JP2009146137A - Emergency vehicle guiding device, program, and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To adjust the signal parameter of a series of traffic lights which exist along a traveling path so that an emergency vehicle can smoothly travel along the traveling path of the emergency vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: When the emergency vehicle reaches each intersection, a green light time TB is controlled for each traffic light 6 so that there will not be any vehicle waiting for signal on the traveling road of an emergency vehicle, or that traffic congestion can be canceled, by considering the traffic congestion circumstances of intersections on a path, where an emergency vehicle 1 passes and its arrival time to each intersection, and notifies each traffic light 6 of this. Each traffic light 6 performs signal control, based on the received green signal time TB so that the emergency vehicle can smoothly pass the intersection. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for calculating a signal parameter of a traffic signal for promptly reaching an emergency vehicle to a destination. In general, traffic traffic signal parameters include cycle time, split, and offset. The cycle time is “blue, yellow, red” and the time required for one cycle change. The split is a ratio of time in which a certain direction is displayed in blue in one cycle time. The offset is a deviation of the blue display start time from an adjacent traffic signal.

Various techniques for guiding emergency vehicles such as fire engines and police emergency vehicles traveling on general roads to destinations in a short time have been proposed. Emergency vehicles are forced to stop for a long time waiting for traffic lights. In order to guide emergency vehicles, it is effective to adjust signal parameters of traffic signals.
For example, in Patent Document 1 below, information for determining traffic congestion and position information of the vehicle transmitted from a vehicle (which may be an emergency vehicle or a vehicle other than an emergency vehicle) are received. An invention is described in which traffic signal control information is generated based on the information and the vehicle position information, and the control information is transmitted to the traffic signal. The control content of the traffic signal device in this document is to appropriately adjust signal parameters such as cycle time, split, and offset in accordance with the occurrence of traffic jam and the degree of traffic jam.
JP 2006-343814 A

By the way, in order to guide the emergency vehicle to the destination in a short time, an analysis from the viewpoint of how to specifically adjust which part of the signal parameter according to the degree of traffic congestion is required.
For example, when the traffic route of an emergency vehicle is known and traffic signals are controlled in the order of passage of the emergency vehicle, even if the traffic signal is forcibly lit in blue even if the traffic signal is forcibly lit in blue, a general vehicle will be There is a case where the vehicle cannot travel and hinders the traveling of the emergency vehicle. Moreover, even if the next signal is blue, if the next signal remains red, the general vehicle may not move and may hinder the emergency vehicle.

  Therefore, the present invention provides an emergency vehicle guidance capable of adjusting a signal parameter of a series of traffic signals existing along a travel route so that the emergency vehicle can smoothly travel along the travel route of the emergency vehicle. An object is to provide an apparatus, a program, and a method.

  The emergency vehicle guidance device of the present invention calculates route acquisition means for acquiring a route to a destination based on current location information and destination information of the emergency vehicle, and signal parameters of traffic signals present at intersections along the route A signal parameter calculating means for controlling the traffic signal, and a control information notifying means for notifying a traffic signal of control information based on the calculated signal parameter. Accordingly, when the emergency vehicle passes through an intersection along the route, signal parameters of the traffic signal are calculated so that the traffic congestion is eliminated (Claim 1).

  According to the present invention, when the current location and destination information is received from the emergency vehicle, a route to the destination in consideration of the current traffic jam situation is acquired. Considering the traffic jam situation at the intersection on the acquired route and the arrival time at each traffic signal, signal parameters are calculated for each traffic signal so that the traffic jam on the road where the emergency vehicle travels is resolved when reaching each intersection. Thus, it is possible to notify each traffic signal of control information based on the signal parameter. Each traffic signal performs signal control based on the received signal parameters, so that the emergency vehicle can pass through the intersection smoothly.

  The emergency vehicle guidance device includes probe information collecting means for collecting probe information including position information for each time the vehicle has traveled, and the signal parameter calculating means includes probe information collected by the probe information collecting means. Based on this, the signal waiting stop end position at the intersection is estimated, and the number of signal waiting vehicles is calculated using the estimated signal waiting stop end position, thereby setting a green signal time during which the signal waiting vehicle can pass with a green signal. (Claim 2). In this way, it is possible to receive vehicle travel information by the probe information collection means, grasp the traffic situation by direction of each intersection based on the travel information, and set the green light time so that the traffic congestion is eliminated it can.

The signal stop stop position can be estimated based on the distance from the intersection when the vehicle is stopped, the red signal time at the intersection, and the red signal elapsed time when the vehicle is stopped. ).
If there are two vehicles that have collected probe information, the distance from the intersection when each vehicle stops, the time of the red signal at the intersection, and the red signal elapsed time when each vehicle stops Based on this, it is also possible to estimate the signal waiting stop position at the intersection (claim 4).

The signal parameter calculation means takes into consideration the traffic capacity of the road along the route at the intersection (NY in the equation (4) described later), so that the vehicle that is waiting for the signal can pass through the green signal. It is preferable to set the time (claim 5). In particular, the control accuracy of the signal parameters can be increased by considering the traffic capacity.
When the same vehicle that collects the probe information stops at the same intersection twice in the red signal, the signal parameter calculation means calculates the distance from the intersection at the time of each stop of the vehicle and the green signal of the intersection. Since the number of waiting signals can be estimated based on the time, the traffic capacity of the road along the route can be obtained (claim 6).

Preferably, when a plurality of emergency vehicles pass through the same intersection, the signal parameter calculation means prioritizes emergency vehicles from the emergency level information received from each emergency vehicle and calculates signal parameters. Item 7). This process is effective control when a plurality of emergency vehicles pass the same intersection from different directions.
It is preferable that the signal parameter calculation means grasps the traffic condition of each intersection for each lane and calculates a signal parameter considering the traffic condition of each lane (Claim 8). In the case of a road having a plurality of lanes, the degree of congestion may vary from lane to lane, so that it is possible to calculate signal parameters with higher accuracy if the congestion situation is grasped for each lane.

  The signal parameter calculation means confirms the traffic jam situation of the intersection where the emergency vehicle is scheduled to pass after transmitting the signal parameter, and if the traffic jam of the route planned to pass the emergency vehicle has not been resolved, the signal parameter is calculated again. (Claim 9). By this recalculation, the signal parameter for smoothly passing the emergency vehicle can be updated to an optimal one even if the degree of congestion changes with time.

The emergency vehicle guidance program of the present invention is a program stored and executed in a computer, and is a program related to the same invention as the invention of the emergency vehicle guidance device (claim 10).
The emergency vehicle guidance method of the present invention is a method according to the same invention as the invention of the emergency vehicle guidance device (claim 11).

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a route that can reach the destination with the shortest emergency vehicle passage, and not only to control the nearest traffic signal but also to traffic at all intersections on the route on which the emergency vehicle travels. By controlling the traffic light, the signal parameter can be adjusted so that the emergency vehicle can travel smoothly along the route.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an emergency vehicle guidance system including an emergency vehicle guidance device according to the present invention.
The emergency vehicle guidance system includes a traffic control center 5 and an in-vehicle device 3 for an emergency vehicle, and uses the in-vehicle device 1 mounted on a probe vehicle. This traffic control center 5 fulfills the function of the emergency vehicle guidance device of the present invention. The “probe vehicle” refers to a vehicle capable of uplinking information such as the travel locus and speed of the vehicle through communication with the traffic control center 5.

The in-vehicle device 1 of the probe vehicle has a vehicle identification code, and can communicate with the traffic control center 5 using this code. The in-vehicle device 1 generates and transmits information (referred to as travel information) such as the position and speed of the vehicle for each time.
The in-vehicle device 3 of the emergency vehicle sets destination information (including route calculation conditions) and transmits the set destination information to the traffic control center 5. The traffic control center 5 is connected to the control device 4 of the traffic signal device 6 through a communication line, and transmits control information based on the signal parameters to the control device 4. The control device 4 controls the traffic signal 6 based on the received control information.

  A wide-area communication system such as a mobile phone can be used for the communication devices 11 and 31 that perform communication between the in-vehicle devices 1 and 3 and the traffic control center 5. Moreover, if it is assumed that the communication is performed via a road communication device, the area between the in-vehicle devices 1 and 3 and the road communication device such as an optical beacon, a wireless LAN, and a DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication) is relatively small. A communication method can also be used. In this case, the road communication device and the traffic control center 5 are connected by a dedicated communication line. The installation place of the road communicator is arbitrary as long as it can communicate with the vehicle. For example, it may be the same as the installation place of the traffic signal 6 or near the traffic signal 6.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the in-vehicle device 1. The in-vehicle device 1 is based on a communication device 11 that performs road-to-vehicle communication with a traffic control center 5, a GPS receiver 13 that detects a vehicle position at each time using radio waves of an artificial satellite, and a vehicle speed pulse. A vehicle speed sensor 15 for obtaining vehicle speed data, a direction sensor 17 for obtaining vehicle direction data, the GPS receiver 13, the vehicle speed sensor 15, the direction sensor 17 and the like based on various data obtained from the time and position of the vehicle. For example, a computing device 19 for calculating travel information and supplying it to the communication device 11, a speaker 23 for transmitting guidance information (such as emergency vehicle approach information) to the driver, a display device 25, and calculated position and time data. A memory 21 for temporary storage is provided.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the in-vehicle device 3 for an emergency vehicle. The in-vehicle device 3 is based on a communication device 31 that performs road-to-vehicle communication with the traffic control center 5, a GPS receiver 33 that detects a vehicle position at each time using radio waves of an artificial satellite, and a vehicle speed pulse. A vehicle speed sensor 35 for obtaining vehicle speed data, a direction sensor 37 for obtaining vehicle direction data, the GPS receiver 33, the vehicle speed sensor 35, the direction sensor 37, etc. The travel information is calculated, the destination is set, the navigation device 39 that supplies the travel information and the destination information to the communication device 31, the speaker 43 that conveys the guidance information to the driver of the emergency vehicle, the map is displayed, and the vehicle is displayed. Display device 45 for instructing the driver of the emergency vehicle about the current location, the route to the destination, etc., touch keys 47 attached to the display device 45, and a road map And a road map data 41 that contains the over data.

  The navigation device 39 determines the shortest time route or the shortest distance route (hereinafter referred to as “optimum route”) to reach the destination based on the set destination information and the current position of the vehicle (current location). It can be received from the center 5 through the communication device 31. The navigation device 39 may receive the optimum route from the traffic control center 5 through the communication device 31 or may have a function of calculating the optimum route by itself instead of receiving the optimum route.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the traffic control center 5. The traffic control center 5 receives a communication signal including travel information from the in-vehicle device 1 of the probe vehicle and receives a communication signal including travel information and destination information from the in-vehicle device 3 of the emergency vehicle. A data extraction unit 53 for extracting destination information / running information from the signal, a signal parameter calculation unit 55, road map data 57 for use in road matching processing, and the calculated signal parameters are used in the control device 4 of the traffic signal device 6. A transmission control unit 59 for generating control information for transmission to the network is provided.

Hereinafter, the process executed by the signal parameter calculation unit 55 will be described in detail with reference to a flowchart (FIG. 5). All or part of the function of the signal parameter calculation unit 55 is realized by the computer of the traffic control center 5 executing a program recorded on a predetermined medium such as a CD-ROM or a hard disk.
First, the signal parameter calculation unit 55 acquires travel information (referred to as probe information) from the in-vehicle device 1 of the probe vehicle (step S1). Then, based on the acquired probe information, road matching processing (processing for aligning the trajectory of the probe vehicle along the road section on the map) is performed for each probe vehicle, and traffic congestion information for each intersection is created (step S2). ).

This traffic jam information creating process is a process for detecting the signal waiting stop end position based on the probe information. This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
(A) When one piece of probe information is acquired in one signal cycle time For example, the relationship between the vehicle speed obtained from the probe information and the distance from the intersection is 50 m before the intersection as shown in FIG. It is assumed that the vehicle is stopped at the position.

  In this case, the relationship between the stop time of the probe vehicle and the red signal time is obtained from the signal parameter information and the probe information. If the red signal time is 60 seconds and the vehicle stop start time is 30 seconds after the start of red signal lighting, the signal waiting stop end position will be extended to 50 m in 30 seconds from the lighting of the red signal. The final signal waiting stop position of the red signal can be predicted as 100 m (= 50 m × (60 seconds ÷ 30 seconds)). If the sum of the average vehicle length and the average inter-vehicle distance is 5 m, it can be estimated that the number of vehicles waiting for traffic lights is 20.

Generally, the signal waiting stop trailing position L is estimated using the following equation (1).
L = LS × (TR ÷ TΔR) (1)
Here, LS: distance from the intersection when the vehicle is stopped, TR: time of the red signal, and TΔR: elapsed time of the red signal when the vehicle is stopped.
(B) When there are two or more pieces of probe information acquired in one signal cycle When two pieces of probe information are received during one signal cycle as shown in FIGS. 7 (a) and (b) These probe vehicles are represented by C1 and C2. The signal stop stop position is detected from the vehicle stop time of the probe vehicles C1 and C2 and vehicle stop position (distance from the intersection) information.

For example, assuming that the time of the red signal is 60 seconds, the stop start time of the probe vehicle C1 is 30 seconds after the red signal is lit, and the stop start time of the probe vehicle C2 is 40 seconds after the red signal is lit, This means that the end of the 25m traffic jam has been extended, and the final stop waiting position for a signal can be predicted as 125 m (= 75 m + 25 m × (60−40) ÷ (40−30)).
Generally, the signal waiting stop trailing position L is estimated by the following equation (2).

L = LS2 + [(LS2-LS1) * (TR-T [Delta] R2) / (T [Delta] R2-T [Delta] R1)] (2)
Here, LS1, LS2: distance from the intersection when the vehicle is stopped, TR: time of red signal, TΔR1, TΔR2: elapsed time of red signal when each vehicle is stopped.
However, if the difference in red signal elapsed time (TΔR2−TΔR1) at the start of stopping of the probe vehicle C1 and the probe vehicle C2 is equal to or less than a predetermined value (for example, 10 seconds), the end of the signal waiting stop is based only on the information of the probe vehicle C2. It is preferable to calculate the position. This is because when the difference in red signal elapsed time (TΔR2−TΔR1) is a small value, the error increases when it is calculated using the denominator.

  If there are three or more probe information in one signal cycle, the last information and the previous information in the cycle (the difference in red signal elapsed time is less than a predetermined value (for example, 10 seconds)) In such a case, it may be calculated from the previous information until it reaches a predetermined value or more). Even when there are two or more pieces of probe information in one signal cycle, the signal stop stop position may be calculated from only the last piece of information.

  Next, it is referred whether the present location and destination information are received from the in-vehicle device 3 of the emergency vehicle (FIG. 5; step S3). If the current location and destination information are received, the optimum route for reaching the destination is calculated based on the travel time information of the current location, destination and road (step S4). The road travel time information is information acquired by the traffic control center 5 from an external organization.

The outline of this optimum route calculation process will be explained. The travel time of the passing road sections constituting each route to the destination is added, the route that can finally reach the destination in the shortest is specified, and the route Is a process for determining road sections constituting the.
If the optimum route can be calculated, information on the optimum route is notified to the emergency vehicle (step S5).

If the emergency vehicle navigation device 39 has a function of calculating the optimum route, the emergency route may be calculated on the emergency vehicle side. In this case, conversely, the emergency vehicle notifies the traffic control center 5 of information on the optimum route.
Then, the traffic control center 5 grasping the information of the optimum route extracts the intersection information on the route through which the emergency vehicle passes from the current location to the destination (step S6).

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a road map and intersections (a) to (j) on the map. The emergency vehicle E1 is represented by a car icon, and the destination D1 is represented by a star. As shown in FIG. 8, the east, west, south, and north directions are north on the upper side of the figure.
It is assumed that the optimum route P that passes through the intersection (a) → (b) → (c) → (d) → (i) → (j) is calculated from the current location and destination information of the emergency vehicle E1. For each intersection (a), (b), (c), (d), (i), (j) along the optimal route P, the arrival time of the emergency vehicle E1 to each intersection is calculated, and each intersection is reached. The signal waiting stop end position of the approach road is calculated and the number of signal waiting vehicles is calculated (step S8).

  It is assumed that the arrival time from the current time to each intersection and the number of vehicles waiting for traffic lights on the approach road to the intersection are as shown in Table 1 below.

The signal parameter calculator 55 calculates a signal parameter based on the result (step S9), and notifies the control device 4 of each traffic signal device of control information based on the signal parameter (step S11).
The above process is performed for each intersection (step S7 → S10).
Here, calculation of signal parameters will be described. In order to simplify the model, the cycle time of all the intersections is fixed at 2 minutes, and the time TB (second) of the green light therein is adjusted. The blue time TB is obtained by the following formula.

TB = 60 × (2N ÷ NS) × a (3)
Here, N is the number of vehicles waiting for signals at the intersection, NS is the number of vehicles per unit time (minutes) in which vehicles entering the intersection can pass through the intersection (referred to as traffic capacity, also referred to as saturated traffic flow rate). In equation (3), NS is fixed at 30 units / minute.
In equation (3), the reason why 2N is used is that N is the number of vehicles waiting for a signal vehicle that occurs during the red signal, and is doubled assuming that the same number of vehicles will arrive during the green signal. Because. The reason why NS is divided is that NS is the number of units that can pass through the intersection in one minute, so that the number of 2N units required is required to pass. The reason why 60 is applied is that the unit of (2N / NS) is minutes, so that the unit is seconds. In addition, in the above equation (3), the number of vehicles waiting for traffic light is an estimated value, so a coefficient a (a> 1) is multiplied in order to lengthen the green light time with some margin.

By applying the green signal time TB calculated using the equation (3) to the control of the traffic signal, all the vehicles that are waiting at the intersection at the intersection start with the green signal and disappear from the intersection.
A calculation example of the green light time TB is as shown in Table 2.

  According to Table 2, when the time for the emergency vehicle E1 to reach the intersection is within 1 minute, the signal of the approach direction at the intersection is blue until the vehicle passes. In the case of 1 minute or more and less than 5 minutes, the green light time TB is calculated with a = 2. However, if TB <60, TB = 60, and if TB> 100, TB = 100. In this way, the upper limit is set for TB because if the blue time in one cycle time is too long, the traffic volume on the intersecting roads (in other phases) decreases, resulting in traffic congestion. In this example, since one cycle time is assumed to be 2 minutes (120 seconds), the upper limit of the green signal time is set to 100 seconds, and the red (including yellow and all red) time is also secured at least 20 seconds. Also, when the traffic volume is low and the green time can be reduced to 60 seconds or less, the emergency vehicle E1 passes, so the minimum time is set to 60 seconds in order to keep a green light.

  When the arrival time is 5 minutes or more and less than 10 minutes, a = 1.5 is set. For 10 minutes or longer, a = 1.2. In this way, the value of the coefficient a is reduced because the traffic congestion on the intersecting road is likely to occur if the green light is lengthened too early (much before the arrival), so if the arrival of the ambulance is still ahead This is to reduce the margin and prevent the blue time from becoming too long.

  Table 3 shows the time of the green light on the approach road at each intersection by the calculation method using the above equation (3).

In the equation (3), the coefficient a may be a fixed value (for example, a = 1.5) regardless of the arrival time of the emergency vehicle.
Also, the green light time may be a fixed value (for example, 90 seconds) regardless of the number of waiting vehicles, or may be a constant multiple (for example, 1.5 times) with respect to the normal green light time of 60 seconds. Also, after the intersection (b), it is preferable that the signal of the approach road is made green from one minute before the scheduled arrival time of the emergency vehicle E1.

  In the description so far, the number of vehicles per unit time (minutes) that can pass through the intersection (traffic capacity) NS is a fixed value. However, the number of vehicles that can pass through the intersection per unit time in green light is actually It changes depending on the shape of the car, the number of parked cars, and construction. For example, in the case of a one-lane road, if there are a large number of pedestrians in the left turn direction or if there is no right turn dedicated lane, the traffic capacity becomes small. In the case of roads with multiple lanes, the traffic capacity is reduced if the lane is restricted by parking or construction. In this way, the number of vehicles that can pass varies depending on the road conditions at each intersection. Therefore, the green light time is calculated in consideration of the traffic capacity of the approach road at each intersection.

  FIG. 9 shows the relationship between the speed and the distance from the intersection obtained from the probe information. As shown in the figure, it is assumed that the probe vehicle stops at a red light that continues twice at the same intersection due to traffic congestion at the intersection. It is assumed that the first stop position is 60 m from the intersection and the second stop position is 20 m from the intersection. In this case, the distance traveled by the vehicle within the time of one green light is 40 m. If the sum of the average vehicle length and the average inter-vehicle distance is 5 m, it can be seen that the number of vehicles that can pass through the lane with a green light is 8 and the traffic capacity can be estimated.

In the case where two stops due to signal waiting have not occurred, the maximum value of the distance traveled by the vehicle after one signal waiting stop may be set as the traffic capacity. However, when the maximum value is smaller than the standard traffic capacity of 30 vehicles / minute, the traffic capacity may be set to the standard value of 30 vehicles / minute.
Consider the case where the arrival time from the current time to each intersection, the number of vehicles waiting for traffic lights on the approach road, and the traffic capacity NY are as shown in Table 4.

The blue time TB is expressed by the following formula.
TB = 60 × (2N ÷ NY) × a (4)
Here, N is the number of vehicles waiting for traffic lights, and NY is the number of vehicles per unit time (minutes) in which vehicles entering the intersection can pass through the intersection (traffic capacity). This time, NY is not fixed.
The above equation (4) is as shown in the following Table 5 according to the arrival time from the current time to the intersection.

  The result of calculating the green light time TB using the equation (4) is as shown in Table 6 below.

In Table 6, the green time at intersections (b) and (j) is longer than that in Table 3, because the traffic capacity NY of the approach road to intersections (b) and (j) is small. . Also, the green light time at the intersection (i) is shorter than that in Table 3, because the traffic capacity NY of the approach road at the intersection (i) is large.
Next, an example will be described in which signal parameters are controlled in accordance with the priority of an emergency vehicle when a plurality of emergency vehicles are scheduled to pass through the same intersection within a predetermined time (for example, within 10 minutes).

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a road map and intersections (a) to (j) on the map, and two emergency vehicles E1 and E2 are drawn. The emergency vehicle E1 is represented by an ambulance icon, and the emergency vehicle E2 is represented by a fire engine icon. The destinations of each emergency vehicle E1 are represented by D1 and D2, respectively. Emergency vehicle E1 passes in the order of intersection (a) → (b) → (c) → (d) → (i) → (j), and emergency vehicle E2 passes in the order of intersection (c) → (h) It shall be. The emergency vehicles E1, E2 are scheduled to pass through the same intersection (c) continuously.

In the case of FIG. 10, the setting of the green signal time at the intersection (c) where the emergency vehicles E1 and E2 are scheduled to pass is performed as follows.
For the intersection (c), the blue applied to the road where the emergency vehicle E1 travels from west to east, as determined by Equation (3) or (4) described above, for a 2-minute cycle time of traffic lights Assume that the time is 100 seconds. Further, it is assumed that the blue time applied to the road on which the emergency vehicle E2 travels from south to north without considering the emergency vehicle E1 is 80 seconds.

Here, the priority of the emergency vehicles E1, E2 is set. The priority is that the emergency vehicle E2 is higher than the emergency vehicle E1, and at the intersection (c), priority is given to the green light time from south to north, south → north: 80 seconds, west → east: 40 seconds (= 120 -80) is set.
When the emergency vehicle E2 passes the intersection (c), the signal parameter of the intersection (c) is changed to the emergency vehicle E1 priority setting. As a result, west → east: 100 seconds, south → north: 20 seconds.

Further, if the arrival of the emergency vehicle E2 having a high priority is delayed by a predetermined time or more (for example, 2 minutes or more) from the arrival of the emergency vehicle E1, first, the green signal time of the emergency vehicle E1 that passes earlier than the priority is set. As a priority, when the emergency vehicle E2 passes the intersection (c), the signal parameter of the intersection (c) may be changed to the priority setting of the emergency vehicle E1.
In the explanation so far, even if there are multiple lanes on the road entering the intersection, it was processed as one road without being particularly conscious of the lane, but the high-accuracy position recognition technology has been established, If it is assumed that a map database will be established, it will be possible to recognize the driving lane sufficiently.

At this time, since the travel lane can be recognized from the probe information, the signal stop stop position and the traffic capacity for each lane can be calculated.
For example, it is assumed that the road entering the intersection (d) in FIG. 8 has three lanes as shown in FIG. It is assumed that the left lane A is for straight ahead and left turn, the center lane B is for straight ahead, and the right lane C is for right turn.

The number of waiting vehicles for each lane is 10 lanes A, 10 lanes B, 10 lanes C, and 5 lanes C. The traffic capacity (vehicles / min) is 20 lanes A and 20 lanes B, respectively. : 30 cars, Lane C: 30 cars.
When the signal information is controlled based on the probe information of the lane A that makes a left turn at the intersection (d), the green light time is calculated according to the equation (4), and is calculated as 100 seconds. When the signal information is controlled based on the information of the lane B, when the green light time is calculated according to the equation (4), it is calculated as 80 seconds according to the difference in traffic capacity.

In this way, the optimal green light time can be calculated for each lane. Therefore, if the emergency vehicle turns left at the intersection, 100 seconds is applied, and 80 seconds is applied when going straight ahead. An emergency vehicle signal guidance system can be constructed.
In addition, when the lane is not recognized, if the emergency vehicle is scheduled to turn left, it recognizes the vehicle that made a left turn at the intersection from the probe information, and the signal waiting stop end position of the left turn lane from the probe information Or traffic capacity may be calculated and signal parameters may be calculated.

  The traffic control center 5 may notify the approach information of the emergency vehicle to each probe vehicle traveling around the emergency vehicle. The in-vehicle system of each vehicle that has received the notification can notify the driver of emergency vehicle approach information by voice through the speaker 23 or by screen display through the display device 25. Thus, the driver can be given a sense of security by notifying the driver of the approach information of the emergency vehicle.

  Further, the traffic control center 5 may notify the approach information of the emergency vehicle to the road information display device and display the approach of the emergency vehicle on the road information bulletin board. By displaying the road information bulletin board, it is possible to notify the approach of the emergency vehicle to all the vehicles traveling on the road. Considering that some vehicles cannot communicate with the traffic control center 5, the road information bulletin board is an effective notification means.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, in the emergency vehicle guidance device described above, the traffic control center 5 performs the optimal route calculation and signal parameter calculation before the emergency vehicle starts traveling toward the destination, but the emergency vehicle travels. Even after starting, check the traffic congestion status (traffic stop position at the end of the signal waiting stop) regularly (for example, every 2 minutes). It is preferable to recalculate and recalculate the signal parameters. Since the signal stop stop position often changes from time to time, the signal parameters for smoothly passing the emergency vehicle can always be updated to the optimum one.

  In addition, the traffic control center 5 has grasped the traffic jam status at each intersection based on the travel information received from the probe vehicle. However, the traffic control center 5 can acquire the traffic jam length information of each road from an external organization. For example, the acquired information may be used. Moreover, you may estimate the signal waiting stop tail position based on the detection information from the vehicle detector installed in the vicinity of each intersection.

It is a figure showing the whole emergency vehicle guidance system composition containing the emergency vehicle guidance device of the present invention. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the in-vehicle device 1. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the vehicle-mounted apparatus 3 of an emergency vehicle. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a traffic control center 5. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of processing of a signal parameter calculation unit 55. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the speed and the distance from an intersection obtained from probe information. It is a graph which shows each relationship between the speed and the distance from an intersection obtained from the information of two probes. It is a figure which shows the road map and the intersections (a)-(j) on the map. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the speed and the distance from an intersection obtained from probe information. It is a figure which shows the road map and the intersections (a)-(j) on the map, and two emergency vehicles E1, E2 are drawn. It is a map which shows the road which has three diagonal lines which approach an intersection.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 In-vehicle device of probe vehicle 3 In-vehicle device of emergency vehicle 4 Control device of traffic signal 5 Traffic control center 6 Traffic signal device 11, 31 Communication device 13, 33 GPS receiver 15, 35 Vehicle speed sensor 17, 37 Direction sensor 19 Calculation device 39 Navigation Device 41 Road map data 51 Transceiver 53 Data extraction unit 55 Signal parameter calculation unit 57 Road map data 59 Transmission control unit
(a)-(j) Intersection

Claims (11)

Route acquisition means for acquiring a route to the destination based on the current location information and destination information of the emergency vehicle;
A signal parameter calculation means for calculating a signal parameter of a traffic signal present at an intersection along the route;
Control information notifying means for notifying the traffic signal of control information based on the calculated signal parameters,
The signal parameter calculation means grasps a traffic jam situation on the route and, according to the traffic jam situation, the traffic signal of the traffic signal so that the traffic jam is eliminated when the emergency vehicle passes an intersection along the route. An emergency vehicle guidance device for calculating a signal parameter.   Probe information collecting means for collecting probe information including position information for each time the vehicle has traveled, and the signal parameter calculating means is based on the probe information collected by the probe information collecting means and stops waiting for a signal at an intersection. 2. The emergency signal time according to claim 1, wherein the end position is estimated, and the number of vehicles waiting for a signal is obtained using the estimated end position of the signal waiting stop, so that a green signal time during which a signal stop vehicle can pass with a green light is set. Vehicle guidance device.   The signal parameter calculating means estimates the signal waiting stop end position of the intersection based on the distance from the intersection when the vehicle is stopped, the red signal time at the intersection, and the red signal elapsed time when the vehicle is stopped. The emergency vehicle guidance device according to claim 2.   When there are two vehicles that have collected probe information, the signal parameter calculation means is configured to determine the distance from the intersection when the vehicle is stopped, the time of the red signal at the intersection, and the red signal when the vehicle is stopped. The emergency vehicle guidance device according to claim 2, wherein the signal waiting stop end position at the intersection is estimated based on the elapsed time.   Probe information collecting means for collecting probe information including position information for each time the vehicle has traveled, and the signal parameter calculating means is based on the probe information collected by the probe information collecting means and stops waiting for a signal at an intersection. The end position is estimated, the number of signal waiting vehicles is obtained using the estimated signal waiting stop end position, and the signal waiting is determined based on the number of signal waiting vehicles and the traffic capacity of the road along the route at the intersection. The emergency vehicle guidance device according to claim 1, wherein a green signal time during which a stopped vehicle can pass by a green signal is set.   When the same vehicle that collects probe information stops at the same intersection with a red signal that has continued twice, the signal parameter calculation means calculates the distance from the intersection at the time of each stop of the vehicle, 6. The emergency vehicle guidance device according to claim 5, wherein a traffic capacity of a road along the route is obtained based on a time of a green light.   The signal parameter calculation means, when a plurality of emergency vehicles pass through the same intersection, prioritizes emergency vehicles from the emergency level information received from each emergency vehicle and calculates signal parameters. The emergency vehicle guidance device according to any one of Items 6 to 6.   The emergency signal according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the signal parameter calculation means grasps a traffic jam situation at each intersection for each lane and calculates a signal parameter considering the traffic jam situation in each lane. Vehicle guidance device.   The signal parameter calculation means confirms the traffic jam situation at the intersection where the emergency vehicle is scheduled to pass after notifying the control information, and if the traffic jam of the route scheduled for the emergency vehicle is not solved, the signal parameter is calculated again. The emergency vehicle guidance device according to any one of claims 1 to 8. An emergency vehicle guidance program executed by being stored in a computer,
Obtaining a route to the destination based on the current location information and destination information of the emergency vehicle;
Calculating a traffic light signal parameter present at an intersection along the route;
Notifying the traffic signal of control information based on the calculated signal parameters,
The step of calculating the signal parameter comprises grasping a traffic jam situation on the route, and according to the traffic jam situation, the traffic is so resolved that the emergency vehicle passes through an intersection along the route. A program for calculating signal parameters of a traffic light. Obtaining a route to the destination based on the current location information and destination information of the emergency vehicle;
Calculating a traffic light signal parameter present at an intersection along the route;
A step of notifying a traffic signal of control information based on the calculated signal parameter,
In the step of calculating the signal parameter, the traffic condition is grasped on the route, and the traffic is so resolved that the emergency vehicle passes through an intersection along the route according to the traffic condition. An emergency vehicle guidance method characterized by calculating a signal parameter of a traffic light.

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