JP2010204958A - Lane recognition device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lane recognition device for a vehicle capable of recognizing a lane on which the vehicle is traveling, when communicating with a light projector/receiver, while suppressing the load on cost. <P>SOLUTION: This lane recognition device for a vehicle loaded on a vehicle, capable of acquiring information from an optical beacon is provided with a vehicle location acquisition means for acquiring the location of a vehicle; a map data storage means for storing map data; an imaging means for imaging the periphery of the vehicle; and a control means for determining whether or not a vehicle is approaching a prescribed area where the existence of the optical beacon is predicted, by using the location of the vehicle acquired by the vehicle location acquisition means and the map data, and for operating the imaging means when determining that the vehicle is approaching the prescribed area. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle lane recognition device mounted on a vehicle capable of acquiring information from an optical beacon.

  Conventionally, an information communication system in which road traffic information such as traffic jams and traffic regulations edited and processed at a VICS (registered trademark) center is transmitted to a vehicle and displayed in characters and figures on an in-vehicle device has been put into practical use. FM multiplex broadcasting, radio wave beacons, and optical beacons are used as means for transmitting road traffic information to vehicles. Among these, the optical beacon is a wireless sign that has a light receiver / receiver suspended on the road and performs optical communication with a vehicle using near infrared rays as a communication medium, and narrows the communicable area to about the lane width. Therefore, it is possible to provide different information according to the lane (for example, when the vehicle is traveling in the right turn lane, the traffic information on the right turn destination is provided). Accordingly, a signal including an ID number that differs for each corresponding lane is transmitted from each projector / receiver.

  The invention about the information provision apparatus classified by lane relevant to this is disclosed (for example, refer patent document 1). In this device, the vehicle lane is identified based on information (ID number) from a certain light emitter / receiver, and then the lane change made until the next intersection is detected by the white line recognition camera to determine the vehicle lane. It has been corrected.

  Moreover, the invention about the road-vehicle communication system which consists of vehicle equipment and a roadside apparatus is disclosed (for example, refer patent document 2). This system includes a light emitter / receiver corresponding to each lane and a vehicle detector that detects a vehicle in a sensing area provided in each lane corresponding to each light emitter / receiver.

  Further, when the projector / receiver receives uplink information transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device in a predetermined communication range provided in the corresponding lane, it is included in the lane number and uplink information of the lane corresponding to the projector / receiver. An invention relating to a road-to-vehicle communication system that transmits downlink information including lane notification information associated with a vehicle ID from a projector to a vehicle-mounted device is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 3). In this system, when it is determined that the vehicle ID is not associated with one lane number in the vehicle, control is performed to continue transmission of uplink information.

JP 2007-328521 A JP 2008-140121 A JP 2008-158873 A

  By the way, in the optical beacon, the communicable area can be narrowed down to about the lane width. However, the communicable area is not limited to a complete lane. There is an overlapping area that can communicate with the road on the road marking line. FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually showing such a state. When the vehicle is traveling in this overlapping area, information is acquired from the two projectors and receivers, and therefore the lane may not be recognized.

  In the apparatus described in Patent Document 1, consideration is not given to the case where the vehicle is traveling in the overlapping region, and the lane may not be recognized when the vehicle passes under the light projecting / receiving device. Moreover, since subsequent lane changes must be confirmed at all times, the power consumption of the white line recognition camera, the processing burden associated with image recognition, and durability are significant.

  On the other hand, in the systems described in Patent Documents 2 and 3, consideration is given to the case where the vehicle is traveling in the overlapping region.

  However, in the system described in Patent Document 2, the lane cannot be recognized when there is a parallel running vehicle passing through the vehicle detector at the same timing. In addition, the cost burden of installing the vehicle detector in correspondence with the projector / receiver is large.

  Further, in the system described in Patent Document 3, there is a possibility that communication with a plurality of light projecting / receiving devices is repeatedly established, which is not a sufficient measure.

  This invention is for solving such a subject, and provides the vehicle lane recognition apparatus which can recognize the lane which the vehicle is driving | running | working with an optical beacon, suppressing a cost burden. The main purpose.

In order to achieve the above object, one embodiment of the present invention provides:
A vehicle lane recognition device mounted on a vehicle capable of acquiring information from an optical beacon,
Vehicle position acquisition means for acquiring the position of the vehicle;
Map data storage means for storing map data;
Imaging means for imaging the periphery of the vehicle;
Using the position of the vehicle acquired by the vehicle position acquisition means and the map data, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is approaching a predetermined area where the optical beacon is expected to exist, and the vehicle is moved to the predetermined area. Control means for operating the imaging means when it is determined that
A vehicle lane recognition device comprising:

  According to this aspect of the present invention, since the imaging unit is operated as necessary, the cost burden can be suppressed. Then, by analyzing the captured image of the imaging means, the lane in which the vehicle is traveling can be recognized by the optical beacon.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicle lane recognition device capable of recognizing a lane in which a vehicle is traveling with an optical beacon while suppressing cost burden.

It is a figure which shows notionally a mode that the overlapping area | region which can communicate with both of two adjacent light projector / receivers exists on a road marking line. 1 is a system configuration example of a vehicle lane recognition device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the characteristic process which the camera operation control part 33 performs. FIG. 4 is an auxiliary explanatory diagram for assisting the description of the flowchart of FIG. 3. It is a figure which shows a mode that the vehicle is drive | working in the state which crossed the road lane line or was near to one side within the lane. It is a figure which shows a mode that it is judged which lane is driving | running | working, when the vehicle is drive | working in the state which crossed the road lane line, or was approaching to one side within the lane.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  Hereinafter, a vehicle lane recognition device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The vehicle lane recognition device 1 is a device mounted on a vehicle capable of receiving information from an optical beacon having a light projecting / receiving device (beacon head) suspended on a road.

  The light emitter / receiver is basically provided corresponding to each lane and emits downlink information (information transmitted from the center to the vehicle via the light emitter / receiver) (LED; Light Emitting Diode). And a photosensor that receives uplink information from the in-vehicle device (information transmitted from the vehicle to the center via the projector / receiver).

  FIG. 2 is a system configuration example of the vehicle lane recognition device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle lane recognition device 1 includes, as main components, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 10, an INS (Inertial Navigation System) sensor 12, a storage device 20, and a navigation control ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 30. And a lane recognition control ECU 50.

  The GPS receiver 10 receives a radio wave transmitted by a GPS satellite, demodulates it, and transmits a navigation message (satellite signal) included in the radio wave to the navigation control ECU 30. The navigation message includes information on the satellite orbit, the correction value of the satellite clock, the correction coefficient of the ionosphere, the health message indicating the operation state of the satellite itself, and the like.

  The INS sensor 12 includes, for example, a vehicle speed sensor and a gyro sensor. The output of the INS sensor 12 is transmitted to the navigation control ECU 30.

  The storage device 20 is, for example, a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) drive, a CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable) drive, or a flash memory, and the storage medium includes map data 22. Is remembered. The map data 22 represents, for example, an intersection or the like, a node point having coordinates (latitude, longitude), and a link that connects the node points and stores a road width, road curvature, and the number of lanes associated with the road. Expresses the shape. Further, the map data 22 includes the position of the intersection with a signal that is the target intersection of the optical beacon application (described later) and the position of the temporarily stopped intersection (hereinafter referred to as the target intersection).

  The navigation control ECU 30 is, for example, a computer unit in which a ROM, a RAM, and the like are connected to each other via a bus with a CPU at the center. In addition, a temporary storage device such as a flash memory, an I / O port, a timer, a counter, and the like Is provided. The ROM stores programs and data executed by the CPU. The navigation control ECU 30 includes a vehicle position calculation unit 31 and a camera operation control unit 33 as main functional blocks that function when the CPU executes a program stored in the ROM.

  The vehicle position calculation unit 31 analyzes navigation messages from a plurality of GPS satellites, and calculates the position of the vehicle (referring to latitude, longitude, and altitude). Specifically, the position (Xs, Ys, Zs) of each GPS satellite in the world coordinate system (for example, WGS84) is calculated from the satellite orbit information included in the navigation message, and the arrival time of radio waves (arrival time-transmission time) ) Is multiplied by the speed of light to calculate a pseudo distance between each GPS satellite and the vehicle, and the position of the vehicle is calculated based on the principle of triangulation using the pseudo distance and position calculated for a plurality of GPS satellites. Further, the vehicle position calculation unit 31 corrects the position of the vehicle based on the output of the INS 12 or the like.

  An information input / output device 35 is connected to the navigation control ECU 30. The information input / output device 35 includes, for example, a liquid crystal display configured as a touch panel, a speaker, a dedicated switch, and the like.

  The output control unit 32 generates a recommended route from the vehicle position calculated by the vehicle position calculation unit 31 to the destination set by the user, and controls the information input / output device 35 so that navigation display and voice guidance are performed. To do.

  The navigation control ECU 30 is connected to an optical beacon transmission / reception unit 40. The optical beacon transmission / reception unit 40 includes an optical beacon transceiver 42 and an information analysis device 44. The optical beacon transmitter / receiver 42 performs optical communication using a near infrared ray as a communication medium with a projector / receiver (beacon head) suspended on a road, and acquires information from the center. When the road traffic information is input from the optical beacon transmission / reception unit 40, the output control unit 32 displays the road traffic information instead of the navigation display or superimposes on the condition that the distance between the intersections is a predetermined distance or more. The information input / output device 35 is controlled so as to be displayed (operation of the optical beacon application).

  The camera operation control unit 33 will be described later.

  A camera 55 is connected to the lane recognition control ECU 50. The camera 55 is installed, for example, around a bumper or a license plate at the rear of the vehicle body, and includes a camera and a wide-angle lens using an image sensor such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS). The camera 55 has an optical axis directed obliquely downward at the rear of the vehicle, and images the rear of the vehicle. The captured image of the camera 55 is transmitted to the lane recognition control ECU 50 periodically (for example, for each imaging frame) as an image signal generated by an interlace method such as NTSC (National Television Standards Committee). In addition, the camera 55 of such an aspect can be shared with the camera used for the system which displays the scenery behind a vehicle at the time of parking, and can be implement | achieved without producing a new installation burden.

  The lane recognition control ECU 50 performs, for example, a pixel (road lane line candidate point) that is considered to correspond to a road lane line on the road by performing binarization processing, feature point extraction processing, and the like on the captured image of the camera 55. ) And the straight line of the selected road lane marking candidate points is recognized as the outline of the road lane marking. When the outline of the road lane marking is recognized, it is determined by a technique such as pattern matching whether it is drawn with a solid white line or a dashed white line.

  Then, lane recognition is performed using data on the number of lanes included in the map data 22. For example, if the road on which the vehicle is traveling is a three-lane road, and the right road lane line is a solid line and the left road lane line is a broken line when viewed from the vehicle, the vehicle is the third lane from the left. You know that you are driving on the road. As will be described later, when the vehicle is not traveling in the center of the lane (when traveling in a state of straddling the road lane), it is based on the distance between the vehicle center axis and the left and right road lanes. It is possible to determine which lane the vehicle is traveling on.

  Note that the lane recognition control ECU 50 may be integrated with the navigation control ECU 30 or the like instead of an independent control device. Conversely, the function of the camera operation control unit 33 to be described later may be provided in the lane recognition control ECU 50 instead of the navigation control ECU 30.

  By the way, if the camera 55 is always operated for such lane recognition, the power consumption of the camera 55, the processing load related to image recognition, and the durability are large. Therefore, in this embodiment, the camera operation control unit 33 performs control so that the camera 55 is operated in a scene where lane recognition is particularly necessary. The camera operation control unit 33 may be a function of the lane recognition control ECU 50 instead of the navigation control ECU 30.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of characteristic processing executed by the camera operation control unit 33. FIG. 4 is an auxiliary explanatory diagram for assisting the description of the flowchart.

  First, it is determined whether or not an intersection existing ahead of the host vehicle is the target intersection described above (S100; condition (1) in FIG. 4). When it is determined that the intersection existing ahead of the vehicle is not the target intersection described above, one routine of this flow is terminated without performing any processing.

  If it is determined that the intersection existing in front of the host vehicle is the target intersection described above, whether or not the distance L1 between the intersections existing before and after the vehicle is equal to or greater than the operation lower limit distance Lmin1 of the optical beacon application. Determine (S102; condition (2) in FIG. 4). When it is determined that the distance L1 is less than the operation lower limit distance Lmin1, one routine of this flow is terminated without performing any processing.

  If it is determined that the distance L1 is equal to or greater than the operation lower limit distance Lmin1, the distance L2 to the intersection ahead of the vehicle is calculated (S104). The distance calculation in this step can be performed, for example, by comparing the position of the vehicle calculated by the vehicle position calculation unit 31 with the position of the intersection in front of the vehicle.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the distance L2 to the intersection in front of the vehicle is equal to or less than the sum of the upper limit Lmax2 of the expected distance range from the intersection where the optical beacon is installed and the distance Llane necessary for lane recognition (S106). . When the distance L2 exceeds the sum of the upper limit distance Lmax2 and the distance Llane, the process waits until the distance L2 becomes less than this. Here, the upper limit distance Lmax2 may be stored in advance in a ROM or the like as a constant value, for example, or may be derived as a function corresponding to the distance L1 between the intersections. Note that the processing of this step is defined in the claims as follows: “A projector / receiver that transmits the optical beacon using the vehicle position acquired by the vehicle position acquisition unit and the map data may exist. It is determined whether or not a vehicle is approaching the area.

  When the distance L2 is equal to or smaller than the sum of the upper limit distance Lmax2 and the distance Llane, the camera 55 is operated to cause the lane recognition control ECU 50 to start lane recognition (S108; (3) in FIG. 4).

  And it waits until the distance L2 to the intersection ahead of a vehicle becomes below the upper limit Lmax2 of the estimated distance where an optical beacon is installed (S110).

  When the distance L2 is less than or equal to the upper limit Lmax2, it is determined whether or not information has been received from the optical beacon (S112), and this is continued until the distance L2 becomes the lower limit Lmin2 of the expected distance where the light emitter / receiver is installed ( S114). When the information from the optical beacon is not received until the distance L2 reaches the lower limit Lmin2 of the expected distance, the operation of the camera 55 is stopped (S116), and one routine of this flow is ended.

  On the other hand, when the information from the optical beacon is received during that time, it is determined whether or not the information from the plurality of light projectors / receivers is received (S118). As described above, the state that “information from a plurality of light projectors / receivers has been received” is generated when the vehicle is traveling in an overlapping area where both of the two adjacent light projectors / receivers can communicate.

  When information from a plurality of light projectors / receivers is not received, road traffic information is provided based on the received information (S120).

  When information from a plurality of light projecting / receiving devices is received, it is determined that the vehicle is traveling in a state where the vehicle straddles the road lane marking or close to one side in the lane (see FIG. 5). In this case, it is determined whether the vehicle is traveling on the left or right lane by the following method. Such processing is performed, for example, by the lane recognition control ECU 50.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating how to determine which lane the vehicle is traveling when the vehicle is traveling across a road lane line or traveling to one side of the lane. The lane recognition control ECU 50 derives the distances L and R between the vehicle central axis and the left and right road lane markings based on the position occupied by the road lane marking in the image.

  When both the distances L and R are found, as shown in the figure, if the distance L <the distance R, the right lane (the lane with the larger number in terms of lane number) among the plurality of lanes indicated by the information from the optical beacon ). On the other hand, if distance L> distance R, it can be determined that the vehicle is traveling in the left lane (lane with a smaller number in terms of lane number).

  When one of the distances L and R is unknown, as shown in the figure, if the distance L is unknown and the distance R <half lane width D / 2, a plurality of lanes indicated by information from the optical beacon It can be determined that the vehicle is driving in the left lane. In contrast, if the distance R is unknown and the distance L <half lane width D / 2, it can be determined that the vehicle is traveling in the left lane.

  Return to the description of the flowchart. When information from a plurality of light emitters / receivers is received, both the distances L and R are known, the distance L> the distance R, the distance L is unknown (indicated by * in the figure), and It is determined whether or not one of the conditions where the distance R <half lane width is satisfied (S122).

  When a positive determination is obtained in S122, it is determined that the vehicle is traveling in the left lane among the plurality of lanes indicated by the information from the optical beacon. Therefore, road traffic information is provided based on the information received from the left light projector / receiver as viewed from the vehicle (S124).

  When a negative determination is obtained in S122, both the distances L and R are known, the condition that the distance L <distance R, the distance R is unknown (indicated by ** in the figure), and the distance It is determined whether or not one of the conditions L <half lane width is satisfied (S126).

  When a positive determination is obtained in S126, it is determined that the vehicle is traveling in the right lane among the plurality of lanes indicated by the information from the optical beacon. Therefore, road traffic information is provided based on the information received from the right projector / receiver when viewed from the vehicle (S128).

  If a negative determination is obtained in both S122 and S126, the road traffic information is not provided because the lane in which the vehicle is traveling is unknown.

  When the processing of S118 to S128 is finished, the operation of the camera 55 is stopped (S116), and one routine of this flow is finished.

  According to the vehicle lane recognition device 1 of the present embodiment described above, the distance L2 to the intersection ahead of the vehicle is the upper limit Lmax2 of the expected distance range from the intersection where the optical beacon is installed and the distance Llane necessary for lane recognition. Since the camera 55 is operated and the lane recognition control ECU 50 starts the lane recognition when the sum is less than or equal to the sum, the lane in which the vehicle is traveling can be recognized by the optical beacon. Moreover, since the operation time of the camera 55 can be limited to a required scene, a cost burden can be suppressed.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. And substitutions can be added.

  For example, the camera 55 may capture the front of the vehicle, not the rear of the vehicle. In this case, the camera used for the lane keeping control system or the like can be shared.

  The present invention can be used in the automobile manufacturing industry, the automobile parts manufacturing industry, and the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle lane recognition apparatus 10 GPS receiver 12 INS sensor 20 Memory | storage device 22 Map data 30 ECU for navigation control
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 31 Vehicle position calculation part 32 Output control part 33 Camera operation control part 40 Optical beacon transmission / reception unit 42 Optical beacon transmitter / receiver 44 Information analysis apparatus 50 ECU for lane recognition control

Claims (1)

A vehicle lane recognition device mounted on a vehicle capable of acquiring information from an optical beacon,
Vehicle position acquisition means for acquiring the position of the vehicle;
Map data storage means for storing map data;
Imaging means for imaging the periphery of the vehicle;
Using the position of the vehicle acquired by the vehicle position acquisition means and the map data, it is determined whether the vehicle is approaching a predetermined area where the optical beacon is expected to exist, and the vehicle is moved to the predetermined area. Control means for operating the imaging means when it is determined that
A vehicle lane recognition device comprising:

Images