JP3639196B2 - Vehicle identification device - Google Patents

Description

また、この判定値Ｊ1 を計算する際、路側と車側で同じ時刻を共有する必要があるが、上記したように、路側から受信した情報の中には路側のシステム時刻が含まれているので、この時刻を用いて車側のシステム時刻を補正する。
【００９４】
次に、特徴量が車両の車長１２０７である場合の判定値Ｊ2 の求め方について説明すると、路側から受信した車長の値がＬr、実際の車長の値がＬc の場合、判定値Ｊ2 は次の(3)式で与えられる。
Ｊ2 ＝１−ｋ2＊｜Ｌr−Ｌc｜／Ｌc ……(3)
ここで、ｋ2 はパラメータである。
【００９５】
次に、特徴量が車番１２０８である場合の判定値Ｊ3、Ｊ4、Ｊ5 の求め方について説明すると、ここで、車番は、「品川」、「足立」といった漢字部１２０９と、「あ」「い」といったひらがな部１２１０、それに残りの数字部１２１１に分けて、それぞれの判定値Ｊ3、Ｊ4、Ｊ5 を求めるようになっている。
【００９６】
まず、判定値Ｊ3、Ｊ4 は、完全に文字が一致する場合は、Ｊ3＝１、Ｊ4＝１とする。
一方、一致しないときは、Ｊ3＝Ｆ品川(足立)、Ｊ4＝Ｆあ(い)とする。
ここで、Ｆn(ｘ)は、ｘの関数のことであり、このとき、ｘは路側から受信した特徴量、Ｆn(ｘ)は特徴量ｎを特徴量ｘと間違える確率である。そして、この関数Ｆn(ｘ)は実験により決定する。
【００９７】
次に、判定値Ｊ5 は、図７の例の場合、(4)式で与えられるようにする。
Ｊ5＝｛１＋１＋１＋１＋Ｆ1(2)＋Ｆ1(3)｝／６ ……(4)
ここで、括弧｛｝内の第１〜４項は、各数字が完全に一致していることを意味する。
次に第５〜６項で、Ｆn(ｘ)はｘの関数であり、ｘは路側から受信した特徴量、Ｆn(ｘ)は、特徴量ｎをｘと間違える確率である。
そして、最後に６で除算しているのは、括弧｛｝内の数値を平均化するためである。なお、関数Ｆn(ｘ)は、実験により決定する。
【００９８】
以上のようにして求めた判定値Ｊ1〜Ｊ5 に、それぞれの特徴量の信頼性に関する重み付け１２０４(Ｇ1〜Ｇ5)を乗算した値、すなわち、乗算値Ｊ1＊Ｇ1、Ｊ2＊Ｇ2、Ｊ3＊Ｇ3、Ｊ4＊Ｇ4、Ｊ5＊Ｇ5 の平均を取って総合判定値１２０６とする。
従って、この場合の判定値１２０６は、図示のように、(Ｊ1＊Ｇ1＋Ｊ2＊Ｇ2＋Ｊ3＊Ｇ3＋Ｊ4＊Ｇ4＋Ｊ5＊Ｇ5)／５である。
【００９９】
ここで、これらの重み付けの値Ｇ1〜Ｇ5 は、実車を用いて実験を行うことで求めるが、０から１までの値で表現される。
最後に、総合の判定値１２０６がある閾値を越えた場合は、路側から受信した特徴量と自車両の特徴量が一致していると判定する。この閾値の値も、実車を用いて実験を行うことで決定する。
【０１００】
次に、ヒューマンインタフェース１１６について説明すると、これは、特徴量比較手段１１１から入力された路側からのメッセージを、運転者が認識可能な状態量に変換し、結果を運転者に伝達する働きをするもので、このときの伝達手段としては、画像文字表示装置や音声発生装置、発光ダイオード表示ランプを用いる。
【０１０１】
上記したように、この実施形態の場合、路側から受信されるメッセージは、前方の車間距離が狭すぎることを警告する車間距離警報であり、従って、ヒューマンインタフェース１１６では、「前方車間距離をあけてください」という音声による警報や、「前方車間をあけよ」、「減速せよ」などの文字を表示することにより、更には、ピープ音などの警告音や表示ランプの点灯、点滅などにより、運転者に対して前方車間をあけるように促すことになる。
【０１０２】
次に、アクチュエータコントローラ１２０について説明すると、これは、特徴量比較手段１１１から入力された路側からのメッセージを、スロットルバルブとブレーキ装置、それにステアリング装置を制御するための制御量に変換する働きをする。
【０１０３】
上記したように、同じく、この実施形態の場合、路側から受信されるメッセージは、前方車間距離が狭すぎることを警告する車間距離警報であり、従って、アクチュエータコントローラ１２０は、自車両に前方車間距離をあけるために必要なスロットル開度とブレーキ力を計算し、計算したスロットル制御量、ブレーキ制御量は、車両のスロットル１１７とブレーキ１１８の夫々の制御装置に供給される。
【０１０４】
従って、この実施形態によれば、路側の装置により、複数の車両の中から対象となる車両が特定できるので、車両側に自車位置の検出手段を設けることなく、車両に個別のメッセージが伝達でき、この結果、ＡＨＳ(走行支援道路システム)としての機能が的確に得られ、追突などの事故の発生を未然に防止して、高い安全性を確保することができる。
【０１０５】
次に、本発明の他の実施形態について、図８により説明する。
ここで、この図８の実施形態でも、路側装置１０１と車側装置１０８のほとんどの構成は図１の実施形態と同じで、異なっている点は、路側装置１０１では、特徴量比較手段１３２５が付加されている点にあり、車側装置１０８では、特徴量比較手段１１１に代えてＩＤ比較手段１３１が設けられ、且つ特徴量抽出手段１３２が付加されている点にある。
【０１０６】
ここで、まず、図１の実施形態では、メッセージとそのメッセージを受けるべき車両の特徴量が、路側装置１０１から送信され、車側装置１０８では、それらを受信し、路側から伝達された車両の特徴量と自車の特徴量が一致したとき、メッセージの内容に基づいて特定の手段を動作させるようにしていた。
【０１０７】
しかし、この図８の実施形態では、車側装置１０８から路側装置１０１に、自車のＩＤに自車の特徴量を添付して送信するようになっていて、路側装置１０１では、この車側装置１０８から受信したＩＤを、メッセージを伝達すべき対象車両のＩＤと比較し、両者が一致したとき、これから送信すべきメッセージに車側装置１０８から受信したＩＤを添付して車側装置１０８に送信するようになっている。
【０１０８】
そして、車側装置１０８は、この路側装置１０１から送られてきたＩＤと、自車両が路側装置１０１に送ったＩＤが一致したとき、メッセージの内容に基づいて特定の手段を動作させるようにしたものであり、従って、この図８の実施形態でも、このＩＤに関する処理を除けば、図１の実施形態の動作と同じである。
【０１０９】
すなわち、まず、車両計測手段１０２は、走行車両１１３の画像データを取り込む働きをし、次に、計測データ処理手段１０３は、車両計測手段１０２から取り込んだ画像データから車両一台一台を認識し、認識したそれぞれの車両についてその特徴量と車両の位置を抽出した結果を出力する働きをする。
【０１１０】
ここで、特徴量とは、上記したように、例えば車両の速度、車長、車番(ナンバープレートの番号)など、外部から観察するだけで容易に認識でき、従って車両の画像データから、特に新たなセンサを装着することなく、車両側で認識できるデータのことである。
【０１１１】
カテゴリバッファ１０４は所定の記憶容量を持ったメモリで、計測データ処理手段１０３によって抽出した車両の特徴量と車両の位置と、同じく計測データ処理手段１０３で決めた車両ローカルＩＤと、それに計測時刻が供給され、これらを記憶しておく働きをし、メッセージ作成手段１０５は、計測データ処理手段１０３で作成された各車両の計測時刻、車両ローカルＩＤ、位置、速度、車長を入力とし、車両に伝達すべきメッセージと、このメッセージを受けるべき車両の車両ローカルＩＤを出力する働きをする。
【０１１２】
ここで、車両に伝達すべきメッセージとは、これも上記したように、当該車両の運転者に対する加速、減速、車線変更の指示など、運転に関する支援情報と、スロットル制御量、ブレーキ制御量、ステアリング制御量など、車両のアクチュエータに対する制御量である。
【０１１３】
車両特定手段１０６は、メッセージ作成手段１０５で作成したメッセージの内容と、そのメッセージを受けるべき車両の車両ローカルＩＤを入力とし、車両ローカルＩＤに基づいて、そのメッセージを受けるべき車両の特定に必要な特徴量をカテゴリバッファ１０４から読出し、メッセージの内容にその特徴量を添付したデータを出力する。
【０１１４】
路側の路車間通信手段１０７は、車両特定手段１０６で作成したデータを、無線通信を用いて路側の路車間通信手段１０７の通信範囲１１４内に送信する働きをしする。ここでも、送信されるデータは、上記したように、メッセージと、そのメッセージを受けるべき車両の特徴量(位置、速度、車長、車番)である。
【０１１５】
車側の路車間通信手段１０９は、路側の路車間通信手段１０７の通信範囲１１４内に自車両が位置していことを前提として、路側の路車間通信手段１０７と無線通信を行うことができ、相互に情報の授受が行えるようにする働きをする。
【０１１６】
自車両特徴量バッファ１１０は、自車特徴量に関する最新データを、特徴量更新手段１２１から取得する。このため、特徴量更新手段１２１は、動的に変化する特徴量である自車の速度に関して、一定の周期で計測を行なう。
従って、以上は、図１の実施形態と同じで、次に、この図８の実施形態が、図１の実施形態と異なっている点について説明する。
【０１１７】
まず、特徴量比較手段１３０には、車両特定手段１０６の出力と、路側の路車間通信手段１０７の出力の双方が供給される。
ここで、路側の路車間通信手段１０７では、通信範囲１１４内に位置し、路車間通信手段をもつ車両の車側装置１０８から送信された車両のＩＤにその車両の特徴量を添付したデータを受信し、受信した結果を特徴量比較手段１３０に供給するようになっている。
【０１１８】
従って、特徴量比較手段１３０の一方の入力は、車両特定手段１０６から出力されるメッセージと、このメッセージにメッセージを受けるべき車両の特徴量が添付されたデータであり、他方の入力は、車側装置１０８から伝送された自車両のＩＤに自車両の特徴量を添付したデータとなっている。
【０１１９】
そして、この特徴量比較手段１３０は、これら車両の特徴量を比較し、特徴量が同じ場合は路側の路車間通信手段１０７に、メッセージとメッセージを受けるべき車両のＩＤを添付したデータを供給する。ここで車両のＩＤとは、車側装置１０８から伝送されてきた車両のＩＤである。
【０１２０】
そして、特徴量が同じでない場合は、路車間通信手段１０７に対するメッセージの供給は行なわない。
従って、この特徴量比較手段１３０の処理は、図１の実施形態における車側装置１０８の特徴量比較手段１１１による処理と同じであるが、この特徴量比較手段１３０から出力されたデータ(メッセージにメッセージを受けるべき車両のＩＤを添付したデータ)は路側の路車間通信手段１０７に供給され、これにより、通信範囲１１４内に向けて送信され、無線通信を用いて車側に伝送される。
【０１２１】
次に、図８の車側装置１０８における特徴量抽出手段１３２は、車両１１５が路側の路車間通信手段１０７の通信範囲１１４内に存在するときに、車側の路車間通信手段１０９から路側の路車間通信手段１０７に送信すべきデータを作成する。
【０１２２】
このときのデータの内容は、自車両のＩＤに自車両の特徴量を添付したものであり、ここで、自車両の特徴量は自車両特徴量バッファ１１０から読出すが、この自車両特徴量バッファ１１０は、上記したように、自車特徴量に関する最新データを特徴量更新手段１２１から取得するようになっている。
【０１２３】
次に、車側の路車間通信手段１０９は、路側の路車間通信手段１０７の通信範囲１１４内に、路側の路車間通信手段１０７と無線通信を行うことができ、このとき路側の路車間通信手段１０７からデータを受信し、路側の路車間通信手段１０７にデータを送信する。
【０１２４】
ここで、路側の路車間通信手段１０７に送信されるデータは、特徴量抽出手段１３２から出力されるデータで、これは自車両のＩＤに自車両の特徴量を添付したデータであり、路側の路車間通信手段１０７から受信されるデータは、車両に対するメッセージにそのメッセージを受けるべき車両のＩＤを添付したデータである。そして、受信したデータは、ＩＤ比較手段１３１に供給される。
【０１２５】
そこで、このＩＤ比較手段１３１では、車側の路車間通信手段１０９が路側から受信したＩＤと自車両のＩＤを比較し、これらが一致したとき、車側の路車間通信手段１０９が受信したメッセージが運転者に対するものか車両のアクチュエータに対するものかを判定する。
【０１２６】
そして、まず、運転者に対するメッセージについては、ヒューマンインタフェース１１６に供給する。
また、メッセージが車両のアクチュエータに対するものであったときは、アクチュエータコントローラ１２０にメッセージを供給する。
一方、路側から受信したＩＤと自車両のＩＤが一致しないときは、ヒューマンインタフェース１１６とアクチュエータコントローラ１２０には、メッセージは供給されない。
従って、このあとの動作は図１の実施形態と同じになる。
【０１２７】
つまり、ヒューマンインタフェース１１６にメッセージが供給されたときは、メッセージの内容に基づいて、ここで文字、画像、表示灯による視覚的な表示処理と、音声や警告音などによる聴覚的な表示処理が実行されることになり、この結果、運転者にはメッセージが伝えられるようになる。
【０１２８】
また、アクチュエータコントローラ１２０にメッセージが供給されたときは、メッセージの内容に基づいて、ここで吸入空気量と制動力、操舵角が計算され、スロットル１１７、ブレーキ１１８、ステアリング１１９の夫々の制御装置(アクチュエータ)に制御信号が供給されることになるのである。
【０１２９】
従って、この図８の実施形態によっても、路側の装置により、複数の車両の中から対象となる車両が特定できるので、車両側に自車位置の検出手段を設けることなく、車両に個別のメッセージが伝達でき、この結果、ＡＨＳ(走行支援道路システム)としての機能が的確に得られ、追突などの事故の発生を未然に防止して、高い安全性を確保することができる。
【０１３０】
【発明の効果】
本発明によれば、車両側に自車位置の検出手段を設けることなく、路側装置から道路に存在する複数台の車両の中から特定の車両が識別でき、個別にメッセージを伝達することができる。
従って、本発明にれば、道路へのレーンマーカの設置や、車両への付加装置が不要にでき、この結果、初期コストと維持管理コストが大幅に抑えられるので、道路交通安全の向上に大きく貢献できるという効果がある。
【図面の簡単な説明】
【図１】本発明による車両特性装置を走行支援道路システムに適用した場合の一実施形態を示すブロック構成図である。
【図２】本発明の一実施形態における車両計測手段の動作説明図である。
【図３】本発明の一実施形態における計測データ処理手段の動作を説明するためのフローチャートである。
【図４】本発明の一実施形態における車両特定手段の動作を説明するためのフローチャートである。
【図５】本発明の一実施形態における道路上のローカル座標の説明図である。
【図６】本発明の一実施形態におけるメッセージ作成手段の動作を説明するためのフローチャートである。
【図７】本発明の一実施形態における特徴量判定方法の一例を示す説明図である。
【図８】本発明による車両特性装置を走行支援道路システムに適用した場合の他の一実施形態を示すブロック構成図である。
【符号の説明】
１０１ 路側装置
１０２ 車両計測手段(路側装置１０１内）
１０３ 計測データ処理手段(路側装置１０１内）
１０４ カテゴリバッファ(路側装置１０１内）
１０５ メッセージ作成手段(路側装置１０１内）
１０６ 車両特定手段(路側装置１０１内）
１０７ 路側の路車間通信手段(路側装置１０１内）
１０８ 車側装置
１０９ 車側の路車間通信手段(車側装置内）
１１０ 自車両特徴量バッファ(車側装置内）
１１１ 特徴量比較手段(車側装置内）
１１２ 車両計測手段１０２の計測範囲
１１３ 道路上を走行する車両
１１４ 路側通信手段１０７の通信範囲
１１５ 車側の路車間通信手段・自車両特徴量バッファ・特徴量比較手段を有する車両(ＩＴＳ車両）
１１６ ヒューマンインタフェース(車側装置内）
１１７ スロットル(アクチュエータ)
１１８ ブレーキ(アクチュエータ)
１１９ ステアリング(アクチュエータ)
１２０ アクチュエータコントローラ(車側装置内）
１２１ 特徴量更新手段(車側装置内）
１３０ 特徴量比較手段(路側装置内）
１３１ ＩＤ比較手段(車側装置内）
１３２ 特徴量抽出手段(車側装置内）
２０１ 道路[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system that transmits an individual message to a predetermined vehicle among vehicles traveling on a road, and more particularly to a vehicle specifying device suitable for a driving support road system.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, AHS (driving support road system) has attracted attention from the standpoint of further improving automobile safety.
Here, this AHS is used, for example, in a system called ITS (Intelligent Transport System), and is the following system.
[0003]
In other words, this AHS measures road traffic conditions such as the position and speed of each vehicle traveling on the road on the road side (road side), and predicts the behavior of individual vehicles using the measured information. After creating a safer and smoother traffic flow from the prediction results, create guidance and control information for each vehicle necessary to realize this traffic flow, and use the guidance and control information at this time for guidance and control. This is a system for transmitting to a vehicle to be controlled.
[0004]
Therefore, in this AHS, it is necessary to transmit the individual information to the vehicle after detecting the position of the vehicle traveling on the road. At this time, the information on the vehicle side is transmitted from the road side control device. Generally, wireless communication is used as the transmission means.
[0005]
However, in this case, if there are a plurality of vehicles within the communication range on the road by one antenna, each traveling vehicle specifies whether or not the message transmitted at that time is a message for the own vehicle. Since this is not possible, a means for identifying the vehicle as the communication partner is required.
[0006]
Therefore, as a method for identifying this vehicle, for example, the following document proposes a method in which the vehicle itself measures the position of the vehicle and transmits it to the roadside.
Hiroyoshi Suzuki
“Development of Lane Marker System in AHSRA”
6th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, 1999
George Kamata, Tetsuaki Kondo, Hiroshi Mashimo
“Design of a Cruise Assist System Based on Requirements”
6th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, 1999
According to this method, by receiving the vehicle ID transmitted from the vehicle, the roadside control device can grasp the position of the vehicle that is communicating at this time, and the vehicle ID is added from the roadside control device. By transmitting the guided guidance / control information, individual guidance / control information can be transmitted to a specific vehicle.
[0007]
By the way, in this method, a method using a lane marker embedded in a road surface is used as a means for the vehicle to measure the position of the own vehicle. Here, the lane marker is a facility that generates radio waves or magnetism including a predetermined signal in an active or passive manner.
[0008]
Therefore, if a means capable of detecting radio waves and magnetism by the lane marker is provided in the vehicle, the vehicle moves over the lane marker, so that the vehicle can determine the position of the own vehicle such as a lane on the road. It is possible to recognize the position of the host vehicle on the road side.
[0009]
On the other hand, as a means for measuring the position of the vehicle other than the lane marker, there is a GPS (Global Positioning System) used in a car navigation system or the like, and there is a method of transmitting the detected position using this. .
[0010]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the above-described conventional technology, consideration is not given to the point that the vehicle itself needs to measure the position of the own vehicle and transmit the position of the own vehicle to the roadside, and there is a problem in cost and maintenance.
That is, when the roadside control device transmits individual information to a vehicle existing at a specific position on the road, in the prior art, the vehicle itself needs to measure the position of the own vehicle and transmit the position of the own vehicle to the roadside. However, in the case of the method of measuring the lane marker signal on the road surface with a vehicle sensor as a means for measuring the vehicle position here, a lane marker is embedded in the road surface and a sensor for detecting the lane marker is separately provided on the vehicle. Therefore, there is a problem in terms of cost and maintenance.
[0011]
On the other hand, in the case of a method using GPS for the vehicle position measuring means, GPS (differential GPS) that can be used at low cost has a technical problem because the position detection accuracy cannot be separated for each vehicle. In addition, there is a problem that it cannot be used between high buildings where GPS radio waves do not reach or in tunnels.
[0012]
An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle identification device in which vehicle identification and position detection on a road surface can be obtained only by a roadside device.
[0013]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The object is to identify a vehicle on a road based on image data in a vehicle identification device, The roadside device provided on the road side includes a vehicle measurement unit that captures image data of the vehicle on the road, a feature amount extraction unit that processes the image data and extracts a feature amount of the vehicle on the road, A message creating means for creating a message to be transmitted to a vehicle on the road, and a means for transmitting the extracted feature value attached to the corresponding message for the vehicle on the road are mounted on the vehicle on the road. The vehicle-side device includes receiving means for receiving the message, and feature amount comparison means for comparing the feature amount attached to the received message with the feature amount of the host vehicle, and the message received by the vehicle-side device. Message with the same feature value as the message addressed to the vehicle This is accomplished by identifying.
At this time, even if the characteristic amount of the vehicle is any one of the vehicle speed, the vehicle length, and the vehicle number, the above object can be achieved.
[0014]
In addition, the above purpose is for vehicles on the road. image data In the vehicle identification device of the method of identifying based on The roadside device provided on the road side includes a vehicle measurement unit that captures image data of the vehicle on the road, a feature amount extraction unit that processes the image data and extracts a feature amount of the vehicle on the road, A message creating means for creating a message to be transmitted to a vehicle on the road, and a means for transmitting the extracted feature value attached to the corresponding message for the vehicle on the road are mounted on the vehicle on the road. The vehicle-side device includes: a receiving unit that receives the message; a feature amount comparing unit that compares a feature amount attached to the received message with a feature amount of the host vehicle; and a message received on the vehicle side. Means for identifying a message having the same feature quantity as a message addressed to the own vehicle, and a specific device of the own vehicle based on a message received from the road side on the vehicle side Comprising means for work, said When the feature amount attached to the message received from the road side matches the feature amount of the host vehicle, Said Based on the received message Own vehicle This is accomplished by operating a specific device.
[0015]
At this time, Means for determining the degree of coincidence between the feature quantity attached to the message received on the vehicle side and the feature quantity of the own vehicle; and when there are a plurality of feature quantities on the vehicle side, the feature quantity of each feature quantity element Means for obtaining the final judgment value as a result of integrating the judgment values. However, the above object can be achieved.
[0019]
The apparatus on the road side in the present invention measures a vehicle using a function for measuring a vehicle on the road, and extracts the position and feature amount of each vehicle from the measured data. Here, the feature amount is a feature amount of a vehicle that can be recognized by the vehicle itself and that can be observed from the outside, and is a vehicle speed, a vehicle length, and a vehicle number.
[0020]
Further, the road side device creates a message to be transmitted to a vehicle existing at a specific position on the road from the measured vehicle position, speed, and vehicle length information. And the feature-value of the vehicle which wants to transmit a message is attached to the message with respect to a vehicle, and it transmits in the communication range by wireless communication.
[0021]
Here, the vehicle capable of road-to-vehicle communication existing within the communication range of the road-to-road communication function on the road side receives the message with the feature amount attached, and the attached feature amount matches the feature amount of the own vehicle. If the feature amount attached to the message received from the road side device matches the feature amount of the host vehicle, the specific device of the vehicle is determined based on the content of the message. To work.
[0022]
Furthermore, the vehicle ID is transmitted from the vehicle and the feature amount of the vehicle to the road side. On the road side, the feature amount of the vehicle to which the message is transmitted is compared with the feature amount of the vehicle received from the vehicle. If the feature amounts match, the ID received from the vehicle is attached to the message transmitted to the vehicle and transmitted to the vehicle.
[0023]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a vehicle identification device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, this embodiment is roughly divided into a road-side device, that is, a road-side device 101, and a vehicle-side device, that is, a vehicle-side device 108. Yes.
[0024]
First, the roadside apparatus 101 includes a vehicle measurement unit 102, a measurement data processing unit 103, a category buffer 104, a message creation unit 105, a vehicle identification unit 106, and a roadside road-to-vehicle communication unit 107.
[0025]
First, the vehicle measurement means 102 functions to capture image data of the traveling vehicle 113. For this reason, the vehicle measurement means 102 is installed at a predetermined location near the road and images the measurement range 112 set on the road. It consists of a television camera or the like as the field of view. Detailed operations will be described later.
[0026]
Next, the measurement data processing unit 103 recognizes each vehicle from the image data captured from the vehicle measurement unit 102, and outputs the result of extracting the feature amount and the vehicle position for each recognized vehicle. The details will be described later with reference to FIG.
[0027]
Here, the feature amount can be easily recognized by just observing from the outside, such as the speed of the vehicle, the vehicle length, the vehicle number (number of the license plate), etc. Therefore, a new sensor is installed from the vehicle image data. It is the data that can be recognized on the vehicle side without doing.
[0028]
The category buffer 104 is a memory having a predetermined storage capacity. The feature amount of the vehicle and the position of the vehicle extracted by the measurement data processing unit 103, the vehicle local ID determined by the measurement data processing unit 103, and the measurement time are stored in the category buffer 104. Supplied and works to remember these.
[0029]
The message creation means 105 receives the measurement time, vehicle local ID, position, speed, and vehicle length of each vehicle created by the measurement data processing means 103 as input, and a message to be transmitted to the vehicle and the vehicle to receive this message. It functions to output the vehicle local ID. Details will be described later.
[0030]
Here, messages to be transmitted to the vehicle include driving support information such as instructions for acceleration, deceleration, and lane change to the driver of the vehicle, and vehicle actuators such as a throttle control amount, a brake control amount, and a steering control amount. Is the control amount.
[0031]
The vehicle specifying means 106 inputs the contents of the message created by the message creating means 105 and the vehicle local ID of the vehicle that should receive the message, and is necessary for specifying the vehicle that should receive the message based on the vehicle local ID. The feature amount is read from the category buffer 104, and data with the feature amount attached to the content of the message is output. Details of the vehicle specifying means 106 will be described later with reference to FIG.
[0032]
The roadside vehicle-to-vehicle communication means 107 functions to transmit the data created by the vehicle specifying means 106 into the communication range 114 of the roadside road-to-vehicle communication means 107 using wireless communication. Here, the data to be transmitted is a message and a characteristic amount (position, speed, length, number) of the vehicle that should receive the message.
[0033]
Next, the vehicle-side device 108 includes a vehicle-side road-to-vehicle communication unit 109, a feature amount update unit 121, a host vehicle feature amount buffer 110, a feature amount comparison unit 111, a human interface 116, and an actuator controller 120. .
[0034]
First, the vehicle-side road-to-vehicle communication means 109 performs wireless communication with the road-side road-to-vehicle communication means 107 on the assumption that the host vehicle is located within the communication range 114 of the road-side road-to-vehicle communication means 107. Can be exchanged and can exchange information with each other.
[0035]
Next, the feature amount comparison unit 111 inputs the message received by the vehicle-side road-to-vehicle communication unit 109 and the feature amount of the vehicle, and reads the feature amount of the vehicle from the own vehicle feature amount buffer 110. When the feature value received from the road side matches the feature value of the host vehicle, it is determined whether the message received by the vehicle-side road-to-vehicle communication means 109 is for the driver or the vehicle actuator. To do.
[0036]
First, a message for the driver is supplied to the human interface 116. In the human interface 116, the message is transmitted to the driver through visual display processing using characters, images, and indicator lights, and auditory display processing using voice, warning sound, and the like based on the content of the message. To.
[0037]
When the message is for the actuator of the vehicle, the message is supplied to the actuator controller 120. The actuator controller 120 determines the intake air amount, the braking force, and the steering angle based on the content of the message, and supplies control signals to the control devices (actuators) of the throttle 117, the brake 118, and the steering 119. It is.
[0038]
The own vehicle feature amount buffer 110 acquires the latest data related to the own vehicle feature amount from the feature amount update unit 121. For this reason, the feature quantity updating unit 121 measures the vehicle speed, which is a dynamically changing feature quantity, at a constant cycle.
[0039]
Here, the road-to-vehicle communication means 109 on the vehicle side, the feature quantity update means 121, the own vehicle feature quantity buffer 110, the feature quantity comparison means 111, and the vehicle 115 having the human interface 116 and the actuator controller 120 are hereinafter referred to as “ITS vehicle”. I will call it.
[0040]
Next, the operation of the vehicle measuring means 102 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
The vehicle measuring means 102 is a television camera as described above, and FIG. 2 is an imaging field of view of this television camera. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 201 is shown, and the vehicle 113 is traveling there.
[0041]
As is apparent from FIG. 2, the above-described television cameras are installed at positions where the vehicles 113 within a certain range of the road 201 can be individually recognized. More specifically, the road 201 is installed from the front in the traveling direction of the vehicle 113 on the road 201 so that the road 201 enters the field of view from above.
[0042]
Therefore, the measurement result output from the vehicle measurement means 102 is image data of the road 201 captured by the above-described television camera.
Note that the television camera employed here is for visible light, but an infrared camera may be used, and in some cases, a laser radar or a millimeter wave radar may be used.
[0043]
Next, the operation of the measurement data processing means 103 will be described in detail. The measurement data processing means 103 is composed of a CPU, a memory, a hard disk, a computer having data transmission / reception means, an image processing means, and software on the computer. In this case, the input of the measurement data processing unit 103 is image data output from the vehicle measurement unit 102.
[0044]
Then, the measurement data processing means 103 recognizes each of the traveling vehicles 113 for each frame image of the image data input from the vehicle measurement means 102, and features of each vehicle for each recognized vehicle. Extract quantity, position and measurement time.
[0045]
Here, as described above, the feature amount is a feature amount of the vehicle that can be measured by the vehicle itself without attaching a new measuring device and can be observed from the outside. In addition, depending on the performance of the vehicle measuring means 102, the vehicle type, the color of the vehicle body, and the like can also be regarded as feature quantities.
[0046]
Next, processing in the measurement data processing unit 103 in the vehicle measurement apparatus 102 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
In the flowchart of FIG. 3, first, in the vehicle extraction process 301, an image of one frame of video data supplied from the vehicle measurement unit 102 exists on the image of the current frame by the image processing apparatus and software on the computer. Extract one vehicle at a time.
[0047]
In the next inter-frame vehicle matching process 307, the position of the vehicle extracted from the previous frame in the previous process is compared with the position of the vehicle extracted from the current frame. Then, it is determined which vehicle in the current frame is the same vehicle.
[0048]
The determination method at this time is from the position of the previous frame to the traveling direction of the vehicle.
Tf [s] * Vmax [m / s]
A method is adopted in which the nearest vehicle of this frame existing within a distance is regarded as the same.
Here, Tf [s] is the time between frames, and Vmax [m / s] is the maximum speed of the vehicle. In the case of the NTSC system, Tf [s] is 1/30 second, but is not limited to this.
[0049]
In the subsequent vehicle registration deletion process 308, a vehicle local ID is assigned to a vehicle that is not present in the previous frame but is newly present in the current frame in the previous inter-frame vehicle matching process 307. On the contrary, for a vehicle that was present in the previous frame but is no longer present in the current frame, a vehicle deletion process is performed.
[0050]
Next, in the feature amount extraction processing 302, the position, the vehicle length, and the vehicle number of the vehicle on the road 201 are extracted for each of the extracted vehicles. In the speed calculation processing 303, these are extracted. The running speed is calculated for each vehicle.
The travel speed at this time is calculated by first comparing the position of the vehicle in the previous frame with the position of the vehicle in the current frame to obtain the instantaneous speed, and then calculating the instantaneous speed and the past several frames. The average value of the instantaneous speed at is obtained and finally calculated as the traveling speed.
[0051]
Next, in the category buffer writing process 304, a process for writing the vehicle feature quantity such as the vehicle position, speed, vehicle length, and car number extracted in the feature quantity extraction process 302 and the speed calculation process 303 and the measurement time to the category buffer 104. Next, at branch 305, whether or not the feature amount extraction process 302, the speed calculation process 303, and the category buffer write process 304 have been executed for all the vehicles extracted by the vehicle extraction process 301 in the image of the frame. Find out.
[0052]
Then, when all of them are not executed, the process returns to the feature quantity extraction process 301, and the feature quantity extraction process 302, the speed calculation process, and the feature quantity extraction process 302, the speed calculation process 303, and the category buffer write process 304 are not executed. 303, category buffer write processing 304 is executed.
[0053]
On the other hand, if the feature amount extraction process 302, the speed calculation process 303, and the category buffer write process 304 have been executed for all the vehicles extracted in the vehicle extraction process 301 in the branch 305, the next frame update process 306 is executed.
In this frame update process 306, the image data of the current (current) frame is updated to the image data of the next frame, and then the process returns to the vehicle extraction process 301.
[0054]
As a result, the measurement data processing unit 103 creates the following data in real time for each frame of the image data input from the vehicle measurement unit 102 and writes the data in the category buffer 104 by the category buffer write processing 304. It will be.
[0055]
Time: ti
Vehicle local ID: n
Location: xni
Speed: vni
Commander: sn
Car number: Shinagawa 11 a 1111 (an example)
Vehicle local ID: n + 1
Position: x (n + 1) i
Speed: v (n + 1) i
Captain: s (n + 1)
Car number: Shinagawa 22 I 2222 (also an example)
Vehicle local ID: n + 2
・
・
・
Here, the vehicle local ID is an ID given in the vehicle registration deletion process 308, and is different from the ID inherent to the vehicle itself. Further, the position of the vehicle 113 is expressed by local coordinates 501 on the road as shown in FIG.
[0056]
Next, the category buffer 104 will be described.
The category buffer 104 is realized on a storage device of a computer. In the category buffer write processing 304 shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3, the data created by the measurement data processing means 103 is input to the category buffer 104. The vehicle 113 is stored until the vehicle 113 goes out of the measurement range 112 of the vehicle measurement means 102.
[0057]
Then, when the vehicle 113 goes out of the measurement range 112 of the vehicle measurement device 102, the data related to the vehicle is deleted from the category buffer 104.
At this time, whether or not the vehicle is out of the measurement range is determined based on whether or not the vehicle deletion processing is performed in the vehicle registration deletion processing 308 of the flowchart of FIG. 3.
[0058]
Next, the operation of the message creation unit 105 will be described.
Here, the message refers to a vehicle 115 having a means for performing wireless communication with the roadside road-to-vehicle communication means 107 among the vehicles 113 traveling within the communication range 114 of the roadside road-to-vehicle communication means 107 in FIG. Information provided to support driving operations such as instructions for acceleration, deceleration, and lane change to the driver, and control amounts for controlling the actuators of the vehicle.
[0059]
Here, the input of the message creation means 105 is the output of the measurement data processing means 103, which is data relating to the traveling vehicle 113 within the measurement range 112 of the vehicle measurement means 102, and the vehicle local ID, position, The output of the message creation means 105 includes the created message and the vehicle local ID of the vehicle to which the message is to be given, and these are input to the vehicle identification means 106. .
[0060]
Here, as an example, a method for creating a message for prompting adjustment of the inter-vehicle distance within the measurement range 112 of the road-side vehicle measurement means 102 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, in process 601, the parameter i is initialized with i = 1. Here, the parameter i is a parameter for performing the following processing on the i-th vehicle among the N vehicles extracted by the measurement data processing unit 103.
[0061]
Next, if there is another vehicle ahead of the same lane as the vehicle i at the branch 602, the process proceeds to step 603.
In this process 603, a time Tci until the vehicle i collides with the nearest preceding vehicle is calculated by the following equation (1).
[0062]
Tci = | xf−xi | / vi (1)
Here, xi is the position of the vehicle i, xf is the position of the preceding vehicle f closest to the vehicle i, vi is the speed of the vehicle i, and the position of the vehicle at this time is represented by the coordinate system 501 shown in FIG. Use.
[0063]
The time Tci calculated by the above formula (1) is calculated as the arrival time of the vehicle i to the front vehicle f in that case, assuming that the speed of the front vehicle f instantaneously becomes zero. Here, when vi = 0, a sufficiently large value is applied to the time Tci.
[0064]
Next, at branch 604, if Tci <Tc, that is, if the time Tci until the vehicle i collides with the preceding vehicle f is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value Tc, the process proceeds to step 605. Here, the constant value Tc is determined by an experiment using an actual vehicle or a driving simulator.
[0065]
In this embodiment, a case where an inter-vehicle distance alarm is applied as a message for the vehicle i is shown, and accordingly, in the process 605, the inter-vehicle distance alarm is displayed via the human interface 116.
[0066]
Next, in process 606, the parameter i is incremented to i = i + 1, and next, preparation for performing the process of the vehicle (i + 1) is performed. In the subsequent branch 607, if i ≦ N, that is, the process according to this flowchart is performed. If there is a vehicle that has not been received, the process returns to branch 602. Here, the numerical value N is the number of vehicles extracted by the measurement data processing means 103.
[0067]
On the other hand, when it is determined that there is no vehicle ahead of the same lane of the vehicle i at the branch 602 and when Tci ≧ Tc at the branch 604, the inter-vehicle distance warning applying process of the process 605 is skipped. Go to 606.
[0068]
Next, the operation of the vehicle specifying means 106 will be described in detail.
Here, the vehicle specifying means 106 inputs the message content output from the message creating means 104 and the vehicle local ID of the vehicle that receives the message, and the feature quantity required for specifying the vehicle of the vehicle local ID is displayed in the category buffer. The data extracted from 104 and the extracted feature quantity of the vehicle attached to the message content are output. The processing by the vehicle specifying means 106 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
[0069]
In FIG. 4, first, in the vehicle feature amount extraction processing 401, the message content output from the message creation unit 105 and the vehicle local ID of the vehicle that receives the message are updated with the latest time among the vehicle feature amounts of the vehicle local ID. A process of reading the feature amount from the category buffer 104 is executed. The feature values read out here are the speed, position, vehicle length, and vehicle number of the vehicle, and these are input to the vehicle specifying means 106.
[0070]
Next, in the same feature amount search processing 402, whether or not there is another vehicle having the same feature amount among the feature amounts extracted in the vehicle feature amount extraction processing 401 is stored in the category buffer 104. Search for. If there is no other vehicle having the same feature quantity, the process advances to a feature quantity attachment process 408 at a branch 404.
[0071]
In the feature amount attaching process 408, all the feature amounts extracted in the vehicle feature amount extracting process 401 are attached to the message received from the message creating unit 105, and in the next message transmission process 409, the message to which all the feature quantities are added is added. It is transmitted to the road-to-road communication means 107 on the road side.
[0072]
At this time, when the position and speed are attached as the feature amount, the history of the position and speed is also attached. Here, the history of position and speed is a data string of time, position and speed from a certain past time to the current time.
[0073]
On the other hand, if there is at least one vehicle having the same feature amount at the branch 403, the process proceeds to the branch 410. In this branch 410, if at least one of the feature quantities extracted by the vehicle feature quantity extraction process 401 is different from the feature quantities of any other vehicle, the process proceeds to process 411.
[0074]
In the process 411, a feature quantity different from the feature quantity of any other vehicle is selected from the feature quantities extracted in the vehicle feature quantity extraction process 401, and then received from the message creating means 105 in the feature quantity attaching process 408. The feature amount selected in process 411 is attached to the received message, and is transmitted to the road-to-road communication means 107 on the road side in message transmission process 409.
[0075]
On the other hand, if there is no feature quantity that is different from the feature quantity of any other vehicle among the feature quantities extracted in the vehicle feature quantity extraction process 401 at the branch 410, the process proceeds to a process 404.
In this process 404, it is determined whether or not the message, which is the output of the message creating unit 105, can be applied to vehicles having the same feature quantity extracted in the same feature quantity extraction process 402.
[0076]
Here, the determination as to whether it is applicable is performed as follows.
First, assuming that all vehicles having the same feature amount have received a message, a predicted time distance curve is created for vehicles in the target area. Here, the predicted time distance curve is a data string of the time from the current time to the future time and the position of the vehicle.
[0077]
When this message is an inter-vehicle distance warning, the driver (driver) presented with the message creates a predicted time-distance curve that decelerates at the acceleration A after the reaction delay time τ [s]. Here, the values of the reaction delay time τ and the acceleration A are determined by experiments using an actual vehicle or a driving simulator.
On the other hand, it is assumed that a driver for whom no message is presented continues to travel at a constant speed.
[0078]
As a result of creating the predicted time distance curve, the time Tcd until the vehicle D collides with the preceding vehicle B is calculated for the following vehicle D following the driver's vehicle B for which the message is presented, and the result is Tcd <Tc. If it is determined, application of the same message to another vehicle having the same feature amount is determined to be impossible.
[0079]
In other cases, it is determined that the same message can be applied to vehicles having the same feature amount. Here, the value of the time Tcd is obtained by the method of the process 603 in the flowchart of FIG. 6 describing the process of the message creating means 105, and the value of the determination time Tc is the time Tc used in the branch 604 of FIG. .
[0080]
After the process 404, if it is determined in the branch 405 that the same message can be sent to another vehicle, a vehicle in which the same message can be included in the message that is the output of the message creation unit 105 in the feature amount attaching process 408. Attach the same features as. Then, the message to which the feature amount is attached is transmitted to the road-to-road communication means 107 by the message transmission processing 409.
[0081]
On the other hand, if it is determined in the branch 405 that the same message cannot be transmitted to a vehicle having the same feature amount as a result of the message applicability determination processing 404 for other vehicles, the processing is terminated here. Therefore, in this case, no message is sent to the road-to-road communication means 107 on the road side.
[0082]
Next, the operation of the roadside vehicle-to-vehicle communication means 107 will be described.
The roadside vehicle-to-vehicle communication means 107 performs wireless communication with a vehicle having a means capable of performing wireless communication with the roadside road-to-vehicle communication means 107 among the vehicles 113 traveling on the road. As a communication method, wireless communication using radio waves and infrared rays is used.
[0083]
As shown in FIG. 1, the communication range 114 by the roadside vehicle-to-vehicle communication means 107 on one roadside is wide enough to include a plurality of vehicles 113. Therefore, the vehicle-side device 115 is provided. When the vehicle is within the communication range 114, the vehicle can communicate wirelessly with the roadside road-to-vehicle communication means 107 and receive a message from the roadside road-to-vehicle communication means 107.
[0084]
The contents of communication at this time are the output of the vehicle specifying means 106 in FIG. 1, the message and the characteristic amount for specifying the vehicle that should receive the message, the position of the vehicle that should receive the message, and the current time of the system as described above. In the case of this embodiment, the content of the message is an inter-vehicle distance warning.
[0085]
On the other hand, the feature quantity is the vehicle speed, the vehicle length, and the car number. Here, the vehicle speed is a time and speed data string from a certain past time to the current time, and then a message is displayed. The position of the vehicle to be received is a time and position data string from a certain past time to the current time.
[0086]
Here, the position information is sent as reference information on the vehicle side, and the current time is sent to share the system time on the road side and the system time on the vehicle side.
The position information at this time includes the relative position on the road in addition to the absolute position using the latitude and longitude. Here, the relative position on the road is information indicating which lane the vehicle is traveling on and is expressed as the leftmost lane in the three main lanes.
[0087]
Next, the vehicle side device 108 of the ITS vehicle 115 having the vehicle side road-to-vehicle communication means 109, the own vehicle feature amount buffer 110, the feature amount comparison means 111, the human interface 116, and the actuator controller 120 will be described with reference to FIG.
[0088]
First, the vehicle-side road-to-vehicle communication means 109 will be described. The road-to-vehicle communication means 109 on the vehicle side is such that the ITS vehicle 115 exists within the communication range 114 of the road-side road-to-vehicle communication means 107 and the road-side road-to-vehicle communication means 109. When the communication means 107 is transmitting data, the data transmitted by the roadside vehicle-to-vehicle communication means 107 is received. The received data is input to the feature amount comparison unit 111.
[0089]
Therefore, the feature amount comparison unit 111 extracts the feature amount of the vehicle from the data supplied from the vehicle-side road-to-vehicle communication unit 109 and compares it with the feature amount of the host vehicle read from the host vehicle feature amount buffer 110. . Here, the vehicle feature amount is the vehicle speed, the vehicle length, and the vehicle number, as described above, and is an element that can be recognized by the vehicle itself and can be observed from the outside without newly mounting a sensor on the vehicle. It is.
[0090]
When the feature amount received from the road side matches the feature amount of the host vehicle, the received message is sent to the human interface 116 and the actuator controller 120, but the received feature amount does not match the feature amount of the host vehicle. Does nothing.
[0091]
Next, a determination algorithm for determining whether or not the feature amount received from the road side matches the feature amount of the host vehicle will be described with reference to FIG.
Here, in FIG. 7, when the feature amount used for the determination is a vehicle speed, a vehicle length, and a vehicle number, the similarity between the feature amount 1202 received from the road side and the feature amount 1203 of the host vehicle is weighted 1204. An example of comparison using the determination value 1205 (J1 to J5) will be described. First, how to determine the determination value J1 when the feature amount is the speed 1201 will be described.
[0092]
Now, the time and speed data string received from the road side is (t1, Vr1), (t2, Vr2), ..., (tn, Vrn), and the time and speed data string recorded by the vehicle is (t1 , Vc1), (t2, Vc2),..., (Tn, Vcn), the judgment value J1 is given by equation (2).
Here, this equation (2) means that the ratio of the difference between the speed received from the road side and the speed of the host vehicle is averaged, and k1 is a parameter.
[0093]
[Expression 2]

Further, when calculating the judgment value J1, it is necessary to share the same time on the road side and the vehicle side. However, as described above, the information received from the road side includes the system time on the road side. The system time on the vehicle side is corrected using this time.
[0094]
Next, how to determine the judgment value J2 when the feature amount is the vehicle length 1207 will be described. When the vehicle length value received from the road side is Lr and the actual vehicle length value is Lc, the judgment value J2 Is given by the following equation (3).
J2 = 1-k2 * | Lr-Lc | / Lc (3)
Here, k2 is a parameter.
[0095]
Next, how to obtain the judgment values J3, J4, and J5 when the feature amount is the car number 1208 will be described. Here, the car number is the kanji part 1209 such as “Shinagawa” and “Adachi” and “A”. The determination values J3, J4, and J5 are obtained by dividing the hiragana part 1210 such as “I” and the remaining number part 1211.
[0096]
First, the judgment values J3 and J4 are set to J3 = 1 and J4 = 1 when the characters completely match.
On the other hand, if they do not match, J3 = F Shinagawa (Adachi) and J4 = F ai.
Here, Fn (x) is a function of x, where x is a feature quantity received from the road side, and Fn (x) is a probability that the feature quantity n is mistaken for the feature quantity x. This function Fn (x) is determined by experiment.
[0097]
Next, the determination value J5 is given by the equation (4) in the example of FIG.
J5 = {1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + F1 (2) + F1 (3)} / 6 (4)
Here, the first to fourth terms in parentheses {} mean that the numbers are completely matched.
Next, in the fifth to sixth terms, Fn (x) is a function of x, x is a feature quantity received from the road side, and Fn (x) is a probability that the feature quantity n is mistaken for x.
Then, the last division by 6 is to average the numerical values in parentheses {}. The function Fn (x) is determined by experiment.
[0098]
Values obtained by multiplying the determination values J1 to J5 obtained as described above by weights 1204 (G1 to G5) relating to the reliability of the respective feature amounts, that is, multiplication values J1 * G1, J2 * G2, J3 * G3, The average of J4 * G4 and J5 * G5 is taken as a comprehensive judgment value 1206.
Accordingly, the judgment value 1206 in this case is (J1 * G1 + J2 * G2 + J3 * G3 + J4 * G4 + J5 * G5) / 5 as shown in the figure.
[0099]
Here, these weighting values G1 to G5 are obtained by conducting an experiment using an actual vehicle, and are expressed by values from 0 to 1.
Finally, when the total determination value 1206 exceeds a certain threshold value, it is determined that the feature amount received from the road side matches the feature amount of the host vehicle. The threshold value is also determined by conducting an experiment using an actual vehicle.
[0100]
Next, the human interface 116 will be described. This converts the message from the road side inputted from the feature amount comparison unit 111 into a state quantity that can be recognized by the driver, and transmits the result to the driver. Therefore, an image character display device, a sound generator, and a light emitting diode display lamp are used as the transmission means at this time.
[0101]
As described above, in the case of this embodiment, the message received from the roadside is an inter-vehicle distance warning that warns that the front inter-vehicle distance is too narrow. Please display a warning message such as “Please,” or “Let ’s keep ahead” or “Decelerate”. Furthermore, a warning sound such as a beep sound or lighting or flashing of the display lamp Will be prompted to leave a space ahead.
[0102]
Next, the actuator controller 120 will be described. This serves to convert a message from the road side input from the feature amount comparison means 111 into a control amount for controlling the throttle valve, the brake device, and the steering device. .
[0103]
As described above, similarly, in the case of this embodiment, the message received from the roadside is an inter-vehicle distance warning that warns that the front inter-vehicle distance is too narrow. Therefore, the actuator controller 120 informs the host vehicle of the front inter-vehicle distance. The throttle opening and the braking force necessary for opening the vehicle are calculated, and the calculated throttle control amount and brake control amount are supplied to the respective control devices for the throttle 117 and the brake 118 of the vehicle.
[0104]
Therefore, according to this embodiment, since the target vehicle can be specified from among a plurality of vehicles by the roadside device, an individual message is transmitted to the vehicle without providing the vehicle position detection means on the vehicle side. As a result, the function as an AHS (driving support road system) can be accurately obtained, and the occurrence of an accident such as a rear-end collision can be prevented and high safety can be ensured.
[0105]
Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
Here, also in the embodiment of FIG. 8, most of the configurations of the roadside device 101 and the vehicle side device 108 are the same as those of the embodiment of FIG. 1. In the vehicle side device 108, an ID comparison unit 131 is provided instead of the feature amount comparison unit 111, and a feature amount extraction unit 132 is added.
[0106]
Here, first, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the message and the feature amount of the vehicle that should receive the message are transmitted from the roadside device 101, and the vehicle side device 108 receives them and is transmitted from the roadside. When the feature quantity matches the feature quantity of the own vehicle, a specific means is operated based on the content of the message.
[0107]
However, in the embodiment of FIG. 8, the vehicle side device 108 transmits the feature amount of the own vehicle to the road side device 101 with the own vehicle ID attached thereto. The ID received from the device 108 is compared with the ID of the target vehicle to which the message is to be transmitted, and when both match, the ID received from the vehicle side device 108 is attached to the message to be transmitted to the vehicle side device 108. It is supposed to send.
[0108]
When the ID sent from the roadside device 101 matches the ID sent from the host vehicle to the roadside device 101, the vehicle side device 108 operates a specific means based on the content of the message. Therefore, the embodiment of FIG. 8 is the same as the operation of the embodiment of FIG. 1 except for the processing related to this ID.
[0109]
That is, first, the vehicle measurement unit 102 functions to capture image data of the traveling vehicle 113, and then the measurement data processing unit 103 recognizes each vehicle from the image data captured from the vehicle measurement unit 102. For each recognized vehicle, it outputs the result of extracting the feature amount and the vehicle position.
[0110]
Here, as described above, the feature amount can be easily recognized only by observing from the outside, such as the speed of the vehicle, the vehicle length, the vehicle number (number of the license plate), and therefore, from the image data of the vehicle, Data that can be recognized on the vehicle side without mounting a new sensor.
[0111]
The category buffer 104 is a memory having a predetermined storage capacity. The feature amount of the vehicle and the position of the vehicle extracted by the measurement data processing unit 103, the vehicle local ID determined by the measurement data processing unit 103, and the measurement time are stored in the category buffer 104. The message creation means 105 receives the measurement time, vehicle local ID, position, speed, and vehicle length of each vehicle created by the measurement data processing means 103 as input, and stores them in the vehicle. It functions to output a message to be transmitted and a vehicle local ID of the vehicle to receive this message.
[0112]
Here, as described above, the message to be transmitted to the vehicle includes driving support information such as acceleration, deceleration, and lane change instructions for the driver of the vehicle, throttle control amount, brake control amount, steering A control amount for a vehicle actuator, such as a control amount.
[0113]
The vehicle specifying means 106 receives the contents of the message created by the message creating means 105 and the vehicle local ID of the vehicle that should receive the message, and is necessary for specifying the vehicle that should receive the message based on the vehicle local ID. The feature amount is read from the category buffer 104, and data with the feature amount attached to the content of the message is output.
[0114]
The roadside vehicle-to-vehicle communication means 107 functions to transmit the data created by the vehicle specifying means 106 into the communication range 114 of the roadside road-to-vehicle communication means 107 using wireless communication. Also in this case, as described above, the data to be transmitted is the message and the characteristic amount of the vehicle (position, speed, vehicle length, vehicle number) to receive the message.
[0115]
The vehicle-side road-to-vehicle communication means 109 can perform wireless communication with the road-side road-to-vehicle communication means 107 on the assumption that the host vehicle is located within the communication range 114 of the road-side road-to-vehicle communication means 107. It works to enable mutual exchange of information.
[0116]
The own vehicle feature amount buffer 110 acquires the latest data related to the own vehicle feature amount from the feature amount update unit 121. For this reason, the feature quantity updating unit 121 measures the vehicle speed, which is a dynamically changing feature quantity, at a constant cycle.
Therefore, the above is the same as the embodiment of FIG. 1, and next, the point that the embodiment of FIG. 8 is different from the embodiment of FIG. 1 will be described.
[0117]
First, the feature quantity comparing means 130 is supplied with both the output of the vehicle specifying means 106 and the output of the roadside road-to-vehicle communication means 107.
Here, the roadside vehicle-to-vehicle communication means 107 is located within the communication range 114, and the data including the vehicle feature amount attached to the vehicle ID transmitted from the vehicle-side device 108 of the vehicle having the road-to-vehicle communication means. The received result is supplied to the feature amount comparison means 130.
[0118]
Therefore, one input of the feature quantity comparing means 130 is a message output from the vehicle specifying means 106 and data with the feature quantity of the vehicle to receive the message attached to this message, and the other input is the vehicle side This is data in which the feature amount of the host vehicle is attached to the ID of the host vehicle transmitted from the device 108.
[0119]
Then, the feature quantity comparing means 130 compares the feature quantities of these vehicles, and when the feature quantities are the same, supplies the message with the message and the ID of the vehicle to receive the message attached to the roadside road-to-vehicle communication means 107. . Here, the vehicle ID is the vehicle ID transmitted from the vehicle-side device 108.
[0120]
If the feature amounts are not the same, no message is supplied to the road-to-vehicle communication means 107.
Therefore, the processing of the feature amount comparing means 130 is the same as the processing by the feature amount comparing means 111 of the vehicle side device 108 in the embodiment of FIG. 1, but the data (message Data attached with the ID of the vehicle to receive the message) is supplied to the roadside vehicle-to-vehicle communication means 107, and is thereby transmitted toward the communication range 114 and transmitted to the vehicle side using wireless communication.
[0121]
Next, when the vehicle 115 exists within the communication range 114 of the road-side road-to-vehicle communication means 107, the feature amount extraction means 132 in the vehicle-side device 108 in FIG. Data to be transmitted to the road-to-vehicle communication means 107 is created.
[0122]
The content of the data at this time is obtained by attaching the feature amount of the own vehicle to the ID of the own vehicle, and the feature amount of the own vehicle is read from the own vehicle feature amount buffer 110. As described above, the buffer 110 is configured to acquire the latest data related to the own vehicle feature amount from the feature amount update unit 121.
[0123]
Next, the vehicle-side road-to-vehicle communication means 109 can perform wireless communication with the road-side road-to-vehicle communication means 107 within the communication range 114 of the road-side road-to-vehicle communication means 107. Data is received from the means 107 and transmitted to the road-to-road communication means 107 on the road side.
[0124]
Here, the data transmitted to the roadside vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 107 is data output from the feature amount extraction unit 132, which is data in which the feature amount of the host vehicle is attached to the ID of the host vehicle. The data received from the road-to-vehicle communication means 107 is data in which the ID of the vehicle that should receive the message is attached to the message for the vehicle. The received data is supplied to the ID comparison unit 131.
[0125]
Therefore, the ID comparison means 131 compares the ID received by the vehicle-side road-to-vehicle communication means 109 from the road side with the ID of the own vehicle, and when they match, the message received by the vehicle-side road-to-vehicle communication means 109. Is for the driver or the vehicle actuator.
[0126]
First, a message for the driver is supplied to the human interface 116.
When the message is for the actuator of the vehicle, the message is supplied to the actuator controller 120.
On the other hand, when the ID received from the road side does not match the ID of the host vehicle, no message is supplied to the human interface 116 and the actuator controller 120.
Therefore, the subsequent operation is the same as that of the embodiment of FIG.
[0127]
In other words, when a message is supplied to the human interface 116, visual display processing using characters, images, and indicator lights, and auditory display processing using voice, warning sound, and the like are performed based on the content of the message. As a result, a message is transmitted to the driver.
[0128]
When a message is supplied to the actuator controller 120, the intake air amount, braking force, and steering angle are calculated based on the content of the message, and the throttle 117, brake 118, and steering 119 control devices ( The control signal is supplied to the actuator).
[0129]
Therefore, according to the embodiment of FIG. 8 as well, the target vehicle can be identified from among a plurality of vehicles by the roadside device, so that the individual vehicle message is not provided on the vehicle side without providing the vehicle position detection means. As a result, a function as an AHS (driving support road system) can be obtained accurately, and accidents such as rear-end collisions can be prevented and high safety can be ensured.
[0130]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, a specific vehicle can be identified from a plurality of vehicles existing on the road from the roadside device without providing the vehicle position detection means on the vehicle side, and a message can be transmitted individually. .
Therefore, according to the present invention, the installation of lane markers on the road and the addition device to the vehicle can be dispensed with. As a result, the initial cost and the maintenance management cost can be greatly reduced, which greatly contributes to the improvement of road traffic safety. There is an effect that can be done.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment in which a vehicle characteristic device according to the present invention is applied to a driving support road system.
FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory diagram of vehicle measuring means in one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of a measurement data processing unit in an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the vehicle specifying means in one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of local coordinates on a road according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of message creation means in an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a feature amount determination method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing another embodiment when the vehicle characteristic device according to the present invention is applied to a driving support road system.
[Explanation of symbols]
101 Roadside equipment
102 Vehicle measurement means (inside the roadside device 101)
103 Measurement data processing means (inside the roadside device 101)
104 category buffer (inside roadside device 101)
105 Message creation means (inside roadside device 101)
106 Vehicle identification means (inside roadside device 101)
107 Roadside vehicle-to-vehicle communication means (inside roadside device 101)
108 Car side equipment
109 Vehicle-to-vehicle communication means (inside the vehicle)
110 Own vehicle feature buffer (inside device)
111 Feature value comparison means (inside the vehicle)
112 Measurement range of vehicle measurement means 102
113 Vehicle traveling on the road
114 Communication range of roadside communication means 107
115 Vehicle (ITS vehicle) having roadside-to-vehicle communication means, own vehicle feature amount buffer, feature amount comparison means on the vehicle side
116 Human interface (inside the vehicle)
117 Throttle (actuator)
118 Brake (actuator)
119 Steering (actuator)
120 Actuator controller (inside the vehicle side device)
121 Feature update means (inside the vehicle)
130 Feature value comparison means (inside roadside device)
131 ID comparison means (inside device)
132 Feature value extraction means (in the car side device)
201 road

Claims (4)

In a vehicle identification device that identifies a vehicle on a road based on image data,
Roadside equipment provided on the roadside
Vehicle measuring means for capturing image data of vehicles on the road;
Feature amount extraction means for processing the image data and extracting the feature amount of the vehicle on the road;
Message creating means for creating a message to be transmitted to the vehicle on the road;
Means for transmitting the extracted feature value attached to a message for the vehicle on the corresponding road;
The vehicle-side device mounted on the vehicle on the road is
Receiving means for receiving the message;
A feature amount comparison means for comparing the feature amount attached to the received message with the feature amount of the own vehicle;
The vehicle specifying device, wherein the vehicle side device is configured to identify a message having the same feature value among received messages as a message addressed to the own vehicle . In the invention of claim 1,
The vehicle specifying device characterized in that the characteristic amount of the vehicle is any one of a vehicle speed, a vehicle length, and a vehicle number. In a vehicle identification device that identifies a vehicle on a road based on image data ,
Roadside equipment provided on the roadside
Vehicle measuring means for capturing image data of vehicles on the road;
Feature amount extraction means for processing the image data and extracting the feature amount of the vehicle on the road;
Message creating means for creating a message to be transmitted to the vehicle on the road;
Means for transmitting the extracted feature value attached to a message for the vehicle on the corresponding road;
The vehicle-side device mounted on the vehicle on the road is
Receiving means for receiving the message;
Feature quantity comparison means for comparing the feature quantity attached to the received message with the feature quantity of the host vehicle;
Means for identifying a message having the same feature quantity among messages received on the vehicle side as a message addressed to the own vehicle;
Means for operating a specific device of the host vehicle based on a message received from the road side on the vehicle side;
When the feature amount of the feature amount and the vehicle attached to the message received from the road-side match, the vehicle, characterized in that on the basis of the received message was configured to operate a specific device of the vehicle Specific device. In the invention of claim 3,
Means for determining the degree of matching between the feature quantity attached to the message received on the vehicle side and the feature quantity of the host vehicle;
Vehicle identification means characterized in that, when there are a plurality of feature quantities on the vehicle side, means for making a final judgment value the result of integrating the judgment values of the feature quantities of the respective feature quantity elements is provided apparatus.

Images