JP7340887B2 - Driving support system, information generation method, driving support program, and generation program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a driving support system and the like that assists a driver in driving by providing the driver with traffic monitoring information suitable for the current location of the vehicle.

Driving support that stores the position information of the target object to be detected and issues a warning to the driver when the position of the vehicle detected by GPS and the memorized position of the target form a predetermined relationship. The system is known. Examples of targets include devices that measure vehicle speed, control/inspection areas, and the like. For example, in Patent Document 1, when the distance between the target object and the vehicle reaches a set distance, a driving mode that can display information identifying the target object on a display and output an audio warning is disclosed. A support system is proposed. Target objects are often installed in dangerous locations where traffic accidents are likely to occur. Therefore, the driving support system can encourage the driver to drive safely in areas where traffic accidents are likely to occur by notifying the driver of the approach to a target object. In this way, notifying the driver of the approach to the target contributes to the driver's safe driving.

Monitoring activities to promote safe driving are conducted irregularly at unspecified locations. An example of such surveillance activities is crackdowns and inspections conducted by the police. Monitoring activities are often carried out in dangerous locations where traffic accidents are likely to occur, such as sites where past traffic accidents have occurred. Therefore, by memorizing locations where monitoring activities have been conducted in the past as targets and providing information about the monitoring activities to the driver when a vehicle approaches that location, traffic accidents can be prevented. It is possible to encourage drivers to drive safely in places where it is easy to drive. Hereinafter, information regarding monitoring activities to promote safe driving will also be referred to as traffic monitoring information.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-22161

However, since the locations that are stored as targets are locations where surveillance activities have been conducted in the past, there is a high possibility that surveillance activities will continue to be conducted in the future. It does not necessarily mean that it is being implemented. Therefore, in addition to these functions, there is a device that notifies public enforcement information published by each prefectural police. Such public enforcement information is often made public by specifying at least one of a predetermined region, time period, and details of the enforcement. For example, prefectures, cities, wards, towns, villages, police departments, routes, etc. are designated and announced as predetermined areas where surveillance activities are to be carried out. In the case of conventional driving support systems, public enforcement information is announced by the police in each prefecture, so traffic enforcement information is stored for each prefecture and the traffic enforcement information for which prefecture is announced in advance. When the device is powered on, such as by starting the engine, public enforcement information for the prefecture in which it has been set will be notified. Usually, the prefecture where a person's home is located is registered in advance as setting information for which prefecture's traffic enforcement information is to be broadcast. For this reason, conventional driving support systems report public enforcement information within the prefecture set as the location of your home, so even if you are actually quite far away from your home, it includes your home location. Public enforcement information for the entire prefecture will be reported. Furthermore, even if the predetermined area where surveillance activities are carried out is quite far from one's home, if it is within the same prefecture as one's home, all public enforcement information will be reported. Therefore, there is a problem in that information about a distant location that is irrelevant to the driver is reported. Moreover, public enforcement information near one's home may be mixed up in such a large amount of information, and there is a possibility that the user may miss the really necessary public enforcement information near one's home. This is because the range of prefectures includes ranges that are a considerable distance from home (ranges that far exceed the range that people usually travel to for work, etc.).

In addition, in conventional driving support systems, each prefecture releases public enforcement information, so based on the simple idea that information should be reported for each prefecture, prefectural boundaries are identified on expressway routes. There is a system that stores information on the location of a target as a target, and when the user approaches or passes this location, public enforcement information for that prefecture is announced. With this configuration, when a vehicle is traveling on an expressway, the location of the prefectural border can be detected, so when the vehicle approaches the prefecture where surveillance activities are being carried out, it can be detected and the driver can be notified of traffic monitoring information for that prefecture. However, when a vehicle is driving on a general road, there is a problem in that conventional driving support systems cannot notify the driver of traffic monitoring information. Furthermore, even if you are driving on an expressway and are notified of public enforcement information for that prefecture, the location where the surveillance activity is actually carried out may be quite far away from the prefectural border. . Therefore, there is a problem in that the driver is informed of traffic enforcement information from a distant location that is irrelevant to the driver. Furthermore, public enforcement information near the prefectural border may be mixed up in such a large amount of information, and there is a possibility of missing the really necessary public enforcement information near the prefectural border.

The purpose of the present invention is to develop a driving support system that can provide drivers with traffic monitoring information that is appropriate for the current location of the vehicle, rather than simply reporting traffic monitoring information on a prefecture-by-prefecture basis as in the past. It is about providing.

The driving support system according to the first aspect of the present invention includes area identification information for identifying a partitioned area, which is an area formed by partitioning land, and an area position for identifying the position of the partitioned area. a first acquisition means for acquiring the area identification information of the divided area including the position of the vehicle based on the stored content of the first storage means in which the information is stored in association with the information; Based on the storage contents of the second storage means in which certain traffic monitoring information is stored, the traffic monitoring information is associated with the area identification information of the divided area including the area where the monitoring activity is carried out. a second acquisition means for acquiring the traffic monitoring information associated with the area identification information acquired by the first acquisition means; and a display means for displaying display information based on the traffic monitoring information acquired by the second acquisition means. and a first control means for controlling display on the screen.

According to the first aspect, the driving support system can specify the partitioned area in which the vehicle is located based on the memory content stored in the first storage means. Further, the driving support system can specify a divided area including a place where the monitoring activity is to be performed based on the content stored in the second storage means. For example, the driving support system identifies the partitioned area in which the vehicle is located by referring to the memory contents stored in the first memory means, and performs monitoring activities by referring to the memory contents stored in the second memory means. Identify the demarcated area that includes the location where the These allow the driving assistance system to identify whether monitoring activities are being carried out in the area where the vehicle is located. Therefore, the driving support system can create display information based on the traffic monitoring information corresponding to the divided area where the vehicle is located, and can notify the driver of the display information. Therefore, the driver does not need to set the prefecture to which his or her home belongs in the driving support system, unlike in the past. Further, the driving support system can notify traffic monitoring information corresponding to the divided area in which the vehicle is located even when the vehicle is traveling on a general road other than a highway.

For example, even if a predetermined area is designated and announced as a location where monitoring activities will be carried out, a driving assistance system may be unable to identify whether a vehicle has entered a partitioned area that includes at least the predetermined area. can. Examples of the predetermined area include prefectures, cities, wards, towns, villages, police departments, routes, and the like. Therefore, the driving support system can acquire traffic monitoring information suitable for the location of the vehicle, create display information, and provide it to the driver. The driver can easily understand monitoring activities being carried out near the current location of the vehicle. Monitoring activities are often carried out in locations where traffic accidents are likely to occur. Therefore, by recognizing that the current location is a dangerous place where a traffic accident is likely to occur, the driver can drive with safety in mind. In this way, the driving support system can prevent traffic accidents from occurring.

The second storage means stores traffic monitoring information including areas where monitoring activities are being carried out. Therefore, the driving support system can easily identify traffic monitoring information regarding monitoring activities actually being carried out near the vehicle from the location of the vehicle. The driving assistance system can quickly and accurately obtain information about monitoring activities being carried out near the vehicle and provide the information to the driver. In particular, the traffic surveillance information stored in the second storage means includes information on the areas where surveillance activities are carried out announced by each prefectural police, and the traffic surveillance information acquired by the second acquisition means includes information announced by each prefectural police. It includes information on the area where the monitoring activity to be announced is carried out, and it is preferable to display the information on the area where the monitoring activity is carried out as display information based on the traffic monitoring information. In this way, the driver can directly know the areas announced by the prefectural police in which the surveillance activities will be carried out in the divided areas where the surveillance activities will be carried out.

Further, in the first aspect, the area specified by the divided area may be smaller than a prefecture. As a result, the driving support system can define a region smaller than a prefecture, such as a city, ward, town, or village, as a divided region. This allows the driving support system to identify the location of the vehicle on a city, ward, town, or village basis and obtain traffic monitoring information regarding monitoring activities being conducted near the vehicle. In this way, the driving support system can specify the location of the vehicle in detail, and therefore can report information regarding monitoring activities being carried out closer to the vehicle.

Further, in the first aspect, the divided area identified by the area identification information associated with the traffic monitoring information is the monitoring area specified when base information that is the base information of the traffic monitoring information is announced. It may be different from the area where the activity will be carried out. As a result, the driving support system can refer to traffic monitoring information that is associated with common area identification information, regardless of how the announced implementation area of monitoring activities is specified (prefecture, city, town, village, jurisdiction, route, etc.) can do. This allows the driving assistance system to reliably identify monitoring activities being carried out in the vicinity of the vehicle.

Further, in the first aspect, the basic information is announced by police in a plurality of prefectures, and the unit of implementation area of the monitoring activity specified when the basic information is announced is determined for each of the basic information. The division area is different from the above, and the area is specified in units of administrative divisions, and the plurality of traffic monitoring information created based on the plurality of basic information announced by the police of plural prefectures is Area identification information may also be associated. This allows the driving assistance system to locate the area near the vehicle based on a common demarcation area, even if the announced method of identifying the area where the monitoring activity is carried out varies (prefecture, city, town, village, jurisdiction, route, etc.). Monitoring activities being carried out can be identified. The driving assistance system can thus easily identify monitoring activities being carried out in the vicinity of the vehicle.

Further, in the first aspect, there is provided a first specifying means for specifying a time, the traffic monitoring information is associated with a period in which the monitoring activity is carried out and the area identification information, and the second obtaining means is associated with the area identification information acquired by the first acquisition means and with the period whose relationship with the time specified by the first identification means satisfies a predetermined relationship. Traffic monitoring information may also be obtained. Thereby, the driving support system can provide the driver with information regarding monitoring activities that are actually being performed at the present time and monitoring activities that will be performed soon. Since the driving support system can instantly recognize and provide more useful information to the driver, the driver can drive more safely in areas where traffic accidents are likely to occur.

Further, in the first aspect, the display information may be constituted by text information, and the first control means may perform control to scroll display the display information.

When a driver visually recognizes the display means while driving, he or she repeatedly directs his/her line of sight toward the display means at short intervals. The driver cannot continuously view the display means for a long time while driving. Therefore, if the amount of information displayed on the display means is large, and the information is displayed on the display means all at once, the driver may not be able to accurately recognize the information. In contrast, the driving support system can reduce the amount of information displayed at one time on the display means by scrolling and displaying the text information. This allows the driver to accurately recognize the displayed information even when viewing the display means repeatedly at short intervals.

Further, in the first aspect, when all of the display information is displayed by scrolling, the first control means may perform control to repeatedly scroll and display the display information from the beginning. As a result, the scrolling display of the display information is repeatedly executed multiple times. This allows the driver to recognize the information that is displayed again even if he or she once misses the information regarding the monitoring activity.

Further, in the first aspect, the traffic monitoring information includes a category, and when a plurality of the traffic monitoring information is acquired by the second acquisition means, the first control means controls the traffic monitoring information of the acquired plurality of traffic monitoring information. Control may be performed to collectively display the display information based on the category. As a result, when there is a plurality of pieces of information related to monitoring activities, each piece of information is classified and displayed by category. Categories include enforcement information, inspection, etc. The driver can easily distinguish and recognize information related to monitoring activities by category.

Further, in the first aspect, the display information includes second specifying means for specifying the traveling speed of the vehicle, and the first control means adjusts the display information according to the traveling speed of the vehicle specified by the second specifying means. Display control may be performed so that the display speed when scrolling changes.

For example, when the vehicle is traveling at a high speed, it is assumed that the driver cannot keep his/her eyes on the display means for a long period of time. In such a case, the driving support system slows down the display speed when scrolling. This allows the driver to reliably recognize the displayed information within a short period of time. On the other hand, for example, when the vehicle is traveling at a slow speed, it is assumed that the driver will be able to continuously look at the display means for a long period of time. In such a case, the driving support system increases the display speed when scrolling. This allows the driver to accurately recognize a large amount of information.

In the first aspect, the first control means is configured to display information for specifying the divided area identified by the area identification information acquired by the first acquisition means at the same time as the display information. Control may also be performed. This allows the driver to know the current location of the vehicle at the same time as information regarding monitoring activities. For example, if the monitoring activity is carried out over a wide area, the driver can confirm to which part of the area the monitoring activity is carried out the current position of the vehicle belongs. This allows the driver to understand the areas where special attention should be paid to safe driving, and drive accordingly.

Furthermore, in the first aspect, the position of the vehicle changes, the area identification information acquired by the first acquisition means is updated in accordance with the change in the position of the vehicle, and the second acquisition means A second control means is provided for controlling to output a sound when new traffic monitoring information is acquired as a result of updating of the area identification information acquired by the first acquisition means. Good too. As a result, the driver can reliably recognize the updated display information by visually checking the display means when the notification is made by sound. In this way, the driving support system can prevent the driver from overlooking information regarding monitoring activities.

For example, the driving support system may specify the location of the vehicle at predetermined time intervals (for example, every second), or may specify the location of the vehicle when the distance traveled by the vehicle exceeds a predetermined distance. . Then, based on the position of the vehicle repeatedly identified in this way, the divided area and the traffic monitoring information corresponding to the divided area may be repeatedly identified. Then, when the specified traffic monitoring information becomes new, control may be performed so that a sound is output.

Further, in the first aspect, the vehicle may include a third control means for controlling to display a map of the surrounding area including the position of the vehicle at the same time as the traffic monitoring information. This allows the driver to recognize geographic information around the current location of the vehicle. For example, by recognizing the surrounding road environment, the driver can reduce the driving speed in advance or pay sufficient attention to the surrounding environment in advance. In this way, the driving support system can provide the driver with information necessary for safe driving, together with traffic monitoring information.

Further, in the first aspect, the area where the monitoring activity is carried out may cover a plurality of the divided areas, and the traffic monitoring information may be associated with a plurality of the area identification information. This allows the driving support system to accurately identify information regarding monitoring activities being carried out near the vehicle, even if the monitoring activities are being carried out over a wide area.

For example, assume that a city, ward, town, or village is stored in the first storage means as a divided area. Suppose that the areas where surveillance activities will be carried out are announced as ``within the jurisdiction of police stations,'' ``in the direction of ~,'' and ``along the lines of ~.'' In this way, even if the announced area unit is larger than the divided area unit, the divided area smaller than the announced area unit can be uniformly included in the traffic monitoring information. Thereby, the driving support system can accurately and easily identify information regarding monitoring activities in the divided area where the vehicle is located, and notify the driver of the information. Furthermore, the driving support system can accurately identify and provide information to the driver regarding the monitoring activities being carried out near the vehicle, even if the area where the monitoring activities are carried out is not specifically announced.

Further, in the first aspect, the display information may include at least one of the type of the monitoring activity, the period in which the monitoring activity is carried out, and the area in which the monitoring activity is carried out. This allows the driver to recognize priority items for enforcement, such as the type of monitoring activity. Priority areas for enforcement include excessive speeding, overloading, seat belts, drunk driving, and disregarding traffic lights. The driver can also recognize, for example, the area where the monitoring activity is to be carried out, such as police jurisdiction, route, city, town, village, etc. These allow drivers to understand detailed information regarding monitoring activities and drive with particular consideration to these points, thereby allowing them to drive with consideration for traffic safety.

Further, in the first aspect, the first control means may perform control to display the type, the period, and the region in different colors. This allows the driver to easily distinguish and recognize the type, period, and area of the monitoring activity.

An information generation method according to a second aspect of the present invention is an information generation method for generating information stored in the second storage means that is referred to by the driving support system according to the first aspect, and the method includes: Area identification information for identifying a plurality of divided areas including at least the area where the corresponding monitoring activity is carried out is extracted, and the traffic monitoring information to which the extracted area identification information is associated is extracted from the second area. It is characterized by being stored in a storage means. According to the second aspect, even if the regional category of the information regarding monitoring activities to be published differs depending on the information to be published, traffic monitoring information is associated with area identification information that is a common category. can be stored in the second storage means.

Assume that area identification information that identifies the area itself to be announced is associated with traffic monitoring information. In this case, it is more preferable because the area where the monitoring activities are to be carried out can be accurately specified. However, the categories of regions that are published (such as "within police station jurisdiction," "area," "along railway line," etc.) may differ depending on the information published. If the categories are different, the category of the divided area identified by the area identification information stored in the first storage means is also changed in order to specify information regarding the monitoring activity being carried out at the current location of the vehicle. Necessary and annoying. Furthermore, depending on the category, it may not be possible to specifically identify the area where monitoring activities will be carried out. On the other hand, according to the second aspect, the category of area identification information associated with traffic monitoring information is unified, so even if the category of the area to be announced is changed, it is stored in the first storage means. There is no need to change the stored area identification information.

In a second aspect, the extraction includes storing a region in which the monitoring activity corresponding to the published information is carried out in association with the region identification information of the plurality of divided regions including at least the region. The area identification information for identifying the plurality of divided areas may be extracted by referring to the third storage means. Thereby, it is possible to easily specify the area identification information corresponding to the published traffic monitoring information and associate it with the traffic monitoring information.

The driving support program according to the third aspect of the present invention causes a computer to execute each processing means of the driving support system according to the first aspect of the present invention. With this, the same effects as the first aspect can be achieved.

The generation program according to the fourth aspect of the present invention is a generation program for generating information stored in the second storage means referred to by the driving support system according to the first aspect of the present invention, and is not publicly available. extracting area identification information for identifying a plurality of divided areas including at least the area where the monitoring activity corresponding to the information is carried out; and extracting the traffic monitoring information to which the extracted area identification information is associated. A computer can be caused to store the information in the second storage means.

Note that the present invention may be a system including the driving support system according to the first aspect and an information generation device that generates information to be stored in the second storage means. The information generation device includes an extraction means for extracting area identification information for identifying a plurality of divided areas including at least an area in which the monitoring activity corresponding to the published information is carried out, and an area identification information extracted by the extraction means. It may also include storage control means for storing the traffic monitoring information associated with a plurality of the area identification information in the second storage means. Further, the extraction means stores a region in which the monitoring activity corresponding to the published information is carried out, and region identification information for identifying the plurality of divided regions including at least the region, in association with each other. The plurality of area identification information may be extracted by referring to the third storage means.

1 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of a driving support system 1. FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the traffic monitoring information memorize|stored in 3rd DB. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen 20 displayed on a display unit 14. FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a message 41. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a message. 3 is a flowchart showing main processing.

Hereinafter, a driving support system 1, which is an embodiment of the driving support system according to the present invention, will be described with reference to the drawings. These drawings are used to explain technical features that can be adopted by the present invention. The described configuration of the apparatus, flowcharts of various processes, etc. are not intended to be limiting, but are merely illustrative examples. Specific examples of the driving support system 1 include a radar detection system, a car navigation system, and the like. Note that the driving support system 1 may be realized by a single device or by a plurality of devices. As shown in FIG. 1, the driving support system 1 includes a control section 11 that controls the entire control. The control unit 11 is composed of a microcomputer including a CPU, ROM, RAM, I/O, peripheral circuits, etc., and includes a wireless reception unit 12, a GPS reception unit 13, a display unit 14, a speaker 15, a storage unit 16, and a card reader. It is electrically connected to 17. At least a program for the control unit 11 is stored in the ROM. These hardware configurations can be the same as conventional ones.

The wireless receiving unit 12 is a wireless module for receiving wireless signals. Specific examples of radio signals received by the radio receiving unit 12 include radar signals output from speed measuring devices, radio signals transmitted from enforcement communication radios, and radio signals transmitted and received between each police headquarters and mobile station. These include digital radio signals, radio signals used in police car cell phone systems, and radio signals transmitted from emergency vehicles. The radio receiving unit 12 may include a plurality of radio modules in order to distinguish and receive radio signals of a plurality of frequencies. When receiving a wireless signal, the wireless receiving unit 12 detects the signal level of the received wireless signal and outputs it as Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI). The control unit 11 recognizes the signal level of the received radio signal based on the voltage level of the RSSI output from the radio reception unit 12, and predicts the distance between the object that transmitted the radio signal and the host vehicle. can do.

The GPS receiving unit 13 is a wireless module for receiving wireless signals transmitted from GPS satellites. The GPS receiving unit 13 detects and outputs position information of the own vehicle based on the received radio signal. The location information is the latitude and longitude of the vehicle's location. The control unit 11 specifies the vehicle position based on the position information output from the GPS reception unit 13.

The display unit 14 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, an EL display, or the like. The control unit 11 can control the display unit 14 to display a desired image. Further, the control unit 11 can control the speaker 15 to output a desired sound. Card reader 17 is an interface for accessing SD card 171. The control unit 11 can read information stored in the SD card 171 via the card reader 17.

The storage unit 16 is a nonvolatile storage element that stores various information. The storage unit 16 is, for example, an EEPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk drive, or the like. The storage unit 16 stores map data, image data displayed on the display unit 14, sound data output from the speaker 15, and various databases. The various databases include at least a first DB and a second DB.

The first DB stores polygon data that can identify administrative divisions based on location information. Administrative divisions are determined for each city, ward, town, or village. Hereinafter, the area represented by the administrative division will also be referred to as a divided area. The polygon data is associated with area identification information for identifying divided areas. The control unit 11 refers to the first DB based on the position information output from the GPS reception unit 13 to obtain area identification information for identifying the divided area in which the own vehicle is located, which is smaller than the prefecture unit. It can be specified by city, ward, town or village. Note that the area represented by the divided area in the present invention is not limited to a city, ward, town, or village, and may represent another area.

The second DB stores information regarding targets to be notified to the driver. Examples of targets include speed measuring devices (including speed measuring devices that emit radar waves (microwaves) like radar and speed measuring devices that do not emit radar waves like loop coils), speed limit switching points, Enforcement area, inspection area, parking monitoring area, N system, traffic monitoring system, intersection monitoring point, signal disregard prevention system, police station, accident-prone area, vehicle-targeting area, sharp/continuous curves (highway), branch/ Merging point (expressway), Advance ETC lane guidance (expressway), Service area (expressway), Parking area (expressway), Parking area (expressway), Highway oasis (expressway), Smart interchange (expressway) , PA/SA gas stations (expressways), tunnels (expressways), highway radio reception areas (expressways), prefectural border announcements, roadside stations, view point parking, etc. Hereinafter, the target object to be notified to the driver will also be referred to as a notification target object. The second DB contains information indicating the type of the target object, latitude and longitude information indicating the position of the target object, data of a schematic diagram or photograph to be displayed on the display unit 14, and data of the sound output from the speaker 15. Data is stored in association with each other. By referring to the second DB based on the position information output from the GPS receiving unit 13, the control unit 11 can identify a notification target near the host vehicle.

The first DB and the second DB are stored in the storage unit 16 when the driving support system 1 is shipped. Further, the first DB and the second DB can be updated using a well-known method. For example, the first DB and the second DB may be stored in the SD card 171. The first DB and second DB read from the SD card 171 via the card reader 17 may be stored in the storage unit 16, thereby updating the first DB and the second DB. Further, for example, the driving support system 1 may include an infrared communication function. The first DB and the second DB may be updated by performing infrared communication with an external device, acquiring the first DB and the second DB, and storing them in the storage unit 16.

The SD card 171 stores a third DB in which a plurality of pieces of traffic monitoring information are stored. Traffic monitoring activities are information regarding monitoring activities to promote safe driving. Examples of surveillance activities include crackdowns and inspections conducted by the police. Monitoring activities are conducted irregularly at unspecified locations. By referring to the third DB, the control unit 11 can specify the details of the monitoring activity being carried out near the own vehicle.

Details of the third DB will be explained with reference to FIG. 2. Among the information stored in indexes 1 to 15, the information stored in the lower row corresponds to traffic monitoring information. Traffic monitoring information includes the "prefecture", "start date", "start time", "end date", "end time", "jurisdiction" police station where the monitoring activity will be carried out, and "implementation date". "location" is associated. For example, the information in index 2 in Figure 2 ("Start date: 20110307", "Start time: 12h00m", "End date: 20110307", "End time: 18h00m", "Jurisdiction: Iwate Prefectural Police", "Place of implementation: Kuzumaki Town: 302") , "Traffic monitoring information: [Crackdown] Afternoon Iwate Prefectural Police ~") is a traffic control in any area within Kuzumaki Town under the jurisdiction of Iwate Prefectural Police between 12:00 and 18:00 on March 7, 2011. This means that it will be carried out. 302 of the "place of implementation" is area identification information for specifying the city, ward, town, or village.

Text information regarding monitoring activities is stored as traffic monitoring information. The text information stored as traffic monitoring information is used as is as a message displayed on the display unit 14. The category of the monitoring activity is stored in the part of the text information surrounded by brackets [ ]. The wording of the text information stored as traffic monitoring information is organized into "what," "when," and "where" so that the driver can understand the content without driving (while glancing at it). is written in a single sentence. The "what" information indicates the details of the enforcement, such as "speeding," "drinking," and "temporary stop." The "when" information indicates the time period and date on which the monitoring activity will be carried out. The "where" information indicates, for example, the address or route where the monitoring activity is carried out.

Traffic monitoring information is information published via the homepages (hereinafter referred to as "HPs") of each prefectural police force across the country, converted into data based on a predetermined format. The control unit 11 displays a message based on the traffic monitoring information as a telop on the display unit 14 at a location and time according to the content. By noticing the messages displayed in the caption, drivers will be more conscious of safe driving. Traffic monitoring information includes the type of monitoring activity (“what”), the period during which the monitoring activity will be carried out (“when”), and the area in which the monitoring activity will be carried out (“where”). . Therefore, when a message is created based on the traffic monitoring information and notified to the driver, the driver can recognize, for example, the priority item of enforcement as the type of monitoring activity. Priority areas for enforcement include, for example, excessive speeding, overloading, seat belts, drunk driving, and disregarding traffic lights. Also, for example, the driver can recognize the police jurisdiction, route, city, ward, town, village, etc. as the area where the monitoring activity will be carried out. These allow drivers to understand traffic monitoring information in detail and drive with particular attention to these points, thereby allowing them to drive with consideration to traffic safety. Hereinafter, information related to surveillance activities that is made public through the websites of prefectural police departments across the country will be collectively referred to as public enforcement information.

The information stored in the third DB is created by an operator converting enforcement information published through the websites of each prefectural police nationwide into data. As shown in Figure 2, the date, time, location, type, etc. of enforcement are extracted from the published public enforcement information using as much of the same wording as possible, converted into data, and correlated with traffic monitoring information. Since the public enforcement information is made public via the homepage of each prefectural police, the traffic monitoring information is compiled for each prefecture, as shown in Figure 2. Each piece of information is divided into one case per date, time zone, jurisdiction, city, town, village, or enforcement type. Since the storage capacity of the SD card 171 is limited, the traffic monitoring information is summarized in a short and easy-to-understand manner. Note that, depending on the public enforcement information to be made public, certain items of information stored in the third DB may not be made public. In such a case, the operator does not convert information corresponding to items that have not been made public into data. Therefore, in such a case, no information is stored in the item that has not been made public.

Note that the items associated with traffic monitoring information are not limited to the above. Each item may be grouped together to improve efficiency when an operator creates information to be stored in the third DB.

The "implementation location" associated with the traffic monitoring information stores area identification information for identifying divided areas on a city, ward, town, or village basis. Therefore, for example, if information published as a location where monitoring activities are carried out spans multiple cities, wards, towns and villages, such as "prefectural roads," all area identification information that identifies the applicable cities, wards, towns and villages is It is referred to as the “place of implementation.” For example, in the information of index 5 in the third DB in Figure 2, when monitoring activities are carried out on a "prefectural road", the area identification information "302 (Kuzumaki Town)" and "501 (Karumai Town)" are used as the "place of implementation". " and "209 (Ichinoseki City)" are associated with traffic monitoring information. In this way, when surveillance activities are made public over a wide area, multiple area identification information are associated with common traffic monitoring information. This clarifies the areas where monitoring activities will be carried out.

As mentioned above, the first DB stores polygon data that allows area identification information to be specified in units of cities, wards, towns and villages, so the area identification information of the divided area where the own vehicle is located can be determined by city, ward, town, or village. Specified in units. The area identification information of the divided area in which the own vehicle is located and the area identification information associated with the traffic monitoring information as the "implementation location" are the same for each city, ward, town, or village. Therefore, it is possible to uniformly search for the same area as the area where the own vehicle is located from the "place of implementation" in the traffic monitoring information, so it is possible to uniformly search for the same area as the area in which the own vehicle is located. Traffic monitoring information can be easily identified.

For example, if the area where surveillance activities are carried out is ``within the jurisdiction of ~ police station'' for Prefectural Police A, ``area ~ area'' for Prefectural Police police B, and ``along the lines of ~ line'' for Prefectural police C, public enforcement information is released on a regional basis. Suppose that In this way, public enforcement information differs in the area in which surveillance activities are carried out, depending on the prefectural police that publishes it. Even in such cases, in all public enforcement information released by prefectural police, area identification information that identifies demarcated areas by city, ward, town, or village will be associated with traffic monitoring information and used uniformly as "implementation locations." . The area announced by each prefectural police and the divided area corresponding to traffic monitoring information have different units. Thereby, the driving support system 1 can uniformly, accurately, and easily specify traffic monitoring information related to monitoring activities being carried out in the divided area where the vehicle is located. Therefore, as described above, even if the area where the surveillance activity is being carried out is announced without being able to specifically identify it, the driving support system 1 can accurately identify information regarding the surveillance activity being carried out near the vehicle. be able to.

The third DB containing traffic monitoring information created by converting public enforcement information into data can be downloaded by the user from the dedicated website. The downloaded third DB is stored in the SD card 171. The control unit 11 controls the driving support system 1 when the own vehicle position is specified for the first time based on the position information output from the GPS receiving unit 13 and when there is a change in the divided area including the own vehicle position. The set SD card 171 is accessed. Once the divided area where the host vehicle is located is determined, traffic monitoring information regarding monitoring activities being carried out in the nearest area is read from the third DB stored in the SD card 171. Display is performed based on the read traffic monitoring information. Note that the details of the process when a message created based on traffic monitoring information is displayed on the display unit 14 will be described later.

A display screen 20, which is an example of a display screen displayed on the display unit 14, will be described with reference to FIG. 3. The display screen 20 is provided with a main display area 21, a first sub-display area 22, and a second sub-display area 23. The main display area 21 is an area where an image for showing the positional relationship between the own vehicle and the notification target object is displayed. The first sub-display area 22 is an area for displaying the name of the divided area where the host vehicle is located. The second sub-display area 23 is an area for displaying messages regarding monitoring activities. The details of each area will be explained below.

The main display area 21 will be explained. The main display area 21 includes an area 211 for displaying a map image, an area 212 for displaying the type of the notification target and the distance to the notification target, an area 213 for displaying the traveling speed of the vehicle, and a display mode and current time. An area 214 etc. for displaying is provided.

The map image is generated by reading map data around the vehicle's position from the storage unit 16. The range of the map image displayed in area 211 of main display area 21 is determined based on settings by the driver. On the map image displayed in the area 211, an own vehicle icon 31 and a target icon 32 are displayed in an overlapping manner. The own vehicle icon 31 is for indicating the position of the own vehicle with respect to the map image. The control unit 11 specifies the position of the own vehicle based on the position information output from the GPS receiving unit 13, and displays the own car icon 31 superimposed on a portion of the map image corresponding to the position of the own vehicle.

The target icon 32 is for indicating where the notification target object is installed with respect to the map image. The figure displayed inside the target icon 32 indicates the type of the notification target object. The control unit 11 specifies the position of the notification target based on the second DB, and displays the target icon 32 in an overlapping manner on a portion of the map image corresponding to the position of the notification target. Furthermore, a figure indicating the type of the object to be notified is displayed inside the target icon 32. Further, the type of the notification target and the distance to the notification target are displayed in the area 212.

In addition, when the distance between the own vehicle and the notification target object becomes smaller than a predetermined distance, the control unit 11 reads data of a schematic diagram or a photograph from the second DB according to the type of the notification target object, and generates a map image. Display over the . Further, audio data corresponding to the notification target object is read from the second DB and output from the speaker 15. For example, when the speed measuring device approaches less than 500 m, data of a schematic diagram or photograph of the speed measuring device is read from the second DB and displayed over the map image. Further, a voice saying "500 m ahead, speed measuring device. Be careful of speed" is read out from the second DB and output from the speaker 15.

Furthermore, the control unit 11 determines whether or not the object to be notified is near the own vehicle based on the voltage level of the RSSI output from the radio reception unit 12. The RSSI signal level increases in proportion to the strength of the wireless signal received by the wireless receiving section 12. Therefore, the control unit 11 can determine whether the distance between the vehicle and the object to be notified has become smaller than the predetermined distance by comparing the RSSI and the predetermined threshold. When the control unit 11 determines that the distance between the own vehicle and the notification target object has become smaller than a predetermined distance, the control unit 11 reads data of a schematic diagram or a photograph from the second DB according to the type of the notification target object, and displays the map. Display over the image. Further, audio data corresponding to the notification target object is read from the second DB and output from the speaker 15. For example, when an emergency vehicle approaches within a predetermined distance, data of a schematic diagram or photograph of the emergency vehicle is read from the second DB and displayed over the map image. Further, a voice saying "This is an emergency vehicle. Be careful of speed" is read from the second DB and output from the speaker 15.

As described above, the driving support system 1 can notify the driver that there is an object to be notified near the host vehicle. By viewing the main display area 21, the driver can recognize that there is an object to be notified near the own vehicle. Objects to be notified are often installed in dangerous locations where traffic accidents are likely to occur. Therefore, the driving support system 1 notifies the driver via the main display area 21 that the own vehicle is approaching a notification target, thereby encouraging the driver to drive safely in areas where traffic accidents are likely to occur. ing.

Furthermore, since a map image is displayed in the main display area 21, the driver can recognize geographical information around the vehicle. For example, by recognizing the surrounding road environment, the driver can reduce the driving speed in advance or pay sufficient attention to the surrounding environment in advance. In this way, the driving support system 1 can provide the driver with information necessary for safe driving, together with traffic monitoring information.

Note that the control unit 11 aligns the map image with the own vehicle icon 31 and the target icon 32 displayed in the area 211 of the main display area 21, and displays them in synchronization. Specifically, the details are as follows. The display position of the own vehicle icon 31 is fixed at the lower central part of the area 211. Rotate the map image so that the direction of travel of the vehicle is on the upper side. In other words, when the direction of travel of the own vehicle changes (turns), the map image is also rotated accordingly. When the own vehicle moves forward, the displayed map image is scrolled downward (so-called heading-up display). Note that such display control can be achieved by using map display control in a car navigation system, that is, by using control that scrolls the map image as appropriate while the position of the own vehicle is fixed at the center of the screen. can.

The first sub-display area 22 will be explained. The first sub-display area 22 displays the name of the divided area where the host vehicle is located. Based on the position information output from the GPS receiving unit 13, the control unit 11 identifies the area identification information of the divided area where the own vehicle is located by referring to the first DB. The name of the divided area identified by the specified area identification information is displayed in the first sub-display area 22. By visually recognizing the name displayed in the first sub-display area 22, the driver can recognize the divided area in which the driver's vehicle is located.

The second sub-display area 23 will be explained. The second sub-display area 23 displays messages regarding monitoring activities. This message is created based on the traffic monitoring information stored in the third DB stored in the SD card 171. The message includes information such as enforcement date, time, enforcement type, enforcement location (route, jurisdiction, etc.). Furthermore, since there are differences in the content of public enforcement information published by each prefectural police, the displayed content differs depending on the prefecture. When the number of traffic monitoring information included in the message is two or more, the number of characters in the message increases, so the control unit 11 displays the message in the second sub-display area 23 by playing it as a caption.

A specific example of the message displayed in the second sub-display area 23 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. As shown in FIG. 4, the message 41 includes a plurality of phases (a first phase 42 and a second phase 43) classified by category of traffic monitoring information. The first phase 42 and the second phase 43 include one or more pieces of traffic monitoring information. When multiple pieces of traffic monitoring information are included in one phase, they are arranged in order. In FIG. 4, "*** information" and "+++ information" correspond to traffic monitoring information. A title is added to the beginning of each phase. The titles provide an overview of the traffic monitoring information included in each phase. In this way, the message is created by classifying a plurality of pieces of traffic monitoring information to be notified to the driver into categories, and is displayed in the second sub-display area 23. The driver can easily distinguish and recognize information related to monitoring activities by category. Note that the number of characters that can be registered in one phase is limited to, for example, 128 full-width characters (256 bytes in terms of bytes). This allows the driver to understand the content even without driving. If the number of characters that can be registered in one phase exceeds 128 characters, the traffic monitoring information is divided into more detailed categories.

For example, in FIG. 5, the first phase is titled "<<Public Enforcement Information Aichi Prefectural Police>>" and the second phase is titled "<<Traffic Regulation Information Aichi Prefectural Police>>." In the first phase, information related to "enforcement" (corresponding to the traffic monitoring information of indexes 2 and 3 in FIG. 2) is stored.

If the created message does not fit in the second sub-display area 23, the message is scrolled and displayed. When the driver visually checks the display unit 14 while driving, it is impossible for the driver to continue looking at the display unit 14 for a long time while driving, so if many messages are displayed on the display unit 14 at once, the driver may This is because the message may not be recognized accurately. On the other hand, in the driving support system 1, the text-based messages created based on traffic monitoring information are classified into categories, and are scroll-displayed in the second sub-display area 23. It is possible to reduce the amount of information in a message that is displayed at one time, and to increase the size of the displayed text. This allows the driver to accurately recognize the message displayed in the second sub-display area 23 even when the driver repeatedly views the display section 14 at short intervals while driving.

For example, when displaying the message 41 shown in FIG. 4 in the second sub-display area 23, the first phase 42 (title, **** information (first item), **** information (second item)) is The display area 23 is sequentially scrolled and displayed, and when the scroll display of the first phase 42 is completed, the second phase 43 is entered. When there are no remaining phases, the scrolling display is repeated in order from the first phase 42. Since the scroll display is repeated multiple times, even if the driver misses the message once, he or she can recognize the message that is repeatedly displayed.

Note that the title of the first phase 42 of the message is first displayed in the second sub-display area 23, and at the same time, an alarm sound (Pyro Lean, Pyro Lean) is output from the speaker 15. This allows the driver to know that the traffic monitoring information is displayed in the second sub-display area 23.

Furthermore, when the divided area in which the vehicle is located changes as the vehicle travels and the message displayed in the second sub-display area 23 is updated, an alarm sound is similarly output from the speaker 15. Thereby, the driver can reliably recognize the updated message by visually checking the display unit 14 when the notification is given by the alarm sound. In this way, the driving support system 1 can prevent the driver from overlooking an updated message.

Furthermore, the control unit 11 changes the scrolling speed when scrolling and displaying the message in the second sub-display area 23 in accordance with the traveling speed of the vehicle. For example, when the vehicle is traveling at a high speed, it is assumed that the driver cannot continuously look at the display unit 14 for a long period of time. In such a case, the speed at which messages are scrolled is slowed down so that the driver can understand even simple sentences. This allows the driver to reliably recognize the displayed message within a short period of time. On the other hand, if the vehicle is traveling at a slow speed, for example, it is assumed that the driver will be able to look at the display unit 14 continuously for a relatively long period of time. In such a case, increase the display speed when scrolling messages. This allows the driver to accurately recognize a large number of messages. Furthermore, while the vehicle is stopped, the display speed when scrolling messages is further increased so that other public enforcement information can also be viewed.

Furthermore, since the name of the divided area in which the vehicle is located is displayed in the first sub-display area 22, the driver can recognize both the message displayed in the second sub-display area 23 and the divided area. can. As a result, for example, when monitoring activities are carried out over a wide area, the driver can confirm to which part of the entire area the monitoring activities are carried out. For example, assume that a route has been announced as an area where monitoring activities will be carried out. Assume that the own vehicle moves and enters a divided area where a published route is located. In the first sub-display area 22, the name of the divided area where the own vehicle is located is displayed. A message including the announced route is displayed in the second sub-display area 23. By referring to the map image displayed in the main display area 21, the driver can easily identify the location of the route included in the message from within the divided area with the name displayed in the first sub-display area 22. can do. This allows the driver to recognize the positional relationship between his vehicle and the route. By determining whether or not the vehicle is approaching a route, the driver can understand the areas where special attention should be paid to safe driving and drive accordingly.

The main processing executed by the control unit 11 will be explained with reference to FIG. 6. When the driving support system 1 is powered on, the main process is executed by the control unit 11 executing a program stored in the ROM. When the main process is started, first, position information output from the GPS receiver 13 is acquired. The position of the own vehicle on the map image is specified by specifying the latitude and longitude of the own vehicle position based on the acquired position information (S10). Next, based on the acquired position information, by referring to the first DB stored in the storage unit 16, the area identification information of the divided area where the own vehicle is located is acquired (S11). The acquired area identification information is stored in RAM.

A map image of the surrounding area including the own vehicle position is generated based on the map data stored in the storage unit 16. The generated map image is displayed in area 211 of main display area 21 on the screen of display unit 14 (S13). The size of the map image displayed in area 211 is adjusted based on conditions preset by the driver. Subsequently, the own vehicle icon 31 is displayed superimposed on a portion of the displayed map image corresponding to the own vehicle position specified in S10 (S15). By viewing the map image and the own vehicle icon 31 displayed in the main display area 21, the driver can recognize surrounding geographical information including the position of the own vehicle.

Next, based on the area identification information acquired in S11, the name of the divided area in which the host vehicle is located is specified in units of cities, wards, towns, and villages. Note that the name of the divided area is specified by referring to a correspondence table between area identification information and names, which is stored in advance in the storage unit 16. The name of the identified divided area is displayed in the first sub-display area 22 of the screen of the display unit 14 (S17). Thereby, by visually recognizing the name displayed in the first sub-display area 22, the driver can recognize the divided area in which the driver's vehicle is located in units of cities, wards, towns, and villages. Next, the current date and time and current time are specified (S19). The current date and time and the current time are obtained from a real-time clock (RTC) not shown. Subsequently, the third DB stored in the SD card 171 is read out, and the traffic monitoring information stored in the third DB is referred to (S21). Then, a message to be displayed in the second sub-display area 23 is created as follows based on the traffic monitoring information read from the SD card 171 and stored in the third DB.

Among the traffic monitoring information read from the SD card 171 and stored in the third DB, traffic monitoring information in which the same area identification information as the area identification information specified in S11 is associated as the "implementation location" is extracted. Next, based on the "start date", "start time", "end date", and "end time" (see Figure 2) that are associated with the extracted traffic monitoring information, the period during which the monitoring activity is being carried out is determined. Identify. Then, traffic monitoring information that satisfies the condition that the current date and time specified in S19 are included within the specified period is selected.

It is determined whether there is one or more pieces of traffic monitoring information selected by the method described above (S23). If the selected traffic monitoring information does not exist (S23: NO), there is no message to be displayed in the second sub-display area 23, and the process returns to S10. On the other hand, if one or more pieces of selected traffic monitoring information exist (S23: YES), a message to be displayed in the second sub-display area 23 is created as follows based on the selected traffic monitoring information (S25).

Sort and arrange the selected traffic monitoring information by category. A title indicating an overview of each category is added to the beginning of the text information arranged for each category. The optimal title is selected from a plurality of titles prepared in advance and used. The selection of the most suitable title is performed, for example, as follows. A table associating titles with categories is stored in advance in the storage unit 16. When the text information is classified and arranged by category, the title corresponding to each classified category is specified by referring to the table stored in the storage unit 16. The identified title is added to the beginning of the arranged traffic monitoring information as the optimal title indicating the category. This creates each phase that makes up the message. Store the created message in RAM.

Next, the running speed of the vehicle is determined (S27). The traveling speed may be specified based on an acceleration sensor not shown, or may be specified based on OBD data acquired via an on-board diagnostics connector on the vehicle side. Depending on the identified traveling speed, the speed at which the message created in S25 is scrolled is determined. The speed is determined so that the display speed when scrolling is displayed is slowed down in inverse proportion to the acquired traveling speed. The created message is scroll-displayed in the second sub-display area 23 at the determined speed (S29). As a result, even if the vehicle is traveling at a high speed and the display unit 14 cannot be viewed continuously for a long time, the driver can reliably recognize the displayed message within a short period of time because the display speed is slowed down. . Furthermore, if the vehicle is traveling at a slow speed and the driver can view the display unit 14 continuously for a relatively long time, the displayed speed will be faster, making it difficult for the driver to accurately recognize a large amount of traffic monitoring information. I can do it. Note that when a message is scrolled and displayed in the second sub-display area 23 for the first time, an alarm sound is output from the speaker 15.

It is determined whether or not the area identification information acquired in S11 has been changed as the own vehicle moves. Whether or not the area identification information has been changed is determined based on whether or not the area identification information stored last time in the RAM is different from the area identification information stored this time. When the area identification information is changed, there is a possibility that the message created in S25 is newly updated. It is determined whether the message created in S25 has been newly updated (S31). Whether or not the message has been updated is determined based on whether or not the message stored in the RAM last time is different from the message stored this time. If the message created in S25 has not been changed (S31: NO), the process returns to S10. On the other hand, if the message is newly updated (S31: YES), an alarm sound is output from the speaker 15 (S33). As a result, the driver can reliably recognize the newly updated message by viewing the second sub-display area 23 of the display unit 14 when the driver is notified by the alarm sound. In this way, the driving support system 1 prevents the driver from overlooking updated messages. The process returns to S10.

In the main process, for example, after S23, S31, and S33, the process may wait for a predetermined time (for example, one second), and then return to S10. For example, in the main process, after S23, S31, and S33, if the distance traveled by the vehicle exceeds a predetermined distance, the process may return to S10. Then, in S10, the vehicle position may be repeatedly specified, and messages may be repeatedly created based on the identified vehicle position. Thereby, it is possible to accurately create and display a message regarding monitoring activities and notify the user while reducing the processing load on the control unit 11.

As explained above, the driving support system 1 can specify the divided area where the host vehicle is located in units of cities, wards, towns and villages based on the first DB stored in the storage unit 16. As a result, compared to the previous system, which specified the vehicle's location by prefecture only on expressways, the vehicle's location can be determined in more detail by city, ward, town, or village even on general roads. be able to.

Further, the driving support system 1 can specify the divided area covering the area where the monitoring activity is to be performed based on the third DB stored in the SD card 171. The third DB stores traffic monitoring information associated with one or more pieces of area identification information. The area identification information of the divided area where the own vehicle is located and the area identification information of the divided area included in the traffic monitoring information are both determined for each city, ward, town, or village. Therefore, the driving support system 1 can uniformly identify whether or not a monitoring activity is being carried out in the divided area where the own vehicle is located, based on the third DB. Therefore, the driving support system 1 can easily and reliably identify and notify the driver of a message of information regarding a monitoring activity being carried out near the location where the own vehicle is actually located. Furthermore, the driving support system 1 can prevent messages of information regarding monitoring activities being carried out in areas far away from where the own vehicle is located from being displayed. Only messages necessary for the driver are displayed on the display unit 14. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the driver from overlooking necessary information due to a large number of unnecessary messages being displayed.

Driving Support System 1 is designed to prevent vehicles from entering a city, ward, town, or village that includes at least the announced area, even if "within the jurisdiction of a police station," "in a direction," or "along a road line" are announced as areas where surveillance activities will be carried out. It is possible to determine whether or not the This is because the traffic monitoring information stored in the third DB is associated with the area identification information of the divided area where the monitoring activity is carried out on a city, ward, town, or village basis. Therefore, the driving support system 1 can create a message suitable for the location of the vehicle based on the traffic monitoring information and provide it to the driver. The driver can easily grasp information regarding monitoring activities being carried out near the location of the driver's vehicle.

Note that the control unit 11 and the like that perform the process in S11 correspond to the "first acquisition means" of the present invention. The control unit 11 and the like that perform the processing in S21 and S23 correspond to the "second acquisition means" of the present invention. The control unit 11 and the like that perform the process in S29 correspond to the "first control means" of the present invention. The control unit 11 and the like that perform the process in S19 correspond to the "first specifying means" of the present invention. The control unit 11 and the like that perform the process in S27 correspond to the "second specifying means" of the present invention.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible. For example, the driving support system 1 may have a configuration that does not include the wireless receiving section 12. The driving support system 1 may grasp the distance between the notification target object and the vehicle based on the voltage level of RSSI output from an externally attached wireless receiver. Further, the driving support system 1 may be configured without the GPS receiving section 13. The driving support system 1 may grasp the vehicle position based on position information output from an externally attached GPS receiver. Further, the driving support system 1 may be configured without the display section 14 and the speaker 15. The driving support system 1 may display a desired image on the external display by controlling the external display. The external display may be, for example, a display of a car navigation system installed in the vehicle. Further, the driving support system 1 may output desired sound from the external speaker by controlling the external speaker. The external speaker may be, for example, a speaker attached to a vehicle.

The content of the message notified to drivers is not limited to public enforcement information published by each prefectural police station, but includes information published by each local development bureau (regulation content, route, address, date, etc.). time, etc.).

The operator may create the third DB in the following manner based on the published public enforcement information. If the published public enforcement information satisfies the conditions (1) and (3), or if the conditions (2) and (3) are met, the operator shall provide traffic monitoring information to which various items are associated. create.
(1) When the city, ward, town or village where the monitoring activities are carried out is made public as public enforcement information.
(2) When the jurisdiction or region where surveillance activities are conducted is made public as public enforcement information.
(3) When the date and time of monitoring activities are made public as public enforcement information.

In the above, the operator created the third DB containing traffic monitoring information based on the published public enforcement information. The present invention is not limited to this. The third DB containing traffic monitoring information may be automatically created by the server based on public enforcement information. Specifically, it is best to implement it as follows.

Public enforcement information published via the homepage of each prefectural police station is acquired by a server connected to the Internet. For example, the server periodically (for example, once a day) checks the homepage of each prefectural police station whose URL is stored in advance, and determines whether the public enforcement information has been updated. If the public enforcement information has been updated, the public enforcement information of the page of that URL is acquired. Traffic monitoring information and information associated with the traffic monitoring information ("prefecture", "start date", "start time", "end date", "End time" and "Jurisdiction") are extracted. A plurality of pieces of information within the page are extracted and associated with the traffic monitoring information to create information as shown in FIG. 2. The created information is stored in the storage section of the server.

The implementation area of monitoring activities announced by public enforcement information is, for example, ``prefecture,'' ``jurisdiction,'' ``route,'' etc., and each city, ward, town, or village is the unit of ``implementation location'' that is associated with traffic monitoring information. In many cases, it is different from the unit of demarcation area defined in . In such a case, the server specifies the "implementation location" to be associated with the traffic monitoring information in the following manner.

The server is shared between the areas where surveillance activities are carried out (prefectures, jurisdictions, routes, etc., hereinafter referred to as "public areas"), which are published as public enforcement information by each prefectural police, and each prefectural police. A correspondence table in which area identification information specified in units of cities, wards, towns and villages are associated with each other is stored in advance in the storage unit. The area identification information associated with the open area includes at least the area identification information of the divided area where the monitoring activity is actually performed. For example, a plurality of area identification information may be associated with one public area. When the server acquires public enforcement information from the homepage of each prefectural police station, it extracts the public areas included in the acquired public enforcement information. Then, referring to the correspondence table stored in the storage unit, the area identification information corresponding to the extracted public area is specified. The identified area identification information is associated with traffic monitoring information as an "implementation location." The "prefecture", "start date", "start time", "end date", "end time", and "jurisdiction" extracted from the public enforcement information are associated with the traffic monitoring information. Traffic monitoring information in which various types of information are associated is stored in the storage unit. Note that the method for specifying the divided area is not limited to the above-mentioned method.

The driving support system 1 may provide the driver with information not only about monitoring activities that are actually being carried out at the moment, but also about monitoring activities that will be carried out soon. For example, the driving support device 1 may determine whether there is a monitoring activity to be started within one hour from the current time based on the "event date" and "event time" associated with the traffic monitoring information. If there is traffic monitoring information associated with the corresponding "event date" and "event time", a message may be created based on this traffic monitoring information and displayed on the display unit 14. This allows drivers to instantly recognize not only surveillance activities being carried out near their vehicle's location, but also those that may be carried out in the near future, and to avoid driving in areas where traffic accidents are likely to occur. can be done safely.

The message displayed in the second sub-display area 23 includes information other than traffic monitoring information, such as information on events such as reinforcement months, trends, customs, and road regulation information (construction regulations, traffic regulations due to disasters), etc. It's okay. For example, by displaying road regulation information, a driver can avoid regulated routes. Note that information other than traffic monitoring activities is stored in the SD card 171 together with the third DB, and this information may be read out and stored in the message.

The title and traffic monitoring information stored in each phase of the message displayed in the second sub-display area 23 are arranged so that they are easy to understand even when they are sequentially arranged and scrolled. The monitoring activities may be categorized by background color or colored text, or an icon may be placed at the beginning, depending on the period in which the monitoring activities are carried out and the area in which the monitoring activities are carried out. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, in order to understand the entire message, the total number may be added to the title, and the number of pages may be added to each piece of traffic monitoring information.

The driving support device 1 may also create a message to be displayed in the second sub-display area 23 in the following cases. It is assumed that traffic monitoring information to which "place of implementation" is not associated is stored in the third DB. Among such traffic monitoring information, all traffic monitoring information in which the same prefecture as the prefecture in which the host vehicle is located is associated as a "prefecture" is extracted. Based on the "start date", "start time", "end date", and "end time" (see FIG. 2) associated with the extracted traffic monitoring information, the period in which the monitoring activity is to be carried out is specified. Traffic monitoring information including the current date and time specified in S19 is selected within the specified period. Create messages based on selected traffic monitoring information. The driving support device 1 selects traffic monitoring information related to monitoring activities being carried out in the prefecture where the own vehicle is located, and creates a message.

1 Driving support system 11 Control section 13 GPS receiving section 14 Display section 15 Speaker 16 Storage section 17 Card reader 171 SD card 41 Message

Claims (5)

A driving support system having a function of scrolling messages horizontally on a display unit,
Extract multiple traffic monitoring activities that are within a predetermined location range from the current location based on current location information, are actually being carried out at the present moment, and are to be started within a predetermined time range from the present moment, and A driving support system having a function of sequentially scrolling and displaying the messages related to traffic monitoring activities in the horizontal direction on the display section. 2. The driving according to claim 1, further comprising a function of scrolling and displaying messages including information other than traffic monitoring information in an area in which the messages related to each of the traffic monitoring activities are sequentially scrolled in the horizontal direction on the display section. support system. 3. The scroll display according to claim 1, further comprising a function of displaying the scrolling information in different colors according to the type of the traffic monitoring activity, the period in which the traffic monitoring activity is carried out, and the region in which the traffic monitoring activity is carried out. driving assistance system. From claim 1, further comprising a function of adding an icon at the beginning and scrolling the display for each type of the traffic monitoring activity, the period in which the traffic monitoring activity is carried out, and the area in which the traffic monitoring activity is carried out. 3. The driving support system according to any one of 3. A program for causing a computer to implement the functions of the driving support system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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