Surrounding area monitoring apparatus and surrounding area monitoring method

• US 10,867,516 B2
• Filed: 08/07/2018
• Issued: 12/15/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Katayama, Masahiko, Haga, Tetsuji
• Primary Examiner(s): Jiang, Zaihan
• Application Number:
  US16/056,654
• Publication Number:
  US 20180342161A1
• Time in Patent Office: 861 Days
• Field of Search: 348148
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/00 Optical viewing arrangements; Real-time viewing arrangements for drivers or passengers using optical image capturing systems, e.g. cameras or video systems specially adapted for use in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/406 using wireless transmission
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/50 characterised by the display information being shared, e.g. external display, data transfer to other traffic participants or centralised traffic controller
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/802 for monitoring and displaying vehicle exterior blind spot views
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/804 for lane monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/597 Recognising the driver's state or behaviour, e.g. attention or drowsiness
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/18 Eye characteristics, e.g. of the iris
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/123 indicating the position of vehicles, e.g. scheduled vehicles; Managing passenger vehicles circulating according to a fixed timetable, e.g. buses, trains, tramstransmission of navigation instructions to vehicles G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/163 involving continuous checking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/167 Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection

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.

Claims

1. A surrounding area monitoring apparatus comprising:

a microcomputer comprising;

a vehicle position acquirer to acquire positional information of a first vehicle;

a communicator to receive, from at least one second vehicle, positional information of the at least one second vehicle and visual field range information of the at least one second vehicle;

a decider to decide whether the first vehicle is outside a dynamic visual field range of the at least one second vehicle or not, based on the acquired positional information of the first vehicle, the positional information of the at least one second vehicle that is received from the at least one second vehicle, and the visual field range information of the at least one second vehicle that is received from the at least one second vehicle; and

a notification controller to instruct a notification device to output notification information for guiding the first vehicle into the dynamic visual field range of a driver of the at least one second vehicle when the decider decides that the first vehicle is outside the dynamic visual field range of the driver of the at least one second vehicle.

2. A surrounding area monitoring method comprising:

acquiring, by a vehicle position acquirer, positional information of a first vehicle;

receiving from at least one second vehicle, by a communicator, positional information of the at least one second vehicle and visual field range information of the at least one second vehicle;

deciding, by a decider, whether the first vehicle is outside a dynamic visual field range of the at least one second vehicle or not, based on the acquired positional information of the first vehicle, the positional information of the at least one second vehicle that is received from the at least one second vehicle, and the visual field range information of the at least one second vehicle that is received from the at least one second vehicle;

instructing a notification device, providing, by a notification controller, to output notification information for guiding the first vehicle into the dynamic visual field range of a driver of the at least one second vehicle when the decider decides that the first vehicle is outside the dynamic visual field range of the driver of the at least one second vehicle.