Information processing device

Abstract

To provide a technology for improving ride environments for animals getting in a vehicle.SOLUTION: An information processing device includes a control unit. The control unit executes: identifying an animal to get in a vehicle; monitoring a ride environment of the vehicle; and determining whether the monitored ride environment satisfies environment conditions specifying an appropriate environment condition for the identified animal. In addition, when it is determined that the ride environment does not satisfy the environment conditions, the control unit executes: generating advice information for improving the ride environment; and outputting the advice information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] In Patent Document 1, when a change in the health state of a driver and / or a passenger is discriminated by a change discrimination means from a discrimination result of the in-vehicle state of an autonomous vehicle by an in-vehicle state discrimination means, a control means is configured to switch from a manual driving mode to an autonomous driving mode. An autonomous vehicle has been proposed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] One object of the present disclosure is to provide a technology for improving the riding environment for animals riding in a vehicle.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The information processing apparatus of the present disclosure includes a control unit. The control unit is configured to identify an animal riding in a vehicle, monitor the riding environment of the vehicle, and determine whether the monitored riding environment satisfies environmental conditions that define appropriate environmental conditions for the identified animal. Further, when it is determined that the riding environment does not satisfy the environmental conditions, the control unit is configured to generate advice information for improving the riding environment and output the advice information.

Effects of the Invention

[0006] According to the present disclosure, the riding environment for an animal riding in a vehicle can be improved.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0008] [1 Application Example] FIG. 1 schematically shows an example of a scene to which the present disclosure is applied. The information processing system 1 is a system for processing information related to the vehicle 20. In the vehicle 20, a user 30 and an animal 40 ride. The user 30 may include a driver of the vehicle 20 and a person other than the driver. The animal 40 is an animal that the user 30 keeps as a pet. Examples of the animal 40 include pets such as dogs, cats, and birds. The management server 10 is a server that manages information related to the vehicle 20.

[0009] In the information processing system 1, the management server 10 and the vehicle 20 are interconnected by a network N. As the network N, for example, a Wide Area Network (WAN) such as a global public communication network like the Internet, or a telephone communication network such as a mobile phone may be adopted. That's fine.

[0010] [2 Configuration Example] FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the hardware configuration and functional configuration of each of the information processing apparatus (management server 10) and the vehicle 20.

[0011] (Vehicle) Vehicle 20 is exemplified by a vehicle driven by a driver and an autonomous driving vehicle. Vehicle 20 may be an engine vehicle or an electric vehicle (including a hybrid vehicle, etc.). Vehicle 20 includes an in-vehicle device 21, a sensor 22, an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) 23, and a communication device 24. In vehicle 20, communication can be performed with each other using a predetermined in-vehicle communication standard. Examples of the predetermined in-vehicle communication standard include Controller Area Network (CAN), or Local Interconnect Network (LIN), etc.

[0012] The in-vehicle device 21 is a device mounted on vehicle 20. The in-vehicle device 21 includes an input / output unit 211 as a functional unit. The in-vehicle device 21 operates as the input / output unit 211 to input and output information regarding vehicle 20. Examples of the information input to the input / output unit 211 include information regarding the animal 40 boarding vehicle 20 (hereinafter also referred to as boarding animal information). Further, examples of the information output from the input / output unit 211 include information regarding advice for improving the boarding environment of vehicle 20 (hereinafter also referred to as advice information).

[0013] The sensor 22 is a sensor for detecting information regarding the boarding environment of vehicle 20 (hereinafter also referred to as boarding environment information). The sensor 22 is exemplified by a temperature sensor and an acceleration sensor. When the sensor 22 is a temperature sensor, the sensor 22 can detect the temperature inside the vehicle of vehicle 20. When the sensor 22 is an acceleration sensor, the sensor 22 can detect the acceleration of vehicle 20. The acceleration in the present embodiment is exemplified by the acceleration in the front-rear direction of vehicle 20 (hereinafter also referred to as front-rear acceleration) and the lateral acceleration (hereinafter also referred to as lateral acceleration) generated perpendicular to the front-rear direction of vehicle 20. The sensor 22 constantly detects the temperature inside the vehicle, the front-rear acceleration, and the lateral acceleration of vehicle 20 at each moment.

[0014] The ECU 23 is a computer for controlling various equipment mounted on the vehicle 20. The ECU 23 includes a processor 230, a storage unit 234, and a communication unit 235. The ECU 23 may have a clock for measuring the running time of the vehicle 20. The clock can measure the running time as the time from when the ignition key or power supply of the vehicle 20 is turned on until it is turned off.

[0015] The processor 230 is, for example, a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or a Digital Signal Processor (DSP). As functional units, the processor 230 includes a sensor data acquisition unit 231, an external data acquisition unit 232, and an output unit 233.

[0016] The processor 230 operates as the sensor data acquisition unit 231 to acquire the vehicle occupancy environment information of the vehicle 20 detected by the sensor 22.

[0017] The processor 230 operates as the external data acquisition unit 232 to acquire (receive) predetermined information from a device installed outside the vehicle 20 via the network N. An example of the device installed outside the vehicle 20 is the management server 10. An example of the predetermined information is advice information about the vehicle occupancy environment of the vehicle 20.

[0018] The processor 230 operates as the output unit 233 to output predetermined information to the management server 10. Examples of the predetermined information include information in which information for identifying the vehicle 20 (hereinafter also referred to as vehicle identification information) and occupancy animal information are associated, and information in which the vehicle identification information and the vehicle occupancy environment information of the vehicle 20 are associated. The vehicle occupancy environment information may include the running time of the vehicle 20 measured by the clock included in the ECU 23. The vehicle occupancy environment information may include the running time of the vehicle 20 measured by the clock included in the ECU 23.

[0019] The storage unit 234 includes a main storage unit and an auxiliary storage unit. The main storage unit is, for example, a Random Access Memory (RAM). The auxiliary storage unit is, for example, a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Hard Disk Drive (HDD), or a flash memory. The auxiliary storage unit may include a removable medium (portable recording medium). The removable medium is, for example, a USB memory, an SD card, or a disk recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a DVD disk, or a Blu-ray disk.

[0020] The auxiliary storage unit stores an operating system (Operation System (OS)), various programs, and various information tables, etc. The information processing of the present embodiment is realized by the processor 230 loading and executing the programs stored in the auxiliary storage unit into the main storage unit. Some or all of the functions in the ECU 23 can be realized by a hardware circuit such as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) or a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The ECU 23 does not need to be realized by a single physical configuration and may be configured by a plurality of computers cooperating with each other.

[0021] The auxiliary storage unit stores predetermined information. The predetermined information is exemplified by the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 20.

[0022] The communication unit 235 connects the vehicle 20 to the network N. The communication unit 235 uses a predetermined wireless communication standard such as 4th Generation (4G) or Long Term Evolution (LTE) to communicate with the management server 10 via the network N.

[0023] The communication device 24 is a device for connecting the vehicle 20 to the network N. Since the communication device 24 has the same function as the communication unit 235, a detailed description thereof is omitted.

[0024] (Management Server) The management server 10 includes a processor 11, a storage unit 12, and a communication unit 13. In this embodiment, the management server 10 is an example of an "information processing apparatus".

[0025] The processor 11 is, for example, a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or a Digital Signal Processor (DSP). As a functional unit, the processor 11 includes a boarding animal information acquisition unit 1 11, a boarding environment information acquisition unit 112, a determination unit 113, a generation unit 114, and an output unit 115. In this embodiment, the processor 11 is an example of a "control unit".

[0026] The processor 11 operates as the boarding animal information acquisition unit 111 and acquires (receives) information in which the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 20 and the boarding animal information are associated from the vehicle 20 via the network N. The boarding animal information acquisition unit 111 stores the acquired information in a boarding animal information database (Database (DB)) 121 described later.

[0027] The processor 11 operates as the boarding environment information acquisition unit 112 and acquires (receives) information in which the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 20 and the boarding environment information are associated from the vehicle 20 via the network N. The boarding environment information acquisition unit 112 stores the acquired information in a boarding environment information database 122 (Database (DB)) described later.

[0028] The storage unit 12 includes a main storage unit and an auxiliary storage unit. Since the main storage unit and the auxiliary storage unit of the storage unit 12 are the same as those of the storage unit 234, detailed description thereof is omitted.

[0029] The storage unit 12 has a boarding animal information database 121, a boarding environment information database 122, and an environmental condition information database 123.

[0030] The on-vehicle animal information database 121 stores the on-vehicle animal information of the vehicle 20. The on-vehicle animal information database 121 has an information table. The items of the information table may include the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 20 and the type of the animal 40 boarding the vehicle 20.

[0031] The on-vehicle environment information database 122 stores the on-vehicle environment information of the vehicle 20. The on-vehicle environment information database 122 has an information table. The items of the information table may include the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 20, and the temperature inside the vehicle 20, longitudinal acceleration, lateral acceleration, and driving time of the vehicle 20, which are the on-vehicle environment information.

[0032] The environmental condition information database 123 stores the conditions of a suitable on-vehicle environment for the animal 40 (hereinafter also referred to as environmental conditions). The environmental condition information database 123 stores, as environmental conditions, a determination model corresponding to the type of the animal 40. The configuration of the determination model may be appropriately selected according to the embodiment. In one example, the determination model may be configured by at least one of a rule-based model and a trained machine learning model.

[0033] The rule-based model is configured to collate a given input (for example, on-vehicle animal information, on-vehicle environment information) with rules, and derive a determination result as to whether the on-vehicle environment of the vehicle 20 is suitable for the animal 40 according to the result of the collation (in accordance with the rules that match). The rules may be set manually or at least partially automatically.

[0034] For example, as one of the rules for the riding environment when the type of the animal 40 is a dog, an appropriate vehicle interior temperature can be set to be equal to or higher than 18 degrees Celsius and equal to or lower than 22 degrees Celsius. And when the interior temperature of the vehicle 20 in which the dog rides meets the interior temperature set by the above rule, the rule-based model determines that the interior temperature of the vehicle 20 is appropriate for the dog. When the interior temperature does not meet the interior temperature set by the above rule, the rule-based model determines that the interior temperature of the vehicle 20 is not appropriate for the dog. In the rule-based model, for each item of other riding environment information, namely longitudinal acceleration, lateral acceleration, and driving time, appropriate numerical values are set according to the type of the animal 40. And for each item of the riding environment information, it can be determined whether it is appropriate for the animal 40 by using the determination model of the rule-based model.

[0035] The machine learning model is configured to have one or more arithmetic parameters adjustable by machine learning. The one or more arithmetic parameters are used for the arithmetic of the target inference (in this disclosure, the derivation of the determination result). Machine learning is to adjust (optimize) the values of the arithmetic parameters by using learning data. The machine learning model may be constituted by, for example, a neural network, a support vector machine, a regression model, a decision tree model, etc. The method of machine learning may be appropriately selected according to the machine learning model adopted (for example, the error backpropagation method, etc.).

[0036] The processor 11 operates as a determination unit 113 to determine whether the riding environment of the vehicle 20 is appropriate for the animal 40. Specifically, the determination unit 113 refers to the type of the animal 40, which is the riding animal information stored in the riding animal information database 121. The determination unit 113 searches the riding environment information database 122 for the same vehicle identification information as the vehicle identification information corresponding to the type of the animal 40. The determination unit 113 refers to the riding environment information corresponding to the same vehicle identification information. The determination unit 113 uses the determination model stored in the environmental condition information database 123 to determine whether the riding environment included in the referred riding environment information is appropriate for the referred type of the animal 40.

[0037] When the determination result of the determination unit 113 is negative, the processor 11 operates as a generation unit 114 to generate advice information for improving the riding environment of the vehicle 20 for the user 30 of the vehicle 20. The advice information may include information indicating the determination result regarding the riding environment of the vehicle 20 (hereinafter also referred to as determination result information), and information on operations recommended for improving the riding environment (hereinafter also referred to as recommended operation information). As the determination result information, information indicating that "the temperature inside the vehicle: 15 degrees, determination result: not appropriate for the dog riding in the vehicle" regarding the temperature inside the vehicle is exemplified. As the recommended operation information, information to the effect of "recommending setting the set temperature of the air conditioner of the vehicle 20 from 18 degrees or more to 22 degrees or less" is exemplified. The recommended operation information may be the following information. (1) Information recommending driving while suppressing sudden acceleration and sudden deceleration of the vehicle 20 when it is determined that the longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle 20 is not appropriate (too large). (2) Information recommending driving while suppressing sudden turning of the vehicle 20 when it is determined that the lateral acceleration of the vehicle 20 is not appropriate (too large). (3) Information recommending stopping the vehicle 20 at an appropriate place and allowing the animal 40 to rest when it is determined that the driving time of the vehicle 20 is not appropriate (too long).

[0038] The processor 11 operates as an output unit 115 to output (transmit) the advice information generated by the generation unit 114 to the vehicle 20. The output unit 115 may output the generated advice information to a terminal owned by the user 30 (hereinafter also referred to as a user terminal).

[0039] The communication unit 13 connects the management server 10 to the network N. Since the communication unit 13 has the same functions as the communication unit 235, detailed description thereof is omitted.

[0040] [3 Operation Example] FIG. 3 shows an example of the procedure of information processing by the processor 11 of the management server 10 according to the present embodiment. The following processing procedure is an example of a control method executed by a computer.

[0041] In step S101, the processor 11 operates as a riding animal information acquisition unit 111, and acquires (receives) from the vehicle 20 via the network N information in which the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 20 and the riding animal information of the animal 40 riding in the vehicle 20 are associated. The riding animal information acquisition unit 111 stores the acquired information in the riding animal information database 121. The riding animal information includes the type of the animal 40. That is, the processor 11 can identify the animal 40 riding in the vehicle 20.

[0042] In step S102, the processor 11 operates as a riding environment information acquisition unit 112, and acquires (receives) from the vehicle 20 via the network N information in which the vehicle identification information of the vehicle 20 and the riding environment information are associated. The riding animal information acquisition unit 111 stores the acquired information in the riding environment information database 122. The riding environment information includes the temperature inside the vehicle, longitudinal acceleration, lateral acceleration, and travel time. That is, the processor 11 can monitor the riding environment of the vehicle 20 in which the animal 40 rides.

[0043] In step S103, the processor 11 operates as a determination unit 113, and refers to the type of the animal 40 stored in the riding animal information database 121 of the storage unit 12 and the vehicle identification information associated with the type of the animal 40. The determination unit 113 searches the riding environment information database 122 for the same vehicle identification information as the referred vehicle identification information. The determination unit 113 refers to the riding environment information corresponding to the same vehicle identification information. The determination unit 113 determines whether the riding environment included in the referred information is appropriate for the animal 40. Specifically, the determination unit 113 uses the determination model of the environmental conditions stored in the environmental condition information database 123 to determine whether the value of each item of the riding environment is appropriate for the type of the animal 40 riding in the vehicle 20. In this way, the processor 11 determines whether the monitored riding environment satisfies the environmental conditions (conditions defined in the determination model) that define the appropriate environmental conditions for the specified animal 40. It can be determined whether or not. When a positive determination is made by the determination model, the determination unit 113 determines that the riding environment of the vehicle 20 is appropriate for the animal 40 of that type (determined as YES in step S103), and the processor 11 ends the process. When a negative determination is made by the determination model, the determination unit 113 determines that the riding environment of the vehicle 20 is not appropriate for the animal 40 of that type (determined as NO in step S103), and the process proceeds to step S104.

[0044] In step S104, the processor 11 operates as the generation unit 114 and generates advice information for improving the riding environment of the vehicle 20 based on the determination result of the determination unit 113. The advice information includes determination result information of the riding environment of the vehicle 20 and recommended operation information. That is, when it is determined that the riding environment does not satisfy the environmental conditions, the processor 11 can generate advice information regarding advice for improving the riding environment.

[0045] In step S105, the processor 11 operates as the output unit 115, outputs (transmits) the advice information generated by the generation unit 114 to the vehicle 20 via the network N, and the processor 11 ends the process. The output unit 115 may output (transmit) the advice information to the user terminal via the network N. That is, the processor 11 can output the advice information.

[0046] [Features] Conventionally, there has been known an autonomous vehicle that can appropriately respond to abnormalities regarding a driver or a passenger. Also, in an autonomous vehicle such as Patent Document 1, it has been proposed to switch the autonomous vehicle from a manual driving mode to an autonomous driving mode when an abnormality in the health condition of the driver and / or the passenger is discriminated from the determination result of the in-vehicle situation of the autonomous vehicle. However, the inventor of the present case has found that these conventional methods have the following problems. For example, when a user moves by a vehicle, the vehicle may carry an animal that the user loves to play with. However, if the riding environment of the vehicle is not appropriate for the animal, the animal may become ill. Therefore, when an animal is made to ride in a vehicle, it may be required to control the riding environment to an appropriate state for the animal.

[0047] On the other hand, in the present embodiment, when it is determined by the processes of steps S103 to S105 that the riding environment of the monitored vehicle 20 is not appropriate for the specified animal 40, the processor 11 generates and outputs advice information for improving the riding environment. When the vehicle 20 is a vehicle driven by a driver, the driver (user 30) of the vehicle 20 who has confirmed the advice information displayed on the in-vehicle device 21 can perform an operation recommended by the recommended operation information in the advice information on the vehicle 20. When the vehicle 20 is an autonomous driving vehicle, the ECU 23 controls the vehicle 20 to execute the operation recommended by the received advice information. Thereby, according to the present embodiment, the riding environment for the animal 40 riding in the vehicle 20 can be improved.

[0048] [4 Modification Example] In this embodiment, it has been described that when the determination result using the environmental condition information (determination model) by the management server 10 is a negative determination, the management server 10 generates and outputs advice information for improving the riding environment for the animal 40 riding in the vehicle 20. However, this is not the only case. The ECU 23 of the vehicle 20 may execute the same information processing as the management server 10 of this embodiment. In this case, the storage unit 234 of the ECU 23 may have an environmental condition information database and store the environmental condition information (determination model) in the same manner as the management server 10. Further, the ECU 23 may have a determination unit and a generation unit in the same manner as the management server 10.

[0049] (Other Embodiments) Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above, the description up to this point is merely an exemplification of the present disclosure in every aspect. Needless to say, various improvements or modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0050] 1 ··· Information Processing System 10 ··· Management Server, 11 ··· Processor, 12 ··· Storage Unit, 13 ··· Communication Unit 20 ··· Vehicle, 21 ··· In-vehicle Device, 22 ··· Sensor, 23 ··· ECU, 230 ··· Processor, 24 ··· Communication Device 30 ··· User, 40 ··· Animal, N ··· Network

Claims

Claim 1 Identifying an animal boarding a vehicle, Monitoring the boarding environment of the vehicle, Determining whether the monitored boarding environment meets environmental conditions that define appropriate environmental conditions for the identified animal, When it is determined that the boarding environment does not meet the environmental conditions, generating advice information regarding advice for improving the boarding environment, and Outputting the advice information, An information processing apparatus comprising a control unit configured to execute the above. Information processing apparatus.

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