JP2008090509A - Information providing device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information providing device for a vehicle for effectively removing irritation of a driver. <P>SOLUTION: When one's own vehicle is stopped by a stopping factor such as stop of a vehicle ahead due to a stop signal of an on-road machine and a traffic jam, on a time length basis with reference to a stop time Xs from the start of stopping of the own vehicle to its start allowed by elimination of the stopping factor, information related to a driver on one's own vehicle is provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle information providing apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a technique aimed at eliminating the driver's frustration when the vehicle is stopped (for example, see Patent Document 1). According to the technique described in Patent Document 1, when the host vehicle stops, the leading vehicle transmits a forward captured image to the subsequent vehicle, and the subsequent vehicle outputs the forward captured image received from the leading vehicle. The driver of the following vehicle can know the stop factor (reason for stopping) from the front captured image.
JP-A-2005-222241

  In the technique of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the driver can know the stop factor (reason for stopping) from the front captured image, and in the light of the experience so far, he gave up half of the reasons for stopping. Can wait until is released. However, in reality, there are some drivers who can not give up even if they know the cause of the stop, so such driver's frustration cannot be resolved. Therefore, what can eliminate a driver's frustration more effectively was desired.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle information providing apparatus that can more effectively eliminate a driver's frustration.

In order to achieve the above object, an information providing device for a vehicle according to claim 1,
When the host vehicle stops due to a stop factor outside the host vehicle, a stop time calculation is performed to calculate the stop time from when the host vehicle starts to stop until the host vehicle can start by eliminating the stop factor. Means,
Information acquisition means for acquiring information related to passengers of the own vehicle;
Stop determination means for determining whether the host vehicle has stopped due to a stop factor;
When it is determined that the stop determination unit has stopped, the information providing unit provides the information acquired by the information acquisition unit to the occupant of the host vehicle with a time length based on the stop time.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when the own vehicle stops due to a stop factor outside the own vehicle, the stop time from when the own vehicle starts to stop until the own vehicle can start by eliminating the stop factor. It provides information related to the passengers of the vehicle. As a result, the driver's consciousness as an occupant can be transferred from the stop factor that is the cause of irritation to the provided information, so the driver's irritation can be more effectively eliminated. is there.

  According to the vehicle information providing apparatus according to claim 2, the stop time calculating means stops at least one of the stop signal of the road unit existing ahead of the host vehicle and the stop of the preceding vehicle of the host vehicle in a traffic jam. It is characterized in that a stop time is calculated when the host vehicle stops with a factor.

  As a result, it is possible to calculate the stop time when the host vehicle stops due to a stop signal such as a stop signal from the roadside machine or a stop factor such as a stop of the preceding vehicle due to traffic congestion.

  In the vehicle information providing apparatus according to claim 3, the stop time calculating means is configured to detect the stop of the preceding vehicle that is stopped in a row from the own vehicle when the own vehicle is stopped along with the stop of the preceding vehicle in a traffic jam. The total start required time is included in the stop time and calculated.

  This total start time is estimated by estimating the number of stopped vehicles from the distance between the head vehicle of the preceding vehicle (stopped vehicle) that is stopped ahead of the host vehicle and the host vehicle, and starts per stop vehicle. This can be calculated by multiplying the required time (starting time) by the total number of stopped vehicles. It should be noted that the distance between the head vehicle of the stopped vehicle connected to the front of the host vehicle and the host vehicle may be obtained from the outside of the host vehicle using an in-vehicle external communication device that enables communication between road vehicles and vehicles. . In addition, the number of stopped vehicles existing between the head vehicle of the stopped vehicle connected to the front of the host vehicle and the host vehicle may be directly acquired using the on-vehicle external communication device or the like.

The vehicle information providing device according to claim 4,
From the outside of the host vehicle, comprising traffic signal information acquisition means for acquiring traffic signal information including the time length of the stop signal in the road unit existing in front of the host vehicle,
The stop time calculation means is the actual stop signal time from when the stop signal is released until the stop signal is released based on the time length of the stop signal included in the traffic signal information when the host vehicle is stopped by the stop signal of the road unit. Is included in the stop time.

  In this way, for example, by obtaining the traffic signal information from the outside of the own vehicle using an in-vehicle communication device that enables communication between road vehicles and between vehicles, the stop time calculating means allows the own vehicle to stop. When stopping by a signal, the actual stop signal time from the stop start to the release of the stop signal can be included in the stop time for calculation.

  According to the vehicle information providing apparatus of the fifth aspect, the stop time calculating means is configured such that when the own vehicle is stopped by the stop signal from the road machine, or when a forward vehicle exists between the road machine and the own vehicle. Is characterized in that the time required for starting the vehicle ahead is included in the stop time.

  When the host vehicle is stopped by the stop signal and there is another vehicle between the road signal on the stop signal and the front of the host vehicle, the host vehicle will not start unless the other vehicle starts even if the stop signal is canceled. Cannot start. Therefore, in such a case, a start required time indicating a time required for starting another vehicle may be set in advance, and the required start time may be included in the own vehicle stop time together with the actual stop signal time. .

  When there are multiple other vehicles between the stop signal on the road and the front of the host vehicle, the number of other vehicles is estimated from the distance between the stop signal on the road and the host vehicle. The total required start time obtained by multiplying the required start time by the total number of other vehicles may be calculated so as to be included in the own vehicle stop time together with the actual stop signal time.

  Here, the distance between the road vehicle on the stop signal and the host vehicle is obtained by obtaining the installation position (latitude and longitude) of the road vehicle by road-to-vehicle communication using the above-mentioned in-vehicle external communication device, etc., and navigation provided with map data The current position of the host vehicle can be acquired from the system and calculated from the positional relationship. In addition, the distance L may be acquired from the current position of the host vehicle by referring to the map data of the navigation system to grasp the installation position of the road machine. In addition, using inter-vehicle communication, communicate with other vehicles that are stopped by a stop signal via an in-vehicle external communication device, and determine the number of other vehicles that exist between the road signal on the stop signal and the front of the host vehicle. You may make it acquire directly.

The vehicular information providing device according to claim 6 is:
Provided information storage means for storing information that can be provided in the host vehicle;
Occupant status estimating means for estimating the status of the occupant from at least one of the driving state of the occupant and the atmosphere in the passenger compartment of the host vehicle;
Personal information storage means for storing personal information including information on at least one of the hobby and preferences of the occupant;
Information extraction means for extracting information according to personal information from the information that can be provided stored in the provided information storage means,
The information acquisition means is characterized by acquiring information corresponding to the occupant status estimated by the occupant status estimation means from the information extracted by the information extraction means as information relating to the occupant of the own vehicle.

  Thereby, it becomes possible to acquire information suitable for the situation of the occupant from the information according to the hobby and preferences of the occupant. As a result, the driver's consciousness as a crew member who receives the acquired information can be guided to the information provided from the stop factor that is the cause of irritation.

The vehicle information providing device according to claim 7 is:
Information that edits the content of the information acquired by the information acquisition means so that the content of the provided information is completed within the stop time when the provision of information is started at the timing when it is determined that the stop determination means has stopped. With editing means,
The information providing means provides the information edited by the information editing means.

  As described above, in the present invention, when information provision is started at the timing when the host vehicle is stopped, editing is performed so that the content of the information provided within the stop time is completed. As a result, the driver of the host vehicle can know the contents of the provided information before starting the host vehicle, so the driver's consciousness started the host vehicle. Later, it will not be dragged by the information provided. As a result, the driver's consciousness of the own vehicle can be shifted (concentrated) to the driving operation. In this way, the present invention ensures safety against the driving operation after starting.

  According to the vehicle information providing apparatus of the eighth aspect, the information editing unit edits the information so that the content of the information is changed every preset unit time. As a result, the information providing means changes and provides the information every unit time, so that the occupant of the host vehicle can know a plurality of information during the stop.

  According to the vehicle information providing apparatus of the ninth aspect, the information editing unit edits the information providing unit so that the provision time length of each piece of information acquired by the information acquiring unit becomes the unit time length, and the unit time length is set to the unit time length. Each edited information is combined so that the contents thereof are sequentially different.

  In this way, by combining each piece of information edited in unit time length so that the contents thereof are sequentially different, the information providing means can change and provide the information contents every unit time.

  In the vehicle information providing apparatus according to claim 10, the information editing unit edits the information of the same content acquired by the information acquiring unit so that the fineness of the information is changed every preset unit time. It is characterized by that. As a result, the information providing means provides the same information for each unit time by changing its fineness (detail), so that the occupant of the own vehicle, the longer the stop time of the own vehicle, You can learn more about the same information.

  According to the vehicle information providing apparatus according to claim 11, the information editing means includes a plurality of the same contents, each of which is provided with a unit time length and whose information is different in detail. And a plurality of pieces of information having the same contents edited in the unit time length are combined so that the details of the information are sequentially different.

  In this way, information is edited by unit time length, and in addition, the information of the same content edited so that the details (details) of the information are different from each other is combined so that the details of the information are sequentially different. The providing means can provide information with the same content by changing the granularity of the information for each unit time.

  The vehicle information providing apparatus according to claim 12 is characterized in that the information providing means prohibits the provision of information when the time length of the stop time is less than the unit time length. For example, if the minimum necessary time that the occupant can know for the provided information is set as the unit time, sufficient provision time that the occupant can grasp cannot be secured.

  According to the vehicle information providing apparatus of the thirteenth aspect, the information editing means edits the menu display indicating the title of the information acquired by the information acquiring means. Thereby, the passenger | crew of the own vehicle can know the information which can be provided from a menu display.

  According to the vehicular information providing device according to claim 14, the information providing means is configured such that the time length of the stop time is less than a provision time length that provides a plurality of information of a preset unit time length. Providing a menu display. As a result, even if there are multiple candidates for information to be provided to the occupant and the time for providing the multiple information cannot be secured while the host vehicle is stopped, the titles of the multiple information are displayed in the menu. You can get to know from.

The vehicle information providing apparatus according to claim 15 is provided.
From the menu display, provided with a title selection means for selecting the title of information to be provided when the host vehicle stops next time due to a stop factor,
The information providing means preferentially provides information on the title selected by the title selecting means when the host vehicle stops next time due to a stop factor.

  Thereby, when the own vehicle stops next time, the passenger | crew of the own vehicle can receive provision with priority on the information of the title selected from the menu display.

In the vehicle information providing device according to claim 16,
The information acquisition means includes facility information acquisition means for acquiring information on a facility that exists in the line-of-sight direction of the passenger of the host vehicle,
The information editing means is characterized by performing editing for adding the title of the facility information acquired by the facility information acquiring means to the menu display.

  As a result, the information on the facility that the passenger of the vehicle has shown interest in is displayed, and the title of the information on the facility is displayed in the menu, so that the passenger of the vehicle can display the title of the information on which the vehicle has been displayed in the menu. Can get to know.

  According to the vehicle information providing device of the seventeenth aspect, the information providing means is adapted to the passenger in accordance with the information acquired by the information acquiring means from a predetermined time before the timing at which the host vehicle can start. Information for prompting the start of the vehicle is provided. Thereby, the passenger | crew of the own vehicle comes to be able to start preparation operation for starting the own vehicle.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a vehicle information providing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a vehicle information providing apparatus. The vehicle information providing apparatus shown in the figure is mounted on a vehicle and includes three sensing systems (an external information sensing system, an in-vehicle information sensing system, and a vehicle information sensing system). In addition, the vehicle information providing apparatus is configured with the arithmetic device 30 as the center, and the arithmetic device 30 is connected to three sensing systems, a personal information storage device 19, a display device 20, and an audio output device 21. .

  The external information sensing system is composed of an external camera 11 and an in-vehicle external communication device 12. The vehicle exterior camera 11 is a camera for capturing a front image of the host vehicle, and is installed outside the vehicle interior of the host vehicle. The in-vehicle external communication device 12 is a communication device that performs road-to-vehicle communication or vehicle-to-vehicle communication. From the roadside infrastructure, a signal state of a road unit installed at an intersection in front of the host vehicle (that is, a red signal (stop signal), Traffic signal information including a green signal (advancing signal), a yellow signal (attention signal)), a time length of each signal state, and an installation position (latitude and longitude) of the road unit is acquired.

  In addition, the in-vehicle external communication device 12 receives a traffic jam section position (latitude and longitude) of the traffic jam occurring in front of the host vehicle, the length of the traffic jam section, and the traffic jam section from the traffic information center that provides traffic jam information. Get traffic jam information including estimated transit time. Further, the in-vehicle external communication device 12 transmits / receives various information to / from an information center installed outside the host vehicle, and transmits / receives various information to / from other vehicles existing around the host vehicle. Or

  The in-vehicle information sensing system mainly includes an in-vehicle camera 13 and a line-of-sight / speech analysis device 14. The in-vehicle camera 13 captures a face image of the driver of the host vehicle and an image of a passenger of the host vehicle, and is installed at a predetermined position in the cabin of the host vehicle. The line-of-sight / speech analyzer 14 is based on the driver's face image captured by the in-vehicle camera 13 and the driver / passenger voice analysis result (speech recognition result) input from the voice input device (not shown). Driver's line-of-sight direction (represented on the XYZ coordinate axis, where the driver's seating position is the origin, the longitudinal direction of the host vehicle is the X axis, the lateral direction is the Y axis, and the vertical direction is the Z axis) Estimate the driving state and the atmosphere of the vehicle interior.

  Here, the driving state of the driver is represented by the driver's arousal level, emotion, randomness, and the like. The driver's arousal level is estimated from the measurement result obtained by measuring the number and speed of the driver's blinks from the driver's face image. The driver's emotions are estimated from the driver's face image (mouth and degree of opening), the volume of the driver's voice and the words (words) spoken by the driver, and the frequency of the driver's voice is high and low. It is estimated from. Further, the driver's ambiguity is estimated from the magnitude of the change in the driver's gaze direction.

  In addition, since the atmosphere in the passenger compartment is affected by the number of passengers in the vehicle, the number of passengers is taken into consideration. For example, when the occupant of the host vehicle is only the driver, the vehicle interior atmosphere (silence, tension, activeness, etc.) is estimated from the driving state of the driver. On the other hand, if the passenger of the vehicle is a driver and a passenger, the presence or absence of conversation, if there is a conversation, laughter, anger, etc., words (words) spoken by the passenger, passenger images, etc. Estimate the atmosphere (silence, tension, activity, etc.).

  The vehicle information sensing system includes a steering angle sensor 15, a brake pedal operation amount detection sensor (hereinafter referred to as brake sensor) 16, an accelerator pedal operation amount detection sensor (hereinafter referred to as accelerator sensor) 17, and a navigation system 18. The steering angle sensor 15 is a sensor that detects the steering angle of the steering wheel of the host vehicle (the steering angle from the neutral position when the steering angle of the steering wheel when the host vehicle is in a straight traveling state is a neutral position). . The brake sensor 16 is a sensor that detects the amount of depression of the brake pedal by the driver, and the accelerator sensor 17 is a sensor that detects the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal by the driver.

  The navigation system 18 is composed of a well-known vehicle position detection unit (not shown), an operation switch group, a map data storage unit, a display unit, and the like, and the navigation system 18 responds to a command from the arithmetic unit 30. Various processed information and information stored in the map data storage unit are output to the arithmetic unit 30.

  The personal information storage device 19 stores personal information. In addition to general information (name, age, occupation, sex, marital / unmarried status, presence / absence of children, etc.), the personal information storage device 19 also stores personal hobbies and preferences. This information on hobbies and preferences is divided into categories such as music, sports, movies, news, TV programs, shopping, meals, leisure, theme parks, etc., and matches the hobbies and preferences of each type of driver (For example, “music” indicates a genre (classic, jazz, popular song, etc.), song name, artist name, etc.). The personal information storage device 19 receives a command from the arithmetic device 30 and outputs personal information including general information and information on hobbies / preferences.

  The display device 20 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, and is installed in a passenger compartment that can be visually recognized by the driver and passengers of the host vehicle. The audio output device 21 includes an amplifier (not shown) and a speaker that is appropriately installed in the passenger compartment.

  The arithmetic device 30 includes functional blocks of a stop time calculation unit 31, a scene estimation unit 32, an information filtering unit 33, a personal adaptation unit 34, an information editing unit 35, a display control unit 36, and a voice control unit 37.

  The stop time calculation unit 31 stops the host vehicle due to a stop signal such as a stop signal of a road unit existing in front of the host vehicle or a stop factor of the preceding vehicle existing in front of the host vehicle in a traffic jam due to traffic concentration (traffic jam). In this case, the stop duration (hereinafter referred to as stop time) is calculated. As shown in FIG. 2, in the stop time calculation unit 31, when the host vehicle stops due to the stop factor, the stop vehicle can be started by eliminating the stop factor from the stop start time ts of the host vehicle. The time length until the time te is calculated as the stop time Xs.

  The calculation method of the stop time Xs differs depending on whether the host vehicle stops with a stop signal from the roadside machine or stops when the host vehicle stops in front of the host vehicle in a traffic jam. . Hereinafter, a method for calculating the stop time Xs will be described.

  FIG. 3 shows a scene in which the host vehicle stops with a stop signal from the roadside machine. In such a situation, the traffic signal information of the road unit is acquired via the in-vehicle external communication device 12, and the stop of the host vehicle is stopped with reference to the time length of the stop signal included in the acquired traffic signal information. The actual stop signal time until the signal is released is calculated. The actual stop signal time is included in the stop time Xs.

  Here, when the host vehicle is the head and stops with the stop signal of the road unit, the actual stop signal time may be set to the stop time Xs. However, as shown in FIG. 3, the host vehicle stops the road unit. When there is another vehicle that is stopped between the road signal of the stop signal and the front of the host vehicle when it is stopped by the signal, the vehicle will stop as long as the other vehicle that is stopped does not start even if the stop signal is canceled. The vehicle cannot be started.

  Therefore, in such a case, the time required for starting per vehicle (starting required time) is set in advance, and the required starting time is included in the stop time Xs together with the actual stop signal time. Good. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, when there are a plurality of other vehicles that are stopped between the road signal of the stop signal and the front of the host vehicle, the road signal of the stop signal (the stop line before the road device may be used). ) And the own vehicle, the total number of other vehicles is estimated, and the total required start time obtained by multiplying the required start time by the total number of other vehicles is included in the stop time Xs together with the actual stop signal time. Good.

  Here, the distance L between the road vehicle on the stop signal and the host vehicle can be acquired from the installation position (latitude and longitude) of the road vehicle included in the traffic signal information acquired via the in-vehicle external communication device 12 and the navigation system 18. It can be calculated from the current position (latitude and longitude) of the host vehicle. In addition, the distance L may be acquired from the current position of the host vehicle by referring to the map data of the navigation system to grasp the installation position of the road machine. In addition, the inter-vehicle communication is used to perform the inter-vehicle communication with the other vehicle that is stopped by the stop signal via the in-vehicle external communication device 12, and the other vehicle existing between the road unit of the stop signal and the front of the host vehicle is transmitted. You may make it acquire the number directly.

  FIG. 4 shows a scene in which the host vehicle stops as the forward vehicle existing in front of the host vehicle in a traffic jam stops. In such a scene, first, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is located in a traffic jam section with reference to traffic jam information from the traffic information center. Then, as a result of this determination, when the vehicle is located in a traffic jam section, the total start required time of the forward vehicle (stopped vehicle) that is stopped ahead of the host vehicle is calculated, and this total start required time is set as the stop time Xs. (Include in). The total time required for starting is estimated from the distance L between the head vehicle of the stopped vehicle that is stopped ahead of the host vehicle and the host vehicle and the number of stopped vehicles is estimated. It can be calculated by multiplying the total number of

  In addition, what is necessary is just to acquire the distance L of the head vehicle of the stop vehicle which continues ahead from the own vehicle, and the own vehicle from the exterior of the own vehicle via the vehicle-mounted external communication apparatus 12. FIG. In addition, the vehicle-mounted external communication device 12 is used to perform inter-vehicle communication with a stopped vehicle that is linked forward, and the number of stopped vehicles that exist between the front vehicle and the own vehicle of the stopped vehicle that is linked forward from the own vehicle. You may make it acquire directly.

  The scene estimation unit 32 estimates the situation of the driver of the own vehicle, and the estimation result of the driving state of the driver and the atmosphere in the passenger compartment of the host vehicle estimated by the line-of-sight / speech analysis device 14. Estimated from In this scene estimation unit 32, for example, when there is no passenger, the driver is concentrated on driving based on the number of passengers in the own vehicle and the atmosphere in the passenger compartment (silence, tension, activeness, etc.). Estimate the situation of the driver in the case of one driver such as being nervous or driving. In addition, when there is a passenger, the situation of the driver when the passenger is present is estimated, such as enjoying conversation / music with the passenger, or being quiet while sleeping.

  The information filtering unit 33 acquires information (providable information) that can be provided by the host vehicle from an external information center via the in-vehicle external communication device 12 and stores it in an information server (not shown). Provideable information corresponding to the personal information input by the personal adaptation unit 34 (general information and information related to hobbies / preferences) is extracted from the available information stored in the information server. Here, identification information that is a clue at the time of extraction is added to the provisionable information stored in the information server, and the information filtering unit 33 extracts provisionable information that matches the identification information and the personal information. To do.

  The information editing unit 35 selects information to be provided that matches the situation of the driver of the host vehicle estimated by the scene estimation unit 32 from the information that can be provided extracted by the information filtering unit 33 ( get. Providing the driver with the information about the selected (acquired) target to be provided to the driver while the vehicle is stopped due to a stop signal or traffic jam, providing the driver's awareness from the stop factor that is the cause of irritation You will be able to be guided to the information that will be made.

  In addition, the information editing unit 35 calculates the stop calculated by the stop time calculating unit 31 when the provision of information is started at the timing when the host vehicle stops (determined) with respect to the information to be provided (acquired). The content of the information to be provided is edited so that the content of the information provided within time Xs is completed. Providing the edited information to the driver of the host vehicle so that the driver of the host vehicle can know the contents of the provided information before starting the host vehicle. Therefore, the driver's consciousness is not dragged by the provided information after starting the own vehicle. As a result, the driver's consciousness of the own vehicle can be shifted (concentrated) to the driving operation. In this way, the vehicle information providing apparatus of the present invention ensures the safety for the driving operation after the start.

  Here, a method for editing information to be provided will be described. First, in the information editing unit 35, a unit time set in advance (5 seconds in the present embodiment) is set as a minimum unit, and the passenger can know the contents of information to be provided with this unit time length. Edit as you can. Accordingly, the provision time of information to be provided is limited. For example, in the case of character information, the number and size of characters are limited. In addition, when the information to be provided is video information, the broadcast time is limited. For example, in the case of video information of a TV drama, the broadcast date and time is displayed on the video of unit time length that is the center of the TV drama. -Text information such as broadcasting stations, names of performers, synopsis, etc. may be overlaid and edited. In addition, in the case of music information, the output time of a song is limited, so it may be edited by recording the introduction part (intro part) of a musical idea, the part in which the musical idea has changed (rust part), etc. in unit time length. . Hereinafter, the information to be provided edited in unit time length is referred to as “provided content”.

  Here, the longer the length of the stop time Xs, the greater the number of provided contents that can be provided. Therefore, editing according to the length of the stop time Xs is also required. Therefore, in this embodiment, the following editing is performed.

(1) When the stop time Xs <5 seconds In this case, since it is not possible to secure a time for providing one provided content, the output of the provided content is prohibited (provision is prohibited). This is because, for example, when the minimum necessary time that the driver can know with respect to the provided information is preset as a unit time, sufficient provision time that the driver can grasp cannot be ensured.

(2) When 5 seconds ≦ stop time Xs <10 seconds In this case, one provided content is provided. If there are a plurality of provided contents, the host vehicle is ready to start while providing the second provided contents. Therefore, when there are a plurality of provided contents, the title menu display indicating the title of the provided contents is edited as shown in FIG. As a result, even when there are a plurality of provided contents and the time for providing the plurality of provided contents cannot be secured while the host vehicle is stopped, the driver can select the titles of the provided contents from the title menu. You can learn from the display.

  When the title menu display is provided, when the driver selects a title by operating title selection means such as an operation switch (not shown) (when the driver utters the title, (The driver may recognize the spoken voice and identify the title selected by the driver.) When the vehicle stops next time due to the above stop factor, Provide priority. As a result, the driver can preferentially receive the provided content of the title selected from the title menu display when the host vehicle stops next time.

(3) In the case of 10 seconds <stop time Xs In this case, since a plurality of provided contents can be provided, the contents of the provided contents (information) are changed every unit time as shown in FIG. Edit as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the provided contents C10, C20, and C30 edited in unit time length are combined so that their contents are sequentially different (for example, C10 → C20 → C30 → C10 →... To repeat). Then, after the provision starts, these provision contents are repeatedly provided until the stop time Xs elapses. In this way, by combining the provided contents edited in unit time length so that the contents thereof are sequentially different, the contents of the provided contents can be changed and provided for each unit time. As a result, the driver of the own vehicle can know the contents of the plurality of provided contents during the stop.

  Note that there may be one provided content even when a time during which a plurality of provided content can be provided is secured. In that case, the provided content having the same content is edited so that the fineness of the information is changed every unit time. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, the provision time length of each provision content is a unit time length, and a plurality of provision contents of the same content with different information details (in FIG. 8, C41 and C42). , C43), and the plurality of provided contents C41, C42, and C43 are combined so that the details of the information are sequentially different (for example, C41 [Touch] → C42 [Summary]). → C43 [detailed edition] → C41 [touched edition]... Repeated thereafter in the same manner (C43 → C42 → C41 → C43 →... May be repeated).

  Then, after the provision starts, these provision contents are repeatedly provided until the stop time Xs elapses. In this way, by combining the provided contents of the same content edited so that the details (details) of the information are different from each other so that the details of the information are sequentially different, the information of the same content is , It can be provided by changing the granularity of the information. As a result, the driver of the host vehicle can know the same information more deeply as the stop time Xs is longer.

  In addition, in the case of (2) and (3) except for the case of (1) above, as shown in FIG. 2, the above-described provision from Xw before a certain time of the timing te at which the host vehicle can start is provided. In addition to the content, content for prompting the driver to start starting the host vehicle (content for invoking the start of driving operation) may be provided. As a result, the driver of the host vehicle can start a preparation operation for starting the host vehicle.

  The display control unit 36 performs output control when the provided content edited by the information editing unit 35 is output to the display device 20. The audio control unit 37 performs output control when the provided content edited by the information editing unit 35 is output to the audio output device 21.

  Next, operation | movement of the information provision apparatus for vehicles is demonstrated using the flowchart of FIG.5 and FIG.6. First, in step S10 shown in FIG. 5, information from the three sensing systems of the external information sensing system, the in-vehicle information sensing system, and the vehicle information sensing system is collected, and in step S20, the stop time Xs of the host vehicle is calculated. . In step S30, the driver (placed) situation is estimated, and in step S40, personal information of the driver is acquired.

  In step S50, the available information that matches the driver's hobbies and preferences is extracted. In step S60, the driver's own vehicle estimated by the scene estimation unit 32 is extracted from the available information extracted in step S50. Select (obtain) information to be provided that matches the situation. In step S70, the information to be provided selected in step S60 is edited into provided content of unit time length.

  In step S80, it is determined whether the host vehicle has stopped due to the stop factor. If an affirmative determination is made in step S80, the provided content editing and output process (FIG. 6) in step S90 is executed. If a negative determination is made, the process proceeds to step S10 and the above-described process is repeated. .

  In the provided content editing & output process of FIG. 6, first, in step S110, it is determined whether or not the stop time Xs is 5 seconds or more. If an affirmative determination is made in step S110, the process proceeds to step S120. On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step S110, the stop time Xs is less than the unit time length, so in step S190, the output of the provided content is prohibited and the process is terminated.

  In step S120, it is determined whether or not the stop time Xs is 5 seconds or more and less than 10 seconds. If a positive determination is made in step S120, the process proceeds to step S140. On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step S120, the stop time Xs is 10 seconds or longer, and thus the process proceeds to step S130. In step S130, this corresponds to the case of (3) 10 seconds <stop time Xs described above. Therefore, editing is performed by combining a plurality of provided contents according to the length of the stop time Xs.

  In step S140, this corresponds to the case of (2) 5 seconds ≦ stop time Xs <10 seconds described above, so it is first determined whether there are a plurality of provided contents. If an affirmative determination is made in step S140, the title menu display of a plurality of provided contents is edited in step S150. On the other hand, when a negative determination is made in step S140, since there is only one provided content, the one provided content is set as an output target in step S160.

  In step S170, the provided content is output. In step S180, it is determined whether the stop time Xs has elapsed after the output of the provided content is started. If an affirmative determination is made in step S180, the output of the provided content is terminated in step S200. On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step S180, the process proceeds to step S190. In step S190, it is determined whether the host vehicle has started. If an affirmative determination is made in step S190, the output of the provided content is terminated in step S200. If a negative determination is made, the process proceeds to step S170 and the above-described process is repeated. When the output of the provided content is finished in step S200, this process is finished.

  As described above, when the own vehicle stops due to a stop factor such as a stop signal of a road machine or a stop of the vehicle ahead of the own vehicle in a traffic jam, the vehicle information providing apparatus of the present embodiment starts from the stop start of the own vehicle. Information relating to the driver of the host vehicle is provided with a length of time based on the stop time Xs until the host vehicle can start by eliminating the stop factor. As a result, the driver's consciousness can be transferred from the stop factor, which is the cause of irritation, to the provided information, so that the driver's irritation can be more effectively eliminated.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  For example, when the driver of the own vehicle finds an interesting facility (building), the facility existing in the driver's line of sight when an operation switch (not shown) is operated is specified, and the vehicle-mounted external communication device 12 is used. The facility information may be acquired from the information center, and the information editing unit 35 may perform editing for adding the title of the facility information to the title menu display.

  As a result, the driver can know the title of the information he / she is interested in from the title menu display. When the driver wants to know detailed information of the title, the driver operates the operation switch to select the title when the title menu display is provided. As a result, the provided content of the selected title is preferentially provided when the host vehicle stops next time due to the stop factor.

  Further, for example, an image captured by the in-vehicle camera 13 may be output as the provided content. As a result, for example, passengers in the rear seat can be displayed, so that the driver can know the state of the infant in the baby seat in the rear seat when the driver stops.

  When the driver is listening to the radio, if there is a driver's favorite song in the radio program, the music information of the song may be stored in the information server. Alternatively, the music information of the song may be acquired from the information center and stored in the information server. This makes it possible to know detailed information such as the title and artist name of the song heard on the radio when the host vehicle is stopped.

  In the present embodiment, the information filtering unit 33 extracts the provable information corresponding to the personal information from the provable information in the information server acquired from the information center. The personal information may be transmitted to the information center, and the information center may extract the provable information corresponding to the personal information, and transmit the extracted provable information to the own vehicle.

  In the present embodiment, the information filtering unit 33 selects (acquires) information to be provided that matches the situation of the driver of the host vehicle from the extracted information that can be provided. This may also be performed at the information center. In that case, the status of the driver of the host vehicle is transmitted to the information center via the in-vehicle external communication device 12, and the driving of the host vehicle is extracted from the provided information extracted by the information center. What is necessary is just to select the information of the provision object suitable for a person's (placed) condition, and to transmit the selected information of the provision object to the own vehicle.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the information editing unit 35 edits the contents of the information to be provided so that the information provided within the stop time Xs is completed for the information to be provided (acquired). However, this may also be performed at the information center. In that case, the stop time Xs is transmitted to the information center via the in-vehicle external communication device 12, and the information center edits the provided content of unit time length, and a plurality of times according to the time length of the stop time Xs. Edit by combining provided content or edit title menu display. Then, the provided content after editing and the data of the title menu display may be transmitted to the host vehicle.

  Moreover, a road device is not restricted to this, For example, the road devices which can communicate, such as a radio wave beacon and an optical beacon, are applicable to this invention.

  The communication means can also use various communication methods such as DSRC and wireless LAN.

It is a whole block diagram of the information provision apparatus for vehicles. It is a figure for demonstrating the stop time Xs which is a time length from the stop start time ts of the own vehicle to the time te when the own vehicle can start by eliminating a stop factor. It is a figure for demonstrating the scene where the own vehicle stops with the stop signal of a roadside machine. It is a figure for demonstrating the scene where the own vehicle stops with the stop of the front vehicle which exists ahead of the own vehicle in a traffic jam. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the information provision apparatus for vehicles. It is a flowchart for demonstrating provision content edit & output processing. It is the figure which showed the example in the case of editing so that the content of provision content (information) may be changed for every unit time. It is the figure which showed the example in the case of editing to the provision content of the same content which is unit time length and each differs in the fineness of information. It is a figure which shows the title menu display which shows the title of provision content.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 External camera 12 In-vehicle external communication device 13 In-vehicle camera 14 Line of sight / speech analysis device 15 Steering angle sensor 16 Brake pedal steering amount detection sensor (brake sensor)
17 Accelerator pedal operation amount detection sensor (Accelerator sensor)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 18 Navigation system 19 Personal information storage apparatus 20 Display apparatus 21 Audio | voice output apparatus 30 Arithmetic apparatus 31 Stop time calculation part 32 Scene estimation part 33 Information filtering part 34 Personal adaptation part 35 Information editing part 36 Display control part 37 Voice control part

Claims (17)

When the host vehicle stops due to a stop factor outside the host vehicle, a stop time from the start of the stop of the host vehicle until the stop factor is eliminated and the host vehicle can start is calculated. Stop time calculation means,
Information acquisition means for acquiring information related to a passenger of the host vehicle;
Stop determination means for determining whether or not the host vehicle has stopped with the stop factor;
An information providing means for providing the information acquired by the information acquisition means to a passenger of the host vehicle with a time length based on the stop time when the stop determination means is determined to have stopped. A vehicle information providing device.   The stop time calculating means is a case where the host vehicle stops due to at least one stop factor of a stop signal of a road unit existing in front of the host vehicle and a stop of the vehicle ahead of the host vehicle in a traffic jam. The vehicle information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stop time is calculated.   The stop time calculating means, when the host vehicle stops due to the stop of the front vehicle in a traffic jam, sets the total start required time of the front vehicle that is stopped ahead of the host vehicle as the stop time. The vehicle information providing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the calculation is included. From the outside of the host vehicle, comprising traffic signal information acquisition means for acquiring traffic signal information including a time length of a stop signal in a road unit existing in front of the host vehicle,
The stop time calculating means cancels the stop signal from the stop start of the host vehicle based on the time length of the stop signal included in the traffic signal information when the host vehicle stops by the stop signal of the road unit. The vehicle information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the actual stop signal time up to and including the stop time is calculated.   The stop time calculation means calculates a required start time of the front vehicle when the host vehicle is stopped by the stop signal of the road device, and when a front vehicle exists between the road device and the host vehicle. The vehicle information providing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the calculation is included in the stop time. Provided information storage means for storing information that can be provided in the host vehicle;
Occupant status estimating means for estimating the status of the occupant from at least one of the driving state of the occupant and the atmosphere in the passenger compartment of the host vehicle;
Personal information storage means for storing personal information including at least one of hobbies and preferences of the occupant;
Information extraction means for extracting information corresponding to the personal information from the information that can be provided stored in the provision information storage means,
The information acquisition means acquires information corresponding to the occupant status estimated by the occupant status estimation means from the information extracted by the information extraction means as information relating to the occupant of the own vehicle. The vehicle information providing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. When the provision of information is started at the timing when the stop determination unit determines that it has stopped, the content of the information acquired by the information acquisition unit is set so that the content of the provided information is completed within the stop time. It has information editing means to edit,
The vehicle information providing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the information providing unit provides the information edited by the information editing unit.   8. The vehicle information providing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the information editing unit edits the information so that the content of the information is changed every preset unit time.   The information editing unit edits each information acquired by the information acquisition unit so that the provision time length of the information becomes the unit time length, and the contents of the information edited in the unit time length are sequentially updated. The vehicular information providing device according to claim 8, wherein the vehicular information providing device is combined in a different manner.   The vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the information editing unit edits the information having the same content acquired by the information acquiring unit so that the details of the information are changed every preset unit time. Information provision device.   The information editing means edits the information with the same content into a plurality of pieces of information with the same provision time length as the unit time length and different information details, and the unit time length. 11. The vehicle information providing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein a plurality of pieces of edited information having the same contents are combined so that the details of the information are sequentially different.   The vehicle information providing apparatus according to claim 9 or 11, wherein the information providing unit prohibits providing information when a time length of the stop time is less than the unit time length.   8. The vehicle information providing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the information editing unit edits a menu display indicating a title of information acquired by the information acquiring unit.   The said information provision means provides the said menu display, when the time length of the said stop time is less than the provision time length which only provides the information of the unit time length set beforehand. Item 14. The vehicle information providing device according to Item 13. From the menu display, comprising a title selection means for selecting a title of information to be provided when the host vehicle stops next time with the stop factor,
15. The information providing unit preferentially provides information on a title selected by the title selection unit when the host vehicle stops next time due to the stop factor. Vehicle information providing device. The information acquisition means includes facility information acquisition means for acquiring information of a facility watched by a passenger of the host vehicle,
The vehicle information according to any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein the information editing unit performs editing to add a title of facility information acquired by the facility information acquiring unit to the menu display. Providing device.   The information providing means includes information for prompting the occupant to start starting the vehicle along with the information acquired by the information acquisition unit from a certain time before the timing at which the vehicle can start. The vehicular information providing device according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the vehicular information providing device is provided.

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