JP2008217218A - Accident information acquisition system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To sufficient perform accident information acquisition. <P>SOLUTION: This accident information acquisition system 1 has: an accident detection part 3; an accident information recording device 4 equipped in a vehicle, recording accident information of one'own vehicle; and an accident information acquisition device 8 provided in a center 7. The accident information recording device 4 notifies the accident information acquisition device 8 about the accident information recorded by itself when the accident detection device 3 of the own vehicle detects a vehicle accident, and notifies the accident information recording device 4 equipped in a peripheral vehicle about a work request. The accident information recording device 4 of the peripheral device starts work of the accident information recording device 4 of the own vehicle when receiving the work request, and allows communication with the accident information acquisition device 8. The accident information acquisition device 8 communicates with the accident information recording device of the peripheral vehicle receiving the work request notification to record the accident information recorded by the accident information recording device 4 of the peripheral vehicle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an accident information acquisition system for acquiring vehicle accident information for verification of the cause of a vehicle accident.

  In recent years, as a technology for recording or acquiring vehicle accident information, a drive recorder that detects the occurrence of a vehicle accident by an accident detection means such as an impact detection sensor and records a peripheral video (still image) several tens of seconds before the occurrence of the accident occurrence is detected. It has been known. In this drive recorder, image information from only one direction can be obtained by a fixed photographing device, and the state of a signal, which is important when verifying the cause of an accident, is not always included in the photographing range.

Therefore, a system for acquiring peripheral information at the time of an accident from a peripheral recording device has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 1). In this system, an accident vehicle sends an image data transmission request to a recording device of a surrounding vehicle (or roadside) within a predetermined distance range. Send to accident vehicle or server.
JP 2006-293558 A

  However, in the above system, the accident information recorded by the accident vehicle itself is not transmitted to the outside, and therefore there is a possibility that the accident information record data of the accident vehicle itself cannot be acquired depending on the degree of the accident. Further, the accident vehicle calculates the distance relationship with the surrounding vehicle, communicates with the surrounding vehicle within the predetermined distance range, and obtains accident information from the surrounding vehicle. In this case, depending on the accident level of the accident vehicle, it may be difficult to control the distance measurement by communication with the surrounding vehicle or to determine the surrounding vehicle to get the accident information. Accident information from the vehicle may not be stored, and the control burden for acquiring the accident information in the accident vehicle is generally large, and there is a problem that the accident information collection is not sufficient. In addition, the communication range from the accident vehicle to the surrounding vehicle is limited, which is also a factor that the accident information acquisition is not sufficient.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said situation, The objective is to provide the accident information acquisition system which can fully perform accident information acquisition.

  In the invention of claim 1, when the accident detection means detects a vehicle accident, the accident information recording means recorded in the facility other than the vehicle is automatically recorded in the accident information recording means recorded by the accident information recording means of the accident vehicle. Since the notification is made, the loss of the accident information record data of the accident vehicle itself can be prevented. And the accident information recording means of the said accident vehicle notifies an operation request | requirement with respect to the accident information recording means with which the surrounding vehicle was equipped. Upon receiving this notification, the surrounding vehicle starts the accident information recording operation and quickly records the accident information. And the accident information acquisition means can communicate with the accident information recording means of the surrounding vehicle that has received the operation request notification, and can acquire accident information recording data from the accident information recording means of the surrounding vehicle. As a result, the accident information of the accident vehicle and surrounding vehicles can be collectively acquired by an accident information acquisition means provided in a facility other than the vehicle, for example, the center, and the accident information can be sufficiently collected and acquired. It is possible to reduce the control burden of the accident information recording means.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the accident related information for determining the contents of the accident information before the accident information recording means of the surrounding vehicle that has received the operation request notifies the accident information acquisition means of the recorded accident information. To the accident information acquisition means, and the accident information acquisition means determines whether or not the accident information recording means needs the accident information from the accident related information. Accident information of the accident information recording means of the surrounding vehicles is acquired. Thereby, only the accident information required for accident cause verification can be acquired.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the accident information acquisition means determines whether there is another vehicle outside the communication area from the accident vehicle, and when there is a vehicle outside the area, the vehicle outside the area Because accident information is acquired from the accident information recording means, it is possible to acquire accident information in a wide area outside the communication area from the accident vehicle, increase the amount of accident memory information acquisition, and further verify the cause of the accident It is valid.

  In this case, the accident information acquisition means determines whether there is another vehicle outside the accident vehicle communication area, and if there is a vehicle outside the area, the accident information recording means of the vehicle outside the area Relevant information is acquired, and from the acquired accident related information, the necessity of the accident information of the accident information recording means is determined. When the necessity is determined, the accident information of the accident information recording means is In this case, only accident information necessary for accident cause verification can be acquired from the accident information recording means of the vehicle outside the area.

In the invention of claim 5, since the accident information recording means includes an imaging device, and the accident information includes imaging information, imaging information that is extremely effective for accident cause verification is obtained as accident information. be able to.
In the invention of claim 6, since the accident related information includes own vehicle position information, imaging direction, own vehicle traveling direction, etc., the accident related information for determining the validity of the accident information. As a result, optimum information can be obtained.
In the invention of claim 7, since the accident information recording means is provided not only in the vehicle but also in the roadside equipment, the amount of accident information can be increased.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the accident information acquisition system 1 according to the present invention is mounted on an accident detection unit 3 corresponding to an accident detection means mounted on vehicles 2 a to 2 c (see FIG. 2) and also on vehicles 2 a to 2 c. Accident information recording device 4 as an accident information recording means, an accident information recording device 6 provided in a roadside facility 5 such as a traffic light, and an accident information acquisition provided in a center 7 such as a facility other than a vehicle such as a server It comprises an accident information acquisition device 8 as a means.
The vehicle 2a indicates an accident vehicle for convenience, the vehicle 2b indicates a surrounding vehicle, and the vehicle 2c indicates an out-of-area vehicle (hereinafter referred to as a secondary surrounding vehicle) outside the communication area with the accident vehicle 2a.

  The accident detection unit 3 detects that a vehicle accident has occurred in the vehicle. Specifically, for example, a pressure (strain) sensor is provided in the body of the vehicle, and the occurrence of an accident is detected when the pressure applied to the body detected by the pressure sensor is a value greater than a certain value. . Alternatively, the operation of an ABS (Anti-lock Brake System) provided in the vehicle may be detected, and the operation of the ABS may be used to detect a vehicle accident. Similarly, a vehicle accident may be detected based on the operation of an airbag provided in the vehicle, information acquired by an acceleration sensor or a fall sensor (gyro sensor), and the like.

  The accident information recording device 4 mounted on the vehicles 2 a to 2 c includes a control unit 9, a communication unit 10, an imaging device 11, and a vehicle information acquisition unit 12. The control unit 9 controls the entire recording operation and includes a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM. The communication unit 10 is configured to be able to communicate with a communication unit (described later) of another vehicle and the center 7 using an ad hoc network (communication network such as Bluetooth, DSRC, infrared ray, mobile phone, etc.).

The imaging device 11 includes an imaging unit 11a such as a camera and a recording unit 11b such as a memory, and records an image or video captured by the imaging unit 11a in the recording unit 11b.
The vehicle information acquisition unit 12 obtains own vehicle position information using a GPS receiver or the like, and can acquire various information such as the traveling direction of the vehicle, the imaging direction of the imaging unit 11a, time information, and own vehicle ID information. It is configured. Such vehicle information corresponds to accident-related information.

  The accident information recording device 6 provided in the roadside equipment 5 has substantially the same configuration as the accident information recording device 4, and includes a control unit 13, a communication unit 14, and an imaging device 15. However, the vehicle information acquisition unit 12 is not provided. The imaging device 15 includes an imaging unit 15a and a recording unit 15b. In the accident information recording device 6, equipment specific information (position information of the roadside equipment 5 and imaging direction information) and the like are recorded as accident related information in the memory of the control unit 13.

  The accident information acquisition device 8 provided in the center 7 includes a control unit 16, a communication unit 17, and a storage unit 18. The control unit 16 controls the entire accident information acquisition operation, and includes a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM. In addition to this, the control unit 16 functions as an accident related information acquisition unit (described later) and also functions as a determination unit (described later). The communication unit 17 can communicate with the communication units 10 and 14.

The storage unit 18 is composed of a large-capacity memory such as a hard disk drive, and stores the acquired accident information.
Hereinafter, processing executed by the accident information acquisition system 1 will be described. This process is a process executed when a vehicle accident occurs in the vehicle 2a as shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a situation where an accident occurs due to vehicles contacting each other at an intersection. As shown in FIG. 2, when a vehicle accident occurs, a plurality of surrounding vehicles 2b and roadside equipment 5 are located within the communication area E of the communication unit 10 included in the accident vehicle 2a. It is assumed that the secondary peripheral vehicle 2c is located outside.

  Hereinafter, the process flow of the accident information acquisition system 1 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 to 5 and the sequence diagram of FIG. 6. In this case, the accident information recording device 4 of the accident vehicle 2a (hereinafter abbreviated as the accident side recording device 4a), the accident information recording device 4 of the peripheral vehicle 2b (hereinafter abbreviated as the peripheral side recording device 4b), the center 7 will mainly be described.

First, processing in the accident vehicle 2a in which a vehicle accident has occurred will be described.
The accident detection unit 3 detects that an accident has occurred in the host vehicle, and this detection signal is input to the accident-side recording device 4a. The control unit 9 determines this (step P1). And the control part 9 of the accident side recording apparatus 4a of the accident vehicle 2a acquires vehicle information as accident related information by the vehicle information acquisition part 12 (step P2). Then, the operation (imaging and recording) of the accident side recording device 4a is started (step P3). Then, it notifies the accident information acquisition device 8 of the center 7 that an accident has occurred (step P4). The accident occurrence notification includes the accident related information (vehicle information such as own vehicle position information, vehicle traveling direction, imaging direction of the imaging unit 11a, time information, own vehicle ID information).

Then, the operation request is notified to the peripheral recording device 4b of the peripheral vehicle 2b (and the accident information recording device 6 of the roadside equipment 5) (step P5). Further, the accident information record data obtained by the imaging device 11 is transmitted to the accident information acquisition device 8 of the center 7 (step P6).
In the peripheral recording device 4b, the control unit 9 of the peripheral recording device 4b operates as shown in FIG. When an operation request is received from the accident side recording device 4a (step S1), the accident related information of the own vehicle is acquired and the operation of the recording device is started (step S2). And it notifies that there was an operation demand to accident information acquisition device 8 of center 7 (Step S3). Note that the notification content in this case also includes own vehicle information (own vehicle position information, vehicle traveling direction, imaging direction of the imaging unit 11a, time information, own vehicle ID information) that is accident-related information.

  Next, if there is a transmission request for accident information record data from the accident information acquisition device 8 of the center 7 (“YES” in step S4), it is determined whether or not the user has input transmission permission from an input means (not shown) ( Step S5) If there is such an input, the accident information record data is transmitted to the accident information acquisition device 8 of the center 7 (Step S6).

  Next, in the accident information acquisition apparatus 8 of the center 7, the control unit 16 operates as shown in FIG. It should be noted that the accident information acquisition device 8 of the center 7 is operating with respect to the peripheral recording device 4b (and the accident information recording device 6 of the roadside facility 5) requested by the accident recording device 4a. Can be confirmed.

  When an accident occurrence notification is received from the accident recording device 4a (step T1), accident related information is acquired from the peripheral recording device 4b (step T2). Then, communication with the secondary surrounding vehicle 2c is attempted outside the communication area of the accident vehicle 2a, and it is determined whether or not the secondary surrounding vehicle 2c is present based on whether or not communication with the secondary surrounding vehicle 2c is established ( Step T3).

  If there is a secondary peripheral vehicle 2c, it is determined whether or not it is necessary to acquire accident information from the secondary peripheral vehicle 2c (step T4). In this case, for example, if the traveling direction of the secondary peripheral vehicle is the direction of the accident site, it is determined that there is a need to acquire accident information. If the direction is away from the accident site, there is no need to acquire the accident information. judge.

  When it is determined that there is a necessity (step T5), the information is recorded on the accident information recording device 4 (hereinafter abbreviated as the secondary peripheral recording device 4c) of the secondary peripheral vehicle 2c that is recognized as necessary. An apparatus operation request is transmitted (notified) (step T6). In this case, a command for specifying an imaging direction or the like may be included. At this time, the secondary peripheral recording device 4c receives this command and transmits vehicle information to the accident information acquisition device 8 of the center 7 as accident related information.

Then, from the accident related information from the peripheral recording device 4b and the secondary peripheral recording device 4c, it is determined whether or not the accident information recording data predicted by each device 4b and 4c is necessary, and it is determined that there is a necessity. The determined device is determined as a partner device that requests data transmission (step T7).
Then, the accident information recording data is acquired and stored from the accident side recording device 4a (step T8). Then, an accident information recording data transmission request is notified to the determined counterpart device (peripheral recording device 4b, secondary peripheral recording device 4c recognized as necessary) (step T9), and the accident information recording is performed from the counterpart device. Data is acquired and stored (step T10).

  The accident information recording device 6 of the roadside equipment 5 existing in the communication area of the accident vehicle 2a operates in the same manner as the peripheral recording device 4b of the surrounding vehicle 2b, and acquires accident information of the accident side recording device 4a and the center 7. Communication is performed in the same manner as the device 8, and accident information record data (this may include data of the lighting color of the signal at the time of the accident) is transmitted to the accident information acquisition device 8 of the center 7, and the accident information acquisition device 8 The data is acquired. However, the accident information recording device 6 of the roadside equipment 5 stores the position information of the own equipment and the imaging direction information in the memory of the control unit 13 as accident related information.

  According to such a present Example, when the accident detection part 3 detects a vehicle accident, the accident side recording device 4a (accident information recording device 4 of the vehicle 2a) records the accident information recording data other than a vehicle by itself. Since the accident information acquisition device 8 provided in the center 7 is automatically notified, the loss of recorded data of the accident information of the accident vehicle 2a itself can be prevented. Then, the accident side recording apparatus 4a notifies the operation request to the peripheral recording apparatus 4b provided in the peripheral vehicle 2b. The surrounding vehicle 2b that has received this notification starts the accident information recording operation and quickly records the accident information. The accident information acquisition device 8 of the center 7 can communicate with the peripheral recording device 4b that has received the operation request notification and acquire accident information recording data from the peripheral recording device 4b. As a result, the accident information recording data of the accident vehicle 2a and the surrounding vehicle 2b can be acquired at once by the accident information acquisition device 8 provided in the center 7, and the accident information can be sufficiently collected and acquired. The control burden on the side recording device 4a can be reduced.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, before the peripheral recording device 4b that has received the operation request notifies the accident information acquisition device 8 of the center 7 of the accident information recording data, an accident for determining the accident information content is detected. Relevant information is notified to the accident information acquisition device 8, and the accident information acquisition device 8 determines whether or not the accident information recording data of the peripheral recording device 4b is necessary from the accident related information. When the determination is made, the accident information data of the peripheral recording device 4b is acquired. Thereby, only accident information record data required for accident cause verification can be acquired from the surrounding vehicle 4b.

  In the present embodiment, the accident information acquisition device 8 of the center 7 determines whether or not there is another vehicle (secondary peripheral vehicle 2c) outside the communication area of the accident vehicle 2a. When there is a next peripheral vehicle 2c, the accident information recording data of the accident information recording device 4 of the secondary peripheral vehicle 2c is acquired, so the accident information recording data is acquired in a wide range outside the communication area of the accident vehicle 2a. It is possible to increase the amount of accident information record data, which is more effective for accident cause verification.

  In this case, the accident information acquisition device 8 acquires accident-related information from the accident information recording device 4 of the secondary peripheral vehicle 2c, and the accident information recording data of the accident information recording device 4 is obtained from the acquired accident-related information. When the necessity information is determined, and the necessity information is determined, the accident information recording data of the accident information recording device 4 is acquired. From the accident information recording device 4 of the secondary peripheral vehicle 2c, Only accident information record data necessary for accident cause verification can be acquired.

Moreover, according to the present Example, since the accident information recording apparatus 6 is provided also in roadside equipment other than a vehicle, the amount of accident information can be increased.
Further, according to the present embodiment, the accident information recording device 4 includes the imaging device 11, and the accident information recording data includes the imaging information recording data. Therefore, the accident information recording data is extremely useful for verifying the cause of the accident. Effective imaging information recording data can be obtained. In addition, as accident information recording data, an audio | voice is recorded by audio | voice input of a user etc., and this audio recording data is good also as accident information recording data.

Further, in the peripheral recording device 4b, the data transmission request from the accident information acquisition device 8 of the center 7 can be permitted and not permitted by the user, and convenience is improved.
Further, according to the present embodiment, the accident related information includes the own vehicle position information, the imaging direction, the own vehicle traveling direction, etc., so as accident related information for determining the effectiveness of the accident information, Optimal information can be obtained.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and may be modified as follows. For example, the direction of the imaging unit may be operated by the accident information acquisition means at the center based on the positional relationship between the accident vehicle and the surrounding vehicle and the imaging content. In order to prevent multiple accidents, the accident information acquisition means of the center may change the operation request contents to the accident information recording means of the surrounding vehicles or enhance the communication strength from the positional relationship of the accident vehicle. The vehicle accident includes not only an accident between vehicles such as an automobile but also an accident between a car and a person.

Functional block diagram of an accident information acquisition system showing an embodiment of the present invention Schematic diagram of the accident site Flow chart of control content of accident information recording device for accident vehicle Flowchart of control contents of accident information recording device for surrounding vehicles Flow chart of control contents of center accident record information acquisition device Control sequence between accident vehicle, surrounding vehicles and center

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 1 is an accident information acquisition system, 2a is an accident vehicle, 2b is a surrounding vehicle, 2c is a secondary surrounding vehicle, 3 is an accident detection unit (accident detection means), and 4 is an accident information recording device (accident information recording means). 5 is roadside equipment, 6 is an accident information recording device (accident information recording means), 7 is a center (equipment other than a vehicle), 8 is an accident information acquisition device (accident information acquisition means), 9 is a control unit, and 10 is communication 11, an imaging device, 12 a vehicle information acquisition unit, 13 a control unit, 14 a communication unit, 15 an imaging device, 16 a control unit, 17 a communication unit, and 18 a storage unit.

Claims (7)

Accident detection means for detecting the occurrence of a vehicle accident in the host vehicle,
An accident information recording means for recording accident information of the own vehicle provided in the vehicle;
Accident information acquisition means provided in equipment other than the vehicle and capable of communicating with the accident information recording means,
The accident information recording means notifies the accident information acquisition means of the accident information recorded by itself when the accident detection means of the own vehicle detects a vehicle accident, and the accident information recording means provided in the surrounding vehicle. Notify the activation request,
The accident information recording means of the surrounding vehicle starts operation of the accident information recording means of the own vehicle upon receiving the operation request, and enables communication with the accident information acquisition means.
The accident information acquisition means is capable of acquiring accident information recorded by the accident information recording means of the surrounding vehicle by communicating with the accident information recording means of the surrounding vehicle that has received the operation request notification. Accident information acquisition system. In the accident information acquisition system according to claim 1,
The accident information recording means of the surrounding vehicle that has received the operation request notifies the accident information acquisition means of accident-related information for determining accident information contents before notifying the accident information acquisition means of the recorded accident information,
The accident information acquisition means determines whether or not the accident information of the accident information recording means is necessary from the accident related information, and when it is determined to be necessary, the accident information of the accident information recording means of the surrounding vehicle Accident information acquisition system characterized by acquiring In the accident information acquisition system according to claim 1 or 2,
The accident information acquisition means determines whether there is another vehicle outside the communication area from the accident vehicle. If there is a vehicle outside the area, the accident information recording means of the accident information recording means of the vehicle outside the area Accident information acquisition system characterized by acquisition. In the accident information acquisition system according to claim 3,
The accident information acquisition means determines whether or not there is another vehicle outside the accident vehicle communication area, and if there is a vehicle outside the area, the accident related information is obtained from the accident information recording means of the vehicle outside the area. Acquire, from the acquired accident-related information, determine whether the accident information recording means needs the accident information, and acquire the accident information of the accident information recording means when the necessity is determined Accident information acquisition system characterized by In the accident information acquisition system according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The accident information recording means includes an imaging device,
The accident information acquisition system characterized in that the accident information recorded by the accident information recording means includes imaging information. In the accident information acquisition system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The accident information acquisition system characterized in that the accident related information includes own vehicle position information, imaging direction, own vehicle traveling direction, and the like. In the accident information acquisition system according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The accident information acquisition system, wherein the accident information recording means is provided not only in the vehicle but also in the roadside equipment.

Images