Driving assistance system, information generation method, driving assistance program, and generation program

Abstract

To provide a driving support system or the like which supports driving of a driver by providing the driver with traffic monitoring information suitable for a current position of the vehicle.SOLUTION: A driving support system refers to: a first DB which can specify a position of a sectional area; and a third DB in which information regarding monitoring activities to be announced from each prefectural police are stored. The driving support system specifies the sectional area in which an own vehicle is located by referring to the first DB on the basis of an own vehicle position. The driving support system specifies information regarding the monitoring activity being executed near the own vehicle position by referring to the third DB. The own vehicle position is displayed in a main display area 21 by being overlapped with a map image. The specified sectional area is displayed in a first sub-display area 22. The information regarding the specified monitoring activity is displayed in a second sub-display area 23 by scroll.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a driving assistance system that assists a driver in driving by providing the driver with traffic monitoring information suited to the current position of the vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] A driving support system is known that stores position information of a target object to be detected, and issues an alarm to a driver when the vehicle position detected by GPS and the stored target position have a predetermined relationship. Examples of targets include a device that measures vehicle speed and a police / checkpoint area. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a driving support system that can display information identifying the target on a display or output an audio alarm when the distance between the target and the vehicle reaches a set distance. Targets are often installed in dangerous places where traffic accidents are likely to occur. Therefore, the driving support system can encourage the driver to drive safely in places where traffic accidents are likely to occur by notifying the driver of the approach to the target. In this way, notifying the driver of the approach to the target contributes to the driver's safe driving.

[0003] Surveillance activities to promote safe driving are carried out irregularly in unspecified locations. Examples of such surveillance activities include police crackdowns and checkpoints. Surveillance activities are often carried out in dangerous locations where traffic accidents are likely to occur, such as the sites of past traffic accidents. Therefore, by storing locations where surveillance activities have been carried out in the past as landmarks and providing information about surveillance activities to the driver when a vehicle approaches the location, it is possible to encourage the driver to drive safely in locations where traffic accidents are likely to occur. Hereinafter, information about surveillance activities to promote safe driving is also referred to as traffic surveillance information. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2011-22161 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, since the locations stored as targets are locations where surveillance activities have been conducted in the past, it is highly likely that surveillance activities will continue to be conducted in the future, but when the driver passes through the location, surveillance activities are not necessarily being conducted. Therefore, in addition to these functions, there are devices that notify public enforcement information published by each prefectural police. Such public enforcement information is often published with at least one of a specified area, time period, and enforcement content specified. For example, prefectures, cities, wards, towns, and villages, police jurisdictions, routes, etc. are specified as the specified areas where surveillance activities are conducted and published. Here, in the case of conventional driving support systems, since public enforcement information is published by each prefectural police, traffic enforcement information is stored for each prefecture, and it is set in advance which prefecture's traffic enforcement information will be notified, and when the device is turned on by starting the engine, etc., the public enforcement information of the set prefecture is notified. Usually, the prefecture in which the user's home is located is registered in advance as the setting information for which prefecture's traffic enforcement information will be notified. Therefore, in conventional driving assistance systems, public crackdown information is reported for the prefecture that is set as the home location, so that even if the driver is actually located quite far from home, the public crackdown information for the entire prefecture, including the home location, is reported. Also, even if the specified area where surveillance activities are carried out is quite far from home, as long as it is within the same prefecture as the home, all of the public crackdown information is reported. Therefore, there was a problem that information from distant locations that is not relevant to the driver was reported. Moreover, public crackdown information near the home was mixed in with such a large amount of information, and there was a possibility that the driver would miss the public crackdown information near the home that is really necessary. This is because the prefecture includes an area that is quite far from home (usually a range that is much larger than the range traveled for commuting, etc.).

[0006] In addition, in the conventional driving support system, based on the simple idea that it is sufficient to report information for each prefecture since each prefecture announces public enforcement information, location information for identifying prefectural borders is stored as a target on the route of the expressway, and when the vehicle approaches or passes this location, the public enforcement information of the prefecture is reported. In this configuration, when the vehicle is traveling on the expressway, the location of the prefectural border can be detected, so that the vehicle's approach to a prefecture where surveillance activities are being carried out can be detected and the driver can be notified of the traffic surveillance information of that prefecture. However, when the vehicle is traveling on a general road, the conventional driving support system has the problem that it cannot notify the driver of the traffic surveillance information. Also, even if the public enforcement information of a prefecture is reported while the vehicle is traveling on the expressway, the location where the surveillance activities are actually carried out may be quite far from the prefectural border. Therefore, there is a problem that the traffic enforcement information of a distant place that is not relevant to the driver is reported. Moreover, among such a large amount of information, the public enforcement information near the prefectural border may be mixed in, and the driver may miss the public enforcement information that is really necessary nearby.

[0007] The object of the present invention is to provide a driving assistance system that can provide the driver with traffic monitoring information appropriate to the vehicle's current location, rather than simply notifying traffic monitoring information on a prefecture-by-prefecture basis as has been done in the past. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] A driving assistance system according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises a first acquisition means for acquiring area identification information for identifying a partitioned area, which is an area formed by partitioning land, including a vehicle's position, based on the memory contents of a first storage means in which area identification information for identifying the partitioned area and area location information for identifying the position of the partitioned area are stored in correspondence with each other; a second acquisition means for acquiring traffic monitoring information, which is information regarding traffic monitoring activities, including traffic monitoring information associated with the area identification information of the partitioned area including the area in which the monitoring activities are carried out, based on the memory contents of a second storage means in which traffic monitoring information is stored; and a first control means for controlling the display of display information based on the traffic monitoring information acquired by the second acquisition means on a display means.

[0009] According to the first aspect, the driving assistance system can identify the demarcated area where the vehicle is located based on the memory contents stored in the first storage means. The driving assistance system can also identify the demarcated area including the location where the monitoring activity is performed based on the memory contents stored in the second storage means. For example, the driving assistance system can identify the demarcated area where the vehicle is located by referring to the memory contents stored in the first storage means, and can identify the demarcated area including the location where the monitoring activity is performed by referring to the memory contents stored in the second storage means. With these, the driving assistance system can identify whether or not the monitoring activity is being performed in the demarcated area where the vehicle is located. Therefore, the driving assistance system can create display information based on traffic monitoring information corresponding to the demarcated area where the vehicle is located, and notify the driver. Therefore, the driver does not need to set the prefecture to which the driver's home belongs in the driving assistance system as in the past. The driving assistance system can also notify the driver of traffic monitoring information corresponding to the demarcated area where the vehicle is located, even when the vehicle is traveling on a general road that is not an expressway.

[0010] For example, even if a predetermined area is designated and publicly announced as a place where surveillance activities are carried out, the driving assistance system can identify whether or not the vehicle has entered a partitioned area that includes at least the predetermined area. Examples of the predetermined area include prefectures, municipalities, police jurisdictions, and roads. Therefore, the driving assistance system can obtain traffic surveillance information suitable for the vehicle's location, create display information, and provide it to the driver. The driver can easily grasp the surveillance activities being carried out near the vehicle's current location. Surveillance activities are often carried out in places where traffic accidents are likely to occur. Therefore, the driver can drive safely by recognizing that the current location is a dangerous place where traffic accidents are likely to occur. In this way, the driving assistance system can prevent traffic accidents from occurring.

[0011] The second storage means stores traffic monitoring information including the area where the surveillance activity is being carried out. Therefore, the driving assistance system can easily identify the traffic monitoring information related to the surveillance activity actually being carried out near the vehicle from the position of the vehicle. The driving assistance system can quickly and accurately acquire information about the surveillance activity being carried out near the vehicle and provide it to the driver. In particular, the traffic monitoring information stored in the second storage means includes information about the area where the surveillance activity is being carried out announced by each prefectural police, and the traffic monitoring information acquired by the second acquisition means includes information about the area where the surveillance activity is being carried out announced by each prefectural police, and the information about the area where the surveillance activity is being carried out is preferably displayed as display information based on the traffic monitoring information. In this way, the driver can directly know the area where the surveillance activity is being carried out announced by each prefectural police by the partitioned area where the surveillance activity is being carried out.

[0012] In the first embodiment, the area specified by the demarcated area may be smaller than a prefecture. This allows the driving assistance system to set an area smaller than a prefecture, such as a city, ward, town, or village, as a demarcated area. This allows the driving assistance system to specify the location of the vehicle on a city, ward, town, or village basis, and obtain traffic monitoring information related to monitoring activities being carried out near the vehicle. In this way, the driving assistance system can specify the location of the vehicle in detail, and therefore can report information related to monitoring activities being carried out closer to the vehicle.

[0013] In the first embodiment, the partitioned area identified by the area identification information associated with the traffic monitoring information may be different from the area where the monitoring activity is carried out, which is designated when the basic information on which the traffic monitoring information is based is published. This allows the driving assistance system to refer to the traffic monitoring information associated with the common area identification information, regardless of the method of designating the area where the monitoring activity is carried out (prefecture, city, ward, town, village, jurisdiction, route, etc.). This allows the driving assistance system to reliably identify the monitoring activity being carried out near the vehicle.

[0014] In the first aspect, the basic information may be published by police in a plurality of prefectures, and the unit of the area in which the surveillance activity is carried out, which is specified when the basic information is published, may be different for each piece of basic information, the area may be specified in units of administrative districts, and the area identification information may be associated with a plurality of pieces of traffic surveillance information created based on the plurality of pieces of basic information published by police in a plurality of prefectures. This allows the driving assistance system to identify surveillance activities being carried out near the vehicle based on a common area, even if the methods of identifying the area in which the surveillance activity is carried out that is published (prefectures, cities, wards, towns, villages, jurisdictions, routes, etc.) are diverse. Therefore, the driving assistance system can easily identify surveillance activities being carried out near the vehicle.

[0015] In the first aspect, the system includes a first identification means for identifying a time, the traffic monitoring information is associated with a period during which the monitoring activity is performed and the area identification information, and the second acquisition means may acquire the traffic monitoring information associated with the area identification information acquired by the first acquisition means and associated with the period whose relationship with the time identified by the first identification means satisfies a predetermined relationship. This allows the driving assistance system to provide the driver with information on the monitoring activity actually being performed at the present time and the monitoring activity to be performed in the near future. The driving assistance system can instantly recognize and provide more useful information to the driver, allowing the driver to drive more safely in places where traffic accidents are likely to occur.

[0016] In the first aspect, the display information may be configured with text information, and the first control means may perform control for scrolling the display information.

[0017] When a driver views a display means while driving, the driver will repeatedly direct his or her gaze to the display means at short intervals. The driver cannot view the display means continuously for long periods of time while driving. For this reason, when the amount of information data displayed on the display means is large, the driver may not be able to accurately recognize the information if the information is displayed on the display means all at once. In response to this, the driving assistance system can reduce the amount of information data displayed on the display means all at once by displaying text information in a scrolling manner. This allows the driver to accurately recognize the displayed information even when the driver views the display means repeatedly at short intervals.

[0018] In the first aspect, the first control means may perform control for repeatedly scrolling the display information from the beginning when all of the display information has been displayed by scrolling. This causes the display information to be repeatedly scrolled a number of times. This allows the driver to recognize the information being displayed again even if the driver has once missed the information related to the monitoring activity.

[0019] In the first aspect, the traffic monitoring information includes a category, and when a plurality of pieces of traffic monitoring information are acquired by the second acquisition means, the first control means may perform control to display the display information based on the plurality of acquired traffic monitoring information collectively for each category. In this way, when there is a plurality of pieces of information related to surveillance activities, each piece of information is displayed categorized by category. Examples of categories include enforcement information, checkpoints, etc. The driver can easily recognize the information related to surveillance activities by distinguishing them by category.

[0020] In the first aspect, a second identification means is provided for identifying a traveling speed of the vehicle, and the first control means may perform control to change the display speed when scrolling the display information in accordance with the traveling speed of the vehicle identified by the second identification means.

[0021] For example, when the vehicle is traveling at a high speed, it is expected that the driver will not be able to continuously direct his / her gaze at the display means for a long period of time. In such a case, the driving assistance system slows down the display speed when the information is scrolled. This allows the driver to reliably recognize the displayed information within a short period of time. On the other hand, when the vehicle is traveling at a low speed, it is expected that the driver will be able to continuously direct his / her gaze at the display means for a long period of time. In such a case, the driving assistance system speeds up the display speed when the information is scrolled. This allows the driver to accurately recognize a large amount of information.

[0022] In the first aspect, the first control means may perform control to display information for identifying the partitioned area identified by the area identification information acquired by the first acquisition means, together with the display information. This allows the driver to recognize the current location of the vehicle simultaneously with information about the surveillance activity. For example, when surveillance activities are carried out over a wide area, the driver can confirm which part of the area in which the surveillance activity is carried out belongs to the current location of the vehicle. This allows the driver to understand the places where special attention should be paid to safe driving and drive accordingly.

[0023] In the first aspect, the system may further include a second control means for controlling to output a sound when the position of the vehicle changes, the area identification information acquired by the first acquisition means is updated in response to the change in the position of the vehicle, and new traffic monitoring information is acquired by the second acquisition means in response to the update of the area identification information acquired by the first acquisition means. This allows the driver to visually check the display means when a notification is given by sound, thereby ensuring that the driver is aware of the updated display information. In this way, the driving assistance system can prevent the driver from overlooking information related to monitoring activities.

[0024] For example, the driving assistance system may identify the vehicle's position at a predetermined time interval (e.g., one second interval), or may identify the vehicle's position when the vehicle's travel distance exceeds a predetermined distance. Then, based on the vehicle's position thus repeatedly identified, the demarcated area and the traffic monitoring information corresponding to the demarcated area may be repeatedly identified. Then, when the identified traffic monitoring information is new, control may be performed so that a sound is output.

[0025] In the first aspect, the system may further include a third control means for controlling to display a map of the surrounding area including the vehicle's position together with the traffic monitoring information. This allows the driver to recognize geographical information of the surrounding area of ​​the vehicle's current position. For example, by recognizing the surrounding road environment, the driver can reduce the driving speed in advance or pay sufficient attention to the surrounding environment in advance. In this way, the driving assistance system can provide the driver with information necessary for safe driving together with the traffic monitoring information.

[0026] In the first aspect, the area in which the surveillance activity is carried out may cover a plurality of the partitioned areas, and a plurality of the area identification information may be associated with the traffic surveillance information, so that the driving assistance system can accurately identify information on the surveillance activity being carried out near the vehicle even when the surveillance activity is being carried out over a wide area.

[0027] For example, assume that cities, wards, towns, and villages are stored in the first storage means as the area. Assume that "within the jurisdiction of ~ police station," "~ area," "along Route ~," and the like are published as the area in which surveillance activities are carried out. In this way, even if the published unit of the area is larger than the unit of the area, the traffic surveillance information can include a unit of the area smaller than the published unit of the area in a unified manner. This allows the driving assistance system to accurately and easily identify information regarding surveillance activities in the area in which the vehicle is located and notify the driver. Furthermore, even if the area in which surveillance activities are carried out is not specifically published, the driving assistance system can accurately identify information regarding surveillance activities being carried out near the vehicle and provide it to the driver.

[0028] In the first aspect, the display information may include at least one of the type of surveillance activity, the period during which the surveillance activity is carried out, and the area in which the surveillance activity is carried out. This allows the driver to recognize the priority items of enforcement, for example, as the type of surveillance activity. Priority items of enforcement include speeding, overloading, seat belts, drunk driving, and ignoring traffic signals. The driver can also recognize the police jurisdiction, routes, cities, towns, and villages, for example, as the area in which surveillance activities are carried out. This allows the driver to understand the information related to surveillance activities in detail and drive with particular attention to these points, thereby driving with consideration for traffic safety.

[0029] In the first aspect, the first control means may perform control to display the type, the period, and the area in different colors, thereby allowing a driver to easily distinguish and recognize the type, period, and area of ​​the monitoring activity.

[0030] The information generating method according to the second aspect of the present invention is an information generating method for generating information to be stored in the second storage means referenced by the driving assistance system according to the first aspect, characterized in that it extracts area identification information for identifying a plurality of partitioned areas including at least an area where the surveillance activity corresponding to the published information is carried out, and stores the traffic monitoring information associated with the extracted area identification information in the second storage means. According to the second aspect, even if the area category of the information on the published surveillance activity differs for each piece of published information, the traffic monitoring information associated with the area identification information of a common category can be stored in the second storage means.

[0031] Assume that area identification information that identifies the area itself to be published is associated with the traffic monitoring information. In this case, it is more preferable because the area where the monitoring activity is carried out can be accurately identified. However, the category of the area to be published (such as "within the jurisdiction of ~ police station", "~ area", "along ~ line") may differ for each piece of published information. When the category differs, in order to identify information on the monitoring activity being carried out at the current location of the vehicle, it is necessary to change the category of the partitioned area identified by the area identification information stored in the first storage means, which is troublesome. In addition, depending on the category, there are cases where the area where the monitoring activity is carried out cannot be specifically identified. In contrast, according to the second aspect, the category of the area identification information associated with the traffic monitoring information is unified, so even if the category of the area to be published is changed, it is not necessary to change the area identification information stored in the first storage means.

[0032] In the second aspect, the extraction may involve extracting area identification information for identifying the plurality of partitioned areas by referring to a third storage means in which an area where the surveillance activity corresponding to the published information is carried out and area identification information of the plurality of partitioned areas including at least the area are stored in association with each other. This makes it possible to easily identify area identification information corresponding to the published traffic monitoring information and associate it with the traffic monitoring information.

[0033] A driving assistance program according to a third aspect of the present invention causes a computer to execute each processing unit of the driving assistance system according to the first aspect of the present invention, thereby achieving the same effects as those of the first aspect.

[0034] A generation program relating to a fourth aspect of the present invention is a generation program for generating information to be stored in the second storage means referenced by the driving assistance system relating to the first aspect of the present invention, and can cause a computer to extract area identification information for identifying a plurality of partitioned areas including at least the area in which the surveillance activity corresponding to the published information is carried out, and store the traffic monitoring information associated with the extracted area identification information in the second storage means.

[0035] The present invention may be a system including the driving assistance system according to the first aspect and an information generating device that generates information to be stored in the second storage means. The information generating device may include an extraction means that extracts area identification information for identifying a plurality of partitioned areas including at least an area where the surveillance activity corresponding to the published information is carried out, and a storage control means that stores the traffic monitoring information to which the plurality of area identification information extracted by the extraction means is associated, in the second storage means. The extraction means may extract the plurality of area identification information by referring to a third storage means in which the area where the surveillance activity corresponding to the published information is carried out and the area identification information for identifying the plurality of partitioned areas including at least the area are stored in association with each other. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0036] [Figure 1] 2 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the driving assistance system 1. FIG. [Diagram 2] 13 is a schematic diagram showing traffic monitoring information stored in a third DB. FIG. [Diagram 3] 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen 20 displayed on a display unit 14. FIG. [Figure 4] 4 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a message 41. FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a message. [Figure 6] 13 is a flowchart showing a main process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0037] Hereinafter, a driving assistance system 1, which is one embodiment of the driving assistance system according to the present invention, will be described with reference to the drawings. These drawings are used to explain technical features that the present invention can employ. The configurations of the described devices, flowcharts of various processes, and the like are merely illustrative examples and are not intended to be limiting. Specific examples of the driving assistance system 1 include a radar detection system and a car navigation system. The driving assistance system 1 may be realized by a single device or by a plurality of devices. As shown in FIG. 1, the driving assistance system 1 includes a control unit 11 that is responsible for the overall control. The control unit 11 is composed of a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O, a peripheral circuit, and the like, and is electrically connected to a wireless receiving unit 12, a GPS receiving unit 13, a display unit 14, a speaker 15, a storage unit 16, and a card reader 17. At least a program for the control unit 11 is stored in the ROM. The hardware configuration of these may be the same as that of the conventional hardware.

[0038] The wireless receiver 12 is a wireless module for receiving wireless signals. Specific examples of wireless signals received by the wireless receiver 12 include radar signals output from a speed measurement device, wireless signals transmitted from a police liaison radio, digital wireless signals transmitted between each police headquarters and a mobile station, wireless signals used in a police-exclusive automobile mobile phone system, and wireless signals transmitted from an emergency vehicle. The wireless receiver 12 may include multiple wireless modules to distinguish and receive wireless signals of multiple frequencies. When the wireless receiver 12 receives a wireless signal, it detects the signal level of the received wireless signal and outputs it as a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI). The control unit 11 recognizes the signal level of the received wireless signal based on the voltage level of the RSSI output from the wireless receiver 12, and can predict the distance between the target that transmitted the wireless signal and the vehicle itself.

[0039] The GPS receiver 13 is a wireless module for receiving radio signals transmitted from GPS satellites. The GPS receiver 13 detects and outputs position information of the vehicle based on the received radio signals. The position information is the latitude and longitude of the vehicle position. The control unit 11 identifies the vehicle position based on the position information output from the GPS receiver 13.

[0040] The display unit 14 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, an EL display, or the like. The control unit 11 can control the display unit 14 to display a desired image. The control unit 11 can also control the speaker 15 to output a desired sound. The card reader 17 is an interface for accessing the SD card 171. The control unit 11 can read information stored in the SD card 171 via the card reader 17.

[0041] The storage unit 16 is a non-volatile storage element that stores various information. The storage unit 16 is, for example, an EEPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk drive, etc. The storage unit 16 stores map data, data of images displayed on the display unit 14, data of sounds output from the speaker 15, and various databases. The various databases include at least a first DB and a second DB.

[0042] The first DB stores polygon data that can identify an administrative district based on location information. The administrative district is determined for each city, ward, town, or village. Hereinafter, an area represented by an administrative district is also referred to as a divided area. Area identification information for identifying the divided area is associated with the polygon data. The control unit 11 can specify area identification information for identifying the divided area in which the vehicle is located, in units of a city, ward, town, or village that are smaller than a prefecture unit, by referring to the first DB based on the location information output from the GPS receiving unit 13. Note that the area represented by the divided area in the present invention is not limited to a city, ward, town, or village, and may represent other areas.

[0043] The second DB stores information about targets to be notified to the driver. For example, the targets include speed measuring devices (including speed measuring devices that emit radar waves (microwaves) like radars and speed measuring devices that do not emit radar waves like loop coils), speed limit change points, enforcement areas, checkpoints, parking monitoring areas, N systems, traffic monitoring systems, intersection monitoring points, signal ignoring prevention systems, police stations, accident-prone areas, vehicle theft-prone areas, sharp / continuous curves (expressways), branching / merging points (expressways), ETC lane advance guidance (expressways), service areas (expressways), parking areas (expressways), parking areas (expressways), highway oases (expressways), smart interchanges (expressways), PA / SA gas stations (expressways), tunnels (expressways), highway radio receiving areas (expressways), prefectural border notices, roadside stations, and view point parking lots. Hereinafter, targets to be notified to the driver are also referred to as notification targets. The second DB stores, in association with each other, information indicating the type of the object to be notified, latitude and longitude information indicating the position of the object to be notified, data of a schematic diagram or photo to be displayed on the display unit 14, and data of a sound to be output from the speaker 15. The control unit 11 can identify an object to be notified near the vehicle by referring to the second DB based on the position information output from the GPS receiving unit 13.

[0044] The first DB and the second DB are stored in the storage unit 16 when the driving assistance system 1 is shipped. The first DB and the second DB can be updated by a known method. For example, the first DB and the second DB may be stored in the SD card 171. The first DB and the second DB may be read from the SD card 171 via the card reader 17 and stored in the storage unit 16, thereby updating the first DB and the second DB. For example, the driving assistance system 1 may have an infrared communication function. The first DB and the second DB may be acquired by infrared communication with an external device and stored in the storage unit 16, thereby updating the first DB and the second DB.

[0045] The SD card 171 stores a third DB in which multiple pieces of traffic monitoring information are stored. The traffic monitoring activities are information on monitoring activities for promoting safe driving. One example of monitoring activities is crackdowns and checkpoints conducted by the police. Monitoring activities are carried out irregularly in unspecified locations. The control unit 11 can identify details of monitoring activities being carried out near the vehicle by referring to the third DB.

[0046] The details of the third DB will be described with reference to FIG. 2. Among the information stored in indexes 1 to 15, the information stored in the lower row corresponds to the traffic monitoring information. The traffic monitoring information is associated with the "prefecture" where the monitoring activity is carried out, the "start date", the "start time", the "end date", the "end time", the "jurisdiction" police station where the monitoring activity is carried out, and the "place of implementation". For example, the information in index 2 in FIG. 2 ("start date: 20110307", "start time: 12h00m", "end date: 20110307", "end time: 18h00m", "jurisdiction: Iwate Prefectural Police", "place of implementation: Kuzumaki Town: 302", "traffic monitoring information: [crackdown] afternoon Iwate Prefectural Police~") means that the crackdown will be carried out in any area of ​​Kuzumaki Town under the jurisdiction of the Iwate Prefectural Police between 12:00 and 18:00 on March 7, 2011. The "place of implementation" 302 is area identification information for identifying a city, ward, town, or village.

[0047] Text information related to surveillance activities is stored as traffic surveillance information. The text information stored as traffic surveillance information is used as is as a message displayed on the display unit 14. The part of the text information enclosed in [ ] stores the category of surveillance activities. The wording of the text information stored as traffic surveillance information is written in simple sentences consisting of "what," "when," and "where" so that the driver can understand the content while driving (while glancing). The "what" information indicates the content of the crackdown, such as "speeding," "drinking," or "stop." The "when" information indicates the time period and date when the surveillance activity will be carried out. The "where" information indicates, for example, the address and route where the surveillance activity will be carried out.

[0048] The traffic monitoring information is information published through the homepages (hereinafter referred to as HP) of each prefectural police in the country, which is converted into data based on a specified format. The control unit 11 displays messages based on the traffic monitoring information as subtitles on the display unit 14 at a place and time according to the contents of the messages. When the driver notices the messages displayed as subtitles, he or she will be conscious of safe driving. The traffic monitoring information includes the type of monitoring activity ("what"), the period during which the monitoring activity is carried out ("when"), and the area in which the monitoring activity is carried out ("where"). For this reason, when a message is created based on the traffic monitoring information and notified to the driver, the driver can recognize the key items of the crackdown, for example, as the type of monitoring activity. Examples of the key items of the crackdown include speeding, overloading, seat belts, drunk driving, and ignoring traffic signals. In addition, the driver can recognize the police jurisdiction, routes, cities, towns, and villages, etc., as the areas in which the monitoring activity is carried out. With these, the driver can understand the traffic monitoring information in detail and drive with particular attention to these points, thereby driving with consideration for traffic safety. Hereinafter, this term refers collectively to information regarding surveillance activities that is published via the websites of prefectural police departments across the country, and is also referred to as public enforcement information.

[0049] The information stored in the third DB is created by the operator digitizing the enforcement information published through the homepages of each prefectural police nationwide. As shown in FIG. 2, the implementation date, time period, location, type, etc. are extracted from the published public enforcement information in the same wording as much as possible, digitized, and associated with the traffic monitoring information. Since the public enforcement information is published through the homepages of each prefectural police, as shown in FIG. 2, each piece of traffic monitoring information is organized by prefecture. In addition, each piece of information is organized by date, time period, jurisdiction, city, town, village, or type of enforcement. Since the memory capacity of the SD card 171 is limited, the traffic monitoring information is organized in a short and easy-to-understand manner. Depending on the published public enforcement information, certain items of information stored in the third DB may not be published. In such cases, the operator does not digitize information corresponding to the items that were not published. Therefore, in such cases, no information is stored in the items that were not published.

[0050] The items associated with the traffic monitoring information are not limited to those mentioned above. The items may be grouped together to improve the efficiency of the operator creating the information to be stored in the third DB.

[0051] The "implementation location" associated with the traffic monitoring information stores area identification information for identifying a district area on a city, ward, town, or village basis. For this reason, for example, when the information published as the location where the monitoring activity is to be carried out spans multiple cities, ward, town, or villages, such as a "prefectural road," all area identification information identifying the relevant city, ward, town, or village is set as the "implementation location." For example, in the information of index 5 in the third DB in FIG. 2, when the monitoring activity is carried out on a "prefectural road," area identification information "302 (Kuzumaki Town)," "501 (Karumai Town)," and "209 (Ichinoseki City)" are associated with the traffic monitoring information as the "implementation location." In this way, when the monitoring activity is published over a wide area, multiple area identification information are associated with the same traffic monitoring information. This clarifies the area where the monitoring activity is to be carried out.

[0052] As described above, the first DB stores polygon data capable of identifying area identification information on a city, ward, town, or village basis, and therefore the area identification information of the partitioned area in which the vehicle is located is identified on a city, ward, town, or village basis. The area identification information of the partitioned area in which the vehicle is located and the area identification information associated with the traffic monitoring information as the "implementation location" are both on a city, ward, town, or village basis and are the same. Therefore, the same area as the partitioned area in which the vehicle is located can be uniformly searched from the "implementation location" in the traffic monitoring information, and therefore traffic monitoring information of monitoring activities being carried out near the vehicle can be easily identified.

[0053] For example, assume that the area where surveillance activities are carried out is "within the jurisdiction of ~ station" for A Prefectural Police, "in the ~ area" for B Prefectural Police, and "along Route ~" for C Prefectural Police, and that public enforcement information is published in regional units. In this way, the units of the areas where surveillance activities are carried out differ for each prefectural police that publishes the public enforcement information. Even in such cases, in the public enforcement information published by all prefectural police, area identification information that identifies the division area of ​​the city, ward, town, and village is associated with the traffic surveillance information and used uniformly as the "implementation location". The units of the area published by each prefectural police and the division area corresponding to the traffic surveillance information are different. This allows the driving assistance system 1 to uniformly, accurately, and easily identify the traffic surveillance information related to the surveillance activities being carried out in the division area where the vehicle is located. Therefore, as described above, even if the area where the surveillance activities are carried out is published without being specifically identified, the driving assistance system 1 can accurately identify information related to the surveillance activities being carried out near the vehicle.

[0054] The third DB, which includes the traffic monitoring information created by digitizing the public enforcement information, can be downloaded by the user from a dedicated website. The downloaded third DB is stored in the SD card 171. The control unit 11 accesses the SD card 171 set in the driving assistance system 1 when the vehicle position is specified for the first time based on the position information output from the GPS receiving unit 13, and when there is a change in the partitioned area including the vehicle position. When the partitioned area in which the vehicle is located is determined, traffic monitoring information related to monitoring activities being carried out in the nearest area is read from the third DB stored in the SD card 171. Display is performed based on the read traffic monitoring information. Details of the process when a message created based on the traffic monitoring information is displayed on the display unit 14 will be described later.

[0055] A display screen 20, which is an example of a display screen displayed on the display unit 14, will be described with reference to Fig. 3. The display screen 20 has a main display area 21, a first sub-display area 22, and a second sub-display area 23. The main display area 21 is an area for displaying an image showing the positional relationship between the vehicle and an object to be notified. The first sub-display area 22 is an area for displaying the name of the partitioned area in which the vehicle is located. The second sub-display area 23 is an area for displaying a message related to surveillance activities. Each area will be described in detail below.

[0056] The main display area 21 will now be described. The main display area 21 includes an area 211 for displaying a map image, an area 212 for displaying the type of object to be notified and the distance to the object to be notified, an area 213 for displaying the vehicle's traveling speed, an area 214 for displaying the display mode and the current time, and the like.

[0057] The map image is generated by reading map data of the vicinity of the vehicle's position from the storage unit 16. The range of the map image to be displayed in area 211 of the main display area 21 is determined based on the driver's settings. The vehicle icon 31 and the target icon 32 are displayed superimposed on the map image displayed in area 211. The vehicle icon 31 indicates the position of the vehicle relative to the map image. The control unit 11 identifies the vehicle's position based on the position information output from the GPS receiving unit 13, and displays the vehicle icon 31 superimposed on the portion of the map image corresponding to the vehicle's position.

[0058] The target icon 32 is intended to indicate the position of the notification object relative to the map image. The figure displayed inside the target icon 32 indicates the type of notification object. The control unit 11 identifies the position of the notification object based on the second DB, and displays the target icon 32 superimposed on a portion of the map image that corresponds to the position of the notification object. Also, a figure indicating the type of notification object is displayed inside the target icon 32. Furthermore, the type of notification object and the distance to the notification object are displayed in the area 212.

[0059] Furthermore, when the distance between the vehicle and the object to be notified becomes smaller than a predetermined distance, the control unit 11 reads out data of a schematic diagram or a photograph according to the type of the object to be notified from the second DB, and displays it superimposed on the map image. Also, the control unit 11 reads out audio data according to the object to be notified from the second DB, and outputs it from the speaker 15. For example, when a speed measuring device approaches within 500 m, the control unit 11 reads out data of a schematic diagram or a photograph of the speed measuring device from the second DB, and displays it superimposed on the map image. Also, the control unit 11 reads out audio such as "500 m ahead, speed measuring device. Watch your speed" from the second DB, and outputs it from the speaker 15.

[0060] The control unit 11 also judges whether the object to be notified is near the vehicle based on the voltage level of the RSSI output from the wireless receiving unit 12. The signal level of the RSSI increases in proportion to the strength of the wireless signal received by the wireless receiving unit 12. Therefore, the control unit 11 can judge whether the distance between the vehicle and the object to be notified has become smaller than a predetermined distance by comparing the RSSI with a predetermined threshold. When the control unit 11 judges that the distance between the vehicle and the object to be notified has become smaller than the predetermined distance, the control unit 11 reads out data of a schematic diagram or a photograph according to the type of the object to be notified from the second DB and displays it superimposed on the map image. In addition, the control unit 11 reads out audio data according to the object to be notified from the second DB and outputs it from the speaker 15. For example, when an emergency vehicle approaches within a predetermined distance, the control unit 11 reads out data of a schematic diagram or a photograph of the emergency vehicle from the second DB and displays it superimposed on the map image. In addition, the control unit 11 reads out a voice saying "This is an emergency vehicle. Watch your speed" from the second DB and outputs it from the speaker 15.

[0061] In this manner, the driving assistance system 1 can notify the driver that there is an object to be notified near the vehicle. The driver can recognize that there is an object to be notified near the vehicle by visually checking the main display area 21. The object to be notified is often installed in a dangerous place where a traffic accident is likely to occur. Therefore, the driving assistance system 1 notifies the driver via the main display area 21 that the vehicle is approaching the object to be notified, thereby encouraging the driver to drive safely in a place where a traffic accident is likely to occur.

[0062] Furthermore, since a map image is displayed in the main display area 21, the driver can recognize geographical information around the vehicle. For example, by recognizing the surrounding road environment, the driver can reduce the driving speed in advance or pay sufficient attention to the surrounding environment in advance. In this way, the driving assistance system 1 can provide the driver with information necessary for safe driving together with traffic monitoring information.

[0063] The control unit 11 aligns the vehicle icon 31 and the target icon 32 displayed in the area 211 of the main display area 21 with the map image, and displays them in synchronization. Specifically, the display position of the vehicle icon 31 is fixed at the lower center of the area 211. The map image is rotated so that the vehicle's traveling direction is at the top. In other words, if the traveling direction of the vehicle changes (turns), the map image is rotated accordingly. If the vehicle moves forward, the displayed map image is scrolled downward (so-called heading-up display). Such display control can be realized by utilizing map display control in a car navigation system, that is, control for appropriately scrolling the map image while fixing the position of the vehicle at the center of the screen.

[0064] The first sub-display area 22 will now be described. The first sub-display area 22 displays the name of the demarcated area in which the host vehicle is located. The control unit 11 identifies area identification information of the demarcated area in which the host vehicle is located by referring to the first DB based on the position information output from the GPS receiving unit 13. The name of the demarcated area identified by the identified area identification information is displayed in the first sub-display area 22. The driver can recognize the demarcated area in which the host vehicle is located by visually checking the name displayed in the first sub-display area 22.

[0065] The second sub-display area 23 will now be described. A message regarding surveillance activities is displayed in the second sub-display area 23. This message is created based on the traffic surveillance information stored in the third DB stored in the SD card 171. The message includes information such as the date and time of enforcement, the type of enforcement, and the location of enforcement (route, jurisdiction, etc.). Note that since there are differences in the content of the public enforcement information released by each prefectural police, the content displayed differs depending on the prefecture. If the number of pieces of traffic surveillance information included in the message is two or more, the number of characters in the message will be large, so the control unit 11 displays the message in the second sub-display area 23 as a caption.

[0066] A specific example of a message to be displayed in the second sub-display area 23 will be described with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 4, the message 41 includes a plurality of phases (a first phase 42 and a second phase 43) divided by categories of traffic monitoring information. The first phase 42 and the second phase 43 include one or more pieces of traffic monitoring information. When a plurality of pieces of traffic monitoring information are included in one phase, they are arranged in order. In FIG. 4, "*** information" and "+++ information" correspond to traffic monitoring information. A title is added to the beginning of each phase. The title indicates an overview of the traffic monitoring information included in each phase. In this way, the message is created by classifying a plurality of pieces of traffic monitoring information to be notified to the driver by category, and is displayed in the second sub-display area 23. The driver can easily distinguish and recognize information related to monitoring activities by category. The number of characters that can be registered in one phase is limited to, for example, 128 full-width characters (256 bytes in terms of the number of bytes). This allows the driver to understand the content even while driving. If the number of characters that can be registered in one phase exceeds 128 characters, the traffic monitoring information will be divided into more detailed categories.

[0067] For example, in Fig. 5, the first phase is divided into a first phase titled "<<Public Enforcement Information Aichi Prefectural Police>>" and a second phase titled "<<Traffic Regulation Information Aichi Prefectural Police>>". The first phase stores information related to "enforcement" (corresponding to the traffic monitoring information of indexes 2 and 3 in Fig. 2).

[0068] If the created message does not fit in the second sub-display area 23, the message is scrolled. This is because when the driver looks at the display unit 14 while driving, the driver cannot continuously look at the display unit 14 for a long time, and therefore if many messages are displayed on the display unit 14 at once, the driver may not be able to accurately recognize the messages. In response to this, the driving assistance system 1 classifies text-based messages created based on traffic monitoring information into categories and scrolls them in the second sub-display area 23, thereby reducing the amount of information of the messages displayed at one time in the second sub-display area 23 and increasing the size of the text characters displayed. This allows the driver to accurately recognize the messages displayed in the second sub-display area 23 even when the driver looks at the display unit 14 repeatedly at short intervals while driving.

[0069] For example, when the message 41 shown in FIG. 4 is displayed in the second sub-display area 23, the first phase 42 (title, *** information (first item), *** information (second item)) is scrolled in sequence in the second sub-display area 23, and when the scrolling display of the first phase 42 is all completed, the second phase 43 begins. When there are no more phases remaining, the scrolling display is repeated in sequence from the first phase 42. Since the scrolling display is repeated multiple times, the driver can recognize the message that is repeatedly displayed even if he or she misses it at first.

[0070] Among the messages, the title of the first phase 42 is displayed first in the second sub-display area 23, and at the same time, an alarm sound (ring, ring) is output from the speaker 15. This allows the driver to know that the traffic monitoring information is being displayed in the second sub-display area 23.

[0071] Furthermore, when the partition area in which the vehicle is located changes as the vehicle travels and the message displayed in the second sub-display area 23 is updated, an alarm sound is output from the speaker 15 in the same manner. This allows the driver to reliably recognize the updated message by visually checking the display unit 14 when notified by the alarm sound. In this way, the driving assistance system 1 can prevent the driver from overlooking the updated message.

[0072] The control unit 11 also changes the scroll speed when the message is scrolled in the second sub-display area 23 according to the traveling speed of the vehicle. For example, when the traveling speed of the vehicle is fast, it is assumed that the driver cannot continuously direct his / her gaze to the display unit 14 for a long time. In such a case, the display speed when the message is scrolled is slowed down so that the driver can understand even a single sentence. This allows the driver to reliably recognize the displayed message within a short time. On the other hand, for example, when the traveling speed of the vehicle is slow, it is assumed that the driver can continuously direct his / her gaze to the display unit 14 for a relatively long time. In such a case, the display speed when the message is scrolled is increased. This allows the driver to accurately recognize a large number of messages. Furthermore, while the vehicle is stopped, the display speed when the message is scrolled is further increased so that the driver can also see other public enforcement information.

[0073] In addition, since the name of the demarcated area in which the vehicle is located is displayed in the first sub-display area 22, the driver can recognize the message displayed in the second sub-display area 23 and the demarcated area together. This allows the driver to confirm which part of the entire area in which the monitoring activity is carried out corresponds to the location of the vehicle when the monitoring activity is carried out over a wide area. For example, assume that a route is published as the area in which the monitoring activity is carried out. Suppose that the vehicle moves and enters the demarcated area in which the published route is located. The name of the demarcated area in which the vehicle is located is displayed in the first sub-display area 22. The message including the published route is displayed in the second sub-display area 23. The driver can easily identify the location of the route included in the message from within the demarcated area of ​​the name displayed in the first sub-display area 22 by referring to the map image displayed in the main display area 21. This allows the driver to recognize the positional relationship between the vehicle and the route. The driver can determine whether the vehicle is approaching the route and can drive the vehicle by understanding the location where special attention should be paid to safe driving.

[0074] The main processing executed by the control unit 11 will be described with reference to FIG. 6. When the driving assistance system 1 is powered on, the control unit 11 executes a program stored in the ROM to execute the main processing. When the main processing starts, first, the position information output from the GPS receiving unit 13 is acquired. The latitude and longitude of the vehicle position are identified based on the acquired position information, thereby identifying the vehicle position on the map image (S10). Next, based on the acquired position information, the first DB stored in the storage unit 16 is referenced to acquire area identification information of the partitioned area in which the vehicle is located (S11). The acquired area identification information is stored in the RAM.

[0075] A map image of the surrounding area including the vehicle's position is generated based on the map data stored in the memory unit 16. The generated map image is displayed in area 211 of the main display area 21 on the screen of the display unit 14 (S13). The size of the map image displayed in area 211 is adjusted based on conditions preset by the driver. Next, the vehicle icon 31 is superimposed on a portion of the displayed map image that corresponds to the vehicle's position identified in S10 (S15). By visually checking the map image and vehicle icon 31 displayed in the main display area 21, the driver can recognize geographical information of the surrounding area including the vehicle's position.

[0076] Next, based on the area identification information acquired in S11, the name of the divided area in which the vehicle is located is identified in units of city, ward, town, and village. The name of the divided area is identified by referring to a correspondence table between area identification information and names stored in advance in the storage unit 16. The identified name of the divided area is displayed in the first sub-display area 22 on the screen of the display unit 14 (S17). This allows the driver to recognize the divided area in which the vehicle is located in units of city, ward, town, and village by visually checking the name displayed in the first sub-display area 22. Next, the current date and time are identified (S19). The current date and time are acquired from a real-time clock (RTC) not shown. Next, the third DB stored in the SD card 171 is read out, and the traffic monitoring information stored in the third DB is referred to (S21). Then, a message to be displayed in the second sub-display area 23 is created as follows based on the traffic monitoring information stored in the third DB read out from the SD card 171.

[0077] Among the traffic monitoring information stored in the third DB read from the SD card 171, traffic monitoring information associated as the "implementation location" with the same area identification information as the area identification information identified in S11 is extracted. Next, the period during which the monitoring activity is being carried out is identified based on the "start date," "start time," "end date," and "end time" (see FIG. 2) associated with the extracted traffic monitoring information. Then, traffic monitoring information that satisfies the condition that the current date, time, and time identified in S19 are included within the identified period is selected.

[0078] It is determined whether one or more pieces of traffic monitoring information have been selected using the method described above (S23). If there is no selected traffic monitoring information (S23: NO), there is no message to be displayed in the second sub-display area 23, and the process returns to S10. On the other hand, if there is one or more pieces of traffic monitoring information selected (S23: YES), a message to be displayed in the second sub-display area 23 is created based on the selected traffic monitoring information as follows (S25).

[0079] The selected traffic monitoring information is divided and arranged by category. A title indicating an overview of each category is added to the beginning of the text information arranged by category. The most suitable title is selected and used from a plurality of titles prepared in advance. The most suitable title is selected, for example, as follows. A table associating titles with categories is stored in advance in storage unit 16. When the text information is divided and arranged by category, a title corresponding to each divided category is identified by referring to the table stored in storage unit 16. The identified title is added to the beginning of the arranged traffic monitoring information as the most suitable title indicating the category. In this way, each phase that constitutes the message is created. The created message is stored in RAM.

[0080] Next, the vehicle travel speed is identified (S27). The travel speed may be identified based on an acceleration sensor (not shown) or based on OBD data acquired via an on-board diagnostics connector on the vehicle side. The speed at which the message created in S25 is scrolled is determined according to the identified travel speed. The speed is determined so that the display speed at which the message is scrolled is slowed down in inverse proportion to the acquired travel speed. The created message is scrolled in the second sub-display area 23 at the determined speed (S29). As a result, even if the vehicle travel speed is fast and the driver cannot view the display unit 14 continuously for a long time, the display speed is slowed down, so that the driver can reliably view the displayed message within a short time. Also, when the vehicle travel speed is slow and the driver can view the display unit 14 continuously for a relatively long time, the display speed is fast, so that the driver can accurately view a large amount of traffic monitoring information. When the message is scrolled in the second sub-display area 23 for the first time, an alarm sound is output from the speaker 15.

[0081] As the vehicle moves, it is determined whether the area identification information acquired in S11 has been changed. Whether the area identification information has been changed is determined based on whether the area identification information previously stored in the RAM is different from the area identification information currently stored. If the area identification information has been changed, there is a possibility that the message created in S25 has been newly updated. It is determined whether the message created in S25 has been newly updated (S31). Whether the message has been updated is determined based on whether the message previously stored in the RAM is different from the message currently stored. If the message created in S25 has not been changed (S31: NO), the process returns to S10. On the other hand, if the message has been newly updated (S31: YES), an alarm sound is output from the speaker 15 (S33). This allows the driver to visually check the second sub-display area 23 of the display unit 14 when the alarm sound is used to notify the driver, thereby ensuring that the driver recognizes the newly updated message. In this way, the driving assistance system 1 prevents the driver from overlooking the updated message. The process returns to S10.

[0082] In the main process, for example, after S23, S31, and S33, the process may wait for a predetermined time (for example, one second) and then return to S10. In addition, in the main process, for example, after S23, S31, and S33, the process may return to S10 if the vehicle's travel distance becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined distance. Then, in S10, the vehicle's position may be repeatedly identified, and a message may be repeatedly created based on the identified vehicle position. This allows the processing load of the control unit 11 to be reduced while messages regarding monitoring activities are accurately created and displayed, and the user to be notified.

[0083] As described above, the driving assistance system 1 can identify the region in which the vehicle is located by city, ward, town, or village, based on the first DB stored in the storage unit 16. This allows the vehicle position to be identified in more detail by city, ward, town, or village, even on an ordinary road, compared to a conventional system that identifies the vehicle position by prefecture only on an expressway.

[0084] The driving assistance system 1 can also identify the sectioned area covering the area where the monitoring activity is carried out based on the third DB stored in the SD card 171. The third DB stores traffic monitoring information associated with one or more pieces of area identification information. The area identification information of the sectioned area where the vehicle is located and the area identification information of the sectioned area included in the traffic monitoring information are both determined on a city, ward, town, or village basis. Therefore, the driving assistance system 1 can uniformly identify whether or not a monitoring activity is being carried out in the sectioned area where the vehicle is located based on the third DB. Therefore, the driving assistance system 1 can easily and reliably identify and notify the driver of a message regarding the monitoring activity being carried out near the location where the vehicle is actually located. Furthermore, the driving assistance system 1 can prevent a message regarding the monitoring activity being carried out in an area far from the location where the vehicle is located from being displayed. Only messages necessary for the driver are displayed on the display unit 14. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the driver from overlooking necessary information due to a large number of unnecessary messages being displayed.

[0085] Even when the area where surveillance activities will be carried out is announced as "within the jurisdiction of ~ Police Station," "in the ~ area," "along Route ~," etc., the driving assistance system 1 can identify whether the vehicle has entered a city, ward, town, or village that includes at least the announced area. This is because the traffic surveillance information stored in the third DB corresponds to area identification information for the district area where surveillance activities will be carried out on a city, ward, town, or village basis. Therefore, the driving assistance system 1 can create a message appropriate to the vehicle's location based on the traffic surveillance information and provide it to the driver. The driver can easily grasp information regarding surveillance activities being carried out near the location of his or her vehicle.

[0086] The control unit 11 etc. that performs the processing of S11 corresponds to the "first acquisition means" of the present invention. The control unit 11 etc. that performs the processing of S21 and S23 corresponds to the "second acquisition means" of the present invention. The control unit 11 etc. that performs the processing of S29 corresponds to the "first control means" of the present invention. The control unit 11 etc. that performs the processing of S19 corresponds to the "first identification means" of the present invention. The control unit 11 etc. that performs the processing of S27 corresponds to the "second identification means" of the present invention.

[0087] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, the driving assistance system 1 may be configured not to include the wireless receiver 12. The driving assistance system 1 may grasp the distance between the notification object and the vehicle based on the voltage level of the RSSI output from the wireless receiver attached to the outside. The driving assistance system 1 may be configured not to include the GPS receiver 13. The driving assistance system 1 may grasp the vehicle position based on the position information output from the GPS receiver attached to the outside. The driving assistance system 1 may be configured not to include the display unit 14 and the speaker 15. The driving assistance system 1 may display a desired image on the external display by controlling an external display. The external display may be, for example, a display of a car navigation system attached to the vehicle. The driving assistance system 1 may output a desired sound from the external speaker by controlling the external speaker. The external speaker may be, for example, a speaker attached to the vehicle.

[0088] The content of the message notified to the driver is not limited to the public enforcement information published by each prefectural police station, but may be, for example, information published by each regional development bureau (regulation details, route, address, date, time, etc.).

[0089] The operator may create a third DB based on the published public enforcement information as follows: If the published public enforcement information satisfies the conditions (1) and (3), or (2) and (3), the operator creates traffic monitoring information in which various items are associated. (1) When the city, town, or village where surveillance activities are carried out is made public as public enforcement information. (2) When the jurisdiction or area where surveillance activities are conducted is made public as public enforcement information. (3) The dates and times when surveillance activities are conducted are published as public enforcement information.

[0090] In the above description, the operator creates the third DB including the traffic monitoring information based on the published public traffic control information. The present invention is not limited to this. The third DB including the traffic monitoring information may be automatically created by the server based on the public traffic control information. Specifically, this may be implemented as follows.

[0091] Public enforcement information published via the homepage of each prefectural police station is acquired by a server connected to the Internet. The server, for example, periodically checks the homepage of each prefectural police station at a pre-stored URL (for example, once a day) and determines whether the public enforcement information has been updated. If the public enforcement information has been updated, the server acquires the public enforcement information on the page of that URL. From the multiple pieces of public enforcement information on the acquired page of public enforcement information, the server extracts traffic monitoring information and each piece of information associated with the traffic monitoring information ("Prefecture," "Start Date," "Start Time," "End Date," "End Time," and "Jurisdiction"). The multiple pieces of information on the page are extracted and associated with the traffic monitoring information to create information such as that shown in FIG. 2. The created information is stored in the server's memory unit.

[0092] The areas where surveillance activities are carried out, as published in the public enforcement information, are, for example, "prefectures," "prefectures," "route," etc., and are often different from the units of the district areas defined for each city, ward, town, or village, which are the units of the "implementation locations" associated with the traffic surveillance information. In such cases, the server identifies the "implementation locations" to be associated with the traffic surveillance information as follows.

[0093] The server stores in advance in the storage unit a correspondence table in which the areas where surveillance activities are carried out (prefectures, jurisdictions, routes, etc., hereinafter referred to as "public areas"), which are published as public enforcement information by each prefectural police, correspond to area identification information specified in units of cities, wards, towns, and villages, which are common units among each prefectural police. The area identification information associated with the public areas includes at least area identification information of the partitioned areas where surveillance activities are actually carried out. For example, multiple area identification information may be associated with one public area. When the server acquires public enforcement information from the website of each prefectural police station, it extracts the public areas included in the acquired public enforcement information. Then, it refers to the correspondence table stored in the storage unit and identifies area identification information corresponding to the extracted public area. It associates the identified area identification information with the traffic monitoring information as the "implementation location". It associates the "prefecture", "start date", "start time", "end date", "end time", and "jurisdiction" extracted from the public enforcement information with the traffic monitoring information. It stores the traffic monitoring information associated with various information in the storage unit. It should be noted that the method of identifying the partitioned area is not limited to the above-mentioned method.

[0094] The driving assistance system 1 may provide the driver with information on monitoring activities that are not only currently being performed, but also those that are to be performed in the near future. For example, the driving assistance device 1 may determine whether there is a monitoring activity that will start within one hour from the current time based on the "event date" and "event time" associated with the traffic monitoring information. If there is traffic monitoring information associated with the corresponding "event date" and "event time", a message may be created based on the traffic monitoring information and displayed on the display unit 14. This allows the driver to immediately recognize not only monitoring activities that are being performed near the location of the vehicle, but also monitoring activities that may be performed in the near future, and to drive safely in areas where traffic accidents are likely to occur.

[0095] The message displayed in the second sub-display area 23 may include information other than traffic monitoring information, such as information on events such as intensive months, seasonal trends, and customs, road regulation information (traffic regulations due to construction work, disasters, etc.). For example, by displaying road regulation information, the driver can avoid restricted routes. Note that information other than traffic monitoring activities is stored in the SD card 171 together with the third DB, and this information may be read out and stored in the message.

[0096] The titles and traffic monitoring information stored in each phase of the message displayed in the second sub-display area 23 may be sorted by background color or colored characters according to the type of monitoring activity, the period during which the monitoring activity is carried out, and the area in which the monitoring activity is carried out, so that they are easy to understand even when they are arranged continuously and scrolled, or an icon may be added to the beginning. Also, as shown in Fig. 4, the total number of items may be added to the title and the page number may be added to each piece of traffic monitoring information so that the entire message can be grasped.

[0097] The driving assistance device 1 may also create a message to be displayed in the second sub-display area 23 in the following case. It is assumed that traffic monitoring information to which no "implementation location" is associated is stored in the third DB. Of such traffic monitoring information, all traffic monitoring information to which the same prefecture as the prefecture in which the vehicle is located is associated as the "prefecture" is extracted. Based on the "start date," "start time," "end date," and "end time" (see FIG. 2) associated with the extracted traffic monitoring information, the period during which the monitoring activity is to be carried out is identified. Traffic monitoring information that includes the current date and time identified in S19 within the identified period is selected. A message is created based on the selected traffic monitoring information. The driving assistance device 1 selects traffic monitoring information related to the monitoring activity being carried out in the prefecture in which the vehicle is located, and creates a message. [Explanation of symbols]

[0098] 1. Driving assistance system 11 Control section 13 GPS receiver 14 Display section 15 Speaker 16 Memory section 17 Card Reader 171 SD card 41 Messages

Claims

1. A system for generating monitoring schedule information based on publicly available enforcement information, which is referenced in a driving assistance system having a function for reporting based on publicly available enforcement information, comprising: A computer is provided. The computer has a function of periodically checking the page of each prefectural police at a pre-stored URL, determining whether the public enforcement information has been updated, and if the public enforcement information has been updated, acquiring the public enforcement information from the page of that URL, and if the public enforcement information has been updated, generating the surveillance schedule information by digitizing the public enforcement information acquired from the page of each prefectural police at a pre-stored URL in a predetermined format, The predetermined format includes information indicating the location where the control will be carried out, the period during which the control will be carried out, and the content of the control. A system characterized by.

2. The said enforcement is carried out in a city, town, or village; The computer has a function of associating area information specified on a city, ward, town, or village basis with a prefecture based on a correspondence table in which prefectures, which are areas where enforcement is carried out and area information specified on a city, ward, town, or village basis, included in the acquired public enforcement information are associated with each other. The system of claim 1 .

Images