JPH11223674A - Weather condition detecting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To densely detect a weather condition including a sunshine condition in a wide range, in spite of a simple and low-cost structure. SOLUTION: This detecting system includes a mobile station 1 which is formed with a vehicle 11, a navigation device 16b to detect the position of the vehicle 11, a sunshine sensor 12, and a transmitter 16d to transmit vehicle position data detected by the navigation device 16b and illumination data detected by the sunshine sensor 12. Data transmitted from the mobile station 1 is transmitted to a base station 2 which is formed with a receiver 22 to receive the vehicle position data and the illumination data and an analyzer 24 to detect a weather condition in an area, where the mobile station 1 is located, in accordance with the data received by the receiver 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a weather condition detection system capable of detecting dense weather conditions over a wide area without installing a weather measurement device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to accurately detect a weather condition such as a sunshine condition over a wide area, an automatic weather measurement device having a weather detection device such as a sunshine meter is installed at many points.
So-called AMeDAS (Automated), which collects measurement data from this automatic weather measurement device using a communication network.
A system such as Meteorological Data Acquistion System) was required.

[0003]

However, it is not easy to install a large number of automatic weather measurement devices for constructing a system such as AMeDAS. Therefore, the location (area) where measurement data can be obtained is limited,
There has been a problem that it is difficult to grasp dense weather conditions over a wide area.

[0004] Unlike the traveling environment detection transmission system and the road information processing system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-334786, the present invention is not limited to meteorological information from a fixed measurement point, but is the movement of a vehicle or the like. Conventionally, a system in which sensors are provided on a body to obtain a wide range of weather data is known, but this system transmits road information such as a friction coefficient of a road from a plurality of vehicles to a center. This is to predict the frozen state of the road surface. For this reason, information obtained by a plurality of vehicles is limited to the state of the road surface, and weather data such as illuminance is obtained only from fixed measurement points and is not configured to be obtained from vehicles.

Further, as in a mobile multimedia communication system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-225895, a sensor for detecting weather data is provided on a mobile body such as a car, and weather data is transmitted from the mobile body over a wide range. There is a configuration in which the data is transmitted to the center station and this data is stored in the center station. However, there is no specific description on how to use the data stored in the center station.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has a simple and inexpensive configuration which can detect weather conditions including sunshine conditions over a wide range in a dense manner. It aims to provide a system.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, a weather condition detection system (for example, a sunshine condition detection system S described in the embodiment) according to the present invention comprises a mobile station and a base station. The mobile station includes a vehicle, a vehicle position detecting unit (for example, the navigation device 16b according to the embodiment) that detects a position of the vehicle,
A weather detection unit (e.g., the sunshine sensor 1 according to the embodiment) that is disposed on the vehicle and detects the weather at a point where the vehicle is located;
2), and a transmission unit (for example, the transmission device 16d according to the embodiment) configured to transmit the vehicle position data detected by the vehicle position detection unit and the weather data detected by the weather detection unit. I have. Further, the base station includes a receiving unit (for example, the receiving device 22 described in the embodiment) for receiving the vehicle position data and the weather data transmitted from the transmitting unit, and the vehicle position data and the weather data received by the receiving unit. Weather condition detecting means (for example, the analysis device 24 described in the embodiment) for detecting the weather condition of the area where the mobile station is located based on the information.

[0008] According to the weather condition detection system configured as described above, since the mobile station transmits the vehicle position data together with the weather data, the position of the mobile station and the mobile station are located in the base station. Local weather can be detected. Here, the detection of the weather means to detect whether the weather condition (so-called weather) is sunny, cloudy or rainy, and the weather condition detecting means includes the above-described sunshine sensor. In addition, there are rain detection means for directly or indirectly detecting rain (for example, a rain detection sensor of an automatic wiper described in the embodiment, a hygrometer, or an operation switch of a wiper).

In the above-mentioned weather condition detection system, a plurality of mobile stations are provided, and the mobile station is located by the weather condition detection means based on the weather condition of the area where the mobile station is located. It is preferable to estimate the weather condition of a nearby area that is not located and detect a wide-area weather condition. With such a configuration, even when an area where the mobile station is not located occurs when detecting a wide-area weather condition, a blank portion of the detection range does not occur.

In the above-mentioned weather condition detecting system, the illuminance detecting means (for example, the sunshine sensor 12 described in the embodiment) for detecting the illuminance of the sunlight radiated on the vehicle is used as the weather detecting means, and the transmission is performed. Preferably, the weather data transmitted from the means is illuminance data. And
In the illuminance data detected by the illuminance detection unit, the unit of the moving distance of the vehicle (for example, the transmitting device 1 according to the embodiment)
6d is a moving distance that is a unit for transmitting sunshine data, for example, 500 m) or an elapsed time unit (for example, a time that is a unit for transmitting sunshine data by the transmission device 16d according to the embodiment). , The transmission illuminance data which is the illuminance data having the highest illuminance within 22 seconds, for example, is provided (for example, the information storage device 16c described in the embodiment). It is preferable to transmit the transmission illuminance data selected by the above.

With this configuration, even if the illuminance changes in units of moving distance or in units of elapsed time, only the illuminance data with the highest illuminance is transmitted to the base station. In other words, even when the illuminance of sunlight radiated to the vehicle body changes in the same weather due to a change in surrounding conditions or a change in the traveling direction of the vehicle when the vehicle moves, the change in the illuminance is mistaken for a change in the weather. Since it does not occur, an accurate weather condition can be detected.

Further, as the illuminance detecting means, a sunshine sensor for an air conditioner provided in the vehicle, a photographing state detecting means for detecting an aperture amount or a shutter speed of an in-vehicle camera provided in the vehicle (for example, the embodiment) It is preferable to use the imaging state detection sensor described in (1). With such a configuration, sensors provided in the vehicle can be used without separately providing illuminance detection means, so that the weather state detection system can be configured at low cost.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, a sunshine state detection system S, which is an example of a weather state detection system according to the present invention, will be described with reference to FIG. The sunshine state detection system S includes a mobile station 1 configured by a vehicle running on a general road, and a base station 2 installed at a predetermined location. First, the configuration of the mobile station 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

The mobile station 1 includes a vehicle 11 capable of traveling on a general road, a sunshine sensor (weather detecting means) 12 for detecting the illuminance of sunlight radiated on the vehicle 11, and a traveling speed (running speed) of the vehicle 11. A vehicle speed sensor 13 for detecting the distance), a yaw rate sensor 14 for detecting the traveling direction of the vehicle 11,
A GPS receiver 15 for receiving radio waves from a PS satellite and obtaining absolute position information of the vehicle 11;
And a transmission antenna 17. The sunshine sensor 12 detects a change in illuminance of the irradiated sunlight as a change in voltage, and is provided for automatically controlling the temperature in an air conditioner mounted on the vehicle 11. Sunshine sensor (so-called,
"Automatic air conditioner sunshine sensor") is used.

As shown in FIG. 1, the controller 16 comprises:
A / D converter 16a and navigation device 16b
, An information storage device 16c, and a transmission device 16d. The A / D converter 16a includes the sun sensor 12
Is configured to convert a voltage output according to the illuminance outside the vehicle detected by the digital camera into a digital signal. The navigation device 16b is configured to detect the current position of the vehicle 11 based on the relative movement information of the vehicle 11 obtained by the vehicle speed sensor 13 and the yaw rate sensor 14 and the absolute position information obtained by the GPS receiver 15. ing.

The information storage device 16c is an A / D converter 1
6a, the illuminance data converted to a digital signal,
The vehicle position data detected by the navigation device 16b is accumulated, and each data is transmitted to the transmission device 16d at predetermined intervals. Also,
The transmission device 16d is configured to encode the illuminance data (illuminance voltage) and the vehicle position data accumulated by the information accumulation device 16c and transmit the encoded data from the transmission antenna 17.

Here, the A / D conversion of the illuminance voltage in the A / D converter 16a takes a predetermined time (for example,
(1 second). The illuminance data converted into the digital signal is transmitted from the information storage device (data selection means) 16c to the vehicle 11 at a certain distance (for example, 5 km).
00m), the illuminance data accumulated while traveling
A comparison is made for each of the moving distance units, and the maximum illuminance (a detection value output when sunlight is radiated most strongly) in the moving distance unit is transmitted from the transmitting device 16d as transmission illuminance data. The transmission device 16d
The transmission antenna 17 and the transmission antenna 17 do not necessarily have to be separated from each other, but may be integrated.

As described above, the reason why the maximum illuminance within a certain moving distance is used as the transmitted illuminance data is that even in the same sunshine state (weather), the direction and position of the vehicle 11 (for example, the vehicle 11) are different. This is because the illuminance at the sunshine sensor 12 changes depending on whether the object is in the shadow of a building or the like, and the highest illuminance during daytime is considered to be the illuminance data at the point.

Note that the transmission of the transmission illuminance data by the transmission device 16d may not be performed at intervals according to the traveling distance of the vehicle 11 as described above, but may be configured to be transmitted in units of elapsed time. . Here, a case will be described with reference to FIG. 3 in which the transmission illuminance data detected by the sunshine sensor 12 is transmitted every 22 seconds. FIG.
Indicates a change in illuminance (sensor output value (V)) for about 5 minutes from 10:34:30.

The sunshine sensor 12 is configured so that the sensor output value decreases as the illuminance of sunlight increases. Specifically, the sensor output value is set to 3. in a state where sunlight is covered by covering the light receiving part of the sensor.
The sensor output value is set to 9 V and becomes smaller as the illuminance of sunlight shining on the sunshine sensor 12 increases.

For example, from 10:35:44 to 10:35:48, since the sensor output value is 3.9 V, the vehicle is in a state where sunlight does not hit the vehicle due to traveling in a short tunnel or the like. 10:37:08, the sensor output value was 3.45V
Therefore, it can be determined that the outside of the vehicle is sunny and the sunlight sensor 12 has been exposed to strong sunlight. Then, the lowest sensor output value detected within that time is transmitted every 22 seconds, for example,
At 10:37:26, 3.45 V, which is the sensor output value at the maximum illuminance in 10:37:04 to 10:37:26, is transmitted as transmission illuminance data in units of moving distance.

As described above, the transmission illuminance data and the vehicle position data transmitted from the mobile station 1 are received by the base station 2. The base station 2 includes a receiving antenna 21 and a receiving device 22
, A map information storage device 23, and an analysis device (weather state detection means) 24. Then, each data transmitted from the mobile station 1 is received by the receiving device 22 via the receiving antenna 21 provided in the base station 2.
Each of the received data is transmitted to the analysis device 24 together with the map information stored in the map information storage device 23.

The base station 2 is configured to receive data from a plurality of mobile stations 1. That is, each data is received from all the mobile stations 1 located on the map information stored in the map information storage device 23 (moving within the range of the map information). Thereby, the base station 2 can grasp the exact position of the mobile station 1 on the map based on the transmitted vehicle position data, and further, based on the transmission illuminance data transmitted from the mobile station 1. Thus, the sunshine state of the position on the map where the mobile station 1 is located can be detected.

In this manner, the transmitted illuminance data of each position on the map transmitted from the plurality of mobile stations 1 is calculated by the analyzer 24 of the base station 2 in order to determine the sunshine state of each area on the map. Processing (processing so that the transmitted digital signal can be detected as a sunshine state). Here, the "area" as a unit for detecting the sunshine state is a predetermined range (for example, several hundred meters) on the map information.
Four sides). Then, in the analysis device 24, the maximum value of the illuminance data transmitted from the mobile station 1 in the area is determined at a constant interval (for example, every 10 minutes).
And use it as illuminance data in the area.

When a plurality of transmission illuminance data are transmitted from a plurality of mobile stations 1 in the same area, the maximum value of the transmitted illuminance data is used as illuminance information. The reason why the maximum value data is used from among the transmitted transmission illuminance data is that the vehicle 11 is used in the same manner as when the maximum value is selected when transmitting the transmission illuminance data from the mobile station 1. In consideration of the direction, position, etc.

As described above, in the analysis device 24 that has received the transmitted illuminance data transmitted from each region, the transmitted illuminance data transmitted from the mobile station 1 is superimposed on the map data stored in the map information storage device 22. To detect a sunshine state in a desired range. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when trying to detect a sunshine state in a range such as Nakano-ku, Tokyo, transmission illuminance data from all mobile stations 1 located in Nakano-ku, Tokyo is used as a base. It is received by the station 2 and displayed on the map data of Nakano Ward.

Here, in the figure, a sunny area (an area where the sensor output value is low) is configured to be shown in black, and a lightly cloudy area (an area where the sensor output value is slightly high) is shown in gray. When a cloudy or rainy area (area with a low sensor output value) is configured to be displayed in white, the area near Nakano is a sunny area, the outside of the sunny area is a cloudy area, and the outside is cloudy. Or it can be determined that it is raining.

In the sunshine state detection system S configured as described above, a large number of illuminance data can be obtained even from an area where no illuminometer was conventionally installed. The sunshine condition can be grasped over a wide range. Further, even when the mobile station 1 does not exist in the area where the illuminance data is obtained, the sunshine state of the area can be accurately predicted based on the illuminance data of the surrounding area. It can be performed.

That is, the above-mentioned sunshine state detection system S
Does not directly transmit the illuminance data obtained by the mobile station 1 in each area to the base station 2, but processes the illuminance data as appropriate data for each time unit (distance unit) and then transmits the processed data to the base station 2. Also in 2, the received sunshine data is not directly detected as the sunshine state, but is processed into appropriate data and used as the sunshine state. Therefore, since there is no extreme difference in the sunshine state between adjacent areas, the sunshine state of the area is predicted based on the illuminance data of the nearby area even if the illuminance data from the mobile station 1 is not obtained. , The sunshine state of the area as shown in FIG. 4 can be detected.

The above-mentioned sunshine state detection system S
Since a general vehicle 11 is used as the mobile station 1 and a sunshine sensor of an auto air conditioner conventionally provided in the vehicle 11 is used as the sunshine sensor 12,
Many mobile stations 1 can be configured at low cost. Such a sunshine sensor has lower accuracy than a sensor used in an automatic weather measurement device, but data is transmitted from a large number of vehicles 11 as described above, and the data is transmitted illuminance data. 4, it is possible to accurately and densely detect the sunshine state of an area.

In the above embodiment, in order to detect the illuminance of sunlight radiated in the mobile station 1,
Although it is configured using the sunshine sensor 12 of the automatic air conditioner, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration.
For example, some vehicles 11 equipped with an automatic driving system and various information display devices are provided with a vehicle-mounted camera 18 for photographing the front of the vehicle 11 as shown in FIG. Therefore, in such a vehicle 11, a detection sensor for detecting the aperture, shutter speed, and the like of the in-vehicle camera 18 is provided in place of, or in addition to, the sunshine sensor 12 of the auto air conditioner. May be configured.

Further, a sunshine sensor 1 is used as a weather detecting means.
In the case of using No. 2, a map of illuminance data at the time of sunny, cloudy and rainy is prepared, and the detected illuminance data is compared with this map to determine whether it is cloudy or rainy. Is possible, but it is difficult to make an accurate determination of whether or not it is raining. Therefore, instead of the illuminance sensor 12 or the illuminance sensor 12
In addition to the above, instead of directly or indirectly detecting the illuminance of the sunlight radiated to the vehicle 11 as described above, a rainfall detection unit that directly or indirectly detects rainfall is provided to detect the weather. May be configured.

As a direct rain detection means, a rain detection sensor (for example, a rain detection sensor used in an automatic wiper configured to automatically operate the wiper at the time of rain) is used.
A rainfall detection sensor that detects rainfall by detecting the sound of rainfall) and a humidity sensor. Further, as an indirect rainfall detecting means, there is a detection sensor for detecting that the operation switch of the wiper is in an operating state, and when it is detected that the wiper is operating, the rainfall is detected. May be determined, and the weather data may be transmitted.

Further, in the above-mentioned sunshine state detection system S, each data is directly transmitted from the mobile station 1 to the base station 2 directly by radio, but is transmitted via another communication means such as the Internet. Each data may be transmitted from the mobile station 1 to the base station 2.

[0035]

As described above, the weather detection system according to the present invention detects the weather at the point where the vehicle is located by the weather detection means provided on the vehicle capable of traveling on a general road. For this reason, it is possible to detect the weather at many points without installing a device for detecting the weather in advance. Then, since the detected weather data is transmitted to the base station together with the vehicle position data, the base station can easily determine the point where the vehicle is located, and
In addition to being able to grasp accurately, the weather at that point can be grasped accurately. Then, since the weather condition detecting means detects the weather condition of the area where the mobile station is located based on the weather data of each point, the weather condition of the area where the mobile station is located is accurately and densely detected. You can figure out.

In the weather condition detection system according to the present invention, a configuration having a plurality of mobile stations may be used, based on the weather condition of the region where the mobile station is located, in the weather condition of a neighboring area where the mobile station is not located. Is preferably configured to detect a wide-area weather condition by estimating the weather condition. With such a configuration, it is possible to detect a wide-area weather condition, and to detect a blank area of a detection range even when an area where a mobile station is not located occurs when detecting a wide-area weather condition. Will not occur.

In the above-mentioned weather condition detecting system, the illuminance detecting means is used as the weather detecting means, and the illuminance data having the highest illuminance in the moving distance unit or the elapsed time unit of the vehicle among the detected illuminance data is transmitted. It is preferable to provide a data selection means for selecting illuminance data, and to transmit only the transmission illuminance data selected by the data selection means. With such a configuration, even when the illuminance detected due to a change in the traveling direction of the vehicle changes due to a change in the traveling direction of the vehicle, or even when the illuminance detected is changed by entering a building or entering a tunnel when the vehicle moves. Since the change in the illuminance is not erroneously recognized as a change in the weather, an accurate weather state can be detected.

Further, as the illuminance detecting means, it is preferable to use a sunshine sensor for an air conditioner provided in the vehicle, or a photographing state detecting sensor for detecting an aperture amount or a shutter speed of a vehicle-mounted camera provided in the vehicle. . With such a configuration, sensors provided in advance in the vehicle can be used or sensors that can be used in combination with other applications can be used without separately providing illuminance detection means. The state detection system can be configured at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a sunshine state detection system which is an example of a weather state detection system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a vehicle as a mobile station in the sunshine state detection system.

FIG. 3 is a chart showing an example of sunshine data detected by a mobile station in the sunshine state detection system.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a sunshine state created by using the sunshine state detection system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 mobile station 2 base station 11 vehicle 12 sunshine sensor (weather detecting means) 13 vehicle speed sensor 14 yaw rate sensor 15 GPS receiver 16 controller 16a A / D converter 16b navigation device (vehicle position detecting device) 16c information storage device (data selection) Means 16d Transmitting device (transmitting device) 22 Receiving device (receiving device) 23 Map information storage device 24 Analyzing device (weather condition detecting device)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A weather condition detection system comprising a mobile station and a base station, wherein the mobile station is provided in a vehicle, vehicle position detection means for detecting a position of the vehicle, and provided in the vehicle. Weather detecting means for detecting the weather at a point where the vehicle is located, and transmitting means for transmitting vehicle position data detected by the vehicle position detecting means and weather data detected by the weather detecting means. Receiving means for receiving the vehicle position data and weather data transmitted from the transmitting means, and an area where the mobile station is located based on the vehicle position data and weather data received by the receiving means. And a weather condition detecting means for detecting the weather condition. 2. The mobile station, comprising: a plurality of the mobile stations; wherein the weather condition detecting means determines a weather condition of a nearby area where the mobile station is not located based on a weather condition of an area where the mobile station is located. The weather condition detection system according to claim 1, wherein a wide-area weather condition is detected by estimation. 3. The illuminance detection means, wherein the weather detection means is illuminance detection means for detecting illuminance of sunlight radiated on the vehicle, and the weather data transmitted from the transmission means is illuminance data. Data transmission means for selecting transmission illuminance data, which is the illuminance data having the highest illuminance in the unit of travel distance or the elapsed time of the vehicle, among the illuminance data detected by the transmission means, 2. The selected transmission illuminance data is transmitted.
Alternatively, the weather condition detection system according to claim 2. 4. The weather condition detection system according to claim 3, wherein the illuminance detection means is a sunshine sensor for an air conditioner provided in the vehicle. 5. The weather condition detection system according to claim 3, wherein the illuminance detection device is a photographing condition detection device that detects an aperture amount or a shutter speed of a vehicle-mounted camera provided in the vehicle.