In-vehicle reporting system, server, mobile terminal, and in-vehicle reporting method

Abstract

An in-vehicle reporting system (1) is provided with: a report management unit (31) that manages report information on the basis of the report information including a report type received from a mobile terminal (20) of a user present in a vehicle; and a report distribution unit (32) that determines, on the basis of the report information being managed by the report management unit (31), a delivery destination and delivery contents of the report information, and that distributes the delivery contents to the delivery destination.

Description

In-vehicle reporting system, server, mobile terminal, and in-vehicle reporting method

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an in-vehicle reporting system, a server, a mobile terminal, and an in-vehicle reporting method used when making a report.

[0002] Conventionally, trains are equipped with notification devices for notifying crew members and others of emergencies that occur on board. However, because the notification devices are installed in fixed locations within the train, there are problems with convenience, such as not being able to move to the notification device location when the train is full, or the difficulty of reporting in front of the person committing a nuisance. In response to these problems, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technology that allows passengers to notify the occurrence of an emergency along with their location information from their own mobile terminals.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-159208

[0004] However, with the above-mentioned conventional technology, there was a problem in that the person receiving the emergency report from the passenger's mobile terminal could not immediately understand the nature of the emergency, and could not quickly decide what to do or what guidelines to follow in response to the emergency.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above, and aims to provide an in-vehicle reporting system that allows users to easily make reports while also allowing the delivery destination to be changed depending on the content of the report.

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objectives, the in-vehicle reporting system of the present disclosure is characterized by comprising a reporting management unit that manages reporting information based on reporting information including a reporting type received from a user's mobile terminal present in the vehicle, and a reporting distribution unit that determines the distribution destination and distribution content of the reporting information based on the reporting information managed by the reporting management unit and distributes the information to the distribution destination.

[0007] The in-vehicle reporting system of the present disclosure has the effect of enabling a user to easily make a report, while also enabling the person receiving the report to easily understand the content of the report.

[0008] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an in-vehicle notification system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the display of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing of an in-vehicle notification system according to an embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a processing circuit in a server provided in an in-vehicle notification system according to an embodiment, when the processing circuit is realized by a processor and a memory. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a processing circuit in a server provided in an in-vehicle notification system according to an embodiment, when the processing circuit is realized by dedicated hardware.

[0009] Hereinafter, an in-vehicle reporting system, a server, a mobile terminal, and an in-vehicle reporting method according to embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0010] 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an in-vehicle reporting system 1 according to this embodiment. The in-vehicle reporting system 1 includes a beacon device 10, a mobile terminal 20, a server 30, and a destination terminal 40. The server 30 includes a report management unit 31 and a report distribution unit 32. In the example of FIG. 1, the in-vehicle reporting system 1 includes the beacon device 10, the mobile terminal 20, and one destination terminal 40.

[0011] The beacon device 10 is a location information distribution device that is installed in a vehicle 50 and distributes location information for identifying the user's location to a mobile terminal 20 held by a user. Specifically, the beacon device 10 distributes, as location information, the formation number of a train including the vehicle 50 and a car number indicating the position of the vehicle 50 on the train. That is, the location information includes the formation number of the train including the vehicle 50 and the car number indicating the position of the vehicle 50 on the train. The beacon device 10 is assumed to be installed in each car 50 of a train (not shown), but multiple beacon devices 10 may also be installed in one car 50. In this case, the beacon device 10 may distribute information that can identify the user's location in detail within the vehicle 50. The beacon device 10 distributes location information to the mobile terminal 20 by a communication method such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or Wi-Fi (registered trademark), but is not limited to these. The beacon device 10 may distribute location information to the mobile terminal 20 by other communication methods.

[0012] The mobile terminal 20 is a terminal device held by a user. The mobile terminal 20 is intended to be held by a user riding a train. The mobile terminal 20 may be a dedicated terminal device or a terminal device such as a smartphone installed with an application distributed by a railway operator that operates the train. The mobile terminal 20 transmits the report type received from the user, answers to questions corresponding to the report type received from the user, location information received from the beacon device 10, and its own terminal identification information to the report management unit 31 of the server 30. The identification information is a terminal ID (identifier) ​​unique to each mobile terminal 20, such as a Media Access Control (MAC) address, but is not limited thereto. Including the identification information in the report information transmitted from the mobile terminal 20 to the report management unit 31 can provide effects such as preventing tampering. The mobile terminal 20 can communicate with the report management unit 31 via the Internet or the like, but may also communicate with the report management unit 31 via a network dedicated to the railway operator or the like. The mobile terminal 20 accepts a report type selected by the user from multiple report type candidates indicating the classification of the report. In addition, the mobile terminal 20 accepts an answer selected by the user from a plurality of answer candidates for a question corresponding to the accepted report type. The mobile terminal 20 regards the report type accepted from the user, the answer to the question corresponding to the report type accepted from the user, and the location information received from the beacon device 10 as report information. In other words, of the information transmitted from the mobile terminal 20 to the report management unit 31 of the server 30, information other than the identification information of the mobile terminal 20 is regarded as report information. It can also be said that the mobile terminal 20 transmits report information and the identification information of its own terminal to the report management unit 31 of the server 30.

[0013] The report management unit 31 evaluates the report information received from the mobile terminal 20. The report management unit 31 outputs valid report information to the report distribution unit 32. The report management unit 31 manages the report information based on the report information received from the mobile terminal 20 of the user present in the vehicle. The specific operation of the report management unit 31 will be described later.

[0014] The report distribution unit 32 determines the destination terminal 40 to which the report information validated by the report management unit 31 is to be distributed. The report distribution unit 32 distributes the report information to the determined destination terminal 40. That is, the report distribution unit 32 determines the destination and distribution content of the report information based on the report information managed by the report management unit 31, and distributes the report information to the destination. With regard to the distribution content to be distributed to the destination, the report distribution unit 32 may use all of the information included in the report information as the distribution content, or may use information that omits some of the information included in the report information depending on the distribution type, distribution destination, etc. The specific operation of the report distribution unit 32 will be described later.

[0015] The destination terminal 40 is a terminal device to which the report information is distributed by the report distribution unit 32. The destination terminal 40 is, for example, a crew terminal carried by a crew member on board a train including the vehicle 50, a terminal device installed at a station where a train including the vehicle 50 stops or a control room that manages the operation of a train including the vehicle 50, a terminal device installed at a police station, a terminal device installed at a fire station, etc., but is not limited to these. Note that the number of destination terminals 40 to which the report distribution unit 32 distributes the report information may be one or more.

[0016] The following describes the configuration of the mobile terminal 20. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the mobile terminal 20 according to this embodiment. The mobile terminal 20 includes a communication unit 21, a communication unit 22, a display unit 23, an operation reception unit 24, and a control unit 25.

[0017] The communication unit 21 is a first communication unit that receives location information distributed from the beacon device 10, which is a location information distribution device that is installed in the vehicle 50 and distributes location information for identifying the user's location. The communication unit 21 performs wireless communication with the beacon device 10 by a communication method such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, as described above.

[0018] The communication unit 22 is a second communication unit that performs wireless communication with the report management unit 31 of the server 30. The communication unit 22 transmits report information and identification information of the mobile terminal 20 to the report management unit 31 under the control of the control unit 25. That is, the communication unit 22 uses the location information and information accepted from the user by the operation acceptance unit 24 (described later) as report information, and transmits the report information and identification information of the mobile terminal 20 to the report management unit 31 of the server 30 that manages the report information.

[0019] The display unit 23, under the control of the control unit 25, displays a plurality of candidate report types indicating the report types, a plurality of candidate answers to questions corresponding to the report types, and the like.

[0020] The operation accepting unit 24 accepts a user's selection operation from a plurality of candidate report types, a plurality of candidate answers, etc., displayed on the display unit 23. The display unit 23 and the operation accepting unit 24 may be configured, for example, by a touch panel.

[0021] The control unit 25 controls the content displayed on the display unit 23. The control unit 25 treats the location information received by the communication unit 21 and the information accepted by the operation acceptance unit 24 from the user as report information, and controls transmission of the report information and the identification information of the device itself from the communication unit 22 to the report management unit 31 of the server 30 that manages the report information. The control unit 25 also accepts, via the operation acceptance unit 24, a report type selected by the user from a plurality of report type candidates indicating the classification of the report, and accepts an answer selected by the user from a plurality of answer candidates to a question that is preset according to the accepted report type. The control unit 25 includes the report type and answer accepted by the operation acceptance unit 24 in the report information.

[0022] Here, a display example in which the mobile device 20 displays candidate notification types to the user will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the mobile device 20 according to the present embodiment. In the mobile device 20, the control unit 25 displays information for accepting a notification type in the upper section of the display unit 23. In the example of FIG. 3 , the control unit 25 displays, on the display unit 23, a response space along with a message saying, "Please select a notification type from the pull-down menu." The notification type indicates the type of emergency that has occurred in the vehicle 50. While FIG. 3 illustrates examples such as "fire, smoke," the notification type is not limited to the example of FIG. 3 . The control unit 25 accepts a selection of a notification type from the user via the operation accepting unit 24. The control unit 25 controls the display of questions corresponding to the notification type accepted by the user in the middle and subsequent sections of the display unit 23. In the example of FIG. 3 , the user has selected "violent behavior" as the notification type, and therefore the control unit 25 displays questions related to "violent behavior" on the display unit 23. That is, when a notification type is selected, the control unit 25 switches the display content in the middle and subsequent sections of the display unit 23 according to the selected notification type. As with the case of the report type, the control unit 25 receives a response from the user in a pull-down format at the operation receiving unit 24. When the user presses "Start Report" on the screen shown in Fig. 3, the control unit 25 performs control to transmit the received information as the report type and response together with the location information and identification information from the communication unit 22 to the report management unit 31.

[0023] The display of the mobile device 20 shown in FIG. 3 is an example and is not limited thereto. When the mobile device 20 receives a user's selection of a report type or the like, the mobile device 20 can display candidate report types or the like in a list format rather than a pull-down menu format, and receive the user's selection by checking the corresponding items. Furthermore, while the mobile device 20 displays two questions related to the report type in FIG. 3 , the number of questions may be one, three, or more, and the number of questions may vary depending on the report type. Furthermore, in preparation for an emergency, the mobile device 20 may be configured to allow a report to be made without inputting answers to the questions, as long as the user has input the minimum report type. In this way, the mobile device 20 can quickly make a report even in an emergency situation by providing a screen with a simple user interface that allows the user to input the minimum necessary information.

[0024] In this embodiment, when the report management unit 31 of the server 30 receives report information from the mobile device 20, it evaluates whether the report information is valid or invalid. As described above, a user can issue a report from the mobile device 20 by operating the screen as shown in FIG. 3 . However, in a situation where a reportable event has occurred, the user may panic and make an incorrect screen operation, i.e., select the wrong option from multiple options. It is also possible that a malicious user may issue a report from the mobile device 20 even when no reportable event has occurred. Therefore, when the report management unit 31 receives report information from multiple mobile devices 20 and the report information includes multiple report types, the report management unit 31 may determine that report information for a specified percentage or more of the report types is valid. Furthermore, assuming that many users will notice a reportable event when it occurs, the report management unit 31 may determine that the received report type is valid when it receives report information from a specified number of mobile devices 20. The report management unit 31 may appropriately vary the specified percentage and the specified number according to the occupancy rate of the vehicle 50.

[0025] Furthermore, if the report management unit 31 can acquire image information of the vehicle 50 where the subject of the report indicated in the report information is occurring, the report management unit 31 may evaluate the validity or invalidity of the report information using images of the vehicle 50, i.e., image information captured at the scene of the report. For example, if no fire or smoke is detected in an image of the vehicle 50 where the "fire or smoke" is occurring in response to report information of a "fire or smoke" type, the report management unit 31 may evaluate the "fire or smoke" report information as ineffective. If the report management unit 31 has acquired image information as described above, the report management unit 31 may further output the image information to the report distribution unit 32. In this case, the report distribution unit 32 further includes the image information in the distribution content and distributes it to the distribution destination. This allows relevant parties at the distribution destination who receive the image information from the report distribution unit 32 to more easily understand the status of the event that is the subject of the report. Note that the report management unit 31 may acquire image information for distribution instead of the image information used to evaluate the report information. Furthermore, the image for distribution may be acquired by the report distribution unit 32 rather than the report management unit 31. Furthermore, the image information may be acquired from a monitoring camera installed in the vehicle, or may be acquired by a camera installed in the mobile terminal 20 of the user who made the report. When the image information is acquired by a camera installed in the user's mobile terminal 20, the mobile terminal 20 transmits the image information taken by the user to the report management unit 31 or the report distribution unit 32. Furthermore, the timing at which the report management unit 31 or the report distribution unit 32 acquires the image information may be the timing at which the report is made by the user, or the timing at which the report management unit 31 evaluates the report information as valid.

[0026] The report distribution unit 32 determines the distribution destination of the report information acquired from the report management unit 31 as a distribution destination pre-associated with the report type. As described above, the mobile device 20 presents the user with multiple candidate report types and accepts the user's selection of a corresponding report type from the multiple candidates. That is, the report types selectable by the user on the mobile device 20 are known to the in-car reporting system 1. Therefore, by pre-associating the target of the report distribution by the report distribution unit 32 with the report types selectable on the mobile device 20, the report distribution unit 32 can easily determine the distribution destination of the report information. For example, when the report type is "violent act," the distribution destination of the report distribution unit 32 may be the train crew, the staff at the next station, etc., and may also include the police station, fire station, etc. depending on the presence or absence of a weapon, the number of seriously injured people, etc. The in-car reporting system 1 associates the terminal device held by the crew as the distribution destination so that the crew can rush to the location of the report if the event targeted by the report type can be handled by the crew alone. In the case where the event that is the subject of the notification type cannot be handled by the train crew alone, the in-train notification system 1 links the terminal device held by the train crew with the terminal device of the next station, police station, etc. as the distribution destination so that security guards, police officers, etc. are on standby at the next station. Note that the linking of the event that is the subject of the notification type with the distribution destination may be performed by the manufacturer of the in-train notification system 1, or may be set or changeable by the railway company that actually uses the system.

[0027] In the above description, the report management unit 31 in the server 30 evaluates the report information. However, it is also possible to imagine a situation where it is not desirable to waste the processing time of the report management unit 31 when the urgency of the event corresponding to the report type is high. For this reason, the in-vehicle reporting system 1 may, for example, provide emergency acceptance buttons such as "Start Reporting" and "Make a Report Immediately" on the screen of the mobile terminal 20 shown in FIG. 3, so that when "Make a Report Immediately" is pressed, the processing of the report management unit 31 is omitted and the report is delivered from the report delivery unit 32 to the delivery destination. In this case, the report delivery unit 32 may prioritize delivery to a police station or the like over delivery to a driver or the like.

[0028] 4 is a flowchart showing the processing of the in-vehicle reporting system 1 of this embodiment. In the in-vehicle reporting system 1, the mobile terminal 20 receives location information from the beacon device 10 (step S101). If the mobile terminal 20 has not received a report type and an answer from the user (step S102: No), the process returns to step S101. If the mobile terminal 20 has received a report type and an answer from the user (step S102: Yes), the mobile terminal 20 transmits the report type, answer, and location information as report information together with the identification information of the mobile terminal 20 to the report management unit 31. The report management unit 31 evaluates the report information (step S103). If the report information is not valid (step S103: No), the report management unit 31 terminates the processing. If the report information is valid (step S103: Yes), the report management unit 31 outputs the report information to the report distribution unit 32. The notification distribution unit 32 determines a distribution destination according to the notification type indicated by the notification information (step S104), and distributes the notification information to the determined distribution destination (step S105).

[0029] Next, the hardware configuration of the in-vehicle reporting system 1 according to this embodiment will be described. In the in-vehicle reporting system 1, the beacon device 10 is a wireless device that distributes location information. The mobile terminal 20 is, as described above, a smartphone or the like on which an application is installed. The report management unit 31 and the report distribution unit 32, i.e., the server 30, are realized by a processing circuit. The processing circuit may be a memory that stores a program and a processor that executes the program stored in the memory, or may be dedicated hardware. The processing circuit is also called a control circuit.

[0030] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the processing circuit 90 of the server 30 included in the in-vehicle communication system 1 according to this embodiment, when the processing circuit is realized by a processor 91 and a memory 92. The processing circuit 90 shown in FIG. 5 is a control circuit and includes a processor 91 and a memory 92. When the processing circuit 90 is configured with the processor 91 and the memory 92, each function of the processing circuit 90 is realized by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware. The software or firmware is written as a program and stored in the memory 92. The processor 91 reads and executes the program stored in the memory 92 to realize each function of the processing circuit 90. That is, the processing circuit 90 includes the memory 92 for storing a program that results in the processing of the server 30 being executed. This program can also be said to be a program that causes the server 30 to execute each function realized by the processing circuit 90. This program may be provided by a storage medium on which the program is stored, or by other means such as a communication medium.

[0031] The above program can also be said to be a program that causes the server 30 to execute a first step in which the notification management unit 31 manages notification information based on notification information including the notification type received from the user's mobile terminal 20 present in the vehicle, and a second step in which the notification distribution unit 32 determines the distribution destination and distribution content of the notification information based on the notification information managed by the notification management unit 31 and distributes it to the distribution destination.

[0032] Here, the processor 91 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a processing device, an arithmetic unit, a microprocessor, a microcomputer, or a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), etc. The memory 92 is, for example, a non-volatile or volatile semiconductor memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a flash memory, an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), or an EEPROM (Electrically EPROM), a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a minidisk, or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc).

[0033] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the processing circuit 93 of the server 30 included in the in-vehicle communication system 1 according to this embodiment, when the processing circuit is realized by dedicated hardware. The processing circuit 93 shown in FIG. 6 corresponds to, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a combination thereof. The processing circuit 93 may be partially realized by dedicated hardware and partially realized by software or firmware. In this way, the processing circuit 93 can realize each of the above-described functions by dedicated hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof.

[0034] As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the in-vehicle reporting system 1, the mobile terminal 20 receives and transmits information from the user about an event that has occurred in the vehicle 50 and requires a report, the report management unit 31 evaluates the report information, and the report distribution unit 32 distributes valid report information to a distribution destination associated with the report type. This allows the in-vehicle reporting system 1 to easily allow the user to make a report while also allowing the distribution destination to be changed depending on the content of the report, i.e., the report information to be distributed to a distribution destination according to the report type. Furthermore, the person receiving the report can easily understand the content of the report.

[0035] The configurations shown in the above embodiments are merely examples, and may be combined with other known technologies, or different embodiments may be combined with each other. It is also possible to omit or modify parts of the configurations as long as they do not deviate from the gist of the invention.

[0036] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 in-vehicle reporting system, 10 beacon device, 20 portable terminal, 21, 22 communication unit, 23 display unit, 24 operation reception unit, 25 control unit, 30 server, 31 report management unit, 32 report distribution unit, 40 distribution destination terminal, 50 vehicle

Claims

1. a notification management unit that manages notification information based on notification information including a notification type received from a mobile terminal of a user present in the vehicle; a notification distribution unit that determines a distribution destination and distribution contents of the notification information based on the notification information managed by the notification management unit and distributes the notification information to the distribution destination; Equipped with The report management unit evaluates the report information as valid report information using image information captured by a monitoring camera installed in the vehicle at the scene of the report indicated by the report information. An in-vehicle reporting system.

2. The report management unit or the report distribution unit acquires the image information at the timing when the report is made by the user or when the report management unit evaluates the report information as valid.

2. The in-vehicle reporting system according to claim 1 .

3. The notification information includes location information including a train formation number of the train including the vehicle and a car number indicating the location of the vehicle on the train, the location information being distributed from a location information distribution device installed in the vehicle to identify the location of the user.

3. The in-vehicle reporting system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The report information includes a report type selected by the user from a plurality of report type candidates indicating a classification of the report.

3. The in-vehicle reporting system according to claim 1 or 2.

5. The report information includes an answer by the user to a question corresponding to the report type.

5. The in-vehicle reporting system according to claim 4.

6. the report management unit receives the report information from a plurality of the mobile terminals, and when a plurality of report types are included in the report information, the report management unit determines that a prescribed proportion or more of the report types are valid report information.

3. The in-vehicle reporting system according to claim 1 or 2.

7. The notification distribution unit distributes the image information to the distribution destination by including the image information in the distribution content.

3. The in-vehicle reporting system according to claim 1 or 2.

8. the notification distribution unit sets a destination of the notification information to a destination associated in advance with the notification type; 3. The in-vehicle reporting system according to claim 1 or 2.

9. a notification management unit that manages notification information based on notification information including a notification type received from a mobile terminal of a user present in the vehicle; a notification distribution unit that determines a distribution destination and distribution contents of the notification information based on the notification information managed by the notification management unit and distributes the notification information to the distribution destination; Equipped with The report management unit evaluates the report information as valid report information using image information captured by a monitoring camera installed in the vehicle at the scene of the report indicated by the report information. A server comprising:

10. The report management unit or the report distribution unit acquires the image information at the timing when the report is made by the user or when the report management unit evaluates the report information as valid.

10. The server according to claim 9.

11. the report management unit receives the report information from a plurality of the mobile terminals, and when a plurality of report types are included in the report information, the report management unit determines that a prescribed proportion or more of the report types are valid report information.

11. The server according to claim 9 or 10.

12. The notification distribution unit distributes the image information to the distribution destination by including the image information in the distribution content.

11. The server according to claim 9 or 10.

13. the notification distribution unit sets a destination of the notification information to a destination associated in advance with the notification type; 11. The server according to claim 9 or 10.

14. a first communication unit that is installed in the vehicle and receives location information distributed from a location information distribution device that distributes location information for identifying a user's location; a display unit that displays a plurality of report type candidates that indicate the report type; an operation receiving unit that receives an operation of the user to select from a plurality of candidate report types displayed on the display unit; a second communication unit that evaluates the location information and the information received from the user by the operation reception unit as report information, evaluates the report information as valid report information using image information captured by a monitoring camera installed in the vehicle at the scene of the report indicated by the report information, and transmits the report information to a server that manages the report information; A mobile terminal comprising:

15. the second communication unit transmits to the server, the answer to a question that is received via the operation receiving unit and that is preset according to the report type, the answer being included in the report information; 15. The mobile terminal according to claim 14.

16. A first step of managing report information based on report information including a report type received from a mobile terminal of a user present in a vehicle by a report management unit; a second step of a report distribution unit determining a distribution destination and distribution contents of the report information based on the report information managed by the report management unit and distributing the report information to the distribution destination; Including, In the first step, the report management unit evaluates the report information as valid report information using image information captured by a monitoring camera installed in the vehicle at a scene of the report indicated by the report information. The in-vehicle reporting method according to the present invention is characterized in that