Information processing device

Abstract

In a technology that presents work instructions to the user of vehicle 10, the system more accurately determines the work instructions that should be presented. [Solution] The information processing device 20 includes a communication unit 21 that communicates with the vehicle 10, a storage unit 23 that stores history information 14 that associates past driving conditions of vehicle 10 or other vehicles 10 with tasks that were not performed by the user of each vehicle 10 at predetermined timings, and a control unit 22 that receives information on the current driving conditions from the vehicle 10 at predetermined timings and sends information to the vehicle 10 to present assumed tasks corresponding to the current driving conditions to the user of the vehicle 10.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] Techniques for improving the user experience by assisting vehicle users are known. As one of them, a technique for presenting work contents to vehicle users has been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which when an in-vehicle notification device detects an operation omission, it transmits an operation omission notification signal to a center device, and the center device transmits the operation omission notification signal to a user device registered in advance.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the technique of presenting work contents to vehicle users, there has been room for more accurately determining the work contents to be presented.

[0005] In view of such circumstances, an object of the present disclosure is to more accurately determine the work contents to be presented in the technique of presenting work contents to vehicle users.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] An information processing device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a communication unit that communicates with a vehicle; a storage unit that stores historical information relating past driving conditions of the vehicle or other vehicles with tasks that were not performed by the user of each vehicle at predetermined timings; and a control unit that receives information on a first driving condition from the vehicle at the predetermined timing and sends information to the vehicle for presenting a first task corresponding to the first driving condition to the user of the vehicle. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to one embodiment of this disclosure, it becomes possible to more accurately determine the work content to be presented to the vehicle user. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This is a block diagram illustrating the general configuration of the information provision system. [Figure 2] This is a flowchart showing the operation of an information processing device. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] The embodiments of this disclosure will be described below.

[0010] Referring to Figure 1, an overview of System 1 according to the embodiment of this disclosure will be described. The information provision system 1 comprises one or more information processing devices 10 and a vehicle 20. The information processing devices 10 and the vehicle 20 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate information via a network 30, which includes, for example, the Internet and a mobile communication network.

[0011] The information processing device 10 is, for example, a computer such as a server device that belongs to a cloud computing system or other computing system and implements various functions. The information processing device 10 may be composed of two or more computers that are connected in a way that enables information communication and operate in cooperation with each other.

[0012] Vehicle 20 is, for example, an automobile, a commercial vehicle, etc. Automobiles are, but are not limited to, BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles), HEVs (Hybrid Electric Vehicles), PHEVs (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles), or FCEVs (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles).

[0013] The information processing device 10 in this embodiment includes a communication unit 11 that communicates with the vehicle 20, a storage unit 13 that stores history information 14 that associates past driving conditions of the vehicle 20 or other vehicles 20 with tasks that were not performed by the user of each vehicle 20 at a predetermined timing (hereinafter referred to as "unperformed tasks"), and a control unit 12 that receives information on a first driving condition (hereinafter referred to as "current driving condition") from the vehicle 20 at a predetermined timing and sends information to the vehicle 20 to present a first task (hereinafter referred to as "anticipated task") corresponding to the current driving condition to the user of the vehicle 20.

[0014] The history information 14 contains information for each user of the vehicle 20 that associates past driving conditions and tasks not performed in the vehicle 20. Based on the history information 14, the information processing device 10 can determine whether there are any tasks not performed in past driving conditions corresponding to the user's current driving conditions, that is, tasks that are anticipated to be neglected by the user. The current driving conditions and past driving conditions are driving-related conditions, and include, for example, time of day, external conditions (weather, traffic congestion information, etc.), in-vehicle conditions (number of passengers, number of children, etc.), and driving conditions (starting point, destination, distance traveled, driving time, and number of sudden starts and stops, etc.). Examples of tasks not performed or anticipated tasks include forgetting to close windows or doors, forgetting to turn off lights, forgetting to operate the shift lever, forgetting to lock doors, forgetting vehicle keys or luggage, etc. Furthermore, the information processing device 10 can determine the presence or absence of anticipated tasks not only using the history information 14 of its own vehicle 20 accumulated by the user through its own driving, but also using the history information 14 of other vehicles 20 accumulated by other users through their driving. This makes it possible to determine whether or not there are anticipated tasks corresponding to the user's driving conditions, even in situations such as unusual driving conditions or in the case of a new vehicle where sufficient history information 14 has not been accumulated. Therefore, it becomes possible to more accurately determine the tasks that should be presented to the user of the vehicle 20.

[0015] The components of the information processing device 10, namely the communication unit 11, the control unit 12, and the storage unit 13, will now be described.

[0016] The communication unit 11 includes one or more communication interfaces connected to the network 30. The communication interfaces may, for example, support mobile communication standards, wired LAN (Local Area Network) standards, or wireless LAN standards, but are not limited to these, and may support any communication standard. In this embodiment, the information processing device 10 communicates with the vehicle 20 via the communication unit 11 and the network 30.

[0017] The control unit 12 consists of one or more processors, one or more programmable circuits, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination thereof. The processor is, for example, a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process, but is not limited to these. The programmable circuit is, for example, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), but is not limited to this. The dedicated circuit is, for example, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), but is not limited to this. The control unit 12 controls the operation of the entire information processing device 10.

[0018] The storage unit 13 includes one or more memories. Each memory included in the storage unit 13 may function as, for example, a main memory, an auxiliary memory, or a cache memory. The storage unit 13 stores any information used in the operation of the information processing device 10. For example, the storage unit 13 may store system programs, application programs, databases, and map information. The information stored in the storage unit 13 may be updatable with information obtained from the network 30 via the communication unit 11, for example. The storage unit 13 also stores history information 14.

[0019] Next, the components of the vehicle 20 will be described in detail. As shown in Figure 1, the vehicle 20 includes a communication unit 21, an output unit 22, a sensor unit 23, and a control unit 24.

[0020] The communication unit 21 includes one or more communication interfaces connected to the network 30. The communication interfaces are compatible with, but are not limited to, mobile communication standards such as 4G (4th Generation) and 5G (5th Generation). In this embodiment, the vehicle 20 communicates with the information processing device 10 via the communication unit 21 and the network 30.

[0021] The output unit 22 includes one or more output devices that output information or an interface for connecting one or more output devices. The output device is, for example, a display, a speaker, or the like.

[0022] The sensor unit 23 is one or more sensors that detect information regarding the operation of the vehicle 20 or the surrounding environment or an interface for connecting one or more sensors. The sensors are a speed sensor, an acceleration sensor, a seating sensor, and an external camera or an in-vehicle camera as an image sensor, and the like. The sensor unit 23 sends the information detected by the various sensors to the control unit 24 as information of the host vehicle 20.

[0023] The control unit 24 is one or more processors, one or more programmable circuits, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination thereof. The processor is, for example, a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process, but is not limited thereto. The programmable circuit is, for example, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), but is not limited thereto. The dedicated circuit is, for example, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), but is not limited thereto. The control unit 24 controls the operation of the entire vehicle 20.

[0024] Referring to FIG. 2, the operation of the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described.

[0025] S100: The control unit 12 of the information processing apparatus 10 receives information on the current driving situation from the vehicle 20 at a predetermined timing via the communication unit 11. The timing at which the control unit 12 receives the information may be, for example, the timing when the engine of the vehicle 20 is stopped, the timing when a change in any information included in the current driving situation is detected, or the timing when the vehicle 20 receives a request for transmitting information from the information processing apparatus 10.

[0026] S101: The control unit 12 determines whether there is any assumed work corresponding to the current driving situation in the history information 14. For example, the control unit 12 extracts past driving situations from the history information 14 that at least partially match the current driving situation, and determines whether there is any assumed work corresponding to the extracted past driving situation. The control unit 12 uses the history information 14 of its own vehicle 20 to determine whether there is any assumed work, but if there is no information in the history information 14 of its own vehicle 20 that matches the current driving situation, for example, in the case of a new vehicle user, the control unit 12 uses the history information 14 of its own vehicle 20 and other vehicles 20 to determine whether there is any assumed work.

[0027] S102: The control unit 12 determines whether the frequency of the assumed work is the standard frequency. The frequency of the assumed work is the frequency of the corresponding non-performed work, which is determined by the control unit 12 as, for example, the ratio of the number of times a non-performed work occurred to the number of times a certain operating condition occurred. The standard frequency is, for example, any value between 20% and 50%, or the average value of the frequencies of non-performed work included in the history information 14. The control unit 12 may include the determined frequency information in the history information 14. If the control unit 12 determines that the frequency of the assumed work is the standard frequency, it executes S103. On the other hand, if the control unit 12 determines that the frequency of the assumed work is not the standard frequency, it executes S105.

[0028] S103: The control unit 12 sends information to the vehicle 20 via the communication unit 11 to present to the user of the vehicle 20 the assumed tasks corresponding to the current operating status. The control unit 24 of the vehicle 20 may display the information of the assumed tasks received via the communication unit 21 on the output unit 22.

[0029] The control unit 12 may further send information to the communication terminal to present the anticipated work. In this case, the storage unit 13 further stores information from the user's communication terminal. The communication terminal includes any communication-capable device such as a smartphone, personal computer, and smartwatch. By presenting information about the anticipated work to the output unit 22 of the vehicle 20 or the communication terminal, the likelihood of the user performing the anticipated work is increased. Furthermore, by presenting information about the anticipated work to the communication terminal, the user can check the information about the anticipated work even after disembarking from the vehicle.

[0030] S104: The control unit 12 may further send information about the display mode when displaying information about the assumed work to the user, or information about the volume when outputting audio, to the vehicle 20. The information about the display mode includes, for example, information about the brightness and display time of the screen on which the information about the assumed work is displayed. The volume information is information that quantifies the output volume from 0 to 100%. The control unit 12 may, for example, send information to change the display mode when displaying information about the assumed work or the volume when outputting audio, based on the frequency of the assumed work. For example, if the frequency of the assumed work is 50-60% or higher, information is sent to increase the brightness of the screen on which the information about the assumed work is displayed, to lengthen the display time, or to increase the volume of the audio output in order to increase the user's attention. If the frequency is less than 20-40%, information is sent to decrease the brightness of the screen on which the information about the assumed work is displayed, to shorten the display time, or to decrease the volume of the audio output. The control unit 12 may further send information about the display mode when displaying information about the assumed work to the user or the volume when outputting audio to a communication terminal.

[0031] S105: The control unit 12 receives information on the current operating status and unperformed tasks from the vehicle 20 and adds it to the history information 14. As a result, information such as the frequency with which each task included in the history information 14 was not performed is recalculated and updated.

[0032] While this disclosure has been described based on the drawings and embodiments, it should be noted that those skilled in the art may make various modifications and alterations based on this disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and alterations are within the scope of this disclosure. For example, the functions, etc., included in each component or step can be rearranged in a logically consistent manner, and multiple components or steps can be combined into one or divided into two.

[0033] For example, in the above-described embodiment, it is also possible to distribute the configuration and operation of the information processing device 10 across multiple computers that can communicate with each other. Furthermore, for example, it is also possible to provide some or all of the components of the information processing device 10 in a navigation device mounted on a vehicle 20.

[0034] Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the memory unit 13 may store a machine learning model trained with information on past driving conditions as features and information on non-performed tasks as correct labels. In such a case, in S101, the control unit 12 may receive information on the current driving conditions from the vehicle 20 at a predetermined timing, input the information on the current driving conditions into the machine learning model, and have the machine learning model determine the expected task. This makes it possible for the control unit 12 to determine the expected task even if there is no information in the history information 14 that matches the current driving conditions.

[0035] Furthermore, in the embodiments described above, the vehicle 20 may change its operation depending on whether or not the user is performing the assumed task at a predetermined timing. For example, if the control unit 24 of the vehicle 20 determines that the user is performing the assumed task at a predetermined timing, it does not need to present information about the assumed task to the user. This prevents the control unit 24 from providing unnecessary information to the user.

[0036] Furthermore, in the embodiments described above, the information processing device 10 may change its operation depending on whether or not the user is performing the assumed task at a predetermined timing. For example, the control unit 24 of the vehicle 20 sends the result of determining whether or not the user is performing the assumed task to the information processing device 10 via the communication unit 21. If the user is performing the assumed task, the control unit 12 of the information processing device 10 does not need to send information about the assumed task to the vehicle 20 and the user's communication terminal to present to the user. This prevents the control unit 12 from providing unnecessary information to the user. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 1 Information provision system, 10 Information processing device, 11 Communication unit, 12 Control unit, 13 Storage unit, 14 History information, 20 Vehicle, 21 Communication unit, 22 Output unit, 23 Sensor unit, 24 Control unit, 30 Network

Claims

1. A communication unit that communicates with the vehicle, A storage unit that stores historical information relating the past driving conditions of the aforementioned vehicle or other vehicles to tasks that were not performed by the user of each vehicle at predetermined timings, and a machine learning model trained with the information of the past driving conditions as features and the information of the tasks that were not performed by the user at predetermined timings as ground truth labels. An information processing device having: a control unit that receives information on a first driving status from the vehicle at a predetermined timing, inputs the information on the first driving status into the machine learning model, and sends information to the vehicle to present to the vehicle's user the first task determined by that input.

2. A communication unit that communicates with the vehicle, A storage unit that stores historical information relating the past driving conditions of the aforementioned vehicle or other vehicles with tasks that were not performed by the user of each vehicle at a predetermined time, An information processing device having a control unit that receives information on a first driving status from the vehicle at a predetermined timing and sends information to the vehicle for presenting a first task corresponding to the first driving status to the user of the vehicle.

3. An information processing apparatus according to claim 2, The storage unit further stores information of the user's communication terminal, An information processing apparatus having the control unit that further sends the information of the first operation to the communication terminal.

4. An information processing apparatus according to claim 2, The aforementioned historical information further includes information on how often each task was not performed. The control unit transmits information about the first operation, provided that the frequency of the first operation is the standard frequency. Information processing device.

5. An information processing apparatus according to claim 4, An information processing device having a control unit that further sends to the vehicle information regarding the display method when displaying the information of the first operation to the user, or volume information when outputting sound.

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