JP3883845B2 - Traffic information notification system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a traffic information notification system that notifies traffic information to a moving body on a traffic route.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, when transferring traffic information from a railway or road manager to a moving body moving on a traffic route, in order to transmit the traffic information fixed at each point, It has been dealt with by installing character light emitters.
[0003]
However, fixed information is not sufficient to notify in advance the presence of rockfalls or broken cars on the road, or to notify sudden events such as visibility problems as traffic information. As a means of transmitting information, a device using visible light such as a luminescent signboard with variable display contents, an FM radio wave transmitter around the road, and a radio wave receiver on the mobile side Then, a method has been proposed in which a radio wave including information is transmitted from the transmitter side, the information is analyzed on the receiver side and transmitted to the mobile body side.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the method using visible light, there is a risk that the traffic information may be overlooked when the visibility is impaired such as snowfall or heavy fog. Visibility obstacles due to snowfall, heavy fog, etc. are inevitable for outdoor traffic routes. In particular, in order to convey traffic information related to traffic safety, a highly reliable information transmission system is desired even when visibility is impaired. The
[0005]
Moreover, in the method using radio waves such as FM waves, transmitters and receivers are expensive in order to exchange only traffic information, and radio waves tend to be complicated in recent traffic routes. Communication quality may be degraded.
[0006]
Accordingly, the present invention is intended to provide a traffic information notification system that is relatively simple and inexpensive and has a low risk of deterioration in communication quality due to visibility failure, radio wave interference, or the like.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention has the following configuration in order to solve the above problems. That is, it comprises a signal transmission unit installed around a traffic road, a signal reception unit, an information analysis device and an information notification unit provided in a moving body moving on the traffic road, and corresponds to traffic information from the signal transmission unit. An information notification system in which a signal is transmitted, the signal is received by a signal receiving unit, converted into corresponding traffic information by an information analysis device, and traffic information is notified by the information notification unit, wherein the signal transmission Signal transmission / reception between the signal receiving unit and the signal receiving unit is performed using infrared rays, and the signal transmission unit is configured such that a plurality of light emitters are attached and each light emitter emits infrared light having a different specific wavelength, A plurality of types of information corresponding to each of them are transmitted by combining a plurality of these light emitters to emit light .
[0008]
Traffic routes are mainly provided outdoors, and visibility and radio interference are unavoidable, but infrared rays are more permeable than visible light even when visibility is impaired such as rain, snow or heavy fog. It is possible to transmit information even in situations where it is difficult to recognize light-emitting sign boards, etc., and infrared rays have a wavelength much larger than radio waves, and should not be interfered by radio waves during communication. Therefore, communication quality is not degraded due to radio interference. The signal transmitting unit and the signal receiving unit are so-called infrared transmitters / receivers, which are general-purpose devices such as those used for television remote controllers, and are less expensive than those using radio waves such as FM waves. In addition, since it is general-purpose, it is technically reliable.
[0009]
As the signal transmission unit and the signal reception unit, those used for a television remote controller as described above, or a known one such as an infrared communication device attached to a notebook personal computer or a mobile phone may be used. Is stored in advance on the mobile body side, the signal transmitting section emits infrared light of the specific wavelength, and the signal receiving section receives light, so that the information notification section notifies the mobile body of the information. The intensity of the infrared rays may be arbitrarily determined in consideration of the distance between the signal transmission unit and the moving body at the time of information transmission. The information notification unit is not particularly limited, and may be an image display provided in a car navigation system, or a known method such as a method for transmitting information by voice may be used, or a combination thereof may be used. .
[0010]
The signal transmission unit may be provided in the self-light-emitting device. The self-light-emitting device is installed around the road mainly for the purpose of being visually recognized by the driver, such as a light-emitting sign or a line-of-sight guidance, and emits light toward a moving body. There are few obstacles between the apparatus and the moving body.
[0011]
Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably transmit infrared rays toward the moving body by providing the signal transmission unit in the self-luminous device. In addition, the self-light-emitting device generally has a power supply unit related to light emission, a switching circuit for intermittent light emission, etc. If the signal transmission unit is used, there is little need to newly provide a power supply device or a control circuit. That's it.
[0012]
The signal transmission unit may be a light emitter that emits light including infrared light corresponding to traffic information in visible light. The light emitter of the self-luminous device is the part that emits light toward the moving body. In addition to the visible light used for normal light emission display and line-of-sight guidance, it also emits infrared light with a specific wavelength corresponding to traffic information. By doing so, it is possible to transmit infrared rays more reliably. In addition, since the light emitters have a plurality of functions, the number of light emitters to be provided can be reduced.
[0013]
Also, the signal transmission unit has a plurality of light emitters mounted. Sending multiple specific wavelengths of infrared light with a single light emitter requires complicated control and is difficult, but by providing multiple signal transmitters, each of which emits specific wavelength infrared, Can convey traffic information. A plurality of types of light emitters emits multiple, Ru der which transmits a plurality of types of information by a combination thereof.
[0014]
The signal transmission unit may emit infrared rays corresponding to traffic information based on information obtained by a road monitoring sensor and / or a weather sensor. The traffic information notification system according to the present invention is often installed on a road or railroad in order to notify the moving body of the abnormality when the moving body moving on the traffic road has an abnormality ahead of the road. It is possible to promptly transmit information such as the presence of a stopped vehicle due to a failure or the like obtained by a road monitoring sensor or a weather sensor that detects an abnormality, dense fog, snowfall, etc. to the moving body. Known road monitoring sensors and weather sensors may be used, and the weather sensors may be those equipped with a sensing unit such as a visibility meter or illuminometer as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 11-237606 by the applicant. Good.
[0015]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an example of a series of operations according to the present invention. The information input unit 31 provided in the management station 3 inputs information to be transmitted to the road user by the road manager or the like, and the information transmitting unit 32 transmits the information to the information receiving unit 13 of the self-luminous device 1. The transmission means is not particularly limited, such as wireless communication using power transmission lines or radio waves, infrared rays, or the like, and an appropriate one may be used depending on the situation.
[0016]
Information transmitted from the management station 3 is received by the information receiving unit 13 provided in the self-light-emitting device 1, and is stored in the data stored in the storage medium 122 in advance by the information analyzing unit 121 provided in the information analyzing device 12. Based on this, the signal transmission unit 11 is instructed to emit infrared light of a specific wavelength, and infrared light corresponding to information is transmitted from the signal transmission unit 11 to the moving body 2 side.
[0017]
Infrared light having a specific wavelength is received from the signal transmission unit 11 of the self-light-emitting device 1 by the signal transmission unit 21 provided in the moving body 2, and is previously stored in the storage medium by the information analysis unit 221 provided in the information analysis device 22. The information is checked against the stored information, converted into information corresponding to the wavelength, and the information notification unit 23 notifies the mobile unit 2 of the information.
[0018]
By using infrared rays to transmit a signal from the signal transmission unit 11 of the self-light-emitting device 1 to the signal reception unit 21 of the moving body 2, visibility disturbance such as nighttime during rain, snowfall, and fog generation In some cases, the transmission of visible light is reduced, and it is difficult to see the marking surface of the sign board.
[0019]
Here, the information relating to the specific wavelength of the infrared rays and the information to be notified stored in the respective storage media 122 and 222 provided in the information analysis devices 12 and 22 needs to correspond to each other. The storage medium may be rewritable. The information notification unit 23 may be based on a screen used in a car navigation system, may be based on voice, or may be a combination thereof.
[0020]
2 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram, and FIG. 3 shows a detailed portion between the self-luminous device and the automobile in FIG.
[0021]
First, in FIG. 2, the weather sensor 4b and the road monitoring sensor 4a recognize the presence of the snowfall S and the broken vehicle C. These pieces of information are converted into radio waves P1 and P2 from the communication devices 4a1 and 4a2 provided respectively, and sent to the road administrator 3a through the information processing device 3b provided in the management station 3 and provided with the communication devices. The road manager 3a of the management station 3 confirms the presence of the snowfall S and the broken vehicle C, and transmits information for calling attention through the information processing device 3b to the self-luminous device 1 by the radio wave P3. The self-light-emitting device 1 receives the information by the communication device 131 and emits infrared rays 7 corresponding to the information to the moving body 2 that travels by the light-emitting body 11.
[0022]
FIG. 3 shows details relating to the transmission of infrared rays and the notification of information between the self-light-emitting device 1 and the moving body 2 described above, and the signal transmission unit provided in the light-emitting unit 10 of the self-light-emitting device 1. 11 is received by a signal receiving unit 21 mounted on a vehicle 2C, which is a moving body 2, and is converted into corresponding information by an information analysis device 22, and the information notification unit 23 uses the vehicle 2C as information. Will be notified to the passengers. In the present embodiment, the signal receiving unit 21 is attached to the front part of the vehicle 2C. However, if it is a place where the infrared rays R from the signal transmitting unit 11 can be received without any trouble, it is attached to the dashboard, the roof, or the like. Also good. In addition, the information notification unit 23 notifies information by an image displayed on the screen, but may be a notification method by sound, or may use an image and sound together.
[0023]
FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the self-light-emitting device according to the present invention. The self-light-emitting device 1 receives a radio wave P3 that transmits information to call attention by the communication device 131, and the information receiving unit 13 Then, the information analysis device 12 transmits arbitrary information to the moving body 2 by selectively causing the signal transmission unit 11 to emit light to emit light. In the present embodiment, ten signal transmission units 11 are attached, each of which emits infrared rays having different specific wavelengths, and each of them emits light one by one, or an arbitrary number of signal transmission units 11. A plurality of types of information can be transmitted by simultaneously emitting a plurality of lights. Moreover, the signal transmission part 11 may light-emit visible light with the infrared rays of a specific wavelength, and may serve as the light-emitting body used for normal eyes | visual_axis guidance.
[0024]
FIG. 5 shows an example of information notification by the light emission pattern of the signal transmission unit 11, and information corresponding to the case of receiving infrared light of a specific wavelength is recorded in the information analysis device 12 in advance. As shown in (a), (b), and (c), by changing the light emitting part and the number of light emission of the signal transmission unit 11, information corresponding to each of the information notification unit 23 is displayed as a plurality of types of images 231. Is displayed.
[0025]
【The invention's effect】
The traffic route is mainly provided outdoors, and visibility and radio wave interference are inevitable, but infrared rays are more permeable than visible light even during visibility failures such as rainfall, snowfall, and dense fog. In addition, information can be transmitted even in situations where the visibility is difficult, such as when light-emitting sign boards are difficult to recognize, and infrared light has a wavelength much larger than that of radio waves. As a result, communication quality does not deteriorate due to radio interference. An infrared transmitter / receiver is a general-purpose device such as that used in a television remote control, and is less expensive than a device using radio waves such as FM waves. It is also highly reliable.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a series of operations according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an embodiment according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 shows a detailed part between the self-light-emitting device and the automobile in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 shows an example of a self-luminous device according to the present invention.
5 shows an example of information notification using the self-light-emitting device shown in FIG. 4. FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Self-light-emitting device 11 Signal transmission part 12 Information analysis apparatus 121 Information analysis part 122 Storage medium 13 Information reception part 131 Communication apparatus 10 Light emission part 2 Mobile body 21 Signal reception part 22 Information analysis apparatus 221 Information analysis part 222 Storage medium 23 Information alerting | reporting Unit 231 Image 3 Management station 3a Road manager 3b Information processing device 31 Information input unit 32 Information transmission unit 4a Weather sensor 4a1 Communication device 4b Road monitoring sensor 4b1 Communication device P1, P2, P3 Radio wave C Faulty vehicle S Snowfall R Infrared

Claims (4)

It consists of a signal transmission unit installed around the traffic road, a signal reception unit, an information analysis device, and an information notification unit provided in a moving body moving on the traffic road, and a signal corresponding to traffic information from the signal transmission unit An information notification system that receives the signal at a signal reception unit, converts the signal into corresponding traffic information at an information analysis device, and notifies the traffic information at the information notification unit; Signal transmission / reception with the signal receiving unit is performed using infrared rays, and the signal transmission unit has a plurality of light emitters attached thereto, and each light emitter emits infrared rays having different specific wavelengths. A traffic information notification system characterized in that a plurality of types of information corresponding to each is transmitted by combining a plurality of bodies to emit a plurality of lights .  The traffic information notification system according to claim 1, wherein the signal transmission unit is provided in the light-emitting device.  The traffic information notification system according to claim 2, wherein the signal transmission unit is a light emitting body that emits light including infrared rays corresponding to traffic information in a visible ray. The traffic information notification system according to claim 1, wherein the signal transmission unit transmits traffic information based on information obtained by a road monitoring sensor and / or a weather sensor.

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