Vehicle control device, method, and program

Abstract

In the present invention, if it is confirmed that a driver is eligible to drive a vehicle, the driving of the vehicle can be allowed. A biometric information acquisition unit (11) acquires biometric information of a driver. A license information acquisition unit (12) acquires license information of a person having a driving license, the license information including biometric information of the person. A determination unit (13) determines whether or not the driving license is valid on the basis of the acquired license information. A biometric authentication unit (14) authenticates the driver by biometric authentication on the basis of the acquired biometric information and the biometric information included in the acquired license information. A control unit (15) controls at least one of starting and running of the vehicle according to the result of the determination as to whether or not the driving license is valid and the authentication result of the biometric authentication.

Description

Vehicle control device, method, and computer-readable medium

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle control device, a vehicle control method, and a computer-readable medium.

[0002] As a related technique, Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle that performs biometric authentication inside the vehicle. In the vehicle described in Patent Document 1, facial images of the vehicle owner, his / her family, or friends are stored in a memory. A control circuit of the vehicle acquires a facial image of the person sitting in the driver's seat, i.e., the driver, from an in-vehicle camera. The control circuit determines whether the driver is the same person as the authorized driver based on the facial image acquired from the in-vehicle camera and the facial image stored in the memory.

[0003] If the driver is an authorized driver, the control circuit performs normal vehicle control in response to the driver's operation. If the driver is not an authorized driver, i.e., a suspicious person, the control circuit issues a warning to the suspicious person. If a suspicious person gets into the vehicle while the vehicle is stopped and does not exit the vehicle, the control circuit forcibly locks the doors, trapping the suspicious person inside the vehicle. Furthermore, if the control circuit identifies the driver as a suspicious person while the vehicle is moving, it issues a warning and then automatically stops the vehicle.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-360

[0005] The vehicle described in Patent Document 1 controls the running or starting of the vehicle depending on whether the driver is an authorized driver or a suspicious person. In Patent Document 1, if the driver is determined to be an authorized driver, normal vehicle control is performed. However, the vehicle described in Patent Document 1 does not check whether the driver has a driver's license. Therefore, even if a person does not have a driver's license, i.e., a person who is not qualified to drive a vehicle, they can drive the vehicle if their facial image is registered in the vehicle as an authorized driver.

[0006] In view of the above circumstances, the present disclosure aims to provide a vehicle control device, a vehicle control method, and a computer-readable medium that can permit a person to drive a vehicle if it is confirmed that the person is qualified to drive the vehicle.

[0007] To achieve the above object, the present disclosure provides, as a first aspect, a vehicle control device including: a biometric information acquisition unit that acquires biometric information of a driver of a vehicle; a license information acquisition unit that acquires license information related to a driver's license, the license information including biometric information of a person who holds the driver's license; a determination unit that determines whether the driver's license is valid based on the acquired license information; a biometric authentication unit that authenticates the driver by biometric authentication based on the biometric information acquired by the biometric information acquisition unit and the biometric information included in the acquired license information; and a control unit that controls at least one of starting and running of the vehicle depending on the result of the determination whether the driver's license is valid and the result of the biometric authentication.

[0008] In a second aspect, the present disclosure provides a vehicle control method, which includes acquiring biometric information of a driver of a vehicle, acquiring license information related to a driver's license including biometric information of a person holding the driver's license, determining whether the driver's license is valid based on the acquired license information, authenticating the driver through biometric authentication based on the acquired biometric information and the biometric information included in the acquired license information, and controlling at least one of starting and running of the vehicle according to the result of the determination whether the driver's license is valid and the result of the biometric authentication.

[0009] In a third aspect, the present disclosure provides a computer-readable medium storing a program for causing a processor to execute processes including acquiring biometric information of a driver of a vehicle, acquiring license information related to a driver's license including biometric information of a person holding the driver's license, determining whether the driver's license is valid based on the acquired license information, authenticating the driver through biometric authentication based on the acquired biometric information and the biometric information included in the acquired license information, and controlling at least one of starting and running of the vehicle depending on the result of the determination whether the driver's license is valid and the result of the biometric authentication.

[0010] The vehicle control device, vehicle control method, and computer-readable medium according to the present disclosure can permit driving of a vehicle when it is confirmed that the driver is qualified to drive the vehicle.

[0011] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle control device, a vehicle control system, a control method for controlling a vehicle ...

[0012] Prior to describing embodiments of the present disclosure, an overview of the present disclosure will be described. Fig. 1 shows a schematic configuration example of a vehicle control device according to the present disclosure. The vehicle control device 10 includes a biometric information acquisition unit 11, a license information acquisition unit 12, a determination unit 13, a biometric authentication unit 14, and a control unit 15.

[0013] The biometric information acquisition unit 11 acquires biometric information of a driver who is in a vehicle. The license information acquisition unit 12 acquires license information related to a driver's license. The license information includes biometric information of the person who holds the driver's license. The judgment unit 13 judges whether the driver's license is valid based on the acquired license information.

[0014] The biometric authentication unit 14 biometrically authenticates the driver based on the biometric information acquired by the biometric information acquisition unit 11 and the biometric information included in the license information acquired by the license information acquisition unit 12. The control unit 15 controls at least one of starting and running of the vehicle depending on the result of determining whether the driver's license is valid and the result of the biometric authentication. For example, if the control unit 15 determines that the driver's license is valid and the driver has been successfully biometrically authenticated using the biometric information included in the license information, the control unit 15 permits the vehicle to start or run.

[0015] In the present disclosure, the control unit 15 can permit the vehicle to start or run if it determines that the driver's license is valid and the driver has successfully passed biometric authentication using biometric information included in the license information. The biometric authentication unit 14 passes biometric authentication if the driver and the person on the driver's license are the same person. Therefore, the control unit 15 can permit the vehicle to start or run if it is confirmed that the driver's license is valid and that the driver and the person on the driver's license are the same person. Therefore, the vehicle control device 10 can permit the vehicle to be driven if it is confirmed that the driver is qualified to drive the vehicle.

[0016] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the following description and drawings have been omitted and simplified as appropriate for clarity of explanation. In addition, in each drawing, the same or similar elements are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate explanations are omitted as necessary.

[0017] 2 shows a vehicle 100 including a vehicle control device 110, a camera 130, a near field communication (NFC) reader 150, a vehicle control electronic control unit (ECU) 170, and an autonomous driving ECU 190.

[0018] Vehicle 100 is a mobile object such as a passenger car, a taxi, or a van. Although not shown in FIG. 2 , vehicle 100 has a perimeter monitoring sensor and a vehicle sensor. The perimeter monitoring sensor is a sensor that monitors the situation around vehicle 100. The perimeter monitoring sensor includes, for example, a camera, a radar, or a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging). The vehicle sensor includes, for example, a vehicle speed sensor that detects vehicle speed, a steering sensor that detects a steering angle, an accelerator pedal position sensor that detects the accelerator pedal position, and a brake pedal force sensor that detects the amount of depression of the brake pedal.

[0019] The vehicle control ECU 170 is an electronic control device that performs driving control of the vehicle 100. The vehicle control ECU 170 is also called a controller. The automatic driving ECU 190 is an electronic control device that controls the automatic driving of the vehicle 100. The automatic driving ECU 190 is also called an automatic driving control device. The vehicle control ECU 170 and the automatic driving ECU 190 physically have a processor, a memory, an I / O (Input / Output), and a bus that connects these.

[0020] The vehicle control ECU 170 controls the vehicle drive system, such as the engine. The autonomous driving ECU 190 acquires sensor information from surrounding monitoring sensors and vehicle sensors, and controls the autonomous driving of the vehicle 100 based on the acquired sensor information. In this embodiment, the autonomous driving level is assumed to be Level 3, which indicates conditional autonomous driving. Therefore, during autonomous driving, the driver of the vehicle 100 needs to be in a state where he or she can immediately return to driving if requested by the system.

[0021] The camera 130 is a camera that captures an image of the driver. The camera 130 is mounted on, for example, the vehicle 100 and captures an image or video of the interior of the vehicle. The camera 130 is disposed, for example, between the driver's seat and the passenger seat. The camera 130 captures an image of the area of ​​the driver's seat inside the vehicle 100.

[0022] 2 illustrates only one camera 130, the number of cameras mounted on the vehicle 100 is not limited to one. Multiple cameras may be installed on the vehicle 100. Furthermore, the camera 130 is not limited to a camera that captures images or videos of the interior of the vehicle. For example, the vehicle 100 may have a camera that captures images or videos of the exterior of the vehicle in addition to a camera that captures images or videos of the interior of the vehicle.

[0023] The NFC reader 150 is a device that uses near-field wireless communication such as NFC to read information stored in an IC (Integrated Circuit) document, such as an IC driver's license, from the document. In this embodiment, the NFC reader 150 is used to acquire license information from an IC driver's license. The vehicle control device 110 is a device that controls the vehicle 100 based on the image acquired by the camera 130 and the license information acquired by the NFC reader 150.

[0024] The vehicle control device 110 has a biometric information acquisition unit 111, a license information acquisition unit 112, a determination unit 113, a biometric authentication unit 114, and a control unit 115. The vehicle control device 110 may be physically configured as a device having, for example, one or more memories and one or more processors. At least a portion of the functions of each unit in the vehicle control device 110 may be realized by one or more processors operating in accordance with instructions read from one or more memories. The vehicle control device 110 corresponds to the vehicle control device 10 shown in FIG. 1.

[0025] The biometric information acquisition unit 111 acquires biometric information of the driver of the vehicle 100. For example, the biometric information acquisition unit 111 detects a subject, i.e., a facial area of ​​a person riding in the vehicle, from a video or image captured by the camera 130. The biometric information acquisition unit 111 acquires an image of the facial area detected in the driver's seat area of ​​the vehicle 100, i.e., a facial image, as biometric information of the driver. The biometric information acquisition unit 111 corresponds to the biometric information acquisition unit 11 shown in FIG. 1 .

[0026] The license information acquisition unit 112 acquires license information, which is information about the driver's license held by the driver. In this embodiment, the driver holds their IC license over the NFC reader 150. The license information acquisition unit 112 acquires license information from the IC license held by the driver via the NFC reader 150. The license information includes information such as the name, age, date of birth, expiration date, and license type. The license information also includes biometric information, such as a facial image of the person holding the driver's license. In other words, the license information includes biometric information of the person permitted to drive with the driver's license. When the license information is stored in a portable device held by the user, such as a smartphone, and the portable device is used as a driver's license, the license information acquisition unit 112 may acquire the license information from the portable device via wireless communication.

[0027] In the above description, the license information acquisition unit 112 electronically reads the license information, but this embodiment is not limited to this. In this embodiment, the license information, such as the driver's name, date of birth, expiration date, license type, and facial image, may be printed on the driver's license. In this case, the driver has a camera that captures an image of the driver's license take a picture of the driver's license. The license information acquisition unit 112 may acquire the image of the driver's license and perform image processing such as character recognition on the acquired image to acquire the license information. The license information acquisition unit 112 corresponds to the license information acquisition unit 12 shown in FIG. 1.

[0028] The determination unit 113 determines the validity of the driver's license held by the driver based on the acquired license information. For example, the determination unit 113 compares the current date with the expiration date included in the license information to determine whether the driver's license has expired. If the determination unit 113 determines that the expiration date has not expired, it determines that the driver's license is valid. If the determination unit 113 determines that the expiration date has expired, it determines that the driver's license is invalid.

[0029] Furthermore, the determination unit 113 may determine whether the driver's license is valid for driving the vehicle 100 based on the vehicle type included in the license information. In this case, the determination unit 113 compares the type of vehicle 100 with the license type included in the license information to determine whether the driver is qualified to drive the vehicle 100. If the determination unit 113 determines that the driver is qualified to drive the vehicle 100, it determines that the driver's license is valid. If the determination unit 113 determines that the driver is not qualified to drive the vehicle 100, it determines that the driver's license is invalid. The determination unit 113 corresponds to the determination unit 13 shown in FIG. 1.

[0030] The biometric authentication unit 114 authenticates the driver through biometric authentication based on the biometric information acquired by the biometric information acquisition unit 111 and the biometric information included in the license information acquired by the license information acquisition unit 112. Specifically, the biometric authentication unit 114 compares the facial image acquired by the biometric information acquisition unit 111 with the facial image acquired from the driver's license by the license information acquisition unit 112. The biometric authentication unit 114 determines whether the biometric authentication has been successful or unsuccessful based on the comparison result. The biometric authentication unit 114 may perform biometric authentication of the driver when the determination unit 113 determines that the driver's license is valid.

[0031] For example, the biometric authentication unit 114 generates a matching score indicating the similarity of the facial images during matching and compares the matching score with a predetermined threshold. For example, if the matching score is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold, the biometric authentication unit 114 determines that the biometric authentication is successful. That is, the biometric authentication unit 114 determines that the driver and the person on the driver's license are the same person. If the matching score is less than the predetermined threshold, the biometric authentication unit 114 determines that the biometric authentication is unsuccessful. That is, the biometric authentication unit 114 determines that the driver and the person on the driver's license are not the same person. The biometric authentication unit 114 corresponds to the biometric authentication unit 14 shown in FIG. 1.

[0032] The control unit 115 receives the determination result of the validity of the driver's license from the determination unit 113. The control unit 115 also receives the result of the biometric authentication from the biometric authentication unit 114. The control unit 115 controls at least one of starting and running of the vehicle 100 according to the determination result of the validity of the driver's license and the result of the biometric authentication. If the control unit 115 determines that the driver's license is valid and that the biometric authentication has been successful, the control unit 115 decides to permit the vehicle 100 to run or start. If the control unit 115 determines that the driver's license is not valid and that the biometric authentication has failed, or if the control unit 115 determines that the driver's license is not valid and that the biometric authentication has failed, the control unit 115 decides not to permit the vehicle 100 to run or start.

[0033] The control unit 115 outputs a signal indicating whether or not to permit the vehicle 100 to run or start to the vehicle control ECU 170 and the automatic driving ECU 190, depending on the determination result of the validity of the driver's license and the authentication result of the biometric authentication. If the control unit 115 determines to permit the vehicle 100 to run or start, the control unit 115 transmits a signal indicating that the vehicle 100 is permitted to run or start, i.e., a permission signal, to the vehicle control ECU 170 and the automatic driving ECU 190 via an in-vehicle network such as a CAN (Controller Area Network). If the control unit 115 determines not to permit the vehicle 100 to run or start, the control unit 115 does not transmit the permission signal to the vehicle control ECU 170 and the automatic driving ECU 190. In this embodiment, the absence of a permission signal indicates that the vehicle 100 is not permitted to run or start.

[0034] When the vehicle control ECU 170 receives the permission signal, it can start the vehicle drive system in response to the driver's operation. When the vehicle control ECU 170 does not receive the permission signal, it does not start the vehicle drive system. Furthermore, when the automatic driving ECU 190 receives the permission signal, it can drive the vehicle 100 in automatic driving mode. When the automatic driving ECU 190 does not receive the permission signal, it does not start automatic driving. The control unit 115 corresponds to the control unit 15 shown in FIG. 1.

[0035] In this embodiment, after the vehicle control ECU 170 starts the vehicle drive system, the biometric information acquisition unit 111 can acquire the driver's biometric information at a predetermined timing. The biometric information acquisition unit 111 acquires the driver's biometric information, for example, every predetermined time. The acquisition of the biometric information may be performed when the vehicle 100 is temporarily stopped, for example, due to a red light. The biometric authentication unit 114 may authenticate the driver through biometric authentication based on the biometric information acquired by the biometric information acquisition unit 111 while the vehicle is traveling and the biometric information included in the driver's license information. The biometric authentication unit 114 may authenticate the driver through biometric authentication using the driver's license information, particularly when the vehicle 100 is traveling in autonomous driving mode. If the biometric authentication fails, i.e., if it is determined that the driver is not the same person as the person on the driver's license, the control unit 115 may output a warning message in the vehicle.

[0036] For example, when a vehicle starts, a person with a driver's license sits in the driver's seat, and there is a possibility that the person sitting in the driver's seat, i.e., the driver, may be replaced by someone without a driver's license. In particular, when a vehicle is driven autonomously, the driver does not need to drive the vehicle unless requested by the system, so it is conceivable that a driver substitution may occur. By performing biometric authentication using the biometric information included in the license information while the vehicle is driving, a driver substitution can be detected. If biometric authentication using the biometric information included in the license information fails during autonomous driving, the control unit 115 may instruct the autonomous driving ECU 190 to stop autonomous driving. For example, the control unit 115 instructs the autonomous driving ECU 190 to stop the vehicle 100. In this case, the autonomous driving ECU 190 may stop the vehicle 100 in a safe location.

[0037] Next, the operation procedure will be described. Figure 3 shows the operation procedure of the vehicle control device 110. The operation procedure of the vehicle control device 110 corresponds to the vehicle control method. The biometric information acquisition unit 111 acquires a facial image of the driver from the camera 130 (step S1). The driver holds his / her driver's license over the NFC reader 150. The license information acquisition unit 112 acquires license information from the driver's driver's license via the NFC reader 150 (step S2). In step S2, the license information acquisition unit 112 acquires, for example, information on the expiration date of the driver's license, information on the license type, and information on the facial image of the person on the driver's license.

[0038] The determination unit 113 determines whether the driver's license is valid based on the license information acquired in step S2 (step S3). In step S3, the determination unit 113 checks, for example, the expiration date of the driver's license. In step S3, the determination unit 113 may determine whether the driver is qualified to drive the vehicle 100 based on the type of license. If the driver's license is determined to be valid in step S3, the biometric authentication unit 114 performs face authentication using the facial image acquired in step S1 and the facial image information included in the license information acquired in step S2 (step S4).

[0039] The biometric authentication unit 114 determines whether the facial authentication in step S4 was successful (step S5). In step S5, the biometric authentication unit 114 determines whether the facial authentication was successful or not based on a matching score between the facial image acquired in step S1 and the facial image information included in the license information acquired in step S2. If it is determined that the facial authentication was successful in step S5, the control unit 115 transmits a permission signal to the vehicle control ECU 170 (step S6). The transmission of the permission signal to the vehicle control ECU 170 allows the driver to start and drive the vehicle 100. If it is determined that the driver's license is invalid in step S3 or if it is determined that the facial authentication failed in step S5, the control unit 115 does not transmit the permission signal to the vehicle control ECU 170.

[0040] In this embodiment, the control unit 115 transmits a permission signal to the vehicle control ECU 170 and the autonomous driving ECU 190 when it is determined that the driver's license is valid and the driver has successfully passed biometric authentication using the biometric information included in the license information. In this embodiment, the biometric authentication unit 114 passes biometric authentication when the driver and the person on the driver's license are the same person. The control unit 115 can permit the vehicle to start or run when it is confirmed that the driver's license is valid and that the driver and the person on the driver's license are the same person. In other words, the control unit 115 can permit the driver to drive the vehicle when it is confirmed that the driver is qualified to drive the vehicle.

[0041] In this embodiment, the biometric authentication unit 114 performs biometric authentication using the biometric information included in the license information while the vehicle is traveling. By performing biometric authentication using the biometric information included in the license information while the vehicle is traveling, the biometric authentication unit 114 can detect whether the driver has been replaced by a person who does not have a valid driver's license while the vehicle is traveling.

[0042] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the autonomous driving ECU 190 is driving the vehicle 100 in autonomous driving mode, the biometric authentication unit 114 can periodically perform biometric authentication using the biometric information included in the driver's license information. In level 3 autonomous driving, the driver is required to manually drive the vehicle 100 when requested by the system. If biometric authentication fails in the biometric authentication unit 114 during autonomous driving, the control unit 115 instructs the autonomous driving ECU 190 to stop the vehicle. In this way, it is possible to ensure that a person with a valid driver's license is sitting in the driver's seat when the vehicle 100 is performing level 3 autonomous driving.

[0043] In addition to determining the validity of the driver's license and whether the driver is the same person as the person on the driver's license, the vehicle control device 110 may also determine whether the driver is a person authorized to drive or use the vehicle. In this case, the control unit 115 may decide to permit the vehicle 100 to run or start if it is determined that the driver's license is valid, the driver is the same person as the person on the driver's license, and the driver is a person authorized to drive or use the vehicle. The determination of whether the driver is a person authorized to drive or use the vehicle may be performed only once before the vehicle 100 runs, for example, at the time of start-up.

[0044] For example, the control unit 115 stores information such as the name and date of birth of a person authorized to drive or use the vehicle 100. The control unit 115 may also store information on the driver's license number of a person authorized to drive or use the vehicle. The control unit 115 may determine whether the driver is authorized to drive or use the vehicle based on whether information matching the name, date of birth, or license number included in the acquired license information is stored. If information matching the information included in the acquired license information is not stored, the control unit 115 determines that the driver is not authorized to drive or use the vehicle. In this case, the control unit 115 does not output a permission signal to the vehicle control ECU 170 and the autonomous driving ECU 190, even if the driver's license is determined to be valid and face authentication is successful.

[0045] Alternatively, the vehicle control device 110 may store biometric information, for example, a facial image, of a person authorized to drive or use the vehicle 100. In this case, the biometric authentication unit 114 may compare the image acquired by the biometric information acquisition unit 111 with a facial image of the person authorized to drive or use the vehicle, and determine by facial authentication whether the driver is a person authorized to drive or use the vehicle. The vehicle control device 110 may check whether the driver has a smart key for the vehicle 100, and if the driver has the smart key, determine that the driver is a person authorized to drive or use the vehicle.

[0046] In the above embodiment, facial recognition has been described as an example of biometric authentication. However, in the present disclosure, biometric authentication is not limited to facial recognition. For example, a driver's license may store biometric information other than a facial image, such as fingerprint information. In this case, the biometric information acquisition unit 111 may acquire biometric information from a device that acquires biometric information, such as a fingerprint reader.

[0047] In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the biometric information acquisition unit 111 acquires biometric information from the camera 130. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, the biometric information acquisition unit 111 may identify the driver from the acquired driver's license information and acquire the identified driver's biometric information from an external server.

[0048] Next, the hardware configuration of the vehicle control device 110 will be described. Fig. 4 shows the hardware configuration of the vehicle control device 110. The vehicle control device 110 has a processor 501 such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory) 502, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 503. In the vehicle control device 110, the processor 501, the ROM 502, and the RAM 503 are connected to each other via a bus 504. Although not shown, the vehicle control device 110 may include other circuits such as peripheral circuits, communication circuits, and interface circuits.

[0049] The ROM 502 is a non-volatile storage device. For example, a semiconductor storage device with a relatively small capacity, such as a flash memory, is used as the ROM 502. The ROM 502 stores the programs executed by the processor 501.

[0050] The program includes instructions (or software code) that, when loaded into a computer, cause the computer to perform one or more functions described in the embodiments. The program may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium or a tangible storage medium. By way of example and not limitation, computer-readable media or tangible storage media include RAM, ROM, flash memory, solid-state drive (SSD) or other memory technologies, compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs), Blu-ray discs or other optical disc storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices. The program may also be transmitted on a transitory computer-readable medium or a communication medium. By way of example and not limitation, transitory computer-readable media or communication media include electrical, optical, acoustic, or other forms of propagated signals.

[0051] The RAM 503 is a volatile storage device. Various semiconductor memory devices such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or a static random access memory (SRAM) are used for the RAM 503. The RAM 503 can be used as an internal buffer for temporarily storing data and the like.

[0052] The processor 501 loads a program stored in the ROM 502 into the RAM 503 and executes the program. When the CPU 501 executes the program, the functions of the various units in the vehicle control device 110 can be realized.

[0053] The vehicle control device 110 does not necessarily have to be a single device. The vehicle control device 110 may be configured using multiple physically separated devices. Furthermore, the vehicle control device 110 only needs to be able to control whether the vehicle 100 runs or starts, and all of the functions of the vehicle control device 110 do not necessarily have to be installed in the vehicle. For example, in the vehicle control device 110, the determination unit 113 and the biometric authentication unit 114 may be located outside the vehicle. In this case, the determination unit 113 may receive the license information acquired by the license information acquisition unit 112 via a wireless communication network. Furthermore, the biometric authentication unit 114 may receive the facial image acquired by the biometric information acquisition unit 111 via a wireless communication network.

[0054] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and changes and modifications to the above-described embodiments that do not deviate from the spirit of the present disclosure are also included in the present disclosure.

[0055] For example, some or all of the above embodiments can be described as, but are not limited to, the following supplementary notes.

[0056] [Supplementary Note 1] A vehicle control device comprising: a biometric information acquisition unit that acquires biometric information of a driver who gets into a vehicle; a license information acquisition unit that acquires license information related to a driver's license, the license information including biometric information of a person who holds the driver's license; a determination unit that determines whether the driver's license is valid based on the acquired license information; a biometric authentication unit that authenticates the driver by biometric authentication based on the biometric information acquired by the biometric information acquisition unit and the biometric information included in the acquired license information; and a control unit that controls at least one of starting and running of the vehicle depending on the result of the determination whether the driver's license is valid and the authentication result of the biometric authentication.

[0057] [Supplementary Note 2] The vehicle control device described in Supplementary Note 1, wherein the control unit controls the vehicle so as not to start a drive system of the vehicle when the result of the determination indicates that the driver's license is not valid and the result of the biometric authentication indicates an authentication failure, or when the result of the determination indicates that the driver's license is not valid and the result of the biometric authentication indicates an authentication failure.

[0058] [Supplementary Note 3] The vehicle control device according to Supplementary Note 1, wherein the license information includes an expiration date of the driver's license, and the determination unit determines whether the driver's license is valid depending on whether the expiration date has passed.

[0059] [Supplementary Note 4] The vehicle control device according to Supplementary Note 1 or 2, wherein the license information includes a type of vehicle that the driver is permitted to drive, and the determination unit determines whether the driver's license is valid for the driver to drive the vehicle based on the type of vehicle included in the license information.

[0060] [Supplementary Note 5] The vehicle control device according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 4, wherein the control unit outputs a signal indicating whether or not to permit the vehicle to run or start, to a controller that controls a drive system of the vehicle, depending on the result of the determination and the result of the biometric authentication.

[0061] [Supplementary Note 6] The vehicle control device according to Supplementary Note 5, wherein the control unit outputs a signal to the controller indicating that the vehicle is permitted to run or start when the result of the determination indicates that the driver's license is valid and the result of the biometric authentication indicates successful authentication.

[0062] [Supplementary Note 7] The vehicle control device described in any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 6, wherein the biometric information acquisition unit acquires a facial image of the driver as the biometric information, the license information includes facial image information of a person who holds the driver's license as the biometric information, and the biometric authentication unit authenticates the driver by facial recognition by comparing the facial image acquired by the biometric information acquisition unit with facial image information included in the license information.

[0063] [Supplementary Note 8] The vehicle control device described in any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 7, wherein the license information includes the name of the driver, and the control unit determines whether the name included in the acquired license information matches the name of a person registered as a person authorized to use the vehicle, and if it determines that they do not match, controls the vehicle so as not to start the drive system of the vehicle.

[0064] [Supplementary Note 9] The vehicle control device according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 8, wherein the vehicle has an automatic driving control device that controls automatic driving, the biometric authentication unit authenticates the driver by biometric authentication based on the biometric information acquired by the biometric information acquisition unit and the biometric information included in the driver's license information while the vehicle is traveling in automatic driving mode, and the control unit instructs the automatic driving control device to stop the vehicle if the biometric authentication fails.

[0065] [Supplementary Note 10] The vehicle control device according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 9, wherein the license information acquisition unit acquires the license information from a driver's license held by the driver using wireless communication.

[0066] [Supplementary Note 11] The vehicle control device according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 10, wherein the license information acquisition unit acquires an image of a driver's license held by the driver and performs image processing on the acquired image to acquire the license information.

[0067] [Supplementary Note 12] A vehicle control method comprising: acquiring biometric information of a driver who gets into a vehicle; acquiring license information relating to a driver's license, the license information including biometric information of a person who holds the driver's license; determining whether the driver's license is valid based on the acquired license information; authenticating the driver by biometric authentication based on the acquired biometric information and the biometric information included in the acquired license information; and controlling at least one of starting and running of the vehicle according to the result of the determination whether the driver's license is valid and the authentication result of the biometric authentication.

[0068] [Supplementary Note 13] A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores a program for causing a processor to execute processes including: acquiring biometric information of a driver who gets into a vehicle; acquiring license information related to a driver's license, the license information including biometric information of a person who holds the driver's license; determining whether the driver's license is valid based on the acquired license information; authenticating the driver through biometric authentication based on the acquired biometric information and the biometric information included in the acquired license information; and controlling at least one of starting and running of the vehicle depending on the result of determining whether the driver's license is valid and the result of the biometric authentication.

[0069] 10: Vehicle control device 11: Biometric information acquisition unit 12: License information acquisition unit 13: Determination unit 14: Biometric authentication unit 15: Control unit 100: Vehicle 110: Vehicle control device 111: Biometric information acquisition unit 112: License information acquisition unit 113: Determination unit 114: Biometric authentication unit 115: Control unit 130: Camera 150: NFC reader 170: Vehicle control ECU 190: Autonomous driving ECU 501: Processor 502: ROM 503: RAM 504: Bus

Claims

1. a biometric information acquisition unit that acquires biometric information of a driver who gets into a vehicle; a license information acquisition unit that acquires license information related to a driver's license, the license information including biometric information of a person who holds the driver's license; a determination unit that determines whether the driver's license is valid based on the acquired license information; a biometric authentication unit that authenticates the driver by biometric authentication based on the biometric information acquired by the biometric information acquisition unit and the biometric information included in the acquired driver's license information; a control unit that controls at least one of starting and running of the vehicle depending on the result of determining whether the driver's license is valid and the result of the biometric authentication.

2. 2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the vehicle so as not to start the drive system of the vehicle when the result of the determination indicates that the driver's license is not valid and the result of the biometric authentication indicates an authentication failure, or when the result of the determination indicates that the driver's license is not valid and the result of the biometric authentication indicates an authentication failure.

3. the license information includes an expiration date of the driver's license; The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein the determination unit determines whether the driver's license is valid depending on whether the expiration date has passed.

4. The license information includes the type of vehicle that the driver is permitted to drive; The vehicle control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the determination unit determines whether the driver's license is valid for the driver to drive the vehicle, based on a vehicle type included in the license information.

5. 3. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit outputs a signal indicating whether or not to permit the vehicle to run or start, to a controller that controls a drive system of the vehicle, depending on the result of the determination and the result of the biometric authentication.

6. the biometric information acquisition unit acquires a facial image of the driver as the biometric information, the license information includes facial image information of a person who holds the driver's license as the biometric information; 3. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the biometric authentication unit authenticates the driver by face recognition by comparing the face image acquired by the biometric information acquisition unit with face image information included in the driver's license information.

7. The license information includes the driver's name, 3. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines whether the name included in the acquired license information matches the name of a person registered as a person authorized to use the vehicle, and if it determines that they do not match, controls the vehicle so that the drive system of the vehicle is not started.

8. The vehicle has an automatic driving control device that controls automatic driving, the biometric authentication unit biometrically authenticates the driver based on the biometric information acquired by the biometric information acquisition unit and the biometric information included in the driver's license information while the vehicle is traveling in an autonomous driving mode; The vehicle control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit instructs the automatic driving control device to stop the vehicle when the biometric authentication fails.

9. Acquire biometric information of the driver in the vehicle, obtaining license information relating to a driver's license, the license information including biometric information of a person holding the driver's license; determining whether the driver's license is valid based on the acquired license information; authenticating the driver through biometric authentication based on the acquired biometric information and biometric information included in the acquired driver's license information; A vehicle control method comprising controlling at least one of starting and running of the vehicle according to a result of determining whether the driver's license is valid and a result of the biometric authentication.

10. Acquire biometric information of the driver in the vehicle, obtaining license information relating to a driver's license, the license information including biometric information of a person holding the driver's license; determining whether the driver's license is valid based on the acquired license information; authenticating the driver through biometric authentication based on the acquired biometric information and biometric information included in the acquired driver's license information; A program for causing a processor to execute a process including controlling at least one of starting and running of the vehicle depending on the result of determining whether the driver's license is valid and the result of the biometric authentication.