EP2176837A2

EP2176837A2 - Transmission apparatus and method for transmitting a present position of a vehicle to an evaluation centre

Info

Publication number: EP2176837A2
Application number: EP08785917A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Johannes-Christof Rebsch; Michael Friese; Marco Fiedler; Sven Holbruegge; Thorsten Michler
Original assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
Current assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
Priority date: 2007-07-30
Filing date: 2008-07-04
Publication date: 2010-04-21
Anticipated expiration: 2028-07-04
Also published as: DE102007035738A1; EP2176837B2; EP2176837B1; WO2009015987A2; WO2009015987A3

Abstract

The present invention relates to a transmission apparatus for a vehicle (12) for transmitting a present position of an alien vehicle (14) to an evaluation centre with a sensor and/or an evaluation device (26), which is designed to read off a visual and/or electromagnetic tag (20, 24) from the alien vehicle (14) and to provide a piece of tag information (32) corresponding to the visual and/or electromagnetic tag (20, 24) which has been read off; and a transmission device (38), which is designed to receive a piece of position information (36), provided by a position-finding appliance (34) in the vehicle itself, about a present position of the vehicle (12) and the tag information (32) provided and to emit a long-haul signal with the provided position information (36) and the provided tag information (32) to the evaluation centre. The invention also relates to a method of transmitting a present position of a first vehicle (14) to an evaluation centre.

Description

description

title

Transmission device and method for transmitting a current position of a

Vehicle to an evaluation center

The invention relates to a transmission device for a vehicle for transmitting a current position of a foreign vehicle to an evaluation center. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for transmitting a current position of a first vehicle to an evaluation center.

Frequently, drivers of toll vehicles attempt to manipulate the device attached to determine the toll on their vehicle. For example, some drivers remove the on-board unit (OBU) unit from their vehicle to prevent it from transmitting appropriate information to the electronic toll collection system when driving on a tolled road. Vehicles with such manipulations are often referred to as toll bollards.

Conventionally, electronic toll collection systems therefore include fixed control devices for recognizing and identifying toll bouncers. The stationary control devices are usually adapted to the absence of a

OBU unit or the incorrect operation of an OBU unit to recognize a toll vehicle in their immediate vicinity. In general, the stationary control devices are designed as toll bridges.

The disadvantage of these toll bridges lies in the high cost, which when building a

Mautbrücke incurred. In addition, the toll bridges of a conventional electronic toll collection system are designed only to check vehicles in their immediate vicinity for an existing and properly functioning OBU unit.

In order to check a high percentage of the areas of all tolled roads with regard to driving through a Mautpreller must therefore a relatively high number be built by toll bridges. This is especially associated with a nationwide toll on all roads within an area with very high costs.

It would therefore be desirable to have a cost effective way of recognizing and identifying toll bollards which allows a high coverage rate of the areas of all tolled roads.

The invention provides a transmission device with the features of claim 1 and a method with the features of claim 10.

The invention is based on the recognition that toll bumpers can be identified and identified without the use of stationary control devices by equipping a number of vehicles with a transmission device according to the invention which is designed to combine optical and / or electromagnetic marking from a foreign vehicle the own vehicle position to an evaluation center. The evaluation center then recognizes the identity of the foreign vehicle based on the information transmitted by the vehicle and queries which data is received by the detected foreign vehicle within a predetermined period of time. Subsequently, the evaluation center determines from the data the current own vehicle position specified by the foreign vehicle itself. The own vehicle position indicated by the foreign vehicle itself is compared with the reported position of the vehicle with the transmission device. If the evaluation center establishes a contradiction between the position transmitted by the vehicle with the transmission device and the current own vehicle position transmitted by the other vehicle itself, it notifies the toll operator. The other vehicle can then be checked by the toll operator in terms of a possible manipulation of the OBU unit.

The position information may be a local coordinate, a road segment or a geographical zone. For example, when the on-vehicle position detecting apparatus belongs to a navigation system, it is easier to provide a road section as position information. The position information can thus only be an approximate information about the current position of the control vehicle.

In this case, a preferred embodiment of the invention has the advantage that a vehicle equipped with the transmission device according to the invention is not recognizable as such. An encounter with such a vehicle may be subject to a toll preller therefore can not be avoided. An enabled by the invention review of a toll vehicle is therefore time and place independent. This is an advantage over toll bridges whose location is quickly known to a driver and which are easily navigable with this knowledge. As an alternative to this, the vehicle equipped with the transmission device can also be indicated as such by other vehicles, for example by special stickers, if such is required for reasons of data protection law.

Since, in its simplest embodiment, the transmission device according to the invention only has to have a sensor and / or evaluation device for reading an optical and / or electromagnetic marker and a transmitting device for transmitting a long-distance signal, it can be produced inexpensively. The elaborate evaluation devices for identifying the foreign vehicle and for determining whether the foreign vehicle is a toll-bouncer are arranged in this case only at the evaluation center. This can be a high number of

Equip vehicles in a cost effective manner with the transmission device.

As a further simplification, the sensor and / or evaluation device can only be an evaluation device. This evaluation device is then designed to evaluate data provided by a vehicle-specific sensor device, for example a video signal recorded by an on-board camera device, with regard to the marking of the foreign vehicle. For example, the evaluation device receives the environmental data from a lane departure warning system (Lane Departure Warning System) and then evaluates them accordingly.

The equipment of a vehicle with the transmission device according to the invention is therefore cheaper with high road network coverage than the usual stationary toll bridges. The desired degree of coverage can be adjusted by the number of vehicles equipped with the transmission device and their region.

For Mautprellererkennung any number of vehicles is equipped with the transmission device according to the invention, which allows reading the optical and / or electromagnetic marker and communication with the data center of the toll operator. The equipment of the vehicle with the transmission device can be used as an extension to an already existing OBU on the vehicle.

Unit (on-board unit) are executed. This additionally reduces the cost of such a surveying device. In a preferred embodiment of the transmission device, the sensor and / or evaluation device has a camera and image processing device and / or a laser and detection device for the visual detection of at least one sub-surface of the other vehicle. Such a sensor device can be produced in a cost-effective manner and is well suited for reading an optical marking of a foreign vehicle.

Preferably, the optical and / or electromagnetic marking of the foreign vehicle is a license plate. Since vehicles must be conventionally equipped with a license plate, thus already recognizable for the transmission device marking on each other vehicle is present. In this case, the transmission device can be designed as an ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) system or as a simple camera with an image processing device. The described embodiment of the transmission device can thus be implemented inexpensively.

In a development, the sensor and / or evaluation device is additionally designed to determine a distance between the vehicle and the foreign vehicle and / or a speed of the other vehicle and a corresponding distance and / or speed signal to an on-board warning and / or control unit To provide, for example, to a collision warning to a driver assistance system, to an emergency braking system and / or to an airbag deployment system. By virtue of this multi-functionality of the sensor and / or evaluation device of the transmission device, further sensors can be saved on the vehicle.

In a preferred embodiment of the transmission device, the sensor and / or evaluation device is additionally designed to record an environment of the vehicle and as a video signal to an on-board display device, for example to a parking aid, a reversing aid and / or a blind spot assist display, provide. The provision of a vehicle with the transmission device thus leads to an improvement of the ride comfort for the driver of the vehicle.

As an alternative or as a supplement to this, the sensor and / or evaluation device can additionally be designed to record an environment of the vehicle and transmit it as a video signal to an on-board evaluation device for determining a reaction of the vehicle which is advantageous with regard to the environment, for example to a driver's seat. lane system and / or to a lane departure warning device (lane departure warning). Due to the multi-functionality of the sensor and / or evaluation can be additionally saved space on the vehicle.

In another embodiment of the transmission device, the sensor and / or evaluation device has a reading device for generating an alternating electromagnetic field for exciting an RFID transponder (Radio Frequency Identification) and for receiving a serial number transmitted by the excited RFID transponder. RFID is currently being tested in some countries in addition to the classic license plate of a vehicle as a vehicle identification device. In addition, will

RFID used to identify vehicle components in the manufacture of vehicle components. Thus, the technology used to implement this embodiment is already available. Another advantage of this embodiment is that a reader for reading an RFID transponder and the RFID transponder itself can be produced inexpensively.

In a development, the sensor and / or evaluation device has an evaluation device for determining an identity of the foreign vehicle on the basis of the optical and / or electromagnetic marking. Thus, the identity of the foreign vehicle can already be determined on the vehicle itself.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the evaluation center is a toll center. The toll center preferably identifies the foreign vehicle on the basis of the reported optical and / or electromagnetic marking and compares the reported position of the foreign vehicle with the positions of the foreign vehicle reported for toll collection. In this way, the toll center can quickly recognize a vehicle whose OBU unit is being manipulated to determine the toll to be paid or removed from the vehicle.

The advantages described in the upper paragraphs of the transmission device according to the invention are also ensured by a corresponding method for transmitting a current position of a first vehicle to an evaluation center.

In a preferred embodiment of the method, an identity of the first vehicle is determined after receipt of the long-distance signal on the basis of the marking information, and the position information is compared with a location information and / or minimum toll sent by the first vehicle itself to the evaluation center. chen. In this case, the long-distance signals of several vehicles can be used. If the first vehicle is reported at two locations, for example, within a predetermined period of time, then the evaluation center checks whether the distance covered by the first vehicle between the two locations is not greater than a distance traveled by the first vehicle itself. Likewise, the evaluation center can determine a minimum toll for the route between the two locations and check whether the toll to be paid reported by the first vehicle itself corresponds to at least this amount.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will be explained below with reference to the figures. Show it:

1 shows a control vehicle with an embodiment of the transmission device when reading a mark from a foreign vehicle; and

2 shows the control vehicle of Figure 1 when sending to an evaluation center.

Figure 1 shows a control vehicle with an embodiment of the transmission device when reading a mark from a foreign vehicle. Shown is a roadway 10, woicher two vehicles 12 and 14 in a row in a direction of travel

16 drive. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the control vehicle 12 is designed to read markings from the preceding foreign vehicle 14. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment shown in FIG. Alternatively or in addition, the control vehicle 12 may also be configured to determine the markings of all vehicles within a certain perimeter.

Both vehicles 12 and 14 have number plates 18 and 20 on their rear sides. In addition, both vehicles 12 and 14 are each equipped with an RFID transponder (Radio Frequency Identification) 22 and 24. In the example of FIG. 1, the RFID

Transponders 22 and 24 are arranged close to the rear sides of the vehicles 12 and 14, respectively. Alternatively, however, the RFID transponders 22 and 24 may be attached to other mounting locations of the vehicles 12 and 14 as well.

The control vehicle 12 has on its front side a sensor device 26, with which the license plate 20 and the RFID transponder 24 of the foreign vehicle 14 can be read. For reading the license plate 20 of the foreign vehicle 14, the sensor device 26 comprises a camera with a connected image processing device. The image processing device evaluates a video signal provided by the camera with regard to the license plate shown on the license plate 20.

Furthermore, the sensor device 26 has an interrogator (reader) for generating an electromagnetic field 28. The electromagnetic field 28 of the RFID transponder 24 of the other vehicle 14 is designed to send out its identification number as an electromagnetic signal 30. The interrogation device of the sensor device 26 then receives the electromagnetic signal 30 emitted by the RFID transponder 24 with the identification number. The identification number is then output as marking information 32 together with the identification number of the license plate 20 of the foreign vehicle 14 determined by the image processing device.

It is pointed out here that the reading of the markings 20 and 24 attached to the other vehicle 14 is carried out by the sensor device 26 of the control vehicle 12, without the driver of the other vehicle 14 having a chance to prevent this or to actively intervene in the reading process. Number plates 18 and 20 and RFID transponders 22 and 24 are conventionally designed so that manipulation of them is hardly possible.

The control vehicle 12 is equipped with a position detection device 34, which determines a current position of the control vehicle 12 on the basis of a satellite signal. A current position of the control vehicle 12 determined by the position determination device 34 is continuously output as position information 36 to a transmission device 38.

The position detection device 34 is also designed in a preferred embodiment to supply a navigation system of the control vehicle 12 with information about the current position of the control vehicle 12. This multifunctionality of the position detection device 34 is associated with cost savings for the driver of the control vehicle 12.

The transmitting device 38 receives the output position information 36 together with the marking information 32 provided by the sensor device 26. The transmitting device 38 then transmits a long-distance signal 40 to a non-sketching device 40. gracious evaluation center. The long-distance signal 40 contains information about the markings 20 and 24 of the foreign vehicle 14 and about the current position of the control vehicle 12.

2 shows the control vehicle 12 together with the preceding foreign vehicle 14. The control vehicle 12 is currently transmitting the long-distance signal 40 to an evaluation center 42. The evaluation center 42 is assigned in the example of FIG. 2 to a system for electronic toll collection. It determines the identity of the foreign vehicle 14 on the basis of the long-distance signal 40. Subsequently, the evaluation center 42 compares the current position reported by the control vehicle 12 with the aid of the long-distance signal 40 with the positions which the foreign vehicle 14 itself detects to determine one from a driver of the foreign vehicle 14 to pay toll to the evaluation center 42 sends. If the evaluation center 42 determines that the control vehicle 12 recognizes the markings 20 and 24 of the foreign vehicle 14 at a position which deviates significantly from the current position reported by the foreign vehicle 14 itself, it issues a corresponding message to the toll operator. The toll operator now has the option to check the other vehicle 14 specifically for the correctness of the data reported by the other vehicle 14.

Should the other vehicle 14, for example for reasons of data protection, refrain from sending its position information to a toll center (thick-client concept) and transmit only the OBU-internal determined toll amount or the determined distance traveled to the toll center, control by the other vehicle 14 may still be possible sent data are made. If the foreign vehicle 14 is detected at at least two different locations within a certain time, then the

At the toll center, check whether a correct minimum distance or a correct minimum toll amount has been reported to the toll center for the distance between the two locations from the other vehicle 14.

In a simplification, the sensor device 26 can also be designed to read either only the license plate 20 or only the RFID transponder 24 of the foreign vehicle 14.

In a development, the sensor device 26 can also output a video signal to a display unit of the control vehicle 12. A corresponding display device is, for example, a parking aid, a reversing aid and / or a blind spot display aid. Likewise, the sensor device 26 can supply a video signal to a driver's lane system and / or to a lane departure warning device (lane departure warning). As an alternative or supplement thereto, the sensor device 26 may also be designed to determine a distance between the control vehicle 12 and the foreign vehicle 14 and / or a speed of the foreign vehicle 14 and a corresponding distance and / or speed signal to an on-board control device, for example to a driver assistance system, to an emergency brake system and / or to an airbag deployment system. Such a distance and / or speed signal can also be output by the sensor device 26 to an on-board warning device, for example to a collision warning. Thus, the sensor device 26 can perform other functions that improve the safety of the occupants and the ride comfort for the driver of the control vehicle 12 equipped therewith. Due to the multifunctionality of the sensor device 26 of the transmission device, the number of attached to the control vehicle 12 sensors can be reduced. This eliminates the cost of the saved sensors. In addition, the available space for other components of the control vehicle 12 space is increased.

Claims

claims

1. Transmission device for a vehicle (12) for transmitting a current position of a foreign vehicle (14) to an evaluation center (42)

- A sensor and / or evaluation device (26) which is adapted to read an optical and / or electromagnetic mark (20,24) of the foreign vehicle (14) and one of the read optical and / or electromagnetic marker (20 24) to provide corresponding tag information (32); and

- A transmitting device (38) which is adapted to receive from a vehicle position detecting device (34) provided position information (36) on a current position of the vehicle (12) and the provided marking information (32) and a long-distance signal (40) the provided position information (36) and the provided marking information (32) to the evaluation center (42) to send out.

2. surveying device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor and / or evaluation device (26) comprises a camera and Bildverarbeitungsemrichtung and / or a laser and detection device for visually detecting at least a partial surface of the other vehicle (14).

3. surveying device according to claim 2, wherein the optical and / or electromagnetic marker (20,24) of the foreign vehicle (14) is a license plate (20).

4. Transmission device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the sensor and / or evaluation device (26) is additionally adapted to a distance between the vehicle (12) and the foreign vehicle (14) and / or a speed of the foreign vehicle (14) determine and provide a corresponding distance and / or speed signal to an on-board warning and / or control device, for example to a collision warning, to a driver assistance system, to an emergency brake system and / or to an airbag deployment system.

5. Transmission device according to one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the sensor and / or evaluation device (26) is additionally designed to be an environment of Record vehicle (12) and as a video signal to an on-board display device, for example, to a parking aid, a reversing aid and / or a blind spot display help to provide.

6. Transmission device according to one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the sensor and / or evaluation device (26) is additionally adapted to receive an environment of the vehicle (12) and as a video signal to an on-board evaluation device for determining a favorable reaction with respect to the environment of the vehicle (12), for example to a driver assistance system and / or to a lane departure warning device (lane departure warning).

7. detecting device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the sensor and / or evaluation device (26) comprises a reading device for generating an electromagnetic alternating field for exciting an RFID transponder (Radio Frequency Identification) (24) and for receiving one of the excited RFID transponder

(24) has the serial number sent out.

8. Üb ermittlungsvorrichtung according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the sensor and / or evaluation device (26) comprises an evaluation device for determining an identity of the foreign vehicle (14) based on the optical and / or electromagnetic marker (20,24).

9. Üb ermittlungsvorrichtung according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the evaluation center (42) is a toll center.

10. A method for transmitting a current position of a first vehicle (14) to an evaluation center (42), wherein the first vehicle (14) has an optical and / or e-lektromagnetische marker (20,24), comprising the steps:

- Reading the optical and / or electromagnetic marker (20,24) of the first vehicle (14) by a sensor and / or evaluation device (26) of a second

Vehicle (12);

- Providing one of the read optical and / or electromagnetic marker (20,24) corresponding marking information (32) to a transmitting device (38) of the second vehicle (12); - Providing a position information (36) on a current position of the second

Vehicle (12) to the transmitting device (38); and - Sending a long-distance signal (40) with the provided marking information (32) and the provided position information (36) by the transmitting device (38) of the second vehicle (12) to the evaluation center (42).

11. The method of claim 10, wherein after receiving the long-distance signal (40) based on the marking information (32) an identity of the first vehicle is determined, and the position information (36) with one of the first vehicle itself to the evaluation center (42) sent Location information and / or minimum toll is compared.