TRAVEL ENVIRONMENT EVALUATION SYSTEM, TRAVEL ENVIRONMENT EVALUATION METHOD, DRIVE ASSIST DEVICE, AND TRAVEL ENVIRONMENT DISPLAY DEVICE

• US 20160046237A1
• Filed: 04/12/2013
• Published: 02/18/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: NOMOTO, Hirokazu, SUGIMOTO, Hironobu, HAYASHIDA, Teruhide, OE, Yoshihiro, NISHIMURA, Kazuya, KATO, Yoshiyuki
• Granted Patent: US 10,220,781 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/802 for monitoring and displaying vehicle exterior blind spot views
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/8033 for pedestrian protection
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/804 for lane monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/8053 for bad weather conditions or night vision
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/8093 for obstacle warning
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/02 related to ambient conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3453 Special cost functions, i.e. other than distance or default speed limit of road segments
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3484 Personalized, e.g. from learned user behaviour or user-defined profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3492 employing speed data or traffic data, e.g. real-time or historical traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/36 Input/output arrangements for on-board computers
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0962 having an indicator mounted inside the vehicle, e.g. giving voice messages
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09623 Systems involving the acquisition of information from passive traffic signs by means mounted on the vehicle G08G1/0967 takes precedence
• 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 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/18 Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast

Abstract

A vehicle is provided with a driving environment information acquisition section, which acquires driving environment information, which is information on a driving environment of the vehicle. A center is provided with a driving environment evaluation section, which quantitatively evaluates the ease of traveling in the driving environment of the vehicle based on an analysis of the driving environment information acquired by the driving environment information acquisition section. A display section of the vehicle displays the result of evaluation by the driving environment evaluation section.

Claims

1. A driving environment evaluation system, comprising:

a driving environment information acquisition section, which acquires driving environment information, which is information on a driving environment of a movable body from an image taken by a camera mounted on the movable body or from an object detected by a millimeter-wave radar;

a position acquisition section, which acquires a position where the driving environment information is acquired; and

a driving environment evaluation section, which quantitatively evaluates ease of traveling of a driving environment of the movable body based on an analysis of driving environment information acquired by the driving environment information acquisition section,

wherein the driving environment evaluation section is configured to evaluate the ease of traveling of the driving environment of the movable body through an analysis of an element of the acquired driving environment information, which changes dynamically at each position.

2. The driving environment evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein the driving environment information includes information on at least one factor of a road environment, which includes at least a non-road structure, a traffic condition, which includes at least one of a nature of an object and site-related characteristics, and a weather condition, which includes at least site-related characteristics.

3. The driving environment evaluation system according to claim 2, wherein

information on the road environment, the traffic condition, and the weather condition is classified based on categories that are specified for each of factors correlated to ease of traveling by the movable body, and

the driving environment evaluation section analyzes each of the categories as one unit and integrates analysis results given per category to make a quantitative evaluation of the ease of traveling.

4. The driving environment evaluation system according to claim 3, wherein

the movable body is a vehicle, and

when the driving environment information contains information on the road environment, the driving environment evaluation section analyzes information on the road environment in at least one of categories of “

road width,”

which is a width of a road, “

sight”

of a driver of the vehicle, “

speed”

of the vehicle, “

risk”

of the road environment, “

decision”

made by the driver of the vehicle, and “

operation”

required for driving of the vehicle.

5. The driving environment evaluation system according to claim 3, wherein

the movable body is a vehicle, and

when the driving environment information contains information on the traffic condition, the driving environment evaluation section analyzes information on the traffic condition in at least one of categories of “

movable body”

other than a host vehicle, “

sight”

of a driver of the vehicle, “

speed”

of at least the host vehicle, “

risk”

around the vehicle, “

decision”

made by the driver of the vehicle, and “

operation”

required for driving of the vehicle.

6. The driving environment evaluation system according to claim 3, wherein

the movable body is a vehicle, and

when the driving environment information contains information on the weather condition, the driving environment evaluation section analyzes information on the weather condition in at least one of categories of “

sight”

of a driver of the vehicle, “

risk”

in driving the vehicle, “

decision”

made by the driver of the vehicle, and “

operation”

required for driving of the vehicle.

7. The driving environment evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein

a symbol is defined for each of a plurality of influential factors, which are factors that affect the evaluation of the driving environment, and

the system further includes a symbol selection section, which selects one of the symbols corresponding to an influential factor identified in the evaluation of the driving environment.

9. The driving environment evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein

the driving environment information contains information on at least one factor of traffic information or weather information distributed by a road traffic center, detection results of a millimeter-wave radar provided to the movable body, and an amount of change in an operated element of the movable body.

10. The driving environment evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein

the driving environment evaluation section is provided to a center where the acquired driving environment information is collected, and

the center includes a distribution section, which distributes information on evaluation results produced by the driving environment evaluation section to an information terminal.

11. The driving environment evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein

the driving environment information acquisition section and the driving environment evaluation section are mounted on an information terminal, and

the driving environment evaluation section evaluates the driving environment through matching of the driving environment information with a plurality of identification information sets given for identification of the driving environment.

12. The driving environment evaluation system according to claim 10, wherein

the driving environment evaluation section determines at least one of a route found by a route search function of the information terminal and a position of the information terminal, and evaluates a driving environment of the determined route or position.

13. The driving environment evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein

the driving environment evaluation section evaluates the driving environment through process of:

a) calculating a basic score by a quantitative evaluation of structural factors of a road to be evaluated, based on road map data containing information on a road map registered therein;

b) quantifying minus factors that reduce the ease of traveling based on an analysis of a driving environment indicated by the driving environment information; and

c) calculating an index that quantitatively evaluates the ease of traveling by subtracting quantified values of the minus factors that reduce the ease of traveling from the basic score.

14. A driver assistance system that assists a driver in driving a movable body, comprising:

a route search section, which searches for a route to a set destination; and

a presentation processing section, which carries out a process of presenting ease of traveling of a route to the destination evaluated based on an evaluation result produced by the driving environment evaluation system according to claim 1.

8. (canceled)

15. A driving environment display device, which displays evaluation results of a driving environment of a movable body, comprising a display section, which displays an evaluation of a driving environment of a movable body as one of symbols defined correspondingly to the evaluation results of the driving environment, wherein ease of traveling of a road is evaluated based on an analysis of an element of the driving environment, which changes dynamically at each position of the movable body acquired from an image taken by a camera mounted on the movable body or from an object detected by a millimeter-wave radar.

16. The driving environment display device according to claim 15, wherein

the display section displays at least one factor of a road environment, a traffic condition, and a weather condition as a first symbol, and

displays a second symbol, which is defined correspondingly to an influential factor, which is a factor that affects the evaluation of the driving environment.

17. A driving environment evaluation method comprising:

acquiring driving environment information, which is information on a driving environment of a movable body from an image taken by a camera mounted on the movable body or from an object detected by a millimeter-wave radar;

acquiring a position where the driving environment information is acquired; and

quantitatively evaluating ease of traveling of a driving environment of the movable body based on an analysis of the acquired driving environment information,

wherein, evaluating the ease of traveling of the driving environment of the movable body is performed through an analysis of an element of the acquired driving environment information that changes dynamically at each position.