JP2997498B2 - Method and apparatus for measuring limit by traveling vehicle - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a traveling vehicle for detecting whether or not there is an obstacle such as a building within a traveling range of a railway vehicle and a predetermined peripheral limit range. The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for measuring a limit.

[Conventional technology]

As a conventional technology for detecting the presence or absence of an obstacle such as a building, there are various types of JNR test vehicles: Railway Pictorial, No. 20
Vol. 9, No. 9, pp. 26-27 (issued in September, 1970) ”, there is an Oya 31 model for building limit measurement and a Koya 90 type Shinkansen transport limit measurement vehicle for using it for Shinkansen. These vehicles have a structure in which an arrow wing for measurement protrudes from the vehicle body, and if an obstacle touches this, it can detect which part has exceeded its limit.

Further, as a prior art, there is a device for inspecting the shape and defect of a striated body described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-12241, in which a striated body such as a rubber hose is targeted, and an object is guided along a guide roller. Slit light is projected on it, and one detector detects the slit light from the side. A light-shielding mask that shields the slit-shaped portion of the non-defective striatum placed on the real image plane is placed. By condensing the transmitted light and detecting it with a photoelectric converter, the deviation from the slit shape of the non-defective filament is detected as the intensity of the photoelectric converter output voltage.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

The former prior art described above has a problem that it is dangerous and cannot be detected while the measuring vehicle is running at high speed because of the contact type.

In addition, the latter conventional technique has a feature that it can continuously detect irregularity defects of a continuously fed striated body, but the simple and smooth change of unevenness of the striated body is limited, and limited in a factory. Technology that is intended for use in
Significant changes in the amount of detected light caused by various and discontinuous objects such as pillars, stocks, and buildings, and the slit light is hidden behind the object with one detector, and the slit light is blind from the detector side. There is a problem in that it is powerless for cases where it cannot be detected. In addition, there is a problem that erroneous detection is performed if there is disturbance light such as light reflected from an obstacle or a surrounding background due to sunlight, or illumination light of surrounding lighting equipment or an oncoming vehicle at night.

An object of the present invention is to reliably detect the presence or absence of an obstacle even during high-speed traveling at 350 km / h or more, and to avoid obstacles without being affected by disturbance light such as illumination light of an oncoming vehicle or sunlight at night. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for measuring a limit by a traveling vehicle, which can reliably detect the presence or absence of a vehicle.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a method for measuring a limit by a traveling vehicle includes irradiating a flat projection light in a direction substantially perpendicular to a traveling direction of the vehicle in a peripheral direction of the traveling vehicle. The light reflected by the irradiation inside a range that is a hindrance to traveling, that is, inside the traveling limit of the vehicle, is detected obliquely with respect to the optical path surface of the flat projection light, and based on the detected signal, An obstacle inside the travel limit, which is an obstacle to the travel of the vehicle, is detected.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a limit measuring device for a traveling vehicle is provided with a light projecting means for irradiating a flat projection light in a direction around the vehicle and substantially perpendicular to a traveling direction of the vehicle. And detecting means for detecting the light reflected by the irradiation in a range that is an obstacle to the running of the vehicle, that is, inside the running limit of the vehicle, from an oblique direction with respect to the optical path surface of the flat projection light, Signal processing means for processing a signal detected by the detection means to detect an obstacle inside the travel limit.

[Action]

By projecting light in a plane and providing a limit mask on the real image plane of the detector that detects this, and detecting only the light transmitted through it, when an obstacle is within the running limit, The reflected light of the projected light enters the photoelectric converter and detects an obstacle.

Also, the light emission is turned on / off only for the code pattern,
By extracting the presence or absence of the code pattern from the detection light, the reflected light from the obstacle always has the code pattern, but the disturbance light does not have this, so the disturbance light may be erroneously detected as an obstacle. Absent. Further, by limiting the wavelength, the discrimination performance from disturbance light is improved.

Also, when an obstacle is detected, the strobe camera is linked to record and display the obstacle, so that it is possible to check what the obstacle is, such as newspapers or water vapor that happened to float within the driving limit. Thus, a true fixed obstacle can be easily identified.

In particular, railways in recent years tend to be faster. Therefore, in order to respond to the speeding up of the railway, the test vehicle travels between the schedules without disturbing the specified train schedule for the change of the inclination angle at the curve required for speeding up or the change of the railway facility. There is a need. However, according to the present invention, it is possible to sufficiently cope with this increase in speed.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a travel limit measuring vehicle,
The vertical direction of the drawing is the traveling direction of the measuring vehicle. 1 shows a measuring vehicle on which the measuring device of the present invention is mounted. The measuring device includes a plurality of planar light projectors 2, a plurality of detectors 3, and a light control / detection signal processing circuit system ( 1, not shown in FIG. 1, and a reflecting mirror 4 for bending some of the detection optical paths.
It consists of.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the light projecting plane is a plane AA perpendicular to the traveling direction of the vehicle center (indicated by a broken line in FIG. 1) and a plane BB perpendicular to the traveling direction of the vehicle end. 2 (indicated by broken lines in FIG. 1).

Here, the vehicle running limit is the measuring vehicle (vehicle) 1 shown in FIG.
In the front view of FIG. 2, an outer edge line area 100 in a range defined around the vehicle 1 is meant, and there is an obstacle such as a building in the hatched area in FIG. Not be. For this reason, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a plurality of projectors 2a, 2b, 2c are installed inside or outside the vehicle and at two places, that is, at the center and at the end. A-
Areas indicated by oblique lines in FIG. 3 are projected on the A-plane and the BB plane so as to cover the entire necessary range of the outer edge line area 100. Similarly, a plurality of detectors 3a, 3b, 3c are arranged so as to detect the necessary entire range of the outer edge line region 100.

Further, the two light-projecting surfaces AA and BB are provided because the center of the vehicle is located inside the curve and the end of the vehicle is located outside the curve. This is because it is necessary to detect the presence / absence of an obstacle in. The reflecting mirrors 4a, 4b, 4c enable detection from both sides at the end of the vehicle, and are for installing the detectors 3a, 3b, 3c in the measuring vehicle, and are shown in FIG. However, it is fixed to the measuring vehicle 1 by a structure that does not block the detection optical path.

Hereinafter, a more specific configuration and operation of the present embodiment will be described, but in the description, the projectors 2a, 2b, 2c and the detectors 3a, 3b,
After describing the specific contents of 3c, the specific contents of those control and signal processing will be described.

FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of a pair of a plurality of light projectors 2a (2b, 2c) and a plurality of detectors 3a (3b, 3c) in FIG.
In this embodiment, the light projector 2a (2b, 2c) includes a light source 5, a high-speed shutter 6, and a cylindrical lens 7. With this configuration,
As shown in the side view of FIG. 5, the parallel beam emitted from the light source 5 is turned on and off by a high-speed shutter 6,
When 6 is open, it is refracted by the cylindrical lens 7 to form a light projecting surface over a wide area. In FIG. 4, this light projection surface is indicated by a broken line 8. In the above description, the light projecting surface is described as a surface, but is actually a flat light beam having a certain thickness.

On the other hand, the detectors 3a (3b, 3c) are two expressions in a positional relationship of being plane-symmetrical at 8 in FIG. 4, and they are an imaging lens 9, a limit mask 10, a condenser lens 11, an optical filter 12, and It consists of a photoelectric converter 13. Here, the limit mask 10 is on the real image plane formed by the lens 9 of the light projecting surface 8 (slightly inclined from the plane perpendicular to the optical axis as shown in FIG. 4), and its shared detection range of the detector is the sixth. When the shaded area is the shaded area in FIG. (A), the shaded area in FIG. (A) is transparent, as shown in FIG.
An opaque mask is located outside the marginal outer edge region 100.
The outer edge circle 14 in FIG. 6B is the detection visual field of the imaging lens 9, from which no detection light leaks. Because of this light-shielding mask, the reflected light of the projected light from the obstacle entering inside the limit outer edge line 5 proceeds after that, and the reflected light of the projected light from the object outside the limit outer line 5 is blocked. . Although the area inside the limit outer edge area 100 other than the oblique lines in FIG. 6A is shielded in the embodiment of FIG. 6B, the area is not necessarily shielded from light.

Next, FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the light projection control / detection signal processing circuit system. This circuit system includes a code signal generator 15, a light emitting drive circuit 16, a signal adder 17, a detection signal processing circuit 18, and a totalizing circuit 19. In this embodiment, the code signal generator 15
Is one for the first A-A plane projection and one for the BB plane projection
One. In addition, one may be used for both light projecting surfaces. One floodlight drive circuit 16 is provided for each floodlight 2a, 2b, 2c. Note that one light source may be provided for the plurality of light projectors 2a, 2b, and 2c on each light emitting surface. The signal adder 17 includes two detectors 2a (2b, 2b) in FIG.
c) which adds the photoelectric converter 13 of FIG.
(3b, 3c). One detection signal processing circuit 18 is provided for each pair of detectors 3a (3b, 3c). There is one tallying circuit 19.

FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of the detection signal processing circuit 18. The detection signal processing circuit 18 includes a code signal differentiation circuit 20, a detection signal differentiation circuit 21, a phase matching circuit 22, a delay circuit 23, a gate 24, a sensitivity correction circuit 25, a gain matching circuit 26, and a coincidence evaluation circuit 27.

FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of the phase matching circuit. This circuit includes a comparison gate circuit 28, a local maximum detection circuit 29, and a differentiation circuit 21 which output the output signal of the differentiating circuit 21 when the input signal has a value equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value V _T1 as an input.
The threshold V set in advance with the output signal of
_{When the} input signal has a value equal to or less than _T2, a comparison gate circuit 30, a minimum detection circuit 31, which outputs the output signal, a pulse synthesis circuit 32 that synthesizes these output pulses, and a predetermined delay time Δt and its error t ′. A pulse evaluation circuit 33 that evaluates an output pulse of the pulse synthesis circuit 32, a counter 34 that is reset by a reset signal for each code signal sent from the code signal generation circuit 15 and counts output pulses of the pulse evaluation circuit 33, a sensitivity correction circuit A shift register 35 that holds the counter output value for the time required for the signal processing of the gain comparison circuit 26 and the gain comparison circuit 26 and sequentially transmits the counter output value. At this time, a comparison circuit 36 instructs the gate 24 to open.

FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of the sensitivity correction circuit 25. This circuit is obtained from a frequency distribution counting circuit 37 which receives a detection signal from the gate 24 as an input (this is reset for each code signal by a reset signal from the code signal generator 15), and a frequency distribution counting circuit 37. A frequency distribution memory 38 for storing a frequency distribution, a maximum point detecting circuit 39 for obtaining _two peaks V ₁ and V ₂ in the light emitting on / off from the frequency distribution, and a delay circuit for delaying a detection signal by one code signal time required for these processes. 40, consists of the correction calculation circuit 41 for correcting the sensitivity of the detection signal of the result with a reference value V ₁₀ in the delay circuit 40 based on, V ₂₀ which is set in advance of the maximum point detecting circuit 39.

FIG. 11 shows an embodiment of the gain matching circuit 26.
The gain matching circuit 26 converts the code signal (0, 1) from the code signal generator 15 into (V ₂₀ , V ₂₀ ) based on the set reference values V ₁₀ , V _20.
10 ) The conversion circuit 42 converts the output and the sensitivity correction circuit
The difference absolute value circuit 43 for obtaining the absolute value of the difference from the sensitivity-corrected detection signal from the correction operation circuit 41 of 25, and the sum of the mismatch obtained from the difference absolute value circuit 43 are represented by a code signal generator.
It is composed of a counting circuit 44 which is obtained over one code signal period by the reset signal from 15.

The above is the overall configuration of the embodiment. Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

The code signal generator 15 repeatedly generates an arbitrary code signal. One embodiment of the code signal 15a is shown in FIG. t ₁ is the basic time interval, 0 is projected off, 1 corresponds to the light projecting on. Light projection on signal t _1, 2t _1, 4t ₁ hour in this example, t _1, launched at you narrow the light projecting off 2t _1, after the light projecting off 4t _1, the light projection on the t ₁ hour , ... are repeated. In accordance with this, the light emission drive circuit 16 turns on and off the high-speed shutter 6 of the light emitters 2a, 2b, 2c. Thus, a light emitting surface is generated on the light emitting surface 8 (the AA surface and the BB surface in FIG. 1) by turning on and off according to the code signal 15a.

The detection field of each detector 3a, 3b, 3c, ie, FIG. 6 (b)
Area 10 within the transparent part (window) of the limit mask
If there is no obstacle at 0, the photoelectric converter 1 of each detector 3a, 3b, 3c
The output of 3 only detects ambient disturbance light observed from the window.

However, when an obstacle 45 as illustrated in FIG. 13 (a) enters the detection visual field, the light projecting surface 8 illuminates the surface of 45,
A real image 46 formed by the reflected light from the photoelectric converter 13 is formed on the limit mask 10 of the detectors 3a, 3b, 3c as shown in FIG. 13 (b). Since the limit mask 10 blocks an area exceeding the vehicle travel limit 100, it transmits only reflected light from an object inside the vehicle travel limit 100. The transmitted light is condensed on the light receiving surface of the photoelectric converter 13 by the condenser lens 11. On the way, the condensed light is limited by the filter 12 to light in a wavelength band set in advance, so that most disturbance light from the surroundings is blocked or reduced here. The wavelength band generally uses the main one of the wavelengths of the projected light. For example, if a laser of a specific wavelength is used as the light source 5, the filter 12
If an ultra-high pressure mercury lamp is used to transmit only that wavelength, 12 is selected and installed to transmit only some of the characteristic spectra. Then, the photoelectric converter 13 converts the received light into an electric signal.

It should be noted that a pair of detectors 3a, 3b, 3c are provided on both sides of the light projecting surface 8 as shown in FIG. 4, for example, when there is an obstacle 45 as shown in FIG. This can be detected from the detector 3a (3b, 3c), but the lower detector 3a (3b, 3c)
Can not be detected from. In this manner, the detection from only one side may cause the obstacle 45 to become a blind spot due to itself or another obstacle, and this is to prevent the obstacle 45 from being overlooked.

The detection signals from the photoelectric converters 13 of the paired detectors 3a (3b, 3c) are added by a signal adder 17 as shown in FIG. Thereby, the normal obstacle is detected by the detector 3a (3b, 3b).
c) can be detected, and the detection signal therefrom is emphasized. On the other hand, as for the disturbance light, the detectors 3a (3b, 3c), which have different detection directions, detect different disturbance lights because the detection directions are different.
By adding in the signal adder 17, the relative
S / N is improved.

Now, the basic time interval t ₁ of the code signal 15a shown in FIG. 12 and 5 .mu.s, 1 code signal 14t ₁ = 70 .mu.s required.
Assuming that the running speed of the vehicle is 350 km / hr, the vehicle, that is, the light projecting surface moves by 6.8 mm during one code signal. Therefore, if the thickness of the flat plate (projecting surface 8) of the projecting light is made larger than this,
No obstacles will be out of view during one code signal. On / off of the light emitted at intervals of 5 μs is performed by the high-speed shutter 6, which includes optoelectronic ceramics such as E / O deflectors, A / O deflectors, and PLZT (variable transmittance electro-optic ceramics by applied voltage). And can be used in the future as a liquid crystal shutter or a shutter function of various thin-film optical elements. In addition, various photoelectric converters such as a photomultiplier, a phototransistor, and a photodiode have a sufficient response speed as the photoelectric converter 13, and are applicable.

The detection signal detected as described above includes a signal component according to a code signal from an obstacle and a disturbance light component. The detection signal processing circuit 18 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 detects the presence or absence of a signal from an obstacle from the detection signal. Since the disturbance light component is light from an object out of the focal plane, the disturbance light component generally passes through the limit mask in a defocused state, and its component frequency is lower than that of the code signal 15a. However,
The specular reflection of sunlight from the mirror provided on the surface of the building may detect it as extremely high-intensity pulsed light, and due to the periodicity of the building surface, this pulse is repeated instantaneously. There is a possibility. For this reason, in this embodiment, the following signal processing is performed with the configuration shown in FIG. 8 to detect the presence or absence of a signal from an obstacle.

FIG. 15 shows a processing example of the detection signal. FIG. 9A shows a code signal 15a (obtained from the code signal generator 15) provided to the light emitting drive circuit 16, and FIG. 9B shows detection. Signal 17a of the adder 3a (3b, 3c) and the addition signal 17a obtained from the signal adder 17. The differentiating circuit 20 generates a pulse signal 20a shown in FIG. 3C from the signal shown in FIG. On the other hand, the differentiating circuit 21 generates a differentiated signal 21a shown in FIG. 6D from the signal shown in FIG. The phase matching circuit 22 receives these differentiated signals 21a as inputs, and as shown in FIG. 4D, the comparison gate circuit 28 and the local maximum detection circuit 29 detect the point having the local maximum at or above the threshold value _VT1 and the comparator gate circuit. 30 and a minimum detection circuit 31 to extract a point having a minimum below the threshold V _T2 ,
2 to form a pulse signal 3 shown in FIG.
Generate 2a. Then, the pulse evaluation circuit 33 checks the differential signal 20a and the pulse signal 32a. FIG. 11F shows an enlarged example of the relationship between the two pulse signals in the matching processing. The pulse evaluation circuit 33 of the phase matching circuit 22 checks whether or not there is a pulse of the same phase (+1 or -1) in the pulse signal 32a in the section of Δt ± t 'after the generation of the pulse of the differential signal 20a. If there is an evaluation point 1, if not, an evaluation point 0
This is added by the counter 34 over one code signal. The perfect score is 6 for this code. When the evaluation point in the comparison circuit 36 is larger than a predetermined threshold value, for example, when the evaluation point is three or more, the gate 24 is opened and the following processing is performed. The above process in the first code signal generation time, the code signal of this example, performed 14t ₁ hour. Then, the output of the counter 34 is transferred to the shift register 35. The delay circuit 23 delays the detection signal 17a by one code signal generation time. In addition, the floodlights 2a,
A value Δ corresponding to the time delay of 2b, 2c and detectors 3a, 3b, 3c
t and its allowable error width t ′ are set in advance.

Next, the sensitivity correction circuit 25, as shown in FIG.
In response to the detection signal 17a (FIG. 15 (b)) for one code signal input from the delay circuit 23 after the gate is opened at 24, the frequency distribution counting circuit 37 causes the frequency distribution 37a of the signal intensity (FIG. 15 ( g)), and the frequency distribution 37a is stored in the frequency distribution memory 38.
To enter. Then, the correction arithmetic circuit 41 extracts the _two local maximum points V ₁ and V ₂ of the frequency distribution due to the light emission ON / OFF, and sets the extracted maximum points V ₁ and V ₂ to the preset normal values V ₁₀ and V _20.
The sensitivity of the detected signal 17a is corrected. That is, the correction operation circuit 41 converts the detection signal 17a according to the following equation (1) to obtain an output signal V '(t).

Here, V (t) is the detection signal 17 shown in FIG.
a and V ′ (t) are output signals 25 a of the correction operation circuit 41.

The detection signal V '(t) 25a having been subjected to the sensitivity correction as described above.
Is collated by the gain collation circuit 26 with the reference signal as shown in FIGS. Here, as shown in FIG. 11, the reference signal is turned on by the conversion circuit 42 when the code signal output from the code signal generator 15 becomes “1” when the value V ₁₀ and “0”.
Off made is converted into a signal pattern having a value V _20. The difference absolute value circuit 43 outputs the output signal V ′ (t) 25 a output from the correction operation circuit 41 of the sensitivity correction circuit 25 to the conversion circuit 4.
The absolute value of the difference between the signal pattern (V _10, V ₂₀₎ output from the 2 42a. The counting circuit 44 counts, for each code signal, the sum of the absolute values of the differences obtained from the difference absolute value circuit 43, that is, the mismatch area S between the two signals 25a and 42a shown by hatching in FIG. 15 (h). And outputs it to the coincidence evaluation circuit 27.

As shown in FIG. 8, the coincidence evaluation circuit 27 outputs the phase evaluation point input from the phase verification circuit 22 and the mismatch area S input from the gain verification circuit 26 (when the gate 24 is closed, the counting circuit is reset. Since the value remains as it is, the value is 0, and the coincidence degree is evaluated for each code signal based on the non-coincidence area S) at other times. That is, as an evaluation method, for example, a phase evaluation point ≧ 4
In the case of S ≦ S _0, considered matched with one value, and outputs the summing circuit 19 the value when the value as 0.

The counting result is sent to the counting circuit 19 from each detector pair 3a, 3b, 3c for each code signal. Normally they have the value 0, but if there is an obstacle the value will be 1. At this time, the counting circuit 19 can know from which detector pair, that is, which shared visual field has the obstacle.

In addition, the following functions can be realized by adding the elements shown in FIG. That is, by connecting to the odometer 47, it is possible to know at which distance on the railway the obstacle was located. It also has a combination of a strobe lighting device 48, a TV camera 49, a camera image processing / control circuit 50, and a TV monitor 51. Here, a plurality of strobe lighting devices 48 and a TV camera 49 corresponding to each assigned visual field are prepared. The strobe lighting device 48 is installed behind the light projecting planes AA and BB, and corresponds to the shared visual field where the obstacle is present at the moment when the detected obstacle passes through the visual field of the TV camera. The strobe emits light, an image is detected by the TV camera 49, and this is detected via the camera image processing / control circuit 50.
The image can be displayed on the TV monitor 51 or the image can be stored for later observation. Also, at this time, the distance from the reference point and the assigned field of view can be displayed on the monitor screen by characters or numbers.

In the above embodiment, the light emission is turned on and off by the high-speed shutter 6.
A mechanical shutter such as rotating the rotating disk shutter 52 shown in FIG. 17 may be used. Instead of using a high-speed shutter, a method of blinking the light source itself may be used. For this, a semiconductor laser, a light emitting diode, or the like can be used. Further, in the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a pair of a system including one light source and two detectors has been described, but the light source and the detector may not be paired. The light source is 18th
As shown in the front view in FIG. 7A and the side view in FIG. 7B, a semiconductor laser 53 and a convex lens 54 for converting a light beam from the semiconductor laser 53 into parallel light.
And a combination of a cylindrical lens 55 that expands it in one direction,
Many of them may be installed outside the vehicle (for example, on the plane AA in FIG. 1). In addition, in the configuration shown in FIG. 18, an opening of an optical fiber is placed at the light emitting point of the semiconductor laser 53, and a large number of such openings are also installed on the outer side of the vehicle. From the mercury lamp and the end of the optical fiber assembly. When a mechanical shutter such as the disk 52 is used, the shutter is opened and closed by using a pair of a light source (a light source for light projection can be used instead) for detecting the presence or absence of an opening in the disk 52 and the photoelectric converter. Can be detected from the photoelectric converter by setting the distance narrow. This embodiment is shown in FIG. The front light-emitting part 56 is the 18th
An optical fiber end is provided in the cylindrical lens 55, the convex lens 54, and the semiconductor laser 53 in the figure. In this embodiment, the optical fibers 57 are integrated into one, and the light from the light source lamp 58 is passed through the rotary shutter 52 into the optical fiber 57 integrated by the condensing optical system.

Further, as another embodiment of the means for realizing surface light projection, a scanning means such as a galvanomirror, a rotating polyhedron, a resonance filter, a parallel rotating prism or the like is used to perform scanning at a sufficiently high speed to substantially emit surface light. It can also be achieved.

Further, the limit mask 10 may be a plate having a shape as illustrated in FIG. 6B, that is, a plate in which the opening is cut out and removed, or a glass mask whose opening is transparent and the other is opaque. May be. Further, a liquid crystal filter or the like in a matrix may be used so that the necessary openings are transmitted and the others are opaque.

The signal pattern shown in FIG. 12 as the code signal is merely an example, and may be any other signal pattern. Fig. 20 shows some examples of them. In a limited environment such as at night or in a tunnel, continuous light may be used instead of a code signal.

Further, in the embodiment of the detection signal processing circuit 18, both the phase and the gain are evaluated, but either one may be used. Various methods can be used for the evaluation method and the signal processing method depending on the light emission code signal, the light emission intensity, the vehicle speed at the time of measurement, and the like.

The above embodiment has been described on the premise of the overall configuration of FIG. 1, but FIG. 21 shows another embodiment. In this example, a CC plane is newly added as a light projecting surface, whereby the reflection lines 4a, 4b, and 4c of the embodiment of FIG. 1 can be eliminated, and the same effect can be obtained. The components in the embodiment shown in FIG. 21 can use the same combinations as those described in the first embodiment.

FIG. 22 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, it is not possible to detect a protruding portion of the curve outside the vehicle end. However, it is also possible to previously install the limit mask 10 in consideration of the protruding portion.

The radius of the running curve can be known by using the curve of the track beforehand, or by using the curve if the speed and the centrifugal force of the vehicle are measured. Under such conditions, as shown in FIG. 23, if a moving mechanism 59 for moving the limit mask in the mask plane is provided, the amount of protrusion outside the end of the vehicle from the radius of the running curve is provided. Is calculated, and the limit mask being detected outside the curve is moved to the outside thereof by that amount, so that the travel limit at the end can be confirmed by measuring only the AA plane. Also, instead of using the moving mechanism 59,
A liquid crystal shutter or a PLZT shutter having a transmission portion pattern corresponding to various positions of the outer edge line 5 as illustrated in FIG. 24 may be used as a limit mask and the positions may be switched. Further, the same function can be realized by using a matrix liquid crystal filter or the like.

Furthermore, if the radius of the running curve is known, the amount of penetration into the center of the vehicle can be calculated in the same manner.
Regardless of whether one of the light projecting surfaces is a single BB surface or any other position, running limit detection that considers the outside of the curve and the inside of the curve is possible by the above-described method.

In the above embodiment, it was explained that the body was put on one light-emitting surface and viewed from both sides as shown in Fig. 14 in order to prevent blind spots. Because of the roundness, for example, when the tip of the obstacle 45 in FIG. 14 is projected, the obstacle can also be detected by the detector 3a on the lower side in the figure. Therefore, if the reliability is slightly sacrificed, it may be from only one direction.

Further, the optical detection method of the present invention is basically a light-section method, and the present invention can be realized by another optical combination known as a light-section method. Some of these examples are shown in FIG. FIG. 3A shows an example in which the light projecting surface is oblique and the detector optical axis is also oblique, and FIG. 2B shows an example in which the light projecting surface is oblique and the detection optical axis is perpendicular to the vehicle traveling direction. The present invention can also be realized by these.

Further, the same effect can be obtained not only by the light cutting method of irradiating the light projecting surface but also by the light cutting method of providing the light emitting / non-light emitting edge surface. FIG. 26 shows an embodiment of such a light projection system. In FIG. 26, two projectors 2'a,
2'b illuminates only the area indicated by oblique lines from both oblique directions.
This can be achieved by providing a limit mask on the illumination side.
An edge is formed such that an intersection 60 of these illumination regions is a travel limit point. 26 is a point because FIG. 26 is a plan view, but actually forms an intersection line in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface, and this forms the outer edge line 5. Detector 3 '
Detects this intersection line in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction. In other words, the limit mask 10 is not used, and a slit opening as shown in FIG. 27 is provided at or near the actual image plane for detecting this intersection, and only the light on the above-mentioned intersection plane perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 26 is detected. I do. In this way, if there is an obstacle within the travel limit, it is illuminated and detected brightly. Also, even outside the limit, it is not illuminated and is not detected. In addition, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained by the method described in the previous embodiments of the present invention, such as controlling the illumination light with a code signal. Further, by controlling the limit mask shape on the light projector side, it is also possible to correct a curved portion with a single system configuration as shown in FIG.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, the reflected light from the object existing in the limit mask on the light projecting surface reaches the photoelectric converter, so that if the obstacle is within the travel limit, it can be detected. Also, reflected light from an object outside the running limit is blocked by the limit mask and is not detected. Further, since the disturbance light is out of focus, the disturbance light is detected only as a weak, slowly changing light, and the influence of the disturbance light is relatively weakened by limiting the wavelength band of the illumination and the detection light.

Also, the light is turned on and off with a unique code pattern,
By detecting the presence or absence of this code pattern from the detection signal, the disturbance light does not have the code pattern, whereas the obstacle within the traveling limit has this code pattern, so that the obstacle is extremely high. It can be detected with reliability. Further, by detecting the light projecting surface from both directions, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a blind spot due to the obstacle itself.

In addition, instead of planar light emission, light and dark edge light emission is performed,
The same effect can be obtained even if it is detected that the area outside the edge is outside the running limit. Furthermore, if this is performed from both the left and right directions and detected at the center, the occurrence of a blind spot due to the obstacle itself can also be prevented.

In addition, by operating the strobe camera in conjunction with the obstacle detection, the obstacle can be recorded or visually confirmed.

Further, by inputting the traveling distance information of the traveling vehicle, it is possible to record or know at which point the obstacle is located.

Further, since a plurality of detectors are detected by sharing the area around the vehicle, it is possible to know which area has an obstacle.

Further, as described in detail in the embodiments, the present invention can be applied to high-speed traveling of 350 km / h or more.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a measuring vehicle for explaining an embodiment of a method and an apparatus for measuring a limit by a traveling vehicle according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view for explaining a traveling limit which is an object of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the illumination range of the light projector in one embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a light projecting / detecting system in one embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the schematic configuration of one unit, FIG. 5 is a side view showing the configuration of the projector shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a detection sharing range of one detector shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a block diagram for explaining the overall configuration of an embodiment of the light projection control / detection signal processing circuit system according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. Figure 7
FIG. 9 is a diagram specifically showing the detection signal processing circuit shown in FIG. 9, FIG. 9 is a diagram more specifically showing the phase matching circuit shown in FIG. 8, and FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the sensitivity correction circuit shown in FIG. More specifically, FIG. 11 is a diagram more specifically showing the gain matching circuit shown in FIG. 8, and FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a code signal generated from the code signal generator shown in FIG. FIG. 13 is a signal waveform diagram showing an embodiment, FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a detection state of an obstacle in each assigned detection field of view, FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining an obstacle in which a blind spot occurs, FIG. FIG. 16 shows signal waveforms processed in the circuits shown in FIGS. 8 to 11, and FIG. 16 shows an embodiment of a device configuration having practical functions added to the counting circuit shown in FIG. FIG. 17, FIG. 17 is a view showing an example of a disc disk for a floodlight high-speed shutter, and FIG. 18 is another embodiment of the floodlight according to the present invention. FIG. 19 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the projector according to the present invention, FIG. 20 is a signal waveform diagram showing another example of the code signal according to the present invention different from FIG. 12, FIG. 21 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the measuring vehicle according to the present invention which is different from FIG. 1, and FIG. 22 is another embodiment of the measuring vehicle according to the present invention which is different from FIG. FIG. 23 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of another unit of the light emitting / detecting system used in the embodiment shown in FIG. 22, and FIG. 24 is a limit mask moving mechanism shown in FIG. FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining a limit mask that produces the same effect as that of FIG. 25. FIG. 25 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an optical system of another embodiment according to the present invention.
FIG. 27 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an optical system of another embodiment according to the present invention, and FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a mask shape of the detector shown in FIG. 1… Measurement vehicle (vehicle), 2a ～ 2c …… Emitter, 3a ～ 3c ……
Detector, 4a to 4c Reflective mirror, 5 Light source, 6 High-speed shutter, 7 Cylindrical lens, 8 Projection surface, 9 Image forming lens, 10 Limit mask, 11 … Condenser lens, 12 ……
Optical filter, 13 Photoelectric converter, 15 Code signal generator, 16 Projection drive circuit, 17 Signal adder, 18
Detection signal processing circuit, 19: totaling circuit, 20, 21, differential circuit, 22: phase matching circuit, 23: delay circuit, 24: gate, 25: sensitivity correction circuit, 26: gain matching circuit , 27…
… Coincidence evaluation circuit, 100… Outer line area

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tsunebu Kikuchi 4-46, Ikebukurohoncho, Toshima-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Kenzo Saruya 1105 Kasama-cho, Sakae-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture (56) References JP-A-59-138974 (JP) , A) JP-A-59-182382 (JP, A) JP-A-56-42160 (JP, A) JP-A-56-35073 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB Name) G01V 9/04

Claims (10)

(57) [Claims] 1. A flat projection light is emitted in a direction substantially perpendicular to the traveling direction of the vehicle in a direction around the traveling vehicle, so that the projected light is in a range that is an obstacle to the traveling of the vehicle, that is, inside a traveling limit of the vehicle. The light reflected by the irradiation is detected from an oblique direction with respect to the optical path surface of the flat projection light, and the obstacle inside the travel limit, which becomes an obstacle to the travel of the vehicle, based on the detected signal. A method for measuring a limit by a traveling vehicle, comprising detecting an object. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the light is emitted based on a preset code pattern. 3. The limit measuring method according to claim 1, wherein the light reflected by the irradiation is detected through a filter that limits a passing wavelength band. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein an optical image of the detected obstacle is recorded. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the light reflected by the irradiation is detected on both sides of the projected light on the surface. 6. A light projecting means for irradiating a flat light projecting light in a direction substantially perpendicular to a traveling direction of the vehicle in a peripheral direction of the vehicle, and a range obstructing traveling of the vehicle, that is, a traveling limit of the vehicle. Detecting means for detecting the light reflected by the irradiation on the inner side from an oblique direction with respect to the optical path surface of the flat light projection light, and processing a signal detected by the detecting means to process the signal inside the travel limit and A limit measuring device for a traveling vehicle, comprising: signal processing means for detecting an obstacle. 7. The limit measuring device for a traveling vehicle according to claim 6, wherein said light projecting means irradiates said light projecting light based on a preset code pattern. 8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said detecting means includes a filter for limiting a wavelength band of light passing therethrough, and said pair of detectors detects light reflected by said irradiation through said filter. The limit measuring device for a traveling vehicle according to claim 6. 9. The apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising recording means for recording an optical image of the detected obstacle. 10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said detecting means includes a pair of detectors for detecting the light reflected by said irradiation in an oblique direction with respect to said projected light, on both sides of said planar projected light. The limit measuring device for a traveling vehicle according to claim 6.