JP2012113609A - Data recording device and data recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To specify a location that may lead to an accident.SOLUTION: In a data recording device 1, a variety of information obtaining devices 42-48 obtain biological information of a vehicle driver and an event detecting section 23 detects a change in a driver's psychological state of tension rising as a biological event based on the biological information. Meanwhile, a vehicle exterior image and longitude/latitude information are also obtained as location information which can specify a current location of a vehicle. When the biological event occurs, a record controlling section 24 records the location information obtained at a time of event occurrence on a memory card 9. The data recording device and a data recording method can, therefore, grasp the location where the driver's tension rises during driving after the fact, and specify the location that may lead to the accident.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for recording data in a vehicle.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, data recording devices called drive recorders that record various data when a predetermined event occurs when mounted on a vehicle are known (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). For example, the data recording device detects, as an event (accident), that the acceleration indicating the magnitude of the impact applied to the vehicle exceeds a predetermined threshold, and image data indicating the state of the surroundings of the vehicle before and after the occurrence of the event. Record on a recording medium.

  By using such a data recording device, the cause of the accident can be verified afterwards. In recent years, data acquired by a data recording apparatus is used not only for investigation of the cause of an accident but also for safety education of drivers. In other words, by telling the driver what kind of accident occurred at which position, the recurrence of the accident is prevented.

JP 2007-293536 A JP 2008-210375 A

  By the way, in order to prevent the occurrence of an accident, it is said that it is important for drivers to share near-miss cases that did not actually lead to an accident, but that would not be directly related to the accident. Such a near miss case includes a case (so-called near-miss) in which the driver feels danger during driving (due to a near-miss) and increases a sense of tension.

  However, the conventional data recording device generally records data when an impact is actually applied to the vehicle, that is, when an accident actually occurs, and a near miss case occurs at any position. I couldn't record it. Therefore, although no accident occurred, it was not possible to identify a position where an accident might occur in the future.

  Note that Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe that image data is recorded when the driver's drowsiness is high (that is, when tension is reduced). No mention is made.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said subject, and aims at providing the technique which can pinpoint the position which may lead to an accident.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of claim 1 is a data recording device mounted on a vehicle, wherein information acquisition means for acquiring biological information of the driver of the vehicle, and information on the driver based on the biological information. Event detection means for detecting a change in psychological state that increases tension as an event, position acquisition means for acquiring position information capable of specifying the current position of the vehicle, and the position information acquired at the time of occurrence of the event Recording means for recording.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the data recording apparatus according to the first aspect, the recording means further records the biological information acquired at the time of occurrence of the event.

  Further, the invention of claim 3 is the data recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the recording means is acquired in a period including before the occurrence time of the event and after the occurrence time of the event. Biometric information is further recorded.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the data recording device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising operation acquisition means for acquiring the content of the driving operation of the vehicle by the driver, and the event detection means. Further detects the abnormality of the driving operation as the event.

  The invention of claim 5 is a data recording method for recording data in a vehicle, the step of acquiring biological information of the driver of the vehicle, and a psychological state in which the tension of the driver is increased based on the biological information. Detecting the change of the vehicle as an event, acquiring the position information capable of specifying the current position of the vehicle, and recording the position information acquired at the time of occurrence of the event. .

  According to invention of Claim 1 thru | or 5, the position where the tension | tensile_strength of the driver | operator during driving increased can be grasped afterwards, and the position which may lead to an accident can be specified.

  In particular, according to the invention of claim 2, since the biological information at the time of occurrence of the event is recorded, the psychological state of the driver can be verified afterwards.

  In particular, according to the invention of claim 3, since the biological information before and after the occurrence of the event is recorded, it is possible to verify in detail later how the driver's psychological state has changed.

  In particular, according to the invention of claim 4, since an abnormality in driving operation is detected as an event, it is possible to specify more positions that may lead to an accident.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a data recording apparatus. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing delivery of data recorded by the data recording apparatus. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow of the data recording apparatus. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the time when recorded data is acquired and the time when an event occurs.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<1. Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a data recording apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. The data recording apparatus 1 is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile and has a function of recording various data on a recording medium when a predetermined event occurs.

  The data recording device 1 includes a main body 5 and a plurality of information acquisition devices 41 to 48 that acquire various data. While the main body 5 is disposed in the vehicle interior of the vehicle, the plurality of information acquisition devices 41 to 48 are disposed at appropriate positions in the vehicle independently of the main body 5. The main body 5 and the information acquisition devices 41 to 48 are connected by a communication cable, and data acquired by each of the information acquisition devices 41 to 48 is input to the main body 5 via the communication cable.

  The information acquisition devices 41 to 48 include an outside camera 41, an inside camera 42, a microphone 43, a sweat sensor 44, a seating sensor 45, a respiration sensor 46, a pulse sensor 47, and an electroencephalogram sensor 48.

  The vehicle exterior camera 41 captures the outside of the vehicle and acquires digital image data (hereinafter referred to as “vehicle exterior image”) indicating the front of the vehicle. The vehicle exterior camera 41 includes a lens and an image sensor, and is disposed in the vehicle interior of the vehicle with the optical axis of the lens facing the front of the vehicle. The image outside the vehicle shows the surroundings of the vehicle, so it can be said that it is position information that can identify the position of the vehicle at the time of shooting.

  The in-vehicle camera 42 captures the inside of the vehicle and acquires digital image data (hereinafter referred to as “driver image”) that mainly indicates the state of the driver's face of the vehicle. The in-vehicle camera 42 includes a lens and an image sensor, and is fixed to the dashboard of the vehicle so that the driver can be photographed.

  The microphone 43 collects sound in the passenger compartment and acquires audio data mainly indicating the driver's voice. The microphone 43 is fixed to a ceiling or the like directly above the driver's seat so that the driver's voice can be collected.

  The sweat sensor 44 acquires the “sweat amount” of the driver. The perspiration sensor 44 includes, for example, two electrodes, and these two electrodes are disposed at a position where a driver such as a driver's seat or a steering wheel (steering wheel) touches. The perspiration sensor 44 detects the perspiration amount of the driver based on a change in the capacitance between the two electrodes caused by perspiration of the driver.

  The seating sensor 45 acquires the “sitting position” in the driver's seat of the driver. The seating sensor 45 includes, for example, a plurality of load meters provided with strain gauges, and the plurality of load meters are arranged in a distributed manner on the driver's seat. The seating sensor 45 detects the seating position where the center of gravity of the driver is based on the detection value of each load cell in the driver's seat.

  The respiration sensor 46 acquires the “respiration rate” per unit time (for example, “10 seconds”) of the driver. The respiration sensor 46 includes, for example, a Doppler sensor using a microwave, and this Doppler sensor is disposed inside the backrest of the driver's seat. The respiration sensor 46 detects the respiration of the driver by detecting the movement of the body surface of the driver based on the difference in frequency between the microwave transmission wave and the reflected wave.

  The pulse sensor 47 acquires the “pulse rate” per unit time (for example, “10 seconds”) of the driver. The pulse sensor 47 includes, for example, an LED that emits infrared rays and a photodiode that receives infrared rays, and these are arranged on a handle that the driver touches. The pulse sensor 47 detects the pulse of the driver by detecting a change in blood flow based on the amount of light received by a photodiode that receives infrared light reflected by the driver's hand.

  The electroencephalogram sensor 48 acquires the driver's “electroencephalogram”. The electroencephalogram sensor 48 includes a headset unit that is worn on the head of the driver, and a plurality of electrodes are provided on the headset unit so as to contact the scalp surface of the driver. The electroencephalogram sensor 48 detects the electroencephalogram of the driver based on the potential difference between the plurality of electrodes.

  The main body 5 includes a control unit 10 that is a computer that controls the entire apparatus. The control unit 10 includes a CPU 11 that realizes various control functions by performing arithmetic processing, a RAM 12 that serves as a work area for arithmetic processing, and a ROM 13 that stores various data. The ROM 13 stores control programs and data.

  The RAM 12 stores data acquired by the information acquisition devices 41 to 48. A part of the storage area of the RAM 12 is used as a ring buffer. In the ring buffer, data acquired by the information acquisition devices 41 to 48 is stored every predetermined period. In the ring buffer, when data is stored up to the last area, it returns to the first area and new data is stored. As a result, new data is sequentially overwritten on the oldest data in the ring buffer. For this reason, in the RAM 12, the data acquired by the information acquisition devices 41 to 48 is always stored for a past fixed time (for example, 20 seconds) or more.

  The main body 5 further includes a card slot 31, a clock circuit 32, a GPS receiver 33, and a signal receiver 34.

  The card slot 31 is configured to be detachable from a memory card 9 which is a portable recording medium including a flash memory, for example. The card slot 31 reads data from the memory card 9 and writes data to the memory card 9. When a predetermined event occurs, various data are recorded on the memory card 9 inserted in the card slot 31.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the data recorded in the data recording device 1 mounted on the vehicle 7 can be transferred to another computer 8 outside the vehicle 7 via the memory card 9. Thereby, the data recorded by the data recording device 1 using the computer 8 can be verified afterwards.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the time measuring circuit 32 acquires time information indicating the current date and time. The time measuring circuit 32 has a built-in battery and operates even if it does not receive power supply from the outside, and measures an accurate time. The time information acquired by the timer circuit 32 is input to the control unit 10.

  The GPS receiver 33 receives signals from a plurality of GPS satellites, and acquires longitude and latitude information, which is position information indicating latitude and longitude that can identify the current vehicle position. The longitude and latitude information acquired by the GPS receiving unit 33 is input to the control unit 10.

  The signal receiving unit 34 is connected to an in-vehicle LAN 70 provided in the vehicle, and receives signals output from various devices provided in the vehicle other than the data recording device 1 via the in-vehicle LAN 70. The signal receiving unit 34 receives signals output from the steering wheel control device 71 and the brake control device 72, and acquires information indicating the content of the driving operation of the driver.

  The handle control device 71 changes the direction of the front wheels in accordance with the driver's handle operation. The signal receiving unit 34 acquires “steering angle” that is information indicating the content of the driving operation of the driver on the steering wheel from the steering wheel control device 71.

  The brake control device 72 changes the brake pressure according to the driver's operation of the brake pedal. The signal receiving unit 34 acquires from the brake control device 72 “depression amount” that is information indicating the content of the driving operation of the driver on the brake pedal.

  The function of controlling each part of the data recording apparatus 1 configured as described above is realized by the CPU 11 performing arithmetic processing according to a program as firmware stored in the ROM 13 in advance. An image processing unit 21, an audio processing unit 22, an event detection unit 23, and a recording control unit 24 illustrated in the drawing show some of the functions realized by the CPU 11 executing arithmetic processing.

  The image processing unit 21 performs image processing on the driver image acquired by the in-vehicle camera 42. The image processing unit 21 has a face recognition function for recognizing a driver's face image from a driver image. With this face recognition function, the image processing unit 21 can acquire the driver's “eye open / closed degree” and the driver's “face orientation”.

  The audio processing unit 22 performs audio processing on the audio data acquired by the microphone 43. The audio processing unit 22 can acquire the “voice volume” of the driver based on the level of the audio data signal. Further, the voice processing unit 22 has a voice recognition function for recognizing “words uttered” by the driver based on the voice data.

  The event detection unit 23 detects whether or not a predetermined event has occurred. The event detection unit 23 detects, as an event, a change in the psychological state in which the driver's tension increases based on the driver's biological information. That is, the event detection unit 23 detects, as an event, a case (so-called near-miss) in which the driver feels danger during driving and increases a sense of tension. Further, the event detection unit 23 detects an abnormality in the driving operation of the driver as an event. By detecting these events, the event detection unit 23 detects near-miss cases that did not actually lead to an accident but are not likely to be directly connected to the accident. Details of a method by which the event detection unit 23 detects these events will be described later.

  Further, when the event detection unit 23 detects the occurrence of an event, the recording control unit 24 records various data acquired at the time of the event in the memory card 9 mounted in the card slot 31.

<2. Event detection>
Next, a method in which the event detection unit 23 detects an event will be described. As described above, the event detection unit 23 detects, as events, changes in the psychological state in which the driver's tension increases and abnormal driving operations of the driver, respectively. Hereinafter, an event related to a change in the psychological state in which the driver's tension increases is referred to as a “biological event”, and an event related to an abnormality in the driving operation of the driver is referred to as a “driving event”.

  The biological event is detected based on the biological information of the driver. This biometric information includes "eye open / closed degree", "face orientation", "voice volume", "spoken word", "sweat volume", "sitting position", "breathing rate", "pulse rate" And “electroencephalogram”. The event detection unit 23 determines that a biometric event has occurred (that is, a change in the psychological state that increases the driver's tension) occurs when any of these pieces of biometric information satisfies a predetermined condition. Specifically, when any of the following events (A) to (I) occurs, it is determined that a biological event has occurred.

  (A) When the “opening / closing degree of eyes” increases. More specifically, a state in which the “eye open / closed degree” acquired by the image processing unit 21 is greater than a predetermined ratio (for example, 20%) or more with respect to the past average value is equal to or longer than a predetermined time (for example, 1 second) If continued.

  (B) The “face orientation” is suddenly changed. More specifically, the “face orientation” acquired by the image processing unit 21 is changed by a predetermined angle (for example, 30 degrees) or more within a predetermined time (for example, 0.5 seconds).

  (C) When the “voice volume” increases. More specifically, a state in which the “voice volume” acquired by the audio processing unit 22 is greater than a predetermined ratio (for example, 20%) by a predetermined time (for example, 0.5 seconds) relative to the past average value. If it continues for more.

  (D) A word that is uttered when a danger is felt in the “uttered word”. More specifically, the “spoken word” acquired by the voice processing unit 22 includes a predetermined word (for example, “car”, “wa”).

  (E) “Sweating amount” suddenly increases. More specifically, the “sweat amount” acquired by the sweat sensor 44 is greater than a predetermined ratio (for example, 20%) with respect to the past average value within a predetermined time (for example, 0.5 seconds).

  (F) The “sitting position” is suddenly changed. More specifically, the “sitting position” acquired by the seating sensor 45 is changed by a predetermined distance (for example, 10 cm) or more within a predetermined time (for example, 0.5 seconds).

  (G) When “respiration rate” suddenly increases. More specifically, when the “respiration rate” acquired by the respiration sensor 46 is greater than a predetermined ratio (for example, 20%) with respect to the past average value within a predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds).

  (H) The “pulse rate” suddenly increases. More specifically, the “pulse rate” acquired by the pulse sensor 47 is greater than a predetermined ratio (for example, 20%) with respect to the past average value within a predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds).

  (I) The “electroencephalogram” is suddenly disturbed. More specifically, the amount of beta waves included in the “electroencephalogram” acquired by the electroencephalogram sensor 48 is a predetermined ratio (for example, 20%) with respect to the past average value within a predetermined time (for example, 0.5 seconds). When it gets bigger.

  The driving event is detected based on information (hereinafter referred to as “driving operation information”) indicating the content of the driving operation of the driver acquired by the signal receiving unit 34. This driving operation information includes “steering angle” and “depression amount”. The event detection unit 23 determines that a driving event has occurred (that is, an abnormality in the driving operation of the driver has occurred) when any of these driving operation information satisfies a predetermined condition. Specifically, it is determined that a driving event has occurred when any of the following events (J) and (K) occurs.

  (J) When the “steering angle” is suddenly changed (so-called sudden steering). More specifically, the “steering angle” indicating the content of the driving operation on the steering wheel acquired by the signal receiving unit 34 has been changed by a predetermined angle (for example, 30 degrees) or more within a predetermined time (for example, 0.1 second). If.

  (K) When the “depression amount” is suddenly changed (so-called sudden braking). More specifically, the “depression amount” indicating the content of the driving operation for the brake pedal acquired by the signal receiving unit 34 has been changed by a predetermined amount (for example, 5 cm) or more within a predetermined time (for example, 0.1 second). If.

<3. Flow of processing>
Next, the process flow of the data recording apparatus 1 when the event detection unit 23 detects an event will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a processing flow of the data recording apparatus 1.

  The data recording apparatus 1 repeats the process (step S11) of acquiring various data at a predetermined cycle (for example, 1/30 second cycle) during startup. The data to be acquired includes an image outside the vehicle, a driver image, sound data, biological information, driving operation information, time information, longitude and latitude information, and the like. As described above, the biometric information includes “open / closed eye”, “face orientation”, “voice volume”, “spoken word”, “sweat volume”, “sitting position”, “respiration rate”, “Pulse rate” and “electroencephalogram” are included. The driving operation information includes “steering angle” and “depression amount”.

  More specifically, the outside camera 41 acquires an outside image, the inside camera 42 acquires a driver image, and the microphone 43 acquires audio data. Then, based on the acquired driver image, the image processing unit 21 acquires “eyes open / closed degree” and “face orientation”, and based on the acquired audio data, the audio processing unit 22 selects “voice volume” and Get “spoken word”.

  Further, the sweat sensor 44 acquires “sweat amount”, the seat sensor 45 acquires “seat position”, the respiratory sensor 46 acquires “respiration rate”, the pulse sensor 47 acquires “pulse rate”, and the electroencephalogram sensor 48 acquires “electroencephalogram”. Further, the signal receiving unit 34 acquires the “steering angle” from the steering wheel control device 71 and the “depression amount” from the brake control device 72. Furthermore, the time measuring circuit 32 acquires time information at that time, and the GPS receiving unit 33 acquires longitude and latitude information indicating the position of the vehicle at that time.

  Various data acquired in this way are stored in the ring buffer of the RAM 12 in association with each other. Then, by repeating the process of step S11 in a predetermined cycle, the RAM 12 stores data for a predetermined past time (for example, 20 seconds).

  In addition, while the data is continuously acquired in this way, the event detection unit 23 determines whether any one of the biological event and the driving event has occurred based on the acquired data (step S12). , 13). The method by which the event detection unit 23 detects an event is as described above. Such an event is detected at the same cycle (for example, 1/30 second cycle) as the data acquisition cycle.

  When a biological event or a driving event occurs (Yes in step S12 or step S13), the process of acquiring various data is continued until a predetermined time (for example, 8 seconds) elapses from the time of occurrence of the event. (Step S14). The process for acquiring this data is performed in the same manner as in step S11.

  Then, when a predetermined time (for example, 8 seconds) elapses from the time of occurrence of the event (Yes in step S15), data acquired in a certain period (for example, 20 seconds) including before and after the time of occurrence of the event, The data is read from the ring buffer of the RAM 12 by the recording control unit 24. Then, the read data is recorded on the memory card 9 by the recording control unit 24 (step S16).

  As a result, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, 12 seconds before the event occurrence (time t1 to time t2) and 8 seconds after the event occurrence (time t2 to time t3) are acquired for a total of 20 seconds. The recorded data is recorded on the memory card 9. Of course, the data recorded in the memory card 9 also includes data acquired at the event occurrence time t2.

  The data recorded in the memory card 9 in this manner is an image outside the vehicle, a driver image, audio data, biometric information, driving operation information, time information, longitude and latitude information, and the like. Therefore, the position where the event has occurred (that is, the position where the near miss case has occurred) can be grasped afterwards based on the position information such as the outside image and longitude and latitude information recorded in the memory card 9. As a result, even if an accident does not actually occur, a position that may lead to the accident can be identified afterwards.

  The position specified in this way can be provided to other drivers by displaying it on a map on the Internet, a map displayed on an in-vehicle device (car navigation device, etc.) or a portable terminal. As a result, the driver traveling in the vicinity of the position can be cautiously aware of the accident and thus can effectively prevent the occurrence of the accident.

  Further, the memory card 9 records biometric information acquired at the time of occurrence of the event and before and after the time of occurrence of the event. Therefore, by referring to this biometric information, the psychological state of the driver at the time when the near miss case occurred, or how the driver's psychological state changes before and after the occurrence of the near miss case. Moreover, it can be verified in detail later. Further, by referring to the outside image and the biological information together, it is possible to verify whether or not the event is erroneously detected due to other factors such as poor physical condition of the driver.

  As described above, in the data recording apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the biological information of the driver of the vehicle is acquired using the various information acquisition devices 42 to 48, and the tension of the driver is increased based on the biological information. The event detection unit 23 detects a change in psychological state as a biological event. On the other hand, an outside image and longitude / latitude information are also acquired as position information that can identify the current position of the vehicle. When a biometric event occurs, the recording control unit 24 records the position information acquired at the time of occurrence of the event on the memory card 9. Therefore, the position where the tension of the driver during driving has increased can be grasped later, and the position that may lead to an accident can be identified.

  In the data recording device 1, the signal receiving unit 34 acquires driving operation information indicating the content of the driving operation of the driver, and the event detecting unit 23 detects a driving operation abnormality as a driving event based on the driving operation information. . For this reason, it is possible to specify more positions that may lead to an accident.

<4. Modification>
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible. Below, such a modification is demonstrated. All forms including those described in the above embodiment and those described below can be combined as appropriate.

  The data included in the biological information described in the above embodiment is an example. For this reason, the biological information may include data other than the data described in the above embodiment, such as the “direction of line of sight”, “blood pressure”, and “heart rate” of the driver. Conversely, some of the data described in the above embodiment may not be included in the biological information. The “direction of line of sight” can be acquired based on the driver image by the face recognition function of the image processing unit 21, for example.

  In the above embodiment, it has been described that data acquired in a certain period including before and after the event occurrence time is recorded. However, only data acquired at the event occurrence time may be recorded. .

  Further, in the above embodiment, two images of the outside image and the longitude / latitude information are recorded as the position information that can identify the current position of the vehicle. However, only one of them may be recorded. .

  In the above embodiment, it is determined that a biological event has occurred when one of the events (A) to (I) occurs, but among (A) to (I) When a predetermined number of events occur at the same time, it may be determined that a biological event has occurred.

  In the above embodiment, data is recorded when one of the biological event and the driving event occurs. However, the data is recorded only when both the biological event and the driving event occur at the same time. It may be recorded.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, it has been described that various functions are realized in software by the arithmetic processing of the CPU according to the program. However, some of these functions are realized by an electrical hardware circuit. Also good.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Data recording device 9 Memory card 21 Image processing part 22 Audio | voice processing part 23 Event detection part 24 Recording control part 33 GPS receiving part 34 Signal receiving part

Claims (5)

A data recording device mounted on a vehicle,
Information acquisition means for acquiring biological information of the driver of the vehicle;
Event detecting means for detecting a change in psychological state as an event that increases the tension of the driver based on the biological information;
Position acquisition means for acquiring position information capable of specifying the current position of the vehicle;
Recording means for recording the position information acquired at the time of occurrence of the event;
A data recording apparatus comprising: The data recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The data recording apparatus, wherein the recording unit further records the biological information acquired at the time of occurrence of the event. The data recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein
The data recording apparatus, wherein the recording unit further records the biological information acquired in a period including before the event occurrence time and after the event occurrence time. The data recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Operation acquisition means for acquiring the contents of the driving operation of the vehicle of the driver;
Further comprising
The data recording apparatus, wherein the event detection means further detects an abnormality in the driving operation as the event. A data recording method for recording data in a vehicle,
Obtaining biological information of the vehicle driver;
Detecting a change in psychological state as an event that increases the tension of the driver based on the biological information; and
Obtaining position information capable of specifying the current position of the vehicle;
Recording the location information acquired at the time of occurrence of the event;
A data recording method comprising:

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