Driving evaluation device

Abstract

To appropriately evaluate the driving skill of a driver regardless of the state of the road surface on which a vehicle travels.SOLUTION: A driving evaluation device 100 comprises: a traveling information acquisition section 110 that acquires traveling information including position information and acceleration information of a traveling vehicle together with a vehicle ID of the vehicle; a driving skill information generation section 120 that generates driving skill information indicating a driving skill of a driver for each vehicle ID on the basis of at least the acceleration information; a map information storage section 132 that stores map information including a road map, and a driving skill correction value set in advance for each predetermined road area in order to correct the driving skill information; and a driving skill information correction section 140 that acquires the driving skill correction value corresponding to the road area where the vehicle travels from the map information storage section 132 on the basis of the position information of the vehicle and corrects the driving skill information generated by the driving skill information generation section 120 for each vehicle ID.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a driving evaluation device for evaluating a driver's driving skill.

Background Art

[0002] As this type of device, there is known a technique for determining the excellence of a driver's driving skill, driving propensity, etc. based on information from a G-sensor mounted on a vehicle, and generating insurance information regarding the driver's insurance content according to the determination result (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the conventional technology, for example, for a driver who frequently drives on a road with a poor road surface condition that adversely affects driving operations, such as a road surface with potholes, the excellence is likely to be low. Therefore, it is difficult to appropriately evaluate the driver's driving skill.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] One aspect of the driving evaluation device according to the present invention includes a driving information acquisition unit that acquires driving information including the position information and acceleration information of a traveling vehicle together with the vehicle ID of the vehicle, and a driving skill information generation unit that generates driving skill information indicating the driving skill of the driver for each vehicle ID based on at least the acceleration information. A map information storage unit stores map information including a road map and driving skill correction values set in advance for each predetermined road area for correcting the driving skill information. A driving skill information correction unit acquires, from the map information storage unit, a driving skill correction value corresponding to the road area on which the vehicle is traveling based on the position information of the vehicle, and corrects the driving skill information generated by the driving skill information generation unit for each vehicle ID.

Effect of the Invention

[0006] According to the present invention, it becomes possible to appropriately evaluate the driving skill of a driver regardless of the state of the road surface being traveled.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4A

Figure 4B

Figure 5

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0008] As an example, the driving evaluation device according to the embodiment of the invention corrects the driving skill information obtained by evaluating the driving skill of the driver using a correction value set based on the roughness of the road surface of the road on which the vehicle is traveling.

[0009] In evaluating the driving skills of a driver, accelerations in the longitudinal (front-rear) direction and lateral (left-right) direction caused by sudden acceleration, sudden deceleration, and sudden steering are detected. It is determined that the smaller these detected values are, the higher the driving skills, and the larger the detected values are, the lower the driving skills. However, when the vehicle passes over a pothole on the road or travels on a rough road surface, the output value of the acceleration sensor may increase even though no sudden acceleration or sudden deceleration is occurring. Specifically, the greater the amount of unevenness of the road surface, the greater the acceleration of the vehicle traveling on it is detected. As a result, the driving evaluation device often determines that the driving skills of a driver who frequently travels on a road with poor road conditions are low. Therefore, the sense of unfairness of the driver who has been determined to have low driving skills towards the driving evaluation device becomes stronger. In this embodiment, paying attention to the above points, a driving evaluation device that appropriately evaluates the driving skills of a driver while suppressing the influence of the state of the road surface on which the vehicle travels will be described.

[0010] <Overall Configuration of Driving Evaluation System> FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the overall configuration of a driving evaluation system 1 including a driving evaluation device according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the driving evaluation system 1 includes a server device 100 that functions as a driving evaluation device, and a plurality of in-vehicle devices 30 mounted on a plurality of vehicles 20. The server device 100 and the plurality of in-vehicle devices 30 can communicate with each other via a network 2.

[0011] The network 2 includes not only a public wireless communication network typified by the Internet or a mobile phone network, but also a closed communication network provided for each predetermined management area, such as a wireless LAN, Wi-Fi (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), etc. The server device 100 is configured, for example, as a single server or as a distributed server composed of separate servers for each function. The server device 100 can also be configured as a distributed virtual server created in a cloud environment called a cloud server.

[0012] As the vehicle 20, vehicle 20A, vehicle 20B, and vehicle 20C are exemplified. However, the number of vehicles 20 is not limited to three, and it may be one or two, or four or more.

[0013] Each vehicle 20 is assigned a unique identification ID (vehicle ID), and the vehicle type and vehicle class can also be specified using the vehicle ID. The vehicle ID is, for example, a VIN (Vehicle Identification Number). The vehicle ID is associated with a unique identification ID (driver ID) of the driver who uses the vehicle 20, and the vehicle 20 can also be specified using the driver ID. The association may be called a correlation.

[0014] In the embodiment, the road on which the vehicle 20 travels is divided into predetermined road areas. The road area may be a road for each area divided as an administrative district such as a municipality or a prefecture. For example, roads with road names such as Municipal Road △△ and Prefectural Road □□ are applicable. Also, the road area may be wider than the administrative district. For example, when a road extends from City A to City B adjacent to each other, the road area may include two administrative districts (City A and City B). Furthermore, the road area may be narrower than the administrative district. For example, a road with a name of an area narrower than the administrative district attached as the road name is applicable.

[0015] Furthermore, the road area may be divided by the administrator of the road. For example, the road area in the case of a national highway is the entire country, and the road area in the case of a village road is the entire village.

[0016] <In-vehicle device> In the embodiment, it is assumed that the configurations of the in-vehicle devices 30 of the vehicle 20A, the vehicle 20B, and the vehicle 20C in FIG. 1 are the same as each other. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the in-vehicle device 30. As shown in FIG. 2, the in-vehicle device 30 includes a positioning sensor 31, a sensor group 32, a communication unit 33, and a controller 35. The positioning sensor 31, the sensor group 32, and the communication unit 33 are each communicably connected to the controller 35.

[0017] The positioning sensor 31 receives positioning signals transmitted from positioning satellites. The positioning satellites are artificial satellites such as GPS satellites and quasi-zenith satellites, and the current position (latitude, longitude, altitude) of the vehicle 20 can be detected using the positioning information from the positioning satellites received by the positioning sensor 31. Therefore, the positioning sensor 31 functions as a position detection unit that detects the position of the vehicle 20.

[0018] The sensor group 32 is a general term for a plurality of sensors that detect the driving state of the vehicle 20. The sensor group 32 includes an acceleration sensor 321 that detects the acceleration of the vehicle 20, a vehicle speed sensor 322 that detects the driving speed of the vehicle 20, and a steering angle sensor 323 that detects the steering angle of the steering wheel.

[0019] The controller 35 is an electronic control unit configured to include a computer having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and other peripheral circuits. The controller 35 can read signals from the positioning sensor 31 and the sensor group 32 at a predetermined cycle.

[0020] The controller 35 associates time information (which may also be called date and time information) with the position data of the vehicle 20 detected by the positioning sensor 31 to generate position information of the vehicle 20. Further, the controller 35 associates time information with the acceleration data detected by the acceleration sensor 321 to generate acceleration information. Furthermore, the controller 35 associates time information with the vehicle speed data detected by the vehicle speed sensor 322 to generate vehicle speed information. Additionally, the controller 35 associates time information with the steering angle data detected by the steering angle sensor 323 to generate steering angle information. The position information, acceleration information, vehicle speed information, and steering angle information generated by the controller 35 can be stored in a storage unit (not shown) within the controller 35 as driving information of the vehicle 20.

[0021] The controller 35 includes an ECU 351 for ADAS (Advanced Driver - Assistance Systems). ADAS is a general term for driving assistance functions that enable the vehicle 20 to recognize surrounding information, display and / or warn the driver, and control the vehicle 20 in order to achieve driver safety and comfort. The ECU 351 controls at least one or more functions among, for example, ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control), FCW (Forward Collision Warning), AEBS (Autonomous Emergency Braking System), Night Vision, Pedestrian Detection, Traffic Sign Recognition, Lane Departure Warning, LKAS (Lane - Keeping Assist System), Blind Spot Monitoring, and Driver Monitoring. Note that the ECU 351 may be divided into a plurality of units, each corresponding to a different function.

[0022] The communication unit 33 communicates with the server device 100 via the network 2 according to a command from the controller 35. Thereby, the time - series driving information acquired by the vehicle 20 can be transmitted to the server device 100 with a vehicle ID attached. The communication unit 33 transmits, for example, the driving information of the vehicle 20 to the server device 100 at a predetermined cycle during the running of the vehicle 20 (in other words, when the ignition switch is on). Note that the communication unit 33 can also transmit the driving information of the vehicle 20 to the server device 100 at a predetermined timing according to a request from the server device 100.

[0023] <Server device> FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the server device 100. The server device 100 has a CPU that performs various calculations, a memory that stores various data and programs, a storage device, and the like. Functionally, the server device 100 includes a driving information acquisition unit 110, a driving skill information generation unit 120, a storage unit 130, a driving skill information correction unit 140, an insurance premium calculation unit 150, and a communication unit 160.

[0024] When the travel information acquisition unit 110 is communicating with the communication unit 160 and the communication unit 33 of the vehicle 20, it acquires travel information from the vehicle 20 driven by the driver Y (automobile insurance policyholder or applicant) via the communication unit 160. The travel information includes the vehicle ID, location information, acceleration information, vehicle speed information, and steering angle information of the vehicle 20 as described above. The server device 100 records the travel information acquired from the vehicle 20 in the policyholder information storage unit 131 of the storage unit 130 for each driver ID of the driver Y associated with the vehicle ID of the vehicle 20. In other words, the travel information is accumulated for each driver ID.

[0025] Also, the travel information acquisition unit 110 acquires the travel information of the vehicle 20 associated with the driver ID of the driver Y stored in the policyholder information storage unit 131 at a predetermined timing. The timing at which the travel information acquisition unit 110 acquires the travel information of the vehicle 20 from the policyholder information storage unit 131 is, for example, when the operator Z that operates the vehicle insurance business and manages the server device 100 concludes (including updates) an automobile insurance contract with the driver Y. The travel information of the vehicle 20 acquired from the policyholder information storage unit 131 is used by the driving skill information generation unit 120 described later.

[0026] The driving skill information generation unit 120 generates driving skill information indicating the driving skill of the driver Y of the vehicle 20 by comparing driving characteristics (such as average speed, sudden deceleration, sudden acceleration, sudden steering, etc.) derived using at least the acceleration information among the travel information of the vehicle 20 acquired by the travel information acquisition unit 110 with a predetermined reference value. The driving skill information is divided into 10 levels, for example, from the highest rank 10 to the lowest rank 1.

[0027] The storage unit 130 includes a policyholder information storage unit 131 and a map information storage unit 132. The policyholder information storage unit 131 stores, for each driver ID, the vehicle ID of the vehicle 20 used by the driver Y and the location information of the home (garage) of the driver Y etc. where the vehicle 20 is stored as contract information between the operator Z and the driver Y. The policyholder information storage unit 131 further stores the driving skill information of the driver Y for each driver ID. In addition, when the communication unit 160 and the communication unit 33 of the vehicle 20 are communicating as described above, the contractor information storage unit 131 stores the driving information of the vehicle 20 acquired via the communication unit 160 for each driver ID corresponding to the vehicle ID.

[0028] The map information storage unit 132 stores map information including a road map and a driving skill correction value for correcting driving skill information. The road map includes, for example, road position information, road shape (such as curvature) information, intersection and branch point position information, and the like. The driving skill correction value is set in advance for each predetermined road area where the vehicle 20 travels.

[0029] The driving skill correction value is set as follows. FIG. 4A is a diagram for explaining the road surface roughness value. In the embodiment, as an example, a dedicated vehicle MV equipped with a measuring device MA for measuring the road surface roughness in advance is run on a road RD shown on the road map, and the road surface roughness value P on the road RD obtained based on the measurement result is determined for each position (which may be referred to as every predetermined distance) on the road RD. Then, according to the magnitude of the obtained road surface roughness value P, the driving skill correction value is determined for each position on the road RD.

[0030] In the embodiment, the road surface roughness value P is divided into, for example, five roughness levels, and five driving skill correction values C5 to C1 corresponding to the roughness levels 5 to 1 are used. As described above, the correction amount by the driving skill correction value C5 is made the largest so that the higher the road surface roughness level of the road RD, the larger the correction amount for the driving skill information. Also, the correction amount by the driving skill correction value C1 is made the smallest so that the lower the road surface roughness level of the road RD, the smaller the correction amount for the driving skill information.

[0031] FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the road surface roughness level and the driving skill correction value. In the embodiment, the plurality of driving skill correction values at a plurality of positions on the road RD are grouped for each of the above-described road regions, and the average value of the plurality of driving skill correction values respectively corresponding to the plurality of positions on the road RD included in each road region is used as the driving skill correction value representing the road region. Note that the median value or the mode value of the plurality of driving skill correction values respectively corresponding to the plurality of positions on the road RD included in each road region may be used as the driving skill correction value representing the road region.

[0032] The driving skill information correction unit 140 corrects the driving skill information generated by the driving skill information generation unit 120 for each vehicle ID using the above-described driving skill correction value. The driving skill correction value used by the driving skill information correction unit 140 for correcting the driving skill information is the driving skill correction value corresponding to the road region on which the vehicle 20 has traveled. The driving skill information correction unit 140 acquires the driving skill correction value corresponding to the road region based on the position information of the vehicle 20 from the map information storage unit 132 of the storage unit 130.

[0033] By performing the above-described correction by the driving skill information correction unit 140, the rougher the road surface of the road RD on which the vehicle 20 travels, the more the driving skill information is corrected to higher driving skill information than before the correction. Conversely, the smoother the road surface of the road RD on which the vehicle 20 travels, the smaller the correction amount for the driving skill information. Note that when the road surface roughness is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the correction amount for the driving skill information may be 0 (zero), in other words, the driving skill correction value may be 0.

[0034] The insurance premium calculation unit 150 analyzes the accident risk by the driver Y with reference to the predetermined insurance premium calculation reference information based on the corrected driving skill information (the driving skill information generated by the driving skill information generation unit 120 when correction is not required), and calculates insurance premiums with different premium rates according to the analysis results.

[0035] The communication unit 160 communicates with the communication unit 33 of the in-vehicle device 30 via the network 2, and receives necessary information including the driving information of the vehicle 20 periodically or at any timing. The communication unit 160 can also transmit necessary information to the vehicle 20. In addition, the communication unit 160 can also communicate with a server device (not shown) of the operator Z via the network 2.

[0036] <Explanation of flowchart> FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a process executed by the CPU of the server device 100 according to a program recorded in advance in the storage unit 130. The process shown in this flowchart is executed by the server device 100 for each driver ID or each vehicle ID at a predetermined timing such as when the above-mentioned operator Z and the driver Y conclude an automobile insurance contract (including renewal).

[0037] In step S10, the server device 100 acquires the driving information of the vehicle 20 used by the driver Y and proceeds to step S20. Specifically, the driving information acquisition unit 110 reads out the driving information of the vehicle 20 associated with the driver ID of the driver Y from the contractor information storage unit 131 in the storage unit 130.

[0038] In step S20, the server device 100 generates driving skill information indicating the driving skill of the driver Y of the vehicle 20 based on at least the acceleration information among the driving information of the vehicle 20 by the driving skill information generation unit 120 and proceeds to step S30.

[0039] In step S30, the server device 100 acquires a driving skill correction value corresponding to the road area based on the position information of the vehicle 20 and proceeds to step S40. Specifically, the driving skill correction value corresponding to the road area including the road RD on which the vehicle 20 has traveled is read out from the map information storage unit 132 in the storage unit 130.

[0040] In step S40, the server device 100 corrects the driving skill information generated in step S20 using the driving skill correction value acquired in step S30 by the driving skill information correction unit 140, and proceeds to step S50. The correction of the driving skill information is performed for each vehicle 20 (in other words, for each driver Y using the vehicle 20).

[0041] In step S50, the server device 100 records the corrected driving skill information in the contractor information storage unit 131 in the storage unit 130, and proceeds to step S60.

[0042] In step S60, the server device 100 calculates the insurance premium for the driver Y based on the corrected driving skill information by the insurance premium calculation unit 150, and ends the processing according to FIG. 5. The calculated insurance premium is recorded by the server device 100 in the contractor information storage unit 131 in the storage unit 130.

[0043] According to the embodiment described above, the following operational effects are achieved. (1) The server device 100 as a driving evaluation device includes a driving information acquisition unit 110 that acquires driving information including the position information and acceleration information of the traveling vehicle 20 together with the vehicle ID of the vehicle 20; a driving skill information generation unit 120 that generates driving skill information indicating the driving skill of the driver Y for each vehicle ID based on at least the acceleration information; a map information storage unit 132 that stores map information including a road map and driving skill correction values set in advance for each predetermined road area to correct the driving skill information; and a driving skill information correction unit 140 that acquires, from the map information storage unit 132, the driving skill correction value corresponding to the road area in which the vehicle 20 is traveling based on the position information of the vehicle 20, and corrects the driving skill information generated by the driving skill information generation unit 120 for each vehicle ID. With such a configuration, for example, when the driver Y of the vehicle 20 drives on a rough road surface of the road RD and large acceleration information is detected by the sensor group 32 of the vehicle 20, even if low driving skill information is generated by the driving skill information generation unit 120 of the server device 100, the driving skill information is corrected using the driving skill correction value corresponding to the road area of the traveled road RD. As a result, regardless of the state of the road surface of the traveled road RD, it becomes possible to appropriately evaluate the driving skill of the driver Y of the vehicle 20.

[0044] (2) In the server device 100 of (1) above, the driving skill information generation unit 120 generates driving skill information indicating that the driving skill is lower as the acceleration information is larger, and the map information storage unit 132 stores a driving skill correction value for correcting the driving skill information higher as the road surface of the road RD is rougher. With such a configuration, even when the driving skill information generated varies depending on the degree of roughness of the road surface of the traveled road RD (which may be referred to as the roughness level), it becomes possible to store a driving skill correction value corresponding to the roughness level of the road surface so as to obtain an appropriate correction amount. As a result, it becomes possible to reduce the sense of unfairness for the driver Y who often drives on roads RD with poor road surface conditions being judged to have low driving skills.

[0045] (3) In the server device 100 of (2) above, the predetermined road area is based on the administrative district. For example, due to a difference in the maintenance budget for the road RD between two adjacent administrative districts, the road surface condition of the road RD may be different when crossing from one administrative district to the other. However, in the embodiment, since the driving skill information is corrected for each road area based on the administrative district, it is possible to prevent the driving skill from being evaluated low due to the difference in administrative districts, and it becomes possible to appropriately evaluate the driving skill of the driver Y.

[0046] (4) In the server device 100 of (2) above, the predetermined road area is based on the road administrator. For example, due to differences in maintenance budgets for road RD among the administrators of road RD, even though it is the same road RD within the same city, the road surface conditions may vary depending on the road RD. However, in the embodiment, since the driving skill information is corrected for each road area based on the road administrator, it is possible to prevent the driving skill from being evaluated low due to different administrators, and it becomes possible to appropriately evaluate the driving skill of driver Y.

[0047] (5) In the server device 100 described in (1) to (4) above, the driving skill information is reflected in the calculation of the automobile insurance premium. With this configuration, it becomes possible to appropriately calculate the insurance premium for driver Y of vehicle 20 regardless of the road surface condition of the road RD being traveled.

[0048] The above embodiment can be deformed into various forms. Hereinafter, modification examples will be described. (Modification Example 1) In the embodiment, a configuration for evaluating the driving skill of driver Y based on the detection signal of the acceleration sensor of vehicle 20 was exemplified. However, the driving skill of driver Y may be evaluated based on the steering information, which is the operation information of the steering of vehicle 20. Also, the driving skill of driver Y may be evaluated based on both the detection signal of the acceleration sensor and the steering information. Furthermore, the driving skill may be evaluated using the accelerator operation amount, the brake operation amount, etc.

[0049] (Modification Example 2) In the above embodiment, the driving skill information is used for calculating the automobile insurance premium. However, the driving skill information may be used not only for calculating the insurance premium but also for other purposes (for example, evaluating the cognitive function of driver Y).

[0050] (Modification Example 3) In the above embodiment, an example in which the server device 100 constitutes the driving evaluation device has been described. However, the driving evaluation device can also be constituted by other than the server device 100. For example, the driving evaluation device may be constituted by a plurality of devices (the server device 100 and the in-vehicle device 30).

[0051] The above description is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and modification examples as long as the features of the present invention are not impaired. It is also possible to arbitrarily combine one or more of the above embodiment and modification examples.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0052] 20, 20A, 20B, 20C vehicle, 30 in-vehicle device, 31 positioning sensor, 32 sensor group, 33 communication unit, 35 controller, 100 server device, 110 driving information acquisition unit, 120 driving skill information generation unit, 130 storage unit, 131 contractor information storage unit, 132 map information storage unit, 140 driving skill information correction unit, 150 insurance premium calculation unit, 160 communication unit, RD road, Y driver, Z operator

Claims

1. A driving information acquisition unit that acquires driving information including position information and acceleration information of a moving vehicle together with the vehicle ID of the vehicle; A driving skill information generation unit that generates driving skill information indicating the driving skill of the driver for each vehicle ID based on at least the acceleration information; A map information storage unit that stores map information including a road map and a driving skill correction value set in advance for each predetermined road area to correct the driving skill information; Based on the position information of the vehicle, a driving skill information correction unit that acquires the driving skill correction value corresponding to the road area on which the vehicle is traveling from the map information storage unit and corrects the driving skill information generated by the driving skill information generation unit for each vehicle ID; A driving evaluation device, characterized by comprising the above.

2. In the driving evaluation device according to Claim 1, The driving skill information generation unit generates the driving skill information indicating that the higher the acceleration information, the lower the driving skill; The map information storage unit stores the driving skill correction value for correcting the driving skill information higher as the road surface of the road is rougher. A driving evaluation device, characterized by the above.

3. In the driving evaluation device according to Claim 2, The predetermined road area is based on an administrative district. A driving evaluation device, characterized by the above.

4. In the driving evaluation device according to Claim 2, The predetermined road area is based on a road administrator. A driving evaluation device, characterized by the above.

5. In the driving evaluation device according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, The driving skill information is reflected in the calculation of automobile insurance premiums. A driving evaluation device, characterized by the above.

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