JP7275230B2 - Auxiliary device for vehicle seat adjustment - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a vehicle seat adjustment assist device.

In a conventional electric seat device mounted on a vehicle, the seat position after being adjusted by the user is registered in a memory. Seat positions are registered in the memory for each user. When using the vehicle, the user selects one seat position from a plurality of seat positions registered in the memory. Thereby, the seat is automatically adjusted to the selected seat position (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-200001).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-68180

In a conventional electric seat device, when a large number of seat positions are registered in the memory, the user may erroneously select a seat position different from the seat position to be selected.

The present disclosure has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to obtain a vehicle seat adjustment assist device that can more accurately specify the position and angle of the seat corresponding to the user. and

The vehicle seat adjustment assisting device according to the present disclosure obtains state information, which is information on the position and angle of the seat, and identification information of the user, from a monitoring device that monitors the seat and the user sitting on the seat. a data acquisition unit that acquires monitoring data including; a storage unit that associates and stores identification information and state information; and a user sitting on a seat corresponds to the identification information based on the monitoring data acquired by the data acquisition unit. a determination unit that determines whether the user is a user who is a person who is a person who is a user, and if the determination unit determines that the user corresponds to the identification information, the state of the seat is adjusted based on the state information associated with the identification information. and a command output unit for outputting the command generated by the command generation unit to an external device for adjusting the state of the sheet.

According to the vehicle seat adjustment assist device of the present disclosure, the position and angle of the seat corresponding to the user can be specified more accurately.

1 is a configuration diagram showing a seat adjustment system according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a portion of the seat adjustment system shown in FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a range imaged by the monitoring device shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a method of detecting the current position and angle of a sheet using the mark member shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display example on the display shown in FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing by a determination unit shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing processing by a determination unit shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing part of a seat adjustment system according to Embodiment 2; FIG. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a first example of a processing circuit that realizes each function of the seat adjustment assist device of Embodiments 1 and 2; FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a second example of a processing circuit that implements each function of the seat adjustment assist device of the first and second embodiments;

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a seat adjustment system according to Embodiment 1. FIG.

A seat adjustment system 100 according to Embodiment 1 is a system mounted on a vehicle. The vehicle is provided with a seat 101 on which a user (not shown) sits. The seat 101 has a seat surface portion 101A and a backrest portion 101B.

The seat adjustment system 100 includes a seat adjustment auxiliary device 109 , a monitoring device 110 , a display 111 , an enter button 112 and a mark member 108 .

The monitoring device 110 is a visible light camera. Monitoring device 110 is provided at a position facing seat 101 in the vehicle. The monitoring device 110 photographs the seat 101 and the user sitting on the seat 101 as subjects. The captured image data is sent to the sheet adjustment assisting device 109 as monitoring data.

A display 111 is an external device for adjusting the state of the seat 101 by the user. The display 111 also has the function of a display device that displays images to the user based on commands from the seat adjustment assisting device 109 . The display 111 also has the function of a notification device that emits sound through a speaker in addition to the function of a display device. Display 111 may be shared with other functions, such as a navigation system, an audio system, and the like.

The enter button 112 is a physical button provided on the steering wheel of the vehicle. A decision button 112 is used to store the state of the seat 101 in the seat adjustment assisting device 109 .

Here, the state of the seat 101 includes the seat position and the seat angle. The seat position is the position of the seat 101 in the front-rear direction and the position of the seat 101 in the height direction. In a vehicle type in which the height of the seat 101 cannot be adjusted, the seat position is only the position of the seat 101 in the front-rear direction. The seat angle is the angle of the backrest portion 101B with respect to the seat surface portion 101A.

The mark member 108 is provided on the backrest portion 101B. Also, the mark member 108 protrudes upward from the backrest portion 101B. Moreover, the mark member 108 is provided at a position where the image can be captured by the monitoring device 110 when the user is seated on the seat 101 . The front shape of the mark member 108, that is, the shape viewed from the monitoring device 110 is +-shaped.

The seat adjustment assisting device 109 has a function of assisting the adjustment of the state of the seat 101 by the user. The seat adjustment assist device 109 guides the user so that the current state of the seat 101 becomes the state of the seat 101 registered in advance by the user.

The state of the seat 101 can be changed manually by the user.

The vehicle is provided with a seat longitudinal movement mechanism 102 and a seat height adjustment mechanism 103 . The seat longitudinal movement mechanism 102 guides the movement of the seat 101 in the longitudinal direction. The seat height adjustment mechanism 103 guides the movement of the seat 101 in the height direction.

The seat 101 is provided with a reclining mechanism 104 , a reclining operating lever 105 , a height adjusting operating lever 106 , and a seat forward/backward moving operating lever 107 .

When the user operates the seat longitudinal movement control lever 107, the seat longitudinal movement mechanism 102 is unlocked. This allows the user to move the seat 101 forward and backward.

When the user operates the height adjustment lever 106, the seat height adjustment mechanism 103 is unlocked. Thereby, the user can move the seat 101 in the height direction.

When the user operates the reclining operation lever 105, the reclining mechanism 104 is unlocked. This allows the user to change the angle of the backrest portion 101B.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the essential parts of the seat adjustment system 100 shown in FIG.

The seat adjustment assist device 109 includes a data acquisition unit 201, a determination unit 202, a command generation unit 203, a command output unit 204, a determination unit 205, and a storage unit 206 as functional blocks.

The data acquisition unit 201 acquires image data from the monitoring device 110 . The acquired image data includes user identification information and state information about the sheet 101 .

In this example, the identification information of the user is the feature amount of the user's face. However, the user identification information may be image data obtained by cutting out a portion of the image data photographed by the monitoring device 110, in which the user appears.

The state information is information indicating the seat position and the seat angle. The state information is image data obtained by cutting out the mark member 108 from the image data photographed by the monitoring device 110 . However, the state information may be image data obtained by cutting out a portion where the sheet 101 is shown from image data captured by the monitoring device 110 . Also, the state information may be numerical data indicating the state of the sheet 101 .

The storage unit 206 associates the user's identification information with the status information and stores them as management data.

The determination unit 202 acquires image data from the data acquisition unit 201 . Based on the image data, the determination unit 202 determines whether the user sitting on the seat 101 is the user corresponding to the identification information included in the management data.

Specifically, the determination unit 202 extracts the feature amount of the face of the user sitting on the seat 101 from the image data. The determination unit 202 compares the extracted feature amount with the identification information included in the management data. If the management data includes the same identification information as the extracted feature amount, the determination unit 202 determines that the user sitting on the seat 101 is the user corresponding to the identification information included in the management data. I judge. Then, the determination unit 202 acquires the state information associated with the feature quantity from the management data.

A command generation unit 203 generates a command for adjusting the state of the seat 101 based on the state information acquired by the determination unit 202 .

Specifically, the command generation unit 203 acquires current state information based on the image data acquired by the data acquisition unit 201 . Then, the command generation unit 203 compares the state information acquired by the determination unit 202 and the current state information.

Hereinafter, the state information acquired by the determination unit 202 is referred to as "registered state information". Also, the current state information of the sheet 101 will be referred to as "current state information".

As a result of comparing the current state information with the registered state information, the command generation unit 203 generates a command for generating a voice message on the display 111 when the two do not match. A voice message is a message for the user to manually change the state of the seat 101 .

Also, the command generation unit 203 generates a command for displaying a guide image on the display 111 . The guide image is an image for the user to manually change the state of the sheet 101 .

As a result of comparing the current status information with the registered status information, if both match, the subsequent steps may not be performed.

Command output unit 204 outputs the command generated by command generation unit 203 to display 111 .

The user changes the state of the seat 101 based on at least one of the voice message from the display 111 and the guide image displayed on the display 111 .

The OK button 112 is operated when a new user registers new status information in the management data and when changing status information already registered in the management data. When the determination button 112 is operated, the determination unit 205 registers new identification information and state information, or updates state information corresponding to already registered identification information.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the range photographed by the monitoring device 110 shown in FIG.

Since the monitoring device 110 is fixed to the vehicle, the photographing range 301 does not change and is fixed. On the other hand, a sheet range 302 in which the sheet 101 is shown changes as the state of the sheet 101 changes.

A mark member search range 303 is a range in which the sheet adjustment assisting device 109 searches for the mark member 108 within the photographing range 301 . A mark member search range 303 is fixed to a specific area within the imaging range 301 .

4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining a method of detecting the state of the sheet 101 using the mark member 108 shown in FIG. In FIG. 4 , an arrow A indicates the front-rear direction of the seat 101 . An arrow B indicates the up-down direction.

Reference image 401 , first image 402 , second image 403 , third image 404 , and fourth image 405 are all images of mark member 108 detected by sheet adjustment assisting device 109 .

A reference image 401 is an image of the mark member 108 when the position of the seat 101 is the center position of the movement range and the seat angle is the most forward tilted posture.

The size, position and shape of the image of the mark member 108 change depending on the seat position and seat angle. That is, if the sheet position is in front of the central position, the image of the mark member 108 will be an image larger than the reference image 401 , for example, the first image 402 . If the sheet position is behind the central position, the image of the mark member 108 will be an image smaller than the reference image 401 , for example a second image 403 .

Also, if the sheet position is higher than the center position, the image of the mark member 108 is detected as, for example, a third image 404 at a position higher than the reference image 401 . Also, if the sheet position is lower than the center position, the image of the mark member 108 is detected at a position lower than the reference image 401 .

When the seat angle is changed from the angle of the forward tilting posture, the image of the mark member 108 becomes an image distorted in the vertical direction with respect to the reference image 401 , for example the fourth image 405 .

Therefore, the current sheet position and sheet angle can be obtained by obtaining the size, the position in the height direction, and the distortion of the image of the mark member 108 in the image data. The command generating unit 203 and the determining unit 205 can acquire the current state information from the image data acquired by the monitoring device 110 using such image recognition techniques.

It should be noted that the current state information can be obtained by the same method as long as it is a part of the sheet 101 shown in the image data, other than the mark member 108 .

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example on the display 111 shown in FIG. The command generation unit 203 generates data for the dashed-line sheet image 501 shown in FIG. 5 based on the registered state information. In addition, the command generation unit 203 generates data for the solid line sheet image 502 shown in FIG. 5 based on the current state information. The command generation unit 203 generates superimposed image data by superimposing the two image data. By generating superimposed image data, the command generation unit 203 can visually notify the user how much the sheet 101 is displaced from the registered position.

In addition, the command generation unit 203 generates a command for notifying the adjustment amount of the state of the seat 101 in units of notches. A notch unit is one step when the state of the seat 101 can be changed step by step. For example, "three notches" means three steps.

In the example of FIG. 5, the command generation unit 203 generates guide image data by adding notification information 503 to the previously generated superimposed image data. Also, the command generation unit 203 generates voice data of the contents of the notification information 503 . Then, the command generation unit 203 generates a command by combining the guide image data and the audio data.

Command output unit 204 outputs the command generated by command generation unit 203 to display 111 . The display 111 displays the guide image to the user and notifies the user of the content of the notification information 503 by voice.

The user adjusts the state of the seat 101 based on the information transmitted by the display 111 , and the situation at this time is photographed by the monitoring device 110 .

The seat adjustment assist device 109 updates the current status information and the command to be output to the display 111 according to the change in the status of the seat 101 during the adjustment of the status of the seat 101 .

Thus, when the user is adjusting the state of the seat 101, the process of generating commands to the display 111 is repeatedly performed. This notifies the user of real-time information.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing by the determination unit 202 shown in FIG. The processing shown in FIG. 6 is activated, for example, every 100 ms. Also, the processing shown in FIG. 6 is executed as a subroutine within the main routine. Also, after the user is specified, the process of FIG. 6 may not be performed until the power of the vehicle is turned off.

In step S<b>601 , the determination unit 202 determines the user from the image data acquired from the data acquisition unit 201 . In step S602, the determination unit 202 determines whether or not the identification information corresponding to the user has been registered in the management data.

If the identification information corresponding to the user has already been registered in the management data, the determination unit 202 reads the registration status information corresponding to the user in step S604. Further, the determination unit 202 outputs the read registration state information to the command generation unit 203, and ends the processing for that round.

On the other hand, if the identification information corresponding to the user has not been registered in the management data, the determination unit 202 determines in step S603 whether or not to newly register the current state of the sheet 101 . At this time, the determination unit 202 inquires of the user via the display 111 whether or not to newly register. The determination unit 202 determines whether or not to newly register the state information in accordance with the reply operation from the user. A response operation is performed by operating the decision button 112 .

If the state information is not newly registered, the determination unit 202 terminates the processing for that round. On the other hand, when the state information is to be newly registered, the determination unit 202 executes new registration processing in step S605, and then ends the processing for that round.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing processing by the determining unit 205 shown in FIG.

The determination unit 205 starts the processing shown in FIG. 7 by accepting an update start operation from the user. Also, when starting, the determining unit 205 identifies the user to be updated via the image data acquired from the monitoring device 110 . Also, the processing shown in FIG. 7 is activated, for example, every 100 ms after receiving an update start operation. The processing shown in FIG. 7 is executed as a subroutine within the main routine.

In step S701, the determination unit 205 determines whether the vehicle is running. If the vehicle is running, the determination unit 205 stores the state of the seat 101 at that time as registered state information in step S705. Manual adjustment of the seat 101 by the user while the vehicle is running is a risky activity. Therefore, the determination unit 205 ends the processing for that round after step S705. Note that if the user is not the driver, the determination in step S701 may be unnecessary.

If the vehicle is not running, the determination unit 205 determines in step S702 whether or not the design time has passed since the process shown in FIG. 7 was started. If the design time has elapsed, the determination unit 205 performs the process of step S705.

If the design time has not elapsed, the determination unit 205 determines whether the determination button 112 has been operated in step S703. If the OK button 112 is operated, the decision unit 205 stores the state of the sheet 101 at that time as registered state information in step S705, and ends the processing for that round.

If the decision button 112 has not been operated, the decision unit 205 counts up the elapsed time from the start of the process shown in FIG. 7 in step S704, and ends the process for that round.

The determination processing in step S702 is performed to enable the display 111 to perform another display after the design time has elapsed even if the enter button 112 is left unoperated. Therefore, if the display 111 is dedicated to the seat adjustment system 100, the determination processing in step S702 may be unnecessary. Alternatively, if the display 111 is not used, the determination processing in step S702 may be omitted.

Note that the determination processing of step S702 is processing of comparing the elapsed time updated in the processing of step S704 and the design time.

The new registration process in step S605 shown in FIG. 6 is similar to the process shown in FIG.

In the new registration process of step S605, the process of step S705 is replaced with the following process. That is, the feature amount of the user's face extracted from the image data is stored in the storage unit 206 . Also, the current state of the sheet 101 acquired based on the image data is registered as registered state information. Other than these replacements, the process is the same as shown in FIG.

In such a seat adjustment assisting device 109 , the data acquisition section 201 acquires image data showing the seat 101 and the user seated on the seat 101 . Further, the determination unit 202 determines whether the user sitting on the seat 101 is the user corresponding to the identification information. If the user is determined to be the user corresponding to the identification information, the command generation unit 203 generates a command for adjusting the state of the seat 101 based on the state information associated with the identification information. Command output unit 204 then outputs the command generated by command generation unit 203 to display 111 .

Therefore, the seat adjustment assist device 109 can more accurately identify the position and angle of the seat 101 corresponding to the user.

Also, the command generated by command generation unit 203 is a command for generating a voice message on display 111 . Therefore, it is possible to easily inform the user how the state of the seat 101 should be adjusted.

Also, the command generated by command generation unit 203 is a command for displaying a guide image on display 111 . Therefore, it is possible to inform the user how to adjust the state of the seat 101 in a more comprehensible manner.

The data acquisition unit 201 also acquires information on the shape and size of the mark member 108 viewed from the monitoring device 110 as state information. Therefore, the state information can be obtained only from the image within the mark member search range 303 . Also, the state of the sheet 101 can be detected by the common mark member 108 regardless of the shape of the sheet 101 .

Further, the mark member 108 is provided so as to protrude upward from the upper end of the backrest portion 101B. Therefore, even if the user sits on the seat 101, the mark member 108 is not blocked by the user, and the state of the seat 101 can be stably detected.

Part of the configuration of the seat adjustment system 100 may be part of the configuration of the conventional driver monitoring system. The driver monitoring system is a system that determines whether the driver is asleep or looking away by image analysis. Also, part of the configuration of the seat adjustment system 100 may be part of the configuration of the in-vehicle monitoring system. The in-vehicle monitoring system is a system that constantly records the interior of the vehicle in preparation for an abnormal situation.

Moreover, the monitoring device 110 is not limited to a visible light camera, and may be an infrared camera, a LiDAR, or a radar. In this case, three-dimensional position data starting from the monitoring device 110 is generated as monitoring data.

Moreover, the shape of the mark member 108 is not limited to +-shaped, and may be any shape. Moreover, the size of the mark member 108 does not matter. However, it is necessary to be able to confirm from the image data captured by the monitoring device 110 . Also, the mark member 108 may be colored or patterned.

Also, instead of the mark member 108, a mark may be attached to a portion of the sheet 101. FIG. In this case, the mark needs to be placed at a position not hidden by the user, for example, at the upper corner of the backrest portion 101B. The data acquisition unit 201 acquires information on the shape and size of the mark viewed from the monitoring device 110 as state information.

Also, if the display 111 is a touch panel display, a touch button may be used instead of the enter button 112 . Further, instead of pressing the enter button 112, a method of accepting the user's voice may be used.

Embodiment 2.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of part of the seat adjustment system 100 according to the second embodiment.

In Embodiment 2, the external device that is the output destination of command output unit 204 is actuator 120 . The actuator 120 is a driving device that changes the state of the seat 101 .

The command generator 203 generates a command for driving the actuator 120 based on the state information registered in the management data. Specifically, command generation unit 203 obtains the difference between the current state information and the registered state information. Then, the command generation unit 203 calculates the driving amount of the actuator 120 based on the obtained difference, and generates a command to drive the actuator 120 by the calculated driving amount.

Other configurations and operations in the second embodiment are similar to those in the first embodiment.

The seat adjustment assisting device 109 in the second embodiment can also more accurately specify the position and angle of the seat 101 corresponding to the user.

Moreover, since the state of the seat 101 is automatically adjusted by the actuator 120, the burden on the user can be reduced.

Each function of the seat adjustment assisting device 109 of Embodiments 1 and 2 is implemented by a processing circuit. FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram showing a first example of a processing circuit that implements each function of the seat adjustment assist device 109 of the first and second embodiments. The processing circuit 50 of the first example is dedicated hardware.

The processing circuit 50 corresponds to, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a combination thereof. . Also, each function of the seat adjustment assisting device 109 may be implemented by individual processing circuits 50 . Alternatively, each function of the seat adjustment assisting device 109 may be collectively realized by the processing circuit 50 .

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a second example of a processing circuit that implements each function of the seat adjustment assist device 109 of the first and second embodiments. A processing circuit 60 of the second example comprises a processor 61 and a memory 62 .

In the processing circuit 60, each function of the seat adjustment assist device 109 is implemented by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware. Software and firmware are written as programs. The software and firmware are then stored in memory 62 . The processor 61 reads out and executes programs stored in the memory 62 to achieve the functions of each unit.

It can be said that the program stored in the memory 62 causes the computer to execute the procedures or methods of the respective units described above. Here, the memory 62 includes, for example, RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), flash memory, EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable). Non-volatile memory such as Read Only Memory) volatile or volatile semiconductor memory. A magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a mini disk, a DVD, etc. also correspond to the memory 62 .

Some of the functions of the units described above may be implemented by dedicated hardware, and some may be implemented by software or firmware.

Thus, the processing circuit can implement the functions of the above-described units by hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof.

101 seat, 101A seat surface portion, 101B backrest portion, 108 mark member, 109 seat adjustment auxiliary device, 110 monitoring device, 111 display (external device, notification device, display device), 120 actuator (external device), 201 data acquisition unit, 202 determination unit, 203 command generation unit, 204 command output unit, 206 storage unit.

Claims (5)

Data acquisition for acquiring monitoring data including status information, which is information on the position and angle of the seat, and identification information of the user, from a monitoring device that monitors the seat and the user sitting on the seat. part,
a storage unit that associates and stores the identification information and the state information;
a determination unit that determines whether the user sitting on the seat is a user corresponding to the identification information based on the monitoring data acquired by the data acquisition unit;
A command for generating a command for adjusting the state of the seat based on the state information associated with the identification information when the determining unit determines that the user corresponds to the identification information. generator ,
a command output unit that outputs the command generated by the command generation unit to an external device for adjusting the state of the sheet ; and
a marking member attached to the sheet
with
The seat has a seat surface portion and a backrest portion,
The mark member protrudes upward from the backrest,
The data acquisition unit acquires, as the state information, information on the shape and size of the mark member viewed from the monitoring device. The external device is a notification device that notifies the user of a voice message for the user to manually change the state of the seat,
2. The vehicle seat adjustment assisting device according to claim 1, wherein the command generation unit generates a command for causing the notification device to generate the voice message based on the state information. The external device is a display device that displays a guide image for the user to manually change the state of the sheet,
2. The vehicle seat adjustment assisting device according to claim 1, wherein the command generation unit generates a command for displaying the guide image on the display device based on the state information. the external device is an actuator that changes the state of the seat;
2. A vehicle seat adjustment assisting device according to claim 1, wherein said command generator generates a command for driving said actuator based on said state information. The sheet is marked with
The vehicle seat adjustment assistance according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the data acquisition unit acquires, as the state information, information on the shape and size of the mark as seen from the monitoring device. Device.

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