In-vehicle environment control system

Abstract

To provide an in-vehicle environment suitable for a desired state of consciousness of an occupant having a priority among a plurality of occupants present in a vehicle.SOLUTION: In an in-vehicle environment control system that includes each portable terminal associated with each occupant, and an on-vehicle machine mounted on a vehicle: each portable terminal transmits occupant information to the on-vehicle machine, which includes first identification information for identifying an occupant and biological information of the occupant; the on-vehicle machine specifies attribute information of the occupant by receiving the occupant information from each portable terminal; the on-vehicle machine estimates a consciousness state of the occupant; and the on-vehicle machine performs an adjusting control on the in-vehicle environment to promote the desired state of consciousness of the occupant who should be given priority based on the state of consciousness and attribute information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a technology for adjusting each element (temperature, humidity, ventilation, brightness, music, smell, etc.) that constitutes the in-vehicle environment. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent document 1 discloses a health condition linked control system that uses a portable device held by a vehicle occupant or a wearable device worn by the occupant to acquire health condition information (biometric information) such as body temperature and pulse rate of the occupant, judges the occupant's health condition based on the acquired health condition information, and provides an in-vehicle environment that corresponds to the judged health condition.

[0003] Furthermore, Patent Document 1 discloses acquiring physical condition information of a plurality of passengers registered in advance and adjusting the in-vehicle environment to suit the physical condition of a passenger who is in a less normal physical condition. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-214591 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, Patent Document 1 does not disclose which passenger should be used as a reference for adjusting the in-vehicle environment when multiple passengers are all in normal physical condition. Furthermore, while the driver needs to drive in an awake and conscious state while traveling, other passengers may wish to sleep in the vehicle. For example, if one of the passengers is a baby, it is desirable to adjust the in-vehicle environment so that the baby can sleep peacefully.

[0006] As the desired state of consciousness differs depending on the occupant, there is a need for technology that can adjust the in-car environment to an appropriate level.

[0007] In one aspect, the present specification discloses an in-vehicle environment control system that adjusts the in-vehicle environment to correspond to the desired state of consciousness of a priority passenger when multiple passengers are in a vehicle. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] (1) In order to solve the above problem, an in-vehicle environment control system according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: mobile terminals associated with a plurality of passengers; and an in-vehicle device mounted in a vehicle and capable of communicating with each of the mobile terminals. Each of the mobile terminals includes a terminal storage unit that stores first identification information that identifies the associated passenger; a first acquisition unit that acquires biometric information of the passenger; and a terminal communication unit that transmits passenger information including the first identification information and the biometric information to the in-vehicle device. The in-vehicle device includes an adjustment unit that controls adjustment of the in-vehicle environment of the vehicle; and The vehicle is equipped with an on-board communication unit that receives the passenger information from the mobile terminal, an on-board memory unit that stores attribute information of each passenger in association with the first identification information, an identification unit that identifies the passengers in the vehicle based on the passenger information and the attribute information associated with the first identification information included in the passenger information, and an estimation unit that estimates the consciousness state of the identified passenger from the biometric information, and is characterized in that the adjustment unit controls the adjustment of the in-vehicle environment based on the estimated consciousness state and the attribute information.

[0009] (2) In the vehicle environment control system described in (1) above, each of the mobile terminals may further include a second acquisition unit that acquires second identification information for determining seating position, and a determination unit that determines the seating position of the occupant based on the second identification information, the occupant information transmitted by the terminal communication unit further includes seating position information indicating the determined seating position, the on-board memory unit further stores the seating position information included in the received occupant information as the attribute information of the occupant, and the adjustment unit may perform control to adjust the vehicle environment to promote sleep for a second occupant seated in a location other than the driver's seat when the seating position indicated by the attribute information of a first occupant is the driver's seat, the state of consciousness of the first occupant is awake, and the state of consciousness of a second occupant seated in a location other than the driver's seat is asleep.

[0010] (3) In the vehicle environment control system described in (1) above, each of the mobile terminals may further include a second acquisition unit that acquires second identification information for determining seating position, and a determination unit that determines the seating position of the passenger based on the second identification information, and the passenger information transmitted by the terminal communication unit may further include seating position information indicating the determined seating position and age information indicating the age of the passenger, and the on-board memory unit may further store the seating position information and the age information included in the received passenger information as the attribute information of the passenger, and the adjustment unit may perform control to adjust the vehicle environment to promote sleep for the second passenger when the seating position indicated by the attribute information of a first passenger is the driver's seat, and the consciousness state of the first passenger is an awake state, and the age indicated by the attribute information of a second passenger seated in a seat other than the driver's seat is below a predetermined age, and the consciousness state of the second passenger is a sleeping state.

[0011] (4) In the vehicle environment control system described in (2) or (3) above, the adjustment unit may be configured to perform control to adjust the vehicle environment to promote awakening of the first occupant when the consciousness state of the second occupant is a sleeping state and the consciousness state of the first occupant is a sleeping state.

[0012] (5) In the vehicle environment control system described in (2) or (3) above, the vehicle-mounted device or the mobile terminal may further include a display unit that displays, based on the passenger information, a layout diagram showing the seating positions within the vehicle, information identifying each passenger sitting in each seating position within the vehicle, and information indicating the estimated state of consciousness of each passenger. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] By applying the in-vehicle environment control system of the present invention to a vehicle, when multiple passengers are in the vehicle, an in-vehicle environment can be provided that corresponds to the desired state of consciousness of the passenger who should be given priority. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing an overview of an in-vehicle environment control system 6 according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a mobile terminal 1. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of an in-vehicle device 2. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table for determining priority. [Figure 5] 4 is an example of a flow chart illustrating the operation of the vehicle interior environment control system. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displaying the seating position and state of consciousness of each passenger. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] [Overview of Vehicle Environment Control System 6] An in-vehicle environment control system 6 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in Fig. 1, the in-vehicle environment control system 6 is a system configured inside a vehicle 3. The in-vehicle environment control system 6 is configured with mobile terminals 1a to 1d carried by each passenger inside the vehicle, and an in-vehicle device 2 installed inside the vehicle.

[0016] Vehicle 3 is a mobile body that has an interior space enclosed by a housing and is capable of carrying passengers seated in multiple seats installed inside the vehicle and traveling to a destination, etc. Note that vehicle 3 may be a mobile body that can fly in space in addition to traveling on roads. Vehicle 3 may be a mobile body owned by a passenger, a commercial mobile body that travels with passengers as passengers, such as a taxi or ride-share, or a rented mobile body, such as a rental car or shared car.

[0017] Although not shown, the vehicle 3 is equipped with functional units that adjust each environmental element (temperature, humidity, ventilation, brightness, music volume, smell, etc.) that constitutes the vehicle interior environment. For example, the vehicle 3 is equipped with an audio output unit that generates sounds such as music and notification sounds and outputs them with adjusted volume, an air conditioning unit that adjusts the temperature and humidity inside the vehicle and ventilates the vehicle, a lighting unit that adjusts the brightness inside the vehicle, an odor adjustment unit that adjusts the odor inside the vehicle, etc.

[0018] The in-vehicle environment is formed by adjusting each environmental element by the in-vehicle device 2 controlling these functional units provided in the vehicle 3. The in-vehicle device 2 adjusts the in-vehicle environment, for example, by performing control to output appropriate music at an appropriate volume, or control to adjust the temperature and humidity and ventilate, or control to adjust the brightness of the interior, or control to emit an appropriate fragrance. The functional units themselves that adjust each environmental element are publicly known technologies, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted. An example of a publicly known technology is the in-vehicle environment control disclosed in Patent Document 1.

[0019] The vehicle 3 is equipped with beacons 4a to 4d at the four corners of the interior, which output second identification information for determining the seating positions 5a to 5d of passengers shown in the figure. The beacons 4a to 4d periodically transmit radio signals that identify the respective beacons. The portable terminals 1a to 1d carried by the passengers receive the second identification information transmitted by each of the beacons 4a to 4d and determine the seating positions of the passengers based on the reception strength or the difference between the transmission time information included in each received second identification information and the time of reception.

[0020] Hereinafter, when describing content common to the mobile terminals 1a to 1d and the beacons 4a to 4d, the description will be made for the mobile terminal 1 and the beacon 4. Note that the beacon 4 may output the second identification information by inaudible sound instead of radio waves.

[0021] [Configuration of mobile device 1] The main functional configuration of the mobile terminal 1 will be described. As shown in Fig. 2, the mobile terminal 1 is composed of a terminal communication unit 11, a wearable device 12, a terminal control unit 13, an input unit 18, a display unit 19, and a terminal storage unit 20. Although not shown, the mobile terminal 1 is a computer equipped with a CPU, memory, and input / output devices (communication unit, display unit, input unit, etc.). The mobile terminal 1 realizes the operation of each function by the CPU executing a control program stored in the terminal storage unit 17.

[0022] The mobile terminal 1 may be, for example, a smartphone owned by a passenger. The mobile terminal 1 may also be, for example, a notebook computer, a tablet terminal, or the like.

[0023] The terminal communication unit 11 has a function of receiving biometric information from the wearable device 12 and second identification information from the beacon 4 via wireless communication, and communicating with the in-vehicle device 2. The terminal communication unit 11 has an antenna (not shown) for transmitting and receiving communication radio waves. The terminal communication unit 11 transmits passenger information, which will be described later, to the in-vehicle device 2.

[0024] Wearable device 12 is an electronic device that is attached to a part of the occupant's body (such as an arm, finger, face, or neck) and includes a sensor for measuring biological information such as the occupant's body temperature, blood pressure, and pulse rate, as well as a communication function. Wearable device 12 may be, for example, a wristwatch type, a wristband type, a ring type, a pair of glasses type, a necklace type, or an earphone type. Wearable device 12 sequentially transmits the measured biological information to mobile terminal 1.

[0025] The terminal control unit 13 has a function of controlling each function of the mobile terminal 1 by the CPU executing a control program. The terminal control unit 13 has a first acquisition unit 14, a generation unit 15, a second acquisition unit 16, and a determination unit 17.

[0026] The first acquisition unit 14 has a function of acquiring biometric information of the occupant sequentially transmitted from the wearable device 12. The generation unit 15 has a function of generating occupant information including the acquired biometric information and first identification information stored in the terminal storage unit 20 that identifies the occupant wearing the pre-associated wearable device 12.

[0027] The second acquisition unit 16 has a function of acquiring second identification information transmitted from the beacon 4. The determination unit 17 has a function of determining the seating position of the passenger based on the acquired second identification information. The generation unit 15 can include seating position information indicating the determined seating position in the passenger information.

[0028] The input unit 18 has a function of accepting predetermined instruction inputs from a passenger. For example, the input unit 18 may have a function of converting voice picked up by a microphone (not shown) into text and accepting the instruction input, or a function of converting signals input by an input device (not shown) such as a keyboard, mouse, or touch panel and accepting the instruction input.

[0029] The display unit 19 has a function of displaying various images such as GUI or content based on the control of the terminal control unit 13. A detailed example will be described later, but the display unit 19 displays, based on the passenger information, a layout diagram showing the seating positions inside the vehicle, information identifying each passenger sitting at each seating position inside the vehicle, and information indicating the estimated state of consciousness of each passenger.

[0030] The terminal storage unit 20 is configured by a non-volatile semiconductor memory such as a flash memory, an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), or an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM), or a hard disk drive.

[0031] The terminal storage unit 20 stores programs and data used by the terminal control unit 13 to perform various processes, as well as data generated or acquired by performing various processes by the terminal control unit 13. Specifically, the terminal storage unit 20 stores the first identification information, generated passenger information, etc.

[0032] [Configuration of in-vehicle device 2] The following describes the main functional configuration of the on-board device 2. As shown in Fig. 3, the on-board device 2 includes an on-board communication unit 21, an on-board control unit 22, an on-board storage unit 26, an input unit 27, and a display unit 28. The on-board device 2 is a computer having the same hardware configuration as the mobile terminal 1. The on-board device 2 realizes the operation of each function by the CPU executing a control program stored in the on-board storage unit 26.

[0033] The in-vehicle communication unit 21 has a function of receiving passenger information by wireless communication from the mobile terminal 1. The in-vehicle communication unit 21 has an antenna (not shown) for transmitting and receiving communication radio waves, and can transmit and receive data to the mobile terminal 1. For example, the in-vehicle communication unit 21 transmits to the mobile terminal 1 detailed information about a passenger identified from passenger information described below, information indicating an estimated state of consciousness of the passenger, and the like.

[0034] The in-vehicle control unit 22 has a function of controlling each function of the in-vehicle device 2 by the CPU executing a control program. The in-vehicle device control unit 22 includes an adjustment unit 23, an identification unit 24, and an estimation unit 25.

[0035] The adjustment unit 23 performs control to adjust the interior environment of the vehicle 3 based on the estimated state of consciousness of the occupant and the attribute information of the occupant. When the adjustment unit 23 wants to promote the state of consciousness of the occupant to a sleep state, the adjustment unit 23 performs adjustments such as dimming the lights, adjusting the room temperature, humidity, air volume, and fragrance to relaxing levels, and outputting calming background music at a reduced volume. The temperature may also be adjusted using a seat heater.

[0036] When it is desired to shift the occupant's state of consciousness to an alert state, the adjustment unit 23 adjusts the environment by, for example, brightening the lights, outputting upbeat background music at a relatively loud volume, outputting a pungent odor, and outputting strong wind. Note that the adjustment unit 23 may adjust at least one of the environmental elements as long as it can shift the occupant to the desired state of consciousness. For example, when it is desired to shift the occupant's state of consciousness to an alert state, the adjustment unit 23 may adjust at least one of the environmental elements by outputting a warning sound at a loud volume.

[0037] The identification unit 24 has a function of identifying attribute information stored in the in-vehicle storage unit 27 in association with the first identification information, based on the first identification information included in the received passenger information. The attribute information includes, for example, the passenger's name, age, gender, whether or not the passenger has a driver's license, etc. The passenger's seating position information included in the passenger information is also attribute information. The passenger's name may be a nickname.

[0038] The estimation unit 25 has a function of estimating the consciousness state of the passenger from the biological information included in the received passenger information. Specifically, the estimation unit 25 estimates whether the passenger is in an awake state, which indicates that the passenger is awake, or a sleep state, which indicates that the passenger is not awake, from the biological information such as blood pressure and pulse rate. The sleep state also includes an unconscious state close to sleep.

[0039] The determination unit 26 has a function of determining the desired state of consciousness of a passenger to be prioritized, for example, based on the priority determination table shown in FIG. 4 and the seating position. For example, if passenger A is seated in the driver's seat and is estimated to be awake based on biological information, the priority will be 0 points. On the other hand, if another passenger B is 2 years old, seated in the back seat, and is estimated to be asleep, the priority will be 1 + 2 = 3. Note that the higher the priority value, the higher the priority.

[0040] Since passenger B has a higher priority than passenger A, the adjustment unit 23 controls the vehicle environment to be adjusted to promote sleep as the desired state of consciousness for passenger B, who has a higher priority.

[0041] Thereafter, when the consciousness state of passenger A changes from an awake state to a asleep state, the priority of passenger A sitting in the driver's seat changes from 0 to 5. The priority of passenger A becomes higher than passenger B's priority of 3. Since passenger A is sitting in the driver's seat, the consciousness state that should be prioritized is the awake state, and therefore adjustment unit 23 performs control to adjust the in-vehicle environment to one that encourages passenger A's consciousness state to be awake.

[0042] The on-vehicle storage unit 27 stores attribute information of each passenger who may board the vehicle 3 in association with the first identification information. The on-vehicle storage unit 27 also stores seating position information included in the passenger information in association with the attribute information. The on-vehicle storage unit 27 has a hardware configuration similar to that of the terminal storage unit 20, and stores programs and data used by the on-vehicle control unit 22 to perform various processes, as well as data generated or acquired by the on-vehicle control unit 22 performing various processes.

[0043] The input unit 28 and the display unit 29 have the same configuration as the input unit 18 and the display unit 19 of the mobile terminal 1, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0044] [Operation of cabin climate control system 6] The operation of the vehicle interior environment control system 6 will now be described with reference to Figures 5 and 6. Note that the letter "S" attached to each process shown in Figure 5 indicates a step. First, each mobile terminal 1 carried by each passenger acquires biometric information from the wearable device 12 worn by each passenger (S1).

[0045] Furthermore, when the user sits in any seat inside the vehicle 3, each mobile terminal 1 determines the seating position based on the second identification information received from each beacon 4 provided at the four corners of the vehicle 3 (S2).

[0046] Each portable terminal 1 transmits, to the vehicle-mounted device 2, passenger information including the acquired biometric information, first identification information for identifying the passenger, and seating position information indicating the determined seating position (S3).

[0047] The vehicle-mounted device 2 receives passenger information from each mobile terminal 1 and identifies the seating position and attribute information of each passenger based on the received passenger information (S4). The vehicle-mounted device 2 also estimates the consciousness state of each passenger based on the biometric information of each passenger included in the passenger information (S5).

[0048] The estimated state of consciousness and seating position of each occupant is displayed on the display unit 29 of the in-vehicle device 2 as a screen 50 including a layout diagram showing seating positions in the vehicle, information identifying each occupant seated at each seating position in the vehicle, and information indicating the estimated state of consciousness of each occupant (S6), as shown in Fig. 6. For example, in the same figure, the occupant seated on the left side of the rear seat is shown to be named "Baby," is 1 year old, and is in a sleeping state of consciousness.

[0049] In addition, the vehicle-mounted device 2 may transmit passenger status information indicating the state of consciousness of each passenger to each mobile terminal 1 (S7), and cause the display unit 19 of each mobile terminal 1 to display a screen 50 similar to that shown in Figure 6 (S8).

[0050] The vehicle-mounted device 2 determines the desired state of consciousness of the passenger who should be given priority (S9) based on, for example, the priority determination table shown in Fig. 4. The passengers shown in Fig. 6 are named "Papa," "Mama," "San," and "Baby," and their respective priorities are 0 for "Papa," 0 for "Mama," 0 for "San," 0 for "Baby," and 3 for "Baby." Therefore, the passenger who should be given priority is determined to be "Baby," who has a priority of 3. Since no priority state of consciousness has been set for the seat in which "Baby" is seated, the vehicle-mounted device 2 adjusts the in-vehicle environment to promote sleep, which is the estimated state of consciousness of "Baby" (S10).

[0051] Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the configuration and operation of the above-described vehicle interior environment control system 6. For example, although the mobile terminal 1 acquires biometric information of the passenger from the wearable device 12, the mobile terminal 1 itself may be the wearable device 12.

[0052] Although the vehicle-mounted device 2 has been described as being installed inside the vehicle, it may also be a portable terminal that can be removed from the vehicle 3. For example, the portable terminal 1 may be a wearable device 12 worn by multiple passengers, and the vehicle-mounted device 2 may be a single smartphone that is linked to the control unit of the vehicle 3.

[0053] In the above embodiment, the mobile terminal 1 of each passenger determines the seating position of each passenger based on the acquired second identification information, but the determination may also be made by the vehicle-mounted device 2, and the estimation of the state of consciousness of each passenger may be made by each mobile terminal 1 instead of by the vehicle-mounted device 2.

[0054] In the above embodiment, the determination unit 25 determines the desired state of consciousness of the passenger to be prioritized using a priority determination table, but it may also determine the desired state of consciousness of the passenger to be prioritized using a trained model.

[0055] The present invention may also be an in-vehicle environment control method described in the above embodiment, which includes acquiring biometric information of each occupant, generating occupant information including the biometric information of each occupant and first identification information for identifying each occupant, storing attribute information of each occupant in association with the first identification information, identifying the associated attribute information using the first identification information included in the occupant information, estimating the occupant's state of consciousness from the biometric information included in the occupant information, and performing control to adjust the in-vehicle environment based on the identified attribute information and the estimated state of consciousness. [Industrial Applicability]

[0056] The present invention is applicable to the control of the interior environment of a vehicle capable of carrying multiple passengers. [Explanation of symbols]

[0057] 1. Mobile devices 2 On-vehicle device 3 vehicles 4. Beacon 11 Terminal communication unit 12 Wearable Devices 13 Terminal control unit 14 First acquisition part 15 Generation part 16 Second acquisition part 17 Judgment section 18 Input section 19 Display section 20 Terminal memory section 21 In-vehicle communication unit 22 On-board control unit 23 Adjustment section 24 Specific section 25 Estimation part 26 Decision Section 27 On-vehicle device storage section

Claims

1. An in-vehicle environment control system including: a plurality of mobile terminals associated with passengers; and an in-vehicle device mounted in a vehicle and capable of communicating with each of the mobile terminals, Each of the mobile terminals a terminal storage unit that stores first identification information that identifies the associated passenger; a first acquisition unit that acquires biometric information of the passenger; a terminal communication unit that transmits occupant information including the first identification information and the biometric information to the on-board device; The vehicle-mounted device is an adjusting unit that controls an interior environment of the vehicle; an in-vehicle communication unit that receives the passenger information from each of the mobile terminals; an in-vehicle storage unit that stores attribute information of each passenger in association with the first identification information; an identification unit that identifies the associated attribute information based on the first identification information included in the passenger information; an estimation unit that estimates the state of consciousness of the occupant from the biological information included in the occupant information, the adjustment unit performs control to adjust the in-vehicle environment based on the identified attribute information and the estimated consciousness state. An in-vehicle climate control system.

2. Each of the mobile terminals further comprises: a second acquisition unit that acquires second identification information for determining a seating position; a determination unit that determines the seating position of the passenger based on the second identification information, The passenger information transmitted by the terminal communication unit further includes seating position information indicating the determined seating position, The in-vehicle storage unit further stores the seating position information included in the received passenger information as the attribute information of the passenger, the adjustment unit performs control to adjust the in-vehicle environment to promote sleep of a second passenger seated in a seat other than the driver's seat when the seating position indicated by the attribute information of the first passenger is the driver's seat, the consciousness state of the first passenger is an awake state, and the consciousness state of a second passenger seated in a seat other than the driver's seat is a sleeping state.

2. The vehicle climate control system of claim 1.

3. Each of the mobile terminals further comprises: a second acquisition unit that acquires second identification information for determining a seating position; a determination unit that determines the seating position of the passenger based on the second identification information, The passenger information transmitted by the terminal communication unit further includes seating position information indicating the determined seating position and age information indicating the age of the passenger, The in-vehicle storage unit further stores the seating position information and the age information included in the received passenger information as the attribute information of the passenger, the adjustment unit performs control to adjust the in-vehicle environment to promote sleep of the second passenger when the seating position indicated by the attribute information of the first passenger is the driver's seat, the consciousness state of the first passenger is an awake state, the age indicated by the attribute information of the second passenger seated in a seat other than the driver's seat is equal to or less than a predetermined age, and the consciousness state of the second passenger is a sleeping state.

2. The vehicle climate control system of claim 1.

4. When the consciousness state of the first occupant becomes a sleeping state despite the consciousness state of the second occupant being a sleeping state, the adjustment unit performs control to adjust the in-vehicle environment to one that promotes awakening of the first occupant.

4. The vehicle interior environment control system according to claim 2 or 3.

5. The vehicle-mounted device or the mobile terminal further comprises: a display unit that displays, based on the occupant information, a layout diagram showing seating positions within the vehicle, information identifying each of the occupants seated at each seating position within the vehicle, and information indicating the estimated state of consciousness of each of the occupants; 4. The vehicle interior environment control system according to claim 2 or 3.

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