JP2001052293A - Information guidance system for vehicle travel time - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To give a guidance of the latest road information, sightseeing information on each place, etc., to passengers of a traveling vehicle only by obtaining position information from a roadside transmitting means. SOLUTION: Position discrimination information showing the installation position of a roadside transmitting means is included in information transmitted from a road-R side transmitting means (lane marker) 30, a vehicle-V side receiving means is provided with an information recording medium 28 where specific information to be reported to the passengers of the vehicle V is previously written for each readout key signal by using the position identification information as the readout key signals, and only the position information from the roadside transmitting means 30 is obtained to give a guidance of the latest road information and sightseeing information on each place to the passengers of the traveling vehicle V.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information guidance system for driving a vehicle. More specifically, the present invention relates to information (for example, sightseeing information and travel information) for a running vehicle (automobile). The present invention relates to an information guidance system at the time of running of a vehicle for guiding road information and the like to a vehicle occupant.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various systems for giving various information to a traveling vehicle from the road side have been proposed, one of which is an LC resonance circuit on the road side and an LC mounted on the vehicle side.
There is a vehicle position recognition system using an electromagnetic induction coupling method with a resonance antenna (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-124793).

[0003] The LC resonance circuit on the road side is a "lane marker".
For example, they are buried at predetermined intervals in the center of a lane along the traveling direction of the vehicle. On the other hand, on the vehicle side, for example, LC resonance antennas are provided at two or more places on the left and right of the lower body near the headlight.

[0004] An oscillator is connected to the vehicle-side LC resonance antenna, and an electromagnetic wave is generated between the oscillator and the road-side lane marker by an emitted radio wave. The strength of electromagnetic induction coupling between each vehicle-side LC resonance antenna and the road-side lane marker is inversely proportional to their respective distances.

Therefore, according to this vehicle position recognition system, by comparing the voltage appearing at each vehicle-side LC resonance antenna by electromagnetic induction coupling with the road-side lane marker, the vehicle is shifted to the road-side lane marker. Can be recognized.

[0006]

According to this vehicle position recognition apparatus, a CPU and a modulating means controlled by the CPU are provided on the lane marker side to modulate a carrier wave transmitted from the vehicle side and to modulate the carrier wave. By demodulating the waves on the vehicle side, information specific to the point where the lane marker is installed, such as position information (kilopost) from the base point and road conditions (curve, uphill, downhill, speed limit, etc.) are transmitted to the vehicle. Can be given.

[0007] This kind of unique information can be written into the memory of the CPU when the lane marker is installed, but other arbitrary information, such as road construction information and sightseeing (roadside) information that changes every season, etc. Each time
Not only is it necessary to write in the memory of the CPU, but also the amount of sightseeing information and the like is large, so it is difficult to actually transmit the information from the lane marker to the traveling vehicle.

A car navigation system using a CD-ROM or the like as a storage medium includes not only road guidance but also
There are also proposals that provide tourist information for each region or information on local specialties, but in any case, it is fixed information that has been written in advance, and for example, there was no information that could be rewritten every season .

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to obtain the latest road information and sightseeing spots in various places only by obtaining position information from roadside transmitting means. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information guidance system at the time of running of a vehicle, which can guide information and the like to an occupant of a running vehicle.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a roadside transmitting means which is installed at a predetermined interval on a roadside and which transmits predetermined information wirelessly, and is mounted on a traveling vehicle (automobile) side, A vehicle-side receiving means for receiving wireless information from the road-side transmitting means, wherein the vehicle-side information guidance system for providing predetermined information from the road-side transmitting means to a running vehicle, In the information transmitted from the transmitting means, include the position identification information indicating the installation position of the roadside transmitting means, the vehicle-side receiving means,
Means for detecting the position identification information, an information storage medium in which specific information to be transmitted to an occupant of the vehicle is written in advance for each of the read key signals using the position identification information as a read key signal, and a readout from the information storage medium. And a notifying unit for notifying the issued specific information, and the traveling vehicle detects the position identification information from the roadside transmission unit by the detection unit, and reads the position identification information as a read key signal. The specific information corresponding to the read key signal is read from the information storage medium, and the specific information is notified to the occupant of the traveling vehicle by the notifying means.

In the present invention, the information storage medium is preferably a CD-ROM or a flash memory which can be written to at any time. In these information storage media, sightseeing information and road information of the area are written using the position identification information transmitted from the roadside transmission means as a read key.

The driver obtains an information storage medium edited for, for example, an expressway to be driven, and sets it in a reading device such as a CD drive or a card reader. During traveling, the detecting means detects the position identification information from the roadside transmitting means, and if there is information corresponding to the position identification information in the information storage medium, the information is read out and the speaker or the liquid crystal display panel is read out. For example, a notification such as "Road construction is underway from 〇 / 〇 to x / month / day" or "This area is an old battlefield of the Sengoku period" is notified by such notification means.

Particularly, in the case of a flash memory, various kinds of information can be easily written by a memory writer or the like. If the memory writer is installed in a service area such as a highway, there is no need to purchase a flash memory edited for each road each time, and one flash memory can be rewritten and used as many times as necessary. be able to.

In the present invention, the roadside transmitting means has an LC resonance circuit comprising a coil and a capacitor, and the vehicle receiving means also comprises a coil and a capacitor.
It is preferable to include an LC resonance antenna for transmitting and receiving predetermined data to and from the resonance circuit by electromagnetic induction coupling,
According to this, the roadside transmitting means can be used almost maintenance-free.

In the case of this electromagnetic induction coupling, in order to transmit a unique position identification signal from the roadside transmitting means, the L
Modulating means may be provided in the C resonance circuit to apply modulation (for example, amplitude modulation) to the carrier wave from the vehicle according to the position identification signal, and the demodulating means may be provided on the vehicle. In addition,
The modulating means does not need to be a complicated modulator, and is connected in series or parallel to the LC resonance circuit.
PU) at a predetermined cycle.

[0016]

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to examples. In FIG. 1, the upper side of the dashed line is the vehicle V side,
The lower side is the road R side, and on the road R side, a number of lane markers 30 are installed at predetermined intervals along the traveling direction of the vehicle.

First, the configuration of the vehicle V will be described. On the vehicle V side, an LC resonance antenna 10 and its transmission / reception means 20 are provided. The LC resonance antenna 10 includes a resonance circuit including a coil L and a capacitor C. Although only one is shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of the resonance circuits are actually mounted on the vehicle V at predetermined intervals.

The transmitting / receiving means 20 includes the LC resonance antenna 10
An oscillation circuit 21 that outputs a carrier wave of a predetermined frequency via a drive amplifier 22, a voltage detection resistor 23 that converts a current flowing through the LC resonance antenna 10 into a voltage and detects the voltage, and detects a carrier signal from the detected voltage signal by removing the carrier wave. A demodulation circuit 24 for demodulating the voltage signal.

The transmitting / receiving means 20 includes a CP as a control means.
U (Central Processing Uni)
t) 25 is provided. According to this embodiment, the frequency divider 26 is connected to the output stage of the oscillation circuit 21. Also,
The output of the demodulation circuit 24 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 27 and input to the CPU 25.

Vehicle data as identification data set for each vehicle is written in the storage area of the CPU 25, and the vehicle data is given from the CPU 25 to the frequency divider 26. As a result, the frequency division ratio of the frequency divider 26 is changed to a predetermined value, that is, the carrier is frequency-modulated, and the frequency divider 2
6, the vehicle data is included in the carrier, but the configuration at this point is optional in the present invention.

On the vehicle V side, an information storage medium 28 whose reading is controlled by the CPU 25, and a speaker 2 for notifying information read from the information storage medium 28.
9 are provided. Reference numeral 29a denotes a speaker drive circuit.

In this embodiment, a flash memory is used as the information storage medium 28, but it may be a CD-ROM. Further, in this embodiment, the speaker 29 is used as the notification means, but a liquid crystal display panel may be used. When a car navigation system is mounted on the vehicle V, the liquid crystal display panel can be used.

Next, the lane marker 30 installed on the road R will be described. Although only one lane marker 30 is shown in FIG. 1, the other lane markers may have the same configuration.

The lane marker 30 has an LC resonance circuit 31 composed of a coil L and a capacitor C. This L
The resonance frequency of the C resonance circuit 31 is
The resonance frequency is set to be equal to zero. In this embodiment, an on / off switch 32 as a modulating means is connected in parallel to the capacitor C of the LC resonance circuit 31.

According to this embodiment, the capacitor 34 for power supply smoothing is connected to the LC resonance circuit 31 via the rectifier circuit 33, and the capacitor 34 is controlled to operate using the capacitor 34 as a power supply. A CPU 35 as means and a weak radio device 36 are connected in parallel. The weak radio device 36 is for transmitting data to a receiving facility (not shown) for collecting vehicle passage data, for example.

Although a half-wave rectifier diode is shown as the rectifier circuit 33 in FIG. 1, a full-wave voltage doubler rectifier circuit may be used. The generated power is charged in the capacitor 34.

In the storage area of the CPU 35, in addition to the unique position identification data (kilometer post data) assigned to each lane marker 30, road information data of the place where the lane marker 30 is installed, for example, information on a curve or a straight road. , An up or down slope, the number of lanes, an inclination angle of an inclined road surface, and the like.

Each of the lane markers 30 is set on the road R after these data are written in the storage area of the CPU 35 in advance.
0 can be written in the storage area of the CPU 35 even after the 0 is installed on the road R, for example, by a maintenance vehicle (not shown) having the same LC resonance antenna 10 and transmission / reception means 20 as described above. Have been.

For this reason, the LC resonance circuit 31 and the CPU 35
A data signal line 37 including a DC blocking capacitor 371 is wired between the rectifier circuit 33 and the data signal line 37. The CPU 35 turns on and off the switch 32 with a control clock signal having a predetermined frequency obtained by dividing the frequency of its own clock signal. Thus, the carrier transmitted from the vehicle V is modulated.

That is, when the switch 32 is off, the road side LC resonance circuit 31 operates as a load for the vehicle V side LC resonance antenna 10, so that a large amount of resonance current flows through the LC resonance antenna 10. On the other hand, when the switch 32 is turned on, the tuning with the LC resonance antenna 10 is lost, so that the current flowing through the LC resonance antenna 10 decreases.

Next, transmission and reception between the vehicle V and the lane marker 30 will be described. The flash memory 28 as an information storage medium provided on the side of the vehicle V reads the position identification data of each lane marker 30 and reads the data. It is assumed that predetermined guidance information such as road information and sightseeing information is written.

By driving the oscillation circuit 21 of the transmission / reception means 20, the carrier wave including the vehicle data modulated by the frequency divider 26 is transmitted from the LC resonance antenna 10. When the vehicle V approaches the LC resonance circuit 31 of the lane marker 30,
Electromagnetic induction coupling M occurs between the LC resonance antenna 10.

Thus, the electric power generated in the LC resonance circuit 31 is charged into the capacitor 34 via the rectifier circuit 33,
Using this as a power source, the CPU 35 and the weak radio 36 enter an operating state. That is, the CPU 32 controls the switch 32
Are turned on and off at a predetermined cycle, and AM modulation is applied to the carrier from the LC resonance antenna 10. As a result, a modulated wave appears on the LC resonance antenna 10.

This modulated wave is detected by the demodulation circuit 24, and the detection signal is transmitted through the A / D converter 27 to the vehicle CPU 2
5 is input. The vehicle-side CPU 25 compares this detection signal with a detection signal from another LC resonance antenna (not shown), and recognizes the current position of the vehicle V based on the installation position of the lane marker 30.

The vehicle-side CPU 25 searches the flash memory 28 using the position identification data of the lane marker 30 included in the modulated wave as a read key, and if there is the corresponding position identification data, it corresponds to the position identification data. The guidance information is read out and reported as a voice by the speaker 29.

As an example, if the road marker is under construction at the end of the lane marker 30 through which the vehicle V passes, for example, "The road construction is in the vicinity of about $ km, from $ / month to x / month / day. . " In addition, in the case of a famous spot, a notice such as "This area is an ancient battlefield in Sekigahara where Tokugawa and Toyotomi were fighting during the Sengoku period" is announced. In addition, seasonal specialties and traditions can also be provided as appropriate.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to guide the occupant of the vehicle V always new road information and elaborate sightseeing information (for example, information on the route along the current month). Moreover, such information can be easily obtained wherever one goes.

Although a CD-ROM can be used as an information storage medium, in the case of a flash memory in particular, various kinds of information can be easily written by a memory writer or the like. By installing a memory writer, you do not need to purchase flash memory edited for each road each time.
The information can be rewritten and used as many times as the number of flash memories.

On the other hand, on the lane marker 30 side, the vehicle data received by the LC resonance circuit 31 is input to the road side CPU 35 via the data signal line 37. Then, in this embodiment, the CPU 35 reads the road information data from the storage area, adds the road information data to the vehicle data, and provides the vehicle data to the weak radio device 36.

Thus, the antenna 3 of the weak radio 36
The vehicle data and the road information data are transmitted from 61 to a not-shown receiving facility for collecting vehicle passage data, for example. In addition, an existing antenna or the like, which is installed at the side of a road or the like and is connected to a road management center wirelessly or by wire, can be used as the receiving facility.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, in the above embodiment, the CPU 35 and the on / off switch 32 as a modulating means are provided for each lane marker 30. However, only the specific lane markers installed at places where road information guidance and sightseeing guidance are required have their respective functions. May be provided. For example, the specific lane marker may be connected to a road management station (control station) via a cable so that position identification data and road information can be set.

In the above embodiment, the LC resonance antenna 10 on the vehicle V side and the LC resonance circuit 31 on the lane marker 30 side are used.
Is transmitted and received between the vehicle V and the lane marker 30 by electromagnetic induction coupling with the vehicle, but the present invention does not necessarily require such two-way communication.

That is, in the present invention, when reading predetermined guidance information from the information storage medium, the position information from the road R side is used as a read key.
It is only necessary that the position information is obtained wirelessly from the road R side on the vehicle V side, and the means for obtaining the position information is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the lane marker installed on the road R side may be a loop coil connected to an AC oscillation source,
It is sufficient that the installation position of the lane marker can be identified by the oscillation frequency.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The information transmitted from each roadside transmission means (lane marker) includes position identification information indicating the installation position of the roadside transmission means, and the vehicle side reception means reads the position identification information as a key signal, By providing an information storage medium in which specific information to be conveyed to the occupant of the vehicle is written in advance for each of the read key signals, only the position information is obtained from the roadside transmitting means, so that the latest road information, sightseeing information of various places, etc. And a new information guidance system at the time of running the vehicle, which can guide the vehicle to the occupant of the running vehicle.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an information guidance system when a vehicle is running according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle-side LC resonance antenna 20 Transmission / reception means 21 Oscillation circuit 23 Voltage detection resistor 24 Demodulation circuit 25 CPU 26 Frequency divider 28 Information storage medium (CD-ROM or flash memory) 29 Speaker (notification means) 30 Lane marker 31 Road-side LC resonance Circuit 32 ON / OFF switch (modulation means) 35 CPU

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Roadside transmitting means which are installed at predetermined intervals on a roadside, each of which transmits predetermined information wirelessly, and which is mounted on a traveling vehicle (automobile) side, and which receives radio information from the roadside transmitting means. A vehicle-side receiving means for receiving the information, the vehicle-side information guidance system providing predetermined information from the road-side transmitting means to the traveling vehicle, wherein the information transmitted from the road-side transmitting means includes: The vehicle-side receiving means includes a means for detecting the position-identifying information, and the position-identifying information as a read key signal. An information storage medium in which specific information to be transmitted to an occupant of the vehicle is written in advance, and a notifying means for notifying the specific information read from the information storage medium. On the vehicle side, the position identification information from the roadside transmission means is detected by the detection means, and the position identification information is read as a read key signal from the information storage medium to read specific information corresponding to the read key signal. An information guidance system for driving a vehicle, wherein the notification means notifies the occupant of the traveling vehicle of the specific information. 2. The information according to claim 1, wherein the specific information written in advance in the information storage medium is sightseeing information and / or road information related to a place where the roadside transmission unit is installed. Information guidance system for running a vehicle. 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the information storage medium is a writable CD-ROM or a flash memory. 4. The roadside transmission means has an LC resonance circuit comprising a coil and a capacitor, and the vehicle side reception means also comprises a coil and a capacitor, and is provided between the LC resonance circuit and the LC resonance circuit by electromagnetic induction coupling. 2. The information guide system according to claim 1, further comprising an LC resonance antenna for transmitting and receiving the data.