JP7623200B2 - Vehicle control device, vehicle control method, and vehicle control program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a voice-activated vehicle control device, a vehicle control method, and a vehicle control program.

For devices with few safety issues, such as car navigation systems installed in vehicles, operation by voice recognition has been put into practical use (Patent Document 1). On the other hand, for vehicle operations that must be sufficiently safe, configurations are used to recognize and control only the driver's voice to prevent malfunctions (Patent Document 2), and an emergency stop button is provided in the driver's seat, assuming that the driver will operate it.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-074744 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 60-045448

However, it is not only those in the vicinity of the driver's seat who perceive danger in the operation of a vehicle. For example, a person outside the vehicle or in the back seat inside the vehicle may notice that the automatically opening back door is about to hit a nearby obstacle, or notice that a child is approaching from a position that is in the blind spot of various sensors when backing up and parking in fully automated driving. In such cases, it has been difficult to avoid danger by stopping the operation of the vehicle from anywhere other than the driver's seat inside the vehicle or from outside the vehicle using conventional methods. Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a vehicle control device, method, and program that can control the vehicle to immediately avoid danger when a danger is sensed, even if the person other than the driver's seat inside the vehicle or outside the vehicle is aware of it.

In order to achieve the above object, the vehicle control device according to the present invention is characterized by the following [1] and [ 2 ].
[ 1 ]
A vehicle control device that controls a vehicle based on voice input comprises a sensor unit that acquires sounds of knocking on an interior or exterior wall of the vehicle, a judgment unit that judges whether the sound acquired by the sensor unit is a preset request signal requesting control of the vehicle, and a control signal generation unit that generates a control signal to change the operation being performed by the vehicle to a preset operation when the judgment unit judges that the sound is the request signal.
[ 2 ]
A vehicle control device that controls a vehicle based on voice input comprises a sensor unit that acquires sounds of knocking on an interior or exterior wall of the vehicle, a judgment unit that judges whether the sound acquired by the sensor unit is a pre-set request signal requesting control of the vehicle, and a control signal generation unit that, when the judgment unit judges that the sound is the request signal, selects an operation to be controlled as a priority from among a plurality of operations currently being performed by the vehicle, and generates a control signal to change the selected operation to a pre-set operation.

In order to achieve the above object, the vehicle control method according to the present invention is characterized by the following [ 3 ] and [ 4 ].
[ 3 ]
In a vehicle control method for controlling a vehicle based on voice input, the following steps are carried out in sequence: acquiring a sound of a knock on an interior or exterior wall of the vehicle; judging whether the acquired sound is a preset request signal requesting control of the vehicle; and, when it is determined that the sound is the request signal, generating a control signal for changing the operation being performed by the vehicle to a preset operation.
[ 4 ]
A vehicle control method for controlling a vehicle based on voice input sequentially performs the steps of acquiring a sound of a knock on an interior or exterior wall of the vehicle, judging whether the acquired sound is a preset request signal requesting control of the vehicle, and, when it is determined that the acquired sound is the request signal, selecting an operation to be controlled with priority from among a plurality of operations being performed by the vehicle, and generating a control signal to change the selected operation to a preset operation.

In order to achieve the above object, the vehicle control program according to the present invention is characterized by the following [ 5 ] and [ 6 ].
[ 5 ]
In a vehicle control program that controls a vehicle based on voice input, the present invention has an arithmetic processing device sequentially execute the following steps: acquiring a sound of knocking on an interior or exterior wall of the vehicle; determining whether the acquired sound is a pre-set request signal requesting control of the vehicle; and, when it is determined that the sound is the request signal, generating a control signal for changing the operation being performed by the vehicle to a pre-set operation .
[ 6 ]
In a vehicle control program for controlling a vehicle based on voice input, the present invention has an arithmetic processing device sequentially execute the following steps: acquiring a sound of knocking on an interior or exterior wall of the vehicle; judging whether the acquired sound is a preset request signal requesting control of the vehicle; and, when it is determined that the sound is a request signal, selecting an operation to be controlled preferentially from among multiple operations currently being performed by the vehicle , and generating a control signal to change the selected operation to a preset operation.

The present invention is configured to capture the sound of a person tapping on the interior or exterior wall of a vehicle and generate a control signal for controlling the vehicle, resulting in a lower rate of false recognition compared to conventional methods for identifying the driver's voice, and enabling the generation of a control signal reliably.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a vehicle control device according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a vehicle control device according to the present invention. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a vehicle control method and a vehicle control program according to the present invention;

The present invention is configured to generate a control signal for controlling the vehicle by recognizing the sound of a knock on an interior or exterior wall of the vehicle as a request signal for vehicle control when controlling the vehicle based on voice input. The sound of a knock on an interior wall of the vehicle has a lower error recognition rate than human voice recognition, and a control signal for vehicle control can be reliably generated. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

First, an embodiment of a vehicle control device of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle control device of this embodiment basically comprises a sensor unit 1, a determination unit 2, and a control signal generation unit 3.

The sensor unit 1 is made up of one or more microphones, etc., and is made up of a microphone, vibration sensor, etc. that picks up the sound of a knock on the interior or exterior wall of the vehicle. The microphone, etc., may be placed inside or outside the vehicle, or even inside the frame that constitutes the vehicle body, so long as it is placed in a position where it can pick up the sound of a knock on the interior or exterior of the vehicle.

The determination unit 2 inputs the sound acquired by the sensor unit 1, determines whether the sound is a sound of a knock on an interior or exterior wall and is a request signal requesting a preset vehicle control, and outputs the determination result.

The control signal generating unit 3 generates a control signal for controlling the vehicle when the sound input to the sensor unit 1 is a request signal requesting control of the vehicle, based on the judgment result output from the judgment unit 2, and outputs the generated signal to the output unit 4. Typically, a vehicle is equipped with a control device to control the vehicle, such as running and stopping. Therefore, when the control signal generating unit 3 of this embodiment is configured separately from the vehicle's control device, it outputs a control signal for requesting control of the vehicle to the vehicle's control device. Also, when the control signal generating unit 3 of this embodiment is configured as part of the vehicle's control device, it outputs a control signal that directly controls the operation of the vehicle.

Next, an embodiment of the vehicle control method performed by the vehicle control device will be described in detail with reference to Figures 2 and 3. As described above, when the vehicle control device starts operating, in this invention, the sound of tapping on the interior or exterior wall of the vehicle is acquired (Figure 3, F1). In an environment where vehicle control is required, there is a lot of environmental noise. Therefore, in order to easily distinguish the sound sensed by the sensor unit 1 from the environmental noise, the sound is the sound generated when a hard material that constitutes the interior or exterior wall of the vehicle is tapped with a hand. For example, when the sensor unit 1 is configured with a microphone and the interior wall (body) of the vehicle is tapped, regular signals (S1 to S4) as shown in Figure 2 are acquired.

The determination unit 2 determines whether the acquired sound is a request signal requesting vehicle control (FIG. 3, F2). As shown in FIG. 2, the signal (voltage) output from the microphone exceeds a predetermined level (voltage Vth) in a short time, and drops below the predetermined level (voltage Vth) within a predetermined time (Twt). In this way, by detecting the increase or decrease in the voltage level within a predetermined time, it can be distinguished from environmental noise.

In addition, since there is a possibility that unintended sound may have been generated when detecting a signal only once, it is preferable to require detection of signals multiple times. For example, the time between the first and second signal detections is set to a predetermined time, and the number of signals detected during a separately set predetermined time is set to a predetermined number, and a judgment is made based on whether these conditions are met.

For example, if the time between the first and second signal detection is set to within 0.5 seconds, and if three signals are detected within 1 second, it will be determined to be a request signal, as follows:

As shown in FIG. 2, assume that signals (S1 to S4) are detected four times in which the signal (voltage) output from the microphone exceeds a predetermined voltage (Vth) and the time it takes for the signal to fall below the predetermined voltage (Vth) is less than a predetermined time (Twt). When signal S1 is detected, counting of the number of signals begins. If the time (Tcnt) until the next signal S2 is input is set to 0.5 s, the next signal is not detected within 0.5 s after signal S1 is counted, so the count is reset. After that, signal S2 is detected and counting begins again. Signal S3 is detected 0.5 s before signal S2 is detected, and the count becomes 2. Similarly, signal S4 is detected 0.5 s before signal S3 is detected, and the count becomes 3. As a result, the signal output from the microphone is determined to be the desired request signal.

The sound picked up by the microphone may vary depending on whether it is a sound inside the vehicle, a sound hitting the body or a sound hitting the window glass, or a sound outside the vehicle, as well as the relative position of the microphone to the location where the sound is generated. In such cases, a desired process can be carried out appropriately according to the anticipated sound to determine whether it is a request signal.

When it is determined that a request signal has been input, a check is made to see if the vehicle is in operation in order to control the vehicle's operation (Fig. 3, F3). The operations that require control here are operations that must avoid danger. For example, if a request signal is input while the vehicle is backing up, the vehicle is stopped. Or, if a request signal is input while the back door is being opened, the operation of opening the back door is stopped. In this way, operations that avoid danger can be preset. A control signal is output to control the specified vehicle operation (Fig. 3, F4).

When multiple actions are being performed, if you set in advance which of the anticipated dangers in those actions should be given priority, the system will control the action that takes priority. Alternatively, it can control multiple actions to be performed simultaneously.

The above-described control method can be realized by having a processing device execute a vehicle control program. The processing device that executes the vehicle control program of this embodiment may be either an independent processing device for controlling the vehicle control device of the present invention, or a processing device that constitutes a control device that controls the operation of the vehicle.

As with the vehicle control method described above, the step of acquiring the sound of a vehicle's interior or exterior wall being knocked (FIG. 3, F1) involves putting a microphone or the like placed in the vehicle into a state in which it can collect sound, and acquiring the sound of a vehicle's interior or exterior wall being knocked.

The step of determining whether or not the signal is a request signal (FIG. 3, F2) determines whether or not the signal output from the microphone or the like satisfies a predetermined condition that has been set in advance. If it is determined that the signal is a request signal, the process proceeds to the next step. If it is determined that the signal is not a request signal, the process repeats the step of acquiring the sound of a knock on the interior or exterior wall of the vehicle.

In the step of generating a control signal (FIG. 3, F4), if it is determined that the signal output from the microphone or the like is a request signal, a control signal for controlling the vehicle is generated. In this case, it is preferable to determine whether the vehicle is operating and, if so, what operation is being performed, and to determine which operation to control. After the control signal is generated and output, the step of acquiring the sound of knocking on the interior or exterior wall of the vehicle is repeated. If the vehicle is not operating, there is no need to output a vehicle control signal, so the step of acquiring the sound of knocking on the interior or exterior wall of the vehicle is repeated.

The vehicle control device described above operates based on such a program, thereby realizing the vehicle control device of the present invention and executing the vehicle control method described above.

The vehicle control program of the embodiment of the present invention can be stored in advance in a storage medium built into the vehicle. Alternatively, it can be stored in a storage medium that is removable from the vehicle. This removable storage medium can also be provided as a so-called package software. It can also be provided via a network such as the Internet.

The above describes the embodiments of the vehicle control device, vehicle control method, and vehicle control program of the present invention, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, the method of determining whether or not a sound output from a microphone or the like is a desired request signal is not limited to the method described above.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described using an example of controlling the opening and closing of a sunroof, which is one of the vehicle's operations. Specifically, the case of controlling the sunroof to stop operation when the sunroof is opened and the closing operation is started will be described.

When the sunroof starts to close, some kind of danger will occur if the sunroof continues to close. A person sitting in the back seat of the vehicle who notices this danger will knock on the window three or more times instead of pressing the driver's seat stop button. In a vehicle equipped with the vehicle control device of the present invention, if a knocking sound of a predetermined sound pressure or more is detected three times per second, it will be determined that this is a request signal requesting control of the vehicle.

At this time, if the only operation that must be controlled to avoid danger among the operations controlled by the vehicle's control device while the vehicle is stopped is the operation of closing the sunroof, the vehicle's control device will generate a control signal to stop the operation of closing the sunroof and send it to the vehicle's control device. The vehicle's control device will receive the control signal to stop the operation of closing the sunroof and will promptly stop the operation of the sunroof.

When such an emergency stop is performed, it is preferable for the vehicle's control device to sound a buzzer or flash an LED lamp, so that the person who requested the sunroof to stop operating can be informed that an emergency operation has been initiated.

In this case, instead of the vehicle control signal causing the sunroof to close, the sunroof can be configured to return to its original state (open state) after the sunroof closing operation is stopped.

In addition, if the operation to close the sunroof is started while the vehicle is backing up and it is determined that the signal is a request for vehicle control, a control signal may be output to simultaneously stop the movement of the vehicle (backing up) and the operation to close the sunroof. Alternatively, if a low-risk control (for example, the operation of the air conditioner) and the operation to close the sunroof are being performed simultaneously, a control signal may be output that controls only the operation to close the sunroof.

1: Sensor section, 2: Judgment section, 3: Control signal generation section, 4: Output section

Claims (6)

A vehicle control device that controls a vehicle based on a voice input,
A sensor unit for acquiring a sound of a knock on an inner wall or an outer wall of the vehicle;
a determination unit that determines whether the sound acquired by the sensor unit is a request signal that requests a preset control of the vehicle;
and a control signal generating unit that generates a control signal for changing the operation being performed by the vehicle to a preset operation when the determination unit determines that the sound is the request signal . A vehicle control device that controls a vehicle based on a voice input,
A sensor unit for acquiring a sound of a knock on an inner wall or an outer wall of the vehicle;
a determination unit that determines whether the sound acquired by the sensor unit is a request signal that requests a preset control of the vehicle;
a control signal generating unit that, when the determination unit determines that the sound is the request signal, selects an operation to be controlled preferentially from among a plurality of operations being performed by the vehicle, and generates a control signal to change the selected operation to a predetermined operation. A vehicle control method for controlling a vehicle based on a voice input, comprising:
acquiring sounds of knocking on an interior or exterior wall of the vehicle;
determining whether the acquired sound is a request signal requesting a preset control of the vehicle;
and when it is determined that the signal is a request signal, generating a control signal for changing the operation being performed by the vehicle to a preset operation. A vehicle control method for controlling a vehicle based on a voice input, comprising:
acquiring sounds of knocking on an interior or exterior wall of the vehicle;
determining whether the acquired sound is a request signal requesting a preset control of the vehicle;
and when it is determined that the signal is a request signal, selecting an operation to be controlled preferentially from among a plurality of operations being performed by the vehicle, and generating a control signal to change the selected operation to a predetermined operation. A vehicle control program for controlling a vehicle based on a voice input,
acquiring sounds of knocking on an interior or exterior wall of the vehicle;
determining whether the acquired sound is a request signal requesting a preset control of the vehicle;
and when it is determined that the signal is the request signal, generating a control signal for changing the operation being performed by the vehicle to a preset operation . A vehicle control program for controlling a vehicle based on a voice input,
acquiring sounds of knocking on an interior or exterior wall of the vehicle;
determining whether the acquired sound is a request signal requesting a preset control of the vehicle;
A vehicle control program for causing a calculation processing device to execute the following steps in sequence: when it is determined that the signal is a request signal, selecting an operation to be controlled preferentially from among a plurality of operations being performed by the vehicle , and generating a control signal for changing the selected operation to a predetermined operation.

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