EP0915446A2 - Traffic guidance, information and positioning system - Google Patents

Abstract

The system has terminal equipment in vehicles (A,...) for acquiring dynamic traffic information and/or events and passing the information to other traffic in combination with position and time information. The traffic related data (VD) are acquired by vehicles in traffic and passed via an information channel (IK) to passing or overtaking vehicles (C).

Description

A method and a device are described, with the aid of which traffic flow data can be determined, processed on all connection routes serving road traffic and can be made available to the road user individually.
The previous influence on traffic by traffic management and information systems is still limited to individual sections of the route, focus of traffic or regions of metropolitan areas). These sections also correlate insufficiently with one another. Especially in busy times, road users have only very incomplete, up-to-date information. Likewise, there is no uniform concept or traffic management system, so that road users have to find their way around a wide variety of control mechanisms and information channels; Traffic announcements, RDS ticker (s) (Radio Data System), route and diversion signs, changing signs, prognoses on television or magazines etc. try to inform the driver and give decision support - more or less up to date.

For higher-level traffic control Functional units such as inductively controlled Counting systems, infrared traffic light control, Image surveillance equipment or observation flights by Helicopter included. These are all measures, partly even just trying to make the traffic run as smoothly as possible to be able to handle. From an individual decision for the individual road user, regarding the current Traffic situation, you are still far away. Also Navigation systems (e.g. Travelpilot, Auto-Scout,) do not allow route optimization with regard to the Traffic situation.

Crucial for a successful traffic control is the inclusion of as many as possible traffic-relevant data, nationwide and from all local, regional and nationwide sections. This applies to any type of traffic control, whether it is is now controlled centrally or by individual Decisions made by road users. Further should this data, after appropriate preparation, the Users as up to date as possible in the moving vehicle To be available.

a) Sammlung aller verkehrsrelevanter Daten durch Sensoren, auf allen Straßen - flächendeckend, landesweit.

b) Der Transport der unter a) gesammelten Daten benötigt umfangreiche Nachrichtenkanäle zu einer oder mehreren Zentraleinheit(en), Verkehrsleitstelle(n) aber auch zu jedem einzelnen Fahrzeug.

c) Für die standortbezogenen Sensoren und Nachrichtenkanäle ist eine örtliche Energieversorgung erforderlich.

Apart from the vehicle technology that must be provided by the owner, from the current perspective and under the premise of centrally and regionally organized traffic control, the road operator (e.g. public sector) has the following investments in the transport infrastructure:

a) Collection of all traffic-related data by sensors, on all roads - nationwide.

b) The transport of the data collected under a) requires extensive message channels to one or more central unit (s), traffic control center (s) but also to each individual vehicle.

c) A local power supply is required for the location-based sensors and communication channels.

All together results in a complex system consisting of numerous sensors installed on site, News channels, power supplies and so on dimensioned control centers, a not insignificant Total effort.

The subject of DE 196 04 084 A1 is a dynamic one Traffic information system according to the generic term of Claim 1 become known, which is briefly below DVIS is called.

Here, traffic data or information about the Purpose of traffic control and road safety from the View of a driver in different ways Arrange priority levels, so there are events that intervene directly in the driving action (e.g. within of the next mileage) and those in relative short, medium or long-term periods or, Distance levels are up for decision.

A traffic jam that is forming. Changes in speed of total traffic, Aid vehicles, sudden local weather changes (rain, Storm, hail, ice, etc.), accident, traveling construction sites, Redirection, and much more, based on the current Driving experience, all are events. the driving behavior of the affected drivers directly and immediately affect and only in the second place a superordinate Headquarters concern. One of the most important is that short access time to this 'data'. Accumulating to Decision making purposes (whether human or machine) only delays unnecessarily and is crucial in DVIS Disadvantage. Relevant news should only the Vehicles leaked immediately from it are affected (vehicle selection). Ultimately, yes also only affected the vehicles for which these events "still lie ahead of them": for those who already These messages are "irrelevant" and can even become a burden (oversupply on News). For practice in the DVIS system, this means that a very large data exchange over the GSM network must be dealt with. For this additional, enormously high Data volume is neither the existing, nor an in Fully expanded GSM network designed for the future. In the above These concerns are approximately explained in the publication (Column 3, lines 35-37). Data must be larger Distances in the radio area collected and redistributed even though the event may only a few Affects vehicles within a radius of 100 m. Before that collected data are sent out, they are in weighted at a central office and thereby experience one Time delay related to the current Situation, possibly can no longer be applicable. Several Events within a radio range also result a correspondingly larger data volume,

The invention is therefore based on the object dynamic traffic management, information and Positioning system of the type mentioned above to further develop a faster system which is just the individual driver relevant data recorded, evaluated and transmitted.

The invention is supported by the technical teaching of Claim 1 solved. A device that the named Solves the problem is described in claim 13 and following and claimed.

With the invention is associated with the advantage that with needs a minimum of infrastructure and hereby one predominantly decentralized traffic control achieved their data highly topical specifically only the driver concerned be made accessible.

The system according to the invention, also referred to below as VIPS, uses different ways of data transfer than the prior art mentioned in the introduction to the description. Neither GSM nor GPS components are required for the pure function of the system; but can also be integrated. The only commonality concerns the vehicle information channel, but with the difference that in the VIPS the vehicle-vehicle communication takes place directly with a specially designed transceiver.
This transceiver unit consists of a milliwatt transmitter with omnidirectional radiation. Traffic-relevant data are collected in a vehicle A, provided with the parameters location and time and sent to an oncoming vehicle C and temporarily stored there. This vehicle C now acts as an information carrier for the period nt = t2 - t1 . For a vehicle B that is in the same direction of travel as vehicle A, only information from the preceding route section is of course relevant. Vehicle B receives this information (VD) from oncoming vehicle C. Each oncoming vehicle therefore always brings the latest information from the preceding section of the route. Data can then be deleted when the place where this data was recorded has passed. To ensure that this data also reaches other road users or traffic control centers (VLS) etc., data should only be deleted when at least one oncoming vehicle offers the same data. This is a sure sign that vehicles in front have already passed on the information. The data can also be deleted according to defined time criteria or after delivery to a traffic control center (VLS).

The VIPS system thus selects the data stream without external action. Only in the second place, on the corresponding ones Coupling and decoupling points, data is sent to a control center forwarded or important data fed.

An electronically readable, standardized and clear road marking is provided for meter-precise positioning, which the current (D) GPS is unable to achieve. A correspondingly accurate, satellite-based, future system would mean a multiple in financial expenditure compared to the simple and maintenance-free marking proposed here. As with all other known systems, the current position of the vehicle can be covered with a digital map. VIPS installs itself with every new vehicle that is added, without any advance payments from the road operator, thereby increasing efficiency. With appropriate on-board computer software, traffic control centers are only necessary at a later point in time; completely in contrast to DVIS, in which a not inconsiderably complex know-how has to be advanced. The decentralized VIPS structure increases the operational security compared to DVIS.
There are further differences when considering the cost distribution between users and public authorities; System dependency on the operator GSM and GPS; Anonymity of user users; Functionality on all roads; User fees; Tasks of law enforcement officers and much more

Local detection of the traffic density ahead by the on-board computer advantageously results in traffic being influenced in the form of a dynamic directional speed. Depending on the traffic density, this improves the throughput of the vehicles on this section of the route.
Longer excesses of this target speed can lead to automatic speed throttling or can be forwarded to the traffic control VA via the information channel IK.

1. Sensor technology

The stationary sensor system postulated under a) is only assigned to the vehicles, i.e. all relevant variables directly related to traffic can be captured in any and by any vehicle. This affects measured values, e.g. Speed, traffic jam, Accident, construction site, speed restrictions, Diversions, traffic density but also temperature, Brightness, rain etc.

2. News channels

Every vehicle participating in traffic kicks in automatically via a uniform communication bridge with everyone other vehicle in connection, this information bridge is only in for the time of passing by or meeting closed a limited spatial distance. over this information channel (IK) can have data in both Directions (full duplex) are exchanged.

So your own data (see sensors) about the Information channel IK for oncoming traffic dubbed; Likewise, one receives data from oncoming traffic. The data, that the oncoming traffic brings, but are the data of the own route section ahead. To this Can be forward-looking and up-to-date Recognize traffic-related issues without doing so additional measures by higher-level decision-makers must be involved and waited. It arises Flow of data and information back and forth to Direction of travel. An on-board computer prepares the data for the own vehicle, sorts and weights them and hits them Preliminary decisions on passing on via the IK, e.g. local, regional, nationwide, current or in a time grid. Data can also be target-specific over longer distances only the data record has to be forwarded addressed and vehicles with appropriate destinations be transmitted.

Is a dialogue in the form of characters or language between the traffic control or control center and the vehicle desired, this can be done using the standardized Information channel IK are processed. Let the same also bring in search messages that e.g. of the Traffic control centers are initiated.

Each one serves as the transmission or carrier medium Vehicle, comparable to the cells in the digital Message stream of modern communication technologies, e.g. ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode).

3. Positioning

gelesen" werden könnte. Die Position dieser elektronisch lesbaren Codemarke ist zugleich der Zählbeginn für einen Radumlaufzähler, der die Strecke in Meter teilt und damit jedes Fahrzeug exakt positioniert. Die Anwendung dieser Markiertechnik beinhaltet weitere vorteilhafte Funktionen

• Vorübergehende Hinweise aller Art, z.B. bei Baustellen
• Kurzfristige Umleltungshinweise mit Wegeinformationen, z.B. bei Großveranstaltungen.
• Warnhinweise aller Art.

An identification of the road used is necessary so that all data can be assigned to the place of origin, but also the vehicle position of the road guidance. Different possibilities are available with different competencies, GPS would be suitable as an auxiliary component for rough determination, but insufficient in fine-structured urban road traffic. Even DGPS (Differential Global Positioning System) does not meet the expectations of the required accuracy. A simple and inexpensive solution would be a repetitive marking on the beginning of every street, for example in the form of a magnetic tape. In different, polarized order, this would result in a coding by the vehicle driving over it

The position of this electronically readable code mark is at the same time the start of counting for a cycle counter, which divides the distance in meters and thus positions each vehicle exactly. The use of this marking technique includes further advantageous functions

• Temporary information of all kinds, e.g. at construction sites
• Short-term environmental notice with route information, for example at major events.
• All kinds of warnings.

However, the same marking and reading technology can be used also encode traffic signs accordingly and as Show road markings. These marks can then, as described above, by in the vehicle provided reading device read, decoded and the Vehicle drivers are displayed in the cockpit.

4. Energy supply

The energy supply for the sensor and communication network becomes the vehicles in this traffic technology assigned and thus relieves the road operator.

5. Road user fees

Vehicles for which fees are to be paid and were checked at all traffic control centers become; they pass on the information channel (IK) e.g. recognizable with license plates. Protection against abuse can be done by sealing the vehicle components to reach. Any manipulation of terminal equipment removes that Release characteristics, so that a vehicle without this identifier can be selected at all traffic control centers. For foreign vehicles can be entered at the border Acquire corresponding devices on loan with approval. A Recording of the actual road use in kilometers and / or time per vehicle to cover costs is possible.

6. Speed controls

So far, these controls only apply to Snapshots, more meaningful is the measurement within a section of the route

7. Search

Vehicles with searched license plates can by the Traffic control centers are filtered out.

8. Theft

Since every properly registered vehicle is registered via the IK answers ", manipulated vehicles, for example antenna breakage can be detected.

9. Breakdown assistance, emergency call

Also possible without mobile radio

10. Police patrol

All data can be called up from the moving company car (VAm) or influenced and addressed to the driver, e.g. expired TÜV etc.

11. General

The invention is now based on an embodiment described in more detail with reference to the figure. Here go from the description of other features and Advantages of the invention.

The traffic control, information and Positioning system (VIPS) is conceptually very high decentrally organized and independent of other systems, even if it is supported by GSM and / or GPS after the BIDIS project (bidirectional information system). A improved satellite navigation system for positioning would be the electronically readable street coding superfluous, but much more expensive and in times of crisis be more prone to failure.

Data interfaces in the VIPS, based on the concept of Euro-Scout, allow the coupling and decoupling of data for the purpose supra-regional traffic control and information. in the literally it's a floating car data collection, a much discussed objective in the Traffic telematics.

Even if after BIDIS project "of the EU of mobile communications (GSM) is a mainstay, only national information should be exchanged via these communication channels, but not the multitude of data generated for each vehicle individually and directly on site (per second) reduce the transport infrastructure, financed by the general public, to the most necessary extent The user has increased competence due to the increased equipment of the telematics terminals (eg on-board computer, IC transceiver, special software) in the vehicle.

12th embodiment

In the drawing, black crossbars indicate that from Vehicle with legible markings on the side of the road indicated. Vehicles A and C meet at Time t1 at the beginning of the relevant section of the road. Here, the vehicle A leaves the road section and has during the entrance on the road section with the mark there synced. In the course of this Section is now a traffic-relevant event occurred and vehicle A recorded this event and recorded in the memory of his computer. It encounters the vehicle C at the time t1, which is currently enters the road section from the other side. During the encounter between the vehicles, the Information channel (IK) between the vehicles for a short time opened and the vehicle A transmits the in its On-board memory stored, traffic-relevant data VD to Vehicle C. The driver of vehicle C can now do this Data to be displayed immediately with the aim that this influences his vehicle accordingly (e.g. Slowing down in the event of an accident or fog in the Route section, etc.). It is also possible that this Data in vehicle C also directly on the vehicle - act without the driver's influence (e.g. through a pre-programmed limitation of the Vehicle speed).

The vehicle C thus drives into the monitored route section, taking into account the traffic-relevant data acquired by the vehicle A, and adjusts its driving style accordingly. At time t2, it encounters vehicle B entering the route section from the other side, to which vehicle B the data recorded in the route section is in turn transmitted. It is possible that the data stored in the vehicle memory of vehicle C correspond to those that were received by vehicle A. But it is also possible that, for. B. when removing the obstacle in the monitored road section, the data recorded by vehicle A are modified and vehicle C at time t2 only reports to vehicle B that there are no obstacles.
The present exemplary embodiment is not to be interpreted as limiting the technical teaching of the invention. It represents a possible mode of operation of the invention only on the basis of a possible scenario.

Claims (26)

Method and device as a traffic management, information and positioning system (VIPS) in which dynamic traffic information and / or events are recorded by terminal devices in the vehicle and, together with location and time information, are passed on to other road users, characterized in that the traffic-relevant data (VD) are picked up by the vehicles taking part in the traffic, transported themselves and exchanged between vehicles that meet or overtake via an information channel (IK). Method according to Claim 1, characterized in that traffic-relevant data (VD) are collected in a vehicle (A), are provided with the parameters location and time and are sent to an oncoming vehicle (B; C; D) at time (t1) . Method according to one of claims 1 - 2, characterized in that the direction of travel, in relation to other vehicles, is recognized on the basis of at least one marking (FM) arranged in the lane. Method according to one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the traffic-relevant data (VD) collected by vehicle A are sent to an oncoming vehicle (C) which acts as an information carrier for the period nt = t2 - t1 functions and sends the traffic-relevant data to a vehicle (B) that is moving in the same direction as vehicle (A). Method according to one of the preceding claims 1-4 , characterized in that the traffic-relevant data (VD) are deleted in the vehicle when the place of origin of this data has been passed and the same data is offered as information from oncoming traffic, or when the data is sent to a Traffic control center (VLS) could be sold. Method according to one of Claims 1-5, characterized in that the information channel (IK) also acts as a coupling and decoupling channel for traffic-relevant data (VD) from and to traffic control centers (VLS) and / or for stationary traffic control (VA) or mobile traffic control ( VAm) acts. Method according to one of claims 1-6 , characterized in that vehicle-specific data relating to traffic approval and liability are stored in the vehicle. Method according to claims 1-7, characterized in that the traffic control can call up certain vehicle data or can enter into dialogue with the vehicle driver via the information channel (IK), using specially secured codes. Method according to one of claims 1-8, characterized in that for short-term and / or temporary traffic control (e.g. diversion, construction site etc.) information from portable lane markings (FMp) or portable information beacons (IBp) via the information channel (IK) can be won. Method according to one of claims 1-9, characterized in that traffic signs (VZ) are displayed to the vehicle driver in the vehicle for the duration of their validity by the same technical lane marking and reading method (FM). Method according to one of claims 1-10, characterized in that a route-related, optimized directional speed is assigned to the preceding traffic density, one or both directions of travel, determined from the data received from oncoming traffic, and is displayed to the vehicle driver. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 11, characterized in that traffic data (VD) can also be forwarded in a target-related manner. Device for carrying out the method according to one of claims 1-12, characterized in that each traffic route receives a clearly readable lane marking (FM) and traffic signs at least one equally readable marking (VZ) for identification, and that each vehicle with a communication device (KE ) from vehicle to vehicle (VLS, VA, IBp, VAm) and a reading device (LV) for lane markings (FM) and / or markings of traffic signs (VZ). Device according to claim 13 , characterized in that the data and information exchange of the communication devices (KE) takes place directly by means of a specially provided transceiver. Device according to one of claims 13 or 14, characterized in that the transceiver unit of the communication device (KE) consists of a low-power transmitter with omnidirectional radiation Device according to one of claims 13 - 15, characterized in that the vehicle participating in the traffic automatically connects to any other vehicle by means of the communication device (KE) via a uniform communication bridge, and that this information channel (IK) only for the time of the passage or Encounter is closed at a limited spatial distance Apparatus according to claim 16, characterized in that data is exchanged in both directions (full duplex) via the information channel (IK). Device according to claim 13, characterized in that the standardized lane markings (FM) and / or traffic sign markings (VZ) can be read electronically by the reading device (LV). Device according to one of claims 13 - 18, characterized in that an on-board computer prepares, sorts and weights the data for the own vehicle and makes preliminary decisions for disclosure via the IC, for example locally, regionally, nationwide, currently or in a time grid. Device according to one of claims 13 to 19, characterized in that data are also forwarded in a target-related manner over longer distances, and that the data record is addressed for this purpose and vehicles with corresponding destinations are transmitted. Device according to one of claims 13 and 18, characterized in that a markings (FM) are arranged at the beginning of each lane and are repeated cyclically and from the vehicle

read ", and that the position of the electronically readable markings (FM) is also the zero mark for a range finder that divides the route and thus positions each vehicle exactly. Device according to claim 21, characterized in that all lane markings (FM) leading in one direction differ in code from the opposite direction. Apparatus according to claims 21-22, characterized in that portable lane markings (FM) and / or portable information beacons (IBp) are used for short-term and / or temporary traffic control (e.g. construction sites). Device according to one of claims 13 - 23, characterized in that the read traffic sign markings (VZ) are displayed to the vehicle driver on a display, analogous to the appearance of the traffic symbol . Device according to one of claims 13 to 24, characterized in that a dialog terminal arranged in the vehicle, in connection with the information channel (IK), permits the exchange of signs and / or language for traffic control (VA, Vam) or traffic control center (VLS) . Device according to one of claims 13 - 25, characterized in that a directional speed indicator is present and the displayed measured value is coupled to the vehicle's own speedometer (tachometer) in such a way that an acoustic and / or optical warning signal informs the vehicle driver if the two speed values are the same, and this information may lead to traffic control measures.

Images