JP3404802B2 - Road condition recording system - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a road condition recording system. More specifically, the condition and environment of a road on which a vehicle is traveling are stored as image data, and a road passing point of the vehicle is stored. The present invention relates to a road condition recording system capable of confirming the position of the own vehicle on a road map or retaining condition evidence in a traffic accident in cooperation with a confirmation and navigation system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the direction in which a vehicle is going to travel or the position where the vehicle is currently traveling is displayed on a screen to provide appropriate road information to a driver or a passenger. As a result, a so-called navigation system is being put to practical use, which can reduce the burden on the driver and enable the driver to reach the destination accurately and quickly, and at the same time, can drive safely.

As an example of such a navigation system, there is a system as described in JP-A-63-178400. In such a navigation system, a specific place on a preset road,
For example bridges, overpasses, may be recorded in advance image scenery around in the intersection or the like, one of a predetermined image according, which has been constructed as to be displayed on the predetermined screen together with the road map information , for example, in the case of driving the navigation system according the own vehicle, when approaching the predetermined intersection, the landscape around the intersection, the predetermined upper of the above road map information displayed on the display means the It is designed such that the location or road map information screen is switched and displayed.

With such a structure, the driver or passenger can easily understand that the approaching intersection is the planned intersection, and thereby the traveling direction of the own vehicle can be confirmed. . However, in the navigation system described above is, because it is not only the image recording only scenery around in the specific point that has been set in advance, arbitrarily get it is possible the in information to the point that has not been image-recording There is a problem that there is not, and when the accident occurs by recording the road condition of the own vehicle,
I couldn't use it for the method of utilizing the road information on the next run or on the way back.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to improve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, to record the road condition and the running condition of the vehicle as image data, and to record a predetermined road. It is intended to provide a road condition recording system capable of storing the condition and the traveling condition of the own vehicle for a predetermined period.

[0006]

The present invention achieves the above objects.
Road conditions that change continuously while the vehicle is moving
Are sequentially recorded as image data in the first area of the recording medium.
And the predetermined storage capacity of the first storage area
If the image data exceeding the amount is input,
While sequentially replacing the first storage area with new image data
Record. Then, when a predetermined control signal is output
Indicates the road condition after that in the second storage area of the recording medium.
To record. The predetermined control signal is, for example,
For example, there is a signal that signals the occurrence of an accident.

[0007]

According to the road condition recording system of the present invention,
Reproduce the road condition from the time to a time that is a predetermined time back
be able to. When a predetermined control signal is output, 2
Move the writing of image data between the two areas,
Image data before that is surely retained. According to
To reproduce image data after an accident, for example.
Therefore, the cause can be objectively determined. Also,
The image data after the predetermined control signal is output is
It is recorded in the other storage area. For this reason,
Even if the control signal is output incorrectly, there is a problem
Absent.

Further, in the present invention, as described above,
Of the image data of the road environment condition of the road on which the own vehicle is constantly recorded, or the running state of the own vehicle, image data with particularly high utility value, for example, image data when passing an intersection, railroad crossing, construction area Image data when passing, etc.,
Alternatively, based on a predetermined control signal, image data or the like in which a landscape of a specific road area, which is desired to be used on the return trip or the next run, is stored and held in a separately provided storage means for a long time, and whenever necessary. It is possible to reproduce and utilize such image data on the display means.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A specific example of a road condition recording system according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. That is, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the outline of the road condition recording system according to the present invention. In the figure, an image recording means 1 mounted on a vehicle 100 and a rewritable recording medium 2 are provided. From a recording medium 2 for recording the image data output from the recording means 1 and having a first storage area 21 having a predetermined capacity, and a display means 3 for reproducing the image data recorded on the recording medium 2. In the constructed road condition recording system, while the vehicle 100 is moving, the road condition that changes successively is sequentially recorded as image data in the recording medium 2, and the first storage area of the recording medium 2 is also recorded. When the image data exceeding the predetermined storage capacity of the storage medium 21 is input, the first storage area 21 of the recording medium in which the image data has already been written is sequentially replaced with a new image. Shows a road condition recording system that is configured so as to record while replacing with over data.

The image recording means 1 for converting the image information such as road conditions used in the present invention into an electric signal includes:
A conventionally known television camera or the like can be used, and the image recording means 1 is arranged in a position close to the roof of the vehicle, the windshield, the rear window, etc. The traveling state of the front vehicle, the traveling state of the oncoming vehicle, or, if necessary, the road environment condition behind the host vehicle and the traveling state of the rear vehicle are recorded and stored as image data.

The recording medium 2 used in the road condition recording system according to the present invention is not particularly limited in its configuration, but has a large storage capacity and stores stored image information. It is desirable to have a function that allows arbitrary reading and rewriting. It is preferable to use, for example, an optical disc as the recording medium 2.

[0012] Also, the recording medium 2 according may be a one which is integrated with a television camera or the like which is an example of an image recording means 1 described above is miniaturization. However, as will be described later, the recording medium 2 is also used for investigating the cause of an accident when the vehicle encounters a traffic accident or the like by reproducing the vehicle running condition or road environmental condition for a predetermined period. since it may be, from at impact or fracture in a traffic accident of, for protecting the image data relating to the recorded road information, <br/> recording medium 2 according preferably less susceptible to damage, operation of the vehicle It may be provided at the rear of the seat, and more preferably at a portion between the rear seat and the back of the trunk of the vehicle.

Further, as described above, the image data recorded by the image recording means 1 is recorded on the recording medium 2 used in the road condition recording system of the present invention.
For storage, it is necessary that a storage area having a predetermined capacity, that is, a memory area is provided, and the upper limit is not particularly limited, but at least the road environment information in front of the vehicle currently traveling, The running condition of the host vehicle is continuously displayed as a moving image for a predetermined period of time, or the predetermined image data is intermittently set at a predetermined time interval. The structure is not particularly specified as long as it has a sufficient capacity to store a state or the like as a still image for a predetermined time.

For example, the storage capacity of the storage area of the recording medium 2 is 30 minutes in a continuous moving picture, that is, in a video format, for 30 minutes, the road environment information in front of the vehicle currently traveling, the traveling of the vehicle. The state may be stored as image data. In this case,
When a predetermined time of 30 minutes elapses while recording the image data in the storage area of the recording medium 2, the storage operation of the image data returns to the head portion in the storage area of the recording medium 2 and is already stored. While erasing the stored image data, new image data is stored and updated.

[0015] In the road condition recording system according to the present invention, the operation for storing the image data in a predetermined storage area of the recording medium 2 be those sequentially repeated according, therefore, the predetermined recording medium 2 according In the storage area, the previously stored image data is constantly updated with new image data , and the image data recorded 30 minutes before the current time is stored.

Furthermore, in the present invention, when a traffic accident or the like occurs, that time road environment information, or or image data such as the road condition of the vehicle, like just before the traffic accident or the like occurs according It is possible to judge the cause and responsibility of the accident by referring to such image data. However, it is sufficient to write the stop of the image data in the occurrence of traffic accidents, but if you do not stop, in the above article example, after 30 minutes, image data is that it has been previously recorded, because things will disappear,
Since it becomes impossible to use the image data as described above later, in order to eliminate such inconvenience, in the present invention, at least two storage areas of the recording medium 2 are used.
It is divided into two independent storage areas.

That is, when it is determined that a traffic accident has occurred, the image data immediately before the traffic accident is surely retained by positively moving the writing of the image data between the two areas. Even if the above judgment is incorrect, there is no problem because the subsequent image data is written in the other storage area.

That is, in the road condition recording system according to the present invention, the second storage area different from the first storage area 21 is used.
This is characterized in that the storage area 22 is provided.
That is, in the above specific example of the present invention, when predetermined image data is stored in the first storage area 21 .
When a traffic accident or the like occurs and a predetermined control signal for notifying the occurrence of the traffic accident or the like is output, the subsequent operation of changing the writing of the image data to another storage area is performed.

In the present invention, when the operation of changing the writing of the image data after that to another storage area is performed, the detection signal when the traffic accident occurs, for example, a predetermined impact signal, or to detect when the traveling speed of the vehicle has become zero suddenly, that there Ru to confirm the occurrence of a traffic accident. That is, in the road condition recording system according to the present invention, the image recording means 2 such as an optical disk is used.
In order to ensure that the scenery at the time of a traffic accident is recorded and stored, the recording area of the optical disk memory must be at least 2
One or more previously divided, in the case of detecting an impact or zero speed as a traffic accident Hitoshihatsu raw signal, it has a function of transferring the recording area to another area.

With respect to traffic accidents on roads such as automobiles, there are many possibilities that a wide range of accidents can occur from head-on collisions to light rear-end collisions. This is to ensure that the record is retained. In the road condition recording system according to the present invention, as described above, the scenery in front of the vehicle is mainly recorded as image data by the image recording means 1 such as a television camera, and the image recording means 1 An electric signal output at fixed time intervals is recorded on a rewritable recording medium 2 such as an optical disk.

[0021] in the storage area in the recording medium 2, such as the optical disk, the recording and erasing, by repeating the overwriting some cases, a small storage capacity as possible that the maximum effect is designed so obtained Is desirable. For example, if an optical disk memory with a diameter of 12 cm can record for about 70 minutes and the number of times of rewriting can be about 10 ⁶ times, the above optical disk can be used for 133 years, and vice versa. If a usage period of about 10 years is set, an ultra-compact optical disk having a diameter of about 4 cm can be used as a memory.

Further, when the image data recorded on the recording medium 2 is designed not to be a moving image but to record a few still images per second, it is possible to use an optical disc having a smaller diameter. Becomes In the road condition recording system composed of the image recording means 1 and the recording medium 2 as described above, by recording the landscape information of the signal installation place, the level crossing, the center line, the vehicle ahead, etc. When it occurs, the cause can be objectively determined.

[0023] For example, in a collision of vehicles each other has progressed in the direction crossing each other at the intersection with a traffic signal, which car signal ignoring the the one of the determination can be utilized. At that time, it is possible to make a more effective judgment by simultaneously recording the date and time together with the landscape information.

[0024] is in the present invention, in addition to the combination of the television camera and the optical disk, by adding the image recorder control Lumpur and <br/> display, in order for the traffic accident cause investigation, the vehicle in front of landscape In parallel with recording, a plurality of applications such as intersection guidance and road guidance can be operated. In this case, the storage area of the recording medium 2 may be divided into the storage area for investigating the cause of an accident and the storage area for guidance as described above.

For example, regarding the former , the above-mentioned first and second
Beauty using the second memory area 21, 22, is attached to the latter
It is possible to like to use the third storage area 23. When using an optical disk memory, the random access property, or alternately recorded three storage areas, it is possible to or read. As for the intersection guidance, as described above, the scenery of the intersection to be turned is recorded in advance,
This is displayed on the screen display means when coming to the front of the intersection, and particularly when the forward trip, especially the scenery behind the vehicle is recorded as image data, and when it comes to the predetermined intersection on the return trip, The scenery is displayed.

A road guide is a route to a destination.
A scene in which a mark is recorded in advance or a scene recorded in the outward path is sequentially displayed on the display means at an appropriate timing. It is more effective that these guides are linked with a conventionally known navigation system.

In the present invention, when a still image is adopted, an obstacle or an object including another vehicle is interlocked with a radar device for measuring a distance to an obstacle ahead of the own vehicle. When a vehicle approaches the vehicle, it is possible to switch to a movie and record the situation as image data. In such a case, it is necessary to understand the situation immediately before the traffic accident in a way that is easier to understand. Can be done.

In order to execute the above-mentioned road condition recording system according to the present invention, the vehicle is further provided with a vehicle running state detecting sensor 4. As the running state detecting sensor 4, for example, a vehicle speed sensor is provided. 42, a direction sensor 43, and the like. When the vehicle running state abnormality detection sensor 41 detects that an abnormal state has occurred in the running state of the vehicle, the appropriate control means 5 is used. It is desirable that the writing of image data after that is changed to another storage area.

The abnormal state of the vehicle running state detected by the vehicle running state abnormality detection sensor 41 according to the present invention may be, for example, a rapid speed change, or another object including another vehicle is rapidly transferred to the own vehicle. This includes cases such as when approaching or when an abnormal impact is detected. That is, in the road condition recording system according to the present invention, a predetermined instruction signal,
That is, in response to the signal indicating the abnormal state of the vehicle running state detected by the vehicle running state abnormality detection sensor 41, the writing of the image data thereafter is changed to another storage area. is there.

[0030] As described above, in the road situation recording system according to the present invention, the image data recorded in the storage area 21 by the image recording means 1, the image related to road environment context that changes at the traveling direction of the vehicle However, in some cases, an image regarding the road environment situation that changes in the direction opposite to the traveling direction of the host vehicle may be recorded.

[0031] In the road condition recording system according to the present invention, as described above, may be there in those used with conventional navigation system for a vehicle, for example, in the navigation system for a vehicle When the vehicle approaches a predetermined predetermined point, for example, a predetermined intersection, a predetermined instruction signal is generated, and in response to the instruction signal, the operator operates in areas other than the first and second storage areas. No. 3 that can be erased and rewritten only by a predetermined operation of
Storage area 23 is prepared in advance, and image data in which the scenery of the intersection is recorded is recorded and held therein, or the first or second storage area 21 or 22 described above is stored.
Stored in the image data recording the scene of the intersection, is stored in a predetermined storage area of the third memory area 23 described above, if the held stored and held in the third memory area 23 according The image data can also be used on the return trip or the next run.

That is, specifically, the image data stored in the third storage area 23 on the outward route together with the map information in the navigation system is stored on the return route or at the time of the next drive. The image data is displayed on the display means when the vehicle approaches the respective points where the respective image data are recorded.

In the road condition recording system according to the present invention, a specific example of use in conjunction with the navigation system will be described with reference to FIG. 4. Now, from the road information by the navigation system, the own vehicle travels. When the road indicated by an arrow is shown as the road to be road, when the own vehicle approaches each intersection (1) (2) (3) on the road information, the road environment condition at each intersection Image data indicating that, that is, a landscape image of an intersection is stored in the third storage area 23 and held, or stored in the first or second storage area 21 or 22 and at the same time as the third storage. By storing and holding it in the area 23 as well, the predetermined image data stored in the first or second storage area 21 or 22 is erased at a predetermined time interval. But the image data stored in the third memory area 23 according Because is held without being erased,
As described above, it can be effectively used later.

Furthermore, the In road condition recording system according to the present invention, the speed sensor of the vehicle, in addition to the vehicle direction sensor, a distance measuring means for measuring a distance to the vehicle and the preceding vehicle and the obstacle 6 is provided, when recording the image data, the rate of the previous SL vehicle, information obtained by at least one of the means or the like for measuring the distance to the vehicle and the preceding vehicle and the obstacle is stored simultaneously It is preferable that it is configured as described above.

In the road condition recording system according to the present invention, the first, second and third storage areas 21, 2 are used.
The image data stored in Nos. 2 and 23 has its storage time controlled in response to a predetermined command. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a system configuration when the road condition recording system of the present invention is used together with a conventional navigation system.

That is, the input interface 10 includes road map information 12 used in the navigation system, image recording means 1 including a television camera, a vehicle speed sensor 42, a traveling state detecting sensor 4 including a direction sensor 43, and a distance measuring means 6. , The vehicle running condition abnormality detection sensor 41 is connected,
The bus line 20 connected to the input interface 10 includes a CPU constituting the control means 5 and storage areas 21 and 2.
2, in some cases including 23, and a present invention RAM constituting the in the recording medium 2 in a built-in program for executing each processing according to the present invention ROM11 and the image display unit 3.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for storing image data relating to road environment conditions in the road condition recording system according to the present invention. That is,
After the start, in step (1), a memory area of a predetermined recording medium is cleared to perform initialization, and in step (2), predetermined map information of the navigation system is read.

Subsequently, in step (3), the road environment condition information is started to be stored in the first storage area 21 of the recording medium 2 as image data. In step (4), it is judged whether or not a predetermined time, for example, 30 minutes, has passed,
If YES, the process proceeds to step (5), and the storage capacity of the first storage area 21 is full.
Return to the beginning of the memory area 21 and step again
Recording of the image data in (3) is restarted.

In this case, the image data already stored in the first storage area 21 is sequentially erased and updated with new image data. Further, when a predetermined time has passed, the same operation is repeated. In the case of NO in step (4), the process proceeds to step (6), it is judged whether or not a vehicle traveling abnormality signal is output, and Y
If ES, the process proceeds to step (7), the vehicle travel abnormality signal is output time according, in which writing the image data in the second memory area 22 of the other.

If NO in step (6), the process proceeds to step (14), and an instruction to store a part of the image data stored in the first storage area 21 in the third storage area 23 is held. If YES, it proceeds to step (15) and a part of the image data stored in the first storage area 21 at that time is stored in the third storage.
The data is written in the area 23 and the process proceeds to step (8).

[0041] Then the process proceeds to step (8), a third of
It is determined whether or not there is a display instruction for displaying the image data stored in the storage area 23 of the above, and if YES , the image data is displayed on the display means 3 in step (9) and becomes END. Is NO, step (10)
It is examined whether or not there is an erasing instruction in step S11, and if YES, the process proceeds to step (11) and the third storage area 2
The image data stored and held in 3 is deleted.

If NO in step (10), the process proceeds to step (12) to determine whether it is END. If YES, the process proceeds to step (13) to become END, or step (12). In the case of NO in 12), the process proceeds to step (15) and the above steps are repeated. On the other hand, if NO in step (14), the process proceeds to step (16) to determine whether it is END. If YES, the process proceeds to step (17) to become END, and NO in step (16). In the case of, the process returns to step (3) and the above-mentioned steps are repeated.

[0043]

According to the present invention, storage of image data is stopped.
Retains image data before output of predetermined signal without stopping
can do.

Further , according to the present invention, the function of accident record is provided.
Scenery stored in the third storage area without affecting
The image can be used for navigation system
It

[Brief description of drawings]

[1] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of a road condition recording system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a road condition recording system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation procedure of the road condition recording system according to the present invention.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of road information data displayed on the image display means in accordance with a road condition recording system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 ... Image recording means 2 ... Recording medium 21 ... First storage area 22 ... Second storage area 23 ... Third storage area 3 ... Image display means 4 ... Vehicle running state detection sensor 4 41 ... Vehicle running condition abnormality detection sensor 42 ... Vehicle speed sensor 43 ... Direction sensor 5 ... Control means 6 ... Distance measuring means 10 ... Input interface 11 ... ROM 12 ... Road map information 20 ... Bus line 100 ... Road condition recording system

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-2-147446 (JP, A) JP-A-63-16785 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60R 11/02 G01C 21/00 G08G 1/0968

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image recording means mounted on a vehicle and a rewritable recording medium, wherein a storage area for recording image data output from the image recording means is at least reduced.
Also two separate recording medium which is divided into storage areas, and a display means for reproducing image data recorded on the recording medium, during movement of the vehicle, the road conditions varied sequentially, successive said recording medium first and records as image data in the storage area of the storage capacity of the first storage area when the ultra-El said image data is input, the first storage area sequentially in new image data replaced while recording, given
If a control signal is output, the road condition after
Recording as image data in the second storage area of the recording medium
Road condition recording system comprising a control unit, that comprises a that. 2. The predetermined control signal is used to notify the occurrence of an accident.
The road condition recording system according to claim 1, which is a signal that causes
Mu. 3. The recording medium has a third storage area.
The control means is used in a navigation system.
The landscape image according to claim 1 is recorded in the third storage area.
Is the road condition recording system described in 2. 4. The control means, together with the landscape image,
The road condition according to claim 3, wherein the date and the time are recorded at the same time.
Recording system.