JP2012128725A - Diagnosis system for parts of vehicle, computer program and diagnostic method for parts of vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To diagnose deterioration of parts in consideration of the usage states even though the usage states of the parts are different depending on a user.SOLUTION: Disclosed is a diagnosis system of parts of a vehicle for diagnosing deterioration of parts loaded on a probe vehicle 3, and usage states there of are different depending on a user. The diagnosis system includes: an acquisition part 21 for acquiring information relating to the operation time of the parts as usage information relating to the usage states of the parts; a generation part 22 for generating information relating to the cumulative value of the operation time of the parts as cumulative information acquired by accumulating the usage results of the parts based on the usage information; and a determination part 23 for determining the lifetime or replacement period of the parts as the degree of deterioration of the parts based on the cumulative information.

Description

  The present invention relates to a diagnostic system for parts provided in a vehicle, a computer program for the diagnostic system, and a diagnostic method for the parts.

  Conventionally, the determination of the replacement time of various parts included in a vehicle such as an automobile is performed as follows. For example, at the time of a vehicle inspection, a worker at an automobile maintenance factory inspects various parts by visual inspection or using a measuring instrument, and the parts can be replaced after months or how many kilometers based on the knowledge of the worker. Estimated whether it is necessary, and roughly determines the replacement time. Then, the worker informs the vehicle user (driver) of the replacement time.

  However, the above-mentioned judgment by the worker is only a measure of the replacement time. For example, depending on the type of parts such as headlights and rubber of the wiper device, the degree of deterioration is greatly changed when the usage state after vehicle inspection changes greatly. May be significantly different from the above guidelines.

In addition, some types of parts have predetermined replacement times recommended by the manufacturer. In this case, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, the tag chip stores information indicating the date of manufacture in addition to the product name of the part, and the tag chip is attached to the part.
For example, at the time of vehicle inspection, an operator may send wireless power to the tag chip by a reading device, read the date of manufacture from the tag chip, and check whether the replacement is necessary or not in comparison with the replacement time recommended by the manufacturer. it can.

JP 2005-157767 A

Thus, in the past, for example, at the time of vehicle inspection, the worker estimates the replacement time (life) of the parts or determines whether replacement is necessary on the spot, but the use state of the parts after the vehicle inspection Is not considered.
In other words, if the usage state of the part varies greatly by the driver, that is, if the opportunity to turn on the headlight becomes extremely large, for example, the deterioration progresses earlier than expected, for example, suddenly the head on the night road Writing may be impossible.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a vehicle parts diagnosis system, a computer program, and a vehicle part that can diagnose the deterioration of the parts in consideration of the use state even if the part has different use states depending on the user. An object of the present invention is to provide a diagnostic method.

(1) The present invention is a vehicle parts diagnosis system for diagnosing deterioration of parts mounted on a vehicle and having different usage states depending on a user, and obtains usage information on the usage status of the parts. An acquisition unit; a generation unit that generates cumulative information obtained by accumulating the usage records of the parts based on the usage information; and a determination unit that determines a degree of deterioration of the parts based on the cumulative information. It is characterized by.
According to the present invention, the degree of deterioration of a part is determined based on the usage information regarding the usage state of the parts mounted on the vehicle and the cumulative information obtained by accumulating the usage results of the parts based on the usage information. For this reason, even if a part has a different usage state depending on the user, the deterioration of the part can be diagnosed in consideration of the usage state. Therefore, for example, according to the present invention, compared to the case of judging deterioration of parts based only on the number of years since the purchase of a vehicle or only the number of years since the replacement of a part with a new product, Judgment is possible. In addition, the use state includes the presence / absence of use (whether it is used or not used), the amount used in a single use (if used, whether it is used at a high level, small Is used at the level).

(2) Further, the acquisition unit acquires information on the operation time of the part as the usage information, and the generation unit generates information on an accumulated value of the operation time of the part as the accumulated information, and the determination The unit determines the life or replacement time of the part as the degree of deterioration of the part based on information on the cumulative value of the operation time of the part.
In this case, the life or replacement time of the part is determined based on the information on the operation time of the part mounted on the vehicle and the information on the accumulated value of the operation time of the part generated based on this information. For this reason, even if a part has a different usage state depending on the user, the deterioration of the part can be diagnosed in consideration of the usage state.

(3) Further, the vehicle parts diagnosis system includes a database that stores durability information regarding durability for each part, and the determination unit compares the durability information of the database with the accumulated information, It is preferable to determine the degree of deterioration of the parts.
In this case, the durability information stored in the database is compared with the accumulated information of the parts actually acquired to determine the degree of deterioration of the parts. Note that the “useful life information” regarding the part is, for example, information on the useful life recommended by the manufacturer of the part.

(4) In addition, an in-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle and having a wireless communication function is provided with the acquisition unit capable of further acquiring information on the actual durability of the parts, and wireless communication with the in-vehicle device is possible. The vehicle parts diagnosis system according to (3), wherein the database is provided in a certain infrastructure device, wherein the infrastructure device is transmitted from the in-vehicle device and is actually used by the infrastructure device. It is preferable to provide an update unit that updates the service life information related to the service life of the part stored in the database based on the service information.

  In this case, as the information regarding the actual life of the part is acquired by the acquisition unit, the service life information regarding the service life of the database is updated based on the information regarding the actual life of the part. For this reason, it is possible to learn to bring the information in the database closer to information related to actual life. That is, for example, even if the actual service life of parts (information on actual service life) is different from that recommended by the manufacturer (service life information in the database), the database is updated based on the actual service life, and this update Based on the later information, the determination unit can determine the degree of deterioration of the parts.

(5) Moreover, the computer program of this invention is for performing each function of the function part (acquisition part, production | generation part, and determination part) which comprises the diagnostic system of the said vehicle parts, The same effect is obtained. Each step included in this computer program may be executed by a plurality of computers.
(6) Moreover, the parts diagnosis method for a vehicle according to the present invention is a method executed by the diagnosis system, and has the same effects as the diagnosis system.

  According to the present invention, the degree of deterioration of a part is determined based on the usage information regarding the usage state of the parts mounted on the vehicle and the cumulative information obtained by accumulating the usage results of the parts based on the usage information. For this reason, even if a part has a different usage state depending on the user, the deterioration of the part can be diagnosed in consideration of the usage state.

1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a probe information system having a vehicle parts diagnosis system. It is a flowchart explaining a diagnostic method. It is a flowchart explaining a diagnostic method. It is a flowchart explaining a diagnostic method. It is a flowchart explaining a diagnostic method. (A) is an example of an actual use database, and (b) is an example of a durable database. It is a flowchart explaining the update of a durable database.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[Overall system configuration]
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a probe information system 1 having a vehicle parts diagnosis system. The probe information system 1 includes a probe center 2 that is an infrastructure (infrastructure) side device, and an in-vehicle device 4 that is mounted on a number of probe vehicles 3 traveling on a road.

  The diagnostic system has a function of diagnosing deterioration of parts mounted on the probe vehicle 3, and a part to be diagnosed (hereinafter referred to as a target part) is used by a user of the vehicle 3. Are different parts. More specifically, target parts include a headlight 31 and a wiper device 32 provided in the probe vehicle 3. For example, the probe vehicle 3 driven by a driver who travels at night has a high headlight 31. There are many opportunities to light up. Thus, the target part is a part whose use state varies depending on the driver.

  The in-vehicle device 4 of each probe vehicle 3 includes a communication device 16 that is a communication interface capable of wirelessly communicating with a network 5 such as the Internet, various information received by the communication device 16, and information on target parts acquired in the probe vehicle 3. And an in-vehicle computer 17 for processing. The in-vehicle computer 17 includes a programmable computer having a CPU, a memory (RAM), and a storage device (ROM).

  The structure of the in-vehicle device 4 is not limited as long as it is mounted on the probe vehicle 3. For example, a dedicated in-vehicle terminal device that is provided in the probe vehicle 3 and has a communication function. Alternatively, the communication device 16 may be a mobile phone that is configured by connecting the mobile phone to the in-vehicle computer 17.

The in-vehicle device 4 (in-vehicle computer 17) of each probe vehicle 3 generates probe information D1 for each predetermined time or for each predetermined travel distance, and includes its own vehicle ID in the probe information D1. Send to 5.
The probe information D1 refers to information about the vehicle obtained in the probe vehicle 3 that actually travels on the road, and includes vehicle ID, vehicle position, vehicle time, vehicle speed, and the like. In the present embodiment, the probe information D1 includes “use information” of a target part to be described later.

The in-vehicle computer 17 of each probe vehicle 3 has a function of acquiring “use information” regarding the use state of the target part mounted on the probe vehicle 3, and uses the use information together with its own vehicle ID as probe information. It is included in D1 and transmitted to the network 5.
For example, when the target part is the headlight 31, the lighting time (operation time) is counted by the in-vehicle computer 17 (acquisition unit 21 described later), and information on this count value and the part ID of the target part are “use information”. As included in the probe information D1. This process of acquiring “usage information” will be described later.

The probe center 2 includes a communication device 6 that is a communication interface connected to the network 5, and a center computer 7 that processes various information received by the communication device 6. The center computer 7 includes a programmable server computer having a CPU, a memory (RAM), and a storage device (ROM).
The probe center 2 can perform two-way communication with the in-vehicle device 4 of the probe vehicle 3 existing in the communication range of the network 5.

  The center computer 7 can acquire and collect the probe information D1 from each probe vehicle 3 received by the communication device 6 through the network 5. And the center computer 7 can produce | generate the traffic information D2 which consists of traffic conditions, a link travel time, etc. based on the probe information D1 collected for every vehicle ID, for example.

Further, the center computer 7 generates diagnostic information D3 related to the degree of deterioration for each target part of the probe vehicle 3 corresponding to the vehicle ID based on the probe information D1 (use information) collected for each vehicle ID. The generation of the diagnostic information D3 will be described later.
And the said traffic information D2 and the said diagnostic information D3 are transmitted to the network 5 by the communication apparatus 6, the probe vehicle 3 acquires these information D2, D3, The driver can utilize.

[Outline of diagnostic system]
In order for the diagnosis system to execute a process of diagnosing the deterioration of the target part mounted on the probe vehicle 3, the diagnosis system includes an acquisition unit 21, a generation unit 22, and a function realizing unit executed by the computer program. And a determination unit 23.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, the in-vehicle device 4 includes the acquisition unit 21 as a function realizing unit executed by the computer program of the in-vehicle device 4 (in-vehicle computer 17), and the center computer 7 The function realization means executed by the computer program of the computer 7 includes the generation unit 22 and the determination unit 23. The arrangement of the acquisition unit 21, the generation unit 22, and the determination unit 23 may be other than this.

The acquisition unit 21 has a function of acquiring the “use information” related to the use state (on / off or operation load) of the target part such as the headlight 31.
The generation unit 22 has a function of generating accumulated information obtained by accumulating the operation time (lighting time) of the target part such as the headlight 31 based on the “use information”.
The determination unit 23 has a function of determining the degree of deterioration of the target part such as the headlight 31 based on the accumulated information generated by the generation unit 22.

As described above, in order to perform the diagnosis method by the vehicle parts diagnosis system of the present invention in cooperation with the center computer 7 and the vehicle-mounted computer 17, the computer program for the diagnosis is stored in the center computer 7 and the vehicle-mounted computer 17. You can install each one. The computer program is stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, and can be transferred. Further, the transfer of the program may be performed by downloading from a server stored so as to be downloadable via a network.
The diagnostic procedure executed by each of the function realizing means (functional units) will be described later.

[Configuration of in-vehicle device and probe vehicle for diagnostic system]
The probe vehicle 3 includes a vehicle body 10 having a driver's boarding seat (not shown). The vehicle body 10 includes an engine, a brake device, a speed detector, and the like, An electronic control unit (ECU) 11 that controls each part of the vehicle 3 is mounted.
The ECU 11 performs various controls such as the operation of the target part (ON / OFF and strength of the operation load) in addition to the engine drive control based on the accelerator operation of the driver and the brake control based on the brake operation.

  The probe vehicle 3 includes a headlight 31 and a wiper device 32 as target parts, and the ECU 11 can change the usage state of the headlight 31 and the wiper device 32 due to a driver's switch switching operation. it can. In other words, the headlight 31 can be turned on (turned on) or turned off (turned off) as a change in use state. In addition, the wiper device can be operated (ON) or stopped (OFF). Further, as the operation load, the intensity of light emission of the headlight 31, the operation speed of the wiper device 32, and the like can be switched.

  The in-vehicle device 4 includes a display 19 and a speaker device 20 as a human interface for the driver, in addition to the in-vehicle computer 17 and the communication device 16 connected to the communication interface of the in-vehicle computer 17, and GPS, A position detector 15 made of DGPS or the like and a clock device 18 made of a radio timepiece or the like having a time correction function are connected to the interface of the in-vehicle computer 17.

The in-vehicle computer 17 stores a program that executes each predetermined function in a storage device, and includes the acquisition unit 21 as a functional unit that is executed by the program. The acquisition unit 21 acquires “use information” regarding the use state of the target part. As will be described later, the “use information” includes information on the count value of the operation time of the target part and the part ID of the target part. Specific functions of the acquisition unit 21 will be described later.
Then, on the probe vehicle 3 side, the “use information” acquired by the acquisition unit 21 is included in the probe information D1, and the probe information D1 is transmitted to the network 5 by the communication device 16.

[Configuration of center computer for diagnostic system]
The probe center 2 includes the center computer 7 and the communication device 6 connected to a communication interface of the center computer 7.
The center computer 7 stores a program for executing each predetermined function in a storage device, and includes the generation unit 22 and the determination unit 23 as function units to be executed by the program. In the embodiment, the update unit 26 is provided. Further, the probe center 2 includes an actual use database 24 and a durability database 25. The actual use database 24, the durability database 25, the generation unit 22, the determination unit 23, and the update unit 26 will be described later.

Then, the probe center 2 can receive the probe information D1 transmitted from the probe vehicle 3 side to the network 5 by the communication device 6, and the center computer 7 can include the "" included in the probe information D1. Use information "is acquired. Note that since the vehicle information is included in the probe information D1, the probe information D1 can be recognized for each vehicle ID on the probe center 2 side.
Further, as described above, since the “use information” includes the count value information of the operation time of the target part and the part ID of the target part, on the probe center 2 side, for each vehicle ID. And the information of the count value for each target part can be recognized.

[Diagnosis method for vehicle parts]
On the probe vehicle 3 side, the acquisition unit 21 of the in-vehicle computer 17 can acquire the “use information” regarding the use state (on / off and operation load) of the target parts such as the headlight 31 and the wiper device 32. it can. In addition, the acquisition part 21 can acquire "use information" through ECU11, or can acquire based on the signal from the switch of each object part. Hereinafter, a specific example of obtaining “use information” will be described. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are flowcharts for explaining the diagnosis method.

  When the target part is the headlight 31, when the lighting of the headlight 31 is started due to the switch operation by the driver of the passenger seat (step S1), the lighting time (operation time) is, for example, through the ECU 11 and the in-vehicle computer 17 Is acquired by the acquisition unit 21 (step S2, step S3). For example, if the time from the start of lighting of the headlight 31 to the end of lighting is two hours, that time is the lighting time (operation time), and the acquisition unit 21 acquires the lighting time (operation time).

And the acquisition part 21 acquires by using the information of the count value which intends the lighting time of the headlight 31 and the part ID of the headlight 31 as usage information, and this usage information is made into probe information D1 by the vehicle-mounted computer 17. It is included (step S4). In the present embodiment, the acquisition unit 21 acquires information on the operation time of the target part as usage information.
In addition, information about the strength of the operation load of the target part may be included in the probe information D1. That is, information on the intensity of light emission by the headlight 31 may be included. In this case, for example, the count value may be multiplied by a predetermined coefficient (coefficient greater than 1), and the count value may be used as usage information.

  As described above, the in-vehicle computer 17 of each probe vehicle 3 has a function of acquiring usage information regarding the usage state (ON / OFF or strength of operation load) of the target part mounted on the probe vehicle 3. . Then, the usage information is included in the probe information D1 together with its own vehicle ID (steps S1 to S4) and transmitted to the network 5 (step S5).

  On the probe center 2 side, the center computer 7 acquires the probe information D1 from the network 5 (step S11 in FIG. 3). As described above, the probe information D1 includes count value information intended for the lighting time of the target part (headlight 31) as usage information in association with the part ID of the target part (headlight 31). It is. Further, this use information is included in the probe information together with the vehicle ID of the probe vehicle 3 on which the target part is mounted.

  For this reason, in the center computer 7, the generation unit 22 and the determination unit 23 function based on the probe information D1 collected for each vehicle ID, and deterioration of each target part of the probe vehicle 3 corresponding to the vehicle ID is performed. Diagnostic information D3 relating to the degree is generated. The functions of the generation unit 22 and the determination unit 23 will be described below.

  The generating unit 22 generates accumulated information obtained by accumulating the lighting time (operation time) of the headlight 31 for the probe vehicle 3 having a predetermined vehicle ID (step S12). For example, if the usage information acquired by the probe information this time is information intended to light up the headlight 31 for 0.1 hour, the head stored in the actual usage database 24 before this time A process of adding 0.1 hour information to the lighting time of the light 31 is performed (step S13).

  As shown in FIG. 6A, the actual usage database 24 is for each vehicle ID and is divided for each part ID, and the usage information included in the probe information D1 is acquired by using the target part. Each time, the accumulated value of the operation time intended by the use information is stored. Since three target parts by the same manufacturer are mounted on the probe vehicles having vehicle IDs 1, 3, and 4, the part IDs are the same as 1, 2, and 3.

That is, in this embodiment, when the vehicle ID is “1” and the part ID of the target part (headlight 31) is “1”, the headlight already accumulated in the actual use database 24 before this time. The lighting time of 31 is 3000 hours.
Therefore, the generation unit 22 performs a process of adding the current lighting time of 0.1 hour to the 3000 hours, and accumulates this value (3000.1 hours) in the actual use database 24 as accumulated information. As described above, the generation unit 22 generates information regarding the cumulative value of the operation time of the target part as the cumulative information.

Then, every time the usage information included in the probe information D1 is acquired by the income unit 21, the generation unit 22 generates cumulative information obtained by accumulating the actual usage of the target part based on the usage information. The database 24 is updated.
As described above, since the usage information includes the part ID of the target part, when the usage information of a different part ID is acquired, the generation unit 22 selects the target according to the part ID. Cumulative information obtained by accumulating usage results for each part is generated on the actual usage database. The same applies to different vehicle IDs, and cumulative information obtained by accumulating the usage results for each target part is generated on the actual usage database in accordance with the vehicle ID.

  Then, the determination unit 23 determines the degree of deterioration of the target part based on the accumulated information generated by the generation unit 22 (step S14). That is, the determination unit 23 compares the accumulated information accumulated in the actual use database 24 with the durable information stored in the durable database 25 described later, and the accumulated information (the accumulated value of the operation time) When the information is exceeded, it is determined that the life or replacement time of the target part has been reached as the degree of deterioration of the target part (Yes in step S14).

  As shown in FIG. 6B, the durability database 25 stores durability information regarding the durability of the target part for each part ID of the target part. The service life information is information regarding the replacement time or life of the target part. In the initial state, the manufacturer's recommended value is stored, but the service life information is updated by the update unit 26 described later.

A specific example of the process of the determination unit 23 will be described. For example, information of 3500 hours is stored in the durability database as the durability information for the headlight 31 whose part ID is “1” (see FIG. 6B).
As described above, when the accumulated information of 3000.1 hours is accumulated in the actual use database 24 by the generating unit 22, the accumulated information (3000.1 hours) is determined by the determining unit 23 as the useful information (3500 hours). (No in step S14), and diagnostic information D3 is not generated.

On the other hand, when the determination unit 23 determines that the accumulated information exceeds the durable information (Yes in step S14), the diagnosis information D3 is generated (step S15). The diagnosis information D3 is information indicating that the target part to be determined is beyond the endurance, and includes the part ID of the target part and the vehicle ID of the probe vehicle 3 to be determined. It is information to include. In this case, it means that the target part needs to be replaced.
As described above, the determination unit 23 determines the life or replacement time of the target part as the degree of deterioration of the target part based on the information related to the accumulated value of the operation time of the target part.

  When the diagnostic information D3 is generated, the center computer 7 transmits the diagnostic information D3 as a determination result to the network 5 by the communication device 6 (step S16). The diagnostic information D3 includes a vehicle ID and a part ID. The diagnostic information D3 is provided to the in-vehicle device 4 of the probe vehicle 3 corresponding to the vehicle ID via the network 5 by the communication device 6. Is done.

  When the in-vehicle device 4 acquires the diagnostic information D3 via the communication device 16 on the probe vehicle 3 side corresponding to the vehicle ID (step S21 in FIG. 4), the in-vehicle computer 17 intends the diagnostic information D3. The contents are displayed on the display 19 or the voice output of the contents is uttered from the speaker device 20 to notify the driver (step S22). That is, information intended to indicate that the target part is at the end of its life or replacement time is notified. Note that both the display 19 and the speaker device 20 may notify the driver.

  Then, when the diagnosis information D3 is notified, the target parts are exchanged at a maintenance factory, for example. When the target part is replaced, the driver uses the input interface of the in-vehicle computer 17 to input information indicating that the target part has been replaced (step S31 in FIG. 5A). When this information is input, information indicating that the target part has been replaced is associated with the part ID of the target part, and replaced information is generated by the in-vehicle computer 17. This replaced information is the probe information. It is included in D1 (step S32) and transmitted to the probe center 2 side via the network 5 (step S33). The probe information D1 also includes a vehicle ID.

  When the probe information D1 is acquired on the probe center 2 side (step S41 in FIG. 5B), based on the exchanged information, the center computer 7 uses the actual use database 24 (FIG. 6A). In step S42, the cumulative value of the target parts that have been replaced is reset. For example, if the vehicle ID is “1” and the headlight 31 (part ID is “1”) is replaced, the value of 3000 is updated to 0. That is, in the actual use database 24, the replacement target part is updated to be unused.

[Regarding the updating of the service database]
As described above, the probe center 2 includes the actual use database 24 and the durability database 25, and the durability database 25 stores the durability information regarding the durability for each target part.
In the present embodiment, the center computer 7 further includes an update unit 26 that updates the service life information on the service life of the target part stored in the service life database 25 as a function realizing unit executed by the computer program (see FIG. 1).

In order for this updating unit 26 to function, on the in-vehicle device 4 side, the acquisition unit 21 can further acquire “information regarding actual use of the target part” in addition to the “use information” regarding the usage state of the target part. (Step S51 in FIG. 7).
“Information about actual life of the target part” is information about the lifetime of the target part. For example, when the target part is the headlight 31, the acquisition unit 21 can acquire information indicating that the headlight 31 has failed through the ECU 11, for example. That is, even if the driver operates to turn on the headlight 31, if the lighting is not performed, the acquisition unit 21 can detect the state. In this case, the acquisition unit 21 acquires “information regarding the actual durability of the target part” which is intended to indicate that the headlight 31 has reached the end of its life.

  Then, this “information about the actual life of the target part” is included in the probe information D1 and transmitted to the network 5 as in the case of “use information” (step S52). Then, when the probe information D1 is acquired on the probe center 2 side (step S53), the update unit 26 of the center computer 7 is based on “information on actual durability of the target part” included in the probe information D1. Thus, the service life information on the service life of the target part stored in the service database 25 is updated (step S54, step S55).

  Note that the update of the durability information is a process of rewriting the information on the actual life of the target part. However, this update is performed only when the information on the actual life of the target part is obtained from only one probe vehicle 3. Even if it is collected on the side, it is not performed (in the case of No in step S54), and when it is collected from a plurality of probe vehicles 3, the durability database 25 is updated (in the case of Yes in step S54). In this case, by rewriting the average value of the “information regarding the actual durability of the target part” collected from the plurality of probe vehicles 3, the information about the update time of the durability database 25 is updated (step S55).

  The service life database 25 stores the service life recommended by the manufacturer for the replacement time of the target part as an initial value, but this service life may be different from the actual service life. Therefore, as “information regarding actual life of the target part” is acquired by the acquiring unit 21 as described above, based on the “information regarding actual life of the target part”, the service life information regarding the life of the service database 25 is obtained. Updated. For this reason, it is possible to learn to bring the information in the durability database 25 closer to the information related to the actual durability.

  Therefore, for example, even if the actual service life of the target part is different from the service life recommended by the manufacturer, the service database 25 is updated based on the actual service life instead of the service life recommended by the manufacturer. Based on the information, the determination unit 26 can determine the degree of deterioration of the target part.

The method for diagnosing the deterioration of the target part, which is executed by the diagnostic system according to the above-described embodiment, acquires usage information regarding the usage state of the target part, and accumulates the usage results of the target part based on the usage information. This is done by generating cumulative information and determining the degree of deterioration of the target part based on this cumulative information.
That is, the degree of deterioration of the target part is determined based on the usage information regarding the usage state of the target part mounted on the probe vehicle 3 and the accumulated information based on the usage information of the target part. For this reason, even if a part has a different usage state depending on the user, the deterioration of the part can be diagnosed in consideration of the usage state.

In addition, although the case of the headlight 31 was mainly demonstrated as an object part, it becomes possible to diagnose deterioration by performing the same process also about another object part.
In addition to the rubber of the headlight 31 and the wiper device 32, the target parts include a brake pad for applying a braking force to the tire, and a playback device (player) for a storage medium such as an optical disk storing video and music information. ), There are in-vehicle batteries and engine oil as power sources for in-vehicle electric devices.

  In the case of a brake pad, at least one of the number of times the brake is activated, the time that the brake was activated, and the traveling speed of the vehicle when the brake is activated is acquired as usage information regarding the usage state. Then, based on this use information, cumulative information obtained by accumulating the brake pad usage results is generated, and the degree of deterioration of the brake pad (pad wear) is determined based on this cumulative information. In addition, since the wear of the brake pad increases as the traveling speed of the vehicle when the brake is activated, such traveling speed is effective as usage information regarding the usage state.

  In the case of a playback apparatus (player), the time when the playback apparatus is used once or the number of times the optical disk has been replaced is acquired as usage information regarding the usage state. Then, based on this usage information, cumulative information is generated by accumulating the usage record of the playback device, and based on this accumulated information, the degree of deterioration of the playback device (deterioration of the head of the playback device, deterioration of the optical disk loading / unloading mechanism) Determine. This makes it possible to diagnose the life of the playback device and the possibility of failure of the optical disk loading / unloading mechanism.

Also, in the case of an in-vehicle battery, for example, the in-vehicle electric power used by the in-vehicle battery based on at least one of the time during which the air conditioner is operating and the set temperature of the air conditioner relative to the outside air temperature is used. Get as. And based on this use information, the accumulation information which accumulated the usage record of the vehicle-mounted battery is generated, and the degree of deterioration of the vehicle-mounted battery is determined based on this accumulated information. In addition, since the discharge charge is repeated many times when the power consumption (electric consumption) of the in-vehicle battery increases, it is possible to estimate the degree of deterioration of the in-vehicle battery (not the remaining amount of the in-vehicle battery).
In addition, it is effective to acquire the power consumption of the vehicle-mounted battery based on a vehicle-mounted electrical device that consumes a large amount of power, such as an air conditioner, but it may be other than an air conditioner. For example, the lighting time of the headlight, the operation time and / or the operation speed (operation mode) of the wiper. Further, based on a plurality of in-vehicle electrical devices (air conditioners, wipers, headlights), the power used by the in-vehicle battery may be acquired as usage information.

  In the case of engine oil, the usage state of the engine oil based on at least one of the rotational speed of the engine and the ambient temperature during travel is acquired as usage information. Then, based on this usage information, cumulative information is generated by accumulating the actual usage of the engine oil, and the degree of deterioration of the engine oil is determined based on this cumulative information. In this case, it is possible to estimate not the remaining amount of engine oil but the degree of deterioration of engine oil. As the engine speed increases, the deterioration of the engine oil progresses, and as the ambient temperature during traveling decreases (the colder the region), the deterioration of the engine oil proceeds. Further, since the fuel consumption is deteriorated due to the deterioration of the engine oil, the detection of the deterioration of the engine oil is effective.

The above-described embodiments are all illustrative and do not limit the scope of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above embodiment but by the scope of claims for patent, and includes modifications within the scope equivalent to the configurations of the scope of claims for patent.
In the above embodiment, the case where the acquisition unit 21 is provided in the in-vehicle device 4 of the probe vehicle 3 and the generation unit 22, the determination unit 23, and the update unit 26 are provided in the center computer 7 of the probe center 2 has been described. However, all of these may be provided in the in-vehicle device 4. In this case, the databases 24 and 25 are also provided in the in-vehicle device 4.
Moreover, although the production | generation part 22 is provided in the center computer 7, it is good also as a structure provided in the vehicle equipment 4 side.

2: probe center, 3: probe vehicle, 4: in-vehicle device, 7: center computer, 17: in-vehicle computer, 21: acquisition unit, 22: generation unit, 23: determination unit, 24: actual use database, 25: durability database 26: Update unit 31: Headlight 32: Wiper device

Claims (6)

A vehicle parts diagnosis system for diagnosing deterioration of parts mounted on a vehicle and having different usage states depending on a user.
An acquisition unit that acquires usage information related to a usage state of the part, a generation unit that generates cumulative information obtained by accumulating the usage results of the part based on the usage information, and a degree of deterioration of the part based on the cumulative information A vehicle parts diagnosis system comprising: a determination unit that determines The acquisition unit acquires information on the operation time of the part as the use information,
The generation unit generates information related to a cumulative value of the operation time of the part as the cumulative information,
The vehicle part diagnosis system according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines the life or replacement time of the part as a degree of deterioration of the part based on information on an accumulated value of the operation time of the part. A database for storing the service life information about the service life of each part;
The vehicle part diagnosis system according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines the degree of deterioration of the part by comparing the durability information in the database with the accumulated information. An in-vehicle device that is mounted on a vehicle and has a wireless communication function is provided with the acquisition unit capable of further acquiring information on the actual durability of the parts,
The vehicle parts diagnosis system according to claim 3, wherein the database is provided in an infrastructure device capable of wireless communication with the in-vehicle device.
The infrastructure device includes an update unit that updates the service life information on the durability of the part stored in the database based on the information on the actual service life of the part transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device and acquired by the infrastructure device. A diagnostic system for vehicle parts. A computer program for causing a computer to execute diagnostic processing for diagnosing deterioration of parts mounted on a vehicle and having different usage states depending on a user,
Obtaining usage information relating to the usage state of the part; generating cumulative information obtained by accumulating the usage results of the part based on the usage information; and determining a degree of deterioration of the part based on the cumulative information. A computer program comprising the steps of: A method of diagnosing deterioration of parts that are installed in a vehicle and that are used differently by the user,
The usage information on the usage state of the part is obtained, cumulative information obtained by accumulating the usage results of the part is generated based on the usage information, and the degree of deterioration of the part is determined based on the cumulative information. A diagnostic method for vehicle parts.

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