IP Library Granted Patent US 12,643,563
Granted Patent B2
US 12,643,563 · App. 18/684,202 · Granted Jun 2, 2026

In-vehicle device, traffic information creating device, notifying method, traffic information creating method, notifying program, and traffic information creating program

Inventors: Junji Yano (Osaka, JP); Tsuyoshi Haga (Osaka, JP)
Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
B60W50/14G08G1/0112G08G1/0133B60W2420/403B60W2552/10
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,643,563
App. No.
18/684,202
Granted
Jun 2, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

An in-vehicle device includes: a first determination unit that determines whether a vehicle has crossed a right-side boundary of a traveling lane; a second determination unit that determines whether the vehicle has crossed a left-side boundary of the traveling lane; an operation determination unit that determines whether a drive operation performed on the vehicle by a driver satisfies a predetermined condition; a deviation determination unit that determines that the vehicle does not deviate from the traveling lane; and a count unit that counts the number of times determination has been made that the vehicle has crossed-the right-side boundary of the traveling lane and that the vehicle does not deviate from the traveling lane, and the number of times determination has been made that the vehicle has crossed the left-side boundary of the traveling lane and that the vehicle does not deviate from the traveling lane.

Claims (73)

1 . An in-vehicle device installed in a vehicle, comprising:

a first determination unit configured to determine whether or not the vehicle has crossed or may possibly cross a right-side boundary of a traveling lane that is a lane on which the vehicle is traveling, based on a captured image that shows a road around the vehicle;

a second determination unit configured to determine whether or not the vehicle has crossed or may possibly cross a left-side boundary of the traveling lane, based on the captured image that shows the road around the vehicle;

an operation determination unit configured to determine whether or not a drive operation performed on the vehicle by a driver satisfies a predetermined condition, when the first determination unit or the second determination unit has determined that the vehicle has crossed or may possibly cross the boundary of the traveling lane;

a deviation determination unit configured to determine that the vehicle does not deviate from the traveling lane, when the operation determination unit has determined that the drive operation satisfies the predetermined condition;

a count unit configured to count

the number of times the first determination unit has determined that the vehicle has crossed or may possibly cross the right-side boundary of the traveling lane and the deviation determination unit has determined that the vehicle does not deviate from the traveling lane, and

the number of times the second determination unit has determined that the vehicle has crossed or may possibly cross the left-side boundary of the traveling lane and the deviation determination unit has determined that the vehicle does not deviate from the traveling lane; and

a notification unit configured to notify a processing device outside the vehicle of a count value of the count unit.

2 . The in-vehicle device according to claim 1 , wherein

in order to determine whether or not the drive operation satisfies the predetermined condition, the operation determination unit determines whether or not at least one of conditions as follows is satisfied: an abrupt steering wheel operation performed by the driver; an abrupt braking operation performed by the driver; an abrupt accelerating operation performed by the driver; and an operation of a direction indicator performed by the driver.

3 . The in-vehicle device according to claim 2 , wherein

the notification unit further notifies the processing device of probe information indicating a detection result of a position of the vehicle and a detection time of the position.

4 . The in-vehicle device according to claim 2 , further comprising a lane determination unit configured to, when detecting a junction, with another road, in a road on which the vehicle travels, determine a lane on which the vehicle travels, wherein

the notification unit further notifies the processing device of a determination result by the lane determination unit.

5 . The in-vehicle device according to claim 2 , further comprising a lane determination unit configured to determine a lane on which the vehicle travels, and store a determination result in a storage unit, wherein

when detecting a change in the number of lanes at a junction, with another road, in a road on which the vehicle travels, the lane determination unit deletes a past determination result stored in the storage unit, determines the lane on which the vehicle travels, and stores the determination result in the storage unit,

the count unit resets the count value when the lane determination unit has detected a change in the number of lanes, and

the notification unit further notifies the processing device of the determination result by the lane determination unit.

6 . The in-vehicle device according to claim 3 , further comprising a lane determination unit configured to, when detecting a junction, with another road, in a road on which the vehicle travels, determine a lane on which the vehicle travels, wherein

the notification unit further notifies the processing device of a determination result by the lane determination unit.

7 . The in-vehicle device according to claim 3 , further comprising a lane determination unit configured to determine a lane on which the vehicle travels, and store a determination result in a storage unit, wherein

when detecting a change in the number of lanes at a junction, with another road, in a road on which the vehicle travels, the lane determination unit deletes a past determination result stored in the storage unit, determines the lane on which the vehicle travels, and stores the determination result in the storage unit,

the count unit resets the count value when the lane determination unit has detected a change in the number of lanes, and

the notification unit further notifies the processing device of the determination result by the lane determination unit.

8 . The in-vehicle device according to claim 1 , wherein

the notification unit further notifies the processing device of probe information indicating a detection result of a position of the vehicle and a detection time of the position.

9 . The in-vehicle device according to claim 8 , further comprising a lane determination unit configured to, when detecting a junction, with another road, in a road on which the vehicle travels, determine a lane on which the vehicle travels, wherein

the notification unit further notifies the processing device of a determination result by the lane determination unit.

10 . The in-vehicle device according to claim 8 , further comprising a lane determination unit configured to determine a lane on which the vehicle travels, and store a determination result in a storage unit, wherein

when detecting a change in the number of lanes at a junction, with another road, in a road on which the vehicle travels, the lane determination unit deletes a past determination result stored in the storage unit, determines the lane on which the vehicle travels, and stores the determination result in the storage unit,

the count unit resets the count value when the lane determination unit has detected a change in the number of lanes, and

the notification unit further notifies the processing device of the determination result by the lane determination unit.

11 . The in-vehicle device according to claim 1 , further comprising a lane determination unit configured to, when detecting a junction, with another road, in a road on which the vehicle travels, determine a lane on which the vehicle travels, wherein

the notification unit further notifies the processing device of a determination result by the lane determination unit.

12 . The in-vehicle device according to claim 11 , wherein

the lane determination unit determines the lane on which the vehicle travels, based on an image captured by an imaging unit installed in the vehicle.

13 . The in-vehicle device according to claim 11 , wherein

the lane determination unit determines the lane on which the vehicle travels, based on a current position of the vehicle and map information.

14 . The in-vehicle device according to claim 11 , wherein

each time the vehicle enters an intersection, the lane determination unit determines the lane on which the vehicle travels, based on an image captured by an imaging unit installed in the vehicle.

15 . The in-vehicle device according to claim 1 , further comprising a lane determination unit configured to determine a lane on which the vehicle travels, and store a determination result in a storage unit, wherein

when detecting a change in the number of lanes at a junction, with another road, in a road on which the vehicle travels, the lane determination unit deletes a past determination result stored in the storage unit, determines the lane on which the vehicle travels, and stores the determination result in the storage unit,

the count unit resets the count value when the lane determination unit has detected a change in the number of lanes, and

the notification unit further notifies the processing device of the determination result by the lane determination unit.

16 . The in-vehicle device according to claim 15 , wherein

the lane determination unit determines the lane on which the vehicle travels, based on an image captured by an imaging unit installed in the vehicle.

17 . A traffic information creating device comprising:

a count acquisition unit configured to acquire, from a target vehicle, a count value based on at least one of

the number of times a determination unit, which is configured to determine whether or not the target vehicle deviates from a traveling lane that is a lane on which the target vehicle is traveling, has determined, based on a captured image showing a road around the target vehicle, that the target vehicle has crossed or may possibly cross a right-side boundary of the traveling lane, and has determined that the target vehicle does not deviate from the traveling lane because a drive operation performed on the target vehicle by a driver satisfies a predetermined condition, and

the number of times the determination unit has determined, based on the captured image showing the road around the target vehicle, that the target vehicle has crossed or may possibly cross a left-side boundary of the traveling lane, and has determined that the target vehicle does not deviate from the traveling lane because the drive operation satisfies the predetermined condition;

a lane acquisition unit configured to acquire lane information indicating a lane on which the target vehicle travels; and

a creation unit configured to create traffic information including information about a lane on which the target vehicle has traveled, based on the count value acquired by the count acquisition unit and the lane information acquired by the lane acquisition unit.

18 . The traffic information creating device according to claim 17 , wherein

the count acquisition unit further acquires identification information of the target vehicle,

the traffic information creating device further includes an image acquisition unit configured to acquire an image of a vehicle captured by a roadside device,

the lane acquisition unit creates the lane information, based on the image acquired by the image acquisition unit and the identification information acquired by the count acquisition unit, and

the creation unit creates the traffic information, based on the count value and the lane information created by the lane acquisition unit.

19 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having, stored therein, a notifying program used in an in-vehicle device installed in a vehicle, the program causing a computer to function as:

a first determination unit configured to determine whether or not the vehicle has crossed or may possibly cross a right-side boundary of a traveling lane that is a lane on which the vehicle is traveling, based on a captured image that shows a road around the vehicle;

a second determination unit configured to determine whether or not the vehicle has crossed or may possibly cross a left-side boundary of the traveling lane, based on the captured image that shows the road around the vehicle;

an operation determination unit configured to determine whether or not a drive operation performed on the vehicle by a driver satisfies a predetermined condition, when the first determination unit or the second determination unit has determined that the vehicle has crossed or may possibly cross the boundary of the traveling lane;

a deviation determination unit configured to determine that the vehicle does not deviate from the traveling lane, when the operation determination unit has determined that the drive operation satisfies the predetermined condition;

a count unit configured to count

the number of times the first determination unit has determined that the vehicle has crossed or may possibly cross the right-side boundary of the traveling lane and the deviation determination unit has determined that the vehicle does not deviate from the traveling lane, and

the number of times the second determination unit has determined that the vehicle has crossed or may possibly cross the left-side boundary of the traveling lane and the deviation determination unit has determined that the vehicle does not deviate from the traveling lane; and

a notification unit configured to notify a processing device outside the vehicle of a count value of the count unit.

20 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having, stored therein, a traffic information creating program used in a traffic information creating device, the program causing a computer to function as:

a count acquisition unit configured to acquire, from a target vehicle, a count value based on at least one of

the number of times a determination unit, which is configured to determine whether or not the target vehicle deviates from a traveling lane that is a lane on which the target vehicle is traveling, has determined, based on a captured image showing a road around the target vehicle, that the target vehicle has crossed or may possibly cross a right-side boundary of the traveling lane, and has determined that the target vehicle does not deviate from the traveling lane because a drive operation performed on the target vehicle by a driver satisfies a predetermined condition, and

the number of times the determination unit has determined, based on the captured image showing the road around the target vehicle, that the target vehicle has crossed or may possibly cross a left-side boundary of the traveling lane, and has determined that the target vehicle does not deviate from the traveling lane because the drive operation satisfies the predetermined condition;

a lane acquisition unit configured to acquire lane information indicating a lane on which the target vehicle travels; and

a creation unit configured to create traffic information including information about a lane on which the target vehicle has traveled, based on the count value acquired by the count acquisition unit and the lane information acquired by the lane acquisition unit.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 16, 2024
From: YANO, JUNJI; HAGA, TSUYOSHI
To: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
Reel/Frame 066481/0514 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2021-133907 · Aug 19, 2021 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20240367671A1 · Nov 7, 2024
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