JP2009300294A - Wait time announcement apparatus and wait time announcement program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve a wait time announcement apparatus for announcing an actual traffic light wait time to a driver. <P>SOLUTION: If an image captured in the vehicle running direction includes a traffic light, a location of the traffic light (an intersection location), the vehicle running direction, a current date and a current time are obtained, and the traffic light wait time until a red traffic signal changes to a green traffic signal is measured. Traffic light history information for mapping the obtained date and time, the running direction and the traffic light wait time to the location of the traffic light is generated, stored and saved (step SA21). Each time the vehicle waits for the traffic light, it determines whether the traffic light history information obtained when the vehicle has waited for the traffic light at the same traffic light and the same time in the same running direction is included in the stored and saved traffic light history information (step SA14). If the corresponding traffic light history information exists, the traffic light wait time included in the traffic light history information is announced (step SA17). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a waiting time notification device and a waiting time notification program for notifying a user of a signal waiting time.

In recent years, an idling stop is recommended in which the engine is stopped while waiting for a signal to reduce fuel consumption and CO ₂ emissions. As an apparatus that assists in effectively performing idling stop, for example, Patent Literature 1 detects a change in signal state or state of a traffic light from an image obtained by imaging the periphery of a vehicle, and based on the detected change in signal state or state. There is disclosed a signal state detection device that generates an elapsed time in the current signal color and an expected duration time until the next change and provides the generated time to the driver.

JP 2007-85777 A

  By the way, the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 provides the user with an estimated time for the interval from the current signal state to the next signal state, so that the expected time is longer than the actual signal waiting time. If this happens, the driver will be more frustrated as the driver is waiting for the signal. In other words, there is a problem that the actual signal waiting time cannot be notified to the driver.

This invention is made | formed in view of such a situation, and it aims at providing the waiting time alerting | reporting apparatus and waiting time alerting | reporting processing program which can alert | report an actual signal waiting time to a driver | operator.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a detecting means for detecting a traffic light from an image obtained by photographing a vehicle traveling direction, and when the detecting means detects a traffic light, the traffic light position, the vehicle traveling direction, Acquisition means for acquiring the date and time, timing means for timing the signal waiting time until the traffic light detected by the detection means changes from a red signal to a blue signal, the date and time acquired by the acquisition means, the vehicle traveling direction, and the timing Signal history storage means for storing the signal waiting time counted by the means as signal history information associated with the traffic signal position acquired by the acquisition means, and the signal detected by the detection means becomes a red signal When waiting, signal history information previously stored in the same traffic signal and waiting for a signal in the same time and direction is stored in the signal history storage means. Determining means for determining whether or not the corresponding signal history information is stored by the determining means, the signal waiting time included in the corresponding signal history information is stored in the signal history storage. And a notifying means for reading out and notifying from the means.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a detection process for detecting a traffic signal from an image obtained by photographing the vehicle traveling direction, and an acquisition process for acquiring the traffic signal position, the vehicle traveling direction, and the date and time when the traffic signal is detected by the detection process. A timing process for timing a signal waiting time until the traffic light detected by the detection process changes from a red signal to a blue signal, a date and time acquired by the acquisition process, a vehicle traveling direction, and a signal timed by the timing process When waiting for a signal with a signal history storage process that stores the waiting time as signal history information associated with the traffic signal position acquired in the acquisition process, and the signal detected by the detection process becomes a red signal, A determination process for determining whether or not signal history information is stored when waiting for a signal of the same time and direction in the same traffic signal; If the signal history information corresponding the processing is judged to have been stored, characterized in that to execute an informing means for informing reads the signal waiting time included in the relevant signal history information in the computer.

  In the present invention, the actual signal waiting time can be notified to the driver.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
A. Configuration FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a waiting time notification device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, the CPU 100 controls each part of the apparatus according to an operation event supplied from the operation unit 103. A characteristic processing operation of the CPU 100 according to the gist of the present invention will be described later. The ROM 101 stores various program data executed by the CPU 100. The various programs referred to here include signal detection processing and signal time announcement processing described later.

The RAM 102 includes a work area and a data area. In the work area of the RAM 102, various register / flag data used for the calculation of the CPU 100 are temporarily stored. Specifically, the positional information generated by the GPS signal receiving unit 106 described later, the geomagnetic data output from the geomagnetic sensor 109, the focal length data generated by the photographing camera unit 105, and the like are temporarily stored.

In the data area of the RAM 102, signal history information is stored. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of signal history information stored in the data area of the RAM 102. One signal history information includes an identification number ID and history data. The example illustrated in FIG. 2 illustrates a case where the signal history (1) information has an identification number ID and three history data (1) to (3).

The identification number ID is information for identifying a traffic signal, and is a number associated with position information (longitude, latitude) of an intersection where the traffic signal is installed. In a map database 108 to be described later, the name of the intersection corresponding to the identification number ID and its position information (longitude, latitude) are stored. History data refers to the “date and time” when stopping at a red light at the intersection where the traffic signal identified by the identification number ID is installed, the “traveling direction” of the vehicle at that time, and from when it turns red to when it changes to a green light Consists of measured “measurement time”. Accordingly, the intersection where the traffic signal having the identification number ID is installed is stopped with a red signal, and new history data is registered as signal history information each time the vehicle travels with a blue signal.

The operation unit 103 includes various operation buttons and operation switches, generates operation events corresponding to the types of buttons and switches to be operated, and supplies them to the CPU 100. Specifically, a signal detection start switch for instructing start of a signal detection process described later is provided. The display unit 104 displays the current position on the map according to the display control signal supplied from the CPU 100.

The photographing camera unit 105 includes an in-vehicle camera that photographs the vehicle traveling direction so that the traffic light is within the photographing field of view, and outputs camera image data photographed by the camera according to an instruction from the CPU 100. In the photographing camera unit 105, the in-vehicle camera has an AF (autofocus) function, and a signal device is detected from the camera image data by image recognition by an image processing unit 107 (to be described later). In accordance with the focus instruction, the focal length is adjusted to the traffic signal being shot, and focal length data representing the focal length is generated. This focal length data is stored in the work area of the RAM 102.

The GPS signal receiving unit 106 receives a GPS signal according to an instruction from the CPU 100 and generates position information including at least the latitude and longitude of the current location. This position information is stored in the work area of the RAM 102. The image processing unit 107 captures camera image data output from the photographing camera unit 105 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 100, and performs image recognition for determining whether or not a traffic light is included in the camera image data. Further, when the image processing unit 107 determines that the traffic signal is reflected in the camera image data by image recognition, the image processing unit 107 identifies the lighting color of the traffic signal that has been image-recognized. The discrimination result of the image recognition executed by the image processing unit 107 and the discrimination result of the traffic light lighting color are supplied to the CPU 100.

  The map database 108 stores and manages map data expressed in a vector format by dividing it into rectangular areas called meshes. Further, in the map database 108, as shown in FIG. 3, the identification number ID described above is assigned to each intersection position where the traffic signal is installed, and the name of the intersection corresponding to each identification number ID and its position information are provided. Signal information including (longitude, latitude) is stored.

The geomagnetic sensor 109 outputs geomagnetic data representing the two-axis (X, Y) component of geomagnetism detected using, for example, an MI element whose impedance changes in accordance with fluctuations in the external magnetic field. A plurality of pieces of geomagnetic data output from the geomagnetic sensor 109 are captured by the CPU 100 for a certain period and stored in the work area of the RAM 102. The timer 110 measures and outputs the current date and time. The voice output unit 111 utters and outputs an announcement message, for example, “the time until it changes to a blue signal is xx seconds” in a synthesized voice according to an instruction from the CPU 100.

B. Operation Next, the operation of the waiting time notification device 10 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5 are flowcharts showing the operation of the signal detection process executed by the CPU 100, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the signal time announcement process called from the signal detection process.

When the signal detection start switch of the operation unit 103 is operated, the CPU 100 executes signal detection processing illustrated in FIG. 4 based on the switch event. When the signal detection process is executed, the CPU 100 proceeds to step SA1 shown in FIG. 4 and instructs the photographing camera unit 105 to start photographing and instructs the image processing unit 107 to capture camera image data. Thereby, the camera image data output from the photographing camera unit 105 is captured by the image processing unit 107.

  Subsequently, in step SA2, the presence / absence of traffic signal detection is determined based on the determination result of image recognition executed by the image processing unit 107. That is, the image processing unit 107 performs image recognition for determining whether or not a traffic light is reflected in the camera image captured in step SA1 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 100, and supplies the determination result to the CPU 100. The CPU 100 determines the presence or absence of traffic signal detection from the determination result supplied from the image processing unit 107.

  If no traffic light is detected, that is, if no traffic light is shown, the determination result in step SA2 is “NO”, and the process returns to step SA1. Thereafter, steps SA1 to SA2 are repeated until a traffic light is detected. When the traffic light appears in the camera image, the determination result in step SA2 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SA3. In step SA3, the photographing camera unit 105 is instructed to focus on the traffic light. As a result, the photographing camera unit 10 adjusts the focal length to the traffic signal being photographed and generates focal length data representing the focal length in accordance with the focusing instruction from the CPU 100.

  Next, in step SA4, according to an instruction from the CPU 100, the GPS signal receiving unit 106 receives the GPS signal, generates position information including at least the latitude and longitude of the current location, and stores the position information in the work area of the RAM 102. Execute the acquisition process. In step SA5, the position information stored in the work area of the RAM 102 is corrected using the focal length data acquired in step SA3 to calculate the position information of the intersection. That is, the position information of the intersection where the traffic light is installed is obtained by adding the distance to the subject (traffic light) calculated based on the focal length data to the own vehicle position represented by the position information.

  Next, in step SA6, the vehicle traveling direction is acquired based on the geomagnetic data output from the geomagnetic sensor 109, and in the subsequent step SA7, the current date and time generated by the time measuring unit 110 is acquired. In step SA8, the intersection identification number ID having position information that substantially matches the position information of the intersection obtained in step SA5 is extracted from the map database 108 (see FIG. 3), and the extracted identification number ID is used. The stored signal history information (see FIG. 2) is searched from the data area of the RAM 102. That is, when the corresponding signal history information is searched, it is a traffic signal that has been waiting for a signal before, and when the corresponding signal history information is not searched, it is a traffic signal that has not waited for a signal before.

  Next, when proceeding to step SA9 shown in FIG. 5, the lighting color of the traffic light is determined based on the result of identifying the lighting color of the traffic light recognized by the image processing unit 107. Hereinafter, the operation description will be divided into the case where the lighting color of the traffic light is “when yellow is lit”, “when red is lit”, and “when blue is lit”.

<When yellow light>
If the traffic light is in the yellow lighting state, the process proceeds to step SA10, the register for temporarily storing the traffic light time is reset, and the process returns to step SA9. The traffic light time indicates a signal waiting time measured until the traffic light changes from a red lighting state to a blue lighting state, as will be described later.

<When red light is on>
If the traffic light is in the red lighting state, the process proceeds to step SA11, and it is determined whether or not the red flag is in the on state. If the red flag is not on, the determination result is “NO”, the process proceeds to step SA12, the red flag is set to the on state, and then the process returns to step SA9. As will be described later, the red flag is a flag that is set on until the traffic light changes from the red lighting state to the blue lighting state.

When the red flag is set to ON, the determination result in step SA11 is “YES”, and the process proceeds to step SA13 to start measuring the signal waiting time. Subsequently, in step SA14, signal history information including history data whose contents substantially match the “traveling direction” and “current date and time” of the vehicle acquired in steps SA6 to SA7 (see FIG. 4) described above is stored in the RAM 102. It is determined whether it is registered in the area, that is, whether it is a traffic signal that has waited for a signal before.

If the corresponding signal history information is not retrieved and it is determined that the traffic signal has not waited for a signal before, the determination result in step SA14 is “NO”, the process proceeds to step SA15, and the data area of the RAM 102 is entered. A signal history area for new registration is secured, and in the subsequent step SA16, the process waits until the traffic light is lit in blue. And if a traffic light turns into blue lighting state, a process will be returned to above-mentioned step SA9.

  On the other hand, if the corresponding signal history information is retrieved and it is determined that the signal has been waiting for a signal before, the determination result in step SA14 is “YES”, and the signal time announcement process is performed via step SA17. Execute. When the traffic light time announcement process is executed, the CPU 100 proceeds to step SB1 shown in FIG. ).

Subsequently, in step SB2, based on the read measurement time, the voice output unit 111 is instructed to create voice data for uttering the announcement message “the time until it changes to a green signal is“ A second ”” with synthesized voice. In subsequent step SB3, the audio output unit 111 is instructed to output the created audio data. This makes it possible to notify the driver of the actual signal waiting time. When the signal time announcement process is completed, the process proceeds to step SA16, waits until the signal lights in blue, and then returns to step SA9.

<In the case of blue lighting>
If the traffic light is lit in blue, the process proceeds to step SA18 to determine whether or not the red flag is set on. If the red flag has already been set on and signal measurement has started in step SA13 described above, the determination result is “YES”, the process proceeds to step SA19, and the signal measurement is terminated. By completing the signal measurement, the “measurement time (signal waiting time)” until the red signal changes to the blue signal is obtained. As a result, history data including the “date and time” obtained in steps SA6 to SA7, the “traveling direction”, and the “measurement time (signal waiting time)” obtained in step SA19 is generated.

  Next, in step SA20, the traffic signal information (identification number ID, name, and location information) including the location information (location information of the intersection where the traffic signal is installed) obtained in step SA5 (see FIG. 4) is used as the map database 108. Search from and get. Next, in step SA21, signal history storage processing is executed. In this signal history storage process, the signal history information having the same identification number ID as the identification number ID of the traffic signal information acquired in step SA5 is searched from the data area of the RAM 102, and as new attribute data of the corresponding signal history information, The history data (“date and time”, “traveling direction”, “measurement time (signal waiting time)”) generated in step SA19 is newly registered in the area secured in step SA15.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to step SA22 to instruct the audio output unit 111 to end the announcement. In the subsequent step SA23, the red flag is reset to the off state, and the process returns to step SA9. When the traffic light is in the blue lighting state and the red flag is in the off state, the determination result in step SA17 described above is “NO”, and the processing after step SA1 (see FIG. 4) described above is repeated.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when a traffic light is reflected in an image obtained by photographing the vehicle traveling direction, the position of the traffic signal (intersection position), the traveling direction of the vehicle and the date and time at that time are acquired, and the red signal is used. Measure the signal waiting time until turning into a green light. Signal history information in which the acquired “date and time”, “traveling direction”, and “signal waiting time” are associated with “signal position” is generated and stored. And each time waiting for a signal, it is determined whether or not the signal history information at the time of waiting for a signal in the same time / direction in the same traffic signal is in the stored signal history information. When there is signal history information to be transmitted, the “signal waiting time” included in the signal history information is notified, so that the actual signal waiting time can be notified to the driver.

  In the above-described embodiment, only the signal history information of the own device is stored and saved. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a server that integrates signal history information of other users on the Internet is provided. If you have the function of accessing this server and downloading the signal history information of other users, you can report the signal waiting time even if you wait for the signal at the traffic light on the road for the first time, for example. Become.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of one Embodiment by this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the signal history information stored in the data area of RAM102. It is a figure which shows the structure of the traffic signal information registered into the map database. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a signal detection process. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a signal detection process. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of a signal time announcement process.

Explanation of symbols

10 Waiting time notification device 100 CPU
101 ROM
102 RAM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 103 Operation part 104 Display part 105 Shooting camera part 106 GPS signal receiving part 107 Image processing part 108 Map database 109 Geomagnetic sensor 110 Time measuring part 111 Audio | voice output part

Claims (2)

Detecting means for detecting a traffic light from an image obtained by photographing the vehicle traveling direction;
When the detection means detects a traffic light, an acquisition means for acquiring the traffic light position, the vehicle traveling direction and the date and time;
Timing means for timing a signal waiting time until the traffic light detected by the detection means changes from a red signal to a blue signal;
A signal history storage means for storing the date and time acquired by the acquisition means, the vehicle traveling direction, and the signal waiting time measured by the timing means as signal history information associated with the traffic signal position acquired by the acquisition means;
When the traffic light detected by the detection means becomes a red signal and waits for a signal, the signal history information when the same traffic light was previously waited for a signal in the same time and direction is stored in the signal history storage means. Determining means for determining whether or not
Informing means for reading out and notifying the signal waiting time contained in the corresponding signal history information from the signal history storing means when it is judged by the judging means that the corresponding signal history information is stored. A waiting time notification device characterized by that. A detection process for detecting a traffic light from an image of the vehicle traveling direction;
When a traffic signal is detected by the detection process, an acquisition process for acquiring a traffic signal position, a vehicle traveling direction, and a date and time;
A timing process for timing a signal waiting time until the traffic light detected by the detection process changes from a red signal to a blue signal;
A signal history storage process for storing the date and time acquired by the acquisition process, the vehicle traveling direction and the signal waiting time measured by the timing process as signal history information associated with the traffic signal position acquired by the acquisition process; ,
When the traffic light detected by the detection process becomes a red signal and waits for a signal, it is determined whether or not the signal history information when the same traffic light was previously waited for a signal of the same time and traveling direction is stored. Discriminating process,
When it is determined by the determination process that the corresponding signal history information is stored, a notification unit that reads and notifies the signal waiting time included in the corresponding signal history information is executed by a computer. A waiting time notification program.