FR2915947A1 - Load e.g. car, conveying system for urban highway infrastructure, has infrastructure loading and unloading vehicles on and/or from vehicle carrier, and automated control unit of carrier communicating with control unit of other carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

The system has an electrically driven vehicle carrier (30) comprising a plate for receiving vehicles (1) and a control unit within a road infrastructure. Infrastructure (400) loads the vehicles on the vehicle carrier and unloads the vehicles from a load carrier. An automated control unit of the vehicle carrier communicates with an automated control unit of other vehicle carrier. The infrastructure includes loading points (111, 211) situated on an access lane to the road infrastructure and unloading points (121, 221) situated on an outlet lane of the road infrastructure.

Description

The present invention relates to a system for conveying loads in a

  road infrastructure. The invention finds a particularly advantageous application in the field of optimizing the use of urban road infrastructure, particularly in terms of traffic and the environment. Urban highway infrastructure is defined as a separate urban infrastructure, each roadway generally comprising several parallel traffic lanes. The Parisian ring road is a typical example of urban motorway infrastructure. The chronic congestion of urban highways has become a major problem for many years in many cities around the world. This problem is increasing as the use of motor vehicles is spreading for the transportation of people and goods. Historically, the main solutions to this problem have been to develop the road network and the public transport offer. However, the development of urban motorways and public transport is increasingly expensive and very difficult in highly urbanized areas. This is why nuisances related to traffic problems and pollution are more relevant than ever. With regard to traffic, we can see that many factors are detrimental today to traffic flow and safety on urban highways, such as traffic density, especially during rush hours, incivilities, and breakdowns. etc. which generate accidents, congestion and bottlenecks. The environment is affected by two types of pollution: noise pollution and air pollution.

  The noise pollution generated by motorized motor vehicles damages millions of people living in close proximity to urban highways. It is also one of the main reasons for the opposition of these populations to the extension of urban motorway networks. As for air pollution, it is now accepted by the international scientific community that a substantial warming of the planet is underway, following the rise in the carbon dioxide (CO2) content of the atmosphere. This increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere results notably from the development of motor vehicles propelled by heat engines. Thus, the circulation of such motor vehicles feeds the phenomenon of global warming which has the consequence of causing a substantial rise in the level of the oceans and calling into question the adaptation of the human life, the fauna and the flora to their environment. The circulation of motor vehicles using heat engines releases many other polluting particles, including nitrogen oxides (NOx). Studies have shown that these polluting particles significantly degrade the respiratory health of people living in urban areas, especially for people at risk, such as infants, children and the elderly. Also, the technical problem to be solved by the object of the present invention is to propose a system that would make it possible to optimize the use of existing road infrastructures, in particular urban highway infrastructures, in order in particular to increase the fluidity of the road. traffic and road safety, even in the case of heavy rush-hour traffic, to reduce the noise pollution caused by vehicles and to eliminate the pollutant emissions produced by combustion engines. The solution to the technical problem posed is, according to the present invention, a load conveying system in a road infrastructure, remarkable in that said system comprises: a fleet of electrically powered load carriers, each carrier load comprising means for receiving at least one load and automated control means within said road infrastructure, - load boarding infrastructures on the load carriers, 5 - load landing infrastructures of the load carriers. By load, we mean of course the motor vehicles which we saw above how much their share is large in the environmental degradation in urban areas. However, the scope of the invention can not be limited to motor vehicles alone, but extends also to persons, such as pedestrians, and to other objects such as freight containers, to which the conveying process conforms to the invention brings many advantages in terms of public transport and freight transport. Thus, the invention is based on the adaptation of existing road infrastructures 15 in urban areas, in particular urban highways, by the systematic use of load carriers with automated control and electric motorization for conveying including motorcycles, cars , trucks, buses, coaches, etc. carrying people and goods. Automated driving of the load carriers allows a rational use of the existing urban motorway space, in particular by suppressing uncivil driving behavior and aiming to reduce to zero the accidents, breakdowns and disturbances they cause. This results in better traffic flow and increased road safety. The exclusive use of electric propulsion makes it possible to reduce noise pollution and to eliminate pollutant emissions from vehicles. The conveying system according to the invention thus makes it possible to optimize quantitatively and qualitatively the use of urban highways. This system requires relatively little investment. It is also economically viable because of the large price differential between electric energy and conventional fuels. According to the invention, said embarkation infrastructures include boarding points located on access roads to said road infrastructure and said landing infrastructures include landing points located on the exit lanes of said road infrastructure. In this way, a vehicle, for example, wishing to use an expressway is installed on a load carrier at a boarding point. The load carrier enters the highway via the access road on which the embarkation point is located and then leaves the highway via the planned exit route. The load carrier then unloads the vehicle it has conveyed to the landing point located on the exit lane. In order to ensure permanent availability of the load carriers, the invention provides that said loading and unloading points are connected by connecting tracks.

  Load carriers having unloaded a vehicle at a point of disembarkation can thus proceed immediately to a point of embarkation situated in the same direction, or in a contrary direction, following a connecting way. This ensures a permanent rotation of the load carriers. According to an advantageous embodiment, said embarkation and disembarkation infrastructures have two levels of circulation: a lower level for the circulation of the empty load carriers; a higher level for the circulation of the loads to be embarked or disembarked. load carriers.

  The upper level is a platform on which the vehicle to be transported is positioned. The load carrier at the lower level is located at the outlet of the platform. The vehicle can then move forward to set up on a tray of the load carrier. Conversely, when unloading, the load carrier stops at the edge of the platform of the upper level. The conveyed vehicle leaves the load carrier tray while advancing on the upper level. The unloaded load carrier then follows a link route to reach a boarding point, and take charge of a new vehicle, or go to one of the storage stations, charging electric energy, maintenance and repair of load carriers, located near said loading and unloading infrastructures This design of embarkation and disembarkation infrastructures has the advantage of being compatible with the existing traffic lanes crossing the expressway by borrowing a bridge spanning the highway. For this purpose, the upper level is also provided for vehicle traffic outside the said road infrastructure.

  With regard to the automated control of the load carriers, it should be emphasized that they are autonomous and have for this purpose a memory in which are stored all the information necessary to

  io their conduct, namely the precise map of the network of the road infrastructure on which they are traveling, the number of lanes available to traffic, possibly including the lanes forbidden or reserved for load carriers, the width of each lane, the curves, the elevation differences, which are particularly important to know in order to determine acceleration and

  15 braking, the position and layout of the access roads and the exit of the expressway, the position of embarkation and disembarkation points, storage stations, electrical energy recharge, maintenance and repair stations .

  To complete this information, the load carriers must know

  20 their location within the road infrastructure. For this, any means can be implemented, in particular an embodiment of the invention which provides that said automated control means are able to communicate with location beacons arranged along said road infrastructure, and access roads. , output and link.

  The location beacons are therefore on all the tracks likely to be used by the load carriers. These beacons transmit location signals to the load carriers, which are equipped with receivers able to detect these location signals and therefore to know at any time their geographical position within the infrastructure.

  30 road. Location beacons are regularly distributed along the road infrastructure, on both sides of the lanes used by the load carriers. In the case of a pavement with N lanes for example, N + 1 series of beacons are to be expected.

  However, the control of the load carriers can be influenced by other information than that which is stored in their memory.

  These are in particular the interactions between the load carriers themselves, which must, of course, take into account in their displacement their positions and their respective speeds, in order to ensure overall traffic load carriers , fluid and without risk of accidents. For this purpose, it is expected that the automated control means of a load carrier are able to communicate with the automated control means of another load carrier of the fleet.

  This communication possibility between load carrier is of great interest when a load carrier must fit into a traffic lane or leave it.

  Also, a centralized management unit of said fleet of load carriers, able to communicate with said automated load control means, is capable of modifying the control of the load carriers.

  This centralized management unit intervenes at a global level of the traffic of the load carriers. In particular, it always ensures that the supply and demand of load carriers are matched at each of the boarding points. It may also decide to limit the number of lanes

  20 for some reason, bad weather for example. In high winds, it may be preferable to space the traffic lanes by removing one or more. In addition, said centralized management unit can take into account the circulation of priority vehicles. The communication between the centralized management unit and the load carriers can be carried out directly by any known telecommunication means: radio frequency, mobile telephony, etc. However, according to a particular embodiment, said centralized management unit is able to communicate with said control means,

  30 automated load carriers via said location beacons. In this case, the location beacons are provided with a transceiver device, and an optical fiber network installed along or in the roadway.

  Finally, it is advantageous for said load carriers to comprise a communication interface with the conveyed load. This interface allows the driver of a motor vehicle to indicate its destination and also to pay the price of the care according to the usual payment methods: credit card, debit an account at the end of the month, etc.

  The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, given as non-limiting examples, will make it clear what the invention consists of and how it can be achieved.

  Figure 1 is a top view of a toload conveying system according to the invention.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of an infrastructure for carrying out the loading and unloading points of FIG. 1.

  The remainder of the description will refer to charges constituted by motor vehicles. Accordingly, the load carriers will be referred to herein as vehicle carriers. But, as already mentioned above, the invention can easily extend to any other type of load, pedestrians or cargo containers for example.

  In Figure 1 is shown a road infrastructure, an urban highway for example, comprising two roads 10, 20 meaning of

  20 traffic, each road having two parallel traffic lanes, respectively 11, 12 and 21, 22. These roadways and traffic lanes may be part of a pre-existing road network borrowed in particular by motor vehicles with a combustion engine, namely two-wheeled vehicles (motorcycles), light-duty vehicles (cars) and weights

  25 (trucks with or without trailers, vans, buses, coaches).

  To solve the difficulties discussed above with regard to the systematic use of such vehicles, particularly in urban areas, the invention proposes the system illustrated in FIG. 1 in which the vehicles 11 do not travel directly by themselves on the roadway, with all the

  30 nuisances that this represents, but are conveyed by vehicle carriers all along their route using the expressway. These vehicle carriers, generally referenced 30 in the figures, are vehicles with electric motorization and automated control which have the function of supporting at least one vehicle 1 at a boarding point, and to transport it to a point of landing, after having traveled a certain distance on the expressway between an exit lane and a downstream access road. The journey is determined according to the destination indicated by the driver of the vehicle.

  Figure 1 shows a complete arrangement of a road infrastructure incorporating a conveying system according to the invention.

  Typically, the urban highway of Figure 1 has access routes and exit. A vehicle traveling on the roadway 10 can

  I leave the highway by way of exit 110. Conversely, a vehicle can enter through the access path 120. Symmetrically, 220 and 210 access paths allow vehicles to reach or leave the roadway 20 of the highway.

  These same access and exit routes are usually connected to a

  15 lane 300 of circulation, independent of the urban highway, but serving it as a service. In the example of Figure 1, the service route 300 borrows a bridge 310 built above the highway.

  In order to allow the loading and unloading of the vehicles on the vehicle carriers 30, a particular infrastructure 400 is built on a perimeter substantially covering the connection areas of the access lanes 120, 220 and exit 110, 210 with 300 the serving channel, and the portion of said 300 serving channel located on the bridge 310. This infrastructure 400 is represented by parallel lines in Figure 1.

  Figure 2 shows very schematically how

  25 the boarding and disembarking infrastructure 400 is in side view.

  The 400 infrastructure is built on two levels:

  a lower level 410 corresponding to the level of the roadway before the installation of the infrastructure. Vehicle carriers 30 use this lower pavement level during their various empty journeys, in particular when they automatically move into the embarkation position (position (I) in FIG. 2). a higher level 420 corresponding to an elevated roadway where:

  * vehicles 1 which will board a vehicle carrier 30 to access the urban highway (position (I)), * vehicles 1 who have just disembarked from a vehicle carrier 30 and leave the expressway ( position (II) in Figure 2),

  * in the usual way, pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses or coaches that use the 300 service road.

  Thus, a vehicle 1 traveling on the track 300 and wishing to join

  the urban highway via the access roads 120, 220 leaves the track 300 when it is on the upper level 420 of the infrastructure 400 and reaches a point 121, 221 of embarkation where a carrier 30 l expects on the lower level 410 in position (I). After loading, the vehicle carrier 30 thus loaded then joins the roadway 10, 20 via an access lane 120, 220. Conversely, a loaded vehicle carrier 30 leaving the roadway 10, 20 takes an exit lane 110, 210 to reach a point of disembarkation 111, 211. The vehicle carrier 30 parks in position (II) on the lower level 410 the time for the vehicle 1 to reach the upper level 420 and thence the track 300 to continue its route . After

  When unloaded, the empty vehicle carrier goes, on the indication of a centralized management unit, to one of the embarkation points or a station 230 for storing, charging for electrical energy, maintenance or repair, following a link route 510, 520, 512, 521, 530 always remaining on the lower level 410 of the infrastructure 400. 25 To facilitate the match between the supply and demand vehicle carrier at each point d boarding, it is appropriate: - to locate the boarding points 111, 211, landing 121, 221 and the stations 230 for storing, recharging the batteries, maintenance and repair near each other, 30 - to allow easy movement of the carrier 30 between the boarding points 111, 211, landing 121, 221 and 230 stations including booking an entire floor of some intersections near the highway to the traffic door -vehicle. This involves the construction of a raised floor reserved for traditional traffic including pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses or coaches, as shown in Figure 1.

  The simultaneous use of vehicle carriers for motorcycles, cars and vans on the one hand, and vehicle carriers for trucks, buses or coaches on the other hand, may lead to differentiate the embarkation docks or landing , depending on the type of vehicle carrier. It will be observed that the system represented in FIG. 1 implements a unique infrastructure 400 for the loading and unloading of vehicles on the vehicle carriers. It should be noted, however, that it is quite possible to consider, more generally, an infrastructure broken down into infrastructures dedicated to the loading or unloading of vehicles, located at the loading or unloading points.

  As shown more particularly in FIG. 2, the vehicle carriers 30 comprise the following elements:

  a chassis carrying a plate 31 for receiving and transporting at least one other vehicle 1 of the type mentioned above. In this respect, the motorcycles, light vehicles and trucks being of different sizes, it can be expected that the vehicle carrier fleet includes vehicle carriers also of different sizes, for example a standard vehicle carrier size for vehicles. motorcycles, cars and small vans, a larger size for trucks, and possibly a third size for buses and coaches.

  Preferably, the vehicle carriers have a width as narrow as possible to reduce that of the lanes they travel. Similarly, their height is limited to allow the trucks they transport to pass safely under the bridges spanning the roads 10, 20 of the road infrastructure, such as the bridge 310 shown in Figure 1. Finally, the vehicle carriers have a standardized height to facilitate the loading and unloading of vehicles.

  It - wheels 32 driven by an electric motor system including a source of rechargeable electric energy, such as batteries or a fuel cell. - A wheel steering control system 32. - Safety equipment including including a braking system and bumpers 33. - 34 telecommunications means with other entities. - An interface (not shown) for easy communication with the driver of the transported vehicle. This interface may especially take the form of a touch screen rising to the height of the driver or interact directly with the vehicle computer. automated and autonomous control means interacting on said motorization, steering and braking control systems, via the telecommunication means with the other vehicle carriers, a network of positioning beacons 50 located along the urban expressway lanes 11, 12, 21 and 22, and also along the access, exit and linkage lanes, * a centralized traffic management unit which has an overall vision of 20 l fleet of vehicle carriers and can therefore supervise them accordingly. Location tags 50 allow each vehicle carrier 30 to be perfectly aware of its position within the road infrastructure in which it operates. These tags 50 are for example wireless transmitters or WiFi, or RFID diodes (Radio Frequency IDentification). Whatever the technology used, the beacons 50 emit an identification signal which is then detected by the telecommunication means 34 of the vehicle carriers. The identifier extracted from the signal gives the vehicle carrier a precise indication of its geographical position. This same 3o type of indication could be obtained by other means such as satellite systems, including GPS (Global Positioning System). This location information associated with the data stored in a memory, including the layout of the urban highway completely determines the manner in which the vehicle carrier is to be driven along its route.

  However, in addition to the data relating to the actual route, the control of the vehicle carriers must include other information from the other vehicle carriers located nearby, for example to adjust their speed to that of their neighbors, to fit in a lane or change it, etc. This is why the automated control means of the vehicle carriers can communicate with each other via the telecommunication means 34.

  Similarly, the vehicle carriers receive control instructions from the centralized traffic management unit either directly or via tags 50 which then serve as relays. In the latter case, the communication between the centralized management unit and the beacons 50 can be achieved by a network of optical fibers embedded in the roadway.

  One of the main functions of this management unit is to assist vehicle carriers in optimizing their journeys. In particular, based on historical data, it anticipates the demand for vehicle carriers at the various loading points and dynamically manages the vehicle carrier offer by pre-positioning sufficient vehicle carriers at the boarding points. and by managing charging times for electric batteries, maintenance and repair of vehicle carriers. Likewise, the centralized management unit must inform the vehicle carriers that an access or exit lane is closed for any reason. The vehicle carriers concerned then recalculate their route accordingly.

  The centralized management unit can also interact with the vehicle carrier fleet in particular circumstances. The possibility of modifying the number of traffic lanes when weather conditions are bad has already been mentioned. We can add the management function of emergency priority vehicles (ambulances, emergency vehicles, police vehicles, etc.) to ensure that these vehicles have the best possible traffic conditions. These priority vehicles are still conveyed by vehicle carriers, but benefit from a particular treatment which consists, for example, in temporarily reserving a traffic lane for them. It is then the role of the centralized management unit to inform vehicle carriers to leave and leave this lane free. Conversely, the centralized management unit can receive some information from the vehicle carriers, such as the battery charge level for example, which allows the centralized management unit to redirect the carrier to a station 230 charging when the charge level has become too low. The same is true for the maintenance or repair of vehicle carriers. The conveying system according to the invention may also include a system for calculating the price to be paid for the transport of the vehicle. The price to be paid depends in particular on the energy used for the transport, the time, the duration of the route, the zones borrowed, the date and time of the journey. The payment can be made remotely by an automated toll solution during the passage to the point of landing, similar to the electronic tolling currently existing on the motorway networks. The payment can also be made via the communication interface with the system during the journey, if the driver has a credit card for example. Finally, physical tolls may be installed along the route away from the traffic lanes for cash payments. The rules to be applied for the proper operation of the conveying system according to the invention are as follows. Access to pavements 10, 20 of the expressway must be reserved for vehicle carriers 30 and, where appropriate, other vehicles equipped with telecommunication means and an automated control function 25 compatible with the doors. vehicle 30 and the centralized traffic management unit. At each point of loading, the drivers must immobilize their vehicle on a vehicle carrier 30. As soon as the vehicle carrier perceives, by means of automatic wheel immobilization detection means, that the wheels of the conveyed vehicle are effectively immobilized. , it starts and joins the urban highway. It is only in a second time that the driver of the transported vehicle indicates to the system, via the communication interface, the destination he wishes to reach.

  Based on the destination chosen by the driver of the vehicle, it is the automated control system of the vehicle carrier 30 that develops and chooses the route to be taken.

  A vehicle carrier carries only one vehicle at a time. The only possible exception may be motorcycles provided they travel simultaneously to the same destination.

  The centralized traffic management unit can communicate to the driver, via the communication interface, the estimated duration of the journey and the estimated time of arrival. In case of congestion on a part of the route, it can offer other routes or destinations to the driver.

  The system can, if necessary, communicate to the driver, via the communication interface, the estimated price of the journey made on the carrier and the actual price.

  During the journey, once the destination has been specified, the driver does not need to intervene in the steering of the vehicle. He can therefore engage in activities generally discouraged while driving, including reading a newspaper or using a phone.

  The system can give the driver of the vehicle the possibility of modifying, via the communication interface, his final destination during the journey.

  On arrival at the point of disembarkation, the driver of the transported vehicle must restart his engine and when the vehicle carrier stops, the vehicle must leave the vehicle carrier by advancing on the upper level 420

  25 of the infrastructure 400. To ensure greater safety for the occupants of the vehicles transported, the vehicle carriers can be equipped in particular with the following elements: - a system for keeping the doors of the transported vehicle in the closed position, - an automatic system attachment of the transported vehicle (including motorcycle, car or truck) to secure it to the vehicle carrier, - a computer board managing the good condition, the proper maintenance of the vehicle carrier and its regular refills in conjunction with the unit centralized management of traffic. It is possible to envisage that access to certain boarding points be reserved either for motorcycles, cars and small vans, or for trucks and, conversely, that access to certain points of disembarkation be reserved for vehicle carriers. carrying motorcycles, cars and small vans on the one hand, or vehicle carriers carrying trucks on the other. Similarly on the roadway, the use of certain lanes can be reserved or prohibited to certain types of vehicle carriers. Thus, for example, logging vehicle carriers carrying trucks, therefore wider, in the right lane can increase the number of traffic lanes left for less wide vehicle carriers including motorcycles and cars, allowing thus to increase the circulation capacity of the existing 15 motorway infrastructures.

Claims (12)

  A system for conveying loads in a road infrastructure, characterized in that said system comprises: a fleet of load carriers (30) with electric drive, each load carrier comprising means (31) for receiving at least one load (1) and automated control means within said road infrastructure, io - vehicle loading infrastructure (400) (1) on vehicle carriers (30), - load landing infrastructure (400) (1) load carriers (30).   2. System according to claim 1, wherein the automated control means 15 of a load carrier are able to communicate with the automated control means of another load carrier of the fleet.   3. System according to one of claims 1 or 2, wherein said infrastructure (400) boarding embarkation points (121, 221) located on channels (120, 220) for access to said infrastructure 20 road and said landing infrastructures (400) comprise landing points (111, 211) located on exit lanes (110, 210) of said road infrastructure.   The system of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said boarding (121, 221) and landing (111, 211) points are connected by channels (510, 520, 512, 521) of link.   5. System according to any one of claims 4, comprising stations (230) for storing, recharging electrical energy, maintenance and repair of load carriers (30), located near said infrastructures (400). boarding and disembarking 30   6. System according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said infrastructure (400) loading and unloading have two levels of traffic: - a lower level (410) for the circulation of load carriers (30) empty, - a higher level (420) for the circulation of loads to be loaded or unloaded load carriers (30).   7. System according to claim 6, wherein the upper level (420) is also arranged for the flow of charge out of said road infrastructure.   8. System according to any one of claims 3 to 7, wherein said automated control means are able to communicate with beacons (50) located along said road infrastructure, and access routes, exit and link.   9. System according to any one of claims 1 to 8, comprising a centralized management unit of said load carrier fleet (30) capable of communicating with said automated drive of the load carrier.   10. System according to claim 9, wherein said centralized management unit is able to communicate with said means for automatically controlling the load carriers (30) via said location beacons (50).   11. System according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein said load carriers (30) comprise a communication interface with the conveyed load.   12. System according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein said load carriers (30) comprise means for automatically detecting immobilization of the wheels of the conveyed vehicle.