WO2015174526A1 - Vehicle control system - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle control system is provided with an electronic key which is communicable by radio with a vehicle, and a communication terminal which is communicable by radio with the electronic key. The communication terminal is provided with a designation input unit which accepts a designation input of a processing item for causing the vehicle to perform specific processing, the processing item indicating the contents of the processing to be executed, and an instruction transmission unit which transmits to the electronic key a processing instruction indicating the processing item inputted by the designation input unit. The electronic key is provided with a command transmission unit which, when the processing instruction is received from the communication terminal, transmits a processing command indicating the processing item corresponding to the processing instruction to the vehicle.

Description

Vehicle control system Cross-reference of related applications

This international application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-102321 filed with the Japan Patent Office on May 16, 2014, and is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-102321. The entire contents are incorporated by reference into this international application.

The present invention relates to a vehicle control system capable of remotely controlling a vehicle.

Electronic key systems that allow users to lock / unlock doors and start / stop engines without touching the keys by wireless communication between the electronic key carried by the user and the vehicle are widely used ( For example, see Patent Document 1.)

JP 2006-341768 A

It is convenient to be able to realize more diverse functions by directly or indirectly using wireless communication between the electronic key and the vehicle. In one aspect of the present invention, it is desirable to provide a highly convenient vehicle control system using an electronic key.

The vehicle control system according to one aspect of the present invention includes an electronic key capable of wireless communication with a vehicle and a communication terminal capable of wireless communication with the electronic key. The communication terminal includes a designation input unit and a command transmission unit. The designation input unit receives designation input of a process item indicating the contents of the process to be executed for causing the vehicle to execute a specific process. The command transmission unit transmits a processing command indicating the processing item input by the designation input unit to the electronic key. The electronic key includes a command transmission unit that transmits a processing command indicating a processing item corresponding to the processing command to the vehicle when the processing command is received from the communication terminal.

According to such a configuration, the user of the vehicle can remotely control the vehicle by relaying the electronic key by operating the communication terminal.
The electronic key is a portable wireless communication device that can perform at least wireless communication with a vehicle and can transmit various data by wireless communication to the vehicle. When various types of data are transmitted from the electronic key to the vehicle, verification data necessary for verification between the electronic key and the vehicle is also transmitted. When the vehicle receives various data from the electronic key, it refers to the verification data contained in it, and when it is confirmed that the verification data is from the regular electronic key, it receives from the electronic key. The various types of data are validated, and various processes based on the various types of data are executed.

Also, the designation input unit is a means for accepting designation of processing items (that is, contents of processing to be executed on the vehicle) by the user. Processing items to be executed by the vehicle are received by the designation input unit. The command transmission unit is means for wirelessly transmitting a processing command indicating a processing item to the electronic key. The process item received by the designation input unit is wirelessly transmitted to the electronic key by the command transmission unit. Thereby, the electronic key can recognize the processing item designated by the user in the communication terminal.

Further, in the above configuration, the communication terminal includes a terminal-side storage unit in which predetermined terminal-side unique information is stored, and the command transmission unit is stored in the terminal-side storage unit when transmitting the processing command to the electronic key. The terminal side unique information may be transmitted. In that case, the electronic key may include a key-side storage unit and a unique information determination unit. The key-side storage unit stores predetermined key-side unique information. When receiving the processing command and the terminal side unique information from the communication terminal, the unique information determination unit has a specific relationship between the received terminal side unique information and the key side unique information stored in the key side storage unit Determine whether or not. Then, the command transmission unit may transmit the processing command when the specific information determination unit determines that the specific relationship is established.

Note that the terminal side unique information stored in the communication terminal is whether or not the processing instruction may be validated when the electronic key receives the processing instruction from the communication terminal (that is, relayed to the vehicle as the processing command) This information is used to make a determination (hereinafter also simply referred to as “authentication”).

On the other hand, the key side unique information stored in the electronic key is information for comparison with the terminal side unique information for performing the authentication. The terminal-side specific information may be, for example, the above-described verification data (data used by the vehicle for verification of the electronic key).

Also, the unique information determination unit of the electronic key is a means for performing the authentication when a processing command is received from the communication terminal. That is, when the processing information is received from the communication terminal, the unique information determining unit compares the terminal-side unique information received together with the processing command with the key-side unique information stored in the electronic key. And when both are in the specific relationship (for example, both correspond), the process command from a communication terminal is validated and the process command corresponding to the process example is transmitted to a vehicle.

According to such a structure, it can suppress that a vehicle is manipulated illegally and can improve the security performance of a system.
In the above configuration, the communication terminal may include at least one of an imaging unit that can capture a moving image and an audio input unit that can input audio. And the designation | designated input part may be able to receive designation | designated input of a process item based on at least one among the user's gesture image | photographed by the imaging part, and the user's voice input into the audio | voice input part.

According to such a configuration, the user of the vehicle can specify a desired processing item by various methods when controlling the vehicle from the communication terminal. That is, a user-friendly system can be provided.

In addition to the vehicle control system described above, the present invention includes various devices (communication terminal, electronic key), a vehicle, a program for causing a computer to function as each unit constituting these various devices, vehicle control, and the like. It can be realized in various forms such as a method.

FIG. 1A is an explanatory diagram showing a usage image of the vehicle control system, and FIG. 1B is a top view of the vehicle. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of a smart phone. It is explanatory drawing which shows the specific content of an operation menu screen. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of an electronic key. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the electric power feeding method from a smart phone to an electronic key using a charging cable. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a vehicle. It is a flowchart which shows the vehicle operation application which the smart phone of 1st Embodiment performs. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the vehicle operation process in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the electronic key control process which the electronic key of 1st Embodiment performs. 10 is a flowchart showing details of relay processing in FIG. 9. It is a flowchart which shows the remote control process which the vehicle of 1st Embodiment performs. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the function restriction | limiting confirmation process in the remote control process of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows a tag corresponding | compatible process. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the electronic key of 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the electronic key control process which the electronic key of 2nd Embodiment performs. It is a flowchart which shows the vehicle information notification process which a vehicle performs. It is a flowchart which shows the vehicle information display process which a smart phone performs. It is a flowchart which shows the system information transmission process which an electronic key performs. It is a flowchart which shows the system status notification process which a smart phone performs. It is a block diagram which shows the other structural example of a smart phone. It is a block diagram which shows the other structural example of a vehicle. It is a flowchart of the information provision process performed with a smart phone. It is a flowchart of the smart phone information alerting | reporting process performed with a vehicle. It is a flowchart of the periphery monitoring process performed with a vehicle. It is a flowchart of the surrounding information alerting | reporting process performed with a smart phone. It is a flowchart of the vehicle position alerting | reporting process performed with a smart phone. It is a flowchart of the SNS cooperation process performed with a vehicle. It is a flowchart of the SNS process performed with a smart phone. It is a flowchart of the physical condition management process performed with a smart phone. It is a flowchart of the physical condition information corresponding | compatible process performed with a vehicle.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle, 2,80 ... Electronic key, 3 ... Smartphone, 4 ... Outside transmitter, 5 ... In-vehicle transmitter, 6 ... Receiver, 7, 35, 55 ... First communication part, 8, 57 ... First 2 communication units, 9, 37 ... GPS receiving unit, 10, 31, 51, 81 ... control unit, 11 ... engine unit, 12 ... brake unit, 13 ... steering unit, 14 ... air conditioner, 15 ... door, 16 ... luggage door, 17 ... Window, 18 ... Door mirror, 19 ... Wiper, 20 ... Headlight, 21 ... Winker, 25, 32, 52, 82 ... Memory, 33, 85 ... Display unit, 34 ... Touch panel, 34a ... Fingerprint detection unit, 36, 56: BT communication unit, 39: USB receptacle, 40, 59 ... battery, 41, 60 ... regulator, 42, 61 ... non-contact power feeding / receiving unit, 43 ... camera, 44 ... image processing unit, 45, 83 ... 46, 84 ... voice processing unit, 48 ... operation menu screen, 53 ... transmission unit, 54 ... reception unit, 58, 86 ... operation input unit, 62 ... power input jack, 70 ... charging cable, 400 ... detection outside the vehicle compartment Area, 500: Detection area inside the vehicle.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
(1) Overall Configuration of Vehicle Control System As shown in FIG. 1A, the vehicle control system of this embodiment includes a vehicle 1, an electronic key 2, and a smartphone 3, and relays the electronic key 2 from the smartphone 3. Thus, the vehicle 1 can be controlled.

The electronic key 2 is used to unlock and lock the door of the vehicle 1 and start the driving source for driving the vehicle 1 (engine in this embodiment) without directly inserting the mechanical key into the vehicle 1. It is a key having a wireless communication function used in As will be described later, a request signal is periodically transmitted from the vehicle 1. When the electronic key 2 enters an area where the request signal can be received, the request signal is received by the electronic key 2. When receiving the request signal from the vehicle 1, the electronic key 2 transmits a response signal and a user ID to the vehicle 1. When the vehicle 1 receives the response signal and the user ID from the electronic key 2, the vehicle 1 collates with the user ID of the vehicle 1 itself, and if the vehicle ID matches, the door can be unlocked / locked and the driving source for driving can be started. It becomes possible to operate. During the operable state, for example, when the user touches the touch sensor on the handle of the door, the door is unlocked (unlocked). Further, when the user presses a specific start button in the passenger compartment, the engine is started.

Therefore, the user of the vehicle 1 unlocks and locks the vehicle 1 without using a mechanical key as in the prior art by approaching the vehicle 1 while holding the electronic key 2 in a pocket or a bag. Or start the engine.

The above-described functions are basic functions that can be realized by using the electronic key 2, and are functions that are already generally known and put into practical use. In the present embodiment, in addition to the basic functions described above, a relay function for relaying communication between the smartphone 3 and the vehicle 1 is provided as will be described later. A remote control advanced control system is realized.

FIG. 1A shows a state in which a user 4 who is carrying the electronic key 2 in a jacket pocket is operating the smartphone 3 near the vehicle 1. The user 4 can operate each part of the vehicle 1, move the vehicle 1, and acquire information from the vehicle 1 by operating the smartphone 3.

FIG. 1B is a view of the vehicle 1 as viewed from above. The vehicle 1 includes four doors 15 in total, left and right, a luggage door 16, two door mirrors 18 in total, a wiper 19, two headlights 20 provided on the left and right sides of the front end of the vehicle, and four corners. And four winkers 21. Each door 15 is provided with a window 17.

Further, a fixed portion 22 and a vehicle interior camera 24 are provided in the vehicle interior of the vehicle 1. The fixing portion 22 is provided on the rear ceiling in the vehicle interior. The fixing unit 22 is configured to fix various communication terminals including the smartphone 3. The fixing unit 22 is provided with a USB plug 23.

The vehicle interior camera 24 is provided on the front ceiling in the vehicle interior. The vehicle interior camera 24 is provided so as to be able to photograph almost the entire interior of the photographing vehicle interior from the front side of the vehicle interior.
In addition, a detection area in which the vehicle 1 can detect the presence of the electronic key 2 is formed in the vehicle 1. Specifically, a vehicle interior detection area 400 is formed outside the vehicle 1, and a vehicle interior detection area 500 is formed inside the vehicle 1. Each of these detection areas 400 and 500 is formed by a vehicle interior transmitter 4 and a vehicle interior transmitter 5 (both not shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, see FIG. 6).

The vehicle interior detection area 500 is an area where the electronic key 2 can receive a request signal transmitted from a vehicle interior transmitter 5 provided in the vehicle 1. The outside detection area 400 is an area where the electronic key 2 can receive a request signal transmitted from the outside transmitter 4 provided on the side surface of the vehicle 1 outside the vehicle 1.

Note that the ranges of the areas 400 and 500 shown in FIG. 1B are merely examples. The specific ranges of the vehicle exterior detection area and the vehicle interior detection area can be adjusted by adjusting the installation position and the number of installation of the transmitters 4 and 5 and appropriately transmitting each transmitter 4 and 5 with a desired radio wave emission characteristic. It can set suitably by selecting.

(2) Description of Smartphone 3 A specific configuration of the smartphone 3 will be described with reference to FIG. The smartphone 3 is a multi-function portable information terminal having a plurality of types of communication functions including a voice call function via a mobile phone network. The smartphone 3 has at least wireless communication by a first communication method (hereinafter referred to as “first communication”) and wireless communication (hereinafter referred to as “BT communication”) by Bluetooth (registered trademark; the same shall apply hereinafter) as a wireless communication function. And two types of wireless communication functions.

The first communication is a communication method capable of wireless communication over a long distance. In the present embodiment, for example, the first communication is a wireless communication method using a mobile phone network. Therefore, as long as the smart phone 3 exists within the communication range of the mobile phone, the user of the smart phone 3 can perform a voice call and data communication in the first communication. BT communication is a well-known short-range wireless communication method using 2.4 GHz band radio waves.

As shown in FIG. 2, the smartphone 3 includes a control unit 31, a memory 32, a display unit 33, a touch panel 34, a first communication unit 35, a BT communication unit 36, a GPS reception unit 37, and a USB interface. (Hereinafter abbreviated as “USB I / F”) 38, USB receptacle 39, battery 40, regulator 41, non-contact power supply / reception unit 42, camera 43, image processing unit 44, microphone 45, and audio processing A unit 46 and a tag reader / writer 47.

The control unit 31 includes a microcomputer provided with a CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O, etc. (not shown). The control unit 31 controls various circuits and functional blocks in the smartphone 3 including each unit connected to the control unit 31. Various programs including a vehicle operation application 32a described later are executed by the CPU of the control unit 31.

The memory 32 is a nonvolatile memory capable of electrically rewriting stored contents, and is a flash memory in this embodiment. The memory 32 stores various programs and data. The programs and data stored in the memory 32 include a vehicle operation application 32a, vehicle operation menu data 32b, a voice pattern 32c, a gesture pattern 32d, ID information 32e, and authentication information 32f.

The display unit 33 is a display device (for example, a liquid crystal display) that can display various images and information. The touch panel 34 is a well-known input device capable of performing an input operation by touching with an indicator such as a fingertip or a dedicated pen. The touch panel 34 is disposed so as to overlap almost the entire image display area in the display unit 33. Furthermore, the touch panel 34 includes a fingerprint detection unit 34a. When a human finger touches the touch panel 34, the fingerprint detection unit 34a detects the fingerprint of the touched portion. Fingerprint data (fingerprint data) detected by the fingerprint detection unit 34 a is input to the control unit 31. The method for detecting the fingerprint may be another method. Moreover, although illustration was abbreviate | omitted, the smart phone 3 is equipped with at least 1 switch operated by the user as an input device other than the touch panel 34.

The first communication unit 35 is a wireless communication interface for transmitting and receiving the first communication radio wave. The BT communication unit 36 is a wireless communication interface for realizing BT communication. The GPS receiver 37 receives radio waves from a plurality of GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites and outputs information included in the received radio waves to the control unit 31. The control unit 31 can detect the current position (for example, latitude and longitude) of the smartphone 3 based on the information received by the GPS receiving unit 37.

USB I / F 38 is an interface for performing serial communication of USB (Universal Serial Bus) standard. The USB receptacle 39 can be inserted with a USB plug. Note that a data communication interface of another standard may be provided instead of the USB, and a data communication interface of another standard may be provided in addition to the USB.

The battery 40 is a rechargeable secondary battery. However, the battery 40 may be other power storage means (for example, a primary battery, a fuel cell, etc.) other than the secondary battery. The same applies to the battery 59 (see FIG. 4) of the electronic key 2 described later. The regulator 41 is a power supply circuit for converting the voltage of the battery 40 into a constant voltage having a predetermined voltage value and supplying the converted voltage to the control unit 31 and other circuits.

The non-contact power supply / reception unit 42 can supply power to the outside by a non-contact power feeding method, and can receive power from the outside. When supplying electric power to the outside, the non-contact power supply / reception unit 42 releases the DC power of the battery 40 to the outside by, for example, an electromagnetic induction method. When receiving electric power from the outside, the non-contact power supply / reception unit 42 converts the electric power received from the outside into direct current and outputs it to at least one of the battery 40 and the regulator 41. The operation of the non-contact power supply / reception unit 42 is controlled by the control unit 31.

The camera 43 is an imaging device that can capture still images and moving images. The image processing unit 44 processes a still image or a moving image captured by the camera 43 (for example, generates still image or moving image data) and inputs the processing result to the control unit 31. The control unit 31 can recognize the contents of still images and moving images taken by the camera 43 based on data input from the image processing unit 44.

The microphone 45 converts external sound into an electrical signal. The audio processing unit 46 processes the audio signal collected by the microphone 45 and converted into an electric signal into digital audio data and outputs the digital audio data to the control unit 31. The control unit 31 can recognize the content of the sound collected by the microphone 45 based on the sound data input from the sound processing unit 46.

The tag reader / writer 47 is a communication module for performing non-contact data communication with an RF tag external to the smartphone 3. By holding the smartphone 3 over an external RF tag, the tag reader / writer 47 can communicate with the RF tag and can read data from the RF tag or write data to the RF tag.

In this embodiment, as will be described later, an RF tag 63 is built in the electronic key 2. Therefore, by holding the smartphone 3 over the electronic key 2, the tag reader / writer 47 of the smartphone 3 can perform data communication with the RF tag 63 of the electronic key 2.

The vehicle operation application 32 a stored in the memory 32 is application software for controlling the vehicle 1 by relaying the electronic key 2 from the smartphone 3. The vehicle operation application 32a can be provided on the smartphone 3 by receiving a provision from a manufacturer or dealer of the vehicle 1 via a medium or an electric communication line, for example.

The vehicle operation menu data 32b stored in the memory 32 is a database used when the vehicle operation application 32a is executed, is provided together with the vehicle operation application 32a, and is stored in the memory 32 when the vehicle operation application 32a is installed. However, it is also possible to install or update separately from the vehicle operation application 32a. The vehicle operation menu data 32b includes various data for displaying the operation menu screen 48 shown in FIG.

The operation menu screen 48 shown in FIG. 3 is a screen in which icons of items of operation contents that can operate the vehicle 1 from the smartphone 3 are listed. The icons displayed on the operation menu screen 48 include a “light blinking” icon indicating an operation item for blinking the headlight 20 for a certain period of time, a “blinker blinking” icon indicating an operation item for blinking the blinker 21 for a certain period of time, and an air conditioner on. An “air conditioner on” icon indicating an operation item to be started (start), an “air conditioner off” icon indicating an operation item to turn off (stop) the air conditioner, an “engine start” icon indicating an operation item to start the engine, and an operation to stop the engine “Engine stop” icon indicating an item, “Door mirror close” icon indicating an operation item for closing the door mirror 18, “Door mirror open” icon indicating an operation item for opening the door mirror 18, and turning the steering wheel to the left by a certain angle (that is, the steering wheel) To steer a certain amount to the left) “Steer left” icon, “Steer right” icon indicating an operation item for rotating the steering wheel to the right by a certain angle (that is, steering the steering wheel by a certain amount to the right), and “Operation item for returning the steering wheel to the neutral state” “Stair Neutral” icon, “Slow Forward” icon indicating an operation item that causes the vehicle to travel forward at a minute speed (eg, 3 km / h) at a minute distance (eg, 30 cm), and a vehicle at a minute speed (eg, 2 km / h) at a minute distance (eg, 20 cm) ) “Slow speed reverse” icon indicating an operation item to travel backward, “travel distance” icon indicating an operation item for acquiring the cumulative travel distance of the vehicle, and “electronic key control” indicating an operation item for controlling the function of the electronic key 2 Icon, “door lock open / close” icon indicating operation items for opening / closing the lock of each door 15 of the vehicle, vehicle maintenance information For example, a “maintenance information” icon indicating an operation item for acquiring a remaining amount of oil, a remaining battery amount, a “diag information” icon indicating an operation item for acquiring vehicle diagnosis information, and an operation item for acquiring a vehicle interior temperature. There are icons corresponding to various operation items, such as an “in-vehicle temperature” icon indicating “inside” and an “in-vehicle interior image information” icon indicating an operation item for acquiring vehicle interior image information.

Note that the number of icons that can be simultaneously displayed on the display unit 33 is limited. Icons that are not displayed on the display unit 33 can be displayed by performing a swipe operation or a flick operation in the vertical direction on the touch panel 34 to scroll the display content in the vertical direction.

When the user selects, for example, a door mirror closing icon on the operation menu screen 48 (for example, a tap operation), the selection information is transmitted to the vehicle 1 via the electronic key 2 as described later, and the door mirror 18 of the vehicle 1 is moved. It closes automatically.

Further, for example, when the user selects the “door lock open / close” icon, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the user can determine which door lock is the operation target, and whether the lock of the operation target door is opened or closed. A plurality of icons for selection are displayed. When the user selects an icon corresponding to the desired operation content from among the plurality of icons, the selection information is transmitted to the vehicle 1 via the electronic key 2, and the door lock is opened and closed according to the selected operation content. . Therefore, for example, the user can open and close the locks of all the doors 15 or selectively open and close only the locks of the specific doors 15.

Also, for example, when the user selects the “electronic key control” icon, the selection information (specifically, an electronic key control command to be described later) is transmitted to the electronic key 2. When the electronic key 2 receives the electronic key control command from the smartphone 3, the electronic key 2 executes a command response process (S124 in FIG. 10 described later) corresponding to the electronic key control command.

Also, for example, when the user selects the “vehicle interior image information” icon, the selection information is transmitted to the vehicle 1 via the electronic key 2. In other words, an operation command indicating a vehicle interior image acquisition request is transmitted to the vehicle 1. When the vehicle 1 receives the operation command, the vehicle interior camera 24 is operated to acquire a still image or a moving image in the vehicle interior. And the acquired still image or moving image is transmitted to the smart phone 3 by 1st communication, for example. When the smartphone 3 receives the shooting data of the in-vehicle camera 24 from the vehicle 1, the smartphone 3 displays the shooting data on the display unit 33.

Thus, in this embodiment, the user selectively selects a plurality of operation items set as the vehicle operation menu data 32b for the vehicle 1 using the vehicle operation application 32a installed in the smartphone 3. Can be executed.

When the vehicle 1 is controlled from the smartphone 3 using the vehicle operation application 32a, the operation item is designated by a voice or gesture in the present embodiment in addition to the selection operation on the operation menu screen 48 shown in FIG. Is possible. The memory 32 stores sound data corresponding to each operation item as a sound pattern 32c. Therefore, when the user utters a word indicating a specific operation item (any one of the voices stored as the voice pattern 32c) toward the microphone 45, the control unit 31 is requested to execute the operation item. Judgment is performed and processing necessary to execute the operation item is executed. For example, when the user says “Close the door mirror”, the control unit 31 recognizes that an operation for closing the door mirror 18 is requested, and causes the door mirror 18 to close. In other words, in this example, the same result as that obtained by tapping the door mirror closing icon on the operation menu screen 48 shown in FIG. 3 can be obtained.

In the memory 32, gestures corresponding to the respective operation items are stored as gesture patterns 32d. Therefore, when the user makes a gesture indicating a specific operation item toward the camera 43 (any of the gestures stored as the gesture pattern 32d), the control unit 31 determines that an execution request for the operation item has been made. Then, a process necessary for executing the operation item is executed.

The ID information 32e stored in the memory 32 includes a terminal ID unique to the smartphone 3. Further, the ID information 32 e includes a user ID unique to the vehicle 1 that is necessary for remotely operating the vehicle 1 from the smartphone 3. This user ID is also stored in the electronic key 2 and the vehicle 1. The storage of the user ID in the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 2 is performed by a vehicle manufacturer or a dealer when the vehicle 1 is shipped, for example. The storage of the user ID in the smartphone 3 is performed, for example, by a notification from a manufacturer or a dealer of the vehicle 1 through a predetermined procedure, and the user inputs it to the smartphone 3. In addition, you may enable it to implement | achieve the memory | storage of user ID to the smart phone 3 with another various method and timing. For example, the user can bring the electronic key 2 and the smartphone 3 to the dealer of the vehicle 1 and have the dealer store them.

The authentication information 32f stored in the memory 32 includes at least one authentication data for authenticating whether or not the user of the smartphone 3 is an authorized user. Specifically, the authentication information 32f includes, as the authentication data, a regular user's fingerprint data (registered fingerprint data), a regular user's face image data (registered face data), and a regular user's voice data (registered voice data). , At least one of them is included. Each of these registration data can be arbitrarily registered (stored) by the user.

(3) Description of Electronic Key 2 A specific configuration of the electronic key 2 will be described with reference to FIG. The electronic key 2 is a lightweight and small portable communication terminal that can be easily carried by a user. The electronic key 2 includes first communication and BT communication as a wireless communication function, like the smartphone 3. In addition, the electronic key 2 includes wireless communication (hereinafter abbreviated as “second communication”) using the second communication method as a wireless communication function. Similar to the first communication, the second communication is a communication method capable of wireless communication over a long distance. The second communication may be, for example, a wireless LAN or another wireless communication method. Further, like the conventional electronic key, the electronic key 2 also has a wireless communication function (hereinafter referred to as “smart communication”) that returns a response signal and a user ID in response to receiving a request signal from the vehicle 1.

As shown in FIG. 4, the electronic key 2 includes a control unit 51, a memory 52, a transmission unit 53, a reception unit 54, a first communication unit 55, a BT communication unit 56, and a second communication unit 57. , An operation input unit 58, a battery 59, a regulator 60, a non-contact power supply / reception unit 61, and a power input jack 62.

The control unit 51 includes a microcomputer provided with a CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O, etc. (not shown). The control unit 51 controls various circuits and functional blocks in the electronic key 2 including each unit connected to the control unit 51.

The memory 52 is a nonvolatile memory capable of electrically rewriting stored contents, and is a flash memory in this embodiment. The memory 52 stores various programs and data. The data stored in the memory 52 includes ID information 52a and BT pairing information 52b.

The ID information 52 a includes a user ID unique to the vehicle 1. This user ID is the same as the user ID stored as one of the ID information 32e in the memory 32 of the smartphone 3, and is also stored in the vehicle 1 as described above. In the BT pairing information 52b, the BT communication between the electronic key 2 and other communication devices, such as unique information (for example, link key) generated when BT communication is paired, is connected. The information necessary for this is included. In addition, when pairing is performed and unique information is generated, the generated unique information and pairing partner user information are provided for each other communication device of the pairing partner (that is, for each other user capable of BT communication). Are stored in association with each other. Therefore, when starting the BT communication with another communication device, the electronic key 2 can identify the user of the communication partner by performing authentication based on the unique information of the communication partner.

The receiving unit 54 receives and demodulates a request signal transmitted from the vehicle 1 by radio waves in a predetermined frequency band, and outputs the request signal to the control unit 51. When the request signal is input from the reception unit 54, the control unit 51 generates response data and outputs the response data to the transmission unit 53. The response data includes a predetermined response signal and a user ID stored in the memory 52 as the ID information 52a. The transmission unit 53 modulates the response data input from the control unit 51 into radio waves in a predetermined frequency band and transmits the modulated data to the vehicle 1.

As illustrated in FIG. 1B, in this embodiment, each detection area 400, 500 that can receive a request signal is set. Therefore, when the electronic key 2 is not in any of the detection areas 400 and 500, the request signal is not received. On the other hand, when the electronic key 2 enters one of the detection areas 400 and 500, the request signal from the vehicle 1 can be received by the electronic key 2. The request signal from the vehicle 1 is repeatedly transmitted at a constant cycle as will be described later. Therefore, while the electronic key 2 is in any one of the detection areas 400 and 500, the request signal is periodically received by the electronic key 2. Each time the electronic key 2 receives a request signal, the electronic key 2 transmits a response signal to the request signal.

The first communication unit 55 is a wireless communication interface for transmitting and receiving radio waves of the first communication. The BT communication unit 56 is a wireless communication interface for realizing BT communication. The second communication unit 57 is a wireless communication interface for transmitting and receiving radio waves for the second communication. The operation input unit 58 is an input device that can accept an input operation by a user. A specific configuration of the operation input unit 58 includes, for example, a push button type switch. A touch panel may be provided as the operation input unit 58.

In this embodiment, the battery 59 is a rechargeable secondary battery. The regulator 60 is a power supply circuit for converting the voltage of the battery 59 into a constant voltage having a predetermined voltage value and supplying the same to the control unit 51 and other circuits. The non-contact power supply / reception unit 61 has the same configuration as the non-contact power supply / reception unit 42 of the smartphone 3 and can supply power to the outside or receive power from the outside by a non-contact power supply method. It is. The operation of the non-contact power supply / reception unit 61 is controlled by the control unit 51. The power input jack 62 is a jack into which a plug of an external charging adapter is inserted and removed. The battery 59 can be charged by inputting DC power from the outside via the power input jack 62, and conversely, the DC power of the battery 59 can be supplied to the outside.

Therefore, when the remaining amount of the battery 59 of the electronic key 2 is low and the electronic key 2 cannot operate normally, DC power is taken from the power input jack 62 or power is supplied from the outside by the non-contact power supply / reception unit 61. By receiving power, the electronic key 2 can be operated normally and the battery 59 can be charged.

When it is desired to charge the battery 59 of the electronic key 2 using the smartphone 3, it can be charged by using a charging cable 70 as shown in FIG. The charging cable 70 includes a USB plug 71, a USB side cable 72, a power supply adapter 73, a pin side cable 74, and a power supply plug 75. When the USB plug 71 is connected to the USB receptacle 39 of the smartphone 3 and the power supply plug 75 is inserted into the power input jack 62 of the electronic key 2, the DC power of the battery 40 of the smartphone 3 is supplied to the electronic key 2 via the power supply adapter 73. Is done.

In addition, both the smartphone 3 and the electronic key 2 are provided with a non-contact power supply / reception unit. Therefore, when both the non-contact power supply / reception units 42 and 61 are opposed to each other within a predetermined distance, it is possible to supply power from one to the other.

For this reason, even if the battery 59 of the electronic key 2 becomes insufficient in capacity, it receives power from other devices such as the smartphone 3 in a non-contact manner or by using a cable to charge the battery 59 or the regulator 60. By operating, each part in the electronic key 2 can be operated normally.

The RF key 63 is built in the electronic key 2. The RF tag 63 stores a user ID. When the smartphone 3 is held over and the RF tag 63 starts data communication with the tag reader / writer 47 of the smartphone 3, the RF tag 63 acquires a user ID from the smartphone 3. And if it compares with own user ID and it corresponds, own user ID and an application starting request | requirement will be transmitted to the smart phone 3.

(4) Description of Vehicle 1 A specific configuration of the vehicle 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The vehicle 1 of this embodiment is a vehicle having an engine (internal combustion engine) as a driving source for traveling. As shown in FIG. 6, the vehicle 1 includes a control unit 10. The control unit 10 includes a microcomputer provided with a CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O, etc. (not shown). The control unit 10 controls various circuits and functional blocks in the vehicle 1 including each unit connected to the control unit 10.

As various circuits and functional blocks controlled by the control unit 10, in this embodiment, the engine unit 11, the brake unit 12, the steering unit 13, the air conditioner 14, the door 15, the luggage door 16, the window 17, The vehicle includes at least a door mirror 18, a wiper 19, a headlight 20, a blinker 21, a vehicle interior camera 24, a display unit 26, and a USB I / F 27. In practice, a plurality of doors 15, windows 17, door mirrors 18, wipers 19, headlights 20, and blinkers 21 are provided as shown in FIG. 1B.

The engine unit 11 includes an engine and an engine control unit that controls the engine. The control unit 10 can control the operation of the engine via an engine control unit in the engine unit 11. The brake unit 12 includes a brake mechanism provided in the vehicle 1 and a brake control unit that controls the brake mechanism. The steering unit 13 includes a steering mechanism that steers the wheels of the vehicle 1 and a steering control unit that controls the steering mechanism. The steering system of this embodiment is a so-called steer-by-wire type electric steering system. That is, the steering wheel operated by the driver and the steering shaft are not mechanically directly connected, and the steering shaft is driven by the motor according to the operation of the steering wheel by the driver. Therefore, the control unit 10 can freely move the steered wheels by controlling the steering unit 13.

The control unit 10 executes various functions based on various programs and data stored in the memory 25. The memory 25 is a nonvolatile memory capable of electrically rewriting stored contents, and is a flash memory in the present embodiment. The data stored in the memory 25 includes ID information 25a and function restriction information 25b.

The ID information 25 a includes a user ID unique to the vehicle 1. This user ID is the same as the user ID stored in the memory 32 of the smartphone 3 and the memory 52 of the electronic key 2. The function restriction information 25b is information for restricting the function of the vehicle 1 according to the positional relationship between the three of the vehicle 1, the smartphone 3, and the electronic key 2. Whether the electronic key 2 is located outside the vehicle interior detection area 500, the vehicle exterior detection area 400, or outside the detection area, and where the smartphone 3 exists (for example, whether it is inside or outside the vehicle 1) ), Etc., information such as whether or not to restrict the function of the vehicle 1 and which function is specifically restricted if restricted is stored as the function restriction information 25b. Some of the function restriction information 25b is stored by default at the time of shipment of the vehicle 1, but can be customized by the user of the vehicle 1.

By appropriately customizing the function restriction information 25b, for example, when a child is inside the vehicle 1 with the smartphone 3 but a parent is outside the vehicle 1 with the electronic key 2, a specific function is provided. It can also be restricted. For example, when the electronic key 2 exists in the detection area of the vehicle 1 but the smartphone 3 exists at a position far from the vehicle 1 (that is, when the smartphone 3 and the electronic key 2 are greatly separated). It is also possible to restrict certain functions.

The vehicle 1 includes a first communication and a second communication as a wireless communication function. The first communication unit 7 is a wireless communication interface for transmitting and receiving radio waves for the first communication, and the second communication unit 8 is a radio communication interface for transmitting and receiving radio waves for the second communication.

The GPS receiver 9 receives radio waves from a plurality of GPS satellites and outputs information included in the received radio waves to the controller 10. The controller 10 can detect the current position (for example, latitude and longitude) of the vehicle 1 based on the information received by the GPS receiver 9.

Furthermore, the vehicle 1 also has a wireless communication (smart communication) function of periodically transmitting a request signal for the electronic key 2 and receiving a response signal and a user ID from the electronic key 2 for the request signal. The vehicle exterior transmitter 4, the vehicle interior transmitter 5, and the receiver 6 are provided to realize this smart communication.

The vehicle interior transmitter 4 and the vehicle interior transmitter 5 periodically transmit request signals based on instructions from the control unit 10. In practice, a plurality of vehicle interior transmitters 4 and vehicle interior transmitters 5 are provided. That is, the plurality of vehicle interior transmitters 5 form the vehicle interior detection area 500 shown in FIG. 1B (an area in which a request signal from any vehicle interior transmitter 5 can be received). Further, the plurality of outside-vehicle transmitters 4 form an outside-vehicle detection area 400 (an area in which a request signal from any one of the outside-vehicle transmitters 4 can be received) shown in FIG. 1B.

The receiver 6 can receive various signals transmitted from the electronic key 2. The signal received by the receiver 6 from the electronic key 2 includes a response signal to the request signal transmitted from each of the transmitters 4 and 5. The request signal includes identification information indicating the transmitter of the transmission source of the request signal. When the electronic key 2 receives the request signal, the electronic key 2 returns a response signal to the request signal and the identification information included in the request signal. Add and send. Therefore, when the response signal is received by the receiver 6, the control unit 10 of the vehicle 1 determines whether the electronic key 2 is at least inside or outside the vehicle 1 based on the identification information added to the response signal. Can be determined.

The display unit 26 is a display device (for example, a liquid crystal display) that can display various images and information.
The USB I / F 27 is an interface for performing USB standard serial communication. The USB plug 23 can be connected to a USB receptacle.

When the smartphone 3 is mounted on the fixing portion 22 (see FIG. 1B) of the vehicle 1, the smartphone 3 is fixed in a state where the rear of the vehicle 1 can be photographed by the camera 43. That is, the lens of the camera 43 is fixed in a state where it faces the rear of the vehicle. When the smartphone 3 is attached to the fixed portion 22 of the vehicle 1, the USB receptacle 39 of the smartphone 3 and the USB plug 23 (see FIG. 6) of the vehicle 1 are connected, and USB data is transmitted between the smartphone 3 and the vehicle 1. Communication is possible.

The control unit 10 of the vehicle 1 can acquire various types of information from the smartphone 3 while being in a state where data communication by USB with the smartphone 3 is possible. One of the information that can be acquired from the smartphone 3 by the control unit 10 is a still image or a moving image captured by the camera 43 of the smartphone 3.

The control unit 10 of the vehicle 1 acquires the shooting data of the camera 43 of the smartphone 3 in real time according to a predetermined timing (for example, when the gear is set to the back) or a user operation, and displays the display unit 26. Can be displayed. That is, by fixing the smartphone 3 to the fixing unit 22 of the vehicle 1, the user of the vehicle 1 displays an image of the rear of the vehicle 1 on the display unit 26 as necessary, and the situation of the rear of the vehicle 1 is displayed. Can be confirmed.

In addition, the communication interface for the control part 10 of the vehicle 1 to acquire imaging | photography data from the smart phone 3 is not limited to USB. Shooting data may be acquired using a communication interface other than USB. For example, photographing data may be acquired from the smartphone 3 by wireless communication such as first communication.

The vehicle 1 according to the present embodiment can exhibit functions equivalent to those of a conventional electronic key system through smart communication with the electronic key 2. That is, when the user having the electronic key 2 enters each detection area 400, 500 of the vehicle 1, the user locks / unlocks each door 15 and starts / stops the engine without touching the key. be able to. However, in this case, the unlocking of each door 15 is realized by the user touching the touch sensor of the door handle. Each door 15 is locked by the user pressing a door lock switch on the door handle. The engine is started / stopped by a user pressing and operating a push switch provided near the driver's seat.

In addition to having such a basic electronic key system function, in this embodiment, the user can remotely operate the vehicle 1 by relaying the electronic key 2 from the smartphone 3 without directly touching the vehicle 1. The remote control function by the smart phone 3 is provided.

Hereinafter, various processes executed in the smartphone 3, the electronic key 2, and the vehicle 1 in order to realize the remote control function will be sequentially described.
(5) Description of the vehicle operation application in the smartphone 3 First, the processing content of the vehicle operation application 32a installed in the smartphone 3 in order to realize the remote control function will be described with reference to FIG. The control unit 31 of the smartphone 3 (specifically, the CPU in the control unit 31) reads and executes the program of the vehicle operation application 32a from the memory 32 when a predetermined application activation process is performed by the user.

The control part 31 of the smart phone 3 will perform application user authentication by S10, if execution of the vehicle operation application 32a is started. The application user authentication is a process of determining whether or not the user who is executing the vehicle operation application 32a is a user (permitted user) permitted to execute the application. Application user authentication is performed using at least one of the user's fingerprint, voice, and face image.

As described above, the memory 32 of the smartphone 3 stores registered fingerprint data, registered face data, and registered voice data as the authentication information 32f. Therefore, for example, whether or not the user inputs a fingerprint and the input fingerprint matches the registered fingerprint data, or whether or not the user's face image is captured by the camera 43 and the face image matches the registered face data, for example. Further, for example, the application user authentication can be performed by making the user speak and determining whether or not the voice data matches the registered voice data exceeding the voice.

In S12, based on the result of the application user authentication in S10, it is determined whether or not the user executing the vehicle operation application 32a is an authorized user. If the user executing the vehicle operation application 32a is not an authorized user (S12: NO), a predetermined user authentication error process is executed in S20, and the process of the vehicle operation application 32a is terminated.

If the user executing the vehicle operation application 32a is an authorized user (S12: YES), an authentication request signal is transmitted to the electronic key 2 through the first communication in S14. This authentication request signal includes the user ID stored in the smartphone 3. In response to this authentication request signal, the electronic key 2 performs user ID authentication as described later, and determines whether or not it matches the user ID stored in the electronic key 2. If they match, an operation permission signal is transmitted from the electronic key 2, and if they do not match, an operation rejection signal is transmitted from the electronic key 2.

In S16, it is determined whether an operation permission signal or an operation rejection signal is received from the electronic key 2 in response to the authentication request signal transmitted in S14. When the operation rejection signal is received (S16: NO), the process proceeds to S20, and user authentication error processing is performed. When the operation permission signal is received (S16: YES), the process proceeds to S18 and the vehicle operation process is executed.

Details of the vehicle operation processing in S18 are as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, when the vehicle operation process proceeds, in S22, the selection of the vehicle operation method by the user is accepted. In the present embodiment, the user can specify the operation content with respect to the smartphone 3 using any of the three types of instruction methods. As described with reference to FIG. 3, one of the three types of instruction methods displays the operation menu screen 48 on the display unit 33, and taps an icon of a desired operation item (operation content). It is a method to make it select. The other two of the three types of instruction methods are the above-described voice or gesture methods. The user can select which method to specify the operation content from among tap operation, voice, and gesture.

In S24, the selection result of the vehicle operation method accepted in S22 is determined. If a tap operation is selected, the process proceeds to S26, if a gesture is selected, the process proceeds to S32, and if a voice is selected. The process proceeds to S40.
In S26 which is shifted when the tap operation is selected as the vehicle operation method, the operation menu screen 48 (see FIG. 3) is displayed on the display unit 33. In S28, one of the selections from the list of operation items displayed on the operation menu screen 48 is accepted. In S30, an operation command corresponding to the operation item selected in S28 is generated. For example, when “slow advance” is selected as the operation item, an operation command corresponding to the slow advance is generated to advance the vehicle 1 by a minute distance. After S30, the process proceeds to S48.

In S32 that is shifted to when the gesture is selected as the vehicle operation method, the camera 43 is activated to start capturing the moving image of the user. In S34, based on the moving image photographed by the camera 43, it is determined whether the user has shown a gesture corresponding to the prescribed gesture pattern. This determination is performed by determining whether or not the gesture indicated by the user matches any of the prescribed gestures stored as the gesture pattern 32d in the memory 32. Then, when the user indicates a gesture that matches the prescribed gesture pattern, the gesture is recognized.

In S36, the operation content corresponding to the prescribed gesture pattern recognized in S34 is displayed on the display unit 33. Thereby, the user can confirm whether or not the gesture indicated by the user is correctly recognized. In S38, an operation command corresponding to the prescribed gesture pattern recognized in S34 is generated. For example, when the user shows a gesture indicating “air conditioner on” (the gesture stored as the gesture pattern 32d) and is recognized correctly, the user corresponds to turning on the air conditioner for operating the air conditioner of the vehicle 1 Generate an operation command. After S38, the process proceeds to S48.

In S40 that is shifted to when the voice is selected as the vehicle operation method, the voice input by the microphone 45 is set to the standby state. That is, it is in a state where voice input and recognition can be executed. In S42, based on the user's voice input to the microphone 45, it is determined whether the user has spoken a word corresponding to a prescribed voice pattern. This determination is made by determining whether or not the word spoken by the user matches any of the words stored in the memory 32 as the voice pattern 32c. When the user speaks a word corresponding to the prescribed voice pattern, the voice pattern is recognized.

In S44, the operation content corresponding to the prescribed voice pattern recognized in S42 is displayed on the display unit 33. As a result, the user can confirm whether or not the word spoken by the user is correctly recognized. In S46, an operation command corresponding to the prescribed voice pattern recognized in S42 is generated. For example, when the user speaks a word indicating “door mirror closed” (a word stored as the voice pattern 32 c) and recognizes it correctly, the user closes the door mirror for closing the door mirror 18 of the vehicle 1. Generate a corresponding operation command. After S46, the process proceeds to S48.

In S48, the operation command generated in S30, S38, or S46, the user ID, the terminal ID, and the position information of the smartphone 3 are transmitted to the electronic key 2 by the first communication. The position information of the smartphone 3 is position information (GPS information) detected based on information received by the GPS receiving unit 37. In addition to the GPS information, when information indicating the current position of the smartphone 3 can be acquired, the information may be transmitted as position information.

In S50, it is determined whether an error notification is received from the electronic key 2 through the first communication. The error notification that the smartphone 3 may receive from the electronic key 2 includes a first error notification (see S120 in FIG. 10), a second error notification (see S136), and a third error, as will be described later. Notification (see S140) and fourth error notification (S144).

If no error notification has been received from the electronic key 2 (S50: NO), the process proceeds to S54. If any error notification is received from the electronic key 2 (S50: YES), a predetermined error is displayed on the display unit 33 in S52, and the process proceeds to S58. The error display to be displayed in S52 may be common display content or different display content for each of four types of error notifications.

In S54, it is determined whether or not a relay completion signal is received from the electronic key 2. This relay completion signal is a signal transmitted from the electronic key 2 in S146 of FIG. When the relay completion signal is received from the electronic key 2 (S54: YES), the process proceeds to S58. When the relay completion signal is not received from the electronic key 2 (S54: NO), the communication abnormality information is displayed on the display unit 33 in S56.

The fact that neither the error notification nor the relay completion signal is received from the electronic key 2 in the transmission process of S48 is considered that the smartphone 3 and the electronic key 2 cannot communicate normally. Therefore, the communication abnormality information in S56 is information for notifying the user that the smartphone 3 and the electronic key 2 cannot communicate normally.

As another example, using, for example, BT communication, it is determined whether or not the smartphone 3 and the electronic key 2 are located at a distance close to each other (that is, whether BT communication is possible with each other). If it does not exist at a short distance after it has been determined that it is present, the fact (that is, the fact that the smartphone 3 and the electronic key 2 have been released) is notified to the user by image or sound. Good.

In S58, it is determined whether or not the user has performed a predetermined ending operation for ending the vehicle operation application 32a. If the ending operation has not been performed (S58: NO), the process returns to S22. When the ending operation is performed (S58: YES), the vehicle operation application 32a is ended.

(6) Description of Electronic Key Control Process in Electronic Key 2 Next, the electronic key control process executed by the electronic key 2 to realize the remote control function will be described with reference to FIG. The electronic key control processing program is stored in the memory 52 of the electronic key 2. The controller 51 of the electronic key 2 (specifically, repeatedly executes the electronic key control process shown in FIG. 9 at a predetermined control cycle.

When the electronic key control process is started, the control unit 51 of the electronic key 2 determines whether or not a request signal transmitted from the vehicle 1 by smart communication is received in S102. When the request signal from the vehicle 1 has not been received (S102: NO), the process proceeds to S106. When the request signal from the vehicle 1 is received (S102: YES), a response process is executed in S104, and the process proceeds to S106. The response process of S104 is a process of transmitting a response signal and a user ID to the vehicle 1 by smart communication (that is, from the transmission unit 53).

In S106, it is determined whether an authentication request signal is received from the smartphone 3 through the first communication. When the authentication request signal has not been received (S106: NO), the process proceeds to S114. When the authentication request signal is received (S106: YES), in S108, it is determined whether or not the user ID included in the authentication request signal matches the user ID stored in the electronic key 2 (that is, the user ID collation).

If it is determined that the user IDs do not match as a result of the user ID collation (S108: NO), the process proceeds to S112. In S112, the operation rejection signal is transmitted to the smartphone 3 through the first communication. After the process of S112, the process proceeds to S114. As a result of the user ID collation, if both user IDs match (S108: YES), the process proceeds to S110. In S110, the operation permission signal is transmitted to the smartphone 3 through the first communication. After the processing of S110, the process proceeds to S114.

In S114, it is determined whether data is received from the smartphone 3 through the first communication. The data here means the operation command, the user ID, the terminal ID, and the location information of the smartphone 3 transmitted in S48 of FIG. If no data is received from the smartphone 3 through the first communication (S114: NO), the electronic key control process is terminated. When data is received from the smartphone 3 by the first communication (S114: YES), the process proceeds to the relay process of S116.

Details of the relay processing in S116 are as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 10, when the relay process proceeds, in S118, it is determined whether the user ID included in the data received from the smartphone 3 matches the user ID stored in the electronic key 2. (That is, user ID verification). As a result of the user ID verification, if it is determined that the two user IDs do not match (S118: NO), in S120, the first error notification is transmitted to the smartphone 3 through the first communication, and the electronic key control process is terminated. . If it is determined that the user IDs match as a result of the user ID verification (S118: YES), the process proceeds to S122.

In S122, it is determined whether or not the operation command in the received data is an electronic key control command. As described above, the electronic key control command is an operation command transmitted when the “electronic key control” icon is selected on the operation menu screen 48 (see FIG. 3). If the operation command is not an electronic key control command (S122: NO), the process proceeds to S126. If the operation command is an electronic key control command (S122: YES), command response processing is executed in S124.

The specific details of the command response process can be determined as appropriate. For example, a part of the function of the electronic key 2 (for example, response processing to a request signal from the vehicle 1) can be stopped, or all the functions of the electronic key 2 can be stopped. Further, for example, the operation state of the electronic key 2 can be transmitted from the electronic key 2. Specifically, the remaining amount of the battery 59 of the electronic key 2 (hereinafter also referred to as “battery remaining amount”) is transmitted, or information indicating whether the electronic key 2 is present in the detection area of the vehicle 1 is transmitted. You can make it.

In S126, an operation command corresponding to the operation command included in the data received from the smartphone 3 is generated. For example, when an operation command indicating door mirror closing is received, an operation command indicating door mirror closing is generated.

In S128, it is determined whether or not the electronic key 2 is present in the detection area of the vehicle 1. Specifically, based on whether or not the request signal from the vehicle 1 is received by the receiving unit 54, if it is not received, it is determined that it exists outside the detection area. Judged to exist in the detection area.

If the electronic key 2 is present in the detection area of the vehicle 1 (S128: YES), the process proceeds to S130. In S130, the operation command generated in S126, the user ID, the terminal ID, and the location information of the smartphone 3 included in the received data from the smartphone 3 are transmitted to the vehicle 1 by smart communication. After the transmission, the process proceeds to S138.

If the electronic key 2 is not present in the detection area of the vehicle 1 (S128: NO), it is determined in S132 whether remote operation of the vehicle 1 by the smartphone 3 is permitted. Whether or not the remote operation is permitted is determined based on the remote operation availability information stored in the memory 52 of the electronic key 2. Whether or not the remote operation is permitted can be arbitrarily determined by the user of the vehicle 1. For example, a user who does not desire (or does not use) a remote operation can have the electronic key 2 store remote operation availability information indicating that the remote operation is not permitted at the dealer when the vehicle 1 is purchased. However, the remote operation availability information stored in the electronic key 2 can be arbitrarily changed from the smartphone 3 having the same user ID as the user ID stored in the electronic key 2.

It should be noted that the remote operation availability information does not necessarily have to be held by the electronic key 2 but may be held by the smartphone 3 and transmitted from the smartphone 3. Further, when the smartphone 3 has the remote operation availability information, if the remote operation availability information is information indicating that the remote operation is not permitted, the smartphone 3 may not transmit the operation command. .

If the remote operation is not permitted in S132 (S132: NO), in S136, the second error notification is transmitted to the smartphone 3 through the first communication, and the electronic key control process is terminated. If the remote operation is permitted in S132 (S132: YES), the operation command generated in S126 and the user ID, the terminal ID, and the smartphone 3 included in the received data from the smartphone 3 in S134. The position information is transmitted to the vehicle 1 by the second communication. After the transmission, the process proceeds to S138.

In S138, it is determined whether or not an ID mismatch notification is received from the vehicle 1. The ID mismatch notification is transmitted from the vehicle 1 by smart communication or second communication when the user ID transmitted to the vehicle 1 in S130 or S134 does not match the user ID of the vehicle 1.

If an ID mismatch notification is received from the vehicle 1 in S138 (S138: YES), a third error notification is transmitted to the smartphone 3 through the first communication in S140, and the electronic key control process is terminated. In S138, when the ID mismatch notification is not received from the vehicle 1 (S138: NO), the process proceeds to S142.

In S142, it is determined whether or not a disapproval notice is received from the vehicle 1. The disapproval notice is transmitted from the vehicle 1 by smart communication or second communication when it is determined that the function of the operation item corresponding to the operation command transmitted to the vehicle 1 in S130 or S134 cannot be executed in the vehicle 1. come.

In S142, when a non-permission notification is received from the vehicle 1 (S142: YES), in S144, a fourth error notification is transmitted to the smartphone 3 through the first communication, and the electronic key control process is terminated. When the non-permission knowledge is not received from the vehicle 1 in S142 (S142: NO), a relay completion signal is transmitted to the smartphone 3 through the first communication in S146.

(7) Description of Remote Control Processing in Vehicle 1 Next, the remote control processing executed in the vehicle 1 in order to realize the remote control function will be described with reference to FIG. The remote control processing program is stored in the memory 25 of the vehicle 1. The control unit 10 of the vehicle 1 (specifically, the CPU in the control unit 10) reads the remote control processing program shown in FIG. 11 from the memory 25 after activation, and repeatedly executes it at a constant control cycle.

When the remote control process is started, the control unit 10 of the vehicle 1 transmits a request signal by smart communication from each of the transmitters 4 and 5 in S152. As described above, the detection areas 400 and 500 are formed by transmitting the request signal. In S154, it is determined whether data is received from the electronic key 2. The data referred to here is a response transmitted by smart communication in response to the operation command, user ID, terminal ID, and position information of the smartphone 3 transmitted in S130 or S134 of FIG. 9, or a request signal. Means signal and user ID. When data is not received from the electronic key 2 by smart communication or second communication (S154: NO), the remote control process is terminated. When data is received from the electronic key 2 by smart communication or second communication (S154: YES), the process proceeds to S156.

In S156, it is determined whether or not the user ID included in the data received from the electronic key 2 matches the user ID stored in the memory 25 of the vehicle 1 (user ID verification). If it is determined that the user IDs do not match as a result of the user ID verification (S156: NO), an ID mismatch notification is transmitted to the electronic key 2 in S158, and the remote control process is terminated. In S158, if the user ID of the electronic key 2 determined to be inconsistent in S156 is received by smart communication, an ID mismatch notification is transmitted by smart communication. In S158, when the user ID of the electronic key 2 determined to be inconsistent in S156 is received in the second communication, an ID mismatch notification is transmitted in the second communication.

If it is determined in S156 that both user IDs match (S156: YES), the process proceeds to S160. In S160, it is determined whether the data (information) received from the electronic key 2 is an operation command or a response signal to the request signal.

If the information received from the electronic key 2 includes a response signal to the request signal, a predetermined electronic key handling process is executed in S162, and the remote control process is terminated. The electronic key handling process of S162 is a basic process performed in a conventional electronic key system, for example, when each user 15 unlocks each door 15 when touching the touch sensor of the door handle.

When the operation command is included in the information received from the electronic key 2 in S160, the operation item to be executed is grasped based on the received operation command in S164. In S166, a function restriction confirmation process is executed. Details of the function restriction confirmation processing in S166 are as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 12, when the process proceeds to the function restriction confirmation process, in S202, the data from the electronic key 2 (the received data that is affirmatively determined in S154 of FIG. 11) is received by smart communication. Judge whether there is. If it is not received by smart communication (that is, received by the second communication) (S202: NO), the process proceeds to S206. The fact that the electronic key 2 is not received by the smart communication means that the electronic key 2 exists outside the detection areas 400 and 500 of the vehicle 1.

If the data from the electronic key 2 has been received by smart communication (S202: YES), in S204, the location of the electronic key 2 (inside the vehicle 1 or outside the vehicle 1) is confirmed. This confirmation can be performed based on the above-described identification signal added to the response signal.

In S206, the position information of the smartphone 3 is acquired. Since the position information of the smartphone 3 is received from the electronic key 2 together with the operation command, it can be acquired from the received data. In S208, own vehicle position information (position information of the vehicle 1 itself) is acquired. Specifically, detection is performed based on information received by the GPS receiver 9.

In S210, the terminal ID of the smartphone 3 is acquired.
In S212, the vehicle position based on the vehicle position information acquired in S208, the position of the smartphone 3 based on the position information acquired in S206, the terminal ID acquired in S210, and the electronic key 2 determined in the processes of S202 to S204. Based on the position, the presence / absence of restriction on the function of the operation item specified by the operation command (that is, the operation content requested from the smartphone 3) is determined. That is, it is determined whether the function of the designated operation item can be executed, restricted (prohibited), or partially restricted with respect to the positional relationship between the vehicle 1, the smartphone 3, and the electronic key 2. . This determination can be made based on the function restriction information 25b stored in the memory 25. After the process of S212, the process proceeds to S168 (FIG. 11).

In addition to the positional relationship between the three parties, it may be determined whether the function of the specified operation item is executable, restricted (prohibited), or partially restricted based on the terminal ID. Good. For example, a certain function may be executed only when specified from a smartphone 3 owned by a certain user, and may not be executed when specified from another smartphone 3. What kind of restriction is applied to which terminal ID (or no restriction) may be stored in advance in the memory 25 as the function restriction information 25b.

In S168, based on the result of the function restriction confirmation process in S166, it is determined whether or not the execution of the function of the designated operation item is permitted. If execution of the function of the designated operation item is permitted (S168: YES), the function of the designated operation item is executed in S170. In addition, when permitted but a part of the function is restricted, the function is executed within the restricted range.

In S170, when the designated operation item is an acquisition request for information on the vehicle 1, the requested information is transmitted to the smartphone 3 through the first communication. As shown in FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, various information such as the travel distance, maintenance information, diagnostic information, vehicle interior temperature, vehicle interior image information of the vehicle 1 from the smartphone 3 via the electronic key 2 to the vehicle 1. Can be requested. The vehicle 1 transmits various information of the vehicle 1 to the smartphone 3 through the first communication in response to a request from the smartphone 3.

If execution of the function of the designated operation item is not permitted, that is, if execution of the function is restricted (prohibited) (S168: NO), the process proceeds to S172. In S172, a non-permission notice is transmitted to the electronic key 2, and the remote control process is terminated. In S172, if the operation command is received by smart communication, a notice of disapproval is transmitted by smart communication, and if the operation command is received by second communication, the second communication is transmitted. Send a disapproval notice at.

Here, a supplementary explanation will be given of the method of starting the vehicle operation application 32a in the smartphone 3. The vehicle operation application 32 a of the smartphone 3 can be activated by performing a predetermined activation operation on the smartphone 3 by itself, or can be activated by holding the smartphone 3 over the electronic key 2.

That is, the smartphone 3 stores a tag corresponding program as a part of the vehicle operation application 32a or as another program that operates in cooperation with the vehicle operation application 32a. And the control part 31 of the smart phone 3 repeatedly performs a tag corresponding | compatible program with a predetermined period.

The tag handling process executed by the tag handling program is shown in FIG. When the tag handling process of FIG. 13 is started, the control unit 31 of the smartphone 3 determines whether or not the RF tag 63 of the electronic key 2 has been detected in S252. That is, it is determined whether the tag reader / writer 47 has received a user ID and an application activation request from the RF tag 63 of the electronic key 2. As described above, when data communication between the tag reader / writer 47 and the electronic key 2 is started and the user ID collation is matched in the electronic key 2, the user ID and application activation request of the electronic key 2 are received from the RF tag 63 of the electronic key 2. Is sent. In other words, the detection of the RF tag 63 in the process of S252 means reception of a user ID and an application activation request transmitted from the RF tag 63 of the electronic key 2.

If the RF tag 63 of the electronic key 2 is not detected (S252: NO), that is, if the user ID and the application activation request from the RF tag 63 are not received by the tag reader / writer 47, the process proceeds to S256.

When the RF tag 63 of the electronic key 2 is detected (S252: YES), that is, when the user ID and the application activation request from the RF tag 63 are received by the tag reader / writer 47, the user ID is verified in S254. Specifically, user ID collation is performed as to whether or not the received user ID matches the user ID stored in the smartphone 3 itself.

In S256, the result of the user ID collation in S254 is determined. As a result of the user ID collation, if it is determined that the user IDs match (S256: YES), an application activation process is executed in S258. Specifically, the vehicle operation application 32a is substantially activated. “Activate substantially” means to start the processing from S10 shown in FIG. As a result, as viewed from the user, as a result, the vehicle operation application 32a is automatically started only by holding the smartphone 3 over the electronic key 2. If it is determined that the user IDs do not match as a result of the user ID collation (S256: NO), the tag handling process ends.

(8) Effects of First Embodiment According to the vehicle control system of the first embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.
(A) The user can control the vehicle 1 by relaying the electronic key 2 by operating the smartphone 3.

(B) Specifically, as described with reference to FIG. 3, various operations can be performed on the vehicle 1 or various information can be acquired from the vehicle 1 from the smartphone 3.
(C) The user can input operation items for the vehicle 1 to the smartphone 3 by various methods. Specifically, an operation menu screen 48 is displayed on the display unit 33, and an operation item can be designated by a tap operation. The desired operation item can also be specified by showing a gesture corresponding to the desired operation item in front of the camera 43. The desired operation item can also be designated by speaking a word corresponding to the desired operation item toward the microphone 45.

Therefore, the user can move the vehicle 1 or operate each part of the vehicle 1 while hitting the smartphone 3. Further, the vehicle 1 can be moved or each part of the vehicle 1 can be operated while showing a gesture toward the camera 43 of the smartphone 3.

(D) The user can check the operation of each part of the vehicle 1 without getting on the vehicle 1. For example, whether or not the headlight 20 is normally lit can be easily confirmed from the outside of the vehicle 1. Further, for example, when it is desired to move the position of the vehicle 1 after getting off the vehicle 1, it can be moved without getting into the vehicle 1 again. For example, when the vehicle 1 is desired to be moved back a little (several tens of centimeters), the vehicle 1 can be controlled to move backward (slow reverse) while viewing the vehicle 1 from the outside of the vehicle 1. Further, for example, the in-vehicle temperature of the vehicle 1 can be acquired from a place away from the vehicle 1, and when the in-vehicle temperature is high, the window 17 can be opened or the air conditioner 14 can be operated.

(E) When the vehicle 1 is remotely controlled from the smartphone 3, user authentication is performed based on the fingerprint, voice, or face image, and only the authorized user can remotely control the vehicle 1 (FIG. 7). S10 to S12). Therefore, unauthorized remote control can be suppressed.

(F) When the electronic key 2 receives an operation command from the smartphone 3 and the user ID received together with the operation command does not match the user ID of the electronic key 2, the electronic key 2 transmits an operation command to the vehicle 1. Without notifying the smartphone 3 of the error. Further, also in the vehicle 1, when an operation command is received from the electronic key 2, the user ID received together with the operation command is compared with the user ID of the vehicle 1. That is, when the three user IDs of the smartphone 3, the electronic key 2, and the vehicle 1 all match, the vehicle 1 can be remotely operated from the smartphone 3. Therefore, the security of remote control by the smartphone 3 can be improved.

(G) The function of the operation content requested from the smartphone 3 is prohibited or restricted depending on the positions of the vehicle 1, the electronic key 2, and the smartphone 3. When the positional relationship between the three parties is to be used (permitted, restricted, prohibited), what to restrict specifically when it is restricted, etc. Each can be arbitrarily set in advance. Therefore, the security performance can be further improved.

(H) The electronic key 2 includes various communication methods such as first communication, second communication, and BT communication as well as smart communication provided in the conventional electronic key system as a wireless communication method. Therefore, even if the electronic key 2 exists outside the detection areas 400 and 500 of the vehicle 1, communication with the vehicle 1 can be performed by the second communication. That is, even if the user with the electronic key 2 and the smartphone 3 is outside the detection areas 400 and 500 of the vehicle 1, the vehicle 1 can be remotely controlled from the outside.

(J) When the battery 59 of the electronic key 2 is consumed, the battery 59 can be charged or the electronic key 2 can be operated by receiving power from the smartphone 3 in a non-contact manner. Further, the electronic key 2 includes a power input jack 62, and can receive power from the power input jack 62 (see FIG. 5). Note that, as described above, the electronic key 2 of the present embodiment can be operated by receiving power supply from the outside by various means even when the battery 59 is exhausted. For this reason, the mechanical key provided in the conventional general electronic key does not include the electronic key 2 of the present embodiment. However, of course, a mechanical key may be built in the electronic key 2.

The smartphone 3 corresponds to an example of a communication terminal according to the present invention. A process that can be selected on the operation menu screen 48 illustrated in FIG. 3, that is, a process that can be requested by relaying the electronic key 2 to the vehicle 1 corresponds to an example of a specific process of the present invention. The touch panel 34, the camera 43, and the microphone 45 of the smartphone 3 correspond to an example of the designation input unit of the present invention. The first communication unit 35 of the smartphone 3 corresponds to an example of a command transmission unit of the present invention. The memory 32 of the smartphone 3 corresponds to an example of the terminal side storage unit of the present invention, and the user ID stored in the memory 32 corresponds to an example of the terminal side unique information of the present invention. An operation command transmitted from the smartphone 3 to the electronic key 2 corresponds to an example of a processing command of the present invention, and an operation command transmitted from the electronic key 2 to the vehicle 1 corresponds to an example of a processing command of the present invention. In FIG. 8, the processes of S28, S34, and S42 correspond to an example of the process of the designation input unit of the present invention, and the process of S48 corresponds to an example of the process of the command transmission unit of the present invention.

The memory 52 of the electronic key 2 corresponds to an example of the key side storage unit of the present invention, and the user ID stored in the memory 52 corresponds to an example of the key side unique information of the present invention. In FIG. 10, the process of S118 corresponds to an example of the process of the unique information determination unit of the present invention, and the processes of S130 and S134 correspond to an example of the process of the command transmission unit of the present invention.

In the present embodiment, the touch panel 34, the camera 43, and the microphone 45 are illustrated as examples of the designation input unit of the present invention, but these are only examples. As long as the user can specify the process that the vehicle 1 wants to execute on the smartphone 3 (and thus the smartphone 3 can transmit an operation command indicating the input process to the electronic key 2), the specific process The method and what input interface can be specified can be determined as appropriate.

[Second Embodiment]
The vehicle control system of 2nd Embodiment is demonstrated using FIG.14 and FIG.15. The vehicle control system of the second embodiment is a system that can directly control the vehicle 1 (FIG. 6) from an electronic key.

That is, in the second embodiment, in order to remotely control the vehicle 1, no communication device other than the electronic key is necessary. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, in order to remotely control the vehicle 1 from the electronic key, the configuration of the electronic key is different from the electronic key 2 of the first embodiment.

The configuration of the electronic key 2 of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 14, the electronic key 80 of the second embodiment includes a control unit 81, a memory 82, a microphone 83, a voice processing unit 84, a display unit 85, an operation input unit 86, and a transmission unit. 53, a receiving unit 54, a battery 59, a regulator 60, a non-contact power supply / reception unit 61, and a power input jack 62. Among them, the transmission unit 53, the reception unit 54, the battery 59, the regulator 60, the non-contact power supply / reception unit 61, and the power input jack 62 are the same as the electronic key 2 of the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

The microphone 83 and the sound processing unit 84 are mounted on the smartphone 3 in the first embodiment, and are mounted on the electronic key 80 in the second embodiment. The microphone 83 converts external sound into an electrical signal. The audio processing unit 84 processes the audio signal collected by the microphone 83 and converted into an electric signal into digital audio data and outputs the digital audio data to the control unit 81. The control unit 81 can recognize the content of the sound collected by the microphone 83 based on the sound data input from the sound processing unit 84.

The display unit 85 is a display device (for example, a liquid crystal display) that can display various images and information. The operation input unit 86 is an input device that can accept an input operation by a user. A specific configuration of the operation input unit 86 includes, for example, a push button type switch. A touch panel may be provided as the operation input unit 86.

The control unit 81 includes a microcomputer including a CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O, etc. (not shown). The control unit 81 controls various circuits and functional blocks in the electronic key 80 including each unit connected to the control unit 81. The electronic key control process (see FIG. 15) described later is executed by the CPU of the control unit 81.

The memory 82 is a nonvolatile memory capable of electrically rewriting stored contents, and is a flash memory in this embodiment. The memory 82 stores various programs and data. The data stored in the memory 82 includes vehicle operation menu data 82a, a voice pattern 82b, and ID information 82c.

The ID information 82c is the same as the ID information 52a in the electronic key 2 of the first embodiment. The vehicle operation menu data 82a is the same as the vehicle operation menu data 32b in the smartphone 3 of the first embodiment. Therefore, in the second embodiment, an icon for each operation item is displayed on the display unit 85 of the electronic key 80 as in the operation menu screen 48 described with reference to FIG. 3, and the user can select a desired operation item from the icons. You can choose. The voice pattern 82b is the same as the voice pattern 32c in the smartphone 3 of the first embodiment.

In addition, the display part 85 of the electronic key 80 of this embodiment has a display area smaller than the display part 33 of the smart phone 3 of 1st Embodiment. Therefore, the number of icons that can be simultaneously displayed on the display unit 85 is smaller than the number of icons on the operation menu screen 48 shown in FIG. Further, the information to be displayed on the display unit 85 (image information for each operation item for selecting the operation item) is not necessarily an icon, and may be text indicating the operation item, for example. As long as the user can select a desired operation item, what kind of image information is displayed on the display unit 85 can be appropriately determined.

As described above, the electronic key 80 according to the second embodiment can perform wireless communication (that is, smart communication) with the vehicle 1 by the transmission unit 53 and the reception unit 54, but includes other wireless communication functions. Not. Therefore, in the second embodiment, the vehicle 1 can be remotely operated from the electronic key 80 when the electronic key 80 and the vehicle 1 can execute data communication by smart communication, that is, the electronic key 80 detects each vehicle 1. This is a case where they exist in the areas 400 and 500.

An electronic key control process executed by the control unit 81 in the electronic key 80 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. The control unit 81 of the electronic key 80 repeatedly executes the electronic key control process shown in FIG. 15 at a predetermined control cycle.

When the electronic key control process is started, the control unit 81 of the electronic key 80 determines whether a request signal is received from the vehicle 1 in S302. If the request signal has not been received (S302: NO), the electronic key control process is terminated.

When the request signal is received from the vehicle 1 (S302: YES), the vehicle operation standby display is performed on the display unit 85 in S304. That is, a display indicating that the vehicle 1 can be controlled from the electronic key 80 is displayed. In S306, it is determined whether or not a voice input request operation has been performed by the user. When the user remotely operates the vehicle 1 from the electronic key 80, the user can select whether to specify (select) the operation content by operating the operation input unit 86 or to specify it by voice. When it is desired to specify the operation content by voice, the operation content can be specified by voice by performing a predetermined voice input request operation via the operation input unit 86.

In S306, if the voice input request operation is not performed (S306: NO), the process proceeds to S308. In S308, the operation menu list is displayed on the display unit 85. The operation menu list is a list of information images (for example, icons or text) indicating operation items.

In S310, it is determined whether or not a specific operation item is selected and input from among the operation items listed in S308. When the selection input of the operation item has not been made (S310: NO), the process returns to S306. If an operation item selection input has been made (S310: YES), the process proceeds to S312. In S312, an operation command corresponding to the selected operation item is generated, and the process proceeds to S314.

If a voice input request operation is performed in S306 (S306: YES), the process proceeds to S316. In S316, the voice input by the microphone 83 is set to the standby state. That is, it is in a state where voice input and recognition can be executed. In S318, it is determined whether or not sound is input from the microphone 83. If no voice is input (S318: NO), in S320, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the voice input was set in the standby state in S316. If the fixed time has not elapsed, the process returns to S318, and if the fixed time has elapsed, the process returns to S302.

If a voice is input in S318 (S318: YES), it is determined in S322 whether the user has spoken a word corresponding to a prescribed voice pattern based on the voice of the user input to the microphone 83. This determination is made by determining whether or not the word spoken by the user matches any of the words stored in the memory 82 as the voice pattern 82b. When the user speaks a word corresponding to the prescribed voice pattern, the voice pattern is recognized.

In S324, the operation content corresponding to the prescribed voice pattern recognized in S322 is displayed on the display unit 85. In S326, an operation command corresponding to the prescribed voice pattern recognized in S322 is generated. After S326, the process proceeds to S314. In S314, the operation command generated in S312 or S326 and the user ID are transmitted to the vehicle 1 by smart communication.

On the other hand, in the vehicle 1, the remote control process shown in FIG. 11 is executed also in the second embodiment. Therefore, when the operation command and the user ID transmitted from the electronic key 80 are received by the vehicle 1, the vehicle 1 performs processing according to the remote control process shown in FIG. 11, and the operation content specified by the operation command. Is executed. However, as in the first embodiment, the designation operation is not executed when the user ID verification does not match. Similarly to the first embodiment, when the designated operation is prohibited or restricted in the function restriction confirmation process (S166 in FIG. 11), the designated operation is not executed or executed within the restricted range. The In the function restriction confirmation process in the second embodiment, the function of the operation content requested from the electronic key 80 is prohibited or restricted according to the positional relationship between the electronic key 80 and the vehicle 1.

According to the vehicle control system of the second embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.
(A) The user can remotely control the vehicle 1 from the electronic key 80 by operating the electronic key 80. Thereby, the user can check the operation of each part of the vehicle 1 without getting on the vehicle 1.

(B) The user can input operation items for the vehicle 1 to the electronic key 80 by various methods. Specifically, an operation menu list can be displayed on the display unit 85, and an operation item can be designated from the list. The desired operation item can also be specified by speaking a word corresponding to the desired operation item toward the microphone 83. Therefore, the user can move the vehicle 1 while operating the electronic key 80 or operate each part of the vehicle 1. It should be noted that a camera may be mounted on the electronic key 80 so that operation items can be designated by gestures as in the first embodiment.

[Other Embodiments]
(1) In 1st Embodiment, although the vehicle control system which can operate the vehicle 1 via the electronic key 2 from the smart phone 3 was shown, it enables it to operate the vehicle 1 directly, without relaying the electronic key 2 from the smart phone 3. May be.

Specifically, in the flowchart of the vehicle operation application 32a of the smartphone 3 shown in FIG. 7, an authentication request signal is transmitted to the vehicle 1 instead of the electronic key 2 in S14, and an operation permission signal is received from the vehicle 1 in S16. It may be determined whether or not it has been done. And when it is judged that the operation permission signal was received from the vehicle 1 in S16, the smart phone 3 may be made to perform the process after S304 of FIG. In this case, in S314, the operation command and the user ID may be transmitted to the vehicle 1 by the first communication or another communication method instead of the smart communication.

And in the vehicle 1, when the operation command and user ID which were transmitted from the smart phone 3 are received, you may make it perform user authentication based on user ID first. Then, when it is determined that the operation command is from the authorized user as a result of the user authentication, the operation item indicated by the operation command may be executed. When user authentication fails, an operation refusal signal may be transmitted to the smartphone 3 to notify that the remote operation from the smartphone 3 cannot be accepted.

As a configuration example in which the vehicle 1 can be directly operated without relaying the electronic key from the smartphone, for example, the smartphone has a part or all of the configuration and functions of the electronic key 80 of the second embodiment illustrated in FIG. A configuration may be adopted.

(2) In the second embodiment, the electronic key 80 has a configuration including only the same smart communication function as a conventional electronic key as a wireless communication function, but a configuration capable of wireless communication of a method other than smart communication. It is good. For example, in addition to the smart communication, at least one communication function of the first communication, the second communication, or the BT communication described in the first embodiment, or wireless communication using another communication method may be provided.

By providing a wireless communication function of a communication method other than smart communication, the vehicle 1 can be remotely operated from the electronic key 80 even when the electronic key 80 exists outside the detection area of the vehicle 1. Good.

(3) In the second embodiment, when the vehicle 1 is remotely controlled from the electronic key 80, the user is authenticated based on the fingerprint, the voice, or the face image, like the smartphone 3 of the first embodiment. Also good.

(4) As the contents of the vehicle operation menu data 32b, that is, the contents that can be remotely controlled with respect to the vehicle 1, the plurality of operation items shown in FIG. 3 are merely examples. The contents of the operation items that can be remotely controlled can be determined as appropriate.

(5) The wireless communication method executable in each of the smartphone 3, the electronic key 2, and the vehicle 1 can be determined as appropriate. In addition, it is possible to appropriately determine which communication method is used for the two-party communication between the smartphone 3 and the electronic key 2 and the two-party communication between the electronic key 2 and the vehicle 1.

(6) In the first embodiment, the vehicle 1 may recognize the user of the smartphone 3 using the pairing information in the BT communication between the electronic key 2 and the smartphone 3. That is, when an operation command is received from the smartphone 3 with the electronic key 2, the electronic key 2 attempts BT communication with the smartphone 3, and if BT communication is possible, based on pairing information between the two User information of the smartphone 3 is acquired. And when the electronic key 2 transmits an operation command to the vehicle 1, the acquired user information is also added and transmitted.

Thus, the vehicle 1 can recognize from which user the remote operation request has been made, and can execute different control for each user. For example, the function can be restricted according to the user, or the function can be expanded according to the user. Moreover, even if it is the same function, a fine content can be varied for every user.

(7) A camera or a microphone may be mounted on the vehicle, and the user may be able to instruct an operation on the vehicle by showing a gesture with respect to the in-vehicle camera or leaning on the in-vehicle microphone from the outside of the vehicle.

At this time, first, the user operates the smartphone 3 to transmit remote operation start information indicating that the vehicle is remotely operated from the outside of the vehicle to the vehicle 1 directly or via the electronic key 2. When the vehicle 1 receives the remote operation start information, the vehicle 1 may activate an in-vehicle camera or an in-vehicle microphone to accept the remote operation. Or you may make it transmit remote operation start information from the electronic key 2 to the vehicle 1 by operating the electronic key 2 without interposing the smart phone 3.

The electronic key 2 may transmit the remote operation start information to the vehicle 1 only when wireless communication with the vehicle 1 is possible by smart communication. You may make it transmit remote operation start information to the vehicle 1 by communication.

When the vehicle 1 is one in which gestures and voices corresponding to receivable operation items are registered in the memory in advance, and gestures or voices input by the in-vehicle camera or in-vehicle microphone are stored in the memory, You may make it perform the process corresponding to the gesture or an audio | voice.

With such a configuration, after the user of the vehicle 1 finishes driving the vehicle 1 and gets out of the vehicle 1, for example, when he / she wants to move the vehicle 1 back (or forward), By showing a gesture indicating “slow reverse” (or “slow forward”) or producing a sound, the vehicle 1 can be moved without getting into the vehicle 1 again. Moreover, since the remote operation can be performed from outside the vehicle, the vehicle 1 can be appropriately moved while confirming the relative positional relationship between the vehicle 1 and its surroundings.

Furthermore, a function of detecting the relative positional relationship between the electronic key 2 and the vehicle 1 in real time may be provided so that the vehicle 1 can move following the electronic key 2. For example, when the electronic key 2 is held in front of the vehicle 1 and a command to advance the vehicle 1 at a low speed is issued, the vehicle 1 automatically starts traveling toward the electronic key 2. Then, when the distance from the electronic key 2 falls within a predetermined distance, it automatically stops. Thereafter, when the user releases the electronic key 2 from the vehicle 1, the vehicle 1 starts running again toward the electronic key 2. The same applies to the reverse.

Also in the case of this configuration, authentication may be performed between the electronic key 2 and the vehicle 1, and the vehicle 1 may be remotely operated when the authentication is successful. Further, authentication may be performed among the three parties of the smartphone 3, the electronic key 2, and the vehicle 1, and the vehicle 1 may be remotely operated when the authentication is successful.

(8) While the user is driving on the vehicle 1, various information during the operation is collected as learning information, and when the user gets off, the learning information is transferred to the user's smartphone 3. Also good. When the user gets on the vehicle 1 again or gets on another vehicle 1 other than the vehicle 1, the learning information stored in the smartphone 3 is transmitted to the vehicle on which the user has boarded to reflect the learning information. You may make it make it.

Learning information includes, for example, the seat position and steering position adjusted by the user, the angle of the rearview mirror, the angle of the door mirror, and the operation content of the audio device.

Such a function is convenient when applied to, for example, a so-called car sharing service in which one vehicle is shared by many users. The user automatically captures various information when he / she was driving into the smartphone 3 as learning information, and deploys the learning information to the vehicle when driving again to automatically set the settings according to his / her preference. And it can be realized quickly. That is, while being a vehicle shared by other users, the vehicle can be felt and treated as if it were a vehicle used only by itself.

(9) When the smartphone 3 and the vehicle 1 can communicate directly, information may be transmitted from the vehicle 1 to the smartphone 3 as appropriate. For example, when the electronic key 2 moves away from the detection areas 400 and 500 of the vehicle 1, the door of the vehicle 1 is open, all the doors are not locked, or certain electrical components (for example, headlights, room lights, etc.) ) Is in operation or when an abnormal behavior is detected, the fact may be notified to the smartphone 3. Further, for example, when the vehicle 1 is a vehicle including a motor as a driving source for driving and the battery for driving the motor can be charged from the outside, the smartphone 3 may be notified when the charging is completed. .

A more specific example of information transmission from the vehicle 1 to the smartphone 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 16 and 17. The example illustrated in FIGS. 16 and 17 is an example in which the position information of the vehicle 1 can be notified to the smartphone 3 or when the occurrence of an abnormality is detected in the vehicle 1, that fact can be notified to the smartphone 3. is there.

The control unit 10 of the vehicle 1 repeatedly executes the vehicle information notification process of FIG. 16 at a predetermined cycle. Moreover, the control part 31 of the smart phone 3 repeatedly performs the vehicle information display process of FIG. 17 with a predetermined period.

First, the vehicle information notification process in FIG. 16 will be described. As a premise, similarly to the above-described embodiments, request signals are periodically transmitted from the transmitters 4 and 5 of the vehicle 1 by smart communication.

When the control unit 10 of the vehicle 1 starts the vehicle information notification process of FIG. 16, in S404, it determines whether or not a response signal from the electronic key 2 to the request signal has been received. When the response signal has not been received (S404: NO), the process proceeds to S416. When the response signal is received (S404: YES), the process proceeds to S406.

In S406, it is determined whether the door lock opening / closing operation has been performed by the operation of the electronic key 2 or the operation command via the electronic key 2 from the smartphone 3. If the door lock is not opened or closed (S406: NO), the process returns to S404. When the door lock opening / closing operation is performed (S406: YES), the process proceeds to S408.

In S408, as in S404, it is determined whether or not a response signal from the electronic key 2 to the request signal has been received. This determination is repeated while the response signal is received. If no response signal is received (S408: NO), the process proceeds to S410.

In S410, it is determined whether or not the door lock is fully closed, that is, whether or not the door locks of all the doors 15 are closed. If the door lock is not fully closed (S410: NO), the process proceeds to S416. When the door lock is fully closed (S410: YES), the process proceeds to S412. If it is determined in S410 that the door lock is fully closed, that is, the electronic key 2 once enters the detection area of the vehicle 1, and the door lock is opened and closed via the electronic key 2, and thereafter This means that the electronic key 2 has left the detection area of the vehicle 1 with the door lock fully closed. Such a situation may occur, for example, when the user of the vehicle 1 parks the vehicle 1 in a parking lot and goes away from the vehicle 1.

In S412, vehicle position information (information indicating the current position of the vehicle 1) is acquired based on the information received by the GPS receiver 9. In S414, the vehicle position information acquired in S412 is transmitted to the smartphone 3 by the first communication. Thereby, even if the user of the smart phone 3 parks the vehicle 1 in a parking lot and leaves | separates from the vehicle 1, it is based on the vehicle position information transmitted from the vehicle 1 where the vehicle 1 is parked. Can be easily known.

In S416, it is determined whether or not an abnormality is detected in the vehicle 1. The vehicle 1 has a function of detecting various abnormalities. For example, the vehicle 1 is equipped with a sensor that can detect an external impact on the vehicle 1 such as an acceleration sensor or a vibration sensor. Based on the detection signal from the sensor, the control unit 10 of the vehicle 1 detects the presence or absence of an external impact on the vehicle 1, and if an impact is detected, an illegal act such as mischief or theft of the vehicle 1 is performed. The occurrence of an abnormality is detected. Further, the vehicle interior camera 24 is periodically operated to analyze the captured image, for example, to detect an intruder in the vehicle interior, or to detect a suspicious person around the vehicle (for example, a person looking into the vehicle interior). In this case, it may be determined that an abnormality has occurred. In addition, for example, it may be possible to detect an abnormality in the function of the vehicle 1 such as a voltage drop of an in-vehicle battery or an oil leak.

If the abnormality of the vehicle 1 is not detected in S416 (S416: NO), the vehicle information notification process is terminated. When an abnormality of the vehicle 1 is detected (S416: YES), the process proceeds to S418. In S418, the abnormality information indicating that the abnormality is detected in the vehicle 1 and the content of the detected abnormality is transmitted to the smartphone 3 by the first communication.

Next, the vehicle information display process in FIG. 17 will be described. When the vehicle information display process of FIG. 17 is started, the control unit 31 of the smartphone 3 determines whether data is received from the vehicle 1 in the first communication in S452. If data has not been received from the vehicle 1 (S452: NO), it is determined in S464 whether or not a predetermined user operation for displaying vehicle position information has been performed. When the predetermined user operation for displaying the vehicle position information is not performed (S464: NO), the vehicle information display process is ended. When a predetermined user operation for displaying the vehicle position information is performed (S464: YES), the process proceeds to S466.

In S466, the vehicle position information stored in the memory 32 is displayed on the display unit 26. Thereby, the user can confirm the position of the vehicle 1.
If data is received from the vehicle 1 in S452 (S452: YES), it is determined in S454 whether vehicle position information has been received (that is, whether the received data includes vehicle position information). When the vehicle position information is received (S454: YES), the received vehicle position information is stored in the memory 32 in S456.

If the vehicle position information is not included in the data received from the vehicle 1 (S454: NO), whether or not abnormality information is received in S458 (that is, whether or not the received data includes abnormality information). to decide. When the abnormality information is received (S458: YES), the received abnormality information is displayed on the display unit 26 in S460. Thereby, the user can know that abnormality is detected in the vehicle 1 and the content of the abnormality.

When the abnormality information is not included in the data received from the vehicle 1 (S458: NO), a predetermined reception handling process based on the received data is performed in S462.
(10) The types of various information that can be provided from the vehicle 1 to the smartphone 3 are not limited to the information described with reference to FIG. In addition to the information described with reference to FIG. 3, for example, the total travel distance of the vehicle 1, the remaining battery level, the remaining fuel level, information on the date when the engine oil and other various oils were changed, and the vehicle 1 at the time of the oil change Various information such as the total travel distance may be provided to the smartphone 3 as vehicle information.

The vehicle information may be provided to the smartphone 3 directly from the vehicle 1 or via the electronic key 2 at a specific timing. When the vehicle information can be provided via the electronic key 2, not only the vehicle information but also the information on the electronic key 2 (for example, the remaining battery level of the electronic key 2) may be provided to the smartphone 3.

A more specific example of the above-described function for providing various information to the smartphone 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. The control unit 51 of the electronic key 2 repeatedly executes the system information transmission process of FIG. 18 at a predetermined cycle. Moreover, the control part 31 of the smart phone 3 repeatedly performs the system state notification process of FIG. 19 with a predetermined period.

First, the system information transmission process of FIG. 18 will be described. The vehicle 1 is configured to be able to transmit the above-described vehicle information in the vehicle 1 to the electronic key 2 in response to a vehicle information request from the electronic key 2.

When the control unit 51 of the electronic key 2 starts the system information transmission process of FIG. 18, it determines whether or not a request signal has been received from the vehicle 1 in S552. When the request signal is received (S552: YES), it is determined in S560 whether or not the information notification flag is set. The information notification flag is a flag used to transmit the system information (details will be described later) to the smartphone 3 only once during the period in which the request signal is continuously received, and is set in S568 and cleared in S558. The

If the information notification flag is already set in S560 (S560: YES), the system information transmission process is terminated. When the information notification flag is not set (S560: NO), in S562, the vehicle information is requested from the vehicle 1 by the first communication or the second communication, and the vehicle information from the vehicle 1 corresponding to the request is the first information. Acquired by communication or second communication.

In S564, the remaining battery level of the electronic key 2 is detected. The electronic key 2 is configured to periodically monitor the voltage of the battery 40 and the charge / discharge history from the battery 40 and detect the remaining battery level based on the monitoring results.

In S566, the vehicle information acquired in S562 and the information including the remaining battery level detected in S564 are transmitted to the smartphone 3 through the first communication as system information indicating the state of the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 2. In step S568, the information notification flag is set, and the system information transmission process is terminated.

If the request signal is not received from the vehicle 1 at S552 (S552: NO), it is determined at S554 whether the information notification flag is cleared. If the information notification flag is cleared (S554: YES), the system information transmission process is terminated. When the information notification flag is set (S554: NO), the process proceeds to S556.

In S556, it is determined whether or not the request signal is continuously received from the vehicle 1 for a certain period or more. If a certain period of time has not passed since the request signal is not received (S556: NO), the system information transmission process is terminated. If a certain period of time has elapsed after the request signal is no longer received (S556: YES), the information notification flag is cleared in S558, and the system information transmission process ends.

Next, the system status notification process in FIG. 19 will be described. When the control unit 31 of the smartphone 3 starts the system state notification process of FIG. 19, in S502, the control unit 31 determines whether or not the system information is received from the electronic key 2 through the first communication. If the system information has not been received (S502: NO), the process proceeds to S512. If the system information is received (S502: YES), the received system information is stored in the memory 32 in S504.

In S506, the user is notified that the system information has been received from the electronic key 2. This notification can be performed, for example, by voice or by displaying predetermined reception notification information on the display unit 33. When the smartphone 3 has a so-called vibration function, the user may be notified using the vibration function (that is, generating vibration in the main body of the smartphone 3).

In S508, it is determined whether or not a predetermined display request operation for displaying system information has been performed by the user. If the display request operation has not been performed (S508: NO), the process proceeds to S512. If a display request operation has been performed (S508: YES), the process proceeds to S510. In S510, the system information stored in the memory 32 in S504 is displayed on the display unit 33. Thereby, the user can check the latest system information.

In S512, the necessity of maintenance is determined based on the system information stored in the memory 32. For example, a certain number of days have passed since the most recent oil change date, the vehicle has traveled more than a certain distance from the total travel distance at the time of the most recent oil change, the remaining fuel amount is less than a predetermined amount, the electronic key 2 If the remaining battery level is less than or equal to a predetermined amount, it is determined that maintenance is necessary.

In S514, it is determined whether there is a maintenance-necessary item based on the determination result in S512. If it is not determined in S512 that maintenance is necessary, it is determined that there is no maintenance-necessary item (S514: NO), and the system status notification process is terminated. If it is determined in S512 that maintenance is necessary, it is determined that there is a maintenance-necessary item (S514: YES), and the process proceeds to S516.

In S516, maintenance information is displayed on the display unit 33. The maintenance information to be displayed here is information related to maintenance necessary items. For example, if it is determined in S512 that the vehicle has traveled more than a certain distance from the total travel distance at the time of the latest oil change, the maintenance-required item is oil change. Therefore, in that case, information indicating that the oil change should be performed is displayed on the display unit 33 as the maintenance information. At that time, the basis for the coil exchange (the cumulative travel distance from the previous oil exchange exceeded a certain distance) may be displayed together.

In S518, it is determined whether or not the user has performed a maintenance request guidance display operation. When the guidance display request operation is not performed (S518: NO), the system state notification process is terminated. When a guidance display request operation is performed (S518: YES), guidance processing is performed in S520. The guidance process is a predetermined process for providing a user with a specific maintenance method for the maintenance required items.

The transmission timing of the system information from the electronic key 2 to the smartphone 3 is not limited to the timing shown in FIG. For example, it is configured so that system information can be requested from the smartphone 3 to the electronic key 2 at an arbitrary timing. When the electronic key 2 receives the request from the smartphone 3, the smartphone 3 acquires the latest system information each time. You may make it transmit to. In the smartphone 3, the system information stored in the memory 32 may be displayed on the display unit 33 at an arbitrary timing.

(11) The function of operating the vehicle 1 or acquiring information from the vehicle 1 from the smartphone 3 via the electronic key 2 as in the first embodiment, and the direct from the electronic key 2 as in the second embodiment. You may combine the function which can operate the vehicle 1 or acquire information from the vehicle 1.

In this case, the function that can be operated from the smartphone 3 and the function that can be directly operated from the electronic key 2 do not necessarily have to be completely matched. For example, the types of functions that can be operated from the smartphone 3 may be smaller than the types of functions that can be operated directly from the electronic key 2. Also, for example, certain types of functions (for example, functions with relatively high importance such as opening a door lock or moving the vehicle 1) are disabled from the smartphone 3 and can only be operated from the electronic key 2. Also good. Further, for example, the smartphone 3 periodically notifies the electronic key 2 whether or not the electronic key 2 is present in the detection area of the vehicle 1, and according to the contents (that is, the electronic key 2 and the vehicle 1. Depending on the distance relationship, the content that can be operated from the smartphone 3 via the electronic key 2 may be changed.

(12) As a communication terminal capable of wireless communication with the electronic key 2, the smartphone 3 shown in the above embodiment is merely an example. In addition to the smartphone 3, any type of communication terminal capable of wireless communication, such as a mobile phone, a tablet terminal, and a personal computer, can be used.

(13) The smart phone and the vehicle may be configured to allow direct data communication. In that case, you may enable it to provide a user with various services using the data communication between both.

For example, weather forecasts, road traffic information, and other various information can be acquired with a smartphone, and some or all of the acquired information can be appropriately transmitted to the vehicle to notify the driver of the vehicle. The information providing service may be provided.

Also, for example, it is possible to provide a vehicle surrounding monitoring service capable of acquiring information around the vehicle in the vehicle and transmitting the acquired information to a smartphone as appropriate.

In addition, for example, in a smartphone, it is possible to provide a vehicle position notification service that can acquire position information of the vehicle from a vehicle and notify the user of the smartphone of information related to the position of the vehicle based on the acquired position information. It may be.

In addition, for example, a driver's face is photographed in a vehicle, and information corresponding to the content of the photographed face image (that is, the driver's facial expression, and thus the driver's emotion (emotion, emotion, etc.)) is displayed on the smartphone. It is also possible to provide an SNS cooperation service that can be passed to an SNS (Social Networking Service) application.

Also, for example, the driver's physical condition is grasped directly or indirectly from various angles, and the driver's driving of the vehicle is permitted or prohibited according to the grasped content (that is, according to the driver's physical condition). It may be possible to provide a driving availability determination service.

Hereinafter, the various services described above will be described more specifically.
(13-1) Configuration of Smartphone First, the configuration of the smartphone 110 capable of realizing the various services described above will be described with reference to FIG. A smartphone 110 illustrated in FIG. 20 includes a motion sensor group 50 in addition to the hardware configuration of the smartphone 3 according to the first embodiment illustrated in FIG. The control unit 31 includes an RTC (real time clock) 31a. The control unit 31 can acquire information such as the current time and date based on the RTC 31a. The RTC 31a is also built in the smartphone 3 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG.

The motion sensor group 50 includes at least one of various sensors that can detect the movement and orientation of an object. Examples of these various sensors include a geomagnetic sensor, an acceleration sensor, and a gyro sensor. Here, description will be made assuming that the motion sensor group 50 includes at least a geomagnetic sensor and an acceleration sensor.

The geomagnetic sensor is a so-called electronic compass, and is a sensor capable of detecting the direction. The control part 31 of the smart phone 110 can detect the azimuth | direction of the specific direction centering on the smart phone 110 based on the detection signal from a geomagnetic sensor. The specific direction can be determined as appropriate. The smartphone 110 has a substantially rectangular thin plate shape. Therefore, here, as an example, the smartphone 110 is viewed from the specific position with the axis parallel to the rectangular plate surface and parallel to the long side direction passing through the specific position in the housing of the smartphone 110 as the specific axis. One axial direction of the specific axis is defined as the specific direction.

Acceleration sensor can detect at least triaxial acceleration. The control unit 31 of the smartphone 110 can detect the movement of the smartphone 110 (movement in a three-dimensional space) based on the detection signal from the acceleration sensor. Moreover, the control part 31 can detect the step number of the holder of the smart phone 110 based on the detection signal from an acceleration sensor.

In addition to the storage contents in the first embodiment (see FIG. 2), the memory 32 of the smartphone 110 further includes an information providing application 32g, a surrounding information notification application 32h, a vehicle position notification application 32j, an SNS application 32k, and Each application of the physical condition management application 32m is stored. The memory 32 stores the front video data 32n and the stolen vehicle data 32p by executing the surrounding information notification application.

(13-2) Vehicle Configuration Next, the configuration of the vehicle 120 capable of realizing the various services described above will be described with reference to FIG. A vehicle 120 illustrated in FIG. 21 includes a HUD (head-up display) 27, a front camera 28, and a BT communication unit 30 in addition to the hardware configuration of the vehicle 1 of the first embodiment illustrated in FIG. ing.

The front camera 28 is a camera that can photograph the front of the vehicle 120. The front camera 28 is attached to a specific position (for example, the front end of the vehicle interior ceiling) where the front of the vehicle 120 can be photographed. The front camera 28 operates to perform shooting when preset shooting conditions are satisfied. Here, it is assumed that moving images are always taken at least while the vehicle 120 is traveling. Movie data (front image data 25 h) photographed by the front camera 28 is stored in the memory 25. The front video data 25h stored in the memory 25 is video data for the latest several hours. It should be noted that the period and timing (that is, the shooting conditions) during which shooting is performed by the front camera 28 can be appropriately determined. In addition, it is possible to appropriately determine how long the moving image data shot in the past is stored in the memory 25 (that is, whether the moving image data is stored as the front video data 25h).

In addition to the stored contents in the first embodiment (see FIG. 6), the memory 25 of the vehicle 120 further includes a smartphone information notification program 25d, a surroundings monitoring program 25e, an SNS cooperation program 25f, and a physical condition information corresponding program 25g. Each program is stored. The memory 25 stores the front video data 25h by executing the surroundings monitoring program 25e.

(13-3) Information Providing Service Next, the information providing service among the various services described above will be described with reference to FIGS. The information providing service is basically realized by executing the information providing application 32g on the smartphone 110 and executing the smartphone information notification program 25d on the vehicle 120. As a usage form of the information providing service, a form in which a user carrying the smartphone 110 gets on the vehicle 120 (that is, a form in which the smartphone 110 exists in the vehicle 120) is assumed.

The control part 31 of the smart phone 110 reads the information provision application 32g from the memory 32 after starting, and repeatedly performs the information provision process which is a process according to the information provision application 32g with a predetermined period. The information providing process is a process of acquiring various information from various servers (for example, various websites) and transmitting a part or all of the information to the vehicle as necessary. FIG. 22 is an example of the information providing process.

When the control unit 31 of the smartphone 110 starts the information providing process of FIG. 22, the current position of the smartphone 110 is detected based on the reception information by the GPS reception unit 37 in S <b> 602.

In S604, the weather information providing site is accessed through the first communication, and the current location information indicating the current location of the smartphone 110 is transmitted to the weather information providing site, thereby requesting weather information around the current location. And the weather information around the current position transmitted from the weather information providing site in response to the request is acquired.

In S606, access is made to the traffic information providing site through the first communication, and the current location information indicating the current location of the smartphone 110 is transmitted to the traffic information providing site, thereby requesting traffic information around the current location. And the traffic information around the current position transmitted from the traffic information providing site in response to the request is acquired. The traffic information that can be acquired includes, for example, various information such as accident information, traffic jam information, and traffic regulation information around the current position.

In S608, by accessing the alert information providing site through the first communication and transmitting a predetermined search condition to the alert information providing site, various information corresponding to the search condition is requested. And the various information transmitted from an alert information provision site with respect to the request | requirement is acquired. The search condition includes the current position of the smartphone 110, the current position of the vehicle 120, the current time, information related to the driver (for example, driver's preference, schedule, etc.), information related to the vehicle 120 (for example, vehicle type), and the like. Various conditions are mentioned. When at least one of these various conditions is transmitted as a search condition to the alert information providing site, information corresponding to the search condition is searched and transmitted to the smartphone 110. As information corresponding to the search conditions, for example, facility information and event information around the current position, information such as various events to be held within a certain period of time, information such as facilities that intrigue the driver, etc. Various information can be listed.

In S610, it is determined whether the information acquired in S604, S606, and S608 includes information updated from the information acquired up to the previous time. Specifically, based on the information stored in the memory 32, it is determined whether each information acquired in S604, S606, and S608 has already been acquired and stored in the information providing process up to the previous time. If the information acquired this time is already stored, the information providing process is terminated. On the other hand, if the information acquired this time includes information that is not stored in the memory 32 (that is, updated information), the updated information is transmitted to the vehicle 120 by BT communication in S612. To do.

On the other hand, after activation, the control unit 10 of the vehicle 120 reads the smartphone information notification program 25d from the memory 25, and repeatedly executes the smartphone information notification process, which is a process according to the smartphone information notification program 25d, at a predetermined period. The smartphone information notification process is a process of notifying the driver of various types of information received from the smartphone 110. FIG. 23 is an example of the smartphone information notification process.

When starting the smartphone information notification process of FIG. 23, the control unit 10 of the vehicle 120 determines whether or not update information (information transmitted in S612 of FIG. 22) has been received from the smartphone 110 by BT communication in S652. . If the update information has not been received, the smartphone information notification process is terminated. When the update information is received, the received update information is notified to the driver in S654. Specifically, for example, the update information may be output from a speaker (not shown), the update information may be displayed on the display unit 26, or the update information may be displayed on the HUD 27.

In the information providing process of FIG. 22, it is not essential to transmit the updated information among the various information acquired from each site to the vehicle. Some or all of the various information acquired from each site is appropriately transmitted to the vehicle. You may send it. When a part of various information is transmitted, what kind of information should be transmitted can be determined as appropriate.

In addition, the data communication method between the smartphone 110 and the vehicle 120 is BT communication to the last, and data communication may be performed using another communication method.
(13-4) Vehicle Surrounding Monitoring Service Next, the vehicle surroundings monitoring service among the various services described above will be described with reference to FIGS. The vehicle surrounding monitoring service is basically realized by the surrounding information notification application 32h being executed on the smartphone 110 and the surrounding monitoring program 25e being executed on the vehicle 120. Similarly to the information providing service described above, the usage mode of the vehicle surroundings monitoring service mainly assumes a mode in which the user who has the smartphone 110 gets on the vehicle 120.

After starting, the control unit 10 of the vehicle 120 reads the surroundings monitoring program 25e from the memory 25, and repeatedly executes a surroundings monitoring process that is a process according to the surroundings monitoring program 25e at a predetermined cycle. The surrounding monitoring process is a function of transmitting the number information to the smartphone 110 when the number of surrounding vehicles is recognized from an image (still image) taken by the front camera 28, a function of transmitting the forward video data 32n to the smartphone 110, And a function for notifying the presence of the stolen vehicle based on the notification from the smartphone 110. FIG. 24 is an example of the surrounding monitoring process.

When the surrounding monitoring process in FIG. 24 is started, the control unit 10 of the vehicle 120 acquires an image (still image) captured by the front camera 28 in S702. In step S704, an image of the surrounding vehicle is recognized from the still image acquired in step S702. In S706, it is determined whether or not the number of the surrounding image is recognized from the still images. If the number is not recognized, the process proceeds to S710. When the number is recognized, in S708, number information indicating the recognized number is transmitted to the smartphone 110 by BT communication.

In S710, the front video data 32n is transmitted to the smartphone 110 by BT communication. The forward video data 32n to be transmitted here is the updated amount from the forward video data 32n transmitted in the previous processing of S710, that is, the amount newly stored before the execution of the current processing of S710 after the previous processing of S710. It is. However, it is not essential to transmit only the updated portion in this way.

In S712, it is determined whether the stolen vehicle discovery information is received from the smartphone 110 by BT communication. If the stolen vehicle discovery information has not been received, the surrounding monitoring process is terminated. If the stolen vehicle discovery information is received, the driver is notified of the presence of the stolen vehicle in S714. The stolen vehicle discovery information transmitted from the smartphone 110 includes that the number information transmitted in S708 includes a number that may be a stolen vehicle and the number. Therefore, in S714, the driver is informed of at least that a vehicle that may be a stolen vehicle is traveling in front of the host vehicle and its number. Various specific notification methods are conceivable. For example, as described in S654 of FIG. 23, notification by voice may be performed, or notification by the display unit 26 or the HUD 27 may be performed.

On the other hand, after starting, the control unit 31 of the smartphone 110 reads the ambient information notification application 32h from the memory 32, and repeatedly executes the ambient information notification process, which is a process according to the ambient information notification application 32h, at a predetermined cycle. The surrounding information notification process has a function of determining the presence or absence of a stolen vehicle based on the number information transmitted from the vehicle and transmitting the determination result to the vehicle, and a function of storing the front video data 32n transmitted from the vehicle. This is a process for realizing. FIG. 25 is an example of the surrounding information notification process.

When the control unit 31 of the smartphone 110 starts the surrounding information notification process of FIG. 25, in S752, the control unit 31 accesses a specific website in which information on the stolen vehicle is stored in the first communication, and the number of the stolen vehicle The stolen vehicle data 32 p which is the data of the above is acquired and stored in the memory 32. If already stored, the stored data is updated based on the newly acquired data.

In S754, it is determined whether or not the number information is received from the vehicle 120 by BT communication. If the number information has not been received, the process proceeds to S760. If the number information is received, it is determined in S756 whether the number corresponding to the stolen vehicle is included in the received number information with reference to the stolen vehicle data 32p. If the number corresponding to the stolen vehicle is not included, the process proceeds to S760. If the number corresponding to the stolen vehicle is included, in S758, the stolen vehicle discovery information is transmitted to the vehicle 120 by BT communication.

In S760, it is determined whether or not forward video data has been received from the vehicle 120 by BT communication. When the front video data is received, the front video data 32n stored in the memory 32 is updated based on the received front video data in S762. The front video data 32n stored in the memory 32 can be reproduced on the display unit 33 by performing a predetermined moving image reproduction operation.

It should be noted that the vehicle 120 itself may perform the acquisition of stolen vehicle data (S752) and the presence / absence determination of a number corresponding to the stolen vehicle (S756) performed by the smartphone 110. In that case, the stolen vehicle discovery information may be transmitted from the vehicle 120 to the smartphone 110 and the smartphone 110 may store the information, or the smartphone 110 may notify the information.

(13-5) Vehicle Location Notification Service Next, the vehicle location notification service among the various services described above will be described with reference to FIG. The vehicle position notification service is basically realized by executing the vehicle position notification application 32j on the smartphone 110. As a usage mode of the vehicle position notification service, a mode in which the user who owns the smartphone 110 is mainly away from the vehicle 120 is assumed.

Control part 31 of smart phone 110 reads vehicle position information application 32j from memory 32 after starting, and repeatedly performs vehicle position information processing which is processing according to vehicle position information application 32j at a predetermined cycle. The vehicle position notification process is a process for realizing a function of notifying the user of the smartphone 110 of the current position of the vehicle 120 and various information related to the current position. FIG. 26 is an example of a vehicle position notification process.

The control part 31 of the smart phone 110 will acquire the positional information (vehicle present position) of the vehicle 120 by 1st communication from the vehicle 120 by S552, if the vehicle position alerting | reporting process of FIG. 26 is started. Specifically, when position information is requested from vehicle 120 in the first communication, information on the current position detected in vehicle 120 is transmitted from vehicle 120. In S552, the current position information transmitted from the vehicle 120 is received to obtain the current position of the vehicle.

In S554, the current position (smartphone current position) of the smartphone 110 is detected based on information received by the GPS receiver 37. In S556, a map image of a predetermined range including the vehicle current position acquired in S552 and the smartphone current position acquired in S554 is displayed on the display unit 33. In S558, a vehicle mark indicating the vehicle 120 is displayed at a position corresponding to the current vehicle position in the map image, and a smartphone mark indicating the smartphone 110 is displayed at a position corresponding to the current smartphone position. Thereby, the user of the smartphone 110 can grasp his / her position (that is, the position of the smartphone 110) and can also grasp the position of the vehicle 120.

In S560, vehicle position related information is calculated based on the current vehicle position and the current smartphone position, and is displayed on the display unit 33. The vehicle position related information is information that directly or indirectly indicates the relative position of the vehicle 120 with respect to the current smartphone position. The vehicle position related information includes, for example, a linear distance from the current smartphone position to the current vehicle position, a distance from the current smartphone position to the current vehicle position, and a predetermined route from the current smartphone position to the current vehicle position. The number of steps required to go on foot, the direction of the current position of the vehicle as viewed from the current position of the smartphone, and the like.

In S562, based on the detection signal from the motion sensor group 50, the orientation of the smartphone 110 (specifically, the orientation in the specific direction described above) is detected. In S564, it is determined whether the orientation of the smartphone 110 detected in S562 substantially matches the direction of the vehicle 120 (that is, the direction of the current vehicle position as viewed from the current smartphone position). For example, if the difference between the two directions (directions) is within a predetermined angle, it is determined that they are substantially the same.

If the orientation of the smartphone 110 substantially coincides with the direction of the vehicle 120, in S566, the user of the smartphone 110 is notified that the smartphone 110 is facing the direction of the vehicle 120. This notification may be performed by voice, for example, by operating a vibration mechanism (not shown) to mechanically vibrate the smartphone 110, or by displaying predetermined information on the display unit 33. You may go.

The user of the smartphone 110 can acquire various types of information regarding the position of the vehicle 120 by this vehicle position notification process. In particular, the processing of S546 and S566 allows the user of the smartphone 110 to find out the direction of the vehicle 120 while changing the orientation of the smartphone 110 in various ways.

(13-6) SNS Cooperation Service Next, among the various services described above, the SNS cooperation service will be described with reference to FIGS. The SNS cooperation service is basically realized by executing the SNS application 32k in the smartphone 110 and executing the SNS cooperation program 25f in the vehicle 120. As a usage form of the SNS cooperation service, a form in which a user who owns the smartphone 110 is driving the vehicle 120 (in other words, a form in which the driver's smartphone 110 exists in the vehicle 120). Is assumed.

The control part 10 of the vehicle 120 reads the SNS cooperation program 25f from the memory 25 after starting, and repeatedly performs the SNS cooperation process which is a process according to the SNS cooperation program 25f with a predetermined period. The SNS cooperation process is a process of determining the driver's mood from the image of the driver's face and transmitting the determination result to the smartphone 110. FIG. 27 is an example of the SNS linkage process.

27. When the control unit 10 of the vehicle 120 starts the SNS cooperation process of FIG. 27, the captured image (still image) of the front camera 28 is acquired in S802. In S804, a captured image (still image) of the vehicle interior camera 24 is acquired.

In S806, a process of recognizing the driver's face image from the still image acquired in S804 is performed. In S808, based on the driver's face image recognized in S806, the driver's mood (for example, emotion of emotions) is determined. In S810, mood information indicating the determination result (driver's mood) in S808 is transmitted to the smartphone 110 by BT communication.

On the other hand, after starting, the control unit 31 of the smartphone 110 reads the SNS application 32k from the memory 32, and repeatedly executes an SNS process, which is a process according to the SNS application 32k, at a predetermined period. The SNS application 32k is an application that can realize a function equivalent to a known application that can enjoy SNS, such as LINE (registered trademark) or TWITTER (registered trademark). In particular, the SNS application 32k has a function of automatically transmitting various images and messages according to mood information transmitted from the vehicle 120 in addition to the functions of known similar applications. FIG. 28 is an example of the SNS process.

The control part 31 of the smart phone 110 will determine whether the mood information was received from the vehicle 120 by S852, if the SNS process of FIG. 28 is started. If the mood information has not been received, other regulation processing is executed in S854. The prescribed process is a process equivalent to various processes executed in a known SNS application, such as message reception from an external terminal or server and message transmission to an external terminal or server.

If the mood information is received from the vehicle 120 in S852, a notification image indicating the mood of the user of the smartphone 110 (that is, the driver of the vehicle 120) is determined in S856. The notification image may be any image as long as it shows the driver's feeling. For example, when the driver has an angry feeling, the text “I am angry!” May be generated and determined as the notification image, or the face illustration image stored in advance may be determined. An illustration image of an angry facial expression may be extracted from the inside and determined as a notification image. Also, for example, when the driver has a surprise or emotional feeling, the text “I saw a great thing!” May be generated and determined as a notification image, or stored in advance. An illustration image of a surprised expression may be extracted from the illustration images of the face that is present and determined as a notification image.

In S858, the notification image determined in S856 is transmitted to the specific external terminal or server through the first communication. Thereby, for example, the notification image is transmitted to the terminal of another user registered as a transmission target, and the notification image is displayed on the terminal of the other user. Other users can know the current situation (such as mood) of the driver by looking at the displayed notification image. When transmitting the notification image, an image around the vehicle 120 (an image captured by the front camera 28) or an image of the driver (an image captured by the vehicle interior camera 24) may be transmitted.

Note that the notification image data may be transmitted to the vehicle 120, and the notification image may be displayed on the vehicle 120 by a predetermined method. For example, a device that irradiates a window glass with laser light is activated, and a notification image is displayed on the window glass by operating the device to allow a person outside the vehicle 120 to feel the driver's feelings of the vehicle 120. You may be able to know. At that time, the notification image may be made visible from the outside for a certain period of time by arranging a phosphorescent material capable of storing light of the wavelength of the laser light for a certain period on the window glass.

(13-7) Driving availability determination service Next, among the various services described above, the driving availability determination service will be described with reference to FIGS. 29 and 30. FIG. The driving propriety determination service is basically realized by executing the physical condition management application 32m in the smartphone 110 and executing the physical condition information corresponding program 25g in the vehicle 120. As a usage form of the driving propriety determination service, a form in which a user who owns the smartphone 110 is driving the vehicle 120 is mainly assumed.

The control part 31 of the smart phone 110 reads the physical condition management application 32m from the memory 32 after starting, and repeatedly performs the physical condition management process which is a process according to the physical condition management application 32m with a predetermined period. The physical condition management process is a process for acquiring information related to the physical condition of the user of the smartphone 110 and transmitting the information to the vehicle 120. FIG. 29 is an example of a physical condition management process.

The control part 31 of the smart phone 110 will determine whether the request | requirement of the physical condition relevant information was received from the vehicle 120 in S902, if the physical condition management process of FIG. 29 is started. The physical condition related information is various information directly or indirectly related to the physical condition of the user of the smartphone 110, and examples thereof include the number of steps for each specific period (for example, every day), the pulse rate, the heart rate, and the body temperature. .

If the physical condition related information is not requested in S902, the physical condition management process is terminated. If physical condition related information is requested, physical condition related information is acquired in S904. For example, the number of steps can be acquired based on the detection signal from the motion sensor group 50 as described above. In addition, for example, a pulse, a heart rate, correspondence, and the like may be acquired based on a detection signal from the sensor provided in the smartphone 110 itself, and a function of detecting these may be provided. You may acquire by data communication from another terminal (for example, wristwatch type information processing terminal).

In S906, the physical condition related information acquired in S904 is transmitted to the vehicle 120 by BT communication.
On the other hand, when a specific starting operation is performed by the driver after the start-up, the control unit 10 of the vehicle 120 reads the physical condition information corresponding program 25g from the memory 25, and the physical condition information is a process according to the physical condition information corresponding program 25g. The corresponding process is repeatedly executed at a predetermined cycle. Examples of the starting operation include an operation of turning on an ignition switch. Moreover, in an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, etc., there is an operation of turning on a so-called power switch for making the vehicle stand by in a running state.

The physical condition information corresponding process is a process of acquiring the physical condition related information of the user of the smartphone 110 (that is, the driver) from the smart phone 110 and permitting or prohibiting the driving of the vehicle 120 by the driver according to the physical condition related information. FIG. 30 is an example of the physical condition information handling process.

The control unit 10 of the vehicle 120 requests physical condition related information to the smartphone 110 through BT communication in S952 when the physical condition information corresponding process of FIG. 30 is started. And the physical condition relevant information is acquired by receiving the physical condition relevant information transmitted by BT communication from the smart phone 110 with respect to the request | requirement.

In S954, whether or not the driver can drive the vehicle 120 is determined based on the physical condition related information acquired in S952 (that is, information related to the physical condition of the driver). For example, when the driver's pulse and heart rate are out of the normal range, it is determined that driving is impossible. Further, for example, if the total number of steps during the day yesterday is equal to or less than a predetermined lower limit value, it is determined that driving is not possible because a movement method other than the vehicle 120 (for example, walking or bicycle) is recommended as lack of exercise. Conversely, if the pulse and heart rate are both within the normal range, or if the total number of steps during the day yesterday exceeds the lower limit, there is a special case that should hesitate to let the driver drive the vehicle 120. If there are no circumstances, it is determined that driving is possible.

In S956, based on the determination result in S954, it is determined whether or not the driver can drive the vehicle 120 (whether or not it is determined that driving is possible). If it is determined that the vehicle can be driven, the operation state of the vehicle 120 is shifted to the traveling standby state in S958. In the travel standby state, the driver can drive the vehicle 120. If it is not determined that the vehicle can be driven in S956 (that is, if it is determined that the vehicle cannot be driven in S954), a travel prohibition process is executed in S960. Specifically, even if the driver depresses the accelerator pedal, it is invalidated and the vehicle 120 is not forced to travel.

(14) A portable communication terminal (for example, a wristwatch-type terminal) with a built-in motion sensor is attached to the arm of a guide who is deployed in a parking lot, the arm of a guide who conducts traffic, or a police officer. The movement of the arm (that is, the hand gesture) may be detected so that the meaning of the hand gesture (what instruction by the guide or the like) indicates can be recognized. Hand gesture recognition may be performed by a portable communication terminal attached to an arm, or a motion sensor detection signal is transmitted to another communication terminal (for example, the above-described smartphone) or a vehicle and performed at the transmission destination. May be. Examples of recognizable gestures include a stop instruction, an entry prohibition instruction, a start enable instruction, and the like. And you may make it alert | report a recognition result to a user with a smart phone, or may alert | report the driver of a vehicle in a vehicle.

For example, a smartphone receives a detection signal of a motion sensor from a portable communication terminal worn by an inducer on an arm, performs gesture recognition on the smartphone, and notifies the recognition result on the smartphone or transmits it to the vehicle. May be notified by the vehicle.

(15) The vehicle to which the present invention is applicable is not limited to the vehicle 1 according to the above-described embodiment using an engine as a driving source for travel, but may be a hybrid vehicle, an electric vehicle, or other various drive system vehicles. Further, the present invention can be applied not only to passenger cars but also to commercial vehicles, trucks, buses, railway vehicles, and all other types of vehicles.

(16) In addition, the present invention is not limited to the specific means and structure shown in the above embodiment, and can take various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, the functions of one component in the above embodiment may be distributed as a plurality of components, or the functions of a plurality of components may be integrated into one component. Further, at least a part of the configuration of the above embodiment may be replaced with a known configuration having the same function. Moreover, you may abbreviate | omit a part of structure of the said embodiment as long as a subject can be solved. In addition, at least a part of the configuration of the above embodiment may be added to or replaced with the configuration of the other embodiment. In addition, all the aspects included in the technical idea specified from the wording described in the claims are embodiments of the present invention.

[Technical idea grasped from the embodiment]
At least the following technical ideas can be understood from the various embodiments detailed above.
(A) an electronic key capable of wireless communication with a vehicle by two different types of wireless communication methods;
A communication terminal capable of wireless communication with the electronic key;
With
One of the two types of wireless communication methods has a shorter communicable distance than the other wireless communication method,
The communication terminal is
A designation input unit for receiving a designation input of a process item indicating the content of the process to be executed, for causing the vehicle to execute a specific process;
A command transmission unit that transmits a processing command indicating the processing item input by the designation input unit to the electronic key;
With
The electronic key is
A processing command generator that generates a processing command indicating the processing item corresponding to the processing command when the processing command is received from the communication terminal;
A communication method determination unit that determines whether wireless communication is possible with the vehicle and the one wireless communication method;
When the communication method determination unit determines that wireless communication is possible using the one wireless communication method, the processing command is transmitted to the vehicle using the one wireless communication method, and the communication method determination unit transmits the one A command transmission unit that transmits the processing command to the vehicle in the other wireless communication method when it is determined that wireless communication in the wireless communication method is not possible,
A vehicle control system comprising:

According to such a configuration, the wireless communication between the electronic key and the vehicle is performed by an appropriate method according to the relative distance between the two. Therefore, wireless communication between the electronic key and the vehicle can be performed efficiently.

(B) In (A) above,
The electronic key is
Permission to determine whether or not transmission of the processing command by the other wireless communication method is permitted when the communication method determination unit determines that wireless communication by the one wireless communication method is not possible It has a judgment part,
When the communication method determination unit determines that wireless communication using the one wireless communication method is not possible, the command transmission unit transmits the processing command according to the other wireless communication method by the permission determination unit. When it is determined that the processing is permitted, the processing command is transmitted to the vehicle by the other wireless communication method.

According to such a configuration, when the electronic key cannot communicate with the vehicle by one wireless communication method (for example, when the electronic key is far away from the vehicle), a processing command is sent to the vehicle by the other wireless communication method. It is possible to arbitrarily decide whether or not to transmit. If transmission by the other wireless communication method is permitted, the vehicle can be remotely controlled even if the electronic key is away from the vehicle. Conversely, if transmission with the other wireless communication method is not permitted, the vehicle can be used when the electronic key is more than a certain distance from the vehicle (a distance that allows wireless communication with one wireless communication method). Can not be remotely controlled, so security performance can be improved.
(C) an electronic key capable of wireless communication with the vehicle;
A communication terminal capable of wireless communication with the electronic key;
With
The communication terminal is
A display unit;
A display control unit that causes the display unit to display a processing item image that is an image indicating a processing item that can be executed on the vehicle;
A designation input unit that accepts a designation input for designating at least one of the processing item images displayed on the display unit by the display control unit;
A command transmission unit that transmits a processing command corresponding to the processing item indicated by the processing item image designated by the designation input unit to the electronic key;
With
The electronic key is
A vehicle control system comprising: a command transmission unit that transmits a processing command indicating the processing item corresponding to the processing command to the vehicle when the processing command is received from the communication terminal.

According to such a configuration, the user can easily find and specify a desired process item image (a process item image corresponding to a process to be executed by the vehicle) from among the process item images displayed on the communication terminal. be able to. Each icon illustrated in FIG. 3 corresponds to an example of the processing item image.
(D) an electronic key capable of wireless communication with the vehicle;
A communication terminal capable of wireless communication with the electronic key;
With
The communication terminal is
At least one of an imaging unit capable of capturing a moving image and a voice input unit capable of inputting sound;
A process accepting unit that accepts at least one of the user's gesture imaged by the imaging unit and the user's voice input to the audio input unit as process designation information;
A transmission unit for transmitting the processing designation information to the electronic key;
With
The electronic key is
When the processing designation information is received from the communication terminal, a processing command corresponding to the processing item indicated by the received processing designation information among processing items that can be executed on the vehicle is sent to the vehicle. A vehicle control system comprising a command transmission unit for transmission.

According to such a configuration, the communication terminal only needs to have a function of transmitting the process designation information indicating the user's gesture or voice to the electronic key, and what the process designation information input by the user means There is no need to recognize if it is. The process of recognizing what the process designation information input by the user means is performed using an electronic key. Therefore, the processing load on the communication terminal can be reduced.

Note that the processes of S34 to S38 and the processes of S42 to S46 in FIG. 8 correspond to an example of the process of the process accepting unit. The gesture pattern recognized in S34 or the operation content corresponding thereto and the voice pattern recognized in S42 or the operation content corresponding thereto correspond to an example of the processing designation information.

(E) a vehicle;
An electronic key capable of wireless communication with the vehicle;
A communication terminal capable of wireless communication with the electronic key;
With
The communication terminal is
At least one of an imaging unit capable of capturing a moving image and a voice input unit capable of inputting sound;
A process accepting unit that accepts at least one of the user's gesture imaged by the imaging unit and the user's voice input to the audio input unit as process designation information;
A terminal-side transmitter that transmits the processing designation information to the electronic key;
With
The electronic key includes a relay transmission unit that relays the received process designation information to the vehicle when the process designation information transmitted from the communication terminal is received,
The vehicle is
A vehicle control system comprising: a process execution unit that executes a process item indicated by the process designation information when the process designation information is received from the electronic key.

According to such a configuration, it is sufficient that both the communication terminal and the electronic key have a function of transmitting process designation information indicating the user's gesture or voice, and what the process designation information input by the user means There is no need to recognize what they are doing. The process of recognizing what the process designation information input by the user means is performed by the vehicle. Therefore, the processing load on the communication terminal and the electronic key can be reduced.

(F) An electronic key capable of wireless communication with a vehicle,
A designation input unit for receiving a designation input of a process item indicating the content of the process to be executed, for causing the vehicle to execute a specific process;
A command transmission unit for transmitting a processing command indicating the processing item input by the designation input unit to the vehicle;
An electronic key characterized by comprising:

Claims (3)

1. A vehicle control system,
   An electronic key configured for wireless communication with the vehicle;
   A communication terminal configured to be capable of wireless communication with the electronic key;
   With
   The communication terminal is
   A designation input unit configured to receive a designation input of a process item indicating the content of the process to be executed for causing the vehicle to execute a specific process;
   A command transmission unit configured to transmit a processing command indicating the processing item input by the designation input unit to the electronic key;
   With
   The electronic key is
   A vehicle control system comprising: a command transmission unit configured to transmit, to the vehicle, a processing command indicating the processing item corresponding to the processing command when the processing command is received from the communication terminal.
2. The vehicle control system according to claim 1,
   The communication terminal is
   A terminal-side storage unit in which predetermined terminal-side unique information is stored;
   The command transmission unit is configured to transmit the terminal side unique information stored in the terminal side storage unit when transmitting the processing command to the electronic key,
   The electronic key is
   A key-side storage unit in which predetermined key-side unique information is stored;
   Whether the received terminal-side unique information and the key-side unique information stored in the key-side storage unit have a specific relationship when the processing command and the terminal-side unique information are received from the communication terminal A unique information determination unit configured to determine whether or not;
   With
   The vehicle control system, wherein the command transmission unit is configured to transmit the processing command when the specific information determination unit determines that the specific relationship is established.
3. The vehicle control system according to claim 1 or 2,
   The communication terminal is
   Including at least one of an imaging unit configured to be capable of capturing a moving image and an audio input unit configured to be able to input audio;
   The designation input unit is configured to accept designation input of the processing item based on at least one of a user gesture photographed by the imaging unit and a user voice inputted to the voice input unit. Vehicle control system.

Images