Abnormal noise diagnosis system

Abstract

To provide an allophone diagnosis system which can easily acquire medical interview information useful to diagnose an allophone generated in a vehicle while reducing the burden on an operator.SOLUTION: The allophone diagnosis system according to the present disclosure includes: a terminal for acquiring data of sound generated in a vehicle and medical interview information regarding an allophone generated in a vehicle; and an information processor for examining the allophone generated in the vehicle on the basis of the data of sound and the medical interview information from the terminal. The terminal acquires vehicle state data showing the state of the vehicle in synchronization with the sound data and automatically extracts information to provide to the information processor as medical interview information from the acquired vehicle state data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an abnormal noise diagnosis system that diagnoses abnormal noises generated in a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a system for identifying a malfunction in a vehicle equipped with an electronically controlled component (ECU) using a network is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this system, a server computer of a service company acquires vehicle identification information from a user's terminal and identifies the vehicle by referring to a vehicle information database. Next, the server computer refers to a fault investigation database by malfunction symptom, sends an inquiry screen corresponding to the content of the malfunction symptom of the vehicle to the terminal, and identifies the malfunction based on the response (interview information). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-182319 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When diagnosing the cause of an abnormal noise that has occurred in a vehicle, more accurate diagnostic results can be obtained by using medical interview information regarding the circumstances under which the abnormal noise is occurring, in addition to sound data, etc. However, because the medical interview information that is useful for diagnosing an abnormal noise is relatively diverse, inputting the medical interview information into an input screen, etc., is time-consuming, which places a heavy burden on the workers involved in diagnosing the abnormal noise.

[0005] Therefore, a primary object of the present disclosure is to provide an abnormal noise diagnosis system that can easily obtain interview information useful for diagnosing abnormal noises occurring in a vehicle while reducing the burden on workers and the like. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The abnormal noise diagnosis system disclosed herein includes a terminal that acquires data on sounds emitted from a vehicle and diagnostic information related to abnormal noises generated in the vehicle, and an information processing device that diagnoses abnormal noises generated in the vehicle based on the sound data and diagnostic information from the terminal. The terminal of this abnormal noise diagnosis system acquires vehicle condition data indicating the state of the vehicle in synchronization with the sound data and automatically extracts information to be provided to the information processing device as diagnostic information from the acquired vehicle condition data. This reduces the burden on workers and makes it easy to obtain diagnostic information useful for diagnosing abnormal noises generated in the vehicle. The information processing device may also include a diagnosis unit built using machine learning to diagnose the cause of the abnormal noise based on the provided information. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an abnormal sound diagnosis system according to the present disclosure. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of an input screen for medical interview information. [Figure 3] 4 is a flowchart showing a series of processes executed in a terminal constituting the abnormal sound diagnosis system of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Next, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0009] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an abnormal sound diagnosis system 1 of the present disclosure. The abnormal sound diagnosis system 1 shown in the figure is for diagnosing the cause of abnormal sounds generated in a vehicle V, such as a vehicle equipped with only an engine as a power generation source, a hybrid vehicle (HEV, PHEV), or an electric vehicle (BEV, FCEV), and includes a mobile terminal 10 and a server 20 that can exchange information with the mobile terminal 10 via communication.

[0010] The mobile terminal 10 is used by a worker (user of the abnormal sound diagnosis system 1) at a vehicle dealership, repair shop, or the like when responding to a user (owner) of the vehicle V in which an abnormal sound has occurred, or when performing a reproduction test in which the vehicle V is driven (operated) on a roadway or a test bench to reproduce the abnormal sound. In this embodiment, the mobile terminal 10 is a smartphone including an SoC, ROM, RAM, an auxiliary storage device (flash memory) M, a touch-panel display 11, a communication module 12 capable of exchanging various information with a server 20 or an electronic control device of the vehicle V via wired or wireless communication, a microphone (not shown), and the like. An abnormal sound diagnosis support application (program) is installed on the mobile terminal 10. As shown in FIG. 1 , the mobile terminal 10 includes a medical interview information acquisition unit 13, a sound acquisition unit 14, a vehicle state acquisition unit 15, a calculation processing unit 16, an extraction unit 17, and a display control unit 18, which are constructed by the cooperation of the abnormal sound diagnosis support application (software) and hardware such as the SoC of the mobile terminal 10.

[0011] The medical interview information acquisition unit 13 acquires information indicating the state of the vehicle V at the time of the occurrence of an abnormal sound (hereinafter referred to as "medical interview information") provided by the user of the vehicle V or the like via the display unit 11. The sound acquisition unit 14 acquires time axis data of the sound (sound pressure) when a reproduction test is performed by an operator. The vehicle state acquisition unit 15 acquires information indicating the state of the vehicle V (hereinafter referred to as "vehicle state data") in synchronization with the acquisition of the time axis data of the sound by the sound acquisition unit 14 when the reproduction test is performed. The vehicle state data includes multiple physical quantities (vehicle speed, engine rotation speed, etc.) corresponding to the items of the medical interview information. The calculation processing unit 16 performs analysis processing of the time axis data of the sound acquired by the sound acquisition unit 14. The extraction unit 17 narrows down the analysis results by the calculation processing unit 16 in accordance with the selection of the operator, etc., and performs processing on the vehicle state data. The display control unit 18 controls the display unit 11.

[0012] 2 shows an input screen (questionnaire) for inputting medical information displayed on the display unit 11 of the mobile terminal 10, as well as an example of input. As shown in part in FIG. 2, the medical information includes vehicle identification information, requests, date and time of occurrence, frequency of occurrence, location of the abnormal noise, type of sound, physical quantities that change while the vehicle V is traveling, such as vehicle speed, the operating state of the vehicle V, warm-up effects in engine-equipped vehicles, options selected by the driver while driving the vehicle V, and information about the driving environment of the vehicle V, and is input by the operator or the user of the vehicle V.

[0013] The vehicle identification information is information for identifying the vehicle V, such as the vehicle model and vehicle identification number (chassis number). The order is a detailed description of the abnormal noise occurrence state provided by the user of the vehicle V. The frequency of occurrence is selected from a drop-down list containing multiple options, such as always, several times per day, once per day, etc. The location of the abnormal noise is selected from a drop-down list containing multiple vehicle parts, such as the engine, powertrain, body, brakes, doors, and interior. The type of sound is selected by the worker from a drop-down list containing multiple onomatopoeia (e.g., rattle, clatter, etc.) corresponding to any abnormal sound generated by the vehicle V, based on the sound recognized by the user of the vehicle V as being similar to the actual abnormal sound. The physical quantity is selected from a drop-down list containing multiple options, such as vehicle speed, engine RPM, brake light switch ON / OFF time, steering angle, and the SOC of the high-voltage battery of a hybrid or electric vehicle. The operating state of the vehicle V is selected from a drop-down list including multiple options such as starting, idling, stopping, starting, accelerating, cruising, decelerating (brakes off), braking (brakes on), reversing, and turning. The warm-up effect is selected from a drop-down list including cold, warm, and cold and warm. Selection items are selected from a drop-down list including shift position, driving mode, auxiliary equipment operation status, etc. Driving environment information is selected from a drop-down list including road surface conditions such as flat road, uphill road, downhill road, and weather, etc. It goes without saying that not all of the above multiple items are provided by the user of the vehicle V, and the medical interview information can be provided to the extent that the worker, etc., understands.

[0014] The server 20 of the abnormal sound diagnosis system 1 is a computer (information processing device) including a CPU, ROM, RAM, input / output devices, a communication module, etc., and is installed and managed, for example, by the automobile manufacturer that produces the vehicle V. The server 20 is configured with an abnormal sound diagnosis unit 21 that diagnoses abnormal sounds generated in the vehicle V through cooperation between hardware such as the CPU and a pre-installed abnormal sound diagnosis application. The abnormal sound diagnosis unit 21 includes a neural network (convolutional neural network) configured by supervised learning (machine learning) to diagnose the cause of abnormal sounds generated in the vehicle V and the component that is the source of the abnormal sound based on the medical history information, sound time axis data, etc. acquired by the mobile terminal 10. Furthermore, when the server 20 detects the occurrence of a new abnormal sound in the vehicle V, it performs re-learning of the abnormal sound diagnosis unit 21 using the sound time axis data acquired for the new abnormal sound and the contents of each item of the medical history information, etc., as training data.

[0015] Furthermore, server 20 includes a storage device 22 that stores a database that stores, for each vehicle model, information on multiple abnormal noises that are known to occur in that vehicle. The database stores information such as time axis data for the sound, the cause of the abnormal noise, the part that is the source of the noise, the details of medical interview information provided by the user, etc., and measures to eliminate the abnormal noise, linked to each of the multiple abnormal noises. Server 20 also updates the database based on information acquired from many vehicles including vehicle V, and information on newly discovered abnormal noises sent from automobile manufacturers (developers, etc.), vehicle dealerships, repair shops, etc.

[0016] Next, the abnormal sound diagnosis procedure performed by the abnormal sound diagnosis system 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0017] When a worker at a vehicle dealership, repair shop, or the like is requested by a user of vehicle V to resolve an abnormal noise, the worker listens to medical history information from the user and then performs a reproduction test to obtain information necessary for diagnosing the abnormal noise. To perform the reproduction test, the worker connects mobile terminal 10 to an electronic control device of vehicle V and places or fixes mobile terminal 10 or an external microphone connected to mobile terminal 10 in an appropriate position on vehicle V. The worker also launches an abnormal noise diagnosis support application and turns on the start switch of vehicle V. Accordingly, mobile terminal 10 obtains information such as the vehicle identification number or chassis number of vehicle V from the electronic control device. The worker also taps the recording start button displayed on display unit 11 and drives (operates) vehicle V on a roadway or test stand to reproduce the driving conditions in which the abnormal noise occurred based on the medical history information from the user of vehicle V.

[0018] While the vehicle V is running (operating), the sound acquisition unit 14 of the mobile terminal 10 acquires time axis data of the sound emitted from the vehicle V at predetermined time intervals (micro time intervals) and stores the data in the auxiliary storage device M, and the vehicle state acquisition unit 15 acquires vehicle state data specified by the worker in response to medical interview information from the user of the vehicle V, etc., from the electronic control device of the vehicle V at predetermined time intervals (micro time intervals) in synchronization with the acquisition of the sound time axis data by the sound acquisition unit 14, and stores the vehicle state data in the auxiliary storage device M. Then, when the worker taps the recording stop button displayed on the display unit 11, the acquisition of the sound time axis data and vehicle state data is completed, and the mobile terminal 10 executes a series of processes shown in FIG.

[0019] 3, after the reproduction test is completed, the calculation processing unit 16 of the mobile terminal 10 acquires time axis data of the sound acquired by the sound acquisition unit 14 (step S100), and performs a Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT) on the acquired time axis data of the sound to acquire a spectrogram (acoustic spectrogram) showing the relationship between time, frequency, and sound pressure (step S110). Furthermore, the display control unit 18 of the mobile terminal 10 causes the display unit 11 to display the spectrogram acquired by the calculation processing unit 16 (step S120). In this embodiment, the spectrogram is a color map in which the horizontal axis is the time axis and the vertical axis is the frequency axis, and the sound pressure level is color-coded to show the relationship between time and sound pressure level for each frequency.

[0020] When the spectrogram is displayed on the display unit 11 of the mobile terminal 10, the worker selects (specifies) on the display unit 11 a range of the spectrogram that should be diagnosed (analyzed) by the abnormal sound diagnosis unit 21 (server 20) (hereinafter referred to as the "diagnosis range"). In response to the worker's operation on the screen, the extraction unit 17 acquires the diagnosis range selected by the worker and instructs the display control unit 18 to display the diagnosis range on the display unit 11 (step S130). In step S130, the display control unit 18 grays out the portions not selected by the worker, thereby displaying the spectrogram on the display unit 11 so that only the diagnosis range selected by the worker is visible.

[0021] The extraction unit 17 also reads vehicle state data within the diagnostic range (step S140) and extracts information to be provided to the server 20 as medical inquiry information from the read vehicle state data (step S150). In step S150, the extraction unit 17, for example, performs a differential process on the vehicle speed (physical quantity) acquired as the vehicle state data to calculate acceleration, and extracts (acquires) the driving state of the vehicle V within the diagnostic range (acceleration, deceleration, or constant speed) based on the value and sign of the acceleration, and stores (retains) it in RAM or the like as medical inquiry information. In step S150, the extraction unit 17 also extracts (acquires) the driving state of the vehicle V (idling, etc.) from the engine speed acquired as the vehicle state data, and extracts (acquires) the driving state of the vehicle V (accelerator OFF, brake ON, etc.) from the ON / OFF times of the brake lamp switch. In this embodiment, the vehicle condition data (physical quantities) to be extracted from the medical interview information are predetermined, and the extractor 17 performs the process of step S150 on the target data among the vehicle condition data within the diagnostic range.

[0022] After the process of step S150, the display control unit 18 displays a message on the display unit 11 instructing the operator to input medical interview information. After the operator has completed inputting the medical interview information, the medical interview information acquisition unit 13 confirms the information extracted in step S150 and the information input by the operator as the final medical interview information (step S160). In step S160, when the operator displays an input screen for medical interview information in response to the instruction to input medical interview information, the information extracted as medical interview information from the vehicle condition data in step S150 (e.g., "acceleration" in "driving state" in FIG. 2) can be visually confirmed on the input screen. Therefore, in step S160, the operator may input the remaining medical interview information that he or she has heard from the user of the vehicle V or that he or she has learned during the reproduction test. After the medical interview information is confirmed, the operator taps an information transmission button displayed on the display unit 11. This causes the communication module 12 of the mobile terminal 10 to transmit information necessary for diagnosing the abnormal noise to the server 20 (step S170). In this embodiment, the information transmitted from the mobile terminal 10 to the server 20 includes at least the time axis data of the sound acquired by the sound acquisition unit 14, the medical interview information determined in step S160, and information specifying the diagnostic range selected by the operator.

[0023] When the information necessary for diagnosing the abnormal noise is transmitted from the mobile terminal 10 to the server 20, the abnormal noise diagnosis unit 21 of the server 20 diagnoses the cause of the abnormal noise occurring in the vehicle V based on the information provided from the mobile terminal 10 and transmits the diagnosis result to the mobile terminal 10. The diagnosis result includes the cause of the abnormal noise occurring in the vehicle V, the part that is the source of the abnormal noise, and measures to resolve the abnormal noise read from the storage device 22. When the diagnosis result from the server 20 is received by the mobile terminal 10 (step S180), the diagnosis result is displayed on the display unit 11 (step S190), and the series of processes executed by the mobile terminal 10 for diagnosing the abnormal noise is completed. By executing the process shown in FIG. 3, the worker can accurately explain the diagnosis result from the server 20 to the user of the vehicle V, etc., and promptly proceed with measures to address the abnormal noise.

[0024] As described above, the mobile terminal 10 constituting the abnormal sound diagnosis system 1 acquires vehicle condition data indicating the state of the vehicle V in synchronization with the time axis data of the sound, automatically extracts information to be provided to the server 20 as medical interview information from the acquired vehicle condition data, and displays the information on the medical interview information input screen (steps S140-S160). This allows the worker or other personnel to simply input into the input screen as medical interview information what they have heard from the user or other personnel of the vehicle V or what they have learned during the reproduction test. This eliminates the need for the worker or other personnel to input medical interview information, which is difficult to accurately grasp or ascertain, into the input screen. As a result, the abnormal sound diagnosis system 1 reduces the burden on the worker or other personnel associated with inputting medical interview information, while making it possible to easily obtain medical interview information useful for diagnosing abnormal sounds occurring in the vehicle V. Furthermore, by acquiring part of the medical interview information from actually measured vehicle condition data, the accuracy of the medical interview information used for diagnosing abnormal sounds can be further improved.

[0025] The abnormal sound diagnosis support application installed on the mobile terminal 10 may be installed on a tablet terminal, a laptop or desktop personal computer, or the like, and the tablet terminal or the like may be used in place of the mobile terminal 10. The abnormal sound diagnosis system 1 may also be configured as a single information processing device. [Industrial Applicability]

[0026] The invention of the present disclosure is extremely useful for diagnosing abnormal noises generated in a vehicle. [Explanation of symbols]

[0027] 1 Abnormal sound diagnosis system, 10 Mobile terminal, 11 Display unit, 12 Communication module, 13 Questionnaire information acquisition unit, 14 Sound acquisition unit, 15 Vehicle state acquisition unit, 16 Arithmetic processing unit, 17 Extraction unit, 18 Display control unit, 20 Server (information processing device), 21 Abnormal sound diagnosis unit, 22 Storage device, V Vehicle.

Claims

[Claim 1] An abnormal noise diagnosis system including: a terminal that acquires data on sounds emitted from a vehicle and inquiry information related to abnormal noises generated in the vehicle; and an information processing device that diagnoses the abnormal noise generated in the vehicle based on the sound data and the inquiry information from the terminal, The terminal acquires vehicle condition data indicating the condition of the vehicle in synchronization with the sound data, automatically extracts a portion of the medical interview information from the acquired vehicle condition data, displays the portion of the information, and also displays an input screen that instructs the user to input the remaining information of the medical interview information, and once the remaining information is input, provides the portion of the information and the remaining information to the information processing device as the final medical interview information.

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