JP3044300B2 - Lane marker system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lane marker system for detecting the position of a vehicle on a road.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A lane marker referred to in the present invention is an index for indicating a position on a road. A vehicle detects its position, calculates its own position, and controls lane departure warning and automatic driving. It can be used for information. A lane marker system using such a lane marker includes a lane marker that is installed on a road and serves as an index of vehicle position detection as described above, and a vehicle-side detector that is mounted on the vehicle and detects the position of the lane marker. It has become.

[0003] This will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 4 in which a plurality of lane markers 11, 12, and 13 are linearly arranged on the center line of each of the lanes L1 and L2. The positions of 11, 12, and 13 are detected by a vehicle-side detector mounted on the vehicle M.

[0004]

However, in such a system, one lane marker 11, 12, 13
Since the position detection range that can be covered by the vehicle is limited, for example, when the vehicle M is traveling at the end of the lanes L1 and L2, or when the vehicle M travels across the two lanes L1 and L2 as illustrated in FIG. In such a case, there is a problem that position detection becomes impossible.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve such a problem in the conventional lane marker system, and to solve the problem even when a vehicle is traveling at the end of a lane or traveling between two lanes. And a lane marker system capable of detecting a position.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for detecting the position of a vehicle on a road by using a lane marker provided on the road and a lane marker provided on the vehicle. In a lane marker system that includes a vehicle-side detector that receives the signal of the vehicle, the position is detected by using radio waves, and the position is used as an index of the position detection, and the lane markers having different response frequencies are arranged in the width direction of the lane. A plurality of vehicle-side detectors are disposed, the vehicle-side detector includes an antenna unit that receives a signal from a lane marker, a frequency discriminating unit that determines a response frequency of the received signal, and an electromagnetic field intensity distribution determining unit that determines a level of the received signal. And a calculation unit for determining the position of the vehicle based on information from the frequency discrimination unit and the electromagnetic field intensity distribution determination unit.

[0007]

[0008]

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of (three in this example) radio wave lane markers are provided on each center line of each lane L1 and L2 and on both sides in the width direction of this center line. 1, 2, 3 are arranged in series, and the response frequencies of the lane markers 1, 2, 3 are respectively different response frequencies a, b, c.

In such a system, a method of responding to the lane markers in each row is a method of receiving a radio wave transmitted from the vehicle M, modulating the received signal, and reflecting a signal of a response frequency to the vehicle to respond. A method of transmitting electric power from a vehicle by radio waves, activating a lane marker to emit a radio wave of a response frequency to the vehicle, a method of constantly activating a lane marker and constantly emitting a radio wave of a response frequency, and activating by a wake-up signal from the vehicle The method used in the current lane marker system, such as a method of emitting a radio wave having a response frequency, can be used as it is.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of this embodiment. This embodiment includes lane markers 1, 2, 3, and a vehicle-side detector 4, and information from the lane markers is provided. Is transmitted to the vehicle control unit 5. The signals emitted from the lane markers 1, 2, or 3 are received by the vehicle-side detector antenna unit 6, and the received signals are discriminated by the frequency discriminating unit 7 into response frequencies a, b, or c, and the electromagnetic field intensity distribution The determination unit 8 determines the intensity distribution.

The frequency discriminating unit 7 has, for example, a,
It is constituted by the hand path filters b or c, and determines which response frequency of the received signal is from the output of these hand path filters. The electromagnetic field strength distribution determining unit 8 detects the signal strength of the received signal and determines the strength distribution.

The calculating unit 9 calculates the response frequencies a, based on the data from the frequency discriminating unit 7 and the electromagnetic field intensity distribution determining unit 8.
Depending on the type of b or c, the vehicle M is in the lane L1 or L2
It is determined based on information stored in advance which lane marker 1, 2, or 3 is located near, and how much the vehicle M deviates from the lane marker 1, 2, or 3, based on the determination result information. To the vehicle control unit 5. The vehicle control unit 5 automatically controls the vehicle M based on the position determination result information or displays a warning to the driver.

In this embodiment, the number of lane markers is set to three. However, it is possible to change the number of the lane markers to another, and to electrically detect the lane itself by changing the response frequency a, b or c. Is possible. Further, for example, if the response frequency a of the lane marker 1 and the response frequency c of the lane marker 3 are the same frequency, there is a possibility that information on the deviation direction cannot be obtained.
By constructing a system that generates a warning when the detection level exceeds a certain level, it becomes possible to function as a lane marker that generates a warning for lane departure.

The operation of this embodiment will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, when the vehicle M is traveling near the center lane marker 2 on the lane L1 or L2, the lane marker 2
Is received by the vehicle-side detector 4 of the vehicle, the frequency discrimination unit 7 confirms that the response frequency of the received signal is b, and the electromagnetic field intensity distribution determination unit 8 determines the intensity of the received signal. Determine the distribution. Further, based on information from the frequency discriminating unit 7 and the electromagnetic field intensity distribution judging unit 8, the calculating unit 9 previously stores in advance how much the vehicle is traveling near the center on the lane L1 or L2 and how far the vehicle is deviated from the lane marker 2. The received signal strength distribution is determined from the relationship between the shift amounts of the lane markers.

Next, when the vehicle M is traveling near the lane marker 1 at one end on the lane L1 or L2, a signal from the lane marker 1 is received by the vehicle-side detector 4 of the vehicle. The response frequency of the received signal is confirmed by the frequency discriminating unit 7, and the electromagnetic field intensity distribution determining unit 8 determines the received signal intensity distribution and determines the amount of deviation from the lane marker 1. Similarly, when the vehicle is traveling near the lane marker 3 at the other end on the lane L1 or L2, the vehicle-side detector 4 confirms that the response frequency of the received signal is c. .

As described above, when it is detected from the output result of the vehicle-side detector 4 of the vehicle M that the response frequency is a, the vehicle M travels toward the right side of the lane L1 or L2. When the response frequency is detected as b, the vehicle is traveling toward the center, and when the response frequency is detected as c, the vehicle is traveling toward the left. Will be. Therefore, the position detectable range can be expanded in the lane width direction as compared with a conventional configuration in which lane markers are arranged in one line in one lane.

FIG. 3 conceptually shows a lateral position detectable range for each of the lane markers 1, 2, and 3. When a vehicle considered to have the most severe conditions runs across a lane, this vehicle M When the vehicle is traveling in the center of the lanes L1 and L2, signals of the response frequencies a and c which are not detected by the frequency discriminating unit 7 are simultaneously detected. It is possible to electrically detect that the vehicle is traveling across the vehicle.

[0019]

According to the present invention, there is provided a lane marker provided on a road for detecting a position of a vehicle on a road, and a vehicle provided on the vehicle and receiving a signal from the lane marker. In a lane marker system including a side detector, a radio wave is used to perform position detection, and a plurality of lane markers having different response frequencies are arranged in the lane width direction while serving as an index of position detection. The side detector includes an antenna unit that receives a signal from a lane marker, a frequency discriminating unit that determines a response frequency of the received signal, an electromagnetic field intensity distribution determining unit that determines a level of the received signal, a frequency discriminating unit, A calculation unit that determines the position of the vehicle based on the information from the field strength distribution determination unit.
Even when the vehicle travels between two lanes, position detection is possible, and there is an effect that the safety of vehicle traveling can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an example of an arrangement state of lane markers on a road according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the above.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a detection state when the vehicle is traveling across a lane in the above.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an arrangement state of lane markers on a road in a conventional lane marker system.

[Explanation of symbols]

M vehicle L1 lane L2 lane 1,2,3 lane marker 4 vehicle-side detector 5 vehicle control unit 6 vehicle-side detector antenna unit 7 frequency discrimination unit 8 electromagnetic field intensity distribution determination unit 9 arithmetic unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G08G 1/16 G05D 1/02 G08G 1/09

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A lane marker system, comprising: a lane marker provided on a road for detecting a position of a vehicle on the road; and a vehicle-side detector provided on the vehicle and receiving a signal from the lane marker. Telecommunications and performs detection position using, and together with an indication of the position detection, the lane marker that each response frequency different plurality arranged in a width direction of the lane, car-side detector signal from the lane marker
Signal receiving antenna and the response frequency of the received signal
Frequency discriminator and the level of the received signal
Electromagnetic field strength distribution determining unit, frequency discriminating unit and electromagnetic field
The position of the vehicle is determined based on information from the intensity distribution determination unit.
Lane marker system; and a calculation unit that.