Vehicle control device and vehicle control method

Abstract

To provide technique which stops on-vehicle function which actuates unnecessarily when washing a vehicle.SOLUTION: A vehicle control device comprises an acquisition part which acquires a pick-up image of an on-vehicle camera or position information of a vehicle and acquires speed of a vehicle, a specification part which specifies that a car washing machine exists in the neighborhood of the vehicle on the basis of the pick-up image or the position information of the vehicle and a determination part which determines to propose transition to car washing mode which stops prescribed on-vehicle function to an operator of the vehicle if speed of the vehicle travels at prescribed vehicle speed or less and moreover it is specified that the car washing machine exists in the neighbor hood of the vehicle by the specification part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle control device and a vehicle control method that suggest to a driver to switch to a car wash mode. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a wiper control method for an automatic wiper system that uses a raindrop sensor to detect weather conditions and automatically control the wiper operation of a vehicle. In this wiper control method, the wiper operation control by the automatic wiper system is stopped when the door mirrors are folded in, so that the wipers will not be operated even if the raindrop sensor detects water droplets. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-70857 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] It is inconvenient to leave it up to the driver to stop the in-vehicle functions when washing the car. In addition, in the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, if the door mirrors are not folded down, the wiper operation control is not stopped, so if the car is washed in a car wash with the door mirrors not folded down, the wipers will operate and interfere with the car wash.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a technique for stopping in-vehicle functions that are operating unnecessarily when washing a car. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, a vehicle control device of one embodiment of the present invention includes an acquisition unit that acquires an image captured by an on-board camera or vehicle position information and acquires the vehicle's speed, an identification unit that identifies the presence of a car wash in the vicinity of the vehicle based on the image captured by the on-board camera or the vehicle's position information, and a decision unit that decides to suggest to the driver of the vehicle that they transition to a car wash mode in which certain on-board functions are stopped when the vehicle is traveling at a speed below a predetermined vehicle speed and the identification unit identifies the presence of a car wash in the vicinity of the vehicle.

[0007] Another aspect of the present invention is a vehicle control method, each step of which is executed by a computer mounted on the vehicle, and includes the steps of acquiring an image captured by an on-board camera or position information of the vehicle and acquiring the speed of the vehicle, identifying the presence of a car wash machine near the vehicle based on the captured image or the position information of the vehicle, and determining to suggest to the driver of the vehicle to switch to a car wash mode in which a predetermined on-board function is stopped when the vehicle is traveling at a speed equal to or lower than a predetermined vehicle speed and the identifying unit identifies the presence of a car wash machine near the vehicle. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, a technique for stopping in-vehicle functions that are unnecessarily operating when washing a car can be provided. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a vehicle approaching a car wash. [Diagram 2] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a transition to a car wash mode. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a vehicle control device. [Figure 4] 4 is a flowchart of a vehicle control process according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a vehicle 10 heading toward a car wash machine 12. The car wash station 14 is equipped with the car wash machine 12 and a fuel dispenser 16. The car wash station 14 shown in Fig. 1 is a gas station, but may be a place dedicated to car washing without the fuel dispenser 16. A fuel dispenser vehicle 18 uses the fuel dispenser 16. The car wash machine 12 is configured in a gate shape, and moves on a pair of rails 12a during the car washing operation.

[0011] Vehicle 10 has arrived at a car wash 14 to be washed. Vehicle 10 may be capable of running under automatic driving control. Vehicle 10', shown by a dashed line, has entered car wash 14 from the road and is in the process of moving in front of car wash machine 12. Vehicle 10 moves slowly in car wash 14. Vehicle 10 moves in front of car wash machine 12 and enters between a pair of rails 12a. The driver remains aboard vehicle 10 as it is washed in car wash machine 12.

[0012] Meanwhile, the functions installed in the vehicle 10 include a function for notifying the presence of objects such as obstacles, and further includes an automatic braking function that detects an object approaching the vehicle 10 and automatically activates the brakes. When the automatic braking function detects an object approaching the vehicle 10, for example, by a clearance sonar, it outputs an alarm inside the vehicle and activates the brakes. When washing the car, the clearance sonar may detect the car wash machine 12 approaching the vehicle 10 and an alarm may be output inside the vehicle, resulting in the driver receiving an unnecessary alarm.

[0013] In addition, the automatic wiper function included in the in-vehicle functions detects raindrops and automatically activates the wiper device. The wiper device is provided at least on the front door and wipes off water and the like. When washing the car, the water for washing the car may be detected as raindrops, and the wiper device may be activated. In this case, the wiper device may hit the brushes of the car wash machine 12, causing a malfunction.

[0014] Although the specifications of the vehicle 10 include instructions on how to stop the automatic wiper function when washing the vehicle, the driver may not be aware of the specifications. Therefore, the vehicle control device of the embodiment suggests to the driver to switch to a car wash mode before washing the vehicle in the car wash machine 12, and urges the driver to stop the automatic brake function, the automatic wiper function, and the like.

[0015] Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining the transition to the car wash mode. Fig. 2 mainly shows the notification unit 20, which is an in-vehicle display. The notification unit 20 includes a speaker and an in-vehicle display. The in-vehicle display is a touch panel type that displays images and allows the driver to input operations.

[0016] The notification unit 20 informs the driver by notification voice 24, "If you want to wash the car, please switch to car wash mode." This notification voice 24 may be repeated multiple times until the driver responds. While outputting this notification voice 24, the notification unit 20 displays "Do you want to switch to car wash mode?" on the in-vehicle display and displays the "Yes" operation button 22a and the "No" operation button 22b. When the driver touches the operation button 22a, the vehicle control device transitions to car wash mode and stops the automatic brake function, automatic wiper function, and the like.

[0017] 3 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the vehicle control device 30. In terms of hardware, each function of the vehicle control device 30 can be configured with a circuit block, memory, and other LSIs, and in terms of software, the functions are realized by system software and application programs loaded into the memory. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that each function of the vehicle control device 30 can be realized in various forms by hardware alone, software alone, or a combination thereof, and is not limited to any one of them.

[0018] The vehicle control device 30 is connected to an on-board camera 32, a communication unit 34, and an on-board sensor 36. The vehicle control device 30 includes an acquisition unit 40, an identification unit 42, a storage unit 44, a determination unit 46, an execution unit 48, and a notification unit 20.

[0019] The on-board camera 32 captures an image of the periphery of the vehicle 10 to generate a captured image. The on-board camera 32 may be composed of a plurality of imaging elements, and may capture images of the front, rear, left, and right directions of the vehicle 10. The on-board camera 32 transmits the captured images to the vehicle control device 30.

[0020] The communication unit 34 receives information indicating the position of the vehicle 10 by using a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The communication unit 34 also receives information indicating the position of the car wash machine 12 from an external server device. The communication unit 34 may be configured with multiple antennas. The communication unit 34 transmits the position information of the vehicle 10 and the position information of the car wash machine 12 to the vehicle control device 30.

[0021] The in-vehicle sensor 36 includes a vehicle speed sensor that detects the speed of the vehicle 10, a touch sensor that detects an operation input by the driver, a microphone that detects a voice input by the driver, etc. The notification unit 20 includes a speaker and an in-vehicle display as shown in FIG.

[0022] The acquisition unit 40 of the vehicle control device 30 acquires captured images from the on-board camera 32. The acquisition unit 40 acquires position information of the vehicle 10 from the communication unit 34, and acquires position information of the car wash machine 12 from the communication unit 34. The acquisition unit 40 acquires the speed of the vehicle 10 from the vehicle speed sensor of the on-board sensor 36, and acquires the driver's input results from the touch panel and microphone of the on-board sensor 36.

[0023] The identification unit 42 identifies that the car wash 12 is located near the vehicle 10 based on the captured image and / or the position information of the vehicle 10. Note that the vicinity of the vehicle 10 may be within a predetermined distance from the vehicle 10. The predetermined distance is set by experiment or the like, and may be set within a range of several meters to 5 meters, for example.

[0024] The identification unit 42 identifies whether an image of the car wash machine 12 is included in the captured image by image processing. The identification unit 42 may identify the car wash machine 12 from the captured image by using a machine learning technique. The identification unit 42 calculates the distance between the car wash machine 12 included in the captured image and the vehicle 10. The identification unit 42 may detect the car wash machine 12 only from the captured image capturing the area in front of the vehicle 10.

[0025] The identification unit 42 may calculate the direction of the car wash machine 12 from the vehicle 10 based on the position of the car wash machine 12 on the captured image. The direction of the car wash machine 12 from the vehicle 10 is used to identify whether the vehicle 10 is heading toward the car wash machine 12, i.e., whether the traveling direction of the vehicle 10 is facing the car wash machine 12. The closer the direction of penetration through the gate of the car wash machine 12 and the front-to-rear direction of the vehicle 10 overlap, the higher the possibility that the vehicle 10 will use the car wash machine 12. This makes it possible to determine whether the vehicle 10 will use the fueling machine 16 or the car wash machine 12.

[0026] The identification unit 42 identifies the car wash machine 12 as being present near the vehicle 10 when the car wash machine 12 included in the captured image is located within a predetermined distance from the vehicle 10. The identification unit 42 may also identify the car wash machine 12 as being present near the vehicle 10 when the car wash machine 12 included in the captured image is located within a predetermined distance from the vehicle 10 and the vehicle 10 is heading toward the car wash machine 12. In this way, the identification unit 42 analyzes the captured image to identify the car wash machine 12 located near the vehicle 10.

[0027] The identification unit 42 identifies that the car wash machine 12 is present near the vehicle 10 based on the position information of the vehicle 10 and the position information of the car wash machine 12 stored in the memory unit 44. The identification unit 42 identifies that the car wash machine 12 is present near the vehicle 10 when the position information of the vehicle 10 and the position information of the car wash machine 12 indicate that they are within a predetermined distance. Using the position information of the vehicle 10 can simplify processing. The identification unit 42 may track the position information of the vehicle 10 to determine whether the vehicle 10 is heading toward the car wash machine 12. The identification unit 42 may identify that the car wash machine 12 is present near the vehicle 10 using both the image captured by the in-vehicle camera 32 and the position information of the vehicle 10.

[0028] When the speed of the vehicle 10 is equal to or lower than a predetermined vehicle speed and the identification unit 42 identifies that the car wash machine 12 is located near the vehicle 10, the decision unit 46 decides to suggest to the driver of the vehicle 10 that the vehicle 10 transition to a car wash mode in which a predetermined in-vehicle function is stopped. The predetermined vehicle speed may be set to, for example, 10 kilometers per hour and used to detect that the vehicle 10 is moving slowly. This is for the vehicle 10 to move slowly when heading to the car wash machine 12. When the vehicle 10 is moving slowly and the car wash machine 12 is located near the vehicle 10, it is highly likely that the vehicle 10 will be washed at the car wash machine 12, so the decision unit 46 suggests to the driver that the vehicle 10 transition to the car wash mode. Before heading to the car wash machine 12, the vehicle 10 is in a normal driving mode and various driving assistance functions are turned on.

[0029] The notification unit 20, in response to the determination result of the determination unit 46, proposes to the driver to switch to the car wash mode, and outputs information on the in-vehicle display to confirm to the driver whether to switch to the car wash mode. As shown in FIG. 2, the notification unit 20 notifies the driver of the proposal of the car wash mode by voice through the speaker, and displays an operation button on the in-vehicle display for obtaining the driver's consent to switch to the car wash mode. In the notification method shown in FIG. 2, a combination of voice and display is used, but this is not limited to this embodiment, and notification may be made only by voice or only by display. In addition, a warning sound or the like may be further combined. In either case, the driver is asked to confirm the switch to the car wash mode. The voice notification may be repeated multiple times until the driver inputs an input in response to the confirmation.

[0030] When the driver inputs "Yes" on the operation button 22a, that is, when the driver inputs an input indicating approval, transition to the car wash mode is initiated. When the driver inputs "No" on the operation button 22b, that is, when the driver inputs an input indicating denial, transition to the car wash mode is not made and the proposal to the driver is terminated. This allows the driver to confirm whether or not to wash the car before transitioning to the car wash mode. The decision unit 46 receives the result of the driver inputting "Yes" on the operation button 22a, decides to transition to the car wash mode, and sends the decision result to the execution unit 48.

[0031] When the execution unit 48 receives an input indicating the driver's consent, the execution unit 48 transitions to the car wash mode. The execution unit 48 completes the transition to the car wash mode by stopping the preset in-vehicle functions. The execution unit 48 can turn on / off the predetermined in-vehicle functions.

[0032] The in-vehicle functions that are stopped in the car wash mode include at least an automatic wiper function that automatically activates the wiper device, and a function that notifies the vehicle 10 of the presence of an object approaching the vehicle 10. The function that notifies the vehicle 10 of the presence of an object approaching the vehicle 10 may be part of the automatic brake function. The function that detects and notifies an object using a clearance sonar also operates for the car wash 12 because it is more difficult for a clearance sonar to distinguish the type of object than a camera. Therefore, the function that detects and notifies an object using a clearance sonar is turned off when the car is washed. Stopping (turning off) the in-vehicle functions may mean simply stopping the control process, but the power of the raindrop sensor in the wiper device and the clearance sonar may also be turned off when the control process is stopped.

[0033] The identification unit 42 identifies that the vehicle 10 is leaving the car wash machine 12 based on the captured image and / or the position information of the vehicle 10. The decision unit 46 decides to transition from the car wash mode to the normal driving mode when it is identified that the vehicle 10 has left the car wash machine 12. In response to the decision result of the decision unit 46, the execution unit 48 turns on a specified in-vehicle function and transitions from the car wash mode to the normal driving mode. The transition from the car wash mode to the normal driving mode does not require confirmation from the driver, and it is sufficient for the notification unit 20 to simply notify that the mode will be transitioned to the normal driving mode.

[0034] 4 is a flowchart of the vehicle control process of the embodiment. The acquisition unit 40 acquires a captured image from the on-board camera 32, position information of the vehicle 10 from the communication unit 34, and the speed of the vehicle 10 from the on-board sensor 36 (S10).

[0035] The determination unit 46 determines whether the vehicle 10 is traveling at a speed equal to or slower than a predetermined speed, i.e., whether the vehicle 10 is moving slowly (S12). If the vehicle 10 is not moving slowly (N in S12), this process ends. If the vehicle 10 is moving slowly (Y in S12), the identification unit 42 identifies whether a car wash 12 is present near the vehicle 10 based on the captured image or the position information of the vehicle 10 (S14).

[0036] When the speed of the vehicle 10 is equal to or lower than a predetermined vehicle speed and it is determined that a car wash machine 12 is present near the vehicle 10, the decision unit 46 decides to suggest to the driver of the vehicle 10 to switch to the car wash mode, and the notification unit 20 notifies the driver according to the decision result (S16). The notification unit 20 suggests to the driver by voice to switch to the car wash mode, while confirming with the driver on the in-vehicle display whether to switch to the car wash mode.

[0037] If the driver does not consent to the transition confirmation (N in S18), this process ends. Cases where the driver does not consent include the driver pressing the "No" operation button 22b and the driver not responding to the proposal for a predetermined period of time or more. If the driver consents to the transition confirmation (Y in S18), the decision unit 46 decides to transition to the car wash mode, and the execution unit 48 executes the transition to the car wash mode in response to the decision result (S20). The execution unit 48 stops specified in-vehicle functions and completes the transition to the car wash mode.

[0038] The present disclosure has been described above based on the embodiments. The present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications such as design changes may be made based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. [Explanation of symbols]

[0039] 10 vehicle, 12 car wash machine, 14 car wash station, 16 fuel tanker, 18 fuel tank vehicle, 20 notification unit, 22a, 22b operation buttons, 24 notification voice, 30 vehicle control device, 32 on-board camera, 34 communication unit, 36 on-board sensor, 40 acquisition unit, 42 identification unit, 44 memory unit, 46 decision unit, 48 execution unit.

Claims

1. An acquisition unit that acquires an image captured by an on-board camera or vehicle position information and acquires the speed of the vehicle; an identification unit that identifies the presence of a car wash machine near the vehicle based on the captured image or position information of the vehicle; A vehicle control device characterized by comprising: a decision unit that decides to suggest to a driver of the vehicle that the vehicle transition to a car wash mode in which certain in-vehicle functions are stopped when the vehicle's speed is below a predetermined vehicle speed and the identification unit identifies that the car wash machine is located near the vehicle.

2. A notification unit that, depending on a result of the determination by the determination unit, suggests to a driver to switch to the car wash mode and asks the driver whether to switch to the car wash mode; The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , further comprising: an execution unit that transitions to the car wash mode when an input indicating consent from a driver is received.

3. 3. The vehicle control device according to claim 2, wherein the in-vehicle functions that are stopped in the car wash mode include at least an automatic wiper function that automatically activates a wiper device, and a function that notifies the driver of the presence of an object approaching the vehicle.

4. A vehicle control method in which each step is executed by a computer mounted on a vehicle, acquiring an image captured by an on-board camera or position information of the vehicle, and acquiring a speed of the vehicle; Identifying that a car wash is present near the vehicle based on the captured image or position information of the vehicle; A vehicle control method comprising: when the speed of the vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined vehicle speed and the identification unit identifies that the car wash is located near the vehicle, deciding to suggest to the driver of the vehicle that the vehicle transition to a car wash mode in which predetermined in-vehicle functions are stopped.

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