Vehicle body position control method and vehicle body position control device

Abstract

To provide a vehicle body position control method and vehicle body position control device, which suppress variations in authentication accuracy due to the position or inclination of the head of an authentication target person when a vehicle is equipped with an image capturing device for capturing an image of the authentication target person outside the vehicle.SOLUTION: A vehicle body position control device 100 is configured to use a control unit 10 to control the body position of a vehicle equipped with an image capturing device 103 for capturing an image of an authentication target person outside the vehicle, the control unit 10 being configured to acquire the position and inclination of the head of the authentication target person T relative to the image capturing device 103 and control either or both of the height and inclination of the vehicle 1 such that the head of the authentication target person T is within a shootable range A of the image capturing device 103 and that the image capturing device 103 can capture an image of the face of the authentication target person T.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle body position control method and a vehicle body position control device. [Background technology]

[0002] The position adjustment mechanism of the face authentication device described in Patent Document 1 moves the imaging device up and down to match the height of the face of the person to be authenticated. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2019-133275 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when an imaging device for capturing images of people outside the vehicle is attached to a vehicle, it is difficult to move the position of the imaging device up and down relative to the vehicle, as in the position adjustment method of Patent Document 1, and depending on the position and tilt of the head of the person to be authenticated, the imaging device may not be able to capture an accurate image of the face of the person to be authenticated, which could result in variations in authentication accuracy.

[0005] The problem that the present invention aims to solve is to provide a vehicle body position control method and a vehicle body position control device that can reduce variations in authentication accuracy due to the position or tilt of the head of a person to be authenticated when an imaging device for capturing an image of a person to be authenticated outside the vehicle is attached to the vehicle. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present invention solves the above problem by controlling either the height or inclination or both of the vehicle on which the imaging device is mounted so that the head of the person to be authenticated is positioned within the imaging range of the imaging device and so that the imaging device can capture an image of the face of the person to be authenticated. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, the height and / or tilt of the vehicle is controlled according to the position and tilt of the head of the person to be authenticated, thereby achieving the effect of suppressing variations in authentication accuracy due to the position or tilt of the head of the person to be authenticated when an imaging device for capturing an image of the person to be authenticated outside the vehicle is attached to the vehicle. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle body position control device according to the present embodiment, a vehicle having the vehicle body position control device, and a control system capable of communicating with the vehicle. [Figure 2] 2(a) to 2(c) are diagrams showing examples of the positional relationship between the head of a person to be authenticated and a vehicle whose height and inclination are adjusted by the vehicle body position control device shown in FIG. [Figure 3] 2 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a vehicle body position control method executed by the vehicle body position control device shown in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, vehicle 1 is an unmanned taxi, and the user is a passenger who plans to board the unmanned taxi. The user makes a reservation for a ride in an unmanned taxi via a user terminal or the like, and boards vehicle 1 at a specified boarding location. When vehicle 1 arrives at the boarding location to pick up the user, it authenticates person T who is at the boarding location, and after confirming that person T is the same person as the user who made the boarding reservation, it opens the door of vehicle 1 and lets person T who is to be authenticated board.

[0010] 1, the vehicle 1 includes a vehicle body position control device 100, a head detection device 101, a vehicle height adjustment mechanism 102, an imaging device 103, an image processing unit 104, a current position acquisition unit 105, a vehicle control unit 106, a communication unit 107, an authentication information processing device 108, and a door opening / closing control unit 109. The vehicle 1 can also communicate with a control system 2 via the communication unit 107. The control system 2 includes a control-side communication unit 21, a user information acquisition unit 22, an authentication unit 23, and a boarding location information acquisition unit 24.

[0011] As shown in Figures 2(a) to 2(c), the head detection device 101 is a sensor attached to the top of the body of the vehicle 1. The head detection device 101 detects the position of the head of the person to be authenticated T. The head detection device 101 is, for example, an optical sensor.

[0012] The vehicle height adjustment mechanism 102 is an active suspension that can adjust the vehicle height and inclination of the vehicle 1. Note that the vehicle height adjustment mechanism 102 may be a lifter mechanism that adjusts the vehicle height of the vehicle 1.

[0013] 2(a) to 2(c), the imaging device 103 is attached to the vehicle 1 and captures an image of the face of the person T to be authenticated who is outside the vehicle. Note that the imaging device 103 acquires an image for face authentication by capturing an image of the face of the person T to be authenticated, but is not limited to this, and may also acquire an image for iris authentication for authenticating the irises of the eyes of the person to be authenticated T. Note that the imaging device 103 may be a device integrated with the head detection device 101.

[0014] The image processing unit 104 generates an image by cutting out only the face of the person to be authenticated T from the captured image acquired by the imaging device 103. The image processing unit 104 also corrects the saturation and brightness of the captured image acquired by the imaging device 103. The image processing unit 104 also extracts position coordinate information of each part of the face of the person to be authenticated T, such as the eyes, nose, and mouth, from the captured image acquired by the imaging device 103.

[0015] The current position acquisition unit 105 acquires the current position of the vehicle 1. The current position acquisition unit 105 is composed of a GPS unit, a gyro sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, etc. The current position acquisition unit 105 detects radio waves transmitted from multiple satellite communications using the GPS unit, periodically acquires position information of the vehicle 1, and detects the current position of the vehicle 1 based on the acquired position information of the vehicle 1, angle change information acquired from the gyro sensor, and vehicle speed acquired from the vehicle speed sensor.

[0016] The vehicle control unit 106 controls the operation of the drive mechanism, steering mechanism, and braking mechanism of the vehicle 1 based on the position information of the vehicle 1 acquired by the current position acquisition unit 105, the control command output by the vehicle body position control device 100, and the boarding location information acquired from the control system 2 via the communication unit 107. Specifically, the vehicle control unit 106 controls the traveling of the vehicle 1 based on map information in a map database (not shown) until the vehicle 1 reaches the planned boarding location at the boarding location. Furthermore, when the vehicle 1 arrives at the planned boarding location, the vehicle control unit 106 moves the vehicle 1 forward or backward as appropriate depending on the position of the person to be authenticated T so that the imaging device 103 can easily capture an image of the head of the person to be authenticated T.

[0017] The communication unit 107 is connected to the control system 2 so that they can communicate with each other. The communication unit 107 transmits the authentication image processed by the image processing unit 104 to the control system 2. The communication unit 107 also outputs the boarding location information received from the control system 2 to the vehicle control unit 106. The communication unit 107 also outputs the authentication information received from the control system 2 to the authentication information processing device 108.

[0018] The authentication information processing device 108 has an authentication judgment unit 15 and an authentication storage unit 16. The authentication judgment unit 15 judges whether or not the authentication target T is a user who plans to board the vehicle 1, based on the authentication information acquired via the communication unit 107. The authentication storage unit 16 stores the authentication information and the judgment result of the authentication judgment unit 15 in association with user information.

[0019] The door opening / closing control unit 109 controls the door opening / closing mechanism and locking mechanism of the vehicle 1. When the authentication determination unit 15 determines that the authentication target T and the user who made the boarding reservation are the same person, the door opening / closing control unit 109 unlocks the doors of the vehicle 1 and opens the doors. On the other hand, when the authentication determination unit 15 determines that the authentication target T and the user who made the boarding reservation are not the same person, the door opening / closing control unit 109 does not unlock the doors of the vehicle 1 and keeps the doors closed.

[0020] Next, the configuration of the vehicle body position control device 100 will be described in detail. The vehicle body position control device 100 controls the vehicle body position (height and inclination) of the vehicle 1 using the control device 10. The height (vehicle height) of the vehicle 1 is the position of the top edge of the roof of the vehicle 1 in the up-down direction (vertical direction). The inclination of the vehicle 1 is the inclination of the vehicle 1 in the left-right direction. The control device 10 has a head information acquisition unit 11, a face center estimation unit 12, a vanishing point identification unit 13, and a vehicle body position adjustment unit 14. The head information acquisition unit 11, the face center estimation unit 12, the vanishing point identification unit 13, and the vehicle body position adjustment unit 14 execute programs to realize each function of the control device 10 of the vehicle body position control device 100.

[0021] The head information acquisition unit 11 acquires head information of the person to be authenticated T from the head detection device 101. The head information includes the position and inclination of the head of the person to be authenticated T relative to the imaging device 103. Note that the inclination of the head of the person to be authenticated T indicates the direction in which the face of the person to be authenticated T is facing.

[0022] The face center estimation unit 12 estimates the position of the face center U of the person to be authenticated T based on the head information acquired by the head information acquisition unit 11. The "position of the face center" is, for example, the midpoint between the eyes or the position of the nose.

[0023] The vanishing point identification unit 13 identifies the vanishing point of the image capture device 103. The vanishing point is a point where extensions of lines parallel to the depth direction intersect on a captured image acquired by the image capture device 103. That is, as shown in Figures 2(a) and 2(b), the vanishing point of the image capture device 103 is an arbitrary point existing on a line S that passes through the center point of the lens of the image capture device 103 and extends parallel to the imaging direction.

[0024] The vehicle body position adjustment unit 14 outputs a control command to the vehicle height adjustment mechanism 102 to control either or both of the height and inclination of the vehicle so that the head of the person to be authenticated T is located within the image capture range A of the imaging device 103 and so that the imaging device 103 can capture an image of the face of the person to be authenticated T. The image capture range A is a range in which the imaging device 103 can acquire an authentication image of the face of the person to be authenticated T. The vehicle body position adjustment unit 14 may also control either or both of the height and inclination of the vehicle 1 so that the vanishing point of the imaging device 103 coincides with the center U of the face of the person to be authenticated T. Note that "the vanishing point of the imaging device 103 coincides with the center U of the face of the person to be authenticated T" is not limited to the case where the vanishing point of the imaging device 103 completely coincides with the center U of the face of the person to be authenticated T, but may be such that the center U of the face of the person to be authenticated T is located near the vanishing point of the imaging device 103 (within a predetermined range centered on the vanishing point) in the captured image.

[0025] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2A, when the vehicle body position adjustment unit 14 has not changed the vehicle body position of the vehicle 1, the vanishing point of the image capture device 103 coincides with the center U of the face of the person to be authenticated T when the head position of the person to be authenticated T is at P0. Therefore, the accuracy of authentication (authentication accuracy) using a captured image acquired when the head position of the person to be authenticated T is at P0 is higher than when the head of the person to be authenticated T is at other positions. On the other hand, when the head position of the person to be authenticated T is at P1 or P2, although the head of the person to be authenticated T is within the imageable range A, the vanishing point of the image capture device 103 does not coincide with the center U of the face of the person to be authenticated T. Therefore, when the head position of the person to be authenticated T is at P1 or P2, the authentication accuracy is lower than when the head position of the person to be authenticated T is at P0. Furthermore, when the head position of the person to be authenticated T is at P3, the head of the person to be authenticated T is outside the imageable range A, and therefore the image capture device 103 cannot acquire a captured image for authentication of the person to be authenticated T.

[0026] For example, when the head position of the person to be authenticated T is at P1, the vehicle body position adjustment unit 14 changes the height and inclination of the vehicle 1 as shown in FIG. 2(b) to align the vanishing point of the image capture device 103 with the center U of the face of the person to be authenticated T. This allows the vehicle body position control device 100 to improve the authentication accuracy when the head position of the person to be authenticated T is at P1. Furthermore, when the head position of the person to be authenticated T is at P3, the vehicle body position adjustment unit 14 changes the height and inclination of the vehicle 1 so that the head of the person to be authenticated T is located within the image capture range A of the image capture device 103 as shown in FIG. 2(c). This allows the image capture device 103 to acquire a captured image of the person to be authenticated T.

[0027] In addition, when the vanishing point of the imaging device 103 and the center U of the face of the person to be authenticated T are positioned differently in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle 1, the vehicle body position adjustment unit 14 may output a control command to the vehicle control unit 106 to move the vehicle 1 forward or backward as appropriate so that the vanishing point of the imaging device 103 coincides with the center U of the face of the person to be authenticated T.

[0028] Furthermore, the vehicle body position adjustment unit 14 may control either one or both of the height and inclination of the vehicle 1 when the distance between the vehicle 1 and the person to be authenticated T becomes equal to or less than a predetermined distance. More specifically, when the distance between the traveling vehicle 1 and the person to be authenticated T at a predetermined planned boarding position becomes equal to or less than the predetermined distance, the vehicle body position adjustment unit 14 may control either one or both of the height and inclination of the vehicle 1 before the vehicle 1 stops so that when the vehicle 1 stops at the planned boarding position, the head of the person to be authenticated T is located in the image capture range A and the imaging device 103 can capture an image of the face of the person to be authenticated T. Furthermore, the vehicle body position adjustment unit 14 may control either one or both of the height and inclination of the vehicle 1 before the vehicle 1 stops, on the condition that the vehicle speed of the vehicle 1 becomes equal to or less than a predetermined speed. The "predetermined distance" is a distance at which the head detection device 101 can detect the head of the person to be authenticated T. The planned boarding location is a location designated by the user when reserving the ride-hailing service, or a location designated by the control system 2 based on the reservation information.

[0029] The control system 2 shown in FIG. 1 is a system that manages the dispatch of unmanned taxis. The control system 2 includes a control-side communication unit 21, a user information acquisition unit 22, an authentication unit 23, and a boarding location information acquisition unit 24. The control-side communication unit 21 communicates with the communication unit 107 of the vehicle 1 to exchange information. The user information acquisition unit 22 acquires information about the user who has reserved the ride-hailing service from a user terminal or the like. The user information includes a facial image of the user. The authentication unit 23 compares the facial image of the person to be authenticated T acquired via the control-side communication unit 21 with the facial image of the user acquired by the user information acquisition unit 22, and generates authentication information including the degree of coincidence between the facial image of the person to be authenticated T and the facial image of the user. The boarding location information acquisition unit 24 acquires boarding location information including the user's planned boarding location based on the user's reservation information and location information. The control side communication unit 21 transmits the authentication information generated by the authentication unit 23 and the boarding location information acquired by the boarding location information acquisition unit 24 to the communication unit 107 of the vehicle 1. The user information acquisition unit 22, the authentication unit 23, and the boarding location information acquisition unit 24 may each be provided in the vehicle 1.

[0030] Next, the procedure of the vehicle body position control method executed by the vehicle body position control device 100 will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step S1, the vehicle body position control device 100 determines whether or not the vehicle 1 has stopped at the planned boarding position based on the current position information of the vehicle 1 and the boarding location information.

[0031] In step S1, if the vehicle body position control device 100 determines that the vehicle 1 has stopped at the intended boarding location, in step S3, the head information acquisition unit 11 of the vehicle body position control device 100 acquires head information of the person to be authenticated T from the head detection device 101. On the other hand, if in step S1 the vehicle body position control device 100 determines that the vehicle 1 is not stopped at the intended boarding location, in step S3 the vehicle body position control device 100 determines whether the distance between the vehicle 1 and the person to be authenticated T is less than a predetermined distance. If the distance between the vehicle 1 and the authentication target person T is not equal to or less than the predetermined distance, the vehicle body position control device 100 repeats the determination process of step S1 again. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S2 that the distance between the vehicle 1 and the person to be authenticated T is less than a predetermined distance, in step S3, the head information acquisition unit 11 acquires head information of the person to be authenticated T from the head detection device 101 even if the vehicle 1 is moving.

[0032] Next, in step S4, the vehicle body position control device 100 determines, based on the head information of the person to be authenticated T, whether the head of the person to be authenticated T is located within the imaging range A of the imaging device 103 and whether the imaging device 103 is able to capture an image of the face of the person to be authenticated T.

[0033] If it is determined in step S4 that the head of the person to be authenticated T is not located in the image capture range A or that the imaging device 103 cannot capture an image of the face of the person to be authenticated T, then in step S5, the vehicle body position adjustment unit 14 calculates the height and / or inclination of the vehicle 1 so that the head of the person to be authenticated T is located in the image capture range A and so that the imaging device 103 can capture an image of the face of the person to be authenticated T. Preferably, the vehicle body position adjustment unit 14 calculates the height and / or inclination of the vehicle 1 so that the vanishing point of the imaging device 103 coincides with the center U of the face of the person to be authenticated T. Then, in step S6, the vehicle body position adjusting unit 14 outputs a control command to the vehicle height adjusting mechanism 102, and adjusts the height and / or tilt of the vehicle 1 based on the value calculated in step S5.

[0034] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S4 that the head of the person to be authenticated T is located within the imaging range A of the imaging device 103 and that the imaging device 103 is capable of capturing an image of the face of the person to be authenticated T, then in step S7, the vehicle body position control device 100 determines whether the vanishing point of the imaging device 103 coincides with the center U of the face of the person to be authenticated T. If the vanishing point of the imaging device 103 does not coincide with the center U of the face of the person to be authenticated T, in step S5, the vehicle body position adjustment unit 14 calculates the height and / or inclination of the vehicle 1 so that the vanishing point of the imaging device 103 coincides with or approaches the center U of the face of the person to be authenticated T. On the other hand, if the vanishing point of the image capturing device 103 and the center U of the face of the person to be authenticated T coincide with each other, the vehicle body position adjusting unit 14 ends the control by the vehicle body position control device 100. Then, after the vehicle body position control device 100 has completed controlling the vehicle body position in accordance with steps S1 to S7 of Figure 3, the imaging device 103 acquires an image for authentication of the person to be authenticated T, and the authentication unit 23 of the control system 2 performs face authentication or iris authentication based on the image.

[0035] In the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, the determination processes in steps S2 and S7 may be omitted. That is, if it is determined in step S1 that the vehicle 1 is not stopped at the planned boarding position, the vehicle body position control device 100 may repeat the determination process of step S1. Furthermore, in step S4, if it is determined that the head of the person to be authenticated T is located within the imaging range A of the imaging device 103 and that the imaging device 103 is capable of capturing an image of the face of the person to be authenticated T, the vehicle body position control device 100 may terminate control.

[0036] Furthermore, the vehicle body position control method according to this embodiment is executed when an unmanned taxi is picked up, but is not limited to this, and may be executed at the time of payment when the user (authentication target T) gets off the vehicle 1 by associating the authentication information of the user with payment information. Furthermore, the vehicle 1 may be a manned taxi driven by a driver.

[0037] As described above, the control device 10 of the vehicle body position control device 100 according to this embodiment controls either or both of the height and inclination of the vehicle 1 so that the head of the person to be authenticated T outside the vehicle is positioned within the image capture range A of the imaging device 103 and so that the imaging device 103 can capture an image of the face of the person to be authenticated T. This allows the vehicle body position control device 100 to reduce variations in authentication accuracy due to the position or inclination of the head of the person to be authenticated T. Furthermore, because the vehicle body position control device 100 controls the height and / or inclination of the vehicle 1 itself, there is no need for a structure to change the position of the imaging device 103 relative to the vehicle 1, and authentication accuracy can be improved without providing a complex mechanism in the imaging device 103.

[0038] Furthermore, the control device 10 of the vehicle body position control device 100 controls either the height or the inclination, or both, of the vehicle 1 so that the vanishing point of the imaging device 103 coincides with the center of the face of the person to be authenticated. This allows the vehicle body position control device 100 to further improve the authentication accuracy of the person to be authenticated T.

[0039] Furthermore, when the distance between the vehicle 1 and the person to be authenticated T becomes equal to or less than a predetermined distance, the control device 10 of the vehicle body position control device 100 controls either the height or the inclination, or both, of the vehicle 1. This allows the vehicle body position control device 100 to control the height and / or the inclination of the vehicle 1 when the vehicle 1 and the person to be authenticated T come within a predetermined distance, thereby enabling the imaging device 103 to efficiently acquire captured images in a short time.

[0040] Furthermore, when the distance between the traveling vehicle 1 and the person to be authenticated T at the intended boarding position becomes equal to or less than a predetermined distance, the control device 10 of the vehicle body position control device 100 controls either the height or the inclination or both of the vehicle 1 before stopping the vehicle 1 so that when the vehicle 1 stops at the intended boarding position, the head of the person to be authenticated T will be located within the image capture range A of the image capture device 103 and the image capture device 103 will be able to capture an image of the face of the person to be authenticated T. As a result, even when the vehicle 1 is traveling, the vehicle body position control device 100 can control the height and / or inclination of the vehicle 1 when the vehicle 1 and the person to be authenticated T come within a predetermined distance, so that the vehicle 1 can stop at the intended boarding position and the image capture device 103 can efficiently capture an image in a short time.

[0041] Furthermore, the control device 10 of the vehicle body position control device 100 uses the active suspension of the vehicle 1 to control the height and inclination of the vehicle 1. As a result, even if the imaging device 103 does not have a mechanism for changing the position, the vehicle body position control device 100 can control the height and inclination of the vehicle 1 using the active suspension of the vehicle 1, thereby suppressing variations in authentication accuracy due to the position or inclination of the head of the person to be authenticated T. [Explanation of symbols]

[0042] 1...Vehicle 100...Vehicle position control device 10...Control device 11…Head information acquisition unit 14...Vehicle position adjustment section 103...imaging device A...Image capture range T...Certification subject U: Center of the face of the person to be authenticated

Claims

1. A vehicle body position control method for controlling the vehicle body position of a vehicle having an imaging device that captures an image of an authentication target outside the vehicle using a control device, comprising: The control device acquiring a position and inclination of the head of the person to be authenticated relative to the imaging device; A vehicle position control method, which controls either or both of the height and inclination of the vehicle before the vehicle stops so that when the distance between the vehicle in motion and the person to be authenticated who is at a predetermined intended boarding position becomes less than a predetermined distance and the vehicle stops at the intended boarding position, the head of the person to be authenticated is positioned within the imaging range of the imaging device and the imaging device can capture an image of the face of the person to be authenticated.

2. The vehicle position control method according to claim 1 , wherein the control device controls one or both of the height and inclination of the vehicle so that a vanishing point of the imaging device coincides with the center of a face of the person to be authenticated.

3. 3. The vehicle position control method according to claim 1, wherein the control device controls either one or both of the height and inclination of the vehicle when the distance between the vehicle and the person to be authenticated becomes equal to or less than a predetermined distance.

4. 4. The vehicle body position control method according to claim 1, wherein the control device controls the height and inclination of the vehicle using an active suspension of the vehicle.

5. A vehicle body position control device that controls the vehicle body position of a vehicle having an imaging device that captures an image of an authentication target outside the vehicle, a head information acquisition unit that acquires the position and inclination of the head of the person to be authenticated with respect to the imaging device; a vehicle body position adjustment unit that controls either the height or inclination of the vehicle or both of the vehicle before the vehicle stops so that when the distance between the vehicle in motion and the person to be authenticated who is at a predetermined planned boarding location becomes less than a predetermined distance and the vehicle stops at the planned boarding location, the head of the person to be authenticated is positioned within the image capture range of the imaging device and the imaging device can capture an image of the face of the person to be authenticated.

Images