JP4935754B2 - Road surface information provision system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a road surface information providing system, and is particularly suitable for application to a road surface information system that alerts a driver of a vehicle based on slippery road surface information.

  On the road surface in winter, slightly melted water on the surface in the temperature range of approximately 0 [deg.] C to minus several [deg.] C, depending on weather conditions such as sunshine and wind, or traffic volume of vehicles. There is a phenomenon that the film is slippery dramatically as a result of the formation of the film. In particular, in a snowy cold region, the amount of snowfall is large and the air temperature tends to be in the above temperature range, so there is a high possibility that the road surface will be particularly slippery. Also, on a frozen road surface, it is often difficult for the driver to recognize that it does not appear to be frozen, or suddenly freezes when turning a corner of a winding road. Attention has been focused on the technology to notify the frozen road surface information in advance.

  In addition to frozen road surfaces, road surfaces with a water film after raining or watering, or road surfaces attached due to oil spills are slippery and difficult for the driver to predict. It is.

From this point of view, for example, Patent Document 1 summarizes information necessary for creating road surface information transmitted from a traveling vehicle, and the created road surface information is different from the vehicle that transmitted the information. In addition, a road surface information distribution system has been proposed that alerts the driver.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-8198

  However, in this road surface information distribution system, numerical information on the slipperiness of the road surface is detected as the road surface information. In this case, since the level of slipperiness on the road surface is quantified from the tire rotation behavior caused by the friction coefficient between the tire and the road surface, complicated steps are taken in order to obtain the road surface information.

  On the other hand, in recent years, various sensors and attitude control devices have been loaded on vehicles. For example, VSC (Vehicle Stability Control) that prevents the vehicle from slipping using information such as a yaw rate sensor, steering angle sensor, acceleration sensor, and wheel speed sensor, or in other words, a vehicle stability control system. Are known.

  In the VSC, when the sensor senses a sudden steering wheel (hereinafter simply referred to as a steering wheel) operation or a side slip of the vehicle that occurs on a slippery road surface, the brakes and engine output of each of the four wheels are automatically detected. This is a system that suppresses the above-mentioned skidding and controls the vehicle by the driver.

  In the VSC, for example, if the vehicle does not turn even when the steering wheel is turned at an overspeed (so-called understeer), the engine output is reduced, the inner rear wheel is braked, and the car is turned to the inside of the corner. Further, when the vehicle starts to spin (so-called oversteer) by a sudden steering operation, the outer front wheel is braked to suppress the spin.

  And the information of the various said sensors in such a system is useful for attitude | position control etc. in each vehicle which mounts the said system.

  For example, when a vehicle equipped with such a VSC activates the VSC while traveling, this operation information (that is, information that caused skidding) is transmitted and constructed as a database in a host computer or the like. If the information obtained can be distributed and shared to a large number of unspecified vehicles, the information on the content that the other vehicle operated the VSC on the road on which the vehicle from which the information was obtained will run, that is, the road surface is slippery. In this case, it is considered that more stable traveling of the vehicle can be ensured by alerting the driver and avoiding skidding beforehand.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and mainly provides a road surface information providing system capable of detecting the slipperiness of a road surface with a simple structure and ensuring the running stability of the vehicle. Objective.

  An aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object includes a skid prevention device mounted on a vehicle, a position detection unit that detects the position of the vehicle, a speed detection unit that detects a traveling speed of the vehicle, and a skid prevention device. A vehicle having operation information indicating that the vehicle has operated, position information of the vehicle detected by the position detection means, and transmission means for transmitting the speed information detected by the speed detection means, and various information transmitted from a plurality of vehicles. A road surface information providing system comprising: a server comprising information collecting means for collecting, road surface information creating means for creating road surface information based on the collected information, and information providing means for providing the created road surface information, The server provides the vehicle with road surface information related to the position of the vehicle based on the position information transmitted by the vehicle. The vehicle is provided by the information providing unit. A receiving means for receiving the road surface information and a notifying means for notifying the driver of the received road surface information. When the provided road surface information is information indicating slipperiness, the notifying means The road surface information creating means is configured to discard the operation information when the collected operation information of the skid prevention device is the operation information resulting from the excessive speed of the vehicle. Is.

  Therefore, according to one aspect of the present invention, when providing road surface information indicating slipperiness, the operation information of the skid prevention device is used as a criterion for determining slipperiness. Can be detected. In addition, when the operation information of the skid prevention device is the operation information resulting from the excessive speed of the vehicle, since the operation information is discarded, it is erroneously determined to be slippery even in a situation where there is no cause for slipping on the road surface itself. You can avoid that. That is, it is possible to accurately detect a state where the road surface is slippery due to the environment of the road (for example, rain, snow, frozen state, unpaved state, etc.). As a result, the driver of the vehicle can acquire more accurate information on the slippery road surface, and the traveling stability of the vehicle can be ensured based on the information.

  In one aspect of the present invention, the server stores a reference speed preset in a position where the skid prevention device is operated in the road surface information generating unit, and the road surface information generating unit includes the operation information, the position information, and the speed. Based on the information, the reference speed corresponding to the position at which the skid prevention device is activated is compared with the speed at which the skid prevention device in the vehicle is activated, and if the speed exceeds the reference speed, the operation information is It is preferable to discard. That is, for example, it is slippery due to the shape of road slope, radius of curvature, etc. or the environment that is likely to freeze due to shading in winter, and the reference speed preset at the position where the skid prevention device is activated and the prevention of skidding Compare the speed at which the device was activated. As a result, the operation information of the skid prevention device can be accurately selected regardless of the condition of the road surface, simply the operation information resulting from the excessive speed of the vehicle.

  Moreover, in one aspect of the present invention, when the reference speed is not set at the position where the skid prevention device is operated, the road surface information creating means uses a standard passing speed when passing the position instead of the reference speed. It is preferably used as a standard passage reference speed. Thus, a vehicle that passes through a position where the reference speed is set for safe passage, for example, at a position where there is no slipping factor and the reference speed is not easily set can be passed safely. By using the standard passing reference speed that is the standard passing speed of the vehicle, if the skid prevention device is activated at that position, whether the cause is due to the road surface condition or the vehicle overspeed Can be sorted out.

  Furthermore, in one aspect of the present invention, when the provided road surface information is information indicating slipperiness, the vehicle travel speed of the vehicle based on the road surface information by the skid prevention device in addition to the notification by the notification means. It is preferable to control the travel so as to reduce the above. Thereby, since the skid prevention device automatically controls the traveling so as to reduce the traveling speed of the vehicle based on the provided road surface information, the traveling stability of the vehicle can be ensured safely and reliably.

  Furthermore, in one aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the road surface information creation unit deletes the road surface information indicating the slipperiness created based on the operation information after a predetermined time has elapsed. Thus, for example, when the road surface condition has been slippery due to rain, snowfall or freezing, etc., it has passed a predetermined time, so that it can return to the normal state due to the influence of temperature rise or sunny weather. That is, the road surface information can be updated according to the road surface state that changes every moment. Therefore, accurate road surface information can always be provided to the driver of the vehicle.

  Furthermore, in one aspect of the present invention, communication means for communication between the vehicle and road-to-vehicle communication with the server is disposed at predetermined intervals of the road on which the vehicle travels. In addition to having a storage means instead of the detection means, the operation information and the speed information are stored in the storage means for a predetermined period, and when communication with the communication means is possible, the operation information stored in the storage means by the transmission means and When the speed information is transmitted and communication with the communication means is difficult, it is preferable to discard the operation information and speed information stored in the storage means. That is, the operation information indicating that the skid prevention device has been operated and the speed information at the time of the operation are communicated between the vehicle and the communication means disposed on the road in the vicinity of the operated position, and the communication means To the server via. For this reason, it is possible to eliminate the need to prepare position detection means (for example, a car navigation device) in the vehicle, and to reduce the cost for capital investment. At this time, for example, if the communication means is arranged mainly in an environment where the skid prevention device easily operates (that is, a position such as a sharp curve or a natural environment where the road surface becomes slippery), Since the operation information is discarded at a position where communication is difficult (that is, it is difficult to consider the operation of the skid prevention device in normal driving), the reliability of the operation information can be improved. As a result, the slipperiness of the road surface can be detected with a simpler structure, and the running stability of the vehicle can be ensured.

  According to the present invention, when providing the road surface information indicating the slipperiness, since the operation information of the skid prevention device is used as a criterion for the slipperiness, the slipperiness of the road surface can be easily achieved by using the existing technology. Can be detected. In addition, when the operation information of the skid prevention device is the operation information due to the overspeed of the vehicle, that is, the operation information due to the way of driving, such as when the vehicle operates at a high speed regardless of the road surface condition Since the operation information is discarded, it is possible to avoid erroneously determining that the vehicle is slippery even in a situation where there is no cause for slipping on the road surface itself. That is, it is possible to accurately detect the situation where the road surface is slippery. As a result, the driver of the vehicle can acquire more accurate information on the slippery road surface and can ensure the running stability of the vehicle. Thus, it is possible to provide a road surface information providing system capable of easily detecting the slipperiness of the road surface and ensuring the running stability of the vehicle.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the basic concept, main hardware configuration, operating principle, basic control method, and the like of the VSC and the car navigation apparatus are known to those skilled in the art, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a road surface information providing system according to the present invention. The road surface information providing system 1 is roughly provided with a vehicle 2 and a slip information analysis server 3 as a server for collecting information transmitted from the vehicle 2 (slip information in this embodiment).

  Specifically, the road surface information providing system 1 has a skid prevention device (VSC) 20 mounted on the vehicle 2 and a GPS (Global Positioning System) function as a position detection means for detecting a position where the vehicle is traveling. At the same time, a car navigation device 21 that also functions as a notification means (hereinafter simply referred to as the car navigation device 21), operation information indicating that the skid prevention device 20 has been operated, and position information indicating the position where the vehicle has been operated are received from the vehicle 2. It has a vehicle side communication device 22 as a transmission means for transmitting, and an information collection unit 31 as an information collection means for collecting operation information and position information transmitted by a plurality of vehicles 2, and road surface information based on the collected information A slip information analysis server 3 that also has a function as a road surface information creation means for creating the road information, and distributes the road surface information created by the slip information analysis server 3 A server side communication device 32 as an information distribution means, and a.

  The vehicle-side communication device 22 also has a function as a receiving unit that receives road surface information distributed from the server-side communication device 32. The server-side communication device 32 also has a function of receiving information when the information collecting unit 31 collects operation information and position information transmitted from the plurality of vehicles 2.

The vehicle-side communication device 22 and the server-side communication device 32 are DSRC (Dedicated Short), which is one of the road-to-vehicle (road-to-vehicle) communication methods in ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems).
Range Communications: A data communication module (DCM) or VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) for wireless communication of information between the server 2 and the server-side communication device 32 functioning as a communication center and the vehicle 2 : Road traffic information communication system (registered trademark)). In the present embodiment, for example, a vehicle 2 different from the vehicle 2 that has transmitted the operation information is mounted on the vehicle 2 by using the communication device 4 as an external transmission means such as a beacon or an FM transmitter. The road surface information may be transmitted via the beacon antenna 5 that is used.

  By the way, VICS is a road traffic information communication system center (abbreviation: VICS Center) that collects, processes, and edits road traffic information via communication / broadcast media, etc. It is a system that displays as a map, etc., including traffic jam information, required time, accident / malfunction vehicle / construction information, speed regulation / lane regulation information, parking location, parking / service / parking area full / empty information It provides information such as.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle 2 is provided on each of four tires FL (left front wheel), FR (right front wheel), RL (left rear wheel) and RR (right rear wheel), for example. A rotation speed detection means 10 for periodically detecting the rotation speed of the wheel tire is provided. The output of the rotation speed detection means 10 is an ABS (Antilock Brake System) or the above-mentioned skid prevention device. The ECU 20 is transmitted to an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 6 which is a central control computer for controlling the control unit 20 and the like. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the ECU 6 includes a display 7 that is a display means constituted by a liquid crystal display element, a plasma display element, or a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube, also known as a cathode ray tube). An initialization switch 8 that is operated by the driver is connected.

  The rotational speed detecting means 10 generates electric power using rotation, such as a wheel speed sensor or a dynamo, which generates a rotational pulse using an electromagnetic pickup or the like and measures the rotational speed from the number of pulses. An angular velocity sensor including one that measures the rotational speed can be used.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the ECU 6 includes an I / O (Input / Output) interface 6 a necessary for passing signals to and from an external device, and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that functions as the center of arithmetic processing. Arithmetic processing unit) 6b, ROM (Read Only Memory) 6c in which the control operation program of CPU 6b is stored, and data etc. are temporarily written when the CPU 6b performs the control operation, or the written data And the like are read out from a RAM (Random Access Memory) 6d.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a skid prevention device 20 connected to the ECU 6 for preventing skidding while the vehicle 2 is running operates, that is, while the vehicle 2 is running. Due to the occurrence of skidding, it is detected that the road surface is slippery.

  In addition, the car navigation device 21, the vehicle-side communication device 22, the beacon antenna 5 and the server-side communication device 32 or the communication device 4 are delivered from the information analysis server 3 to the ECU 6, and the vehicle-side communication device 22 or the beacon antenna 5 is transmitted. Based on the road surface information indicating the slipperiness of the traveling position of the vehicle 2 created by the information analysis server 3 provided by receiving the vehicle in order to keep the traveling speed within the safety reference speed. A correction means 9 for correcting the speed is connected. At this time, the correction means 9 may control the skid prevention device 20 to suppress the traveling speed of the vehicle 2 within the safety reference speed.

  On the other hand, the slip information analysis server 3 is a general server configured as a microcomputer having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O interface, and the like connected to each other via a bus. Are stored (stored), information on safety reference speed and information on standard passing reference speed, which will be described later. The RAM stores (stores) various information transmitted from the vehicle collected by the information collecting unit 31, road surface information created based on the various information, and the like.

  The information collecting unit 31 includes information on a traveling state (current traveling speed, current position by the car navigation device 21 mounted on the vehicle 2) transmitted from the plurality of vehicles 2, and when the skid prevention device 20 is activated. Various information such as operation information including travel speed, position, and time is collected. In the present embodiment, the information collecting unit 31 particularly collects the operation information of the skid prevention device 20 to obtain information indicating that the skid prevention device 20 is activated, that is, the road surface is in a slippery state. The information is acquired together with information such as the traveling speed, position, and time when the operation is performed.

  Based on the various information collected by the information collecting unit 31, the slip information analysis server 3 is “where the road surface is slippery”, “where the traffic jam occurs”, or “ Road surface information such as “Road works are being carried out” is created. Further, the road surface information created in this way is distributed to the vehicle 2 and other vehicles 2 that have not transmitted the various information by the server side communication device 32.

  Further, the slip information analysis server 3 is set in advance for each point of the road (that is, a position that is slippery due to, for example, a shape such as a road gradient or a radius of curvature, or an environment that is shaded in winter and is likely to freeze). The speed limit itself, or a safety reference speed that is a reference speed based on the speed limit, etc. (that is, a traveling speed that may cause slipping or the like when exceeding this speed, in other words, a speed lower than this speed, If the road surface state is a normal state, first, the speed at which most vehicles can travel safely is stored. At this time, the slip information analysis server 3 moves the position to a normal point such as a side slip at a point where the safety reference speed is not set (that is, a position where there is no slippery factor and the safety reference speed is not set). A standard passage speed that can travel (pass) in a normal state without traveling differently from traveling is set and stored as a standard passage reference speed.

  The information collection unit 31 in the slip information analysis server 3 may be a VICS host computer connected via the Internet, for example.

  The road surface information providing system 1 aggregates the various information from the traveling vehicle 2 and other vehicles 2, creates road surface information based on the aggregated information, and travels the vehicle 2, For other vehicles 2, road surface information relating to the positions of these vehicles 2 is provided. At this time, when the provided road surface information is information indicating the slipperiness of the road surface, the ECU 6 of the vehicle 2 uses the car navigation device 21 to warn the driver of the vehicle 2 that the road surface is slippery. It is supposed to prompt.

  However, the skid prevention device 20 mounted on the vehicle 2 may operate due to, for example, excessive speed by the driver, in addition to the case where the road surface is slippery. Therefore, by collecting the records that have been operated due to the excess of the speed as the above-mentioned operation information together with the operation information when the road surface is slippery, it is possible to create road surface information different from the actual road surface state. It will be connected.

  Therefore, in the road surface information providing system 1 of the present invention, the safety reference speed set for each point (position) on the road is stored in the information analysis server 3 in advance, and the operation information of the skid prevention device 20 is collected. At this time, in the slip information analysis server 3, based on the position information at the time of operation included in the operation information of the skid prevention device 20 collected by the information collecting unit 31, the safety reference speed preset at the position and the operation information Compared with the running speed included in the operation. When the traveling speed at the time of the operation exceeds the safety reference speed, it is determined that the operation information is the operation information resulting from the excess speed of the vehicle 2, and the operation information is discarded by the slip information analysis server 3. did. At this time, if the safety reference speed is not set at the position where the skid prevention device 20 is operated, the standard passage reference stored in the slip information analysis server 3 together with the safety reference speed is used instead of the safety reference speed. Use speed.

  Accordingly, the operation information different from the actual road surface state can be excluded, and only the operation information indicating that the road surface is slippery can be aggregated, and the road surface information created by the slip information analysis server 3 can be collected. Reliability can be improved.

  Next, the details of the processing contents of the portion according to the gist of the present invention executed by the information analysis server 3 described above, that is, the detailed flow of slip information creation processing will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing slip information creation processing executed by the slip information analysis server 3. In this case, the slip information analysis server 3 starts the slip information generation process in step SP10 by receiving the various information transmitted from the vehicle 2, so that the information transmission process on the vehicle 2 side will be described first. explain.

  First, the ECU 6 of the vehicle 2 starts an information transmission process in step SP1, moves to subsequent step SP2, and determines whether or not the skid prevention device 20 is activated. If an affirmative result indicating that the skid prevention device 20 has been operated is obtained, the ECU 6 proceeds to the next step SP3.

  In step SP3, the ECU 6 acquires operation information including information such as travel speed, position, and time when the skid prevention device 20 is actuated from the skid prevention device 20, and uses the operation information as the vehicle side communication device 22. Is transmitted to the slip information analysis server 3. Thereafter, the ECU 6 returns to step SP2, and thereafter repeats the routines of steps SP2 and SP3.

  When the ECU 6 obtains a negative result indicating that the skid prevention device 20 is not activated in step SP2, the ECU 6 returns to step SP2 again to determine whether or not the skid prevention device 20 is activated again. In step SP2, the routine of step SP2 is repeated until a positive result is obtained.

  On the other hand, the slip information analysis server 3 starts the slip information creation process in step SP10, and receives the operation information transmitted from the vehicle side communication device 22 of the vehicle 2 via the server side communication device 32. When the information collecting unit 31 collects the operation information, the process proceeds to the subsequent step SP11.

  In step SP11, the slip information analysis server 3 extracts the traveling speed, position, and time when the information collecting unit 31 operates from the received and collected operation information, for example, these traveling speeds. The position and time are associated with each other and stored (stored) in the RAM, and the process proceeds to the next step SP12. Here, for example, the position information is “point_vsc” and the travel speed information is “V_vsc”.

  In step SP12, the slip information analysis server 3 determines whether or not a safety reference speed is set at the position of the “point_vsc” based on the information “point_vsc” of the operated position of the skid prevention device 20 stored in the RAM. To do. At this time, when the slip information analysis server 3 obtains an affirmative result indicating that the safety reference speed is set, the slip information analysis server 3 proceeds to the next step SP13 and sets the safety reference speed set at the position from the ROM as “V_limit”. The process proceeds to the next step SP14. On the other hand, when the slip information analysis server 3 obtains a negative result indicating that the safety reference speed is not set at the position of “point_vsc” at this time, the slip information analysis server 3 proceeds to the next step SP16 and reads the “point_vsc” of the “point_vsc” from the ROM. The standard passage reference speed set in the position is selected as “V_limit”, and the process proceeds to the next step SP14.

  In step SP14, the slip information analysis server 3 determines that the “V_limit” and the “V_vsc” (that is, the safety reference speed or the standard passing reference speed and the travel speed when the skid prevention device 20 stored in the RAM is activated). And whether or not “V_vsc” is lower than “V_limit”, that is, the traveling speed “V_vsc” when the skid prevention device 20 is activated exceeds the safety reference speed or the standard passing reference speed “V_limit”. Judge whether there is no.

  In this step SP14, it is confirmed that “V_vsc” is lower than “V_limit”, that is, the traveling speed “V_vsc” when the skid prevention device 20 is operated does not exceed the safety reference speed or the standard passing reference speed “V_limit”. If the affirmative result shown is obtained, the slip information analysis server 3 proceeds to the next step SP15, and determines that the operation information has been actuated by the skid prevention device 20 due to the road surface condition. Then, the slip information analysis server 3 thereafter returns to step SP11.

  On the other hand, at this time, in step SP14, the slip information analysis server 3 determines that “V_vsc” is higher than “V_limit”, that is, the traveling speed “V_vsc” when the skid prevention device 20 is operated is the safety reference speed or the standard passing. If a negative result indicating that the vehicle speed exceeds the reference speed “V_limit” is obtained, the slip information analysis server 3 proceeds to the next step SP17, where the operation information is skid due to the driver's driving method, that is, the speed excess. It is determined that the prevention device 20 has been activated, and the process proceeds to the subsequent step SP18. Then, the slip information analysis server 3 discards the operation information in step SP18, and then returns to step SP11.

  Thereafter, the slip information analysis server 3 repeats the routines of steps SP11 to SP18 described above, thereby excluding and discarding the operation information of the skid prevention device 20 caused by the operation information to be aggregated due to the excessive speed. Yes.

  As described above, according to the road surface information providing system 1 of the present embodiment, when the road surface information indicating the slipperiness is provided, the operation information of the skid prevention device 20 is used as a criterion for the slipperiness. The slipperiness of the road surface can be detected with a simple structure. In addition, when the operation information of the skid prevention device 20 is operation information resulting from the overspeed of the vehicle 2, the operation information is discarded, so that it is erroneously determined that it is slippery even in a situation where there is no cause for slipping on the road surface itself. Can be avoided.

  In other words, it accurately detects when the road surface is slippery due to the road environment (for example, the shape of the road, the radius of curvature, etc., the unpaved state, or the rain, snow, or frozen state). can do. As a result, the driver of the vehicle 2 can acquire more accurate information on the slippery road surface, and the traveling stability of the vehicle 2 can be ensured based on the information.

  Further, in the road surface information providing system 1 of the present embodiment, the slip information analysis server 3 stores a safety reference speed that is set in advance in the ROM at the position where the skid prevention device 20 is activated, and the skid prevention device 20 is activated. The safety reference speed corresponding to the position where the skid prevention device 20 is activated is compared with the actual running speed when the skid prevention device 20 in the vehicle 2 is activated based on the information on the running speed, position and time when When the traveling speed exceeds the safety reference speed, the operation information is discarded. That is, for example, a safety reference speed that is set in advance at a position where the skid prevention device 20 is activated, in a state that is slippery from a shape such as a road gradient and a radius of curvature, or an environment that is shaded in winter and easily freezes, By comparing the actual traveling speed when the skid prevention device 20 is operated, the operation information of the skid prevention device 20 is simply the way of driving the vehicle 2 by the driver regardless of the road surface state, that is, The operation information of the skid prevention device 20 caused by the excessive speed can be accurately selected.

  In addition, in this embodiment, when the safety reference speed is not set at the position where the skid prevention device 20 is operated, the slip information analysis server 3 travels (passes) on the road surface at the position instead of the safety reference speed. The standard passing speed at this time is used as the standard passing reference speed. As a result, for a position where a safe reference speed is set for safe passage, for example, at a position where there is no slipping factor and the safety reference speed is not set, the passage is relatively easy. By using the standard passing reference speed that is the standard passing speed of the vehicle to be operated, when the skid prevention device 20 is operated at the position, the cause of the operation is due to the road surface condition or the vehicle 2 exceeds the speed. It is possible to sort out whether it is caused or not.

(Operation and effect of the present invention)
As described above, according to the road surface information providing system 1 of the present invention, when the road surface information indicating the slipperiness is provided, the operation information of the skid prevention device 20 is used as a criterion for the slipperiness. The slipperiness of the road surface can be easily detected using existing technology. In addition, the operation information of the skid prevention device 20 is the operation information due to the vehicle 2 being overspeeded, that is, the operation information due to the way of driving, such as when the vehicle 2 is operated because of the high speed regardless of the road surface condition. In this case, since the operation information is discarded, it is possible to avoid erroneously determining that it is slippery even in a situation where there is no cause for slipping on the road surface itself. That is, it is possible to accurately detect the situation where the road surface is slippery. Thereby, the driver of the vehicle 2 can acquire more accurate information on the slippery road surface, and can ensure the running stability of the vehicle 2. Thus, the road surface information providing system 1 that can easily detect the slipperiness of the road surface and ensure the running stability of the vehicle 2 can be realized.

(Modification of the present invention)
As mentioned above, although the best mode for carrying out the present invention has been described using one embodiment, the present invention is not limited to such one embodiment, and within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention, Various modifications and substitutions can be made to the above-described embodiment.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 5 in which the same reference numerals are assigned to corresponding parts to FIG. 4, the vehicle is connected to the slip information analysis server 3 at every predetermined interval of the road on which the vehicle 2 travels. A roadside device as a communication means for communicating between the road and the vehicle is provided, and the vehicle 2 does not need to have a GPS as a position detection means, and the storage unit such as the RAM 6d has at least the above-mentioned of the skid prevention device 20 for a predetermined period. When the operation information is stored and communication with the roadside device is possible, the operation information stored in the RAM 6d is transmitted by the vehicle side communication device 22, and when communication with the roadside device is difficult, the operation information is stored in the RAM 6d. The operation information may be discarded.

  In this case, for example, a roadside device, which is a communication means for road-to-vehicle communication such as the above-mentioned DSRC, is arranged as an infrastructure at predetermined intervals on the road, and the above operation is performed by the roadside device and the vehicle-side communication device 22. It is assumed that information such as information can be communicated between the road and the vehicle, and the vehicle 2 temporarily stores the operation information in the RAM 6d until it can communicate with the roadside device. To do.

  Hereinafter, this modified example will be described. Here, in the information transmission processing on the vehicle 2 side, step SP20 to step SP24 are provided in place of step SP3, and other points are the same as in the above-described embodiment. Since the configuration is almost the same as the information transmission process and the slip information generation process, the description of the same part is omitted for convenience.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, when the ECU 6 obtains an affirmative result indicating that the skid prevention device 20 has been operated in step SP2, the ECU 6 proceeds to the subsequent step SP20 and acquires the acquired from the skid prevention device 20. Operation information including information such as travel speed, position, and time when the skid prevention device 20 is activated is temporarily stored (stored) in the RAM 6d as a storage unit, and a timer mounted on the vehicle 2 is reset. Start and proceed to the next step SP21. At this time, the storage unit for temporarily storing the operation information is not limited to the RAM 6d, and other various storage means such as a flash memory can be widely applied.

  In step SP21, the ECU 6 determines whether or not the timer value is equal to or less than a preset storage holding time. At this time, if the ECU 6 obtains an affirmative result indicating that the value of the timer is less than or equal to the storage retention time, the ECU 6 proceeds to the subsequent step SP22. In step SP21, if a negative result indicating that the value of the timer is not less than or equal to the storage retention time is obtained, the ECU 6 proceeds to step SP24 described later.

  The ECU 6 that has shifted to step SP22 determines whether or not communication with the roadside device is possible. If the ECU 6 obtains a negative result indicating that communication is not possible, the ECU 6 returns to step SP21 and restarts the timer. It is determined whether the value of is within the storage retention time. On the other hand, when an affirmative result indicating that communication with the roadside device is possible is obtained in step SP22, the ECU 6 proceeds to the next step SP23 and the operation information (slip prevention) stored in the RAM 6d. Information on travel speed, position, time, etc. when the device 20 is activated) is transmitted to the slip information analysis server 3 via the roadside device by the vehicle side communication device 22.

  Thereafter, the ECU 6 proceeds to step SP24, resets the timer, discards the operation information temporarily stored in the RAM 6d, returns to step SP2, and thereafter performs the routine of step SP2 to step SP24. repeat. Even when a negative result is obtained in the previous step SP21, the process of step SP24 is similarly performed.

  In this way, the operation information indicating that the skid prevention device 20 has been operated and the speed information at the time of the operation are communicated between the roadside vehicle and the roadside device disposed on the road in the vicinity of the operated position, Since the information is transmitted to the slip information analysis server 3 via the roadside device, it is possible to eliminate the need for preparing position detecting means (for example, a car navigation device 21 having GPS) in the vehicle 2 and to reduce the cost in equipment investment. . At this time, for example, an environment in which the skid prevention device 20 is easy to operate (that is, a position where the road surface condition is easy to slip in a natural environment such as a gradient, a curve with a small radius of curvature, or rain, snow, freezing, etc.). If the roadside unit is arranged at the center, the ECU 6 is configured so that a predetermined time elapses at a position where road-to-vehicle communication is difficult (that is, it is difficult to consider the operation of the skid prevention device 20 in normal traveling). Since the operation information stored in the RAM 6d is discarded, the reliability of the operation information can be improved. As a result, the slipperiness of the road surface can be detected with a simpler structure, and the running stability of the vehicle can be ensured.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the slip information analysis server 3 is applied to the VICS has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the information collecting means (the information collecting unit 31 in the embodiment) collects it. As long as the road surface information is created based on the information, the road surface information creation means can be widely applied in addition to those well known by those skilled in the art.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, when the provided road surface information is information indicating the slipperiness, the vehicle 2 controls the skid prevention device 20 by the ECU 6 in addition to the notification by the car navigation device 21. The travel control may be performed so as to reduce the travel speed of the vehicle 2 based on the provided road surface information. Thereby, since the skid prevention device automatically controls the traveling so as to reduce the traveling speed of the vehicle based on the provided road surface information, the traveling stability of the vehicle can be ensured safely and reliably.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the slip information analysis server 3 may delete the road surface information indicating the ease of slipping created based on the operation information after a predetermined time has elapsed. Thus, for example, when the road surface condition has been slippery due to rain, snowfall or freezing, etc., it has passed a predetermined time, so that it can return to the normal state due to the influence of temperature rise or sunny weather. That is, the road surface information can be updated according to the road surface state that changes every moment. Therefore, accurate road surface information can always be provided to the driver of the vehicle 2.

  The present invention can be used for a road surface information providing system using wireless communication such as road-to-vehicle communication. The appearance, weight, size, running performance, etc. of the vehicle are not limited.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows the road-vehicle communication in one Example of the road surface information provision system by this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle in the road surface information provision system of FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration in the vehicle of FIG. 2. It is a flowchart which shows the slip information preparation process in the road surface information provision system of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the slip information preparation process in the other Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Road surface information provision system 2 ... Vehicle 20 ... Side slip prevention apparatus 21 ... Car navigation apparatus (position detection means)
22 ... Vehicle side communication device (transmission means)
3 ... Slip information analysis server (road surface information creation means)
31 ... Information collecting unit (information collecting means)
32. Server side communication device (information providing means)
4 ... Transmission means 5 ... Beacon antenna 8 ... Initialization switch

Claims (6)

Side slip prevention device mounted on a vehicle, position detection means for detecting the position of the vehicle, speed detection means for detecting the traveling speed of the vehicle, operation information indicating that the side slip prevention device has been operated, the position A vehicle comprising: vehicle position information detected by the detection means; and transmission means for transmitting the speed information detected by the speed detection means;
Information collecting means for collecting the various information transmitted from the plurality of vehicles, road surface information creating means for creating road surface information based on the collected information, and information providing means for providing the created road surface information A road surface information providing system having a server equipped with,
The server provides road information related to the position of the vehicle based on the position information transmitted by the vehicle to the vehicle by the information providing means,
The vehicle includes receiving means for receiving the road surface information provided by the information providing means, and notification means for notifying a driver of the received road surface information, and the provided road surface information is easy to slip. If it is information indicating, to inform the driver that the driver is careful by the notification means,
The road surface information creation unit discards the operation information when the collected operation information of the skid prevention device is operation information resulting from an excess of the speed of the vehicle. The server
A reference speed set in advance at the position where the skid prevention device is operated is stored in the road surface information creating means,
The road surface information creating means
Based on the operation information, the position information, and the speed information, the reference speed corresponding to the position where the skid prevention device is actuated is compared with the speed when the skid prevention device is activated in the vehicle. The road surface information providing system according to claim 1, wherein when the vehicle speed exceeds the reference speed, the operation information is discarded. The road surface information creating means
If the reference speed is not set at the position where the skid prevention device is activated,
The road surface information providing system according to claim 2, wherein a standard passing speed when passing through the position is used as a standard passing reference speed instead of the reference speed. The vehicle is
When the provided road surface information is information indicating slipperiness,
In addition to the notification by the notification means,
The road surface information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the side slip prevention device performs travel control so as to reduce a travel speed of the vehicle based on the road surface information. The road surface information creating means
The road surface information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the road surface information indicating ease of slipping created based on the operation information is deleted after a predetermined time has elapsed. For each predetermined interval of the road on which the vehicle travels, a communication unit is provided that is connected to the server and communicates with the vehicle for road-to-vehicle communication.
The vehicle is
In addition to having a storage means instead of the position detection means, the operation information and speed information are stored in the storage means for a predetermined period,
When communication is possible with the communication means, the operation information and speed information stored in the storage means by the transmission means are transmitted,
When difficulty communicating with the communication means, the road information providing system according to claim 1, characterized in that discarding the operation information and the speed information stored in the storage means.

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