WO2008038968A1

WO2008038968A1 - Method of providing safety information for vehicles and providing system thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2008038968A1
Application number: PCT/KR2007/004658
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yong-Sung Cho
Original assignee: Yong-Sung Cho
Priority date: 2006-09-25
Filing date: 2007-09-21
Publication date: 2008-04-03
Also published as: KR100801718B1

Abstract

Provided are a method and system for providing safe driving information to a driver based on the characteristics of a corresponding vehicle. The method for providing safe driving information based on vehicle characteristics, includes the steps of: a) collecting road information; b) collecting weather information including past weather information and real-time weather in¬ formation; c) obtaining weather prediction information by predicting variation of weather factors, which is induced based on the past weather information; d) predicting hazardous road condition information having information about hazardous road condition levels according to an area and a time by analyzing the road information and the weather prediction information; e) collecting vehicle information of a driver; and f) obtaining safe driving information according to a driver by analyzing the hazardous road condition information and the vehicle information of the driver.

Description

METHOD OF PROVIDING SAFETY INFORMATION FOR VEHICLES AND PROVIDING SYSTEM THEREOF

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a method for providing safe driving information to a driver based on the characteristics of a corresponding vehicle and a system thereof; and, more particularly, to a method for providing high intellectual level safe driving information to a drivers based on the characteristics of a vehicle as well as a road condition and a weather condition, and a system thereof. Background Art

[2] Vehicles have been generally used to travel. As various portable terminals and wired/wireless communication networks have been advanced, diverse information services have been provided to a driver through the portable terminals and wired/ wireless communication networks for safely and efficiently guiding a driver to a destination.

[3] For example, a navigation system using a global positioning system has been widely used lately. The navigation system calculates an optimal path to a predetermined destination based on a current location of a vehicle and road information stored in a database and provides the calculated optimal path to a driver.

[4] Lately, an advanced navigation system was introduced and commercialized for guiding a driver to a destination through an optimal path with less traffic. The advanced navigation system calculates an optimal path not only based on simple map information but also based on the traffic flows of corresponding roads, which are detected through real-time traffic information, in order to guide a driver to a destination quickly and less-stressfully. For example, an MBC radio station provides an "idio" service.

[5] Since it is also important to safely guide a driver to a destination as well as guiding the driver through an optimal path, a system for providing diverse information such as a weather condition and a traffic condition including traffic accidents to a driver was also introduced.

[6] For example, a broadcast media such as a traffic report broadcasting station transmits the information about the weather condition and real-time traffic condition including a traffic accident to drivers through a portable radio or a car radio for safe driving. Such information also can be provided to drivers through electronic display boards installed at roads.

[7] Various types of vehicles have been introduced, such as sedans, sports utility vehicles SUV, vans, buses, and trucks. Each type of vehicles has unique characteristics that influence the safe driving such as a friction coefficient between a tire and the surface of a road, a turning radius, a visual field of a driver according to a height of a driver seat or a design of a vehicle.

[8] Also, the safe driving is also directly influenced by the factors related to roads, which are the direction and the angle of a road surface, facilities such as a tunnel and a bridge, and road conditions such as an icy road or a wet road. Furthermore, the safe driving is influenced by specific weather conditions such as tornados, and torrential rains as well as general weather conditions which are a temperature, the amount of rainfall, a solar intensity, a wind direction, a wind velocity, and a solar radiation.

[9] Such characteristics and factors of vehicles, roads, and weather conditions influence a driver to safely drive a corresponding vehicle.

[10] For example, a driver's visual range varies according to the type of a vehicle, the height of a driver's seat, the design of a vehicle, and the weather condition such as fog. Also, the cornering performance of a vehicle may change according to a tire type, a tire tread, the amount of rainfall, a road surface condition, a wind direction, and s wind velocity.

[11] Conventionally, a traffic information service provided only general weather information without the other factors that influence safe driving. That is, the conventional traffic information service could not provide safe driving information, which is calculated by totally analyzing real-time weather information, real-time traffic information, and the characteristics of a vehicle, individually to each driver.

[12] For example, an Internet based traffic information system was introduced in Korea

Patent Publication No. 2000-64200. The Internet based traffic information system includes a camera for photographing the traffic conditions of a predetermined location, a database for storing the digital data of the photographed images, a server for transmitting the traffic information stored in the database as digital data through the Internet, and a user terminal for receiving the traffic information transmitted from the server and providing the received traffic information to a user.

[13] However, the Internet based traffic information system did not process information into a predetermined format that effectively and instantly helps a driver to safely drive a vehicle and did not provide information of the other factors such as weather condition except traffic flow conditions that were photographed by the camera mounted at a predetermined road.

[14] Korea Patent Publications 2005-116457 and 2005-116458 disclose an environmental data sensor and a variable message signal (VMS) board. A plurality of the environmental data sensors are disposed at a predetermined road and sense basic weather data. The VMS board is disposed at a predetermined road and receives the collected environmental data from the environmental data sensors. The VMS board provides weather condition information to drivers based on the received environmental data.

[15] However, the VMS board is equivalent to a conventional electronic display board for displaying the traffic flow of a predetermined road with functions for sensing and displaying basic weather conditions. The VMS board is only operable for a predetermined road section, and the VMS board is not applicable for a wide area road system.

[16] The VMS board provides limited basic weather data only to drivers who are driving on a corresponding road or will drive on a corresponding road. However, it is difficult for drivers to clearly recognize the information displayed on the VMS board while the drivers are driving. Accordingly, the driver frequently misunderstood the information displayed on the VMS board while the driver is driving. Therefore, the efficiency of the VMS board for providing information deteriorated. Furthermore, the basic weather information provided through the VMS board is not information analyzed and processed based on other safe driving information. Since the VMS board simply provides the basic weather information, the basic weather information provided through the VMS board is not effective for preventing accidents related to the weather condition of a road and for supporting efficient traffic flows.

[17] Korea Patent Publication No. 2001-16528 discloses a method of providing road weather information based on geographic information system (GIS) and a system thereof. In the method and system, the weather condition information and the road surface information are collected from sensors disposed at predetermined road sides, the collected information is classified by a road section on a digital map of a GIS, and the classified information is stored in a database corresponding to the road section. Data of a predetermined road section is read from the database, the read data is analyzed and processed to the weather forecast information of a predetermined road section, and the processed data is transmitted to a user terminal.

[18] According to the GIS based road weather information providing method and system, the analyzed data of a predetermined road section is read from the database, and the read data is analyzed and reprocessed to weather forecast information for a near future. The weather forecast information of a predetermined road section is provided to a user according to the user's request. However, the GIS based road weather information providing method and system did not reflect vehicle information and personal information for safe driving as well as real-time weather information, road, and traffic information. That is, the GIS based road weather information providing method and system did not include a function for forming customized hazardous factor by analyzing data based on the characteristics of a vehicle and providing the customized hazardous factor individually to a user. Therefore, the GIS based road weather information providing method and system cannot calculate customized safe driving information based on weather variation and provide the customized safe driving information individually to each driver. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[19] An embodiment of the present invention is directed to providing a method for providing customized safe driving information to a driver by totally processing and analyzing real-time weather information, traffic condition information, and vehicle information and inducing safe driving information based on the characteristics of a corresponding vehicle.

[20] Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to providing a system for providing customized safe driving information to a driver by totally processing and analyzing real-time weather information, traffic condition information, and vehicle information and inducing safe driving information based on the characteristics of a corresponding vehicle. Technical Solution

[21] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing safe driving information based on vehicle characteristics, including the steps of: collecting road information; collecting weather information including past weather information and real-time weather information; obtaining weather prediction information by predicting variation of weather factors, which is induced based on the past weather information; predicting hazardous road condition information having information about hazardous road condition levels according to an area and a time by analyzing the road information and the weather prediction information; collecting vehicle information of a driver; and obtaining safe driving information according to a driver by analyzing the hazardous road condition information and the vehicle information of the driver.

[22] The method may further include the step of transmitting the vehicle based safe driving information or the driver based safe driving information to a driver who drives a corresponding vehicle through a wired/wireless communication network.

[23] The method may further include the step of classifying the vehicle based safe driving information by a vehicle type, an area, and a time and processing the classified safe driving information into a form of a database so as to use the vehicle based safe driving information as command safe driving information.

[24] The prediction of the safe driving information may be performed for more than one of driving paths of the driver, and the method may further include the step of: selecting a safest driving path by comparing more than one of the drivers based safe driving information predicted for more than one of the driving paths.

[25] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for providing safe driving information customized based on characteristics of a vehicle, including: a weather information database for storing past weather information and real-time weather information; a weather information processing unit for predicting weather prediction information by analyzing weather variation based on the past weather information and the real-time weather information of the weather information database; a weather prediction database for storing the weather prediction information obtained by the weather information processing unit; a road information database; a hazardous road condition information processing unit for predicting a hazardous road condition level according to an area and a time by analyzing the road information database and the weather prediction database; a hazardous road condition information database for storing hazardous road condition information obtained by the hazardous road condition information processing unit; a driver- vehicle information database; a safe driving information processing unit for predicting driver based safe driving information according to a driver by analyzing the hazardous road condition information database and the driver- vehicle information database; and a safe driving information database for storing the safe driving information obtained by the safe driving information processing unit.

[26] The prediction of the safe driving information may be performed for more than one of driving paths of the driver, and the system may further include a safe driving information comparing and processing unit for selecting a safest driving path by comparing more than one of the driver based safe driving information predicted for more than one of the driving paths.

Advantageous Effects

[27] According to the present invention, high intellectual level safe driving information can be induced by reflecting the characteristics of a vehicle as well as a weather condition and a road condition. Therefore, it is possible to guide a driver to safely drive and to reduce a rate of generating accidents greatly compared to a conventional system that provide simple weather information to a driver.

[28] Furthermore, weather prediction information or predicted hazardous road condition information is provided in consideration of real time weather information based on past data accumulated for a long time, and safe driving information is provided based on the weather prediction information and the hazardous road conditions according to the present invention. Therefore, it is possible to reduce an inconvenience and a cost for collecting data for all road sections and weather conditions. [29] Moreover, a social cost caused by traffic accidents and traffic jamming can be reduced by using the method and system for providing safe driving information to a driver based on the characteristics of a corresponding vehicle according to the present invention. Therefore, the national competitiveness can be enhanced. Brief Description of the Drawings

[30] Fig. 1 is a flowchart of a method for providing customized safe driving information in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention.

[31] Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a method for providing customized safe driving information in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention.

[32] Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a method for providing customized safe driving information in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention.

[33] Fig. 4 is a flowchart of a method for providing customized safe driving information in accordance with the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[34] Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating a system for providing customized safe driving information in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention.

[35] Fig. 6 is a detailed diagram illustrating a system for providing customized safe driving information shown in Fig. 5.

[36] Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating a system for providing customized safe driving information in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[37] The advantages, features and aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, which is set forth hereinafter.

[38] Fig. 1 is a flowchart of a method for providing customized safe driving information according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[39] Referring to Fig. 1, in the method for providing customized safe driving information according to the present embodiment, road information and weather information are collected at steps SlO and S20, and weather prediction information is obtained by analyzing the collected weather information at step S30. Then, hazardous road condition information is obtained by analyzing the collected road information and weather prediction information at step S40. Then, the vehicle information is collected at step s50. Finally, the customized safe driving information is obtained for each driver by analyzing the vehicle information and the hazardous road condition information at step S60.

[40] Hereinafter, each of the steps in a method for providing customized safe driving information according to the present embodiment will be described in more detail.

[41] At step SlO, road information is collected at first. [42] For example, the road information includes information about the characteristics of a road surface, pheripheral topography, road geometry, and traffic flow. The road information is processed through one or combination of an image awareness method, a simulation method, and a geometric information analysis method.

[43] In more detail, 3-D images of a road are obtained using a special vehicle having a

3-D image awareness apparatus, and the characteristics of a road surface such as the roughness of a road are detected by analyzing the obtained 3-D images. The geometry of a road and the peripheral topology are also obtained by analyzing geometry information which is collected through a diagram of a road layout or a 3-D electric map. A traffic flow is detected through a charge coupled device (CCD) sensor and traffic flow may be predicted through simulations made based on the similar conditions of a road. The road information is obtained based on the characteristics of a road surface, the geometry of a road, the peripheral topology, and the traffic flow.

[44] Here, the traffic flow information is information about the flow of traffic according to the characteristics of a road. For example, a highway has the characteristics in that traffic flow slows down at a predetermined section such as interchanges because many cars are grouped together around the interchanges in order to escape from the highway through the interchanges. The traffic flow information includes detail and individual information that was measured and is measured in real-time.

[45] Then, the weather information is collected at step S20. Here, the collected weather information includes past weather information and real-time weather information.

[46] The past weather information means past weather data collected and classified by area and time, for example, one or combination of snowfall information, rainfall information, wind direction information, wind velocity information, temperature information, humidity information, fog information, and solar radiation information. The past weather information includes information that is obtained previously from the public or private institutions such as meteorological administration and processed by a time and a section in order to conveniently use the past weather information for predicting hazardous road conditions.

[47] The real-time weather information is collected, for example, using a weather radar, a weather satellite, an auto weather system (AWS), and a CCD sensor. That is, the real-time weather information is collected using meteorological observation radars which are disposed at a predetermined distance on the ground, a real time auto meteorological observation system, a 3-D CCD camera, and meteorological satellites which rotate the earth at a predetermined altitude and processed in a predetermined database format.

[48] Then, the weather prediction information is forecasted at step S30.

[49] The weather prediction information is forecasted in consideration the real-time weather information based on the past weather information. In more detail, the past weather information is classified and processed by an area, a time, and a weather condition, and the weather transition according to the accumulated past weather information is processed in a database format. Then, it is possible to forecast future expected weather prediction information based on the real-time weather information and the past weather prediction information. However, it is required to constantly accumulate and update past weather information in order to sustain the reliability of forecasting the weather transition because weather will constantly vary as time passes and weather environment changes.

[50] For example, The past weather prediction information, which has been accumulated for about several ten years, of a Seong-Su cross road where a northern riverside express way meets an east main road in Seoul, the temperature increases from 3 degree to 4.5 degree and the humidity changes from 50% to 40% from 7 A.M. to 8 A.M. in January. If a real-time measured temperature and humidity are about 2 degree and about 40% at 7 A.M., the temperature and the humidity of 8 A.M. can be predicted as about 3 degree and 32% based on the past weather prediction information.

[51] The above described example is the simplest forecast simulation that did not consider the other weather conditions. The forecast reliability may increase if another forecast method is used with the other weather conditions such as snowfall information, rainfall information, solar radiation information according to the amount of clouds, fog information, terrestrial heat information, and wind direction and wind velocity information. Furthermore, the forecast method may be modified to output more accurate forecast result by comparing the previous forecasted result with the actual measured weather and feeding the difference back to forecast new weather information.

[52] The weather prediction information may be a constant type of weather information.

However, it is preferable that the weather prediction information may be realized in a form of a function with the past weather information and the real-time weather information as parameters. If the weather prediction information is modeled as such a function, it is possible to reduce the inconvenience of repeatedly analyzing the past weather information and forecasting the weather transition individually.

[53] For example, the weather prediction information may include information about the prediction of snowfall change, information about the prediction of rainfall change, information about the prediction of wind change, information about the prediction of temperature change, information about the prediction of fog developing and fog dispelling, and information about the prediction of cloud amount change.

[54] Then, hazardous road condition information is predicted by analyzing the road information and the weather prediction information at step S40. The hazardous road condition information means a level of hazardous road condition by area and time.

[55] For example, the hazardous road condition information may be predicted in two steps. At step S42, hazardous road sections are predicted by weather factors that are obtained based on the weather prediction information and a weather condition of a road section that a driver is driving or will drive. For example, the hazardous road sections include an icy road section, a heavy rainfall road section, a heavy snowfall road section, a foggy road section, and a tornado road section.

[56] Then, a road surface condition, a steering condition, and a recognition condition of a corresponding road section are predicted based on the firstly predicted hazardous road condition information and the road information at step S44. The hazardous road condition information may vary according to the characteristics of a road surface which are predicted based on the geometry of a corresponding road section, the road surface type of a corresponding road section, and the peripheral topology around a corresponding road section. Therefore, the road information must be considered with a level of hazardous road condition by weather factor in order to further accurately predict the hazardous road condition information. It is preferable that the hazardous road condition information may be realized in a form of a function with the road information and the weather prediction information as parameters in consideration of the economic point of view, the convenience, and the speed of processing information.

[57] In the method for providing customized safe driving information according to the present embodiment, the information about a vehicle of a driver is collected at step S50.

[58] The hazardous road conditions may change according to the conditions of an individual vehicle although a weather condition and a road condition are the same. A conventional information providing system provides only the optimal path to a driver. That is, the conventional information providing system does not provide safe driving information or provides simple information such as weather information to a driver. There is no system introduced for providing information to effectively avoid hazards and for providing a safe driving path to a driver. In order to safe driving information customized to a driver, it is required to consider individual vehicle information of a corresponding driver as well as the common vehicle information which is information about the characteristics of the same vehicle type.

[59] For example, a braking distance may change according to a diameter of a tire, a wear-out state of a tire, and a tire type. Therefore, the detail information about the vehicle is collected and used for obtaining the safe driving information. That is, a user may input the vehicle information into a dedicated terminal, a navigation system, a portable terminal and a PDA which can use the safe driving information providing system according to the present embodiment through a dedicated terminal, a navigation system, a portable phone, the Internet, and a PDA. Or, it may be set to automatically input the default values of a vehicle if a user selects a type of a corresponding vehicle.

[60] The vehicle information also includes common vehicle information and individual vehicle information. The common vehicle information is unique information according to a vehicle type such as information about the driving gears of a corresponding vehicle, the make and model of a corresponding vehicle, and an engine of a corresponding vehicle. The individual vehicle information is information about each individual vehicle such as the made year of vehicle, the mileage, a time of using a tire. Then, the safe driving information is predicted at step S60.

[61] The safe driving information is obtained by analyzing the breaking distance calculated through analyzing the refraction between a tire and the ground, the visual range calculated based on a vehicle design and weather condition, and a safe speed of a curved road section, which is calculated based on a corresponding road surface, and weather condition predicted based on the hazardous factors of a road section and the individual vehicle information previously inputted in the vehicle characteristic information database.

[62] The safe driving information may be obtained through two steps. That is, the vehicle based safe driving information according to a vehicle type is firstly obtained by analyzing the hazardous road condition information and the common vehicle information at step S62. Then, the driver based safe driving information according to each driver is obtained by analyzing the vehicle based safe driving information and the individual vehicle information according to each driver at step S64.

[63] Such safe driving information may be provided to a corresponding driver in real time. Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a method for providing customized safe driving information according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[64] Referring to Fig. 2, the method for providing customized safe driving information according to the second embodiment further includes the step S70 for transmitting the safe driving information to a driver. In more detail, the vehicle based safe driving information is obtained by performing the steps of SlO to S62 according to the first embodiment, and the obtained vehicle based safe driving information is transmitted to a corresponding driver who drives a corresponding vehicle through a wired/wireless communication network. Or, the driver based safe driving information is obtained by performing the steps of SlO to S64 according to the first embodiment, and the obtained driver based safe driving information is transmitted to a corresponding driver who drives a corresponding vehicle through a wired/wireless communication network. For example, the safe driving information according to the vehicle type or according to the individual vehicle is transmitted to a navigation system in a corresponding vehicle, a portable phone, a PDA, or a dedicated terminal for receiving the safe driving in- formation through a transmitting unit including a wired/wireless communication network in real time. It is preferable that the vehicle based customized safe driving information may be transmitted to each corresponding driver before the driver reaches a corresponding area and time of the customized safe driving information in order to enable the driver to previously recognize a hazardous road condition.

[65] The safe driving information obtained by the method according to the first embodiment may be processed in a form of a database as well as transmitted to a corresponding driver in real time. The safe driving information database may be used as common data for a navigation system. Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a method for providing customized safe driving information according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[66] Referring Fig. 3, the method for providing customized safe driving information according to the third embodiment further includes the step S80 for classifying the safe driving information obtained through the step S60 by a vehicle type, an area, and a time and processing the classified safe driving information in a form of a database in order to use the safe driving information database for common use. A navigation system storing the safe driving information database may predict the optimal safe path as well as predicted hazardous road conditions if a driver inputs the vehicle information of the driver and a predicted weather condition.

[67] Such safe driving information database may be stored in a corresponding navigation system and may be also transmitted to a corresponding driver according to a driver's request through a wired/wireless communication network while the driver is driving.

[68] If a departure point and a destination are given, various driving paths such as the optimal path, the shortest path, the fastest path can be searched. Based on the method for providing safe driving information according to the present embodiment, the safest driving path can be provided to a driver by comparing hazardous road conditions of paths. Fig. 4 is a flowchart of a method for providing customized safe driving information according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[69] Referring to Fig. 4, in the method for providing customized safe driving information according to the fourth embodiment, the step S60 of predicting the safe driving information may be performed for one or more paths at step S66. Then, the safest driving path is selected by comparing the obtained safe driving information according to each driver at step S90. In order to select the safest driving path by comparing the safe driving information, a predetermined weight is assigned according to hazardous road conditions, and a path having the lowest hazardous road condition level is selected as the safest driving path.

[70] Hereinafter, a system for providing customized safe driving information based on the characteristics of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating a system for providing safe driving information according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 6 is a detail diagram of Fig. 5.

[71] Referring to Figs. 5 and 6, the system for providing customized safe driving information based on the characteristics of a vehicle according to the present embodiment includes a weather information database 110, a road information database 140, and a driver- vehicle information database 160. The system according to the present invention further includes a weather information processing unit 210 for predicting weather prediction information by analyzing the weather information database 110 and a weather prediction information database 120 for storing the obtained weather prediction information. Also, the system according to the present embodiment further includes a hazardous road condition information processing unit 220 for predicting a level of a hazardous road condition according to an area and a time by analyzing the weather prediction information database 120 and a hazardous road condition information database 150 for storing the obtained hazardous road condition information. Furthermore, the system according to the present embodiment includes a safe driving information processing unit 230 for predicting safe driving information according to a driver and a safe driving information database 170 for storing the safe driving information according to a driver.

[72] Hereinafter, the constituent elements of the system for providing safe driving information according to the present embodiment will be described in detail.

[73] The system for providing safe driving information according to the present embodiment includes the road information database 140. The road information database 140 includes information about the characteristics of a road surface, peripheral topography, road geometry, and traffic flow, which influence a driver to safely drive a predetermined road section.

[74] In more detail, 3-D images of a road are obtained using a special vehicle having a

3-D image awareness apparatus, and the characteristics of a road surface are detected by analyzing the obtained 3-D images. The geometry of a road and the peripheral topology are also obtained by analyzing geometry information which is collected through a diagram of a road layout or a 3-D electric map. A traffic flow is detected through a charge coupled device (CCD) sensor and traffic flow may be predicted through simulations made based on the similar conditions of a road.

[75] The system for providing safe driving information according to the present embodiment includes the weather information database 110. The weather information database 110 includes past weather information 112 and real-time weather information 114.

[76] The past weather information means past weather data collected and classified by area and time, for example, one or combination of snowfall information, rainfall information, wind direction information, wind velocity information, temperature information, humidity information, fog information, and solar radiation information.

[77] The real-time weather information is collected, for example, using a weather radar, a weather satellite, an auto weather system (AWS), and a CCD sensor. That is, the real-time weather information is collected using meteorological observation radars which are disposed at a predetermined distance on the ground, a real time auto meteorological observation system, a 3-D CCD camera, and meteorological satellites which rotate the earth at a predetermined altitude and processed in a predetermined database format.

[78] The system for providing safe driving information according to the present embodiment includes the driver- vehicle information database 160. The driver- vehicle information database 160 is essential data for analyzing and providing customized safe driving information according to a driver. For example, the driver- vehicle information database includes common vehicle information and individual vehicle information. The common vehicle information is unique information according to a vehicle type such as information about the driving gears of a corresponding vehicle, the make and model of a corresponding vehicle, and an engine of a corresponding vehicle. The individual vehicle information is information about each individual vehicle such as the year of vehicle built, the mileage, a time of using a tire.

[79] In more detail, a user may input the vehicle information into a dedicated terminal, a navigation system, a portable terminal and a PDA which can use the safe driving information providing system according to the present embodiment through a dedicated terminal, a navigation system, a portable phone, the Internet, and a PDA. Or, it may be set to automatically input the default values of a vehicle if a user selects a type of a corresponding vehicle.

[80] The safe driving information system according to the present embodiment also includes the weather information processing unit 210. The weather information processing unit 210 predicts weather prediction information by analyzing weather variation based on the past weather information and the real-time weather information of the weather information database 110.

[81] The weather prediction information is predicted in consideration of the real-time weather information based on the past weather information. In more detail, the past weather information is classified by an area, a time, and a weather condition, and the classified past weather information is processed, thereby building a database of weather variation prediction. The change of a weather factor can be predicted based on the real-time weather information and the past weather variation. However, it is required to constantly accumulate and update past weather information in order to sustain the reliability of forecasting the weather transition because weather will constantly vary as time passes and weather environment changes. Furthermore, the prediction method may be modified to output more accurate prediction result by comparing the previous forecasted result with the actual measured weather and feeding the difference back to forecast new weather information.

[82] The safe driving information providing system according to the present embodiment further includes the weather prediction information database 120 for storing weather prediction information obtained by the weather information processing unit 210.

[83] In more detail, the weather prediction information database 120 includes weather prediction information which is combination of information about the prediction of snowfall change, information about the prediction of rainfall change, information about the prediction of wind change, information about the prediction of temperature change, information about the prediction of fog developing and fog dispelling, and information about the prediction of cloud amount change.

[84] The hazardous road condition information processing unit 220 predicts a level of hazardous road conditions according to an area and a time by analyzing the road information database 140 and the weather prediction information database 120.

[85] The hazardous road condition information processing unit 220 calculates a hazardous level of each road section based on the road information and the weather prediction information using various methods. For example, the hazardous road condition information processing unit 220 includes a first hazardous road condition information processor 222 for predicting a hazardous road section according to a weather factor, which is obtained based on the weather prediction information in consideration of a weather condition of a road section where a driver is driving or where a driver will be driving at a predetermined time, and a second hazardous road condition processor 224 for predicting a road surface condition, a steering condition, and a recognition condition of a corresponding road section by analyzing the predicted hazardous road section from the first hazardous road condition information processor 222 and the road information.

[86] The hazardous road sections include an icy road section, a heavy rainfall road section, a heavy snowfall road section, a foggy road section, and a tornado road section. The predicted characteristics of a road surface may vary according to the geometry of a road, the type of a road surface, and the peripheral topology. In order to accurately predict the hazardous road condition information, the road information must be considered with the hazardous level according to the weather factor.

[87] The safe driving information providing system according to the present embodiment further includes the hazardous road condition information database 150 for storing the hazardous road condition information obtained by the hazardous road condition information processing unit. The hazardous road condition information database 150 stores information about a road surface condition, a steering condition, and a recognition condition of a corresponding road.

[88] The road surface condition information is information about a hazardous condition that may be generated on a road surface. The road surface condition denotes whether a grooved part or a projected part is formed on a predetermined road section or not, or whether a breaking distance is shorted by web road section or not.

[89] The steering condition denotes hazardous conditions related to a steering performance of a vehicle, which is decided according to the geometry and the weather information of a road. The recognition condition denotes hazardous conditions generated according to the recognition ability such as a distance that a driver can recognize according to the geometry and a road and a visual range based on fog.

[90] The safe driving information providing system according to the present embodiment includes the safe driving processor 230.

[91] The safe driving processor 230 predicts safe driving information according to a driver by analyzing the hazardous road condition information database 150 and the driver- vehicle information database 160.

[92] The safe driving information is obtained by analyzing the hazardous road condition information stored in the hazardous road condition information 150 and the vehicle information stored in the driver- vehicle information database 160.

[93] In more detail, the safe driving information is obtained by analyzing the breaking distance obtained through analyzing the refraction between a tire and the ground, the visual range calculated based on a vehicle design and weather condition, and a safe speed of a curved road section, which is calculated based on a corresponding road surface, and weather condition predicted based on the hazardous factors of a road section and the individual vehicle information previously inputted in the vehicle characteristic information database.

[94] The safe driving information may be obtained through two steps. That is, the vehicle based safe driving information according to a vehicle type is firstly obtained by analyzing the hazardous road condition information and the unique information of each vehicle type in the first safe driving information processor 232. Then, the driver based safe driving information according to each driver is obtained by analyzing the safe driving information according to the vehicle type and the individual vehicle information according to each driver in the second safe driving information processor 234.

[95] The hazardous road conditions may change according to the conditions of an individual vehicle although a weather condition and a road condition are the same. A conventional information providing system provides only the optimal path to a driver. That is, the conventional information providing system does not provide safe driving information or provides simple information such as weather information to a driver. There is no system introduced for providing information for effectively avoiding hazards and a safe driving path to a driver. In order to safe driving information customized to a driver who is driving, it is required to consider individual conditions of the driver's vehicle as well as the general characteristics of the same type of the driver's vehicle.

[96] For example, a braking distance may change according to a diameter of a tire, a wear-out state of a tire, and a tire type. Therefore, the detail information about the vehicle is collected and used for obtaining the safe driving information.

[97] The safe driving information providing system according to the present embodiment includes the safe driving information database 170.

[98] The safe driving information database 170 includes safe driving information according to a driver, which is obtained by the safe driving processor 230. The safe driving information is a database classified by a time, an area, and a driver or may be a function with the hazardous road condition information and the driver- vehicle information as parameters.

[99] Furthermore, the safe driving information providing system according to the present embodiment further includes the safe driving information transmitting unit 250 for transmitting the safe driving information stored in the safe driving information database 170 to a corresponding driver through a wired/wireless communication network.

[100] Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating a system for providing customized safe driving information according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[101] Referring to Fig. 7, the system for providing customized safe driving information based on the characteristics of a vehicle according to the present embodiment further includes a safe driving information comparing unit 240 as well as the constituent elements of the system shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

[102] The safe driving information processing unit obtains a plurality of safe driving information for one or more paths of the corresponding driver, and the safe driving information comparing unit 240 selects the optimal safest driving path by comparing the safe driving information of paths.

[103] In order to select the safest driving path by comparing the safe driving information of paths, a predetermined weight is assigned according to hazardous factors, and a path having the lowest hazardous level is selected.

[104] The selected safest driving path is provided to an individual driver through the transmitting unit 250. Or, the selected safest driving path is processed as the safe driving database and provided as the database of a navigation system. While the present invention has been described with respect to certain preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirits and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

Claims

[1] A method for providing safe driving information based on vehicle characteristics, the method comprising the steps of: collecting road information; collecting weather information including past weather information and real-time weather information; obtaining weather prediction information by predicting variation of weather factors, which is induced based on the past weather information; predicting hazardous road condition information having information about hazardous road condition levels according to an area and a time by analyzing the road information and the weather prediction information; collecting vehicle information of a driver; and obtaining safe driving information according to a driver by analyzing the hazardous road condition information and the vehicle information of the driver.

[2] The method of claim 1, wherein the road information is processed through one or combination of an image awareness method, a simulation method, and a geometric information analysis method.

[3] The method of claim 1, wherein the real-time weather information includes weather radar information, weather satellite information, auto weather system (AWS) information, charge coupled device (CCD) information, and combination thereof.

[4] The method of claim 1, wherein the prediction of the hazardous road condition information includes the steps of: predicting first hazardous road condition information including one or combination of an icy road section, a heavy rainfall road section, a heavy snowfall road section, a foggy road section, and a tornado road section based on the weather prediction information; and predicting a hazardous road condition level including one or combination of a road surface condition, a steering condition, and a recognition condition based on the first hazardous road condition information and the road information.

[5] The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle information of the driver includes: common vehicle information having information about a driving gear of a corresponding vehicle, make and model of a corresponding vehicle, and an engine of a corresponding vehicle; and individual vehicle information having information about a year of making a corresponding vehicle, a mileage, and a time of using a tire.

[6] The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining of the safe driving information according to a driver includes the steps of: firstly obtaining vehicle based safe driving information according to a vehicle by analyzing the hazardous road condition information and the common vehicle information; and secondly obtaining driver based safe driving information according to a driver by analyzing the vehicle based safe driving information and individual information of a driver.

[7] The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of: transmitting the vehicle based safe driving information to a driver who drives a corresponding vehicle through a wired/wireless communication network.

[8] The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of: transmitting the driver based safe driving information to a driver who drives a corresponding vehicle through a wired/wireless communication network.

[9] The method of claim 1, further comprising classifying the vehicle based safe driving information by a vehicle type, an area, and a time and processing the classified safe driving information into a form of a database so as to use the vehicle based safe driving information as command safe driving information.

[10] The method of claim 1, wherein the prediction of the safe driving information is performed for more than one of driving paths of the driver, and further comprising the step of: selecting a safest driving path by comparing more than one of the driver based safe driving information predicted for more than one of the driving paths.

[11] A system for providing safe driving information customized based on characteristics of a vehicle, comprising: a weather information database for storing past weather information and realtime weather information; a weather information processing unit for predicting weather prediction information by analyzing weather variation based on the past weather information and the real-time weather information of the weather information database; a weather prediction database for storing the weather prediction information obtained by the weather information processing unit; a road information database; a hazardous road condition information processing unit for predicting a hazardous road condition level according to an area and a time by analyzing the road information database and the weather prediction database; a hazardous road condition information database for storing hazardous road condition information obtained by the hazardous road condition information processing unit; a driver- vehicle information database; a safe driving information processing unit for predicting driver based safe driving information according to a driver by analyzing the hazardous road condition information database and the driver-vehicle information database; and a safe driving information database for storing the safe driving information obtained by the safe driving information processing unit.

[12] The system of claim 11, wherein the road information includes one or combination of road surface characteristic information, peripheral topography information, road geometry information, and traffic flow information.

[13] The system of claim 11, wherein the weather prediction information includes one or combination of snowfall change prediction information, rainfall change prediction information, wind change prediction information, temperature change prediction information, fog developing and fog dispelling prediction information, and cloud amount change prediction information.

[14] The system of claim 11, wherein the past weather information includes one or combination of snowfall information, rainfall information, wind direction information, wind velocity information, temperature information, humidity information, fog information, and solar radiation information.

[15] The system of claim 11, wherein the hazardous road condition information processing unit includes: a first hazardous road condition information processor for predicting hazardous road sections according to weather factors which is one or combination of an icy road section, a heavy rainfall road section, a heavy snowfall road section, a foggy road section, and a tornado road section based on the weather prediction information; and a second hazardous road condition information processor for predicting a hazardous road condition level including one or combination of a road surface condition, a steering condition, and a recognition condition based on the first hazardous road condition information and the road information.

[16] The system of claim 11, wherein the driver- vehicle information database includes: common vehicle information having information about a driving gear of a corresponding vehicle, make and model of a corresponding vehicle, and an engine of a corresponding vehicle; and individual vehicle information having information about a year of making a corresponding vehicle, a mileage, and a time of using a tire, and wherein the safe driving information processing unit includes; a first safe driving information processing unit for firstly obtaining vehicle based safe driving information according to a vehicle by analyzing the hazardous road condition information and the common vehicle information; and a second safe driving information processing unit for secondly obtaining driver based safe driving information according to a driver by analyzing the vehicle based safe driving information and individual information of a driver.

[17] The system of claim 11, wherein the driver based safe driving information is displayed as a function with the hazardous road condition information and the driver-vehicle information as parameters.

[18] The system of claim 11, further comprising a safe driving information transmitting unit for transmitting the safe driving information customized according to a driver to a corresponding driver through a wired/wireless communication network.

[19] The system of claim 11, wherein the prediction of the safe driving information is performed for more than one of driving paths of the driver, and further comprising a safe driving information comparing and processing unit for selecting a safest driving path by comparing more than one of the driver based safe driving information predicted for more than one of the driving paths.