阅读说明：本技术 车辆通信装置和程序 (Vehicle communication device and program ) 是由 村松大辅 桥本刚儿 稻野贵文 宫崎卓人 鹿岛直道 盐见达郎 行田尚史 于 2019-12-25 设计创作，主要内容包括：在车辆通信装置(10)的车辆信息获取部(36a)继续获取转向灯开关(20)的开启信号(Son)的情况下,当方向盘(24)的舵角(θ)的绝对值(|θ|)在90°以上且车速(V)在阈值(Vtht)以上时,话语确定部(36b)从被存储在话语存储部(38)的A组的话语中选择与开启信号(Son)、舵角(θ)及车速(V)对应的话语。在此之后,在舵角(θ)或者车速(V)发生变化的情况下,话语确定部(36b)从B组的话语中选择与舵角(θ)或车速(V)的变化对应的话语。(When a vehicle information acquisition unit (36a) of a vehicle communication device (10) continues to acquire an on signal (Son) of a turn signal switch (20), and when the absolute value (| θ |) of the steering angle (θ) of a steering wheel (24) is 90 ° or more and the vehicle speed (V) is a threshold value (Vtht) or more, a speech determination unit (36b) selects a speech corresponding to the on signal (Son), the steering angle (θ) and the vehicle speed (V) from among a group of speech stored in a speech storage unit (38). After that, when the steering angle (theta) or the vehicle speed (V) changes, the speech determination unit (36B) selects a speech corresponding to the change in the steering angle (theta) or the vehicle speed (V) from the speech of the group B.)

1. A vehicle communication device (10) that outputs a voice based on vehicle information to an occupant (30) of a vehicle (12), the vehicle communication device (10) comprising:

a vehicle information acquisition unit (36a) that acquires, from an ECU (28) of the vehicle, at least one type of vehicle information from among an on signal (Son) or an off signal (Soff) of a turn signal switch (20) of the vehicle, a steering angle (θ) of a steering wheel (24) of the vehicle, and a current vehicle speed (V) of the vehicle;

an utterance storage unit (38) that stores a plurality of utterances;

a speech selecting section (36b) that selects a speech corresponding to the vehicle information from among the plurality of utterances stored in the utterance storing section; and

an output unit (42) that outputs the selected utterance as speech into the vehicle,

the speech selection section performs the following processing:

when the vehicle information acquisition unit continues to acquire the turn-on signal, and when the steering angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined angle or within a predetermined angle range and the vehicle speed is equal to or greater than a threshold value (Vtht, Vthc), selecting a 1 st word corresponding to the turn-on signal, the steering angle, and the vehicle speed from among the words,

when the rudder angle or the vehicle speed changes, a 2 nd speech which is different from the 1 st speech and corresponds to the change of the rudder angle or the vehicle speed is selected from the plurality of the speech.

2. The vehicle communication device according to claim 1,

the speech selecting section selects the 2 nd speech from a plurality of the utterances when the rudder angle or the vehicle speed is changed during the speech output of the 1 st speech by the output section,

the output section outputs the selected 2 nd utterance as a voice in preference to the 1 st utterance.

3. The vehicle communication device according to claim 1 or 2,

an occurrence rate (Rga to Rgc) is given to the plurality of utterances, and the occurrence rate (Rga to Rgc) indicates a frequency at which the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit is output as voice from the output unit.

4. The vehicle communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

further comprising an image storage unit (40), the image storage unit (40) storing a plurality of images (46) corresponding to a plurality of utterances,

the utterance selection section selects an utterance corresponding to the vehicle information from among a plurality of the utterances stored in the utterance storage section, and selects an image corresponding to the vehicle information from among a plurality of the images stored in the image storage section,

the output portion outputs the selected utterance as a voice into the vehicle, and displays the selected image on a screen (42 b).

5. The vehicle communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the speech storage unit includes: a 1 st storage area (38a) that stores a plurality of the 1 st utterances as a 1 st utterance group; a 2 nd storage area (38b) that stores a plurality of the 2 nd utterances as a 2 nd utterance group; and a 3 rd storage area (38c) that stores a plurality of 3 rd utterances corresponding to the turn-on signal as a 3 rd utterance group,

the utterance selection section selects a 3 rd utterance corresponding to the turn-on signal from the 3 rd utterance group in the 3 rd storage area in a case where the vehicle information acquisition section initially acquires the turn-on signal, the output section outputs the selected 3 rd utterance as a voice,

when the vehicle information acquiring unit continues to acquire the turn-on signal, and when the rudder angle is equal to or greater than the predetermined angle or within the predetermined angle range and the vehicle speed is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the utterance selecting unit selects a 1 st utterance corresponding to the turn-on signal, the rudder angle, and the vehicle speed from the 1 st utterance group in the 1 st storage area, and the output unit outputs the selected 1 st utterance as speech,

when the rudder angle or the vehicle speed is changed during the process of outputting the 1 st speech from the output part, the speech selecting part selects the 2 nd speech corresponding to the turn-on signal and the rudder angle or the vehicle speed from the 2 nd speech group in the 2 nd storage area, and the output part outputs the selected 2 nd speech as speech instead of the 1 st speech.

6. The vehicle communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,

when the rudder angle is smaller than the predetermined angle or the rudder angle exceeds the predetermined angle range, the output of the speech from the output unit is stopped, or the speech selection unit selects a speech different from the 1 st speech and the 2 nd speech from among the plurality of the speech, and the output unit outputs the selected speech as speech.

7. The vehicle communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,

the 1 st word is a word for notifying the occupant of a left-right turn or lane change of the vehicle based on the operation of the steering wheel and the turn lamp switch by the occupant,

the 2 nd utterance is an utterance for alerting the occupant that the rudder angle or the vehicle speed is changing.

8. The vehicle communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,

the vehicle communication device is a mobile device (14) located within the vehicle,

the output part is a speaker (42a) and a screen of the mobile device.

9. A program for causing a vehicle communication device to function so as to output a voice based on vehicle information to an occupant of a vehicle,

the vehicle communication device includes:

a vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires, from an ECU of the vehicle, at least one type of vehicle information of an on signal or an off signal of a turn signal switch included in the vehicle, a steering angle of a steering wheel included in the vehicle, and a current vehicle speed of the vehicle;

an utterance storage section that stores a plurality of utterances;

a speech selecting section that selects a speech corresponding to the vehicle information from a plurality of the utterances stored in the utterance storing section; and

an output section that outputs the selected utterance as a voice into the vehicle,

the program causes the speech selection section to function in the following manner:

selecting a 1 st utterance corresponding to the on signal, the rudder angle, and the vehicle speed from among the utterances when the rudder angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined angle or within a predetermined angle range and the vehicle speed is equal to or greater than a threshold value while the vehicle information acquisition unit continues to acquire the on signal,

when the rudder angle or the vehicle speed changes, a 2 nd speech which is different from the 1 st speech and corresponds to the change of the rudder angle or the vehicle speed is selected from the plurality of the speech.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a vehicle communication device that outputs a voice based on vehicle information to an occupant of a vehicle, and a program for causing the vehicle communication device to function.

Background

Conventionally, in order to realize communication between a vehicle and a driver and realize safe driving so as to attach to the vehicle, there has been developed a technique of acquiring vehicle information of the vehicle, displaying an image of an anthropomorphic agent (agent) such as a person (character) on a screen based on the acquired vehicle information, or outputting a voice of the agent from a speaker. For example, japanese patent laid-open No. 3873386 discloses a technique of acquiring at least one of the current position of the vehicle, the conditions of each part of the vehicle, and the environment of each part of the vehicle, and determining the behavior (image and voice) of the agent from the acquired vehicle information.

Disclosure of Invention

However, in the technique of japanese patent laid-open No. 3873386, for example, at the start of one action of the vehicle such as a left-right turn or a lane change of the vehicle, the agent is sounded only once or an image of the agent is displayed once on the screen. That is, when the driver operates the steering wheel or the turn signal of the vehicle in accordance with the traffic situation, if there is a change in the vehicle information during one operation of the vehicle, the sound is emitted only once at first. Therefore, even when the vehicle information such as the steering angle of the steering wheel, the turn signal, and the vehicle speed changes from moment to moment, the sound of the agent does not change. Accordingly, it is difficult for the occupant such as the driver to have a further sense of attachment to the agent and the vehicle.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle communication device and a program that can improve a feeling of attachment of a passenger to a vehicle and improve awareness of the passenger of safe driving.

An aspect of the present invention is a vehicle communication device that outputs a voice based on vehicle information to an occupant of a vehicle, the vehicle communication device including: a vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires, from an ECU of the vehicle, at least one type of vehicle information of an on signal or an off signal of a turn signal switch included in the vehicle, a steering angle of a steering wheel included in the vehicle, and a current vehicle speed of the vehicle; an utterance storage section that stores a plurality of utterances; a speech selecting section that selects a speech corresponding to the vehicle information from a plurality of the utterances stored in the utterance storing section; and an output unit that outputs the selected utterance as a voice into the vehicle.

When the vehicle information acquiring unit continues to acquire the on signal, the utterance selecting unit selects a 1 st utterance corresponding to the on signal, the rudder angle, and the vehicle speed from among the plurality of utterances when the rudder angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined angle or within a predetermined angle range and the vehicle speed is equal to or greater than a threshold value, and selects a 2 nd utterance different from the 1 st utterance and corresponding to a change in the rudder angle or the vehicle speed from among the plurality of utterances when the rudder angle or the vehicle speed is changed.

Another aspect of the present invention is a program for causing a vehicle communication device to function to output a voice based on vehicle information to an occupant of a vehicle, the vehicle communication device including: a vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires, from an ECU of the vehicle, at least one type of vehicle information of an on signal or an off signal of a turn signal switch included in the vehicle, a steering angle of a steering wheel included in the vehicle, and a current vehicle speed of the vehicle; an utterance storage section that stores a plurality of utterances; a speech selecting section that selects a speech corresponding to the vehicle information from a plurality of the utterances stored in the utterance storing section; and an output unit that outputs the selected utterance as a voice into the vehicle.

And the program causes the speech selection section to function in the following manner: when the vehicle information acquiring unit continues to acquire the turn-on signal, when the steering angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined angle or within a predetermined angle range and the vehicle speed is equal to or greater than a threshold value, a 1 st word corresponding to the turn-on signal, the steering angle, and the vehicle speed is selected from the plurality of words, and when the steering angle or the vehicle speed changes, a 2 nd word that is different from the 1 st word and corresponds to a change in the steering angle or the vehicle speed is selected from the plurality of words.

According to the present invention, during the traveling of the vehicle, when there is a change in the situation after the speech output of the 1 st speech, for example, when there is a pedestrian ahead, an obstacle ahead, traveling at an irregular intersection (for example, an intersection with an irregular curve), or an operation change of turning left or right or changing lanes, the speech output of the 2 nd speech is performed. Accordingly, the driver notices the 2 nd word, so that the feeling of attachment to the vehicle is improved. In addition, the vehicle can become loving, and awareness of safe driving can be increased.

When the steering angle of the steering wheel or the vehicle speed changes due to the operation habit of the driver, the 2 nd speech is output by voice, so that the driver can be reminded of the change of the steering angle or the vehicle speed. Accordingly, the driver can be reminded to correct the habit, and the skill of safe driving can be improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of a communication device according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a group a utterances stored in the group a storage area of the utterance storage section of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of B-group utterances stored in the B-group storage area of the utterance storage section of fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram of C-group utterances stored in the C-group storage area of the utterance storage section of fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of screen display of the output unit of fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a vehicle turning right and left at an intersection (embodiment 1).

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of embodiment 1.

Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a steering angle of the steering wheel.

Fig. 9 is a timing chart showing a change in steering angle of the steering wheel in embodiment 1.

Fig. 10 is a time chart showing a change in vehicle speed in embodiment 1.

Fig. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a lane change of a vehicle (embodiment 2).

Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of embodiment 2.

Fig. 13 is a timing chart showing a change in steering angle of the steering wheel in embodiment 2.

Fig. 14 is a time chart showing changes in vehicle speed in embodiment 2.

Detailed Description

The following describes a vehicle communication device and a program according to the present invention, with reference to the drawings, by way of example of preferred embodiments.

[1. Structure of the present embodiment ]

The configuration of the vehicular communication device 10 according to the present embodiment (hereinafter also referred to as the communication device 10 according to the present embodiment) will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 5.

The communication device 10 is applied to a mobile device 14 located within a vehicle 12. Fig. 5 illustrates a case where the vehicle 12 is a four-wheeled vehicle, but may be another type of vehicle such as a two-wheeled vehicle or a three-wheeled vehicle. In fig. 5, the mobile device 14 is illustrated as a smartphone, but may be another type of mobile device.

As shown in fig. 1, the vehicle 12 includes a turn signal 16 as a direction indicator, a turn signal lever 18, a turn signal switch 20, a speedometer 22, a steering wheel 24, a steering angle sensor 26, an ECU (electronic control unit) 28, and the like.

When the driver 30 (see fig. 5) who is a passenger operates the turn signal operation lever 18 when the vehicle 12 turns left or right or changes lanes, the turn signal Son (vehicle information) for instructing to blink is output from the turn signal switch 20 to the turn signal 16, and the turn signal 16 blinks (turns on). On the other hand, when the driver 30 operates the turn signal lever 18 again after turning left or right or changing lanes, the turn signal Soff (vehicle information) for instructing the stop is output from the turn signal switch 20 to the turn signal 16, and the blinking of the turn signal 16 is stopped (turned off).

The speedometer 22 sequentially detects the vehicle speed V (vehicle information) of the vehicle 12. The steering angle sensor 26 sequentially detects a steering angle θ (vehicle information) of the steering wheel 24 steered by the driver 30.

The winker switch 20, the speedometer 22, and the steering angle sensor 26 are electrically connected to the ECU28 through a communication line 32 such as a CAN (Controller Area Network). The ECU28 controls various electrical components in the vehicle 12, and acquires various information (vehicle information) from the various electrical components via the communication line 32. In this case, the winker switch 20 sequentially outputs an on signal Son or an off signal Soff to the ECU28 through the communication line 32. The vehicle speed meter 22 sequentially outputs the detection result of the vehicle speed V to the ECU28 through the communication line 32. The steering angle sensor 26 sequentially outputs the detection result of the steering angle θ of the steering wheel 24 to the ECU28 through the communication line 32.

The mobile device 14 can send and receive various information to and from the ECU28 via the communication line 34. The communication line 34 may be a CAN or other kind of communication line 32.

The portable device 14 includes a processor 36 such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a speech storage Unit 38 and an image storage Unit 40 as memories, and an output Unit 42 as a speaker 42a and a screen 42b of the portable device 14. The processor 36 implements the functions of the vehicle information acquisition unit 36a, the speech determination unit 36b (speech selection unit), and the control unit 36c by executing the program according to the present embodiment stored in a memory (not shown).

The vehicle information acquiring unit 36a acquires at least one of the vehicle information of the on signal Son or off signal Soff, the vehicle speed V, and the steering angle θ from the ECU28 through the communication line 34.

The utterance storage unit 38 stores a plurality of utterances that can be output as speech from a speaker 42a as the output unit 42. The plurality of utterances are utterances by an arbitrary person 44 (see fig. 5), for example. The utterance storage section 38 has an a-group storage area 38a (1 st storage area), a B-group storage area 38B (2 nd storage area), and a C-group storage area 38C (3 rd storage area) in order to store a plurality of utterances.

The a-group storage area 38a stores, as a group a of words (1 st word group), a plurality of words (1 st word) corresponding to the on signal Son, the steering angle θ, and the vehicle speed V, which are the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 36a when the vehicle 12 makes a left-right turn or a lane change. That is, the words of the group a are words corresponding to the above-described vehicle information, and are words for notifying the driver 30 of the fact that the vehicle 12 is turning left or right or changing lanes based on the operation of the steering wheel 24 and the turn lamp operating lever 18 (turn lamp switch 20) by the driver 30. Therefore, the driver 30 can be prompted to specify an operation of turning the vehicle 12 left or right or changing lanes.

Fig. 2 illustrates utterances of group a stored in the group a storage area 38 a. Fig. 2 shows, as an example, a plurality of words for notifying the driver 30 of operations of the steering wheel 24 and the turn signal switch 20 by the driver 30 (see fig. 5) when the vehicle 12 (see fig. 1) is turned right or the lane is changed to the right. These utterances are given an occurrence rate Rga indicating a frequency at which the vehicle information on the on signal Son, the steering angle θ and the vehicle speed V acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 36a is output as voice from the speaker 42a as the output unit 42. That is, the occurrence rate Rga in the group a utterances means the frequency of any of the group a utterances that can be output as voices among all the voices that can be output from the speaker 42a based on the pieces of vehicle information.

When the steering angle θ or the vehicle speed V as the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquiring unit 36a changes during a left-right turn or a lane change of the vehicle 12, the B-group storage area 38B stores a plurality of utterances (2 nd utterance) corresponding to the changed steering angle θ or vehicle speed V as utterances of the B-group (2 nd utterance group). That is, the words in the group B are words corresponding to the above-described vehicle information, and are words for reminding the driver 30 that the steering angle θ or the vehicle speed V is changing during left-right turning or lane changing.

The case where the steering angle θ or the vehicle speed V changes means, for example, a case where there is a pedestrian ahead, a case where there is an obstacle ahead, a case where the vehicle travels at the intersection 52 where there is an irregular turn or the like, a case where there is an operation change in a left-right turn or a lane change, or a case where the steering angle θ or the vehicle speed V changes due to an operation habit of the driver 30.

Fig. 3 illustrates an example of utterances of the B group stored in the B group storage area 38B. These words are also given a rate Rgb of occurrence of a change in the steering angle θ or the vehicle speed V (vehicle information) acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 36a (see fig. 1). The occurrence rate Rgb in the utterances of the group B means the frequency of an arbitrary utterance of the group B that is output as a voice among all voices that can be output from the speaker 42a according to the change of the pieces of vehicle information.

The C-group storage area 38C stores a plurality of utterances (3 rd utterance) corresponding to the on signal Son as the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 36a when the vehicle 12 makes a left-right turn or a lane change as utterances of the C-group (3 rd utterance group). That is, the words of the group C are words corresponding to the above-described vehicle information, and are words for notifying the driver 30 that the turn signal 16 blinks based on the operation of the turn signal operation lever 18 (turn signal switch 20) by the driver 30.

Fig. 4 illustrates an example of utterances of the C group stored in the C group storage area 38C. Fig. 4 illustrates, as an example, a plurality of words for notifying the driver 30 that the right turn lamp 16 is blinked by the operation of the turn lamp switch 20 by the driver 30 (see fig. 5) when the vehicle 12 (see fig. 1) makes a right turn or a right lane change. These words are also given the occurrence rate Rgc of the on signal Son (vehicle information) acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 36a (see fig. 1). The occurrence rate Rgc in the utterances of the group C means the frequency of an arbitrary utterance of the group C that is output as a voice among all voices that can be output from the speaker 42a according to the vehicle information.

The image storage unit 40 stores images 46 corresponding to a plurality of utterances stored in the utterance storage unit 38, for example, images 46 corresponding to utterances spoken by a person 44 (see fig. 5) as a virtual agent. As described above, a plurality of utterances correspond to the vehicle information. Therefore, the plurality of images 46 stored in the image storage unit 40 are also images corresponding to the vehicle information.

The utterance determining section 36b selects an utterance corresponding to the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquiring section 36a from among a plurality of utterances stored in the utterance storage section 38, and determines the selected utterance as an utterance output as voice from the output section 42. That is, the utterance determination section 36B selects an utterance corresponding to the acquired vehicle information from the group a storage area 38a, the group B storage area 38B, or the group C storage area 38C. In addition, the utterance determination section 36b selects an image 46 corresponding to the acquired vehicle information from among the plurality of images 46 stored in the image storage section 40, and determines the selected image 46 as the image 46 displayed on the screen 42b of the output section 42. A specific method of selecting the words and images 46 corresponding to the vehicle information will be described later.

The control portion 36c controls the output portion 42 according to the result determined by the utterance determining portion 36b so as to output the determined utterance as speech into the vehicle 12, and displays the determined image 46 on the screen 42 b.

Fig. 5 illustrates an example of a screen display of the mobile device 14 disposed in the vehicle 12. The mobile equipment 14 is fixed to a retainer 50 disposed on an upper surface of the instrument panel 48 in a state where the screen 42b faces rearward (toward the driver 30). In this case, the image 46 of the person 44 is displayed on the screen 42b as the output unit 42 (see fig. 1). Therefore, the driver 30 can easily visually confirm the image 46 of the character 44, and can hear the voice (the utterance of the character 44) output from the speaker 42a of the mobile device 14.

[2. operation of the present embodiment ]

Next, the operations of the communication device 10 and the program according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 6 to 14. In this operation description, the description will be given with reference to fig. 1 to 5 as necessary. Here, as the operation of the communication device 10, the 1 st embodiment (see fig. 6 to 10) in the case where the vehicle 12 turns left and right at the intersection 52 and the 2 nd embodiment (see fig. 11 to 14) in the case where the vehicle 12 changes lanes will be described.

< 2.1 embodiment 1 >)

Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to fig. 6 to 10.

Fig. 6 illustrates an intersection 52 where the vehicle 12 makes a right-left turn. At the intersection 52, the 1 st road 54 and the 2 nd road 56 traveled by the vehicle 12 intersect. The embodiment 1 is an operation of the communication device 10 when the vehicle 12 traveling on the 1 st road 54 enters the intersection 52, makes a left-right turn, and then travels on the 2 nd road 56.

In this case, the vehicle 12 blinks (turns on) the winkers 16 at the 1 st point P1 in front of the intersection 52 on the 1 st road 54, and thereafter starts turning left and right at the 2 nd point P2 in the intersection 52 while keeping the on state of the winkers 16, and stops (turns off) the blinking of the winkers 16 at the 3 rd point P3 of the 2 nd road 56 passing through the intersection 52. Therefore, the vehicle 12 starts an operation at the 1 st point P1 and ends the operation at the 3 rd point P3 for one left-right turning operation.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of the operation of embodiment 1.

First, in a case where the vehicle 12 (see fig. 6) is traveling on the 1 st road 54 toward the intersection 52, the utterance determination unit 36b (see fig. 1) determines whether or not the winker lamp 16 is on (blinks) in step S1.

Here, when the vehicle 12 reaches the point 1P 1 and the driver 30 operates the winker operation lever 18, the winker switch 20 outputs the on signal Son to the winker 16, and the winker 16 blinks. In this case, the ECU28 acquires the turn-on signal Son from the turn lamp switch 20 through the communication line 32. The vehicle information acquisition portion 36a acquires the on signal Son from the ECU28 through the communication line 34, and outputs the acquired on signal Son to the utterance determination portion 36 b. Therefore, in the case where the turn-on signal Son is input from the vehicle information acquisition portion 36a, the utterance determination portion 36b recognizes that the turn lamp 16 has been turned on (step S1: YES).

In the next step S2, since the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition section 36a is the on signal Son, the utterance determination section 36b selects an arbitrary utterance corresponding to the on signal Son from the C-group storage area 38C of the utterance storage section 38, and determines the selected utterance as an utterance that should be output from the speaker 42a of the output section 42. In addition, the utterance determining section 36b selects an arbitrary image 46 corresponding to the on signal Son acquired by the vehicle information acquiring section 36a from the image storage section 40, and determines the selected image 46 as an utterance that should be displayed on the screen 42b of the output section 42. Accordingly, the control unit 36c controls the output unit 42 to output the specified utterance as speech from the speaker 42a of the output unit 42 into the vehicle 12, and to display the specified image 46 on the screen 42b (see fig. 1 and 5) of the output unit 42.

In the next step S3, the utterance determination section 36b determines whether the turn signal 16 is being kept in the on state, that is, whether the vehicle information acquisition section 36a is continuing to acquire the on signal Son. In this case, the vehicle 12 is passing through the 1 st point P1, but does not reach the 3 rd point P3. Therefore, the turn signal lamp 16 is kept on, while the vehicle information obtaining unit 36a continues to obtain the on signal Son from the ECU28 through the communication line 34 (step S3: YES). Therefore, the utterance determination section 36b proceeds to the next step S4.

The ECU28 sequentially acquires the on signal Son from the turn lamp switch 20 through the communication line 32, sequentially acquires the vehicle speed V of the vehicle 12 from the speedometer 22, and sequentially acquires the steering angle θ of the steering wheel 24 from the steering angle sensor 26. Therefore, in step S4, the vehicle information acquisition unit 36a acquires the current steering angle θ and the vehicle speed V. In step S4, the vehicle information acquisition unit 36a acquires the on signal Son together with the current steering angle θ and the vehicle speed V.

In step S5, the utterance determination unit 36b determines whether the absolute value | θ | of the steering angle θ acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 36a is 90 ° or more. That is, as shown in fig. 8, this is because the steering angle θ of the steering wheel 24 includes a forward steering angle θ when the steering wheel 24 is rotated clockwise on the paper surface of fig. 8 with respect to the neutral position (θ is 0 °), and a reverse steering angle θ when the steering wheel 24 is rotated counterclockwise. Further, the driver 30 can turn the vehicle 12 to the right by rotating the steering wheel 24 in the forward direction, while the driver 30 can turn the vehicle 12 to the left by rotating the steering wheel 24 in the reverse direction.

Here, when the vehicle 12 (see fig. 1 and 6) is traveling on the 1 st road 54 via the 1 st point P1 or the vehicle 12 has just entered the intersection 52, the absolute value | θ | of the steering angle θ is smaller than 90 ° (no in step S5), and therefore the speech determiner 36b determines that the steering angle θ required for making a right-left turn in the intersection 52 has not been reached, and proceeds to step S6 in fig. 7. In step S6, the utterance determination section 36b determines that output of the speech and the image 46 from the output section 42 is not performed, and returns to step S3. Therefore, until the vehicle 12 makes a right-left turn at the intersection 52, the communication device 10 repeatedly executes the processing of steps S3 to S6.

Next, the vehicle 12 enters the intersection 52, and at a point P2, the driver 30 turns the steering wheel 24 clockwise or counterclockwise in fig. 8 in order to turn the vehicle 12 left or right. Accordingly, when | θ | ≧ 90 ° (yes in step S5), the utterance determination unit 36b (see fig. 1) determines that the vehicle 12 (see fig. 1 and 6) has started a left-right turn at the intersection 52, and proceeds to step S7 in fig. 7.

In step S7, the utterance determination section 36b determines whether the vehicle speed V is equal to or higher than a threshold Vtht. The threshold Vtht is the minimum vehicle speed required for the vehicle 12 to make a right-and-left turn at the intersection 52. For example, Vtht is set to 10 km/h. If V ≧ Vtht (yes in step S7), the utterance specifying unit 36b determines that the vehicle 12 is turning left or right within the intersection 52, and the process proceeds to step S8.

In step S8, since the acquisition of the on signal Son is continued (step S3: yes), and | θ ≧ 90 ° (step S5: yes), and V ≧ Vtht (step S7: yes), the utterance determination section 36b determines to perform output of the voice and the image 46 from the output section 42.

Next, the speech determining section 36b selects the speech corresponding to the on signal Son, the rudder angle θ and the vehicle speed V from the a-group storage area 38a of the speech storing section 38, and determines the selected speech as the speech output from the output section 42 as voice. In addition, the speech determining portion 36b selects the image 46 corresponding to the on signal Son, the steering angle θ, and the vehicle speed V from the image storage portion 40, and determines the selected image 46 as the image 46 displayed on the screen 42b of the output portion 42.

Accordingly, the control unit 36c causes the speech determined by the speech determination unit 36b to be output as voice from the speaker 42a of the output unit 42 into the vehicle 12, and causes the image 46 determined by the speech determination unit 36b to be displayed on the screen 42b of the output unit 42 (see fig. 1 and 5). As a result, the driver 30 can recognize that the vehicle 12 is turning left or right by hearing the output voice and visually checking the displayed image 46.

In the next step S9, the utterance determination section 36b determines whether there is a change in the vehicle speed V or the steering angle θ during the left-right turning of the vehicle 12. Fig. 9 is a time chart illustrating a change in the steering angle θ, and fig. 10 is a time chart illustrating a change in the vehicle speed V.

In fig. 9, when | θ ≧ 90 °, the utterance specifying unit 36b (see fig. 1) determines that the steering angle θ has not changed if the absolute value | θ | of the steering angle θ at time t1 is within a range of ± Δ θ t (for example, ± Δ θ t is ± 2 °) with respect to the reference value as time elapses, with reference to the reference value | θ | of the steering angle θ ≧ 90 ° (step S9: no in fig. 7).

On the other hand, when the absolute value | θ | of the steering angle θ deviates from the range of ± Δ θ t with the elapse of time, for example, when the absolute value | θ | of the steering angle θ is smaller than the reference value by- Δ θ t at time t2, the speech determiner 36b determines that the steering angle θ is changing (step S9: yes).

The time t1 that becomes the starting point of the determination process on the steering angle θ is, for example, a time at which the vehicle 12 is temporarily stopped. Further, as the steering angle θ changes, for example, the driver 30 may excessively turn the steering wheel 24 clockwise or counterclockwise in fig. 8 while the vehicle 12 is turning left or right.

In fig. 10, when V ≧ Vtht or more, the utterance specifying unit 36b (see fig. 1) determines that the vehicle speed V has not changed if the vehicle speed V at time t3 is a reference value and the vehicle speed V is within a range of ± Δ Vt (for example, ± Δ Vt ± 2km/h) with respect to the reference value as time elapses (step S9: no in fig. 7).

On the other hand, when the vehicle speed V deviates from the ± Δ Vt range with the elapse of time, for example, when the vehicle speed V is smaller than the reference value by- Δ Vt at time t4, the speech determination unit 36b determines that the vehicle speed V is changing (step S9: yes).

The time t3 that becomes the starting point of the determination process on the vehicle speed V is, for example, a time at which the vehicle 12 reaches a predetermined vehicle speed. Further, as the vehicle speed V changes, for example, there is a case where the vehicle 12 decelerates or stops in the intersection 52 due to the oncoming vehicle while the vehicle 12 is turning left or right.

When it is determined in step S9 that the vehicle speed V or the steering angle θ has not changed (no in step S9), the routine proceeds to step S6, and the speech determiner 36b temporarily stops outputting the speech and the image 46 from the output unit 42. After that, the communication device 10 returns to step S3, and repeats the processing of steps S3 to S9.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S9 that the vehicle speed V or the steering angle θ has changed (yes in step S9), the process proceeds to step S10, and the speech specifying unit 36b specifies the speech and the image 46, which mean that the vehicle speed V or the steering angle θ has changed, to be output from the output unit 42.

Next, the utterance determination section 36B selects an utterance corresponding to the change in the vehicle speed V or the steering angle θ from the B-group storage area 38B of the utterance storage section 38, and determines the selected utterance as an utterance output as speech from the output section 42. In addition, the speech determining portion 36b selects the image 46 corresponding to the change in the vehicle speed V or the steering angle θ from the image storage portion 40, and determines the selected image 46 as the image 46 displayed on the screen 42b of the output portion 42.

Accordingly, the control unit 36c causes the speech determined by the speech determination unit 36b to be output as voice from the speaker 42a of the output unit 42 into the vehicle 12, and causes the image 46 determined by the speech determination unit 36b to be displayed on the screen 42b of the output unit 42 (see fig. 1 and 5). As a result, the driver 30 can recognize that the vehicle speed V or the steering angle θ has changed while the vehicle 12 is turning left or right by hearing the output voice and visually checking the displayed image 46. After that, the communication device 10 returns to step S3, and repeats the processing of steps S3 to S10.

Therefore, while the vehicle 12 starts turning left and right from the point 2P 2, the processing of steps S3 to S10 is repeatedly executed, and the image 46 and the voice are sequentially output from the output unit 42 in accordance with the time-varying situation in one operation of turning left and right. In reality, when the voice is output from the output unit 42a plurality of times, the driver 30 may feel annoyed. Therefore, it is also possible to perform only one voice output by shifting to step S6 after the affirmative determination processing in step S7 (step S7: yes) as shown by the broken line in fig. 7 after the output of the image 46 and the voice is performed once.

When the vehicle 12 turns left and right to reach the 3 rd point P3 and travels on the 2 nd road 56, if the driver 30 operates the winker operation lever 18 and the off signal Soff is output from the winker switch 20 to the winker 16, the winker 16 is turned off (turned off). In this case, the ECU28 acquires the off signal Soff from the turn lamp switch 20 through the communication line 32. The vehicle information acquisition unit 36a acquires the off signal Soff from the ECU28 through the communication line 34.

Accordingly, in step S3, the utterance determination section 36b determines that the winker lamp 16 has transitioned from the on state to the off state based on the off signal Soff acquired by the vehicle information acquisition section 36a (step S3: NO). As a result, the communication device 10 ends the operation related to the left-right turning of the vehicle 12.

In embodiment 1, it is also possible to determine whether the absolute value | θ | of the steering angle θ is within the range of 90 ° to 210 ° in step S5 of fig. 7. In this case, as shown in FIG. 9, if it is 90 ° ≦ | θ | ≦ 210 ° (step S5: YES), the process of step S7 is executed. On the other hand, if the absolute value | θ | of the rudder angle θ deviates from the range of 90 ° to 210 ° (step S5: No), the process of step S6 is performed.

In this case, if | θ | > 210 ° (step S5: No), the utterance determination section 36b (refer to FIG. 1) may also determine that an utterance different from the utterances of the A-group to C-group is output as speech in step S6. In this case, the vehicle 12 may be making a sharp turn. Therefore, the driver 30 can be alerted by the output unit 42 outputting a different utterance as a voice into the vehicle 12.

< 2.2 embodiment 2 >

Embodiment 2 will be described with reference to fig. 11 to 14. In the description of the operation of embodiment 2, the same operation as that of embodiment 1 will be omitted or simplified.

As shown in fig. 11, the 2 nd embodiment is an operation of the communication device 10 when the vehicle 12 makes a lane change from one lane 58a to the other lane 58b on the 3 rd road 58 with two lanes, for example.

In this case, in the vehicle 12, the turn signal 16 is turned on (turned on) at the 4 th spot P4 of one lane 58a, and after that, a lane change is started at the 5 th spot P5 while keeping the turn signal 16 in the on state, and after the turning on (turning off) of the turn signal 16 is stopped at the 6 th spot P6, the lane change to the other lane 58b is completed. Therefore, in the vehicle 12, the operation starts at the 4 th point P4 and ends at the 6 th point P6 for one lane change operation.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart of the operation of such embodiment 2.

First, when the vehicle 12 is traveling in one of the lanes 58a, the utterance specifying unit 36b determines whether or not the turn signal 16 is turned on (blinks) in step S11, similarly to step S1 in fig. 7. In this case, since the vehicle 12 arrives at the 4 th place P4 (refer to fig. 11) and the winker lamp 16 blinks as a result of the driver 30 operating the winker lamp operating lever 18 (refer to fig. 1), on the other hand, when the vehicle information acquisition unit 36a acquires the on signal Son, the speech determination unit 36b recognizes that the winker lamp 16 is turned on (step S11: yes), and proceeds to the next step S12.

In step S12, the utterance specifying unit 36b selects an arbitrary utterance corresponding to the on signal Son from the C-group storage area 38C of the utterance storage unit 38 based on the on signal Son acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 36a, and specifies the selected utterance as an utterance to be output from the speaker 42a of the output unit 42, as in step S2 of fig. 7. In addition, the utterance determining section 36b selects an arbitrary image 46 corresponding to the on signal Son acquired by the vehicle information acquiring section 36a from the image storage section 40, and determines the selected image 46 as an utterance that should be displayed on the screen 42b of the output section 42. The control unit 36c controls the output unit 42 to output the specified speech as voice from the speaker 42a of the output unit 42 into the vehicle 12, while displaying the specified image 46 on the screen 42b of the output unit 42.

In step S13, the utterance determination section 36b determines whether or not the turn signal 16 is being kept in the on state, as in step S3 of fig. 7. In this case, the vehicle 12 is passing the 4 th point P4 but does not reach the 6 th point P6. Further, the turn signal lamp 16 is kept on, and the vehicle information acquisition unit 36a continues to acquire the on signal Son (step S13: YES). Therefore, in step S14, the vehicle information acquirer 36a acquires the steering angle θ and the vehicle speed V from the ECU28 via the communication line 34, similarly to step S4 of fig. 7.

In step S15, the utterance determination unit 36b determines whether the absolute value | θ | of the steering angle θ acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 36a is within a predetermined angular range (the range of θ 1 to θ 2 shown in fig. 13). Since the vehicle 12 is traveling straight in one of the lanes 58a from the 4 th point P4 to the 5 th point P5 (no in step S15), the speech determiner 36b determines that the steering angle θ required for the lane change has not been reached, and proceeds to step S16. For example, θ 1 and θ 2 are set to be 6 ° and 15 ° respectively.

In step S16, the utterance determination section 36b determines that the output of the speech and the image 46 from the output section 42 is not performed, as in step S6 of fig. 7, and returns to step S13. Accordingly, the communication device 10 repeatedly executes the processing of steps S13 to S16 until the vehicle 12 starts a lane change.

Next, when the vehicle 12 reaches the 5 th point P5, the driver 30 makes a lane change in the other lane 58b, and therefore, turns the steering wheel 24 clockwise in fig. 8. Accordingly, when θ 1 ≦ θ | ≦ θ 2 (yes in step S15), the speech determination unit 36b determines that the vehicle 12 has started a lane change, and proceeds to step S17.

In step S17, the utterance specifying unit 36b determines whether or not V ≧ Vthc, similarly to step S7 in fig. 7. The threshold Vthc is the minimum vehicle speed required for the vehicle 12 to make a lane change. For example, Vthc is set to 30 km/h. If V ≧ Vthc (yes in step S17), the utterance specifying unit 36b determines that the vehicle 12 is making a lane change, and proceeds to the next step S18.

In step S18, since the acquisition of the on signal Son is continued (yes in step S13), θ 1 ≦ θ 2 (yes in step S15), and V ≧ Vthc (yes in step S17), the utterance determination section 36b determines that the output of the speech and the image 46 from the output section 42 is performed.

Next, the utterance specifying unit 36b selects an utterance corresponding to the on signal Son, the steering angle θ, and the vehicle speed V from the group a storage area 38a of the utterance storage unit 38, and specifies the selected utterance as an utterance output as speech from the output unit 42, as in step S8 of fig. 7. In addition, the speech determining portion 36b selects the image 46 corresponding to the on signal Son, the steering angle θ, and the vehicle speed V from the image storage portion 40, and determines the selected image 46 as the image 46 displayed on the screen 42b of the output portion 42.

Accordingly, the control unit 36c causes the speech determined by the speech determination unit 36b to be output as voice from the speaker 42a of the output unit 42 into the vehicle 12, and causes the image 46 determined by the speech determination unit 36b to be displayed on the screen 42b of the output unit 42. As a result, the driver 30 can recognize that the vehicle 12 is changing lanes by hearing the output voice and visually confirming the displayed image 46.

In the next step S19, the utterance specifying unit 36b determines whether or not the vehicle speed V or the steering angle θ has changed during the lane change of the vehicle 12, as in step S9 of fig. 7. Fig. 13 is a time chart illustrating a change in the steering angle θ, and fig. 14 is a time chart illustrating a change in the vehicle speed V.

In fig. 13, when θ 1 ≦ θ | ≦ θ 2, the utterance specifying unit 36b (see fig. 1) determines that the steering angle θ has not changed if the absolute value | θ | of the steering angle θ at the time point t5 is within a range of ± Δ θ c from the reference value (for example, ± Δ θ c ± 0.5 °) with time (no in step S19 in fig. 12) with respect to the reference value.

On the other hand, when the absolute value | θ | of the steering angle θ deviates from ± Δ θ c with the elapse of time, for example, when the absolute value | θ | of the steering angle θ is smaller than the reference value by- Δ θ c at time t6, the speech determiner 36b determines that the steering angle θ is changing (step S19: yes).

In addition, as the steering angle θ is changing, for example, the driver 30 may excessively rotate the steering wheel 24 in the clockwise direction or the counterclockwise direction in fig. 8 during the lane change of the vehicle 12.

In fig. 14, in the case of V ≧ Vthc, the utterance specifying unit 36b (see fig. 1) determines that the vehicle speed V has not changed if the vehicle speed V at time t7 is a reference value and the vehicle speed V is within a range of ± Δ Vc (for example, ± Δ Vc ± 5km/h) with the passage of time with respect to the reference value (step S19: no in fig. 12).

When the vehicle speed V deviates from the range of ± Δ Vc with the elapse of time, for example, when the vehicle speed V is smaller than the reference value by- Δ Vc at time t8, the speech determination unit 36b determines that the vehicle speed V is changing (step S19: yes).

Further, as the vehicle speed V is changing, for example, there is a case where the vehicle 12 is changing lanes and the vehicle 12 is adjusting the speed due to another vehicle traveling on the other lane 58 b.

When it is determined in step S19 that the vehicle speed V or the steering angle θ has not changed (no in step S19), the routine proceeds to step S16, and the speech determiner 36b temporarily stops outputting the speech and the image 46 from the output unit 42. After that, the communication device 10 returns to step S13, and repeats the processing of steps S13 to S19.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S19 that the vehicle speed V or the steering angle θ has changed (yes in step S19), the process proceeds to step S20, and the speech recognition unit 36b recognizes that the speech and image 46 indicating that the vehicle speed V or the steering angle θ has changed are output from the output unit 42, as in step S10 of fig. 7.

Next, the utterance determination section 36B selects an utterance corresponding to the change in the vehicle speed V or the steering angle θ from the B-group storage area 38B of the utterance storage section 38, and determines the selected utterance as an utterance output as speech from the output section 42. In addition, the speech determining portion 36b selects an image 46 corresponding to the change in the vehicle speed V or the steering angle θ from the image storage portion 40, and determines the selected image 46 as the image 46 displayed on the screen 42b of the output portion 42.

Accordingly, the control unit 36c causes the speech determined by the speech determination unit 36b to be output as voice from the speaker 42a of the output unit 42 into the vehicle 12, while displaying the image 46 determined by the speech determination unit 36b on the screen 42b of the output unit 42. As a result, the driver 30 can recognize that the vehicle speed V or the steering angle θ is changing during the lane change of the vehicle 12 by hearing the output voice and visually confirming the displayed image 46. After that, the communication device 10 returns to step S13, and repeats the processing of steps S13 to S20.

Therefore, the processing of steps S13 to S20 is repeated while the vehicle 12 starts a lane change from the 5 th point P5. Accordingly, in one operation of the lane change, the image 46 and the voice are output from the output unit 42 according to the state of the change from time to time. In the case of a lane change, the driver 30 may feel annoyed even when the voice is output from the output unit 42a plurality of times. Therefore, it is also possible to perform only 1 voice output by shifting to step S16 after the affirmative determination processing in step S17 (step S17: yes) as shown by the broken line in fig. 12 after performing the output of the image 46 and the voice once.

When the vehicle 12 reaches the 6 th point P6 as a result of the lane change and travels while moving to the other lane 58b, the turn signal Soff is output from the turn signal switch 20 to the turn signal 16 by the driver 30 operating the turn signal lever 18, and the turn signal 16 is turned off. The ECU28 acquires the off signal Soff from the turn lamp switch 20 through the communication line 32, and the vehicle information acquisition unit 36a acquires the off signal Soff from the ECU28 through the communication line 34.

Accordingly, in step S13, the utterance determination section 36b determines that the winker lamp 16 has transitioned from the on state to the off state based on the off signal Soff acquired by the vehicle information acquisition section 36a (step S13: NO). As a result, the communication device 10 ends the operation related to the lane change of the vehicle 12.

In the above description, the lane change is performed from one lane 58a to the other lane 58b, but the lane change may be performed according to the flowchart of fig. 12 even when the lane change is performed from the other lane 58b to the one lane 58 a.

[3. effect of the present embodiment ]

As described above, the communication device 10 (vehicle communication device) according to the present embodiment is a device that outputs a voice based on vehicle information to the driver 30 (passenger) of the vehicle 12. The communication device 10 includes: a vehicle information acquisition unit 36a that acquires, from the ECU28 of the vehicle 12, at least one of the on signal Son or off signal Soff of the turn lamp switch 20 included in the vehicle 12, the steering angle θ of the steering wheel 24 included in the vehicle 12, and the current vehicle speed V of the vehicle 12; an utterance storage section 38 that stores a plurality of utterances; a speech determining section 36b (speech selecting section) that selects a speech corresponding to the vehicle information from a plurality of utterances stored in the speech storing section 38; and an output unit 42 that outputs the selected utterance as speech into the vehicle 12.

When the vehicle information acquiring unit 36a continues to acquire the on signal Son, and the absolute value | θ | of the steering angle θ is 90 ° or more (a predetermined angle or more), or the absolute value | θ | of the steering angle θ is in a range of 90 ° to 210 ° or θ 1 to θ 2 (a predetermined angle range), and the vehicle speed V is equal to or more than the threshold values Vtht and Vthc, the utterance specifying unit 36b selects the utterance of the group a (the 1 st utterance) corresponding to the on signal Son, the steering angle θ, and the vehicle speed V from among the utterances. On the other hand, when the steering angle θ or the vehicle speed V changes, the utterance specifying unit 36B selects, from among the plurality of utterances, a B-group utterance (2 nd utterance) that is different from the a-group utterance and that corresponds to the change in the steering angle θ or the vehicle speed V.

The program according to the present embodiment is a program for causing the communication device 10 to function so as to output a voice based on the vehicle information to the driver 30 of the vehicle 12. The communication device 10 has the above-described vehicle information acquisition unit 36a, the speech storage unit 38, the speech determination unit 36b, and the output unit 42.

The program causes the utterance determining section 36b to function in the following manner: when the vehicle information acquiring unit 36a continues to acquire the turn-on signal Son, when the absolute value | θ | of the steering angle θ is 90 ° or more, or the absolute value | θ | of the steering angle θ is in the range of 90 ° to 210 ° or θ 1 to θ 2, and the vehicle speed V is equal to or more than the threshold values Vtht, Vthc, the vehicle information acquiring unit selects a group a utterance corresponding to the turn-on signal Son, the steering angle θ, and the vehicle speed V from among the utterances, and when the steering angle θ or the vehicle speed V changes, selects a group B utterance corresponding to the change in the steering angle θ or the vehicle speed V, which is different from the group a utterance, from among the utterances.

Accordingly, while the vehicle 12 is traveling, when there is a change in the situation after the speech of the group a is output in speech, for example, when there is a pedestrian ahead, an obstacle ahead, traveling at an irregular intersection 52 (for example, an intersection 52 with an irregular curve), or an operation change of a left-right turn or a lane change, the speech of the group B is output in speech. Accordingly, the driver 30 notices the words of the group B, so that the feeling of attachment to the vehicle 12 is improved. In addition, the vehicle 12 can be kept conscious and awareness of safe driving can be improved.

When the steering angle θ or the vehicle speed V of the steering wheel 24 changes due to the habit of the driver 30, the speech of the group B is output by voice, so that the driver 30 can be alerted to the change in the steering angle θ or the vehicle speed V. Accordingly, the driver 30 can be alerted to correct the habit, and thus the skill for safe driving can be improved.

In this case, when the steering angle θ or the vehicle speed V changes during the speech output of the group a speech by the output unit 42, the speech determination unit 36B selects the group B speech from the plurality of speech, and the output unit 42 outputs the selected group B speech as speech preferentially over the group a speech. This makes it possible to more quickly communicate to the driver 30 that the steering angle θ or the vehicle speed V has changed due to the operation of the driver 30.

The plurality of utterances are given occurrence rates Rga to Rgc indicating the frequency of outputting the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 36a as voice from the output unit 42. Accordingly, it is possible to output utterances with low occurrence rates Rga to Rgc as rare sounds (rare voice), thereby making it possible to prevent the driver 30 from feeling bored.

The communication device 10 further includes an image storage unit 40, and the image storage unit 40 stores a plurality of images 46 corresponding to a plurality of utterances. In this case, the utterance determination section 36b selects an utterance corresponding to the vehicle information from among the plurality of utterances stored in the utterance storage section 38, and selects an image 46 corresponding to the vehicle information from among the plurality of images 46 stored in the image storage section 40. The output portion 42 outputs the selected utterance as speech into the vehicle 12, and displays the selected image 46 on the screen 42 b. Accordingly, the driver 30 can recognize the speech spoken by the character 44 that is the image 46 displayed on the screen 42 b. As a result, the attachment of the driver 30 to the image 46 and the vehicle 12 can be further improved.

Specifically, the speech storage unit 38 includes: a group a storage area 38a (1 st storage area) that stores a plurality of a-group utterances (1 st utterance group); a B-group storage area 38B (2 nd storage area) that stores a plurality of B-group utterances (2 nd utterance group); and a C-group storage area 38C (3 rd storage area) that stores a plurality of C-group utterances (3 rd utterance, 3 rd utterance group) corresponding to the on signal Son. When the vehicle information acquisition unit 36a initially acquires the on signal Son, the utterance determination unit 36b selects an utterance corresponding to the on signal Son from the C-group utterances in the C-group storage area 38C, and the output unit 42 outputs the selected utterance as speech.

Here, if the absolute value | θ | of the steering angle θ is within the predetermined angle range (90 ° to 210 ° or θ 1 to θ 2) and the vehicle speed V is equal to or higher than the thresholds Vtht and Vthc, the utterance determination unit 36b selects an utterance corresponding to the on signal Son, the steering angle θ, and the vehicle speed V from the utterances of the group a in the group a storage region 38a, and the output unit 42 outputs the selected utterance as a voice, while the vehicle information acquisition unit 36a continues to acquire the on signal Son.

In addition, when the steering angle θ or the vehicle speed V changes during the speech output of the group a speech from the output unit 42, the speech determination unit 36B selects a speech corresponding to the on signal Son and the steering angle θ or the vehicle speed V from the group B speech of the group B storage area 38B, and the output unit 42 outputs the selected group B speech as speech instead of the group a speech.

Accordingly, a suitable voice can be output from the output unit 42 according to the situation of the vehicle 12 that changes at every moment. As a result, the driver 30 can be more conscious of the attachment of the vehicle 12 or safe driving.

In addition, when the absolute value | θ | of the steering angle θ is smaller than 90 ° or θ 1 (a predetermined angle), or the absolute value | θ | of the steering angle θ exceeds 90 ° to 210 ° or θ 1 to θ 2 (a predetermined angle range), the output of the speech from the output unit 42 may be stopped, or the speech specifying unit 36B may select a speech different from the speech of the group a and the speech of the group B from among the plurality of utterances, and the output unit 42 may output the selected speech as the speech. This makes it possible to output a voice at an appropriate timing or stop the output of a voice.

In addition, the words of the group a are words for notifying the driver 30 that the vehicle 12 makes a left-right turn or a lane change based on the operation of the steering wheel 24 and the turn lamp operating lever 18 (turn lamp switch 20) by the driver 30. On the other hand, the words of the group B are words for alerting the driver 30 that the rudder angle θ or the vehicle speed V is changing. Accordingly, an appropriate utterance corresponding to the condition of the vehicle 12 can be output as a voice, and the driver 30 can be caused to recognize the condition of the vehicle 12 indicated by the utterance.

The communication device 10 is a portable device 14 located in the vehicle 12, and the output unit 42 is a speaker 42a and a screen 42b provided in the portable device 14. This makes it possible to easily output a voice to the vehicle 12 and display the image 46.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it is needless to say that various configurations can be adopted according to the contents described in the specification.