Vehicle

Abstract

To improve the certainty that a temporary passage stop is reflected to a system.SOLUTION: A vehicle 2 includes a control unit and an imaging unit. The vehicle 2 is characterized in that the control unit detects an object meaning entry prohibition in image data imaged by the imaging unit, and when it is determined that the object closes an entrance of the road, transmits the image data and positional information of the vehicle 2 to an information processing device 1 so as to reflect entry prohibition information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to vehicles. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a technique for displaying no-entry areas on a car navigation system (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 09-126792 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the background art, there are problems in reflecting temporary road closures in systems such as VICS (registered trademark), such as forgetting to apply for temporary road closures in advance, delays in application in emergency cases, time lags between application and display on car navigation systems, and incorrect application of road closure locations.

[0005] The purpose of the present disclosure, made in consideration of such circumstances, is to improve the reliability with which temporary road closures are reflected in the system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: A vehicle including a control unit and an imaging unit, the control unit comprising: When an object indicating a no-entry condition is detected in image data captured by the imaging unit and it is determined that the object is blocking the entrance to a road, the image data and the vehicle's position information are transmitted to an information processing device to reflect the no-entry condition. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible to improve the reliability with which temporary road closures are reflected in the system. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing an operation of the information processing system. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing image data. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] 1 is a schematic diagram of an information processing system S according to the present embodiment. The information processing system S includes an information processing device 1 and a vehicle 2 that are capable of communicating with each other via a network NW. The network NW includes, for example, a mobile communication network, the Internet, or a fixed communication network.

[0010] For ease of explanation, one information processing device 1 and one vehicle 2 are illustrated in FIG. 1. However, the number of information processing devices 1 and vehicles 2 is not limited to this. For example, the process executed by the information processing device 1 may be executed by a plurality of information processing devices 1 that are distributed. The information processing device 1 may be capable of communicating with a plurality of vehicles 2.

[0011] The information processing device 1 may be a server that supports the provision of services by a business operator. The information processing device 1 may be installed, for example, in a facility dedicated to the business operator or in a shared facility including a data center. As an alternative example, the information processing device 1 may be mounted on a vehicle 2.

[0012] The vehicle 2 includes any type of automobile, such as, for example, a gasoline vehicle, a diesel vehicle, an HEV, a PHEV, a BEV, or an FCEV. "HEV" is an abbreviation for hybrid electric vehicle. "PHEV" is an abbreviation for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. "BEV" is an abbreviation for battery electric vehicle. "FCEV" is an abbreviation for fuel cell electric vehicle. The operation of the vehicle 2 may be automated at any level. The level of automation may be, for example, any of levels 1 to 5 in the SAE level classification. "SAE" is an abbreviation for Society of Automotive Engineers. The vehicle 2 may be a MaaS-only vehicle. "MaaS" is an abbreviation for Mobility as a Service. As an alternative, the vehicle 2 may be driven by a driver.

[0013] The information processing device 1 includes a control unit 11, a communication unit 12, and a storage unit 13. The components of the information processing device 1 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other.

[0014] The control unit 11 includes, for example, one or more general-purpose processors including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit). The control unit 11 may include one or more dedicated processors specialized for specific processing. Instead of including a processor, the control unit 11 may include one or more dedicated circuits. The dedicated circuits may be, for example, a FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). The control unit 11 may include an ECU (Electronic Control Unit). The control unit 11 transmits and receives any information via the communication unit 12.

[0015] The communication unit 12 includes a communication module compatible with one or more wired or wireless LAN (Local Area Network) standards for connecting to a network. The communication unit 12 may include a module compatible with one or more mobile communication standards including LTE (Long Term Evolution), 4G (4th Generation), or 5G (5th Generation). The communication unit 12 may include a communication module compatible with one or more short-range communication standards or specifications including Bluetooth (registered trademark), AirDrop (registered trademark), IrDA, ZigBee (registered trademark), Felica (registered trademark), or RFID. The communication unit 12 transmits and receives any information via the network.

[0016] The memory unit 13 includes, but is not limited to, for example, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic memory, an optical memory, or a combination of at least two of these. The semiconductor memory is, for example, a RAM or a ROM. The RAM is, for example, an SRAM or a DRAM. The ROM is, for example, an EEPROM. The memory unit 13 may function as, for example, a main memory device, an auxiliary memory device, or a cache memory. The memory unit 13 may store information resulting from analysis or processing by the control unit 11. The memory unit 13 may store various information related to the operation or control of the information processing device 1, etc. The memory unit 13 may store system programs, application programs, embedded software, etc. The memory unit 13 may be provided outside the information processing device 1 and accessed by the information processing device 1.

[0017] The vehicle 2 includes a control unit 21, a communication unit 22, a storage unit 23, and an imaging unit 24. The components of the vehicle 2 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other.

[0018] The hardware configuration of the control unit 21, the communication unit 22, and the storage unit 23 may be the same as the hardware configuration of the control unit 11, the communication unit 12, and the storage unit 13. The description here is omitted.

[0019] The imaging unit 24 includes an in-vehicle camera and captures an image. The imaging unit 24 may be a drive recorder. The image may be either a still image or a video image. The imaging unit 24 may generate an image and record the generated image in the storage unit 23.

[0020] In FIG. 2, an information processing method executed in the information processing system S of this embodiment will be described in detail.

[0021] In S1, the control unit 21 of the vehicle 2 performs real-time image analysis on image data captured by the imaging unit 24. For example, as shown in Fig. 3, the control unit 21 of the vehicle 2 traveling on a road R captures image data 31 in a direction 33 and captures image data 32 in a direction 34.

[0022] In S2, the control unit 21 determines whether or not there is an object (for example, a signboard) indicating that entry is prohibited in the image data. In the example of Fig. 3, an object indicating that entry is prohibited is detected in both the image data 31 and the image data 32.

[0023] If the result in S2 is Yes, the control unit 21 determines in S3 whether or not an object indicating that entry is prohibited is blocking the entrance to the road. If the result in S2 is No, the control unit 21 ends the flow. In the example of Fig. 3, it is determined that an object indicating that entry is prohibited is blocking the entrance to the road 35 only in the image data 32.

[0024] If the result is Yes in S3, then in S4 the control unit 21 uploads (i.e. transmits) the image data and the position information of the vehicle 2 to the information processing device 1. If the result is No in S3, the control unit 21 ends the flow.

[0025] In S5, the control unit 11 of the information processing device 1 acquires image data in normal times that was previously captured in the same direction as the received position information from the storage unit 13. 3D position information is added in advance to the image data in normal times.

[0026] In S6, the control unit 11 adds 3D position information to the received position information, and compares the image data in normal times with the image data received from the vehicle 2. In this case, surrounding buildings and the like are also compared.

[0027] In S7, the control unit 11 determines, in the image data received from the vehicle 2, whether or not an object that is not normally present (for example, an obstacle such as a signboard) is present at the entrance.

[0028] If the answer is No in S7, the control unit 11 ends the flow. If the answer is Yes in S7, the control unit 11 transmits the determination result in S6 to a center server that manages the car navigation system in S8. As a result, the entry prohibition information is reflected in the center server. As an alternative, the information processing device 1 and the center server may be the same.

[0029] As an additional or alternative example, after the no-entry information is reflected, when there is no upload from the vehicle 2 for a predetermined period of time or longer despite the traffic volume on road R being equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the control unit 11 of the information processing device 1 determines that an obstacle such as a signboard has been removed. The control unit 11 transmits the determination result to the center server and deletes the no-entry information from the car navigation system.

[0030] As described above, according to this embodiment, when the vehicle 2 detects an object indicating no entry in image data captured by the imaging unit 24 and determines that the object is blocking the entrance to the road, the vehicle 2 transmits the image data and position information of the vehicle 2 to the information processing device 1 to reflect the no entry information. With this configuration, the vehicle 2 can improve the reliability with which the temporary road closure is reflected in the system.

[0031] Although the present disclosure will be described based on various drawings and examples, it should be noted that those skilled in the art may make various modifications and alterations based on the present disclosure. Other modifications are possible within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the functions included in each means or step can be rearranged so as not to cause logical inconsistencies, and multiple means or steps can be combined into one or divided.

[0032] For example, in the above embodiment, a program for executing all or part of the functions or processes of the information processing device 1 or the vehicle 2 can be recorded in a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium, for example, a magnetic recording device, an optical disk, a magneto-optical recording medium, or a semiconductor memory. The program is distributed, for example, by selling, transferring, or lending a portable recording medium such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) or a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory) on which the program is recorded. The program may also be distributed by storing the program in the storage of an arbitrary server and transmitting the program from the arbitrary server to another computer. The program may also be provided as a program product. The present disclosure can also be realized as a program executable by a processor. [Explanation of symbols]

[0033] S Information Processing System

Claims

[Claim 1] A vehicle including a control unit and an imaging unit, the control unit comprising: an object indicating a no-entry state is detected in the image data captured by the imaging unit, and when it is determined that the object is blocking an entrance to a road, the image data and position information of the vehicle are transmitted to an information processing device to reflect the no-entry state information; vehicle.

Images