JP5737032B2 - Vehicle positioning device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle position specifying device for specifying a current position of a vehicle.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as an intelligent transport system (ITS), a service for solving traffic congestion and the like by transmitting and receiving information between a roadside device and a vehicle device has been proposed. Among them, for example, a service of a safe driving support system (DSSS: Driving Safety Support Systems) that performs a driving support service when turning right or left at an intersection is being provided (for example, see Patent Document 1). Since the DSSS service is provided based on the position of the vehicle, it is important to acquire accurate position information (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  By the way, when the position information of a vehicle is acquired using GPS (Global Positioning System) which is a general satellite positioning system, an error is included in the acquired position information, that is, the traveling position of the host vehicle. . The error may be, for example, about 10 m although there is a difference in degree. And if there is such a large error, there is a risk that the DSSS service will malfunction. On the other hand, when the information transmitted from the beacon device that provides the DSSS service is analyzed as in Patent Document 1 and the traveling position of the vehicle is identified based on the position information of the beacon device included in the information, the traveling position is identified. It takes a long time, and there is a risk that problems will occur when receiving the DSSS service.

JP 2011-128690 A JP 2008-46767 A

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle position specifying device that accurately specifies the position of a vehicle in a situation where a general satellite positioning system is used.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the first vehicle position detector for receiving the positioning data transmitted from the artificial satellite and detecting the position of the vehicle from the received positioning data, and the beacon provided on the road side From the beacon position information storage unit that stores position information indicating the installation position of the device, the beacon signal reception unit that receives the beacon signal transmitted from the beacon device, and the position of the vehicle detected by the first vehicle position detection unit When the beacon signal is received by the beacon signal reception unit within a predetermined range, a second vehicle position detection unit that detects the position of the vehicle based on the position information of the beacon device stored in the beacon position information storage unit; Is provided.

  The vehicle position detected by the first vehicle position detection unit based on the positioning data may include an error as described above. Therefore, not the position detected by the first vehicle position detection unit that may contain an error, but the position information of a beacon device such as an optical beacon device or a radio beacon device stored in advance in the beacon position information storage unit In other words, the second vehicle position detector detects the position of the vehicle based on the installation position of the beacon device indicated by the accurate position data. Thereby, even in a situation where a general satellite positioning system is used, the position of the vehicle can be specified with high accuracy.

Further, when the second vehicle position detection unit receives the beacon signal , the second vehicle position detection unit detects the installation position of the beacon device stored in the beacon position information storage unit as the vehicle position without analyzing the beacon signal. Thus, at the stage where the beacon signal is received, in other words, it becomes possible to detect the position of the vehicle without analyzing the beacon signal. Therefore, processing for analyzing (decoding) the beacon signal is not necessary, and the time required for specifying the position of the vehicle can be shortened. Further, since the position of the vehicle can be detected only by receiving the beacon signal, a beacon signal transmission unit is not required on the vehicle side, and the apparatus can be reduced in size and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

In the invention according to claim 2 , the second vehicle position detection unit is configured such that the position of the vehicle when receiving the beacon signal detected by the first vehicle position detection unit is within a predetermined range from the installation position indicated by the position information. If it is within, the installation position of the beacon device stored in the beacon position information storage unit is detected as the position of the vehicle. Accordingly, when the second vehicle position detection unit can confirm that the position of the vehicle when receiving the beacon signal is within a predetermined range from the installation position of the beacon device stored as the position information, The installation position of the device is detected as the position of the vehicle. Therefore, the accuracy of the position of the specified vehicle can be improved.

In the invention according to claim 3 , the detection area setting unit sets a predetermined range including the position of the vehicle as a detection area based on the position of the vehicle detected by the first vehicle position detection unit, and the beacon position The detection area is set so that the number of beacon devices indicated by the position information stored in the information storage unit is one in the detection area. Thereby, when a plurality of beacon devices are provided, it is not necessary to search or select a corresponding beacon device from among them, and the current position can be specified at a higher speed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention , the vehicle position correction unit corrects the vehicle position detected by the first vehicle position detection unit to the vehicle position detected by the second vehicle position detection unit. That is, when the error between the vehicle position detected by the first vehicle position detection unit and the vehicle position detected by the second vehicle position detection unit is large, the detection is performed by the second vehicle position detection unit with higher accuracy. The position of the vehicle detected by the first vehicle position detector is corrected at the position of the vehicle. Therefore, more accurate position data can be used.

In the invention of claim 5, wherein, the beacon position information updating unit updates the location information stored in the beacon position information storage unit. It is conceivable that the number of beacon devices increases as the service application area expands. Therefore, by updating the installation position of the beacon device by the position information update unit, even when the beacon device is newly installed, the position information indicating the installation position of the new beacon device is stored in the beacon position information storage unit. Remembered. Therefore, the position of the vehicle can be detected by the second vehicle position detector based on the latest position information.

In the invention described in claim 6 , the vehicle-side wireless communication device that receives information from the roadside wireless communication device, and the driving support information that provides driving support information that supports driving of the vehicle based on the information received by the vehicle-side wireless communication device And a providing unit, wherein the driving support information providing unit sets the position of the vehicle detected by the second vehicle position detecting unit as a base point when providing driving support information.

  For example, in the above-described DSSS service, the driving support service is performed based on the position of the vehicle. In this case, if the driving support service is performed based on the position of the vehicle where an error may occur, there is a risk of hindering driving support. Specifically, in the DSSS service, it is assumed that an error that may occur in the position of the vehicle detected by the first vehicle position detection unit cannot be allowed. Therefore, by detecting the position of the vehicle by the second vehicle position detection unit based on the installation position of the beacon device, the position of the vehicle becomes more accurate and an appropriate driving support service can be provided.

Schematic which shows the structure of the vehicle position specification apparatus by 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows typically the installation condition of the optical beacon apparatus by 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the coordinate data which shows the installation position of the optical beacon apparatus by 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the flow of the present location specific process by 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows typically the state from which the advancing direction changed by 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows typically the aspect of the setting of the detection area by the modification of 1st Embodiment. FIG. 1 equivalent diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle position specifying device according to the second embodiment. The figure which shows typically an example of the DSSS service in 2nd Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, a plurality of embodiments of a vehicle position specifying device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In a plurality of embodiments described below, substantially the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. Further, in this specification, as will be described later, the position of the vehicle detected by the first vehicle position detection unit that employs a satellite navigation system such as GPS is referred to as the “traveling position” and is detected by the second vehicle position detection unit. The position of the vehicle will be described as “current position”.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a position specifying device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle position specifying device 10 includes a control unit 11, a travel position acquisition unit 12, a beacon signal reception unit 13, and a vehicle-side wireless communication unit 14. The vehicle position specifying device 10 is mounted on a vehicle and specifies the current position of the vehicle as will be described later. In addition, the vehicle position specifying device 10 receives a beacon signal from the optical beacon device 15 provided on the roadside, and receives optical beacon device information indicating the position of the optical beacon device 15 and the like from the roadside wireless communication device 16. The optical beacon device 15 and the roadside wireless communication device 16 are also connected to the traffic light 17 and the like through a communication line 18 so that they can communicate with each other. The vehicle position specifying device 10 receives positioning data from the artificial satellite 19.

Here, for simplification of description, first, a known technique such as acquisition of a traveling position based on positioning data transmitted from a roadside device such as the optical beacon device 15 and the roadside wireless communication device 16 and the artificial satellite 19 is used. An outline will be described.
The optical beacon device 15 provides information such as general roads ahead and behind in the traveling direction of the vehicle. The optical beacon device 15 corresponds to the beacon device described in the claims. The beacon device is not limited to the optical beacon device 15 and may be a radio beacon device. The information provided by the optical beacon device 15 includes, for example, traffic jam information, link travel time information, traffic regulation information, parking lot information, and section travel time information. The optical beacon device 15 is provided with a plurality of types on the roadside, such as for VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System Center (registered trademark)) service and the above-mentioned DSSS service. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, such an optical beacon device 15 is provided at roadside points B1 to B5 and B7 toward an intersection, a roadside point B6 toward a curve section, and the like. Each of the points B1 to B7 may be provided with a plurality of optical beacon devices 15 in order to correspond to the traveling direction of the vehicle. However, in FIG. 1 unit is shown. In addition, although map data was typically shown in FIG. 2, in the vehicle position specific | specification apparatus 10 of this embodiment, map data is not necessarily required.

  Such an optical beacon device 15 transmits area information, that is, information indicating that the optical beacon device 15 exists at every predetermined period. At this time, the range in which the information provided from the optical beacon device 15 can be received is approximately 3.5 m before the optical beacon device 15. When the vehicle that has entered the range in which the beacon signal can be received receives the area information from the optical beacon device 15, the vehicle information indicating the state of the host vehicle is transmitted to the optical beacon device 15. And the beacon signal which received vehicle information provides the information for services, such as the positional information on an own machine, and VICS and DSSS mentioned above with respect to the said vehicle. That is, in the conventional configuration, transmission / reception of information, that is, road-to-vehicle communication, is performed between the optical beacon device 15 and the vehicle.

  The roadside wireless communication device 16 illustrated in FIG. 1 is provided at an intersection or the like together with the optical beacon device 15. The roadside wireless communication device 16 transmits various information including, for example, position information of the optical beacon device 15 as optical beacon device information. The roadside wireless communication device 16 also transmits driving support information that supports driving of the vehicle, which will be described in detail in a second embodiment to be described later. The range in which information transmitted from the roadside wireless communication device 16 can be received is about several hundred meters depending on road conditions. For this reason, the traveling vehicle can receive the information transmitted from the roadside wireless communication device 16 by the vehicle side wireless communication unit 14 before entering the range where the beacon signal can be received.

  In the present embodiment, the artificial satellite 19 is a satellite compliant with the GPS (Global Positioning System) standard, and transmits positioning data (hereinafter referred to as a GPS signal). The artificial satellite 19 may correspond to, for example, GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System), Galileo, and ComPASS (Community-bus Planning Aid Simulation System) standards.

  A beacon signal receiving unit 13 provided in the vehicle position specifying device 10 receives a beacon signal from the optical beacon device 15. In the case of this embodiment, the vehicle position specifying device 10 includes only the beacon signal receiving unit 13. In other words, the vehicle position specifying device 10 receives the beacon signal, but does not perform the above-described normal road-to-vehicle communication with the optical beacon device 15. The beacon signal receiving unit 13 itself can be a well-known technology, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The traveling position acquisition unit 12 includes a GPS receiving unit 24, a gyroscope 25, a vehicle speed sensor 26, and the like. The GPS receiver receives a GPS signal transmitted from the artificial satellite 19. The traveling position acquisition unit 12 acquires a traveling position indicating the position of the vehicle by complementing detection signals input from the GPS receiving unit 24, the gyroscope 25, the vehicle speed sensor 26, and the like. In other words, the current position specifying unit 22 detects the position of the vehicle based on the positioning data. The current position specifying unit 22 corresponds to a first vehicle position detecting unit described in the claims. In this case, the travel position acquisition unit 12 does not have to include all these elements as long as the position information of the vehicle can be acquired with the required detection accuracy. The traveling position acquisition unit 12 also acquires the traveling direction of the vehicle from the acquired traveling position history. In addition, when what is called a navigation apparatus is mounted in a vehicle, it is good also as a structure which uses the driving | running | working position acquisition part 12 as a navigation apparatus, or acquires the driving | running | working position acquired with the navigation apparatus via vehicle-mounted LAN etc. .

  The control unit 11 of the vehicle position specifying device 10 is connected to the beacon signal receiving unit 13, the vehicle-side wireless communication unit 14, and the traveling position acquisition unit 12 described above. The control unit 11 includes a well-known microcomputer having a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, an I / O bus, and the like (not shown), and controls the entire vehicle position specifying device 10 according to a computer program stored in the ROM. To do. The control unit 11 includes a detection area setting unit 20, a position information storage unit 21, a current position specifying unit 22, and a position information updating unit 23. In the case of the present embodiment, the detection area setting unit 20, the position information storage unit 21, the current position specifying unit 22, and the position information updating unit 23 are realized in software by a computer program executed by the control unit 11. .

  The detection area setting unit 20 sets a predetermined range including the travel position of the vehicle as a detection area based on the travel position and the traveling direction of the vehicle acquired by the travel position acquisition unit 12. Specifically, the detection area setting unit 20 sets a detection area A1 including the travel position of the vehicle 30, as shown in FIG. The detection area setting by the detection area setting unit 20 will be described in detail in the vehicle position specifying process of FIG. 4 described later.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the position information storage unit 21 stores coordinate data indicating the installation position of the optical beacon device 15 provided at each of the points B1 to B7 (see FIG. 2) as position information. That is, the position information storage unit 21 corresponds to the beacon position information storage unit described in the claims. These pieces of position information may be stored in advance in a nonvolatile storage means such as an HDD or a memory card, or may be temporarily stored as the position information acquired by the vehicle-side wireless communication unit 14 as described above. Good. In FIG. 3, the coordinate data is indicated by the X coordinate and the Y coordinate for simplification, but the data format of the position information is not limited to this, and may be data indicating latitude and longitude, for example. In addition to the coordinate data, IDs individually assigned to the optical beacon devices 15 provided, types of services to be provided, and the like may be stored in association with the position information.

  When the beacon signal is received by the beacon signal receiving unit 13 in the detection area set by the detection area setting unit 20, the current position specifying unit 22 specifies the current position of the vehicle. The current position specifying unit 22 corresponds to a second vehicle position detecting unit described in the claims. The specification of the current position by the current position specifying unit 22 will be described in detail in the vehicle position specifying process of FIG. 4 described later.

  The position information update unit 23 updates the position information of the optical beacon device 15 stored in the position information storage unit 21. That is, the position information update unit 23 corresponds to the beacon position information update unit described in the claims. Regardless of the type of optical beacon device 15 for VICS, DSSS, or other services, it is conceivable that the number of installation locations increases from its usefulness. Therefore, when the optical beacon device 15 is newly provided, the location information update unit 23 updates the location information stored in the location information storage unit 21. In the case of the present embodiment, the position information update unit 23 updates the position information stored in the position information storage unit 21 when the position information received by the vehicle-side wireless communication unit 14 includes new position information. To do. For example, the position information may be updated by physical means such as a memory card.

Next, the operation of the vehicle position specifying device 10 having the above-described configuration will be described.
The control unit 11 of the vehicle position specifying apparatus 10 controls the entire apparatus and executes the vehicle position specifying process shown in FIG. 4 in relation to the present invention. Hereinafter, the vehicle position specifying device 10 will be mainly described to simplify the description.

  When the GPS signal is received by the GPS receiver 24 (S1) in the vehicle position specifying process shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle position specifying device 10 sets a detection area (S2). Here, the setting of the detection area by the detection area setting unit 20 will be described in detail. The position information of the optical beacon device 15 provided on the road side is stored in the position information storage unit 21 as described above (see FIG. 3). As shown in FIG. 2, the detection area setting unit 20 sets a range including the travel position of the vehicle 30 as the detection area A1, based on the travel position and the traveling direction acquired by the travel position acquisition unit 12. In this case, the detection area setting unit 20 sets, for example, a range that swells in the traveling direction of the vehicle 30 or a range within a predetermined radius centered on the vehicle 30 as the detection area. The range set as the detection area may be determined based on a predetermined condition, or may be determined as appropriate according to the vehicle speed or the like.

  Subsequently, the vehicle position specifying device 10 determines whether or not the optical beacon device 15 is present in the detection area (S3). If there is no optical beacon device 15 (S3: NO), the process proceeds to step S1. Repeat the GPS signal reception. In contrast, when the optical beacon device 15 is present (S3: YES), the vehicle position specifying device 10 selects one of them (S4). That is, when the vehicle position specifying device 10 has a plurality of optical beacon devices 15 in the detection area A1 as shown in FIG. 2 and stores their position information as shown in FIG. The optical beacon device 15 of the stand, for example, the optical beacon device 15 at the point B1 is selected. In other words, the selection criterion of the optical beacon device 15 in the present embodiment is the one closest to the traveling direction based on the traveling direction of the vehicle 30 acquired by the traveling position acquisition unit 12, for example, in the case of FIG. This is an optical beacon device 15. As shown in FIG. 5, when the vehicle 30 enters the road D3 connected to the road D1, the optical beacon device 15 provided at the point B6 is newly selected. In this case, the change in the traveling direction of the vehicle 30 can be determined from the travel position history acquired by the travel position acquisition unit 12 as described above.

  Subsequently, the vehicle position specifying device 10 determines whether or not a beacon signal has been received in the detection area A1 (S5), and if received (S5: YES), the travel position acquired by the travel position acquisition unit 12 Is determined to be within a predetermined range (S6). Here, the predetermined range is a range that is set in advance to such an extent that the error of the travel position acquired based on the GPS signal can be absorbed, and is set to 10 m in this embodiment. This predetermined range corresponds to “a predetermined range from the installation position indicated by the position information” described in the claims. That is, the vehicle position specifying device 10 has a position where the optical beacon is received, that is, the travel position acquired by the travel position acquisition unit 12 within 10 m from the coordinate data (see FIG. 3) of the optical beacon device 15 selected in step S4. If there is (S6: YES), it is determined that the optical beacon device 15 that transmitted the beacon signal is the optical beacon device 15 selected in step S4, and the optical beacon device 15 is specified (S7). Note that after steps S6 and S7 are interchanged to identify the optical beacon device 15 selected when the beacon signal is received, it may be confirmed whether the traveling position is within a predetermined range.

  And the vehicle position specific | specification apparatus 10 specifies the installation position of the optical beacon apparatus 15 specified by step S7 as a vehicle position, ie, present position, by the present position specific | specification part 22 (S8). In this case, the coordinate data of the optical beacon device 15 becomes the coordinate data of the current position. That is, when the beacon signal is received by the beacon signal receiving unit 13 within a predetermined range from the travel position acquired by the travel position acquisition unit 12, the vehicle position specifying device 10 stores the optical beacon device 15 stored in the position information storage unit 21. The position of the vehicle is specified by the current position specifying unit based on the position information.

  As described above, when receiving the beacon signal within the detection area, the vehicle position specifying device 10 specifies the current position of the vehicle based on the position information of the optical beacon position with less error without analyzing the beacon signal. The identified current position is used, for example, by an external device (not shown), or used as in a second embodiment described later.

The vehicle position specifying device 10 described above has the following effects.
When receiving the beacon signal in the detection area, the current position specifying unit 22 of the vehicle position specifying device 10 specifies the current position of the vehicle based on the position information of the optical beacon position stored in the position information storage unit 21. The traveling position acquired based on the positioning data may contain an error as described above. Therefore, the current position of the vehicle is specified based on the installation position of the optical beacon device 15 indicated by the accurate position data, not the travel position acquired by the travel position acquisition unit 12 that may contain an error. Thus, even in a situation where a general satellite positioning system such as GPS is used, the current position of the vehicle can be accurately identified.

Further, since the position information of the optical beacon device 15 is stored in the position information storage unit 21 in advance, for example, even when there are a plurality of optical beacon devices 15 in the detection area A1 as shown in FIG. The coordinate data in step 7 of the current position specifying process in FIG. 4 can be specified quickly, and the time required for specifying the current position can be shortened.
In addition, the current position specifying unit 22 determines the installation position of the optical beacon device 15 when the traveling position where the beacon signal is received is within a predetermined range from the installation position of the optical beacon device 15 stored as position information. Is specified as the current position. Therefore, it can be confirmed that the received beacon signal is transmitted from the optical beacon device 15 that has been selected, and the certainty (accuracy) of the identified current position can be improved.

  In addition, the current position specifying unit 22 specifies the optical beacon device 15 without performing road-to-vehicle communication with the optical beacon device 15 at the stage of receiving the beacon signal. As described above, the detection area setting unit 20 selects the optical beacon device 15 closest to the traveling direction based on the traveling direction of the vehicle acquired by the traveling position acquisition unit 12. Therefore, when a beacon signal is received, the optical beacon device 15 that transmitted the beacon signal is considered to be the optical beacon device 15 selected in step S4 of the current position specifying process shown in FIG. In other words, there is only one optical beacon device 15 that transmits a beacon signal in the traveling direction of the vehicle. Therefore, the current position specifying unit 22 can specify the current position without analyzing the beacon signal. As a result, processing for analyzing (decoding) the beacon signal becomes unnecessary, and the time required to specify the current position can be shortened. In addition, since the current position can be specified only by receiving a beacon signal, a beacon signal transmission unit is not required on the vehicle side. Therefore, cost can be reduced.

Further, since the current position of the vehicle is specified only by receiving a beacon signal, the current position can be specified regardless of the type of optical beacon device 15 (for VICS and DSSS). Therefore, even the existing optical beacon device 15 can be used for specifying the current position.
Further, the position information update unit 23 updates position information indicating the installation position of the optical beacon device 15 stored in the position information storage unit 21. Thereby, even if the optical beacon device 15 is newly installed, the installation position of the new optical beacon device 15 is stored in the position information storage unit 21. Therefore, the current position can be specified based on the installation position of the latest optical beacon device 15. Further, even if the installation position of the optical beacon device 15 is changed, it can be dealt with by updating the position information. In this case, since the position information update unit 23 updates the position information when the position information received by the vehicle-side wireless communication unit 14 includes new position information, the position information is updated even when the vehicle is traveling. Can be updated.

(Modification of the first embodiment)
A vehicle position specifying device according to a modification of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The vehicle position specifying device of the modified example of the first embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the manner of setting the detection area. Since the configuration of the vehicle position specifying device is the same as that of the first embodiment, it will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The detection area setting unit 20 of the vehicle position specifying device 10 according to the modification of the first embodiment includes the travel position and the traveling direction acquired by the travel position acquisition unit 12 and the position information stored in the position information storage unit 21. Based on this, the detection area is set so that one optical beacon device 15 is provided in the area. “One optical beacon device” means one optical beacon device 15 that can provide information to the vehicle, that is, one optical beacon device 15 provided for the lane in which the vehicle is traveling. The optical beacon device 15 provided for the oncoming lane is not included. In this case, it can be determined from the travel position and the traveling direction acquired by the travel position acquisition unit 12 whether it is for its own travel lane or for the opposite lane.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, when the optical beacon device 15 is provided at four points B11 to B14 on the road D4 on which the vehicle 30 is traveling, the detection area setting unit 20 For example, when traveling at the point P1, the detection area A2 is set. In this case, the detection area A2 includes only the optical beacon device 15 provided at the point B11. Moreover, the detection area setting part 20 sets detection area A3, when the vehicle 30 is drive | working the point P2. In this case, the detection area A3 includes only the optical beacon device 15 provided at the point B14. The detection area A3 is set longer in the traveling direction of the vehicle 30 than the detection area A2. That is, in the case of this embodiment, the detection area setting unit 20 is based on the position information stored in the position information storage unit 21 and is the closest position among the optical beacon devices 15 provided in the traveling direction of the vehicle. The detection area A2 or the detection area A3 is set so that only one optical beacon device 15 provided in is included.

  In this case, the selection of which of the plurality of optical beacon devices 15 to include in the detection area may be provided at the closest position in the traveling direction of the vehicle 30 as described above, for example, or external navigation When a route is set by a device or the like, the optical beacon device 15 provided at the closest position on the route may be used.

  In this way, by setting a detection area that includes only one optical beacon device 15, the processing of steps S <b> 2 to S <b> 4 can be performed together in the current position specifying process illustrated in FIG. 4. That is, since only one optical beacon device 15 is included in the detection area set in step S2, it is not necessary to perform the processes in steps S3 and S4. Thereby, when the some optical beacon apparatus 15 is provided, the process which searches and selects the optical beacon apparatus 15 applicable among them becomes unnecessary, and a present position can be pinpointed more rapidly.

(Second Embodiment)
A vehicle position specifying device according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The vehicle position specifying device according to the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that it provides driving support information that supports driving. The flow of the current position specifying process for specifying the current position is the same as that in the first embodiment, and will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, in addition to the configuration of the vehicle position specifying device 10 of the first embodiment, the vehicle position specifying device 40 of the second embodiment includes a display unit 42 and an audio output unit connected to the control unit 41. 43. The control unit 41 further includes a travel position correction unit 44 and a driving support information providing unit 45.

The display unit 42 includes, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display, and displays various types of information based on a display command from the control unit 41. The audio output unit 43 outputs various audio information based on the audio output command of the control unit 41. In the case of this embodiment, these display part 42 and the audio | voice output part 43 perform the display and audio | voice output of driving assistance information so that it may mention later.
As in the first embodiment, the control unit 41 sets a detection area, and when receiving a beacon signal within the detection area, specifies the current position of the vehicle. If there is an error between the identified current position and the travel position acquired by the travel position acquisition unit 12, the travel position correction unit 44 corrects the error. Specifically, the travel position correction unit 44 overwrites the travel position with the current position. Thus, the travel position matches the position where the vehicle is actually traveling.

  The driving support information providing unit 45 provides driving assistance information to the driver of the vehicle. Here, first, driving assistance will be described. The driving support assumed in this embodiment is a DSSS service. As is well known, the DSSS service provides services such as signal oversight prevention support, rear-end collision prevention support, temporary stop regulation oversight prevention support, and encounter collision prevention support. In the present embodiment, the collision prevention support at the time of a right turn in the encounter collision prevention support will be described as an example, but the vehicle location specifying device 40 of the present embodiment can be applied to other DSSS services as well.

  A road information acquisition device 50 is provided on the road side. The road information acquisition device 50 is communicably connected to the optical beacon device 15, the roadside wireless communication device 16, the traffic light 17 and the like via the communication line 18. The road information acquisition device 50 includes a moving body detection unit 51 and a signal state detection unit 52. As shown in FIG. 8, the moving body detection unit 51 detects a moving body related to a moving body such as an oncoming vehicle 60 or an oncoming vehicle 61 that is provided at an intersection, for example, and travels in the opposite lane of the vehicle 30. In the case of the present embodiment, the moving body detection unit 51 is configured to capture a predetermined area 51a in the oncoming lane (only the area of one moving body detection unit 51 is illustrated in FIG. 8) and oncoming vehicles 60 and 61. It is composed of a speed sensor that detects the vehicle speed. In addition, the mobile body detection part 51 may make mobile body, such as a pedestrian who moves along a sidewalk, a bicycle, into a detection target.

  The signal state detection unit 52 detects a state relating to the traffic light 17, that is, whether the traffic light 17 is a blue signal, a yellow signal, or a red signal, or a right turn arrow is displayed in the case of a red signal. The road information acquisition device 50 outputs to the roadside wireless communication device 16 as road information, the moving body information related to the moving body detected by the moving body detection unit 51 and the signal information indicating the state of the traffic light 17 detected by the signal state detection unit 52. To do.

  The road information output from the road information acquisition device 50 includes the information on the lane to be provided and the like, as shown in FIG. 7, from the roadside wireless communication device 16 to the vehicle as driving support information for supporting driving. Sent. That is, in this embodiment, the optical beacon device 15, the roadside wireless communication device 16, the traffic light 17, and the road information acquisition device 50 cooperate to provide driving support information. The roadside wireless communication device 16 may be one that operates in cooperation with the optical beacon device 15 (for example, a combination of the roadside wireless communication device 16 for DSSS and the beacon device for DSSS), or optical It may be one that operates without cooperating with the beacon device 15 (for example, a combination of the roadside wireless communication device 16 for DSSS and the beacon device for VICS).

Next, the operation of the vehicle position specifying device 40 having the above-described configuration will be described.
Here, as shown in FIG. 8, it is assumed that the vehicle 30 traveling on the road D1 (see FIG. 2) turns right on the road D2 intersecting the road D1, as indicated by the arrow. Similarly to the first embodiment, the vehicle 30 acquires the travel position by the travel position acquisition unit 12 in the current position acquisition process (see FIG. 4). At this time, although the travel position acquired by the travel position acquisition unit 12 was the point P11 indicating the vehicle 30 with a broken line, the vehicle 30 is actually the point P12 in the receivable area BA1 of the optical beacon device 15, If the beacon signal is received at the point P12, the traveling position correction unit 44 determines the traveling position of the vehicle 30 based on the positional information of the optical beacon device 15 at the point B1, that is, the installation position of the optical beacon device 15. Correction to (coordinates X1, Y1). Thereby, the position where the vehicle 30 actually travels is specified accurately. That is, the traveling position correction unit 44 corresponds to the vehicle position correction unit described in the claims. And the driving assistance information provision part 45 makes the specified position (point B1) of the vehicle 30 a base point for starting provision of driving assistance information. For example, when the DSSS service is targeted, specifically, driving support information is provided as follows.

  The driving support information provided from the roadside wireless communication device 16 is obtained from the service start position of the vehicle 30, that is, from the point where the vehicle 30 that has traveled on the straight lane D11 in this embodiment enters the waiting lane D12 for a right turn. Become a service. That is, since the DSSS service is started when the vehicle 30 travels to the service start position with reference to the point B1, the current position of the vehicle 30 is important. In this case, when based on a travel position that may contain an error, an error of, for example, 10 m is likely to be an unacceptable error. Therefore, as described in detail in the first embodiment, the position of the vehicle 30 is accurately specified, and the driving position is corrected by the driving position correction unit 44, thereby appropriately providing driving support information. It becomes possible.

  Now, when the vehicle 30 enters the waiting lane D12 via the point P13 on the straight lane D11 after the point B1, in the section L1 up to the stop line position, for example, the oncoming vehicle 60 and the oncoming vehicle 61 exist in the oncoming lane. Is provided as driving support information. At this time, the driving support information providing unit 45 of the vehicle position specifying device 40 provides the driving support information received by the vehicle-side wireless communication unit 14 to the driver of the vehicle via the display unit 42 or the audio output unit 43. (Implement driving assistance). In this situation, the fact that the oncoming vehicle 61 may enter the intersection is provided to the driver of the vehicle 30 as driving support information.

  Then, when the vehicle 30 crosses the stop line for a right turn and enters the point P14 in the intersection, in this section L2, in addition to the information on the oncoming vehicle 61 described above, the information on the pedestrian crossing or the road D2 that enters Information or the like is provided to the vehicle driver as driving support information. As a result, the driver can make a right turn more safely. In the case of such a right turn, for example, when there is a motorcycle or the like hidden behind the oncoming vehicle 61 and entering the intersection, such information is also provided.

  Thus, in the vehicle position specifying device 40 of the second embodiment, the current position of the vehicle 30 is specified by the current position specifying unit 22 and is used as a base point for providing driving support information. Thereby, driving assistance information can be provided based on a more accurate position (current position) of the vehicle 30. In addition, it can be said that the provided driving support information can be used more appropriately from the viewpoint of providing a DSSS service or the like using a roadside device such as the roadside wireless communication device 16 or the road information acquisition device 50. .

  In this case, for example, in the DSSS service, although it is assumed that the error of the travel position acquired by the travel position acquisition unit 12 cannot be allowed, the vehicle position specifying device 40 corrects the travel position based on the current position. Thereby, the position of the vehicle 30 can be specified more accurately, and the driving support information provided from the roadside machine can be provided to the driver in a more appropriate state. The same effect can be obtained even with various services other than DSSS.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be modified or expanded as follows.
In the position information storage unit 21, the position information of the optical beacon device 15 may be stored in a nonvolatile storage unit, but may be temporarily stored in the RAM of the control unit 11 or the like. That is, the position information storage unit 21 is not necessarily configured by a nonvolatile storage unit. In general, it is considered that a situation in which the current position of a vehicle is to be specified occurs in the vicinity of a traveling road (hereinafter referred to as a traveling area for convenience). For example, it is considered that it is not necessary to store up to the position information of the optical beacon device 15 provided in another traveling area such as Okinawa while traveling in Aichi Prefecture. Therefore, only the position information (for example, see FIG. 2) of the optical beacon device 15 installed in the vicinity of the traveling road is temporarily stored, and when the traveling area is changed, the roadside wireless communication device 16 starts a new one. The position information update unit 23 may update the position information of the optical beacon device 15 acquired at the same time.

  As a result, the number of pieces of position information stored in the position information storage unit 21 is reduced, and the capacity and size of the position information storage unit 21 can be reduced, and a non-volatile storage unit is not provided. It is also possible to do. Even in such a configuration, since the position information of the optical beacon device 15 can be acquired from the roadside wireless communication device 16 before reaching the installation position of the optical beacon device 15, it affects the specification of the current position. There are few things. In addition, by listing the position information of the optical beacon device 15 acquired each time, it is possible to simplify the process of listing the optical beacon device 15 in steps S2 to S4 of the current position specifying process of FIG. . Moreover, in the modification of 1st Embodiment, the process which sets a detection area so that the optical beacon apparatus 15 may be single can also be simplified.

  In the drawings, 10 is a vehicle position specifying device, 12 is a travel position acquisition unit (first vehicle position detection unit), 13 is a beacon signal receiving unit, 14 is a vehicle-side wireless communication unit, and 15 is an optical beacon device (beacon device). , 16 is a roadside wireless communication device, 19 is an artificial satellite, 20 is a detection area setting unit, 21 is a position information storage unit (beacon position information storage unit), 22 is a current position specifying unit (second vehicle position detection unit), 23 is a position information update unit (beacon position information update unit), 30 is a vehicle, 40 is a vehicle position specifying device, 44 is a travel position correction unit (vehicle position correction unit), 45 is a driving support information provision unit, A1, A2, A3 indicates a travel area.

Claims (6)

A first vehicle position detector that receives positioning data transmitted from an artificial satellite and detects the position of the vehicle from the received positioning data;
A beacon position information storage unit for storing position information indicating an installation position of the beacon device provided on the road side;
A beacon signal receiving unit for receiving a beacon signal transmitted from the beacon device;
When the beacon signal is received by the beacon signal reception unit within a predetermined range from the vehicle position detected by the first vehicle position detection unit, the beacon signal is stored in the beacon position information storage unit without being analyzed. And a second vehicle position detector that detects the position of the vehicle based on position information of the beacon device that is being operated. The second vehicle position detector is configured such that the position of the vehicle when the beacon signal detected by the first vehicle position detector is received is within a predetermined range from the installation position indicated by the position information. 2. The vehicle position specifying device according to claim 1, wherein the installation position of the beacon device stored in the beacon position information storage unit is detected as a vehicle position. A detection area setting unit that sets a predetermined range including the position of the vehicle as a detection area based on the position of the vehicle detected by the first vehicle position detection unit;
The detection area setting unit sets the detection area so that the beacon device indicated by the position information stored in the beacon position information storage unit is one in the detection area,
When the second vehicle position detection unit receives the beacon signal in the detection area, the second vehicle position detection unit detects the position of the vehicle based on the position information of the beacon device stored in the beacon position information storage unit. The vehicle position specifying device according to claim 1 or 2. The vehicle position correcting unit for correcting the position of the vehicle detected by the first vehicle position detecting unit to the position of the vehicle detected by the second vehicle position detecting unit. The vehicle position specifying device according to claim 3. The vehicle position specifying device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a beacon position information update unit that updates position information stored in the beacon position information storage unit. A vehicle-side wireless communication device that receives information from the roadside wireless communication device;
A driving support information providing unit that provides driving support information for supporting driving of the vehicle based on information received by the vehicle-side wireless communication device;
6. The driving support information providing unit according to claim 1, wherein the position of the vehicle detected by the second vehicle position detecting unit is used as a base point when the driving support information is provided. The vehicle position specifying device according to one item.

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