JP2019008350A - Map data structure, transmitter, and driving support device - Google Patents

Abstract

To appropriately determine whether a vehicle is needed to stop or not at a traffic intersection in accordance with situations.SOLUTION: A map data structure includes: identification information of a traffic intersection; and traffic intersection data associated with location information of the traffic intersection. The location information of the traffic intersection is specified by a positional coordinate of a stop line existing in the traffic intersection. In reference to the traffic intersection data, a driving support device determines whether a vehicle needs to be stopped at the stop line existing in the traffic intersection.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to map data used for driving assistance.

  In recent years, development of map data suitable for driving assistance and automatic driving has been progressing. Patent Document 1 describes a method of storing lane information and traffic signal information in association with each other and performing driving support according to the traffic signal. Furthermore, Patent Document 1 also describes storing stop line information indicating the position of a stop line associated with a traffic light and performing driving support so that the vehicle stops at the position of the stop line.

JP, 2006-40644, A

  However, Patent Document 1 does not particularly take into consideration that the position and range of an intersection are specified and used for driving support and the like.

  Examples of the problem to be solved by the present invention include the above. An object of this invention is to determine the necessity of a stop in an intersection appropriately according to a condition.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a map data structure indicating a map, and includes intersection data in which intersection identification information and position information of the intersection are associated with each other, and the position information of the intersection is at the intersection. It is defined by the position coordinates of the existing stop line.

The structure of the driving assistance system which concerns on an Example is shown. Examples of roads and lanes are shown. An example of road link data and lane link data is shown. An example of stop line data and intersection data is shown. An example of an intersection is shown. The other example of intersection data is shown. The other example of intersection data is shown. An example of an intersection is shown. The structure of a driving assistance device is shown. It is a flowchart of a driving assistance process.

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the map data structure indicates a map, and includes intersection data in which intersection identification information and position information of the intersection are associated with each other, and the position information of the intersection is included in the intersection. It is defined by the position coordinates of the existing stop line.

  The map data structure includes intersection data in which intersection identification information is associated with position information of the intersection, and the position information of the intersection is defined by position coordinates of a stop line existing at the intersection. . Therefore, by referring to the intersection data, it can be determined whether or not the vehicle needs to be stopped at the stop line existing at the intersection.

  In one aspect of the above map data structure, the position information of the intersection includes position information of all stop lines existing at the intersection. In this aspect, stop line position information can be acquired directly from intersection data.

  In another aspect of the above map data structure, the position information of the intersection is defined by a line segment obtained by extending a stop line existing at the intersection. In a preferred example in this case, the position information of the intersection includes the coordinates of the intersection of the line segment.

  In the other one aspect | mode of said map data structure, the said intersection data contain the information which shows the presence or absence of the traffic signal in the said intersection. In this aspect, it is possible to determine whether or not to stop the vehicle at the intersection according to the state of the traffic lights present at the intersection.

  In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a transmission device includes a storage unit that stores map data having the above-described map data structure, and a transmission unit that transmits the map data to a vehicle. With this transmission device, the map data can be transmitted to the vehicle for use.

  In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the driving support device refers to the acquisition unit that acquires the map data having the above-described map data structure, the detection unit that detects the intersection on the running road, and the intersection data. And the determination part which determines whether a vehicle should stop in the said intersection, and the output part which outputs a determination result are provided. Thereby, the driving assistance of a vehicle can be performed appropriately at an intersection.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[System configuration]
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a driving support system to which the present invention is applied. The driving support system includes a server 10 and a driving support device 20 mounted on the vehicle 3. The server 10 and the driving support device 20 are configured to be capable of wireless communication. In FIG. 1, only one vehicle 3 is shown for convenience of explanation, but a large number of vehicles 3 actually communicate with the server 10.

  The server 10 stores map data, and provides map data around the current position of the vehicle 3 to the driving support device 20 in response to a request from the driving support device 20. In the present embodiment, since driving assistance is performed in consideration of the driving lane of the vehicle 3, in addition to road link data including information for each road, lane link data including information for each lane is prepared as map data. ing. Specifically, the server 10 includes a road link database (hereinafter referred to as “DB”) 11, a lane link DB 12, a stop line DB 13, and an intersection DB 14. The road link DB 11 stores road link data, the lane link DB 12 stores lane link data, the stop line DB 13 stores stop line data, and the intersection DB 14 stores intersection data.

[Map data]
(Road link data and lane link data)
First, road link data and lane link data will be described. Now, as shown in FIG. 2A, it is assumed that there is a “road 1” with two lanes on one side. The two lanes bound for the east will be referred to as “Road 1A”, and the two lanes bound for the west will be referred to as “Road 1B”. The eastbound road 1A has “lane 1A-1” and “lane 1A-2”, and the westbound road 1B has “lane 1B-1” and “lane 1B-2”.

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 2 (B), “road link RL1A” corresponding to road 1A and “road link RL1B” corresponding to road 1B are prepared as road link data as data relating to road 1. . In addition, as the lane link data, “lane link LL1A-1” corresponding to lane 1A-1, “lane link LL1A-2” corresponding to lane 1A-2, and “lane link LL1A-2” corresponding to lane 1B-1. Lane link LL1B-1 "and" lane link LL1B-2 "corresponding to lane 1B-2 are prepared. In the example of FIG. 2, nodes that are both ends of each road link and lane link are “node N1” and “node N2”.

  FIG. 3A shows an example of road link data in the case of FIG. As shown in FIG. 3A, the road link data includes a road link ID, a start point node, an end point node, a corresponding lane link, and an attribute.

  The “road link ID” is identification information uniquely assigned to each road link, the “start node” is the ID of the node that is the start point of the road link, and the “end node” is the end point of the road link. ID of the node. The “corresponding lane link” is an ID of the lane link corresponding to the road link as shown in FIG. “Attribute” is various attribute information relating to the road link, and includes, for example, the number of lanes and the road width.

  On the other hand, FIG. 3B shows an example of lane link data in the case of FIG. As shown in FIG. 3B, the lane link data includes a lane link ID, a start point node, an end point node, a corresponding road link, and an attribute.

  The “lane link ID” is identification information uniquely assigned to each lane link, the “start node” is the ID of the node that is the start point of the lane link, and the “end node” is the end point of the lane link. ID of the node. The “corresponding road link” is an ID of a road link corresponding to the lane link as shown in FIG. “Attribute” is various attribute information related to the road link, and includes information such as lane width, number of lanes, lanes in intersections, and the like.

  Note that the contents of the road link data and lane link data shown in FIG. 3 are examples, and if the correspondence between the two is clear, common information (for example, the start node, the end node, etc.) is either one of the data. May be included only.

(Stop line data)
Next, stop line data will be described. The stop line data is prepared for each lane and for each stop line provided on the road, and is used when determining what kind of driving assistance should be performed on the stop line. FIG. 4A shows an example of stop line data. The stop line data includes a stop line ID, position information, and a corresponding lane link.

  “Stop line ID” is identification information uniquely assigned to each stop line. “Position information” indicates the geographical position of the stop line, and is specifically indicated by latitude and longitude. Information on altitude may be included in addition to latitude and longitude. The “corresponding lane link” is the lane link ID of the lane where the stop line is provided. Since the stop line data is provided for each lane, there is basically one lane link corresponding to one stop line.

(Intersection data)
Next, intersection data will be described. The intersection data is prepared for each intersection and defines the position and range of the intersection. The intersection data is prepared not only for intersections with signals but also for intersections without signals.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of an intersection. The intersection ID of this intersection is “IS1”. At this intersection, a one-lane two-lane road extending in the north-south direction and a one-lane one-lane road extending in the east-west direction intersect. In addition, four traffic lights SIG10 to SIG13 are installed at this intersection. A road extending in each direction is provided with a stop line. A stop line ID is assigned to each stop line for each lane, and corresponding stop line data is prepared as shown in FIG. . Specifically, stop line data of stop lines ST1 and ST2 are prepared for the northbound two-lane road, and stopline data of stop lines ST4 and ST5 are prepared for the south-bound two-lane road. Further, stop line data of the stop line ST6 is prepared for the one-lane road to the east, and stop line data of the stop line ST3 is prepared for the one-lane road to the west. The position indicated by each stop line data is the position of the black spot indicated by each stop line ID (ST1 to ST6) in FIG. 5, that is, the center position of the stop line in each lane.

  The range of the intersection is defined by the position of the stop line provided on each road. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, a broken-line rectangular area 30 formed by connecting stop lines ST1 to ST6 provided on each road indicates the range of this intersection. As described above, the range of the intersection is defined by the position of the stop line included in the intersection. Specifically, the range of the intersection is a rectangular area defined by four line segments obtained by extending each stop line.

  FIG. 4B shows a first example of intersection data. In this example, the intersection data includes an intersection ID, position information, and a traffic signal ID. “Intersection ID” is identification information uniquely assigned to each intersection. “Position information” indicates the geographical position of the intersection, and is specifically indicated by latitude and longitude. Here, the position of the intersection is defined by the position of the stop line belonging to the intersection. In this example, the position information of the six stop line data (stop lines ST1 to ST6) included in the intersection IS1 is used as the “position information” in the intersection data. Incidentally, the intersection of the intersection IS2 shown in FIG. 4B is an intersection where roads of one lane on one side intersect, and “position information” includes stop line data of stop lines provided on roads extending in each direction. Location information is included.

  The intersection data includes a traffic signal ID. As shown in FIG. 5, traffic lights SIG10 to 13 are provided at the intersection IS1, so the intersection data of the intersection IS1 includes SIG10 to 13 as the traffic lights ID. Note that the intersection IS2 shown in FIG. 4B is an intersection without a traffic light.

  As described above, by defining the position information in the intersection data using the position information of the stop line belonging to the intersection, the position and range of the intersection can be clearly expressed. In addition, when driving assistance for a vehicle entering an intersection, referring to the intersection data, there is an advantage that the position of the stop line, that is, the position where the vehicle should stop is immediately known.

  FIG. 6 shows a second example of intersection data. In this example, the “position information” includes the stop line ID of the corresponding stop line instead of the position coordinates. Thereby, the correspondence between the intersection ID and the stop line ID of the stop line belonging to the intersection becomes clear. In driving support processing, the stop line position coordinates that define the position and range of the intersection are obtained by referring to the stop line data illustrated in FIG. 4A based on the stop line ID included in the position information. can do. The traffic signal ID is the same as in the first example.

  As described above, by defining the position information in the intersection data using the stop line ID of the stop line belonging to the intersection, the relationship between the intersection and the stop line belonging to the intersection can be clearly expressed.

  FIG. 7 shows a third example of intersection data. In this example, the vertex coordinates of the rectangular area 30 indicating the range of the intersection are used as “position information”. As described above, the region 30 is a rectangular region connecting the positions of the stop lines ST1 to ST6 included in the intersection IS1. As shown in FIG. 8, if the four vertices of the area 30 defining the range of the intersection IS1 are C1 to C4, the coordinates of these vertices C1 to C4 are used as position information in the third example of the intersection data. The In a multi-joint road such as a three-way or a five-way or more, a region indicating the range of an intersection is a triangle or a polygon. Even in this case, the coordinates of those vertices may be used as position information. The traffic signal ID is the same as in the first example.

[Driving support device]
Next, the driving support device 20 will be described in detail.
(Constitution)
FIG. 9 shows the configuration of the driving support device 20. The driving support device 20 is mounted on the vehicle 3. The driving support device 20 may be mounted on the vehicle as a navigation device or the like in addition to being built in the vehicle 3.

  The driving support device 20 includes a communication unit 21, a positioning unit 22, a camera 23, a map DB 24, a storage unit 25, a control unit 26, a display unit 27, and an audio output unit 28. The communication unit 21 communicates with the server 10 by wireless communication. The communication unit 21 is mainly used for downloading map data from the server 10. The positioning unit 22 includes a GPS receiver, a self-supporting positioning device, and the like, and measures the current position of the vehicle 3. The camera 23 is attached to the front part of the vehicle 3 or the vicinity of the windshield in the passenger compartment, and photographs the front of the vehicle 3.

  The map DB 24 stores map data downloaded from the server 10 through the communication unit 21. The storage unit 25 includes a RAM, a ROM, and the like, and stores a program for operating the driving support device 20. In addition, the storage unit 25 provides a working memory for executing various processes.

  The control unit 26 controls the entire driving support device 20. Specifically, the control unit 26 executes a map data acquisition process for downloading map data from the server 10, a driving support process related to an intersection, and the like. Information provided to the driver by the driving support process is displayed on the display unit 27 or output as a voice message by the voice output unit 28.

(Map data acquisition process)
First, the map data acquisition process will be described. The control unit 26 receives the current position of the vehicle 3 from the positioning unit 22 and requests the server 10 for map data in a predetermined range around the vehicle 3 through the communication unit 21. And the control part 26 memorize | stores the map data received from the server 10 in map DB24. Thus, the map data within a predetermined range from the current position of the vehicle 3 is stored in the map DB 24. The map data includes road link data, lane link data, stop line data, and intersection data as described above.

(Driving support processing)
Next, driving support processing related to intersections using map data will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the driving support process. This process is mainly executed by the control unit 26 of the driving support device 20. This process is repeatedly executed at predetermined time intervals while the vehicle 3 is traveling.

  First, the control unit 26 determines whether an intersection is detected in front of the vehicle 3 based on the current position of the vehicle acquired from the positioning unit 22 and the captured image acquired from the camera 23 (step S10). . Depending on the mounting position and orientation of the camera 23 with respect to the vehicle 3, the distance (how many meters ahead) the image captured by the camera 23 captures the position in front of the vehicle, that is, the position of the captured image and the vehicle position Is known in advance. Therefore, first, the control unit 26 detects an intersection by image analysis of a captured image of the camera 23. For example, the control unit 26 detects an intersection by recognizing a traffic light in a captured image, a signboard of an intersection name attached to the traffic light, a pedestrian crossing, and the like. Then, the control unit 26 calculates the position coordinates of the intersection based on the current position of the vehicle when the intersection is detected and the distance difference between the position of the captured image and the vehicle position. Thus, the control unit 26 acquires the position coordinates of the intersection detected by the camera 23.

  Next, the control unit 26 refers to the intersection data in the map DB 24, and acquires the intersection ID of the intersection based on the position coordinates of the intersection detected in step S10 (step S11). Specifically, the control unit 26 searches the intersection data for an intersection having position information that matches the acquired position coordinates of the intersection, and acquires the intersection ID.

  Next, the control unit 26 refers to the intersection data, determines the range of the intersection, and determines the position of the stop line existing in front of the vehicle 3 (step S12). Specifically, the control unit 26 determines the position of the stop line corresponding to the lane in which the vehicle is currently traveling based on the position information of the intersection data. As described above, since the position information in the intersection data is defined by the stop line data belonging to the intersection, the control unit 26 specifies the position of the stop line based on the position information in the intersection data.

  Next, the control part 26 recognizes the situation of an intersection by the image analysis of a picked-up image, and determines the necessity of the stop of the vehicle 3 based on the result (step S13). For example, when the traffic signal ID is included in the intersection data, the control unit 26 detects the color of the traffic signal corresponding to the lane in which the vehicle 3 is traveling based on the captured image, and the traffic signal is red or yellow. In this case, it is determined that the vehicle 3 needs to be stopped. When the traffic light is blue, it is determined that the vehicle 3 does not need to be stopped. In addition, the control unit 26 detects the presence or absence of objects (people, bicycles, other obstacles) around the pedestrian crossing present in the lane in which the vehicle 3 is traveling based on the captured image, and the objects are detected around the pedestrian crossing. In some cases, it is determined that the vehicle 3 needs to be stopped, and when there is no object, it is determined that the vehicle 3 need not be stopped.

  When it is determined that it is not necessary to stop the vehicle (step S14: No), the process ends. On the other hand, when it is determined that the vehicle needs to be stopped (step S14: Yes), the control unit 26 instructs the driver to stop by displaying on the display unit 27 or outputting a voice message by the voice output unit 28 ( Step S15). Then, the process ends.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the position of the stop line existing at the intersection is recognized with reference to the intersection data, and it is determined whether the vehicle needs to be stopped at the intersection according to the current situation of the intersection. And can be presented to the driver.

[Modification]
In the above embodiment, the map data including the intersection data is used by the driving support device mounted on the vehicle, but instead, it may be used for automatic driving by the autonomous driving vehicle. When used for automatic driving, in the determination of whether or not the vehicle needs to be stopped (step S14) in the flowchart of the driving support process of FIG. For example, the driving support device outputs a signal indicating that the vehicle is not stopped or a signal indicating the traveling of the vehicle to a control unit that controls automatic driving of the autonomous driving vehicle. On the other hand, when it is determined that the stop of the vehicle is necessary (step S14: Yes), the driving support device outputs a signal indicating the stop of the vehicle to, for example, a control unit that controls the automatic driving of the autonomous driving vehicle.

3 Vehicle 10 Server 11 Road Link DB
12 Lane Link DB
13 Stop line DB
14 Intersection DB
20 Driving support device

Claims (7)

A map data structure showing a map,
Including intersection data in which the identification information of the intersection is associated with the position information of the intersection,
The intersection position information is a map data structure defined by the position coordinates of a stop line existing at the intersection.   The map data structure according to claim 1, wherein the position information of the intersection includes position information of all stop lines existing at the intersection.   The map data structure according to claim 1, wherein the position information of the intersection is defined by a line segment obtained by extending a stop line existing at the intersection.   The map data structure according to claim 3, wherein the position information of the intersection includes coordinates of an intersection of the line segment.   The map data structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the intersection data includes information indicating presence or absence of a traffic signal at the intersection. A storage unit for storing map data having the map data structure according to claim 1;
A transmission unit for transmitting the map data to the vehicle;
A transmission device comprising: An acquisition unit for acquiring map data having the map data structure according to claim 1;
A detection unit for detecting an intersection on a running road;
A determination unit that determines whether or not the vehicle should stop at the intersection with reference to the intersection data;
An output unit for outputting the determination result;
A driving support apparatus comprising: