DRIVING SUPPORT DEVICE AND DRIVING SUPPORT METHOD

• US 20200135025A1
• Filed: 12/31/2019
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Maeda, Takashi
• Granted Patent: US 10,922,971 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096783 where the origin of the information is a roadside individual element

Abstract

A driving support device includes: an intersection information acquiring unit 3 to obtain signal light information about traffic signals installed at one or more intersections ahead of a road along which the vehicle is traveling and to obtain distances to the intersections; a vehicle state detector 4 to detect a position and speed of travel of the vehicle; a signal passableness deciding unit 5 to decide a passable or impassable state of the traffic signals by the vehicle from the signal light information, the distances to the intersections, and the position and speed of travel of the vehicle; and a display controller 7 to display the passable or impassable state of the traffic signals decided by the signal passableness deciding unit 5 by changes of color on the map.

Claims

1. A driving support device for assisting a driver to drive a vehicle, the driving support device comprising:

an intersection information acquirer to obtain signal light information about traffic signals installed at one or more intersections ahead of the vehicle on a road along which the vehicle is traveling and to obtain distances to the intersections;

a vehicle state detector to detect a position and speed of travel of the vehicle;

a signal passableness decider to decide a passable or impassable state of the traffic signals on a basis of the obtained signal light information, the obtained distances to the intersections, and the detected position and speed of travel of the vehicle;

a display controller to display, on a display, a map including the passable or impassable state of the traffic signals decided by the signal passableness decider, the passable or impassable state of the traffic signals being indicated by changes of color on the display; and

a congestion detector that detects traffic congestion ahead of the vehicle on the road along which the vehicle is traveling that is expected to reduce the speed of travel of the vehicle, wherein

the display controller is configured to terminate the display of the passable or impassable state of the traffic signals, in direct response to the congestion detector detecting the traffic congestion that is expected to reduce the speed of travel of the vehicle.

2. The driving support device according to claim 1, wherein the displayed map further includes the position of the vehicle.

5. The driving support device according to claim 1, wherein the congestion detector detects traffic congestion by remotely receiving congestion information from an external system.

6. The driving support device according to claim 1, wherein the map simultaneously includes the passable or impassable state of a first traffic signal and a second traffic signal from among the traffic signals decided by the signal passableness decider.

3. A driving support method for assisting a driver to drive a vehicle, the driving support method comprising the steps of:

obtaining, by an intersection information acquirer, signal light information about traffic signals installed at one or more intersections ahead of a vehicle on a road along which the vehicle is traveling and distances to the intersections;

detecting, by a vehicle state detector, a position and speed of travel of the vehicle;

deciding, by a signal passableness decider, a passable or impassable state of the traffic signals on a basis of the obtained signal light information and the obtained distances to the intersections, and the detected position and speed of travel of the vehicle;

displaying, by a display controller, on a display a map including the passable or impassable state of the traffic signals being indicated by changes of color on the display;

detecting, by a congestion detector, traffic congestion ahead of the vehicle on the road along which the vehicle is traveling that is expected to reduce the speed of travel of the vehicle; and

terminating, by the display controller, the display of the passable or impassable state of the traffic signals, in direct response to the traffic congestion that is expected to reduce the speed of travel of the vehicle being detected by the congestion detector.

4. The driving support method according to claim 3, wherein the displayed map further includes the position of the vehicle.