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EP-4105054-B1 - DRIVING ASSISTANCE APPARATUS

EP4105054B1EP 4105054 B1EP4105054 B1EP 4105054B1EP-4105054-B1

Inventors

  • TOCHIGI, Kohei
  • ITO, SHOGO
  • IKEZAWA, YUTA

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20200114

Claims (4)

  1. A driving assistance apparatus (100, 110) configured to perform an assistance control of assisting in driving a vehicle (1) when a first condition associated with a matter other than an operation by a driver of the vehicle (1) and a second condition associated with the operation by the driver are satisfied, in a situation in which a target is recognized, said driving assistance apparatus (100, 110) comprising: a determinator (20) configured to determine a state of the assistance control; and an informer (30) configured to inform the driver of the state of the assistance control, which is determined by said determinator, characterized in that : said determinator (20) is configured (i) to determine that the state of the assistance control is a standby state if the first condition is satisfied, but the second condition is not satisfied, in the situation in which the target is recognized, (ii) to determine that the state of the assistance control is an interruption state if the first condition is currently satisfied, and the first condition is presumably no longer satisfied in the future while the state of the assistance control is the standby state, and (iii) to determine that the state of the assistance control is an operating state if the first condition and the second condition are satisfied.
  2. The driving assistance apparatus (100, 110) according to claim 1, wherein the first condition includes another control requirement associated with an operating state of another control that is different from the assistance control.
  3. The driving assistance apparatus (100, 110) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said determinator (20) is configured to set a first area in which the state of the assistance control is predicted to be the interruption state due to the operation by the driver, and said informer (30) is configured to inform the driver that the state of the assistance control is the interruption state, if said determinator (20) determines that the state of the assistance control is the interruption state and if the target is located in the first area.
  4. The driving assistance apparatus (100, 110) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said determinator (20) is configured to set a second area which is an area ahead of the vehicle (1) in a course thereof in accordance with a moving distance of the vehicle (1) in a predetermined period from a time point at which said determinator (20) determines that the state of the assistance control is the interruption state, and said informer (30) is configured to inform the driver that the state of the assistance control is the interruption state, if said determinator (20) determines that the state of the assistance control is the interruption state and if the target is located in a second area.

Description

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field Embodiments of the present invention relate to a driving assistance apparatus. 2. Description of the Related Art For technologies/techniques used for this type of apparatus, for example, there is proposed a technology/technique of changing an image for displaying an assistance state, which is displayed to a driver, on the basis of an operating state of a driving assistance control (refer to Japanese Patent No. 5930072 (Patent Literature 1)). A plurality of conditions may need to be satisfied in some cases to perform an assistance control of assisting in driving. In this case, because the plurality of conditions may need to be satisfied, the assistance control may or may not be performed even in the same situation. When the assistance control is not performed (in other words, when it is in a non-operating state), for example, if an image for displaying an assistance state indicating the non-operating state is uniformly displayed, then, a driver does not understand why the assistance control is not performed. This may cause the driver to feel anxiety, which is technically problematic. The technology/technique described in the Patent Literature 1 cannot solve the problem. SUMMARY In view of the problem described above, it is therefore an object of embodiments of the present invention to provide a driving assistance apparatus that can prevent a driver from feeling anxiety due to an aspect of informing the driver of a state of the assistance control. A driving assistance apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention is a driving assistance apparatus configured to perform an assistance control of assisting in driving a vehicle, when a first condition associated with a matter other than an operation by a driver of the vehicle and a second condition associated with the operation by the driver are satisfied, in a situation in which a target is recognized, the driving assistance apparatus provided with: a determinator configured to determine a state of the assistance control; and an informer configured to inform the driver of the state of the assistance control, which is determined by the detemrinator, characterized in that: the determinator is configured (i) to determine that the state of the assistance control is a standby state if a first condition is satisfied, but the second condition is not satisfied, in the situation in which the target is recognized, and (ii) to determine that the state of the assistance control is an interruption state if the first condition is currently satisfied, and the first condition is presumably no longer satisfied in the future while the state of the assistance control is the standby state, and (iii) to determine that the state of the assistance control is a operating state if the first condition and the second condition are satisfied. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a driving assistance apparatus according to a first embodiment;FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an interrelation among a recognition area, an operating area, and a non-operating area;FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating operations of the driving assistance apparatus according to the first embodiment;FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating an example of an image indicating a state;FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating an example of an image indicating a state;FIG. 4C is a diagram illustrating an example of an image indicating a state;FIG. 4D is a diagram illustrating an example of an image indicating a state;FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a driving assistance apparatus according to a second embodiment; andFIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating operations of the driving assistance apparatus according to the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS A driving assistance apparatus according to embodiments of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings. <First Embodiment> A driving assistance apparatus according to a first embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4D. (Configuration) A configuration of the driving assistance apparatus according to the first embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the driving assistance apparatus according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 1, a driving assistance apparatus 100 is mounted on a vehicle 1. The driving assistance apparatus 100 is configured to perform an assistance control of assisting in driving the vehicle 1. The driving assistance apparatus 100 is configured to perform the assistance control, when a first condition associated with a matter other than an operation by a driver of the vehicle 1 (e.g., a speed of the vehicle 1, a distance from the vehicle 1 to a target, etc.) and a second condition associated with the driver's operation are satisfied, in a situation in which a target of the assistance control is recognize