JP7533243B2 - Server device - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a server device.

A user who wishes to purchase a used car, or an agent mediating the resale of a vehicle, checks whether the vehicle has had any accidents or other problems in order to determine the vehicle's resale value. As an example of a method for managing a vehicle's accident history, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that determines whether a vehicle has had any accidents based on the deviation between the cumulative mileage calculated by integrating the vehicle speed over time and the odometer value.

JP 2014-108726 A

Below, a server device is disclosed that allows for more reliable confirmation of a vehicle's accident history.

The server device in this disclosure has a communication unit, a memory unit that stores information, and a control unit that detects the state of communication with the vehicle when the vehicle ignition is turned on, and when the control unit receives the communication after detecting the communication interruption, if the vehicle is located at a specified point, it stores information indicating a specified event in the vehicle in the memory unit.

The server device disclosed herein makes it possible to more reliably check a vehicle's accident history.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a configuration of an information processing system. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation procedure of the server device.

The following describes the implementation form.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing system in one embodiment. The information processing system 1 has one or more server devices 10 and vehicles 12, which are connected to each other via a public communication network 11 so that they can communicate with each other. The vehicle 12 is connected to the public communication network 11 via a mobile communication network. The server device 10 is, for example, a server computer that belongs to a cloud computing system or other computing system and functions as a server that implements various functions. The vehicle 12 is a passenger car, commercial vehicle, or the like, which is equipped with an in-vehicle device having a communication function and a positioning function, sends various information including location information and vehicle status information to the server device 10, and receives various information from the server device 10. The vehicle 12 may be driven by a driver, or may be automated at any level (for example, any of levels 1 to 5 in the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)). The public communication network 11 is, for example, the Internet, but may also include an ad-hoc network, a LAN, a MAN (Metropolitan Area Network), or other networks, or any combination of these.

In this embodiment, when the vehicle 12 starts up the in-vehicle device that receives power from the battery by turning on the ignition, the in-vehicle device sends various information including location information to the server device 10. The server device 10 has a communication unit 101 that communicates with the vehicle 12, a memory unit 102 that stores various information, and a control unit 103 that detects the state of communication with the vehicle 12 when the ignition of the vehicle 12 is turned on. When the control unit 103 receives communication from the vehicle 12 after detecting a state in which communication with the vehicle 12 is interrupted, if the vehicle 12 is located at a predetermined point, the control unit 103 stores information indicating a predetermined event in the vehicle 12 in the memory unit 102. When communication from the vehicle 12 to the server device 10 is interrupted for a certain period of time, there is a high probability that an event has occurred in the vehicle 12 that has caused damage to the vehicle body to the extent that the communication function is impaired, that is, an accident has occurred. Furthermore, when the server device 10 receives communication from the vehicle 12 again after a communication interruption, if the vehicle 12 is located at a specified location, such as a sheet metal shop or other maintenance/repair shop, there is a high probability that the vehicle 12 required maintenance/repair to restore functions damaged in the accident. In that case, the control unit 103 of the server device 10 determines that an accident has occurred in the vehicle 12, and stores the accident history in the memory unit 102. This makes it possible to read the accident history of the vehicle 12 from the server device 10 as appropriate. This makes it possible to more reliably confirm the accident history of the vehicle 12.

The following describes each part of the server device 10. The server device 10 has a communication unit 101, a memory unit 102, a control unit 103, an input unit 105, and an output unit 106.

The communication unit 101 includes one or more communication interfaces. The communication interface is, for example, a LAN interface. The communication unit 101 receives information used in the operation of the server device 10, and transmits information obtained by the operation of the server device 10. The server device 10 is connected to a public communication network 11 by the communication unit 101, and communicates information with the vehicle 12 via the public communication network 11.

The storage unit 102 includes, for example, one or more semiconductor memories, one or more magnetic memories, one or more optical memories, or a combination of at least two of these, that function as a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The semiconductor memory is, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a ROM (Read Only Memory). The RAM is, for example, a SRAM (Static RAM) or a DRAM (Dynamic RAM). The ROM is, for example, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM). The storage unit 22 stores information used in the operation of the server device 10 and information obtained by the operation of the server device 10.

The control unit 103 includes one or more processors, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination of these. The processor is, for example, a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), or a dedicated processor such as a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) specialized for specific processing. The dedicated circuit is, for example, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), etc. The control unit 21 executes information processing related to the operation of the server device 10 while controlling each part of the server device 10.

The input unit 105 includes one or more input interfaces. The input interface is, for example, a physical key, a capacitive key, a pointing device, a touch screen that is integrated with a display, or a microphone that accepts voice input. The input unit 105 accepts an operation to input information used in the operation of the server device 10, and sends the input information to the control unit 103.

The output unit 106 includes one or more output interfaces. The output interface is, for example, a display or a speaker. The display is, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display. The output unit 106 outputs information obtained by the operation of the server device 10.

The functions of the server device 10 are realized by executing a control program in a processor included in the control unit 103. The control program is a program for making a computer execute the processing of steps included in the operation of the server device 10, thereby making the computer realize the functions corresponding to the processing of those steps. In other words, the control program is a program for making a computer function as the server device 10. In addition, some or all of the functions of the server device 10 may be realized by a dedicated circuit included in the control unit 103. In addition, the control program may be stored in a non-transitory recording/storage medium readable by the server device 10, and read by the server device 10 from the medium.

2 is a flow chart for explaining an example of the operation procedure of the server device 10 in this embodiment. The operation procedure of FIG. 2 is executed by the control unit 103 when, for example, the in-vehicle device receives power from the battery when the ignition is turned on in the vehicle 12, starts up, and sends various information including information indicating that the ignition is turned on and location information to the server device 10, and the server device 10 receives information from the vehicle 12. The information indicating that the ignition is turned on includes identification information of the vehicle 12, and the control unit 103 of the server device 10 compares the identification information received from the vehicle 12 with the identification information for each vehicle 12 stored in advance in the storage unit 102 to uniquely identify the vehicle 12. The control unit 103 also stores the date and time when the information was received from the vehicle 12 in the storage unit 102.

In step S200, the control unit 103 determines whether or not there is a communication outage with the vehicle 12. The control unit 103 calculates the time that has elapsed since the last time information was received from the vehicle 12, and if the elapsed time is equal to or greater than an arbitrary standard (e.g., several hours to several tens of hours), it determines that there is an outage (Yes in step S200) and proceeds to step S202. If the elapsed time is less than the standard, the control unit 103 determines that there is no outage (No in step S200) and ends the procedure in FIG. 2.

In step S202, the control unit 103 determines that there is no other status information received from the vehicle 12 after receiving the information that the ignition is turned on. The control unit 103 determines whether or not other status information of the vehicle 12 has been received since the last time information indicating that the ignition is turned on was received from the vehicle 12. The status information includes information indicating the status of the vehicle 12, such as the speed, acceleration, engine specifications, remaining fuel, and detection information regarding the operation of various actuators of the vehicle 12. When the ignition is turned on, the various devices and equipment of the vehicle 12 receive power from the battery and start operating, and send status information to the in-vehicle device at any period (for example, several seconds to several minutes), and the in-vehicle device sends the status information to the server device 10. If the server device 10 has not received such status information, it is highly likely that the various devices and equipment have started up once, but have been damaged to the extent that they cannot operate due to an accident while driving. If no status information has been received (Yes in step S202), the control unit 103 proceeds to step S204. On the other hand, if information indicating the status has been received (No in step S202), the control unit 103 ends the procedure in FIG. 2.

In step S204, the control unit 103 determines whether the vehicle 12 is located at a predetermined location. Based on the location information sent from the vehicle 12 and map information previously stored in the memory unit 102, the control unit 103 determines whether the current location is located at a predetermined location, for example, a sheet metal shop or other maintenance/repair shop. Information on the sheet metal shop or other maintenance/repair shop that serves as the criterion for determination is selected in advance and stored in the memory unit 102. If the vehicle 12 is located at the predetermined location (Yes in step S204), there is a high probability that the vehicle 12 was undergoing maintenance/repair during the communication interruption caused by the accident, so the control unit 103 proceeds to step S206. On the other hand, if the vehicle 12 is not located at the predetermined location (No in step S204), the control unit 103 ends the procedure in FIG. 2.

In step S206, the control unit 103 determines whether the communication outage time is equal to or longer than a predetermined time. The control unit 103 calculates the time that has elapsed since the last time information was received from the vehicle 12, that is, the outage time during which the communication outage continues, and determines whether the outage time is equal to or longer than a predetermined time. The predetermined time is equal to or longer than the time required for the vehicle 12 to recover its functions through maintenance and repair when an accident occurs (for example, several tens of hours to several hundred hours), and is set arbitrarily in advance. If the outage time is equal to or longer than the predetermined time (Yes in step S206), there is a high probability that the vehicle 12 has had an accident and was undergoing maintenance and repair during the communication outage state, so the control unit 103 proceeds to step S208. On the other hand, if the outage time is less than the predetermined time (No in step S206), the control unit 103 ends the procedure in FIG. 2.

In step S208, the control unit 103 determines whether the communication outage time is equal to or longer than a reference time. The length of the outage time is highly likely to reflect the length of time required for maintenance and repair, i.e., the severity of the accident. The reference time is arbitrarily set as a time for distinguishing the severity of the accident. If the outage time is equal to or longer than the reference time (Yes in step S208), the control unit 103 proceeds to step S210 and determines that the severity of the accident is "large." On the other hand, if the outage time is less than the reference time (No in step S208), the control unit 103 proceeds to step S212 and determines that the severity of the accident is "small."

In step S208, the control unit 103 determines that an accident has occurred, and stores the accident history, which is a history of accident occurrences, in the storage unit 102. Then, the control unit 103 ends the procedure in FIG. 2.

According to the above-described procedure, the functions of the devices and equipment that are standardly equipped in the vehicle 12 can be used to store the accident history in the server device 10. Furthermore, it becomes possible to determine the severity of the accident according to the duration of the outage. Then, for example, a user can read out the accident history from the server device 10, and more reliably check the accident history of the vehicle 12.

In the procedure of FIG. 2, step S202 or S206 can be omitted as appropriate. Also, steps S208, S210, and S212 can be omitted as appropriate.

Although the embodiment has been described above based on the drawings and examples, it should be noted that a person skilled in the art would easily be able to make various modifications and corrections based on this disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and corrections are included in the scope of this disclosure. For example, the functions included in each means, step, etc. can be rearranged so as not to cause logical inconsistencies, and multiple means, steps, etc. can be combined into one or divided.

Reference Signs List 1 Information processing system 10 Server device 11 Network 12 Vehicle 101 Communication unit 102 Storage unit 103 Control unit 104 Input unit 105 Output unit

Claims (1)

A communication unit that receives information from a vehicle ;
A storage unit for storing information;
a control unit that, when receiving first information from the vehicle, including information indicating that the ignition of the vehicle is turned on and location information, stores information indicating an accident that has occurred in the vehicle in the storage unit if the elapsed time since the last time information other than the first information was received from the vehicle is equal to or longer than a predetermined standard and the location information indicates a sheet metal shop or other maintenance or repair shop;
A server device having the above configuration.

Images