JP2011181101A - Recorder for vehicle information - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recorder for vehicle information using a navigation system capable of getting accurately a vehicle situation at the time of an accident in a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: A vehicle accident recorder is constituted to include, in an accident recording control part 400 for recording information about the vehicle, two kinds of recording processing which are the first recording processing for recording image information of the periphery of the vehicle acquired from a CCD camera 500, when an intervehicular distance range-found by a radar 800 comes to a prescribed distance or less, and the second recording processing for recording image information of the periphery of the vehicle acquired from the CCD camera 500, based on an output from a collision sensor 700. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle information recording apparatus.

  Conventionally, a drive recorder for a vehicle that records a vehicle situation immediately before an accident is known. This drive recorder always records the vehicle's running condition while the vehicle is running, and in the event of an accident, it links with the operation of the air bag, etc. (Status data) is recorded / stored in a hard disk device or the like.

  As a conventional example of this type of drive recorder, the distance to another vehicle (obstacle) is measured by a radar while the vehicle is traveling, and the vehicle and the surroundings of the vehicle are measured based on the distance measured by the radar. An in-vehicle image recording apparatus is disclosed that captures an image with a video camera and stops recording the image when a collision with another vehicle is detected by a collision sensor provided in the vehicle (see Patent Document 1).

  In addition, a technique for recording image information captured by an imaging unit such as a CCD camera on a storage medium (HDD) constituting a navigation system or a storage medium (HDD) constituting an audio device is disclosed (see Patent Document 2). . In addition, when an airbag that detects a collision is activated, a video about the vehicle situation at the time of the collision is recorded, and a collision detection signal is sent to the emergency contact to automatically urgently inform the situation at the time of the accident. An operation recording device for informing a contact is disclosed (see Patent Document 3).

JP-A-9-198858 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-123876 JP 2003-263690 A

  However, the above-described conventional technique has the following problems. For example, according to an accident situation recording method using a conventional drive recorder, there is a problem that data on a situation in which an accident does not occur is also recorded because the traveling state of the vehicle is continuously recorded.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems (problems), and is a vehicle information recording apparatus capable of accurately grasping the state of occurrence of an accident and smoothly executing the analysis of the accident. The purpose is to provide.

  The present invention is a recording apparatus having a recording control means for recording information relating to a vehicle, wherein the recording control means is a vehicle surrounding acquired from a camera when an inter-vehicle distance from the distance measuring means is a predetermined distance or less. The first recording process for recording the video information on the storage medium and the second recording process for recording the video information around the vehicle acquired from the camera on the storage medium based on the output from the collision sensor. It is characterized by including.

  According to the present invention, the recording control means includes a first recording process for recording the video information around the vehicle acquired from the camera in the storage medium when the inter-vehicle distance from the distance measuring means is equal to or less than a predetermined distance; It includes two recording processes of a second recording process in which video information around the vehicle acquired from the camera is recorded on a storage medium based on the output from the collision sensor.

  The present invention relates to a vehicle accident recording device using a navigation system that performs navigation processing on a vehicle based on vehicle position information and map information, vehicle accident prediction means for predicting an accident caused by the vehicle, music A music information recording means for recording information, a map information recording means for recording map information, and an accident situation recording means for recording an accident situation by the vehicle, wherein the accident situation recording means is arranged in front of or around the vehicle. Imaging means for imaging, audio information input means for acquiring sounds around the vehicle, image information compression means for compressing image information captured by the imaging means, and audio information acquired by the audio information input means Voice information compression means for compressing the vehicle, and when the vehicle accident prediction means predicts the occurrence of the vehicle accident, The normal mode by Yonshisutemu, characterized in that and a fault recording control means for performing control for switching the accident recording mode by the accident situation recording means.

  According to this invention, the vehicle accident recording apparatus includes a vehicle accident prediction means for predicting an accident caused by the vehicle, a music information recording means for recording music information, a map information recording means for recording map information, and an accident caused by the vehicle. An accident situation recording means for recording the situation, the accident situation recording means comprising: an imaging means for imaging the front or surroundings of the vehicle; an audio information input means for acquiring sounds around the vehicle; and the imaging means. Image information compression means for compressing captured image information, voice information compression means for compressing voice information acquired by the voice information input means, and navigation processing for the vehicle are used, and vehicle accident recording control is performed. Accident record control means, and the accident record control means is adapted to detect the vehicle accident when the accident prediction means predicts the occurrence of a vehicle accident. The normal mode by Deployment system performs control for switching to an accident recording mode by the accident situation recording means.

  Further, the accident record control means in the present invention performs accident recording on the vehicle in the accident recording mode by the accident situation recording means for a predetermined set time, and after the predetermined set time has elapsed, switches the accident record mode to the normal mode. The control for stopping the accident recording by the accident situation recording means is performed.

  According to the present invention, the accident record control means performs accident recording on the vehicle in the accident recording mode by the accident situation recording means for a predetermined set time, and after the predetermined set time has elapsed, switches the accident record mode to the normal mode. Then, control for stopping the accident recording by the accident situation recording means is performed.

  The present invention further includes accident occurrence detection means for detecting occurrence of an accident with respect to the vehicle, wherein the accident record control means is configured to detect a vehicle accident record mode when the occurrence of an accident is detected by the accident occurrence detection means. Is switched to the normal mode, and control for stopping the accident recording by the accident situation recording means is performed.

  According to the present invention, the vehicle further comprises accident occurrence detection means for detecting occurrence of an accident with respect to the vehicle, and the accident record control means is configured to detect a vehicle accident record mode when the occurrence of an accident is detected by the accident occurrence detection means. Is switched to the normal mode, and the accident recording by the accident situation recording means is stopped.

  The present invention further includes accident occurrence detection means for detecting occurrence of an accident with respect to the vehicle, and the accident record control means has a predetermined set time when an occurrence of an accident is detected by the accident occurrence detection means. During the period, accident recording is performed in the vehicle accident recording mode, and after the predetermined set time has elapsed, the accident recording mode is switched to the normal mode, and the accident recording by the accident situation recording unit is controlled to be stopped. And

  According to the present invention, the vehicle further comprises an accident occurrence detection means for detecting the occurrence of an accident with respect to the vehicle, and the accident record control means is configured to perform the predetermined setting when the occurrence of an accident is detected by the accident occurrence detection means. During the time, the accident recording is performed in the vehicle accident recording mode, and after the predetermined set time has elapsed, the accident recording mode is switched to the normal mode, and the accident recording by the accident situation recording means is stopped.

  The accident record control means according to the present invention is characterized by comprising a voice information priority recording mode in which the voice information acquired by the voice information input means is preferentially used as accident record information.

  According to this invention, the accident record control means includes a voice information priority recording mode in which the voice information acquired by the voice information input means is preferentially used as the accident record information.

  Also, the accident record control means in the present invention comprises accident record form setting means for setting whether image information by the imaging means and / or voice information by the voice information input means is used as vehicle accident record information. And

  According to this invention, the accident record control means includes the accident record form setting means for setting whether the image information by the imaging means and / or the voice information by the voice information input means is vehicle accident record information.

  Further, the present invention provides the music information recording means or the map information recording means for the image information of the front or surrounding of the vehicle by the imaging means constituting the accident situation recording means or the sound information of the surroundings of the vehicle by the voice information input means. It is memorized in.

  According to this invention, the image information in front of or around the vehicle by the imaging means constituting the accident situation recording means, or the voice information around the vehicle by the voice information input means is the music information recording means or the map information recording means. Is remembered.

  In the present invention, the music information recording unit and the map information recording unit simultaneously record the same audio information acquired by the audio information input unit or the same image information captured by the imaging unit, respectively. It is characterized by providing.

  According to this invention, the music information recording means and the map information recording means simultaneously record the same audio information acquired by the audio information input means or the same image information taken by the imaging means, respectively. Is provided.

  The present invention also relates to a vehicle accident recording method using a navigation system that performs navigation processing on a vehicle based on vehicle position information and map information, the vehicle accident prediction step for predicting an accident caused by the vehicle, An accident situation recording step for recording the accident situation by the vehicle, and a control for switching the normal mode by the navigation system to the accident recording mode by the accident situation recording step at the time of predicting the occurrence of the vehicle accident by the vehicle accident prediction step. And an accident record control process to be performed.

  According to this invention, the vehicle accident recording method includes an accident record control means, predicts an accident caused by the vehicle through a vehicle accident prediction process, records the accident situation with the vehicle through an accident situation recording process, and performs the vehicle accident prediction. At the time of predicting the occurrence of a vehicle accident by the process, control is performed to switch the normal mode by the navigation system to the accident recording mode by the accident situation recording process.

  According to the present invention, the recording control means includes a first recording process for recording the video information around the vehicle acquired from the camera in the storage medium when the inter-vehicle distance from the distance measuring means is equal to or less than a predetermined distance; Based on the output from the collision sensor, it includes two recording processes, the second recording process that records the video information around the vehicle acquired from the camera on the storage medium. There is an effect that the analysis can be executed smoothly.

  According to the present invention, a vehicle accident recording device includes a vehicle accident prediction means for predicting an accident caused by a vehicle, a music information recording means for recording music information, a map information recording means for recording map information, and an accident situation caused by a vehicle. An accident situation recording means for recording, the accident situation recording means is an imaging means for imaging the front or the periphery of the vehicle, an audio information input means for acquiring sounds around the vehicle, and an image captured by the imaging means Image information compression means for compressing information, voice information compression means for compressing voice information acquired by the voice information input means, and accident record control means for performing vehicle accident record control while utilizing navigation processing for the vehicle, The accident record control means includes the navigation system when the vehicle accident prediction means predicts the occurrence of a vehicle accident. Therefore, the vehicle mode immediately before the occurrence of the accident is accurately determined based on the image information around the vehicle by the imaging means and the voice information by the voice input means. In addition to being able to grasp the situation, it is possible to accurately grasp the situation of the occurrence of the accident and perform the analysis of the accident smoothly, and to reduce the cost.

  According to the present invention, the accident record control means performs accident recording on the vehicle in the accident recording mode by the accident situation recording means for a predetermined set time, and after the predetermined set time has elapsed, switches the accident record mode to the normal mode. Since the accident recording by the accident situation recording means is controlled, it is possible to accurately grasp the vehicle situation immediately before the occurrence of the accident and to record only the vehicle situation immediately before the accident that is required. As a result, the cause of the accident can be accurately analyzed from the recorded image information and audio information, and the burden of the accident recording apparatus can be reduced.

  According to the present invention, the vehicle further comprises accident occurrence detection means for detecting occurrence of an accident with respect to the vehicle, and the accident record control means is configured to detect a vehicle accident record mode when the occurrence of an accident is detected by the accident occurrence detection means. Is switched to the normal mode, and the control for stopping the accident recording by the accident situation recording means is performed, so that it is possible to accurately record the necessary accident situation of the vehicle.

  According to the present invention, the vehicle further comprises an accident occurrence detection means for detecting the occurrence of an accident with respect to the vehicle, and the accident record control means has the predetermined set time when the occurrence of the accident is detected by the accident occurrence detection means. During the period, the accident is recorded in the vehicle accident recording mode, and after the predetermined set time has elapsed, the accident recording mode is switched to the normal mode, and the accident recording by the accident situation recording unit is controlled to be stopped. The control for returning the accident recording mode to the normal mode by the accident recording control means is executed after a predetermined time has elapsed even after a collision is detected by the collision detecting means. Since the vehicle status after the accident can be continuously recorded, the cause of the accident can be reliably clarified. That.

  According to the present invention, the accident record control means includes the voice information priority recording mode in which the voice information acquired by the voice information input means is preferentially used as the accident record information, so that the recorded data has a smaller file size. In addition, there is an effect that clear voice information without noise can be recorded (recorded).

  According to this invention, the accident record control means includes the accident record form setting means for setting whether the image information by the imaging means and / or the voice information by the voice information input means is the vehicle accident record information. There is an effect that accident situation information to be recorded in the vehicle accident recording apparatus can be appropriately selected and set according to the surrounding environment.

  According to this invention, the image information in front of or around the vehicle by the imaging means constituting the accident situation recording means, or the voice information around the vehicle by the voice information input means is the music information recording means or the map information recording means. Therefore, it is possible to record image information or audio information by using a hard disk device provided in the navigation system.

  According to this invention, the music information recording means and the map information recording means simultaneously record the same audio information acquired by the audio information input means or the same image information taken by the imaging means, respectively. Therefore, the map information recording means and the music information recording means provided in the navigation device can be provided with a mirroring function for simultaneously recording the accident situation of the vehicle, whereby the music information recording means and the map information recording means are provided. Even if an unexpected situation such as a crash occurs in any one of the recording means (HDD), the accident record data can be reliably protected.

  According to the present invention, an accident caused by a vehicle is predicted by a vehicle accident prediction step, an accident situation by the vehicle is recorded by an accident state recording step, and when the occurrence of a vehicle accident is predicted by the vehicle accident prediction step, An accident recording control step for controlling the normal mode to the accident recording mode by the accident situation recording step, so that an accident occurs based on image information around the vehicle by the imaging means and voice information by the voice input means. In addition to being able to accurately grasp the previous vehicle situation, it is possible to record only the vehicle situation in the required time zone. As a result, it is possible to accurately analyze the cause of the accident with the recorded image information and audio information. In addition, the load on the accident recording device can be reduced.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the vehicle accident recording apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an accident recording processing procedure by the vehicle accident recording apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a basic processing procedure in the “vehicle accident recording mode” shown in FIG. FIG. 4A is a time chart illustrating a control situation with time in the vehicle. FIG. 4B is a time chart illustrating a control state with time in the vehicle (when an accident occurs). FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an accident recording processing procedure performed by the vehicle accident recording apparatus according to the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a time chart illustrating a control situation with the passage of time when an accident occurs in the vehicle according to the second embodiment. FIG. 7 is a time chart showing a control situation with the lapse of time when an accident occurs in the “person voice recording mode”.

  Exemplary embodiments of a vehicle information recording apparatus using a navigation system according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following embodiment, the outline and features of the vehicle information recording apparatus according to the present invention are described, and then the vehicle accident recording apparatus according to the first embodiment is described. Thereafter, the entire process by the vehicle accident recording apparatus is performed. The processing procedure regarding will be described. Finally, various modifications will be described as other embodiments. In addition, this invention is not limited by Example 1, 2 shown below.

(Overview and features)
First, the outline of the vehicle accident recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle accident recording apparatus 100 according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, the feature of the vehicle accident recording apparatus 100 according to the present invention is that a vehicle accident prediction means (in this example, radar 800) for predicting a vehicle accident is used to detect an accident on a vehicle traveling on a road. When the occurrence is predicted, the accident record control unit 400 provided in the vehicle accident recording apparatus 100 is operated to control to shift from the “normal mode” to the “vehicle accident recording mode”. The video (image information) related to the vehicle accident situation and the sound information around the vehicle are recorded / recorded by the CCD camera 500 or the microphone 600, and the acquired image information or sound information is recorded in the image / voice information processing unit. The navigation system 200 is provided with image information and audio information relating to the accident situation that has been compressed by the H.280. Since it is recorded / stored in the figure information storage unit 255 or the music information storage unit 275, the vehicle situation immediately before the occurrence of the accident can be accurately grasped, and the recorded information does not increase and is smaller. Recording / storage of recording information at a file size can be realized.

  Here, the “normal mode” by the vehicle accident recording apparatus 100 in the first embodiment uses the navigation system 200 provided in the vehicle as a navigation process (search for a travel route to a destination or search for road conditions). Represents the state.

  When the “normal mode” by the navigation system 200 is activated, the map information storage unit 255 is used for searching for a travel route to the destination or for recording / storing the acquired map information. Is used for searching / extracting music information when selecting music, or as a hard disk device that records / stores music information distributed from a distribution service using a music database (CCDDB) using FM multiplex broadcasting. The

  The “vehicle accident recording mode” indicates a state in which the accident voice recording, compression processing, and the like can be performed by temporarily trade-off or parallel processing in the “normal mode”.

(Schematic configuration of the vehicle accident recording apparatus 100)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle accident recording apparatus 100 that is Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the control unit 300 of the navigation system 200 provided in the vehicle includes a GPS receiver 220 including a GPS antenna 210, an operation unit 230, a map information storage unit 250, and a map information storage unit. 255 (HDD: Hard Disk Drive), music information storage unit 270, music information storage unit 275 (HDD: Hard Disk Drive), image / audio information processing unit 280, output unit having monitor 291 and speaker 292 290 is connected.

  In addition, the vehicle includes a CCD camera 500 (imaging means), a microphone 600 (voice information input means), a collision sensor 700 (accident occurrence detection means), and a radar 800 (vehicle accident prediction means) as external input means. ).

  Here, the navigation system 200 according to the first embodiment is an AV navigation device including a music information storage unit 275 in addition to the map information storage unit 255 mounted on a normal navigation device, and the music information storage unit 275. Is capable of high-speed recording (for example, quadruple speed), MP3 (WPEGAudio Layer-3) and WMA (Windows (registered trademark) Media Audio) playback, and storing music information in a reduced size Has a function of storing music information of thousands of songs (for example, 3000 songs).

  As will be described later, the audio information acquired (recorded) by the microphone 600 is compressed and stored in the music information storage unit 275 by the image / audio information processing unit 280 (FIG. 1).

  The GPS receiver 220 receives a radio wave transmitted from a GPS satellite by the GPS antenna 210, and uses a known GPS device having a function of measuring the current position of the vehicle that is a moving body based on the received radio wave. Realized. The GPS receiver 220 has a function of sending current position information of the vehicle measured based on radio waves received from GPS satellites to the control unit 300 under the control of the control unit 300.

  The operation unit 230 is realized by an operation switch that operates the navigation system 200, a remote controller having the operation switch, or a touch panel, and creates or corrects each instruction information that instructs navigation processing by the navigation system 200 described above or road information. Each instruction information for instructing each process to perform the above is input. The input of each piece of instruction information is performed by inputting or selecting the instruction information based on an instruction to input the instruction information. The operation unit 230 may be configured to be integrated with the monitor 291 and the speaker 292 of the output unit 290 that outputs image information and audio information.

  The control unit 300 includes an accident situation acquisition unit 310, a travel route setting unit 320, and an accident record control unit 400. The accident record control unit 400 includes an accident prediction determination unit 410, a collision detection determination unit 420, an accident recording time setting unit 430, and an accident recording form setting unit 440.

  The control unit 300 configured as described above includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes navigation processing by the navigation system 200, or creation or correction of road information, matching processing, and the like, and a program for each processing. This is realized by having a ROM that stores various data such as, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) that temporarily stores map information or vehicle position coordinates, etc., and the CPU executes a program stored in the ROM. Thus, a function for realizing each processing function by the control unit 300 is provided.

  In addition, the control unit 300 receives map information corresponding to the current position information input from the GPS receiver 220 from the map information storage unit 255 based on an instruction by each instruction information received from the operation unit 230 and receives the map information. The map information is displayed on the monitor 291 of the output unit 290 at a desired scale, the current position information is converted into position coordinates on the map displayed on the monitor 291, and the display of the current position is output to the monitor 291. It has a function to perform control at any time.

  In addition, the control unit 300 outputs information about a route search result to a desired destination on the screen display or by voice based on an instruction by each instruction information input from the operation unit 230 (monitor 291 and speaker 292). Or processing such as creation or correction of road information, and control to output the processing result to the output unit 290 by screen display or voice is performed as needed.

  Further, the control unit 300 performs control to store each road information created or corrected by the travel route setting unit 320 in the map information storage unit 255, and as information about each new road displayed on the output unit 290, each of these roads It has a function to reliably manage information.

  The accident status acquisition unit 310 includes image information about other vehicles (vehicle type, color, shape, driver image), image information around the vehicle (images of vehicles other than the collided other vehicle), accident occurrence position, and time information at the time of the accident. A function of acquiring various information related to the accident such as voice information at the time of the accident by the CCD camera 500 and the microphone 600 is provided.

  The travel route setting unit 320 has a processing function for accepting an input setting input by the operation unit 230 operated by a driver of the vehicle and setting and storing a planned travel route of the vehicle.

  The accident prediction determination unit 410 has a function of predicting an accident for a vehicle traveling on a road by the radar 800 in advance and determining the probability of the accident. Specifically, the radar 800 (FIG. 1) has a function of detecting the distance between the vehicle and another vehicle and determining whether or not an accident occurrence is predicted based on the detected distance between the vehicles. When the occurrence of an accident is predicted by the accident prediction determination unit 410, an “accident prediction signal” is output to the control unit 300.

  The collision detection determination unit 420 has a function of determining whether there is a collision with a vehicle traveling on a road. Specifically, it has a function of determining whether or not there is a collision with another vehicle by a collision sensor 700 provided in the vehicle. When the collision detection determination unit 420 detects a collision with another vehicle, a “collision detection signal” is transmitted to the control unit 300.

The accident recording time setting unit 430, when the accident prediction determination unit 410 predicts the occurrence of an accident in the vehicle, sets a predetermined set time T ₁ set as an accident recording record in the “vehicle accident recording mode” (FIG. 4A). ) Is provided. Specifically, the time (set time T ₁ ) until the transition from the “vehicle accident recording mode” to the “normal mode” can be set by the accident recording time setting unit 430.

Further, after the collision with the other vehicle is detected by the collision sensor 700, a function of setting a predetermined set time T ₂ (FIG. 6) for recording the accident in the “vehicle accident recording mode” is provided. Further, the collision sensor 700 has a function of setting a set time T ₂ (FIG. 7), which is a predetermined time for recording a person's voice intensively after a collision with another vehicle is detected.

  The accident recording form setting unit 440 has a function of appropriately selecting and setting the recording / recording of the accident situation by either or both of the video information by the CCD camera 500 and the audio information by the microphone 600. Specifically, a function for appropriately setting whether to record an image with the CCD camera 500 or to acquire audio information with the microphone 600 is provided. According to the setting by the accident recording form setting unit 440, the recording after the collision can be arbitrarily set as a combination of image information and sound information, only image information, or only sound information, focusing on sound information.

  In particular, as will be described later, when the voice information is recorded by the microphone 600, the voice information acquired (recorded) by the microphone 600 is made clearer by performing the “personal voice recording mode” in which the voice of the person is preferentially recorded. Can be recorded as data.

  The map information storage unit 250 acquires road search information and map information up to a preset destination, and stores the set road search information or the acquired new map information in the map information storage unit 255 (HDD). / Has a function to store.

  The map information storage unit 255 is realized using a storage medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM and a drive device (HDD) that reads map information stored in the storage medium. The map information storage unit 255 has a function of reading desired map information from the inserted storage medium under the control of the control unit 300 and sending the read map information to the control unit 300.

  In the case of the first embodiment, the accident / recording information (image data / audio data) acquired by the CCD camera 500 or the microphone 600 is compressed by the image / audio information processing unit 280 and recorded / stored. I have.

  The music information storage unit 270 takes in various music information (songs) transmitted by a music database (CDDB) distribution service using FM multiplex broadcasting, and stores the fetched music information in the music information storage unit 275 (HDD). It has a function to store / store.

  The music information storage unit 275 (HDD) has a function of acquiring and storing / storing various types of music information (music) acquired by the music information storage unit 270. In the case of the first embodiment, a function for recording / storing accident record information (image data / audio data) acquired by the CCD camera 500 or the microphone 600 is provided.

  The map information storage unit 255 (HDD) and the music information storage unit 275 (HDD) can store the same accident record data in the storage units 255 and 275 by mirroring control by the control unit 300. it can. In this case, data can be reliably protected even if a crash or the like occurs in any one of the drive devices (HDD) by the mirroring function of the drive device.

  The image / sound information processing unit 280 has a function of executing compression processing of image information around the vehicle imaged by the CCD camera 500 and sound information around the vehicle acquired by the microphone 600. As the image / sound information processing unit 280, a DSP (DigitAl Signal Processor) provided in the vehicle, a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) as a volatile random access memory, or the like can be used.

  The image / sound information processing unit 280 compresses the image information and the sound information, so that the recording data can be reduced in size and stored in the drive device (the map information storage unit 255, the music information storage unit 275). Data capacity can be increased.

  The output unit 290 is realized by a combination of a monitor 291 such as an LCD display and a speaker 292. Under the control of the control unit 300, the current position information of the vehicle measured by the GPS receiver 220 and the map information storage unit 255 are used. A function of outputting the read map information or the result of each navigation process such as a route search result to a desired destination by a screen display by the monitor 291 or a sound by the speaker 292 is provided.

  The CCD camera 500 is attached to the front position of the vehicle, and the CCD camera 500 has a function of imaging a situation in front of the traveling vehicle (mainly, another vehicle traveling in front of the vehicle) as video information. ing. The video information imaged by the CCD camera 500 is converted into a digital signal by an A / D converter of a video signal processing unit (not shown) as image data (video signal), processed by a decoder, and then image / audio information. Compression processing is performed by the processing unit 280.

  Thereafter, the storage processing is performed by the map information storage unit 250 and then stored / stored in the map information storage unit 255. As described above, the image information captured by the CCD camera 500 is compressed by the image / audio information processing unit 280, and the compressed information is stored in the map information storage unit 255.

  The microphone 600 has a function of acquiring voice information of the driver and passengers of the vehicle and persons located around the vehicle. As will be described later, the audio information acquired by the microphone 600 is compressed by the image / audio information processing unit 280 and stored in the music information storage unit 275.

  The collision sensor 700 is provided at a front position of the vehicle, and mainly has a function of actually detecting a collision with another vehicle traveling in front of the vehicle. When a collision between the vehicle and another vehicle is detected by the collision sensor 700, a “collision detection signal” is output to the accident record control unit 400.

  As the radar 800, an existing millimeter wave radar device or the like is used, and this radar 800 is mainly used for a vehicle located around a vehicle traveling on a road (mainly another vehicle or obstacle traveling in front of the vehicle). ), The distance between the vehicle and another vehicle is measured. The inter-vehicle distance L with respect to the other vehicle detected by the radar 800 is output to the accident record control unit 400 of the navigation system 200 in real time, and the accident prediction determination unit 410 determines whether or not an accident occurrence is predicted for the vehicle. It will be.

  More specifically, when the distance L between the vehicle measured by the radar 800 and another vehicle is smaller than the safe distance L ′ that should be ensured in order to travel safely (inter-vehicle distance L < The accident prediction determination unit 410 determines (predicts) the occurrence of an accident at the safe inter-vehicle distance L ′), and at this time, an “accident prediction signal” is output from the accident prediction determination unit 410 to the accident record control unit 400. .

(Accident Record Processing Procedure by Vehicle Accident Recorder 100)
Next, the accident recording process by the vehicle accident recording apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an accident situation recording process procedure for a vehicle, which is performed by the accident record control unit 400 (FIG. 1) provided in the vehicle accident recording apparatus 100. The details of the accident record processing procedure for the vehicle will be described below with reference to this flowchart and FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the “vehicle accident recording mode” in step S150.

  That is, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2, the vehicle is normally controlled in the “normal mode” by the navigation system 200 (step S110). In the following, the occurrence of a vehicle accident is predicted by the collision prediction determination process. It is determined whether or not (step S120).

  Specifically, it is determined whether or not there is a “collision prediction signal” indicating that a collision with another vehicle or an obstacle is predicted (step S130). "Is determined (Yes at step S130), the process proceeds to the next interrupt process (step S140). Here, as described above, the “normal mode” in step S110 refers to a control state in which the navigation system 200 is used as a normal navigation process (search for a travel route to a destination, search for road conditions, etc.). Show.

  The collision prediction determination process in step S120 is a process performed by the accident prediction determination unit 410 (FIG. 1). As described above, the distance between the vehicle and another vehicle traveling in front of the host vehicle by the radar 800 (FIG. 1). L is measured, and when it is determined that the vehicle is closer than a predetermined safe inter-vehicle distance L ′ (inter-vehicle distance L <safe inter-vehicle distance L ′), is there. Further, the interruption process in step S140 indicates that the control is temporarily shifted from the “normal mode” to the “vehicle accident recording mode” for recording the vehicle accident situation by the navigation system 200.

  Here, as described above, in the “normal mode” in the normal navigation system 200, music or the like distributed from the distribution service by the music database (CCDDB) is used by the user (vehicle driver or passenger). Although it may be output from the loudspeaker 292 (FIG. 1), the music information playing routine is temporarily traded at the time of transition from the “normal mode” to the “vehicle accident recording mode” by the interruption process in step S140. It is turned off and priority is given to the control for recording the accident situation in the “vehicle accident recording mode”.

  That is, the process proceeds to the “vehicle accident recording mode” by the interruption process of step S140 (step S150), and the accident situation recording process for the vehicle is performed by the “vehicle accident recording mode”. As described above, the “vehicle accident recording mode” is a mode for recording (recording / recording) the vehicle situation at the time of occurrence of an accident (immediately / immediately) with the CCD camera 500 or the microphone 600.

(Basic processing procedure in “vehicle accident recording mode”)
Here, the details of the “accident recording mode” in step S150 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. That is, as shown in the figure, first, image information (image information) located around the vehicle (mainly other vehicle or obstacle traveling in front) is imaged by the CCD camera 500 (step S151). Next, voice information around the vehicle driver and the vehicle is recorded by the microphone 600 (step S152). In the following, the process proceeds to the image / audio information compression process for the image information and audio information of the accident situation regarding the vehicle acquired by the CCD camera 500 and the microphone 600 (step S153).

  Specifically, first, the process proceeds to image information compression processing. In step S154, the image information captured by the CCD camera 500 is compressed by the image / audio information processing unit 280 (FIG. 1) (step S154). Next, the image information compressed in step S154 is stored / stored in the map information storage unit 255 (FIG. 1) (step S155).

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to audio information compression processing, and the audio information around the vehicle recorded by the microphone 600 in step S156 is compressed (step S156). Next, the audio information compressed in step S156 is stored / stored in the music information storage unit 275 (FIG. 1) (step S157).

  As described above, in the “vehicle accident recording mode”, by compressing the recording data (redundant portion) of the image information and audio information related to the accident situation recorded / recorded by the CCD camera 500 and the microphone 600, Recording can be performed with a smaller file size without increasing the capacity of the acquired recording data.

  Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 2, the control after the “vehicle accident recording mode” in step S150 will be described. That is, after the vehicle accident status is recorded in the “vehicle accident recording mode”, a return time setting process is then performed (step S160).

This return time setting process is a process for setting a return time (return time variable N) from the “vehicle accident recording mode” to the return to the “normal mode”. The return time is the accident recording time setting unit 430 ( 1), the setting is made based on a predetermined setting time T ₁ set in advance. Here, the return time variable N is calculated from the return time variable N = current time T + set time T _{1 where} T is the current time (the time when the occurrence of the collision is predicted) and T ₁ is the set time. The Here, the predetermined set time T ₁ is set by the setting of the accident recording time setting unit 430 (FIG. 1).

  Next, the process proceeds to a collision detection process for determining whether or not there is a collision between the vehicle and another vehicle (step S170). Specifically, it is determined by the collision sensor 700 (FIG. 1) whether there is a collision between the vehicle and another vehicle (step S170), and the collision sensor 700 outputs a “collision detection signal” based on this determination. (Yes in step S170), the recording of the accident situation in the “vehicle accident recording mode” is stopped, and the control shifts to the control in the “normal mode”.

  Thereafter, the interrupt mode set in the next step S140 is canceled (step S190), thereby shifting the control from the “vehicle accident recording mode” to the “normal mode” (step S200), and ending all processing (end). ).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S170 that there is no collision, it is determined whether or not the return time in the next step S180 has been reached (step S180), as described above. Then, it is determined in the step S180, if it is determined to have reached the return time (step S180: Yes), specifically, of determining whether the occurrence of a collision has passed the set time T ₁ since the predicted Thereafter, the interrupt mode set in the next step S190 is canceled (step S190). Then, the control is returned from the “vehicle accident recording mode” to the “normal mode” (step S200), and all the processes are ended (END). That is, after the set time T _{1 has} elapsed, the recording of the accident situation in the “vehicle accident recording mode” is stopped, and the control shifts to the control in the “normal mode”.

  Next, based on the accident record processing procedure in steps S110 to S200 described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2, the process when the vehicle does not reach the accident and the process when the accident occurs are shown in FIG. This will be specifically described with reference to the time chart of FIG.

[Treatment in case of no accident]
That is, as shown in the time chart of FIG. 4A, in the “normal mode” for the vehicle traveling on the road, the accident prediction determination unit 410 (FIG. 1) based on the distance measurement result by the radar 800 (FIG. 1). When it is determined that the “accident prediction signal” has been output based on the determination result, the mode shifts from the “normal mode” to the “vehicle accident recording mode” and then the “vehicle accident recording mode”. If the “collision detection signal” for detecting a collision with another vehicle or the like is not transmitted even after the set time T ₁ has elapsed (the collision sensor 700, it is determined that there is no collision with the other vehicle by the collision determination process) From the “accident recording mode” to the “normal mode”, the control in the “normal mode” is performed thereafter.

[Processing when an accident occurs]
That is, as shown in the time chart of FIG. 4B, when the “accident prediction signal” by the radar 800 (FIG. 1) is transmitted in the “normal mode” for the vehicle traveling on the road, ”To“ Vehicle accident recording mode ”, and a“ collision detection signal ”for detecting a collision with another vehicle or the like is transmitted during this“ accident recording mode ”(the collision is detected by the collision determination processing in step S170). When the collision determination result is used as a trigger, a transition is made from the “vehicle accident recording mode” to the “normal mode”. Thereafter, the control in the “normal mode” is performed. That is, in this example, even if the preset time T ₁ has elapsed, if the “collision detection signal” is transmitted by the collision sensor 700, the “accident recording mode” is immediately set to the “normal mode”. Is switched to "".

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, when the occurrence of an accident is predicted by the accident occurrence predicting unit (in this example, the radar 800) for predicting the occurrence of the accident, the vehicle accident recording apparatus 100 is provided. The vehicle accident record control unit 400 provided is operated to control the transition from the “normal mode” to the “vehicle accident record mode”, and a video (image information) relating to the accident situation of the vehicle by this “vehicle accident record mode”. Or audio information around the vehicle is recorded / recorded by the CCD camera 500 or the microphone 600, and the acquired image information or audio information is compressed by the image / audio information processing unit 280. The map information storage unit 255 or the music information storage unit 275 provided with the navigation system 200 with image information and audio information regarding the situation. Since recording / storing is performed, it is possible to accurately grasp the vehicle situation immediately before the occurrence of the accident, and further, recording / storing of recording information with a smaller file size can be realized without increasing the recording capacity. It becomes.

  In addition, since the map information storage unit 255 or the music information storage unit 275 provided in the navigation system 200 is used as a recording device for recording the vehicle situation at the time of the accident, the storage device for storing / storing the vehicle accident record data. The burden on the (HDD) can be reduced.

Further, when the occurrence of an accident is predicted, if no collision is detected by the collision sensor 700 even after a predetermined time (set time T ₁ ), the “vehicle accident recording mode” is terminated and the normal “normal mode” is restored. Therefore, it is possible to record only the accident situation with respect to the necessary vehicle, and as a result, it is possible to reduce the load on the storage device (HDD) that stores / stores the accident record data of the vehicle.

Next, a second embodiment according to the vehicle accident recording apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail. Here, FIG. 5 shows an accident record processing procedure by the vehicle according to the second embodiment, and the difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment (FIG. 2) is a collision with another vehicle or the like. When a “collision detection signal” is detected (a collision is determined by the collision determination process), the “vehicle accident recording mode” does not shift to the “normal mode” and continues as it is. The point of performing the accident recording by the “recording mode” is controlled for a predetermined time (set time T ₂ ), and the voice of the person is preferentially extracted from a plurality of audio information acquired (recorded) by the microphone 600. The feature is that a “person voice recording mode” for recording voice information of a person with priority is provided.

  In other words, this “personal voice recording mode” refers to a plurality of types of audio information (recorded) acquired by the microphone 600 when a vehicle accident occurs (vehicle engine sound, tire slip sound at the time of an accident, This is a processing mode in which a person's voice is extracted from a collision sound, an impact sound, a person's voice, etc., and this voice is recorded with priority. The voice of this person is mainly the voice (voice) of the driver who drives the vehicle and other persons around the vehicle (voices of other vehicles other than the driver, witnesses of accidents, etc.). Is shown.

  The person's voice information can be extracted by using an equalizing function (frequency adjustment function) by a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) used as the image / sound information processing unit 280 (FIG. 1). Thereby, it can acquire as audio | voice information which removed the noise around a vehicle.

  Specifically, in the second embodiment, when a collision with another vehicle is detected by the collision sensor 700 (FIG. 1), the driver who drives the vehicle or another person around the vehicle (a person other than the driver) ) Voice (voice) as the accident record information.

  That is, in the second embodiment, voice information of a person is recorded with priority using an equalizing function (frequency adjustment function) by a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) used as the image / sound information processing unit 280. Thus, it can be acquired as voice information from which noise around the vehicle is removed. The cause of the accident can be clarified accurately and easily by acquiring the voice information at the time of the accident in this “person voice recording mode”.

  Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIGS. The internal configuration of the vehicle accident recording apparatus 100 is the same as that shown in the functional block diagram of FIG.

Hereinafter, the accident record processing procedure according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Here, in the flowchart of FIG. 5, detailed description of the processing procedure similar to that of FIG. 2 described above is omitted, and control for continuing accident recording, which is a characteristic part of the second embodiment, and “personal sound recording mode” The processing procedure (step S171 to step S173) according to FIG. That is, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, if it is determined in step S170 that there is a collision with another vehicle (or an obstacle) (Yes in step S170), then a return time resetting process is performed. (Step S171). This return time resetting process is performed from the “vehicle accident recording mode” to the “normal mode” based on the set time T ₂ for recording the accident situation after the accident when it is determined that the vehicle has reached an accident. This is a process of resetting the return time (re-return time variable N ′).

Here, the re-recovery time variable N ′ is represented by re-return time variable N ′ = current time T + set time T _{2 where} T is the current time (the time at which the collision is determined) and T ₂ is the set time. Calculated. In other words, the accident situation recording is performed until the set time T ₂ set in return time resetting process by the step S171 has elapsed. Here, the predetermined set time T ₂ is set by the setting of the accident recording time setting unit 430 (FIG. 1).

  Hereinafter, it is determined whether or not the “person voice recording mode” is set by the accident recording form setting unit 440 (FIG. 1) (step S172), and the “person voice recording mode” is set by the determination of step S172. (Yes in step S172), the process proceeds to the “personal audio recording mode”.

Specifically, as described above, during the predetermined set time T _2, the performing the process of recording the audio information by the "person voice information recording mode" preferentially (step S173). It should be noted that the setting of the “person voice recording mode” in step S171 is performed by the accident recording form setting unit 440 (FIG. 1).

Recording process by the "person audio recording mode", during the predetermined set time T _2, is continuously performed, or the determination (re return time variable N'the predetermined set time T ₂ has elapsed in step S174 < If it is determined that the predetermined set time T _{2 has} passed (current time T) (Yes at step S173), the interrupt mode set at step S140 is canceled (step S190), and the “vehicle accident recording mode” is changed to “ Control is returned to the “normal mode” (step S200), and all the processes are terminated (end).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S172 that the “person voice recording mode” has not been set (No in step S172), the recording process in the “person voice recording mode” will be performed after a predetermined set time T _{2 has} elapsed. of the determined performed (return time variable N'<current time T) (step S174), the determination of step S174, if it is determined that the predetermined set time T ₂ has elapsed (step S174: Yes), or less, The interrupt mode set in step S140 is canceled (step S190), the control is returned from the “vehicle accident recording mode” to the “normal mode” (step S200), and all the processes are ended (end).

  As described above, this “person voice recording mode” is a mode in which voice information by a vehicle driver, a passenger, or a person located around the vehicle is preferentially recorded. By acquiring voice information at the time of the occurrence of the accident, the cause of the accident can be clarified accurately and easily.

  As described above with reference to the accident recording processing procedure in steps S110 to S200 described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5, the processing in the case where the vehicle does not reach the accident and the processing in the case where the accident occurs are shown in FIGS. This will be specifically described with reference to the time chart.

[Processing when an accident occurs]
As shown in the time chart of FIG. 6, in this example, when the “accident prediction signal” is output by the radar 800 (FIG. 1) in the “normal mode” for the vehicle traveling on the road, this navigation system 200. When a “collision detection signal” for detecting a collision with another vehicle or the like is output during this “accident recording mode” (“collision detection signal” in step S170). In contrast to the first embodiment, the control for performing the accident recording in the “accident recording mode” is continued without changing from the “vehicle accident recording mode” to the “normal mode”. A predetermined time (set time T ₂ ) is performed.

Then, after the set time T _{2 has} elapsed, the “vehicle accident recording mode” is shifted to the “normal mode”, and thereafter, the control in the “normal mode” is performed. In this case, as shown in the figure, the accident recording control in the “accident recording mode” is continued without being interrupted even after a predetermined set time T _{1 has} elapsed since the output of the “accident prediction signal”. The

[Processing by human voice recording mode when an accident occurs]
As shown in the time chart of FIG. 7, in this example, a “first accident recording mode” and a “second accident recording mode” are provided, and the “first accident recording mode” is performed as described above. Similar to Example 1, when the “accident prediction signal” is output, this is a processing mode in which the CCD camera 500 and the microphone 600 record / record image information and audio information on the accident situation for the vehicle. In the “second accident recording mode”, when a collision is detected by the collision sensor 700, voices (voices) of a driver driving the vehicle and other persons (persons other than the driver) around the vehicle are emphasized. Is a processing mode for recording as audio information related to the accident situation.

That is, as shown in the time chart of FIG. 6, when an accident prediction signal is received by the radar 800 in the “normal mode” for the vehicle traveling on the road, the “first accident record” is output from the “normal mode”. When a collision detection signal for detecting a collision with another vehicle or the like is output during this “first accident recording mode” (determination that there is a collision by the collision determination processing in step S170), Transition from the “first accident recording mode” to the “second accident recording mode” in which the sound information from the microphone 600 is preferentially recorded. Thereafter, during the predetermined time (set time T ₂ ), this “ The accident is recorded on the vehicle by the “person voice recording mode” which is the “second accident recording mode”.

Hereinafter, after the set time T ₂ has elapsed, the “personal sound recording mode” is shifted to the “normal mode”, and thereafter, the normal control is performed in the “normal mode”.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, even when a collision detection signal for detecting a collision with another vehicle or the like is output (determined that there is a collision by the collision determination process of the collision sensor 700). As in the first embodiment, the control for performing the accident recording in the “accident recording mode” is performed for a predetermined time (set time T ₂ ) without shifting from the “vehicle accident recording mode” to the “normal mode”. Therefore, it is possible to reliably and continuously acquire image information and audio information related to the accident situation after the collision accident.

  Further, when the occurrence of an accident is predicted by an accident occurrence prediction unit (in this example, the radar 800) for predicting the occurrence of the accident, the vehicle accident recording control unit 400 provided in the vehicle accident recording device 100 is operated. In addition, the “person voice recording mode” is performed in which the voice information from the microphone 600 is preferentially recorded in preference to the imaging of the vehicle image information by the CCD camera 500, so that the recorded data has a smaller file size. In addition, clear audio information free from noise can be recorded.

  Based on the image information around the vehicle by the CCD camera 500 and the sound information by the microphone 600, the vehicle situation immediately before the occurrence of the accident can be accurately grasped, and further, after a predetermined time has elapsed since the prediction of the accident, Since the control for returning the accident recording mode to the normal mode is performed, only the necessary vehicle situation can be recorded, and as a result, the burden on the accident recording apparatus can be reduced.

(Other examples)
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described so far, the present invention can be applied to various different embodiments within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims other than the first and second embodiments. Can also be implemented. That is, in the first and second embodiments described above, the vehicle position information is acquired from the GPS antenna 210, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the position information is acquired from means other than the GPS. You may comprise so that it may do.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the radar 800 is mounted as a device for predicting the occurrence of an accident. However, the radar 800 is not particularly mounted, and for example, a vehicle-mounted camera is mounted, and the vehicle during traveling by the vehicle-mounted camera It is also possible to record (image) the surroundings of the vehicle and the environment outside the vehicle.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the object to be recorded by the vehicle accident recording apparatus 100 is image information or sound information around the vehicle. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various types of information indicating the condition of the vehicle (for example, engine temperature) The coolant temperature, the accelerator opening, the brake timing, the steering angle, the steering wheel angle, the vehicle speed, etc.), and each of these information may be used as vehicle accident status information when the accident is clarified. .

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the map information storage unit 255 and the music information storage unit 275 are separate storage devices (HDDs), but the map information storage unit 255 and the music information storage unit 275 Can be temporarily set as one storage device. In this case, both storage units 255 and 275 can be accessed at the same time. As a result, the storage area for recording / storing the accident record data can be increased in capacity, and the recorded information can be accessed at high speed (reading). / Recording) can be made possible. Moreover, the accident situation regarding a vehicle can be recorded over a long period of time.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The vehicle information recording apparatus according to the present invention is useful for a vehicle accident recording apparatus that is mounted on a vehicle that makes it possible to accurately grasp a vehicle situation immediately before an accident.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Vehicle accident recording apparatus 200 Navigation system 210 GPS antenna 220 GPS receiver 230 Operation part 250 Map information storage part 255 Map information storage part (HDD)
270 Music information storage unit 275 Music information storage unit (HDD)
280 Image / sound information processing unit 290 Output unit 291 Monitor 292 Speaker 300 Control unit 310 Accident situation acquisition unit 320 Travel route setting unit 400 Accident record control unit 410 Accident prediction determination unit 420 Collision detection determination unit 430 Accident recording time setting unit 440 Accident Recording form setting section 500 CCD camera 600 Microphone 700 Collision sensor

Claims (5)

A recording apparatus having recording control means for recording information about a vehicle,
The recording control means includes a first recording process for recording video information around the vehicle acquired from the camera on a storage medium and an output from the collision sensor when the inter-vehicle distance from the distance measuring means is a predetermined distance or less. The vehicle information recording apparatus includes two recording processes of a second recording process in which video information around the vehicle acquired from the camera is recorded on a storage medium.   The recording control means, in the first recording process and the second recording process, records information relating to the condition of the vehicle or position information or time information from a situation acquisition unit on a storage medium. Item 4. The vehicle information recording device according to Item 1.   The said recording control means extends the said 1st recording process, when the output from the said collision sensor is detected when performing the said 1st recording process, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. Item 3. The vehicle information recording device according to Item 1 or 2. Having music playback means for playing music,
The recording control means executes an interruption process for temporarily controlling the sound output of the music from the speaker when the inter-vehicle distance from the distance measuring means becomes equal to or less than a predetermined distance during the reproduction of the music. The vehicle information recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle information recording apparatus is a vehicle information recording apparatus.   5. The vehicle information recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the recording control means records the video information on a storage medium in which the music information is recorded by the interruption process.

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