JPH077480A - Traffic information system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To support a driver in traveling to previously execute accurate judgement. CONSTITUTION:Traffic information (branch points, an advancing direction, service areas, etc.) in the advancing direction of a traveling vehicle 5 is transmitted from a transmitter 2 arranged on a road or its periphery to the vehicle 5 through a ground wave. The vehicle 5 receives the traffic information by a receiver 10 loaded on itself and provides only simple positional information (a driving course, a lane change, etc.) out of the received traffic information to a driver by characters/sound. Even in a condition that there is no sufficiently enough time for grasping the advancing direction due to much traffic or marks are easily missed due to a high traveling speed, the driver can easily check information to be selected next.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

[Table of Contents] The present invention will be described in the following order. Field of Industrial Application Conventional Technology Problems to be Solved by the Invention Means for Solving the Problems (FIGS. 1 and 2) Action Example (FIGS. 1 and 2) Effect of the Invention

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a traffic information system, and is particularly suitable for being applied to a system which provides various kinds of traffic information required by a driver who drives an automobile.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a driver running on a strange land generally uses a traffic sign or an electronic bulletin board posted on the road to confirm the current position and the direction of the destination. In addition, in order to supplement these, a navigation system that receives radio waves transmitted from artificial satellites is also in operation today, and in addition to the current position, the distance and direction to the destination are displayed on the map. It is designed so that it can be checked against.

[0004]

However, since this system has a large amount of information, it may be difficult to make effective use of this information at the time of traveling, especially at points with a large amount of traffic to determine a course. There are still many cases where a sign installed at a branch point becomes a sign. However, the sign is easily overlooked when visibility is poor or when traveling at high speed, and even if the sign can be confirmed, it may not be possible to select the correct road at the branch point just before the branch point.

For example, if it is not known that the intended intersection is a grade separation, if it is immediately before the intersection that the sign confirms that the grade is a grade separation, the right side lane (the left side lane) It may not be possible to change lanes up to). In addition, as the transportation network is improved, the amount of information that drivers need to judge is ever increasing. For this reason, a load on the driver becomes heavy, but a system that can reduce the load on the driver is desired.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and proposes a traffic information system capable of extracting and providing only information that a driver truly needs from a large amount of road traffic information. It is what

[0007]

In order to solve such a problem, according to the present invention, traffic information about a traveling vehicle 5 in the traveling direction of the traveling vehicle 5 (branch point, traveling direction,
Transmitters 2, 3 and 4 for transmitting terrestrial waves from or around the road, and receivers mounted on the traveling vehicle 5 for receiving traffic information transmitted from the transmitters 2, 3 and 4. 10 (11, 12, 13, 14) are provided, and the receiving device 10 provides the driver with simple position information (driving course, lane change, etc.) by using characters and / or sounds.

[0008]

Operation Among the traffic information (branch point, traveling direction, service area, etc.) transmitted from the transmitting devices 2, 3, 4, the traveling direction to be selected for traveling to the destination and simple position information (driving course) , Lane change, etc.) to allow the driver to make an accurate judgment even in situations where there is a large amount of traffic and there is not enough room to grasp the direction of travel, or when it is easy to overlook the sign due to high traveling speed. I can help you to bring things together.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a road information network system as a whole. Here, a road information network system on a highway will be described. The road information network system 1 comprises a local transmitting station 2 and a plurality of antennas 3 and 4 for transmitting information by terrestrial waves.

The local transmitting station 2 receives the position data (fixed information) I1 indicating the position on the highway and the additional data (fluctuation information) I2 which fluctuates with time from the antennas 3 and 4.
It is adapted to be transmitted to the vehicle 5 which is more traveling. In the case of this example, as the position data I1, address data specifying the position of the inter, junction or service area where the local transmission station 2 is located is transmitted. On the other hand, as the additional data I2, in addition to the weather information in the vicinity where the local transmission station 2 is located, road information such as traffic congestion is transmitted.

The antennas 3 and 4 are compared with each other at a point P1 (a position almost the same as a place where a conventional display board for transmitting road information is installed) several kilometers before the branch point 6 of the expressway and the branch point 6. It is installed at point P2 before the target. By transmitting the ground waves W1 and W2 from these two points to the vehicle 5, the driver can change the lane and confirm the final route with a margin.

The antennas 3 and 4 are each a pair of antennas and are installed so as to face each other on both sides of the highway. As a result, whether the vehicle 5 traveling on the highway is traveling in the rightmost overtaking lane or in the leftmost traveling lane, the terrestrial waves W1 and W2 are surely obtained.
Has been made to be able to receive.

The receiving system 10 mounted on each vehicle 5 for receiving the ground waves W1 and W2 transmitted from these transmitting systems will be described. The receiving system 10
The receiving unit 11 that receives the terrestrial waves W1 and W2 transmitted from the antennas 3 and 4, the information processing unit 13 that processes the data D1 and D2 provided from the receiving unit 11 or the storage medium 12, and the processing result to the driver. The display unit 14 for displaying is used.

The receiving unit 11 is adapted to receive and decode the terrestrial wave W1 or W2, and gives the decoding result of the position data I1 to the storage medium 12 as address data A1, while processing the decoding result of the additional data I2. The data D1 is given to the section 13.

In the case of this embodiment, the storage medium 12 is a CD-
It consists of a ROM and stores fixed information such as information about expressways (expressway names, interchange names, service area names, distance information) and map information. The storage medium 12 reads the fixed information corresponding to the address data A1 to read the fixed information.
3, the fixed information corresponding to the address data A2 given from the information processing unit 13 is read out and sent back.

The information processing unit 13 gives the processing result to the display unit 14 to display it on the display 14A, and inputs a control signal according to the driver's operation from the operation keys 14B provided on the display unit 14. ing. By operating the operation keys 14B, the driver can simultaneously input a plurality of desired inter names and a service area which is a planned rest area.

The items displayed on the display 14A can also be switched by operating the operation keys 14B. For example, the course information only at each branch point, the information only at the service area, or the information only at the weather and the information to be displayed on the display 14A can be selected.

While the vehicle is traveling, the information processing unit 13 checks whether or not the inter name etc. input by the driver matches the inter name etc. received from the local transmitting station 2 which is currently passing. If the two interchange names do not match, the information processing unit 13 calculates the traveling distance to the destination together with the next passing inter name, and displays this on the display 14A. On the other hand, when the two inter names match, the information processing unit 13 displays the route and the lane that the vehicle should take on the display 14A.

In the above configuration, a case where the driver travels on a highway that has never traveled or has hardly traveled before will be described. It is assumed that the road information network system 1 is already in operation on this highway, and that the vehicle 5 is equipped with the receiving system 10.

Here, the driver pre-enters the name of the interchange "Q" in order to get off the general road at the 15th interchange from the entrance of the expressway, and the service areas "A" and "B" on the way are set as rest areas. It is supposed to be input. Further, as the display mode, information only in each service area is selected.

In this state, the highway is entered. The receiving unit 11 of the receiving system 10 mounted on the vehicle 5 receives the terrestrial wave W from the front of each interchange or service area located in the traveling direction.
1 and W2 are sequentially received, and additional data (fluctuation information) I2 that fluctuates from moment to moment is received together with position data (fixed information) I1 of an interchange or the like to pass next.

Since the mode of the information processing unit 13 is set to display only the information regarding the service area, the distance to the target service area is displayed on the display 14A together with the name of the next inter-pass. , Instruct that you should go straight on the main line. The driver can confirm the course based on this information and can continue driving without anxiety.

When the target service area "A" approaches, the screens are switched on the display 14A indicating that the target service area is near and that the lane should be changed to the left lane. By changing this screen, the driver can confirm that the destination is near. In addition, it is possible to reconfirm that the service area "A" is near by the sign on the road.

Similarly, between the service area “A” and the next designated service area “B”, the driver can easily confirm the remaining distance and from which point the lane change should be taken into consideration during driving. You can continue driving without worrying about them. The same applies after the break in the service area "B" is completed, but since the next destination is the interchange that gets off the highway, the display mode is changed to the branch point 5
Just switch to course information. Then, the distance to the target interchange "Q" and the name of the next interchange are displayed.

Eventually, it is displayed on the display 14A that the next interchange is the intended interchange. After finishing the lane change, if the driver is worried about the detailed weather information and traffic congestion information at the Inter “Q”, operating the operation key 14B to change the display mode will display only the necessary information on the screen. You can check. In addition, the driver can reconfirm whether the course he is going to go through is correct by the ground wave W2 transmitted from the antenna 4 by switching the display mode to the display of the branch point immediately before the branch point 5. .

According to the above configuration, the display 14A
By limiting the information displayed above to only the driving course that the driver should select at each passing point, it is possible for the driver to make an accurate judgment even during high-speed driving or when the traffic is heavy. Further, since the information can be confirmed by the driver in advance at a position before the passing point, the driver can predict the next action to be taken in advance and can drive the vehicle with a margin.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, whether to proceed on the main line as it is or to prepare for exiting the expressway by changing the lane to the left lane side at a position before a preset interchange or an interchange located in the middle of the interchange. Although the case of displaying is described, the present invention is not limited to this, and a destination name after selecting a course at each branch point may be additionally displayed. For example, it may be displayed as "straight ahead → Nagasaki", "side road → XX interchange".

In the above embodiment, the operation key 1
The case where the driving course selection information is displayed on the display 14A of the display unit 14 in which the 4B and the display 14A are integrally attached has been described. Alternatively, the driver may be instructed which course to select by voice.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the position data I1 and the additional data I2 transmitted from the local ground station 2 are used to provide the driving information to the driver has been described. Not limited thereto, the information may be given to the cruise control circuit mounted on the vehicle as information in consideration of safety.

Further, in the above embodiment, the receiving unit 1
Positional data I1 of the ground waves W1 and W2 received at 1
Although the case where is used as address data for accessing the storage medium 12 has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be directly given to the information processing unit 13. In this case, the position data I1 may be not the address information, but data such as an inter-name or data representing a positional relationship with the preceding and following inters.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the road information network system 1 is applied to a highway has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to a general road. For example, if the vehicle is installed at an intersection that is a three-dimensional intersection or an intersection where a lane for turning right or left is provided, it is possible to eliminate the necessity of repeatedly changing lanes before the intersection.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiments, the case where the CD-ROM is used as the storage medium 12 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other storage media (for example, a memory card, a magneto-optical recording medium, etc.) may be used. You may use.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the storage medium 12 stores the information (expressway name, interchange name, service area name, distance information) about the expressway and the fixed information of the map information is described. The invention is not limited to this, and information on main tourist spots, highway information, etc. may be stored.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the selection information of the course and the weather are displayed on the display 14A in accordance with the selection of the mode has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is planned to pass the destination. The time and the like may be displayed.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, as the information displayed on the display 14A, the case where the course selection information at each branch point, the information only on the service area, or the information only on the weather can be switched and selected will be described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and
Only one may be selected and displayed.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the road information network system 1 is constructed by using only the terrestrial waves W1 and W2 transmitted from the local transmission stations 2 through the antennas 3 and 4, has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and GPS (Global Positioning) using an artificial satellite is used.
System)).

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, of the traffic information transmitted from the transmission device, the driver is provided with only the traveling direction and the simple position information to be selected in order to proceed to the destination. . As a result, it is possible to realize a traffic information system that can assist the driver in making accurate decisions even in situations where there is a large amount of traffic and there is no room to grasp the direction of travel, or when traveling speed is high and signs are easily overlooked. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a transmission side network of a traffic information system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a receiving side system of the traffic information system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Road information network system, 2 ... Local transmitting station, 3, 4 ... Antenna, 5 ... Vehicle, 6 ... Branch point, 10 ... Receiving system, 11 ... Receiving section, 12 ...
Storage medium, 13 ... Information processing unit, 14 ... Display unit, 14
A: Display, 14B: Operation key.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A transmission device for transmitting, to a traveling vehicle, traffic information in the traveling direction of the traveling vehicle by terrestrial waves on or near a road, and mounted on the traveling vehicle and transmitted from the transmitting device. A traffic information system, comprising: a receiving device for receiving the traffic information, wherein the receiving device provides the driver with simplified position information by means of characters and / or sounds. 2. The traffic information system according to claim 1, wherein the traffic information includes additional information that changes with time.