Agent Device

Abstract

To promote execution of appropriate actions by transmitting information according to the situation of an accident with respect to the periphery of a vehicle, when a vehicle accident occurs.SOLUTION: An agent device includes: an agent 200 provided so as to be visible from at least outside of a vehicle; an impact detection part for detecting impact of a predetermined value or more to the vehicle; an occupant information acquisition part for acquiring occupant information indicating the state of the occupant of the vehicle when the impact is detected; a vehicle information acquisition part for acquiring vehicle information indicating the state of the vehicle, when the impact is detected; a peripheral information acquisition part for acquiring peripheral information indicating periphery environment of the vehicle; and an agent control part for operating the agent on the basis of the occupant information, the vehicle information and the periphery information, and thereby transmitting information to the periphery of the vehicle 100.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an agent device mounted on a vehicle, which transmits information to the vehicle occupants and the surrounding area of ​​the vehicle by an agent. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a technology has been proposed in which a personified agent alerts occupants (especially the driver) and pedestrians while a vehicle is traveling. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that an in-vehicle robot that changes its posture depending on the state of the vehicle is installed outside the vehicle cabin in order to inform pedestrians and others of the driver's intentions using a method other than turning on the headlights or sounding the horn. Furthermore, Patent Document 2 discloses that in the event of an accident, the robot reports the accident to a rescue center and performs a predetermined rescue action in response to instructions from the rescue center. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-047886 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-297892 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when an accident such as a collision occurs, pedestrians around the accident vehicle may not be able to take appropriate action based on the accident situation on their own. On the other hand, it is believed that surrounding pedestrians can take appropriate action if instructed to do so. However, the in-vehicle robot of Patent Document 1 above issues warnings while driving, but does not consider transmitting information to nearby pedestrians in the event of an accident such as a collision. Similarly, in Patent Document 2, the robot reports to a rescue center in the event of an accident, but does not consider transmitting information to nearby pedestrians.

[0005] The present invention addresses such a situation by transmitting information about the accident situation to those around the vehicle when a vehicle accident occurs, thereby encouraging the vehicle to take appropriate measures. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve such problems, the agent device according to the present invention has the following configuration. That is, one aspect of the present invention provides an agent device comprising: an agent that is arranged so as to be visible at least from outside the vehicle; an impact detection unit that detects an impact to the vehicle of a predetermined value or more; an occupant information acquisition unit that acquires occupant information indicating the status of the occupants of the vehicle when the impact is detected; a vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires vehicle information indicating the status of the vehicle when the impact is detected; a surrounding information acquisition unit that acquires surrounding information indicating the environment surrounding the vehicle; and an agent control unit that operates the agent based on the occupant information, the vehicle information, and the surrounding information to transmit information to the surroundings of the vehicle. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] With an agent device having such characteristics, when a vehicle accident occurs, it is possible to urge the vehicle periphery to take appropriate measures by transmitting information according to the circumstances of the accident. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle control system including an agent device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an agent device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an agent device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which an agent is provided inside a vehicle interior; [Figure 4] 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an agent device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which an agent is provided outside a vehicle; [Figure 5] 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an agent's operation in an agent device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of information transmission processing by an agent in the agent device according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing a flow of a process for acquiring peripheral information to be output to an agent device in a vehicle control system, in the agent device according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of a process for acquiring vehicle information to be output to the agent device in the vehicle control system, in the agent device according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of a process for acquiring occupant information to be output to an agent device in a vehicle control system, in the agent device according to the embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals in different drawings denote parts with the same functions, and duplicated descriptions in each drawing will be omitted as appropriate.

[0010] 1, an agent device according to an embodiment of the present invention functions as a part of a vehicle control system 1 and is provided in a vehicle 100. The vehicle control system 1 includes various electronic devices necessary for driving the vehicle 100 and a plurality of in-vehicle ECUs (Electronic Control Units) that control these electronic devices. The electronic devices and in-vehicle ECUs are connected to each other via an in-vehicle network 3 such as a Controller Area Network (CAN) or a Local Interconnect Network (LIN) so that they can communicate with each other, and are also connected to a central gateway (CGW) 4 that serves as a relay device, thereby constituting the vehicle control system 1.

[0011] Each in-vehicle ECU may be configured to include, for example, a processor such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a micro processing unit (MPU), electrical circuits, and storage elements such as a random access memory (RAM) or a read-only memory (ROM). In addition, some or all of the operations performed by the in-vehicle ECU may be realized by hardware such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a graphics processing unit (GPU). In the following description, detailed description and illustration of electronic devices and vehicle-mounted ECUs that are not directly involved in the agent device (agent ECU) 10 according to this embodiment will be omitted.

[0012] 1, the vehicle control system 1 includes, as on-board ECUs, an agent ECU 10, an impact detection ECU 20, an occupant monitoring ECU 30, a vehicle monitoring ECU 40, a periphery monitoring ECU 50, a communication ECU 60, and an alarm ECU 70. Each on-board ECU is connected to an electronic device that is the control target of that on-board ECU, and controls the operation of the connected electronic device based on information (data) acquired from an on-board network 3. Each on-board ECU also outputs information (data) related to the operation of that electronic device acquired from the connected electronic device to the on-board network 3.

[0013] That is, in this embodiment, the agent ECU 10, impact detection ECU 20, occupant monitoring ECU 30, vehicle monitoring ECU 40, periphery monitoring ECU 50, communication ECU 60, and alarm ECU 70 transmit and receive information to and from each other. The agent ECU 10 controls the agent based on information relating to the state of the occupant, the state of the vehicle, and the surrounding environment received from the occupant monitoring ECU 30, vehicle monitoring ECU 40, and periphery monitoring ECU 50, and transmits information mainly to the periphery of the vehicle after the impact detection ECU 20 detects an impact. Details of the agent ECU 10 will be described later.

[0014] The impact detection ECU 20 detects a vehicle accident or an emergency by detecting a collision with the vehicle 100. Specifically, the impact detection ECU 20 is connected to, for example, an acceleration sensor that detects an impact applied to the vehicle 100 based on the acceleration of the vehicle 100, and detects an impact on the vehicle 100 when the acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle 100 exceeds a predetermined value. When the impact detection ECU 20 detects an impact on the vehicle 100, it outputs an impact detection signal to the in-vehicle network 3.

[0015] The occupant monitoring ECU 30 forms part of a driver monitoring system (DMS) that monitors occupants in the vehicle 100, and monitors the occupants by controlling electronic devices included in the occupant monitoring system, such as a camera, a microphone, an LED that illuminates the occupants, a seating sensor installed on the seat, and a door opening / closing sensor (none of which are shown).

[0016] For example, the occupant monitoring ECU 30 extracts data indicating the state of the occupant from images of the vehicle interior captured by a camera, output values ​​of a seating sensor, measurement values ​​of a seat load meter, whether a seat belt is on or off, and output values ​​of a vital sensor, and outputs occupant information generated from this data to the in-vehicle network 3. The occupant information includes, for example, the seating position, the occupant's heart rate and blood pressure, the direction of the occupant's face, whether the occupant is conscious or not, their posture, the state of their eyelids, and information indicating whether the occupant is able to move or act. If the vehicle 100 has multiple occupants, information for each occupant is obtained.

[0017] Whether an occupant can move or not indicates whether, in the event that an occupant is injured due to an impact to vehicle 100, the occupant cannot move on their own, but pedestrians around vehicle 100 can move the occupant and get them off vehicle 100 without any problems (movable), or whether the occupant should not be moved and should wait for the arrival of an ambulance or other vehicle (unmovable).

[0018] The vehicle monitoring ECU 40 monitors the state of the vehicle 100 based on output values ​​from a group of sensors including, for example, a wheel speed sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, a steering angle sensor, an accelerator pedal sensor, a brake pedal sensor, etc., and a temperature sensor that detects the temperature inside and outside the vehicle. The vehicle monitoring ECU 40 generates vehicle information indicating the state of the vehicle from the output values ​​of each sensor group, and outputs this information to the in-vehicle network 3. The vehicle information includes, for example, information indicating the load on the vehicle as determined from the driving status of each motor and the power supply status of in-vehicle devices, information indicating the temperature and temperature changes inside the vehicle, etc.

[0019] The periphery monitoring ECU 50 constitutes, for example, a part of an ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems) that assists the driving of the vehicle 100, and monitors the environment around the vehicle 100 using a group of sensors including a camera, radar, and various other sensors included in the ADAS. That is, the periphery monitoring ECU 50 outputs, from data acquired from the group of sensors described above, to the in-vehicle network 3 as periphery information, such as moving objects including people and vehicles around the vehicle 100, structures, road shapes, etc., as well as the distances and positional relationships between these and the vehicle.

[0020] The occupant monitoring ECU 30, the vehicle monitoring ECU 40, and the periphery monitoring ECU 50 can acquire various information and output it to the in-vehicle network 3 at predetermined intervals.

[0021] The communication ECU 60 performs wireless communication with communication terminal devices located within a predetermined range of the vehicle 100, communication devices included in vehicles traveling around the vehicle 100, and external communication destinations such as emergency call centers managed by private or public institutions, and transmits and receives various information.

[0022] That is, while the communication line with the external communication destination is connected, the communication ECU 60 transmits information acquired from the in-vehicle network 3 to the communication destination, and outputs various information received from the communication destination to the in-vehicle network 3. This makes it possible, for example, to notify an emergency call center of the status of the vehicle 100 and request rescue, and also to acquire information on appropriate measures from the emergency call center.

[0023] As described above, when information is output from the occupant monitoring ECU 30, vehicle monitoring ECU 40, and surroundings monitoring ECU 50 at a predetermined interval, the communication ECU 60 can report the real-time status of the occupants and vehicle to external communication destinations, including an emergency call center, even if the situation after an accident is changing every moment.

[0024] The notification ECU 70 is connected to, for example, a speaker or a display, and can transmit information by outputting voice or sound to the inside and outside of the vehicle 100, or by displaying information on a display. The notification ECU 70 can transmit information not only by itself, but also in conjunction with the action of an agent in the agent device 10, which will be described later. By matching the voice output from the speaker with the action of the agent, it is possible to transmit information as if it were being spoken by the agent.

[0025] The speakers can be used in conjunction with, for example, an in-vehicle audio device or a navigation system.The display can be, for example, a display panel mounted on the dashboard or a HUD (Head-Up Display) projected onto the windshield.

[0026] Next, the agent ECU 10 as an agent device will be described with reference to FIGS. The agent ECU 10 operates the agent 200, and causes the agent 200 to transmit information to the surroundings of the vehicle (see FIG. 2).

[0027] Agent 200 may be, for example, a three-dimensional object (such as an in-vehicle robot) with a humanoid appearance that communicates and notifies through speech (voice) and movement, a character displayed on a display such as a HUD, a three-dimensional display object expressed by a hologram, or a virtual three-dimensional object. Agent 200 may also be provided so as to be visible at least from outside the vehicle, and may be provided so as to be visible from both outside the vehicle and the driver.

[0028] The agent ECU 10 controls the agent 200 to change its posture or perform a desired action, thereby transmitting information to the surroundings of the vehicle 100. When the agent 200 is a three-dimensional human-shaped object, the agent 200 is connected to the agent ECU 10 so as to be able to communicate with it via wire or wirelessly, and the agent 200 operates in accordance with control signals output from the agent ECU 10. On the other hand, if the agent 200 is a character to be displayed on a display, the agent ECU 10 outputs a control signal to the display, for example, via the notification ECU 70, causing the character as the agent 200 to be displayed on the display and perform the desired action.

[0029] 3 and 4 show examples of installation positions of the agent 200 in the vehicle 100 when the agent 200 is a three-dimensional humanoid object. 3, the agent 200 is mounted on an instrument panel 300 via a dedicated support member inside the vehicle 100, and is able to freely change its posture and orientation. Therefore, the agent ECU 10 can make the agent 200 face the person to whom it is transmitting information.

[0030] That is, when agent 200 transmits information to the occupant, agent 200 is made to face the occupant. The occupant of vehicle 100 can grasp the movement of agent 200 facing directly toward him / her while holding steering wheel 400. On the other hand, when agent 200 transmits information to the outside of vehicle 100, agent 200 is made to face the outside of vehicle 100 through the windshield.

[0031] 4, the agent 200 is provided on the top surface of the vehicle 100 and is capable of appearing and disappearing from the top surface as needed. In this case, the agent 200 can transmit information to a person around the vehicle 100 who is closest to the vehicle 100, for example, by facing the person as the information transmission destination.

[0032] 3 and 4, the agent 200 is a three-dimensional object with a human-like external shape, and can express through movements such as turning its face toward the information recipient or waving its hands or arms up and down and left and right, as well as speaking to or asking questions to the information recipient (see FIG. 5). This allows a relationship of trust to be built between the information recipient and the agent.

[0033] 5 shows an example of the behavior of the agent 200. The example shown in FIG. 5 is an example of a behavior by the agent 200 to calm down the passengers and people around. For example, the agent ECU 10 causes the agent 200 to turn its palms toward the person to whom the agent 200 is transmitting information, stretch out both arms, and shake them up and down widely. Palms attract people's attention to the same extent as facial expressions, so by showing the agent 200 making such a large behavior, it is possible to attract the attention of people who view the behavior of the agent 200 and calm them down.

[0034] Returning to FIG. 2, the agent ECU 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM 12, a RAM 13, and an HDD 14 as a storage unit. The CPU 11 executes various processes based on the programs stored in the ROM 12. In this embodiment, the CPU 11 loads the programs stored in the ROM 12 into a memory such as the RAM 13 and executes them, thereby functioning as a communication unit 111, an occupant information acquisition unit 112, a vehicle information acquisition unit 113, a surrounding information acquisition unit 114, and an agent control unit 115 shown in FIG.

[0035] The HDD 14 also stores information necessary for the CPU 11 to operate as a communication unit 111, an occupant information acquisition unit 112, a vehicle information acquisition unit 113, a surrounding information acquisition unit 114, and an agent control unit 115. The communication unit 111, the occupant information acquisition unit 112, the vehicle information acquisition unit 113, the surrounding information acquisition unit 114, and the agent control unit 115 will be described below.

[0036] The communication unit 111 receives information from other in-vehicle ECUs via the in-vehicle network 3, and outputs various information from the agent ECU 10 to the in-vehicle network 3. For example, upon receiving an impact detection signal output from the impact detection ECU 20, the occupant information acquisition unit 112, the vehicle information acquisition unit 113, and the surrounding information acquisition unit 114 acquire occupant information, vehicle information, and surrounding information after impact detection in the vehicle 100, respectively. Furthermore, via the communication ECU 60 described above, information can be transmitted and received between external emergency call destinations and communication terminal devices present around the vehicle 100, and the status of the occupants and the vehicle can be transmitted to the surroundings.

[0037] When an impact is detected in the vehicle 100, the occupant information acquisition unit 112 acquires the occupant information output from the occupant monitoring ECU 30 to the in-vehicle network 3. The occupant information acquisition unit 112 extracts information indicating at least the seating position of the occupant and the physical condition of the occupant from the occupant information, determines from the extracted information whether the occupant is able to move, whether the occupant can be moved, etc., and outputs the occupant information including the determination result to the agent control unit 115. In addition, the occupant monitoring ECU 30 can determine whether the occupant is able to move or not, and the occupant information acquisition unit 112 can acquire occupant information including such determination results directly from the occupant monitoring ECU 30.

[0038] By acquiring such occupant information, the agent control unit 115 (described later) can, when operating the agent 200 to transmit information, prevent the occupant from being moved carelessly, for example, when the occupant is seriously injured and should wait for an ambulance to arrive, and can also urge lightly injured occupants to evacuate when the occupant should be evacuated immediately from the accident vehicle.

[0039] When an impact is detected on the vehicle 100, the vehicle information acquisition unit 113 acquires the vehicle information output from the vehicle monitoring ECU 40 to the in-vehicle network 3. The vehicle information acquisition unit 113 extracts information indicating at least the temperature inside the vehicle 100 and the load on the vehicle 100 from the vehicle information, determines from the extracted information whether there is a possibility of a fire or a short circuit in the vehicle 100, and outputs the vehicle information including the determination result to the agent control unit 115.

[0040] In addition, the vehicle monitoring ECU 40 can determine whether there is a possibility of fire or electrical leakage in the vehicle 100, and the vehicle information acquisition unit 113 can directly acquire vehicle information including such determination results from the vehicle monitoring ECU 40. By acquiring such vehicle information, the agent control unit 115, which will be described later, can operate the agent 200 to, for example, warn the area around the vehicle 100 and urge the occupants to evacuate immediately.

[0041] When an impact is detected on the vehicle 100, the surrounding information acquisition unit 114 acquires surrounding information indicating the surrounding environment of the vehicle 100 output from the surrounding monitoring ECU 50 to the in-vehicle network 3. The surrounding information acquisition unit 114 extracts people around the vehicle 100 and their position information from the surrounding information acquired from the in-vehicle network 3, and determines instruction recipients who are to be instructed to take initial action as information recipients by the agent.

[0042] The surrounding information acquisition unit 114 outputs surrounding information including position information of people around the vehicle 100 and designation information related to the designated instruction recipient to the agent control unit 115. Note that the designation of the instruction recipient from the agent can be performed in the surroundings monitoring ECU 50, and the surrounding information acquisition unit 114 can acquire surrounding information including such designation information directly from the surroundings monitoring ECU 50.

[0043] By acquiring such surrounding information, the agent control unit 115, which will be described later, can, for example, determine the person to whom the agent 200 will give instructions for rescue or initial action, and can determine the direction in which the agent 200 should face. Even if there are multiple people around the vehicle 100, not all of them will necessarily have a sense of ownership and try to take action. Therefore, by determining the person to whom instructions will be given by the agent 200 and operating the agent 200 toward the person to whom the instructions are given, it is possible to appeal to the designated person's sense of mission and ownership.

[0044] The agent control unit 115 controls the agent 200 based on the occupant information, vehicle information, and peripheral information to make the agent 200 perform desired actions. For example, the agent control unit 115 can make the agent 200 perform various actions based on the occupant information, vehicle information, and peripheral information, such as freely rotating the agent 200 to a front posture facing the occupant, a rear posture facing away from the occupant, or a posture facing a target person around the vehicle, bending the joints provided in the agent 200, pointing the palm in a desired direction, and moving the arms up, down, left, and right.

[0045] The HDD 14 stores information received from the communication unit 111, the occupant information acquisition unit 112, the vehicle information acquisition unit 113, the surrounding information acquisition unit 114, and the agent control unit 115. The HDD 14 can also store in advance a table or the like in which the actions and speech contents of the agent are associated with the state of the occupant and the state of the vehicle.

[0046] The information transmission process by the agent of the agent ECU 10 configured as above will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the information transmission process performed by the agent ECU 10. When the communication unit 111 of the agent ECU 10 receives the impact detection signal output by the impact detection ECU 20, the agent ECU 10 shifts to a control mode in which the agent 200 transmits information, and starts controlling the agent 200 (steps S101 and S102).

[0047] The agent ECU 10 first causes the agent 200 to perform an action of approaching the occupant (step S103). The agent ECU 10 causes the agent 200 to perform actions such as repeatedly jumping facing the occupant, outputting a voice calling for help in conjunction with the jump, outputting a voice asking about the occupant's safety, etc. The agent 200 can also collect a response from the occupant using a microphone or the like. This allows communication between the agent 200 and the occupant to calm the confused state of the occupant and grasp the damage to the occupant.

[0048] The agent ECU 10 may cause the agent 200 to perform actions to support the occupant, and may also output information indicating that an accident has occurred on the vehicle 100 and the extent of the damage, etc., via the communication unit 111 to communication terminal devices such as smartphones carried by people around the vehicle 100.

[0049] In the agent ECU 10, while the agent 200 is performing the close-together action, the occupant information acquisition unit 112, the vehicle information acquisition unit 113, and the surrounding information acquisition unit 114 receive various information (step S104). Details of information acquisition by the occupant information acquisition unit 112, the vehicle information acquisition unit 113, and the surrounding information acquisition unit 114 will be described later.

[0050] The agent control unit 115 controls the agent 200 based on the information acquired by the occupant information acquisition unit 112 , the vehicle information acquisition unit 113 , and the surrounding information acquisition unit 114 . Specifically, agent control unit 115 causes agent 200 to face the instruction target person based on the designation information included in the peripheral information (step S105).

[0051] By facing the agent 200 directly and making eye contact with the target person, the target person can recognize that they have been designated as the person to receive information from the agent 200. If there is a certain distance between the agent 200 and the target person, people in the vicinity of the target person will also make eye contact with the agent 200, so in effect, multiple target people will be designated.

[0052] Thereafter, if the vehicle information indicates that there is a possibility of a fire or electrical leakage in the vehicle 100 (No in step S106), the agent control unit 115 causes the agent 200 to take action to warn people in the vicinity of the vehicle 100, including the person to whom the instruction is given, not to approach the vehicle 100 (step S107).

[0053] On the other hand, if the vehicle information indicates that there is no possibility of fire or electric leakage in the vehicle 100 (Yes in step S106), the agent control unit 115 causes the agent 200 to perform actions such as calling out to the person being instructed to come closer to the vehicle 100, pointing, waving, or waving (step S108). For example, the agent control unit 115 can urge the person being instructed to come closer by causing the agent 200 to repeatedly jump and outputting an electronic voice calling for help in conjunction with the jumping action.

[0054] Furthermore, the agent control unit 115 tracks the instruction target person and, while checking whether the instruction target person approaches the vehicle 100, causes the agent 200 to operate so as to instruct the rescue of the occupants of the vehicle 100 (step S109). For example, when the agent control unit 115 detects the approach of the instruction target person, it causes the agent 200 to operate by waving its hand widely.

[0055] Furthermore, if the person being instructed approaches further, the robot will perform a more specific instruction, such as a pointing motion. For example, when the occupant information indicates that the vehicle 100 includes an occupant who cannot move, the agent ECU 10 causes the agent 200 to operate so as to prompt the user to visually check the interior of the vehicle 100 and to immediately notify an emergency call destination. On the other hand, when the occupant information indicates that the occupant in the vehicle 100 is movable, the agent ECU 10 causes the agent 200 to perform an action to prompt the person to whom the instruction is given to open the door of the vehicle 100 and an action to indicate specific details of how to rescue the occupant.

[0056] Next, the agent ECU 10 notifies the status of the vehicle 100, the status of the accident, the status of the damage, etc. by transmitting the status of the vehicle 100 to communication terminal devices present around the vehicle 100 via the communication unit 111 (step S110). If a rescue operation is performed by the person to whom the instruction is given, the status of the rescue operation can also be notified.

[0057] (obtaining surrounding information) As described above, the periphery information is information that is generated and acquired by the periphery monitoring ECU 50 or the periphery information acquisition unit 114 based on data output from a plurality of sensors included in the ADAS connected to the periphery monitoring ECU 50. The agent control unit 115 refers to the periphery information when determining the behavior of the agent 200. For example, when the periphery monitoring ECU 50 generates periphery information, processing is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0058] The periphery monitoring ECU 50 investigates sensors that have failed due to an impact to the vehicle 100 among multiple sensors included in the ADAS connected to the periphery monitoring ECU 50, and extracts operational sensors (step S201). Based on the data extracted from the operational sensors, the periphery monitoring ECU 50 identifies people around the vehicle 100 (step S202), and determines a person to be instructed based on the distance between the vehicle 100 and the person, the person's position information, etc. (step S203). The periphery information including the designation information indicating the person to be instructed and the person's position information obtained in step S203 is output to the in-vehicle network 3 (step S204). This allows the periphery information acquisition unit 114 to acquire the periphery information.

[0059] (Acquisition of vehicle information)

[0060] As described above, the vehicle information is information that is generated and acquired by the vehicle monitoring ECU 40 or the vehicle information acquisition unit 113 based on data output from the group of sensors connected to the vehicle monitoring ECU 40. The agent control unit 115 refers to the vehicle information when operating the agent 200. For example, when vehicle information is generated in the vehicle monitoring ECU 40, processing is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. Based on data extracted from a group of sensors connected to the vehicle monitoring ECU 40, the vehicle monitoring ECU 40 acquires information indicating the load on the vehicle, which is determined from the temperature inside and outside the vehicle 100 and the degree of temperature rise, the driving status of each motor, and the power supply status to the on-board equipment, and checks the condition of the vehicle (step S301).

[0061] From the vehicle state confirmed in step S301, it is determined whether a fire or a ground fault is currently occurring in the vehicle 100, or whether a fire or a ground fault is likely to occur in the near future (step S302). Then, vehicle information including information indicating the possibility of a fire or a ground fault is output to the in-vehicle network 3 (step S303). This allows the vehicle information acquisition unit 113 to acquire the vehicle information.

[0062] (Acquisition of passenger information) As described above, the occupant information is generated and acquired by the vehicle monitoring ECU 40 or the vehicle information acquisition unit 113 based on data acquired from multiple sensors connected to the occupant monitoring ECU 30. The agent control unit 115 refers to the occupant information when operating the agent 200. For example, when the occupant information is generated in the occupant monitoring ECU 30, processing is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. The occupant monitoring ECU 30 checks the status of the occupants inside the vehicle 100, including their seating positions, postures, and states of consciousness, based on data extracted from a group of sensors connected to the occupant monitoring ECU 30 (step S401).

[0063] From the status of the occupants confirmed in step S401, it is determined whether at least each occupant is able to move (step S402). Then, occupant information including information indicating whether each occupant is able to move is output to the in-vehicle network 3 (step S403). This allows the occupant information acquisition unit 112 to acquire the occupant information.

[0064] As described above, the agent device according to this embodiment acquires information about the occupants, the vehicle, and the surrounding area when the vehicle 100 detects an impact of a predetermined magnitude or greater, and transmits appropriate information to those around the vehicle based on this information. By using the agent for communication, people around the vehicle who are unsure of how to take appropriate action can be made to feel a sense of responsibility and responsibility, and various pieces of information can be transmitted to encourage them to take appropriate rescue action or to cooperate with specialized organizations such as an emergency call center. This allows rescue operations after an accident to proceed quickly and smoothly.

[0065] That is, according to this embodiment, when a vehicle accident occurs, information according to the circumstances of the accident is transmitted to those around the vehicle, thereby urging them to take appropriate measures.

[0066] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, the specific configurations are not limited to these embodiments, and the present invention also includes design changes within the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, the above-described embodiments can be combined by utilizing each other's technologies as long as there are no particular contradictions or problems in their purposes, configurations, etc. [Explanation of symbols]

[0067] 1: Vehicle control system, 3: In-vehicle network, 4: CGW 10: Agent ECU (agent device), 11: CPU, 12: ROM, 13: RAM, 14: HDD, 20: Impact detection ECU, 30: Occupant monitoring ECU, 40: Vehicle monitoring ECU, 50: Surroundings monitoring ECU, 60: Communication ECU, 70: Notification ECU, 100: Vehicle 111: communication unit, 112: occupant information acquisition unit, 113: vehicle information acquisition unit, 114: surrounding information acquisition unit, 115: agent control unit, 200: agent

Claims

1. an agent that is provided so as to be visible at least from the outside of the vehicle; an impact detection unit that detects an impact of a predetermined value or greater on the vehicle; an occupant information acquisition unit that acquires occupant information indicating the state of an occupant of the vehicle when the impact is detected; a vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires vehicle information indicating a state of the vehicle when the impact is detected; a surrounding information acquisition unit that acquires surrounding information indicating a surrounding environment of the vehicle; an agent control unit that operates the agent based on the occupant information, the vehicle information, and the surrounding information to transmit information to the surroundings of the vehicle, the surrounding information includes position information of people around the vehicle, The agent control unit designates a destination of information to be transmitted by the agent based on the position information, and causes the agent to face the destination of information transmission.

2. An agent provided so as to be visible at least from the outside of a vehicle; an impact detection unit that detects an impact of a predetermined value or greater on the vehicle; an occupant information acquisition unit that acquires occupant information indicating the state of an occupant of the vehicle when the impact is detected; a vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires vehicle information indicating a state of the vehicle when the impact is detected; a surrounding information acquisition unit that acquires surrounding information indicating a surrounding environment of the vehicle; an agent control unit that operates the agent based on the occupant information, the vehicle information, and the surrounding information to transmit information to the surroundings of the vehicle, the vehicle information includes information indicating a temperature inside the vehicle and a load on the vehicle; The agent control unit causes the agent to take an action to warn the user not to approach the vehicle when the vehicle information indicates that there is a possibility of a fire or electric leakage in the vehicle.

3. An agent that is provided so as to be visible at least from the outside of the vehicle; an impact detection unit that detects an impact of a predetermined value or greater on the vehicle; an occupant information acquisition unit that acquires occupant information indicating the state of an occupant of the vehicle when the impact is detected; a vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires vehicle information indicating a state of the vehicle when the impact is detected; a surrounding information acquisition unit that acquires surrounding information indicating a surrounding environment of the vehicle; an agent control unit that operates the agent based on the occupant information, the vehicle information, and the surrounding information to transmit information to the surroundings of the vehicle, The agent control unit The agent device has the agent facing the occupant and asks questions and performs actions to confirm the occupant's safety during the period from when the impact is detected until when information is transmitted to the outside of the vehicle.

4. the vehicle information includes information indicating a temperature inside the vehicle and a load on the vehicle; 2. The agent device according to claim 1, wherein the agent control unit causes the agent to perform an action of urging the information destination to approach the vehicle when the vehicle information indicates that there is no possibility of a fire or electric leakage in the vehicle.

5. The occupant information includes information indicating the seating position of the occupant and the physical condition of the occupant, 5. The agent device according to claim 1, wherein the agent control unit causes the agent to perform an operation to prompt the information destination to visually check the interior of the vehicle and to report to an emergency call destination when the occupant information indicates that the occupant is an immobile occupant.

6. 6. The agent device according to claim 1, wherein the agent control unit causes the agent to perform an action of urging the information destination to open the door of the vehicle and rescue the occupant when the occupant information indicates that the occupant is able to move.

7. a communication unit that transmits and receives information to and from an external emergency call destination and a communication terminal device located around the vehicle; 7. The agent device according to claim 1, wherein the occupant information and the vehicle information are transmitted to the emergency call destination and the communication terminal device by the communication unit.

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