JP2016074361A - On-vehicle device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an on-vehicle device which can issue an alarm at a sound characteristic suited to an age.SOLUTION: A control part 11 acquires an image which is imaged by a camera by a driver monitoring part 12 (S1), and estimates an age of a driver included in the imaged image by an age estimation processing part 21 (S2). When the driver is of a reference age (20's), the control part 11 leaves a correction value as a default value. On the other hand, when the estimated age is different from the reference age, the control part v11 decides the correction value from correction value data which are registered in an output sound table 35 (S4). When issuing an alarm, the control part 11 corrects and creates the correction value at which digital sound data are decided by an alarm generation part 22, converts the digital sound data into a sound signal, and amplifies it 23, and outputs the sound signal to a speaker 13 by a sound output part (S8).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle device that outputs an alarm sound.

  In general, as a person gets older, the frequency band that can be heard by the ear becomes gradually narrower. Similarly, the older the age, the harder it is to hear unless the volume is increased. For this reason, the elderly driver could not hear even if an alarm sound was emitted from the vehicle-mounted device, and could not recognize that it was in a dangerous situation.

  As a prior art of this type, there is known a device that emits an alarm sound in an audible frequency band for elderly people when the driver is elderly (see Patent Document 1).

  There is also known an in-vehicle device that estimates the age of a driver from a face image of a driver sitting in a driver's seat of a vehicle imaged by an imaging device (see Patent Document 2).

JP 2013-129267 A JP 2013-152610 A

  However, if an alarm sound is set at a loud volume in the audible frequency band of elderly people, the sound will be too loud for young drivers, causing the driver to feel uncomfortable and hindering driving operations. It was thought that.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the situation mentioned above, The objective is to provide the vehicle-mounted apparatus which can emit an alarm sound with the characteristic of the sound suitable for age.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the vehicle-mounted device according to the present invention is characterized by the following (1) to (4).
(1) An in-vehicle device that is mounted on a vehicle and outputs an alarm sound,
An estimation unit for estimating the age of the driver;
A sound generation unit that generates the warning sound based on a sound characteristic corresponding to the estimated age;
A vehicle-mounted device comprising:
(2) A storage unit for storing a sound characteristic corresponding to the reference age is further provided,
The sound generation unit corrects a sound characteristic corresponding to the reference age based on a difference between the estimated age and the reference age, and determines the warning sound based on the corrected sound characteristic. Generate,
The in-vehicle device according to (1) above, wherein
(3) Provided with a plurality of sound generation units that generate sound for each of a plurality of passengers including the driver
The estimation unit estimates the age of each of a plurality of occupants including the driver when outputting a warning sound for each occupant,
The sound generation unit corrects the sound characteristics corresponding to the reference age for each of the estimated plurality of occupants, and generates the warning sound based on the corrected sound characteristics,
The plurality of sound generation units generate each warning sound generated for each occupant,
The in-vehicle device according to (2) above, wherein
(4) When the sound generation unit outputs only to a specific occupant among the plurality of occupants, the sound having a waveform in phase opposite to that of the warning sound for the specific occupant for each other occupant Produces
The plurality of sound generation units, for each individual of the other occupants excluding the specific occupant, generates a sound having the waveform of the opposite phase,
The in-vehicle device according to (3) above, wherein

According to the in-vehicle device having the configuration (1), the sound characteristic corresponding to the estimated age is set, so that the alarm sound can be emitted with the sound characteristic suitable for the age. As a result, there is no need to miss out by drivers of all ages, and the driver can reliably perform an alarm avoidance operation. Moreover, it is not necessary for a young driver to generate an alarm sound that hinders driving.
According to the in-vehicle device having the configuration (2), by storing the sound characteristics corresponding to the reference age assumed to be the highest in the boarding frequency, the opportunity for correcting the sound characteristics is reduced, and the correction is made. Processing load to be reduced.
According to the in-vehicle device having the configuration (3), the sound characteristics based on the estimated ages of each of the plurality of occupants are set, so that an alarm sound is generated with appropriate sound characteristics for each occupant. Can do.
According to the in-vehicle device having the configuration (4), the specific occupant does not miss the alarm sound, and the other occupants do not feel the alarm sound bothersome.

  According to the present invention, since the sound characteristic corresponding to the estimated age is set, the alarm sound can be emitted with the sound characteristic suitable for the age. As a result, it is not necessary for any driver to miss the warning sound, and the driver can reliably perform the warning avoidance operation.

  The present invention has been briefly described above. Further, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading through a mode for carrying out the invention described below (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) with reference to the accompanying drawings. .

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the vehicle-mounted device 1 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are diagrams illustrating an example of registered contents of the storage unit 22 a in the alarm sound generation unit 22. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an alarm sound output operation procedure of the vehicle-mounted device 1. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the registered contents of the alarm sound output sound table 35. FIG. 5A is a block diagram showing a configuration of the vehicle-mounted device 1A in the second embodiment. FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a speaker installation image. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an alarm sound output operation procedure of the vehicle-mounted device 1A.

  Hereinafter, the in-vehicle device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The in-vehicle device of the present embodiment shows a case where it is applied to an in-vehicle device such as a meter, a digital tachograph, a car navigation, a dedicated device mounted on the vehicle.

(First embodiment)

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the vehicle-mounted device 1 according to the first embodiment. The vehicle-mounted device 1 mainly includes a control unit 11, a driver monitoring unit 12, and a speaker (sound generation unit) 13.

  The driver monitoring unit 12 includes a camera installed in the passenger compartment, and outputs an image including the driver captured by the camera to the control unit 11. Note that an imaging device such as a visible light camera or an infrared camera is used as the camera. In addition, examples of the place where the camera is installed include a panel meter, a steering column, a roof, and the like that are suitable for shooting by a driver or the like.

  The control unit 11 controls an alarm operation by the vehicle-mounted device 1 and includes an age estimation processing unit 21, an alarm sound generation unit 22, and an audio output unit 23. In addition to the data of the image captured by the driver monitoring unit 12, the control unit 11 also receives alarm data from a safety system such as a system that reports that there is a danger of a frontal collision or a system that reports that the vehicle has deviated from the lane. Is input by CAN (Controller Area Network) communication or the like. The alarm data includes information on whether or not the safety system mounted on the vehicle is in an alarm state.

  The age estimation processing unit 21 (estimation unit) estimates the age of the driver or the like by performing a known image recognition process on the image including the driver or the like. For example, as this image recognition process, a feature amount is extracted from a face image of an occupant including a driver. Examples of the feature amount include a shape and positional relationship of eyes, nose, mouth, and the like, a component using gray values such as a cheek line, and a component using edge information. By comparing these extracted feature quantities with an age estimation database registered in advance, the age of the passenger including the driver included in the image is estimated.

The alarm sound generation unit 22 includes a storage unit 22a in which audible values for each age and sound pressure correction values for each age are stored, and a sound having a sound characteristic corresponding to the age estimated by the age estimation processing unit 21. Generate data. Here, the case where the volume is set according to the age as the sound characteristic is shown. The sound produced by reproducing the audio data is, for example, an intermittent pure tone or a complex tone, and the alarm data is in a dangerous situation (for example, between the own vehicle and the surrounding vehicles). This is a sound whose period becomes shorter as the distance becomes shorter.
In addition, in the storage unit 22a, a warning sound of the safety system that matches the reference age is stored in advance at the time of vehicle shipment. The alarm sound stored in the storage unit 22a may be only a default sound that matches the reference age, or may store a default sound that matches each age. For example, only the default sound adapted to the 20s may be stored, or the alarm sound adapted to each of the 20s to 60s may be individually stored.

  The audio output unit 23 converts the digital audio data generated by the alarm sound generation unit 22 into an analog audio signal, amplifies it, and outputs it to the speaker 13.

  The speaker 13 converts the sound signal output from the sound output unit 23 into sound and generates a sound. As the speaker, a dedicated alarm may be provided, or an audio speaker may be used. In the case of an alarm speaker, the installation location includes a panel meter, a headrest, a ceiling, and the like.

  The age estimation processing unit 21, the alarm sound generation unit 22, and the voice output unit 23 described above may be realized by hardware, or the CPU in the control unit 11 executes a program stored in the ROM. It may be realized as a function.

  FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are diagrams illustrating an example of registered contents of the storage unit 22 a in the alarm sound generation unit 22. FIG. 2A shows an audible value table 31 classified by age. In the audible value table 31, when 20s is set as a reference age, an audible value with respect to a sound frequency in 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s, and a difference from the reference age are registered. Here, the audible value represents the minimum audible value and is the sound pressure level of the minimum pure tone that can be detected by hearing in an environment without noise.

  For example, when the sound frequency is 4000 Hz (4 KHz), the audible value for the 40s is 14 dB, and the difference from the 20s is 9 dB. When the sound frequency is 6000 Hz (6 KHz), the audible value in the 60s is 38 dB, and the difference from the 20s is 31 dB. In the audible value table, data for every 10 years is registered, but data may be registered every 1 year or every 5 years. Further, based on the age data registered every 10 years, the age data between them may be calculated by interpolation. Regarding the frequency, data may be registered at intervals of every 100 Hz or every 10 Hz. Similar to the age data, based on the frequency data registered every 1000 Hz, the frequency data between them may be calculated by interpolation.

  FIG. 2B shows a graph 32 showing an example of the sound pressure correction value for each age based on the ISO 226 equal loudness curve. As described above, the sound pressure in the twenties is set as the default value of the alarm sound for each frequency. In the sound pressure correction value graph 32 for each age, the correction value for each age is shown for each frequency. Here, the difference from the reference age (20's) registered in the audible value table 31 is set as the sound pressure correction value as it is. For example, 31 dB, which is the difference in audible value from the reference age in the 60s at a frequency of 6 KHz, is set as the sound pressure correction value 31 dB as it is. It should be noted that the sound pressure correction value may be adjusted by multiplying a coefficient in the audible value difference without using the audible value difference between the estimated age and the reference age as it is. .

  Operation | movement of the onboard equipment 1 which has the said structure is shown. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an alarm sound output operation procedure of the vehicle-mounted device 1. This operation program is stored in the ROM in the control unit 11 and is executed by the CPU in the control unit 11 when the vehicle-mounted device 1 is activated by turning on the ignition SW.

  First, the control part 11 acquires the image imaged with the camera by the driver | operator monitoring part 12 (S1). The control unit 11 estimates the age of the driver included in the captured image by the age estimation processing unit 21 (S2). The estimated age of the driver is stored in the storage unit 22 a in the warning sound generation unit 22.

The control unit 11 determines whether or not the estimated age is different from the assumed reference age (20s) (S3). In the case of the reference age (20's), the control unit 11 keeps the correction value as the default value. On the other hand, when the age estimated in step 3 is different from the reference age, the control unit 11 calculates a correction value from the correction value data registered in the output sound table 35 (see FIG. 4) stored in the storage unit 22a. Determine (S4).
The control unit 11 acquires alarm data from each safety system through CAN communication or the like (S5). The control unit 11 determines whether or not an alarm sound is output according to the acquired alarm data (S6). If no alarm sound is emitted, the control unit 11 returns to the process of step S5.
On the other hand, when outputting an alarm sound, the control unit 11 corrects the output sound with the correction values determined in Step 3 and Step 4 (S7).
And the control part 11 produces | generates digital audio | voice data by the warning sound production | generation part 22, converts and amplifies digital audio | speech data into an analog audio | voice signal by the audio | voice output part 23, and outputs this audio | voice signal to the speaker 13 ( S8). Thereafter, the control unit 11 returns to the process of step S5.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the registered contents of the alarm sound output sound table 35. In the output sound table 35, the default value of the output sound at the reference age and the corrected output sound of each age are registered for each sound frequency. Here, when the age of the reference is 20's, for example, the age estimated in step S2 is 60's, the default value of the audible value is 50 (dB) at the frequency of 4 KHz, and the audible value in the 60's. Correction value 28.0 (corresponding to B-A in FIG. 4) obtained by subtracting audible value 5 (corresponding to A in FIG. 4) in 20's from 33 (corresponding to B in FIG. 4). ) Added to the default value of 50 dB is 78 dB.

  In the output sound table 35 in FIG. 4, the reference age is assumed to be 20's, and the audible value in the 20's is described as A in the figure. The audible value at may be A in the figure. Further, in the output sound table 35 of FIG. 4, only a column of 60s is prepared as the age other than the 20s as the reference age, and the audible value in the 60s is described as B in the figure. Rows of 10's, 30's, 40's, 50's,... May be prepared, and the audible value in each age may be B in the figure.

  When the output sound is corrected in step S7, the control unit 11 generates digital audio data by the alarm sound generation unit 22 using the corrected output sound in step S8. Thereafter, the control unit 11 returns to the process of step S5.

  In the in-vehicle device according to the first embodiment, when the estimated age is different from the reference age, the volume corresponding to the estimated age is added by adding a correction value corresponding to the age to the volume corresponding to the reference age. Set. As a result, an alarm sound is emitted to an elderly driver at a louder volume than a younger driver. Therefore, an elderly driver can surely hear the alarm sound. In addition, a warning sound is emitted to the young driver at a volume level close to the default. Therefore, the young driver does not have to hear a loud warning sound that may interfere with driving.

  In this way, an alarm sound can be emitted at a volume suitable for the age. As a result, it is not necessary for the driver of any age to miss the warning sound, and the driver can reliably perform the warning avoidance operation.

  In addition, the output sound is corrected by storing the output age corresponding to the age (the 20th generation in the first embodiment) assumed to be the highest as the reference age and storing the output sound corresponding to the age as a default value. This reduces the opportunity to perform correction and reduces the processing load to be corrected. As a default value storing method, for example, there is a method of determining a certain age as a reference at the time of vehicle shipment and storing an output sound corresponding to the age. Alternatively, a default value for each age may be stored in advance, and the default value may be switched by the driver setting the age when boarding.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the volume is set for each age is shown as the sound characteristic. However, the frequency of the sound may be set instead of the volume. Also, the volume and sound frequency may be set in combination.

  When setting the frequency of the sound, for example, for the elderly, the frequency of the sound may be shifted to a lower frequency side that is relatively easy to hear. Further, for young people, a mosquito sound (high frequency component) of 17 KHz or more which is annoying for young people may be cut. Thus, it is good also as what can set the frequency band corrected arbitrarily by the driver. In this case, when the setting is not performed, the frequency band to be corrected is set to 20 Hz to 20 kHz which is a human audible range.

  Also, when setting a combination of volume and sound frequency, the older the driver, the larger the volume and the lower the frequency, for example, there is a difference in volume compared to the reference age. You may set to the frequency which shrinks.

(Second Embodiment)
In 1st Embodiment, the case where an alarm sound was output with the characteristic of the sound matched with the age of one driver | operator was shown. In the second embodiment, a case where a plurality of occupants including a driver ride together is shown. For example, when an elderly person and a young person ride together, there is a possibility that an alarm sound is difficult to hear for the elderly person and it may be noisy for the young person. For this reason, in 2nd Embodiment, a speaker is installed in each passenger | crew's seat and the correction | amendment of the sound mentioned above is performed for every passenger | crew.

For example, as a scene where the second embodiment is applied, an alarm sound may be individually output at each seat such as an alarm for notifying the approach of a vehicle from behind, a half-door alarm, a seat belt non-wearing alarm, etc. This is the time when an alarm that is assumed to have occurred.
FIG. 5A is a block diagram showing a configuration of the vehicle-mounted device 1A of the second embodiment. The same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.
The vehicle-mounted device 1A includes four speakers 13a, 13b, 13c, and 13d installed at positions corresponding to the four seats. Each speaker is installed near each passenger's seat and can be individually controlled. An installation image is shown in FIG. In addition, the occupant monitoring unit 12a is a camera installed at a position corresponding to four seats, or a camera installed at two places for taking a driver seat and a passenger seat and taking a rear seat, in addition to the driver, Take images of all passengers.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an alarm sound output operation procedure of the vehicle-mounted device 1A. About the same step process as FIG. 3 of 1st Embodiment, the description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same step number.

  The occupant monitoring unit 12a captures images of all occupants including the driver with a camera. The control unit 11 performs the above-described image recognition processing on the image captured by the occupant monitoring unit 12a, and estimates the ages of all the occupants included in this image (S2A). Here, as an example, the case where the driver is in his 60s and the other two passengers are in their 30s and 40s, respectively, is shown.

When the age of each individual occupant estimated in step S3 is different from the reference age (20's), the control unit 11 determines each occupant from the correction value data registered in the output sound table 35 stored in the storage unit 22a. The correction value is determined (S4A).
The control unit 11 uses the output sound corrected in step S7A to generate digital audio data for each occupant by the warning sound generation unit 22, and converts the digital audio data into an analog audio signal by the audio output unit 23. Conversion and amplification are performed, and this audio signal is output to the speakers 13a to 13d (S8A). Thereafter, the control unit 11 returns to the process of step S5.
As a result, an alarm sound is generated at a volume that can be heard by all the passengers. Even if there are elderly and young people in the crew, there will be no one who can not hear any warning sound. In this way, an alarm sound can be emitted at an appropriate volume for each individual passenger.

  Other scenes where the second embodiment is applied are driving like alarms such as the system that reports the danger of a forward collision shown in the first embodiment and the system that reports that the vehicle has deviated from the lane. When an alarm occurs that only the person needs to know.

When an alarm that only the driver needs to know is generated, an alarm sound suitable for the age of the driver is output to the driver in the same manner as in the first embodiment.
On the other hand, for other occupants, an alarm sound generating unit 22 generates a signal opposite in phase to a signal output from a speaker near the driver, and the audio output unit 23 converts the digital audio data into an analog audio signal. And it amplifies and outputs from the speaker installed near each seat. As a result, the warning sound is weak at the passenger's seat, the driver does not miss the warning sound, and the other passengers can be prevented from feeling the warning sound.

  As an example of an alarm sound to notify only the driver, there is the following method. Assume that a passenger is sitting in the passenger seat. When an alarm is generated, the alarm sound generation unit generates an alarm sound that matches the age of the driver. Further, the alarm sound generation unit generates a sound having a waveform opposite in phase to the waveform of the alarm sound.

  The speaker 13a near the driver's seat outputs an alarm sound that matches the age of the driver. On the other hand, the speaker 13b near the passenger seat outputs a sound having an antiphase waveform (an antiphase sound).

  Since the warning sound and the antiphase sound suitable for the driver's age are out of phase by 180 °, both sounds cancel each other, and the warning sound is difficult to hear near the passenger seat. Thereby, only the driver can be notified of the alarm sound.

  In the above embodiment, the method of generating the antiphase sound based on the signal output from the driver's seat has been shown, but the sound around each seat was recorded by the microphone installed in each seat and recorded. A method of generating an antiphase sound based on a signal may be used.

The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. The above-described embodiments can be accompanied by various modifications and improvements within the technical scope of the present invention.
For example, in the above embodiment, the case where the age of the driver or the like is estimated from the image including the driver or the like imaged by the camera is shown, but the driver and the passenger set the age without performing the age estimation. Also good. The age is set by the following method, for example. The driver and passenger enter the system manually when boarding. Moreover, age data are transmitted to a vehicle using portable terminals, such as a smart phone. In this way, the age can be set by various methods.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, as an example of alarm data, a case where information is acquired from a safety system mounted on a vehicle and an alarm sound is generated is shown. In addition, the present invention can be similarly applied to cases where road-to-vehicle communication, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, or the like is used as alarm data to acquire information such as an inter-vehicle distance and to generate an alarm sound for each.

Here, the features of the above-described embodiments of the vehicle-mounted device according to the present invention are summarized and listed in the following (1) to (4), respectively.
(1) An on-vehicle device (on-vehicle device 1) mounted on a vehicle and outputting an alarm sound,
An age estimation processing unit (estimation unit 21) for estimating the age of the driver;
An alarm sound generation unit (sound generation unit 22) that generates the alarm sound based on the characteristics of the sound corresponding to the estimated age;
A vehicle-mounted device comprising:
(2) A storage unit (22a) for storing a sound characteristic corresponding to the reference age is further provided,
The sound generation unit corrects a sound characteristic corresponding to the reference age based on a difference between the estimated age and the reference age, and determines the warning sound based on the corrected sound characteristic. Generate,
The in-vehicle device according to (1) above, wherein
(3) Provided with a plurality of sound generating parts (13a, 13b, 13c, 13d) that generate sound for each of a plurality of passengers including the driver,
The estimation unit estimates the age of each of a plurality of occupants including the driver when outputting a warning sound for each occupant,
The sound generation unit corrects the sound characteristics corresponding to the reference age for each of the estimated plurality of occupants, and generates the warning sound based on the corrected sound characteristics,
The plurality of sound generation units generate each warning sound generated for each occupant,
The in-vehicle device according to (2) above, wherein
(4) When the sound generation unit outputs only to a specific occupant among the plurality of occupants, the sound having a waveform in phase opposite to that of the warning sound for the specific occupant for each other occupant Produces
The plurality of sound generation units, for each individual of the other occupants excluding the specific occupant, generates a sound having the waveform of the opposite phase,
The in-vehicle device according to (3) above, wherein

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1A Onboard equipment 11 Control part 12 Driver monitoring part 12a Passenger monitoring part 13, 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d Speaker 21 Age estimation process part 22 Alarm sound generation part 22a Storage part 23 Audio | voice output part 31 Audible value table 32 Sound Pressure correction value graph 35, 35A Output sound table

Claims (4)

An in-vehicle device that is mounted on a vehicle and outputs an alarm sound,
An estimation unit for estimating the age of the driver;
A sound generation unit that generates the warning sound based on a sound characteristic corresponding to the estimated age;
A vehicle-mounted device comprising: A storage unit for storing the characteristics of the sound corresponding to the reference age;
The sound generation unit corrects a sound characteristic corresponding to the reference age based on a difference between the estimated age and the reference age, and determines the warning sound based on the corrected sound characteristic. Generate,
The in-vehicle device according to claim 1. Comprising a plurality of sounding parts that sound for each of a plurality of passengers including the driver;
The estimation unit estimates the age of each of a plurality of occupants including the driver when outputting a warning sound for each occupant,
The sound generation unit corrects the sound characteristics corresponding to the reference age for each of the estimated plurality of occupants, and generates the warning sound based on the corrected sound characteristics,
The plurality of sound generation units generate each warning sound generated for each occupant,
The in-vehicle device according to claim 2 characterized by things. The sound generation unit generates a sound having a waveform opposite in phase to the warning sound for the specific occupant for each of the other occupants when outputting to only the specific occupant among the plurality of occupants. ,
The plurality of sound generation units, for each individual of the other occupants excluding the specific occupant, generates a sound having the waveform of the opposite phase,
The in-vehicle device according to claim 3 characterized by things.

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