JP2012153232A - Cooling control system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a cooling control system capable of correctly determining the presence or absence of a person in a passenger compartment and preventing an accident in which a person is left behind in a passenger compartment having a high temperature to cause heat stroke.
An imaging apparatus captures an image in a passenger compartment and supplies image data relating to the captured image to an acquisition unit. The determination unit 32 analyzes whether or not a person is shown in the image based on the image data acquired by the acquisition unit 31, and determines whether or not a person is present in the passenger compartment. The detection unit 33 detects the temperature in the passenger compartment. When the determination unit 32 determines that there is a person and the detection unit 33 detects a temperature exceeding a predetermined temperature, the instruction unit 34 causes the cooling device 2 to cool the vehicle interior.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a cooling control system that controls a cooling device that is preferably mounted on a vehicle and cools the interior of the vehicle.

  In recent years, there are cases where children are left behind in a vehicle parked in a place where the sun is strong and the temperature is high, causing heat stroke and debilitating death. When a person, especially a child, is left behind in a car room where the temperature is high, it is necessary to prevent accidents that cause heat stroke by cooling the car room.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a cooling control system that can prevent an accident in which a person causes heat stroke when a person is left behind in a passenger compartment having a high temperature. The cooling control system includes a temperature sensor that detects a temperature in the vehicle interior, a weight sensor that detects a weight applied to a seat in the vehicle interior, and a fan that cools the vehicle interior by ventilating the vehicle interior.

  When the temperature sensor detects a temperature exceeding a predetermined temperature and the weight sensor detects a weight exceeding the predetermined weight, the fan is activated to cool the passenger compartment. As a result, when a person is left behind in the passenger compartment where the temperature is high, the passenger compartment is cooled, so that a person present in the passenger compartment does not cause heat stroke.

JP-A-4-237623

  However, in the cooling control system described in Patent Document 1, the presence / absence of a person in the passenger compartment is determined by whether or not the weight sensor detects a weight exceeding a predetermined weight. Accordingly, when a luggage exceeding a predetermined weight is placed on the seat in the passenger compartment, it is erroneously determined that a person is present in the passenger compartment, and the fan is activated. For this reason, useless electric power is consumed.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to correctly determine the presence / absence of a person in the passenger compartment and to leave a person in the passenger compartment where the temperature is high. It is providing the cooling control system which can prevent the accident which causes heat stroke.

  The cooling control system according to the present invention is a cooling control system including an imaging device that images a vehicle interior and a cooling control device that controls an operation of the cooling device that cools the vehicle interior. The cooling control device includes the imaging device. A determination unit that determines whether or not a person is present in the vehicle interior by analyzing whether or not a person is captured in an image captured by the apparatus, a detection unit that detects a temperature in the vehicle interior, and the determination unit And an instruction unit that instructs the cooling device to cool the vehicle interior when it is determined that a person is present and the detection unit detects a temperature exceeding a predetermined temperature.

In the present invention, the determination unit determines whether or not a person is present in the vehicle interior by analyzing whether or not a person is reflected in an image captured by the imaging device. Thereby, the presence or absence of a person in the passenger compartment is correctly determined.
When the determination unit determines that a person is present and the detection unit detects a temperature exceeding a predetermined temperature, for example, 40 degrees Celsius, the instruction unit instructs the cooling device to cool the vehicle interior to cool the vehicle interior. . As a result, an accident in which a person is left behind in a passenger compartment having a high temperature and causes heat stroke is prevented.

  In the cooling control system according to the present invention, the imaging device is an infrared camera, and the detection unit is configured to detect a temperature in the vehicle interior based on an image captured by the imaging device. Features.

In this invention, an imaging device is an infrared camera and images a vehicle interior in an infrared wavelength band. Since the vehicle interior is not imaged in the visible light wavelength band, the image captured by the imaging device does not change depending on the brightness of the vehicle interior, and the accuracy with which the determination unit determines whether a person is present does not change depending on the brightness of the vehicle interior.
Further, since the intensity of infrared rays is proportional to the temperature of an object that radiates infrared rays, the image taken by the imaging device shows the temperature distribution in the passenger compartment. For this reason, the detection unit can detect the temperature in the passenger compartment based on the image captured by the imaging device. Therefore, determination of the presence / absence of a person by the determination unit and detection of the temperature in the passenger compartment by the detection unit are performed using the image captured by the imaging device.

  The cooling control system according to the present invention is characterized in that the cooling device is an air conditioner.

  In the present invention, an air conditioner is used as the cooling device, not a fan that cools the vehicle interior by ventilating the vehicle interior. For this reason, even when there is no temperature difference between the outside of the passenger compartment and the passenger compartment, the passenger compartment is reliably cooled.

  In the cooling control system according to the present invention, when the cooling control device determines that there is a person at the determination unit and detects a temperature exceeding a predetermined temperature at the detection unit, the cooling control device notifies the vehicle interior of the situation. A transmission unit that transmits a notification signal to instruct, a reception unit that receives the notification signal transmitted by the transmission unit, and a notification unit that notifies the situation to the outside when the reception unit receives the notification signal It has the communication apparatus which has.

  In the present invention, when the transmission unit determines that a person is present in the determination unit and detects a temperature exceeding a predetermined temperature in the detection unit, the transmission unit transmits a notification signal instructing notification of the vehicle interior condition to the electronic key. Or it transmits to the receiving part which communication devices, such as a mobile phone, have. When the receiving unit receives the notification signal, the notification unit notifies the outside that there is a person in the vehicle interior, that is, the vehicle interior whose temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature. Therefore, the state of the passenger compartment is notified to the owner of the communication device that is away from the vehicle.

  In the cooling control system according to the present invention, when the cooling control unit determines that a person is present at the determination unit and detects a temperature exceeding a predetermined temperature at the detection unit, the cooling control device externally reports the situation in the vehicle interior. It has the 2nd alerting | reporting part to alert | report.

  In the present invention, the instruction unit instructs the cooling device to cool the passenger compartment, and the second notification unit notifies the outside of the passenger compartment. This notifies the outside that there is a person in the passenger compartment where the temperature is high.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the presence or absence of the person in a vehicle interior can be determined correctly, and the accident which causes a heat stroke when a person is left in the vehicle interior where temperature is high can be prevented.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the cooling control system which concerns on embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the position and imaging range of an imaging device. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the image-analysis method by a determination part. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the operation | movement which the control part of a cooling control apparatus performs. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the operation | movement which the control part of a communication apparatus performs.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings illustrating embodiments thereof.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a cooling control system according to an embodiment. The cooling control system 1 controls the operation of the cooling device 2 that cools the passenger compartment. In the cooling control system 1, the presence / absence of a person in the passenger compartment is detected and the temperature in the passenger compartment is detected. When the cooling control system 1 detects a temperature exceeding a predetermined temperature T1, for example, 40 degrees Celsius, and determines that there is a person in the vehicle interior, the cooling device 2 cools the vehicle interior, Notify the outside that there is a person in the passenger compartment where the temperature exceeds the predetermined temperature T1.

The cooling device 2 is an air conditioner, and cools the passenger compartment when receiving an instruction signal for instructing cooling of the passenger compartment from the cooling control system 1. Since the cooling device 2 is an air conditioner, the passenger compartment can be reliably cooled even when there is no temperature difference between the outside of the passenger compartment and the passenger compartment.
In addition, it is preferable that the cooling device 2 is mounted on a vehicle such as a PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) or an electric vehicle and is powered by a battery having a large capacity.

The cooling control system 1 includes a cooling control device 3, an imaging device 4, and a communication device 5.
The cooling control device 3 is connected to the cooling device 2 and the imaging device 4 and communicates with the communication device 5 wirelessly. The cooling control device 3 analyzes whether or not a person is reflected in the vehicle interior image captured by the imaging device 4, and determines whether there is a person in the vehicle interior based on the analysis result.

  Moreover, the cooling control device 3 detects the temperature in the vehicle interior from the image in the vehicle interior captured by the imaging device 4 in the infrared wavelength band. When the cooling control device 3 detects a temperature exceeding the predetermined temperature T1 and determines that a person is present in the vehicle interior, the cooling control device 3 causes the cooling device 2 to cool the vehicle interior and notifies the outside of the vehicle interior.

  Further, the cooling control device 3 transmits a notification signal for instructing notification of the situation inside the vehicle compartment to the communication device 5 to cause the communication device 5 to notify the situation inside the vehicle compartment. Here, the cooling control device 3 stores an ID (IDentification) of the communication device 5, and transmits a notification signal including the stored ID to the communication device 5. Moreover, the cooling control apparatus 3 stops cooling and alerting | reporting, when the stop operation which stops cooling and alerting | reporting is received.

  The imaging device 4 is an infrared camera configured by an uncooled infrared imaging device using a member such as vanadium oxide (VOx), amorphous silicon, SOI (Silicon On Insulator) diode, or thermopile. Take indoor images. The imaging device 4 captures an image of the passenger compartment every predetermined period, and gives image data related to the captured image to the cooling control device 3. Since the intensity of infrared rays is proportional to the temperature of an object that emits infrared rays, the image taken by the imaging device 4 shows the temperature distribution in the passenger compartment.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the position and imaging range of the imaging device 4. FIG. 2A is a side view in which the inside of the vehicle 6 on which the cooling control system 1 and the cooling device 2 are mounted can be partially seen. FIG. 2B is a plan view in which the inside of the vehicle 6 can be partially seen.

  The imaging device 4 is disposed at the center of the upper portion of the windshield 61 disposed in front of the vehicle 6, and the lens 41 for the imaging device 4 to capture an image faces the vehicle interior. As shown in FIG. 2A, the imaging range in the vertical direction in the imaging device 4 is a range from a diagonally downward front direction to a rearward direction, and the vertical field angle is approximately 120 degrees. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2B, the imaging range in the left-right direction in the imaging device 4 extends linearly along the surface of the windshield 61, and the angle of view in the left-right direction is approximately 180 degrees. Thereby, the imaging device 4 can image the whole vehicle interior.

  The imaging device 4 only needs to be able to image the entire vehicle interior, and the imaging ranges in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction are not limited to the above-described imaging ranges. Further, the position where the imaging device 4 is arranged is not limited to the center of the upper part of the windshield 61.

  The communication device 5 (see FIG. 1) is a communication device such as an electronic key or a mobile phone, and receives a notification signal including an ID transmitted by the cooling control device 3 wirelessly. When the ID included in the received notification signal matches the stored ID, the communication device 5 notifies the outside of the vehicle interior. Further, when the communication device 5 receives a stop operation for stopping the notification, the communication device 5 stops the notification.

The cooling control device 3 includes a control unit 30, an acquisition unit 31, a determination unit 32, a detection unit 33, an instruction unit 34, a notification unit 35, a transmission unit 36, an operation unit 37, and a storage unit 38.
The control unit 30 is connected to the acquisition unit 31, the determination unit 32, the detection unit 33, the instruction unit 34, the notification unit 35, the transmission unit 36, the operation unit 37, and the storage unit 38 via the bus 7. Control each department.

  The acquisition unit 31 acquires image data related to an image captured by the imaging device 4 from the imaging device 4, and provides the acquired image data to the determination unit 32 and the detection unit 33.

  The determination unit 32 receives image data from the acquisition unit 31 and analyzes whether or not a person is shown in an image based on the received image data. The determination unit 32 determines that there is a person in the vehicle interior when analyzing that a person is reflected in the image, and determines that there is no person in the vehicle interior when analyzed that there is no person in the image. The determination unit 32 notifies the control unit 30 of the determination result.

  Hereinafter, an image analysis method by the determination unit 32 will be described. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an image analysis method by the determination unit 32. FIG. 3 shows an image captured by the imaging device 4. In the image shown in FIG. 3, the X axis and the Y axis are set in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, respectively, with the lower left corner of the image as the origin. The determination part 32 calculates | requires the temperature range exceeding predetermined temperature, for example, the average temperature of the whole temperature distribution. In the image shown in FIG. 3, an example of a temperature region exceeding a predetermined temperature is shown. The determination unit 32 analyzes that the person is in the image when the shape of the outline of the temperature region is an ellipse, and analyzes that the person is not in the image when the outline is not an ellipse. Thereby, the determination part 32 can determine correctly the presence or absence of the person in a vehicle interior.

Since the imaging device 4 captures an image in the vehicle interior not in the visible light wavelength band but in the infrared wavelength band, the image captured by the imaging device 4 does not change depending on the brightness in the vehicle interior. Therefore, the determination unit 32 can accurately determine the presence / absence of a person in the vehicle interior without being affected by variations in brightness in the vehicle interior.
Furthermore, the determination unit 32 can calculate the position where the person is shown by obtaining the coordinates (X1, Y1) of the center of the ellipse.

The detection unit 33 (see FIG. 1) receives the image data acquired by the acquisition unit 31, and detects the temperature in the vehicle interior from an image based on the received image data. For example, the detection unit 33 calculates the average temperature from the temperature distribution indicated by the image in the vehicle interior, and detects the calculated average temperature as the temperature in the vehicle interior.
By using an infrared camera for the imaging device 4, it is possible to determine the presence / absence of a person in the vehicle interior and to detect the temperature in the vehicle interior from an image captured by the imaging device 4.

  The instruction unit 34 is connected to the cooling device 2 and gives a cooling signal for instructing the cooling device 2 to cool the passenger compartment in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 30. The cooling device 2 cools the passenger compartment when receiving a cooling signal.

The notification unit 35 notifies the vehicle interior situation according to an instruction from the control unit 30. The notification unit 35 notifies the vehicle interior situation by generating a warning sound from the vehicle 6. Further, the notification unit 35 stops the notification in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 30.
The notification method by the notification unit 35 is not limited to the generation of a warning sound. The notification unit 35 may notify the situation in the vehicle compartment by an operation such as ringing a horn or turning on a light. The notification unit 35 corresponds to the second notification unit in the claims.

The transmission unit 36 transmits a notification signal including the ID of the communication device 5 to the communication device 5 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 30.
The operation unit 37 includes operation buttons that receive notification by the notification unit 35 and a stop operation for stopping cooling by the cooling device 2. When the stop operation is performed by the operation button, the operation unit 37 notifies the control unit 30 that the stop operation has been performed.
The storage unit 38 stores the ID of the communication device 5, and the stored ID is read by the control unit 30.

The communication device 5 includes a control unit 50, a reception unit 51, a storage unit 52, a notification unit 53, and an operation unit 54.
The control unit 50 is connected to the reception unit 51, the storage unit 52, the notification unit 53, and the operation unit 54 via the bus 8, and controls each of these components.

The receiving unit 51 receives the notification signal from the transmission unit 36 and gives the received notification signal to the control unit 50.
The storage unit 52 stores the ID of the communication device 5, and the stored ID is read by the control unit 50.

The notification unit 53 notifies the outside of the vehicle interior according to an instruction from the control unit 50. The alerting | reporting part 53 alert | reports by blinking the indicator lamp which the communication apparatus 5 has which is not shown in figure. Further, the notification unit 53 stops the notification in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 50.
Note that the notification method of the notification unit 53 is not limited to blinking of the indicator lamp. The alerting | reporting part 53 may alert | report the condition of a vehicle interior, for example by vibrating the communication apparatus 5. FIG.

  The operation unit 54 has an operation button for receiving a stop operation for stopping the notification by the notification unit 53. When the stop operation is performed by the operation button, the operation unit 54 notifies the control unit 50 that the stop operation has been performed.

Next, an operation procedure executed by the control unit 30 will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of operations executed by the control unit 30 of the cooling control device 3.
First, the control unit 30 gives the image data acquired by the acquisition unit 31 from the imaging device 4 to the detection unit 33, and determines whether or not the detection unit 33 has detected a temperature equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature T1 (step S31). When it is determined that the temperature equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature T1 is not detected (step S31: NO), the control unit 30 repeats the operation of step S31.

  When it is determined that the temperature equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature T1 is detected (step S31: YES), the control unit 30 gives the image data acquired by the acquisition unit 31 to the determination unit 32 to determine whether there is a person in the vehicle interior. Is determined (step S32). When the determination unit 32 determines that there is no person in the vehicle compartment (step S32: NO), the control unit 30 performs the operation of step S31.

When the determination unit 32 determines that there is a person in the passenger compartment (step S32: YES), the control unit 30 reads the ID of the communication device 5 from the storage unit 38, and sends the notification signal including the read ID to the transmission unit 36. Is transmitted to the receiving unit 51 of the communication device 5 (step S33).
Next, the control part 30 makes the alerting | reporting part 35 alert | report the condition of a vehicle interior outside (step S34). As a result, the cooling control device 3 can notify the person outside the vehicle compartment around the vehicle 6 that the vehicle is in the vehicle interior, that is, that the temperature is above the predetermined temperature T1.

Next, the control unit 30 gives the image data acquired by the acquisition unit 31 to the detection unit 33, and determines whether or not the detection unit 33 has detected a predetermined temperature T2, for example, a temperature of 28 degrees centigrade or less (step). S35).
When it is determined that the temperature equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature T2 is not detected (step S35: NO), the control unit 30 instructs the instruction unit 34 to give a cooling signal to the cooling device 2 and Is cooled (step S36). As a result, it is possible to prevent an accident in which a person is left behind in the passenger compartment where the temperature exceeds the predetermined temperature T1 and causes heat stroke.

  When it is determined that the temperature equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature T2 has been detected (step S35: YES), or after the operation of step S36 has been performed, the control unit 30 has received a stop operation for stopping the notification and cooling. Is determined (step S37).

When it is determined that the stop operation has not been received (step S37: NO), the control unit 30 executes step S34 and continues to perform notification and cooling. When the temperature in the passenger compartment is equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature T2, the control unit 30 performs only notification.
When it is determined that the stop operation has been received (step S37: YES), the control unit 30 ends the operation.

  Next, an operation procedure executed by the control unit 50 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of operations executed by the control unit 50 of the communication device 5. First, the control unit 50 determines whether or not the reception unit 51 has received a notification signal from the transmission unit 36 (step S51). When it is determined that the notification signal is not received (step S51: NO), the control unit 50 repeats the operation of step S51.

When it is determined that the notification signal has been received (step S51: YES), the control unit 50 reads the ID of the communication device 5 from the storage unit 52, and collates the read ID with the ID included in the received notification signal ( Step S52).
Next, the control unit 50 determines whether or not the ID stored in the storage unit 52 matches the ID included in the notification signal (step S53).

  When it is determined that the IDs do not match (step S53: NO), the control unit 50 returns to step S51 and waits until the reception unit 51 receives a notification signal from the transmission unit 36.

  When it is determined that the IDs match (step S53: YES), the control unit 50 causes the notification unit 53 to notify the outside of the vehicle interior (step S54). As a result, it is possible to notify the owner of the communication device 5 away from the vehicle 6 of the situation inside the vehicle compartment.

  Next, the control unit 50 determines whether or not the operation unit 54 has received a stop operation for stopping the notification by the notification unit 53 (step S55). When determining that the stop operation has not been received (step S55: NO), the control unit 50 returns to step S54 and repeats the notification by the notification unit 53 until the operation unit 54 receives the stop operation.

  When it is determined that the stop operation has been received (step S55: YES), the control unit 50 ends the operation.

  Note that the number of communication devices 5 is not limited to one and may be two or more. Moreover, the cooling device 2 is not limited to an air conditioner. The cooling device 2 may be any device that can cool the vehicle interior, and may be a fan, for example.

  Moreover, the imaging device 4 is not limited to one. The cooling control system 1 may be provided with a plurality of imaging devices 4, 4,. In this case, each of the imaging devices 4, 4,... Is connected to the acquisition unit 31.

  Moreover, the imaging device 4 is not limited to an infrared camera. The imaging device 4 may be any device that can determine the presence or absence of a person in the vehicle interior, and may be a visible camera that captures an image in the visible light wavelength band, for example. In this case, the cooling control system 1 further includes a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature in the vehicle interior, and the detection unit 33 detects the temperature in the vehicle interior based on the detection result of the temperature sensor.

In addition, the cooling control system 1 may not include the communication device 5. In this case, the control unit 30 of the cooling control device 3 does not execute step S33 in the flowchart shown in FIG.
Furthermore, the cooling control device 3 may not have the notification unit 35. In this case, the cooling control device 3 does not notify the situation inside the passenger compartment.

  The disclosed embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cooling control system 2 Cooling device 3 Cooling control device 32 Judgment part 33 Detection part 34 Instruction part 35 Notification part (2nd notification part)
36 Transmitter 4 Imaging Device 5 Communication Device 51 Receiver 53 Notification Unit

Claims (5)

In a cooling control system comprising: an imaging device that images a vehicle interior; and a cooling control device that controls the operation of a cooling device that cools the vehicle interior.
The cooling control device includes:
A determination unit that determines whether or not a person is present in the vehicle interior by analyzing whether or not a person is captured in an image captured by the imaging device;
A detection unit for detecting the temperature in the vehicle interior;
A cooling unit comprising: an instruction unit that instructs the cooling device to cool the vehicle interior when the determination unit determines that a person is present and the detection unit detects a temperature exceeding a predetermined temperature. system. The imaging device is an infrared camera;
The cooling control system according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit is configured to detect a temperature in the vehicle interior based on an image captured by the imaging device. The cooling control system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cooling device is an air conditioner. The cooling control device includes:
A transmitter for transmitting a notification signal for instructing notification of a situation in the vehicle interior when the determination unit determines that a person is present and the detection unit detects a temperature exceeding a predetermined temperature;
A receiving unit for receiving the notification signal transmitted by the transmitting unit;
The cooling control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: a communication unit including: a notification unit configured to notify the outside of the situation when the reception unit receives the notification signal. . The cooling control device includes:
When the determination unit determines that there is a person and the detection unit detects a temperature exceeding a predetermined temperature, the determination unit includes a second notification unit that notifies the outside of the vehicle interior to the outside. The cooling control system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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