ITAR20130002A1 - AUTOMATIC DRIVING SYSTEM FOR MOTOR VEHICLES BASED ON READING OF BAR CODES, WITH POSSIBILITY OF GUIDE MANAGEMENT IN PARTIAL OR COMPLETE AUTONOMY AND WITH MANUAL OR ELECTRONIC UPDATE - Google Patents

Description

Automatic driving system for motor vehicles based on barcode reading, with the possibility of managing driving in partial or complete autonomy and with manual or electronic updating

Field of application of the invention

The field of application of the invention relates to automatic driving systems for motor vehicles (AGV, Automated Guided Vehicle) as well as computer assisted driving systems. The invention is intended for the automotive and transport industries.

Background

A safe and efficient transport system is an ever-present necessity and there have always been many efforts made by companies in the sector and by research bodies in this direction. In the last twenty years, particular attention has been focused on automatic guided systems. An automatic guided vehicle (AGV) is a vehicle that replaces the driver with some form of artificial intelligence capable of managing driving in partial or complete autonomy.

The first field of application for these systems that it is immediate to think about is that of public transport, being able to count on particular characteristics (predefined routes and stops at regular and periodic intervals) that partly simplify their implementation. The ultimate goal, however, is to extend automated driving to all vehicles on the road because it is only in this way that it is possible to maximize the resulting benefits and thus justify the implementation and management costs. Currently all over the world there are different types of automated transport systems under study or already in operation and, although they may be very different in form, almost all work on a similar principle: the roads are made, in various ways, recognizable , tracked so that vehicles, equipped with special devices, can detect such tracking and follow them.

As mentioned, different methods are used. We can cite some of them by way of example: a first method involves a camera, positioned in the lower part of the vehicle, capable of recognizing and following a white guideline drawn on the road. In other versions, the white line is replaced by a magnetic tape, by magnetic pegs driven into the road surface, by reflectors positioned along the path or by a series of RF circuits. At a higher level of complexity there are particularly elaborate solutions that use fixed stations along the path emitting guide signals up to systems that use local servers containing detailed geographical information on their area of expertise and able to communicate with on-board electronics. of the vehicle via radio network or internet and with the help of GPS navigators.

All these solutions, whatever their real effectiveness, have some negative aspects in common:

• they work best only if all vehicles on the road use the same system; • they require investments in infrastructures (in some cases it is necessary to specifically build roads or heavily intervene on existing ones) and in maintenance of the same which, as in the case of the last examples cited, can also be very significant;

• in some cases, such as those using RF circuits or magnets, it can weigh the impact they could have on people, magnetic cards and tools such as the many electronic devices that we usually surround ourselves with or that are supplied with the car;

Hence the importance of a reliable, economical and easy to install / maintain system which, exploited to its full potential, is capable of managing automated transport efficiently and safely but which is, at the same time, easily partially implemented. , exclusively for certain areas and / or periods, also providing only assisted driving services (i.e. compliance with the highway code). In this "reduced" version it constitutes an ideal solution in the critical change-over phase between traditional driving systems and automatic driving systems, where instead the methods mentioned above show all their difficulties in adapting.

Summary

The defects highlighted in the already existing systems are overcome by this method concerning the automatic driving of motor vehicles on the road. In this invention, the term "vehicle" refers to private cars, taxis, buses or public transport vehicles of various sizes, trucks and more generally to motor vehicles of different types and sizes. The system includes "cards" containing bar codes in which the information necessary for driving is encoded and a particular guard-rail equipped with special housings to house the aforementioned cards. The bar codes are detected by readers located on the side of the vehicle, decoded and transmitted to the on-board computer which generates the corresponding commands for driving.

The use of guard rails as a support for the tracer elements has several advantages:

• the perpendicular position with respect to the ground makes them less subject to climatic disturbances such as rain, snow, etc .;

• since they do not come into direct contact with vehicles or with the road surface, the cards housed in the guard rails do not run the risk of being damaged in any way by the vehicles themselves or by other external factors to which the road surfaces are more easily subject, making the simultaneous circulation of both AGVs and traditional cars is possible on the same roads.

• simplicity of installation (like normal guard rails);

The use of barcodes to trace the path and provide any other necessary or otherwise useful information can count on several positive aspects compared to the methods currently in use or under study:

• there is no need for the guidelines (in this case represented by the tiles with the bar code) to cover the route for its entire length. For regular driving, the presence of bar code at intervals of a few meters (or tens of meters) and in the points of greatest need (intersections, one-way streets, etc.) is sufficient;

• simplicity in system modifications: to change the information associated with a stretch of road, simply replace the bar codes with the updated ones with a manual operation of a few seconds. No need to calibrate or re-set the detection tools; no need to intervene on the infrastructures (reconstruction of the road surface, extraction and replacement of magnetic tapes and / or pegs and / or RF circuits "implanted" in the surface itself, etc ... all operations instead necessary for other technologies);

• thanks to laser technology (which currently makes it possible to decode a bar code of a few mm at a distance of several meters) it is possible to read the cards even in particularly delicate conditions, such as at night, in tunnels, in fog.

In any case, it is right to think, in a world that is increasingly "connected" and in need of information in real time, also of a different implementation of the invention in question: a version that includes not just simple cards constituting a passive system, but electronic cards remotely editable. If on the one hand this implies a greater commitment during the implementation phase, on the other hand, not only are none of the particular advantages illustrated above lost, but new ones are acquired, such as the possibility of reporting events and / or critical issues in time. real with the certainty, given by the automatic reading of the cards and their frequency on the road, to reach all vehicles, unlike what normal electronic scoreboards already in use can do which, indeed, can be a source of dangerous distractions.

In a version of the invention, the bar codes contain the information necessary for the on-board computer to drive the vehicle in complete autonomy, without the intervention of a human operator. In this case, the use of the laser system together with the reading of the code provides the distance of the vehicle from the limit of the carriageway (and, in fact, its position on the lane), the radius of curvature of the road, the geographical coordinates and various other information locals. In this version, the system works in conjunction with the adaptive cruise control system, a speed control system already widely used and capable of adjusting vehicle speed based on the position of the vehicles in front and more generally based on the flow of traffic.

In another version of the invention, which can be both an autonomous application and a completion of the previous one, it can constitute an alternative or complement to GPS: in fact, the geographical coordinates can be stored in the bar codes, allowing, with the '' use of pre-loaded maps, the exact identification of the position of the vehicle.

This possibility allows navigation even in areas where satellite reception presents problems, for example in tunnels, as well as providing useful information during the journey such as the presence of points of interest nearby (car parks, stations, airports, etc ...) . It should be highlighted the possibility of using this system also as a verbal or visual product placement technique (any display device is sufficient).

In another version of the invention, which constitutes a subset of the main version but can also be implemented autonomously, we have an assisted driving system: in this case the bar-codes contain information on the signs, thus allowing compliance with the code and providing a significant contribution to the cause of road safety. By way of example only, in the event that a stretch of road provides for a maximum speed not to be exceeded, a bar code with this value can be positioned at the beginning of the section in question: its reading and relative transmission to the on-board computer involves the speed limitation which will end when a barcode containing the provision of the end of the prohibition is detected. A similar procedure can be adopted in cases where there are "stop" signs, one-way stretches of road, access prohibitions and any situation that requires compliance with the highway code.

Brief description of the figures

Figure 1 shows a car on which the devices necessary for the implementation of the following system are mounted, namely two side barcode readers, an on-board computer, a maneuvering device controlled by the aforementioned computer.

Figure 2 illustrates the basic operation of the invention, during the normal running of a vehicle.

Figure 3 illustrates one of the possible ways of calculating the position of the vehicle within the carriageway.

Figure 4 illustrates one of the typical situations in a case of assisted driving, entering on a road with right of way.

Figure 5 shows a second typical situation in a case of assisted driving, a vehicle traveling on a stretch of road with a speed limit.

Description

Fig.1 shows how a vehicle that can exploit all the features of the present patent looks like. The vehicle 100 is equipped with two lateral barcode readers, one on the driver's side (101b) and one on the passenger's side (101a) connected to an on-board computer 102, equipped with relative monitor and audio output, which is able to collect the data read and interpret them. The computer 102 has the management of the maneuvering device 103 to modify, if necessary, the trajectory of the vehicle. According to a first version of the invention, it is used as an automatic driving system. Fig.2 illustrates this situation: a car 100 is traveling on a road 200. The road 200 is bordered along its entire length and on both sides by the guard rails 201. The housings are positioned at predetermined distances on the guard rails 201 202 which contain the cards with the bar codes 203. The car 100 is equipped with two laser readers 101a and 101b. When it passes in front of a barcode 203 (on any side of the road it is) it is detected by the readers and interpreted by the on-board computer 102. The position inside the driving lane can be determined in various ways, for example:

1. measuring the response times of the reading of the bar code 203;

2. measuring the intensity of the laser signal reflected by the card;

3. using a triangulation system based on reflectors positioned in the cards at a predetermined angle and exploiting the divergence angle of the reader laser beam.

Regarding this last modality, a possible implementation thereof is illustrated in Fig. 3 in which the same motor vehicle 100 is shown in two temporally consecutive positions. As mentioned, the reader beam has a certain divergence angle θ which gives it a conical shape (102a): in this way a part of it (the outermost in the direction of travel) is immediately reflected by the front section of the reflector 203 towards the reader himself. In the next position of the vehicle, the end of the beam is reflected by the rear section of the reflector.

The problem of determining the distance d is therefore brought back to simple trigonometric calculations taking into account that, in the figure, �T is the time interval between the two measurements, v is the average speed of the vehicle in the aforementioned time interval and θ2l ' angle between the two sections of the reflector.

Whatever the mode chosen for identifying the position of the vehicle, the on-board computer can issue, if necessary, the maneuvering commands to bring the car back into the right setting.

Referring again to Fig. 2, the radius of curvature of the road is instead contained in the bar code 203 (possibly, in the curves and sections of road preceding the curves themselves, the number of tiles present can be increased as needed): this parameter allows the on-board computer 102 to make the correct trajectory and speed corrections by acting on the maneuvering device 103. This feature is not only indispensable in the case of normal curves but also finds application in all those cases in which it is mandatory to enter a certain road section in a specific direction (roundabouts, junctions and motorway ramps, etc.). The presence of the barcodes on the guard rails 201 of both sides of the carriageway constitutes not only a further verification tool in the calculation of the vehicle position, but the reserve reference to be adopted in the event that the right side (or in any case the direction of travel) is impractical for any reason (work on the road, damaged or covered bar codes, presence of other vehicles that are overtaking, etc ...).

The distance between the various bar codes is not fixed but can be determined according to the needs and the type of traffic and / or road. For example, on highways, in the more open and less subject to congestion sections, a distance of 10 meters between them results in at least two readings per second at an average speed of 90 km / h, which become 3 in the case of speed. is 110Km / h. In slower routes, for example in urban sections or in any case more subject to traffic, a distance of 5 meters between the barcodes, at an average speed of 20 Km / h, still guarantees at least one reading per second, more than sufficient, given the low speeds, to ensure the correct road holding of the vehicle.

As mentioned, in this version the invention works combined with the adaptive cruise control system, a control system now standard on many car models, capable of adjusting the speed of the vehicle based on any obstacles on the road and a series of sensors relating to the on-board computer (parking sensors, which have also been in common use in motor vehicles for some time).

In another version, the invention constitutes an alternative to navigation via GPS. In this case, the exact geographical coordinates of the place where they are located can be stored in the barcodes 203, which will then be read and decoded by the computer 102. The position will be immediately identified on special preloaded maps and displayed on a display supplied with the computer. 102, in analogy with what happens with normal navigators.

The advantage in this case is the immediate availability for navigation bypassing the entire phase of satellite search and synchronization as well as having a continuous reference even in those situations in which signal reception is insufficient or even impeded, for example in long journeys in tunnels. .

In another version, the invention is used as an assisted driving tool, useful for encouraging compliance with the highway code and indicating to the motorist any driving errors to be corrected (eg a curve faced at too high a speed). The application areas in this case can be the most varied, not least as a tutoring tool for newly licensed. In the following we will illustrate some typical situations specifying in any case that these are not exhaustive examples but that the use of the invention in this context can be extended to all cases in which it is necessary to respect road signs. In Fig. 4, a car 100 travels along a road 200 approaching an intersection where there is a STOP sign 204. In the last stretch before it, there are one or more supports with relative barcodes 202a that communicate to the vehicle the presence of the signal and provide information to the on-board computer 102: this progressively slows down the vehicle until it stops completely when the reading of the code housed in the support 202b and positioned near the stop line arrives. Since this is not an automatic driving application in this case, it will then be up to the driver to decide when to resume driving.

Another example is illustrated in Fig. 5, in which a car 100 travels along a road 200 and enters an area with a speed limit indicated by a special sign 204a. This obligation continues until an end limitation signal 204b is reached. In this case, at the beginning of the limited speed section there is a housing with a bar code containing the relative instruction 202b: the on-board computer 102 reads and processes the code and ensures that the speed of the motor vehicle does not exceed the maximum allowed. At the end of the stretch with limitation there will be another barcode 202b containing the termination of the limit, so that the on-board electronics once again allow the driver complete autonomy.

Other examples can be the automatic switching on of the lights in the tunnel or in the road sections where they are mandatory even during the day and all the other cases that are not reported but that derive from a simple extension of the aforementioned method.

All these versions are compatible with both "passive" cards, the updating of which must be done manually by the staff and which as such find application in those situations in which the information has a sufficiently long life time (this is the typical case of road signs , which usually remains unchanged for long periods of time, of use as a GPS, but also for service information such as the presence, in the vicinity, of stations, airports or other points of interest), and with more suitable remotely upgradeable electronic cards for roads with greater traffic and therefore requiring constant monitoring, such as motorway sections.

Claims (1)

Claims 1) A system for the automatic transfer of data and information to the on-board computer of a moving vehicle. The system includes: a) cards of predefined dimensions on which useful information is encoded by means of a barcode. The cards are placed in special slots fixed, at predetermined intervals, on the guardrail on the right side or on both sides of the road. The coded information relates to the permanent characteristics of the stretch of road traveled (e.g. curvature, signs, geographical coordinates, etc.). In the winding stretches of road the tiles will be denser (eg a few meters away) while in the straights they may be more sparse (a few tens of meters); b) a first laser reader installed on the right side of the vehicle to read the codes on the right guardrail; c) a second laser reader installed on the left side of the vehicle to read the bar codes positioned on the left guard rail; 2) a system for determining the positioning of the vehicle in the direction perpendicular to the direction of travel (distance from the edge of the road). This system involves the use of retro-reflectors that reflect the laser beam emitted and subsequently detected by the devices defined in points 1.b and 1.c. The rear reflectors are positioned on the guard-rail of the right side of the road and possibly also on that of the left side and are mounted at a predefined and known angle with respect to the direction of travel to allow the appropriate triangulation necessary to define the distance of the vehicle from the rear reflector (positioned on the guard-rail). 3) A system for the automatic transfer of data and information to the on-board computer of a moving vehicle. The system includes: a) An electronic display of predefined dimensions on which useful information is encoded by means of a barcode. The displays are positioned in special fixed housings, at predetermined intervals (e.g. a few km), on the guard-rail on the right side or on both sides of the road and are remotely programmable via an appropriate communication system (via cable or wireless) . The coded information concerns the characteristics and variable information of the stretch of road traveled (e.g. accidents, queues, work in progress, dangerous weather conditions, but also points of interest such as petrol stations, airports, stations, hotels, etc.) ; b) a first laser reader installed on the right side of the vehicle to read the bar codes of the displays positioned on the right guardrail; c) a second laser reader installed on the left side of the vehicle to read the bar codes of the displays positioned on the left guard rail; 4) An automatic control system for driving motor vehicles on the road, where the driving of motor vehicles is performed exclusively by an on-board computer. The system includes, in whole or in part, the following elements: a) The system of point 1) for the acquisition of permanent road data encoded on the cards positioned on the right side or on both sides of the road; b) The system of point 2) for determining the distance of the vehicle from the guard-rail; c) The system of point 3) for the acquisition of coded variable information on the displays positioned on the right side or on both sides of the road; d) a steering mechanism (control law) which on the basis of input data detected by the systems of 1), 2) and 3) issues commands to the actuators (steering system, accelerator, braking system, etc.) to maintain the vehicle on the road; e) a processor installed on the vehicle for the management of the automatic driving control system; f) a speed control system such as the adaptive cruise control system; 5) A positioning and navigation system that provides the position of the vehicle in any weather, light, satellite reception conditions. The system includes, in whole or in part, the following elements: to. The system of point 1) for the acquisition of encoded input road data on the cards positioned on the right side or on both sides of the road; b. The system of point 2) for determining the distance of the vehicle from the guard-rail; c. a display that functions as an output device for the on-board computer; d. a processor installed on the vehicle capable of processing the input data detected and returning the current position of the vehicle on preloaded maps shown on the display; 6) A system for the assisted driving of motor vehicles on the road where the driver of the vehicle is assisted in driving and in compliance with the highway code. The system includes, in whole or in part, the following elements: to. The system of point 1) for the acquisition of permanent road data encoded on the cards positioned on the right side or on both sides of the road; b. The system of point 2) for determining the distance of the vehicle from the guard-rail c. The system of point 3) for the acquisition of coded variable information on the displays positioned on the right side or on both sides of the road; d. a processor installed on the vehicle capable of processing the input data detected and transferring information and any alarms to the driver through the appropriate man-machine interfaces; And. man-machine interface systems such as displays and audio messages;