Potential accident liability determination device

Abstract

To provide a travel storage system and a travel recording method that make it possible to confirm the reliability of potential accident responsibility information.SOLUTION: A potential accident responsibility determination device includes: a target vehicle behavior determination unit (141) configured to acquire a sensor value (S) from a sensor (111) indicating behavior of surrounding vehicles present around a host vehicle (1) and sequentially determine a relative behavior (V) of a target vehicle selected, from the surrounding vehicles, with respect to the host vehicle (1), based on the sensor value (S); a rule acquisition unit (142) configured to acquire an accident responsibility rule at a current position of the host vehicle (1); a potential accident responsibility value determination unit (151) configured to sequentially determine potential accident responsibility values (AL), based on the relative behavior (V) of the target vehicle and the accident responsibility rule, each of the potential accident responsibility values (AL) indicating a degree of responsibility of the host vehicle (1) for an accident assumed between the target vehicle and the host vehicle (1); and a potential accident storage unit (152) configured to store the potential accident responsibility value (AL) and responsibility value determination information (R), which is information used for determining the potential accident responsibility value (AL), in association with each other.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Cross-reference of related applications

[0001] This application is based on Japanese patent application No. 2019-130771, filed in Japan on July 15, 2019, and Japanese patent application No. 2019-131256, filed in Japan on July 16, 2019, and incorporates the contents of the basic applications by reference in whole. [Technical Field]

[0002] This disclosure is, Potential accident liability determining device Regarding. [Background technology]

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a device that estimates the driving state of a target vehicle and calculates a potential accident liability value (hereinafter referred to as the potential accident liability value) by comparing that state with driving rules. This device stores the calculated potential accident liability value and outputs it after an accident.

[0004] Patent Document 2 discloses a technology that, in order to identify the cause of a vehicle accident, captures and saves video footage of the area in front of the vehicle's direction of travel when a collision occurs or is highly likely to occur. Furthermore, autonomous driving, which automates the operation of a vehicle, is also known. There can be multiple levels of autonomous driving, as defined, for example, by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). For instance, in a vehicle where driving operations are fully automated, it is assumed that the occupants will no longer bear legal responsibilities as drivers, such as the duty to monitor the surrounding safety. The contents of the prior art documents are incorporated by reference in this specification as explanations of the technical elements. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2018 / 115963 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2009-157554 [Overview of the project]

[0006] The potential accident liability value can be used to determine the responsibility of the vehicles involved in an accident if one occurs. For the potential accident liability value to be used to determine the responsibility of the vehicles involved in an accident, its reliability must be high. However, the potential accident liability value is merely a scalar value and is susceptible to tampering. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to verify the reliability of the potential accident liability value. Furthermore, even if the potential accident liability value has not been tampered with, the algorithm for determining the potential accident liability value may differ depending on the manufacturer and version of the device. This means that even under the same circumstances, the value of the potential accident liability value may differ due to differences in the manufacturer and version of the device. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to verify the reliability of the potential accident liability value later using another device.

[0007] Furthermore, the potential accident liability value is a value determined by a predetermined determination method. In contrast, the circumstances under which actual accidents occur vary. Therefore, even if the potential accident liability value has not been tampered with, considering the surrounding circumstances, it is possible that the potential accident liability value does not adequately represent the responsibility of the vehicle that caused the accident. In this respect as well, it is desirable to be able to verify the reliability of the potential accident liability value. It is also desirable to be able to verify the reliability of whether or not there is responsibility that can be determined from the potential accident liability value. In the following, the concept including the potential accident liability value and whether or not there is responsibility that can be determined from the potential accident liability value will be referred to as potential accident liability information.

[0008] The technology disclosed in Patent Document 2 saves video footage of the area in front of the vehicle's direction of travel when a collision occurs or there is a high risk of one occurring. However, if the vehicle is capable of switching the degree of autonomous driving (hereinafter referred to as the autonomous driving level), it is difficult to distinguish from the saved video footage whether the vehicle is driving in autonomous mode or not. Therefore, in the event of an accident, it is difficult to prove from the saved video that the vehicle's autonomous driving was not at fault. Furthermore, even if an accident occurs between vehicles in the vicinity of the vehicle, it is difficult to prove from the saved video that the vehicle's autonomous driving was not at fault.

[0009] One purpose of this disclosure is, Verify the reliability of information regarding potential accident liability. Making it possible Potential accident liability determining device The objective is to provide.

[0010] The above objectives are achieved by a combination of features described in the independent claims, and the subordinate claims provide further advantageous specific examples. The reference numerals in parentheses in the claims indicate the correspondence with specific means described in the embodiments described later as one aspect, and do not limit the disclosed technical scope.

[0011] One disclosure relating to a potential accident liability determination device for achieving the above objective is: A responsibility determination information acquisition unit acquires responsibility determination information, which is information used to determine whether or not the responsibility determination vehicle is responsible for an accident that is potentially anticipated between the responsibility determination vehicle, which is the vehicle that determines the potential accident responsibility information, and a target vehicle selected from surrounding vehicles present around the responsibility determination vehicle. (4 53) and, The potential accident liability information determination unit determines potential accident liability information based on a pre-configured relationship that determines potential accident liability information from liability determination information and liability determination information acquired by the liability determination information acquisition unit. (4 51) and, It is installed outside the vehicle responsible for making decisions. 、 The responsibility determination information acquisition unit acquires the responsibility determination information from surrounding vehicles located around the vehicle that determines responsibility. It is a potential accident liability determination device.

[0013] the above Potential accident liability determining device According to By acquiring liability determination information, potential accident liability information can be determined based on that information. Therefore, when this potential accident liability determination device acquires liability determination information retrospectively, or when liability determination information is acquired retrospectively by the potential accident liability determination method, potential accident liability information can be determined retrospectively. The reliability of the potential accident liability information can be later confirmed by comparing the retrospectively determined potential accident liability information with potential accident liability information determined by a device other than this potential accident liability determination device or the device that executes this potential accident liability determination method. As an example of a device other than this potential accident liability determination device or the device that executes this potential accident liability determination method, if this potential accident liability determination device or the device that executes this potential accident liability determination method is installed in a vehicle other than the vehicle that determines liability, the device installed in that vehicle can be given as an example. ru.

[0014] To achieve the above objectives One disclosure relating to a potential accident liability determination system teeth, A responsibility determination information acquisition unit (541) acquires responsibility determination information, which is information used to determine whether or not the responsibility determination vehicle is responsible for an accident that is potentially anticipated between the responsibility determination vehicle, which is a vehicle that determines potential accident liability information, and a target vehicle selected from surrounding vehicles present around the responsibility determination vehicle. A potential accident liability information determination unit (551) determines potential accident liability information based on a pre-configured relationship that determines potential accident liability information from liability determination information and liability determination information acquired by the liability determination information acquisition unit, A potential accident liability determination device comprises: a peripheral information acquisition unit (570) that acquires peripheral liability determination information used to determine peripheral potential accident liability information, which indicates whether a related peripheral vehicle is liable for an accident that is potentially foreseeable between the related peripheral vehicle and other vehicles present in the vicinity of the related peripheral vehicle, among the surrounding vehicles other than the target vehicle; That is the case.

[0015] The above-mentioned potential accident liability determination device According to In a direct sense, even if there is a problem with the behavior of the vehicle designated as responsible for the accident, it is possible to determine whether the behavior of the surrounding vehicles involved could be considered to have contributed significantly to the cause of the accident. Based on that determination, it is possible to confirm whether the potential accident liability information appropriately represents the responsibility of the vehicle designated as responsible for the accident, that is, to confirm the reliability of the potential accident liability information. ru. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0016] [Figure 1] A diagram showing the configuration of the potential accident liability value determination device 100 according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] A flowchart showing the processes performed by the potential accident liability determination device 100. [Figure 3] A flowchart illustrating the process of extracting potential accident information (ALinfo). [Figure 4] A diagram showing the configuration of the potential accident liability value determination device 200 of the second embodiment. [Figure 5] A diagram showing the process performed by the potential accident liability determination device 200. [Figure 6] A diagram showing the configuration of the potential accident liability value determination device 300 according to the third embodiment. [Figure 7] A diagram showing the process performed by the potential accident liability determination device 300. [Figure 8] This diagram shows the process that the wireless communication unit 360 executes when it receives ALinfo(oc), which is information about a potential accident involving another vehicle. [Figure 9] A diagram showing the configuration of the potential accident liability value determination device 400 according to the fourth embodiment. [Figure 10] A diagram showing the process performed by the potential accident liability determination device 400. [Figure 11] A diagram showing the configuration of the potential accident liability value determination device 500 according to the fifth embodiment. [Figure 12] A diagram illustrating related surrounding vehicles. [Figure 13] This diagram shows an example of the processing performed by the peripheral information acquisition unit 570. [Figure 14] This diagram illustrates the process of synchronizing the time between vehicle 1 and surrounding vehicles. [Figure 15] A diagram showing the process performed by the potential accident liability value determination device 600 of the sixth embodiment. [Figure 16] A diagram showing the processing performed by the responsibility value server Sr in the sixth embodiment. [Figure 17] A diagram showing the potential accident liability value determination device 700 of the seventh embodiment. [Figure 18] This diagram shows the time correction process performed by the time correction unit 744. [Figure 19] A diagram showing the process executed by the target vehicle behavior determination unit 741. [Figure 20] This diagram shows the process executed by the potential accident liability value determination unit 751. [Figure 21] A diagram showing the configuration of the potential accident liability value determination device 800 according to the eighth embodiment. [Figure 22] A flowchart illustrating the processes performed by the potential accident liability determination device 800. [Figure 23] A flowchart showing the detailed processing of S132 in Figure 22. [Figure 24] A diagram showing the schematic configuration of the vehicle system 1001 and the automatic driving device 1002. [Figure 25] A diagram showing an example of the placement of the external camera 1051. [Figure 26] A diagram showing the schematic configuration of the video processing device 1020. [Figure 27] This diagram shows an example of the video storage-related processing flow in the video processing device 1020. [Figure 28] A diagram showing an example of the general configuration of the video processing device 1020a. [Figure 29] A diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle system 1101 according to the 21st embodiment. [Figure 30] Figure 29 shows the configuration of the video processing device 1120. [Figure 31] A diagram showing the configuration of the driving memory system according to the 31st embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0017] <First Embodiment> The embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the potential accident liability value determination device 100 of the first embodiment. The potential accident liability value determination device 100 also functions as a driving memory device and a driving memory system. The potential accident liability value determination device 100 is mounted on the vehicle 1. The vehicle 1 is a vehicle on which a certain potential accident liability value determination device 100 is mounted, with that device being used as a reference.

[0018] Vehicles are not particularly limited as long as they are vehicles that travel on roads. This includes passenger cars, trucks, buses, etc. The potential accident liability value determination device 100 determines the potential accident liability value AL. val The following will be determined sequentially. Potential accident liability value AL val This is a scalar value indicating the degree of responsibility of vehicle 1 in the event of an accident between vehicle 1 and a target vehicle selected from surrounding vehicles present in the vicinity of vehicle 1. Since it is "in the event of an accident," no accident has occurred yet. Because it is an accident that has not yet occurred, it is a potentially foreseeable accident. This is the potential accident responsibility value AL. val By comparing this with a predetermined threshold for determining responsibility, it is possible to determine whether or not vehicle 1 is responsible. Therefore, the potential accident responsibility value AL val This is information indicating whether or not vehicle 1 is responsible. In other words, the potential accident liability value AL val This is an example of potential accident liability information indicating whether or not vehicle 1 is responsible. The threshold value above is, for example, 0. Potential accident liability value AL val This is determined for each of the multiple surrounding vehicles located around the vehicle 1.

[0019] The potential accident liability value determination device 100 is also installed in a vehicle other than the vehicle itself (Vehicle 1). The potential accident liability value determination device 100 is installed in multiple vehicles. Each potential accident liability value determination device 100 considers the vehicle in which it is installed as Vehicle 1 and calculates the potential accident liability value AL val The decisions will be made sequentially.

[0020] The potential accident liability determination device 100 comprises a sensor unit 110, a map storage unit 120, a rule DB storage unit 130, a sensor integration unit 140, and an accident liability judgment unit 150.

[0021] The sensor unit 110 is equipped with multiple sensors 111 and 112. Sensor 111 is a sensor that detects the behavior of surrounding vehicles and outputs a sensor value S indicating the behavior of surrounding vehicles. Sensor 111 can include a camera. In addition, sensor 111 can also include a millimeter-wave radar or a LiDAR. Figure 1 shows sensors 111a and 111b as sensors 111. When these sensors 111a and 111b are not distinguished, they are referred to as sensor 111. Furthermore, sensor 111 may be one type or three or more types.

[0022] Sensor 112 is a vehicle behavior sensor that detects the position and behavior of the vehicle 1. If the current position P of the vehicle 1 (hereinafter referred to as the vehicle position) can be detected sequentially, the vehicle's behavior, such as its speed and direction of travel, can be determined. Therefore, sensor 112 may consist only of a sensor that detects the current vehicle position P. Sensor 112 may also include a GNSS receiver for detecting the position of the vehicle 1. In addition, sensor 112 may include a vehicle speed sensor, a yaw rate sensor, an acceleration sensor, etc. Figure 1 shows one sensor 112, but there may be multiple sensors 112. Furthermore, the current vehicle position P can be detected by comparing the shape of the area around the vehicle 1 detected by LIDAR, etc., with a high-precision map. In this case, sensor 111 is also used as sensor 112. Therefore, sensor 111 may be used as sensor 112 without providing a dedicated sensor 112.

[0023] The map storage unit 120 is a storage unit that stores a digital road map. The digital road map may be the high-precision map described above, or it may be a regular road map that is not a high-precision map. A high-precision map is a map that shows the location of road markings such as lanes on the road, the type and location of road signs, and three-dimensional objects around the road. In this specification, the storage unit is equipped with a tangible storage medium that can be read by a computer. For example, flash memory can be used as the storage medium. The rule DB storage unit 130 is a storage unit that stores a rule database (hereinafter, rule DB). The rule DB is a database that stores location-specific driving rules. Location-specific driving rules include traffic directions such as one-way streets, speed limits, and distinctions between priority and non-priority traffic.

[0024] The sensor integration unit 140 and the potential accident responsibility value determination unit 151 of the accident responsibility judgment unit 150 can be realized by a configuration with at least one processor. For example, the sensor integration unit 140 and the potential accident responsibility value determination unit 151 can be realized by a computer equipped with a CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O, and bus lines connecting these components. The ROM stores a program that allows a general-purpose computer to function as the sensor integration unit 140 and the potential accident responsibility value determination unit 151. The CPU executes the program stored in the ROM while utilizing the temporary storage function of the RAM, thereby enabling the computer to function as the sensor integration unit 140 and the potential accident responsibility value determination unit 151. The execution of these functions means that the methods corresponding to the program are executed.

[0025] The sensor integration unit 140 includes a target vehicle behavior determination unit 141 and a rule acquisition unit 142. The target vehicle behavior determination unit 141 acquires sensor values ​​S from the sensor unit 110. Then, based on the acquired sensor values ​​S, it determines the relative behavior V of the target vehicle. state The decisions will be made sequentially.

[0026] The target vehicle is a vehicle selected from surrounding vehicles existing around the host vehicle 1. Whether a certain vehicle exists around the host vehicle 1 can be determined, for example, by whether that vehicle is located within a surrounding area defined based on the host vehicle 1. The surrounding area can be a rectangular area centered on the host vehicle 1 and having sides parallel to the longitudinal and lateral directions of the vehicle. The length of the rectangle in the forward direction of the vehicle can be set to about the stopping distance of the vehicle. The rearward direction of the vehicle may be the same as the forward direction of the vehicle, or may be shorter than that. The length of the rectangle in the lateral direction of the vehicle can be set to the length of one lane. Note that the size of the surrounding area can be set variously. Also, the shape of the surrounding area can be set variously. For example, the shape of the surrounding area may be a perfect circle or an ellipse.

[0027] A vehicle other than the host vehicle (hereinafter referred to as other vehicle) existing in the surrounding area and having no other vehicle between it and the host vehicle 1 is defined as the target vehicle. Also, an other vehicle having another vehicle between it and the host vehicle 1 may also be defined as the target vehicle if it exists in the surrounding area.

[0028] Relative behavior V state includes relative position and relative speed. The relative position can be represented by relative distance and relative azimuth. The relative behavior V state can also be determined from the changes in the positions of the host vehicle 1 and the target vehicle. The position of the target vehicle may be detected by a sensor 112 mounted on the target vehicle, and the potential accident liability value determination device 100 of the host vehicle 1 may acquire that position by wireless communication. In this case, the target vehicle behavior determination unit 141 acquires the sensor value S detected by the sensor unit 110 mounted on the target vehicle, and determines the relative behavior V state of the target vehicle based on that sensor value S.

[0029] The rule acquisition unit 142 acquires the accident liability rules for the current vehicle position P. The accident liability rules include traffic rules that differ depending on the location and rules that do not depend on the location. In order to acquire the traffic rules that differ depending on the location, the rule acquisition unit 142 identifies the location of the vehicle 1 on the road based on the vehicle position P determined based on the sensor value S and the road map stored in the map storage unit 120. Then, it acquires the traffic rules determined based on the identified location on the road from the rule DB storage unit 130. The traffic rules acquired from the rule DB storage unit 130 are the traffic rules in the area surrounding the vehicle position P, including the vehicle position P (hereinafter referred to as surrounding traffic rules R). db )

[0030] Surrounding traffic rules R db The reason for acquiring this is to avoid frequently acquiring traffic rules from the rule DB storage unit 130 every time the vehicle's position P changes. A rule that does not depend on position is, for example, the required following distance determined by speed. These position-independent rules can also be stored in a predetermined storage area of ​​the rule DB storage unit 130. Hereafter, the surrounding traffic rules R will be calculated by combining the traffic rules for the vehicle's position P and its surroundings with the position-independent rules. db Let's assume that.

[0031] The accident liability determination unit 150 is the part that determines the responsibility of vehicle 1 for an accident that occurs in relation to vehicle 1. The accident liability determination unit 150 comprises a potential accident liability value determination unit 151, a potential accident storage unit 152, and an external I / F unit 153.

[0032] The potential accident liability value determination unit 151 is an example of a potential accident liability information determination unit, and the potential accident liability value AL is an example of potential accident liability information. val Determine the potential accident liability value AL. val This value indicates the degree of responsibility of vehicle 1 in the event of an accident between the target vehicle and vehicle 1. The potential accident responsibility value determination unit 151 determines the potential accident responsibility value AL val The relative behavior V of the target vehicle determined by the target vehicle behavior determination unit 141 stateThis is determined based on the accident liability rules acquired by the rule acquisition unit 142.

[0033] Relative behavior of the target vehicle V state This allows us to determine the change in the position of the target vehicle relative to our own vehicle 1. Therefore, the relative behavior V of the target vehicle can be determined. state By comparing the traffic rules included in the accident liability rules, it is possible to determine whether the vehicle in question is driving in accordance with traffic rules. If the vehicle in question is driving in accordance with traffic rules, then in the event of an accident between the vehicle in question and vehicle 1, the vehicle in question will be responsible for a large portion of the accident.

[0034] Furthermore, the relative behavior V of the target vehicle state This allows us to determine if the target vehicle suddenly decelerated, suddenly accelerated, or swerved towards vehicle 1. If an accident occurs between the target vehicle and vehicle 1 while the target vehicle is exhibiting behaviors such as sudden acceleration, sudden deceleration, or swerving, the target vehicle may be held largely responsible for the accident.

[0035] Thus, the relative behavior V of the target vehicle state Based on the accident liability rules, the degree of responsibility of the target vehicle in the event of an accident between it and your vehicle 1 can be determined. If the degree of responsibility of the target vehicle is expressed as a numerical value such as α%, then the degree of responsibility of your vehicle 1 in the event of an accident between it and the target vehicle can also be expressed as a numerical value such as 100-α(%). This numerical value is the potential accident liability value AL. val That is the case.

[0036] Furthermore, the relative behavior V of the target vehicle state This reflects the behavior of vehicle 1. Therefore, without using the behavior of vehicle 1, the potential accident liability value AL is calculated. val It is possible to determine this. However, the relative behavior V of the target vehicle state Alternatively, the behavior of your own vehicle 1 may also be used to determine the potential accident liability value.

[0037] Potential accident liability value AL valThere are no particular restrictions on the specific method for determining the relative behavior V of the target vehicle. state Based on the accident liability rules, the potential accident liability value AL val Using a map that determines the potential accident liability value AL val This can be determined. In addition, several functions are prepared that are determined from the accident liability rules, and the rule acquisition unit 142 acquires the accident liability rules and determines the potential accident liability value AL this time. val A function is selected to determine the relative behavior V of the target vehicle, which was determined by the target vehicle behavior determination unit 141. state Therefore, the potential accident liability value AL val The above map and function represent the potential accident liability value AL. val This is a predetermined relationship that determines the potential accident liability value AL. The potential accident liability value determination unit 151 determines the potential accident liability value AL val This is stored in the latent accident memory unit 152.

[0038] The latent accident memory unit 152 is equipped with a writable non-volatile storage medium. The latent accident memory unit 152 contains the latent accident responsibility value AL val Along with that, its potential accident liability value AL val The sensor values ​​S used to determine these potential accident responsibility values ​​AL are stored. val And the set of sensor values ​​S is used for potential accident information AL info This is the case. Furthermore, the sensor value S is the potential accident liability value AL. val The information used to determine responsibility is the responsibility value determination information R. info This is one example. Also, the potential accident liability value AL val This is an example of potential accident liability information, so liability value determination information R info This is an example of information used to determine potential accident liability, i.e., liability determination information.

[0039] The sensor value S is, in more detail, the potential accident liability value AL. val The relative behavior V of the target vehicle used to determine this stateThis is the value used to determine the potential accident liability value. The potential accident liability value determination unit 151 can obtain the sensor value S from the target vehicle behavior determination unit 141 and then store the obtained sensor value S in the potential accident storage unit 152. Alternatively, the potential accident liability value determination unit 151 may instruct the target vehicle behavior determination unit 141 to store the sensor value S in the potential accident storage unit 152.

[0040] The external I / F unit 153 can be connected to an external device located outside the potential accident liability value determination device 100. The external I / F unit 153 has a signal transmission and reception function. The potential accident information AL stored in the potential accident memory unit 152 is transmitted to the external device connected to the external I / F unit 153. info However, it is output via the external I / F unit 153.

[0041] [Potential accident information AL info [Processing until it is memorized] Next, the potential accident liability determination device 100 processes the potential accident information AL info The process up to storing the information in the potential accident memory unit 152 will now be explained. The potential accident responsibility value determination device 100 periodically executes the process shown in Figure 2 while the vehicle 1 is in motion. Executing the process shown in Figure 2 corresponds to executing the driving memory method. The execution period can be 100ms or less. However, it does not necessarily have to be 100ms or less, and may be longer than 100ms.

[0042] Step (steps omitted below): In step S1, the target vehicle behavior determination unit 141 acquires sensor values ​​S from the sensor unit 110. S2 and S3 are also executed by the target vehicle behavior determination unit 141. In S2, one target vehicle is selected from the surroundings of the local vehicle 1. The target vehicle selected here can be a different vehicle from the surrounding vehicle selected in the previous process shown in Figure 2. However, if a certain surrounding vehicle requires particular attention compared to other surrounding vehicles, the frequency of selecting that particular surrounding vehicle as a target vehicle may be higher than that of other surrounding vehicles. In S3, the relative behavior V of the target vehicle is determined using the sensor values ​​S. state To decide.

[0043] S4 and S5 are executed by the rule acquisition unit 142. In S4, based on the vehicle position P included in the sensor value S acquired in S1, the surrounding traffic rule R is executed. db The rules are obtained from the rule DB storage unit 130. In S5, the vehicle's position P and the surrounding traffic rules R obtained in S4 are used. db Based on this, the traffic rules at the vehicle's position P are determined. Combining the traffic rules at the vehicle's position P with the position-independent rules, the accident liability rules to be used in the next S6 are determined.

[0044] S6 and S7 are executed by the potential accident liability value determination unit 151. In S6, the relative behavior V of the target vehicle determined in S3 is performed. state Based on the accident liability rules decided in S5, the potential accident liability value AL val The calculation is performed. In S7, the potential accident liability value AL calculated in S6 is used. val Then, the sensor value S obtained in S1 is set, and the potential accident information AL info This information is stored in the latent accident memory unit 152. (Latent accident information AL) info This can include the vehicle's current position P and the current time.

[0045] [Potential accident information AL info [Retrieval process] Figure 3 shows the potential accident information AL. info This shows the process of retrieving the data from the potential accident liability value determination device 100. The process shown in Figure 3 is executed by an external device that has the functionality to connect to the external I / F unit 153. The external device is, for example, a portable information retrieval device. This information retrieval device is carried by, for example, a police officer or an insurance company employee.

[0046] In the case where an external device performs the process shown in Figure 3, an accident involving the vehicle 1 occurs, and the potential accident responsibility value AL is determined by the potential accident responsibility value determination device 100 installed in the vehicle 1. val In some cases, the following may be submitted. The external device receives the potential accident liability value AL submitted from the potential accident liability value determination device 100. valTo verify this, the process shown in Figure 3 is executed. With the I / F unit of the external device connected to the external I / F unit 153, the process shown in Figure 3 is started when the operator of the external device performs a predetermined acquisition start operation. The external device is equipped with a computing device such as a computer that can execute the process shown in Figure 3.

[0047] In S11, the external device sends an acquisition request to the external I / F unit 153. This acquisition request is for potential accident information AL. info This is a signal requesting the acquisition of the requested potential accident information AL. info AL for potential accident information regarding accidents info Accident identification information can be included to limit the scope of the accident. Accident identification information can be the location and time the accident occurred. When the external I / F unit 153 receives this request, it retrieves potential accident information AL from the potential accident storage unit 152. info Read the data and send it to an external device.

[0048] In S12, the potential accident information AL at the time of the accident was transmitted from the external I / F unit 153. info Obtain the potential accident information AL obtained in S12. info This is the potential accident liability value AL val The information is provided to a potential accident liability value determination device, separate from the potential accident liability value determination device 100 of the first embodiment, which can determine the potential accident liability value. Of course, the external device itself may be the potential accident liability value determination device. Potential accident information AL info The potential accident liability determination device provided with the potential accident information AL info Using the potential accident liability value AL val Decision made. Also, potential accident information AL info The provided potential accident liability value determination device is the potential accident liability value AL val The process for determining this will be explained in detail in the second embodiment.

[0049] [Summary of the First Embodiment] In this first embodiment, the potential accident responsibility value determination device 100 stores the potential accident responsibility value AL in the potential accident memory unit 152. valThe sensor value S is stored in association with this value. By reading this sensor value S from the latent accident memory unit 152, the latent accident responsibility value AL is subsequently calculated. val This can be determined. The potential accident liability value AL determined retrospectively. val The potential accident liability value AL is stored in association with the sensor value S. val By comparing it with the stored potential accident liability value ALval, the reliability of the stored potential accident liability value can be verified later. Therefore, the potential accident liability value AL val It is possible to check whether it has been tampered with.

[0050] Furthermore, differences in the version or manufacturer of the potential accident liability value determination device 100 can result in different potential accident liability values ​​AL even with the same sensor value S. val This may also be determined. However, the potential accident liability value determination device 100 of the first embodiment uses potential accident information AL info It is possible to read the potential accident information AL info This includes the sensor value S. Therefore, in the event of an accident, the sensor value S is read from each of the multiple vehicles involved in the accident, and the potential accident responsibility value AL of the multiple vehicles involved in the accident is determined using the same potential accident responsibility value determination method. val It is possible to make a decision.

[0051] Furthermore, the sensor value S is set to the potential accident liability value AL. val By storing them together, the abnormal sensor value S is identified as the cause of the potential accident liability value AL. val You can also check if the value is abnormal.

[0052] <Second Embodiment> Next, a second embodiment will be described. In this second embodiment and subsequent descriptions, elements having the same reference numerals as those used up to that point are identical to the elements with the same reference numerals in the previous embodiments, unless otherwise specified. Also, when only a part of the configuration is described, the previously described embodiments can be applied to the other parts of the configuration.

[0053] Figure 4 shows the configuration of the potential accident liability value determination device 200 of the second embodiment. The potential accident liability value determination device 200 is an example of a potential accident liability value determination device. The potential accident liability value determination device 200 determines the potential accident liability value AL determined by the potential accident liability value determination device 100 installed in the vehicle 1 described in the first embodiment. val This device verifies the reliability of the potential accident liability value AL, similar to the potential accident liability value determination device 100. val The potential accident liability value determination device 200 is not mounted on the vehicle 1, so in the second embodiment, the vehicle 1 is designated as the liability value determination vehicle. The liability value determination vehicle corresponds to the liability determination vehicle. The potential accident liability value determination device 200 is installed outside the liability value determination vehicle. The potential accident liability value determination device 200 in the second embodiment does not need to be mounted on a vehicle. For example, the potential accident liability value determination device 200 can be a fixed type installed at a police station or insurance company.

[0054] The potential accident liability value determination device 200 does not include a sensor unit 110. The sensor integration unit 240 includes a target vehicle behavior determination unit 241 and a rule acquisition unit 242. The processing performed by these target vehicle behavior determination unit 241 and rule acquisition unit 242 is the same as that performed by the target vehicle behavior determination unit 141 and rule acquisition unit 142 in the first embodiment.

[0055] The difference between the target vehicle behavior determination unit 241 and the target vehicle behavior determination unit 141 is that the target vehicle behavior determination unit 141 uses sensor values ​​S, while the target vehicle behavior determination unit 241 uses sensor values ​​S from other vehicles. (OC) The difference is that it uses [a specific method]. Also, the difference between the rule acquisition unit 242 and the rule acquisition unit 142 is that the rule acquisition unit 142 uses sensor values ​​S, while the rule acquisition unit 242 uses other vehicle sensor values ​​S. (OC) The point is to use [this method].

[0056] The accident liability determination unit 250 includes a potential accident liability value determination unit 251, a potential accident memory unit 252, an external I / F unit 253, and a potential accident verification unit 254. Of these, the potential accident memory unit 252 is the same as the potential accident memory unit 152 in the first embodiment.

[0057] The external I / F unit 253 has the same functions as the external I / F unit 153 in the first embodiment. The external I / F unit 253 receives potential accident information AL of other vehicles info(OC) Thereof. The potential accident information AL of other vehicles info(OC) is potential accident information AL determined by a device other than the potential accident liability value determination device 200, such as the potential accident liability value determination device 100 in the first embodiment info That is, the external I / F unit 253 acquires the potential accident information AL of other vehicles info(oc) .

[0058] The potential accident information AL of other vehicles in the second embodiment info(oc) has the same information content as the potential accident information AL described in the first embodiment info Therefore, the potential accident information AL of other vehicles info(oc) includes the sensor value S. The sensor value S included in the potential accident information AL of other vehicles info(oc) is an example of the liability value determination information R, as described in the first embodiment. The liability value determination information R info is an example of the liability determination information. Therefore, the external I / F unit 253 that acquires the sensor value S is the liability determination information acquisition unit. Also, the sensor value S and the potential accident liability value AL info included in the potential accident information AL of other vehicles are respectively set as the other vehicle sensor value S info(oc) and the potential accident liability value AL of other vehicles val . The external I / F unit 253 inputs the other vehicle sensor value S (OC) included in the input potential accident information AL of other vehicles into the sensor integration unit 240. val(OC) info(oc) (OC)

[0059] The target vehicle behavior determination unit 241 of the sensor integration unit 240 determines the relative behavior V (OC) of the target vehicle from the input other vehicle sensor value S state in the same manner as the target vehicle behavior determination unit 141 in the first embodiment. The rule acquisition unit 242 of the sensor integration unit 240 inputs the input other vehicle sensor value S (OC) ​​​The vehicle's position P is included in this. Based on the vehicle's position P, the accident liability rule for the vehicle's position P is obtained from the rule DB storage unit 130, similar to the rule acquisition unit 142 in the first embodiment.

[0060] The processing performed by the potential accident liability value determination unit 251 is the same as that performed by the potential accident liability value determination unit 151. The potential accident liability value determination unit 251 is an example of a potential accident liability information determination unit. The potential accident liability value determination unit 251 uses the accident liability rules obtained from the rule acquisition unit 242 and the relative behavior V of the target vehicle obtained from the target vehicle behavior determination unit 241. state Therefore, the potential accident liability value AL of the vehicle responsible for determining the liability value for the target vehicle. val Determine the determined potential accident liability value AL. val This is input to the potential accident verification unit 254.

[0061] The potential accident verification unit 254 contains the potential accident responsibility value AL determined by the potential accident responsibility value determination unit 251. val In addition, the external I / F unit 253 acquires information on potential accidents involving other vehicles AL info(oc) The potential accident liability value of other vehicles included in AL val(OC) The following is input. The potential accident verification unit 254 then processes these potential accident responsibility values ​​AL. val and other vehicles' potential accident liability value AL val(OC) By comparing, the potential accident liability value of other vehicles (AL) val(OC) The reliability of the information is verified. The potential accident verification unit 254 verifies the results of the verification (hereinafter referred to as Verification Result C). ret The output is sent to an external device via the external I / F unit 253.

[0062] Figure 5 shows the process performed by the potential accident liability determination device 200. Performing the process shown in Figure 5 is equivalent to performing the potential accident liability determination method. The potential accident liability determination device 200 uses other vehicle potential accident information AL info(oc) If the input is positive, the process shown in Figure 5 will be executed.

[0063] In the S20, the external I / F unit 253 contains information on potential accidents involving other vehicles (AL). info(oc)The following is input. For ease of understanding, this process is shown as S20 in Figure 5, but S20 can also be considered as the condition for starting the process in Figure 5.

[0064] Steps S21 to S23 are executed by the target vehicle behavior determination unit 241. In S21, the other vehicle sensor value S (OC) The value is obtained from the external I / F unit 253. In S22, one target vehicle is selected from around the vehicle responsible for determining the value, similar to S2. In S23, the sensor value of another vehicle S is obtained, similar to S3. (OC) Using the relative behavior V of the target vehicle state To decide.

[0065] S24 and S25 are executed by the rule acquisition unit 242. In S24, the other vehicle sensor value S acquired in S21 is executed. (OC) The vehicle's own position P, which is included in the calculation, is defined as the position of the vehicle responsible for determining the value, and based on that position, the surrounding traffic rules R are applied. db The following is obtained from the rule DB storage unit 130. In S25, the position of the vehicle responsible for determining the responsibility value and the surrounding traffic rule R obtained in S24 are obtained. db Based on this, the traffic rules at the location of the vehicle determining responsibility are determined. Combining the traffic rules at the location of the vehicle determining responsibility with the location-independent rules, the accident responsibility rules to be used in the next S26 are determined.

[0066] S26 and S27 are executed by the potential accident liability value determination unit 251. In S26, the relative behavior V of the target vehicle determined in S23 is performed. state Based on the accident liability rules decided in S25, the potential accident liability value AL val The calculation is performed. In S27, the potential accident liability value AL calculated in S26 is used. val This is sent to the potential accident verification unit 254.

[0067] S28-S30 are executed by the potential accident verification unit 254. In S28, the potential accident liability value AL of another vehicle is received from the external I / F unit 253. val(OC) Obtained, and other vehicle potential accident liability value AL val(OC) And the potential accident liability value AL transmitted in S27 val The absolute value of the difference between this and the threshold C thDetermine whether it is smaller than the threshold C. th This is a value that is set in advance.

[0068] The absolute value of the above difference is the threshold C. th If it is smaller than this, the result of the judgment in S28 becomes YES and proceed to S29. In S29, the verification result is "No difference" C. ret This is output to the external I / F unit 253. The absolute value of the above difference is the threshold C. th If the above conditions are met, the judgment result in S28 will be NO and the process will proceed to S30. In S30, the verification result will be "Discrepancy found" C. ret The output is sent to the external I / F unit 253. The external I / F unit 253 then outputs this verification result to an external device connected to the external I / F unit 253.

[0069] [Summary of the second embodiment] This potential accident liability determination device 200 uses the other vehicle sensor value S (OC) Obtain (S21), and other vehicle sensor values ​​S (OC) Based on the potential accident liability value AL val The determination is made (S26). Then, the determined potential accident liability value AL val The potential accident liability value AL of other vehicles is determined by a potential accident liability value determination device 100, which is a separate device from this potential accident liability value determination device 200. val(OC) This is compared with the other vehicle's potential accident liability value AL determined by the potential accident liability value determination device 100. val(OC) The reliability can be verified later.

[0070] <Third Embodiment> Figure 6 shows the configuration of the potential accident liability value determination device 300 of the third embodiment. The potential accident liability value determination device 300 includes the same sensor unit 110, map storage unit 120, rule DB storage unit 130, and sensor integration unit 140 as the potential accident liability value determination device 100 of the first embodiment. The potential accident liability value determination device 300 includes an accident liability judgment unit 350. The accident liability judgment unit 350 includes the same potential accident liability value determination unit 151 and external I / F unit 153 as the potential accident liability value determination device 100. The accident liability judgment unit 350 also includes a potential accident storage unit 352. Furthermore, the potential accident liability value determination device 300 includes a wireless communication unit 360.

[0071] The latent accident memory unit 352 is equipped with a writable storage medium. The latent accident memory unit 352 contains the latent accident responsibility value AL val Along with that, its potential accident liability value AL val The relative behavior V of the target vehicle used to determine this state The accident liability rules are then stored. In the third embodiment, these potential accident liability values ​​AL val , relative behavior V of the target vehicle state , a set of accident liability rules for potential accident information AL info This will be the case. Furthermore, the relative behavior V of the target vehicle will be considered. state And the accident liability rules are based on the potential accident liability value AL. val The information used to determine responsibility is the responsibility value determination information R. info This is one example.

[0072] The wireless communication unit 360 comprises a wireless communication circuit and a control unit that controls the wireless communication circuit. The wireless communication unit 360 is connected to the external I / F unit 153 and the latent fault memory unit 352. In Figure 6, the wireless communication unit 360 and the latent fault memory unit 352 are directly connected, but they may also be connected via the external I / F unit 153.

[0073] The wireless communication unit 360 communicates wirelessly with the outside of the vehicle 1. The control unit of the wireless communication unit 360 also has the function of reading information from the latent accident memory unit 352. The wireless communication unit 360 reads the latent accident information AL stored in the latent accident memory unit 352.info The information is transmitted wirelessly to the outside in sequence. In addition, the wireless communication unit 360 receives information about other vehicles' potential accidents AL transmitted from outside the vehicle 1. info(oc) If you receive this information, other potential vehicle accident information AL info(oc) This is stored in the latent accident memory unit 352. Other vehicle latent accident information AL info(oc) The latent accident memory unit 352, which stores this information, corresponds to the external information storage unit.

[0074] [Potential accident information AL info [Processing until sending] Next, the potential accident liability determination device 300 receives the potential accident information AL info The process up to the transmission to the outside will be explained. The potential accident liability value determination device 300 periodically executes the process shown in Figure 7 while the vehicle 1 is in motion. The execution period can be the same as the period of the process shown in Figure 2 of the first embodiment.

[0075] In Figure 7, S1 to S6 are the same as S1 to S6 in Figure 2. In Figure 7, after executing S6, S37 is executed. In S37, the potential accident responsibility value AL calculated in S6 is calculated. val And the relative behavior V of the target vehicle determined in S3 state This, along with the accident liability rules decided in S5, is used to create a potential accident information AL. info This information is stored in the latent accident memory unit 352. info This can include the vehicle's position P and the current time. It can also include information that identifies the vehicle 1 (for example, vehicle ID). Potential accident liability value AL val , relative behavior V of the target vehicle state The accident liability rules are stored in the potential accident memory unit 352 by the potential accident liability value determination unit 151, the target vehicle behavior determination unit 141, and the rule acquisition unit 142, respectively, which determined them.

[0076] S38 is executed by the wireless communication unit 360. In S38, the latent accident information AL stored in the latent accident memory unit 352 in S37 is executed. info The wireless communication unit 360 transmits this information externally. Potential accident information AL infoThere are no particular restrictions on the recipient. Recipients may include, for example, the responsibility value server Sr (see Figure 6), roadside communication devices, and surrounding vehicles present around the vehicle itself. It is possible to send to one or more of these. Furthermore, potential accident information AL can be sent using a broadcast method that does not specify the recipient. info You may send it.

[0077] [Other vehicle potential accident information AL info(oc) [Processing when received] Figure 8 shows that the wireless communication unit 360 receives information about potential accidents involving other vehicles from other vehicles. info(oc) This is a flowchart showing the processing when a potential accident liability value determination device 300 is received. If another vehicle is equipped with a potential accident liability value determination device 300, the potential accident liability value determination device 300 equipped with the other vehicle will execute Figure 7 to process the potential accident information AL info Send them sequentially.

[0078] If your vehicle 1 is located near another vehicle, the potential accident liability determination device 300 installed in your vehicle 1 will receive potential accident information AL from the other vehicle. info The vehicle 1 receives the potential accident information AL. info To distinguish it from other vehicles, the potential accident information AL transmitted by the potential accident liability determination device 300 installed in another vehicle info Other vehicle potential accident information AL info(oc) Let's assume that.

[0079] In Figure 8, at S41, the other vehicle's potential accident information AL is transmitted from another vehicle. info(oc) The wireless communication unit 360 receives this. In S42, the wireless communication unit 360 receives the received information about other vehicles' potential accidents AL info(oc) This is stored in the latent accident memory unit 352.

[0080] [Summary of the third embodiment] The potential accident liability value determination device 300 of the third embodiment, like the potential accident liability value determination device 100 of the first embodiment, also uses potential accident information AL info It stores the information. However, in the third embodiment, the potential accident information AL info This is the responsibility value determination information R infoHowever, it is not the sensor value S, but the relative behavior V of the target vehicle. state This is the accident liability rule. The amount of data from the sensor value S is the relative behavior V of the vehicle in question. state This tends to be more than the amount of data required for accident liability rules. In particular, when sensor values ​​S are image data, or when relative behavior obtained from multiple types of sensor values ​​S is fused to determine the final relative behavior V of the target vehicle. state When determining this, the amount of data from the sensor value S is the relative behavior V of the target vehicle. state This is a larger amount of data compared to the accident liability rules.

[0081] In other words, as in the third embodiment, potential accident information AL info Responsibility value determination information R included info The relative behavior V of the target vehicle state By establishing accident liability rules, potential accident information AL info The amount of data can be reduced. In the third embodiment, the potential accident information AL info Taking advantage of the small amount of data, potential accident information AL info This is transmitted wirelessly from the wireless communication unit 360. Potential accident information AL info Because the amount of data is small, the potential accident information AL will be updated sequentially. info Even if the wireless communication unit 360 transmits the signal, the degree to which other communications are restricted will be reduced.

[0082] And, potential accident information AL info By wirelessly transmitting the information to the outside in sequence, the potential accident information AL info Any other vehicle that directly or indirectly acquires this information will be subject to the potential accident liability value AL of its own vehicle 1. val This can be obtained in a state where its reliability can be verified.

[0083] Potential accident liability value AL val This can also be said to indicate whether the vehicle's behavior is prone to accidents. Therefore, potential accident information AL info Other vehicles that have acquired this information can then drive their own vehicle 1 after acquiring, in a manner that allows for reliability verification, whether or not their own vehicle 1 exhibits vehicle behavior that is prone to accidents.

[0084] Additionally, potential accident information AL transmitted by other vehicles while in motion info(OC) By sequentially storing this information in the latent accident memory unit 352, the latent accident information AL is firmly stored. info(OC) This prevents tampering.

[0085] Furthermore, potential accident information AL transmitted while the vehicle was in motion info(OC) The function of storing this information can also be assigned to only a predetermined device, such as a responsibility value server Sr. Some or all of the multiple potential accident responsibility value determination devices 300 installed in multiple vehicles will store the potential accident information AL transmitted by other vehicles while they are in motion. info This is used to determine whether other vehicles are exhibiting vehicle behavior that is prone to accidents. In other words, some or all of the multiple potential accident liability determination devices 300 installed in multiple vehicles use the potential accident information AL transmitted by other vehicles while they are in motion. info , potential accident information AL info It does not need to be used to prevent tampering. In this case, the potential accident memory unit 352 provided in the potential accident liability value determination device 300 can also be a volatile memory medium.

[0086] <Fourth Embodiment> Figure 9 shows the configuration of the potential accident liability determination device 400 of the fourth embodiment. The potential accident liability determination device 400 is configured to include an accident liability determination unit 450 and a wireless communication unit 360. Similar to the potential accident liability determination device 200, the potential accident liability determination device 400 receives information on other vehicles' potential accidents from an external source. info(oc) By obtaining information on other vehicles' potential accidents, info(oc) The potential accident liability value AL included val This will be verified. The potential accident liability determination device 400 is also an example of a potential accident liability determination device. Like the potential accident liability determination device 200, the potential accident liability determination device 400 does not need to be installed in a vehicle. For example, the potential accident liability determination device 400 can be a fixed type installed at a police station or insurance company.

[0087] However, the potential accident liability determination device 400 receives other vehicle potential accident information AL info(oc)This is as described in the third embodiment. Therefore, the other vehicle potential accident information AL received by the potential accident liability value determination device 400 info(oc) The relative behavior of the target vehicle V state This includes accident liability rules. Therefore, the potential accident liability value determination device 400 does not include the target vehicle behavior determination unit 241 and the rule acquisition unit 242, which are the parts that determine these.

[0088] The accident liability determination unit 450 includes a potential accident liability value determination unit 451, an external I / F unit 453, and a potential accident verification unit 454. The potential accident liability value determination unit 451 is the same as the potential accident liability value determination unit 251 in the second embodiment and is an example of a potential accident liability information determination unit. The potential accident verification unit 454 is the same as the potential accident verification unit 254 in the second embodiment.

[0089] External I / F unit 453 is connected to wireless communication unit 360, and the wireless communication unit 360 receives other vehicle potential accident information AL info(oc) Obtain information on other vehicles' potential accidents. info(oc) Responsibility value determination information R info Since it includes this, the external I / F unit 453 is a responsibility determination information acquisition unit.

[0090] Other vehicle potential accident information AL info(oc) The relative behavior V of the target vehicle included state The accident liability rules are output to the potential accident liability value determination unit 451. The external I / F unit 453 also outputs other vehicle potential accident information AL. info(oc) The potential accident liability value of other vehicles included in AL val(OC) This is output to the potential accident verification unit 454.

[0091] The potential accident liability value determination unit 451 determines the relative behavior V of those target vehicles. state And according to the accident liability rules, the potential accident liability value AL val The potential accident verification unit 454 determines the potential accident liability value AL. val and other vehicles potential accident information AL info(oc) Compare them. And, information on other vehicles' potential accidents AL info(oc) Verification result C, which verifies whether it is reliable. retThe result C is output to the wireless communication unit 360 via the external I / F unit 453. The wireless communication unit 360 receives the verification result C. ret It transmits wirelessly to an external source.

[0092] Figure 10 shows the process performed by the potential accident liability determination device 400. The potential accident liability determination device 400 processes the other vehicle potential accident information AL info(oc) When the wireless communication unit 360 receives this signal, it executes the process shown in Figure 10.

[0093] In the S50, the wireless communication unit 360 receives information about potential accidents involving other vehicles AL. info(oc) This is input to the external I / F unit 453. S51 to S53 are executed by the potential accident liability value determination unit 451. In S51, the potential accident information of other vehicles AL is received from the external I / F unit 453. info(oc) The relative behavior V of the target vehicle included state(OC) And accident liability rules are obtained. In S52, the relative behavior V of the target vehicle obtained in S51 is obtained. state(OC) And based on the accident liability rules, the potential accident liability value AL val The calculation is performed. In S53, the potential accident liability value AL calculated in S52 is used. val This is sent to the potential accident verification unit 454.

[0094] Steps S54-S56 are performed by the potential accident verification unit 454. In step S54, the potential accident liability value AL of another vehicle is received from the external I / F unit 453. val(OC) Obtained, and other vehicle potential accident liability value AL val(OC) And the potential accident liability value AL transmitted in S53 val The absolute value of the difference between this and the threshold C th Determine whether it is smaller than or equal to

[0095] The absolute value of the above difference is the threshold C. th If it is smaller than this, the result of S54 is YES and proceed to S55. In S55, the verification result is "No difference" C. ret This is output to the external I / F unit 453. The absolute value of the above difference is the threshold C. th If the above conditions are met, the judgment result in S54 will be NO and proceed to S56. In S56, the verification result will be "Discrepancy found" C. retThe output is sent to the external I / F unit 453. The external I / F unit 453 transmits this verification result to the wireless communication unit 360. The wireless communication unit 360 wirelessly transmits the verification result to an external source.

[0096] [Summary of the fourth embodiment] The potential accident liability determination device 400 of the fourth embodiment uses other vehicle potential accident information AL info(oc) The relative behavior V of the target vehicle included state(OC) And the accident liability rules were obtained (S51), and the relative behavior V of those vehicles state Based on the accident liability rules, the potential accident liability value AL val The determination is made (S52). Then, the determined potential accident liability value AL val Other vehicle potential accident information AL info(oc) The potential accident liability value of other vehicles included in AL val(OC) This is compared with the other vehicle's potential accident liability value AL determined by the other vehicle. val(OC) This allows us to verify its reliability.

[0097] Furthermore, the potential accident liability determination device 400 receives information on potential accidents involving other vehicles AL. info(oc) This includes responsibility value determination information R info The relative behavior V of the target vehicle state This includes accident liability rules. This is information on other vehicles' potential accidents. info(oc) This allows for a reduction in the amount of data compared to the information on potential accidents involving other vehicles in the second embodiment. Therefore, the relative behavior V of the target vehicle can be reduced. state This includes accident liability rules and information on potential accidents involving other vehicles (AL). info(oc) It is easy to send messages sequentially while driving.

[0098] The potential accident liability determination device 400 receives sequential transmission of other vehicle potential accident information AL info(oc) Upon receiving the information, the system will sequentially display information on potential accidents involving other vehicles. info(oc) The potential accident liability value of other vehicles included in AL val(OC) The reliability of the potential accident liability value AL will be verified early. val This will allow us to verify the reliability of other vehicles, thus determining the potential accident liability value AL. val(OC)This allows for early determination of whether the device that made the decision is malfunctioning.

[0099] <Fifth Embodiment> Figure 11 shows the potential accident liability value determination device 500 of the fifth embodiment. The potential accident liability value determination device 500 of the fifth embodiment includes the same sensor unit 110, map storage unit 120, and rule DB storage unit 130 as the first embodiment.

[0100] Furthermore, the potential accident liability value determination device 500 includes a sensor integration unit 540, an accident liability judgment unit 550, a wireless communication unit 560, and a peripheral information acquisition unit 570. For the sake of explanation, different symbols are used, but the sensor integration unit 540 and the accident liability judgment unit 550 are the same as the sensor integration unit 140 in the first embodiment and the accident liability judgment unit 350 in the third embodiment. Also, the wireless communication unit 560 is the same as the wireless communication unit 360 in the third embodiment.

[0101] The system includes a sensor integration unit 540, a target vehicle behavior determination unit 541, and a rule acquisition unit 542. The target vehicle behavior determination unit 541 and the rule acquisition unit 542 are the same as the target vehicle behavior determination unit 141 and the rule acquisition unit 142 of the first embodiment, respectively, and the target vehicle behavior determination unit 541 is a responsibility determination information acquisition unit. The accident responsibility judgment unit 550 includes a potential accident responsibility value determination unit 551, a potential accident storage unit 552, and an external I / F unit 553. The potential accident responsibility value determination unit 551, the potential accident storage unit 552, and the external I / F unit 553 are the same as the potential accident responsibility value determination unit 151, the potential accident storage unit 352, and the external I / F unit 153 of the accident responsibility judgment unit 350 of the third embodiment, respectively. The potential accident responsibility value determination unit 551 is an example of a potential accident responsibility information determination unit, similar to the potential accident responsibility value determination unit 151.

[0102] The surrounding information acquisition unit 570 can be implemented by a computer. The surrounding information acquisition unit 570 acquires surrounding responsibility determination information RS, which is surrounding responsibility determination information, from related surrounding vehicles among the surrounding vehicles present around the vehicle 1. info The peripheral responsibility value determination information RS is obtained and info This is stored in the latent accident memory unit 552. Peripheral responsibility value determination information RSinfo The timing for acquiring this information can be when vehicle 1 is involved in an accident. Furthermore, regardless of whether vehicle 1 is involved in an accident, the peripheral responsibility value determination information RS is acquired periodically. info You may obtain it.

[0103] Related surrounding vehicles are surrounding vehicles other than the target vehicle. In the example shown in Figure 12, when vehicle A is the target vehicle, vehicles B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I are related surrounding vehicles.

[0104] Peripheral responsibility value determination information RS info This is the responsibility value determination information R for vehicle 1, which has already been explained. info This information identifies the relevant surrounding vehicles as the primary subjects. In other words, it is peripheral responsibility value determination information RS. info This information is used to determine the surrounding potential accident liability value, which indicates the degree of responsibility of the related surrounding vehicle in the event of an accident between the related surrounding vehicle and vehicles surrounding that vehicle. Note that the surrounding potential accident liability value is an example of surrounding potential accident liability information. Vehicles surrounding the related surrounding vehicle may include the vehicle itself.

[0105] Peripheral responsibility value determination information RS info Specifically, this refers to the potential accident liability value AL for the vehicle in question from the perspective of related surrounding vehicles. val Responsibility value determination information R for determining the answer info It can also include peripheral responsibility value determination information RS. info This includes the potential accident liability value AL for the vehicle in question from the perspective of related surrounding vehicles. val Peripheral responsibility value determination information RS info It can be included in the peripheral responsibility value determination information RS. info As such, the responsibility value determination information R info and potential accident liability value AL val It is also possible to choose only one of them.

[0106] Figure 13 shows an example of the processing performed by the surrounding information acquisition unit 570. The processing shown in Figure 13 is initiated on the condition that the vehicle 1 has been involved in an accident. Whether or not the vehicle 1 has been involved in an accident can be detected by the acceleration occurring in the vehicle 1 exceeding a predetermined threshold.

[0107] In S61, a timestamp of the accident is obtained. The timestamp of the accident indicates the time when the vehicle 1 was involved in the accident. The occurrence of an accident can be determined, for example, by the target vehicle behavior determination unit 541, which acquires sensor values ​​S. Alternatively, a device other than the potential accident liability value determination device 500 may detect that an accident has occurred, and the surrounding information acquisition unit 570 may obtain the timestamp of the accident from that other device.

[0108] In S62, peripheral responsibility value determination information RS is provided to related surrounding vehicles. info The wireless communication unit 560 transmits a request to acquire the information. When S62 is executed, the related surrounding vehicles are located around the vehicle 1. Therefore, the surrounding responsibility value determination information RS is transmitted to the vehicle 1 via short-range wireless communication. info By sending an acquisition request, the acquisition request can be transmitted to related surrounding vehicles. In this case, the communication method can be a broadcast method. However, the communication method is not limited to a broadcast method; the acquisition request may also be transmitted using a unicast method or a multicast method. When transmitting an acquisition request using a unicast method or a multicast method, the acquisition request may also be transmitted via wide-area communication.

[0109] This acquisition request includes peripheral responsibility value determination information RS for the time indicated by the timestamp acquired in S61 (i.e., the time the accident occurred). info The message includes a request for the acquisition of peripheral responsibility value determination information RS for the time included in the acquisition request. info This is transmitted to vehicle 1. Furthermore, considering the time error, peripheral responsibility value determination information RS for a certain period before and after the accident, including the time of the accident, is used. infoIt is also possible to send this to vehicle 1. In S63, the peripheral responsibility value determination information RS at the time of the accident is transmitted from the related surrounding vehicles. info This information is obtained via the wireless communication unit 360.

[0110] In S64, peripheral responsibility value determination information RS obtained in S63 is used. info , potential accident information AL info It is also stored in the latent accident memory unit 552.

[0111] Figure 14 shows the process when vehicle 1 and surrounding vehicles perform time synchronization. The process shown in Figure 14 is executed, for example, by the surrounding information acquisition unit 570. The process shown in Figure 14 is executed periodically at a predetermined time synchronization cycle.

[0112] In S71, a synchronization request is sent to the asynchronous vehicle. After the process shown in Figure 14 is executed and mutual time synchronization is completed, the vehicle is considered synchronized for a certain period of time. An asynchronous vehicle is a surrounding vehicle that has not yet been synchronized. If, before executing S71, it is possible to communicate with the surrounding vehicles and determine whether each surrounding vehicle is asynchronous or synchronized, then the asynchronous vehicle can be identified and a synchronization request sent. However, the vehicle that receives the synchronization request can also decide whether or not synchronization is necessary. Therefore, in S71, a synchronization request may be sent to the surrounding vehicles without specifying the recipient.

[0113] The synchronization request includes the time used by vehicle 1. This time is the time the synchronization request was generated. When an asynchronous vehicle receives a synchronization request, it corrects the time used by the surrounding vehicle that received the synchronization request based on the time included in the synchronization request. The corrected time may be the time included in the synchronization request, or it may be the time included in the synchronization request plus the processing time within vehicle 1, the propagation time of the synchronization request, and the processing time within the surrounding vehicle. If the processing time within vehicle 1 is considered, it is included in the synchronization request. The propagation time of the synchronization request is calculated by determining the distance from vehicle 1 to the surrounding vehicle based on the positions of vehicle 1 and the surrounding vehicle, and then calculating the propagation time based on that distance. The processing time within the surrounding vehicle is pre-set in the potential accident liability value determination device installed in the surrounding vehicle.

[0114] The surrounding vehicle, which was an asynchronous vehicle, performs time synchronization and then sends a synchronization reply to vehicle 1. The synchronization reply includes that time synchronization has been performed, the ID of the surrounding vehicle, and the time the synchronization reply was generated after time synchronization. In S72, the synchronization reply sent by the asynchronous vehicle is received. In S73, it is determined whether the time difference between the time the synchronization reply was generated included in the synchronization reply and the time of vehicle 1 when the synchronization reply was received is less than or equal to a threshold.

[0115] If the result of S73 is NO, it means that time synchronization has not been achieved with the surrounding vehicle that sent the synchronization reply. Therefore, if the result of S73 is NO, the process returns to S71. On the other hand, if the result of S73 is YES, the process proceeds to S74. In S74, synchronization is completed with the surrounding vehicle that sent the synchronization reply. If synchronization is completed, the surrounding vehicle that sent the synchronization reply is designated as a synchronized vehicle. Alternatively, a message can be sent to the surrounding vehicle that has been designated as a synchronized vehicle to indicate that it has been designated as a synchronized vehicle.

[0116] [Summary of the Fifth Embodiment] In the fifth embodiment of the potential accident liability determination device 500 described above, the surrounding information acquisition unit 570 acquires surrounding liability determination information RS of related surrounding vehicles. info Obtain the peripheral responsibility value determination information RS (S63).info , potential accident information AL info It is also stored in the latent accident memory unit 552.

[0117] This will enable potential accident information AL info Along with peripheral responsibility value determination information RS info This analysis allows us to determine whether, even if the behavior of the vehicle in question (vehicle 1, which is the vehicle responsible for determining the accident) was directly at fault, the circumstances were such that a large part of the accident's cause could be attributed to the behavior of the surrounding vehicles involved.

[0118] Let me explain in detail. For example, in the situation shown in Figure 12, suppose vehicle 1 moves to the left and collides with vehicle B. In this case, the potential accident liability value AL of vehicle 1 for vehicle B is val This will result in a high value. However, let's assume that at the time of the accident, vehicle H, traveling in the opposite lane, crossed the center line and entered the lane in which vehicle 1 was traveling. And let's assume that vehicle 1 was in a situation where it would collide with vehicle H if it continued to travel as it was. Therefore, vehicle 1 changed lanes to avoid colliding with vehicle H and ended up colliding with vehicle B. This situation is indicated in the potential accident information AL. info This alone is difficult to understand. However, peripheral responsibility value determination information RS info This can be easily revealed by analyzing it.

[0119] The above is just one example; other vehicles besides the one involved in the accident may also be responsible for the accident. Peripheral Responsibility Determination Information RS info This information is acquired via wireless communication. Therefore, peripheral responsibility value determination information RS info By analyzing this data, it becomes possible to analyze the behavior of surrounding vehicles that cannot be directly observed from the vehicle itself, and to determine the cause of the accident.

[0120] <Sixth Embodiment> The potential accident liability value determination device 600 of the sixth embodiment has the same hardware configuration as the potential accident liability value determination device 500 of the fifth embodiment, as shown in Figure 11. The potential accident liability value determination device 600, like the potential accident liability value determination device 300 of the third embodiment, performs the operation shown in Figure 7 to periodically determine the potential accident information AL of the vehicle. info The data is sent externally to surrounding vehicles and the responsibility value server Sr.

[0121] Furthermore, the potential accident liability determination device 600 also performs the process shown in Figure 15. The process shown in Figure 15 is performed by the wireless communication unit 560. In S81, it is detected that communication from the accident vehicle has been lost. Potential accident information AL of the vehicle (i.e., the surrounding vehicle) that was periodically transmitted from the surrounding vehicle. info If reception becomes impossible, the AL system will receive potential accident information for surrounding vehicles. info The vehicle that was transmitting the signal is considered the accident vehicle.

[0122] In S82, the last received information from the accident vehicle was the potential accident information AL of the accident vehicle. info This is stored in the latent accident memory unit 552. In S83, a message is sent to the responsibility value server Sr indicating that it has information about the accident vehicle. Specifically, the information about the accident vehicle is the latent accident information AL of the accident vehicle transmitted by the accident vehicle. info That is the case.

[0123] The responsibility value server Sr periodically performs the process shown in Figure 16. In S91, it detects that communication from the accident vehicle has been lost. In S92, it retrieves the latent accident information AL of the accident vehicle, which was last received from the accident vehicle. info This information is stored in a designated accident information storage unit. info This includes the location of the accident vehicle. In S93, the potential accident information AL stored in S92 is used. info The location of the accident vehicle included, and potential accident information of other vehicles that is being transmitted sequentially from other vehicles (AL) info From this, identify surrounding vehicles that were present around the accident vehicle. Potential accident information of other vehicles AL infoIt includes the positions of other vehicles. From the positions of these other vehicles and the position of the accident vehicle included in the potential accident information AL stored in S92, the surrounding vehicles existing around the accident vehicle can be identified. info From the position of the accident vehicle included in it, the surrounding vehicles existing around the accident vehicle can be identified.

[0124] In S94, the potential accident information AL of the accident vehicle is requested to be transmitted to the surrounding vehicles identified in S93. The potential accident information AL of the accident vehicle transmitted by the surrounding vehicles in response to this request is stored in the accident information storage unit. info In S94, the potential accident information AL of the accident vehicle is requested to be transmitted to the surrounding vehicles identified in S93. The potential accident information AL of the accident vehicle transmitted by the surrounding vehicles in response to this request is stored in the accident information storage unit. info is stored in the accident information storage unit.

[0125] The responsibility value server Sr that performs the above processing will have a responsibility determination information acquisition unit. Also, the responsibility value server Sr includes a potential accident responsibility value determination unit. The potential accident responsibility value determination unit of the responsibility value server Sr uses the acquired potential accident information AL of the accident vehicle to determine the potential accident responsibility value AL of the accident vehicle instead of the accident vehicle. info uses the acquired potential accident information AL of the accident vehicle to determine the potential accident responsibility value AL of the accident vehicle instead of the accident vehicle. val to determine.

[0126] [Summary of the Sixth Embodiment] In this sixth embodiment, when the communication from the accident vehicle is interrupted (S61), the responsibility value server Sr stores the potential accident information AL of the accident vehicle last received from the accident vehicle (S92). Also, from the surroundings of the accident vehicle, the potential accident information AL transmitted by the accident vehicle is acquired (S94). By doing so, even when the potential accident information AL of the accident vehicle cannot be retrieved from the accident vehicle after the accident, the responsibility value server Sr can determine the potential accident responsibility value AL of the accident vehicle. info stores the potential accident information AL of the accident vehicle last received from the accident vehicle (S92). Also, from the surroundings of the accident vehicle, the potential accident information AL transmitted by the accident vehicle is acquired (S94). info is acquired (S94). info even when the potential accident information AL of the accident vehicle cannot be retrieved from the accident vehicle after the accident, the responsibility value server Sr can determine the potential accident responsibility value AL of the accident vehicle. val to determine.

[0127] [Seventh Embodiment] Figure 17 shows the potential accident liability value determination device 700 of the seventh embodiment. The potential accident liability value determination device 700 also functions as a driving record system. The potential accident liability value determination device 700 of the seventh embodiment includes the same sensor unit 110, map storage unit 120, and rule DB storage unit 130 as the first embodiment. Furthermore, the potential accident liability value determination device 700 includes a sensor integration unit 740 and an accident liability judgment unit 750.

[0128] Furthermore, the vehicle 1, which is equipped with the potential accident liability value determination device 700, is also equipped with an in-vehicle LAN 11 and a reference clock 12. The in-vehicle LAN 11 is a communication network built inside the vehicle 1 and has a configuration with multiple network lines. Various elements of the potential accident liability value determination device 700 can send and receive signals with other devices installed in the vehicle 1 via this in-vehicle LAN 11. In addition, the sending and receiving of signals between elements of the potential accident liability value determination device 700 may also be performed via this in-vehicle LAN 11.

[0129] The reference clock 12 measures a reference time (hereinafter referred to as the reference time). If the vehicle 1 is equipped with a GNSS receiver, the clock built into the GNSS receiver can be used as the reference clock 12. The clock built into the GNSS receiver is continuously corrected based on the time transmitted by GNSS satellites. However, the reference clock 12 may also be a clock that does not have a function to correct based on time acquired from outside the vehicle 1. The reference clock 12 is connected to the in-vehicle LAN 11 and can transmit a signal indicating the reference time to other devices installed in the vehicle 1 via the in-vehicle LAN 11.

[0130] [Description of Sensor Integration Unit 740] The sensor integration unit 740 includes a target vehicle behavior determination unit 741, a rule acquisition unit 142 (the same as in the first embodiment), a timing unit 743, a time correction unit 744, and a responsibility determination information storage unit 745.

[0131] The timekeeping unit 743 measures the current time. Hereinafter, the time measured by the timekeeping unit 743 will be referred to as the measured time. The timekeeping unit 743 can employ various methods for measuring the time, such as measuring the time using the counter value of a timer, or measuring the time by measuring the number of clock cycles using a clock generator.

[0132] The time correction unit 744 can be implemented as a function of a computer. The time correction unit 744 obtains a reference time from the reference clock 12 and corrects the measurement time measured by the timing unit 743 to the reference time obtained from the reference clock 12. The period for correcting the time can be a predetermined fixed period. In addition, the time correction unit 744 may correct the time when a predetermined event occurs that occurs irregularly, such as when the sensor integration unit 740 is started up. Alternatively, the timing for correcting the measurement time may be determined by combining a fixed period and the occurrence of irregular events.

[0133] Figure 18 shows the time correction process performed by the time correction unit 744. In S101, the reference time is obtained from the reference clock 12. In S102, the measured time is obtained from the timing unit 743, and the time difference between the measured time and the reference time is calculated. In S103, the time error per unit elapsed time since the measurement time was corrected is updated based on the time difference calculated in S102. The current time error can be calculated by dividing the time difference calculated in S102 by the elapsed time since the measurement time was corrected. Then, the average value is calculated using the time errors calculated in previous steps and the time errors calculated this time as the population. This average value is the updated time error.

[0134] In S104, the time accuracy of the measurement time is updated. The time accuracy can be the standard deviation of the population mentioned above. The updated time error and measurement accuracy are stored in a predetermined memory provided by the sensor integration unit 740.

[0135] In S105, the time measurement unit 743 is corrected to the reference time acquired in S101. In this way, the time correction unit 744 of the seventh embodiment not only corrects the measurement time but also updates the time error and time accuracy.

[0136] Let's return to the explanation in Figure 17. In the seventh embodiment, the target vehicle behavior determination unit 741 performs the following processing in addition to the processing performed by the target vehicle behavior determination unit 141 in the first embodiment. The target vehicle behavior determination unit 741 obtains the measurement time from the timing unit 743 and performs the processing of storing the sensor value S in the responsibility determination information storage unit 745 using the measurement time as a timestamp. The target vehicle behavior determination unit 741 performs this processing periodically while the vehicle 1 is in motion. The execution cycle is as follows in the first embodiment: info This can be considered the same as the period for storing the data.

[0137] Furthermore, the vehicle behavior determination unit 741 stores the latest time error and time accuracy updated by the time correction unit 744, along with the measurement time, in the responsibility determination information storage unit 745. The responsibility determination information storage unit 745 is configured to have a writable non-volatile memory.

[0138] Figure 19 shows the process executed by the target vehicle behavior determination unit 741. S111 is the same process as S1, and acquires the sensor value S. S112 is the same process as S2, and selects one target vehicle from around the local vehicle 1. S113 is the same process as S3, and uses the sensor value S acquired in S111 to determine the relative behavior V of the target vehicle. state This is determined. In S114, the vehicle's position P, which is included in the sensor value S acquired in S111, and the relative behavior V determined in S113 are used. state This is output to the potential accident liability value determination unit 751.

[0139] In S115, the measurement time is obtained from the timing unit 743, and the time error and time accuracy updated by the time correction unit 744 are also obtained. In S116, the sensor value S obtained in S111 is stored in the responsibility determination information storage unit 745 along with the measurement time, time error, and time accuracy obtained in S115.

[0140] [Explanation from Accident Responsibility Assessment Department 750] Next, the accident responsibility determination unit 750 will be described. The accident responsibility determination unit 750 is implemented by a separate computer from the sensor integration unit 740. The accident responsibility determination unit 750 includes a potential accident responsibility value determination unit 751, a potential accident responsibility storage unit 752, a timing unit 753, and a time correction unit 754. The accident responsibility determination unit 750 does not have an external I / F unit 153, and is connected to the external I / F unit 153 via the in-vehicle LAN 11.

[0141] The timing unit 753 measures the current time. The timing unit 753 can have the same configuration as the timing unit 743. The time correction unit 754 can be implemented as a function of the computer. The time correction unit 754 has the same function as the time correction unit 744 and performs the process shown in Figure 18 to correct the measured time for the timing unit 753 and update the time error and time accuracy.

[0142] The potential accident liability value determination unit 751 determines the potential accident liability value AL in the same manner as the potential accident liability value determination unit 151 of the first embodiment. val The calculation is performed. In addition, the potential accident liability value determination unit 751 obtains the measurement time from the timing unit 753 and uses that measurement time as a timestamp to calculate the potential accident liability value AL. val The process of storing this in the potential accident liability storage unit 752 is executed. The potential accident liability value determination unit 751 periodically executes this process while the vehicle 1 is in motion. Preferably, the execution period is the same as that of the target vehicle behavior determination unit 741.

[0143] Furthermore, the potential accident liability value determination unit 751 stores the latest time error and time accuracy updated by the time correction unit 754, along with the measurement time, in the potential accident liability storage unit 752. The potential accident liability storage unit 752 is configured to have writable non-volatile memory. Since the sensor integration unit 740 and the accident liability judgment unit 750 are separate computers, the potential accident liability storage unit 752 is separate hardware from the liability determination information storage unit 745.

[0144] Figure 20 shows the process executed by the potential accident liability value determination unit 751. S121 is the same process as S4 in Figure 2, and follows the surrounding traffic rules R around the vehicle's position P. dbObtain it. S122 is the same process as S5 and determines the traffic rules at the position P of the host vehicle. S123 is the same process as S6 and calculates the potential accident liability value AL val to perform the calculation.

[0145] In S124, the measurement time is obtained from the timer unit 753, and the time error and time accuracy updated by the time correction unit 754 are also obtained. In S125, the potential accident liability value AL calculated in S123 val is stored in the potential accident liability storage unit 752 together with the measurement time, time error, and time accuracy obtained in S124.

[0146] The set of the sensor value S and the measurement time stored in the liability determination information storage unit 745 is taken as the time-stamped sensor value S. The potential accident liability value AL stored in the potential accident liability storage unit 752 val and the set of the measurement time are taken as the time-stamped potential accident liability value AL val In the seventh embodiment, the time-stamped sensor value S also includes the time error and time accuracy, and the time-stamped potential accident liability value AL val also includes the time error and time accuracy. The time-stamped sensor value S and the time-stamped potential accident liability value AL val can be output to an external device via the external I / F unit 153.

[0147] [Summary of the Seventh Embodiment] In this seventh embodiment, the sensor value S, which is the liability determination information, is stored in the liability determination information storage unit 745 together with the measurement time. The potential accident liability value AL val is stored in the potential accident liability storage unit 752, which is a storage unit different from the liability determination information storage unit 745, together with the measurement time. The sensor value S and the potential accident liability value AL val are stored together with the measurement time, which means they are given a timestamp. The timestamp only indicates the time when the sensor value S and the potential accident liability value AL val are obtained or calculated. However, due to the timestamp, the potential accident liability value AL val and the potential accident liability value AL valThe sensor value S used to calculate this can be matched retrospectively. The timestamp corresponds to the potential accident liability value AL. val It can be said that this is a correspondence index that allows the sensor value S to be associated with each other.

[0148] In the following embodiment, the sensor value S stored in the responsibility determination information storage unit 745 is used to determine the potential accident responsibility value AL stored in the potential accident responsibility storage unit 752. val An embodiment for verifying this will be described.

[0149] External devices have a time-stamped potential accident liability value AL, which is identified by the time the verification is required. val The output is also displayed. Additionally, the external device displays the time-stamped potential accident liability value AL. val A timed sensor value S is output for a predetermined time range that includes the same time. The time range is the timed potential fault liability value AL, even considering the time error, or the time error and time accuracy. val The settings are configured to include the sensor value S used in the calculation.

[0150] At the moment when the time correction units 744 and 754 correct the measurement time measured by the timing units 743 and 753, the measurement times measured by the two timing units 743 and 753 can be considered to be synchronized.

[0151] However, as the elapsed time since the correction increases, the difference in the measurement times measured by the two timing units 743 and 753 increases. Therefore, the external device sets the time-stamped potential accident liability value AL. val In addition to the time-stamped sensor value S at the same time, time-stamped sensor values ​​S within a predetermined time range that includes that time are also acquired. The time range can be set in advance. Furthermore, time-stamped potential accident liability values ​​AL are acquired. val The above time range may be determined by referring to the time error included in the data.

[0152] <Eighth Embodiment> Figure 21 shows the configuration of the potential accident liability value determination device 800 of the eighth embodiment. The potential accident liability value determination device 800 determines the potential accident liability value AL determined by the potential accident liability value determination device 700 installed in the vehicle 1 described in the seventh embodiment. val This device verifies the reliability of [the system]. The potential accident liability value determination device 800 has a similar configuration to the potential accident liability value determination device 200 of the second embodiment. The potential accident liability value determination device 800 is also an example of a potential accident liability determination device. The potential accident liability value determination device 800 can be a fixed type installed in police stations or insurance companies.

[0153] The potential accident liability value determination device 800 comprises a map storage unit 120, a rule DB storage unit 130, a sensor integration unit 840, and an accident liability judgment unit 850. The sensor integration unit 840 comprises a target vehicle behavior determination unit 841 and a rule acquisition unit 842. The accident liability judgment unit 850 comprises a potential accident liability value determination unit 851, an external I / F unit 853, and a potential accident verification unit 854. The external I / F unit 853 is the same as the external I / F unit 153. Of the elements of the sensor integration unit 840 and the accident liability judgment unit 850, all except the external I / F unit 853 will be explained using the flowchart shown in Figure 22.

[0154] In the seventh embodiment, the external I / F unit 853 receives a time-stamped sensor value S and a time-stamped potential fault liability value AL. val An external device that reads the data is connected. The time-stamped sensor value S input to the external I / F unit 853 is the same as the sensor value S input to the external I / F unit 153 in the second embodiment, and is the sensor value S of another vehicle. (OC) Furthermore, the time-stamped potential accident liability value AL is input to the external I / F unit 853. val In the second embodiment, the potential accident responsibility value AL is input to the external I / F unit 153. val Similarly, the potential accident liability value of other vehicles (AL) val(OC) That is the case.

[0155] Next, the flowchart in Figure 22 will be explained. The process shown in this flowchart starts after an external device is connected to the external I / F unit 853 and a predetermined start condition is met. The predetermined start condition is, for example, that the user has performed a start operation.

[0156] S130 is a process performed by the potential accident verification unit 854, which receives the timestamped potential accident responsibility value AL from an external device via the external I / F unit 853, indicating the time at which verification is required. val Obtain the potential accident liability value AL obtained here. val The potential accident liability value of other vehicles AL val(OC) The time period requiring verification is not limited to a single time period, but may be a range of time periods. The range of time periods requiring verification can be set by the user operating the potential accident liability value determination device 800, based on the circumstances of the accident, etc. The potential accident liability value AL with each time period included in this range of time periods requiring verification val The following process will be performed on it.

[0157] Steps S131 to S134 are executed by the target vehicle behavior determination unit 841. In step S131, a time-stamped sensor value S within the above time range is obtained from an external device via the external I / F unit 853. The time-stamped sensor value S obtained from the external device is a time-stamped sensor value S of another vehicle. (OC) That is the case.

[0158] In S132, the sensor value S from another vehicle used for verification is... (OC) The time range is determined. The process in S132 is shown in detail in Figure 23. In Figure 23, in S1321, the time-stamped potential accident responsibility value AL obtained in S130 is determined. val The measurement time is corrected for time error.

[0159] In S1322, the time-stamped potential accident liability value AL obtained in S130 is used. val Based on the time accuracy included, the potential accident liability value AL is verified by the sensor value S. val Determine the time range. For example, the potential accident liability value AL after correction in S1321. valThe potential accident liability value AL is verified by the sensor value S within the range of ±σ centered on the time of measurement. val The time range is as follows. Note that σ is the standard deviation.

[0160] In S1323, the measurement time of the time-stamped sensor value S obtained in S131 is corrected by the time error. In S1324, based on the time accuracy contained in the time-stamped sensor value S obtained in S131, the sensor value S of another vehicle used for verification is corrected. (OC) Determine the time range. For example, subtract -σ of the sensor value S from the minimum value of the time range determined in S1322, and use the other vehicle sensor value S to be used for verification. (OC) This is the minimum value. Then, the time obtained by adding the σ of the sensor value S to the maximum value of the time range determined in S1322 is used as the other vehicle sensor value S used for verification. (OC) Let this be the maximum value.

[0161] Let's return to the explanation in Figure 22. S133 is the same as S22 in Figure 5, and one target vehicle is selected from around the vehicle where the responsibility value was determined. In S134, the sensor value S of the other vehicle obtained in S131 is selected. (OC) Using this, the relative behavior V of the target vehicle at each time point within the time range determined in S132 is determined for the target vehicle selected in S133. state To decide.

[0162] S135 and S136 are executed by the rule acquisition unit 842. In S135, the other vehicle sensor value S acquired in S131 is entered. (OC) The vehicle's own position P, which is included in the calculation, is defined as the position of the vehicle responsible for determining the value, and based on that position, the surrounding traffic rules R are applied. db The following is obtained from the rule DB storage unit 130. In S136, the position of the vehicle responsible for determining the responsibility value and the surrounding traffic rule R obtained in S135 are obtained. db Based on this, the traffic rules at the location of the vehicle determining responsibility are determined. Combining the traffic rules at the location of the vehicle determining responsibility with the location-independent rules, the accident responsibility rules to be used in the next S137 are determined.

[0163] S137 and S138 are executed by the potential accident liability value determination unit 851. In S137, the relative behavior V of the target vehicle at each time determined in S134 is determined. state Based on the accident liability rules determined in S136, the potential accident liability value AL for each time point val The calculation is performed. In S138, the potential accident responsibility value AL for each time point calculated in S137 is calculated. val This is sent to the potential accident verification unit 854.

[0164] S139 and S140 are performed by the potential accident verification unit 854. In S139, the potential accident liability value AL of other vehicles, which was obtained in S130, is processed. val(OC) To verify whether it is reliable. The potential accident liability value AL of one other vehicle to be verified. val(OC) In contrast, S137 shows the potential accident responsibility value AL at multiple time points. val This calculation is performed because it takes into account the time accuracy of the two timekeeping units 743 and 753.

[0165] Various methods can be used for the specific verification. For example, all potential accident liability values ​​AL calculated in S137 val Regarding the potential accident liability value of other vehicles AL val(OC) Calculate the difference. Total potential accident liability value AL val The difference calculated for each of these is, in all cases, threshold C th If the result is smaller than the specified value, the verification result is considered to be no difference.

[0166] Furthermore, the potential accident responsibility value AL calculated in S137 for each time point val Alternatively, the verification results may be determined individually using the same method as in the second embodiment. When determining the verification results individually, the reliability of the verification results may be added according to the time difference with the measurement time after only correcting for measurement errors.

[0167] In S140, the verification results determined in S139 are output to a predetermined output device, such as an external device connected to the external I / F unit 853.

[0168] [Summary of the 8th Embodiment] In the event of an accident, even a difference of several tens of centimeters or less in the relative position between your vehicle 1 and the other vehicle can significantly affect the severity of the accident. This level of difference can occur even in as little as ten milliseconds.

[0169] Therefore, the potential accident liability value determination device 700 of the seventh embodiment described above stores the time error and time accuracy of the timing unit 743 along with the sensor value S and the measurement time. In addition, the potential accident liability value determination device 700 stores the potential accident liability value AL val The time error and time accuracy of the timing unit 753 are stored along with the measurement time.

[0170] Then, in this potential accident liability value determination device 800, the other vehicle sensor value S used for verification is determined considering the time error and time accuracy of the timing unit 743 and the time error and time accuracy of the timing unit 753. (OC) The time range is determined. In this way, the sensor value S and the potential accident liability value AL are determined. val Even if stored separately, the potential accident liability value AL is highly reliable. val This can be verified.

[0171] <Ninth Embodiment> As the ninth embodiment, modifications of the seventh and eighth embodiments will be described. In the eighth embodiment, the time error and time accuracy of the timing unit 743, and the time error and time accuracy of the timing unit 753, a total of four elements, are considered, and the other vehicle sensor value S used for verification is determined. (OC) The time range was being determined.

[0172] However, it is not necessary to consider all four of these factors. The time range may be determined by considering any three, any two, or any one of these four factors. Therefore, the potential accident liability value determination device 700 considers only any three, any two, or any one of these four factors to determine the sensor value S and the potential accident liability value AL. val You should remember them together.

[0173] For example, consider only the time error of the timing unit 743 and the time error of the timing unit 753 when determining the other vehicle sensor value S used for verification. (OC)The time range may be determined. In this case, the responsibility determination information storage unit 745 stores the measurement error of the timing unit 743 along with the sensor value S and the measurement time of the timing unit 743, and the potential accident responsibility storage unit 752 stores the potential accident responsibility value AL val The measurement error of the timing unit 753 is stored along with the measurement time of the timing unit 753.

[0174] If only time error is considered, the time error is corrected, and the corrected measurement time is the potential accident liability value AL. val The measurement time assigned to the sensor value S of another vehicle matches the measurement time of the other vehicle. (OC) The sensor value S from another vehicle used for verification. (OC) We have decided on this.

[0175] Furthermore, considering only accuracy, that is, either the time accuracy of the timing unit 743 or the time accuracy of the timing unit 753, or both, and without considering time error, the other vehicle sensor value S used for verification is considered. (OC) The time range may be determined. In this case, the responsibility determination information storage unit 745 stores the measurement accuracy of the timing unit 743 along with the sensor value S and the measurement time of the timing unit 743, and the potential accident responsibility storage unit 752 stores the potential accident responsibility value AL val The measurement accuracy of the timing unit 753 is also stored along with the measurement time of the timing unit 753.

[0176] <Tenth Embodiment> The tenth embodiment is a modification of the seventh and ninth embodiments. The seventh and ninth embodiments described embodiments in which the time of measurement, along with at least one of the time error and time accuracy of that measurement, is stored.

[0177] However, it is not necessary to store either the time error or the time precision of the measurement time. In this way, the potential accident liability value AL val The reliability of the verification results obtained is lower than that of the 8th and 9th embodiments, but the potential accident liability value AL val It is possible to verify this.

[0178] <Embodiment 11> In previous embodiments, the potential accident liability information stored in memory units 152, 252, 352, 552, and 752 is the potential accident liability value AL. val However, the potential accident liability value AL val The presence or absence of responsibility, obtained by comparing this with a predetermined threshold for determining responsibility, is called the potential accident responsibility value AL. val Alternatively, you may remember the presence or absence of the above liability as the potential accident liability value AL. val You can also remember this together.

[0179] Furthermore, in the second, fourth, and eighth embodiments, the potential accident liability information output to the potential accident verification units 254, 454, and 854 may also indicate whether or not the above-mentioned liability exists.

[0180] <Twelfth Embodiment> In the third embodiment, potential accident information AL info Responsibility value determination information R info The relative behavior V of the target vehicle state This included accident liability rules. However, accident liability rules can be obtained from the rule DB storage unit 130 if the location can be identified. Therefore, potential accident information AL info If the information that allows for the determination of the position is included, then the responsibility value determination information R info It is not necessary for the rules to include liability rules in the accident report.

[0181] <13th Embodiment> In the fifth embodiment, the potential accident liability value determination device 500 provides peripheral liability value determination information RS info It was periodically transmitting the following. However, the potential accident responsibility value determination device 500, in response to a request from the responsibility value server Sr, etc., transmits peripheral responsibility value determination information RS info It may be possible to send the information after the accident. In this way, peripheral responsibility value determination information RS is periodically sent. info Compared to transmitting [the data], the amount of communication data can be reduced. Therefore, peripheral responsibility value determination information RS info This includes peripheral responsibility value determination information RS, such as image data. info This is particularly effective when dealing with large amounts of data.

[0182] <14th Embodiment> In the first embodiment, potential accident information AL info Responsibility value determination information R included info The sensor value was S. In the third embodiment, the potential accident information AL info Responsibility value determination information R included info This refers to the relative behavior V of the target vehicle. state That was the accident liability rule. However, the sensor value S and the relative behavior V of the vehicle in question state And accident liability rules, together with potential accident information AL info It may be included in it.

[0183] <15th Embodiment> In the first embodiment, it was explained that the sensor value S, which is the responsibility value determination information, may include the vehicle's position P. In addition, or instead, the potential accident information AL may be included. info The detected values ​​may also include those detected by sensor 112, which is a vehicle behavior sensor that detects the behavior of the vehicle 1. The detected values ​​detected by sensor 112 are, for example, vehicle speed, yaw rate, and acceleration. In addition to the above, the detected values ​​detected by sensor 112 may also include various values ​​related to the behavior of the vehicle 1, such as steering angle, steering torque, brake hydraulic pressure, accelerator opening, and control request value.

[0184] Potential accident information AL info If the detected value from sensor 112 is included in the responsibility value determination information, the detected value from sensor 112 is the potential accident responsibility value AL. val And, it will be associated with the sensor value S.

[0185] Furthermore, the potential accident information AL of the third embodiment info In other words, instead of the sensor value S, the relative behavior V of the target vehicle is used. state The potential accident information AL includes accident liability rules. info This may also include the behavior of the vehicle 1 determined from the detected values ​​detected by the sensor 112.

[0186] Potential accident information ALinfo If the behavior of vehicle 1 is included in this, the behavior of vehicle 1 will result in a potential accident liability value AL. val , and the relative behavior V of the target vehicle state This corresponds to [the given situation].

[0187] Furthermore, in the seventh embodiment, the sensor value S stored along with the measurement time may include the detected value detected by sensor 112. In this case, the detected value detected by sensor 112 is associated with the sensor value S detected by sensor 111, i.e., the responsibility value determination information, and the potential accident responsibility value AL val It will be stored in a way that allows it to be handled accordingly.

[0188] <Embodiment 16> In previous embodiments, potential accident liability information and accident liability determination information used to determine that potential accident liability information were stored in association with, or in a manner that allows for such association. In contrast, in the following embodiment, instead of potential accident liability information, video footage that can serve as an example of that potential accident liability information is stored. Furthermore, instead of accident liability determination information that can be used to indicate responsibility for accidents during autonomous driving, the driving state indicating whether the vehicle is in autonomous or non-autonomous driving mode is stored. Due to these differences, the system configuration differs from that of previous embodiments.

[0189] [Outline configuration of vehicle system 1001] The sixteenth embodiment of this disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. The vehicle system 1001 shown in Figure 24 is used in a vehicle capable of switching the degree of autonomous driving, and includes an autonomous driving device 1002, a locator 1003, a map database (hereinafter referred to as map DB) 1004, a surrounding monitoring sensor 1005, a vehicle control ECU 1006, a vehicle sensor 1007, and a communication module 1008. The vehicle using the vehicle system 1001 is not necessarily limited to automobiles, but the following description will use the case of use in an automobile as an example. Hereinafter, the vehicle using the vehicle system 1001 will be referred to as "the vehicle."

[0190] The vehicle itself only needs to be capable of switching between automated driving to a degree that is legally liable for accidents, and non-autonomous driving where this automated driving is not performed. There can be multiple levels of automated driving (hereinafter referred to as the automation level), as defined by, for example, the SAE. The automation level is divided into levels 0 to 5, as defined by, for example, the SAE.

[0191] Level 0 is the level where the driver performs all driving tasks without system intervention. Driving tasks include, for example, steering and acceleration / deceleration. Level 0 corresponds to so-called manual driving. Level 1 is the level where the system assists with either steering or acceleration / deceleration. Level 2 is the level where the system assists with both steering and acceleration / deceleration. Levels 1 and 2 correspond to so-called driver assistance.

[0192] Level 3 is a level where the system can perform all driving tasks in specific locations such as highways, and the driver takes over driving operations in emergencies. At Level 3, the driver is required to be able to respond quickly when the system requests a driver change. Level 3 corresponds to so-called conditional autonomous driving. Level 4 is a level where the system can perform all driving tasks except in specific situations such as roads that are unsuitable or extreme environments. Level 4 corresponds to so-called highly autonomous driving. Level 5 is a level where the system can perform all driving tasks in all environments. Level 5 corresponds to so-called fully autonomous driving. Levels 3 to 5 correspond to so-called autonomous driving.

[0193] Here, the degree to which an automated driving system is legally liable for an accident is determined in accordance with the law, and may, for example, be automated driving at level 3 or higher, or automated driving at level 4 or higher. Non-autonomous driving may be manual driving at level 0, or it may include driver assistance at level 2 or lower. In this embodiment, as an example, we will continue the explanation assuming that the vehicle can switch between automated driving at level 3 or higher (hereinafter simply referred to as automated driving) and manual driving at level 0 (hereinafter simply referred to as manual driving).

[0194] The locator 1003 is equipped with a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver and an inertial sensor. The GNSS receiver receives positioning signals from multiple positioning satellites. The inertial sensor includes, for example, a gyroscope and an accelerometer. The locator 1003 sequentially determines the vehicle position (hereinafter referred to as "vehicle position") of the vehicle on which the locator 1003 is mounted by combining the positioning signals received by the GNSS receiver with the measurement results from the inertial sensor. The vehicle position is expressed, for example, in latitude and longitude coordinates. Alternatively, the vehicle position may be determined using the distance traveled, which is obtained from signals sequentially output from a vehicle speed sensor mounted on the vehicle.

[0195] Map DB 1004 is a non-volatile memory that stores map data such as link data, node data, road shapes, and structures. The map data may be a 3D map consisting of a point cloud of feature points of road shapes and structures. When a 3D map consisting of a point cloud of feature points of road shapes and structures is used as the map data, the locator 1003 may be configured to determine the vehicle's position without using a GNSS receiver, by using this 3D map and the detection results from surrounding monitoring sensors 1005 such as LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging / Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) or an external camera that detects the point cloud of feature points of road shapes and structures. The 3D map may also be generated based on captured images using REM (Road Experience Management).

[0196] The surrounding monitoring sensor 1005 is an autonomous sensor that monitors the environment around the vehicle. For example, the surrounding monitoring sensor 1005 is used to recognize moving objects such as pedestrians, animals other than humans, and vehicles other than the vehicle itself, as well as stationary objects such as guardrails, curbs, and trees. It is also used to recognize road markings such as lane markings around the vehicle. Examples of surrounding monitoring sensors 1005 include external cameras that image a predetermined range around the vehicle, and distance measuring sensors such as millimeter-wave radar, sonar, and LIDAR that transmit detection waves to a predetermined range around the vehicle. Other examples of surrounding monitoring sensors 1005 include sound collectors that collect sounds around the vehicle. In this embodiment, the explanation will be given using an external camera 1051, millimeter-wave radar 52, and LIDAR 53 as examples of surrounding monitoring sensors 1005.

[0197] The external camera 1051 is an example of an in-vehicle camera, and it sequentially outputs the images it captures as sensing information to the autonomous driving system 1002. As an example, as shown in Figure 25, external cameras 1051F, 1051R, 1051L, and 1051Re are installed in the vehicle.

[0198] The external camera 1051F is a camera whose shooting range is a predetermined area in front of the vehicle. The external camera 1051F may be installed in a position that does not obstruct the driver's view of the area in front of the vehicle, such as near the rearview mirror inside the vehicle's interior or at the top edge of the windshield. Alternatively, the external camera 1051F may be installed, for example, near the center of the vehicle's front bumper in the width direction.

[0199] The external camera 1051R is a camera whose shooting range is a predetermined area to the right rear side of the vehicle. The external camera 1051R can be installed, for example, near the right side mirror of the vehicle. The external camera 1051L is a camera whose shooting range is a predetermined area to the left rear side of the vehicle. The external camera 1051L can be installed, for example, near the left side mirror of the vehicle.

[0200] The external camera 1051Re is a camera that captures a predetermined area behind the vehicle. The external camera 1051Re can be installed in a position that does not obstruct the driver's view for checking behind the vehicle, for example, near the center of the rear bumper in the vehicle's width direction. Alternatively, the external camera 1051Re may be installed, for example, near the upper edge of the rear window.

[0201] The external cameras 1051F, 1051R, 1051L, and 1051Re may have overlapping shooting ranges. It is preferable to provide external cameras 1051F, 1051R, 1051L, and 1051Re as external cameras 1051 to capture the entire circumference of the vehicle. However, the external cameras 1051 are not limited to a configuration that captures the entire circumference of the vehicle; a configuration that limits the shooting range to a part of the vehicle is also acceptable.

[0202] The vehicle control ECU 1006 is an electronic control unit that controls the vehicle's movement. Movement control includes acceleration / deceleration control and / or steering control. The vehicle control ECU 1006 includes components such as a steering ECU for steering control, a power unit control ECU for acceleration / deceleration control, and a brake ECU. The vehicle control ECU 1006 controls the vehicle's movement by outputting control signals to various movement control devices installed in the vehicle, such as the electronically controlled throttle, brake actuator, and EPS (Electric Power Steering) motor.

[0203] The vehicle sensor 1007 is a group of sensors for detecting various states of the vehicle. The vehicle sensor 1007 includes a vehicle speed sensor, steering sensor, acceleration sensor, yaw rate sensor, driving mode switch, brake pedal force sensor, steering torque sensor, etc. The vehicle speed sensor detects the vehicle's speed. The steering sensor detects the vehicle's steering angle. The acceleration sensor detects the vehicle's acceleration, such as longitudinal acceleration and lateral acceleration. The acceleration sensor should also detect deceleration, which is negative acceleration. The yaw rate sensor detects the vehicle's angular velocity. The driving mode switch is a switch for switching between automatic and manual driving modes. For example, a steering switch located on the spokes of the steering wheel can be used as the driving mode switch. The brake pedal force sensor detects the force applied to the brake pedal. The steering torque sensor detects the steering torque applied to the steering wheel.

[0204] The communication module 1008 communicates with an external center of the vehicle via a public communication network. For example, it can be configured to communicate with a server at an external center (hereinafter referred to as the external server). The communication module 1008 can send reports to external servers such as the police or insurance companies, or transmit video saved by the autonomous driving system 1002. The communication module 1008 may also receive map data distributed from an external server that distributes map data and store it in the map DB 1004.

[0205] The autonomous driving device 1002, which functions as an autonomous driving system, includes, for example, a processor, memory, I / O, and a bus connecting them. It executes various processes, such as autonomous driving processes and processes related to saving images of the vehicle's surroundings (hereinafter referred to as "image saving-related processes"), by executing a control program stored in memory. The memory referred to here is a non-transitory tangible storage medium that non-temporarily stores computer-readable programs and data. The non-transitory tangible storage medium is implemented by semiconductor memory or magnetic disks, etc. Further details of the autonomous driving device 1002 will be described below.

[0206] [Outline configuration of the automatic driving system 1002] Next, the schematic configuration of the automatic driving system 1002 will be explained using Figure 24. As shown in Figure 24, the automatic driving system 1002 includes a video processing device 1020, a recording device 1021, a driving environment recognition unit 1022, an automatic driving unit 1023, and a driving switching control unit 1027 as functional blocks. Some or all of the functions performed by the automatic driving system 1002 may be configured hardware-wise using one or more ICs. Furthermore, some or all of the functional blocks provided by the automatic driving system 1002 may be realized by a combination of software execution by a processor and hardware components.

[0207] The video processing device 1020 is an example of a video recording system and includes, for example, a processor, memory, I / O, and a bus connecting them, and performs video storage-related processing by executing a control program stored in memory. In the video storage-related processing, the video processing device 1020 saves the video captured by the external camera 1051 to the recording device 1021 in response to a predetermined trigger. Details of the video processing device 1020 will be described later. The recording device 1021 is an electrically rewritable non-volatile memory. In this embodiment, the recording device 1021 is shown as being installed in the automatic driving system 1002, but is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the recording device 1021 may be installed in a configuration other than the automatic driving system 1002. The recording device 1021 may be mounted in the vehicle itself, or it may be installed in a server accessible via the communication module 1008 of the video processing device 1020.

[0208] The driving environment recognition unit 1022 recognizes the vehicle's driving environment from the vehicle's position obtained from the locator 1003, map data obtained from the map DB 1004, sensing information obtained from the surrounding monitoring sensor 1005, etc. As an example, the driving environment recognition unit 1022 uses this information to recognize the position, shape, and movement state of objects around the vehicle and generates a virtual space that reproduces the actual driving environment. The driving environment recognition unit 1022 may also recognize the distance to surrounding vehicles and the relative speed of surrounding vehicles relative to the vehicle as part of the driving environment from the sensing information obtained from the surrounding monitoring sensor 1005. Furthermore, if position information and speed information of surrounding vehicles can be obtained via the communication module 1008, the system may also be configured to recognize the driving environment using this information.

[0209] The automated driving unit 1023 performs processing related to taking over driving operations from the driver. As shown in Figure 24, the automated driving unit 1023 includes a driving plan unit 1024, a confirmation unit 1025, and an automated driving function unit 1026 as sub-function blocks.

[0210] The driving plan unit 1024 uses the driving environment recognized by the driving environment recognition unit 1022 to generate a driving plan for driving the vehicle autonomously. For example, as a medium- to long-term driving plan, it performs route search processing to generate a recommended route to move the vehicle from its current position to the destination. Furthermore, as a short-term driving plan to drive in accordance with the medium- to long-term driving plan, it determines the execution of actions such as steering for lane changes, acceleration and deceleration for speed adjustment, and steering and braking for obstacle avoidance. The generation of the driving plan in the driving plan unit 1024 can be configured to be performed by, for example, machine learning.

[0211] The verification unit 1025 evaluates the safety of the driving plan generated by the driving plan unit 1024. For example, to make the evaluation of the safety of the driving plan easier, the verification unit 1025 may evaluate the safety of the driving plan using a mathematical formula model that mathematically embodies the concept of safe driving. As a mathematical formula model, for example, the RSS (Responsibility Sensitive Safety) model can be used. The verification unit 1025 evaluates safety by determining whether the distance between objects is equal to or greater than a standard distance (hereinafter referred to as the safety distance) for evaluating the safety between vehicles, which is calculated by a pre-set mathematical formula model. The distance between objects may be the distance in the front-to-back direction between objects, or the distance in the left-to-right direction between objects. The distance between objects referred to here is the distance between the vehicle and surrounding obstacles, the distance between surrounding vehicles of the vehicle, etc. Examples of surrounding obstacles include surrounding vehicles of the vehicle, as well as stationary objects such as pedestrians and objects that have fallen on the road.

[0212] The verification unit 1025 should evaluate the driving plan generated by the driving plan unit 1024 as safe if the distance between the targets is greater than or equal to the safe distance. On the other hand, the verification unit 1025 should evaluate the driving plan generated by the driving plan unit 1024 as unsafe if the distance between the targets is less than the safe distance. The verification unit 1025 should output the driving plan evaluated as safe to the automatic driving function unit 1026. On the other hand, the verification unit 1025 should modify the driving plan evaluated as unsafe to a driving plan evaluated as safe and output it to the automatic driving function unit 1026.

[0213] It should be noted that the mathematical formula model used to evaluate safety in the verification unit 1025 does not guarantee that accidents will never occur, but rather that the vehicle will not be held liable for an accident as long as appropriate actions are taken to avoid a collision when the distance falls below the safe distance. For example, even if the vehicle takes appropriate actions to avoid a collision when the distance between the vehicle and a surrounding obstacle falls below the safe distance, an accident may still occur depending on the actions of the surrounding obstacle if it is a moving object. It should also be noted that the surrounding obstacle may be limited to surrounding vehicles only.

[0214] The automated driving function unit 1026 performs automated driving by having the vehicle control ECU 1006 automatically accelerate, decelerate and / or steer the vehicle in accordance with a driving plan that has been evaluated as safe by the verification unit 1025, thereby taking over the driving operations performed by the driver.

[0215] The driving switch control unit 1027 controls the switching between automatic and manual driving. In areas where automatic driving is possible, the driving switch control unit 1027 detects the driver's operation to switch to automatic driving and initiates automatic driving via the automatic driving unit 1023. The driving switch control unit 1027 also refers to the long- and medium-term driving plan and systematically switches from automatic driving to manual driving just before the area where automatic driving is possible ends. In addition, the driving switch control unit 1027 switches from automatic driving to manual driving if the driving environment recognition unit 1022 suddenly becomes unable to recognize the driving environment and it becomes difficult to continue automatic driving. When switching from automatic driving to manual driving, it is sufficient to configure the system to send a notification requesting a driver change in advance.

[0216] In addition, the driving control unit 1027 switches from automatic to manual driving when it detects a driver's operation to switch to automatic driving. A driver's operation to switch to automatic driving includes switching the setting from automatic to manual driving on the driving control switch. Another driver's operation to switch to automatic driving is an override. For example, the driving control unit 1027 can detect an override when the brake pedal force detected by the brake pedal force sensor or the steering torque detected by the steering torque sensor exceeds a threshold.

[0217] [Outline configuration of the video processing device 1020] Next, the general configuration of the video processing device 1020 will be explained using Figure 26. As shown in Figure 26, the video processing device 1020 includes a video acquisition unit 1201, a temporary storage unit 1202, a driving identification unit 1203, a risk determination unit 1204, a storage target determination unit 1205, an accident detection unit 1206, a storage processing unit 1207, and a notification processing unit 1208 as functional blocks. Note that some or all of the functions performed by the automatic driving device 1002 may be configured hardware-wise using one or more ICs, etc. Also, some or all of the functional blocks provided by the automatic driving device 1002 may be realized by a combination of software execution by a processor and hardware components.

[0218] The video acquisition unit 1201 sequentially acquires external video footage captured by the external camera 1051. The video acquisition unit 1201 corresponds to the external video acquisition unit. Furthermore, the external video footage may include images that allow confirmation of the circumstances of an accident that occurred in the vehicle or an accident that occurred in the vicinity of the vehicle. Therefore, the external video footage is accident confirmation footage. The video acquisition unit 1201 stores the sequentially acquired external video footage in the temporary storage unit 1202. The temporary storage unit 1202 is a volatile memory that temporarily stores the sequentially stored external video footage. The temporary storage unit 1202 can be a ring buffer that stores external video footage up to a certain point in the past.

[0219] Furthermore, the video acquisition unit 1201 is not limited to a configuration that sequentially acquires external video footage captured by the external camera 1051, but may also be configured to sequentially acquire interior video footage captured by an interior camera that captures the interior of the vehicle. As the interior camera, a camera from a DSM (Driver Status Monitor) that monitors the driver of the vehicle may be used. The DSM consists of a near-infrared light source, a near-infrared camera, and a control unit that controls these. For example, the DSM can detect the driver's face orientation, level of alertness, inability to drive, etc., from the captured image of the driver's face captured by the near-infrared camera.

[0220] The driving identification unit 1203 identifies whether the vehicle is in an automated driving state or a non-autonomous driving state. The driving identification unit 1203 can determine whether the vehicle is in an automated driving state or a non-autonomous driving state by monitoring the driving switching control unit 1027. In this embodiment, if the vehicle is in automated driving mode or switches from manual driving to automated driving mode, the driving state of the vehicle is identified as automated driving. On the other hand, if the vehicle is in manual driving mode or switches from automated driving to manual driving mode, the driving state of the vehicle is identified as non-autonomous driving.

[0221] The hazard determination unit 1204 determines whether there is a risk of collision between objects, such as between the vehicle and surrounding obstacles, and between surrounding vehicles. The hazard determination unit 1204 should determine that there is a risk of collision between objects if the distance between objects is less than the safe distance calculated by the confirmation unit 1025. On the other hand, the hazard determination unit 1204 should determine that there is no risk of collision between objects if the distance between objects is equal to or greater than the safe distance calculated by the confirmation unit 1025. The hazard determination unit 1204 should determine that there is a risk of collision if the distance between objects is less than the safe distance in either the distance between the vehicle and surrounding obstacles, or between surrounding vehicles.

[0222] The data to be saved determination unit 1205, triggered by the risk determination unit 1204 determining that there is a risk of collision between the targets, associates (i.e., links) external vehicle video acquired sequentially by the video acquisition unit 1201 with information that identifies the driving state of the vehicle at the time the external vehicle video is acquired, as identified by the driving identification unit 1203, and saves these as data to be saved in the recording device 1021. The information that identifies the driving state of the vehicle can be, for example, a flag indicating whether the vehicle is in autonomous or non-autonomous driving mode (hereinafter referred to as the driving state flag). The association between the external vehicle video and the driving state flag can be configured, for example, using a timestamp.

[0223] For example, the storage target determination unit 1205 will select external vehicle video footage stored in the temporary storage unit 1202 from the point in time when the risk determination unit 1204 determines that there is a risk of collision between the targets. The storage target determination unit 1205 may also store a driving status flag corresponding to the time the external vehicle video was acquired in the temporary storage unit 1202, linked to the external vehicle video. The driving status flag may be linked to each frame of the external vehicle video. Alternatively, one driving status flag may be linked to multiple consecutive frames to which the same type of driving status flag is linked. The driving status flag is not limited to being stored in the temporary storage unit 1202; it may be stored in other memory, as long as it is linked to the corresponding external vehicle video.

[0224] Furthermore, the data to be saved determination unit 1205, triggered by a switch in the vehicle's driving state from autonomous driving to non-autonomous driving, associates external vehicle video footage sequentially acquired by the video acquisition unit 1201 with information that identifies the vehicle's driving state at the time the external vehicle video footage is acquired, as identified by the driving identification unit 1203, and saves these as data to be saved in the recording device 1021. The data to be saved determination unit 1205 can determine, for example, that the vehicle's driving state has switched from autonomous driving to non-autonomous driving based on the vehicle's driving state identified by the driving identification unit 1203.

[0225] For example, the data to be saved determination unit 1205 will save external vehicle video footage stored in the temporary storage unit 1202 from the point in time when the driving state identified by the driving specification unit 1203 switches from automatic driving to non-automatic driving. Furthermore, the data to be saved determination unit 1205 can be configured to store in the temporary storage unit 1202 a driving state flag corresponding to the time when this external vehicle video was acquired, linked to this external vehicle video.

[0226] The data to be saved determination unit 1205 is not limited to a configuration that links external vehicle video and driving status to be saved; it may also be configured to link external vehicle video and driving status with interior video corresponding to the time the external vehicle video was acquired, information used by the risk determination unit 1204 to determine whether or not there is a risk of collision (hereinafter referred to as risk determination-related information), etc., to be saved. Examples of risk determination-related information here include the distance between objects.

[0227] If the data to be saved determination unit 1205 determines that there is a risk of collision between the vehicle and other surrounding vehicles, it is preferable to save the risk determination-related information used by the risk determination unit 1204 to determine whether there is a risk of collision between the vehicle and the surrounding vehicles included in these accidents, in conjunction with the external video and driving status. This makes it possible to record the risk determination-related information used by the risk determination unit 1204 to determine whether there is a risk of collision between the vehicle and the surrounding vehicles included in these accidents when an accident occurs between surrounding vehicles. Therefore, it becomes possible to verify the degree of proximity between the vehicle and surrounding vehicles before an accident occurs between them, making it easier to prove that the vehicle's autonomous driving is not responsible for the accident between the surrounding vehicles.

[0228] The accident detection unit 1206 detects the occurrence of an accident between objects. The accident detection unit 1206 detects the occurrence of an accident between objects that the risk determination unit 1204 has determined to have a risk of collision. If the accident is between the vehicle and a surrounding obstacle, the accident detection unit 1206 can detect the occurrence of the accident from, for example, the signal of the acceleration sensor among the vehicle sensors 1007. Alternatively, the accident detection unit 1206 may detect the occurrence of an accident between the vehicle and a surrounding obstacle from the airbag deployment signal of the airbag system. Furthermore, if the accident is between surrounding vehicles of the vehicle, the accident detection unit 1206 can detect the occurrence of the accident from, for example, the overlap of surrounding vehicles in the driving environment recognized by the driving environment recognition unit 1022. Alternatively, the accident may be detected from information on surrounding vehicles obtained through vehicle-to-vehicle communication.

[0229] When the accident detection unit 1206 detects the occurrence of an accident between targets, the storage processing unit 1207 reads from the temporary storage unit 1202 the targets that the storage target determination unit 1205 has determined to be saved, at least up to the time the accident occurred, and saves them to the recording device 1021. In other words, if the storage target determination unit 1205 has determined the targets to be saved triggered by the risk determination unit 1204 determining that there is a risk of collision between targets, then the external video footage acquired sequentially by the video acquisition unit 1201 from the time the risk of collision between targets is determined until at least the time the accident occurs between those targets, along with the driving status flags, etc., corresponding to the time the external video footage was acquired, are linked and saved to the recording device 1021.

[0230] According to this, external video footage from the time when a collision risk between the objects is determined to exist, up to at least the time the accident occurs between those objects, and a driving status flag corresponding to the time the external video footage was acquired, can be stored in the recording device 1021. Therefore, it becomes possible to verify the accident using external video footage from at least the time the accident occurred up to the time when a collision risk between the objects was determined to exist. By being able to verify the accident using external video footage up to the time when a collision risk between the objects was determined to exist, it becomes easier to determine the cause of the accident. In addition, since the driving status flag corresponding to the time the external video footage was acquired is linked to the external video footage, even if the external video footage indicates that the vehicle is responsible for the occurrence of the accident, it becomes possible to prove that the vehicle's autonomous driving is not responsible by distinguishing whether the external video footage was taken during autonomous driving or non-autonomous driving. As a result, in vehicles that can switch between autonomous driving to a degree that is legally stipulated to be responsible for accidents and non-autonomous driving that does not perform this autonomous driving, it becomes easier to prove that autonomous driving is not responsible for the occurrence of an accident.

[0231] On the other hand, if the storage target determination unit 1205 has determined the storage targets as a trigger when the vehicle's driving state switches from autonomous driving to non-autonomous driving, the external video footage acquired sequentially by the video acquisition unit 1201 from the time of the switch from autonomous driving to non-autonomous driving until at least the occurrence of an accident between the target items, and the driving state flags, etc., corresponding to the time when this external video footage was acquired, are linked and stored in the recording device 1021.

[0232] According to this, if an accident occurs between the target vehicles, it becomes possible to save external video footage from the point of switching from autonomous driving to non-autonomous driving up to at least the point of the accident between the target vehicles, along with a driving status flag corresponding to the time the external video footage was acquired, in the recording device 1021. Therefore, it becomes possible to verify the accident using external video footage from at least the time of the accident up to the point of the switch. If the aforementioned accident occurs after the degree of autonomous driving of the vehicle switches from autonomous driving to non-autonomous driving, the driver may mistakenly claim that the accident occurred while autonomous driving was in progress. In response to this, it becomes possible to save external video footage from the period during which such a misunderstanding may occur in the recording device. Furthermore, since a driving status flag corresponding to the time the external video footage was acquired is linked to the external video footage, even if the external video footage indicates that the vehicle is responsible for the occurrence of the accident, it becomes possible to prove that the vehicle's autonomous driving was not responsible by distinguishing whether the external video footage was taken during autonomous driving or non-autonomous driving. As a result, in vehicles that can switch between autonomous driving to a degree that is legally stipulated to be responsible for accidents and non-autonomous driving, it becomes easier to prove that autonomous driving is not responsible for the occurrence of an accident.

[0233] When the accident detection unit 1206 detects the occurrence of an accident between targets, the storage processing unit 1207 preferably stores the targets that the storage target determination unit 1205 has determined to be storage targets in the recording device 1021, up to a predetermined time after the occurrence of the accident. The predetermined time here is a value that can be set arbitrarily. This makes it possible to verify the accident using external video footage after the accident occurs, which in turn makes it easier to determine the cause of the accident.

[0234] If the accident detection unit 1206 does not detect the occurrence of an accident between the targets, and the risk determination unit 1204 determines that there is a risk of collision between the targets, the storage processing unit 1207 will not save the targets to be saved determined by the storage target determination unit 1205 to the recording device 1021. The data that was not saved to the recording device 1021 and is stored in the temporary storage unit 1202 will be deleted sequentially, starting with data that has exceeded a certain period of time.

[0235] According to this, by saving external vehicle footage going back to the point in time when a collision risk between the objects was determined, it becomes easier to investigate the cause of the accident, while at the same time, it becomes possible to avoid putting pressure on the capacity of the recording device 1021 by not saving external vehicle footage that is unlikely to be related to the occurrence of the accident with higher accuracy to the recording device 1021.

[0236] If the storage processing unit 1207 has determined the items to be stored in the storage target determination unit 1205, triggered by a switch from automated driving to non-autonomous driving, and the accident detection unit 1206 has not detected an accident between the items, and the elapsed time from the time of the switch from automated driving to non-autonomous driving has reached a specified time, then the storage processing unit 1207 should not store the items determined by the storage target determination unit 1205 in the recording device 1021. The specified time can be set arbitrarily. This makes it possible to avoid putting pressure on the capacity of the recording device 1021 by not storing external video footage that is unlikely to be related to the occurrence of an accident in the recording device 1021.

[0237] Furthermore, even if the data to be saved is determined by the data to be saved in the data to be saved determination unit 1205 as a trigger for switching from autonomous driving to non-autonomous driving, if the risk determination unit 1204 has determined that there is a risk of collision between the data to be saved before the accident detection unit 1206 detects the occurrence of an accident between the data to be saved, the above processing should be performed.

[0238] When the accident detection unit 1206 detects the occurrence of an accident between the target vehicles, the notification processing unit 1208 notifies an external server, such as the police or insurance company, of the occurrence of the accident via the communication module 1008. In addition to notifying the occurrence of the accident, the notification processing unit 1208 also transmits the data stored in the recording device 1021 to this external server. This allows the police and insurance company to respond to the occurrence of the accident and to determine who is responsible for the accident based on the information stored. Furthermore, since the data stored is transmitted to the external server when an accident is detected, it becomes difficult to tamper with the information stored. Therefore, it becomes easier to prove that the autonomous driving system is not responsible for the occurrence of the accident based on the information stored. Note that the notification processing unit 1208 may be configured to transmit the data stored to the external server before saving it to the recording device 1021 when the accident detection unit 1206 detects the occurrence of an accident between the target vehicles.

[0239] [Video saving related processing in video processing device 1020] Here, using the flowchart in Figure 27, we will explain an example of the flow of video storage-related processing in the video processing device 1020. The execution of the steps included in the video storage-related processing by the computer corresponds to the execution of the video recording method. The flowchart in Figure 27 should be configured to start when the switch for starting the vehicle's internal combustion engine or motor generator (hereinafter referred to as the power switch) is turned on. In the example in Figure 27, it is assumed that the driving environment recognition unit 1022 is sequentially recognizing the vehicle's driving environment. In the example in Figure 27, it is assumed that the video acquisition unit 1201 is sequentially acquiring external video footage taken by the external camera 1051 and sequentially storing it in the temporary storage unit 1202.

[0240] First, in step S1001, the risk determination unit 1204 determines whether there is a risk of collision between the vehicle and surrounding obstacles, and between surrounding vehicles. In step S1002, if it is determined that there is a risk of collision between the vehicle and surrounding obstacles (YES in S1002), the process moves to step S1004. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no risk of collision between the vehicle and surrounding obstacles (NO in S1002), the process moves to step S1003.

[0241] In step S1003, if it is determined that there is a risk of collision between the vehicle and surrounding vehicles (YES in S1003), the process proceeds to step S1004. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no risk of collision between the vehicle and surrounding vehicles (NO in S1003), the process proceeds to step S1012. Note that the order of processing in S1002 and S1003 may be reversed.

[0242] In step S1004, the storage target determination unit 1205 determines that there is a risk of collision between the targets, and links the external vehicle video footage sequentially acquired by the video acquisition unit 1201 from that point onward, with the driving status flag at the time the external vehicle video footage is acquired, which has been identified by the driving identification unit 1203, to determine which data to save in the recording device 1021. The determination of storage targets by the storage target determination unit 1205 continues until the storage processing unit 1207 determines whether or not to save the storage targets to the recording device 1021.

[0243] In step S1005, if the accident detection unit 1206 detects the occurrence of an accident between objects that were determined to have a collision risk in the previous step (YES in S1005), the process proceeds to step S1006. On the other hand, if the accident detection unit 1206 does not detect the occurrence of an accident between objects that were determined to have a collision risk in the previous step (NO in S1005), the process proceeds to step S1009.

[0244] In step S1006, the storage processing unit 1207 reads from the temporary storage unit 1202 the items to be stored that the storage target determination unit 1205 has determined to be stored, up to at least the time up to the occurrence of the accident detected in S1005, and stores them in the recording device 1021. For example, the items to be stored that the storage target determination unit 1205 has determined to be stored, up to a predetermined time after the occurrence of the accident detected in S1005, can be read from the temporary storage unit 1202 and stored in the recording device 1021. In step S1007, the notification processing unit 1208 notifies an external server such as the police or an insurance company of the occurrence of the accident via the communication module 1008, and also transmits the items to be stored in the recording device 1021 in S1006 to this external server.

[0245] In step S1008, if it is the time for the video saving process to end (YES in S1008), the video saving process is terminated. On the other hand, if it is not the time for the video saving process to end (NO in S1008), the process returns to S1001 and is repeated. An example of the timing for the video saving process to end is when the vehicle's power switch is turned off.

[0246] In step S1009, the risk determination unit 1204 determines whether there is a risk of collision between the objects. In step S1010, if the collision risk determination result between the objects that were determined to have a collision risk in the previous step changes from having a collision risk to not having a collision risk (YES in S1010), the process proceeds to step S1011. On the other hand, if the collision risk remains, (NO in S1010), the process returns to S1004 to continue determining the objects to be saved and repeats the process.

[0247] In step S1011, the storage processing unit 1207 does not save the data that the data storage target determination unit 1205 had determined to be saved to the recording device 1021, and proceeds to step S1008. As mentioned above, the data that was not saved to the recording device 1021 and is stored in the temporary storage unit 1202 will be deleted sequentially, starting with data that has exceeded a certain age.

[0248] In step S1012, if the driving state identified by the driving identification unit 1203 has switched from automatic driving to non-automatic driving (YES in S1012), the process proceeds to step S1014. On the other hand, if the driving state identified by the driving identification unit 1203 has not switched from automatic driving to non-automatic driving (NO in S1012), the process proceeds to step S1013.

[0249] In step S1013, the storage target determination unit 1205 decides not to save the external video footage sequentially acquired by the video acquisition unit 1201 and proceeds to step S1008. On the other hand, in step S1014, the storage target determination unit 1205 associates the external video footage sequentially acquired by the video acquisition unit 1201 from the point in time when the driving state identified by the driving identification unit 1203 switches from automatic driving to non-automatic driving, with the driving state flag at the time the external video footage is acquired, and sets these as storage targets to be saved in the recording device 1021. This determination of storage targets by the storage target determination unit 1205 continues until the storage processing unit 1207 determines whether or not to save the storage targets to the recording device 1021.

[0250] In step S1015, if the accident detection unit 1206 detects the occurrence of an accident between the targets (YES in S1015), the process proceeds to step S1006. On the other hand, if the accident detection unit 1206 does not detect the occurrence of an accident between the targets (NO in S1015), the process proceeds to step S1016. The accident detection unit 1206 may also be configured to detect the occurrence of an accident between targets that the hazard determination unit 1204 has determined to have a collision risk after the driving state identified by the driving identification unit 1203 has switched from automatic driving to non-automatic driving.

[0251] In step S1016, if the elapsed time since the switch from automatic to non-automatic operation in S1012 has reached a specified time (YES in S1016), the storage processing unit 1207 proceeds to step S1017. On the other hand, if this elapsed time has not reached a specified time (NO in S1016), the unit returns to S1014 to continue determining the items to be saved and repeats the process. In step S1017, the storage processing unit 1207 does not save the items that the storage target determination unit 1205 had determined to be saved to the recording device 1021, and proceeds to step S1008.

[0252] [Summary of Embodiment 16] According to the configuration of this embodiment, as described above, in a vehicle that can switch between automated driving to a degree in which the vehicle is legally liable for an accident and non-autonomous driving where this automated driving is not performed, it becomes easier to prove that the automated driving system is not responsible for the occurrence of an accident.

[0253] Furthermore, according to the configuration of this embodiment, when the risk determination unit 1204 determines that there is a risk of collision between surrounding vehicles, the external video footage and the driving status are linked and saved as a target. Therefore, even if there is no determination of a risk of collision with the vehicle, the external video footage is saved, making it easier to investigate the cause of an accident if an accident occurs between surrounding vehicles, and to determine whether the vehicle is responsible for the accident.

[0254] <Embodiment 17> In the 16th embodiment, the following were shown as triggers for determining what to save: the hazard determination unit 1204 determining that there is a risk of collision between the vehicle and surrounding obstacles (hereinafter referred to as the first condition), the hazard determination unit 1204 determining that there is a risk of collision between surrounding vehicles (hereinafter referred to as the second condition), and the vehicle's driving state switching from autonomous driving to non-autonomous driving (hereinafter referred to as the third condition). However, the embodiment is not necessarily limited to this. For example, some of the first to third conditions may be used as triggers for determining what to save.

[0255] For example, if you adopt a configuration where only the first of the first to third conditions is used as the trigger described above, you can omit the processes S1003, S1012, S1014-S1017 in the flowchart of Figure 27, and proceed to S1013 if NO is found in S1002. If you adopt a configuration where only the second of the first to third conditions is used as the trigger described above, you can omit the processes S1002, S1012, S1014-S1017 in the flowchart of Figure 27, proceed to S1003 after S1001, and proceed to S1013 if NO is found in S1003. If you choose to use only the third condition out of the first to third conditions as the trigger as described above, you can omit the processes S1001-1005 and S1009-S1011 in the flowchart of Figure 27, and proceed to S1012 after S1001, and if NO is found in S1008, proceed to S1012.

[0256] If you choose a configuration that excludes only the first of the first to third conditions from the trigger described above, you can omit the process at S1002 in the flowchart of Figure 27 and proceed to S1003 after S1001. If you choose a configuration that excludes only the second of the first to third conditions from the trigger described above, you can omit the process at S1003 in the flowchart of Figure 27 and proceed to S1012 if the answer at S1002 is NO. If you choose a configuration that excludes only the third of the first to third conditions from the trigger described above, you can omit the processes at S1012, S1014 to S1017 in the flowchart of Figure 27 and proceed to S1013 if the answer at S1003 is NO.

[0257] In any configuration, as with the 16th embodiment, it becomes possible to distinguish whether the external video footage is from autonomous driving or non-autonomous driving. Therefore, in vehicles that can switch between autonomous driving to a degree in which the driver is legally liable for accidents and non-autonomous driving, it becomes easier to prove that autonomous driving is not responsible for the occurrence of an accident.

[0258] <Embodiment 18> In the 16th embodiment, the storage target determined by the storage target determination unit 1205 is temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 1202, and the storage processing unit 1207 saves this storage target to the recording device 1021, thereby saving the storage target to the recording device 1021. However, the embodiment is not necessarily limited to this configuration. For example, the storage target determined by the storage target determination unit 1205 may be stored in the recording device 1021, and the storage processing unit 1207 may not erase this storage target from the recording device 1021, thereby saving the storage target to the recording device 1021.

[0259] In this case, the storage processing unit 1207 reads the data to be saved from the temporary storage unit 1202 and stores it in the recording device 1021, regardless of whether the accident detection unit 1206 detects the occurrence of an accident between the data. Then, if the accident detection unit 1206 detects the occurrence of an accident between the data, the storage processing unit 1207 saves the data stored in the recording device 1021 by not erasing it. On the other hand, if the same conditions as those in the 16th embodiment are met for the storage processing unit 1207 not to save the data to the recording device 1021, the storage processing unit 1207 does not save the data stored in the recording device 1021 by erasing it.

[0260] Even with the above configuration, it becomes possible to distinguish whether the external video footage is from autonomous driving or non-autonomous driving, similar to the 16th embodiment. Therefore, in a vehicle that can switch between autonomous driving to a degree in which the driver is legally liable for an accident and non-autonomous driving where this autonomous driving is not performed, it becomes easier to prove that autonomous driving is not responsible for the occurrence of an accident.

[0261] <19th Embodiment> In the 16th embodiment, the configuration was shown in which, if the hazard determination unit 1204 determines that there is a collision risk between objects without the accident detection unit 1206 detecting the occurrence of an accident between objects, and the determination result of the hazard determination unit 1204 for objects that have been determined to have a collision risk changes from having a collision risk to not having one, the objects to be saved determined by the storage target determination unit 1205 are not saved to the recording device 1021. However, the configuration is not limited to this. For example, if the elapsed time since the hazard determination unit 1204 determined that there is a collision risk reaches a specified time without the accident detection unit 1206 detecting the occurrence of an accident between objects, the objects to be saved determined by the storage target determination unit 1205 are not saved to the recording device 1021. The specified time here is a time that can be set arbitrarily.

[0262] With the above configuration, it becomes possible to save external vehicle footage going back to the point in time when a collision risk between the objects is determined, making it easier to investigate the cause of the accident, while also preventing the recording device 1021 from taking up space by not saving external vehicle footage that is unlikely to be related to the accident.

[0263] <20th Embodiment> In the 16th embodiment, the storage processing unit 1207 is shown to store data to be saved up to the time of the accident in the recording device 1021 when the accident detection unit 1206 detects the occurrence of an accident, but the embodiment is not necessarily limited to this. For example, a configuration in which data to be saved for a certain period is stored in the recording device 1021 regardless of whether or not an accident is detected may be used (hereinafter referred to as the 20th embodiment). Here, the configuration of the 20th embodiment will be explained with reference to the figures.

[0264] The vehicle system 1001 of the 20th embodiment is the same as the vehicle system 1001 of the 16th embodiment, except that the automatic driving device 1002 includes an image processing device 1020a instead of an image processing device 1020. The automatic driving device 1002 of the 20th embodiment is also the same as the automatic driving device 1002 of the 16th embodiment, except that it includes an image processing device 1020a instead of an image processing device 1020.

[0265] Here, an example of the schematic configuration of the video processing device 1020a will be explained using Figure 28. The video processing device 1020a includes a video acquisition unit 1201, a temporary storage unit 1202, an operation identification unit 1203, a risk determination unit 1204, a storage target determination unit 1205, and a storage processing unit 1207a as functional blocks. The video processing device 1020a is the same as the video processing device 1020 of the 16th embodiment, except that it includes a storage processing unit 1207a instead of a storage processing unit 1207, and does not include an accident detection unit 1206 and a notification processing unit 1208.

[0266] The storage processing unit 1207a stores the items to be stored for a certain period of time, as determined by the storage target determination unit 1205, in the recording device 1021. The "certain period" here refers to an arbitrarily set period. When the storage target determination unit 1205 starts determining the items to be stored, the storage processing unit 1207a stores each item to be stored in the recording device 1021 each time an item to be stored is determined for a certain period of time from the start of the determination of items to be stored, thereby storing the items to be stored for a certain period of time in the recording device 1021.

[0267] According to the configuration of the 20th embodiment, it becomes possible to store external video footage for a certain period from the time when a collision risk between the objects is determined, along with a driving state flag corresponding to the time when this external video footage was acquired, in the recording device 1021. Therefore, in the event of an accident between objects, it becomes possible to verify the accident using external video footage for a certain period from the time when a collision risk between the objects is determined. By being able to verify the accident using external video footage up to the time when a collision risk between the objects is determined, it becomes easier to determine the cause of the accident. In addition, since the driving state flag corresponding to the time when the external video footage was acquired is linked to the external video footage, even if it is determined from the external video footage that the vehicle is responsible for the occurrence of the accident, it becomes possible to prove that the vehicle's autonomous driving is not responsible by distinguishing whether the external video footage was taken during autonomous driving or non-autonomous driving. As a result, in vehicles that can switch between autonomous driving to a degree that is legally stipulated to be responsible for an accident and non-autonomous driving that does not perform this autonomous driving, it becomes easier to prove that autonomous driving is not responsible for the occurrence of an accident.

[0268] Furthermore, according to the configuration of the 20th embodiment, it becomes possible to save external video footage for a certain period from the point of switching from autonomous driving to non-autonomous driving, along with a driving status flag corresponding to the time when this external video footage was acquired, in the recording device 1021. Therefore, it becomes possible to verify the accident using external video footage for a certain period from the point of switching. If the aforementioned accident occurs after the degree of autonomous driving of the vehicle switches from autonomous driving to non-autonomous driving, the driver may mistakenly claim that the accident occurred during autonomous driving. In response to this, it becomes possible to save external video footage for the period during which such a misunderstanding may occur in the recording device. In addition, since a driving status flag corresponding to the time when the external video footage was acquired is linked to the external video footage, even if it is determined from the external video footage that the vehicle is responsible for the occurrence of the accident, it becomes possible to prove that the vehicle's autonomous driving was not responsible by distinguishing whether the external video footage was taken during autonomous driving or non-autonomous driving. As a result, in vehicles that can switch between autonomous driving to a degree that is legally stipulated to be responsible for accidents and non-autonomous driving, it becomes easier to prove that autonomous driving is not responsible for the occurrence of an accident.

[0269] <21st Embodiment> Next, the 21st embodiment will be described. Figure 29 shows the configuration of the vehicle system 1101 of the 21st embodiment. The vehicle system 1101 includes an automatic driving device 1102 in place of the automatic driving device 1002. The automatic driving device 1102 includes an automatic driving unit 1123 in place of the automatic driving unit 1023, and an image processing device 1120 in place of the image processing device 1020.

[0270] In the 16th embodiment, external video footage and information that identifies the driving status of the vehicle were linked and saved together. In contrast, in the 21st embodiment, external video footage and information that identifies the driving status of the vehicle are saved separately, while allowing for retrospective association.

[0271] Furthermore, the vehicle system 1101 continuously stores external video footage and information that identifies the vehicle's driving status while the vehicle is in motion. In other words, the vehicle system 1101 continuously stores external video footage and information that identifies the vehicle's driving status, regardless of whether there is a risk of collision or whether the vehicle is in autonomous driving mode.

[0272] In order to separately store external video footage and information that can identify the driving status of the vehicle, while enabling retrospective correspondence, the automatic driving unit 1123 includes a timing unit 1124, a time correction unit 1125, a driving identification unit 1126, and a driving status recording device 1127. Furthermore, the vehicle equipped with the vehicle system 1101 is equipped with an in-vehicle LAN 11 and a reference clock 12. The in-vehicle LAN 11 and the reference clock 12 are the same as those described in the seventh embodiment.

[0273] In the 21st embodiment, as shown in Figure 29, the in-vehicle LAN 11 is connected to a time correction unit 1125 and a video processing device 1120 in addition to the reference clock 12. Other elements besides the time correction unit 1125 and video processing device 1120 shown in Figure 29 may also be connected to the in-vehicle LAN 11.

[0274] The timing unit 1124 is the same as the timing unit 743 in Figure 17 and measures the current time (i.e., the measurement time). The time correction unit 1125 has the same function as the time correction unit 744 in Figure 17, and obtains the reference time from the reference clock 12 and corrects the measurement time measured by the timing unit 1124 to the reference time obtained from the reference clock 12. In addition, the time correction unit 1125 updates the time error and time accuracy of the timing unit 1124 sequentially, in the same manner as the time correction unit 744.

[0275] In the 16th embodiment, the driving identification unit 1126 is configured to be included in the video processing device 1020. In this embodiment, it is included in the automatic driving unit 1123. The driving identification unit 1126, like the driving identification unit 1203 included in the video processing device 1020, identifies whether the vehicle is in an automatic driving state or a non-automatic driving state. It also acquires the measurement time, time error, and time accuracy from the timing unit 1124. The identified driving state is then stored in the driving state recording device 1127, along with the measurement time, time error, and time accuracy measured by the timing unit 1124.

[0276] The driving state recording device 1127 is an electrically rewritable non-volatile memory. The driving state recording device 1127 is separate hardware from the recording device 1021. The driving state recording device 1127 outputs stored information, such as information that can identify the driving state and measurement time, to an external device via wired or wireless means.

[0277] [Outline configuration of the video processing device 1120] Figure 30 shows the configuration of the video processing device 1120. As shown in Figure 30, the video processing device 1120 includes the same video acquisition unit 1201, accident detection unit 1206, and notification processing unit 1208 as in Figure 26. In addition, the video processing device 1120 includes a timing unit 11203, a time correction unit 11204, and a storage processing unit 11207. However, this video processing device 1120 does not include the driving identification unit 1203, hazard determination unit 1204, storage target determination unit 1205, and temporary storage unit 1202 that are included in the video processing device 1020 in Figure 26.

[0278] The reason why the driving identification unit 1203 is not included is that in this embodiment, the automatic driving unit 1123 includes the driving identification unit 1126. The reason why the risk determination unit 1204, the storage target determination unit 1205, and the temporary storage unit 1202 are not included is that in this embodiment, external vehicle video is stored at all times.

[0279] The timing unit 11203 is the same as the timing unit 1124 and measures the current time (i.e., the measurement time). The time correction unit 11204 has the same function as the time correction unit 1125 and obtains the reference time from the reference clock 12 and corrects the measurement time measured by the timing unit 11203 to the reference time obtained from the reference clock 12. In addition, the time correction unit 11204 updates the time error and time accuracy of the timing unit 11203 sequentially, in the same manner as the time correction unit 1125.

[0280] The storage processing unit 11207 acquires the measurement time, time error, and time accuracy from the timing unit 11203, and acquires external vehicle video from the video acquisition unit 1201. Then, it sequentially saves the external vehicle video, measurement time, time error, and time accuracy to the recording device 1021. In this embodiment, the recording device 1021 functions as a video recording device.

[0281] In this embodiment, the driving state is stored in the driving state recording device 1127 along with the measurement time. The external video is stored in a recording device 1021, which is a separate storage unit from the driving state recording device 1127, along with the measurement time. By storing the driving state and external video together with the measurement time, a timestamp is assigned to them. The driving state and external video, which are stored in separate storage devices, can be retrospectively associated using the timestamp. By retrospectively associating the driving state and external video, the vehicle system 1101 of this embodiment can also obtain the various effects described in the 16th embodiment.

[0282] Furthermore, in this embodiment, in addition to the timestamp (i.e., measurement time) being assigned to the driving state, the time error and time accuracy of that measurement time are also stored in the driving state recording device 1127. Similarly, in addition to the timestamp (i.e., measurement time) being assigned to the external video footage, the time error and time accuracy of that measurement time are also stored in the recording device 1021. Considering these time errors and time accuracy, it is possible to investigate the cause of an accident and which vehicle is responsible for the accident with greater reliability.

[0283] <22nd Embodiment> In the 21st embodiment, the operating state recording device 1127 stored the time error and time accuracy with respect to the measurement time when the operating state was identified. However, only one of the time error or time accuracy may be stored, or neither the time error nor the time accuracy may be stored.

[0284] Furthermore, regarding the time error and time accuracy relative to the measurement time when external video footage is acquired, it is possible to save only one of the time error or time accuracy, or to not save either the time error or time accuracy.

[0285] <23rd Embodiment> In embodiments 16, 20, and 21, external vehicle footage is saved as accident confirmation footage. However, in the event of an accident, it may be necessary to check the conditions inside the vehicle. In other words, interior footage is also accident confirmation footage that can potentially confirm the circumstances of the accident. Therefore, interior footage of the vehicle may be saved instead of external footage. Interior footage can include footage of various parts of the vehicle's interior, such as footage of the driver's seat area, footage of the rear seats, footage of the driver's seat and passenger seat, and footage combining these images. Alternatively, both external and interior footage may be saved.

[0286] <24th Embodiment> In the 16th embodiment, a configuration was shown in which the automatic driving device 1002 and the vehicle control ECU 1006 are separate components, but the embodiment is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the automatic driving device 1002 may also perform the functions of the vehicle control ECU 1006. Alternatively, the automatic driving device 1002 may also perform the functions of the locator 1003.

[0287] <25th Embodiment> In the embodiments described above, the configuration in which the video processing devices 1020 and 1020a are included in the automatic driving device 1002 was shown, but the invention is not necessarily limited to this configuration. For example, the configuration in which the video processing devices 1020 and 1020a are not included in the automatic driving device 1002 is also possible.

[0288] <26th Embodiment> In the 16th embodiment, the hazard determination unit 1204 determines whether there is a risk of collision between objects based on whether the distance between objects is greater than or equal to a safe distance calculated by a pre-set mathematical formula model. However, the embodiment is not limited to this configuration. For example, the hazard determination unit 1204 may determine whether there is a risk of collision between objects based on other indicators such as TTC (Time To Collision).

[0289] <27th Embodiment> In the 16th embodiment, a configuration in which the automatic driving device 1002 is equipped with a confirmation unit 1025 is shown, but the embodiment is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the automatic driving device 1002 may be configured without a confirmation unit 1025.

[0290] <28th Embodiment> Furthermore, the video processing devices 1020 and 1020a may be configured to notify an external server via the communication module 1008 when abnormal behavior of an occupant is detected from the interior video acquired by the video acquisition unit 1201. Abnormal behavior of an occupant from the interior video can be detected by image recognition technology. Examples of abnormal behavior of an occupant include the driver becoming incapacitated, the driver falling asleep at the wheel, or the driver being distracted.

[0291] <29th Embodiment> Furthermore, the information to be saved by the video processing devices 1020 and 1020a stored in the recording device 1021 may be configured to be output externally by means other than communication via the communication module 1008. For example, by making the recording device 1021 a removable recording medium, the information to be saved stored in the recording device 1021 may be output externally.

[0292] <30th Embodiment> From the 16th embodiment onward, in the embodiments described so far, automated driving in a driving state has been defined as automated driving to a degree that would result in legal liability for an accident. However, the automated driving in a driving state may include lower levels of automated driving. Furthermore, the level of automated driving may be saved as a driving state.

[0293] <31st Embodiment> By combining the first to fifteenth embodiments and the sixteenth to thirtyth embodiments, potential accident liability information, liability determination information, and accident confirmation video may be stored in a manner that allows them to be associated with each other. Figure 31 shows a driving memory system that combines the potential accident liability value determination device 700 of the seventh embodiment and the vehicle system 1101 of the twenty-first embodiment. However, for illustrative purposes, Figure 31 omits some of the internal configurations of the sensor integration unit 740, accident liability determination unit 750, surrounding monitoring sensor 1005, automatic driving unit 1103, and video processing device 1120.

[0294] In this embodiment, responsibility determination information, potential accident responsibility information, driving status, and accident confirmation video are each stored in separate memory units or storage devices, in a manner that allows them to be retrospectively associated with each other.

[0295] This disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. Embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, the control unit and method described in this disclosure may be implemented by a dedicated computer comprising a processor programmed to execute one or more functions embodied by a computer program. Alternatively, the apparatus and method described in this disclosure may be implemented by a dedicated hardware logic circuit. Alternatively, the apparatus and method described in this disclosure may be implemented by one or more dedicated computers comprising a combination of a processor that executes a computer program and one or more hardware logic circuits. Furthermore, the computer program may be stored as instructions executed by the computer on a computer-readable non-transitional tangible recording medium.

[0296] This disclosure also includes the following technical ideas based on the embodiments described above.

[0297] (Technical thought 1) A driving memory system installed in a vehicle, A target vehicle behavior determination unit (141) acquires sensor values ​​from a sensor that detects sensor values ​​indicating the behavior of surrounding vehicles present around the vehicle (1) on which the driving memory system is installed, and sequentially determines the relative behavior of a target vehicle selected from the surrounding vehicles with respect to the vehicle, based on the sensor values. The rule acquisition unit (142, 542) acquires the accident liability rules at the current location of the vehicle, A potential accident liability information determination unit sequentially determines potential accident liability information indicating whether or not the vehicle is liable for an accident that is potentially anticipated between the target vehicle and the vehicle, based on the relative behavior of the target vehicle and the accident liability rules acquired by the rule acquisition unit. A driving memory system comprising memory units (152, 352, 552, 745, 752) that store the aforementioned potential accident liability information and liability determination information, which is information used to determine the aforementioned potential accident liability information, in association with each other, or in a manner that enables such association.

[0298] (Technical thought 2) A driving memory system as described in Technical Concept 1, The aforementioned potential accident liability information and the liability determination information can be correlated with each other using a correspondence index. The aforementioned storage unit is, A potential accident liability storage unit (752) stores the aforementioned potential accident liability information together with the aforementioned correspondence index, A driving memory system comprising a responsibility decision information storage unit (745) that stores the responsibility decision information together with the corresponding index.

[0299] (Technical Thought 3) The aforementioned correspondence metric is a timestamp, The driving memory system according to technical concept 2, wherein the potential accident liability memory unit and the liability determination information memory unit also store at least one of the error and accuracy of the timestamp along with the timestamp.

[0300] (Technical Thought 4) The driving memory system according to technical concept 3, wherein the potential accident liability memory unit and the liability determination information memory unit store the timestamp along with the error and accuracy of the timestamp.

[0301] (Technical Thought 5) A driving memory system described in any one of the technical concepts 1 to 4, The potential accident liability value determination unit (151) is provided as the potential accident liability information determination unit, which sequentially determines a potential accident liability value as potential accident liability information, based on the relative behavior of the target vehicle and the accident liability rule acquired by the rule acquisition unit, indicating the degree of responsibility of the vehicle to an accident that is potentially expected between the target vehicle and the vehicle. A driving memory system comprising a potential accident memory unit (152) that stores the potential accident responsibility value and responsibility value determination information, which is information used to determine the potential accident responsibility value, in association with each other.

[0302] (Technical Thought 6) A driving memory system according to any one of the technical concepts 1 to 5, wherein the sensor values ​​are stored as the responsibility determination information.

[0303] (Technical Thought 7) A driving memory system according to any one of the technical concepts 1 to 5, wherein the relative behavior of the target vehicle is stored as the responsibility determination information.

[0304] (Technical Thought 8) The driving memory system according to technical concept 6, wherein the relative behavior of the target vehicle is stored as responsibility determination information along with the sensor values.

[0305] (Technical Thought 9) A driving memory system described in any one of the technical concepts 1 to 8, The system further includes a video acquisition unit (1201) that sequentially acquires accident confirmation video from an in-vehicle camera that captures accident confirmation video, which is video that may allow for confirmation of the circumstances of an accident if an accident occurs in or around the vehicle, A driving memory system in which the accident confirmation video is stored in the memory unit in association with, or in a manner that allows for association with, the information on potential accident liability.

[0306] (Technical Thought 10) A driving memory system described in any one of the technical concepts 1 to 9, A driving memory system in which the storage unit stores, in association with or in a manner that allows association, the detected values ​​detected by a vehicle behavior sensor that detects the behavior of the vehicle, or the behavior of the vehicle determined based on the detected values, with at least one of the potential accident liability information and the liability determination information.

[0307] (Technical Thought 11) A driving memory system according to any one of technical concepts 1 to 10, comprising a wireless communication unit (360, 560) that sequentially transmits the responsibility determination information of the vehicle stored in the memory unit to the outside of the vehicle.

[0308] (Technical Thought 12) The driving memory system according to technical concept 11, further comprising an external information storage unit (352, 552) that stores the responsibility determination information received when the wireless communication unit mounted on the vehicle receives the responsibility determination information transmitted from an external source.

[0309] (Technical Thought 13) The wireless communication unit (560) transmits the responsibility decision information received from an external source, which is stored in the external information storage unit, in the driving memory system according to technical concept 12.

[0310] (Technical Thought 14) A responsibility determination information acquisition unit (253, 453) acquires responsibility determination information, which is information used to determine whether or not the responsibility determination vehicle is responsible for an accident that is potentially anticipated between the responsibility determination vehicle, which is a vehicle that determines potential accident liability information, and a target vehicle selected from surrounding vehicles present around the responsibility determination vehicle. The system includes a potential accident liability information determination unit (251, 451) that determines the potential accident liability information based on a predetermined relationship for determining the potential accident liability information from the liability determination information and the liability determination information acquired by the liability determination information acquisition unit, A potential accident liability determination device installed outside the aforementioned liability determination vehicle.

[0311] (Technical Thought 15) The responsibility determination information acquisition unit acquires, as responsibility determination information, sensor values ​​detected by sensors installed in the responsibility determination vehicle and indicating the behavior of the surrounding vehicles, A target vehicle behavior determination unit (241) sequentially determines the relative behavior of the target vehicle selected from the surrounding vehicles with respect to the responsible determination vehicle based on the sensor values, The system includes a rule acquisition unit (242) that acquires accident liability rules at locations where it is necessary to determine the aforementioned potential accident liability information, The potential accident liability information determination unit sequentially determines the potential accident liability information based on the relative behavior of the target vehicle and the accident liability rules acquired by the rule acquisition unit, as described in technical concept 14.

[0312] (Technical Thought 16) The responsibility determination information acquisition unit (453) acquires the relative behavior of the target vehicle as responsibility determination information, The potential accident liability information determination unit (451) sequentially determines the potential accident liability information based on the relative behavior of the target vehicle and the accident liability rules at the location where the potential accident liability information needs to be determined, as described in technical concept 14.

[0313] (Technical Thought 17) The responsibility determination information acquisition unit acquires the responsibility determination information from surrounding vehicles located around the responsibility determination vehicle, as described in any one of the technical concepts 14 to 16, for the potential accident responsibility determination device.

[0314] (Technical Thought 18) A responsibility determination information acquisition unit (541) acquires responsibility determination information, which is information used to determine whether or not the responsibility determination vehicle is responsible for an accident that is potentially anticipated between the responsibility determination vehicle, which is a vehicle that determines potential accident liability information, and a target vehicle selected from surrounding vehicles present around the responsibility determination vehicle. A potential accident liability information determination unit (551) determines the potential accident liability information based on a predetermined relationship for determining the potential accident liability information from the liability determination information and the liability determination information acquired by the liability determination information acquisition unit, A potential accident liability determination device comprising: a peripheral information acquisition unit (570) that acquires peripheral liability determination information used to determine peripheral potential accident liability information indicating whether or not a related peripheral vehicle is liable for an accident that is potentially expected between the related peripheral vehicle and vehicles present in the vicinity of the related peripheral vehicle, with respect to related peripheral vehicles other than the target vehicle among the surrounding vehicles.

[0315] (Technical Thought 19) The system obtains sensor values ​​from a sensor that detects sensor values ​​indicating the behavior of surrounding vehicles present around the vehicle (1), and based on the sensor values, The relative behavior of the target vehicle selected from the surrounding vehicles with respect to the vehicle itself is determined sequentially. Obtain the accident liability rules at the current location of the vehicle, Based on the relative behavior of the subject vehicle and the accident liability rules, potential accident liability information indicating whether or not the vehicle is liable for an accident that is potentially foreseeable between the subject vehicle and the vehicle is determined sequentially. A driving memory method that stores the aforementioned potential accident liability information and liability determination information, which is information used to determine the aforementioned potential accident liability information, in association with each other, or in a manner that allows them to be associated, in a memory unit.

[0316] (Technical Thought 20) A method for determining liability for a potential accident, performed outside the liability determination vehicle, wherein liability determination information is obtained, which is information used to determine whether or not the liability determination vehicle is liable for a potential accident between the liability determination vehicle and a target vehicle selected from surrounding vehicles present around the liability determination vehicle. A method for determining potential accident liability, which determines the potential accident liability information based on a predetermined relationship for determining the potential accident liability information from the liability determination information and the acquired liability determination information.

[0317] (Technical Thought 21) Information is acquired, which is used to determine whether or not the responsible vehicle is responsible for a potential accident between the responsible vehicle and a target vehicle selected from surrounding vehicles present around the responsible vehicle, and is called responsibility determination information. Based on the predetermined relationship for determining the potential accident liability information from the liability determination information and the acquired liability determination information, the potential accident liability information is determined. A method for determining potential accident liability, which involves acquiring peripheral liability determination information for peripheral potential accident liability information indicating whether or not a related peripheral vehicle is liable for an accident that is potentially anticipated between the related peripheral vehicle and a vehicle present in its vicinity, with respect to related peripheral vehicles other than the target vehicle among the surrounding vehicles.

[0318] (Technical Thought 22) Used in vehicles that can switch between automated driving and non-autonomous driving, A video acquisition unit that sequentially acquires accident confirmation video from an in-vehicle camera that captures accident confirmation video, which is video that may allow confirmation of the circumstances of an accident if an accident occurs in or around the vehicle, A driving identification unit (1203) that identifies whether the vehicle is in the automatic driving state or the non-automatic driving state, A video recording system comprising a storage processing unit (1207, 1207a, 11207) that associates the accident confirmation video with information that can identify the driving state of the vehicle at the time the accident confirmation video is acquired, as identified by the driving identification unit, or stores them in a recording device in a manner that allows for such association.

[0319] (Technical Thought 23) The video recording system described in Technical Idea 22, The aforementioned accident confirmation video and the information that can identify the driving conditions are correlated with each other using a correspondence index. As the aforementioned recording device, A video recording device (1021) that stores the accident confirmation video together with the corresponding index, A video recording system comprising an operating state recording device (1127) that stores information that can identify the aforementioned operating state together with the corresponding index.

[0320] (Technical Thought 24) The aforementioned correspondence metric is a timestamp, The video recording system according to technical idea 23, wherein the video recording device and the operating state recording device also record at least one of the error and accuracy of the timestamp.

[0321] (Technical Thought 25) The video recording system according to technical concept 24, wherein the video recording device and the operating state recording device record the timestamp along with the error and accuracy of the timestamp.

[0322] (Technical Thought 26) A video recording system according to any one of the technical concepts 22 to 25, wherein the accident confirmation video includes video footage of the area surrounding the vehicle.

[0323] (Technical Thought 27) A video recording system according to any one of the technical concepts 22 to 26, wherein the accident confirmation video includes video footage of the interior of the vehicle.

[0324] (Technical Thought 28) The vehicle is equipped with an external video acquisition unit (1201) which sequentially acquires external video footage, which is video footage captured by an external camera (1051) installed on the vehicle and capturing the area around the vehicle, as the accident confirmation video, and further, A risk determination unit (1204) that determines whether there is a risk of collision between at least one of the following: between the vehicle and an obstacle surrounding the vehicle, and between vehicles surrounding the vehicle. A video recording system according to technical concept 26, comprising a storage target determination unit (1205) which determines which items to be stored in the recording device, triggered by the risk determination unit determining that there is a risk of collision between the items, the external video acquired sequentially by the external video acquisition unit and information that can identify the driving state of the vehicle at the time the external video is acquired, as identified by the driving identification unit.

[0325] (Technical Thought 29) The video recording system according to technical concept 28, wherein the storage target determination unit, even if the risk determination unit has not determined that there is a risk of collision between the targets, is triggered by the vehicle's driving state switching from autonomous driving to non-autonomous driving, and sets the external video acquired sequentially by the external video acquisition unit and information that can identify the vehicle's driving state at the time the external video is acquired, as the storage targets.

[0326] (Technical Thought 30) The accident detection unit (1206) detects the occurrence of an accident between the objects for which the risk determination unit has determined there is a risk of collision between those objects. The video recording system according to technical concept 28 or 29, wherein the storage processing unit, when it detects the occurrence of an accident, stores the data to be stored in the recording device at least up to the time the accident occurred.

[0327] (Technical Thought 31) The video recording system according to technical concept 30, wherein the storage processing unit, when it detects the occurrence of an accident, stores the data to be stored in the recording device up to a predetermined time after the occurrence of the accident.

[0328] (Technical Thought 32) The video recording system according to technical concept 30 or 31, wherein the storage processing unit does not detect the occurrence of the accident, and the risk determination unit has determined that there is a risk of collision between the objects, and the risk determination unit's determination result for the objects between the objects changes from having a risk of collision to not having a risk of collision.

[0329] (Technical Thought 33) A video recording system according to any one of the technical concepts 30 to 32, comprising a notification processing unit (1208) that, when the accident detection unit detects the occurrence of an accident, notifies the occurrence of the accident to a center outside the vehicle via communication and transmits the data to be saved to the center via communication.

[0330] (Technical Thought 34) The aforementioned risk determination unit determines whether or not there is a risk of collision between the vehicle and surrounding obstacles, and between surrounding vehicles. If the risk determination unit determines that there is a risk of collision between the vehicle and other surrounding vehicles, the video recording system described in any one of the technical concepts 28 to 33 of the aforementioned storage target determination unit also includes the information used by the risk determination unit to determine whether there is a risk of collision between the vehicle and other surrounding vehicles included in these surrounding vehicles.

[0331] (Technical Thought 35) The video recording system according to any one of the technical ideas 28 to 34, wherein the risk determination unit determines that there is a risk of collision when the distance between the objects is less than the safety distance, which is a standard distance for evaluating the safety between the objects calculated by a predetermined mathematical formula model, and determines that there is no risk of collision when the distance is equal to or greater than the safety distance.

[0332] (Technical Thought 36) The vehicle is equipped with an external video acquisition unit (1201) which sequentially acquires external video footage, which is video footage captured by an external camera (1051) installed on the vehicle and capturing the area around the vehicle, as the accident confirmation video, and further, A video recording system according to technical concept 26, comprising a storage target determination unit (1205) that determines which items to store in the recording device, triggered by a switch in the vehicle's driving state from automatic driving to non-automatic driving, the external video acquired sequentially by the external video acquisition unit and information that can identify the vehicle's driving state at the time the external video is acquired, as identified by the driving identification unit.

[0333] (Technical Thought 37) The system includes an accident detection unit (1206) that detects at least one of the following accidents: an accident between the vehicle and an obstacle in the vicinity of the vehicle, and an accident between vehicles in the vicinity of the vehicle. The video recording system according to technical concept 36, wherein the storage processing unit, when it detects the occurrence of an accident, stores the data to be stored in the recording device at least up to the time the accident occurred.

[0334] (Technical Thought 38) The system includes a risk determination unit (1204) that determines whether there is a risk of collision between at least one of the following: between the vehicle and an obstacle surrounding the vehicle, and between vehicles surrounding the vehicle. The accident detection unit detects the occurrence of an accident between objects that the risk determination unit has determined to have a risk of collision between, thereby detecting at least one of the following types of accidents: an accident between a vehicle and an obstacle surrounding the vehicle, and an accident between vehicles surrounding the vehicle. The video recording system according to technical concept 37, wherein the storage processing unit does not detect the occurrence of the accident, and the risk determination unit has determined that there is a risk of collision between the objects, and the risk determination unit's determination result for the objects between the objects changes from having a risk of collision to not having a risk of collision.

[0335] (Technical Thought 39) A video recording system according to technical concept 37 or 38, comprising a notification processing unit (1208) that, when the accident detection unit detects the occurrence of an accident, notifies the occurrence of the accident to a center outside the vehicle via communication and transmits the data to be saved to the center via communication.

[0336] (Technical Thought 40) A video recording system according to technical concept 28 or 36, further comprising a storage processing unit (1207a) that, when the storage target determination unit determines the storage target, stores the storage target for a certain period of time from the trigger in the recording device.

[0337] (Technical Thought 41) Used in vehicles that can switch between automated driving and non-autonomous driving, A video recording system as described in any one of the technical concepts 22 to 40, and a driving environment recognition unit (1022) that recognizes the driving environment of the vehicle using the detection results from a surrounding monitoring sensor (1005) that monitors the area around the vehicle, A driving plan unit (1024) generates a driving plan for driving the vehicle in autonomous driving mode using the driving environment recognized by the driving environment recognition unit, An automated driving system comprising an automated driving function unit (1026) that controls the driving of the vehicle in accordance with the driving plan generated by the driving plan unit.

[0338] (Technical Thought 42) A video recording method used in a vehicle that can switch between autonomous driving and non-autonomous driving, wherein In the event of an accident occurring in or around the aforementioned vehicle, the accident confirmation video is captured sequentially from an in-vehicle camera that records accident confirmation video, which is video that may allow for confirmation of the circumstances of the accident. Identify whether the vehicle is in the automated driving state or the non-autonomous driving state, A video recording method that associates, or stores in a recording device in a manner that allows for association, accident confirmation videos acquired sequentially with information that can identify the driving state of the vehicle at the time the accident confirmation videos are acquired.

[0339] In the driving memory system of Technical Concept 1 and the driving memory method of Technical Concept 19, liability determination information is stored in association with, or in a manner that allows for association with, potential accident liability information. In this way, potential accident liability information can be determined retrospectively using the liability determination information. The reliability of the potential accident liability information can be verified later by comparing the retrospectively determined potential accident liability information with the potential accident liability information stored in association with, or in a manner that allows for association with, the liability determination information.

[0340] The potential accident liability determination device of Technical Concept 14 and the potential accident liability determination method of Technical Concept 20 can acquire liability determination information and determine potential accident liability information based on that information. Therefore, when this potential accident liability determination device acquires liability determination information retrospectively, and when liability determination information is acquired retrospectively by the potential accident liability determination method, the potential accident liability information can be determined retrospectively. The reliability of the potential accident liability information can be later confirmed by comparing the retrospectively determined potential accident liability information with the potential accident liability information determined by a device other than this potential accident liability determination device or the device that executes this potential accident liability determination method. Examples of devices other than this potential accident liability determination device or the device that executes this potential accident liability determination method include, for example, a device installed in a vehicle other than the liability determination vehicle when this potential accident liability determination device or the device that executes this potential accident liability determination method is installed in that vehicle.

[0341] According to the potential accident liability determination device of Technical Concept 18 and the potential accident liability determination method of Technical Concept 21, even if there is a problem with the behavior of the vehicle in question that caused the accident, it is possible to determine whether the circumstances were such that a large part of the cause of the accident could be attributed to the behavior of the surrounding vehicles involved. As a result of this determination, it is possible to confirm whether the potential accident liability information appropriately represents the responsibility of the vehicle in question for the accident, that is, to verify the reliability of the potential accident liability information.

[0342] According to the video recording system of Technical Concept 22 and the video recording method of Technical Concept 42, when an accident occurs in or around a vehicle, accident confirmation video, which is video that may allow for confirmation of the circumstances of the accident, is stored in the recording device. Therefore, it becomes easier to determine the cause of the accident based on the accident confirmation video.

[0343] Furthermore, accident confirmation videos are associated with information that identifies whether the vehicle was operating autonomously or autonomously at the time the video was acquired. Therefore, it becomes possible to determine whether the vehicle was operating autonomously or autonomously at the time the video was acquired. Consequently, if an accident can be confirmed from the accident confirmation video, it becomes easier to distinguish whether the accident occurred during autonomous or autonomous driving. Therefore, even if the accident confirmation video determines that the vehicle is responsible for the accident, it becomes possible to prove that the autonomous driving system is not responsible by distinguishing whether the video was taken during autonomous or autonomous driving. As a result, in vehicles that can switch between autonomous driving and autonomous driving, it becomes easier to prove that the autonomous driving system is not responsible for the accident.

[0344] According to technical idea 41, since the aforementioned video recording system is included, it becomes easier to prove that the autonomous driving system is not responsible for accidents in vehicles that can switch between autonomous and non-autonomous driving modes.

Claims

1. A responsibility determination information acquisition unit (453) acquires responsibility determination information, which is information used to determine whether or not the responsibility determination vehicle is responsible for an accident that is potentially anticipated between the responsibility determination vehicle, which is a vehicle that determines potential accident liability information, and a target vehicle selected from surrounding vehicles present around the responsibility determination vehicle. The system includes a potential accident liability information determination unit (451) that determines the potential accident liability information based on a predetermined relationship for determining the potential accident liability information from the liability determination information and the liability determination information acquired by the liability determination information acquisition unit, It is installed outside the aforementioned responsibility determination vehicle, The aforementioned responsibility determination information acquisition unit is a potential accident responsibility determination device that acquires the responsibility determination information from surrounding vehicles located around the vehicle responsible for determining responsibility.

2. The responsibility determination information acquisition unit acquires the relative behavior of the target vehicle as responsibility determination information, The potential accident liability determination device according to claim 1, wherein the potential accident liability information determination unit sequentially determines the potential accident liability information based on the relative behavior of the target vehicle and the accident liability rules at the location where the potential accident liability information needs to be determined.

3. A responsibility determination information acquisition unit (541) acquires responsibility determination information, which is information used to determine whether or not the responsibility determination vehicle is responsible for an accident that is potentially anticipated between the responsibility determination vehicle, which is a vehicle that determines potential accident liability information, and a target vehicle selected from surrounding vehicles present around the responsibility determination vehicle. A potential accident liability information determination unit (551) determines the potential accident liability information based on a predetermined relationship for determining the potential accident liability information from the liability determination information and the liability determination information acquired by the liability determination information acquisition unit, A potential accident liability determination device comprising: a peripheral information acquisition unit (570) that acquires peripheral liability determination information used to determine peripheral potential accident liability information indicating whether or not a related peripheral vehicle is liable for an accident that is potentially expected between the related peripheral vehicle and vehicles present in the vicinity of the related peripheral vehicle, with respect to related peripheral vehicles other than the target vehicle among the surrounding vehicles.

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