JP2011100409A - In-vehicle electronic apparatus and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an in-vehicle electronic apparatus which warns a driver when approaching a vehicle to be noticed. <P>SOLUTION: Information on a license plate to be compared is stored in advance in a database 19, information on a license plate of another vehicle is extracted from video data captured by an outside camera 23, the extracted information of the license plate of the other vehicle is compared with the information of the compared license plate stored in the database 19, and whether to issue a warning is determined on the basis of the compared result. A warning is issued by a control part 18 that displays a warning screen on a display part 5, or reads out voice data stored in the database 19 and outputs a warning voice from a speaker 20, or turns on a warning lamp 6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle electronic device that performs a notification to call attention when approaching a vehicle requiring attention.

  Emergency vehicles such as patrol cars, fire engines, and ambulances are designed to generate emergency sounds (sirens) and turn on emergency lamps when traveling to facilities such as incidents and accidents and hospitals. As a result, the driver of the general vehicle recognizes the sound of the siren and the lighting of the emergency lamp by hearing and vision, confirms that the emergency vehicle is traveling urgently, and does not interfere with the traveling of the emergency vehicle. Slow down or stop by the roadside.

  However, relying on the human senses such as hearing and vision in this way can be recognized only within the normal human sense range. That is, for example, if the surrounding noise is large, there is a risk that the siren will be delayed in recognition or may not be recognized until just before. Similarly, when the surrounding visibility is poor due to traffic congestion or the like, there is a possibility that the emergency lamp is visually recognized late or cannot be recognized until just before it comes.

  Therefore, conventionally, by receiving a radio wave of a specific frequency transmitted from a transmitting device mounted on an emergency vehicle by a receiving device mounted on a general vehicle, it is recognized that the emergency vehicle is approaching and mounted on the receiving device. There is one that is notified by a notification means (Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-303383 A

  However, the emergency vehicle transmission device that has conventionally emitted radio waves at a specific frequency assigned for an emergency vehicle has been updated, and a general frequency such as a cellular phone network is not used without using the specific frequency assigned for an emergency vehicle. Changes have been made to transmit radio waves over wireless communication networks. Further, some emergency vehicles do not emit such radio waves, and there is a problem that the approach of all emergency vehicles cannot be detected. In addition, there is a problem that it is desired to call attention when a vehicle other than an emergency vehicle requires attention.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and even when it is difficult to detect an emergency vehicle by radio waves, it is possible to provide a notification that calls attention when approaching a vehicle requiring attention. An object is to provide a vehicle-mounted electronic device.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, an in-vehicle electronic device according to the present invention includes (1) a storage unit that stores information on a license plate to be compared, a reading unit that reads information on a license plate of another vehicle, An in-vehicle electronic device comprising information on a license plate read by the reading means and information on a comparison target license plate stored in the storage means and performing notification based on the comparison result The storage means stores information related to the license plate of the vehicle requiring attention as information on the number plate to be compared, and the notification means provides a notification for calling attention as notification based on the comparison result. It is characterized by performing.

  In this way, even when it is difficult to detect an emergency vehicle using radio waves, it is possible to give a notice in the vehicle to call attention when approaching a vehicle that requires attention, and the driver recognizes this notice. Thus, a driving operation or the like for avoiding a vehicle requiring attention can be easily performed.

  (2) The information relating to the license plate number of the vehicle requiring attention is at least one of license plate information of emergency vehicles, license plate information of hitting vehicles, counterfeit license plate information, and license plate information of stolen vehicles. It is good to do.

  In this way, for example, the driver can recognize not only the emergency vehicle but also the approaching vehicle, the counterfeit license plate vehicle, and the stolen vehicle. Unlike emergency vehicles, hitting-vehicles, counterfeit license plate vehicles, and stolen vehicles cannot be distinguished from the appearance of the vehicle. However, according to the present invention, the driver can recognize the approach of these vehicles, take a driving operation to avoid these vehicles, or report the existence of these vehicles to a predetermined organization such as the police. Can contribute to the maintenance of traffic order.

  (3) It has a detection means for detecting the size of another vehicle having a license plate read by the reading means, and the notification means takes into account the size of the other vehicle detected by the detection means, and It is preferable that the notification is made based on the comparison result.

  The emergency vehicle is normally “8 number”, but the 8 number can be acquired even if the number 1 (a truck or the like) large-sized vehicle has a camper specification, even if it is not an emergency vehicle. Therefore, for example, even when the information on the license plate of the other vehicle read by the reading unit is the number information used by the emergency vehicle such as the number 8, the size of the other vehicle detected by the detecting unit. When is equivalent to the size of a large vehicle, it is better not to issue a notice to call attention. On the other hand, for example, if the number is 8 but the size of a normal passenger car, the possibility of being a covered police car is increased, and the sedan is further increased. Therefore, for example, when the information on the license plate of the other vehicle read by the reading means is the number information used by the emergency vehicle such as the number 8, the size of the other vehicle detected by the detecting means is When it corresponds to the size of a normal passenger car that does not have a rotation indicator lamp, it is preferable to give a notice to call attention. Particularly in this case, the notification means may notify the user in a different notification mode from the case of a normal passenger car having a rotation indicator lamp. Also, fire engines and ambulances have specific vehicle sizes that have rotating lights and other emergency vehicle-specific equipment, so determine whether to make a notification based on the vehicle size and information on the license plate. be able to.

  (4) The reading unit may be configured to extract information on a license plate of the other vehicle from an image captured by an imaging unit capable of imaging the other vehicle.

  The reading means can be, for example, a laser scanner or the like, and may be configured to extract information on the license plate of the other vehicle from an image taken by an imaging unit such as a camera. In particular, the imaging unit may use a peripheral photographing camera such as a back monitor camera provided in advance in the vehicle. For example, it is particularly preferable to acquire the image of the imaging unit via a wired or wireless in-vehicle network. In this way, the reading unit can be realized at a low cost, and the image of the imaging unit can be effectively used for purposes other than the original use such as a back monitor function.

  (5) On the premise of the configuration of (4), the imaging unit and fixing means for fixing the in-vehicle electronic device to the host vehicle are provided, and the imaging unit causes the in-vehicle electronic device to be attached to the vehicle by the fixing means. When fixed, the license plate of the other vehicle is arranged in a direction and a position where it can be imaged, and the notification unit includes an output unit that outputs the content of the notification, and the output unit is It is good to set it as the structure arrange | positioned in the position which the driver | operator of the said own vehicle can recognize the content of the said alerting | reporting when the vehicle-mounted electronic device is fixed to the vehicle.

  In this way, if the vehicle-mounted electronic device is fixed to the vehicle by the fixing means with the output unit facing the position where the driver of the own vehicle can recognize the content of the notification, the imaging unit can be the license plate of the other vehicle. It faces in the direction that can be imaged. Therefore, when the on-vehicle electronic device is fixed, it can be easily installed without being aware of the direction of the image pickup unit, and the information on the license plate can be reliably acquired.

  (6) On the premise of the configuration of (5), in particular, the imaging unit and the output unit are arranged in front of the driver, and the imaging unit is configured to image the front of the host vehicle. . If it does in this way, it can perform easily alerting | reporting about the approach of the vehicle which needs the attention which exists ahead. For example, it is possible to notify the approach of an oncoming vehicle that needs attention approaching from the front of the oncoming lane, or a vehicle that requires attention ahead of the parallel lane or the own lane.

  (7) The imaging unit is a camera, and may include an autofocus mechanism and an optical zoom mechanism. In this way, since information on the license plate of a distant vehicle can be acquired, it is possible to quickly approach the vehicle requiring attention. Therefore, the driver can easily take avoidance action from a vehicle that requires attention early.

  (8) Infrared irradiation means for irradiating infrared rays in the imaging direction of the imaging unit, the imaging unit is a camera capable of shooting in the visible and infrared bands, the infrared irradiation unit, A configuration may be adopted in which irradiation of infrared rays is controlled based on an image captured by the camera. In this way, it is possible to notify the approach of a vehicle requiring attention even in a dark place such as at night, in the shade, or in a tunnel.

  (9) The reading unit may be configured to read individual license plates when the imaging unit images the license plates of a plurality of other vehicles.

  (10) The reading unit calculates a relative speed with respect to the other vehicle based on the size of the license plate of the other vehicle imaged by the imaging unit, and the notification unit is configured to notify the relative speed. Good. In this way, the driver can grasp the speed relationship between the other vehicle and the host vehicle, and can easily take appropriate avoidance action.

  (11) It may be configured to include an absolute speed acquisition unit of the host vehicle and a recording unit that records the relative speed together. In this way, it can be used as proof of own vehicle speed and other vehicle speed when trouble occurs. In particular, it is preferable to repeatedly record every predetermined time. For example, a GPS module or a vehicle speed pulse detector may be used as the absolute speed acquisition means.

  (12) It may be configured to include recording means for recording the video imaged by the imaging unit for a predetermined period including during notification by the notification means. In this way, since a video of the approaching vehicle is recorded, it is possible to easily prove the driving state in the event of a trouble with a person concerned with the vehicle requiring attention, contributing to problem solving. To do.

  (13) It may be configured to include speed detection means for detecting the speed of the host vehicle, and to control a frame rate of a video to be recorded on the video recording means based on the speed of the host vehicle detected by the speed detection means. .

  (14) A configuration for determining whether a road on which the host vehicle is traveling is a general road or a highway based on an image captured by the imaging unit, and performing notification based on the comparison result in consideration of the determination result Good. In this way, appropriate notification can be performed depending on whether the running road is a general road or a highway.

  (15) When the reading means is configured to identify the license plate of the other vehicle, lock on the identified license plate, zoom up the locked license plate portion, and read the information on the license plate. Good.

(16) The vehicle includes a speed limit acquisition unit that acquires a speed limit of a road on which the host vehicle is traveling, and the notification unit acquires the host vehicle acquired by the speed limit acquisition unit when performing the notification to call attention. It may be configured to notify the speed limit of the road on which the vehicle is traveling.
(17) The functions of the on-vehicle electronic device according to any one of (1) to (16) can be realized as a program for causing a computer to realize the function.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the vehicle-mounted electronic device which can perform alerting | reporting to call attention when approaching the vehicle which requires attention can be provided.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the radar detector which is preferable one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of a radar detector. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a standby screen, a radar scope, and a GPS alarm. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the alarm screen in a radar wave alarm function. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the table which memorize | stores the information regarding the license plate of the vehicle which requires attention. It is an example of an actual license plate. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a license plate warning process. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the police vehicle warning screen by a license plate warning function.

  1 and 2 show a configuration of a radar detector which is a preferred embodiment as an in-vehicle electronic device of the present invention. The radar detector is usually mounted on the dashboard. As shown in FIG. 1, this radar detector has a solar panel 2 and a switch unit 3 arranged on the upper surface of the case body 1, and the front side of the case body 1 (the side arranged on the front side of the vehicle (the windshield side)). Are equipped with an infrared projector 21 for irradiating the front of the vehicle with infrared rays and an outside-vehicle camera 23 for shooting the front of the vehicle, and a microwave for detecting microwaves in a frequency band emitted by the speed measuring device inside the front side. A wave receiver 4 is arranged. On the other hand, a display unit 5, an alarm lamp 6, an infrared communication device 7, and a remote control receiver 16 are arranged on the rear side of the case body 1 (the side arranged on the rear side of the vehicle (user side (driver side)). A GPS receiver 8 is disposed inside the upper surface of the case body 1. Further, an adapter jack 9 is disposed on one side surface of the case body 1, and a power switch 10 and an illustration are omitted on the other side surface. In addition, a speaker 20 is also built in the case body 1. In the present embodiment, the display unit 5 is a 2.4-inch small liquid crystal display, and the rear side of the case body 1 (The rear side of the vehicle (user side (driver side)) is used as a display surface. The height H on the rear side of the case body 1 on which the display unit 5 is mounted is larger than the height H0 of other parts. is doing

  As shown in FIG. 2, the infrared communication device 7 transmits and receives data to and from a communication device incorporating an infrared communication device such as a mobile phone 12. The adapter jack 9 is a terminal for connecting the memory card reader 13. By connecting the memory card reader 13 to the adapter jack 9, the data stored in the memory card 14 attached to the memory card reader 13 can be taken in, or the contents of the memory of the database 19 and the control unit 18 can be transferred to the memory card. 14 can be written. More specifically, the data stored in the memory card 14 includes update information such as information on a new target (position information including longitude and latitude, type information, etc.) and information on a license plate of a vehicle requiring attention. If there is, the control unit 18 stores (downloads) the update information in the database 19 built in the apparatus, and updates the data in the database 19. The function of the memory card reader 13 may be configured to be built in the main body case 1.

  The database 19 is a nonvolatile memory (for example, EEPROM) in the microcomputer of the control unit 18 or externally attached to the microcomputer. In the database 19, information on a certain target at the time of shipment and information on a license plate of a vehicle requiring attention are registered, and data on the target added after that is updated as described above. Can do. Data update can also be performed via the infrared communication device 7.

  The DC jack is for connecting a cigar plug cord (not shown), and can be connected to a cigar socket of the vehicle via the cigar plug cord so as to be supplied with power. The wireless receiver 15 receives incoming radio waves having a predetermined frequency. The remote control receiver 16 performs data communication with a remote control (portable device: handset) 17 by infrared rays and performs various settings for the device. The switch unit 3 is also connected to the control unit 18 (not shown) so that the same setting as the remote controller 17 can be performed. The remote controller 17 includes a play button, a standby switching button, a setting button, a selection button, a cancel button, an enter button, and up / down / left / right cross buttons.

  The control unit 18 is a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a nonvolatile memory, an I / O, and the like. The control unit 18 executes predetermined processing based on information input from the above various input devices, and outputs an output device. Use it to output predetermined alarms, messages and information. Note that these basic configurations can be basically the same as the conventional ones.

  The functions of the radar detector of the present embodiment are realized by being stored on the EEPROM of the control unit 18 as a program executed by the computer included in the control unit 18 and executed by the computer included in the control unit 18.

  Functions realized by the computer by the program of the control unit 18 include a GPS log function, a video display function, a video recording function, a video playback function, a standby screen display function, a radar scope display function, a GPS alarm function, a radar wave alarm function, Wireless alarm function, license plate alarm function, etc.

  The GPS log function includes a GPS log function in which the control unit 18 stores the current position detected by the GPS receiver 8 every second in association with the detected time and speed (vehicle speed) in a nonvolatile memory as a position history. . This position history is a function of recording in the NMEA format, for example.

  The video display function is a function for causing the display unit 5 to display video data received from the outside-camera camera 23 by the control unit 18. The video recording function is a function of compressing and recording video data received by the control unit 18 from the outside camera 23 in a non-volatile memory externally attached to the microcomputer of the control unit 18. The video playback function is a function of expanding video data compressed and recorded in a nonvolatile memory externally attached to the microcomputer of the control unit 18 and displaying it on the display unit 5.

The outside-camera shooting camera 23 is a CCD camera capable of shooting in the visible and infrared bands, and is internally connected to a USB port provided in the microcomputer of the control unit 18. The outside camera 23 has a function of A / D converting an image captured by the CCD camera and sending it to the control unit 18 as image data. This function has the same configuration as a so-called USB camera. The control unit 18 determines whether or not the illuminance necessary for reading the information on the license plate is insufficient from the brightness of the video data of the video captured by the CCD camera. If the illuminance is insufficient, the infrared projector 21 is used. Turn on and irradiate infrared rays in front of the vehicle.
The standby screen display function is a function for displaying the speed, latitude, longitude, and altitude of the host vehicle detected by the GPS receiver 8 on the display unit 5 as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3 (b), the radar scope display function is a position where a target within a predetermined range (for example, within a range of about 1 km) from the current position detected by the GPS receiver 8 is stored in the database 19. This is a function of searching based on information and displaying the relative positional relationship between the vehicle position and the position of the target on the display unit 5. In FIG. 3B, “W” on the left side indicates the west, “E” on the right side indicates the east, and “N” on the upper side indicates the north direction, and the horizontal line connecting “W” and “E” and “N” The icon at the intersection of the vertical line extending downward from "" indicates the vehicle position. Icons having characters such as “L”, “RD”, “P”, and “N” indicate the type and position of the target.

  When pressing of a standby switching button provided on the remote controller 17 is detected during execution of the standby screen display function as shown in FIG. 3A, the radar scope display function is switched to as shown in FIG. Further, when pressing of a standby switching button provided on the remote controller 17 is detected during execution of the radar scope display function, the display is switched to the video display function. Further, when pressing of a standby switch button provided on the remote controller 17 is detected during execution of the video display function, processing for switching to the standby screen display function is performed.

  The control unit 18 performs a GPS alarm function, a radar according to an event that occurs during execution of a video display function, a standby screen display function, or a radar scope display function (hereinafter, these functions are collectively referred to as a standby function). The processing for realizing each function such as a wave alarm function, a radio alarm function, and a license plate alarm function is executed. The priority of each function is set in the order of radar wave alarm function, radio alarm function, GPS alarm function, and license plate alarm function from the highest.

  The GPS alarm function is a process executed at a predetermined time interval (1 second interval) by an event from a timer included in the control unit 18 and detected by the latitude and longitude of the target stored in the database 19 and the GPS receiver 8. The distance between the current position is obtained from the latitude and longitude of the current position, and when the obtained distance reaches a predetermined approach distance (for example, within 500 m), that fact is displayed on the display unit 5 and an approach warning indicating that fact from the speaker 20. This is a process for outputting the voice.

  Such targets include snoozing driving accident points, radar, speed limit switching points, control areas, inspection areas, parking monitoring areas, N systems, traffic monitoring systems, intersection monitoring points, signal ignorance suppression systems, police stations, frequent accidents Area, frequent on-board areas, sudden / continuous curve (highway), branch / merge point (highway), ETC lane advance guidance (highway), service area (highway), parking area (highway), highway Oasis (highway), smart interchange (highway), PA / SA petrol station (highway), tunnel (highway), highway radio reception area (highway), prefectural border notice, roadside station, viewpoint parking, etc. The type information of these targets, the latitude / longitude information indicating the position thereof, and the display on the display unit 5 The formula diagram or photo data and audio data are stored in the database 19 in association with each other.

  The radar wave warning function is used when the microwave receiver 4 detects a signal corresponding to a microwave in a frequency band emitted from a velocity measuring device (mobile radar or the like (hereinafter simply referred to as “radar”)). This is an alarm function for displaying an alarm screen on the display unit 5 and outputting an alarm sound from the speaker 20. For example, when a microwave in a microwave frequency band emitted by a radar is detected by the microwave receiver 4, as shown in FIG. 4, a schematic diagram or a photograph of the radar stored in the database 19 is displayed on the display unit 5. While being displayed as an alarm screen, the voice data stored in the database 19 is read out and a voice “Radar. Speed attention” is output from the speaker 20. During sound output, the alarm lamp 6 is turned on.

  The wireless alarm function is a function for issuing an alarm so that the wireless receiver 15 does not interfere with traveling or the like when a radio wave emitted by an emergency vehicle or the like is received. In the radio alarm function, the control radio, car radio, digital radio, special radio, police radio, police phone, police activity radio, wrecker radio, heli tele radio, fire helicopter radio, fire fight radio, emergency radio, expressway radio , Scan the frequency of the security radio, etc., and when the radio is received at the scanned frequency, a schematic diagram showing that the radio corresponding to the frequency stored in the database 19 for each radio type is received as an alarm screen While displaying on the display part 5, the audio | voice data memorize | stored for every radio | wireless classification in the database 19 are read, and the alarm sound which shows the radio | wireless classification from the speaker 20 is output. For example, when a control radio is received, a voice is output like “control radio. Speed attention”. During sound output, the alarm lamp 6 is turned on.

  In addition to these functions, the radar detector of the present embodiment has a license plate warning function. The license plate warning function stores information related to the number plate for comparison in the database 19, and extracts and extracts information on the license plate of the other vehicle from the video data taken by the outside camera 23. When comparing the information on the license plate of the other vehicle with the information related to the number plate of the comparison target stored in the database 19 and deciding whether or not to issue an alarm based on the comparison result, This is realized by determining a warning method and performing notification control using the determined warning method. This warning is controlled so as to alert the driver. For alarm notification control, the control unit 18 causes the display unit 5 to display an alarm screen, reads out audio data stored in the database 19, outputs an alarm audio from the speaker 20, or turns on the alarm lamp 6. To do.

  The database 19 stores information relating to license plates of vehicles requiring attention as information on the license plates to be compared. The information on the license plate of the vehicle requiring attention is the license plate information of the emergency vehicle, the license plate information of the hitting vehicle, the counterfeit license plate information, the license plate information of the stolen vehicle. A license plate information table, (b) a license plate information table for vehicles in a hit shop, (c) a license plate information table for stolen vehicles, and (d) a counterfeit license plate information table are stored in the table structure.

  The license plate information table for emergency vehicles, the license plate information table for stolen vehicles, and the license plate information table for stolen vehicles include the license plate size, plate color, place name, classification number, hiragana, and series designation number fields (columns). ). Each record (row) constitutes one license plate information. In addition to the license plate information, the emergency vehicle license plate information table includes an emergency vehicle type field indicating whether the emergency vehicle is a police vehicle, an emergency vehicle, or a fire engine.

  The plate size field consists of the following information: That is, the shape / size of the plate includes any of a large number mark, a medium number mark, and a small number mark. The actual shape of the license plate is 220mm x 440mm for the large number mark and the aspect ratio is 1: 2, the medium number mark is 165mm x 330mm for the width ratio is 1: 2, and the small number mark is the height It is 125mm x 230mm in width and the aspect ratio is 1: 1.84. In the field of the plate color, one of the values of white background green letters, green background white letters, yellow background black letters, and black background yellow letters is entered. The white background green letters are for automobiles, the green area white letters are for automobiles, the yellow background black is for light cars, and the black background is for light cars. The value of each field of place name, classification number, hiragana and series designation number is a value corresponding to the display of the actual license plate 100 shown in FIG. That is, in the example of the license plate 100 in FIG. 6, “Nagoya” corresponds to the place name, “500” corresponds to the classification number, “A” corresponds to the hiragana, and “12-34” series designation number fields (FIG. 5). (See (a)).

  The counterfeit license plate information table is a table that stores hiragana values in license plates used for counterfeit numbers. In FIG. 5D, the case where the hiragana is one of “O”, “shi”, “he”, and “n” indicates that it is a forged number.

  Next, the contents of the processing (number plate warning processing) of the control unit 18 for realizing the license plate warning function will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. The license plate alarm function is a process executed at predetermined time intervals (for example, at intervals of 1 second) by an event from a timer provided in the control unit 18.

  In this process, license plate information is acquired as shown in S110 of FIG. That is, information on the license plate of the other vehicle is extracted from the video data photographed by the outside camera 23. In this process, the license plate position in the video data is specified by performing pattern matching with the shape of the license plate frame from the video data shot by the outside camera 23, and the characters in the specified license plate position are specified. This is a known process of OCRing a column to obtain character data and extracting a place name, a classification number, a hiragana, and a series designation number. At this time, the video data that has been successfully extracted and the position information of the frame of the license plate that has succeeded in pattern matching in the video data are stored in the memory. In addition, the control part 18 reads each number plate in order from the largest license plate (extracts number plate information), when the license plate of several other vehicles is imaged with the external camera 23. It is good to do.

  Next, in S120, the place name, classification number, hiragana, and series designation number of the license plate extracted in S110 are all the place name, classification number, hiragana, series designation number of each line of the emergency vehicle license plate information table. It is determined whether or not they match. If either does not match (S120: N), the process proceeds to S170, and if all match (S120: Y), the process proceeds to S130.

  In S130, it is determined whether or not the value of the emergency vehicle type field in the row of the license plate information table of the emergency vehicle determined to match in S120 is a police vehicle, an emergency vehicle, or a fire engine. If the vehicle is a police vehicle (S130: police vehicle), the process proceeds to S140. If the vehicle is an emergency vehicle (S130: ambulance vehicle), the process proceeds to S150. If the vehicle is a fire engine (S130: fire engine) ) Move to S160.

  In S140, a police vehicle alarm is performed. As shown in FIG. 8, the police vehicle warning is obtained by using the place number, classification number, hiragana, and series designation number extracted in S110 in the form of the actual license plate shown in FIG. The plate information is drawn, the character string “Police vehicle!” And the character string “approach warning” are drawn and displayed on the display unit 5, and the voice “Police vehicle approach attention” is synthesized from the speaker 20. The alarm lamp 6 is turned on during voice output. When this audio output is completed, the license plate warning process is terminated.

  In S150, an emergency vehicle alarm is given. The ambulance warning uses the place number, classification number, hiragana, and series designation number extracted in S110 to draw the extracted license plate information in the form of an actual license plate in the same manner as in FIG. This is a process of drawing the character string “Imbulance vehicle!” And the character string “Approach warning” and displaying them on the display unit 5 and outputting the voice “Attention to ambulance vehicle approach” from the speaker 20 by voice synthesis. When this audio output is completed, the license plate warning process is terminated.

  In S160, a fire engine warning is given. The fire-fighting vehicle alarm uses the place name, classification number, hiragana, and series designation number extracted in S110 to draw the extracted license plate information in the form of an actual license plate as in FIG. This is a process of drawing a character string of “It is a fire engine!” And a character string of “approach warning” and displaying them on the display unit 5, and outputting a voice “caution to approach a fire engine” from the speaker 20 by voice synthesis. When this audio output is completed, the license plate warning process is terminated.

  In S170, it is determined whether or not the classification number of the license plate extracted in S110 is a number (8 numbers) starting from “8”. If the classification number is not a number starting from “8” (S170: N), the process proceeds to S200, and if the classification number is a number starting from “8” (S170: Y), the process proceeds to S180.

  In S180, it is determined whether the vehicle size is a large vehicle. The size of the vehicle is determined based on the position of the license plate frame based on the successfully extracted video data stored in the memory in S110 and the position information of the license plate frame that has been successfully pattern-matched in the video data. The vehicle part including If the ratio of the size of the vehicle part and the size of the license plate frame does not reach a ratio corresponding to a large vehicle, it is determined that the vehicle is not a large vehicle and the ratio reaches a ratio corresponding to a large vehicle. In the case, it is determined that the vehicle is a large vehicle. When it is determined that the vehicle size is a large vehicle (S180: Y), this process is terminated. When it is determined that the vehicle size is not a large vehicle (S180: N), the process proceeds to S190.

  In S190, a cover alarm is performed. As shown in FIG. 8, the license alarm information is extracted in the form of the actual license plate shown in FIG. 8 by using the place name, classification number, hiragana and serial designation number extracted in S110. The character string “This is a masked vehicle!” And the character string “approach warning” are drawn and displayed on the display unit 5, and the voice “Police vehicle approach attention” is output from the speaker 20 by voice synthesis. In this process, the alarm lamp 6 blinks during audio output. When this audio output is completed, the license plate warning process is terminated. When the vehicle is a police vehicle in the process of S130 (S130: Police vehicle), it is determined whether or not the classification number in the row of the emergency vehicle license plate information table is a number (3 numbers) starting from “3”. If the number is not 3, the process may proceed to S140. If the number is 3, the process may proceed to S190 without proceeding to S140. If it does in this way, a covering alarm can be given about three number covering vehicles. Further, “covered vehicle” may be provided as an emergency vehicle type in the license plate information table of the emergency vehicle, and a cover alarm may be performed when the emergency vehicle type is a covered vehicle in the process of S130. .

  Thus, it is good to perform notification based on the comparison result in consideration of the size of the other vehicle. The emergency vehicle is normally “8 number”. However, the number 8 can also be obtained by a method in which a large vehicle of number 1 (such as a truck) uses a camper specification even if it is not an emergency vehicle. Therefore, for example, even if the read information on the number plate of the other vehicle is the number information used by the emergency vehicle such as the number 8, the size of the detected other vehicle corresponds to the size of the large vehicle. When it does (S190: Y), it is made not to alert | report alerting.

  For example, although the number is 8, the size of a normal passenger car increases the possibility of being a covered police car, and the sedan is even higher. Therefore, for example, when the information on the license plate of the other vehicle that has been read is the number information used by the emergency vehicle such as the 8th number, the size of the detected other vehicle is usually not having a rotation indicator light. When it corresponds to the size of a passenger car, a notification to call attention may be given. Particularly in this case, it is preferable to perform a process of outputting an alarm in a notification mode different from the case of a normal passenger car having a rotation indicator lamp. Also, fire engines and ambulances have specific vehicle sizes that have rotating lights and other emergency vehicle-specific equipment, so determine whether to make a notification based on the vehicle size and information on the license plate. You may do it.

  In S200, the place name, classification number, hiragana and series designation number extracted in S110 are all the place name, classification number, hiragana and series designation number of each row in the license plate information table of the hitting car. It is determined whether or not they match. If either does not match (S200: N), the process proceeds to S220, and if all match (S200: Y), the process proceeds to S210.

  In S210, a hitting store alarm is performed. The hitting shop alarm uses the place name, classification number, hiragana, and series designation number extracted in S110 to draw the extracted license plate information in the form of an actual license plate as in FIG. A character string of “It is a hitting car!” And a character string of “approach warning” are drawn and displayed on the display unit 5, and a voice “attention to approaching a hitting car” is output from the speaker 20 by voice synthesis, This is a process of blinking the alarm lamp 6 during audio output. When this audio output is completed, the license plate warning process is terminated.

  In S220, the place name, classification number, hiragana and series designation number extracted in S110 all match the place name, classification number, hiragana and series designation number in each row of the license plate information table of the stolen car. It is determined whether or not. If either does not match (S220: N), the process proceeds to S240, and if all match (S220: Y), the process proceeds to S230.

  In S230, a stolen vehicle alarm is performed. The stolen vehicle warning is performed by drawing the extracted license plate information in the form of an actual license plate in the same manner as in FIG. 8, using the place name, classification number, hiragana and series designation number extracted in S110. This is a process of drawing the character string “It is a stolen vehicle!” And the character string “approach warning” and displaying them on the display unit 5 and outputting the sound “finding a stolen car” from the speaker 20 by voice synthesis. . When this audio output is completed, the license plate warning process is terminated.

  In S240, it is determined whether or not the hiragana of the license plate extracted in S110 matches the hiragana value of each row of the counterfeit license plate information table. If they do not match (S240: N), the license plate warning process is terminated, and if they match (S240: Y), the process proceeds to S250.

  In S250, a counterfeit number alarm is issued. The counterfeit number alarm uses the place name, classification number, hiragana, and series designation number extracted in S110 to draw the extracted license plate information in the form of an actual license plate as in FIG. A process of rendering the character string “Forged license plate vehicle!” And the character string of “approach warning” to be displayed on the display unit 5 and outputting the sound of “forged license vehicle discovery” from the speaker 20 by voice synthesis. It is. When this audio output is completed, the license plate warning process is terminated.

  According to the above configuration, even when it is difficult to detect an emergency vehicle by the wireless alarm function, the driver can be alerted when approaching a vehicle requiring attention within the vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to easily perform a driving operation or the like for recognizing the notification and avoiding a vehicle requiring attention. Therefore, it is useful for avoiding emergency vehicles and preventing accidents. In addition, emergency vehicle running obstruction caused by missed emergency vehicles due to sideways and carelessness, contact accidents, accidents and dangers caused by suddenly turning the steering wheel suddenly and suddenly decelerating the emergency vehicle, It can be suppressed by finding an emergency vehicle in advance.

  In addition, the driver can recognize not only emergency vehicles but also hitting vehicles, counterfeit license plate vehicles, and stolen vehicles. Unlike emergency vehicles, hitting-vehicles, counterfeit license plate vehicles, and stolen vehicles cannot be distinguished from the appearance of the vehicle. However, according to the present invention, the driver can recognize the approach of these vehicles, take a driving operation to avoid these vehicles, or report the existence of these vehicles to a predetermined organization such as the police. Can contribute to the maintenance of traffic order.

  In this embodiment, in S120, S200, S220, and S240, the place name, classification number, hiragana, and series designation number extracted in S110 are the place name, classification number, Hiragana and series specified number values are all determined to match, but the plate size and plate color are within the position of the license plate frame that has been successfully matched with the pattern stored in the memory. If it can be specified from the video data, it may be further determined whether or not the plate size and the plate color also match.

  In S110, if license plate pattern matching is successful, but license plate information cannot be extracted by OCR, the display unit 5 is informed by voice that the license plate information cannot be identified. Also good. In S110, after license plate pattern matching, license plate information is extracted by OCR. However, the entire screen of the video data captured by the outside camera 23 is OCRed to obtain license plate information. After extracting, license plate pattern matching may be performed on the basis of the character size and character position from which the license plate information is obtained. When license plate information of a plurality of other vehicles is extracted, the license plate information of the largest character may be regarded as being closest and processed in order. In addition, when license plate pattern matching is performed after license plate information is extracted after OCR, license plate pattern matching is successful, but license plate pattern matching fails. A counterfeit number alarm or the like may be performed on the assumption that the license plate has an illegal shape.

  Further, the control unit 18 determines whether the road on which the host vehicle is traveling is a general road or a highway based on the image captured by the outside-camera shooting camera 23, takes into account the determination result, and notifies based on the comparison result. It is good to do. In this way, appropriate notification can be performed depending on whether the running road is a general road or a highway.

  Further, when an approach warning to a vehicle requiring attention is given, the speed limit at that location may be notified. For example, the map data for car navigation is stored in the database 19. As map data, data used for general navigation devices such as search data, road network data, and facility location data are stored. The road network data is data having a graph structure including nodes composed of position information on the road and links indicating the connection status between the nodes. The road network data further stores road speed limit information corresponding to each link in association with each link. Then, the control unit 18 specifies the link on which the host vehicle is traveling from the current position acquired from the GPS receiver 8 and the position information of the node of the database 19, and acquires the speed limit information of the link from the database 19. When an approach warning to a vehicle requiring attention is performed, the speed limit of the place is output from the speaker 20 by voice synthesis and displayed on the display unit 5.

  Further, the outside-camera shooting camera 23 may be configured to include an autofocus mechanism and an optical zoom mechanism. In order to extract information on the license plate of the other vehicle from the video data captured by the outside camera 23, the control unit 18 first identifies the outer shape of the license plate from the video data by pattern matching. The optical zoom mechanism is controlled so that the specified outer shape part falls within a predetermined range of the recognition target in the video frame, and the license plate part is zoomed up (enlarged) and zoomed down (reduced) to be within the predetermined area of the recognition target. Follow to fit. And it is good for the control part 18 to extract the information on the number plate of another vehicle in this state. That is, the license plate of another vehicle may be identified, the identified license plate may be locked on, and the number of the license plate that is locked on may be zoomed up to read information on the license plate. In this way, since information on the license plate of a distant vehicle can be acquired, it is possible to quickly approach the vehicle requiring attention. In addition, the recognition rate of information on the license plate can be increased. Therefore, the driver can notify the vehicle that needs attention early, and can take early avoidance action.

  A column 31 is provided at the center of the bottom surface of the case body 1 so as to stand downward. The lower end of the column 31 has a ball structure, and is fitted with the ball receiving structure on the upper surface of the column receiving part 33a of the pedestal 33 to constitute a ball joint structure. This ball joint structure is configured so that the ball receiving structure tightens the ball structure by making the outer diameter of the ball structure and the inner diameter of the ball receiving structure substantially coincide or the inner diameter of the ball receiving structure is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the ball structure. Therefore, both states are fixed at a desired position. The pedestal 33 includes a plate-like fixing portion 33b that is integrally formed with the column receiving portion 33a. The bottom surface of the fixing portion 33 is fixed on the dashboard with an adhesive mat made of double-sided tape, gel material, or the like. When the radar detector is fixed to the dashboard of the vehicle by the fixing unit 33, the outside-camera shooting camera 23 is arranged in a direction and a position where the license plate of another vehicle can be imaged. On the other hand, the display surface of the display unit 5 is arranged so that the driver of the host vehicle can recognize the display content when the radar detector is fixed to the dashboard of the vehicle by the fixing unit 33. In the present embodiment, the display unit 5 is arranged on the driver side, the outside-camera shooting camera 23 is arranged on the front side, the normal vector of the display surface of the display unit 5 and the shooting direction vector (CCD) of the outside-camera shooting camera 23. The normal vector of the imaging surface of the camera is arranged in the opposite direction.

  If it does in this way, if the driver | operator of the own vehicle directs the display surface of the display part 5 to the position which can recognize the content of alerting | reporting, the fixing | fixed part 33 will be fixed with the adhesive mat etc. which were made of the double-sided tape or the gel material The outside-camera camera 23 faces in the direction in which the license plate of another vehicle can be imaged. Therefore, when the radar detector is fixed, the radar detector can be easily installed without being aware of the direction of the imaging unit, and license plate information can be reliably acquired. In particular, the outside-camera shooting camera 23 and the display unit 5 are both arranged in front of the driver, and the outside-camera shooting camera 23 is configured to image the front of the host vehicle. If it does in this way, it can perform easily alerting | reporting about the approach of the vehicle which needs the attention which exists ahead. For example, it is possible to notify the approach of an oncoming vehicle that needs attention approaching from the front of the oncoming lane, or a vehicle that requires attention ahead of the parallel lane or the own lane.

  In addition, an infrared projector 21 for irradiating infrared rays in the imaging direction of the outside camera 23 is provided, and the outside camera 23 is a camera capable of shooting in the visible light and infrared bands. Since the infrared irradiation of the infrared projector 21 is controlled on the basis of the image captured by the camera 23 outside the vehicle, it is possible to notify the approach of a vehicle that requires attention even in a dark place such as at night, in the shade, or in a tunnel. Can do.

  Further, at the time of alarm, the control unit 18 calculates the distance and relative speed with other vehicles based on the size of the license plate of the other vehicle in the video imaged by the outside camera 23, and the calculated distance on the display unit 5 Alternatively, a process for displaying the relative speed may be performed. This processing uses, for example, the fact that the size of the license plate is determined to be a predetermined size, and obtains a relational expression between the distance and the vertical and horizontal sizes of the license plate in advance, and the license plate based on the relational expression. It is preferable to obtain the distance to the vehicle having the distance and obtain the relative speed from the change in distance. In addition, for example, the vertical and horizontal sizes of the license plate in the video taken by the outside camera 23 at a specific distance such as 1 m, 5 m, 10 m, 50 m, and 100 m are stored in advance in a table. Alternatively, the distance may be obtained by comparing the vertical and horizontal sizes of the license plate with the size of the license plate in the video taken by the outside camera 23. In this way, it is possible to accurately notify the distance and relative speed in consideration of the characteristics of the outside camera 23. In this way, the driver can grasp the speed relationship between the other vehicle and the host vehicle, and can easily take appropriate avoidance action.

  Moreover, the control part 18 is good to add the process which acquires the absolute speed and time of the own vehicle repeatedly from the GPS receiver 8, and records it on the database 19 with this relative speed to the GPS log function further. In addition, a function of transferring the recorded data to the memory card 14 may be provided. In this way, it can be used as proof of own vehicle speed and other vehicle speed when trouble occurs.

  Further, the speed of the host vehicle is detected by the GPS receiver 8, and the control unit 18 may be configured to control the frame rate of the video to be recorded by the processing of the video recording function based on the detected speed of the host vehicle. In particular, the frame rate during the proximity warning is preferably set higher than the frame rate during the proximity warning is not performed.

  Further, during the period when the approach alarm is being performed, the video data of the video captured by the outside-camera camera 23 may be recorded in a nonvolatile memory connected to the control unit 18. The control unit 18 may have a function of transferring the recorded video data to the memory card 14. In this way, since a video of approaching a vehicle requiring attention is recorded, it is possible to easily prove the running state in the event of a trouble with a person concerned with the vehicle requiring attention, which contributes to problem solving. .

  In addition, a screen for drawing license plate information in the form of an actual license plate shown in FIG. 8 for a police vehicle alarm, an emergency vehicle alarm, a fire engine alarm, a mask alarm, a hitting door alarm, a stolen car alarm, and a counterfeit number alarm. Can be any screen. For example, at least one of a picture or a photograph showing the shape of the vehicle, a 3D polygon, or the like may be further added and drawn. Further, the license plate information may be drawn, and the video data taken by the outside camera 23 may be drawn on the same screen. Alternatively, the license plate information screen and the video data screen shot by the outside camera 23 may be switched and drawn at predetermined time intervals.

  In the present embodiment, the information on the license plate of the other vehicle is extracted from the video imaged by the outside camera 23. However, the information may be read using a laser scanner or the like, for example. . An image sensor other than a CCD camera such as a CMOS camera may be used. Further, for example, a video signal or video data may be acquired from a peripheral shooting camera such as a back monitor camera provided in advance in the vehicle. For example, it may be connected to a wired or wireless in-vehicle network, and the video of the peripheral photographing camera may be acquired through the in-vehicle network. In this way, it is not necessary to install a camera or the like in a retrofitted device like a radar detector, and an approach alarm can be realized at a low cost. It can also be used for other purposes.

  In this embodiment, the example of the radar detector has been described. However, the present invention can be implemented as a function of various in-vehicle electronic devices. For example, you may incorporate as a function of a navigation apparatus, a drive recorder, and a car audio. In addition, the numerical values described in the present embodiment may be appropriately changed to values that exhibit an effect through experiments and the like. The screen size of the display unit 5 can also be set arbitrarily. Further, the control unit 18 is provided with a function of setting the priority order of each function and alarm based on an instruction from the user from the remote controller 17 or the like, and the control unit 18 performs processing in this set priority order. It may be configured.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case main body 2 Solar panel 4 Microwave receiver 5 Display part 6 Lamp 7 Infrared communication device 8 GPS receiver 9 Adapter jack 10 Power switch 11 Mobile phone 12 Memory card reader 14 Memory card 15 Wireless receiver 16 Remote control receiver 17 Remote control 18 Control Unit 19 Database 20 Speaker 21 Infrared Projector 23 Outside Camera 100 License Plate

Claims (17)

Storage means for storing information relating to a license plate to be compared;
Reading means for reading information on a license plate of another vehicle;
An in-vehicle electronic device comprising information on a license plate read by the reading means and information on a comparison target license plate stored in the storage means and performing notification based on the comparison result There,
The storage means stores information on a license plate of a vehicle requiring attention as information on the license plate to be compared,
The in-vehicle electronic device characterized in that the informing means performs informing to alert as the informing based on the comparison result. The information regarding the license plate of the vehicle requiring attention is at least one of license plate information for emergency vehicles, license plate information for hitting vehicles, counterfeit license plate information, and license plate information for stolen vehicles. The vehicle-mounted electronic device according to claim 1. A detecting means for detecting the size of another vehicle having a license plate read by the reading means;
The in-vehicle electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit performs notification based on the comparison result in consideration of the size of the other vehicle detected by the detection unit. The said reading means is the structure which extracts the information on the license plate of the said other vehicle from the image | video image | photographed by the imaging part which can image the said other vehicle, Any one of Claims 1-3 characterized by the above-mentioned. The vehicle-mounted electronic device as described in this. The imaging unit;
A fixing means for fixing the in-vehicle electronic device to the host vehicle;
The imaging unit is arranged in a direction and a position where the license plate of the other vehicle can be imaged when the in-vehicle electronic device is fixed to the vehicle by the fixing means,
The notification unit includes an output unit that outputs the content of the notification, and the output unit is configured to notify the driver of the host vehicle of the notification when the in-vehicle electronic device is fixed to the vehicle by the fixing unit. The vehicle-mounted electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the vehicle-mounted electronic device is arranged at a position where the content can be recognized. The imaging unit and the output unit are arranged on the front side of the driver,
The in-vehicle electronic device according to claim 5, wherein the imaging unit images the front of the host vehicle. The in-vehicle electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the imaging unit is a camera and includes an autofocus mechanism and an optical zoom mechanism. Infrared irradiation means for irradiating infrared in the imaging direction of the imaging unit,
The imaging unit is a camera capable of shooting in the visible and infrared bands,
The in-vehicle electronic device according to any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein the infrared irradiation unit controls infrared irradiation based on an image captured by the camera. The in-vehicle electronic device according to any one of claims 4 to 8, wherein the reading unit reads each license plate when the imaging unit picks up an image of license plates of a plurality of other vehicles. The reading means calculates a relative speed with the other vehicle based on the size of the license plate of the other vehicle imaged by the imaging unit,
The vehicle-mounted electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the notification unit notifies the relative speed. The vehicle-mounted electronic device according to claim 10, further comprising: an absolute speed acquisition unit of the host vehicle, and a recording unit that records together with the relative speed. The vehicle-mounted electronic device according to any one of claims 4 to 11, further comprising a video recording unit that records video captured by the imaging unit for a predetermined period including during notification by the notification unit. Comprising speed detecting means for detecting the speed of the host vehicle;
The in-vehicle electronic device according to claim 12, wherein a frame rate of a video to be recorded on the video recording unit is controlled based on a speed of the host vehicle detected by the speed detection unit. Based on the image captured by the imaging unit, it is determined whether the road on which the host vehicle is traveling is a general road or a highway, and notification based on the comparison result is performed by taking the determination result into account. The vehicle-mounted electronic device in any one of Claims 4-13. The reading means identifies a license plate of the other vehicle, locks on the identified license plate, zooms up the locked license plate portion, and reads information on the license plate. The vehicle-mounted electronic device in any one of claim | item 1 -14. Provided with speed limit acquisition means for acquiring the speed limit of the road on which the vehicle is traveling
The notification means also notifies the speed limit of the road on which the host vehicle acquired by the speed limit acquisition means travels when the notification for calling attention is given. The vehicle-mounted electronic device as described in this.   The program for making a computer implement | achieve the function as a vehicle-mounted electronic device in any one of Claims 1-16.

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