JP2023137699A - Operation management system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an operation management system that enables formation traveling suitable for traveling conditions.SOLUTION: An operation management system includes: an information acquisition unit 11 for acquiring operation information including information on the presence or absence of occupants, characteristic information on the type or a form, information on a target travel route, and location information; a formation traveling detection unit 12 for detecting a plurality of registered mobile bodies that are scheduled to travel in a formation or are traveling in a formation along the same travel route, based on the target travel route and the location information; a route state detection unit 13 for detecting the state of the route, which is the travel route along which the formation traveling is scheduled or the formation traveling is being performed; a formation setting unit 14 that sets at least one of a traveling order and a traveling interval in the formation traveling of the plurality of registered mobile bodies detected by the formation traveling detection unit 12 based on the operation information, the characteristic information, and the status information on the formation traveling route; and an instruction transmitting unit 15 that transmits formation instructions based on the setting results of the formation setting unit 14 to the registered mobile body to be changed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a traffic management system that manages the operation of multiple mobility vehicles.

A traffic management system that manages the operation of a plurality of automatically-driving vehicles can manage, for example, platooning in which a plurality of automatically-driving vehicles run in tandem (travel direction). For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2021-028748 discloses a platooning system that sets the order of vehicles in the platoon and arranges the vehicles in descending order of running performance from the head of the vehicle toward the rear in order to prevent the platoon from splitting. is listed.

JP2021-028748A

In situations where platooning is performed by various types of mobility (moving objects) such as passenger cars and trucks, depending on the state of the driving route, from the perspective of damage risk, which is the magnitude of damage in the event of a collision (especially a rear-end collision), it may be difficult to drive in a platoon. The running order of mobility may not be optimal. From this perspective, there is room for improvement in conventional traffic management systems.
An object of the present invention is to provide a traffic management system that can realize platooning suitable for driving conditions.

The traffic management system of the present invention is a traffic management system configured to be able to communicate with each registered mobility so as to manage the operation of a plurality of registered mobility including different types or types of mobility, and wherein each of the registered mobility driving information of each said registered mobility, including information regarding the presence or absence of occupants, characteristic information regarding the type or type of each said registered mobility, information on the target travel route of each said registered mobility, and information on the target driving route of each said registered mobility; an information acquisition unit that acquires position information of the mobility; and a platooning detection unit that detects a plurality of the registered mobilities that are scheduled to travel in a platoon or are running in a platoon on the same travel route based on the target travel route and the position information. a route state detection unit that detects the state of the platooning route which is the traveling route scheduled to run in a platoon or is running in a platoon; , a platoon setting unit that sets at least one of a running order and a running interval in platooning of the plurality of registered mobilities detected by the platoon running detection unit, and a platoon instruction based on the setting result of the platoon setting unit, which is subject to change. an instruction transmitting unit that transmits an instruction to the registered mobility of the user.

The state of the platoon running route may vary depending on, for example, the running route selected as the target running route (for example, presence or absence of a slope), the weather (for example, rainy weather), etc., and various cases can be considered. In addition, multiple driving situations are possible, such as unmanned automated driving vehicles and manned manual driving. According to the present invention, at least one of the running order and the running interval is set in consideration of not only the characteristic information regarding the type or type of registered mobility but also the state of the platoon running route and driving information. For example, if the state of the platoon travel route is a slope, it is considered that the damage risk (the magnitude of damage in the event of a collision) is greater for a mobility located below the slope than for a mobility located above. In this case, according to the present invention, it is possible to arrange manned mobility above and unmanned mobility below. In other words, according to the present invention, it is possible to arrange mobility where safety is prioritized at a position where the risk of damage is low, depending on the state of the platoon travel route. In this way, by considering the characteristics of mobility, the presence or absence of passengers, and the state of the travel route, it becomes possible to drive in a platoon that is suitable for the travel situation.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a traffic management system according to the present embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the example of a change of the running order on a slope (downhill) in this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the example of a change of the running order on a slope (uphill) in this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the example of a change of the running order in a slip warning state in this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram for explaining an example of setting a protection bubble according to the present embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of a running order change of this embodiment.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, as a form for implementing this invention, the operation management system 1 which is one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated in detail, referring to a figure. In addition to the following embodiments, the present invention can be implemented in various forms with various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

The traffic management system 1 of this embodiment is an electronic control unit (ECU) or a computer (for example, a vehicle-mounted computer) including at least one processor and at least one memory. The memory stores various programs and various data. The processor reads a program from memory and executes it to perform various calculations and controls. Communication within a vehicle is performed by CAN (car area network or controllable area network).

The operation management system 1 is a system that is configured (connected) to be able to communicate with each registered mobility so as to manage the operation of a plurality of registered mobility including mobility of different types or types. Registered mobility is mobility registered in the traffic management system 1 and is a mobility to be managed by the traffic management system 1. In this embodiment, a plurality of pickup trucks (small cargo trucks) and a plurality of large dump trucks (large heavy equipment) are registered as registered mobility.

The traffic management system 1 is configured to be able to communicate with each registered mobility via a wireless device (not shown) and a communication network. The traffic management system 1 receives various information (for example, identification information, location information, status information, etc.) from each registered mobility. The traffic management system 1 of this embodiment is part of a central control system, and transmits information on a target travel route calculated by a route calculation unit 10, which will be described later, to the corresponding registered mobility. The registered mobility device that has been instructed to perform automatic driving executes automatic driving based on the received target travel route information.

As shown in FIG. 1, each registered mobility is provided with, for example, a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver 2 and an ECU 3 that controls travel. Each registered mobility transmits position information based on the GNSS positioning data calculated by the receiver 2 and state information indicating the state of the mobility (for example, traveling speed, etc.) to the operation management system 1. That is, the traffic management system 1 receives location information and status information from each registered mobility. The ECU 3 executes automatic driving control based on the target travel route received from the traffic management system 1. Each registered mobility is provided with a radio (not shown) for communicating with the traffic management system 1.

A surrounding monitoring device 4 is provided in some or all of the registered mobilities (in this example, all registered mobilities). The surroundings monitoring device 4 is a device that monitors (recognizes) the surroundings of the own mobility, and includes, for example, a lidar (LiDAR: Light Detection and Ranging, or Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging). The surroundings monitoring device 4 of this embodiment includes, for example, one or more lidar, one or more cameras that capture images of the surroundings of the own mobility, and one or more cameras that measure the distance between the own mobility and objects around the own mobility. It is equipped with a radar. For example, based on the detection results of the surroundings monitoring device 4 and three-dimensional map data, it is possible to accurately recognize the surrounding situation and one's own position. The ECU 3 is configured to be able to locally correct the target travel route (target trajectory) based on the detection results of the surrounding monitoring device 4 .

(Detailed configuration of operation management system)
As shown in FIG. 1, the operation management system 1 includes, as functions, a route calculation section 10, an information acquisition section 11, a platooning detection section 12, a route state detection section 13, a platoon setting section 14, and an instruction transmission section. section 15 and a protection bubble setting section 16. The route calculation unit 10 calculates a target travel route for each registered mobility based on map data, position information received from each registered mobility, and destination information. Information on the target travel route calculated by the route calculation unit 10 is transmitted to the corresponding registered mobility.

Based on the information received from each registered mobility, the information acquisition unit 11 acquires "driving information" of each registered mobility including information regarding the presence or absence of a passenger, "characteristic information" regarding the type or type of each registered mobility, and "characteristic information" of each registered mobility. Obtain "target travel route information" and "location information" of each registered mobility.

The information acquisition unit 11 receives, for example, identification information (eg, ID) from each registered mobility that can identify its own mobility. The memory of the traffic management system 1 stores the correspondence between identification information and characteristic information of registered mobility. The information acquisition unit 11 acquires characteristic information by reading characteristic information (pickup truck or large dump truck) corresponding to the received identification information from the memory.

The traffic management system 1 can grasp the weight of registered mobility (for example, the relationship in weight between different types of registered mobility) based on the characteristic information. It is set in the traffic management system 1 that the weight of a pickup truck is smaller than the weight of a large dump truck. The characteristic information can also be said to be information regarding weight. Note that the information acquisition unit 11 may acquire characteristic information of each registered mobility by receiving not only identification information but also characteristic information from each registered mobility. In this case, there is no need to previously store the correspondence between identification information and characteristic information in a memory or the like.

The information acquisition unit 11 receives, as driving information, information on the presence or absence of a passenger (manned or unmanned) and information on whether the driving mode is automatic driving or manual driving from each registered mobility. That is, in the present embodiment, the driving information is information indicating whether the driving situation of the registered mobility corresponds to manned automatic driving, manned manual driving, or unmanned automatic driving. Each registered mobility transmits its own driving information to the operation management system 1.

The information acquisition unit 11 acquires information on the target travel route from the route calculation unit 10. Further, the information acquisition unit 11 acquires position information from each registered mobility or route calculation unit 10. Note that when the target travel route is calculated using registered mobility, the information acquisition unit 11 may acquire the target travel route from the registered mobility.

The platooning detecting unit 12 detects a plurality of registered mobilities that are scheduled to travel in a platoon or are traveling in a platoon on the same travel route, based on the target travel route and position information. Platoon running means that a plurality of mobility vehicles run in tandem (for example, within a predetermined running interval along the traveling direction). The platooning detecting unit 12 can identify a plurality of registered mobilities that are currently traveling in a platoon based on the position information, and can identify which section the vehicles should travel in the platoon based on the information on the target travel route. Furthermore, the platooning detection unit 12 can calculate, for example, the scheduled running time at each position on the target running route based on the target running route, position information, and state information (running speed) of each registered mobility, and multiple registered mobility can be detected (recognized).

The route state detection unit 13 detects the state of a platooning route that is a traveling route scheduled for platooning or during platooning. The state of the platooning route can be expressed, for example, by the degree of slope of the route, the weather, the degree of curvature of the route, or the road surface condition (for example, paved road, unpaved road, road surface friction coefficient, etc.). The traffic management system 1 stores, for example, map data having slope information for each route. The route state detection unit 13 determines whether the platoon travel route is on a slope with a predetermined gradient or higher, for example, based on map data having slope information of each route.

Furthermore, the route state detection unit 13 determines whether the road surface friction coefficient of the platooning route is less than a predetermined value, based on the information regarding the road surface friction coefficient received from the registered mobility. The traffic management system 1 receives information regarding the coefficient of friction of the road surface currently traveling from some or all of the registered mobility vehicles. Each of the plurality of registered mobilities is provided with a wheel speed sensor. The registered mobility ECU 3 can calculate the road surface friction coefficient (road surface μ) based on the wheel speed. The traffic management system 1 (route state detection unit 13) stores the received road surface friction coefficient in association with the route on the map data, and updates the current state of the road surface friction coefficient. The route state detection unit 13 grasps the road surface friction coefficient of the platoon travel route based on the information on the road surface friction coefficient associated with the map data.

The platoon setting unit 14 sets at least one of a running order and a running interval in platooning of the plurality of registered mobilities detected by the platooning detection unit 12 based on driving information, characteristic information, and status information of the platooning route. do. That is, when a registered mobility target for platooning is detected, the platoon setting unit 14 adjusts the running order and running interval in platooning as necessary based on the driving information, characteristic information, and the state of the platooning route. Set at least one. The driving information indicates, for example, manned automatic driving, manned manual driving, or unmanned automatic driving. The characteristic information indicates, for example, a pickup truck or a large dump truck. The status information of the platoon running route indicates, for example, a slope whose slope is greater than or equal to a predetermined slope, a route whose slope is less than a predetermined slope, or a slip warning state where the road surface friction coefficient is less than a predetermined value.

The instruction transmitting unit 15 transmits a platoon instruction (platoon setting information) based on the setting result of the platoon setting unit 14 to the registered mobility to be changed (that is, the registered mobility whose running order and/or running interval is to be changed from the current one). . Based on the received platoon instruction, the ECU 3 of each registered mobility to be changed can change at least one of the running order and the running interval in conjunction with other registered mobility. Note that the platoon instruction (platform setting information) only needs to be sent to at least the registered mobility to be changed, and may be sent to all the registered mobilities that make up the platoon. The protection bubble setting section 16 will be described later.

(Effects of this embodiment)
The state of the platoon running route may vary depending on, for example, the running route selected as the target running route (for example, presence or absence of a slope), the weather (for example, rainy weather), etc., and various cases can be considered. In addition, multiple driving situations are possible, such as unmanned automated driving vehicles and manned manual driving. According to the present embodiment, at least one of the running order and the running interval is set in consideration of not only the characteristic information regarding the type or type of registered mobility but also the state of the platoon running route and driving information. For example, if the platooning route is on a slope (especially downhill), the risk of damage (severity of damage in the event of a rear-end collision) is greater for mobility units located at the bottom of the slope than for mobility units located at the top. it is conceivable that. In this case, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to arrange manned mobility above and unmanned mobility below. In other words, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to arrange mobility where safety is prioritized at a position where the risk of damage is small, depending on the driving situation. In this way, by considering the characteristics of mobility, the presence or absence of passengers, and the state of the travel route, it becomes possible to drive in a platoon that is suitable for the travel situation.

(1st slope rule)
When the route status detection unit 13 determines that the platoon travel route is on a slope with a predetermined gradient or higher (hereinafter also simply referred to as a “slope”), the platoon setting unit 14 determines whether the platoon is running on a registered mobility vehicle based on the driving information. The running order is set so that the vehicle is located higher on the slope than the registered unmanned mobility vehicle. The platoon setting unit 14 stores that, as a priority for ensuring safety, registered mobility for manned automatic driving or manned manual driving is given priority over registered mobility for unmanned automatic driving.

Furthermore, the platoon setting unit 14 stores that the damage risk (size of damage in the event of a rear-end collision) when traveling on a slope is such that the higher the registered mobility is located on the slope, the smaller the damage risk. The platoon setting unit 14 is configured to arrange registered mobility with a high priority for ensuring safety at a position where the risk of damage is low. Therefore, when the platoon travel route is on a slope (downhill or uphill), the platoon setting unit 14 places a manned (crewed) person with a high priority on ensuring safety at a position above the slope where the risk of damage is low. ) Set the driving order so that the registered mobility is arranged. As a result, even if a rear-end collision occurs, damage to registered manned mobility can be suppressed. This running order rule is referred to as the first slope rule.

(Second slope rule)
When a plurality of manned registered mobilities exist in the platoon, the platoon setting unit 14 sets the running order so that the registered mobility with a relatively small weight is located relatively above the slope. In other words, when the route state detection unit 13 determines that the travel route is a slope, and there are multiple registered mobility units with manned personnel in the platoon, the platoon setting unit 14 determines the weight of the registered mobility units based on the characteristic information. The traveling order of a plurality of registered manned mobilities is set so that the smaller the slope is, the higher the slope is located. This means that the heavier the mobility, the greater the damage to the lower mobility when it moves downward from the top of the slope (during downhill driving) or slips and collides with or rear-ends the lower mobility. It is based on the idea of Furthermore, if the platoon travel route is uphill, the above-mentioned travel order is set because there is a possibility that the heavy mobility vehicle will not be able to start or will slide downhill.

Therefore, when a plurality of manned registered mobility units exist in the platoon, the platoon setting unit 14 is configured to arrange the registered mobility units with relatively small weights at positions above the slope where the risk of damage is low. has been done. As a result, even if a collision occurs within the platoon, it is possible to suppress damage to the registered mobility, which is light in weight, and to suppress damage to the entire platoon. This running order rule is referred to as the second slope rule. The second slope rule is also applied to setting the running order of a plurality of unmanned registered mobilities when there are a plurality of unmanned registered mobilities in the platoon.

(Third slope rule)
The platoon setting unit 14 determines that the platoon travel route is on a slope with a predetermined slope or higher by the route state detection unit 13, and that there are multiple registered manned mobilities of the same type or type (i.e., the same weight) in the platoon. In this case, the driving order is set so that the registered mobility for manned manual driving is located behind the registered mobility for manned automatic driving in the traveling direction. This running order rule is referred to as the third slope rule.

According to the third slope rule, for example, if there is a first registered mobility for manned automatic driving in the platoon and a second registered mobility for manned manual driving that is the same type of mobility as the first registered mobility, The platoon setting unit 14 sets the running order of both vehicles so that the registered mobility for manned manual driving is located behind the registered mobility for manned automatic driving in the traveling direction. The third slope rule was established based on the idea that manual driving has a higher ability to detect danger and avoid danger than automatic driving, making it easier to avoid danger. According to the third slope rule, the possibility of a rear-end collision is further reduced by placing a registered mobility device for manned manual operation at the rear (following) position of the platoon where there is a possibility of a rear-end collision.

According to the third slope rule, the platoon setting unit 14 sets the driving order so that the manned and automatically driven pickup truck (or large dump truck) is arranged in front of the manned and manually operated pickup truck (or large dump truck). Set. In this way, for example, if there are multiple registered mobilities in a platoon that have the same driving information and characteristic information, excluding the distinction between manual and automated driving, the automated driving will be placed relatively at the front of the platoon. , manual operation is located relatively rearward. This can reduce the possibility of rear-end collisions occurring within the formation. Note that the third slope rule defines the front and rear of the formation, and can be applied even on slopes other than slopes.

(Example of changing running order on a slope)
As shown in FIG. 2, for example, in the convoy, a manned and automatically driven pickup truck, a manned and manually operated pickup truck, a manned and manually operated large dump truck, a manned and automatically operated large dump truck, an unmanned and automatically operated pickup truck, We will explain the case where there is an unmanned, self-driving large dump truck.

In this case, if the platoon running route is a slope (downhill in this case), the platoon setting unit 14 sets the running order from the bottom of the slope to the top, that is, from the head of the slope to the rear. , unmanned self-driving large dump truck, unmanned self-driving pickup truck, manned self-driving large dump truck, manned manually-driving large dump truck, manned self-driving pickup truck, manned manually-driving pickup truck.

When the route state detection unit 13 determines that the platoon running route scheduled for platoon running is a slope, the platoon setting unit 14 sets the running order before the platoon running route becomes a slope. The instruction transmitting unit 15 transmits a platoon instruction to the registered mobility to be changed so that the platoon running order is changed before the platoon running route turns to a slope. That is, when the route state detection unit 13 detects that the formation will run on a slope in the future, the formation setting unit 14 sets the running order before the formation reaches the slope, and the instruction transmission unit 15 instructs the target registered mobility to change its running order before reaching the slope. As a result, the running order is changed before the platoon reaches the slope, and each registered mobility can run in the platoon in a running order suitable for the slope from the start of running on the slope. Moreover, by performing overtaking driving or the like when changing the driving order before entering a slope, the driving order can be changed more safely.

In the example of FIG. 2, the contents of each rule are set so that the priority of each rule is the first slope rule, the second slope rule, and the third slope rule (priority: first slope rule). Rules > 2nd slope rule > 3rd slope rule). However, the setting of each rule is not limited to the above. For example, if the third slope rule is set such that if there is multiple registered manned mobility in a platoon, the registered mobility of manned manual driving is the same as that of manned automatic driving, regardless of weight. It may be set to be located above the slope (to the rear in the direction of travel) than the registered mobility. When using the third slope rule and the second slope rule together, it is necessary to set the priority level between the two rules. The content, application priority, and applicability of each rule can be set as appropriate. Furthermore, each rule can be applied both downhill and uphill.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the platoon running route is uphill, the running order set by the platoon setting unit 14 is from the top of the slope to the bottom, that is, from the head of the slope to the rear. The order is: pick-up truck driven by a driver, pickup truck driven manually by a man, large dump truck driven automatically by a man, large dump truck driven manually by a man, pickup truck driven automatically by an unmanned driver, and large dump truck driven by an unmanned self-driving driver. In the case of FIG. 3, the driving order is changed to the driving order set by the platoon setting unit 14 when a manned manually driven pickup truck overtakes a manned automatically driven large dump truck before the change. Therefore, in this case, the instruction transmitting unit 15 transmits a platoon instruction (replacement instruction) to the manned automatically driven large dump truck and the manned manually driven pickup truck, for example.

(First caution rule)
The route state detection unit 13 determines whether the road surface friction coefficient of the platooning route is less than a predetermined value. When the road surface friction coefficient of the platooning route is less than a predetermined value, the state of the platooning route can be said to be a state in which slips are likely to occur (hereinafter also referred to as "slip warning state"). For example, roads that are wet from rain, snow, or ice are prone to slipping. The road surface friction coefficient is calculated by the ECU 3, for example, based on the detected value of a wheel speed sensor provided in the registered mobility vehicle. The traffic management system 1 receives information on the road friction coefficient from the registered mobility for which the road friction coefficient has been calculated.

When the route state detection unit 13 determines that the road surface friction coefficient of the platooning route is less than a predetermined value, the platoon setting unit 14 determines, based on the driving information, that the registered mobility of the manned vehicle is more advanced than the registered mobility of the unmanned vehicle. Set the running order so that it is located at the rear of the direction. If the platoon route is in a slip warning state, the possibility of a rear-end collision occurring is considered to be higher than usual. Furthermore, in a rear-end collision, it is thought that the registered mobility vehicle that is rear-ended has a greater risk of damage than the registered mobility vehicle that is rear-ended. Based on this idea, the platoon setting unit 14 is configured to arrange registered mobility with a high priority for ensuring safety, that is, manned registered mobility, at a rear position in the direction of movement where the risk of damage is relatively small. There is. The platoon setting unit 14 sets the running order so that the registered manned mobility is arranged behind the unmanned registered mobility. This running order rule is referred to as the first warning rule.

(Second warning rule)
If the route state detection unit 13 determines that the road surface friction coefficient of the platooning route is less than a predetermined value and there are a plurality of registered manned mobility or unmanned registered mobility in the platoon, the platoon setting unit 14 determines the characteristics. Based on the information, the traveling order of the plurality of manned registered mobilities or the plurality of unmanned registered mobilities is set such that the smaller the weight of the registered mobility is, the further the registered mobility is located at the rear in the traveling direction. This running order rule is referred to as a second warning rule. The second warning rule is set based on the idea that the smaller the weight of a vehicle, the less damage it will cause to the other party's vehicle (front vehicle) when a collision occurs from behind. As a result, even if a rear-end collision occurs, damage can be suppressed.

(Third caution rule)
The platoon setting unit 14 determines that the road surface friction coefficient of the platoon travel route is determined to be less than a predetermined value by the route state detection unit 13, and that there are multiple registered manned mobilities of the same type or type (i.e., the same weight) in the platoon. If it exists, the driving order is set so that the registered mobility for manned manual driving is located behind the registered mobility for manned automatic driving in the traveling direction. This running order rule is referred to as the third warning rule. The third warning rule, like the third slope rule, is set based on the idea that manual driving has a higher crisis detection ability and crisis avoidance ability than automatic driving. This can reduce the possibility of a rear-end collision.

(Example of changing driving order in slip warning state)
As shown in FIG. 4, for example, in the convoy, a manned and automatically driven pickup truck, a manned and manually driven pickup truck, a manned and manually driven large dump truck, a manned and automatically driven large dump truck, an unmanned and automatically driven pickup truck, We will explain the case where there is an unmanned, self-driving large dump truck.

In this case, if the state of the platoon running route is in the slip warning state, the running order set by the platoon setting unit 14 is from the head of the traveling direction to the rear of the unmanned and automatically driven large dump truck. pickup trucks, manned and automatically driven large dump trucks, manned and manually operated large dump trucks, manned and automatically operated pickup trucks, and manned and manually operated pickup trucks.

When the route status detection unit 13 determines that the state of the platooning route scheduled for platooning is in the slip warning state, the platoon setting unit 14 sets the running order before the state of the platooning route becomes the slip warning state. Set. The instruction transmitting unit 15 transmits a platoon instruction so that the running order of the platoon is changed before the state of the platoon running route becomes a slip warning state. In other words, if the route state detection unit 13 detects that the platoon will travel on a slip warning route (hereinafter also referred to as a "bad road") in the future, the platoon will The setting unit 14 sets the running order, and the instruction transmitting unit 15 instructs each registered mobility to change the running order before reaching the rough road. As a result, the running order is changed before the platoon reaches a rough road, and each registered mobility can run in a platoon in a running order suitable for the rough road from the start of running on the rough road. Moreover, by performing overtaking driving or the like when changing the driving order before entering a rough road, the driving order can be changed more safely.

In the example of FIG. 4, each rule is set so that the priority of each rule is in the order of 1st warning rule, 2nd warning rule, and 3rd warning rule (Priority: 1st warning rule> 2nd vigilance rule > 3rd vigilance rule). However, the setting of each rule is not limited to the above. For example, if the third warning rule is that there are multiple registered manned mobility in a platoon, the registered mobility of manned manual driving is the same as that of manned automatic driving, regardless of weight. It may be set to be located behind the registered mobility in the direction of travel. In this case, when the second vigilance rule is used together, it is necessary to set the level of priority between the second vigilance rule and the third vigilance rule. The content, application priority, and applicability of each rule can be set as appropriate.

In the traffic management system 1, it is preset which rule or new rule should be applied when the platoon running route is on a slope and in a slip warning state. In this embodiment, when the state of the platoon running route is on a slope and the slip warning state is set, the slope rule is applied. In the examples shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the same rules are set for the slope and the slip warning state, and since the slope is a downhill, the running order is the same in both states. If the state of the platoon running route is on a slope and in a slip warning state, the slope rule or the warning rule which has a higher priority may be applied, or a new rule may be applied.

(Change in travel interval)
The platoon setting unit 14 is configured to handle situations in which multiple registered mobility vehicles need to reach their destinations as soon as possible, such as situations in which large mobility vehicles are required to run closely together due to emergency excavation, etc. (situation where efficiency is prioritized), or small mobility vehicles carrying people are required. In situations such as when you want to go to the scene (in an emergency), the travel interval is made smaller than the normal setting value (for example, the initial value). The platoon setting unit 14 not only changes the running interval but also sets the running order based on, for example, a warning rule.

When driving in a platoon with a small inter-vehicle distance, the smaller the inter-vehicle distance, the more likely a rear-end collision will occur, so the platoon setting unit 14 changes the driving order according to the warning rule from the perspective of damage risk (see Figure 4). ). That is, when reducing the running interval (for example, uniformly), the platoon setting unit 14 sets the running order based on the first warning rule, the second warning rule, and the third warning rule. This makes it possible to respond to efficiency-oriented situations or emergencies, and to suppress damage in the event of a rear-end collision. Note that a rule for the driving order when reducing the inter-vehicle distance may be set separately. Further, the formation setting unit 14 may apply only the first caution rule, only the first caution rule and the second caution rule, or only the first caution rule and the third caution rule when reducing the running interval.

Furthermore, when the platoon running route is on a slope and/or a rough road, the platoon setting unit 14 sets/changes the running order and sets the running interval to be larger than the normal setting value (for example, the initial value). Good too. In other words, the platoon setting unit 14 may uniformly increase the travel interval when the route state detection unit 13 determines that the platoon travel route is on a slope and/or a rough road. This allows the travel interval to be adjusted depending on the situation, further reducing the risk of a rear-end collision. Each registered mobility changes the running interval based on the platoon instruction (running interval change instruction) received from the instruction transmitting unit 15.

(Protection Bubble Settings)
The protection bubble setting unit 16 sets a protection bubble having a predetermined area that prohibits overlapping with each other for each registered mobility. The protection valve is set for each registered mobility, for example, in a circular, spherical or bubble shape around the registered mobility. The protection bubble setting unit 16 sets a relatively large predetermined protection valve for large dump trucks, and sets a relatively small predetermined protection bubble for pickup trucks.

The operation management system 1 and the ECU 3 of each registered mobility perform automatic driving so that the protection bubble of the own mobility and the protection bubble of other mobility do not overlap. For example, when two protection bubbles overlap, the traffic management system 1 stops both registered mobility. For example, when the operation management system 1 detects an overlap between protection bubbles based on the setting information and position information of the protection valve, it sends a stop instruction to both target registered mobilities. Each ECU 3 executes stop control based on the received stop instruction. For example, when protection bubbles are about to overlap (for example, when the distance between both mobility units becomes less than a predetermined value), the operation management system 1 issues a warning or controls acceleration/deceleration (speed) to prevent the protection bubbles from overlapping. and/or instructions regarding the steering angle may be sent to at least one registered mobility.

When the platoon setting unit 14 changes the running order, the protection bubble setting unit 16 changes the protection bubbles of each registered mobility whose running order is to be changed so that the protection bubbles are unlikely to overlap each other when overtaking. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the protection bubble setting unit 16 allows the first registered mobility 91 at the rear to run on the left side of the second registered mobility 92 at the front and overtake the second registered mobility 92 in the traveling direction. In this case, the right side protection bubble (right half protection bubble) of the first registered mobility 91 is made smaller, and the left side protection bubble (left half protection bubble) of the second registered mobility 92 is made smaller. On the other hand, when the first registered mobility 91 at the rear runs on the right side of the second registered mobility 92 at the front and overtakes the second registered mobility 92 in the traveling direction, the protection bubble setting unit 16 sets the protection bubble setting unit 16 to The left side protection bubble (left half protection bubble) is made smaller, and the right side protection bubble (right half protection bubble) of the second registered mobility 92 is made smaller. This suppresses overlapping of the protection valves during overtaking, making it easier for the first registered mobility 91 to overtake the second registered mobility 92, and smoothing the change in the running order.

When overtaking, the instruction transmitting unit 15 transmits, for example, an instruction to lower the instructed speed (instructed vehicle speed) or the upper limit speed (upper limit vehicle speed) to the second registered mobility 92, and sends an overtaking permission signal or an overtaking permission signal to the first registered mobility 91. Send an overtaking instruction (for example, an instruction to change the target trajectory). Each ECU 3 of the first registered mobility 91 and the second registered mobility 92 executes the rearrangement of the running order according to instructions from the operation management system 1. When each ECU 3 is configured to recognize a protection bubble, the instruction transmitting unit 15 transmits the changed protection bubble information to each registered mobility. Note that when the target of the overtaking operation includes a manually driven registered mobility, for example, in the manually driven registered mobility that has received the instruction, the contents of the instruction are notified to the driver (for example, displayed on a screen inside the vehicle). Further, the shape and size of the protective bubble can be set as appropriate.

To explain an example of the flow of changing the travel order, as shown in FIG. 6, the operation management system 1 acquires various information (identification information, location information, etc. of the registered mobility) from each registered mobility via the communication network ( S1). The traffic management system 1 detects a plurality of registered mobilities that are scheduled to run in a platoon or are running in a platoon based on the target travel route and position information of each registered mobility (S2). The traffic management system 1 detects and determines the state of the platoon travel route scheduled to be traveled or currently being traveled based on map data including road slope information, information received from registered mobility devices (accumulated data), etc. (S3) .

The traffic management system 1 determines whether the state of the platoon travel route is a slope or a rough road (slip warning state) (S4). When the state of the platoon running route is a slope or a rough road (S4: Yes), the traffic management system 1 changes the setting of the running order of the platoon based on a preset rule corresponding to the route state (S5 ). The traffic management system 1 transmits travel order change information to each registered mobility that is a target of forming the platoon (S6). Furthermore, the traffic management system 1 changes the protection bubble of the registered mobility subject to overtaking control (S7). The registered mobility device that has received the change instruction performs overtaking control, etc., as necessary, and changes the running order at a predetermined timing after the protection bubble change. The traffic management system 1 executes the above processing at predetermined intervals.

(others)
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, the state of the platoon running route can be detected not only on slopes and rough roads, but also on bad weather (e.g., strong winds, heavy rain, etc.), uneven roads (e.g., roads with ruts of a predetermined height), or open-pit roads (e.g., on one side). road with a cliff), etc. Whether or not the platooning route is a bumpy road can be determined by, for example, comparing the amount of change in the wheel speed sensor of each registered mobility device with a reference value, comparing the current supplied to the steering motor of the steering system with a reference value, Alternatively, the determination can be made by estimation (calculation) based on the detection results of the surrounding monitoring device 4. The route state detection section 13 detects a situation in which the running order or the running interval needs to be changed, and the platoon setting section 14 just needs to set the running order or the running interval according to the situation.

Further, when each registered mobility (for example, ECU 3) detects the slope of the road based on the detection result of an acceleration sensor, etc., the traffic management system 1 acquires slope information from each registered mobility, and the route state detection unit 13 acquires the slope information. Based on the information, it may be determined whether the platoon traveling route is on a slope. Further, the route state detection unit 13 may determine whether the platooning route scheduled for platooning is a slope based on gradient information acquired in the past from the registered mobility.

Furthermore, the position information of the own mobility may be GPS positioning data. Each registered mobility device may be equipped with various sensors (yaw rate sensor, acceleration sensor), and transmit mobility status information to the operation management system 1 based on various detection results. Various rules for setting the travel order may be set in consideration of the magnitude of the maximum deceleration of the registered mobility. The types of registered mobility are not limited to pickup trucks and large dump trucks, but may also include, for example, medium-sized trucks and small passenger cars. Further, the route state detection unit 13 may acquire information regarding the weather from, for example, registered mobility or the Internet, and may determine the state of the platoon running route in consideration of the weather information.

In addition, the platoon setting unit 14 determines the relationship between the damage risk, which indicates the magnitude of damage in the event of a collision (rear-end collision) within the platoon, and the position of the registered mobility in the platoon (risk position relationship), on the platoon travel route. may be stored for each state. The platoon setting unit 14 may store, for example, a risk positional relationship on a slope and a risk positional relationship on a rough road. In this case, the formation setting section 14 can be said to include a positional relationship storage section. Furthermore, the platoon setting unit 14 may store the priority of ensuring safety for the registered mobility set for each combination of characteristic information and driving information for each state of the platoon travel route. For example, the platoon setting unit 14 determines that ensuring the safety of manned registered mobility has a higher priority than ensuring the safety of unmanned registered mobility, and that ensuring the safety of pickup trucks has a higher priority than ensuring the safety of large dump trucks. Priority information, such as a higher priority than the priority of ensuring security, may be stored. In this case, the formation setting section 14 can be said to include a priority storage section. The platoon setting unit 14 may set at least one of the running order and the running interval based on information stored in the positional relationship storage unit and the priority storage unit.

The traffic management system 1 may also be configured to set a "travel order" or "travel order and travel interval." Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the minimum number of platoons (minimum number of registered mobilities) is set to two, but the minimum number of platoons may be set to three or more. The initial value of the traveling interval in platoon driving may be a uniform value, or may be set according to the type of registered mobility before and after the platoon.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Operation management system, 11...Information acquisition part, 12...Platoon running detection part, 13...Route state detection part, 14...Platoon setting part, 15...Instruction transmission part.

Claims (18)

An operation management system configured to be able to communicate with each registered mobility so as to manage the operation of a plurality of registered mobility including mobility of different types or types,
Based on the information received from each registered mobility, driving information of each registered mobility including information regarding the presence or absence of a passenger, characteristic information regarding the type or type of each registered mobility, information on a target travel route of each registered mobility; and an information acquisition unit that acquires location information of each registered mobility;
a platooning detection unit that detects the plurality of registered mobilities that are scheduled to travel in a platoon or are running in a platoon on the same travel route based on the target travel route and the position information;
a route state detection unit that detects the state of the platoon running route, which is the traveling route scheduled to run in a platoon or during the platoon run;
a platoon that sets at least one of a running order and a running interval in platooning of the plurality of registered mobilities detected by the platooning detection unit based on the driving information, the characteristic information, and the state information of the platooning route; Setting section and
an instruction transmitting unit that transmits a platoon instruction based on the setting result of the platoon setting unit to the registered mobility to be changed;
A traffic management system equipped with The route state detection unit determines whether the platoon travel route is on a slope with a predetermined slope or higher;
When the route state detection unit determines that the platoon travel route is on a slope with a predetermined slope or higher, the platoon setting unit is configured to determine whether the registered mobility of a manned person is higher than the registered mobility of an unmanned person based on the driving information. setting the traveling order so that the vehicle is located above the slope;
The traffic management system according to claim 1. The platoon setting unit determines that the platoon running route is a slope with a predetermined slope or higher by the route state detection unit, and there is a plurality of the registered mobility that is manned or the registered mobility that is unmanned in the platoon, Based on the characteristic information, setting the running order of the plurality of manned registered mobility or the plurality of unmanned registered mobility so that the smaller the weight of the registered mobility is, the higher the slope is located.
The traffic management system according to claim 2. The information acquisition unit acquires, as the driving information, information on whether the registered mobility is driving automatically or manually;
The platoon setting unit determines that the platoon running route is a slope with a predetermined gradient or higher by the route state detection unit, and when there is a plurality of the registered mobility of the same type or type of manned in the platoon, setting the travel order so that the registered mobility for manual driving is located behind the registered mobility for manned automatic driving in the traveling direction;
The traffic management system according to claim 2 or 3. The information acquisition unit acquires, as the driving information, information on whether the registered mobility is driving automatically or manually;
The platoon setting unit is configured to set the platoon setting unit to set the registration of manned manual operation when the route state detection unit determines that the platoon travel route is on a slope with a predetermined slope or higher, and there is a plurality of the registered manned mobilities in the platoon. setting the traveling order so that the mobility is located behind the registered mobility of the manned automatic driving in the traveling direction;
The traffic management system according to claim 2. The route state detection unit determines whether the platoon travel route is on a slope with a predetermined slope or higher;
When the route state detection unit determines that the platoon running route scheduled for platoon travel is a slope with a predetermined slope or higher, the platoon setting unit is configured to: setting the running order;
The instruction transmitting unit transmits the platoon instruction to the registered mobility to be changed so that the running order of the platoon is changed before the platoon running route becomes a slope of a predetermined slope or higher.
The traffic management system according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The route state detection unit determines whether a road surface friction coefficient of the platooning route is less than a predetermined value;
When the route state detection unit determines that the road surface friction coefficient of the platooning route is less than a predetermined value, the platoon setting unit is configured to change the registered mobility of a manned person to the registered mobility of an unmanned person based on the driving information. setting the running order so that the vehicle is located behind the mobility in the traveling direction;
The traffic management system according to claim 1 or 2. The platoon setting unit determines that the road surface friction coefficient of the platooning route is less than a predetermined value by the route state detection unit, and that there is a plurality of the registered mobility that is manned or the registered mobility that is unmanned in the platoon. In this case, based on the characteristic information, the traveling order of the plurality of manned registered mobilities or the plurality of unmanned registered mobilities is set such that the smaller the weight of the registered mobility, the further back in the traveling direction the registered mobility is located.
The traffic management system according to claim 7. The information acquisition unit acquires, as the driving information, information on whether the registered mobility is driving automatically or manually;
When the platoon setting unit determines that the road surface friction coefficient of the platooning route is less than a predetermined value by the route state detection unit, and there is a plurality of the registered mobility manned of the same type or type in the platoon, , setting the travel order so that the registered mobility for manned manual driving is located behind the registered mobility for manned automatic driving in the traveling direction;
The traffic management system according to claim 7 or 8. The information acquisition unit acquires, as the driving information, information on whether the registered mobility is driving automatically or manually;
The platoon setting unit is configured to perform manual manned operation when the route state detection unit determines that the road surface friction coefficient of the platooning route is less than a predetermined value, and when a plurality of the registered mobility units with manned persons exist in the platoon. setting the driving order so that the registered mobility is located behind the registered mobility of the manned automatic driving in the traveling direction;
The traffic management system according to claim 7. The route state detection unit determines whether a road surface friction coefficient of the platooning route is less than a predetermined value;
The platoon setting section is configured to determine, when the route state detection section determines that the road surface friction coefficient of the platooning route on which platooning is scheduled to run, is less than a predetermined value. set the running order before becoming
The instruction transmitting unit transmits the platoon instruction so that the running order of the platoon is changed before the road friction coefficient of the platoon travel route becomes less than a predetermined value.
The traffic management system according to any one of claims 1 and 7 to 10. Further comprising a protection bubble setting unit for setting a protection bubble having a predetermined area that prohibits mutual overlap for each registered mobility,
The protective bubble setting section includes, in the traveling direction,
When a first registered mobility at the rear runs on the left side of a second registered mobility in front and overtakes said second registered mobility, the protection bubble on the right side of said first registered mobility is made smaller, and said second registered mobility Make the protective bubble on the left smaller;
When the first registered mobility runs on the right side of the second registered mobility and overtakes the second registered mobility, the protection bubble on the left side of the first registered mobility is made smaller and the protection bubble on the right side of the second registered mobility is reduced. making the protective bubble smaller;
The traffic management system according to any one of claims 1 to 11. When reducing the travel interval, the platoon setting unit sets the travel order based on the driving information so that the registered mobility with a manned person is located behind the registered mobility with an unmanned person in the traveling direction. ,
The traffic management system according to any one of claims 1 to 12. When the platoon setting unit reduces the travel interval and there is a plurality of the registered mobility of manned or the registered mobility of unmanned in the platoon, the platoon setting unit determines the weight of the registered mobility based on the characteristic information. setting the running order of the plurality of manned registered mobilities or the plurality of unmanned registered mobilities so that the smaller the number of the registered mobilities is, the further backward in the direction of travel the travel order is;
The traffic management system according to claim 13. The information acquisition unit acquires, as the driving information, information on whether the registered mobility is driving automatically or manually;
When the platoon setting unit reduces the travel interval and there is a plurality of the registered mobility of the same type or type of manned in the platoon, the registered mobility of manned manual driving is set to the registered mobility of manned automatic driving. setting the running order so that the vehicle is located behind the mobility in the traveling direction;
The traffic management system according to claim 13 or 14. The information acquisition unit acquires, as the driving information, information on whether the registered mobility is driving automatically or manually;
When reducing the travel interval, the platoon setting unit sets the travel order so that the registered mobility for manned manual driving is located behind the registered mobility for manned automatic driving in the traveling direction.
The traffic management system according to claim 13. The route state detection unit determines whether the platoon travel route is on a slope with a predetermined slope or higher;
The platoon setting unit uniformly increases the travel interval when the route state detection unit determines that the platoon travel route is on a slope with a predetermined slope or more.
The traffic management system according to any one of claims 1 to 16. The route state detection unit determines whether a road surface friction coefficient of the platooning route is less than a predetermined value;
The platoon setting unit uniformly increases the travel interval when the route state detection unit determines that the road surface friction coefficient of the platoon travel route is less than a predetermined value.
The traffic management system according to any one of claims 1 to 17.

Images