JP2633862B2 - Automatically responsive traffic signal controller - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 3.1 Objective Industrial Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an auto-responsive traffic signal control device, that is, a traffic signal in which a control pattern of a signal controller is automatically changed according to traffic demand (congestion degree). The present invention relates to a signal control device.

2. Description of the Related Art Road traffic is expected to become more densely congested in the future, and advanced traffic control is essential. Conventionally, in order to enhance traffic control, automatic response system devices that change control patterns according to traffic demand have been introduced, especially on trunk lines connecting cities and cities, and on inflow routes to cities, and traffic on trunk lines has been introduced. Is being made smoother.

However, since the conventional automatic response system has a problem in a method of detecting traffic demand (congestion degree), the traffic control may not appropriately respond to the actual traffic flow.

That is, as shown in FIG. 14, the conventional automatic responsive system device installs a point vehicle sensor d at a representative point of a route to be controlled by a system, for example, at a point between adjacent intersections.
The sensing signal is concentrated on the central unit 140 from the vehicle detector at that point via the telephone circuit, and the sensing signal is processed by the processing unit 141 of the central unit.
After performing processing such as testing and smoothing in the first arithmetic unit 14
The traffic volume v (for example, the number of passing vehicles per 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or 15 minutes) and the occupancy oc (occupancy time per vehicle) are obtained in 2 and the traffic volume v and the occupancy oc in the second arithmetic unit 143 are obtained. The traffic demand D is further obtained, and the control pattern selecting unit 144 calculates 6 to 7
A control pattern corresponding to each traffic demand is selected from the control patterns of the patterns, and a cycle and an offset time (hereinafter, abbreviated as an offset) are set and stored in advance from a table 145 based on the selected control pattern. The control content of the control pattern is read out and output to the control command unit 146, and a control signal is output to the corresponding signal controller. The following two methods are available for obtaining traffic demand (congestion degree). Was adopted.

In the first method, a traffic volume v and an occupancy oc are obtained from a sensing signal input from a vehicle sensor d provided at a representative point, and a specific traffic volume, for example, an average traffic volume v or a ratio for 5 minutes with respect to a reference traffic volume V is obtained. In this method, the greater the occupancy, that is, the five-minute average occupancy oc with respect to the reference occupancy Oc, is determined to be traffic important D. In the expression, D = Max (v / V, oc / Oc).

As shown in FIGS. 15 (a) and 15 (b), when traffic jams, the traffic volume v peaks off, but the occupancy oc increases. On the other hand, when the traffic volume is small, the occupancy oc is less changed, and the traffic volume v represents the traffic fluctuation better. In other words, this method uses the specific traffic volume as traffic demand until the traffic volume is saturated,
In the range where the traffic volume is saturated, the specific occupancy is used as the traffic demand.

The second method is a method in which the weighted amount of the traffic volume v and the occupancy oc is regarded as the traffic demand D. In the expression, D = αv + βoc α, β is a weighting factor.

This method is based on the weighted sum of traffic volume v and occupancy oc,
It is intended to find the increase in traffic demand as a monotonically increasing function.

With respect to the traffic demand (congestion degree) of the route obtained by the above-described method, as shown in FIG. 16, the control pattern table sets and stores in advance the idle pattern and the up-priority pattern stored in advance according to various congestion degrees. From among control patterns such as an equality pattern, a down-priority pattern, a congestion pattern, and a congestion pattern, one control pattern corresponding to the obtained congestion degree is selected, and a cycle c, which is set in advance as the content of the control pattern, The control data such as the offset t is read and transmitted to the signal controller, and the signal is controlled based on the control data.

Cycles and offsets in each control pattern are performed on-site at the time of traffic light installation, traffic surveys are performed, and the travel time between adjacent intersections is measured during times of low traffic, congestion, or congestion, and time switches are performed at a central device such as a traffic control center. It is a constant that is established by operation.

Disadvantages of the prior art In the case of adopting any of the above methods for obtaining the degree of congestion, the information to be used is determined by the traffic volume at the point where the vehicle detector is installed (the average of the number of vehicle detection signals received in each successive fixed time). Value) and the occupancy rate (average value of the time that one vehicle occupies the sensing area over a continuous period of time), because traffic demand is indirectly estimated. However, there is a limit in terms of the following speed, and the following obstacles to the improvement of the accuracy of traffic control.

For example, the degree of congestion or congestion of the route is determined using the average traffic volume or average occupancy every 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, etc. of the representative point, so an error of 30 to 40% may occur, There is a case where the control pattern corresponding to the actual traffic flow is not selected.

When the traffic situation changes suddenly, such as during a commuting rush in the morning, if the congestion degree is determined based on the traffic volume and occupancy at the point, a tracking delay occurs and the offset is short,
This results in congestion.

The constant between the intersections is set by conducting a traffic survey at the beginning of the traffic light installation. However, the traffic situation changes due to road conditions and the like, and the constant may become inappropriate. Moreover, conventionally, this cannot be dealt with.

In the control based on the traffic information including only the traffic volume and the occupancy rate, when the traffic congestion is severe and the vehicles between the adjacent intersections are congested to the extent that the intersections overflow, that is, even if the jamming phenomenon occurs (see FIG. 16). There is a range of 95-100%), which cannot be addressed. As a result, the traffic lights still display blue, even though the driver is unable to proceed due to the deadlock, and the crossroads are forced to wait for a signal change from red to blue.

Technical Problem to be Solved The first invention resides in that the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional device are that a traffic signal and an occupancy rate are obtained by processing a sensing signal from a point vehicle sensor, and a traffic demand is obtained therefrom. In view of the above, instead of processing the identification signals from a pair of vehicle identification means provided at the entrance and exit of the section between adjacent traffic points instead of points, by measuring the number of existing vehicles in the section in real time, The section between the intersections is monitored linearly, and the traffic demand (congestion degree) is obtained from the ratio of the number of existing vehicles in the section to the maximum number of existing vehicles in the section. An object of the present invention is to select a control pattern corresponding to the obtained congestion degree, thereby enabling to perform a reasonable traffic control that exactly matches the actual traffic flow.

Since the congestion degree is calculated on the basis of the number of vehicles existing in the section obtained in real time, the error between the actual traffic flow and the actual traffic flow is very small, and therefore the control pattern selection accuracy is significantly improved. However, when the signal control parameters such as the cycle and offset, which are the contents of the stored control pattern, are fixed constants set based on, for example, traffic surveys at the time of installing a traffic light, the control pattern selection accuracy is high. In some cases, the signal control may not yet match the actual traffic flow.

The second invention processes an identification signal from a pair of vehicle identification means provided at an entrance and an exit of a section between intersections, and according to the congestion degree calculated based on the number of existing vehicles in the section obtained in real time. In a traffic signal control device adopting a method of selecting a control pattern stored in a table, a travel time required for passing through the same section by processing the vehicle identification signal is measured as needed, and based on the measured value. It is an object of the present invention to set and register the parameters of the table so as to optimize the parameters so as to respond to the actual traffic flow.

According to the third invention, in any of the above-mentioned two inventions, when a so-called premature phenomena occurs, even if the signal is controlled by the control pattern at that time, the traffic is only disrupted. When it becomes more than the value, it is predicted that blockage will occur, and the green signal of the traffic light at the entrance side of the section will be switched to the red signal as soon as possible to prevent entry into the section and prevent early traffic in the crossing direction. The purpose is to make it possible to further facilitate traffic.

3.2 Configuration Problem-Solving Means and Action In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the first invention is based on identification from a pair of vehicle identification means provided at an entrance and an exit of a section between one intersection and an intersection adjacent to the one intersection. The signal is received by the central device and processed, means for measuring the number of existing vehicles in the section in real time, and calculating the ratio of the measured existing vehicle number to the maximum existing vehicle number in the section,
A congestion degree calculating means for obtaining a traffic congestion degree, a control pattern storage means for storing a control pattern for performing a reasonable traffic control corresponding to each traffic congestion degree, and the traffic congestion from the control pattern storage means. Reading means for reading a control pattern corresponding to the degree of traffic congestion obtained by the degree calculating means, and means for transmitting a control signal to the signal controller C in the section according to the read control pattern.

With the configuration described above, each time the presence vehicle number measurement unit detects the passage of the marker in the section, the presence vehicle number measurement unit measures the number of existing vehicles in the section. When the measured value of the number of existing vehicles is input, the congestion degree calculating means calculates the ratio of the measured value to the maximum number of existing vehicles in the section to obtain the congestion degree. On the basis of the obtained congestion degree, the reading means reads from the control pattern storage means,
The control pattern corresponding to the degree of congestion is read, and control data is provided to the transmission means. The transmission means transmits control data output from the reading means every time a predetermined time elapses to the signal controller using a lock-in timer as in the related art. Thereby, the signal controller sets the cycle and offset based on the control data transmitted from the center,
Signal control is performed according to this.

The second invention processes an identification signal from a pair of vehicle identification means provided at an entrance and an exit of a section between adjacent intersections, and travels in real time with the number of existing vehicles in the section and a travel time required for passing through the same section. Calculating means for calculating the ratio of the measured number of existing vehicles to the maximum number of existing vehicles in the section to obtain the degree of traffic congestion, travel time output by the measuring means and the degree of congestion calculation Storage means for setting and registering control patterns corresponding to various traffic congestion degrees by taking a smoothing time based on the congestion degree outputted by the traffic congestion degree, and the traffic congestion degree obtained by the traffic congestion degree calculation means from the storage means. There are read means for reading a corresponding control pattern, and means for transmitting control data to the signal controller in the section according to the read control pattern.

According to the configuration, similarly to the first invention, a control pattern corresponding to the congestion degree obtained from the number of existing vehicles at each time is read, and control data is transmitted to the signal controller at a predetermined timing. The number of existing vehicles and the travel time measuring means measure and output the travel time every time the passage of the marker is detected. The control pattern setting / registering means sets a new parameter based on the travel time in the case where the smoothing time or more is continued, and registers the new parameter in a storage address corresponding to the congestion degree at that time. Therefore, when the congestion degree is calculated thereafter, in reading out a control pattern corresponding to the congestion degree, the previously registered parameter is read out, and the signal controller performs signal control according to this parameter.

The third invention processes an identification signal from a pair of vehicle identification means provided at an entrance and an exit of a section between adjacent intersections, and travels in real time in accordance with the number of vehicles existing in the section and the travel required for passing through the same section. Means for measuring time, calculating means for calculating the ratio of the measured number of existing vehicles to the maximum number of existing vehicles in the section to obtain the degree of traffic congestion, travel time output by the measuring means and the congestion degree calculation Based on the congestion degree output by the means, storage means for setting and storing control patterns corresponding to various traffic congestion degrees by taking a smoothing time, and the traffic congestion degree obtained by the traffic congestion degree calculation means from the storage means. Reading means for reading a corresponding control pattern, means for transmitting control data to the signal controller in the section in accordance with the read control pattern, and the congestion degree calculating means having a high congestion degree equal to or more than a predetermined value. Means for detecting that a value has been output or that the control pattern reading means has read a control pattern corresponding to a high congestion degree equal to or higher than the predetermined value, and outputting a premature clogging prediction signal to the transmission means; and a signal controller. The skipping prediction signal received from the central unit and the blue indication step condition signal of the step counter of the signal controller satisfy the logical product condition, so as to skip to the step immediately before the yellow indication step. A green light early-break command circuit for giving a forced stepping pulse to the step counter.

With the above-described configuration, when the congestion degree immediately before the occurrence of the congestion phenomenon is reached, the congestion prediction signal obtained by analyzing the output of the congestion degree calculation means or the control pattern corresponding to the obtained congestion degree is obtained. The signal for predicting the premature jam is transmitted to the signal controller at the entrance of the section. This allows
The green signal early cut command circuit of the signal controller changes the blue signal from the current step condition to the yellow signal when the step condition of the signal controller is the blue signal step or becomes the blue signal step. The required number of steps is calculated, and the number of forced step pulses equal to the required number of steps is given to the step counter. Therefore, the step counter skips the step from the current step to the yellow indication step, and thereafter, the signal is controlled based on the offset transmitted from the central unit and the normal stepping condition. Therefore, entry into the section where the blockage is predicted is restricted, and traffic in the cross direction is allowed.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The first point in which the present invention is fundamentally different from the prior art is that vehicle identification means is installed at an entrance and an exit of a section between one intersection and an intersection adjacent to the one intersection to identify a vehicle passing therethrough. Obtaining the data and transmitting it to the central unit. The second point is that the central device processes the received identification data and measures the number of vehicles existing in the section and the section travel time in real time. The measurement of the number of existing vehicles includes automatic selection of the marker, detection of the passage of the marker between sections, measurement of the number of vehicles entering the section from the time when the marker passed through the entrance to the time when the marker passed through the exit, and the measured value was used. After that, as an initial value, a method of adding the number of vehicles entering the section and subtracting the number of vehicles entering the section is used. In addition, the travel time is measured by a method of measuring the time from the detection of the marker at the entrance to the detection of the same marker at the exit, or a method of dividing the measured number of existing vehicles by the number of exiting vehicles per unit time. is there. The third point is that the congestion degree is calculated by calculating the ratio of the number of existing vehicles to the maximum number of existing vehicles in the section at each time. The fourth point is to modify the control parameter of the control pattern storage means based on the travel time measurement value, and the fifth point is that when the measured congestion degree becomes equal to or more than a predetermined value, Preliminary jamming is predicted, and the green signal of the signal controller corresponding to the section is quickly cut off based on the preliminarily jamming prediction signal.

The vehicle identification means, which obtains data on vehicles passing through the entrance and exit of the section between adjacent intersections, processes the ultrasonic vehicle sensing head and the sensing signals from the sensing head to create model data specific to each model. And a vehicle number reading system that captures the vehicle number from the license plate of the vehicle using a high-speed shutter camera, processes the image, and transmits the vehicle number data to the central unit. Either can be adopted.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle number reading method is performed at the entrance of the section L.
Install high-speed shutter cameras 21 and 22 at Pi and exit Po,
The license plate of the passing vehicle 23 is photographed at a high speed, the resulting image is processed by the vehicle number reading devices 24 and 25 to decode the vehicle number and converted into data, and the vehicle number data is converted to the vehicle number collating device 26 of the central device. Is to be transmitted.

In this vehicle number reading method, since the optical means is used, when traffic jams, the image of the vehicle is superimposed on the front vehicle and the rear vehicle,
The license plate may not be read, and because of optical means, the N / S ratio is poor for bad weather such as snowfall and rainfall, lighting is required at night, and in dusk at sunset, etc. In some cases, measurement is impossible, and maintenance such as polishing the lens is required once every few months.

On the other hand, the ultrasonic vehicle shape detection method is suitable because all of the above-mentioned disadvantages are eliminated.

Therefore, an embodiment of the ultrasonic vehicle shape detection system will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 shows the overall configuration of the automatic responsive system device according to the present invention using the ultrasonic vehicle detection system.

As shown schematically in FIG. 1, the automatic responsive system device is a vehicle identification unit that is installed at two points, an entrance Pi and an exit Po, in a section L between adjacent intersections and that uses an ultrasonic vehicle shape detection method. Ultrasonic vehicle shape detectors (hereinafter referred to as vehicle shape detection units) Ai and Ao, transmission lines 20i and 20o for transmitting data from each vehicle shape detection unit to the center by telephone lines, a central road traffic control room, etc. Installed in each vehicle shape detection unit A
The data from i, Ao is transmitted to the transmission lines 20i, 20o and the set modem 3
It comprises a central processing unit B for receiving and processing through 0, and a signal controller C for controlling turning on and off of the lamps based on control data outputted from the central processing unit B as described later. .

Note that the central processing unit is connected via a transmission line to a pair of vehicle shape detection units installed in many sections of a route that is system-controlled via a transmission line. For simplicity, only the vehicle shape detection unit and signal controller for one section are shown.

The central processing unit B processes the vehicle identification data to measure the number of existing vehicles and the travel time, and reads and outputs the control pattern stored in the storage unit based on the measurement value, and A control pattern setting device 50 for setting and registering an offset based on travel time;
The control pattern setting device 50 calculates congestion degree calculating means 51 for calculating the ratio of the measured value of the number of existing vehicles provided by the measuring device 40 to the maximum number of existing vehicles in the section stored in advance and obtaining the congestion degree. The control pattern storage means 52 which stores a control pattern corresponding to the congestion degree, based on the travel time measurement value and the offset cycle function given from the measurement device 40, the control pattern when the smoothing condition is satisfied. Parameter setting means 53 for registering parameters including offset and cycle in the storage means, and control data output for reading and outputting control data corresponding to the congestion degree output from the congestion degree calculation means 51 from the control pattern storage means 52 Means 54.

 Subsequently, each component will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 3, each of the vehicle shape detection units Ai and Ao is also an ultrasonic vehicle sensor having ultrasonic heads Hi and Ho provided at appropriate heights from the road surface on which the vehicle V passes. 1
1, a vehicle shape data creating unit 12 that creates vehicle shape data having vehicle height information for a vehicle passing the point from the sensing information obtained from the vehicle sensor, and a central processing unit B The vehicle height pattern conversion unit 13 converts the vehicle height pattern into a vehicle height pattern having a representative value that characterizes the vehicle type, and converts the converted vehicle height pattern into parallel / serial data for transmission lines 20i and 20o. And a data transmission unit 14 for sending.

The ultrasonic vehicle sensor 11 and the vehicle shape data creating unit 12 sequentially measure and store the time from when ultrasonic waves are transmitted from the ultrasonic heads Hi and Ho to when the ultrasonic waves are reflected from the road surface or the vehicle and arrive at each ultrasonic head. Then, the vehicle sensing time is converted into a fixed length, all detected vehicles are converted into a vehicle shape having a fixed length (defined vehicle shape), and the vehicle height of the vehicle is calculated from the stored data. Formula h = Hh (1-T / Th) m where h: vehicle height Hh: height of ultrasonic head attachment Th: arrival time of reflected wave from road surface T: arrival time of reflected wave from vehicle Information in which the resulting vehicle height changes every moment as the vehicle travels is composed of a predetermined number of blocks, for example, eight blocks, and this is created as standardized vehicle shape data having vehicle height information of the vehicle to be sensed. It is.

In other words, the vehicle shape data creation unit 12 transmits the ultrasonic vehicle sensor 11
The vehicle height shape of the passing vehicle is detected by using the vehicle sensing signal output from the vehicle, and standardized vehicle shape data as illustrated in FIG. 4A is created.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 56-135299 and 57-36398 disclose a vehicle shape data creating section for creating such standardized vehicle shape data.
In this publication, a part of an ultrasonic vehicle type discriminating apparatus disclosed by the present applicant can be used.

The vehicle height pattern conversion unit 13 converts the standardized vehicle shape data output from the vehicle shape data creation unit 12 into a vehicle height pattern having a representative value characterizing the vehicle type. When the vehicle height values of three or more blocks in the eight blocks of the vehicle height shape standardized vehicle shape data by the vehicle shape data creation unit 12 have an error of 10 cm or less continuously, the representative value is the representative value. This is called a representative value, which is a vehicle height value that characterizes the vehicle type.

For example, the standardized vehicle shape data shown in FIG. 4A is converted into the vehicle height pattern shown in FIG. 4B, and the representative value is 1.35 m, which is the vehicle height value characterizing the vehicle type. There are various types of vehicle height patterns depending on the shape unique to the vehicle and the shape of the cargo. FIG. 6 shows an example of such a vehicle height pattern.

Each vehicle shape detection unit Ai, Ao transmits the converted vehicle height pattern from the data transmission unit 14 to the central processing unit B via the telephone lines 20i, 20o.

The central processing unit B transmits the data sent from each of the vehicle shape detection units Ai and Ao via the transmission paths 20i and 20o to the collective modem 3
It receives at 0 and gives it to the measuring device 40. Measuring device 40
Is a data receiving unit 41 that receives and outputs the data output from the set modem 30 and performs serial-to-parallel conversion and outputs the data, a vehicle height pattern that is the received data, a specific vehicle height pattern of a vehicle designated as a marker, A storage unit 42 for storing in each area a representative value detected from the vehicle height pattern extracted as described above, the number of existing vehicles n in the intersection section L, and the travel time tm required to pass through the section L, in each area; A pattern and a specific vehicle height pattern are compared to select a match as a marker, and a marker selection / registration unit 43 for registering the marker is used to obtain a representative value from the vehicle height pattern of the registered marker. The representative value time series data creating unit 44 for creating the representative value time series data and the representative values in the representative value time series data corresponding to the entrance Pi and the exit Po of the section L are collated, and the marker is determined based on the match determination. Based on the vehicle shape data input from the vehicle shape detection unit of the entrance Pi and the exit Po and the section passage determination signal of the marker,
Existing vehicle number measuring unit that measures the existing vehicle number n in the section L
46, and a travel time measuring unit 47 for measuring a required time from a point of entry of the marker to a point of exit of the marker.

When the measuring device 40 receives the vehicle height pattern sent from each of the vehicle shape detection units Ai, Ao, it sequentially stores the vehicle height pattern in the first area 42a of the storage unit 42, and the vehicle corresponding to the entrance Pi and the exit Po of the section L, respectively. Time series data of a high pattern is created (steps p ₁₁ and p _{12 in} FIG. 6). The marker selection registration unit 43 compares each vehicle height pattern of the time series data of the vehicle height pattern with a specific vehicle height pattern stored in the second area 42b of the storage unit 42, and performs vehicle height pattern matching using a pattern identification technique. The data is collated by means, and only those that match are extracted as markers (FIG. 6, p ₂₁ , p ₂₂ ).

The specific vehicle height pattern is, for example, a box-shaped refrigerated car or a freight car with a hood, which has a simple shape and a high degree of relative accuracy, from among various vehicle height patterns which are actually various as illustrated in FIG. For example, FIG. 5 is selected and determined. Thus, the marker selecting unit 43 extracts only the pattern shown in FIG. 5 from the vehicle height pattern time-series data.

This is, so to speak, a filtering action for a traffic flow that extracts only vehicles of a specific pattern such as a frozen car from vehicles of various shapes passing through the entrance Pi and the exit Po of the section L.

Next, as described above, the representative value time-series data creation unit 44 sequentially obtains the representative value of the vehicle height of the vehicle from the vehicle height pattern of the marker extracted from the data from the entrance and the exit of the section L (No. As shown in FIG. 6, p ₃₁ , p ₃₂ ) and FIG. 7, representative value time series data at the entrance and exit of the section L is created and stored in the third area 42c of the storage unit 42 (p ₄ ). FIG. 7 shows representative value time-series data at the time of non-congestion in the one-lane 290M closed section. In the figure, the same alphabetic symbols indicate those in which pattern matching has been performed.

The verification unit 45 sequentially compares the representative value of the vehicle height in the representative value time series data of the point Pi with the representative value in the representative value time series data of the point Po under predetermined conditions, and finds that the representative values match. when was the marker in two points and assayed with the same markers, it determines that the marker has passed from Pi point to Po point (FIG. 6 p _5).

 There are the following two marker collation / verification methods.

In the first method, as shown in FIG.
A gate is provided for the minimum travel time Hmin (section distance L ÷ maximum speed x) and maximum travel time Hmax (L ÷ minimum speed y) of the section L from the Pi point passing time t ₀ , between which the representative value hi of the marker Vm is provided.
Hi '(ie, | hi
-Hi '| <△, when for example the 5% hi) is detected, the hi' marker Vm of 'are those determined to be identical to the vehicle and Vm (Fig. 6 p ₅₁ ~p ₅₃ ).

The maximum number of vehicles Nmax, the section distance L, and the average value of the first vehicle occupancy length is l _0, is Nmax = L / l _0.

If a representative value matching one of the markers within the above condition is not found, the collation test is similarly performed for the next marker h (i + 1) (p ₅₄ ). The number-of-existing-units measuring unit 46 measures the number of existing units in the section L. This is an automated input / output method (Input Out Put Method). In the input / output method, the marker is run, and the marker enters from the entrance of the section and passes through the exit,
The number of passing vehicles at the entrance and the exit is counted, and the number of vehicles passing through the entrance at the time when the marker reaches the exit is set as the initial value of the number of vehicles existing in the section, thereafter, the number of vehicles entering the section is added, and the number of vehicles exiting is subtracted. This method measures the number of existing sections in real time.

Measuring device 40, from each vehicle shape detection unit Ai, Ao at any time,
One vehicle height pattern data is received for the ratio sensing vehicle. The existing vehicle number measuring unit 46 performs an adding operation based on the vehicle height pattern data input from the entrance side vehicle shape detection unit Ai, and performs a subtraction operation based on the vehicle height pattern input from the exit side vehicle shape detection unit Ao. The counter is reset by the marker selection signal from the marker selection registration unit 43, and the subtraction based on the data input from the exit side vehicle shape detection unit Ao is started by the input of the coincidence signal from the verification unit 45. It is configured so that:

When a marker is selected for a vehicle passing through the entrance Pi, the existing vehicle number measurement unit 46 is reset, and the number of vehicles entering the section L based on the vehicle height pattern input from the entrance side vehicle detection unit Ai is determined. Only the number of vehicles that have entered the section is measured and counted until the collation verification unit 45 detects that the marker has passed through the exit Po.

As shown in FIG. 9, the measurement value of the time t ₁ the verification test unit 45 outputs the coincidence signal is the initial value n ₁ of sections present number (FIG. 6 p _6), thereafter, the inlet side wheel shape detection The number of vehicles entering the section based on the vehicle height pattern input from the unit Ai is added, and the number of vehicles entering the section based on the vehicle height pattern input from the exit side vehicle shape detection unit Ao is subtracted. there number n is measured in real time, the measured value is taken into the fourth area 42d of the memory unit 42 (FIG. 6 p _7).

To continue indefinitely the first marker selection and passes input method on the basis of the initial value n _1-based detection, such as by sensing mistake ultrasonic vehicle detectors, between the actual value and the measured value of the interval existing number May cause an error. In order to prevent this, the measuring device 40 constantly checks the vehicle shape pattern data sent from the entrance side vehicle shape detection unit Ai with a specific vehicle height pattern to search for a marker, as shown in FIG. to the at time t ₂ found the next marker, clears the measured value so far, the initial values n ₂ sections present the number of vehicles using the new marker again, thereafter, by similarly input method By adding the number of entering vehicles and subtracting the number of entering vehicles, as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 10, the number of sections existing every moment is obtained. FIG. 10 shows existing vehicle number data during non-congestion in the 290M section of one lane.

The travel time measurement unit 47 uses the clock signal, the marker selection signal output from the marker selection registration unit 43, and the passage detection signal output from the verification unit 45 to set the marker at the entrance of the section L.
Detecting passage through Pi and exit Po, the travel time is directly measured as the difference between the respective passage times. Also, even if the marker cannot be detected densely, the number of existing sections can be measured in real time, so the travel time during traffic jams is calculated by dividing the number of existing vehicles by the amount of Sabakake traffic per unit time (the number of exiting vehicles per unit time). Can also be obtained. Tenthly, the travel time measured by the ultrasonic vehicle shape detection method is shown. In this way,
As exemplified in FIG. 11, the section travel time can be continuously measured from the start of traffic congestion to the complete traffic congestion to the elimination of the traffic congestion.

As described above, the travel time measurement on a congested route is highly accurately automated using the automatic detection of the marker and the automatic counting of the number of vehicles present in the section.

Measurement value n of the number of existing vehicles obtained by measurement device 40
Is given to the congestion degree calculating means 51 of the control pattern setting device 50. The congestion degree calculating means 51 receives the reference value memory 511 storing the actual measured value N of the maximum number of existing vehicles in the section L between adjacent intersections and the measured value n of the number of existing vehicles in the section. , The reference value N corresponding to the section
And a calculation unit for calculating the congestion degree by calculating in accordance with the following formula: D = n / N × 100 where D is the congestion degree (%), n is the measured value (unit), and N is the reference value (unit). Each time the measurement value n is measured at the time of marker passage detection for each section, the reference value N of the section is read out and the congestion degree D at that time is obtained by executing the calculation of the above equation.

The control data output unit 53 receives the data of the congestion degree D from the congestion degree calculation unit 513, and
The control data corresponding to the congestion degree is read out and output to the set modem 30.

In the control pattern table 52, the control pattern of the signal controller in the case of each congestion degree at each intersection, that is, cycle, offset data that is a parameter for appropriate traffic control corresponding to the traffic demand of the intersection, data of the Are set and stored in correspondence with each congestion degree. No.
FIG. 12 shows an example of the registered contents of the control pattern of one intersection in the control pattern table. Each control pattern P ₁ to
The contents of P ₇ are each composed of a cycle C and offset t.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the control pattern setting is registered in the control pattern table 52 by the parameter setting means 53 as follows.

The parameter setting means 53 includes a lockout timer 531 that receives a measurement value tm input from the travel time measurement unit 47 of the measurement device 40 as an offset under a predetermined condition, and a travel time of each section and the lockout timer 531. The offset / cycle function generator 532 outputs a cycle value corresponding to the travel time accepted by the lockout timer, and the offset (travel) output by the lockout timer 531. The time) and the cycle output by the offset / cycle function generator 532 are registered in a predetermined address corresponding to the congestion degree output by the congestion degree calculating means 51 at that time. Lockout timer 53
1 is for outputting data when input data (travel time) is connected, for example, for 5 minutes or more, and has a certain smoothing time, during which the vehicle runs at a speed significantly higher than the average speed. Offset registration is not performed depending on the travel time of a marker (runaway car) or a marker (failed car) running at a lower speed. This is a so-called noise removing function.

According to the present invention, since the parameter setting means 53 is provided, an effect is obtained in which the parameters are automatically corrected at regular intervals so as to match the actual traffic flow.

Further, the control data output means 54 includes the congestion degree calculating means.
The control pattern table 52 based on the congestion degree D output by 51
A reading unit 541 for reading control data from a predetermined address corresponding to the congestion degree, and a cycle given by the reading unit;
The control data output unit 542 outputs the control data of the offset to the aggregate modulation / demodulation device 30, and the lock-in timer 543 regulates the output timing of the control data output unit. The lock-in timer gives a control signal to the control data output unit 542 for a fixed time width, for example, 10 minutes, during which the control pattern reading unit 541 prevents the control data from being output to the signal controller even if the control data is read. Accordingly, when data of one control pattern is given to the signal controller, the signal control by the control pattern is continued for a certain period of time, so that stable traffic control is guaranteed.

In this way, each time the marker passes through the section, the congestion degree is measured, the control pattern corresponding to the congestion degree is read from the control pattern table, and the parameter is transmitted to the relevant signal via the control data output unit 543 and the aggregate modem 30. It is transmitted to the controller C.

As shown in FIG. 13, the signal controller C includes a vehicular lamp and a pedestrian lamp 61 indicating blue, yellow, and red, and a lamp for turning on / off each of these lamps. A lighting unit driving unit 62, a current planning unit 63 for setting the order of lighting or extinguishment in the lamp driving unit, a timing, and the like, and a test counter 64 for defining a temporal progression of a command output by the current planning unit. A step 65 for setting a time width of each step in response to a timer 65 for giving a step condition to a step counter 64 given a clock signal from a timer means, and a step condition representing the current step position of the step counter 64 A setting unit 66; and a receiving unit 67 that receives control data transmitted from the central processing unit B via the telephone line 20c, and selects and outputs the data according to data content.
And an offset timer 68 for receiving offset data from the receiving unit and setting an offset for signal control by the signal controller.

The cycle data output from the receiving unit 67 is stored in the step setting unit.
The setting unit sets the time width of each step in seconds based on the cycle data.

The offset timer 68 defines the start timing of the first step of the step counter 64. Upon receiving the offset data sent from the central unit, the offset timer 68 starts timing based on a signal representing the last step of the step condition. When the set offset time has elapsed, a first step start signal is given to the step counter 64.

A range where the congestion degree is, for example, 95% or more is a state in which no further vehicles can enter the section between adjacent intersections soon, that is, a state in which the section immediately before the section is in a state of being blocked. It means becoming. In such a traffic situation, if the signal controller continues to show blue in the section where the premature phenomenon has occurred due to the cycle and offset set by the control pattern at that time, the vehicle Is filled in the intersection and stops, and even if the current content of the intersection is changed to blue, the traffic of the vehicle in that direction is obstructed, so that the road traffic is very confused. The traffic control method using the conventional fixed control pattern
Since the control is performed uniformly by the cycle and offset of the traffic congestion pattern shown in FIG. 16, there is a disadvantage that such a premature phenomenon causes a state completely contrary to the basic principle of smoothing road traffic. there were.

The present invention takes advantage of adopting a method of selecting a control pattern according to the number of vehicles existing in a section, and as shown in FIG. 13, the congestion degree is, for example, 90 to 95%, such as 90 to 95%. A clogging prevention pattern (abbreviated as a clogging pattern) is provided as a control pattern for the degree of congestion determined according to the congestion mode, and the control data of the clogging pattern is calculated based on the cycle and offset of the congestion pattern that is the immediately preceding control pattern. In addition to setting a short cycle and offset, as one method, a means 544 for detecting when the congestion degree calculating means 51 outputs a congestion degree of 90 to 95% is provided, or a control pattern reading unit is provided. 541 is provided with a pre-jam predicting means 544 for detecting that the pre-jam pattern has been read from the control pattern table 52; The earlier clogging prediction signal to force, without being restricted lock-in timer 543, at any time, are also available transmit to the signal controller C via a transmission system 30,20C.

As shown in FIG. 13, each signal controller is provided with a green light early cutoff command circuit 69 to which a premature clogging prediction signal output from the receiving section 67 is input as one condition signal. The green signal early-off command circuit 69 is provided with the condition of the step of the step counter 64 as another condition signal. In the case of the blue presentation step, the number of steps from that step to the step immediately before the yellow presentation, that is, the blinking step of the pedestrian lamp in the section direction in which the jamming is predicted is calculated, and the same number of forced steps is calculated. Advance pulse to step counter
It is given to 64.

As a result, when the congestion degree of a certain section is in a state immediately before jamming of 90 to 95%, the jamming prediction means 544 operates to output a jamming prediction signal, which is transmitted to the signal controller, and the signal control is performed. When the present step of the signal controller is a blue signal or becomes a blue signal, a predetermined number of forced stepping pulses are inputted to the step counter. Given at 64, the present step is skipped from the current blue present step to the step immediately preceding the yellow present step.

That is, the signal controller immediately flashes the light for the walking vehicle by the jamming prediction signal, and also promptly notifies the vehicle driver of the signal change by changing from the blue indication to the yellow indication, and thereafter, Change the vehicle lighting and pedestrian lighting to red lights to quickly turn off the blue light so that vehicles do not overflow into the intersection and stop, allowing vehicles and pedestrians to pass in the opposite direction. .

Therefore, according to the automatic responsive system according to the present invention,
The worst-case situation where vehicles stopped in an intersection due to jamming can obstruct the traffic of vehicles in the opposite direction and further disrupt road traffic can be prevented.

3.3 Effects As described above, according to the first invention, the determination of the traffic demand is performed based on the real-time measurement value of the number of vehicles existing in the section between the adjacent intersections. It is a high-precision that matches, so that the selection of a control pattern based on each traffic demand determination also matches the actual traffic situation, and the tracking speed of signal control is significantly improved.

In the past, control patterns were selected based on the average value of point traffic volume and occupancy, and the control data of each control pattern was only divided into three parts by daytime, so for example, morning work It has been observed that the control follow-up is delayed at the time of rapid rise of traffic volume, and congestion occurs in a short time.However, according to the present invention, the control pattern selection has good followability to the actual traffic condition, Even at the time of a sudden rise in traffic volume, reasonable traffic control is executed with an appropriate control pattern corresponding to the traffic volume,
Smooth road traffic with very little confusion is possible.

According to the second invention, along with the measurement of traffic demand,
Since the travel time of the section is measured and the measured value is set and registered as an offset of the congestion degree control pattern at that time, the registered offset is automatically corrected based on the measured value. In combination with the appropriate setting of the above control pattern, compared to the conventional signal control with a fixed constant based on the survey value at the time of installing the traffic signal, the rational ratio significantly matched to the actual traffic volume or actual traffic situation Therefore, it is expected that it will be possible to realize high-quality traffic control and to contribute to the realization of advanced control of high-density congested road traffic.

Furthermore, according to the third invention, when the congestion degree becomes just before the occurrence of the premature jam phenomenon, it can be detected based on the calculation of the congestion degree, and the premature jam prediction signal can be used.
Since the green signal of the traffic light controlling the section is cut off quickly, the traffic light is quickly changed to a red light and the direction of intersection is changed to a green signal, so that the vehicle is not filled at the intersection just before the section. As a result, a vehicle in a crossing direction that is not stuck can be smoothly passed as quickly as possible, and ideal traffic control can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration in which vehicle identification is performed by a vehicle number reading method, and FIG. 3 is a vehicle identification by a vehicle shape detection method. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a vehicle shape data processing method, FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing various examples of vehicle height patterns, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the operation of the measuring device. description flowchart, Figure 6A sixth diagram flowchart illustrating the details of step p _5, and Figure 7 is a time chart showing an example of a vehicle height representative value time series data of the sensed vehicle at the inlet and outlet sections FIG. 8 is a time chart for explaining an example of a travel time measuring method, FIG. 9 is a time chart for explaining how to determine an initial value of the number of existing vehicles, and FIG. 10 is a number of existing vehicles and travel time in an actual section. FIG. 11 is a time chart showing a measurement example of Time chart showing a relationship between a row time and traffic conditions, FIG. 12 table showing an example of registration content of the control pattern table, Fig. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the signal controller. FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a conventional automatic response system device,
FIG. 15 is a graph showing the correlation between the traffic volume and the congestion degree and the correlation between the occupancy and the congestion degree, and FIG. 16 is a chart for explaining an example of control patterns and control data in the conventional device.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] (1) An identification signal from a pair of vehicle identification means provided at an entrance and an exit of a section between one intersection and an intersection adjacent to the one intersection is processed, and the identification signal of the section is processed in real time. Means for measuring the number of existing vehicles; (b) calculating means for calculating the ratio of the measured number of existing vehicles to the maximum number of existing vehicles in the section to obtain the degree of traffic congestion; Storage means for storing a control pattern for performing correspondingly reasonable traffic control; (d) reading control patterns respectively corresponding to the traffic congestion degrees obtained by the traffic congestion degree calculation means from the storage means. (E) a means for transmitting control data to the signal controller in the section according to the read control pattern; 2. (a) Processing an identification signal from a pair of vehicle identification means provided at an entrance and an exit of a section between adjacent intersections, and real-timely passing the same section as the number of existing vehicles in the section. Means for measuring the required travel time; (b) calculating means for calculating the ratio of the measured number of existing vehicles to the maximum number of existing vehicles in the section to obtain the degree of traffic congestion; (c) outputting from the measuring means Storage means for setting and storing control patterns corresponding to various traffic congestion levels by taking a smoothing time based on the travel time and the congestion degree output from the congestion degree calculation means; Reading means for reading control patterns respectively corresponding to the degree of traffic congestion obtained by the arithmetic means; and (e) means for transmitting control data to the signal controller in the section according to the read control patterns. An automatic responsive traffic signal control device. (B) processing identification signals from a pair of vehicle identification means provided at an entrance and an exit of a section between adjacent intersections, and real-time processing of the same section as the number of existing vehicles in the section; Means for measuring the required travel time; (b) calculating means for calculating the ratio of the measured number of existing vehicles to the maximum number of existing vehicles in the section to obtain the degree of traffic congestion; (c) travel output by the measuring means Storage means for setting and storing control patterns corresponding to various traffic congestion degrees by taking a smoothing time based on the time and the congestion degree output from the congestion degree calculation means; (d) calculating the traffic congestion degree from the storage means Reading means for reading control patterns respectively corresponding to the degree of traffic congestion obtained by the means; (e) means for transmitting control data to the signal controller in the section according to the read control pattern; Means for outputting a high congestion degree equal to or higher than a predetermined value or detecting that the control pattern reading means has read a control pattern corresponding to a high congestion degree equal to or higher than the predetermined value, and transmits a premature clogging prediction signal to the transmission means. Means for outputting; and (g) a pre-clogging prediction signal provided in the signal controller and received from the central unit and a blue indication step condition signal of a step counter of the signal controller satisfy a logical product condition. An automatic responsive traffic signal control device, comprising: a green light early-break command circuit for giving a forced stepping pulse to the step counter to skip to a step immediately before the yellow display step in response to