Vehicle Design System

Abstract

To provide a design system for a vehicle for enabling a user to acquire a favorite design to vehicle coating.SOLUTION: A design system 1 for a vehicle presents coating designs for a vehicle to users. The design system 1 for a vehicle is provided with a processor 10. The processor 10 includes a design registration part 11 which registers a plurality of pieces of design information for a vehicle, a designer registration part 12 which registers designer information of each of a plurality of designers who creates a vehicle design, a design output part 14 for outputting the registered design information to a display device 22, a design selection determination part 15 for determining whether or not the design information outputted to the display device 22 is selected by an input from an input device 21, and a design output part 16 for outputting the designer information registered by the designer registration part 12 to the display device 22 in the case where a design is not selected.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a design system for a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Computer systems have been developed to optimize vehicle specifications to meet customer needs (see, for example, Patent Document 1). These computer systems analyze factors associated with the customer's needs for the vehicle to determine whether the vehicle meets the customer's needs. If the computer system determines that the vehicle does not meet the customer's needs, it extracts the customer's needs from a customer database and calculates specifications for the vehicle that are optimized to meet the extracted customer needs. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-242329 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when the above-mentioned system is applied to the design of vehicle paint, although it can present multiple design information pre-registered in a computer, the design information that can be presented is limited, so the designs that a user can choose from are limited. On the other hand, even if a user tries to create such a design, it is difficult to create it for the entire vehicle. As a result, it is difficult for a user to find a design that suits their preference.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of such problems, and its purpose is to provide a vehicle design system that allows users to obtain their preferred designs for vehicle paint. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a vehicle design system that presents vehicle paint designs to a user, the vehicle design system comprising a processing device, the processing device comprising: a design registration unit in which multiple pieces of design information for the vehicle are registered; a designer registration unit in which designer information for each of multiple designers who create the vehicle design is registered; a design output unit that outputs the design information registered in the design registration unit to a display device; a design selection determination unit that determines, based on input from an input device, whether or not the design information output to the display device has been selected; and a designer output unit that outputs the designer information registered in the designer registration unit to the display device when it is determined that the design information has not been selected.

[0007] According to the present invention, the user can select design information displayed on the display device by the design output unit via the input device. If the user does not select the design information displayed on the display device, the design selection determination unit determines this and the designer information registered by the designer output unit is displayed on the display device. This allows the user to request a designer to create a design of their choice based on the designer information.

[0008] In a preferred embodiment, the design registration unit registers design information linked to each of a plurality of taste information items, the processing device is provided with a taste selection unit that selects one piece of taste information from the plurality of taste information items based on input from the input device, and the design output unit outputs the design information linked to the selected piece of taste information to the display device.

[0009] According to this aspect, when a user inputs their preferred taste (design taste) via an input device, the taste selection unit selects one piece of taste information from multiple pieces of taste information. As a result, design information associated with the selected taste information is output from the design output unit to the display device. As a result, the user can easily select a design that matches their preferred taste from multiple pieces of registered design information.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment, the designer registration unit registers designer information linked to each of a plurality of pieces of taste information, the processing device includes a taste selection unit that selects one piece of taste information from the plurality of pieces of taste information based on an input from the input device, and the designer output unit outputs the designer information linked to the selected piece of taste information to the display device.

[0011] According to this aspect, when a user inputs their preferred taste (design taste) via an input device, the taste selection unit selects one piece of taste information from multiple pieces of taste information. Designer information associated with the selected taste information is then output from the designer output unit to the display device. As a result, the user can easily select a designer who will create a design that matches their preferred taste from the multiple pieces of registered designer information, and request the selected designer to create the design.

[0012] In a preferred embodiment, the device comprises a designer selection determination unit that determines, based on input from the input device, whether or not the designer information output to the display device has been selected, and a design solicitation unit that, if it determines that the designer information has not been selected, transmits design solicitation information to the outside.

[0013] If the user does not select any of the designer information displayed on the display device, the designer selection determination unit determines this and the design solicitation unit can transmit the design solicitation information to an external party. In particular, if the design solicitation unit associates one piece of taste information selected by the taste selection unit with the design solicitation information, it can solicit designs of the desired taste from an external party.

[0014] In a preferred embodiment, the designer information includes design information created by the designer.

[0015] According to this aspect, by including design information created by a designer in the designer information, the user can understand what designs the designer has created so far from the designer information displayed on the display device. Then, the user can select a designer and request the selected designer to create a design.

[0016] In a preferred embodiment, the processing device further comprises an evaluation registration unit that registers designer evaluation information for the designer based on input from the input device.

[0017] According to this aspect, the user can select designer information displayed on the display device by referring to the evaluation information for the designer registered in the evaluation registration unit.

[0018] In a further preferred embodiment, the designer evaluation information includes design evaluation information for a design created by the designer, and the designer output unit links the design information created by the designer and the corresponding design evaluation information to the designer identification information, and outputs the resulting designer evaluation information to the display device.

[0019] According to this aspect, the design information created by the designer and the corresponding design evaluation information are linked to the designer's identification information and displayed on the display device, so that the user can request a design from a designer that suits his or her preferences. [Effects of the Invention]

[0020] According to the present invention, a user can obtain a desired design for the paint of a vehicle. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0021] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining a vehicle design system according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the processing device shown in FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the taste selection section shown in FIG. 2, showing a display screen of the display device. [Figure 4] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the design output unit and the design selection determination unit shown in FIG. 2, showing a display screen of the display device. [Figure 5] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the designer output unit and the designer selection determination unit shown in FIG. 2, showing a display screen of the display device. [Figure 6] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the evaluation registration unit shown in FIG. 2, showing a display screen of the display device. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a workflow diagram using the vehicle design system shown in FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] Hereinafter, a vehicle design system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0023] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a vehicle design system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the vehicle design system 1 according to this embodiment is a system that presents vehicle paint designs to a user. In recent years, when painting a vehicle, peelable paint is sometimes used to paint exterior parts of the vehicle's outer panels, and the vehicle design system 1 presents the user with information about possible paint designs before such painting is performed.

[0024] The vehicle design system 1 includes a processing device 10 that includes an arithmetic unit (not shown) such as a CPU, and a storage device (not shown) such as a RAM. The vehicle design system 1 includes a plurality of user terminals 20A, 20B, 20C, etc., and a plurality of designer terminals 5, 5, 5, etc., which are connected to the processing device 10 via the Internet or the like. The processing device 10 is connected to an external server 90 or the like via the Internet or the like.

[0025] The user terminals 20A, 20B, 20C, etc. may be installed in, for example, a car dealership or may be owned by an individual who desires painting. For example, the user terminal 20A may include an input device 21 such as a keyboard and a display device 22 such as a display.

[0026] Alternatively, user terminal 20B may be a touch panel mobile terminal, user terminal 20C may be a touch panel tablet, or the user terminal may be a terminal in which a display device and an input device are integrated. The designer terminals 5, 5, 5... may also have the same configuration as any of the user terminals described above.

[0027] The following description will be given using a user terminal 20A equipped with an input device 21 and a display device 22. Here, the display device 22 displays design information, etc. output from the processing device 10 (described later) and designer information, etc. output from the designer output unit 16. The input device 21 is a device that allows the user to select the design information or designer information viewed on the display device 22 and input it into the processing device 10.

[0028] The processing device 10 includes, as hardware, a storage device (not shown) that stores design information, designer information, and programs executed by the processing device 10, and an arithmetic unit (not shown) that performs the processing described below. The software of the processing device 10 will be described below with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the processing device 10 shown in Fig. 1.

[0029] As shown in Figure 2, the processing device 10 includes, as software, a design registration unit 11, a designer registration unit 12, a taste selection unit 13, a design output unit 14, a design selection judgment unit 15, a designer output unit 16, a designer selection judgment unit 17, a design solicitation unit 18, and an evaluation registration unit 19.

[0030] A plurality of pieces of design information for vehicles are registered in the design registration unit 11. More specifically, in this embodiment, the design registration unit 11 registers each piece of design information associated with each of a plurality of pieces of taste information.

[0031] Here, taste information refers to design taste information related to the paint design of a vehicle. For example, taste information is information categorized into "pretty, romantic, clear, casual, natural, elegant, cool casual, dynamic, gorgeous, classic, chic, dandy, wild, formal, and modern." Therefore, vehicle design information that matches these taste information is registered. However, as long as the taste can be used to categorize the design, it does not have to be categorized into these tastes.

[0032] The designer registration unit 12 registers designer information for each of a plurality of designers who create vehicle designs. The designer information includes design information created by the designer. In this embodiment, the designer registration unit 12 registers each piece of designer information linked to each of a plurality of taste information. The taste information is the information exemplified in the taste described above, and specifically, information on designers who are skilled in creating designs of this taste is registered.

[0033] The taste selection unit 13 selects one piece of taste information from a plurality of pieces of taste information based on an input from the input device 21. Fig. 3 is a diagram for explaining the taste selection unit 13 shown in Fig. 2, and is a diagram showing the display screen of the display device 22. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 3, "1: Pretty, 2: Romantic, 3: Clear, 4: Casual, 5: Natural, 6: Elegant, 7: Cool Casual, 8: Dynamic, 9: Gorgeous, 10: Classic, 11: Chic, 12: Dandy, 13: Wild, 14: Formal, 15: Modern" are displayed on the display screen of the display device 22.

[0034] Therefore, the user inputs any one of the numbers 1 to 15 using the input device 21, and the taste selection unit 13 selects one piece of taste information from the taste information exemplified by 1 to 15. In Fig. 3, when the user inputs "14" using the input device 21 while looking at the display screen displayed on the display device 22, the taste selection unit 13 selects the code for "formal" as the taste information.

[0035] The design output unit 14 outputs the design information registered in the design registration unit 11 to the display device 22. The design output unit 14 outputs the design information linked to the selected piece of taste information. The design selection determination unit 15 determines, based on input from the input device 21, whether the user has selected the design information output to the display device 22.

[0036] 4 is a diagram for explaining the design output unit 14 and the design selection determination unit 15 shown in FIG. 2, and is a diagram showing the display screen of the display device 22. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the design output unit 14 outputs design information corresponding to the taste information selected by the taste selection unit 13 from among the design information registered by the design registration unit 11 to the display device 22. For example, when "14" formal is selected as taste information by the taste selection unit 13, the design ID and design information associated therewith are displayed.

[0037] 4, when the user clicks the "Select" button in the column corresponding to the design ID and design information through input device 21, design selection determination unit 15 determines that the user has selected the design information output to display device 22. In this case, design output unit 14 outputs details of this design information to the display screen, and also outputs information such as a painting estimate corresponding to this design information.

[0038] In this way, when the user inputs his / her preferred taste (design taste) via the input device 21, the taste selection unit 13 selects one piece of taste information from a plurality of pieces of taste information. As a result, design information linked to the selected taste information is output from the design output unit 14 to the display device 22. As a result, the user can easily select a design that matches his / her preferred taste from a plurality of pieces of registered design information.

[0039] When the design selection determination unit 15 determines that no design information has been selected, the designer output unit 16 outputs the designer information registered in the designer registration unit 12 to the display device 22. In this embodiment, the designer output unit 16 outputs the designer information linked to the selected piece of taste information to the display device 22.

[0040] Specifically, if the "Select" button for the registered design information is not clicked on the display screen shown in Fig. 4, the "Do not select" button is clicked, which causes the design selection determination unit 15 to determine, based on input from the input device 21, that the user has not selected the design information output to the display device 22.

[0041] In this case, the designer output unit 16 outputs the designer information linked to the selected taste information "14: Formal" to the display device 22. As a result, the display screen of the display device 22 changes from the display screen of Fig. 4 to the display screen shown in Fig. 5.

[0042] Designer selection determination unit 17 determines whether or not the designer information output to display device 22 has been selected based on input from input device 21. Figure 5 is a diagram for explaining designer output unit 16 and designer selection determination unit 17 shown in Figure 2, and is a diagram showing the display screen of display device 22.

[0043] 5, the designer output unit 16 outputs to the display device 22 designer information corresponding to the taste information selected by the taste selection unit 13 from among the designer information registered by the designer registration unit 12. For example, if "14" formal is selected as taste information by the taste selection unit 13, designer information such as the designer ID linked to this is displayed. The designer information also includes a photo of the designer and design information created by the designer.

[0044] However, the design information displayed here may be design information for vehicles of the same model, or may be design information for vehicles of different models. The user can learn more about the trends in design information created by that designer, and can narrow down and select from multiple designers a designer who creates designs that best suit the user's preferences.

[0045] Here, when the user clicks the "Request" button in the column corresponding to the designer ID and design information through input from input device 21, as shown in Fig. 5, designer selection determination unit 17 determines that the user has selected the designer information output to display device 22. In this case, designer output unit 16 outputs details of this designer information on the display screen and requests the designer terminal 5 owned by the selected designer to create a design for the vehicle (sends a request email). At this time, taste information, user requests, etc. may also be included in the request email sent to designer terminal 5.

[0046] In this way, when the user inputs their preferred taste (design taste) via the input device 21, the taste selection unit 13 selects one piece of taste information from multiple pieces of taste information. As a result, designer information linked to the selected taste information is output from the designer output unit 16 to the display device 22. As a result, the user can easily select a designer who will create a design that matches their preferred taste from the multiple pieces of registered designer information, and request the selected designer to create a vehicle paint design.

[0047] 5, if the "Request" button for the registered designer information is not clicked, the "Do not request" button is clicked. This causes designer selection determination unit 17 to determine, based on input from input device 21, that the user has not selected the designer information output to display device 22.

[0048] If the designer selection determination unit 17 determines that no designer information has been selected, the design solicitation unit 18 transmits the design solicitation information to an external party (external server 90). At this time, the design solicitation unit 18 may also include taste information, design information linked to the taste information, and the user's requests in the solicitation information on the external server 90. This allows other designers who access the external server 90 to create a vehicle design after understanding information that matches the user's tastes and requests.

[0049] Designer evaluation information for designers is registered in evaluation registration unit 19 through input from input device 21. Fig. 6 is a diagram for explaining evaluation registration unit 19 shown in Fig. 2, and is a diagram showing the display screen of display device 22. As shown in Fig. 6, the designer evaluation information includes design evaluation information for designs created by each designer.

[0050] Specifically, the design evaluation information evaluates the design (whether the aim is expressed), color, layout, balance, impact, speed (how quickly the design proposal is created), and other evaluation items on a five-point scale, but the evaluation items and methods are not limited to these. Note that the designer evaluation may also be the average value of each evaluation item in this evaluation information.

[0051] In this way, the designer evaluation information registered by the evaluation registration unit 19 may be displayed on the display screen shown in Fig. 5. Specifically, the designer output unit 16 links the design information created by the designer with the corresponding design evaluation information, to the designer ID (identification information of the designer), and outputs the linked information to the display device 22 as the designer evaluation information.

[0052] In this way, the user can refer to the evaluation information registered in the evaluation registration unit 19 to select designer information displayed on the display device 22. Furthermore, the design information created by the designer and the corresponding design evaluation information are linked to the designer's identification information and displayed on the display device 22, so the user can request a design from a designer that suits their preferences. Note that similar evaluation information may also be registered in the evaluation registration unit 19 for other designers who have created designs by accessing the external server 90.

[0053] The workflow using the vehicle design system 1 will be described below with reference to FIG.

[0054] First, in step S201, the user inputs a desired design taste (taste) using the input device 21, and the taste selection unit 13 selects one piece of taste information from a plurality of pieces of taste information, and the process proceeds to step S202.

[0055] In step S202, the design output unit 14 outputs the design information linked to the selected piece of taste information and the evaluation information on the design information, displays them on the display device 22, and proceeds to step S203.

[0056] In step S203, the user inputs a preferred design using input device 21 (clicks a selection button), and design selection determination unit 15 determines whether or not the user has selected design information output to display device 22. If the user has selected one piece of design information (YES), the process proceeds to step S204; if not (NO), the process proceeds to step S206.

[0057] In step S204, the design output unit 14 presents details of the selected design, and in step S205, the evaluation information of the selected design is registered in the evaluation registration unit 19. However, step S205 may also be performed after the selected design has been painted on the vehicle.

[0058] In step S206, the designer output unit 16 outputs the designer information linked to the selected piece of taste information, the designer, and the designer's evaluation information to the display device 22, displays them on the display device 22, and proceeds to step S207.

[0059] In step S207, the user inputs a preferred designer using input device 21 (clicks the request button), and designer selection determination unit 17 determines whether the user has selected the designer information output to display device 22. If the user has selected one piece of designer information (YES), the process proceeds to step S208; if not (NO), the process proceeds to step S210.

[0060] In step S208, the designer output unit 16 presents the selected designer and details of the design information created by this designer, and in step S209, the evaluation information of the selected designer is registered in the evaluation registration unit 19. However, step S205 may also be performed after the selected design has been painted on the vehicle.

[0061] In step S210, the design solicitation unit 18 transmits the design solicitation information to the external server 90, and the process proceeds to step S211. In step S211, the designs submitted by other designers and the designer evaluation information are registered in the evaluation registration unit 19 via the external server 90.

[0062] As described above, according to this embodiment, the user can select design information displayed on the display device 22 by the design output unit 14 via the input device 21. If the user does not select any design information displayed on the display device 22, the design selection determination unit 15 determines this, and the designer information registered by the designer output unit 16 is displayed on the display device 22. This allows the user to request a designer to create a design of their choice based on the designer information.

[0063] If the user does not select any of the designer information displayed on the display device 22, the designer selection determination unit 17 determines this, and the design solicitation unit 18 can transmit the design solicitation information to the external server 90. In particular, the design solicitation unit 18 can solicit designs of a desired taste from the outside by linking one piece of taste information selected by the taste selection unit to the design solicitation information.

[0064] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various design modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention as set forth in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0065] 1: Vehicle design system, 10: Processing device, 11: Design registration unit, 12: Designer registration unit, 13: Taste selection unit, 14: Design output unit, 15: Design selection judgment unit, 16: Designer output unit, 17: Designer selection judgment unit, 18: Design solicitation unit, 19: Evaluation registration unit, 21: Input device, 22: Display device

Claims

1. A vehicle design system that allows a user to obtain a preferred design for vehicle paint, The vehicle design system includes a processing device; The processing device includes: a taste selection unit that selects one piece of taste information from a plurality of pieces of taste information in response to an input from an input device that receives an input from a user; a design registration unit in which a plurality of pieces of design information for the vehicle are linked to each piece of taste information and registered; a designer registration unit in which designer information for each of a plurality of designers who create designs for the vehicle is registered in association with each of the taste information; a design output unit that outputs design information associated with one selected piece of taste information from among the design information registered in the design registration unit to a display device; a design selection unit that, based on input from the input device, causes the design output unit to select preferred design information from the design information output to the display device, and causes the design output unit to output the preferred design information selected by the user to the display device; a design selection determination unit that determines, based on an input from the input device, whether or not the user has selected the preferred design information from the design information output to the display device in the design selection unit; a designer output unit that outputs, when it is determined that the design information has not been selected, designer information associated with the selected one of the taste information from among the designer information registered in the designer registration unit to the display device; a designer selection unit that, based on input from the input device, causes the designer output unit to select preferred designer information from the designer information output to the display device, and causes the designer output unit to output the preferred designer information selected by the user to the display device; a designer selection determination unit that determines, based on an input from the input device, whether or not the user has selected the preferred designer information in the designer information output to the display device in the designer selection unit; A design system for vehicles, characterized by comprising a design solicitation unit that, if it is determined that the designer information has not been selected, transmits to the outside information soliciting designs linked to the selected one of the taste information.

2. 2. The vehicle design system according to claim 1, wherein the designer information includes design information created by the designer.

3. 2. The vehicle design system according to claim 1, wherein the processing device further comprises an evaluation registration unit that registers designer evaluation information for the designer based on input from the input device.

4. The designer evaluation information includes design evaluation information for a design created by the designer, 4. The vehicle design system according to claim 3, wherein the designer output unit links the designer's identification information with the design information created by the designer and the corresponding design evaluation information as the designer evaluation information, and outputs the linked information to the display device.

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