Server, method, and program

Abstract

To improve a technique of storing history data of a vehicle.SOLUTION: A server 20 has a controller 23. The controller 23 repeatedly acquires history data of a vehicle 10, and limits data items acquired as the history data if the age of the vehicle 10 is at least a first threshold value.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a server, a method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are known techniques for accumulating historical data of a vehicle. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for accumulating historical data of a vehicle by an on-board ECU. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-71594 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] There was room for improvement in the technology for storing vehicle history data.

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present disclosure is to improve the technology for storing vehicle history data. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The server according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: A server including a control unit, The control unit is Repeatedly acquire historical data of the vehicle, When the age of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a first threshold, the data items acquired as the history data are limited.

[0007] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the method comprises: A method executed by a server, comprising: Repeatedly acquiring historical data of a vehicle; limiting data items to be acquired as the history data when the age of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a first threshold; Includes.

[0008] A program according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: On the computer, Repeatedly acquiring historical data of a vehicle; limiting data items to be acquired as the history data when the age of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a first threshold; Execute the command. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a technique for storing vehicle history data is improved. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a server. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a terminal device. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of information related to a vehicle. [Figure 6] 13 is a flowchart showing a first operation of the server. [Figure 7] 13 is a flowchart showing a second operation of the server. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described.

[0012] (Overview of the embodiment) An overview of a system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the system 1. The system 1 includes a vehicle 10, a server 20, and a terminal device 30.

[0013] The vehicle 10 is, for example, an automobile, but is not limited thereto and may be any vehicle. The automobile may be, for example, a gasoline automobile, an electric automobile (BEV; Battery Electric Vehicle), a hybrid automobile (HEV; Hybrid Electric Vehicle), a plug-in hybrid automobile (PHEV; Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), or a fuel cell automobile (FCEV; Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle), but is not limited thereto. The number of vehicles 10 included in the system 1 may be determined arbitrarily.

[0014] The server 20 is one or more computers that can communicate with each other. The terminal device 30 is a computer such as a personal computer, a smartphone, or a tablet terminal.

[0015] 1 illustrates, for ease of explanation, a plurality of vehicles 10, one each of a server 20 and a terminal device 30. However, the system 1 may include any number of vehicles 10, servers 20, and terminal devices 30. The vehicles 10, the server 20, and the terminal devices 30 are communicatively connected to a network 40 including, for example, the Internet and a mobile communication network.

[0016] First, an overview of this embodiment will be described, and details will be described later. The server 20 repeatedly acquires historical data of the vehicle 10. The repeatedly acquired historical data is accumulated in the server 20 as time-series data. The historical data of the vehicle 10 is, for example, data measured using a sensor installed in the vehicle 10. The historical data of the vehicle 10 is used to evaluate the value of the vehicle 10 (for example, the assessed value of the vehicle 10) when the vehicle 10 is traded as a used car. In this way, by using the historical data of the vehicle 10, the value of the vehicle can be evaluated from multiple angles, and the value of the vehicle 10 can be evaluated more accurately.

[0017] On the other hand, as the age of the vehicle 10 increases, the value of the vehicle 10 becomes more dependent on specific information such as the age or total mileage of the vehicle 10, and the use of the history data of the vehicle 10 has less of an effect on the evaluation result of the value of the vehicle 10. Therefore, when the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than the first threshold, the server 20 limits the data items to be acquired as the history data.

[0018] In this way, according to the present embodiment, when the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than the first threshold, the data items of the history data repeatedly acquired from the vehicle 10 are limited. Therefore, it is possible to remove data items whose value to be accumulated as history data has decreased according to the age of the vehicle 10 from the acquisition targets. Therefore, the technology for accumulating the history data of the vehicle 10 is improved in that it is possible to suppress an increase in the amount of the history data of the vehicle 10 accumulated in the server 20 or the like according to the age of the vehicle 10.

[0019] In the present disclosure, the age of the vehicle 10 refers to the period of time that has elapsed since the vehicle 10 was first registered as a new vehicle by an administrative agency such as a transport bureau. However, the age of the vehicle 10 may also refer to the period of time that has elapsed since the vehicle 10 was manufactured or the period of time that has elapsed since the vehicle 10 was first sold.

[0020] Next, each component of the system 1 will be described in detail with reference to Fig. 2, Fig. 3, and Fig. 4. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the vehicle 10. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the server 20. Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the terminal device 30.

[0021] (Vehicle configuration) As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle 10 includes a communication unit 11, a sensing unit 12, a memory unit 13, and a control unit 14.

[0022] The communication unit 11 includes one or more communication interfaces connected to the network 40. The communication interfaces included in the communication unit 11 correspond to mobile communication standards such as 4G (4th Generation) or 5G (5th Generation), but are not limited to these and may correspond to any communication standard. In this embodiment, the vehicle 10 communicates with the server 20 via the communication unit 11 and the network 40. Note that the vehicle 10 may communicate with a computer other than the server 20 according to this embodiment via the communication unit 11 and the network 40.

[0023] The sensing unit 12 includes one or more sensors. The sensors are used to measure data included in the history data of the vehicle 10. The sensors are, for example, a speed sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, an image sensor, an infrared sensor, or the like. The sensor may be, for example, a receiver compatible with a satellite positioning system such as a Global Positioning System (GPS). The sensing unit 12 senses events such as speed, acceleration, angular velocity, the presence or absence of an impact to the vehicle 10, or the presence or absence of a malfunction.

[0024] For example, the sensing unit 12 may include an odometer. The odometer detects a change in the mileage of the vehicle 10 and outputs the change as the total mileage of the vehicle 10. Alternatively, the sensing unit 12 may include an on-board diagnostics device (OBD device). The OBD device detects the occurrence of an abnormality in an on-board device mounted on the vehicle 10 and outputs the abnormality as a fault history of the vehicle 10. The sensing unit 12 may include an impact sensor. The impact sensor detects a predetermined impact applied to the vehicle 10 and outputs the history of impacts received by the vehicle 10.

[0025] The storage unit 13 includes one or more memories. The memories are, for example, but not limited to, semiconductor memories, magnetic memories, or optical memories. Each memory included in the storage unit 13 may function as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 13 stores any information used in the operation of the vehicle 10. For example, the storage unit 13 may store a system program, an application program, embedded software, and the like. The information stored in the storage unit 13 may be updatable with information acquired from the network 40 via the communication unit 11, for example.

[0026] The control unit 14 includes one or more processors, one or more programmable circuits, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination thereof. The processor is, for example, but is not limited to, 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. The programmable circuit is, for example, but is not limited to, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array). The dedicated circuit is, for example, but is not limited to, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). The control unit 14 controls the operation of the entire vehicle 10.

[0027] The control unit 14 of the vehicle 10 generates history data for the vehicle 10 and transmits the generated history data.

[0028] The history data of the vehicle 10 includes, for example, data on mileage, data on usage, data on breakdown status, data on maintenance status, and the like.

[0029] The data on the travel distance includes time-series data such as the travel distance, speed, acceleration, or travel time of the vehicle 10. However, the data on the travel distance is not limited to these, and may include any data used to evaluate the travel distance of the vehicle 10.

[0030] The data on the usage status includes the on / off of the engine of the vehicle 10, the accelerator operation history, the brake operation history, the steering operation history, etc. The data on the usage status may include time-series data on the fuel fill level or the battery charge level. However, the data on the usage status is not limited to these, and may include any data used to evaluate the usage status of the vehicle 10.

[0031] The data relating to the failure state includes a history of impacts received by the vehicle 10, a failure history generated by the OBD device, or a failure history / error history of the in-vehicle equipment, etc. However, the data relating to the failure state is not limited to these, and may include any data used for evaluating the failure state of the vehicle 10.

[0032] The data regarding the maintenance status includes the installation history or replacement history of the on-board equipment of the vehicle 10. However, the data regarding the maintenance status is not limited to these, and may include any data used to evaluate the maintenance status of the vehicle 10.

[0033] The history data of the vehicle 10 may include data measured using a sensor installed in the vehicle 10. Specifically, the control unit 14 of the vehicle 10 measures one or more pieces of data included in the above-mentioned history data of the vehicle 10 using one or more sensors included in the sensing unit 12. The control unit 14 may include the measured one or more pieces of data and the measurement time in the history data of the vehicle 10. As a result, for example, when evaluating the value of the vehicle 10 in a transaction of the vehicle 10 as a used car, by referring to the history data of the vehicle 10, information that cannot be determined by simply looking at the vehicle 10 itself can be obtained, and the accuracy of the value evaluation of the vehicle 10 can be improved. However, the history data of the vehicle 10 may include data other than the data measured using a sensor installed in the vehicle 10, such as items and results of maintenance or inspection at a maintenance shop. These data may be written to the memory unit 13 of the vehicle 10 during maintenance or inspection at a maintenance shop. The control unit 14 may include one or more pieces of data stored in the memory unit 13 in the history data of the vehicle 10.

[0034] (Server configuration) As shown in FIG. 2, the server 20 includes a communication unit 21, a storage unit 22, and a control unit .

[0035] The communication unit 21 includes one or more communication interfaces connected to the network 40. The communication interfaces included in the communication unit 21 correspond to, for example, a mobile communication standard, a wired LAN (Local Area Network) standard, or a wireless LAN standard, but are not limited to these and may correspond to any communication standard. In this embodiment, the server 20 communicates with the vehicle 10 and the terminal device 30 via the communication unit 21 and the network 40. Note that the server 20 may communicate with computers other than the vehicle 10 and the terminal device 30 according to this embodiment via the communication unit 21 and the network 40.

[0036] The storage unit 22 includes one or more memories. The memories included in the storage unit 22 may function as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 22 stores any information used in the operation of the server 20. For example, the storage unit 22 may store a system program, an application program, a database, map information, and the like. The information stored in the storage unit 22 may be updatable with information acquired from the network 40 via the communication unit 21, for example.

[0037] For example, the storage unit 22 may store information about the vehicle 10 as shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the information about the vehicle 10. The information about the vehicle 10 includes, for example, a vehicle identifier (ID) of the vehicle 10, vehicle age, a current user, whether or not the current user has given consent, whether or not there is a previous user, and whether or not there is consent from the previous user.

[0038] The vehicle ID is information capable of uniquely identifying the vehicle 10. The vehicle ID is, for example, information issued by the server 20, but may be specific information previously assigned to the vehicle 10. Hereinafter, the vehicles 10 having vehicle IDs V1 to V4 will also be referred to as vehicles V1 to V4, respectively.

[0039] As described above, the age of the vehicle 10 is the period of time that has elapsed since the vehicle 10 was first registered as a new vehicle. However, the age of the vehicle 10 may be the period of time that has elapsed since the vehicle 10 was manufactured or the period of time that has elapsed since the vehicle 10 was first sold.

[0040] The current user is information indicating the current user, such as the name of the person who currently owns the vehicle 10.

[0041] The presence or absence of consent from the current user is information indicating whether or not consent has been obtained from the current user to the disclosure of the historical data to a third party. Disclosing the historical data to a third party may include making the historical data available for viewing by a third party and providing the historical data to a third party. Disclosing the historical data to a third party may include disclosing the historical data to a third party as is, as well as disclosing the historical data after editing or extracting it. The presence or absence of consent is registered as "yes" when consent has been obtained from the current user at the dealer or the like that sold the vehicle 10 to the current user.

[0042] The presence or absence of a previous user is information indicating whether or not a user before the current user owned the vehicle 10. The presence or absence of a previous user is registered as "previous user" when, for example, the current user purchased the vehicle 10 second-hand or received it from another person.

[0043] The presence or absence of consent from the previous user is information indicating whether or not consent has been obtained from the previous user to disclosing to a third party the history data acquired during the previous user's use of the vehicle 10. The presence or absence of consent is registered as "yes" if consent has been obtained from the previous user before the vehicle 10 is transferred from the previous user to the current user.

[0044] The control unit 23 includes one or more processors, one or more programmable circuits, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination thereof. The processor is, for example, but is not limited to, a general-purpose processor such as a CPU or GPU, or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process. The programmable circuit is, for example, but is not limited to, an FPGA. The dedicated circuit is, for example, but is not limited to, an ASIC. The control unit 23 controls the operation of the entire server 20.

[0045] (Terminal Device Configuration) As shown in FIG. 4, the terminal device 30 includes a communication unit 31, an output unit 32, an input unit 33, a storage unit 34, and a control unit 35.

[0046] The communication unit 31 includes one or more communication interfaces connected to the network 40. The communication interfaces included in the communication unit 31 correspond to mobile communication standards such as 4G or 5G, but are not limited thereto, and may correspond to any communication standard. In this embodiment, the terminal device 30 communicates with the server 20 via the communication unit 31 and the network 40. Note that the terminal device 30 may communicate with a computer other than the server 20 according to this embodiment via the communication unit 31 and the network 40.

[0047] The output unit 32 includes one or more output devices. The output devices included in the output unit 32 are, for example, a display or a speaker. The output unit 32 outputs information in the form of an image or sound.

[0048] The input unit 33 includes one input device. The input device included in the input unit 33 is, for example, a touch panel, a camera, a microphone, an IC card reader, etc. The input unit 33 accepts an input operation by a user.

[0049] The storage unit 34 includes one or more memories. The memories included in the storage unit 34 may function as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 34 stores any information used in the operation of the terminal device 30. For example, the storage unit 34 may store a system program, an application program, embedded software, and the like. The information stored in the storage unit 34 may be updatable with information acquired from the network 40 via the communication unit 31, for example.

[0050] The control unit 35 includes one or more processors, one or more programmable circuits, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination thereof. The processor is, for example, but is not limited to, a general-purpose processor such as a CPU or a GPU, or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process. The programmable circuit is, for example, but is not limited to, an FPGA. The dedicated circuit is, for example, but is not limited to, an ASIC. The control unit 35 controls the operation of the entire terminal device 30.

[0051] (Server operation flow) The operation of the server 20 in the system 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6 and Fig. 7. Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing a first operation of the server 20. Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing a second operation of the server 20. These operations correspond to a method executed by the server 20 according to this embodiment.

[0052] (First operation of the server) First, a first operation of the server 20 in the system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

[0053] In the first operation, the control unit 23 of the server 20 repeatedly performs this operation at a predetermined timing, thereby repeatedly acquiring the history data of the vehicle 10. The predetermined timing may be regular or non-regular. Specifically, the predetermined timing may be a predetermined time interval, for example, every hour, or may be a timing when new history data is transmitted from the vehicle 10.

[0054] Step S101: The control unit 23 of the server 20 determines whether the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than a first threshold value.

[0055] Any method can be used to determine whether the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than the first threshold. For example, the control unit 23 may determine whether the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than the first threshold based on information about the vehicle 10 pre-stored in the storage unit 22. In this embodiment, the first threshold is set to, for example, 10 years. However, the first threshold is not limited to 10 years and may be set to any value.

[0056] 5, among the vehicles V1 to V4, the ages of the vehicles V1 and V2 are determined to be less than a first threshold (10 years in this embodiment), and the process of step S102 is performed for them. On the other hand, the ages of the vehicles V3 and V4 are determined to be equal to or greater than the first threshold, and the process of step S103 is performed for them.

[0057] Step S102: If it is determined that the age of the vehicle 10 is less than the first threshold value (step S101-No), the control unit 23 of the server 20 acquires the history data of the vehicle 10.

[0058] Any method can be adopted for acquiring the history data. For example, the control unit 23 may directly receive the history data of the vehicle 10 from the vehicle 10 via the communication unit 21 and the network 40. Alternatively, the control unit 23 may indirectly receive the history data of the vehicle 10 from the vehicle 10 by receiving the history data of the vehicle 10 from another server that receives the history data from the vehicle 10 via the communication unit 21 and the network 40. The control unit 23 may add the acquired history data of the vehicle 10 to the history data of the vehicle 10 already stored in the storage unit 22 and store it as time-series data. Alternatively, the control unit 23 may overwrite the acquired history data of the vehicle 10 with the history data of the vehicle 10 already stored in the storage unit 22 and store it as time-series data.

[0059] After completing the process of step S102, the control unit 23 of the server 20 repeats the processes from step S101 at a predetermined timing.

[0060] In this manner, in the example shown in FIG. 5, the history data of the vehicles V1 and V2, which are the vehicles 10 whose ages are less than the first threshold, is repeatedly acquired and accumulated in the server 20.

[0061] Step S103: When it is determined that the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than the first threshold value (Step S101-Yes), the control unit 23 of the server 20 limits the data items to be acquired as the history data.

[0062] Any method can be used to limit the data items acquired as the history data. For example, the storage unit 22 of the server 20 may store in advance a first data item that is acquired as the history data of the vehicle 10 when the age of the vehicle 10 is less than a first threshold, and a second data item that is acquired as the history data of the vehicle 10 when the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than the first threshold. Here, the second data item is a subset of the first data item. When it is determined that the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than the first threshold, the control unit 23 may limit the items acquired as the history data from the first data item to the second data item that is a subset of the first data item.

[0063] For example, when the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than a first threshold, the control unit 23 of the server 20 may limit the data acquired as history data to data related to mileage. Data related to mileage, such as total mileage, is considered to be an important element in the value assessment of the vehicle 10. In this way, by continuing to acquire data related to mileage, which has a large effect on the value assessment of the vehicle 10 when the age of the vehicle 10 increases, while stopping the acquisition of other data items, which have a small effect on the value assessment of the vehicle 10, it is possible to suppress an increase in the amount of history data of the vehicle 10 stored in the server 20, etc.

[0064] Step S104: The control unit 23 of the server 20 acquires history data of the vehicle 10 by limiting data items.

[0065] Any method may be adopted to acquire the history data with limited data items. For example, the control unit 23 may acquire the history data of the vehicle 10 by the method described above in step S102 after limiting the data items acquired as the history data to the second data items. The control unit 23 may store the acquired history data of the vehicle 10 in the storage unit 22.

[0066] As a result, in the example shown in FIG. 5, historical data of the vehicles V3 and V4, which are the vehicles 10 whose ages are equal to or greater than the first threshold value, is repeatedly acquired and accumulated in the server 20 with limited data items.

[0067] Step S105: The control unit 23 of the server 20 determines whether the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than the second threshold. In this embodiment, the second threshold is set to, for example, 15 years. However, the second threshold is not limited to 15 years and may be set arbitrarily within a range greater than the first threshold. If the control unit 23 of the server 20 determines that the age of the vehicle 10 is less than the second threshold (step S105-No), it repeats the processing from step S101 at a predetermined timing.

[0068] Step S106: When it is determined that the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than the second threshold (step S105-Yes), the control unit 23 of the server 20 ends the acquisition of the history data and ends this process. After ending this process, the control unit 23 may repeatedly execute this process at a predetermined timing.

[0069] In the example shown in Fig. 5, of the vehicles V3 and V4, the age of the vehicle V3 is determined to be less than the second threshold (15 years in this embodiment), and the process from step S101 is repeated at a predetermined timing. On the other hand, the age of the vehicle V4 is determined to be equal to or greater than the second threshold, and the acquisition of the history data is not performed. In this way, when the age of the vehicle 10 increases and the presence or absence of the history data of the vehicle 10 is less likely to affect the value evaluation of the vehicle, for example, when there is no longer a need to acquire the history data of the vehicle 10, the acquisition of the history data of the vehicle 10 is terminated, and the amount of data of the history data of the vehicle 10 accumulated in the server 20 or the like can be further suppressed from increasing.

[0070] (Second operation of the server) Next, a second operation of the server 20 in the system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

[0071] In the second operation, the control unit 23 of the server 20 repeatedly performs this operation at a predetermined timing to repeatedly acquire historical data of the vehicle 10 and transmit a signal prompting acquisition of consent to the disclosure of the acquired historical data to a third party. The historical data is used, for example, for value evaluation (e.g., calculation of the appraisal amount) when the vehicle 10 is sold as a used car. For this reason, consent to the disclosure of the historical data to a third party, such as a used car dealer or a person wishing to purchase a used car, may be acquired together with the acquisition of the historical data. Hereinafter, "consent to the disclosure of the historical data to a third party" is also simply referred to as "consent".

[0072] In this embodiment, consent to the disclosure of history data to a third party is acquired for each user of the vehicle 10. Therefore, when the vehicle 10 is transferred, even if consent has been obtained from the previous user of the vehicle 10, consent from the current user of the vehicle 10 must be acquired separately. In addition, once consent to the disclosure of the history data of the vehicle 10 to a third party is acquired from a user, consent is assumed to have been acquired for all history data acquired while the user owned the vehicle 10. However, the handling of consent to the disclosure of history data to a third party is not limited to the example shown in this embodiment. The second operation will be described below, focusing on the differences from the first operation.

[0073] Step S201: Similar to step S101, the control unit 23 of the server 20 determines whether the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than the first threshold value.

[0074] Step S202: As in step S102, the control unit 23 of the server 20 acquires the history data of the vehicle 10 when it is determined that the age of the vehicle 10 is less than the first threshold value (step S201-No).

[0075] Step S203: If the control unit 23 of the server 20 has not yet obtained consent from the current user of the vehicle 10 to disclosing the history data of the vehicle 10 to a third party, the control unit 23 transmits a signal to prompt the current user to obtain consent.

[0076] Any method may be used to determine whether consent has not been obtained from the current user. For example, the control unit 23 may determine whether consent has not been obtained from the current user of the vehicle 10 based on information about the vehicle 10 stored in the storage unit 22.

[0077] When it is determined that consent to the disclosure of the history data of the vehicle 10 to a third party has not been obtained from the current user of the vehicle 10, the control unit 23 of the server 20 transmits a signal to prompt the acquisition of consent from the current user of the vehicle 10. Specifically, the control unit 23 transmits a signal to prompt the acquisition of consent from the current user of the vehicle 10 to the terminal device 30 installed at the dealer of the vehicle 10, via the communication unit 21 and the network 40. For example, the signal to prompt the acquisition of consent from the current user of the vehicle 10 may include an instruction to output a message from the output unit 32 of the terminal device 30 saying, "Consent to the disclosure of the history data to a third party has not been obtained from the current user of the vehicle 10. Please obtain consent from the current user of the vehicle 10." In this case, the control unit 35 of the terminal device 30 that has received the signal can output a message to prompt the acquisition of consent from the current user of the vehicle 10 via the output unit 32. This allows the salesperson at the dealer of the vehicle 10 to see the message output via the output unit 32 of the terminal device 30, contact the current user of the vehicle 10, and obtain consent to the disclosure of the history data to a third party.

[0078] In the example shown in Fig. 5, among the vehicles V1 to V4, vehicles V1 and V2 whose ages are less than a first threshold value are targeted to determine whether consent from the current user has not been obtained. For vehicle V1, it is determined that consent from the current user has been obtained, and a signal prompting consent to be obtained is not transmitted. On the other hand, for vehicle V2, it is determined that consent from the current user has not been obtained, and a signal prompting consent to be obtained is transmitted.

[0079] Step S204: As in step S103, when it is determined that the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than the first threshold value (step S201-Yes), the control unit 23 of the server 20 limits the data items to be acquired as the history data.

[0080] Step S205: As in step S104, the control unit 23 of the server 20 acquires the history data of the vehicle 10 by limiting the data items.

[0081] Step S206: Similar to step S203, if the control unit 23 of the server 20 has not yet obtained consent from the current user of the vehicle 10 to disclose the historical data of the vehicle 10 to a third party, it sends a signal to prompt the current user to obtain consent.

[0082] In step S206, unlike step S203, when the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than the third threshold, the control unit 23 of the server 20 may not transmit a signal prompting the acquisition of consent even if consent has not been acquired from the current user. In this embodiment, the third threshold is set to be the same as the second threshold, which is the age of the vehicle 10 at which acquisition of history data is terminated. However, the third threshold may be set arbitrarily within a range equal to or greater than the second threshold.

[0083] In the example shown in FIG. 5, among the vehicles V1 to V4, the vehicles V3 and V4 whose ages are equal to or greater than the first threshold value are subjected to a determination as to whether consent from the current user has not been obtained and whether the ages are less than a third threshold value (15 years, the same as the second threshold value in this embodiment). For the vehicle V3, it is determined that consent from the current user has not been obtained and that the age is less than the third threshold value, and a signal prompting the user to obtain consent is transmitted. On the other hand, for the vehicle V4, it is determined that consent from the current user has not been obtained but that the age is equal to or greater than the third threshold value, and a signal prompting the user to obtain consent is not transmitted. This makes it possible to prevent the user of the vehicle 10 from being asked for consent to the disclosure of the historical data to a third party in a situation where the historical data of the vehicle 10 is not disclosed to a third party, such as after the acquisition of the historical data of the vehicle 10 has been completed. This makes it possible to prevent the user of the vehicle 10 from being bothered by repeatedly requesting consent, and thus preventing a decrease in customer satisfaction.

[0084] Furthermore, the control unit 23 of the server 20 may determine whether or not consent has been obtained from a previous user of the vehicle 10. For example, the control unit 23 may determine whether or not there is a previous user and whether or not consent has been given by the previous user, based on information about the vehicle 10 stored in the storage unit 22. When consent has been obtained from the previous user but consent has not been obtained from the current user, the control unit 23 may transmit a signal to prompt the user to obtain the consent from the current user.

[0085] On the other hand, if consent has been obtained from the previous user and the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than the third threshold, the control unit 23 of the server 20 may not transmit a signal prompting the current user to obtain consent even if consent has not been obtained from the current user. If the vehicle 10 is transferred to the current user without obtaining consent from the previous user to disclose the history data to a third party, even if consent is obtained from the current user, the history data may not be disclosed to a third party because consent to the disclosure of the history data during the period when the previous user used the vehicle 10 has not been obtained. In such a case, it is possible to prevent the current user of the vehicle 10 from being asked for consent to disclose the history data to a third party. This makes it possible to prevent the user from being bothered by repeatedly requesting consent from the user of the vehicle 10, which would result in a decrease in customer satisfaction.

[0086] In the example shown in Fig. 5, when it is determined that consent from the current user has not been obtained for vehicle V3 whose age is equal to or greater than the first threshold and that the age of the vehicle is less than the third threshold, a signal is transmitted to prompt the user to obtain consent. However, when it is further determined that consent from the previous user has been obtained for vehicle V3, the signal is not transmitted because consent has not been obtained from the previous user of vehicle V3. This makes it possible to prevent the current user of vehicle V3 from being asked to consent to disclosing the historical data to a third party.

[0087] Step S207: As in step S105, the control unit 23 of the server 20 determines whether the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than the second threshold. If the control unit 23 of the server 20 determines that the age of the vehicle 10 is less than the second threshold (step S207-No), the control unit 23 of the server 20 repeats the process from step S201 at a predetermined timing.

[0088] Step S208: As in step S106, when the control unit 23 of the server 20 determines that the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than the second threshold (step S207-Yes), the control unit 23 ends the acquisition of history data and ends this process. After ending this process, the control unit 23 may repeatedly execute this process at a predetermined timing.

[0089] As described above, the server 20 according to this embodiment repeatedly acquires history data of the vehicle 10. Then, when the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than the first threshold, the server 20 limits the data items acquired as the history data.

[0090] According to this configuration, when the age of the vehicle 10 is equal to or greater than the first threshold, the data items of the history data repeatedly acquired from the vehicle 10 are limited. Therefore, it is possible to remove data items whose value to be accumulated as history data has decreased according to the age of the vehicle 10 from the acquisition targets. Therefore, the technology for accumulating the history data of the vehicle 10 is improved in that it is possible to suppress an increase in the amount of the history data of the vehicle 10 accumulated in the server 20 or the like according to the age of the vehicle 10.

[0091] Although the present disclosure has been described based on the drawings and examples, it should be noted that those skilled in the art may make various modifications and alterations based on the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and alterations are included in the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the functions included in each component or step can be rearranged so as not to be logically inconsistent, and multiple components or steps can be combined or divided into one.

[0092] For example, in the above-described embodiment, the terminal device 30 has been described as being installed at a dealer or the like of the vehicle 10. However, the terminal device 30 may be a computer such as a smartphone used by the current user of the vehicle 10, or a computer such as a car navigation system installed in the vehicle 10. In such a case, the current user of the vehicle 10 can directly view a signal that prompts the current user of the vehicle 10 to obtain consent, which is transmitted from the server 20 to the terminal device 30. This makes it easier to obtain consent from the current user of the vehicle 10.

[0093] In the above-described embodiment, the first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold have been described as being determined in advance. However, the first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold may be set by a statistical method such as machine learning or deep learning. For example, the first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold may be set by a statistical method based on the history data of one or more vehicles 10 stored in the server 20 and the results of the value evaluation of the vehicle 10.

[0094] Similarly, in the above-described embodiment, the second data items, which are a subset of the first data items, have been described as being predetermined. However, the second data items may be selected from the first data items by a statistical method such as machine learning or deep learning. For example, the second data items may be selected from the first data items by a statistical method based on the history data of one or more vehicles 10 stored in the server 20 and the results of the value evaluation of the vehicles 10.

[0095] Also, for example, an embodiment is possible in which a general-purpose computer functions as the server 20 according to the above-described embodiment. Specifically, a program describing the processing contents for realizing each function of the server 20 according to the above-described embodiment is stored in the memory of the general-purpose computer, and the program is read and executed by a processor. Therefore, the present disclosure can also be realized as a program executable by a processor, or a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores the program. [Explanation of symbols]

[0096] 1 System 10 Vehicles 11 Communications Department 12 Sensing part 13 Storage section 14 Control section 20 Servers 21 Communications Department 22 Memory section 23 Control Unit 30 Terminal Equipment 31 Communications Department 32 Output section 33 Input section 34 Storage section 35 Control section 40 Network

Claims

1. A server including a control unit, The control unit is Repeatedly acquire historical data of the vehicle, If the age of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a first threshold, limiting data items to be acquired as the history data; The history data is data that is disclosed to a third party, The control unit is if consent to the disclosure of the historical data to a third party has not yet been obtained from a current user of the vehicle, sending a signal to prompt the current user to obtain such consent; When the age of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a third threshold, the server does not transmit a signal prompting the user to obtain consent even if the consent has not been obtained from the current user.

2. The server according to claim 1 , wherein the historical data includes data measured using a sensor installed in the vehicle.

3. The server according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to limit the data acquired as the history data to data related to a mileage when an age of the vehicle is equal to or greater than the first threshold value.

4. The server according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit terminates acquisition of the history data when the age of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a second threshold value.

5. The server according to claim 1 , wherein the third threshold is the same as a second threshold which is the age of the vehicle at which acquisition of the history data is terminated.

6. The control unit is if the consent has been obtained from a previous user of the vehicle and the consent has not yet been obtained from the current user, sending a signal to prompt the current user to obtain the consent; The server of claim 1 or 5, wherein if the consent has already been obtained from the previous user and the age of the vehicle is equal to or greater than the third threshold, a signal prompting the user to obtain the consent is not sent even if the consent has not been obtained from the current user.

7. A method executed by a server, comprising: Repeatedly acquiring historical data of a vehicle; limiting data items to be acquired as the history data when the age of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a first threshold; Including, The history data is data that is disclosed to a third party, The method comprises: sending a signal to a current user of the vehicle to prompt the current user to obtain consent to the disclosure of the historical data to a third party if consent has not already been obtained from the current user; When the age of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a third threshold, even if the consent has not been obtained from the current user, a signal prompting the user to obtain the consent is not transmitted. The method further comprises:

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the historical data includes data measured using sensors installed in the vehicle.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein limiting the data items limits the data acquired as the history data to data related to mileage when the age of the vehicle is equal to or greater than the first threshold value.

10. When the age of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a second threshold, the acquisition of the history data is terminated. The method of any one of claims 7 to 9, comprising:

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the third threshold is the same as the second threshold, which is the age of the vehicle at which to terminate acquisition of the historical data.

12. if the consent has been obtained from a previous user of the vehicle and the consent has not yet been obtained from the current user, sending a signal to prompt the current user to obtain the consent; When the consent has been obtained from the previous user and the age of the vehicle is equal to or greater than the third threshold, even if the consent has not been obtained from the current user, a signal prompting the user to obtain the consent is not transmitted. The method of claim 7 or 11, comprising:

13. On the computer, Repeatedly acquiring historical data of a vehicle; limiting data items to be acquired as the history data when the age of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a first threshold; A program for causing a program to execute The history data is data that is disclosed to a third party, The program causes the computer to sending a signal to a current user of the vehicle to prompt the current user to obtain consent to the disclosure of the historical data to a third party if consent has not already been obtained from the current user; When the age of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a third threshold, even if the consent has not been obtained from the current user, a signal prompting the user to obtain the consent is not transmitted. Further executing the program.

14. The program according to claim 13 , wherein the history data includes data measured using a sensor installed in the vehicle.

15. 15. The program according to claim 13, further comprising causing the computer to execute the following: limiting data acquired as the history data to data relating to a mileage when an age of the vehicle is equal to or greater than the first threshold value.

16. The program according to claim 13 , further comprising causing the computer to end acquisition of the history data when the age of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a second threshold value.

17. The program according to claim 13 , wherein the third threshold is the same as a second threshold which is the age of the vehicle at which acquisition of the history data is terminated.

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