JP2005205930A - Drive recorder device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a drive recorder device capable of preventing the loss of recorded information due to an accident or theft, and reliably storing information effective for determining the cause of the accident or investigation into the theft. <P>SOLUTION: The drive recorder device 1 is provided with an image data storing memory 9 storing image data picked up by a CCD camera 6 picking up surroundings during travelling of its own vehicle, a CPU 2 detecting an object approaching the vehicle and determining whether the vehicle is in an abnormal state or not depending on the presence or absence of the object approaching abnormally based on the detection result, and a communication part 12 connected to an outside network 10 and capable of communicating with an outside database 11. When the CPU 2 determines the existence of the object approaching abnormally and the occurrence of the abnormal state, the image data stored in the image data storing memory 9 is transmitted to the outside database 11 by the communication part 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a drive recorder device that is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile and records information such as a running state of the vehicle.

  In recent years, when mounted on vehicles such as automobiles, for example, when an automobile accident occurs, in order to investigate the cause of the accident, etc., information such as the running state of the automobile and the running environment including the time of the accident is recorded. Drive recorder devices are becoming popular. In addition, this drive recorder device can be used for elucidating the incident when theft occurs.

  As such a drive recorder apparatus, for example, vehicle speed, acceleration, brake pressure, steering angle, and the like are detected by sensors provided in the vehicle, and an image of the surrounding environment of the vehicle is captured by an in-vehicle camera, and these accelerations are detected. And recording information such as images are known (for example, Patent Document 1). In the drive recorder device (vehicle drive recorder) described in Patent Document 1, a random access memory and a flash memory are provided inside the device for recording information, and the latest information is sequentially updated in the normal state, and the random access memory. When an accident occurs, the recorded information immediately before the accident is transferred to the flash memory.

In addition, a drive recorder apparatus has been devised that records information such as acceleration and images and transmits the recorded information to the outside when receiving a transmission request from the outside (for example, Patent Document 2). ).
JP 2000-6854 A JP 2001-61129 A

  However, in the drive recorder device described in Patent Document 1, for example, when an automobile is involved in an accident, theft, etc., the random access memory and the flash memory are damaged, so that information recorded in these memories is There is a risk of being lost. Even if you record information such as the driving conditions and driving environment of the car, if that information is lost in this way, the drive recorder device can be used to investigate the cause of the accident and to elucidate theft. It becomes impossible.

  Also, in the drive recorder device described in Patent Document 2, since the recorded information is transmitted to the outside when there is a request for transmission from the outside as described above, it cannot be predicted in advance. Cannot handle accidents and theft. On the other hand, it is conceivable to always transfer information to the outside in order to cope with such a situation, but such a constant transfer has a problem that the amount of communication becomes enormous and the load on the communication network increases. .

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, prevents the loss of information recorded due to an accident or theft, and reliably stores information useful for investigating the cause of an accident or elucidating a theft case. It is an object of the present invention to provide a drive recorder device that can do this.

  In order to solve such a problem, the invention described in claim 1 includes a recording unit that records image data of an image captured by an imaging unit that captures the surrounding environment when the host vehicle is traveling, and the host vehicle. An abnormal state determination unit that determines whether or not an abnormal state is detected based on the detection result of an object detection unit that detects an object that approaches the object, and communication that can communicate with an external database by connecting to an external network And when the abnormal state determination means determines that there is an object that is abnormally approaching and is in an abnormal state, the communication means stores the image data recorded in the recording means for storage in the external database. It is transmitted to an external database.

  The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 1, the abnormal state determination means determines the presence or absence of an object that abnormally approaches based on an optical flow calculated from the image data. To do.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the image data is recorded in the recording means after being compressed, and the compressed image data is recorded by the communication means. It is transmitted to the external database.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, when the amount of image data from the imaging means exceeds the recording capacity of the recording means, the recording means The oldest image data is sequentially erased from the image data recorded in the image data, and the latest image data is recorded in the recording means.

  The invention described in claim 5 is the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the object detection means is a radar sensor.

  The invention described in claim 6 is the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the object detecting means is an infrared sensor.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the abnormal state determination means is a vehicle speed sensor, a steering angle sensor, or a sensor that detects a traveling state of the host vehicle. It is characterized in that it is determined whether or not an abnormal state is detected by using the detection result of the acceleration sensor together.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the image data recorded in the recording means is transmitted to the external database by the communication means. Along with vehicle ID data for specifying the host vehicle, time data for specifying the image capturing time of the image data, or vehicle position data for specifying the position of the host vehicle at the time of transmitting the image data. It is characterized by transmitting.

  According to the invention of claim 1, claim 2, claim 5 or claim 6, the image data is automatically transmitted to the outside of the drive recorder apparatus before an actual accident occurs, and is securely stored outside. And protected. Therefore, even if the recording means is damaged due to an accident or the like as in the case of the conventional drive recorder device described in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2, for example, the image data is lost due to the damage. It is possible to prevent loss of image data recorded due to an accident or theft. And it can preserve | save reliably as information useful for investigation of the cause of an accident, and elucidation of a theft case. Further, since the image data is transmitted only when it is determined to be in an abnormal state, the communication amount is enormous and the extra load is not applied to the external network as in the case of constant transfer.

  According to the invention of claim 3, the amount of communication can be suppressed, and the load on the external network and the external database can be suppressed.

  According to the invention of claim 4, the image data is stored retroactively from the image data immediately before the occurrence of the accident, which is the most important for the investigation of the cause of the accident and the elucidation of the theft, and the investigation of the cause of the accident and the elucidation of the theft Thus, it is possible to reliably protect information that is effective.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to determine whether or not there is an abnormal condition in many ways, and it is possible to improve the accuracy of the determination.

  According to the invention of claim 8, it is possible to protect more effective information for investigation of the cause of the accident and the elucidation of the theft case.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the structure of a drive recorder apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The drive recorder device 1 is a device that is mounted on a vehicle (own vehicle) of an automobile (not shown) and records information such as a traveling state and a traveling environment of the vehicle. The drive recorder apparatus 1 includes a CPU (object detection means, abnormal state determination means) 2 that controls the entire apparatus, a program memory 3 that stores a control program related to the control of the CPU 2, and vehicle data storage corresponding to the vehicle sensor 4. Memory 5, four A / D converters 7 connected to four CCD cameras (imaging means) 6, four work memories 8 connected to each of these A / D converters 7, and each CCD camera 6 Are provided with four image data storage memories (recording means) 9 and a communication unit (communication means) 12 connected to an external network 10 and capable of communicating with an external database 11.

  The vehicle sensor 4 detects information on the running state of the automobile (own vehicle). For example, the vehicle sensor 4 is a vehicle speed sensor 15, a steering angle sensor 16, an acceleration sensor 17, etc., and these sensors detect the vehicle speed, the steering angle, and the acceleration, respectively. Information on the detected driving state of the automobile (vehicle speed, steering angle, acceleration, etc.) is output as vehicle data (vehicle speed signal, steering angle signal, acceleration signal, etc.) as vehicle data from each sensor of the vehicle sensor 4. After being input to the CPU 2, it is recorded in the vehicle data storage memory 5.

  On the other hand, the four CCD cameras 6 capture images (images) of the surrounding environment of the host vehicle. The video imaged by these CCD cameras 6 is output as an image signal which is image data, A / D converted by the A / D converter 7, and once written in a work memory 8 such as a RAM. Next, the image data written in the work memory 8 is compressed and input to the CPU 2 and then recorded in the image data storage memory 9 corresponding to each of the CCD cameras 6.

  Thus, the vehicle data from the vehicle sensor 4 is recorded in the vehicle data storage memory 5 and the image data from the CCD camera 6 is sequentially recorded in the image data storage memory 9 corresponding to each CCD camera 6, respectively. When the data amount of the image data exceeds the recording capacity of the vehicle data storage memory 5 and the image data storage memory 9, the oldest data is deleted in order, and new vehicle data and image data are always stored in the vehicle data storage memory 5 and the image data. It is recorded in the data storage memory 9.

  The CPU 2 controls various operations of the drive recorder device 1 according to a control program stored in a program memory 3 such as a ROM. Specifically, for example, vehicle data is stored in the vehicle data storage memory 5 and image data is recorded in the image data storage memory 9.

  Further, when the image data is input, the CPU 2 determines a situation in which an object such as an obstacle, a person, or a vehicle outside the vehicle approaches based on the image data. Specifically, when there is an object that is rapidly approaching or very close to the host vehicle, the CPU 2 determines that there is an object that is abnormally approaching and is in an abnormal state. When it is determined that the CPU 2 is in an abnormal state, the CPU 2 performs control to output the vehicle data recorded in the vehicle data storage memory 5 and the image data recorded in the image data storage memory 9 to the outside.

  Here, as a method of detecting an approaching object from the image around the vehicle imaged by the CCD camera 6, for example, a method of extracting an object moving by an optical flow from a non-moving background is used.

  The detection method based on this optical flow will be specifically described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2A illustrates an example of an image captured at time t, and FIG. 2B illustrates an example of an image captured at time t + dt, which is a time after time dt has elapsed from time t. Here, if a point at the coordinate (x0, y0) at time t has moved to the coordinate (x1, y1) after the time dt has elapsed, the amount of movement is (x1-x0, y1-y0). It can be expressed as. A vector indicating this movement is called an optical flow, and FIG. 3 shows optical flows Oa to Ob when one point a to d shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B moves from time t to time t + dt. Show.

  Assuming that the CCD camera 6, in other words, the vehicle on which these CCD cameras 6 are mounted, moves straight from time t to time t + dt, a background that is not actually moving, for example, an optical at a point a on the building 20 The optical flow Ob at one point b on the road surface marker 21 indicating the flow Oa or the lane is directed to a vanishing point (FOE) F, which is a specific point on the video. On the other hand, an actually moving object, for example, the optical flow Oc at the point c on the automobile 22 behind the host vehicle or the optical flow Od at the point d on the cloud 23 does not go to the vanishing point F. The CPU 2 calculates this optical flow and uses the above-described principle to extract a moving object (not facing the vanishing point F) from a non-moving background (those facing the vanishing point F). . At this time, the moving object may be extracted using the edge information and the color information of the video together.

  When the moving object is extracted in this way, the CPU 2 moves the moving object with respect to the own vehicle from the direction of the optical flow (the direction of the vector) based on parameters such as the known mounting position of the CCD camera 6 and its angle. The positional relationship between the actual moving object and the host vehicle is determined from the direction, the coordinates, and the movement speed of the moving object is determined from the optical flow magnitude (vector magnitude). The CPU 2 uses these motion directions, positional relationships, and motion speeds as parameters for determining whether or not an abnormal state exists based on the presence or absence of an object that abnormally approaches.

  If it is determined that there is an object that is abnormally approaching based on these parameters and that the object is in an abnormal state, the CPU 2 identifies a CCD camera that images the object that is abnormally approaching from the four CCD cameras 6, and The compressed image data is read from an image data storage memory (image data storage memory corresponding to the CCD camera) in which image data of the CCD camera is recorded. And CPU2 transmits the image data to the external database 11 via the communication part 12 connected with the external network 10 with vehicle data. The transmitted image data and vehicle data are stored in the external database 11. At this time, in order to specify the vehicle that transmits the data, the vehicle ID information (vehicle ID data) for identifying the vehicle, the time information (time data) when the image was captured, and the like may be transmitted together. Good. Furthermore, the drive recorder device 1 may be connected to a GPS receiver (not shown) in order to specify the position of the vehicle, and the input GPS information (vehicle position data) may also be transmitted.

  Here, the CPU 2 determines the abnormal state based on the image data. However, the abnormal state may be determined using the vehicle data together. That is, the vehicle speed sensor 15 detects the traveling speed of the host vehicle, the information from the steering angle sensor 16 detects a sudden turn of the host vehicle, and the information from the acceleration sensor 17 detects the sudden acceleration or braking of the host vehicle. Therefore, these vehicle speed, steering angle, and acceleration are used as parameters for determining whether or not the vehicle is in an abnormal state. Then, the CPU 2 determines an abnormal state using a threshold set in advance based on the past occurrence probability and accident scale corresponding to the driving state (vehicle speed, steering angle, and acceleration) of the automobile.

  In this way, it is possible to make more multifaceted determination by determining whether or not the vehicle data that is the detection result of the vehicle speed sensor 15, the steering angle sensor 16, and the acceleration sensor 17 is in an abnormal state. The accuracy of judgment can be improved.

  In the drive recorder device 1 according to this embodiment, when the CPU 2 determines that there is an abnormally approaching object and is in an abnormal state, the image data recorded in the image data storage memory 9 for storage in the external database 11 is stored. Since the data is transmitted to the external database 11 by the communication unit 12, the image data is automatically transmitted to the outside of the drive recorder device 1 before an actual accident or the like occurs, and is reliably stored and protected outside. Therefore, even if the image data storage memory 9 is damaged due to an accident or the like as in the case of the drive recorder device described in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2, for example, the image data is lost due to the damage. The image data, and thus the drive recorder device 1 can be used for investigation of the cause of the accident. In addition, since the image data is transmitted only when it is determined to be in an abnormal state, the communication amount is enormous and the external network 10 is not subjected to an excessive load as in the case of constant transfer. .

  In the drive recorder device 1, the image data is compressed and recorded in the image data storage memory 9, and the compressed image data is transmitted to the external database 11 by the communication unit 12. The amount of communication can be suppressed, and the load on the external network 10 and the external database 11 can be suppressed.

  Further, only the image data may be transmitted to the external database 11, but in the drive recorder device 1 according to this embodiment, the vehicle data is also transmitted to the external database 11 in the same manner as the image data. Even if the vehicle data storage memory 5 is damaged due to the above or the like, the vehicle data is also securely stored, and more information effective for investigation of the cause of the accident can be protected. Further, when the vehicle ID information, the time information when the image is taken, the GPS information, and the like are transmitted, the same effect can be obtained that more effective information is protected. .

  When the amount of image data from the CCD camera 6 exceeds the recording capacity of the image data storage memory 9, the image data stored in the image data storage memory 9 is sequentially deleted from the oldest image data. Since the latest image data is always recorded in the image data storage memory 9, the image data is stored retroactively from the image data immediately before the occurrence of the accident, which is the most important for investigating the cause of the accident. It is possible to protect information that is useful for investigating

  Next, as a modification, instead of determining an abnormal state based on the image captured by the CCD camera 6 as described above, a sensor that detects an object that is abnormally approaching is provided, and the abnormal state is determined using this sensor. An example of a drive recorder apparatus that performs this will be described below.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram for explaining the structure of a drive recorder apparatus according to a modification of the present embodiment. This drive recorder apparatus 30 includes four radar sensors (object detection) in addition to the drive recorder apparatus 1 described above. Means) 31 is provided. In addition, about the part same as the drive recorder apparatus 1, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  The radar sensor 31 is installed so as to cover the imaging range of each CCD camera 6 corresponding to the CCD camera 6. Further, the radar sensor 31 can detect the position, movement direction, and speed of the objects, and the CPU 2 determines whether the position, movement direction, and speed of these objects are in an abnormal state. It is a parameter.

  Then, if an object that is abnormally approaching is detected based on this parameter and it is determined that the object is in an abnormal state, the CPU 2 image data of the CCD camera 6 that images the object that is abnormally approaching, as in the drive recorder device 1 described above. Is read from the image data storage memory 9 and the image data is transmitted to an external database together with the vehicle data recorded in the vehicle data storage memory 5.

  Further, an infrared sensor may be used in place of the radar sensor 31 or in combination with the radar sensor 31. FIG. 5 shows the structure of a drive recorder device 41 in which four infrared sensors (object detection means) 40 are provided instead of the radar sensor 31. Since the infrared sensor 40 detects infrared rays emitted by animals including humans, it can detect a person approaching the vehicle. Therefore, when the infrared sensor 40 is used, it is possible to cope with a situation in which a mischief or theft of the vehicle is likely to occur, and the drive recorder device 41 prevents the information recorded by the theft from being lost, Information necessary for elucidation of theft cases can be reliably protected.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, in the drive recorder device 1, the drive recorder device 30, and the drive recorder device 41 according to this embodiment, the CCD camera 6, the radar sensor 31, and the infrared sensor. Although the description has been made assuming that the number of 40 is four, the number can be appropriately set as necessary.

It is a block diagram for demonstrating the structure of the drive recorder apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image captured by a CCD camera of the drive recorder apparatus of FIG. 1, FIG. 2A illustrates an example of an image captured at time t, and FIG. 2B illustrates a time dt elapsed from time t. The example of the image | video imaged at the time t + dt which is the time after having shown is shown. It is a figure for demonstrating the optical flow when time dt passes from the time t. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the structure of the drive recorder apparatus which concerns on the modification of this Embodiment. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the structure of the drive recorder apparatus which concerns on the other modification of this Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1, 30, 41 Drive recorder apparatus 2 CPU (object detection means, abnormal state determination means)
6 CCD camera (imaging means)
9 Image data storage memory (recording means)
10 External network 11 External database 12 Communication unit (communication means)
15 Vehicle speed sensor 16 Steering angle sensor 17 Acceleration sensor 31 Radar sensor (object detection means)
40 Infrared sensor (object detection means)

Claims (8)

A recording unit that records image data of an image captured by an imaging unit that captures the surrounding environment during traveling of the host vehicle, and an object that is abnormally approaching from a detection result of an object detection unit that detects an object approaching the host vehicle. An abnormal state determination means for determining whether or not an abnormal state is present depending on the presence or absence, and a communication means capable of communicating with an external database by connecting to an external network,
When the abnormal state determination means determines that there is an object that is abnormally approaching and is in an abnormal state, the image data recorded in the recording means is transmitted to the external database by the communication means for storage in the external database. The drive recorder apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.   The drive recorder apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the abnormal state determination unit determines the presence or absence of an object that is abnormally approaching based on an optical flow calculated from the image data.   3. The image data according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the image data is compressed and recorded in the recording means, and the compressed image data is transmitted to the external database by the communication means. Drive recorder device.   When the amount of image data from the imaging means exceeds the recording capacity of the recording means, the oldest image data is sequentially erased from the image data recorded in the recording means, and the latest image is stored in the recording means. The drive recorder device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein data is recorded.   5. The drive recorder apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object detection means is a radar sensor.   The drive recorder apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the object detection means is an infrared sensor.   The abnormal state determination means determines whether or not the vehicle is in an abnormal state by using a detection result of a vehicle speed sensor, a steering angle sensor, or an acceleration sensor that detects the traveling state of the host vehicle. The drive recorder apparatus of any one of thru | or 6 thru | or 6.   When transmitting the image data recorded in the recording means to the external database by the communication means, vehicle ID data for specifying the host vehicle, time data for specifying the image capturing time of the image data, or The drive recorder device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the drive recorder device transmits the vehicle data together with vehicle position data for specifying the position of the host vehicle when the image data is transmitted.

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