JP2010068208A - Position estimating device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a position estimating device for reducing an amount of communication in vehicle-to-vehicle communication performed in estimating a position of peripheral vehicles, in an environment where the peripheral vehicles are present outside an area where the vehicle-to-vehicle communication is directly possible. <P>SOLUTION: The position estimation device is provided with: a vehicle-to-vehicle communication machine 2 for acquiring position information on communication vehicles B to D, area information about second communication areas Sb to Sd, where the vehicle-to-vehicle communication from the communication vehicles B to D is directly possible, and a vehicle ID for identifying a second peripheral vehicle X positioned inside the second communication areas Sb, Sc from the respective communication vehicles B to D positioned inside a first communication area Ra where vehicle-to-vehicle communication from own vehicle A is directly possible; and an other vehicles data processing part 3 for calculating, as an area having a possibility for the second peripheral vehicle X to be positioned, a position estimation area T outside the first communication area Ra inside the second communication areas Sb, Sc where the second peripheral vehicle X is included, on the basis of the information acquired from the vehicle-to-vehicle communication machine 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a position estimation device that estimates the position of a surrounding vehicle by inter-vehicle communication.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to estimate the position of a surrounding vehicle, etc., a device that performs communication between vehicles, that is, communication between vehicles is known. For example, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, when estimating the position of a surrounding vehicle in an environment where the surrounding vehicle exists outside an area where vehicle-to-vehicle communication is directly possible, communication with the surrounding vehicle is attempted. Is relayed using a repeater. This repeater determines the priority of information received from surrounding vehicles, and determines whether to preferentially process this information based on this priority.
JP 2008-11343 A

  In an environment in which surrounding vehicles exist outside an area where communication between vehicles can be directly performed, in the technology described in Patent Document 1, communication is performed indirectly between vehicles via a repeater. The amount of communication increases due to duplication. As a result, the communication capacity of the vehicle and the repeater may be insufficient, and transmission / reception of necessary information may be difficult.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a position estimation device capable of reducing the amount of communication in the inter-vehicle communication performed when estimating the position of the surrounding vehicle in an environment where the surrounding vehicle exists outside an area where the inter-vehicle communication is directly possible. The purpose is to provide.

  That is, the position estimation apparatus according to the present invention is a position estimation apparatus that is attached to the own vehicle and estimates the position of a surrounding vehicle by inter-vehicle communication, and is in a first communication area in which inter-vehicle communication from the own vehicle is directly possible. Position information of the first surrounding vehicle from the first surrounding vehicle located, area information relating to the second communication area in which inter-vehicle communication from the first surrounding vehicle is directly possible, and a second located in the second communication area Based on the acquisition means for acquiring the identification information for identifying the surrounding vehicle, and the position information, area information, and identification information acquired by the acquisition means, in the second communication area including the second surrounding vehicle And a calculating means for calculating an area outside the first communication area as an area having a possibility that the second surrounding vehicle is located.

  In the present invention, based on the position information, area information, and identification information acquired from the first surrounding vehicle by the acquiring means, the second surrounding vehicle is included in the second communication area and outside the first communication area. The area is calculated by the calculating means as an area having a possibility that the second surrounding vehicle is located. In this way, the above-mentioned area outside the first communication area is calculated as an area where the second surrounding vehicle is likely to be located without performing indirect communication between the vehicles via the repeater. For this reason, the amount of communication can be reduced as compared with the case where communication is performed indirectly via a repeater that duplicates information of the same content to increase the amount of communication. From this, it is possible to further reduce the possibility that the communication capacity of the vehicle and the repeater is insufficient. As a result, the amount of communication in the inter-vehicle communication performed when the position of the surrounding vehicle (that is, the second surrounding vehicle) is estimated in an environment where the surrounding vehicle exists outside the area where the inter-vehicle communication can be directly performed (that is, the first communication area). Can be reduced.

  Further, the acquisition means acquires position information, area information, and identification information from each of the plurality of first surrounding vehicles located in the first communication area, and the calculation means includes a plurality of second information acquired by the acquisition means. Based on each position information, area information, and identification information of one neighboring vehicle, a region that is outside the first communication area is within a region where a plurality of second communication areas including the second neighboring vehicle are overlapped. It is also preferable to calculate as a region having a possibility that two neighboring vehicles are located.

  Thus, based on the position information, area information, and identification information of each of the plurality of first surrounding vehicles acquired by the acquiring unit, the plurality of second communication areas including the second surrounding vehicle are within the overlapping area. Thus, the area outside the first communication area is calculated by the calculating means as the area having the possibility that the second surrounding vehicle is located. As described above, the second peripheral vehicle is narrowed down to a region where the plurality of second communication areas overlap as a region where the second surrounding vehicle may be located. As a result, the accuracy in estimating the position of the surrounding vehicle (that is, the second surrounding vehicle) can be improved.

  According to the present invention, in an environment in which a surrounding vehicle exists outside an area where vehicle-to-vehicle communication is directly possible, the amount of communication in the vehicle-to-vehicle communication performed when estimating the position of the surrounding vehicle can be further reduced.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In order to facilitate understanding of the description, the same components in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible, and redundant description will be omitted.

  First, the configuration of the position estimation apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a position estimation apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. The position estimation device 10 is a device that is attached to the host vehicle (for example, a passenger car) and estimates the positions of surrounding vehicles (for example, other passenger cars) that exist around the host vehicle by performing wireless inter-vehicle communication.

  The position estimation device 10 includes a transmission data generation unit 1, an inter-vehicle communication device 2 (acquisition unit), and another vehicle data processing unit 3 (calculation unit) as a functional configuration. The functions of the transmission data generation unit 1, the inter-vehicle communication device 2, and the other vehicle data processing unit 3 are realized by, for example, an ECU (Electronic Control Unit, not shown) that is an electronic control device mounted inside the host vehicle. Is done. The ECU is a unit whose main component is a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like.

  The transmission data generation unit 1 is a part that periodically generates own vehicle data (own vehicle information) that is information about the own vehicle. The own vehicle data includes position information regarding the own vehicle at the time of data generation, area information, vehicle ID, speed information, and moving direction information. Here, the position information of the host vehicle is information indicating the current position of the host vehicle detected by receiving a radio signal from, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite (for example, information on latitude and longitude). The area information of the own vehicle is information indicating the first communication area (for example, information on the center position and radius of the area) that is the minimum necessary range in which inter-vehicle communication from the current position of the own vehicle is directly possible. is there. The vehicle ID of the host vehicle is identification information for identifying the host vehicle from other vehicles (for example, information indicated by a license plate, information indicating whether the vehicle is an emergency vehicle such as an ambulance or a fire engine, etc.). is there.

  The inter-vehicle communication device 2 is an antenna unit-attached communication device that transmits and receives various data including the above-described data by inter-vehicle communication with a communication vehicle (first peripheral vehicle) located in the first communication area. More specifically, the inter-vehicle communication device 2 is connected to the communication vehicle located in the first communication area, the vehicle data generated by the transmission data generation unit 1, and other communication vehicles located in the first communication area. The vehicle ID is periodically transmitted. Since the data amount of the vehicle ID of another communication vehicle is relatively small with respect to the data amount of the own vehicle data, there is almost no influence due to the increase in the data amount due to the addition of the vehicle ID to the own vehicle data.

  The inter-vehicle communication device 2 periodically receives other vehicle data from a communication vehicle located in the first communication area. The other vehicle data includes position information, area information, vehicle ID, speed information, and moving direction information regarding the communication vehicle. Here, the position information is information indicating the current position of the communication vehicle. Moreover, this area information is information which shows the 2nd communication area which is the minimum required range which can directly communicate between vehicles from the present position of this communication vehicle. The vehicle ID is information for identifying the second surrounding vehicle located in the second communication area from other vehicles. Here, the second peripheral vehicle is a vehicle whose presence position may be noticed by the driver of the position estimation device 10. The inter-vehicle communication device 2 can receive other vehicle data from each of the plurality of communication vehicles located in the first communication area.

  In addition, the speed information of the communication vehicle received using the inter-vehicle communication device 2 and the speed information of the host vehicle can be transmitted to each other using the inter-vehicle communication device 2 with another communication vehicle. As a result, the driver of the own vehicle can know the moving speed of surrounding communication vehicles (for example, the moving speed exceeding the legal speed), so that the accident prevention such as changing the moving speed or moving route of the own vehicle is prevented. Will be able to take advance action for.

  Based on the other vehicle data acquired by the inter-vehicle communication device 2, the other vehicle data processing unit 3 is an area within the second communication area including the second peripheral vehicle and outside the first communication area (hereinafter referred to as position). (Referred to as “estimated area”) is a part that is calculated by narrowing down as an area having a possibility that the second surrounding vehicle is located. Since the position estimation area is an area outside the first communication area, direct vehicle-to-vehicle communication is not performed between the second surrounding vehicle in the position estimation area and the host vehicle. The other vehicle data processing unit 3 includes a vehicle processing unit 4 within the communication area and a vehicle processing unit 5 outside the communication area. Based on the other vehicle data, the in-communication area vehicle processing unit 4 calculates a region within the second communication area including the second surrounding vehicle, while the out-communication area vehicle processing unit 5 calculates the in-communication area vehicle. A position estimation area within the area calculated by the processing unit 4 and outside the first communication area is calculated.

  As a result, a position estimation region within the second communication area including the second peripheral vehicle and outside the first communication area is calculated. The other vehicle data processing unit 3 is a region where the plurality of second communication areas including the second surrounding vehicles overlap most based on the other vehicle data of each of the plurality of communication vehicles acquired by the inter-vehicle communication device 2. A position estimation area that is inside and outside the first communication area can be calculated as an area having a possibility that the second surrounding vehicle is located.

  In addition, when the other vehicle data processing unit 3 calculates the position estimation area as an area where the second surrounding vehicle may be located, information on the position estimation area is displayed on a display (display) installed in the own vehicle. Output to the means) and display. Furthermore, when it is determined that the second surrounding vehicle is an emergency vehicle such as an ambulance or a fire engine, the moving status of the emergency vehicle based on the speed information and the moving direction status can be displayed on the display. Accordingly, since the driver of the own vehicle can know the movement status of the emergency vehicle, it is possible to take advance measures for accident prevention, such as changing the moving speed and moving route of the own vehicle. It becomes like this.

  2, the other vehicle data processing unit 3 calculates the position estimation region as a region where the second surrounding vehicle may be located based on the other vehicle data acquired by the inter-vehicle communication device 2. The details will be described. FIG. 2 shows a position estimation based on the other vehicle data acquired by the inter-vehicle communication device 2 and within the region where the plurality of second communication areas including the second surrounding vehicle overlap most and outside the first communication area. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the detail at the time of the other vehicle data processing part 3 calculating an area | region as an area | region which has a possibility that a 2nd surrounding vehicle may be located. Here, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that all the communication areas have a circular shape, but the shape of the communication area is not particularly limited, and may be a rectangle or a polygon. In addition, the number of communication vehicles located in the first communication area is not particularly limited.

  First, the inter-vehicle communication device 2 of the own vehicle A located at a point A in FIG. 2 is a communication vehicle B, C located in the first communication area Ra (a circular area with a radius d centering on the communication vehicle A). , D are received from other vehicle data. The other vehicle data received from the communication vehicle B includes position information, area information, and vehicle ID regarding the communication vehicle B. Here, this position information is information indicating the current position of the communication vehicle B. The area information is information indicating a second communication area Sb (a circular area having a radius d with the communication vehicle B as the center), which is a range in which vehicle-to-vehicle communication from the communication vehicle B is directly possible. The vehicle ID is information for identifying the second peripheral vehicle X located in the second communication area Sb and the communication vehicle A (when viewed from the communication vehicle B) from other vehicles. .

  Similarly, the other vehicle data received from the communication vehicle C includes position information about the communication vehicle C, area information, and a vehicle ID. Here, this position information is information indicating the current position of the communication vehicle C. The area information is information indicating a second communication area Sc (a circular area having a radius d with the communication vehicle C as the center), which is a range in which vehicle-to-vehicle communication from the communication vehicle C is directly possible. The vehicle ID is information for identifying the second surrounding vehicle X and the communication vehicle A (when viewed from the communication vehicle C) located in the second communication area Sc from other vehicles. .

  Further, the other vehicle data received from the communication vehicle D includes position information, area information, and vehicle ID related to the communication vehicle D. Here, this position information is information indicating the current position of the communication vehicle D. The area information is information indicating a second communication area Sd (a circular area having a radius d with the communication vehicle D as the center), which is a range in which vehicle-to-vehicle communication from the communication vehicle D is directly possible. Further, the vehicle ID is information for identifying the communication vehicle A (when viewed from the communication vehicle D) located in the second communication area Sd from other vehicles.

  Next, the vehicle processing unit 4 in the communication area of the host vehicle A is an area in which all of the second communication areas Sb and Sc including the second surrounding vehicle X are overlapped based on the other vehicle data. Is calculated. On the other hand, the vehicle processing unit 5 outside the communication area of the host vehicle A is within the region calculated by the vehicle processing unit 4 within the communication area and outside the first communication area Ra (ie, the abbreviation in FIG. 2). (Triangular shaded area) is specified. Then, the calculated position estimation region T is calculated as a region having a possibility that the second surrounding vehicle X is located.

  Next, details of calculating the position estimation area using a mathematical expression as an area where the second surrounding vehicle may be located will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is an xy coordinate plane for explaining details when the position estimation area is calculated as an area having a possibility that the second surrounding vehicle is located in the situation shown in FIG.

  First, in the xy coordinate system in which the position coordinates of the host vehicle A are coordinates A (Xa, Ya) and the coordinates A (Xa, Ya) are the origin (that is, Xa = Ya = 0), the communication vehicles B, C, The position coordinates of D are defined as coordinates B (Xb, Yb), coordinates C (Xc, Yc), and coordinates D (Xd, Yd). Further, the position coordinates of the second peripheral vehicle X are set as coordinates X (X, Y). Here, Xb to Xd and Yb to Yd are constants, X and Y are variables, and the radius d is also a constant.

Here, as described above, since the second peripheral vehicle X is located in the second communication area Sb, which is a circular area having a radius d with the coordinate B as the center, as shown in the following formula (1). The distance between the coordinates B and the coordinates X is less than d.

Similarly, as described above, the second surrounding vehicle X is located in the second communication area Sc, which is a circular area having a radius d with the coordinate C as the center, so that the following formula (2) is satisfied. The distance between coordinate C and coordinate X is less than d.

Further, as described above, since the second peripheral vehicle X is located outside the second communication area Sd, which is a circular area having a radius d with the coordinate D as the center, as shown in the following formula (3), The distance between coordinates D and X is greater than d.

Further, as described above, since the second peripheral vehicle X is located outside the first communication area Ra, which is a circular area having a radius d with the coordinate A as the center, as shown in the following formula (4), The distance between coordinate A and coordinate X is greater than d.

  Here, the other vehicle data processing unit 3 calculates the coordinates X that satisfy all of the above formulas (1) to (4). In order to calculate the position estimation region more correctly, it is preferable that more coordinates X are calculated. In the xy coordinate system with the coordinate A (Xa, Ya) as the origin, a region including the calculated coordinate X is calculated as a region where the second surrounding vehicle is likely to be located.

  Next, a series of processing steps from reception of each data to calculation of a region where the second surrounding vehicle may be located, which is executed by the position estimation device 10, will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a series of processes executed by the position estimation apparatus 10.

  First, when the inter-vehicle communication device 2 receives the above-described data by inter-vehicle communication (step S01), the other vehicle data processing unit 3 selects the first communication from the other vehicle data acquired by the inter-vehicle communication device 2. The vehicle ID of the second surrounding vehicle located outside the area is extracted (step S02). Then, the other vehicle data processing unit 3 determines whether or not the extracted vehicle ID includes the vehicle ID of the vehicle of interest (step S03). The vehicle of interest is a vehicle in which the driver of the vehicle is paying attention to the location in order to prevent a collision accident or a contact accident and ensure safety. Examples of the vehicle of interest include emergency vehicles such as ambulances and fire engines. The vehicle ID of the vehicle of interest is registered and set in advance in the ECU by this driver.

  Here, when the vehicle ID extracted by the other vehicle data processing unit 3 does not include the vehicle ID of interest, which is the vehicle ID of the vehicle of interest, this series of processing ends. On the other hand, if the vehicle ID extracted by the other vehicle data processing unit 3 includes the vehicle ID of interest, the second surrounding vehicle indicated by the vehicle ID of interest is set as the vehicle of interest whose position should be estimated at the present time. Determine (step S04). That is, the second peripheral vehicle indicated by the vehicle ID of interest is referred to as the second peripheral vehicle X described above.

  Next, the other vehicle data processing unit 3 selects other vehicle data related to the communication vehicle in which the equation setting process is not processed (step S05). Then, the other vehicle data processing unit 3 determines whether or not the second peripheral vehicle X indicated by the vehicle of interest ID is included in the second communication area in which the vehicle-to-vehicle communication from the selected communication vehicle is directly possible ( Step S06). When the second surrounding vehicle X is included in the second communication area, the distance between the position coordinate of the selected communication vehicle and the coordinate X as in the above formulas (1) and (2). A first equation indicating that is less than d is set (step S07). And it transfers to below-mentioned step S09.

  On the other hand, when the second surrounding vehicle X is not included in the second communication area, the distance between the position coordinate of the selected communication vehicle and the coordinate X is represented by d as shown in the equation (3). A second equation indicating a large value is set (step S08). And it transfers to below-mentioned step S09.

  Next, in step S09, the other vehicle data processing unit 3 determines whether or not other vehicle data relating to the communication vehicle for which the equation setting process is not yet processed exists (step S09). If there is still other vehicle data relating to a communication vehicle for which this setting process has not been processed, the process returns to step S05 and proceeds. On the other hand, when there is no other vehicle data related to the communication vehicle for which this setting process has not yet been processed, the other vehicle data processing unit 3 uses the equations shown by all of the above-described formulas (1) to (3). The position estimation area is calculated as an area where there is a possibility that the second surrounding vehicle is located based on the equation shown by the mathematical expression (4) set in advance in the ECU (step S10).

  Next, the other vehicle data processing unit 3 determines whether or not there is a vehicle of interest that has not undergone the position estimation region calculation process (step S11). If there is still a vehicle of interest for which this calculation process has not been processed, the process returns to step S04 and proceeds. On the other hand, when there is no vehicle of interest that has not undergone this calculation process, the series of processes ends.

  Continuously, the effect of this embodiment is demonstrated. According to the present embodiment, the first communication is performed in the second communication area including the second peripheral vehicle X based on the position information, the area information, and the vehicle ID acquired from the communication vehicle by the inter-vehicle communication device 2. The position estimation area outside the area is calculated by the other vehicle data processing unit 3 as an area having a possibility that the second surrounding vehicle X is located. As described above, the position estimation area outside the first communication area is calculated as an area where the second surrounding vehicle X is likely to be located without indirectly communicating between the vehicles via the repeater. The

  For this reason, compared with the case where it communicates indirectly via the repeater which duplicates the information of the same content and increases communication amount, communication amount can be decreased. From this, it is possible to further reduce the possibility that the communication capacity of the vehicle and the repeater is insufficient. As a result, in the inter-vehicle communication performed when estimating the position of the surrounding vehicle (that is, the second surrounding vehicle X) in an environment where the surrounding vehicle exists outside the area where the vehicle-to-vehicle communication is directly possible (that is, the first communication area). The amount of communication can be reduced. In addition, if there is an emergency vehicle, such as an ambulance or fire engine, in the surrounding area outside the first communication area, and if it exists, the existence area can be known. can do.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, although each of the transmission data generation unit 1 and the other vehicle data processing unit 3 is an individual component in the above-described embodiment, the component may be a combination of these.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a position estimation apparatus according to the present embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the detail at the time of calculating a position estimation area | region as an area | region which has a possibility that a 2nd surrounding vehicle may be located. It is an xy coordinate plane for demonstrating the detail at the time of calculating a position estimation area | region using numerical formula. It is a flowchart for demonstrating a series of flows of the process performed with a position estimation apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Transmission data production | generation part, 2 ... Inter-vehicle communication machine, 3 ... Other vehicle data processing part, 4 ... Vehicle processing part in communication area, 5 ... Vehicle processing part outside communication area, 10 ... Position estimation apparatus, A ... Own vehicle, BD ... communication vehicle, Ra ... first communication area, Sb-Sd ... second communication area, T ... position estimation area, X ... second peripheral vehicle.

Claims (2)

A position estimation device that is attached to the host vehicle and estimates the position of a surrounding vehicle by inter-vehicle communication,
From the first surrounding vehicle located in the first communication area where the vehicle-to-vehicle communication from the own vehicle can be directly performed, the second communication capable of directly performing the vehicle-to-vehicle communication from the first surrounding vehicle. Acquisition means for acquiring area information about the area, and identification information for identifying the second surrounding vehicle located in the second communication area;
Based on the position information, the area information, and the identification information acquired by the acquisition means, an area within the second communication area including the second surrounding vehicle and outside the first communication area. Calculating means for calculating as a region having a possibility that the second surrounding vehicle is located;
A position estimation apparatus comprising: The acquisition means acquires the position information, the area information, and the identification information from each of the plurality of first surrounding vehicles located in the first communication area,
The calculating means includes a plurality of the second surrounding vehicles including the second surrounding vehicles based on the position information, the area information, and the identification information of the plurality of first surrounding vehicles acquired by the acquiring means. Calculating a region within the overlapping area of the two communication areas and outside the first communication area as a region where the second surrounding vehicle may be located;
The position estimation apparatus according to claim 1.

Images