Road surface contact avoidance system

Abstract

To provide a road surface contact avoidance system for suppressing the occurrence of contact between a vehicle and a road surface by sharing contact information between vehicles.SOLUTION: A road surface contact avoidance system 1 includes a server apparatus 300 and a plurality of vehicles 100 communicably coupled to the server apparatus 300 via a network 200. The vehicles each include: a road surface contact detection part 113 detecting contact between a bottom portion of an own vehicle and a road surface; a contact information transmission part 115 transmitting contact information to the server apparatus 300; a contact determination part 116 determining whether or not a possibility of the contact between the bottom portion of the own vehicle and the road surface is high based on vehicle information on the own vehicle and vehicle information on the vehicle on which the contact has been detected; and a control part 117 performing control to suppress an occurrence of the contact between the bottom portion of the own vehicle and the road surface when the contact determination part determines that the possibility of the contact is high.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a road contact prevention system. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, from the viewpoint of environmental protection, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles equipped with storage batteries that can be charged from an external power source have become widespread. Generally, storage batteries installed in vehicles are vulnerable to impacts and external stresses. For example, if a strong impact is applied to the battery, a short circuit may occur inside the battery, and in the worst case scenario, smoke or fire may occur. For this reason, in electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles, it is necessary to prevent the occurrence of contact between the bottom of the vehicle, on which the storage battery is installed, and the road surface.

[0003] For example, one technology of this type is disclosed that analyzes road surface shape data obtained from road surface images captured by another vehicle to determine whether the bottom of the vehicle will come into contact with the road surface (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2007-213143 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, with the technology described in Patent Document 1 mentioned above, for example, if road surface shape data changes due to road construction work of a limited duration or the like, and contact actually occurs between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface, there is a problem that there is a risk of the bottom of the vehicle coming into contact with the road surface, because contact information such as vehicle information and position information on the vehicle where the contact occurred cannot be shared.

[0006] Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a road surface contact prevention system that suppresses the occurrence of contact between a vehicle and a road surface by sharing contact information between vehicles. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] Mode 1: One or more embodiments of the present invention are a road surface contact suppression system including a server device and a plurality of vehicles communicatively connected to the server device via a network, the vehicles including a position information acquisition unit that acquires position information of the vehicle itself, a road surface contact detection unit that detects contact between the bottom of the vehicle itself and a road surface, a contact information generation unit that generates contact information linking the position information of the contact point with vehicle information of the vehicle itself, a contact information transmission unit that transmits the contact information to the server device, and a contact information transmission unit that transmits the vehicle information of the vehicle itself and the contact information received from the server device. The present invention proposes a road surface contact prevention system comprising: a contact determination unit that determines whether or not there is a high possibility of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface based on the vehicle information of the vehicle in which the contact was detected, which is included in the vehicle information transmission report; and a control unit that performs control to suppress the occurrence of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface when the contact determination unit determines that there is a high possibility of contact, and the server device comprises a memory unit that stores the contact information received from the contact information transmission unit, and an information transmission unit that transmits the contact information stored in the memory unit to the vehicle.

[0008] Mode 2: One or more embodiments of the present invention propose a road surface contact prevention system, characterized in that the vehicle information includes at least a minimum ground clearance and an overall length.

[0009] Form 3: One or more embodiments of the present invention propose a road surface contact prevention system, characterized in that the vehicle is equipped with a position information transmission unit that transmits the position information of the vehicle to the server device, and the information transmission unit transmits to the vehicle the contact information detected within a predetermined range of the position information received from the position information transmission unit, from the contact information stored in the memory unit.

[0010] Form 4: One or more embodiments of the present invention propose a road surface contact prevention system, characterized in that when the contact determination unit determines that there is a high possibility of contact, the control unit provides information to occupants of the vehicle urging them to avoid the contact point.

[0011] Form 5: One or more embodiments of the present invention propose a road surface contact prevention system in which the vehicle is equipped with a navigation device that calculates a route from a current position to a destination and displays the route to provide route guidance, and a route determination unit that determines whether the contact point is included in the route being guided by the navigation device, and when the contact determination unit determines that there is a high possibility of contact and the route determination unit determines that the contact point is included in the route being guided by the navigation device, the control unit transmits an instruction to the navigation device to calculate a route to the destination that avoids the contact point.

[0012] Mode 6: One or more embodiments of the present invention are a road surface contact suppression system including a server device and a plurality of vehicles communicatively connected to the server device via a network, the vehicle including one or more processors and one or more memories communicatively connected to the one or more processors, the vehicle including a position information acquisition unit that acquires position information of the host vehicle, a road surface contact detection unit that detects contact between the bottom of the host vehicle and a road surface, a contact information generation unit that generates contact information linking the position information of the contact point with vehicle information of the host vehicle, a contact information transmission unit that transmits the contact information to the server device, and a contact information transmission unit that transmits the contact information to the server device. The present invention proposes a road surface contact prevention system including: a contact determination unit that determines whether or not there is a high possibility of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface based on the vehicle information of the vehicle and the vehicle information of the vehicle in which the contact has been detected, which is included in the contact information received from the server device; and a control unit that performs control to suppress the occurrence of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface when the contact determination unit determines that there is a high possibility of contact, wherein the server device is equipped with a memory unit that stores the contact information received from the contact information transmission unit, and an information transmission unit that transmits the contact information stored in the memory unit to the vehicle. Effect of the Invention

[0013] According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of contact between a vehicle and a road surface by sharing contact information between the vehicles. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a road surface contact prevention system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 3 is a diagram showing contact information generated by a contact information generating unit of the vehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 4]1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a server device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of processing of a vehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a processing flow of a server device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of processing of a vehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a road surface contact prevention system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a flow of processing in a vehicle according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] 13 is a diagram showing an undercover installed on the bottom surface of a vehicle of a road surface contact prevention system according to a second modified example of the present invention. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] The road surface contact prevention system according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figs.

[0016] <First embodiment> A road surface contact prevention system 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figs.

[0017] <Configuration of Road Contact Prevention System 1> As shown in FIG. 1, a road surface contact prevention system 1 according to this embodiment includes vehicles 100_1 to 100_N, a network 200, and a server device 300. In the following description, the vehicles 100_1 to 100_N are collectively referred to as "vehicle 100." The vehicle 100 is communicatively connected to a server device 300 via a network 200 . The network 200 may be, for example, the Internet. The configurations of the vehicle 100 and the server device 300 will be described later.

[0018] <Configuration of vehicle 100> As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle 100 includes a processor 110, a memory 120, a communication device 130, and a display unit 140. The configuration of the processor 110 will be described later. The memory 120 includes a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), and the like, which are not shown. The memory 120 stores the control program, map information, various data received from the processor 110, and the like. In this embodiment, the memory 120 pre-stores vehicle information including at least the minimum ground clearance and overall length of the host vehicle. The communication device 130 is, for example, a wireless communication module, and communicates with the server device 300 via the network 200 . The display unit 140 is, for example, a display panel such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL panel, and displays information received from the processor 110.

[0019] <Configuration of the Processor 110> As shown in FIG. 2, the processor 110 is configured to include a location information acquisition unit 111, a location information transmission unit 112, a road surface contact detection unit 113, a contact information generation unit 114, a contact information transmission unit 115, a contact determination unit 116, and a control unit 117. Each unit of the processor 110 and the memory 120 transmit and receive various information via a bus line BL.

[0020] The position information acquisition unit 111 acquires the position information of the vehicle itself. The position information acquisition unit 111 acquires the latitude, longitude, and other information of the current position of the vehicle based on radio waves received from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite. The position information acquisition unit 111 stores the acquired vehicle position information in the memory 120 via the bus line BL.

[0021] The position information transmitting unit 112 transmits the position information of the vehicle to the server device 300 . The position information transmitting unit 112 transmits the position information of the vehicle acquired from the memory 120 to the server device 300 via the communication device 130 and the network 200 .

[0022] The road surface contact detection unit 113 detects contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface. The road surface contact detection unit 113 detects contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface, for example, based on a sensor output of an impact sensor disposed on an undercover or the like of the bottom of the vehicle. The road surface contact detection unit 113 detects contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface when, for example, the sensor output of the impact sensor is greater than a predetermined threshold value. When the road surface contact detection unit 113 detects contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface, it transmits information indicating the detection of the contact via the bus line BL to the contact information generation unit 114 and the control unit 117 described later. It should be noted that the road surface contact detection unit 113 is not limited to the detection method described above as long as it can detect contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface.

[0023] The contact information generating unit 114 generates contact information that links the position information of the contact point where the contact is detected with the vehicle information of the vehicle itself. Here, the vehicle information includes at least the ground clearance and overall length of the host vehicle. When the contact information generating unit 114 receives information indicating that contact has been detected from the road surface contact detecting unit 113, the contact information generating unit 114 obtains the position information of the vehicle from the memory 120 via the bus line BL. The contact information generating unit 114 determines the acquired position information of the vehicle as the position information of the contact point. As shown in FIG. 3, the contact information generating unit 114 generates contact information that links the vehicle information of the vehicle itself acquired from the memory 120 with the position information of the contact point. The vehicle information may further include, for example, the vehicle model name (model name), vehicle width, wheelbase, tread, front overhang, and rear overhang. The contact information generating unit 114 transmits the generated contact information to a contact information transmitting unit 115 (described later) via the bus line BL.

[0024] The contact information transmitting unit 115 transmits the contact information received from the contact information generating unit 114 to the server device 300 . The contact information transmitting unit 115 transmits the contact information received from the contact information generating unit 114 to the server device 300 via the communication device 130 and the network 200 .

[0025] The contact determination unit 116 determines whether or not there is a high possibility of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface based on vehicle information of the vehicle itself and vehicle information of the vehicle in which contact was detected, which is included in the contact information received from the server device 300. When the contact determination unit 116 receives contact information from the server device 300 via the network 200 and the communication device 130, it determines whether or not there is a high possibility of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface based on the vehicle information of the vehicle obtained from the memory 120 and the vehicle information of the vehicle 100 in which contact with the road surface has been detected. Specifically, for example, when the ground clearance of the vehicle itself is lower than the ground clearance of the vehicle 100 in which contact with the road surface has been detected, the contact determination unit 116 determines that there is a high possibility of contact between the bottom of the vehicle itself and the road surface. For example, if the overall length of the vehicle itself is longer than the overall length of the vehicle 100 in which contact with the road surface is detected, the contact determination unit 116 determines that there is a high possibility that the bottom of the vehicle itself will come into contact with the road surface. When the contact determination unit 116 determines that there is a high possibility of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface based on at least one of the determination results based on the minimum ground clearance or the determination result based on the overall length, it transmits the determination result indicating a high possibility of contact and the contact information received from the server device 300 to the control unit 117 described later.

[0026] When the control unit 117 receives a determination result from the contact determination unit 116 indicating that there is a high possibility of contact, the control unit 117 performs control to suppress the occurrence of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface. Specifically, when the control unit 117 receives a determination result from the contact determination unit 116 indicating that there is a high possibility of contact, the control unit 117 notifies the occupants of the vehicle of information encouraging them to avoid passing through the contact point. The control unit 117 causes the display unit 140 to display, for example, text information such as "A point 500 m ahead where the vehicle may come into contact with the road surface has been detected. Please avoid this point while driving", map information showing the location of the contact point, and the like.

[0027] <Configuration of Server Device 300> The configuration of the server device 300 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 4, the server device 300 includes a communication unit 310, a storage unit 320, and an information transmission unit 330.

[0029] The communication unit 310 communicates with the vehicle 100 via the network 200 . In this embodiment, the communication unit 310 transmits the contact information received from the vehicle 100 to the storage unit 320, which will be described later. The communication unit 310 transmits the location information received from the vehicle 100 to the information transmission unit 330, which will be described later. The communication unit 310 transmits the contact information received from the information transmission unit 330 (described later) to the vehicle 100 via the network 200 .

[0030] The storage unit 320 stores the contact information received from the communication unit 310 .

[0031] The information transmitting unit 330 transmits the contact information stored in the storage unit 320 to the vehicle 100 . In this embodiment, the information transmitting unit 330 transmits to the vehicle 100 contact information detected within a predetermined range from the position information received from the vehicle 100, out of the contact information stored in the storage unit 320. Specifically, the information transmitting unit 330 transmits to the communication unit 310 contact information detected within, for example, 1 km from the location information received from the location information transmitting unit 112.

[0032] <Location / contact information transmission process> The process of transmitting the position information and contact information of the vehicle 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 5, the position information transmitting unit 112 transmits the position information of the vehicle to the server device 300 (step S110).

[0034] The control unit 117 determines whether or not the road surface contact detection unit 113 has detected contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface (step S120). When the control unit 117 determines that it has not received information indicating that contact has been detected from the road surface contact detection unit 113 ("NO" in step S120), it returns the process to step S110 and continues the process. On the other hand, when the control unit 117 determines that information indicating that contact has been detected has been received from the road surface contact detection unit 113 ("YES" in step S120), the control unit 117 shifts the process to step S130.

[0035] The contact information generating unit 114 generates contact information (Step S130).

[0036] The contact information transmitting unit 115 transmits the contact information generated in step S130 to the server device 300 (step S140), and ends the process.

[0037] <Processing of the Server Device 300> The process of the server device 300 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 6, the information transmitting unit 330 acquires from the storage unit 320 contact information detected within a predetermined range from the point of the position information received from the vehicle 100 (step S210).

[0039] The information transmitting unit 330 transmits the contact information acquired in step S210 to the communication unit 310 (step S220), and ends the process.

[0040] <Processing of the vehicle 100 when contact information is received> The process of the vehicle 100 when the contact information is received from the server device 300 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0041] As shown in FIG. 7, the contact determination unit 116 determines whether or not there is a high possibility of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface based on the vehicle information included in the contact information received from the server device 300 and the vehicle information of the vehicle stored in the memory 120 (step S310). When the contact determination unit 116 determines that the possibility of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface is not high ("NO" in step S310), it ends the process. On the other hand, if the contact determination unit 116 determines that there is a high possibility of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface ("YES" in step S310), the process proceeds to step S320.

[0042] The control unit 117 causes the display unit 140 to display information encouraging the user to avoid passing through the contact point (step S320), and ends the process.

[0043] <Actions and Effects> As described above, the road surface contact prevention system 1 according to this embodiment includes the server device 300 and the multiple vehicles 100 connected to the server device 300 via the network 200 so as to be able to communicate with each other. Vehicle 100 is equipped with a position information acquisition unit 111 that acquires position information of the vehicle itself, a road surface contact detection unit 113 that detects contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface, a contact information generation unit 114 that generates contact information linking the position information of the contact point with vehicle information of the vehicle itself, a contact information transmission unit 115 that transmits the contact information to server device 300, a contact determination unit 116 that determines whether or not there is a high possibility of contact between the bottom of the vehicle itself and the road surface based on the vehicle information of the vehicle itself and the vehicle information of vehicle 100 in which contact with the road surface has been detected, and a control unit 117 that performs control to suppress the occurrence of contact between the bottom of the vehicle itself and the road surface when contact determination unit 116 determines that there is a high possibility of contact. The server device 300 includes a storage unit 320 that stores the contact information received from the contact information transmission unit 115 , and an information transmission unit 330 that transmits the contact information stored in the storage unit 320 to the vehicle 100 . That is, the server device 300 transmits contact information transmitted from the vehicle 100 that actually made contact with the road surface to the other vehicles 100 connected to the network 200 . This allows the latest contact information to be always shared between vehicles. When the contact determination unit 116 determines that there is a high possibility of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface, the control unit 117 notifies an occupant of the vehicle of information encouraging the occupant to avoid passing through the contact point. As a result, if it is determined that there is a high possibility of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface, a warning can be given to the occupants, thereby preventing contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface.

[0044] The vehicle information mentioned above includes at least the ground clearance and the overall length. This makes it possible to accurately determine the possibility of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface.

[0045] The vehicle 100 of the road surface contact prevention system 1 according to this embodiment includes a position information transmission unit 112 that transmits position information of the vehicle to the server device 300. The information transmitting unit 330 transmits to the vehicle 100 contact information detected within a predetermined range from the position information received from the position information transmitting unit 112, out of the contact information stored in the storage unit 320. That is, the information transmitting unit 330 transmits the contact information to the vehicle 100 approaching the contact point. This allows the vehicle 100 to determine the possibility of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface before passing the contact point, thereby making it possible to prevent contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface.

[0046] <Second embodiment> A road surface contact prevention system 1A according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, since the components having the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment have the same functions, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0047] <Configuration of Road Contact Prevention System 1A> As shown in FIG. 8, a road surface contact prevention system 1A according to this embodiment includes vehicles 100A_1 to 100A_N, a network 200, and a server device 300. In the following description, the vehicles 100A_1 to 100A_N are collectively referred to as "vehicle 100A." The vehicle 100A is connected to a server device 300 via a network 200 so as to be able to communicate with each other.

[0048] <Configuration of vehicle 100A> As shown in FIG. 9, the vehicle 100A includes a processor 110A, a memory 120, a communication device 130, and a navigation device 150. The navigation device 150 will be described later.

[0049] <Configuration of the Processor 110A> As shown in FIG. 9, the processor 110A is configured to include a location information acquisition unit 111, a location information transmission unit 112, a road surface contact detection unit 113, a contact information generation unit 114, a contact information transmission unit 115, a contact determination unit 116, a control unit 117A, and a route determination unit 118. Each unit of the processor 110A and the memory 120 transmit and receive various information via a bus line BL.

[0050] The route determination unit 118 determines whether or not a contact point is included in a route being guided by a navigation device 150, which will be described later. The route determination unit 118 acquires information about the route being guided from the navigation device 150. The route determination unit 118 makes a determination based on the acquired information on the route being guided and the position information of the contact point included in the contact information received from the server device 300. The path determination unit 118 transmits the determination result to a control unit 117A, which will be described later, via the bus line BL.

[0051] When the contact determination unit 116 determines that there is a high possibility of contact and the route determination unit 118 determines that the route being guided by the navigation device 150 includes a contact point, the control unit 117A transmits to the navigation device 150 an instruction to calculate a route to the destination that avoids the contact point. Specifically, when the control unit 117A receives a determination result from the contact determination unit 116 that there is a high possibility of contact, and also receives a determination result from the route determination unit 118 that the route being guided includes a contact point, the control unit 117A transmits location information of the contact point to the navigation device 150. The control unit 117A causes the navigation device 150 to display information that the route has been changed to avoid the contact point. The control unit 117A transmits to the navigation device 150 information such as, for example, "A location has been detected on the route currently being guided where there is a possibility that the bottom of the vehicle may come into contact with the road surface, so guidance will begin along a route that avoids that location." The control unit 117A may cause the navigation device 150 to display the position of the avoided contact point.

[0052] The navigation device 150 calculates a route from the current position to a destination, and displays the calculated route to provide route guidance. In this embodiment, the navigation device 150 transmits information about the route being guided to the route determination unit 118. In this embodiment, when the navigation device 150 receives position information of the contact point from the control unit 117A, it calculates a route to the destination that avoids the contact point, and displays the calculated route to provide route guidance. In this embodiment, the navigation device 150 displays the information received from the control unit 117A.

[0053] <Processing of vehicle 100A when contact information is received> The process of the vehicle 100A when the contact information is received from the server device 300 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0054] As shown in FIG. 10, the contact determination unit 116 determines whether or not there is a high possibility of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface based on the vehicle information included in the contact information received from the server device 300 and the vehicle information of the vehicle stored in the memory 120 (step S410). When the contact determination unit 116 determines that the possibility of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface is not high ("NO" in step S410), it ends the process. On the other hand, when the contact determination unit 116 determines that there is a high possibility of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface ("YES" in step S410), it shifts the process to step S420.

[0055] The route determination unit 118 determines whether or not a contact point that has been determined to have a high possibility of contact is included in the route being guided by the navigation device 150 (step S420). When the route determination unit 118 determines that the route being guided by the navigation device 150 does not include a contact point determined to have a high possibility of contact ("NO" in step S420), the route determination unit 118 ends the process. On the other hand, if the route determination unit 118 determines that the route being guided by the navigation device 150 includes a contact point determined to have a high possibility of contact ("YES" in step S420), the route determination unit 118 transitions to step S430.

[0056] The control unit 117A transmits to the navigation device 150 an instruction to calculate a route to the destination that avoids the contact point (step S430).

[0057] The navigation device 150 starts guiding the calculated route (step S440) and ends the process.

[0058] <Actions and Effects> As described above, the road surface contact prevention system 1A according to this embodiment includes the server device 300 and a plurality of vehicles 100A connected to the server device 300 via the network 200 so as to be able to communicate with each other. The vehicle 100A is equipped with a navigation device 150 that calculates a route from a current position to a destination and displays the calculated route to provide route guidance, and a route determination unit 118 that determines whether the route being guided by the navigation device 150 includes a contact point. When the contact determination unit 116 determines that there is a high possibility of contact and the route determination unit 118 determines that the route being guided by the navigation device 150 includes a contact point, the control unit 117A controls the navigation device 150 to calculate a route to the destination that avoids the contact point. In other words, when vehicle 100A detects that the route being guided includes a contact point where there is a high possibility of the bottom of the vehicle coming into contact with the road surface, it provides guidance to the destination via a route that avoids the contact point. This makes it possible to encourage the occupant to travel along a route to the destination that avoids the contact point, thereby reducing the occurrence of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface.

[0059] <Variation 1> When the vehicle 100 of the road surface contact prevention system 1 according to the present embodiment described above detects a contact point that is likely to cause contact with the bottom of the vehicle, the vehicle 100 warns the occupants by displaying information on the display unit 140 urging them to avoid the contact point, but the vehicle 100 may also warn the occupants by audio. This provides an additional warning to the occupants, thereby reducing the occurrence of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface.

[0060] <Variation 2> The road surface contact detection unit 113 of the vehicle 100 of the road surface contact prevention system 1 of this embodiment described above detects contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface, but it may also be configured to detect the point of contact with the road surface. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 11, when a radiator undercover 510, an engine undercover 520, a left side center floor cover 530 and a right side center floor cover 540 are installed on the underside of vehicle 100, road surface contact detection unit 113 detects contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface and the undercover in contact with the road surface based on the sensor output of the impact sensor arranged on each undercover. Then, the contact information generating unit 114 generates contact information to which information on the minimum ground clearance of the undercover that has come into contact with the road surface, the installation position of the undercover, and the like has been added. This allows more detailed contact information to be shared between vehicles, making it possible to more accurately determine the possibility of contact between the bottom of the vehicle and the road surface.

[0061] <Modification 3> The road surface contact prevention system 1 according to the present embodiment described above transmits contact information shared between the vehicles from the server device 300 to the vehicle 100, but the vehicle 100 may also acquire the contact information from the server device 300. Specifically, for example, the contact determination unit 116 acquires, from the storage unit 320 of the server device 300, contact information detected within a predetermined range from the current position of the vehicle. Then, the contact determination unit 116 determines whether or not there is a high possibility of contact between the bottom of the host vehicle and the road surface, based on the contact information acquired from the storage unit 320 and the vehicle information of the host vehicle. This can reduce the processing load on the server device 300.

[0062] The vehicle 100 of the present invention can be realized by recording the processing of the above-mentioned contact determination unit 116, control unit 117, etc. on a recording medium readable by a computer system, and loading and executing the program recorded on this recording medium into memory. The computer system referred to here includes the OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.

[0063] "Computer system" includes the homepage providing environment (or display environment) if a WWW (World Wide Web) system is used. Furthermore, the above program may be transmitted from a computer system in which the program is stored in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium, or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the "transmission medium" that transmits the program refers to a medium that has a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line.

[0064] The program may be for realizing part of the functions described above. Furthermore, the above-mentioned functions may be realized in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system, that is, a so-called differential file (differential program).

[0065] Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and designs that do not deviate from the gist of the present invention are also included. [Explanation of symbols]

[0066] 1. Road contact prevention system 1A: Road contact prevention system 100;Vehicle 100A; Vehicle 110;Processor 110A; Processor 111;Location information acquisition unit 112: Location information transmission unit 113: Road contact detection unit 114;Contact information generation section 115; Contact information transmission unit 116;Contact determination section 117; Control section 117A; Control section 118: Path determination section 120;Memory 130;Communication equipment 140;Display section 150;Navigation equipment 200;Network 300; Server device 310; Communications Department 320;Memory part 330 Information transmission department

Claims

1. A road surface contact prevention system including a server device and a plurality of vehicles connected to the server device via a network so as to be able to communicate with the server device, The vehicle is A position information acquisition unit that acquires position information of the vehicle itself; a road surface contact detection unit that detects contact between a bottom of the vehicle and a road surface; a contact information generating unit that generates contact information linking the position information of the contact point with vehicle information of the host vehicle; a contact information transmission unit that transmits the contact information to the server device; a contact determination unit that determines whether or not there is a high possibility of contact between a bottom of the vehicle and the road surface based on the vehicle information of the vehicle and the vehicle information of the vehicle in which the contact has been detected, the vehicle information being included in the contact information received from the server device; a control unit that performs control to suppress occurrence of contact between a bottom of the vehicle and the road surface when the contact determination unit determines that the possibility of contact is high; and Equipped with The server device includes: a storage unit that stores the contact information received from the contact information transmission unit; an information transmission unit that transmits the contact information stored in the storage unit to the vehicle; A road surface contact prevention system comprising:

2. 2. The road contact prevention system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle information includes at least a ground clearance and a total length.

3. the vehicle includes a location information transmission unit that transmits the location information of the vehicle to the server device; The road surface contact prevention system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the information transmission unit transmits to the vehicle, among the contact information stored in the memory unit, the contact information detected within a predetermined range from the location information received from the location information transmission unit.

4. The road surface contact prevention system according to claim 3, characterized in that when the contact determination unit determines that there is a high possibility of contact, the control unit notifies an occupant of the vehicle of information encouraging them to avoid the contact point.

5. The vehicle is a navigation device that calculates a route from a current position to a destination and displays the route to provide route guidance; a route determination unit that determines whether the contact point is included in the route being guided by the navigation device; Equipped with The road surface contact prevention system according to claim 3, characterized in that when the contact determination unit determines that the possibility of contact is high and the route determination unit determines that the contact point is included in the route being guided by the navigation device, the control unit transmits an instruction to the navigation device to calculate a route to the destination that avoids the contact point.

6. A road surface contact prevention system including a server device and a plurality of vehicles connected to the server device via a network so as to be able to communicate with the server device, The vehicle is one or more processors; and one or more memories communicatively coupled to the one or more processors; A position information acquisition unit that acquires position information of the vehicle itself; a road surface contact detection unit that detects contact between a bottom of the vehicle and a road surface; a contact information generating unit that generates contact information linking the position information of the contact point with vehicle information of the host vehicle; a contact information transmission unit that transmits the contact information to the server device; a contact determination unit that determines whether or not there is a high possibility of contact between a bottom of the vehicle and the road surface based on the vehicle information of the vehicle and the vehicle information of the vehicle in which the contact has been detected, the vehicle information being included in the contact information received from the server device; a control unit that performs control to suppress occurrence of contact between a bottom of the vehicle and the road surface when the contact determination unit determines that the possibility of contact is high; and Including, The server device includes: a storage unit that stores the contact information received from the contact information transmission unit; an information transmission unit that transmits the contact information stored in the storage unit to the vehicle; A road surface contact prevention system comprising:

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