Recording device, recording method, and program

Abstract

To provide a recording device, etc. that can flexibly and appropriately record events in motion.SOLUTION: A recording device 10 includes a shooting data acquisition unit 120, a shooting data analysis unit 129, an acceleration sensor 142, an event detection unit 127, and an audio control unit 130. The shooting data analysis unit 129 analyzes information contained in the shooting data acquired by the shooting data acquisition unit 120. The acceleration sensor 142 acquires acceleration values applied to a moving vehicle. The event detection unit 127 detects that an event has occurred to the moving vehicle when the acceleration value is equal to or greater than a first threshold value, and detects that an event has occurred based on the result of the analysis when the acceleration value is less than the first threshold value and equal to or greater than a second threshold value, which is less than the first threshold value. The voice control unit 130 outputs to a user about the recording of event recording data with an object.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a recording apparatus, a recording method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Recording devices (hereinafter, also referred to as drive recorders) that record video and the like for a predetermined period in a reproducible manner when an event such as a vehicle accident or dangerous driving is detected are becoming widespread. In addition, various techniques have been proposed for the drive recorder to properly record events.

[0003] For example, the recording device described in Patent Document 1 has a first threshold lower than a second threshold in order to determine that an event candidate has occurred. The event candidate determination unit determines that an event candidate has occurred when it determines, for example, that sensor information detected by an acceleration sensor exceeds a first threshold for detecting an event candidate of a collision caused by a vehicle. Also, the event candidate determination unit determines that an event candidate has occurred when it determines, for example, that audio information detected by a microphone exceeds a first threshold for determining an event candidate of a scrape caused by a vehicle or the like.

[0004] The drive recorder described in Patent Document 2 determines that the recording conditions are met when the acceleration information applied to the vehicle becomes equal to or less than a first threshold and then exceeds a second threshold that is greater than the first threshold, and records the video information. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-046343 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2009-087007 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The technology described in Patent Document 1 is intended to deal with events such as collisions and thefts that occur while the vehicle is parked. The technology described in Patent Document 2 is intended to suppress malfunctions of the acceleration sensor. However, for example, in a moving vehicle, it may be preferable to record even if the acceleration does not exceed a specific threshold value that has been set. On the other hand, simply lowering the threshold value may result in excessive recording of information that does not need to be recorded.

[0007] The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a recording device and the like that can flexibly and appropriately record events while moving. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The recording device according to the present invention has a shooting data acquisition unit, a shooting data analysis unit, an acceleration sensor, an event detection unit, a recording control unit, and an audio control unit. The shooting data acquisition unit acquires shooting data obtained by a camera installed on a moving body capturing an image of the outside of the moving body. The shooting data analysis unit analyzes information included in the shooting data. The acceleration sensor acquires an acceleration value applied to the moving body. The event detection unit detects that an event has occurred based on the analysis result when the acceleration value is smaller than a first threshold value and equal to or greater than a second threshold value smaller than the first threshold value. The recording control unit records the shooting data for a predetermined period from the shooting data based on the detection of the event as event recording data. The audio control unit outputs audio to the user. The shooting data analysis unit analyzes the object that caused the event to occur, and the audio control unit outputs to the user the recording of the event recording data involving the object.

[0009] The recording method according to the present invention includes a photographing data acquisition step, a photographing data analysis step, an acceleration value acquisition step, an event detection step, a recording control step, and a voice control step. The photographing data acquisition step acquires photographing data obtained by a camera installed on a moving body capturing an image of the outside of the moving body. The photographing data analysis step analyzes information included in the photographing data. The acceleration value acquisition step acquires an acceleration value applied to the moving body. The event detection step detects that an event has occurred based on the analysis result when the acceleration value is smaller than a first threshold value and equal to or greater than a second threshold value smaller than the first threshold value. The recording control step records photographing data for a preset period from at least a part of the photographing data based on the detection of the event as event recording data. The voice control step outputs a voice to a user. The photographing data analysis step analyzes an object that caused the event to occur, and the voice control step outputs to a user the recording of the event recording data involving the object.

[0010] The program according to the present invention causes a computer to execute a recording method having a photographing data acquisition step, a photographing data analysis step, an acceleration value acquisition step, an event detection step, a recording control step, and a voice control step. The photographing data acquisition step acquires photographing data obtained by a camera installed on a moving body capturing an image of the outside of the moving body. The photographing data analysis step analyzes information included in the photographing data. The acceleration value acquisition step acquires an acceleration value applied to the moving body. The event detection step detects that an event has occurred based on the analysis result when the acceleration value is smaller than a first threshold value and equal to or greater than a second threshold value smaller than the first threshold value. The recording control step records photographing data for a predetermined period from at least a part of the photographing data based on the detection of the event as event recording data. The voice control step outputs a voice to a user. The photographing data analysis step analyzes an object that caused the event to occur, and the voice control step outputs to a user the recording of the event recording data involving the object. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a recording device etc. that can flexibly and appropriately record events while moving. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a top view of a vehicle equipped with a recording device. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a recording device according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a first diagram showing the relationship between shooting data stored in a recording device and time. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a second diagram showing the relationship between the shooting data stored in the recording device and time. [Diagram 5] 5 is a flowchart showing a process of the recording device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] 4 is a diagram showing an example of photographed data recorded by the recording device according to the first embodiment; FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a recording device according to a second embodiment. [Figure 8] 11 is a flowchart showing a process of the recording device according to the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] The present invention will be described below through the embodiments of the invention, but the invention according to the claims is not limited to the following embodiments. In addition, not all of the configurations described in the embodiments are necessarily essential as means for solving the problems. In order to clarify the explanation, the following description and drawings are omitted and simplified as appropriate. In each drawing, the same elements are given the same reference numerals, and duplicate explanations are omitted as necessary.

[0014] <Embodiment 1> The configuration of the first embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a top view of a vehicle equipped with a recording device. A recording device 10 is fixed to the upper center of the windshield of a vehicle 900, which is a moving body. The recording device 10 is set to capture an image of the front of the vehicle 900. As shown in the drawing, a camera of the recording device 10 captures an image of the front of the vehicle 900 at a viewing angle of 180 degrees. The recording device 10 records and plays back the captured data captured by the camera. In other words, the recording device 10 has a function as a drive recorder. The recording device 10 in this embodiment may be called a drive recorder.

[0015] Next, the detailed functional configuration of the recording device 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the recording device according to the first embodiment. The recording device 10 has a control unit 100 that controls each component, and a plurality of components connected to the control unit 100. The control unit 100 is a control device having a circuit board on which a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), memory, and a plurality of interfaces are mounted, and executes stored programs to perform various processes.

[0016] The control unit 100 will be described in detail below. The control unit 100 has an image data acquisition unit 120, a buffer memory 121, an image data processing unit 122, a recording control unit 123, a playback control unit 124, an operation control unit 125, a display control unit 126, an event detection unit 127, a position information acquisition unit 128, an image data analysis unit 129, and an audio control unit 130, and the configuration for executing these processes and controls is realized by a program executed by the control unit 100. For convenience, these configurations are expressed as being connected to a bus line 110.

[0017] The image capturing data acquiring unit 120 acquires image capturing data supplied from the camera 150. The image capturing data acquiring unit 120 supplies the image capturing data to a buffer memory 121 via the bus line 110.

[0018] The buffer memory 121 is a volatile or non-volatile memory device. The buffer memory 121 sequentially receives the photographic data periodically generated by the camera 150 via the photographic data acquisition unit 120, and temporarily stores the received photographic data. The photographic data temporarily stored in the buffer memory 121 is for a preset period. The buffer memory 121 sequentially erases photographic data that has passed the preset period, or sequentially overwrites the photographic data with newly received photographic data.

[0019] The photographic data processing unit 122 generates a photographic file in a format conforming to a preset format from the photographic data stored in the buffer memory 121. The preset format is, for example, H.264 or MPEG-4 (Moving Picture Experts Group) format.

[0020] The shooting data processing unit 122 may process the shooting data and generate a shooting file with a preset angle of view. Also, the shooting data processing unit 122 may process the shooting data output by the buffer memory 121, generate shooting data for a preset time or a preset angle of view, and add header information such as a file name to generate a shooting file. Furthermore, the shooting data processing unit 122 may process the shooting data output by the buffer memory 121, perform noise removal and distortion correction on the shooting data, and generate a shooting file in which time information, speed information of the vehicle 900, or position information of the vehicle 900 is displayed on the shooting data.

[0021] The recording control unit 123 controls the recording unit 160 to record the captured files generated by the captured data processing unit 122. When the event detection unit 127 detects an event, the recording control unit 123 records the captured files for a period set in advance based on the detection of the event as overwrite-prohibited event recording data in the recording unit 160. The recording control unit 123 records the event recording data in a predetermined recording area in the recording unit 160. The predetermined recording area is, for example, a recording area that is set to be prohibited from being overwritten or erased. Alternatively, the event recording data supplied to the recording unit 160 by the recording control unit 123 may be recorded with a flag indicating that overwriting or erasure is prohibited included in the file.

[0022] When the event detection unit 127 has not detected an event, the recording control unit 123 may store the captured file in the recording unit 160 in an overwritable state. A captured file stored in the recording unit 160 that is different from the event recording data is referred to as a "normal file" here. When the storage capacity of the recording unit 160 reaches its upper limit, the recording control unit 123 may erase the oldest normal file and record a newly generated normal file in the recording unit 160.

[0023] The playback control unit 124 performs processing for playing back the recorded event record data under a preset condition, such as when an operation by a user (hereinafter also referred to as a passenger) riding in the vehicle 900 is received.

[0024] The operation control unit 125 acquires operation information accepted by the operation unit 140, and outputs operation instructions based on the operation information to each component. When the operation control unit 125 acquires an instruction to select various data to be played back from the operation unit 140, the operation control unit 125 causes the playback control unit 124 to select a file recorded in the recording unit 160. When the operation control unit 125 acquires an instruction related to the playback of various data from the operation unit 140, the operation control unit 125 causes the playback control unit 124 to perform processing related to the playback. Instructions related to the playback of various data include, for example, starting playback, pausing, stopping playback, and enlarging the display.

[0025] The display control unit 126 controls the display unit 141 to display various information. For example, the display control unit 126 causes the display unit 141 to display image data captured by the camera 150 during image capture. The display control unit 126 also receives event record data supplied from the playback control unit 124, and causes the display unit 141 to display the received event record data. When a touch sensor is superimposed on the display unit 141 as a function of the operation unit 140, the display control unit 126 causes the display unit 141 to appropriately display an icon corresponding to the touch sensor, etc.

[0026] The event detection unit 127 receives information about the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 142, and compares the acceleration value included in the information with a first threshold or a second threshold set in advance. The first threshold is, for example, a value corresponding to an acceleration value that does not occur during normal driving, but occurs due to an impact when colliding with another object. The second threshold is a value smaller than the first threshold and corresponds to an acceleration value that may occur during normal driving. The event detection unit 127 compares the acceleration value with the first threshold or the second threshold to detect that a predetermined event has occurred in the vehicle. In this embodiment, the term "event" refers to an event that occurs in the vehicle accompanied by a predetermined impact, such as dangerous driving such as sudden stops and sudden starts, contact accidents, and collision accidents.

[0027] The event detection unit 127 detects that an event has occurred when the acceleration value is equal to or greater than a first threshold. The event detection unit 127 detects that an event has occurred based on the results of analysis performed by the imaging data analysis unit 129 when the acceleration value is smaller than the first threshold and equal to or greater than a second threshold. When the event detection unit 127 detects the occurrence of a predetermined event, the event detection unit 127 supplies a signal indicating the occurrence of the event to the imaging data processing unit 122.

[0028] The event detection unit 127 may detect accelerations of the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis, which are the coordinate axes of a three-axis coordinate system, or may detect accelerations in at least one of these directions. The accelerations received from these three axial directions may be weighted. The first and second thresholds detected by the event detection unit 127 may change according to the speed of the vehicle 900. That is, the faster the traveling speed of the vehicle 900, the larger the first and second thresholds may be.

[0029] The location information acquisition unit 128 receives signals from GPS satellites received by a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver unit 143, acquires location information relating to the current location from the received signals, and supplies the acquired location information to the recording control unit 123. The location information includes, for example, the latitude and longitude of the vehicle at the time the signal was received from the GPS satellite.

[0030] The image capture data analysis unit 129 receives image capture data from the image capture data acquisition unit 120 and analyzes information included in the received image capture data. More specifically, the image capture data analysis unit 129 recognizes an object included in the image capture data and detects whether or not the object may have come into contact with the vehicle 900. When the image capture data analysis unit 129 detects that a preset object may have come into contact with the vehicle 900, the image capture data analysis unit 129 notifies the event detection unit 127 of a signal indicating that an event may have occurred as a result of the analysis.

[0031] The voice control unit 130 has preset voice data for outgoing calls, and supplies the voice data to the speaker 144. For example, after the recording control unit 123 has completed saving the event record data, the voice control unit 130 supplies the speaker 144 with voice data for notifying the passenger that the event record data has been saved.

[0032] Next, a description will be given of each component connected to the control unit 100. The recording device 10 has an operation unit 140, a display unit 141, an acceleration sensor 142, a GPS receiving unit 143, a speaker 144, a camera 150, and a recording unit 160.

[0033] The operation unit 140 is a user interface that accepts operations performed by the user on the recording device 10. The user interface may be, for example, an operation button or a touch sensor superimposed on the display unit 141. The user interface may also be a red line or wireless communication receiving unit that accepts signals transmitted from a remote control or the like. The operation unit 140 supplies operation information, which is information related to the accepted operation, to the control unit 100 via a predetermined interface. The operation information is, for example, an instruction to start recording an event or an instruction to play back event record data.

[0034] The display unit 141 is a display device that displays various information under the control of the display control unit 126. The display unit 141 has at least a display panel such as a liquid crystal panel or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) panel. The display unit 141 is connected to the display control unit 126 and displays a signal supplied from the display control unit 126. The display unit 141 is configured to display an image included in the event record data.

[0035] The acceleration sensor 142 is, for example, a three-axis acceleration sensor, and is installed at an arbitrary location of the recording device 10. The acceleration sensor 142 detects the acceleration applied to the acceleration sensor 142, and supplies information related to the detected acceleration to the control unit 100 in accordance with the detected acceleration. The acceleration sensor 142 is connected to the event detection unit 127, and supplies information related to the detected acceleration to the event detection unit 127. Note that the information related to acceleration supplied by the acceleration sensor 142 to the control unit 100 may be of another configuration as appropriate, and more specifically, the playback control unit 124 also uses the information related to acceleration received from the acceleration sensor 142. Note that the acceleration sensor 142 may be a one-axis or two-axis acceleration sensor instead of a three-axis acceleration sensor.

[0036] The GPS receiver 143 receives information about the current position of the vehicle by a satellite positioning system called GPS or GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System). The GPS receiver 143 may be an antenna for receiving GPS signals, or a communication interface for receiving position information acquired by the vehicle. The GPS receiver 143 supplies the received signal about the current position to the position information acquisition unit 128.

[0037] The speaker 144 converts the voice data received from the voice control unit 130 into voice, transmits the voice, and allows the user to recognize the voice.

[0038] The camera 150 is an imaging device having an objective lens, an imaging element, an AD (Analog to Digital) conversion element, etc. The camera 150 captures an image including the scenery around the vehicle, which is a moving body, and generates imaging data, which is data of the captured image. The camera 150 supplies the generated imaging data to the imaging data acquisition unit 120.

[0039] The recording unit 160 is a recording device that stores the photographed data supplied from the camera 150. The recording unit 160 is a non-volatile recording device such as a memory card including a flash memory, a solid state drive (SSD) or a hard disk drive (HDD). The recording unit 160 is connected to the recording control unit 123, receives predetermined data from the recording control unit 123, and records the received data. In addition, the recording unit 160 supplies an event file including the recorded event record data to the playback control unit 124 in response to an instruction from the playback control unit 124. The recording unit 160 may be configured to be detachable from the recording device 10, or may be configured not to be detachable.

[0040] Next, the shooting data will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a first diagram showing the relationship between the shooting data stored in the recording device and time. The horizontal axis of the diagram represents time, and indicates that time passes in the direction of the arrow (to the right) from time t10 to time t11.

[0041] The elongated shape shown along the time axis is the photographed data C11 at time t11. The photographed data C11 is photographed data generated by the camera 150 and stored in the buffer memory 121. The recording device 10 is set to always store photographed data for a preset period Pn. The period Pn is, for example, 60 seconds, 120 seconds, or 150 seconds. The photographed data C11 at time t11 is photographed data from time t10 to time t11, which is the period Pn going back from time t11. In addition, as time passes, photographed data older than the period Pn is sequentially erased from the photographed data stored in the buffer memory 121.

[0042] 3, it is assumed that the recording device 10 detects the occurrence of an event at time t11, and thereafter, the recording device 10 performs a process of generating event record data based on time t11.

[0043] Next, the photographing data and the event record data after the occurrence of an event is detected will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a second diagram showing the relationship between the photographing data stored in the recording device and time. Fig. 4 shows the configuration of data at time t21, which is after time t11. What is stored in the buffer memory 121 at time t21 is the photographing data C21 from time t20 to time t21, which is the period Pn back from time t21.

[0044] The rectangle shown under the photographed data C21 is the event record data E11. The event record data E11 is extracted from the photographed data in response to the event detected at time t11. In this embodiment, the recording device 10 sets the time ts, which is obtained by going back a period P1 from the time t11 when the event was detected as a reference, as the start time of the event record data. Also, in this embodiment, the recording device 10 sets the time te, which is obtained by passing a period P2 from the time t11 when the event was detected as a reference, as the end time of the event record data. The periods P1 and P2 are, for example, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, or 20 seconds. That is, the recording device 10 saves the photographed data for the period from time ts to time te as the event record data E11.

[0045] By generating the event record data as described above, the recording device 10 can store the captured data for the period before and after the event that occurred. Therefore, the user can visually confirm the situation around the vehicle before and after the event by playing back the event record data stored by the recording device 10 after the event occurs.

[0046] The recording device 10 may record a normal file in the recording unit 160 in addition to the event recording data. In this case, the recording device 10 extracts shooting data for a predetermined period from the shooting data stored in the buffer memory 121, and records the extracted shooting data as a normal file in the recording unit 160. The recording device 10 may perform a process of recording the normal file and a process of saving the event recording data in parallel.

[0047] Next, the processing performed by the recording device 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing of the recording device according to the first embodiment. Fig. 5 shows the processing performed by the control unit 100. The flowchart shown in Fig. 5 is started in response to an arbitrary condition, such as when power is supplied to the recording device 10 in response to the start of vehicle operation.

[0048] First, the photographing data acquisition unit 120 of the control unit 100 starts acquiring photographing data. At the same time, the event detection unit 127 of the control unit 100 starts acquiring the acceleration value Gx (step S10). The photographing data is periodically supplied from the camera 150 (for example, 30 frames per second). The acceleration value Gx is also periodically acquired from the acceleration sensor 142. Note that the timing at which the photographing data acquisition unit 120 acquires the photographing data and the timing at which the event detection unit 127 acquires the acceleration value Gx may be different or the same. The photographing data acquisition unit 120 supplies the photographing data supplied from the camera 150 to the buffer memory 121. The buffer memory 121 stores the photographing data for a preset period (for example, 60 seconds), and after the photographing data for the preset period has been stored, the buffer memory 121 sequentially stores new photographing data while deleting old photographing data.

[0049] Next, the event detection unit 127 determines whether the acceleration value Gx received from the acceleration sensor 142 is equal to or greater than the second threshold value (step S11). If it is not determined that the acceleration value Gx is equal to or greater than the second threshold value (step S11: No), it means that no event has occurred in the vehicle 900. In this case, the event detection unit 127 repeats step S11.

[0050] On the other hand, when it is determined that the acceleration value Gx is equal to or greater than the second threshold (step S11: Yes), the event detection unit 127 determines whether or not the acceleration value Gx is smaller than the first threshold (step S12). When the acceleration value Gx is equal to or greater than the first threshold, the event detection unit 127 returns (step S12: No). In this case, the event detection unit 127 detects the occurrence of an event (step S18). Then, the recording control unit 123 proceeds to step S15 and records the event record data (step S15).

[0051] Return to step S12. If the acceleration value Gx is smaller than the first threshold, the event detection unit 127 determines that the acceleration value Gx is smaller than the first threshold (step S12: Yes). In this case, the shooting data analysis unit 129 analyzes the shooting data for a preset period before and after the time when the event detection unit 127 acquires the acceleration value (step S13). Details of the analysis performed by the shooting data analysis unit 129 will be described later.

[0052] Next, the photographing data analysis unit 129 judges whether or not an event may have occurred in the photographing data during the analyzed period based on the analysis result (step S14). If it is not judged that an event may have occurred in the photographing data during the analyzed period (step S14: No), the control unit 100 does not record the event record data and proceeds to step S17.

[0053] On the other hand, when it is determined that an event may have occurred in the photographing data for the analyzed period (step S14: Yes), the photographing data analysis unit 129 notifies the event detection unit 127 of a signal indicating that an event may have occurred as a result of the analysis. The event detection unit 27 then supplies a signal indicating the occurrence of an event to the photographing data processing unit 122. Then, the photographing data processing unit 122 generates event record data, and then the recording control unit 123 records the event record data in the recording unit 160 (step S15).

[0054] Next, the control unit 100 notifies the passenger that the event record data has been recorded (step S16). Specifically, the voice control unit 130 causes the speaker 144 to emit a voice such as "The event record data has been saved because an impact was received just now" as voice data notifying the passenger that the event record data has been recorded. In this way, by notifying the passenger by voice, it is possible to notify the passenger who is driving the vehicle without compromising safety. The voice control unit 130 may analyze an object that is the cause of the event occurrence in the photographed data analysis unit 129, and cause the speaker 144 to emit the object as voice data. In this case, for example, the voice control unit 130 causes the speaker 144 to emit a voice such as "The event record data has been saved because there is a possibility that you have come into contact with an animal just now" or "The event record data has been saved because there is a possibility that you have come into contact with a fallen object on the road just now".

[0055] After notifying the user, the control unit 100 proceeds to step S17. In step S17, the control unit 100 judges whether or not to end the process shown in FIG. 5 (step S17). If the control unit 100 does not judge to end the process (step S17: No), the control unit 100 returns to step S11 and compares the acceleration value with the second threshold value again. On the other hand, if the control unit 100 judges to end the process (step S17: Yes), the control unit 100 ends the process.

[0056] Through the above-described process, the recording device 10 performs the process of recording event record data. Through such a process, the recording device 10 can appropriately record events during movement.

[0057] Next, an example of the analysis performed by the image capture data analysis unit 129 will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of image capture data recorded by the recording device according to the first embodiment. Image A10 shown in Fig. 6 is an image related to the process of step S13 described in Fig. 5, among the image capture data captured by the recording device 10. That is, image A10 is an image taken several seconds before the acceleration value Gx was acquired when the acceleration value Gx was equal to or greater than the second threshold value and less than the first threshold value.

[0058] Image A10 shows that vehicle 900 is about to enter an intersection. Bicycle B10 is traveling close to vehicle 900 on the left front side of vehicle 900. Also, human B20 and human B30 are present ahead of vehicle 900 and are about to cross the pedestrian crossing. Area Z10 is shown at the bottom of image A10. Area Z10 shows the close distance to vehicle 900. Area Z10 may be set in advance in recording device 10, or may be set by the user via operation unit 140. If another object is included in area Z10, there is a high possibility that the other object will come into contact with vehicle 900. In image A10, part of bicycle B10 is included in area Z10. Therefore, image A10 shows that there is a high possibility that bicycle B10 will come into contact with vehicle 900.

[0059] In the above situation, the photographed data analysis unit 129 recognizes the bicycle B10, the person B20, and the person B30 included in the image A10. Specifically, the photographed data analysis unit 129 extracts features in the image data and recognizes the objects, for example, by using HOG (Histograms of Oriented Gradients). Note that methods for recognizing objects from image data are already widely known to those skilled in the art. Therefore, detailed description will be omitted here. The photographed data analysis unit 129 is set to recognize, for example, people, bicycles, motorbikes, cars, and animals.

[0060] In this way, when the image in which the acquired acceleration value Gx is equal to or greater than the second threshold value and less than the first threshold value contains a predetermined object in the area Z10, the photographing data analysis unit 129 determines that an event may have occurred. With this configuration, the photographing data analysis unit 129 can determine whether or not an event may have occurred by analyzing the impact received by the acceleration sensor and the photographing data photographed by the camera 150 in association with each other.

[0061] Although the first embodiment has been described above, the configuration of the recording device 10 according to the first embodiment is not limited to the above. For example, the audio signal output by the audio control unit 130 may notify the type of object that may have come into contact. This allows the recording device 10 to more accurately notify the contents of the event. The audio control unit 130 may output a predetermined beep sound instead of an audio signal. This allows the recording device 10 to notify the passenger about the recording of the event record data with a simple configuration. Also, the notification about the recording of the event record data may be made by light, a message displayed on the display unit 141, or the like instead of audio.

[0062] The camera 150 may be a distance measuring sensor such as an infrared camera or a LIDAR (Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) or a combination of these. The camera 150 may have a camera that captures the side or rear of the vehicle 900 in addition to a camera that captures the front of the vehicle 900. The camera 150 may be a 360-degree camera that captures the surroundings of the vehicle 900.

[0063] With the above configuration, the recording device 10 can record event record data even when a minor collision accident or the like occurs, as shown in Fig. 6. In addition, in the recording device 10, the photographed data analysis unit 129 determines that an event has occurred, for example, when the impact is so small that the occupant does not notice that he or she has hit an object. Therefore, the recording device 10 can prevent the occurrence of a hit-and-run accident due to the negligence of the occupant.

[0064] <Embodiment 2> Next, a description will be given of embodiment 2. Embodiment 2 differs from embodiment 1 in that an inquiry is made to the passenger regarding the recording of the event record data.

[0065] A recording device according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a block diagram of the recording device according to the second embodiment. The recording device 20 shown in the figure has a control unit 200 instead of the control unit 100. The control unit 200 further has a voice recognition unit 131 in addition to the components that the control unit 100 has. The recording device 20 also has a microphone 145 as a component connected to the control unit 200.

[0066] The voice recognition unit 131 is a voice recognition device that acquires a voice input to the microphone 145 and recognizes human words contained in the acquired voice. The voice recognition unit 131 detects words from the human words contained in the acquired voice and performs processing according to information on the detected words. The microphone 145 is a microphone that acquires the user's speech and the voice inside and outside the vehicle 900, converts them into electrical signals, and supplies the converted electrical signals to the voice recognition unit 131.

[0067] In the recording device 20, the voice control unit 130 can make inquiries to the passenger by a predetermined voice. In addition, the recording device 20 can obtain a response from the passenger to the inquiry made by the voice control unit 130. With this configuration, the recording device 20 exchanges information with the passenger by voice. This allows the recording device 20 to easily exchange information with the passenger while driving, for example, without compromising safety.

[0068] Next, an example of processing performed by the recording device according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing processing by the recording device 20. The flowchart shown in Fig. 8 has steps S20 to S22 instead of steps S13 and S14 of the flowchart explained in Fig. 5. Below, the same content as in the flowchart explained in Fig. 5 will be omitted as appropriate, and differences from the flowchart in Fig. 5 will be explained.

[0069] In step S12, if the acceleration value Gx is smaller than the first threshold, the event detection unit 127 determines that the acceleration value Gx is smaller than the first threshold (step S12: Yes). In this case, the photographed data analysis unit 129 analyzes the photographed data for a preset period before and after the time when the event detection unit 127 acquires the acceleration value. Then, the photographed data analysis unit 129 generates information such as whether a predetermined object was included in the analysis result, whether the recognized predetermined object may have come into contact with the vehicle 900, and transmits this information to the voice control unit 130 (step S20).

[0070] Next, the voice control unit 130 uses the information received from the photographic data analysis unit 129 to generate an inquiry message, and supplies the generated message to the speaker 144 to make an inquiry (step S21). The inquiry message may include, for example, the type of recognized object. More specifically, the inquiry message may be something like "It appears that a bicycle has just come into contact with the left side of the vehicle. Do you want to save the event record data?"

[0071] Next, the control unit 200 judges whether or not the passenger has instructed to record the event record data (step S22). More specifically, after the above-mentioned inquiry, the control unit 200 judges whether or not the voice recognition unit 131 has recognized words such as "please," "okay," and "save."

[0072] When it is determined that a recording instruction has been received by recognizing the above word (step S22: Yes), the voice recognition unit 131 supplies a signal indicating the occurrence of an event to the event detection unit 127. The event detection unit 127 then supplies a signal indicating the occurrence of an event to the photographing data processing unit 122. The photographing data processing unit 122 then generates event record data, and the recording control unit 123 then records the event record data in the recording unit 160 (step S15).

[0073] On the other hand, if the voice recognition unit 131 does not recognize the word or recognizes a word that denies the instruction to record, such as "no," the voice recognition unit 131 does not determine that an instruction to record event record data has been received (step S22: No). In this case, the control unit 200 proceeds to step S17.

[0074] Through the above processing, the recording device 20 according to the second embodiment can record the event record data according to the passenger's will. The processing of the second embodiment and the processing of the first embodiment may be combined. That is, when it is determined that the event record data should be recorded as a result of the analysis of the photographed data, the recording device 20 may record the event record data without inquiring of the passenger. On the other hand, when it is determined that the event record data should not be recorded as a result of the analysis of the photographed data, the above-mentioned inquiry may be made.

[0075] The above describes the embodiment 2. In the recording device 20 according to the embodiment 2, the control unit 200 has a trained model generated by machine learning, and may perform speech recognition processing using the trained model.

[0076] The recording device 20 according to the second embodiment, with the above-mentioned configuration, can provide a recording device etc. that can flexibly and appropriately record events during travel by making inquiries of the passenger.

[0077] The above-mentioned program can be stored and supplied to a computer using various types of non-transitory computer-readable media. The non-transitory computer-readable media includes various types of tangible recording media. Examples of the non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic recording media (e.g., flexible disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives), magneto-optical recording media (e.g., magneto-optical disks), CD-ROM (Read Only Memory), CD-R, CD-R / W, and semiconductor memory (e.g., mask ROM, PROM (Programmable ROM), EPROM (Erasable PROM), flash ROM, RAM (Random Access Memory)). The program may also be supplied to a computer by various types of temporary computer-readable media. Examples of the temporary computer-readable media include electric signals, optical signals, and electromagnetic waves. The temporary computer-readable media can supply the program to a computer via a wired communication path such as an electric wire and an optical fiber, or via a wireless communication path.

[0078] The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention. The recording device may use a communication function to connect to a network and access a computer that performs a predetermined analysis via the network. As a result, the recording device may cause the computer to process the above-mentioned analysis of the captured data, selection of voice data, recognition of the response voice, etc. via the network, and obtain the results of the processing. [Explanation of symbols]

[0079] 10, 20 Recording device 100, 200 Control section 110 Bus Line 120 Shooting data acquisition unit 121 Buffer Memory 122 Shooting data processing section 123 Recording control section 124 Playback control section 125 Operation control section 126 Display control section 127 Event detection unit 128 Location information acquisition unit 129 Shooting Data Analysis Section 130 Audio control section 131 Voice Recognition Unit 140 Operation section 141 Display section 142 Acceleration Sensor 143 GPS receiver 144 Speaker 145 Mike 150 Camera 160 Recording Section 900 vehicles

Claims

1. an image capturing data acquiring unit that acquires image capturing data of an outside of the moving body captured by a camera installed in the moving body; an imaging data analysis unit that analyzes information included in the imaging data; an acceleration sensor for acquiring an acceleration value applied to the moving object; an event detection unit that detects that the event has occurred based on a result of the analysis when the acceleration value is smaller than the first threshold value and is equal to or larger than a second threshold value that is smaller than the first threshold value; a recording control unit that records the photographing data for a predetermined period based on the detection of the event as event record data; a voice control unit that outputs voice to a user, The photographing data analysis unit analyzes an object that is a cause of the occurrence of the event, The audio control unit outputs to the user a record of event record data involving the object. Recording device.

2. the photographing data analysis unit, when an acceleration value applied to the moving body is smaller than the first threshold value and is equal to or larger than a second threshold value smaller than the first threshold value, and when an object is included in a close distance area of ​​the moving body in photographing data prior to a time when the acceleration value was acquired, determines that there is a high possibility that the object will come into contact with the moving body, and recognizes the object as the target object; 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1

3. an image capturing data acquisition step of acquiring image capturing data of an outside of the moving body by a camera installed in the moving body; an imaging data analysis step of analyzing information included in the imaging data; an acceleration value acquiring step of acquiring an acceleration value applied to the moving object; an event detection step of detecting that the event has occurred based on a result of the analysis when the acceleration value is smaller than the first threshold value and is equal to or larger than a second threshold value that is smaller than the first threshold value; a recording control step of recording, as event record data, at least a part of the photographing data for a predetermined period based on the detection of the event; a voice control step of outputting a voice to a user; The photographing data analysis step includes analyzing an object that is a cause of the occurrence of the event, and outputting to the user a record of event record data involving the object. Recording method.

4. an image capturing data acquisition step of acquiring image capturing data of an outside of the moving body by a camera installed in the moving body; an imaging data analysis step of analyzing information included in the imaging data; an acceleration value acquiring step of acquiring an acceleration value applied to the moving object; an event detection step of detecting that the event has occurred based on a result of the analysis when the acceleration value is smaller than the first threshold value and is equal to or larger than a second threshold value that is smaller than the first threshold value; a recording control step of recording, as event record data, at least a part of the photographing data for a predetermined period based on the detection of the event; a voice control step of outputting a voice to a user; The photographing data analysis step includes analyzing an object that is a cause of the occurrence of the event, and outputting to the user a record of event record data involving the object. A program for causing a computer to execute the recording method.

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