KR20190090138A - Method for checking operation of winker and apparatus thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for checking operation of a winker mounted on a vehicle, which comprises the following steps of: receiving an external sound signal through at least one microphone; analyzing the external sound signal to extract characteristic information of the corresponding sound signal; reading characteristic information of a reference sound signal from a memory; and detecting whether the winker mounted on the vehicle is operated based on the characteristic information of the external sound signal and the characteristic information of the reference sound signal.

Description

[0001] METHOD FOR CHECKING OPERATION OF WRINKER AND APPARATUS THEREOF [0002]

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for confirming whether a turn signal lamp operates or not. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for analyzing an acoustic signal input through one or more microphones and confirming whether or not a direction indicator mounted on a vehicle operates.

The Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) uses advanced sensing sensors, GPS, communication equipment, and intelligent video equipment to automatically recognize some situations while driving and to control the vehicle itself, It is a driver assistance system that informs you by sound, light, vibration and so on.

ADAS requires driver involvement with technology prior to Level 4 of the automotive automation phase of the US Road Traffic Safety Administration. ADAS can support driver's safe operation and convenience based on driving information collected through various sensors such as camera, radar, lidar, ultrasonic sensor installed in vehicle.

The details of ADAS include in-vehicle navigation system, adaptive cruise control (ACC), lane departure warning system (LDWS), blind spot detection system (Blind Spot Detection System (BSDS), Collision Avoidance System (CAS), Intelligent Speed Adaptation System (ISAS), Driver Drowsiness Detection System (DDDS), Automatic Parking System System, APS).

Particularly, as shown in FIG. 1, the lane departure warning system (LDWS) recognizes the lane ahead state based on the real-time image photographed through the camera mounted on the front side of the vehicle, It is a system that helps the driver to drive safely by outputting an alarm signal such as a warning light, an alarm sound, a steering wheel vibration, a vehicle seat vibration, The lane departure warning system (LDWS) may generate a lane departure alarm signal only at a predetermined speed or higher.

It is necessary for the lane departure warning system (LDWS) to confirm in real time whether or not the turn signal lamp mounted on the vehicle is operating in order to determine whether or not an alarm signal is output upon lane change. Therefore, a separate communication line must be provided between the ADAS device mounted on the vehicle and the turn signal lamp. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to install such a communication line in the case of a service provider, not a vehicle manufacturer, and the installation cost of the communication line increases.

The present invention is directed to solving the above-mentioned problems and other problems. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for analyzing an acoustic signal inputted through one or more microphones to check whether a turn signal lamp mounted on a vehicle is operated.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for confirming whether a turn signal lamp mounted on a vehicle is operated by using one or more microphones installed on a driver assistance device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for confirming whether a turn signal lamp mounted on a vehicle is operated using one or more microphones installed in a mobile terminal.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for receiving an external acoustic signal, the method comprising: receiving an external acoustic signal through one or more microphones; Analyzing the external acoustic signal and extracting feature information of the acoustic signal; Reading feature information of a reference acoustic signal from a memory; And detecting whether a direction signal installed in the vehicle is operated based on the feature information of the external sound signal and the feature information of the reference sound signal.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for receiving an external sound signal, the method comprising: receiving an external sound signal through one or more microphones; Analyzing the external acoustic signal and extracting feature information of the acoustic signal; A process of reading feature information of a reference acoustic signal from a memory; And detecting whether or not a direction signal installed in the vehicle is operated based on the feature information of the external sound signal and the feature information of the reference sound signal.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sound output apparatus comprising: at least one microphone for receiving an external acoustic signal; A memory for storing information about a reference sound signal corresponding to a sound signal of a directional signal light; And analyzing the external acoustic signal inputted through the microphone to extract feature information of the acoustic signal and comparing the feature information of the external acoustic signal with the feature information of the reference acoustic signal to determine whether the directional signal lamp mounted on the vehicle is operated And a processor for detecting the presence or absence of the turn signal lamp.

A method and apparatus for detecting the presence or absence of a turn signal lamp according to embodiments of the present invention will now be described.

According to at least one of the embodiments of the present invention, the acoustic signal input through one or more microphones is analyzed to check the operation of the turn signal light in real time so that it is difficult to install a separate communication line with the turn signal light mounted on the vehicle It can be solved.

In addition, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to solve the problem of increasing the installation cost of a separate communication line by analyzing the acoustic signal input through one or more microphones and checking the operation of the direction indicator in real time .

However, the method and apparatus for detecting the presence / absence of the turn signal lamp operation according to the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to those described above, and other effects not mentioned can be obtained from the following description And will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

1 illustrates a general lane departure warning system;
2 is a view showing the appearance of a vehicle related to the present invention;
3 is a block diagram for explaining an internal configuration of a vehicle related to the present invention;
4 is a block diagram of an apparatus for detecting a direction indicator operation according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
5 is a block diagram of an apparatus for detecting a direction indicator operation according to another embodiment of the present invention;
6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of detecting a direction indicator operation according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 7 is a diagram showing a feature relating to an acoustic signal of a turn signal lamp; Fig.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to designate identical or similar elements, and redundant description thereof will be omitted. The suffix "module" and " part "for the components used in the following description are given or mixed in consideration of ease of specification, and do not have their own meaning or role. That is, the term 'part' used in the present invention means a hardware component such as software, FPGA or ASIC, and 'part' performs certain roles. However, 'minus' is not limited to software or hardware. The " part " may be configured to be in an addressable storage medium and configured to play back one or more processors.

In the following description of the embodiments of the present invention, a detailed description of related arts will be omitted when it is determined that the gist of the embodiments disclosed herein may be blurred. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. , ≪ / RTI > equivalents, and alternatives.

Terms including ordinals, such as first, second, etc., may be used to describe various elements, but the elements are not limited to these terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

In this specification, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, in this specification, the terms "comprising" or "having ", and the like, specify that the presence of stated features, integers, But do not preclude the presence or addition of other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

The vehicle described herein may be a concept including a car, a motorcycle. Hereinafter, the vehicle will be described mainly with respect to the vehicle. Further, the vehicle described in this specification may be a concept including both an internal combustion engine vehicle having an engine as a power source, a hybrid vehicle having an engine and an electric motor as a power source, an electric vehicle having an electric motor as a power source, and the like .

The present invention proposes a method and apparatus for analyzing an acoustic signal inputted through one or more microphones to confirm whether or not a direction indicator mounted on a vehicle is operating. In addition, the present invention proposes a method and apparatus for confirming whether or not a direction indicator mounted on a vehicle is operated by using a microphone installed in a driver assistance device. Also, the present invention proposes a method and apparatus for confirming whether or not a direction indicator mounted on a vehicle is operated using a microphone installed in a mobile terminal.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

2 is a view showing the appearance of a vehicle related to the present invention.

2, the vehicle 100 includes a tire 10a-10d rotated by a power source, a steering wheel 11 for adjusting the traveling direction of the vehicle 100, a camera (not shown) for photographing the front of the vehicle 100 Head lamps 12a and 12b for illuminating the front at night, direction indicators 13a to 13d for indicating the traveling direction of the vehicle, side mirrors 14a and 14b and various electric units (not shown) can do.

One of the various electrical units mounted in the vehicle 100 is the driver assistance device (or ADAS device). The driver assistance device can generate a peripheral image of the vehicle, detect information in the generated peripheral image, and output a control signal for adjusting the driving direction and the like of the vehicle 100 based on the detected information. In addition, the driver assistance device recognizes the lane state ahead of the vehicle based on the image of the surroundings of the vehicle, and when the vehicle departs from the lane in the state where the turn signal indicator is not operated, an alarm signal such as a warning light, an alarm sound, a steering wheel vibration, Can be output.

On the other hand, the distance between the lowest point of the vehicle body frame and the road surface can be separated by the minimum ground clearance A. Thus, it is possible to prevent the vehicle body from being damaged by an object having a height lower than the minimum ground clearance (A). It is also assumed that the distance B between the front left and right tires 10a and 10b of the vehicle 100 and the distance C between the rear left and right tires 10c and 10d are equal to each other.

3 is a block diagram for explaining an internal configuration of a vehicle related to the present invention.

3, the vehicle 100 includes a communication unit 110, an input unit 120, a sensing unit 130, an output unit 140, a vehicle driving unit 150, a memory 160, a control unit 170, A power section 190, an AVN device 195, 3 is not essential for implementing the vehicle 100 so that the vehicle 100 described herein may have more or fewer components than the components listed above, .

The communication unit 110 may include one or more modules that enable wireless communication between the vehicle 100 and the mobile terminal 20, between the vehicle 100 and the external server 30, or between the vehicle 100 and the other vehicle 40. [ . ≪ / RTI > In addition, the communication unit 110 may include one or more modules that connect the vehicle 100 to one or more networks.

The communication unit 110 includes a broadcast receiving module 111 for receiving broadcast signals, a wireless Internet module 112 for wireless Internet access, a short range communication module 113 for performing short range wireless communication, An optical communication module 115 for performing wireless communication using an optical signal, and the like.

The input unit 120 may include a driving operation unit 121, a camera 122, a microphone 123, and a user input unit 124. The driving operation means 121 receives a user input for driving the vehicle 100. The driving operation means 121 includes a steering input means for receiving an input relating to the traveling direction of the vehicle 100, a steering input means for steering the vehicle 100 with respect to parking (P), forward (D), neutral (N) An acceleration input means for receiving an input for acceleration of the vehicle 100, a brake input means for receiving an input for deceleration of the vehicle 100, and the like.

The camera 122 may include an image sensor and an image processing module. The camera 122 may process still images or moving images obtained by an image sensor (e.g., CMOS or CCD). The image processing module may process the still image or moving image obtained through the image sensor to extract necessary information and transmit the extracted information to the controller 170 or the driver assistance device 197. Meanwhile, the vehicle 100 may include a first camera 122a for photographing a vehicle front image or a vehicle periphery image, and a second camera 122b for photographing an in-vehicle image.

The first camera 122a can acquire images of lanes or obstacles located in front of the vehicle. The second camera 122b can acquire images of the driver's face, eyes, biometric information, and the like.

The microphone (or microphone) 123 can process an external acoustic signal into electrical data. The processed data can be utilized variously according to functions performed in the vehicle 100. The microphone 123 may convert the voice command of the driver into electrical data. The converted electrical data may be transmitted to the controller 170 or the driver assistance device 197.

The user input unit 124 is for receiving information from a user. When information is input through the user input unit 124, the controller 170 can control the operation of the vehicle 100 to correspond to the input information. The user input unit 124 may include a touch-type input unit or a mechanical input unit.

The sensing unit 130 senses a signal related to the running of the vehicle 100 or the like. For this purpose, the sensing unit 130 may include a crash sensor, a steering sensor, a speed sensor, a tilt sensor, a weight sensor, a heading sensor, a yaw sensor, a gyro sensor, Position sensor, vehicle forward / backward sensor, battery sensor, fuel sensor, tire sensor, steering sensor by steering wheel rotation, vehicle internal temperature sensor, internal humidity sensor, ultrasonic sensor, infrared sensor, radar, . ≪ / RTI >

The output unit 140 may include a display unit 141, an acoustic output unit 142, and a haptic output unit 143 for outputting information processed by the control unit 170.

The display unit 141 may display information processed by the controller 170. [ For example, the display unit 141 can display vehicle-related information. Here, the vehicle-related information may include vehicle control information for direct control of the vehicle, or vehicle driving assistance information for a driving guide to the vehicle driver. Further, the vehicle-related information may include vehicle state information indicating the current state of the vehicle or vehicle driving information related to the driving of the vehicle.

The display unit 141 may include a cluster so that the driver can check the vehicle state information or the vehicle driving information while driving. The cluster may be located on a dashboard of the vehicle 100. Meanwhile, according to the embodiment, the display unit 141 may be implemented as a Head Up Display (HUD). When the display unit 141 is implemented as a HUD, information can be output through a transparent display provided on a wind shield.

The sound output unit 142 converts an electric signal from the control unit 170 into an audio signal and outputs the audio signal. For this purpose, the sound output unit 142 may include a speaker or the like.

The haptic output unit 143 generates a tactile output. For example, the haptic output section 143 may operate to vibrate the steering wheel, the seat belt, and the seat so that the driver can recognize the output.

The vehicle driving unit 150 can control the operation of various devices of the vehicle. The vehicle driving unit 150 includes a power source driving unit 151 for performing an electronic control on the vehicle power source, a steering driving unit 152 for performing an electronic control on the steering device, a brake driving unit 153 for performing an electronic control on the brake device, A lamp driving unit 154 for controlling on / off operation of the lamps mounted on the vehicle, and an air conditioning driving unit 155 for performing an electronic control for the air conditioning apparatus. In addition, the vehicle driving unit 150 may include a window driving unit, an airbag driving unit, a sunroof driving unit, a wiper driving unit, and a suspension driving unit.

The lamp driving unit 154 may control turn-on / turn-off operations of at least one lamp disposed inside or outside the vehicle. The lamp driver 154 may include a lighting device. Further, the lamp driving unit 154 can control intensity, direction, etc. of light output from each of the lamps included in the lighting apparatus. For example, the lamp driving unit 154 can perform control on a direction indicating lamp (i.e., turn signal lamp), a head lamp, a brake lamp, and the like.

The memory 160 is electrically connected to the controller 170. The memory 160 may store basic data for the unit, control data for controlling the operation of the unit, and data to be input / output. The memory 160 may be, in hardware, various storage devices such as ROM, RAM, EPROM, flash drive, hard drive, and the like. The memory 160 may store programs for processing or controlling the controller 170 and various data for the overall operation of the vehicle 100. [

The control unit 170 can control the overall operation of each unit in the vehicle 100. [ The control unit 170 may be called an ECU (Electronic Control Unit). The controller 170 may be implemented in hardware as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) ), Controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, and other electronic units for performing other functions.

The interface unit 180 may serve as a path to various kinds of external devices connected to the vehicle 100. For example, the interface unit 180 may include a port that can be connected to the mobile terminal 20, and may be connected to the mobile terminal 20 through the port. In this case, the interface unit 180 can exchange data with the mobile terminal 20.

The power supply unit 190 can supply power necessary for the operation of each component under the control of the control unit 170. [ In particular, the power supply unit 170 can receive power from a battery (not shown) or the like inside the vehicle.

The AVN (Audio Video Navigation) device 195 can exchange data with the control unit 170. [ The control unit 170 may receive navigation information from the AVN apparatus 195 or a separate navigation device (not shown). Here, the navigation information may include set destination information, route information according to the destination, map information related to vehicle driving, or vehicle location information.

In order to improve the safety and convenience of the driver, the driver assistance device 197 recognizes the driving lane from the running image of the vehicle 100 to warn the driver of drowsy driving, neglect of forward gazing and lane departure, Pedestrians, traffic signs, obstacles, and the like, so as to provide status information of the running road for the driver-assisted operation. The driver assistance device 197 includes a camera 122 for capturing a surrounding image, a sensing unit 130 for sensing a surrounding environment, a microphone 123 for receiving a peripheral acoustic signal, an output unit 140 for outputting a warning signal, And the like. In another embodiment, the driver assistance device 197 does not need to interlock with the camera 122, the sensing unit 130, the microphone 123, and the output unit 140 mounted on the vehicle 100, A camera, a sensing unit, a microphone, an output unit, and the like.

The driver assistance device 197 can exchange data with the control unit 170. [ The control signal generated by the driver assistance device 197 may be output to the control unit 170. [ The control unit 170 can control the running direction of the vehicle 100 based on the control signal received by the driver assistance device 197. [

The driver assistance device 197 may provide a lane departure warning function for outputting an alarm signal to alert a driver when a lane departure occurs. In order to provide the lane departure warning function, the driver assistance device 197 needs to check in real time whether the turn signal lamps 13a-13d mounted on the vehicle 100 are operating. Accordingly, the driver assistance device 197 can be provided with a direction indicator lamp motion detection device for detecting whether or not the turn signal lamp is operating. Meanwhile, in another embodiment, the driver assistance device 200 may operate in conjunction with a separate turn signal lamp motion detection device mounted on the vehicle 100. [

On the other hand, when the ADAS function is implemented in the mobile terminal 20 of the driver, the mobile terminal 20 needs to check in real time whether or not the direction indicator lights 13a-13d mounted on the vehicle 100 are operating. Accordingly, the mobile terminal 20 can be provided with a direction indicator operation detecting device for detecting whether or not the turn signal lamp is operating. Meanwhile, in another embodiment, the mobile terminal 20 may operate in conjunction with a separate direction indicator motion detection device mounted on the vehicle 100. [

4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a direction indicator operation detecting apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the direction indicator operation detecting apparatus 200 according to the present invention may include one or more microphones 210, a memory 220, and a processor 230.

The microphone (or microphone) 210 can process an external acoustic signal into electrical data. For example, when the turn signal lamp is operated, the microphone 210 may convert the acoustic signal (i.e., the blink signal) related to the turn signal lamp, which is generated inside the vehicle 100, into electrical data. The converted electrical data may be transferred to the processor 240 or the memory 230. The data transmitted to the processor 240 or the memory 230 may be used for detecting whether the turn signal lamp is operating or not.

The microphone 210 may include an A / D converter (Analog to Digital Converter) for converting an analog sound signal into a digital sound signal.

The memory 220 may store data supporting the function of the turn signal motion detection device 200. [ The memory 220 may store an application program (an application program or an application) driven by the direction indicator operation detecting device 200, data for operation of the direction indicator operation detecting device 200, and instructions.

The memory 220 may temporarily store information on an external sound signal input through the microphone 210. [ The memory 220 may store information about an external acoustic signal input through the microphone 210 and a reference acoustic signal to be compared. Here, the reference acoustic signal is an acoustic signal relating to the turn signal lamp mounted on the vehicle 100. [

For example, the memory 220 may store information about a reference sound signal of the vehicle 100 equipped with a turn signal lamp to be subjected to the operation detection. On the other hand, as another example, the memory 200 may store information on a plurality of different sound signals depending on the vehicle manufacturer and / or the vehicle type. In this case, it is necessary to designate the vehicle manufacturer and / or the vehicle type, and to set the acoustic signal of the turn signal lamp corresponding to the designated vehicle as the reference acoustic signal.

The memory 220 may be a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a solid state disk type, an SDD type (Silicon Disk Drive type), a multimedia card micro type ), Card type memory (e.g., SD or XD memory), random access memory (RAM), static random access memory (SRAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read memory, a programmable read-only memory (PROM), a magnetic memory, a magnetic disk, and / or an optical disk.

The processor 230 may execute an operation associated with an application program stored in the memory 220. [ In addition, the processor 230 can control the overall operation of the turn signal light behavior detection apparatus 200. [

The processor 230 may analyze the magnitude (dB) and frequency characteristics of the external sound signal input through the one or more microphones 210 and extract the feature information of the corresponding sound signal.

When a plurality of external acoustic signals are simultaneously inputted through the microphone 210, the processor 230 analyzes the inputted external acoustic signals, extracts the feature information of each external acoustic signal, To classify a plurality of external acoustic signals. At this time, the processor 230 can classify a plurality of external acoustic signals using known algorithms such as SVM (Support Vector Machine) algorithm, HMM (Hidden Markov Model) algorithm, ANN (Artificial Neural Network) algorithm and the like. This is to select external acoustic signals to be compared with the reference acoustic signal.

The processor 230 may call (or read) information about the reference acoustic signal stored in the memory 220. [ At this time, the information about the reference sound signal may be the feature information of the sound signal related to the turn signal lamp to be detected.

The processor 230 can compare the feature information of the external acoustic signal inputted through the microphone 210 with the feature information of the reference acoustic signal called in the memory to confirm whether the external acoustic signal and the reference acoustic signal match. If it is determined that the external sound signal and the reference sound signal do not coincide with each other, the processor 230 may detect that the direction indicator mounted on the vehicle 100 is not operating. If it is determined that the external sound signal and the reference sound signal match each other, the processor 230 may detect that the direction indicator installed in the vehicle 100 is in operation.

The processor 230 may provide information on the operation of the direction indicator mounted on the vehicle 100 in real time in response to a request from a user or an external device. In one example, the processor 230 may provide information to the driver assistance device 197 or provide information to the mobile terminal 20 about whether the turn signal lamp is operating. The information provided to the driver assistance device 197 or the mobile terminal 20 may be used for various purposes.

5 is a block diagram of a configuration of a direction indicator operation detecting apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, a direction indicator operation detecting apparatus 300 according to another embodiment of the present invention includes at least one microphone 310, a user input unit 320, a communication unit 330, an output unit 340, a memory 350 ) And a processor 360. [ 5 is not essential for implementing the direction indicator operation detecting apparatus 300, the direction indicator operation detecting apparatus 300 described in this specification can be applied to the components listed above Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > and / or < / RTI >

The microphone 310, the memory 350 and the processor 360 of the direction indicator operation detecting apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment are the same as the microphone 210, the memory 220 and the processor 230 of FIG. The detailed description of the components 310, 350, and 360 will be omitted.

The microphone 310 can process an external acoustic signal as electrical data. For example, when the turn signal lamp is operated, the microphone 310 may convert the acoustic signal (i.e., the flicker signal) related to the turn signal lamp generated inside the vehicle 100 into electrical data.

The user input unit 320 is a device for receiving information from a driver (or a user). When information is input through the user input unit 320, the processor 360 may control the operation of the direction indicator operation detecting apparatus 300 so as to correspond to the input information. The user input unit 320 may include a touch-type input unit or a mechanical input unit.

In this embodiment, the user input unit 320 may receive a direction indicator operation detection command from the driver. Also, the user input unit 320 may receive a recording command related to the sound signal of the turn signal lamp from the driver. Also, the user input unit 320 can receive vehicle information (such as the vehicle manufacturer and the type of vehicle) from the driver.

The communication unit 330 can exchange data with a neighboring device in a wired communication manner. The wired communication method may be a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter), SPI (Single Point Injection) communication, USB (Universal Serial Bus) communication, LIN (Local Interconnect Network) communication, CAN (Controller Area Network) communication, Various data communication methods are possible.

The communication unit 330 can exchange data with a neighboring device in a wireless communication manner. As the wireless communication method, various data communication methods such as Bluetooth communication, WiFi communication, WiFi direct communication, APiX communication, NFC communication, Zigbee communication and V2X communication are possible.

In this embodiment, the communication unit 330 can transmit information on whether or not the turn signal lamp is operated by using the wire / wireless communication method.

The output unit 340 is for outputting information processed by the processor 360, and may include a display unit and an audio output unit.

The display unit may display the information processed by the turn signal lamp motion detection device 300. [ The display unit may have a mutual layer structure with the touch sensor or may be integrally formed to realize a touch screen. Such a touch screen may function as a user input unit for providing an input interface between the turn signal operation detecting apparatus 300 and the user, and may provide an output interface between the turn signal operation detecting apparatus 300 and the user.

The display unit can display execution screen information of an application program driven by the turn signal lamp motion detection device 300 or UI (User Interface) and GUI (Graphic User Interface) information according to the execution screen information.

In this embodiment, the display unit may display a user interface screen for recording the sound signal of the turn signal lamp mounted on the vehicle. When the driver records the sound signal of the turn signal lamp, the processor 360 may set the sound signal of the recorded turn signal light to the basic sound signal.

Further, the display unit may display a user interface screen for specifying the vehicle manufacturer and / or the vehicle type. When the driver designates the vehicle manufacturer and / or the vehicle type, the processor 360 may set the acoustic signal of the turn signal lamp corresponding to the designated vehicle among the plurality of acoustic signals stored in the memory 350 as the basic acoustic signal.

The sound output unit converts an electric signal from the processor 360 into an audio signal and outputs the audio signal. To this end, the sound output unit may include a speaker or the like. In this embodiment, the sound output unit can output the sound signal of the direction indicator recorded in the memory 350 according to a user command.

The memory 350 may store information about an external acoustic signal input through the microphone 310 and a reference acoustic signal to be compared. Here, the reference acoustic signal is an acoustic signal relating to the turn signal lamp mounted on the vehicle 100. [

The processor 360 analyzes the magnitude (dB) and frequency characteristics of the external sound signal input through the microphone 310 and extracts feature information of the sound signal. The processor 360 may call information about the reference sound signal stored in the memory 350. [ At this time, the information about the reference sound signal may be the feature information of the sound signal related to the turn signal lamp to be detected.

The processor 360 can compare the external acoustic signal input through the microphone 310 with the reference acoustic signal read from the memory 350 to check whether the directional signal lamp currently mounted on the vehicle 100 is operating.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of detecting a direction indicator operation according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the processors 230 and 360 of the direction indicator operation detecting apparatuses 200 and 300 can check whether an external sound signal is received through one or more microphones (S610).

If it is determined in operation 610 that the external sound signal is not received through the microphone, the processor 230 or 360 may detect that the direction indicator mounted on the vehicle 100 is not operating (S620) .

If it is determined in step 610 that the external sound signal is received through the microphone, the processor 230 or 360 analyzes the size (dB) and / or the frequency characteristic of the external sound signal, The feature information can be extracted (S630).

When a plurality of external acoustic signals are input simultaneously through the microphone, the processor 230, 360 analyzes the characteristics of the inputted external acoustic signals, extracts the feature information of each external acoustic signal, and based on the extracted feature information A plurality of external acoustic signals can be classified. The external sound signals classified by the processors 230 and 360 can be compared with the reference sound signal.

Processors 230 and 360 may call information about the reference sound signal stored in the memory (S640). At this time, the reference acoustic signal may be an acoustic signal of a turn signal lamp to be detected. The acoustic signal of the turn signal lamp may be composed of one acoustic signal (e.g., a drip signal) or an acoustic signal (e.g., a drip signal) in which two or more short acoustic signals are combined.

The processors 230 and 360 compare the feature information of the external acoustic signal inputted through the microphone with the feature information of the reference acoustic signal read out from the memory to check whether the external acoustic signal and the reference acoustic signal coincide with each other (S650).

As a result of step 650, if the external sound signal and the reference sound signal do not coincide with each other, the processors 230 and 360 can sense that the direction indicator mounted on the vehicle 100 is not operating yet (S620 ).

If it is determined in step 650 that the external sound signal and the reference sound signal match each other, the processors 230 and 360 can detect that the direction indicator mounted on the vehicle 100 is in operation (S660 ).

For example, as shown in Fig. 7, the acoustic signal of the turn signal lamp (i.e., the reference acoustic signal) may be composed of two acoustic signals having different frequency characteristics (e.g., a drip signal). That is, the acoustic signal of the turn signal lamp may include a first acoustic signal 710 having a first frequency characteristic and / or a first decibel characteristic and a second acoustic signal 710 having a second frequency characteristic different from the first acoustic signal 710 and / And a second acoustic signal 720 having the same characteristics.

In one embodiment, the processor 230, 360 can recognize the operation of the turn signal lamp by recognizing the acoustic signal of the turn signal lamp as one acoustic signal 730. That is, when the external sound signals input through the microphone and the sound signals 730 of the turn signal light coincide with each other, the processors 230 and 360 can detect that the turn signal light mounted on the vehicle 100 is in operation have.

In another embodiment, the processor 230, 360 divides the sound signal of the turn signal light into two sound signals 710, 720, and determines whether the direction indicator is operated based on the two sound signals 710, Can be detected. That is, when the first and second acoustic signals 710 and 720 constituting the external acoustic signal inputted through the microphone and the acoustic signal of the turn signal lamp are identical to each other, It is possible to detect that the mounted direction indicator is in operation. In this case, since the external acoustic signal must coincide with both of the two acoustic signals 710 and 720, it is possible to more accurately detect whether or not the current direction indicator installed in the vehicle is operated.

Thereafter, the processors 230 and 360 can provide information on whether or not the direction indicator mounted on the vehicle 100 is operating in real time according to a request from a user (driver) or an external device.

As described above, the direction indicator operation detecting method according to the present invention can analyze the acoustic signal inputted through one or more microphones and check whether the turn indicator mounted on the current vehicle is operating in real time. As a result, it is possible to solve the difficulty of installing a separate communication line inside the vehicle in order to detect the operation of the turn signal lamp from the service provider, not the vehicle manufacturer.

The present invention described above can be embodied as computer-readable codes on a medium on which a program is recorded. The computer-readable medium, continue to store executable computer program, or may be temporarily stored for a run or download. In addition, the medium may be one which can be a variety of recording device or storage means of a single or several hardware combined form, is not limited to the medium to be directly connected to any computer system, there distributed to the network. Examples of the medium include a magnetic medium such as a hard disk, a floppy disk and a magnetic tape, an optical recording medium such as CD-ROM and DVD, a magneto-optical medium such as a floptical disk, And program instructions including ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. In addition, the media can be recorded to storage media managed as an example for other media, website, etc. supplied to the app store or other retail distributor of various software applications, and servers. Accordingly, the above description should not be construed in a limiting sense in all respects and should be considered illustrative. The scope of the present invention should be determined by rational interpretation of the appended claims, and all changes within the scope of equivalents of the present invention are included in the scope of the present invention.

100: vehicle 197: driver assistance device
200/300: Direction indicator motion detecting device 210/310: Microphone
220/350: memory 230/360: processor
320: user input unit 330: communication unit
340: Output section

Claims (15)

Receiving an external acoustic signal via one or more microphones;
Analyzing the external acoustic signal and extracting feature information of the acoustic signal;
Reading feature information of a reference acoustic signal from a memory; And
Detecting whether or not a directional signal lamp mounted on a vehicle is operated based on feature information of the external acoustic signal and feature information of the reference acoustic signal. The method according to claim 1,
And the reference sound signal is an acoustic signal of the directional signal light. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein at least one of a magnitude (dB) characteristic and a frequency characteristic of the external acoustic signal is analyzed to extract feature information of the corresponding acoustic signal. The method according to claim 1,
Recording the reference acoustic signal and storing the reference acoustic signal in the memory. 2. The method according to claim 1,
And comparing the feature information of the external acoustic signal with the feature information of the reference acoustic signal and checking whether the external acoustic signal and the reference acoustic signal match with each other based on the comparison result. . 6. The method according to claim 5,
When the external acoustic signal and the reference acoustic signal coincide with each other, detecting that the directional signal lamp mounted on the vehicle is in operation,
And when the external sound signal and the reference sound signal do not coincide with each other, detecting that the directional signal installed in the vehicle is not operating. The method according to claim 1,
When a plurality of external acoustic signals are input through the microphone,
Further comprising the step of analyzing characteristics of the plurality of external acoustic signals to extract feature information of each external acoustic signal and classifying the plurality of external acoustic signals based on the extracted feature information, . 8. The method according to claim 7,
Wherein the comparison means compares the feature information of the classified external acoustic signals with the feature information of the reference acoustic signal and detects whether the turn signal lamp mounted on the vehicle is operated based on the comparison result . The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the reference sound signal comprises a first sound signal having a first frequency characteristic and a second sound signal having a second frequency characteristic different from the first frequency characteristic. 10. The method according to claim 9,
Wherein when the first and second acoustic signals constituting the external acoustic signal and the reference acoustic signal match each other, it is detected that the direction indicator mounted on the vehicle is in an operating state. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising the step of providing information on whether or not the directional signal lamp is operated to an external device. A computer-readable recording medium recording a program for performing each step of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 on a computer. One or more microphones for receiving external acoustic signals;
A memory for storing information about a reference sound signal corresponding to a sound signal of a directional signal light; And
And a controller for analyzing the external acoustic signal inputted through the microphone to extract feature information of the acoustic signal and comparing the feature information of the external acoustic signal with the feature information of the reference acoustic signal, And a processor for detecting the presence or absence of the turn signal lamp. 14. The method of claim 13,
And a communication unit for transmitting information on whether or not the directional signal lamp is operated to an external device. 14. The method of claim 13,
A user input for receiving a recording command for the reference sound signal; And
And an output unit for displaying a user interface screen for recording the reference sound signal.

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