JP7626282B2 - Vehicle recording device and recording control method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a recording device for a vehicle and a recording control method.

There is known a so-called drive recorder (vehicle recording device) equipped with a camera capable of capturing images of a full or half-sky range so as to record images of a wide range (see, for example, Patent Document 1). There is also known a drive recorder equipped with a camera that captures images of the rear of the vehicle and displays the captured images of the rear of the vehicle on a display unit.

JP 2018-196066 A

When a drive recorder capable of recording a full or partial view is equipped with a display, the display needs to be positioned so that it does not enter the recording range. This can result in the drive recorder becoming larger vertically and obstructing visibility. Also, when using a drive recorder for parking monitoring, there is no need for a display.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above, and aims to be used appropriately when the vehicle is driving and when it is parked.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the vehicle recording device of the present invention includes a first housing having an imaging unit and a display unit, in which, in a first arrangement state, the imaging unit faces the front of the vehicle and the display unit faces the interior of the vehicle cabin, and in a second arrangement state, the imaging unit faces upward or downward; a second housing that supports the first housing in the first arrangement state and the second arrangement state; a drive unit that moves the first housing between the first arrangement state and the second arrangement state; a vehicle state determination unit that determines whether the vehicle is in a traveling state or a parked state; and, when it is determined that the vehicle is in a traveling state, the first housing is placed in the first arrangement, and when it is determined that the vehicle is in a parked state, the first housing is placed in the second arrangement. a drive control unit that controls the drive unit so that the image is captured by the imaging unit; a cutout processing unit that cuts out the image captured by the imaging unit; and a recording control unit that performs a monitoring operation while the vehicle is traveling when the first housing is in the first placement state, and performs a monitoring operation while the vehicle is parked when the first housing is in the second placement state, and records the image cut out by the cutout processing unit, and when the first housing is in the first placement state, the cutout processing unit narrows the angle of view of at least the vertical direction, which is the vertical direction of the image, for the image captured by the imaging unit, and when the first housing is in the second placement state, cuts out the image captured by the imaging unit within a range excluding a range centered on the optical axis of the imaging unit.

The recording control method according to the present invention is a control method for a vehicular recording device that includes a first housing that includes an imaging unit and a display unit, and in a first arrangement state, the imaging unit faces the front of the vehicle and the display unit faces the interior of the vehicle, and in a second arrangement state, the imaging unit faces upward or downward, a second housing that supports the first housing in the first arrangement state and the second arrangement state, and a drive unit that changes the first housing to the first arrangement state and the second arrangement state, the control method including the steps of: determining whether the vehicle is in a driving state or a parked state; If it is determined that the vehicle is parked, the method includes controlling the drive unit so that the first housing is in the first position, performing a monitoring operation while the vehicle is traveling, and recording an image captured by the imaging unit with a narrow angle of view in at least the vertical direction of the image; if it is determined that the vehicle is parked, controlling the drive unit so that the first housing is in the second position, performing a monitoring operation while the vehicle is parked, and recording an image captured by the imaging unit with a narrow angle of view in at least the vertical direction of the image, excluding the range centered on the optical axis of the imaging unit.

The present invention has the advantage that it can be used appropriately both when the vehicle is driving and when it is parked.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a first arrangement of a housing of a vehicle-mounted recording device according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a second arrangement of the housing of the vehicle-mounted recording device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle-mounted recording device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the angle of view in the first arrangement of the housing of the vehicular recording device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the angle of view in the second arrangement of the housings of the vehicular recording device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating another example of the angle of view in the second arrangement of the housings of the vehicular recording device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process flow in the vehicle-mounted recording device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a process flow in the vehicle-mounted recording device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a process flow in the vehicle recording device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a vehicle-mounted recording device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle-mounted recording device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a process flow in the vehicle recording device according to the second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a recording device for a vehicle and a recording control method according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiment.
[First embodiment]
<Recording device for vehicle>
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining a first arrangement of the vehicle recording device 10 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining a second arrangement of the vehicle recording device 10 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the vehicle recording device 10 according to the first embodiment. The vehicle recording device 10 has a first housing 11 and a second housing 12 that supports the first housing 11. The second housing 12 is fixed to the front of the vehicle interior. The second housing 12 is arranged, for example, on the dashboard.

The first housing 11 is movable relative to the second housing 12 fixed to the vehicle. In this embodiment, the first housing 11 is movable relative to the second housing 12 about a rotation axis AX. The second housing 12 supports the first housing 11 in a first and second arrangement. The first housing 11 can be in a first arrangement in which it is open relative to the second housing 12 as shown in FIG. 1, and in a second arrangement in which it is closed relative to the second housing 12 as shown in FIG. 2. The first housing 11 is in the first arrangement while the vehicle is traveling, and in the second arrangement when the vehicle is parked. The first housing 11 is supported by the second housing 12 in the first and second arrangements. The first housing 11 in the first arrangement stands upright relative to the second housing 12. The first housing 11 in the second arrangement is arranged so as to overlap the second housing 12.

The first housing 11 includes a camera 210 arranged on the surface 11a and a display unit 250 arranged on the opposite side to the surface 11a. When the first housing 11 is in the first arrangement state, the camera 210 is arranged facing the front of the vehicle and facing the windshield, and the display unit 250 is arranged facing the driver of the vehicle. When the first housing 11 is in the second arrangement state, the camera 210 faces upward or downward, and the display unit 250 is arranged overlapping the surface 12a of the second housing 12. In this embodiment, since the second housing 12 is arranged on the dashboard of the vehicle, the camera 210 is arranged facing upward when the first housing 11 is in the second arrangement state. For example, when the second housing 12 is arranged on the ceiling of the vehicle interior, the camera 210 is arranged facing downward when the first housing 11 is in the second arrangement state.

The vehicle recording device 10 may be a device that is installed in the vehicle, or may be a portable device that can be used in the vehicle. The vehicle recording device 10 may also be realized by including the functions or configurations of a device that is pre-installed in the vehicle, a navigation device, etc.

The vehicle recording device 10 has a housing sensor 200, a camera (photographing unit) 210, a recording unit 220, an operation unit 240, a display unit 250, an acceleration sensor 260, a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiving unit 270, a drive unit 280, and a vehicle recording control device 100.

The housing sensor 200 is a sensor that detects the state of the housing of the vehicle recording device 10. More specifically, the housing sensor 200 detects the state of the first housing 11 relative to the second housing 12. The housing sensor 200 detects whether the first housing 11 is open or closed relative to the second housing 12. For example, the housing sensor 200 may detect the rotation of the first housing 11 about the central axis AX. For example, the housing sensor 200 may detect whether the first housing 11 is in contact with the surface 12a of the second housing 12. The housing sensor 200 outputs the detection result as housing information to the housing information acquisition unit 110 of the vehicle recording control device 100.

The camera 210 captures video in the direction in which the camera 210 is pointed. In this embodiment, the camera 210 is a camera capable of capturing video of a half 180° circumference of the sky. The camera 210 is disposed on the surface 11a of the first housing 11. The camera 210 constantly captures video from when the engine starts until it is stopped, and when the vehicle is parked. The camera 210 constantly captures video whether the first housing 11 is in the first position or the second position. The camera 210 outputs the captured video data to the video data acquisition unit 120 of the vehicle recording control device 100. The video data is, for example, a moving image composed of images at 30 frames per second.

The recording unit 220 is used for temporary storage of data in the vehicle recording device 10. The recording unit 220 is, for example, a semiconductor memory element such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a flash memory, or a recording unit such as a memory card. Alternatively, the recording unit 220 may be an external recording unit that is wirelessly connected via a communication device (not shown). The recording unit 220 records the loop recording video data or the event recording data based on a control signal output from the recording control unit 124 of the vehicle recording control device 100.

The operation unit 240 can accept various operations on the vehicle recording device 10. For example, the operation unit 240 can accept an operation to manually save the captured video data in the recording unit 220 as event recording data. For example, the operation unit 240 can accept an operation to play back the loop recording video data or event recording data recorded in the recording unit 220. For example, the operation unit 240 can accept an operation to erase the event recording data recorded in the recording unit 220. For example, the operation unit 240 can accept an operation to end the loop recording. The operation unit 240 outputs operation information to the operation control unit 130 of the vehicle recording control device 100.

The display unit 250 is a display device provided in the vehicle recording device 10. The display unit 250 is a display including, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an organic electroluminescence (EL) display. The display unit 250 displays video based on a video signal output from the display control unit 131 of the vehicle recording control device 100. The display unit 250 displays video captured by the camera 210 or video recorded in the recording unit 220.

The display unit 250 is disposed on the first housing 11. When the first housing 11 is in the first positioning state, the display surface of the display unit 250 faces the interior of the vehicle, where it is visible to the driver and passengers of the vehicle. When the first housing 11 is in the second positioning state, the display unit 250 overlaps the second housing 12 and the display surface is not exposed to the outside. The display unit 250 displays an image when the first housing 11 is in the first positioning state, and does not have to display an image when the first housing 11 is in the second positioning state.

The acceleration sensor 260 is a sensor that detects the acceleration applied to the vehicle. The acceleration sensor 260 outputs the detection result to the acceleration information acquisition unit 132 of the vehicle recording control device 100. The acceleration sensor 260 is a sensor that detects acceleration in, for example, three axial directions. The three axial directions are the forward/rearward direction, the left/right direction, and the up/down direction of the vehicle.

The GNSS receiver 270 receives GNSS signals from GNSS satellites (not shown). The GNSS receiver 270 outputs the received radio wave signal to the position information acquisition unit 134 of the vehicle recording control device 100.

The drive unit 280 is a drive mechanism that changes the arrangement of the first housing 11. In this embodiment, the drive unit 280 changes the first housing 11 between a first arrangement and a second arrangement. The drive unit 280 moves the first housing 11 around the central axis AX.
<Recording control device for vehicle>
The vehicle record control device 100 is an arithmetic processing device (control device) configured with, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the like. The vehicle record control device 100 includes an internal memory (not shown), which is used for temporary storage of data in the vehicle record control device 100. The vehicle record control device 100 loads a stored program into the internal memory and executes instructions included in the program. The vehicle record control device 100 includes a case information acquisition unit 110, a state determination unit 111, a video data acquisition unit 120, a buffer memory 121, a video data processing unit 122, a cutout processing unit 123, a recording control unit 124, a playback control unit 125, an operation control unit 130, a display control unit 131, an acceleration information acquisition unit 132, an event detection unit 133, a position information acquisition unit 134, a vehicle state determination unit 135, and a drive control unit 136, which are connected to the bus 100X.

The housing information acquisition unit 110 acquires housing information from the housing sensor 200.

The state determination unit 111 determines the state of the vehicle recording device 10 based on the case information acquired by the case information acquisition unit 110. The state determination unit 111 determines whether the first case 11 is open or closed relative to the second case 12 based on the case information. The state determination unit 111 determines whether the first case 11 is in the first arrangement state or the second arrangement state based on the case information.

The video data acquisition unit 120 acquires the video data captured by the camera 210. More specifically, the video data acquisition unit 120 acquires the video data output by the camera 210 and outputs it to the buffer memory 121. The video data acquisition unit 120 controls the shooting operation of the camera 210.

The buffer memory 121 is a memory that temporarily stores video data, and temporarily records, while updating, a certain period of video data acquired by the video data acquisition unit 120, or video data acquired by the video data acquisition unit 120 and a specified range cut out by the cut-out processing unit 123.

The video data processing unit 122 converts the video data temporarily stored in the buffer memory 121 into an arbitrary file format, such as MP4 format, encoded with an arbitrary codec, such as H.264 or MPEG-4 (Moving Picture Experts Group). The video data processing unit 122 generates video data as a file for a certain period of time from the video data temporarily stored in the buffer memory 121. As a specific example, the video data processing unit 122 generates 60 seconds of video data as a file in the order of recording from the video data temporarily stored in the buffer memory 121. The video data processing unit 122 outputs the generated video data to the recording control unit 124. The video data processing unit 122 also outputs the generated video data to the display control unit 131. The period of the video data generated as a file is 60 seconds as an example, but is not limited to this. The video data referred to here may be data including audio in addition to the video captured by the camera 210.

The cutout processing unit 123 performs a cutout process to cut out a predetermined range from the video data acquired by the video data acquisition unit 120. When the first housing 11 is in the first arrangement state, the cutout processing unit 123 may cut out a range that narrows the angle of view in at least the vertical direction, that is, the up-down direction, from the video data acquired by the video data acquisition unit 120. This is to cut out a video of the front of the vehicle, which is highly useful, when the first housing 11 is in the first arrangement state. The cutout processing unit 123 outputs the cutout video data to the buffer memory 121. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the angle of view in the first arrangement of the first housing 11 of the vehicle recording device 10 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, when the first housing 11 is in the first arrangement state, the cutout processing unit 123 cuts out the vertical direction of the captured video data, that is, the up-down angle of view θ is in the range of about 90° to 120° with respect to the up-down angle of view of 180° in the first arrangement state. The vertical angle of view θ is the angle of view centered on the optical axis of camera 210. Images with a vertical angle of view θ in the range of 90° to 120° are in the direction of travel of the vehicle and are a range that mainly captures the outside of the vehicle. For this reason, there is a high possibility that other vehicles or pedestrians in front of the vehicle will be captured. Images outside this angle of view are less useful because they capture, for example, the sky, the cabin ceiling, the dashboard, etc., and are less likely to capture other vehicles or pedestrians.

When the first housing 11 is in the second position, the cut-out processing unit 123 does not perform cut-out processing on the video data acquired by the video data acquisition unit 120. Figure 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the angle of view when the first housing 11 of the vehicular recording device 10 according to the first embodiment is in the second position.

When the first housing 11 is in the second placement state, the cut-out processing unit 123 may cut out a portion of the video data acquired by the video data acquisition unit 120. This is to cut out video of the front, interior, and rear of the vehicle, which is highly useful, when the first housing 11 is in the second placement state. When the first housing 11 is in the second placement state, the cut-out processing unit 123 performs cut-out processing on a range excluding the range of the angle of view Φ centered on the optical axis of the camera 210. This is because the range centered on the optical axis of the camera 210 captures, for example, the ceiling of the passenger compartment, and the video is less useful. Figure 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating another example of the angle of view in the second placement of the first housing 11 of the vehicular recording device 10 according to the first embodiment.

The recording control unit 124 controls the recording unit 220 to record the video data filed by the video data processing unit 122. During the period when loop recording processing is being performed, such as when the vehicle's accessory power is ON, the recording control unit 124 records the video data filed by the video data processing unit 122 in the recording unit 220 as overwritable video data. More specifically, during the period when loop recording processing is being performed, the recording control unit 124 continues to record the video data generated by the video data processing unit 122 in the recording unit 220, and when the capacity of the recording unit 220 becomes full, it overwrites the oldest video data with new video data and records it.

When the event detection unit 133 detects an event, the recording control unit 124 stores the video data for a specified period of time in the video data generated by the video data processing unit 122 in the recording unit 220 as event recording data that is prohibited from being overwritten.

When the first housing 11 is in the first placement state, the recording control unit 124 performs a monitoring operation while the vehicle is traveling. More specifically, when the first housing 11 is in the first placement state, the recording control unit 124 operates a traveling monitoring function, which is a monitoring operation while the vehicle is traveling, and saves the video data captured by the camera 210. The traveling monitoring function detects an event based on, for example, acceleration, and saves the video data using a loop recording process. When the vehicle is traveling, this refers to a state in which power is supplied to the vehicle recording control device 100 from the vehicle's accessory power supply, or a state in which the vehicle engine or other power source is operating and the vehicle is being operated by the driver. Therefore, when the vehicle is traveling, this refers to a state in which the vehicle is traveling, as well as a state in which the vehicle is temporarily stopped.

When the first housing 11 is in the second placement state, the recording control unit 124 performs a monitoring operation while the vehicle is parked. More specifically, when the first housing 11 is in the second placement state, the recording control unit 124 operates a parking monitoring function, which is a monitoring operation while the vehicle is parked, and saves the video data captured by the camera 210. The parking monitoring function detects an event, for example, based on motion detection, and saves the video data using a loop recording process. The parking monitoring function detects an event, for example, based on motion detection, and saves the video data for a predetermined period after the event is detected. The vehicle being parked refers to a state in which power is not supplied from the accessory power source of the vehicle to the vehicle recording control device 100, a state in which the vehicle is stopped and the power of the engine or the like is stopped, the vehicle is not being operated by the driver, and a state in which the driver is not in the vehicle. The recording control unit 124 may control the video data acquisition unit 120 when the first housing 11 is in the first placement state and when the first housing 11 is in the second placement state, and cause the camera 210 to capture images at different frame rates. For example, when the first housing 11 is in the first position, video is captured at approximately 25 to 30 frames per second, and when the first housing 11 is in the second position, video is captured at approximately 1 to 5 frames per second.

The playback control unit 125 controls the playback of the loop recorded video data or event recorded data recorded in the recording unit 220 based on a playback operation control signal output from the operation control unit 130.

The operation control unit 130 acquires operation information of the operation accepted by the operation unit 240. For example, the operation control unit 130 acquires save operation information indicating a manual save operation of video data, play operation information indicating a play operation, or delete operation information indicating a delete operation of video data, and outputs a control signal. For example, the operation control unit 130 acquires end operation information indicating an operation to end loop recording, and outputs a control signal.

The display control unit 131 controls the display of video data on the display unit 250. The display control unit 131 outputs a video signal that causes the video data to be output to the display unit 250. More specifically, the display control unit 131 outputs a video signal that displays video captured by the camera 210, or by playing back loop recorded video data or event recorded data recorded in the recording unit 220. The display control unit 131 may cause the display unit 250 to display video when the first housing 11 is in the first arrangement state, and may not cause the display unit 250 to display video when the first housing 11 is in the second arrangement state.

The acceleration information acquisition unit 132 acquires vehicle acceleration information applied to the vehicle from the detection results of the acceleration sensor 260.

When the first housing 11 is in the first placement state, the event detection unit 133 detects an event based on the acceleration applied to the vehicle. More specifically, when the first housing 11 is in the first placement state, in other words, when the driving monitoring function is being executed, the event detection unit 133 detects an event for the vehicle based on the detection result of the acceleration sensor 260 acquired by the acceleration information acquisition unit 132. When the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 260 is equal to or greater than a threshold value, the event detection unit 133 detects it as an event.

When the first housing 11 is in the second placement state, the event detection unit 133 detects an event based on the detection of a moving object in the video captured by the camera 210. When the first housing 11 is in the second placement state, in other words, when the parking monitoring function is being executed, the event detection unit 133 detects the detection of a moving object in the vicinity of the vehicle as an event. More specifically, the event detection unit 133 performs image processing on the video data captured by the camera 210 to detect a moving object. The method of detecting a moving object from the video data may be any known technology and is not limited.

A moving object is, for example, a moving object such as a vehicle, a person, or a falling or flying object.

The location information acquisition unit 134 calculates the vehicle's current location information using a known method based on the GNSS signal received by the GNSS receiver unit 270.

The vehicle state determination unit 135 determines the state of the vehicle. The vehicle state refers to whether the vehicle is parked or in motion.

The vehicle state determination unit 135 determines whether the vehicle is parked. For example, when the accessory power supply of the vehicle is OFF, the vehicle state determination unit 135 determines that the vehicle is parked. More specifically, the vehicle state determination unit 135 determines that the vehicle is parked by acquiring a signal indicating that the accessory power supply of the vehicle has been OFF from a power supply information acquisition unit (not shown). For example, the vehicle state determination unit 135 determines that the vehicle is parked when the vehicle has stopped in the parking lot for a predetermined time or more. More specifically, the vehicle state determination unit 135 determines that the vehicle is parked when it is determined that the vehicle has stopped in the parking lot for a predetermined time or more based on the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 134, the map information stored in the map information storage unit (not shown), and information such as the vehicle speed acquired from a CAN (Controller Area Network) (not shown).

The vehicle state determination unit 135 determines whether the vehicle is moving, including whether the vehicle is moving or stopped. For example, when the accessory power supply of the vehicle is ON, the vehicle state determination unit 135 determines that the vehicle is moving. The vehicle state determination unit 135 determines that the vehicle is moving by acquiring a signal indicating that the accessory power supply of the vehicle has been turned ON from a power supply information acquisition unit (not shown). For example, the vehicle state determination unit 135 determines that the vehicle is moving when the vehicle has been moving for a predetermined time or more. More specifically, the vehicle state determination unit 135 determines that the vehicle is moving when it is determined that the vehicle has been moving for a predetermined time or more based on at least one of the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 134 and information such as vehicle speed acquired from a CAN (Controller Area Network) (not shown).

The drive control unit 136 performs control to change the position of the first housing 11 based on the position of the first housing 11 and the judgment result of the vehicle state judgment unit 135.

When the first housing 11 is not in the first arrangement state and the vehicle state determination unit 135 determines that the vehicle is not parked, the drive control unit 136 controls the first housing 11 to change to the first arrangement state. More specifically, when the vehicle is not parked, the drive control unit 136 outputs a control signal to the drive unit 280 to change the first housing 11 to the first arrangement state.

When the vehicle state determination unit 135 determines that the vehicle is parked, the drive control unit 136 controls the first housing 11 to change to the second arrangement state. More specifically, when the vehicle is parked, the drive control unit 136 outputs a control signal to the drive unit 280 to change the first housing 11 to the second arrangement state.

When the first housing 11 is in the first placement state, the vehicular recording device 10 constantly records video, i.e., performs so-called loop recording, and detects events based on acceleration. When the first housing 11 is in the second placement state, and power is supplied to the vehicular recording device 10 from the vehicle battery in addition to the accessory power supply, the vehicular recording device 10 constantly records video, i.e., performs so-called loop recording, and detects events by moving object detection.
<Processing in Vehicle Recording Device>
Next, the process flow in the vehicle recording control device 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing the process flow in the vehicle recording device 10 according to the first embodiment. During startup of the vehicle recording device 10, the housing sensor 200 detects the state of the first housing 11 relative to the second housing 12.

The vehicle record control device 100 uses the vehicle state determination unit 135 to determine whether the vehicle is in a moving state (step SB101). If the vehicle state determination unit 135 determines that the vehicle is in a moving state (Yes in step SB101), the vehicle record control device 100 proceeds to step SB102. Since it has been determined that the vehicle is in a moving state in step SB101, in this state, the vehicle record control device 10 has a driving monitoring function operating. If the vehicle state determination unit 135 determines that the vehicle is not in a moving state (No in step SB101), the vehicle record control device 100 proceeds to step SB105. Since it has been determined that the vehicle is not in a moving state in step SB101, in this state, the vehicle is in a parked state, and the vehicle record control device 10 has a parking monitoring function operating.

If it is determined that the vehicle is in a driving state (Yes in step SB101), the vehicle record control device 100 determines whether the vehicle has entered a parked state (step SB102). The vehicle record control device 100 determines whether the vehicle has entered a parked state from a driving state using the vehicle state determination unit 135. If the vehicle state determination unit 135 determines that the vehicle has entered a parked state (Yes in step SB102), the vehicle record control device 100 proceeds to step SB103. If the vehicle state determination unit 135 does not determine that the vehicle has entered a parked state (No in step SB102), the vehicle record control device 100 proceeds to step SB108.

If it is determined that the vehicle is in a parked state (Yes in step SB102), the vehicle recording control device 100 changes the first housing 11 to the second arrangement by the drive control unit 136 (step SB103). The vehicle recording control device 100 proceeds to step SB104.

The vehicle record control device 100 starts the parking monitoring function (step SB104). The processing of the parking monitoring function will be described later. The vehicle record control device 100 proceeds to step SB108.

If it is determined that the vehicle is not in a running state (No in step SB101), that is, when the vehicle is in a parked state, it is determined whether the vehicle has entered a running state (step SB105). The vehicle record control device 100 determines whether the vehicle has entered a running state from a parked state using the vehicle state determination unit 135. If the vehicle state determination unit 135 determines that the vehicle has entered a running state (Yes in step SB105), the vehicle record control device 100 proceeds to step SB106. If the vehicle state determination unit 135 does not determine that the vehicle has entered a running state (No in step SB105), the vehicle record control device 100 proceeds to step SB108.

If it is determined that the vehicle is in a moving state (Yes in step SB105), the vehicle recording control device 100 changes the first housing 11 to the first arrangement (step SB106). The vehicle recording control device 100 proceeds to step SB107.

The vehicle record control device 100 starts the driving monitoring function (step SB107). The processing of the parking monitoring function will be described later. The vehicle record control device 100 proceeds to step SB108.

The vehicle recording control device 100 determines whether or not to end the process (step SB108). End of the process is determined, for example, when the function of the vehicle recording device 10 is stopped by operating the operation unit 240. If it is determined that the process is to be ended (Yes in step SB108), the process is ended. If it is determined that the process is not to be ended (No in step SB108), the process of step SB101 is executed again.

Next, with reference to FIG. 8, a process flow for detecting an event based on acceleration and saving video data using a loop recording process will be described as an example of the driving monitoring function. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the process flow in the vehicular recording device 10 according to the first embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 8 is executed when the driving monitoring function is started in step SB107 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 7.

The vehicle recording control device 100 starts normal recording (step S111). More specifically, the vehicle recording control device 100 starts continuous recording by the camera 210, and starts event detection and loop recording based on acceleration. The vehicle recording control device 100 generates loop recording video data for each video of a predetermined period from the video data recorded in the buffer memory 121 by the video data processing unit 122. The vehicle recording control device 100 causes the recording control unit 124 to record the loop recording video data in the recording unit 220. The vehicle recording control device 100 proceeds to step S112.

The vehicle record control device 100 uses the event detection unit 133 to determine whether or not an event has been detected (step S112). The vehicle record control device 100 uses the event detection unit 133 to detect an event for the vehicle based on the detection result of the acceleration sensor 260 acquired by the acceleration information acquisition unit 132. More specifically, the vehicle record control device 100 determines that an event has been detected when the event detection unit 133 detects acceleration equal to or greater than a threshold value. If the event detection unit 133 detects an event (Yes in step S112), the vehicle record control device 100 proceeds to step S113. If the event detection unit 133 does not detect an event (No in step S112), the vehicle record control device 100 proceeds to step S114.

If an event is detected (Yes in step S112), the vehicle record control device 100 stores the event record data (step S113). More specifically, the vehicle record control device 100 uses the video data processing unit 122 to generate video data acquired from the camera 210 for a predetermined period before and after the event detection as event record data. Specifically, the vehicle record control device 100 stores video data for a predetermined period before and after the event detection from the loop recorded video data as event record data. When the vehicle record control device 100 determines that the predetermined time has elapsed, it causes the recording control unit 124 to store the event record data generated by the video data processing unit 122 in the recording unit 220, and proceeds to step S114.

The vehicle recording control device 100 judges whether the driving monitoring function has been terminated (step S114). The driving monitoring function is terminated when, for example, the accessory power is turned off or the driving monitoring function is stopped by operating the operation unit 240. If it is determined that the driving monitoring function has been terminated (Yes in step S114), this process is terminated. If it is determined that the driving monitoring function has not been terminated (No in step S114), the process of step S112 is executed again.

Next, referring to FIG. 9, a process flow for detecting an event by moving object detection and saving video data using loop recording processing will be described as an example of the parking monitoring function. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the process flow in the vehicle recording device 10 according to the first embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 9 is executed when the parking monitoring function is started in step SB104 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 7.

The vehicle recording control device 100 starts moving object detection (step S121). More specifically, the vehicle recording control device 100 starts capturing images using the camera 210, and starts event detection through moving object detection. The vehicle recording control device 100 starts event detection based on the video data captured by the camera 210 using the recording control unit 124. The vehicle recording control device 100 proceeds to step S122.

The vehicle recording control device 100 uses the event detection unit 133 to determine whether an event has been detected (step S122). The vehicle recording control device 100 detects, as an event, the detection of a moving object in the vicinity of the vehicle by the event detection unit 133. More specifically, if the event detection unit 133 detects a moving object in the vicinity of the vehicle, the vehicle recording control device 100 determines that an event has been detected (Yes in step S122) and proceeds to step S123. If the event detection unit 133 does not detect a moving object in the vicinity of the vehicle, the vehicle recording control device 100 determines that an event has not been detected (No in step S122) and proceeds to step S124.

If an event is detected (Yes in step S122), the vehicle record control device 100 saves the event record data (step S123). More specifically, the vehicle record control device 100 uses the video data processing unit 122 to generate video data acquired from the camera 210 for a predetermined period from when the event was detected as event record data. Specifically, when an event is detected, recording of the video data is started, and the video data for the predetermined period from when the event was detected is saved as event record data. The vehicle record control device 100 proceeds to step S124.

The vehicle recording control device 100 judges whether the parking monitoring function has been terminated (step S124). The parking monitoring function is terminated, for example, when the accessory power is turned on or when the parking monitoring function is stopped by operating the operation unit 240. If it is determined in step S124 that the parking monitoring function has been terminated (Yes in step S124), this process is terminated. If it is determined that the parking monitoring function has not been terminated (No in step S124), the process of step S122 is executed again.
＜Effects＞
As described above, in this embodiment, the first housing 11 is controlled to be in the first arrangement state when the vehicle is traveling, and to be in the second arrangement state when the vehicle is parked. In this embodiment, when the vehicle is traveling, the first housing 11 is in the first arrangement state, and the camera 210 captures the front of the vehicle. In this embodiment, when the vehicle is parked, the first housing 11 is in the second arrangement state, and the camera 210 captures a wide range including the interior of the vehicle, or the front and rear of the vehicle. In this embodiment, the first housing 11 can be appropriately arranged according to the state of the vehicle. In this embodiment, when the first housing 11 is in the first arrangement state, an event for the vehicle is detected based on the detection result of the acceleration sensor 260 acquired by the acceleration information acquisition unit 132. In this embodiment, when the first housing 11 is in the second arrangement state, the detection of a moving object in the vicinity of the vehicle is detected as an event. In this way, according to this embodiment, the vehicle can be appropriately used when traveling and when parking.

In this embodiment, the camera 210 is disposed on the surface 11a of the first housing 11, and the display unit 250 is disposed on the opposite side to the surface 11a. In this embodiment, even if the camera 210 is a camera capable of capturing images of a half-sky range, the display unit 250 can be positioned so that it does not enter the capturing range. According to this embodiment, the vertical size of the vehicle recording device 10 can be reduced, thereby reducing the possibility of obstructing the field of view.

In this embodiment, when the parking monitoring function is executed, the first housing 11 is in the second placement state, so the display unit 250 does not fall within the shooting range of the camera 210, and a wide range of video can be captured.

In this embodiment, when the first housing 11 is in the first position, at least the vertical angle of view is narrowed for the image captured by the camera 210. According to this embodiment, it is possible to save image data with an appropriate angle of view depending on the position of the first housing 11.

In this embodiment, when the first housing 11 is in the first placement state, an event for the vehicle is detected based on the detection result of the acceleration sensor 260 acquired by the acceleration information acquisition unit 132. In this embodiment, when the first housing 11 is in the second placement state, the detection of a moving object in the vicinity of the vehicle is detected as an event. According to this embodiment, it can be appropriately used when the vehicle is traveling and when it is parked.
[Second embodiment]
The vehicle recording device 10D according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 10, FIG. 11, and FIG. 12. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining the vehicle recording device 10D according to the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the vehicle recording device 10D according to the second embodiment. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the vehicle recording device 10D according to the second embodiment. The vehicle recording device 10D has a basic configuration similar to that of the vehicle recording device 10 of the first embodiment. The vehicle recording device 10D differs from the first embodiment in that it has a standard camera 310D in addition to the wide-angle camera 210D, and in the processing in the vehicle recording control device 100D. The wide-angle camera 210D is similar to the camera 210 of the first embodiment, and is a camera capable of capturing a half-sky circle with a viewing angle of 180°. The standard camera 310D captures a narrower viewing angle than the wide-angle camera 210D. The standard camera 310D captures a vertical range of, for example, about 90° to 120°.

The standard camera 310D is placed near the wide-angle camera 210D facing the same direction. The standard camera 310D is placed on the surface 11a of the first housing 11, similar to the wide-angle camera 210D. The standard camera 310D constantly captures video when the vehicle is traveling, and the wide-angle camera 210D constantly captures video when the vehicle is parked. The wide-angle camera 210D and the standard camera 310D output the captured video data to the video data acquisition unit 120D of the vehicle recording control device 100D. The video data is, for example, a moving image composed of images at 30 frames per second.

The video data acquisition unit 120D acquires the video data output by the wide-angle camera 210D and the standard camera 310D and outputs it to the buffer memory 121D.

The video data processing unit 122D outputs the generated video data to the recording control unit 124D and the display control unit 131D.

The recording control unit 124D controls switching between shooting with the wide-angle camera 210D and shooting with the standard camera 310D depending on the position of the first housing 11.

When the first housing 11 is in the first placement state, the recording control unit 124D controls the standard camera 310D to capture and store video data. When the first housing 11 is in the first placement state, the recording control unit 124D operates the driving monitoring function and stores the video data captured by the standard camera 310D.

When the first housing 11 is in the second placement state, the recording control unit 124D controls the wide-angle camera 210D to capture and store video data. When the first housing 11 is in the second placement state, the recording control unit 124D operates the parking monitoring function and stores the video data captured by the wide-angle camera 210D.

Next, the flow of processing in the vehicle recording control device 100D will be described with reference to FIG. 12. The processing in steps SB141, SB142, SB143, SB145, SB146, and SB148 in FIG. 12 is the same as the processing in steps SB101, SB102, SB103, SB105, S106, and SB108 in FIG. 7.

When the first housing 11 is changed to the second placement state (step SB143), the vehicle record control device 100D starts the driving monitoring function using the wide-angle camera 210D (step SB144). As a result, the parking monitoring function captures the surroundings of the vehicle with a wider angle of view than the standard angle of view. The vehicle record control device 100D proceeds to step SB148.

When the first housing 11 is changed to the first placement state (step SB146), the vehicle record control device 100D starts the driving monitoring function using the standard camera 310D (step SB147). As a result, the driving monitoring function captures an image of the front of the vehicle with a standard angle of view. The vehicle record control device 100D proceeds to step SB148.

As described above, in this embodiment, the camera switches between taking pictures using the standard camera 310D and the wide-angle camera 210D depending on the position of the first housing 11. In this embodiment, when the first housing 11 is in the first position, the standard camera 310D is used to execute the driving monitoring function. In this embodiment, when the first housing 11 is in the second position, the wide-angle camera 210D is used to execute the parking monitoring function. According to this embodiment, the camera can be used appropriately when the vehicle is driving and when it is parked.

The vehicle recording device 10 according to the present invention may be implemented in various different forms other than the above-described embodiment.

Each of the components of the illustrated vehicle recording device 10 is a functional concept, and does not necessarily have to be physically configured as illustrated. In other words, the specific form of each device is not limited to that shown in the figure, and all or part of it may be functionally or physically distributed or integrated in any unit depending on the processing load and usage status of each device.

The configuration of the vehicle recording device 10 is realized, for example, as software, by a program loaded into memory. In the above embodiment, these functional blocks are described as being realized by the cooperation of these hardware and software. In other words, these functional blocks can be realized in various forms, by hardware alone, software alone, or a combination of both.

The above-mentioned components include those that a person skilled in the art would easily imagine and those that are substantially the same. Furthermore, the above-mentioned configurations can be combined as appropriate. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, or modifications of the configurations are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

In the above description, the recording control device 100 is described as having a clipping processing unit 123, but clipping of video data does not have to be performed, and the recording control device 100 for a vehicle does not have to have a clipping processing unit 123.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 Vehicle recording device 11 First housing 12 Second housing 100 Vehicle recording control device 110 Housing information acquisition unit 111 State determination unit 120 Video data acquisition unit 121 Buffer memory 122 Video data processing unit 123 Extraction processing unit 124 Recording control unit 125 Playback control unit 130 Operation control unit 131 Display control unit 132 Acceleration information acquisition unit 133 Event detection unit 134 Position information acquisition unit 135 Vehicle state determination unit 136 Drive control unit 200 Housing sensor 210 Camera (photographing unit)
220 Recording unit 240 Operation unit 250 Display unit 260 Acceleration sensor 270 GNSS receiving unit 280 Driving unit

Claims (2)

a first housing including an imaging unit and a display unit, the imaging unit facing a front of a vehicle and the display unit facing a passenger compartment inside of the vehicle in a first disposition state, and the imaging unit facing upward or downward in a second disposition state;
a second housing that supports the first housing in the first arrangement and the second arrangement;
a drive unit that moves the first housing between the first and second positions;
a vehicle state determination unit that determines whether the vehicle is in a traveling state or a parked state;
a drive control unit that controls the drive unit so that the first housing is in the first position when it is determined that the vehicle is in a traveling state, and controls the drive unit so that the first housing is in the second position when it is determined that the vehicle is in a parked state;
A cutout processing unit that cuts out the image captured by the imaging unit;
a recording control unit that, when the first housing is in the first disposition state, performs a monitoring operation while the vehicle is traveling, and, when the first housing is in the second disposition state, performs a monitoring operation while the vehicle is parked, and records the video clipped by the clipping processing unit;
Equipped with
the cut-out processing unit, when the first housing is in the first disposition state, cuts out a narrow angle of view in at least a vertical direction, which is a vertical direction of the image, from the image captured by the imaging unit, and, when the first housing is in the second disposition state, performs cut-out processing on a range of the image captured by the imaging unit excluding a range centered on an optical axis of the imaging unit.
Vehicle recording device. a first housing including an imaging unit and a display unit, the imaging unit facing a front of a vehicle and the display unit facing a passenger compartment inside of the vehicle in a first disposition state, and the imaging unit facing upward or downward in a second disposition state;
a second housing that supports the first housing in the first arrangement and the second arrangement;
a drive unit that moves the first housing between the first and second positions;
A method for controlling a recording device for a vehicle, comprising:
determining whether the vehicle is in a running state or a parked state;
when it is determined that the vehicle is in a traveling state, controlling the drive unit so that the first housing is in the first position, thereby performing a monitoring operation while the vehicle is traveling, and recording an image captured by the imaging unit, which is cropped to have a narrow angle of view in at least a vertical direction, which is a vertical direction of the image;
When it is determined that the vehicle is in a parked state, a monitoring operation for the vehicle while parked is performed by controlling the drive unit so that the first housing is in the second position, and recording an image captured by the imaging unit, the image being cut out from a range excluding a range centered on an optical axis of the imaging unit;
A recording control method comprising:

Images