Driving support apparatus

• US 20100295668A1
• Filed: 11/12/2009
• Published: 11/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Kataoka, Hiroaki
• Granted Patent: US 8,410,919 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/435
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/025 Active steering aids, e.g. helping the driver by actively influencing the steering system after environment evaluation B62D1/28 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/029 Steering assistants using warnings or proposing actions to the driver without influencing the steering system
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/588 Recognition of the road, e.g. of lane markings; Recognition of the vehicle driving pattern in relation to the road

Abstract

A driving support ECU comprises: a roadside object detection section for detecting, in a case where a lane marking WR on at least one of the right side and left side is detected by a white line detection section and another lane marking WL is not detected, a roadside object GL on the other of the right side and left side; a white line estimation part for estimating a position of a lane marking VL1 on the other of the right side and the left side based on the detected roadside object GL; and an information outputting section for determining a departure from the lane in which the vehicle VC is running, based on the estimated position of the lane marking VL1 on the other of the right side and left side.

Claims

1. A driving support apparatus, mounted in a vehicle and operable to output driving support information to a driver, comprising:

a white line detection part for detecting a lane marking installed on at least one of a right side and a left side of a lane in which the vehicle is running;

a roadside object detection part for detecting, in a case where one of lane markings on one of the right side and the left side is detected and the other of the lane markings on the other of the right side and the left side is not detected by the white line detection part, a roadside object on the other of the right side and the left side;

a white line estimation part for estimating a position of the other of the lane markings on the other of the right side and the left side based on the roadside object detected by the roadside object detection part; and

an information outputting part for outputting the driving support information based on the position of the other of the lane markings on the other of the right side and the left side, the position estimated by the white line estimation part.

2. The driving support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the roadside object detection part detects, as the roadside object on the other of the right side and the left side, a roadside object being in parallel with the one of the lane markings on the one of the right side and the left side or having a substantially same curvature radius as a curvature radius which the one of the lane markings on the one of the right side and the left side has.

3. The driving support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the white line estimation part estimates, as a position of the other of the lane markings on the other of the right side and the left side, a position which is located at a predetermined first distance inward of the lane, in which the vehicle is running, from the position of the roadside object detected by the roadside object detection part.

4. The driving support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information outputting part outputs the driving support information for preventing a departure from the lane in which the vehicle is running.

5. A driving support apparatus, mounted in a vehicle and operable to output driving support information to a driver, comprising:

a white line detection part for detecting a lane marking installed on at least one of a right side and a left side of a lane in which the vehicle is running;

a roadside object detection part for detecting a roadside object installed on said at least one of the right side and the left side of the lane in which the vehicle is running;

a virtual lane marking estimation part for estimating, based on the lane marking detected by the white line detection part and the roadside object detected by the roadside object detection part, a position of a virtual lane marking used for outputting the driving support information; and

an information outputting part for outputting the driving support information based on the position of the virtual lane marking, the position estimated by the virtual lane marking estimation part.

6. The driving support apparatus according to claim 5, wherein in a case where the lane marking on said at least one of the right side and left side of the lane in which the vehicle is running is detected and on said at least one of the right side and left side, the roadside object is detected by the roadside object detection part, the virtual lane marking estimation part estimates, as the position of the virtual lane marking, a position which is located at a predetermined second distance inward of the lane, in which the vehicle is running, from the position of the lane marking.

7. The driving support apparatus according to claim 6, comprising

a distance setting part for setting the second distance, wherein

the roadside object detection part judges a category of the roadside object,

the distance setting part sets the second distance based on the category of the roadside object, judged by the roadside object detection part, and

the virtual lane marking estimation part estimates, as the position of the virtual lane marking, a position which is located at the second distance inward of the lane, in which the vehicle is running, from the position of the lane marking, the second distance set by the distance setting part.

8. The driving support apparatus according to claim 7, wherein based on the category of the roadside object, the distance setting part estimates a degree of damage in a case of a collision with the roadside object and sets as the second distance a value whose magnitude increases in accordance with an increase in the degree of damage, the category judged by the roadside object detection part.

9. The driving support apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the information outputting part outputs the driving support information for preventing a departure from the lane in which the vehicle is running.

10. A driving support apparatus, mounted in a vehicle and operable to output driving support information to a driver, comprising:

a white line detection part for detecting a lane marking installed on at least one of a right side and a left side of a lane in which the vehicle is running;

a lane determination part for determining, based on information indicating a position of the vehicle and map information, whether or not a road on which the vehicle is running has a center line;

a center line estimation part for estimating, in a case where the lane determination part determines that the road does not have the center line, a position of a virtual center line based on the lane marking detected by the white line detection part; and

an information outputting part for outputting the driving support information based on the position of the virtual center line, estimated by the center line estimation part.

11. The driving support apparatus according to 10, wherein the center line estimation part estimates, as the position of the virtual center line, a substantially center position between lane markings on both of the right side and the left side, the lane markings detected by the white line detection part.

12. The driving support apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the information outputting part outputs the driving support information for preventing a departure from the lane on which the vehicle is running.

13. A driving support apparatus, mounted in a vehicle and operable to output driving support information to a driver, comprising:

a white line detection part for detecting a lane marking installed on at least one of a right side and a left side of a lane in which the vehicle is running;

a stopping lane determination part for determining, based on information indicating a position of the vehicle and map information, whether or not there is a vehicle stopping bay, whose lane marking is shifted outward by a predetermined width of a stopping lane, in front of the vehicle;

a lane marking correction part for correcting, in a case where the stopping lane determination part determines that there is the vehicle stopping bay, a position of the lane marking on said at least one of the right side and the left side, on which the vehicle stopping bay is installed, based on the lane marking detected by the white line detection part; and

an information outputting part for outputting the driving support information based on the position of the lane marking, corrected by the lane marking correction part.

14. The driving support apparatus according to claim 13, wherein based on a position of a part of the lane marking detected by the white line detection part, the lane marking correction part corrects a position of a lane marking on a side on which the vehicle stopping bay is installed, the part installed behind the vehicle stopping bay.

15. The driving support apparatus according to claim 13, wherein based on a position of a part of the lane marking, detected by the white line detection part, on a side on which the vehicle stopping bay is not installed, the lane marking correction part corrects the position of the lane marking on the side on which the vehicle stopping bay is installed.

16. The driving support apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the information outputting part outputs the driving support information for preventing a departure from the lane in which the vehicle is running.

17. A driving support apparatus, mounted in a vehicle and operable to output driving support information to a driver, comprising:

a white line detection part for detecting a lane marking installed on at least one of a right side and a left side of a lane in which the vehicle is running;

a fork determination part for determining, based on information indicating a position of the vehicle and map information, whether or not there is a fork spot in a road, on which the vehicle is running, in front of the vehicle;

a direction estimation part for estimating a traveling direction of the vehicle at the fork spot in the road;

a virtual lane marking estimation part for generating at the fork spot in the road, in a case where the fork determination part determines that there is the fork spot in the road, a virtual lane marking used for outputting the driving support information so as to traverse a forked road which is not in the traveling direction estimated by the direction estimation part; and

an information outputting part for outputting the driving support information based on a position of the virtual lane marking estimated by the virtual lane marking estimation part.

18. The driving support apparatus according to claim 17, comprising

an operation acquisition part for acquiring operation information indicating information of an operation performed by a driver, wherein

the direction estimation part estimates the traveling direction of the vehicle at the fork spot in the road based on the operation information acquired by the operation acquisition part.

19. The driving support apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the operation acquisition part acquires, as the operation information, at least one of steering operation information and turn signal operation information.

20. The driving support apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the direction estimation part estimates the traveling direction of the vehicle at the fork spot in the road based on routing assistance information from a navigation system.

21. The driving support apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the virtual lane marking estimation part generates, in a case where the direction estimation part estimates that the vehicle heads toward a right side of the forked road, the virtual lane marking along the lane marking on the right side, detected by the white line detection part, and generates, in a case where the direction estimation part estimates that the vehicle heads toward a left side of the forked road, the virtual lane marking along the lane marking on the left side, detected by the white line detection part.

22. The driving support apparatus according to claim 17, comprising:

a reliability estimation part for estimating reliability of a position of the lane marking detected by the white line detection part; and

a position correction part for correcting, based on the reliability of the position of the lane marking, a position of the virtual lane marking generated by the virtual lane marking estimation part, the reliability estimated by the reliability estimation part, wherein

the information outputting part outputs the driving support information based on the position of the virtual lane marking, corrected by the position correction part.

23. The driving support apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the reliability estimation part estimates the reliability of the position of the lane marking based on a category of the lane marking detected by the white line detection part.

24. The driving support apparatus according to claim 23, wherein

as the category of the lane marking, at least one of a white solid line, a white broken line, a yellow broken line, Botts'"'"' dots, and cat'"'"'s-eyes is included, and

the reliability estimation part estimates that the reliability descends in order of the white solid line, the white broken line, the yellow broken line, the Botts'"'"' dots, and the cat'"'"'s-eyes.

25. The driving support apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the position correction part corrects the position of the virtual lane marking generated by the virtual lane marking estimation part more outward in accordance with a decrease in the reliability of the position of the lane marking, estimated by the reliability estimation part.

26. The driving support apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the information outputting part outputs the driving support information for preventing a departure from the lane in which the vehicle is running.