JP2011034292A - Surrounding monitor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a surrounding monitor accurately authenticating a specific person, and reducing a load of a battery. <P>SOLUTION: The surrounding monitor includes a system control part 7 that associates registration information of a registration user authenticated by a user authentication part 8 with a person detected by a non-contact detection device 3 to associate a specific person with a detected person, and uses the non-contact detection device 3 to monitor the person associated by the system control part 7. Accordingly, an inactive surrounding imaging device 4 can be turned off. The non-contact detection device 3 can reduce power consumption as compared to the surrounding imaging device 4. The authentication is performed by the surrounding imaging device 4 that acquires a large amount of information, thereby preventing the registration user from being wrongly determined as a suspicious person. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a periphery monitoring device that monitors the periphery of a monitoring object.

  Conventionally, as a periphery monitoring device that monitors the periphery of a monitored object, a storage unit that stores a table associating a situation around the vehicle with a corresponding monitoring operation / preventive action operation and a current situation around the vehicle are determined. There is known a situation determination unit that includes a control unit that refers to a table based on a determination result of the situation determination unit and controls a vehicle monitoring operation / preventive action. In this peripheral monitoring device, when the approach of a person within a predetermined range from the vehicle is detected by the radar, the camera is activated to monitor the behavior of the person, and the camera image confirms that the person is not an authorized user of the vehicle If this happens, a warning is issued (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2006-117121 A

  In the periphery monitoring apparatus as described above, when a suspicious person is monitored by a camera, a large amount of electric power is required, which causes a problem that a load on the battery of the vehicle increases. On the other hand, when monitoring is performed only with a non-contact detection sensor such as a radar, it is possible to perform monitoring with low power. However, it is difficult to authenticate a specific person, and an authorized registered user approaches the vehicle. However, there was a possibility of misclassifying as a suspicious person.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a peripheral monitoring device capable of accurately authenticating a specific person and reducing the load on the battery.

  The present invention relates to a non-contact detection means for detecting a person existing in or around a monitoring object in a non-contact manner, an authentication means for authenticating a specific person, and a specification authenticated by the authentication means. An association means for associating the person and the person detected by the non-contact detection means is provided, and the person associated by the association means is monitored by the non-contact detection means.

  The periphery monitoring apparatus includes an association unit that associates a specific person (registered user or the like) authenticated by the authentication unit with a person detected by the non-contact detection unit, and the person associated by the association unit is a non-contact detection unit. Can be monitored by. Therefore, while the non-contact detection means is monitoring, it is possible to turn off the power of the imaging means and biometric authentication means that are not monitoring. By monitoring with non-contact detection means, power consumption can be reduced compared to imaging means, biometric authentication means, etc., and authentication is performed based on information from the imaging means, biometric authentication means, etc. that can acquire a large amount of information. Therefore, it can be prevented that a legitimate registered user is mistakenly identified as a suspicious person. As described above, it is possible to accurately authenticate a specific person and reduce the load on the battery.

  In the periphery monitoring device according to the present invention, the authentication unit can use an imaging unit.

  Moreover, in the periphery monitoring apparatus according to the present invention, it is preferable that after the person is detected by the non-contact detection unit, the imaging unit images the person and the authentication unit authenticates the specific person. As a result, when a person approaches an object to be monitored from the outside, the imaging unit is activated, and after the authentication is performed, the imaging unit is turned off, and monitoring can be performed only by the non-contact detection unit. Thus, for example, when a registered user is caring or washing a vehicle (monitored object) parked in a home parking lot, or when a registered user's family is near the vehicle, work that is not related to the vehicle (washing or playing) In the case of performing the case, it is possible to prevent the image pickup means from being operated unnecessarily and consuming electric power.

  Moreover, in the periphery monitoring apparatus according to the present invention, after the imaging unit images a person in the monitoring object and the authentication unit authenticates the specific person, the non-contact detection unit goes out of the monitoring object. Preferably, a person is detected and monitored. In this way, since a person can be imaged and authenticated in advance in the monitored object, for example, a person tries to leave the vehicle (monitored object) and leave the vehicle, but takes a forgotten object, etc. In the situation of returning to the vehicle, the person can be monitored only by the non-contact detection means without activating the imaging means provided outside the vehicle.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, while identifying a specific person correctly, the load of a battery can be reduced.

It is the figure which showed the block configuration of the periphery monitoring apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. An operation of the periphery monitoring device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. It is the figure which looked at the vehicle provided with the periphery monitoring apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention from upper direction. It is the figure which looked at the vehicle provided with the periphery monitoring apparatus which concerns on a modification from upper direction.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a driving support apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  First, the configuration of the periphery monitoring device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a block configuration of a periphery monitoring device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The periphery monitoring device 1 has a function of monitoring a person approaching the vicinity of the vehicle (monitoring object) and performing a warning or notification by determining whether the person is a registered user or a suspicious person. . As shown in FIG. 1, the periphery monitoring device 1 includes an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 2, a non-contact detection device (non-contact detection means) 3, a peripheral imaging device (imaging means) 4, and an alarm / notification device 6. It is configured.

  The non-contact detection device 3 has a function of detecting a person in the surrounding area of the vehicle, which is a monitoring object, or in the object in a non-contact manner. And radio wave radar. In the present embodiment, the “peripheral region” is a detection region F1 that is a detectable range of the non-contact detection device 3 and the peripheral imaging device 4 (see FIG. 3). The non-contact detection device 3 can mainly detect presence / absence information of a person existing in the detection region F1 and position information of the person. The non-contact detection device 3 has a smaller amount of information that can be detected than the peripheral imaging device 4, but can operate with lower power than the peripheral imaging device 4. The non-contact detection device 3 has a function of outputting the detected information to the system control unit 7 and the suspicious person determination unit 9 of the ECU 2.

  The peripheral imaging device 4 has a function of capturing an image of a person existing in the peripheral region of the vehicle that is the monitoring target, that is, the detection region F1, and is configured by, for example, imaging elements provided at the front and rear and the left and right in the upper part of the vehicle. Has been. The peripheral imaging device 4 consumes more power than the non-contact detection device 3, but has a large amount of information that can be detected, and can be used to determine whether a person is registered by using a captured image. it can. The peripheral imaging device 4 outputs the acquired image to the user authentication unit 8 and the suspicious person determination unit 9 of the ECU 2 and receives the ON / OFF signal from the system control unit 7 so that the power is turned on / off. have.

  The alarm / notification device 6 has a function of issuing an alarm when a suspicious person approaches the vehicle and notifying the user of the alarm, and specifically includes an alarm device and a communication device. The alarm / notification device 6 is activated and paused by receiving an ON / OFF signal from the system control unit 7 of the ECU 2.

  The ECU 2 is an electronic control unit that controls the entire periphery monitoring device 1. The ECU 2 is composed mainly of a CPU, for example, and includes a ROM, a RAM, an input signal circuit, an output signal circuit, a power supply circuit, and the like. The ECU 2 includes a system control unit (association unit) 7, a user authentication unit (authentication unit) 8, and a suspicious person determination unit 9.

  The system control unit 7 has a function of determining whether or not a person is present in the detection area F1 of the non-contact detection device 3 and the peripheral imaging device 4 (see FIG. 3). Further, the system control unit 7 has a function of turning on / off the power of the peripheral imaging device 4 by outputting an ON / OFF signal to the peripheral imaging device 4, and outputs a control signal to the alarm / notification device 6. The alarm / notification device 6 is activated. In addition, the system control unit 7 associates the user information of the authenticated specific person, that is, the registered user, with the position information of the person detected by the non-contact detection device 3, so that the specific person and the non-contact detection device 3 It has a function of associating with a detected person.

  The user authentication unit 8 has a function of authenticating a specific person based on the imaging information output from the peripheral imaging device 4. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the person in the detection area F1 imaged by the peripheral imaging device 4 is a registered user (specific person) registered in advance in a memory or the like. For example, the user authentication unit 8 compares the image information of the face of the person imaged by the peripheral imaging device 4 with the image information of the face of the registered user stored in advance in a memory or the like, thereby detecting the detected person. Authenticate that you are a specific registered user.

  The suspicious person determination unit 9 has a function of determining whether or not a person is a suspicious person based on information from the non-contact detection device 3 and the peripheral imaging device 4. Specifically, the suspicious person determination unit 9 determines whether or not the person is a suspicious person by comparing the behavior or stagnation time unique to the suspicious person stored in advance with the behavior or stagnation time of the detected person. be able to.

  Next, with reference to FIG.2 and FIG.3, operation | movement of the periphery monitoring apparatus 1 which concerns on embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control process in the periphery monitoring device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a view of a vehicle including the periphery monitoring device 1 according to the present embodiment as viewed from above. The process shown in FIG. 2 is repeatedly executed at a predetermined timing in the ECU 2 while the vehicle is stopped.

  First, as shown in FIG. 2, the system control unit 7 determines whether or not a person is present in the detection area F1 (step S10). Specifically, it is determined whether or not a person exists in the detection region F1 by referring to detection information from the non-contact detection device 3, that is, presence / absence information of the person. As shown in FIG. 3, for example, when persons P1 and P2 are detected, it is determined that they exist. If it is determined in S10 that it does not exist, the process returns to S10 again, and the process of S10 is repeatedly executed until a person is detected in the detection area F1.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in S10 that there is a person in the detection area F1, the system control unit 7 activates the peripheral imaging device 4 (step S12). Specifically, the system control unit 7 turns on the peripheral imaging device 4 by outputting an ON signal. Thereby, the peripheral imaging device 4 acquires image information of the persons P1 and P2 existing in the detection area F1. Next, the user authentication unit 8 authenticates whether or not the persons P1 and P2 in the detection area F1 are registered users (step S14). In this process, even if not all of the detected persons P1 and P2 are registered users, it can be determined that “the detected person is a registered user” if only one person can be authenticated. Alternatively, it may be determined that “the detected person is a registered user” only when all the detected persons P1 and P2 are registered users.

  In S14, when the registered user is authenticated for the detected person, the system control unit 7 associates the registered user authenticated in S14 with the persons P1 and P2 detected by the non-contact detection device 3 (step S16). ). Specifically, the association is performed by associating the user information of the specific person authenticated in S14, that is, the user information of the registered user and the position information of the persons P1 and P2 detected by the non-contact detection device 3. As a result, as long as the non-contact detection device 3 detects the person, the persons P1 and P2 moving in the detection area F1 can be continuously recognized as registered users. When the linking in S16 is completed, the system control unit 7 outputs an OFF signal and turns off the peripheral imaging device 4 (step S18). As a result, the persons P1 and P2 can be continuously monitored only by the non-contact detection device 3. Next, the system control unit 7 determines whether or not the monitored persons P1 and P2 are out of the detection area F1 (step S20). In S20, when it is determined that the persons P1 and P2 exist within the detection range F1, the processes of S18 and S20 are repeated again, and monitoring is performed only by the non-contact detection device 3 continuously. On the other hand, if it is determined in S20 that the persons P1 and P2 are outside the detection range F1, the linking of the monitored persons P1 and P2 is released, the control process shown in FIG. 2 is terminated, and the process from S10 is performed again. To start. When a plurality of persons are being monitored, when the person goes out of the detection area F1 of one person, only the person is released from the association, and other persons existing in the detection area F1 are continuously contactless. Monitoring by the detection device 3 is performed.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S14 that the persons P1 and P2 in the detection area F1 cannot be authenticated and are not registered users registered in advance, the suspicious person determination unit 9 determines from the non-contact detection device 3 and the peripheral imaging device 4 Based on the information, it is determined whether or not the person is a suspicious person (step S22). Specifically, in S22, whether or not the person is a suspicious person is determined by comparing the behavior and stagnation time unique to the suspicious person stored in advance with the behavior and stagnation time of the detected persons P1 and P2. For example, a person who merely crosses the vicinity of the vehicle or a person who simply stands near the vehicle is determined not to be a suspicious person. If it is determined in S22 that the person is not a suspicious person, the control process shown in FIG. 2 ends, and the process starts again from S10. On the other hand, if it is determined in S22 that the person is a suspicious person, the system control unit 7 gives an alarm to the suspicious person via the alarm / notification device 6, and the suspicious person is notified to a registered user in a remote place. Notification that the vehicle is approaching is performed (step S24). When the process of S24 ends, the control process shown in FIG. 2 ends, and the process starts again from S10.

  As described above, according to the periphery monitoring device 1 according to the present embodiment, the registration information of the registered user authenticated by the user authentication unit 8 and the person detected by the non-contact detection device 3 are associated with each other. The system control unit 7 for associating the detected person with the detected person can be monitored by the non-contact detection device 3. Therefore, while the non-contact detection device 3 is monitoring, the power of the peripheral imaging device 4 that is not monitoring can be turned off. By monitoring with the non-contact detection device 3, power consumption can be suppressed as compared with the peripheral imaging device 4, and authentication is performed based on imaging information from the peripheral imaging device 4 with a large amount of information that can be acquired. It can suppress misregistering a registered user as a suspicious person. As described above, it is possible to accurately authenticate the registered user and reduce the load on the battery.

  In addition, the peripheral imaging device 4 detects the person by the non-contact detection device 3, the peripheral imaging device 4 captures the person, and the system control unit 7 authenticates the registered user, so that the vehicle is externally applied to the vehicle. The peripheral imaging device 4 is activated when a person approaches, and after the authentication is performed, the peripheral imaging device 4 can be turned off and monitoring can be performed only by the non-contact detection device 3. This allows, for example, a registered user to care for or wash a vehicle parked in a home parking lot, or for a registered user's family to work unrelated to the vehicle (such as washing or playing) near the vehicle. In this case, it is possible to prevent the peripheral imaging device 4 from being unnecessarily activated and consuming power.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above.

  In the above-described embodiment, the peripheral imaging device provided in the upper part of the vehicle is applied as the imaging means, but instead of this, a vehicle interior imaging device (imaging means) 20 installed in the vehicle interior is applied as shown in FIG. May be. In this embodiment, the in-vehicle imaging device 20 authenticates the person as a legitimate user, and in the situation shown in FIG. 4A, the position of the person is estimated from the opening and closing of the door, and the non-contact detection device 3 By associating with the position information, the authenticated user and the person detected by the non-contact detection device 3 can be associated with each other, and the person can be monitored by the non-contact detection device 3. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4B, even when the person P1 tries to go out of the vehicle and leave the vehicle, but returns to the vehicle to take things left behind, the imaging device outside the vehicle is used. The person P1 can be monitored only by the non-contact detection device 3 without being activated.

  When the user's discrimination result by the imaging device is used as unlocking permission information for the vehicle door, the user can unlock (re-ride) without waiting time by eliminating the time required for starting the imaging device.

  In this embodiment, the user authentication unit authenticates a specific person using a peripheral imaging device that is an imaging unit. Instead, biometric authentication units such as fingerprint authentication and voiceprint authentication during boarding are used. It may be used to authenticate a specific person. As a result, authentication can be performed by the biometric authentication means, the authentication result and the detection result of the non-contact detection means can be linked, and person monitoring after getting off can be performed.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the case of person monitoring for a vehicle has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to person monitoring of a home, office, city, airport, station, etc. in addition to the vehicle.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Perimeter monitoring apparatus, 3 ... Non-contact detection apparatus (non-contact detection means), 4 ... Peripheral imaging device (imaging means), 7 ... System control part (association means), 8 ... User authentication part (authentication means), 20 ... In-vehicle imaging means (imaging means), F1 ... detection area (peripheral area), P1, P2 ... person.

Claims (4)

Non-contact detection means for detecting a person existing in the peripheral area of the monitoring object or in the monitoring object in a non-contact manner;
An authentication means for authenticating a specific person;
An association means for associating the specific person authenticated by the authentication means with the person detected by the non-contact detection means;
The periphery monitoring apparatus characterized in that the non-contact detecting means monitors the person associated by the associating means.   The periphery monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the authentication unit uses an imaging unit.   The periphery monitoring device according to claim 2, wherein after the person is detected by the non-contact detection unit, the imaging unit images the person, and the authentication unit authenticates the specific person. After the imaging means images the person in the monitoring object and authenticates the specific person by the authentication means,
The periphery monitoring device according to claim 2, wherein the non-contact detection unit detects and monitors the person who has moved out of the monitoring target.

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