JP2007034348A - Sound sensing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sound sensing system that enables a driver to correctly sense emergency sounds such as the siren of an approaching ambulance, the warning sound of a crossing, or the horn of a following vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: The sound sensing system includes a sound collecting device; a sound identifying means for identifying emergency sounds among the sounds collected; and a transmission means for transmitting the results of the identification to the driver. More preferably, the sound sensing system includes a means for storing the driver's driving characteristics. The transmission characteristics of the transmission means are changed depending on the driving characteristics. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a voice sensing system that is mounted on a moving body such as an automobile and detects and transmits voice outside the vehicle to a driver.

  The earliest decline in human perception is hearing, and it is said that it is difficult to hear particularly high frequency sound. In addition, older drivers have weakened their physical fitness according to their ages, and there is an increased need to pay attention to decreased hearing due to fatigue due to long-time driving and, for example, in a future aging society. Is expected.

  On the other hand, techniques for adjusting the volume and frequency of sound generated by an acoustic device provided in the vehicle according to the driver's hearing ability and fatigue level are known (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  In the acoustic device described in Patent Document 1, there is a description of adjusting the volume and frequency of sound output by a car navigation system, a car stereo, or the like according to the driver's age, hearing ability, and fatigue level. As a sound device, car navigation or car stereo is assumed.

  In the alarm device described in Patent Document 2, an alarm is issued when the relative distance between the preceding vehicle and the host vehicle is less than or equal to the allowable distance, and the timing of alarm generation and the volume of the alarm according to the hearing ability of the driver There is a description about adjusting.

JP 2004-110546 A (pages 4 to 11 and FIGS. 1 and 2) JP 2003-237510 A (2nd to 5th pages, FIGS. 1 to 5)

  However, in the above prior art, for example, there is no description about adjusting the volume of sound (or sound) regarding the presence or absence of emergency such as sirens of approaching ambulances, warning sounds of railroad crossings, horns of subsequent vehicles, Moreover, there is no description about the sound outside the vehicle.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a voice sensing system in which a driver can accurately sense these urgent voices.

  The above object is achieved by a voice sensing system including a voice collection device, voice identification means for identifying at least one of urgent voices or sounds among collected voices and sounds, and a transmission means for transmitting the identification result to the driver. Achieved. Further, the object is a voice sensing system according to claim 1, comprising means for storing a driving characteristic of a driver, and changing the transmission characteristic of the transmission means based on the driving characteristic. Also achieved by a voice sensing system.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a system that can sense a highly urgent sound generated outside the vehicle. In addition, a flexible system that operates according to the individual's auditory difference can be configured by inputting the individual's age and auditory information. In particular, by using the acoustic device in the car or the vibration of the seat and the steering as the main means and the image display device as the auxiliary means, most of the visual ability can be directed to the normal driving action, and the safety is improved. High system can be realized.

  Hereinafter, a voice sensing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a voice sensing system. This voice sensing system includes a voice analysis device 1, a voice pattern input device 2, a voice identification means 3, a transmission means determination unit 4, a transmission means 5, and a driver characteristic input device 6. The voice identification means 3 obtains information on the vehicle movement state from the vehicle speed sensor 71 and the steering angle sensor 72.

  The voice analysis device 1 includes voice collection devices 1-1 to 1-n, a voice pattern analysis unit 11, and an analysis data storage memory. Since the sound collection device 1-n collects sound from all directions around the vehicle, a plurality of devices are attached to the vehicle, for example, at five locations on the front, rear, right side, left side, and upper part of the vehicle to collect sound. To do. The voice pattern analysis unit 11 sequentially analyzes the volume, frequency distribution, etc. of the collected voice, processes it into digital data, and accumulates it in the analysis data storage memory 12.

  The voice pattern input device 2 includes a voice pattern input means 21 and a voice pattern storage means 22. At first, digital data corresponding to several types of ES, such as a warning sound of a railroad crossing or an ambulance siren, is stored in the voice pattern storage means 22, but it is necessary to support more types of ES. If so, new digital data is added from the voice pattern input means 21. The voice pattern input means 21 may be, for example, a USB reader device that reads data from a USB card that records digital data, or a download device that acquires digital data from a mobile telephone network. By these means, ES can be added and the voice sensing system can be customized. For example, when driving a vehicle currently being driven in a foreign country, it is possible to add digital data of an ambulance siren in that country.

  The driver characteristic input device 6 includes driver characteristic input means 61 and a driver characteristic storage memory 62. The driver characteristic input means 61 may be a manual input device such as a keyboard, a switch, or a touch panel, or may be an IC card reader device that reads data from an IC card that records the driver's individual age and hearing ability. Data input from the driver characteristic input means 61 includes the age of the driver, normal hearing ability (how much sound volume and frequency can be detected), and the like. Moreover, the structure which can input medical history, the past illness, etc. may be sufficient.

The voice identification unit 3 sequentially analyzes and compares the outside-vehicle voice analysis digital data stored in the analysis data storage memory 12 in time series and the ES digital data stored in advance in the voice pattern storage unit 22. Thus, it is identified whether or not an ES is generated outside the vehicle. Next, from the digital data analysis results, changes in the frequency distribution due to the Doppler effect over time and volume increase / decrease are detected, and the relative positional relationship between the vehicle and the ES sound source changes, that is, whether the sound source is approaching or away. Whether the vehicle is in the direction of the vehicle traveling or not, and the timing for starting and stopping the notification of ES sensing to the driver is determined. The notification start and stop timing at this time is transmitted to the transmission means determination unit 4.

  FIG. 2 shows a time-series operation outline of the voice identification means 3 when the ambulance approaches the vehicle and then leaves. The horizontal axis indicates the passage of time, the vertical arrow from the top to the horizontal axis indicates the voice collected from outside the vehicle, and the vertical arrow from the horizontal axis to the bottom of the figure indicates the instruction from the voice identification means 3 to the transmission means determination unit 4, respectively. Show.

  First, the voice identification means 3 refers to and analyzes the analysis data storage memory 12 at regular intervals, and senses that an ambulance is approaching the host vehicle while blowing a siren from a certain volume and frequency pattern (t = T0). . In this example, the cycle time is set to 20 μs, which is the limit of human audible frequency: 50 μs.

  Next, when it is detected that the ambulance is approaching within a certain distance from the own vehicle and is still approaching, it is transmitted to the transmission means determination unit 4 [ES type: ambulance siren, instruction content: start of notification to the driver, ES characteristic: Volume and frequency of the ES ”(t = T1).

  In this case, the operation state when the ambulance approaches the host vehicle is calculated from the sound frequency formula based on the Doppler effect shown in FIG. “Voice frequency at the observation point: f0” is obtained from the outside-vehicle audio analysis digital data recorded in the analysis data storage memory 12, and “Velocity at the observation point: V0” is obtained from the vehicle speed sensor 71 and the steering angle sensor 72. Since “frequency: fs” is the original ambulance siren sound, it can be obtained from the ES digital data stored in advance in the voice pattern storage means 22, and the “sound source speed: Vs” is calculated from this. Can do. If the speed of the sound source at each time is known, the movement of the ambulance that is the sound source can also be calculated.

  Next, after observing that the ambulance is closest at t = T2, when it is detected that the ambulance has moved away from a certain distance, it is transmitted to the transmission means determination unit 4 [ES type: ambulance siren, instruction content: driver Is stopped "(t = T3).

  Thereafter, the siren volume decreases as the ambulance moves away, but the collected voice is processed into digital data up to the lowest volume that can be detected by the voice collection device 1-n, and data analysis by the voice identification means 3 continues. (T = T4).

  The transmission means determination unit 4 receives the ES type and the notification instruction to the driver or the stop instruction from the voice identification means 3, and transmits the ES generation for the driver by any means from the driver characteristics acquired from the driver characteristics storage memory 62. Select what to do. FIG. 3 shows an example of a processing flow in the transmission means determination unit 4 when selecting a transmission means from the driver characteristics.

The transmission means determination unit 4 performs a series of processes at a constant cycle. In this example, the cycle time is set to 100 μs, which is twice the analysis data analysis cycle 50 μs in the voice identification means 3. First, in step S110, the instruction content is checked, and the following processing is performed depending on the case.
(1) When there is no instruction: The processing is terminated as it is. (Go to the left side of S110)
(2) When a notification start instruction is given to the driver: Steps S120 and after are performed. (Proceed to the bottom of S110)
(3) When a notification stop instruction is given to the driver: “ES generation notification stop” is instructed to all the transmission means 5. (Proceed to the right side of S110 and implement step S150)

  Next, the processing after step S120 will be described. Driver characteristic data is acquired from the driver characteristic storage memory 62 (step S120), and the ES characteristic received from the voice identification means 3 is compared with the volume and frequency of the ES to determine the driver's hearing ability ( Step S130). If the driver is capable of hearing sound from the acoustic device in the vehicle, the acoustic device 51 is instructed as the main means and the ES display notification is instructed to the image display device 52 as the auxiliary means. (Proceed to the left side of S130 and execute Step S140).

  Similarly, when the driver is capable of hearing such that the driver cannot hear the sound from the acoustic device in the vehicle, the main means is the seat vibration device 53 or the steering vibration device 54, and the auxiliary means is the image display device 52. Then, “start ES notification” is instructed (the process proceeds to the lower side of S130 and step S141 is performed).

  When the sound device 51 is instructed by the transmission means determination unit 4 to start “ES generation notification”, the sound device 51 emits a voice, for example, “Ambulance is approaching. Prompt. Further, when an instruction to stop notification of occurrence of ES is instructed, the driver is similarly notified that “an ambulance has passed”. In any case, the number of voice generations is 2 to 3 times so as not to hinder driving. If the sound source of the ES is a level crossing alarm, the sound will be “You are approaching the level crossing.

  The image display device 52, for example, blinks an ambulance mark on the screen when instructed by the transmission means determination unit 4 to “start ES generation notification”. When the image display device is a car navigation device, it is displayed in the right corner, for example, so as not to hinder the display of map information. The blinking speed increases step by step as the ambulance approaches and slows as it moves away. The reason why the display is blinking is that the driver cannot usually drive while staring at the image display device, but can visually recognize the ambulance mark while looking from the side. In addition, when an instruction to stop “ES occurrence notification” is given, the ambulance mark is deleted from the screen. If the sound source of the ES is a crossing alarm, a crossing mark is displayed on the screen.

  The seat vibration device 53 and the steering vibration device 54 vibrate for a certain time when instructed by the transmission means determination unit 4 to “start ES generation notification” and “stop ES generation notification”. In order to distinguish the two, for example, in the former case, a difference is made in the number of vibrations / time, 3 seconds × 2 times, and in the latter case, 5 seconds × 1 time.

1 is a block diagram of a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a time chart which shows a mode that an ambulance approach is detected in one Example by this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process which determines a transmission means in one Example by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Voice analyzer, 1-1 to 1-n ... Voice collection device, 2 ... Voice pattern input device, 3 ... Voice identification means, 4 ... Transmission means determination part, 5 ... Transmission means, 6 ... Driver characteristic input device , 7 ... Vehicle sensor, 11 ... Voice pattern analysis unit, 12 ... Analysis data storage memory, 21 ... Voice pattern input means, 22 ... Voice pattern storage means, 51 ... Sound device, 52 ... Image display device, 53 ... Seat vibration device 54 ... steering vibration device 61 ... driver characteristic input means 62 ... driver characteristic storage memory 71 ... vehicle speed sensor 72 ... steering angle sensor

Claims (10)

  A voice sensing system comprising: a voice collection device; voice identification means for identifying at least one of urgent voices or sounds among collected voices and sounds; and a transmission means for transmitting a result of the identification to a driver.   2. The voice sensing system according to claim 1, further comprising means for storing a driving characteristic of a driver, wherein the transmission characteristic of the transmission means is changed based on the driving characteristic.   2. The voice sensing system according to claim 1, wherein the voice identification means is provided with a plurality of voice collecting devices so as to collect voice and sound from all directions around the vehicle (volume, frequency distribution). A speech sensing system comprising means for sequentially analyzing the sound.   2. The voice detection system according to claim 1, wherein the voice identification means includes voice patterns and voice patterns of emergency sounds (hereinafter referred to as ES: emergency sound) such as ambulance sirens, railroad crossing warning sounds, and horns of following cars. A voice sensing system that stores data (such as frequency distribution), compares the voice data analyzed by the voice collection device, and detects ES.   The voice sensing system according to claim 1, wherein a change in a relative positional relationship between the vehicle and the sound source is detected to detect an angular deviation from a vehicle traveling direction by analyzing the voice or sound pattern. system.   2. The voice sensing system according to claim 1, wherein the transmission means includes a plurality of transmission means so as to cope with various aspects of the driver's auditory characteristics and fatigue level.   2. The voice sensing system according to claim 1, wherein a warning sound or a warning voice is emitted from an acoustic device such as a car stereo or a car navigation system as a result of identification by the voice identification means.   2. The voice sensing system according to claim 1, wherein the identification result by the voice identification means is notified to the driver of occurrence of ES outside the vehicle by vibration of a seat or a steering which is a physical contact point between the driver and the vehicle. Voice sensing system.   2. The voice detection system according to claim 1, wherein an ES occurrence is notified to the driver by at least one of an emergency message lamp provided in an instrument panel and a warning mark on an image display device such as a car navigation flashing display. A voice sensing system comprising a notification assisting means.   3. The voice sensing system according to claim 2, wherein the driver's individual driving characteristic storage means stores driving characteristics including age and hearing ability inputted from the input means, and driving at the time of ES detection according to the driving characteristics. A voice sensing system characterized by changing a means for transmitting information to a person.

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