JP4940206B2 - Road traffic information providing system and method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a road traffic information providing technique for providing information indicating a road traffic situation to an automobile traveling on a road.

  In recent years, particularly in the field of road traffic systems called ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems), development of road traffic information providing systems that provide information on road traffic conditions to vehicles that are traveling (sometimes referred to as automobiles) has been promoted. ing. Information to be provided includes travel time by the variable information board on the road side, digitized data such as traffic congestion, schematic diagram data, and the like.

  As a road traffic information providing system, for example, there is a car navigation system (hereinafter sometimes referred to as car navigation) corresponding to a road traffic information communication system called VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System). Car navigation systems are widely used as in-vehicle devices mounted on automobiles, and can display information on road traffic conditions by characters and graphics provided by VICS on a display. VICS is usually a system that mainly provides macro information for a section of a road.

  Also, using the measurement results from road sensors called vehicle detectors installed on the road, it generates macro information such as the hourly traffic volume on the road, the average speed of the car driving, and the road occupancy rate. A road traffic information providing system is also proposed.

Furthermore, from the viewpoint of safety, a system that provides information on collisions and accidents has been proposed. Specifically, a system has been proposed that provides driving support information at intersections with poor visibility using intersection information acquired in advance (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In addition, a system that provides collision determination information for only a collision around a vehicle using a camera image has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 2). In addition, a system for predicting the moving state of a vehicle by a vehicle speed sensor or a GPS sensor mounted on the vehicle and determining the degree of danger has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 3). Furthermore, a system has been proposed for estimating the degree of danger of a pedestrian jumping out using a sensor such as a radar (see, for example, Patent Document 4).
Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-150361 Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-137920 Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-18430 Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-81334

  In any case, the systems proposed in the above-mentioned prior art documents handle only danger information (including peripheral information of a specific vehicle) for a specific vehicle. However, the danger state in actual road traffic generally differs depending on the flow of road traffic. Therefore, it is often necessary for the system to determine the degree of danger according to the road traffic situation. As a specific example, it is possible to determine a location where heavy traffic congestion frequently occurs from the road traffic situation and provide danger information that can identify a route having a large number of accidents.

  Conventionally, as information for improving safety in units of routes or intersections, there is a service that provides danger information such as an accident map created for the purpose of improving safety in a public organization. However, the information to be provided is generated based on statistically collected information. As information to be provided to a car traveling on a road, it is desirable to be able to provide danger information in consideration of real-time road traffic conditions.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a road traffic information providing system that can provide danger information for determining the risk of accidents taking into account real-time road traffic conditions.

  An aspect of the present invention is a road traffic information providing system that determines a danger level in consideration of a real-time road traffic situation and provides danger information based on the determination result.

  A road traffic information providing system according to an aspect of the present invention includes a road monitoring unit that monitors a road traffic situation of a vehicle traveling on a road in a specified range, and model driver information when the vehicle on the road is modeled. The road traffic situation information acquired by the road monitoring means and the model driver information are compared, and the danger level in road traffic on the road in the specified range based on the comparison result And information providing means for providing information indicating the danger level determined by the determining means to a vehicle traveling on the road in the specified range.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a road traffic information providing system capable of providing danger information for judging accident risk in consideration of real-time road traffic conditions, particularly for road units or a certain range of roads. it can.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(System configuration)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of the road traffic information providing system of this embodiment.

  The road traffic information providing system includes a network 1, a road sensor 2, a roadside vehicle information collection unit 3, a roadside road traffic situation danger level information transmission unit (hereinafter abbreviated as a danger level information transmission unit) 4, a road traffic control system. In this configuration, the center 20 and the vehicle-mounted device 11 mounted on the automobile 10 are included. The network 1 is an optical LAN or the like installed on the road side.

  The road sensor 2 is a vehicle detector installed on the road side at intervals of, for example, about several hundreds [m] to several [km], and measures road traffic situation information. In a range where traffic congestion frequently occurs, the road sensor 2 is installed every several tens to several hundreds [m]. The road sensor 2 transmits the measurement result to the road traffic control center 20 via the network 1. Specifically, the road sensor 2 is an ultrasonic vehicle detector, and the traffic volume (the number of vehicles that have passed per unit time) and the average speed (when there are two sensing heads, the difference between the respective passage times). ) And time occupancy are measured.

  The roadside vehicle information collecting unit 3 uses, for example, dedicated short range communication (DSRC), and the vehicle behavior information (vehicle speed, acceleration / deceleration) transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 11 mounted on the automobile 10. (Speed, handling information, etc.) 100 is collected and transmitted to the road traffic control center 20 via the network 1. The wireless communication between the roadside vehicle information collecting unit 3 and the vehicle-mounted device 11 may be, for example, radio beacon communication or optical beacon communication other than DSRC.

  The danger level information transmission unit 4 receives the danger level information of the road traffic situation transmitted from the road traffic control center 20 via the network 1, and transmits the danger level information 110 to the vehicle-mounted device 11 using, for example, DSRC. To do.

  The vehicle-mounted device 11 includes a vehicle information transmission unit 12 and a road traffic situation risk level information providing unit (hereinafter abbreviated as a risk level information providing unit) 13. The vehicle information transmission unit 12 transmits the vehicle behavior information 100 to the roadside vehicle information collection unit 3 by wireless communication. The danger level information providing unit 13 displays the road level traffic condition danger level information 110 transmitted from the danger level information transmission unit 4 on, for example, the monitor of the vehicle-mounted device 11 to provide information to the driver of the automobile 10. The danger level information providing unit 13 may include a monitor display and a function of converting the danger level information 110 into voice information and providing it to the driver.

  The road traffic control center 20 includes a road traffic situation risk level judgment unit (hereinafter abbreviated as a danger level judgment unit) 21, a model information creation unit 22, and a road traffic situation danger level monitor (hereinafter abbreviated as a danger level monitor) 23. And a road traffic situation danger level transmission part (hereinafter abbreviated as a danger level transmission part) 24.

(System operation)
Hereinafter, the operation of the system of this embodiment will be described mainly with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the system according to the present embodiment provides road traffic conditions on the road to a driver driving the automobile 10 on a road on which the automobile 10 equipped with the vehicle-mounted device 11 is traveling. Provide hazard information for

  The road traffic control center 20 receives the measurement result of the road traffic situation transmitted from the road sensor 2 installed in the designated range on the road and the vehicle behavior information 100 of the automobile 10 transmitted from the roadside vehicle information collecting unit 3. Receive (step S1).

  As described above, the measurement result from the road sensor 2 is road traffic situation information including the traffic volume (the number of vehicles that have passed in a unit time), the average speed, and the time occupancy rate in a specified range. As such a macro measurement result, for example, there is a method of creating and using an integrated value or an average value every 5 minutes (may be per unit time such as every 1 minute). Moreover, since the passage time can be measured as the structure of the ultrasonic sensor head, it is also possible to obtain this information by adding a function for obtaining this as passage time data for each unit. It is.

  The vehicle behavior information 100 is information transmitted from the vehicle information transmission unit 12 included in the vehicle-mounted device 12, and includes vehicle speed, acceleration / deceleration, handling information, and the like. Note that the wireless communication between the roadside vehicle information collecting unit 3 and the vehicle-mounted device 11 is, for example, uplink communication used in VICS, and optical beacon communication capable of bidirectional communication can be used. In addition, when using DSRC as wireless communication, a function extended from the DSRC communication method used for ETC can be used.

  In the road traffic control center 20, the danger level determination unit 21 receives the received measurement result from the road sensor 2 and the vehicle behavior information 100, and determines the danger level of the road traffic situation in real time in the specified range. Specifically, the danger level determination unit 21 inputs model driving information (hereinafter, simply referred to as model information) from the storage unit of the model information creation unit 22, and the model information and the measurement result from the road sensor 2 ( Either road traffic condition information) or vehicle behavior information 100 is compared (step S2). The danger level determination unit 21 determines the danger level of the road traffic situation in real time based on the degree of deviation from the model information based on the comparison result (step S3).

  The model information creation unit 22 prepares a vehicle that can be used as a probe, for example, and the model information is based on driving result information obtained by actually driving the vehicle in consideration of safe driving. Is generated and stored in the storage unit. In this case, it is only necessary to collect data obtained when a plurality of driving experts travel on a plurality of routes in consideration of safe driving, and create model information in consideration of variations. Specifically, the acceleration / deceleration results (including maximum and minimum) and handling results (handle operation angle per unit time) of each driving expert are statistically processed, and the acceleration / deceleration width (maximum acceleration, maximum) considering the distribution And a method of calculating the handling width (maximum steering wheel operating angle per unit time). Here, when an inter-vehicle distance sensor such as a laser sensor is installed in the vehicle, inter-vehicle distance information can also be used. When available, inter-vehicle distance information corresponding to the minimum inter-vehicle distance and speed can also be used as model information. In addition, when the target road range is limited, such as where accidents occur frequently, the information on the limited road range is used, and the model information is created by the same method as described above. Model information may be created.

  In addition, when it is possible to obtain parameters (for example, reaction time, acceleration / deceleration width, handling width, etc.) related to the safe driving situation of the driving specialist in advance using a drive simulator or the like, from the road sensor 2 Based on the obtained road traffic situation and these parameters, a micro traffic flow simulation (road traffic flow simulation for each vehicle) is executed. As a result, when a driving expert performs normal safe driving, it is possible to predict how much road traffic conditions (road traffic volume, average speed) will cause congestion. Therefore, model information can be created using these macro road traffic situation information. Regarding micro traffic flow simulation, patent literature (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-62944 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-258889) or non-patent literature “Traffic Engineering Theory, Koshimasa Kaede, Technical Shoin, p.88. -89 "and" Easy Traffic Simulation, Traffic Engineering Study Group, Maruzen, p.23-38 ".

  In creating the model information, in the method using the micro traffic flow simulation using the driving information of the driving specialist, the driver information on the target road (for example, n% for commercial vehicles, n% for ordinary vehicles, etc.) is previously stored. If it is known, it is possible to calculate a limit value closer to reality by performing a micro traffic flow simulation using such information.

  As described above, the danger level determination unit 21 uses the model information created by the model information creation unit 22 to determine the danger level of the road traffic situation in real time. Hereinafter, a specific determination method will be described.

First, the danger level determination unit 21 compares the model information with the road traffic situation information which is a real-time measurement result from the road sensor 2, and the road traffic situation (road traffic volume, average speed, etc.) exceeds the model information. If it is determined that the danger level is high. That is, when a driving specialist performs normal safe driving, it is possible to predict how much road traffic conditions (road traffic volume, average speed, etc.) will cause road traffic congestion. Therefore, the danger level determination unit 21 determines the danger level at which the road traffic situation measured in real time causes traffic congestion based on the comparison result with the model information indicating information when the driving expert performs normal safe driving. judge. Here, when it is desired to set the danger level step by step, the danger level determination unit 21 installs a warning level threshold before the limit value of the model information, and when the warning level is within the limit value range, Judged as in danger level.

  Next, the danger level determination unit 21 compares the model information with the vehicle behavior information 100 transmitted from the roadside vehicle information collection unit 3, and determines that the danger level is high if the model information is exceeded. Specifically, the model information includes the acceleration / deceleration width considering the distribution (created from the maximum acceleration and maximum deceleration) based on the driving results of the vehicle by the driving specialist, the handling width (the steering wheel operation angle per unit time) ), Inter-vehicle distance information (minimum inter-vehicle distance and inter-vehicle distance according to speed). On the other hand, the vehicle behavior information 100 includes acceleration / deceleration, handling information, and inter-vehicle distance information as real-time vehicle behavior information from the vehicle-mounted device 11.

  The danger level determination unit 21 compares each parameter included in the model information with each parameter included in the vehicle behavior information 100. When the vehicle behavior information 100 deviates from the width of the model information, the danger level is determined. Judge as high. Here, when it is desired to set the danger level step by step, the danger level determination unit 21 sets a threshold of the attention level before the limit value of the model information, for example, a threshold such as 10% before the limit value as a statistical distribution, If it is in the range from the threshold of the caution level to the limit value, it is determined that it is in the danger level.

  Furthermore, the danger level determination unit 21 compares both the comparison result between the road traffic situation information and the model information and the comparison result between the vehicle behavior information 100 and the model information, and the comparison result with a higher risk level. Alternatively, a method of selecting and determining may be used.

  The danger level determination unit 21 outputs danger level information indicating the danger level of the determined road traffic situation to the danger level monitor 23 (step S4). The danger level monitor 23 displays danger level information on the display 230 as shown in FIG. The danger level monitor 23 is an apparatus for displaying information on the danger level on the display 230 and providing the information to a supervisor (or road controller) who monitors the road traffic situation.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the monitoring person confirms the danger level information displayed on the display 230 and provides information to the driver of the automobile 10 traveling on the road in the designated range to be monitored. Judge whether or not. In this embodiment, the monitor operates a button 231 for determining information provision displayed on the display 230, as shown in FIG.

  When the provision of information is determined by the danger level monitor 23, the danger level transmission unit 24 receives the danger level information of the road traffic situation and transmits it to the roadside danger level information transmission unit 4 via the network 1 (step S5). ). The danger level information transmission unit 4 transmits the danger level information 110 of the road traffic situation to the on-vehicle device 11 of the traveling automobile 10 by wireless communication (step S6).

  In the in-vehicle device 11, the danger level information providing unit 13 displays the road level traffic condition danger level information 110 transmitted from the danger level information transmission unit 4 on the monitor of the in-vehicle device 11 as shown in FIG. 4. Further, the danger level information providing unit 13 may be configured to convert the danger level information 110 into voice information and output it from a speaker together with the monitor display. With such a configuration, the driver of the automobile 10 can check the danger level information 110 of the road traffic situation on the road on the road from the monitor or speaker of the vehicle-mounted device 11.

  In this embodiment, the road traffic control center 20 has been described with respect to the configuration for providing the road traffic situation danger level information 110 to the vehicle-mounted device 11 of the automobile 10 via the danger level information transmission unit 4. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a configuration may be adopted in which danger level information on road traffic conditions is transmitted to a variable information board (display panel) installed on the roadside. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, road information is displayed on a variable information board (display panel) installed on the roadside so that a driver of a car traveling on the road can check. Displays security level information for the situation.

  As described above, in the system according to the present embodiment, the measurement result of the road sensor 2 installed on the road side, the vehicle behavior information obtained from the vehicle-mounted device 11, and the comparison result of the model information prepared in advance are used. Thus, it is possible to provide the driver of the traveling vehicle 10 in real time with danger level information such as traffic jams in the road traffic situation and accident risk. Accordingly, the driver of the traveling vehicle 10 can examine the risk level information and make a determination in real time, for example, to change from a traveling road to another road.

  In this embodiment, when creating danger level information such as traffic congestion and accident risk of road traffic conditions, the risk level information at a road or route level in a certain area is taken into consideration in order to consider the road traffic situation measured in real time. Can be provided in real time. In addition, the present embodiment creates risk level information by comparing model information obtained based on driving as a driving expert and vehicle behavior information of a vehicle that is actually running, and therefore is based on a simple physical model. In contrast to the prediction, it is possible to predict a dangerous state such as a traffic jam in a road traffic situation and an accident risk with high accuracy.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

The block diagram which shows the principal part of the road traffic information provision system regarding embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of a display of the danger level information of the road traffic condition in the road traffic control center regarding this embodiment. The figure which shows the example of a display of the danger level information of the road traffic condition in the roadside information board regarding this embodiment. The figure which shows the example of a display of the danger level information of the road traffic condition in the onboard equipment of the motor vehicle regarding this embodiment. The flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the road traffic information provision system regarding this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Network, 2 ... Road sensor, 3 ... Roadside vehicle information collection part,
4. Roadside road traffic situation danger level information transmission part (danger level information transmission part)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Automobile (vehicle), 11 ... Onboard equipment, 12 ... Vehicle information transmission part,
13 ... Road traffic situation danger level information provision section (danger level information provision section),
20 ... Road traffic control center,
21 ... Road traffic situation risk level determination unit (danger level determination unit), 22 ... Model information creation unit,
23 ... Road traffic situation danger level monitor (danger level monitor),
24 ... Road traffic situation danger level transmission part (danger level transmission part).

Claims (12)

Road monitoring means for monitoring the road traffic situation of vehicles traveling on a specified range of roads;
Storage means for storing exemplary driver information when the exemplary vehicle is driven on a road;
Determination means for determining a danger level in road traffic on the road in the designated range based on a comparison result between the road traffic situation information acquired from the road monitoring means and the model driver information;
A road traffic information providing system comprising: information providing means for providing danger level information indicating the danger level determined by the determining means to a vehicle traveling on the road in the specified range. Means for receiving the vehicle behavior information transmitted by wireless communication from the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle;
The said determination means is a structure containing the means to determine the danger level in the road traffic on the road of the said designated range based on the comparison result of the said vehicle behavior information and the said model driver information. The road traffic information providing system according to Item 1. Preparing a vehicle that can be used as a probe, and having a generating means for generating the exemplary driver information based on driving result information obtained by a driving expert of the vehicle actually driving the vehicle;
The road traffic information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the generation unit is configured to store the generated exemplary driver information in the storage unit. .   4. The road traffic information providing system according to claim 3, wherein the generation unit generates the model driver information using a micro traffic flow simulation method.   The determination means relates to the occurrence of traffic congestion on the road in the specified range based on a comparison result between each measurement result of road traffic volume and average speed included in the road traffic situation information and the exemplary driver information. The road traffic information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the road traffic information providing system is configured to determine a danger level.   The determination means includes road traffic on the road in the designated range based on a comparison result between any one of acceleration / deceleration, handling information, and inter-vehicle distance information included in the vehicle behavior information and the exemplary driver information. The road traffic information providing system according to claim 2, wherein the road traffic information providing system is configured to determine a danger level in the road.   The determination means is an acceleration / deceleration considering distribution based on information on acceleration / deceleration, handling information, inter-vehicle distance information included in the vehicle behavior information, and a driving result of a vehicle by a driving expert included in the exemplary driver information. The road traffic information providing system according to claim 2, wherein the road traffic information providing system is configured to determine a danger level in road traffic on the road in the specified range based on a comparison result with each of the handling information and the inter-vehicle distance information. .   The information providing means includes a means for determining whether or not to provide the danger level information output from the determination means to a vehicle traveling on a road in the specified range. The road traffic information provision system according to any one of claims 1 to 7.   9. The configuration according to claim 1, wherein the information providing unit includes a unit that transmits the danger level information output from the determination unit to a vehicle traveling on a road in the specified range. The road traffic information providing system according to any one of the above.   The information providing means includes means for transmitting, by wireless communication, the danger level information output from the determination means to the vehicle-mounted device mounted on a vehicle traveling on the road in the specified range. The road traffic information providing system according to claim 2. A providing method applied to a road traffic information providing system for providing danger level information in road traffic in a specified range for a vehicle traveling on a specified range of roads,
Processing for obtaining road traffic situation information on the road;
Based on the comparison result between the road traffic situation information and the model driver information when the model is driven, a process for determining a danger level in the road traffic on the road in the specified range;
A process of providing danger level information indicating the determined danger level to a vehicle traveling on a road in the specified range. A providing method applied to a road traffic information providing system for providing danger level information in road traffic in a specified range for a vehicle traveling on a specified range of roads,
Processing for receiving vehicle behavior information transmitted by wireless communication from the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle;
A process for determining a danger level in road traffic on the road in the specified range based on a comparison result between the vehicle behavior information and model driver information in the case of driving the model model;
And a process of providing danger level information indicating the determined danger level to the vehicle-mounted device mounted on a vehicle traveling on the road in the specified range.

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