Monitor system, central monitor apparatus, on-vehicle monitor apparatus, monitor method, monitor program, computer-readable recording medium containing the same

• US 20040246111A1
• Filed: 07/29/2004
• Published: 12/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Omron Corporation
• Original Assignee: Omron Corporation
• Inventors: Ando, Tanichi, Kobayashi, Hideyuki, Oyagi, Masayuki
• Granted Patent: US 7,212,103 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/426.1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/1004 Alarm systems characterised by the type of sensor, e.g. current sensing means using door lock sensors B60R25/1001
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/102 a signal being sent to a remote location, e.g. a radio signal being transmitted to a police station, a security company or the owner
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/104 characterised by the type of theft warning signal, e.g. visual or audible signals with special characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/33 of global position, e.g. by providing GPS coordinates
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 1/01 Measuring or predicting earthquakes

Abstract

A monitoring system which can monitor a plurality of vehicles (1) includes vibration sensing units (15) each sensing a vibration of the associated vehicle (1), a sensed time specifying unit (20b) which specifies an instant at which the vibration of the vehicle (1) is sensed by the vibration sensing unit, and an abnormality determining unit (20a) which determines, when a vibration of one of the vehicles (1) is sensed by the associated vibration sensing unit (15), whether the vibration is caused by preparations for theft with respect to the vehicle (1) or the vibration is caused by environmental influences on the vehicle (1). The abnormality determining unit (20a) carries out the determination on ground of sensing results obtained by the vibration sensing units (15) of the respective vehicles (1) and a result of specification carried out by the sensed time specifying unit (20b). With this, a possibility of incorrectly identifying a vibration not being attributed to preparations for theft as a vibration attributed to preparations for theft.

Claims

1. A monitoring system for monitoring vehicles in order to sense the occurrence of an abnormality, comprising:

vibration sensing units each of which is attached to a different one of the vehicles and senses a vibration of that vehicle;

a sensed time specifying unit which specifies a time at which a vibration is sensed by one of the vibration sensing units; and

an abnormality determining unit which determines, when one of the vehicles senses a vibration by the associated vibration sensing unit, whether the vibration is caused by preparations for theft vis-á

-vis said one of the vehicles or the vibration is caused by environmental influences on said one of the vehicles, the abnormality determining unit performing a determination on ground of sensing results obtained by the respective vibration sensing units of the vehicles and a result of specification by the sensed time specifying unit.

2. The monitoring system as defined in claim 1, further comprising a vehicle position specifying unit which specifies positions of the vehicles, the abnormality determining unit performing the determination further on ground of a result of specification by the vehicle position specifying unit.

3. The monitoring system as defined in claim 2, further comprising:

a time information generating unit which generates time information indicating time;

a vibration determining unit which determines, when a vibration of one of the vehicles is sensed by the associated vibration sensing unit, whether or not the vibration is ignored, on ground of a sensing result of the vibration; and

a vibration determination standard adjusting unit which adjusts determination standards which are set in the vibration determining unit and correspond to the respective vehicles,

when the abnormality determining unit determines that a vibration of one of the vehicles sensed by the associated vibration sensing unit is caused by the environmental influences on said one of the vehicles, the vibration determination standard adjusting unit adjusting the determination standards, on ground of a result of specification by the sensed time specifying unit, a result of specification by the vehicle position specifying unit, and the time information.

4. The monitoring system as defined in claim 1, wherein, the abnormality determining unit assumes whether or not vibrations of the vehicles are caused by an identical reason, by comparing the vibrations on ground of sensing results obtained by the respective vibration sensing units of the vehicles, and the determination is carried out in accordance with a result of assumption.

5. The monitoring system as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

an abnormality handling unit which handles, when an abnormality occurs in one of the vehicles, the abnormality; and

an abnormality handling control unit which controls abnormality handling by the abnormality handling unit, on ground of a determination result obtained by the abnormality determining unit.

6. The monitoring system as defined in claim 1, further comprising a reporting unit which reports, when the abnormality determining unit determines that a vibration of one of the vehicles sensed by the associated vibration sensing unit is caused by environmental influences on said one of the vehicles, a determination result to an outside.

7. A central monitoring apparatus for monitoring vehicles in order to sense the occurrence of an abnormality, comprising:

a receiving unit which receives a sensing result from vibration sensing units each of which is provided in a different one of the vehicles in order to sense a vibration of that vehicle;

a sensed time specifying unit for specifying a time at which a vibration is sensed by one of the vibration sensing units; and

an abnormality determining unit which determines, when one of the vehicles senses a vibration by the associated vibration sensing unit, whether the vibration is caused by preparations for theft vis-á

-vis said one of the vehicles or the vibration is caused by environmental influences on said one of the vehicles,

the abnormality determining unit performing a determination on ground of sensing results obtained by the respective vibration sensing units of the vehicles and a result of specification by the sensed time specifying unit.

8. The central monitoring apparatus as defined in claim 7, further comprising a vehicle position specifying unit which specifies positions of the vehicles,

the abnormality determining unit performing the determination further on ground of a result of specification by the vehicle position specifying unit.

9. The central monitoring apparatus as defined in claim 8, further comprising:

a time information generating unit which generates time information indicating time; and

a vibration determining unit which adjusts, when a vibration of one of the vehicles is sensed by the associated vibration sensing unit, determination standards for determining whether or not the vibration is ignored, on ground of a sensing result from said one of the vehicles,

when the abnormality determining unit determines that a vibration of one of the vehicles sensed by the associated vibration sensing unit is caused by the environmental influences on said one of the vehicles, the vibration determination standard adjusting unit adjusting the determination standards, on ground of a result of specification by the sensed time specifying unit, a result of specification by the vehicle position specifying unit, and the time information.

10. The central monitoring apparatus as defined in claim 7, further comprising a reporting unit which reports, when the abnormality determining unit determines that a vibration sensed by one of the vehicles by the associated vibration sensing unit is caused by environmental influences on said one of the vehicles, a determination result to an outside.

11. An on-board monitoring apparatus which is attached to a vehicle being monitored by the central monitoring apparatus as defined in claim 7, comprising:

the vibration sensing unit; and

a transmitting unit which transmits a sensing result obtained by the vibration sensing unit.

12. An on-board monitoring apparatus which is attached to a vehicle and monitors the vehicle in order to sense the occurrence of an abnormality in the vehicle, comprising:

a vibration sensing unit which senses a vibration of the vehicle;

a receiving unit which receives a sensing result, which is obtained by a vibration sensing unit of another vehicle, from a central monitoring apparatus which collects and transmits the sensing result obtained by the vibration sensing unit of said another vehicle;

a sensed time specifying unit which specifies times at which respective vibrations are sensed by the vibration sensing unit of the vehicle and the vibration sensing unit of said another vehicle; and

an abnormality determining unit which determines, when the vehicle senses a vibration by the vibration sensing unit, whether the vibration is caused by preparations for theft vis-á

-vis the vehicle or the vibration is caused by environmental influences on the vehicle,

the abnormality determining unit performing a determination on ground of a sensing result obtained by the vibration sensing unit of the vehicle, the sensing result obtained by the vibration sensing unit of said another vehicle, and a result of specification by the sensed time specifying unit.

13. A method of monitoring vehicles in order to sense the occurrence of an abnormality, comprising the steps of:

(i) sensing a vibration of one of the vehicles by vibration sensing units each being attached to a different one of the vehicles;

(ii) specifying, by a sensed time specifying unit, a time at which a vibration is sensed by one of the vibration sensing units; and

(iii) when one of the vehicles senses a vibration by the associated vibration sensing unit, determining, by an abnormality determining unit, whether the vibration is caused by preparations for theft vis-á

-vis said one of the vehicles or the vibration is caused by environmental influences on said one of the vehicles,

the step (iii) being performed by the abnormality determining unit, on ground of sensing results obtained by the respective vibration sensing units of the vehicles and a result of specification by the sensed time specifying unit.

14. A monitoring program for operating the central monitoring apparatus, the monitoring program comprising machine-readable program code on a medium for causing, when executed, the central monitoring apparatus to perform the following steps:

receiving a sensing result from vibration sensing units each of which is provided in a different one of the vehicles in order to sense a vibration of that vehicle;

specifying a time at which a vibration is sensed by one of the vibration sensing units; and

determining when one of the vehicles senses a vibration by the associated vibration sensing unit, whether the vibration is caused by preparations for theft vis-á

-vis said one of the vehicles or the vibration is caused by environmental influences on said one of the vehicles, the determining based on the sensing results obtained by the respective vibration sensing units of the vehicles and a result of specification by the sensed time specifying unit.

15. A computer-readable recording medium recording the monitoring program defined in claim 14.

16. An event identification system which identifies an event occurring in objects, comprising:

sensing units each of which is attached to a different one of the objects and senses an event occurring on that object;

a sensed time specifying unit which specifies a time at which an event is sensed by one of the sensing units; and

a determining unit which determines, when one of the objects senses an event by the associated sensing unit, whether the event is peculiar to said one of the objects or the event is caused by environmental influences on said one of the objects, the determining unit performing a determination on ground of sensing results obtained by the respective sensing units of the objects and a result of specification by the sensed time specifying unit.

17. The event identification system as defined in claim 16, further comprising:

a position specifying unit which specifies positions of the objects, the determining unit performing the determination further on ground of a result of specification by the position specifying unit.

18. The event identification system as defined in claim 16, wherein, the objects are vehicles.

21. The central event identification apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein, the objects are vehicles.

19. A central event identification apparatus for identifying an event occurring on objects, comprising:

a receiving unit which receives a sensing result from sensing units each of which is provided in a different one of the objects in order to sense an event occurring on that object;

a sensed time specifying unit for specifying a time at which an event is sensed by one of the sensing units; and

a determining unit which determines, when one of the objects senses an event by the associated sensing unit, whether the event is peculiar to said one of the objects or the event is caused by environmental influences on said one of the objects,

the determining unit performing a determination on ground of sensing results obtained by the respective sensing units of the objects and a result of specification by the sensed time specifying unit.

20. The central event identification apparatus as defined in claim 19, further comprising:

a position specifying unit which specifies positions of the objects, the determining unit performing the determination further on ground of a result of specification by the position specifying unit.

22. An on-board event identification apparatus which is attached to an object and identifies an event occurring on the object, comprising:

a sensing unit which senses an event occurring on the object;

a receiving unit which receives a sensing result, which is obtained by a sensing unit of another object, from a central apparatus which collects and transmits the sensing result obtained by the sensing unit of said another object;

a sensed time specifying unit which specifies times at which respective events are sensed by the sensing unit of the object and the sensing unit of said another object; and

a determining unit which determines, when the object senses an event by the sensing unit, whether the event is peculiar to the object or the event is caused by environmental influences on the object,

the determining unit performing a determination on ground of a sensing result obtained by the sensing unit of the object, the sensing result obtained by the sensing unit of said another object, and a result of specification by the sensed time specifying unit.

23. The on-board event identification apparatus as defined in claim 22, wherein, the object is a vehicle.

24. A method of identifying an event occurring on objects, comprising the steps of:

(i) sensing an event occurring on one of the objects by sensing units each being attached to a different one of the objects;

(ii) specifying, by a sensed time specifying unit, a time at which an event is sensed by one of the sensing units; and

(iii) when one of the objects senses an event by the associated sensing unit, determining, by a determining unit, whether the event is peculiar to said one of the objects or the event is caused by environmental influences on said one of the objects,

the step (iii) being performed by the determining unit, on ground of sensing results obtained by the respective sensing units of the objects and a result of specification by the sensed time specifying unit.

25. The method as defined in claim 24, further comprising the step of specifying positions of the objects by a position specifying unit,

the determining unit performing a determination further on ground of a result of specification by the position specifying unit.

26. The method as defined in claim 24, wherein, the objects are vehicles.