JP7282176B2 - Control device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control device that uses a flying object to secure a parking place for own vehicle.

Conventionally, when the driver is unable to continue driving, a technology has been disclosed in which a fellow passenger decides where to stop the vehicle, automatically guides the vehicle to the stop location, and stops the vehicle. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

Further, there is disclosed a technique in which a user who sees an image captured by an aircraft that has left the vehicle decides where to stop the vehicle and drives the vehicle to that stop (see, for example, Patent Document 2). ).

JP 2016-62163 A JP 2016-535879 A

In Patent Literatures 1 and 2, when the own vehicle actually arrives at the stop place, there are cases where another vehicle has already stopped at the stop place. In this case, the driver of the own vehicle needs to search for a place to stop again. As described above, conventionally, it was not possible to reliably secure a stop place until the own vehicle arrived.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a control device that can reliably secure a parking place until the vehicle arrives.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the control device according to the present invention includes a stop place determination unit for determining a stop place to be occupied by the own vehicle when it stops, and a stop place determination unit for determining when the own vehicle arrives at the stop place determined by the stop place determination unit. A control unit that controls the flying object that has left the vehicle to wait in the parking area, a driver information acquisition unit that acquires driver information that is the information of the driver of the vehicle, and a driver information acquisition unit that acquires driver information, and the vehicle has arrived at the parking location. a driver qualification determination unit that determines whether the driver is qualified to drive based on the driver information acquired by the driver information acquisition unit when the driver resumes driving the own vehicle later.

According to the present invention, the control device includes a stop place determination unit that determines a stop place to be occupied when the own vehicle stops, and a control device that leaves the own vehicle until the own vehicle arrives at the stop place determined by the stop place determination unit. A control unit that controls the flying object to wait in the parking place, a driver information acquisition unit that acquires driver information that is the information of the driver of the own vehicle, and a driver who drives the own vehicle after the own vehicle arrives at the stop place. When restarting the vehicle, the driver qualification determination unit determines whether or not the driver is qualified to drive based on the driver information acquired by the driver information acquisition unit. It is possible to secure

Objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.

It is a block diagram showing an example of composition of a control device by an embodiment of the invention. It is a block diagram showing an example of composition of a control device by an embodiment of the invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the control apparatus by embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the setting of the classification of a stop place by embodiment of this invention. 1 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of an aircraft according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. It is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware constitutions of the flying object by an embodiment of the invention. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the control device according to the embodiment of the invention; 4 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the control device according to the embodiment of the invention; 4 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the control device according to the embodiment of the invention; 4 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the control device according to the embodiment of the invention; It is a block diagram showing an example of composition of a control system by an embodiment of the invention.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

<Embodiment>
<Configuration>
Below, each configuration of the control device and the aircraft according to the present embodiment will be described.

<Configuration of control device>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control device 1. As shown in FIG. It should be noted that FIG. 1 shows the minimum required configuration of the control device according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the control device 1 includes a stop place determination section 2 and a control section 3 . A stop place determination unit 2 determines a stop place to be occupied when the own vehicle stops. The control unit 3 controls the flying object 4 that has departed from the own vehicle to wait in the stop place until the own vehicle arrives at the stop place determined by the stop place determination unit 2. - 特許庁

Next, another configuration of the control device including the control device 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control device 5 according to another configuration.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 5 includes a stop place determination unit 2, a control unit 3, an information acquisition unit 6, a stop place candidate determination unit 7, a flight route determination unit 8, and a communication control unit 9. , a driver information acquisition unit 10 , a driver qualification determination unit 11 , and a vehicle engine control unit 12 . Further, the control unit 3 and the information acquisition unit 6 are communicably connected to the navigation device 13, the communication control unit 9 is communicatively connected to the aircraft 4, and the driver information acquisition unit 10 is connected to a DMS (Driver Monitoring System) 14. and is communicatively connected.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the control device 5. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the control device 5 includes a display device 15 , an input device 16 , a wireless transceiver 17 , a memory 18 and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 19 . The CPU 19 is also communicably connected to the navigation device 13, the DMS 14, the vehicle engine 20, and the data server 21. FIG. Note that the display device 15, the input device 16, and the wireless transmitter/receiver 17 may be provided outside the control device 5. FIG.

The configuration of the control device 5 will be described below with reference to FIGS. A control device 5 controls the aircraft 4 and the vehicle engine 20 . Further, the control device 5 may be mounted on the own vehicle, or may be an information terminal brought into the vehicle by the occupant of the own vehicle. For example, the control device 5 may be a system integrated with the navigation device 13 and the DMS 14, or may be a smart phone or a tablet PC (Personal Computer). The same applies to the control device 1 shown in FIG.

The information acquisition unit 6 receives from the navigation device 13 the vehicle position information indicating the current position of the vehicle, the vehicle route information indicating the route from the current position of the vehicle to a preset destination, and the preset destination. Acquire stop place type information indicating the type of stop place. Specifically, the navigation device 13 has a GPS receiver (not shown), and outputs the vehicle position information based on the GPS signal received by the GPS receiver to the information acquisition unit 6 . The navigation device 13 also calculates a route from the current position of the vehicle to a destination preset by the user, and outputs the calculated route to the information acquisition unit 6 as vehicle route information.

Further, the navigation device 13 is provided with a display device (not shown), and displays the types of parking places as shown in FIG. 4, for example, on the display device. The user sets priorities for the types of stop locations displayed on the display device. Numbers 1 to 3 shown in FIG. 4 indicate the order of priority set by the user. The navigation device 13 outputs the type of stop place for which the priority order is set to the information acquisition unit 6 as stop place type information. The stop place type information includes position information of stop places belonging to the stop place type. In this way, the user can set a place where the user can easily stop or a desired place as a stop place.

In the example of FIG. 4, the types of stop places are "near parking lot", "side of road with little traffic", and "hospital", but are not limited to these. For example, a "flat road with little traffic" may be used as the type of stop location. Further, the navigation device 13 may not output to the information acquisition unit 6 the types of stop places for which no priority order has been set.

In addition, the information acquisition unit 6 obtains the aircraft position information indicating the current position of the aircraft 4 and the remaining power of the aircraft 4 indicating the remaining power of the battery 29 (see FIG. 6) of the aircraft 4 from the aircraft 4. get. Specifically, the information acquisition unit 6 acquires the aircraft position information and the remaining power of the aircraft from the aircraft 4 via the communication control unit 9 . Note that when the flying object 4 has not separated from the own vehicle, the own vehicle position information and the flying object position information are the same. The communication control unit 9 controls the radio transmitter/receiver 17 to transmit/receive various information to/from the aircraft 4 .

Based on the vehicle position information, the vehicle route information, the vehicle stop type information, the flying object position information, and the remaining electric power of the flying object obtained by the information obtaining unit 6, the stopping place candidate determining unit 7 determines the location around the route. , and at least one stop place candidate that exists within a range in which the flying object 4 can fly. The perimeter of the route includes an area within a certain range around a certain point on the route. The range in which the flying object 4 can fly is the range in which it can fly from the current position of its own vehicle with the remaining power of the battery. The stop place candidate determining unit 7 determines a stop place belonging to the type of stop place for which the priority is set as a stop place candidate.

The stop place determination unit 2 determines a stop place from at least one stop place candidate determined by the stop place candidate determination unit 7 . For example, when the stop place candidate determination part 7 determines a plurality of stop place candidates, the stop place determination part 2 determines a stop place belonging to the type of stop place with the highest priority among these stop place candidates. In addition, when the stop place candidate determination unit 7 determines one stop place candidate, the stop place determination unit 2 determines the one stop place candidate as the stop place.

A flight route determination unit 8 determines a flight route along which the aircraft 4 should fly from the current position of the aircraft 4 to the stop location determined by the stop location determination unit 2 . Specifically, the flight route determination unit 8 determines a flight route for ascending the aircraft 4 from the current position of the aircraft 4 to a predetermined altitude, navigating while maintaining the altitude, and stopping at a stop. The control unit 3 transmits information on the flight route determined by the flight route determination unit 8 to the aircraft 4 via the communication control unit 9 .

The driver information acquisition unit 10 acquires driver information, which is information about the driver of the host vehicle, from the DMS 14 . The driver information includes, for example, the driver's fingerprint information, the movement of the driver's steering wheel operation in a certain period of time, the image of the driver, the driver's license, the driver's age, and the driver's biometric information. The movement of the steering wheel by the driver means the movement of the steering wheel when the driver operates the steering wheel for a certain period of time while the vehicle is stopped. In addition, the driver's biological information includes the driver's arousal state. The arousal state of the driver can be obtained, for example, from an image of the driver, a biosensor attached to the driver, or the like.

The driver qualification determination unit 11 determines whether or not the driver is qualified to drive based on the driver information acquired by the driver information acquisition unit 10 . Specifically, the driver qualification determination unit 11 compares the driver information acquired by the driver information acquisition unit 10 with the driver information pre-registered in the data server 21, and when the two match, the driver is qualified to drive. If they do not match, it is determined that the driver is not qualified to drive. Information similar to the driver information acquired by the driver information acquiring unit 10 is registered in advance in the data server 21 for each driver.

For example, when the driver information is the fingerprint information of the driver, the driver qualification determination unit 11 compares the fingerprint information of the driver acquired by the driver information acquisition unit 10 with the fingerprint information of the driver registered in advance in the data server 21. When they match, it is determined that the driver is qualified to drive. In this case, the driver can be identified quickly.

Further, when the driver information is the movement of the driver's steering operation during a certain period of time, the driver qualification determination unit 11 compares the movement of the driver's steering operation acquired by the driver information acquisition unit 10 with the driver's movement registered in advance in the data server 21. The driver is qualified to drive when the movement of the steering wheel operation is checked and matched.

Furthermore, when the driver information is an image of the driver, the driver qualification determination unit 11 collates the image of the driver acquired by the driver information acquisition unit 10 with the image of the driver registered in advance in the data server 21 to match. when the driver is qualified to drive. In this case, the driver can be identified without any special operation.

In addition to the above, when the driver information is the driver's biometric information, the driver qualification determination unit 11 registers the driver's arousal state included in the driver's biometric information acquired by the driver information acquisition unit 10 and the data server 21 in advance. It is determined whether or not the driver is qualified to drive by comparing with the driver's arousal state included in the driver's biometric information. A driver qualification determination part 11 determines that the driver is qualified to drive when the driver is awake, and determines that the driver is not qualified to drive when the driver is not awake.

The driver qualification determining unit 11 may arbitrarily combine a plurality of pieces of driver information to determine whether or not the driver is qualified to drive.

The vehicle engine control unit 12 controls the vehicle engine 20 based on the determination result of the driver qualification determination unit 11 . Specifically, when the driver qualification determining unit 11 determines that the driver is qualified to drive, the vehicle engine control unit 12 turns on the vehicle engine 20, and the driver qualification determining unit 11 determines that the driver is not qualified to drive. When it is determined, the vehicle engine 20 is turned off.

The control unit 3 outputs the information of the stop place determined by the stop place determination unit 2 to the navigation device 13 . The navigation device 13 recalculates the route using the stop location acquired from the control device 5 as a waypoint. Further, the control unit 3 controls the flying object 4 that has left the vehicle to wait in the stop place until the vehicle arrives at the stop place determined by the stop place determination unit 2 . Specifically, the control unit 3 controls the flying object 4 to hover and wait in the parking space of the parking place. At this time, it is desirable that the height at which the flying object 4 hovers is within the range of the height of a general vehicle. Furthermore, the control unit 3 controls each unit that constitutes the control device 5 .

The display device 15 displays various information such as images captured by the camera 27 (see FIG. 6) of the aircraft 4 . The input device 16 receives user input. The input device 16 includes at least one of hardware keys, a touch panel, a remote controller, a gesture recognition device, and a microphone. Also, the display device 15 and the input device 16 may be provided integrally with the navigation device 13 .

An information acquisition unit 6, a candidate stop location determination unit 7, a stop location determination unit 2, a flight route determination unit 8, a control unit 3, a communication control unit 9, a driver information acquisition unit 10, a driver qualification determination unit 11, and Each function of the vehicle engine control unit 12 is implemented by a processing circuit. That is, the control device 5 acquires the own vehicle position information, the own vehicle route information, the stop place type information, the flying object position information, and the remaining electric power of the flying object, determines the stop place candidate, determines the stop place, A flight route is determined, a control is performed to make the flying object 4 that has departed from the own vehicle wait in the stop place until the own vehicle arrives at the stop place decided by the stop place decision part 2, and a radio transmitter/receiver 17 is controlled to fly. A processing circuit is provided for transmitting and receiving various information to and from the body 4, acquiring driver information, determining whether the driver is qualified to drive, and controlling the vehicle engine 20. The processing circuit may be dedicated hardware, and includes a processor (CPU (Central Processing Unit), central processing unit, processing unit, arithmetic unit, microprocessor, microcomputer, DSP ( (also referred to as Digital Signal Processor)). The CPU may be configured in a multiple arrangement or multi-core.

If the processing circuit is dedicated hardware, the processing circuit may be, 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. Information acquisition unit 6, candidate stop location determination unit 7, stop location determination unit 2, flight route determination unit 8, control unit 3, communication control unit 9, driver information acquisition unit 10, driver qualification determination unit 11, and vehicle engine control unit Each of the 12 functions may be implemented by a processing circuit, respectively, or may be collectively implemented by one processing circuit.

When the processing circuit is the CPU 19 shown in FIG. , driver qualification determination unit 11, and vehicle engine control unit 12 are implemented by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware. Software or firmware is written as a program and stored in memory 18 . The CPU 19 implements each function by reading and executing the program recorded in the memory 18 . That is, the control device 5 acquires own vehicle position information, own vehicle route information, stop place type information, flying object position information, and remaining electric power of the flying object, determines a stop place candidate, determines a stop place. a step of determining a flight route; a step of controlling the flying object 4 that has left the vehicle to wait in the parking location until the vehicle arrives at the parking location determined by the parking location determination unit 2; is controlled to transmit and receive various information with the flying object 4, the step of acquiring driver information, the step of determining whether the driver is qualified to drive, and the step of controlling the vehicle engine 20 result in A memory 18 is provided for storing programs to be executed. Further, these programs include an information acquisition unit 6, a candidate stop location determination unit 7, a stop location determination unit 2, a flight route determination unit 8, a control unit 3, a communication control unit 9, a driver information acquisition unit 10, and a driver qualification determination unit. 11 and the vehicle engine control unit 12 are executed by a computer. Here, memory means non-volatile or volatile memory such as RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), flash memory, EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory). It may be a flexible semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or any storage medium that will be used in the future. In addition, not only the memory of the in-vehicle device but also an external storage device (server or the like) may be used for recording by network access.

Information acquisition unit 6, candidate stop location determination unit 7, stop location determination unit 2, flight route determination unit 8, control unit 3, communication control unit 9, driver information acquisition unit 10, driver qualification determination unit 11, and vehicle engine As for the functions of the control unit 12, some functions may be implemented by dedicated hardware, and other functions may be implemented by software or firmware.

<Configuration of flying object>
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the aircraft 4. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5 , the flying object 4 includes a flight control section 22 , an imaging processing section 23 , a position information acquisition section 24 , a remaining power acquisition section 25 and a communication control section 26 . Also, the communication control unit 26 is connected to the control device 5 so as to be capable of wireless communication.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the flying object 4. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, the aircraft 4 includes a camera 27, a GPS receiver 28, a battery 29, a CPU 30, a radio transmitter/receiver 31, a propeller 32, and a memory 33.

The configuration of the aircraft 4 will be described below with reference to FIGS. The flying object 4 can leave the own vehicle or return to the own vehicle.

The flight control unit 22 controls the propellers 32 so that the aircraft 4 flies to the stop location according to the flight route obtained from the control device 5 . Note that the flight control unit 22 may have a function of avoiding the obstacles when the flight path includes the obstacles.

The imaging processing unit 23 converts an image captured by the camera 27 into image data for wireless communication. The converted image data is transmitted to the control device 5 via the communication control section 26 . Note that the image captured by the camera 27 may be either a moving image or a still image. Further, the image data to be transmitted to the control device 5 may be either moving images or still images. The communication control unit 26 controls the radio transmitter/receiver 31 to transmit/receive various information to/from the control device 5 .

The position information acquisition unit 24 acquires aircraft position information indicating the current position of the aircraft 4 from the GPS receiver 28 . The remaining power acquisition unit 25 acquires the remaining power of the battery 29 from the battery 29 .

Each function of the flight control unit 22, the imaging processing unit 23, the position information acquisition unit 24, the remaining power acquisition unit 25, and the communication control unit 26 in the flying object 4 is realized by a processing circuit. That is, the flying object 4 controls the propeller 32 so that the flying object 4 flies to the stopping place according to the flight route acquired from the control device 5, converts the image captured by the camera 27 into image data for wireless communication, A processing circuit is provided for acquiring position information of the aircraft, acquiring the remaining power of the battery 29, and controlling the wireless transmitter/receiver 31 to transmit/receive various information to/from the controller 5. FIG. The processing circuit may be dedicated hardware, and includes a processor (CPU (Central Processing Unit), central processing unit, processing unit, arithmetic unit, microprocessor, microcomputer, DSP ( (also referred to as Digital Signal Processor)).

If the processing circuit is dedicated hardware, the processing circuit may be, 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. Each function of the flight control unit 22, the imaging processing unit 23, the position information acquisition unit 24, the remaining power acquisition unit 25, and the communication control unit 26 may be realized by a processing circuit. It may be realized by a circuit.

When the processing circuit is the CPU 30 shown in FIG. 6, each function of the flight control unit 22, the imaging processing unit 23, the position information acquisition unit 24, the remaining power acquisition unit 25, and the communication control unit 26 is implemented by software, firmware, or It is realized by a combination of software and firmware. Software or firmware is written as a program and stored in memory 33 . The CPU 30 implements each function by reading and executing the program recorded in the memory 33 . That is, the flying object 4 controls the propellers 32 so that the flying object 4 flies to the stopping place according to the flight route obtained from the control device 5, and converts the image captured by the camera 27 into image data for wireless communication. the step of acquiring the position information of the aircraft, the step of acquiring the remaining power of the battery 29, and the step of controlling the wireless transmitter/receiver 31 to transmit/receive various information to/from the control device 5 are executed as a result. A memory 33 is provided for storing a program that becomes It can also be said that these programs cause a computer to execute procedures or methods of the flight control unit 22, the imaging processing unit 23, the position information acquisition unit 24, the remaining power acquisition unit 25, and the communication control unit 26. Here, memory means non-volatile or volatile memories such as RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), flash memory, EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory). It may be a flexible semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or any storage medium that will be used in the future. In addition, the data may be recorded by network access using an external storage device (server or the like) without the memory.

In addition, for each function of the flight control unit 22, the imaging processing unit 23, the position information acquisition unit 24, the remaining power acquisition unit 25, and the communication control unit 26, some functions are realized by dedicated hardware, and other functions are realized by dedicated hardware. Functions may be implemented in software or firmware.

<Action>
Below, the operation until the host vehicle is stopped at the stop place, the operation when the host vehicle that has stopped at the stop place is resumed, and the operation in consideration of the remaining power of the battery 29 of the aircraft 4 will be described in order. explain.

<Operation until the own vehicle is stopped at the stop place>
FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the control device 5. As shown in FIG.

In step S101, the user sets priorities for the types of stop locations displayed on the display device of the navigation device 13, for example, as shown in FIG. The information acquisition unit 6 acquires stop place type information from the navigation device 13 .

In step S<b>102 , the control unit 3 acquires operation information input by the user via the input device 16 . The operation information includes, for example, operation information by hardware keys, operation information by software keys, voice information, and the like. Further, the control unit 3 may acquire the line-of-sight information of the driver acquired from the DMS 14 by the driver information acquisition unit 10 as the operation information.

In step S103, the control unit 3 determines whether or not the operation information acquired in step S102 is a request to stop the own vehicle. The own vehicle stop request is a request by the user to stop the own vehicle at the stop place. If the operation information is a request to stop the own vehicle, the process proceeds to step S104. On the other hand, if the operation information is not the vehicle stop request, the process returns to step S102.

In step S104, the control unit 3 performs a flight start process to fly the aircraft 4 to the parking place. Details of the flight start processing will be described later with reference to FIG.

In step S105, the control unit 3 determines whether or not the flying object 4 has reached the stopping place. Specifically, the control unit 3 determines whether the flying object 4 has reached the stopping place based on the flying object position information acquired from the flying object 4 via the communication control unit 9 and the position information of the stopping place. to judge whether When the flying object 4 reaches the stopping place, the process proceeds to step S106. On the other hand, if the flying object 4 has not reached the stopping place, the process of step S105 is repeated.

In step S106, the control unit 3 determines whether or not the host vehicle can stop at the stop location. Specifically, the control unit 3 displays an image acquired from the aircraft 4 via the communication control unit 9 on the display device 15 . The user looks at the image displayed on the display device 15 and determines whether or not it is possible to stop the own vehicle at the stop location. If it is possible to stop the own vehicle at the stop place, the process proceeds to step S107. On the other hand, if the own vehicle cannot be stopped at the stop location, the process returns to step S104.

In step S107, the control unit 3 performs control to wait the flying object 4 in the parking place. Specifically, the control unit 3 transmits information to the aircraft 4 via the communication control unit 9 to the effect that the aircraft 4 will wait in the parking area. The flight control unit 22 of the aircraft 4 controls the propellers 32 based on the information received from the control device 5 so that the aircraft 4 hovers and waits within the parking space within the parking area. At this time, it is desirable that the height at which the flying object 4 hovers is within the range of the height of a general vehicle. By hovering the flying object 4 in this way, the driver of the own vehicle serves as a landmark when searching for a stop place, and notifies the drivers of other vehicles that the vehicle cannot stop at the stop place. can be done.

In step S108, the controller 3 instructs the navigation device 13 to guide the host vehicle to the stop. The navigation device 13 recalculates the route using the stop place as a waypoint, and guides the vehicle to the waypoint.

In step S109, the controller 3 determines whether or not the vehicle has passed through the stop. Specifically, the control unit 3 determines whether or not the vehicle has passed through the stopping place based on the own vehicle position information and the position information of the stopping place. If the host vehicle has passed the stop, the process returns to step S104. On the other hand, if the host vehicle has not passed through the stop, the process proceeds to step S110.

In step S110, the control unit 3 determines whether or not the vehicle has stopped at the stop location. Specifically, the control unit 3 determines whether or not the own vehicle has stopped at the stop place based on the own vehicle position information and the position information of the stop place. If the own vehicle has stopped at the stop place, the process ends. In this case, the flying object 4 returns to the host vehicle. On the other hand, if the own vehicle is not stopped at the stop place, the process returns to step S109.

Next, details of the flight start processing in step S104 of FIG. 7 will be described.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the control device 5, showing details of step S104 in FIG.

In step S<b>201 , the information acquisition unit 6 acquires vehicle position information and vehicle route information from the navigation device 13 . Further, the information acquisition unit 6 acquires the position information of the aircraft and the remaining electric power of the aircraft from the aircraft 4 via the communication control unit 9 . Although the information acquisition unit 6 acquires the stop place type information from the navigation device 13 in step S101 of FIG. 7, it may acquire the stop place type information from the navigation device 13 in step S201.

In step S202, the candidate stop place determination unit 7 determines the route based on the vehicle position information, the vehicle route information, the stop place type information, the aircraft position information, and the aircraft power remaining amount acquired by the information acquisition unit 6. and at least one stop place candidate existing in a range in which the aircraft 4 can fly is determined.

In step S<b>203 , the stop place determination unit 2 determines a stop place from at least one stop place candidate determined by the stop place candidate determination unit 7 .

In step S204, the flight route determination unit 8 determines a flight route for the aircraft 4 to fly from the current position of the aircraft 4 to the stop location determined by the stop location determination unit 2. FIG.

In step S<b>205 , the control unit 3 transmits information on the flight route determined by the flight route determination unit 8 to the aircraft 4 via the communication control unit 9 .

<Operation when resuming driving of the own vehicle stopped at the stop>
FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the control device 5. As shown in FIG.

In step S<b>301 , the driver information acquisition unit 10 acquires driver information from the DMS 14 .

In step S302, the control unit 3 determines whether or not the driver has changed after the host vehicle has stopped at the stop location. For example, the control unit 3 determines whether the driver has changed based on images of the driver before and after the host vehicle stops at the stop. If the driver has changed, the process proceeds to step S303. On the other hand, if the driver has not changed, the process proceeds to step S306.

In step S303, the driver qualification determination unit 11 determines whether or not the driver is qualified to drive based on the driver information acquired by the driver information acquisition unit 10. FIG. Details of the determination are as described above. This makes it possible to determine whether or not the replacement driver is qualified to drive. If the driver is qualified to drive, the process proceeds to step S304. On the other hand, if the driver is not qualified to drive, the process proceeds to step S305.

In step S304, the driver resumes driving the own vehicle. Specifically, the vehicle engine control unit 12 turns on the vehicle engine 20 .

In step S305, the control unit 3 notifies the driver that the vehicle cannot be driven. For example, the control unit 3 controls the display device 15 to display that the driver cannot drive. Alternatively, the control unit 3 notifies by voice that the vehicle cannot be driven, and controls the vehicle engine 20 to be in the ACC state. Note that the control unit 3 may simultaneously display and notify by voice that the driver cannot drive.

In step S<b>306 , the driver qualification determination unit 11 determines whether the driver is qualified to drive based on the driver information acquired by the driver information acquisition unit 10 . Details of the determination are as described above. This makes it possible to determine whether or not the driver can continue driving. If the driver is qualified to drive, the process proceeds to step S304. On the other hand, if the driver is not qualified to drive, the process proceeds to step S307.

In step S307, the control unit 3 notifies the driver that the vehicle cannot be driven. The notification method is the same as in step S305. As a result, for example, it is possible to prevent the driver from continuing to drive while in poor physical condition.

<Operation Considering Remaining Power of Battery 29 of Flight Object 4>
FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the control device 5. As shown in FIG.

In step S<b>401 , the control unit 3 acquires the remaining electric power of the flying object from the flying object 4 via the communication control unit 9 .

At step S402, the control unit 3 determines whether or not the aircraft 4 can continue to fly. Specifically, the control unit 3 determines whether or not the flying object 4 can continue to fly until the own vehicle arrives at the stop location, based on the remaining electric power of the flying object. If the aircraft 4 can continue flying, the process ends. On the other hand, if the flying object 4 cannot continue flying, the process proceeds to step S403.

In step S<b>403 , the control unit 3 instructs the flying object 4 to charge the battery 29 via the communication control unit 9 . The flying object 4 that has received the instruction charges the battery 29 at, for example, a charging facility, or charges the battery 29 by connecting to the battery of another vehicle. At this time, the amount of charge charged in the battery 29 of the aircraft 4 is the amount of charge that allows the aircraft 4 to continue flying at least until the host vehicle arrives at the stop.

By performing the operation of FIG. 10 by the control device 5, it is possible to secure the stopping place until the own vehicle arrives at the stopping place. In addition, when the stopping place cannot be found, the flying object 4 may fly to a plurality of stopping places. The aircraft 4 can be flown to each stop without restarting later.

<effect>
According to the present embodiment, the control device 5 causes the flying object 4 that has left the vehicle to wait in the parking area until the vehicle arrives at the parking area. Therefore, it is possible to reliably secure a stop place until the own vehicle arrives.

Also, when the driver resumes driving the own vehicle that has stopped at the stop, it is determined whether the driver is qualified to drive. Thereby, it is possible to automatically determine whether or not the driver can resume driving.

<System configuration>
The control device described above is an in-vehicle navigation device, that is, not only a car navigation device, but also a PND (Portable Navigation Device) that can be mounted on the vehicle, a server provided outside the vehicle, etc. It can also be applied to constructed navigation devices or devices other than navigation devices. In this case, each function or each component of the control device is distributed to each function that constructs the system.

Specifically, as an example, the functionality of the control device can be located in a server. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the own vehicle includes an aircraft 4, a navigation device 13, and a DMS 14. The server 34 also includes a stop place determination unit 2, a control unit 3, an information acquisition unit 6, a stop place candidate determination unit 7, a flight route determination unit 8, a communication control unit 9, a driver information acquisition unit 10, and a driver qualification determination unit 11. , and a vehicle engine control unit 12 . By setting it as such a structure, a control system can be constructed|assembled.

In this manner, even with a configuration in which each function of the control device is distributed to each function that constructs the system, the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

Also, the software that performs the operations in the above embodiments may be incorporated into a server, for example. The control method realized by executing this software on the server determines the stopping place to be occupied when the own vehicle stops, and waits until the own vehicle arrives at the decided stopping place. to wait in the parking place.

In this way, the same effect as the above embodiment can be obtained by installing the software for executing the operation in the above embodiment into the server and operating it.

In addition, within the scope of the invention, the embodiments can be appropriately modified or omitted.

While the present invention has been described in detail, the foregoing description is, in all its aspects, illustrative and not intended to limit the invention. It is understood that numerous variations not illustrated can be envisioned without departing from the scope of the invention.

1 control device 2 stop place determination unit 3 control unit 4 flying object 5 control device 6 information acquisition unit 7 stop place candidate determination unit 8 flight route determination unit 9 communication control unit 10 driver information acquisition unit , 11 driver qualification determination unit, 12 vehicle engine control unit, 13 navigation device, 14 DMS, 15 display device, 16 input device, 17 radio transceiver, 18 memory, 19 CPU, 20 vehicle engine, 21 data server, 22 flight control Unit, 23 Imaging processing unit, 24 Location information acquisition unit, 25 Remaining power acquisition unit, 26 Communication control unit, 27 Camera, 28 GPS receiver, 29 Battery, 30 CPU, 31 Wireless transmitter/receiver, 32 Propeller, 33 Memory, 34 server.

Claims (6)

a stop place determination unit that determines a stop place to be occupied when the own vehicle stops;
a control unit that controls the flying object that has left the vehicle to wait in the stop location until the vehicle arrives at the stop location determined by the stop location determination unit;
a driver information acquisition unit that acquires driver information that is information about the driver of the own vehicle;
When the driver resumes driving the own vehicle after the own vehicle arrives at the stop place, whether or not the driver is qualified to drive based on the driver information acquired by the driver information acquiring unit. A driver qualification determination unit that determines
A controller. The driver information includes fingerprint information of the driver,
The driver qualification determination unit compares the fingerprint information of the driver acquired by the driver information acquisition unit with the fingerprint information of the driver registered in advance, and determines that the driver is qualified to drive. The control device according to claim 1 , characterized in that: The driver information includes the movement of the driver's steering operation over a certain period of time,
The driver qualification determination unit collates the driver's steering wheel operation movement acquired by the driver information acquisition unit with the driver's previously registered steering wheel operation movement, and if they match, the driver is qualified to drive. 2. The control device according to claim 1 , characterized in that it determines that there is. The driver information includes an image of the driver,
The driver qualification determination unit compares the image of the driver acquired by the driver information acquisition unit with the image of the driver registered in advance, and determines that the driver is qualified to drive. 2. Control device according to claim 1 , characterized in that. a stop place determination unit that determines a stop place to be occupied when the own vehicle stops;
a control unit that controls the flying object that has left the vehicle to wait in the stop location until the vehicle arrives at the stop location determined by the stop location determination unit;
with
When the control unit determines that it is difficult for the flying object to continue flying until the own vehicle arrives at the stop place, it instructs the flying object to charge the battery, Control device. a stop place determination unit that determines a stop place to be occupied when the own vehicle stops;
a control unit that controls the flying object that has left the vehicle to wait in the stop location until the vehicle arrives at the stop location determined by the stop location determination unit;
with
The control device, wherein the control unit controls the flying object to hover and wait in the parking space of the parking place.

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