JP2012168113A - Information processor and information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor capable of accurately determining whether a vehicle is traveling on an elevated road or under the elevated road.SOLUTION: A navigation 1 acquires a position of an own vehicle based on GPS information transmitted from a GPS receiver 2. Also, the navigation 1 acquires other vehicle position information and a GPS reception intensity signal for acquiring the other vehicle position information via an inter-vehicle communication device 4. Further, based on the acquired other vehicle position information and GPS reception intensity signal, the navigation device 1 acquires a three-dimensional position of another vehicle which indicates whether the other vehicle is traveling on an elevated road or under the elevated road. Thus, based on the position of the own vehicle and the three-dimensional position of the other vehicle, the navigation 1 determines a possibility of collision of the own vehicle and the other vehicle.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, and more particularly, to an information processing apparatus that performs a three-dimensional position of another vehicle and information processing using the same.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent vehicles, navigation devices are widely used in order to provide a driving route of a vehicle to a driver or the like. In the navigation device, a GPS device is mainly used to determine the road on which the host vehicle is traveling. Although the GPS device can detect latitude and longitude information with relatively high accuracy, it is difficult to detect three-dimensional information including height information. For this reason, it is difficult to detect with a GPS device whether a vehicle is traveling on a general road or an elevated road when traveling on a general road that is an elevated road with an elevated road in the sky. .

  In response to this problem, a car navigation system is disclosed that determines whether the vehicle is traveling on the top or the bottom when the road is parallel to the top and bottom by monitoring the reception status of GPS radio waves. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). This car navigation system utilizes the fact that there are a plurality of GPS satellites that transmit GPS radio waves, detects a non-receivable area where GPS satellites that could not receive GPS radio waves exist, Based on the above, it is determined whether or not the host vehicle is on an overpass.

JP 2002-174528 A

  However, in the car navigation system disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is determined whether or not the host vehicle is elevated based on the unreceivable area. However, the unreceivable area is affected by the surrounding reception environment. In many cases, errors occur. For example, when traveling on an elevated road, GPS signals may not be received due to the shadow of a large vehicle, and conversely even if it is traveling on a general road under an elevated road In some cases, the reception environment is ready and GPS signals can be received. As described above, the error in the unreceivable area is likely to occur depending on the surrounding reception environment, and thus there is a problem that the accuracy of the determination as to whether or not the vehicle is traveling on an elevated road is not sufficient.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to accurately determine whether a traveling road is an elevated road or an elevated road when a vehicle is traveling on either the elevated road or the elevated road. It is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of

  An information processing apparatus according to the present invention that has solved the above-described problems is an other vehicle that receives other vehicle position information related to the traveling position of the other vehicle transmitted from the other vehicle and a GPS received intensity signal related to the strength of the GPS signal received by the other vehicle. It is characterized by comprising information receiving means and other vehicle three-dimensional position estimating means for estimating the three-dimensional position of the other vehicle based on the other vehicle position information and the GPS received intensity signal transmitted from the other vehicle.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention estimates the three-dimensional position of the other vehicle based on the other vehicle position information and the GPS received intensity signal transmitted from the other vehicle. Usually, when traveling on an elevated road, the intensity of the GPS signal is large, and when traveling on an elevated road, the elevated road becomes a shield and the intensity of the GPS signal decreases. Therefore, the vehicle is traveling when the vehicle is traveling on either the elevated road or the elevated road by estimating the three-dimensional position of the other vehicle based on the other vehicle position information and the GPS received intensity signal. It is possible to accurately determine whether the road is an elevated road or a road under the elevated road.

  At this time, based on the own vehicle position acquisition means for acquiring own vehicle position information related to the own vehicle position and the other vehicle three-dimensional position information related to the own vehicle position information and the other vehicle three-dimensional position, a collision between the own vehicle and the other vehicle occurs. It is possible to adopt a mode further comprising collision determination means for determining the possibility.

  When there is an elevated road below the elevated road, collisions between vehicles often occur on a general road that intersects the elevated road, and rarely occurs on the elevated road. In this regard, in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to accurately determine whether another vehicle is traveling on an elevated road or an elevated road. It can be effectively prevented. Furthermore, since it is possible to exclude other vehicles traveling on the elevated road when performing the collision determination, it is possible to reduce the calculation load.

  Further, the collision determination means determines the possibility of collision between the other vehicle and the host vehicle based on the other vehicle three-dimensional position information in the plurality of other vehicles, and is the distance between the other vehicles. The distance between other vehicles that obtains the distance between the vehicles, and the distance between other vehicles that is within the predetermined threshold among the plurality of distances between other vehicles that are obtained by the distance obtaining means between other vehicles. A collision possibility correcting unit that corrects the possibility of collision between the host vehicle and another vehicle based on the number can be employed.

  When traveling on an elevated road or a road under an elevated road, vehicles often approach each other and many other vehicles are traveling around the vehicle. For this reason, based on the number of other vehicles in which the distance between other vehicles is within a predetermined threshold among the plurality of other vehicle distances acquired by the other-vehicle distance acquisition means, It is possible to accurately determine whether the road on which the other vehicle is traveling is an elevated road or an underpass road. As a result, the possibility of collision can be accurately determined. In determining the possibility of collision, all of the other vehicles may be determined. Some of the other vehicles, for example, the other vehicle closest to the own vehicle, the other having the highest possibility of collision, etc. It can be a vehicle or another vehicle traveling at the head.

  On the other hand, the information processing method according to the present invention that solves the above-described problems receives other vehicle position information related to the traveling position of the other vehicle transmitted from the other vehicle and a GPS received intensity signal related to the strength of the GPS signal received by the other vehicle. An other vehicle information receiving step; and an other vehicle three-dimensional position estimating step of estimating a three-dimensional position of the other vehicle based on the other vehicle position information and the GPS received intensity signal transmitted from the vehicle. .

  According to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, when a vehicle is traveling on either an elevated road or an elevated road, the vehicle is accurately judged as to whether the road is an elevated road or an elevated road. can do.

It is a block block diagram of the information processing apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates typically the positional relationship of the other vehicle which drive | works an elevated road and an underpass road, and the own vehicle which drive | works the general road which cross | intersects an underpass road. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence until it transmits the information of the own vehicle to another vehicle. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence after receiving the information transmitted from the other vehicle. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of intersection determination. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates typically the positional relationship of the vehicle which drive | works an elevated road and an underpass road, and a high elevation satellite and a low elevation satellite. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates typically the positional relationship of the other vehicle which drive | works an elevated road, a large vehicle, and a high elevation angle satellite. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates typically the positional relationship of the other vehicle which drive | works an elevated road and an underpass road, and the own vehicle which drive | works the general road which cross | intersects an underpass road. (A) is a figure which shows the reception state of the GPS signal of the GPS receiver on an elevated road, (b) is a figure which shows the reception state of the GPS signal of the GPS receiver under an elevated road. It is an arrangement view schematically showing the arrangement of satellites. It is a block block diagram of the information processing apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates typically the positional relationship of a vehicle and a GPS satellite. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between a high elevation satellite, an elevated traveling vehicle, and an under travel vehicle. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence after receiving information in an information processing center.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted. For the convenience of illustration, the dimensional ratios in the drawings do not necessarily match those described.

  FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of an information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a navigation device 1 provided in the host vehicle M1. In addition, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 2 is connected to the navigation device 1, and a GPS antenna 3 is connected to the GPS receiver 2.

  The inter-vehicle communication device 4 is connected to the navigation device 1, and the inter-vehicle communication antenna 5 is connected to the inter-vehicle communication device 4. further. An output device 6 is connected to the navigation device 1. For example, a monitor or a speaker is used as the output device 6.

  The navigation device 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, and includes a transmission information processing unit 10 and a reception information processing unit 20. The transmission information processing unit 10 includes a satellite information acquisition unit 11 and a host vehicle information generation unit 12. Furthermore, the reception information processing unit 20 includes an other vehicle information acquisition unit 21, an intersection determination unit 22, and a navigation information generation unit 23.

  The GPS receiver 2 receives a GPS signal transmitted by a GPS satellite using the GPS antenna 3. The GPS receiver 2 transmits the received GPS signal to the satellite information acquisition unit 11 in the navigation device 1. The GPS antenna 3 receives GPS signals transmitted by a plurality of GPS satellites within a receivable range and transmits them to the GPS receiver 2. For this reason, a plurality of GPS signals are transmitted to the GPS receiver 2. The GPS receiver 2 transmits all of the transmitted GPS signals to the satellite information acquisition unit 11. Furthermore, when the GPS receiver 2 transmits a GPS signal to the satellite information acquisition unit 11, the GPS receiver 2 transmits the GPS signal intensity as a GPS reception intensity signal to the satellite information acquisition unit 11.

  The satellite information acquisition unit 11 in the navigation device 1 acquires the GPS signal transmitted from the GPS receiver 2. The satellite information acquisition unit 11 calculates the GPS position, which is the position of the GPS satellite, for all the GPS signals transmitted from the GPS receiver 2. The GPS position is calculated based on the situation when the GPS receiver 2 receives a GPS signal. Further, the GPS position includes the azimuth and elevation angle of the GPS satellite viewed from the GPS receiver 2. The satellite information acquisition unit 11 associates a GPS reception intensity signal with the calculated GPS information and acquires it as own vehicle satellite information. The satellite information acquisition unit 11 outputs the acquired own vehicle satellite information to the own vehicle information generation unit 12.

  The host vehicle information generation unit 12 calculates the position of the host vehicle based on GPS information included in the plurality of host vehicle satellite information output from the satellite information acquisition unit 11. When calculating the position of the host vehicle, calculation using all of the GPS information transmitted from the GPS receiver 2 is performed. In addition, the host vehicle information generation unit 12 generates host vehicle position information regarding the calculated host vehicle position as host vehicle information together with host vehicle satellite information, and outputs it to the inter-vehicle communication device 4 and the crossing determination unit 22. The own vehicle information generation part 12 comprises the own vehicle position acquisition means of this invention.

  The other vehicle information acquisition unit 21 acquires other vehicle information transmitted from the inter-vehicle communication device 4. The other vehicle information acquisition unit 21 acquires other vehicle position information and other vehicle satellite information included in the other vehicle information transmitted from the inter-vehicle communication device 4. The other vehicle satellite information includes GPS information related to the position of the GPS satellite when the position of the other vehicle is calculated. The other vehicle information acquisition unit 21 outputs the acquired other vehicle position information to the intersection determination unit 22 together with the other vehicle satellite information.

  The intersection determination unit 22 estimates the own vehicle position based on the own vehicle position information and the own vehicle satellite information output from the own vehicle information generation unit 12. At this time, the crossing determination unit 22 performs the crossing determination when it is determined that the host vehicle is traveling on a road other than the elevated road, for example, an underpass road or a general road that intersects the underpass road.

  Further, the intersection determination unit 22 estimates the three-dimensional position of the other vehicle based on the other vehicle position information and the other vehicle satellite information output from the other vehicle information acquisition unit 21. Further, the crossing determination unit 22 determines the possibility of collision between the host vehicle and the other vehicle based on the estimated host vehicle position and the other vehicle three-dimensional position, and further, the other vehicle satellite information. The intersection determination unit 22 constitutes another vehicle three-dimensional position estimation unit and a collision determination unit of the present invention.

  As schematically shown in FIG. 2, when the host vehicle M1 is traveling on a general road NW that is a road other than the elevated road HW, the other vehicles M11, M12,. However, the other vehicles M21, M22,... Traveling on the elevated road HW do not physically collide with the host vehicle M1. For this reason, when performing the crossing determination, the elevated traveling other vehicles M21, M22,... Are excluded from the intersection determination target, and the elevated traveling other vehicles M11, M12,. By limiting this, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the crossing determination and reduce the calculation load. At this time, the own vehicle M1 performs inter-vehicle communication with the other vehicles M11, M12..., M21, M22.

  Therefore, when the own vehicle is traveling on an underpass road, the intersection determination unit 22 performs an intersection determination with another vehicle traveling on the underpass road. When performing the crossing determination, the crossing determination unit 22 outputs to the navigation information generation unit 23 the collision possibility information and the own vehicle position information regarding the determined possibility of collision between the own vehicle and the other vehicle.

  Furthermore, the intersection determination unit 22 calculates and acquires the inter-vehicle distance between the plurality of other vehicles based on the other vehicle position information transmitted from each of the plurality of other vehicles. The crossing determination unit 22 constitutes another vehicle distance acquisition means of the present invention. In addition, the intersection determination unit 22 corrects the collision possibility based on the calculated inter-vehicle distance between the other vehicles. The intersection determination unit 22 constitutes an inter-vehicle distance acquisition unit and a collision possibility correction unit of the present invention.

  The navigation information generation unit 23 includes map information related to an area having a vehicle traveling possibility. The navigation information generation unit 23 refers to the own vehicle position information output from the intersection determination unit 22 in the map information, and confirms the traveling position on the map of the own vehicle. The navigation information generation unit 23 attaches the position of the host vehicle to the referenced map and transmits it to the output device 6 as travel position information. In addition, the navigation information generation unit 23 outputs a warning signal about the possibility of collision when the possibility of collision between the other vehicle and the host vehicle based on the collision possibility information transmitted from the intersection determination unit 22 exceeds a predetermined value. Transmit to the output device 6.

  The inter-vehicle communication device 4 transmits the own vehicle information transmitted from the own vehicle information generation unit 12 in the navigation device 1 toward another vehicle using the inter-vehicle communication antenna 5. Similarly, in other vehicles, other vehicle information (own vehicle information as viewed from the vehicle generating the other vehicle information) is generated, and the generated other vehicle information is stored using an inter-vehicle communication antenna (not shown). It transmits to the own vehicle M1. Further, the inter-vehicle communication device 4 receives the other vehicle information transmitted from the other vehicle and transmits it to the other vehicle information acquisition unit 21 in the navigation device 1. The inter-vehicle communication device 4 constitutes other vehicle information receiving means of the present invention.

  Based on the travel position information transmitted from the navigation information generation unit 23, the output device 6 displays a map of the vicinity where the host vehicle travels and the travel position of the host vehicle in the map. Further, when receiving the warning signal transmitted from the navigation information generating unit 23, the output device 6 displays the warning information on the monitor and outputs a warning sound from the speaker.

  Next, the operation of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. In the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, a plurality of vehicles performs information processing by communicating between vehicles. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure until the information of the own vehicle is transmitted to another vehicle, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure after receiving the information transmitted from the other vehicle.

  In the host vehicle M1, the GPS receiver 2 connected to the navigation device 1 receives GPS signals transmitted from a plurality of GPS satellites as shown in FIG. 3 (S1). When receiving the GPS signal, the GPS receiver 2 measures the radio wave intensity of the GPS signal transmitted from each GPS satellite (S2).

  When the measurement of the reception intensity is completed, all the received GPS signals and GPS reception intensity signals are transmitted to the satellite information acquisition unit 11 of the transmission information processing unit 10 in the navigation device 1. The satellite information acquisition unit 11 outputs the transmitted plurality of GPS signals and their GPS reception intensity signals to the host vehicle information generation unit 12. The own vehicle information generation unit 12 measures the own vehicle position, which is the traveling position of the own vehicle, based on the transmitted plurality of GPS signals (S3).

  Thereafter, the measured radio field intensity of each GPS satellite and the own vehicle position information are transmitted to the crossing determination unit 22 and the inter-vehicle communication device 4, and the inter-vehicle communication device 4 transmits the own vehicle regarding the own vehicle position information and the radio field intensity of the GPS satellite. The satellite information is transmitted to the other vehicle as own vehicle information (S4). In this way, the process until the information of the own vehicle is transmitted to another vehicle is completed.

  Next, processing after receiving information transmitted from another vehicle will be described. In the host vehicle M1, the inter-vehicle communication device 4 connected to the navigation device 1 receives other vehicle information transmitted from a plurality of other vehicles as shown in FIG. 4 (S11). Other vehicle information includes other vehicle position information and other vehicle satellite information. The inter-vehicle communication device 4 transmits the received other vehicle information to the other vehicle information acquisition unit 21 in the navigation device 1.

  The other vehicle information acquisition unit 21 acquires the other vehicle position information and the other vehicle satellite information from the transmitted other vehicle information (S12), and outputs them to the crossing determination unit 22. Subsequently, when the host vehicle is traveling on a general road that intersects the underpass road, the intersection determination unit 22 performs the intersection determination (S13). The determination as to whether or not the host vehicle is traveling on a general road that intersects the underpass road can be made based on the travel position of the host vehicle. The intersection determination is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the intersection determination unit 22 uses the GPS information used when calculating the position of the other vehicle based on the GPS information used when calculating the position of the other vehicle included in the other vehicle satellite information. A position is acquired (S21). The process of acquiring the position of this GPS satellite is performed for all of a plurality of other vehicles.

  Next, a GPS satellite whose elevation angle is a high elevation angle (hereinafter referred to as “high elevation satellite”) is extracted from the acquired GPS satellite positions, and whether or not the reception intensity of the GPS signal transmitted from the high elevation satellite is low. Is determined (S22). For example, as schematically shown in FIG. 6, in the elevated traveling vehicle MH traveling on the elevated road HW, it is considered that a shield or the like is unlikely to exist between the elevated traveling vehicle MH and the high elevation satellite HS. Therefore, in the GPS receiver 2 mounted on the elevated traveling vehicle MH, the reception intensity of the GPS signal transmitted from the high elevation satellite HS becomes high. Further, in the underpass traveling vehicle ML traveling on the underpass road LW under the overpass HW, the overpass road HW is between the GPS receiver 2 mounted on the underpass travel vehicle ML and the high elevation satellite HS. The elevated road HW becomes a shield and the reception intensity of the GPS signal received by the GPS receiver 2 is reduced.

  Therefore, if it is determined in step S22 that the reception intensity of the GPS signal transmitted from the high elevation satellite is low, it is determined that the other vehicle that has received the GPS signal is traveling on the elevated road. The first group is classified (S23). On the other hand, if it is determined that the reception intensity of the GPS signal transmitted from the high elevation satellite is high, it is determined that the other vehicle that has received the GPS signal is traveling on the elevated road, and is classified into the second group ( S24).

  Subsequently, for other vehicles classified in the first group, it is determined whether or not a plurality of other vehicles classified in the first group exist at a short distance within a predetermined threshold value (S25). . In the present embodiment, the possibility of collision is corrected when the number of other vehicles existing at a short distance within a predetermined threshold value is plural.

  When the vehicle is traveling on an elevated road, there is little shielding between the GPS satellite and the GPS receiver 2 mounted on the vehicle. For example, as shown in FIG. In the HW, when the large vehicle BM is traveling in the vicinity of the elevated traveling other vehicle M22, the large vehicle BM serves as a shield in the elevated traveling other vehicle M22 and receives GPS signals from the GPS satellite S. It is conceivable that the strength is lowered. For this reason, even if the GPS signal reception strength is low, it is difficult to completely determine that the vehicle is traveling on an elevated road.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, a case is considered in which a plurality of underpass traveling vehicles M11, M12,... At this time, when performing inter-vehicle communication with the underpass traveling other vehicle M11, the underpass traveling other vehicle M11 is close to the other underpass traveling other vehicles M12, M13,. When traveling at a distance, it is highly likely that the underpass traveling other vehicle M11 is also traveling on the underpass road with a plurality of other vehicles. In addition, it is considered that the other vehicle M31 that is traveling alone may be traveling on the elevated road HW.

  Therefore, if it is determined that there are a plurality of vehicles at a short distance from each other as a result of the determination in step S25, it is determined that the other vehicles are traveling under the overhead and the confidence level is “A” ( S26). Here, the degree of confidence refers to the degree to which the determination is considered correct. After that, the other vehicle determined to be traveling under the elevated road with the confidence level “A” is set as a collision determination target vehicle, the collision possibility is set to be corrected to “high” (S27), and the intersection determination is finished. To do. Then, the process proceeds to step S14 shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S25 that there are not a plurality of vehicles at a short distance from each other, whether or not there are a plurality of vehicles at a short distance from each other in the second group classified in step S24. Is determined (S28). As a result, if it is determined that a plurality of vehicles are not present in the second group at a short distance from each other, there is a high possibility that other vehicles are traveling under the fly even if the GPS signal reception strength is low. it is conceivable that. However, the accuracy of the judgment that the vehicle is traveling on an elevated road is not high. Therefore, it is determined that the other vehicle is traveling under an elevated road, and the confidence level “B” is determined (S29). After that, the other vehicle determined to be traveling under the elevated road with the confidence level “B” is set as a collision determination target vehicle, the collision possibility is set to “low” (S30), and the cross determination is finished. The process proceeds to step S14 shown in FIG.

  If it is determined in step S28 that a plurality of vehicles are present in the second group at a short distance from each other, a GPS signal transmitted from a GPS satellite whose elevation angle is a low elevation angle (hereinafter referred to as "low elevation angle satellite"). It is determined whether or not the reception intensity of the message is stable (S31). For example, as shown in FIG. 6, in the underpass traveling vehicle ML traveling on the underpass road LW, between the GPS receiver 2 mounted on the underpass travel vehicle ML and the low elevation satellite LS. Shields such as bridge piers are often present, and the shields may cause the reception intensity of GPS signals from low elevation satellites LS to be reduced.

  Here, FIG. 9A shows an example of GPS signal reception intensity when traveling on an elevated road, and FIG. 9B shows an example of GPS signal reception intensity when traveling on an elevated road. Indicates. The arrangement of the satellites at this time is as shown in FIG. FIG. 10 shows the arrangement of the satellites when a vehicle is present at the center of the graph. The closer to the center of the graph, the higher the elevation angle.

  As shown in FIG. 9, when traveling on an underpass road, the received intensity from No27 and No9 GPS satellites, which are high elevation satellites, is reduced. Further, when traveling on an elevated road, the reception intensity from the No. 27 and No. 9 GPS satellites which are high elevation satellites does not decrease. Furthermore, the received intensity from the No10 and No22 GPS satellites, which are low elevation satellites, was also stable.

  As a result of the determination in step S31, when it is determined that the reception intensity of the GPS signal transmitted from the low elevation satellite is not stable, the bridge pier of the elevated road or the like becomes a shield and receives the GPS signal of the low elevation satellite. It is considered that the strength becomes unstable. In this case, it is determined that the other vehicle is traveling under an overpass, and the degree of confidence is determined to be “B” (S29). Thereafter, the other vehicle determined to be traveling under the elevated road with the confidence level “B” is set as a collision determination target vehicle, the collision possibility is set to “high” (S27), and the cross determination is finished. The process proceeds to step S14 shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the reception intensity of the GPS signal transmitted from the low elevation satellite is stable, it is considered that there are few shields around other vehicles. In this case, it is determined that the other vehicle is on the elevated road and the confidence level is “A” (S32). When another vehicle is traveling on an elevated road, there is no possibility of a collision with the own vehicle at an intersection or the like, so that the vehicle is not subject to collision determination (S33). Then, the crossing determination is terminated with the possibility of collision “none”, and the process proceeds to step S14 shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, in step S24, for other vehicles classified in the second group traveling on the elevated road, it is determined whether or not a plurality of other vehicles classified in the second group exist at a short distance from each other ( S34). As shown in FIG. 8, a case is considered in which a plurality of elevated traveling other vehicles M21, M22,... At this time, when performing inter-vehicle communication with the elevated traveling other vehicle M21, the elevated traveling other vehicle M21 travels at a short distance from the other elevated traveling other vehicles M22, M23,... Classified in the second group. In this case, it is considered that there is a high possibility that the elevated traveling other vehicle M21 is traveling on the elevated road together with a plurality of other vehicles. In addition, it is considered that the other vehicle M41 that is traveling alone may be traveling on the underpass road LW.

  Therefore, as a result of the determination in step S34, when it is determined that there are a plurality of vehicles at a short distance from each other and a plurality of vehicles exist within a predetermined threshold distance between other vehicles, It is determined that the vehicle is traveling on an elevated road, and the confidence level is determined as “A” (S32). Then, it is determined that the vehicle is not subject to collision determination with the possibility of collision “none” (S33). Thereafter, the crossing determination is terminated, and the process proceeds to step S14 shown in FIG.

  Conversely, when it is determined that there are a plurality of vehicles at a short distance from each other, it is determined that the other vehicles are traveling on an elevated route, but the confidence level is “B” (S35). After that, the other vehicle determined to be traveling on the elevated road with the confidence level “B” is set as the collision determination target vehicle, the collision possibility is set to “low” (S30), and the intersection determination is finished. Then, the process proceeds to step S14 shown in FIG.

  Returning to the flow shown in FIG. 4, when the crossing determination is completed, it is determined whether or not there is a possibility of collision (S14). As a result, when it is determined that there is no possibility of collision in step S33 of FIG. 5 and it is determined that there is no possibility of collision, the process returns to step S11 and the process of receiving the other vehicle information from the other vehicle is repeated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in steps S27 and S30 in FIG. 5 that the possibility of collision is “high” or “low” and it is determined that there is a possibility of collision, the navigation information generator 23 issues an alarm to the output device 6. A signal is transmitted, and collision assistance according to the possibility of collision is performed (S15). For example, when the possibility of collision is high, a stronger alarm is output to the output device 6 than when the possibility of collision is low, or when the possibility of collision is low, deceleration control is not performed, but the possibility of collision is high. In this case, deceleration control can be performed.

  Thus, in the navigation apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the other vehicle is traveling on the elevated road or traveling on the underpass road based on the other vehicle position information and the GPS received intensity signal transmitted from the other vehicle. It is estimated whether or not. Usually, when traveling on an elevated road, the intensity of the GPS signal is large, and when traveling on an elevated road, the elevated road becomes a shield and the intensity of the GPS signal decreases. Therefore, by estimating the road on which the other vehicle is traveling based on the other vehicle position information and the GPS received intensity signal, the vehicle travels when the vehicle is traveling on either the elevated road or the elevated road. It is possible to accurately determine whether the road on the road is an elevated road or a road under the elevated road.

  Further, in the navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment, since it is possible to accurately determine whether another vehicle is traveling on an elevated road or an underpass road, a collision between the host vehicle and the other vehicle is detected. It can be effectively prevented. Furthermore, since it is possible to exclude other vehicles traveling on the elevated road when performing the crossing determination, the calculation load can be reduced.

  Furthermore, in the navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment, the possibility of collision is corrected according to the number of other other vehicles that travel a short distance from each other. For this reason, it can be judged more accurately whether the road on which the other vehicle is traveling is an elevated road or a road under the elevated road. As a result, the possibility of collision can be determined with higher accuracy.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 11, the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a navigation device 1 provided in a vehicle M10, as in the first embodiment. In addition, a GPS receiver 2 is connected to the navigation device 1, and a GPS antenna 3 is connected to the GPS receiver 2. Further, a road-vehicle communication device 7 is connected to the navigation device 1, and a road-vehicle communication antenna 8 is connected to the road-vehicle communication device 7. In addition, an output device 6 is connected to the navigation device 1. The navigation device 1 also includes a transmission information processing unit 10 and a reception information processing unit 20.

  The transmission information processing unit 10 in the navigation device 1 includes a satellite information acquisition unit 11 and a host vehicle information generation unit 12 similar to those in the first embodiment. Among these, the own vehicle information generation unit 12 transmits the generated own vehicle information to the road-to-vehicle communication device 7 and the navigation information generation unit 23 in the reception information processing unit 20.

  The transmission information processing unit 20 includes a navigation information generation unit 23. The navigation information generation unit 23 acquires the traveling position of the host vehicle based on the host vehicle information transmitted from the host vehicle information generation unit 12. Then, it is transmitted to the output device 6 as travel position information. Furthermore, when the possibility of collision between another vehicle and the host vehicle based on the possibility of collision transmitted from the road-to-vehicle communication device 7 exceeds a predetermined value, a warning signal about the possibility of collision is sent to the output device 6. Send.

  On the other hand, the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a center side road-to-vehicle communication apparatus 9 provided in the information processing center SS and an information processing center server 30 to which the center side road-to-vehicle communication apparatus 9 is connected. The center side road-to-vehicle communication device 9 is capable of electrical communication with a plurality of roadside antennas (not shown) provided on the roadside. The road-vehicle communication antenna 8 in the vehicle M10 can transmit and receive signals to and from the roadside antenna. The center-side road-to-vehicle communication device 9 performs bidirectional communication with the road-to-vehicle communication device 7 via the road-to-vehicle communication antenna 8 and the road-side antenna.

  Further, the information processing center server 30 includes a vehicle information acquisition unit 31 and a crossing determination unit 32. The vehicle information acquisition unit 31 and the crossing determination unit 32 both have the same configuration as the other vehicle information acquisition unit 21 and the crossing determination unit 22 of the first embodiment. In addition, the crossing determination unit 32 transmits collision possibility information to the center side road-to-vehicle communication device 9. The collision possibility information is provided to the navigation information generation unit 23 in the navigation device 1 via the center side road-to-vehicle communication device 9 and the road-to-vehicle communication device 7.

  FIG. 14 shows a processing procedure in the information processing center SS according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Since processes other than those shown here are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof will be omitted. The processing in the information processing center SS will be briefly described. The own vehicle information and other vehicle information from the own vehicle and other vehicles are received (S41), and the own vehicle position information and own vehicle satellite information about the own vehicle and other vehicles, And other vehicle position information and other vehicle satellite information are acquired (S42).

  Subsequently, a crossing determination is performed (S43), and collision possibility information is generated for the host vehicle and the other vehicle. Then, the information processing center SS transmits the generated collision possibility information to the host vehicle and the other vehicle, respectively (S44). In the own vehicle and the other vehicle, it is determined whether or not the possibility of collision is higher than a threshold value (S45), and if not higher than the threshold value, the process returns to step S41 and the same processing is repeated. If it is higher than the threshold value, collision avoidance assistance is provided (S46), and the process ends.

  Thus, in the vehicle M10, the own vehicle information is generated and transmitted to the information processing center SS. In the information processing center SS, own vehicle information is transmitted from a plurality of vehicles. In the information processing center SS, for each of these vehicles, the possibility of collision is determined in the same manner as in the first embodiment, based on the own vehicle information and the other vehicle information in other other vehicles.

  And the judgment result of collision possibility is transmitted to vehicle M10 and other vehicles as collision possibility information. Also according to this aspect, it is possible to accurately determine whether the road on which the other vehicle is traveling is an elevated road or a road under the elevated road. In addition, it is possible to accurately determine a collision with another vehicle and to reduce the calculation load.

  In the second embodiment, the determination result of the possibility of collision is transmitted to the vehicle M10 and other vehicles as the possibility of collision information. May be. For example, after determining whether or not the collision possibility is higher than a threshold value, collision possibility information including the determination result can be transmitted to the host vehicle and the other vehicle. In addition, the content of the collision avoidance support at the time of implementing the collision avoidance support in step S46 can be generated by the center server 30, and the content of the collision avoidance support can be transmitted to the own vehicle and other vehicles. At this time, more appropriate support can be performed by adjusting the control content of each vehicle.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, the reception intensity of the GPS signal is actually measured when the GPS signal is received. Instead, the pseudo distance between the GPS receiver and the plurality of GPS satellites can be used to determine whether the vehicle is traveling on an elevated road or an elevated road.

  As shown in FIG. 12, in the GPS, the GPS satellites S1, S2,... And the GPS satellites S1, S2,. The distance from the receiver 2 is measured. The distance between the GPS satellites S1, S2,... And the GPS receiver 2 at this time is called a pseudo distance. The GPS receiver 2 measures a pseudo distance between a plurality of GPS satellites S1, S2,..., And measures the position of the GPS receiver 2 using the principle of triangulation.

  Here, if the shielding object W exists between the GPS satellite Sn and the GPS receiver 2 in the vehicle M, the intensity of the radio wave transmitted from the GPS satellite Sn becomes weak due to the presence of the shielding object. For this reason, the pseudo distance transmitted from the GPS satellite Sn cannot be measured well in principle, and the error included in the pseudo distance between the GPS satellite Sn and the GPS receiver 2 becomes large.

  Using this characteristic, as shown in FIG. 13, when the GPS satellite Sn is a high elevation satellite, the overhead road HW becomes a shield when the error in the pseudorange of the high elevation satellite Sn is large, and the vehicle It can be determined that the vehicle is not the elevated traveling vehicle MH traveling on the road HW but the elevated traveling vehicle ML traveling on the elevated road LW.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Navigation apparatus, 2 ... GPS receiver, 3 ... GPS antenna, 4 ... Vehicle-to-vehicle communication device, 5 ... Vehicle-to-vehicle communication antenna, 6 ... Output device, 7 ... Road-to-vehicle communication device, 8 ... Road-to-vehicle communication antenna, 9 ... center side road-to-vehicle communication device, 10 ... transmission information processing unit, 1 ... satellite information acquisition unit, 12 ... own vehicle information generation unit, 20 ... transmission information processing unit, 21 ... other vehicle information acquisition unit, 31 ... vehicle information acquisition , 22, 32 ... intersection determination unit, 23 ... navigation information generation unit, 24 ... temporary parking information detection unit, 30 ... information processing center server, 32 ... intersection determination unit, HS ... high elevation satellite, LS ... low elevation satellite , HW elevated road, LW elevated road, M ... vehicle, M1 ... own vehicle, M11-M13 ... other vehicle under traveling, M21-M23 ... other elevated vehicle, SS ... information processing center.

Claims (4)

Other vehicle information receiving means for receiving other vehicle position information relating to the traveling position of the other vehicle transmitted from the other vehicle and a GPS reception intensity signal relating to the intensity of the GPS signal received by the other vehicle;
Other vehicle three-dimensional position estimating means for estimating the three-dimensional position of the other vehicle based on the other vehicle position information and the GPS received intensity signal transmitted from the other vehicle;
An information processing apparatus comprising: Own vehicle position acquisition means for acquiring own vehicle position information related to the own vehicle position;
A collision determination means for determining the possibility of collision between the host vehicle and the other vehicle based on the host vehicle position information and the other vehicle three-dimensional position information related to the other vehicle three-dimensional position;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: The collision determination unit is configured to determine the possibility of collision between the other vehicle and the host vehicle based on the other vehicle three-dimensional position information in the plurality of other vehicles.
Other vehicle distance acquisition means for acquiring a distance between other vehicles, which is a distance between the plurality of other vehicles,
Based on the number of other vehicles in which the distance between other vehicles is within a predetermined threshold among a plurality of distances between other vehicles acquired by the distance acquisition means between the other vehicles, the own vehicle and the other vehicles Collision possibility correcting means for correcting the collision possibility of
An information processing apparatus according to claim 2. Other vehicle information receiving step for receiving other vehicle position information relating to the traveling position of the other vehicle transmitted from the other vehicle and a GPS reception intensity signal relating to the intensity of the GPS signal received by the other vehicle;
Other vehicle three-dimensional position estimation step for estimating the three-dimensional position of the other vehicle based on the other vehicle position information and the GPS received intensity signal transmitted from the vehicle;
An information processing method comprising:

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