Apparatus for assisting driver in carefully driving

• US 5,850,193 A
• Filed: 01/03/1996
• Issued: 12/15/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries Limited (Sumitomo Corporation)
• Inventors: Shimoura, Hiroshi, Tenmoku, Kenji
• Primary Examiner(s): SWARTHOUT, BRENT
• Application Number:
  US08/582,395
• Time in Patent Office: 1,077 Days
• Field of Search: 340/995, 340/575, 340/576, 340/439, 340/460, 340/988, 340/990, 701/209, 701/210
• US Class Current: 340/995.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network

Abstract

Herein disclosed is an apparatus mounted on a vehicle for assisting a vehicle driver in carefully driving. The apparatus comprises data obtaining means for obtaining vehicle movement data indicative of a movement of the vehicle, estimating means for estimating a current location of the vehicle on the basis of the vehicle movement data obtained by the data obtaining means, information providing means for providing the vehicle driver with guide information as to the current location of the vehicle estimated by the estimating means, and judging means for judging whether travel of the vehicle is anomalous or not, on the basis of the vehicle movement data obtained by the obtaining means. The information providing means is operated to provide the vehicle driver with attention information that the travel of the vehicle is anomalous when the judging means judges that the travel of the vehicle is anomalous. The apparatus thus constructed serves not only as navigation apparatus but also as a anomalous travel preventing apparatus.

Claims

1. An apparatus mounted on a vehicle for assisting a vehicle driver in carefully driving, comprising:

data obtaining means for obtaining vehicle movement data indicative of a movement of said vehicle;

estimating means for estimating a current location of said vehicle on the basis of the vehicle movement data obtained by said data obtaining means;

information providing means for providing said vehicle driver with guide information as to the current location of said vehicle estimated by said estimating means;

judging means for judging whether action of said vehicle is unstable or not, on the basis of the vehicle movement data obtained by said obtaining; and

information providing means for producing destination information as to a relation between the current location of said vehicle and a destination of said vehicle driver;

said information providing means being operated to provide said vehicle driver with attention information that the action of said vehicle is unstable when said judging means judges that the action of said vehicle is unstable;

said information providing means being operated to further provide said vehicle driver with said destination information to guide said vehicle driver to said destination,

said information producing means being operated to replace said destination with facilities effective in causing said vehicle to recover from the unstable action to produce facility information as to a relation between the current location of said vehicle and said facilities when said judging means judges that the action of said vehicle is unstable, and

said information providing means being operated to further provide said vehicle driver with said facility information to guide said vehicle driver to said facilities previous to said destination.

2. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, in which said facility information includes a direction from the current location of said vehicle toward said facilities.

3. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, in which said facility information includes a distance between the current location of said vehicle and said facilities.

4. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, in which said facility information includes a recommendable route between the current location of said vehicle and said facilities.

5. An apparatus mounted on a vehicle for assisting a vehicle driver in carefully driving, comprising:

data obtaining means for obtaining vehicle movement data indicative of a movement of said vehicle;

estimating means for estimating a current location of said vehicle on the basis of the vehicle movement data obtained by said data obtaining means;

information providing means for providing said vehicle driver with guide information as to the current location of said vehicle estimated by said estimating means;

judging means for judging whether action of said vehicle is unstable or not, on the basis of the vehicle movement data obtained by said obtaining means; and

information producing means for producing facility information as to facilities effective in causing said vehicle to recover from the unstable action when said judging means judges that the action of said vehicle is unstable;

said information providing means being operated to further provide said vehicle driver with said facility information to guide said vehicle driver to said facilities.

6. An apparatus as set forth in claim 5, in which said facility information includes a distance from the current location of said vehicle toward said facilities.

7. An apparatus as set forth in claim 5, in which said facility information includes a distance between the current location of said vehicle and said facilities.

8. An apparatus as set forth claim 5, in which said facility information includes a recommendable route between the current location of said vehicle and said facilities.

9. An apparatus mounted on a vehicle for assisting a vehicle driver in carefully driving, comprising:

data obtaining means for obtaining vehicle movement data indicative of a movement of said vehicle;

estimating means for estimating a current location of said vehicle on the basis of the vehicle movement data obtained by said data obtaining means;

information providing means for providing said vehicle driver with guide information as to the current location of said vehicle estimated by said estimating means;

judging means for judging whether action of said vehicle is unstable or not, on the basis of the vehicle movement data obtained by said obtaining means; and

information producing means for producing expressway exit information as to an expressway exit of said expressway closest to the current location of said vehicle when said vehicle is traveling on said expressway and when said judging means judges that the action of said vehicle is unstable;

said information providing means being operated to provide said vehicle driver with said expressway exit information produced by said information producing means, and

said expressway exit information including a distance between the current location of said vehicle and the expressway exit of said expressway closest to the current location of said vehicle.

10. An apparatus mounted on a vehicle for assisting a vehicle driver in carefully driving, comprising:

data obtaining means for obtaining vehicle movement data indicative of a movement of said vehicle;

estimating means for estimating a current location of said vehicle on the basis of the vehicle movement data obtained by said data obtaining means;

information providing means for providing said vehicle driver with guide information as to the current location of said vehicle estimated by said estimating means;

judging means for judging whether action of said vehicle is unstable or not on the basis of the vehicle movement data obtained by said obtaining means, and

information producing means for producing facility information as to facilities effective in eliminating the drowsiness from the vehicle driver when said judging means judges that the action of said vehicle is unstable,

said information providing means being operated to provide said vehicle driver with attention information that the action of said vehicle is unstable when said judging means judges that the action of said vehicle is unstable;

said judging means judging that the action of said vehicle is unstable when the action of said vehicle corresponds to a vehicle action pattern predetermined to be caused by a drowsiness which comes over said vehicle driver,

said information providing means being operated to provide said vehicle driver with said facility information to guide said vehicle driver to said facilities.

11. An apparatus mounted on a vehicle for assisting a vehicle driver in carefully driving, comprising:

data producing means for producing a plurality of different vehicle movement data sets each indicative of a movement of said vehicle;

judgment means for making a plurality of judgments upon whether action of said vehicle is unstable or not, on the basis of said vehicle movement data sets, respectively; and

information providing means for providing said vehicle driver with attention information that action of said vehicle is unstable only when at least two judgments are affirmative,

said information providing means being operated to further provide said vehicle driver with judgment information sets as to contents of the affirmative judgments, respectively, and

one of said two affirmative judgments being made when said judgment means detects that a travel locus of said vehicle is unsteady, the other of said two affirmative judgments being made when said judgment means detects that said vehicle anomalously approaches an obstruction.

12. An apparatus mounted on a vehicle for assisting a vehicle driver in carefully driving, comprising:

information providing means for providing said vehicle driver with voice information;

data obtaining means for obtaining vehicle movement data indicative of a movement of said vehicle;

judging means for judging whether action of said vehicle is unstable or not, on the basis of said vehicle movement data obtained by said obtaining means;

intermittence means for intermittently stopping said information providing means from providing said voice information for said vehicle driver when said judging means judges that the action of said vehicle is unstable.

13. An apparatus as set forth in claim 12, in which said information providing means comprises a radio set for receiving radio waves from broadcast stations to provide the voice information for said vehicle driver.