Low-speed autonomous driving patrol system

Abstract

At night, especially late at night and early in the morning when pedestrian traffic is drastically reduced, there are many areas with poor visibility, making it difficult to expect reports from people. Despite the frequent occurrence of crop theft and robbery, effective crime prevention patrols were not being conducted. [Solution] This system enables effective 24-hour patrols for crime prevention and disaster preparedness using low-speed autonomous vehicles, especially during late nights and early mornings when pedestrian traffic is drastically reduced. If an anomaly is detected, a human driver can take over the vehicle and head directly to the scene.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention proposes a technology for a vehicle with a mode switch between "low-speed automatic driving" (assuming an accident or failure) and "driving at a legal speed by a person" (hereinafter referred to as L&H), equipped with a super-telephoto zoom lens capable of pan-tilt and height adjustment and a high-sensitivity color camera. It mainly conducts patrols for crime prevention and disaster prevention during low-speed automatic driving at night. If there is any abnormality, the person in the L&H can switch the mode and drive directly to the scene at the legal speed or the speed of an emergency vehicle. Conventionally, there are systems for unmanned patrols using mobile robots and the like, but there is no system that allows a person to quickly reach the scene from very close to the place where an abnormality or emergency occurs, and it has patentability.

Background Art

[0002] At night, especially late at night and early in the morning when the number of pedestrians decreases significantly, there are extensive areas with poor visibility, and no effective crime prevention patrols can be carried out despite frequent occurrences of thefts of agricultural products and robberies, etc., as no reports from people can be expected.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Enable effective crime prevention and disaster prevention patrols by a low-speed automatic driving vehicle for 24 hours, including late at night and early in the morning when the number of pedestrians decreases significantly. If there is any abnormality, a person can drive the vehicle and go straight to the scene from near the place where the incident occurred.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] In a vehicle (L&H) with switchable modes between "low-speed autonomous driving" driven by a My Avatar (AI) and "human driving at legal speeds," the vehicle is equipped with a super-telephoto zoom lens with pan, tilt, and height adjustment capabilities, as well as a super-high-sensitivity color camera. This allows for clear color images of suspicious vehicles or individuals at a distance in low-light conditions, and the My Avatar (AI) can automatically track such vehicles or individuals. If signs of a crime or fire are detected, a human driver can take over the vehicle (L&H) and rush to the scene from nearby. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] By patrolling in slow-speed autonomous driving mode, vehicles can blend in with regular slow-speed autonomous driving vehicles or convoys of vehicles in slow-speed autonomous driving mode, allowing them to identify signs of crime or fire and transmit this information to police and fire departments more quickly and accurately than if a person were to contact them by mobile phone. Simultaneously, police officers can be dispatched from nearby locations to the scene, contributing to the prevention of crime recurrence. In other words, 24-hour safety patrols become possible, including early mornings and late nights. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] This outlines the My Avatar system. [Figure 2] My avatar is present inside the car, and its effects and status are displayed. [Figure 3] This outlines the low-speed automated driving patrol system. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] In a vehicle (L&H) with switchable modes between "low-speed autonomous driving" driven by a My Avatar (AI) and "human driving at legal speeds," the vehicle is equipped with a super-telephoto zoom lens with pan, tilt, and height adjustment capabilities, as well as a super-high-sensitivity color camera. This allows for clear color images of suspicious vehicles or individuals at a distance in low-light conditions, and the My Avatar (AI) can automatically track such vehicles or individuals. If signs of a crime or fire are detected, a human driver can take over the vehicle (L&H) and rush to the scene from nearby. Furthermore, in low-speed autonomous driving mode, the MyAvatar will drive the vehicle autonomously, while if a human is driving at the legal speed limit, the MyAvatar will share the view from the car window via the in-car camera and, taking real-time traffic information into account, will provide detailed navigation verbally using the in-car speaker. Furthermore, it will be possible to enjoy general conversations with the My Avatar, and even when a person is remote, they will be able to communicate with the My Avatar by phone or email. In addition, multiple microphones, speakers, and cameras will be set up outside the vehicle to enable people in the vicinity of the vehicle to communicate with the My Avatar.

[0009] Figure 1 shows an overview of the My Avatar system. My Avatar is... An avatar (virtual human) in digital space (on a PC screen) possesses an individual's preferred appearance, voice, personality, etc., and the My Avatar System represents the greatest educational reform, the greatest work reform, and the greatest lifestyle reform. Figure 2 illustrates a scenario where MyAvatar is inside the vehicle. In MyAvatar mode, the vehicle is driving autonomously at a low speed, while in human-driven mode, the avatar provides verbal navigation. In a vehicle (L&H) with a switchable mode between "low-speed autonomous driving" driven by a My Avatar (AI) and "driving by a human at legal speeds," a large screen monitor is installed on the lower part of the front left side of the steering wheel in the case of a right-hand drive vehicle, and on the lower part of the front right side of the steering wheel in the case of a left-hand drive vehicle, displaying the My Avatar. In addition, a dedicated PC for the My Avatar is installed in the vehicle, and a dedicated power supply for the PC is installed that allows charging from the vehicle's power supply. Furthermore, in low-speed autonomous driving mode, the MyAvatar will drive the vehicle autonomously, while if a human is driving at the legal speed limit, the MyAvatar will share the view from the car window via the in-car camera and, taking real-time traffic information into account, will provide detailed navigation verbally using the in-car speaker. Furthermore, it will be possible to enjoy general conversations with the My Avatar, and even when a person is remote, they will be able to communicate with the My Avatar by phone or email. In addition, multiple microphones, speakers, and cameras will be set up outside the vehicle to enable people in the vicinity of the vehicle to communicate with the My Avatar. Figure 3 shows an overview of the low-speed autonomous driving patrol system. The system features a switchable mode between "low-speed autonomous driving" driven by a MyAvatar (AI) and "human driving at legal speeds" in a vehicle (L&H). It is equipped with a super-telephoto zoom lens with pan, tilt, and height adjustment capabilities and a super-high-sensitivity color camera, which captures clear color images of suspicious vehicles and individuals at a distance in low light conditions at night. The MyAvatar (AI) controls the system to automatically track these suspicious vehicles and individuals. If there are signs of a crime or fire, a human driver will take over the vehicle (L&H) and rush to the scene from near the incident site. The unit, consisting of a super-telephoto zoom lens and a super-high-sensitivity color camera, is covered to protect it from wind and rain. It can pan (rotate) ±180 degrees, tilt (tilt) from -30 degrees to +60 degrees relative to the horizontal, and the height adjustment mechanism is designed to adjust the height by approximately 1 meter. In areas with height restrictions, the unit will be lowered in advance to prevent collisions, and in strong winds or when the vehicle speed increases, the My Avatar (AI) will lower the unit beforehand. For example, (when there are hardly any cars on the road late at night or early in the morning), the super-telephoto zoom lens is set to the wide-angle setting (= a wide area is visible, but the subject appears small), and when a car is occasionally spotted, the same super-telephoto zoom lens is set to the telephoto setting (only a narrow area is visible, but the subject can be captured larger, and in some cases the license plate can be seen), and automatic tracking is performed using the control of my avatar. If the police officer in the L&H vehicle is asleep at this time, MyAvatar can wake them up with a voice message such as "Automatic tracking of suspicious vehicle has begun," confirm whether the subject is a suspicious vehicle, contact police headquarters if necessary, stream video information in real time, and if it is recognized that the vehicle may be suspicious, switch to human driving mode and drive, chase the suspicious vehicle, catch up to it, and conduct questioning. Furthermore, while automatically tracking the suspicious vehicle or person, it is anticipated that there will be many moments when obstacles obscure the view of the vehicle or person. However, tracking can be continued as if the vehicle or person were moving at the same speed. While it is likely that the vehicle or person may be lost sight of due to obstacles (i.e., when the suspicious vehicle or person is not visible), the system can switch to human-driven mode and search for the vehicle or person at the legal speed or emergency vehicle speed. In other words, conventionally, people had to search for suspicious vehicles or individuals in hard-to-find places or situations, making it difficult to do so. However, with this invention, the search is left to "AI + super telephoto zoom lens + super high-sensitivity color camera," allowing people to concentrate on questioning or apprehending suspicious vehicles or individuals. [Industrial applicability]

[0010] By patrolling in slow-speed autonomous driving mode, vehicles can blend in with regular slow-speed autonomous driving vehicles or convoys of vehicles in slow-speed autonomous driving mode, allowing them to identify signs of crime or fire and transmit this information to police and fire departments more quickly and accurately than if a person were to contact them by mobile phone. Simultaneously, police officers can be dispatched from nearby locations to the scene, contributing to the prevention of crime recurrence. In other words, 24-hour safety patrols become possible, including early mornings and late nights.

Claims

[Claim 1] A low-speed autonomous driving patrol system for a vehicle with a mode-switching system that allows for low-speed autonomous driving by a My Avatar (AI) and driving by a human at legal speeds, equipped with a super-telephoto zoom lens and a super-high-sensitivity color camera that can adjust pan, tilt, and height, to capture clear color images of suspicious vehicles or individuals at a distance in low light conditions at night, and capable of automatically tracking such suspicious vehicles or individuals under the control of the My Avatar (AI), and if there are signs of a crime or fire, the low-speed autonomous driving patrol system can be driven by a human and rush to the scene from near the scene of the incident.

Images