Patent Application
20230400324
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an output control method, and an output control program.
For detection of any abnormality in a driver, information, such as a trip or sitting time period, a driving time period, or a stress hormone index, is used. Furthermore, an information providing apparatus described in Patent Literature 1 uses a level of instability calculated from an index based on steering operation and pedaling operation, an index based on frequency of lever operation, and an index based on acceleration/deceleration (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-204120
However, conventional techniques including the technique described in Patent Literature 1, in one aspect, do not enable determination of whether an abnormality detected comes from stress or fatigue. The conventional technique mentioned above thus has a problem that information related to fatigue is reduced in accuracy. This problem is one of examples of problems to be solved by the present invention.
The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide an information processing apparatus, an output control method, and an output control program that enable improvement in accuracy of information related to fatigue, for example.
An information processing apparatus described in claim 1 includes: an identifying means that identifies places where a driver of a vehicle is under a duty of care; an obtaining means that obtains travel information on the vehicle at the places identified by the identifying means; an accumulating means that accumulates travel information on the vehicle, the travel information having been obtained by the obtaining means; and an output control means that outputs information related to fatigue in the driver, on the basis of the travel information on the vehicle accumulated by the accumulating means.
An output control method described in claim 10 is implemented by an information processing apparatus which executes a process including: identifying a place where a driver of a vehicle is under a duty of care; obtaining travel information on the vehicle at the place identified; accumulating the obtained travel information on the vehicle; and outputting information related to fatigue in the driver, on the basis of the accumulated travel information on the vehicle.
An output control program described in claim 11 causes a computer to execute a process including: identifying a place where a driver of a vehicle is under a duty of care; obtaining travel information on the vehicle at the place identified; accumulating the obtained travel information on the vehicle; and outputting information related to fatigue in the driver, on the basis of the accumulated travel information on the vehicle.
Modes for implementing the present invention (hereinafter, embodiments) will hereinafter be described while reference is made to the drawings. The present invention is not limited by the embodiments described hereinafter. Furthermore, any portions that are the same will be assigned with the same reference sign, throughout the drawings.
The information processing apparatus 1, in one aspect, may be used in a state where the information processing apparatus 1 has been brought into a vehicle. This is merely an example, does not mean that the usage is limited just to vehicle installation, and the information processing apparatus 1 may be used in a state where the information processing apparatus 1 has not been installed in a vehicle. A state where the information processing apparatus 1 has been brought into a vehicle may hereinafter be referred to as an “in-vehicle state”.
The information processing apparatus 1 is capable of providing an output control function for executing control of output of information related to fatigue. An example where the output control function is provided in the in-vehicle state will be described hereinafter by way of example only, but the output control function and any other function or service may be provided in a state where the information processing apparatus 1 is in the in-vehicle state or any other state.
As indicated by the notification 2A in
Without being limited to the time of occurrence of an event, the output control function may implement constant output or regular output of information related to fatigue, as exemplified by the notification 2B and the notification 2C in
For example, as indicated by the notification 2B in
Furthermore, as indicated by the notification 2C in
Processing and operation in a case where a notification A of the notification 2A to notification 2C is executed by the above described output control function will hereinafter be described by way of example only, but the embodiment is not limited to this example. That is, it is additionally mentioned herein beforehand that the above described output control function enables execution of at least any one of the notification 2A, the notification 2B, the notification 2C, any other notification, or any combination of these.
As described in the above section, Technical Problem, the above mentioned conventional technique, in one aspect, does not enable determination of whether an abnormality detected comes from stress or fatigue. The above mentioned conventional technique thus has a problem that information related to fatigue is reduced in accuracy. Accordingly, the above mentioned problem is one of examples of problems to be solved by the output control function according to the embodiment.
For the output control function according to the embodiment, a problem solving approach to narrow travel information used in evaluation of a degree of buildup of fatigue down to travel information on places where a driver is under a duty of care is adopted. A place where a driver is under a duty of care may hereinafter be referred to as an “area to be under a duty of care”.
Motivation to adopt such a problem solving approach is only obtained after the following technical findings are obtained.
A driver is at fault for a discontinuous driving behavior at a stop as indicated by the following (A) to (C). The “discontinuous driving behavior” referred to herein, in one aspect, refers to non-smooth operation.
Examples of disadvantages when areas from which a degree of buildup of fatigue is evaluated are not narrowed down to areas to be under a duty of care include the following (D) to (J).
As indicated by (D) to (J) above, in a case where evaluation of a degree of buildup of fatigue is not limited to areas to be under a duty of care, disturbances, stress, and feelings that are not dependent on the driver's responsibility, for example, will be confused with fatigue in evaluation.
To corroborate (D) to (J) above, comparison with case examples where discontinuous driving behaviors occur in places other than areas to be under a duty of care will be made.
A first case example is where “The other has cut in aggressively ahead of the driver!”. The driver feels stress but this stress is not likely to lead to fatigue. This stress can rather be said to be stress leading to anger and is likely to develop into excessive stress relief, such as tailgating.
A second case example is where “The other vehicle comes down in the wrong direction while the driver is traveling on a one-way street!”. This case also leads to a discontinuous driving behavior, such as sudden braking, but this discontinuous driving behavior does not necessarily lead to buildup of fatigue. That is, the driver may be frightened for a moment or feel stress for a moment but this does not necessarily lead to fatigue. Furthermore, it does not necessarily mean that buildup of fatigue in the driver resulted in the discontinuous driving behavior, the sudden braking.
From these two case examples, it can be said that even a discontinuous driving behavior, such as sudden braking, does not necessarily lead to fatigue, the discontinuous driving behavior being for avoidance of potential accident cases and accidents, for example, in a case where the other driver is at fault and the other driver has neglected the other driver's duty of care. In addition, there still remains a possibility that the driver inevitably braked suddenly to avoid risk, instead of braking suddenly as a result of reduction in alertness due to fatigue in the driver.
From the above, the following technical findings (K) to (M) are obtained.
In a case where evaluation of a degree of buildup of fatigue is limited to areas to be under a duty of care on the basis of the technical findings (K) to (M), the degree of buildup of fatigue is able to be evaluated by distinction from disturbances and stress not dependent on the driver's responsibility as indicated by the following (N) to (P).
Therefore, the output control function according to the embodiment enables improvement in accuracy of information related to fatigue.
Configuration of Information Processing Apparatus 1
An example of a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment will be described next.
The output unit 2 is a functional unit that outputs various kinds of information. By way of example only, the output unit 2 may be implemented by any of various display devices, such as, for example, a liquid crystal display, or an organic electroluminescence (EL) display. Furthermore, the output unit 2 may be implemented by, for example, a touch panel serving as a display input unit integrated with an input unit not illustrated in the drawings. Displaying may be implemented by projection, without being limited to a case where displaying is implemented by emission of light. In another example, the output unit 2 may be implemented by any of various sound output devices, for example, a speaker.
The gyro acceleration sensor 3 corresponds to an example of: an acceleration detecting unit; and an angular velocity detecting unit. A geomagnetic sensor may be used as another example of the angular detecting unit. For example, the gyro acceleration sensor 3 is capable of detecting, for example, acceleration along three axes, for example, an X-axis, a Y-axis, and a Z-axis, and angular velocity around three axes, for example, for rolling, pitching, and yawing. The example where acceleration along three axes and angular velocity around three axes are detected has been mentioned herein, but the numbers of axes for which acceleration and angular velocity are detected are not limited to three. Furthermore, the example where both acceleration and angular velocity are detected is described herein, but only one of these two may be detected.
The storage unit 4 is a functional unit to store various kinds of data. By way of example only, the storage unit 4 may be implemented by an internal, external, or auxiliary storage of the information processing apparatus 1 or a part of a storage area of that storage.
For example, every time a predetermined number of pieces, for example, 50 pieces, of travel information obtained by an obtaining unit 12 described later for respective areas to be under a duty of care have been accumulated in the storage unit 4, the predetermined number of pieces of the travel information are packaged as a travel information group, and this travel information group is additionally stored in the storage unit 4. Such addition is repeated and as a result, a set of travel information groups each having a package of the predetermined number of pieces of travel information is stored as a travel information history 5 into storage unit 4.
By way of example only, the travel information history 5 will be described below, the travel information history 5 having travel information that starts to be obtained by the obtaining unit 12 described later from start of an engine of a vehicle and that is accumulated up to stop of the engine. This is just an example, and travel information may continue to be accumulated until resetting is executed by a user setting or a system setting, needless to say.
The travel information may include time-series data on acceleration in traveling directions measured in areas to be under a duty of care or variance values of acceleration determined from the time-series data on acceleration in the traveling directions. Furthermore, the travel information may include time-series data on velocity in the traveling directions measured in the areas to be under a duty of care or average velocities determined from the time-series data on the velocity in the traveling directions.
Description will hereinafter be continued with respect to an example of the travel information, the example being driving behavior data represented by pairs of: variance values of acceleration in traveling directions obtained in areas to be under a duty of care; and average velocities in the traveling directions obtained in the areas to be under a duty of care. Accordingly, every time a predetermined number of pieces, for example, 50 pieces, of driving behavior data obtained for respective areas to be under a duty of care are accumulated in the storage unit 4, the predetermined number of pieces of driving behavior data are packaged as a driving behavior data group, and the driving behavior data group is additionally stored in the storage unit 4. In other words, the travel information history 5 is thus a set of driving behavior data groups each being a package of the predetermined number of pieces of driving behavior data.
Of the travel information history 5, a travel information group, that is, a driving behavior data group that is accumulated first since a time point at which the engine of a vehicle is started, in one aspect, may be regarded as being relatively low in fatigue of the driver as compared with that after start of travel of the vehicle. The driving behavior data group accumulated first since the time point at which the engine of the vehicle is started is distinguished as a first distribution 5A of driving behavior data, from other driving behavior data groups. This is to use the first distribution 5A as a target to be compared with a second distribution of driving behavior data for evaluating the increasing trend of the second distribution, the driving behavior data being a driving behavior data group obtained thereafter.
Information stored in the storage unit 4 is not limited to the travel information history 5. Other data may be stored in the storage unit 4, of course. For example, information used by the above described output control function, such as a degree of increase in fatigue, changes in the degree of increase, and a statistical value of times taken for fatigue to increase, may be stored in the storage unit 4. In addition, map data used in navigation of the vehicle and image data captured for recording, for example, may be stored in the storage unit 4.
The control unit 10 is a processing unit that executes overall control of the information processing apparatus 1. As illustrated in
The identifying unit 11 is a processing unit that identifies a place where a driver of a vehicle is under a duty of care. For example, the identifying unit 11 corresponds to an example of an identifying means. By way of example only, the identifying unit 11 executes map matching between: positional information on the information processing apparatus 1, the positional information being measured by a positional information measuring unit not illustrated in the drawings; and areas to be under a duty of care that have been set on map data stored in the storage unit 4. This positional information measuring unit may be implemented by a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, for example.
For example, the areas to be under a duty of care may be set by use of information on road signs included in the map data. An example where areas to be under a duty of care in which a duty to stop is imposed on drivers of vehicles are set will hereinafter be described by way of example only. In this case, areas to be under a duty of care are set on the basis of structural change points on roads, such as junctions and transport nodes, including nodes where non-priority road signs of road signs are present, for example, intersections.
With such stop areas having been set, the identifying unit 11 identifies passage through a stop area by executing map matching between positional information on the information processing apparatus 1 and the stop areas. In a case where passage through a stop area has been identified, the identifying unit 11 further determines whether or not the direction of passage through the stop area corresponds to travel from a non-priority road to a priority road.
The obtaining unit 12 is a processing unit that obtains travel information on a vehicle in a stop area. For example, the obtaining unit 12 corresponds to an example of an obtaining means. By way of example only, in a case where the direction of passage through a stop area corresponds to travel from a non-priority road to a priority road, the obtaining unit 12 obtains travel information for the stop area.
After acceleration has been obtained as described above, the obtaining unit 12 executes the following processing for all of triaxial acceleration in the time-series data on triaxial acceleration, the all of triaxial acceleration corresponding to sampling frequencies of the gyro acceleration sensor 3, or for each value of triaxial acceleration resampled at predetermined intervals, for example, at one-second intervals.
That is, the obtaining unit 12 analyzes the traveling direction from triaxial acceleration that is acceleration along the X-axis, acceleration along the Y-axis, and acceleration along the Z-axis. Specifically, the obtaining unit 12 removes gravitational acceleration from composite acceleration that is a composite of triaxial acceleration. The obtaining unit 12 then projects a vector of the composite acceleration from which the gravitational acceleration has been removed, onto a horizontal plane. For example, the horizontal plane may be calculated beforehand through calibration by use of triaxial acceleration at a time when the information processing apparatus 1 is stationary, for example, immediately after starting. The obtaining unit 12 is then able to analyze the traveling direction from the vector of the composite acceleration projected on the horizontal plane.
Such analysis of the traveling direction enables obtainment of time-series data on acceleration in the traveling directions measured in the stop area. Furthermore, time-series data on acceleration in the traveling directions is obtained by integration of the time-series data on the acceleration in the traveling directions. The example where velocity is calculated by integration of acceleration has been described herein but velocity may be obtained by another method. For example, velocity may be obtained by obtainment of vehicle velocity pulses from a vehicle velocity signal line of a vehicle or by obtainment of a vehicle velocity signal via an electronic control unit (ECU) installed in a vehicle by use of on-board diagnostics (OBD2) functions.
By calculating variance from the time-series data on acceleration, the obtaining unit 12 obtains a variance value of acceleration. Furthermore, the obtaining unit 12 obtains an average velocity by calculating an average from the time-series data on velocity. Accordingly, driving behavior data represented by a pair of: the variance value of acceleration in the traveling direction obtained in an area to be under a duty of care; and the average velocity in the traveling direction obtained in the area to be under a duty of care is thus obtained.
The accumulating unit 13 is a processing unit that accumulates travel information on a vehicle, the travel information having been obtained by the obtaining unit 12. For example, the accumulating unit 13 corresponds to an example of an accumulating means. By way of example only, the accumulating unit 13 repeats the following processing after the engine of the vehicle is started until the engine is stopped. For example, start and stop of the engine may be detected by determination of: presence or absence of power feeding corresponding to insertion or removal into or from an accessory socket or a cigar socket in the vehicle; or a prolonged stop, for example, a stop for one hour or longer. After start of the engine is detected, every time driving behavior data for a stop area is obtained by the obtaining unit 12, the accumulating unit 13 accumulates the driving behavior data in a predetermined storage area on a memory. As the number of pieces of driving behavior data on stop areas reaches a predetermined number, for example, 50, a second distribution 15 of the driving behavior data is obtained. The second distribution 15 of the driving behavior data is additionally saved in the travel information history 5 stored in the storage unit 4 after being referred to by the output control unit 17 described later.
The output control unit 17 is a processing unit that outputs, on the basis of the travel information on the vehicle accumulated by the accumulating unit 13, information related to fatigue in the driver. For example, the output control unit 17 corresponds to an example of an output control means.
By way of example only, the output control unit 17 controls whether or not to output information related to fatigue in a driver, on the basis of an increasing trend of a second approximate straight line approximating the second distribution 15 of the driving behavior data accumulated by the accumulating unit 13, in relation to a first approximate straight line approximating the first distribution 5A of the driving behavior data stored in the storage unit 4.
For example, the first approximate straight line and the second approximate straight line are able to be calculated by execution of regression analysis, such as multiple regression, of the first distribution 5A of the driving behavior data or the second distribution 15 of the driving behavior data. A partial regression coefficient of the first approximate straight line may be stored in a memory or the storage unit 4 after being calculated in a first round, and calculation of multiple regression in a second round and later rounds may be skipped.
As illustrated in
Therefore, the output control unit 17 determines whether or not the intercept b2 of the second approximate straight line L2 is equal to or larger than a threshold Th1 set on the basis of the intercept b1 of the first approximate straight line L1. A value larger than the intercept b1, for example, the intercept b1+a margin α, may be set as this threshold Th1. In a case where the intercept b2 of the second approximate straight line L2 is equal to or larger than the threshold Th1, the degree of buildup of fatigue is able to be presumed to have increased. In this case, the output control unit 17 outputs information related to fatigue in the driver. For example, as exemplified by the notification 2A in
As described above, the output control unit 17 determines an increasing trend of a second approximate straight line in relation to a first approximate straight line. Therefore, in contrast to evaluation of the degree of buildup of fatigue by comparison between driving behavior data and a threshold statistically determined, the degree of buildup of fatigue is able to be evaluated by autocorrelation of driving behavior data. Therefore, even in a case where there are individual differences among degrees of buildup of fatigue in drivers, the degrees of buildup of fatigue are able to be evaluated appropriately. As a result, mental fatigue caused by announcements made to a driver who is not fatigued is able to be reduced, and omission of detection of a driver who is fatigued is able to be reduced.
Furthermore, as one example of the threshold Th1, the example where the intercept b1+margin α is used has been described herein, but the threshold Th1 is not limited to this example. For example, a distribution of driving behavior data at times of occurrence of accidents may be obtained, and the threshold Th1 may be set on the basis of this distribution. In addition, the threshold Th1 may be set on the basis of changes in the intercept obtained by calculation of an intercept of an approximate straight line for each driving behavior data group from a set of driving behavior data groups included in the travel information history 5.
Flow of Processing
A flow of processing by the information processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment will be described next.
As illustrated in
In a case where passage through a stop area has been identified (Yes at Step S101), the identifying unit 11 further determines whether or not the direction of the passage through the stop area corresponds to travel from a non-priority road to a priority road (Step S102).
In a case where the direction of the passage through the stop area corresponds to travel from a non-priority road to a priority road (Yes at Step S102), the obtaining unit 12 then executes the following processing. That is, the obtaining unit 12 obtains driving behavior data represented by a pair of a variance value of acceleration in the traveling direction obtained in the stop area and an average velocity in the traveling direction obtained in the area to be under a duty of care (Step S103). Subsequently, the accumulating unit 13 accumulates the driving behavior data for the stop area obtained at Step S103 into a predetermined storage area on a memory (Step S104).
In a case where the number of pieces of driving behavior data for stop areas accumulated in the memory has reached a predetermined number, for example, 50 (Yes at Step S105), the output control unit 17 then executes the following processing. That is, the output control unit 17 calculates the first approximate straight line approximating the first distribution 5A of the driving behavior data stored in the storage unit 4 (Step S106). For the distribution and the approximate line at S106, fixed values may be used from past histories or experimental data, for example.
Furthermore, the output control unit 17 calculates the second approximate straight line approximating the second distribution 15 of the driving behavior data accumulated by the accumulating unit 13 (Step S107). Subsequently, the output control unit 17 compares the intercept b1 of the first approximate straight line L1 with the intercept b2 of the second approximate straight line L2 (Step S108).
In a case where the intercept b2 of the second approximate straight line L2 is equal to or larger than the threshold Th1 set on the basis of the intercept b1 of the first approximate straight line L1 (Yes at Step S109), the degree of buildup of fatigue is presumed to have increased. In this case, the output control unit 17 outputs information related to fatigue in the driver (Step S110) and proceeds to Step S101.
In a case where the processing is advanced to the branch of No at Step S101, No at Step S102, No at Step S105, or No at Step S109, the processing proceeds to Step S101.
As described above, the information processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment narrows travel information to be used in evaluation of a degree of buildup of fatigue down to travel information on places where the driver is under a duty of care. Evaluation of the degree of buildup of fatigue by distinction from disturbances and stress not dependent on the driver's responsibility is thereby enabled. Therefore, the information processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment enables improvement in accuracy of information related to fatigue.
Furthermore, the information processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment controls, on the basis of an increasing trend of a second approximate straight line approximating a second distribution of driving behavior data in relation to a first approximate straight line approximating a first distribution of driving behavior data, whether or not information related to fatigue in the driver is to be output. Therefore, in contrast to evaluation of the degree of buildup of fatigue by comparison between driving behavior data and a threshold statistically determined, the degree of buildup of fatigue is able to be evaluated by autocorrelation of driving behavior data. Accordingly, even in a case where there are individual differences among degrees of buildup of fatigue in drivers, the information processing apparatus 1 of the embodiment enables reduction in: mental fatigue caused by provision of information to a driver who is not fatigued; and omission in provision of information to a driver who is fatigued.
Furthermore, on the basis of whether or not an intercept of a second approximate straight line is equal to or larger than a threshold determined by an intercept of a first approximate straight line, the information processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment controls whether or not information related to fatigue in a driver is to be output. Increase in the degree of buildup of fatigue is thereby able to be determined with respect to the intercept significantly representing the gap in the driving behaviors between the first approximate straight line and the second approximate straight line. Therefore, even for a driver who has a smaller gap between driving behaviors at the time when the driver is fatigued and the time when the driver is not fatigued than other drivers, the information processing apparatus 1 of the embodiment enables information related to the fatigue to be provided while enabling misdetection and omission in detection for increase in the degree of buildup of fatigue.
Furthermore, the information processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment selects a first distribution that is a distribution of driving behavior data accumulated first since a time point at which the engine of the vehicle is started. Therefore, the first approximate straight line representing relatively lower fatigue in the driver than that after start of travel of the vehicle is selected. The information processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment thus enables determination of increase in the degree of buildup of fatigue by comparison with the first approximate straight line in which the gap in the driving behavior from the second approximate straight line tends to appear.
Furthermore, the information processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment identifies a stop area, obtains travel information on the stop area, accumulates the obtained travel information on the stop area, and executes information related to fatigue in the driver on the basis of the accumulated travel information on the stop area. The degree of buildup of fatigue for when the driver is under a duty to stop is thereby able to be evaluated, the duty to stop being higher in percentage of negligence among duties of care the driver is under. Therefore, the information processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment enables more effective improvement in accuracy of information related to fatigue.
Furthermore, the information processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment outputs information related to fatigue in a driver, the information being: the degree of increase in fatigue in the driver; changes in the degree of increase; an alert to the driver and related to the fatigue, and a statistical value of times each taken from a time point at which the engine of a vehicle is started to output of an alert. Therefore, the information processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment enables increase in the degree of buildup of fatigue to be announced in many aspects.
The above described embodiment is one of examples, and various applications are possible.
With respect to the above described embodiment, the example where passage through an area to be under a duty of care is identified by map matching has been described, but passage through an area to be under a duty of care may be identified by another method. For example, instead of map matching, passage through an area to be under a duty of care may be identified by image recognition for an image captured by an imaging unit installed in the information processing apparatus 1, or passage through an area to be under a duty of care may be identified by combination of map matching and image recognition.
With respect to the above described embodiment, stop areas have been mentioned as an example of areas to be under a duty of care, but without being limited to this example, the output control function may be applied to an area to be under a duty of care that is not a stop area.
The output control function is applicable to areas to be under a duty of care other than the areas to be under a duty of care described above by use of
With respect to the above described embodiment, the example where an area to be under a duty of care is identified on the basis a road sign on a signboard has been described, but an area to be under a duty of care may be identified on the basis of a painted road sign.
With respect to the above described embodiment, the example where driving behavior data is used as travel information has been described, the driving behavior data being represented by pairs of variance values of acceleration in traveling directions obtained in areas to be under a duty of care and average velocities in the traveling directions obtained in the areas to be under a duty of care, but not necessarily two items are included.
For example, the output control unit 17 may control whether or not to output information related to fatigue in a driver, on the basis of an increasing trend of a second distribution of variance values of acceleration accumulated by the accumulating unit 13 after a first distribution of variance values of acceleration accumulated by the accumulating unit, the increasing trend being in relation to the first distribution.
More specifically, the output control unit 17 calculates a representative value of the first distribution by executing predetermined statistical processing of the variance values of acceleration included in the first distribution, for example, calculation of the average, the median, or the mode. Furthermore, the output control unit 17 calculates a representative value of the second distribution by executing statistical processing of the variance values of acceleration included in the second distribution, the statistical processing being similar to the statistical processing applied to the first distribution. Thereafter, the output control unit 17 determines whether or not the representative value of the second distribution is equal to or larger than a threshold Th2 set on the basis of the representative value of the first distribution. A value larger than the representative value of the first distribution, for example, the representative value of the first distribution+a margin β, may be set as this threshold Th2. In a case where the representative value of the second distribution is equal to or larger than the threshold Th2, the degree of buildup of fatigue is able to be presumed to have increased. In this case, the output control unit 17 outputs information related to fatigue in the driver. Even in a case where there are individual differences among degrees of buildup of fatigue in drivers, mental fatigue caused by provision of information to a driver who is not fatigued and omission in provision of information to a driver who is fatigued are able to be reduced.
Furthermore, with respect to the above described embodiment, the example where an increasing trend is determined by use of a distribution of variance values of acceleration has been described, but the distribution of variance values of acceleration is not necessarily used. For example, the output control unit 17 may output information related to fatigue in a driver on the basis of changes in variance values of acceleration accumulated by the accumulating unit 13 during travel in areas to be under a duty of care. By way of example only, in a case where a variance value of acceleration in an area to be under a duty of care is newly accumulated by the accumulating unit 13, the output control unit 17 determines whether or not the frequency at which a variance value of acceleration equal to or larger than a threshold Th3 is observed in a predetermined time period from and earlier than a time point at which the variance value is newly accumulated is equal to or larger than a threshold Th4. In a case where the frequency at which a variance value of acceleration equal to or larger than the threshold Th3 is observed in the predetermined time period is equal to or larger than the threshold Th4, it is able to be presumed that the degree of buildup of fatigue has increased. In this case, the output control unit 17 outputs information related to fatigue in the driver. Discontinuous driving behaviors leading to fatigue are thereby able to be evaluated. Therefore, accuracy of information related to fatigue is able to be improved effectively.
With respect to the above described embodiment, the example where the degree of buildup of fatigue is determined has been described, but the degree of recovery from fatigue may be determined. By way of example only, in a case where a variance value of acceleration in an area to be under a duty of care is newly accumulated by the accumulating unit 13, the output control unit 17 may determine whether or not the frequency at which a variance value of acceleration less than a threshold Th5 is observed in a predetermined time period from and earlier than a time point at which the variance value is newly accumulated is equal to or larger than a threshold Th6. In a case where the frequency at which a variance value of acceleration less than the threshold Th5 is observed in the predetermined time period is equal to or larger than the threshold Th6, it is able to be presumed that the degree of buildup of fatigue has decreased, in other words, recovery from fatigue has been achieved. In another example, the output control unit 17 determines whether or not a representative value of a second distribution is equal to or smaller than a representative value of a first distribution. In a case where the representative value of the second distribution is equal to or smaller than the representative value of the first distribution, it is able to be presumed that the degree of buildup of fatigue has decreased, in other words, recovery from fatigue has been achieved. In yet another example, in a case where the intercept b2 of the second approximate straight line L2 is equal to or less than the intercept b1 of the first approximate straight line L1, the output control unit 17 may presume that the degree of buildup of fatigue has decreased, in other words, recovery from fatigue has been achieved. In this case, the output control unit 17 outputs information related to recovery of the driver from fatigue, for example, a message for notification of the recovery from fatigue.
With respect to the above described embodiment, the example where a distribution of driving behavior data accumulated first since a time point at which the engine of a vehicle is started is selected as a first distribution has been described, but the embodiment is not limited to this example. For example, a distribution of driving behavior data corresponding to an approximate straight line having the smallest intercept among plural approximate straight lines respectively approximating plural distributions of driving behavior data of the travel information history 5 stored in the storage unit 4 may be selected as a first distribution. A first approximate straight line that tends to represent driving behaviors different from a second approximate straight line is thereby able to be used as a target of comparison for determination of an increase in the degree of buildup of fatigue.
Furthermore, in the above described embodiment, a distribution of driving behavior data accumulated immediately before accumulation of a second distribution of driving behavior data may be referred to as a first distribution. The degree of buildup of fatigue or the degree of recovery from fatigue is thereby able to be evaluated, with the latest changes in the driving behaviors finely reflected.
For example, in a case where the notification 2B illustrated in
As described above, stress does not necessarily lead to fatigue, but may cause some mental damage. Accordingly, the information processing apparatus 1 may correct a variance value of acceleration obtained as travel information, according to the level of stress. By way of example only, in correcting the variance value of acceleration, the information processing apparatus 1 may use at least one of the scales and frequency of potential accident cases.
The scales of potential accident cases refer to magnitudes of gravitational acceleration having negative values, that is, magnitudes of acceleration acting vertically upward. For example, the larger the acceleration acting vertically upward is, the larger the correction coefficient by which the variance value of acceleration is multiplied is made, and the smaller the acceleration acting vertically upward, the larger the correction coefficient by which the variance value of acceleration is multiplied is made. By way of example only, in a case where the acceleration acting vertically upward is equal to or larger than 0, the variance value of acceleration is multiplied by a correction coefficient equal to or larger than 1, and in a case where the acceleration acting vertically upward is less than 0, the variance value of acceleration is multiplied by a correction coefficient equal to or larger than 0 and less than 1. Furthermore, the higher the frequency of potential accident cases is, the larger the correction coefficient by which the variance value of acceleration is multiplied is made, and the lower the frequency of potential accident cases is, the larger the correction coefficient by which the variance value of acceleration is multiplied is made. By way of example only, in a case where the frequency of potential accident cases is equal to or larger than a threshold Th7, the variance value of acceleration is multiplied by a correction coefficient equal to or larger than 1, and in a case where the frequency of potential accident cases is less than the threshold Th7, the variance value of acceleration is multiplied by a correction coefficient equal to or larger than 0 and less than 1.
In addition, in a case where the positional information on the information processing apparatus 1 corresponds to a highly risky situation, such as the nighttime, the school commuting time, or the road width of the road travelled, the variance value of acceleration may be multiplied by a correction coefficient equal to or larger than 1. On the contrary, in a case where the positional information on the information processing apparatus 1 does not correspond to the highly risky situation, such as the night time, the school commuting time, or the road width of the road travelled, the variance value of acceleration may be multiplied by a correction coefficient equal to or larger than 0 and less than 1.
With respect to the above described embodiment, the example where the information processing apparatus 1 provides the output control function has been described, but the output control function may be provided as an output control service by a client server system.
As illustrated in
The client terminal 7 is an example of a terminal device that receives the output control service provided. The client terminal 7 may be implemented by any computer, and by way of example only, may be implemented by the information processing apparatus 1 illustrated in
Because the output control service is provided by the server apparatus 8, the client terminal 7 may be not provided with the identifying unit 11, the obtaining unit 12, the accumulating unit 13, and the output control unit 17 illustrated in
When the server apparatus 8 performs the above described identification of passage through an area to be under a duty of care, the identification may be performed by any method, but in a case where map matching is used, a positional information measuring unit may be included for positional information to be uploaded. Furthermore, in a case where image recognition is adopted, an imaging unit may be included to upload an image.
The server apparatus 8, on the other hand, is an example of a computer that provides the output control service. By way of example only, the server apparatus 8 may be implemented as a server that provides the output control service on premises. In addition, the server apparatus 8 may provide the output control service as a cloud service by being implemented as an application of Software as a Service (SaaS) type.
A functional configuration of the server apparatus 8 that provides the output control service will be described.
The communication interface unit 81 corresponds to an example of a communication control unit that controls communication with another device, for example, the client terminal 7. By way of example only, the communication interface unit 81 is implemented by a network interface card, such as a LAN card. For example, the communication interface unit 81 may receive positional information and/or an image, in addition to travel information, from the client terminal 7. Furthermore, the communication interface unit 81 may output, for example, information related to fatigue in a driver, to the client terminal 7.
The storage unit 83 is a functional unit to store various kinds of data. By way of example only, the storage unit 18 is implemented by an internal, external, or auxiliary storage of the server apparatus 8. For example, the storage unit 83 stores a travel information history 5 that may correspond to the travel information history 5 illustrated in
The control unit 85 is a processing unit that executes overall control of the server apparatus 8. For example, the control unit 85 is implemented by a hardware processor. As illustrated in
These identifying unit 85A, obtaining unit 85B, accumulating unit 85C, and output control unit 85D may correspond to the identifying unit 11, obtaining unit 12, accumulating unit 13, and output control unit 17 that are illustrated in
Similarly to the information processing apparatus 1 illustrated in
System
The processing procedures, control procedures, specific names, and information including various kinds of data and parameters, which are described in this document and illustrated in the drawings, may be modified in any way unless specified otherwise.
Furthermore, the components of each apparatus in the drawings have been illustrated functionally and conceptually, and are not necessarily configured physically as illustrated in the drawings. That is, specific modes of separation and integration of each apparatus are not limited to those illustrated in the drawings. All or a part of each apparatus may thus be functionally or physically separated or integrated in any units according to various loads and use situations.
Furthermore, all or any part of the processing functions executed at each apparatus may be implemented by a central processing unit (CPU) and a program analyzed and executed by the CPU, or may be implemented as hardware by wired logic.
Hardware
An example of a hardware configuration of a computer that executes an information processing program having the same functions as the information processing apparatus described with respect to the embodiment will be described next.
The communication device 100a is a network interface card, for example, and performs communication with another server. The HDD 100b stores therein a program that causes the functions illustrated in
The processor 100d causes a process to operate by: reading the program that executes the same processing as the processing units illustrated in
As described above, by reading and executing a program, the computer 100 operates as an information processing apparatus that executes various processing methods. Furthermore, by reading the program from a recording medium by means of a medium reading device and executing the program read, the computer 100 is also capable of implementing the same functions as the above described embodiment. The program referred to in this other embodiment is not necessarily executed by the computer 100. For example, in a case where another computer or server executes the program, or in a case where the other computer and server execute the program in cooperation with each other, the functions that the information processing apparatus described with respect to the embodiment has may be implemented similarly.
This program may be distributed via a network, such as the Internet. Furthermore, the program may be executed by being recorded in a computer-readable recording medium, such as a hard disk, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-ROM, a magneto-optical disk (MO), or a digital versatile disc (DVD), and being read by the computer from the recording medium.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2021/006228 | 2/18/2021 | WO |
