JP2005145377A - Vehicular rescue device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform rapid and correct rescue by an adequate vehicle repairer according to a trouble state of a vehicle and a request of a user when a trouble of the vehicle occurs. <P>SOLUTION: A vehicular rescue device comprises: a diagnosis means to diagnose the state of a vehicle based on information stored in a computer provided in the vehicle when the vehicle is started, a travelability determination means to determine whether the vehicle is travelable based on the result of diagnosis; a service station information presentation means to present information on a vehicle repairer to be employed if the vehicle is in a travelable state; a route information presentation means to present traveling route information to the vehicle repairer selected by a user of the vehicle among the vehicle repairers presented by the service station information presentation means; a vehicle collection requesting means to request collection of the vehicle to the vehicle repairer if the vehicle is untravelable; and a diagnosis result communication means to transmit the result of diagnosis of the vehicle to either the selected vehicle repairer and the vehicle repairer who has collected the vehicle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle rescue technique in the event of a vehicle failure.

  In recent years, various methods have been proposed as a rescue technique in the event of a vehicle failure.

  As a prior art related to the present invention, there is a technique for performing appropriate route guidance according to a failure state when a vehicle failure occurs. In addition, as the above prior art, a technique (for example, see Patent Document 1) that quickly and accurately grasps the position of a failed moving body and a repair member required for the repair at a remote place is disclosed.

  First, in the conventional technique, a failure state of a vehicle is detected, and route guidance corresponding to the failure content is performed on the failed vehicle. In this technique, a repair facility for repairing a vehicle is set as the destination of the route and route guidance is performed, thereby providing relief when a vehicle failure occurs.

Further, in the technology of Patent Document 1, a component that is predicted to be required when a failure occurs is based on a sign database that indicates correspondence between failure sign information indicating a failure sign of a mobile object and a repair member necessary for repair. It was specified. And in this technique, based on the information of these databases, relief at the time of vehicle failure occurrence was performed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-321587

  Incidentally, the above-described rescue technique at the time of failure of the vehicle has the following problems.

  First, in the prior art, a failure state of a vehicle is detected from the vehicle, and route guidance to a repair facility is performed according to the failure state. Further, in the technique of Patent Document 1, the occurrence of a failure is predicted, and a predictable repair member arrangement is presented to a vehicle repair company.

  However, in the above-described conventional technology, when a user wants to use a vehicle repair agent that is used daily, that is, a so-called family vehicle repair agent, or a user who wants to use a vehicle repair agent according to the user's request, route guidance is provided. It was not considered. Moreover, in the said prior art, when the failure state of a vehicle cannot drive | work, it was not considered.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and the problem is that when performing a rescue in the event of a vehicle failure, it is promptly performed by an appropriate vehicle repairer based on the vehicle failure state and the user's request. And to provide technology that supports accurate relief.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following means.
A diagnostic means for diagnosing the state of the vehicle based on information stored in a computer provided in the vehicle at the start of the vehicle, and whether or not the vehicle can run based on a diagnosis result by the diagnostic means. A travelability determination means for determining, a mechanic information presentation means for presenting information of a vehicle repairer to be used when the vehicle is in a travelable state, and a vehicle repair presented by the mechanic information presentation means. The route information presenting means for presenting the travel route information to the vehicle repair agent selected by the user of the vehicle, and the vehicle repair agent is requested to collect the vehicle when the vehicle cannot travel. Vehicle recovery requesting means, and diagnostic result communication means for transmitting a diagnostic result of the vehicle to either the selected vehicle repair agent or the vehicle repair agent that recovered the vehicle. Obtain, it can be identified as a vehicle rescue device.

  In this invention, the information which can diagnose the state of a vehicle is acquired from the computer with which a vehicle is equipped, and when a failure generate | occur | produces, the appropriate relief process according to the condition is shown to a user. Further, in the present invention, when there is a maintenance company that the user wants to use, a relief process by the maintenance company is requested.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, there is provided a technology for assisting in a quick and accurate rescue by an appropriate vehicle repairer based on the failure state of the vehicle and the user's request when performing a rescue when the vehicle malfunctions. provide.

  According to the present invention, there is provided a technique for assisting in a quick and accurate rescue by an appropriate vehicle repairer based on a vehicle failure state and a user's request when performing a rescue when a vehicle malfunction occurs. be able to.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The configuration of the following embodiment is an exemplification, and the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the embodiment.

<System configuration>
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a vehicle rescue system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The vehicle rescue system according to the present embodiment includes a vehicle rescue device 100 provided in the vehicle 110, a call center terminal 200 that can communicate with the vehicle rescue device 100, a vehicle mechanic terminal 300 near the home of the user of the vehicle 110, The vehicle 110 has a vehicle maintenance company terminal 400 near the current location of the vehicle 110, a tow supplier terminal 500, and a parts supplier terminal 600.

The vehicle rescue device 100 is connected to an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 120 and a car navigation device 130 of the vehicle 110. The vehicle rescue apparatus 100 acquires a DTC code (Diagnosis Trouble Code) from the ECU 120. The DTC code is a code that is output from the ECU 120 when an abnormality such as a failure relating to various components of the vehicle 110 such as the engine, suspension, brake, and electric system occurs. In addition, the vehicle rescue apparatus 100 acquires information from the ECU 120 that is known as a data monitor list and can grasp the current state of each component of the vehicle 110 that has been digitized. Then, the vehicle rescue apparatus 100 transmits a DTC code indicating a failure to the call center terminal 200 when a failure occurs. Further, the vehicle rescue apparatus 100 diagnoses the failure state of the vehicle 110 based on the DTC code and the data monitor list, and sends a rescue request to the tow trucker or a maintenance request to the vehicle maintenance shop according to the diagnosis result. Request to terminal 200.

The call center terminal 200, the vehicle maintenance contractor terminal 300 near the home, the vehicle maintenance contractor terminal 400 near the current location, and the tow contractor terminal 500 use a computer such as a personal computer (PC), a workstation (WS), or a dedicated server machine. Composed. The call center terminal 200, the vehicle mechanic terminal 300 near the home, the vehicle mechanic terminal 400 near the current location, and the tow truck terminal 500 include a control device (CPU, main memory (RAM, etc.), input / output unit as hardware (not shown). , OS, device driver, etc.), secondary storage (hard disk, etc.), and communication control device (network interface device, etc.). Then, the call center terminal 200, the vehicle mechanic terminal 300 near the home, the vehicle mechanic terminal 400 near the current location, and the tow truck terminal 500 load and execute the program stored in the secondary memory by the CPU into the main memory. Thus, the device operates as a device that realizes the function according to the present embodiment.

  The call center terminal 200 receives user information, failed vehicle position information, vehicle ID, a data monitor list, and a DTC code from the vehicle rescue device 100. In addition, the call center terminal 200 receives a vehicle maintenance contractor terminal 300 near the home, a vehicle maintenance contractor terminal 400 near the current location, a tow contractor terminal 500 based on a rescue request from the vehicle rescue device 100 to the vehicle maintenance contractor or the tow contractor. Is notified that the vehicle 110 is requesting maintenance or rescue, and user information, failed vehicle position information, vehicle ID, data monitor list, and DTC code are notified.

<Function of vehicle relief device>
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the vehicle rescue device 100.

The vehicle rescue device 100 is configured by using various computers that can be mounted on the vehicle such as a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a computer incorporated in a car navigation device, and a dedicated in-vehicle device. The vehicle rescue device 100 includes a control device (not shown) as a control device (
CPU, main memory (RAM, etc.), input / output unit, OS, device driver, etc.)
Secondary storage (hard disk or the like) and communication control device (network interface device or the like). The vehicle rescue apparatus 100 operates as an apparatus that implements the following functions shown in FIG. 2 when the CPU loads a program stored in the secondary storage to the main memory and executes the program.

  In FIG. 2, the vehicle rescue apparatus 100 includes DTC analysis means / data monitor analysis means 101, maintenance company information presentation means 102, and communication means 103. The DTC analysis means / data monitor analysis means 101 acquires the DTC code and the data monitor list from the ECU 120 as described above, grasps the current state of various components of the vehicle 110, and grasps the state at the time of failure occurrence. To do. Note that user information is also stored in the ECU 120 of the vehicle 110 or the vehicle rescue device 110.

  Examples of the failure symptom output from the ECU 120 as a DTC code include a case where various components of the vehicle 110 are in an abnormal state, such as a water temperature sensor abnormality or an intake air temperature sensor abnormality. Then, based on the DTC code at the time of abnormality, the DTC analysis means / data monitor analysis means 101 sends a request for rescue to the tow dealer, user information, faulty vehicle position information, vehicle ID, and DTC code to the call center terminal 200. Send.

  The data monitor list output from the ECU 120 includes information related to various vehicles such as the engine speed, the vehicle speed, the coolant temperature, and the engine oil pressure. The DTC analysis means / data monitor analysis means 101 records these data monitor lists in time series. When the degree of change in the data monitor list matches a predetermined state indicating a failure occurrence, the DTC analysis unit / data monitor analysis unit 101 determines whether the data acquisition source of the data monitor list It is determined that there is a possibility that an abnormality will occur in the component. When it is determined that a failure may occur in the vehicle 110 based on the data monitor list, the DTC analysis unit / data monitor analysis unit 101 is not shown in order to prompt the vehicle maintenance company to enter the vehicle 110. This is indicated on the display. When it is determined that a failure may occur, the DTC analysis unit / data monitor analysis unit 101 transmits user information, failed vehicle position information, vehicle ID, and a data monitor list to the call center terminal 200.

The maintenance company information presentation unit 102 receives the user information, the failed vehicle position information, the vehicle ID, and the data monitor list in which a failure sign is seen by the DTC analysis unit / data monitor analysis unit 101. The maintenance company information presentation unit 102 that has received the data monitor list acquires the current vehicle position information from the car navigation device 130. The maintenance company information presenting means 102 that has acquired the vehicle position information searches for a vehicle maintenance company in the vicinity of the current location based on the previously stored position information of the vehicle maintenance company. Then, the maintenance company information presenting means 102 selects to receive maintenance by either the vehicle maintenance shop near the current location or the vehicle maintenance shop near the home (the so-called family vehicle maintenance shop) normally used by the user. And accepting the selection of the vehicle maintenance company used by the user. When the vehicle mechanic to be used by the user is determined, the mechanic information presentation means 102 presents route information to the vehicle mechanic to be used via the car navigation device 130.

  When the DTC code is output from the DTC analysis unit / data monitor analysis unit 101 or when it is diagnosed that the vehicle cannot travel due to the contents of the data monitor list, the communication unit 103 requests a rescue from the tow trucker. Is transmitted to the tow carrier terminal 500 via the network. The rescue request to the tow truck includes user information, vehicle ID, and information on the location of the vehicle 110 that has failed, and the tow truck equipped with the tow truck terminal 500 that has received the rescue request has the current position of the vehicle 110. You can head precisely. In addition, when the vehicle maintenance company used by the user is determined by the maintenance company information presentation unit 102, the communication unit 103 determines the vehicle maintenance company terminal 300 near the home of the vehicle maintenance company and the vehicle maintenance company terminal 400 near the current location. In response, the user information of the vehicle 110, the vehicle ID, the failed vehicle position information, the DTC code, and the data monitor list are transmitted. The vehicle mechanic terminal 300 near the home of the vehicle mechanic near the current location or near the home that has received the data monitor list and the vehicle mechanic terminal 400 near the current location are necessary for the maintenance of the vehicle 110 based on the data monitor list. Parts can be arranged. Then, the vehicle maintenance company can prepare necessary parts while the user makes the vehicle 110 self-propelled. Therefore, the user of the vehicle 110 can receive quick and accurate vehicle maintenance work when a failure occurs.

  In the vehicle rescue apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, the DTC analysis means / data monitor analysis means 101 corresponds to the diagnosis means of the present invention and the vehicle collection request means. The route information presentation unit of the present invention corresponds to the maintenance company information presentation unit 102. Furthermore, the diagnostic result communication means of the present invention corresponds to the communication means 103.

<Example of vehicle rescue processing by vehicle rescue system>
FIG. 3 is an example of a flowchart according to the present embodiment.
First, the vehicle rescue apparatus 100 checks information output from the ECU 120 of the vehicle 110 when the engine is started (S101 in FIG. 3). At this time, the vehicle rescue apparatus 100 confirms whether or not the DTC code is output from the ECU 120. Further, the vehicle rescue apparatus 100 diagnoses a data monitor list that is constantly output, and diagnoses whether or not information serving as an indication at the time of occurrence of a failure has been found.

  In S101, when the DTC code is output or when a sign of failure is found from the data monitor list, it is determined that the vehicle 110 has failed, and a rescue request is transmitted to the call center terminal 200 (S102). ). If it is determined in S102 that no failure has occurred, the vehicle rescue device 100 continues to acquire the data monitor list from the ECU 120 and checks whether there is a sign of failure.

When it is diagnosed in S102 that the failure has occurred, the vehicle rescue device 100 acquires the failure vehicle position information of the vehicle 110 acquired from the car navigation device 130, user information such as a user registration number and an authentication number registered in advance, and Failure content information including at least one of a DTC code and a data monitor list is transmitted to the call center terminal 200 (S103).
).

  After transmitting the above information to the call center terminal 200, the vehicle rescue apparatus 100 diagnoses whether or not the vehicle 110 can travel based on the information acquired from the ECU 120 (S104). For example, when the vehicle rescue apparatus 100 acquires a DTC code from the ECU 120, the vehicle rescue apparatus 100 determines whether the vehicle is in a state where a failure has occurred or is impossible to travel. Judgment is made based on the contents of the DTC code. Further, when the vehicle rescue apparatus 100 diagnoses that there is an indication of the occurrence of a failure based on the data monitor list acquired from the ECU 120, the vehicle rescue apparatus 100 diagnoses that the vehicle maintenance company can travel. Note that the diagnosis of whether or not the vehicle can travel is not limited to the above-described diagnosis example, and various diagnosis criteria can be set.

  If it is determined in S104 that the vehicle is capable of traveling, the vehicle rescue apparatus 100 does not show information on whether to use a vehicle maintenance company near the current location or a vehicle maintenance company near the home. The user's selection is accepted (S105).

  When the vehicle maintenance company to be used is selected by the user in the process of S105, the vehicle rescue apparatus 100 provides the car navigation apparatus 130 with location information (for example, an address and a telephone number) of the vehicle maintenance company. The car navigation device 130 presents route information to the vehicle mechanic based on the failed vehicle location information of the vehicle 110 and the acquired location information of the vehicle mechanic, and guides the user (S106).

  When it is determined in S104 that the vehicle 110 is not able to travel, the call center terminal 200 uses the information from the vehicle rescue device 100 so that the call center terminal 200 is a tow trucker terminal 500 of the tow truck near the faulty vehicle position information of the vehicle 110. A rescue request for the vehicle 110 is transmitted (S107). This rescue request includes the position information of the failed vehicle of the vehicle 110. Based on the information transmitted to the tow truck terminal 500, the tow truck heads to the current position (site) of the vehicle 110 (S108). Thus, based on the information transmitted from the vehicle rescue device 100, the tow trucker can recover the vehicle 110 quickly and accurately.

  When the contractor that rescues the failure of the vehicle 110 is determined by the processing of S105 to S108, the call center terminal 200 uses the failure content information acquired from the vehicle rescue device 100 as a vehicle maintenance contractor terminal 300 near the home that maintains the vehicle 110. The failure content information is transmitted to any of the vehicle maintenance company terminals 400 near the current location (S109).

  The vehicle mechanic who acquired the failure content information from the call center terminal 200 refers to the failure content information, determines the maintenance content necessary for the maintenance of the vehicle 110, estimates the parts to the user, and is necessary for the parts supplier. A suitable part is selected and arranged (S110).

<Modification>
The vehicle rescue device of the present invention is not limited to the content of the configuration shown in the above embodiment, and for example, the processing may be performed by the following configuration. For example, in the vehicle rescue system according to the present embodiment, the vehicle rescue apparatus 100 finds out whether there is a sign of failure by using a data monitor list acquired from the ECU 120. Therefore, in the vehicle rescue system according to the present embodiment, the vehicle rescue device 100 calculates the travelable distance or time of the vehicle 110 based on this data monitor list, and uses this travelable distance or time as the travelable range. A vehicle mechanic within this range may be searched. At this time, the vehicle rescue apparatus 100 may calculate the travelable range with reference to, for example, a data monitor list related to the remaining amount of fuel in the gasoline tank.

It is a lineblock diagram of a vehicle relief system concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram of a vehicle relief device. It is a flowchart of the vehicle relief process by a vehicle relief system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Vehicle relief device 101 DTC analysis means and data monitor analysis means 102 Maintenance company information presentation means 103 Communication means 110 Vehicle 120 ECU
130 Car Navigation Device 200 Call Center Terminal 300 Vehicle Maintenance Contractor Terminal 400 Near Home Current Vehicle Maintenance Contractor Terminal 500 Near Current Location Wrecker Contractor Terminal 600 Parts Contractor Terminal

Claims (3)

A diagnostic means for diagnosing the state of the vehicle based on information stored in a computer provided in the vehicle when the vehicle is started;
Based on the result of diagnosis by the diagnosis means, the travelability judging means for judging whether or not the vehicle can travel,
When the vehicle is in a state where it can run, maintenance company information presenting means for presenting information of a vehicle repair company to be used,
Route information presenting means for presenting travel route information to the vehicle repair contractor selected by the user of the vehicle among the vehicle repair contractors presented by the maintenance company information presenting means;
Vehicle recovery request means for requesting the vehicle repairer to recover the vehicle if the vehicle is not capable of traveling;
A vehicle rescue apparatus, comprising: a diagnosis result communication unit that transmits a diagnosis result of the vehicle to either the selected vehicle repair company or the vehicle repair company that collects the vehicle. A system including a vehicle rescue device provided in a vehicle and a rescue instruction device capable of communicating with the vehicle rescue device,
The vehicle rescue device is
A diagnostic means for diagnosing the state of the vehicle based on information stored in a computer provided in the vehicle when the vehicle is started;
Based on the result of diagnosis by the diagnosis means, the travelability judging means for judging whether or not the vehicle can travel,
When the vehicle is in a state where it can run, maintenance company information presenting means for presenting information of a vehicle repair company to be used,
Route information presenting means for presenting travel route information to the vehicle repair contractor selected by the user of the vehicle among the vehicle repair contractors presented by the maintenance company information presenting means;
Vehicle recovery request means for requesting the vehicle repairer to recover the vehicle if the vehicle is not capable of traveling;
A diagnostic result communication means for transmitting a diagnostic result of the vehicle to either the selected vehicle repair agent or the vehicle repair agent that has collected the vehicle;
The rescue instruction device
Repair information generating means for generating repair information related to the repair contents of the failure of the vehicle based on the diagnosis result of the vehicle;
A vehicle rescue system comprising: communication means for transmitting the repair information to either the selected vehicle repair shop or the vehicle repair shop that collects the vehicle. Diagnosing the state of the vehicle based on information stored in a computer provided in the vehicle when the vehicle is started; and
Determining whether the vehicle is capable of traveling based on a diagnosis result by the diagnosis means;
If the vehicle is ready to travel, presenting information on the vehicle repair company to be used;
Presenting travel route information to the vehicle repair agent selected by the user of the vehicle among the presented vehicle repair agents;
If the vehicle is not capable of traveling, requesting the vehicle repairer to collect the vehicle;
The vehicle rescue program which makes a computer perform the step which transmits the diagnostic result of the said vehicle to either the said selected vehicle repair agent and the vehicle repair agent which collect | recovers the said vehicles.

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