JP7476661B2 - Vehicle Surroundings Monitoring System - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle surroundings monitoring system.

The following Patent Document 1 discloses a navigation system in which an aircraft equipped with a camera is mounted on a vehicle, and the aircraft is flown above the vehicle under the control of an on-board navigation device to capture images, and the system provides driving support for the vehicle based on the analysis of the captured images.

JP 2016-138853 A

Vehicles may be victims of hit-and-run accidents while parked in a parking lot or the like. As a countermeasure, a surveillance system has been put into practical use in which cameras mounted on the front and rear of the vehicle begin recording the area around the vehicle when an impact sensor detects an impact on the vehicle. However, for example, if a vehicle parked to the right of one's vehicle commits a hit-and-run when it leaves the parking space and passes in front of one's vehicle to the left, the offending vehicle is facing directly to the side in the direction of the camera's recording, so although the side of the offending vehicle's body is recorded in the recorded video, information to identify the vehicle (especially the license plate) may not be recorded. Therefore, in the case of a hit-and-run accident in which a vehicle parked near one's vehicle is the offending vehicle, it is desirable to realize a means to reliably leave a record of information to identify the offending vehicle.

However, the navigation system disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 does not consider using images captured by the aircraft's camera as a clue to identify the offending vehicle when a parked vehicle is involved in a hit-and-run accident or other such incident.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a vehicle surroundings monitoring system that can use images captured by the camera unit of an aircraft as clues to identify vehicles involved in hit-and-run accidents, etc.

A vehicle periphery monitoring system according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises an airborne vehicle mounted on a vehicle, having a photographing unit, and capable of flying outside the vehicle, a communication unit provided on the vehicle and capable of receiving images photographed by the photographing unit, an image recording unit that records images received by the communication unit, a control unit that controls the airborne vehicle, and a disembarkation detection unit that detects personnel disembarking from the vehicle, wherein when the disembarkation detection unit detects personnel disembarking from the vehicle, the control unit controls the airborne vehicle to take off from the vehicle, the photographing unit to photograph the periphery of the vehicle, and transmit the images photographed by the photographing unit to the communication unit , and when the disembarkation detection unit detects personnel disembarking from the vehicle, the photographing unit photographs the periphery of the vehicle from multiple directions and photographs images including the license plates of parked vehicles parked around the vehicle .

According to this aspect, when the disembarking detection unit detects that a person has disembarked from the vehicle, the control unit controls the aircraft to take off from the vehicle, the photographing unit to photograph the area around the vehicle (a predetermined range, for example, a range with a radius of about 5 to 10 meters from the vehicle), and transmit the images photographed by the photographing unit to the communication unit. This makes it possible to record images of vehicles parked around the vehicle in a parking lot or the like in the image recording unit. As a result, if the vehicle is hit and run while parked, the images photographed by the photographing unit of the aircraft can be used as a clue to identify the offending vehicle.

According to this aspect, the photographing unit photographs the surroundings of the vehicle from multiple directions, and the images photographed by the photographing unit are recorded in the image recording unit. Therefore, by checking the images (images photographed from multiple angles) recorded in the image recording unit, the situation of parked vehicles and the like around the vehicle can be accurately grasped, which makes it possible to improve the usefulness of the images photographed by the flying object as evidence images.

According to this aspect, the photographing unit photographs images including the license plates of the vehicles parked around the vehicle. Therefore, if the parked vehicles around the vehicle are the perpetrators of a hit-and-run accident, the image recording unit records an image of the license plate of the perpetrator vehicle, which further improves the usefulness of the images photographed by the aircraft as evidentiary images.

In the above aspect, it is preferable that the vehicle is provided with a display unit that displays the image captured by the image capture unit, and that when the driving force of the vehicle is stopped, the display unit displays the image captured by the image capture unit.

According to this aspect, when the driving force of the vehicle is stopped, it is determined that the occupant intends to disembark, and control is performed assuming that the occupant has disembarked. Therefore, when the stop of the driving force is detected, even if the occupant is seated in the vehicle cabin, the flight and shooting control of the aircraft is immediately started, so that the captured image can be displayed on the display unit early. As a result, it becomes possible to use the image captured by the aircraft to check the safety of the area around the vehicle from within the vehicle cabin, even before the occupant disembarks.

According to the present invention, it is possible to utilize images captured by the camera unit of an aircraft as a clue to identify the vehicle responsible for a hit-and-run accident, etc.

1 is a diagram showing an application example of a vehicle surroundings monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the appearance of an aircraft. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the flying object. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a vehicle. A block diagram showing the functional configuration of an aircraft control unit. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a prescribed flight path of an aircraft. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a prescribed flight path of an aircraft. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a vehicle information detection unit. 4 is a flowchart showing a control flow of the flying object by a control unit of the vehicle. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a situation in which the photographing unit of the aircraft is photographing the license plate of a vehicle parked next to the vehicle itself.

The following describes in detail the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings. Note that elements with the same reference numerals in different drawings indicate the same or corresponding elements.

Figure 1 is a diagram showing an application example of a vehicle surroundings monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention. A flying object 2 capable of flying outside the vehicle 1 is mounted on the vehicle 1. A take-off and landing platform 3 for the flying object 2 is arranged at a predetermined location on the vehicle 1 (on the rear window in this example). The take-off and landing platform 3 has a horizontal take-off and landing surface for the flying object 2 to take off and land. A take-up reel 19 (not shown in Figure 1) is arranged below the take-off and landing surface. The take-up reel 19 has a rotating shaft (not shown) around which a tether 4, which is a power supply cable, is wound. A through hole is provided in approximately the center of the take-off and landing surface, and the tether 4 wound around the rotating shaft of the take-up reel 19 is inserted through this through hole, pulled out above the take-off and landing surface, and connected to the flying object 2.

Figure 2 is a diagram showing a schematic view of the exterior of the flying object 2. The flying object 2 is configured as a so-called quadcopter-type drone. The flying object 2 includes a main body 111, a camera 112 arranged on the front surface of the main body 111, propellers 113 arranged at the four corners of the main body 111, a shaft 114 extending vertically from both the left and right sides of the main body 111, and a mesh-spherical buffer member 115 that encases the main body 111. The main body 111 and the buffer member 115 are fixed to each other by the shaft 114. A tether 4 is connected to the bottom surface of the main body 111.

Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the flying object 2. As shown in Figure 3, the flying object 2 has a communication unit 21, a photographing unit 22, a driving unit 23, a position detection unit 24, and an attitude detection unit 25. The flying object 2 also has a control unit 20 that controls the operation of each of these processing units, thereby controlling the entire flying object 2. The flying object 2 also has a power supply unit 29 that supplies driving power to each of these processing units and the control unit 20. The power supply unit 29 is connected to the tether 4. By supplying the driving power of the flying object 2 from the vehicle 1 side via the tether 4, it is possible to omit the installation of a battery on the flying object 2, and as a result, the weight of the flying object 2 is reduced. The total weight of the flying object 2 is less than the limit weight (e.g., 200 grams) that is subject to weight-based flight regulations.

The communication unit 21 performs bidirectional data communication with a communication unit 122 on the vehicle 1 side, which will be described later, using a short-range wireless communication method such as Bluetooth (registered trademark). However, by adding a data communication line within the tether 4, the communication unit 21 and the communication unit 122 may perform wired communication via the data communication line.

The image capturing unit 22 includes the camera 112 shown in FIG. 2. Images captured by the image capturing unit 22 include both still images (photos) and moving images (video). In the following explanation, an example is taken in which video is captured by the image capturing unit 22. The image capturing unit 22 outputs video data of the video captured by the camera 112 in real time.

The drive unit 23 includes a motor for rotating the propeller shaft of the propeller 113 shown in FIG. 2. The drive unit 23 controls the rotation direction and rotation speed of the four propellers 113 individually. This allows the flying object 2 to perform any flight operation, such as forward, backward, ascending, descending, turning, and hovering.

The position detection unit 24 includes a GPS receiver and an altitude sensor, and detects the position of the flying object 2 in real time and outputs position data indicating the detected position.

The attitude detection unit 25 includes an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, an orientation sensor, etc., and detects the attitude of the flying object 2 in real time, and outputs attitude data indicating the detected attitude.

The control unit 20 transmits the video data output from the image capture unit 22, the position data output from the position detection unit 24, and the attitude data output from the attitude detection unit 25 from the communication unit 21 to the vehicle 1 in real time.

Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the vehicle 1. As shown in Figure 4, the vehicle 1 has a battery control unit 11, an aircraft control unit 12, a vehicle control unit 13, a vehicle information detection unit 14, and a display unit 16. The vehicle 1 also has a control unit 10 that controls the overall control of the vehicle 1 by controlling the operation of each of these processing units. The vehicle 1 also has a battery 18 that supplies driving power to each of these processing units and the control unit 10. The tether 4 is connected to the battery 18. The vehicle 1 also has a winding reel 19. Driving power for the winding reel 19 is supplied from the battery 18. The winding reel 19 has a rotating shaft (not shown) around which the tether 4 is wound, and a motor (not shown) for rotating and driving the rotating shaft. The winding reel 19 controls the sending out and recovery of the tether 4 by driving the rotating shaft by the motor so that an appropriate amount of tether 4 according to the flight status of the aircraft 2 is paid out from the rotating shaft.

The battery control unit 11 controls the charging and discharging operations of the battery 18. The battery control unit 11 also controls the start and stop of the power supply from the battery 18 to the tether 4.

The aircraft control unit 12 controls the flight of the aircraft 2. Details of the aircraft control unit 12 will be described later.

The vehicle control unit 13 includes a lighting controller that controls the turning on and off of the lighting devices (headlights, taillights, room lights, etc.) of the vehicle 1. The vehicle control unit 13 also includes a horn controller that controls the sounding of the horn of the vehicle 1.

The vehicle information detection unit 14 detects various information about the vehicle 1. Details of the vehicle information detection unit 14 will be described later.

The display unit 16 includes an in-vehicle display using any display device such as an LCD or an organic EL. The display unit 16 may be a display provided in a car navigation device.

Figure 5 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the aircraft control unit 12. As shown in Figure 5, the aircraft control unit 12 has a communication unit 122, a flight path memory unit 123, a control signal generation unit 124, a shooting signal generation unit 125, a reel control unit 126, and a video recording unit 127. The aircraft control unit 12 also has a control unit 121 that controls the operation of each of these processing units.

The communication unit 122 communicates data bidirectionally with the communication unit 21 of the flying object 2 described above by using a short-range wireless communication method such as Bluetooth (registered trademark). The communication unit 122 receives video data, position data, and attitude data transmitted from the communication unit 21 of the flying object 2.

The flight path storage unit 123 is configured using a rewritable non-volatile memory such as a flash memory. A prescribed flight path of the flying object 2 based on the position of the landing platform 3 is determined in advance, and flight path data indicating the prescribed flight path is stored in the flight path storage unit 123 in advance. For example, a turning path (FIG. 6) that turns a prescribed number of times in the air around the vehicle 1 (a predetermined range set in advance, for example, a range of about a radius of 5 to 10 meters centered on the vehicle 1) so that the license plates of the parked vehicles around the vehicle 1 can be photographed is stored in the flight path storage unit 123 as the prescribed flight path. The prescribed flight path may be any path other than a turning path, and may be, for example, a diagonal crossing path (FIG. 7) that crosses the air above the vehicle 1 while diagonally moving (may involve a change in altitude) from the right rear of the vehicle 1 to the left front of the vehicle 1. In addition, the parking situation around the vehicle 1 may be photographed by the photographing unit 22, and the photographed image may be analyzed by artificial intelligence or the like, to create the shortest flight path for photographing the license plates of each parked vehicle in sequence as the prescribed flight path. Figure 10 shows the image capture unit 22 of the aircraft 2 capturing an image of the license plate of a parked vehicle 200 next to the vehicle itself.

The control signal generation unit 124 generates a control signal for flying the aircraft 2 along the specified flight path read from the flight path memory unit 123 based on the video data, position data, and attitude data received by the communication unit 122.

The image capture signal generating unit 125 generates an image capture start signal to cause the image capture unit 22 of the aircraft 2 to start capturing images, and an image capture stop signal to cause the image capture unit 22 to stop capturing images, depending on the flight status of the aircraft 2.

The reel control unit 126 controls the take-up reel 19. Specifically, the reel control unit 126 controls the sending out and recovery of the tether 4 by driving the rotating shaft of the motor so that the appropriate amount of tether 4 according to the flight conditions of the aircraft 2 is paid out from the rotating shaft of the take-up reel 19.

The video recording unit 127 is provided in the vehicle 1 and is configured using a rewritable non-volatile memory such as a flash memory. The video recording unit 127 records the video data transferred from the communication unit 122. The video data may also be transferred to and recorded on a server device outside the vehicle.

The control unit 121 transmits the control signal generated by the control signal generation unit 124, and the image capture start signal and image capture stop signal generated by the image capture signal generation unit 125 from the communication unit 122 to the flying object 2 in real time.

Figure 8 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the vehicle information detection unit 14. As shown in Figure 8, the vehicle information detection unit 14 includes a door opening/closing sensor 142, a seat sensor 143, a start detection sensor 144, and an intrusion detection sensor 146.

The door opening/closing sensor 142 detects whether the doors of the vehicle 1 are open/closed. The seat sensor 143 detects whether a person is seated in the seat of the vehicle 1. The start detection sensor 144 detects the start/stop state of the driving force generating device of the vehicle 1 (engine or driving motor, etc.) by an ignition sensor or by detecting the on/off state of a relay switch connecting the battery and the driving motor. The interior intrusion detection sensor 146 monitors the interior of the parked vehicle 1 and detects the presence or absence of an intruder within the monitoring area.

Figure 9 is a flowchart showing the control flow of the flying object 2 by the control unit 10 of the vehicle 1. First, in step SP11, the control unit 10 detects the disembarking of the occupant from the vehicle 1 by the vehicle information detection unit 14. The vehicle information detection unit 14 detects that the occupant has disembarked from the vehicle 1, for example, when the start detection sensor 144 detects that the driving force generating device of the vehicle 1 has been switched from an on state to an off state, and then the door opening/closing sensor 142 detects that at least the driver's door of the vehicle 1 has been opened or closed, and then the seat sensor 143 or the vehicle intrusion detection sensor 146 detects that the interior of the vehicle 1 has changed from being occupied to being unoccupied.

If the vehicle information detection unit 14 does not detect disembarking (step SP11: NO), the control unit 10 repeats the process of step SP11.

If the vehicle information detection unit 14 detects disembarking (step SP11: YES), then in step SP12, the control unit 10 causes the flying object control unit 12 to execute takeoff control of the flying object 2. Specifically, referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the battery control unit 11 first starts supplying power from the battery 18 to the flying object 2 via the tether 4. Next, the control unit 121 reads out the prescribed flight path data from the flight path memory unit 123. Next, the control signal generation unit 124 generates a control signal for flying the flying object 2 along the prescribed flight path. In addition, the image capture signal generation unit 125 generates an image capture start signal for causing the image capture unit 22 of the flying object 2 to start image capture. Next, the communication unit 122 transmits the control signal and the image capture start signal to the flying object 2. Next, the communication unit 21 on the flying object 2 side receives the control signal and the image capture start signal transmitted from the communication unit 122 on the vehicle 1 side. Next, the drive unit 23 starts control for flying the flying object 2 along the prescribed flight path by driving the propeller 113 based on the control signal. This causes the flying object 2 to take off from the takeoff and landing pad 3. Additionally, the photographing unit 22 starts photographing with the camera 112, the position detection unit 24 starts detecting the position of the flying object 2, and the attitude detection unit 25 starts detecting the attitude of the flying object 2. The control unit 20 transmits the video data output from the photographing unit 22, the position data output from the position detection unit 24, and the attitude data output from the attitude detection unit 25 from the communication unit 21 to the vehicle 1 in real time.

Next, in step SP13, the control unit 10 causes the flying object control unit 12 to continue flight control and imaging control of the flying object 2. The control signal generation unit 124 generates a control signal for flying the flying object 2 along the specified flight path based on the video data, position data, and attitude data received by the communication unit 122 from the communication unit 21. As above, the flight of the flying object 2 is controlled by transmitting this control signal to the flying object 2.

Next, in step SP14, the control unit 10 transfers the video data received by the communication unit 122 from the communication unit 21 to the video recording unit 127, thereby recording the video captured by the camera 112 in the video recording unit 127.

Next, in step SP15, the control unit 10 determines whether flight and photographing along the specified flight path have been completed by having the aircraft control unit 12 analyze the flight trajectory of the aircraft 2 based on the position data received by the communication unit 122.

If flight and photographing along the specified flight path have not been completed (step SP15: NO), the control unit 10 repeats the processing of steps SP13 to SP15.

When flight and photography along the specified flight path is completed (step SP15: YES), the control unit 10 then causes the flying object control unit 12 to execute return control of the flying object 2 in step SP16. Specifically, the control signal generation unit 124 generates a control signal for flying the flying object 2 toward the takeoff and landing pad 3 based on the video data, position data, and attitude data received by the communication unit 122. As described above, the flight of the flying object 2 is controlled by transmitting this control signal to the flying object 2, and the flying object 2 returns to the takeoff and landing pad 3. Next, the image capture signal generation unit 125 generates an image capture stop signal for causing the image capture unit 22 of the flying object 2 to stop image capture. The image capture stop signal is transmitted to the flying object 2, and the image capture unit 22 stops image capture by the camera 112. After that, the battery control unit 11 stops the supply of power from the battery 18 to the flying object 2.

According to the vehicle surroundings monitoring system of this embodiment, when the vehicle information detection unit 14 (disembarkation detection unit) detects that a person has disembarked from the vehicle 1, the control unit 10 causes the aircraft 2 to fly from the vehicle 1, and causes the imaging unit 22 of the aircraft 2 to capture the surroundings of the vehicle 1, and records the captured video in the video recording unit 127. This makes it possible to record video of parked vehicles around the vehicle 1 in the video recording unit 127. As a result, when the vehicle 1 is hit and run while parked, the video captured by the imaging unit 22 of the aircraft 2 can be used as a clue to identify the offending vehicle.

The control unit 10 also causes the flying object 2 to fly along the specified flight path, thereby causing the imaging unit 22 to capture images of the surroundings of the vehicle 1 from multiple directions, and causes the captured images from multiple directions to be recorded in the image recording unit 127. Therefore, by checking the images recorded in the image recording unit 127 (images captured from multiple angles), the situation of parked vehicles and the like around the vehicle 1 can be accurately grasped, thereby improving the usefulness of the images captured by the flying object 2 as evidentiary images.

The control unit 10 also causes the photographing unit 22 to photograph images including the license plates of vehicles parked around the vehicle 1 by flying the aircraft 2 along the specified flight path. Therefore, if a parked vehicle parked around the vehicle 1 is the offending vehicle in a hit-and-run accident, the video recording unit 127 will record video of the license plates of the offending vehicle, further improving the usefulness of the images photographed by the aircraft 2 as evidentiary images.

The vehicle information detection unit 14 also detects disembarking when it detects that the driving force generating device of the vehicle 1 has been stopped, the driver's door of the vehicle 1 has been opened or closed, and the vehicle 1 is empty. This makes it possible to reliably detect that all passengers have disembarked from the vehicle 1.

In addition, the control unit 10 returns the flying object 2 to the vehicle 1 when the image capturing by the image capturing unit 22 is completed. This makes it possible to prevent the flying object 2 from continuing to fly after the image capturing is completed, thereby continuing to consume power from the battery 18.

<First Modification>
In the above embodiment, the control unit 10 starts the flight of the flying object 2 when it is detected that the disembarking of the personnel from the vehicle 1 is completed, but even before the disembarking operation is completed, if the intention of the occupant to disembark is confirmed, the control unit 10 may immediately start the flight of the flying object 2. For example, when the start detection sensor 144 detects that the driving force generating device of the vehicle 1 has been switched from the on state to the off state, the control unit 10 detects disembarkation as the intention of the occupant to disembark is confirmed. By detecting disembarkation, the control unit 10 records the image captured by the image capture unit 22 in the image recording unit 127 while flying the flying object 2 along the specified flight path, as in the above embodiment.

In addition, in this modified example, the control unit 10 may transfer the video data received from the aircraft 2 to the display unit 16, thereby causing the video captured by the image capture unit 22 to be displayed on the display unit 16.

According to this modified example, when the driving force generated by the driving force generating device (engine or driving motor) of the vehicle 1 stops, the vehicle information detection unit 14 determines that the occupant intends to disembark, and performs control assuming that the occupant has disembarked. Therefore, when the stop of the driving force is detected, even if the occupant is seated in the vehicle cabin, the flight and shooting control of the flying object 2 can be immediately started, so that the captured image can be displayed on the display unit 16 early. As a result, the image captured by the flying object 2 can be used to check the safety of the area around the vehicle from within the vehicle cabin, even before the occupant disembarks from the vehicle 1.

<Second Modification>
When returning the flying object 2 to the vehicle 1, the control unit 10 may forcibly retrieve the flying object 2 by causing the reel control unit 126 to rotate the rotation shaft of the take-up reel 19 at high speed, instead of causing the control signal generation unit 124 to generate a control signal for returning the flying object 2. This makes it possible to quickly retrieve the flying object 2.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 vehicle 2 flying object 4 tether 10 control unit 12 flying object control unit 14 vehicle information detection unit 16 display unit 19 take-up reel 22 photography unit 127 video recording unit 142 door opening/closing sensor 143 seat sensor 144 start detection sensor 146 vehicle intrusion detection sensor

Claims (2)

An aircraft mounted on a vehicle, having a photographing unit, and capable of flying outside the vehicle;
a communication unit provided in the vehicle and capable of receiving images captured by the image capturing unit;
an image recording unit that records the image received by the communication unit;
A control unit for controlling the flying object;
a vehicle alighting detection unit that detects when a person alights from the vehicle;
Equipped with
The control unit controls, when the disembarking detection unit detects that a person has disembarked from the vehicle, the aircraft to take off from the vehicle, the photographing unit to photograph the periphery of the vehicle, and the image photographed by the photographing unit to be transmitted to the communication unit ;
A vehicle surroundings monitoring system, in which, when the alighting detection unit detects that a person has alighted from the vehicle, the photographing unit photographs the surroundings of the vehicle from multiple directions and captures images including the license plates of vehicles parked around the vehicle . The vehicle includes a display unit that displays the image captured by the image capture unit,
The vehicle surroundings monitoring system according to claim 1 , wherein the display unit displays the image captured by the image capturing unit when the driving force of the vehicle is stopped.

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