Driving evaluation device

Abstract

The invention relates to a driving evaluation device which makes a driver easily accept the determination of dangerous driving. A driving evaluation device that detects and evaluates dangerous driving stores the position and time at which dangerous driving is detected as a dangerous driving position and a dangerous driving time. The weight of dangerous driving is adjusted on the basis of dangerous driving sight information acquired from the outside within a predetermined distance from a dangerous driving position and within a predetermined time from a dangerous driving time. For example, the weight is set such that the weight becomes larger as the age of a dangerous driving eyeviewer is lower, the order of the eyeviewer being pedestrians, bicycle riders, and automobile riders becomes larger, the order of the road being living roads, trunk roads, and expressways according to types of roads becomes larger, and the weight is larger on ordinary days than on rest days. The school time period is longer than other time periods.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to a driving evaluation device, and more specifically, to a driving evaluation device for detecting and evaluating dangerous driving. Background Technology

[0002] Previously, as a driving evaluation device, the following scheme was proposed: obtaining dangerous driving information and driver characteristic information, grouping the dangerous driving information according to the driver's characteristics based on the driver characteristic information, calculating the frequency of dangerous driving as a dangerous driving score for each group based on the dangerous driving information, generating a dangerous driving score distribution for all drivers for each group, deriving an evaluation score by evaluating the score of each driver relative to the dangerous driving score distribution of all drivers, and deriving a converted score as the driver's relative driving evaluation result by converting the evaluation score through a predetermined method (for example, see Patent Document 1).

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2022-054296

[0004] However, in the aforementioned driving evaluation device, since the dangerous driving judgment is based on the on-board equipment, it is difficult for the driver to recognize dangerous driving when the driver does not believe that it poses a danger to the surroundings. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The main purpose of the driving evaluation device disclosed herein is to make it easier for drivers to accept the determination of dangerous driving.

[0006] To achieve the aforementioned main objectives, the driving evaluation device disclosed herein employs the following means.

[0007] The driving evaluation device disclosed herein is a driving evaluation device for detecting and evaluating dangerous driving. Its characteristic is that it stores the location and time of the detected dangerous driving as dangerous driving location and dangerous driving time, and adjusts the weight of the dangerous driving based on dangerous driving witness information obtained from the outside, which is within a specified distance from the dangerous driving location and within a specified time from the dangerous driving time.

[0008] In the driving evaluation device disclosed herein, the location and time of detected dangerous driving are stored as dangerous driving location and dangerous driving time. The weight of dangerous driving is adjusted based on eyewitness information obtained externally, which is within a specified distance from the dangerous driving location and within a specified time from the dangerous driving time. This eyewitness information includes the eyewitness's age, gender, physical characteristics (pedestrian, cyclist, car passenger), road type (public road, main road, highway), day of the week, and time of day. The weight of dangerous driving is adjusted based on this information. By adjusting the weight of dangerous driving based on information from eyewitnesses, drivers can more easily recognize and avoid dangerous driving. The weighting of each item in the dangerous driving witness information can be set as follows: the younger the witness, the higher the weight; the weight increases in the order of witness being a pedestrian, cyclist, and car passenger; the weight increases in the order of road type (public road, main road, highway); the weight increases on weekdays compared to weekends; and the weight increases during school hours compared to other time periods. Furthermore, dangerous driving witness information also includes information related to the driver themselves. Attached Figure Description

[0009] Figure 1 This is a configuration diagram showing a simplified structure of a car 20 equipped with a driving evaluation device as one embodiment of this disclosure.

[0010] Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of the dangerous driving judgment and storage process performed by the main ECU 30.

[0011] Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of a dangerous driving weighted processing performed by the main ECU 30. Detailed Implementation

[0012] Next, the methods (implementation methods) for carrying out this disclosure will be described. Figure 1 This is a configuration diagram showing a simplified structure of a car 20 equipped with a driving evaluation device as one embodiment of this disclosure. As shown, the car 20 of this embodiment includes a drive unit 22, a braking unit (brake device) 24, a steering control unit 26, and an electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as "main ECU") 30. The main ECU 30 corresponds to the driving evaluation device.

[0013] The drive unit 22 is configured to rotate and drive its output shaft 22a. For example, it can be configured to drive a motor, inverter, and battery to make the car 20 an electric vehicle; a motor, automatic transmission, and fuel tank to make the car 20 a conventional engine-powered car; a motor, fuel tank, motor, inverter, and battery to make the car 20 a hybrid vehicle; or a hydrogen tank, fuel cell, motor, and inverter to make the car 20 a fuel cell vehicle. The output shaft 22a of the drive unit 22 is connected to the drive wheels 28a and 28b via a differential gear 27. The drive unit 22 is driven and controlled by an electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as the "drive ECU") 23. The drive ECU 23 is composed of a microcomputer. Signals from various sensors required for operating the drive unit 22 are input to the drive ECU 23. Additionally, various control signals for operating the drive unit 22 are output from the drive ECU 23. The drive ECU 23 calculates the rotational speed N of the output shaft 22a of the drive unit 22 based on the rotational position θ from a rotational position detection sensor (not shown) mounted on the output shaft 22a. The drive ECU 23 communicates with the main ECU 30 via a communication port.

[0014] The braking device 24 is a known hydraulically driven braking device, configured to impart braking force generated by the braking force applied by pressing the brake pedal 51 and braking force generated by hydraulic adjustment to the drive wheels 28a, 28b and driven wheels 28c, 28d. The braking device 24 is driven and controlled by a braking electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as the "brake ECU") 25. The brake ECU 25 is composed of a microcomputer. The brake ECU 25 controls the braking force generated by the braking force applied by the braking device 24 and the braking force generated by hydraulic adjustment. The brake ECU 25 communicates with the main ECU 30 via a communication port.

[0015] The steering control device 26 is mechanically connected to a steering wheel (not shown) and drive wheels 28a and 28b (not shown) via a steering control shaft, and includes an actuator for steering control. The steering control device 26 steers the drive wheels 28a and 28b based on the driver's operation, and drives the actuator based on steering control signals from the main ECU 30, thereby assisting the driver's operation.

[0016] The main ECU 30 is composed of a microcomputer. The main ECU 30 receives inputs such as ignition signals from the ignition switch 40, vehicle speed V from the vehicle speed sensor 41, wheel speeds from the wheel speed sensors 42, acceleration α from the acceleration sensor 43, yaw rate Yr from the yaw rate sensor 44, road slope θr from the slope sensor 45, and steering angle θh from the steering angle sensor 46. Additionally, it receives inputs such as the gear position SP from the gear position sensor 48 (detecting the position of the gear shift lever 47), the accelerator pedal position Acc from the accelerator pedal position sensor 50 (detecting the amount of pedal pressure on the accelerator pedal 49), and the brake pedal position BP from the brake pedal position sensor 52 (detecting the amount of pedal pressure on the brake pedal 51).

[0017] The main ECU 30 outputs control signals to the steering control device 26, display control signals to the display device 58, and communication control signals to the communication device 70. In addition to the drive ECU 23 and brake ECU 25, the main ECU 30 also communicates with the peripheral identification electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as "peripheral identification ECU") 55 and the navigation device 60.

[0018] The perimeter recognition ECU 55 is composed of a microcomputer. The perimeter recognition ECU 55 is input with signals representing information about the vehicle and its surroundings from the perimeter recognition device 56 (e.g., the vehicle's distances D1 and D2 to other vehicles in front and behind, and its position in the lane of the road). Examples of perimeter recognition devices 56 include cameras, millimeter-wave radar, quasi-millimeter-wave radar, infrared lidar, and sonar.

[0019] The navigation device 60 includes a main body 62 with a built-in control unit, a GPS antenna 64 that receives information related to the vehicle's current location, and a display 66. The control unit of the main body 62 has a storage medium (e.g., hard disk, SSD, etc.) storing map information, etc. The map information includes service information (e.g., sightseeing information, parking information, etc.) and road information for each driving section (e.g., between traffic lights, between intersections, etc.) as a database. Road information includes distance information, width information, number of lanes information, region information (urban area, suburbs), category information (general road, highway), gradient information, legal speed, number of traffic lights, turning radius of each curve, etc. The display 66 is configured as a touch panel type display that shows various information such as information related to the vehicle's current location and the planned driving route to the destination, and allows the user to input various instructions. The display 66 can also function as a display device 58. If a destination is set by the user through operation of the display 66, the main body 62 of the navigation device 60 sets a predetermined driving route from the current location of the vehicle to the destination based on the map information stored in the main body 62, the current location of the vehicle and the destination from the GPS antenna 64, and displays the set predetermined driving route on the display 66 for route guidance.

[0020] The main ECU 30 communicates with the information management center 100 via the communication device 70 and obtains various information from the information management center 100. The information management center 100 communicates with multiple other devices 110 and obtains various information from the multiple other devices 110. The other devices 110 can include portable terminals such as smartphones, in-vehicle devices, etc.

[0021] Next, the operation of the car 20 configured in this way will be explained, especially the operation during weighted driving. Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of the dangerous driving judgment and storage process performed by the main ECU 30. Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of the dangerous driving weighted processing performed by the main ECU 30. The dangerous driving judgment storage process is repeatedly executed, and dangerous driving weighted processing is performed when dangerous driving is determined to have occurred during the dangerous driving judgment storage process. The following sections will explain these steps in sequence.

[0022] If dangerous driving determination and storage processing is performed, the main ECU 30 first inputs acceleration α, yaw rate Yr, steering angle θh, etc. (step S100), and performs processing to determine whether dangerous driving has occurred based on the input acceleration α, yaw rate Yr, and steering angle θh (step S110). This determination can be made, for example, when a sudden braking operation with acceleration α below the threshold αref, a sharp turning operation with yaw rate Yr exceeding the threshold Yref, or a sharp steering wheel operation where the change in steering angle θh Δθh is above the threshold θref. Alternatively, dangerous driving can also be determined by parsing data from the peripheral recognition device 56. When dangerous driving is determined to have occurred (step S120), the location and time of the dangerous driving incident are stored together with a weight value of 1 (step S130), and the processing ends. On the other hand, when dangerous driving is determined not to have occurred (step S120), the processing ends.

[0023] If executed Figure 3 If dangerous driving is weighted, the location and time at which dangerous driving is determined to have occurred are input (step S200), and a predetermined time has elapsed since the determination of dangerous driving (step S210). The predetermined time can be 10 minutes or 20 minutes, etc.

[0024] If more than the prescribed time has elapsed, the Information Management Center 100 will obtain information on dangerous driving witnesses who witnessed the dangerous driving within a prescribed distance from the location where it was determined to have occurred and within a prescribed time from the time when it was determined to have occurred (step S220). The dangerous driving witness information includes the location and time of the witnessing, the witness's age, gender, type (pedestrian, cyclist, car passenger), road type (residential road, main road, highway), day of the week, and time of day. This dangerous driving witness information can be received by the Information Management Center 100 from another device 110 via communication. The dangerous driving witness information also includes information from the driver who was determined to have committed dangerous driving.

[0025] Then, it is determined whether dangerous driving witness information can be obtained from the information management center 100 (step S230). If dangerous driving witness information is obtained from the information management center 100, the weight of dangerous driving is changed based on the obtained dangerous driving witness information, and the changed weight is stored (step S240), ending this process. The weight can be set according to each item of dangerous driving witness information, for example: the younger the witness of dangerous driving, the greater the weight; the weight increases in the order of witness being a pedestrian, cyclist, and car passenger; the weight increases in the order of road type: residential road, main road, and expressway; the weight increases on weekdays compared to rest days; and the weight increases during school hours compared to other time periods. In addition, if dangerous driving witness information cannot be obtained from the information management center 100, the weight is not changed.

[0026] In the driving evaluation device described above, the location and time of the determined dangerous driving are stored, and dangerous driving witness information is obtained from the information management center 100, which includes witnesses within a specified distance from the location where dangerous driving was determined and within a specified time from the time of determination. Then, the weight of the dangerous driving is changed based on the obtained dangerous driving witness information, and the changed weight is stored. In this way, by adjusting the weight of dangerous driving based on information from witnesses, it is possible for drivers to more easily accept the determination of dangerous driving. As a result, it is possible to encourage drivers to recognize dangerous driving and avoid it.

[0027] In the vehicle 20 of this embodiment, a drive ECU 23 is used to control the drive unit 22, and a brake ECU 25 is used to control the braking unit 24. However, the main ECU 30 may perform all or part of the functions of the drive ECU 23 and the brake ECU 25.

[0028] The present invention has been described above using embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to such embodiments. It can be implemented in various ways without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0029] This invention can be used in industries such as the manufacturing of driving evaluation devices.

[0030] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures

[0031] 20 - Automobile; 22 - Drive unit; 22a - Output shaft; 23 - Drive unit electronic control unit (drive ECU); 24 - Braking system; 25 - Braking ECU; 26 - Steering control device; 27 - Differential gear; 28a, 28b - Drive wheels; 28c, 28d - Driven wheels; 30 - Main electronic control unit (main ECU); 40 - Ignition switch; 41 - Vehicle speed sensor; 42 - Wheel speed sensor; 43 - Acceleration sensor; 44 - Yaw rate sensor. 45-Slope sensor, 46-Steering angle sensor, 47-Gear shift lever, 48-Gear position sensor, 49-Accelerator pedal, 50-Accelerator pedal position sensor, 51-Brake pedal, 52-Brake pedal position sensor, 55-Surroundings recognition ECU, 56-Surroundings recognition device, 58-Display device, 60-Navigation device, 62-Main body, 64-GPS antenna, 66-Display, 70-Communication device, 100-Information management center, 110-Other devices.

Claims

1. A driving evaluation device for detecting and evaluating dangerous driving, characterized in that, The location and time of detected dangerous driving will be stored as dangerous driving location and dangerous driving time. The weight of the dangerous driving is adjusted based on eyewitness accounts of dangerous driving obtained from external sources within a specified distance from the location of the dangerous driving and within a specified time from the moment of the dangerous driving.

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