DRIVING SUPPORT SYSTEM AND DRIVING SUPPORT MANAGING DEVICE

• US 20130302756A1
• Filed: 11/22/2011
• Published: 11/14/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Takeuchi, Shojiro, Sugimoto, Hironobu, Yoshioka, Satomi
• Granted Patent: US 8,753,123 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 434/64
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0075 Automatic parameter input, automatic initialising or calibrating means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/10 Historical data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18 Propelling the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/0097 Predicting future conditions
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/606 Driving style, e.g. sporty or economic driving
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/701 Information about vehicle position, e.g. from navigation system or GPS signal
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/1401 characterised by the control or regulation method F02D41/1473, F02D41/1477 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 9/042 providing simulation in a real vehicle G09B9/052, G09B9/058 take precedence

Abstract

A driving support system for giving a support to a driving operation of a vehicle includes a drive history database and a drive teaching unit for specifying a travel route of a vehicle subjected to a driving support. Vehicle information including information about vehicle operation is associated with pertinent route information and is registered as a drive history in the drive history database. The drive teaching unit is configured to extract a drive history corresponding to the specified travel route from the drive history database. The drive teaching unit is further configured as a guide for the driving support to teach information about the extracted drive history to a driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support.

Claims

1. A driving support system for providing driving support in operation of a vehicle, the driving support system comprising:

a drive history database for associating vehicle information including information about vehicle operation with pertinent route information and for registering the information as a drive history; and

a drive teaching unit that specifies a travel route of a vehicle subjected to driving support, wherein the drive teaching unit is configured to extract a drive history corresponding to the specified travel route from the drive history database and configured as a guide for the driving support to teach information about the extracted drive history to a driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support, wherein

the drive teaching unit is configured to extract a drive history including a driving operation similar to a driving operation tendency of the driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support from the drive history database, and

the drive teaching unit is further configured to teach information about the extracted drive history to the driver, wherein

the vehicle information includes information about a static ambient condition indicative of a static condition around the vehicle, information about a dynamic ambient condition indicative of a dynamic condition around the vehicle, and information about the vehicle condition,

at least one of a fuel efficiency, which is a travel distance of a vehicle per unit fuel amount, trip time, and safety of vehicle operation is set to be an evaluation item for evaluating the drive history, thereby determining the driving level of a driver of the vehicle,

the drive teaching unit is configured to set the information about the static ambient condition, the information about the dynamic ambient condition and the information about the vehicle condition as variables respectively, thereby estimating a probability density of the drive history for each evaluation item to obtain a distribution of the drive history,

the drive teaching unit is further configured to specify, as a factor for a mutual difference in the driving level, one or more of variables causing a relative increase in a deviation between the distribution of the drive history that has a high driving level based on the evaluation item and the distribution of the drive history that has a low driving level, and

the drive teaching unit is further configured to use any of the information about the static ambient condition, the information about the dynamic ambient condition and the information about the vehicle condition, which are indicated by the specified variables, as an element to improve a corresponding one of the evaluation items, in the driving support of the driver of the vehicle for which the support is intended.

4. The driving support system according to claim 1, wherein

the drive teaching unit is configured to extract, from the drive history database, a drive history in which an element related to any of the static ambient condition, the dynamic ambient condition and the vehicle condition, which are indicated by the variables, is common to the drive history of the driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support as a drive history including a driving operation similar to a driving operation tendency of the driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support, and

the drive teaching unit is further configured to teach information about the extracted drive history to the driver.

5. The driving support system according to claim 1, wherein

the drive teaching unit is configured to determine that a drive history having a smaller variation per unit time in the dynamic ambient condition or the vehicle condition, which is indicated by the variable, has a higher driving level, and

the drive teaching unit is further configured to extract, from the drive history database, a drive history that is determined, based on the determination result, to have a higher driving level than the driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support.

6. The driving support system according to claim 5, wherein the drive teaching unit is configured to extract, from the drive history database, information about any of the determined drive histories that is close to a driving level of the driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support.

7. The driving support system according to claim 1, wherein

a plurality of types of drive histories are classified into each driving operation tendency based on respective feature quantities and are registered in the drive history database,

the drive teaching unit is configured to specify a driving operation tendency of the driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support, and

the drive teaching unit is further configured to extract, from the drive history database, information about a drive history having a feature quantity similar to the specified driving operation tendency.

14. The driving support system according to claim 1, wherein

the vehicle subjected to the driving support includes a display device for displaying the drive history extracted by the drive teaching unit, and

the driving support is taught as an image output through the display device.

2-3. -3. (canceled)

8. A driving support system for providing driving support in operation of a vehicle, the driving support system comprising:

a drive history database for associating vehicle information including information about vehicle operation with pertinent route information and for registering the information as a drive history; and

a drive teaching unit that specifies a travel route of a vehicle subjected to driving support, wherein the drive teaching unit is configured to extract a drive history corresponding to the specified travel route from the drive history database and configured as a guide for the driving support to teach information about the extracted drive history to a driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support, wherein

the drive teaching unit is configured to extract a drive history including a driving operation similar to a driving operation tendency of the driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support from the drive history database, and

the drive teaching unit is further configured to teach information about the extracted drive history to the driver,

wherein

the drive teaching unit is configured to carry out clustering to generate a driving operation pattern based on respective feature quantities from the drive histories registered in the drive history database,

the drive teaching unit is further configured to determine which of the driving operation patterns subjected to the clustering is close to a driving operation of the driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support, and

the drive teaching unit is further configured to extract information about a drive history including a driving operation tendency having a feature quantity similar to the driving operation tendency of the driver.

9. A driving support system for providing driving support in operation of a vehicle, the driving support comprising:

a drive history database for associating vehicle information including information about vehicle operation with pertinent route information and for registering the information as a drive history; and

a drive teaching unit that specifies a travel route of a vehicle subjected to driving support, wherein the drive teaching unit is configured to extract a drive history corresponding to the specified travel route from the drive history database and configured as a guide for the driving support to teach information about the extracted drive history to a driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support, wherein

the drive teaching unit is configured to extract a drive history including a driving operation similar to a driving operation tendency of the driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support from the drive history database, and

the drive teaching unit is further configured to teach information about the extracted drive history to the driver,

wherein

a plurality of types of drive histories are registered in the drive history database so as to be stratified for each driving level that is evaluated with at least one of fuel efficiency, which is a travel distance of a vehicle per unit fuel amount, trip time, and safety of vehicle operation set as an evaluation item,

the drive teaching unit is configured to determine a driving level in a class to which the driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support belongs based on at least one of the evaluation items, and

the drive teaching unit is further configured to extract information about a drive history having a higher level than the determined driving level from the stratified drive history database,

wherein the drive teaching unit is configured to extract, from the stratified drive history database, information about a drive history belonging to a class having the next higher driving level to the determined driving level of the class to which the driver belongs.

11. The driving support system according to claim 9, wherein the drive teaching unit is configured to extract, from the stratified drive history database, information about any of the stratified drive histories that is close to the driving level of the driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support.

12. The driving support system according to claim 9, wherein

the vehicle information includes a static ambient condition indicative of a static condition around the vehicle, a dynamic ambient condition indicative of a dynamic condition around the vehicle, and information about the vehicle condition,

at least one of a fuel efficiency, which is a travel distance of a vehicle per unit fuel amount, trip time, and safety of vehicle operation is set to be an evaluation item for evaluating the drive history, thereby determining the driving level of the driver of the vehicle,

the drive teaching unit is configured to set information about the static ambient condition, information about the dynamic ambient condition and the information about the vehicle condition as variables respectively, thereby estimating a probability density of the drive history for each estimation item to obtain a distribution of the drive history,

the drive teaching unit is further configured to specify, as a factor for a mutual difference in the driving level, one or more variables causing a relative increase in a deviation between the distribution of the drive history that has a high driving level based on the evaluation item and the distribution of the drive history that has a low driving level, and

the drive teaching unit is further configured to use any of the information about the static ambient condition, the information about the dynamic ambient condition and the information about the vehicle condition, which are indicated by the specified variables, as an element to improve a corresponding one of the evaluation items, in the driving support of the driver of the vehicle for which the support is intended.

10. (canceled)

13. A driving support system for providing driving support in operation of a vehicle, the driving support system comprising:

a drive history database for associating vehicle information including information about vehicle operation with pertinent route information and for registering the information as a drive history; and

a drive teaching unit that specifies a travel route of a vehicle subjected to driving support, wherein the drive teaching unit is configured to extract a drive history corresponding to the specified travel route from the drive history database and configured as a guide for the driving support to teach information about the extracted drive history to a driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support,

wherein

a plurality of sets of vehicle information based on vehicle operations of a plurality of vehicles are registered in the drive history database,

the drive teaching unit is configured to extract information about the drive history by setting, as a unit, any of a specific point of the specified travel route, a specific traffic element, and a specific time zone, and

the drive teaching unit is further configured to synthesize the extracted information about the drive history respectively, thereby teaching the synthesized information to the driver.

15. A driving support system for providing driving support in operation of a vehicle, the driving support system comprising:

a drive history database for associating vehicle information including information about vehicle operation with pertinent route information and for registering the information as a drive history; and

a drive teaching unit that specifies a travel route of a vehicle subjected to driving support, wherein the drive teaching unit is configured to extract a drive history corresponding to the specified travel route from the drive history database and configured as a guide for the driving support to teach information about the extracted drive history to a driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support,

wherein the drive teaching unit is configured to teach the driving support through an application of a braking force to a drive system of the vehicle subjected to the driving support.

16. A driving support system for providing driving support in operation of a vehicle, the driving support system comprising:

a drive history database for associating vehicle information including information about vehicle operation with pertinent route information and for registering the information as a drive history; and

a drive teaching unit that specifies a travel route of a vehicle subjected to driving support, wherein the drive teaching unit is configured to extract a drive history corresponding to the specified travel route from the drive history database and configured as a guide for the driving support to teach information about the extracted drive history to a driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support,

wherein

the drive history database and the drive teaching unit are provided in a management center constituting a probe information communication system for collecting the vehicle information, and

the management center is configured to deliver information about a drive history to be taught to the driver to the pertinent vehicle in response to a request given from the vehicle subjected to the driving support.

17. A driving support system for giving a support to a driving operation of a vehicle, the driving support system comprising:

a drive history database for registering a drive history, which is a history of vehicle information including information about a plurality of types of vehicle operations; and

a drive teaching unit that is configured to determine a driving level of a driver of a vehicle subjected to a driving support by setting, as an evaluation item, at least one of a fuel efficiency, which is a travel distance of a vehicle per unit fuel amount, trip time, and safety of vehicle operation, which are included in a drive history of the driver, the drive teaching unit being configured to extract, from the drive history database, information about a drive history having a higher driving level than a driving level based on the determined evaluation item, and the drive teaching unit being further configured to teach the extracted information about the drive history as a guide for the driving support to the driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support,

wherein

the drive teaching unit is configured to extract, from the drive history database, a drive history including a driving operation similar to a driving operation tendency of the driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support, and

the drive teaching unit is further configured to teach information about the extracted drive history to the driver,

wherein

the vehicle information includes a static ambient condition indicative of a static condition around the vehicle, a dynamic ambient condition indicative of a dynamic condition around the vehicle, and information about the vehicle condition,

the drive teaching unit is configured to estimate a distribution of the drive history from a probability density of the drive history that is classified based on the evaluation item by setting, as a variable, each of information about the static ambient condition, information about the dynamic ambient condition, and the information about the vehicle condition,

the drive teaching unit is further configured to specify, as a factor for a mutual difference in the driving level, one or more variables causing a relative increase in a deviation between the estimated distribution of the drive history that has a higher driving level based on the evaluation item and the distribution of the drive history that has a low driving level, and

the drive teaching unit is further configured to use any of the information about the static ambient condition, the information about the dynamic ambient condition and the information about the vehicle condition, which are indicated by the specified variables, as an element to improve a corresponding one of the evaluation items, in the driving support of the vehicle for which the support is intended.

18-19. -19. (canceled)

20. A driving support managing device for giving a support to a driving operation of a vehicle, the driving support managing device comprising:

a drive history database for associating vehicle information including information about vehicle operation with pertinent route information and registering the vehicle information as a drive history; and

a teaching information delivering unit that specifies a travel route of a vehicle subjected to a driving support, the teaching information delivering unit being configured to extract a drive history corresponding to the specified travel route from the drive history database and being configured to deliver information about the extracted drive history to the vehicle subjected to the driving support in order to carry out the driving support,

wherein

the teaching information delivering unit is configured to extract, from the drive history database, a drive history including a driving operation similar to a driving operation tendency of the driver of the vehicle subjected to the driving support, and

wherein

the vehicle information includes a static ambient condition indicative of a static condition around the vehicle, a dynamic ambient condition indicative of a dynamic condition around the vehicle, and information about the vehicle condition,

the teaching information delivering unit is configured to estimate a distribution of the drive history from a probability density of the drive history that is classified based on the evaluation item by setting, as a variable, each of information about the static ambient condition, information about the dynamic ambient condition, and the information about the vehicle condition,

the teaching information delivering unit is further configured to specify, as a factor for a mutual difference in the driving level, one or more variables causing a relative increase in a deviation between the estimated distribution of the drive history that has a higher driving level based on the evaluation item and the distribution of the drive history that has a low driving level, and

the teaching information delivering unit is further configured to use any of the information about the static ambient condition, the information about the dynamic ambient condition and the information about the vehicle condition, which are indicated by the specified variables, as an element to improve a corresponding one of the evaluation items, in the driving support of the vehicle for which the support is intended.