EP3729406B1

EP3729406B1 - System and method for controlling the mobility of vehicles or pedestrians

Info

Publication number: EP3729406B1
Application number: EP18845404.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Carmelo LODATO; Patrizia RIBINO; Maria Carmela BASILE
Original assignee: Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche CNR
Current assignee: Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche CNR
Priority date: 2017-12-22
Filing date: 2018-12-24
Publication date: 2023-11-08
Anticipated expiration: 2038-12-24
Also published as: EP3729406A2; EP3729406C0; WO2019123000A2; WO2019123000A3

Description

The present invention relates to a system and method for controlling the mobility of vehicles or pedestrians.
In particular, the invention relates to the control of road or railway mobility with the objective of extending visibility, for a driver of a road or rail vehicle, or for a pedestrian, to areas that are not directly observable from the vehicle itself, thereby extending the field of perception of events. The invention is also applicable to autonomous driving systems, driving support systems, centralised monitoring systems and passengers of vehicles.
The invention belongs to the category of road control systems. The system of the present invention may be used on board of any type of vehicle, may be installed in urban and extra - urban sites, and may also be used by pedestrians.
Currently, various different systems are already marketed or are being developed at the prototype stage and/or for the exclusive use of some companies. Among these, numerous systems serve to enable audio communication between a vehicle and a control centre, for example for signaling dangers to the driver of the vehicle, and provide the means for transmitting information such as geolocation data collected by GPS receivers. Examples include the control systems adopted by some insurance companies, or the video surveillance systems that are widespread throughout the territory for use by companies that control the road traffic system.
Numerous documents relate to systems for acquiring and transmitting videos (live or recorded) to other devices that may be in the vehicle itself or remotely located, such as for example the documents CN105606774 , CN105554466 , US2016075282 , CN205092978 .
All of the systems indicated above, however, do not allow the driver of a vehicle, or a pedestrian, to observe distant areas or portions of the route (road or rail) over which they are moving.
In particular, a user does not have the ability to see zones other than the zone of direct visibility.
Likewise, there are no known systems that provide the means to view vehicles coming from zones that are not directly visible to the user, such as from around a bend in the road for example.
US 2017/0178498 A1 discloses a system for assisting the operations of a first vehicle which comprises a computing device, wherein when the computing device determines that the first vehicle is within a threshold distance from a second vehicle, then it initiates a V2V communications session to obtain sensor data, such as video streams, from the second vehicle.
These disadvantages in the known systems highlight the need to improve safety, and to support the user in respect of both monitoring systems and autonomous driving systems.
The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a system and method for controlling the mobility of vehicles and/or pedestrians which makes it possible to increase the safety of a transport network by providing in an automatic or semi-automatic manner to a driver of a vehicle or to a pedestrian one or more remote views, that will allow them to observe areas fit for driving/walking that are not directly visible and/or to identify the approach of other vehicles or pedestrians from directions that are not directly visible.
These and other objects are achieved by means of a system for controlling the mobility of vehicles or pedestrians whose characteristic features are defined in the independent claims.
Certain particular embodiments constitute the subject matter of the dependent claims, the content of which is to be understood as an integral part of the present description.
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description that follows, provided purely by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows the areas of coverage of transmission and reception of three nodes;
Figure 2 represents a simplified version of the situation shown in Figure 1;
Figure 3 shows two nodes that are travelling in front of a third node at the same distance therefrom;
Figures 4 to 9 show a plurality of schemes representing possible cases of reciprocal positioning between two nodes; and
Figure 10 represents a block diagram of the steps of the mobility control method for controlling the mobility of vehicles or pedestrians according to the present invention;
Figure 11 represents a block diagram of a device or node used in the system and method according to the invention.

The system and method of the present invention are to be considered within the context of traffic safety in respect of pedestrian, cycling, road and railway networks.
The system of the present invention is adapted to be used by a user or transport service consumer, preferably a driver of a road or railway vehicle, a pedestrian, or an automatic driving system.
In summary, the system of the present invention comprises a set of distributed devices, referred to as nodes, provided with network connection functionality.
Each node is associated with its own wireless type communication network, of which it is the owner, and which enables it to communicate with other nodes of the system, as described hereinafter in detail.
The devices are adapted to be located over a territory and/or installed on board of vehicles and/or carried by pedestrians, and are also adapted so as to generate a video stream in real time relative to their own direct view.
The view comprises portions of a transport system network, either road or rail, along which said devices are installed or over which said devices are moving. Thanks to an exchange of data amongst various devices, the driver of a vehicle or a pedestrian is able to obtain visuals of areas fit for vehicular/ pedestrian travel that have not been reached yet and/or are not directly observable due to the presence of obstacles or other factors for example, environmental factors such as lighting, atmospheric events, etc.
The system according to the present invention provides for the reception, by each device, of video streams generated in real time by other devices of the system itself, selected automatically or by the user himself, so as to offer to the user the most useful view at all times.
Moreover, the system is capable of automatically detecting the presence of devices that are stationary or in motion in the proximity of the user, but not present in his direct view.
The devices or nodes of the system may be stationary or mobile. The term "mobile node" is understood to refer to a node that is moving or is capable of moving.
The fixed nodes are adapted so as to be placed in a stationary manner along the road or railway transport network, as mentioned above, in predetermined positions, for example in the proximity of an intersection, at the entrance of a tunnel, in the proximity of a junction, or in any site whatsoever where potentially dangerous events could occur.
A mobile node, on the other hand, is a device that is installed on board of a vehicle which travels over such a transport network or is carried or worn by a pedestrian who is moving along such a transport network.
Each node of the system is associated with a predetermined area of proximity defined as a zone that includes the node and having variable or predetermined form and extension, on the basis of which the interactions amongst the nodes are determined.
Each node of the system is adapted so as to operate in send mode and in reception mode in order to indicate respectively when it is transmitting a video stream and / or when it is receiving a video stream.
In particular, each mobile node 10 comprises:

a plurality of sensors, indicated schematically in Figure 11 by the reference number 15, that are adapted so as to provide data related to position and data related to motion of the node, and data for identification of the node;
at least one video acquisition device, for example a video camera, indicated schematically in Figure 11 by the reference number 20, that is adapted to acquire a video stream of the node itself and relative to its direct view as node to be sent to one or more other nodes having the respective areas of proximity that intersect that of said node, and which are therefore connected to said node;
a data receiving, transmission and routing device, such as a wireless router, indicated schematically in Figure 11 by the reference number 30 and for the sake of simplicity hereinafter referred to as a transceiver device, which is adapted so as to be able to route the video stream acquired by the video acquisition device 20 towards said at least one connected node 10 of the system having an area of proximity that intersects that of the node_;
at least one device, indicated schematically in Figure 11 by the reference number 40, that is adapted so as to provide the functionality of wireless connectivity (network adapter) in order to access one or more proprietary wireless networks of other nodes of the system and/or to access the internet and for receiving the video streams coming from one or more other connected nodes having an area of proximity that intersects that of the node, and which therefore can be defined as a Wi-Fi transceiver 40.

In addition, at least one mobile device or node 10 comprises a processing device, indicated schematically in Figure 11 by the reference number 50, that is adapted so as to process such data related to position and motion in order to obtain the position of the node and direction and orientation of its motion, to process data related to position and motion received from another node having an area of proximity that intersects that of the node and connected to said node, so as to determine the reciprocal positioning between the two nodes, and to process a video stream received from the other connected node in order to enable the viewing thereof by means of an associated displaying device 60, for example a display;
More particularly, the processing device 50 comprises a suitably programmed processor, which is configured to:

determine (100) whether the additional device-node 10 (hereinafter referred to for greater descriptive simplicity as "additional node") has an area of proximity that intersects with the area of proximity of its own device-node 10 (hereinafter referred to for greater descriptive simplicity as "own node");
determine (102) whether the additional node 10 having an area of proximity that intersects with the area of proximity of its own node is fixed or mobile, and determine the instantaneous reciprocal positioning between its own mobile node and the additional node;
signal (106) information on the approach of the additional node, if the additional node is of the mobile type and is converging on its own node;
activate (104), through the own wireless connectivity device 40 connected to the transceiver device 30 of the additional node, the reception of the video stream generated by the additional node if the additional node is of the fixed type and its own mobile node is converging on the additional fixed node, or if it turns out that (108) the additional node is of the mobile type, it precedes its own mobile node and the direction of the additional node is not being monitored by its own node, or if the additional node is of the mobile type, it precedes its own node and the direction of the additional node is being monitored by the first node and the distance of the additional node in relation to its own node is less than the distance of a third node 10 in relation to its own node, the third node being already in connection with its own node and having the same direction as that of the additional node.

In one possible embodiment all of the fixed or mobile devices 10 include a respective processing device 50.
In another embodiment, the fixed devices or nodes do not necessarily include a display 60 and the wireless connectivity device 40.
Thus, a video connection between two nodes is established, according to procedures described in detail in the following, based on the intersection between the respective proximity areas, on the data provided by the sensors of the nodes (type/position/speed, etc.), and/or on a level of signal strength measured at the moment of entry of one node in the beam of radiation of the router of another node.
In particular, if for example two vehicles having the respective proximity areas that intersect each other proceed in the same direction along the same route of the transport network and are both equipped with the devices of the system according to the present invention, the driver of the vehicle that is following is able to view a video stream that shows, in real time, the anterior view taken by the vehicle that is preceding it, thus being able to perceive an event that is occurring in this view as if it were directly observable by the driver; or the driver could see the interior of a tunnel from remote distance even in unfavorable light conditions, or the driver could have visibility of crossings, junctions or other road intersections sufficiently in advance so as to be able to manage any potentially dangerous situations. Again, a pedestrian who intends to cross the road in the proximity of an intersection could see vehicles coming from directions hidden from his direct view.
With the system and method of the present invention, both in the case of an event representing a situation of explicit danger, as well as in the case of an event revealing a potentially dangerous situation, the driver has the possibility of anticipating and appropriately adapting his own reaction to the event because he contemporaneously perceives it at the same time as the driver of the vehicle that is travelling in front.
The selection of the node from which to receive the video stream is effected automatically by the system or manually by the user, for example by means of a selector, indicated schematically in Figure 11 by the reference numeral 70.
According to one embodiment, at least one or more mobile nodes of the plurality of nodes 10 comprise a selector 70 for the automatic or manual reception from an additional node 10 from which to receive a video stream. Advantageously, in a manner known per se, an automatic improvement of the quality of the images presented to the driver by means of the display device 60 is achieved.
Advantageously, a user chooses whether to interrupt the video streams being viewed on the display, or to confirm the proposed video streams with a predetermined time out.
In one possible embodiment, the selector 70 is for example configured so as to interrupt the video stream being received, or to confirm the reception of the video stream based on a predetermined time out.
The control system for controlling vehicle or pedestrian mobility, as above described, is suitable for being used in LAN (Local Area Network) mode or in WAN (Wide Area Network) mode.
In both these modes, two nodes interact when there is an intersection between the respective proximity areas.
In the LAN mode, the system uses a wireless technology and does not need internet access in order to establish the network connection between the nodes.
In the LAN mode the intersection between the respective proximity areas of two nodes occurs when the wireless connectivity device of one node detects the field of radio coverage of the router of another node.
In the LAN mode, in sending mode one node transmits a video stream to at least one other node that has effectively accessed the network of which it is the owner and that has requested the video connection based on the proximity value, the node type and the instantaneous reciprocal positioning.
In the reception mode, a node can receive the video stream transmitted by the proprietary node of each of the networks to which the node has had access.
In the WAN mode, instead, there are foreseen additional nodes of server type, where server, mobile and fixed nodes are connected to the internet.
In the WAN mode, the intersection between the respective proximity areas of two nodes is assessed on the basis of predetermined values of distance and additional known information such as the route or the road situation that are available on the server nodes connected to the internet and accessible to the nodes.
The system according to the present invention is suitable to operate according to a method for controlling the mobility of vehicles or pedestrians, as described in detail hereinafter, which provides the ability to send in real time to a mobile node, notifications that are useful for ensuring safety and video streams related to different visual views associated with other nodes.
These visuals correspond to areas that are yet to be reached and/or not directly visible from the node of interest, due to the presence of obstacles or other factors depending on the orientation and direction of travel of the vehicle, lighting, atmospheric events, etc.
The information that may be inferred from the video streams or information originating from mobile sensors associated with the vehicles or from fixed sensors associated with the transport network itself may be used by the driver of the vehicle, by an autonomous driving system, by a centralised monitoring system, by passengers or pedestrians.
In a variant of the invention, the system can also detect the proximity and/or approach of objects not belonging to the system itself.

LAN Mode and WAN Mode

As indicated above, the system according to the present invention can be implemented in LAN (local) or WAN (geographical) mode.
In the LAN mode in which there is no access to the internet, for each node 10' the proximity area has a form and extension that are dependent on the field (range) of radio coverage of its own router 30 and on the characteristics of the wireless connectivity device 40 (network adapter) of the additional node 10", and the procedures for network communications amongst the nodes are performed by the nodes themselves.
In the WAN mode instead each node is connected to the Internet, the proximity area is predefined and can be shaped in accordance with predetermined parameters such as road traffic conditions or the speed of the node, for example, on a motorway section, the area of proximity can have an elongated shape depending on the speed of the node and limited in width in a manner so as to exclude from the node zones that are not suitable for being travelled by the node. Moreover, the procedures for identification of the pairs of nodes between which to activate the transmission are carried out by predetermined server nodes within the Internet network.
In a further variant of the invention, also in the WAN mode the field of radio coverage of the own router is used as proximity area.

Area of Proximity and Intersection of Proximity

As mentioned above, in the LAN mode, the proximity area of each node depends on the field of radio coverage of the wireless router and on the characteristics of the wireless connectivity device of the other node with which it must effect a connection. If the characteristics of the transmission and reception coverage areas of each node are both represented as two identical and overlapping circles, the situation shown in Figure 1 is obtained in which there are shown three circles 2, 4, 6 that are associated, respectively, with three nodes 2a, 4a, 6a.
As can be noted, there is no intersection of proximity between the two nodes 2a and 6a corresponding respectively to the lower circle 2 and to the higher circle 6, the intersection of proximity being a zone of overlap between two areas of proximity associated with the respective nodes.
Figure 2 represents a simplified version of the situation shown in Figure 1 in which all of the circles corresponding to the transmission/ reception areas of all the nodes (fixed and mobile) shown in the figure that can interact with a central node 8a, are substituted by one single circle 8. Thus the circle 8 encloses all of the nodes 10 that can be in connection with the central node 8a which is found in the centre of the circle 8.
In the WAN mode the area of proximity has a shape and extensions that are predetermined or variable as a function of predetermined parameters such as road conditions, the characteristics of the road, the speed of the vehicle, as indicated above.

Proximity Value

In both the LAN and WAN modes, the proximity value is a function of the distance between two nodes having the respective areas of proximity intersecting each other, and in particular, the proximity value is inversely proportional to the distance. If three nodes present an intersection of proximity, the reciprocal values of proximity amongst the nodes are assessed as a function of the distance between the respective geographical positions.
Advantageously, a weight is attributed to the distance used to determine the proximity value.
More in detail, the value of proximity between nodes is weighed on the basis of the trajectory of the nodes in question, and in particular as a function of the similarity between the instantaneous trajectory of the own mobile node and those of the additional node and third node.
Figure 3 shows a situation in which there are two nodes 10' and 10", corresponding for example to two vehicles, that are travelling in front of a third node 10‴ at a same distance D. In this case, the greater proximity value is attributed to the first node 10' which has a trajectory that is closer to that of the third node 10‴, because it is the one that takes away greater visibility and therefore is more useful for the third node 10‴.
In the WAN mode, the proximity value between nodes is also weighed on the basis of the trajectory and the planned route of the nodes in question.
Returning to the example of figure 3, if the node 10" and the node 10‴ have the same planned route that foresees to turn right and are close to making the turn, an additional weight is given to the node 10" in relation to the node 10' obtaining for the node 10" a proximity value that is greater than the proximity value of the node 10'.

Data set of a node

It includes data that identify a node in terms of type (fixed /mobile), IP address, geographical position, data related to motion, etc. These data are acquired by the plurality of sensors. The processing and comparison of the data sets of two nodes that have an intersection of proximity makes it possible to determine the type of interaction between said nodes.
The data set may also include data derived in a manner known per se from processing operations performed on the images taken by the node itself or from processing operations performed on the data coming from the sensors of the node. Such processing operations are carried out in order to obtain meaningful information for the system also pertaining to subjects (vehicles, pedestrians, etc.) not belonging to the same system.

Motion vector

A mobile node has an instantaneous motion vector that depends on its motion parameters. The motion vector has a point of application that coincides with the geographic position of the node and modulus, direction and orientation in accordance with its motion.
Assigned to a fixed node is a predetermined motion vector with direction, orientation, and modulus being dependent on a specific road configuration of the site in which it is located. Advantageously, the motion vector depends on the direction of travel of the zone that is framed by the node with the image acquisition device, or the node gets assigned a bundle of vectors or more vectors, in order to cover a range of possible directions of vehicles coming from the framed zone, which implicitly determine a limit distance from the node beyond which it makes no sense to check for possible eventual interactions with other nodes regardless of the detection of radio of the node, for example when the node has almost passed an intersection or when the node is still at a distance away from an intersection.
Figures 4-9 show a plurality of schematics representing possible cases of instantaneous reciprocal positioning between two nodes, indicated in such schematics with the reference numerals 12 and 14.
It is defined herein as a point P of a node 12, 14, a point given by the intersection of the trajectory 14a, 12a of the other node 14, 12 with the trajectory 12a, 14a of the node itself, in case of oblique trajectories or, in the case of parallel or coincident trajectories, given by the orthogonal projection of the instantaneous position of the other node 14, 12 on the trajectory 12a, 14a of the node itself.
A node 12 is defined as a node which is converging on the node 14 on a trajectory that is oblique 12a (Figure 4), coincident (Figure 5) or parallel (Figure 6), when the point P of each node 12, 14 is found positioned anteriorly relative to the respective node 12 and 14 based on the orientation of the motion vector of the said node 12, 14. Thus in this case the motion vector of each node 12, 14 is oriented in the direction of the corresponding point P.
A node 12 is defined as a node which is diverging from the node 14 on a trajectory 12a that is oblique, coincident or parallel, when the point P of each node 12, 14 is found positioned posteriorly relative to the respective node 12 and 14 based on the orientation of the motion vector of the said node 12, 14. Thus in this case the motion vector of each node 12, 14 is oriented in the direction opposite to the corresponding point P.
The situation of divergence between the node 12 and the node 14 may possibly be derived from the same figures 4, 5 and 6 in the hypothesis wherein all of the motion vectors are inverted, in particular they come to be rotated by 180 degrees.
The node 12 is defined as a node which is following the node 14 on a trajectory 12a that is oblique (Figure 7), coincident (Figure 8) or parallel (Figure 9), when the point P of the node 12 is found positioned anteriorly to the node 12 based on the orientation of the motion vector of the node 12, and when the point P of the node 14 is found positioned posteriorly to the node 14 based on the orientation of the motion vector of the node 14. Thus in such a case the motion vector of the node 12 is oriented in the direction of the corresponding point P and the motion vector of the node 14 is oriented in the direction opposite to the corresponding point P.
The node 12 is defined as a node which is preceding the node 14 on a trajectory 12a that is oblique, coincident or parallel, when the point P of the node 12 is found positioned posteriorly to the node 12 based on the orientation of the motion vector of the said node 12, and when the point P of the node 14 is found positioned anteriorly to the node 14 based on the orientation of the motion vector of the node 14. Therefore in this case the motion vector of the node 12 is oriented in the direction opposite to the corresponding point P and the motion vector of the node 14 is oriented in the direction of the corresponding point P.
The situation of precedence of the node 12 in relation to the node 14 may possibly be derived from the same figures 7, 8 and 9 in the hypothesis wherein all the motion vectors are inverted, in particular, they are rotated by 180 degrees.
By obtaining the data sets relating to two nodes N' and N", with known trigonometric procedures the sign is determined, on the basis of the corresponding motion vectors, of the distances N'P and N"P between each node and the respective point P.
Based on the previous definitions of the cases of instantaneous reciprocal positioning of two nodes, the following possibilities are obtained:

N' converging on N" if N'P> 0 and N" P> 0
N' diverging from N" if N'P <0 and N" P <0
N' following N" if N'P> 0 and N" P <0
N' preceding N" if N'P <0 and N" P> 0

A detailed description will now be provided of a method for controlling the mobility of vehicles according to the present invention, with reference to Figure 10, which shows a block diagram of the steps of the method.
The method according to the present invention begins at a step 100 in which it is determined whether the area of proximity of a first mobile node intersects the area of proximity of a second node, of fixed or mobile type.
If there is an intersection of proximity between the first and second node, at a step 102 the data set of the second node is examined in order to determine whether it is of the fixed or mobile type and to determine, based on the relations reported above relative to the reciprocal positioning between two nodes, the instantaneous reciprocal positioning between the first node and the second node, or whether the first node is converging on the second node, is diverging from the second node, following or preceding the second node.
If from the verification carried out in the step 100 it is found that there is no intersection of proximity between the first and second node, the step 100 is repeated.
If from the verification carried out in the step 102 it is found that the second node is of the fixed type and the first node is converging on the second node, at the step 104 the first node activates the reception of the video stream sent by the second node and starts the displaying thereof on its own display device.
If from the verification carried out in the step 102 it is found that the second node is of the mobile type and is converging on the first node, at step 106 the first node notifies to its own user information on the approach of the second node.
If from the verification carried out in the step 102 it is found that the second node is of the mobile type and is preceding the first node, at step 108 a first check is carried out in order to ascertain if the direction of the second node is not being monitored by the first node or, if the direction of the second node is being monitored by the first node, a second check is carried out in order to ascertain if the proximity value of the second node in relation to the first node is greater than the proximity value relative to another node already in video connection with the first node, having the same direction as that of the second node.
If both the first and second checks carried out at the step 108 result to be false, the method is resumed from step 100.
If at least one of the two checks carried out at the step 108 results to be true, at the step 110 the first node activates the reception of the video stream sent by the second node and it starts the displaying thereof on its own display device.
If the check carried out in the step 102 results false, or if the second node is fixed while the first node is diverging from, or following, or preceding the second node, or if the second node is mobile and is diverging from, or following the first node, the method is resumed from step 100.
In one embodiment of the method according to the invention there is foreseen a step 112 in which it is verified if the second node has sent a message to the first node, and if from the verification carried out in the step 112 it is found that the reception of an emergency message has occurred, at step 114 the first node sends an alarm signal to its own user and the alarm signal is forwarded to the nodes that are following the first node.
If from the verification carried out in the step 112 it is found that reception has occurred of a message, such as an information message, or a warning message, or a command message, or other predetermined message types, the method proceeds to the step 116 with a phase of management of the message that is known per se.
If the check carried out in the step 112 yields a negative result, or if no message has been received, the method is resumed from step 100.
In the present description, the terms "information message", or "warning message", or "command message" are to be understood as messages of types known per se, that are representative of data and information of each node, of various kinds of notifications, of command from the node itself, which are managed in the step 116 by means of respective management procedures known per se.
Moreover, with respect to the position indicated in Figure 10 for illustrative purposes only, this phase of verification 112 may be carried out during the method at a different time, as long as it is compatible with the other phases described, also in parallel with one or more of the other phases described.
The system and method according to the present invention offer advantages in the economic and social realm with a low cost of implementation and operation.
In particular, the present invention makes it possible to increase safety and control in respect of the mobility of vehicles and people.
There is a high versatility of use of the system according to the present invention as an autonomous system or as an infrastructure that is able to provide information usable by other external systems such as for example autonomous driving systems, for the detection of emergencies, for safety, for tracking, etc.
Other advantages include the simplicity of production of the various parts of the system, the simplicity of installation of the devices and the low cost of production, installation and management of the entire system.
The main applications of the system according to the present invention pertain to:

safety and monitoring of driving on roads, motorways and for pedestrians (visibility and warning - notification about intersections, junctions, tunnels, visibility during the phase of overtaking, support in case of poor visibility, signaling - notification to vehicles or pedestrians who do not respect the rules, notification of emergency vehicles in action, etc.);
safety and/or monitoring in the railway environment (extension of visibility, warning - notification of level track crossings, compatibility in the transit of train convoys, etc.);
detection of unlawful conduct and behaviors in the road and rail environments (for use by law enforcement or insurance companies). In particular, in the system and method according to the invention, the detection of a device or node, for example a vehicle, can take place in both LAN as well as WAN mode using the fields range of radio coverage of routers and Wi-Fi transceivers, also used to establish a communication session, without the need to have a direct view, e.g. of the vehicle to be detected, nor to use software for object detection / recognition. In fact, a device identifies itself for example as soon as it has entered the field of coverage of a router by sending its configuration data.

Moreover, thanks to the algorithms used in the method and system according to the invention, the mobile and fixed nodes from which the video streams are to be received at any time are appropriately identified and selected, for example as a function of position, orientation and direction of travel.
In this way, it is possible to start the reception of a video stream or substitute or discard a stream already being received, by providing a user with the most useful views at each time instant, thus preventing a device from being indiscriminately overwhelmed by all the video streams produced by the nodes present in the vicinity, some of which may be completely useless.
Moreover, the number of nodes or devices that may be taken into consideration is ideally infinite depending on the computing capacity available.
In this manner, the system and method according to the invention may be used both in the context of autonomous or assisted driving systems in which each node can be equipped with computing power such as to be able to handle far more data and information than a human transport service consumer, as well as in a more conventional operating context, where it is essential to select the relevant data and information to be provided to the transport service consumer so as not to confuse them and produce a counterproductive effect.
Among other things, the system and method according to the invention also provide the ability to add further emphasis to the information furnished to a user, for example by associating the source of information, such as a left or right sound alarm, to the direction, orientation and proximity of a vehicle to which this alarm-notification refers.
Naturally, without prejudice to the principle of the invention, the embodiments and implementation methods and particulars thereof may be widely varied with respect to that which has been described and illustrated purely by way of non - limiting example, without thereby going beyond the scope of protection of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

A system for controlling the mobility of vehicles or pedestrians, comprising a plurality of mobile distributed devices and fixed distributed devices (10, 10', 10"), all provided with network connection functionality, wherein the fixed distributed devices are adapted to be placed in a stationary manner along a transport network and the mobile distributed devices are adapted to be installed on board of vehicles or carried by pedestrians who are moving over said transport network, wherein each mobile device of said plurality of distributed devices comprises:
- a plurality of sensors (15) that are adapted so as to provide data related to position and data related to motion of its own device (10‴), and identification data for said own device;

- at least one video acquisition device (20) that is adapted to acquire its own video stream of the direct view on the transport network taken by said own device;

- a data receiving, transmission and routing device (30) which is adapted to route said video stream to at least one additional device (10') of the plurality of distributed devices which is not the own device;

- at least one device (40) that is adapted to provide the functionality of wireless connectivity in order to enable reception of the video stream generated by said additional device;
and wherein at least a first device (10") of the plurality of distributed devices is a mobile device and further comprises a processing device (50) configured to:
- determine (100) whether said additional device (10') has an area of proximity that intersects with the area of proximity of the first mobile device itself;

- determine (102) whether the additional device having an area of proximity that intersects with the area of proximity of the first mobile device is fixed or mobile, and determine the instantaneous reciprocal positioning between the first mobile device and the additional device; wherein said processing device (50) is further configured to:
- signal (106) information on the approach of the additional device, if the additional device is of the mobile type and is converging on the first mobile device;

- activate (104), through the own wireless connectivity device of the first mobile device connected to said data receiving, transmission and routing device of the first device itself, the reception of the video stream generated by the additional device if the additional device is of the fixed type and the first mobile device is converging on the additional fixed device,

characterized in that
said processing device (50) is further configured to activate (104), through the own wireless connectivity device of the first mobile device connected to said data receiving, transmission and routing device of the first device itself, the reception of the video stream generated by the additional device if it turns out that (step 108) the additional device is of the mobile type, it precedes the first mobile device and the direction of the additional device is not being monitored by the first mobile device, or if it turns out that the additional device is of the mobile type, it precedes the first mobile device and the direction of the additional device is being monitored by the first mobile device and the distance of the additional device in relation to the first mobile device is less than the distance of a third device in relation to the first mobile device, said third device being already in connection with the first device device and having the same direction as that of the additional device.
A system according to claim 1, wherein said additional device (10') is a mobile device and said processing device is configured to calculate a proximity value between the first mobile device (10‴) and the at least one additional mobile device whose respective proximity areas intersect each other, said first proximity value being calculated as a function of at least the reciprocal distance between the first mobile device and the additional device.
A system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said processing device is configured to calculate a second proximity value between the first mobile device and a third mobile device (10") whose area of proximity intersects contemporaneously with the area of proximity of the first mobiledevice and with that of the additional device, said second proximity value being calculated as a function at least of the reciprocal distance between the first mobile device and said third device.
A system according to claim 3, wherein said processing device is configured to calculate said first and second proximity values by attributing to each of them a respective weight as a function of the similarity between the trajectory of the first mobile device and those of the additional device and third device.
A system according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein at least one or more mobile devices of the plurality of distributed devices comprises a selector (70) for selecting the automatic or manual reception of a video stream from an additional device.
A system according to claim 5, wherein the selector is configured to interrupt the video stream being received or to confirm the reception of the video stream based on a predetermined time out.
A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each device of the plurality of fixed and mobile devices comprises said processing device, said processing device being configured to process data related to position and motion in order to obtain a position of its own device and a direction and an orientation of its motion, and to process data related to the position and motion received from at least one additional device connected to the own device so as to determine the reciprocal positioning between the two devices.
A system according to claim 1, wherein the connection between nodes is realized by means of the respective wireless communication devices associated with each device (10', 10", 10‴).
A system according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of distributed server devices connected to an internet network and wherein the connection is realized by means of said server devices.
A system according to claim 1, wherein the proximity area of the first mobile device (10‴) in relation to the additional device (10') depends on the field of radio coverage of the respective wireless router devices (30) and on the field of radio coverage of the respective devices (40) that are adapted to provide wireless connectivity functionality enabling the nodes to mutually perceive each other.
A method for controlling, with the system of claim 1, the mobility of vehicles or pedestrians moving along a transport network, including at least the following steps:
a) determining (100) whether a first mobile device (10") and at least one additional device (10') have proximity areas that intersect each other, the first mobile device and the additional device being provided with network connection functionality;

b) determining (102), after the step a), whether the additional device is fixed or mobile and determining the instantaneous reciprocal positioning between the first mobile device and the additional device;

c) if from the verification carried out at step b) it is found that the additional device is of the fixed type and the first mobile device is converging on the additional device, activating (104) the reception of the video stream generated by the additional device;

d) if from the verification carried out at step b) it is found that the additional device is of the mobile type and is converging on the first mobile device, signaling (106), by the first mobile device, information on the approach of the additional device; the method being characterised in that it further comprises the following steps:
e) if from the verification carried out at step b) it is found that the additional device is of the mobile type and preceding the first mobile device, carrying out (108) a first check in order to ascertain if the direction of the additional device is not being monitored by the first mobile device or, if the direction of the additional device is being monitored by the first mobile device, carrying out a second check in order to ascertain if the distance of the additional device in relation to the first mobile device is less than the distance of a third device in relation to the first mobile device, the third device being already in connection with the first mobile device and having the same direction as that of the second device;

f) if at least one of the first and second checks carried out at the step e) results true, activating (110), by the first mobile device, the reception of the video stream generated by the additional device; and in which the method also includes repeating the step a) when the verifications carried out in the steps a), c), or d) result false, or both the first and second checks carried out at step e) result false.
A method according to claim 11, including the step of:
g) verifying (112) whether the additional device has sent an emergency message to the first mobile device and, in the affirmative case, sending (114), by the first mobile device, an alarm signal;

h) verifying (112) whether the additional device has sent a non - emergency message to the first mobile device and managing (116) said message;

i) if the checks carried out in the steps g) and h) result false, repeating the step a).
A method according to claim 11, comprising, after the step a) the step of:
a.1) calculating a proximity value between the first mobile device and the at least one additional device having the respective proximity areas that intersect each other, the first proximity value being calculated as a function of at least the reciprocal distance between the first mobile device and the additional device.
A method according to claim 13, wherein, if at step a) it is determined that the first mobile device has a proximity area which contemporaneously intersects with the proximity areas of the additional device and of at least a third device (10"), the step a.1) further comprises calculating a second proximity value between the first mobile device and the third device, the second proximity value being calculated as a function at least of the reciprocal distance between the first and third devices.
A method according to claim 14, comprising, after step a.1) the step of:
a.2) attributing a weight to the first and second proximity values as a function of the similarity between the trajectory of the first mobile device and those of the additional device and the third device.
A method according to one or more of the claims from 11 to 15, comprising the step of automatically or manually selecting the additional device from which to receive the video stream.
A method according to claim 16, comprising the step of interrupting the video stream being received or confirming the reception of the video stream based on a predetermined time out.