SURROUNDING AREA MONITORING APPARATUS, SURROUNDING AREA MONITORING SYSTEM AND SURROUNDING AREA MONITORING METHOD
First Claim
1. A surrounding area monitoring apparatus mounted in a self vehicle to which a notification device that gives information to a driver of the self vehicle is connected, the surrounding area monitoring apparatus comprising:
- a vehicle position acquirer to acquire positional information of the self vehicle;
a line-of-sight acquirer to acquire line-of-sight information about the driver of the self vehicle;
a visual field calculator to calculate a dynamic visual field range of the driver of the self vehicle in accordance with the line-of-sight information acquired by the line-of-sight acquirer;
a communicator to transmit the positional information of the self vehicle acquired by the vehicle position acquirer and the dynamic visual field range of the driver of the self vehicle calculated by the visual field calculator to another vehicle around the self vehicle, and to receive positional information of said another vehicle and a dynamic visual field range of a driver of said another vehicle;
a decider to decide whether the self vehicle is outside the dynamic visual field range of the driver of said another vehicle or not from the positional information of the self vehicle acquired by the vehicle position acquirer and from the positional information of said another vehicle and the dynamic visual field range of the driver of said another vehicle, which are received from the communicator; and
a notification controller to instruct the notification device to output notification information when the decider decides that the self vehicle is outside the dynamic visual field range of the driver of said another vehicle.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A surrounding area monitoring apparatus receives visual field information about a driver of a surrounding vehicle of a self vehicle, and decides whether the self vehicle is outside the visual field of the surrounding vehicle or not in accordance with the visual field information. Accordingly, it can learn the present dynamic visual field range of the driver of the surrounding vehicle actually traveling around the self vehicle, and obtain more accurate visual field range. Thus, it can appropriately give information that is really necessary and suppress giving unnecessary information.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A surrounding area monitoring apparatus mounted in a self vehicle to which a notification device that gives information to a driver of the self vehicle is connected, the surrounding area monitoring apparatus comprising:
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a vehicle position acquirer to acquire positional information of the self vehicle; a line-of-sight acquirer to acquire line-of-sight information about the driver of the self vehicle; a visual field calculator to calculate a dynamic visual field range of the driver of the self vehicle in accordance with the line-of-sight information acquired by the line-of-sight acquirer; a communicator to transmit the positional information of the self vehicle acquired by the vehicle position acquirer and the dynamic visual field range of the driver of the self vehicle calculated by the visual field calculator to another vehicle around the self vehicle, and to receive positional information of said another vehicle and a dynamic visual field range of a driver of said another vehicle; a decider to decide whether the self vehicle is outside the dynamic visual field range of the driver of said another vehicle or not from the positional information of the self vehicle acquired by the vehicle position acquirer and from the positional information of said another vehicle and the dynamic visual field range of the driver of said another vehicle, which are received from the communicator; and a notification controller to instruct the notification device to output notification information when the decider decides that the self vehicle is outside the dynamic visual field range of the driver of said another vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A surrounding area monitoring method for giving information to a driver of a self vehicle via a notification device connected to the self vehicle, the surrounding area monitoring method comprising:
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acquiring by a vehicle position acquirer, positional information of the self vehicle; acquiring by a line-of-sight acquirer, line-of-sight information about the driver of the self vehicle; calculating by a visual field calculator a dynamic visual field range of the driver of the self vehicle in accordance with the line-of-sight information acquired by the line-of-sight acquirer; transmitting by a communicator the positional information of the self vehicle acquired by the vehicle position acquirer and the dynamic visual field range of the driver of the self vehicle calculated by the visual field calculator to another vehicle around the self vehicle, and to receive positional information of said another vehicle and a dynamic visual field range of the driver of said another vehicle; deciding by a decider whether the self vehicle is outside the dynamic visual field range of the driver of said another vehicle or not from the positional information of the self vehicle acquired by the vehicle position acquirer and from the positional information of said another vehicle and the dynamic visual field range of the driver of said another vehicle, which are received by the communicator; and instructing by a notification controller the notification device to output notification information when the decider decides that the self vehicle is outside the dynamic visual field range of the driver of said another vehicle.
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16. A surrounding area monitoring system including a first surrounding area monitoring apparatus mounted in a first vehicle to which a first notification device for giving information to a driver of the first vehicle is connected and a second surrounding area monitoring apparatus mounted in a second vehicle to which a second notification device for giving information to a driver of the second vehicle is connected, wherein in the surrounding area monitoring system,
the first surrounding area monitoring apparatus comprises: -
a first vehicle position acquirer to acquire positional information of the first vehicle; a first line-of-sight acquirer to acquire line-of-sight information about the driver of the first vehicle; a first visual field calculator to calculate a dynamic visual field range of the driver of the first vehicle in accordance with the line-of-sight information acquired by the first line-of-sight acquirer; a first communicator to transmit the positional information of the first vehicle acquired by the first vehicle position acquirer and the dynamic visual field range of the driver of the first vehicle calculated by the first visual field calculator to the second vehicle, and to receive positional information of the second vehicle and a dynamic visual field range of the driver of the second vehicle; a first decider to decide whether the first vehicle is outside the dynamic visual field range of the driver of the second vehicle or not from the positional information of the first vehicle acquired by the first vehicle position acquirer and from the positional information of the second vehicle and the dynamic visual field range of the driver of the second vehicle, which are received by the first communicator; and a first notification controller to instruct the first notification device to output notification information when the first decider decides that the first vehicle is outside the dynamic visual field range of the driver of the second vehicle, and the second surrounding area monitoring apparatus comprises; a second vehicle position acquirer to acquire positional information of the second vehicle; a second line-of-sight acquirer to acquire line-of-sight information about the driver of the second vehicle; a second visual field calculator to calculate a dynamic visual field range of the driver of the second vehicle in accordance with the line-of-sight information acquired by the second line-of-sight acquirer; a second communicator to transmit the positional information of the second vehicle acquired by the second vehicle position acquirer and the dynamic visual field range of the driver of the second vehicle calculated by the second visual field calculator to the first vehicle, and to receive positional information of the first vehicle and the dynamic visual field range of the driver of the first vehicle; a second decider to decide whether the second vehicle is outside the dynamic visual field range of the driver of the first vehicle or not from the positional information of the second vehicle acquired by the second vehicle position acquirer and from the positional information of the first vehicle and the dynamic visual field range of the driver of the first vehicle, which are received by the second communicator; and a second notification controller to instruct the second notification device to output the notification information when the second decider decides that the second vehicle is outside the dynamic visual field range of the driver of the first vehicle.
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Specification