JP2011128948A - Autonomous movement support system in transportation facility - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an autonomous movement support system capable of obtaining a highly practicable traffic guide information provision system at low manufacturing cost by a simple system constitution, basically using existing fluorescent lighting fixtures provided at a station etc. as they are. <P>SOLUTION: The autonomous movement support system in a transportation facility includes: a plurality of LED lighting apparatuses 11 for yard illumination installed in a station yard each having an assigned ID code to identify an installed location, and supplying a visible light signal including the ID code and illumination light; and a mobile terminal 18 owned by a user 17. The mobile terminal includes: a visible light communication control part 43; and a signal processor 41 for extracting location information based on the ID code included in the visible light signal when the user enters a predetermined illuminated area, and the visible light communication control part receives the visible light signal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an autonomous movement support system in a transportation facility, and more particularly to an autonomous movement support system using visible light communication by an LED illuminator installed in a station premises of a transportation facility such as a railway.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a traffic guidance information processing apparatus, a traffic guidance system, and the like. In this traffic guidance system, for example, when a person using a railroad desires guidance to a destination, the traffic guidance system provides detailed traffic guidance information to the destination according to the desire of the user. A specific configuration of the traffic guidance system described in Patent Document 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following description of the prior art, the numbers described in parentheses are the numbers used in the description of Patent Document 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 of Patent Document 1, the user is provided with a portable terminal (10) having a visible light communication unit (46), and on the other hand, the traffic guidance system (1) side is composed of LEDs and A plurality of transceivers (36) having a visible light communication unit (70) and a server (20) are provided, and visible light communication is performed bidirectionally between each of the plurality of transceivers and the portable terminal, so that the user can Get guidance information including information. In the bidirectional communication between the traffic guidance system and the portable terminal, as described in paragraph 0083 of Patent Document 1, first, the visible light from the visible light communication unit (46) of the portable terminal (10) to the visible light of the transceiver (36). A signal is sent to the communication unit (70), and then the transceiver (36) receiving the signal sends it to the position information database (22G) of the server (20). The position information database (22G) of the server (20) includes unique data of the transceiver (36) included in the transmitted signal and information data representing the position of the transceiver (36) stored in advance. The position of the transmitter / receiver (36) that sent the signal is specified, the specified position information is transmitted to the transmitter / receiver (36), and the portable terminal (10) of the user is transmitted from the transmitter / receiver (36). The position information, that is, the current position information is transmitted. Thus, the user performs bidirectional visible light communication between the visible light communication unit (46) of the portable terminal (10) and the visible light communication unit (70) of the transceiver (36) of the traffic guidance system (1). The current position information is acquired via The information provided in this way is not limited to the position information, and other useful information can be provided in association with the position information.

JP 2009-85784 A

The traffic guidance system disclosed in Patent Document 1 has the following problems.
(1) Information transmission / reception between the portable terminal owned by the user and the traffic guidance system based on bidirectional communication between the visible light communication unit of the portable terminal and the visible light communication unit of the transceiver. The system configuration is complicated.
(2) About many transmitters and receivers provided in the traffic guidance system side, it is a means that is appropriately arranged in a facility such as a station and used for visible light communication, but the transmitter and receiver itself originally uses existing illuminators. There is no description of active use of illuminators. Therefore, the point of being specially installed as a dedicated device for visible light communication increases the cost of system production.

  In view of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to manufacture an existing fluorescent lamp illuminator fixture provided in a transportation facility such as a station by basically using it as it is and simplifying the system configuration. It is an object of the present invention to provide an autonomous movement support system in a transportation system that can provide sufficient guidance information to visually impaired persons by realizing a traffic guidance information providing system with low cost and high practicality.

  In order to achieve the above object, an autonomous movement support system in a transportation system according to the present invention is configured as follows.

The autonomous transportation support system (corresponding to claim 1) in the first transportation is
A plurality of LED illuminators for indoor lighting installed in a station of a transportation facility such as a railroad, each of which is assigned an ID code for specifying an installation location, and has a visible light communication control unit. The plurality of LED illuminators that give a visible light signal including an ID code to the illuminated specific area corresponding to the installation location together with the illumination light by the control unit, and
An ID code included in a visible light signal when the visible light communication control unit receives a visible light signal when the user enters the illuminated specific area, and is a portable terminal possessed by the user An information processing means for retrieving position information based on the mobile terminal,
Consists of

  In the above autonomous movement support system, when a user who is visually impaired or hearing impaired moves to each illuminated specific area of a plurality of LED illuminators installed for indoor lighting in the state of carrying the portable terminal. The position information corresponding to the location of the LED illuminator and the useful information related to the position are displayed by voice or the like in the case of a visually handicapped person, and displayed on the display unit of the portable terminal in the case of a hearing handicapped person. , Provided to users. The visible light communication means arranged in the station premises particularly preferably uses a tube type LED illuminator provided with a visible light communication control unit installed by using a fixture having a conventional fluorescent lamp tube installed. Therefore, the manufacturing cost required for system construction can be reduced.

  In an autonomous movement support system (corresponding to claim 2) in the second transportation system, in the above configuration, the LED illuminator is preferably a tube-type LED having the same shape and the same structure as the fluorescent lamp tube installed in the station premises. It is an illuminator and is characterized in that it can be attached to a fluorescent lamp tube fixture.

  In the autonomous transportation support system in the third transportation system (corresponding to claim 3), in the above configuration, the visible light signal included in the illumination light preferably includes information unique to the installation location in addition to the ID code. It is characterized by including.

  In the autonomous transportation support system in the fourth transportation system (corresponding to claim 4), in the above-mentioned configuration, the tube type LED illuminator is preferably configured so that two of the two cap terminals at both ends are provided at one end. The base terminal is used for power supply, and the two base terminals at the other end are used for communication.

  In an autonomous movement support system (corresponding to claim 5) in the fifth transportation system, in the above-mentioned configuration, the LED illuminator is preferably a light bulb type LED having a limited spot shape in which a specific area to be illuminated is substantially circular. It is an illuminator.

The autonomous transportation support system for transportation according to the present invention has the following effects.
A user who is visually impaired or hearing impaired has a plurality of LEDs installed for premises lighting in a state of possessing a dedicated portable terminal that enables visible light communication and can extract position data based on an ID code. When moving to each illumination target area of the illuminator, the position information corresponding to the installation location of the LED illuminator and, if necessary, useful information related to the position are indicated by voice or the like in the case of a visually impaired person. In the case of a person, the contents displayed on the display unit of the portable terminal can be provided to the user, and autonomous movement can be easily supported.
Further, in this autonomous movement support system, since the LED illuminator arranged in the station premises uses a circular tube type LED illuminator that is installed using a conventional fixture with a fluorescent lamp tube installed, the system The production cost required for construction can be reduced.

It is a figure which shows the typical example of the utilization state of the autonomous movement assistance system which concerns on this invention. It is a side view which shows the external appearance shape of a fluorescent lamp tubular LED illuminator. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the fluorescent lamp tubular LED illuminator, and the system configuration on the LED illuminator side. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of a visible light communication control part. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of a portable terminal. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content performed by the signal processing part provided in the inside of a portable terminal.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments (examples) of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a state where a user receives information from an LED illuminator using visible light communication, and FIG. 2 shows an enlarged fluorescent tube tubular LED illuminator. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes an LED illuminator, which irradiates illumination light to a specific illuminated area corresponding to the installation location. The LED illuminator 11 is exactly the same as a conventionally known fluorescent lamp tube in terms of appearance and electrical connection structure. That is, it is formed of a circular tube member 12 having a diameter and a length determined by a standard with respect to a conventional fluorescent lamp tube, and both ends of the circular tube member 12 are provided with caps 13A and 13B and sealed by the caps 13A and 13B. It has been stopped. However, in the LED luminous body, it is not essential to be in a vacuum state in order to generate discharge as in the fluorescent lamp tube, so the inside of the circular tube member 12 of the LED illuminator 11 is made to be vacuum. Not. The lower portion 12A of the circular tube member 12 is made of, for example, polycarbonate that enhances light diffusion, and the upper portion 12B is made of, for example, a heat sink type aluminum alloy. A large number of, for example, bullet-type light emitting diodes serving as LED light emitters are arranged inside the circular tube member 12. Many light emitting diodes are configured to emit white light. The structures of the caps 13A and 13B at both ends are the same as the caps of a conventional fluorescent lamp tube, and each has two metal terminals 14 toward the outside.

  The LED illuminator 12 is attached to an illuminator fixture 15. The illuminator fixture 15 includes sockets 15A and 15B at both ends. The illuminator fixture 15 is typically a known fluorescent lamp fixture that is conventionally installed on the ceiling 16 or other walls in a station or the like that is a railway transportation. The station premises also include platforms where trains enter. The LED illuminator 11 of the present invention is mounted using a large number of fluorescent lamp fixtures attached to the ceiling 16 or the like of the platform. In the description of this embodiment, visible light communication 20 is performed between the LED illuminator 11 and the mobile terminal 18 possessed by the user 17 based on the illumination light 19 provided from the LED illuminator 11. The mobile terminal 18 is a dedicated terminal device or a mobile phone. The portable terminal 18 acquires the ID information of the LED illuminator 11 via the visible light communication 20. The portable terminal 18 enables the user 17 to support autonomous movement based on the ID information of the LED illuminator 11. For this reason, in the autonomous movement support system which concerns on this embodiment, all the illuminators attached to the ceiling part 16 grade | etc., In a station premises (all those which were fluorescent lamp tubes conventionally) are LED illuminators 11. It is assumed. When the user 17 moves to the station premises, etc., the mobile terminal 18 is connected to each of the large number of LED illuminators 11 attached to the ceiling 16 or the like of the station premises according to the needs of the user 17 for movement. By performing visible light communication 20 one after another, autonomous movement support is provided to the visually impaired or hearing impaired user 17.

The internal structure of the LED illuminator 11 and the system configuration on the LED illuminator side will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.
As described above, the LED illuminator 11 is provided with a light emitting unit 21 including a plurality of light emitting diodes that emit white light for illumination inside a circular tube member 12 having the same shape as a fluorescent lamp. . The caps 13A and 13B are attached to both ends of the circular pipe member 12. Each of the two caps 13A and 13B has two metal terminals 14, which are inserted into the insertion holes of the sockets 15A and 15B. In this embodiment, the metal terminal 14 of one of the caps 13A, for example, has a function as a power connection terminal. The two power supply input lines of the light emitting unit 21 inside the LED illuminator 11 are connected to the two metal terminals 14 of the base 13A, respectively.

  The illuminator fixture 15 including the sockets 15A and 15B includes, for example, an inverter circuit 23 that converts commercial alternating current from the alternating current power source 22 into alternating current electricity such as a desired frequency. AC electricity output from the inverter circuit 23 is supplied to the light emitting unit 21 via the socket 15A and the metal terminal 14 of the base 13A.

  The remaining metal terminals 14 of the other cap 13B have the same mechanical structure as the metal terminals 14 of the cap 13A. However, as shown in FIG. 3, the base 13B has no electrical role and is in a free state. The two metal terminals 14 of the base 13B are inserted into the holes of the socket 15B and function only to fix one end of the circular tube member 12 of the LED illuminator 11.

  The LED illuminator 11 further includes a visible light communication control unit 24. The visible light communication control unit 24 is a space in the circular tube member 12 and is provided in a form attached to the light emitting unit 21. The AC power introduced through the two metal terminals 14 outside the base 13 </ b> A is supplied to the input end of the light emitting unit 21 via the visible light communication control unit 24. The visible light communication control unit 24 modulates AC electricity by a blinking signal having a frequency of 400 MHz, for example. In this way, the visible light communication control unit 24 controls the blinking operation of the light emission unit 21. The visible light communication control unit 24 puts arbitrary information on the blinking operation of the light emitting unit 21. The light emitting unit 21 emits normal illumination light 19 based on a high-frequency electrical signal given from the visible light communication control unit 24, and provides predetermined information by visible light communication 20 based on a blinking signal. In the present embodiment, the information provided by the visible light communication 20 is, in particular, an ID code that can specify the location where the LED illuminator 11 is installed. The ID code is set and allocated for each LED illuminator 11. Usually, one tubular member 12 is provided.

  FIG. 4 shows the internal structure of the visible light communication control unit 24. A modulation unit 31 modulates the alternating current electricity SIG1 supplied from the base 13A side. Information is superimposed on the alternating current by the modulation unit 31 that modulates the alternating current electricity SIG1, and the light emission drive signal SIG2 is output. Information used for modulation is provided from the data storage unit 32 to the modulation unit 31. The data storage unit 32 stores the above ID code. This ID code is given, for example, when the LED illuminator 11 is manufactured.

Note that the data stored and stored in the data storage unit 32 is not limited to the ID code, and may include other data. For example, the information may be information specific to the installation location of the LED illuminator 11.
As the above-mentioned specific information, regarding the position corresponding to the installation place of the LED illuminator 11, for example, information such as the first home first vehicle, the second home first vehicle on the platform in the station, or the correspondence Information on the overall operation of the train, such as “The train is delayed” or “Cancelled” for the train entering the platform, or “The next time you enter this home is Tokyo at 12:30 This is specific information that is more effective for the user, such as “Travel, this is the entrance of the fifth car”.
In the above case, the storage contents of the data storage unit 32 are preferably configured to be added or rewritten by the signal SIG3. When the information is specific to the installation location of the LED illuminator 11, the information is stored in the data storage unit 32 after the installation location of the LED illuminator 11 is determined. Further, after the LED illuminator 11 is installed on the ceiling 16 or the like in the station premises, it is also possible to change the storage content of the data storage unit 32 in the visible light communication control unit 24 by the signal SIG3. In this case, as shown by a two-dot chain line arrow 33 in FIG. 3, it is preferable to provide a signal SIG3 for changing data from the side of the metal terminal 14 provided on the other base 13B. The system configuration for providing the data change signal SIG3 using the metal terminal 14 on the base 13B side can be configured to be performed on-site using a portable change device, or from a host computer as required. The data change signal SIG3 can be always provided.

In addition, the data storage unit 32 may be configured so as not to have any data at an initial stage, and may be configured to provide data such as necessary position and related information from the management computer after the LED illuminator 11 is attached. it can. In this configuration, the metal terminal 14 of the base 13A functions as a power supply terminal for supplying power for light emission, and the metal terminal 14 of the base 13B serves as a communication terminal for sending a signal for supplying data. Will work.
Furthermore, a known PLC (Power Line Communications) function can be used. The PLC function is a function that can be used as a signal line, although it is a power line that supplies power for operating an electric device. Therefore, when the illuminator fixture 15 is equipped with a PLC function unit, communication for data transmission or the like can be performed using the power line. According to this configuration, it is only necessary to use the power line and the configuration related to the power line, and there is no need to separately lay a communication signal line, and there is an advantage that necessary communication can be performed. When the conventional illuminator fixture 15 is not equipped with a PLC function unit, it is desirable to replace the illuminator fixture 15 with a PLC function unit. More preferably, the PLC function unit may be provided inside the LED illuminator 11. In this case, a conversion adapter is built in the power supply unit of the LED illuminator 11, communication information is placed on the power line, and the required information is distributed by visible light communication by applying modulation.

  Next, the internal configuration of the mobile terminal 18 will be described with reference to FIG. In the portable terminal 18, 41 is a signal processing unit, 42 is a light receiving unit, 43 is a visible light communication control unit, 44 is a memory, 45 is a display unit, 46 is a display control driving unit, 47 is a sounding unit, and 48 is a sounding control drive. Part. The memory 44 stores a position / information calculation program 44A, an ID code / position conversion table 44B, and position related data 44C.

  The position / information calculation program 44A is a program for supporting autonomous movement, and is based on an ID code given by the visible light communication 20 from the latest LED illuminator 11 and information related to the position ( (Position related data). The ID code / position conversion table 44 </ b> B is a table showing a correspondence relationship between the ID code assigned to each of the plurality of LED illuminators 11 and the installation positions of the corresponding LED illuminators 11. Therefore, when the portable terminal 18 acquires the ID code, the installation position of the LED illuminator 11 to which the ID code is assigned can be known based on the ID code / position conversion table 44B. Since this LED illuminator 11 is closest to the place where the user 17 is present, the installation position thereof is the position of the user 17. Thus, the user 17 who is moving can know his current position through the visible light communication 20 between the LED illuminator 11 and the portable terminal 18 as shown in FIG. The current position is provided to the user 17 who has a visual impairment or a hearing impairment or the like by characters or images by the display unit 45 or by voice by the sound generation unit 47. Whether the display by the display unit 45 or the sound generation by the sound generation unit 47 is to be initially selected by the user 17 according to the situation of the user 17, for example.

  Furthermore, when the installation position of the LED illuminator 11, that is, the current position of the user 17 is acquired, unique data related to the current position, for example, the first vehicle 1st vehicle on the platform in the station yard, When there is data such as the number 1 home first vehicle, the data is retrieved and acquired from the position related data 44 </ b> C in the memory 44. These position-related data are also displayed on the display unit 45 or sounded by the sound generation unit 47 together with the information related to the current position, and are thus provided to the user 17.

  Next, processing contents executed by the signal processing unit 41 based on the position / information calculation program 44A in the portable terminal 18 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the first determination step S <b> 11, it is determined whether or not the ID code is acquired by the visible light communication 20. When no ID code is acquired (in the case of NO), a standby state without ID code acquisition is entered. When the ID code is acquired by the visible light communication 20, the determination step S11 is YES, and the process proceeds to step S12.

  The acquisition of the ID code is performed in advance by the visible light communication control unit 43 at a stage before the signal processing unit 41. When the visible light communication control unit 43 receives the illumination light related to the visible light communication 20 by the light receiving unit 42, the visible light communication control unit 43 converts the illumination light into an electrical signal and sends it to the visible light communication control unit 43. The visible light communication control unit 43 extracts a modulation signal from an electric signal having a predetermined frequency, and acquires an ID code from the bit sequence of the modulation signal. The visible light communication control unit 43 provides the acquired ID code to the signal processing unit 41.

  In the next step S12, position data is obtained based on the given ID code. That is, the position data corresponding to the ID code is acquired based on the given ID code and using the ID code / position conversion table 44B.

  In the next determination step S13, it is determined whether there is position-related data. In determination step S13, the contents of the position related data 44C prepared in the memory 44 are searched based on the acquired position data. If position related data associated with the position data exists, it is determined as YES, and if it does not exist, it is determined as NO. If it is determined NO in determination step S13, only the acquired position data is displayed on the display unit 45 or sounded from the sound generation unit 47 (step S14), and then the process proceeds to determination step S11 again. If it is determined YES in the determination step 13, data related to the acquired position data is extracted (step S15), and then the position data and the position related data are displayed together on the display unit 45 or The sound generation unit 47 generates a sound (step S16), and then the process proceeds to the determination step S11 again.

  Since the portable terminal 18 is possessed by the user 17 who is moving toward the destination, the LED illuminator 11 to which the portable terminal 18 performs visible light communication according to the movement of the user. Will change. Therefore, the LED illuminator 11 to be determined as “ID code has been acquired” in the determination step S <b> 11 changes according to the movement of the user 17.

  In the above description of the embodiment, the memory 44 of the mobile terminal 18 has the specific information related to the position as the position related data 44C. However, as described above, the visible light communication of the LED illuminator 11 is performed. The specific information may be prepared in the data storage unit 32 of the control unit 24.

  In the description of the above embodiment, an example similar to a fluorescent lamp tube has been described as the LED illuminator. However, another example of the LED illuminator may be configured similarly even if it is a light bulb type LED illuminator. In this case, the light bulb-type LED illuminator is limited to a substantially circular spot in the illumination range for illumination, but in that sense, it is possible to acquire limited accurate current position information. Furthermore, in the light bulb-type LED illuminator, since there is only one base part connected to a socket provided in the ceiling or the like, according to the above embodiment, the configuration using only the base 13A is substantially the same. The same.

  The configurations, shapes, sizes, and arrangement relationships described in the above embodiments are merely schematically shown to the extent that the present invention can be understood and implemented, and the numerical values and the compositions (materials) of the respective components Is just an example. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, and can be variously modified without departing from the scope of the technical idea shown in the claims.

  An autonomous movement support system in a transportation system according to the present invention has a visible light communication function in a number of LED illuminators similar to fluorescent lamp tubes or the like arranged in a station premises in a transportation system such as a railway, and the LED illumination. Based on the ID code assigned to the device, it can be used to acquire data such as the current position of the user using a dedicated portable terminal.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 LED illuminator 12 Circular pipe member 13A, 13B Base 14 Metal terminal 15 Illuminator fixture 15A, 15B Socket 16 Ceiling part 17 User 18 Portable terminal 19 Illumination light 20 Visible light communication 21 Light emitting unit 22 AC power supply 24 Visible light communication Control unit 31 Modulation unit 32 Data storage unit

Claims (5)

A plurality of LED illuminators installed on the premises of a station, each of which is assigned an ID code for specifying an installation location and has a visible light communication control unit, and the visible light communication control unit provides the ID code A plurality of the LED illuminators for providing a visible light signal including illumination light to an illumination target specific area corresponding to the installation location, together with illumination light;
A portable terminal possessed by a user, and when the user enters the illumination light specific area, the visible light communication control unit receives the visible light signal and converts the visible light signal into the visible light signal. The portable terminal comprising information processing means for extracting position information based on the included ID code;
An autonomous movement support system in transportation, characterized by comprising   The said LED illuminator is a tube-type LED illuminator of the same shape and the same structure as the fluorescent lamp tube installed in the station premises, and is attached to an existing fluorescent lamp tube mounting fixture. Autonomous movement support system in transportation.   2. The autonomous movement support system in a transportation system according to claim 1, wherein the visible light signal included in the illumination light includes information unique to an installation location in addition to the ID code.   In the tube type LED illuminator, two cap terminals at one end of two cap terminals at both ends are used for power supply, and two cap terminals at the other end are used for communication. The autonomous movement support system in a transportation facility according to claim 2.   2. The autonomous movement support system in a transportation system according to claim 1, wherein the LED illuminator is a light bulb type LED illuminator having a limited spot shape in which the specific area to be illuminated is substantially circular.

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