Notification device

Abstract

To provide a technique which has a simple configuration and can perform notification about wind when an occupant of a vehicle gets off the vehicle.SOLUTION: A notification device has a position acquisition part 42 which acquires position information of a vehicle. When an occupant of the vehicle gets off the vehicle, a wind velocity acquisition part 44 acquires wind velocity information around the vehicle from a server device on the basis of the acquired position information. A determination part 46 determines whether caution information when getting off the vehicle exists or not, on the basis of the acquired wind velocity information. When it is determined that the caution information exists, a notification part 48 notifies the occupant of the caution information when getting off the vehicle before the occupant gets off the vehicle.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a notification device.

Background Art

[0002] When an occupant gets out of a vehicle, if the wind is strong, the opened door may be blown by the wind, which may be dangerous. Patent Document 1 discloses a danger prevention warning device when getting out of the vehicle. In this device, when it is determined that a person riding in the vehicle is about to get out, wind speed information is detected from the output of a pressure sensor installed outside the vehicle. Also, obstacle information is detected from the output of an imaging camera. Based on the wind speed information outside the vehicle and the obstacle information around the door, when opening the door at the time of getting out, the possible danger is predicted, and a warning is given audibly from a speaker to the person who is about to get out.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the technology of Patent Document 1, it is necessary to mount a pressure sensor and a sensor processing unit that calculates the wind speed and wind direction from the detected wind pressure on the vehicle.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a technology that can notify attention information regarding the wind when a vehicle occupant gets out with a simple configuration.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To solve the above problems, a notification device according to an aspect of the present invention includes a position acquisition unit that acquires position information of a vehicle, and when an occupant of the vehicle is about to get off, based on the acquired position information, a wind speed acquisition unit that acquires wind speed information around the vehicle from a server device, a determination unit that determines the presence or absence of caution information at the time of getting off based on the acquired wind speed information, and a notification unit that notifies the occupant of the caution information at the time of getting off before the occupant gets off when it is determined that there is caution information.

Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technique capable of notifying caution information regarding wind when an occupant of a vehicle gets off with a simple configuration.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a notification system 1 according to an embodiment. The notification system 1 includes an in-vehicle device 10 and a server device 12.

[0010] The in-vehicle device 10 is mounted on the vehicle 2. The vehicle 2 may be a vehicle driven by a driver or an autonomous vehicle. Although one set of the vehicle 2 and the in-vehicle device 10 are shown in FIG. 1, the notification system 1 may include a plurality of sets of the vehicle 2 and the in-vehicle device 10. The in-vehicle device 10 is connected to the network 14 by wireless communication via a wireless base station or a wireless access point. The standard of the wireless communication is not particularly limited.

[0011] Server device 12 is connected to network 14, and server device 12 communicates with in-vehicle device 10 via network 14. Server device 12 is installed in, for example, a data center. Server device 12 holds wind speed information and wind direction information for each of a plurality of locations. Server device 12 periodically acquires wind speed information and wind direction information from anemometers and wind vanes at each location, for example, and updates the held information. Server device 12 may periodically acquire wind speed information and wind direction information for each location from another server device (not shown).

[0012] Figure 2 shows the functional configuration of in-vehicle device 10 in Figure 1. In-vehicle device 10 includes a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver unit 20, a shift position sensor 22, an output unit 24, a communication unit 26, and a processing unit 28.

[0013] GNSS receiver unit 20 receives signals from satellites and periodically derives the position of vehicle 2 based on the received signals. The position of vehicle 2 includes latitude and longitude. GNSS receiver unit 20 outputs the derived position information to processing unit 28. GNSS receiver unit 20 may include, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver.

[0014] Shift position sensor 22 detects the shift position of vehicle 2 and outputs a signal indicating the detection result to processing unit 28.

[0015] Output unit 24 includes at least one of a display unit and a speaker provided in the vehicle interior, and outputs notification information in at least one of sound and display in the vehicle interior of vehicle 2 according to an instruction from processing unit 28. It is preferable that output unit 24 outputs notification information by at least sound. Communication unit 26 is capable of wireless communication and communicates with server device 12.

[0016] The processing unit 28 includes a getting-off intention detection unit 40, a position acquisition unit 42, a wind speed acquisition unit 44, a determination unit 46, and a notification unit 48. The processing unit 28 can also be called a notification device. In terms of hardware, the configuration of the processing unit 28 can be realized by the CPU, memory, and other LSIs of any computer, and in terms of software, it can be realized by a program loaded into the memory or the like. Here, however, functional blocks realized by their cooperation are depicted. Therefore, it is understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by hardware only, software only, or a combination thereof.

[0017] The getting-off intention detection unit 40 detects the getting-off intention of the passengers while at least one passenger is on board the vehicle 2. The getting-off intention detection unit 40 can identify, for example, that at least one passenger is on board the vehicle 2 based on the detection signal of a seating sensor (not shown) provided on the seat. Various known techniques can be used to identify that a passenger is on board.

[0018] The getting-off intention detection unit 40 detects the getting-off intention of the passengers based on, for example, the signal supplied from the shift position sensor 22. The getting-off intention detection unit 40 detects that the passenger has a getting-off intention when, for example, the shift position is in the parking range, and supplies information indicating that the passenger is about to get off to the position acquisition unit 42 and the wind speed acquisition unit 44.

[0019] Various known techniques can be used to detect the getting-off intention. The getting-off intention detection unit 40 may also use various other sensor signals to detect the getting-off intention of the passengers. The getting-off intention detection unit 40 may detect that the passenger has a getting-off intention, for example, when the seat belt that was worn is removed, the shift lever is in the parking range, and the parking brake is actuated. The getting-off intention detection unit 40 may detect the getting-off intention of the passenger when these conditions are met and the passenger makes a statement indicating the getting-off intention.

[0020] When the occupant of the vehicle 2 is about to get off, the position acquisition unit 42 acquires the position information of the vehicle 2 from the GNSS reception unit 20 and supplies the acquired position information to the wind speed acquisition unit 44. The position acquisition unit 42 may periodically acquire the position information of the vehicle 2, or may supply the position information when the occupant of the vehicle 2 is about to get off to the wind speed acquisition unit 44.

[0021] When the occupant of the vehicle 2 is about to get off, the wind speed acquisition unit 44 acquires the wind speed information around the vehicle 2 from the server device 12 based on the position information supplied from the position acquisition unit 42. Specifically, the wind speed acquisition unit 44 transmits a transmission request for the wind speed information and the acquired position information to the server device 12 via the communication unit 26. The information to be transmitted is attached with identification information for identifying the vehicle 2 as the transmission source.

[0022] When the server device 12 receives the transmission request and the position information, it acquires the wind speed information at the point closest to the position indicated by the received position information of the vehicle 2, and transmits the acquired wind speed information to the communication unit 26 of the vehicle 2. The transmitted wind speed information is attached with identification information for identifying the vehicle 2 as the transmission destination.

[0023] The wind speed acquisition unit 44 acquires the wind speed information received by the communication unit 26 as the wind speed information around the vehicle 2, and supplies the acquired wind speed information to the determination unit 46.

[0024] Based on the wind speed information supplied from the wind speed acquisition unit 44, the determination unit 46 determines the presence or absence of caution information at the time of getting off, and supplies the determination result to the notification unit 48. The determination unit 46 determines that there is caution information at the time of getting off when the wind speed is greater than a predetermined threshold value. The determination unit 46 determines that there is no caution information at the time of getting off when the wind speed is less than or equal to the threshold value. The threshold value can be appropriately determined by experiments or simulations.

[0025] When the determination unit 46 determines that there is caution information, the notification unit 48 notifies the crew of the caution information at the time of getting off the vehicle via the output unit 24 before the crew gets off the vehicle. For example, the notification unit 48 notifies the caution information at the time of getting off the vehicle by voice such as "Since the wind is strong, please be careful when opening and closing the door". The caution information at the time of getting off the vehicle can also be referred to as the caution information when opening and closing the door or the caution information regarding the danger that may occur due to the influence of the wind. The crew who has received the notification can grasp that it is a strong wind and recognize the possibility of danger when opening and closing the door. Thereby, the crew can avoid danger and get off the vehicle safely.

[0026] When acquiring the wind speed information, the wind speed acquisition unit 44 may also acquire the wind direction information around the vehicle 2 from the server device 12. In this case, the GNSS reception unit 20 may also periodically derive the direction of the vehicle 2 based on the signal received from the satellite. The position acquisition unit 42 may acquire the information on the direction of the vehicle 2 from the GNSS reception unit 20 and supply the acquired information on the direction of the vehicle 2 to the notification unit 48. When the determination unit 46 determines that there is caution information, the notification unit 48 may specify the blowing direction of the wind with respect to the vehicle 2 based on the wind direction and the direction of the vehicle 2, and notify the caution information at the time of getting off the vehicle determined according to the blowing direction of the wind with respect to the vehicle 2. For example, the caution information at the time of getting off the vehicle may include the blowing direction of the wind with respect to the vehicle 2. The crew who has received the notification can easily recognize what kind of danger there is when opening and closing the door on the side where they get off according to the direction of the wind.

[0027] Next, the overall operation of the processing unit 28 with the above configuration will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the processing unit 28 in FIG. 2. The processing in FIG. 3 is periodically repeated at a predetermined cycle while a crew is on board the vehicle 2.

[0028] The getting-off intention detection unit 40 detects the getting-off intention of the crew (S10). If it is not detected that the crew has the intention to get off (N in S10), the process returns to S10. When it is detected that the crew has the intention to get off (Y in S10), the position acquisition unit 42 acquires the position information of the vehicle 2 (S12), and the wind speed acquisition unit 44 acquires the wind speed information near the current position of the vehicle 2 from the server device 12 (S14).

[0029] The determination unit 46 determines the presence or absence of caution information at the time of getting off the vehicle based on the wind speed information (S16). When there is caution information at the time of getting off the vehicle (Y in S16), the notification unit 48 notifies the passenger of the caution information at the time of getting off the vehicle (S18), and the processing unit 28 ends the process. When there is no caution information at the time of getting off the vehicle (N in S16), the processing unit 28 ends the process.

[0030] According to the embodiment, since the wind speed information around the vehicle 2 is acquired from the server device 12 based on the position information of the vehicle 2, it is not necessary to mount a pressure sensor and a sensor processing unit for detecting the wind speed on the vehicle 2, and the configuration of the in-vehicle device 10 can be simplified. Therefore, with a simple configuration, it is possible to notify the passengers of the vehicle 2 of caution information regarding the wind at the time of getting off the vehicle. Since the pressure sensor and the sensor processing unit are not required, the cost can be reduced.

[0031] Therefore, for the vehicle 2 that includes the GNSS receiver 20, the shift position sensor 22, the output unit 24, the communication unit 26, and the processing unit 28, and these are used for known driving support functions and the like and do not have a function of notifying caution information regarding the wind, it is also easy to retrofit this notification function. For example, by storing a program for realizing the functions of the getting-off intention detection unit 40, the position acquisition unit 42, the wind speed acquisition unit 44, the determination unit 46, and the notification unit 48 in a storage unit (not shown), the processing unit 28 can be made to function as a notification device. Retrofitting a pressure sensor for detecting the wind speed to the vehicle may involve body processing and may also take time and be difficult. However, in the embodiment, only adding a program is sufficient, so there is no need to process the vehicle body of the vehicle 2, and it can be implemented in a short time.

[0032] The present invention has been described based on the embodiment. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiment is merely an example, and various modifications are possible for the combination of each component and each processing process, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention.

[0033] For example, when the wind speed acquisition unit 44 fails to receive the wind speed information despite transmitting the transmission request for the wind speed information and the position information to the server device 12, the notification unit 48 may notify the passenger via the output unit 24 that the wind speed is unknown before the passenger gets off the vehicle. For example, the notification unit 48 may notify by voice such as "Since the wind strength is unknown, please be careful when opening and closing the door as a precaution". A passenger who is aware of the notification function for the attention information regarding the wind may think that there is no need to pay attention to the wind when opening and closing the door if there is no notification. However, there is also a possibility that the server device 12 does not hold the wind speed information near the current position of the vehicle 2 due to some cause such as a malfunction of the wind direction and speed meter. In such a situation, if there is actually wind blowing with a certain strength, the door may suddenly open. According to this modification example, even when the wind speed information cannot be received, the passenger can be alerted.

[0034] Also, in the embodiment, there is one threshold value regarding the wind speed, but a plurality of threshold values may be provided. An example of providing a first threshold value and a second threshold value smaller than the first threshold value will be described. The first threshold value and the second threshold value can be appropriately determined by experiments or simulations. In this case, when the wind speed is greater than the first threshold value, the determination unit 46 determines that there is the first attention information at the time of getting off the vehicle. When the wind speed is less than or equal to the first threshold value and greater than the second threshold value, the determination unit 46 determines that there is the second attention information at the time of getting off the vehicle. When the wind speed is less than or equal to the second threshold value, the determination unit 46 determines that there is no attention information at the time of getting off the vehicle. When the determination unit 46 determines that there is the first attention information at the time of getting off the vehicle, the notification unit 48 notifies the passenger of the first attention information at the time of getting off the vehicle before the passenger gets off. When the determination unit 46 determines that there is the second attention information at the time of getting off the vehicle, the notification unit 48 notifies the passenger of the second attention information at the time of getting off the vehicle before the passenger gets off. The first attention information at the time of getting off the vehicle may have a higher degree of alertness than the second attention information at the time of getting off the vehicle. According to this modification example, it is possible to alert more appropriately according to the strength of the wind.

Explanation of Signs

[0035] 2... Vehicle, 10... In-vehicle device, 12... Server device, 20... GNSS receiver, 22... Shift position sensor, 24... Output unit, 26... Communication unit, 28... Processing unit, 40... Getting-off intention detection unit, 42... Position acquisition unit, 44... Wind speed acquisition unit, 46... Determination unit, 48... Notification unit.

Claims

【Claim 1】 A position acquisition unit that acquires the position information of a vehicle; A wind speed acquisition unit that, when an occupant of the vehicle is about to get off, acquires wind speed information in the vicinity of the vehicle from a server device based on the acquired position information; A determination unit that determines the presence or absence of caution information at the time of getting off based on the acquired wind speed information; A notification unit that, when it is determined that there is caution information, notifies the occupant of the caution information at the time of getting off before the occupant gets off; A notification device, characterized by comprising the above.

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