JP5044140B2 - Accident information collection system and accident information recording device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an accident information collection system and an accident information recording apparatus, and more particularly to an accident information collection system and an accident information recording apparatus for a vehicle equipped with a video camera.

If a vehicle accident occurs on a road or intersection where a monitoring device such as a video camera is not installed, the situation of the accident can be grasped only by on-site verification after the accident. The police may make a wrong decision during the verification.

Therefore, taxi operators have already taken video with a video camera installed in the car to understand the situation of the accident. The in-vehicle video camera is able to capture the behavior of the other vehicle at the time of the accident, and thus has achieved a breakthrough in accident verification. For example, in a collision at an intersection at a certain intersection, if a vehicle that is driving on a non-priority road has entered without stopping even though there is a stop line, the vehicle will not stop once Liability for negligence will be asked.

Further, as a prior art, there is a vehicle drive recorder that records image information and sensor information immediately before an accident, and reproduces the recorded information after the accident occurs so that the situation of the accident can be grasped (for example, patent document) (See 1 and 2 etc.).

Furthermore, as a prior art, there has been an emergency call system in which the situation inside and outside the vehicle is photographed and image information is transmitted to the emergency call center at the time of emergency call (for example, see Patent Document 3 or 4).
JP 2002-209173 A JP2000-6854 JP 2001-328499 A JP 2003-303384 A

Conventional drive recorders have a problem in that record information that is physical evidence of an accident is stored in an in-vehicle storage device and individually processed, and cooperation with other systems is not considered. Specifically, the image information and sensor information immediately before the accident was recorded, and the recorded information could be reproduced after the accident occurred to grasp the situation of the accident, but the recorded information is equipped with a drive recorder There is a problem that it can only be used in vehicles, and a mechanism such as statistical analysis in cooperation with other systems is not considered. In other words, it was known that a point where accidents frequently occur has a certain characteristic occurrence pattern. However, with a conventional drive recorder, a certain characteristic occurrence pattern at a point where accidents frequently occur is known. It could not be detected.

Moreover, in the emergency call system of the prior art, the situation inside and outside the car was photographed and the image information was transmitted to the emergency call center at the time of emergency call. However, the image information is accumulated and statistical analysis is performed. There was a problem that there was no mechanism. In other words, it is known that points where accidents occur frequently have a certain characteristic occurrence pattern, but in the prior art emergency call system, certain characteristic occurrence patterns at points where accidents occur frequently. Could not be detected.

In view of the above-described points, an object of the present invention is to provide an accident information collection system in which a video image captured when a vehicle accident occurs can be transmitted to an information collection center and collected.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an accident information recording apparatus capable of reliably shooting a video including a moment when a vehicle accident occurs.

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention

The accident information collection system according to claim 1 is a video shooting unit that takes video at least in front of a vehicle, storage means that stores video taken by the video shooting unit, and vehicle position detection that outputs vehicle position information. Means, a video shooting start trigger means for detecting a vehicle behavior abnormality and starting a video shooting operation of the video shooting unit, and a video shooting end trigger for detecting a vehicle collision and ending the video shooting operation of the video shooting unit A vehicle equipped with an accident information recording device comprising means, a communication device for transmitting accident information including photographed video stored in the storage means, and information for receiving and storing the photographed video transmitted from the vehicle The video shooting end trigger means is one of an airbag and a collision sensor. Re or consists of one or more, subject to the output or the vehicle collision detection by the collision sensor of the start signal for starting the air bag, the imaging by the video imaging unit when the vehicle speed from the vehicle speed sensor is zero At the same time, the storage means stores a video image shot by the video shooting unit after the shooting of the video shooting unit is ended by the video shooting end trigger means. According to the accident information collection system of claim 1, the accident information including the photographed video is transmitted to the information collection center and collected in the accident information database, so that the police and the insurance company can instruct the police and the insurance company as leading information for the accident verification. Information can be provided. In addition, services such as providing information to help prevent future accidents can be expected. Specifically, by analyzing the past accident information statistically, it may be possible to prevent the accident by giving a warning to the driver in the future when it matches the occurrence pattern.

The accident information collection system according to claim 2 is the accident information collection system according to claim 1 , wherein the video shooting start trigger means is any one of an acceleration sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, a steering wheel steering angle sensor, and a wake-up sensor. Or more than one. According to the accident information collecting system according to claim 2, as information indicating the behavior of the vehicle from immediately before the accident until the collision stops, the acceleration / deceleration from the immediately before the accident until the collision stops, the vehicle speed, the steering angle, The driver's arousal state and the like can be collected in an information collection center in real time.

Accident information collection system according to claim 1, before SL video imaging end trigger means comprises a any one or more of the airbag and the collision sensors. According to the accident information collecting system according to claim 1 , since the output signal of the collision sensor included in the airbag or the collision sensor provided separately from the airbag is used as a trigger for ending the video shooting, It is possible to suppress the video shooting and prevent the data volume of the shot video from increasing.

Accident information collection system according to claim 1, before SL video imaging end trigger means, subject to collision detection of the vehicle by the airbag or the collision sensor, when the vehicle speed from the vehicle speed sensor becomes zero Shooting by the video shooting unit is terminated . According to the accident information collecting system of claim 1 , when the vehicle speed becomes zero on condition of vehicle collision detection, shooting by the video shooting unit started from the start of abnormal behavior of the vehicle is terminated. Thus, it is possible to reliably shoot video images including the moment when the accident occurs.

The accident information collection system according to claim 3 is the accident information collection system according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the accident information includes accident occurrence date / time information, accident occurrence position information, accident occurrence vehicle information, and a photographed video. It is characterized by including. According to the accident information collection system according to claim 3, the accident collection date and time information, accident occurrence position information, and accident occurrence vehicle information that can understand the situation of the accident in detail along with the photographed video are included in the accident information collection center. Analysis of accident information at can be easily performed.

The accident information collection system according to claim 4 is the accident information collection system according to claim 3 , wherein the accident occurrence vehicle information includes vehicle identification information, vehicle position, acceleration / deceleration, vehicle speed, steering angle, and driver's information. One or more of the awake states are included. According to the accident information collection system according to claim 4 Symbol mounting, accident vehicle information includes vehicle identification information, vehicle position, acceleration, vehicle speed, steering angle, and one or more of any of the arousal state of the driver Therefore, detailed accident information can be analyzed.

The accident information collection system according to claim 5 is the accident information collection system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the photographed video is divided into two stages: differential extraction by a differential extraction method and data compression. It is characterized by being compressed by downsizing. According to the accident information collection system according to claim 5 Symbol mounting, since the captured image is compacted in two stages, it is possible to reduce the amount of data transmitted to the information collection center, it is possible to reduce the communication load.

7. The accident information recording apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a video shooting unit for shooting video at least in front of the vehicle, storage means for storing a shot video shot by the video shooting unit, and a vehicle for outputting vehicle position information. Position detection means; video shooting start trigger means for detecting an abnormality in the vehicle behavior and starting the video shooting operation of the video shooting unit; and video for detecting a vehicle collision and ending the video shooting operation of the video shooting unit. A shooting end trigger unit, and the video shooting end trigger unit includes at least one of an airbag and a collision sensor, and outputs an activation signal for starting the airbag or the vehicle by the collision sensor. Subject to collision detection, when the vehicle speed from the vehicle speed sensor becomes zero, Together to end that shooting, it said storage means by said video imaging end trigger means, and to store the captured images that are videotaped after shooting of the video capturing unit is terminated. According to the accident information recording apparatus of the sixth aspect, the abnormality of the vehicle behavior is detected to start the video shooting operation of the video shooting unit, and the collision of the vehicle is detected to end the video shooting operation of the video shooting unit. By doing so, it is possible to shoot video images taken immediately before the occurrence of the accident.

The accident information recording apparatus according to claim 7 is the accident information recording apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the video shooting start trigger means is any of an acceleration sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, a steering wheel steering angle sensor, and a wake-up sensor. Or more than one. According to the accident information recording apparatus according to claim 7 , as information indicating the behavior of the vehicle from immediately before the accident until the collision stops, the acceleration / deceleration from the immediately before the accident until the collision stops, the vehicle speed, the steering angle, The driver's arousal state and the like can be recorded in real time.

Accident information recording apparatus according to claim 6, before SL video imaging end trigger means comprises a any one or more of the airbag and the collision sensors. According to the accident information recording apparatus of the sixth aspect , the collision sensor included in the airbag or the output signal of the collision sensor provided separately from the airbag is used as a trigger for ending the video shooting. It is possible to suppress the video shooting and prevent the data volume of the shot video from increasing.

Accident information recording apparatus according to claim 6, before SL video imaging end trigger means, the condition of collision detection of the vehicle by the airbag or the collision sensor, when the vehicle speed from the vehicle speed sensor is zero The photographing by the video photographing unit is ended. According to the accident information recording device of the sixth aspect , when the vehicle speed becomes zero on the condition that the vehicle collision is detected, the photographing by the video photographing unit started from the start of the abnormal behavior of the vehicle is ended. Thus, it is possible to reliably shoot video images including the moment when the accident occurs.

The purpose of video recording of the video including the moment when the accident occurs and collecting it at the information collection center is to detect the abnormal behavior of the vehicle and start the video shooting operation of the video shooting unit. This was achieved by terminating the video shooting by the video shooting unit when it stopped and sending the accident information including the shot video to the information collection center.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an accident information collection system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The accident information collection system according to the first embodiment includes a control circuit 10, a video shooting unit 20, a storage device 30, a navigation device 40, an acceleration sensor 51, a vehicle speed sensor 52, a steering wheel angle sensor 53, and a wake-up sensor. 54, a video shooting start trigger means including a collision sensor 60 included in the airbag or a collision sensor 60 provided separately from the airbag (hereinafter referred to as an airbag (collision sensor) 60). A DCM (Data Communication Module) 70, an emergency call help net center 80, and a probe information collection center 90 constitute the main parts. 1 constitutes an accident information recording apparatus mounted on the vehicle 101 (see FIG. 3).

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of the accident information collection system according to the first embodiment. The accident information collection system according to the first embodiment includes a vehicle 101 equipped with an accident information recording device, a relay station 102 that relays accident information transmitted from the accident information recording device, and accident information from the relay station 102 on the Internet. 103 or an emergency call help net center 80 received via the public line 104, and a probe information collection center 90 for accumulating accident information including captured images received by the emergency call help net center 80. The accident information recording apparatus may directly transmit the accident information to the probe information collection center 90 without going through the emergency call help net center 80.

As shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle 101 includes a control circuit 10, a video shooting unit 20, a storage device 30, a navigation device 40, video shooting start trigger means (not shown in FIG. 3), video shooting end trigger means. (Not shown in FIG. 3) and an accident information recording device comprising DCM 70 are mounted.

As shown in FIG. 4, the control circuit 10 is configured as a so-called ECU (Electric Control Unit), which is a known CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11a, ROM (Read Only Memory) 11b, RAM (Random Access Memory) 11c. The control unit 11 includes an I / O (Input / Output) 12, and a LAN (Local Area Network) I / F (Interface) 13. The CPU 11a executes various controls based on the control program 11p stored in the ROM 11b or the like. An in-vehicle LAN 14 is connected to the LAN I / F 13.

The video shooting unit 20 includes a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera, a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) camera, and the like. The video shooting unit 20 takes a video of the outside of the vehicle, and inputs the video taken as a video signal to the control circuit 10. The video shooting unit 20 is attached so as to video-shoot at least the front of the vehicle in front of the vehicle interior ceiling. Note that the video shooting position by the video shooting unit 20 is basically in front of the vehicle, but if necessary, video shooting may be performed at the door site or behind. For example, if a video shooting unit 20 is additionally provided for video recording of the rear of the vehicle, it is possible to deal with an accident occurring on the rear side of the vehicle 101 such as a rear-end collision.

The storage device 30 is configured by a rewritable nonvolatile memory such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a flash memory, or the like, and temporarily records accident information including video shot by the video shooting unit 20.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the navigation device 40. The navigation device 40 includes a position detector 401, a map data input device 406, an operation switch group 407, a remote control (hereinafter referred to as “remote control”) sensor 411, a voice synthesis circuit 424 that performs voice guidance, and a speaker 415. , A nonvolatile memory 409, a display 410, an HDD 421, a control unit 408 connected thereto, and a remote control terminal 412. The navigation device 40 is intended to acquire the position information of the vehicle 101, and it is sufficient if there is a position detector 401 that acquires the position information of the vehicle 101. The navigation device 40 itself is the present invention. Is not a mandatory configuration requirement.

The position detector 401 has a known geomagnetic sensor 402, gyroscope 403, distance sensor 404, and a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 405 that detects the position of the vehicle based on radio waves from a satellite. These sensors 402, 403, 404, and 405 each have an error of a different nature, and are configured to be used while being complemented by a plurality of sensors. Depending on the accuracy, some of the sensors described above may be used, and further, a rotation sensor for steering, a wheel sensor for each rolling wheel, for example, a vehicle speed sensor 52 or the like may be used.

As the operation switch group 407, for example, a touch panel 422 integrated with the display 410 or a mechanical switch is used. The touch panel 422 is pressed when an electric circuit is wired on the screen of the display 410 in the X axis direction and the Y axis direction through a gap called a spacer on a glass substrate and a transparent film, and the user touches the film. Since the voltage value changes due to short-circuiting of a part of the wiring, a so-called resistance film method for detecting this as a two-dimensional coordinate value (X, Y) is widely used. In addition, using a so-called capacitance method, a substance that receives an electrical signal is applied to the glass surface of a transparent conductive substrate, and a change in capacitance is detected by the sensor as an electrical signal when a finger is brought close to the glass surface. Also good. In addition to the mechanical switch, a pointing device such as a mouse or a cursor may be used.

It is also possible to input various instructions using the microphone 431 and the voice recognition unit 430. In this method, a voice signal input from the microphone 431 is processed by a voice recognition technique such as a well-known hidden Markov model in the voice recognition unit 430 and converted into an operation command corresponding to the result.

The control unit 408 is configured as a normal computer, and includes a well-known CPU 481, ROM 482, RAM 483, I / O 484 and a bus line 485 connecting these configurations. The CPU 481 performs control using the navigation program 421p and data stored in the HDD 421. Further, the CPU 481 controls the reading and writing of data to and from the HDD 421. The A / D (Analog / Digital) conversion unit 486 includes a known A / D conversion circuit, and converts analog data input from the position detector 401 or the like to the control unit 408, for example, into digital data that can be calculated by the CPU 481. Is. The ROM 482 may store a program for performing a minimum necessary operation among the navigation functions when the HDD 421 fails.

In addition to the navigation program 421p, the HDD 421 stores so-called map matching data for improving the accuracy of position detection, and map data 421m including road data representing road connections. The map data 421m stores predetermined map image information for display and road network information including link information and node information. The link information is predetermined section information constituting each road, and includes position coordinates, distance, required time, road width, number of lanes, speed limit, and the like. The node information is information defining an intersection (branch road) or the like, and is composed of position coordinates, the number of right / left turn lanes, a connection destination road link, and the like. In addition, data indicating whether or not traffic is possible is set in the inter-link connection information.

In addition, in the HDD 421, the user can independently write data to auxiliary information for route guidance, entertainment information, and the like, and is stored as user data 421u. The user data 421u can be rewritten by operating the operation switch group 407, the touch panel 422 and the remote control terminal 412 or by inputting voice from the microphone 431. Further, data and various information necessary for the operation of the navigation device 40 may be stored as the database 421d.

The map data 421m and user data 421u can be added and updated from the storage medium 420 via the map data input device 406. The storage medium 420 generally uses a CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory) or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) based on the amount of data, but other media such as a memory card may be used. .

The nonvolatile memory 409 includes a rewritable semiconductor memory such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) or a flash memory, and stores information and data necessary for the operation of the navigation device 40. The nonvolatile memory 409 is adapted to retain the stored contents even when the accessory switch of the vehicle is turned off, that is, the navigation device 40 is turned off.

Further, information and data necessary for the operation of the navigation device 40 may be stored in the HDD 421 instead of the nonvolatile memory 409. Further, information and data necessary for the operation of the navigation device 40 may be stored separately in the nonvolatile memory 409 and the HDD 421.

The display 410 includes a known color liquid crystal display, and includes a dot matrix LCD (Liquid Crystal Device) and a driver circuit (not shown) for performing LCD display control. The driver circuit uses, for example, an active matrix driving method in which a transistor is attached to each pixel so that the target pixel can be reliably turned on and off, and is based on a display command and display screen data sent from the control unit 408. To display. Further, as the display 410, an organic EL (ElectroLuminescence) display or a plasma display may be used.

The speaker 415 is connected to a well-known voice synthesis circuit 424 connected to the I / O 484 of the control unit 408, and the digital voice data stored in the nonvolatile memory 409 or the HDD 421 is received by the voice synthesis circuit 424 according to a command from the navigation program 421 p. The thing converted into analog voice is sent out. Note that the speech synthesis method includes a recording / editing method in which speech waveforms are stored as they are or after being encoded and connected as necessary.

The LAN I / F 426 is an interface circuit for exchanging data with the in-vehicle LAN 14.

Returning to FIG. 1, the acceleration sensor 51 detects a change in the resistance value of the piezo element when the acceleration / deceleration occurs using the well-known piezoresistive effect (that is, a change in the voltage across the piezo element). The acceleration / deceleration in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 101 can be detected, and is connected to the control circuit 10 via the in-vehicle LAN 14. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which can detect the acceleration / deceleration of the left-right direction of the vehicle 101 in addition to the front-back direction.

The vehicle speed sensor 52 includes a rotation detection unit such as a known rotary encoder, and is installed, for example, in the vicinity of the wheel mounting unit to detect the rotation of the wheel and send it to the control circuit 10 as a pulse signal. It is connected to the control circuit 10. In the control circuit 10, the number of rotations of the wheels is converted into the speed of the vehicle 101 to calculate an expected arrival time from the current position of the vehicle 101 to a predetermined place, or an average vehicle speed for each travel section of the vehicle 101. To do.

The steering wheel angle sensor 53 is a sensor that detects the steering angle of the steering wheel, and is connected to the control circuit 10 via the in-vehicle LAN 14.

The awakening sensor 54 detects a state (semi-awakening state) in which the driver is likely to fall asleep from the number of blinks, time interval, change in blood pressure, number of breaths, etc. Thus, a warning signal is output and is connected to the control circuit 10 via the in-vehicle LAN 14.

The air bag (collision sensor) 60 detects the deceleration of the vehicle as an electrical signal with an acceleration pickup such as a piezo element, calculates the signal using a preset calculation formula, and starts when a certain set value is exceeded. A signal (ignition signal) is output, and is connected to the control circuit 10 via the in-vehicle LAN 14. In other words, the airbag (collision sensor) 60 outputs an activation signal for detecting the impact of the collision of the vehicle 101 and activating the airbag, and inputs the activation signal to the control circuit 10.

The DCM 70 is a communication device configured to include a transmission unit, a reception unit, and an antenna for transmitting and receiving data to and from the emergency call help net center 80. Since the configurations of the transmission unit, the reception unit, and the antenna are known, detailed description thereof is omitted.

The emergency call help net center 80 is an emergency call center, which is known per se, and will not be described in detail. The reason why the vehicle 101 is linked to the emergency call help net center 80 is to pay attention to the existing in-vehicle system and to share or extend the mechanism to make the accident information collection system according to the first embodiment reasonable. This is to realize. In cooperation with the emergency call help net center 80, not only emergency rescue calls for life-saving, but also information necessary for accident handling including physical evidence of accident insurance and video information necessary for accident verification, immediately before the accident. The information is transmitted to the emergency call help net center 80 retroactively from the information.

The probe information collection center 90 is an information collection center that is connected to the emergency call help net center 80 and receives and collects accident information received by the emergency call help net center 80. The probe information collection center 90 itself may have a communication function so that accident information from the vehicle 101 is directly received and collected. The accident information collected in the probe information collection center 90 can be used not only for verification of accidents by individual analysis, but also for taking measures for preventing future accidents by statistical analysis.

The probe information collection center 90 is provided with a server 91 as shown in FIG. The server 91 includes a CPU 951, a ROM 952, a RAM 953, and an I / O 954. The server 91 includes a computer main body 950 that is connected to the bus line 955 so as to be able to transmit and receive data. , CD-ROM drive 958 or FDD (Floppy Disk Drive) (registered trademark) 959 or other recording medium reader, HDD 960, monitor 962, printer 963 connected via monitor control unit 961, and Internet 103 or public line 104 The whole is constructed as a computer system to which a network control unit 964 that communicates with a transmission / reception device 966 connected to an external network is connected.

The HDD 960 stores an operating system program (hereinafter referred to as OS) 960a and a server program 960b. The server program 960b operates with the server work memory 953b secured in the RAM 953 on the OS 960a as a work area in order to realize the function as the server 91. This is stored in, for example, a CD-ROM 965 in a computer-readable state and installed in a predetermined storage area on the HDD 960. A configuration may be used in which the server program 960b or data is downloaded from an external network. The RAM 953 also has a work memory 953a for the OS 960a. Further, an accident information database 960c is constructed in the HDD 960.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the contents of accident information in the accident information collection system according to the first embodiment. The accident information includes accident occurrence date / time information, accident occurrence position information, accident occurrence vehicle information, and compressed video. In addition to vehicle ID (Identification), which is vehicle identification information and various sensor information, wiper operation information (rain), ABS (Anti-lock Brake System) operation information, etc. are used as information for determining road surface conditions in the vehicle information on the occurrence of an accident. Can be included. The accident information is collected as an example of probe information, and the probe information is data such as speed and position collected in real time from a vehicle that is actually traveling through a wireless network.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the accident information recording / transmission process in the control circuit 10.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing accident information collection processing in the server 91.

Next, the operation of the accident information collection system according to the first embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.

When the engine of the vehicle 101 is activated, the control circuit 10 compares output signals from the acceleration sensor 51, the vehicle speed sensor 52, the steering wheel steering angle sensor 53, and the awakening sensor 54 with preset threshold values, It is detected whether there is an abnormality in the vehicle behavior (S101 in FIG. 8). Specifically, after the airbag operation is detected by the airbag (collision sensor) 60, only the captured image after the vehicle 101 has already collided can be captured, so the control circuit 10 catches the captured image immediately before the accident. Therefore, based on the output signal from the acceleration sensor 51, whether it is sudden braking, sudden acceleration / deceleration, whether it is overspeed based on the output signal from the vehicle speed sensor 52, based on the output signal from the steering wheel steering angle sensor 53 Whether the driver is in a half-awake state based on the output signal of the awake sensor 54. That is, as a trigger for starting video shooting, an abnormality in vehicle behavior such as sudden braking, sudden acceleration, excessive speed, sudden handle operation, abnormal handle operation, and dozing operation detection is detected.

When an abnormality in the vehicle behavior is detected (S101 in FIG. 8: Yes), the control circuit 10 turns on the video shooting unit 20 (S102 in FIG. 8). Thereby, the video shooting unit 20 starts video shooting in front of the vehicle. Note that a captured video (video moving image) having a large data capacity may be captured in synchronization with a time stamp as a frame advance still image. In addition, it is necessary to use another method to capture a half-awake state dozing operation that is not detected when the driver exceeds the threshold value in the awake state. In this alternative method, it is a predecessor that the driver awakens by judging the drowsiness driving by the awake sensor 54 and putting the driver in the awake state. Next, the automatic brake for preventing the collision is operated in parallel. A procedure is preferable in which the video photographing unit 20 is turned on only when the vehicle 101 must collide.

Next, the control circuit 10 turns on the collection of vehicle information (S103 in FIG. 8). As a result, the control circuit 10 causes the vehicle position from the navigation device 40, the acceleration / deceleration from the acceleration sensor 51, the vehicle speed from the vehicle speed sensor 52, the steering angle from the steering wheel steering angle sensor 53, and the driver's awakening from the awakening sensor 54. A process for collecting time-stamped vehicle information on accidents such as a state, for example, every 0.5 seconds is started. In addition, other information, such as a gyro heading, wiper operation information, ABS operation information, can also be included as accident occurrence vehicle information.

Subsequently, the control circuit 10 determines whether or not an accident has occurred based on whether or not an activation signal of the airbag (collision sensor) 60 has been detected (S104 in FIG. 8). The method of detecting the activation signal of the airbag (collision sensor) 60 is detected based on an output signal of an electronic control device (not shown) that activates the airbag (collision sensor) 60.

When the collision of the vehicle 101 is not detected based on the start signal of the airbag (collision sensor) 60 (S104: NO in FIG. 8), the control circuit 10 turns off the video photographing unit 20 (S105 in FIG. 8). Information collection is turned off (S106 in FIG. 8), and control is returned to step S101. Thereby, video shooting by the video shooting unit 20 is stopped, and collection of vehicle information is also stopped. The canceled photographed image and vehicle information are not temporarily recorded in the storage device 30.

When the collision of the vehicle 101 is detected based on the start signal of the airbag (collision sensor) 60 (S104 in FIG. 8: YES), the control circuit 10 determines whether the vehicle speed is 0 based on the output signal from the vehicle speed sensor 52. Whether or not is determined (S107 in FIG. 8), the system waits until the vehicle speed becomes zero.

When the vehicle speed becomes 0 (S107 in FIG. 8: Yes), it means that the vehicle 101 has stopped after the occurrence of the accident, so the control circuit 10 turns off the video photographing unit 20 (S108 in FIG. 8). Thereby, the video shooting by the video shooting unit 20 is completed. As a result, the video shooting time is from the detection of the vehicle behavior abnormality to the detection of the vehicle stop through the collision detection. Therefore, it is possible to suppress video shooting for more than the required time and prevent the data volume of the shot video from increasing.

Next, the control circuit 10 turns off the collection of vehicle information (S109 in FIG. 8). As a result, the control circuit 10 detects the vehicle position from the navigation device 40, the acceleration / deceleration from the acceleration sensor 51, the vehicle speed from the vehicle speed sensor 52, the steering angle from the steering wheel steering angle sensor 53, and the driver's awakening from the awakening sensor 45. The collection of information on accident-occurring vehicles such as conditions is terminated.

Subsequently, the control circuit 10 compresses the captured video (S110 in FIG. 8). Specifically, in order to reduce the transmission capacity to the emergency call help net center 80, it is preferable to perform two-stage compaction, ie, difference extraction by the image data difference extraction method and data compression.

Next, the control circuit 10 stores the accident information including the compressed video image in the storage device 30 (S111 in FIG. 8). Specifically, the accident occurrence date / time information (time stamp), the accident occurrence position information, the accident occurrence vehicle information, and the accident information (see FIG. 7) including the compressed photographed video are created and temporarily recorded in the storage device 30. As the accident occurrence vehicle information, the vehicle position, acceleration / deceleration, vehicle speed, steering angle, etc. from the abnormal behavior occurrence point are time-stamped and recorded temporarily, for example, every 0.5 seconds. Further, as the compressed photographed video, for example, a compressed photographed video synchronized with a time stamp every 0.5 seconds is temporarily recorded.

Subsequently, the control circuit 10 transmits accident information including the compressed video image to the emergency call help net center 80 by the DCM 70 (S112 in FIG. 8). In addition, the control circuit 10 clears the storage device 30 after transmitting the accident information including the compressed photographed video. The accident information temporarily recorded in the storage device 30 may be cleared before the latest accident information is written, so that the latest accident information is always held in the storage device 30.

Thereafter, the control circuit 10 returns the control to step S101.

Upon receiving the accident information from the vehicle 101, the emergency call help net center 80 transfers the information to the probe information collection center 90.

When the probe information collection center 90 receives accident information from the emergency call help net center 80 (S201 in FIG. 9: Yes), the server 91 collects and stores the accident information in the accident information database 960c (S202 in FIG. 9). . For this reason, in the accident information database 960c, as information indicating the behavior of the vehicle 101 from the detection of the abnormality of the vehicle behavior until the vehicle 101 collides and stops, the acceleration / deceleration from the immediately before the accident to the stop is detected. Accident information such as the vehicle speed from the time of collision until it stops and the direction of travel just before the accident is collected in real time. Therefore, by analyzing statistically the past accident information collected in the accident information database 960c, in the future, the driver is warned when the occurrence pattern is matched, thereby preventing the accident. It is possible. However, the warning notification needs to be specific to accidents with the same pattern and patterns that can occur by anyone, and data that can be identified as the cause of the accident due to poor vehicle maintenance or failure must be excluded.

According to the first embodiment, accident occurrence date / time information (time stamp), accident occurrence position information, accident occurrence vehicle information, and compressed photographed video that understand the characteristics of the accident are temporarily recorded in the storage device 30 and emergency notification is made via the DCM 70. Since it is transmitted to the help net center 80 and collected in the accident information database 960c of the probe information collection center 90, information can be provided to the police and insurance companies as influential information for accident verification. In addition, services such as providing information to help prevent future accidents can be expected. Specifically, by analyzing the past accident information statistically, it may be possible to prevent the accident by giving a warning to the driver in the future when it matches the occurrence pattern.

In addition, video shooting by the video shooting unit 20 is performed from the start point of the abnormal behavior of the vehicle 101 (the first threshold exceeded point) to the vehicle stop point (the vehicle stop point) via the accident occurrence point (accident occurrence point). As a result, it is possible to reliably shoot a video including a moment when a vehicle accident occurs.

Further, as the accident occurrence vehicle information, the vehicle position from the navigation device 40, the acceleration / deceleration from the acceleration sensor 51, the vehicle speed from the vehicle speed sensor 52, the steering angle from the steering wheel steering angle sensor 53, the driver's awakening from the awakening sensor 54 By collecting conditions, etc., it is possible to analyze the situation of sufficient accidents by analyzing the acceleration / deceleration, vehicle speed, steering angle, driver's arousal state, etc., as well as captured images including the moment when a vehicle accident occurs. Can do.

As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention was described, this is only an illustration, this invention is not limited to this, Based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, unless it deviates from the meaning of a claim Various changes are possible.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an accident information collection system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The figure which shows the whole structure of the accident information collection system which concerns on this Example 1. The figure for demonstrating the outline | summary of the accident information recording apparatus mounted in the vehicle. The circuit block diagram which shows the structure of a control circuit. The circuit block diagram which shows the structure of a navigation apparatus. The circuit block diagram which shows the structure of a probe information collection center. The figure which illustrates the contents of accident information. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of an accident information recording device. The flowchart which shows the accident information collection process in a server.

Explanation of symbols

10 Control Circuit 20 Video Shooting Unit 30 Storage Device (Storage Unit)
40 Navigation device (vehicle position detection means)
51 Collision sensor (video shooting start trigger means)
52 Accelerometer (Video shooting start trigger means)
53 Vehicle speed sensor (video shooting start trigger means)
54 Steering angle sensor (video shooting start trigger means)
55 Awakening sensor (video shooting start trigger means)
60 Airbag (collision sensor) (video shooting end trigger means)
70 DCM (communication equipment)
80 Emergency Call Help Net Center 90 Probe Information Collection Center (Information Collection Center)
101 Vehicle 960c Accident Information Database

Claims (7)

A video shooting unit that takes video at least in front of the vehicle, a storage means that stores a video taken by the video shooting unit, a vehicle position detection means that outputs vehicle position information, and a video that detects abnormality in vehicle behavior and detects the video An accident information recording device comprising video shooting start trigger means for starting a video shooting operation of the shooting unit, and video shooting end trigger means for detecting a vehicle collision and ending the video shooting operation of the video shooting unit;
A vehicle equipped with a communication device for transmitting accident information including captured images stored in the storage means;
An information collection center for receiving and storing the captured video transmitted from the vehicle;
Have
The video shooting end trigger means includes any one or more of an airbag and a collision sensor, and outputs a start signal for starting the airbag or a vehicle collision detection by the collision sensor from a vehicle speed sensor. When the vehicle speed of the vehicle becomes zero, the shooting by the video shooting unit is terminated,
The accident information collecting system according to claim 1, wherein the storage means stores a video image shot by the video shooting end trigger means after the video shooting unit has been shot.   2. The accident information collection system according to claim 1, wherein the video shooting start trigger means includes at least one of an acceleration sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, a steering wheel angle sensor, and a wake-up sensor.   The accident information collection system according to claim 1, wherein the accident information includes accident occurrence date / time information, accident occurrence position information, accident occurrence vehicle information, and a photographed image.   The accident information collection system according to claim 3, wherein the accident occurrence vehicle information includes one or more of vehicle identification information, vehicle position, acceleration / deceleration, vehicle speed, steering angle, and driver's arousal state.   The accident information collection system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the photographed video is compressed by two-stage compaction of difference extraction by a difference extraction method and data compression. A video shooting unit for video recording at least in front of the vehicle;
Storage means for storing a shot image shot by the video shooting unit;
Vehicle position detection means for outputting vehicle position information;
Video shooting start trigger means for detecting an abnormality in vehicle behavior and starting a video shooting operation of the video shooting unit;
Video shooting end trigger means for detecting a vehicle collision and ending the video shooting operation of the video shooting unit;
The video shooting end trigger means includes any one or more of an airbag and a collision sensor, and outputs a start signal for starting the airbag or a vehicle collision detection by the collision sensor from a vehicle speed sensor. When the vehicle speed of the vehicle becomes zero, the shooting by the video shooting unit is terminated,
The accident information recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores a video image captured by the video shooting end trigger unit after video shooting of the video shooting unit is completed. The accident information recording apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the video shooting start trigger unit includes at least one of an acceleration sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, a steering wheel steering angle sensor, and a wake-up sensor.

Images