Information notification device and information notification method

Abstract

To convey information from a self vehicle to a following vehicle in an easy-to-understand manner when the self vehicle is traveling.SOLUTION: An information notification device includes: an obstacle information detecting unit 14 for detecting obstacle information affecting the travel of a self vehicle 1 when the self vehicle is traveling; and a notification control unit 15 that notifies the following vehicle of at least one of the obstacle information and behavior information about the behavior of the self vehicle caused by the obstacle information via a display 5 installed in the self vehicle so that the display is visible to a following vehicle 100 that is located behind the self vehicle.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information notification device and an information notification method.

Background Art

[0002] In Patent Document 1, when there is a risk of collision between a pedestrian located in front of the host vehicle and a following vehicle located behind the host vehicle, a risk notification means (for example, a headlight, a horn, etc.) mounted on the host vehicle for a use different from the use of notifying the risk is used to notify the pedestrian and the following vehicle of the risk of collision.

[0003] In Patent Document 2, when a pedestrian blocked by a parked vehicle located in front of the host vehicle is detected by vehicle-to-pedestrian communication, information on the pedestrian (a pedestrian icon and the time until the pedestrian is visually recognized) is displayed on the HMI of the host vehicle.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] In the technique described in Patent Document 1, light or sound is emitted from the host vehicle to the following vehicle. However, since such a notification does not include specific content, there is a possibility that the driver of the following vehicle cannot grasp the meaning of such a notification. Further, in the technique described in Patent Document 2, in the first place, it is not assumed that information is notified from the host vehicle to the following vehicle.

[0006] Therefore, in view of the above problems, the object of the present invention is to transmit information from one vehicle to a following vehicle in an easy-to-understand manner while the vehicle is in motion. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The gist of this disclosure is as follows:

[0008] (1) An information notification device comprising: an obstacle information detection unit that detects obstacle information affecting the driving of the vehicle while the vehicle is in motion; and a notification control unit that notifies the following vehicle of at least one of the obstacle information and behavioral information relating to the behavior of the vehicle caused by the obstacle information via a display provided on the vehicle so as to be visible to the following vehicle located behind the vehicle.

[0009] (2) The information notification device according to (1) above, further comprising a driver position detection unit for detecting the position of the driver of the following vehicle, wherein the display has a plurality of display units that are arranged in different positions on the vehicle, and the notification control unit changes the display position of at least one of the pieces of information on the display according to the position of the driver of the following vehicle when notifying the following vehicle of at least one of the pieces of information.

[0010] (3) The information notification device according to (2) above, wherein when the risk level posed to the following vehicle based on the fault information is high, the number of display units on which at least one of the pieces of information is displayed is increased compared to when the risk level is low.

[0011] (4) The information notification device according to any one of (1) to (3) above, wherein the notification control unit notifies the following vehicle of the change in course of its vehicle via the display when the vehicle changes course in response to the fault information.

[0012] (5) The information notification device according to any one of (1) to (4) above, wherein the notification control unit determines a recommended action for the following vehicle based on the fault information and notifies the following vehicle of the recommended action via the display.

[0013] (6) A computer-based information notification method comprising: detecting fault information affecting the driving of the vehicle while the vehicle is in motion; and notifying the following vehicle of at least one of the fault information and behavioral information relating to the vehicle's behavior caused by the fault information, via a display provided on the vehicle so as to be visible to the following vehicle located behind the vehicle. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] According to the present invention, information can be clearly communicated from one vehicle to a following vehicle while the vehicle is in motion. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1] This diagram schematically shows a part of the configuration of a vehicle equipped with an information notification device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a schematic side view of the vehicle. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of a situation where there is a fallen object in front of a vehicle. [Figure 4] This is a flowchart showing the control routine for notification processing in the first embodiment. [Figure 5] This figure shows an example of information displayed on a screen to notify following vehicles. [Figure 6] This figure shows an example of behavioral information and risk levels displayed on a screen to notify following vehicles. [Figure 7] This is a functional block diagram of the ECU processor in a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] This figure shows an example of a display having multiple display units. [Figure 9] This is a flowchart showing the control routine of the notification process in the second embodiment.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals are assigned to similar components.

[0017] <First Embodiment> Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a part of the configuration of a vehicle 1 provided with an information notification device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 1 includes a surrounding information acquisition device 2, a vehicle behavior detection device 3, a human machine interface (HMI) 4, a display 5, a communication device 6, and an electronic control unit (ECU) 10. The surrounding information acquisition device 2, the vehicle behavior detection device 3, the HMI 4, the display 5, and the communication device 6 are electrically connected to the ECU 10 via an in-vehicle network or the like conforming to a standard such as CAN (Controller Area Network).

[0019] The surrounding information acquisition device 2 acquires data (images, point cloud data, etc.) around the vehicle 1 (the host vehicle) as the surrounding information of the vehicle 1. For example, the surrounding information acquisition device 2 includes a millimeter-wave radar, a camera (monocular camera or stereo camera), a lidar (LIDAR: Laser Imaging Detection And Ranging), or an ultrasonic sensor (sonar), or any combination thereof. The output of the surrounding information acquisition device 2, that is, the surrounding information of the vehicle 1 acquired by the surrounding information acquisition device 2, is transmitted to the ECU 10.

[0020] Figure 2 is a schematic side view of vehicle 1. As shown in Figure 2, vehicle 1 is equipped with a front camera 2a. The front camera 2a is positioned at the front of vehicle 1 (for example, behind the rearview mirror inside the vehicle, on the front bumper, etc.) to photograph the area in front of vehicle 1. The front camera 2a photographs the area in front of vehicle 1 and generates an image of the area in front of vehicle 1. The front camera 2a is an example of a surrounding information acquisition device 2.

[0021] The vehicle behavior detection device 3 detects parameters that indicate the behavior of the vehicle 1. The vehicle behavior detection device 3 includes, for example, a vehicle speed sensor (e.g., a wheel speed sensor) for detecting the speed of the vehicle 1, a yaw rate sensor for detecting the yaw rate of the vehicle 1, a brake pedal stroke sensor for detecting the force applied to the brake pedal of the vehicle 1, and a steering angle sensor for detecting the steering angle of the vehicle 1. The output of the vehicle behavior detection device 3, i.e., the parameters detected by the vehicle behavior detection device 3, is transmitted to the ECU 10.

[0022] The HMI4 is installed inside the vehicle and facilitates the exchange of information between the vehicle 1 and its occupant (e.g., the driver). The HMI4 has an output unit (e.g., display, speaker, light source, vibration unit, etc.) that provides information to the occupant of the vehicle 1, and an input unit (e.g., touch panel, operation buttons, operation switches, microphone, etc.) that receives information from the occupant of the vehicle 1. The output of the ECU10 is notified to the occupant of the vehicle 1 via the HMI4, and the input from the occupant of the vehicle 1 is transmitted to the ECU10 via the HMI4. The HMI4 is an example of an input device, output device, or input / output device. Alternatively, the occupant's mobile terminal (smartphone, tablet, etc.) may be connected to the ECU10 via wired or wireless connection and function as the HMI4.

[0023] Display 5 is installed on vehicle 1 so as to be visible to following vehicles located behind vehicle 1. In this specification, a following vehicle means a vehicle traveling behind vehicle 1 in the same lane as vehicle 1. The output of the ECU 10 is communicated to the following vehicle via display 5. As shown in Figure 2, vehicle 1 is equipped with a rear display 5a. The rear display 5a is located at the rear of vehicle 1 (for example, above the license plate and between the taillights) and displays information toward the rear of vehicle 1. Rear display 5a is an example of display 5. Display 5 may also be installed on the top of vehicle 1. Display 5 may also be installed inside the passenger compartment, as long as it is visible to following vehicles.

[0024] The communication device 6 is capable of communicating with the outside of the vehicle 1 and enables communication between the vehicle 1 and the outside of the vehicle 1. For example, the communication device 6 includes a wide-area communication device that enables wide-area wireless communication between the vehicle 1 and the outside of the vehicle 1 (e.g., a server) via a communication network such as a carrier network or the Internet network, a vehicle-to-vehicle communication device that enables vehicle-to-vehicle communication between the vehicle 1 and surrounding vehicles using a predetermined frequency band, and a vehicle-to-infrastructure communication device that enables vehicle-to-infrastructure communication between the vehicle 1 and roadside equipment using a predetermined frequency band.

[0025] The ECU 10 performs various controls on the vehicle 1. As shown in Figure 1, the ECU 10 includes a communication interface 11, a memory 12, and a processor 13. The communication interface 11 and the memory 12 are connected to the processor 13 via signal lines. In this embodiment, one ECU 10 is provided, but multiple ECUs may be provided for each function.

[0026] The communication interface 11 has an interface circuit for connecting the ECU 10 to the in-vehicle network. The ECU 10 is connected to other in-vehicle equipment via the communication interface 11.

[0027] Memory 12 includes, for example, volatile semiconductor memory and non-volatile semiconductor memory. Memory 12 stores programs, data, etc., used when various processes are executed by the processor 13.

[0028] The processor 13 has one or more CPUs (Central Processing Units) and their peripheral circuits. The processor 13 may also have additional arithmetic circuits such as a logic unit or a numerical unit.

[0029] Figure 3 shows an example of a situation where there is a fallen object in front of vehicle 1. In the example in Figure 3, when a following vehicle 100 is driving behind vehicle 1, vehicle 1 is moving to the right to avoid the fallen object. In such a situation, the driver of the following vehicle 100 may not be able to see the fallen object in front of vehicle 1, which could endanger the following vehicle 100. Therefore, in this embodiment, the ECU 10 functions as an information notification device that notifies the following vehicle of visual information, and notifies the following vehicle 100 of obstacle information that may affect the driving of vehicle 1.

[0030] As shown in Figure 1, in this embodiment, the processor 13 of the ECU 10 has a fault information detection unit 14 and a notification control unit 15. The fault information detection unit 14 and the notification control unit 15 are functional modules that are realized by the processor 13 of the ECU 10 executing a program stored in the memory 12 of the ECU 10. These functional modules may each be realized by dedicated arithmetic circuits provided in the processor 13.

[0031] The fault information detection unit 14 detects fault information (hereinafter simply referred to as "fault information") that affects the driving of vehicle 1 while vehicle 1 is in motion. For example, the fault information detection unit 14 detects fallen objects, broken-down vehicles, accident sites, construction sites, lane closure information, etc., as fault information based on surrounding information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition device 2. In this case, the fault information detection unit 14 detects fault information using image recognition technology such as machine learning models (e.g., neural networks, support vector machines, random forests, etc.). Alternatively, the fault information detection unit 14 may detect road surface slippage as fault information based on the output of the wheel speed sensor of the vehicle behavior detection device 3.

[0032] The notification control unit 15 controls the display 5 to control notifications displayed on the display 5. Normally, it is difficult for a following vehicle located behind vehicle 1 to grasp the situation in front of vehicle 1. For this reason, the notification control unit 15 notifies the following vehicle of information via the display 5. Specifically, the notification control unit 15 notifies the following vehicle of fault information detected by the fault information detection unit 14 via the display 5. By notifying the following vehicle of information via the display 5, which displays text or images, information can be clearly conveyed from vehicle 1 to the following vehicle while vehicle 1 is in motion. In addition, by notifying the following vehicle of fault information, the risk that the fault information may pose to the following vehicle can be reduced.

[0033] The following describes the control process flow described above with reference to Figure 4. Figure 4 is a flowchart of the control routine for notification processing in the first embodiment. This control routine is repeatedly executed by the processor 13 of the ECU 10 at predetermined execution intervals.

[0034] First, in step S101, the notification control unit 15 of the processor 13 determines whether or not fault information has been detected by the fault information detection unit 14 of the processor 13. If it is determined that no fault information has been detected, this control routine terminates. On the other hand, if it is determined that fault information has been detected, this control routine proceeds to step S102.

[0035] In step S102, the notification control unit 15 notifies the following vehicle 100 of the fault information detected by the fault information detection unit 14 via the display 5. After step S102, this control routine ends.

[0036] Furthermore, if vehicle 1 changes its course in response to fault information (for example, as shown in Figure 3), the notification control unit 15 may notify the following vehicle 100 of the change in vehicle 1's course via the display 5. This allows the driver of the following vehicle 100 to quickly recognize the change in vehicle 1's behavior, further enhancing the safety of the following vehicle 100.

[0037] Furthermore, the notification control unit 15 may determine a recommended action for the following vehicle 100 based on the fault information and notify the following vehicle 100 of the recommended action via the display 5. This enables the driver of the following vehicle 100 to quickly address the danger posed to the following vehicle 100 by the fault information. For example, as shown in Figure 3, when the fault information is a fallen object in front of vehicle 1, the notification control unit 15 determines that changing lanes to the right lane is the recommended action for the following vehicle 100.

[0038] Figure 5 shows an example of information displayed on the display 5 to notify a following vehicle 100. In the example in Figure 5, text information is displayed on the display 5 as information to be notified to the following vehicle 100. Specifically, the text "Falling object ahead!" notifies the following vehicle 100 of an obstacle: a falling object in front of vehicle 1. In addition, the text "Avoid to the right" notifies the following vehicle 100 of a change in vehicle 1's course, and the text "Move to the right lane" notifies the following vehicle 100 of the recommended action.

[0039] The notification control unit 15 may also notify the following vehicle 100 of the obstruction information by displaying the image generated by the front camera 2a installed on the vehicle 1 on the display 5. By displaying the camera image directly on the display 5 in this way, the driver of the following vehicle 100 can check the obstruction information in front of vehicle 1 from the perspective of vehicle 1. In this case, information on changes in the vehicle 1's course, notifications of recommended actions for the following vehicle 100, etc., may be superimposed on the image generated by the front camera 2a.

[0040] Furthermore, the notification control unit 15 may, in place of or in addition to the fault information, notify the following vehicle 100 via the display 5 of behavioral information (hereinafter simply referred to as "behavioral information") relating to the behavior of vehicle 1 caused by the fault information. In other words, in this embodiment, the notification control unit 15 notifies the following vehicle 100 of at least one of the fault information and behavioral information via the display 5. The behavioral information is, for example, information relating to the braking or steering of vehicle 1 caused by the fault information.

[0041] Furthermore, the notification control unit 15 may notify the following vehicle 100 of the risk level posed to it based on the fault information via the display 5. This makes it possible for the driver of the following vehicle 100 to intuitively perceive danger.

[0042] Figure 6 shows an example of behavioral information and risk level displayed on the display 5 to notify a following vehicle 100. In the example in Figure 6, the behavioral information displayed on the display 5 includes a steering image indicating that vehicle 1 is steering to the right, and an arrow image indicating the amount of steering (the length of the arrow indicates the amount of steering). In addition, the risk level is displayed on the display 5 as a bar-shaped image indicating the risk level. The bar-shaped image shown in Figure 6 indicates that the risk level is level 4 out of 5 levels, and on the display 5, four bars are lit up sequentially in order of increasing bar length.

[0043] <Second Embodiment> The information notification device according to the second embodiment is basically the same as the information notification device according to the first embodiment in terms of configuration and control, except for the points described below. For this reason, the second embodiment of the present invention will be described below, focusing on the parts that differ from the first embodiment.

[0044] Figure 7 is a functional block diagram of the processor 13 of the ECU 10 in a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 7, in this embodiment, the processor 13 of the ECU 10 has a driver position detection unit 16 in addition to a fault information detection unit 14 and a notification control unit 15. The fault information detection unit 14, the notification control unit 15, and the driver position detection unit 16 are functional modules that are realized by the processor 13 of the ECU 10 executing a program stored in the memory 12 of the ECU 10. These functional modules may each be realized by a dedicated arithmetic circuit provided in the processor 13.

[0045] The driver position detection unit 16 detects the position of the driver of the following vehicle 100 located behind vehicle 1. For example, the driver position detection unit 16 detects the position of the driver of the following vehicle 100 based on surrounding information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition device 2 (for example, a rear camera or rear light provided at the rear of vehicle 1). In this case, the driver position detection unit 16 detects the position of the driver of the following vehicle 100 by using image recognition technology such as a machine learning model (for example, a neural network, support vector machine, random forest, etc.) to detect the steering wheel or instrument panel of the following vehicle 100 or the driver of the following vehicle 100.

[0046] In the second embodiment, the display 5 has multiple display units that are positioned at different locations on the vehicle 1. Figure 8 shows an example of a display having multiple display units. In the example of Figure 8, the display 5 is divided into two parts in the left-right direction, and has a right-side display unit 51 positioned on the right side of the vehicle 1 and a left-side display unit 52 positioned on the left side of the vehicle 1. The right-side display unit 51 and the left-side display unit 52 are each electrically connected to the ECU 10, and the notification control unit 15 can control the display content of the right-side display unit 51 and the display content of the left-side display unit 52 separately.

[0047] As shown in Figure 8, when the display 5 has multiple display units, it is desirable that the information that the driver of the following vehicle 100 should see is displayed on the display unit in front of the driver. For this reason, when the notification control unit 15 notifies the following vehicle 100 of at least one of the fault information and behavior information, it changes the display position of the information on the display 5 according to the position of the driver of the following vehicle 100. This improves the visibility of the information notified to the following vehicle 100, and makes it possible to convey information from vehicle 1 to the following vehicle 100 in an easy-to-understand manner while vehicle 1 is in motion.

[0048] When the display 5 has a right-side display unit 51 and a left-side display unit 52, the driver position detection unit 16 detects the left-right position of the driver of the following vehicle 100. When the driver position detection unit 16 detects a steering wheel or the like on the right side of the following vehicle 100, it determines that the driver is on the right, and when it detects a steering wheel or the like on the left side of the following vehicle 100, it determines that the driver is on the left. When the driver of the following vehicle 100 is on the right, the notification control unit 15 displays at least one of the fault information and behavior information on the right-side display unit 51, and when the driver of the following vehicle 100 is on the left, it displays at least one of the fault information and behavior information on the left-side display unit 52.

[0049] On the other hand, the notification control unit 15 turns off the display on the display unit where fault information and behavior information are not displayed. This allows the power consumption of the display unit 5 to be reduced while transmitting necessary information to the driver of the following vehicle 100 via the display unit 5. The notification control unit 15 may also display other information, such as advertisements, on the display unit where fault information and behavior information are not displayed. For example, as shown in Figure 8, if the following vehicle 100 is a left-hand drive vehicle, that is, if the driver of the following vehicle 100 is on the left, the notification control unit 15 may display at least one of the fault information and behavior information on the left display unit 52 and display advertisements on the right display unit 51.

[0050] Figure 9 is a flowchart showing the control routine for notification processing in the second embodiment. This control routine is repeatedly executed by the processor 13 of the ECU 10 at predetermined execution intervals.

[0051] First, in step S201, the driver position detection unit 16 of the processor 13 detects the position of the driver of the following vehicle 100.

[0052] Next, in step S202, the notification control unit 15 of the processor 13 determines whether or not fault information has been detected by the fault information detection unit 14 of the processor 13. If it is determined that no fault information has been detected, this control routine terminates. On the other hand, if it is determined that fault information has been detected, this control routine proceeds to step S203.

[0053] In step S203, the notification control unit 15 determines the display position of the information on the display 5 based on the driver's position detected by the driver position detection unit 16. For example, if the driver of the following vehicle 100 is located to the right, the notification control unit 15 determines the display position of the information to be on the right-side display section 51 of the display 5. On the other hand, if the driver of the following vehicle 100 is located to the left, the notification control unit 15 determines the display position of the information to be on the left-side display section 52 of the display 5.

[0054] Next, in step S204, the notification control unit 15 notifies the following vehicle 100 of at least one of the fault information and behavior information via the display 5. At this time, for example, if the display position of the information determined in step S203 is the right-side display unit 51, the notification control unit 15 displays at least one of the fault information and behavior information on the right-side display unit 51 and turns off the display on the left-side display unit 52. In this case, the notification control unit 15 may display other information, such as an advertisement, on the left-side display unit 52. After step S204, this control routine ends. Note that step S201 may be executed between steps S202 and S203.

[0055] Furthermore, the display 5 may be divided into two parts vertically, having an upper display unit located above the vehicle 1 and a lower display unit located below the vehicle 1. In this case, the driver position detection unit 16 detects the vertical position of the driver of the following vehicle 100, for example, based on the vehicle height of the following vehicle 100. The notification control unit 15 determines that the driver's position is above when the vehicle height of the following vehicle 100 is above a predetermined value, and determines that the driver's position is below when the vehicle height of the following vehicle 100 is below a predetermined value. The vehicle height of the following vehicle 100 is detected based on surrounding information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition device 2, or acquired via vehicle-to-vehicle communication between vehicle 1 and the following vehicle 100.

[0056] Furthermore, similar to the driver's lateral position, the driver position detection unit 16 may also detect the position of the driver of the following vehicle 100 by using image recognition technology such as a machine learning model (e.g., neural network, support vector machine, random forest, etc.) to detect the steering wheel or instrument panel of the following vehicle 100 or the driver of the following vehicle 100. The notification control unit 15 displays information on the upper display unit when the driver of the following vehicle 100 is above, and displays information on the lower display unit when the driver of the following vehicle 100 is below. In this case as well, display units that do not display fault information and behavior information are turned off or display other information such as advertisements.

[0057] Furthermore, the display 5 may be divided into four sections vertically and horizontally, and may have an upper right display section located on the upper right side of the vehicle 1, a lower right display section located on the lower right side of the vehicle 1, an upper left display section located on the upper left side of the vehicle 1, and a lower left display section located on the lower left side of the vehicle 1. In this case, the driver position detection unit 16 detects the horizontal and vertical positions of the driver of the following vehicle 100 in the manner described above. The notification control unit 15 displays information on the upper right display section when the driver of the following vehicle 100 is located on the upper right, displays information on the lower right display section when the driver of the following vehicle 100 is located on the lower right, displays information on the upper left display section when the driver of the following vehicle 100 is located on the upper left, and displays information on the lower left display section when the driver of the following vehicle 100 is located on the lower left. In this case as well, display sections that do not display fault information and behavior information are turned off or display other information such as advertisements.

[0058] Furthermore, when the risk level posed to the following vehicle 100 based on the fault information is high, the notification control unit 15 may increase the number of display units on the display 5 that show at least one of the fault information and behavior information compared to when the risk level is low. For example, when the risk level is above a predetermined value, the notification control unit 15 displays at least one of the fault information and behavior information on all display units of the display 5, regardless of the position of the driver of the following vehicle 100. This makes it possible to notify the following vehicle 100 of the danger with an appropriate intensity according to the risk level. For example, the notification control unit 15 calculates the time to collision (TTC) between the following vehicle 100 and vehicle 1, and calculates the risk level based on the TTC. In this case, the shorter the TTC, the higher the risk level.

[0059] <Other Embodiments> Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made. For example, information other than fault information and behavior information (e.g., advertisements, etc.) may be displayed on the display 5 for the purpose of presenting it to the driver of the following vehicle 100, and the notification control unit 15 may change the display position of the information on the display 5 according to the position of the driver of the following vehicle 100.

[0060] Furthermore, in addition to notifying the following vehicle 100, the notification control unit 15 may also transmit fault information to facilities outside of vehicle 1 (e.g., a road traffic information center, police station, information management server, etc.) via vehicle-to-infrastructure communication or wide-area wireless communication. This makes it possible to efficiently collect fault information discovered at various locations via the vehicle.

[0061] Furthermore, if there are multiple following vehicles behind vehicle 1, information may be transmitted sequentially from the leading following vehicle to the last following vehicle. In this case, when a following vehicle receives information from the vehicle in front, it will notify the vehicles further behind it of the same information. If the following vehicle has a display device such as display 5, the information will be transmitted via the display device; if the following vehicle does not have a display device such as display 5, the information will be transmitted via vehicle-to-vehicle communication.

[0062] Furthermore, the computer program that enables the computer to implement the functions of each part of the processor 13 of the ECU 10 may be provided in the form of a recording medium that can be read by the computer. The recording medium that can be read by the computer may be, for example, a magnetic recording medium, an optical recording medium, or a semiconductor memory.

[0063] Alternatively, a display control device having a processor and memory may be mounted on the vehicle 1 together with the display 5, and such a display control device may function as an information notification device and perform the information notification method described above. Alternatively, a server or control center that can communicate with the vehicle 1 via wide-area wireless communication such as a communication network may function as an information notification device and perform the information notification method described above. [Explanation of symbols]

[0064] 1. Vehicle (Own vehicle) 5 displays 51 Right side display 52 Left side display 10. Electronic Control Unit (ECU) 13 processors 14. Fault Information Detection Unit 15 Notification Control Unit 16 Driver position detection unit 100 Following vehicles

Claims

1. A fault information detection unit that detects fault information affecting the vehicle's operation while the vehicle is in motion, A notification control unit that notifies a following vehicle of at least one of the following information, namely the fault information and behavioral information relating to the behavior of the vehicle caused by the fault information, via a display installed on the vehicle so as to be visible to the following vehicle located behind the vehicle, A driver position detection unit that detects the position of the driver of the following vehicle. Equipped with, The aforementioned display has a plurality of display units that are positioned at different locations within the vehicle. When the notification control unit notifies the following vehicle of the at least one of the pieces of information, it changes the display position of the at least one piece of information on the display according to the position of the driver of the following vehicle. The notification control unit is an information notification device that, when the risk level posed to the following vehicle based on the fault information is high, increases the number of display units on which at least one of the pieces of information is displayed compared to when the risk level is low.

2. The information notification device according to claim 1, wherein the notification control unit determines a recommended action for the following vehicle based on the fault information and notifies the following vehicle of the recommended action via the display.

3. A method of notifying information performed by a computer, To detect fault information that may affect the vehicle's operation while the vehicle is in motion, A display provided on the vehicle so as to be visible to a following vehicle located behind the vehicle, the display having a plurality of display units positioned at different locations on the vehicle, notifies the following vehicle of at least one of the fault information and behavioral information relating to the behavior of the vehicle caused by the fault information. To detect the position of the driver of the following vehicle, When notifying the following vehicle of at least one of the aforementioned pieces of information, the display position of at least one of the aforementioned pieces of information on the display is changed according to the position of the driver of the following vehicle. When the risk level posed to the following vehicle based on the aforementioned fault information is high, the number of display units on which at least one of the aforementioned pieces of information is displayed will be increased compared to when the risk level is low. Information notification methods, including those mentioned above.

Images