Patent Application
20070126559
The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-353132 filed on Dec. 7, 2005 including the specification, drawings and abstract is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a vehicular abnormality notification system that detects an abnormality in the state of a vehicle, and notifies it to a vehicle driver. More particularly, the invention relates to vehicular abnormality notification system, method and apparatus and a vehicle-mounted apparatus in which unnecessary notifications to the vehicle are prevented from being transmitted.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vehicular abnormality notification system that detects an abnormality in the state of a vehicle and notifies it to a vehicle driver is known (e.g., see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-182281).
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-182281 discloses a system in which when a vehicle-mounted apparatus mounted in a vehicle detects an abnormality in the state of the vehicle, the vehicle-mounted apparatus transmits the abnormality information to a center, and the center transmits to the vehicle-mounted apparatus a mail informing of the occurrence of an abnormality and recommending that the vehicle be put into a service plant (hereinafter, simply referred to as “auto service information mail”).
However, in the system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-182281, even the removal of an ECU, a sensor, an actuator, etc., for the purpose of repair, maintenance, checking, or vehicle inspection or test at a repair plant of a dealer or the like is detected as an abnormality in the state of the vehicle, and the auto service information mail is transmitted.
The system disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-182281 is designed so that the auto service information mail based on the same abnormality information is not transmitted again until a predetermined time elapses following the transmission of the auto service information mail, or until the amount of change in the state of the vehicle becomes greater than a set value. However, this technique cannot prevent the initial transmission of the auto service information mail to the vehicle-mounted apparatus even in the case of authorized repair or the like as mentioned above.
There may be conceived a technique in which a switch that prohibits transmission of an abnormality detection report from the vehicle-mounted apparatus to the center is provided in the vehicle-mounted apparatus in such a manner that only experts are able to operate the switch, and at the time of authorized repair or the like, a person in charge of the repair is requested to operate the switch. However, such a technique dependent on human labor cannot remove the possibility of forgetting to perform the operation. Besides, at unaffiliated repair plants or the like, a person in charge of the repair may not be aware of the existence of the switch itself.
It is a main object of the invention to provide vehicular abnormality notification system, method and apparatus and a vehicle-mounted apparatus in which the transmission of unnecessary notifications to a vehicle is prevented.
A first aspect of the invention is a vehicle abnormality notification apparatus that transmits predetermined information to a predetermined subject when an abnormality in a vehicle state is detected in a vehicle, wherein even when an abnormality in the vehicle state is detected in a subject vehicle, the predetermined information is not transmitted to a predetermined subject if the subject vehicle is in a predetermined area.
In the first aspect, the predetermined information is, for example, a message that notifies of occurrence of an abnormality and/or recommends repair or checking at a repair plant or the like, etc. Besides, the predetermined subject is, for example, a display in the cabin of the vehicle, or a driver or an owner of the vehicle. If an abnormality is detected in a subject vehicle, the predetermined information is transmitted, for example, in the form of electronic mail, to a multi-medium appliance mounted in the vehicle, a pre-registered vehicle driver's cell phone or stationary communication terminal.
Furthermore, in the first aspect, the predetermined area is at least one region where maintenance of a vehicle is performed, and comprehensively refers to places where repair, checking and maintenance of vehicles are performed, for example, repair plants/service plants of motor vehicle dealers, etc.
According to the first aspect, it is judged that the occurrence of abnormality that is detected when the vehicle is in a predetermined area is due to a change in the vehicle state caused by an authorized operation of repairs, checking or the like, and so an auto service information mail is not transmitted. Therefore, transmission of unnecessary mails is avoided, and the communication cost is also reduced.
Besides, according to the first aspect, if the vehicle is in a predetermined area, transmission of the auto service information mail is automatically prevented. Therefore, the vehicle driver or a person in charge of the repair is saved a trouble of operating a switch for prohibiting the transmission of the auto service information mail from the vehicle-mounted apparatus to the center, and there is no possibility of forgetting to operate the switch.
In addition, in the first aspect, it is preferable that a high-accuracy GPS, for example, the RTK (Real Time Kinematic)-GPS (Global Positioning System) or the like, be used for detecting the position of the vehicle in which an abnormality in the vehicle state has been detected.
A second aspect of the invention is a vehicle-mounted apparatus which is mounted in a vehicle, and which communicates with a vehicle abnormality notification apparatus that transmits predetermined information to a predetermined subject when an abnormality in a vehicle state is detected in the vehicle, and which transmits abnormality occurrence information to the vehicle abnormality notification apparatus when an abnormality is detected in the vehicle state of a host vehicle, wherein even when an abnormality in the vehicle state is detected in a host vehicle, the vehicle-mounted apparatus does not transmit the abnormality occurrence information to the vehicle abnormality notification apparatus if the host vehicle is in a predetermined area.
In the second aspect, the predetermined information is, for example, a message that notifies of occurrence of an abnormality and/or recommends repair or checking at a repair plant or the like, etc. Besides, the predetermined subject is, for example, a display in the cabin of the vehicle, or a driver or an owner of the vehicle. If an abnormality is detected in a vehicle, the predetermined information is transmitted, for example, in the form of electronic mail, to a multi-medium appliance mounted in the host vehicle, a pre-registered host vehicle driver's cell phone or stationary communication terminal.
Furthermore, in the second aspect, the predetermined area is at least one region where maintenance of a vehicle is performed, and comprehensively refers to places where repair, checking and maintenance of vehicles are performed, for example, repair plants/service plants of motor vehicle dealers, etc.
According to the second aspect, it is judged that the occurrence of abnormality that is detected when the vehicle is in a predetermined area is due to a change in the vehicle state caused by an authorized operation of repairs, checking or the like, and so abnormality occurrence information is not transmitted to the vehicle abnormality notification apparatus. Therefore, transmission of unnecessary data is avoided, and the communication cost is also reduced.
Furthermore, according to the second aspect, if the vehicle is in a predetermined area, transmission of abnormality occurrence information is automatically prevented. Therefore, a vehicle driver is saved a trouble of operating a switch for prohibiting the transmission of the abnormality occurrence information from the vehicle-mounted apparatus to the center, and there is no possibility of forgetting to operate the switch.
In addition, in the second aspect, it is preferable that a high-accuracy GPS, for example, the RTK-GPS or the like, be used for detecting the position of the host vehicle.
A third aspect of the invention is a vehicular abnormality notification system in which predetermined information is transmitted from a predetermined communication apparatus to a predetermined subject when an abnormality in a vehicle state is detected in the vehicle, wherein the vehicular abnormality notification system includes: determination portion that determines whether or not the vehicle in which an abnormality in the vehicle state has been detected is in a predetermined area; and message transmission prohibition portion that prevents the predetermined information from being transmitted from the predetermined communication apparatus to the predetermined subject when it is determined by the determination portion that the vehicle in which an abnormality in the vehicle state has been detected is in the predetermined area.
In the third aspect, the predetermined information is, for example, a message that notifies of occurrence of an abnormality and/or recommends repair or checking at a repair plant or the like, etc. Besides, the predetermined subject is, for example, a display in the cabin of the vehicle, or a driver or an owner of the vehicle. If an abnormality is detected in the vehicle, the predetermined information is transmitted, for example, in the form of electronic mail, to a multi-medium appliance mounted in the vehicle, a pre-registered vehicle driver's cell phone or stationary communication terminal.
Furthermore, in the third aspect, the predetermined area is at least one region where maintenance of a vehicle is performed, and comprehensively refers to places where repair, checking and maintenance of vehicles are performed, for example, repair plants/service plants of motor vehicle dealers, etc.
According to the third aspect, it is judged that the occurrence of abnormality that is detected when the vehicle is in a predetermined area is due to a change in the vehicle state caused by an authorized operation of repairs, checking or the like, and so an auto service information mail is not transmitted. Therefore, transmission of unnecessary mails is avoided, and the communication cost is also reduced.
Besides, according to the third aspect, if the vehicle is in a predetermined area, transmission of an auto service information mail is automatically prevented. Therefore, the vehicle driver or a person in charge of the repair is saved a trouble of operating a switch for prohibiting the transmission of the auto service information mail from the vehicle-mounted apparatus to the center, and there is no possibility of forgetting to operate the switch.
In addition, in the third aspect, it is preferable that a high-accuracy GPS, for example, the RTK-GPS or the like, be used for detecting the position of the vehicle in which an abnormality in the vehicle state has been detected.
According to the foregoing aspects of the invention, it is possible to provide vehicular abnormality notification system, method and apparatus and a vehicle-mounted apparatus in which the transmission of unnecessary notifications to a vehicle is prevented.
Best modes for carrying out the invention will be described below, with embodiments being presented with reference to the drawings. Basic concepts of a system in which an auto service information mail is transmitted to a vehicle driver when an abnormality is detected in the vehicle and a main hardware construction thereof as well as its operation principles, basic control techniques, etc., are already known to those with ordinary skill in the art, and detailed descriptions of minute technologies thereof will not be given herein.
The foregoing and further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals are used to represent like elements and wherein:
With reference to FIGS. 1 to 5, a vehicular abnormality notification system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention will be described.
Firstly, with reference to
The vehicular abnormality notification system 100 in accordance with the embodiment is constructed of a vehicle-mounted apparatus 101 mounted in a vehicle V, and a center 102 that is a communication station, for example, managed and run by a service business unit, such as a vehicle manufacture, a motor vehicle retailer, a specialized vendor, etc., and that is a vehicle abnormality notification apparatus that notifies a driver of the vehicle V of occurrence of an abnormality.
The vehicle-mounted apparatus 101 and the center 102 are constructed so as to be able to communicate with each other through the use of wireless communication. The communication connection between the vehicle-mounted apparatus 101 and the center 102 is not limited to a direct connection but may also be a communication connection via vehicle-to-vehicle communication, road-to-vehicle communication, and/or satellite communication.
Although
Basic actions of the whole system will be generally described. Firstly, if an abnormality in the vehicle state is detected in the vehicle V, the vehicle-mounted apparatus 101 uploads information regarding the detection together with host vehicle position information to the center 102. The center 102 estimates whether or not the detected abnormality has been caused by an authorized repair or the like. If the center 102 judges that it is not a repair or the like that has caused the abnormality and it is necessary to give a notification to the vehicle driver, the center 102 transmits to the vehicle-mounted apparatus 101 of the vehicle V a mail that informs of the occurrence of an abnormality and that recommends that the vehicle V be put into a shop G for vehicle repair, checking and maintenance, such as repair plants/service plants of motor vehicle dealers and the like (hereinafter, simply referred to as “dealer or the like G”) (which will hereinafter be simply referred to as “auto service information mail”).
In this embodiment, if the vehicle V is in the dealer or the like G (in the ground thereof), the center 102 judges that the detection of occurrence of an abnormality has resulted from a change in the vehicle state caused by an operation involved in the repair, checking or the like of the vehicle, and does not transmit the auto service information mail.
The vehicle-mounted apparatus 101 has a transmitter/receiver portion 201 for transmitting information to and receiving information from the center 102 through the use of wireless communication. The communication method adopted is arbitrary; for example, a cell phone network may be used. Besides, the communication connection between the transmitter/receiver portion 201 and the center 102 is not limited to a direct connection but may also be a communication connection via vehicle-to-vehicle communication, road-to-vehicle communication, and/or satellite communication.
The vehicle-mounted apparatus 101 further has a host vehicle position detector portion 202 that detects the position of the vehicle V, for example, through the use of a GPS. As for the detection accuracy (resolution) of the host vehicle position detector portion 202, the higher (finer) is the more preferable. For example, it is preferable to use a high-accuracy GPS such as the RTK-GPS or the like.
The vehicle-mounted apparatus 101 further has a vehicle state abnormality detector portion 203 that detects an abnormality in the vehicle state. In the embodiment, the vehicle state abnormality detector portion 203 is connected with various ECUs of the vehicle V via an in-vehicle LAN such as the CAN (controller area network) or the like. By the self-diagnostic function, the vehicle state abnormality detector portion 203 checks the states of action of processors, sensors, etc., and, if a fault or the like is detected, produces a warning and records it as a diagnostic code.
The vehicle-mounted apparatus 101 further has a display portion 204 that visually presents at least character information to a user. The display portion 204 includes a display, for example, a small-size LCD (liquid crystal display) integrated with or independent of the instrument panel, an overhead display exploiting hologram virtual images, etc.
The vehicle-mounted apparatus 101 further has a control portion 205 that centrally controls various component elements of the vehicle-mounted apparatus 101. The control portion 205 is, for example, an ECU (electronic control unit or device).
The center 102 has a transmitter/receiver portion 301 for transmitting information to and receiving information from the vehicle-mounted apparatus 101. The communication method adopted herein is arbitrary; for example, a cell phone network may be used. Besides, the communication connection between the transmitter/receiver portion 301 and the vehicle-mounted apparatus 101 is not limited to a direct connection but may also be a communication connection via vehicle-to-vehicle communication, road-to-vehicle communication, and/or satellite communication.
The center 102 further has a storage portion 302 in which map information, including information regarding the locations of dealers and the like in particular, is stored beforehand and in which character information that presents auto service information mails is stored as fixed phrases. In the embodiment, the storage portion 302 may be an arbitrary storage medium. Besides, it is preferable that the map information stored in the storage portion 302 be updated to the latest data, for example, through the use of communication, when appropriate.
The center 102 further has a control portion 303 that centrally controls various component elements of the center 102. The control portion 303 is, for example, an ECU.
Next, with reference to the flowchart of
First, the control portion 205 of the vehicle-mounted apparatus 101 monitors a detection result provided by the vehicle state abnormality detector portion 203 (S401). If an abnormality in the vehicle state is detected (YES at S401), the control portion 205 transmits a warning or a diagnostic code provided as a result of the detection, together with the position information of the vehicle V detected by the host vehicle position detector portion 202, to the center 102 via the transmitter/receiver portion 201 (S402).
The control portion 303 of the center 102, upon receiving a correspondence indicating that an abnormality has been detected in the vehicle state together with the position information from the vehicle-mounted apparatus 101 via the transmitter/receiver portion 302, determines whether or not the vehicle V is in the ground of a dealer or the like by comparing the position information with the map information stored in the storage portion 302 (S403).
If the map information stored in the storage portion 302 includes the location of the dealer or the like only in the form of coordinate values, and thus does not allow a grasp of minute ground regions, the control portion 303 may determine whether or not the vehicle V is in the ground of the dealer or the like on the basis of whether or not the position coordinate of the vehicle V is within a circle of a predetermined radius about the position coordinate of the dealer or the like.
If it is determined that the vehicle V is not in the ground of the dealer or the like (NO at S403), the control portion 303 of the center 102 extracts an auto service information mail from the storage portion 302, and transmits it to the vehicle-mounted apparatus 101 of the vehicle V via the transmitter/receiver portion 301, as a usual operation (S404).
Upon receiving the auto service information mail from the center 102 via the transmitter/receiver portion 201, the control portion 205 of the vehicle-mounted apparatus 101 causes the received mail to be displayed to the vehicle driver via the display portion 204.
On the other hand, if it is determined that the vehicle V is in the ground of the dealer or the like (YES at S403), the control portion 303 of the center 102 judges that a change in the vehicle state has been caused by an operation of repair, checking or the like at the dealer or the like, and has been detected as occurrence of an abnormality, that is, judges that transmission of an auto service information mail is not necessary, and therefore does not transmit an auto service information mail to the vehicle V (S404 skipped).
Thus, according to this embodiment, if an abnormality is detected when the vehicle is at a dealer or the like, it is judged that the occurrence of abnormality is due to a change in the vehicle state caused by an authorized operation of repairs, checking or the like, and therefore an auto service information mail is not transmitted. Hence, transmission of unnecessary mails is avoided, and the communication cost is reduced.
Besides, according to the embodiment, since transmission of an auto service information mail is automatically prevented during repair, checking or maintenance, the vehicle driver or a person in charge of the repair is saved a trouble of operating a switch for prohibiting the transmission of the auto service information mail from the vehicle-mounted apparatus 101 to the center 102, and there is no possibility of forgetting to operate the switch.
In addition, in the foregoing embodiment, if the vehicle V whose abnormality has been detected is in the ground of a dealer or the like, it is determined that the detected abnormality is a mere proper change caused by an operation of repair, checking or the like (i.e., transmission of an auto service information mail is not necessary). This is based on an insight that it should be very rare that while a user is visiting a dealer or the like about a matter other than repair, checking or the like, the vehicle state changes and a new abnormality is detected. Should such an event occur, the prohibition of transmission of an auto service information mail will be removed automatically and promptly when the user drives the vehicle out of the dealer or the like, so that an auto service information mail will be transmitted to the user. Thus, it is considered that there is not any trouble.
Besides, possible methods in which the center 102 more carefully determines whether or not the vehicle V is undergoing an operation of repair, checking or the like while a relatively easy technique is employed are, for example:
Furthermore, although the foregoing embodiment is described in conjunction with the case where the estimation or determination as to whether or not the vehicle whose abnormality has been detected is undergoing a proper operation of repair, checking or the like at a dealer of the like is performed in the center 102 through the use of position information, the determination may be performed in the vehicle.
With reference to the flowchart of
The control portion 205 of the vehicle-mounted apparatus 101 monitors a detection result provided by the vehicle state abnormality detector portion 203 (S501). If an abnormality in the vehicle state is detected (YES at S501), the control portion 205 determines whether or not the vehicle V is in the ground of a dealer or the like by comparing the position information of the vehicle V detected by the position detector portion 202 with the map data stored in the control portion 205 (S502).
If the map information stored in the control portion 205 includes the location of the dealer or the like only in the form of coordinate values, and thus does not allow a grasp of minute ground regions, the control portion 205 may determine whether or not the vehicle V is in the ground of the dealer or the like on the basis of whether or not the position coordinate of the vehicle V is within a circle of a predetermined radius about the position coordinate of the dealer or the like. Furthermore, the control portion 205 may also utilize map data from a car navigation system (not shown) connected thereto.
If it is judged that the vehicle V is not in the ground of the dealer or the like (NO at S503), the control portion 205 uploads the abnormality detection data to the center 102 via the transmitter/receiver portion 201 (S504).
On the other hand, it is determined that the vehicle V is in the ground of the dealer or the like (YES at S503), the control portion 205 judges that a change in the vehicle state has been caused by an operation of repair, checking or the like at the dealer or the like, and has been detected as occurrence of an abnormality, that is, judges transmission of an auto service information mail is not necessary, and therefore ends the process (S504 and S505 skipped).
In this case, besides the avoidance of transmission of an auto service information mail from the center 102 to the vehicle V with an abnormality, the upload of an abnormality occurrence report (position information) from the vehicle V to the center 102 is avoided; therefore, the communication cost is further reduced in comparison with the case where the determination of the vehicle position is performed at the center 102.
In the case where the determination as to whether or not the host vehicle is undergoing an operation of repair, checking or the like is performed on the vehicle side, it is also permissible that the vehicle-mounted apparatus 101 be designed so that the apparatus 101 capable of detecting whether or not a tool used for an operation of repair, checking or the like, for example, a service tool for reading a diagnostic code, or the like, is connected to the vehicle V, and so that while such a tool is connected to the vehicle V, the control portion 205 does not send a correspondence about abnormality occurrence (together with the position information) to the center 102 even if an abnormality is detected by the vehicle state abnormality detector portion 203.
The invention can be utilized in a system in which if an abnormality is detected in a vehicle, an auto service information mail is transmitted to the driver of the vehicle. The external appearance, the weight, the size, the traveling performance, etc., of a vehicle to which the invention is applied are not concerned.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-353132 | Dec 2005 | JP | national |
