Car washing machine

Abstract

To accurately detect whether or not a vehicle is brought to a halt in a position in which it may come into contact with a car washing machine.SOLUTION: A car washing machine (2) comprises an imaging part (9), and an information processing part (70). The information processing part (70) has an image acquisition part (71) that acquires an image containing a vehicle image and taken by the imaging part (9), a vehicle body region detection part (72) that detects a vehicle body region of the image by using a learned model, and a first determination part (74) that determines whether or not a first region corresponding to a vehicle no-entry region overlaps the vehicle body region detected by the vehicle body region detection part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a car wash machine. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art A car wash capable of detecting the position of a vehicle by capturing an image using a camera device attached to the car wash is known in the prior art. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-243840 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] An object of one aspect of the present invention is to more accurately detect whether a vehicle is parked in a position where it may come into contact with a car wash machine during a car wash. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In order to solve the above problems, one embodiment of the present invention provides a car wash machine that includes an imaging unit that images a predetermined imaging area and an information processing unit, wherein the information processing unit includes an image acquisition unit that acquires an image including the vehicle to be washed, captured by the imaging unit, a vehicle body area detection unit that detects the vehicle body area in the image using a trained model constructed by machine learning, and a first determination unit that determines whether the vehicle body area detected by the vehicle body area detection unit overlaps with a first area in the image that corresponds to a no-vehicle entry area defined to avoid contact between the vehicle and the car wash machine. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to more accurately detect whether a vehicle is parked in a position where it may come into contact with a car wash machine during a car wash. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram showing a side view of a car wash machine main body and a remote panel provided in a car wash machine according to an embodiment, and a front view of the car wash machine main body. [Figure 2] 1 is a schematic diagram of a main part of a car wash machine according to an embodiment and a vehicle X parked at a parking position, as viewed from above. [Figure 3] 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a main part of a car wash machine; [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a contact avoidance process performed by a control unit. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary image captured by an imaging device. [Figure 6] 10 is an example of a table showing the coordinates of four points identified by an administrator. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the processing in the detection step and the determination step. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the processing in the detection step and the determination step. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] [Embodiment 1] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

[0009] <Car wash machine overview> A car wash machine according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below. In this embodiment, an exemplary car wash machine 2 that performs a car wash process to wash a vehicle will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a general side view 2S of a car wash machine main body 4 and a remote panel 6 provided in the car wash machine 2 according to this embodiment, and a general front view 4F of the car wash machine main body 4. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the main parts of the car wash machine 2 and a vehicle X parked at a car wash position, which is a stopping position during car washing, as viewed from above. As shown in FIG. 1, the car wash machine 2 according to this embodiment includes a car wash machine main body 4 that washes the vehicle X, which is a vehicle to be washed. The car wash machine 2 further includes a remote panel 6 that acquires the car wash conditions of the vehicle X by the car wash machine main body 4. In the general side view 2S, the outline of the remote panel 6 is shown by a dotted line to indicate that the remote panel 6 is located further back than the vehicle X in the plane of the drawing.

[0010] As shown in the schematic front view 4F, the car wash machine main body 4 includes, for example, two frames 8 and a ceiling portion 10 connecting the upper ends of the two frames 8. The car wash machine main body 4 has a structure that allows the vehicle X to pass through a space 4S surrounded by the frames 8 and the ceiling portion 10 along the approach direction DA of the vehicle X, as shown in the schematic side view 2S. In this specification, the approach direction DA is defined as the direction from the front surface 4A toward the rear surface 4B of the car wash machine main body 4. In this embodiment, the front surface 4A is the surface on which, for example, an operation panel 42, which will be described later, is provided.

[0011] As shown in FIG. 2, an approach guide G is formed within the car wash facility where the car wash machine main body 4 is installed. The approach guide G is formed on the ground within the car wash facility and functions as a reference for indicating where and in which direction the vehicle X to be washed by the car wash machine main body 4 should stop. In other words, the approach guide G serves as a guide for at least one of the approach direction and approach position of the vehicle X relative to the car wash machine main body 4. The approach guide G includes, for example, a right approach guide GR disposed on the right side of the ideal stopping position of the vehicle X and a left approach guide GL disposed on the left side. FIG. 2 also illustrates a first area RA and a second area RA2, which will be described later.

[0012] Furthermore, the car wash machine 2 may be equipped with a display device 45 that provides various instructions and / or displays to the driver. The display device 45 is an example of a display unit according to the present disclosure. The display device 45 may include, for example, a first display panel 45A that is installed on the car wash machine main body 4 and a second display panel 45B that is installed behind the car wash machine main body 4 and in a position that can be seen by the driver of the vehicle X being washed. Alternatively, the car wash machine 2 may be equipped with either the first display panel 45A or the second display panel 45B.

[0013] <Car wash machine body> The car wash machine main body 4 has wheels 12 at the bottom of each of the frames 8, and by rotating the wheels 12 using a drive unit (not shown), the car wash machine main body 4 moves in the front-to-rear direction relative to the vehicle X along rails R arranged on the ground G. The rails R are formed, for example, along the approach direction DA. Here, the car wash machine main body 4 washes the vehicle X in the space 4S while moving relative to the vehicle X.

[0014] 1, of the directions of movement of the car wash machine main body 4, the direction toward the front surface 4A is referred to as the forward direction D1, and the direction toward the rear surface 4B is referred to as the backward direction D2. Hereinafter, movement of the car wash machine main body 4 in the forward direction D1 may be simply referred to as the forward movement of the car wash machine main body 4, and movement of the car wash machine main body 4 in the backward direction D2 may be simply referred to as the backward movement of the car wash machine main body 4.

[0015] The car wash machine main body 4 is equipped with a plurality of brushes that slide over and brush the vehicle X as one of the cleaning parts. For example, the brushes equipped in the car wash machine main body 4 include a top brush 14, side brushes 16, and rocker brushes 18, each of which is rotated by a rotary motor (not shown). The top brush 14 slides along the top surface of the vehicle X and cleans the top surface of the vehicle X. The side brushes 16 and rocker brushes 18 clean both side surfaces of the vehicle X.

[0016] A tank storage section 20 is arranged on the side of the car wash machine main body 4. The tank storage section 20 stores multiple liquid storage tanks (not shown) that store various liquid agents, including detergents and waxes. Above the tank storage section 20, a distribution pipe section 22 is provided that distributes water, including city water, or liquid agents from each liquid storage tank. From the distribution pipe section 22, multiple nozzles, which will be described in detail below, are each led out via an electromagnetic valve (not shown).

[0017] The plurality of nozzles include a first nozzle that sprays a liquid containing city water or a cleaning liquid onto the vehicle X to wash the vehicle X, and a second nozzle that sprays a coating agent containing a water-repellent coating agent or wax onto the vehicle X to form a coating film on the surface of the vehicle X.

[0018] The first nozzles include a first purified water nozzle 24, a second purified water nozzle 26, a first detergent nozzle 28, and a second detergent nozzle 30. The first purified water nozzle 24 and the second purified water nozzle 26 are arranged on the front surface 4A and rear surface 4B of each frame 8 of the car wash machine main body 4, respectively, and spray water including city water onto the vehicle X. The first detergent nozzle 28 and the second detergent nozzle 30 are arranged on the front surface 4A and rear surface 4B of each frame 8, respectively, and spray cleaning liquid including shampoo etc. onto the vehicle X.

[0019] The second nozzles include a water-repellent coating nozzle 32 and a wax nozzle 34. The water-repellent coating nozzle 32 and the wax nozzle 34 are arranged on the rear surface 4B of the car wash machine main body 4. The water-repellent coating nozzle 32 sprays a liquid water-repellent coating agent onto the vehicle X. The wax nozzle 34 sprays wax onto the vehicle X.

[0020] The car wash machine main body 4 is also provided with a blower 36 that generates an air current to dry the vehicle X. A top air blowing nozzle 38 and a side air blowing nozzle 40 are connected to the blower 36. The top air blowing nozzle 38 is provided at the upper center of the car wash machine main body 4 and blows air toward the ceiling surface of the vehicle X. The side air blowing nozzles 40 are provided on both sides of the car wash machine main body 4 and blow air toward the sides of the vehicle X. The car wash machine main body 4 dries the vehicle X after washing by blowing air from the top air blowing nozzle 38 and the side air blowing nozzles 40.

[0021] Furthermore, the car wash machine main body 4 may be equipped with an imaging device 9. The imaging device 9 is an example of an imaging unit according to the present disclosure. The imaging device 9 includes an imaging device 9R provided on the upper right side of the car wash machine main body 4 and an imaging device 9L provided on the upper left side. As shown in FIG. 2, the imaging devices 9 capture images of the vehicle X parked at the parking position for the car wash from the upper right and upper left sides, respectively. For example, the imaging area of ​​the imaging device 9R includes the right side of the vehicle X parked at the parking position and at least a portion of the right approach guide GR. The imaging area of ​​the imaging device 9L includes the left side of the vehicle X parked at the parking position and at least a portion of the left approach guide GL. Furthermore, the mounting position and mounting angle of each of the imaging devices 9R and 9L on the car wash machine main body 4 can be adjusted so that the portion of the vehicle X that is in contact with the ground can be seen (see FIG. 5).

[0022] In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the car wash machine main body 4 is provided with the imaging device 9, but the present invention is not limited to this example. The imaging device 9 may be installed independently of the car wash machine main body 4 as long as it is located in a position where it can capture an image of a desired imaging area. For example, the imaging device 9R and the imaging device 9L may be attached to support pillars installed on both sides of the car wash machine main body 4, respectively.

[0023] 1 and 2, for simplicity of illustration, the various devices for washing the vehicle X that are provided in the car wash machine main body 4 as described above may be omitted. Furthermore, the devices provided in the car wash machine main body 4 shown in Fig. 1 are merely examples, and the car wash machine main body 4 may be provided with devices for washing the vehicle X and devices for assisting the washing, including conventionally known configurations, in addition to the devices described above, on the frame 8 or the ceiling portion 10.

[0024] An operation panel 42 is disposed on the front of one frame 8 of the car wash machine main body 4. The operation panel 42 has operation buttons (not shown) for setting the car wash conditions. For example, a driver who has gotten out of the vehicle X or another technician may operate the operation buttons to set the car wash conditions, etc.

[0025] <Control unit and remote panel> Furthermore, the car wash machine 2 includes a control unit 7 that controls the car wash machine main body 4 and each unit included in the car wash machine 2. For example, the control unit 7 controls the movement of the car wash machine main body 4 along the rail R and the operation of each unit of the cleaning unit, thereby controlling the washing of the vehicle X by the car wash machine main body 4. Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 3, the control unit 7 according to this embodiment includes an information processing unit 70. The information processing unit 70 will be described later.

[0026] 1, the control unit 7 may be provided in the car wash machine main body 4, or may be located outside the car wash machine main body 4. The control unit 7 may send and receive information between the car wash machine main body 4 or a remote panel 6 (described later) using a communication device (not shown) or the like, and control the car wash machine main body 4. The control unit 7 is configured with a processor such as a CPU, for example, and various controls are realized by executing a control program stored in memory on the processor.

[0027] The remote panel 6 is located, for example, on the front side of the car wash machine main body 4, and is disposed roughly along the direction of movement of the car wash machine main body 4. As shown in FIG. 1 , the remote panel 6 is disposed so that its front surface faces the side of the vehicle X before it is washed by the car wash machine main body 4, in other words, before it enters the inside of the car wash machine main body 4.

[0028] 1, the remote panel 6 includes a housing 46 and a support pole 48 that is erected on the ground G and supports the housing 46. The remote panel 6 may acquire at least some of the car wash conditions for the vehicle X to be washed by the car wash machine main body 4 by operating a touch panel or buttons (not shown) provided on the housing 46. The control unit 7 may control the car wash machine main body 4 to wash the vehicle X based on at least some of the car wash conditions acquired by the remote panel 6.

[0029] (Information Processing Department) FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the car wash machine 2 of this embodiment. The control unit 7 of this embodiment includes an information processing unit 70. The information processing unit 70 is configured to execute an acquisition step, a detection step, a determination step, etc., which will be described later, using a trained model M stored in a storage unit 73. The information processing unit 70 includes an image acquisition unit 71, a vehicle body region detection unit 72, a storage unit 73, a first determination unit 74, and a second determination unit 75. The second determination unit 75 has an optional configuration and can be provided as needed. The information processing unit 70 can be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphic processing unit (GPU), a microprocessor, a digital signal processor, a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) such as a tensor processing unit (TPU), or a combination thereof.

[0030] The image acquisition unit 71 acquires an image captured by the imaging device 9 of a predetermined imaging area, the image including the vehicle X to be washed.

[0031] The vehicle body region detection unit 72 detects the vehicle body region in the image captured by the imaging device 9 using a trained model M constructed by machine learning.

[0032] The storage unit 73 is configured to store the trained model M. As the storage unit 73, for example, a random access memory, a flash memory, a hard disk drive, or the like can be used.

[0033] The first determination unit 74 determines whether or not a first area RA in the image acquired by the image acquisition unit 71 overlaps with a vehicle body area RB detected by the vehicle body area detection unit 72. The first area RA is an area corresponding to a vehicle no-entry area defined to prevent contact between the vehicle X and the car wash machine 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle no-entry area is defined based on the guide G. The first area RA in the image acquired by the image acquisition unit 71 can be set by identifying an area in the image corresponding to the vehicle no-entry area using coordinates in the image.

[0034] The second determination unit 75 determines whether or not a second area RA2 in the image IA acquired by the image acquisition unit 71 overlaps with the vehicle body area RB detected by the vehicle body area detection unit 72. The second area RA2 is a proximity avoidance area that is located closer to the vehicle X than the vehicle entry no-entry area and that prevents the vehicle X from approaching the car wash 2. The second area RA2 can be set by specifying an area corresponding to the proximity avoidance area in the image acquired by the image acquisition unit 71 using coordinates in the image.

[0035] In the present disclosure, machine learning generally refers to a process of automatically constructing a detection algorithm based on data. While deep learning is a typical example of machine learning, the machine learning in the present disclosure is not limited to deep learning. For example, the machine learning in the present disclosure may be supervised learning other than deep learning, unsupervised learning, or reinforcement learning.

[0036] In addition, in this disclosure, a trained model generally refers to a detection algorithm constructed by machine learning. A typical trained model is a convolutional neural network (CNN), but the trained model in this disclosure is not limited to one constructed by a CNN.

[0037] For example, the trained model M according to the present disclosure can be generated by supervised learning using training data including image data representing an image including a vehicle captured by an imaging device 9, a label indicating that the captured object is a "car," and information representing the area of ​​the vehicle in the image.

[0038] The trained model M is a model that receives an image captured by the imaging device 9 and including the vehicle X to be washed as input, and outputs information indicating the vehicle body region RB in the image.

[0039] (Contact avoidance process flow) The following describes the flow of processing by the control unit 7 of the car wash machine 2 to avoid contact between the car wash machine main body 4 and the vehicle X, with reference to Figs. 4 to 8. Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the contact avoidance processing by the control unit 7. The flow shown in Fig. 4 is an example and is not limiting. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example image IA captured by the imaging device 9L.

[0040] First, before the series of processes, the manager of the car wash machine 2 sets the coordinates of the first area RA. Specifically, the manager of the car wash machine 2 identifies a no-entry area in an image captured by the imaging device 9 using coordinates on the image, and defines the area surrounded by the identified coordinates as the first area RA. In other words, the manager of the car wash machine 2 can identify the first area RA by specifying coordinates on the image. For example, the manager can identify the no-entry area as an area surrounded by four coordinate points based on image IA as shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 6 is an example of a table showing the coordinates of the four points identified by the manager. In the table, A and B may be x- and y-coordinates on the image, respectively. The area surrounded by the four coordinate points may be shown in image IA as the first area RA, indicated by diagonal lines. Such coordinate setting of the first area RA may be performed when the car wash machine 2 is installed, or may be performed or updated during regular inspection of the car wash machine 2.

[0041] Furthermore, the coordinates of the second area RA2 may be set as necessary. The coordinates of the second area RA2 may be set in the same manner as the coordinates of the first area RA, or may be set automatically based on the information of the first area RA.

[0042] When the vehicle X stops at the car wash position, the contact avoidance process may be started. When the contact avoidance process is started, in step S11, the image acquisition unit 71 acquires an image including the vehicle X captured by the imaging device 9R as image data (acquisition step). Although not shown for simplicity, the image captured by the imaging device 9R will be referred to as image IB. The image acquisition unit 71 acquires the images IA and IB as image data.

[0043] In the following step S12, the vehicle body region detection unit 72 uses the learning model M to detect the vehicle body region RB from the images IA and IB acquired by the image acquisition unit 71 in step S11 (detection step). Figures 7 and 8 are diagrams for explaining the processing in the detection step of step S12 and the determination step described below. Note that although the drawings only show processing of the image captured by the imaging device 9L, the same processing is also performed on the image captured by the imaging device 9R.

[0044] For example, when an image captured by an imaging device 9 is input into the learning model M, a body region RB indicating the area of ​​the vehicle X is detected as shown by reference numeral 701 in FIG. 7 and reference numeral 801 in FIG. 8, and a result as shown by reference numeral 702 in FIG. 7 and reference numeral 802 in FIG. 8 is output.

[0045] At this time, the result output from the learning model M as the vehicle body region RB may contain noise N, as indicated by reference numeral 702 in FIG. 7 and reference numeral 802 in FIG. 8. For this reason, the vehicle body region detection unit 72 may be provided with a noise removal unit 76. In the subsequent step S13, the noise removal unit 76 removes noise regions included in the output result from the learning model M (noise removal step). For example, the noise removal unit 76 may identify the region having the largest area among the regions output from the learning model M as the vehicle body region RB and remove other regions as noise. Reference numeral 703 in FIG. 7 and reference numeral 803 in FIG. 8 indicate images from which noise has been removed by the noise removal unit 76. By providing the vehicle body region detection unit 72 with the noise removal unit 76, the first determination step and the second determination step, which will be described later, can be performed with higher accuracy.

[0046] In the next step S14, the first determination unit 74 determines whether or not the vehicle body region RB detected by the vehicle body region detection unit 72 overlaps with the first region RA identified as described above (first determination step). As shown by reference numeral 704 in Fig. 7, if the first region RA and the vehicle body region RB do not overlap, the first determination unit 74 determines in step S14 that they do not overlap (S14: NO), and proceeds to step S16.

[0047] As indicated by reference numeral 804 in FIG. 8, if the first area RA and the vehicle body area RB overlap, the first determination unit 74 determines in step S14 that they overlap (S14: YES), and proceeds to step S15.

[0048] The control unit 7 includes an alarm unit 77. The alarm unit 77 executes an alarm process in step S15. The alarm process in step S15 is performed for the driver of the vehicle X. The alarm process performed for the driver of the vehicle X in step S15 may include, for example, an alarm including at least one of an instruction to stop the vehicle X, an instruction to correct the entry direction, and an instruction to stop the vehicle X again. The alarm process in step S15 may include an alarm notifying the driver of a risk of contact between the vehicle X and the car wash machine main body 4. The alarm process in step S15 may be performed using, for example, the first display panel 45A installed on the upper front surface of the car wash machine main body 4 or the second display panel 45B installed at a position separate from the car wash machine main body 4, or may be an alarm by voice or the like. The alarms on the first display panel 45A and the second display panel 45B may be displays including at least one of text and illustrations. 1, the first display panel 45A is installed at the upper front part of the car wash machine main body 4, but the installation location of the first display panel 45A is not limited to this position. For example, the first display panel 45A may be installed at a movable part of the car wash machine main body 4, such as in front of the top air blowing nozzle 38.

[0049] The notification process performed in step S15 is not limited to displaying information on each display panel as described above, but may be performed by a light-emitting device. The light-emitting device is an example of a display unit according to the present disclosure. The light-emitting device may be, for example, an LED light. A red LED light may be provided in a position visible to the driver, and the red LED light may be illuminated to notify the driver of the risk of contact between the vehicle X and the car wash machine main body 4. In this case, if the first area RA and the vehicle body area RB do not overlap, a separately provided blue LED light may be illuminated.

[0050] Alternatively, the car wash machine 2 may further include a communication unit 60 capable of communicating with an external terminal connected via a network, and the notification process may be a notification to the external terminal via the communication unit 60. The external terminal may be, for example, a terminal installed at a management company that remotely monitors the car wash machine 2, a mobile terminal carried by a staff member at a gas station that manages the car wash machine 2, or a mobile terminal carried by the driver of vehicle X.

[0051] For example, when it is determined that the first area RA and the vehicle body area RB overlap in the image captured by the imaging device 9L, the notification unit 77 may issue a notification requesting the driver to move the vehicle X to the right. On the other hand, when it is determined that the first area RA and the vehicle body area RB overlap in the image captured by the imaging device 9R, the notification unit 77 may issue a notification requesting the driver to move the vehicle X to the left.

[0052] Furthermore, the notification process in step S15 may include a notification to the driver of the vehicle following vehicle X. The notification to the driver of vehicle X by the notification unit 77 may cause vehicle X to temporarily reverse and correct its position and orientation. Therefore, the notification unit 77 may notify the driver of the following vehicle that vehicle X may attempt to stop again, for example, via a display on the remote panel 6 or an audio notification from the remote panel 6. Furthermore, the notification unit 77 may notify the driver of the following vehicle that staff is being called, or that vehicle X is attempting to return while communicating with the management company. This allows the driver of the following vehicle to understand the possibility and reason for vehicle X's reversal or other operation after stopping, as well as the current situation.

[0053] In step S15, a notification process is performed based on the judgment of the first judgment unit 74, which prompts the vehicle X to move to a position appropriate for stopping, thereby significantly reducing the possibility of contact between the vehicle X and the car wash machine main body 4.

[0054] In the following step S16, the second determination unit 75 determines whether the second area RA2 identified as described above overlaps with the vehicle body area RB detected by the vehicle body area detection unit 72 (second determination step). The determination of the overlap between the second area RA2 and the vehicle body area RB can be performed in the same manner as the determination of the overlap between the first area RA and the vehicle body area RB described in step S14. If the second area RA2 and the vehicle body area RB do not overlap, the second determination unit 75 determines in step S16 that they do not overlap (S16: NO), and ends the series of processes.

[0055] If the second area RA2 and the vehicle body area RB overlap, the second determination unit 75 determines in step S16 that they overlap (S16: YES), and proceeds to step S17.

[0056] The notification unit 77 executes a notification process in step S17. The notification process given to the driver of vehicle X in step S17 may be, for example, a notification including at least one of an instruction to stop vehicle X, an instruction to correct the entry direction, and an instruction to stop the vehicle again. The notification process in step S17 may include a notification notifying the driver of a risk of contact between vehicle X and the car wash machine main body 4. The notification process in step S17 may be executed using, for example, the first display panel 45A installed on the upper front surface of the car wash machine main body 4 or the second display panel 45B installed at a position separate from the car wash machine main body 4, or may be executed by audio or the like. The notification in step S17 may also be executed using the same means as the notification in step S15.

[0057] In step S17, a notification process is executed based on the judgment of the second judgment unit 75, which prompts the vehicle X to move to a position appropriate for parking, thereby significantly reducing the possibility of the vehicle X and the car wash machine main body 4 coming into close proximity during washing.

[0058] The processes of steps S16 and S17 are performed only when the second area RA2 is set, and may be omitted.

[0059] As described above, the car wash according to the present disclosure includes an imaging device 9 that captures an image of a predetermined imaging area, and an information processing unit 70. The information processing unit 70 includes an image acquisition unit that acquires an image captured by the imaging device 9 and including the vehicle X to be washed, a vehicle body area detection unit 72 that detects a vehicle body area RB in the image using a trained model constructed by machine learning, and a first determination unit 74 that determines whether or not a first area RA in the image, which corresponds to a vehicle no-entry area defined to avoid contact between the vehicle X and the car wash machine main body 4, overlaps with the vehicle body area RB detected by the vehicle body area detection unit 72.

[0060] This configuration allows the car wash machine 2 to more accurately detect whether the vehicle X is parked in a position where it may come into contact with the car wash machine main body 4 during washing.

[0061] (Other aspects) In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the contact avoidance processing is started when the vehicle X stops at the car wash position, but the contact avoidance processing may also be performed while the vehicle X is entering the car. For example, the contact avoidance processing may be started when the vehicle X starts to move forward from the standby position in front of the remote panel 6 to proceed to the car wash position. In the case of contact avoidance processing after the vehicle X has stopped at the car wash position, the vehicle X needs to move backward once in order to change the position or direction of the vehicle X based on the notification by the notification unit. By performing the contact avoidance processing while the vehicle is entering the car, the driver can receive notifications such as instructions to correct the entry direction while entering the car, making it easier to correct the entry direction, etc.

[0062] 〔summary〕 (1) A car wash according to aspect 1 of the present disclosure is a car wash comprising an imaging unit that images a predetermined imaging area and an information processing unit, wherein the information processing unit comprises an image acquisition unit that acquires an image including the vehicle to be washed, captured by the imaging unit, a vehicle body area detection unit that detects the vehicle body area in the image using a trained model constructed by machine learning, and a first determination unit that determines whether a first area in the image corresponds to a no-vehicle entry area defined to avoid contact between the vehicle and the car wash machine, and the vehicle body area detected by the vehicle body area detection unit overlap.

[0063] (2) In a car wash machine according to aspect 2 of the present disclosure, in aspect 1 above, the input to the trained model is an image captured by the imaging unit and including the vehicle to be washed, and the output from the trained model is information indicating the vehicle body area in the image.

[0064] (3) In a car wash machine according to aspect 3 of the present disclosure, in aspect 1 or 2 above, the vehicle body area detection unit has a noise removal unit that removes areas other than the area with the largest area from the detected area based on the information indicating the vehicle body area output from the trained model.

[0065] (4) In a car wash machine according to aspect 4 of the present disclosure, in any one of aspects 1 to 3 above, the information processing unit further has a second determination unit that determines whether a second area in the image that is located closer to the vehicle than the no-vehicle-entry area overlaps with the vehicle body area detected by the vehicle body area detection unit.

[0066] (5) A car wash according to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure is the car wash according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the first area is identified by specifying coordinates in the image.

[0067] (6) A car wash machine according to aspect 6 of the present disclosure is, in any one of aspects 1 to 5 above, provided with an alarm unit that executes an alarm process when the first determination unit determines that the first area and the vehicle body area overlap, and the alarm process is an alarm made to the driver of the vehicle, and includes at least one of an instruction to stop the vehicle, an instruction to correct the entry direction, and an instruction to request the vehicle to stop again.

[0068] (7) A car wash machine according to aspect 7 of the present disclosure is, in aspect 4 above, provided with an alarm unit that executes an alarm process when the second determination unit determines that the second area overlaps with the vehicle body area, and the alarm process is an alarm made to the driver of the vehicle, and includes at least one of an instruction to stop the vehicle, an instruction to correct the entry direction, and an instruction to request the vehicle to stop again.

[0069] (8) The car wash machine according to aspect 8 of the present disclosure is, in aspect 6 or 7 above, further provided with a display unit that provides various instructions and / or displays to the driver of the vehicle, and the notification process includes displaying on the display unit.

[0070] (9) A car wash machine according to aspect 9 of the present disclosure, in any of aspects 6 to 8 above, further includes a communication unit capable of communicating with an external terminal connected via a network, and the notification process includes notification to the external terminal via the communication unit.

[0071] (10) In a car wash machine according to aspect 10 of the present disclosure, in any of aspects 6 to 9 above, the notification process is a notification made to the driver of a vehicle following the vehicle, and includes a notification made to the driver of the vehicle that the vehicle may try to stop again.

[0072] [Additional Notes] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. Embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0073] 2...Car wash machine 4...Car wash machine body 6. Remote Panel 7. Control section 70···Information Processing Section 71 Image acquisition unit 72 Body area detection unit 73...Storage section 74...1st judgment section 75...Second judgment section 76 Noise removal section 77···Information Department 9 (9R·9L)···Imaging device 60. Communications Department

Claims

1. A car wash machine including an imaging unit that images a predetermined imaging area and an information processing unit, The information processing unit an image acquisition unit that acquires an image including a vehicle to be washed, the image being captured by the imaging unit; a vehicle body region detection unit that detects a vehicle body region in the image using a trained model constructed by machine learning; A car wash machine having a first judgment unit that determines whether a first area in the image corresponding to a vehicle no-entry area defined to avoid contact between the vehicle and the car wash machine overlaps with the vehicle body area detected by the vehicle body area detection unit.

2. 2. The car wash machine of claim 1, wherein an input to the trained model is an image captured by the imaging unit and including a vehicle to be washed, and an output from the trained model is information indicating a vehicle body area in the image.

3. 2. The car wash machine according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle body region detection unit includes a noise removal unit that removes regions other than the region having the largest area from the detected region based on the information indicating the vehicle body region output from the trained model.

4. The car wash machine of claim 1, wherein the information processing unit further includes a second judgment unit that determines whether a second area in the image, which is located closer to the vehicle than the vehicle entry no-entry area, overlaps with the vehicle body area detected by the vehicle body area detection unit.

5. The car wash according to claim 1 , wherein the first area is identified by specifying coordinates in the image.

6. a notification unit that executes a notification process when the first determination unit determines that the first region and the vehicle body region overlap, The car wash machine according to claim 1, wherein the notification process is a notification given to the driver of the vehicle, and includes at least one of an instruction to stop the vehicle, an instruction to correct the entry direction, and an instruction to request another attempt to stop the vehicle.

7. a notification unit that executes a notification process when the second determination unit determines that the second region and the vehicle body region overlap; The car wash machine according to claim 4, wherein the notification process is a notification given to the driver of the vehicle, and includes at least one of an instruction to stop the vehicle, an instruction to correct the entry direction, and an instruction to request another attempt to stop the vehicle.

8. A display unit is further provided to give various instructions and / or displays to a driver of the vehicle, The car wash machine according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the notification process includes displaying on the display unit.

9. Further comprising a communication unit capable of communicating with an external terminal connected via a network, The car wash machine according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the notification process includes notifying the external terminal via the communication unit.

10. 8. The car wash machine according to claim 6, wherein the notification process includes a notification to be made to a driver of a vehicle following the vehicle, the notification notifying the driver that the vehicle may need to stop again.

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