Patent Application
20190202291
The present disclosure relates to a vehicle operation system and a non-transitory tangible computer readable storage medium.
A vehicle operation system that controls a control target device based on a predetermined operation of a driver on a steering wheel of the vehicle has been proposed.
A vehicle operation system may calculate a display position on a display not hidden behind a hand of a driver and a steering wheel using a calculation result of a gripping position at which the driver grips the steering wheel and a position coordinate of the steering wheel.
The above and 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 the drawings:
For example, a vehicle operation system that controls a control target device based on a predetermined operation of a driver on a steering wheel of the vehicle has been proposed. In this type of vehicle operation system, display information (that is, an icon or the like) indicating the content of the operation on the steering wheel is displayed on, for example, a head up display or the like so that the driver can visually recognize the content of the operation. By visually recognizing the display information and performing the predetermined operation on the steering wheel, the driver can perform, for example, various settings of the audio device and the air conditioner at the periphery of the steering wheel with less visual line movement from the front of the vehicle.
As a predetermined operation performed by the driver on the steering wheel, an operation of pressing the steering wheel with a finger without changing the gripping position at which the driver grips the steering wheel is assumed. In this case, it is desirable to display the display information near the gripping position at which the driver grips the steering wheel. When the display position of the display information is fixed, the following difficulty is assumed. That is, for example, when the driver changes the gripping position during driving by releasing the steering wheel and then holding the steering wheel again, sliding the hand along the steering wheel, or the like, there is a possibility that the display information is hidden behind the hand seen from the visual line of the driver (that is, the position of the eyes). Thus, in such a situation, a labor for returning the hand of the driver to the first gripping position in order to causes the driver to visually recognize the display information, that is, a labor for releasing the steering wheel again then holding the steering wheel, sliding the hand again along the steering wheel, or the like may occur, which is troublesome. Especially when the vehicle speed is relatively fast, it is assumed that the labor of releasing the hand from the steering wheel and then griping the steering wheel again, or sliding the hand along the steering wheel will be hesitated.
An example embodiment of the present disclosure provides a vehicle operation system and a non-transitory tangible computer readable storage medium each of which enables the driver to appropriately and visually recognize display information indicating a content of an operation on the steering wheel, and improves convenience for the driver even when the gripping position at which the driver grips the steering wheel is changed
In an example embodiment of the present disclosure, in a vehicle operation system that controls a control target device based on a predetermined operation of a driver on a steering wheel of a vehicle, a gripping position calculation unit calculates a gripping position at which the driver grips the steering wheel. A display position calculation unit calculates a display position on a display using a calculation result of the gripping position calculation unit and a position coordinate of the steering wheel. The display is arranged farther than the steering wheel from a visual line position of the driver. The display position is not hidden behind a hand of the driver and the steering wheel. A display control unit displays display information indicating a content of the operation on the steering wheel at the display position.
In the above-described configuration, the display position on the display not hidden behind the hand of the driver and the steering wheel is calculated using the calculation result of the gripping position at which the driver grips the steering wheel and the position coordinate of the steering wheel. With this configuration, the display information indicating the content of the operation on the steering wheel at the display position is displayed at the display position. Even when the gripping position at which the driver grips the steering wheel is changed, the driver can appropriately and visually recognize the display information indicating the content of the operation on the steering wheel, and improve convenience for the driver.
Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The vehicle operation system 1 includes a controller 2, a memory 3, an operation detector 4, a telephone device 5 (corresponding to a control target device), a navigation device 6 (corresponding to a control target device), and a meter display 7 (corresponding to a display).
The operation detector 4 includes an electrostatic sensor arranged in a steering wheel 8 in the passenger compartment. The operation detector 4 detects a gripping position at which the driver grips the steering wheel 8 and the operation of the driver on the steering wheel 8. The operation detector 4 transmits an operation detection signal indicating the detected gripping position and the detected operation of the driver to the controller 2. The operation detector 4 may include any sensor as long as the detector 4 is capable of detecting the gripping position and the operation of the driver. The operation detector 4 may include a light sensor, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, or the like.
The telephone device 5 is a device having a telephone function. The telephone device 5 transmits a call detection signal to the controller 2 when detecting an incoming call from the communication network. When receiving an answer signal from the controller 2, the telephone device 5 performs control to answer the incoming call. When receiving a hold signal from the controller 2, the telephone device 5 performs control to hold the incoming call. The telephone device 5 may be an on-vehicle telephone installed and fixed in a vehicle. Alternatively, the telephone device 5 may be a simplified mobile phone capable of being brought into the passenger compartment by the driver, or a multifunctional mobile phone defined as a smartphone. In case of the mobile phone capable of being brought into the passenger compartment by the driver, the mobile phone is connected to the controller 2 via Bluetooth (registered trademark), thereby inputting various signals from the controller 2, and performing various controls.
The navigation device 6 has a function of identifying the position of the vehicle, a function of executing map matching to the vehicle on the map, a function of setting a destination, and a function of searching a route from the vehicle position to the destination. In addition, the navigation device 6 has a proposal function. The navigation device 6 transmits a proposal signal to the controller 2 when a proposal condition is satisfied. The proposal function may be a function to propose a content which urges the driver to take a break. For example, the navigation device 6 transmits the proposal signal that urges the driver to take a brake to the controller 2 when the driver's continuous operation time reaches a predetermined time.
When receiving a positive response signal from the controller 2, the navigation device 6 performs a positive response control in response to the positive response signal. When receiving a negative response signal from the controller 2, the navigation device 6 performs a positive response control in response to the negative response signal. The navigation device 6 may propose the content which urges the driver to take a break. In this case, when receiving the positive response signal from the controller 2, the navigation device 6 searches for and presents a route to a rest place with respect to a proposal urging the driver to take a break and calculates and presents the expected arrival time. When receiving the negative response signal from the controller 2, the navigation device 6 discards the proposal urging the break.
As shown in
The controller 2 is constituted by a microcomputer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and an I/O device (Input/Output device). The controller 2 executes a computer program stored in a non-transitory tangible storage medium to execute a processing corresponding to the computer program, and controls the overall operation of the vehicle operation system 1. The memory 3 stores position coordinate data indicating the three-dimensional position coordinate of the steering wheel 8. That is, when the driver adjusts the position of the steering wheel 8, the memory 3 updates the position coordinate data indicating the three-dimensional position coordinate before adjustment to the position coordinate data indicating the three-dimensional position coordinate after adjustment.
The controller 2 includes an operation determination unit 2a, a gripping position calculation unit 2b, a display position calculation unit 2c, and a display control unit 2d. Each of these units 2a to 2d is provided by a computer program executed by the controller 2, and is achieved by software.
When receiving the operation detection signal from the operation detector 4, the operation determination unit 2a determines the operation of the driver on the steering wheel 8 based on the input operation detection signal, and transmits the control signal to the telephone device 5 and the navigation device 6 based on the determination result. That is, the driver may be capable of selecting to answer or hold the incoming call (that is, any one of the multiple selection operations) from the communication network to the telephone device 5. In this case, when determining that the driver operation is to answer the incoming call based on the operation detection signal, the operation determination unit 2a transmits the answer signal to the telephone device 5. When determining that the driver operation is to hold the incoming call based on the operation detection signal, the operation determination unit 2a transmits the hold signal to the telephone device 5. The driver may be capable of selecting to agree or disagree with the proposal (that is, any one of the multiple selection operations) from the navigation device 6. In this case, when determining that the driver operation is the positive response to the proposal based on the operation detection signal, the operation determination unit 2a transmits the positive response signal to the navigation device 6. When determining that the driver operation is the negative response to the proposal based on the operation detection signal, the operation determination unit 2a transmits the negative response signal to the navigation device 6.
When receiving the operation detection signal from the operation detector 4, the gripping position calculation unit 2b calculates the gripping position at which the driver grips the steering wheel 8 based on the received operation detection signal.
The display position calculation unit 2c calculates the display position on the meter display 7 so that the display position is not hidden behind the driver's hands and the steering wheel 8 in view of the driver's visual line position using the calculation result of the gripping position calculation unit 2b and the position coordinate data stored in the memory 3. The display control unit 2d transmits a display start command signal to the meter display 7, starts displaying the display information on the meter display 7 indicating the operation content on the steering wheel 8, transmits a display termination command signal to the meter display 7, and terminates displaying the display information on the meter display 7.
The controller 2 may receive the call detection signal from the telephone device 5 in the above-described configuration. In this case, as shown in
In the state shown in
In such a mode displaying the display information 11, 12 on the meter display 7, when the driver changes the gripping position of the steering wheel 8 during driving, there is a possibility that the display information is hidden behind the driver's hand seen from the driver's visual line position. Thus, in order that the driver visually recognizes the display information, the driver may release the steering wheel 8 and then hold the steering wheel 8 again or slide the hand along the steering wheel. Regarding this point, the controller 2 performs the following control.
Next, the processing of the above configuration will be described with reference to
On the other hand, when determining that the call detection signal has been received from the telephone device 5 and the display start condition of the display information is satisfied (S1: YES), the controller 2 calculates the gripping position at which the driver grips the steering wheel 8 based on the operation detection signal received from the operation detector 4 (S2, corresponding to a gripping position calculation procedure). The controller 2 calculates the display position on the meter display 7 so that the display position is not hidden behind the driver's hand and the steering wheel 8 in view of the driver's visual line position using the calculation result of the gripping position and the position coordinate of the steering wheel 8 (S3, corresponding to a display position calculation procedure). The controller 2 transmits the display start command signal to the meter display 7, and starts displaying the display information on the meter display 7 (S4, corresponding to a display control procedure) as shown in
The controller 2 determines whether the display termination condition is satisfied (S5), and determines whether the operation of the driver is detected (S6). Suppose that the controller 2 may determine that the display termination condition is satisfied due to the cancellation of the incoming call before the operation of the driver is detected (S5: YES). In this case, the controller 2 transmits the display termination command signal to the meter display 7, terminates the display of the display information on the meter display 7 (S7), and determines whether the termination condition of the gripping position monitor processing is satisfied (S10).
On the other hand, suppose that the controller 2 may determine that the operation of the driver is detected before the display termination condition of the display information is satisfied (S6: YES). In this case, the controller 2 performs the control corresponding to the driver's operation (S8). That is, when determining that the driver has performed the answer operation based on the operation detection signal received from the operation detector 4, the controller 2 transmits the answer signal to the telephone device 5 and controls the telephone device 5 to answer the incoming call. On the other hand, when determining that the driver has performed the hold operation based on the operation detection signal received from the operation detector 4, the controller 2 transmits the hold signal to the telephone device 5 and controls the telephone device 5 to hold the incoming call. The controller 2 transmits the display termination command signal to the meter display 7, terminates displaying the display information on the meter display 7 (S9), and determines whether the termination condition of the gripping position monitor processing is satisfied (S10).
When the controller 2 determines that the termination condition of the gripping position monitor processing is not satisfied (S10: NO), the procedure returns to step S1 and repeatedly executes the following operations from step S1. When the termination condition of the gripping position monitor processing such as the switching of the accessory switch from the on state to the off state is satisfied (S10: YES), the controller 2 terminates the gripping position monitor processing.
By performing the above-described processing, the controller 2 controls the display positions of the display information 11, 12 as described below. Suppose that the display positions of the display information 11, 12 are fixed at the positions shown in
On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the display position is calculated based on the gripping position of the driver, and as shown in
The case where the driver changes the gripping position of the right hand has been described, but the similar configuration can apply to the case where the driver changes the gripping position of the left hand. The case where the call detection signal is received from the telephone device 5 has been described as the case where the display start condition of the display information is satisfied. The similar configuration can apply to the case where the proposal signal is received from the navigation device 6. In this case, as shown in
The configuration described in the present embodiment can provide advantages below.
The vehicle operation system 1 calculates the display position on the meter display 7 not hidden behind the driver's hand and the steering wheel 8 using the calculation result of the gripping position at which the driver grips the steering wheel 8 and the position coordinate of the steering wheel 8, and displays the display information at the display position indicating the content of the operation on the steering wheel 8. Even when the gripping position at which the driver grips the steering wheel 8 is changed, the driver can appropriately and visually recognize the display information indicating the content of the operation on the steering wheel 8, thereby improving the convenience.
The vehicle operation system 1 displays the display information indicating a two-choice operation of the answer or the hold to the incoming call from the communication network to the telephone device 5. With this configuration, the driver can easily select to answer or hold the incoming call from the communication network to the telephone device 5. In addition, the vehicle operation system 1 displays the display information indicating a two-choice operation of the positive response or the negative response to the proposal from the navigation device 6. With this configuration, the driver can easily select the positive response or the negative response to the proposal from the navigation device 6.
Although the present disclosure has been described in accordance with the embodiments, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments and structures. The present disclosure may cover various modification examples and equivalent arrangements. Furthermore, various combinations and formations, and other combinations and formations including one, more than one or less than one element may be included in the scope and the spirit of the present disclosure.
In
The gripping position is calculated after the display start condition of the display information is satisfied. Alternatively, the gripping position may be constantly calculated, and when the display start condition of the display information is satisfied, the display position may be calculated using the latest gripping position.
Alternatively, the gripping position is calculated while the display information is displayed, and the display position is calculated using the calculated gripping position. With this configuration, the display position of the display information may be changed along with the movement of the driver's hand while the display information is displayed.
Although it is exemplified that the controller 2 has the function of calculating the gripping position, the operation detector 4 may have the function of calculating the gripping position. That is, the operation detector 4 may calculate the gripping position and transmit the gripping position calculation signal indicating the calculated gripping position to the controller 2.
When the incoming call from the communication network to the telephone device 5 is detected, the display information indicating a two-choice operation of the answer or the hold to the incoming call is displayed. With this configuration, the driver can select to answer or hold the incoming call. Alternatively, the display information indicating operations other than the answer and the hold may be displayed. For example, the display information indicating a rejection operation or a transfer operation may be displayed. With this configuration, the driver may select the rejection or the transfer.
Although the telephone device 5 or the navigation device 6 is exemplified as the control target device, a device, a unit or the like connected via a vehicle network such as CAN (Controller Area Network) (registered trademark) or MOST (Media Oriented Systems Transport) (registered trademark) may be adopted. That is, for example, an advanced driving support system unit having an air conditioner, an audio device, a lane keep function or the like, or an autonomous driving system unit having an automatic accelerator control function, an automatic brake control function or the like may be adopted as the control target device. In the air conditioner, a character string of “Up” or a character string of “Down” may be displayed in response to a proposal for adjusting the set temperature or the set air volume, for example. In the audio device, a character string of “Up” or a character string of “Down” may be displayed in response to a proposal for adjusting the set volume, for example. In the advanced driving support system unit, a character string of “Yes” and a character string of “No” may be displayed in response to a proposal for starting or terminating the advanced driving support. In the autonomous driving system unit, a character string of “Yes” and a character string of “No” may be displayed in response to a proposal for starting or terminating the autonomous driving.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-177608 | Sep 2016 | JP | national |
The present application is a continuation application of International Patent Application No. PCT/JP2017/023969 filed on Jun. 29, 2017, which designated the United States and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-177608 filed on Sep. 12, 2016. The entire disclosures of all of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/JP2017/023969 | Jun 2017 | US |
| Child | 16296289 | US |
