Driving assist system and program

Abstract

To provide a driving assist system that appropriately notifies a driver of traffic regulation information or the like which is announced by each prefectural police station.SOLUTION: A driving assist system 1 includes control means 11 that acquires monitoring schedule information regarding an implementation schedule of a traffic monitoring activity and present information which is information on the present, and implements control of posting notification information, which is based on the present information and the monitoring schedule information, at the notification timing determined based on the monitoring schedule information and the present information. The notification timing encompasses previous situation timing at which the present information is inconsistent with the monitoring schedule information and a situation preceding the traffic monitoring activity is established.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a system for assisting drivers by providing them with information regarding traffic monitoring activities. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there has been known a driving assistance system that stores position information of a target object to be detected and is capable of detecting the position of a vehicle by a GPS. This driving assistance system can issue an alarm to a driver when the position of the vehicle and the position of the target reach a predetermined positional relationship. Examples of targets include a device that measures vehicle speed and a crackdown / checkpoint area. A driving assistance system has been proposed that displays information about the target on a display or outputs an audio alarm when the distance to the target reaches a set distance (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] In many cases, the targets of warning, such as speed measuring devices and checkpoints, are installed in dangerous locations where traffic accidents are likely to occur. By warning the driver of the approach to the target, it is possible to inform the driver of the approach to a dangerous location where traffic accidents are likely to occur, and to encourage safe driving. The driving assistance system configured as described above can motivate the driver to drive safely by warning the driver of the approach to the target, and is a meaningful system for promoting road safety.

[0004] The monitoring locations and monitoring periods of traffic monitoring activities conducted by the police to promote safe driving, such as enforcement and checkpoints using mobile speed cameras, are unspecified and irregular, unlike speed measurement devices installed as infrastructure facilities. For such traffic monitoring activities, it is also a good idea to store locations where traffic monitoring activities have been conducted in the past as landmarks. In this case, when a vehicle approaches the location, information about the traffic monitoring activities can be provided to the driver. Locations where traffic monitoring activities are conducted are often locations where traffic accidents are likely to occur. By issuing an alarm when approaching such locations, it is possible to encourage drivers to drive safely and prevent the occurrence of accidents, etc.

[0005] Police in each prefecture may publish traffic enforcement information regarding traffic monitoring activities scheduled to be carried out within their jurisdiction. The purpose of publishing traffic enforcement information is to prevent drunk driving by publishing the schedule of alcohol checkpoints during periods when opportunities to drink alcohol increase, such as the end of the year. In recent years, driving support systems that obtain and report such traffic enforcement information have been proposed.

[0006] In traffic enforcement information published by police and other authorities in each prefecture, prefectures, municipalities, police jurisdictions, roads, etc. are often designated as target areas for traffic monitoring activities. Some driving support systems that report such traffic enforcement information store traffic enforcement information for each prefecture, while presetting which prefecture's traffic enforcement information to report. For example, when power supply is started by starting the engine, etc., this driving support system reports the public enforcement information of a pre-set prefecture, such as the location of the driver's home. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] JP 2011-22161 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] In a conventional driving assistance system that notifies public traffic control information for the prefecture where the driver's home is located, the public traffic control information for the prefecture, including the location of the driver's home, is notified even if the driver travels to a location far from the driver's home. This driving assistance system notifies all public traffic control information for the prefecture, including traffic monitoring activities carried out at locations or areas far from the driver's home, as long as the location is within the same prefecture as the driver's home. If traffic control information for distant locations that are not familiar to the driver is included, the amount of information to be notified would be excessive, and there would be a risk that important information about traffic monitoring activities carried out near the driver's home would be missed.

[0009] An object of the present invention is to provide a driving support system that appropriately notifies drivers of traffic enforcement information and the like published by the police and other authorities in each prefecture. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] One aspect of the present invention is a driving assistance system that notifies information to assist driving of a vehicle, the system comprising: acquiring monitoring schedule information related to a schedule for carrying out traffic monitoring activities; and acquiring current information related to the present; At a notification timing determined based on the monitoring schedule information and the current information, a control unit that executes control to notify information (referred to as notification information) based on the current information and the monitoring schedule information, The driving assistance system includes a timing for the notification when the current information does not match the monitoring schedule information and when a situation (called a pre-condition) is set as a pre-condition for traffic monitoring activity (1).

[0011] One aspect of the present invention is a driving assistance program for causing a computer to realize the functions of the driving assistance system (18). Effect of the Invention

[0012] The driving assistance system according to the present invention issues notification information based on the current information and the monitoring schedule information at a notification timing determined based on the current information and the monitoring schedule information. This driving assistance system does not issue the monitoring schedule information as it is, but issues notification information based on the current information and the monitoring schedule information. For example, notification information based on the current information reflecting driving conditions such as the current position, the current time, and the vehicle speed can be useful information for the driver who is the target of the notification.

[0013] The notification timing includes a timing of the pre-condition set as a pre-condition for a traffic monitoring activity when the current information does not match the monitoring schedule information. By setting the timing of the pre-condition as the notification timing, the notification information can be notified to the driver to be notified at an appropriate timing. If the notification information is notified at such a timing, for example, in a pre-condition where the current information does not match the monitoring schedule information, the driver's attention can be directed to a traffic monitoring activity that may be related to the driver even though it is not currently being carried out, and the driver can be motivated to drive safely.

[0014] On the other hand, when such notification information is provided only based on the prior situation, it is possible to avoid the presentation of information that is hardly relevant to the driver. By avoiding the notification of information that is hardly relevant in this way and suppressing the amount of information to be notified, it is possible to maintain a high level of attention of the driver to the information to be notified. By maintaining a high level of attention to the notification information, it is possible to prevent the driver from missing the notification information, and it is possible to make the driver or the like recognize the notification information with high certainty. It is possible to improve the notification effect of the notification information, and it is possible to improve awareness of safe driving with high certainty.

[0015] In this way, the driving assistance system according to the present invention is a system that can appropriately inform the driver of information based on surveillance schedule information such as traffic enforcement information published by the police of each prefecture.

[0016] In the present invention, the meaning of the current information not matching the monitoring schedule information may be that the situation specified by the current information does not correspond to the target of the traffic monitoring activity specified by the monitoring schedule information. The current information may not match the monitoring schedule information, for example, when the current date specified by the current information is too far from the monitoring period of the traffic monitoring activity specified by the monitoring schedule information, when the current location specified by the current information is too far from the monitoring point where the traffic monitoring activity specified by the monitoring schedule information is performed, or when the current time specified by the current information is too far from the implementation time period of the traffic monitoring activity specified by the monitoring schedule information.

[0017] In a driving assistance system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the current information includes driving information that indicates a vehicle status or a status around the vehicle (2). Examples of driving information that indicates the vehicle status include vehicle information such as vehicle speed, acceleration, turn signal (directional indicator) operation information, seat belt fastening information, etc. The vehicle information may further include various vehicle information acquired via an OBD connector provided on the vehicle side in accordance with the OBD (On-board Diagnostics)-II (II is the Roman numeral "2"; hereinafter referred to as "OBD") standard, which is a vehicle inspection standard.

[0018] For example, a situation where a vehicle is going at a high speed can be judged as a pre-event situation for traffic monitoring activities such as speed enforcement. For example, by issuing notification information based on monitoring schedule information for past speed enforcement by mobile speed cameras or the like, the driver can be made aware of the speed limit and safe driving that adheres to the speed limit can be encouraged. For example, a situation where a seat belt is not fastened can be judged as a pre-event situation for traffic monitoring activities such as checkpoints. By issuing notification information based on monitoring schedule information for past traffic safety weeks and checkpoints, the driver can be encouraged to fasten his or her seat belt.

[0019] Driving information that indicates the situation around the vehicle includes various types of information, such as information that a vehicle is traveling ahead, that a vehicle is approaching from behind, that a vehicle is traveling parallel to the vehicle, information that the traffic light ahead is red, that there is a pedestrian ahead, that there is a pedestrian ahead, information that it has become dark as evening approaches, information that it has started to rain, etc. This information can be acquired by detection sensors such as millimeter wave radar, laser radar, ultrasonic sonar, imaging camera, raindrop sensor, illuminance sensor, infrared sensor, etc.

[0020] In a driving assistance system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the monitoring schedule information includes, in addition to first monitoring schedule information in which a monitoring period during which traffic monitoring activities are to be carried out is set in the future, the monitoring schedule information includes second monitoring schedule information in which a monitoring period during which traffic monitoring activities are to be carried out is set in the past, and In the control means, a situation having a predetermined relevance to the current information is set as the prior situation related to the second monitoring schedule information (3).

[0021] For example, one of the purposes for which the police and other organizations publicize the schedule of traffic monitoring activities is to raise awareness of traffic safety. By announcing the second monitoring schedule information on past traffic monitoring activities, it is possible to raise drivers' awareness of safe driving by effectively utilizing not only the scheduled traffic monitoring activities but also the past traffic monitoring activities.

[0022] For example, if the traffic monitoring activity is seat belt enforcement, the situation relevant to the current information may be the situation when information specifying engine start is acquired as the current information, or the situation after a predetermined time has elapsed that is expected to elapse between starting the engine and starting driving (e.g., 1 minute in summer, 5 minutes in winter when warming up is required, etc.). For example, if the traffic monitoring activity is drinking control, the situation relevant to the current information may be the situation when information indicating driving in a direction away from the downtown area is acquired as the current information together with the current time after 6 p.m. For example, if the traffic monitoring activity is intersection-related enforcement, the situation relevant to the current information may be the situation when information indicating stopping at an intersection is acquired as the current information.

[0023] In a preferred embodiment of the driving assistance system of the present invention, the monitoring schedule information includes information regarding a monitoring period during which a traffic monitoring activity is to be carried out, while information regarding a current date and time is acquired as the current information; The prior situation is a situation in which the condition of temporal proximity is satisfied, that is, the current time falls within a predetermined time range excluding the monitoring period during which the traffic monitoring activity is carried out (4).

[0024] The predetermined time range may be a future time range based on the monitoring period. The predetermined time range may be an earlier time range based on the monitoring period. The current date and time may belong to a time range later than the monitoring period, for example, when the monitoring period has already ended and is in the past. The current date and time may belong to a time range earlier than the monitoring period, for example, when the monitoring period is a future period later than the present and the traffic monitoring activity has not yet been carried out.

[0025] In a driving assistance system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the monitoring schedule information includes, in addition to first monitoring schedule information in which a monitoring period during which traffic monitoring activities are to be carried out is set in the future, the monitoring schedule information includes second monitoring schedule information in which a monitoring period during which traffic monitoring activities are to be carried out is set in the past, and The predetermined time range for the first monitoring schedule information is set to a time range going back from the monitoring period, As the predetermined time range for the second monitoring schedule information, a range on the elapsed time side for the monitoring period is set (5).

[0026] By notifying the driver of notification information based on the second monitoring schedule information regarding past traffic monitoring activities in addition to the first monitoring schedule information, the driver's awareness of safe driving can be enhanced by utilizing past traffic monitoring activities. In this case, although notifying the driver of information regarding past traffic monitoring activities that are not related to the driver is not very effective, if the information is provided under a pre-existing situation related to the driver, the driver's awareness of safe driving can be enhanced by the notification.

[0027] In a preferred embodiment of the driving assistance system of the present invention, the predetermined time range may be set to a different range for each type of traffic monitoring activity (6). For example, it is advisable to set a longer range for traffic monitoring activities that attract a high level of interest from drivers, such as speed enforcement, while setting a shorter range for general traffic monitoring activities, such as road safety campaigns.

[0028] In a driving assistance system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the monitoring schedule information includes location information indicating a monitoring point or monitoring area where a traffic monitoring activity is to be carried out, The prior situation is a situation in which the current position of the vehicle, which is one of the current information, does not match the monitoring point or the monitoring area, but the condition of locational proximity is satisfied, that is, the current position is within a predetermined locational range of the monitoring point or the monitoring area (7).

[0029] When the current position is outside the monitoring point or monitoring area, the above-mentioned pre-conditions can be determined, and thus the notification information can be notified. If the notification information is notified under pre-conditions where such spatial proximity is satisfied, it becomes possible to notify the driver at an early stage when there is a possibility of approaching the monitoring point of the traffic monitoring activity, and it becomes possible to raise the driver's awareness of safe driving at an early stage. If the notification is given at an early stage, it is possible to prevent the driver from missing the notification information, and it is possible to make the driver aware of it with a high degree of certainty.

[0030] In a preferred embodiment of the driving assistance system of the present invention, area information representing a partitioned area into which land is partitioned is stored, The predetermined positional range is not set to a divided area that includes the monitoring point or monitoring area, but to at least one of other divided areas adjacent to the divided area (8). In this case, a positional range for judging the advance situation can be set with the divided area as a unit. The advance situation is not targeted for the divided area including the monitoring point, but for other adjacent divided areas. The divided area can be set to various areas such as prefectures, cities, towns, villages, and areas under the jurisdiction of each prefecture.

[0031] In a preferred embodiment of the driving assistance system of the present invention, route information indicating routes that the vehicle can travel is used to identify routes that pass through the monitoring points or routes whose parts belong to the monitoring area, and the identified routes are set as the predetermined location range (9). By setting a route that passes through a monitoring point or a route that is partially within a monitoring area as the specified location range, it becomes possible to notify a driver driving along that route at an early stage of a distant location.

[0032] In a preferred embodiment of the driving assistance system of the present invention, link information indicating the connection relationship between different routes is used to identify routes that pass through the monitoring point or routes whose parts belong to the monitoring area, as well as other routes that connect to the relevant routes, and these are set as the predetermined location range (10). By setting a route that passes through the monitoring point or a route whose part belongs to the monitoring area, as well as another route that connects to the route, it becomes possible to notify at an early stage of the possibility of entering a route that passes through the monitoring point.

[0033] As the predetermined positional range, for example, a route calculated by a route calculation function of a navigation device or the like that passes through the monitoring point or a route that partly belongs to the monitoring area may be set. The route calculated by the route calculation function is a route that is highly likely to be traveled thereafter. If this route is set as the predetermined positional range, if there is a monitoring point or the like on the route or if the vehicle passes through a monitoring area, it becomes possible to execute a notification at an early stage when the vehicle is located far away.

[0034] In a driving assistance system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, different conditions are set for each type of traffic monitoring activity as the pre-conditions (11). For example, for seat belt enforcement, the pre-condition can be set to when the ignition is on, and for speed enforcement, the pre-condition can be set to when the vehicle speed exceeds a predetermined speed, and so on. It is also possible to change the pre-condition settings for each type of traffic monitoring activity.

[0035] In a driving assistance system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, part of the current information is information acquired by a detection sensor having a detection area facing the outside or the inside of the vehicle (12). Examples of detection sensors include occupant sensors that detect occupants inside the vehicle, on-board cameras that capture images of the inside and outside of the vehicle, and radar devices and sonar that monitor the front and surrounding areas.

[0036] In a driving assistance system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the notification information is notified in a different manner depending on whether the notification is regarding a traffic monitoring activity that is about to be carried out or regarding a traffic monitoring activity that has already been carried out (13). In a preferred embodiment of the driving assistance system of the present invention, the manner in which the notification information is notified varies depending on whether the notification is regarding a traffic monitoring activity that is currently being carried out or a traffic monitoring activity that is scheduled to be carried out or has already been carried out (14). In these cases, the type of notification information can be immediately determined according to the notification mode, and notification that is easy for the driver to understand can be provided. The notification information can be recognized with a high degree of certainty even while driving, and missed notification information can be reduced.

[0037] A driving assistance system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a collection means (15) for collecting information regarding traffic monitoring activity schedules that are electronically published via a communication line and generating the monitoring schedule information. By automatically generating the monitoring schedule information, the cost for generating the monitoring schedule information can be reduced.

[0038] A driving assistance system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a computer device including the collection means, an in-vehicle device including the control means; The vehicle-mounted device utilizes the monitoring schedule information generated by the computer device (16). The monitoring schedule information generated by the computer device can be input to an in-vehicle device via a storage medium such as a memory card, or via wireless communication such as WiFi or Bluetooth.

[0039] A driving assistance system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises an in-vehicle device including the collecting means and the control means (17). In this case, there is no need to transfer the monitoring schedule information from the external device to the vehicle-mounted device, and a very convenient and useful standalone device can be realized. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0040] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the driving assistance system in the first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing monitoring schedule information stored in a third DB in the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 4 is a front view showing an example of a display screen displayed on a display unit in the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a message in the first embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a message in the first embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a main process in the first embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining temporal proximity in the first embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of locational proximity in the first embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0041] Example 1 This example is an example of a driving assistance system 1 which is an embodiment of the driving assistance system according to the present invention. The contents of this example will be described with reference to FIGS. Specific examples of the driving assistance system 1 include in-vehicle devices such as a radar detection system and a car navigation system. The driving assistance system 1 may be a system realized by a single physical device or apparatus, or may be a system realized by combining a plurality of devices or apparatuses. As shown in Fig. 1, the driving assistance system 1 includes a control unit (control means) 11 that controls the overall operation of the system.

[0042] The control unit 11 is configured to include a microcomputer including a CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O, RTC, peripheral circuits, etc. A wireless receiving unit 12, a GPS receiving unit 13, a display unit 14, a speaker 15, a memory unit 15, a card reader 17, etc. are electrically connected to the control unit 11. The ROM stores programs and the like for causing the control unit 11 to execute predetermined operations. Various functions of the driving assistance system 1 are realized by the microcomputer of the control unit 11 executing the programs.

[0043] The wireless receiver 12 is a wireless module for receiving wireless signals, such as radar signals output from speed measuring devices, wireless signals transmitted from wireless devices for police enforcement, digital wireless signals transmitted between each police headquarters and a mobile station, wireless signals used in a police-exclusive mobile phone system, and wireless signals transmitted from emergency vehicles.

[0044] The wireless receiver 12 may be a receiver including a plurality of wireless modules that individually receive wireless signals of different frequencies. When the wireless receiver 12 receives a wireless signal, it detects the signal level of the received wireless signal and outputs the signal level as a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI). The control unit 11 recognizes the signal level of the wireless signal based on the voltage level of the RSSI output from the wireless receiver 12, and can estimate the distance between the subject object that is the source of the wireless signal and the vehicle.

[0045] The GPS receiver 13 is a wireless module for receiving radio signals transmitted from GPS satellites. The GPS receiver 13 detects and outputs position information of the vehicle based on the received radio signals. The position information is the latitude and longitude of the vehicle position (current position of the vehicle). The control unit 11 identifies the vehicle position based on the position information output from the GPS receiver 13. Furthermore, the GPS receiver 13 in this example outputs the moving speed as the vehicle speed.

[0046] In the driving assistance system 1 of this embodiment, various pieces of information that can be acquired by the control unit 11 are handled as current information that indicates driving information such as the vehicle status and the status around the vehicle. The current information includes the current date and time that indicates the current date and time according to an RTC (real-time clock), various pieces of received information output by the wireless receiving unit 12, position information and vehicle speed output by the GPS receiving unit 13, etc.

[0047] If the vehicle is connected to an OBD connector (fault diagnosis connector) provided on the vehicle side in accordance with the OBD (On-board Diagnostics)-II (II is Roman numeral "2"; hereinafter referred to as "OBD") standard via an OBD adapter, etc., current vehicle information such as vehicle speed, engine speed, engine load factor, ignition timing, intake manifold pressure, intake air flow rate (MAF), injection open time, engine coolant temperature (coolant temperature), air temperature taken into the engine (intake temperature), outside air temperature (outside air temperature), fuel flow rate, instantaneous fuel consumption, accelerator opening (throttle opening), turn signal information (operation information of left and right turn signals), brake opening, and steering wheel rotation angle information can be acquired. Furthermore, detection signals from various detection sensors such as an occupant detection sensor, millimeter wave radar, forward camera, ultrasonic sonar, and peripheral camera mounted on the vehicle can be imported and handled as current information.

[0048] The display unit 14 is configured by, for example, a liquid crystal display, an EL display, etc. The display unit 14 displays a desired image according to the control by the control unit 11. The speaker 15 outputs a desired sound according to the control of the control unit 11 . The card reader 17 is an interface for accessing the SD card 171. The control unit 11 can read information stored in the SD card 171 via the card reader 17.

[0049] The storage unit 16 is a non-volatile storage element that stores various information. The storage unit 16 is composed of, for example, an EEPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk drive, etc. The storage unit 16 stores map data, data of images displayed on the display unit 14, data of sounds output from the speaker 15, various databases, etc. The various databases include at least a first DB and a second DB, which will be described next.

[0050] The first DB is a database that stores polygon data that can identify administrative districts based on location information. For example, administrative districts are determined for each city, ward, town, and village that is smaller than a prefecture. Hereinafter, an area represented by an administrative district is also referred to as a partitioned area. The polygon data is associated with area information for identifying the partitioned area.

[0051] The control unit 11 refers to the first DB based on the position information output from the GPS receiving unit 13, and specifies area information for identifying the divided area in which the vehicle is located, in units of cities, wards, towns, and villages. The divided area is not limited to cities, wards, towns, and villages. The divided area may represent other areas, such as areas under the jurisdiction of the police in each prefecture or the area of ​​a prefecture.

[0052] The second DB is a database that stores information about targets (referred to as targets of notification) to be notified to the driver. The targets include, for example, a speed measurement device, a speed limit change point, a control area, a checkpoint area, a parking prohibition monitoring area, an N system, a traffic monitoring system, an intersection monitoring point, a signal ignoring prevention system, a police station, an accident-prone area, a vehicle theft-prone area, a sharp / continuous curve (expressway), a branch / merging point (expressway), an ETC lane advance guide (expressway), a service area (expressway), a parking area (expressway), a parking area (expressway), a highway oasis (expressway), a smart interchange (expressway), a gas station in a PA / SA (expressway), a tunnel (expressway), a highway radio receiving area (expressway), a prefectural border notice, a roadside station, a view point parking, and the like. The above speed measurement devices include a speed measurement device that emits radar waves (microwaves) like a radar, a speed measurement device that does not emit radar waves like a loop coil, and the like.

[0053] The second DB stores, in association with each target object, information indicating the type of the object to be notified, latitude and longitude information indicating the position of the object to be notified, data of a schematic diagram or photo to be displayed on the display unit 14, and data of a sound to be output from the speaker 15. The control unit 11 refers to the second DB based on the position information output from the GPS receiving unit 13, thereby identifying the object to be notified near the vehicle.

[0054] The first DB and the second DB are stored in advance in the storage area of ​​the storage unit 16 at the time of product shipment. After product shipment, the data in the first DB and the second DB can be updated using a known method. As a data update method, for example, there is a method using the SD card 171 storing the first DB and the second DB. The data can be updated by reading the first DB and the second DB from the SD card 171 set in the card reader 17 and storing them in the storage unit 16. In addition, there is also a data update method using various communication functions such as an infrared communication function provided in the driving assistance system 1. The updated first DB and the second DB can be obtained by performing infrared communication with an external device and stored in the storage unit 16, thereby realizing the data update. It is also possible to obtain only the difference data between the old first DB, etc. and the new first DB, etc., and update the data.

[0055] The SD card 171 stores a third DB in which multiple pieces of monitoring schedule information related to traffic monitoring activities are stored. The traffic monitoring activities are information related to traffic monitoring activities carried out irregularly at unspecified locations to promote safe driving, such as crackdowns and checkpoints conducted by the police. In the driving assistance system 1 of this example, the details of the traffic monitoring activities related to the vehicle are identified by referring to the third DB.

[0056] The detailed data specifications of the third DB will be described with reference to the example of FIG. 2. In the figure, each piece of information stored in indexes 1 to 15 is monitoring schedule information. The monitoring schedule information is based on public enforcement information published via the homepages (hereinafter referred to as HP) of prefectural police departments across the country. The monitoring schedule information is generated by digitizing this public enforcement information in a predetermined format. In particular, the monitoring schedule information stored in the third DB of this example includes, in addition to monitoring schedule information in which the monitoring period during which traffic monitoring activities are carried out corresponds to the present, first monitoring schedule information in which the monitoring period is set in the future beyond the present, and second monitoring schedule information in which the monitoring period was set in the past before the present.

[0057] The surveillance schedule information includes the "prefecture," "start date," "start time," "end date," and "end time" where the traffic surveillance activity will be carried out, the "jurisdictional" police station where the traffic surveillance activity will be carried out, the "location of the activity," and the "display content," which is text-based notification information. For example, in Fig. 2, the information at index 2 indicates that enforcement will be carried out in some area of ​​Kuzumaki Town under the jurisdiction of the Iwate Prefectural Police between 12:00 and 18:00 on March 7, 2011. "302" in the "location of the activity" is area information to identify the city, ward, town, or village.

[0058] The "implementation location" of the monitoring schedule information stores area information for identifying a division area by city, ward, town, or village. For example, when the information published as the location where traffic monitoring activities are to be carried out spans multiple cities, ward, town, or villages, such as a "prefectural road," all area information identifying the relevant city, ward, town, or village is set as the "implementation location." For example, in the third DB of FIG. 2, the monitoring schedule information of index 5, where traffic monitoring activities are to be carried out on a "prefectural road," includes area information "302 (Kuzumaki Town)," "501 (Karumai Town)," and "209 (Ichinoseki City)," which are the monitoring points, in the "implementation location." In this way, when traffic monitoring activities are published over a wide area, multiple area information is included in the monitoring schedule information. By configuring the monitoring schedule information in this way, the area where traffic monitoring activities are to be carried out (monitoring area) can be identified with high certainty.

[0059] In the driving assistance system 1 of this embodiment, polygon data capable of identifying area information on a city, ward, town, or village basis is stored in the first DB, and area information of the divided area in which the vehicle is located is identified on a city, ward, town, or village basis based on the polygon data. Both the area information of the divided area in which the vehicle is located and the area information associated with the monitoring schedule information as an "implementation location" are on a city, ward, town, or village basis. For example, the same area as the divided area in which the vehicle is located and adjacent areas can be uniformly searched for from the "implementation location" in the monitoring schedule information, so that the monitoring schedule information of traffic monitoring activities being carried out near the vehicle can be easily identified.

[0060] For example, assume that the public enforcement information is published in regional units, such as "within the jurisdiction of ~ station" for A Prefectural Police, "in the ~ area" for B Prefectural Police, and "along the ~ line" for C Prefectural Police. In this case, the unit of the area where the traffic monitoring activity is carried out varies depending on the prefectural police that published the public enforcement information. According to the driving assistance system 1 of this example, even in such a case, the area information on the city, ward, town, and village level can be associated with the monitoring schedule information for the public enforcement information published by all prefectural police, and can be used uniformly as the "implementation location". As a result, the driving assistance system 1 of this example can uniformly, accurately, and easily identify the monitoring schedule information regarding the traffic monitoring activity being carried out in the partitioned area where the vehicle is located. For example, even if the area where the traffic monitoring activity is carried out is published abstractly, such as "along the ~ line" or "in the ~ area", the information regarding the traffic monitoring activity being carried out near the vehicle can be identified with high certainty.

[0061] The "display content" constituting the monitoring schedule information stores notification information on traffic monitoring activities as text information. The notification information stored in the "display content" is used as is as a message displayed on the display unit 14 (see FIG. 1). The part of the notification information enclosed in [ ] stores a category indicating the type of traffic monitoring activity. The wording of the notification information in the "display content" is expressed in a single sentence consisting of "what," "when," and "where" so that the content can be understood even by glancing at it while driving. The "what" information is information indicating the content of the enforcement, such as "speeding," "drinking," and "stop." The "when" information is information indicating the time period and date when the traffic monitoring activity will be carried out. The "where" information is information indicating, for example, the address and route where the traffic monitoring activity will be carried out.

[0062] The control unit 11 displays a message based on the notification information of the "display content" in a caption on the display unit 14 at a predetermined notification timing. Although details will be described later, in the driving assistance system 1 of this example, the notification timing is determined based on the monitoring schedule information and the current information. The notification information displayed as a message in a caption includes the type of traffic monitoring activity ("what"), the period during which the traffic monitoring activity will be carried out ("when"), and the area in which the traffic monitoring activity will be carried out ("where"). If a message is displayed in a caption, the driver, etc. can recognize the priority items of enforcement as the type of traffic monitoring activity. The priority items of enforcement include, for example, speeding, overloading, seat belts, drunk driving, and red light ignoring. Furthermore, the driver, etc. can recognize the police jurisdiction, route, city, town, village, etc. as the area in which the traffic monitoring activity will be carried out. If such a message is displayed in a caption, the driver can understand the notification information in detail, and can be motivated to drive safely by paying particular attention to these points.

[0063] Here, an example of a method for generating the monitoring schedule information stored in the third DB will be described. The monitoring schedule information is generated by, for example, an operator or the like digitizing public enforcement information published through the homepages of each prefectural police throughout the country. When digitizing the monitoring schedule information, as shown in FIG. 2, the implementation date, time period, location, type, etc. are extracted from the public enforcement information in the same wording as much as possible, and then notification information, which is text information, is associated with it. Since the public enforcement information is published through the homepages of each prefectural police, it is monitoring schedule information for each prefecture as shown in the figure. Each piece of information is one item for each date, time period, jurisdiction, city, town, village, or type of enforcement. Considering the constraints of the storage capacity of the SD card 171, the monitoring schedule information is digitized concisely. Depending on the public enforcement information, certain items of the information stored in the third DB may not be published. Unpublished items are not digitized and become vacant data. The items associated with the monitoring schedule information are not limited to the above example. It is also possible to group the items together to improve the efficiency of generating the information stored in the third DB.

[0064] The third DB, which contains the monitoring schedule information generated by digitizing the public enforcement information, can be downloaded by the user from a dedicated website. The downloaded content of the third DB is stored in the SD card 171. The control unit 11 selects and reads out the monitoring schedule information of the notification target from the monitoring schedule information stored in the third DB.

[0065] The selected monitoring schedule information includes, first, monitoring schedule information whose current information, such as the vehicle position and the current time, matches the monitoring schedule information such as the "start date," "start time," "end date," "end time," and "location." Furthermore, monitoring schedule information whose current information, such as the vehicle position and the current time, does not match the monitoring schedule information but whose current information is determined to be in the "pre-situation" of the traffic monitoring activity is also selected. The specific contents of the "pre-situation" and the details of the process of displaying a message generated based on the selected and read monitoring schedule information on the display unit 14 will be described later.

[0066] Next, a display screen 20, which is an example of a display screen displayed on the display unit 14, will be described with reference to Fig. 3. The display screen 20 has a main display area 21, a first sub-display area 22, and a second sub-display area 23 arranged thereon. The main display area 21 is an area for displaying an image showing the positional relationship between the vehicle and an object to be notified. The first sub-display area 22 is an area for displaying the name of the partitioned area in which the vehicle is located. The second sub-display area 23 is an area for displaying a message related to traffic monitoring activities.

[0067] The main display area 21 includes an area 211 for displaying a map image, an area 212 for displaying the type of object to be notified and the distance to the object to be notified, an area 213 for displaying the vehicle's traveling speed, and an area 214 for displaying the display mode and the current time. The map image is an image generated by reading out map data of the vicinity of the vehicle's position from the storage unit 16. The range of the map image to be displayed in area 211 of the main display area 21 is determined according to a setting made by the driver. The vehicle icon 31 and the target icon 32 are displayed superimposed on the map image displayed in area 211. The vehicle icon 31 is an icon display for indicating the position of the vehicle relative to the map image. The control unit 11 identifies the vehicle's position based on the position information output from the GPS receiver 13, and displays the vehicle icon 31 superimposed on a portion of the map image corresponding to the vehicle's position.

[0068] The target icon 32 is an icon display for indicating the position of the notification object on the map image. A figure displayed inside the target icon 32 indicates the type (category) of the notification object. The control unit 11 specifies the position of the notification object based on the second DB, and displays the target icon 32 superimposed on a location in the map image corresponding to the position of the notification object. The type of the notification object and the distance to the notification object are displayed in text in the area 212.

[0069] When the distance from the vehicle to the object to be notified becomes smaller than a predetermined distance, the control unit 11 reads out data of a schematic diagram or a photograph according to the type of the object to be notified from the second DB and displays it superimposed on the map image. Furthermore, the control unit 11 reads out voice data according to the object to be notified from the second DB and outputs it from the speaker 15. For example, when a speed measuring device approaches within 500 m, the control unit 11 reads out data of a schematic diagram or a photograph of the speed measuring device from the second DB and displays it superimposed on the map image, and also reads out a voice message saying "500 m ahead, speed measuring device. Watch your speed" from the second DB and outputs it from the speaker 15.

[0070] The control unit 11 judges whether the object to be notified is near the vehicle based on the voltage level of the RSSI output from the wireless receiving unit 12. The signal level of the RSSI increases in proportion to the strength of the wireless signal received by the wireless receiving unit 12. The control unit 11 judges whether the distance from the vehicle to the object to be notified is smaller than a predetermined distance by threshold judgment regarding the RSSI. When the control unit 11 judges that the distance is smaller than the predetermined distance, it reads out data of a schematic diagram or a photograph according to the type of the object to be notified from the second DB and displays it superimposed on the map image. Furthermore, it reads out audio data according to the object to be notified from the second DB and outputs it from the speaker 15. For example, when an emergency vehicle approaches within a predetermined distance, it reads out data of a schematic diagram or a photograph of the emergency vehicle from the second DB and displays it superimposed on the map image, and it reads out audio of "This is an emergency vehicle. Watch your speed" from the second DB and outputs it from the speaker 15.

[0071] The driving assistance system 1 of this embodiment, which operates as described above, can notify the driver that there is an object to be notified near the vehicle. The driver can recognize the object to be notified near the vehicle by visually checking the main display area 21. By notifying the driver of the approach to the object to be notified, which is often installed in dangerous places where traffic accidents are likely to occur, safe driving can be promoted when approaching a dangerous place.

[0072] Since a map image is displayed in the main display area 21, the driver can grasp the geographical information of the surroundings of the vehicle. For example, by grasping the surrounding road environment, the driver can reduce the driving speed in advance or pay sufficient attention to the surrounding environment in advance. In this way, the driving assistance system 1 of this example is capable of presenting the driver with the information necessary for the driver to drive safely together with the notification information message.

[0073] The control unit 11 aligns the vehicle icon 31 and the target icon 32 displayed in the area 211 of the main display area 21 with the map image, and displays them in synchronization. The display position of the vehicle icon 31 is fixed at the lower center of the area 211. The orientation of the map image is set so that the vehicle's traveling direction is at the top. If the traveling direction of the vehicle changes (turns), the map image rotates accordingly. If the vehicle moves forward, the map image scrolls downward (so-called heading-up display). Note that such display control is realized by utilizing map display control in a car navigation system, that is, control for appropriately scrolling the map image with the vehicle's position fixed at the center of the screen.

[0074] The name of the demarcated area in which the host vehicle is located is displayed in the first sub-display area 22. The control unit 11 identifies the area information of the demarcated area in which the host vehicle is located by referring to the first DB based on the position information output from the GPS receiving unit 13. The name of the demarcated area corresponding to the identified area information is displayed in the first sub-display area 22. The driver can recognize the demarcated area in which the host vehicle is located by visually checking the name displayed in the first sub-display area 22.

[0075] In the second sub-display area 23, a message (notification information) is displayed as notification information related to traffic monitoring activities. This message is text-based notification information generated based on the monitoring schedule information stored in the third DB stored in the SD card 171. The message includes information such as the date and time of enforcement, the type of enforcement, and the location of enforcement (route, jurisdiction, etc.). Note that since there are slight differences in the content of the public enforcement information released by each prefectural police, the displayed content differs depending on the prefecture. When the number of notification information included in the message is two or more and the number of characters in the message is large, the control unit 11 displays the message in the second sub-display area 23 as a caption.

[0076] Specific examples of messages displayed in the second sub-display area 23 will be described with reference to Figs. 4 and 5. As shown in the figure, the message 41 includes multiple phases (first phase 42 and second phase 43) divided into categories of scheduled monitoring information. The first phase 42 and the second phase 43 include one or more pieces of alarm information. When multiple pieces of alarm information are included in one phase, they are arranged in order. In Fig. 4, "XX information" and "△△ information" correspond to each piece of alarm information. A title indicating an overview of the alarm information is added to the beginning of each phase.

[0077] In this way, the message displayed in the second sub-display area 23 is information created by classifying multiple pieces of notification information to be notified to the driver by type (category). This message allows the driver to recognize notification information related to traffic monitoring activities by distinguishing them by category. The number of characters that can be registered in one phase is limited to, for example, 128 full-width characters (256 bytes in byte count). Setting such a character limit makes it easier for the driver to understand the content while driving.

[0078] If the number of characters registered in one phase exceeds 128 characters, the notification information is divided into more detailed categories. For example, in Fig. 5, the notification information is divided into a first phase with the title "<<Public Enforcement Information Aichi Prefectural Police>>" and a second phase with the title "<<Traffic Regulation Information Aichi Prefectural Police>>". The first phase stores information related to "enforcement" (corresponding to the surveillance schedule information of indexes 2 and 3 in Fig. 2).

[0079] Generally, when viewing the display unit 14 while driving, it is difficult for the driver to continue viewing the display unit 14 for a long time. Therefore, if many messages are displayed on the display unit 14 at once, the driver or the like may not be able to accurately recognize the messages. In contrast, in the driving assistance system 1 of this example, the amount of information displayed at one time is suppressed by scrolling the messages that do not fit in the second sub-display area 23, thereby avoiding the above-mentioned problems in advance. In this driving assistance system 1, messages that are notification information created based on the monitoring schedule information are divided by category and scroll-displayed in the second sub-display area 23. This makes it possible to suppress the amount of information of messages displayed at one time in the second sub-display area 23 and to make the characters of the displayed text larger. Even when the driver repeatedly views the display unit 14 at short intervals while driving, the driver can accurately recognize the messages displayed in the second sub-display area 23.

[0080] For example, when the message 41 shown in FIG. 4 is displayed in the second sub-display area 23, the first phase 42 (title, XX information (first item), XX information (second item)) is scrolled in sequence in the second sub-display area 23, and when the scrolling display of the first phase 42 is all completed, the second phase 43 begins. When there are no more phases remaining, the scrolling display is repeated in sequence from the first phase 42. Since the scrolling display is repeated multiple times, the driver can recognize the repeatedly displayed message even if he or she misses the message at first.

[0081] Among the messages, the title of the first phase 42 is displayed first in the second sub-display area 23, and at the same time, an alarm sound (ring, ring) is output from the speaker 15. This makes it possible to inform the driver that a message, which is notification information, is displayed in the second sub-display area 23.

[0082] When the partition area in which the vehicle is located changes as the vehicle travels and the message displayed in the second sub-display area 23 is updated, an alarm sound is output from the speaker 15. This allows the driver to reliably recognize the updated message by visually checking the display unit 14 when notified by the alarm sound. In this way, the driving assistance system 1 can prevent the driver from overlooking the updated message.

[0083] The control unit 11 changes the scroll speed when scrolling a message in the second sub-display area 23 according to the vehicle speed (the vehicle's traveling speed). For example, when the vehicle speed is high, a driving situation can be assumed in which the driver cannot continuously look at the display unit 14 for a long time. In such a case, the scroll speed of the message is slowed down so that the driver can understand even a simple sentence. This allows the driver to reliably recognize the message within a short time. On the other hand, for example, when the vehicle speed is low, a driving situation can be assumed in which the driver can continuously look at the display unit 14 for a relatively long time. In such a case, the scroll speed of the message is increased. This allows the driver to reliably recognize a large number of messages. Furthermore, while the vehicle is stopped, the scroll speed of the message is further increased so that the driver can also view various public crackdown information.

[0084] Furthermore, when displaying a message in the second sub-display area 23, the control unit 11 displays the message in a different display color depending on whether the target traffic monitoring activity is being carried out, has been carried out, or is scheduled to be carried out. A message of a traffic monitoring activity being carried out is red, a message corresponding to a traffic monitoring activity scheduled to be carried out is yellow, and a message that has been carried out is blue. Alternatively, for example, the text display color may be kept constant while the display mode may be changed by changing the background color of the second sub-display area 23, or an indicator lamp may be provided to indicate whether the activity is being carried out, is scheduled to be carried out, or has been carried out, and one of the indicator lamps may be turned on while the message is displayed to change the display mode.

[0085] Since the name of the demarcated area in which the vehicle is located is displayed in the first sub-display area 22, the driver can recognize the message displayed in the second sub-display area 23 and the demarcated area together. For example, in a case where traffic monitoring activities are carried out over a wide area, the driver can confirm which part of the entire area in which the monitoring activities are carried out corresponds to the location of the vehicle. For example, assume that a route is published as an area in which traffic monitoring activities are carried out. Assume that the vehicle moves and enters the demarcated area to which the published route belongs. At this time, the name of the demarcated area in which the vehicle is located is displayed in the first sub-display area 22. The second sub-display area 23 displays a message including the published route. By referring to the map image displayed in the main display area 21, the driver can easily identify the location of the route included in the message from within the demarcated area of ​​the name displayed in the first sub-display area 22, and recognize the positional relationship between the vehicle and the route. By determining whether the vehicle is approaching the route, the driver can understand the location where special attention should be paid to safe driving and continue driving.

[0086] Next, the main processing executed by the control unit 11 will be described with reference to Fig. 6. When the driving assistance system 1 is powered on, the control unit 11 executes a program stored in the ROM to execute the main processing. In response to the start of the main processing, the control unit 11 first acquires position information output by the GPS receiving unit 13, and identifies the vehicle's position on the map image by specifying the latitude and longitude of the vehicle's position based on the position information (S101). Next, the control unit 11 acquires area information of the partitioned area in which the vehicle is located by referring to the first DB of the storage unit 16 based on the acquired position information (S102), and stores the area information in the RAM.

[0087] The control unit 11 generates a map image of the surroundings including the vehicle's position based on the map data stored in the storage unit 16. The map image is displayed in an area 211 of the main display area 21 on the screen of the display unit 14 (S103). The size of the map image displayed in the area 211 is adjusted based on conditions preset by the driver. The control unit 11 then displays the vehicle icon 31 by superimposing it on a portion of the map image that corresponds to the vehicle's position identified in S101 (S104). By visually checking the map image and the vehicle icon 31 displayed in the main display area 21, the driver can grasp geographical information of the surroundings including the vehicle's position.

[0088] The control unit 11 identifies the name of the divided area in which the vehicle is located by city, ward, town, or village based on the area information acquired in S102. The name of the divided area is identified by referring to a correspondence table between area information and names pre-stored in the memory unit 16. The identified name of the divided area is displayed in the first sub-display area 22 on the screen of the display unit 14 (S105). The driver can recognize the divided area in which the vehicle is located by city, ward, town, or village by visually checking the name displayed in the first sub-display area 22.

[0089] Next, the control unit 11 identifies current information such as the current date and time (date and time) (S106). For example, the current date and time is obtained from a real-time clock (RTC) not shown. Next, the third DB stored in the SD card 171 is read out, and the monitoring schedule information stored in the third DB is referred to (S107). Then, based on the monitoring schedule information stored in the third DB read out from the SD card 171, a message is generated as notification information to be displayed in the second sub-display area 23 as follows.

[0090] Among the monitoring schedule information stored in the third DB of the SD card 171, monitoring schedule information that matches current information such as the vehicle position (area information) and current date and time, and monitoring schedule information whose current information is judged to be in the "pre-situation" are selected. For example, when selecting monitoring schedule information that matches the current information, first, the control unit 11 extracts monitoring schedule information in which the same area information as the area information specified in S102 is associated as the "implementation location." The control unit 11 specifies the monitoring period during which the traffic monitoring activity will be performed based on the "start date," "start time," "end date," and "end time" (see FIG. 2) associated with the monitoring schedule information, and selects monitoring schedule information that satisfies the condition that the current date and time is included in the monitoring period. For example, when selecting monitoring schedule information that is determined to be in a "pre-situation" that satisfies temporal proximity, first, the control unit 11 extracts monitoring schedule information in which the same area information as the area information corresponding to the vehicle position (specified in S102) is associated as the "implementation location". The control unit 11 specifies the monitoring period during which traffic monitoring activities will be performed based on the "start date", "start time", "end date", and "end time" (see FIG. 2) associated with the monitoring schedule information, and selects monitoring schedule information in which the current date and time satisfies temporal proximity to the monitoring period. The content of temporal proximity will be described in detail later. For example, when selecting monitoring schedule information corresponding to other adjacent defined areas and determined to be in a "pre-situation" where locational proximity is satisfied, the control unit 11 first identifies the monitoring period of each monitoring schedule information and extracts monitoring schedule information whose monitoring period includes the current date and time. The control unit 11 selects monitoring schedule information in which area information of other defined areas adjacent to the defined area to which the vehicle position belongs corresponds as an "implementation location" as monitoring schedule information that satisfies locational proximity. The content of locational proximity will be described in detail later.

[0091] If no monitoring schedule information is selected (S108: NO), the process returns to S101 without generating any notification information (message) to be displayed in the second sub-display area 23. On the other hand, if one or more pieces of monitoring schedule information are selected (S108: YES), notification information to be displayed in the second sub-display area 23 is generated based on the monitoring schedule information as follows (S109).

[0092] The control unit 11 classifies and arranges the selected monitoring schedule information by type (category) of traffic monitoring activity. A title indicating an overview of each category is added to the beginning of the notification information arranged by category. The most suitable title is selected from a plurality of titles prepared in advance. The most suitable title is selected, for example, as follows. A table associating titles with categories is stored in the storage unit 16 in advance. When the notification information is classified and arranged by category, a title corresponding to each classified category is identified by referring to the table stored in the storage unit 16. The identified title is added to the beginning of the arranged monitoring schedule information as the most suitable title indicating the category. In this way, each phase constituting a message is created and stored in the RAM.

[0093] Next, the control unit 11 specifies the vehicle speed (S110). In this example, the moving speed output by the GPS receiving unit 13 is treated as the vehicle speed. Alternatively, the speed may be specified based on an acceleration sensor (not shown) or based on OBD data acquired via an OBD connector on the vehicle side. The control unit 11 determines the scroll speed when scrolling the message generated in S109 according to the vehicle speed. Specifically, the scroll speed is determined so as to be inversely proportional to the vehicle speed. The control unit 11 scrolls the message in the second sub-display area 23 at the scroll speed thus determined (S111). According to this control, the scroll speed is slowed down in a state where the vehicle speed is fast and the driver cannot view the display unit 14 continuously for a long time, thereby ensuring the recognition of the message in a short period of time such as a "glance". On the other hand, when the vehicle speed is slow, the scroll speed is fast, so that a large amount of messages (notification information) can be displayed. In a situation where the vehicle speed is slow, the driver can view the display unit 14 continuously for a relatively long time, so that even if a large amount of messages are displayed, there is a low possibility that messages will be missed. When a message is scrolled in the second sub-display area 23 for the first time, an alarm sound is output from the speaker 15.

[0094] The control unit 11 determines whether the area information acquired in S102 has changed as the vehicle moves. Whether the area information has changed is determined based on whether the area information previously stored in the RAM differs from the area information currently stored. If the area information has changed, there is a possibility that the message created in S109 has been newly updated. Therefore, the control unit 11 determines whether the message created in S109 has been newly updated (S112). Whether the message has been updated can be determined based on whether the message previously stored in the RAM differs from the message currently stored.

[0095] If there is no change to the message created in S109 (S112: NO), the process returns to S10. On the other hand, if the message has been updated (S112: YES), an alarm sound is output from the speaker 15 (S122). Outputting the alarm sound in this manner can attract the driver's attention to the second sub-display area 23, and can ensure that the driver recognizes the newly updated message. In the driving assistance system 1 of this example, such measures are taken to prevent the updated message from being overlooked. After the alarm sound is output, the process returns to S101.

[0096] In addition, in the main processing, for example, after S108, S112, and S122, when returning to S101, a predetermined wait time (for example, 1 second) may be set. Also, for example, in the main processing, when the vehicle's travel distance becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined distance after S108, S112, and S122, processing may be performed to return to S101. Then, the vehicle position may be repeatedly identified in S10, and a message may be repeatedly generated based on the identified vehicle position. With this configuration, it becomes possible to accurately generate and display messages related to monitoring activities while reducing the processing load of the control unit 11.

[0097] The driving assistance system 1 of this embodiment configured as described above can select monitoring schedule information that is determined to be in the "prior situation" from among the monitoring schedule information that does not match current information such as the vehicle position and the current time, and display a message. In this driving assistance system 1, even if the vehicle position does not match or the monitoring schedule information is related to traffic monitoring activities that were carried out in the past, the monitoring schedule information that has a certain degree of relevance is treated as important information related to the driver.

[0098] An example of a pre-situation in which the current information, such as the vehicle position and the current date and time, does not match the monitoring schedule information but has a predetermined relationship with the corresponding traffic monitoring activity is described below. The pre-situation includes, as follows, (1) a pre-situation in which the temporal proximity is satisfied, (2) a pre-situation in which the spatial proximity is satisfied, and (3) a pre-situation in which the current information is related to the pre-situation.

[0099] (1) The prior circumstances in which temporal proximity is satisfied. An example of a "prior situation" that satisfies the temporal proximity is a situation where the current time does not belong to a monitoring period, but a traffic monitoring activity has been carried out in the past or is scheduled to be carried out in the partitioned area in which the vehicle is located. For example, in the partitioned area in which the vehicle is located, with regard to monitoring schedule information regarding seat belt enforcement that was carried out in the past, such as last month or last week, the situation represented by the current information is determined to be a "prior situation" that satisfies the temporal proximity, and is selected.

[0100] A pre-condition in which temporal proximity is satisfied is a condition in which the current time falls within a predetermined time range that is based on, and does not include, a monitoring period during which a traffic monitoring activity is performed. As shown in Figure 7, the specified time ranges that do not include the monitoring period (the range circled at zero in the figure) include the range circled 1 in the figure, which goes back in time from the monitoring period, and the range circled 2 in the figure, which is the range forward in time from the monitoring period.

[0101] For example, in Fig. 7, a situation in which the current time falls within the range of circled 1 (e.g., inverted triangle box 1 in the figure) becomes the "pre-situation" for the traffic monitoring activity in the range of circled zero. In this "pre-situation," the monitoring period during which the traffic monitoring activity will be carried out is set to a future time beyond the present time of inverted triangle box 1 in the figure. Therefore, in this "pre-situation" in which the current time falls within the range of circled 1, information on the traffic monitoring activity in the range of circled zero becomes the first monitoring schedule information. On the other hand, for example, in Fig. 7, a situation in which the current time (e.g., inverted triangle box 2 in the figure) falls within the range of circled 2 also becomes the "prior situation" for the traffic monitoring activity in the range of circled zero. In this "prior situation," the monitoring period during which the traffic monitoring activity is carried out is set in the past, prior to the present of inverted triangle box 2 in the figure. Therefore, in this "prior situation" in which the current time falls within the range of circled 2, information on the traffic monitoring activity in the range of circled zero becomes the second monitoring schedule information.

[0102] For example, regarding the monitoring schedule information regarding seat belt enforcement in the partition area where the vehicle is located, not only the monitoring schedule information currently being implemented or scheduled to be implemented, but also the monitoring schedule information that has already been implemented can be treated as being in a "pre-situation" that satisfies the temporal proximity. For example, it is also good to notify the frequency of enforcement and the most recent time of enforcement, such as "Seat belt enforcement was carried out in the afternoon of XX month XX day in the jurisdiction of XX police station. Please make sure your seat belt is fastened." By implementing such notifications, it is possible to "raise awareness" of enforcement on a daily basis.

[0103] Even if the past surveillance schedule information has already been implemented, there is a possibility that a similar enforcement action will be implemented again in the same location. Or, information regarding the next traffic surveillance activity may not be published as public enforcement information. Therefore, messages regarding past traffic surveillance activities such as those described above are useful references for drivers to drive safely. Past surveillance schedule information that has already been implemented, etc., is selected because it satisfies the condition of temporal proximity, even though current information such as the current time does not match the surveillance schedule information.

[0104] In order to select past monitoring schedule information, for example, an embedded database such as SQLite, which is used in smartphones (multi-function mobile phones), may be installed, and the date and time, coordinate range of the location, and the details of the enforcement may be set in a table. Of course, it is necessary to keep the "past" monitoring schedule information for a certain period of time without deleting it. For example, if the location is set as a search key, it is possible to select monitoring schedule information whose location information from the GPS receiver 13 is included in the "coordinate range of the location" in the table. The search key is not limited to the location, and vehicle information such as time and vehicle speed may be used. For example, if the time is set as the search key, it is possible to search for enforcement in a relatively wide range (for example, prefecture unit) including the vehicle's location from the current time. For example, it is possible to notify the user of "XX enforcement was carried out in the XX area from now on, XX days ago. Be careful." It is also possible to execute notification by a message regarding not only past monitoring schedule information (second monitoring schedule information) corresponding to traffic monitoring activities that have already been carried out, but also future monitoring schedule information (first monitoring schedule information) corresponding to traffic monitoring activities that are to be carried out. Such notifications would allow drivers and others to know in advance of upcoming enforcement events several days in advance.

[0105] It is also possible to display messages in a way that allows the driver to distinguish whether the message is about the monitoring schedule information of past traffic monitoring activities or about the monitoring schedule information of future traffic monitoring activities. For example, changing the display color or background color of the message makes it easier for the driver to distinguish. The predetermined time range may be set to a different range for each type of traffic monitoring activity. For example, a longer time range may be set for a traffic monitoring activity of high importance such as speed enforcement, while a shorter time range may be set for a traffic monitoring activity of low importance such as a traffic campaign.

[0106] (2) the prior circumstances under which spatial proximity is met. An example of a "pre-situation" that satisfies locational proximity is a situation in which the partitioned area in which the vehicle is located is adjacent to a partitioned area that is the target of traffic monitoring activities, while the current time is included in the monitoring period or is immediately before that time. For example, for monitoring schedule information regarding seat belt enforcement being carried out in another partitioned area adjacent to the partitioned area in which the vehicle is located, the situation represented by the current information is determined to be a "pre-situation" that satisfies locational proximity. Note that it is preferable to display a message based on the monitoring schedule information for seat belt enforcement in such a way that it can be identified as a traffic monitoring activity being carried out in an adjacent partitioned area. For example, it is preferable to change the display color of the message or the background color to indicate that the monitoring schedule information matches the current information.

[0107] The pre-condition in which the locational proximity is satisfied is a condition in which the vehicle position, which is one of the current information, does not coincide with the monitoring point or monitoring area, but is within a predetermined locational range of the monitoring point or monitoring area. For example, instead of the demarcated area (area circled zero in FIG. 8) that includes the monitoring point or monitoring area, at least one of the other demarcated areas (areas circled numbers 1 to 6 in FIG. 8) adjacent to the demarcated area may be set as the predetermined locational range. Note that in FIG. 8, each area is illustrated as a regular hexagon, but the shape of each area varies from area to area.

[0108] For example, when the vehicle is located outside the demarcated area related to the monitoring schedule information, but is within a predetermined (distance) range where the vehicle can enter the demarcated area within a few hours, and the extension of the traveling direction intersects with the demarcated area, it may be determined that the monitoring schedule information related to the demarcated area is in the "advance situation". In this case, the driver can be made aware of the planned enforcement related to the monitoring schedule information in advance before entering the demarcated area related to the monitoring schedule information. For example, if the traffic monitoring activity is stop enforcement, the notification information regarding the stop enforcement is notified in advance at the notification timing when current information is acquired that the vehicle has stopped at any intersection in another demarcated area where the enforcement is expected to be implemented. By relating the situation of stopping at an intersection and the fact that the traffic monitoring activity is stop enforcement, the implementation of stop enforcement can be notified to the driver in advance, and this can impress upon the driver that caution is required when passing through the intersection.

[0109] For example, a route that passes through a monitoring point or a route that partly belongs to the monitoring area may be set as a predetermined locational range that satisfies locational proximity. Of course, in order to set such a locational range, it is necessary to store route information representing roads, for example, in the first DB. For example, in addition to a route that passes through a monitoring point or a route whose part belongs to a monitoring area, other routes that connect to the route may be set as the predetermined location range. Naturally, in this case, link information that indicates the connection relationship between different routes must be stored in the first DB.

[0110] For example, a route to a destination that passes through a monitoring point or a route that partly belongs to a monitoring area may be set as the predetermined positional range. In order to set such a positional range, for example, a navigation function that calculates a route to the destination must be provided, or route guidance information, which is a route calculation result, must be imported from a separate navigation device. By utilizing this route guidance information, it becomes possible to determine that the monitoring schedule information regarding the traffic monitoring activity in which the monitoring point is located in the partitioned area to which the route to the destination belongs is in the "pre-situation". Furthermore, link information indicating the connection relationship of roads may be stored in the first DB. By utilizing the link information, it becomes possible to select another route that is connected to the route on which the vehicle is traveling and into which the vehicle may enter. It becomes possible to determine that the monitoring schedule information regarding the traffic monitoring activity in which the monitoring point is located in the partitioned area to which the selected other route belongs is in the "pre-situation".

[0111] (3) Prior circumstances relevant to the current information. It is also possible to set a situation that has a predetermined correlation with the current information as a prior situation for traffic monitoring activities. For example, a situation in which the vehicle speed (current information) is high may be judged as a prior situation for traffic monitoring activities such as speed enforcement. For example, by issuing notification information based on the monitoring schedule information of past speed enforcement by a mobile speed camera or the like, it is possible to make the driver aware of the speed limit and encourage safe driving that adheres to the speed limit. In this case, for example, even if (1) temporal proximity or (2) spatial proximity is not met, it may be judged as a prior situation and a notification may be issued. This will motivate the driver to be careful not to drive too fast. For example, it is also possible to judge the situation where the seat belt is not fastened as a pre-event situation for traffic monitoring activities such as checkpoints, etc. By notifying the driver of notification information based on past traffic safety weeks and monitoring schedule information such as checkpoints, it is possible to encourage the driver to fasten the seat belt.

[0112] Current information (driving information) that indicates the situation around the vehicle includes various types of information, such as information that a vehicle is traveling ahead, that there is a vehicle approaching from behind, that there is a vehicle traveling parallel to the vehicle, information that the traffic light ahead is red, that there is a pedestrian crossing ahead, that there are pedestrians ahead, information that it has become dark as evening approaches, that it has started to rain, etc. This current information can be acquired by detection sensors such as millimeter wave radar, laser radar, ultrasonic sonar, imaging camera, raindrop sensor, illuminance sensor, infrared sensor, etc.

[0113] For example, when a vehicle is traveling ahead, it is possible to issue a notification that the vehicle is in a traffic information situation of a high accident rate area, and to call the driver's attention. This can prevent rear-end collisions and the like from occurring. For example, when it is detected that the vehicle is approaching an intersection where pedestrians are walking, or when the driver is approaching an intersection and is not looking ahead, it is possible to notify the driver of information regarding past stop sign enforcement. This can call attention to pedestrians and intersections, and improve traffic safety.

[0114] In addition, regarding the "prior situation" based on locational proximity or time proximity, for example, a notification may be executed when either one of the proximity is satisfied. In this case, if the amount of information to be notified becomes excessive, a notification may be executed when the locational proximity or time proximity is satisfied and the prior situation is related to the current information. For example, a "prior situation" based on a combination of locational proximity and time proximity may be set. For example, although neither the vehicle position nor the current time matches the monitoring schedule information, the monitoring schedule information that satisfies the locational proximity condition and the time proximity condition is selected. For example, in a partitioned area adjacent to the partitioned area where the vehicle is located, it becomes possible to select monitoring schedule information related to seat belt enforcement that has been carried out in the past, and a corresponding message can be displayed.

[0115] The following timing may be set as the notification timing for displaying a message as notification information: For example, if there is monitoring schedule information related to seat belt enforcement for the partitioned area where the vehicle is located or an adjacent partitioned area, the notification information related to seat belt enforcement may be notified at the time when the vehicle ignition is switched on and power supply to the driving assistance system 1 is started.

[0116] It is also possible to obtain a vehicle signal (vehicle information) indicating that the seat belt is fastened as the current information. There is a difference in the necessity for issuing a notification regarding seat belt enforcement when the seat belt is fastened and when it is not fastened. When the seat belt is not fastened, for example, a chime sound can be output when issuing a notification indicating that the information is important, or the notification can be repeated. On the other hand, when the seat belt is fastened, it is also possible to simply issue a notification as if it were general information, or to stop issuing the notification.

[0117] When the vehicle speed (current information) exceeds the speed limit while traveling on a public road, if there is scheduled monitoring information regarding speed enforcement for the divided area in which the vehicle is located or an adjacent divided area, it is also possible to notify the driver of speed enforcement information at the time when the vehicle speed exceeds the speed limit. When approaching an intersection while traveling on a general road, if there is monitoring schedule information related to a traffic safety campaign, it is also possible to notify the traffic safety notification information by using the approach to the intersection as the notification timing. Note that the approach to the intersection can be detected based on the map information or road route information stored in the first DB and the position information acquired by the GPS receiver 13.

[0118] According to the driving assistance system 1 of this example, it is possible to notify information regarding traffic monitoring activities "in advance" in a situation where the traffic monitoring activities related to the public enforcement information are not targeted. Examples of cases where information is notified "in advance" include cases where the public enforcement information is future information and the current information is outside the target range, but is notified as a preliminary stage of traffic monitoring activities, and cases where past (already implemented) public enforcement information related to the current information is notified to allow the driver to foresee (become aware) the information.

[0119] In this way, in the driving assistance system 1 of this embodiment, even monitoring schedule information that does not match the location or past monitoring schedule information is notified under a situation that has a predetermined relevance to the current situation. For example, if a notification is made based on past monitoring schedule information, it is possible to make the driver aware that caution is required because a crackdown related to the current situation has been conducted in the past. Even if the public crackdown information is about a traffic monitoring activity that has already been conducted, the driver can use the post-event information to make prior predictions and predictions about the traffic monitoring activity.

[0120] According to this driving assistance system 1, it is possible to provide the driver with information on not only traffic monitoring activities that are actually being performed at present, but also traffic monitoring activities that will be performed in the future and traffic monitoring activities that have been performed in the past. Furthermore, it is possible to provide the driver with information on traffic monitoring activities that are not in the same location as the vehicle position but are related to the current situation. The driver can grasp not only monitoring activities that are being performed near the vehicle, but also traffic monitoring activities that may be performed in the future, traffic monitoring activities that have been performed in the past, and traffic monitoring activities that are being performed in distant locations, and can be more careful when driving in areas where traffic accidents are likely to occur.

[0121] The driving assistance system 1 of this embodiment can specify the region in which the vehicle is located by city, ward, town, or village. The driving assistance system 1 can specify the vehicle position in more detail by city, ward, town, or village regardless of whether the vehicle is on an expressway or an ordinary road, and can provide useful information to the driver.

[0122] The driving assistance system 1 can identify the divided area covering the area where the monitoring activity is carried out based on the third DB stored in the SD card 171. The third DB stores monitoring schedule information associated with one or more pieces of area information. The area information of the divided area where the vehicle is located and the area information of the divided area included in the monitoring schedule information are both defined on a city, ward, town, or village basis. The driving assistance system 1 can uniformly identify whether or not a monitoring activity is being carried out in the divided area where the vehicle is located based on the third DB. According to this driving assistance system 1, it is possible to easily and reliably identify and notify the driver of information messages related to monitoring activities being carried out near the location where the vehicle is actually located.

[0123] The display unit 14 displays only messages (notification information) necessary for the driver. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the driver from overlooking necessary information due to the display of a large number of unnecessary messages. Even if "within the jurisdiction of the police station", "in the direction of the police station", "along the line of the line of the police station", etc. are announced as areas in which surveillance activities are carried out, the driving assistance system 1 can identify whether the vehicle has entered a city, ward, town, or village that includes at least the announced area. This is because the surveillance schedule information stored in the third DB corresponds to area information of the partitioned area in which traffic surveillance activities are carried out on a city, ward, town, or village basis. Therefore, the driving assistance system 1 can generate a message appropriate to the position of the vehicle based on the surveillance schedule information, and can notify the driver. The driver can easily grasp information about surveillance activities being carried out near the position of the vehicle.

[0124] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, the driving assistance system 1 may be configured without the wireless receiver 12. The driving assistance system 1 may grasp the distance between the notification object and the vehicle based on the voltage level of the RSSI output from the wireless receiver attached to the outside. The driving assistance system 1 may be configured without the GPS receiver 13. The driving assistance system 1 may grasp the vehicle position based on the position information output from the GPS receiver attached to the outside. The driving assistance system 1 may be configured without the display unit 14 and the speaker 15. The driving assistance system 1 may display a desired image on the external display by controlling the external display. The external display may be, for example, a display of a car navigation system attached to the vehicle. The driving assistance system 1 may output a desired sound from the external speaker by controlling the external speaker. The external speaker may be, for example, a speaker attached to the vehicle.

[0125] For example, a situation where a vehicle speed is high, which is identified as current information, may be judged as a prior situation for traffic monitoring activities such as speed enforcement. For example, by issuing notification information based on monitoring schedule information for past speed enforcement by mobile speed cameras or the like, it is possible to make the driver aware of the speed limit, and it is possible to encourage safe driving that adheres to the speed limit. For example, current information that a seat belt is not fastened may be judged as a prior situation for traffic monitoring activities such as checkpoints. By issuing notification information based on past traffic safety weeks and monitoring schedule information for checkpoints, it is possible to encourage the driver to fasten their seat belt.

[0126] Examples of prior situations related to current information include, for example, in the case of seat belt enforcement, the situation when current information specifying engine start is acquired, and the situation when a predetermined time has passed after engine start and driving begins. For example, if the traffic monitoring activity is drinking control, the prior situation may be the situation in which current information indicating driving in a direction away from the downtown area is acquired together with the current time after 6:00 p.m. For example, if the traffic monitoring activity is intersection-related enforcement, the prior situation may be the situation in which current information indicating stopping at an intersection is acquired.

[0127] The content of the message that serves as notification information for drivers is not limited to the public enforcement information published by each prefectural police station, but may also be, for example, information published by each regional development bureau (regulation details, routes, addresses, dates, times, etc.).

[0128] The operator may create the third DB based on the published public enforcement information as follows: If the published public enforcement information satisfies the following conditions (1) and (3), or the following conditions (2) and (3), the operator creates monitoring schedule information in which various items are associated. (1) When the city, town, or village where surveillance activities are carried out is made public as public enforcement information. (2) When the jurisdiction or area where surveillance activities are conducted is made public as public enforcement information. (3) The dates and times when surveillance activities are conducted are published as public enforcement information.

[0129] In the above description, the operator creates the third DB including the monitoring schedule information based on the published public traffic enforcement information. Naturally, the present invention is not limited to this. A process of automatically creating the third DB including the monitoring schedule information may be performed by a server (computer device) equipped with a collection means for collecting traffic enforcement information and generating the monitoring schedule information. Specifically, this may be implemented as follows. Furthermore, if the vehicle-mounted device has a wireless communication function, it may be possible to download the monitoring schedule information from the server, or to download the third DB itself.

[0130] The public enforcement information published via the homepage of each prefectural police station is acquired by a server connected to the Internet. For example, the server periodically (e.g., once a day) checks the homepage of each prefectural police station at a pre-stored URL and determines whether the public enforcement information has been updated. If the public enforcement information has been updated, the public enforcement information of the page of that URL is acquired. From the multiple pieces of public enforcement information in the acquired public enforcement information page, the monitoring schedule information and each piece of information associated with the monitoring schedule information ("Prefecture," "Start Date," "Start Time," "End Date," "End Time," and "Jurisdiction") are extracted. The multiple pieces of information in the page are extracted and associated with the monitoring schedule information to create information such as that shown in FIG. 2. The created information is stored in the server's memory unit.

[0131] The areas where surveillance activities are carried out that are made public through public enforcement information are, for example, "prefectures," "prefectures," "route," etc., and are often different from the units of the district areas defined for each city, ward, town, or village that are the units of the "implementation locations" associated with the surveillance schedule information. In such cases, the server identifies the "implementation locations" to be associated with the surveillance schedule information as follows.

[0132] The server stores in advance in the storage unit a correspondence table in which the areas where traffic monitoring activities are carried out (prefectures, jurisdictions, routes, etc., hereinafter referred to as "public areas"), which are published as public enforcement information by each prefectural police, correspond to area information specified in units of cities, wards, towns, and villages, which are common units among each prefectural police. The area information corresponding to the public areas includes at least area information of the partitioned areas where traffic monitoring activities are actually carried out. For example, there are cases where multiple area information is associated with one public area. When the server acquires public enforcement information from the HP of each prefectural police station, it extracts the public areas included in the acquired public enforcement information. Then, it refers to the correspondence table stored in the storage unit and specifies area information corresponding to the extracted public area. It associates the specified area information with the monitoring schedule information as "implementation location". Furthermore, it associates the "prefecture", "start date", "start time", "end date", "end time", and "jurisdiction" extracted from the public enforcement information with the monitoring schedule information. Then, it stores the monitoring schedule information associated with various information in the storage unit. Note that the method of specifying the partitioned area is not limited to the above-mentioned method.

[0133] The message displayed in the second sub-display area 23 may include information other than the monitoring schedule information, such as information on events such as intensive months, seasonal trends, and habits, road regulation information (traffic regulations due to construction work, disasters, etc.). For example, by displaying road regulation information, the driver can avoid restricted routes in advance. Note that information other than the traffic monitoring activities is stored in the SD card 171 together with the third DB, and this information may be read out and stored in the message.

[0134] The titles and monitoring schedule information stored in each phase of the message displayed in the second sub-display area 23 may be sorted by the type of monitoring activity, the period during which the monitoring activity is performed, and the area in which the monitoring activity is performed using background colors or colored characters, or may have an icon at the beginning, so that the title and the monitoring schedule information stored in each phase of the message displayed in the second sub-display area 23 can be easily understood even when they are arranged continuously and scrolled. Also, as shown in Fig. 4, the total number of items may be added to the title and the page number may be added to each piece of monitoring schedule information so that the entire message can be grasped.

[0135] The driving assistance system 1 may generate a message to be displayed in the second sub-display area 23 in the following case. Assume that the third DB stores monitoring schedule information to which no "location" is associated. Among such monitoring schedule information, all monitoring schedule information in which the same prefecture as the prefecture in which the vehicle is located is associated as the "prefecture" is extracted. Based on the "start date," "start time," "end date," and "end time" (see FIG. 2) associated with the extracted monitoring schedule information, the period during which the traffic monitoring activity is to be carried out is identified. Within the identified period, monitoring schedule information that includes the current date and time identified in S106 is selected, and a message is created based on the selected monitoring schedule information. The driving assistance system 1 selects monitoring schedule information related to the monitoring activity being carried out in the prefecture in which the vehicle is located, and generates a message.

[0136] Although specific examples of the present invention have been described in detail as examples, these specific examples merely disclose examples of the technology encompassed by the claims. Needless to say, the claims should not be interpreted as being limited by the configurations, numerical values, etc. of the specific examples. The claims encompass technologies that are obtained by variously modifying, changing, or appropriately combining the specific examples by utilizing publicly known technologies and the knowledge of those skilled in the art. [Explanation of symbols]

[0137] 1. Driving assistance system 11 Control section (control means) 12 Radio receiver 13 GPS receiver 14 Display section 15 Speaker 16 Memory section 17 Card Reader 171 SD card 41 Messages

Claims

1. A driving assistance system that notifies information to assist driving of a vehicle, Obtaining monitoring schedule information relating to a schedule for carrying out traffic monitoring activities and current information relating to the present; At a notification timing determined based on the monitoring schedule information and the current information, a control unit that executes control to notify notification information that is information based on the current information and the monitoring schedule information, The notification timing includes a timing of a pre-condition, which is a condition set as a pre-condition for a traffic monitoring activity, when the current information does not match the monitoring schedule information, and The current information includes driving information representing a vehicle status; The driving information indicating the vehicle status includes at least one of vehicle speed, acceleration, and turn signal (directional indicator) operation information, or vehicle information such as seat belt fastening information. A driving assistance system characterized by:

2. The current information includes driving information representing a vehicle status; The driving information representing the vehicle status includes vehicle information acquired via an OBD connector provided on the vehicle side. The driving assistance system according to claim 1 .

3. 3. A program for causing a computer to realize the functions of the driving support system according to claim 1 or 2.

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