JP2001143188A - Pulse laser type traveling vehicle detector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pulse laser type traveling vehicle detector which can highly accurately and separately detect traveling data such as position and speeds of vehicles and vehicle data such as body lengths and body widths of the vehicles not only for ordinary traveling vehicles but also for vehicles traveling side by side or vehicles in a convoy condition where the vehicle-to-vehicle distances are short. SOLUTION: This detector is provided with a plurality of laser sensor/ reflecting mirror parts consisting of sensors including pulse laser range finders which are set at the optical one of both sides of a road and processing parts and a plurality of reflecting mirrors which are set at the road side to reflect pulse laser beams irradiated from pulse laser range finder at a prescribed reflecting angle and also provided with an integrated processing part which processes the data sent from the laser sensors. In such a constitution, the pulse laser beams are reflected in a looped back manner on the road by the reflecting mirrors to detect the traveling vehicles.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pulse laser type traveling vehicle detecting device for detecting a passing time and a position of a vehicle traveling on a road.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, detection and measurement of a traveling vehicle has only been performed by counting the number of passing vehicles with a visible camera. On the other hand, AHS (Advance) aims to provide an optimal driving environment including automatic driving, eliminating accidents and congestion.
d crisis-assist Highway Sys
tem), it is essential to accurately grasp the traveling conditions (position, speed, traveling direction, headway, etc.) of each vehicle traveling on the road surface.

[0003] At present, a traveling vehicle detection device is being developed using an image sensor for visible light, infrared light, or the like. However, in the measurement using the image sensor, the position measurement accuracy of the vehicle is low and the overlap is low. There are drawbacks such as difficulty in separating and identifying vehicles and a very heavy load for signal processing.

Further, the conventional detection method using a laser requires a two-dimensional scanning mechanism of a laser beam, so that it takes a long time for measurement and is not suitable for detecting a vehicle running at high speed.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a pulse laser type traveling vehicle detection device, traveling specifications such as the position and speed of a group of parallel traveling vehicles and a group of parallel traveling vehicles having a small inter-vehicle distance, as well as a traveling vehicle, and a vehicle length. It is a problem that vehicle specifications such as vehicle width and the like can be separated and detected with high accuracy.

[0006]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pulse laser range finder installed on a road side of a road and processing of passing vehicle information relating to the passage of a vehicle traveling on the road. A laser processor including a data processing unit, including a plurality of reflection mirrors and the laser sensor installed on the roadside so as to reflect a pulse laser beam emitted from the pulse laser rangefinder at a predetermined reflection angle. Comprising a laser sensor / reflection mirror unit and an integrated processing unit for processing passing vehicle information from the laser sensor, and using the plurality of reflection mirrors to transmit the pulsed laser beam on the road surface of the road. The traveling vehicle is detected by being reflected back.

Further, the invention according to claim 2 includes a first pulse laser rangefinder for irradiating a pulse laser beam and a first data processing unit for processing passing vehicle information relating to the passage of a vehicle traveling on a road. A first laser sensor installed on the roadside of the road, and a pulsed laser beam emitted by the first pulsed laser rangefinder installed on the roadside opposite to the roadside on which the first laser sensor is installed. A first reflection mirror that reflects at a first predetermined reflection angle with respect to the transverse direction, and a pulsed laser beam that is installed on a road side where the first laser sensor is installed and reflected by the first reflection mirror. A second reflection mirror that reflects at a second predetermined reflection angle with respect to the transverse direction of the road, and an integrated processing unit that processes passing vehicle information from the first laser sensor; That the when the vehicle is not on the road surface, by reflecting the pulsed laser beam is folded twice on the road surface, to detect the vehicle traveling.

Further, the invention of claim 3 includes a plurality of the laser sensor / reflection mirror units.

Further, a fourth aspect of the present invention is a second pulse laser range finder including a second pulse laser range finder and a second data processing unit in the vicinity of the first pulse laser range finder such as up, down, left and right. The second pulse laser rangefinder is also irradiated with a pulse laser beam, and the first pulse laser
And the second reflection mirror.

Further, according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, N (N is a positive integer) reflecting mirrors including the first reflecting mirror and the second reflecting mirror are installed alternately on the road side. The pulse laser beam is reflected N times.

Further, according to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a third laser sensor including a third pulse laser distance meter and a third data processor on a road side opposite to the side on which the first laser sensor is installed. And a third reflecting mirror installed on the roadside where the first laser sensor is installed and a fourth reflecting mirror installed on the roadside where the third laser sensor is installed. The pulse laser beam emitted from the pulse laser range finder is reflected.

Further, in the invention according to claim 7, the first predetermined reflection angle is equal to the second predetermined reflection angle.

Further, in the invention according to claim 8, the pulse laser beam irradiated by the first pulse laser rangefinder and the pulse laser beam reflected by the second reflection mirror are parallel to a direction transverse to the road. .

Further, according to the invention of claim 9, the pulse laser beam is horizontal to the road surface of the road.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (Configuration of First Embodiment) First
FIG. 1 shows the operation concept of the embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows its configuration. The first embodiment is configured to include the laser sensor / reflection mirror units 70 to 72 and the integration processing unit 6.

The laser sensor / reflection mirror section 70 comprises the laser sensor 20 and reflection mirrors 40 and 41, and the laser sensor / reflection mirror section 71 comprises the laser sensor 21 and reflection mirrors 42 and 43. The reflection mirror unit 72 includes the laser sensor 22 and the reflection mirrors 44 and 4.
5 is comprised. The laser sensors 20 to 22 and the reflection mirrors 40 to 45 are installed on the road sides 13 and 14 of the road 10.

The laser sensor 20 is a pulse laser distance meter 2
01 and a data processing unit 202, the laser sensor 21 is configured to include a pulse laser distance meter 211 and a data processing unit 212, and the laser sensor 22 is configured to include a pulse laser distance meter 221 and a data processing unit 222. It is comprised including.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a pulsed laser distance meter 20 for irradiating pulsed laser beams 30, 32, 35
1, 211, and 221 and data processing units 202, 212, and 2 that perform primary processing of the detection data (passing vehicle information).
Laser sensors 20, 21, 22 including
At predetermined intervals on the roadside 13.
0, 32, 35 are horizontal to the road surface 15 and the cross direction 1
1 is set so as to be irradiated in parallel. In this description, the pulse laser beams 30, 32, and 35 are horizontal with respect to the road surface 15, but they need not necessarily be horizontal and can be set as appropriate. Although the pulse laser beams 30, 32, and 35 are described as being parallel to the transverse direction 11, they need not necessarily be parallel and can be set as appropriate.

When the pulsed laser beams 30, 32, 35 are not obstructed by the running vehicle, the
Are reflected at a predetermined reflection angle φ by the reflection mirrors 40, 42, and 44 installed on the road, and are turned back onto the road 10 to become pulsed laser beams 31, 33, and 36, respectively.
Here, the predetermined reflection angle φ can be set arbitrarily.

This folded pulse laser beam 3
If the vehicles 1, 33, and 36 are not blocked by the traveling vehicle on the road 10, they are reflected by the reflection mirrors 41, 43, and 45 at a predetermined reflection angle φ, respectively, and the pulse laser beams
It is folded back onto the road 10 at an angle parallel to 0, 32, 35. The pulse laser beam 33 is reflected to become a pulse laser beam 34, and the pulse laser beam 36 is reflected to become a pulse laser beam 37.

As described above, the pulse laser distance meter 20
The pulse laser beams 30, 32, and 35 emitted from 1, 211, and 221 are reflected by the reflection mirrors 40 to 45 and reciprocate on the road surface 15 of the road 10 a plurality of times. When the beams 30 to 37 are interrupted, the passing time th of the head of the vehicle, the passing time tv of the tail of the vehicle, and the position R (t) of the side body of the vehicle at that time.
Is detected and measured. Here, the passing time th of the head of the vehicle, the passing time tv of the tail, and the position R (t) of the side body are collectively referred to as passing vehicle information.

1 Constituting Laser Sensor / Reflection Mirror
A vehicle that travels while intercepting a pulsed laser beam stretched on the road with two laser sensors and two reflecting mirrors,
The pulse laser beam will be blocked up to three times at different times from different directions. By using the passing vehicle information obtained at that time with different time / measurement directions, speed, vehicle width / vehicle length can be obtained, and it is also possible to detect and measure a traveling vehicle that cannot be hidden and detected from one road side and cannot be measured. .

The integrated processing unit 6 integrally processes passing vehicle information from the laser sensors 20 to 22 continuously installed at predetermined intervals to perform speed correction, acceleration calculation, and vehicle position estimation at an arbitrary time. Do.

Next, in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, there is no laser vehicle / reflection mirror unit 72 in which no running vehicle exists.
The configuration in the case of will be further described.

A laser sensor 22 including a pulse laser distance meter 221 and a data processing section 222 is installed on the roadside 13 of the road 10. The pulsed laser beam 35 is emitted from the pulsed laser distance meter 221 toward the reflection mirror 44 installed on the roadside 14. The pulsed laser beam 35 is parallel to the transverse direction 11 and
Is reflected horizontally by the reflection mirror 44 and becomes a pulse laser beam 36. The pulse laser beam 36 is reflected by the reflection mirror 45 and becomes a pulse laser beam 37. (Operation When No Vehicle is Present in the First Embodiment) Next, assuming that the vehicles 50 to 52 are not on the road surface 15 in the first embodiment, the operation in the laser sensor / reflection mirror unit 72 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 will be described.

A reflection mirror in which a pulse laser distance meter 221 and a laser sensor 22 including a data processing section 222 are installed on the roadside 13 of the road 10 and a pulse laser beam 35 from the pulse laser distance meter 221 is installed on the roadside 14. Irradiated toward 44. The pulsed laser beam 35 is parallel to the transverse direction 11 and
Is horizontal to

The pulsed laser beam 35 irradiated in the transverse direction 11 is reflected by the reflecting mirror 44 and becomes a pulsed laser beam 36 because there is no vehicle blocking the road surface 15. At this time, the pulse laser beam 35 and the pulse laser beam 36 form an angle of the reflection angle φ. The pulsed laser beam 36 has no vehicles blocking on the road surface 15,
The pulse laser beam 3 reflected again by the reflection mirror 45
It becomes 7. At this time, the pulse laser beam 36 and the pulse laser beam 37 form an angle of the reflection angle φ. The pulse laser beam 37 is also reflected in the transverse direction 11 because there is no vehicle blocking on the road surface 15. (Operation of Detecting a Single Vehicle in the First Embodiment) Next, as an operation of detecting a single vehicle in the first embodiment, the operation of the laser sensor / reflection mirror unit 71 in FIG. The operation of detecting the vehicle 52 will be described.

The single vehicle 52 has the pulse laser rangefinder 21.
It is assumed that the light passes through the installation positions of the laser sensor 21 including the data processing unit 1 and the data processing unit 212 and the reflection mirrors 42 and 43. The pulse laser distance meter 211 irradiates a pulse laser beam 32, and the pulse laser beam 32 is reflected by a reflection mirror 42 to become a pulse laser beam 33. The pulse laser beam 33 is reflected by a reflection mirror 43 and becomes a pulse laser beam 34. Has become. The pulse laser beams 32 to 34 fly over the road surface 15.

At this time, first, the running vehicle 52 receives the position R2 (t) of the side body of the vehicle and the position of the head of the vehicle as passing vehicle information from the right side in the traveling direction 12 with the pulsed laser beam 34 folded back twice. The passing time th2 and the passing time tv2 at the tail of the vehicle are detected and measured.

Subsequently, when the vehicle 52 travels in the direction of travel 12, the pulse laser beam 33 that has been turned back once
As a result, the position R1 (t) of the side body of the vehicle, the passage time th1 of the head of the vehicle, and the passage time tv1 of the tail of the vehicle are detected and measured as the passing vehicle information from the road side 14 on the opposite side of the road 10.

Further, when the vehicle 52 travels in the traveling direction 12, the position of the side body R0 of the side body of the vehicle is similarly determined by the pulsed laser beam 32 as passing vehicle information.
(T), the passing time th0 of the head of the vehicle and the passing time tv0 of the tail of the vehicle are detected and measured. The data processing unit 212 of the laser sensor 21 can calculate the vehicle width / length and the passing speed and acceleration at the sensor installation point by using the passing vehicle information. In this case, the vehicle 52 is detected and measured three times by the pulse laser beam 32. (Detection Operation of Vehicles Running in Parallel in the First Embodiment)
Next, as an operation of detecting a vehicle running in parallel in the first embodiment, as shown in FIGS.
The operation of detecting the vehicles 50 and 51 running side by side will be described.

It is assumed that the vehicle 50 and the vehicle 51 run side by side, and the vehicle 51 exists as a hidden vehicle that is hidden behind the vehicle 50 in front from the installation position of the laser sensor 20. That is, the vehicle 50 and the vehicle 51 are parallel vehicles. At this time, since the pulse laser beam 31 whose pulse laser beam 30 is turned back by the reflection mirror 40 is turned back at the reflection angle φ with respect to the transverse direction 11, the pulse laser beam is 31 can be irradiated, and the passing vehicle information of the vehicle 51 can be detected and measured. For the vehicle 51, only one passing vehicle information can be obtained with the laser sensor 20.
In this case, although the speed and the vehicle width cannot be measured, there is a great effect that the presence of the vehicle 51 as a hidden vehicle and the passing time thereof can be detected with high accuracy.

If such parallel running continues for a while, it can be determined that the vehicle 51, which is a hidden vehicle, is running at a speed equal to the speed of the vehicle 50 in front of the running vehicle, and at a different speed. If the vehicle is traveling, the head or tail of the vehicle will be visible at the next laser sensor installation point, so that the vehicle traveling state in this case can be sufficiently grasped.

The integration processing unit 6 integrates information on passing vehicles of a plurality of laser sensors with respect to the same vehicle, and one laser sensor is sufficient as in the case of the vehicle 51 which is a hidden vehicle of the laser sensor 20 described above. For a passing vehicle that could not be detected or measured, the information of the passing vehicle can be supplemented by using other laser sensor information, or by using the passing vehicle information of multiple laser sensors for the same vehicle. The vehicle traveling state is grasped, and the vehicle traveling state at an arbitrary time is estimated. (Second Embodiment) FIG. 3 shows a configuration of a second embodiment. A laser sensor 23 including a pulse laser distance meter 231 and a data processing unit 232 is installed near the laser sensor 22 shown in FIG. Pulse laser distance meter 2
The pulse laser beam 38 radiated by 31 is reflected by the reflecting mirror 44 installed on the roadside 14 for the first time, and further reflected by the reflecting mirror 45 installed on the roadside 13 for the second time, and is turned on the road surface 15. Will be. As a result, a plurality of pulse laser beams can be irradiated in the up, down, left, and right directions of the pulse laser beam 35.

In the above description, there are two pulse laser beams, ie, the pulse laser beams 35 and 38. Similarly, by adding a laser sensor, more pulse laser beams are irradiated to provide more information. , And a traveling vehicle detection device with higher performance can be provided. (Third Embodiment) FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment.
Roadside 13 where laser sensor 22 shown in FIG. 1 is installed
Sensor 24 including a pulse laser distance meter 241 and a data processing unit 242 on the roadside 14 opposite to
Is installed. A reflection mirror 46 that reflects the pulse laser beam 39 emitted by the pulse laser rangefinder 241 is installed on the roadside 13, and a reflection mirror 47 that reflects the pulse laser beam reflected by the reflection mirror 46 is installed on the roadside 14.

A laser sensor 22 and a laser sensor 24 are installed on the roadside 13 and the roadside 14 of the road 10, respectively.
By turning the pulsed laser beams 35 and 39 back on 5, it is possible to provide a traveling vehicle detection device that can obtain more information and perform “vehicle outline” measurement with higher performance. (Fourth Embodiment) The fourth embodiment is an embodiment in which the number of reflecting mirrors is increased, and will be described with reference to FIG. In the laser sensor / reflection mirror section 72, the pulse laser beam 35 is reflected by the reflection mirror 4 installed on the roadside 14.
4 and the reflecting mirror 45 installed on the roadside 13, 2
It is folded back. Further, by installing the reflecting mirrors alternately on the roadside 14 and the roadside 13 to increase the number of the installed mirrors, more folding is possible. If N (N is a positive integer) reflection mirrors including the reflection mirrors 44 and 45 are installed, the pulse laser beam 35 can be reflected N times, so that the speed and acceleration of a hidden vehicle can be measured. It is possible to provide a traveling vehicle detection device that is strong in measuring the performance of “parallel running vehicles”.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, the laser beam irradiated in the cross direction of the road and passed on the road surface without being blocked by the traveling vehicle is turned back on the road surface of the road by the reflection mirror. High-precision measurement of running parameters and vehicle specifications of a group of vehicles that are running in parallel and parallel running with a small inter-vehicle distance, which has been difficult to measure with the same type of laser sensor using only one laser beam until now By using information from a plurality of laser sensors installed in succession, it is possible to estimate the vehicle position / speed at an arbitrary time near the laser sensor at high accuracy, and the following effects can be obtained. To play.

The first advantage is that a high-speed pulse laser beam scanning mechanism or the like is not required, and the vehicle condition on the entire road can be grasped with a very simple and inexpensive device configuration. In addition, a parallel running vehicle or a vehicle with a small inter-vehicle distance, which is difficult to detect by ordinary detection means, can be separated and detected with a very high probability.

The second effect is that the detection delay time is very short because the load involved in signal processing is small.

The third effect is that the detection accuracy of the position and speed of the vehicle is very high, the length and width of the vehicle can be detected, and the detection accuracy is very high.

The fourth effect is that the active detection method enables detection for 24 hours without special equipment such as lighting, and does not require special structures such as a gantry or a pole for installation. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an operation conceptual diagram of a first embodiment of a pulse laser type traveling vehicle detection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a pulse laser type traveling vehicle detection device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a pulse laser type traveling vehicle detection device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a pulse laser type traveling vehicle detection device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 road 11 transverse direction 12 traveling direction 13 roadside 14 roadside 15 road surface 20 laser sensor 201 pulse laser distance meter 202 data processing unit 21 laser sensor 211 pulse laser distance meter 212 data processing unit 22 laser sensor 221 pulse laser distance meter 222 data processing unit Reference Signs List 23 laser sensor 231 pulse laser range finder 232 data processing unit 24 laser sensor 241 pulse laser range finder 242 data processing unit 30 to 37 pulse laser beam 38 pulse laser beam 39 pulse laser beam 40 to 45 reflection mirror 46 reflection mirror 47 reflection mirror 50 -52 Vehicle 6 Integrated processing unit 70-72 Laser sensor / reflection mirror unit

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A laser sensor comprising a pulse laser range finder installed on the road side of a road and a data processing unit for processing passing vehicle information relating to the passage of a vehicle traveling on the road, and irradiating from the pulse laser range finder. A plurality of reflection mirrors installed on the road side so as to reflect the pulsed laser beam at a predetermined reflection angle, a laser sensor / reflection mirror section including the laser sensor, and passing vehicle information from the laser sensor And an integrated processing unit that processes the vehicle, detecting the traveling vehicle by reflecting the pulsed laser beam on the road surface of the road by using the plurality of reflection mirrors to reflect the pulsed laser beam. Pulse laser type traveling vehicle detection device. A first pulse laser rangefinder for irradiating a pulsed laser beam and a first data processing unit for processing passing vehicle information relating to the passage of a vehicle traveling on the road; A first laser sensor, and a first laser sensor installed on a roadside opposite to a roadside on which the first laser sensor is installed. A first reflection mirror that reflects at a predetermined reflection angle, and a pulsed laser beam that is installed on the road side where the first laser sensor is installed and reflected by the first reflection mirror with respect to a transverse direction of the road. A second reflection mirror for reflecting the vehicle at a second predetermined reflection angle, and an integrated processing unit for processing passing vehicle information from the first laser sensor. A pulsed-laser-type traveling-vehicle detection device characterized by detecting a traveling vehicle by reflecting the pulsed laser beam twice on the road surface of the road and reflecting the pulsed laser beam when the pulsed laser beam is not on the road surface. 3. The pulsed laser traveling vehicle detection device according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of said laser sensors / reflection mirror units. 4. A second laser sensor including a second pulse laser range finder and a second data processing unit is installed near the first pulse laser range finder, such as up, down, left and right, The pulse laser type traveling vehicle detection according to claim 2, wherein a pulse laser beam is also emitted from the second pulse laser distance meter and reflected by the first reflection mirror and the second reflection mirror. apparatus. 5. N (N is a positive integer) reflecting mirrors including the first reflecting mirror and the second reflecting mirror are alternately provided on the road side, and the pulse laser beam is reflected N times. 3. The pulsed-laser traveling vehicle detection device according to claim 2, wherein: 6. A third laser sensor including a third pulse laser distance meter and a third data processing unit is installed on a roadside opposite to the side where the first laser sensor is installed, and the first laser sensor is provided. Irradiation from the third pulsed laser rangefinder by a third reflecting mirror installed on the roadside where the laser sensor is installed and a fourth reflecting mirror installed on the roadside where the third laser sensor is installed The pulsed laser traveling vehicle detection device according to claim 2, wherein the reflected pulsed laser beam is reflected. 7. The pulsed laser traveling vehicle detection device according to claim 2, wherein said first predetermined reflection angle is equal to said second predetermined reflection angle. 8. A pulse laser beam emitted by the first pulse laser distance meter and a pulse laser beam reflected by the second reflection mirror are parallel to a direction transverse to the road. 3. The pulsed laser type traveling vehicle detection device according to 2. 9. The pulsed laser traveling vehicle detection device according to claim 2, wherein the pulsed laser beam is horizontal to a road surface of the road.