JP5182572B2 - Traffic signal control system, signal control device, traffic signal controller - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a traffic signal control system capable of receiving emergency earthquake information and capable of operating in accordance with the emergency earthquake information.

When an earthquake occurs, there are two types of seismic waves that reach the ground from the epicenter: P waves (primary waves) and S waves (secondary waves) that arrive later than the P waves. This P wave is a longitudinal wave that causes initial tremors in an earthquake, and the ground shaking is caused by an S wave that arrives late. This vibration due to the S wave is called a main motion, and a disaster caused by an earthquake is caused by this S wave.
Therefore, the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention and the Japan Meteorological Agency observe P waves with measuring instruments installed in various places in Japan to instantly identify the epicenter and magnitude of the earthquake, and estimate the time and intensity of the arrival of S waves. An emergency earthquake information system that constructs a system and distributes emergency earthquake information before a ground shake occurs (see Patent Document 1).

  Patent Document 2 introduces a technique for switching the power supply of road equipment such as traffic lights from a commercial power supply to a fuel cell, etc., assuming that a disaster such as an earthquake occurs and a power failure occurs.

Japanese Patent No. 3755131 JP 2004-086458 A

As a method for ensuring traffic safety in the event of an earthquake, a method of providing emergency earthquake information to the driver and prompting the vehicle to stop immediately can be considered.
However, when the information provision is limited to some vehicles, a great effect cannot be expected. If emergency earthquake information is to be provided through a traffic information board, etc., the traffic information board is only installed on a limited road due to the maintenance budget, etc., so it is difficult to notify the majority of vehicles instantly. is there. Also, providing information by wireless communication from a road device cannot be said to be very effective because the proportion of vehicles equipped with in-vehicle devices corresponding to the wireless communication is not large.

In addition, since the driver who is provided with the emergency earthquake information may travel while accelerating without stopping the vehicle in order to move away from the dangerous area, it may be assumed that traffic safety is impaired.
In other words, simply providing information about emergency earthquake information may not be enough.
This invention is made | formed in view of the above points, and it aims at providing the traffic signal control system which can promote the traffic safety at the time of the occurrence of an earthquake.

A traffic signal control system according to the present invention includes a traffic signal controller installed near a road, and a signal controller that transmits instruction information related to display of a signal lamp to the traffic signal controller, The signal control device includes an expected start time acquisition unit that acquires an expected start time of the shaking of the road surface due to the earthquake based on emergency earthquake information received from the outside, according to the acquired predicted start time of the shake Is transmitted to the traffic signal controller before the expected start time of the shake, and the traffic signal controller that has received the instruction information receives the predicted start time of the shake. Prior to this, all the vehicle signal lamps are set to a red signal, and thereafter all the pedestrian signal lamps are set to a blue signal or a blue blinking signal .

  According to the present invention, an instruction can be given to the traffic signal controller before the road surface is shaken due to an earthquake. Therefore, various applications that contribute to ensuring traffic safety and preventing traffic accidents on actual roads. It becomes possible to execute.

In this case, it is preferable that the time at which the traffic signal controller that has received the instruction information starts displaying a red signal on the vehicle signal lamp is determined in consideration of the clearance time at the intersection where the traffic signal controller is installed. (Claim 2).

In addition, when the traffic signal controller receives the instruction signal within a predetermined time from the start of displaying the green signal of the vehicle signal lamp, the display of the green signal may be maintained for a long time (claim) Item 3).

  In addition, the signal control apparatus and traffic signal controller used for this traffic signal control system are also very useful (Claims 4 and 5).

  As described above, according to the traffic signal control system of the present invention, it is possible to execute an application that contributes to ensuring traffic safety and preventing traffic accidents before the road surface is shaken by an earthquake.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of a system configuration in a traffic signal control system according to the present invention.

[Overall system configuration]
As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of traffic signal controllers including a traffic signal controller 1 and a traffic signal controller 2 installed near a road are connected to a signal control device 5 installed in a traffic control center through a router or a communication line. It is connected.
The signal control device 5 transmits signal control command information for controlling the signal lamp to each traffic signal controller, and the traffic signal controller 1 that has received the signal control command information receives the signal control command. Based on the information, the time distribution of the green signal is determined, and the color of each signal lamp such as the vehicle signal lamp 1A and the pedestrian signal lamp 1B is turned on.

Usually, the signal control command information includes an instruction for signal display for one cycle. Specifically, the cycle length of one cycle, the blue signal time assigned to each route, the start of one cycle It includes an offset, which is a difference between the time and the reference time, an instruction about whether or not to execute point sensitive control such as right turn sensitive control and dilemma sensitive control. The traffic signal controller that has received this signal control command information determines the signal control plan in the one cycle based on the latest signal control command information that has arrived at the time immediately before the start of one cycle, and the signal control Each signal lamp is controlled according to the display time of each signal lamp color included in the plan.
One cycle refers to the period when the display of the traffic lights is completed. Normally, from the start of displaying the green light on the main road side, immediately before starting the display of the green signal on the main road side again. The period until.

The traffic signal control system of the present invention has an earthquake information receiving function for receiving emergency earthquake information from the Japan Meteorological Agency or the like. In the present embodiment, the signal control device 5 is configured to have an earthquake information receiving function.
The emergency earthquake information here includes the location (latitude / longitude) of the earthquake that occurred, the time and magnitude of the earthquake, and in addition to the predicted seismic intensity at multiple points on the ground surface. It includes the floor (seismic intensity 3, seismic intensity 4 strong, etc.), the predicted arrival time, or the surplus time from the current time until the S wave arrives.

[Operation of traffic signal control system that received emergency earthquake information]
A communication interface unit such as a communication controller provided in the signal control device 5 receives emergency earthquake information transmitted from an external server or the like installed in the Japan Meteorological Agency. The received emergency earthquake information is stored in a storage unit such as a memory.
Then, a calculation unit such as a CPU reads the contents from the memory triggered by the fact that emergency earthquake information is stored in the storage unit, and first, one or a plurality of traffic signal controls that are controlled by the signal control device 5 Obtain the predicted seismic intensity scale near the aircraft installation point.
When the predicted seismic intensity scale exceeds a predetermined threshold (for example, seismic intensity 5), the predicted start time of the start of the actual shaking of the vicinity of the traffic signal controller installation point is calculated.

Normally, the signal control device 5 transmits signal control command information to each traffic signal controller every predetermined cycle such as every cycle. However, the signal control command information is calculated separately from the signal control command information. Emergency command information is transmitted before the expected start time of shaking.
As this emergency command information, information having the same format as the signal control command information and provided with a flag indicating an emergency may be used, or it may be added as new information separately.

Hereinafter, the traffic signal controller 1 is described as having received emergency command information.
The traffic signal controller 1 that has received the emergency command information from the signal control device 5 controls the signal lamps 1A to 1D according to the emergency command information. The signal lamps 1A to 1D are installed at the intersection A as shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, the same number is assigned to the signal lamp that causes the same display.

  The signal lamps 1A to 1D shown in FIG. 2 normally light the signal lamp colors in the order shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the control method of each signal lamp by the traffic signal controller 1 will be described according to which display state emergency command information is received.

[When emergency command information is received in state 1]
State 1 is a state in which a green signal is displayed for vehicles and pedestrians in the east-west direction in FIG.
When emergency command information is received in this state 1, the traffic signal controller 1 first changes the vehicle signal lamp 1A to a yellow signal and then changes to a red signal. One pedestrian signal lamp 1B remains a green signal. And after changing the signal lamp 1A for vehicles into a red signal, the signal lamp 1D for pedestrians of the north-south direction is made into a blue signal after predetermined time.

Here, the period until the vehicle signal lamp 1A is changed to a red signal is shorter than the allowance time until the S wave reaches the intersection 1, and before the road surface near the intersection 1 actually starts to shake. All the vehicle signal lamps (the signal lamp 1A and the signal lamp 1C) at the intersection 1 are controlled to have a red signal.
In this case, for all vehicles, the clearance time at intersection 1 (the time it takes for the vehicle that has entered the intersection 1 to cross the stop line to complete the exit from the intersection 1) before the predicted arrival time of the S wave. It is preferable that the signal lamp is changed to a red signal. This is because if the road surface begins to sway before the vehicle that has entered the intersection 1 exits from the intersection 1, the vehicle may get stuck in the intersection 1.
Therefore, for example, when it is planned to continue the state 4 for 5 seconds (the period during which the vehicle signal lamp 1A is set to yellow signal is 5 seconds) and further continue the state 5 for 5 seconds, at least S It is desirable to change the vehicle signal lamp 1A to a yellow signal at a time 10 seconds or more before the predicted arrival time of the wave.

In addition, when emergency command information is received immediately after the start of signal display in state 1, if the vehicle signal lamp 1A is immediately changed to a yellow signal, the display period of the blue signal becomes very short. There is a possibility that the driver of the vehicle moving forward will be confused. Therefore, if the period until the arrival of the S wave is longer than a predetermined value, it is desirable to lengthen the period until the vehicle signal lamp 1A is changed to the yellow signal (display the blue signal as long as possible).
For example, when emergency command information is received after displaying a green signal for about 5 seconds, if there is a surplus time of 30 seconds until the arrival of the S wave, the yellow signal is set to 5 after continuing the green signal for 20 seconds after receiving the emergency command information. It is desirable to display seconds and then display a red signal for 5 seconds. Thereby, since a green signal can be displayed for 25 seconds with respect to the vehicle in the east-west direction, the driver's confusion can be reduced as compared with the case where the vehicle is cut off in 5 seconds.

After changing the vehicle signal lamp 1A to a red signal, the signal lamp 1D for pedestrians in the north-south direction is set to a blue signal after a predetermined time. According to the above method, at the intersection 1, it is possible to create a state in which all the vehicle signal lamps are red signals and all the pedestrian signal lamps are green signals in a short period without impairing traffic safety.
In the event of an earthquake, there is a possibility that pedestrians may jump out of the road in an attempt to avoid the collapse of buildings, etc., so the vehicle signal lamp is turned red and the vehicle is stopped, and the pedestrian signal lamp is turned green. , Pedestrians can evacuate safely.
Note that the display method of the pedestrian signal lamp after the vehicle signal lamp 1A is changed to a red signal may be a blue flashing signal instead of a blue signal. The action according to the emergency command information is a special action that is different from the normal action, so it is clear for the pedestrians and drivers near the intersection 1 that the action is different from the normal action. A method of using a signal is also considered effective.

The signal lights for this vehicle are all red and the signal lights for pedestrians are all green. At least until the shaking of the earthquake subsides or until the predetermined time elapses after the shaking stops. It is desirable.
A method for determining whether or not the traffic signal controller 1 has stopped shaking may be a seismometer built in the traffic signal controller 1 itself, or the signal controller 5 may be detected from outside the Japan Meteorological Agency. You may make it detect by transmitting the cancellation | release information which cancels | releases an emergency command to the traffic signal controller 1 at the time of receiving the information which notifies that the shaking stopped.

The traffic signal controller 1 changes both the pedestrian signal lamp 1B and the signal lamp 1D, which have displayed the green signal, in the order of the blue blinking signal and the red signal when detecting that the shaking has stopped. Then, all the signal lamps at the intersection 1 are made red, and then the signals are displayed again in order from the state 1.
In this case, since the green signal was displayed in the east-west direction before the emergency command information was received, the traffic flow in the north-south direction was taken into consideration, so that it may be started from state 6 (the green signal in the north-south direction). good.

[When emergency command information is received in state 2]
State 2 is a state in which a green signal is displayed for vehicles in the east-west direction in FIG. 2 and a blue blinking signal is displayed for pedestrians.
When emergency command information is received in this state 2, the traffic signal controller 1 first changes the vehicle signal lamp 1A to a yellow signal and then changes it to a red signal. One pedestrian signal lamp 1B remains a blue blinking signal. Then, after changing the vehicle signal lamp 1A to a red signal, both the signal lamp 1B and the signal lamp 1D for pedestrians in the east-west direction and the north-south direction are set to a blue signal after a predetermined time.
The subsequent display order is the same as when emergency command information is received in state 1.

[When emergency command information is received in state 3 to state 5]
State 3 is a state in which a green signal is displayed for a vehicle in the east-west direction in FIG. 2 and a red signal is displayed for a pedestrian, state 4 is a yellow signal for the vehicle, and state 5 is a red signal for the vehicle. Is displayed.
When the emergency command information is received in the states 3 to 5, the signal display order is the same. After the state 3, the display order is changed to the states 4 and 5, and all the signal lamps 1A to 1L existing at the intersection 1 are changed. The device 1D is turned red.
Then, after a predetermined time since all the signals are red, both the signal lamp 1B and the signal lamp 1D for pedestrians in the east-west direction and the north-south direction are set to a blue signal.
The subsequent display order is the same as when emergency command information is received in state 1.

  Further, when emergency command information is received in the state 6 to the state 10, as in the case of receiving emergency command information in the state 1 to the state 5, the relationship between the east and west and the north and south is switched, and the signal lamp Should be controlled.

As described above, according to the traffic signal control system of the present invention, when emergency earthquake information notifying the occurrence of an earthquake is received from the outside, the vehicle before the vibration due to the earthquake reaches the intersection where the traffic light is actually installed. It is possible to turn all the signal lights for pedestrians into a red light after making all the signal lights for the lights red.
By introducing this system, the majority of vehicles on the road connected to the intersection can be stopped at the time of actual earthquake shaking, so traffic accidents that can occur due to earthquake shaking are avoided. The probability of occurrence can be reduced. In addition, even if a pedestrian jumps out on the road, the probability of a personal accident with the vehicle can be reduced.
In addition, after the signal lights for vehicles are turned red, the signal lights for pedestrians are turned green so that pedestrians can evacuate across the road with peace of mind. It is possible to prevent secondary disasters.

In this embodiment, the signal control device 5 is provided with an earthquake information receiving function for receiving emergency earthquake information from the Japan Meteorological Agency or the like, but other central devices installed in the traffic control center are provided with this function. The other central device may determine whether or not the signal control device 5 should transmit emergency command information based on the received emergency earthquake information. In this case, the emergency earthquake information may be notified to the signal control device 5 only when it is determined that the emergency command information should be transmitted (for example, when the magnitude of the earthquake is large).
Moreover, you may give the earthquake information receiving function to the traffic signal controller side installed in the vicinity of each intersection. When each traffic signal controller determines that the predicted seismic intensity scale near the point where it is installed is greater than or equal to a predetermined level, a method of performing the same operation as in this embodiment may be used.

  In addition, the signal control apparatus 5 and the traffic signal controller 1 etc. in this invention may be implement | achieved by one housing | casing, and may be implement | achieved by the combination of a some housing | casing. Each of these may be realized by one computer or may be realized by combining a plurality of computers.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the outline | summary of the system configuration | structure of the traffic signal control system which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the outline | summary of the apparatus arrangement | positioning of the intersection 1 vicinity. It is a figure which shows the display order of a normal signal lamp device. It is a figure which shows the display order of a signal lamp device at the time of receiving emergency command information.

Explanation of symbols

1, 2 Traffic signal controllers 1A to 1D, 2A to 2D Signal lamp 3 Terminal router 4 Central router 5 Signal control device

Claims (5)

A traffic signal control system comprising a traffic signal controller installed in the vicinity of a road and a signal controller for transmitting instruction information relating to display of a signal lamp to the traffic signal controller,
The signal control device includes:
Based on emergency earthquake information received from the outside, equipped with an expected start time acquisition means for acquiring the expected start time of the vibration of the road surface of the road due to the earthquake,
The instruction information according to the acquired predicted start time of the shake is configured to be transmitted to the traffic signal controller before the expected start time of the shake ,
The traffic signal controller that has received the instruction information,
Prior to the expected start time of the shaking, all the vehicle signal lamps are red,
Thereafter, a traffic signal control system characterized in that all pedestrian signal lamps are set to a blue signal or a blue blinking signal . The time at which the traffic signal controller that has received the instruction information starts displaying the red signal on the vehicle signal lamp is determined in consideration of the clearance time at the intersection where the traffic signal controller is installed. The traffic signal control system according to claim 1, wherein If the time point when the traffic signal controller receives the instruction signal is within a predetermined time since the start of the display of the green signal of the vehicle signal lamp, the display of the green signal is maintained for a long time. The traffic signal control system according to claim 1 or 2. The signal control apparatus used for the traffic signal control system as described in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 3 .   A traffic signal controller used in the traffic signal control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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