Driving condition monitoring device, driving condition monitoring system, and driving condition monitoring method

Abstract

To manage a driving condition of each one of drivers driving multiple vehicles with high accuracy.SOLUTION: Captured images of a driver and driving condition data indicating driving condition received from each of a plurality of communicatively connected driving condition sensing devices are acquired. An authentication on whether or not the driver matches a prestored driver is performed on the basis of information on the driver contained in a plurality of images in the captured images and a driver ID is identified if the authentication is successful. For each driving condition data transmitted from a drive recorder, the driving condition data is recorded in association with a driver ID identified on the basis of the corresponding captured image.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a driving condition monitoring device, a driving condition monitoring system, a driving condition monitoring method, and a drive recorder. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for recognizing a driver based on a captured face image of the driver in order to calculate fuel efficiency for each driver, and calculating fuel efficiency information for each driver. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2015-79359 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the above-mentioned technology, there is a demand for a technology that can accurately manage the driving conditions of each driver who drives a plurality of vehicles.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE An object of the present invention is to provide a driving condition monitoring device, a driving condition monitoring system, a driving condition monitoring method, and a drive recorder that solve the above-mentioned problems. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to a first aspect of the present invention, a driving condition monitoring device includes an acquisition means for acquiring an image of the driver of the vehicle from a drive recorder mounted in the vehicle via communication, and an identification means for performing a first identification process for identifying identification information of the driver of the vehicle from pre-registered driver information based on the image, and a second identification process for identifying identification information of the driver of the vehicle from pre-registered driver information based on input by an administrator if identification information is not identified in the first identification process.

[0007] According to a second aspect of the present invention, a driving condition monitoring system having a drive recorder mounted on a vehicle and a driving condition monitoring device, the driving condition monitoring device comprises an acquisition means for acquiring an image of the driver of the vehicle from the drive recorder via communication, and an identification means for performing a first identification process for identifying identification information of the driver of the vehicle from pre-registered driver information based on the image, and a second identification process for identifying identification information of the driver of the vehicle from pre-registered driver information based on input by an administrator if identification information is not identified in the first identification process.

[0008] According to a third aspect of the present invention, a driving condition monitoring method includes: acquiring an image of a driver of a vehicle from a drive recorder mounted on the vehicle via communication; and performing a first identification process to identify identification information of the driver of the vehicle from pre-registered driver information based on the image; and if identification information is not identified in the first identification process, performing a second identification process to identify identification information of the driver of the vehicle from pre-registered driver information based on input by an administrator.

[0009] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a drive recorder comprising an imaging means for imaging the interior of a vehicle and a transmission means for transmitting an image of the driver of the vehicle imaged by the imaging means transmits an image of the driver of the vehicle, which is used in a driving condition monitoring device to perform a first identification process for identifying identification information of the driver of the vehicle from pre-registered driver information based on an image of the driver of the vehicle, and a second identification process for identifying identification information of the driver of the vehicle from pre-registered driver information based on input by an administrator if identification information is not identified in the first identification process. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, the driving conditions of each driver who drives a plurality of vehicles can be monitored, and data acquired from the driving condition sensing device for each driver can be managed. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a driving condition monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of a driving condition monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 1 is a functional block diagram of a driving condition monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a drive recorder according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] 2 is a functional block diagram of a control device of the drive recorder according to the present embodiment. FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a first diagram showing a processing flow of the drive recorder according to the present embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a second diagram showing the processing flow of the drive recorder according to the present embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a process flow of the driving condition monitoring device according to the present embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a minimum configuration of the driving condition monitoring device according to the present embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A driving condition monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a driving condition monitoring system according to the embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, a driving situation monitoring system 100 includes a driving situation monitoring device 1 and a drive recorder 2, which is one aspect of a driving situation sensing device. The driving situation monitoring device 1 and the drive recorder 2 are connected via a wireless communication network or a wired communication network. As an example, the drive recorder 2 is provided in a vehicle. The driving situation monitoring device 1 is connected for communication with the drive recorders 2 provided in each of a plurality of vehicles running in a city.

[0013] FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the driving condition monitoring device. As shown in this figure, the driving condition monitoring device 1 is a computer equipped with various hardware components such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 103, a database 104, a communication module 105, and the like.

[0014] FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the driving condition monitoring device. The driving status monitoring device 1 starts up when the power is turned on and executes a pre-stored driving status monitoring program. As a result, the driving status monitoring device 1 is provided with the following functions: a control unit 11, a sensing data acquisition unit 12, a dangerous driving data generation unit 13, an image acquisition unit 14, a driver ID identification unit 15, a recording unit 16, a report document generation unit 17, a warning information generation unit 18, and an output unit 19.

[0015] The control unit 11 controls each functional unit of the driving condition monitoring device 1 . The sensing data acquisition unit 12 acquires driving condition data including a plurality of items of driving conditions and event data notifying the occurrence of an event during driving from each of the plurality of drive recorders 2 communicatively connected thereto. The risky driving data generating unit 13 generates risky driving data including information on the driving situation of any one of a plurality of items selected according to the driver attributes and the event data.

[0016] The image acquisition unit 14 acquires the captured image data for authentication of the driver received from each of the multiple communicatively connected drive recorders 2. The image acquisition unit 14 further acquires, from the drive recorder 2, the upload image data determined based on the driver attributes among the image data generated by the drive recorder 2 through image capturing, at the acquisition timing based on the generation of the risky driving data. The driver ID identification unit 15 performs authentication based on an image of the driver included in the authentication captured image data to determine whether the driver matches a driver previously stored. If the authentication is successful, the driver ID identification unit 15 identifies the ID of the driver. The recording unit 16 records the information consisting of the driving condition data and the authentication photographed image data transmitted from the drive recorder 2 in association with the identified driver ID. The report generation unit 17 generates report data according to the driver attributes by using at least the risky driving data. The warning information generating unit 18 generates warning information according to the driver attributes when the dangerous driving data is generated. The output unit 19 outputs report data and warning data.

[0017] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the drive recorder. The drive recorder 2 includes a sensor 21, a communication device 22, a camera 23, a control device 24, a storage device 25, etc. The sensor 21 may be an acceleration sensor 211, a sound detection sensor 212, a GPS sensor 213, etc. These sensors 21 may be installed in the vehicle outside the drive recorder 2, and the drive recorder 2 may acquire information sensed by these sensors 21. The communication device 22 is communicatively connected to the driving condition monitoring device 1. The camera 23 captures images of the outside and inside of the vehicle to generate moving images and still images. The control device 24 controls each function of the drive recorder 2. The storage device 25 stores moving images, still images, and various information sensed by the sensor 21. The drive recorder 2 is connected for communication with the driving condition monitoring device 1 via a base station or the like. The control device 24 of the drive recorder 2 is a computer equipped with a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc.

[0018] FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a control device provided in the drive recorder. When the drive recorder is started, the control device 24 executes a control program, which provides the control device 24 with the following functional units: a vehicle information acquisition unit 241, a position information acquisition unit 242, an acceleration information acquisition unit 243, an event detection unit 244, an upload image generation unit 245, a driving situation data transmission unit 246, an event data transmission unit 247, an upload image transmission unit 248, and an authentication image data generation unit 249.

[0019] The vehicle information acquisition unit 241 acquires vehicle information including information about the vehicle recorded in a memory inserted in the drive recorder (vehicle type, vehicle ID), and other sensing information from sensors provided in the vehicle other than the vehicle's acceleration and position. The vehicle information that can be acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 241 may further include, for example, information such as the driving start time, the driving stop time, the vehicle speed according to the time, and the temperature inside the vehicle. The position information acquisition unit 242 acquires information on the vehicle's position (latitude, longitude) according to the time from the GPS sensor 213 or the like. The acceleration information acquisition unit 243 acquires information on the vehicle's acceleration according to the time from the acceleration sensor 211 . The event detection unit 244 determines whether a desired event has occurred in the vehicle based on the acceleration. The desired event may be, for example, a dangerous event, such as a sudden acceleration or a sudden deceleration. More specifically, the event detection unit 244 detects whether an event has occurred based on conditions (operation condition data) determined based on the driver attributes. The uploaded image generating unit 245 acquires moving images and still images from the camera 23 by shooting with the camera 23, and generates uploaded image data including moving images at the time of an event and still images at the time of the event occurrence, to be transmitted via the communication device 22. Specifically, the uploaded image generating unit 245 generates moving images at the time of an event and still images at the time of the event occurrence, based on conditions determined on the basis of the driver attributes. The driving condition data transmission unit 246 transmits driving condition data including vehicle information, position information, acceleration information, and authentication image data to the driving condition monitoring device 1. The event data transmission unit 247 transmits event data when the occurrence of an event is detected by the event detection unit 244. The event data may include an identifier indicating the type of the event. The uploaded image transmitting unit 248 transmits to the driving condition monitoring device 1 uploaded image data indicating a moving image generated by the uploaded image generating unit 245 at the time of occurrence of an event or a still image generated at the time of occurrence of an event. The authentication image data generating unit 249 obtains a moving image (captured image) from the camera 23 of the drive recorder 2 by capturing images with the camera 23, and generates authentication image data. The authentication image data is one aspect of a captured image. In this embodiment, the authentication image data is image data including a facial image of the driver. The authentication image data generating unit 249 may generate authentication image data that has been processed, such as by enlarging the facial image in the captured image, so that the authentication accuracy is improved when used for authentication. The authentication image data includes a plurality of images extracted over time from among the frame images included in the captured image. As an example, the authentication image data includes 10 frame images in the captured image. The authentication image data is generated at predetermined intervals based on the captured images that are continuously captured while the drive recorder 2 is operating.

[0020] The above-mentioned operating condition data includes, for example, information on a risk level that links a risk identifier, an acceleration condition, a speed condition, and an operating flag, and information on a dangerous driving type that links a risk type identifier, an acceleration direction, a speed, and an operating flag. Whether or not an operating flag is set is set in advance according to the driver's attributes. In this way, the operating condition data is data that specifies a risk level and a risk type based on acceleration and speed. The operating flag is set according to the driver's attributes. The driver's attributes indicate, for example, the company to which the driver belongs, and a person in charge at the company sets the operating flag of the driver who belongs to the company, and this is held in the operating condition data.

[0021] FIG. 6 is a first diagram showing a processing flow of the drive recorder. Next, the process flow of the driving condition monitoring system will be explained step by step. First, the transmission process of the driving condition information in the drive recorder 2 will be described. When the electric system of the vehicle is started, the drive recorder 2 starts operating (step S101). Each of the sensors 21 of the drive recorder 2 starts various sensing operations after the drive recorder 2 starts (step S102). The camera 23 starts capturing images (step S103). During the operation of the drive recorder 2, the vehicle information acquisition unit 241 of the control device 24 acquires vehicle information (step S104). The vehicle information acquisition unit 241 may repeatedly acquire sensing information included in the vehicle information at a predetermined time interval. The position information acquisition unit 242 acquires latitude and longitude from the GPS sensor 213 at a predetermined time interval (step S105). The acceleration information acquisition unit 243 acquires acceleration from the acceleration sensor 211 at a predetermined time interval (step S106). The authentication image data generation unit 249 generates authentication image data at a predetermined time interval based on the captured image acquired from the camera 23. The predetermined time interval may be, for example, every 0.1 seconds. The authentication image data generating unit 249 may generate the authentication image data at a long time interval different from other sensing information, such as every minute. The driving situation data transmitting unit 246 acquires the vehicle information, the position information (latitude, longitude), the acceleration, and the authentication image data, and generates driving situation data including the information, the generation time of the driving situation data, and the ID of the drive recorder 2 (step S107). The driving situation data transmitting unit 246 requests the communication device 22 to transmit the driving situation data to the driving situation monitoring device 1. The communication device 22 transmits the driving situation data to the driving situation monitoring device 1 (step S108). The control device 24 determines whether the processing is completed (step S109), and repeats the processing from step S102 until the processing is completed.

[0022] FIG. 7 is a second diagram showing the process flow of the drive recorder. The drive recorder 2 performs an event detection process in parallel with the driving situation information transmission process. First, when the drive recorder 2 starts, the event detection unit 244 of the control device 24 acquires acceleration information from the acceleration information acquisition unit 243 at a predetermined time interval (step S201). The event detection unit 244 also acquires speed information from the vehicle information acquisition unit 241 at a predetermined time interval (step S202). The event detection unit 244 detects whether an event has occurred in the vehicle based on the time changes in the vehicle acceleration and speed (step S203). In this embodiment, an event is an event that indicates a dangerous occurrence. The detection of whether or not this event has occurred may be determined based on the driver's attributes.

[0023] Specifically, the event detection unit 244 acquires the above-mentioned operation condition data. The danger level information included in this operation condition data holds an operation flag for each acceleration corresponding to the danger level. Furthermore, the dangerous driving type information included in the operation condition data holds an operation flag for each acceleration direction condition and speed condition corresponding to the type of dangerous driving. The event detection unit 244 detects the occurrence of an event when the acceleration of the danger level indicated by the operation flag is "1" and coincides with the acceleration direction and speed conditions of the dangerous driving type indicated by the operation flag is "1". The event detection unit 244 may detect the occurrence of an event at least when the acceleration of the danger level indicated by the operation flag is "1" or when the acceleration of the danger level indicated by the operation flag is "1" and coincides with the acceleration direction and speed conditions of the dangerous driving type indicated by the operation flag is "1". The operation flags held in the danger level information and the dangerous driving type information are set according to the driver's attributes, so that the occurrence of an event can be detected based on the driver's attributes.

[0024] When the event detection unit 244 detects the occurrence of an event, it instructs the upload image generation unit 245 to generate upload image data. The upload image generation unit 245 acquires the captured image captured by the camera 23 of the drive recorder 2. When the upload image generation unit 245 receives a detection signal of the occurrence of an event from the event detection unit 244, it generates upload image data based on the acquired captured image (step S204). Specifically, the upload image generation unit 245 generates still images and videos of a predetermined playback time. The number of still images, the capture time based on the event occurrence time of the still images, the playback time of the videos, the time to match the video start timing based on the event occurrence time of the videos, and the like may be determined according to the driver's attributes. The upload image generation unit 245 temporarily stores the generated still images and videos, the generation time, and the upload image data including the ID of the drive recorder 2 (step S205). The upload image generation unit 245 may delete the upload image data that has been generated for a predetermined period of time, such as one week ago.

[0025] When the event detection unit 244 detects the occurrence of an event, it generates event data (step S206). The event data may include the acceleration and speed at the time when the event occurrence is detected, the event occurrence time, and the ID of the drive recorder 2. The event data may include vehicle position information (latitude, longitude) and other sensing information. The event data transmission unit 247 acquires the event data from the event detection unit 244. The event data transmission unit 247 instructs the communication device 22 to transmit the event data to the driving status monitoring device 1. The communication device 22 transmits the event data to the driving status monitoring device 1 (step S207). The control device 24 determines whether the process is completed (step S208), and repeats the process from step S202 until the process is completed.

[0026] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a process flow of the driving condition monitoring device. In the driving condition monitoring device 1, the sensing data acquisition unit 12 acquires the driving condition data transmitted by the vehicle's communication device 22 via the communication module 105 (step S301). The sensing data acquisition unit 12 also acquires the event data transmitted by the vehicle's communication device 22 via the communication module 105 (step S302). The driver ID identification unit 15 acquires authentication image data included in the driving condition data. The driver ID identification unit 15 generates facial feature information from an image included in the authentication image data. The driver ID identification unit 15 sequentially acquires information on combinations of driver IDs and facial feature information for multiple drivers recorded in advance in the database 104. The driver ID identification unit 15 calculates the degree of agreement between the facial feature information acquired from the database 104 and the facial feature information generated based on the authentication image data. A known calculation method may be used as the method for calculating the degree of agreement. The driver ID identification unit 15 performs authentication processing to identify one or more driver IDs associated with the facial feature information used to calculate the degree of match equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold from among the driver IDs acquired from the database 104. The driver ID identification unit 15 performs authentication processing to determine whether the driver ID has been identified based on the degree of match (step S303). Specifically, when there is one identified driver ID, if the degree of match calculated in identifying the driver ID is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the driver ID identification unit 15 identifies the driver ID and determines that the authentication has been successful (step S304). When there are multiple identified driver IDs, the driver ID identification unit 15 identifies one driver ID from among them and determines that the authentication has been successful. Specifically, the driver ID identification unit 15 calculates the average value of the degrees of match used to identify each driver ID for each driver ID. The driver ID identification unit 15 identifies the driver ID with the highest average degree of match as the driver ID of the driver who drives the vehicle. When the driver ID identification unit 15 identifies the driver ID corresponding to the driving situation data acquired from the drive recorder 2, the driver ID identification unit 15 outputs the driver ID to the recording unit 16. The recording unit 16 links the driver ID, the driving situation data, and the ID of the drive recorder 2 included in the driving situation data, and records them in the database 104 (step S305).

[0027] The dangerous driving data generating unit 13 detects the occurrence of an event in the vehicle equipped with the drive recorder 2 based on the event data (step S306). When the dangerous driving data generating unit 13 detects the occurrence of an event, it analyzes vehicle information at the event occurrence time based on the event occurrence time (step S307). For example, the event occurrence time may be one minute before and after the event occurrence time. The dangerous driving data generating unit 13 calculates the event occurrence time specified by each time one minute before and one minute after the event occurrence time, and extracts information at the event occurrence time (vehicle information, position information, acceleration, etc.) from the received driving situation data. The dangerous driving data generating unit 13 acquires the ID of the drive recorder 2 included in the event data. Furthermore, the dangerous driving data generating unit 13 reads the driver ID recorded in step S305 from the database 104 based on the ID of the drive recorder 2. The dangerous driving data generating unit 13 acquires analysis conditions that are previously stored in association with the ID of the drive recorder 2 and the driver ID. Since the analysis conditions are specified by the ID of the drive recorder 2 and the driver ID, it is possible to obtain analysis conditions according to, for example, the company or the individual driver who installs and uses the drive recorder 2 in the vehicle. The ID of the drive recorder 2 and the driver ID are one aspect of information indicating the driver attributes.

[0028] The dangerous driving data generating unit 13 analyzes the information extracted from the driving situation data based on the event occurrence time based on the analysis conditions (hereinafter, extracted information), and generates dangerous driving data as the analysis result (step S308). The analysis conditions include information used for analysis, information indicating the range of the value of the information, and information indicating the analysis method. The dangerous driving data generating unit 13 determines whether the extracted information is an important event as a result of analyzing the extracted information based on the analysis method indicated by the analysis conditions. As an example, the analysis conditions may be conditions specified by the above-mentioned operation condition data. When the extracted information includes acceleration with an operation flag of "1", the dangerous driving data generating unit 13 reads the vehicle speed at each time of a predetermined interval at the event occurrence time from the extracted information. The dangerous driving data generating unit 13 identifies the dangerous driving type based on the transition of the acceleration and speed at the event occurrence time. When the operation flag corresponding to the identified dangerous type indicates "1", the dangerous driving data generating unit 13 generates dangerous driving data including identification information of the dangerous type. The risky driving data may include the acceleration and speed at the time the event occurred, and other extracted information extracted from the driving situation data. The output unit 19 acquires the generated risky driving data. The output unit 19 links the risky driving data to the ID of the drive recorder 2 and the driver ID, and records it in a storage unit such as the database 104 (step S309).

[0029] Furthermore, the unsafe driving data generating unit 13 determines whether to upload images based on the identified risk type (step S310). The image upload determination condition is determined based on driver attributes such as the ID of the drive recorder 2 and the driver ID, and may be stored in advance in the driving status monitoring device 1. If the identified risk type is a risk type that requires image uploading, the unsafe driving data generating unit 13 outputs an image acquisition request including at least the ID of the drive recorder 2 and the event occurrence time to the image acquiring unit 14. When the image acquiring unit 14 receives the image acquisition request from the unsafe driving data generating unit 13, it transmits the image acquisition request via the communication module 105 to the communication address of the drive recorder 2 that is identified in advance in association with the ID of the drive recorder 2 (step S311).

[0030] The control device 24 of the drive recorder 2 receives the image acquisition request. Then, the upload image transmission unit 248 of the control device 24 specifies, from the upload image data generated by the upload image generation unit 245, the upload image data corresponding to the time included in the event occurrence time extracted from the image acquisition request from the temporarily stored upload image data. The upload image transmission unit 248 waits for transmission of the specified upload image data and temporarily stores it in a buffer or the like. As an example, when the electric system of the vehicle starts again and the driving situation monitoring device 1 is restarted, the upload image transmission unit 248 transmits the upload image data temporarily stored in the buffer and waiting to be transmitted to the driving situation monitoring device 1 via the communication device 22. The image acquisition unit 14 acquires the upload image data transmitted from the drive recorder 2 (step S312). The image acquisition unit 14 records the upload image data in association with the already generated dangerous driving data (step S313).

[0031] Through the above process, the driving condition monitoring device 1 can generate and store dangerous driving data and uploaded image data according to the driver attributes. According to the above process, the uploaded image data is data of some still images or moving images among the captured moving images generated according to the driver attributes. Therefore, the amount of uploaded image data transmitted to the driving condition monitoring device 1 can be reduced. Furthermore, the drive recorder 2 transmits the uploaded image data to the driving condition monitoring device 1 upon restart. Therefore, the uploaded image data, which may have a large capacity, can be transmitted to the driving condition monitoring device 1 during a time period when the vehicle is likely to be stopped and when the communication quality is likely to be stable due to the vehicle being stopped.

[0032] If the driver ID whose degree of coincidence or its average value is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value is not obtained in the process of step S303 described above, it is determined whether the authentication process has been performed a predetermined number of times (step S321). If the driver ID identification unit 15 has not performed the authentication process a predetermined number of times, it repeats the authentication process of step S303 using the authentication image data included in the next driving situation data. If the driver ID identification unit 15 has performed the authentication process a predetermined number of times or more, it determines that the authentication is unsuccessful (step S322). If it determines that the authentication is unsuccessful, the driver ID identification unit 15 generates a temporary ID (step S323). When the driver ID identification unit 15 generates the temporary ID, it outputs the driver ID to the recording unit 16. The recording unit 16 links the temporary ID, the driving situation data, and the ID of the drive recorder 2 included in the driving situation data, and records them in the database 104 (step S324). Then, the process proceeds to step S306.

[0033] The driver ID identification unit 15 notifies the administrator of the temporary ID generated in step S323 at a predetermined timing. For example, the driver ID identification unit 15 transmits screen information including the temporary ID and the recording destination URL of the driving situation data recorded in the database 104 in association with the temporary ID to the terminal screen of the administrator at a predetermined time. As a result, the screen information including the temporary ID and the recording destination URL is displayed on the terminal of the administrator. The administrator accesses the driving situation data based on the recording destination URL and displays images of the authentication image data and the uploaded image data included in the data. Based on the facial image in the image, the administrator determines whether the characteristic information of the facial image of the driver is a driver already recorded in the database 104. If the characteristic information of the facial image of the driver is already recorded in the database 104, the administrator performs an operation to rewrite the temporary ID recorded in the database 104 to the driver ID of the identified driver. The administrator may input the temporary ID and the driver ID into the driving condition monitoring device 1, and the driver ID identification unit 15 may perform a process of rewriting the temporary ID recorded in the database 104 based on the administrator's operation to the driver ID of the driver entered together with the temporary ID.

[0034] If the feature information of the driver's facial image is not recorded in the database 104, the administrator identifies the driver who appears in the image of the authentication image data or the uploaded image data, and issues a driver ID to the driver. The administrator performs an operation to rewrite the temporary ID recorded in the database 104 to the newly issued driver ID of the driver. The administrator may input the temporary ID and the newly issued driver ID to the driving status monitoring device 1, and the driver ID identification unit 15 may perform a process to rewrite the temporary ID recorded in the database 104 to the driver ID of the driver input together with the temporary ID based on the administrator's operation.

[0035] According to the above-mentioned process, the driving condition monitoring device 1 can identify the ID of the driver based on the received authentication image data. This allows the driving condition monitoring device 1 to recognize the ID of the driver without the driver having to actively perform an operation such as inserting a memory card into the drive recorder 2 to make the drive recorder 2 recognize the identification information such as the driver's ID. Furthermore, by linking the driver ID identified based on the captured image of the driver to the driving status data and uploaded image data and recording them in database 104, it is possible to prevent fraudulent acts such as entering an ID of a person other than the actual driver into the drive recorder 2, thereby erroneously or falsifying the ID of a different person and linking the driving status data to the database 104. In addition, even if the driver's ID cannot be identified from the authentication image data based on the driver's captured image, a temporary ID will be issued and notified to the administrator, so that the administrator can link the appropriate driver ID to driving status data, etc. and record it. Then, the driving conditions of each driver who drives each of the multiple vehicles can be monitored, and the data obtained from the drive recorder 2 for each driver can be managed with high accuracy.

[0036] The warning information generating unit 18 of the driving status monitoring device 1 generates warning information including at least the risk type identified by the risky driving data generating unit 13 and the ID of the drive recorder 2 that transmitted the driving status data (step S314). The output unit 19 acquires the warning information generated by the warning information generating unit 18. The output unit 19 transmits the warning information to a communication address of the drive recorder 2 that is specified in advance in association with the ID of the drive recorder 2 via the communication module 105 (step S315). The drive recorder 2 receives the warning information. When the drive recorder 2 receives the warning information, it may output according to the risk type included in the warning information. For example, the drive recorder 2 emits a sound or voice according to the risk type. This makes it possible to issue a warning to the user according to the risk type.

[0037] The report generating unit 17 of the driving status monitoring device 1 determines whether to generate report data at a predetermined timing (step S316), and generates report data according to the driver when the predetermined timing is reached (step S317). The report data is generated, for example, once a day at a predetermined time such as 24:00. As a specific example of generating a report, the report generating unit 17 acquires the ID, dangerous driving data, and uploaded image data of the drive recorder 2 linked to one driver ID recorded in a storage unit such as the database 104. The report generating unit 17 acquires report generation conditions stored in advance based on at least one of the driver ID and the ID of the drive recorder 2. The report generation conditions include information such as the type of information to be included in the report and the destination of the report. The report generating unit 17 generates report data based on the report generation conditions. The report data includes, for example, idling time indicating the time from the start of the vehicle included in the vehicle information, a radar chart according to the occurrence frequency of each danger type, scores calculated by the report generation unit 17 based on the danger types and their occurrence frequencies, and danger rankings compiled by the report generation unit 17 according to the scores. When the report data is generated, the output unit 19 acquires the report data and transmits it to a destination address based on the corresponding driver ID or drive recorder 2 ID (step S318). The control unit 11 of the driving status monitoring device 1 determines whether the process is completed (step S319), and repeats the process from step S302 until the process is completed.

[0038] Through the above processing, the driving condition monitoring device 1 can generate report data according to the driver attributes and transmit it to a desired destination.

[0039] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a minimum configuration of the driving condition monitoring device. As shown in this figure, the driving condition monitoring device 1 may include at least a sensing data acquisition unit 12, a driver ID identification unit 15, and a recording unit 16. The sensing data acquisition unit 12 acquires driving condition data indicating the captured image of the driver and the driving condition from each of a plurality of drive recorders 2 that are communicatively connected. The driver ID identification unit 15 performs authentication based on information about the driver included in multiple images in the captured images to determine whether the driver matches a driver previously stored. If the authentication is successful, the driver ID identification unit 15 identifies the driver ID. The recording unit 16 records the driving condition data transmitted from the drive recorder 2 in association with the driver ID identified based on the captured image corresponding to the driving condition data.

[0040] The driving condition monitoring device 1 and the control device 24 of the drive recorder 2 each have a computer system therein. The above-mentioned processes are stored in a computer-readable recording medium in the form of a program, and the above processes are performed by the computer reading and executing the program.

[0041] The above program may be for implementing some of the above-mentioned functions, or may be a so-called differential file (differential program) that can implement the above-mentioned functions in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system. [Explanation of symbols]

[0042] 1. Operation status monitoring device 2. Drive recorder 11. Control section 12 Sensing data acquisition section 13. Dangerous driving data generation section 14. Image acquisition section 15 Driver ID identification unit 16. Recording section 17 Report generation section 18...Warning information generation section 19. Output section 21 Sensor 22. Communication equipment 23. Camera 24. Control device 25...Storage device 211 Acceleration sensor 212 Sound detection sensor 213 GPS sensor 241 Vehicle information acquisition unit 242...Location information acquisition unit 243...Acceleration information acquisition unit 244 Event detection unit 245 Upload image generator 246 Driving condition data transmission unit 247 Event data transmission unit 248 Upload image sending section

Claims

1. An acquisition means for acquiring an image of a driver who drives a vehicle from a drive recorder mounted in the vehicle through communication; An identification means for performing a first identification process for identifying the identification information of the driver displayed on the image from among pre-registered drivers based on information including information input by an administrator; A generating means for generating report data corresponding to the identified driver; A driving status monitoring device comprising:

2. The generating means generates the report data based on the type and the number of occurrences of the danger that occurred during the driving of the identified driver. The driving condition monitoring device according to claim 1.

3. the generating means generates the report data including information on a score calculated based on the type of risk and the number of occurrences, and information on a ranking calculated according to the score. The driving condition monitoring device according to claim 2.

4. The generating means acquires a pre-stored generating condition including a condition for a type of information to be included in the report data based on the identification information of the driver, and generates the report data based on the acquired generating condition. The driving condition monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. the identification means performs a second identification process to identify identification information of the driver from information of the driver registered in advance by an authentication process based on the acquired image, performing the first identification process when the identification information is not identified by the second identification process; The driving condition monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. a recording means for recording driving situation data indicating a driving situation of the vehicle and the identification information of the specified driver in association with each other; and a risky driving data generating means for generating risky driving data including information on a type of risk that occurred during driving of the vehicle by analyzing the recorded driving situation data. The generating means generates the report data based on the generated risky driving data. The driving condition monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. the risky driving data generation means acquires pre-stored analysis conditions, including at least one of a condition for information to be used in the analysis, a condition for a range indicated by a value of the information to be used in the analysis, and a condition for an analysis method, based on the identification information of the driver, and generates the risky driving data by analyzing the driving situation data based on the acquired analysis conditions. The driving condition monitoring device according to claim 6.

8. A driving condition monitoring system having a drive recorder and a driving condition monitoring device mounted on a vehicle, The driving condition monitoring device includes: An acquisition means for acquiring an image of a driver who drives the vehicle from the drive recorder through communication; An identification means for performing a first identification process for identifying identification information of the driver displayed on the image from among pre-registered drivers based on information including information input by an administrator; A generating means for generating report data corresponding to the identified driver. Driving condition monitoring system.

9. An image of a driver of a vehicle is acquired from a drive recorder installed in the vehicle via communication; performing a first identification process for identifying identification information of the driver displayed in the image from among pre-registered drivers based on information including information input by an administrator; Generate report data corresponding to the identified driver. A driving condition monitoring method comprising:

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