JP2022046671A - Electronic apparatus and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an on-vehicle electronic apparatus and the like that can call a driver's attention more appropriately than before.

SOLUTION: An on-vehicle electronic apparatus determines whether there is a sign in front image data taken by an outside-vehicle camera (S110); and if the on-vehicle electronic apparatus determines that there is a sign (S110: Y), the on-vehicle electronic apparatus determines whether to suppress (S200) or not (S180, S190) notification based on a type of a road sign in consideration of an importance based on the type of the road sign in S130. Therefore, the on-vehicle electronic apparatus can solve a problem that the on-vehicle electronic apparatus cannot properly call a driver's attention after all because notification about a less important sign is frequently made, and a driver feels annoyed or gets used to frequent notifications and overlooks an important sign notification, and in the end, the apparatus can call a driver's attention more appropriately than before.

SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

COPYRIGHT: (C)2022,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to an in-vehicle electronic device or the like that recognizes a road sign and performs notification based on the road sign.

There are various road signs on the road, but drivers may inadvertently overlook the road signs.

Therefore, there is known an alarm device that identifies a road sign based on an image taken by a camera and outputs information on the specified sign (Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-185703

However, simply by recognizing and identifying a road sign and outputting the information of the specified road sign, there are many road signs, so the notification is frequently made and it makes me feel annoyed or accustomed to the frequent notification. In the end, there was a problem that it was not possible to properly call attention to the important signs.

In particular, if you overlook road signs such as stop signs, prohibition of entry, prohibition of traffic outside the designated direction, and railroad crossing indications, there is a problem that there is a risk of a serious accident.

Moreover, in the future aging society, it will be necessary to give appropriate attention to the elderly as well.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle electronic device or the like capable of giving more appropriate attention than before.

(1) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the in-vehicle electronic device according to the present invention includes an in-vehicle camera capable of photographing a road sign installed on a road while the vehicle is traveling, and a road photographed by the in-vehicle camera. An in-vehicle electronic device including a control means for discriminating the type of a sign and performing notification control for the notification means based on the type of the discriminated road sign, wherein the control means has an importance based on the type of the road sign. Is taken into consideration to determine whether or not to suppress the notification based on the type of the road sign.

Therefore, it is possible to solve the problem that it is not possible to properly call attention in the end due to frequent notifications and feeling annoyed, or getting used to frequent notifications and passing through important sign notifications, which is more appropriate than before. It is possible to call attention.

For example, it is preferable to perform the notification based on the type of road sign having high importance without suppressing it, and suppress the notification based on the type of road sign having high importance.

Notification may be performed, for example, by sound or light. For example, a warning sound provided for each type of road sign may be output, a warning sentence including the type of road sign may be output by voice, or a road sign may be notified. It is advisable to light an LED or the like with a lighting pattern provided for each type, or to display a road sign mark or its explanation on a liquid crystal display or the like.

Suppressing the notification may mean, for example, not performing the notification, or may be a mode in which the notification is difficult to recognize as compared with the case where the notification is not suppressed. For example, when the notification is performed by sound, the volume may be reduced, and when the notification is performed by light, the amount of light may be reduced. When the notification is performed on the display, the display mode may be inconspicuous, such as reducing the display area or making the display color inconspicuous.

(2) As a road sign with a relatively high importance based on the type of the road sign, if the road sign is not followed, the vehicle may collide with another object, and the road sign is other than the road sign. The notification by the road sign of the above may be the target of the suppression.

By doing this, the danger of collision can be avoided in advance, and notifications are frequently made and feel annoying, or people become accustomed to frequent notifications and overlook important sign notifications. , Can solve the problem of not being able to properly call attention.

Road signs that may cause the vehicle to collide with other objects if the road sign is not followed include, for example, stop, slow, no entry, crossing, one-way, no out-of-direction travel, and traffic lights. At least one of them is preferable.

(3) The information acquisition means for acquiring the information about the vehicle may be provided, and the control means may suppress the notification based on the type of the road sign by adding the information about the vehicle acquired by the information acquisition means.

By doing so, the notification from the notification means is suppressed in consideration of the acquired information about the vehicle, so that the notification based on the type of the determined road sign is always performed, and it is not possible to appropriately call attention. Can be solved.

(4) The information acquisition means acquires the presence or absence of a signal in front of the vehicle as information about the vehicle, and the control means is a road sign indicating that the type of the determined road sign is an obligation to stop the vehicle and the information. It is preferable that the notification is not suppressed when there is no signal in front of the vehicle as the information acquired from the acquisition means.

In this way, the notification regarding the road sign (for example, the "stop" sign) indicating the obligation to stop at the intersection without a particularly dangerous signal is not suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to call attention in front of an intersection where there is no signal that may cause a serious accident but it is obliged to stop.

In this case, the information acquisition means is configured to determine, for example, whether or not there is a signal in the image captured by the in-vehicle camera or an in-vehicle camera different from the in-vehicle camera, and acquire the presence or absence of the signal in front of the vehicle. Alternatively, is there a position where the signal stored in the storage means exists at a position corresponding to the front of the current position by acquiring the current position of the vehicle by storing the position of the signal in the storage means in advance? The presence or absence of the signal in front of the vehicle may be acquired based on whether or not the signal is present in front of the vehicle, or the presence or absence of the signal in front of the vehicle may be obtained based on whether or not the signal from the vehicle detection beacon in front of the signal is received. It may be a configuration to be acquired.

(5) As the suppression of the notification, it is preferable that the control means does not perform the discrimination processing of the type of the road sign for the road sign of the type that does not perform the notification.
By doing so, since the discrimination process is limited to the type of road sign for notifying, the discrimination time can be shortened.

(6) A road sign having a current position acquisition means for acquiring the current position of the vehicle, and the control means specifying and notifying the position where the notification is performed based on the current position acquired by the current position acquisition means. It is stored in association with the type, and when the current position acquired by the current position acquisition means approaches the stored position, the type of the road sign taken by the in-vehicle camera cannot be determined. Even if there is, it is advisable to perform notification based on the type of road sign stored in association with the position.

By doing so, when passing next time, it becomes possible to notify even at night or under conditions such as fog where it is difficult to distinguish the road sign.

(7) On the premise of the configuration of (6), information on the traveling direction of the vehicle at the position where the notification is performed is stored in association with the type of the notified road sign, and the information is acquired by the current position acquisition means. Only when the current position approaches the memorized position and the information on the traveling direction of the vehicle at the memorized position where the notification is performed and the information on the traveling direction of the current vehicle match. Even if the type of the road sign taken by the in-vehicle camera cannot be determined, it is preferable to perform the notification based on the type of the road sign stored in association with the position.

By doing so, the road sign installed toward the vehicle in the direction opposite to the direction currently in progress will not be erroneously notified. This is particularly effective when traveling on a road with a small number of lanes, or when the accuracy of the current position of the current position acquisition means is low and the positions of the traveling lane and the opposite lane cannot be distinguished.

Information on the traveling direction of the vehicle may be obtained from, for example, the history of the current position acquired by the current position acquisition means, or may be obtained from the value of the geomagnetic sensor. The information regarding the traveling direction of the vehicle may be, for example, the information of the traveling direction itself or the information of the direction in which the sign is facing.

(8) Whether or not the information acquisition means acquires the vehicle state as information about the vehicle, and the control means complies with the state indicated by the notified road sign after the notification based on the type of the road sign. Is determined based on the vehicle state, and notification is performed based on the determination result.

In this way, the notification based on the determination result is performed. Therefore, for example, even if the driver overlooks the road sign and does not notice the notification based on the type of the road sign, there is a possibility that the notification will be noticed. .. Therefore, it is possible to give appropriate attention.

It is determined based on the vehicle condition whether or not the condition indicated by the notified road sign is observed, and as the notification based on the determination result, for example, the condition indicated by the notified road sign is observed based on the vehicle condition. If this is the case, the notification based on the determination result may be suppressed, and if the condition indicated by the notified road sign is not observed based on the vehicle condition, the notification based on the determination result may not be suppressed. The vehicle state includes, for example, the traveling speed of the vehicle, the presence / absence of acceleration / deceleration / stop, and position information (movement locus). When the road sign is "pause", the stop time when the speed is 0 km / h is obtained from the history information of the traveling speed (the time when the vehicle stays at the same position may be obtained from the history of the position information) and is constant. It is determined whether or not the vehicle has stopped for more than an hour, and if the stop time is short or the vehicle has not stopped, the notification is not suppressed. Further, when the road sign is "driving", it is possible to determine whether or not the traveling speed is below a certain speed, and control the notification based on the determination result. Furthermore, if the road sign restricts the driving direction (course) such as right / left turn prohibition, one-way traffic, and entry prohibition, it is determined from the movement locus whether or not the vehicle has traveled according to the road sign, and based on the determination result. It is also possible to control the notification. Further, in the case of a stop sign, it is necessary to stop so that the front end of the vehicle is located in front of the stop line. Therefore, the in-vehicle camera mounted in each of the above inventions or another camera is used to image the stop line in front of the road, and whether or not the front end of the vehicle is stopped in front of the stop line (does not pop out in front). It is advisable to judge whether the vehicle has stopped in front of the vehicle and when the vehicle has stopped for a certain period of time or longer, it is determined that the vehicle has complied with the state indicated by the road sign, which is a stop sign. The determination as to whether or not the state indicated by these road signs is observed is the same in the following inventions such as (8).

(9) Whether or not the information acquisition means acquires the vehicle state as information about the vehicle, and the control means complies with the state indicated by the notified road sign after the notification based on the type of the road sign. Is determined based on the vehicle state, and at least one of the vehicle state and the image of the vehicle-mounted camera may be recorded based on the determination result.

This makes it easy to prove whether or not the sign was followed. For example, the driver or the driver's manager can check whether the sign has been overlooked by playing back the vehicle state or the image by an information processing device that reproduces at least one of the recorded vehicle state or the image. ..

Further, in this way, the insurance company can determine whether or not the driver is eligible for the voluntary insurance discount based on this record. (9) The same effect can be obtained by the same as in (10).

(10) The information acquisition means may acquire the vehicle state as information about the vehicle, and the control means may record the vehicle state before and after the notification based on the type of the road sign.

(11) The control means may record the image of the vehicle-mounted camera before and after the notification based on the type of the road sign.

(12) On the premise of any of the configurations (9) to (11), the information acquisition means acquires the vehicle state as information about the vehicle, and the control means obtains the information acquisition means during the recording. When the predetermined vehicle condition is obtained from, the record may be extended.

By doing so, when a predetermined vehicle condition is acquired, the record is extended, so that it is easy to prove whether or not the sign is observed. For example, it is advisable to record 10 seconds before and after the sign is recognized and notified, and if an impact or sudden braking is detected as a predetermined vehicle state during that time, another 10 seconds may be recorded thereafter. In this way, for example, it is possible to recognize the sign and prove that the brake has been applied suddenly.

In this way, as a predetermined vehicle state, it is preferable to acquire a vehicle state indicating a change from a state in which the sign is not observed to a state in which the sign is observed.

On the contrary, after the notification based on the type of the road sign, the control means determines whether or not the state indicated by the notified road sign is observed based on the vehicle condition, and if not, the control means does not comply. , The record may be extended.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an in-vehicle electronic device or the like that can give more appropriate attention than before.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the radar detector which is a preferable embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of a radar detector. It is a figure which shows the display example of a standby screen, a radar scope, and a GPS alarm. It is a figure which shows the display example of the alarm screen in a radar wave alarm function. It is a figure which shows the example of the image data of a road sign. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process for realizing the road sign warning function. It is a figure which shows the display example of the warning screen in the road sign warning processing. It is a figure which shows another display example of the warning screen in the road sign warning processing.

1 and 2 show a configuration of a radar detector, which is an embodiment suitable for an in-vehicle electronic device of the present invention. This radar detector is usually mounted on the dashboard. As shown in FIG. 1, in this radar detector, the solar panel 2 and the switch unit 3 are arranged on the upper surface of the case body 1, and the front side of the case body 1 (the side arranged in front of the vehicle (windshield side)). It is equipped with an infrared projector 21 for irradiating the front of the vehicle with infrared rays and an outside camera 23 for photographing the front of the vehicle, and is equipped with a microwave inside the front side to detect microwaves in the frequency band emitted by the speed measuring device. The wave receiver 4 is arranged. On the other hand, a display unit 5, an alarm lamp 6, an infrared communication device 7, and a remote controller receiver 16 are arranged on the rear surface side of the case body 1 (the side arranged behind the vehicle (user side (driver side)). Further, a GPS receiver 8 is arranged on the upper surface side inside the case body 1. Further, an adapter jack 9 is arranged on one side surface of the case body 1, and a power switch 10 and a power switch 10 are shown on the other side surface. A DC jack to be omitted is arranged. Further, a speaker 20 and an acceleration sensor 25 are also built in the case body 1. The acceleration sensor 25 is installed so as to detect acceleration in the front-rear direction.

In the present embodiment, the display unit 5 is a 2.4-inch small liquid crystal display, and the rear surface side of the case body 1 (the side arranged behind the vehicle (user side (driver side)) is the display surface. The height H on the rear side of the case body 1 on which the 5 is mounted is made larger than the height H0 of other parts.

As shown in FIG. 2, the infrared communication device 7 transmits / receives data to / from a communication device having an infrared communication device such as a mobile phone 12. The adapter jack 9 is a terminal for connecting the memory card reader 13. By connecting the memory card reader 13 to the adapter jack 9, the data stored in the memory card 14 mounted on the memory card reader 13 can be taken in, and the contents of the memory of the database 19 and the control unit 18 can be stored in the memory card. You can write to 14. More specifically, the data stored in the memory card 14 contains updated information such as information on a new target (position information including longitude / latitude, type information, etc.) and information on road signs of vehicles that require attention. If there is, the control unit 18 stores (downloads) the update information in the database 19 built in the apparatus, and updates the data in the database 19. The function of the memory card reader 13 may be configured to be built in the main body case 1.

The database 19 is a non-volatile memory (for example, EEPROM) inside the microcomputer of the control unit 18 or externally attached to the microcomputer. In the database 19, information on certain targets and information on road signs of vehicles that require attention are registered at the time of shipment, and data on targets added after that is updated as described above. Can be done. Further, the data update can also be performed via the infrared communication device 7.

The DC jack is for connecting a cigar plug cord (not shown), and is connected to a cigar socket of a vehicle via the cigar plug cord so that power can be supplied. The radio receiver 15 receives the incoming radio of a predetermined frequency. The remote controller receiver 16 communicates data with the remote controller (portable device: slave unit) 17 by infrared rays, and makes various settings for the device. Further, the switch unit 3 is also connected to the control unit 18 (not shown) so that the same settings as the remote controller 17 can be performed. The remote controller 17 includes a play button, a standby switching button, a setting button, a selection button, a cancel button, an enter button, and up / down / left / right cross buttons.

Further, the control unit 18 is a microcomputer including a main CPU, a sub CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a non-volatile memory, an I / O, etc., and is connected to each of the above-mentioned parts as shown in FIG. 2 and is input from each of the above-mentioned parts. It executes a predetermined process based on the information, controls each of the above parts, and outputs a predetermined alarm / message or information. As these basic configurations, basically the same as the conventional ones can be used. In the present embodiment, the processing unless otherwise specified is performed by the main CPU.

The function of the radar detector of the present embodiment is stored in the EEPROM of the control unit 18 as a program executed by the computer included in the control unit 18, and is realized by the computer having the control unit 18 executing the program.

The functions realized by the computer by the program of the control unit 18 include GPS log function, video display function, recording function, video playback function, standby screen display function, radar scope display function, GPS warning function, radar wave warning function, and wireless. It has an alarm function and a road sign alarm function.

The GPS log function is a function in which the control unit 18 associates the current position detected by the GPS receiver 8 with the detected time and speed (vehicle speed) every second and stores it in the memory card 14 as a position history. This position history is a function of recording in, for example, NMEA format.

The image display function is a function of displaying the image data received from the outside-vehicle camera 23 by the control unit 18 on the display unit 5. The recording function includes video data received by the control unit 18 from the outside camera 23, acceleration obtained from the acceleration sensor 25, and vehicle state data consisting of the current position, current time, and speed (vehicle speed) obtained from the GPS receiver 8. Is a function to record in the "always recording folder" provided in the memory card 14 in association with each other at any time. The recording function is always executed while the power is supplied by the sub CPU provided in the control unit 18. The video reproduction function is a function in which the control unit 18 expands and displays the video data recorded on the memory card 14 on the display unit 5.

The out-of-vehicle shooting camera 23 is a CCD camera capable of shooting in the visible light and infrared bands, and is internally connected to a USB port included in the microcomputer of the control unit 18. The out-of-vehicle shooting camera 23 has a function of A / D converting the video shot by the CCD camera and sending it as video data to the control unit 18. This function has the same configuration as a so-called USB camera. The control unit 18 determines whether or not the illuminance required for reading on the road sign is insufficient from the brightness of the video data of the video taken by the CCD camera, and if the illuminance is insufficient, the infrared projector 21 is turned on. And irradiate the front of the vehicle with infrared rays.
As shown in FIG. 3A, the standby screen display function is a function of displaying the speed, latitude, longitude, and altitude of the own vehicle detected by the GPS receiver 8 on the display unit 5.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the radar scope display function stores a target within a predetermined range (for example, within a range of about 1 km) from the current position detected by the GPS receiver 8 in the database 19. It is a function of searching from information and displaying the relative positional relationship between the position of the own vehicle and the position of the target object on the display unit 5. In FIG. 3 (b), the left "W" indicates the west, the right "E" indicates the east, and the upper "N" indicates the north, and the horizontal line connecting "W" and "E" and "N". The icon at the intersection with the vertical line extending downward from "" indicates the position of the vehicle. In addition, icons having letters such as "L", "RD", "P", and "N" indicate the type and position of the target object.

When the press of the standby switching button provided on the remote controller 17 is detected during the execution of the standby screen display function as shown in FIG. 3 (a), the radar scope display function is switched to as shown in FIG. 3 (b). Further, when the press of the standby switching button provided on the remote controller 17 is detected while the radar scope display function is being executed, the function is switched to the video display function. Further, when the press of the standby switching button provided on the remote controller 17 is detected during the execution of the video display function, the process of switching to the standby screen display function is performed.

The control unit 18 has a GPS alarm function, a radar, and a radar according to an event that occurs during the execution of the video display function, the standby screen display function, or the radar scope display function (hereinafter, these functions are collectively referred to as the standby function). Executes processing that realizes each function such as wave alarm function and wireless alarm function. In addition, a program that realizes the road sign warning function is executed once every 0.2 seconds by a timer interrupt. The priority of each function is set in the order of radar wave warning function, radio warning function, GPS warning function, and road sign warning function from the highest priority.

The GPS alarm function is a process executed at predetermined time intervals (1 second intervals) by an event from the timer of the control unit 18, and is detected by the latitude and longitude of the target stored in the database 19 and the GPS receiver 8. The distance between the two is calculated from the latitude and longitude of the current position, and when the calculated distance reaches a predetermined approach distance (for example, within 500 m), a display unit 5 indicates that fact and the speaker 20 indicates an approach warning to that effect. It is a process to output the voice of.

These targets include dozing driving accident points, radars, speed limit switching points, control areas, inspection areas, ban monitoring areas, N systems, traffic monitoring systems, intersection monitoring points, signal ignoring deterrence systems, police stations, and frequent accidents. Area, frequent on-board area, steep / continuous curve (expressway), branch / confluence point (expressway), ETC lane advance guidance (expressway), service area (expressway), parking area (expressway), highway Oasis (expressway), smart interchange (expressway), gas station in PA / SA (expressway), tunnel (expressway), highway radio reception area (expressway), prefectural border announcement, roadside station, viewpoint parking, etc. The type information of these targets, the latitude / longitude information indicating the position thereof, the schematic diagram or the photograph data displayed on the display unit 5, and the audio data are stored in the database 19 in association with each other.

The radar wave warning function is provided when the microwave receiver 4 detects a signal corresponding to a microwave in a frequency band emitted from a speed measuring device (mobile radar or the like (hereinafter, simply referred to as “radar”)). This is an alarm function that displays an alarm screen on the display unit 5 and outputs an alarm sound from the speaker 20. For example, when microwaves in the microwave frequency band emitted by the radar are detected by the microwave receiver 4, as shown in FIG. 4, a schematic diagram or a photograph of the radar stored in the database 19 is displayed on the display unit 5. In addition to displaying it as an alarm screen, the voice data stored in the database 19 is read out and the voice "Radar. Speed caution" is output from the speaker 20. During the audio output, the alarm lamp 6 is turned on.

The wireless alarm function is a function of issuing an alarm when a wireless radio wave emitted by an emergency vehicle or the like is received by the wireless receiver 15 so as not to interfere with the traveling or the like. In the radio alarm function, control radio, car location radio, digital radio, extra small radio, station activity radio, police phone, police activity radio, wrecker radio, heli-tele radio, fire heli-tele radio, fire radio, emergency radio, highway radio , The frequency of the security radio, etc. is scanned, and when the radio is received at the scanned frequency, the schematic diagram indicating that the radio corresponding to the frequency stored in the database 19 for each radio type is received is used as the alarm screen. While displaying on the display unit 5, the voice data stored in the database 19 for each radio type is read out, and the alarm voice indicating the radio type is output from the speaker 20. For example, when a crackdown radio is received, a voice is output like "It is a crackdown radio. Be careful of speed." During the audio output, the alarm lamp 6 is turned on.

The radar detector of the present embodiment has a road sign warning function in addition to these functions. The road sign warning function stores information on the road sign to be compared in the database 19, extracts the road sign from the video data taken by the outside-vehicle camera 23, and extracts the road sign and the database 19. Compare with the information about the road sign to be compared stored in, decide whether to issue an alarm based on the comparison result, and if issue an alarm, determine the alarm method, and determine the determined alarm method. It is realized by performing the notification control by. This alarm is controlled to call attention to the driver. In the alarm notification control, the control unit 18 reads out the image data together with the display alarm character string stored in the database 19 to display the alarm screen on the display unit 5, or reads out the alarm voice data stored in the database 19. The alarm sound is output from the speaker 20 or the alarm lamp 6 is turned on.

The database 19 has signs such as (a) temporary stop, (b) vehicle entry prohibition, (c) railroad crossing, (d) vehicle closed, (e) closed, and (f) slow-moving as shown in FIG. The type of the sign, the pattern of the sign, the information of the alarm content corresponding to the sign, and the importance of the sign are stored in association with each other. The sign pattern is stored as the image data shown in FIG. 5, and the image data shown in FIG. 5, the display warning character string data, and the warning voice data are stored in association with each other as the information of the alarm content corresponding to the sign. ing. The importance of the sign is data indicating one of two types, "low" and "high". For example, regarding the pause in FIG. 5 (a), the type of the sign is "pause", the image data in FIG. 5 (a), the character string of "stop!" As the display alarm character string data, and the alarm voice data. The warning voice data that "there is a stop sign" and "high" as the importance of the sign are stored in association with each other. Regarding the prohibition of vehicle entry in FIG. 5 (b), the type of sign is "No vehicle entry", the image data in FIG. 5 (b), the character string of "No entry!" As the display warning character string data, and the warning voice data. The warning voice data "There is a sign that prohibits entry" and "High" as the importance of the sign are stored in association with each other. Regarding the presence of a railroad crossing in FIG. 5 (c), the type of the sign is "with railroad crossing", the image data in FIG. 5 (c), the character string of "with railroad crossing!" The warning voice data "There is a sign with a railroad crossing" and "High" as the importance of the sign are stored in association with each other. Regarding the vehicle traffic closure in FIG. 5 (d), the type of the sign is "vehicle traffic closure", the image data in FIG. 5 (d), the display warning character string data is the character string "Vehicle traffic closure!", And the warning voice data. The warning voice data that "there is a sign that the vehicle is closed to traffic" and "high" as the importance of the sign are stored in association with each other. Regarding the traffic closure in FIG. 5 (e), the type of the sign is "traffic closure", the image data in FIG. 5 (e), the display alarm character string data is the character string "traffic closure", and the warning voice data is the "traffic closure sign". The warning voice data "There is" and "Low" as the importance of the sign are stored in association with each other. Regarding the slow driving in FIG. 5 (f), the type of the sign is "driving", the image data in FIG. 5 (f), the character string of "driving" as the display alarm character string data, and the "driving sign" as the warning voice data. The warning voice data "There is" and "Low" as the importance of the sign are stored in association with each other. In the present embodiment, (a) pause, as a road sign in which a vehicle may collide with another object if the road sign is not followed as a road sign of relatively high importance based on the type of road sign, (a) b) No vehicle entry, (c) There is a crossing, (d) Vehicle traffic closure is set to "high" importance, and in this embodiment, (e) traffic closure and (f) slow-moving are important as road signs other than these road signs. The degree is "low".

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing by a program executed by the control unit 18 in order to realize the road sign warning function. As described above, this process is executed once every 0.2 seconds by a timer interrupt (multiple execution is not performed).

First, in step (hereinafter abbreviated as S) S110, it is shown whether there is a sign corresponding to the image data of any of the signs of FIG. 5 stored in the database 19 in the video data currently taken by the out-of-vehicle camera 23. 5 (a) to (f) are determined by pattern matching. If there is a sign corresponding to the image data of the sign stored in the database 19 in the current video data, the sign is stored in the RAM as a recognized sign and transferred to S120, and if there is no corresponding sign, to S210. Transition.

In S120, recording of the video data and the vehicle state data taken by the vehicle outside camera 23 into the "notification folder" provided in the memory card 14 is started. This recording process is performed by the sub CPU (in multitasking) in parallel with recording to the "always recording folder".

In the following S130, whether or not the importance of the marker recognized by S110 stored in the RAM is "high" is determined from the importance of the indicator stored in the database 19. When this importance is "high" (S130: Y), it shifts to S140, and when this importance is "low" (S130: N), it shifts to S190.

In S140, it is determined by pattern matching whether or not there is a pattern corresponding to a traffic light in the video data currently taken by the outside-vehicle camera 23. If there is no pattern corresponding to the traffic light in the video data (S140: N), the process proceeds to S150. On the other hand, when there is a pattern corresponding to a traffic light in the video data (S140: Y), the process proceeds to S170.

In S150, the current position is set as the alarm start position, and the alarm start position is associated with the type of the sign recognized in S110 stored in the RAM and stored in the non-volatile memory of the control unit 18. In the following S160, a large alarm is issued and the process proceeds to S240. As shown in FIG. 7A, the large alarm obtains and displays the image data of the label type recognized by S110 stored in the RAM on the display unit 5 from the database 19 and displays the image data of the label type on the display unit 5. The display state in which the character string of the display alarm character string data corresponding to the above is displayed and the non-display state in which the image data and the character string are not displayed on the display unit 5 as shown in FIG. 7 (b) are set every 0.5 seconds. The blinking display is alternately repeated, the alarm voice data corresponding to the type of the sign is read out from the speaker 20, the voice is output, and the warning lamp 6 is blinked.

On the other hand, in S170, the current position is set as the alarm start position, and the alarm start position is associated with the type of the sign recognized in S110 stored in the RAM and stored in the non-volatile memory of the control unit 18. In the following S180, a medium alarm is issued and the process proceeds to S240. As shown in FIG. 7A, the medium alarm obtains and displays the image data of the type of the sign recognized by S110 stored in the RAM on the display unit 5 from the database 19 and displays the image data of the sign on the display unit 5. This is performed by displaying the character string of the display alarm character string data corresponding to the type, reading the alarm voice data corresponding to the type of the sign from the speaker 20, outputting the voice, and turning on the alarm lamp 6. In this way, the medium alarm does not blink, which is performed by the large alarm, and the notification is suppressed as compared with the large alarm.

On the other hand, in S190, the current position is set as the alarm start position, and the alarm start position is associated with the type of the sign recognized in S110 stored in the RAM and stored in the non-volatile memory of the control unit 18. In the following S200, a small alarm is issued and the process proceeds to S240. As shown in FIG. 8, the small alarm acquires the image data of the type of the sign recognized by S110 stored in the RAM from the database 19 and displays it on the display unit 5, and corresponds to the type of the sign on the image data. Display alarm character string Displays the character string of the data. The sound is not output from the speaker 20, and the alarm lamp 6 is not turned on. In this way, the small alarm suppresses the notification as compared with the medium alarm and the large alarm.

In S210, it is determined whether or not the current position corresponds to the alarm start position stored in the non-volatile memory of the control unit 18. If it corresponds to the alarm start position (S210: Y), the process proceeds to S220, and if it does not correspond to the alarm start position (S210; N), the processing of this road sign warning function is terminated.

In S220, recording of the video data and the vehicle state data taken by the vehicle outside shooting camera 23 into the "notification folder" provided in the memory card 14 is started. This recording process is performed by the sub CPU (in multitasking) in parallel with recording to the "always recording folder".

In the following S230, the type of the sign stored in the non-volatile memory is read out in association with the corresponding alarm start position of the current position, the alarm of the type of the sign is notified, and the type of the notified sign is stored in the RAM. , S240. This notification is performed in the form of a medium alarm. Since it is a sign that can be easily overlooked in the current situation that it could be recognized before but could not be recognized this time, be careful by using the medium warning mode for the sign that was warned as a small warning when it was recognized. This is to encourage.

In S240, the history of the speed recorded in the "notification folder" provided in the memory card 14 is acquired as vehicle information.

In S250, it is determined from the history of acceleration and velocity acquired in S240 whether or not the state indicated by the type of the indicator stored in the RAM is observed. If it is protected (S250: Y), it shifts to S260, and if it is not protected (S250: N), it shifts to S280. In this embodiment, when the types of signs are (a) temporary stop, (b) vehicle entry prohibited, (c) railroad crossing, (d) vehicle closed, and (e) closed, the speed is 5 km / in the history. If there is a place where the speed is h or less, it is judged that the vehicle is protected, and if the type of the sign is (f) slow, it is judged that the vehicle is protected if the speed is 20 km / h or less.

In S260, the vehicle state data and the video data from the start of recording of S120 recorded in the "notification folder" of the memory card to the present are copied into the "compliance folder" of the memory card.

In S270, it is determined whether or not the current value of the acceleration acquired from the acceleration sensor 25 is a value indicating the acceleration corresponding to the impact generation. If the value indicates the acceleration corresponding to the occurrence of an impact (S270: Y), the process proceeds to S260 and the vehicle state data and the video data up to the present are copied again in the "compliance folder" of the memory card. On the other hand, if the value does not indicate the acceleration corresponding to the impact generation, the process proceeds to S290.

In S280, a sign non-compliance warning is issued. In the present embodiment, the sign non-compliance warning is an alarm of the type of the sign in the warning mode of the large warning.

In S290, the recording of the video data and the vehicle state data started in S120 in the "notification folder" provided in the memory card 14 is terminated, and the processing of the road sign warning function is terminated.

As described above, in the present embodiment, it is determined in S130 whether or not (S180, S190) the notification based on the type of the road sign is suppressed in consideration of the importance based on the type of the road sign. Therefore, notifications about signs of "low importance" are frequently made and feel annoying, or people become accustomed to frequent notifications and overlook important signs, and in the end, it is not possible to properly alert them. It is possible to solve the problem, and to call attention more appropriately than before.

In the present embodiment, as the suppression of the notification, the blinking of the alarm lamp 6 is suppressed as lighting or non-lighting, and the display mode of the image on the display unit 5 is compared with the blinking display of the large alarm, and the medium alarm / small alarm. In the case, it is suppressed and simply kept displayed, or the output of the voice from the speaker 20 is performed in the large alarm / medium alarm and not suppressed in the small alarm, but of course, other suppression modes may be used. For example, the output volume of the sound from the speaker 20 may be set to be the loudest in the large alarm, smaller than the large alarm in the medium alarm, and smaller than the medium alarm in the small alarm. Similarly, the lighting amount of the alarm lamp 6 and the brightness of the display of the display unit 5 may be set to be the largest for the large alarm, smaller than the large alarm for the medium alarm, and smaller than the medium alarm for the small alarm. Further, the display area of the image data of the sign on the display unit 5 may be made larger for the large alarm, smaller than the large alarm for the medium alarm, and smaller than the medium alarm for the small alarm.

In this embodiment, if the road sign is not followed, the road sign that the vehicle may collide with other objects is (a) suspension, (b) vehicle entry prohibited, (c) railroad crossing, and (d). Although it is closed to vehicles, (e) closed roads and (f) slow-moving vehicles may be included. Then, another instruction sign (mainly a blue sign) or a warning sign other than a railroad crossing (mainly a yellow sign) may be recognized, and the importance of the other signs may be low. In particular, the signs that should be considered as "high" in importance are stop, slow, no entry, railroad crossing, one-way street, prohibition of traveling outside the designated direction, traffic lights, and the like.

Further, in the present embodiment, the presence / absence of a signal in front of the vehicle is acquired as information about the vehicle (S140), and the control unit 18 is a road sign indicating that the type of the determined road sign is the obligation to stop the vehicle (S130: Y) And when there is no signal in front of the vehicle as the acquired information (S140: N), the configuration is such that the notification is not suppressed (S160). As a result, notification regarding a road sign (for example, a "stop" sign) indicating an obligation to stop at an intersection without a particularly dangerous signal is performed without being suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to call attention in front of an intersection where there is no signal that may cause a serious accident but it is obliged to stop.

In the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not there is a traffic light in the image taken by the outside-vehicle camera 23, and the presence or absence of the signal in front of the vehicle is acquired. For example, the database 19 has a traffic light in advance. As a configuration that stores the position, acquires the current position of the vehicle, and acquires the presence or absence of the traffic light in front of the vehicle based on whether or not there is a position of the stored traffic light in the position corresponding to the front of the current position. May be good. Further, the presence / absence of the traffic light in front of the vehicle may be acquired based on whether or not a signal from the vehicle detection beacon in front of the traffic light is received.

In the present embodiment, as a suppression of notification, a sign other than the sign shown in FIG. 5 is a sign that does not notify, and a road sign of a type that does not notify is configured so that the type of road sign is not discriminated. (S110). Therefore, since the discrimination process is limited to the type of road sign for notifying, the discrimination time can be shortened.

In the present embodiment, the GPS receiver 8 for acquiring the current position of the vehicle is provided, and the control unit 18 identifies and notifies the position where the alarm is notified based on the current position acquired by the GPS receiver 8. It is stored in association with the type (S150, S170, S190), and when the current position acquired by the GPS receiver 8 approaches this stored position (S210: Y), it is photographed by the vehicle outside shooting camera 23. Even when the type of the road sign is not determined (S110: N), the notification is performed based on the type of the road sign stored in association with the position (S230). Therefore, when passing through the place where the sign is recognized once and the warning is given, the warning can be notified even at night or under conditions such as fog where it is difficult to distinguish the road sign.

It should be noted that, for example, when driving on a road with a small number of lanes such as a road with alternating traffic on one side, the acquisition accuracy of the current position of the GPS receiver 8 is low, and the position of the currently traveling lane and the opposite lane cannot be distinguished. There is a possibility that the road sign in the opposite lane will be notified. Therefore, when the current position is stored as the alarm start position in S150, S170, and S190, the current traveling direction is specified based on the position history acquired from the latest GPS log and stored as the alarm time direction. In S210, the position shifts to S220 only when the current position acquired by the GPS receiver 8 approaches the stored position and the current traveling direction coincides with the stored alarm time direction, and other than that. In some cases, the processing of this road sign warning function may be terminated. By doing so, the road sign installed toward the vehicle in the direction opposite to the direction currently in progress will not be erroneously notified. The direction at the time of alarm may be obtained from the value of the geomagnetic sensor by connecting the geomagnetic sensor to the control unit 18. Further, as the warning direction, for example, the direction in which the sign is facing may be used instead of the traveling direction.

Further, in the present embodiment, vehicle state data is acquired as information about the vehicle, and the control unit 18 notifies the state based on the type of the road sign (S160, S180, S200, S230), and then the state indicated by the notified road sign. Is determined based on the vehicle condition (S250), and notification is performed based on the determination result (S280). That is, when the state indicated by the notified road sign is observed (S250: Y), the notification based on the determination result is not performed (due to the non-execution of S280), and the notified state is observed. If not (S250: N), the notification based on the determination result is not suppressed (sign non-compliance warning in S280). By doing so, even if the driver overlooks the road sign and does not notice the notification based on the type of the road sign, this notification may notice it. Therefore, it is possible to give appropriate attention.

Further, in the present embodiment, the control unit 18 determines whether or not the state indicated by the notified road sign is observed after the notification based on the type of the road sign (S160, S180, S200, S230) based on the vehicle state. (S250), and the vehicle state data and the video data are recorded in the "compliance folder" based on the determination result (S260). This makes it easy to prove whether or not the sign was followed. For example, the driver or the driver's manager can check whether the sign has been overlooked by playing back the vehicle state or the image by an information processing device that reproduces at least one of the recorded vehicle state or the image. .. This also allows the insurance company to determine, based on this record, whether or not the driver is eligible for a voluntary insurance discount. Moreover, separately from this, vehicle state data and video data are recorded in the "notification folder" before and after the notification based on the type of road sign.

Further, in the present embodiment, when the control unit 18 detects an impact as a predetermined vehicle state during recording (S270: Y), the control unit 18 extends the recording (recopy in S260 by S270: Y). I have to. By doing so, if an impact is detected, the record is extended, and it is easy to prove whether or not the sign was observed. That is, in the case of the present embodiment, even though the state indicated by the sign is observed, the state of the vehicle in the compliance folder is recorded as proof that the driver has no fault because the record is made when an impact occurs. Data and video data can be used. Contrary to the present embodiment, after the notification based on the type of the road sign, the control unit 18 determines whether or not the state indicated by the notified road sign is being observed based on the vehicle state, and complies with the notification. If not, the record may be extended.

In the present embodiment, the outside-vehicle shooting camera 23 is built in, but for example, a video signal or video data may be acquired from a peripheral shooting camera such as a front monitor camera provided in advance in the vehicle. For example, it may be connected to a wired or wireless in-vehicle network and the image of the peripheral shooting camera may be acquired via the in-vehicle network. By doing so, it is not necessary to install a camera or the like in a retrofit device such as a radar detector, and it is possible to realize an approach warning at low cost, and this approach warning other than the original use of the peripheral photography camera. It can also be used for various purposes.

Further, in the present embodiment, although described with the example of the radar detector, it can be implemented as a function of various in-vehicle electronic devices. For example, it may be incorporated as a function of a navigation device, a drive recorder, or a car audio. Further, the numerical value described in this example may be appropriately changed to a value that exerts an effect by conducting an experiment or the like. Further, the control unit 18 is provided with a function of setting the priority of each function or alarm based on an instruction from the user from the remote controller 17 or the like, so that the control unit 18 performs processing in the set priority. It may be configured.

1 Case body 2 Solar panel 4 Microwave receiver 5 Display unit 6 Lamp 7 Infrared communication device 8 GPS receiver 9 Adapter jack 10 Power switch 11 Mobile phone 12 Memory card reader 14 Memory card 15 Wireless receiver 16 Remote control receiver 17 Remote control 18 Control unit 19 Database 20 Speaker 21 Infrared projector 23 Outside camera 25 Acceleration sensor

Claims (5)

A function to record the image of the camera mounted on the vehicle in the first place while the vehicle is running,
A function of recording an image when a road sign taken by a camera capable of taking a road sign while the vehicle is running is recognized in a second place different from the first place.
Electronic equipment with. Whether or not the recognized state of the road sign is observed based on the result of recognizing the road sign based on the image taken by the camera capable of photographing the road sign and the state related to the running of the vehicle. Has a function to judge
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the function of recording in the second place has a function of recording an image of the camera when the state indicated by the road sign is observed. The electronic device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the function of recording in the first place has a function of constantly recording an image of a camera mounted on the vehicle. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first place and the second place have different folders. A program for realizing the function of the electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 in a computer.

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