AU2017254915B2 - Information processing system and information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

An information processing system includes a position measurement device configured to receive radio waves in which information has been superimposed from a 5 plurality of satellites constituting a global positioning system and Quasi-Zenith Satellites constituting the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System, and identify its own position on the basis of information extracted from the received radio waves; and an estimation unit configured to estimate an attention area that should be noted during travel on the basis of a trajectory of the position measurement device recognized on the basis of a position 10 identified by the position measurement device at a lane level of a road. FIG. 29 1M200 ATTENTION AREA AR200I MAY BE FLOODED. PLEASE CHANGE LANES

Description

INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM AND INFORMATION PROCESSING

METHOD

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an information processing system and an information processing method.

Description of Related Art

In recent years, a pedestrian guidance device configured to receive radio waves sent from Quasi-Zenith Satellites, acquire positioning information and correction information, measure an own position using the positioning information and the correction information, evaluate the position accuracy of the measured own position, extract a route from the own position to a destination, and display the extracted route to the destination and the evaluated position accuracy of the own position has been disclosed (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2015-169505 (hereinafter. Patent Document 1)).

In addition, in recent years, a moving terminal device configured to, when a location of a moving body is mapped on map data on the basis of a positioning result 20 obtained by measuring the location of the moving body, and it is determined that the moving body is in a specific section including a plurality of lanes along which a vehicle can travel or is located at a certain position within a predetermined distance from the specific section on the basis of the mapping result, select a specific lane from among the plurality of lanes along which a vehicle can travel on the basis of an estimated passing 25 time for each lane stored in an estimated passing time storage unit, transmit moving route

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 notification information for notifying of the selected lane to another moving terminal device disposed in another moving body, and share the moving route notification information with the other moving terminal device has been disclosed (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2010-256367 (hereinafter, Patent 5 Document 2)).

In addition, in recent years, a device configured to store information about an estimated amount of rainfall in each of areas and each of time periods, acquire a guide route to a destination from a departure place that satisfies route search conditions on the basis of stored network data, calculate an amount of rainfall in the acquired guide route on the basis of the stored estimated amount of rainfall information, generate rain guidance information indicating the calculated amount of rainfall in association with the guide route, and display the generated rain guidance information on a display unit has been disclosed (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2012-8047 (hereinafter, Patent Document 3)).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, in the device disclosed in Patent Document 1, actual road traffic conditions are not considered in information provided to a user. Therefore, it is not possible to provide useful information to the user in some cases.

In addition, while information about a lane selected on the basis of an estimated passing time for each lane is provided to a user in the device disclosed in Patent Document 2, other information is not considered. Therefore, it is not possible to provide useftil information to the user in some cases.

In addition, while weather information in the guide route has been focused on in the device disclosed in Patent Document 3, an influence of weather information on a road

2017254915 22 May 2019 is not considered. Therefore, it may not be possible to provide useful information to a user.

Aspects according to the present invention have been made in view of such circumstances. An aspect of the present invention provides an information processing system and an information processing method through which it is possible to provide more useful information.

It is an object of the present invention to substantially overcome or at least ameliorate one or more of the above disadvantages.

Another aspect of the present invention provides an information processing system comprising: position measurement devices, wherein each position measurement device is configured to receive radio waves in which information has been superimposed from a plurality of satellites constituting a global positioning system and Quasi-Zenith Satellites constituting a Quasi-Zenith Satellite System, and identify its own position on the basis of the information extracted from the received radio waves, wherein the position measurement devices are disposed in vehicles travelling on a road; and an estimation unit configured to estimate an attention area of the road that should be noted , the attention area being defined as an area at a predetermined lane in the road on map information, the map information including a lane level of the road, the area having a predetermined size and where plotted trajectories of the position measurement devices on the map information match with a predetermined pattern.

Another aspect of the present invention provides an information processing method causing a computer to: receive radio waves in which information has been superimposed from a plurality of satellites constituting a global positioning system and Quasi-Zenith Satellites constituting a Quasi-Zenith Satellite System; identify positions of position measurement devices on the basis of information extracted from the received radio waves, wherein the position measurement devices are disposed in vehicles travelling on a road; and estimate an attention area of a road that should be noted during travel, the attention area being defined as an area at a predetermined lane in the road on map information, the map information including a lane level of the road, the area having a predetermined size and where plotted trajectories of the position measurement devices on the map information match with a predetermined pattern.

AH26(22565728_1):TCW

3a

2017254915 22 May 2019 (1) An information processing system according to an aspect of the present invention includes a position measurement device configured to receive radio waves in which information has been superimposed from a plurality of satellites constituting a global positioning system and QuasiZenith Satellites constituting the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System, and identify its own position on the basis of information extracted from the received radio waves; and an estimation unit configured to estimate an attention area that should be noted during travel on the basis of a trajectory of the position measurement device recognized on the basis of a position identified by the position measurement device at a lane level of a road.

AH26(22565728_1):TCW

2017254915 04 Oct 2018 (2) In the aspect (1), the information processing system may further include a guidance information generating unit configured to generate guidance information for avoiding the attention area estimated by the estimation unit at a lane level of a road.

(3) In the aspect (1) or (2), the information processing system may further include a display control unit configured to generate an image to be displayed on a display unit on the basis of the attention area estimated by the estimation unit and display the generated image on the display unit.

(4) In the aspect (3), the display control unit may display the generated image on a display unit provided in a vehicle or a display unit of a mobile terminal.

(5) In the aspect (3) or (4), the display control unit may display an image in which the attention area estimated by the estimation unit is displayed on a map on the display unit.

(6) In any one of the aspects (1) to (5), the information processing system may further include an application unit configured to apply the attention area estimated by the estimation unit to map information.

(7) An information processing method according to an aspect of the present invention causes a computer to perform: receiving radio waves in which information has been superimposed from a plurality of satellites constituting a global positioning system and QuasiZenith Satellites constituting the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System; identifying a position of a position measurement device on the basis of information extracted from the received radio waves; and estimating an attention area that should be noted during travel on the basis of a trajectory of the position measurement device recognized on the basis of the identified position at a lane level of a road.

(8) In the aspect (1), the information processing system may further include an acquisition unit configured to acquire information indicating a movement of a vehicle in which the position measurement device is mounted or included; and an extraction unit configured to extract a specific area in which traveling of the vehicle is recommended or not recommended on the basis of the position identified by the position measurement device and the information indicating a movement of the vehicle acquired by the acquisition unit at a lane level of a road.

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2017254915 02 Nov 2017 (9) In the aspect (8), the extraction unit may extract an area in which an acceleration and a deceleration of the vehicle are controlled so as to be a predetermined degree or higher as a specific area in which traveling of the vehicle is not recommended.

(10) In the aspect (8) or (9), the extraction unit may extract an area in which a turning angle of the vehicle is controlled so as to be a predetermined degree or higher as a specific area in which traveling of the vehicle is not recommended.

(11) In any one of the aspects (8) to (10), the extraction unit may extract an area in which lane change is smoothly performed as a specific area in which traveling of the vehicle is recommended.

(12) In the aspect (11), the extraction unit may extract the specific area on the basis of a degree of change in a plurality of pieces of position information specified by the position measurement device and a degree of change in the movement of the vehicle acquired by the acquisition unit.

(13) In any one of the aspects (8) to (12), the information processing system may further include an information generating unit configured to generate information to be output to an output unit configured to output information on the basis of the specific area extracted by the extraction unit.

(14) In the aspect (13), the information generating unit may generate an image to be displayed on a display unit on the basis of specific information generated by the extraction unit and display the generated image on the display unit.

(15) In the aspect (14), the information generating unit may display the generated image on a display unit provided on the vehicle or a display unit of a mobile terminal.

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 (16) In the aspect (15), the information generating unit may display an image in which the specific area extracted by the extraction unit is displayed on a map on the display unit.

(17) In any one of the aspects (8) to (16), the information processing system may further include an application unit configured to apply the specific area extracted by the extraction unit to map information.

(18) In the aspect (7), the information processing method may further include: acquiring information indicating a movement of a vehicle in which the position measurement device is mounted or included; and extracting a specific area in which traveling of the vehicle is recommended or not recommended on the basis of the identified position and the acquired information indicating a movement of the vehicle at a lane level of a road.

(19) In the aspect (1), the information processing system may further include a risk estimation unit configured to estimate a risk of an occurrence of a predetermined event in the attention area on the basis of information acquired by devices mounted or included in a vehicle present in the surroundings of the attention area and weather information acquired by a weather observation device at a lane level of a road.

(20) In the aspect (19), the risk estimation unit may refer to a correlation obtained in advance between the information acquired by the devices mounted or included in the vehicle present in the surroundings of the attention area, the weather information acquired by the weather observation device, and a risk of an occurrence of a predetermined event in the attention area and estimate the risk of the occurrence of the predetermined event.

(21) In the aspect (19) or (20), the information acquired by the devices mounted or included in the vehicle may include at least one piece of information among

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 information acquired by devices configured to acquire a change in state of the vehicle, information based on an image captured by an imaging unit configured to image the surroundings of the vehicle and information acquired by a radar device configured to detect a state in the surroundings of the vehicle.

(22) In the aspect (21), the information based on the image captured by the imaging unit may be an image recognition accuracy acquired from an analysis result of the image, and the information acquired by the radar device may be an object detection accuracy of the radar device.

(23) In any one of the aspects (19) to (22), the estimation unit may acquire information indicating a movement of the vehicle in which the position measurement device is mounted or included, and estimate the attention area on the basis of the position identified by the position measurement device and the acquired movement of the vehicle at a lane level of a road.

(24) In any one of the aspects (19) to (23), the risk estimation unit may estimate a possibility of the predetermined event being eliminated in the attention area on the basis of the information acquired by the devices mounted or included in the vehicle present in the surroundings of the attention area and the weather information acquired by the weather observation device at a lane level of a road.

(25) In any one of the aspects (19) to (24), the weather information may be an amount of rainfall.

(26) In any one of the aspects (19) to (25), the predetermined event may include at least one of flooding and freezing of a road surface.

(27) In any one of the aspects (19) to (26), the risk estimation unit may transmit information including the estimated result to a terminal device that a road manager possesses or a terminal device that an occupant of the vehicle possesses.

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 (28) In the aspect (7), the information processing method may further include:

estimating a risk of an occurrence of a predetermined event in the attention area on the basis of information acquired by devices mounted or included in a vehicle present in the surroundings of the attention area and weather information acquired by a weather observation device at a lane level of a road.

According to the aspects (1) and (7), since the attention area that should be noted during travel is estimated on the basis of the trajectory of the position measurement device recognized on the basis of the position identified by the position measurement device at a lane level of a road, it is possible to provide more usefill information .

According to the aspect (2), guidance information for avoiding the attention area is generated at a lane level of a road, and thus it is possible to lead to a safer route.

According to the aspects (3) to (5), the display control unit generates an image to be displayed on the display unit on the basis of the attention area, and displays the generated image on the display unit. Thus, the user can easily recognize the attention 15 area, and it is possible to provide more convenience for the user.

According to the aspect (6), since the attention area is applied to map information, it is possible to provide map information to which actual road traffic conditions are applied to the user.

According to the aspects (8) to (10), (13), and (18), when the extraction unit extracts a specific area in which traveling of a vehicle is recommended or not recommended on the basis of the specified position and the information indicating a movement of the vehicle at a lane level of a road, it is possible to provide more useful information.

According to the aspects (11) and (12), since an area in which lane change is smoothly performed is extracted as a specific area in which traveling of the vehicle is

2017254915 04 Oct 2018 recommended, it is possible to recognize an appropriate timing at which the vehicle should be caused to change lanes.

According to the aspects (14) to (16), when an output control unit generates an image to be displayed on the display unit on the basis of specific information generated by the extraction unit and displays the generated image on the display unit, convenience for the user is further improved.

According to the aspect (17), since the specific area is applied in map information, it is possible to provide map information to which actual road conditions are applied to the user.

According to the aspects (19) to (23), (25), (26) and (28), when the risk estimation unit estimates a risk of the occurrence of a predetermined event in the attention area at a lane level of a road, it is possible to provide more useful information.

According the aspect of (24), when the risk estimation unit estimates a possibility of a predetermined event being eliminated in the attention area at a lane level of a road, it is possible to provide more useful information.

According to the aspect (27), the risk estimation unit transmits information including the estimated risk to a terminal device that a road manager possesses or a terminal device that an occupant of the vehicle possesses. Accordingly, the road manager or the occupant of the vehicle can recognize a risk of the occurrence of the event. As a result, the road manager can maintain the road in response to the risk and perform a desired process. In addition, the occupant of the vehicle can perform control such that the vehicle travels to avoid the attention area.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described, by way of examples only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

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2017254915 02 Nov 2017

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of an information processing system 1.

Fig. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of a position measurement device

10.

Fig. 3 is a sequence diagram showing processes performed by the information processing system 1.

Fig. 4 is a conceptual diagram 1 showing a processing result of an estimation unit of a comparative example.

Fig. 5 is a conceptual diagram 1 showing a processing result of an estimation unit 82 of the present embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a conceptual diagram 2 showing a processing result of a record generation device of a comparative example.

Fig. 7 is a conceptual diagram 2 showing a processing result of the estimation unit 82 of the present embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an image IM displayed on a display unit 28 mounted in a vehicle M.

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of an information processing system 101.

Fig. 10 is a functional configuration diagram of a position measurement device

110.

Fig. 11 is a sequence diagram showing processes performed by the information processing system 101.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing a flow of processes performed by an extraction unit 182.

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Fig. 13 is a diagram for describing a specific example of extracting a specific area.

Fig. 14 is a diagram for describing extraction of a specific area in which lane change is smoothly performed.

Fig. 15 is a flowchart showing a flow of processes performed by a guidance information generation device 190.

Fig. 16 is a flowchart showing a flow of processes performed by a navigation device 198.

Fig. 17 is a diagram showing an example of an image IM100 displayed on a display unit.

Fig. 18 is a diagram showing an example of an image IM101 displayed on a display unit.

Fig. 19 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a risk estimation system 201.

Fig. 20 is a functional configuration diagram of an in-vehicle system 210.

Fig. 21 is a conceptual diagram of a processing result of a position measurement unit 224.

Fig. 22 is a sequence diagram showing processes performed when an attention area is extracted.

Fig. 23 is a flowchart showing a flow of processes performed by an extraction unit 282.

Fig. 24 is a diagram for describing a specific example of extraction of an attention area.

Fig. 25 is a flowchart showing a flow of processes performed by a correlation learning unit 262.

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Fig. 26 is a diagram showing an example of an information table 263 used when the correlation learning unit 262 learns a correlation.

Fig. 27 is a flowchart showing a flow of processes performed by a risk calculating unit 264.

Fig. 28 is a conceptual diagram of processes performed by the risk estimation system 201 of the present embodiment.

Fig. 29 is a diagram showing an example of an image IM200 displayed on a display unit of a navigation device 298.

EXPLANATION OF REFERENCES

Information processing system

Position measurement device

GPS antenna

Quasi-Zenith antenna

18 Position identifying unit (Position measurement device)

Collection unit

Communication unit

Control unit (display control unit)

Application unit

28 Display unit

Map information

Record generation device

Map matching unit

Travel record generating unit

40 Weather information management device

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Risk calculation device

Traffic information processing device

Attention area estimation device

Estimation unit

90 Guidance information generation device

101 Information processing system

110 Position measurement device

112 GPS antenna

114 Quasi-Zenith antenna

118 Position identifying unit (Position measurement device)

120 Collection unit

122 Communication unit

124 Control unit (display control unit)

126 Application unit

128 Display unit

129 Map information

130 Record generation device

134 Map matching unit

136 Travel record generating unit

140 Weather information management device

160 Risk calculation device

170 Traffic information processing device

180 Specific area extraction device

182 Extraction unit

190 Guidance information generation device

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201 Risk estimation system

210 In-vehicle system

212 GPS antenna

214 Quasi-Zenith antenna

216 Various sensors

218 Radar device

220 Camera

222 Image analyzing unit

224 Position measurement unit (Position measurement device)

226 Collection unit

228 Communication unit

232 Display unit

234 Map information

240 Record generation device

244 Map matching unit

246 Travel record generating unit

250 Weather information management device

260 Risk calculation device

262 Correlation learning unit

264 Risk calculating unit

270 Traffic information processing device

280 Attention area extraction device

282 Extraction unit

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

2017254915 02 Nov 2017

A first embodiment of an information processing system and an information processing method of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of an information processing system 1. The information processing system 1 includes, for example, a position measurement device 10, a record generation device 30, a weather information management device 40, a measurement device 50, an information provision device 52, a risk calculation device 60, a traffic information processing device 70, an attention area estimation device 80, and a guidance information generation device 90. These devices communicate with each other via a network such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a mobile phone network, a Wi-Fi network, or the Internet. Here, the information processing system 1 may include a plurality of position measurement devices 10.

Fig. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of the position measurement device 15 10. The position measurement device 10 is, for example, a device mounted in a

2-wheeled or 4-wheeled vehicle. The position measurement device 10 includes, for example, a Global Positioning System (GPS) antenna 12, a Quasi-Zenith antenna 14, various sensors 16, aposition identifying unit 18, a collection unit 20, a communication unit 22, a control unit (display control unit) 24, an application unit 26, a display unit 28, 20 and map information 29. Here, the position measurement device 10 may be a device constituting part of a mobile terminal. In this case, when an occupant of a vehicle possesses a mobile terminal in which the position measurement device 10 is mounted or brings it into the vehicle, position information corresponding to position information of the vehicle is transmitted to the record generation device 30. In addition, detection 25 values of the various sensors 16 may be acquired from the vehicle through the

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 communication unit 22. The devices included in the mobile terminal may be some of the various sensors.

The control unit 24 and the application unit 26 may be realized when a processor such as a central processing unit (CPU) executes a program stored in a storage unit. In addition, all or some of these functional units may be realized by hardware such as a large scale integration (LSI) circuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and a circuit configuration for realizing functions of these functional units may be included. In addition, these functional units may be realized in cooperation with software and hardware. The map information 29 is stored in, tor example, a nonvolatile storage medium such as a flash memory and a hard disk drive (HDD).

The GPS antenna 12 receives radio waves in which information (positioning information) has been superimposed from a plurality of GPS satellites. Here, the GPS antenna 12 is not limited to those for GPS satellites, and, for example, radio waves may 15 be received from satellites constituting any global positioning system (global navigation satellite system (GNSS)) such as GLONASS or Galileo.

The Quasi-Zenith antenna 14 receives radio waves in which information (positioning information and correction information to be described below) has been superimposed from at least one Quasi-Zenith Satellite among a plurality of Quasi-Zenith 20 Satellites constituting the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System. The Quasi-Zenith Satellite System is a satellite system in which a plurality of satellites having orbits that pass near the zenith (directly above) of a certain area (for example, Japan) are combined. The Quasi-Zenith antenna 14 is highly likely to receive radio waves that are not influenced by multipath due to a high rise building or the like from the Quasi-Zenith Satellites. Here, 25 the GPS antenna 12 and the Quasi-Zenith antenna 14 may be integrated.

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The various sensors 16 include, for example, an acceleration sensor, a direction sensor, and a vehicle speed sensor. The acceleration sensor is, for example, a three-axis acceleration sensor. The acceleration sensor detects an acceleration of a vehicle, and outputs the detection result to the position identifying unit 18. The direction sensor 5 measures magnetism, detects an orientation of a vehicle with respect to the earth and outputs the detection result to the position identifying unit 18. The vehicle speed sensor includes, for example, a wheel speed sensor attached to wheels and a controller configured to combine these detection results. The vehicle speed sensor detects a speed of a vehicle and outputs the detection result to the position identifying unit 18. The steering angle sensor detects a steering angle of a steering wheel and outputs the detection result to the position identifying unit 18 (or the collection unit 20).

The position identifying unit 18 identifies the position of the vehicle (itself) by performing a positioning operation of identifying a position of the device itself according to, for example, the principle of triangulation, at predetermined sampling intervals, on the 15 basis of radio waves in which information received by the GPS antenna 12 has been superimposed and radio waves in which information received by the Quasi-Zenith antenna 14 has been superimposed.

The positioning information includes satellite orbit information (ephemeris and almanac) about a corresponding satellite, a correction value of a clock, and a correction 20 coefficient of an ionospheric layer. The correction information is information derived by a reference device serving as an electronic reference point provided at a predetermined position in advance. The correction information is previously transmitted to the Quasi-Zenith Satellite from a facility on the ground side. Here, on the basis of the position of the device itself and the position of the GPS satellite or the

Quasi-Zenith Satellite (hereinafter referred to as a subject satellite) which are acquired in

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 advance, the reference device derives a geometric distance from the device itself to the subject satellite. In addition, the reference device derives a pseudo distance between the device itself and the subject satellite on the basis of a propagation time of radio waves acquired from the subject satellite. The reference device acquires a difference between 5 the pseudo distance and the geometric distance as an error. Then, the reference device transmits error information to a ground station device. The ground station device derives parameters of a function of deriving an error of a pseudo distance for each coordinate point on the basis of the error acquired from a plurality of reference devices, and transmits the derived parameters of the function to the Quasi-Zenith Satellite as correction information.

In addition, the position identifying unit 18 derives a change in position of the subject vehicle on the basis of the detection results of the various sensors 16 and the like mounted in the vehicle. The position identifying unit 18 may correct a position of the vehicle by performing a positioning operation on the basis of the derived change in position. In addition, the position identifying unit 18 may identify the position of the vehicle on the basis of radio waves in which information received by the Quasi-Zenith antenna 14 has been superimposed without using radio waves in which information received by the GPS antenna 12 has been superimposed.

When position information identified by the position identifying unit 18 is collected and a predetermined amount of position information is collected, the collection unit 20 transmits the position information collected using the communication unit 22 to the record generation device 30. In addition, the collection unit 20 may collect the detection results of the various sensors 16 and transmit the collected detection results to the record generation device 30.

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The control unit 24 generates information to be presented to a user on the basis of information generated by the record generation device 30, the attention area estimation device 80, and the guidance information generation device 90 and displays the generated information on the display unit 28. The application unit 26 applies the information transmitted by the record generation device 30 and the attention area estimation device 80 to the map information 29.

The display unit 28 includes, for example, a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and an organic electroluminescence (EL) display.

The map information 29 is, for example, information in which a road shape is expressed by a link indicating a road and a node connected by links. The map information 29 may include a road curvature, point of interest (POI) information, and the like. In addition, the map information 29 includes, for example, road information such as information about the center of a lane or information about a boundary of a lane. The road information includes information indicating a type of a road such as a highway, a toll road, a national road, or a prefectural road and information about the number of lanes on the road, the width of each lane, the slope of the road, the position (coordinates including longitude and latitude) of the road, the curvature of the curve of the lane, a position at which lanes converge and a position of a branch point, and the like. The map information 29 is updated at any time according to the process of the application unit 26.

The record generation device 30 includes, for example, map information 32, a map matching unit 34, and a travel record generating unit 36. The map information 32 includes the same information as the map information 29.

The map matching unit 34 performs map matching processing on the information acquired from the position measurement device 10. The map matching

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 processing is a process in which a link at which the position measurement device 10 is located among elements (for example, a link) included in the map information 32 on the basis of the acquired position information and the map information 32 is determined.

According to the map matching process, a link and a lane where the position measurement device 10 is located and which are included in the map information 32 are determined.

The travel record generating unit 36 acquires the processing result of the map matching unit 34 and generates travel record information on the basis of the acquired information. The travel record information is information indicating an actual travel 10 record (trajectory) of the vehicle in which the position measurement device 10 is mounted. The travel record information includes, for example, information about positions through which the vehicle has actually traveled, and information about a road link and a road lane. The travel record information is transmitted to the vehicle or the attention area estimation device 80.

The weather information management device 40 includes, for example, weather and disaster information 42. In the weather and disaster information 42, information about weather associated with each area or information about disasters is stored.

In the weather and disaster information 42, for example, the measurement results (for example, rainfall) of the measurement device 50 acquired from the measurement device 50 and weather and disaster information (for example, heavy rain information) acquired from the information provision device 52 are stored.

The measurement device 50 is, for example, a weather observation device provided at a predetermined position. The measurement device 50 observes, for example, an amount of precipitation, a wind direction, a wind speed, a temperature, and 25 the duration of sunshine.

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The information provision device 52 is, for example, a server device managed by national or local organizations or the like and provides weather information and disaster information to the weather information management device 40. The disaster information is, for example, information about natural disasters such as heavy rain, heavy 5 snow, and earthquakes.

The risk calculation device 60 includes, for example, a risk calculating unit 62 and previously calculated risk information 64. The risk calculating unit 62 derives a risk of occurrence of abnormalities on the road on the basis of weather and disaster information acquired from the weather information management device 40 and vehicle 10 information acquired from the record generation device 30. An abnormality on the road is an abnormality that is not favorable for running of the vehicle, and is, for example, road flooding causing a hydroplaning phenomenon or freezing of a road surface. The previously calculated risk information 64 is information about a risk calculated in the past by the risk calculating unit 62.

The traffic information processing device 70 includes, for example, a 4-wheeled traffic information analyzing unit 72, a 2-wheeled traffic information analyzing unit 74, and an integrated analyzing unit 76. The 4-wheeled traffic information analyzing unit 72 acquires 4-wheeled vehicle information acquired by the record generation device 30 and analyzes the acquired 4-wheeled vehicle information. The 2-wheeled traffic information analyzing unit 74 acquires 2-wheeled vehicle information acquired by the record generation device 30 and analyzes the acquired 2-wheeled vehicle information. The integrated analyzing unit 76 generates traffic information on the basis of the acquired 4-wheeled vehicle and 2-wheeled vehicle information. The traffic information is, for example, information indicating the degree of congestion in a predetermined section of a road.

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The attention area estimation device 80 includes, for example, an estimation unit and map information 84. The estimation unit 82 estimates an attention area that should be noted while the vehicle travels on the basis of the trajectory of the position measurement device 10 recognized on the basis of the position of the position measurement device 10 identified by the position measurement device 10 acquired from the record generation device 30 at a lane level of a road. Estimation at the lane level means estimation of a lane and a position where an attention area is located within a road including a plurality of lanes. In addition, the estimation unit 82 applies the estimated attention area to map information. Accordingly, in the map information 84, the attention area is associated with a road link or node.

The guidance information generation device 90 includes, for example, a route generating unit 92 and a guidance information generating unit 94. The route generating unit 92 generates a route to a destination in response to a request from a user. The guidance information generating unit 94 generates guidance information which is information output to the user while traveling along the route generated by the route generating unit 92 and which is used for guidance so that the vehicle can smoothly travel along the generated route. The guidance information generating unit 94 generates guidance information for avoiding the attention area estimated by the estimation unit 82 at a lane level of a road. The route to the destination and the guidance information are transmitted to a vehicle M that has transmitted the request. A navigation device mounted in the vehicle M that has transmitted the request displays the route to the destination and the guidance information as an image on a display unit or outputs it as sound from a speaker according to a traveling position and a traveling state of the vehicle M. Here, information acquired by devices included in the information processing system 1, processing procedures of the devices, and processing results may be

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 transmitted to a manager terminal 100 that manages the system, and a mobile terminal

110.

Fig. 3 is a sequence diagram showing processes performed by the information processing system 1. First, the position identifying unit 18 of the position measurement device 10 acquires position information of the device itself (Step SI 00). Next, the collection unit 20 of the position measurement device 10 waits until a predetermined amount of position information accumulates in a storage device (not shown) of the device itself (Step SI 02). Next, the collection unit 20 of the position measurement device 10 transmits the accumulated information to the record generation device 30 using the communication unit 22 (Step SI04).

Next, the map matching unit 34 of the record generation device 30 performs a map matching process (Step SI 06). Next, the travel record generating unit 36 of the record generation device 30 generates travel record information for each road (Step SI08). Next, the record generation device 30 transmits the generated travel record 15 information to the attention area estimation device 80 (Step SI 10). The travel record information is transmitted to, for example, the position measurement device 10, and may be displayed as an image showing travel record information on the display unit 28 of the position measurement device 10. The image showing travel record information is, for example, an image in which the trajectory of the position measurement device 10 is displayed on a map.

Next, the estimation unit 82 of the attention area estimation device 80 estimates an attention area on the basis of the travel record information (Step SI 12). Next, the estimation unit 82 transmits information about the estimated attention area to the position measurement device 10, a vehicle, or the like (Step SI 14). Accordingly, processes of 25 one routine of this flowchart end.

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In addition, the application unit 26 of the position measurement device 10 applies the attention area information to the map information 29. For example, the application unit 26 associates position information of the attention area with the map information 29 (a link and the like). In addition, a navigation device may be mounted in 5 the vehicle, and the navigation device may use the map information 29. The navigation device determines a route from the position (or any input position) of the vehicle to a destination designated by an occupant with reference to the map information 29.

The navigation device provides route guidance using the display unit 28 on the basis of the determined route.

In this case, the navigation device selects a route that avoids the attention area and when there is an attention area along the route, provides guidance to a lane in which the attention area can be avoided.

In addition, the estimation unit 82 may apply information about the estimated attention area to the map information 84. In this case, the guidance information generating unit 94 generates guidance information for avoiding the attention area at a lane level of a road. The guidance information that is associated with the route calculated by the route generating unit 92 is transmitted to the vehicle. Then, the route to the destination, guidance for avoiding the attention area, and the like are displayed on the display unit of the vehicle.

Fig. 4 is a conceptual diagram 1 showing a processing result of an estimation unit of a comparative example. In the shown example, trajectories of a plurality of vehicles that avoid a damaged area AR in which a road is damaged and travel along a lane LI are shown.

In the comparative example, trajectories of positions identified using information transmitted from GPS satellites are shown.

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The damaged area is an example of the “attention area.”

In Fig. 4(A), according to positioning errors of identified positions, position information is plotted on the lane LI, a position outside the lane LI, and a lane L2. As a result, as shown in Fig. 4(B), since the estimation unit of the comparative example estimates that the vehicle has traveled along the lane LI and the lane L2, it is not possible to extract the attention area in some cases.

Fig. 5 is a conceptual diagram 1 showing a processing result of the estimation unit 82 of the present embodiment. In Fig. 5(A), since the positioning error at the identified position is lower than in the comparative example, position information is 10 plotted on the lane LI in which the vehicle has actually traveled. As a result, as shown in Fig. 5(B), the estimation unit 82 estimates that the vehicle has traveled along the lane LI and estimates that the lane L2 is the attention area AR. More specifically, the estimation unit 82 refers to position information, continuously sets an area having a size set (with reference to a predetermined position) in a predetermined lane, and estimates an 15 area in which position information is not provided in the area (for example, in Fig. 5(A),

ARI, ARI#) as an attention area. Here, a predetermined size of an area is a size that is experimentally obtained in advance. In addition, when an attention area is estimated, the estimation unit 82 sets a lane in which a predetermined number of position information items or more are provided (a predetermined number of vehicles or more 20 have traveled) at a predetermined time as a processing target, and may exclude a lane in which only less than a predetermined number of position information items are provided from a processing target. When only less than a predetermined number of position information items are provided, few vehicles travel along the lane and the lane may not be an attention area.

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As described above, the information processing system 1 of the present embodiment can identify a position at which the vehicle in which the position measurement device 10 is mounted has actually traveled more accurately, and can identify a lane along which the vehicle has actually traveled and a lane along which no vehicles have traveled. As a result, the estimation unit 82 can estimate the attention area that should be noted during travel on the basis of the trajectory of the position measurement device 10 at a lane level of a road.

Fig. 6 is a conceptual diagram 2 showing a processing result of a record generation device of a comparative example. In the shown example, trajectories of a 10 plurality of vehicles that have traveled along a lane LI and a lane L2 are shown. In the comparative example, trajectories of positions identified using information transmitted from GPS satellites are shown.

In Fig. 6(A), according to positioning errors of identified positions, position information is plotted on an area excluding an area AR2 in the lane LI and the lane L2.

As a result, as shown in Fig. 6(B), the estimation unit of the comparative example estimates that the vehicles have traveled along the lane LI and the lane L2, but have not traveled the area ARY. In this case, since there is a positioning error, it is suspected that a problem may be hidden in part of the area AR2, but it is not possible to estimate an area in which a problem actually occurs in the area AR2.

Fig. 7 is a conceptual diagram 2 showing a processing result of the estimation unit 82 of the present embodiment. In Fig. 7(A), since the positioning error at the identified position is lower than in the comparative example, position information is plotted at the position on the lane LI excluding a damaged area AR. As a result, as shown in Fig. 7(B), the estimation unit 82 can estimate that vehicles have traveled along the lane LI or the lane L2 to avoid the damaged area AR and can identify the damaged

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 area AR. More specifically, the estimation unit 82 refers to position information and estimates an area in which no position information is provided in an area (for example.

Fig. 7(A), AR I) having a size set in a predetermined lane (with reference to predetermined position information) as an attention area.

In this manner, the estimation unit 82 of the present embodiment can identify a position at which the vehicle in which the position measurement device 10 is mounted has actually traveled more accurately, and can estimate a problem area on the road more accurately.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an image IM displayed on the display 10 unit 28 mounted in the vehicle M.

The image IM is an example of an image in which an attention area AR3 is displayed on a map. The attention area AR3 is an area in which it is estimated that there is abnormality on the road or there may be an obstacle on the road because other vehicles do not travel there. Therefore, the user can make the vehicle change lane in advance in order to avoid traveling the attention area AR3.

According to the embodiment described above, when a reception unit (the GPS antenna 12, the Quasi-Zenith antenna 14) configured to receive radio waves in which information has been superimposed from GPS satellites and Quasi-Zenith Satellites constituting the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System in an area in which the device is positioned, the position identifying unit 18 configured to identify position information of the device itself on the basis of information extracted from the radio waves received by the reception unit, and the estimation unit 82 configured to estimate an attention area that should be noted during travel on the basis of the trajectory of the position measurement device 10 recognized on the basis of the position information identified by the position

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 identifying unit 18 at a lane level of a road are included, it is possible to provide more useful information.

A second embodiment of an information processing system and an information processing method of the present invention will be described below with reference to the 5 drawings.

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of an information processing system 101. The information processing system 101 includes, for example, a position measurement device 110, a record generation device 130, a weather information management device 140, a measurement device 150, an information provision device 152, a risk calculation device 160, a traffic information processing device 170, a specific area extraction device 180, and a guidance information generation device 190. These devices communicate with each other via a network such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a mobile phone network, a Wi-Fi network, or the Internet. Here, the information processing system 101 may include a plurality of position measurement devices 110.

Fig. 10 is a functional configuration diagram of the position measurement device f 10. The position measurement device 110 is, for example, a device mounted in a 2-wheeled or 4-wheeled vehicle. The position measurement device 110 includes, for example, a Global Positioning System (GPS) antenna 112, a Quasi-Zenith antenna 114, 20 various sensors 116, a position identifying unit 118, a collection unit (acquisition unit) 120, a communication unit 122, a control unit (display control unit) 124, an application unit 126, a display unit 128, and map information 129. Here, the position measurement device 110 may be a device constituting part of a mobile terminal. In this case, when an occupant of a vehicle possesses a mobile terminal in which the position measurement device 110 is mounted or brings it into the vehicle, position information corresponding to

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 position information of the vehicle is transmitted to the record generation device 130.

Here, detection values of the various sensors 116 may be acquired from the vehicle through the communication unit 122. The devices included in the mobile terminal may be some of the various sensors.

The control unit 124 and the application unit 126 may be realized when a processor such as a central processing unit (CPU) executes a program stored in a storage unit. In addition, all or some of these functional units may be realized by hardware such as a large scale integration (LSI) circuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and a circuit configuration for realizing functions of these functional units may be included. In addition, these functional units may be realized in cooperation with software and hardware. The map information 129 is stored in, for example, a nonvolatile storage medium such as a flash memory and a hard disk drive (HDD).

The GPS antenna 112 receives radio waves in which information (positioning information) has been superimposed from a plurality of GPS satellites. Here, the GPS antenna 112 is not limited to those for GPS satellites, and, for example, radio waves may be received from satellites constituting any global positioning system (global navigation satellite system (GNSS)) such as GLONASS or Galileo.

The Quasi-Zenith antenna 114 receives radio waves in which information (positioning information and correction information to be described below) has been superimposed from at least one Quasi-Zenith Satellite among a plurality of Quasi-Zenith Satellites constituting the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System. The Quasi-Zenith Satellite System is a satellite system in which a plurality of satellites having orbits that pass near the zenith (directly above) of a certain area (for example, Japan) are combined . The

Quasi-Zenith antenna 114 is highly likely to receive radio waves that are not influenced

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 by multipath due to a high rise building or the like from the Quasi-Zenith Satellites.

Here, the GPS antenna 112 and the Quasi-Zenith antenna 114 may be integrated.

The various sensors 116 include, for example, an acceleration sensor, a direction sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, and a steering angle sensor. The acceleration sensor is, for example, a three-axis acceleration sensor. The acceleration sensor detects an acceleration of a vehicle, and outputs the detection result to the position identifying unit 118. The direction sensor measures magnetism, detects an orientation of a vehicle with respect to the earth and outputs the detection result to the position identifying unit 118. The vehicle speed sensor includes, for example, a wheel speed sensor attached to wheels and a controller configured to combine these detection results. The vehicle speed sensor detects a speed of a vehicle and outputs the detection result to the position identifying unit 118 or the collection unit 120. The steering angle sensor detects a steering angle of a steering wheel and outputs the detection result to the position identifying unit 118 or the collection unit 120. The detection result of the various sensors 116 is an example of “information indicating a movement of a vehicle.”

The position identifying unit 118 specifies the position of the vehicle by performing a positioning operation of identifying a position of the device itself according to, for example, the principle of triangulation, at predetermined sampling intervals, on the basis of radio waves in which information received by the GPS antenna 112 has been superimposed and radio waves in which information received by the Quasi-Zenith antenna 114 has been superimposed.

The positioning information includes satellite orbit information (ephemeris and almanac) about a corresponding satellite, a correction value of a clock, and a correction coefficient of an ionospheric layer. The correction information is information derived 25 by a reference device serving as an electronic reference point provided at a

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 predetermined position in advance. The correction information is previously transmitted to the Quasi-Zenith Satellite from a facility on the ground side. Here, on the basis of the position of the device itself and the position of the GPS satellite or the Quasi-Zenith Satellite (hereinafter referred to as a subject satellite) which are acquired in 5 advance, the reference device derives a geometric distance from the device itself to the subject satellite. In addition, the reference device derives a pseudo distance between the device itself and the subject satellite on the basis of a propagation time of radio waves acquired from the subject satellite. The reference device acquires a difference between the pseudo distance and the geometric distance as an error. Then, the reference device transmits error information to a ground station device. The ground station device derives parameters of a function of deriving an error of a pseudo distance for each coordinate point on the basis of the error acquired from a plurality of reference devices, and transmits the derived parameters of the function to the Quasi-Zenith Satellite as correction information.

In addition, the position identifying unit 118 derives a change in position of the subject vehicle on the basis of the detection results of the various sensors 116 and the like mounted in the vehicle. The position identifying unit 118 may correct a position of the vehicle by performing a positioning operation on the basis of the derived change in position. In addition, the position identifying unit 118 may identify the position of the vehicle on the basis of radio waves in which information received by the Quasi-Zenith antenna 114 has been superimposed without using radio waves in which information received by the GPS antenna 112 has been superimposed.

When position information specified by the position identifying unit 118 and detection results of the various sensors 116 are collected, and a predetermined amount of 25 position information is collected, the collection unit 120 transmits the position

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 information collected using the communication unit 122 to the record generation device

130.

The control unit 124 generates information to be presented to a user on the basis of information generated by the record generation device 130, the specific area extraction 5 device 180, and the guidance information generation device 190 and displays the generated information on the display unit 128. The application unit 126 applies information transmitted by the record generation device 130 or the specific area extraction device 180 to the map information 129.

The display unit 128 includes, for example, a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and an organic electroluminescence (EL) display.

The map information 129 is, for example, information in which a road shape is expressed by a link indicating a road and a node connected by links. The map information 129 may include a road curvature, point of interest (POI) information, and the like. In addition, the map information 129 includes, for example, road information 15 such as information about the center of a lane or information about a boundary of a lane.

The road information includes information indicating a type of a road such as a highway, a toll road, a national road, or a prefectural road and information about the number of lanes on the road, the width of each lane, the slope of the road, the position (coordinates including longitude and latitude) of the road, the curvature of the curve of the lane, a 20 position at which lanes converge and a position of a branch point, and the like. The map information 129 is updated at any time according to the process of the application unit 126.

The record generation device 130 includes, for example, map information 132, a map matching unit 134, and a travel record generating unit 136. The map information 25 132 includes the same information as the map information 129.

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The map matching unit 134 performs map matching processing on the information acquired from the position measurement device 110. The map matching unit 134 performs a process in which a link at which the position measurement device 110 is located among elements (for example, links) included in the map information 132 5 on the basis of the acquired position information and the map information 132 is determined. According to the map matching process, a link and a lane where the position measurement device 110 is located and which are included in the map information 132 are determined.

The travel record generating unit 136 acquires the processing results of the map matching unit 134, and generates travel record information on the basis of the acquired information. The travel record information is information indicating an actual travel record of the vehicle in which the position measurement device 110 is mounted. The travel record information includes, for example, information about positions through which the vehicle has actually traveled and information about a road link and a road lane.

The travel record information is transmitted to the vehicle or the specific area extraction device 180.

The weather information management device 140 includes, for example, weather and disaster information 142. In the weather and disaster information 142, information about weather associated with each area or information about disasters is 20 stored.

In the weather and disaster information 142, for example, the measurement results (for example, rainfall) of the measurement device 150 acquired from the measurement device 150 and weather and disaster information (for example, heavy rain information) acquired from the information provision device 152 are stored.

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The measurement device 150 is, for example, a weather observation device provided at a predetermined position. The measurement device 150 observes, for example, an amount of precipitation, a wind direction, a wind speed, a temperature, and the duration of sunshine.

The information provision device 152 is, for example, a server device managed by national or local organizations or the like and provides weather information and disaster information to the weather information management device 140. The disaster information is, for example, information about natural disasters such as heavy rain, heavy snow, and earthquakes.

The risk calculation device 160 includes, for example, a risk calculating unit 162 and previously calculated risk information 164. The risk calculating unit 162 derives a risk of occurrence of abnormalities on the road on the basis of weather and disaster information acquired from the weather information management device 140 and vehicle information acquired from the record generation device 130. An abnormality on the road is an abnormality that is not favorable for running of the vehicle, for example, road flooding causing a hydroplaning phenomenon or freezing of a road surface. The previously calculated risk information 164 is information about a risk calculated by the risk calculating unit 162 in the past.

The traffic information processing device 170 includes, for example, a

4-wheeled traffic information analyzing unit 172, a 2-wheeled traffic information analyzing unit 174, and an integrated analyzing unit 176. The 4-wheeled traffic information analyzing unit 172 acquires 4-wheeled vehicle information acquired by the record generation device 130 and analyzes the acquired 4-wheeled vehicle information. The 2-wheeled traffic information analyzing unit 174 acquires 2-wheeled vehicle information acquired by the record generation device 130 and analyzes the acquired

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2-wheeled vehicle information. The integrated analyzing unit 176 generates traffic information on the basis of the acquired 4-wheeled vehicle and 2-wheeled vehicle information. The traffic information is, for example, information indicating the degree of congestion in a predetermined section of a road.

The specific area extraction device 180 includes, for example, an extraction unit

182 and map information 184. The extraction unit 182 extracts a specific area in which traveling of a vehicle is recommended or not recommended on the basis of the position of the position measurement device 110 specified by the position measurement device

110 acquired from the record generation device 130 and information indicating a movement of a vehicle collected by the collection unit 120 of the position measurement device 110 at a lane level of a road. Estimation at the lane level means estimation of a lane and a position where a specific area is located within a road including a plurality of lanes. In addition, the extraction unit 182 applies the extracted specific area to map information. Accordingly, in the map information 184, the specific area is associated with a road link or node.

The guidance information generation device 190 includes, for example, a route generating unit 192 and a guidance information generating unit (information generating unit) 194. The route generating unit 192 generates a route to the destination in response to a request from a user. The guidance information generating unit 194 generates guidance information which is information output to the user while traveling along the route generated by the route generating unit 192 and which is used for guidance so that the vehicle can smoothly travel along the generated route. The guidance information generating unit 194 generates information for the user to recognize the specific area extracted by the extraction unit 182 at a lane level of a road. The route to the destination and the information are transmitted to the vehicle that has transmitted the

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 request. A navigation device 198 mounted in the vehicle that has transmitted the request displays the route to the destination and the information as an image on a display unit or outputs them as sound from a speaker according to a traveling position and a traveling state of the vehicle. Here, information acquired by devices included in the information processing system 101, processing procedures of the devices, and processing results may be transmitted to the position measurement device 110, a manager terminal 1100 that manages the system, and a mobile terminal 1110.

Fig. 11 is a sequence diagram showing processes performed by the information processing system 101. First, the position identifying unit 118 of the position measurement device 110 acquires position information of the device itself and information indicating a movement of a vehicle (Step SI 100). Next, the collection unit 120 of the position measurement device 110 waits until a predetermined amount of position information and information indicating a movement of a vehicle accumulates in a storage device (not shown) of the device itself (Step SI 102). Next, the collection unit

120 of the position measurement device 110 transmits the accumulated information using the communication unit 122 to the record generation device 130 (Step SI 104).

Next, the map matching unit 134 of the record generation device 130 performs a map matching process (Step SI 106). Next, the travel record generating unit 136 of the record generation device 130 generates travel record information for each road (Step

SI 108). Next, the record generation device 130 transmits the generated travel record information and information indicating a movement of a vehicle to the specific area extraction device 180 (Step SI 110). The travel record information is transmitted to, for example, the position measurement device 110 and may be displayed as an image showing travel record information on the display unit 128 of the position measurement

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 device 110. The image showing travel record information is, for example, an image in which the trajectory of the position measurement device 110 is displayed on a map.

Next, the extraction unit 182 of the specific area extraction device 180 extracts a specific area on the basis of the travel record information (Step Sil 12). Next, the extraction unit 182 transmits information about the extracted specific area to the position measurement device 110 (Step S1114). Accordingly, processes of one routine of this flowchart end.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing a flow of processes performed by the extraction unit 182. A specific example of processes of this flowchart will be described with reference to Fig. 13. First, the extraction unit 182 analyzes a movement of a vehicle and derives an index (Step S1200). The index is a value that increases when an absolute value or an amount of change of a speed, an acceleration, and an angular velocity increases during an observation period. In addition, the index may be derived as a higher value when an angle formed by displacement vectors when a displacement is extracted in sampling periods is larger.

Next, the extraction unit 182 associates the derived index with a position of the vehicle at a time at which a movement of the vehicle used to derive the index is acquired (Step S1202). Next, the extraction unit 182 extracts a position at which the index satisfies a predetermined reference as a specific area (Step SI204). Accordingly, the 20 processes of this flowchart end.

Fig. 13 is a diagram for describing a specific example of extraction of a specific area. In the shown example, when a predetermined vehicle travels along a lane LI 01, a trajectory⁷ of the vehicle acquired at predetermined sampling intervals is shown. The extraction unit 182 analyzes a movement (a speed, an acceleration, and an angular velocity) of the vehicle in each trajectory and derives an index.

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Then, the extraction unit 182 compares indexes with each other, and sets a position at which a movement of the vehicle satisfies a predetermined reference as a specific area. The predetermined reference indicates that an element (at least one of a speed, an acceleration, and an angular velocity) included in the movement of the vehicle at a time t and an element (at least one of a speed, an acceleration, and an angular velocity) of the movement of the vehicle at a time t+1 have deviated from each other by a predetermined amount or more. That is, when the vehicle suddenly accelerates, suddenly decelerates, or suddenly turns, it is determined that the movement of the vehicle satisfies the predetermined reference.

As described above, since a specific area is extracted on the basis of position information with higher accuracy, it is possible to provide information about a specific area with high accuracy. Information about a specific area with high accuracy is information having a small error with a position of an actual area corresponding to the specific area.

Here, while a case in which the index derived by analyzing the movement of the vehicle is used has been described in the above example, an index derived from a change in position of the vehicle may be also used in addition thereto (or instead thereof). The index derived from a change in position of the vehicle is, for example, an index derived from at least one element among an acceleration in a traveling direction, an acceleration 20 in a lateral direction and a degree of change in turning angle derived from trajectories of a plurality of vehicles. In this case, it is determined whether each of two indexes derived on the basis of the movement of the vehicle and a change in position of the vehicle or a result obtained by statistically processing the two indexes satisfies the predetermined reference.

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In addition, the extraction unit 182 may extract an area in which lane change is smoothly performed as a specific area. Fig. 14 is a diagram for describing extraction of a specific area in which lane change is smoothly performed. In the shown example, trajectories of the vehicle acquired at predetermined sampling intervals when a predetermined vehicle changes lanes from a lane L101 to a lane L102 are shown. Fig. 14(A) shows an area in which lane change is not smoothly performed, and Fig. 14(B) shows a specific area in which lane change is smoothly performed.

For example, the extraction unit 182 selects two consecutive trajectories close to a lane marker (a lane marker that divides the lanes Ll 01 and Ll 02) and generates a vector based on the selected two trajectories. Then, the extraction unit 182 derives an index indicating the smoothness of lane change on the basis of a magnitude of an angle formed by the vector and the lane marker, and the acceleration of the vehicle. For example, the above-described index is derived to be smaller when the angle formed is smaller or the acceleration of the vehicle is smaller.

In the shown example, a vector V# generated by trajectories P# and P+1# in Fig.

14(B) has a smaller angle formed and a smaller acceleration than a vector V generated by trajectories P and P+1 in Fig. 14(A). Thus, an area in Fig. 14(B) is extracted as a specific area.

Here, the extraction unit 182 may derive an index indicating the smoothness of lane change for each section of the road, and may extract an area in which lane change can be smoothly performed by comparing indexes as a specific area. For example, in a road connected to an intersection, an index corresponding to a section before a first distance (for example, several hundred m) from the intersection and an index corresponding to a section before a second distance (for example, 1 km) from the

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 intersection may be compared, and an area having a higher index may be set as a specific area.

In addition, in the above-described example, when a specific area is extracted, the weather and disaster information 142 may be used. In this case, for example, the extraction unit 182 may extract a specific area in which traveling of a vehicle is recommended or not recommended on the basis of the position of the position measurement device 110 recognized on the basis of the position specified by the position measurement device 110, information indicating a movement of a vehicle, and the weather and disaster information 142 at a lane level of a road. More specifically, the extraction unit 182 changes the reference used to determine the specific area on the basis of the weather and disaster information 142. When it is determined whether an area in which weather conditions (rain and snow, a decrease in temperature, and strong wind) influencing when a vehicle travels a road occur is a specific area, for example, the extraction unit 182 lowers the reference used to determine the specific area. Thus, when weather conditions influencing when a vehicle travels a road do not occur, even if the area is not extracted as a specific area, when weather conditions influencing when a vehicle travels a road occur, the area may be extracted as a specific area. As a result, an area in which a vehicle is likely to slip such as a hydroplaning phenomenon, freezing of a road surface, black Eisbahn or the like is extracted as a specific area with higher accuracy.

Here, the weather conditions influencing when a vehicle travels a road are conditions obtained from results actually observed in advance and conditions obtained by an experimental method for each area.

[Processes of guidance information generation device]

Fig. 15 is a flowchart showing a flow of processes performed by the guidance information generation device 190. First, the route generating unit 192 waits until a

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 route generation request is received from a user (Step S1300). When the route generation request is acquired from the user, the route generating unit 192 derives a route of a designated section (Step SI 302). Next, the guidance information generating unit

194 generates guidance information which is information allowing a user to recognize a specific area while traveling along the route generated by the route generating unit 192 (Step SI304).

Next, the guidance information generating unit 194 determines whether there is a specific area in the area in which the guidance information is providing guidance (Step S1306). When there is a specific area in the area in which the guidance information is 10 providing guidance, the guidance information generating unit 194 generates specific guidance information in consideration of the specific area, and the process returns to Step SI306 (Step SI308). The specific guidance information is information output to the user while traveling the specific area.

When there is no specific area in the area in which the guidance information is providing guidance (when specific guidance information is generated for all specific areas), the guidance information generating unit 194 determines whether all guidance information and specific guidance information are to be generated (Step S1310). When none of the guidance information and specific guidance information is to be generated, the process returns to Step SI306. When all guidance information and specific guidance information are to be generated, the guidance information generation device

190 transmits the generated route, guidance information, and specific guidance information to the vehicle that has transmitted the route generation request (Step S1312). Accordingly, processes of one routine of this flowchart end. According to the above processes, specific guidance information output when the vehicle approaches the specific 25 area is generated.

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 [Processes of navigation device]

Fig. 16 is a flowchart showing a flow of processes performed by the navigation device 198. Here, this process may be performed by the control unit 124 of the position measurement device 110. First, the navigation device 198 determines whether a guidance start instruction has been issued on the basis of information generated by the guidance information generation device 190 (Step SI400). When the guidance start instruction has been issued, the navigation device 198 guides a vehicle on the basis of the generated route and guidance information (Step S1402). For example, the route to the destination and the guidance information are displayed on the display unit provided in the vehicle.

Next, the navigation device 198 determines whether a vehicle approaches a specific area (Step SI404). When the vehicle approaches a specific area, the navigation device 198 displays information about the specific area on the display unit (Step S1406). Next, the navigation device 198 guides the vehicle using specific guidance information 15 corresponding to the specific area in Step S1406, and the process returns to Step S1404 (Step SI408). When the vehicle approaches a specific area, the navigation device 198 determines whether the vehicle has arrived at the destination (Step S1410). When the vehicle has arrived at the destination, processes of one routine of this flowchart end.

According to the above processes, since specific guidance information is output when the 20 vehicle approaches the specific area, the user can recognize the presence of the specific area and control the vehicle.

Here, while the navigation device 198 outputs the guidance information and the specific guidance information to the user in the above example, the control unit 124 of the position measurement device 110 may display the guidance information and the

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 specific guidance information on the display unit 128 or output them as sound from a speaker.

Fig. 17 is a diagram showing an example of an image IM 100 displayed on a display unit. As shown in Fig. 17, a specific area AR101 is assumed to be in the lane

L101. For example, when a vehicle Ml travels along the lane LI 01, if the vehicle arrives at aposition within a predetermined distance from the specific area ARI 01, the navigation device 198 displays, for example, specific guidance information of “Specific area is 00 meters ahead. Please, change lanes.” and a position of the specific area ARI 01 on a map in an overlapping manner, and notifies of specific guidance information as sound using a speaker. Accordingly, an occupant of the vehicle can avoid traveling the specific area.

In addition, in the example shown in Fig. 17, when the vehicle Ml travels along a lane LI 02 that is different from the lane in which a specific area is located, if the vehicle arrives at a position within a predetermined distance from the specific area

AR101, the navigation device 198 displays, for example, specific guidance information of “Specific area is OO meters ahead. Please do not change lanes.” and a position of the specific area ARI01 on a map in an overlapping manner, and may notify of specific guidance information as sound using a speaker. Accordingly, an occupant of the vehicle can avoid traveling the specific area.

Fig. 18 is a diagram showing an example of an image IM101 displayed on a display unit. As shown in Fig. 18, a specific area ARI02 and a specific area ARI03 are assumed to be in the lane L101. The specific area AR102 is an area in which lane change can be smoothly performed and the specific area AR 103 is an area in which lane change cannot be smoothly performed.

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For example, when the vehicle Ml travels along the lane L101 toward a destination G, if the vehicle arrives at a position within a predetermined distance from the specific area AR102, the navigation device 198 displays, for example, specific guidance information of “The specific area ARI 02 is an area in which you can smoothly change lanes. Changing lanes is recommended.” and a position of the specific area ARI 02 on a map on the display unit in an overlapping manner, and notifies of the specific guidance information as sound using a speaker. In addition, in this case, the navigation device 198 displays specific guidance information of “The specific area ARI 03 is an area in which you are not able to smoothly change lanes. Changing lanes is not recommended.” on the display unit and notifies of that as sound using a speaker. Accordingly, an occupant of the vehicle can change lanes in the area in which lane change can be smoothly performed.

According to the embodiment described above, when the position identifying unit 118 configured to identify position information of the device itself on the basis of information extracted from radio waves received by a reception unit (the GPS antenna 112, the Quasi-Zenith antenna 114) configured to receive radio waves in which information has been superimposed from GPS satellites and Quasi-Zenith Satellites constituting the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System in an area in which the device is positioned, the collection unit 120 configured to acquire information indicating a movement of a vehicle in which the position identifying unit 118 is mounted or included, and the extraction unit 182 configured to extract a specific area in which traveling of a vehicle is recommended or not recommended on the basis of the position specified by the position identifying unit 118 and information indicating a movement of a vehicle acquired by the collection unit 120 at a lane level of a road are included, it is possible to provide more useful information.

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A risk estimation system and a risk estimation method as a third embodiment of an information processing system and an information processing method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 19 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a risk estimation system 201. The risk estimation system 201 includes, for example, a vehicle in which an in-vehicle system 210 is mounted, a record generation device 240, a weather information management device 250, a measurement device 254, an information provision device 256, a risk calculation device 260, a traffic information processing device 270, an attention area extraction device 280, and a guidance information generation device 290. These devices communicate with each other via a network NW such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a mobile phone network, a Wi-Fi network, or the Internet. Here, the risk estimation system 201 may include a plurality of vehicles in which the in-vehicle system 210 is mounted.

Fig. 20 is a functional configuration diagram of the in-vehicle system 210. The in-vehicle system 210 is, for example, a device mounted in a 2-wheeled or 4-wheeled vehicle. The in-vehicle system 210 includes, for example, a global positioning system (GPS) antenna 212, a Quasi-Zenith antenna 214, various sensors 216, a radar device 218, a camera 220, an image analyzing unit 222, a position measurement unit 224, a collection unit 226, a communication unit 228, a control unit 230, a display unit 232, and map information 234. The various sensors 216 are examples of a “device configured to acquire a change in state of a vehicle.”

Here, the in-vehicle system 210 may be a device constituting a part of a mobile terminal. In this case, when an occupant of a vehicle possesses a mobile terminal in which the in-vehicle system 210 is mounted or brings it into the vehicle, position information corresponding to position information of the vehicle is transmitted to the

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 record generation device 240. In addition, in this case, the various sensors 216, the radar device 218, and the camera 220 are omitted in the mobile terminal but are provided in the vehicle. Therefore, the communication unit 228 of the mobile terminal acquires information obtained by various sensors, the radar device 218, and the camera 220 provided in the vehicle through communication with a communication unit provided in the vehicle or the like, and transmits the acquired information to the record generation device 240. Here, the devices included in the mobile terminal may be some of the various sensors 216.

The image analyzing unit 222 and the control unit 230 may be realized when a processor such as a central processing unit (CPU) executes a program stored in a storage unit. In addition, all or some of these functional units may be realized by hardware such as a large scale integration (LSI) circuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and a circuit configuration for realizing functions of these functional units may be included. In addition, these functional units may be realized in cooperation with software and hardware. The map information 234 is stored in, for example, a nonvolatile storage medium such as a flash memory and a hard disk drive (HDD).

The GPS antenna 212 receives radio waves in which information (positioning information) has been superimposed from a plurality of GPS satellites. Here, the GPS 20 antenna 212 is not limited to those for GPS satellites, and, for example, radio waves may be received from satellites constituting any global positioning system (global navigation satellite system (GNSS)) such as GLONASS or Galileo.

The Quasi-Zenith antenna 214 receives radio waves in which information (positioning information and correction information to be described below) has been 25 superimposed from at least one Quasi-Zenith Satellite among a plurality of Quasi-Zenith

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Satellites constituting the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System. The Quasi-Zenith Satellite

System is a satellite system in which a plurality of satellites having orbits that pass near the zenith (directly above) of a certain area (for example, Japan) are combined. The

Quasi-Zenith antenna 214 is highly likely to receive radio waves that are not influenced by multipath due to a high rise building or the like from the Quasi-Zenith Satellites. Here, the GPS antenna 212 and the Quasi-Zenith antenna 214 may be integrated.

The various sensors 216 include, for example, an acceleration sensor, a direction sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, and a steering angle sensor. The acceleration sensor is, for example, a three-axis acceleration sensor. The acceleration sensor detects an acceleration of a vehicle and outputs the detection result to the collection unit 226. The direction sensor measures magnetism, detects an orientation of a vehicle with respect to the earth and outputs the detection result to the collection unit 226. The vehicle speed sensor includes, for example, a wheel speed sensor attached to wheels and a controller configured to combine these detection results. The vehicle speed sensor detects a speed of a vehicle and outputs the detection result to the collection unit 226. The steering angle sensor detects a steering angle of a steering wheel and outputs the detection result to the collection unit 226.

In addition, the various sensors 216 include a brake pressure sensor and a detection unit configured to detect an operation state of an anti-lock braking system 20 (ABS) device. When it is determined that brake control is being performed based on the detection result of the brake pressure sensor, if a speed of the vehicle estimated based on the detection result of a rotational speed sensor configured to detect an axle rotational speed and a speed of the vehicle detected by the vehicle speed sensor do not match, the ABS device determines that tires are slipping and control is performed to prevent locking 25 of the wheels.

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The radar device 218 emits radio waves such as millimeter waves and ultrasonic waves to the surroundings of a subject vehicle, detects radio wave (reflected waves) reflected by an object, analyzes a distribution of reception levels of the detected radio waves, and detects at least a position (a distance and a direction) of the object. The radar device 218 outputs a processing procedure or a processing result such as information indicating an object detection accuracy to the collection unit 226. One or a plurality of radar devices 218 are attached to certain portions of the vehicle. The radar device 218 may detect a position and a speed of an object by a frequency modulated continuous wave (FM-CW) method.

In addition, the in-vehicle system 210 may include a finder. The finder uses a light detection and ranging or laser imaging detection and ranging (LIDAR) method in which scattered light with respect to emitted light is measured and a distance to a target is detected.

The camera 220 is attached to, for example, an upper portion of a front windshield or a rear side of a room mirror. The camera 220 is, for example, a camera that uses a solid state imaging device such as a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS). For example, the camera 220 repeatedly captures an image in front of the vehicle at predetermined periods and outputs the captured image data to the image analyzing unit 222.

For example, the image analyzing unit 222 detects weather conditions in the surroundings of the vehicle on the basis of the image captured by the camera 220. The image analyzing unit 222 outputs information indicating an image recognition accuracy acquired from the image analysis result to the collection unit 226. In addition, the image analyzing unit 222 may detect raindrops or snow in the surroundings or a front window of the vehicle, and estimate an amount of rainfall on the basis of the detection

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 results and the like. The image analyzing unit 222 outputs the processing result to the collection unit 226. Here, functions of the image analyzing unit 222 may be included in the weather information management device 250.

The position measurement unit 224 identifies the position of the vehicle by performing a positioning operation of identifying a position of the device itself according to, for example, the principle of triangulation, at predetermined sampling intervals, on the basis of radio waves in which information received by the GPS antenna 212 has been superimposed and radio waves in which information received by the Quasi-Zenith antenna 214 has been superimposed.

The positioning information includes satellite orbit information (ephemeris and almanac) about a corresponding satellite, a correction value of a clock, and a correction coefficient of an ionospheric layer. The correction information is information derived by a reference device serving as an electronic reference point provided at a predetermined position in advance. The correction information is previously transmitted to the Quasi-Zenith Satellite from a facility on the ground side. Here, on the basis of the position of the device itself and the position of the GPS satellite or the Quasi-Zenith Satellite (hereinafter referred to as a subject satellite) which are acquired in advance, the reference device derives a geometric distance from the device itself to the subject satellite. In addition, the reference device derives a pseudo distance between the device itself and the subject satellite on the basis of a propagation time of radio waves acquired from the subject satellite. The reference device acquires a difference between the pseudo distance and the geometric distance as an error. Then, the reference device transmits error information to a ground station device. The ground station device derives parameters of a function of deriving an error of a pseudo distance for each coordinate point on the basis of the error acquired from a plurality of reference devices,

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 and transmits the derived parameters of the function to the Quasi-Zenith Satellite as correction information.

Fig. 21 is a conceptual diagram of a processing result of the position measurement unit 224. Fig. 21(A) shows trajectories of positions identified using information transmitted from GPS satellites. Fig. 21(B) shows trajectories of positions identified using information transmitted from GPS satellites and Quasi-Zenith Satellites.

In Fig. 21(A), according to positioning errors of identified positions, position information is plotted on the lane L201, a position outside the lane L201, and a lane L202. In Fig.

21(B), since the positioning error at the identified position is lower than in the example in 10 Fig. 21(A), position information is plotted on an area excluding an area AR200 of the lane L201 along which the vehicle has actually traveled. As a result, the position measurement unit 224 of the embodiment can identify a position at which the vehicle in which the in-vehicle system 210 is mounted has actually traveled more accurately at a lane level of a road. Here, in the drawing, the area AR200 is an example of an attention 15 area extracted by an extraction unit 282 of the attention area extraction device 280 to be described below.

Here, while a case in which a position is identified using information transmitted from GPS satellites and Quasi-Zenith Satellites has been described in the present embodiment, information transmitted from Quasi-Zenith Satellites may be omitted and 20 only information transmitted from GPS satellites may be used.

In addition, the position measurement unit 224 may derive a change in position of the vehicle on the basis of the detection results of the various sensors 216 and the like mounted in the vehicle. In this case, the position measurement unit 224 corrects the position of the vehicle by performing a positioning operation on the basis of the derived 25 change in position.

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The collection unit 226 collects position information identified by the position measurement unit 224, the detection results of the various sensors 216, the processing result of the radar device 218, and the analysis result of the image analyzing unit 222, and when a predetermined amount of information is collected, transmits the collected 5 information to the record generation device 240 using the communication unit 228.

The control unit 230 generates information to be presented to a user on the basis of information generated by the risk calculation device 260 and displays the generated information on the display unit 232. The display unit 232 includes, for example, a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an organic electroluminescence 10 (EL) display.

The map information 234 is, for example, information in which a road shape is expressed by a link indicating a road and a node connected by links. The map information 234 may include a road curvature, point of interest (POI) information, and the like. In addition, the map information 234 includes, for example, road information 15 such as information about the center of a lane or information about a boundary of a lane.

The road information includes information indicating a type of a road such as a highway, a toll road, a national road, or a prefectural road and information about the number of lanes on the road, the width of each lane, the slope of the road, the position (coordinates including longitude and latitude) of the road, the curvature of the curve of the lane, a 20 position at which lanes converge and a position of a branch point, and the like. Map information 229 may be updated at any time according to information acquired by the communication unit 228.

The record generation device 240 includes, for example, map information 242, a map matching unit 244, and a travel record generating unit 236. The map information 25 242 includes the same information as the map information 234.

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The map matching unit 244 performs map matching processing on the information acquired from the in-vehicle system 210. The map matching unit 244 performs a process in which a link at which the in-vehicle system 210 is located among elements (for example, links) included in the map information 242 is determined on the basis of the acquired position information and the map information 242. According to the map matching process, a link and a lane where the in-vehicle system 210 is located and which are included in the map information 242 are determined.

A travel record generating unit 246 acquires the processing result of the map matching unit 244 and generates travel record information on the basis of the acquired information. The travel record information is information indicating an actual travel record of the vehicle in which the in-vehicle system 210 is mounted. The travel record information includes, for example, information about positions through which the vehicle has actually traveled, and information about a road link and a road lane. The travel record information is transmitted to the vehicle or the attention area extraction device

280.

The weather information management device 250 includes, for example, weather and disaster information 252. In the weather and disaster information 252, information about weather associated with each area or information about disasters is stored.

In the weather and disaster information 252, for example, the measurement results (for example, rainfall) of the measurement device 254 acquired from the measurement device 254 and weather and disaster information (for example, heavy rain information) acquired from the information provision device 256 are stored.

The measurement device 254 is, for example, a weather observation device provided at a predetermined position. The measurement device 254 observes, for

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 example, an amount of precipitation, a wind direction, a wind speed, a temperature, and the duration of sunshine.

The information provision device 256 is, for example, a server device managed by national or local organizations or the like and provides weather information or disaster 5 information to the weather information management device 250. The disaster information is, for example, information about natural disasters such as heavy rain, heavy snow, and earthquakes.

The risk calculation device 260 includes, for example, a correlation learning unit 262, a risk calculating unit 264, and a previously calculated risk information 266. The correlation learning unit 262 derives a correlation between a risk of the occurrence of a predetermined event in the attention area, at least one piece of information among information acquired by devices mounted or included in the vehicle present in the surroundings of the attention area, and weather information acquired by the weather information management device 250. The risk calculating unit 264 estimates a risk of the occurrence of a predetermined event in the attention area on the basis of the correlation derived by the correlation learning unit 262 at a lane level of a road. The predetermined event is an event that is not favorable for running of the vehicle and is, for example, road flooding or freezing of a road surface. The previously calculated risk information 266 is information about a previous risk calculated by the risk calculating unit 264.

The traffic information processing device 270 includes, for example, a 4-wheeled traffic information analyzing unit 272, a 2-wheeled traffic information analyzing unit 274, and an integrated analyzing unit 276. The 4-wheeled traffic information analyzing unit 272 acquires 4-wheeled vehicle information acquired by the 25 record generation device 240 and analyzes the acquired 4-wheeled vehicle information.

2017254915 02 Nov 2017

The 2-wheeled traffic information analyzing unit 274 acquires 2-wheeled vehicle information acquired by the record generation device 240 and analyzes the acquired

2-wheeled vehicle information. The integrated analyzing unit 276 generates traffic information on the basis of the acquired 4-wheeled vehicle and 2-wheeled vehicle information. The traffic information is, for example, information indicating the degree of congestion in a predetermined section of a road.

The attention area extraction device 280 includes, for example, the extraction unit 282, and map information 284. In addition, the extraction unit 282 extracts the area AR200 (refer to Fig. 21) in which no position information is plotted as an attention area 10 on the basis of the trajectory' of the position identified by the position measurement unit 224. The attention area is an area in which no vehicles are traveling along a road and which is estimated to have some problems and is an area that should be noted while the vehicle travels.

In addition, the extraction unit 282 acquires information indicating a movement of a vehicle in which the in-vehicle system 210 is mounted or included and estimates an attention area on the basis of the position of the in-vehicle system 210 identified by the in-vehicle system 210 and information indicating a movement of a vehicle collected by the collection unit 226 of the in-vehicle system 210 at a lane level of a road. This process will be described below with reference to Fig. 23 and Fig. 24.

The guidance information generation device 290 includes, for example, a route generating unit 292 and a guidance information generating unit 294. The route generating unit 292 generates a route to the destination in response to a request from a user. The guidance information generating unit 294 generates guidance information which is information output to the user while traveling along the route generated by the route generating unit 292 and which is used for guidance so that the vehicle can smoothly

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 travel along the generated route. The guidance information generating unit 294 generates information allowing the user to recognize the attention area extracted by the extraction unit 282 at a lane level of a road. The route to the destination and the information are transmitted to the vehicle that has transmitted the request. A navigation 5 device 298 mounted in the vehicle that has transmitted the request displays the route to the destination and the information as an image on a display unit according to a traveling position and a traveling state of the vehicle or outputs them as sound from a speaker. Here, information acquired by devices included in the risk estimation system 201, processing procedures of the devices, and processing results may be transmitted to the 10 in-vehicle system 210, a manager terminal 2100 that manages the system, and a mobile terminal 2110.

[Process of extracting attention area]

Fig. 22 is a sequence diagram showing processes performed when an attention area is extracted . First, the position measurement unit 224 of the in-vehicle system 210 15 acquires position information of the device itself (Step S2100). Next, the collection unit

226 of the in-vehicle system 210 waits until a predetermined amount of position information in a storage device (not shown) of the device itself, the detection results of the various sensors 216, information acquired from the radar device 218, and information acquired from the image analyzing unit 222 (hereinafter these pieces of information will 20 be referred to as “vehicle information”) accumulates (Step S2102). Next, the collection unit 226 of the in-vehicle system 210 transmits the accumulated vehicle information to the record generation device 240 using the communication unit 228 (Step S2104).

Next, the map matching unit 244 of the record generation device 240 performs a map matching process on the basis of vehicle information (Step S2106). Next, the travel record generating unit 246 of the record generation device 240 generates travel

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 record information for each road (Step S2108). Next, the record generation device 240 transmits the generated travel record information and vehicle information to the attention area extraction device 280 (Step S2110). The travel record information is transmitted to, for example, the in-vehicle system 210 and may be displayed as an image showing travel record information on the display unit 232 of the in-vehicle system 210. The image showing travel record information is, for example, an image in which the trajectory of the in-vehicle system 210 is displayed on a map.

Next, the extraction unit 282 of the attention area extraction device 280 extracts an attention area on the basis of the travel record information (Step S2112). Next, the extraction unit 282 transmits information about the extracted attention area to the in-vehicle system 210 (Step S2114). Accordingly, processes of one routine of this flowchart end.

Fig. 23 is a flowchart showing a flow of processes performed by the extraction unit 282. A specific example of processes of this flowchart will be described with reference to Fig. 24. First, the extraction unit 282 analyzes vehicle information on the basis of vehicle information (Step S2200). Next, the extraction unit 282 associates the analysis result with a position of the vehicle at a time at which vehicle information is acquired (Step S2202). Next, the extraction unit 282 extracts a position at which the analysis result satisfies a predetermined reference as an attention area (Step S2204).

Accordingly, the processes of this flowchart end.

Fig. 24 is a diagram for describing a specific example of extraction of an attention area. In the shown example, when a predetermined vehicle travels along a lane L201, a trajectory of the vehicle acquired at predetermined sampling intervals is shown. The extraction unit 282 analyzes vehicle information (a speed, an acceleration, 25 an angular velocity, an operation state of an ABS device, an object detection accuracy of

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 the radar device 218, and an image recognition accuracy) in each trajectory and derives an index obtained by integrating elements or predetermined elements. The index is a value that is higher when an absolute value or an amount of change of a speed, an acceleration, and an angular velocity increases during an observation period. In addition, the index is a value that is higher when the operation state of the ABS device is in an on state. In addition, the index is a value that is higher when the degree of decrease in detection accuracy of the radar device 218 increases or image recognition accuracy increases. Here, the index may be a value that is higher when an angle formed by displacement vectors when displacement is extracted in sampling periods is larger.

Then, the extraction unit 282 compares indexes with each other, and sets a position at which a movement of the vehicle satisfies a predetermined reference as an attention area. The predetermined reference indicates that an element (at least one of a speed, an acceleration, an angular velocity, an operation state of an ABS device, an object detection accuracy of the radar device 218, and an image recognition accuracy) included in the movement of the vehicle at a time t and an element (at least one of a speed, an acceleration, an angular velocity, an operation state of an ABS device, an object detection accuracy of the radar device 218, and an image recognition accuracy) of the movement of the vehicle at a time t+1 have deviated from each other by a predetermined amount or more. In addition, when the operation state of the ABS device at the time t is in an off state but the operation state of the ABS device at the time t+1 is in an on state, it is determined that the predetermined reference is satisfied. In this manner, when the vehicle suddenly accelerates, suddenly decelerates, or suddenly turns, or when the radar detection accuracy or the image recognition accuracy decreases by a predetermined degree or more, it is determined that the analysis result satisfies the predetermined reference.

2017254915 02 Nov 2017

As described above, since an attention area is extracted on the basis of position information with higher accuracy, it is possible to provide information on an attention area with high accuracy. Information about the attention area with high accuracy is information having a small error with a position of an actual area corresponding to the attention area.

Here, while a case in which the index derived by analyzing the movement of the vehicle is used has been described in the above example, an index derived from a change in position of the vehicle may be also used in addition thereto (or instead thereof). The index derived from a change in position of the vehicle is, for example, an index derived 10 from at least one element among an acceleration in a traveling direction, an acceleration in a lateral direction and a degree of change in turning angle derived from trajectories of a plurality of vehicles. In this case, it is determined whether each of two indexes derived on the basis of the movement of the vehicle and a change in position of the vehicle or a result obtained by statistically processing two indexes satisfies the predetermined reference.

[Processes performed by correlation learning unit]

Fig. 25 is a flowchart showing a flow of processes performed by the correlation learning unit 262. First, the correlation learning unit 262 acquires information about the attention area from the attention area extraction device 280 (Step S2200). Next, the correlation learning unit 262 acquires weather information from the weather information management device 250 (Step S2202). Next, the correlation learning unit 262 acquires information indicating a state of a vehicle (Step S2204). Next, the correlation learning unit 262 learns a correlation between the position of the attention area, weather information, vehicle information, and an event in the attention area and derives functions for calculating a risk of the occurrence of a predetermined event, maps and the like in a

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 predetermined attention area (Step S2206). Here, the event in the attention area is set in advance on the basis of the actually observed result. In addition, the learning result of the correlation learning unit 262 is stored in a storage device of the risk calculation device 260.

Fig. 26 is a diagram showing an example of an information table 263 used when the correlation learning unit 262 learns a correlation. The information table 263 is, for example, information in which vehicle information, weather information, and an event are associated with the attention area. For example, when flooding occurs in an attention area “001”, the correlation learning unit 262 learns vehicle information obtained by the vehicle that travels the attention area and weather information. Then, the correlation learning unit 262 derives a function of deriving a risk of the occurrence of flooding in the attention area “001” on the basis of vehicle information and weather information (details will be described below). In this manner, the correlation learning unit 262 derives conditions in which a predetermined event occurs in the attention area.

[Processes performed by risk calculating unit]

Fig. 27 is a flowchart showing a flow of processes performed by the risk calculating unit 264.

First, the risk calculating unit 264 acquires weather information from the weather information management device 250 (Step S2300). Next, the risk calculating unit 264 acquires information about the attention area from the attention area extraction device 280 (Step S2302). Next, the risk calculating unit 264 determines whether there is an attention area in an area to be processed (Step S2304). When there is no attention area, the process advances to Step S2312. When there is an attention area, the risk calculating unit 264 determines whether there is an attention area serving as a target at the same position in the past (Step S2306). When there is no attention area serving as a

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 target at the same position, the risk calculating unit 264 calculates a risk using a predetermined method (Step S2312). The predetermined method is a method of calculating a risk using a function having predetermined elements included in weather information as parameters.

When there is an attention area serving as a target at the same position, the risk calculating unit 264 acquires vehicle information from the vehicle in the surroundings of the attention area serving as a target (Step S2308). Next, the risk calculating unit 264 sets parameters of a function derived by the correlation learning unit 262 described above on the basis of the acquired vehicle information and weather information (Step S2310), and calculates a risk on the basis of the set parameters and function (Step S2312).

Here, for example, a case in which flooding has occurred in the past in an attention area serving as a target will be described. The risk calculating unit 264 calculates a risk in the attention area on the basis of, for example, the following Equation (1). “P(t)” is a probability (risk) of flooding at a time t and “d” is a drainage capacity coefficient in the preset attention area. “F_p,_cp” is a function of an amount of precipitation (_p) at the time t and a cumulative amount of precipitation (_cp) up to the time t from when a predetermined amount of precipitation or more has been generated. In addition, “Ir” is a coefficient corresponding to the degree of decrease in recognition accuracy of an image captured by the camera 220 of the vehicle present in the vicinity of the attention area with respect to a preset first reference value. “Rr” is a coefficient corresponding to the degree of decrease in object detection accuracy of the radar device 218 of the vehicle present in the vicinity of the attention area with respect to a preset second reference value. Here, the decrease in image recognition accuracy is caused by, for example, halation caused by reflection due to rain accumulated on the road. In addition, the decrease in detection accuracy of the object of the radar device 218 is

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 caused by, for example, an influence of raindrops in the surroundings of the vehicle.

Here, “Ir” or “Rr” may be omitted.

P(t)=dF_p._cp(t)x{l-(IrxRr)}-(l)

Next, the risk calculating unit 264 stores the calculated risk in the previously calculated risk information 266 (Step S2314), and transmits information indicating the calculated risk to the vehicle and the like (Step S2316). Accordingly, the processes of this flowchart end.

Fig. 28 is a conceptual diagram of processes performed by the risk estimation system 201 of the present embodiment.

The attention area extraction device 280 extracts an attention area AR200 on the basis of the trajectory of the position identified by the in-vehicle system 210 or a movement of the vehicle at the identified position. The risk calculating unit 264 of the risk calculation device 260 acquires information of the attention area AR200, vehicle information (for example, an image recognition accuracy or an object detection accuracy of the radar device 218) present in the vicinity of the attention area AR200, and weather information (for example, an amount of rainfall and a cumulative amount of rainfall) in the vicinity of the attention area AR200. Then, the risk calculating unit 264 applies the acquired information to a function derived from a correlation between vehicle information when an event occurred in the past in the attention area obtained in advance and weather information and derives a risk of the occurrence of an event.

According to the above processes, it is possible to derive a risk regarding an influence of weather information on the road, and an occupant of the vehicle or a road manager can be notified of the derived result.

Here, while an example in which a risk of the occurrence of flooding is derived has been described in the above example, instead of (or in addition to) flooding, a risk of

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 the occurrence of another event may be derived on the basis of the above idea. Other risks are, for example, a risk of a road surface freezing, a risk of a road surface becoming capable of causing hydroplaning, or a risk of a road surface being in a black Eisbahn state (a black ice forming on a road surface).

In addition, while a case in which a risk of the occurrence of an event is derived has been exemplified in the above example, instead of (or in addition to) this event, a possibility of the generated event being eliminated may be derived on the basis of the above idea.

Fig. 29 is a diagram showing an example of an image IM200 displayed on the display unit of the navigation device 298. Here, the image IM200 may be displayed on the display unit 232, a display unit of the manager terminal 2100 or a display unit of the mobile terminal 2110. As shown in Fig. 29, there is an attention area AR201 that may be flooded in the lane L202. For example, when the vehicle travels along the lane L202, if the vehicle arrives at a position within a predetermined distance from the attention area

AR201, the navigation device 298 displays, for example, information ofThe attention area AR201 may be flooded. Please change lanes.” and the position of the attention area AR201 on the map on the display unit in an overlapping manner, and notifies of the above information as sound. Accordingly, an occupant of the vehicle can control the vehicle to avoid the attention area AR201.

Here, while an example in which a risk of the occurrence of an event in the attention area is displayed on the display unit has been described in the above example, information about the risk of the occurrence of an event in the attention area may be used when automatic driving is performed. In this case, for example, the vehicle that performs automatic driving controls the vehicle such that the attention area is avoided on the basis of the risk of the occurrence of an event in the attention area, and the vehicle

2017254915 02 Nov 2017 performs control such that the vehicle passes through the area more safely when it passes through the vicinity of the attention area.

According to the embodiment described above, when the position measurement unit 224 configured to identify position information of the device itself on the basis of information extracted from radio waves received by a reception unit (the GPS antenna 212 and the Quasi-Zenith antenna 214) configured to receive radio waves in which information has been superimposed from GPS satellites and Quasi-Zenith Satellites constituting the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System in an area in which the device is positioned, the extraction unit 282 configured to extract an attention area that should be noted during travel on the basis of the position identified by the position measurement unit 224 at a lane level of a road, and the risk calculating unit 264 configured to estimate a risk of the occurrence of a predetermined event in the attention area on the basis of information acquired by devices mounted or included in the vehicle present in the surroundings of the attention area, and weather information acquired by the weather observation device at a lane level of a road are included, it is possible to provide more useful information.

While forms for implementing the present invention have been described above with reference to embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments at all, and various modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims (20)

1. An information processing system comprising:

position measurement devices, wherein each position measurement device is configured to receive radio waves in which information has been superimposed from a plurality of satellites constituting a global positioning system and Quasi-Zenith Satellites constituting a Quasi-Zenith Satellite System, and identify its own position on the basis of the information extracted from the received radio waves, wherein the position measurement devices are disposed in vehicles travelling on a road; and an estimation unit configured to estimate an attention area of the road that should be noted, the attention area being defined as an area at a predetermined lane in the road on map information, the map information including a lane level of the road, the area having a predetermined size and where plotted trajectories of the position measurement devices on the map information match with a predetermined pattern.

2. The information processing system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a guidance information generating unit configured to generate guidance information for avoiding the attention area estimated by the estimation unit at the lane level of the road.

3. The information processing system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

a display control unit configured to generate an image to be displayed on a display unit on the basis of the attention area estimated by the estimation unit and display the generated image on the display unit, wherein the display control unit displays the generated image on a display unit provided in a vehicle or a display unit of a mobile terminal, and wherein the display control unit displays an image in which the attention area estimated by the estimation unit is displayed on a map on the display unit.

4. The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

an application unit configured to apply the attention area estimated by the estimation unit to the map information.

5. An information processing method causing a computer to:

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2017254915 22 May 2019 receive radio waves in which information has been superimposed from a plurality of satellites constituting a global positioning system and Quasi-Zenith Satellites constituting a Quasi-Zenith Satellite System;

identify positions of position measurement devices on the basis of information extracted from the received radio waves, wherein the position measurement devices are disposed in vehicles travelling on a road; and estimate an attention area of a road that should be noted, the attention area being defined as an area at a predetermined lane in the road on map information, the map information including a lane level of the road, the area having a predetermined size and where plotted trajectories of the position measurement devices on the map information match with a predetermined pattern.

6. The information processing system according to claim 1, further comprising:

an acquisition unit configured to acquire information indicating movements of the vehicles in which the position measurement devices are mounted or included; and an extraction unit configured to extract a specific area in which traveling of vehicles is recommended or not recommended on the basis of the positions identified by the position measurement devices and the information indicating the movements of the vehicles acquired by the acquisition unit at the lane level of the road.

7. The information processing system according to claim 6, wherein the extraction unit extracts an area in which an acceleration and a deceleration of the vehicle are controlled so as to be a predetermined degree or higher as a specific area in which traveling of the vehicle is not recommended, wherein the extraction unit extracts an area in which a turning angle of the vehicle is controlled so as to be a predetermined degree or higher as a specific area in which traveling of the vehicle is not recommended, wherein the extraction unit extracts an area in which lane change is smoothly performed as a specific area in which traveling of the vehicle is recommended, and wherein the extraction unit extracts the specific area on the basis of a degree of change in a plurality of pieces of position information specified by the position measurement devices and a degree of change in the movements of the vehicles acquired by the acquisition unit.

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2017254915 22 May 2019

8. The information processing system according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising:

an information generating unit configured to generate information to be output to an output unit configured to output information on the basis of the specific area extracted by the extraction unit, wherein the information generating unit generates an image to be displayed on a display unit on the basis of specific information generated by the extraction unit and displays the generated image on the display unit, wherein the information generating unit displays the generated image on a display unit provided on the vehicle or a display unit of a mobile terminal, and wherein the information generating unit displays an image in which the specific area extracted by the extraction unit is displayed on a map on the display unit.

9. The information processing system according to any one of claims 6 to 8, further comprising:

an application unit configured to apply the specific area extracted by the extraction unit to the map information.

10. The information processing method according to claim 5, further including:

acquiring information indicating movements of vehicles in which the position measurement device is mounted or included; and extracting a specific area in which traveling of the vehicle is recommended or not recommended on the basis of the identified positions and the acquired information indicating the movements of the vehicles at the lane level of the road.

11. The information processing system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a risk estimation unit configured to estimate a risk of an occurrence of a predetermined event in the attention area on the basis of information acquired by devices mounted or included in a vehicle present in the surroundings of the attention area and weather information acquired by a weather observation device at the lane level of the road.

12. The information processing system according to claim 11, wherein the risk estimation unit refers to a correlation obtained in advance between the information acquired by the devices mounted or included in the vehicle present in the surroundings of the attention area, the weather information acquired by the weather observation

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2017254915 22 May 2019 device, and a risk of an occurrence of a predetermined event in the attention area and estimates the risk of the occurrence of the predetermined event.

13. The information processing system according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the information acquired by the devices mounted or included in the vehicle includes at least one piece of information among information acquired by devices configured to acquire a change in state of the vehicle, information based on an image captured by an imaging unit configured to image the surroundings of the vehicle and information acquired by a radar device configured to detect a state in the surroundings of the vehicle.

14. The information processing system according to claim 13, wherein the information based on the image captured by the imaging unit is an image recognition accuracy acquired from an analysis result of the image, and wherein the information acquired by the radar device is an object detection accuracy of the radar device.

15. The information processing system according to any one of claims 11 to 14, wherein the estimation unit acquires information indicating movements of vehicles in which the position measurement device is mounted or included, and estimates the attention area on the basis of the positions identified by the position measurement devices and the acquired movements of the vehicles at the lane level of the road.

16. The information processing system according to any one of claims 11 to 15, wherein the risk estimation unit estimates a possibility of the predetermined event being eliminated in the attention area on the basis of the information acquired by the devices mounted or included in the vehicle present in the surroundings of the attention area and the weather information acquired by the weather observation device at the lane level of the road.

17. The information processing system according to any one of claims 11 to 16, wherein the weather information is an amount of rainfall.

18. The information processing system according to any one of claims 11 to 17, wherein the predetermined event includes at least one of flooding and freezing of a road surface.

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19. The information processing system according to any one of claims 11 to 18, wherein the risk estimation unit transmits information including the estimated result to a terminal device that a road manager possesses or a terminal device that an occupant of the vehicle possesses.

20. The information processing method according to claim 5, further including:

estimating a risk of an occurrence of a predetermined event in the attention area on the basis of information acquired by devices mounted or included in a vehicle present in the surroundings of the attention area and weather information acquired by a weather observation device at the lane level of the road.