Vehicle image data transmission device

A vehicle image data transmission device that transmits image data obtained when driving a vehicle by capturing an image of a vehicle exterior to a management center that manages travel information of a plurality of vehicles, the vehicle image data transmission device comprising:

• an on-vehicle communication device configured to communicate with the management center through a vehicle external network for mobile communication;
• a camera that obtains the image data of the vehicle exterior;
• a database that records image data obtained from the camera;
• a communication controller configured to transmit image data recorded in the database to the on-vehicle communication device through a vehicle internal network mounted in the vehicle under a condition in which the vehicle internal network has a communication load that is less than a first predetermined value;
• and
• a processor configured to calculate a travel easiness score that indicates easiness for the vehicle to travel, which reflects a number of other vehicles and a number of pedestrians, based on image data obtained from the camera;
• and wherein
• the on-vehicle communication device includes a memory that stores image data received from the communication controller,
• the on-vehicle communication device is configured to transmit image data stored in the memory to the management center under a condition in which the vehicle external network has a communication load that is less than a second predetermined value,
• the processor is configured to manage data recorded in the database,
• the processor is configured to record image data in the database associated with time when the image data is obtained by the camera and the travel easiness score calculated by the processor and delete image data from the database in a state in which an elapsed time from the obtained time exceeds a first allowed time,
• the processor is further configured to set the first allowed time longer when the travel easiness score associated with image data is less than a predetermined score than when the travel easiness score associated with image data is greater than or equal to the predetermined score, and
• the communication controller is configured to transmit image data to the on-vehicle communication device from the database by giving priority to image data associated with a travel easiness score that is less than the predetermined score over image data associated with a travel easiness score that is greater than or equal to the predetermined score.

A vehicle image data transmission device that transmits image data obtained when driving a vehicle by capturing an image of a vehicle exterior to a management center that manages travel information of a plurality of vehicles, the vehicle image data transmission device comprising:

• an on-vehicle communication device configured to communicate with the management center through a vehicle external network for mobile communication;
• a camera that obtains the image data of the vehicle exterior;
• a database that records image data obtained from the camera;
• a communication controller configured to transmit image data recorded in the database to the on-vehicle communication device through a vehicle internal network mounted in the vehicle under a condition in which the vehicle internal network has a communication load that is less than a first predetermined value;
• and
• a processor configured to calculate a travel easiness score that indicates easiness for the vehicle to travel, which reflects a number of other vehicles and a number of pedestrians, based on image data obtained from the camera;
• and wherein
• the processor is configured to manage data recorded in the database, wherein
• the processor is configured to record image data in the database associated with time when the image data is obtained by the camera and the travel easiness score calculated by the processor,
• the on-vehicle communication device includes a memory that stores image data received from the communication controller,
• the on-vehicle communication device is configured to record image data received from the database in the memory in addition to the obtained time and the travel easiness score associated with the image data and delete image data from the memory in a state in which an elapsed time from the obtained time exceeds a second allowed time,
• the on-vehicle communication device is configured to set the second allowed time when the travel easiness score associated with image data is less than a predetermined score longer than the second allowed time when the travel easiness score associated with image data is greater than or equal to the predetermined score, and
• the on-vehicle communication device is configured to transmit image data stored in the memory to the management center under a condition in which the vehicle external network has a communication load that is less than a second predetermined value, and
• the on-vehicle communication device is configured to transmit image data to the management center by giving priority to image data associated with a travel easiness score that is less than the predetermined score over image data associated with a travel easiness score that is greater than or equal to the predetermined score.

A method for transmitting image data for a vehicle, the method comprising:

• obtaining image data when driving the vehicle by capturing an image of a vehicle exterior with an on-vehicle camera;
• recording the obtained image data in an on-vehicle database;
• transmitting image data recorded in the on-vehicle database to an on-vehicle communication device through a vehicle internal network mounted in the vehicle under a condition in which the vehicle internal network has a communication load that is less than a first predetermined value;
• storing image data transmitted through the vehicle internal network in a memory included in the on-vehicle communication device;
• calculating a travel easiness score that indicates easiness for the vehicle to travel, which reflects a number of other vehicles and a number of pedestrians based on the image data;
• determining that a communication load of a vehicle external network is less than a second predetermined value when the calculated travel easiness score is greater than or equal to a predetermined score and that the communication load of the vehicle external network is greater than or equal to the second predetermined value when the calculated travel easiness score is less than the predetermined score;
• and
• transmitting image data stored in the memory to a management center through the vehicle external network for mobile communication under a condition in which the vehicle external network has a communication load that is less than the second predetermined value.