System and apparatus for drive assistance

Abstract

A drive assistance system is provided for assisting an operation of a driver of a vehicle in a manner that does not cause disturbance for the driver, based on image information derived from an external apparatus such as roadside cameras or the like. The image information is provided for the driver by a liquid crystal display unit, and the provision of the image information is accompanied by a provision of supplemental information from a headup display unit that draws driver's attention to the provision of the image information from the liquid crystal display unit in an appropriate manner.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a drive assistance system in a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows an illustration of a front view of a vehicle through a windshield;

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of a process for providing information when the vehicle enters into a predetermined area;

FIG. 4 shows an illustration of an intersection for an explanation of an operation of the drive assistance system;

FIG. 5 shows an illustration of an image of a liquid crystal display unit;

FIG. 6 shows an illustration of an image of a headup display apparatus;

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of the drive assistance system in a second embodiment;

FIG. 8 shows an illustration of an image of a headup display apparatus in the second embodiment;

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of a process for providing information when the vehicle enters into a predetermined area in the second embodiment;

FIG. 10 shows an illustration of an intersection for an explanation of an operation of the drive assistance system in the second embodiment;

FIG. 11 shows another illustration of an intersection for an explanation of an operation of the drive assistance system in the second embodiment;

FIG. 12 shows a block diagram of the drive assistance system in a third embodiment;

FIG. 13 shows an illustration of the front view of the vehicle through the windshield in the third embodiment;

FIG. 14 shows a flowchart of a process for providing information when the vehicle enters into a predetermined area in the third embodiment;

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart of a process for providing information when the vehicle enters into a predetermined area in a fourth embodiment;

FIG. 16 shows an illustration of an image of a liquid crystal display apparatus in the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 17 shows a block diagram of the drive assistance system in a fifth embodiment; and

FIG. 18 shows a block diagram of a drive assistance system in a sixth embodiment.

Claims

1. A drive assistance system for assisting an operation of a driver comprising: an information transmission unit for transmitting field information representative of an outer field of the vehicle, wherein the information transmission unit is disposed on an outside of the vehicle, and wherein the outer field includes a field that is potentially invisible from the driver in an outside of the vehicle;a set of information provision units for providing the field information for the driver; anda control unit for controlling the set of information provision units, wherein the control unit makes one of the information provision units provide the field information derived from the information transmission unit for the driver for assisting the operation of the driver, and wherein the control unit makes one other information provision unit provide supplemental information that identifies the information provision unit being controlled for providing the field information derived from the information transmission unit,wherein the information transmission unit, the set of information provision units and the control unit are organized as a drive assistance apparatus.

2. The drive assistance system as in claim 1, wherein the field information is provided by a liquid crystal display device, andthe supplemental information is provided by one of a headup display device and a sound generation device.

3. The drive assistance system as in claim 2, wherein a number of the liquid crystal display devices is at least two.

4. The drive assistance system as in claim 1 further comprising: a visual recognition detector for detecting a driver's visual recognition condition of the field information provided by the information provision unit,wherein the control unit terminates provision of the field information by the information provision unit when the visual recognition detector detects that that field information is visually recognized by the driver.

5. The drive assistance system as in claim 4, wherein the visual recognition detector includes an imaging unit for imaging an area that includes a driver's pupil and a look direction detection unit for detecting a direction of a driver's look, andthe driver's visual recognition condition of the field information is determined based on the direction of the driver's look detected by the look direction detection unit.

6. The drive assistance system as in claim 5, wherein, when the vehicle has a steering wheel on a right side of the vehicle and the information provision unit is disposed at a center of an instrument panel in the vehicle, the visual recognition detector detects that the driver has recognized the information provision unit on a condition that the direction of the driver's look is substantially within an angle range between 20 degrees and 50 degrees left from a straight front look direction of the driver and within an angle range between 20 degrees and 50 degrees downward from the straight front look direction of the driver.

7. The drive assistance system as in claim 4, wherein the visual recognition detector includes a switch that is operable by the driver.

8. The drive assistance system as in claim 4, wherein the visual recognition detector includes a voice recognition unit that recognizes a voice of the driver.

9. The drive assistance system as in claim 4, wherein, when the visual recognition detector has determined that the driver has been watching one of the field information provision units for a predetermined time, the control unit either controls any one of the information provision units to provide a warning message for the driver or terminates provision of the field information by the information provision unit.

10. The drive assistance system as in claim, 9 further comprising: a position detector for detecting a position of the vehicle,wherein the control unit either controls any one of the information provision units to provide the warning message for the driver or terminates provision of the field information by the information provision unit when the position of the vehicle detected by the position detector is included in a predetermined area where the field information provided for the driver is assumed to be utilized in an effective manner.

11. The drive assistance system as in claim 10, wherein the predetermined area is a proximity of an intersection where the vehicle is to make a right turn, andthe predetermined area is defined as an area that substantially includes an inside of the intersection and a road segment of 30 meters or shorter before the intersection.

12. The drive assistance system as in claim 10, wherein the predetermined area is a proximity of an intersection that has a blind corner in a view of the driver in the vehicle, andthe predetermined area is defined as an area that substantially includes an inside of the intersection and a road segment of 50 meters or shorter before the intersection.

13. The drive assistance system as in claim 10, wherein the predetermined area is a proximity of a merge section where two or more roads merges, andthe predetermined area is defined as an area that substantially includes an inside of the merge section and a road segment of 100 meters or shorter before the merge section.

14. The drive assistance system as in claim 9, wherein provision of the warning message is executed as a visual display on one of the information provision units.

15. The drive assistance system as in claim 9, wherein provision of the warning message is executed as a voice sound from one of the information provision units.

16. The drive assistance system as in claim 1, wherein the drive assistance apparatus is used for supporting the driver.

17. The drive assistance system as in claim 5, wherein, when the vehicle has a steering wheel on a left side of the vehicle and the information provision unit is disposed at a center of an instrument panel in the vehicle, the visual recognition detector detects that the driver has recognized the information provision unit on a condition that the direction of the driver's look is substantially within an angle range between 20 degrees and 50 degrees right from a straight front look direction and substantially within an angle range between 20 degrees and 50 degrees downward from the straight front look direction.

18. The drive assistance system as in claim 10, wherein the predetermined area is a proximity of an intersection where the vehicle is to make a left turn, andthe predetermined area is defined as an area that substantially includes an inside of the intersection and a road segment of 30 meters or shorter before the intersection.