JP2018167707A - Railroad-crossing obstacle detecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

To track an obstacle candidate until it passes a crossing road without being affected by snow and rain even in a planar sweeping radar system and reduce the load of software processing.SOLUTION: In grouping processing, a group region count value is increased or reduced in accordance with a distance between a traced measurement point and a tracing-destination measurement point by tracing the sequence of pieces of measurement point data included in measurement data. When the group region count value reaches a grouping definite designated value, the measurement point data group during tracing is defined as one relating to the obstacle candidate. When the group region count value reaches a grouping completion designated value, the specification of the measurement point data group during tracing is completed. A difference in both designated values is made inversely proportional to the distance of the positions of the measurement point data group during tracing, the increase/decrease of the group region count value is limited between both designated values, and the increase unit of the group region count value is made larger than the decrease unit. The measurement data is handled as a polar coordinate so as to trace in one direction. Representative points are decided one by one in the measurement point data group relating to obstacle candidates.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a level crossing obstacle detection device that detects a level crossing obstacle (obstacle) such as a person or a vehicle on a railroad crossing by irradiating an aerial propagation wave such as infrared rays in a railroad crossing. The present invention relates to a plane sweep radar type crossing obstacle detection device that receives a reflected wave and performs position measurement while sweeping the plane, and more particularly, determines whether an obstacle exists based on measurement data obtained by such a method. The present invention relates to a crossing obstacle detection device performed at

  A plane sweeping radar type crossing obstacle detection device (see, for example, Patent Document 1) is an obstacle in a part of a crossing road that crosses a railroad, located between the fences on both sides of the railroad, and a surface area above it. As a detection area, a plane sweep measurement unit (such as a laser radar) that receives the reflected wave and measures the distance and direction while sweeping and transmitting the air propagation wave toward the obstacle detection area, and obtained by the measurement And a determination unit for determining the presence or absence of an obstacle in the obstacle detection area based on the measured data.

  Among them, the plane sweep measurement unit (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2) includes an aerial propagation wave transmission / reception unit that transmits an aerial propagation wave and receives a reflected wave toward an obstacle detection region, and the aerial propagation wave transmission / reception unit. A rotation mechanism that normally rotates within a range of a predetermined angle, a rotation control unit that controls the rotation movement and performs or enables measurement of the direction of transmission / reception of airborne waves, and transmission / reception signals of the airborne wave transmission / reception unit And a signal processing unit for measuring the distance from the transmission position to the reflection position.

The determination unit includes a computer as means for executing data processing for determining the presence / absence of an obstacle based on measurement data and software for determining the contents of the determination processing.
For this computer, when it is necessary to ensure high reliability, a fail-safe computer capable of revealing a hardware failure is employed (see, for example, Patent Documents 3 to 5).
Further, in the software processing, after tracing the series of data to grasp the object shape, it is determined whether or not the object shape is an obstacle by collating the object shape with the memory shape, etc. ( For example, see Patent Document 1).

In such a plane sweep radar type crossing obstacle detection device, the aerial wave transmission / reception unit is installed at the same height as the breaking fence during descent. Compared to the three-dimensional level crossing obstacle detection device that looks down, it is easier to reduce costs.
In addition, compared with the beam type that has been used from the past, the number of installed transmitters and receivers can be reduced, so the number of installations can be reduced, and the resolution is good, so large vehicles such as automobiles as well as individual passers and wheelchairs are small There is an advantage that even things can be detected.

  Furthermore, in data processing and discrimination processing, each time a group of plane sweeps is performed, the object shape is grasped by tracing a series of measurement point data (a pair of distance and direction) included in the measurement data. In addition to the processing, if even a part of the detected object falls between the barriers on the railroad crossing, it is determined that there is an obstacle in the railroad crossing (see, for example, Patent Document 1). . Such processing in the image (that is, processing related to the measurement data obtained by the above-described batch of plane sweeps) avoids undesired erroneous detection due to measurement data related to low-density disturbances such as snowfall and rainfall. Since an original detection target such as an automobile or a passerby is detected based on high-density measurement data, it helps to improve detection accuracy.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-007818 JP 2006-216961 A JP 2006-338094 A Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-163579 (Application) Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-010727 (Application)

However, in the plane sweep radar type crossing obstacle detection device, the measurement point data is not orthogonal coordinates or matrix form unlike the camera image, and a series of pairs of distances and directions expressed in polar coordinates, or the direction is known. If the expansion data can be omitted, it has a characteristic that it can be obtained by a series of distances under polar coordinates. For this reason, in data processing for detecting obstacles within a railroad crossing from measurement point data, it is necessary to identify obstacle candidates with simple intra-image tracking that can be called tracing, and to continue for a short predetermined time related to the obstacle candidates. Tracking that tracks obstacle candidates between multiple images over a relatively long time until the obstacle candidates advance on the railroad crossing can be called grouping suitable for such tracking. Such processing has not been carried out in the plane sweeping radar type crossing obstacle detection device.
Therefore, it is a first technical problem to realize a plane sweeping radar type crossing obstacle detection device that can be tracked until an obstacle candidate advances on a railroad crossing.

In addition, although partially overlapping with those already described, in detail, as described above, the plane sweep radar type crossing obstacle detection device irradiates an object with an air propagation wave such as an infrared pulse laser beam and rebounds. Measurement point data (a set of distance and direction) obtained by measuring one distance measuring point of the object is obtained. A series of measurement data (a series of pairs of distance and direction) is acquired by repeating such measurement at a fine sweep angle while horizontally sweeping.
Therefore, if there is a solid object such as a car or a person that is a detection target, measurement data related to a highly continuous high-density point cloud can be obtained, while disturbance objects such as snow and raindrops that are not detection targets are obtained. Provides measurement data relating to a low-density point group with low continuity.

Moreover, during rain / snow, solid objects and disturbing objects are mixed. Especially when a disturbing object is present in front of a solid object, distance measurement (distance measurement) for the solid object behind is disturbed, and the solid object The measured data point cloud density decreases.
Practical level crossing obstacle detection devices are required to reliably detect objects to be detected and to reliably exclude objects that should not be detected. Distance measurement points (distance measurement points) by disturbance objects Does not specify / recognize as a measurement point data group of obstacle candidates, and specifies / recognizes only a group of distance measurement points of a solid object to be detected as a distance measurement point group (measurement point data group) of an obstacle candidate is important.
Therefore, it is a second technical problem to realize a plane sweep radar type crossing obstacle detection device that can perform grouping processing accurately without being disturbed even by disturbances such as snow and rain.

Furthermore, in tracking processing subsequent to such grouping processing, it is easy to use position estimation and position prediction using a Kalman filter or the like, but in such position estimation etc., data of measurement point data groups of obstacle candidates are used as they are. Instead, a representative point is determined, and an estimation calculation related to the representative point position (grouping coordinate) that is the point coordinate is performed.
Therefore, it is a third technical problem to realize a level sweep radar type crossing obstacle detection device that performs grouping processing adapted to such tracking processing.

Further, it will be further described that the tracking of a plurality of objects is useful for a level sweeping obstacle detection device of a planar sweep radar system.
The level crossing obstacle detection device assumes that if there is “one or more” objects on the level crossing for a specified time, the representative point position (grouping coordinates) can be determined. ) Is present in the obstacle detection area on the railroad crossing, the object is present first, and then the object is present in the obstacle detection area for a specified time. Logic is conceivable, but this is not practical for the three reasons listed below.

  The first reason is that when multiple objects exist in the monitoring area (obstacle detection area), the time is measured if there are one or more objects. Therefore, if there are many passing objects, the obstacle is detected immediately. End up. As a countermeasure, a method may be considered in which a plurality of monitoring areas (obstacle detection areas) are set in a strip shape, and an obstacle is present if one or more grouping coordinates (representative points) exist for a specified time. However, it takes time to set up a large number of strip-like areas, and the spatial resolution tends to be coarse, and further, there are cases where it is not detected due to a detection processing problem near the strip boundary.

The second reason is that even if a disturbance object such as snowfall is eliminated as much as possible by the grouping process, it is inevitable that a situation that cannot be completely eliminated will occur, so the final judgment is made by the process up to the grouping without tracking. This is because false detection cannot be sufficiently suppressed.
The third reason is that when the speed of an object is high, the object quickly jumps out of the monitoring area (obstacle detection area), so the over-detection prevention function of removing the high-speed object from the obstacle detection target. Is useful, but when implementing the function to prevent over-detection, the tracking target object, and thus the obstacle point candidate measurement point data group (distance measurement point group) and representative point position (grouping coordinates) are limited to a single one. Then, realization becomes difficult. For example, although the above-described strip-shaped area setting can prevent over-detection to a certain extent, for an object traveling in the same direction as the long side of the strip, the object continues to exist for a long time in the same strip. It becomes over-detection.

  Furthermore, the grouping process is appropriately performed so that tracking can be performed if it is found that there is “one or more” objects, and the minimum determination can be performed if there is one representative point position (grouping coordinate). In addition, the reason why it is desirable to appropriately process even if there are a plurality of measurement point data groups (distance measurement point groups) and representative point positions (grouping coordinates) of the object to be tracked and the obstacle candidates will be mentioned.

  The first reason is that the number of measurement point data groups of tracking target objects and obstacle candidates is limited to one, and the elapsed time from the start of annihilation certification to the completion of annihilation certification when the measurement point data group of obstacle candidates is extinguished. Assuming that the annihilation of the tracking target is confirmed using a predetermined annihilation element as follows, when another object enters immediately after an object exits the railroad crossing, Therefore, since tracking of another object is performed after the elapse of the extinction element, the obstacle determination is delayed, which is inconvenient.

The second reason is that the number of representative point positions (grouping coordinates) of one object is ideally one point, but a single object is grouped into multiple objects due to factors such as surface shape and reflectivity. This is because even if there is a single object on the railroad crossing, there may be a plurality of obstacle target measurement point data groups (distance measurement point groups) and therefore a plurality of tracking target objects.
The third reason is that even if undesired measurement points (ranging points) due to disturbance factors, such as snowfall or measurement points (ranging points) due to interference from the opposing radar, cannot be excluded by grouping processing, This is because there may be a plurality of objects.

For this reason, in order to perform highly reliable detection, prepare multiple tracking numbers (the number of tracking target objects, and thus the number of measurement point data groups and representative point positions of obstacle candidates) and process them appropriately. However, since tracking resources are limited, it is necessary to prevent and avoid unnecessary tracking.
Therefore, a fourth technical problem is to realize a plane sweep radar type crossing obstacle detection device capable of performing effective tracking using a finite number of tracking resources.

Furthermore, in addition to the grouping process in the image related to the obstacle candidate as described above, the time-lapse tracking process between the plurality of images related to the obstacle candidate described above is also performed in software. Hardware requires a lot of processing power.
However, as described above, a fail-safe computer may be adopted for the hardware of the railroad crossing obstacle detection device. Since high priority is given to ensuring the high reliability of the fail-safe computer, many consumer devices, etc. Compared to the general computer adopted in the system, cost performance is sacrificed, so it is powerless.
Therefore, it is a fifth technical problem to realize a plane sweep radar type crossing obstacle detection device that requires a light software processing load.

  The crossing obstacle detection device of the present invention (Solution 1) was created to contribute to the solution of the first technical problem described above, and obtains the measurement data of the reflection position by sweeping the air propagation wave in a plane. In the crossing obstacle detection device, comprising: a plane sweep measurement unit that performs a computer equipped with a determination unit that determines whether or not an obstacle exists based on the measurement data, the determination unit includes an obstacle based on the measurement data. A grouping process for specifying candidate measurement point data groups is performed, and whether or not an obstacle exists is determined according to the presence or absence of the measurement point data group.

  Further, the crossing obstacle detection device of the present invention (Solution means 2) was created in order to solve the first technical problem described above, and obtains measurement data of the reflection position by sweeping the air propagation wave in a plane. In the crossing obstacle detection device, comprising: a plane sweep measurement unit that performs a computer equipped with a determination unit that determines whether or not an obstacle exists based on the measurement data, the determination unit includes an obstacle based on the measurement data. A grouping process that can specify a plurality of candidate measurement point data groups, and the position of the representative point is tracked when there is one measurement point data group, and the position of each representative point is individually determined when there are a plurality of measurement point data groups. A tracking process for tracking is performed, and whether or not an obstacle exists is determined according to the presence or absence of a tracking target of the tracking process.

  Furthermore, the level crossing obstacle detection device of the present invention (Solution means 3) was created in order to solve the second technical problem described above, and obtains measurement data of a reflection position by sweeping an airborne wave in a plane. In the crossing obstacle detection device, comprising: a plane sweep measurement unit that performs a computer equipped with a determination unit that determines whether or not an obstacle exists based on the measurement data, the determination unit includes an obstacle based on the measurement data. A grouping process for specifying a candidate measurement point data group, and in the grouping process, a measurement point that has been traced and a measurement point that has been traced while tracing a series of measurement point data included in the measurement data; The group count value is increased or decreased according to the distance of the distance, and when the group count value reaches the grouping confirmation specified value, the measurement point data group being traced is selected as an obstacle candidate. Determined as according, wherein the group area count value is adapted to complete a specific measurement point data group in the follow to reach grouping complete specified values.

  A crossing obstacle detection device according to the present invention (solution 4) is the crossing obstacle detection device according to solution 3, wherein the absolute value of the increment of the group count value is a decrease of the group count value. It is characterized by being larger than the absolute value of the unit.

  Further, the level crossing obstacle detection device according to the present invention is (Solving means 5), which is the level crossing obstacle detection apparatus of the above solving means 3 and 4, wherein the determination means increases or decreases the group count value during the grouping process. Is performed only between the grouping completion designation value and the grouping confirmation designation value.

  Further, the crossing obstacle detection device of the present invention (solution 6) was created to solve the third technical problem, and is a crossing obstacle detection device of the above solutions 3 to 5. The determination means determines a representative point one point at a time (in the grouping process or in the subsequent tracking process) for the measurement point data group specified as an obstacle candidate in the grouping process. And

  Further, the level crossing obstacle detection device according to the present invention (Solution means 7) is a level crossing obstacle detection apparatus according to any of the above solution means 3 to 6, wherein the determination means keeps the measurement data in polar coordinates during the grouping process. It is characterized by being designed to handle.

  Further, the level crossing obstacle detection device according to the present invention (solution 8) is a level crossing obstacle detection device according to the above solutions 3 to 7, and the determination unit is included in the measurement data in the grouping process. It is characterized in that it traces in one direction when tracing a series of measurement point data.

  Further, the level crossing obstacle detection device according to the present invention (solution 9) is a level crossing obstacle detection device according to the above solutions 7, 8, wherein the difference between the grouping confirmation designation value and the grouping completion designation value is It is characterized in that it changes in magnitude against the distance of the position of the measurement point data group being traced.

  Further, the level crossing obstacle detection device according to the present invention (solution 10) is a level crossing obstacle detection device according to any of the above solutions 3 to 9, and a value is effective in a portion of the determination unit that performs the grouping process. The unachieved state when the measurement point data has not yet been reached, the reflective state before confirmation when the valid measurement point data is reached before the obstacle candidate is confirmed, and the obstacle candidate before confirmation When the measurement point data with an invalid value is reached, the non-reflective state before confirmation is confirmed, when the valid point data with the valid value is reached after the obstacle candidate is confirmed, and with the reflected state after confirmation, the obstacle candidate It is characterized in that a state machine having a non-reflective state after confirmation when reaching an invalid measurement point data after confirmation is incorporated.

  Further, the level crossing obstacle detection device according to the present invention (solution 11) is a level crossing obstacle detection device according to the above solutions 3 to 10, wherein the determination means performs the measurement point during the tracking in the grouping process. Before and after the data group is determined to be related to the obstacle candidate, the increase unit and the decrease unit of the group area count value can be switched.

In such a crossing obstacle detection device of the present invention (Solution means 1 and 2), at the time of grouping, the measurement point data group of obstacle candidates is not limited to one, and a plurality may be specified. In the subsequent tracking, the position of each representative point is tracked individually even if there are multiple measurement point data groups, so that an object that can be a candidate for an obstacle is a railroad crossing. Even in the case where it takes a long time to enter after entering, obstacle candidates can be tracked over a plurality of images.
Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a level crossing radar type crossing obstacle detection device that can be tracked until an obstacle candidate advances on the railroad crossing, and as a result, the first technical problem is solved. The Furthermore, in the invention using the representative points of the measurement point data group as the tracking target of the tracking process (solution means 2), the above-described third technical problem is also solved.

  In the crossing obstacle detection device according to the present invention (solution 3), a grouping process for specifying a measurement point data group of obstacle candidates included in measurement data including a series of measurement point data is implemented. At the time, the method of measuring the size of the continuity of obstacle candidates by the group count value while following the series of measurement point data as the heading method prior to identification, and the measurement points that have already been traced and the future The distance from the measurement point to be traced is obtained, and the group count is determined according to the distance (for example, whether it is larger or smaller than a predetermined fixed value), that is, according to the proximity state of both measurement points. By increasing or decreasing the value, the group count value increases (or decreases) smoothly for the measurement point data group with large continuity, whereas the measurement point data group with small continuity increases. The Gun'iki count value decreases in the opposite (or increase).

Therefore, when the group count value reaches the grouping determination specified value, the measurement point data group being tracked is determined as related to the obstacle candidate, and when the group count value reaches the grouping completion specified value, the measurement point being tracked is determined. By specifying the data group, it is possible to accurately eliminate undesired effects due to snow and rain with low continuity, and to select desired objects such as vehicles and passers with high continuity as obstacle candidates. A point data group can be specified.
Therefore, according to the present invention (Solution means 3), it is possible to realize a level crossing radar type crossing obstacle detection device that can perform a grouping process accurately without being disturbed even by a disturbance such as snow or rain. As a result, the second technical problem is solved.

In addition, when such an accurate grouping process is performed, an undue increase in the number of measurement point data groups of obstacle candidates, and hence the tracking number, can be suppressed and avoided. Therefore, according to this invention (solution 3), the fourth technical problem of realizing a plane sweep radar type crossing obstacle detection device capable of performing effective tracking using a limited number of tracking resources is achieved. Also useful.
Also, in the plane sweep radar method, a series of distance data can be obtained with a single plane sweep, so you can easily follow a series of measurement point data by changing the direction value or direction data, The load for data processing and counting operation is relatively light. Therefore, according to the present invention (Solution means 3), it also contributes to the solution of the fifth technical problem of realizing a plane sweep radar type railroad crossing obstacle detection device that requires a light software processing load.

  Further, in the level crossing obstacle detection device of the present invention (Solution means 4), the absolute value of the increment unit of the group area count value is made larger than the absolute value of the decrement unit of the group area count value. Since continuity is more highly evaluated than discontinuity in terms of data, objects with high continuity such as vehicles and passers-by that should not be overlooked are identified with high accuracy as obstacle candidates. This will contribute to high-level solutions to the second technical problem and the fourth technical problem.

  In the level crossing obstacle detection device according to the present invention (solution 5), the increase / decrease range of the group count value is limited between the grouping completion specified value and the grouping confirmation specified value. Overestimation of continuity and discontinuity can be avoided.

  In the crossing obstacle detection device of the present invention (solution 6), a representative grouping coordinate is selected for the measurement point data group specified as an obstacle candidate, and further specified as an obstacle candidate. When there are multiple measurement point data groups, one representative grouping coordinate is selected for each measurement point data group, and the coordinate of the measurement point data group after grouping is narrowed down to one point Tracking of subsequent processing becomes easy. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a level sweeping radar type crossing obstacle detection device that performs grouping processing that is also adapted to tracking processing that performs position estimation and position prediction using a Kalman filter or the like. The third technical problem is also solved.

In the crossing obstacle detection device according to the present invention (solution 7), since the measurement data is handled as polar coordinates in the grouping process, it relates to a large number of measurement point data included in the measurement data. Since the computation of coordinate transformation is omitted, the burden of software processing is greatly reduced. On the other hand, since the grouping process is performed using a series of distance data as described above, since the direction pitch is fine, there is no inconvenience even if a simple calculation that ignores the direction component is adopted when calculating the separation distance. It can be said. Therefore, handling the measurement data as polar coordinates does not increase the burden of software processing.
Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a planar sweep radar type crossing obstacle detection device that requires a light software processing load, and the fifth technical problem is also solved.

In the crossing obstacle detection device according to the present invention (solution 8), when tracing the series of measurement point data included in the measurement data, it is traced in one direction. Since there is no return, the maximum number of processing objects and therefore the number of repetitions of processing do not exceed the number of measurement point data included in the measurement data, so that a light load such as data processing and counting is always maintained.
Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a planar sweep radar type crossing obstacle detection device that requires a light software processing load, and the fifth technical problem is also solved.

  In the crossing obstacle detection device of the present invention (solution 9), when the position of the measurement point data group being traced is far, that is, when the distance from the plane sweep measurement unit to the reflection position is long, grouping is confirmed. The difference between the specified value and the grouping completion specified value is small, and when the position of the measurement point data group being traced is close, that is, when the distance from the plane sweep measurement unit to the reflection position is short, the above difference becomes large. As a result, the above-mentioned difference and the position of the measurement point data group being traced are inversely related, in other words, the product of the above difference at the time of grouping determination and the position of the measurement point data group being traced does not change much. Since the relationship holds, the length of the object part corresponding to the measurement point data group when the object is determined as the obstacle candidate is stabilized, so that the object detected as the obstacle Diamondback moth (minimum object detection length) becomes substantially constant.

When handling measurement data as polar coordinates during the grouping process, the distance measurement points (distance measurement points) are dense in the vicinity but coarse in the distance. If the difference between the two is fixed, the nearby object will be selected as an obstacle candidate even if it is too small, and the distant object will leak from the obstacle candidate even if it is large. Due to the variable, the adverse effects are easily eliminated.
In the normal embodiment, since the grouping completion designation value is set to “0”, the above difference is simply the grouping confirmation designation value.
Therefore, according to the present invention (Solution 9), a planar sweep radar type crossing obstacle detection device that requires a light software processing load can be easily realized without any adverse effects. As a result, the fifth technical problem is solved. Solved in a practical manner.

  In the crossing obstacle detection device according to the present invention (solution 10), the number of obstacles is set based on the division of obstacle candidates, before / after obstacle candidate determination, and validity / invalidity of measurement point data. By adopting a state machine that includes such transition states and incorporating it into the part that searches for obstacle candidates while following the series of measurement point data included in the measurement data in the grouping process, grouping is performed. Since the program configuration and the like when the processing is implemented by software is simplified and clarified, the burden on the computer is reduced.

In the level crossing obstacle detection device according to the present invention (solution 11), the group count value increment unit and decrement unit can be switched before and after the obstacle candidate determination during the grouping process. As described above, it is desirable to specify an object with high continuity with high accuracy before confirmation as described above, so both units are set as such, but after confirmation, the object is properly classified. Thus, it is easy to adopt a fine grouping process such as switching both units so that it is possible to improve the accuracy of the grouping process.
Therefore, it is possible to realize a planar sweep radar type crossing obstacle detection device that can perform grouping processing more accurately without being disturbed even by disturbances such as snow and rain. As a result, the second technical problem is solved at a high level. Is done.

1 shows the structure of a level crossing obstacle detection device according to Example 1 of the present invention, where (a) is a schematic plan view of a level crossing road at an installation destination, and (b) is a schematic block diagram of hardware of a level crossing obstacle detection device. c) is a schematic block diagram of software of a crossing obstacle detection device. (A) is a schematic diagram of a plane sweep of an air propagation wave, (b) is an image diagram of measurement data before limitation, and (c) is an image diagram of measurement data after limitation. (A) is an image figure of the data for grouping programs, (b) is a schematic diagram of the state machine incorporated in the grouping program. It is a partially expanded schematic diagram of a plane sweeping aerial propagation wave during rain or snow. (A) is an image figure of measurement data before limitation, (b) is an image figure of measurement data after limitation, (c) is an image figure figure of a measurement point data group. (A) is an image diagram of tracking information, (b) is an image image diagram of the measurement point data group, (c) is an image diagram of the tracking information, (d) is an image image diagram of the measurement point data group, and (e) is an image diagram of the tracking information. It is.

  A first embodiment suitable for implementing such a level crossing obstacle detection device of the present invention is a level crossing obstacle detection device of the above-described solving means, wherein the determination means determines a level crossing obstacle detection region. A data limiting process for holding the detection area defining data to be defined, and subjecting the measurement data narrowed down to the data relating to the position belonging to the obstacle detection area based on the detection area defining data to the grouping process It is characterized by being made to do.

  In this case, a series of measurement data related to the passing body of the railroad crossing and the like is obtained each time the plane wave of the air propagation wave is swept, but the determination means does not perform the grouping process etc. using the measurement data as it is, but the grouping process etc. Prior to this, a limiting process for narrowing raw measurement data (before limitation) into the obstacle detection area is performed, and then grouping processing is performed using the measurement data (after limitation). The data narrowing down reduces the distribution range of the measurement point data group of candidate obstacles, and accordingly, the data processing amount is reduced / reduced and the number of tracking is reduced or at least prevented from increasing. Since the data related to the position belonging to the object detection area is used for subsequent processing such as grouping without being removed, an increase in the number of tracking is suppressed without sacrificing the tracking performance.

  In addition, the following effects can be obtained. That is, since the image data to be processed has been narrowed down to those related to the obstacle detection area prior to the grouping process or the like, both when the obstacle enters the obstacle detection area and when it advances, Since the measurement point data group of the obstacle candidate is limited to the part belonging to the obstacle detection area, not the entire obstacle, the scale is expanded and contracted while sticking to the boundary line of the obstacle detection area. And when looking at the moving speed of each part of the image, the part farthest from the boundary moves at or near the speed of the obstacle, while the part along the boundary keeps almost stopping, so the obstacle candidate The inner point such as the center point in the measurement point data group moves at a slower speed than the obstacle.

  On the other hand, since position estimation and position prediction using the Kalman filter etc. calculate the next position from the previous position and speed, etc., it is generally vulnerable to discontinuous jumping speed changes, so at the start and end of tracking It has the property that it can be accurately tracked as the speed change is slow. Therefore, it is easy to use the inner point of the measurement point data group as the representative point of the obstacle point measurement point data group to be tracked by the tracking process using the representative point. By adopting the center point obtained by position calculation or the like, the tracking ability in the tracking process can be improved easily and accurately.

Further, the level crossing obstacle detection device of the second embodiment is the level crossing obstacle detection device of the first embodiment, and the determination unit is a measurement point data group specified as an obstacle candidate by the grouping process. The tracking process is performed for tracking the time when the tracking extinction time is spent, and the tracking extinction time element is increased or decreased in the tracking process according to whether the measurement point data group is slow or fast. It is characterized by that.
In this case, when tracking the measurement point data group in the tracking process, when the speed related to the measurement point data group is slow, the tracking disappearance time becomes long, and when the speed related to the measurement point data group is high, the tracking disappears By shortening the amount of time, for example, it takes a long time to cross the railroad crossing because it moves slowly, such as an elderly person, while ensuring safety by tracking closely, for example, like a car For those that move quickly and do not have the risk of staying within the railroad crossing, tracking can be quickly rounded up to reduce the data processing burden.

Furthermore, the level crossing obstacle detection device of the third embodiment is the level crossing obstacle detection device of the first and second embodiments, and when the speed related to the measurement point data group is higher than a predetermined speed in the tracking process, The tracking disappearance element is set to zero time or ignored.
A level crossing obstacle detection device according to the fourth embodiment is the level crossing obstacle detection device according to the third embodiment, wherein the predetermined speed is set to a value corresponding to an average walking speed of a healthy person. Features.
In such a level crossing obstacle detection device of the third and fourth embodiments, for a slow level crossing vehicle such as an elderly person, the tracking speed extension based on the disappearance of tracking is performed for safety, but the speed of an automobile or the like is high. By eliminating the tracking extension based on the disappearance of tracking for level crossings, safety of level crossings and reduction of data processing load can be achieved at a high level.
Moreover, this can be done simply by setting the tracking extinction element to zero time or ignoring the tracking extinction element.

About the level crossing obstacle detection device of the present invention and the level crossing obstacle detection device of the embodiment, specific modes for carrying out this will be described by Examples 1 to 4 below.
A first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 embodies the above-described solving means 1 to 10 (claims 1 to 10 at the beginning of the application) and the first embodiment. The third and fourth embodiments, which are the implementation of the above-described solving means 11 (claim 11 at the beginning of the application) and also omit the illustration, are the implementations of the above-described second to fourth embodiments.
In these drawings, for the sake of simplification, etc., housings, fasteners such as frames and bolts, drive sources such as electric motors, transmission members such as gears, electric circuits such as motor drivers, electronic circuits such as controllers, etc. Circuits and the like are not shown, and are shown in a block diagram and the like focusing on what is necessary for explaining the invention and related ones.

About the Example 1 of a level crossing obstacle detection device of the present invention, the concrete composition is explained referring to drawings.
1A is a schematic plan view showing an installation state of a level crossing obstacle detection device 10 on a level crossing road 4, FIG. 1B is a schematic block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the level crossing obstacle detection device 10, ) Is a schematic block diagram showing a software configuration of the crossing obstacle detection device 10.

FIG. 2A is a schematic plan view of a plane sweeping an aerial propagation wave, FIG. 2B is an image diagram of measurement data before limitation, and FIG. 2C is an image diagram of measurement data after limitation. is there.
Further, FIG. 3A is an image diagram of main data used for grouping processing of the grouping program 23, and FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of a grouping processing state machine incorporated in the grouping program 23.
FIG. 4 is a partial enlarged view of the schematic plan view of the plane sweeping the air propagation wave when it is snowing or raining.

FIG. 5A is an image diagram showing measurement data obtained by the data input program 21 while performing a plane sweep of the air propagation wave, and the measurement data before performing the limitation process of the data limitation program 22; (B) is an image figure of the measurement data after performing the limitation process of the data limitation program 22;
FIG. 5C, FIG. 6B, and FIG. 6D are image images of the measurement point data group, and FIG. 6A, FIG. 6C, and FIG. It is an image figure of tracking information.

  The railroad crossing obstacle detection device 10 (see FIGS. 1A and 1B, Patent Documents 4 and 5) will be described. First, the hardware configuration will be described. A space region above the railroad crossing 4 and sandwiched by a barrier fence. A plane sweep measurement unit of a plane sweep radar system that receives a reflected wave and measures a distance and a direction while sweeping and transmitting an aerial propagation wave such as infrared rays (see a two-dot chain line) toward an obstacle detection area 7 11 to 13 and a fail-safe computer 14 in which a determination program 20 for determining the presence or absence of an obstacle in the obstacle detection area 7 from the measurement data obtained by the measurement is installed.

  The plane sweep measuring units 11 to 13 transmit the aerial propagation wave transmission / reception unit 12 that transmits the aerial propagation wave and receives the reflected wave toward the obstacle detection region 7, and the transmission direction of the aerial propagation wave transmission / reception unit 12, for example, 130. The rotation control unit 11 that controls the rotational movement of the rotation mechanism that sweeps within an angular range of や or 190 ° and that measures or enables the direction of transmission / reception of the air propagation wave, and the transmission / reception signal of the air propagation wave transmission / reception unit 12 And a signal processing unit 13 for measuring the distance from the transmission position to the reflection position. In this example, in order to measure the entire area of the obstacle detection area 7 by area sharing, or to measure the entire area of the obstacle detection area 7 in a double manner (see, for example, Patent Document 4), two sets (plurality) Plane sweep measuring units 11 to 13 are provided.

  Since the fail-safe computer 14 suffices with a known product (see, for example, Patent Documents 3 and 4), it is adopted, and the data memory (see FIG. 1C) is a preset constant. The detection area defining data and the tracking disappearance element, the measurement data (before and after limitation) that is a variable or an array that is changed as the determination program 20 is executed, the data of the measurement point data group, and the tracking information are retained. ing. Tracking information (tracking data, etc.) for tracking processing that includes variables, etc. when tracking disappears, and grouping processing data that also includes variables in addition to constants are also held in the data memory. Yes.

  In short, the determination program 20 (see FIG. 1C) determines whether or not an obstacle exists based on measurement data, detection area defining data, grouping processing data, and tracking information such as a tracking extinction element. For this purpose, a data input program 21, a data limiting program 22, a grouping program 23, a tracking program 24, and a final determination program 25 are provided, which are repeatedly executed in that order, for example, at a predetermined cycle or when a predetermined event occurs. To run.

Among the respective data (see FIG. 1C), the detection area defining data defines the obstacle detection area 7 related to the railroad crossing 4 and, for example, two positions of the obstacle detection area 7 over the entire circumference. Dimensional coordinates or at least two-dimensional coordinates at each corner position are arranged in a circular order. The coordinates may be orthogonal coordinates, but polar coordinates are more compatible with the planar sweep radar system.
The grouping processing data (see FIG. 1 (c)) will be described in detail later (see FIG. 3 (a)), but the measurement data is traced in the same direction as the plane sweep of the airborne wave or in the opposite direction. A counter that holds group count values for evaluating the continuity and discontinuity that occur in a series of data (ranging points), data that holds increase / decrease values used for updating, and traces of measurement data And data holding some pointers related to the above.

  Pointer pairs that specify measurement point data groups that are related to obstacle candidates based on group count values, etc., may be stored in the grouping processing data. In order to avoid securing the data holding area in the grouping processing data, in this embodiment, the pointer pair specifying the measurement point data group is immediately or temporarily stored without being held in the grouping processing data. Even when it is held, it is quickly transferred to the tracking process without being held.

  The tracking disappearance element (see FIG. 1 (c)) is a predetermined time during which tracking information and the like are kept after the measurement point data group of the obstacle candidate to be tracked disappears. It is determined in consideration of the time from combining and separation of measurement point data groups due to body traffic. The tracking extinction element is necessary when, for example, another object passes in front of the object being tracked or the airborne wave reflected from the object being tracked is weakened, and tracking may be temporarily interrupted. Even in such a case, the tracking can be resumed promptly after the temporary factor disappears. An appropriate time as the resumption waiting time is previously determined as a tracking disappearance element, and data is held in a state that can be referred to during the tracking process. Then, even after the disappearance of the measurement point data group, the tracking information is maintained without being deleted until the tracking disappears.

  The data input program 21 reads the polar coordinate value of the reflection position obtained each time the plane sweep measurement units 11 to 13 perform measurement by plane sweep (see FIGS. 1A, 2A, and 4). Is input from the plane sweep measurement units 11 to 13 and used as measurement data before limitation (see FIGS. 1C, 2B, and 5A). In this example, For simplification of explanation, a series of data obtained from one of the two plane sweep measurement units 11 to 13 (see FIGS. 1A and 1B) is measured data ( It is assumed that it is adopted to be used only before the limitation (see FIGS. 2B and 5A).

  The measurement data before the limitation includes a crossing vehicle (three vehicles shown in FIG. 2A) in the obstacle detection area 7 (see the dashed line in FIGS. 2A and 5A). , One vehicle shown in FIG. 4 and three vehicles shown in FIG. 5 (a)) are included, but not only that, but also a portion of the vehicle that protrudes from the obstacle detection area 7 Although illustration is omitted, the image data of the contour of the equipment outside the obstacle detection area 7 is also included within the plane sweep range (FIGS. 2B, 4 and 5). see black spot in a)).

  In this embodiment, for simplicity of explanation, the plane sweep and the reflection measurement in the plane sweep measurement units 11 to 13 are always performed at the same angle and the same angle difference, so the direction waits for the measurement. Since it is a fixed value that can be understood soon, only the distance becomes the fluctuation value obtained by measurement, so the measurement data (before limitation) is a series of distance values measured for reflection in many directions of equal pitch For example, it is held in an array region of one row and N columns (N is a positive integer). For example (see FIG. 2 (b)), each item of the above array includes “148”, “147”, “146”, “146”, “146” if the item corresponds to the direction reflected from the vehicle or the like on the railroad crossing. A positive distance value such as “147” is held, but non-positive distance values such as “0”, “0”, and “0” are held in items corresponding to a direction in which there is no reflection, such as between vehicles. It has become so.

  The data limitation program 22 executes data limitation processing and creates measurement data after limitation from measurement data before limitation based on the detection area defining data (see FIG. 1C). Among the points of the image data included in the measurement data before the limitation (see the black dots in FIGS. 2B and 5A), the obstacle detection area 7 (see the dashed line in the same figure) By excluding those located outside the area, the data narrowed down to the data related to the position belonging to the obstacle detection area 7 among the points of the measurement data before the limitation is adopted as the measurement data after the limitation. (See the black dots in FIGS. 2 (c) and 5 (b)).

In the case of an object straddling the boundary of the obstacle detection area 7, the measurement data (after limitation) includes only the image data of the part within the area, and the image data of the part outside the area is deleted. Specifically (see FIG. 2C), the value “0” when there is no reflection is forcibly adopted even if it is an item related to the direction in which there was reflection and the distance could be measured. It has become.
In the above example, before the limitation, “148”, “147”, “146”, “146”, “147”, “0” (see FIG. 2B) The outer left two “148” and “147” are forced to “0” and “0”, and after the limitation, “0”, “0”, “146”, “146”, “147”, “0” (See FIG. 2 (c)).

  In short, the grouping program 23 executes an in-image grouping process for creating a measurement point data group of obstacle candidates from the measurement data (after limitation) (see FIG. 1C), and the measurement data (after limitation). For each point of the image data (see the black points in FIGS. 2C, 4 and 5B), the measurement point data group that can be a candidate for the obstacle is identified by collecting the short distance one after another. (See the three solid lines in FIG. 5C and the two solid lines in FIG. 6B). If there is no level crossing vehicle that becomes an obstacle candidate, the measurement point data group immediately disappears (see FIG. 6D).

Specifically (see FIG. 3A), as grouping processing data, a pointer that points to one of the data items of a series of measurement data (after limitation), which is a measurement point data group of obstacle candidates. A measurement point that starts from the point that points to the start point, a measurement point that has been pointed to by the pointer that points to the data item that has continued to follow from the start point, and a destination that is a pointer to the next data item to be traced from this point Are measured in the data memory.
In the grouping process of the grouping program 23, the measurement data is handled as polar coordinates, and when tracing the series of measurement point data included in the measurement data, it is traced in one direction, for example, only from the left to the right in the illustrated example. Therefore, one set is sufficient for the measurement points that have started tracing, the measurement points that have been traced, and the measurement points that have been traced.

In the example shown in the figure, the point indicated by the traced measurement point and the traced measurement point is separated by one measurement point data because the distance between the traced measurement point and the traced measurement point is small. When the measured point is advanced only when both points are close to each other, the measurement point next to the traced measurement point is far away, so that only the measurement point at the trace destination has advanced one more It is because it shows.
In addition, in the case of this example, the pointer pair pointing to the head and tail of the continuous portion specified as the measurement point data group is quickly transferred to the tracking process as described above, so that it does not appear in the grouping process data. Although there are no, two broken lines are shown in order to make it easier to imagine the already specified measurement point data group.

  Further, in addition to these data areas, in addition to these data areas, a counter for holding the group area count value obtained by counting up the degree of continuity of the measurement point data as grouping processing data, and the group area count value A data area that holds the increment unit used when increasing, a data area that holds the decrease unit used when decreasing the group count value, and a grouping confirmation specification value that specifies the limit value when the group count value increases And a data area for holding a grouping completion designation value for designating a limit value when the group area count value is decreased are also secured in the data memory.

In the grouping process of the grouping program 23, when the increment number is added to the group count value and the group count value exceeds the grouping confirmation designation value, the group count value is kept at the grouping confirmation designation value. If the group count value exceeds the grouping completion specified value when the decrement unit is subtracted from the group count value, the group count count increase / decrease is specified as the grouping completion specified value This is performed only between the value and the grouping confirmation designation value.
In this example, for the sake of simplicity and simplification, the grouping completion specification value is fixed to zero “0”, and from the viewpoint of giving priority to the detection of crossings with high continuity, the absolute unit of increment of the group count value The set value of the increment unit is set to “2” and the set value of the decrease unit is set to “1” so that the value becomes larger than the absolute value of the decrease unit of the group area count value.

  Therefore, if the group area count value exceeds the grouping confirmation specified value, it corresponds to the group area count value exceeding the grouping confirmation specified value, and if the group area count value exceeds the grouping completion specified value, the group area count value Falls below the grouping completion specification value. On the other hand, when the set value for the increment unit is set to “−2” and the set value for the decrease unit is set to “−1”, the fact that the group count value exceeds the grouping determination specified value indicates that the group count value is grouped. The fact that the group count value exceeds the grouping completion specification value corresponds to the fact that the group count value exceeds the grouping completion specification value.

As described above, when the group count value exceeds the grouping confirmation specification value or the grouping completion specification value, it is reset to the corresponding specification value. Therefore, in the explanation of this example, the grouping confirmation specification value or the grouping completion is explained for easy understanding. The expression of reaching the specified value is frequently used.
In addition, as described above, it is possible to set not only positive values but also negative values for the increment unit and the decrease unit. Therefore, the meaning of the increase or decrease is not a simple increase / decrease in numerical values but a continuity evaluation. It is an increase or decrease in value. Similarly, addition and subtraction related to the increment unit and the decrease unit mean computations related to addition or subtraction of continuity evaluation values, not simple numerical addition / subtraction operations.

  Further (see FIG. 3A), the data memory also stores a grouping designation value changing table. This table holds a series of approximate values G that have been calculated in advance so that an approximate value G of the calculated value of the formula [L / D] can be easily obtained by performing a table lookup using D as an index or key. doing. Here, D is a distance value held in the measurement point data pointed to by the traced measurement point, and is the value of the measurement point data traced most recently in the measurement data. Further, L is the minimum object detection length that is the minimum object length to be detected by the level crossing obstacle detection device as an obstacle candidate. For example, when detecting a small passerby, L corresponds to about 200 mm. It becomes a fixed value.

  In the grouping process of the grouping program 23, the grouping completion designation value is fixed to zero “0” as described above, and the grouping confirmation designation value is obtained by the above table of the grouping designation value change table. By substituting the obtained approximate value G and appropriately changing the grouping confirmation designation value, the difference between the grouping confirmation designation value and the grouping completion designation value (that is, grouping confirmation in this example where the grouping completion designation value is zero). The designated value G (as it is) changes with respect to the position (ie, distance value D) of the position of the measurement point data group being traced (ie, approximately inversely proportional).

  As described above, in the grouping process of the grouping program 23, the limited measurement data is handled in polar coordinates and the series of measurement point data included in the measurement data is traced in one direction. Is realized by advancing the point indicated by the measurement point to be traced one by one, whereby data items belonging to the measurement data (after limitation) are referred to one by one. Then, while tracing the measurement data in this way, the group count value is increased or decreased according to the distance between the traced measurement point and the destination measurement point, and the group count value reaches the grouping confirmation specified value. Then, the measurement point data group being traced is determined to be related to the obstacle candidate, and when the group count value reaches the grouping completion designated value, the measurement point data group being traced is completed. It is embodied in a state machine.

  The state machine that forms the main part of the grouping program 23 (see FIG. 3B) is a state where the valid measurement point data of the value has not yet been reached and the value of the value before the obstacle candidate is determined. Pre-determined reflection state when valid measurement point data is reached, ob-reflective state before decision when reaching invalid measurement point data before obstacle candidate decision, and obstacle candidate decision There are five states: after-confirmed reflection state when the valid measurement point data of the value is reached later, and after-confirmation no reflection state when the invalid point of measurement data is reached after the obstacle candidate is determined. It is equipped and starts from an unachieved state.

  In this grouping process state machine (see FIG. 3B), “with reflection” and “without reflection” indicate whether the value of the measurement point data pointed to by the destination measurement point is valid or invalid, that is, in the obstacle detection area 7. This is an abbreviation of whether the distance value belongs, and in this example, as described above, when the reflected wave cannot be received by the measurement by the plane sweep measuring units 11 to 13 or the reflected wave can be received, the obstacle When the reflection is from outside the detection area 7, the data limit program 22 sets the value of the measurement point data to “0”. Therefore, if the value of the measurement point data pointed to by the destination measurement point is “0” first. “No reflection”. Next, even if the value of the measurement point data pointed to by the destination measurement point is other than “0”, it is checked whether or not the difference between the value and the value of the measurement point data pointed to by the traced measurement point is close. If the distance between the two measurement points is not close, ie, the distance between the two measurement points is “no reflection”, otherwise, if the distance between the two measurement points is small, ie, the distance between the two measurement points is small, the measurement indicated by the destination measurement point The value of the point data is finally considered valid and becomes “reflected”.

In addition, the determination of whether or not the measurement point that has been traced is close to the measurement point that is the trace destination, that is, whether the distance between the measurement points is large or small is determined in order to avoid cumbersome calculations with heavy loads under polar coordinates. The distance between the measurement points is approximated by the difference between the distance values of the two measurement points, and the difference is determined based on whether or not the difference exceeds a predetermined value. As the predetermined value, the above-described minimum object detection length or a fixed value obtained by multiplying it by an appropriate constant is easy to use.
Furthermore, in the figure (see FIG. 3B), “determined designated value” is an abbreviation that the group area count value has reached the grouping established designated value, and “completion designated value” is the group area count value. Is an abbreviation that the grouping completion designated value has been reached, and “intermediate value” is an abbreviation that the group count value is between the grouping confirmation designation value and the grouping completion designation value. In addition, illustration of the state transition which concerns on detailed case division etc. is omitted.

  The unachieved state is a state in which the obstacle candidate has not yet been reached since the measurement data has been traced, or a state after the obstacle candidate that has already been encountered has been reached. Is supposed to start. In this unachieved state, the grouping completion designation value “0” is set as the initial value for the group area count value. If there is reflection in this unachieved state, that is, when the valid measurement point data of the value is reached, the measurement point data pointed to by the destination measurement point at that time has been traced in order to start searching for obstacle candidates. Update the traced measurement point and the traced start measurement point to point to the measurement point and the first measurement point, and add the increment unit to the group count value. The state transitions to the pre-determined reflection state.

  The state with reflection before confirmation and the state without reflection before confirmation are used to determine whether or not the effective measurement point data or measurement point data group that has arrived can be confirmed as an obstacle candidate having the minimum object detection length L or more. If there is no reflection, that is, when the measurement point data with an invalid value is reached, the decrement unit is subtracted from the group count value, and the state transitions to the non-reflection state before confirmation. The measured point data pointed to by the destination measurement point is updated to the traced measurement point and the incremented unit is added to the group count value. It is supposed to transition.

Of course, such mutual transition is performed only while the group count value is an intermediate value. When the group count value reaches the grouping completion specified value, the obstacle candidate search is performed. In order to start over from scratch, the state transitions to the unachieved state.
On the other hand, when the group count value reaches the grouping confirmation specified value, the measurement point data group being traced at that time is confirmed as an obstacle candidate, and then finalized to complete the obstacle candidate search. The state transition is made to the post-reflection state. In addition, at that time, as a specific process of determination, a pointer pair for specifying a measurement point data group is added to the grouping process data, and the pointer value of the pointer pair starts to follow and the measurement point that has been traced. The pointer pair is also updated so that the pointer value becomes a pair.

The after-confirmed reflection state and the after-reflection non-reflection state are states for confirming the terminal end of the measurement point data group determined as an obstacle candidate having the minimum object detection length L or more. Update the measured point so that the measured point data pointed to by the destination measurement point also points to the measured point, and add the increment unit to the group count value with the specified grouping confirmation value as the limit. On the other hand, if there is no reflection, the state transitions to the post-reflection state, and if there is no reflection, the unit of decrease is subtracted from the group count value, and the state transitions to the non-reflection state after confirmation.
However, such a mutual transition is performed only while the group count value is the intermediate value or the grouping confirmation designation value, and when the group count value reaches the grouping completion designation value, the end of the confirmed obstacle candidate As a result, the state transitions to the unachieved state in order to search for a new obstacle candidate.

  The tracking program 24 executes a tracking process for tracking the measurement point data group obtained by the intra-group grouping process over time between a plurality of images (see FIG. 1C). If there is a plurality, the same number of tracking information is generated and held and assigned to each measurement point data group so that each measurement point data group is individually tracked. Moreover, one representative point is determined for each measurement point data group related to the obstacle candidate (see the black dots in FIGS. 6A and 6C). The representative point is preferably determined by calculating an average value for all coordinate values of valid measurement point data belonging to the measurement point data group. However, since the computation load of the computer is large, the first representative point belonging to the measurement point data group This is done by calculating an intermediate value for two points of the measurement point data and the last measurement point data.

  The tracking program 24 performs tracking processing over time between a plurality of images related to obstacle candidates by estimating a next representative point position from a previous representative point position or the like by an estimation calculation such as a known Kalman filter. Specifically, for each tracking information, the next predicted position is calculated by, for example, a linear Kalman filter from the position and speed of the previous representative point, and the representative point enters a predetermined range from the predicted position. For the measurement point data group, the group tracking information such as the representative point position is included in the corresponding tracking information.

  Here, the predetermined range is determined by a predicted radius set in advance, etc., but in the constant velocity linear motion model that is frequently used, if the predicted radius is increased, the maximum speed that can be tracked is also increased. On the other hand, there is a disadvantage that the separation performance of the tracking target deteriorates when there are multiple tracking targets, and even things that should not be tracked may enter inside the predicted radius and cause mistracking Therefore, the set value of the predicted radius is determined in advance in consideration of the balance between them.

  Furthermore, when performing such tracking processing, the tracking program 24 refers to a tracking extinction element having a preset value (see FIG. 1 (c)) and tracks it for the time of the element. It has become. Specifically, when a measurement point data group to be tracked disappears by the grouping process, the tracking information related to the measurement point data group is not immediately deleted, but is continued until the tracking disappearance element expires. Yes. For example, even when three measurement point data groups to be tracked are moved to the right (see FIGS. 5C and 6A), the rightmost measurement point data group disappears (FIG. 6). (See (b)), the tracking information related to the representative point of the rightmost measurement point data group continues to exist before the tracking disappearance element elapses (see FIG. 6C). It is to be done after elapse of.

  The final determination program 25 determines whether or not there is an obstacle in the obstacle detection area 7, and the determination process is performed according to the presence or absence of the tracking target of the tracking process (FIG. 1 (c)). reference). Specifically, if there is at least one piece of tracking information created by the tracking program 24 (see FIGS. 6A and 6C, three in the figure), it is determined that an obstacle exists in the obstacle detection area 7. If there is no such tracking information (see FIG. 6E), it is determined that there is no obstacle in the obstacle detection area 7.

  About the level crossing obstacle detection apparatus 10 of this Example 1, the use aspect and operation | movement are demonstrated referring drawings. 2 and 4 show a state in which the airborne wave is swept in the air toward the obstacle detection region 7 above the railroad crossing 4 in the airborne wave transmitter / receiver 12, and FIG. FIG. 5B is an image diagram of measurement data before limitation, FIG. 5B is an image diagram of measurement data after limitation, and FIG. 5C and FIG. 6A are image diagrams of initial measurement point data group and tracking information. FIGS. 6B and 6C are image diagrams of the subsequent measurement point data group and tracking information, and FIGS. 6D and 6E are image diagrams of the last measurement point data group and tracking information. It is.

  When using the level crossing obstacle detection device 10 (see FIG. 1 (a)), it is desirable to install an appropriate number (two in the figure) of the aerial wave transmission / reception units 12 and 12 facing the level crossing road 4. The plane sweeping over a range wider than the entire area of the obstacle detection area 7 from a plurality of directions (two opposite directions in the figure) is performed, but here, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, only one aerial propagation wave transmitting / receiving unit 12 is provided. Then, in the level crossing obstacle detection device 10, the plane sweep is repeatedly performed by the plane sweep measuring units 11 to 13 (see the two-dot chain line in FIG. 2), and each time the level crossing obstacle is detected on the level crossing road 4. If there is (three vehicles in the figure), the reflected wave is detected, the reflection position is acquired as a polar coordinate value, and obstacle detection is performed as a one-dimensional array of collective data consisting of a series of polar coordinate values. Measurement data for an area wider than area 7 Data (only front) is completed (see black dots in accordance with substantially the entire of the three vehicles in reference FIG. 2 (b), the addition, Figure 5 (a)).

The determination program 20 is executed by the fail-safe computer 14 each time a set or group of measurement data obtained by such a plane sweep is obtained.
An outline of the determination procedure is as follows. First, measurement data before limitation is taken into the fail-safe computer 14 by executing the data input program 21 (see FIGS. 2B and 5A), and then the data limitation program 22 The measurement data after the limitation is created from the measurement data before the limitation by execution, and the image data to be processed thereafter is narrowed down to those belonging to the obstacle detection area 7 (FIG. 2 (c) and FIG. 5 (b)). (See the black dots relating to the rear end portion of the right vehicle, the right half of the center vehicle, and the front end portion of the left vehicle).

As described above, since the image data including the obstacle candidate is limited in the initial stage of the determination process, the load of the subsequent data processing is reduced.
Then, the grouping program 23 is executed, grouping processing is performed, and the data of the measurement point data group of the obstacle candidate is created from the limited measurement data by tracking within the image (in FIG. 5C). A vertically long L-shaped solid line related to the lower rear portion of the right vehicle, a horizontally long L-shaped solid line related to the lower portion of the central vehicle, and a-character related to the lower front portion of the left vehicle. (See the solid line and the corresponding three measurement point data groups).

Here, the process of creating the measurement point data group of the obstacle candidate related to one object by the grouping process will be described in detail (see FIG. 4).
Rain or snow that disturbs the reflection is falling on the railroad crossing (see the white circle in Fig. 4), and one vehicle is crossing the railroad crossing (see the dotted pattern on the upper side of Fig. 4). In the situation where the airborne wave is swept plane (see the two-dot chain line in FIG. 4) and the airborne wave hitting the vehicle or rain or snow is reflected (see the black dot in FIG. 4), the measurement data is Suppose that it was acquired.

Then, since there was no reflection of the air propagation wave in the sweep of the air propagation waves A1 to A2, the grouping process state machine stays in the unachieved state when the corresponding part of the measurement data is traced by the grouping process, and the group count value Remains “0”.
Then, since there was a reflection of the air propagation wave for the first time in the next sweep of the air propagation wave A3, the pointer to the corresponding location / measurement point data in the measurement data starts to follow, and the measurement point and the measurement point that has been traced are set. For example, “9” is obtained as the corresponding value G by referring to the grouping designation value changing table from the distance value D at that time, and is set as the grouping confirmation designation value. The grouping completion designation value is always “0”. The group count value becomes “2” by adding the increment unit. Then, the grouping process state machine transits to the pre-determined reflection presence state.

  Then, the point indicated by the measurement point of the destination is advanced by one and the next measurement point data is examined. However, since there was no reflection of the airborne wave A4 in the corresponding sweep, the measurement of the destination at that time is not performed. Since the distance value D of the measurement point data pointed to by the point is “0”, the traced measurement point is not updated, and the group count value that was “2” is reduced by “1” by the decrease unit “1”. ”And the grouping process state machine transitions to the non-reflective state before decision.

  Further, the point indicated by the measurement point to be traced is advanced by one, the measurement point data there is examined, and there is a reflection of the air propagation wave in the corresponding sweep, and the distance value D of the corresponding measurement point data. Is not “0”, the distance between the traced measurement point and the traced measurement point is further examined. Here, it is assumed that it is determined to be the close side. Then, the traced measurement point is updated with the traced measurement point, that is, the corresponding point in the measurement data and the pointer to the corresponding measurement point data are set to the traced measurement point. Further, the corresponding value G of the distance value D at that time, for example, “7” is set as the grouping confirmation designation value, the group area count value becomes “3” by the addition of the increment unit, and the grouping process state machine reflects before confirmation. Transition to a state.

  In the following, a brief description will be given, and the measurement point of the trace destination advances, and the proximity state between the traced measurement point and the trace point of the trace destination is recognized based on the distance value D of the corresponding measurement point data. The measurement point is updated at the destination measurement point, the grouping confirmation designation value is set to, for example, “9”, the group count value is increased to “5”, and the grouping process state machine remains in the state with reflection before confirmation.

  Then, as the destination measurement point advances and the distance value D of the corresponding measurement point data is “0”, neither the measured measurement point nor the grouping confirmation designation value is updated, and the group count value is reduced by the decrement unit. And becomes “3”, and the grouping process state machine transits to the non-reflection state before decision.

  Then, the measurement point at the trace destination advances, and the proximity state between the traced measurement point and the measurement point at the trace destination is recognized based on the distance value D of the measurement point data corresponding to the sweep of the aerial propagation wave A5. Completed measurement point is updated at the destination measurement point, the grouping confirmation specified value is set to “8”, for example, the group count value is increased to “7”, and the grouping processing state machine transitions to the pre-determined reflective state To do.

  Then, the measurement point of the trace destination advances, and the proximity state between the traced measurement point and the measurement point of the trace destination is recognized based on the distance value D of the measurement point data corresponding to the sweep of the air propagation wave A6. The completed measurement point is updated at the destination measurement point, and the grouping confirmation designation value is set to “8”, for example. Then, the group count value becomes “9” by addition in increments and exceeds the grouping confirmation designation value, so that the grouping confirmation designation value is suppressed to “8”. Now that the obstacle candidate is confirmed, a new pair of pointers specifying the measurement point data group is secured in the grouping data, and the pointer value of the measurement point and the pointer value of the measurement point that has already been traced are set. Is done. Then, the grouping process state machine transitions to the reflection state after determination.

  After that, to be more concise, when the destination measurement point is advanced, and each time there is reflection and proximity is recognized based on the distance value D, the measured point and the grouping confirmation specified value And the pointer pair of the measurement point data group are updated, the group count value is incremented with the grouping confirmation specified value as the upper limit, and the grouping processing state machine transitions to the non-reflective state after confirmation. On the other hand, when there is no reflection and the distance value D is “0”, the traced measurement point, the grouping confirmation designation value, and the pointer pair of the measurement point data group are not updated, and the decrement unit is subtracted from the group count value. The grouping processing state machine transitions to the non-reflecting state after the determination.

  Such a state transition is repeated to find the end of the obstacle candidate. At that time, for example, there is no reflection due to the sweep of the air propagation wave A7, and the distance value D of the corresponding measurement point data becomes “0”. Even so, the group count value remains at a value obtained by subtracting “1” as the decrement unit from the grouping confirmation specified value of about “7” to “10”, for example, so that the grouping is immediately interrupted by sporadic disturbances. There is nothing. For example, even in the case where there is no reflection in the subsequent sweep in addition to the sweep of the air propagation wave A8, the decrease unit is set smaller than the increase unit, so that the grouping is not cut off.

Then, after the traced measurement point, the grouping confirmation designation value, and the pointer pair of the measurement point data group are updated based on the measurement point data corresponding to the sweep of the last aerial propagation wave A9 hitting the vehicle, Since the distance value of “0” is lined up in the corresponding part of the measurement data, the group area count value continues to decrease accordingly, and when the group area count value reaches the grouping completion specified value, the grouping will continue. The processing state machine transitions to the unachieved state. Then, since the contents of the pointer pair specifying the measurement point data group are maintained, the obstacle candidate is determined.
In this way, the identified obstacle candidates correspond to an accurate group of objects in many cases without being lost or broken into pieces even when it is raining or snowing.

When the grouping process is completed in this way, a representative point is selected for tracking over time for each measurement point data group by executing the tracking program 24, and tracking used for tracking over time is performed. Information (one set) is created one by one (see three black dots and three sets of tracking information blocks in FIG. 6A).
Tracking information is added each time a new measurement point data group is added to the tracking target, and each tracking information includes, for example, position data of representative points of the measurement point data group to be tracked and velocity data calculated from the change thereof. Included. When the tracking target disappears, the corresponding tracking information is deleted. Therefore, when there is no tracking target, tracking information is completely lost (see FIG. 6E).

Then, by the execution of the final determination program 25, it is determined that there is an obstacle on the railroad crossing 4 if there is even one (one set) of tracking information. The presence or absence of tracking information can be confirmed quickly and accurately by referring to any one of them, if there is information for managing the tracking information, such as tracking information number data or the first tracking information presence / absence mark. be able to.
Therefore, the determination of the absence of obstacles that could only be made after determining whether or not the measurement point data group to be tracked and its representative points belong to the obstacle detection region 7 for all tracking information, This level crossing obstacle detection device 10 is promptly issued with a light load. Then, this determination result is sent to a railroad crossing control device or the like and used for outputting an alarm to a special signal light emitter.

  In this way, every time the plane sweep measuring units 11 to 13 perform the plane sweep and the reflected wave measurement on the railroad crossing 4, the data limiting process, the grouping process, the tracking process, and the obstacle to the obstacle detection area 7 related to the measurement data are performed. The presence / absence determination processing is performed by the fail-safe computer 14 and further repeated at a predetermined cycle or the like. Among these processes, from the plane sweep to the grouping process, the measurement point data group of the processing result is uniquely determined by the traffic state and the image data from time to time. However, in the subsequent tracking process, the time series between multiple images is determined. At the time of tracking, since the position of the representative point of the measurement point data group is tracked over the time of the disappearance of tracking, the tracking information continues for a while after the measurement point data group disappears.

  For example, when tracking three measurement point data groups relating to three vehicles (see the black dots in the images on the right side of FIGS. 5C and 6A), the data of the measurement point data groups are also tracked. Three sets of information data are also retained (see the left block in Fig. 5 (c) and Fig. 6 (a)), but three vehicles move from left to right and the right vehicle fails. When the object detection area 7 is exited, the measurement point data group immediately becomes two related to the central vehicle remaining in the obstacle detection area 7 and the left vehicle on which at least a part is applied (FIG. 6). (Refer to the solid line in the right image of (b)), the tracking information related to the vehicle on the right is also maintained until the time when the tracking disappears (the black dot in the right image in FIG. 6C) And the left block).

Then, when the tracking extinction time elapses for the tracking, the tracking information also becomes two related to the two vehicles related to the obstacle detection area 7 (not shown).
Thus, it is carefully confirmed that the level crossing vehicle has left the obstacle detection area 7. In addition, although illustration is omitted, the time from merger to separation is tracked even when merger or separation occurs in multiple measurement point data groups related to multiple railroad crossings according to the traffic of the railroad crossings. If it is shorter than the extinction time, tracking over time between a plurality of images related to obstacle candidates is performed accurately without being disturbed by a large change in the image due to the merger.
Thereafter, when all level crossings pass through the obstacle detection area 7, the measurement point data group disappears (see FIG. 6D), and when the tracking extinction time passes, the tracking information also disappears (see FIG. 6). 6 (e)), it is found that no obstacle exists in the obstacle detection area 7.

  Although a new illustration is omitted, the level crossing obstacle detection device of the second embodiment is different from the level crossing obstacle detection device 10 described above because the increment unit and the decrease unit of the group area count value are changed from fixed to variable. Is a point. That is, a part of the grouping program 23 is remodeled, and in the new grouping process, the increment unit and the decrement unit of the group count value can be switched, and the measurement point data group being traced is selected as an obstacle candidate. The increase unit and the decrease unit of the group count value are different before and after being determined as related to the above.

  Specifically, in the first embodiment, only one pair of the increase unit and the decrease unit is provided, but in this second embodiment, the pair in which the increase unit and the decrease unit are referred to before the obstacle candidate is determined. In addition to this, a further pair to be referred to after the obstacle candidate is determined is provided so that a total of four units can individually set values. These values may be dynamically changed at any time, but the initial values may be used continuously. For example, for the sake of simplification, as an example of the latter use of the initial value continuation, the increase unit and the decrease unit for reference before determination are the same as in the first embodiment described above. “2” and “1” are set (see FIG. 3A), but the increment unit and the decrement unit for reference after determination are different from those in the first embodiment, and the increment unit and the decrement unit are important for separability. For example, “1” and “2” are set (not shown).

  When the state machine of the grouping program 23 transitions to any of the unachieved state, the pre-determined non-reflective state, and the pre-determined reflective state (see FIG. 3B), the above-described first embodiment As in the case of the pre-determined reference, where the increment unit and decrement unit are set to “2” and “1” with emphasis on continuity (see FIG. 3A), the grouping process state machine is confirmed. When transitioning between the post-reflection presence state and the non-reflection state after confirmation (see FIG. 3B), unlike the case of the above-described first embodiment, the increase unit and the decrease unit are “1” that emphasizes separability. The post-determination reference set to “2” is referred to (not shown).

  In this way, before the obstacle candidate is determined in the grouping process, the absolute value of the increment unit is made larger than the absolute value of the decrement unit, and the continuity of the distance measuring points is highly evaluated. The detection accuracy increases, but on the other hand, after the obstacle candidate is determined, the absolute value of the increment unit is made smaller than the absolute value of the decrement unit, and the separability of the distance measurement point (distance measurement point) is highly evaluated. Even if there are multiple bodies, the objects are accurately distinguished from each other, so it is possible to accurately detect a small level crossing body without missing a small level crossing body Accuracy can be increased.

  In addition, as described above, the switching between the increment unit and the decrement unit of the group area count value is performed by combining the increment unit and the decrement unit in two pairs, that is, a total of four units in the data area together with the group area count value. The method is not limited to the method of holding in the same data format, and the data held together with the group count value and referred to by the state machine is a pair of increase unit and decrease unit as in the first embodiment, that is, When the state machine of the grouping program 23 transitions to any of the unachieved state, the non-reflected state before decision, and the reflected state before decision, the increment unit and the decrease unit are set as “ When the grouping process state machine is transitioned to either the after-confirmed reflection state or the after-confirmation non-reflection state, the increment unit and the decrement unit are set to “1” and “1”. It may be re-set to ".

Although illustration is omitted, the level crossing obstacle detection device of the third embodiment is different from the level crossing obstacle detection device 10 described above in that the portion of the tracking program 24 that uses the tracking disappearance element is changed. Is a point.
Specifically, a value obtained by converting the moving speed of an object on a cutway close to 4 km / h, which is generally the average walking speed of a healthy person, into the moving speed of a representative point in a measurement point data group in measurement data is set in advance as a predetermined speed At the time of tracking processing, when the speed related to the measurement point data group is slower than the above-mentioned predetermined speed, the tracking extinction time element is also stored after the extinction in the grouping processing of the measurement point data group to be tracked as in the first embodiment. The tracking information is continued before the lapse, but when the speed related to the measurement point data group is faster than the predetermined speed, unlike the case of the first embodiment, the tracking point disappears and the measurement point data group to be tracked is ignored. When the grouping process disappears, the corresponding tracking information is immediately disappeared.

Although not shown in the figure, the level crossing obstacle detection apparatus according to the fourth embodiment is different from the level crossing obstacle detection apparatus 10 described above in that the tracking processing portion using the tracking disappearance element is changed.
Specifically, not only one tracking extinction element but also a plurality of elements are associated with each measurement point data group one by one. In the tracking process, the tracking extinction element is individually changed for each measurement point data group to be tracked. However, the change process is performed when the movement speed of the representative point of the corresponding measurement point data group is changed. The tracking disappearance value increases or at least keeps the current state when it slows down, and the tracking disappearance value decreases or at least keeps the current value when the movement speed of the representative point of the corresponding measurement point data group becomes faster Done. Furthermore, for each measurement point data group, when the moving speed of the representative point is faster than the predetermined speed of Example 2, by clearing the corresponding tracking disappearance value to zero time, easily and quickly, The extension of the tracking based on the disappearance of the tracking is also omitted.

[Others]
In the above embodiment, a plurality of sets of plane sweep measurement units 11 to 13 that sweep the air propagation waves and receive the reflected waves are mounted. On the basis of the measurement data, the level crossing vehicle is used as an obstacle. A series of measurements obtained from one of the two plane sweep measurement units 11 to 13 where only one set of the fail-safe computer 14 and the determination program 20 embodying the detection means to be detected are mounted. Although only an example in which data is processed by a single determination unit has been described, when there are a plurality of plane sweep measurement units 11 to 13, a plurality of measurement data are connected, and as a form of acquisition, a plurality of measurement data is time-division A first mode acquired at different timings and a second mode in which a plurality of measurement data are acquired in parallel are assumed.

Therefore, the handling methods are divided according to these modes. In the case of the first mode, the determination unit is also executed in a time-sharing manner and a logical sum of the determination results is obtained, thereby making it easy to use a set of determination units. Can be dealt with. In the case of the second mode, it can be easily dealt with by a combination of buffering of measurement data, time-divisional execution of the determination means and logical sum of determination results.
In addition, grouping to be processed with polar coordinates can be performed in a time-sharing manner, and after the representative points of the measurement point data group have been determined, tracking can be performed while integrating the representative points by switching to orthogonal coordinates that can be easily integrated. With a light load, measurement data from a plurality of sets of plane sweep measurement units 11 to 13 can be processed by a single determination means.

In the above-described embodiment, only one obstacle detection area 7 is defined. However, the obstacle detection area is set in a case where the number of parallel lines is large and the obstacle detection area related to one railroad crossing is very long. You may divide | segment into several partial area | regions which do not overlap or overlap.
In this case, for example, the final determination program 25 is divided into an intermediate determination program and a determination integrated program, so that it can be handled with software relatively easily.

  In the above-described embodiment, the grouping confirmation designation value is changed to be positive and the grouping completion designation value is fixed to zero. However, the zero is for simplification and may be any other value. The value may be a fixed value and the grouping completion designation value may be changed, the grouping confirmation designation value and the grouping completion designation value may both be changed, and may not be a positive number. It suffices if the difference between the grouping confirmation designation value and the grouping completion designation value changes depending on the position of the measurement point data group being traced. Positive numbers are not essential for group count values, increment units, or decrement units.

  In the above embodiment, a situation is described in which one measurement point data group is selected for one level crossing vehicle, but it is not uncommon for a plurality of measurement point data groups to be selected for one level crossing vehicle. For example, the front and rear portions of the level crossing vehicle are clearly detected, but the middle part is unclear, or both images obtained by plane sweeping the left and right sides of the level crossing vehicle with different aerial wave transmission / reception units 12 and 12 pass Multiple measurement point data groups tend to be present, such as when they are separated at the front and back of the body. Further, there may be a case where only one measurement point data group is selected for a plurality of level crossing vehicles such as when two level crossing vehicles approach. In any case, if there is at least one measurement point data group, it is safe to determine that an obstacle exists, so there is no inconvenience apart from the large amount of data processing.

  In the above embodiment, the direction in which the sweep measurement is performed by the plane sweep measurement units 11 to 13 is determined in advance. For example, the measurement start direction is a known fixed direction, and the subsequent direction difference is also known. In the known data portion, a series of data retention is omitted, and only the variation data portion related to the distance in the measurement data is retained in the array region of one row and N columns. If both the direction and the direction are fluctuation values, the paired data of the distance value and the direction value may be combined into measurement data, which may be held in, for example, an array region of 2 rows and N columns.

  In the above-described embodiment, when the grouping confirmation designation value is determined by the table of the grouping designation value changing table, the distance value D related to the most recent point that has been traced is used. This is because priority was given to reducing the computational load of the computer. If the computing power of the computer is sufficient, for example, the distance value for one point between the measurement point that has been traced and the measurement point that has been traced, or the measurement point that has been traced has been traced. You may make it use the average value or median value of the distance value concerning many points to a measurement point.

  The crossing obstacle detection device of the present invention is not limited to the detection of only obstacles, but in addition to obstacles such as detection of crossings in a situation where there is no obstacle, detection of trains, etc. The present invention can also be applied to those that detect other things.

4 ... Railroad crossing, 7 ... Obstacle detection area (monitoring area),
10 ... Crossing obstacle detection device,
11-13 ... Planar sweep measurement unit, 11 ... Rotation control unit,
12 ... aerial propagation wave transmission / reception unit, 13 ... signal processing unit, 14 ... fail-safe computer,
20 ... judgment program,
21 ... Data input program, 22 ... Data limitation program,
23 ... Grouping program (in-image grouping process),
24. Tracking program (tracking process over time),
25 ... Final judgment program

Claims (11)

  Level crossing obstacle detection device comprising a plane sweep measurement unit that sweeps aerial propagation waves to obtain measurement data of a reflection position, and a computer equipped with a determination unit that determines whether or not an obstacle exists based on the measurement data The determination means performs a grouping process for specifying a measurement point data group of obstacle candidates based on the measurement data, and determines whether or not an obstacle exists according to the presence or absence of the measurement point data group. A crossing obstacle detection device characterized by that.   Level crossing obstacle detection device comprising a plane sweep measurement unit that sweeps aerial propagation waves to obtain measurement data of a reflection position, and a computer equipped with a determination unit that determines whether or not an obstacle exists based on the measurement data In the above, the determination means can identify a plurality of obstacle point measurement point data groups based on the measurement data, and when there is one measurement point data group, the representative point is tracked to track the representative points. When there are a plurality of data groups, a tracking process for individually tracking the positions of the representative points is performed, and the presence or absence of an obstacle is determined according to the presence or absence of the tracking target of the tracking process. Crossing obstacle detection device.   Level crossing obstacle detection device comprising a plane sweep measurement unit that sweeps aerial propagation waves to obtain measurement data of a reflection position, and a computer equipped with a determination unit that determines whether or not an obstacle exists based on the measurement data The determination means performs a grouping process for specifying a measurement point data group of obstacle candidates based on the measurement data, and the measurement point data included in the measurement data is determined in the grouping process. The group count value is increased / decreased according to the distance between the measurement point that has been traced and the destination measurement point while following the chain, and the measurement point data that is being traced when the group count value reaches the grouping determination specified value The group is determined as an obstacle candidate, and when the group count value reaches the grouping completion specified value, the measurement point data group being traced is completely identified. It has become as to crossing obstacle detection apparatus according to claim.   4. The crossing obstacle detection device according to claim 3, wherein an absolute value of an increment unit of the group area count value is larger than an absolute value of a decrease unit of the group area count value.   The determination unit is configured to increase or decrease the group count value only between the grouping completion designation value and the grouping confirmation designation value in the grouping process. A crossing obstacle detection device according to claim 4.   6. The determination unit according to claim 3, wherein the determination unit is configured to determine a representative point for each measurement point data group specified as an obstacle candidate in the grouping process. The crossing obstacle detection device described.   The crossing obstacle detecting device according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the determination means handles the measurement data in polar coordinates in the grouping process.   8. The method according to claim 3, wherein the determination unit traces in one direction when tracing a series of measurement point data included in the measurement data in the grouping process. 9. Railroad crossing obstacle detection device described in 1.   The difference between the grouping confirmation designation value and the grouping completion designation value changes in magnitude against the perspective of the position of the measurement point data group being traced. Item 9. A railroad crossing obstacle detection device according to Item 8.   In the determination unit, the grouping process is performed. When the effective measurement point data of the value has not yet been reached, the state where the effective measurement point data of the value is reached before the obstacle candidate is determined is reached. Reflected state before confirmation when confirmed, non-reflective state before determination when obstacle candidate is confirmed, and valid measurement point data after confirmation of obstacle candidate A state machine is incorporated that has a reflected state after confirmation when it arrives at the point and a non-reflective state after confirmation when it reaches the invalid measurement point data after the obstacle candidate is confirmed. The crossing obstacle detection device according to any one of claims 3 to 9, characterized in that it is characterized in that   In the grouping process, the determination unit may switch between an increase unit and a decrease unit of the group count value before and after the measurement point data group being traced is determined to be related to an obstacle candidate. The crossing obstacle detection device according to any one of claims 3 to 10, wherein the device is capable of being used.

Images