JP7533115B2 - Driving evaluation device, driving evaluation system equipped with the same, driving evaluation method, and driving evaluation program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a driving evaluation device that evaluates a driver's driving of a vehicle, and a driving evaluation system, a driving evaluation method, and a driving evaluation program that include the same.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to evaluate the driving skills of a driver of a vehicle such as an automobile, various devices are used that detect the behavior of the driver or the vehicle and evaluate the driving skills.
Elderly drivers are more likely to have head-on collisions when going straight at unsignalized intersections than non-elderly drivers. Furthermore, the main driver-related factors in such head-on collisions when going straight at unsignalized intersections are failure to check for safety or fail to stop temporarily.

For this reason, there is a need to realize the evaluation of going straight and stopping at intersections, which is effective and essential for refining risk detection for elderly drivers.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a dangerous driving prevention awareness assessment system that includes a first angular velocity sensor that detects the movement of the driver's head in order to determine left/right checking actions and braking stance without placing a burden on the driver, a second angular velocity sensor that detects the movement of the driver's right foot by measuring the angular velocity when the driver's right foot moves between the accelerator pedal and brake pedal of the vehicle, and first and second assessment units that assess the driver's safe driving based on the detection results of the first and second angular velocity sensors.

JP 2009-199583 A (Patent No. 5499277 A)

However, the above-mentioned conventional dangerous driving prevention awareness determination system has the following problems.
In other words, the dangerous driving prevention awareness assessment system disclosed in the above publication determines whether the current location is a dangerous area based on pre-stored map data and the vehicle's position information, and assesses the driver's safe driving using two angular velocity sensors, but it cannot determine whether the driver is obligated to stop at an intersection without traffic lights.

Furthermore, when using road links to determine whether or not a driver is obligated to stop at an unsignalized intersection, the amount of information required for the determination becomes large.
The object of the present invention is to provide a driving evaluation device that can determine whether or not a driver is obligated to stop or check for safety at an unsignalized intersection where no traffic lights are installed, without using detailed road links, and a driving evaluation system, driving evaluation method, and driving evaluation program equipped with the same.

The driving evaluation device according to the first invention is a driving evaluation device that evaluates the driving behavior of a driver who drives a vehicle, and includes an acquisition unit, an entry detection unit, an entry angle detection unit, and a judgment unit. The acquisition unit acquires information about unsignalized intersections where no traffic lights are installed. The entry detection unit detects the entry of a vehicle into the unsignalized intersection acquired by the acquisition unit. When the entry detection unit detects the entry of a vehicle into the unsignalized intersection, the entry angle detection unit detects the entry angle of the vehicle into the unsignalized intersection. The judgment unit judges whether or not the vehicle is obligated to stop or check for safety based on the direction of the road where there is an obligation to stop or check for safety, which is included in the information about the unsignalized intersection, and the entry angle detected by the entry angle detection unit.

Here, information on unsignalized intersections where no traffic lights are installed is obtained, and the approach angle of a vehicle entering the unsignalized intersection is compared with the direction of the road that makes up the unsignalized intersection contained in the obtained unsignalized intersection information to determine whether or not the vehicle is traveling on a road where it is obligated to stop or check for safety, i.e., whether or not the vehicle is obligated to stop or check for safety.

Here, the driving evaluation device may be installed, for example, in an on-board device of a vehicle in motion, or in a PC (Personal Computer) used by an administrator who manages multiple vehicles.
The acquired information on unsignalized intersections is the minimum information required to make a judgment, including, for example, unsignalized intersections that do not have traffic lights and are located within a specified distance range from the current position of the vehicle.

The entry of a vehicle into an intersection without a signal is detected, for example, by using position information obtained from a Global Positioning System (GPS) mounted on the vehicle.
The approach angle of a vehicle to an unsignalized intersection is detected, for example, by using an average approach angle or an approach angle of a regression line after the vehicle has entered a predetermined distance range from the unsignalized intersection.
The determination of whether or not there is an obligation for the vehicle to stop or check for safety is made, for example, based on whether the difference in the vehicle's entry angle relative to the direction of the road that makes up the unsignalized intersection, which is included in the information about the unsignalized intersection, is within a specified range.

This makes it possible to easily determine whether a vehicle is traveling on a road where there is an obligation to stop or check for safety at an unsignalized intersection, using the minimum necessary information obtained and the vehicle's angle of entry into the unsignalized intersection.
As a result, it is possible to easily determine whether or not a driver is obligated to stop or check for safety at an intersection where no traffic lights are installed, without using detailed road links with a large amount of data.

A driving evaluation device according to a second aspect of the present invention is a driving evaluation device according to the first aspect of the present invention, in which the judgment unit extracts the direction of a road in which there is an obligation to stop or check for safety, using road node information having a stop sign installed at an unsignalized intersection contained in the information on the unsignalized intersection.
This makes it possible to use road node information on roads that have stop signs installed at unsignalized intersections to extract the direction of roads where drivers are required to stop or check for safety.
As a result, by comparing the direction of the road where there is an obligation to stop or check for safety, extracted from the information on the unsignalized intersection, with the angle at which the traveling vehicle enters the unsignalized intersection, it is possible to easily determine whether or not the traveling vehicle has an obligation to stop or check for safety.

A driving evaluation device according to a third aspect of the present invention is the driving evaluation device according to the second aspect of the present invention, wherein the determination unit holds the position of an intersection having a stop sign and the direction of a road.
This eliminates the need for road links that have a large amount of data, thereby reducing the memory load and processing load.

A driving evaluation device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is a driving evaluation device according to the second or third aspect of the present invention, in which the judgment unit compares the direction of a road on which there is an obligation to stop or check for safety with the vehicle's direction of travel, and judges that the vehicle is obligated to stop or check for safety if the approach angle relative to the direction of the road is less than a predetermined angle.
This makes it possible to determine that the vehicle is obligated to stop or check for safety when the vehicle's entry angle relative to the direction of the road is equal to or smaller than a specified angle, i.e., when the entry angle into an unsignalized intersection roughly coincides with the direction of the road on which there is an obligation to stop or check for safety.

The driving evaluation device of the fifth invention is a driving evaluation device of any one of the first to fourth inventions, and further includes a position information acquisition unit that acquires current position information of the vehicle, and an intersection extraction unit that extracts information of intersections located within a predetermined distance range of the current position of the vehicle acquired by the position information acquisition unit.
This allows only information about intersections near the vehicle's current location to be extracted and used, minimizing the burden of storing information about acquired unsignalized intersections and the burden of determining whether or not there is an obligation to stop or check for safety.

A driving evaluation device according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the driving evaluation device according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, further comprising a distance calculation unit that calculates a distance between the intersection extracted by the intersection information extraction unit and the current position information of the vehicle. When the distance calculated by the distance calculation unit becomes equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, the entry detection unit determines that the intersection is an intersection into which the vehicle is to enter.
In this way, by using the distance between the intersection extracted by the intersection information extraction unit and the vehicle's current position information to identify the intersection that the vehicle will enter, if the vehicle's current position is close to a specified intersection and within a specified threshold, it can be easily determined that this is the intersection that the vehicle is planning to enter.

A driving evaluation device according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is a driving evaluation device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects of the present invention, wherein, when the vehicle is traveling on a priority road, the judgment unit judges the need for safety confirmation based on at least one of the width of the road on which the vehicle is traveling and road division information.
This makes it possible, for example, when a vehicle is traveling on a priority road (i.e., entering an intersection from a direction where there is no stop sign), to determine whether or not a safety check is required for the road even if it is on the priority road, depending on the width of the road the vehicle is traveling on or whether or not the road the vehicle is traveling on is a divided road.

The driving evaluation device of the eighth invention is a driving evaluation device of any one of the first to seventh inventions, and further includes a driving evaluation unit that, when the judgment unit determines that there is an obligation to stop or check for safety, detects whether the vehicle has stopped or not, and evaluates the driving behavior of the driver.
This makes it possible, for example, to detect from various sensors mounted on the vehicle whether a vehicle that is obligated to stop or check for safety has stopped at a specified location, and to appropriately evaluate the driving behavior of the driver of the vehicle at an intersection without signals.

The driving evaluation device according to the ninth aspect of the present invention is the driving evaluation device according to the eighth aspect of the present invention, in which the driving evaluation unit evaluates the driving behavior of the driver based on information acquired from a vehicle speed sensor that detects the vehicle's traveling speed or a face direction sensor that detects the direction of the driver's face, which is provided in the vehicle.

This makes it easy to evaluate, for example, whether or not a driver fulfilled the obligation to stop or check for safety at an intersection without signals based on the vehicle's speed detected using a vehicle speed sensor or a Global Positioning System (GPS) mounted on the vehicle, and whether or not the driver checked for safety to the left and right when stopping based on the direction of the driver's face detected using an image captured by a camera mounted on the driver's seat of the vehicle.

A driving evaluation device according to a tenth aspect of the present invention is the driving evaluation device according to the eighth or ninth aspect of the present invention, further comprising an alarm unit that issues a warning to the driver based on the evaluation of the driving behavior by the driving evaluation unit.
As a result, for example, if the result of the driving evaluation by the driving evaluation unit is poor, the driver can be urged in real time to take safe driving actions using voice information, text information, etc.

A driving evaluation device according to an eleventh aspect of the present invention is the driving evaluation device according to any one of the first to tenth aspects of the present invention, wherein the acquisition unit acquires information about an unsignalized intersection where a stop sign is installed.
This makes it possible to recognize the road on the side where a stop sign is installed at an intersection where no traffic lights are installed.

For example, if the map DB including information on unsignalized intersections does not include stop sign information for all unsignalized intersections, it is not possible to determine whether an unsignalized intersection truly does not have a stop sign installed, or whether the stop sign information has simply not been confirmed. For this reason, only unsignalized intersections with stop signs installed may be subject to evaluation, based on information on unsignalized intersections with stop signs installed acquired by the acquisition unit.
This makes it possible to limit the specific unsignalized intersections to be evaluated when evaluating driving tendencies, thereby enabling an accurate evaluation.

A driving evaluation device according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention is the driving evaluation device according to any one of the first to eleventh aspects of the present invention, which obtains information about unsignalized intersections when the vehicle starts moving.
This allows the latest information on unsignalized intersections to be obtained at the appropriate time by obtaining the information on unsignalized intersections required for judgment when the vehicle begins to drive (for example, when the engine (motor) starts and the on-board device is activated).

A driving evaluation device according to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention is the driving evaluation device according to any one of the first to twelfth aspects of the present invention, which obtains information on unsignalized intersections within a predetermined distance range from the current position of the vehicle.
This allows the information obtained to be limited to unsignalized intersections in the vicinity of the vehicle's current location, making it possible to carry out the judgment process using the minimum amount of information necessary even if the driving evaluation device has a small memory capacity.

A driving evaluation device according to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention is the driving evaluation device according to any one of the first to thirteenth aspects of the present invention, and is mounted on a vehicle.
As a result, since the driving evaluation device is mounted on the vehicle, the driving behavior of the driver of the vehicle entering the unsignalized intersection can be evaluated in real time.

A driving evaluation system according to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention comprises the driving evaluation device according to any one of the first to fourteenth aspects of the present invention, and a storage device that stores information about unsignalized intersections.
This makes it possible to obtain information on unsignalized intersections from the storage device and achieve the same effects as described above.

The driving evaluation method according to the sixteenth invention is a driving evaluation method for evaluating the driving behavior of a driver who drives a vehicle, and includes an acquisition step, an entry detection step, an entry angle detection step, and a judgment step. In the acquisition step, information on an unsignalized intersection where no traffic lights are installed is acquired. In the entry detection step, entry of a vehicle into the unsignalized intersection acquired in the acquisition step is detected. In the entry angle detection step, when entry of a vehicle into the unsignalized intersection is detected in the entry detection step, the entry angle of the vehicle into the unsignalized intersection is detected. In the judgment step, whether or not there is an obligation for the vehicle to stop or check for safety is judged according to the direction of the road on which there is an obligation to stop or check for safety, which is included in the information on the unsignalized intersection, and the entry angle detected in the entry angle detection step.

Here, information on unsignalized intersections where no traffic lights are installed is obtained, and the approach angle of a vehicle entering the unsignalized intersection is compared with the direction of the road that makes up the unsignalized intersection contained in the obtained unsignalized intersection information to determine whether or not the vehicle is traveling on a road where it is obligated to stop or check for safety, i.e., whether or not the vehicle is obligated to stop or check for safety.
Here, the driving evaluation device may be installed, for example, in an on-board device of a vehicle in motion, or in a PC (Personal Computer) used by an administrator who manages multiple vehicles.
The acquired information on unsignalized intersections is the minimum information required to make a judgment, including, for example, unsignalized intersections that do not have traffic lights and are located within a specified distance range from the current position of the vehicle.

The entry of a vehicle into an intersection without a signal is detected, for example, by using position information obtained from a Global Positioning System (GPS) mounted on the vehicle.
The approach angle of a vehicle to an unsignalized intersection is detected, for example, by using an average approach angle or an approach angle of a regression line after the vehicle has entered a predetermined distance range from the unsignalized intersection.
The determination of whether or not there is an obligation for the vehicle to stop or check for safety is made, for example, based on whether the difference in the vehicle's entry angle relative to the direction of the road that makes up the unsignalized intersection, which is included in the information about the unsignalized intersection, is within a specified range.

This makes it possible to easily determine whether a vehicle is traveling on a road where there is an obligation to stop or check for safety at an unsignalized intersection, using the minimum necessary information obtained and the vehicle's angle of entry into the unsignalized intersection.
As a result, it is possible to easily determine whether or not a driver is obligated to stop or check for safety at an intersection where no traffic lights are installed, without using detailed road links with a large amount of data.

The driving evaluation program according to the seventeenth aspect of the present invention is a driving evaluation program for evaluating the driving behavior of a driver who drives a vehicle, and causes a computer to execute a driving evaluation method including an acquisition step, an entry detection step, an entry angle detection step, and a judgment step. In the acquisition step, information on an unsignalized intersection where no traffic lights are installed is acquired. In the entry detection step, entry of a vehicle into the unsignalized intersection acquired in the acquisition step is detected. In the entry angle detection step, when entry of a vehicle into the unsignalized intersection is detected in the entry detection step, the entry angle of the vehicle into the unsignalized intersection is detected. In the judgment step, whether or not the vehicle is obligated to stop or check for safety is judged according to the direction of the road on which a stop or safety check is required, which is included in the information on the unsignalized intersection, and the entry angle detected in the entry angle detection step.

Here, information on unsignalized intersections where no traffic lights are installed is obtained, and the approach angle of a vehicle entering the unsignalized intersection is compared with the direction of the road that makes up the unsignalized intersection contained in the obtained unsignalized intersection information to determine whether or not the vehicle is traveling on a road where it is obligated to stop or check for safety, i.e., whether or not the vehicle is obligated to stop or check for safety.

Here, the driving evaluation device may be installed, for example, in an on-board device of a vehicle while it is moving, or in a PC (Personal Computer) used by an administrator who manages multiple vehicles.
The acquired information on unsignalized intersections is the minimum information required to make a judgment, including, for example, unsignalized intersections that do not have traffic lights and are located within a specified distance range from the current position of the vehicle.

The entry of a vehicle into an intersection without a signal is detected, for example, by using position information obtained from a Global Positioning System (GPS) mounted on the vehicle.
The approach angle of a vehicle to an unsignalized intersection is detected, for example, by using an average approach angle or an approach angle of a regression line after the vehicle has entered a predetermined distance range from the unsignalized intersection.
The determination of whether or not there is an obligation for the vehicle to stop or check for safety is made, for example, based on whether the difference in the vehicle's entry angle relative to the direction of the road that makes up the unsignalized intersection, which is included in the information about the unsignalized intersection, is within a specified range.

This makes it possible to easily determine whether a vehicle is traveling on a road where there is an obligation to stop or check for safety at an unsignalized intersection, using the minimum necessary information obtained and the vehicle's angle of entry into the unsignalized intersection.
As a result, it is possible to easily determine whether or not a driver is obligated to stop or check for safety at an intersection where no traffic lights are installed, without using detailed road links with a large amount of data.

The driving evaluation device according to the present invention can determine whether or not a driver is obligated to stop or check for safety at an intersection without traffic lights, without using detailed road links.

1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a driving evaluation system including an in-vehicle device including a driving evaluation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an in-vehicle device included in the driving evaluation system of FIG. 1 . 3 is a diagram showing a control block formed in the driving evaluation device of the on-board device of FIG. 2 . FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a driving evaluation management device included in the driving evaluation system of FIG. 1 . A map showing unsignalized intersections where a major road intersects with a local road, where pedestrians are required to stop or check for safety. 1 is a diagram showing the relationship between the approach angle and the direction of the road when a vehicle enters an intersection without a signal. A diagram showing the relationship between azimuth angle and direction angle on a map. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of a process for creating a stop intersection information DB. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of a process for determining whether or not a stop sign and a safety check are to be evaluated at an intersection without signals. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing of a driving evaluation method performed depending on the result of the determination processing in FIG. 9 . 10 is a flowchart showing a detailed flow of a process for downloading nearby intersection information in step S21 of FIG. 9;

A driving evaluation device, a driving evaluation system including the same, and a driving evaluation method according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11. FIG.
(1) Driving evaluation system 1
The driving evaluation system 1 of this embodiment is a system for evaluating the driving behavior of a driver 3 of a vehicle 2, and as shown in Figure 1, is equipped with a driving evaluation management device 10 and an on-board unit 20 mounted on one or more vehicles 2.

The vehicles driven by the driver 3 to be evaluated include various vehicles managed by businesses, such as trucks managed by transport companies, buses managed by bus companies, taxis managed by taxi companies, rental cars managed by rental car companies, car sharing vehicles managed by car sharing businesses, driving school vehicles managed by driving schools, and company cars managed by companies.

In addition, the vehicles driven by the driver 3 to be evaluated may include general vehicles driven by general drivers.
In the driving evaluation system 1, the in-vehicle device 20 determines whether or not a safe driving behavior related to a specific driving behavior (such as a temporary stop or a safety check) has been performed, and issues a warning or other alert to the driver 3 in real time. Furthermore, in the driving evaluation system 1, the determination result is sent to the manager terminal 6 and the driving evaluation management device 10, so that the manager can manage the implementation status of the safe driving behavior of the driver 3.

In the driving evaluation system 1, as shown in FIG. 1, an in-vehicle device 20 mounted on a plurality of vehicles 2, a manager terminal 6, and a driving evaluation management device 10 are connected to each other via a communication network 5.
The manager terminal 6 is a PC (Personal Computer), a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or the like, and is used by a business operator or the like that manages the vehicle 2. The manager terminal 6 displays the result of evaluation of the driving behavior of the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 evaluated in a driving behavior evaluation unit (driving evaluation unit) 12a of the driving evaluation management device 10, which will be described later.

As a result, an administrator using the administrator terminal 6 can provide appropriate guidance to the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 under his/her management, such as encouraging safe driving, based on the results of the driving evaluation by the driving behavior evaluation unit 12a of the driving evaluation management device 10, in order to prevent the occurrence of accidents.
1, the driving evaluation management device 10 is connected to an in-vehicle device 20 mounted on a vehicle 2 and an administrator terminal 6 via a communication network 5. The communication network 5 may be wireless communication such as a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) or may be line communication via a communication cable.

1, the driving evaluation management device 10 includes a communication unit 11, a control unit 12, and a storage unit (storage device) 13. The detailed configuration of the driving evaluation management device 10 will be described later.
1, the vehicle-mounted device 20 is mounted on the vehicle 2, and determines the state of the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 using an image captured by a camera 21. The detailed configuration of the vehicle-mounted device 20 will be described later.

(2) Vehicle-mounted device 20
As shown in FIG. 2 , the vehicle-mounted device 20 has a camera 21 , a driving evaluation device 22 , an acceleration sensor 23 , an angular velocity sensor 24 , a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiving unit 25 , a communication unit 26 , and a notification unit 27 .
1, the camera 21 is installed in front of the driver's seat of the vehicle 2, and mainly captures an image including the upper body of the driver 3 and transmits it to the driving evaluation device 22. The camera 21 may also be used to capture an image of the external environment of the vehicle 2 (external environment such as traffic signals, signs, distance from a vehicle traveling ahead, weather, and region). This allows the driving evaluation device 22 to judge violations of laws and regulations, etc., using the captured image of the external environment.

2 , the driving evaluation device 22 is connected to the camera 21 etc., and judges the state of the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 using an image including the driver 3 etc. received from the camera 21. In addition, the driving evaluation device 22 is connected to an acceleration sensor 23, an angular velocity sensor 24 etc. provided in the vehicle 2, and judges the state of the vehicle 2 using the detected acceleration and angular velocity of the vehicle 2.
Here, the state of the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 determined by the driving evaluation device 22 includes a change in the face direction of the driver 3, a change in the gaze direction, the degree of eye opening and closing, a fluctuation feature amount of the eye closing rate/eye opening rate, a predetermined face direction event (looking away, etc.), etc. In addition, the state of the vehicle 2 determined by the driving evaluation device 22 includes a sudden acceleration, a sudden deceleration, speeding, abrupt steering, passing through an intersection, the type of road on which the vehicle is traveling (general road, expressway, etc.), an impact to the vehicle 2, etc.

As shown in FIG. 2, the driving evaluation device 22 includes a control unit 22a, a storage unit 22b, and an input/output I/F 22c.
As shown in Fig. 2, the control unit 22a is configured by a microcomputer including a central processing unit (CPU) 22aa, a random access memory (RAM) 22ab, and a read only memory (ROM) 22ac. The control unit 22a receives an image captured by the camera 21, and the acceleration and angular velocity of the vehicle 2 detected by the acceleration sensor 23 and the angular velocity sensor 24, performs various processes, and stores the data in the storage unit 22b. The control unit 22a then loads a program 22ba stored in the storage unit 22b into the RAM 22ab, reads out various data stored in the storage unit 22b, and executes the program 22ba by the CPU 22aa, thereby evaluating a safe driving behavior of the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 as to whether or not the driver 3 fulfills the obligation to stop or check for safety, which will be described later.

Specifically, the control unit 22a refers to image data received from the camera 21 and data such as the acceleration of the vehicle 2 received from the acceleration sensor 23 to determine whether the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 has stopped and checked for safety at an unsignalized intersection where head-on accidents are likely to occur.
Here, the obligation to stop or check for safety at an unsignalized intersection is imposed on a vehicle 2 traveling on the side of the residential road R1 at an intersection without traffic lights (see Figure 5) where a residential road R1 intersects with a main road (priority road) R0.

A community road is, for example, a road less than 5.5 m wide, and refers to a narrow street that local residents use to travel from their homes to major roads such as main streets.
In the driving evaluation device 22 of this embodiment, whether or not vehicle 2 is obligated to stop or check for safety at an unsignalized intersection where there is an obligation to stop or check for safety is determined based on the direction of the roads that make up the unsignalized intersection described below and the approach angle of vehicle 2 into the unsignalized intersection.

In the driving evaluation device 22, the driving behavior evaluation unit 12a, which will be described later, evaluates the safe driving behavior of the driver 3 based on, for example, whether or not the driver stopped at an intersection without a traffic light using the detection results of a vehicle speed sensor, etc., and whether or not the driver 3 checked for safety to the left and right using an image of the driver 3 captured by the camera 21.
In addition to the above evaluation, the driving evaluation device 22 may use images including the driver 3 captured by the camera 21 to determine whether or not the following are true: insufficient checking of the direction of travel, looking away, face loss (where part of the driver's 3's face disappears from the image), talking on a mobile phone, operating a smartphone, eating and drinking, drowsiness, dozing off, or absentmindedness.

In addition, for other violations such as aggressive driving, ignoring traffic signals, failure to slow down, violations of left or right turns, and failure to stop at railroad crossings, a determination as to whether or not they apply may be made using images taken of the external environment, such as in front of vehicle 2, and current location information of vehicle 2 detected by the GPS receiver unit 25, map information, etc.
Furthermore, with regard to continuous driving, sudden steering, sudden braking, sudden acceleration, sudden start, speeding, and impact, a determination as to whether or not they occur may be made based on the detection results of the acceleration sensor 23 and the angular velocity sensor 24.

The memory unit 22b is a storage means such as a semiconductor memory, and stores the program 22ba, images captured by the camera 21, acceleration and angular velocity data detected by the acceleration sensor 23 and the angular velocity sensor 24, past driving data of the vehicle 2, etc.
The program 22ba may be stored in the ROM 22ac on the control unit 22a side.

The input/output I/F 22c transmits and receives data and various signals to and from various devices such as the camera 21, the acceleration sensor 23, the angular velocity sensor 24, and the like.
The acceleration sensor 23 is a sensor that detects the acceleration of the vehicle 2, and detects, for example, acceleration in three axial directions of X, Y and Z. The acceleration sensor 23 then transmits data on the detected acceleration of the vehicle 2 to the driving evaluation device 22.

The angular velocity sensor 24 is, for example, a gyro sensor that detects the rotational angular velocity of the vehicle 2, and detects the rotational (turning) angular velocity in the left-right direction when the vehicle 2 turns. The angular velocity sensor 24 then transmits data on the detected angular velocity of the vehicle 2 to the driving evaluation device 22. Note that when a gyro sensor is used for the angular velocity sensor 24, it may be a vibration type gyro sensor, or an optical or mechanical gyro sensor.

2, the GPS receiving unit 25 has an antenna 25a and receives GPS signals from artificial satellites via the antenna 25a to detect the current position (latitude, longitude, etc.) of the vehicle 2. Then, the current position information of the vehicle 2 detected by the GPS receiving unit 25 is transmitted to the memory unit 22b of the driving evaluation device 22 and stored in the memory unit 22b.
2 , the communication unit 26 has an antenna 26a, and uses radio waves emitted from the antenna 26a to transmit and receive radio waves to and from the outside via the communication network 5. That is, the communication unit 26 transmits various data including the evaluation result of the safe driving behavior of the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 determined by the driving evaluation device 22, the state of the vehicle 2, and the like, to the driving evaluation management device 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, the notification unit 27 is connected to the driving evaluation device 22, and depending on the evaluation result of the safe driving behavior of the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 determined by the driving evaluation device 22, for example, a predetermined warning sound is emitted from the speaker of the vehicle 2, or text information such as a message encouraging safe driving is displayed on a display device mounted on the vehicle 2.
More specifically, in the driving evaluation device 22, the CPU 22aa of the control unit 22a reads a program stored in the storage unit 22b and forms a control block shown in FIG.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the driving evaluation device 22 includes a position information acquisition unit 31, an intersection information acquisition unit (acquisition unit, map information acquisition unit) 32, a driving judgment unit 33, an intersection extraction unit 34, a passed intersection judgment unit 35, a distance calculation unit 36, an intersection entry judgment unit (entry detection unit) 37, a GPS error measurement judgment unit 38, an entry angle calculation unit (entry angle detection unit) 39, a judgment unit 40, a stop sign judgment unit 41, a safety confirmation necessity judgment unit 42, a destination information acquisition unit 43, and a driving data acquisition unit 44.

The position information acquisition unit 31 acquires, via the GPS receiving unit 25, for example, current position information (latitude, longitude, etc.) of the vehicle 2 from when the engine (motor) of the vehicle 2 is started to when it is stopped.
The intersection information acquisition unit 32 downloads (acquires) map information including non-signalized intersections stored in the storage unit 13 of the driving evaluation management device 10 of FIG.

The map information including unsignalized intersections acquired here is, for example, map information including unsignalized intersections where no traffic lights are installed within a specified distance range from the current position of the vehicle 2 acquired by the position information acquisition unit 31.
This map information is obtained, for example, when the vehicle 2 starts to drive (when the engine (motor) starts and the vehicle-mounted device 20 is started).

The traveling determination unit 33 uses the acceleration sensor 23, the angular velocity sensor 24, and the like mounted on the vehicle 2 to determine whether the vehicle 2 is traveling.
The intersection extraction unit 34 extracts a plurality of intersections to which the vehicle 2 determined to be traveling by the traveling determination unit 33 is approaching from the map information acquired by the intersection information acquisition unit 32 .

The intersection extraction unit 34 extracts an intersection that the vehicle 2 is approaching at predetermined time intervals.
The passed intersection determination unit 35 determines whether or not an intersection is one that the vehicle 2 is expected to pass through, depending on whether or not it is within a predetermined distance range (e.g., within a radius of 50 m) among the multiple intersections extracted by the intersection extraction unit 34.

The distance calculation unit 36 calculates the distance between the vehicle 2 and an intersection determined to be an intersection where the vehicle 2 is expected to enter.
The intersection entry determination unit 37 detects that the vehicle 2 has entered the intersection depending on whether the distance between the vehicle 2 and the expected intersection calculated by the distance calculation unit 36 is within a predetermined distance (e.g., 10 m). That is, when the distance between the vehicle 2 and the expected intersection calculated by the distance calculation unit 36 is within a predetermined distance (e.g., 10 m), the intersection entry determination unit 37 determines that the intersection is the intersection into which the vehicle 2 has entered.

The intersection entry determination unit 37 performs the determination, for example, every one second.
Before determining whether or not there is an obligation to stop or make a safety check at an unsignalized intersection, the GPS error measurement determination unit 38 determines whether or not there is an error in the position information of the vehicle 2. Specifically, the GPS error measurement determination unit 38 determines whether or not the GPS receiver 25 properly receives GPS signals from artificial satellites via the antenna 25a at predetermined time intervals.

Then, if the GPS error measurement judgment unit 38 does not receive a GPS signal every predetermined time, it judges that an error has occurred because, for example, the GPS signal is not being properly received due to being blocked by a high-rise building or the like.
The approach angle calculation unit 39 calculates the approach angle of the vehicle 2 entering the unsignalized intersection. Specifically, the approach angle calculation unit 39 calculates, as the approach angle, the average value of the approach angles within a predetermined distance, for example, a range of 10 to 30 m, from just before the unsignalized intersection.

Here, the range in which the average approach angle is calculated is not limited to 10 to 30 m, but may be a closer range or a farther range.
However, if the predetermined distance is set to a range close to an intersection without signals, the direction of vehicle 2 may change when turning right or left due to the width of the road or avoiding parked vehicles, which may result in an error in the approach angle. On the other hand, if the predetermined distance is set to a range far from an intersection without signals, there is a risk that the approach angle will be calculated based on an adjacent intersection.

For this reason, it is preferable that the range from the unsignalized intersection for calculating the average approach angle be set appropriately depending on the conditions of the road on which the vehicle is traveling (width, on-street parking, etc.).
Alternatively, the predetermined distance may be set to a uniform range, and the entry angle may be calculated after making a right or left turn or a U-turn at an adjacent intersection.
This allows for accurate determination even when the adjacent intersection is close (the adjacent intersection is within range).

In addition, the approach angle calculation unit 39 may calculate the approach angle of vehicle 2 into an unsignalized intersection using a regression line obtained by the least squares method from the trajectory of the current position of vehicle 2, instead of the average value of the approach angle in a specified range.
The calculation process of the entry angle of the vehicle 2 into the non-signalized intersection by the entry angle calculation unit 39 will be described in detail later.

The judgment unit 40 compares the direction of the road where there is an obligation to stop or check for safety, which is included in the map information, with the approach angle of the vehicle 2 into the unsignalized intersection detected by the approach angle calculation unit 39, and judges whether or not the vehicle 2 is obligated to stop or check for safety depending on whether the difference is within a specified angle range (e.g., ±20 degrees).
The stop sign determination unit 41 determines whether or not there is a stop sign RS on the side of the road that the vehicle 2 is entering, for example, by using information about the road on which the stop sign RS (see Figures 5 and 6) is installed, which is included in the downloaded nearby intersection information.

When the stop sign determination unit 41 determines that there is no stop sign RS (priority road), the safety check necessity determination unit 42 determines whether or not a safety check is necessary for the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 traveling on the priority road without the stop sign RS.
The destination information acquisition unit 43 acquires information on the destination of the vehicle 2 from, for example, operation management information installed in the vehicle 2 .

The driving data acquisition unit 44 acquires driving data including information such as routes that the vehicle 2 has traveled in the past from, for example, the memory unit 22b of the driving evaluation device 22 included in the in-vehicle device 20.
Here, the driving data stored in the memory unit 22b may be set to be overwritten every time the vehicle 2 is driven, and to be deleted when a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the data was stored.
The driving evaluation method implemented by the driving evaluation management device 10 of this embodiment will be described in detail later.

(3) Driving evaluation management device 10
As shown in Fig. 1, the driving evaluation management device 10 is connected to an on-board device 20 mounted on a vehicle 2 via a communication network 5. The driving evaluation management device 10 evaluates the driving behavior of the driver 3 based on the travel data of the vehicle 2 received from the on-board device 20, information on the driver 3, and the determination result of the need for the vehicle 2 to stop/check for safety when entering an intersection without a signal, etc. Furthermore, the driving evaluation management device 10 includes a communication unit 11, a control unit 12, and a storage unit 13 as shown in Fig. 4.

The communication unit 11 acquires information on the driver 3 of the vehicle 2, driving data of the vehicle 2, data on the attributes of the driver 3 and the vehicle 2, and the like, via the communication network 5. As shown in FIG. 4, the communication unit 11 is connected to the control unit 12 via a communication bus 14, and transmits information such as the determination results and various data received from the vehicle-mounted device 20 to the control unit 12.

The control unit 12 receives information about the driver 3 of the vehicle 2, driving data about the vehicle 2, data about the attributes of the driver 3 and the vehicle 2, etc. from the in-vehicle device 20 via the communication unit 11, and stores the information in the memory unit 13. The control unit 12 then evaluates the driving behavior of the driver 3 at an unsignalized intersection where the in-vehicle device 20 has determined that it is necessary to stop or make a safety check.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 12 has a driving behavior evaluation section (driving evaluation section) 12a and a display section 12b.
The driving behavior evaluation unit 12a evaluates the driving behavior of the driver 3 when passing through an unsignalized intersection where it has been determined that it is necessary to make a temporary stop or a safety check on the vehicle-mounted device 20 side. In other words, the driving behavior evaluation unit 12a evaluates the driving behavior of the driver 3 as a part of the driving evaluation device 22.

More specifically, when the vehicle 2 is traveling on a non-priority road where there is an obligation to stop or check for safety when entering an unsignalized intersection, or when the vehicle 2 is traveling on a priority road and a safety check is necessary, the driving behavior evaluation unit 12a determines whether the vehicle 2 has stopped or whether the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 has performed a safety check, and evaluates the driver's safe driving behavior.
When the driving behavior evaluation unit 12a judges that the driver 3 did not stop or did not check for safety when passing through the unsignalized intersection, the driving behavior evaluation unit 12a displays the judgment result on the display unit 12b. Furthermore, the driving behavior evaluation unit 12a transmits the judgment result to the manager terminal 6 and the in-vehicle device 20.

This allows the vehicle-mounted device 20 to issue a warning to the driver 3 based on the received determination result.
Here, the warning to the driver 3 may be given by issuing a sound effect or an announcement, or may be displayed as text information on a navigation screen or the like.
In addition, the manager terminal 6 that receives the judgment result can appropriately evaluate the driving behavior of the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 under the manager's management. Therefore, it is possible to grasp the fluorescence of the driving behavior of the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 under the manager's management, and to take measures such as calling attention or providing guidance to the driver 3 who is judged not to be driving safely.

As shown in FIG. 4, the storage unit 13 includes a stop intersection information storage section 13a, an intersection passage data storage section 13b, and an evaluation result storage section 13c.
The stop-stop intersection information storage unit 13a stores stop-stop intersection information including non-signalized intersections that is downloaded to the vehicle-mounted device 20 from a stop-stop intersection information DB (database) stored in a cloud space, for example.

Here, the stop intersection information, including non-signalized intersections, is information on intersections without traffic lights where a main road R0 and a community road R1 intersect, as shown in Figure 5, and can be obtained, for example, by extracting intersections with stop signs RS from a map DB.
In addition, using stop intersection information including priority roads (main roads R0) and non-priority roads (local roads R1), it is possible to extract only the local roads among the priority roads (main roads R0) based on road width information.

The intersection passage data memory unit 13b receives and stores, for example, the time when a vehicle 2 that has entered an unsignalized intersection where it is obligated to stop or check for safety passes through the intersection, the vehicle 2's location information, the intersection ID, etc. from the in-vehicle device 20.
The evaluation result storage unit 13c organizes and stores the results of the evaluation performed by the driving behavior evaluation unit 12a for each driver 3. This makes it possible to grasp the tendency of driving behavior for each driver 3 of the vehicle 2.

<Calculation process of approach angle to non-signalized intersection>
In this embodiment, as described above, the driving evaluation device 22 on the in-vehicle device 20 determines whether the vehicle 2 is traveling on a road on which the driver 3 is to stop and check for safety, based on the entry angle of the vehicle 2 that has entered the unsignalized intersection. That is, the driving evaluation device 22 determines whether the vehicle 2 that has entered the intersection is a target for evaluating the driving behavior of the driver 3, based on the entry angle of the vehicle 2 that has entered the unsignalized intersection.

Here, the approach angle of the vehicle 2 to the non-signalized intersection is as follows, as shown in FIG.
(a) a road node (intersection) at which a stop sign is installed;
(b) a road link entering an unsignalized intersection having a stop sign;
The direction of the road that intersects with the unsignalized intersection at which the stop sign RS is installed is compared with the direction of the road that intersects with the unsignalized intersection at which the stop sign RS is installed, ...

At this time, if the difference between the direction of the road on which vehicle 2 is traveling, determined using (a) and (b), and the angle of entry when vehicle 2 enters the unsignalized intersection is within ±20 degrees, for example, it is determined that vehicle 2 is traveling on the road (residential road R1) on the side of the unsignalized intersection where there is an obligation to stop or check for safety, and it is determined that driver 3's driving behavior is to be evaluated.

In calculating the entry angle of vehicle 2 into an intersection without signals, the direction from point A to point B is expressed by specifying the latitude and longitude of two points A and B and calculating the shortest distance and its azimuth angle.
In this case, the Earth is considered to be a sphere (spherical trigonometry) with an equatorial radius r = 6,378.137 km, and the azimuth angles are set to: north 0 degrees, east: 90 degrees, south: 180 degrees, west: 270 degrees, and the shortest distance and its azimuth angle are calculated.

Other methods may be adopted, such as "a method assuming the Earth is a spheroid," but it is sufficient that the method of calculating the intersection DB (direction of the intersection) and the driving data (vehicle approach angle) is unified.
Therefore, the azimuth angle φ from point A (longitude x ₁ , y ₁ ) to point B (x ₂ , y ₂ ) and the distance d therebetween are expressed by the following relational expressions.

As shown in Figure 7, the azimuth angle from the measurement point to the target is the angle measured clockwise with true north (North Pole) (meridian north) as the reference, and the direction angle means the angle measured clockwise with the north axis of the coordinate system as the reference.
Therefore, the azimuth angle is the sum of the direction angle and the meridian aberration angle γ, as shown in FIG.

<Creating a stop intersection information DB>
In the driving evaluation system 1 of this embodiment, a stop stop intersection information DB is created and stored in the memory unit 13 of the driving evaluation management device 10 according to the flowchart shown in Fig. 8. Then, map information required according to the current position of the vehicle 2, etc., is downloaded to the in-vehicle device 20 from the stop stop intersection information DB stored in the memory unit 13.

Specifically, in step S11, the stop point is downloaded from the stop point DB, and the road node ID, road link ID, object ID, latitude, longitude, and traffic light flag are downloaded from the stop point DB, and linked as stop intersection position information.
Next, in step S12, an object ID is obtained from the road link DB, and the processes of steps S13 and S14 are carried out for each downloaded road node ID (stop intersection).

Next, in step S13, a target road link ID is extracted for each road node ID (stop intersection) from the road link DB.
Next, in step S14, it is determined whether or not a stop sign RS is installed depending on whether or not the extracted target road link ID is stored in the stop point DB.

Here, if the extracted target road link ID is stored in the stop point DB, it is determined to be an unsignalized intersection where a stop sign RS is installed, and if it is not stored, it is determined that a stop sign RS is not installed.
Next, in step S15, an object ID is obtained from the road link DB, and the processes of steps S16, S17, and S18 are carried out for each target road link ID.

Next, in step S16, corresponding road link data is extracted for each corresponding road link ID.
Next, in step S17, the intersection approach angle is calculated.
Here, if the approach road is straight, the approach angle from a road point (one point) is calculated, and if the approach road is curved, the average approach angle or the approach angle of a regression line within a specified distance range (e.g., 10 to 30 m) from the unsignalized intersection is calculated.

Next, in step S18, road information is linked to each corresponding road link ID.
The linked road information includes, for example, road width classification, link type code, inbound/outbound lane separation information, number of lanes, traffic light flags, no-entry type code, one-way type code, maximum speed, and the like.
Then, the processes from step S12 to step S18 are performed for each road node ID and each target road link ID, thereby creating a stop intersection information DB.

<Detection of stop intersections and determination of the need for safety checks>
In the driving evaluation system 1 of this embodiment, the vehicle-mounted device 20 (driving evaluation device 22) determines whether or not a safety check is required for the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 while the vehicle 2 is running, according to the flowchart shown in FIG.
In step S21, in the in-vehicle unit 20, the intersection information acquisition unit 32 of the driving evaluation device 22 downloads, as nearby intersection information, stop stop intersection information including non-signalized intersections from the stop stop intersection information DB created in accordance with the flowchart of Figure 8 based on the current position information of the vehicle 2 (start-up position information) acquired by the position information acquisition unit 31 when the engine (motor) of the vehicle 2 starts and the in-vehicle unit is started up.

The stop intersection information DB includes information such as the latitude and longitude of a stop intersection, an approach angle, and the width of the roads that make up the intersection.
The nearby intersection information downloaded here is, for example, information about intersections including non-signalized intersections near the current position of vehicle 2, or information about non-signalized intersections on roads that vehicle 2 travels on frequently, obtained from past driving data of vehicle 2.

Next, in step S22, the processes from step S23 onwards are repeatedly carried out for the vehicle 2 that has been determined to be in motion by the motion determination unit 33 of the driving evaluation device 22.
Next, in step S23, the intersection extraction unit 34 of the driving evaluation device 22 extracts one or more intersections that the traveling vehicle 2 is approaching from the nearby intersection information downloaded in step S21.

Next, in step S24, the passed intersection determination unit 35 of the driving evaluation device 22 determines whether the approaching intersection extracted in step S23 is a likely passed intersection that is within a predetermined distance range (for example, 50 m).
The processes in steps S23 and S24 are updated every time a certain period of time elapses.
Next, in step S25, the distance calculation unit 36 of the driving evaluation device 22 calculates the distance between the intersection determined to be the intersection likely to be passed through and the current position of the vehicle 2.

More specifically, the distance calculation unit 36 calculates the distance d between the latitude and longitude information of an intersection determined to be an intersection that is expected to be passed through and the latitude and longitude information indicating the current position of the vehicle 2, using the above-mentioned relational equation.
Next, in step S26, if the intersection entry determination unit 37 of the driving evaluation device 22 determines that the distance d between the expected intersection to be passed and the current position of the vehicle 2 is longer than 50 m, the process returns to step S23. If the distance d between the expected intersection to be passed and the current position of the vehicle 2 is equal to or less than 50 m and longer than 10 m, the distance calculation in step S25 is repeated every predetermined time (e.g., 1 second) until the distance between the expected intersection to be passed and the current position of the vehicle 2 is within a predetermined distance (e.g., 10 m). Furthermore, if the distance d from the expected intersection to be passed to the current position of the vehicle 2 is within 10 m, the process determines that the vehicle 2 has entered the expected intersection to be passed, and the process proceeds to step S27.

Next, in step S27, the driving evaluation device 22 checks the passing time of the entered intersection and the entered intersection ID.
Here, the checked intersection passing time and intersection ID are used as information including the time when the vehicle 2 is at the shortest distance to the intersection and the center position of the intersection to calculate the approach angle to the intersection in step S29 described later.

Next, in step S28, the GPS error measurement determination unit 38 of the driving evaluation device 22 determines whether there is an error in the position information of the vehicle 2. Specifically, if the GPS receiver 25 does not properly receive GPS signals from the artificial satellite via the antenna 25a at predetermined intervals, the GPS error measurement determination unit 38 determines that there is an error in measurement because, for example, the GPS signal is not properly received due to being blocked by a high-rise building or the like.

If there is a risk that the current position of vehicle 2 has not been received accurately, the processing is terminated without making a decision as to whether or not it is necessary to stop and check for safety at an intersection without a signal.
This makes it possible to avoid erroneous determinations being made due to erroneous position information.

Next, in step S29, the entry angle calculation unit 39 of the driving evaluation device 22 calculates the entry angle of the vehicle 2 into the intersection that the vehicle 2 has entered.
Specifically, as explained in the process of calculating the approach angle into an unsignalized intersection, the approach angle calculation unit 39 calculates the approach angle of vehicle 2 relative to the direction of the road on which vehicle 2 is traveling (the error between the approach angle of the road relative to main road R0 and the approach angle of vehicle 2).

Next, in step S30, it is determined whether the calculated approach angle of the vehicle 2 with respect to the direction of the road is within a predetermined angle range (for example, ±20 degrees).
That is, if the approach angle of the vehicle 2 with respect to the direction of the road is within a predetermined angle range (for example, ±20 degrees), it is determined that the vehicle 2 is approaching an intersection without a signal, and after determining whether or not there is a stop sign RS in step S31 described later, the determination unit 40 determines that it is necessary to stop and check for safety. Then, the flow proceeds to a flow (see FIG. 10) for determining whether or not a safety check has been performed.

On the other hand, if the entry angle of vehicle 2 relative to the direction of the road is not within a specified angle range (for example, ±20 degrees), it is determined that there is a risk that vehicle 2 is not entering an unsignalized intersection, and the vehicle is treated as not being subject to judgment without determining whether it is necessary to stop or check for safety.
Next, in step S31, the stop sign determination unit 41 of the driving evaluation device 22 determines whether the road on which the vehicle 2 is traveling is on the side of a priority road (main road R0) on which a stop sign RS is not installed.

In other words, in this embodiment, even if the judgment unit 40 determines in step S30 that a stop and safety check is required, the presence or absence of a stop sign RS determines whether the vehicle 2 is traveling on the priority road side or the non-priority road side that constitutes the unsignalized intersection.
If the road on which the vehicle is traveling is a priority road, the process proceeds to step S32. On the other hand, if the road is a non-priority road, the determination unit 40 determines that the vehicle needs to stop and check for safety, and stores the intersection ID, location information, and stop intersection passing time data DB. The process then proceeds to a flow for determining whether or not a safety check has been performed (see FIG. 10).

Next, in step S32, the safety check necessity determination unit 42 of the driving evaluation device 22 determines whether or not a safety check is necessary, since it was determined in step S31 that the vehicle 2 is traveling on the priority road side, using information regarding the width of the road on which the vehicle is traveling and whether or not there is a divided road.
That is, in step S32, even if it is determined that the vehicle is traveling on a priority road, it is assumed that a safety check may be necessary depending on the width of the road and whether or not there is a dividing road, and it is determined whether or not the intersection is unsignalized and therefore a safety check should be performed even if there is no need to stop.

Here, if it is determined that a safety check is necessary based on the information on the road width and road dividers,
The passage time, position information, and intersection ID are stored in the stop intersection passage time data DB, and the flow proceeds to a flow for determining whether or not a safety check has been performed (see FIG. 10).
The necessity determination process from step S22 to step S31 is repeatedly performed while the vehicle 2 is traveling.

This makes it possible to easily determine whether vehicle 2 is traveling on a road where there is an obligation to stop or check for safety at an unsignalized intersection, using the acquired map information and the vehicle 2's angle of entry into the unsignalized intersection.
As a result, it is possible to easily determine whether or not the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 is obligated to stop or check for safety at an unsignalized intersection where no traffic lights are installed, without using detailed road links.

<Processing for determining whether to stop and check safety>
In the driving evaluation system 1 of this embodiment, the driving evaluation management device 10 determines whether the driver 3 of the moving vehicle 2 should stop and/or perform a safety check, based on the result of the determination of "required to stop and check safety" received from the in-vehicle device 20 (driving evaluation device 22), in accordance with the flowchart shown in Figure 10.

That is, in this embodiment, when the driving behavior evaluation section 12a in the control unit 12 of the driving evaluation management device 10 determines that a stop and safety check is necessary in the vehicle-mounted device 20, it evaluates the driving behavior of the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 using information about the intersection and information obtained from the vehicle-mounted device 20.
Specifically, in step S31, in order to check the state of the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 that needs to stop and check for safety, the vehicle speed information of the vehicle 2 is acquired using the GPS signal received by the GPS receiver 25.

Next, in step S32, the vehicle speed information acquired in step S31 is used to detect whether the vehicle speed of the vehicle 2 is zero just before the intersection, thereby determining whether the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 has violated the obligation to stop or check for safety.
Next, in step S33, for example, an image including the upper body of the driver 3 captured by a camera 21 mounted on the vehicle 2 that captures the upper body of the driver 3 is used to obtain changes in the direction of the driver's 3's face or gaze just before the vehicle 2 approaches an intersection.

Next, in step S34, based on the information on the direction of the driver's 3's face obtained in step S33, it is determined whether or not to perform a safety check to the left and right, depending on whether the driver's 3's face is moving to the left or right just before the intersection where a safety check is to be performed.
Next, in step S35, the results of the judgments made in steps S32 and S34 are transmitted from the driving evaluation management device 10 to the in-vehicle device 20 and the manager terminal 6.

As a result, the vehicle-mounted device 20 can notify the driver 3 of the evaluation result of the determined driving behavior in real time by voice information or the like via the notification unit 27 mounted on the vehicle 2.
Specifically, when the driving evaluation management device 10 determines that the driver has not stopped or checked for safety before an intersection, the vehicle-mounted unit 20 can issue audio warnings to the driver 3, such as "Please stop", "You are not stopping", or "Please check for safety on both sides".

In addition, the manager's terminal 6 clearly displays the status of stopping and checking for safety at unsignalized intersections where head-on accidents are likely to occur for each driver 3 of the vehicles 2 under management, allowing the manager to recognize the driving behavior trends of each driver 3.
<Acquisition of map information required for evaluation of driving behavior>
In the driving evaluation system 1 of this embodiment, as described above, the in-vehicle device 20 acquires the minimum map information required to determine the need for a stop, safety check, etc., from the memory unit 13 of the driving evaluation management device 10.

Here, the map information acquisition process in step S21 in the flowchart of FIG. 9 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
In step S41, it is determined whether or not the vehicle 2 has departed. If the vehicle 2 has departed, the process proceeds to step S42.
The departure of the vehicle 2 can be detected, for example, by the start of an engine or a motor mounted on the vehicle 2.

Next, in step S42, the position information acquisition unit 31 acquires the current position information of the vehicle 2 based on the GPS signal received by the GPS receiver 25 of the vehicle-mounted device 20 mounted in the vehicle 2.
Next, in step S43, the intersection information acquisition section 32 sets the range of map information to be downloaded (acquired) from the storage unit 13 based on the current position information of the vehicle 2 acquired in step S42.

Specifically, the intersection information acquisition unit 32 acquires information on intersections and roads within a predetermined distance range from the current position of the vehicle 2 .
In addition, the intersection information acquisition unit 32 may acquire only map information around the route from the current position of the vehicle 2 to the destination, for example, by using destination information acquired by the destination information acquisition unit 43 from a navigation device (not shown) installed in the vehicle 2.

Alternatively, the intersection information acquisition unit 32 may acquire only map information around the route on which the vehicle 2 normally travels, for example, by using past driving data of the vehicle 2 stored in the memory unit 22b of the vehicle-mounted device 20 and acquired by the driving data acquisition unit 44.
Next, in step S44, the intersection information acquisition unit 32 determines whether or not there is a difference between the map information stored in the storage unit 22b and the map information set in step S43.

If it is determined that there is a difference, the process proceeds to step S45. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no difference, it is determined that the necessary map information has already been acquired, the process of acquiring map information is terminated, and the process proceeds to step S22 in FIG.
Next, in step S45, since it has been determined in step S44 that there is a difference, only the map information that is the difference is acquired and is overwritten and saved in the map information saved in the memory unit 22b of the vehicle-mounted device 20. Then, the map information acquisition process is terminated, and the process proceeds to step S22 in FIG.

[Other embodiments]
Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible without departing from the gist of the invention.
(A)
In the above embodiment, an example of the present invention has been described as a driving evaluation device 22 that implements the driving evaluation method shown in Figures 9 to 11 and a driving evaluation system 1 that includes the same. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, the present invention may be realized as a driving evaluation program that causes a computer to execute the driving evaluation method shown in FIGS.

(B)
In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the in-vehicle device 20 judges whether or not it is necessary to stop or make a safety check, and based on the judgment result, the driving evaluation management device 10 evaluates the driving behavior of the vehicle 2 passing through an unsignalized intersection where it is judged that a safety check is necessary, such as whether the vehicle 2 stopped temporarily, whether the driver 3 checked to the left and right, etc. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, the vehicle-mounted device may be configured to perform processing ranging from determining whether or not it is necessary to stop or check for safety, to evaluating driving behavior such as whether a vehicle passing through an unsignalized intersection where it has been determined that such a thing is necessary has stopped, or whether the driver has checked to the left and right.

(C)
In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which an image of the upper body of the driver 3 captured by the camera 21 is used to determine whether or not the driver 3 of the vehicle 2 checks to the left and right when passing through an intersection without a signal. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, instead of a camera, a face direction sensor that detects the direction of the driver's face may be used to detect changes in the direction of the driver's face just before an intersection without traffic lights, and determine whether or not the driver has checked to the left and right.

(D)
In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the map information used in the driving evaluation device 22 to determine whether or not there is an obligation to stop the vehicle or to check safety is acquired by downloading it from the storage unit 13 of the driving evaluation management device 10. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, the map information used for the determination may be obtained by downloading from a cloud space, an external server, or the like.

(E)
In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which map information is downloaded and acquired from the storage unit 13 of the driving evaluation management device 10 when the engine (motor) of the vehicle 2 starts and the in-vehicle device 20 starts up. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, the map information may be acquired not only when the vehicle engine (motor) is started, but also repeatedly at predetermined time intervals, or when the vehicle leaves the range of the map information that has already been acquired.

(F)
In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the intersection information acquisition unit 32 acquires information about intersections and roads based on the current position information of the vehicle 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, in addition to information about intersections and roads, other information such as information about traffic lights may be acquired as map information used to evaluate driving behavior.

(G)
In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the intersection information acquisition unit 32 acquires the minimum amount of map information required to evaluate the driving behavior when the vehicle 2 starts moving. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, the minimum amount of map information required for evaluating the driving behavior may be acquired not only when the vehicle departs, but also whenever a predetermined time has elapsed since the vehicle departs.
As a result, even if the current position of the vehicle 2 has moved significantly since the time of departure, the minimum necessary map information can be acquired based on the latest current position information.

(H)
In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the destination information acquisition unit 43 acquires information on the destination of the vehicle 2 from a navigation device (not shown) mounted on the vehicle 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, information on the destination of the day that the driver directly inputs into the vehicle-mounted device may be acquired as destination information.

(I)
In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the driving evaluation device 22 is mounted on a vehicle, but the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, the driving evaluation device may be installed in a PC (Personal Computer) managed by an administrator, and only an alarm unit that issues a warning to the driver based on the results of the driving evaluation may be installed in the vehicle.

(J)
In the above embodiment, passenger cars (including general vehicles, trucks, rental cars, car sharing vehicles, and company cars) are used as examples of vehicles to be evaluated for the driving behavior of a driver of an automobile. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

For example, the target vehicles may be other vehicles such as buses, taxis, bicycles, Segways, etc., in addition to passenger cars.

The driving evaluation device of the present invention has the effect of being able to determine whether or not a driver is obligated to stop or check for safety at an unsignalized intersection where no traffic lights are installed, without using detailed road links, and is therefore widely applicable to devices that evaluate drivers of various vehicles.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Driving evaluation system 2 Vehicle 3 Driver 5 Communication network 6 Manager terminal 10 Driving evaluation management device 11 Communication unit 12 Control unit 12a Driving behavior evaluation unit (driving evaluation unit)
12b Display unit 13 Storage unit (storage device)
13a: Intersection passage data storage unit 13b: Stop intersection information storage unit 13c: Evaluation result storage unit 14: Communication bus 20: Vehicle-mounted device 21: Camera 22: Driving evaluation device (driving evaluation device)
22a control unit 22aa CPU
22ab RAM
22ac ROM
22b Storage unit 22ba Program 22c Input/output I/F
23 Acceleration sensor 24 Angular velocity sensor 25 GPS receiving unit 25a Antenna 26 Communication unit 26a Antenna 27 Notification unit 31 Position information acquisition unit 32 Intersection information acquisition unit (acquisition unit, map information acquisition unit)
33 Driving determination section 34 Intersection extraction section 35 Passed intersection determination section 36 Distance calculation section 37 Intersection entry determination section (approach detection section)
38 GPS erroneous measurement determination unit 39 Approach angle calculation unit (approach angle detection unit)
40 Determination unit 41 Stop sign determination unit 42 Safety confirmation necessity determination unit 43 Destination information acquisition unit 44 Travel data acquisition unit R0 Main road R1 Community road RS Sign

Claims (16)

A driving evaluation device that evaluates driving behavior of a driver who drives a vehicle,
An acquisition unit that acquires information on an intersection where no traffic light is installed;
an entry detection unit that detects the entry of the vehicle into the unsignalized intersection acquired by the acquisition unit;
an entry angle detection unit that detects an entry angle of the vehicle into the unsignalized intersection when the entry detection unit detects the entry of the vehicle into the unsignalized intersection;
a determination unit that determines whether or not the vehicle is required to stop or make a safety check based on a direction of a road where the vehicle is required to stop or make a safety check, which is included in the information about the unsignalized intersection, and the entry angle detected by the entry angle detection unit;
Equipped with
The acquisition unit acquires information about the non-signalized intersection when the vehicle starts traveling.
Driving evaluation device. the determination unit extracts a direction of a road in which there is an obligation to stop or check for safety, using road node information having a stop sign installed at the unsignalized intersection, which is included in the information of the unsignalized intersection;
The driving evaluation device according to claim 1 . The determination unit holds a position of an intersection where a stop sign is present and a direction of the road.
The driving evaluation device according to claim 2 . the determination unit compares a direction of a road on which there is an obligation to stop or check for safety with a traveling direction of the vehicle, and determines that the vehicle is obligated to stop or check for safety when the approach angle with respect to the direction of the road is equal to or smaller than a predetermined angle.
The driving evaluation device according to claim 2 or 3. a location information acquisition unit that acquires current location information of the vehicle;
an intersection extraction unit that extracts information about intersections that are present within a predetermined distance range of the current position of the vehicle acquired by the position information acquisition unit;
Further comprising:
The driving evaluation device according to claim 1 . a distance calculation unit that calculates a distance between the intersection extracted by the intersection extraction unit and current position information of the vehicle,
The entry detection unit determines that the intersection is an intersection into which the vehicle is to enter when the distance calculated by the distance calculation unit becomes equal to or less than a predetermined threshold.
The driving evaluation device according to claim 5 . the determination unit, when the vehicle is traveling on a priority road, determines the necessity of a safety confirmation based on at least one of a width of the road on which the vehicle is traveling and road division information;
The driving evaluation device according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The vehicle further includes a driving evaluation unit that detects whether the vehicle has been stopped or not when the determination unit determines that there is an obligation to stop or check safety, and evaluates the driving behavior of the driver.
The driving evaluation device according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The driving evaluation unit evaluates the driving behavior of the driver based on information acquired from a vehicle speed sensor provided in the vehicle that detects the traveling speed of the vehicle or a face direction sensor that detects the face direction or line of sight of the driver.
The driving evaluation device according to claim 8. The vehicle further includes a notification unit that issues a warning to the driver based on the evaluation of the driving behavior by the driving evaluation unit.
The driving evaluation device according to claim 8 or 9. The acquisition unit acquires information about the non-signalized intersection at which a stop sign is installed.
The driving evaluation device according to any one of claims 1 to 10. The acquisition unit acquires information about the unsignalized intersections within a predetermined distance range from a current position of the vehicle.
The driving evaluation device according to claim 1 . Installed in the vehicle,
The driving evaluation device according to claim 1 . A driving evaluation device according to any one of claims 1 to 13 ,
A storage device for storing information on the non-signalized intersection;
A driving evaluation system equipped with A driving evaluation method for evaluating a driving behavior of a driver who drives a vehicle, comprising:
An acquisition step of acquiring information on an unsignalized intersection where a traffic light is not installed when the vehicle starts traveling ;
an entry detection step of detecting entry of the vehicle into the non-signalized intersection acquired in the acquisition step;
an approach angle detection step of detecting an approach angle of the vehicle into the unsignalized intersection when the approach detection step detects the approach of the vehicle into the unsignalized intersection;
a determination step of determining whether or not the vehicle is required to stop or make a safety check based on a direction of a road where the vehicle is required to stop or make a safety check, which is included in the information on the unsignalized intersection, and the entry angle detected in the entry angle detection step;
A driving evaluation method comprising: A driving evaluation program for evaluating a driving behavior of a driver who drives a vehicle,
An acquisition step of acquiring information on an unsignalized intersection where a traffic light is not installed when the vehicle starts traveling ;
an entry detection step of detecting entry of the vehicle into the non-signalized intersection acquired in the acquisition step;
an approach angle detection step of detecting an approach angle of the vehicle into the unsignalized intersection when the approach detection step detects the approach of the vehicle into the unsignalized intersection;
a determination step of determining whether or not the vehicle is required to stop or make a safety check based on a direction of a road where the vehicle is required to stop or make a safety check, which is included in the information on the unsignalized intersection, and the entry angle detected in the entry angle detection step;
A driving evaluation program that causes a computer to execute a driving evaluation method comprising the steps of:

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