In-vehicle control apparatus and in-vehicle control method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016336009-A1
Application number	US-201415111236-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 26, 2014
Priority date	Feb 26, 2014
Publication date	Nov 17, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

According to an in-vehicle control apparatus, it is configured to receive information of a plurality of operation keys displayed on a display, to identify from a result of voice recognition of a user's speech, the operation key corresponding thereto on the basis of the information of the operation keys, and to execute a function assigned to the operation key upon receiving an instruction for execution by the user using a decision key, so that it is possible to perform an operation without making contact directly with the plurality of operation keys displayed on the display and without the need of a complex key operation. Further, solely by mounting just one decision key on a steering wheel, it becomes possible to safely perform the operation about the operation key displayed on the display without the user releasing his/her hand from the steering wheel during driving.

First claim

1 . An in-vehicle control apparatus for controlling an in-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle, comprising:
a key information receiver that receives information of a plurality of operation keys displayed on a display connected to the in-vehicle device, dynamically in response to a change in display content displayed on the display; a voice recognizer that recognizes a voice spoken by a user, using a voice recognition dictionary; an operation key identifier that identifies the operation key corresponding to the voice spoken by the user, on the basis of the information of the operation keys received by the key information receiver and a voice recognition result by the voice recognizer; and a controller that receives from a decision key, an output for selecting the operation key identified by the operation key identifier, to thereby give an instruction to the in-vehicle device for causing it to execute a function assigned to the thus-identified operation key.

2 . The in-vehicle control apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a dictionary generator that generates the voice recognition dictionary at least from words corresponding to the operation keys displayed on the display, on the basis of the information of the operation keys,
wherein the voice recognizer recognizes the voice spoken by the user, using the voice recognition dictionary generated by the dictionary generator.

3 . The in-vehicle control apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an acceptive information annunciator that makes an announcement, based on an identification result of the operation key by the operation key identifier, about at least one of: a fact of starting to accept the instruction for execution with respect to the identified operation key; a fact of continuing to accept the instruction for execution with respect to the identified operation key; and the information of the identified operation key.

4 . The in-vehicle control apparatus of claim 3 , further comprising a vehicle information receiver that acquires information of the vehicle,
wherein the acceptive information annunciator changes a method of making said announcement according to the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information receiver.

5 . The in-vehicle control apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an acceptance period setter that sets an acceptance period in which the instruction for execution of the function assigned to the operation key identified by the operation key identifier is acceptable,
wherein the controller accepts the instruction for execution only in the acceptance period set by the acceptance period setter.

6 . The in-vehicle control apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the voice recognizer still operates in the acceptance period, and
wherein the operation key identifier identifies again the operation key at every occurrence of a change in the voice recognition result by the voice recognizer, on the basis of the voice recognition result after that change.

7 . The in-vehicle control apparatus of claim 5 , further comprising a vehicle information receiver that acquires information of the vehicle,
wherein the acceptance period setter changes the acceptance period according to the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information receiver.

8 . The in-vehicle control apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a speech judgement processor that judges whether or not the voice spoken by the user is a speech intended to cause an operation,
wherein the voice recognizer performs voice recognition only when the voice thus-spoken is judged to be a speech intended to cause an operation, by the speech judgement processor.

9 . The in-vehicle control apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a motion recognizer that recognizes a body motion of the user,
wherein the controller gives the instruction for causing execution of the function assigned to the identified operation key, when a body motion of the user that shows an intention to cause execution is recognized by the motion recognizer.

10 . The in-vehicle control apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an output sound eliminator that acquires a signal of output sound outputted from the in-vehicle device to thereby eliminate a component of the output sound from an input sound,
wherein the voice recognizer performs voice recognition with respect to the voice after elimination of the component of the output sound by the output sound eliminator.

11 . The in-vehicle control apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a sight line detector that detects a sight line of the user to thereby transmit coordinate information of the sight line to the operation key identifier;
wherein the key information receiver receives also as the information of the operation keys, coordinate information on the display on which the respective operation keys are displayed; and wherein the operation key identifier identifies the operation key on the basis of the coordinate information of the sight line received from the sight line detector, the recognition result by the voice recognizer, and the information of the operation keys received by the key information receiver.

12 . An in-vehicle control method for controlling an in-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle, comprising:
in a key information receiver, receiving information of a plurality of operation keys displayed on a display connected to the in-vehicle device, dynamically in response to a change in display content displayed on the display; in a voice recognizer, recognizing a voice spoken by a user, using a voice recognition dictionary; in an operation key identifier, identifying the operation key corresponding to the voice spoken by the user, on the basis of the information of the operation keys received by the key information receiver and a voice recognition result by the voice recognizer; and in a controller, receiving from a decision key, an output for selecting the operation key identified by the operation key identifier, to thereby give an instruction to the in-vehicle device for causing it to execute a function assigned to the thus-identified operation key.

Assignees

• Mitsubishi Electric Corp

Inventors

• Takei Takumi
• Kumagai Taro

Classifications

• B60R16/0373

  Voice control (in general G10L) · CPC title

• G10L2015/088

  Word spotting · CPC title

• G10L15/06

  Creation of reference templates; Training of speech recognition systems, e.g. adaptation to the characteristics of the speaker's voice (G10L15/14 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G10L15/22 Primary

  Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue · CPC title

• G10L2015/223

  Execution procedure of a spoken command · CPC title