Driving information output device, driving information output system, driving information output method, and program

Abstract

In order to acquire an image suitable for driving instruction while reducing the image acquisition load, and to use the acquired image to output information relating to the driving of the driver of a vehicle, a driving information output device according to the present invention comprises: a communication means that communicates with an image acquisition device mounted on a vehicle; an information acquisition means that acquires, from the image acquisition device via the communication means, an image that satisfies image acquisition conditions including at least one of an image acquisition position, an image acquisition time, and a vehicle operating status and a vehicle surrounding environment at the time of image acquisition; a driving information generation means that generates driving information, which is information regarding the driving of the driver of the vehicle, on the basis of the acquired image; and an output means that outputs the driving information.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to information relating to a vehicle, and in particular to information for the driver of the vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] A technique has been proposed for providing information related to the driver's driving using images captured by a drive recorder (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] The dangerous driving analysis device described in Patent Document 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as the "dangerous driving analysis device") receives video, driving information, operation information, and location information from an information acquisition device. The dangerous driving analysis device then uses the acquired video and other information to determine whether or not safe driving standards are met, and extracts dangerous driving that does not meet the safe driving standards. In Patent Document 1, the safe driving standards include the relative distance to an object and the time to collision. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2015-038773 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Generally, when an accident occurs, there is a lot of risky driving that did not lead to an accident (for example, near-miss driving). In addition, there is even more risky driving that is not clearly risky but has the potential to lead to an accident (hereafter referred to as "potentially risky driving").

[0006] Therefore, when using video to instruct safe vehicle driving, it is better to use video of potentially dangerous driving, rather than just video of driving that resulted in an accident (hereinafter referred to as "accident driving") or dangerous driving.

[0007] However, the video captured by a drive recorder is a large amount of data containing multiple images. Therefore, acquiring all images contained in the video captured by the drive recorder would require a huge amount of communication traffic or storage capacity. Furthermore, in the case of a company, the number of vehicles (i.e., drive recorders) to be managed is not limited to one. Therefore, acquiring all images contained in the video captured by the drive recorder would be a heavy load and difficult to implement in practice.

[0008] In addition, in general, most driving is normal driving, not accident driving, dangerous driving, or potentially dangerous driving. Images captured during normal driving are not suitable for teaching safe driving. In other words, most of the images captured by a drive recorder are images (images) that are not suitable for teaching safe driving. Therefore, it is not efficient to capture all the images (images) from the drive recorder.

[0009] Therefore, it is desirable to acquire images suitable for safe driving instruction from an image acquisition device mounted on a vehicle, such as a drive recorder, while reducing the burden of acquiring images.

[0010] The technology described in Patent Document 1 transmits all images and the like from an information acquisition device to a dangerous driving analysis device. Then, the dangerous driving analysis device extracts dangerous driving that does not meet safe driving standards based on the images and the like. Thus, Patent Document 1 has a problem in that it cannot reduce the load of acquiring images.

[0011] Furthermore, the technology described in Patent Document 1 extracts information corresponding to dangerous driving based on relative distance, etc. However, the technology described in Patent Document 1 does not extract information related to driving that does not rise to the level of dangerous driving but should be used to teach safe driving (for example, potentially dangerous driving).

[0012] As described above, the technology described in Patent Document 1 has a problem in that it is not possible to acquire images from the drive recorder that are suitable for providing guidance on safe driving.

[0013] The object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and provide a driving information output device that acquires images suitable for driving instruction while reducing the burden of acquiring images, and outputs information related to the driving of a vehicle driver using the acquired images. [Means for solving the problem]

[0014] In one embodiment of the present invention, a driving information output device includes: A communication means for communicating with an image capture device mounted on a vehicle; an information acquisition means for acquiring, from the image acquisition device via a communication means, an image that satisfies an image acquisition condition including at least one of an image acquisition position, an image acquisition time, and an operating state of the vehicle and a surrounding environment of the vehicle at the time of image acquisition; a driving information generating means for generating driving information related to the driving of the driver of the vehicle based on the acquired image; An output means for outputting driving information; Includes.

[0015] In one embodiment of the present invention, a driving information output system includes: The driving information output device, an image acquisition device that outputs an image to a driving information output device; A display device that displays the driving information output by the driving information output device; Includes.

[0016] A driving information output method according to one embodiment of the present invention includes: Communicating with an image capture device mounted on the vehicle; acquiring, from the image acquisition device, an image that satisfies an image acquisition condition including at least one of an image acquisition position, an image acquisition time, and an operating state of the vehicle and a surrounding environment of the vehicle at the time of acquiring the image; generating driving information related to the driving of a driver of the vehicle based on the acquired image; Outputs operation information.

[0017] A driving information output method according to one embodiment of the present invention includes: A driving information output device executes the driving information output method described above, The image acquisition device outputs an image to the driving information output device, The display device displays the driving information output by the driving information output device.

[0018] A recording medium according to one embodiment of the present invention includes: communicating with an image capture device mounted on the vehicle; A process of acquiring an image from an image acquisition device that satisfies an image acquisition condition including at least one of an image acquisition position, an image acquisition time, and an operating state of the vehicle and an environment surrounding the vehicle at the time of image acquisition; A process of generating driving information related to the driving of a driver of the vehicle based on the acquired image; Outputting driving information A program that causes a computer to execute the above is recorded. Effect of the Invention

[0019] According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain images suitable for driving instruction while reducing the burden of obtaining images, and to provide information related to the driver's driving using the obtained images. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a driving information output system according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display of information related to image acquisition conditions. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a display of driving information. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a specific configuration of the driving information output system. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 shows an example of the correspondence between the display name and the condition value. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence between image acquisition conditions and diagnostic criteria. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram showing an example of the operation of the driving information output device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the driving information output system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a driving information output device. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a driving information output device according to the second embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a driving information output system including a driving information output device according to the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0021] [Related technologies] Before describing the embodiments of the present invention, techniques related to the embodiments will be described.

[0022] As a method for reducing the amount of data acquired from a drive recorder, a method of acquiring randomly selected images from images included in the video acquired by the drive recorder (hereinafter referred to as the "first related method") is envisioned. However, in general, many of the images acquired by drive recorders are not suitable for providing guidance on safe driving. Therefore, the first related method often fails to acquire images suitable for providing guidance on safe driving.

[0023] In the first related method, it is assumed that the number of images acquired from the drive recorder is increased so that images suitable for safe driving instruction can be acquired. However, many of the images acquired by the drive recorder are images that are not suitable for safe driving instruction. Therefore, in the first related method, in order to acquire images suitable for safe driving instruction, it is necessary to acquire a significantly larger number of images than the images required for instruction. In other words, in this case, the first related method cannot reduce the load of acquiring images.

[0024] Alternatively, a method (hereinafter referred to as the "second related method") is envisaged in which the drive recorder stores the conditions for the images to be transmitted, selects images from the captured footage that correspond to the stored conditions, and outputs the selected images to a designated device.

[0025] However, the situations in which safe driving instruction is required are usually not one but multiple. Furthermore, the situations in which instruction is required are not necessarily fixed. In addition, the situations in which instruction is required may require a combination of multiple conditions.

[0026] Therefore, in the second related method, when the drive recorder outputs images that satisfy all conditions corresponding to the situation, the drive recorder needs to output many images. In this case, the second related method cannot reduce the load of outputting images (i.e., the load of acquiring images).

[0027] On the other hand, if the conditions for the images output from the drive recorder are narrowed, the output images are often insufficient for guidance. In other words, in this case, the second related method cannot obtain images suitable for guidance.

[0028] Based on the configuration and operation described below, an embodiment of the present invention acquires images suitable for driving instruction while reducing the burden of acquiring images, and provides information related to the driving of a vehicle driver using the acquired images.

[0029] Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0030] The drawings are intended to explain embodiments of the present invention. However, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to those described in the drawings. In addition, the same numbers are used for similar configurations in the drawings, and repeated explanations may be omitted.

[0031] <First embodiment> The first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0032] [Configuration Description] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a driving information output system 10 according to the first embodiment.

[0033] The driving information output system 10 includes a driving information output device 100 , an image acquisition device 200 , an input device 300 , and a display device 400 .

[0034] The image capture device 200 is mounted on a vehicle (not shown) and continuously captures and stores a plurality of images of a road on which the vehicle is traveling, etc.

[0035] The images captured by the image capture device 200 may be either still images or moving images. Alternatively, the images captured by the image capture device 200 may include both still images and moving images. Furthermore, when the image capture device 200 captures moving images, the frame rate of the moving images may be fixed or variable.

[0036] Note that the image acquisition device 200 may acquire images intermittently at predetermined intervals or based on predetermined conditions, rather than continuously.

[0037] Additionally, the image capture device 200 may capture images that include multiple images (eg, a front image, a rear image, and an interior image).

[0038] Furthermore, the image capturing device 200 may capture audio in the image. For example, the image capturing device 200 may capture a moving image including at least one of audio inside the vehicle and audio outside the vehicle as an image.

[0039] Furthermore, the image capture device 200 captures information related to driving at the time the image was captured (hereinafter referred to as "driving-related information"), and stores the driving-related information in association with the image.

[0040] Driving-related information is information related to the vehicle and driver at the time the image was acquired, and includes at least one of the location at which the image was acquired, the time at which the image was acquired, and the operating state of the vehicle and the surrounding environment of the vehicle at the time the image was acquired.

[0041] The image capture position is the position of the vehicle when the image capture device 200 captures the image. For example, the capture position is latitude and longitude. The capture position may include information other than latitude and longitude, such as the altitude of the vehicle.

[0042] The image acquisition time is the time when the image acquisition device 200 acquires the image. The acquisition time may be a time period with a certain range, such as a time period. Furthermore, the unit of the acquisition time is not limited to hours, minutes, and seconds, but may be a predetermined unit of time, such as days, weeks, months, seasons, and years.

[0043] The vehicle operation state is information related to the operation of the vehicle in which the image capture device 200 is mounted (for example, at least one of information related to the running of the vehicle and information related to the operation of the vehicle).

[0044] The information related to the vehicle's driving may be any information related to the vehicle's driving and stopping state and changes in driving. For example, the information related to the vehicle's driving may be at least one of the vehicle's speed, acceleration, traveling direction, vehicle inclination, and distance to adjacent vehicles. For example, if the image capture device 200 includes a sensor (e.g., an accelerometer or a distance meter), the image capture device 200 may include a value detected by the sensor (e.g., acceleration or distance to adjacent vehicles) in the driving-related information.

[0045] The information related to the vehicle operation is information related to the driving operation of the driver of the vehicle, such as the operation of the steering wheel, the operation of the pedals (accelerator and brake), the operation of the levers (shift lever, turn signal lever, wiper lever, etc.), and the opening and closing of the doors.

[0046] The surrounding environment of the vehicle is the environment around the vehicle when the image was acquired (e.g., the weather (e.g., temperature and humidity), the type of road, or the congestion state). For example, if the vehicle is equipped with a thermometer / hygrometer, the image acquisition device 200 may acquire the measurement value of the thermometer / hygrometer. Alternatively, if the vehicle is equipped with an Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) on-board unit, the image acquisition device 200 may acquire information about the road on which the vehicle is traveling from the ECT on-board unit. Alternatively, the image acquisition device 200 may determine the congestion state using at least one of the change in acceleration acquired from an accelerometer and the frequency of use of the accelerator and brake acquired from the vehicle.

[0047] In addition, when audio can be acquired, the image acquisition device 200 may include the audio as the surrounding environment of the vehicle. For example, when a video with audio of at least one of the inside and outside of the vehicle is acquired as an image, the image acquisition device 200 may include the audio acquired together with the image in the driving-related information.

[0048] Then, the image acquisition device 200 stores the image and the driving-related information in association with each other.

[0049] Furthermore, the image acquisition device 200 outputs at least a part of the driving-related information to the driving information output device 100.

[0050] The image acquisition device 200 may output the driving-related information at any timing. For example, the image acquisition device 200 may output the driving-related information when acquiring each image. Alternatively, the image acquisition device 200 may output the unoutputted driving-related information to the driving information output device 100 at a predetermined cycle or when a predetermined condition is satisfied. For example, the image acquisition device 200 may output the unoutputted driving-related information to the driving information output device 100 at a predetermined cycle. Alternatively, the image acquisition device 200 may output the unoutputted driving-related information to the driving information output device 100 when connected to a predetermined network.

[0051] Alternatively, the image acquisition device 200 may output the driving-related information based on an instruction from a user.

[0052] Furthermore, when the image acquisition device 200 acquires a predetermined condition (hereinafter referred to as "image acquisition condition") from the driving information output device 100, the image acquisition device 200 selects an image that satisfies the acquired image acquisition condition, and outputs the selected image to the driving information output device 100. The image acquisition condition will be described in further detail later.

[0053] The image acquisition device 200 may be any image acquisition device mounted on a vehicle. For example, the image acquisition device 200 may be a drive recorder installed for the purpose of recording the situation when a car accident occurs. Alternatively, the image acquisition device 200 may be a camera (for example, a spherical camera) that captures the scenery around the vehicle.

[0054] In addition, the image acquisition device 200 may output to the driving information output device 100 an image acquired when a certain condition is satisfied, in addition to outputting an image corresponding to the image acquisition conditions acquired from the driving information output device 100.

[0055] For example, the image capture device 200 may output an image captured when the absolute value of the vehicle acceleration is equal to or greater than a threshold value and driving-related information of the image to the driving information output device 100. Hereinafter, this image will be referred to as a "pre-output image."

[0056] The input device 300 outputs to the driving information output device 100 instructions from a user (eg, instructions related to image acquisition conditions).

[0057] The display device 400 displays information related to the driving of the driver of the vehicle output by the driving information output device 100 (hereinafter referred to as "driving information"). When the driving information output device 100 outputs driving information and an image corresponding to the driving information, the display device 400 may display the image corresponding to the driving information in addition to the driving information. The driving information will be described in more detail later.

[0058] The display device 400 may obtain information related to an instruction from a user from the driving information output device 100 and display the information.

[0059] The input device 300 and the display device 400 may be any device that can realize the above functions.

[0060] The input device 300 is, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, or a touchpad.

[0061] The display device 400 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, an organic electroluminescence display, or electronic paper.

[0062] The input device 300 and the display device 400 may be included in one device, not separate devices. For example, the input device 300 and the display device 400 may be realized using a computer device equipped with a liquid crystal display, a keyboard, and a mouse. Alternatively, the input device 300 and the display device 400 may be realized using a tablet terminal equipped with a touch panel composed of a touch pad and a liquid crystal display.

[0063] The driving information output device 100 acquires driving-related information from the image acquisition device 200. The driving information output device 100 stores the acquired driving-related information.

[0064] Then, the driving information output device 100 generates image acquisition conditions used to acquire images from the image acquisition device 200 based on the driving-related information.

[0065] The image acquisition conditions are conditions used for selecting an image in the image acquisition device 200. Therefore, the image acquisition conditions are conditions corresponding to at least some of the items included in the driving-related information. In other words, the image acquisition conditions include at least one of the image acquisition position, the image acquisition time, and the vehicle operation state and the vehicle surrounding environment when the image is acquired.

[0066] The image acquisition conditions will be further explained later.

[0067] In generating the image acquisition conditions, the driving information output device 100 may acquire instructions from a user through a predetermined device (for example, the input device 300) and generate the image acquisition conditions in response to the acquired instructions.

[0068] Alternatively, the driving information output device 100 may acquire at least some or all of the image acquisition conditions from a predetermined device (for example, the input device 300). Therefore, in the following description, the generation of the image acquisition conditions includes the acquisition of the image acquisition conditions.

[0069] When obtaining instructions from a user related to the generation of image acquisition conditions or when obtaining image acquisition conditions, the driving information output device 100 may output information related to the image acquisition conditions to a specific device (e.g., the display device 400).

[0070] An example of the operation in this case will be described using the input device 300 and the display device 400.

[0071] The display device 400 acquires information related to the image acquisition conditions from the driving information output device 100. Then, the display device 400 displays the acquired information.

[0072] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display of information related to image acquisition conditions.

[0073] In FIG. 2, the display device 400 displays options related to time, date, location, and weather as information related to image acquisition conditions.

[0074] Then, the user operates the input device 300 (e.g., a mouse) to select a desired item from the options (in FIG. 2, a black square indicates a selected item), and confirms the selected item as an image acquisition condition (e.g., by clicking "Select").

[0075] The input device 300 outputs the determined item to the driving information output device 100.

[0076] The driving information output device 100 acquires the determined items from the input device 300. Then, the driving information output device 100 generates image acquisition conditions using the acquired items.

[0077] 2, for example, the driving information output device 100 acquires "early morning", "late night", "rain", and "intersection" as instructions related to the image acquisition conditions. Then, the driving information output device 100 generates image acquisition conditions for acquiring images corresponding to the acquired instructions.

[0078] Based on such an operation, the driving information output device 100 can use image acquisition conditions that flexibly correspond to the desires of the user or the like.

[0079] Returning to the explanation with reference to FIG.

[0080] The driving information output device 100 specifies image acquisition conditions and requests the image acquisition device 200 to provide an image.

[0081] Then, the driving information output device 100 acquires an image that satisfies the image acquisition condition from the image acquisition device 200. The driving information output device 100 may acquire images from a plurality of image acquisition devices 200. For example, the driving information output device 100 may output the same image acquisition condition to a plurality of image acquisition devices 200, and acquire images that satisfy the same image acquisition condition from each of the plurality of image acquisition devices 200.

[0082] Then, the driving information output device 100 generates information related to the driving of the driver of the vehicle (driving information) using the acquired images. When images are acquired from a plurality of image acquisition devices 200, the driving information output device 100 may generate driving information corresponding to each image.

[0083] The driving information is used for driving instruction. In other words, the images acquired based on the image acquisition conditions are images for generating driving information to be used for driving instruction. Therefore, the image acquisition conditions are conditions for acquiring images appropriate for driving instruction. For example, the image acquisition conditions are conditions for acquiring images related to potentially dangerous driving.

[0084] Then, the driving information output device 100 outputs the generated driving information to a predetermined device (for example, the display device 400). In addition to the driving information, the driving information output device 100 may output an image corresponding to the driving information (for example, a part or all of the image used to generate the driving information).

[0085] As already explained, the display device 400 then displays the acquired driving information (and image).

[0086] The method of displaying the driving information (and images) on the display device 400 is arbitrary. The user may appropriately determine the method of displaying the driving information (and images) on the display device 400.

[0087] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a display of driving information.

[0088] In Fig. 3, display device 400 displays, as an example of driving information, a radar chart of a predetermined state (e.g., the state of the driver and the state of the vehicle) included in the driving information in the upper right. Also, in Fig. 3, display device 400 displays, as an example of driving information, a predetermined comment on the above state (e.g., indicators of safe driving and areas for improvement) in the lower right. Furthermore, in Fig. 3, display device 400 displays, in the upper left, an image (e.g., a video) corresponding to the driving information.

[0089] In Fig. 3, display device 400 displays a list of selectable videos in the lower left corner. The user, for example, operates input device 300 to select a video to be played from the list of videos in the lower left corner (the video shown as a black circle in Fig. 3 is the selected video), and clicks "Play" to view the video.

[0090] The display device 400 may provide a part or all of the driving information and / or the display content to the driver. For example, the display device 400 may print out the display content. Alternatively, the display device 400 may output a part or all of the driving information and / or the display content to a portable device of the driver.

[0091] The driving information output device 100 may provide the driving information to the driver.

[0092] The driving-related information does not include images. Therefore, the amount of data of the driving-related information is much smaller than that of images. As a result, the load of acquiring the driving-related information in the driving information output device 100 is much smaller than that of acquiring an image.

[0093] Furthermore, the driving information output device 100 acquires images that satisfy the image acquisition conditions from the image acquisition device 200. In other words, the driving information output device 100 acquires a portion of images that are appropriate for driving instruction, rather than all images, from the image acquisition device 200. Therefore, the driving information output device 100 reduces the load of acquiring images compared to when acquiring all images.

[0094] Furthermore, the image acquisition conditions are conditions for acquiring images suitable for driving instruction. Therefore, the driving information output device 100 acquires images suitable for driving instruction using the image acquisition conditions. Then, the driving information output device 100 generates information related to the driving of the driver of the vehicle (driving information) using the acquired images. In other words, the driving information output device 100 generates driving information using images suitable for driving instruction.

[0095] Then, the driving information output device 100 outputs the driving information to a predetermined device (for example, the display device 400).

[0096] In this way, the driving information output device 100 acquires images appropriate for driving instruction while reducing the load of acquiring images, and outputs information related to the driving of the driver of the vehicle (driving information) using the acquired images.

[0097] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a specific configuration of the driving information output system 10. As shown in FIG.

[0098] In Fig. 4, the driving information output system 10 includes a server 810 as the driving information output device 100, a drive recorder 820 as the image acquisition device 200, and a terminal device 830 as the input device 300 and the display device 400. Furthermore, in Fig. 4, the driving information output system 10 includes a vehicle 870 as a moving body that moves with the drive recorder 820 mounted thereon. Furthermore, in Fig. 4, the driving information output system 10 includes a network 890 as a communication path connecting each device. Note that Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a case where a plurality of drive recorders 820 are used.

[0099] The network 890 is a communication path that connects each device.

[0100] A vehicle 870 is equipped with a drive recorder 820 and travels on a road.

[0101] The drive recorder 820 acquires and stores images of the road and driving-related information corresponding to the images. Furthermore, the drive recorder 820 outputs the driving-related information to the server 810.

[0102] Incidentally, drive recorder 820 is generally mounted inside (inside) vehicle 870. However, in order to make drive recorder 820 easier to understand, Fig. 2 illustrates drive recorder 820 adjacent to the outside of vehicle 870. Incidentally, drive recorder 820 may be mounted outside (outside) vehicle 870.

[0103] The server 810 obtains driving-related information from the drive recorder 820 and stores it.

[0104] Then, the server 810 generates image acquisition conditions based on the driving-related information. At this time, the server 810 may acquire instructions from the user related to the image acquisition conditions from the terminal device 830. Furthermore, the server 810 may output information related to the instructions to the terminal device 830.

[0105] Then, the server 810 uses the image acquisition conditions to acquire images from the drive recorder 820. The server 810 may acquire images from multiple drive recorders 820.

[0106] Then, the server 810 uses the acquired images to generate information related to the driving of the driver of the vehicle (driving information).

[0107] Then, the server 810 outputs the generated driving information to the terminal device 830. The server 810 may output to the terminal device 830 an image corresponding to the generated driving information.

[0108] The terminal device 830 displays the driving information acquired from the server 810. When the server 810 outputs the driving information and the image, the terminal device 830 displays the driving information and the image acquired from the server 810.

[0109] There are no particular limitations on the server 810, the drive recorder 820, the terminal device 830, the vehicle 870, and the network 890. Generally available products may be used as these components. Therefore, detailed descriptions of these components will be omitted.

[0110] Returning to the explanation with reference to FIG.

[0111] Next, the configuration of the driving information output device 100 will be described.

[0112] The driving information output device 100 includes a communication unit 110 , an information acquisition unit 120 , a related information storage unit 130 , an image storage unit 140 , a driving information generation unit 150 , and an output unit 160 .

[0113] The communication unit 110 relays communication between the image acquisition device 200 and the information acquisition unit 120. The image acquisition device 200 and the information acquisition unit 120 may operate asynchronously. In that case, the communication unit 110 may operate as a buffer (a buffer device) in the transfer of data between the image acquisition device 200 and the information acquisition unit 120.

[0114] The information acquisition unit 120 acquires driving-related information from the image acquisition device 200 via the communication unit 110. The information acquisition unit 120 stores the acquired driving-related information in the related information storage unit .

[0115] The related information storage unit 130 stores driving related information.

[0116] Furthermore, the information acquiring unit 120 generates image acquiring conditions for acquiring an image from the image acquiring device 200 .

[0117] The image acquisition conditions are conditions used for selecting an image in the image acquisition device 200, and correspond to at least some of the items included in the driving-related information. In other words, the image acquisition conditions include at least one of the image acquisition position, the image acquisition time, and the vehicle operation state and the vehicle surrounding environment when the image is acquired.

[0118] The method for generating the image acquisition conditions is arbitrary.

[0119] For example, the information acquiring unit 120 may set items stored in advance or items included in the acquired driving-related information as the image acquisition conditions.

[0120] Alternatively, the information acquisition unit 120 may select an item to be used as an image acquisition condition from items stored in advance or items included in the acquired driving-related information based on a predetermined rule, and set the selected item as the image acquisition condition.

[0121] For example, the information acquisition unit 120 may select items to be used as image acquisition conditions according to seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter) or calendar months. For example, the driving information generation unit 150 may use items related to snowfall and freezing as image acquisition conditions in winter, and items related to heavy rain and thunderstorms as image acquisition conditions in summer.

[0122] The acquired images are used for driving instruction. Therefore, it is desirable that the image acquisition conditions are appropriate conditions for driving instruction. For example, the image acquisition conditions are conditions that enable acquisition of images related to potentially dangerous driving. Specifically, for example, the image acquisition conditions are that the image is acquired in the early morning or late night, or that the image is acquired at an intersection. Alternatively, the image acquisition condition is that the absolute value of the acceleration is greater than a predetermined threshold. However, the image acquisition conditions are not limited to the above.

[0123] Alternatively, in generating the image acquisition conditions, the information acquisition unit 120 may acquire instructions from a user related to the generation of the image acquisition conditions from a predetermined device (e.g., the input device 300) and generate the image acquisition conditions in response to the acquired instructions. For example, when a "rainfall time period" is acquired from the input device 300 as an instruction from a user related to the generation of the image acquisition conditions, the information acquisition unit 120 generates the image acquisition conditions based on the acquired "rainfall time period".

[0124] In this case, the information acquiring unit 120 may generate image acquisition conditions from a display name acquired as an instruction from a user, based on the correspondence between a predetermined display name and a specific value as the image acquisition condition.

[0125] FIG. 5 shows an example of the correspondence between the display name and the condition value. (1) The time period category is a display name related to the time period during which the image capture device 200 captured an image. (2) The weather category is a display name related to the weather when the image capture device 200 captured the image. (3) Location category is a display name associated with the location where image capture device 200 captured an image. (4) The duty category is a display name related to the driving duty of the driver of the vehicle in which the image acquisition device 200 is mounted. (5) The category of driving scene is a display name related to the surrounding environment of the vehicle in which the image acquisition device 200 is mounted.

[0126] For example, when "morning" is acquired from the input device 300 as an instruction from the user, the information acquiring unit 120 uses "from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m." as the image acquisition condition. That is, in this case, the information acquiring unit 120 acquires images acquired from the image acquiring device 200 from "5:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m."

[0127] Alternatively, when "consecutive work days" is acquired from the input device 300 as an instruction from the user, the information acquisition unit 120 uses, for example, "days on which the driver worked three or more consecutive days" as an image acquisition condition. The source of information regarding the driver's work is arbitrary. For example, the information acquisition unit 120 acquires the days on which the driver worked three or more days from the driver's work management system. Then, the information acquisition unit 120 acquires images for the acquired days from the image acquisition device 200.

[0128] Alternatively, when "bicycle" is acquired from the input device 300 as an instruction from the user, the information acquisition unit 120 uses the location "around the school" and the time period of "school arrival time and school departure time" as the image acquisition conditions. More specifically, for example, the information acquisition unit 120 acquires from the image acquisition device 200 an image that satisfies the following two conditions. (1) Surroundings of the school: For example, locations within a circle with a radius of 1 km centered on the school. (2) School arrival time (e.g., 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.) and school dismissal time (e.g., 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.).

[0129] The information acquiring unit 120 may use a combination of multiple display names, not limited to one. For example, the information acquiring unit 120 may use the image acquisition conditions of "evening" and "rain" (i.e., conditions for acquiring images between 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM and when the amount of precipitation is 1 mm or more).

[0130] 5 is an example of a display name. The driving information output device 100 may use a display name different from that in FIG.

[0131] For example, the display name of the weather may be a display name related to temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind speed, etc. in addition to the display names shown in Fig. 5. Alternatively, the display name of the location may be the type of road (municipal road, prefectural road, national road, and expressway). Alternatively, the display name of the location may be other information related to the road on which the vehicle is traveling (for example, the number of lanes or one-way).

[0132] Note that the condition values ​​shown in Fig. 5 are just an example. The information acquisition unit 120 may use different condition values ​​for the display names shown in Fig. 5.

[0133] Returning to the explanation with reference to FIG.

[0134] The information acquisition unit 120 may acquire at least a part or all of the image acquisition conditions from a predetermined device (for example, the input device 300). Therefore, as already described, in the description of this embodiment, the generation of the image acquisition conditions includes the acquisition of the image acquisition conditions.

[0135] Alternatively, when the driving information output device 100 acquires a pre-output image from the image acquisition device 200, the information acquisition unit 120 may use at least a part of the driving-related information of the pre-output image (e.g., the acquisition position of the pre-output image) as the image acquisition condition.

[0136] When acquiring instructions from a user related to the generation of image acquisition conditions or acquiring image acquisition conditions, the information acquisition unit 120 may output information related to the image acquisition conditions to a specified device (e.g., a display device 400) via the output unit 160.

[0137] For example, the information acquiring section 120 may store items that can be used as image acquiring conditions in advance, and output the stored items to the display device 400.

[0138] Alternatively, the information acquiring unit 120 may extract items included in the acquired driving-related information and output the extracted items to the display device 400.

[0139] The images acquired using the image acquisition conditions are used to generate driving information. Therefore, if the number of images is small, the accuracy of the generated driving information may be low. Conversely, if the number of images is large, the processing load for generating the driving information increases. Therefore, it is desirable that the number of images acquired is within a certain range. The number of images, in the case of images, is, for example, the number of images or the amount of image data, and in the case of video, is, for example, the number of video clips, the amount of video data, or the duration of the video.

[0140] Therefore, the information acquiring section 120 may check the number of images that satisfy the image acquiring condition before acquiring the images.

[0141] An example of the operation in this case will be described using the input device 300 and the display device 400.

[0142] The information acquiring unit 120 outputs items that can be used as image acquiring conditions to the display device 400. The display device 400 displays the acquired items (see FIG. 2, for example).

[0143] The user uses the input device 300 to specify image acquisition conditions to the information acquisition unit 120 .

[0144] The information acquiring unit 120 acquires the number of images that satisfy the image acquisition conditions specified by the user from the image acquisition device 200. Then, the information acquiring unit 120 outputs the acquired number of images to the display device 400. The display device 400 displays the number of images.

[0145] The user checks the number of images displayed on display device 400. Then, if the number of images is not the desired number, the user changes the image acquisition conditions. Information acquisition unit 120 acquires the number of images that satisfy the changed image acquisition conditions from image acquisition device 200, and outputs the acquired number of images to display device 400. Display device 400 displays the number of images.

[0146] The user changes the image acquisition conditions until the number of images reaches the desired number. Then, when the number of images reaches the desired number, the user uses the input device 300 to instruct the information acquisition unit 120 to use the image acquisition conditions that result in the desired number.

[0147] The information acquisition unit 120 uses the image acquisition conditions designated by the user as the image acquisition conditions to be output to the image acquisition device 200 .

[0148] In this way, the information acquiring unit 120 can use image acquiring conditions that can acquire the number of images desired by a user, etc. In other words, the information acquiring unit 120 can generate image acquiring conditions that can acquire the number of images appropriate for driving instruction.

[0149] Then, the information acquiring unit 120 outputs the generated image acquiring conditions to the image acquiring device 200 via the communication unit 110.

[0150] When there are multiple image acquisition devices 200, the information acquisition unit 120 may output the image acquisition conditions to all the image acquisition devices 200. Alternatively, the information acquisition unit 120 may output the image acquisition conditions to a predetermined image acquisition device 200 or an image acquisition device 200 corresponding to a predetermined instruction (e.g., an instruction from a user).

[0151] When outputting image acquisition conditions to a plurality of image acquisition devices 200, the information acquisition section 120 may output the same image acquisition conditions to all of the image acquisition devices 200. Alternatively, the information acquisition section 120 may output different image acquisition conditions to at least some of the image acquisition devices 200. In this case, the information acquisition section 120 may generate image acquisition conditions to be output to each of the image acquisition devices 200 based on an instruction from a user.

[0152] Then, the information acquisition unit 120 acquires, via the communication unit 110, from the image acquisition device 200, an image that satisfies the image acquisition conditions.

[0153] The information acquisition unit 120 may limit the images acquired from the image acquisition device 200. For example, the information acquisition unit 120 may acquire a preset number of images in accordance with a predetermined rule. For example, the information acquisition unit 120 may acquire a predetermined number of images starting from the most recently acquired image. Alternatively, the information acquisition unit 120 may acquire a predetermined number of images so that they are evenly distributed in a predetermined period of time.

[0154] When acquiring images from multiple image acquisition devices 200, the information acquisition section 120 may acquire the same number of images from all image acquisition devices 200, or may acquire different numbers of images from at least some of the image acquisition devices 200.

[0155] In addition, a driver may drive multiple vehicles. Therefore, the information acquisition unit 120 may acquire images corresponding to the driver from multiple image acquisition devices 200 based on information related to the driver's work (for example, the vehicle driven by the driver and the date and time), and may compile the acquired images as images corresponding to the driver.

[0156] Alternatively, multiple drivers may drive the same vehicle. In this case, the information acquisition unit 120 may divide the images acquired from one image acquisition device 200 into images corresponding to each of the multiple drivers based on information related to the driver's work (e.g., the vehicle driven by the driver and the date and time).

[0157] Then, the information acquiring unit 120 stores the acquired image in the image storing unit 140 .

[0158] The image storage unit 140 stores the images.

[0159] The information acquisition unit 120 may output the acquired image to the driving information generation unit 150.

[0160] The driving information generating unit 150 generates information (driving information) related to the driving of the driver of the vehicle equipped with the image acquisition device 200, using the images stored in the image storing unit 140. The driving information generating unit 150 may use the driving-related information stored in the related information storing unit 130 to generate the driving information.

[0161] In addition, when the image includes a plurality of images (for example, a front image, a rear image, and an image of the inside of the vehicle), the driving information generating unit 150 may generate the driving information by combining all the images. Alternatively, the driving information generating unit 150 may generate the driving information by using one or a part of the images.

[0162] The driving information is information related to the driver's driving, and in particular, information used to instruct the driver on driving. The specific content of the driving information may be determined by the user or the like in accordance with the driving to be instructed.

[0163] The driving instruction is not limited to safe driving instruction. For example, the driving instruction may be instruction for understanding the characteristics of a vehicle model (e.g., the position of a blind spot) or the characteristics of a device (e.g., the braking performance) when a new vehicle model or device is introduced.

[0164] In addition, the method of generating the driving information in the driving information generating unit 150 is arbitrary and may be determined in accordance with the driving instruction. For example, the user of the driving information output system 10 determines the method in advance and sets it in the driving information generating unit 150.

[0165] For example, the driving information is the driver's state (the state of the driver when the driver is driving the vehicle) and the state of the vehicle (hereinafter collectively referred to as the "driving state").

[0166] For example, the driving information generating unit 150 may generate at least one of the driver's eye movement, blink frequency, head movement, steering wheel operation frequency, and lever operation frequency as the driver's state using an image of the inside of the vehicle. If the image includes audio, the driving information generating unit 150 may generate at least one of the duration and frequency of conversation, and the frequency of honking the horn.

[0167] The driving information generating unit 150 may further calculate the detailed state of the driver using the generated information. For example, the driving information generating unit 150 may calculate at least one of the driver's wakefulness, attention to the surroundings, concentration on driving, and frequency of looking away, using the movement of the line of sight, the frequency of blinking, and the movement of the head.

[0168] Alternatively, the driving information generating unit 150 may use an image to generate at least one of the following information as the vehicle status: whether the legal speed limit is being exceeded, the acceleration state (sudden acceleration, sudden deceleration, sudden steering, etc.), the distance between vehicles, and information related to cutting in.

[0169] The driving information generating unit 150 may extract an image corresponding to the generated driving state from the images. For example, the driving information generating unit 150 may output an image that satisfies a predetermined condition in the driving information (for example, the vehicle distance is shorter than a threshold value or the acceleration is greater than a threshold value).

[0170] The driving information generating unit 150 may generate driving information corresponding to each image by using a plurality of images acquired from a plurality of image acquiring devices 200. Furthermore, the driving information generating unit 150 may compare a plurality of pieces of driving information.

[0171] For example, if the driver of each vehicle is fixed for each vehicle, the image acquired from each image acquisition device 200 corresponds to the driver who drives the vehicle in which each image acquisition device 200 is installed. Therefore, the driving information generated by the driving information generating unit 150 corresponds to each driver. As a result, the comparison of the driving information is a comparison of the driving of the drivers. In other words, the driving information generating unit 150 may compare the driving information corresponding to each of the multiple drivers and generate information (for example, a comparison result) for comparing the driving of the drivers.

[0172] For example, the driving information generating unit 150 may calculate the difference between the driving state included in the driving information of a certain driver and the driving state included in the driving information of another driver (e.g., the difference in the time the speed limit is exceeded, or the difference in the frequency of sudden acceleration and sudden deceleration).

[0173] When there are multiple drivers, the driving time and driving position of each driver are different. Therefore, for example, even if images of multiple drivers are acquired at the same acquisition time over a certain period of time (e.g., several months), many of the images will be from different driving locations. In such cases, it is difficult to compare the driving conditions of the drivers.

[0174] However, in the driving information output device 100, the information acquisition unit 120 can acquire images that satisfy an image acquisition condition that is a combination of multiple items from multiple image acquisition devices 200. For example, the information acquisition unit 120 can acquire images that have the same combination of acquisition time, weather, and location from multiple image acquisition devices 200. In this way, the information acquisition unit 120 can acquire images that correspond to roughly the same conditions for multiple drivers.

[0175] Then, the driving information generating unit 150 can generate driving information of a plurality of drivers using a plurality of images, and compare the generated plurality of pieces of driving information.

[0176] Therefore, the driving information output device 100 can output information for comparing the driving conditions of drivers.

[0177] Alternatively, the driving information generating unit 150 may store driving information corresponding to exemplary driving conditions in advance, and generate information (e.g., a comparison result) for comparing the exemplary driving information with the generated driving information.

[0178] In addition, even if the driver is not fixed to the vehicle, if the information acquisition unit 120 acquires an image corresponding to the driver, the driving information generation unit 150 can generate driving information corresponding to the driver using the image corresponding to the driver.

[0179] Furthermore, the driving information generating unit 150 may generate driving information for a preset set of images (e.g., a set of images corresponding to a group of drivers). In this case, the driving information generating unit 150 may generate driving information for each of the multiple sets. Furthermore, the driving information generating unit 150 may generate information (e.g., a comparison result) for comparing multiple pieces of driving information for the multiple sets generated. In other words, the driving information generating unit 150 may generate information (e.g., a comparison result) for comparing driving information between groups of drivers.

[0180] Furthermore, the driving information generating unit 150 may generate the driving information using diagnostic criteria corresponding to the image acquisition conditions.

[0181] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence between image acquisition conditions and diagnostic criteria.

[0182] For example, in the case of driving instruction for snowy conditions, the information acquisition unit 120 acquires an image using "snow" as an image acquisition condition. In this case, the driving information generation unit 150 uses "inter-vehicle distance" as a diagnostic criterion corresponding to "snow". As the inter-vehicle distance to be used for diagnosis, the driving information generation unit 150 may acquire the inter-vehicle distance from the driving-related information, for example, or may calculate the inter-vehicle distance by applying a predetermined image processing to the acquired image.

[0183] Alternatively, in the case of driving instruction in the early morning, the information acquisition unit 120 acquires images using "early morning" as an image acquisition condition. Then, the driving information generation unit 150 uses "alertness" as a diagnostic criterion corresponding to "early morning". In this case, the driving information generation unit 150 calculates the driver's line of sight, blinking frequency, and head movement using, for example, an image of the inside of the vehicle, and calculates the alertness based on the calculated line of sight, blinking frequency, and head movement.

[0184] In this manner, the driving information output device 100 may acquire images that satisfy image acquisition conditions appropriate for driving instruction, and generate driving information using the acquired images and diagnostic criteria appropriate for driving instruction.

[0185] The driving information generating unit 150 may use other diagnostic criteria in addition to the diagnostic criteria corresponding to the image acquisition conditions.

[0186] For example, in the case of driving instruction for when it snows, the information acquisition unit 120 acquires images using "snow" as the image acquisition condition. Then, the driving information generation unit 150 may generate driving information using an image corresponding to the image acquisition condition "snow", the diagnostic criterion "distance between vehicles" corresponding to the image acquisition condition "snow", and the diagnostic criterion "frequency of cutting in" that does not necessarily correspond to the image acquisition condition "snow". In this case as well, the driving information output device 100 can generate appropriate driving information using images as instruction for the driver.

[0187] 6 is an example of the image acquisition conditions and diagnostic criteria. The driving information generating unit 150 may use image acquisition conditions and diagnostic criteria other than those shown in FIG.

[0188] Returning to the explanation with reference to FIG.

[0189] The driving information generating unit 150 may use driving-related information in generating the driving information.

[0190] Alternatively, the driving information generating unit 150 may store the generated driving information as a history, and generate statistical driving information using the driving information history.

[0191] Furthermore, the driving information generating unit 150 may generate a safe driving index for the driver based on the driving state (at least one of the state of the driver and the state of the vehicle).

[0192] Based on such an operation, the driving information output device 100 can provide a safe driving indicator to the driver of the vehicle.

[0193] The safe driving indicators are arbitrary and may be set by the user in accordance with the driving style to be taught.

[0194] For example, the driving information generating unit 150 may calculate how much more or less the frequency of speed changes is compared to a predetermined value (e.g., the frequency in average driving) as an index of safe driving. Alternatively, the driving information generating unit 150 may calculate the ratio of time during which the inter-vehicle distance is shorter than a safe distance in each speed zone as an index of safe driving. Alternatively, the driving information generating unit 150 may generate the ratio of "time of potentially dangerous driving" to "total driving time" as an index of safe driving. Alternatively, the driving information generating unit 150 may generate the frequency of "potentially dangerous driving" in a predetermined period as an index of safe driving.

[0195] The driving information generating unit 150 may use classified indices. The classified indices are arbitrary. For example, the driving information generating unit 150 may use "high risk, medium risk, low risk" as classes for the driving risk. In this case, the driving information generating unit 150 may determine the risk class corresponding to the driving information based on, for example, the frequency of "potentially dangerous driving" in a predetermined period.

[0196] As described above, the information acquisition unit 120 may acquire a plurality of images and generate a plurality of pieces of driving information. In this case, the driving information generation unit 150 may generate information (e.g., a comparison result) for comparing the generated plurality of pieces of driving information, and generate a safe driving index for each piece of driving information using the generated information (e.g., the comparison result).

[0197] Then, the driving information generating unit 150 outputs the generated driving information via the output unit 160 to a predetermined device (for example, the display device 400).

[0198] The driving information generating unit 150 may output an image related to the driving information to a predetermined device (e.g., the display device 400). For example, the driving information generating unit 150 may output an image in which a predetermined condition is met in the driving information (e.g., the vehicle distance is shorter than a threshold value or the acceleration is greater than a threshold value).

[0199] Alternatively, the driving information generating unit 150 may output at least one of an index generated based on the driving information and information for comparing a plurality of pieces of driving information (for example, a comparison result) to a predetermined device (for example, the display device 400). In this case, the predetermined device (for example, the display device 400) may display at least one of the index and the information for comparison (for example, the comparison result).

[0200] The output unit 160 relays communication between each component (the information acquisition unit 120 and the driving information generation unit 150) and a predetermined device (for example, the display device 400).

[0201] [Explanation of operation] Next, the operation of the driving information output device 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0202] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram showing an example of the operation of the driving information output device 100 according to the first embodiment.

[0203] The information acquisition unit 120 acquires driving-related information from the image acquisition device 200 via the communication unit 110 (step S101). The information acquisition unit 120 stores the acquired driving-related information in the related information storage unit .

[0204] The information acquisition unit 120 generates image acquisition conditions. Then, the information acquisition unit 120 specifies the image acquisition conditions via the communication unit 110 and requests an image from the image acquisition device 200 (step S102). The information acquisition unit 120 may use driving-related information in generating the image acquisition conditions, or may acquire at least a part of the image acquisition conditions or instructions related to the image acquisition conditions from a predetermined device (e.g., the input device 300). Furthermore, the information acquisition unit 120 may output information related to the instructions to a predetermined device (e.g., the display device 400) via the output unit 160.

[0205] Then, the information acquiring unit 120 acquires an image that satisfies the image acquisition condition from the image acquiring device 200 via the communication unit 110 (step S103). The information acquiring unit 120 stores the acquired image in the image storage unit 140.

[0206] The driving information generating unit 150 generates the driving information using the image (step S104). The driving information generating unit 150 may use driving-related information in generating the driving information.

[0207] Then, the driving information generating unit 150 outputs the driving information to a predetermined device (for example, the display device 400) via the output unit 160 (step S105). The driving information generating unit 150 may output an image corresponding to the driving information.

[0208] Next, the operation of the driving information output system 10 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0209] FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the driving information output system 10 according to the first embodiment.

[0210] The image capture device 200 captures images and driving-related information (S111).

[0211] The image acquisition device 200 outputs the driving-related information to the driving information output device 100 (S112).

[0212] The driving information output device 100 generates image acquisition conditions using the driving-related information (S113). The driving information output device 100 may use the input device 300 and the display device 400 in generating the image acquisition conditions.

[0213] The driving information output device 100 specifies the image acquisition conditions and requests the image acquisition device 200 for an image (S114).

[0214] The image acquisition device 200 outputs the image that satisfies the image acquisition condition to the driving information output device 100 (S115).

[0215] The driving information output device 100 generates driving information using the images acquired from the image acquisition device 200 (S116).

[0216] The driving information output device 100 outputs the generated driving information to the display device 400 (S117).

[0217] The display device 400 displays the driving information output by the driving information output device 100 (S118).

[0218] [Effect description] Next, the effects of the driving information output device 100 according to the first embodiment will be described.

[0219] The driving information output device 100 according to the first embodiment can obtain the effect of obtaining images suitable for driving instruction while reducing the burden of obtaining images, and providing information related to the driving of the vehicle driver using the obtained images.

[0220] The reasons are as follows:

[0221] The driving information output device 100 includes a communication unit 110, an information acquisition unit 120, a driving information generation unit 150, and an output unit 160. The communication unit 110 communicates with an image acquisition device 200 mounted on a vehicle. The information acquisition unit 120 acquires an image that satisfies an image acquisition condition including at least one of an image acquisition position, an image acquisition time, and an operating state of the vehicle and a surrounding environment of the vehicle at the time of image acquisition from the image acquisition device 200 via the communication unit 110. The driving information generation unit 150 generates driving information, which is information related to the driving of the driver of the vehicle, based on the acquired image. The output unit 160 outputs the driving information.

[0222] As described above, the information acquisition unit 120 acquires images that satisfy the image acquisition conditions from the image acquisition device 200 via the communication unit 110. The image acquisition conditions are conditions for acquiring images appropriate for driving instruction. Therefore, the information acquisition unit 120 can acquire desired images as images appropriate for driving instruction via the communication unit 110. Furthermore, the driving information output device 100 can restrict the acquisition of undesired images.

[0223] Based on such an operation, the driving information output device 100 acquires images suitable for driving instruction while reducing the load of acquiring images.

[0224] The image acquisition conditions include at least one of the image acquisition position, the image acquisition time, and the vehicle operation state and the vehicle surrounding environment when the image is acquired.

[0225] Furthermore, the driving information generating unit 150 generates driving information using the image acquired from the image acquiring device 200. Then, the driving information generating unit 150 outputs the generated driving information to a predetermined device (for example, the display device 400) via the output unit 160.

[0226] Based on such an operation, the driving information output device 100 can generate information (driving information) related to the driving of the driver of the vehicle using an image suitable for driving instruction, and can provide the generated driving information. In other words, the driving information output device 100 can output suitable driving information.

[0227] Furthermore, the information acquisition unit 120 acquires driving-related information including at least one of an image acquisition position, an image acquisition time, and an operating state of the vehicle and a surrounding environment of the vehicle when the image is acquired from the image acquisition device 200 via the communication unit 110. Then, the information acquisition unit 120 may generate image acquisition conditions based on the acquired driving-related information.

[0228] Based on such an operation, the driving information output device 100 can determine appropriate image acquisition conditions for the image acquired by the image acquisition device 200.

[0229] Furthermore, the driving information generating unit 150 may generate at least one of the driver's state and the vehicle state as the driving information.

[0230] Based on such operations, the driving information output device 100 can provide driving information related to at least one of the driver's state and the vehicle state.

[0231] Furthermore, the driving information generating unit 150 may generate a safe driving index for the driver based on at least one of the driver's state and the vehicle state.

[0232] Based on such an operation, the driving information output device 100 can provide an index used for instructing the driver on safe driving.

[0233] Furthermore, the information acquiring unit 120 may acquire a plurality of images from a plurality of image acquiring devices 200. Then, the driving information generating unit 150 may generate a plurality of pieces of driving information using the acquired plurality of images, and generate information (e.g., a comparison result) for comparing the generated plurality of pieces of driving information.

[0234] Based on such an operation, the driving information output device 100 can provide information (for example, a comparison result) for comparing a plurality of drivers as driving guidance.

[0235] Furthermore, the driving information generating unit 150 may generate the driving information using diagnostic criteria corresponding to the image acquisition conditions.

[0236] Based on such an operation, the driving information output device 100 generates appropriate driving information as driving information corresponding to the acquired image.

[0237] Furthermore, the information acquiring unit 120 may acquire at least a part of the image acquisition conditions from a predetermined device (for example, the input device 300). Alternatively, the information acquiring unit 120 may acquire instructions from a user related to the generation of the image acquisition conditions from a predetermined device (for example, the input device 300), and generate the image acquisition conditions in response to the acquired instructions.

[0238] Based on such an operation, the information acquisition unit 120 can acquire an image desired by the user, etc. In this case, the driving information generation unit 150 generates driving information corresponding to the image desired by the user, etc. As a result, the driving information output device 100 can output driving information flexibly corresponding to the user's wishes, etc.

[0239] The driving information output system 10 includes a driving information output device 100, an image acquisition device 200, and a display device 400. The driving information output device 100 operates as described above. The image acquisition device 200 outputs an image to the driving information output device 100. The display device 400 displays the driving information output by the driving information output device 100.

[0240] Based on the above configuration, the driving information output system 10 provides driving information by using an appropriate image from among the images acquired by the image acquisition device 200.

[0241] Furthermore, the driving information output system 10 includes an input device 300. The input device 300 outputs, to the driving information output device 100, at least a part of the image acquisition conditions or instructions from a user related to the generation of the image acquisition conditions.

[0242] Based on the above configuration, the driving information output system 10 provides driving information corresponding to an image desired by a user, etc. In other words, the driving information output system 10 can output driving information that flexibly corresponds to the desires of a user, etc.

[0243] In the second related method, conditions for outputting images are set for the drive recorder. Therefore, when changing the images output by the drive recorder, the user or the like needs to change the conditions for outputting images in all drive recorders.

[0244] However, the driving information output system 10 can flexibly change the image conditions for generating driving information based on the above configuration.

[0245] It should be noted that the first related method does not allow the image output by the drive recorder to be changed.

[0246] [Hardware configuration] Next, the hardware configuration of the driving information output device 100 will be described.

[0247] Each component of the driving information output device 100 may be configured as a hardware circuit.

[0248] Alternatively, each component of the driving information output device 100 may be configured using a plurality of devices connected via a network. For example, the driving information output device 100 may be configured using cloud computing.

[0249] Alternatively, in the driving information output device 100, a plurality of components may be configured as a single piece of hardware.

[0250] The driving information output device 100 may be realized as a computer device including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The driving information output device 100 may be realized as a computer device including a network interface circuit (NIC) in addition to the above configuration.

[0251] FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the driving information output device 100. As shown in FIG.

[0252] The driving information output device 100 includes a CPU 610, a ROM 620, a RAM 630, a storage device 640, and a NIC 650, and constitutes a computer device.

[0253] The CPU 610 reads a program from at least one of the ROM 620 and the storage device 640. Then, the CPU 610 controls the RAM 630, the storage device 640, and the NIC 650 based on the read program. Then, the computer including the CPU 610 controls these configurations and realizes each function as the communication unit 110, the information acquisition unit 120, the related information storage unit 130, the image storage unit 140, the driving information generation unit 150, and the output unit 160 shown in FIG.

[0254] When implementing each function, the CPU 610 may use at least one of the RAM 630 and the storage device 640 as a temporary storage medium for programs and data.

[0255] Furthermore, the CPU 610 may read the program contained in the recording medium 690 that stores the program in a computer-readable manner, using a recording medium reading device (not shown). Alternatively, the CPU 610 may obtain the program from an external device (not shown) via the NIC 650, store the obtained program in the RAM 630 or the storage device 640, and operate based on the stored program.

[0256] The ROM 620 stores fixed data and programs executed by the CPU 610. The ROM 620 is, for example, a P-ROM (Programmable ROM) or a flash ROM.

[0257] The RAM 630 temporarily stores programs and data executed by the CPU 610. The RAM 630 is, for example, a dynamic RAM (D-RAM).

[0258] The storage device 640 stores data and programs that are to be stored long-term by the driving information output device 100. The storage device 640 operates as the related information storage unit 130 and the image storage unit 140. The storage device 640 may also operate as a temporary storage device for the CPU 610. The storage device 640 is, for example, a hard disk device, a magneto-optical disk device, an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a disk array device.

[0259] The ROM 620 and the storage device 640 are non-volatile (non-transitory) recording media. On the other hand, the RAM 630 is a volatile (transitory) recording medium. The CPU 610 can operate based on a program stored in the ROM 620, the storage device 640, or the RAM 630. In other words, the CPU 610 can operate using a non-volatile recording medium or a volatile recording medium.

[0260] The NIC 650 relays data exchange with external devices (the image acquisition device 200, the input device 300, and the display device 400) via the network. The NIC 650 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) card. Furthermore, the NIC 650 is not limited to being wired, and may be wireless.

[0261] The driving information output device 100 in FIG. 9 configured in this manner can obtain the same effects as those of the driving information output device 100 in FIG.

[0262] The reason is that the CPU 610 of the driving information output device 100 can realize the same functions as the driving information output device 100 of FIG. 1 based on a program.

[0263] At least one of the input device 300 and the display device 400 may be configured using the computer device shown in FIG. 9 or cloud computing.

[0264] Alternatively, the image acquisition device 200 may be configured using a computer device as shown in FIG.

[0265] <Second embodiment> The driving information output device 100 may use an external device (eg, a storage device) not shown as the related information storage unit 130 and the image storage unit 140.

[0266] In these cases, the driving information output device 100 does not need to include the related information storage unit 130 and the image storage unit 140.

[0267] Alternatively, the information acquisition unit 120 may output the acquired image to the driving information generation unit 150.

[0268] Alternatively, the information acquiring unit 120 may acquire and store the image acquiring conditions in advance. In this case, the information acquiring unit 120 does not need to be connected to the input device 300.

[0269] Therefore, as a second embodiment, an embodiment for the above case will be described.

[0270] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a driving information output device 101 according to the second embodiment.

[0271] The driving information output device 101 includes a communication unit 110, an information acquisition unit 120, a driving information generation unit 150, and an output unit 160. The communication unit 110 communicates with an image acquisition device 200 mounted on a vehicle. The information acquisition unit 120 acquires an image that satisfies an image acquisition condition including at least one of an image acquisition position, an image acquisition time, and an operating state of the vehicle and a surrounding environment of the vehicle when acquiring the image, from the image acquisition device 200 via the communication unit 110. The driving information generation unit 150 generates driving information that is information related to the driving of the driver of the vehicle based on the acquired image. The output unit 160 outputs the driving information.

[0272] The driving information output device 101 configured in this manner can obtain the same effect as the driving information output device 100. That is, the driving information output device 101 can obtain the effect of obtaining images appropriate for driving instruction while reducing the load of obtaining images, and providing information related to the driving of the driver of the vehicle using the obtained images.

[0273] The driving information output device 101 may be realized using a computer device shown in FIG.

[0274] The driving information output device 101 is the minimum configuration of the driving information output device 100 of the first embodiment.

[0275] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a driving information output system 11 including a driving information output device 101 according to the second embodiment.

[0276] The driving information output system 11 includes a driving information output device 101, an image acquisition device 200, and a display device 400. The driving information output device 101 operates as described above. The image acquisition device 200 outputs an image to the driving information output device 100. The display device 400 displays the driving information output by the driving information output device 100.

[0277] The driving information output system 11 configured in this manner can obtain the same effects as the driving information output system 10 of the first embodiment.

[0278] The driving information output system 11 is a minimum configuration of the driving information output system 10 of the first embodiment.

[0279] A part or all of the above-described embodiments can be described as, but is not limited to, the following supplementary notes.

[0280] (Appendix 1) A communication means for communicating with an image capture device mounted on a vehicle; an information acquisition means for acquiring, from the image acquisition device via a communication means, an image that satisfies an image acquisition condition including at least one of an image acquisition position, an image acquisition time, and an operating state of the vehicle and a surrounding environment of the vehicle at the time of image acquisition; a driving information generating means for generating driving information related to the driving of the driver of the vehicle based on the acquired image; An output means for outputting driving information; A driving information output device comprising:

[0281] (Appendix 2) The information acquisition means acquires driving-related information including at least one of an image acquisition position, an image acquisition time, and an operating state of the vehicle and a surrounding environment of the vehicle at the time of image acquisition from the image acquisition device via the communication means, and generates image acquisition conditions based on the acquired driving-related information. 2. A driving information output device according to claim 1.

[0282] (Appendix 3) The driving information generating means generates at least one of the driver's state and the vehicle state as the driving information. 3. A driving information output device according to claim 1 or 2.

[0283] (Appendix 4) The driving information generating means generates a safe driving index for the driver using at least one of the driver's state and the vehicle state. 4. A driving information output device according to claim 3.

[0284] (Appendix 5) The information acquisition means acquires a plurality of images from a plurality of image acquisition devices; The driving information generating means generates a plurality of pieces of driving information using the plurality of acquired images, and generates information for comparing the plurality of pieces of generated driving information. 5. A driving information output device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

[0285] (Appendix 6) The driving information generating means generates driving information using diagnostic criteria corresponding to the image acquisition conditions. 6. A driving information output device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

[0286] (Appendix 7) The information acquisition means acquires at least a part of the image acquisition conditions from a predetermined device, or acquires instructions from a user related to the generation of the image acquisition conditions from the predetermined device, and generates the image acquisition conditions corresponding to the acquired instructions. 7. A driving information output device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

[0287] (Appendix 8) A driving information output device according to any one of appendix 1 to 7, an image acquisition device that outputs an image to a driving information output device; A display device that displays the driving information output by the driving information output device; A driving information output system including:

[0288] (Appendix 9) A driving information output device according to appendix 7; an image acquisition device that outputs an image to a driving information output device; A display device that displays the driving information output by the driving information output device; an input device for outputting at least a part of image acquisition conditions or instructions from a user related to generation of the image acquisition conditions to the driving information output device; A driving information output system including:

[0289] (Appendix 10) Communicating with an image capture device mounted on the vehicle; acquiring, from the image acquisition device, an image that satisfies an image acquisition condition including at least one of an image acquisition position, an image acquisition time, and an operating state of the vehicle and a surrounding environment of the vehicle at the time of acquiring the image; generating driving information related to the driving of a driver of the vehicle based on the acquired image; Output operation information Driving information output method.

[0290] (Appendix 11) Acquire driving-related information from the image acquisition device, the driving-related information including at least one of an image acquisition position, an image acquisition time, and an operating state of the vehicle and a surrounding environment of the vehicle at the time of image acquisition, and generate image acquisition conditions based on the acquired driving-related information. 11. The driving information output method according to claim 10.

[0291] (Appendix 12) At least one of the driver's state and the vehicle state is generated as driving information. 12. The driving information output method according to claim 10 or 11.

[0292] (Appendix 13) Using at least one of the driver's state and the vehicle's state, a safe driving index is generated for the driver. 13. The driving information output method according to claim 12.

[0293] (Appendix 14) Acquiring a plurality of images from a plurality of image acquisition devices; A plurality of pieces of driving information are generated using the plurality of acquired images, and information for comparing the plurality of pieces of generated driving information is generated. 14. A driving information output method according to any one of claims 10 to 13.

[0294] (Appendix 15) Generate driving information using diagnostic criteria corresponding to image acquisition conditions A driving information output method according to any one of appendix 10 to 14.

[0295] (Appendix 16) Acquire at least some image acquisition conditions from a predetermined device, or acquire instructions from a user related to generation of image acquisition conditions from the predetermined device, and generate image acquisition conditions in response to the acquired instructions. A driving information output method according to any one of appendix 10 to 15.

[0296] (Appendix 17) A driving information output device executes the driving information output method described in any one of appendices 10 to 16, The image acquisition device outputs an image to the driving information output device, The display device displays the driving information output by the driving information output device. Driving information output method.

[0297] (Appendix 18) A driving information output device executes the driving information output method described in Supplementary Note 16, The image acquisition device outputs an image to the driving information output device, A display device displays the driving information output by the driving information output device, The input device outputs at least a part of the image acquisition conditions or an instruction from a user related to generation of the image acquisition conditions to the driving information output device. Driving information output method.

[0298] (Appendix 19) communicating with an image capture device mounted on the vehicle; A process of acquiring an image from an image acquisition device that satisfies an image acquisition condition including at least one of an image acquisition position, an image acquisition time, and an operating state of the vehicle and an environment surrounding the vehicle at the time of image acquisition; A process of generating driving information related to the driving of a driver of the vehicle based on the acquired image; Outputting driving information A recording medium for recording a program that causes a computer to execute the above.

[0299] (Appendix 20) A process of acquiring driving-related information including at least one of an image acquisition position, an image acquisition time, and an operating state of the vehicle and a surrounding environment of the vehicle at the time of image acquisition from an image acquisition device, and generating an image acquisition condition based on the acquired driving-related information. 20. A recording medium according to claim 19, which records a program for causing a computer to execute the above.

[0300] (Appendix 21) A process for generating at least one of a driver's state and a vehicle state as driving information. 21. A recording medium according to claim 19 or 20, which records a program for causing a computer to execute the above.

[0301] (Appendix 22) A process for generating a safe driving index for a driver using at least one of a driver's state and a vehicle state. 22. A recording medium according to claim 21, which records a program for causing a computer to execute the above.

[0302] (Appendix 23) Acquiring a plurality of images from a plurality of image acquisition devices; A process of generating a plurality of pieces of driving information using a plurality of acquired images and generating information for comparing the generated plurality of pieces of driving information. 23. A recording medium according to any one of appendices 19 to 22, recording a program for causing a computer to execute the above.

[0303] (Appendix 24) Processing to generate driving information using diagnostic criteria corresponding to image acquisition conditions 24. A recording medium according to any one of appendices 19 to 23, which records a program for causing a computer to execute the above.

[0304] (Appendix 25) A process of acquiring at least some image acquisition conditions from a predetermined device, or a process of acquiring instructions from a user related to generation of image acquisition conditions from a predetermined device and generating image acquisition conditions in response to the acquired instructions. 25. A recording medium according to any one of appendices 19 to 24, which records a program for causing a computer to execute the above.

[0305] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. Various modifications that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0306] 10 Driving information output system 11 Driving information output system 100 Driving information output device 101 Driving information output device 110 Communications Department 120 Information Acquisition Department 130 Related Information Storage Department 140 Image Storage Unit 150 Driving information generation unit 160 Output section 200 Image acquisition device 300 Input Device 400 display device 610 CPU 620 ROM 630 RAM 640 Storage device 650NIC 690 Recording media 810 Server 820 Drive Recorder 830 Terminal Equipment 870 vehicles 890 Network

Claims

1. A communication means for communicating with an image capture device mounted on a vehicle; an information acquisition means for acquiring, from the image acquisition device via the communication means, an image that satisfies an image acquisition condition including at least one of an image acquisition position, an image acquisition time, and an operating state of the vehicle and a surrounding environment of the vehicle at the time of image acquisition; a driving information generating means for generating driving information related to the driving of the driver of the vehicle based on the acquired image; an output means for outputting the driving information; Including, The information acquisition means includes: acquiring driving-related information, which is information related to the vehicle and the driver of the vehicle at the time when the image acquisition device acquired the image, via the communication means; generating the image acquisition condition based on the driving-related information; outputting the image acquisition conditions to the image acquisition device via the communication means; and The information acquisition means, in generating the image acquisition conditions, Outputting items that can be used as the image acquisition conditions; acquiring the image acquisition conditions from a user; Acquire from the image acquisition device a number of images that satisfy the image acquisition conditions specified by a user; outputting a quantity of images acquired from the image acquisition device; Repeating the acquisition of the image acquisition conditions, the acquisition of the number of images, and the output of the number of images until an instruction to use the image acquisition conditions is acquired from a user; The communication means outputs the generated image acquisition condition when the information acquisition means acquires an instruction to use the image acquisition condition from a user. Driving information output device.

2. The driving-related information includes at least one of an image capture position, an image capture time, and an operating state of the vehicle and a surrounding environment of the vehicle at the time of image capture. The driving information output device according to claim 1 .

3. The driving information generating means generates at least one of a state of the driver and a state of the vehicle as the driving information. The driving information output device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The driving information generating means generates a safe driving index for the driver using at least one of a state of the driver and a state of the vehicle. The driving information output device according to claim 3.

5. the information acquisition means acquires a plurality of images from a plurality of the image acquisition devices; The driving information generating means generates a plurality of pieces of driving information using the acquired plurality of images, and generates information for comparing the generated plurality of pieces of driving information.

5. The driving information output device according to claim 1.

6. The driving information generating means generates the driving information using a diagnostic criterion corresponding to the image acquisition condition.

6. A driving information output device according to claim 1.

7. The driving information output device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, the image acquisition device outputs the driving-related information and an image to the driving information output device; a display device that displays the driving information output by the driving information output device; A driving information output system including:

8. Communicating with an image capture device mounted on the vehicle; acquiring, from the image acquisition device, an image that satisfies an image acquisition condition including at least one of an image acquisition position, an image acquisition time, and an operating state of the vehicle and a surrounding environment of the vehicle at the time of acquiring the image; generating driving information related to the driving of the driver of the vehicle based on the acquired image; Outputting the operating information; In acquiring images, Acquire driving-related information that is information related to the vehicle and the driver of the vehicle at the time when the image acquisition device acquired the image; generating the image acquisition condition based on the driving-related information; outputting the image acquisition conditions to the image acquisition device; The generation of the image acquisition condition includes: Outputting items that can be used as the image acquisition conditions; acquiring the image acquisition conditions from a user; Acquire from the image acquisition device a number of images that satisfy the image acquisition conditions specified by a user; outputting a quantity of images acquired from the image acquisition device; Repeating the acquisition of the image acquisition conditions, the acquisition of the number of images, and the output of the number of images until an instruction to use the image acquisition conditions is acquired from a user; The output of the image acquisition condition includes outputting the generated image acquisition condition when an instruction to use the image acquisition condition is received from a user. Driving information output method.

9. A driving information output device executes the driving information output method according to claim 8, The image acquisition device outputs the driving-related information and the image to the driving information output device; A display device displays the driving information output by the driving information output device. Driving information output method.

10. communicating with an image capture device mounted on the vehicle; A process of acquiring an image from the image acquisition device that satisfies an image acquisition condition including at least one of an image acquisition position, an image acquisition time, and an operating state of the vehicle and a surrounding environment of the vehicle at the time of image acquisition; A process of generating driving information related to the driving of the driver of the vehicle based on the acquired image; A process of outputting the driving information; on the computer, In the process of acquiring an image, acquiring driving-related information related to the vehicle and the driver of the vehicle at the time the image acquisition device acquired the image; generating the image acquisition condition based on the driving-related information; outputting the image acquisition conditions to the image acquisition device; and then execute The process of generating the image acquisition condition includes: A process of outputting items that can be used as the image acquisition conditions; A process of acquiring the image acquisition conditions from a user; acquiring, from the image acquisition device, a number of images that satisfy the image acquisition conditions specified by a user; outputting a quantity of images acquired from the image acquisition device; Repeating the process of acquiring the image acquisition conditions, acquiring the number of images, and outputting the number of images until an instruction to use the image acquisition conditions is acquired from a user; Run the command, The process of outputting the image acquisition condition includes a process of outputting the generated image acquisition condition when an instruction to use the image acquisition condition is obtained from a user. The program to be executed.

Images