Vehicle interior control device

Abstract

To perform control which does not deviate from an action level of a numerical value included in utterance of a user and to prevent the user from feeling discomfort when an on-vehicle unit is controlled in accordance with the utterance of the user.SOLUTION: When an air conditioning unit 11 is controlled, an utterance command corresponding to each of a plurality of numerical values smaller than a first threshold of a lower limit of a controllable range (18°C to 32°C) and an utterance command corresponding to a plurality of numerical values larger than a second threshold of an upper limit are stored in a memory 22, first control for controlling an air conditioning temperature to a lowest temperature (temperature of the first threshold) is performed when the numerical value included in the utterance of the user is matched with any of the numerical values smaller than the first threshold stored in the memory 22 by collation determination of the voice recognition part 21, and second control for controlling the air conditioning temperature to a highest temperature (temperature of a second threshold) is performed when the numerical value included in the utterance of the user is matched with any of the numerical values larger than the second threshold stored in the memory 22 by collation determination of the voice recognition part 21.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an in-vehicle control device that recognizes a user's speech and controls an in-vehicle device installed in the vehicle interior to an operation level corresponding to a numerical value included in the recognized speech. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, in a voice recognition device that recognizes a voice uttered by a person (user), as described in Patent Document 1, for example, when recognizing a voice uttered by a user, a two-dimensional image of the area around the user's mouth and a three-dimensional image are used to recognize the voice and estimate vowels and consonants, thereby improving the accuracy of the voice recognition.

[0003] Incidentally, there are air conditioners for vehicles (hereinafter also referred to as air conditioners) that allow the air conditioning in the vehicle cabin to be controlled by the vehicle user's voice. An example of this type of device is one that includes a voice recognition unit as described in Patent Document 1 and a control unit that controls the air conditioning in accordance with operation instructions recognized by the voice recognition unit.

[0004] In recent years, car audio systems equipped with displays called Display Audio (hereinafter also referred to as DA) have been installed in vehicles, and these DAs allow a tuner to receive FM and AM radio broadcasts and output them from speakers, display videos stored on USB devices on the display and play and output music, as well as connect a specified smartphone app via Bluetooth (registered trademark) and output it from speakers, and some even have the ability to operate a compatible smartphone navigation app via voice, display navigation images on the display, and provide voice guidance for the navigation route. Since the above-mentioned DAs can also be operated by voice input, it is being considered that the voice input function of such DAs could also be used to operate the air conditioning control in the vehicle cabin.

[0005] In this case, a communication system based on the CAN (Controller Area Network) protocol, which is generally installed for in-vehicle communication, is used, and serial communication is carried out at a predetermined communication cycle via a communication bus between the DAECU (Electronic Control Unit), which controls the DA, and the air conditioning ECU, which controls the air conditioning in the vehicle cabin, to control the air conditioning temperature to the voice input. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-60693 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] However, in voice recognition when controlling an air conditioner to a temperature that is input through voice, even if misrecognition is suppressed by estimating different consonants with the same vowel components from two-dimensional and three-dimensional images of the user's mouth, as described in Patent Document 1 above, misrecognition can still occur due to the ambiguity of Japanese pronunciation and reading.

[0008] For example, because the pronunciation and reading of "10" and "20" are confusing, even with two-dimensional and three-dimensional images of the mouth area, the voice input "17℃ (juu-nana-do)" may be misidentified as "27℃ (niju-nana-do)" and "16℃ (juu-roku-do)" may be misidentified as "26℃ (niju-roku-do)."

[0009] Furthermore, some in-vehicle air conditioners limit the controllable air conditioning temperature to a predetermined temperature range (for example, 18°C ​​to 32°C), and are equipped with a local voice recognition device with a simpler configuration than the voice recognition device described in Patent Document 1, thereby simplifying the configuration of air conditioners that can be controlled based on input voice. In this type of local voice recognition device, in order to control the air conditioner to an operation level corresponding to each numerical value of the predetermined temperature range of 18°C ​​to 32°C, spoken commands for each of the numerical values ​​18 to 32 corresponding to each of multiple operation levels are stored in a storage unit in advance, the numerical value included in the acquired user's utterance is acquired, and a comparison is made to determine whether the numerical value included in the acquired user's utterance matches any of the numerical values ​​18 to 32 stored in the storage unit, and if it is determined that the numerical value matches any of the values, the air conditioner is controlled to an operation level corresponding to the numerical value (air conditioning temperature) determined to match.

[0010] However, in the case of vehicles equipped with air conditioners that have control functions using a local voice recognition device, users in the vehicle are often unaware that the vehicle's air conditioner can only control the temperature within a specified temperature range.Therefore, when a user vocally specifies an air conditioning temperature that is above or below the specified temperature range, there is a risk that the voice input will be misinterpreted, causing the air conditioner to be controlled to an incorrect air conditioning temperature that the user did not intend.

[0011] Specifically, when the temperature inside the vehicle is high due to the outside temperature and a user in the vehicle wants to quickly cool the interior, and utters "17°C" to lower the air conditioning temperature to 17°C, which is lower than 18°C, the lower limit of the specified temperature range, as described above, "17°C (10, 7, etc.)" and "27°C (27°C (20, 7, etc.)" are confusing, and the memory unit of the local voice recognition device only stores voice commands corresponding to the controllable temperature range of 18°C ​​to 32°C. Therefore, the local voice recognition device mistakenly determines that the "17°C" uttered by the user is "27°C," which is similar in pronunciation and reading and is stored in the memory unit. As a result, the air conditioner is controlled to 27°C instead of the 17°C intended by the user, and the temperature inside the vehicle does not drop at all, causing the user to suspect that the air conditioner is malfunctioning or feel uncomfortable.

[0012] Similar inconveniences also occur when a user in the car wants to lower the air conditioning temperature to 16°C, 15°C, or 14°C, which is lower than the lower limit of the specified temperature range of 18°C, and speaks "16°C," "15°C," or "14°C."

[0013] The present invention aims to control in-vehicle equipment to a plurality of operation levels corresponding to successive numerical values ​​within a predetermined range in response to a user's speech, so as to execute control that does not deviate from the operation levels of the numerical values ​​contained in the user's speech, thereby preventing the user from feeling uncomfortable. [Means for solving the problem]

[0014] In order to achieve the above object, the vehicle interior control device of the present invention recognizes a user's utterance and controls an in-vehicle device installed in the vehicle interior to an operation level corresponding to a numerical value included in the recognized utterance, the vehicle interior control device comprising: a storage unit that stores numerical spoken commands corresponding to each of the plurality of operation levels in order to control the in-vehicle device to a plurality of operation levels corresponding to successive numerical values ​​within a predetermined range; a determination unit that acquires the numerical value included in the user's utterance and compares and determines whether the numerical value included in the acquired user's utterance matches any of the numerical values ​​of the plurality of spoken commands stored in the storage unit; and when it is determined that the numerical value included in the user's utterance acquired by the determination unit matches any of the numerical values ​​of the plurality of spoken commands stored in the storage unit, the vehicle interior control device controls the in-vehicle device to an operation level corresponding to the numerical value included in the user's utterance acquired by the determination unit. and a control unit that controls the in-vehicle equipment to an operation level corresponding to the first threshold, wherein the memory unit stores a speech command for each of a plurality of numerical values ​​smaller than a first threshold that is a lower limit numerical value of the predetermined range, and a speech command for each of a plurality of numerical values ​​larger than a second threshold that is an upper limit numerical value of the predetermined range, and the control unit executes at least one of a first control that controls the in-vehicle equipment to an operation level corresponding to the first threshold when the determination unit determines that a numerical value included in the acquired user utterance matches any of the numerical values ​​smaller than the first threshold stored in the memory unit, and a second control that controls the in-vehicle equipment to an operation level corresponding to the second threshold when the determination unit determines that a numerical value included in the acquired user utterance matches any of the numerical values ​​larger than the second threshold stored in the memory unit.

[0015] According to this configuration, speech commands corresponding to each of a plurality of numerical values ​​smaller than a first threshold, which is the lower limit numerical value of a predetermined controllable range, and speech commands corresponding to each of a plurality of numerical values ​​larger than a second threshold, which is the upper limit numerical value of the predetermined range, are stored in the memory unit, and when the judgment unit determines that the numerical value contained in the acquired user utterance matches any of the numerical values ​​smaller than the first threshold stored in the memory unit, the control unit executes at least one of the following controls: a first control that controls the in-vehicle equipment to an operating level corresponding to the first threshold; and a second control that controls the in-vehicle equipment to an operating level corresponding to the second threshold, when the judgment unit determines that the numerical value contained in the acquired user utterance matches any of the numerical values ​​larger than the second threshold stored in the memory unit.

[0016] Therefore, as a result of the comparison determination by the determination unit, at least one of the first control and the second control is executed by the control unit, so that when controlling the in-vehicle device to a plurality of operation levels corresponding to successive numerical values ​​within a predetermined range, it is possible to execute control that does not deviate from the operation levels of the numerical values ​​included in the user's utterance, thereby preventing inconveniences such as the user suspecting a malfunction of the in-vehicle device or feeling uncomfortable. In this case, both the first control and the second control may be executed by the control unit.

[0017] The control unit may also be configured to execute at least one of a third control, instead of the first control, of controlling the in-vehicle equipment to an operating level corresponding to a predetermined numerical value smaller than the first threshold when the determination unit determines that the numerical value included in the acquired user utterance matches any of the numerical values ​​smaller than the first threshold stored in the memory unit, and a fourth control, instead of the second control, of controlling the in-vehicle equipment to an operating level corresponding to a predetermined numerical value larger than the second threshold when the determination unit determines that the numerical value included in the acquired user utterance matches any of the numerical values ​​larger than the second threshold stored in the memory unit.

[0018] According to this configuration, as a result of the comparison determination by the determination unit, the control unit executes at least one of the third control and the fourth control instead of the first control and the second control, so that when controlling the in-vehicle device to a plurality of operation levels corresponding to successive numerical values ​​within a predetermined range, it is possible to execute control that does not deviate from the operation levels of the numerical values ​​included in the user's utterance, thereby preventing the user from feeling uncomfortable. In this case, the control unit may execute both the third control and the fourth control.

[0019] The in-vehicle device may be an air conditioner, and the numerical values ​​corresponding to the plurality of speech commands stored in the storage unit may be temperatures of the air conditioned inside the vehicle compartment by the air conditioner.

[0020] In this way, when controlling the vehicle air conditioner to multiple operating levels corresponding to successive numerical values ​​of temperatures within a predetermined temperature range, even if the numerical value of the temperature contained in the user's speech is below the lower limit or above the upper limit of the predetermined temperature range, the vehicle air conditioner can be controlled to a state that does not deviate from the air conditioning temperature of the numerical value contained in the user's speech. [Effects of the Invention]

[0021] According to the present invention, when in-vehicle equipment is controlled to a plurality of operating levels corresponding to successive numerical values ​​within a predetermined range in response to a user's speech, even if the numerical value contained in the user's speech is below the lower limit or above the upper limit of the predetermined range, control can be executed that does not deviate from the operating level of the numerical value contained in the user's speech, thereby preventing the user from feeling uncomfortable. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a vehicle interior control device according to the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of FIG. [Figure 4] 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] An embodiment of the vehicle interior control device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

[0024] (composition) The vehicle interior control device 1 according to this embodiment is configured as shown in Fig. 1. Specifically, the vehicle interior control device 1 includes a microcomputer-based DAECU 2 that serves as DA control means for controlling the display audio (hereinafter referred to as DA), a microcomputer-based air conditioner ECU 3 that serves as air conditioner control means for controlling the air conditioner, and a communication bus 4 for performing serial communication (hereinafter also referred to as CAN communication) between the DAECU 2 and the air conditioner ECU 3 at a predetermined communication cycle (60 msec) using the CAN (Controller Area Network) protocol. The temperature control range of the air conditioner (vehicle air conditioner) is limited to 18°C ​​to 32°C, and the air conditioner ECU 3 controls the air conditioner so that the air conditioner temperature is within the range of 18°C ​​to 32°C in 1°C increments.

[0025] The DAECU 2 also includes a voice recognition unit 21 (corresponding to the "determination unit" in the present invention) that recognizes the user's speech input through the microphone 6 and collates and determines the numerical value of the air conditioning temperature included in the speech, a memory 22 (corresponding to the "storage unit" in the present invention) that pre-stores speech commands for each numerical value corresponding to the air conditioning temperature, a voice output unit 23 that outputs synthesized voice via the speaker 7, and a DA communication unit 24 that performs CAN communication according to the CAN protocol to send and receive information via the communication bus 4. The microphone 6 can be operated by operating a microphone switch located on the steering wheel or the like of the vehicle.

[0026] 2, memory 22 pre-stores speech commands for each numerical value corresponding to one degree Celsius increments within the air conditioning temperature control range of 18°C ​​to 32°C. When the user utters a voice through microphone 6 that includes a numerical value for the air conditioning temperature to be controlled, speech recognition unit 21 recognizes the numerical value for the air conditioning temperature included in the speech and determines whether it matches any of the numerical values ​​of the speech commands stored in memory 22. If the numerical value (air conditioning temperature) is determined to match, DA communication unit 24 transmits it via communication bus 4 as transmission information for CAN communication.

[0027] 2, memory 22 stores commands 18 to 32, which are spoken commands for the air conditioning temperature control range of 18°C ​​to 32°C, as well as commands 17 to 10, which are spoken commands for 17 to 10 that are smaller than 18, which is the first threshold value at the lower limit of the control range, and commands 33 to 39, which are spoken commands for 33 to 39 that are larger than 32, which is the second threshold value at the upper limit of the control range. Note that the spoken commands may be configured with multiple bits, such as 16 bits, and are not necessarily limited to spoken commands configured with multiple bits.

[0028] The air conditioner ECU 3 corresponds to the "control unit" in this invention, and is equipped with an AC communication unit 31 that performs serial communication using the CAN protocol to send and receive information via the communication bus 4. This AC communication unit 31 receives information regarding the numerical value (air conditioning temperature) of the comparison result by the voice recognition unit 21, which is sent from the DA communication unit 24, takes in temperature information detected by a temperature sensor 9 that detects the temperature inside the vehicle, and controls an air conditioning unit 11, which corresponds to an on-board air conditioner, which is an on-board device, in response to switch operation of an air conditioning operation unit 10 located on an instrument panel or the like. In addition, when the voice recognition unit 21 recognizes the numerical value of the air conditioning temperature included in the user's speech and sends the numerical information (air conditioning temperature) from the DA communication unit 24 to the AC communication unit 31, the AC communication unit 31 controls the air conditioning unit 11 in accordance with the numerical information (air conditioning temperature) received.

[0029] The DAECU2 basically controls the audio system 8, and performs audio control such as playing music and outputting it from the speaker 7 and displaying audio information on the display 8a of the audio system 8, navigation control such as outputting navigation voice guidance from the speaker 7 and displaying the navigation route on a map on the display 8a, and other audio output and screen display control.

[0030] 3 includes voice feedback information related to the set temperature of the air conditioning unit 11. For example, when the user utters "23°C" to set the air conditioning temperature of the air conditioning unit 11 to 23°C, the air conditioning ECU 3 controls the air conditioning unit 11 to set the air conditioning temperature to 23°C, and based on the feedback voice information transmitted from the AC communication unit 31 to the DA communication unit 24, the voice output unit 23 synthesizes a feedback voice saying "Setting it to 23°C" and outputs it from the speaker 7.

[0031] When the vehicle interior control device 1 configured as described above controls the air conditioning unit 11 based on the user's speech, for example, if the user utters "20°C" to control the air conditioning temperature of the air conditioning unit 11 to 20°C, the speech recognition unit 21 determines whether any of the speech commands stored in the memory 22 matches the speech command for the numerical value "20" included in the utterance. Since the numerical value "20" (air conditioning temperature) matches, information about the numerical value "20" is sent from the DA communication unit 24 to the AC communication unit 31. When the AC communication unit 31 receives information about the numerical value "20" (air conditioning temperature), if the vehicle interior temperature measured by the temperature sensor 9 is not 20°C, the air conditioning ECU 3 controls the air conditioning unit 11 to set the air conditioning temperature to 20°C. Feedback audio information saying "This will be set to 20°C" is sent from the AC communication unit 31 to the DA communication unit 24. The feedback audio saying "This will be set to 20°C" is synthesized by the audio output unit 23 and output to the user from the speaker 7.

[0032] Furthermore, when the user utters "18°C" to control the air conditioning temperature by the air conditioning unit 11 to 18°C, which is the first lower limit threshold, the air conditioning unit 11 controls the air conditioning temperature to 18°C, which is the lowest temperature at which the air conditioning temperature can be controlled, in the same manner as the control of "20°C" described above, and the voice output unit 23 synthesizes a voice saying "Setting to the lowest temperature" and outputs it to the user from the speaker 7. Furthermore, when the user utters "32°C" to control the air conditioning temperature by the air conditioning unit 11 to 32°C, which is the second threshold, in the same manner as the control of "20°C" described above, the air conditioning unit 11 controls the air conditioning temperature to 32°C, which is the highest temperature at which the air conditioning temperature can be controlled, and the voice output unit 23 synthesizes a voice saying "Setting to the highest temperature" and outputs it to the user from the speaker 7.

[0033] On the other hand, if the user utters "17°C" to control the air conditioning temperature of the air conditioning unit 11 to, for example, 17°C, which is lower than the first threshold value of 18°C, the lower limit, the voice recognition unit 21 determines whether any of the voice commands stored in the memory 22 matches the voice command for the number "17" included in the utterance. Since the number "17" (air conditioning temperature) matches, information about the number "17" is sent from the DA communication unit 24 to the AC communication unit 31. When the AC communication unit 31 receives information about the number "17" (air conditioning temperature), the received number "17" for the air conditioning temperature is lower than 18°C, the first threshold value of the lower limit of the controllable temperature range. Therefore, the air conditioning ECU 3 executes the first control of the air conditioning unit 11 to set the air conditioning temperature to 18°C, the lowest controllable temperature. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 3 , the voice output unit 23 synthesizes a feedback voice saying "Setting to the lowest temperature" and outputs it to the user from the speaker 7.

[0034] In addition, even if the user utters "16°C," "15°C," ..., "10°C" to control the air conditioning temperature of the air conditioner to 16°C, 15°C, 14°C, ..., 10°C, which are lower than the first lower limit threshold of 18°C, the first control to control to 18°C ​​is executed, just as when "17°C" is uttered above, and the voice output unit 23 synthesizes a feedback voice saying "Setting to the lowest temperature" and outputs it to the user from the speaker 7.

[0035] Furthermore, if the user utters "33°C" to control the air conditioning temperature of the air conditioning unit 11 to, for example, 33°C, which is higher than the upper second threshold of 32°C, the voice recognition unit 21 determines whether any of the voice commands stored in the memory 22 matches the voice command for the numerical value "33" included in the utterance. Since the numerical value "33" (air conditioning temperature) matches, information regarding the numerical value "33" is transmitted from the DA communication unit 24 to the AC communication unit 31. When the AC communication unit 31 receives the information regarding the numerical value "33" (air conditioning temperature), the received numerical value "33" for the air conditioning temperature exceeds 32°C, which is the upper second threshold below the controllable temperature range. Therefore, the air conditioning ECU 3 executes a second control of the air conditioning unit 11 to set the air conditioning temperature to 32°C, which is the maximum controllable temperature. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 3, the voice output unit 23 synthesizes a feedback voice saying "Setting to the maximum temperature" and outputs it to the user from the speaker 7.

[0036] In addition, even if the user utters "34°C," "35°C," ..., "39°C" to control the air conditioning temperature of the air conditioning unit 11 to 34°C, 35°C, 36°C, ..., 39°C, which are higher than the second upper threshold of 32°C, the second control to control to 32°C is executed, as in the case where "33°C" was uttered above, and a feedback voice saying "Setting to the maximum temperature" is synthesized by the voice output unit 23 and output to the user from the speaker 7 as shown in Figure 3.

[0037] (operation) The control procedure of the air conditioner by the vehicle interior control device 1 configured as above will be described with reference to FIG.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 4, when a user speaks a voice to control the air conditioning temperature of the air conditioning unit 11, the voice recognition unit 21 performs a recognition process on the voice spoken by the user (step S1), and determines whether or not the user's voice contains a numerical value representing the air conditioning temperature (step S2). If the user's voice does not contain a numerical value representing the air conditioning temperature and the determination result in step S2 is NO, the process returns to step S1. If the user's voice contains a numerical value representing the air conditioning temperature and the determination result in step S2 is YES, a comparison is made to determine whether or not the numerical value representing the air conditioning temperature is equal to or greater than the first threshold value of "18", which corresponds to the lower limit of the controllable temperature range among the spoken commands stored in memory 22 (step S3).

[0039] If the numerical value determined in step S2 is equal to or greater than the first threshold value of "18", which is the lower limit of the controllable temperature range, the judgment result in step S3 becomes YES, and the process proceeds to the next step S4, where it is determined whether the numerical value determined in step S2 is equal to or less than the second threshold value of "32", which is the upper limit of the controllable temperature range (step S4).If the numerical value determined in step S2 is equal to or less than the second threshold value of "32", which is the upper limit of the controllable temperature range, the judgment result in step S4 becomes YES, and the process proceeds to step S5.

[0040] In step S5, it is determined whether the temperature inside the vehicle cabin detected by the temperature sensor 9 is the air conditioning temperature desired by the user (step S5). If the result of this determination is YES, that is, the current temperature inside the vehicle cabin is the temperature desired by the user, there is no need to control the air conditioning, so air conditioning control is not performed and the operation ends.

[0041] On the other hand, if the current interior temperature measured by the temperature sensor 9 is not the user's desired temperature, the judgment result in step S5 becomes NO, the air conditioning unit 11 is controlled by the air conditioning ECU 3 so that the air conditioning temperature becomes the user's desired temperature, for example, 25°C, and the air conditioning temperature is controlled to become the user's desired temperature (step S6), feedback audio information is sent from the AC communication unit 31 of the air conditioning ECU 3 to the DA communication unit 24 of the DAECU 2, and a feedback audio such as "Setting to 25°C" is output from the speaker 7 (step S7), and then the operation ends.

[0042] If the numerical value determined in step S2 is smaller than the first threshold value "18" which is the lower limit of the controllable temperature range and the determination result in step S3 is NO, the process proceeds to step S8, where the air conditioning unit 11 is controlled by the air conditioning ECU 3 so that the air conditioning temperature becomes 18°C ​​(first threshold value), which is the lowest temperature in the controllable temperature range, and after the first control is executed (step S8), the process proceeds to step S7, where feedback audio information is sent from the AC communication unit 31 of the air conditioning ECU 3 to the DA communication unit 24 of the DAECU 2, and a feedback audio message saying "Setting to the lowest temperature" is output from the speaker 7 (step S7), after which the operation ends.

[0043] Furthermore, if the numerical value determined in step S2 is greater than the second threshold "32" which is the upper limit of the controllable temperature range and the determination result of step S4 is NO, the process proceeds to step S9, and the air conditioning unit 11 is controlled by the air conditioning ECU 3 so that the air conditioning temperature becomes 32°C (second threshold), which is the highest temperature in the controllable temperature range, and after the second control is executed (step S9), the process proceeds to step S7, and feedback audio information is sent from the AC communication unit 31 of the air conditioning ECU 3 to the DA communication unit 24 of the DAECU 2, and a feedback audio saying "Setting to the highest temperature" is output from the speaker 7 (step S7), and then the operation ends.

[0044] In this way, speech commands corresponding to each of a plurality of numerical values ​​smaller than the first threshold value "18", which is the lower limit numerical value of the temperature range (18°C to 32°C) in which the air conditioning unit 11 can be controlled, and speech commands corresponding to each of a plurality of numerical values ​​larger than the second threshold value "32", which is the upper limit numerical value, are stored in the memory 22. When the voice recognition unit 21 determines that the numerical value included in the user's utterance matches any of the numerical values ​​smaller than the first threshold value "18" stored in the memory 22, a first control is executed to control the air conditioning temperature by the air conditioning unit 11 to the first threshold value "18", i.e., the lowest temperature. When the voice recognition unit 21 determines that the numerical value included in the user's utterance matches any of the numerical values ​​larger than the second threshold value "32" stored in the memory 22, a second control is executed to control the air conditioning temperature by the air conditioning unit 11 to the second threshold value "32", i.e., the highest temperature. In addition, when the voice recognition unit 21 determines that the numerical value contained in the user's utterance matches a spoken command stored in the memory 22 within the range of the first threshold "18" to the second threshold "32", the air conditioning temperature by the air conditioning unit 11 is controlled to be within the range of 18°C ​​to 32°C.

[0045] Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, as a result of the comparison determination by the voice recognition unit 21, the first control and the second control are executed by the air conditioner ECU 3, so that when controlling the air conditioner unit 11 to achieve an air conditioning temperature corresponding to each numerical value within the temperature range of 18°C ​​to 32°C, control can be executed that does not deviate from the air conditioning temperature corresponding to the numerical value contained in the user's speech, making it possible to prevent inconveniences such as the user suspecting a malfunction of the air conditioner unit 11 or feeling uncomfortable.

[0046] In addition, as another embodiment of the present invention, instead of the first control and the second control described above, (1) A third control in which, when the voice recognition unit 21 determines that a numerical value included in the user's utterance matches any of the numerical values ​​smaller than the first threshold value "18" stored in the memory 22, the air conditioning unit 11 controls the air conditioning temperature to a predetermined numerical value (e.g., 16°C) smaller than the first threshold value "18"; (2) A fourth control in which, when the voice recognition unit 21 determines that a numerical value included in the user's utterance matches any of the numerical values ​​greater than the second threshold value "32" stored in the memory 22, the air conditioning temperature by the air conditioning unit 11 is controlled to be a temperature of a predetermined numerical value (e.g., 34°C) greater than the second threshold value "32"; The following may be executed.

[0047] In addition, only one of the first control and the second control described above may be executed, or only one of the third control and the fourth control may be executed.

[0048] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications other than those described above can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0049] For example, in the above embodiment, the control target is an air conditioning unit 11, which corresponds to an in-vehicle air conditioner, which is an in-vehicle device. However, the control target is not limited to an air conditioner, and the present invention can also be applied to cases such as controlling the brightness of a lighting device inside a vehicle cabin, or controlling the volume of voice guidance for navigation by DAECU2.

[0050] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the result of the control of the air conditioning unit 11 by the air conditioning ECU 3 is output to the user as a feedback sound such as "Setting to 20°C", but the feedback to the user may also be a melody sound or a warning sound other than such feedback sound, or may be provided by displaying on the display 8a.

[0051] Furthermore, the configuration of the vehicle interior control device 1 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 1, and is not limited to voice recognition using DA.

[0052] The present invention can be applied to an in-vehicle control device that recognizes a user's speech and controls in-vehicle equipment installed in the vehicle interior to an operating level corresponding to the numerical value contained in the recognized speech. [Explanation of symbols]

[0053] 1...In-vehicle control device 3...Air conditioner ECU (control unit) 11...Air conditioning unit (vehicle equipment) 21...Speech recognition unit (judgment unit) 22...Memory (storage section)

Claims

1. An in-vehicle control device that recognizes a user's utterance and controls an in-vehicle device installed in a vehicle interior to an operation level corresponding to a numerical value included in the recognized utterance, a storage unit that stores speech commands of numerical values ​​corresponding to a plurality of operation levels in order to control the in-vehicle device to a plurality of operation levels corresponding to successive numerical values ​​within a predetermined range; a determination unit that acquires a numerical value included in the user's utterance and compares and determines whether the numerical value included in the acquired user's utterance matches any of the numerical values ​​of the plurality of speech commands stored in the storage unit; a control unit that, when it is determined that a numerical value included in the user's utterance acquired by the determination unit matches any one of the numerical values ​​of the plurality of speech commands stored in the storage unit, controls the in-vehicle device to an operation level corresponding to the numerical value included in the user's utterance acquired by the determination unit, The storage unit storing a speech command for each of a plurality of numerical values ​​smaller than a first threshold value, which is a lower limit numerical value of the predetermined range, and a speech command for each of a plurality of numerical values ​​larger than a second threshold value, which is an upper limit numerical value of the predetermined range; The control unit a first control that controls the in-vehicle device to an operation level corresponding to the first threshold value when the determination unit determines that a numerical value included in the acquired utterance of the user matches any one of the numerical values ​​smaller than the first threshold value stored in the storage unit; and, a second control unit that controls the in-vehicle device to an operation level corresponding to the second threshold when the determination unit determines that the numerical value included in the acquired utterance of the user matches any one of the numerical values ​​that are greater than the second threshold and are stored in the storage unit; Execute at least one of the following: A vehicle interior control device characterized by:

2. The control unit a third control that, when the determination unit determines that a numerical value included in the acquired utterance of the user matches any one of the numerical values ​​smaller than the first threshold value stored in the storage unit, controls the in-vehicle device to an operation level corresponding to a predetermined numerical value smaller than the first threshold value, instead of the first control; and, a fourth control that controls the in-vehicle device to an operation level corresponding to a preset numerical value greater than the second threshold value instead of the second control when the determination unit determines that the numerical value included in the acquired utterance of the user matches any one of the numerical values ​​greater than the second threshold value stored in the storage unit; Execute at least one of the following: The vehicle interior control device according to claim 1 .

3. the in-vehicle device is an air conditioning device, The numerical values ​​corresponding to the plurality of speech commands stored in the storage unit are the air-conditioned temperatures in the vehicle interior by the air-conditioning device.

3. The vehicle interior control device according to claim 1 or 2.

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