JP2006338384A - Fcd on-vehicle device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an FCD (floating car data) on-vehicle device for effectively obtaining probe information. <P>SOLUTION: When the FCD on-vehicle device 1 detects that steering operation with a steering angle equal to and greater than a prescribed angle is performed, the FCD on-vehicle device 1 acquires position information from a GPS receiver 5 through a transmission line 6 and acquires curvature information from an ECU 9 through a transmission line 14. Unlike the conventional manner in which position information and curvature information are periodically acquired with the effect that a preset fixed time elapses or that a vehicle travels over a preset fixed distance as a trigger, useless information is prevented from being acquired beforehand and required curvature information can properly be acquired. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an FCD in-vehicle device provided with probe information acquisition means for acquiring probe information from in-vehicle devices and in-vehicle sensors mounted on a vehicle.

  In the FCD (floating car data) system, the FCD in-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle is triggered by the fact that a predetermined time has elapsed or the vehicle has traveled a predetermined distance. For example, it is configured to acquire position information from a GPS receiver or periodically acquire curvature information from an ECU. However, in the configuration in which the position information and the curvature information are periodically acquired with a trigger that the fixed time has elapsed or the vehicle has traveled a fixed distance in this way, for example, when the vehicle has been stopped for a long time due to traffic jams. There is a problem that the same position information is repeatedly acquired, and unnecessary position information is acquired. For example, when the vehicle travels on a curve with a large curvature, the shape of the curve is accurately reproduced. However, there is a problem that the curvature information necessary for this cannot be acquired.

On the other hand, in Patent Document 1 below, the travel route traveled while measuring the position is resampled with the resample section length set in association with the shape of the road, and the position information of the sampling points is statistically biased The parameter value is expressed by a variable length coding.
JP 2004-280521 A

  However, what is described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 has not yet solved the problem that the position information as described above is acquired and the problem that the necessary curvature information cannot be acquired. .

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to avoid acquiring unnecessary probe information and to appropriately acquire necessary probe information. It is possible to provide an on-board FCD device that can effectively acquire probe information.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a change in behavior of the vehicle is detected by the behavior change detection means, the probe information acquisition means acquires probe information triggered by the fact that the behavior change of the vehicle has been detected. . As a result, when a change in the behavior of the vehicle occurs, that is, for example, when steering of a steering angle of a predetermined angle or more is performed, probe information is acquired with a trigger that the steering is performed. Unlike conventional ones that periodically acquire probe information triggered by the fact that a predetermined time has passed or that the vehicle has traveled a predetermined distance, useless probe information Acquiring can be avoided in advance, necessary probe information can be acquired appropriately, and probe information can be acquired effectively.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the probe information acquiring unit acquires a predetermined time after acquiring the probe information triggered by the fact that the behavior change of the vehicle is detected by the behavior change detecting unit. The probe information is periodically acquired with the trigger of the fact that the vehicle has traveled or the vehicle has traveled a predetermined distance specified in advance. As a result, for example, the probe information can be periodically acquired after acquiring the probe information triggered by the fact that the steering of the steering angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined angle.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the probe information transmission means for transmitting the probe information from the in-vehicle device or the in-vehicle sensor to the probe information acquisition means indicates that the behavior change of the vehicle is detected by the behavior change detection means or the specified time. Transmission of probe information is triggered by the fact that elapses or the vehicle has traveled a specified distance. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the traffic in the probe information transmission means from increasing unnecessarily by starting the transmission of the probe information at an appropriate timing at which the probe information should be acquired.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, the behavior change detecting means detects at least whether the steering is steered as a behavior change of the vehicle, and the probe information acquiring means acquires at least curvature information from the ECU as probe information. When the behavior change detecting means detects that the steering is steered as a change in the behavior of the vehicle, the ECU is operated after a predetermined delay time has elapsed since the fact that the steering was steered as the behavior change of the vehicle. Get curvature information from. As a result, there is a time difference from when the steering is steered until the vehicle actually turns, so by setting a time corresponding to the time difference as a delay time, it is possible to follow the actual behavior of the vehicle appropriately. Curvature information can be acquired.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the probe information acquisition means acquires the probe information triggered by the fact that the behavior change detection means detects the behavior change of the vehicle as the operation mode for acquiring the probe information. Switching between the operation mode and the normal operation mode that periodically acquires probe information triggered by the fact that a preset fixed time has elapsed or the vehicle has traveled a preset fixed distance in time series Execute. This makes it possible to obtain probe information more effectively by switching between the behavior change operation mode and the normal operation mode in time series according to the behavior change occurrence state. Change status can be obtained and traffic jams can be predicted.

  According to the invention described in claim 6, the probe information acquisition means acquires the probe information in advance after acquiring the probe information triggered by the fact that the behavior change detection means detects the behavior change of the vehicle as the operation mode for acquiring the probe information. A behavior change operation mode that periodically acquires probe information triggered by the fact that a prescribed time has elapsed or that the vehicle has traveled a prescribed distance has been set in advance, and a predetermined time has elapsed. The normal operation mode in which the probe information is periodically acquired is triggered by the fact that the vehicle has traveled or the vehicle has traveled a predetermined distance, and is executed in time series. Accordingly, in this case as well, the behavior change operation mode and the normal operation mode are switched in time series and executed in accordance with the behavior change occurrence state in the same manner as described in claim 5 above. The probe information can be acquired even more effectively. For example, the change state of the vehicle speed can be acquired or the traffic jam can be predicted.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, as a first embodiment of the present invention, a case where it is detected whether steering of a steering angle greater than or equal to a predetermined angle is performed as a behavior change of the vehicle, and position information and curvature information is acquired as probe information. This will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the FCD in-vehicle device and the surrounding configuration. The FCD in-vehicle device 1 is mounted on a vehicle and includes a CPU 2 (probe information acquisition means and behavior change detection means in the present invention) and a memory 3. The CPU 2 controls the overall operation of the FCD in-vehicle device 1. The memory 3 stores position information and curvature information as probe information.

  The steering sensor 4 outputs the steering angle of the steering to the FCD in-vehicle device 1. The GPS receiver 5 calculates the position of the vehicle by calculating the parameters of the GPS signal transmitted from the GPS satellite, and uses the transmission line 6 (probe information transmission means in the present invention) using the measured vehicle position as position information. To the FCD in-vehicle device 1. The gyro 7 detects the angular velocity, and outputs the detected angular velocity to the FCD in-vehicle device 1 through the transmission line 8 as angular velocity information.

  The ECU 9 is connected to the yaw rate sensor 10, the vehicle speed sensor 11, the acceleration sensor 12, and the gradient sensor 13. The yaw rate detection signal input from the yaw rate sensor 10, the vehicle speed detection signal input from the vehicle speed sensor 11, and the acceleration sensor 12. The curvature detection signal input from the gradient sensor 13 and the acceleration detection signal input from the gradient sensor 13 are analyzed to calculate the curvature, and the transmission line 14 (probe information transmission means referred to in the present invention) is used with the calculated curvature as the curvature information. To the FCD in-vehicle device 1.

  The communication device 15 performs mobile communication with the probe information collection center 16 via a mobile communication network. The in-vehicle camera 17 captures the surroundings of the vehicle and outputs the captured image to the FCD in-vehicle device 1 as image information.

  In the configuration described above, when the position information is input from the GPS receiver 5 or the curvature information is input from the ECU 9, the CPU 2 stores the input position information and curvature information as a process after acquiring the probe information. 3 is temporarily stored, map information is created by reproducing the road shape based on the position information and curvature information, and the vehicle is travel controlled according to the created map information, or the position information and curvature information. Is transmitted from the communication device 15 to the probe information collection center 16 as probe information. In this case, when the position information and the curvature information are received as the probe information from the FCD vehicle-mounted device 1, the probe information collection center 16 creates the map information by reproducing the road shape based on the position information and the curvature information, By transmitting the created map information to an in-vehicle device 21 (for example, a navigation device or a vehicle control device) mounted on another vehicle, the map information is provided to the other vehicle.

  Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, the operation mode in which the CPU 2 acquires the probe information is set in advance as a behavior change operation mode in which the position information and the curvature information are acquired with a trigger that the steering of the steering angle equal to or greater than a predetermined angle is performed. A case will be described in which a normal operation mode in which position information and curvature information are acquired is switched in time series and triggered by the fact that a certain period of time has elapsed. In this case, the predetermined angle and the predetermined time described above may be set by a user, or may be set by a vehicle manufacturer at the time of shipment or maintenance at a maintenance factory or the like.

  The CPU 2 first determines whether the operation mode is the normal operation mode or the behavior change operation mode (step S1). Here, when the CPU 2 detects that the operation mode is the normal operation mode, the CPU 2 determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed (step S2), and the steering angle is greater than or equal to a predetermined angle. It is determined whether or not the steering is performed (step S3). In this case, when the CPU 2 determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed, the time point when the normal operation mode is started or the time point when the immediately preceding position information and curvature information are acquired is used as a reference point in advance. It is determined whether or not a set time has elapsed.

  When the CPU 2 detects that a predetermined time has passed before steering of the steering with a steering angle equal to or greater than a predetermined angle ("YES" in step S2), the GPS receiver 5 The position information is acquired from the transmission line 6 through the transmission line 6 and the curvature information is acquired from the ECU 9 through the transmission line 14 (step S4), and the process returns to the above-described steps S2 and S3. That is, when the normal operation mode is being executed, the CPU 2 acquires position information from the GPS receiver 5 via the transmission line 6 and passes from the ECU 9 via the transmission line 14 every time a certain time has elapsed. To obtain curvature information.

  On the other hand, when the CPU 2 detects that the steering of the steering angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined angle before the predetermined time has elapsed (“YES” in step S3), the GPS receiver After acquiring the position information from 5 through the transmission line 6 and the curvature information from the ECU 9 through the transmission line 14 (step S5), the operation mode is switched from the normal operation mode to the behavior change operation mode (step S5). S6), the process returns to step S1 described above.

  Next, when the CPU 2 switches the operation mode from the normal operation mode to the behavior change operation mode in this way, the CPU 2 determines whether or not the steering of the steering angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined angle (step S7). Then, it is determined whether or not a time during which the steering of the steering angle is not less than a predetermined angle does not occur for a predetermined time (step S8). In this case, when the CPU 2 determines whether or not the time during which the steering of the steering angle is equal to or greater than the predetermined angle has continued for a predetermined time, the CPU 2 performs the steering using the time point when the immediately preceding position information and curvature information are acquired as a reference point. It is determined whether or not a time during which the steering of the steering angle is not less than a predetermined angle has continued for a predetermined time.

  When the CPU 2 detects that the steering with the steering angle equal to or larger than the predetermined angle has been performed (“YES” in step S7), the CPU 2 acquires position information from the GPS receiver 5 via the transmission line 6. Curvature information is acquired from the ECU 9 via the transmission line 14 (step S9). That is, when the behavior change operation mode is being executed, the CPU 2 acquires position information from the GPS receiver 5 via the transmission line 6 every time the steering of the steering angle is a predetermined angle or more. At the same time, curvature information is acquired from the ECU 9 via the transmission line 14.

  On the other hand, the CPU 2 detects that the time during which the steering of the steering angle equal to or greater than the predetermined angle does not occur continues for a predetermined time before the steering of the steering angle equal to or greater than the predetermined angle is performed (in step S8). "YES") After acquiring position information from the GPS receiver 5 via the transmission line 6 and obtaining curvature information from the ECU 9 via the transmission line 14 (step S10), the operation mode is changed from the normal operation mode. Switching to the operation mode at the time of change (step S11), the process returns to the above-described step S1. Thereafter, the CPU 2 repeatedly executes the series of processes described above.

  By the way, in the above-described configuration, the transmission line 6 for transmitting position information from the GPS receiver 5 to the FCD in-vehicle device 1 starts transmission of position information triggered by the steering operation with a steering angle of a predetermined angle or more. Then, the transmission line 14 for transmitting the curvature information from the ECU 14 to the FCD in-vehicle device 1 starts the transmission of the curvature information triggered by the fact that the steering of the steering angle is a predetermined angle or more. Further, the CPU 2 does not acquire curvature information from the ECU 14 immediately after the steering of the steering angle equal to or larger than the predetermined angle, but the predetermined delay from the time when the steering of the steering angle equal to or larger than the predetermined angle is performed. Curvature information is acquired from ECU14 after time passes. Further, the CPU 2 corrects the position information acquired from the GPS receiver 5 by the angular velocity information acquired from the gyro 7 and a map matching technique.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, in the FCD in-vehicle device 1, when the CPU 2 is executing the behavior change operation mode, steering with a steering angle of a predetermined angle or more is performed. When it is detected that the position information is acquired from the GPS receiver 5 and the curvature information is acquired from the ECU 9, it is determined that a predetermined time has passed or the vehicle is set in advance. Unlike conventional systems that acquire position information and curvature information triggered by the fact that the vehicle has traveled a distance, it is possible to prevent unnecessary position information from being acquired, and appropriate curvature information can be The probe information can be acquired effectively. Further, the road shape can be reproduced based on the position information and the curvature information.

  Since the transmission line 6 starts transmission of position information and the transmission line 14 starts transmission of curvature information triggered by the fact that steering of the steering angle is greater than a predetermined angle, the position of the position is determined. By starting transmission of position information and curvature information at an appropriate timing at which information and curvature information should be acquired, it is possible to avoid an unnecessary increase in traffic on the transmission lines 6 and 14.

  Also, instead of acquiring curvature information from the ECU 14 immediately after steering of the steering angle greater than or equal to the predetermined angle, a predetermined delay time has elapsed since the steering of the steering angle greater than or equal to the predetermined angle was performed. After that, since the curvature information is acquired from the ECU 14, there is a time difference from when the steering is steered until the vehicle actually turns. Therefore, a time corresponding to the time difference is set as a delay time. Thus, it is possible to acquire appropriate curvature information following the actual behavior of the vehicle with the fact that the steering is steered as a trigger.

  Furthermore, the position information is triggered by the behavior change operation mode for acquiring position information and curvature information triggered by the steering of the steering angle of a predetermined angle or more and the fact that a predetermined time has passed. And the normal operation mode in which the curvature information is periodically acquired are executed by switching in time series, so that the position information and the curvature information can be more effectively acquired according to the behavior change occurrence state. For example, it is possible to acquire a change state of the vehicle speed or to perform a traffic jam prediction.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, description is abbreviate | omitted about the same part as above-mentioned 1st Embodiment, and a different part is demonstrated. In the first embodiment described above, when the CPU 2 is executing the behavior change operation mode, the position information and the curvature information are acquired every time the steering of the steering angle is a predetermined angle or more. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, when the CPU 2 executes the behavior change operation mode, the position information and the curvature information are periodically transmitted every time a predetermined time specified in advance. To get to.

  That is, when the CPU 2 switches the operation mode from the normal operation mode to the behavior change operation mode, the specified specified time is determined regardless of whether or not the steering of the steering angle is a predetermined angle or more. It is determined whether or not the time has elapsed (step S21), and it is determined whether or not the time during which steering of the steering angle is not less than a predetermined angle has continued for a predetermined time (step S8). In this case, when the CPU 2 determines whether or not a predetermined time specified in advance has elapsed, the position information and curvature information immediately before or when the operation mode is switched from the normal operation mode to the behavior change operation mode. It is determined whether or not a specified time that has been specified in advance has passed with the time point at which the data is acquired as a reference point.

  Here, the CPU 2 detects that a prescribed time that has been prescribed in advance has elapsed regardless of whether or not the steering of the steering angle is greater than or equal to a predetermined angle ("YES" in step S21). The position information is acquired from the GPS receiver 5 via the transmission line 6 and the curvature information is acquired from the ECU 9 via the transmission line 14 (step S9). That is, when the behavior change operation mode is being executed, the CPU 2 does not depend on whether or not the steering with the steering angle equal to or greater than the predetermined angle is performed, every time a predetermined time has elapsed. In addition, position information is acquired from the GPS receiver 5 via the transmission line 6, and curvature information is acquired from the ECU 9 via the transmission line 14. The specified time in the behavior change time operation mode is much shorter than the fixed time in the normal time operation mode.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, in the FCD in-vehicle device 1, when the CPU 2 is executing the behavior change operation mode, steering with a steering angle of a predetermined angle or more is performed. After acquiring the position information from the GPS receiver 5 using the trigger as a trigger and acquiring the curvature information from the ECU 9, the position information and the curvature information are periodically acquired using the trigger that a predetermined time specified in advance has elapsed. Since the position information is acquired from the GPS receiver 5 and the curvature information is acquired from the ECU 9, the position information and the curvature information are obtained after the fact that the steering of the steering angle of the predetermined angle or more has been performed as a trigger. Can be acquired regularly.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified or expanded as follows.
Not only the configuration that acquires position information and curvature information triggered by the fact that a certain time set in advance as the normal operation mode has passed, but that the vehicle has passed a predetermined distance as the normal operation mode The position information and the curvature information may be acquired by using as a trigger. In this case as well, the fixed distance may be set by the user, or may be set by the vehicle manufacturer at the time of shipment or maintenance at a maintenance factory or the like.

The probe information is not limited to position information and curvature information, and may be configured to acquire image information of an image taken by an in-vehicle camera. If configured in this way, for example, it is installed at a curve point on a road. Information about road signs (eg, “speed attention” signs) can also be obtained. In addition, by installing an obstacle detection sensor such as an infrared sensor, it may be configured to acquire obstacle information related to the obstacle detected by the obstacle detection sensor. For example, it is possible to acquire information related to obstacles falling on the road.
The behavior change is not limited to steering with a steering angle greater than or equal to a predetermined angle, but a running inclination is greater than a predetermined inclination, a brake is operated, or an airbag is deployed. It may be a fact.

  In the second embodiment, the vehicle is not limited to the configuration in which the positional information and the curvature information are periodically acquired by using a trigger that the specified time specified in advance as the behavior change operation mode has passed. The configuration may be such that the position information and the curvature information are periodically acquired by using the fact that the vehicle has traveled a predetermined distance as a trigger.

Functional block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention flowchart Diagram showing probe information acquisition timing The flowchart which shows the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. 3 equivalent figure

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 1 is an on-board FCD device, 2 is a CPU (probe information acquisition means, behavior change detection means), 6 is a transmission line (probe information transmission means), 9 is an ECU, and 14 is a transmission line (probe information transmission means). is there.

Claims (6)

An FCD in-vehicle apparatus provided with probe information acquisition means for acquiring probe information from an in-vehicle device or an in-vehicle sensor mounted on a vehicle,
A behavior change detecting means for detecting a behavior change of the vehicle;
The probe information acquisition unit acquires probe information triggered by the fact that the behavior change of the vehicle is detected when the behavior change of the vehicle is detected by the behavior change detection unit. . In the FCD in-vehicle device according to claim 1,
The probe information acquisition means has acquired that the specified time has passed after the probe information has been acquired triggered by the fact that the behavior change of the vehicle has been detected by the behavior change detection means, or that the vehicle has been specified in advance. An FCD in-vehicle device that periodically acquires probe information triggered by the fact that the vehicle has traveled a specified distance. In the FCD in-vehicle device according to claim 1 or 2,
Provided with probe information transmission means for transmitting probe information from the in-vehicle device or in-vehicle sensor to the probe information acquisition means,
The probe information transmission means starts transmission of probe information triggered by the fact that the behavior change of the vehicle has been detected by the behavior change detection means, the specified time has elapsed, or the vehicle has traveled a specified distance. A featured FCD in-vehicle machine. In the FCD in-vehicle device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The behavior change detecting means detects at least whether the steering is steered as a behavior change of the vehicle,
The probe acquisition information means acquires at least curvature information from the ECU as probe information, and if the behavior change detection means detects that the steering is steered as a change in vehicle behavior, An FCD in-vehicle apparatus, wherein curvature information is acquired from an ECU after a predetermined delay time has elapsed from the time when it is detected that steering is steered. In the FCD in-vehicle device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The probe information acquisition means is preset as a behavior change operation mode for acquiring probe information triggered by the fact that a behavior change of a vehicle is detected by the behavior change detection means as an operation mode for acquiring probe information. FCD in-vehicle, which is executed by switching in time series from a normal operation mode in which probe information is periodically acquired triggered by elapse of time or that the vehicle has traveled a predetermined distance set in advance Machine. In the FCD in-vehicle device according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
The probe information acquisition unit has acquired a predetermined time after acquiring the probe information triggered by the fact that the behavior change of the vehicle is detected by the behavior change detection unit as an operation mode for acquiring the probe information. A behavior change operation mode that periodically acquires probe information triggered by the fact that the vehicle has traveled a prescribed distance that has been prescribed in advance and a fact that a predetermined time has passed or that the vehicle has been preset An FCD in-vehicle apparatus, which is executed by switching a normal operation mode in which probe information is periodically acquired with a trigger that the vehicle has traveled a certain distance as a trigger.

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