JP2004094696A - Vehicle warning device and system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle warning device and system capable of transmitting necessary information to a driver or the like when abnormality occurs in a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: If a door is unlocked or glass is broken by a suspicious individual M, a monitored vehicle A in parking detects the abnormality and transmits an abnormality detection signal to peripheral vehicles B to J. The peripheral vehicles B to J photograph the monitored vehicle A with cameras installed in respective vehicles B to J and return images to the monitored vehicle A. The monitored vehicle A receives respective images sent from the peripheral vehicles B to J and transmits an abnormality occurrence signal with images to a portable telephone of a person to be informed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle alarm device and a system for preventing a vehicle from being stolen or the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, various measures have been taken to protect vehicles from theft, mischief, and the like. For example, (1) various sensors are mounted on a vehicle, and when a door is forcibly opened or a window glass is broken during parking, a loud alarm sounds so as to be heard in the surrounding area. (2) Measures have been taken such as providing a lock mechanism to prevent the handle from moving, and (3) preventing the engine from starting unless a key registered in advance is used.
[0003]
In recent years, a security device has been developed which transmits, to a driver's mobile phone or the like, information indicating that an abnormality has occurred in a vehicle or an image taken by a vehicle-mounted camera at this time.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, the conventional method of transmitting the image of the occurrence of the abnormality or the image at this time to the driver's mobile phone or the like has a problem that necessary information cannot be sufficiently transmitted to the driver or the like. For example, when information indicating that an abnormality has occurred is transmitted to the driver's mobile phone, the driver may not know the exact content of the information even though it is likely to have an abnormality. However, it is necessary to actually go to see the vehicle. It is conceivable that the security device malfunctions. However, even in such a case, it is not clear until the user sees the vehicle whether the security device malfunctions or whether the vehicle is actually abnormal. Even when an abnormality has actually occurred, if there is a criminal or the like trying to steal the vehicle around the vehicle, it may be better not to approach the vehicle even if the occurrence of the abnormality is notified. However, the judgment cannot be made only by notification of the occurrence of the abnormality. Furthermore, when transmitting an image taken by an on-board camera installed in the vehicle compartment to the driver's mobile phone, if a thief or the like is working outside the vehicle, the thief or the like is not included in the shooting range. There may be no abnormal part in the transmitted image.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle alarm device and a system capable of transmitting necessary information to a driver or the like when a vehicle abnormality occurs. is there.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problems, a vehicle alarm device of the present invention includes an abnormality detection unit that detects an abnormality of a monitored vehicle, and parks around the monitored vehicle when the abnormality is detected by the abnormality detection unit. Image receiving means for receiving an image photographed and transmitted by a surrounding vehicle, and image transferring means for transferring the image received by the image receiving means to a notification target person. This makes it possible to send an image photographed in a surrounding vehicle to a notification target person, and to transmit information necessary for knowing the situation when a vehicle abnormality occurs to a driver or the like.
[0007]
Further, the vehicle alarm system of the present invention is mounted on the monitored vehicle in order to transmit an image taken by a nearby vehicle parked in the vicinity to the notification target when an abnormality occurs in the monitored vehicle. A first in-vehicle terminal device and a second in-vehicle terminal device mounted on a surrounding vehicle. The first in-vehicle terminal device includes: an abnormality detection unit that detects an abnormality; an abnormality signal transmission unit that transmits an abnormality detection signal to a surrounding vehicle when the abnormality is detected by the abnormality detection unit; Image receiving means for receiving the incoming image; and image transfer means for transferring the image received by the image receiving means to the notification target person. The second in-vehicle terminal device is mounted on a surrounding vehicle, and receives an abnormality notification signal sent from the monitored vehicle, an abnormal signal receiving unit, and a camera when the abnormal signal receiving unit receives the abnormal signal. It has a photographing control means for photographing the periphery of the surrounding vehicle by using the image processing means, and an image transmitting means for transmitting an image photographed by the photographing control means to the monitored vehicle. By notifying the surrounding vehicle of the abnormality when an abnormality occurs in the monitored vehicle, it becomes possible to take a picture of the monitored vehicle with a camera in the surrounding vehicle. Necessary information including the photographed image can be transmitted to the driver or the like.
[0008]
In addition, the above-described abnormality signal transmitting means transmits an abnormality detection signal including the vehicle position of the monitored vehicle, and the second vehicle-mounted terminal device mounted on the peripheral vehicle includes the monitored vehicle included in the abnormality detection signal. It is desirable to have a parking position determining means for determining that the own vehicle is parked around the monitored vehicle based on the vehicle position of the vehicle. As a result, it is possible to accurately grasp the positional relationship between the monitored vehicle and the surrounding vehicle, and it is easy to determine whether or not the monitored vehicle in which an abnormality has occurred corresponds to a surrounding vehicle that can be photographed. Become.
[0009]
In addition, it is desirable that the camera mounted on the surrounding vehicle described above captures an image in a horizontal 360 ° range around the surrounding vehicle. This makes it possible to photograph the monitored vehicle irrespective of the orientation of the surrounding vehicle when parking.
Further, the above-mentioned second in-vehicle terminal device mounted on the surrounding vehicle has a detecting means for detecting a person or a moving object in the vicinity, and the photographing control means detects the person or the object by the detecting means. Upon detection, it is desirable to take a picture using a camera. Accordingly, it is possible to reliably photograph the site where the monitoring target vehicle is to be harmed.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a vehicle warning system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a vehicle warning system according to an embodiment. In the vehicle alarm system of the present embodiment, when an abnormality occurs in the monitored vehicle A that is parked, the vehicles A to be monitored (hereinafter, referred to as “peripheral vehicles”) B to J are monitored by the vehicles A to be monitored. Is photographed, and the fact that an abnormality has occurred and the photographed image are transmitted to the driver of the monitored vehicle A. Therefore, even when the suspicious person M is performing some work while crouching near the door or tire of the monitored vehicle A, it is possible to reliably photograph the work content from any of the surrounding vehicles, It is possible to reliably transmit necessary information at the time of occurrence of an abnormality (information indicating the content of the abnormality) to a notification target person such as a driver.
[0011]
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an in-vehicle device mounted on a monitoring target vehicle A configuring the vehicle alarm system according to the present embodiment. In addition, it is assumed that similar vehicles are mounted on other vehicles such as the surrounding vehicles B to J.
As shown in FIG. 2, the in-vehicle devices mounted on the monitored vehicle A include an in-vehicle terminal device 100, a navigation device 200, a camera 400, an image processing device 410, a GPS device 420, an autonomous navigation sensor 430, and an abnormality detection device 500. , An infrared sensor 510, and a mobile phone 520.
[0012]
The in-vehicle terminal device 100 transmits and receives an abnormality detection signal, captured image data, and the like by performing inter-vehicle communication with the in-vehicle terminal device 100 mounted on another vehicle. A process for sending an abnormality occurrence notification to the notification target person is performed. For this purpose, the in-vehicle terminal device 100 includes a terminal control unit 10, a memory 12, a hard disk device (HDD) 14, a transmission unit 20, a reception unit 22, an antenna switching unit 24, an antenna 26, and a communication processing unit 28. ing.
[0013]
The terminal control unit 10 controls the overall operation of the in-vehicle terminal device 100 by executing a predetermined operation program stored in the memory 12 or the hard disk device 14. In the memory 12, in addition to the operation program executed by the terminal control unit 10, a unique ID assigned to the vehicle-mounted terminal device 100, vehicle type information of the monitored vehicle A on which the vehicle-mounted terminal device 100 is mounted, and usage information. Information is stored. The hard disk device 14 stores images and the like sent from one or more peripheral vehicles, in addition to the operation program executed by the terminal control unit 10.
[0014]
The transmission unit 20 performs a process of transmitting a transmission signal output from the terminal control unit 10 to another vehicle from the antenna 26 via the antenna switching unit 24. In addition, the reception unit 22 performs a process of receiving a reception signal transmitted from another vehicle and reaching the antenna 26 via the antenna switching unit 24. The antenna switching unit 24 selectively connects the antenna 26 to the transmission unit 20 or the reception unit 22 based on the transmission / reception switching signal input from the terminal control unit 10.
[0015]
The communication processing unit 28 performs a process of transmitting data (an abnormality notification including an image) output from the terminal control unit 10 from a mobile phone 520 external to the in-vehicle terminal device 100.
In addition, when an abnormality occurs in the monitored vehicle A, the terminal control unit 10 in the in-vehicle terminal device 100 uses the mobile phone 520 to generate an abnormality in the notification target person such as the driver of the monitored vehicle A when the abnormality occurs in the monitored vehicle A. Processing necessary for transmitting the fact and an image of the appearance of the monitored vehicle A at the site is performed.
[0016]
Further, the camera 400 shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an installation state of the camera 400. As shown in FIG. 3, a circular convex mirror 402 is attached to a ceiling 406 in a vehicle cabin with its reflection surface facing downward, and a camera 400 is provided immediately below the convex mirror 402 at a position where the entirety of the convex mirror 402 can be photographed. It is attached using a support 404. Using the convex mirror 402, it is possible to photograph an object within a horizontal 360 ° range. However, since the shape of the subject reflected on the convex mirror 402 is distorted according to the surface shape of the convex mirror 402, processing for returning the distorted shape to the original shape is required. The image processing device 410 performs image processing on the image captured by the camera 400 in consideration of the surface shape of the convex mirror 402, and obtains a 360 ° horizontal panoramic image without distortion.
[0017]
Since the camera 400 and the image processing device 410 are mounted not only on the monitoring target vehicle A but also on other vehicles (peripheral vehicles), the monitoring target vehicle A can be reliably detected regardless of the parking direction of the peripheral vehicles. It becomes possible to shoot.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a shooting state when the surrounding vehicles B and C are parked on both sides of the monitoring target vehicle A. As shown in FIG. 4, the 360 ° horizontal image taken by the camera 400 provided in the surrounding vehicle B surely includes the monitoring target vehicle A as a subject regardless of the parking direction of the surrounding vehicle B. become. Similarly, the 360-degree horizontal image taken by the camera 400 provided in the surrounding vehicle C surely includes the monitoring target vehicle A as a subject regardless of the parking direction of the surrounding vehicle C.
[0018]
The abnormality detection device 500 detects an abnormality of the monitoring target vehicle A. For example, a sensor that detects a door opening / closing angle, an impact sensor that detects a large impact applied to glass, a sensor that detects a tire attachment state, and the like are used. When an attempt is made to enter the vehicle interior or steal a tire, these actions of a suspicious individual are detected.
[0019]
The infrared sensor 510 is installed at a predetermined position and detects that a person is in a predetermined range outside the vehicle. The infrared sensor 510 is for detecting that a suspicious person is present around the monitoring target vehicle A, and is used when the monitoring target vehicle A operates as a peripheral vehicle on the side capturing another vehicle. Is done.
[0020]
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the navigation device 200. As shown in FIG. 5, the navigation device 200 includes a navigation control unit 30, a hard disk device (HDD) 32, a display device 34, and an operation unit 36.
[0021]
The navigation control unit 30 controls the entire operation of the navigation device 200 by executing a predetermined operation program, whereby predetermined navigation operations such as a map image display process, a route search process, and a route guidance process are performed. Done. The hard disk device 32 stores map data necessary for performing various navigation operations. However, regarding the method of storing the map data, the map data may be stored in a disk-type recording medium such as a DVD or a CD, in addition to the case of storing the map data in the hard disk device 32 as in the present embodiment. Alternatively, every time a navigation operation is performed, distribution may be performed from a map distribution center.
[0022]
The display device 34 displays a map image output from the navigation control unit 30 and an image related to the operation screen. For example, the display device 34 is configured by a liquid crystal display device. The operation unit 36 is used by a user to give an operation instruction to the navigation device 200, and is provided on various operation keys provided on a housing of the navigation device 200 and a remote control unit prepared separately from the housing. And various joystick keys.
[0023]
The GPS device 420 and the autonomous navigation sensor 430 are connected to the navigation device 200 described above. These may be provided inside the housing of the navigation device 200, and need not necessarily be connected outside the housing. The GPS device 420 includes a GPS antenna and a calculation unit that analyzes a satellite radio wave received by the GPS antenna, and outputs the position (longitude and latitude) of the monitoring target vehicle A. The position information of the monitoring target vehicle A output from the GPS device 420 is also sent to the in-vehicle terminal device 100.
[0024]
The autonomous navigation sensor 430 includes a distance sensor and a direction sensor (gyro), and the navigation control unit 30 calculates the position of the monitored vehicle A based on the output of these sensors. In the present embodiment, the accurate position detection of the monitored vehicle A is performed by the navigation device 200 using both the GPS device 420 and the autonomous navigation sensor 430. However, when the detection accuracy of the GPS device 420 is high, May use only the GPS device 420.
[0025]
In the monitoring target vehicle A, the abnormality detection device 500 serves as an abnormality detection unit, the terminal control unit 10, the transmission unit 20, the antenna switching unit 24, and the antenna 26 serve as abnormality signal transmission units, and the terminal control unit 10, the reception unit 22, and the antenna switching unit. The unit 24 and the antenna 26 correspond to an image receiving unit, the terminal control unit 10 and the communication processing unit 28 correspond to an image transfer unit, and the navigation device 200, the GPS device 420, and the autonomous navigation sensor 430 correspond to a parking position determining unit. In the surrounding vehicles, the terminal control unit 10, the receiving unit 22, the antenna switching unit 24, and the antenna 26 serve as abnormal signal receiving means, the terminal control unit 10 serves as an imaging control unit, the terminal control unit 10, the transmitting unit 20, and the antenna switching unit. The unit 24 and the antenna 26 correspond to an image transmitting unit, and the infrared sensor 510 corresponds to a detecting unit.
[0026]
Other vehicles including the monitored vehicle A and the surrounding vehicles included in the vehicle alarm system of the present embodiment are equipped with the vehicle-mounted device having such a configuration. The operation of the vehicle-mounted device will be described.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure of the vehicle-mounted terminal device 100 of the monitoring target vehicle A. The terminal control unit 10 of the in-vehicle terminal device 100 mounted on the monitoring target vehicle A monitors the output of the abnormality detection device 500, and determines whether an abnormality has occurred in the monitoring target vehicle A (step 100). . If no abnormality has occurred, a negative determination is made, and this determination process is repeated.
[0027]
In addition, when an abnormality occurs in the monitored vehicle A, an affirmative determination is made in the determination of step 100, and then the terminal control unit 10 sends an abnormality detection signal to a peripheral vehicle parked around the monitored vehicle A. Then, a process of transmitting from the transmitting unit 20 via the antenna 26 is performed (step 101). The abnormality detection signal includes accurate position information of the monitoring target vehicle A obtained by the navigation control unit 30 in the navigation device 200.
[0028]
Next, the terminal control unit 10 determines whether or not an image transmitted from a surrounding vehicle that has received the abnormality detection signal has been received (step 102). If not, a negative determination is made. This determination process is repeated. When an image transmitted from any of the surrounding vehicles is received, an affirmative determination is made in the determination of step 102, and then, the terminal control unit 10 issues an abnormality occurrence notification including the received image to the driver or the like. The message is transmitted to a predetermined notification target person (step 103).
[0029]
When images are sent from a plurality of surrounding vehicles, the image reception determination process of step 102 and the notification process of step 103 are repeated by that number. Alternatively, before transmitting / receiving an image between the monitored vehicle A forming the vehicle-to-vehicle network and other peripheral vehicles, it is checked how many peripheral vehicles are taking an image, and all peripheral vehicles are imaged. After receiving the vehicle image, the notification process of step 103 may be executed collectively.
[0030]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure of the in-vehicle terminal device 100 of another vehicle parked in the communicable range of the monitoring target vehicle. The terminal control unit 10 of the in-vehicle terminal device 100 mounted on another vehicle determines whether or not the abnormality detection signal transmitted from the monitoring target vehicle A has been received (step 110), and has not received it. In this case, a negative determination is made and this determination process is repeated. Further, upon receiving the abnormality detection signal, an affirmative determination is made in the determination of step 110, and then the terminal control unit 10 determines whether or not the own vehicle corresponds to a peripheral vehicle parked around the monitoring target vehicle A. A determination is made (step 111). This determination is made based on the position information of the monitoring target vehicle A included in the abnormality detection signal and the position information detected by the navigation device 200 (or the GPS device 420 alone) in the own vehicle. If the own vehicle does not correspond to the surrounding vehicle, a negative determination is made in the determination at step 111, and the process returns to step 110 to repeat the determination of receiving the abnormality detection signal.
[0031]
If the own vehicle corresponds to the surrounding vehicle, an affirmative determination is made in the determination of step 111, and then, based on the output of the infrared sensor 510, has the terminal control unit 10 detected a suspicious person outside the vehicle? It is determined whether or not it is (step 112). If a suspicious individual is not detected, a negative determination is made, and the process returns to step 110 to repeat the determination of receiving the abnormality detection signal. When a suspicious individual is detected, the terminal control unit 10 next takes a peripheral image using the camera 400 (step 113), and after performing predetermined image processing by the image processing device 410, The data is transmitted to the monitoring target vehicle A (step 114).
[0032]
In this manner, the in-vehicle terminal device 100 of the monitored vehicle A sends the abnormality notification with the image taken in the surrounding vehicle to the notification target person's mobile phone (not shown). Therefore, even when the suspicious person is performing an operation such as unlocking so as to be hidden by the shadow of the monitoring target vehicle A, it is possible to transmit an image that clearly shows the situation to the notification target person. Thereby, the notification target person can grasp the situation without going to see near the monitoring target vehicle A.
[0033]
In addition, since the abnormality detection signal includes the position information of the monitored vehicle and transmits the signal, it is possible to accurately grasp the positional relationship between the surrounding vehicle and the monitored vehicle, and to monitor when the abnormality occurs. It becomes easy to determine whether or not the target vehicle corresponds to a surrounding vehicle that can be photographed.
[0034]
In addition, by using the camera 400 capable of photographing a horizontal 360 ° range around the surrounding vehicle, the monitoring target vehicle can be photographed regardless of the parking direction of the surrounding vehicle.
Further, by photographing with the camera 400 when a person near the monitoring target vehicle is detected using the infrared sensor 510, it is possible to reliably capture the site where the monitoring target vehicle is to be harmed.
[0035]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the suspicious person outside the surrounding vehicle is detected using the infrared sensor 510, but the suspicious person is detected by performing predetermined image processing on an image captured by the camera 400. You may make it detect.
[0036]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the abnormality detection signal and the image are directly transmitted and received between the monitored vehicle and another vehicle, but may be transmitted and received via a communication satellite or the like. In the above-described embodiment, the abnormality notification with the image is sent from the monitored vehicle to the notification target person's mobile phone. An abnormality notification may be sent to the personal computer to be operated.
[0037]
In the above-described embodiment, the 360-degree horizontal image captured by the surrounding vehicle is transmitted to the monitoring target vehicle A. However, since the positional relationship between the monitoring target vehicle A and each surrounding vehicle is known in advance, the monitoring target vehicle A By transmitting only a part of the image obtained by cutting out only the range including A, the amount of data transmitted and received may be reduced.
[0038]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, an image captured in a surrounding vehicle can be sent to a notification target person, and when a vehicle abnormality occurs, information necessary to know the situation can be transmitted to a driver or the like. Will be possible.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a vehicle warning system according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an in-vehicle device mounted on a monitored vehicle that constitutes the vehicle alarm system according to the embodiment;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an installation state of a camera.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a shooting state when a nearby vehicle is parked on both sides of a monitoring target vehicle;
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of a navigation device.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of an in-vehicle terminal device of a monitoring target vehicle.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the in-vehicle terminal device of another vehicle parked in the communicable range of the monitoring target vehicle.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Terminal control unit 12 Memory 14, 32 Hard disk device (HDD)
Reference Signs List 20 transmission unit 22 reception unit 24 antenna switching unit 30 navigation control unit 34 display device 36 operation unit 100 in-vehicle terminal device 200 navigation device 400 camera 410 image processing device 500 abnormality detection device 510 infrared sensor 520 mobile phone

Claims (5)

Abnormality detection means for detecting an abnormality of the monitored vehicle;
When an abnormality is detected by the abnormality detecting unit, an image receiving unit that receives an image captured and transmitted from a peripheral vehicle parked around the monitoring target vehicle,
Image transfer means for transferring the image received by the image receiving means to the notification target person,
A vehicle alarm device comprising: When an abnormality occurs in the monitoring target vehicle, a vehicle alarm system that transmits an image captured by a peripheral vehicle parked in the vicinity to a notification target person,
An abnormality detection unit mounted on the monitoring target vehicle, for detecting an abnormality, and an abnormality signal transmission unit for transmitting an abnormality detection signal to the surrounding vehicle when an abnormality is detected by the abnormality detection unit; A first in-vehicle terminal device including: an image receiving unit that receives an image sent from a surrounding vehicle; and an image transfer unit that transfers an image received by the image receiving unit to the notification target person.
An abnormal signal receiving unit mounted on the surrounding vehicle and receiving the abnormal notification signal sent from the monitored vehicle, and using a camera when the abnormal signal is received by the abnormal signal receiving unit. A second in-vehicle terminal device including: a photographing control unit that photographs around the surrounding vehicle; and an image transmitting unit that transmits an image photographed by the photographing control unit to the monitored vehicle.
A vehicle alarm system comprising: In claim 2,
The abnormality signal transmitting unit transmits the abnormality detection signal including a vehicle position of the monitoring target vehicle,
The second in-vehicle terminal device mounted on the surrounding vehicle, based on the vehicle position of the monitoring target vehicle included in the abnormality detection signal, that the own vehicle is parked around the monitoring target vehicle A vehicle alarm system comprising a parking position determining means for determining. In claim 2 or 3,
The vehicle warning system according to claim 1, wherein the camera mounted on the surrounding vehicle captures an image in a horizontal 360 ° range around the surrounding vehicle. In any one of claims 2 to 4,
The second in-vehicle terminal device mounted on the surrounding vehicle has a detecting unit that detects a person or a moving object in the vicinity,
The vehicle alarm system, wherein the photographing control unit performs photographing using the camera when a person or an object is detected by the detecting unit.

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