JP2021111144A - Information processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

To help a driver to take appropriate measures in the case where a vehicle makes contact with an obstacle.SOLUTION: An information processing device comprises a control unit which makes a decision regarding that acceleration or additional acceleration in an automatic driving vehicle is not caused by automatic driving, stops the automatic driving vehicle in the case where a result of the decision satisfies a predetermined condition, acquires an image around the automatic driving vehicle using a camera, and determines a notification destination on the basis of the image.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device.

There is a system that makes an emergency call when a vehicle detects an impact (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-306471

In self-driving vehicles, it can be difficult to determine if an accident has occurred or what has collided. Therefore, there is a risk that the report will not be made when necessary, or the report will be made more than necessary. An object of the present invention is to help the vehicle take appropriate measures when it comes into contact with an obstacle.

One of the aspects of the present invention is to determine that the acceleration or jerk in the autonomous driving vehicle is not due to autonomous driving, and when the result of the determination satisfies a predetermined condition, the said Information processing including a control unit that stops the autonomous driving vehicle, acquires an image of the surroundings of the autonomous driving vehicle using a camera, and determines a reporting destination based on the image. It is a device.

Further, one aspect of the present invention is a computer-readable storage medium that non-temporarily stores the method, problem, and program related to the above-mentioned information processing apparatus.

According to the present invention, it is possible to help the vehicle take appropriate measures when it comes into contact with an obstacle.

It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of the automatic operation system which concerns on embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows typically an example of each configuration of the vehicle, the terminal and the server which constitute the automatic driving system which concerns on embodiment. This is an example of a flowchart of processing when a vehicle comes into contact with an obstacle.

The control unit included in the information processing device, which is one of the aspects of the present invention, determines that the acceleration or jerk in the autonomous driving vehicle (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a vehicle) is not caused by the autonomous driving. .. When the vehicle comes into contact with an obstacle, the speed of the vehicle changes according to the impact at that time. If the acceleration or jerk is caused by automatic driving, the acceleration or jerk will be in the range assumed in advance. The acceleration or jerk of the vehicle can be detected by, for example, a sensor provided in the vehicle. The acceleration and jerk may be either positive or negative. On the other hand, when the acceleration or jerk is out of the range expected in advance, it can be determined that the acceleration or jerk is not caused by the automatic driving. In this case, it can be said that the result of the determination satisfies the predetermined condition.

When the result of the determination satisfies the predetermined condition, it is highly possible that the vehicle has come into contact with an obstacle, so the control unit stops the vehicle. Then, an image of the surroundings of the vehicle is acquired using the camera. The circumference of the vehicle is, for example, the range in which the obstacle can exist, assuming that the vehicle comes into contact with the obstacle. Based on the image, the control unit determines the report destination. The report destination is, for example, the police, the emergency department, the operation manager, and the like. For example, when it is recognized by image recognition that a person has fallen, at least the police and the emergency are the report destinations. In the case of a property damage accident, at least the police will be the report destination. In addition, the operation manager may be the report destination for minor cases. If it is difficult to judge from the image, the operation manager may be the report destination. In this way, it can help the vehicle to take appropriate action when it comes into contact with an obstacle.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The configurations of the following embodiments are examples, and the present invention is not limited to the configurations of the embodiments.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an automatic operation system 1 according to an embodiment. The automatic driving system 1 includes, for example, a vehicle 10, a terminal 20, and a server 30. The number of vehicles 10 and terminals 20 is not limited to one illustrated in FIG. 1, and may be two or more. The automatic driving system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is, for example, a system in which a vehicle 10 carrying a person or an object autonomously travels. The vehicle 10 travels based on an operation command from the server 30. The vehicle 10 is not limited to the vehicle 10 that carries people and goods, and may be, for example, a vehicle 10 that displays an advertisement on a vehicle body, a vehicle 10 that monitors a road or an area, and the like.

The operation manager in FIG. 1 operates the terminal 20. The operation manager can access the server 30 via the terminal 20. Thereby, the situation of the vehicle 10 can be grasped. In addition, when the vehicle 10 has an accident, the operation manager can notify the police or the like via the terminal 20 based on the information transmitted from the vehicle 10.

The vehicle 10, the terminal 20, and the server 30 are connected to each other by the network N1. The network N1 is, for example, a world-wide public communication network such as the Internet, and a WAN (Wide Area Network) or other communication network may be adopted. Further, the network N1 may include a telephone communication network such as a mobile phone and a wireless communication network such as WiFi.

(Hardware configuration)
The hardware configurations of the vehicle 10, the terminal 20, and the server 30 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing an example of each configuration of the vehicle 10, the terminal 20, and the server 30 constituting the automatic driving system 1 according to the present embodiment.

The vehicle 10 includes a processor 11, a main storage unit 12, an auxiliary storage unit 13, an input unit 14, an output unit 15, a communication unit 16, a position information sensor 17, an environment information sensor 18, a drive unit 19, and a camera 100. These are connected to each other by a bus.

The processor 11 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), or the like. The processor 11 controls the vehicle 10 and performs various information processing calculations. The processor 11 is an example of a "control unit". The main storage unit 12 is a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), or the like. The auxiliary storage unit 13 is an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), a hard disk drive (HDD, Hard Disk Drive), removable media, or the like. The auxiliary storage unit 13 contains an operating system (Oper).
ating System: OS), various programs, various tables, etc. are stored. The processor 11 loads and executes the program stored in the auxiliary storage unit 13 into the work area of the main storage unit 12, and each component and the like are controlled through the execution of this program. The main storage unit 12 and the auxiliary storage unit 13 are computer-readable recording media.

The input unit 14 is a means for receiving an input operation performed by the user, and is, for example, a touch panel, a keyboard, a mouse, a push button, or the like. The output unit 15 is a means for presenting information to the user, and is, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an EL (Electroluminescence) panel, a speaker, a lamp, or the like. The input unit 14 and the output unit 15 may be configured as one touch panel display.

The communication unit 16 is a communication means for connecting the vehicle 10 to the network N1. The communication unit 16 uses, for example, a vehicle communication service (telephone communication network such as 3G (3rd Generation) or LTE (Long Term Evolution), wireless communication such as WiFi), and another device (for example, a server) via the network N1. It is a circuit for communicating with 30 etc.).

The position information sensor 17 acquires the position information (for example, latitude and longitude) of the vehicle 10 at a predetermined cycle. The position information sensor 17 is, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiving unit, a WiFi communication unit, or the like. The information acquired by the position information sensor 17 is recorded in, for example, the auxiliary storage unit 13 and is transmitted to the server 30.

The environmental information sensor 18 is a means for sensing the state of the vehicle 10 and the periphery of the vehicle 10. Examples of the sensor for sensing the state of the vehicle 10 include an acceleration sensor, a speed sensor, and an azimuth sensor. Examples of the sensor for sensing the periphery of the vehicle 10 include a stereo camera, a laser scanner, LIDAR, and a radar.

The drive unit 19 drives the vehicle 10 based on the control command generated by the processor 11. The drive unit 19 includes, for example, a motor, an inverter, a brake, a steering mechanism, and the like for driving the wheels of the vehicle 10, and the motor, the brake, and the like are driven according to a control command to autonomously drive the vehicle 10. Driving is realized.

The camera 100 is provided so as to be able to photograph the periphery of the vehicle 10, and photographs the periphery of the vehicle 10. The camera 100 takes an image using an image sensor such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor. The image obtained by shooting may be either a still image or a moving image, but in the present embodiment, the camera 100 shoots a still image. The camera 100 may be shared with the environment information sensor 18.

Next, the terminal 20 will be described. The terminal 20 is a small computer such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet terminal, a personal information terminal, a wearable computer (smart watch, etc.), or a personal computer (Personal Computer, PC). The terminal 20 includes a processor 21, a main storage unit 22, an auxiliary storage unit 23, an input unit 24, an output unit 25, and a communication unit 26. These are connected to each other by a bus. The processor 21, the main storage unit 22, the auxiliary storage unit 23, the input unit 24, the output unit 25, and the communication unit 26 are the processor 11, the main storage unit 12, the auxiliary storage unit 13, the input unit 14, the output unit 15, and the vehicle 10. Since it is the same as the communication unit 16, the description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the server 30 will be described. The server 30 has a general computer configuration. The server 30 includes a processor 31, a main storage unit 32, an auxiliary storage unit 33, and a communication unit 34.
Have. These are connected to each other by a bus. Since the processor 31, the main storage unit 32, and the auxiliary storage unit 33 are the same as the processor 11, the main storage unit 12, and the auxiliary storage unit 13 of the vehicle 10, the description thereof will be omitted.

The communication unit 34 is a means for communicating with the vehicle 10 and the terminal 20 via the network N1. The communication unit 34 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) interface board and a wireless communication circuit for wireless communication. The LAN interface board and the wireless communication circuit are connected to the network N1.

The series of processes executed by the server 30 can be executed by hardware, but can also be executed by software. The hardware configuration of the server 30 is not limited to that shown in FIG. Further, a part or all of the configuration of the server 30 may be mounted on the vehicle 10.

(Vehicle control)
The processor 11 of the vehicle 10 autonomously of the vehicle 10 based on the operation plan acquired from the server 30, the environmental data generated by the environment detection unit 102, and the position information of the vehicle 10 acquired by the position information sensor 17. Generate a control command to control the running. For example, the vehicle control unit 103 generates a control command so as to travel along a predetermined route and to drive the vehicle 10 so that an obstacle does not enter a predetermined safety area centered on the vehicle 10. The generated control command is transmitted to the drive unit 19. As a method for generating a control command for autonomously moving the vehicle 10, a known method can be adopted. Further, as a method for the server 30 to generate an operation command, a known method can be adopted.

Next, processing when the vehicle 10 comes into contact with an obstacle will be described. The following processing in the vehicle 10 is executed by the processor 11. In the vehicle 10, acceleration or jerk is detected at any time by the environmental information sensor 18. This acceleration or jerk is within the range corresponding to the control command when the vehicle 10 is traveling based on the control command. For example, when a control command is generated so that the vehicle 10 is accelerated at a predetermined acceleration, the actual acceleration of the vehicle 10 is also within a predetermined range including the predetermined acceleration. Further, for example, while traveling on a curve, lateral acceleration corresponding to the speed and the steering angle is applied to the vehicle 10. This lateral acceleration also falls within a predetermined range according to the speed and the steering angle. The predetermined range is the range of acceleration or jerk assumed during automatic operation. The predetermined range may be, for example, the range of acceleration or jerk assumed from the accelerator operation, the brake operation, and the steering operation. Further, the predetermined range may be set according to the immediately preceding acceleration or jerk. Further, the range outside the predetermined range may be, for example, a range in which the airbag opens.

On the other hand, when the vehicle 10 comes into contact with an obstacle, the speed of the vehicle 10 changes according to the impact at that time. The acceleration or jerk at this time is a value outside the above-mentioned predetermined range. That is, the value is different from the acceleration or jerk caused by the automatic operation. Therefore, when the acceleration or jerk detected by the environmental information sensor 18 is out of the predetermined range, it can be determined that the vehicle 10 has come into contact with an obstacle.

Then, in the present embodiment, when it is determined that the vehicle 10 has come into contact with an obstacle, a control command is generated by the processor 11 so as to stop the vehicle 10. Then, according to the control command, the motor and the brake are operated to stop the vehicle 10. Next, the surroundings of the vehicle 10 are photographed by the camera 100 to acquire an image. The acquired image uses known image recognition to determine what the contacted obstacle is. Then, the processor 11 determines the report destination according to the contacted obstacle. For example, the report destination is determined by classifying into cases of contact with a person, contact with an object, minor cases of contact with an object, and undecidable cases. It is set in advance which case is classified by image recognition.

In case of contact with a person, the police, emergency, and operation manager are selected as the report destination. The operation manager is the operation manager shown in FIG. Calls to the police or emergency may be made through the operation manager. That is, an instruction for notifying the operation manager to the police or the emergency may be generated and transmitted to the terminal 20.

In case of contact with an object, the police and operation manager will be selected as the report destination. In this case as well, the report to the police may be made via the operation manager. The objects include, for example, guardrails, utility poles, buildings, animals, and the like. In the case of a minor case, an operation manager is selected as the report destination. Minor cases are cases that come into contact with an object but do not need to be reported. In the case of a minor case, for example, the image is only recorded in the auxiliary storage unit 33 of the server 30, or the fact that there is a minor case is only recorded.

If the contacted obstacle cannot be determined, the operation manager is selected as the report destination. In this case, the acquired image may be transmitted to the operation manager. Based on this image, it is possible to determine what the obstacles the operation manager has come into contact with. Then, the operation manager reports to the police or the emergency according to the obstacle that has come into contact.

(Processing flow)
Next, when the vehicle 10 comes into contact with an obstacle, the process of determining the notification destination in the vehicle 10 will be described. FIG. 3 is an example of a flowchart of processing when the vehicle 10 comes into contact with an obstacle. The process shown in FIG. 3 is executed by the processor 11 of the vehicle 10 at predetermined time intervals.

In step S101, the acceleration (or jerk) is acquired. In step S102, it is determined whether or not the acceleration is within a predetermined range. The predetermined range is pre-mapped according to the operating conditions as the range of acceleration caused by the automatic operation and stored in the auxiliary storage unit 13. If an affirmative determination is made in step S102, the process proceeds to step S103, and if a negative determination is made, this routine is terminated.

In step S103, the vehicle 10 is stopped. Then, in step S104, the image is acquired by the camera 100. In step S104, the acquired image is used to determine an obstacle by image recognition. In step S106, it is determined whether or not the vehicle 10 has come into contact with a person. If an affirmative judgment is made in step S106, the process proceeds to step S107, and police, emergency, and operation managers are selected as report destinations.

If a negative determination is made in step S106, the process proceeds to step S108, and it is determined whether or not the vehicle 10 has come into contact with an object. Here, affirmative judgment is made in cases other than minor cases. If an affirmative judgment is made in step S108, the process proceeds to step S109, and the police and the operation manager are selected as the report destinations.

If a negative determination is made in step S108, the process proceeds to step S110, and it is determined whether or not the case is minor. If an affirmative decision is made in step S110, the process proceeds to step S111, and an operation manager is selected as the report destination.

If a negative determination is made in step S110, the process proceeds to step S112, and the operation manager is selected as the report destination. Further, the process proceeds to step S113, and the image acquired in step S104 is transmitted to the operation manager.

After the processing of step S107, step S109, step S111, and step S112, the police, the emergency department, or the operation manager may actually be notified. Further, after the processing of step S107, step S109, and step S111, the image acquired in step S104 may be sent. Further, instead of sending the image, the result of the image recognition in step S105 may be transmitted.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the vehicle 10 comes into contact with an obstacle, the report destination can be determined based on the image of the surroundings of the vehicle 10. As a result, appropriate measures can be taken. For example, it is possible to prevent an ambulance from being called when it comes into contact with an object. For example, even when no one is in the vehicle 10, an appropriate report can be made.

<Other Embodiments>
The above embodiment is merely an example, and the present invention can be appropriately modified and implemented without departing from the gist thereof.

The processes and means described in the present disclosure can be freely combined and carried out as long as there is no technical contradiction.

Further, the processing described as being performed by one device may be shared and executed by a plurality of devices. Alternatively, the processing described as being performed by different devices may be performed by one device. In a computer system, it is possible to flexibly change what kind of hardware configuration (server configuration) is used to realize each function. In the above embodiment, the processor 11 of the vehicle 10 determines that the acceleration or jerk in the vehicle 10 is not caused by automatic driving, and when the result of the determination satisfies a predetermined condition, the vehicle The operation of stopping the vehicle 10, acquiring an image of the surroundings of the vehicle 10 using the camera 100, and determining the report destination based on the image is executed, but some of these processes are executed. It may be executed by the processor 31 of the server 30.

The present invention can also be realized by supplying a computer program having the functions described in the above-described embodiment to a computer, and having one or more processors of the computer read and execute the program. Such a computer program may be provided to the computer by a non-temporary computer-readable storage medium that can be connected to the computer's system bus, or may be provided to the computer via a network. Non-temporary computer-readable storage media include, for example, any type of disk such as a magnetic disk (floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk drive (HDD), etc.), optical disk (CD-ROM, DVD disk, Blu-ray disk, etc.). Includes read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), EPROM, EEPROM, magnetic cards, flash memory, optical cards, and any type of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions.

10 Vehicle 11 Processor 20 Terminal 30 Server

Claims (1)

To determine that the acceleration or jerk in an autonomous vehicle is not due to autonomous driving,
When the result of the determination satisfies the predetermined condition, the automatic driving vehicle is stopped.
Acquiring an image of the surroundings of the self-driving vehicle using a camera,
Determining the report destination based on the above image,
An information processing device including a control unit that executes the above.

Images