,

obtains certain positional information of the certain vehicle via the communicating unit from the certain remote driving assistance system, and

wherein the controlling unit

sends following-vehicle-considered positional information that includes the certain positional information in addition to the positional information of the subject vehicle via the communicating unit to the remote driving assistance system provided in the given vehicle, and

receives comparable following-vehicle-considered positional information via the communicating unit from the remote driving assistance system provided in the given vehicle, and

causes the displaying unit to display using the vehicular model a positional relationship among vehicles relating to the following-vehicle-considered positional information and the comparable following-vehicle-considered positional information, while the subject vehicle approaches and passes the given vehicle.

10. The driving assistance system of claim 1,

wherein the controlling unit

sends, additionally, size information relating to a size of the subject vehicle via the communicating unit to the remote driving assistance system,

receives, additionally, given size information relating to a size of the given vehicle via the communicating unit from the remote driving assistance system, and

uses the size information and the given size information for determining a size of the vehicular model.

11. A driving assistance system that is provided in a subject vehicle and communicates with at least one of remote driving assistance systems, the driving assistance system comprising:

an image outputting unit that photographs a surrounding area of the subject vehicle to thereby output an image;

a communicating unit that communicates with a remote driving assistance system;

a displaying unit that displays various information; and

a controlling unit that

sends the image outputted by the image outputting unit via the communicating unit to the remote driving assistance system,

receives a comparable image via the communicating unit from the remote driving assistance system, and

causes the displaying unit to display using a vehicular model a positional relationship between the subject vehicle and a given vehicle where the remote driving assistance system is provided based on the image and the comparable image, while the subject vehicle approaches and passes the given vehicle,

wherein the vehicular model includes shapes of related vehicles relating to the image and the comparable image.

12. The driving assistance system of claim 11,

wherein the vehicular model is formed using only outlines of top views of the related vehicles.

13. The driving assistance system of claim 11,

wherein the controlling unit

sends, additionally, size information relating to a size of the subject vehicle via the communicating unit to the remote driving assistance system,

receives, additionally, given size information relating to a size of the given vehicle via the communicating unit from the remote driving assistance system, and

uses the size information and the given size information for determining a size of the vehicular model.

14. The driving assistance system of claim 13, further comprising:

a road information obtaining unit that obtains road information including information relating to at least one of a road width and a position of a road side,

wherein the controlling unit further displays a road map based on the obtained road information in addition to the vehicular model.

15. The driving assistance system of claim 14,

wherein as a distance between the subject vehicle and the given vehicle becomes small, a contraction scale in which the vehicular model and the road map is displayed becomes large.

16. The driving assistance system of claim 14,

wherein the controlling unit

determines whether the subject vehicle is able to pass the given vehicle based on the size information, the given size information, and the obtained road information, and

causes the displaying unit to display a determination result.

17. The driving assistance system of claim 16,

wherein the controlling unit does not determine whether the subject vehicle is able to pass the given vehicle when a speed of the subject vehicle is a given speed or more.

18. The driving assistance system of claim 16,

wherein, when the controlling unit does not determine whether the subject vehicle is able to pass the given vehicle, the controlling unit determines whether the subject vehicle is able to pass the given vehicle with a door mirror of the subject vehicle closed, and

wherein, when it is determined that the subject vehicle is able to pass the given vehicle with the door mirror of the subject vehicle closed, the controlling unit outputs a signal to cause the door mirror to be closed.

19. The driving assistance system of claim 18,

wherein, when the subject vehicle completes passing the given vehicle after the controlling unit outputs the signal to cause the door mirror to be closed, the controlling unit outputs a signal to cause the door mirror to be opened.

20. The driving assistance system of claim 13,

wherein the controlling unit

obtains steering information of the subject vehicle,

estimates a traveling track of the subject vehicle based on the obtained steering information, and

causes the displaying unit to further display the estimated traveling track of the subject vehicle.

21. The driving assistance system of claim 20,

wherein the controlling unit

sends the obtained steering information to the remote driving assistance system,

receives comparable steering information,

estimates a traveling track of the given vehicle based on the comparable steering information, and

causes the displaying unit to further display the estimated traveling track of the given vehicle.

22. The driving assistance system of claim 13,

wherein the controlling unit

outputs at least one of steering information and advancing information, wherein the at least one is necessary for the subject vehicle to pass the given vehicle based on the road information and the positional relationship between the subject vehicle and the given vehicle.

23. A driving assistance system that is provided in a subject vehicle and communicates with at least one of remote driving assistance systems, the driving assistance system comprising:

a communicating unit that communicates with a given remote driving assistance system provided in a given vehicle;

an obtaining unit that obtains vehicle-related information relating to at least one of the subject vehicle and the given vehicle;

a displaying unit that displays various information; and

a controlling unit that

sends the obtained vehicle-related information via the communicating unit to the given remote driving assistance system,

receives comparable vehicle-related information via the communicating unit from the given remote driving assistance system, and

causes the displaying unit to display a positional relationship between related vehicles relating to the vehicle-related information and the comparable vehicle-related information, using a vehicular model that includes shapes of the related vehicles, based on the vehicle-related information and the comparable vehicle-related information, while the subject vehicle approaches and passes the given vehicle.

24. The driving assistance system of claim 23,

wherein the obtaining unit detects a position of the subject vehicle,

wherein the vehicle-related information includes a position of the subject vehicle, while the comparable vehicle-related information includes a position of the given vehicle.

25. The driving assistance system of claim 23,

wherein the obtaining unit photographs a surrounding area of the subject vehicle, and

wherein the vehicle-related information includes an image of the surrounding area of the subject vehicle while the comparable vehicle-related information includes an image of the surrounding area of the given vehicle.

26. The driving assistance system of claim 23,

wherein the vehicular model is formed using only outlines of top views of the related vehicles.

27. The driving assistance system of claim 23,

wherein, the controlling unit

communicates with a certain remote driving assistance system provided in a certain vehicle following the subject vehicle via the communicating unit,

obtains certain vehicle-related information via the communicating unit from the certain remote driving assistance system, and

wherein the controlling unit

sends following-vehicle-considered information that includes the certain vehicle-related information in addition to the vehicle-related information of the subject vehicle via the communicating unit to the given remote driving assistance system, and

receives comparable following-vehicle-considered information via the communicating unit from the given remote driving assistance system, and

causes the displaying unit to display using the vehicular model a positional relationship among vehicles relating to the following-vehicle-considered and the comparable following-vehicle-considered information, while the subject vehicle approaches and passes the given vehicle.