JP2013045242A - On-vehicle device for monitoring events - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an on-vehicle device for monitoring events capable of accurately detecting an event with a high priority related to a traffic accident or the like, and also reducing the volume of output data.SOLUTION: An on-vehicle device for monitoring events comprises: an acceleration input section 129 that acquires information on acceleration added to a vehicle; a brake signal input section 127 that inputs a brake signal corresponding to pressing of a brake pedal; a control section 110 that generates event information at least when a sudden deceleration occurs on the basis of the acceleration acquired by the acceleration input section and the brake signal inputted by the brake signal input section; and a wireless communication section 121 that transmits the event information generated by the control section to a predetermined management server. The detection accuracy is high because the on-vehicle device for monitoring events identifies an event on the basis of the brake on/off and the acceleration. The on-vehicle device for monitoring events can deliver event information to a manager in real time and also reduce the volume of data to be stored.

Description

  The present invention relates to an on-vehicle device for event monitoring that can be mounted on an arbitrary vehicle, for example, for monitoring events that can be used for collecting information useful for safe operation of a vehicle or information representing a situation when a traffic accident occurs. It is related with the vehicle-mounted device for event monitoring.

  For example, a drive recorder has been conventionally used as an in-vehicle device that automatically collects and records information indicating a situation such as when a traffic accident occurs. A general drive recorder automatically records information such as an image taken by an in-vehicle camera when it detects occurrence of a large acceleration, that is, when a predetermined event occurs, considering it as a state of a traffic accident or the like. Therefore, by analyzing the information recorded by the drive recorder, it becomes possible to specify the cause of the traffic accident.

  Further, in-vehicle devices called digital tachographs are often mounted on commercial vehicles such as trucks. A general digital tachograph, for example, periodically collects and automatically records information such as vehicle speed, engine speed, and vehicle position. Therefore, by analyzing the information recorded by the digital tachograph, the manager can grasp the actual driving situation of the crew, which can be used for guidance of the crew for safe driving. Digital tachographs can also record information for the occurrence of various events. In some cases, the drive recorder and the digital tachograph operate in cooperation.

  As a conventional technique of a drive recorder, for example, a technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known. In patent document 1, as long as a crew member performs normal steering wheel operation, it aims at performing acceleration detection so that it is not erroneously detected that a large acceleration is applied to the vehicle. Then, the acceleration in the left-right direction, the acceleration in the front-rear direction, and the vehicle speed are acquired, and events such as the presence or absence of sudden braking and normal braking are detected from the change pattern of acceleration based on these data.

  Moreover, the technique disclosed by patent document 2 is known as a prior art of a digital operation recording apparatus. In Patent Document 2, an IC memory card is used as a data recording medium, raw vehicle speed data is recorded for a predetermined time before and after the impact occurrence time, a time when the impact is applied is recorded, and a predetermined number of times before and after the impact occurrence time is recorded. It discloses that the time when the brake is operated is recorded.

JP 2010-61681 A JP-A-5-258144

  However, in Patent Document 1, on the premise that the brake (pedal) is stepped on, an event such as the presence or absence of sudden braking or normal braking is detected from the acceleration change pattern, so the collision occurred without stepping on the brake. The event may not be detected correctly.

  In addition, when the technique of Patent Document 2 is used, when an abnormality such as a collision occurs, it is possible to record raw data of the vehicle speed, information on the time when the impact was applied, and information on the time when the brake operation was performed. However, in order to distinguish between important data obtained when a collision occurs and data of relatively low importance, for example, an event detected by deliberate deceleration of the crew, the card on which the data is recorded is installed It must be removed from the office and taken back to the office, where a large amount of data is read from the card at the office and analyzed over time.

  In both Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, data is recorded on a memory card. However, in a situation where a traffic accident has occurred, the corresponding vehicle may not be able to travel back to the office and return, or the driver may be unable to contact the office. Therefore, at the office side, the occurrence of a traffic accident cannot be grasped, and the memory card in which the situation data is recorded cannot be collected. Etc.) cannot be used.

  In addition, since data recorded by a conventional drive recorder or digital tachograph is likely to have an enormous amount of information to be recorded, a large-capacity memory card must be prepared as a recording medium, resulting in an increase in device cost. Unavoidable. Furthermore, since one or a plurality of relatively expensive acceleration sensors are used to detect the impact, it is difficult to reduce the device cost.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to detect a highly important event related to a traffic accident or the like with high accuracy and to reduce the volume of data to be output. The object is to provide a vehicle-mounted device for event monitoring.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the on-vehicle device for event monitoring according to the present invention is characterized by the following (1) to (5).
(1) An event monitoring vehicle-mounted device that can be mounted on any vehicle,
An acceleration input unit for acquiring information on acceleration applied to the vehicle;
A brake signal input unit for inputting a brake signal corresponding to the depression of the brake;
Based on the acceleration acquired by the acceleration input unit and the brake signal input by the brake signal input unit, a control unit that generates event information at least when sudden deceleration occurs,
A wireless communication unit for transmitting event information generated in the control unit to a predetermined management server;
Be provided.
(2) The on-vehicle device for event monitoring described in (1) above,
The control unit, when determining that the vehicle has suddenly decelerated based on the acceleration acquired by the acceleration input unit, when the brake signal input unit inputs a signal indicating that the brake is not depressed, Generating different types of event information when the brake signal input unit inputs an output indicating that the pedal is depressed.
(3) The event monitoring vehicle-mounted device according to (1) above,
A non-volatile memory for storing event information generated by the control unit;
The control unit automatically erases event information that has been transmitted by the wireless communication unit from the nonvolatile memory.
(4) The event monitoring vehicle-mounted device according to (2) above,
The control unit manages, as setting information, information for switching presence / absence of transmission control of the wireless communication unit for specific types of event information.
(5) The event monitoring vehicle-mounted device according to (1) above,
The acceleration input unit generates acceleration information based on vehicle speed information input from the vehicle side.

According to the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device having the configuration (1), when an event such as a traffic accident occurs, the event information can be generated accurately, and the event information is notified to the vehicle manager in real time. be able to.
According to the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device having the configuration (2) above, an event based on the vehicle deceleration intended by the driver is automatically distinguished from an event representing vehicle deceleration caused by an unintended collision accident or the like. be able to.
According to the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device having the configuration (3), it is not necessary to mount a large-capacity nonvolatile memory even in a situation where event information frequently occurs.
According to the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device having the configuration (4), the vehicle manager or the like can switch whether or not to transmit a specific type of event information as necessary.
According to the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device having the configuration (5), it is not necessary to mount a special acceleration sensor, which is useful for reducing the cost of the apparatus.

  According to the present invention, a highly important event related to a traffic accident or the like can be detected with high accuracy, and the volume of data to be output can be reduced. That is, since event information is generated based on the state of depression of the brake and acceleration, it is possible to accurately detect an important event indicating the occurrence of a traffic accident or an event caused by the driver's intentional deceleration. In addition, since it is not necessary to output a large amount of information representing time series changes of various information, the capacity of data to be output is greatly reduced. Furthermore, event information can be notified to the vehicle manager in real time.

  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 vehicle equipment for event monitoring of embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the outline | summary of operation | movement of the onboard equipment for event monitoring shown in FIG.

<Device configuration>
Specific embodiments relating to the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  A configuration example of the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device 100 of the present embodiment is shown in FIG. The event monitoring vehicle-mounted device 100 is assumed to be used in a vehicle for business use such as a truck or a taxi and connected to various sensors on the vehicle side.

  1 includes a control unit 110, a communication module 121, a GPS module 122, an external interface 123, a display unit 124, a nonvolatile memory 125, an external interface 126, interfaces 127, 128, and 129. , And a power supply unit 130.

  The control unit 110 is constituted by a microcomputer, and performs various operations for realizing the functions of the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device by executing a program prepared in advance. The operation of the control unit 110 will be described later.

  The communication module 121 is connected to the communication antenna 17 and provides a wireless communication function necessary for the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device 100 mounted on the vehicle to perform data communication with an electronic device outside the vehicle. Specifically, wireless communication is performed with a base station of a wireless communication network provided by a mobile communication carrier or the like, and communication is performed with an ASP (Application Service Provider) server (not shown) existing on the communication network. be able to. The ASP server can also communicate with a management device (for example, a personal computer) disposed in a company office or the like that manages various vehicles, and communicates between the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device 100 and the management device. Can also be relayed.

  A GPS (Global Positioning System) module 122 generates position information (latitude / longitude) indicating the current position of the vehicle on which the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device 100 is mounted. That is, radio waves arriving from a plurality of GPS satellites are received by the GPS antenna 16, and the position is calculated by calculation based on the received signals.

  The external interfaces 123 and 126 provide functions necessary for connecting the predetermined external devices 15 and 14 to the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device 100, respectively. As specific examples of the external devices 15 and 14, a terminal device for inputting various setting values for controlling the operation of the control unit 110 and reading data from the nonvolatile memory 125 is assumed.

  The display unit 124 can display character information and numerical values representing the operation state of the event monitoring on-vehicle device 100 as visible information visible to the driver or the like as needed under the control of the control unit 110.

  The nonvolatile memory 125 is a storage circuit that can maintain the stored contents even when the supply of power is stopped, and is used to store data that needs to be stored under the control of the control unit 110. Specifically, information such as various events detected by the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device 100 is stored in the nonvolatile memory 125. However, in this embodiment, event information that has already been transmitted and is no longer needed is deleted from the nonvolatile memory 125.

  The interfaces 127, 128, and 129 perform signal processing for converting various signals input to the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device 100 from each unit on the vehicle side into a state suitable for the processing of the control unit 110.

  A vehicle speed sensor 11 is connected to the interface 129. The vehicle speed sensor 11 outputs one pulse signal each time the output shaft of the vehicle transmission rotates a predetermined amount. Therefore, the vehicle speed (km / h) can be calculated by measuring the period of the pulse signal or measuring the number of pulses within a predetermined time. Moreover, the change in the vehicle speed per unit time can be calculated as the acceleration in the front-rear direction.

  The engine 128 is connected to the interface 128. The engine rotation sensor 12 outputs one pulse signal each time the output shaft of the engine rotates a predetermined amount. Therefore, the engine rotation speed (rpm) can be calculated by measuring the period of this pulse signal or measuring the number of pulses within a predetermined time.

  A brake signal 21 and various vehicle sensor signals 22 are input to the interface 127. The brake signal 21 is a binary signal corresponding to on / off of depression of the brake pedal by the driver, and is also used for on / off of the stop lamp.

  The power supply unit 130 converts power supplied from the vehicle power supply 13, that is, a power supply circuit such as an in-vehicle battery, into stable DC power (+5 V or the like) necessary for the operation of the control unit 110 or the like.

<Operation of the device>
An outline of the operation of the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device 100 shown in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. The operation shown in FIG. 2 is realized by the control of the control unit 110. The operation shown in FIG. 2 will be described below.

  In step S11, the control unit 110 identifies whether the ignition signal of the vehicle is on or off. If the ignition is on, the process proceeds to step S15, and if the ignition is off, the process proceeds to step S12.

  In step S12, the control unit 110 identifies whether or not a predetermined delay time (for example, 60 seconds) has elapsed since the ignition was switched off in order to distinguish whether or not the vehicle is temporarily stopped. If it is within the delay time, the process proceeds to step S13, and if the delay time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S14.

In step S13, the control unit 110 generates vehicle state information representing “idling stop”. This vehicle state information is stored in the nonvolatile memory 125.
In step S14, the control unit 110 generates vehicle state information representing “ignition off”. This vehicle state information is stored in the nonvolatile memory 125.

  In step S15, the control unit 110 takes in the latest vehicle speed information from the interface 129 and compares the vehicle speed with a predetermined threshold value to identify whether or not the vehicle is running. If it is traveling, the process proceeds to step S17. If it is not traveling, the process proceeds to step S16.

  In step S16, control unit 110 generates vehicle state information representing “idling”. This vehicle state information is stored in the nonvolatile memory 125.

  In step S17, the control unit 110 identifies whether or not “rapid deceleration determination acceleration” has been set. If it has been set, the process proceeds to step S19, and if not set, the process proceeds to step S18. In the event monitoring onboard device 100 of the present embodiment, an administrator or the like can register various setting values in the nonvolatile memory 125 of the event monitoring onboard device 100 using the external device 14. This set value includes “rapid deceleration determination acceleration”.

  In step S18, the event information indicating the occurrence of sudden deceleration is shifted to the “not generated” operation mode. That is, after this, the event processing relating to the sudden deceleration occurrence is omitted.

  In step S <b> 19, the control unit 110 acquires the latest acceleration information, and compares this acceleration with the “rapid deceleration determination acceleration” that is a threshold value. If the acquired acceleration exceeds the “rapid deceleration determination acceleration”, the process proceeds to step S22, and if not, the process proceeds to step S21.

  In the present embodiment, the control unit 110 calculates the vehicle speed every 0.5 seconds based on the vehicle speed signal received from the interface 129, and further calculates the change in the vehicle speed every 0.5 seconds as the acceleration. This acceleration is compared in step S19.

  In step S21, the control unit 110 regards the vehicle state as other than “sudden deceleration”, and determines “sudden start”, “sudden acceleration”, “normal driving”, “constant speed traveling”, etc. based on the vehicle speed and acceleration. Vehicle state information representing the result is generated. This vehicle state information is stored in the nonvolatile memory 125.

  In step S22, the control unit 110 refers to a setting value indicating whether or not “abnormal G value event determination” is present. If “abnormal G value event determination” is present, the process proceeds to step S24, and if not present, the process proceeds to step S23. This set value can be registered in the non-volatile memory 125 of the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device 100 by an administrator or the like using the external device 14.

  In step S23, the event information regarding the occurrence of the abnormal G value is shifted to the “not generated” operation mode. In other words, after that, processing of events related to the occurrence of abnormal G values is omitted.

  In step S24, the control unit 110 monitors the state of the brake signal 21 input from the interface 127, and turns on the brake during a specified time with reference to the time point when the acceleration exceeding the “rapid deceleration determination acceleration” is detected in step S19. If the brake is turned on, the process proceeds to step S26. If the brake remains off, the process proceeds to step S25.

  In step S25, the control unit 110 refers to a setting value indicating whether or not “abnormal G value event transmission” is present. If “abnormal G value event transmission” is present, the control unit 110 proceeds to step S29, and if not, proceeds to step S30. The “presence / absence” of this set value can be registered in the nonvolatile memory 125 of the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device 100 by the administrator or the like using the external device 14.

  In step S26, the control unit 110 refers to a setting value indicating whether or not “sudden deceleration event transmission” is present. If “sudden deceleration event transmission” is present, the process proceeds to step S27. If not present, the process proceeds to step S28.

  In step S27, the control unit 110 generates event information indicating the occurrence of a sudden deceleration event and stores the event information in the nonvolatile memory 125, and then transmits the event information to the above-described ASP via the communication module 121 and the communication antenna 17. Wireless transmission to the server. Also, it is identified whether or not the transmission is successful. If the transmission is successful, the corresponding transmitted event information is erased from the nonvolatile memory 125. As a result, a new free area is secured on the nonvolatile memory 125.

  In step S <b> 28, the control unit 110 generates event information indicating the occurrence of a sudden deceleration event and stores it in the nonvolatile memory 125. In this case, event information is not wirelessly transmitted.

  In step S29, the control unit 110 generates event information indicating the occurrence of an abnormal G value event and stores the event information in the nonvolatile memory 125, and then stores the event information via the communication module 121 and the communication antenna 17 as described above. Wireless transmission to the ASP server. Also, it is identified whether or not the transmission is successful. If the transmission is successful, the corresponding transmitted event information is erased from the nonvolatile memory 125. As a result, a new free area is secured on the nonvolatile memory 125.

  In step S <b> 30, the control unit 110 generates event information indicating the occurrence of an abnormal G value event and stores the event information in the nonvolatile memory 125. In this case, event information is not wirelessly transmitted.

<Explanation of differences from general event monitoring equipment>
Since the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device 100 operates as described above, the event information indicating “rapid deceleration event occurrence” and the event information indicating “abnormal G value event occurrence” are notified to the manager in the office in real time. Can do. Further, even when a traffic accident or the like occurs, it is possible to reliably notify the manager of the vehicle to the manager outside the vehicle, so that it is easy to cope with the accident.

  Furthermore, since the events representing “rapid deceleration event occurrence” and “abnormal G value event occurrence” can be distinguished from each other and detected with high accuracy, the manager can accurately grasp the vehicle situation. Further, by deleting the transmitted event information from the nonvolatile memory 125, the storage capacity required for the nonvolatile memory 125 can be reduced. In addition, the nonvolatile memory 125 that stores the information acquired by the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device 100 does not need to employ a removable memory card, which helps reduce costs. Further, by detecting the acceleration from the change in the vehicle speed, the acceleration sensor becomes unnecessary and the cost can be reduced.

  In the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device 100 described above, the acceleration is calculated based on the detected vehicle speed, but a dedicated acceleration sensor may be mounted in the main body of the event monitoring vehicle-mounted device 100 or the like. Further, it may be controlled to determine the event with reference to both the acceleration obtained from the acceleration sensor and the acceleration obtained from the vehicle speed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Vehicle speed sensor 12 Engine rotation sensor 13 Vehicle power supply 14,15 External equipment 16 GPS antenna 17 Communication antenna 21 Brake signal 22 Various vehicle sensor signals 100 Event monitoring vehicle-mounted device 110 Control unit 121 Communication module 122 GPS module 123, 126 External interface 124 Display unit 125 Non-volatile memory 127, 128, 129 Interface 130 Power supply unit

Claims (4)

An in-vehicle device for event monitoring that can be installed in any vehicle,
An acceleration input unit for acquiring information on acceleration applied to the vehicle;
A brake signal input unit for inputting a brake signal corresponding to the depression of the brake;
Based on the acceleration acquired by the acceleration input unit and the brake signal input by the brake signal input unit, a control unit that generates event information at least when sudden deceleration occurs,
A wireless communication unit for transmitting event information generated in the control unit to a predetermined management server;
A vehicle-mounted device for event monitoring, comprising: The control unit, when determining that the vehicle has suddenly decelerated based on the acceleration acquired by the acceleration input unit, when the brake signal input unit inputs a signal indicating that the brake is not depressed, 2. The event monitoring vehicle-mounted device according to claim 1, wherein different types of event information are generated when the brake signal input unit inputs an output indicating that the pedal is depressed. A non-volatile memory for storing event information generated by the control unit;
The event monitoring vehicle-mounted device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit automatically deletes event information that has been transmitted by the wireless communication unit from the nonvolatile memory. The event monitoring vehicle-mounted device according to claim 1, wherein the acceleration input unit generates acceleration information based on vehicle speed information input from a vehicle side.

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