Driving characteristic data management method and in-vehicle device

Abstract

To more efficiently collect driving characteristic data for each driver and to support management of the collected driving characteristic data.SOLUTION: A driving characteristic data managing method is a method for managing driving characteristic data executed by one or more computers, wherein: the managing method associates registered biometric information of a plurality of drivers with license IDs of the drivers and registers the associated information; the managing method acquires biological information of a driver who drives a vehicle and driving characteristic data indicating a driving characteristic of the driver; and when the managing method determines that there is registered biometric information which is the same or similar to the biometric information among the registered biometric information of the plurality of registered drivers, the managing method associates and records the driver's license ID associated to the same or similar to the registered biometric information and the driving characteristic data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a driving characteristic data management method and an in-vehicle device. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, vehicle control devices and in-vehicle information communication devices are known that allow a vehicle to pass through an ETC gate at an appropriate speed.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a driver identification system that acquires biometric information of a vehicle driver and identifies the driver based on the acquired biometric information. The driver identification system acquires the biometric information periodically and when it is determined that information from an electronic device mounted on the vehicle satisfies a predetermined condition. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-71319 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, in Patent Document 1, driver information identified using the driver's biometric information is linked to vehicle information for determining the driver's driving characteristics, and thus there is room for further improvement in terms of the management of vehicle information.

[0006] The present disclosure has been devised in consideration of the above-described conventional circumstances, and aims to provide a driving characteristic data management method and an on-board device that more efficiently collect driving characteristic data for each driver and assist in managing the collected driving characteristic data. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present disclosure relates to a driving characteristic data management method executed by one or more computers, which registers registered biometric information of a plurality of drivers in association with the driver's license ID, and manages the biometric information of a driver who drives a vehicle and the driving characteristic data indicating the driving characteristics of the driver. vehicle identification information that can identify the vehicle; and if it is determined that there is registered biometric information identical or similar to the biometric information among the registered biometric information of the plurality of registered drivers, a license ID linked to the identical or similar registered biometric information and the driving characteristic data are obtained. , the vehicle identification information; Link and record and when it is determined that there is no registered biometric information identical or similar to the biometric information among the registered biometric information of the plurality of registered drivers, the driving characteristic data is linked to the vehicle identification information and temporarily stored. A method for managing driving characteristic data is provided. The present disclosure also relates to a driving characteristic data management method executed by one or more computers, which includes registering registered biometric information of a plurality of drivers in association with license IDs of the drivers, acquiring biometric information of a driver who drives a vehicle and the driving characteristic data indicating the driving characteristics of the driver, and when it is determined that there is registered biometric information of the registered drivers that is identical or similar to the biometric information, linking and recording the license ID linked to the identical or similar registered biometric information, registering a first registered face image in which the driver's face is facing a first direction, and a second registered face image in which the driver's face is facing a second direction different from the first direction, in association with the license ID, and registering the driving characteristic data of the driver who drives the vehicle. The present invention provides a method for managing driving characteristic data, which acquires a first facial image in which a face is facing the first direction, a second facial image in which a face is facing the second direction, and the driving characteristic data, compares a first registered facial image that is identical or similar to the first facial image among the first registered facial images of the plurality of registered drivers with a second registered facial image that is identical or similar to the second facial image among the second registered facial images of the plurality of registered drivers, and, when it is determined that the first registered facial image contains the identical or similar first registered facial image and the second registered facial image contains the identical or similar second registered facial image, links and records the driving characteristic data with a driver's license ID linked to the identical or similar first registered facial image and second registered facial image.

[0008] The present disclosure also relates to a vehicle-mounted It is set to a communication unit that performs data communication with an external device; a first acquisition unit that acquires biometric information of a driver who drives the vehicle; a second acquisition unit that acquires driving characteristic data that indicates driving characteristics of the driver; and a control unit that links the biometric information and the driving characteristic data and outputs them, wherein the control unit outputs the linked biometric information and the linked driving characteristic data to the communication unit and causes them to be transmitted to the external device. wherein the first acquisition unit is a camera that captures an image of the driver's face, the biometric information is a facial image of the driver captured by the first acquisition unit, the communication unit receives a designation of a facial orientation of the driver appearing in the facial image from the external device, and when the control unit determines that the facial orientation of the driver appearing in the facial image is the designated facial orientation of the driver, the control unit associates the facial image with the driving characteristic data, outputs the associated data to the communication unit, and causes the communication unit to transmit the associated data to the external device. to provide. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present disclosure, driving characteristic data for each driver can be collected more efficiently and management of the collected driving characteristic data can be supported. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a use case of a driving characteristics management system according to an embodiment; [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of a vehicle according to an embodiment; [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of a driving characteristic server according to an embodiment; [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of a license server according to an embodiment; [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a driver's initial registration procedure in a driving characteristics management system according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 6] Flowchart showing an example of a procedure for initially registering a driver in a vehicle [Figure 7] Flowchart showing an example of a vehicle ID registration procedure in a vehicle [Figure 8] Flowchart showing an example of a license ID registration procedure for a vehicle [Figure 9] Flowchart showing an example of a procedure for registering a facial image of a driver in a vehicle [Figure 10] Flowchart showing an example of a driver's initial registration procedure in a driving characteristic server [Figure 11] Flowchart showing an example of a vehicle ID registration procedure in a driving characteristic server [Figure 12] Flowchart showing an example of a license ID registration procedure in a driving characteristic server [Figure 13] Flowchart showing an example of a procedure for registering a driver's face image in a driving characteristic server [Figure 14] FIG. 1 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a procedure for collecting driving characteristic data of a driver in a driving characteristic management system according to an embodiment. [Figure 15] Flowchart showing an example of a procedure for acquiring driving characteristic data of a driver in a vehicle [Figure 16] A flowchart showing an example of a procedure for collecting driving characteristic data of a driver in a driving characteristic server. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] (Background to this disclosure) In recent years, one type of system that can verify the identity of a user online is eKYC (electronic Know Your Customer). eKYC acquires a facial image or video of a user's face sent from a user terminal (e.g., a personal computer (PC), smartphone, tablet terminal, etc.) and a video of an identification document (e.g., a driver's license, residence card, passport, My Number card, etc.) on which personal information such as the user's name, address, date of birth, etc., as well as the user's facial image are written. eKYC verifies the identity of a user by comparing pre-registered registration information about the user (e.g., a video, various personal information written on the identification document, etc.) with the acquired facial image or video of the user and the video of the identification document.

[0012] The above-mentioned Patent Document 1 discloses a driver identification system that acquires biometric information of the driver and information related to the driver's driving operation from the vehicle to identify the driver, and records the driving characteristic information of the identified driver in association with the vehicle ID driven by the driver. However, when the vehicle is a rental car, a shared car, or other vehicle driven by multiple different drivers, the driver identification system records the driving characteristic information of the driver in association with the vehicle ID driven by the driver, making it difficult to record and manage the driving characteristic information for each driver.

[0013] In recent years, there has been an increase in accidents caused by driving errors by elderly drivers (senior drivers) due to aging. Efforts to prevent such accidents include, for example, cognitive function tests for elderly drivers when they renew their driver's licenses, and encouraging elderly drivers over a certain age to surrender their driver's licenses. However, if an elderly driver surrenders their driver's license, they may lose the means of transportation essential for independent daily life. Therefore, when determining whether or not to surrender a driver's license, it is desirable to visualize changes in elderly drivers' driving behavior by objectively evaluating their driving behavior using collected driving characteristic data. However, the driver identification system is not intended to collect and manage driving characteristic data for the purpose of obtaining the above-mentioned driving evaluation for each driver.

[0014] Therefore, in the following embodiment, an example of a driving characteristic data management method and an in-vehicle device that more efficiently collects driving characteristic data for each driver and supports management of the collected driving characteristic data will be described.

[0015] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings as appropriate, embodiments specifically disclosing a driving characteristic data management method and an on-board device according to the present disclosure will be described in detail. However, more detailed explanation than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed explanations of already well-known matters or redundant explanations of substantially identical configurations may be omitted. This is to avoid unnecessary redundancy in the following explanation and to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art. Note that the accompanying drawings and the following explanation are provided to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the subject matter recited in the claims.

[0016] An example use case of the driving characteristic management system 100 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example use case of the driving characteristic management system 100 according to the embodiment. Fig. 1 illustrates an example in which the driving characteristic management system 100 transmits a facial image of a driver as an example of biometric information.

[0017] The driving characteristic management system 100 includes one or more vehicles C1, ..., a driving characteristic server S1, a license server S2, and a network NW. The driving characteristic management system 100 may also include a wireless terminal device P1.

[0018] The driving characteristic management system 100 acquires driving characteristic data of the drivers who drive the vehicles, transmitted from communication devices 11 (see FIG. 2) mounted on each of one or more vehicles C1, .... The driving characteristic management system 100 associates the acquired driving characteristic data with the driver's license ID (Identification), and stores and manages the data in a driving characteristic server S1. The driving characteristic management system 100 also manages the license IDs of multiple drivers pre-registered in a license server S2. The driving characteristic management system 100 performs a driving evaluation for each driver using the driving characteristic server S1 or the license server S2, and transmits the driving evaluation results to a wireless terminal device P1 or a car navigation device 12 for output.

[0019] The driving characteristics data referred to here is data indicating the driving characteristics of the driver, and is acquired by various sensors (e.g., an in-vehicle camera 13, a gyro sensor 14, an accelerator pedal 17A, a brake pedal 17B, a turn signal 17C, a speed sensor 18, an outside sensor / camera 19, a GPS sensor 20, or a steering wheel 17D, etc. (see Figure 2)) mounted on each of the vehicles C1, ...

[0020] For example, the driving characteristic data is data indicated by at least one of driving characteristic parameters or driving characteristic vectors, and is one or more of the following data: acceleration during driving, jerk, lateral G (i.e., acceleration occurring perpendicular to the traveling direction), steering angle, type of road on which the vehicle is traveling, speed exceeding the speed limit of the road on which the vehicle is traveling, driver's line of sight, etc. The driving characteristic data is not limited to the above examples, and may be data indicating the driver's driving characteristics obtained by combining two or more of these data.

[0021] The driving characteristic parameter is a value (parameter) for each piece of data included in the driving characteristic data. The driving characteristic vector is an arithmetic mean value calculated based on the number of pieces of data included in the driving characteristic data and the value for each piece of data. For example, if the number of pieces of driving characteristic data is N (N: an integer equal to or greater than 1), the driving characteristic vector is represented by an N-th order vector.

[0022] Each of the vehicles C1, ... is connected to the driving characteristic server S1 via a network NW so as to be able to communicate wirelessly. Note that the wireless communication referred to here may be, for example, a wireless LAN such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark), and the type of wireless communication is not particularly limited. When a driver of each of the vehicles C1, ... drives the vehicle for the first time, the vehicle generates a control command requesting initial registration of the driver, links the driver's license ID, biometric information, and vehicle ID to the driver's license ID, and transmits the linkages to the driving characteristic server S1. Furthermore, while the vehicle is being driven by the driver, each of the vehicles C1, ... links the driver's driving characteristic data to the vehicle ID and transmits the linkages to the driving characteristic server S1, and records the driver's driving characteristic data and vehicle ID in association with the driver's license ID that has already been initially registered.

[0023] In the initial registration, each of the vehicles C1, ... accepts an operation by the driver requesting initial registration of the driver's license ID in the driving characteristic server S1 via the input unit 12D (see FIG. 2) of the car navigation device 12. Each of the vehicles C1, ... acquires the driver's license ID and biometric information, associates the acquired driver's license ID and biometric information with a vehicle ID (for example, license plate information) that can identify the vehicle, and transmits them to the driving characteristic server S1.

[0024] When collecting driving characteristic data, each of the vehicles C1, ... starts acquiring driving characteristic data using various sensors upon detecting that the driver has gotten in the vehicle, associates the acquired driving characteristic data with the vehicle ID, and transmits the data to the driving characteristic server S1. Furthermore, each of the vehicles C1, ... starts acquiring the driver's biometric information upon detecting that the driver has gotten in the vehicle, associates the acquired driver's biometric information with the vehicle ID, transmits the data to the driving characteristic server S1, and requests driver authentication (i.e., driver identification) from the driving characteristic server S1. Each of the vehicles C1, ... may also associate the driving characteristic data, the driver's biometric information, and the vehicle ID and transmit the data to the driving characteristic server S1. Furthermore, when each of the vehicles C1, ... acquires an electrical signal from the driving characteristic server S1 indicating that driver authentication has been completed (i.e., the transmitted driver's biometric information has been matched with the biometric information registered in the driving characteristic server S1), it stops acquiring and transmitting the driver's biometric information.

[0025] Each of the vehicles C1, . . . stops acquiring the driving characteristic data and the biological information from the various sensors at the timing when it is detected that the driver has finished driving.

[0026] The license ID here refers to an image of the driver's license of the driver driving the vehicle captured by the in-vehicle camera 13, or information about the driver's license (e.g., a facial image of the driver, information about the driver, various numbers assigned to identify the driver, etc.) acquired by a license reader (not shown) capable of reading the license ID written on the driver's license. The license reader may be capable of transmitting the license ID read by short-range wireless communication such as NFC (Near Field Communication) or Bluetooth (registered trademark) to the processor 12A, or may be capable of transmitting the license ID read by wired communication with the car navigation device 12 via USB (Universal Serial Bus) or the like to the processor 12A.

[0027] The license ID may also be information about the driver's license obtained by image analysis of the image captured by the in-vehicle camera 13, or information about the driver's license entered by the driver through an input operation on the input unit 12D (see Figure 2) of the car navigation device 12.

[0028] The driver's biometric information here refers to one or more images of the driver's face, iris, fingerprint, veins, voice, etc. When the driver's biometric information is the driver's iris, fingerprint, veins, voice, etc., each of the vehicles C1, ... may be equipped with a device (not shown) or a sensor (not shown) that can acquire the driver's iris, fingerprint, veins, and voice.

[0029] The driver's face image is captured by the in-vehicle camera 13. It is desirable that multiple face images of the driver are captured at the time of initial registration, including at least one face image captured when the driver is facing forward (hereinafter referred to as a "frontal face image"). If two or more face images are captured at the time of initial registration, the in-vehicle camera 13 analyzes the direction of the driver's face through image analysis, and captures a frontal face image and one or more face images captured when the driver is facing in a direction other than the front (for example, leftward, rightward, etc.). In the following description, a face image captured when the driver is facing left will be referred to as a "leftward face image," and a face image captured when the driver is facing right will be referred to as a "rightward face image."

[0030] The iris may be obtained by image analysis using an image of the driver's face captured by the in-vehicle camera 13 by an ICM (Intelligent Control Module, not shown) installed in the vehicle C1, ..., a car navigation device 12, or a driving characteristic server S1.

[0031] The fingerprint may be obtained by image analysis using an image of one or more fingertips of the driver captured by the in-vehicle camera 13 by the ICM, car navigation device 12, or driving characteristic server S1 installed in the vehicle C1, ..., or by a fingerprint sensor (not shown) equipped in the vehicle C1, ..., or a steering wheel 17D with a fingerprint sensor function, etc.

[0032] The veins may be obtained by image analysis using an image of the driver's hands captured by the in-vehicle camera 13 by the ICM, car navigation device 12, or driving characteristic server S1 installed in the vehicle C1, etc., or may be obtained by a vein sensor (not shown) equipped in the vehicle C1, etc.

[0033] The voice is the driver's voice picked up by a microphone provided in the car navigation device 12 or another microphone (not shown). The voice picked up here may be a predetermined keyword or the like.

[0034] The driving characteristic server S1 is connected to each of the vehicles C1, ..., the wireless terminal device P1, and the license server S2 via the network NW so that data can be communicated between them. The driving characteristic server S1 performs initial registration based on a control command requesting initial registration of the driver transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, .... The driving characteristic server S1 also collects driving characteristic data of the driver transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ..., and records the collected driving characteristic data of the driver in association with the license ID of the driver who has already been initially registered.

[0035] During initial registration, the driving characteristic server S1 acquires a control command requesting initial registration of the driver transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ..., as well as the biometric information, driver's license ID, and vehicle ID of the driver to be initially registered. The driving characteristic server S1 compares the acquired driver's biometric information with the driver's license ID to determine whether the driver indicated by the biometric information is the same person as the driver indicated by the driver's license ID (i.e., identity verification). If the driving characteristic server S1 determines that the acquired biometric information and the driver indicated by the driver's license ID are the same person, it associates the driver's license ID, the driver's facial image, and the vehicle ID and registers them (initial registration). The driver's facial image registered here may be a single frontal face image, or a single frontal face image and one or more right-facing or left-facing face images.

[0036] When collecting driving characteristic data, the driving characteristic server S1 acquires the driver's biometric information, driving characteristic data, and vehicle ID transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ..., and compares the acquired driver's biometric information with each of the initially registered drivers' biometric information. If the driving characteristic server S1 determines that there is a driver whose biometric information matches, it records the acquired driving characteristic data and vehicle ID in association with the driver's license ID.

[0037] The driving characteristic server S1 performs a driving evaluation using the driving characteristic data of a specified driver based on a control command requesting the driving evaluation result of the specified driver transmitted from the license server S2. The driving characteristic server S1 generates a driving evaluation result and transmits it to the wireless terminal device P1. In such a case, the wireless terminal device P1 is carried by, for example, an employee of the National Police Agency who decides whether to renew the driver's license, or an employee of an insurance company that handles automobile insurance (products). This allows the employee of the National Police Agency to make a decision regarding the driver's license renewal based on the driving evaluation result of the specified driver displayed on the wireless terminal device P1. Similarly, an employee of the insurance company can calculate the automobile insurance premium of the specified driver based on the driving evaluation result of the specified driver (i.e., an index indicating the degree of safe driving) displayed on the wireless terminal device P1.

[0038] The driving characteristic server S1 also receives a control command requesting driving characteristic data of a specific driver, transmitted from a wireless terminal device P1 owned by the driver. The driving characteristic server S1 compares the driver's license ID or biometric information included in the control command transmitted from the wireless terminal device P1 with the driver's license IDs or biometric information of multiple registered drivers. Based on the comparison result, the driving characteristic server S1 extracts the driving characteristic data of the driver corresponding to the driver's license ID or biometric information included in the control command and the vehicle ID of the vehicle from which the driving characteristic data was obtained, and transmits them to the wireless terminal device P1 or the car navigation device 12.

[0039] In addition, here, when the driving characteristic server S1 performs a driving evaluation of the driver based on the accumulated driving characteristic data, the driving characteristic server S1 may generate a driving evaluation result of the driver corresponding to the license ID or biometric information included in the control command and transmit it to the wireless terminal device P1 or the car navigation device 12.

[0040] The license server S2 is connected to the driving characteristic server S1 and the wireless terminal device P1 via the network NW so that data can be communicated between them. The license server S2 records and manages the license IDs of multiple drivers. Note that the information recorded and managed by the license server S2 is not limited to license IDs and may include, for example, information regarding driver's license renewal, driving evaluation results using driving characteristic data, etc.

[0041] The license server S2 receives a control command transmitted from the wireless terminal device P1 requesting driving characteristic data of a specific driver. The license server S2 compares the license ID or biometric information contained in the control command transmitted from the wireless terminal device P1 with the license IDs or biometric information of multiple registered drivers, and transmits the comparison result to the driving characteristic server S1. Based on the comparison result, the driving characteristic server S1 extracts the driving characteristic data of the driver corresponding to the license ID or biometric information contained in the control command and the vehicle ID of the vehicle from which the driving characteristic data was obtained, and transmits them to the license server S2.

[0042] In addition, here, when the driving characteristic server S1 performs a driving evaluation of the driver based on the accumulated driving characteristic data, the driving characteristic server S1 may generate a driving evaluation result of the driver corresponding to the license ID or biometric information included in the control command and transmit it to the license server S2.

[0043] The wireless terminal device P1 is communicably connected to the driving characteristic server S1 via the network NW. The wireless terminal device P1 is, for example, a personal computer (PC), a notebook PC, a tablet terminal, or a smartphone owned by the driver, the driver's relatives, a police officer, an employee of an insurance company, etc. Note that the wireless terminal device P1 is not limited to the above-mentioned examples and may also be a car navigation device 12 installed in the vehicle C1, etc.

[0044] The wireless terminal device P1 can accept input operations by the driver, the driver's relatives, etc., and generates a control command requesting the driver's driving evaluation results based on the input operation. The wireless terminal device P1 acquires the driver's license ID or biometric information, associates the acquired driver's license ID or biometric information with the control command, and transmits them to the driving characteristic server S1. Furthermore, when the wireless terminal device P1 acquires the driver's driving evaluation results transmitted from the driving characteristic server S1, it outputs the acquired driver's driving evaluation results to a monitor (not shown) of the wireless terminal device P1. Note that when the wireless terminal device P1 is realized by a car navigation device 12, the wireless terminal device P1 (i.e., the car navigation device 12) outputs the acquired driver's driving evaluation results to a display unit 12C of the car navigation device 12.

[0045] The network NW connects each of the plurality of vehicles C1, . . . to the driving characteristic server S1, the license server S2, and between the driving characteristic server S1 and the wireless terminal device P1 so that wireless communication is possible.

[0046] Next, an example of the internal configuration of vehicles C1, ... in an embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of vehicles C1, ... in an embodiment. Note that the internal configuration of vehicles C1, ... shown in Fig. 2 illustrates an example of the internal configuration when a facial image of the driver is used as biometric information, and sensors for acquiring other biometric information, license readers, etc. are not shown. Furthermore, since each of vehicles C1, ... has a similar internal configuration, the internal configuration of vehicle C1 will be described below.

[0047] The vehicle C1 is configured to include at least a communication device 11, a car navigation device 12, an in-vehicle camera 13, a gyro sensor 14, a memory 15, and an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 16. The components inside the vehicle C1 are connected to each other via a CAN (Controller Area Network) or the like so as to be able to send and receive data.

[0048] The communication device 11, the car navigation device 12, the in-vehicle camera 13, and the gyro sensor 14 may be integrated into one car navigation device 10. The sensors mounted on the vehicle C1 shown in FIG. 2 are merely an example and are not limiting.

[0049] The communication device 11 transmits and receives data wirelessly between the vehicle C1 and the driving characteristic server S1 via the network NW. The communication device 11 transmits the driver's license ID, biometric information (here, one or more facial images), vehicle ID, driving characteristic data, etc. to the driving characteristic server S1. The communication device 11 receives electrical signals notifying the completion of initial registration, electrical signals notifying the completion of driver identification, etc., transmitted from the driving characteristic server S1, and outputs them to the processor 12A.

[0050] The car navigation device 12 is a device capable of accepting driver operations. The car navigation device 12 may also be an IVI (In-Vehicle Infotainment) device capable of providing, for example, a car navigation function, a location information providing service function, an Internet connection function, a multimedia playback function, etc. The car navigation device 12 includes a processor 12A, a memory 12B, a display unit 12C, and an input unit 12D.

[0051] The processor 12A is configured using, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), and controls the operation of each unit. The processor 12A cooperates with the memory 12B to comprehensively perform various processes and controls. Specifically, the processor 12A references programs and data stored in the memory 12B and executes the programs to realize the functions of each unit.

[0052] Processor 12A starts the initial registration process based on a control command output from input unit 12D to start the initial registration of the driver to driving characteristic server S1. Processor 12A associates one or more facial images of the driver captured by in-vehicle camera 13, an image of the driver's license (license ID), the vehicle ID, and a control command requesting the initial registration of the driver, and transmits them to driving characteristic server S1. Note that the license ID may be license information input to input unit 12D by the driver's operation. Similarly, it may be license plate information input to input unit 12D by the driver's operation.

[0053] The processor 12A starts acquiring driving characteristic data of the driver upon receiving a control command from the ECU 16 or the communication device 11 indicating that the driver has been received. The processor 12A acquires the angular velocity of the vehicle C1 as driving characteristic data based on an electrical signal output from the gyro sensor 14, and acquires various driving characteristic data acquired by various sensors (e.g., the in-vehicle camera 13, the gyro sensor 14, the accelerator pedal 17A, the brake pedal 17B, the turn signal 17C, the speed sensor 18, the external sensor / camera 19, the GPS sensor 20, and the steering wheel 17D) via the ECU 16. The driving characteristic data acquired by the various sensors will be described later. The processor 12A associates the acquired driving characteristic data with the vehicle ID and transmits the data to the driving characteristic server S1. The processor 12A also causes the in-vehicle camera 13 to capture a facial image of the driver as biometric information of the driver used for driver registration or identification performed by the driving characteristic server S1. The processor 12A associates the face image of the driver output from the in-vehicle camera 13 with the vehicle ID and transmits the image to the driving characteristic server S1.

[0054] The processor 12A terminates the process of acquiring the driver's driving characteristic data and the process of transmitting the driving characteristic data to the driving characteristic server S1 when it receives a control command indicating that the driver has exited the vehicle from the ECU 16 or the communication device 11. The processor 12A may terminate the image capturing process by the in-vehicle camera 13 based on a control command indicating that the initial registration or the driver's face matching has been completed, which is transmitted from the driving characteristic server S1.

[0055] The processor 12A may also perform image analysis of the driver's face image output from the in-vehicle camera 13, and perform detection of the driver's line of sight, drowsiness, emotions, etc. The processor 12A associates the detected detection results with the vehicle ID as driving characteristic data and transmits them to the driving characteristic server S1.

[0056] The memory 12B includes, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory) as a work memory used when executing each process of the processor 12A, and a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores programs and data that define the operation of the processor 12A. The RAM temporarily stores data or information generated or acquired by the processor 12A. The ROM stores programs that define the operation of the processor 12A. The memory 12B also stores the vehicle ID of the vehicle C1.

[0057] The display unit 12C is configured using, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an organic EL (Electroluminescence).

[0058] The input unit 12D is a user interface that is integrated with the display unit 12C. The input unit 12D converts the received driver's operation into an electrical signal (control command) and outputs it to the processor 12A. The input unit 12D receives an input operation by the driver to start initial registration, and receives an input operation of a driver's license ID or a vehicle ID.

[0059] The in-vehicle camera 13 is configured to have at least a lens (not shown) and an image sensor (not shown). The image sensor is a solid-state imaging element such as a CCD (Charged-Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor), and converts an optical image formed on the imaging surface into an electrical signal.

[0060] In-vehicle camera 13 captures an image of the face of the driver sitting in the driver's seat based on an input operation by the driver via input unit 12D or based on detection of the driver getting in the vehicle, and outputs the image to processor 12A. Processor 12A performs image analysis on the captured image of the driver's face to detect the orientation of the driver's face. When processor 12A determines that the detected orientation of the driver's face is a preset orientation, processor 12A associates the facial image with a vehicle ID and causes communication device 11 to transmit the associated image to driving characteristic server S1. Note that the process of detecting the orientation of the driver's face from the facial image may be executed by driving characteristic server S1.

[0061] For example, if a frontal face image is required for driver authentication during initial registration or for identifying the driver when recording driving characteristic data, the processor 12A associates the frontal face image, in which the detected driver's face is determined to be facing forward, with the vehicle ID and transmits it to the driving characteristic server S1.

[0062] Furthermore, for example, when facial images of the driver facing different directions are required for driver authentication during initial registration or for identifying the driver when recording driving characteristic data, the processor 12A selects one or more facial images from among a frontal facial image determined to be facing forward, a rightward facial image determined to be facing right, or a leftward facial image determined to be facing left. The processor 12A associates the two or more selected facial images with the vehicle ID and transmits them to the driving characteristic server S1. This allows the vehicle C1 to more effectively prevent impersonation of the driver using a frontal facial image of the driver captured in advance.

[0063] In addition, in-vehicle camera 13 may capture an image of the driver's driver's license based on an input operation by the driver via input unit 12D. In such a case, processor 12A may output the captured image captured by in-vehicle camera 13 to processor 12A and display it on display unit 12C, and may superimpose a frame indicating the captured area of the driver's license on the captured image displayed on display unit 12C. This allows car navigation device 10 to assist in capturing a facial image of the driver's license used to identify the driver, or capturing an image of the driver's license from which various information written on the driver's license can be read.

[0064] The gyro sensor 14 is a so-called angular velocity sensor and may be any of a mechanical type, an optical type, a vibration type, etc. The gyro sensor 14 detects the rotation and change in direction of the vehicle C1 as an angular velocity, converts it into an electrical signal, and outputs it to the processor 12A.

[0065] The memory 15 includes, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory) as a work memory used when executing each process of the ECU 16, and a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores programs and data that define the operation of the ECU 16. The RAM temporarily stores data or information generated or acquired by the ECU 16. The ROM stores programs that define the operation of the ECU 16. The memory 15 may also store the vehicle ID of the vehicle C1.

[0066] The ECU 16 comprehensively executes the processing and control of each part. The ECU 16 is configured using a so-called electronic circuit control device, and references programs and data stored in the memory 15 and executes the programs to realize the functions of each part. The ECU 16 acquires various operation information (e.g., sudden acceleration, sudden deceleration, lighting information, steering (torque) information, etc.) of the accelerator pedal 17A, brake pedal 17B, turn signal lamp 17C, steering wheel 17D, etc., performed by the driver based on electrical signals output from the operation unit 17. The ECU 16 outputs the driving characteristic data based on the acquired operation information of the operation unit 17 to the processor 12A.

[0067] Furthermore, the ECU 16 executes, as conditions for detecting the driver's entry, for example, the driver's door being closed, the driver's seat belt being fastened, the side brake being released after the ignition is turned on, the driver being seated by a load sensor (not shown) provided in the driver's seat, or the torque detection of the steering 17D. The ECU 16 detects the driver's entry based on whether one or more or two or more driver's entry detection conditions are satisfied. The ECU 16 generates a control command indicating that the driver's entry has been detected and outputs the control command to the processor 12A of the car navigation device 12 or the communication device 11.

[0068] Furthermore, the ECU 16 executes, as conditions for detecting the driver getting out of the vehicle, for example, the driver's door being opened, the driver's seat belt being unfastened, the ignition being turned off, or the driver leaving the seat using a load sensor (not shown) provided in the driver's seat. The ECU 16 detects the driver getting out of the vehicle based on whether one or more or two or more driver getting out detection conditions are satisfied. The ECU 16 generates a control command indicating that the driver has gotten out of the vehicle and outputs the control command to the processor 12A of the car navigation device 12 or the communication device 11.

[0069] The speed sensor 18 measures the speed of the vehicle C1 based on a vehicle speed pulse generated by the rotation speed of the drive shaft inside the vehicle C1. The speed sensor 18 outputs the measured speed of the vehicle C1 to the processor 12A.

[0070] The external sensor / camera 19 is one or more sensors such as radar and sonar provided on the vehicle C1, and one or more cameras capable of capturing images of the surroundings (outside the vehicle) of the vehicle C1. The camera referred to here may be a drive recorder. The external sensor / camera 19 detects the position and direction of objects (e.g., walls, obstacles, other vehicles, people, etc.) present around the vehicle C1, detects signs, detects white lines on the road, etc. The external sensor / camera 19 outputs the detected information to the processor 12A. The processor 12A transmits the detected information output from the external sensor / camera 19 to the driving characteristic server S1 as driving characteristic data.

[0071] The GPS sensor 20 receives satellite positioning signals transmitted not only from the US Global Positioning System (GPS) signals but also from artificial satellites (not shown) capable of providing satellite positioning services such as the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) or the European Galileo, or from quasi-zenith satellites (not shown). Based on the received satellite positioning signals, the GPS sensor 20 calculates information on the traveling speed and traveling position of the vehicle C1 and outputs the information to the processor 12A. Note that the calculation of the information on the traveling speed and traveling position of the vehicle C1 based on the satellite positioning signals or the quasi-zenith satellites may be performed by the GPS sensor 20.

[0072] Next, the internal configuration of the driving characteristic server S1 in the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the driving characteristic server S1 in the embodiment. In the following description, for ease of understanding, various data or information collected (recorded) and managed by the driving characteristic server S1 will be described using a driving characteristic table TB1 as an example, but the driving characteristic table TB1 is not essential and may be omitted.

[0073] The driving characteristic server S1 includes a communication unit 31, a processor 32, and a memory 33.

[0074] The communication unit 31 is connected to each of the vehicles C1, . . . , the wireless terminal device P1, and the license server S2 via the network NW so as to be able to transmit and receive data therebetween.

[0075] The processor 32 is configured using, for example, a CPU, a DSP, or an FPGA, and controls the operation of each part. The processor 32 performs various processes and controls in cooperation with the memory 33. Specifically, the processor 32 references programs and data stored in the memory 33 and executes the programs to realize the functions of each part. The processor 32 generates a driving characteristics table TB1 and stores it in the memory 33.

[0076] The driving characteristics table TB1 records and manages a vehicle ID, driving characteristics data, and biometric information (a facial image of the driver in the example shown in FIG. 3) linked to a driver's license ID. As an example, the driving characteristics table TB1 shown in FIG. 3 records a user ID that is assigned to each driver and can identify the driver, further linked to the driver's license ID. The biometric information recorded in the driving characteristics table TB1 is the biometric information that was registered (stored) at the time of initial registration.

[0077] For example, the driving characteristics table TB1 shown in Fig. 3 links a license ID "XXX" with a vehicle ID "KKK," a user ID "AAA," facial image data, and driving characteristics data; links a license ID "YYY" with a vehicle ID "KKK," a user ID "BBB," facial image data, and driving characteristics data; and links a license ID "ZZZ" with a vehicle ID "MMM," a user ID "CCC," facial image data, and driving characteristics data. As a result, even if a vehicle with the same vehicle ID "KKK" is driven by multiple different drivers (e.g., two users "AAA" and "BBB"), the driving characteristics table TB1 can record driving characteristics data for each license ID, making it possible to manage driving characteristics data for each driver.

[0078] The processor 32 starts the initial registration process based on a control command requesting initial registration transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, .... The processor 32 links the license ID, the driver's biometric information, and the vehicle ID transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ..., and registers (stores) them in the driving characteristics table TB1. If the processor 32 determines that the acquired license ID has already been registered in the driving characteristics table TB1, it compares the driver's biometric information linked to the registered license ID with the acquired biometric information. If the processor 32 determines that the driver's biometric information linked to the registered license ID matches the acquired biometric information, it further links the acquired vehicle ID to the registered license ID and records it in the driving characteristics table TB1.

[0079] When processor 32 acquires the vehicle ID and driving characteristic data transmitted from each of vehicles C1, ..., it temporarily stores the acquired driving characteristic data for each vehicle ID in memory 33. Furthermore, when processor 32 acquires the vehicle ID and the driver's biometric information transmitted from each of vehicles C1, ..., it compares the acquired driver's biometric information with the biometric information registered (stored) in driving characteristic table TB1, and determines whether the driver corresponding to the acquired biometric information is already registered.

[0080] When processor 32 determines that the driver corresponding to the acquired biometric information is registered (i.e., the acquired driver's biometric information matches the biometric information registered (stored) in driving characteristics table TB1), it identifies the driver's license ID linked to this biometric information. Processor 32 links the identified license ID with the acquired vehicle ID and driving characteristics data and records them in driving characteristics table TB1. This allows processor 32 to record and manage driving characteristics data for each license ID (i.e., driver).

[0081] The processor 32 also acquires a control command transmitted from the wireless terminal device P1 requesting a driving evaluation for a specific driver, along with the driver's license ID or biometric information corresponding to the specific driver. The processor 32 compares the acquired driver's license ID or biometric information with the driver's license IDs or biometric information of multiple drivers registered in the driving characteristics table TB1. Based on the comparison result, the processor 32 performs a driving evaluation of the driver using the driving characteristics data of the driver corresponding to the driver's license ID or biometric information included in the control command. The processor 32 generates a driving evaluation result and transmits it to the wireless terminal device P1.

[0082] Similarly, processor 32 acquires a control command sent from license server S2 requesting a driving evaluation for a specific driver, along with the driver's license ID or biometric information corresponding to the specific driver. Processor 32 compares the acquired driver's license ID or biometric information with the driver's license IDs or biometric information of multiple drivers registered in memory 33. Based on the comparison result, processor 32 performs a driving evaluation of the driver using the driving characteristic data of the driver corresponding to the driver's license ID or biometric information included in the control command. Processor 32 generates a driving evaluation result and transmits it to license server S2.

[0083] The memory 33 includes, for example, a RAM as a work memory used when executing each process of the processor 32, and a ROM for storing programs and data that define the operation of the processor 32. The memory 33 may include a storage device such as an SSD or an HDD. The RAM temporarily stores data or information generated or acquired by the processor 32. The ROM stores a program that defines the operation of the processor 32. The memory 33 stores a driving characteristics table TB1 generated by the processor 32.

[0084] The memory 33 may store driving characteristic data for a predetermined period or a predetermined number of times for each driver. The predetermined period here may be, for example, the most recent six months or the most recent 50 times. One driving session is defined as a session performed between the time when the driver is detected getting on the vehicle C1, ... and the time when the driver is detected getting off the vehicle C1, ....

[0085] In such a case, if processor 32 determines that there is driving characteristic data that has been accumulated for more than a predetermined period among the multiple driving characteristic data stored linked to the same license ID, it deletes the driving characteristic data that has been accumulated for more than the predetermined period. Also, if processor 32 determines that there is driving characteristic data for more than a predetermined number of recent driving incidents among the driving characteristic data stored linked to the same license ID, it deletes the driving characteristic data for more than the predetermined number of recent driving incidents. This allows driving characteristic server S1 to preferentially accumulate driving characteristic data that can be used to evaluate recent changes in the driver's driving skills.

[0086] Next, the internal configuration of the license server S2 in the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the license server S2 in the embodiment. In the following description, for ease of understanding, various data or information collected (recorded) and managed by the license server S2 will be described using the license table TB2 as an example, but the license table TB2 is not essential and may be omitted.

[0087] The license server S2 includes a communication unit 41, a processor 42, and a memory 43.

[0088] The communication unit 41 is connected to the driving characteristic server S1 and the wireless terminal device P1 via the network NW so as to be able to transmit and receive data therebetween. If the wireless terminal device P1 is realized by the car navigation device 12, the communication unit 41 may be connected to the car navigation device 12 mounted on each of the vehicles C1, ... via the network NW so as to be able to transmit and receive data therebetween.

[0089] The processor 42 is configured using, for example, a CPU, DSP, or FPGA, and controls the operation of each unit. The processor 42 performs various processes and controls in cooperation with the memory 43. Specifically, the processor 42 references the programs and data stored in the memory 43 and executes the programs to realize the functions of each unit.

[0090] The processor 42 acquires the license IDs of multiple drivers and information about the drivers (for example, the driver's name, address, and facial image data as an example of biometric information) transmitted from wireless terminal devices P1 owned by the drivers, police officers, insurance company employees, etc. The processor 42 associates the acquired license IDs with information about the drivers corresponding to the license IDs, and generates a license table TB2. The processor 42 stores the generated license table TB2 in the memory 43.

[0091] The license table TB2 records and manages information about the driver (in FIG. 4, the driver's name and address) and biometric information about the driver (in the example shown in FIG. 4, the driver's facial image) linked to the license ID. Note that the information linked to the license ID in the license table TB2 is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 4, and information such as the expiration date and renewal date of the driver's license may also be linked.

[0092] For example, the license table TB2 shown in Figure 4 links the driver's name "○○×", address "***", and facial image data to the license ID "AAA", links the driver's name "△△□", address "***", and facial image data to the license ID "BBB", and links the driver's name "○△×", address "***", and facial image data to the license ID "CCC", and records them respectively.

[0093] The processor 42 also acquires a control command requesting a driving evaluation of a specified driver and a driver's license ID corresponding to the specified driver, which are transmitted from the wireless terminal device P1. The processor 42 generates a control command requesting a driving evaluation of the specified driver, associates the generated control command with the acquired driver's license ID, and transmits the control command to the driving characteristic server S1. When the processor 42 acquires a driving evaluation result of the specified driver transmitted from the driving characteristic server S1 via the communication unit 41, it transmits the acquired driving evaluation result to the wireless terminal device P1.

[0094] The memory 43 includes, for example, a RAM as a work memory used when the processor 42 executes each process, and a ROM for storing programs and data that define the operation of the processor 42. The memory 43 may include a storage device such as an SSD or HDD. The RAM temporarily stores data or information generated or acquired by the processor 42. The ROM stores a program that defines the operation of the processor 42. The memory 43 stores a license table TB2 generated by the processor 42.

[0095] Next, a driver's initial registration procedure executed by the driving characteristic management system 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a driver's initial registration procedure in the driving characteristic management system 100 according to the embodiment. Note that in the following description, an example will be described in which a frontal face image, a leftward face image, and a rightward face image of the driver are used as the driver's biometric information, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this.

[0096] A driver, as an example of a user of the driving characteristics management system 100, operates the car navigation device 12 and selects (presses) the initial registration button (not shown) displayed on the display unit 12C, thereby performing an operation to request initial registration via the input unit 12D (St101).

[0097] Based on the driver's operation accepted by input unit 12D, car navigation device 12 causes in-vehicle camera 13 to capture an image of the driver's face (an example of biometric information). In-vehicle camera 13 is controlled by car navigation device 12 to capture an image of the driver's face (St102). In-vehicle camera 13 also captures an image of the driver's driver's license (an example of a license ID) held by the driver within the field of view of in-vehicle camera 13 (St103). In-vehicle camera 13 associates the captured image of the driver's face with the license ID and transmits it to car navigation device 12 (St104).

[0098] The car navigation device 12 links the driver's facial image, driver's license ID, and the vehicle ID of the vehicle (St105). The linked vehicle ID may be the vehicle's license plate information, information capable of identifying the vehicle, or the like, input by the driver to the input unit 12D or stored in the car navigation device 12. The car navigation device 12 transmits the linked driver's facial image, driver's license ID, and vehicle ID of the vehicle (initial registration data), as well as a control command requesting initial registration (initial registration request), to the driving characteristic server S1 via the communication device 11 (St106).

[0099] The driving characteristic server S1 receives the initial registration data and the control command requesting the initial registration transmitted from the car navigation device 12 (St107).

[0100] Based on the control command requesting initial registration, the driving characteristic server S1 compares the frontal face image of the driver reflected on the acquired driver's license ID with a registered face image (St108). If the driving characteristic server S1 determines that the frontal face image of the driver reflected on the driver's license ID matches the registered face image (i.e., that the driver is the same), the driving characteristic server S1 associates the driver's face image with the driver's license ID and the vehicle ID and registers (stores) them in the memory 33, thereby completing the initial registration of the driver (St109). After completing the initial registration, the driving characteristic server S1 generates an initial registration completion notice indicating that the initial registration has been completed, and transmits the notice to the communication device 11 via the network NW (St110).

[0101] The car navigation device 12 outputs the initial registration completion notice transmitted from the driving characteristic server S1 to the display unit 12C via the communication device 11 to notify the driver of the completion of the initial registration (St111).

[0102] The driving characteristic server S1 may compare the license IDs of multiple registered drivers with the acquired license ID or facial image, and may execute the processing of step St108 and perform initial registration only if it determines, as a result of the comparison, that the license IDs of multiple registered drivers do not match the acquired license ID or facial image (i.e., the same driver is not already registered).If the driving characteristic server S1 determines that the license IDs of multiple registered drivers match the acquired license ID or facial image (i.e., the same driver is already registered), it may complete initial registration by linking the registered license ID with the acquired vehicle ID and recording it.

[0103] As described above, the driving characteristic management system 100 according to the embodiment can register (store) the driver's license ID and manage it in association with the vehicle ID.

[0104] Next, a driver initial registration procedure executed in each of the vehicles C1, ... will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the driver initial registration procedure in the vehicles C1, ....

[0105] Each of the vehicles C1, . . . determines whether or not an operation requesting initial registration of the driver has been performed on the input unit 12D of the car navigation device 12 (St11).

[0106] When it is determined in the processing of step St11 that an operation requesting initial registration of the driver has been performed (St11, YES), each of the vehicles C1, ... generates a screen showing the initial registration procedure and outputs and displays it on the display unit 12C of the car navigation device 12 (St12). The screen showing the initial registration procedure here is one or more screens showing the procedures for acquiring the vehicle ID driven by the driver, the driver's license ID, and the driver's biometric information, which are examples of initial registration data.

[0107] On the other hand, when it is determined in the processing of step St11 that there is no operation by the driver requesting initial registration (St11, NO), each of the vehicles C1, . . . ends the initial registration procedure shown in FIG.

[0108] Each of the vehicles C1, ... registers a vehicle ID (St13), registers a driver's license ID (St14), and registers a face image (St15). Each of the vehicles C1, ... determines whether or not the processes of steps St13 to St15 (i.e., initial registration) have all been completed (St16).

[0109] When it is determined in the process of step St16 that all of the processes of steps St13 to St15 (that is, initial registration) have been completed (St16, YES), each of the vehicles C1, . . . ends the initial registration procedure shown in FIG.

[0110] On the other hand, if each of the vehicles C1, ... determines in the processing of step St16 that all of the processing of steps St13 to St15 (i.e., initial registration) has not been completed (St16, NO), it proceeds to the processing of step St12, displays the initial registration procedure corresponding to the processing of steps St13 to St15 that has not been completed, and re-executes only the processing corresponding to steps St13 to St15 that has not been completed. For example, if the processing of step St13 has not been completed, each of the vehicles C1, ... displays the initial registration procedure corresponding to the processing of step St13 (vehicle ID registration processing) and re-executes the processing of step St13 (vehicle ID registration processing).

[0111] Next, a driver initial registration procedure executed in each of the vehicles C1, ... will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a vehicle ID registration procedure in the vehicles C1, .... Specifically, Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing of step St13 shown in Fig. 6.

[0112] The car navigation device 12 outputs images, videos, sounds, etc. corresponding to the vehicle ID registration procedure recorded in the memory 12B to the display unit 12C (St131).

[0113] Each of the vehicles C1, . . . acquires its own vehicle ID by performing the process in step St132A, step St132B, or step St132C described below (St132).

[0114] The car navigation device 12 receives an input of a vehicle ID (for example, license plate information of the vehicle) to the input unit 12D by the driver (St132A).

[0115] The ECU 16 acquires the vehicle ID of the vehicle itself recorded in the memory 15 (St132B).

[0116] The in-vehicle camera 13 captures an image of the vehicle inspection certificate of the vehicle held within the viewing angle by the driver, and outputs the captured image of the vehicle inspection certificate to the processor 12A of the car navigation device 12. The car navigation device 12 performs image analysis on the output captured image of the vehicle inspection certificate and acquires the vehicle ID shown in the captured image (St132C).

[0117] The acquired vehicle ID is output to the communication device 11. The communication device 11 transmits the output vehicle ID to the driving characteristic server S1 via the network NW (St133).

[0118] Next, a driver's initial registration procedure executed in each of the vehicles C1, ... will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of a driver's license ID registration procedure in the vehicles C1, .... Specifically, Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing of step St14 shown in Fig. 6.

[0119] The car navigation device 12 outputs images, videos, sounds, etc. corresponding to the license ID registration procedure recorded in the memory 12B to the display unit 12C (St141).

[0120] The car navigation device 12 accepts input of a driver's license ID (for example, vehicle license plate information) to the input unit 12D by the driver's operation (St142). Note that the processing of step St142 is not essential and may be omitted. In such a case, the processor 12A of the car navigation device 12 or the driving characteristic server S1 acquires the license ID by performing image analysis on the captured image of the driver's license captured in the processing of step St143.

[0121] The in-vehicle camera 13 captures an image of the driver's license held up by the driver within the field of view (St143). The in-vehicle camera 13 outputs the captured image of the driver's license to the processor 12A of the car navigation device 12. The car navigation device 12 associates the output captured image of the driver's license with the input license ID and outputs the image to the communication device 11. The communication device 11 transmits the captured image of the driver's license and the license ID output from the car navigation device 12 to the driving characteristic server S1 (St144). Note that if the processing of step St142 is omitted, the communication device 11 transmits the captured image of the driver's license output from the car navigation device 12 to the driving characteristic server S1.

[0122] Next, an initial registration procedure of a driver executed in each of the vehicles C1, ... will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for registering a face image of a driver in each of the vehicles C1, .... Specifically, Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing of step St15 shown in Fig. 6.

[0123] The car navigation device 12 outputs to the display unit 12C an image, video, audio, or the like corresponding to the facial image registration procedure recorded in the memory 12B (St151). The car navigation device 12 controls the in-vehicle camera 13 to start capturing images.

[0124] In-vehicle camera 13 captures an image of the driver's license that the driver presents within the field of view of in-vehicle camera 13. Here, in-vehicle camera 13 captures the entire area of the driver's license, such that, for example, an image of the driver's face as written on the driver's license and various information written on the driver's license (for example, the driver's name information, address information, nationality information, validity date information, number information, type information, etc.) are reflected within the field of view (St152). In-vehicle camera 13 outputs the captured image of the driver's license to processor 12A.

[0125] When the driver inputs the license ID in step St142, only the facial image of the driver that appears on the driver's license may be captured, or when the facial image of the driver and the various information written on the driver's license are captured in the processing of step St143, the processing of step St152 may be omitted. Furthermore, the determination of whether the facial image of the driver and the various information written on the driver's license appear in the captured image of the driver's license may be executed by the driving characteristic server S1 or may be executed by the processor 12A of the car navigation device 12.

[0126] The in-vehicle camera 13 captures an image of the driver's face facing forward (St153) and outputs the captured front face image F11 to the processor 12A. The in-vehicle camera 13 captures an image of the driver's face facing to the right relative to the in-vehicle camera 13 located in front of the driver (St154) and outputs the captured right-facing face image F12 to the processor 12A. The in-vehicle camera 13 captures an image of the driver's face facing to the left relative to the in-vehicle camera 13 located in front of the driver (St154) and outputs the captured left-facing face image F13 to the processor 12A.

[0127] The car navigation device 12 outputs the captured image of the driver's license, the front face image F11, the right-facing face image F12, and the left-facing face image F13 output from the in-car camera 13 to the communication device 11, and causes them to be transmitted to the driving characteristic server S1 (St155).

[0128] Next, the driver's initial registration procedure executed by the driving characteristic server S1 will be described with reference to Fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the driver's initial registration procedure in the driving characteristic server S1.

[0129] The driving characteristic server S1 in the driving characteristic management system 100 determines whether or not a control command requesting initial registration has been received from each of the vehicles C1, . . . (St21).

[0130] When the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the processing of step St21 that it has received a control command requesting initial registration from each of the vehicles C1, ... (St21, YES), it executes a registration process of the initial registration data linked to the control command. Note that the initial registration data here is, for example, data including the vehicle ID of the vehicle, the driver's license ID, and the driver's biometric information (here, multiple facial images of the driver, three facial images captured from three different directions), but it goes without saying that it is not limited to this.

[0131] On the other hand, if the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the processing of step St21 that it has not received a control command requesting initial registration from each of the vehicles C1, ... (St21, NO), it terminates the initial registration procedure shown in Figure 10.

[0132] The driving characteristic server S1 registers the vehicle ID (St22), the driver's license ID (St23), and the face image (St24). The driving characteristic server S1 determines whether or not the processes in steps St22 to St24 (i.e., the initial registration) are all complete (St25).

[0133] When the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the process of step St25 that all of the processes of steps St22 to St24 (that is, initial registration) have been completed (St25, YES), the driving characteristic server S1 ends the initial registration procedure shown in FIG.

[0134] On the other hand, if the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the processing of step St25 that all of the processing of steps St22 to St24 (i.e., initial registration) has not been completed (St25, NO), it proceeds to the processing of step St21, displays the initial registration procedure corresponding to the processing of steps St22 to St24 that has not been completed, and re-executes only the processing corresponding to steps St22 to St24 that has not been completed. For example, if the processing of step St22 has not been completed, each of vehicles C1, ... displays the initial registration procedure corresponding to the processing of step St22, and re-executes the vehicle ID registration processing, which is the processing of step St22.

[0135] Next, the driver's initial registration procedure executed by the driving characteristic server S1 will be described with reference to Fig. 11. Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the vehicle ID registration procedure in the driving characteristic server S1. Specifically, Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing the processing of step St22 shown in Fig. 10.

[0136] The driving characteristic server S1 receives and acquires the vehicle ID transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, . . . (St221).

[0137] The driving characteristic server S1 analyzes the acquired vehicle ID (St222) and determines whether the analyzed vehicle ID is valid as a vehicle ID to be initially registered (St223). For example, if the acquired vehicle ID is a captured image, the driving characteristic server S1 performs image analysis to analyze whether the vehicle ID is based on the vehicle inspection certificate or the license plate, or if the acquired vehicle ID is text information input by the driver, analyzes whether the text information is included in the vehicle inspection certificate or the license plate. If the driving characteristic server S1 determines that the analysis result is information that can be used as a vehicle ID, it determines that the vehicle ID is valid.

[0138] In the process of step St223, when the driving characteristic server S1 determines that the analyzed vehicle ID is valid as the vehicle ID to be initially registered (St223, YES), it generates a new user ID and registers or temporarily stores the generated user ID in association with the vehicle ID (St224). Note that in the process of step St224, the generation of the user ID is not essential and may be omitted.

[0139] On the other hand, if the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the processing of step St223 that the analyzed vehicle ID is not valid as the vehicle ID to be initially registered (St223, NO), it generates a control command requesting retransmission of the vehicle ID and transmits (notifies) it to the vehicle via the network NW (St225).

[0140] After registering the vehicle ID, the driving characteristic server S1 generates a control command notifying the completion of registration of the vehicle ID and transmits the control command to the vehicle via the network NW (St226). Note that the processing of step St226 may be executed simultaneously with the processing of step St234 (see FIG. 12) and step St249 (see FIG. 13).

[0141] Next, the driver's initial registration procedure executed by the driving characteristic server S1 will be described with reference to Fig. 12. Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the license ID registration procedure in the driving characteristic server S1. Specifically, Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing of step St23 shown in Fig. 10.

[0142] The driving characteristic server S1 receives and acquires the driver's license ID transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, . . . (St231).

[0143] The driving characteristic server S1 generates a control command requesting various information about the driver's license corresponding to the acquired license ID (for example, the driver's facial image, name information, address information, nationality information, validity date information, number information, type information, etc., written on the driver's license), and transmits it to the license server S2. The driving characteristic server S1 acquires various information about the driver's license corresponding to the license ID sent from the license server S2 (St232A). Note that the processing of step St232A may be executed when it is not possible to acquire the facial image written on the driver's license from each of the vehicles C1, ..., or when the acquired facial image does not match the facial image of the driver registered in the driving characteristic table TB1.

[0144] The driving characteristic server S1 determines whether the acquired license ID is valid (St232B). Specifically, if the acquired license ID is a captured image of a driver's license, the driving characteristic server S1 determines whether various information can be read from the captured image, or whether the driver's license has expired by character recognition, or determines whether the driver's facial image included in the acquired license ID can be identified by comparing it with facial images of drivers registered in the driving characteristic table TB1.

[0145] After the processing of step St232A or in the processing of step St232B, if the driving characteristic server S1 determines that the acquired license ID is valid (St232B, YES), it registers the acquired license ID (St233). Note that if the driving characteristic server S1 determines that the license ID is already registered in the driving characteristic table TB1, the license ID registration processing in step St233 may be omitted.

[0146] On the other hand, if the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the processing of step St232B that the acquired license ID is invalid (St232B, NO), it generates a control command requesting retransmission of the license ID and transmits (notifies) the control command to the vehicle via the network NW (St232C). Note that the driving characteristic server S1 may also execute the processing of step St232C if it is not possible to acquire various types of driver's license information from the license server S2 in the processing of step St232A.

[0147] After registering the license ID, the driving characteristic server S1 generates a control command notifying the completion of the license ID registration and transmits (notifies) the control command to the vehicle via the network NW (St234). Note that the processing of step St234 may be executed simultaneously with the processing of step St226 (see FIG. 11) and step St249 (see FIG. 13).

[0148] Next, the driver's initial registration procedure executed by the driving characteristic server S1 will be described with reference to Fig. 13. Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a facial image registration procedure in the driving characteristic server S1. Specifically, Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing the processing of step St24 shown in Fig. 10.

[0149] The driving characteristic server S1 receives and acquires the captured image of the driver's license transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ... (St241). The driving characteristic server S1 also receives and acquires the front face image, left-facing face image, and right-facing face image (examples of biometric information) transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ... (St242).

[0150] The driving characteristic server S1 performs face matching between the driver's facial image shown in the captured image of the acquired driver's license and the frontal facial image, and determines whether the driver's facial image shown in the captured image of the driver's license and the acquired frontal facial image are identical or similar (i.e., whether they are the same person) (St243).

[0151] If the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the processing of step St243 that the driver's facial image shown in the captured image of the driver's license and the acquired frontal facial image are identical or similar (i.e., they are the same person) (St243, YES), it performs facial matching using this frontal facial image and each of the left-facing facial image and the right-facing facial image (St244).

[0152] On the other hand, if the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the processing of step St243 that the facial image of the driver shown in the captured image of the driver's license and the frontal facial image are identical or similar (i.e., not the same person) (St243, NO), it generates a control command requesting the re-capture of the captured image of the driver's license or the frontal facial image (i.e., re-imaging), and sends (notifies) this to the vehicle via the network NW (St245).

[0153] The driving characteristic server S1 determines whether the face shown in the front face image is the same as or similar to the faces shown in the left-facing face image and the right-facing face image (that is, whether they are the same person) (St246).

[0154] If the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the processing of step St246 that the face shown in the frontal face image and the faces shown in each of the left-facing face image and right-facing face image are identical or similar (i.e., they are the same person) (St246, YES), it records the captured image of the driver's license and each of the frontal face image, left-facing face image, and right-facing face image in association with the license ID determined to be valid in the processing of step St232B (St247).

[0155] On the other hand, if the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the processing of step St246 that the face shown in the frontal face image is not identical or similar to the faces shown in the left-facing face image and the right-facing face image (i.e., they are not the same person) (St246, NO), it generates a control command requesting the re-capture (i.e., re-imaging) of each of the captured image of the driver's license, the frontal face image, the left-facing face image, and the right-facing face image, and sends (notifies) this to the vehicle via the network NW (St248).

[0156] After registering each of the plurality of facial images as an example of biometric information in association with the driver's license ID, the driving characteristic server S1 generates a control command notifying the completion of registration of the facial images and transmits (notifies) the control command to the vehicle via the network NW (St249). Note that the processing of step St249 may be executed simultaneously with the processing of step St226 (see FIG. 11) and step St234 (see FIG. 12).

[0157] Next, a procedure for collecting driving characteristic data of a driver executed by the driving characteristic management system 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 14. Fig. 14 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a procedure for collecting driving characteristic data of a driver by the driving characteristic management system 100 according to the embodiment. Note that in the following description, an example will be described in which a frontal face image, a leftward face image, and a rightward face image of the driver are used as the driver's biometric information, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this.

[0158] The procedure for collecting driving characteristic data, which will be described with reference to each of Figures 14 to 16, is executed when a driver drives a vehicle C1 that has been initially registered or has been initially registered in advance. The procedure for collecting driving characteristic data is similar for other vehicles.

[0159] The driver gets into the vehicle C1 (St301). The ECU 16 of the vehicle C1 detects the driver's entry based on whether one or more or two or more driver entry detection conditions are satisfied (St302). The ECU 16 generates a control command indicating that the driver's entry has been detected, outputs the control command to the processor 12A of the car navigation device 12, and starts sensing (acquiring) the driver's driving characteristic data. The car navigation device 12 starts sensing (acquiring) the driver's driving characteristic data based on the control command output from the ECU 16.

[0160] The driving characteristic data is acquired by various sensors (e.g., an in-vehicle camera 13, a gyro sensor 14, an accelerator pedal 17A, a brake pedal 17B, a turn signal 17C, a steering wheel 17D, a speed sensor 18, an outside sensor / camera 19, or a GPS sensor 20, etc. (see FIG. 2)), and is output to the car navigation device 12 or the ECU 16.

[0161] The ECU 16 outputs the acquired driving characteristic data of the driver to the car navigation device 12. The car navigation device 12 associates the acquired one or more driving characteristic data with the vehicle ID and outputs them to the communication device 11 (St304). The communication device 11 transmits the associated one or more driving characteristic data and the vehicle ID to the driving characteristic server S1 via the network NW (St305).

[0162] The driving characteristic server S1 receives the driving characteristic data and the vehicle ID transmitted from the communication device 11 and temporarily stores them (St306).

[0163] Furthermore, the vehicle C1 captures an image of the driver's face using the in-vehicle camera 13 (St307). The in-vehicle camera 13 outputs the captured face image to the car navigation device 12. The car navigation device 12 associates one or more face images captured by the in-vehicle camera 13 with the vehicle ID and outputs the associated images to the communication device 11 (St308). The communication device 11 transmits the associated one or more driver's face images and the vehicle ID to the driving characteristic server S1 via the network NW (St309).

[0164] It is desirable that the facial images captured in the processing of step St307 are multiple facial images of the driver's face facing two or more different directions (for example, two or more facial images of the driver's front face, left-facing face, and right-facing face), but at least one front face image will suffice. In addition, the direction of the driver's face reflected in the facial image may be determined by the driving characteristic server S1.

[0165] The driving characteristic server S1 receives and acquires the vehicle ID and the driver's facial image transmitted from the communication device 11 (St310). The driving characteristic server S1 performs face matching on the acquired driver's facial image and determines whether or not there is a facial image that is identical to or similar to the acquired driver's facial image among the multiple driver's facial images registered in the driving characteristic table TB1 (for example, facial images shown in a captured image of a driver's license) (St311).

[0166] The driving characteristic server S1 identifies the driver corresponding to the acquired facial image from among the facial images of multiple drivers registered in the driving characteristic table TB1, if the driver corresponds to a facial image that is identical or similar to the acquired facial image of the driver. The driving characteristic server S1 also extracts, from the temporarily stored driving characteristic data, driving characteristic data linked to the same vehicle ID as the vehicle ID linked to the driver's facial image. The driving characteristic server S1 records (stores) the extracted driving characteristic data by linking it to the driver's license ID of the identified driver (St312).

[0167] After finishing driving, the driver gets off the vehicle (St313). The ECU 16 of the vehicle C1 detects the driver getting off the vehicle based on whether one or more or two or more driver getting off detection conditions are met (St314). The ECU 16 generates a control command indicating that the driver has gotten off the vehicle, outputs the control command to the processor 12A of the car navigation device 12, and terminates sensing (acquisition) of the driver's driving characteristic data. The car navigation device 12 terminates sensing (acquisition) of the driver's driving characteristic data based on the control command output from the ECU 16.

[0168] Over a period T1 from step St302 to step St314, the communication device 11 continues to transmit the driving characteristic data acquired by the car navigation device 12 or the ECU 16 to the driving characteristic server S1. The driving characteristic server S1 continues to record the driving characteristic data acquired from the communication device 11 during the period T1 in the driving characteristic table TB1, linking the data to the driver's license ID.

[0169] When the license server S2 receives a control command requesting a driving evaluation of a specified driver sent from the wireless terminal device P1 (St315), it links the control command requesting a driving evaluation of the specified driver with the license ID and sends it to the driving characteristics server S1 (St316).

[0170] The driving characteristic server S1 acquires the control command and license ID sent from the license server S2. Based on the acquired control command, the driving characteristic server S1 compares the license IDs of multiple drivers registered in the driving characteristic table TB1 with the acquired license ID of the specified driver. The driving characteristic server S1 performs a driving evaluation of the specified driver using the driving characteristic data linked to the matched license ID (St317). The driving characteristic server S1 transmits the driving evaluation result to the license server S2 (St318).

[0171] The license server S2 acquires the driving evaluation result transmitted from the driving characteristic server S1 (St319). The license server S2 records the driving evaluation result in association with the license ID registered in the license table TB2 and transmits it to the wireless terminal device P1. The wireless terminal device P1 may be realized by the car navigation device 12. The driving evaluation process for a given driver may be executed by the license server S2. In such a case, the license server S2 acquires driving characteristic data used for the driving evaluation from the driving characteristic server S1.

[0172] Next, a procedure for acquiring driving characteristic data of the driver executed in each of the vehicles C1, ... will be described with reference to Fig. 15. Fig. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for acquiring driving characteristic data of the driver in each of the vehicles C1, ....

[0173] Each of the vehicles C1, ... determines whether or not it has detected a driver getting into the driver's seat (St31). When it is determined in the processing of step St31 that a driver has gotten into the driver's seat (St31, YES), each of the vehicles C1, ... starts acquiring driving characteristic data of the driver using various sensors (St32).

[0174] On the other hand, when it is determined in the processing of step St31 that the driver has not been detected in each of the vehicles C1, . . . (St31, NO), the process returns to step St31 and continues to detect the driver in the driver's seat.

[0175] Each of the vehicles C1, ... captures an image of the driver's face using the in-vehicle camera 13 (St33). Note that the facial images captured here are preferably a frontal facial image F21, a rightward-facing facial image F22, and a leftward-facing facial image F23, respectively, but are not limited to this.

[0176] Each of the vehicles C1, ... links the vehicle ID of the vehicle, one or more driving characteristic data acquired by various sensors, and each of the front face image F21, right-facing face image F22, and left-facing face image F23, and transmits them to the driving characteristic server S1 (St34).

[0177] Each of the vehicles C1, ... determines whether it has detected the driver getting out of the driver's seat (St35). When each of the vehicles C1, ... determines in the processing of step St35 that it has detected the driver getting out of the vehicle (St35, YES), it ends the acquisition of the driver's driving characteristic data by the various sensors and ends the driver's driving characteristic data acquisition procedure shown in Fig. 15. Note that when each of the vehicles C1, ... detects the driver getting out of the vehicle, it may generate a control command notifying that the driver has finished driving, associate the generated control command with the vehicle ID, and transmit it to the driving characteristic server S1.

[0178] On the other hand, when it is determined in the process of step St35 that the driver has not exited the vehicle (St35, NO), each of the vehicles C1, ... returns to the process of step St21 and continues to acquire the driving characteristic data of the driver using the various sensors. Note that the process of step St33 may be omitted after the driver identification process (step St44) by the driving characteristic server S1 is completed.

[0179] Next, a procedure for collecting driving characteristic data of a driver executed by the driving characteristic server S1 will be described with reference to Fig. 16. Fig. 16 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for collecting driving characteristic data of a driver executed by the driving characteristic server S1.

[0180] The driving characteristic server S1 determines whether or not it has received the vehicle ID, one or more pieces of driving characteristic data, and one or more face images transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, . . . (St41).

[0181] If the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the processing of step St41 that it has received the vehicle ID, one or more driving characteristic data, and one or more facial images transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ... (St41, YES), it temporarily stores the driving characteristic data for each vehicle ID in memory 43 (St42).

[0182] On the other hand, if the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the processing of step St41 that it has not received the vehicle ID, one or more driving characteristic data, and one or more facial images transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ... (St41, NO), it returns to the processing of step St41.

[0183] The driving characteristic server S1 performs face matching of the acquired face image of the driver (St43). Based on whether or not there is a face image identical or similar to the acquired face image of the driver among the multiple face images of drivers registered in the driving characteristic table TB1 (for example, face images captured in a captured image of a driver's license), the driving characteristic server S1 identifies the driver's license ID linked to the face image identical or similar to the acquired face image of the driver (St44).

[0184] Note that before processing step St43, the driving characteristic server S1 may compare the vehicle ID transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ... with each of the multiple vehicle IDs registered in the driving characteristic table TB1, and extract one or more driver's license IDs linked to the matched vehicle IDs. This allows the driving characteristic server S1 to reduce the number of driver's facial images that are registered in the driving characteristic table TB1 and that are compared with the acquired driver's facial image in the processing of step St44, thereby improving the matching accuracy of the face matching.

[0185] If the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the processing of step St44 that the acquired face image of the driver is identical or similar to the acquired face image, it determines that the driver corresponding to the acquired face image has been identified based on the driver's license ID linked to this face image (St44, YES). The driving characteristic server S1 links the acquired driving characteristic data to the identified license ID and records (accumulates) it in the driving characteristic table TB1 (St45).

[0186] On the other hand, if the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the processing of step St44 that there is no identical or similar facial image among the acquired facial images of the driver, it determines that the driver corresponding to the acquired facial image cannot be identified based on the driver's license ID linked to this facial image (St44, NO).The driving characteristic server S1 determines whether or not it has received a control command from each of the vehicles C1, ... to notify them of the end of driving (St46).

[0187] If the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the processing of step St46 that it has received a control command from each of the vehicles C1, ... notifying them of the end of driving (St46, YES), it links the acquired facial image with one or more pieces of driving characteristic data and temporarily stores them for each vehicle ID (St47A). The driving characteristic server S1 executes the processing of step St44 again using a newly acquired facial image on the same day or at a later date. If the driving characteristic server S1 determines that the driver's license ID has been identified, it records (stores) the temporarily stored driving characteristic data linked to the same vehicle ID and linked to the identified license ID (St47A). This allows the driving characteristic server S1 to store the temporarily stored driving characteristic data even if the initial registration of the license ID has not been completed.

[0188] In addition, if the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the processing of step St46 that it has received a control command from each of the vehicles C1, ... notifying them of the end of driving (St46, YES), it discards (deletes) the driving characteristic data linked to the same vehicle ID (St47B).

[0189] The driving characteristic server S1 determines whether or not it has received one or more driving characteristic data items linked to the vehicle IDs whose license IDs have been identified and one or more face images from each of the vehicles C1, . . . (St48).

[0190] If the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the processing of step St48 that it has received one or more driving characteristic data linked to the identified vehicle ID and one or more facial images (St48, YES), it links the acquired driving characteristic data to the identified license ID and records (accumulates) it in the driving characteristic table TB1 (St45).

[0191] On the other hand, if the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the processing of step St48 that the license ID has not received one or more driving characteristic data linked to the identified vehicle ID and one or more facial images (St48, NO), the driving characteristic server S1 determines whether or not it has received a control command from each of the vehicles C1, ... to notify them of the end of driving (St49).

[0192] If the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the processing of step St49 that it has received a control command from each of the vehicles C1, ... notifying them of the end of driving (St49, YES), it terminates the driver's driving characteristic data collection procedure shown in Figure 16.

[0193] On the other hand, when the driving characteristic server S1 determines in the process of step St49 that it has not received a control command notifying the end of driving from each of the vehicles C1, . . . (St49, NO), it returns to the process of step St48.

[0194] As described above, the driving characteristic data management method executed by the driving characteristic server S1, which is an example of one or more computers according to the embodiment, links and registers the biometric information of multiple drivers (an example of biometric information, biometric information registered in the driving characteristic table TB1) with the driver's license ID, obtains the biometric information of the drivers who drive vehicles C1, ... and driving characteristic data indicating the driver's driving characteristics, and if it is determined that the biometric information of the multiple registered drivers contains identical or similar biometric information (biometric information transmitted from each of vehicles C1, ...), links and records the license ID linked to the identical or similar biometric information with the driving characteristic data.

[0195] As a result, the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment can link and record the driver's driving characteristic data transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ... to the identified license ID, thereby enabling more efficient management of the driver's driving characteristic data even when the driver drives a plurality of different vehicles. Therefore, in collecting and managing (recording) driving characteristic data used for driving evaluation to determine whether the driver needs to surrender their driver's license when the driver is elderly, the driving characteristic server S1 can more effectively collect and manage (record) driving characteristic data for objectively evaluating the driving operation of the elderly driver corresponding to the license ID.

[0196] Furthermore, as described above, the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment further acquires biometric information, driving characteristic data, and a vehicle ID (an example of vehicle identification information) capable of identifying each of the vehicles C1, ..., and when it determines that the biometric information of a plurality of registered drivers (the biometric information transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ...) contains the same or similar biometric information, it links and records the license ID, driving characteristic data, and vehicle ID linked to the same or similar biometric information. This enables the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment to identify the vehicle from which the driving characteristic data was acquired, and more effectively collects and manages (records) driving characteristic data for objectively evaluating the driving operation of each vehicle of an elderly driver corresponding to the license ID.

[0197] Furthermore, as described above, when the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment determines that there is no identical or similar biometric information among the biometric information of the registered drivers (biometric information transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ...), the driving characteristic server S1 associates the driving characteristic data with the vehicle ID and temporarily stores it. As a result, even if the driver cannot be identified using the biometric information, the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment can associate the driving characteristic data transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ... with the vehicle ID and temporarily store the driving characteristic data until the driver is identified.

[0198] Furthermore, as described above, the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment further acquires driving end information of the vehicles C1, ..., and if it determines at the time of acquiring the driving end information that there is no biometric information identical or similar to the biometric information of the registered multiple drivers (biometric information transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ...), it associates the driving characteristic data with the vehicle ID and temporarily stores it. As a result, even if driver identification using biometric information has not been completed at the time the driver ends driving, the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment can temporarily store the driving characteristic data until the driver is identified by associating the driving characteristic data transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ... with the vehicle ID.

[0199] Furthermore, as described above, when the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment determines that there is no identical or similar biometric information among the biometric information of the registered drivers (biometric information transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ...), it acquires new biometric information of the driver driving the vehicle (new biometric information transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ...). When it determines that there is identical or similar biometric information among the registered biometric information of the multiple drivers, it links and records the license ID linked to the identical or similar biometric information, the temporarily stored driving characteristic data, and the vehicle ID. As a result, the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment can repeatedly acquire new biometric information of the driver from each of the vehicles C1, ... and perform the driver identification process based on the acquired new biometric information until the driver is identified. Therefore, when the driving characteristic server S1 identifies a driver corresponding to the driving characteristic data transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ..., it can link and record the identified driver's license ID with the temporarily stored driving characteristic server and vehicle ID.

[0200] Furthermore, as described above, the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment deletes the driving characteristic data when it determines that there is no identical or similar biometric information among the biometric information of the registered drivers (biometric information transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ...). As a result, the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment does not record in the memory 33 the driving characteristic data for which it has determined that the driver cannot be identified, thereby more effectively preventing the memory 33 from running out of memory.

[0201] Furthermore, as described above, the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment further acquires driving end information of the vehicles C1, ..., and, if it determines at the time of acquiring the driving end information that there is no biometric information of the registered multiple drivers that is identical or similar to the biometric information (biometric information transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ...), it deletes the driving characteristic data. As a result, the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment does not record in the memory 33 driving characteristic data for which it has determined that the driver is unidentifiable at the time the driver's driving has ended, and therefore, it is possible to more effectively prevent memory shortages in the memory 33.

[0202] Furthermore, as described above, the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment acquires the driver's biometric information and the driver's license ID corresponding to the biometric information, and if it determines that the biometric information matches the driver's facial image included in the license ID, it associates the biometric information with the license ID and registers them. As a result, the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment registers a new driver's license ID based on the result of matching the driver's biometric information (e.g., facial image, iris, etc.) transmitted from each of the vehicles C1... with the driver's facial image included in the license ID, thereby more effectively preventing impersonation by others.

[0203] As described above, the biometric information registered in the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment (registered biometric information) is facial images of multiple drivers. The biometric information (biometric information transmitted from each of the vehicles C1, ...) is a facial image of the driver driving the vehicle. The driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment can thereby identify the driver by matching the facial image of the driver captured and transmitted by each of the vehicles C1, ... with facial images of multiple drivers previously registered in the driving characteristic table TB1. Furthermore, by using facial images as biometric information, each of the vehicles C1, ... can capture an image of the driver while driving using the in-vehicle camera 13 without driver operation and transmit the captured facial image of the driver to the driving characteristic server S1. Therefore, the driving characteristic server S1 can repeatedly request each of the vehicles C1, ... to transmit a facial image of the driver and perform a facial matching process using the transmitted facial image until the driver is identified.

[0204] As described above, the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment registers a front face image (an example of a first registered face image) of a driver facing forward (an example of a first direction), a right-facing face image or a left-facing face image (an example of a second registered face image) of a driver facing right or left (an example of a second direction) different from the front, in association with a driver's license ID, acquires a front face image (an example of a first registered face image) of a driver facing forward, a right-facing face image (an example of a second registered face image) or a left-facing face image (an example of a second registered face image) of a driver driving a vehicle C1, ..., and driving characteristic data, and selects a correct face image transmitted from the vehicle C1, ... from among the registered front face images (an example of a first registered face image) of the driver. The driving characteristic server S1 compares a frontal face image identical or similar to the frontal face image transmitted from the vehicle C1, ... with a right-facing face image or a left-facing face image identical or similar to the right-facing face image or the left-facing face image transmitted from the vehicle C1, ... among the registered right-facing face images or left-facing face images of multiple drivers (an example of a second registered face image), and if it determines that the frontal face images transmitted from the vehicle C1, ... include an identical or similar frontal face image and that the right-facing face image or the left-facing face image transmitted from the vehicle C1, ... includes an identical or similar frontal face image, the driving characteristic server S1 correlates and records the registered identical or similar frontal face image and the license ID associated with the right-facing face image or the left-facing face image with the driving characteristic data. As a result, the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment can identify the driver by comparing the frontal face images of the driver captured and transmitted by each of the vehicles C1, ... with the frontal face images of multiple drivers previously registered in the driving characteristic table TB1. In addition, the driving characteristic server S1 can repeatedly request each of the vehicles C1, ... to transmit a frontal face image of the driver and repeatedly perform a face matching process using the transmitted frontal face image until the driver is identified.

[0205] Furthermore, as described above, when the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment determines that there is no front face image identical or similar to the front face image transmitted from the vehicles C1, ..., it acquires a new front face image from the vehicles C1, ... and determines again whether there is a front face image identical or similar to the new front face image among the front face images of the multiple registered drivers.When the driving characteristic server S1 determines that there is no right-facing face image or left-facing face image identical or similar to the right-facing face image or left-facing face image transmitted from the vehicles C1, ..., it acquires a new right-facing face image or left-facing face image transmitted from the vehicles C1, ... and determines again whether there is a right-facing face image or left-facing face image identical or similar to the new right-facing face image among the right-facing face images or left-facing face images of the multiple registered drivers. As a result, the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment can identify the driver by comparing the right-facing or left-facing face image of the driver captured and transmitted by each of the vehicles C1, ... with the right-facing or left-facing face images of multiple drivers previously registered in the driving characteristic table TB1. The driving characteristic server S1 can repeatedly request each of the vehicles C1, ... to transmit the right-facing or left-facing face image of the driver and perform face matching using the transmitted right-facing or left-facing face image until the driver is identified. Furthermore, the driving characteristic server S1 according to the embodiment can more effectively prevent other people from impersonating the driver by performing face matching using not only the frontal face image but also the right-facing or left-facing face image.

[0206] As described above, the car navigation device 10 according to the embodiment is an in-vehicle device mounted on the vehicles C1, . . . and includes a communication device 11 (an example of a communication unit) that performs data communication with a driving characteristic server S1 (an example of an external device), an in-vehicle camera 13 (an example of a first acquisition unit) that acquires biometric information of the driver of the vehicle C1, . . ., a gyro sensor 14 or various sensors (an example of a second acquisition unit) that acquire driving characteristic data indicating the driver's driving characteristics, and a processor 12A (an example of a control unit) that associates the biometric information with the driving characteristic data and outputs the associated data. The processor 12A outputs the associated biometric information and driving characteristic data to the communication device 11 and transmits them to the driving characteristic server S1. The various sensors referred to here include, for example, the in-vehicle camera 13, an accelerator pedal 17A, a brake pedal 17B, a turn signal 17C, a steering wheel 17D, a speed sensor 18, an external sensor / camera 19, a GPS sensor 20, etc. (see FIG. 2 ).

[0207] As a result, the car navigation device 10 according to the embodiment acquires biometric information for identifying the driver and driving characteristic data used for driving evaluation, links the acquired biometric information with the driving characteristic data, and transmits them to the driving characteristic server S1, thereby assisting the driving characteristic server S1 in more effectively collecting and managing (recording) the driving characteristic data for each driver.

[0208] As described above, the car navigation device 10 according to the embodiment further includes a memory 12B (an example of a recording unit) that records a vehicle ID (an example of vehicle identification information) that can identify the vehicles C1, .... The processor 12A associates the acquired biometric information, driving characteristic data, and vehicle ID, outputs them to the communication device 11, and causes them to be transmitted to the driving characteristic server S1. As a result, the car navigation device 10 according to the embodiment acquires biometric information for identifying a driver, driving characteristic data used for driving evaluation, and the vehicle ID, associates the acquired biometric information, driving characteristic data, and vehicle ID, and transmits them to the driving characteristic server S1. Therefore, even when one vehicle C1, ... is driven by multiple drivers, the car navigation device 10 can more effectively assist the driving characteristic server S1 in collecting and managing (recording) the driving characteristic data for each driver.

[0209] As described above, the car navigation device 10 according to the embodiment further includes a processor 12A (an example of a third acquisition unit) that acquires driver entry information or exit information for the vehicles C1, .... The processor 12A starts acquisition of biometric information by the in-vehicle camera 13 and acquisition of driving characteristic data by the gyro sensor 14 or various sensors from the timing when the driver entry information is acquired. This allows the car navigation device 10 according to the embodiment to automatically start acquisition processing of biometric information and acquisition processing of driving characteristic data from the timing when the driver entry information is acquired (i.e., the timing when the driver's entry is detected). Therefore, the car navigation device 10 can start acquisition of driving characteristic data without driver operation, thereby preventing omission of driving characteristic data due to the driver forgetting to perform an operation to start acquisition of driving characteristic data, for example.

[0210] As a result, the processor 12A in the car navigation device 10 according to the embodiment terminates the acquisition of biometric information by the in-vehicle camera 13 and the acquisition of driving characteristic data by the gyro sensor 14 or various sensors when the driver's dismounting information is acquired. This allows the car navigation device 10 according to the embodiment to automatically terminate the acquisition process of biometric information and the acquisition process of driving characteristic data when the driver's dismounting information is acquired (i.e., when the driver's dismounting is detected).

[0211] As described above, the in-vehicle camera 13 in the car navigation device 10 according to the embodiment is a camera that captures an image of the driver's face. The biometric information is an image of the driver's face captured by the in-vehicle camera 13. As a result, the car navigation device 10 according to the embodiment can capture an image of the driver's face using the in-vehicle camera 13 even while the driver is driving, and can acquire the captured image as biometric information.

[0212] Furthermore, as described above, when the processor 12A in the car navigation device 10 according to the embodiment determines that the driver's face in the facial image captured by the in-vehicle camera 13 is facing a predetermined direction (for example, facing forward, facing right, facing left, etc.), it links the facial image with the driving characteristic data, outputs the data to the communication device 11, and transmits it to the driving characteristic server S1. This allows the car navigation device 10 according to the embodiment to select a facial image and more effectively suppress an increase in the amount of data communication required to transmit the facial image to the driving characteristic server S1.

[0213] As described above, the communication device 11 in the car navigation device 10 according to the embodiment receives a designation of the face direction of the driver appearing in the face image from the driving characteristic server S1. When the processor 12A determines that the face direction of the driver appearing in the face image is the designated face direction of the driver, the processor 12A associates the face image with the driving characteristic data, outputs the data to the communication device 11, and transmits the data to the driving characteristic server S1. This allows the car navigation device 10 according to the embodiment to select a face image to be used for face matching, and more effectively suppresses an increase in the amount of data communication required to transmit the face image to the driving characteristic server S1.

[0214] As described above, the car navigation device 10 according to the embodiment further includes an input unit 12D or an in-vehicle camera 13 (an example of a fourth acquisition unit) that acquires the driver's license ID. The processor 12A links the acquired biometric information, vehicle ID, and license ID, outputs them to the communication device 11, and causes them to be transmitted to the driving characteristic server S1. As a result, the car navigation device 10 according to the embodiment can link the driver's biometric information, which is initial registration data required for the driver's initial registration process, with the vehicle ID and license ID, and transmit them to the driving characteristic server S1. Therefore, the driving characteristic server S1 can perform face matching of the driver based on the driver's biometric information and license ID transmitted from the car navigation device 10 in the vehicle C1, .... If it determines that face matching has been successful, the driver's biometric information, vehicle ID, and license ID are linked and registered (stored) in the driving characteristic table TB1, thereby completing the initial registration. Furthermore, after this initial registration process, if the driving characteristic server S1 determines that the biometric information transmitted from the same or another vehicle is identical to or similar to the biometric information that has already been initially registered, it can identify the driver corresponding to the biometric information transmitted from the same or another vehicle as the driver corresponding to the license ID linked to the biometric information that has been determined to be identical or similar, and by linking the driving characteristic data transmitted from the same or another vehicle to the driver's license ID and recording it, it can collect and manage (record) the driving characteristic data for each driver.

[0215] Although various embodiments have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present disclosure is not limited to such examples. It is clear that those skilled in the art can conceive of various modifications, alterations, substitutions, additions, deletions, and equivalents within the scope of the claims, and it is understood that these also fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the components of the various embodiments described above may be combined in any manner without departing from the spirit of the invention. [Industrial Applicability]

[0216] INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present disclosure is useful as a driving characteristic data management method and an in-vehicle device that can more efficiently collect driving characteristic data for each driver and assist in managing the collected driving characteristic data. [Explanation of symbols]

[0217] 10,12 Car navigation devices 11. Communications equipment 12A, 32, 42 processors 12B, 15, 33, 43 memory 12C Display section 12D Input section 13 In-car camera 14 Gyro sensor 16 ECU 17 Control section 17A Accelerator pedal 17B Brake pedal 17C Turn lamp 18 Speed Sensor 19. Outside vehicle sensors / cameras 20 GPS sensors 21 Steering 31,41 Communications Department 100 Driving Characteristics Management System C1 vehicle F11, F21 front face image F12,F22 Right-facing face image F13,F23 Left-facing face image NW Network S1 Driving characteristics server S2 License Server TB1 Operating characteristics table TB2 License Table

Claims

1. 1. A method for managing driving characteristic data executed by one or more computers, comprising: Registering the registered biometric information of a plurality of drivers in association with the driver's license ID; Acquire biometric information of a driver who drives a vehicle, the driving characteristic data indicating the driving characteristics of the driver, and vehicle identification information that can identify the vehicle; If it is determined that there is registered biometric information identical or similar to the biometric information among the registered biometric information of the plurality of registered drivers, the license ID linked to the identical or similar registered biometric information, the driving characteristic data, and the vehicle identification information are linked and recorded; If it is determined that there is no registered biometric information identical or similar to the biometric information among the registered biometric information of the plurality of registered drivers, the driving characteristic data is linked to the vehicle identification information and temporarily stored. How driving characteristics data is managed.

2. A method for managing driving characteristic data according to claim 1, Further, obtain driving end information of the vehicle; When it is determined at the timing when the driving end information is acquired that there is no registered biometric information identical or similar to the registered biometric information of the plurality of registered drivers, the driving characteristic data is linked to the vehicle identification information and temporarily stored. How driving characteristics data is managed.

3. A method for managing driving characteristic data according to claim 1, If it is determined that there is no registered biometric information that is identical or similar to the biometric information of the registered drivers, new biometric information of the driver who drives the vehicle is acquired; If it is determined that the new biometric information is identical or similar to the registered biometric information of the plurality of registered drivers, a license ID linked to the identical or similar registered biometric information is linked to the temporarily stored driving characteristic data and the vehicle identification information, and the linked data is recorded. How driving characteristics data is managed.

4. A method for managing driving characteristic data according to claim 1, If it is determined that there is no registered biometric information identical or similar to the biometric information of the plurality of registered drivers, the driving characteristic data is deleted. How driving characteristics data is managed.

5. A method for managing driving characteristic data according to claim 1, Further, obtain driving end information of the vehicle; When it is determined at the timing when the driving end information is acquired that there is no registered biometric information identical or similar to the biometric information among the registered biometric information of the plurality of registered drivers, the driving characteristic data is deleted. How driving characteristics data is managed.

6. A method for managing driving characteristic data according to claim 1, The registered biometric information is facial images of the plurality of drivers, The biometric information is a facial image of the driver who drives the vehicle. How driving characteristics data is managed.

7. A method for managing driving characteristic data executed by one or more computers, comprising: Registering the registered biometric information of a plurality of drivers in association with the driver's license ID; Acquiring biometric information of a driver who drives a vehicle and the driving characteristic data indicating the driving characteristics of the driver; If it is determined that there is registered biometric information identical or similar to the biometric information among the registered biometric information of the plurality of registered drivers, the driving characteristic data is linked to a license ID linked to the identical or similar registered biometric information and recorded; a first registration face image in which the driver's face is facing a first direction, a second registration face image in which the driver's face is facing a second direction different from the first direction, and the driver's license ID are associated with each other and registered; acquiring a first face image of the driver of the vehicle facing the first direction, a second face image of the driver facing the second direction, and the driving characteristic data; comparing a first registered face image that is identical to or similar to the first face image among the first registered face images of the registered drivers with a second registered face image that is identical to or similar to the second face image among the second registered face images of the registered drivers; When it is determined that the first facial image contains the same or similar first registered facial image and the second facial image contains the same or similar second registered facial image, a driver's license ID linked to the same or similar first registered facial image and the second registered facial image is linked to the driving characteristic data and recorded. How driving characteristics data is managed.

8. A method for managing driving characteristic data according to claim 7, If it is determined that the first facial image does not have the same or similar first registered facial image, a new first facial image is acquired, and it is determined again whether or not there is a first registered facial image that is the same or similar to the new first facial image among the first registered facial images of the plurality of drivers that have been registered; If it is determined that the second facial image does not have the same or similar second registered facial image, a new second facial image is acquired, and it is determined again whether or not there is a second registered facial image that is the same or similar to the new second facial image among the second registered facial images of the plurality of registered drivers. How driving characteristics data is managed.

9. It is designed to be mounted on a vehicle, a communication unit for performing data communication with an external device; a first acquisition unit that acquires biometric information of a driver who drives the vehicle; a second acquisition unit that acquires driving characteristic data indicating the driving characteristics of the driver; a control unit that links the biological information and the driving characteristic data and outputs the linked data; The control unit outputs the associated biological information and the associated driving characteristic data to the communication unit and causes the communication unit to transmit the associated biological information and the associated driving characteristic data to the external device. An in-vehicle device, the first acquisition unit is a camera that captures an image of the driver's face, the biometric information is a facial image of the driver captured by the first acquisition unit, the communication unit receives, from the external device, a designation of a direction of the face of the driver shown in the face image; When the control unit determines that the orientation of the face of the driver reflected in the facial image is the designated orientation of the face of the driver, the control unit associates the facial image with the driving characteristic data, outputs the associated data to the communication unit, and transmits the associated data to the external device. Onboard equipment.

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