JP2020027416A - Intersection passage control system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an intersection passage control system that exhibits excellent effects in automatic driving of buses and the like.SOLUTION: An intersection passage system 100 includes a traffic light information confirmation portion 110, a GPS antenna 120, a passage propriety determination portion 130 and a traffic light passage control portion 140. The traffic light information confirmation portion 110 has a function of acquiring information necessary for predicting a traffic light when a vehicle (bus) 1 passes through an intersection, that is, a current light of the traffic light, remaining time information of the light of the traffic light, and traffic light split information. Such information is transmitted from a traffic light itself or from a traffic control center that controls the traffic light. Based on the information acquired by the means for detecting the remaining time of the light of the traffic light and the position and speed information of the own vehicle, the traffic light when the own vehicle reaches and passes the intersection is predicted, and it is determined whether or not the own vehicle can pass the intersection before the traffic light turns to red.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a traffic control system at an intersection with a signal.

  The traffic light has a fixed cycle type that repeatedly displays blue, yellow and red signals at a fixed time, a response type that changes the signal when a vehicle comes, a push button type applied to pedestrian crossings, etc. There are also acoustic and flashing types.

  The regular intersection type is adopted for general intersections. The fixed-period traffic light changes in the order of blue → yellow → red every cycle, and the distribution ratio (split) of signal time allocated to one direction in one cycle is determined.

Patent Document 1 has been proposed as a system for safely and smoothly driving a vehicle at an intersection.
Patent Literature 1 discloses, as a device that supports the passage of a traffic light, a notification unit that reports information based on lamp information of a traffic light, a prediction unit that predicts deceleration of a vehicle based on information on a route on which the vehicle travels, There has been proposed a vehicle including a control unit that controls a notifying unit so as not to perform a notification for prompting maintenance or acceleration of the vehicle when the deceleration of the vehicle is predicted.
According to this device, it is predicted from the current vehicle speed or the like whether or not the own vehicle needs to stop at the traffic signal in front, and the driver is asked whether or not the intersection where the traffic signal is installed can pass. Can be reported.

Patent Literature 2 proposes a vehicle control device that determines a signal of a forward traffic light. The vehicle control device acquires map information indicating information of a road on which the vehicle travels and position information indicating information of a position of the vehicle, and detects a position of a traffic signal ahead of the vehicle based on the map information and the position information. A traffic signal position detecting unit, a peripheral information detecting unit that detects information around the vehicle, and image information in front of the vehicle, and based on the detection result and the image information detected by the traffic signal position detecting unit, Determine the signal of the traffic light ahead.
In particular, a forward signal determination unit that determines a signal of a forward traffic signal based on a detection result detected by a peripheral information detection unit such as a vehicle-mounted camera when a signal of a forward traffic signal cannot be determined is disclosed.

  Patent Literature 3 proposes a traffic signal control system suitable for a public vehicle such as a bus that is required to travel on a predetermined operation route on time. This system describes the content of controlling a signal light installed on a road based on uplink information transmitted from an in-vehicle device mounted on a public vehicle.

  Patent Document 4 discloses a signal control system including a traffic terminal device and a central device capable of communicating with the traffic terminal device. The central device receives the vehicle sensing information, calculates a traffic index at the target intersection based on the vehicle sensing information, and calculates a signal control parameter including a cycle length, a split and an offset based on the calculated value. ing.

JP 2017-207895 A JP-A-2017-182297 JP 2011-141606 A JP-A-2017-016433

In order to drive a car safely and smoothly, it is natural to observe prescribed traffic rules, but it is also important to perform cooperative movement with surrounding vehicles.
In particular, if you stop at an intersection where you can pass sufficiently at normal speed or enter an intersection where you can not cross with a green light, not only disturb the surrounding vehicles but also cause a serious accident May cause

  The driver's judgment when crossing the intersection is not only whether the signal in front of the intersection is red or blue but also the time until the color of the signal changes, the speed of the own vehicle, the degree of congestion, the intersection It is determined whether or not to pass through the intersection as it is, using the number of vehicles inside the vehicle as a determination factor.

When the technology disclosed in the prior art is applied to automatic driving, there are the following problems when the computer (AI) performs the above-described prediction determination.
For example, in the case of Patent Literature 1, it is determined whether the vehicle should cross the previous signal or stop before the signal based on the vehicle speed of the own vehicle. The factor of the determination is the remaining time of the signal light or the split. Must.
However, Patent Document 1 does not mention the remaining time or the split of the signal light, and even if it is considered, the shift of the split, that is, the time of the own vehicle and the time of the traffic light completely match. If not, it does not consider the remaining time of the signal light or the occurrence of a shift in the split.

  Similarly to Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2 recognizes the state of a traffic signal in front of the vehicle. However, the difference between the remaining time (split) of the signal light of the traffic signal and the remaining time (split) of the signal light between the own vehicle and the traffic signal is described. Is not considered at all.

  The system disclosed in Patent Literature 3 is a content in which a public vehicle such as a bus runs preferentially with respect to other vehicles, and is not applicable to operation at intersections of all vehicles including public vehicles.

  Patent Literature 4 is for remotely controlling the split and offset of a traffic signal at an intersection in accordance with the traffic volume, and does not mention anything about smooth running at the intersection when automatically driving a bus or the like.

  In order to solve the above problems, an intersection passage control system according to the present invention includes a means for detecting a remaining time of a signal light at an intersection to be passed, and information obtained by means for detecting a remaining time of the signal light. Means for predicting a signal light when the own vehicle reaches and passes the intersection based on the position and speed information of the own vehicle (including the following vehicles in the platoon), and that the own vehicle can pass before the intersection turns red light. And means for controlling the deceleration of the vehicle when it is determined that the vehicle cannot pass.

  As means for detecting the remaining time of the signal light, the remaining time is directly obtained from a traffic light or a signal management center, or signal split information is obtained from a traffic light or a signal management center to detect a time difference between a traffic light and a clock of the own vehicle. Then, a means for correcting the remaining time can be considered.

  As a means for detecting a time difference between the clock of the traffic light and the own vehicle and correcting the remaining time, a sensor attached to the own vehicle reads a signal light at an intersection to be passed and detects and corrects the time difference of the clock. The traffic light at the intersection to be passed is read by a sensor installed on the roadside, and the time difference between the clocks is detected and corrected, or the signal light at the intersection to be passed by the sensor attached to the preceding vehicle that has passed the traffic intersection first. Means for reading the fire and detecting and correcting the deviation of the clock can be considered.

  Further, the means for predicting the signal light when the own vehicle reaches and passes the intersection, reaches the intersection with the remaining time of the detected signal light and the current speed of the own vehicle, and further, the own vehicle completely crosses the intersection. Predict the signal lights at the time of arrival and at the time of passing from the time until the vehicle completely passes through.

  Means for predicting the signal light when the own vehicle reaches and passes the intersection is based on the assumption that the current speed of the own vehicle is low and the time required to pass the signal increases as the signal exceeds one cycle. No prediction of signal lights is made. In this case, speed recovery is performed.

  The means for determining whether or not the vehicle can pass through the intersection is based on the assumption that the yellow traffic light will be regarded as a red traffic light and the current traffic light or the traffic light upon arrival and the If any of the "light signals" is a green light, it is determined that the vehicle passes at or above the current speed, and if at least one of them is a red light, it reaches a predetermined position and then decelerates and stops.

  The means for controlling the deceleration of the host vehicle decelerates according to a previously set run curve.

  Means for detecting the remaining time of the signal light described above, means for predicting the signal light when the vehicle reaches and passes the intersection, and determines whether or not the vehicle can pass through the intersection before turning to the red light. All of the means for controlling the vehicle and the means for controlling the deceleration of the own vehicle when it is determined that the vehicle cannot pass are updated in real time until the signal is passed.

  When the intersection passage control system according to the present invention is applied to automatic operation of a route bus or the like, a signal change at an intersection is appropriately predicted, and it is determined whether to stop immediately before the signal or pass as it is based on the prediction. it can.

  The above-mentioned judgment smoothly flows the traffic without disturbing the flow of the surrounding vehicles, and therefore does not cause an accident or traffic jam at the intersection.

  In particular, since the remaining time of the light signal can be accurately determined on the host vehicle side, there is no inconvenience such as being unable to cross an intersection even when the light signal turns red.

FIG. 2 is a top view of an intersection employing the intersection passage control system according to the present invention. Configuration diagram of an intersection passage control system according to the present invention mounted on a vehicle Graph showing an example of a deceleration run curve Flow chart of the intersection passage control system according to the present invention

  As shown in FIG. 1, an intersection passage control system 100 according to the present invention is mounted on a vehicle 1 that travels on a predetermined route such as a bus by automatic driving.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the intersection passage control system 100 includes a signal information confirmation unit 110, a GPS antenna 120, a passage possibility determination unit 130, and a signal passage control unit 140.

  The signal information confirmation unit 110 has a function of acquiring information necessary for predicting a signal when the vehicle (bus) 1 passes an intersection, that is, a current signal light, remaining time information of the signal light, and signal split information. Prepare. Such information is transmitted from the traffic signal itself or from a traffic control center that controls the traffic signal.

  The traffic light includes a traffic light connected to the traffic control center and a traffic light (local) not connected to the traffic control center. Locally operating traffic lights have an internal clock incorporated in each of the local traffic lights and switch signal lights according to the set split information.

  It is conceivable that the internal clock of the local traffic signal and the clock such as the GPS used by the vehicle (bus) 1 are shifted. If this is left as it is, the remaining time of the signal light calculated by the intersection passage control system 100 is different from the actual remaining time, and a situation occurs in which the vehicle cannot pass the intersection within the green light.

  Therefore, the signal information confirmation unit 110 acquires the signal information from the traffic signal (or the traffic control center) in real time by a wireless communication or the like for the traffic signal connected to the traffic control center, and obtains the signal information for the local traffic signal. The signal split information and the difference between the internal clock of the traffic light and the clock on the vehicle (bus) side are acquired.

The following method is specifically conceivable as a method of acquiring the clock deviation.
(1) The color of the signal is read from a distance by a camera mounted on the vehicle (bus) side, and the shift is measured using the time when the signal changes.
(2) The color of the signal is read by a camera installed on the roadside, and the deviation is measured using the time when the signal changes.
(3) Information is received from the preceding vehicle that has passed the signal first, and the deviation is measured.

  The GPS antenna 120 is configured to be able to receive information for specifying the position (coordinates), vehicle speed, and time of a vehicle from a satellite. The information received by the GPS antenna 120 is output to the passability determination unit 130.

  The lamp information confirmed by the signal information confirmation unit 110 is also output to the passability determination unit 130. Based on the signal light information acquired from the signal information confirmation unit 110 and the position and vehicle speed (current vehicle speed) acquired from the GPS antenna 120, the passage availability determination unit 130 determines whether or not the vehicle can pass through the intersection with a green light. .

From the position information acquired from the GPS antenna 120, the distance until the vehicle (bus) arrives at the intersection and the distance until the vehicle (bus) passes through the intersection are known.
Further, the time required for the vehicle (bus) to pass through the intersection can be calculated from the vehicle speed information acquired from the GPS antenna 120.

  When the current remaining time of the signal light is acquired or, in the case of a local traffic light, the time alignment of the traffic light and the vehicle side ends, the time at which the vehicle arrives at the intersection and the time at which the vehicle passes by can be calculated.

From the calculated arrival time and passing time and the remaining time of the signal light, the signal light at the time of passing the arrival time can be predicted in real time.
In an autonomous driving bus, if the traffic light changes to a yellow light just before the intersection (dilemma zone), or if the traffic light changes to a yellow light while the vehicle is passing through the intersection, the prediction signal is red even if it is a yellow light. Recognize as a signal.

  If both the current signal light or the arrival signal light and the passing signal are green signals, maintaining or accelerating the current speed allows the vehicle to pass the intersection at the green signal. That is, at this time, it is determined that there is no need for deceleration control.

  Also, when both or one of the signal lights at the time of arrival and the signal light at the time of passing is a red light, the vehicle cannot pass through the intersection between the green lights at the current speed, so it is necessary to temporarily enter the deceleration control. Judge. The result of edge reduction by the passability determination unit 130 is output to the signal passage control unit 140.

  The signal passage control unit 140 performs intersection passage speed control based on information input from the passage possibility determination unit 130. Specifically, the signal passage control unit 140 maintains the vehicle speed when the passage availability determination unit 130 determines that the vehicle can pass through the intersection with the green light. On the other hand, when it is determined that the vehicle cannot pass through the intersection with the green light, the vehicle is decelerated according to the run curve shown in FIG. 3 so as not to cause a sudden change in speed.

  Further, the vehicle is provided with a display device 150 of a navigation system as a human-machine interface (HMI). Even in the case of automatic driving, the display device 150 displays not only a map but also an intersection name, a present signal, and a prediction signal. Are displayed.

  The flow of the entire system will be described with reference to FIG. When the vehicle starts traveling and approaches an intersection, the signal information confirmation unit 110 acquires information and predicts a signal at the time of passing.

  If the current and passing signals are predicted to be green, the speed is maintained or accelerated; otherwise, the speed is reduced to stop at the stop line. In this case, if there is a preceding vehicle, the target is switched to a vehicle speed lower than the planned target speed and decelerated / stopped by the inter-vehicle automatic control system (ACC).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle (bus), 100 ... Intersection passage control system, 110 ... Signal information confirmation part, 120 ... GPS antenna, 130 ... Passability determination part, 140 ... Signal passage control part, 150 ... Human-machine interface.

Claims (8)

  An intersection passage control system mounted on an automatic driving vehicle, wherein the intersection passage control system includes a unit for detecting a remaining time of a signal light at an intersection to be passed, and a unit for detecting a remaining time of the signal light. Means for predicting a signal light when the own vehicle reaches and passes the intersection based on the obtained information and the position and speed information of the own vehicle, and whether or not the own vehicle can pass through the intersection before it becomes red light And a means for controlling deceleration of the vehicle when it is determined that the vehicle cannot pass.   2. The intersection passing control system according to claim 1, wherein the means for detecting the remaining time of the signal light is means for directly obtaining the remaining time from a traffic light or a signal management center, or receiving signal split information from a traffic light or a signal management center. An intersection passage control system, which is a means for detecting the time difference between the traffic light and the own vehicle and correcting the remaining time.   3. The intersection passing control system according to claim 2, wherein the means for detecting a time difference between the traffic light and the clock of the own vehicle and correcting the remaining time reads a signal light of an intersection to be passed by a sensor attached to the own vehicle. Means to detect and correct the clock deviation, means to read the signal light at the intersection to be passed by the sensor installed on the road side, and to detect and correct the clock deviation, or the preceding vehicle that passed the intersection first An intersection passing control system characterized in that it is means for reading a signal light at an intersection to be passed by a sensor attached to the vehicle and detecting and correcting a deviation of a clock.   The intersection passing control system according to claim 1, wherein the means for predicting a signal light when the own vehicle reaches and passes the intersection is based on the remaining time of the detected signal light and a current speed of the own vehicle. An intersection passage control system, which predicts signal lights at the time of arrival and at the time of passage from the time until the vehicle reaches the intersection and the vehicle completely passes through the intersection.   The intersection passing control system according to claim 1, wherein the means for predicting a signal light when the own vehicle reaches and passes the intersection is a current speed of the own vehicle is low, and a time until the signal passes is reduced. An intersection passage control system characterized in that prediction of a signal light is not performed when the signal light becomes larger than one signal cycle.   In the intersection passage control system according to claim 1, the means for determining whether or not the vehicle can pass through the intersection is configured such that a yellow signal is regarded as a red signal with respect to a predicted signal light at the time of passing the intersection. If both the "current signal or signal at arrival" and "signal at the time of passing" are green lights, the vehicle passes at the current speed or higher, and if at least one of them is a red signal, it reaches the specified position and then decelerates. And an intersection passing control system, which determines to stop.   2. The intersection passage control system according to claim 1, wherein the means for controlling the deceleration of the own vehicle decelerates according to a run curve set in advance. The intersection passage control system according to claim 1, wherein all the means are updated in real time until a signal is passed.

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