JP2003109169A - Road information providing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a road information providing system, in which exact congestion information can be provided. SOLUTION: This system is equipped with a camera (11) provided at a position, where the image of a road can be picked up, a road side communication equipment (21) for receiving at least any one of number data indicating the number plate of a vehicle (C2) from an on-vehicle equipment (7) loaded on the vehicle and destination data indicating the destination of the vehicle, an image processor (12) for generating at least any one of vehicle speed data indicating the vehicle speed of the vehicle contained in the image picked up by the camera (11) and the plate data indicating the number plate by processing the image and a center (31) for receiving at least any one of the number data and the destination data and at least any one of the vehicle speed data and the plate data and detecting or predicting the congestion on the basis of the received data, and the detected or predicted result of congestion is provided to the on-vehicle equipment (7).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a road information providing system, and more particularly to a road information providing system which grasps a road condition by camera photographing and road-to-vehicle communication and provides information to a driver.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, a road traffic information distribution system (VI
Although there is a congestion information providing system such as CS), there is a lack of real-time property. For example, according to VICS, there was a situation in which there was no congestion when actually going to the area A, even though the message "There is traffic in the area A ahead" was displayed.

Further, there is no system for informing a driver of a pedestrian such as a child jumping out on a road or approaching a vehicle at an intersection with poor visibility. Moreover, there is no system that automatically informs the driver of illegal parking.

[0004]

It is desirable that accurate traffic congestion information can be obtained. It is desirable to be able to obtain accurate traffic congestion prediction information. It is desirable to obtain the optimum route information. It is desirable to automatically detect the danger and notify the driver beforehand. It is desirable to reduce illegal parking, reduce traffic congestion, and improve the efficiency of using parking lots.

An object of the present invention is to provide a road information providing system which can obtain accurate traffic congestion information. Another object of the present invention is to provide a road information providing system that can obtain accurate traffic congestion prediction information. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a road information providing system that can obtain optimum route information. Still another object of the present invention is to
It is an object of the present invention to provide a road information providing system that can automatically detect a danger and notify the driver in advance. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a road information providing system capable of reducing illegal parking, alleviating traffic congestion and improving the efficiency of parking lot utilization.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problem] [Means for Solving the Problem] will be described below by using the numbers and symbols used in the [Embodiment of the Invention]. These numbers and signs are
Although added to clarify the correspondence between the description in [Claims] and the description in [Embodiment of the Invention], the technology of the invention described in [Claims] It should not be used to interpret the scope.

The road information providing system of the present invention comprises a camera (11) provided at a position where a road can be imaged and a vehicle (C).
A roadside communication device (21) for receiving at least one of number data indicating a license plate of the vehicle and destination data indicating a destination of the vehicle from the vehicle-mounted device (7) mounted in 2), and the camera. An image processing device (12) for performing image processing of the image captured by (11) to generate at least one of vehicle speed data indicating a vehicle speed of the vehicle and plate data indicating a license plate included in the image; A center (31) that receives at least one of the number data and the destination data, and at least one of the vehicle speed data and the plate data, and detects or predicts traffic congestion based on the received data. The traffic jam detection or prediction result is provided to the vehicle-mounted device (7).

In the road information providing system of the present invention,
The result of the detection or prediction of the traffic jam is the onboard device (7).
Instead of being provided to the vehicle, it is provided to the terminals (45, 47) via the wide area network (43) or radio waves (49), or to the vehicle via the information display device (41).

In the road information providing system of the present invention,
The center (31), with respect to the vehicle-mounted device (7) that has transmitted the destination data to the roadside communication device (21),
As a result of the detection or prediction of the traffic jam, data is provided that indicates an optimal route (80) to the destination or an estimated arrival time.

In the road information providing system of the present invention,
The center (31) indicates at least one of the cause and time of the past congestion, the day of the week, the season, the weather, the event, the travel route / time history of each vehicle, the future event schedule, and the road construction schedule. Store data in memory (3
2), and the congestion is detected or predicted based on the recorded data.

The road information providing system of the present invention performs image processing of a camera (11) provided at a position where a road can be imaged and an image captured by the camera (11),
An image processing device (12) for detecting, as danger information, a pedestrian or a vehicle coming out or approaching included in the image, and the danger information is provided to a vehicle traveling in the vicinity of the pedestrian or the vehicle.

The road information providing system of the present invention comprises a camera (11) provided at a position where an image of a parking prohibited area can be picked up.
And an information providing unit that provides information indicating that parking is prohibited and a nearby parking lot to a vehicle in the parking prohibited area based on the image captured by the camera (11). .

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a road information providing system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(First Embodiment) As shown in FIG. 1, a camera 11 and a roadside communication device 21 are provided at predetermined positions on the road. In the road information providing system of the present embodiment, in order to grasp the road condition in more detail, it is desirable to provide as many cameras 11 and roadside communication devices 21 as possible. Vehicle C1 on which no vehicle-mounted device (vehicle-mounted device for car navigation or ETC) is installed
And a vehicle C2 in which the vehicle-mounted device 7 is mounted is running.

The camera 11 picks up images of the traveling vehicles C1 and S2 and sends the picked-up image data to the image processing device 12. The image processing device 12 measures the vehicle speeds of the vehicles C1 and S2 by performing image processing of the imaged data, and recognizes the license plates of the vehicles C1 and S2. Also,
The camera 11 captures an image of road conditions (congestion, parking and parking),
The imaged data is subjected to image processing by the image processing device 12. The vehicle speed data, the license plate data, and the road condition data are sent from the image recognition device 12 to the ID (position) and shooting time (date and time) of the image recognition device 12.
Is sent to the center 31 together with the information indicating.

The roadside communication device 21 is a vehicle-mounted device 7 of the vehicle C2.
Communicate with. VICS or DSRC can be used for the communication. The roadside communication device 21 constantly emits a radio wave toward the road, and when the vehicle-mounted device 7 receives the radio wave, the vehicle-mounted device 7 responds to the reception by transmitting the data indicating the license plate of the vehicle C2 to the roadside communication. It is transmitted to the device 21. At this time, when the destination of the vehicle C2 is set on the car navigation 7 of the vehicle C2, the roadside communication device 21
Data indicating the destination is transmitted.

The roadside communication device 21 is constantly directed toward the road,
The roadside communication device 21 is replaced by the camera 1 instead of the method of transmitting radio waves.
It is installed in the same place as 1, and only when the image of the vehicle C2 is captured by the camera 11, radio waves are emitted from the roadside communication device 21,
When the vehicle-mounted device 7 receives the radio wave, the vehicle-mounted device 7 can transmit the data to the roadside communication device 21 in response to the reception.

The roadside communication device 21 transmits the data indicating the license plate and / or the data indicating the destination thereof to the center 31 together with the data indicating the ID of the roadside communication device 21 and the reception time (date and time).

The center 31 receives data from each image recognition device 12 (vehicle speed data, license plate data, ID data of the image recognition device 12, photographing time data).
Based on the data (license plate data, destination data, ID data of the roadside communication device 21 and reception time data) received from each roadside communication device 21, the travel route / time of each vehicle C1, C2, etc. You can grasp the history (when and where you passed, etc.) and the cause of the traffic jam, and detect / predict the presence and level of traffic jam on the road. At the same time, the center 31 detects the traffic congestion on the road, which is obtained from the data from the image recognition devices 12 and / or the road-side communication devices 21, based on the detection / prediction of the vehicle-mounted device 7.
Calculate the optimal route (optimum roadway, loophole, nearest parking lot in front of the station and public transportation) and the estimated arrival time to that destination for each destination set in (the information obtained at the center 31 below. Traffic congestion / optimum route information 80).

Here, the center 31 determines the place name of the number from the license plate data (areas separated by the Land Transport Bureau, such as Shinagawa, Nerima, Yokohama, Sagami, Shonan, etc.)
Can be recognized as an approximate destination.

The center 31 collects traffic congestion / optimum route information 8
0 is transmitted to the information display device 41, and the traffic congestion / optimum route information 80 is sent to the vehicles C1 and C2 via the information display device 41.
To convey. Further, the center 31 transmits the congestion / optimum route information 80 to the roadside communication device 21. The roadside communication device 21 uses the received traffic jam / optimum route information 80 for the vehicle C2.
To the vehicle-mounted device 7 (VICS or DSRC can be used for the communication) and transmitted to the driver of the vehicle C2.

Further, the center 31 sends the traffic congestion / optimum route information 80 to the personal computer 4 via the Internet 43.
5 and the portable terminal 47. Furthermore, Center 3
1 is traffic jam / optimum route information 80 via radio station 49
Is transmitted to the vehicles C1 and C2 by radio broadcasting.

When the vehicle-mounted device 7 can detect the vehicle speed and the engine speed of the vehicle C2, the vehicle speed and the engine speed data are transmitted to the center 31 via the roadside communication device 21.
Can be sent to.

Further, the information display device 41 changes not only the traffic jam / optimum route information 80 but also the road speed limit determined by the center 31 based on the data indicating the road condition from the image processing device 12 or the like. It is possible to display a display indicating that the vehicle is to be closed or a display indicating that the vehicle is one-way or closed.

Further, in order to enhance the effectiveness of the road information providing system of this embodiment, the data indicating the destination is higher than the roadside communication device 21 from many vehicles C2 equipped with the vehicle-mounted device 7. It is desirable to be sent frequently. In order to encourage this, the vehicle C2 that has sent the data indicating the destination can be given points for free music distribution and product purchase.

The camera 11 also captures a situation such as a traffic accident, and transmits data indicating the accident to the center 31 through the image processing device 12 to detect a traffic jam, grasp the cause of the traffic jam, and calculate an optimum route. Can be offered.

As shown in FIG. 2, the center 31 has the cause and time of past congestion, day of the week, season, weather, event, travel route / time history of each vehicle, future event schedule, road construction schedule, etc. Is recorded in the memory 32,
Based on these recorded data (experience data) and the above-mentioned data (or the above-mentioned recorded data alone) from each image recognition device 12 and / or each roadside communication device 21,
The optimum route information 80 can be obtained.

Information transmission by the portable terminal 47 and radio broadcasting is particularly effective for the traveling vehicles C1 and C2, and the information transmission by the personal computer 45 is recorded in the memory 32 before the vehicle departs (the day before). It is effective for predicting traffic congestion on roads based on recorded data and knowing the optimal route and road construction schedule.

Further, in the personal computer 45, if the user inputs a departure date, a destination and a desired arrival time, the center 31
Calculates based on the record data recorded in the memory 32, predicts the time required to reach the destination, and outputs the departure time (when to depart to the destination at the desired arrival time) to the personal computer 45. can do. Furthermore, the center 31 can obtain the congestion / optimum route information 80 by taking into account the information such as the destination and the desired arrival time input from the personal computer 45.

According to the first embodiment, it is possible to grasp the detailed and real-time traffic congestion situation and provide the optimum route according to the destination.

(Second Embodiment) Referring to FIG. 3, the second embodiment
An embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals,
Detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the second embodiment, the camera 11 described in the first embodiment is installed at an entrance / exit of a park or an intersection with poor visibility, and image processing by the image processing device 12 causes pedestrians K or motorcycles such as children. Detects that a vehicle or vehicle jumps out (movement) as danger information.

The approach of the vehicle C2 to an intersection or the like with poor visibility is caused by V between the roadside communication device 21 and the vehicle-mounted device 7 of the vehicle C2.
It can be detected by road-to-vehicle communication by ICS or DSRC.

The danger information detected by the image processing device 12 is transmitted to and displayed on the information display device 41 installed at the entrance or exit of a park or an intersection with poor visibility, so that the vehicles C1 and C2 or the two-wheeled vehicle can be displayed. Is transmitted to the driver. Here, for displaying the danger information by the information display device 41, for example, it is possible to adopt a method of urging the danger by emitting light only when the electric display which is not normally turned on transmits the danger information.

Further, the danger information detected by the image processing device 12 is transmitted to the roadside communication device 21, and the roadside communication device 21 communicates with the vehicle-mounted device 7, whereby the danger information is transmitted.
Is transmitted to the driver of the vehicle C2 via.

As described above, in the case of a pedestrian K or a two-wheeled vehicle, the presence / absence of a pop-out (danger information) is determined based on the result of the image pick-up by the camera 11 and the image processing by the image processing device 12.
However, when the vehicles C2 are approaching each other at an intersection or the like, both vehicles C2 communicate with the roadside communication device 21 so that the image is captured by the camera 11 and the image processing device 12 operates. With each other, the approach (danger information) of the other party can be recognized without performing image processing.

When the jumping out of the vehicles C1 and C2 or the two-wheeled vehicle is detected as the danger information, the vehicles C1 and C2 are detected.
Alternatively, in addition to the speed of the two-wheeled vehicle, by detecting the direction indication by the turn indicator (winker), the danger information can be accurately detected.

In the second embodiment, since the communication is to the driver at the same intersection or the like as the pop-out person (or car), the image processing device 12, the information display device 41, and the roadside communication device 21 are directly communicated by wire. By connecting with a line, unlike the first embodiment, direct communication can be performed without going through the center 31.

Further, in FIG. 3, the information display device 41 is provided.
Can be installed also on the side of the pedestrian K or the two-wheeled vehicle (right side in the figure), and the camera 11 and the image processing device 12 can also be installed on the side of the vehicle C2 (left side in the figure). As a result, it is possible to notify the pedestrian K or the two-wheeled vehicle of the approach of the vehicle C2 or the like.

According to the second embodiment, accidents can be reduced by automatically detecting a danger in advance and notifying the driver of the danger. The camera 11, the image processing device 12, and the roadside communication device 21 described in the second embodiment are also used for grasping a traffic jam condition and the like as described in the first embodiment, and are used in the second embodiment. The information display device 41 described above is also used for transmitting the traffic jam condition, as described in the first embodiment.

(Third Embodiment) Referring to FIG. 4, the third embodiment
An embodiment will be described. In the third embodiment, the same components as those in the first or second embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the third embodiment, the camera 11 and the roadside communication device 21 described in the first or second embodiment are installed in the parking prohibited area, and the image processing by the image processing device 12 and the vehicle-mounted device 7 by VISC or DSRC are performed. By the road-to-vehicle communication of, for example, parking and stopping in the parking prohibited area for 5 minutes or more is detected as illegal parking information, and the illegal parking information is transmitted to the center 31. From the center 31, the information display device (electronic signboard) 41, road Notify the driver that parking is prohibited via the vehicle-mounted device 7 for vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and introduce the nearest vacant parking lot or road that is not prohibited.

Further, before detecting the parking / stopping for more than 5 minutes in the parking prohibited area, a warning is issued when the vehicle is parked / stopped in the parking prohibited area, and the nearest vacant parking lot or a non-parking prohibited road is displayed. You can also introduce it.

The illegal parking information detected by the image processing device 12 or the roadside communication device 21 is directly passed to the information display device (electronic signboard) 4 without passing through the center 31.
1. It is transmitted to the vehicle-mounted device 7 for road-to-vehicle communication to inform the driver that parking is prohibited, and the nearest available parking lot or road that is not prohibited is introduced without going through the center 31. You can

According to the third embodiment, illegal parking can be reduced, traffic congestion can be alleviated, and the parking lot can be used efficiently. The camera 11 and the roadside communication device 21 described in the third embodiment.
Is also used for grasping the traffic jam condition as described in the first embodiment, and the information display device 41 described in the third embodiment uses the traffic jam condition as described in the first embodiment. It is also used for communication of.

[0046]

According to the road information providing system of the present invention, accurate traffic congestion information can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a first view of a road information providing system of the present invention.
It is a block diagram showing an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a first part of the road information providing system of the present invention.
It is a block diagram which shows the modification of embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a second part of the road information providing system of the present invention.
It is a block diagram showing an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a third part of the road information providing system of the present invention.
It is a block diagram showing an embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

7 Onboard equipment 11 cameras 12 Image processing device 21 Roadside communication device 31 Center 32 memory 41 Information display device 43 Internet 45 PC 47 Mobile terminal 49 radio stations 80 Traffic jam / optimum route information C1 vehicle C2 vehicle K pedestrian

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Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A camera provided at a position where a road can be imaged, and / or at least one of number data indicating a license plate of the vehicle and destination data indicating a destination of the vehicle from an on-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle. An image that performs image processing on the image captured by the camera and a roadside communication device that receives one of them, and generates at least one of vehicle speed data indicating the vehicle speed of the vehicle and plate data indicating a license plate included in the image. A processing device, a center that receives at least one of the number data and the destination data, and at least one of the vehicle speed data and the plate data, and detects or predicts traffic congestion based on the received data. And the result of the detection or prediction of the congestion is provided to the vehicle-mounted device. Road information providing system that. 2. The road information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the congestion detection or prediction result is provided to a terminal via a wide area network or radio waves instead of being provided to the vehicle-mounted device, or information. A road information providing system provided to the vehicle via a display device. 3. The road information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the center transmits the destination data to the roadside communication device to the vehicle-mounted device as a result of detection or prediction of the traffic jam. A road information providing system which provides data indicating an optimum route to the destination or an estimated arrival time. 4. The road information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the center causes the past congestion to occur, the time, the day of the week, the season, the weather, the event, and the running of each vehicle. Data indicating at least one of a route / time history, future event schedule, and road construction schedule is recorded in a memory, and road information is provided to detect or predict the congestion based on the recorded data. system. 5. A camera provided at a position capable of capturing an image of a road, and image processing of an image captured by the camera to detect a pedestrian or vehicle's jumping out or approaching included in the image as danger information. An image processing device, wherein the danger information is provided to a vehicle running near the pedestrian or the vehicle. 6. A camera provided at a position capable of capturing an image of a parking prohibited area, and a vehicle in the parking prohibited area indicating that parking is prohibited and parking nearby, based on an image captured by the camera. A road information providing system including an information providing unit that provides information indicating a parking lot.