System and Program

Abstract

To provide a user-friendly system etc.SOLUTION: A system provided with a function to record video images taken at a vehicle while the vehicle is being parked includes functions of: detecting the approach of a user of the vehicle to the vehicle; canceling recording while the vehicle is being parked when the approach of the user of the vehicle to the vehicle is detected; and not starting recording while the vehicle is being parked until the user of the vehicle is further away from the vehicle than a predetermined range even while the vehicle is being parked. In this way, the user of the vehicle can be prevented from remaining in the video images. It is possible to provide a system, a program, etc. that are superior to conventional systems, in terms of usability etc., compared to conventional systems.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 23

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] For example, it relates to systems, programs, etc. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there have been known drive recorders that have a function for recording video footage while the vehicle is parked by continuing to supply power to the drive recorder from the vehicle's battery or a battery separate from the vehicle's battery when the power supply from the vehicle is cut off, such as when the vehicle is parked. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2017-195755 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Although it can record video while parking, it is not very user-friendly. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a system, program, etc. that is superior to conventional systems, programs, etc., and that is easier to use than conventional systems, for example.

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is not limited to this, and the applicant intends to obtain rights for configurations that aim to obtain effects from parts of the configurations disclosed in this specification and drawings, etc., by filing a divisional application, amendment, etc. For example, this specification discloses a problem in which the part described as "can be" in this specification is read as "the problem is to be". The problems are described as being independent, and the applicant intends to obtain rights for the configurations for solving each problem separately by filing a divisional application, amendment, etc. Even if the problems are implicitly understood from the description in the specification, the applicant intends to include part of the configurations described in this specification in the scope of the patent claim by amendment or divisional application. In addition, the applicant has disclosed a configuration that solves a problem that combines these independent problems, and intends to obtain rights for it. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] (1) A system having a function of recording video captured in a vehicle while the vehicle is parked, a function of detecting the approach of a user of the vehicle to the vehicle, and a function of canceling recording while the vehicle is parked when the system detects the approach of the user of the vehicle to the vehicle. In this way, a system that is easier to use than the conventional system can be realized. The user can stop recording by simply approaching the parked vehicle.

[0007] For example, if the user of the vehicle is captured in the image captured by the parking surveillance camera when the user approaches the vehicle, this will result in unnecessary image being left and the image recording area of ​​the recording medium, etc. being wasted, but this can be reduced. For example, the approach should be such that the user can see the user getting into the vehicle. If the user is captured in the image captured by the parking surveillance camera when getting into the vehicle, this will result in unnecessary image being left and the image recording area of ​​the recording medium, etc. being wasted, but this can be reduced.

[0008] The vehicle may be, for example, a bicycle or a motorbike, but preferably a car, the vehicle may be a passenger vehicle such as a bus or a taxi, but in particular a private car or a company car.

[0009] When the vehicle is parked, for example, the vehicle engine or the electric vehicle may be turned off, and it may be detected whether the vehicle engine or the electric vehicle is turned off. For example, the system may be operated by receiving power from a separate power source, such as a connection to the vehicle battery or a battery separate from the vehicle battery, and the power supply from the cigarette lighter may be monitored, and if there is no power supply from the cigarette lighter, it may be determined that the vehicle engine or the electric vehicle is turned off.

[0010] The user may be all of the passengers in the vehicle, but preferably at least some of them. The user may be a passenger, but preferably the driver of the vehicle. The user may be determined based on, for example, whether an image similar to an image of a previously registered user is captured.

[0011] For example, when a vehicle is parked, it is preferable that the driver is not in the vehicle, and it is preferable to have a function for detecting whether the driver is not in the vehicle or not. The function for detecting whether the driver is not in the vehicle or not may be determined based on whether a pre-registered driver of the vehicle is present in the image captured by the vehicle.

[0012] The image may be captured by a camera installed in the vehicle, and a wide-angle camera is particularly desirable. More preferably, an all-sky camera is desirable. The image may be captured, for example, from inside the vehicle to outside the vehicle. In particular, a configuration capable of capturing images including both inside and outside the vehicle is desirable. As such a configuration, for example, the image may be captured by two cameras, one for the inside of the vehicle and the other for the outside of the vehicle, or one hemispherical camera may be installed on the ceiling of the vehicle interior facing downward.

[0013] The recording may be, for example, a recording of a captured image on a recording means, but it is particularly preferable that the image is digitized and recorded on the recording means. The digitized recording may particularly preferably be a recording in which information is compressed. The recording means may be provided in the vehicle, or may be provided on a server or the like connected via communication. The recording means may particularly preferably be a removable recording medium. The recording means may particularly preferably be a non-volatile memory. The recording means may particularly preferably be a semiconductor memory. It is particularly preferable that the recording means be a card-shaped recording medium. It is particularly preferable that the recording means be an SD card.

[0014] The recording may be performed, for example, by simply recording the video data continuously, but it is particularly preferable to record the video data in a file for each predetermined unit. The predetermined unit may be when a specific end condition is satisfied. For example, the end condition may be every predetermined time from the start of recording the file. For example, one file may be generated every minute.

[0015] The system may be configured in one housing, or in multiple housings that are electrically connected by wire or wirelessly. A part of the system may be located outside the vehicle. For example, the system may be configured as a server, but it is particularly preferable to have the system entirely located within the vehicle.

[0016] The release may be performed by not recording. For example, when a user of a vehicle approaches the vehicle, the image captured in the vehicle may not be recorded. The release may be performed by pausing the recording, but in particular by stopping the recording. The stop of the recording may be performed by closing the file in which the image is being recorded.

[0017] The approach of the vehicle user to the vehicle may be detected, for example, by detecting that the vehicle door is opened by the user, but it is particularly preferable to detect the approach as described in (2).

[0018] (2) The system may detect the approach of a vehicle user to the vehicle based on whether or not the vehicle user has entered a predetermined outside range from the door of the vehicle. In this way, the vehicle user can cancel recording while the vehicle is parked by simply approaching within a predetermined range outside the vehicle door. (3) The system may detect the approach of a vehicle user to the vehicle based on the state of radio waves with a terminal that the vehicle user can carry.

[0019] In this way, the approach can be detected more reliably than, for example, by recognizing the user by capturing an image and the like. Also, for example, the user can detect the approach without having to take the terminal out of a storage location such as a bag or pocket.

[0020] The terminal that can be carried by the user is preferably a battery-powered device. For example, it may be a remote control, a key, a tag, etc., but it is preferably a smartphone. The inventors have found that there is a high possibility that the vehicle user will also take the smartphone outside the vehicle.

[0021] The radio waves may be, for example, LTE or the like, but it is particularly preferable to use a radio wave with a communication distance of several meters to several dozen meters. In particular, it is preferable to use Bluetooth (registered trademark, the same applies below). In particular, it is preferable to use a beacon, and it is particularly preferable to use a Bluetooth beacon.

[0022] As a configuration based on the radio wave state, for example, the approach to the vehicle may be detected when the radio wave from the terminal becomes receivable, but it is more preferable to detect the approach to the vehicle when the wireless communication with the terminal becomes possible. More preferably, it is preferable to adopt the method as described in (4).

[0023] (4) The system may detect the approach of the vehicle user to the vehicle based on the strength of radio waves used for communication with a terminal that the vehicle user can carry. In this way, it is not necessary to provide a transmitter and receiver of radio waves for distance detection separate from the transmitter and receiver of radio waves used for communication.

[0024] The approach to the vehicle may be detected, for example, when the reception strength of the radio waves emitted from a terminal that the user can carry reaches a predetermined state in the system. In particular, the reception strength of the radio waves emitted by the system may be measured by a terminal that the user can carry, the measured reception strength is transmitted to the system, and the reception strength received by the system reaches a predetermined state, and the approach to the vehicle may be detected. In this way, it is possible to reduce the consumption of the battery of the terminal that the user can carry. The predetermined state may be, for example, when the reception strength is equal to or greater than a predetermined level.

[0025] (5) The system may detect the approach of a vehicle user to the vehicle by emitting radio waves at a predetermined cycle, the strength of which can be measured by a terminal that can be carried by the vehicle user, measuring the strength of the radio waves emitted at a predetermined cycle from the system by the terminal that can be carried by the vehicle user, and transmitting information regarding the measurement results, based on the information regarding the measurement results.

[0026] This makes it possible to reduce battery consumption at the terminal. The battery capacity of the terminal is often much smaller than that of the vehicle, and transmission often consumes much more power than reception, but because radio waves are transmitted from the vehicle's system, the power required for transmission at the terminal can be reduced.

[0027] In particular, the strength of the radio waves transmitted from the system at a predetermined interval can be measured by a terminal that can be carried by the vehicle user, and if the measurement result is equal to or greater than a predetermined strength, information on the measurement result can be transmitted, and the system can operate based on the information on the measurement result. In this way, the power consumption of the terminal can be significantly reduced, and the battery life of the terminal can be extended.

[0028] The predetermined period is preferably an interval at which the user can receive the signal at least once during the time from when the user approaches the vehicle on foot and the terminal enters the reception area of ​​the radio wave transmitted from the system side until the user reaches the vehicle, and is particularly preferably an interval at which the user can receive the signal at least several times. The predetermined period is preferably a time less than the time it takes a person to walk a few steps. The predetermined period is preferably, for example, 3 seconds or less. On the other hand, if the predetermined period is too short, problems will occur. The predetermined time is preferably a time that can suppress the battery consumption of the terminal or more. In addition, the inventor has found a problem that if the terminal has an application execution function, the application does not operate smoothly if there are frequent reception events. Therefore, it is preferable to set the predetermined period to a time that does not affect the application operation. Taking these factors into consideration, the predetermined period is best about 2 seconds. In this way, the battery consumption of the terminal can be further reduced, other programs such as applications can be operated smoothly, and when the user approaches the vehicle and the vehicle is in an appropriate close relationship, the recording can be canceled. For example, if the terminal is a smartphone and the system is configured as a camera, when a user walks close to a camera equipped with a beacon, the smartphone will receive signals frequently, so it is advisable to reduce battery consumption on the smartphone and make it possible to determine the area by moving forward or backward by 3 or 4 steps. Also, if beacons are transmitted at short intervals, the smartphone will receive all beacon signals, causing reception events to occur frequently and preventing the app from running smoothly, but such problems can be suppressed by setting the interval to around 2 seconds.

[0029] The information on the measurement result may be the level of reception, and recording may be cancelled when a certain condition is met, such as when the level of reception received by the system is equal to or greater than a certain value, but the information on the measurement result may preferably be a signal requesting cancellation of recording, and when a certain condition is met, such as when the strength of the radio waves measured by the terminal is equal to or greater than a certain value, a signal requesting cancellation of recording may be transmitted from the terminal, and recording may be cancelled when the system receives this signal. In this way, battery consumption of the terminal may be further reduced. The radio waves may be used as a beacon signal or as an advertising signal.

[0030] For example, the system may be a parking surveillance camera equipped with a function to transmit a beacon, and the terminal may be a smartphone / tablet equipped with a function to receive the beacon signal transmitted from the camera and capable of executing an app. For example, the camera may transmit a Bluetooth beacon signal periodically (every 2 seconds for the product), and when a person with a smartphone with a dedicated app approaches the parking surveillance camera, the smartphone app may connect to the camera via Bluetooth when it receives the Bluetooth beacon, and each time it receives a periodic monitoring notification message from the camera, it may obtain the RSSI value to detect the approximate distance to the camera. When the RSSI value reaches or exceeds a preset RSSI value, the camera may be connected to Bluetooth and the parking monitoring operation of the camera may be cancelled by stopping the parking monitoring mode.

[0031] It is recommended that the Bluetooth beacon be advertised from the camera side, and a UUID (Universally Unique IDentifier) ​​dedicated to the beacon should be created and transmitted periodically.

[0032] As a Bluetooth beacon, it is good to transmit ID information called advertisement packets from the beacon. This ID information includes the proximityUUID and the Major and Minor identification.

[0033] The configured ID information should be periodically transmitted. The proximityUUID, Major, and Minor identifiers can be determined arbitrarily. For example, the proximityUUID should use a common ID for all systems, and the Major and Minor codes should be different for each individual system. In this way, even if there are multiple systems nearby, video recording can be canceled or started only when a specific system is approached. The Major and Minor codes should be configured to be sent as message data when the camera and smartphone app are paired. When the app detects that the user has redone pairing or canceled pairing, the Major and Minor codes should be updated or cleared.

[0034] (6) The system may have a function of receiving via wireless communication a signal of an operation of a terminal that can be carried by a user of the vehicle, an operation of the terminal to cancel recording while the vehicle is parked, and a function of canceling recording while the vehicle is parked when an operation to cancel recording while the vehicle is parked is received, and when the system detects the approach of the user of the vehicle to the vehicle, the system cancels recording while the vehicle is parked even if an operation to cancel recording while the vehicle is parked is not received.

[0035] In this way, the user does not need to take out the terminal when approaching the car and use the terminal to cancel recording while the car is parked. This eliminates the hassle of entering the car.

[0036] (7) The system should have a communication function capable of communicating with a terminal that can be carried by a user in a first range that is a range near the vehicle and includes an area farther than a second range in which approach to the vehicle is detected, and a function of transmitting information regarding the situation detected in the first range while the vehicle is parked.

[0037] In this way, the terminal that can be carried by the user can obtain information about the situation detected while the vehicle is parked when the user approaches the vehicle to the first range, and the recording of the vehicle while the vehicle is parked is canceled when the user approaches the vehicle to the second range, which is closer to the vehicle than the first range. In particular, the terminal that can be carried by the user should have a function of receiving information about the situation detected while the vehicle is parked from the system and notifying the user. In this way, the user can obtain information about the situation detected while the vehicle is parked when the user approaches the vehicle to the first range, and the recording of the vehicle while the vehicle is parked is canceled when the user approaches the vehicle to the second range, which is closer to the vehicle than the first range. If the user approaches the vehicle only to the first range but does not enter the second range, the recording is not canceled and the user can simply obtain information about the situation detected while the vehicle is parked. For example, if no abnormality is reported, the user can do business without approaching any further and leave the vehicle, and if there is an abnormality, the recording can be canceled by entering the second range.

[0038] The situation detected while the vehicle is parked may be, for example, a recognition result of the state of a suspicious person captured in a captured image, but in particular, the system may have a function of acquiring the state of the vehicle, and the situation detected while the vehicle is parked may be information related to the acquired state of the vehicle. The function of acquiring the state of the vehicle may be realized by providing a sensor or the like in the system, or may be realized by acquiring the state of the vehicle from an in-vehicle LAN or the like that the vehicle originally has.

[0039] The information about the situation detected while the vehicle is parked may be information about an abnormality in the vehicle, so that when approaching a vehicle under parking monitoring, it is possible to immediately check whether there is an abnormality in the vehicle.

[0040] The information detected while the vehicle is parked may be information about the battery and tire pressure, so that the battery and tire pressure can be checked every time the vehicle approaches a parked vehicle.

[0041] The first range is preferably a communication range provided by the communication function, and is particularly preferably a range of about 10 meters. The second range is preferably about 6 m, for example. Since people walk at various speeds, if the distance is made too short, the driver and the like will be captured in the parking surveillance video, so the inventor found that this range increases the possibility of preventing the driver and the like from being captured. In addition, for example, if the system is configured to connect to Bluetooth when the driver approaches the car and check the RSSI every two seconds, a distance of about 6 m is preferable, which is a little longer than the number of steps (4 or 5 steps) that a person would walk within those two seconds. (8) It is preferable to have an adjustment function for adjusting the second range through a user's operation.

[0042] In this way, the user can set how close to the vehicle the image recording is to be canceled. For example, it is preferable to have a configuration in which the approach is detected by the strength of the radio waves, and a function for setting the second range of intensity by the user's operation is provided. For example, it is preferable to have a function for setting the RSSI level. By adjusting the RSSI value set in advance, the position of the camera that starts / stops parking monitoring can be adjusted, so it is possible to control the start / stop of parking monitoring from a position where the driver is not captured in the monitored image.

[0043] (9) It is preferable that the system has a function that does not start recording the vehicle while it is parked until the user of the vehicle moves away from the vehicle by a predetermined distance, even when the vehicle is parked. In this way, it is possible to prevent the vehicle occupant from appearing in the video.

[0044] It is preferable to have a function of starting recording when the user of the vehicle moves beyond a predetermined range from the vehicle even while the vehicle is parked. It is preferable to detect whether the user of the vehicle has moved beyond a predetermined range from the vehicle, and start recording when it is detected that the user has moved. Recording can be started by canceling a pause of recording, but it is preferable to start a new recording, and when the configuration is such that video data is recorded in a file, it is preferable to generate a new file and start recording.

[0045] (10) It is preferable that the system has a function of recording images captured by a vehicle while the vehicle is traveling, a driving record mode in which images captured by the vehicle while the vehicle is traveling, and a parking monitoring mode in which images captured by the vehicle while the vehicle is parked, and a function of stopping recording in the driving record mode when it is detected that the vehicle has changed from traveling to parking, and not starting recording in the parking monitoring mode until the user of the vehicle moves away from the vehicle by a predetermined distance. In this way, it is easy to prevent the driver and passengers from being recorded in the video when the parking monitoring mode is entered.

[0046] (11) The system should have a function to detect whether any items that should be done when parking the vehicle have been forgotten and to transmit information indicating that fact, a communication function to communicate with a terminal that can be carried by a user in a third range that is a range near the vehicle and includes an area farther than a fourth range that is a range for detecting departure from the vehicle, and a function to transmit information indicating that items that should be done when parking the vehicle have been forgotten using the communication function if it is detected that any items that should be done when parking the vehicle have been forgotten.

[0047] In this way, when the system detects that the user has forgotten to do something that should have been done when parking the vehicle, the user's portable terminal can receive information indicating that fact. In particular, it is preferable that the user's portable terminal notifies the user of that fact when it receives the information indicating that fact.

[0048] Examples of items that should be done when parking the vehicle include turning off illumination, locking the doors, turning off hazard lights, etc. Information indicating this may be, for example, the state of the items that should be done when parking the vehicle, but is particularly preferably information indicating that items have been forgotten. For example, information such as illumination state, door lock state, and hazard light blinking state may be used, but is particularly preferably information indicating that illumination has been forgotten to be turned off, doors have been forgotten to be locked, or hazard lights have been forgotten to be turned off. It is particularly convenient if the driver is automatically notified of these omissions.

[0049] For example, the system may be a surveillance camera equipped with a Bluetooth communication function. When the surveillance camera is within the range where the smartphone can connect to Bluetooth (area in), the Bluetooth connection is maintained, and the camera periodically transmits a periodic monitoring notification message, etc., and when the smartphone receives this message, the RSSI value at the time of reception is acquired, and when the RSSI value falls below a preset value, the smartphone is deemed to be out of the area and an instruction message is sent to the camera to perform parking monitoring. When the terminal is configured as a smartphone, if the app is in the background, the app itself cannot operate periodically, and the correct RSSI value cannot be obtained and the correct distance to the camera cannot be determined unless the RSSI value is read when a message is received, but such problems can be solved by configuring the camera to transmit periodic messages. When the area is in, the connection with the camera is maintained, and the camera can transmit information such as when the camera status changes, the number of recorded images, and vehicle information. Here, too, the transmission cycle of the periodic monitoring communication message is 2 seconds. The reason for the 2 seconds is the same as the reason for the beacon transmission cycle. In particular, if the information is transmitted at short intervals, the application cannot be started smoothly, and the application runs frequently, which consumes the battery. This problem can be solved. By recognizing the distance between the parking surveillance camera and the smartphone in this way, the user can automatically stop parking surveillance without performing any operation when getting into the car, simply by holding the smartphone, and get into the car. When the user parks the car and leaves the place with the smartphone, the parking surveillance of the camera can be automatically started. It is preferable to configure the camera to automatically connect to the parking surveillance camera via Bluetooth when approaching the camera, and it is preferable to configure the camera so that the information held by the camera can be read out when necessary while the Bluetooth connection is in progress. The periodic monitoring notification message may be a signal that is neither a beacon nor an advertisement. (12) It is preferable to have an adjustment function for adjusting the fourth range through a user's operation.

[0050] In this way, the user can set how far away from the vehicle the image recording will start. For example, it is preferable to have a configuration in which the departure is detected by the strength of the radio wave, and a function for setting the fourth range of intensity by the user's operation is provided. For example, it is preferable to have a function for setting the RSSI level. By adjusting the RSSI value set in advance, the position of the camera that starts / stops parking monitoring can be adjusted, so that it is possible to control the start / stop of parking monitoring from a position where the driver is not captured in the monitored image.

[0051] In particular, it is preferable to have both the configuration of (11) and the configuration of (7), the first range and the third range, and the second range and the fourth range are the same range, respectively, and it is also preferable to have both the functions of (8) and (12).

[0052] It would be useful to deter criminal acts involving parked vehicles and to record footage of events occurring around the vehicle, but it would be even more convenient if the vehicle surveillance mode could be turned on and off without the user having to operate it themselves.

[0053] Also, for example, a function may be provided to cancel / start recording while the vehicle is parked based on the passage of time or information detected by various sensors attached to the vehicle. For example, recording may be continued until a predetermined time has elapsed after entering parking monitoring mode, and recording may be stopped after the predetermined time has elapsed. Thieves are likely to approach the vehicle after confirming that the user has left the vehicle, and such scenes can be accurately recorded and the recording capacity can be reduced. Also, recording may be started when a sensor detects the approach of a person not carrying the user's terminal. If parking monitoring video can be recorded in this way, evidence of criminal acts, etc. can be more accurately preserved, and the possibility of eliminating the user's own reflection can be increased, and the increase in recording capacity can be reduced without unnecessary recording, and the recording content can be appropriate. The configuration for detecting area in / area out is not limited to the case where a Bluetooth beacon is used, and may be a configuration where, for example, a GPS is used. (13) For example, the functions described in (1) to (11) above may be configured as a program for causing a computer to realize the functions.

[0054] The inventions shown in (1) to (12) above can be arbitrarily combined. For example, the invention shown in (1) may be combined with at least a portion of the configuration of at least one of the inventions shown in (2) and after. In particular, the invention shown in (1) may be combined with at least a portion of the configuration of at least one of the inventions shown in (2) and after. Any configuration may be extracted from the inventions shown in (1) to (12) and the extracted configurations may be combined. The applicant of this application intends to obtain rights to the inventions including these configurations. In addition, even if there is a description such as "in the case of" or "when", this is not intended to describe the configuration as being limited to that case or time. These are examples of better configurations, and the applicant intends to obtain rights to configurations other than these cases or times. In addition, the parts described in order are not limited to this order. Configurations in which some parts have been deleted or the order has been changed are also disclosed, and the applicant intends to obtain rights. Effect of the Invention

[0055] It is possible to provide a system, program, etc. that is superior to conventional systems, such as one that is easier to use than conventional systems.

[0056] The effects of the invention of this application are not limited to this, and effects obtained from the configuration disclosed in the specification and drawings, etc. are also disclosed, and the intention is to obtain rights to the configuration that achieves the effects by divisional applications, amendments, etc. For example, in this specification, the phrase "can" is a description that clearly indicates the effect that is achieved, and there are also parts that show the effect even without the phrase "can." Also, there are effects that can be understood from the configuration even without such a description. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0057] [Figure 1]1A, 1B, and 1C are diagrams showing the external configuration of a drive recorder according to an embodiment, in which FIG. 1A mainly shows the front side, FIG. 1B mainly shows the bottom side, and FIG. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating how the drive recorder is attached to a vehicle. [Diagram 3] 3A to 3C are diagrams illustrating a method of mounting the drive recorder on a vehicle. [Figure 4] 3A to 3C are diagrams illustrating a method of mounting the drive recorder on a vehicle. [Diagram 5] 3A to 3C are diagrams illustrating a method of mounting the drive recorder on a vehicle. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a diagram explaining a method of supplying power from a vehicle to a drive recorder and a method of detecting whether the ACC is on or off. [Figure 7] 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating a recording operation of a drive recorder when ACC is on. [Figure 8] This is a diagram for explaining the recording operation of the drive recorder when the ACC is off, and the lower part is a diagram for explaining the case when the recording mode is "normal". [Figure 9] 13 is a diagram for explaining the recording operation of the drive recorder when the ACC is off, and is a diagram for explaining the case where the recording mode is "event only", etc. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an event record that is recorded when the ACC of the drive recorder is off. [Figure 11] This is a diagram explaining the recording operation of the drive recorder when the ACC is off, and the diagram explaining the operation of switching to parking monitoring mode by an operation trigger and starting parking monitoring. The lower part is a diagram explaining the operation when the operation trigger is "manual." [Figure 12] The upper part is a diagram for explaining the operation when the operation trigger is "ACC off-linked," and the lower part is a diagram for explaining the operation when the operation trigger is "area AUTO." [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the operation of Bluetooth pairing between a drive recorder and a smartphone, and is a diagram for explaining the operation and behavior on the drive recorder side. [Figure 14]13 is a continuation of the diagram for explaining the operation of Bluetooth pairing between the drive recorder and the smartphone. [Figure 15] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the operation of Bluetooth pairing between the drive recorder and the smartphone, and is a diagram for explaining the operation and behavior of the smartphone. [Figure 16] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an operation screen of a smartphone app. [Figure 17] 17 is a diagram for explaining the display contents of the operation screen of the smartphone application in FIG. 16. FIG. [Figure 18] This is a diagram explaining operations and behaviors such as changing the recording mode on a smartphone app and manually starting parking monitoring. [Figure 19] FIG. 11 is a diagram explaining operations and behaviors such as manually stopping parking monitoring using a smartphone app. [Figure 20] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the setting operation and behavior of area sensitivity for area AUTO in a smartphone app. [Figure 21] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the operation and behavior of setting the area sensitivity for area AUTO in a smartphone app. [Figure 22] 11 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the drive recorder and the smartphone when a user gets off and leaves the vehicle. FIG. [Figure 23] 11 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a drive recorder and a smartphone when a user approaches a vehicle. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0058] Hereinafter, as one embodiment of the present invention, an example in which the configuration of this system is realized in a drive recorder that can be installed in a vehicle will be described.

[0059] The drive recorder of this embodiment is equipped with a camera, an LED for shooting in dark places, and a recording lamp in the camera section, and a microphone, speaker, microSD card interface, REC button, record button, Bluetooth communication module, WiFi communication module, impact sensor, tilt sensor, door opening sensor, etc. in the main body section, and these are connected to a microcomputer which serves as the control section. A CPU built into the microcomputer executes a program stored in the microcomputer to control these and realize the functions of the drive recorder described below.

[0060] The drive recorder has the ability to wirelessly connect to smartphones and PCs equipped with these communication functions via a Bluetooth module and a WiFi module, and exchange information.

[0061] As shown in FIG. 1, the main body of the drive recorder of this embodiment includes a substantially cylindrical main body and a plate-shaped bracket arranged at an angle on the surface of the cylinder of the substantially cylindrical main body, and is configured to be rotatable around the axis of the cylinder. Furthermore, the underside of the main body includes a camera unit that is a rectangular, substantially rectangular parallelepiped protrusion that is square when viewed from the bottom and has a longitudinal direction in the left-right direction when viewed from each side, and the camera unit is configured to be adjustable in angle range by a human finger operation within the cutout range of the main body around the axis of the cylinder of the main body. The camera unit has a camera with a lens on its underside. The adjustable angle range of the camera unit is, for example, based on a posture facing straight down, 30 degrees on one side and 60 degrees in total in the front-rear direction. The angle of view of the camera mounted on the camera unit is 220 degrees in the vertical plane when the main body is properly attached to the vehicle 1. This allows the camera to capture a range wider than a hemisphere with the downward axis as the central axis, so that the camera can capture a 360-degree range with the vertical axis as the axis.

[0062] The front and rear side of the camera unit each have a recording lamp in the center, and a pair of LEDs for shooting in dark places, spaced equally apart on either side of the recording lamp. The LEDs for shooting in dark places are turned on if an event occurs in a dark surrounding during the approach surveillance mode described below. The recording lamp indicates the operating status of the main unit by turning the lamp on, off, or blinking. Settings are required depending on the installation position.

[0063] As shown in Fig. 2(a), the mounting position can be, for example, on the driver's side or the passenger's side, sandwiched between the rearview mirror at the center of the left-right direction, at the top of the windshield of the vehicle. The bracket can be mounted in any direction as shown in Fig. 2(b), but since the detection area of ​​the built-in microwave sensor is narrow on the side of the bracket, the bracket should be mounted on the right side when mounted on the driver's side, as shown in Fig. 2(c), and on the passenger's side, the bracket should be mounted on the right side. The bracket is attached to the windshield with double-sided tape. As shown in Fig. 2(d), the mounting direction can be set by selecting the right or left side from a dedicated viewer software running on a PC or a dedicated app running on a smartphone. The device has a function to transfer the mounting position information set by the dedicated viewer software or the dedicated app to the memory of the main unit via Bluetooth connection. Based on the transferred mounting position information, it controls which recording lamp to turn on, the recording lamp on the side of the front side of the camera unit or the recording lamp on the side of the back side of the camera unit. When it is set to the right, the recording lamp on the front side of Fig. 1 will be turned on, but the recording lamp on the back side will not be turned on. When it is set to the left, the recording lamp on the back side of Fig. 1 will be turned on, but the recording lamp on the front side will not be turned on. If the recording lamp on the outside of the car is turned on while driving, it may be a violation of the Road Traffic Act, but this can be prevented.

[0064] The bracket is attached to the windshield by attaching double-sided tape to the mounting surface of the bracket as shown in Fig. 3, removing the nut on one side of the main body, inserting the ring part of the bracket from one side of the main body, and tightening the nut to fix the angle between the bracket and the main body. The mounting structure of this ring to the bracket is a known structure. At this time, the angle of the bracket and the main body is adjusted so that the horizontal line on the other side of the main body is horizontal, and the nut is tightened to temporarily fix it, and then, as shown in Fig. 4, the protective film of the double-sided tape on the windshield side is peeled off, and the angle between the bracket and the main body is adjusted so that the main body is horizontal to the ground, and the nut is tightened to completely fix it. After that, the camera unit is operated to adjust the angle as shown in Fig. 5.

[0065] As shown in Figure 2, the bottom side of the main body is equipped with a built-in microphone that collects and records surrounding sounds, and the top side of the main body is equipped with a speaker that outputs operation sounds.

[0066] One side of the main body is a circular, approximately flat surface, and on this surface the microSD card slot, power connector, REC button, and recording button are positioned as shown in Figure 2(c).

[0067] A microSD card can be inserted into the microSD card slot. The inserted microSD card has the function of recording and saving images captured by the camera and audio collected by the microphone. When the unit is turned on, if the "NORMAL", "EVGS" and "EVSW" folders do not exist in the root directory of the microSD card, they will be created.

[0068] The power connector is a connector for connecting the plug of the power cable shown in Figure 6. The power cable is pulled out in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the plug of the power cable is inserted. The plug of the power cable is equipped with power lines that are connected to the vehicle's accessory power line, the vehicle's battery power line, and the vehicle's ground line using an electrotap or the like, and these power lines are stored partway within a single sheath. The battery power line is configured to be connected to the vehicle's battery power source via a fuse stored in a fuse holder.

[0069] As shown in Figure 7, when the ACC is on, such as when the vehicle engine is on, recording is performed in DVR mode. There are two types of recording in DVR mode: continuous recording and event recording. Continuous recording starts when the ACC is turned on and ends when the ACC is turned off. Recording continues while the ACC is on. Continuous recording creates a file in the "NORMAL" folder every three minutes, and when the recording capacity becomes full, it continues recording by overwriting the oldest recorded file. The REC button is a button that allows the user to manually input a command to stop and resume continuous recording. If pressing the REC button is detected while continuous recording is in progress, continuous recording is stopped, and if pressing the REC button is detected while continuous recording is stopped, continuous recording is resumed.

[0070] Event recording is divided into G-sensor recording and one-touch recording. G-sensor recording is a function that records when the acceleration detected by the G-sensor built into the main unit exceeds a set level, such as an impact level equivalent to a collision (when an acceleration event occurs), and creates a recording file in the "EVGS" folder for a total of 30 seconds, consisting of 10 seconds before the event and 20 seconds after it occurs. One-touch recording is a function that records when it detects that the record button has been pressed, and creates a recording file in the "EVSW" folder for a total of 30 seconds, consisting of 10 seconds before the event and 20 seconds after it occurs.

[0071] As shown in Fig. 8 to Fig. 12, when the ACC of the vehicle is turned off, the system switches to the approach monitoring mode in response to an operation trigger, and parking monitoring begins. There are two methods for recording parking monitoring: parking recording and event recording. As shown in Fig. 8, there are two recording modes, "always" and "event only", and the system has a function for setting which mode to use. In "always", recording is performed at all times, and event recording is performed when an impact is detected by the impact sensor, a change in inclination is detected by the tilt sensor, or door opening is detected by the door opening sensor. In "event only", as shown in Fig. 9, the camera is started when a person's approach is detected by the microwave sensor, and then event recording is performed when approach, impact, tilt, or door opening is detected. The default setting is event only. This reduces power consumption. After the set recording time has elapsed (default setting is 30 minutes), the recording mode is automatically switched to event only, and parking monitoring continues. Parking recording is performed at a lower frame rate than the default setting of 5 frames / sec and the default setting of 30 frames / sec for all-time recording when ACC is on. The recording lamp will flash red while an event is being recorded. An alarm will sound from the speaker for 20 seconds only when tilt or door opening is detected.

[0072] As shown in Figures 10 and 11, there are three types of operation triggers in the parking monitoring mode: manual, which is the default value, linked to ACC OFF, and area AUTO, and the system has a function to set one of them in the same way as the setting of the mounting position described above.

[0073] When the operation trigger is set to manual, as shown in the lower part of Fig. 11, when the vehicle engine is turned off and the ACC is turned off, a voice is output from the speaker saying "Press the REC button to switch to approach monitoring mode." If 15 seconds have passed since this voice is output, the power is turned off, but if pressing of the REC button is detected within these 15 seconds, a voice is output from the speaker saying "Switching to approach monitoring mode," and parking monitoring recording in approach monitoring mode begins after the set transition time to approach monitoring mode (initial value is 3 minutes) has elapsed.

[0074] When the operation trigger is set to ACC OFF linkage, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 12, when the vehicle engine is turned off and the ACC is turned OFF, a voice saying "Switching to approach monitoring mode" is output from the speaker, and after the set transition time to approach monitoring mode (initial value is 3 minutes) has elapsed, parking monitoring recording in approach monitoring mode begins.

[0075] When the operation trigger is set to area AUTO, as shown in the lower part of Figure 12, it determines whether or not there is a Bluetooth-paired smartphone, and if there is not, it performs an operation linked to ACC OFF, and if there is, a voice saying "Switching to approach monitoring mode" is output from the speaker, and when the driver gets out of the vehicle holding the Bluetooth-paired smartphone and moves away from the main unit, and goes outside the set area sensitivity, parking monitoring recording in approach monitoring mode will start. Bluetooth pairing is performed as shown in FIGS.

[0076] Bluetooth pairing is performed in the setting mode of the drive recorder, as shown in Figures 13 and 14. The setting mode is entered when the vehicle engine is turned on, continuous recording is started, and the REC button and the record button are simultaneously pressed after the REC button is detected to be pressed. When the setting mode is entered, a voice message saying "This is the setting mode. Please press the REC button" is output from the speaker. If the REC button is detected to be pressed within 15 seconds after the completion of this voice output, a voice message saying "SD card format, please press the REC button" is output from the speaker. If the REC button is detected to be pressed within 15 seconds after the completion of this output, the microSD card is formatted. On the other hand, if the record button is detected to be pressed within 15 seconds, a voice message saying "Bluetooth pairing. Please press the REC button" is output from the speaker. If the REC button is detected to be pressed within 15 seconds after the completion of this output, a voice message saying "Bluetooth pairing will start. Please press the REC button again" is output from the speaker. If the REC button is detected to be pressed within 15 seconds after the completion of this voice output, a voice message saying "Bluetooth pairing will start. Please press the REC button again" is output from the speaker. If the REC button is detected to be pressed within 15 seconds after the completion of this voice output, Bluetooth pairing will start.

[0077] On the smartphone, the user performs operations and app processing as shown in Figure 15. First, turn on Bluetooth on the smartphone. Launch the "SQ Remote" app from the smartphone's launcher. When launched, a "Reconnect" button is displayed on the smartphone screen. If a tap on the "Reconnect" button is detected, a Bluetooth pairing request dialog is displayed. This dialog displays the drive recorder's device name, a pairing button, and a back button. If a tap on the pairing button is detected, pairing with the drive recorder with the displayed device name is performed. If pairing is successful, a voice message saying "Pairing successful" is output from the smartphone's speaker, and the operation screen is displayed.

[0078] The approach monitoring mode operation screen has the screen configuration shown in Fig. 16 and has the functions shown in Fig. 17. As shown in Fig. 16, the approach monitoring mode operation screen has, from the top to the bottom of the screen, an operation status display area, a vehicle battery voltage display area, an area sensitivity level display area, an event recording count display area, a recording mode switching area, a stop button, an area sensitivity setting button, a version information button, a recorder connection button, and a smartphone internal video display button.

[0079] The operation status display area displays operation trigger, recording, event monitoring, monitoring, stopped, cancel area, event recording NG, etc. The vehicle battery voltage display area displays the vehicle battery voltage. The area sensitivity level display area displays the area sensitivity of area AUTO. The event record count display area displays the number of event records in approach monitoring mode. The recording mode switching area has a constant button and an event only button, and has a function to switch the recording mode according to the user's operation as shown in FIG. 18. The stop button stops parking monitoring when the user operates as shown in FIG. 19. The area sensitivity setting button sets the area sensitivity of area AUTO. As shown in FIG. 20, when a touch on the area sensitivity setting button is detected, the area sensitivity setting screen is displayed. As shown in FIG. 20(b), the area sensitivity setting screen has, from top to bottom, a title area, a sensitivity level display area, a sensitivity level image display area, a sensitivity level slider area, and a decision button. The title "Area Sensitivity" is displayed in the title area. The sensitivity level display area displays the current sensitivity value indicated by the slider of the slider bar displayed in the sensitivity level slider area to the right of the word "sensitivity level." The sensitivity level can be set by moving it within a range of 1 at the left end to 10 at the right end depending on the position of the slider of the slider bar displayed in the sensitivity level slider area. The example in FIG. 20(b) shows the state of sensitivity level "7." The sensitivity level image display area displays an image of the car from above, and displays a circle in semi-transparent light blue with a diameter exceeding the length of the car in the left-right direction, centered on the center of the image from above. This diameter is displayed by changing according to the current sensitivity level value of the slider. The example in FIG. 20(b) shows the state of sensitivity level "7," and the example in FIG. 21 shows the states of sensitivity level 2, sensitivity level 6, and sensitivity level 10, from left to right. When a touch of the decision button is detected, the sensitivity level set by the slider is saved as the set value, and the RSSI value corresponding to a radius of 1 m per sensitivity level 1 is set as the RSSI set value, and the screen returns to the approach monitoring mode operation screen. For example, if the sensitivity level is 10, the RSSI setting value is the RSSI value corresponding to a radius of 10 m.The default value of the sensitivity level slider is a sensitivity level of 6, which is the RSSI setting value equivalent to a radius of 6 m. For each sensitivity level, the RSSI value is measured in advance every 1 m and stored, and this is used as the RSSI setting value.

[0080] When the drive recorder is within the Bluetooth connection range of the smartphone (here called "area in"), it maintains the Bluetooth connection and periodically transmits regular monitoring messages from the drive recorder. When the smartphone receives this message, it acquires the RSSI value at the time of reception, and when it falls below the RSSI setting value, it is deemed to be out of the area and sends an instruction message to the drive recorder to perform parking monitoring. When the drive recorder receives this instruction message, it enters parking monitoring mode and starts parking monitoring recording.

[0081] By sending periodic monitoring messages from the camera in this way, even if the smartphone app is in the background, the OS can call the app and run it. Also, by reading the RSSI value when a message is received, the correct RSSI value can be obtained, making it possible to obtain the correct distance to the dashcam.

[0082] While the drive recorder is in the area, the connection between the drive recorder and the smartphone is maintained, and when the state of the drive recorder changes, the values ​​of the items shown and explained in Figure 17 are sent from the drive recorder to the smartphone, and the smartphone receives the values ​​of those items and updates the smartphone screen display in Figure 16.

[0083] FIG. 22 is a diagram showing the operation of the smartphone app and the drive recorder when a user with a smartphone gets off the vehicle and moves away (when leaving). The outer circle is the Bluetooth connection range, which is about 10 meters. The inside of the inner circle is the range where the RSSI value exceeds the RSSI setting value. After the ACC is turned off, the process when leaving in FIG. 22 is performed. The monitoring process of the RSSI value of the regular monitoring message is started. In the monitoring process of the RSSI value, when the RSSI value of the regular monitoring message exceeds the RSSI setting value, the state is set to "waiting for monitoring". When the RSSI value of the regular monitoring message exceeds the RSSI setting value, the drive recorder does not record. In the range within the inner circle, the display of the operation state display area of ​​the approach monitoring mode operation screen of the smartphone app is set to "waiting for monitoring" as shown in the lower right of FIG. 22.

[0084] Then, when the user moves further away from the vehicle and the RSSI value of the regular monitoring message becomes equal to or lower than the RSSI setting value, the smartphone transmits a parking monitoring recording start instruction signal to the drive recorder via Bluetooth. The drive recorder that receives the parking monitoring recording start instruction starts parking monitoring in parking monitoring mode and starts recording. When the RSSI value of the regular monitoring message is equal to or lower than the RSSI setting value and the Bluetooth connectable range is between the inner circle and the outer circle in FIG. 22, the smartphone app performs processing to display "Event monitoring in progress" in the operation status display area of ​​the approach monitoring mode operation screen, as shown in the lower center of FIG. 22.

[0085] Furthermore, if the user moves further away from the vehicle and goes out of the Bluetooth connectable range, the smartphone app will change the display in the operation status display area of ​​the approach monitoring mode operation screen to "- " as shown in the lower left of Fig. 22. When the smartphone goes out of the Bluetooth connectable range and Bluetooth communication is disconnected, the drive recorder will start processing to periodically transmit a Bluetooth beacon signal.

[0086] Next, the operation of the user carrying the smartphone when returning to the car will be described with reference to Fig. 23. Fig. 23 is a schematic diagram similar to that of Fig. 22, and shows the operation of the user when returning to the car, which is the opposite of Fig. 22. Outside the Bluetooth connectable range, the drive recorder periodically transmits a Bluetooth beacon signal. Outside the Bluetooth connectable range, the display in the operation status display area of ​​the approach monitoring mode operation screen remains showing "-" as shown in the lower left of Fig. 23.

[0087] When the smartphone enters the Bluetooth connection range and receives a Bluetooth beacon signal, it establishes a Bluetooth connection with the drive recorder, and the drive recorder starts the process of periodically sending a periodic monitoring notification message. The drive recorder then starts the monitoring process to see if the RSSI value of this periodic monitoring notification message exceeds a set value.

[0088] When the user approaches the vehicle and the RSSI value of the regular monitoring message exceeds the RSSI setting value, the smartphone sends a parking monitoring recording stop instruction signal to the drive recorder via Bluetooth. The drive recorder that receives the parking monitoring recording stop instruction stops parking monitoring in parking monitoring mode and stops recording.

[0089] In the range between the inner circle and the outer circle in FIG. 23, which is the range where the RSSI value is equal to or less than the RSSI setting value and the Bluetooth connection is possible, the display of the operation status display area of ​​the approach monitoring mode operation screen is processed to be "event monitoring in progress" as shown in the lower center of FIG. 22. In the range within the inner circle, the display of the operation status display area of ​​the approach monitoring mode operation screen of the smartphone application is processed to be "waiting for monitoring" as shown in the lower right of FIG. 22. While the drive recorder and the smartphone are connected, the connection is maintained, and when the state of the drive recorder changes, the values ​​of the items shown and explained in FIG. 17 are sent from the drive recorder to the smartphone, and the smartphone receives the values ​​of the items and updates the screen display of the smartphone in FIG. 16. Therefore, the display is updated as can be seen by comparing the lower center and lower right of FIG. 22. For example, the event recording number display area displays 0 in the lower center and 1 in the lower right because a file is generated by stopping recording.

[0090] The transmission cycle of the regular monitoring message and Bluetooth beacon is set to 2 seconds. This reduces the consumption of the smartphone battery, and allows the smartphone user to determine the area when moving away from the drive recorder with only 3 or 4 steps. In addition, if regular monitoring messages are sent at particularly short intervals, the smartphone app cannot be started smoothly and the app must operate frequently, which consumes a lot of battery power, but this can also be reduced.

[0091] The drive recorder of the present embodiment described above is an example of a system having a function of recording an image captured by a vehicle while the vehicle is parked, and has a function of detecting the approach of a user of the vehicle to the vehicle, and has a function of canceling the recording of the vehicle while the vehicle is parked when the approach of the user of the vehicle to the vehicle is detected. Therefore, the user can cancel the recording just by approaching the parked vehicle, and a system that is easier to use than the conventional system can be realized. For example, when a user approaches a vehicle, if the user of the vehicle is captured in the image captured by the parking surveillance camera, the user will be left with useless images, and the recording area of ​​the microSD card will be wasted, but this can be reduced. For example, the approach is set to an approach that can be seen to get into the car. When getting into the car, if the user is captured in the parking surveillance image of the drive recorder, the user will be left with useless images, and the recording area of ​​the image, such as the microSD card, will be wasted, but this can be reduced.

[0092] In the present embodiment, the vehicle is a four-wheeled automobile, but it may be a bicycle or a motorbike. In the present embodiment, the vehicle is assumed to be a private car, but it may be a company car or a passenger vehicle such as a bus or a taxi.

[0093] In this embodiment, in order to detect the state in which the engine of the vehicle or the electric vehicle is turned off as the vehicle is parked, the connection shown in FIG. 6 is made and the ACC is detected as off, but other methods may be used to detect the state. For example, the image of the inside of the vehicle captured by the camera of the drive recorder may be recognized, and if it is detected that no one is present, the vehicle is parked. In addition, for example, the system may be operated by receiving power supply from a separate power source such as a connection to the battery of the vehicle or a battery other than the battery of the vehicle, and the power supply from the cigarette lighter socket may be monitored, and if there is no power supply from the cigarette lighter socket, it may be determined that the engine of the vehicle or the electric vehicle is turned off.

[0094] In this embodiment, the user is mainly assumed to be a driver, but may be a passenger. Whether or not a user is a user may be determined based on, for example, whether or not an image similar to an image of a previously registered user is captured.

[0095] In this embodiment, a state in which the driver is not in the vehicle is assumed as a state in which the vehicle is parked, but the vehicle may be provided with a function for detecting whether or not the driver is not in the vehicle. In this embodiment, the function for detecting whether or not the driver is not in the vehicle is detected based on the RSSI level of the radio waves emitted by the drive recorder and received by the smartphone carried by the driver, but it may be determined, for example, based on whether or not the driver of the vehicle, who has been registered in advance, is present in the video captured by the vehicle.

[0096] In this embodiment, the image is captured by a camera of a drive recorder installed in the vehicle cabin, and is an approximately hemispherical camera, but more preferably, an all-around camera may be used. A wide-angle camera may also be used. The image capture direction may be, for example, inside the vehicle or from inside the vehicle to outside the vehicle. In particular, it is preferable to have a configuration that allows capture of both inside and outside the vehicle. As such a configuration, for example, image capture may be performed by two cameras, one camera for inside the vehicle and the other for outside the vehicle, or one hemispherical camera may be installed on the ceiling of the vehicle cabin facing downward.

[0097] In this embodiment, the video signal of the video captured by the camera is compressed and recorded as digital information on the microSD card, but it may also be recorded in an analog manner.

[0098] In this embodiment, a microSD card is inserted into the main body of the drive recorder for recording, but a recording unit separate from the camera unit of the drive recorder may be provided, and the two may be connected by wire or wirelessly to record. The recording unit may be provided in the vehicle, or in a server or the like connected by communication. The recording unit may be a removable recording medium. The recording unit may be a non-volatile memory. The recording unit may be a semiconductor memory. The recording means may be a card-shaped recording medium. The recording unit may be a card-shaped medium.

[0099] In this embodiment, the video data is recorded in a file for each predetermined time unit, but the video data may simply be recorded continuously. Also, the recording may be terminated when a specific end condition is met, rather than on a time basis.

[0100] The drive recorder may be configured with one housing, or may be configured with multiple housings and the multiple housings may be electrically connected by wire or wirelessly. A part of the functions of the drive recorder in this embodiment may be outside the vehicle. For example, a part of the system may be configured as a server, but it is particularly preferable to configure the functions of the drive recorder to be all included in the vehicle, as in this embodiment.

[0101] In this embodiment, when a vehicle user approaches the vehicle, recording of the video captured in the vehicle is stopped and the file in which the video is being recorded is closed, but recording may also be paused, for example.

[0102] The detection of the approach of a vehicle user to the vehicle may be performed, for example, by detecting that the vehicle door is opened by the user, but as in this embodiment, the detection of the approach of a vehicle user to the vehicle may be performed based on whether or not the vehicle user is within a predetermined range outside the door of the vehicle. In this way, the recording of the vehicle while the vehicle is parked is stopped when the vehicle user simply approaches within a predetermined range outside the door of the vehicle.

[0103] In this embodiment, the approach of a vehicle user to the vehicle is detected based on the radio wave condition of a smartphone, which is a terminal that the user can carry. This makes it possible to detect the approach more reliably. For example, the approach can be detected more reliably than when the user is recognized by image recognition of an image. In addition, for example, the user can detect the approach without having to take the terminal out of a storage location such as a bag or pocket.

[0104] The smartphone that can be carried by the user is battery-powered. In this embodiment, the terminal is a smartphone, but it may be, for example, a remote control, a key, a tag, etc. However, it is best to use a smartphone. This is because there is a high possibility that the user of the vehicle will also take a smartphone outside the vehicle.

[0105] Although Bluetooth is used as the radio wave in this embodiment, other radio waves may be used. For example, LTE may be used, but it is particularly preferable to use a radio wave with a communication distance of several meters to several tens of meters. It is particularly preferable to use a beacon, and it is particularly preferable to use a Bluetooth beacon as in this embodiment.

[0106] As a configuration based on radio wave conditions, for example, the approach of a vehicle may be detected when the drive recorder is in a state where it can receive radio waves from a smartphone, but it is also better to detect the approach of a vehicle when wireless communication with the drive recorder is possible.

[0107] However, it is particularly advantageous to use the method of this embodiment, in which the approach of the vehicle user to the vehicle is detected based on the strength of radio waves used for communication with a smartphone, which is a terminal that the vehicle user can carry, so there is no need to provide a transmitter and receiver of radio waves for distance detection separate from the transmitter and receiver of radio waves used for communication.

[0108] The approach to the vehicle may be detected by measuring the reception strength of the radio waves emitted by the drive recorder using a smartphone, which is a terminal that the user can carry, transmitting the measured reception strength to the drive recorder, and detecting the approach to the vehicle when the reception strength received by the drive recorder exceeds a predetermined strength. In this way, it is possible to reduce the battery consumption of the terminal that the user can carry. The predetermined state may be, for example, when the reception strength is equal to or greater than a predetermined strength.

[0109] The approach of the vehicle user to the vehicle may be detected by emitting radio waves at a predetermined cycle from the drive recorder, the strength of which can be measured by a smartphone, which is a terminal that the vehicle user can carry, measuring the strength of the radio waves emitted from the drive recorder at a predetermined cycle on the smartphone, which is a terminal that the vehicle user can carry, and transmitting information on the measurement result to the drive recorder, which detects the approach based on the information on the measurement result. In this way, the battery consumption of the smartphone can be reduced. Compared to the vehicle, the battery capacity of a smartphone is extremely small, and transmission often consumes much more power than reception, but since the transmission of radio waves is performed from the drive recorder on the vehicle side, the power required for transmission on the terminal side can be reduced.

[0110] The best way, as in this embodiment, is to measure the strength of the radio waves emitted from the drive recorder at a predetermined interval on a smartphone, which is a terminal that the vehicle user can carry, and if the measurement result is equal to or greater than a predetermined strength, to transmit information about the measurement result, and the drive recorder receives the information about the measurement result and determines that the vehicle has approached. In this way, the power consumption of the terminal can be significantly reduced, and the battery life of the terminal can be extended.

[0111] The predetermined period is preferably an interval at which the user can receive the signal at least once during the time from when the user approaches the vehicle on foot and the terminal enters the reception area of ​​the radio wave transmitted from the system side until the user reaches the vehicle, and is particularly preferably an interval at which the user can receive the signal at least several times. The predetermined period is preferably a time less than the time it takes for a person to walk a few steps. The predetermined period is preferably, for example, 3 seconds or less. On the other hand, if the predetermined period is too short, problems will occur. The predetermined time is preferably a time that can suppress the battery consumption of the terminal or more. In addition, the inventors have found a problem that the operation of the application does not go smoothly if there are frequent reception events when the terminal has an application execution function. Therefore, it is preferable to set the predetermined time to a time that does not affect the operation of the application. Taking these factors into consideration, the predetermined period is best about 2 seconds as in this embodiment. In this way, the battery consumption of the terminal can be further reduced, other programs such as applications can be operated smoothly, and when the user approaches the vehicle and the appropriate proximity is reached, the recording can be canceled. For example, if the terminal is a smartphone and the system is configured as a camera, when a user walks close to a camera equipped with a beacon, the smartphone will receive signals frequently, so it is advisable to reduce battery consumption on the smartphone and make it possible to determine the area by moving forward or backward by 3 or 4 steps. Also, if beacons are transmitted at short intervals, the smartphone will receive all beacon signals, causing reception events to occur frequently and preventing the app from running smoothly, but such problems can be suppressed by setting the interval to around 2 seconds.

[0112] The information on the measurement result may be the reception level, and when the reception level received by the drive recorder meets a certain condition, such as when the reception level is equal to or greater than a certain value, the recording may be cancelled, but the information on the measurement result may be, as in this embodiment, a signal requesting the recording to be stopped, and when the strength of the radio waves measured by the smartphone is equal to or greater than a certain value, a signal requesting the recording to be stopped may be sent from the smartphone, and when the drive recorder receives this signal, the recording may be stopped. In this way, the battery consumption of the terminal may be further reduced. The radio wave may be a beacon signal as in this embodiment, and in particular may be an advertising signal as in the case of a Bluetooth beacon as in this embodiment.

[0113] In the present embodiment, a smartphone has been described as an example of a terminal carried by a user, but a tablet or other terminal may also be used, and in particular, a smartphone is preferred.

[0114] The drive recorder of this embodiment is an example of a parking monitoring camera equipped with a function to transmit a beacon, and the terminal is a smartphone that can execute an app equipped with a function to receive a beacon signal transmitted from the camera. For example, the camera transmits a Bluetooth beacon signal periodically (every 2 seconds for the product), and when a person with a smartphone with a dedicated app approaches the parking monitoring camera, when the smartphone app receives the Bluetooth beacon, it connects to the camera via Bluetooth, and every time it receives a regular monitoring notification message from the camera, it acquires an RSSI value to detect the approximate distance to the camera. When the RSSI value becomes equal to or greater than a preset RSSI value, it connects to the camera via Bluetooth and stops the parking monitoring mode, thereby canceling the parking monitoring operation of the camera.

[0115] It is recommended that the Bluetooth beacon be advertised from the camera side, and a UUID (Universally Unique IDentifier) ​​dedicated to the beacon should be created and transmitted periodically.

[0116] As a Bluetooth beacon, it is good to transmit ID information called advertisement packets from the beacon. This ID information includes the proximityUUID and the Major and Minor identification.

[0117] The configured ID information should be periodically transmitted. The proximityUUID, Major, and Minor identifiers can be determined arbitrarily. For example, the proximityUUID should use a common ID for all systems, and the Major and Minor codes should be different for each individual system. In this way, even if there are multiple systems nearby, video recording can be canceled or started only when a specific system is approached. The Major and Minor codes should be configured to be sent as message data when the camera and smartphone app are paired. When the app detects that the user has redone pairing or canceled pairing, the Major and Minor codes should be updated or cleared.

[0118] In addition, in this embodiment, the drive recorder has a function of receiving, via wireless communication, operation signals of a smartphone, which is a terminal that can be carried by the vehicle user, and an operation to stop recording while the vehicle is parked as an operation of the smartphone, and the drive recorder has a function of stopping recording while the vehicle is parked when an operation to stop recording while the vehicle is parked is received, and when the drive recorder detects the approach of the vehicle user to the vehicle, it stops recording while the vehicle is parked even if an operation to stop recording while the vehicle is parked is not received.

[0119] In this way, the user does not need to take out the smartphone when approaching the car and use the smartphone to stop recording while the car is parked. This eliminates the hassle of entering the car.

[0120] In this embodiment, the system has a communication function capable of communicating with a terminal that can be carried by a user in a first range, which is a range that includes a range farther than a second range, which is a range for detecting approach to the vehicle and is in the vicinity of the vehicle, and has a function of transmitting information regarding the situation detected while the vehicle is parked in the first range. Therefore, the terminal that can be carried by the user can obtain information regarding the situation detected while the vehicle is parked when the terminal approaches the vehicle to the first range, and the recording of the vehicle while the vehicle is parked is stopped in the second range, which is closer to the vehicle than the first range. In particular, the terminal that can be carried by the user has a function of receiving and notifying information regarding the situation detected while the vehicle is parked from the system, so that the user can obtain information regarding the situation detected while the vehicle is parked when the terminal approaches the vehicle to the first range, and the recording of the vehicle while the vehicle is parked is stopped in the second range, which is closer to the vehicle than the first range. If the user only approaches the first range but does not enter the second range, it is possible to simply obtain information regarding the situation detected while the vehicle is parked without canceling the recording. For example, if no abnormality is reported, the user can move away from the car and go about their business without getting any closer. If an abnormality is detected, the user can simply enter the second range and the recording can be stopped.

[0121] The situation detected while the vehicle is parked may be, for example, a recognition result of the state of a suspicious person captured in a captured image, but the drive recorder of this embodiment has a function of acquiring the state of the vehicle, and the situation detected while the vehicle is parked is information related to the acquired state of the vehicle. The function of acquiring the state of the vehicle may be realized by providing a sensor or the like in the system, or may be realized by acquiring the state from an in-vehicle LAN or the like that the vehicle originally has. The information related to the situation detected while the vehicle is parked may be information related to an abnormality of the vehicle. In this way, when approaching a vehicle under parking monitoring, it is possible to immediately check whether there is an abnormality in the vehicle.

[0122] The information about the situation detected while the vehicle is parked may include battery information and tire pressure information, so that the battery information, tire pressure, etc. can be checked every time the vehicle approaches a parked vehicle.

[0123] The first range should be the communication range of the communication function, and in particular, a range of about 10 meters. The second range should be, for example, about 6 m. Since people walk at different speeds, if the distance is too short, the driver and others will be captured in the parking surveillance video, so by setting the range at this level, the possibility of not being captured increases. Also, for example, if the system is configured to connect to Bluetooth when the driver approaches the car and check the RSSI every two seconds, a distance of about 6 m is desirable, which is a little longer than the number of steps (4 or 5 steps) that a person would walk within those two seconds.

[0124] As in the present embodiment, it is preferable to provide an adjustment function for adjusting the second range by a user's operation. In this way, the user can set how close to the vehicle the image recording is to be canceled. For example, it is preferable to provide a function for detecting the approach by the strength of radio waves and for setting the strength of the second range by the user's operation. For example, it is preferable to provide a setting function for the RSSI level. By adjusting the RSSI value set in advance, the position of the camera that starts / stops parking monitoring can be adjusted, so that it is possible to control the start / stop of parking monitoring from a position where the driver is not reflected in the monitored image.

[0125] As in the present embodiment, it is preferable to provide a drive recorder that has a function that does not start recording the vehicle while it is parked until the user of the vehicle moves away from the vehicle by a predetermined distance, thereby preventing the user of the vehicle from being recorded in the video.

[0126] Also, as in this embodiment, it is preferable to provide a function for starting recording when the user of the vehicle moves beyond a predetermined range from the vehicle even while the vehicle is parked. It is preferable to detect whether the user of the vehicle has moved beyond a predetermined range from the vehicle, and start recording when it is detected that the user has moved. Recording can be started by canceling a pause in recording, but it is also preferable to start a new recording, and when the configuration is such that video data is recorded in a file, it is preferable to generate a new file and start recording.

[0127] As in the present embodiment, a drive recorder may be provided with a function of recording images captured by a vehicle while the vehicle is traveling, a driving record mode in which images captured by the vehicle while the vehicle is traveling, and a parking monitoring mode in which images captured by the vehicle while the vehicle is parked, and a function of stopping recording in the driving record mode when it is detected that the vehicle has changed from traveling to parking, and not starting recording in the parking monitoring mode until the user of the vehicle moves away from the vehicle by a predetermined distance. In this way, it is easy to prevent the driver and passengers from being recorded in the video when the parking monitoring mode is entered.

[0128] In particular, as in this embodiment, parking surveillance recording is not started until the driver holding the smartphone moves beyond a specified range from the car, and once the driver holds the smartphone, parking surveillance recording is started, and once the driver holds the smartphone approaches the car, parking surveillance recording is stopped.

[0129] The drive recorder may also have a function of detecting whether something that should be done when parking the vehicle has been forgotten and transmitting information indicating that, a communication function capable of communicating with a terminal that can be carried by the user in a third range that is a range that includes a distance farther than a fourth range that is a range for detecting a departure from the vehicle and is in the vicinity of the vehicle, and a function of transmitting information indicating that, when it is detected that something that should be done when parking the vehicle has been forgotten, by the communication function. In this way, when the drive recorder detects that something that should be done when parking the vehicle has been forgotten, a smartphone or the like that can be carried by the user can receive information indicating that. In particular, when the smartphone that can be carried by the user receives information indicating that, it may notify that fact.

[0130] Examples of items that should be done when parking the vehicle include turning off illumination, locking the doors, turning off hazard lights, etc. Information indicating this may be, for example, the state of the items that should be done when parking the vehicle, but is particularly preferably information indicating that items have been forgotten. For example, information such as illumination state, door lock state, and hazard light blinking state may be used, but is particularly preferably information indicating that illumination has been forgotten to be turned off, doors have been forgotten to be locked, or hazard lights have been forgotten to be turned off. It is particularly convenient to obtain this information from the vehicle's OBD connector or directly from a sensor, etc., and automatically notify the driver of the omission.

[0131] For example, the system may be a surveillance camera equipped with a Bluetooth communication function. When the surveillance camera is within the range where the smartphone can connect to Bluetooth (area in), the Bluetooth connection is maintained, and the camera periodically transmits a periodic monitoring notification message, etc., and when the smartphone receives this message, the RSSI value at the time of reception is acquired, and when the RSSI value falls below a preset value, the smartphone is deemed to be out of the area and an instruction message is sent to the camera to perform parking monitoring. When the terminal is configured as a smartphone, if the app is in the background, the app itself cannot operate periodically, and the correct RSSI value cannot be obtained and the correct distance to the camera cannot be determined unless the RSSI value is read when a message is received, but such problems can be solved by configuring the camera to transmit periodic messages. When the area is in, the connection with the camera is maintained, and the camera can transmit information such as when the camera status changes, the number of recorded images, and vehicle information. Here, too, the transmission cycle of the periodic monitoring communication message is 2 seconds. The reason for the 2 seconds is the same as the reason for the beacon transmission cycle. In particular, if the message is sent at a short cycle, the app cannot be started smoothly, and the app will operate frequently, which will consume the battery, but this problem can also be solved. By recognizing the distance between the parking monitoring camera and the smartphone in this way, when the user gets into the car, the parking monitoring can be automatically stopped without any operation, just by holding the smartphone, and the user can get into the car. The user can automatically start parking monitoring with the camera by simply parking the car and leaving the place with the smartphone. It is preferable to configure the camera to automatically connect to Bluetooth when approaching the parking monitoring camera, and it is preferable to configure the information held by the camera to be read out when necessary while the Bluetooth connection is in progress. The regular monitoring notification message is preferably a signal that is neither a beacon nor an advertisement. In addition, it is preferable to have an adjustment function that adjusts the fourth range by the user's operation, as in this embodiment. In this way, the user can set how far away from the vehicle the video recording will start.For example, it is preferable to have a configuration in which the departure is detected by the strength of radio waves, and to have a function for setting the strength to be the fourth range by a user operation. For example, it is preferable to have a function for setting the level of RSSI. Since the position of the camera that starts / stops parking monitoring can be adjusted by adjusting the RSSI value set in advance, it is possible to control the start / stop of parking monitoring from a position where the driver is not reflected in the image being monitored. In this embodiment, the first range and the third range, and the second range and the fourth range are each the same range, but they may be different ranges.

[0132] It would be useful to deter criminal acts involving parked vehicles and to record footage of events occurring around the vehicle, but it would be even more convenient if the vehicle monitoring mode could be turned on and off without the user having to operate it themselves, as in this embodiment.

[0133] Also, for example, a function may be provided to cancel / start recording while the vehicle is parked based on the passage of time or information detected by various sensors attached to the vehicle. For example, recording may be continued until a predetermined time has elapsed after entering parking monitoring mode, and recording may be stopped after the predetermined time has elapsed. Thieves are likely to approach the vehicle after confirming that the user has left the vehicle, and such scenes can be accurately recorded and the recording capacity can be reduced. Also, recording may be started when a sensor detects the approach of a person not carrying the user's terminal. If parking monitoring video can be recorded in this way, evidence of criminal acts, etc. can be more accurately preserved, and the possibility of eliminating the user's own reflection can be increased, and the increase in recording capacity can be reduced without unnecessary recording, and the recording content can be appropriate. The configuration for detecting area in / area out is not limited to the case where a Bluetooth beacon is used, and may be a configuration where, for example, a GPS is used.

[0134] The scope of the present invention is not limited to the configurations expressly described in the specification, but includes combinations of various aspects of the present invention disclosed herein. The configurations of the present invention for which a patent is sought are specified in the appended claims, but it is the intention of the present inventors to include in the claims any configurations disclosed in this specification that are not currently specified in the claims.

[0135] The present invention is not limited to the configurations described in the above-mentioned embodiments. The components of each of the above-mentioned embodiments and modifications may be arbitrarily selected and combined. Any components of each of the embodiments and modifications may be arbitrarily combined with any components described in the means for solving the invention or any components embodying any components described in the means for solving the invention. We intend to acquire rights to these as well in amendments to this application or divisional applications, etc. Even if there is a description such as "in the case of" or "when", this is not intended to describe the configuration as being limited to that case or time. We also disclose configurations that are not in these cases or times, and we intend to acquire rights. Furthermore, the parts described in order are not limited to this order. We also disclose configurations in which some parts are deleted or the order is changed, and we intend to acquire rights.

[0136] In addition, we intend to obtain rights to the overall design or partial design by filing a conversion application to a design application. The drawings depict the entire device in solid lines, but they include not only the overall design but also partial designs claimed for some parts of the device. For example, it is a drawing that includes some parts of the device as partial designs, regardless of the parts, as well as a drawing that includes some parts of the device as partial designs. A part of the device may be a part of the device, or it may be a part of that part. We intend to obtain rights to not only the overall design, but also partial designs in which any part of the solid line parts of the drawings is drawn as a dashed line part.

Claims

1. A function of receiving information for causing a smartphone to switch the display of a recording mode for recording only events as an operating state during parking monitoring or a recording mode for recording constantly as an operating state during parking monitoring on a screen that receives and displays information on the battery voltage of a vehicle to which the drive recorder is connected, the information being wirelessly transmitted from the drive recorder during parking monitoring by the drive recorder, and switching the display between a recording mode for recording only events as an operating state during parking monitoring and a recording mode for recording constantly as an operating state during parking monitoring, the information being wirelessly transmitted from the drive recorder during parking monitoring by the smartphone A program for smartphones that enables the smartphone's computer to execute certain functions.

2. A function of wirelessly receiving and displaying information on the voltage of a battery other than the battery of the vehicle to which the drive recorder is connected from the drive recorder, A program for a smartphone for causing a computer of the smartphone according to claim 1 to execute the program.

3. A function of displaying information on the number of events recorded in the drive recorder wirelessly received from the drive recorder on a screen that receives and displays information on the battery voltage of the vehicle to which the drive recorder is connected, A program for a smartphone for causing a computer of the smartphone according to claim 1 or 2 to execute the program.

4. A drive recorder having a function of transmitting information to a smartphone during parking monitoring, A drive recorder having a function of transmitting information about the battery voltage of a vehicle to which the drive recorder is connected to the smartphone, a function of setting whether the operating state during parking monitoring is to be a recording mode that records only events, or a recording mode that records continuously as the operating state during parking monitoring, and a function of operating in the recording mode that records only events as the operating state during parking monitoring when the recording mode that records only events as the operating state during parking monitoring is set, and wirelessly transmitting information to cause the smartphone to display that the recording mode is the one that records only events as the operating state during parking monitoring.

5. 5. The drive recorder according to claim 4, further comprising a function of wirelessly transmitting information on a voltage of a battery other than the battery of the vehicle to which the drive recorder is connected.

6. The drive recorder according to claim 4 or 5, further comprising a function of wirelessly transmitting information on the number of events recorded in the drive recorder to the smartphone.

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