Safe driving evaluation system, method, and program

• US 20100063725A1
• Filed: 07/24/2009
• Published: 03/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/07/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.)
• Inventors: Yamatani, Yoshio, Miura, Naoki
• Granted Patent: US 8,185,300 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/207
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09675 where a selection from the received information takes place in the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096791 where the origin of the information is another vehicle

Abstract

Systems, methods, and programs input a current drive condition of a vehicle at a predetermined location before a predetermined temporary stop position, determine whether there is a possibility that the vehicle will not be able to safely stop at the temporary stop position based on the input current drive condition, and execute a wake-up call to a driver if it is determined that there is a possibility that the vehicle will not be able to stop safely at the temporary stop position. The systems, methods, and programs calculate a wake-up call ratio as a ratio of the total number of wake-up calls executed to the total number of temporary stop positions passed, and then acquire evaluation information based on the calculated wake-up call ratio.

Claims

1. A safe driving evaluation system, comprising:

a controller that;

inputs a current drive condition of a vehicle at a predetermined location before a predetermined temporary stop position;

determines whether there is a possibility that the vehicle will not be able to safely stop at the temporary stop position based on the input current drive condition;

executes a wake-up call to a driver if it is determined that there is a possibility that the vehicle will not be able to stop safely at the temporary stop position;

calculates a wake-up call ratio as a ratio of the total number of wake-up calls executed to the total number of temporary stop positions passed; and

acquires evaluation information based on the calculated wake-up call ratio.

2. The safe driving evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein the controller:

acquires a standard drive condition representing a minimum required drive condition for stopping safely at the temporary stop position;

compares the input current drive condition to the acquired standard drive condition; and

determines, based on the comparison, whether there is the possibility that the vehicle will not be able to safely stop at the temporary stop position.

3. The safe driving evaluation system according to claim 2, wherein the controller:

acquires a deviation degree representing a degree of a deviation between the input current drive condition and the acquired standard drive condition; and

corrects the calculated wake-up call ratio based on the acquired deviation degree.

4. The safe driving evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein the controller:

acquires a degree of safe driving for stopping safely at the temporary stop position; and

corrects the calculated wake-up call ratio based on the acquired degree of safe driving.

5. The safe driving evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein the controller:

acquires the number of accidents that has occurred in the past at each temporary stop position; and

corrects the calculated wake-up call ratio based on the acquired number of accidents.

6. The safe driving evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein the controller:

acquires stop ratio information indicating how often the vehicle actually conducts a stop at each temporary stop position; and

corrects the calculated wake-up call ratio based on the acquired stop ratio.

7. The safe driving evaluation system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a preceding vehicle detection unit that detects whether another vehicle exists within a predetermined distance ahead of the vehicle;

wherein, if another vehicle exists ahead of the vehicle when the vehicle is at the predetermined location, the controller excludes the temporary stop position corresponding to the predetermined location from the calculation of the wake-up call ratio.

8. The safe driving evaluation system according to claim 1,

wherein the input current drive condition is at least one of the vehicle'"'"'s speed, a braking operation level, and an accelerator opening.

9. The safe driving evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation information includes at least one of:

a score assigned according to the wake-up call ratio;

an advice sentence having contents corresponding to the wake-up call ratio; and

a graphic display visually showing the wake-up call ratio at each moment.

10. The safe driving evaluation system according to claim 1, further comprising:

an information collection unit that collects information related to the wake-up call ratio from a plurality of other vehicles;

wherein the controller acquires, based on the collected information, at least one of the following as the evaluation information;

an order of the vehicle and each of the plurality of other vehicles, the order being determined based on a comparison of the wake-up call ratio of the vehicle to the wake-up call ratios of the plurality of the other vehicles; and

a rank assigned to the vehicle based on the past wake-up call ratios of each of the plurality of vehicles.

11. The safe driving evaluation system according to claim 1, comprising:

an in-vehicle terminal device mounted in the vehicle; and

a central control device communicable with a plurality of other in-vehicle terminal devices;

wherein;

when a main power of the vehicle has been turned off, the in-vehicle terminal device sends the wake-up call ratio to the central control device; and

the central control device generates the evaluation information for the in-vehicle terminal device based on the sent wake-up call ratio.

12. A navigation system comprising the safe driving evaluation system according to claim 1.

13. A safe driving evaluation method, comprising:

inputting a current drive condition of a vehicle at a predetermined location before a predetermined temporary stop position;

determining whether there is a possibility that the vehicle will not be able to safely stop at the temporary stop position based on the input current drive condition;

executing a wake-up call to a driver if it is determined that there is a possibility that the vehicle will not be able to stop safely at the temporary stop position;

calculating a wake-up call ratio as a ratio of the total number of wake-up calls executed to the total number of temporary stop positions passed; and

acquiring evaluation information based on the calculated wake-up call ratio.

14. The safe driving evaluation method according to claim 13, further comprising:

acquiring a standard drive condition representing a minimum required drive condition for stopping safely at the temporary stop position;

comparing the input current drive condition to the acquired standard drive condition; and

determining, based on the comparison, whether there is the possibility that the vehicle will not be able to safely stop at the temporary stop position.

15. The safe driving evaluation method according to claim 14, further comprising:

acquiring a deviation degree representing a degree of a deviation between the input current drive condition and the acquired standard drive condition; and

correcting the calculated wake-up call ratio based on the acquired deviation degree.

16. The safe driving evaluation method according to claim 13, further comprising:

acquiring a degree of safe driving for stopping safely at the temporary stop position; and

correcting the calculated wake-up call ratio based on the acquired degree of safe driving.

17. The safe driving evaluation method according to claim 13, further comprising:

acquiring the number of accidents that has occurred in the past at each temporary stop position; and

correcting the calculated wake-up call ratio based on the acquired number of accidents.

18. The safe driving evaluation method according to claim 13, further comprising:

acquiring stop ratio information indicating how often the vehicle actually conducts a stop at each temporary stop position; and

correcting the calculated wake-up call ratio based on the acquired stop ratio.

19. The safe driving evaluation method according to claim 13, wherein the method is implemented by a controller in-an in-vehicle device.

20. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer-executable program for safe driving evaluation, the program comprising:

instructions for inputting a current drive condition of a vehicle at a predetermined location before a predetermined temporary stop position;

instructions for determining whether there is a possibility that the vehicle will not be able to safely stop at the temporary stop position based on the input current drive condition;

instructions for executing a wake-up call to a driver if it is determined that there is a possibility that the vehicle will not be able to stop safely at the temporary stop position;

instructions for calculating a wake-up call ratio as a ratio of the total number of wake-up calls executed to the total number of temporary stop positions passed; and

instructions for acquiring evaluation information based on the calculated wake-up call ratio.