JP7524862B2 - Vehicle setting device and vehicle setting method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle setting device and a vehicle setting method.

The number of items that can be set by personalization functions for setting various vehicle items is increasing. If the timing of reflecting the personalized settings is incorrect, the vehicle setting device may adversely affect the user's operation of the vehicle. In addition, the input information used to determine the personalized items is becoming more diverse, and the timing of obtaining and updating the information is no longer simple.

Conventionally, to avoid user erroneous operation or confusion caused by unintended changes in the display while the vehicle is in motion, personalization items are set and reflected as quickly as possible when the vehicle system is started up, including when it wakes up from a low-power operating state.

Patent Document 1 can be cited as a document related to the HCU described in the embodiment of the present application. HCU is an abbreviation for Human Machine Interface Control Unit. According to the description in Patent Document 1, this document estimates the time when the vehicle passes through a high-stress point where the driver's driving behavior tends to transition frequently, and sets the timing of presenting information so as to reduce overlap between these transition times and the passing times.

JP 2019-21259 A

Due to various circumstances, there are cases where the settings for the personalized items cannot be reflected in time before the user starts driving the vehicle. When such a case occurs, it is possible to set the timing for reflecting the settings for the personalized items to the next startup of the vehicle system, taking safety into consideration. However, this reduces convenience for the user.

The object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle setting device and a vehicle setting method that allow personalization items to be appropriately set and reflected while taking into consideration safety and user convenience.

According to the invention described in claim 1, when the state acquisition unit acquires the state of the user or the state of the vehicle, the reflection possibility determination unit determines whether or not the setting of the personalized item is reflected based on the acquisition result of the state acquisition unit and the judgment condition of whether or not the setting is reflected that is stored in the data storage unit. In addition, the setting reflection unit reflects the personalized item if the reflection possibility determination unit determines that the setting is reflected. The reflection possibility determination unit determines whether or not the personalized item is set based on the acquisition result of the state acquisition unit and the judgment condition of whether or not the setting is reflected. The setting reflection unit reflects the personalized item on the condition that the judgment condition of whether or not the setting is reflected is satisfied for at least longer than the required time based on the required time required for the setting reflection of the personalized item. Therefore , the setting reflection unit can appropriately reflect the personalized item while considering safety and user convenience.

Electrical configuration diagram of a vehicle system according to an embodiment. An example of a table of personalization items and judgment conditions 1 is a flow chart outlining the process;

One embodiment of a vehicle setting device will be described below with reference to the drawings. The vehicle system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is composed of various ECUs 2 to 5, a mobile terminal 6, and an external server 7. The ECUs 2 to 5 are abbreviations for Electronics Control Unit and represent electronic control devices.

The ECUs 2 to 5 are classified into notification system ECUs that display meters and warnings on a display mounted on the vehicle, surroundings monitoring system ECUs that monitor the surroundings of the vehicle, and vehicle control system ECUs that use actuators to control the movement and stopping of the vehicle or the in-vehicle equipment, and all of these ECUs 2 to 5 execute vehicle-related controls. In this embodiment, the ECUs 2 to 5 are named as the personal authentication sensor ECU 2, the HCU 3, the other status acquisition ECU 4, and the on-board external ECU 5, and examples of the control contents are given.

HCU3 is an abbreviation for Human Machine Interface Control Unit, and corresponds to a vehicle setting device and information presentation control device. HCU3 is an ECU for the notification system that controls the display on the vehicle-mounted display devices such as the center information display (hereinafter referred to as CID) and electronic mirrors installed inside the vehicle, and also processes audio output to speakers installed inside the vehicle or audio input from a microphone.

ECUs 2 to 5 are each configured as a microcomputer equipped with a processor, memory, I/O, and communication circuits, and operate independently. ROM, RAM, flash memory, etc. can be used for the memory, and they also include configurations as non-transitive tangible storage mediums. ECUs 2 to 5 realize various functions by their respective processors executing programs stored in the memory. ECUs 2 to 5 are connected via in-vehicle networks such as CAN and LIN, and can communicate various information with each other.

The personal authentication sensor ECU 2 is configured by connecting the detection unit 4a, and has the function of a personal identification unit 2a that identifies individuals who board the vehicle. The personal authentication sensor ECU 2 is provided to identify each person who boards the vehicle.

The status acquisition ECU 4 is also connected to the detection unit 4a. Here, for simplicity of explanation, only one status acquisition ECU 4 is shown as a representative, but it may be configured using multiple ECUs classified as described above, or some of its functions may be integrated into the HCU 3. The detection unit 4a detects the interior and exterior conditions of the vehicle, and detects the condition of the user in the vehicle. The detection unit 4a is configured using various sensors and switches, and detects the condition of the vehicle or the condition of the user using the detection condition of the sensor or the switch condition as a parameter. Below, examples of the types of sensors and types of switches that make up the detection unit 4a are given, but are not limited to these.

The detection unit 4a may include a remote sensor that receives door lock/unlock instructions and remote engine start from a smart key or the like, a door lock switch that locks/unlocks the doors, a door lock sensor that operates the door lock switch from inside the vehicle, a door sensor that detects the open/closed state of the vehicle door, a seating sensor that detects whether the user is seated in the vehicle seat, a seat belt sensor that detects whether the user is fastening the seat belt, a seat position sensor that detects the front-rear position of the vehicle seat, a shift position sensor that detects the shift range, a switch for adjusting the angle of the door mirror, a sensor and switch for the control light or auto light, and a steering sensor that detects whether the steering wheel is being steered by the user. The smart key can be connected to devices in the vehicle such as the HCU 3 by short-range wireless communication technology.

The detection unit 4a can also be an ignition switch or power switch that starts/stops the engine or controls the electrical system, a vehicle speed sensor that detects the vehicle speed, an air conditioner switch that indicates the interior temperature setting of the air conditioner and the airflow environment, a parking brake sensor that detects the state of the parking brake, a sensor or electronic throttle sensor that detects the depression of the accelerator pedal, a pedal stroke sensor or brake pedal position sensor for the brake pedal, a touch panel mounted on the surface of the CID that enables the operation of infotainment apps, a front view camera, a side view camera, a corner view camera, a rear view camera, an electronic mirror, a laser radar using LiDaR, a surrounding monitoring sensor that monitors the surroundings of the vehicle using millimeter wave radar, and the like. The status acquisition ECU 4 can detect the interior and exterior conditions of the vehicle by using the detection unit 4a.

The detection unit 4a can also detect the status of the user by using an occupant monitor. The occupant monitor detects the status of occupants in the vehicle or the operating status of various operating devices. The occupant monitor includes a camera that detects the status of an occupant in the driver's seat, passenger seat, or rear seat by capturing an image of the occupant using an image sensor, and outputs an image signal. The driver's occupant status monitor is called a DSM. DSM is an abbreviation for Driver Status Monitor.

By using an occupant monitor, the detection unit 4a can detect the driver's driving posture, the direction of the user's face or neck including the driver, the direction of gaze, whether the eyes are open/closed, whether the user is awake/intoxicated, and biological information such as electrocardiogram, blood pressure, pulse, and body temperature, and can detect the user's condition from various perspectives, such as whether the user is gripping the steering wheel, whether the steering wheel is gripped with one hand or both hands, and whether the user is gripping the shift lever. The configuration of the detection unit 4a does not need to include all of these sensors and switches, and may be configured with only some of them, or may include various in-vehicle sensors and switches not listed here.

The HCU3 has the following functional configurations: a status acquisition unit 11, a personal identification result acquisition unit 12, an external ECU communication unit 13, a mobile device communication unit 14, an external vehicle server communication unit 15, a personalization setting input unit 16, a personalization target item selection unit 17, a data storage unit 18, a reflection possibility determination unit 19, a setting reflection unit 20, and a notification control unit 21.

The status acquisition unit 11 can acquire information from outside the vehicle using the status acquisition ECU 4 and the detection unit 4a. At this time, the status acquisition unit 11 can acquire information about the state outside the vehicle, such as the congestion status of roads around the vehicle, the road width, the lane the vehicle is traveling in, the number of lanes on the opposing lane or surrounding roads, and the presence or absence of obstacles or pedestrians. The status acquisition unit 11 can also acquire the current state of the vehicle, such as whether the vehicle is waiting at a traffic light, in a traffic jam, etc.

When the status acquisition ECU 4 and the status acquisition unit 11 acquire the vehicle status based on the status of the various sensors or switches described above, the following timing can be acquired, and the HCU 4 can use the timing as a trigger to switch various vehicle-related controls in the driving scene before or after that. The status acquisition ECU 4 and the status acquisition unit 11 can also acquire the user's status based on changes in the driving scene described below.

Examples of timing are given below. The timing when the user operates the smart key carried by the user to remotely turn on the ignition switch or power switch to start the engine. The timing when the user, carrying the smart key, approaches the vicinity of the vehicle and becomes capable of short-range wireless communication. The timing when the door lock sensor detects that the user has unlocked the vehicle door. The timing when the door sensor detects that the user has opened the vehicle door and then closed it. The timing when the occupant sensor or seat occupancy sensor detects that the user has entered the vehicle.

The timing when the seat belt sensor detects that a user such as a driver has fastened the seat belt. The timing when the angle adjustment switch detects that the driver has adjusted the angle of the door mirror. The timing when the seat position sensor detects that the driver has adjusted the seat position. The timing when the vehicle system 1 begins to start up by turning on the power switch or ignition switch.

The timing when a user, such as a driver, starts an infotainment app by operating the touch panel. The timing when it is detected that a user, such as a driver, has started operating the air conditioner using the air conditioner switch. The timing when the shift position sensor detects that the driver has changed the shift range to a position other than the parking range. The timing when the parking brake sensor detects that the driver has released the parking brake.

The timing when the vehicle's speed becomes non-zero and it is considered to have started moving. The timing when the vehicle reaches a location where radio waves cannot reach and the external server communication unit 15 is unable to communicate with the external server 7. Conversely, the timing when the vehicle reaches a location where radio waves can reach and the external server communication unit 15 is able to communicate with the external server 7. This includes the case where communication has not been possible since the vehicle was started.

The timing when the vehicle speed sensor detects that the vehicle speed becomes zero while the shift range is not in the parking position. The timing when the pedal stroke sensor or brake pedal position sensor detects that the vehicle speed becomes zero and the user applies the brake. The timing when the parking brake sensor detects that the vehicle speed becomes zero and the parking brake is turned on. The timing when the parking brake sensor detects that the shift range becomes the parking position.

The timing when the engine is off and the driver turns off the power switch or ignition switch to shut down the vehicle system 1. The timing when the seat sensor or door sensor detects when a user such as the driver gets out of the vehicle. The timing when the remote sensor detects that the doors have been locked using the vehicle's smart key.

The driving scene will change at the above-mentioned timing, and the HCU3 can detect changes in the vehicle state at the above-mentioned timing while acquiring the vehicle state using the state acquisition unit 11, and change the control content before or after these triggers. Also, as described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to predict and estimate driving scenes that are likely to occur in the near future based on the vehicle state acquired by the state acquisition unit 11, estimate the transition time to the next driving scene, and change the control content before or after that.

The personal identification result acquisition unit 12 acquires the personal identification result by the personal identification unit 2a of the personal authentication sensor ECU 2, and uses it as identification information for selecting the personalization items to be stored in the data storage unit 18. At this time, the personal identification result acquisition unit 12 can identify the driver, the passenger in the front passenger seat, and the passenger in the back seat who are in the vehicle.

When the user customizes the personalized items of the vehicle equipment built into the vehicle, the in-vehicle external ECU 5 stores the personalized items in the database 5a as personalization parameters and updates them as needed. The external ECU communication unit 13 acquires the personalized items from the database 5a of the in-vehicle external ECU 5 and stores them in the data storage unit 18.

The mobile terminal 6 is a terminal that is owned by the user and can be brought into the vehicle. The mobile terminal 6 is a terminal such as a smartphone, tablet, or notebook computer, and is mainly composed of a microcomputer equipped with a processor and memory.

The mobile terminal 6 is configured to wirelessly communicate with the mobile terminal communication unit 14. The mobile terminal communication unit 14 wirelessly communicates with the mobile terminal 6 using a wireless LAN such as WiFi (registered trademark) or a short-range communication technology such as Bluetooth (registered trademark).

Here, we will explain a configuration in which the mobile terminal communication unit 14 is provided in the HCU 14, but the mobile terminal communication unit 14 may also be provided in another ECU, for example, a communication ECU called a DCM or TCU, and the HCU 4 may communicate with the mobile terminal 6 via this communication ECU. DCM stands for Data Communication Module, and TCU stands for Telematics Control Unit.

A vehicle application program (hereinafter, vehicle app) is installed in the memory of the mobile terminal 6, and by executing the vehicle app on the mobile terminal 6, the user can issue control commands related to the vehicle and obtain information about the vehicle from the vehicle's ECUs 2 to 5. At this time, the user can set personalized items related to the vehicle equipment by operating the mobile terminal 6.

A database 6a is constructed in the memory of the mobile terminal 6. The mobile terminal 6 is provided with an interface for inputting operations. When the user inputs customization settings for personalization items related to vehicle equipment into the mobile terminal 6, the items are stored in the database 6a from the vehicle app, and are also stored in the database 18a of the data storage unit 18 via the mobile terminal communication unit 14.

The external server communication unit 15 communicates with an external server 7 provided outside the vehicle via a wireless communication network and a wired communication network. The external server 7 is configured by a cloud server or the like.
The external server 7 is configured by a computer including a processor and a memory, and a vehicle application program (hereinafter, a vehicle app) is installed in the memory. The external server 7 executes the vehicle app to provide a service requested by an ECU (e.g., the HCU 3) of the vehicle.

For example, the external server 7 returns a voice recognition result when it receives a voice recognition request from the vehicle, or distributes information (e.g., traffic congestion information) generated based on probe information collected from a large number of vehicles. A database 7a is constructed in the memory of the external server 7. The external server 7 is equipped with an interface for inputting operations. When parameters for personalization items related to vehicle equipment are input as customization settings to the external server 7, the parameters are stored in the database 7a from the vehicle app.

The personalization setting input unit 16 represents an interface for setting and inputting personalization items inside the vehicle, and is configured using a touch panel or the like configured on the CID. The personalization setting input unit 16 can be operated by a user to input personalization items for vehicle equipment. These personalization items are stored in the database 18a of the data storage unit 18, and are also stored in the database 5a of the on-board external ECU 5, the database 6a of the mobile terminal 6, and the database 7a of the external server 7.

The data storage unit 18 has a database 18a. The database 18a stores the above-mentioned personalized items together with personal identification information. The database 18a also stores the personalized items or the judgment conditions for whether or not the settings of the personalized items can be reflected based on the changes in the personalized items. The data storage unit 18 stores a large number of personalized items and the judgment conditions for whether or not the settings can be reflected in a table as shown in FIG. 2. The judgment conditions indicate the individual sensor or switch detection states by the detection unit 4a, the vehicle state combining these, the above-mentioned user state, or other conditions. The personalized items are in a state in which the settings can be reflected if all the judgment conditions are satisfied. The judgment conditions for the switches are one or more stages of on or off state, and the judgment conditions for the sensors may be one or more stages of on or off state, or a value above or below a certain threshold value. The judgment conditions for the vehicle state or user state may be expressed as a numerical value and may be a value above or below a threshold value.

Personalized items refer to items that the user of the vehicle customizes and sets for the vehicle, and refer to items that the user can decide individually based on the preferences of each individual user. Examples of personalized items include customizing the comfort lights, locking/unlocking the power windows, turning the speed-sensitive door lock on/off, wireless door locks, smart entry and smart start, air conditioning temperature settings and ventilation environment, door mirror angle, and the front-to-rear position of the vehicle seat.

The personalization target item selection unit 17 selects and reads out the personalization items and judgment conditions from the data storage unit 18 based on the identification result of the personal identification result acquisition unit 12, and passes the read result to the reflection possibility determination unit 19. The reflection possibility determination unit 19 acquires the personalization items and judgment conditions through the acquisition result of the status acquisition unit 11 and the personalization target item selection unit 17, judges whether or not to reflect the personalization settings based on the judgment conditions for whether or not to reflect the settings, and passes the judgment result to the setting reflection unit 20.

If the reflection possibility determination unit 19 determines that the setting can be reflected, the setting reflection unit 20 sets and reflects the personalization items in the personalization reflection destination device 30. The personalization reflection destination device 30 is a device for reflecting the personalization items, a vehicle device, and the targets are the aforementioned air conditioner, control lights, power windows, door locks, headlights, engine, door mirrors, etc.

The notification control unit 21 also controls the notification device 31 to notify whether or not the personalized items are reflected, and whether or not the setting reflection has been completed, based on the judgment result of the reflection possibility judgment unit 19. An example of the notification device 31 is a CID installed in the vehicle, but it may also be configured to notify the mobile terminal 6 that the user processes. The notification control unit 21 notifies the reflection result of whether or not the personalized items have been reflected. The notification device 31 may target the mobile terminal 6 carried by the user.

The operation when reflecting the above-mentioned personalized items will be described. The HCU 3 executes the process shown in FIG. 3 at a predetermined timing when reflecting the personalized items. For example, it is desirable to execute the process immediately after starting the vehicle system 1.

When the user turns on the ignition switch or power switch, the vehicle system 1 starts up and the ECUs 2 to 5 start up. The personalization target item selection unit 17 of the HCU 3 acquires all personalization items for each individual in S1, and sets the variable m to an initial value in S2. The HCU 3 then acquires the user's status in S3 and the vehicle's status in S4 using the status acquisition unit 11. Next, the personalization target item selection unit 17 acquires all judgment conditions (here, 1 to N) for the mth variable of the personalization items from the data storage unit 18.

Then, if all the judgment conditions are met, the reflection possibility judgment unit 19 judges YES in S6, and the setting reflection unit 20 reflects the setting of the mth personalized item on the personalization reflection destination device 30 in S7. Conversely, if even some of the judgment conditions are not met, the mth personalized item is not reflected. The HCU 3 performs judgment processing for all personalized items waiting to be reflected by repeating the processes of S3 to S7 M times while incrementing the variable m in S8 and S9. The HCU 3 judges whether M repetitions have been performed in S8, and ends the processing when it has performed judgment processing for all personalized items waiting to be reflected.

When the process is terminated, the notification control unit 21 controls notifications to inform the user whether or not the settings of the personalized items have been completely reflected. In addition, if there are any personalized items whose settings have not been reflected, the notification control unit 21 controls notifications to inform the user that the settings of the personalized items cannot be reflected.

Furthermore, if the setting reflection unit 20 needs to wait a predetermined time until the settings of the personalized items are reflected, the notification control unit 21 may control a notification to the notification device 31 that the settings of the personalized items are waiting to be reflected, or may control a notification to the notification device 31 of the number of items waiting to be reflected.

The processing has been explained based on the contents shown in FIG. 3, but this flow shows the basic processing flow. Exceptionally, processing may be added or deleted. For example, the time required to reflect the setting of the personalized item may be stored in advance in the memory of the HCU 3, and the setting reflection unit 20 may reflect the setting of the personalized item on the condition that the judgment condition is satisfied and the time is longer than the required time.

For example, a case will be described in which the HCU 3 acquires the seat position from the detection unit 4a by communicating with the state acquisition ECU 4 that acquires the seat position, and reads out the personalized items from the data storage unit 18. In this case, if the HCU 3 determines that the predetermined 3 seconds are required to reflect the setting of the fore-aft position of the seat, the setting reflection unit 20 of the HCU 3 may communicate and instruct another on-board external ECU 5 for vehicle control to adjust the fore-aft position of the seat, on the condition that it is certain that the vehicle state, such as the state of the sensors and the state of the switches, satisfies all the judgment conditions for 3 seconds or more.

Conversely, if it is determined that the vehicle state values required for the judgment conditions, specifically the sensor and switch states, change in less than the aforementioned three seconds and do not satisfy the judgment conditions, the HCU3 will not reflect the settings of the personalized items without adjusting the fore-aft position of the seat. This ensures the safety of the user.

In addition, when the setting reflection unit 20 detects a state that should be interrupted by the status acquisition unit 11 while reflecting the settings of the personalized items, the setting reflection unit 20 may interrupt the processing of reflecting the settings of the personalized items. Furthermore, if the status acquisition unit 11 subsequently detects that the state that should be interrupted has returned to the original state, the setting reflection unit 20 may resume reflecting the settings of the personalized items or return them to the state before they were started.

For example, if the HCU3 receives an abnormality notification from another ECU, or if it requests another vehicle control system ECU to set and reflect personalized items but receives no communication response from that ECU, it may suspend the setting reflection process. If there is a response from the other ECU, the process may be resumed, or may be restored to the state before reflection.

Also, a permission unit 22 may be provided in the HCU 3, which may request permission from the user to reflect the personalized settings, and the setting reflection unit 20 may reflect the personalized items only if the user gives permission. Since the user is aware of the settings of the personalized items, the possibility of problems occurring even if the personalized items are reflected can be reduced.

When the setting reflection unit 20 reflects the settings of a personalized item that may be changed to a state that is not suitable for setting reflection by a specific user operation, it either controls notifications to stop the specific user operation, or controls to forcibly disable the specific user operation. In this case, it is desirable to perform both controls.

For example, while the setting reflection unit 20 is reflecting the setting of the door mirror angle, it may control the user through the notification device 31 to notify the user not to change the shift range from the parking range to the drive range, or it may control the shift mechanism to forcibly disable the shift range. This can reduce the possibility of problems occurring even when the personalized items are reflected.

It is desirable for the setting reflecting unit 20 to determine the timing for reflecting the settings of the personalized items based on the results acquired by the state acquiring unit 11, and then reflect the settings. The timing may be any time, or may be possible if a certain condition is met, or may be possible under certain conditions, such as when the shift range is in the parking range and only while parked. For this reason, it is desirable to wait for the timing that satisfies a certain judgment condition based on the results of detection by the detection unit 4a of the sensors and switches, as well as the state of the user and the state of the vehicle, before reflecting the settings of the personalized items.

<Notification timing for personalized item settings>
It is desirable for the notification control unit 21 to adjust the timing for reflecting the settings of personalized items or for notifying the user that the settings have been reflected. When presenting birthdays, personal preferences, or changes to the user from the HCU 3, it is advisable to determine that these are items that are relatively less relevant to safety, and notify the user that the settings of personalized items have been reflected at a timing when it is determined that the safety is higher than a predetermined level based on the user state or vehicle state.

Changes to personalized items such as the screen layout settings of the in-vehicle display, volume information output from the speaker, and air conditioning operation information of the air conditioner may be immediately conveyed to the user intuitively through the five senses. However, it is also possible to convey that the personalized items have been set or that the settings have been reflected by clearly notifying the user through a message on the notification device 31. These changes are functions that do not directly affect driving operations and are items that are relatively less relevant to safety. For this reason, it is advisable to notify the user that the settings have been reflected when it is determined that safety is higher than a predetermined level based on the user's state and the vehicle's state.

On the other hand, if the changes are to personalization items that affect driving operations or safety-related operations, such as driving control, seat position, door mirror angle, etc., the notification control unit 21 should control the notification device 31 to notify as soon as possible when the settings are reflected. This is because the user can be aware of this point.

<Modification of timing for updating personalized items>
Note that the update of the personalized items can be performed at any timing, such as when the vehicle system 1 is started, or after a predetermined time has elapsed after the vehicle system 1 is started. However, in reality, if the time from the start of the vehicle system 1 to the setting reflection is shorter than a predetermined time, even if the personalized items are set and reflected without performing the processing shown in FIG. 3 immediately after the start of the vehicle system 1, the setting reflection may be completed before adverse effects are exerted on the user's state and the vehicle's state. Setting and reflecting the personalized items that satisfy such conditions immediately after the start of the vehicle system 1 leads to more efficient and faster processing.

For this reason, HCU3 should execute the process shown in FIG. 3 only when it is determined that it is necessary to determine whether or not to reflect the settings shown in FIG. 3. For example, if HCU3 can reference information from its own internal memory and set and reflect personalized items in its own ECU (in this embodiment), the access speed to the memory tends to be relatively fast because the only source of information is its own HCU3. In this case, if personal authentication can be performed immediately after HCU3 is started up, without executing the process shown in FIG. 3, it is possible to quickly set and reflect personalized items based on the results of this personal authentication. This makes processing more efficient and faster.

On the other hand, after the vehicle system 1 is started, when the user gets in the vehicle, the personal authentication sensor ECU 2 performs personal authentication and updates the setting input data for the personalized items, but the personal authentication and personalized item settings may not be reflected in time for the user to start operating the vehicle. When reflecting the settings of such personalized items, it is better to reflect the settings of the personalized items while executing the process of FIG. 3, rather than reflecting the settings immediately after the vehicle system 1 is started.

For example, when one's own ECU, in this embodiment, the HCU 3, must communicate with another on-board external ECU 5 when setting and reflecting personalized items, a time lag occurs after startup if there is a difference in the initialization speed between the other on-board external ECU 5 and one's own HCU 3. In this case, it is not always possible to quickly complete the setting and reflection of personalized items immediately after starting up the HCU 3. When setting and reflecting such personalized items, it is better to set and reflect the personalized items while executing the process of FIG. 3, rather than immediately setting and reflecting the items immediately after starting up the vehicle.

In addition, when the HCU 3 is setting and reflecting personalized items after receiving data from the external vehicle server 7 via wireless communication, it is desirable to take into consideration the instability of the radio wave environment. For such personalized items, data cannot always be received immediately after the vehicle system 1 is started, and data may be received after the vehicle starts traveling. When setting and reflecting such personalized items, it is better to set and reflect the personalized items while executing the process of FIG. 3, rather than immediately after the vehicle is started.

This allows personalized items to be set and reflected at the appropriate time. In particular, it allows the latest personalized items to be set and reflected as quickly as possible without causing confusion or adverse effects on the driver's vehicle operation, improving usability.

As described above, according to this embodiment, whether or not to reflect the personalized settings is determined based on the results of acquiring the user's state or the vehicle's state and the judgment conditions for whether or not to reflect the settings, and if it is determined that the settings can be reflected, the personalized items are reflected. This allows the settings reflection unit 20 to appropriately reflect the personalized items while taking into consideration safety and user convenience.

Other Embodiments
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be implemented in various modified forms, and can be applied to various embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
In the above embodiment, the vehicle setting device is applied to the HCU 3, but may be applied to other ECUs.

The method of the HCU 3 or other ECU described in the present disclosure may be realized by a dedicated computer provided by configuring a processor and memory programmed to execute one or more functions embodied in a computer program. Alternatively, the HCU 3 and the method described in the present disclosure may be realized by a dedicated computer provided by configuring a processor with one or more dedicated hardware logic circuits. Alternatively, the control device and the method described in the present disclosure may be realized by one or more dedicated computers configured by combining a processor and memory programmed to execute one or more functions with a processor configured with one or more hardware logic circuits. In addition, the computer program may be stored in a computer-readable non-transient tangible recording medium as instructions executed by the computer.

Although the present invention has been described in accordance with the above-described embodiment, it is understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment or structure. The present invention also includes various modifications and modifications within the scope of equivalents. In addition, various combinations and forms, as well as other combinations and forms that include one, more, or less than one element, are also within the scope and concept of the present invention.

In the drawing, 3 indicates an HCU (vehicle setting device), 11 indicates a status acquisition unit, 18 indicates a data storage unit, 19 indicates a reflection possibility determination unit, 20 indicates a setting reflection unit, 21 indicates a notification control unit, and 22 indicates a permission unit.

Claims (13)

A status acquisition unit (11) that acquires a user's status or a vehicle's status;
A data storage unit (18) for storing a judgment condition for whether or not to reflect the setting of a personalized item;
a reflection possibility determination unit (19) that determines whether or not the setting of the personalized item is to be reflected based on the acquisition result of the state acquisition unit and a judgment condition for whether or not the setting is to be reflected;
a setting reflecting unit (20) that reflects the setting of the personalized item if the reflection determination unit determines that the setting can be reflected ,
The setting reflection unit is a setting device for a vehicle that reflects the setting of the personalization item based on the required time for reflecting the setting of the personalization item, provided that the determination condition for whether or not the setting can be reflected is met for at least longer than the required time . A status acquisition unit (11) that acquires a user's status or a vehicle's status;
A data storage unit (18) for storing a judgment condition for whether or not to reflect the setting of a personalized item;
a reflection possibility determination unit (19) that determines whether or not the setting of the personalized item is to be reflected based on the acquisition result of the state acquisition unit and a judgment condition for whether or not the setting is to be reflected;
a setting reflecting unit (20) that reflects the settings of the personalized items if the reflection determination unit determines that the settings can be reflected ;
a permission unit (22) for requesting a user's permission to reflect the settings of the personalized items;
The setting reflecting unit is a setting device for a vehicle that reflects the setting of the personalized items only when the user has given permission . A status acquisition unit (11) that acquires a user's status or a vehicle's status;
A data storage unit (18) for storing a judgment condition for whether or not to reflect the setting of a personalized item;
a reflection possibility determination unit (19) that determines whether or not the setting of the personalized item is to be reflected based on the acquisition result of the state acquisition unit and a judgment condition for whether or not the setting is to be reflected;
a setting reflecting unit (20) that reflects the setting of the personalized item if the reflection determination unit determines that the setting can be reflected ,
The vehicle setting device interrupts the setting reflection when the status acquisition unit acquires a status indicating that the setting reflection should be interrupted while the setting reflection unit is setting and reflecting the personalized items . When the state acquisition unit acquires a state to be interrupted and the setting reflection unit interrupts the setting reflection, and then it is detected that the state to be interrupted has returned to the original state,
The vehicle setting device according to claim 3 , wherein the setting reflection unit resumes reflection of the settings of the personalized items or returns the settings to a state before reflection was started. A vehicle setting device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a notification control unit (21) that controls notifications indicating whether or not the setting reflection of the personalized items has been completed, or that the setting reflection of the personalized items is in a state where it is not possible to reflect the setting of the personalized items. A status acquisition unit (11) that acquires a user's status or a vehicle's status;
A data storage unit (18) for storing a judgment condition for whether or not to reflect the setting of a personalized item;
a reflection possibility determination unit (19) that determines whether or not the setting of the personalized item is to be reflected based on the acquisition result of the state acquisition unit and a judgment condition for whether or not the setting is to be reflected;
a setting reflecting unit (20) that reflects the setting of the personalized item if the reflection determination unit determines that the setting can be reflected ,
A setting device for a vehicle is provided with a notification control unit (21) that, when the setting reflection unit needs to wait a predetermined time until the setting of the personalized items is reflected, notifies the user that the setting of the personalized items is waiting to be reflected and controls the number of items waiting to be reflected . A status acquisition unit (11) that acquires a user's status or a vehicle's status;
A data storage unit (18) for storing a judgment condition for whether or not to reflect the setting of a personalized item;
a reflection possibility determination unit (19) that determines whether or not the setting of the personalized item is to be reflected based on the acquisition result of the state acquisition unit and a judgment condition for whether or not the setting is to be reflected;
a setting reflecting unit (20) that reflects the setting of the personalized item if the reflection determination unit determines that the setting can be reflected ,
A setting device for a vehicle, comprising: a notification control unit (21) that controls notification so as to stop a specified user operation when the setting reflection unit reflects settings of a personalization item that may be changed to a state unsuitable for the setting reflection due to a specified user operation . A status acquisition unit (11) that acquires a user's status or a vehicle's status;
A data storage unit (18) for storing a judgment condition for whether or not to reflect the setting of a personalized item;
a reflection possibility determination unit (19) that determines whether or not the setting of the personalized item is to be reflected based on the acquisition result of the state acquisition unit and a judgment condition for whether or not the setting is to be reflected;
a setting reflecting unit (20) that reflects the setting of the personalized item if the reflection determination unit determines that the setting can be reflected ,
A setting device for a vehicle that controls the setting reflection unit to forcibly disable the specified user operation when setting and reflecting a personalization item that may be changed to a state unsuitable for the setting reflection due to a specified user operation . A status acquisition unit (11) that acquires a user's status or a vehicle's status;
A data storage unit (18) for storing a judgment condition for whether or not to reflect the setting of a personalized item;
a reflection possibility determination unit (19) that determines whether or not the setting of the personalized item is to be reflected based on the acquisition result of the state acquisition unit and a judgment condition for whether or not the setting is to be reflected;
a setting reflecting unit (20) that reflects the setting of the personalized item if the reflection determination unit determines that the setting can be reflected ,
The vehicle setting device includes a notification control unit (21) that controls notification by adjusting the timing of reflecting the settings of the personalized items or notifying the user that the settings have been reflected . A status acquisition unit (11) that acquires a user's status or a vehicle's status;
A data storage unit (18) for storing a judgment condition for whether or not to reflect the setting of a personalized item;
a reflection possibility determination unit (19) that determines whether or not the setting of the personalized item is to be reflected based on the acquisition result of the state acquisition unit and a judgment condition for whether or not the setting is to be reflected;
a setting reflecting unit (20) that reflects the setting of the personalized item if the reflection determination unit determines that the setting can be reflected ,
The status acquisition unit is a vehicle setting device that detects the status of the vehicle by acquiring information from outside the vehicle . A status acquisition unit (11) that acquires a user's status or a vehicle's status;
A data storage unit (18) for storing a judgment condition for whether or not to reflect the setting of a personalized item;
a reflection possibility determination unit (19) that determines whether or not the setting of the personalized item is to be reflected based on the acquisition result of the state acquisition unit and a judgment condition for whether or not the setting is to be reflected;
a setting reflecting unit (20) that reflects the setting of the personalized item if the reflection determination unit determines that the setting can be reflected ,
The setting reflecting unit determines the timing for reflecting the settings of the personalized items based on the results acquired by the state acquiring unit, and reflects the settings . A process in which a status acquisition unit (11) acquires a user's status or a vehicle's status;
A data storage unit (18) for storing a judgment condition for whether or not to reflect the setting of a personalized item;
a reflection possibility determination unit (19) determining whether or not to reflect the setting of the personalized item based on the acquisition result of the status acquisition unit and a judgment condition for whether or not to reflect the setting;
A setting reflecting unit (20) reflects the setting of the personalized item if the reflection determination unit determines that the setting can be reflected ,
A setting method for a vehicle in which the setting reflection unit reflects the personalization item based on the required time for reflecting the setting of the personalization item, on the condition that the determination condition for whether or not the setting can be reflected is met, which is at least longer than the required time . A process in which a status acquisition unit (11) acquires a user's status or a vehicle's status;
A data storage unit (18) for storing a judgment condition for whether or not to reflect the setting of a personalized item;
a reflection possibility determination unit (19) determining whether or not to reflect the setting of the personalized item based on the acquisition result of the status acquisition unit and a judgment condition for whether or not to reflect the setting;
A setting reflecting unit (20) reflects the setting of the personalized item if the reflection determination unit determines that the setting can be reflected ,
A setting method for a vehicle, in which, when the setting reflection unit reflects settings of a personalization item that may be changed to a state unsuitable for the setting reflection by a specified user operation, the setting reflection unit controls the specified user operation to be forcibly disabled .

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