1. An information processing apparatus includes a control unit that executes:

acquiring a situation around a vehicle or a road situation, and generating reference data, which is data of a driving operation serving as a reference; and

when the degree of deviation between the driving data and the reference data is equal to or greater than a threshold value, a predetermined process is performed, the driving data being data of a driving operation performed by a driver of the vehicle.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

the control unit generates data on a change amount or an acceleration/deceleration of a steering angle as the reference data.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,

the control unit performs the predetermined processing when a time during which the degree of deviation between the driving data and the reference data is equal to or greater than the threshold value is equal to or greater than a predetermined length.

4. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

the control unit determines whether or not to perform the predetermined process based on the data of the driving operation collected from the other vehicle at the current position of the target vehicle that has passed the predetermined process.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4,

the control unit determines whether or not to perform the predetermined process based on the data of the driving operation collected from the other vehicle when a predetermined condition is satisfied.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5,

the control unit determines whether or not to perform the predetermined process based on the data of the driving operation collected from the other vehicle when the reliability of the reference data is less than a predetermined reliability.

7. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 6,

the control unit determines whether or not to perform the predetermined process based on the data of the driving operation collected from the another vehicle in real time or the data of the driving operation collected from the another vehicle in the past.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7,

the control portion uses data in which the condition of the periphery of the vehicle or the road condition is a predetermined approximation degree, among the data of the driving operation collected from the other vehicle in the past.

9. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8,

the control unit varies the threshold value according to the reliability of the reference data.

10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 9,

the control unit increases the threshold value as the reliability of the reference data is lower.

11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 9 or 10,

the control unit determines the reliability of the reference data based on reliability of a sensor provided in the vehicle.

12. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 9 to 11,

the control unit holds in advance a relationship between a condition of a periphery of the vehicle or the road condition and the reliability of the reference data.

13. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 12,

the control section executes: the predetermined process is performed in a situation where automatic driving of the vehicle is possible.

14. The information processing apparatus according to claim 13,

the control part

Generating automatic driving data as data of driving operation at the time of automatic driving of the vehicle, based on a condition of a periphery of the vehicle or the road condition, and

and generating the reference data according to the automatic driving data.

15. An information processing method for causing a computer to execute:

acquiring a situation around a vehicle or a road situation, and generating reference data, which is data of a driving operation serving as a reference; and

when the degree of deviation between the driving data and the reference data is equal to or greater than a threshold value, a predetermined process is performed, the driving data being data of a driving operation performed by a driver of the vehicle.

16. The information processing method according to claim 15,

data relating to the amount of change in steering angle or the acceleration/deceleration is generated as the reference data.

17. The information processing method according to claim 15 or 16,

whether or not to perform the predetermined process is determined based on the data of the driving operation collected from the other vehicles passing the current location of the target vehicle that performed the predetermined process.

18. A non-transitory storage medium storing a program that causes a computer to execute:

acquiring a situation around a vehicle or a road situation, and generating reference data, which is data of a driving operation serving as a reference; and

when the degree of deviation between the driving data and the reference data is equal to or greater than a threshold value, a predetermined process is performed, the driving data being data of a driving operation performed by a driver of the vehicle.

19. The non-transitory storage medium storing the program according to claim 18,

data relating to the amount of change in steering angle or the acceleration/deceleration is generated as the reference data.

20. The non-transitory storage medium storing the program according to claim 18 or 19, wherein,

whether or not to perform the predetermined process is determined based on the data of the driving operation collected from the other vehicles passing the current location of the target vehicle that performed the predetermined process.

Background

In a vehicle that can switch between a manual driving state and an automatic driving state, there is known a technique for evaluating the driving skill of a driver by comparing the result of a driving operation of the driver with the automatic control content calculated based on the surrounding situation of the vehicle (for example, see patent literature 1).

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2018-176913

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

The purpose of the present invention is to suppress an inappropriate driving operation by a driver during manual driving.

Means for solving the problems

One aspect of the present disclosure is an information processing apparatus including a control unit that executes:

acquiring a situation around a vehicle or a road situation, and generating reference data, which is data of a driving operation serving as a reference; and

when the degree of deviation between the driving data and the reference data is equal to or greater than a threshold value, a predetermined process is performed, the driving data being data of a driving operation performed by a driver of the vehicle.

One aspect of the present disclosure is an information processing method that causes a computer to execute:

acquiring a situation around a vehicle or a road situation, and generating reference data, which is data of a driving operation serving as a reference; and

when the degree of deviation between the driving data and the reference data is equal to or greater than a threshold value, a predetermined process is performed, the driving data being data of a driving operation performed by a driver of the vehicle.

One aspect of the present disclosure is a non-transitory storage medium storing a program that causes a computer to execute:

acquiring a situation around a vehicle or a road situation, and generating reference data, which is data of a driving operation serving as a reference; and

when the degree of deviation between the driving data and the reference data is equal to or greater than a threshold value, a predetermined process is performed, the driving data being data of a driving operation performed by a driver of the vehicle.

In addition, other aspects of the disclosure are the above-described programs.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to suppress the driver from performing an inappropriate driving operation during manual driving.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle according to the embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of a control unit of the vehicle according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a process of evaluating a driving operation of a driver according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of the processing in the case where the notification processing is performed only when the state in which the absolute value of the value obtained by subtracting the reference data from the detection data is equal to or greater than the threshold continues for a predetermined length of time or longer.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the system according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing an example of the configuration of a server constituting the system according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of a control unit of the vehicle according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the server.

Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating a table structure stored in the vehicle information DB.

Fig. 10 is a sequence diagram of processing of the system when the server provides other vehicle data to the first vehicle.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing of the server when the server updates the vehicle information DB.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of the server when the server transmits the other vehicle data to the first vehicle.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing for transmitting detection data and the like to the server in each vehicle.

Fig. 14 is a flowchart of the process in the case of performing the notification process according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 15 is a flowchart of a process when the threshold value is corrected according to the reliability of the sensor group.

(symbol description)

1: a system; 10: a vehicle; 30: a server; 100: a control unit; 101: a processor; 102: a main storage unit; 103: an auxiliary storage unit; 110: a sensor group; 120: a device group; 150: a bus; 1011: a manual control section; 1012: a situation recognizing unit; 1013: an automatic control section; 1014: an evaluation unit.

Detailed Description

An information processing apparatus as one aspect of the present disclosure acquires a condition of a periphery of a vehicle or a road condition. The acquired "condition" may be a condition that affects the driving operation of the vehicle. The condition of the vehicle periphery may be, for example, a condition acquired by a sensor. The condition around the vehicle may be, for example, a condition of an obstacle around the vehicle, a condition of a road surface, a condition of another vehicle existing around the vehicle, a traffic jam condition, a road construction condition, or the like. The road condition may be, for example, a condition obtained from a road map (e.g., a condition such as a curvature of a road). Using these conditions, data (reference data) relating to a driving operation serving as a reference is generated. For example, the reference data may be data indicating an ideal driving operation corresponding to the condition around the vehicle or the road condition. The driving operation is an operation accompanying the traveling of the vehicle, such as an accelerator operation, a steering wheel operation, and a brake operation.

The control unit performs a predetermined process when a degree of deviation between data (driving data) relating to a driving operation performed by a driver of the vehicle and reference data is equal to or greater than a threshold value. The driving operation by the driver is data obtained when the driver operates the vehicle in manual driving. The degree of deviation between the driving data and the reference data can be represented by, for example, a difference or ratio between the acceleration and deceleration, or a difference or ratio between the amount of change in the steering angle per unit time (hereinafter also referred to as a change rate of the steering angle). This means that the greater the degree of deviation of the driving data from the reference data, the more the driving operation of the driver deviates from the reference driving operation. When the degree of deviation is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the control unit performs a predetermined process. The threshold value is, for example, a degree of deviation when the driving operation by the driver is inappropriate. The predetermined process may be a process for the driver, a process for the vehicle, or a process for the outside of the vehicle. The process for the driver may be, for example, a process for giving a warning or notification to the driver. The process for the vehicle may be, for example, a process related to an accelerator operation, a brake operation, or a steering operation. The processing for the outside of the vehicle may be processing for giving a warning or a notification to another vehicle in the vicinity of the vehicle, processing for notifying an external mechanism (e.g., police, etc.), or processing for causing the server to store the occurrence of an inappropriate driving operation, for example. Since the predetermined process is performed when an inappropriate driving operation occurs during manual driving by the driver, the driver can be prompted to self-restrain the inappropriate driving operation.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The configurations of the following embodiments are examples, and the present disclosure is not limited to the configurations of the embodiments. The following embodiments can be combined as much as possible.

< embodiment 1 >

Fig. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle 10 according to the present embodiment. The vehicle 10 is a vehicle capable of automatic driving and manual driving. The automatic driving is driving that does not depend on driving operation of the driver, and the manual driving is driving that depends on driving operation of the driver. The vehicle 10 acquires information on the periphery of the vehicle 10, information on the road, and information on the driving operation of the driver, and performs evaluation of the driving operation of the driver based on these information. The vehicle 10 includes a control unit 100, a sensor group 110, and a device group 120. Which are connected to each other by a bus 150.

The control unit 100 is a computer that controls the constituent elements of the vehicle 10. The control unit 100 includes a processor 101, a main storage unit 102, an auxiliary storage unit 103, an input unit 104, an output unit 105, and a communication unit 106. The Processor 101 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), or the like. The processor 101 performs calculations for controlling various information processes of the vehicle 10.

The main storage unit 102 is a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), or the like. The auxiliary storage unit 103 is an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), a Hard Disk Drive (HDD), a removable medium, or the like. The auxiliary storage unit 103 stores an Operating System (OS), various programs, various tables, and the like. The processor 101 loads and executes a program stored in the auxiliary storage unit 103 into a work area of the main storage unit 102, and controls each component and the like by executing the program. The main storage unit 102 and the auxiliary storage unit 103 are recording media that can be read by a computer. The configuration shown in fig. 1 may be a configuration in which a plurality of computers cooperate. The information stored in the auxiliary storage unit 103 may be stored in the main storage unit 102. In addition, the information stored in the main storage unit 102 may be stored in the auxiliary storage unit 103.

The input unit 104 is a unit that receives an input operation by the driver, and is, for example, a touch panel, a push button, a mouse, a keyboard, or the like. The output unit 105 is a unit for presenting information to the driver, and examples thereof include an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an EL (Electroluminescence) panel, a speaker, and a lamp. The input unit 104 and the output unit 105 may be configured as 1 touch panel display.

The communication unit 106 is a communication unit for connecting the vehicle 10 to an external network. The communication unit 106 is a circuit for communicating with another apparatus (for example, an external server or the like) via a network by using a mobile communication service (for example, a telephone communication network such as 5G (5th Generation), 4G (4th Generation), 3G (3rd Generation), LTE (Long Term Evolution), or the like), or a wireless communication network such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark).

The sensor group 110 is various sensors that acquire information related to the travel of the vehicle 10. The sensor group 110 includes, for example, a position information sensor 111, an environmental information sensor 112, a vehicle speed sensor 113, an acceleration sensor 114, a steering angle sensor 115, a lateral acceleration sensor 116, an accelerator sensor 117, and a brake sensor 118. The detection values obtained by the sensor group 110 are recorded in, for example, the auxiliary storage unit 103.

The position information sensor 111 acquires position information (e.g., latitude, longitude) of the vehicle 10 at predetermined cycles. The position information sensor 111 is, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, a wireless LAN communication unit, or the like.

The environmental information sensor 112 is a unit that senses the periphery of the vehicle 10. The environmental information sensor 112 may be a camera that performs imaging using an imaging element such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor. In addition, the environmental information sensor 112 may be a laser scanner, a LIDAR, or a radar.

The vehicle speed sensor 113 is a sensor that detects the speed of the vehicle 10. The acceleration sensor 114 is a sensor that detects the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle 10. The detection value of the acceleration sensor 114 becomes a positive value when the speed increases, and becomes a negative value when the speed decreases. The acceleration sensor 114 can be omitted by detecting the acceleration of the vehicle 10 by differentiating the detection value of the vehicle speed sensor 113. In addition, the jerk of the vehicle 10 can also be calculated by differentiating the detection value of the acceleration sensor 114.

The steering angle sensor 115 is a sensor that detects a steering angle obtained by a steering operation. The steering angle sensor 115 detects, for example, the angle of the steering wheel. In the present embodiment, the angle of the steering wheel is detected as the steering angle, but a value directly or indirectly representing the skew angle of the tire may be used. The lateral acceleration sensor 116 is a sensor that detects the lateral acceleration of the vehicle 10. The accelerator sensor 117 is a sensor that detects the depression amount of an accelerator pedal by the driver. The brake sensor 118 is a sensor that detects the depression amount of the brake pedal of the driver.

The device group 120 is a plurality of devices included in the vehicle 10, and is a device controlled by the control unit 100. The device group 120 includes, for example, a steering device 121, a drive device 122, and a brake device 123. A shift device and the like may also be included in the device group 120. In the present example, an electric vehicle is described as an example, but the target vehicle may be a vehicle having an engine.

The steering device 121 is a steering system that the vehicle 10 has. The steering device 121 includes an interface (a steering wheel, etc.), a steering motor 1211, a gear box, a steering column, and the like. The steering motor 1211 is a unit for assisting a steering operation. The force required for the steering operation can be reduced by driving the steering motor 1211 in response to the command from the control unit 100. Further, by driving the steering motor 1211, it is also possible to automate the steering operation independent of the operation of the occupant.

The drive device 122 is a drive system of the vehicle 10. The drive device 122 is configured to include a drive motor 1221, a drive shaft, a transmission (transmission), and the like. The drive motor 1221 is a unit for driving the vehicle 10. The vehicle 10 can be driven by the drive motor 1221 receiving the instruction from the control unit 100 to run the vehicle 10.

The brake device 123 is a mechanical brake system that the vehicle 10 has. The brake device 123 includes an interface (a brake pedal or the like), an actuator 1231, a hydraulic system, a brake cylinder, and the like. The actuator 1231 is a unit for controlling hydraulic pressure in the brake system. By controlling the brake fluid pressure by the actuator 1231 receiving the command from the control unit 100, the braking force by the mechanical brake can be secured.

(functional Structure)

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the control unit 100 of the vehicle 10 according to the present embodiment. The control unit 100 includes a manual control unit 1011, a situation recognition unit 1012, an automatic control unit 1013, and an evaluation unit 1014 as functional components. The manual control unit 1011, the situation recognizing unit 1012, the automatic control unit 1013, and the evaluation unit 1014 are functional elements provided by the processor 101 of the control unit 100 executing various programs stored in the auxiliary storage unit 103, for example.

The manual control unit 1011 controls the vehicle 10 during manual driving by the driver. The manual control unit 1011 generates a control command for controlling the device group 120 based on the detection value of the steering angle sensor 115, the detection value of the accelerator sensor 117, the detection value of the brake sensor 118, and the like.

The manual control unit 1011 can control the steering angle or the angle of the steered wheels by controlling the steering motor 1211 included in the steering device 121. The manual control unit 1011 drives the steering motor 1211 based on the detection value of the steering angle sensor 115, for example, and controls the skew angle of the wheels of the vehicle 10. A known technique can be used for this control.

The manual control unit 1011 controls the rotational speed of the drive motor 1221 by controlling the drive voltage, current, drive frequency, and the like. The manual control unit 1011 controls the rotation speed of the drive motor 1221 based on the detection value of the accelerator sensor 117, for example. A known technique can be used for this control.

Further, the manual control unit 1011 controls the braking force by the mechanical braking by controlling the actuator 1231 included in the brake device 123. The manual control unit 1011 drives the actuator 1231 based on the detection value of the brake sensor 118, thereby controlling the brake hydraulic pressure. A known technique can be used for this control.

The situation recognizing portion 1012 detects the environment around the vehicle 10 from data acquired by the sensors included in the sensor group 110. Examples of the object to be detected include, but are not limited to, the number and position of lanes, the number and position of other vehicles present in the periphery of the host vehicle, the number and position of obstacles (for example, pedestrians, bicycles, structures, buildings, etc.) present in the periphery of the host vehicle, the structure of roads, and road signs. The object to be detected may be any object as long as it is necessary to autonomously travel. The data relating to the environment (hereinafter also referred to as environment data) detected by the situation recognizing unit 1012 is stored in the auxiliary storage unit 103.

The automatic control unit 1013 controls the vehicle 10 during automatic driving of the vehicle 10. The automatic control unit 1013 generates a control command for controlling the device group 120 using the environment data detected by the situation recognizing unit 1012. The automatic control unit 1013 controls the acceleration/deceleration, the steering angle, the rate of change in the steering angle, the lateral acceleration, and the like by the control device group 120.

The automatic control unit 1013 generates a travel trajectory of the vehicle 10 from, for example, the environment data, determines an acceleration/deceleration, a steering angle, a change rate of the steering angle, a lateral acceleration, or a lateral acceleration so as to travel along the travel trajectory, and controls the device group 120. In addition, as a method of autonomously running the vehicle, a known method can be adopted. During autonomous driving, feedback control based on the detection values of the sensor group 110 may be performed.

The evaluation unit 1014 evaluates the driving operation of the driver. Here, in the vehicle 10 according to the present embodiment, automatic driving by the control unit 100 and manual driving by the driver can be switched. For example, the driver selects either manual driving or automatic driving via the input portion 104. The automatic control unit 1013 determines the acceleration/deceleration, the steering angle, the change rate of the steering angle, the lateral acceleration, or the lateral acceleration from the environmental data even during manual driving. Hereinafter, data indicating the acceleration/deceleration, the steering angle, the change rate of the steering angle, the lateral acceleration, or the lateral acceleration determined from the environmental data during manual driving is also referred to as "reference data". Hereinafter, data indicating the acceleration/deceleration, the steering angle, the change rate of the steering angle, the lateral acceleration, or the lateral acceleration detected by the sensor group 110 during manual driving will also be referred to as "detection data". The evaluation unit 1014 evaluates the driving operation of the driver by comparing the detection data with the reference data at the time of manual driving.

Hereinafter, the acceleration/deceleration, the steering angle, the change rate of the steering angle, the lateral acceleration, or the lateral acceleration is also referred to as a "state quantity". The reference data is, for example, data indicating a state quantity in the case where the driver performs an ideal driving operation or data indicating a state quantity in the case where the driver performs an appropriate driving operation. The evaluation performed by the evaluation unit 1014 is performed by, for example, determining whether or not the degree of deviation between the detection data and the reference data is equal to or greater than a threshold value. The degree of deviation may be, for example, a difference or a ratio. For example, if the difference or ratio between the detection data and the reference data is equal to or greater than a threshold value, it is determined that the driving operation by the driver is inappropriate, and a warning or notification is given to the driver or an external mechanism. The external mechanism is, for example, a police or the like. The notification to the external authorities may also be made via a server. The warning or notification to the driver is performed via the output unit 105, for example. The threshold value of the difference or ratio between the detection data and the reference data is determined in advance as the upper limit value of the difference or ratio between the detection data and the reference data when the driver performs an appropriate driving operation, and is stored in the auxiliary storage unit 103. Further, the threshold may vary depending on the environmental data.

The reference data is a state quantity determined by the automatic control unit 1013. That is, the driving operation of the driver during manual driving is evaluated based on the state quantity assumed to be during automatic driving. Therefore, the automatic control unit 1013 generates a travel trajectory of the vehicle 10 from the environmental data even during manual driving, and determines the state quantity so as to travel along the travel trajectory.

For example, when the difference between the acceleration/deceleration (positive value) and the reference data is equal to or greater than the threshold value, it can be determined that the driver is performing an inappropriate sudden acceleration. For example, when the absolute value of the difference between the acceleration/deceleration (negative value) and the reference data is equal to or greater than a threshold value, it can be determined that the driver has performed inappropriate sudden braking. Further, for example, when the difference between the change rate of the steering angle and the reference data is equal to or larger than the threshold value, it can be determined that the driver has made an inappropriate sharp turn.

When the inappropriate driving operation as described above is performed, a trouble may be caused to surrounding vehicles in some cases. Therefore, when it is determined that the difference or ratio between the detection data and the reference data is equal to or greater than the threshold value, for example, a warning for the driver is displayed on the output unit 105, or a warning sound is emitted from the output unit 105. The evaluation unit 1014 may transmit information about the driver who is performing the inappropriate driving operation to the server via the communication unit 106. Further, for example, the server may notify the police of an inappropriate driving operation. The evaluation unit 1014 may also directly transmit information about the driver who is performing inappropriate driving to an external entity (for example, the police) via the communication unit 106.

Next, a process of evaluating the driving operation of the driver according to the present embodiment will be described. Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a process of evaluating a driving operation of a driver according to the present embodiment. The processing shown in fig. 3 is executed by the control section 100 every predetermined cycle. The description is made on the premise that the environment data is already acquired.

First, in step S101, the automatic control unit 1013 generates a travel plan based on the environmental data. The travel plan refers to data indicating the behavior of the vehicle 10 in a predetermined cycle. The travel plan may include a travel track of the vehicle 10, or may include information on acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle 10.

Next, in step S102, the automatic control unit 1013 generates reference data for realizing a travel plan. For example, the reference data on the acceleration/deceleration and the reference data on the change rate of the steering angle are generated based on parameters set in advance, such as the relationship between the vehicle speed and the maximum steering angle, the relationship between the running environment and the change rate of the acceleration/deceleration or the steering angle, and the time width for completing the operation (e.g., lane change).

In step S103, the automatic control unit 1013 determines whether or not the vehicle 10 is in automatic driving. This routine is executed in both the automatic driving and the manual driving, but the processing in step S103 and thereafter differs between the automatic driving and the manual driving. If an affirmative determination is made in step S103, the process proceeds to step S104, and if a negative determination is made, the process proceeds to step S107.

Next, in step S104, the automatic control unit 1013 transmits a control command generated based on the reference data to the device group 120. In step S105, the automatic control unit 1013 acquires the detection data after the control command is transmitted.

Next, in step S106, the automatic control unit 1013 corrects the travel plan based on the detection data. In this step, it is determined whether the vehicle 10 is in a desired state based on the data acquired by the sensor group 110. The behavior of the vehicle 10 is affected by the current load of the drive motor 1221, the condition of the road (e.g., the gradient), and the like, and thus whether or not a desired physical control amount is obtained is determined by receiving feedback of sensor data. For example, when the feedback data indicates that the load of the drive motor 1221 is high and the requested acceleration is not obtained, the travel plan is corrected so as to obtain a higher acceleration.

On the other hand, in step S107, the evaluation unit 1014 acquires detection data. The detection data is data indicating a state quantity associated with the driving operation of the driver. Next, in step S108, the evaluation unit 1014 determines whether or not the absolute value of the value obtained by subtracting the reference data from the detection data is equal to or greater than a threshold value. In this step, the evaluation unit 1014 determines whether or not the driving operation by the driver is inappropriate. If the absolute value of the value obtained by subtracting the reference data from the detection data is equal to or greater than the threshold value, it is determined that the driving operation is not appropriate, and if the absolute value is less than the threshold value, it is determined that the driving operation is appropriate. If an affirmative determination is made in step S108, the routine proceeds to step S109, and if a negative determination is made, the routine is ended.

In step S109, the evaluation unit 1014 executes notification processing. The notification processing is, for example, processing for notifying the driver, an external mechanism, or a server that the driving operation by the driver is inappropriate. The notification process is an example of a predetermined process. The evaluation unit 1014 gives a sound from the output unit 105, displays a warning word, or notifies the driver by turning on or off a lamp, for example. The evaluation unit 1014 transmits information indicating that the driving operation by the driver is inappropriate to the server via the communication unit 106, for example. The server that receives the information notifies the police of the meaning, for example. The evaluation unit 1014 transmits information indicating that the driving operation by the driver is inappropriate to an external mechanism (e.g., police).

In order to suppress erroneous notification, the notification may be performed only when a state in which an absolute value of a value obtained by subtracting the reference data from the detection data is equal to or greater than a threshold value continues for a predetermined length of time or longer. The predetermined length is predetermined as a time of a length that can determine whether the operation by the driver is appropriate.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of the processing in the case where the notification processing is performed only when the state in which the absolute value of the value obtained by subtracting the reference data from the detection data is equal to or greater than the threshold continues for a predetermined length of time or longer. The processing shown in fig. 4 is executed by the control section 100 every predetermined cycle. The processing before step S108 is the same as the flowchart shown in fig. 3, and therefore, illustration and description are omitted. In the flowchart shown in fig. 4, if an affirmative determination is made in step S108, the process proceeds to step S201. In step S201, it is determined whether or not the duration of a state in which the absolute value of the value obtained by subtracting the reference data from the detection data is equal to or greater than a threshold value is equal to or greater than a predetermined length. If an affirmative determination is made in step S201, the routine proceeds to step S109 to perform notification processing, and if a negative determination is made, the routine is ended. In this way, by performing the notification processing when the duration of the inappropriate driving operation is equal to or longer than the predetermined length, erroneous notification can be suppressed.

In the present embodiment, although the automatic driving is enabled, the driving operation of the driver can be evaluated even when the manual driving is performed. For example, in the case where the driver performs reckless driving, it is necessary to switch from automatic driving to manual driving. In such a case, an inappropriate driving operation is performed. Therefore, the processing shown in fig. 3 or 4 may be executed as a trigger to switch from automatic driving to manual driving.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the driving operation of the driver can be evaluated based on the driving operation during the automatic driving. This makes it possible to detect and notify the driver who is performing manual driving of an inappropriate driving operation. This can suppress the driver from performing an inappropriate driving operation.

< embodiment 2 >

In the present embodiment, the reference data is generated in consideration of the behavior of the vehicle other than the host vehicle. For example, when the vehicle 10 passes through a place in road construction, there is a case where the vehicle has to travel on an opposite lane. In such a case, when only the behavior of the own vehicle is observed, it may be determined that an inappropriate driving operation is being performed. Therefore, in the present embodiment, even if it is possible to determine a state where the driving operation is inappropriate in embodiment 1, the driving operation is determined to be appropriate if the behavior of the own vehicle shows the same tendency as that of the other vehicle.

Therefore, the present embodiment includes a server that acquires detection data of another vehicle. Further, the server provides the own vehicle with detection data of other vehicles. In the present embodiment, the server acquires the detection data of the other vehicle, but the detection data may be acquired directly from the other vehicle by the own vehicle through inter-vehicle communication instead. The detection data provided from the server to the host vehicle may be real-time detection data immediately before or immediately after the current time point, or may be detection data accumulated in the past. The average value of the past detection data may be used.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the system 1 according to the present embodiment. The system 1 shown in fig. 5 includes a first vehicle 10A, a second vehicle 10B, and a server 30. The first vehicle 10A is an example of the own vehicle. The second vehicle 10B is an example of another vehicle other than the host vehicle.

The first vehicle 10A, the second vehicle 10B, and the server 30 are connected to each other through a network N1. The Network N1 is a world-Wide public communication Network such as the internet, and may be a WAN (Wide Area Network) or another communication Network. The network N1 may include a telephone communication network such as a cellular phone, a wireless communication network such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark), and the like. In fig. 5, a first vehicle 10A and a second vehicle 10B of 1 vehicle each are exemplarily illustrated, but a plurality of first vehicles 10A and second vehicles 10B may exist. Note that, in the present embodiment, for convenience, the first vehicle 10A and the second vehicle 10B are described separately, but each vehicle 10 has a function of either the first vehicle 10A or the second vehicle 10B. Hereinafter, the first vehicle 10A and the second vehicle 10B are simply referred to as the vehicles 10 without distinguishing them.

(hardware construction)

Next, a hardware configuration of the server 30 will be described with reference to fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing an example of the configuration of the server 30 constituting the system 1 according to the present embodiment. The hardware configuration of the first vehicle 10A and the second vehicle 10B is the same as that of the vehicle 10 shown in fig. 1, and therefore, the description thereof is omitted.

The server 30 includes a processor 31, a main storage unit 32, an auxiliary storage unit 33, and a communication unit 34. They are connected to each other by a bus. The processor 31, the main storage unit 32, the auxiliary storage unit 33, and the communication unit 34 of the server 30 are the same as the processor 101, the main storage unit 102, the auxiliary storage unit 103, and the communication unit 106 of the vehicle 10 described in embodiment 1, and therefore, description thereof is omitted.

(functional Structure: vehicle)

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the control unit 100 of the vehicle 10 according to the present embodiment. The control unit 100 includes a manual control unit 1011, a situation recognition unit 1012, an automatic control unit 1013, an evaluation unit 1014, and an information transmission/reception unit 1015 as functional components. The manual control unit 1011, the situation recognizing unit 1012, the automatic control unit 1013, the evaluation unit 1014, and the information transmission/reception unit 1015 are functional elements provided by the processor 101 of the control unit 100 executing various programs stored in the auxiliary storage unit 103, for example. The manual control unit 1011, the situation recognizing unit 1012, and the automatic control unit 1013 are the same as those in embodiment 1, and therefore, descriptions thereof are omitted.

The information transmitting/receiving unit 1015 transmits the detection data to the server 30 via the communication unit 106. Hereinafter, the detection data acquired by the first vehicle 10A will also be referred to as own-vehicle data, and the detection data acquired by the second vehicle 10B will also be referred to as other-vehicle data. The information transmitting/receiving unit 1015 may transmit the evaluation result of the evaluation unit 1014 together when transmitting the own vehicle data to the server 30. In the present embodiment, the host vehicle data is transmitted to the server 30 regardless of whether or not the driving operation by the driver is inappropriate, but the host vehicle data may be transmitted to the server 30 instead only when the driving operation by the driver is inappropriate. This also reduces the amount of communication.

The timing at which the information transmitting/receiving unit 1015 transmits the own vehicle data may be appropriately set, and for example, the information may be transmitted during the notification process, may be transmitted periodically, may be transmitted in accordance with the timing at which certain information is transmitted to the server 30, or may be transmitted in response to a request from the server 30. The information transmitting/receiving unit 1015 transmits the own vehicle data to the server 30 in association with the identification information (vehicle ID) identifying the vehicle 10 and the date and time at which the own vehicle data was acquired.

The information transmitting/receiving unit 1015 also receives other vehicle data from the server 30. The received other vehicle data may be other vehicle data related to a point where the first vehicle 10A travels or other vehicle data related to a point within a predetermined area from the current point of the first vehicle 10A. The predetermined region may be set as a region where the first vehicle 10A is likely to travel.

The evaluation unit 1014 according to the present embodiment considers other vehicle data when evaluating the driving operation of the driver. For example, even if the difference between the own vehicle data and the reference data is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the notification process is not performed when the difference between the own vehicle data and the other vehicle data is smaller than the threshold value. The threshold value is a lower limit value of a difference between the own vehicle data and the other vehicle data in the case where the tendencies of the driving operations are different in the first vehicle 10A and the second vehicle 10B. The threshold may be the same value as the threshold in step S108 or may be a different value. The threshold value is determined in advance and stored in the auxiliary storage unit 103. The threshold value may also vary according to environmental data. In the present embodiment, the processing based on the difference between the own vehicle data and the other vehicle data is described as an example, but the processing may be processing using a ratio instead of the difference.

When the difference between the own vehicle data and the other vehicle data is smaller than the threshold value, the driving operation with the same tendency is being performed in the first vehicle 10A and the second vehicle 10B. For example, when avoiding an obstacle on a road or avoiding a place in construction, each vehicle 10 may perform a driving operation with the same tendency. Therefore, in the first vehicle 10A that performs the driving operation with the same tendency as the second vehicle 10B, it is determined that the driving operation is appropriate.

(function Structure: Server)

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the server 30. In the server 30, as functional structural elements, an information acquisition section 301, an information providing section 302, a vehicle information DB311, and a map information DB 312 are included. The information acquisition unit 301 and the information providing unit 302 are functional structural elements provided by the processor 31 of the server 30 executing various programs stored in the auxiliary storage unit 33, for example.

The vehicle information DB311 and the map information DB 312 are relational databases, for example, which are constructed by managing data stored in the auxiliary storage unit 33 by a program of a Database Management System (DBMS) executed by the processor 31. Further, any of the functional structural elements of the server 30 or a part of the processing thereof may be executed by other computers connected to the network N1.

The information acquisition unit 301 acquires and manages information (own vehicle data, data on the evaluation result, and the like) transmitted from each vehicle 10. The information acquisition unit 301 stores the information transmitted from each vehicle 10 in the vehicle information DB311 in association with the vehicle ID and the date and time.

The information providing unit 302 transmits the other vehicle data corresponding to the current position to the first vehicle 10A. The information providing unit 302 transmits the other vehicle data corresponding to the current location of the first vehicle 10A stored in the vehicle information DB 311. The other vehicle data transmitted to the first vehicle 10A may be other vehicle data related to the second vehicle 10B that performs the notification process at the current position of the first vehicle 10A. In addition, the information providing section 302 may transmit the other vehicle data to the first vehicle 10A when a request is made from the first vehicle 10A, or may transmit the other vehicle data to the first vehicle 10A regardless of whether a request is made from the first vehicle 10A.

The vehicle information DB311 is formed by storing information received from each vehicle 10 in the auxiliary storage unit 33. The vehicle information DB311 stores therein a vehicle ID, information on the date and time, information on the evaluation result, and own vehicle data (for example, information on the acceleration/deceleration and information on the change rate of the steering angle). Here, the structure of the information stored in the vehicle information DB311 will be described with reference to fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating a table structure stored in the vehicle information DB 311. The information table includes fields of a vehicle ID, date and time, evaluation result, position, acceleration/deceleration, and change rate of steering angle, for example. In the vehicle ID field, identification information that identifies the vehicle 10 is input. In the date and time field, information on the date and time at which the information was acquired is input. In the evaluation result field, information on the evaluation result of the driving operation by the driver transmitted from the vehicle 10 is input. In the location field, location information transmitted by the vehicle 10 is input. In the acceleration/deceleration field, information relating to acceleration/deceleration transmitted by the vehicle 10 is input. In the change rate of the steering angle field, information on the change rate of the steering angle transmitted by the vehicle 10 is input.

The map information DB 312 stores map data and map information including POI (Point of Interest) information such as characters and photographs indicating characteristics of each Point on the map data. The map Information DB 312 may be provided from another System connected to the network N1, for example, a GIS (Geographic Information System). The map data includes, for example, link data on roads (links), node data on nodes, intersection data on intersections, search data for searching for routes, facility data on facilities, search data for searching for points, and the like.

(flow of treatment: System)

In the present embodiment, when the absolute value of the value obtained by subtracting the reference data from the detection data in the first vehicle 10A is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the evaluation unit 1014 of the first vehicle 10A requests the server 30 for the other vehicle data. Then, when the request is made, the server 30 refers to the vehicle information DB311 to determine whether or not there is a record in which the position information corresponding to the current position of the first vehicle 10A is input and the evaluation result indicates inappropriate information. Then, in the case where the record exists, the server 30 transmits other vehicle data to the first vehicle 10A. In addition, in the case where such a record does not exist, the server 30 may notify the first vehicle 10A of the fact.

In the first vehicle 10A that has received the other vehicle data, the evaluation unit 1014 compares the own vehicle data with the other vehicle data, and if the difference is smaller than the threshold value, does not perform the notification processing. For example, when construction is performed on a road and it is necessary to pass through an opposite lane, the difference between the detection data and the reference data may be equal to or greater than a threshold value. However, in this case, only the driving operation that meets the situation at that time is performed, and therefore, the notification process does not need to be performed. Therefore, if the notification process is not performed when the difference between the own vehicle data and the other vehicle data is smaller than the threshold value, it is possible to suppress the notification of an error.

Fig. 10 is a sequence diagram of the processing of the system 1 when the server 30 provides the other vehicle data to the first vehicle 10A. Fig. 10 illustrates a case where the first vehicle 10A and the second vehicle 10B are each 1 vehicle.

The vehicle 10 generates information including the own vehicle data and the data related to the evaluation result (S01, S03), and transmits the information to the server 30(S02, S04). The server 30 that has received the information from each vehicle 10 updates the vehicle information DB311 and stores the information (S05). The processing of S01 to S05 is repeatedly executed. In the first vehicle 10A, the own vehicle data is compared with the reference data in order to evaluate the driving operation by the driver (S06). At this time, if it is evaluated that the driving operation by the driver is inappropriate, information for requesting other vehicle data is transmitted from the first vehicle 10A to the server 30 (S07). When there is a request for other vehicle data, the server 30 extracts other vehicle data relating to the second vehicle 10B that is evaluated at the same position as that of the driver that the driving operation is inappropriate, based on the position information of the first vehicle 10A (S08), and transmits the other vehicle data to the first vehicle 10A (S09). Then, in the first vehicle 10A, the own vehicle data and the other vehicle data are compared, and the driving operation by the driver is evaluated.

(flow of processing: Server)

Next, the processing of the server 30 according to embodiment 2 will be described with reference to fig. 11 and 12. Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of the server 30 when the server 30 updates the vehicle information DB 311. The processing shown in fig. 11 is executed by the information acquisition unit 301 at predetermined time intervals (for example, at regular periodic intervals).

In step S301, the information acquisition unit 301 determines whether the own vehicle data and the data relating to the evaluation result are received from the first vehicle 10A. If an affirmative determination is made in step S301, the routine proceeds to step S302, and if a negative determination is made, the routine is ended. In step S302, the information acquisition unit 301 updates the vehicle information DB311 based on the information received from each vehicle 10. That is, the information transmitted from each vehicle 10 is stored in the vehicle information DB311 in association with the vehicle ID and the date and time.

Next, fig. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of the server 30 when the server 30 transmits other vehicle data to the first vehicle 10A. The processing shown in fig. 12 is executed by the information providing unit 302 at predetermined time intervals (for example, at regular periodic intervals). The description is made on the premise that the vehicle information DB311 is generated before the execution of the present routine.

In step S401, it is determined whether or not the information providing unit 302 has received a request for transmitting other vehicle data from the first vehicle 10A. If an affirmative determination is made in step S401, the routine proceeds to step S402, and if a negative determination is made, the routine is ended. In step S402, the information providing section 302 acquires information about the first vehicle 10A from the vehicle information DB 311. In step S403, the information providing unit 302 refers to the vehicle information DB311, and extracts the detection data of the second vehicle 10B that has passed through the position corresponding to the current position of the first vehicle 10A as the other vehicle data. In this case, the detection data in the record whose evaluation result is "inappropriate" may be extracted. Further, the detection data in the record in which the time zone is a predetermined approximation degree may be extracted. The predetermined degree of approximation represents, for example, a difference in the degree of no influence or only little influence in the evaluation of the driving operation. In addition, when information on weather is stored in each record, the detection data in the same record as the weather may be extracted. Next, in step S404, the information providing unit 302 transmits the other vehicle data to the first vehicle 10A.

(flow of processing: first vehicle)

Next, a process of transmitting the detection data and the like to the server 30 in each vehicle 10 will be described with reference to fig. 13. Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing for transmitting detection data and the like to the server 30 in each vehicle 10. The processing shown in fig. 13 is executed by the information transmitting/receiving unit 1015 at predetermined time intervals (for example, at regular periodic intervals).

In step S501, the information transmitting/receiving unit 1015 acquires the own vehicle data and the data related to the evaluation result. In step S502, the information transmitting/receiving unit 1015 generates information to be transmitted to the server 30. In this information, the vehicle ID, the date and time when the own vehicle data was acquired, the own vehicle data, and data relating to the evaluation result are included. Next, in step S503, the information transmitting/receiving unit 1015 transmits the generated information to the server 30.

(flow of Notification processing: first vehicle)

Fig. 14 is a flowchart of the process in the case of performing the notification process according to the present embodiment. The processing before step S108 is the same as the flowchart shown in fig. 3, and therefore, illustration and description are omitted. The processing shown in fig. 14 is executed by the control section 100 every predetermined cycle. Further, step S201 in fig. 14 can be omitted.

In the flowchart shown in fig. 14, if an affirmative determination is made in step S201, the process proceeds to step S601. In step S601, the evaluation unit 1014 transmits request information to the server 30. The request information is information for requesting transmission of data of another vehicle. The entrusted information may include position information of the first vehicle 10A. The evaluation unit 1014 generates request information and transmits the request information to the server 30. Next, in step S602, the evaluation unit 1014 determines whether or not other vehicle data is received from the server 30. If an affirmative determination is made in step S602, the process proceeds to step S603. On the other hand, in the case where a negative determination is made in step S602, there is no other vehicle data, and therefore, it is determined that an evaluation such as an inappropriate driving operation has occurred. Therefore, if a negative determination is made in step S602, the process proceeds to step S109 and notification processing is performed.

In step S603, the evaluation unit 1014 determines whether or not the absolute value of the value obtained by subtracting the other vehicle data from the own vehicle data is equal to or greater than a threshold value. In this step, it is determined whether or not to perform the notification process using the other vehicle data. If an affirmative determination is made in step S603, the driving tendency differs between the own vehicle and the other vehicle, and therefore, it is determined that an evaluation such as an inappropriate driving operation has occurred. Therefore, if an affirmative determination is made in step S603, the process proceeds to step S109, and notification processing is performed. On the other hand, in the case where a negative determination is made in step S603, the driving tendency is the same in the own vehicle and the other vehicle, and therefore it is evaluated as an appropriate driving operation. Therefore, the present routine is ended in the case where a negative determination is made in step S603. The threshold value in step S603 and the threshold value in step S108 may be the same value or different values.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the driving operation of the driver is evaluated based on the driving operation based on the control of the control unit 100 during the automatic driving, the accuracy of the evaluation of the driving operation of the driver during the manual driving can be further improved by taking into account the other vehicle data.

In the present embodiment, when the server 30 provides the other vehicle data to the first vehicle 10A, the other vehicle data may be provided in association with a record in which the time zone in which the other vehicle data is acquired is the same as the current time zone. For example, the driving operation tendency of the driver may be different between a peak time on a weekday and a leisure time on a holiday because the traffic volume is different. By providing other vehicle data corresponding to such a change in the amount of traffic, the accuracy of the evaluation of the driving operation by the driver during manual driving can be further improved. In addition, other vehicle data to be provided may be determined according to other data that affects the driving operation such as weather.

In the present embodiment, the determination using the other vehicle data is performed after the affirmative determination is made in step S108, but the reference data may be changed using the other vehicle data instead. For example, when a plurality of other vehicle data showing the same tendency are acquired at the same point as the current point of the first vehicle 10A, the process of step S108 may be executed using the average data thereof as the reference data. In this case, before the process of step S108 is executed, the reference data is transmitted from the server 30 to the first vehicle 10A. In the server 30, referring to the vehicle information DB311, in the case where there are a plurality of vehicles 10 whose evaluation results are inappropriate at the same position and the pieces of detection data are a predetermined similarity degree, the average value of the pieces of detection data may be found and set as the reference data of the position.

< embodiment 3 >

In the present embodiment, evaluation of driving operation is performed in consideration of the reliability of reference data. Here, the reference data is determined based on the detection values of the sensor group 110, but the accuracy of the sensor group 110 may vary. For example, when the environment information sensor 112 is used to detect the situation around the vehicle 10, the accuracy of image recognition may be reduced in the case of a backlight, at night, in rainy weather, or the like. In addition, in rainy weather, the detection accuracy of the millimeter wave radar may be lowered. Therefore, the calculated value of the reference data may vary according to the change of the environment. This also affects the evaluation of the driving operation. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the threshold is corrected in accordance with the reliability of the reference data. For example, the lower the reliability, the larger the threshold for the difference between the detection data and the reference data becomes, so that it becomes difficult to determine "inappropriate" in the evaluation of the driving operation. That is, the degree of deviation of the detection data from the reference data is allowed even if it becomes larger. The reliability of the reference data may be related to the reliability of the sensor group 110. The reliability of the reference data may be set according to, for example, a time zone or weather. The reliability may be obtained in advance by experiments, simulations, or the like. The relationship between the time zone or weather and the reliability can be stored in the auxiliary storage unit 33. In addition, the time zone or the weather is an example of the condition of the periphery of the vehicle. For example, it is considered that the condition around the vehicle or the road condition is a predetermined approximation degree in the same time zone or the same weather.

Fig. 15 is a flowchart of the processing when the threshold value is corrected according to the reliability of the sensor group 110. The processing before step S107 is the same as the flowchart shown in fig. 3, and therefore, illustration and description are omitted. In the flowchart shown in fig. 15, the process proceeds to step S701 when the process of step S107 is completed. In step S701, the reliability of the sensor group 110 is acquired. The relationship between the reliability and the time zone and the weather is stored in the auxiliary storage unit 33 in advance. Therefore, reliability is obtained according to the time zone and the weather. The weather may be acquired by the environmental information sensor 112, the server 30, or another server that provides information on the weather. Next, in step S702, the threshold value used in the evaluation of the driving operation is corrected in accordance with the reliability. The relationship between the reliability and the correction amount or correction coefficient of the threshold is stored in the auxiliary storage unit 33 in advance. Furthermore, the reliability versus threshold need not be linear. Depending on the reliability, the threshold value may be continuously changed or may be changed stepwise. In addition, the threshold value may be increased as the reliability is lower. Then, when the process of step S702 is completed, the process proceeds to step S108.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the driving operation of the driver is evaluated based on the driving operation based on the control of the control unit 100 during the automatic driving, the threshold value is varied according to the reliability of the reference data, and therefore the accuracy of the evaluation of the driving operation of the driver during the manual driving can be further improved.

In embodiment 2, the reliability described in embodiment 3 can also be used. For example, in embodiment 2, the evaluation of the driving operation using the other vehicle data may be performed only when the reliability of the reference data is less than the predetermined reliability. Since there is a possibility that the evaluation of the driving operation may be erroneous when the reliability of the sensor group 110 is low, the accuracy of the evaluation of the driving operation can be improved if the driving operation is evaluated with reference to other vehicle data. The predetermined reliability is set to be a reliability with which the driving operation can be evaluated correctly.

< other embodiment >

The above embodiment is merely an example, and the present disclosure can be implemented by appropriately changing the embodiments without departing from the gist thereof. In the above embodiment, the vehicle 10 includes the manual control unit 1011, the situation recognizing unit 1012, the automatic control unit 1013, and the evaluation unit 1014, but some or all of these functional components may be included in the server 30. For example, the evaluation of the driving operation of the driver may be performed by the server 30. In this case, information relating to the warning may be transmitted to the vehicle 10 by the server 30 in a case where it is determined that the driving operation is inappropriate.

In addition, although the above embodiment describes an example in which the threshold is varied, the same evaluation can be performed even if the detection data or the reference data is varied instead.

The processes and means described in the present disclosure can be freely combined and implemented as long as no technical contradiction occurs.

Note that the processing described as being performed by 1 device may be shared and executed by a plurality of devices. Alternatively, the processing described as being performed by a different apparatus may be executed by 1 apparatus. In a computer system, what hardware configuration (server configuration) implements each function can be flexibly changed.

The present disclosure can also be implemented by supplying a computer program in which the functions described in the above embodiments are installed to a computer, and reading out and executing the program by 1 or more processors included in the computer. Such a computer program may be provided to the computer by a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that can be connected to a system bus of the computer, or may be provided to the computer via a network. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium includes, for example, any type of disk such as a magnetic disk (floppy disk (registered trademark), Hard Disk Drive (HDD), etc.), an optical disk (CD-ROM, DVD disk, blu-ray disk, etc.), etc., a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), an EPROM, an EEPROM, a magnetic card, a flash memory, an optical card, any type of media suitable for storing electronic commands.