JP2012069051A - In-vehicle operation recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely record data indicating a state that a driver has highly likely ignored a traffic signal and to easily extract data with high importance concerning signal ignorance by refraining from recording useless data.SOLUTION: An in-vehicle operation recording device comprises: a signal information reception unit which is installed in a vehicle and can receive information indicating a state of a traffic signal placed on a road via a wireless communication facility on a road side; a signal ignorance detection unit for identifying whether or not it is highly possible to have ignored a signal only when the signal information reception unit receives information indicating that a lighting state of a signal is red or yellow; and a record control unit for generating a trigger to start recording image data or generating event information indicating signal ignorance and recording the event information in association with the image data, when the signal ignorance detection unit detects a state with high possibility of signal ignorance.

Description

  The present invention is mounted on a vehicle and automatically captures image data obtained by photographing with an in-vehicle camera at a timing triggered by the occurrence of a predetermined event continuously or periodically during operation of the vehicle. The present invention relates to an in-vehicle operation recording apparatus having a recording function.

  A drive recorder is known as a representative example of an in-vehicle operation recording apparatus having a function of automatically acquiring and recording information such as image data obtained by photographing with an in-vehicle camera. A general drive recorder automatically records a moving image or a still image that can be used as evidence for a predetermined time before and after an abnormality such as a traffic accident. An acceleration sensor is generally used to identify whether an abnormal state exists.

  There is also a constant recording type drive recorder. In the case of the continuous recording type, the image data is always recorded even when the abnormality does not occur. When the occurrence of an abnormality is detected, event information representing it is generated and recorded in association with the image data. As a result, it is possible to easily find a location (location where an abnormality is detected) containing important information from the recorded time-series long-time image data.

  Such a drive recorder can be useful for the manager to give guidance regarding safe driving to the crew of each vehicle, for example, in a transportation company that owns commercial vehicles. In other words, image data representing the operation state of each vehicle is recorded by the drive recorder. By analyzing this image data, it is possible to grasp what kind of driving each crew member is doing and to promote safe driving. it can. Further, when a traffic accident actually occurs, it is possible to correctly grasp the cause of the accident by analyzing image data recorded at the timing before and after the accident.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a conventional technique related to a drive recorder for a vehicle. In Patent Document 1, communication is performed between a drive recorder (on-vehicle device) and a center device outside the vehicle, and the drive recorder performs a recording operation for a predetermined time according to the timing of receiving a recording command signal sent from the center device. . In addition, the center device sends the recording command signal when the current position of the vehicle deviates from a predetermined area, when the acceleration detected on the vehicle exceeds a threshold value, or when actual vehicle information of the vehicle is generated. Thus, it is disclosed that the recording operation of the drive recorder is started.

  Moreover, the prior art regarding the driving assistance system different from a drive recorder is disclosed by patent document 2, for example. The driving support system disclosed in Patent Document 2 is a system for preventing accidents at road intersections and in the vicinity of intersections, and includes an external transmitter provided at a traffic signal at an intersection and an in-vehicle device mounted on each vehicle. Consists of. Specifically, a technique as described below is disclosed.

  The external transmitter acquires a signal control pattern from the traffic signal control device at the intersection, and generates signal information data indicating a signal state. This signal information data indicates the remaining time until the yellow signal and the blue signal change from the blue signal to the yellow signal and from the red signal to the blue signal, respectively. This external transmitter transmits the signal information data toward the road by wireless communication using radio waves or infrared rays.

  The vehicle-mounted device of each vehicle outputs a warning message by voice and text based on the signal information data received from the external transmitter. In addition, the control unit of the vehicle-mounted device monitors the vehicle speed signal and the brake signal of the vehicle, and outputs a warning sound and / or warning light from the warning output unit when the driver does not take a deceleration action according to the warning message. .

  In addition, when the in-vehicle device receives data indicating that a yellow signal has been generated from an external transmitter, the distance information to the intersection included in the received data and the vehicle speed are 3 seconds after the red signal is displayed. Calculate whether the vehicle has reached or crossed the intersection, and if it is before the intersection, it outputs a warning sound and / or warning light to prompt the stop, or outputs a braking signal It proposes to actuate the vehicle brakes.

JP 2007-199791 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-77093

  For example, if a vehicle crew member deliberately neglects a signal due to an oversight of a traffic signal when the vehicle passes through an intersection where a traffic signal exists, the corresponding crew member is considered likely to cause a traffic accident. It is done. Accordingly, the manager of the company needs to give guidance regarding safe driving to such dangerous crew members.

  However, it is not easy to confirm whether each crew member actually ignored the signal. In other words, it is easy to determine whether or not the signal was ignored even when recording an image taken during operation of the vehicle using an on-vehicle device such as a conventional drive recorder and analyzing the recorded data after the operation ended In addition, since the enormous amount of data recorded over a long period of time must be analyzed over time, the burden of analysis work is large. However, for example, when a traffic accident occurs, information indicating whether or not the signal is ignored immediately before is very valuable and can be used as important evidence.

  If the technique of Patent Document 1 is adopted, the timing at which the drive recorder starts recording can be controlled by a recording command signal from the center device. However, for example, even when control is performed so that the recording operation is performed when the position of the vehicle approaches the vicinity of the position where the traffic signal exists, the signal ignoring state is not detected and recording is not started. Images that are unrelated to ignorance are also recorded. That is, since a lot of useless data that does not need to be analyzed is recorded, it takes time to extract important data representing a signal neglected state. In addition, a large-capacity storage device is required to record even useless data.

  Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for detecting whether or not a vehicle needs to be decelerated in front of a traffic signal at an intersection based on a timing at which the color of the traffic signal changes and assisting a driving operation. However, the purpose of the technique of Patent Document 2 is to support the driving of the driver, and since it is not assumed at all whether the driver actually ignored the signal, this technique is directly applied to the drive recorder. I can't do it.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and its purpose is to reliably record data representing a situation in which the driver is likely to have ignored the signal and to suppress the recording of useless data. Another object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle operation recording apparatus capable of easily extracting highly important data related to signal ignorance.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the in-vehicle operation recording apparatus according to the present invention is characterized by the following (1) to (4).
(1) It is mounted on a vehicle, and is obtained by photographing at least one or a plurality of in-vehicle cameras at a timing triggered by occurrence of a predetermined event continuously or periodically or during operation of the vehicle. An in-vehicle operation recording device having a function of automatically recording image data,
A signal information receiving unit mounted on the vehicle and capable of receiving information representing a state of a traffic light installed on the road via a wireless communication facility on the road side;
Only when the signal information receiving unit has received information indicating the red or yellow lighting state of the traffic light, a signal ignoring detection unit that identifies whether or not there is a high possibility of signal ignorance,
When the signal ignorance detection unit detects a state where there is a high possibility of ignoring the signal, it generates a trigger for starting recording of the image data, or generates event information indicating signal ignorance and the image data And a recording control unit for recording in association with each other.
(2) The on-vehicle operation recording device according to (1) above,
The signal ignorance detection unit identifies whether or not there is a high possibility of signal ignorance based on one or a combination of the vehicle speed, acceleration, brake state, and information obtained by image processing. thing.
(3) The in-vehicle operation recording device according to (1) above,
The signal ignorance detection unit includes an image processing unit that automatically detects a lighting color of the traffic signal by extracting traffic signal information from image data obtained by photographing with the in-vehicle camera, and the image processing unit detects Whether or not the signal is likely to be ignored based on one or more combinations of vehicle speed, acceleration, and brake status only when the color of the traffic light is red or yellow To identify.
(4) The in-vehicle operation recording device according to (1) above,
When the recording control unit detects at least a red or yellow lighting state of the traffic light, it generates event information indicating the state, and associates the event information with the image data and position information indicating the current position of the vehicle. To record.

According to the in-vehicle operation recording apparatus having the configuration (1), the signal ignorance detection unit identifies whether or not the signal is ignored when the red or yellow lighting state of the traffic light is detected. It can be detected with accuracy. Therefore, useless data recording can be suppressed in a situation unrelated to ignoring the signal, such as when the vehicle passes in a blue signal state. For this reason, when the recorded data is analyzed, it becomes easy to extract important data related to signal ignorance.
According to the in-vehicle operation recording device having the configuration (2) above, even if the traffic light is in a red or yellow lighting state, if the signal is not likely to be ignored, the signal is not recorded as neglected. Recording can be suppressed.
According to the in-vehicle operation recording device having the configuration (3), it is possible to detect a state where the possibility of ignoring the signal is high with higher accuracy. That is, in the information received by the signal information receiving unit, even if the traffic light is in a red or yellow lighting state, the state of the traffic light may change immediately thereafter. By detecting the emission color of the traffic light obtained by processing the captured image, it is possible to accurately identify whether the signal is ignored.
According to the in-vehicle operation recording apparatus having the configuration (4), even when the signal is not ignored, the information useful for grasping the driving situation when passing near the red or yellow lighting signal. Can be easily acquired. Therefore, it can be used as information for analyzing whether the driver is driving safely, for example.

  According to the in-vehicle operation recording apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to reliably record data representing a situation in which the driver is likely to ignore the signal, and to suppress the recording of useless data or to prevent use of important data and waste. Therefore, it is easy to extract highly important data related to signal ignorance.

  The present invention has been briefly described above. Further, details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading through the modes for carrying out the invention described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the system containing the vehicle-mounted operation recording apparatus of embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structural example of the event file which the vehicle-mounted operation recording apparatus of FIG. 1 records. It is a flowchart which shows the main operation | movement of the vehicle-mounted operation recording apparatus in the case of a continuous recording type drive recorder. 4 is a flowchart showing a modification of the operation shown in FIG. 3. It is a flowchart showing the detail of step S16B of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the main operation | movement of the vehicle-mounted operation recording apparatus in the case of an event occurrence recording drive recorder. It is a flowchart which shows the modification of the operation | movement shown in FIG.

  Specific embodiments relating to the in-vehicle operation recording apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  A configuration example of a system including the in-vehicle operation recording device 10 of the present embodiment is shown in FIG. The in-vehicle operation recording device 10 shown in FIG. 1 is an in-vehicle device mainly configured to be used by being mounted on a business vehicle such as a truck, a taxi, or a bus. It operates as a drive recorder that records in As shown in FIG. 1, the in-vehicle operation recording device 10 is used in a state where it is connected to an in-vehicle camera 11, an acceleration (G) sensor 12, and a vehicle speed (speed) sensor 13 that are mounted on the vehicle. In addition, a brake signal indicating whether or not the brake pedal of the vehicle is depressed is also input to the in-vehicle operation recording device 10.

The in-vehicle camera 11 is fixed on the vehicle in such a direction that it can capture a landscape in front of the moving direction of the vehicle on which it is mounted. The in-vehicle camera 11 includes an image pickup device such as a two-dimensional CCD image sensor, and outputs a still image or a moving image video signal obtained by continuously or intermittently photographing a subject.
The acceleration sensor 12 is fixed on a vehicle on which the acceleration sensor 12 is mounted, and can output an electrical signal indicating the magnitude of acceleration applied to the vehicle. The acceleration signal output from the acceleration sensor 12 is used to detect an abnormal state such as the occurrence of a traffic accident.

  The vehicle speed sensor 13 detects the rotation of the output shaft of the transmission of the vehicle on which the vehicle speed sensor 13 is mounted, and outputs a pulsed electric signal (vehicle speed pulse). That is, a pulse is output every time a vehicle wheel rotates a predetermined amount. Therefore, for example, the number of pulses generated within a predetermined time can be counted, and a vehicle speed proportional to the counted value can be obtained.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the in-vehicle operation recording apparatus 10 includes interfaces 14 and 15, a speed interface 16, a microcomputer (CPU) 17, an external recording medium 18, a memory (SDRAM) 19, and an external communication device (optical beacon) 20. I have.

  The interface 14 controls the start and end of shooting of the in-vehicle camera 11 in accordance with an instruction from the microcomputer 17, and processes the video signal of each frame obtained by the shooting of the in-vehicle camera 11 to generate still image or moving image data. To do.

  The interface 15 processes an electrical signal output from the acceleration sensor 12 and converts the electrical signal into acceleration information usable by the microcomputer 17. The speed interface 16 processes the electrical signal output from the vehicle speed sensor 13 and converts it into information on the vehicle speed that can be used by the microcomputer 17.

  The microcomputer 17 provides various functions necessary for controlling the in-vehicle operation recording device 10 by executing a program stored in advance on a memory (ROM) built therein.

  The external recording medium 18 is a non-volatile memory having a relatively large storage capacity, and can be accessed from the microcomputer 17 to write and read data. The external recording medium 18 has a structure like a memory card, and is detachable from the in-vehicle operation recording device 10.

  The memory 19 is a volatile memory, and can be accessed from the microcomputer 17 to write and read data. The memory 19 is used for holding temporarily used data.

  The external communication device 20 has an optical beacon communication function, and is used to perform data communication between the microcomputer 17 that controls the in-vehicle operation recording device 10 that is an in-vehicle device and a device outside the vehicle. The external communication device 20 is connected to the projector / receiver 30.

  On the other hand, optical vehicle detectors called optical beacons are installed at various locations on the road as roadside equipment. This optical beacon is a facility on the road side used for realizing a new traffic management system (UTMS), and is generally installed at a position above the road. Also, a projector / receiver that projects / receives near-infrared light is provided, and the presence of the vehicle can be sensed by the length of the round-trip time of the light that is projected / received. In addition, when a vehicle equipped with an optical beacon communication device including a projector / receiver passes near the road side optical beacon, bidirectional communication is performed between the vehicle side optical beacon and the road side optical beacon. It can be carried out. On the highway, a radio beacon is used instead of an optical beacon.

  Regarding the use of roadside optical beacons, as a road traffic information communication system (VICS), a service that provides various traffic information collected by the center to an in-vehicle device such as a car navigation device is common. Demonstration experiments on information provision services have been attempted.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, it is assumed that a road-side communication device (optical beacon) 50 is arranged in the vicinity of a traffic signal 40 installed at each intersection on the road. In addition, the roadside communication device 50 of the present embodiment is connected to the traffic signal 40 by wire or wirelessly, and information indicating the current state of the traffic signal 40 (classification of blue, yellow, red lighting, etc.) is transmitted from the traffic signal 40. This can be acquired and notified to the vehicle-mounted device side.

Therefore, when a vehicle equipped with the in-vehicle operation recording device 10 shown in FIG. 1 is traveling on the road, when the vehicle approaches the intersection where the traffic signal 40 including the road side communication device 50 exists and enters a communicable region, Is transmitted from the optical beacon of the road side communication device 50 to the microcomputer 17 via the light projector / receiver 30 on the vehicle and the external communication device 20. In addition, about the position which installs the road side communication apparatus 50, it is desirable to set it as the position near the signal apparatus 40. FIG. As a result, information indicating the state of the traffic signal immediately before the vehicle enters the intersection can be notified to the vehicle-mounted device, so that whether or not the signal is ignored can be identified with high accuracy.
Although not shown, the in-vehicle operation recording apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 also has a function of acquiring current date information and a function of acquiring latitude / longitude information indicating the current position of the vehicle.

  The in-vehicle operation recording device 10 stores moving image or still image image data obtained by photographing by the in-vehicle camera 11 on the external recording medium 18 as time series data, as in the case of a general drive recorder. The operation in which the in-vehicle operation recording device 10 records the image data may be limited to a predetermined time (for example, about 20 seconds) before and after a specific event occurs, as in the case of detecting an abnormal acceleration. In some cases, recording is always performed.

  1 not only records image data but also records information representing the state on the external recording medium 18 as an event file when a predetermined event occurs. An example of the structure of an event file to be recorded is shown in FIG.

  In the event file shown in FIG. 2, time information indicating the date and time of occurrence, position information (latitude / longitude) indicating the position of the vehicle, event information indicating the contents of the event, and the like are recorded for each event that has occurred. ing. The contents of the recorded event include “acceleration abnormality”, “speed abnormality”, “signal red”, “signal yellow” and the like shown in FIG.

  FIG. 3 shows an operation example when the in-vehicle operation recording device 10 operates as a constant recording type drive recorder. This operation is realized by processing of the microcomputer 17. The operation shown in FIG. 3 will be described below.

  When the in-vehicle operation recording device 10 is turned on, initialization is performed in step S10. That is, the microcomputer 17 itself is initialized, the contents of the memory 19 are cleared, the external communication device 20 is controlled to be communicable, the state of the in-vehicle camera 11 is initialized via the interface 14, and the acceleration from the interface 15 is Control is performed so that information can be acquired and vehicle speed information can be acquired from the speed interface 16.

  In step S11, the microcomputer 17 starts image capturing and recording operations. That is, the vehicle-mounted camera 11 is controlled to start a continuous or periodic shooting operation, still image data or moving image data obtained by shooting is acquired via the interface 14, and the shooting time is recorded on the external recording medium 18. Is recorded as time-series data associated with.

  In step S12, the presence / absence of an abnormality other than signal ignorance described later is detected. In other words, when the latest acceleration detected at the time of a traffic accident is abnormally large, or when the latest vehicle speed detected is abnormally high, such as when driving recklessly, it is regarded as abnormal. . If there is an abnormality, the process proceeds to step S13, and if there is no abnormality, the process proceeds to step S14.

  In step S13, the latest event information representing the abnormality detected in step S12 is generated and recorded so as to be added to the event file. This event information includes time information and position information as shown in FIG.

  In step S14, the microcomputer 17 monitors the state of the external communication device (optical beacon) 20 and identifies whether it has received information from traffic lights on the road. For example, when a traveling vehicle approaches an intersection where a traffic light is installed, and the position of the light emitter / receiver 30 on the vehicle falls within a communicable area of a roadside communication device (optical beacon) 50 connected to the traffic light. The external communication device 20 of the vehicle-mounted device receives the information from the signal device 40 and proceeds to the next step S15.

  In step S15, the microcomputer 17 generates event information including information received from the traffic light, and records it to be added to the event file. That is, event information of “signal red” is recorded when the traffic light is in a red lighting state, and event information of “signal yellow” is recorded when the traffic light is in a yellow lighting state. Note that when the traffic light is in a blue lighting state, the recording operation is omitted because the importance of information as an event is low.

  In step S16, the microcomputer 17 identifies whether the current traffic light is in a red or yellow lighting state based on the content of the information received from the traffic light in step S14. And if it is a red or yellow lighting state, it will progress to Step S17, and if it is other than that, it will return to Step S12.

  In step S17, the microcomputer 17 detects the state of the input brake signal and identifies whether the brake pedal is depressed. If the brake pedal is depressed, the process returns to step S12, and if the brake pedal is not depressed, the process proceeds to step S18.

  In step S18, the microcomputer 17 compares the current vehicle speed value input from the speed interface 16 with a predetermined threshold value (for example, 10 km / h), and identifies whether or not the condition “vehicle speed> threshold value” is satisfied. . If the condition “vehicle speed> threshold” is satisfied, the process proceeds to the next step S19. Otherwise, the process returns to step S12.

  In other words, when approaching an intersection with a traffic light, the traffic light is in a red or yellow lighting state, and even if the vehicle speed (10 km / h or more) cannot be stopped in front of the traffic light, the brake pedal is still Only when it is detected that the is not stepped on, the process proceeds to the next step S19.

  In step S19, the microcomputer 17 considers that the signal ignorance state of the vehicle has been detected, generates event information indicating “signal ignorance”, and records it to be added to the event file. Time information and position information as shown in FIG. 2 are also recorded in the event information indicating “ignore signal” so that it can be associated with image data.

  When data representing the driving state of the vehicle is recorded on the external recording medium 18 using the in-vehicle driving recording device 10 that operates as shown in FIG. 3, by analyzing the recorded data by the administrator, It can be used to guide safe driving.

  In particular, in the case of the in-vehicle operation recording apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the position where important data is recorded can be easily found even when a large amount of data over a long period of time is recorded. For example, if you want to check whether the crew corresponding to the recorded data has ever ignored the signal, search the event file for event information that indicates “signal ignored” Using time information, etc., it is possible to identify the position of important image data in which the scene of the corresponding operating state is recorded, and it is possible to confirm whether or not “signal ignorance” was actually performed by analyzing the image in a short time .

  A modification of the operation shown in FIG. 3 is shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, steps corresponding to those in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals. That is, steps S10 to S16 in FIG. 4 are the same as the operations shown in FIG.

  In the operation shown in FIG. 4, when the color of the traffic light is red or yellow in step S16, the next step S16B (image processing unit) is executed. In step S <b> 16 </ b> B, the microcomputer 17 receives the latest one frame of image data output from the in-vehicle camera 11 and performs image processing to detect the lighting color of the traffic light appearing in the image.

  Specifically, processing as shown in FIG. 5 is executed in step S16B. That is, in step S <b> 31 of FIG. 5, the microcomputer 17 acquires the latest frame image data from the in-vehicle camera 11.

  In the next step S32, a processing target area in the frame is determined. In other words, the height from the road surface where the traffic signal is installed on the road is almost constant, and the direction in which the traffic signal can be seen from the viewpoint of the driver driving the vehicle is also almost constant, so it is fixed on the vehicle. The position where the traffic signal appears in the frame corresponding to the shooting range of the in-vehicle camera 11 is also limited to a specific position. Of course, the position of the traffic light in the frame also changes if the installation position or shooting direction of the in-vehicle camera 11 changes. Therefore, the processing target area in the image frame is determined based on constants determined in advance according to the installation position and shooting direction of the in-vehicle camera 11.

  In step S33, the microcomputer 17 limits the image data only to the inside of the processing target area determined in step S32, and performs image processing to extract signal data. That is, information that matches features such as the shape and color of the traffic light is extracted.

  In step S34, the microcomputer 17 identifies whether the traffic light in the image is lit in blue, yellow, or red based on the traffic signal image data extracted in step S33.

  If the color of the traffic light detected in step S16B in FIG. 4 is red or yellow, the process proceeds to step S17B, otherwise returns to step S12.

  In step S17B, the microcomputer 17 identifies whether the signal is likely to be ignored. If the signal is likely to be ignored, the process proceeds to step S19, and if the possibility of ignoring the signal is low, the process returns to step S12. For example, the process of step S17B of FIG. 4 can be realized by the same process as steps S17 and S18 of FIG. Further, in order to identify whether or not the signal is likely to be ignored in step S17B, it is conceivable to use, for example, a comparison result between acceleration and a predetermined threshold value.

  In the operation shown in FIG. 3, the lighting color of the traffic light is identified based only on the information received from the traffic light. However, for example, when the in-vehicle operation recording device 10 receives information from the traffic signal immediately before the lighting color of the traffic signal is switched, an error is detected in signal ignorance due to a time lag between the timing of receiving the information and the timing of processing. Can occur. On the other hand, in the operation shown in FIG. 4, since the lighting color of the traffic light is identified based on the image data actually obtained by photographing, it is possible to detect signal ignorance with higher accuracy. Further, when the lighting color of the traffic light received from the traffic light is blue, the image processing for identifying the actual lighting color can be omitted, so that the processing burden on the microcomputer 17 can be reduced.

  FIG. 6 shows the processing contents of the microcomputer 17 when the in-vehicle operation recording apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 operates as a drive recorder that records data only when an event occurs. The operation shown in FIG. 6 will be described below.

  When the in-vehicle operation recording device 10 is turned on, initialization is performed in step S20. That is, the microcomputer 17 itself is initialized, the contents of the memory 19 are cleared, the external communication device 20 is controlled to be communicable, the state of the in-vehicle camera 11 is initialized via the interface 14, and the acceleration from the interface 15 is Control is performed so that information can be acquired and vehicle speed information can be acquired from the speed interface 16.

  In step S21, the microcomputer 17 starts a short-time image capturing and recording operation temporarily held in the buffer. That is, even when recording of image data or the like is started only when an abnormality such as an accident is detected as a trigger, it is required to store an image for a predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds) before the trigger is generated. . Therefore, the photographing operation of the in-vehicle camera 11 is always performed, and the image data photographed within the past predetermined time is held on the buffer as temporary data, and the data that has become older in time is overwritten with new data. Thereby, the image data photographed within a predetermined time before the trigger is generated can be left on the buffer.

  In step S22, the presence / absence of an abnormality other than signal ignorance described later is detected. In other words, when the latest acceleration detected at the time of a traffic accident is abnormally large, or when the latest vehicle speed detected is abnormally high, such as when driving recklessly, it is regarded as abnormal. . If there is an abnormality, the process proceeds to step S27, and if there is no abnormality, the process proceeds to step S23.

  In step S23, the microcomputer 17 monitors the state of the external communication device (optical beacon) 20, and identifies whether it has received information from traffic lights on the road. For example, when a traveling vehicle approaches an intersection where a traffic light is installed, and the position of the light emitter / receiver 30 on the vehicle falls within a communicable area of a roadside communication device (optical beacon) 50 connected to the traffic light. The external communication device 20 of the vehicle-mounted device receives the information from the signal device 40 and proceeds to the next step S24.

  In step S24, the microcomputer 17 identifies whether or not the current traffic light is in a red or yellow lighting state based on the content of the information received from the traffic light in step S23. And if it is a red or yellow lighting state, it will progress to Step S25, and if it is other than that, it will return to Step S22.

  In step S25, the microcomputer 17 detects the state of the input brake signal and identifies whether or not the brake pedal is depressed. If the brake pedal is depressed, the process returns to step S22. If the brake pedal is not depressed, the process proceeds to step S26.

  In step S <b> 26, the microcomputer 17 compares the current vehicle speed value input from the speed interface 16 with a predetermined threshold value (for example, 10 km / h), and identifies whether or not the condition “vehicle speed> threshold value” is satisfied. . If the condition “vehicle speed> threshold” is satisfied, the process proceeds to the next step S27. Otherwise, the process returns to step S22.

  In other words, when approaching an intersection with a traffic light, the traffic light is in a red or yellow lighting state, and even if the vehicle speed (10 km / h or more) cannot be stopped in front of the traffic light, the brake pedal is still Only when it is detected that the is not stepped on, the process proceeds to the next step S27.

  In step S27, the microcomputer 17 considers that an abnormal state such as ignoring the signal of the vehicle or a traffic accident has been detected, and uses this as a trigger for starting the recording operation. Then, data such as an image is recorded and stored on the external recording medium 18 as time-series data for a predetermined time (for example, until 10 seconds elapse from the trigger occurrence). Further, since the image data within a predetermined time before the occurrence of the trigger is held on the buffer, it is read and recorded on the external recording medium 18.

  Further, when image data is recorded in step S27, event information indicating an abnormality or the like causing the trigger is simultaneously recorded as data such as an event file shown in FIG. Event information representing an abnormality such as “ignore signal” can be associated with image data including time information and position information as shown in FIG.

  When the operation shown in FIG. 6 is performed, it is not necessary to always record large-capacity image data or the like, and it is only necessary to store data for a short time zone when the trigger is generated. It is possible to reduce the storage capacity. Further, since only important data such as an image taken at the time of a traffic accident or an image taken at the time of ignoring a signal is stored on the external recording medium 18, the purpose of analyzing the recorded data is This makes it easy to find the location of important data.

  A modified example of the operation shown in FIG. 6 is shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, steps corresponding to those in FIG. 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals. That is, steps S20 to S24 in FIG. 7 are the same as the operations shown in FIG.

  In the operation shown in FIG. 7, when the color of the traffic light is red or yellow in step S24, the next step S24B (image processing unit) is executed. In step S24B, the microcomputer 17 receives the latest one frame of image data output from the in-vehicle camera 11, and performs image processing to detect the lighting color of the traffic light appearing in the image. That is, processing as shown in FIG. 5 is executed in step S24B.

  If the color of the traffic light detected in step S24B of FIG. 7 is red or yellow, the process proceeds to step S25B, otherwise returns to step S22.

  In step S25B, the microcomputer 17 identifies whether or not the signal is likely to be ignored. If the signal is likely to be ignored, the process proceeds to step S27, and if the possibility of ignoring the signal is low, the process returns to step S22. For example, the process of step S24B of FIG. 7 can be realized by the same process as steps S25 and S26 of FIG. Further, in order to identify whether or not the signal is likely to be ignored in step S24B, for example, it is conceivable to use a comparison result between acceleration and a predetermined threshold value.

  As described above, it can be assumed that the in-vehicle operation recording apparatus of the present invention is mainly used as a vehicle-mounted device such as a drive recorder mounted on a business vehicle or, in some cases, a general passenger vehicle. By adopting the present invention, in the case of an always-recording type drive recorder, there is an important image at the time when signal ignorance actually occurs among time-series data of images recorded for a long time. This makes it possible to easily identify the position to be performed, thereby reducing the burden on data analysis. Also, in the case of a drive recorder that performs a recording operation only when an event occurs, it is possible to reliably record important image data at the time when signal ignorance actually occurs, and it is a wasteless use with low importance Since the recording of the image data can be suppressed, the burden on the data analysis is also reduced in this case.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 In-vehicle operation recording apparatus 11 In-vehicle camera 12 Acceleration sensor 13 Vehicle speed sensor 14, 15 Interface 16 Speed interface 17 Microcomputer 18 External recording medium 19 Memory (SDRAM)
20 External communication device (optical beacon)
30 Projector / Receiver 40 Traffic light 50 Roadside communication device (optical beacon)

Claims (4)

Image data obtained by photographing at least one or a plurality of vehicle-mounted cameras mounted on a vehicle and at a timing triggered by the occurrence of a predetermined event continuously or periodically during the operation of the vehicle In-vehicle operation recording device with automatic recording function,
A signal information receiving unit mounted on the vehicle and capable of receiving information representing a state of a traffic light installed on the road via a wireless communication facility on the road side;
Only when the signal information receiving unit has received information indicating the red or yellow lighting state of the traffic light, a signal ignoring detection unit that identifies whether or not there is a high possibility of signal ignorance,
When the signal ignorance detection unit detects a state where there is a high possibility of ignoring the signal, it generates a trigger for starting recording of the image data, or generates event information indicating signal ignorance and the image data An in-vehicle operation recording device comprising: a recording control unit for recording in association. The signal ignorance detection unit identifies whether or not there is a high possibility of signal ignorance based on one or a combination of the vehicle speed, acceleration, brake state, and information obtained by image processing. The in-vehicle operation recording apparatus according to claim 1. The signal ignorance detection unit includes an image processing unit that automatically detects a lighting color of the traffic signal by extracting traffic signal information from image data obtained by photographing with the in-vehicle camera, and the image processing unit detects Whether or not the signal is likely to be ignored based on one or more combinations of vehicle speed, acceleration, and brake status only when the color of the traffic light is red or yellow The in-vehicle operation recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: When the recording control unit detects at least a red or yellow lighting state of the traffic light, it generates event information indicating the state, and associates the event information with the image data and position information indicating the current position of the vehicle. The in-vehicle operation recording device according to claim 1, wherein the on-vehicle operation recording device is recorded.

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