JP6762644B2 - Information acquisition method from road markings, information acquisition system and road markings - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information acquisition method from a road marking, an information acquisition system, and a road marking.

Conventionally, GPS, map matching technology, etc. have been used as means for identifying the position of a vehicle on the road, but the position information of the vehicle specified by these means is 1 m in the vehicle width direction, and the vehicle travels. A variation of about 3 to 5 m can occur in the direction. Therefore, it is difficult to utilize the vehicle position information obtained by the conventional means for the operation of the vehicle that requires high position accuracy (for example, the operation of stopping the vehicle immediately before a certain stop line in front). It was.

The following patent documents disclose techniques for detecting white lines (road markings) such as outside lines and lane boundaries provided on the road surface using a laser radar, but these are techniques for detecting the presence of the white lines themselves. Therefore, it can be used for detecting the protrusion of the vehicle with respect to the white line, but it does not provide information for specifying the position of the vehicle in the traveling direction.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-147124 JP-A-2015-148114

Against the background of the above circumstances, the present invention can accurately identify the position of the vehicle in the traveling direction and provide necessary information in real time to the vehicle or its driver. Information acquisition from road markings. It was made for the purpose of providing methods, information acquisition systems and road markings.

Therefore, claim 1 relates to a method of acquiring information from a road marking, which is a road marking extending in a band shape in the traveling direction of the vehicle as an outer line separating the shoulder and the lane or a lane boundary line separating the lane and the lane . , and sets an identification code for each partition region defined in said traveling direction, in the segment area, the protrusion installation area for installing the protrusion corresponding to the value of the identification code, the traveling direction of the vehicle A plurality of the protrusions are provided along the orthogonal directions, and the protrusions are provided in the protrusion installation area in the compartment area with an arrangement pattern corresponding to the identification code.
The protrusions are detected along the traveling direction of the vehicle by using the protrusion detection means attached to the vehicle side, and the protrusions are set in the compartment area based on the obtained arrangement information of the protrusions for each compartment area. It is characterized by acquiring the identified identification code.

Of those claims 2, in claim 1, from among the identification code obtained along the direction of travel, the latest identification code by connecting the identification code including multiple, in the traveling direction of the vehicle It is characterized in that it is extracted as an identification code group according to the position.

The third aspect is a series of claims so that the contents of the identification code group extracted according to the position of the vehicle in the traveling direction are different from each other at all the positions in the traveling direction of the vehicle. It is characterized in that the content of the identification code is specified.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in any one of the first to third aspects, identification codes having different contents are set in the compartmentalized areas adjacent to the road markings.

Claim 5 relates to the information acquisition system, a road marking Ru extending in a band shape in the traveling direction of the vehicle as a lane boundary line which divides the outer beam or lane and lane partitioning the road shoulder and the lane, the traveling direction An identification code is set for each of the compartmentalized areas, and the protrusion installation area for installing the protrusions corresponding to the value of the identification code in the compartmentalized area is in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the vehicle. A plurality of road markings provided along the road surface markings in which the protrusions are provided in the protrusion installation area in the compartment area in an arrangement pattern corresponding to the identification code, and information from the road markings attached to the vehicle side. The information acquisition device has an information acquisition device to be acquired, and the information acquisition device has the protrusion detection means for detecting the protrusions and the division area based on the detected arrangement information of the protrusions for each of the division areas. It is characterized by including a decoding means for acquiring the identification code set in 1.

Claim 6 relates to a pavement marker, a road marking Ru extending in a band shape in the traveling direction of the vehicle and an outer line or lane and lane as the lane boundary line which divides partitions the shoulder and lane, the traveling direction An identification code is set for each of the partitioned compartment areas, and the protrusion installation area for installing the protrusions corresponding to the value of the identification code in the compartmentalized area is orthogonal to the traveling direction of the vehicle. A plurality of the protrusions are provided along the above, and the protrusions are provided in the protrusion installation area in the compartment area in an arrangement pattern corresponding to the identification code.

As described above, in the present invention, protrusions are provided in the division area of the road markings divided in the traveling direction of the vehicle in an arrangement pattern corresponding to the identification code, and protrusions are provided by using the protrusion detection means attached to the vehicle side. The body is detected, and the identification code set in the compartment area is acquired based on the obtained arrangement information of the protrusions for each compartment area.
Since the identification code information in the present invention is set at a specific position on the road surface (specifically, on the road marking), the current position of the own vehicle can be obtained by acquiring the identification code information on the vehicle side. It can be used specifically. For example, if the distance information to the stop line located in front is registered in the database in the vehicle in advance according to the identification code, the distance to the stop line can be determined in real time according to the position of the vehicle or the driver thereof. Can be provided to.

In the present invention, since new identification code information is obtained each time a compartment area in the traveling direction of the vehicle is detected, the position of the own vehicle in the traveling direction with accuracy according to the width of the compartment area set on the road marking. You can get information about.

As described above, in the present invention, since information is provided to the vehicle by using the road markings, the cost is lower than, for example, installing a plurality of new structures (with location information) on the road surface. A system for acquiring information can be configured.

In the present invention, for example, when the content of the identification code is any one number from 0 to 7, the types of information obtained from the identification code alone are limited to eight types, and when nine or more partition areas are set, any Since the content of the identification code is duplicated in the partition area, it is difficult to use it as information for identifying the position.
Therefore, in the present invention, a plurality of identification codes including the latest identification code or having a certain relationship with the latest identification code are connected from the identification codes acquired along the traveling direction to position the vehicle in the traveling direction. It is desirable to extract as an identification code group according to. Since the identification code group configured in this way can generate a combination of many sequences, when there are many types of information to be acquired on the vehicle side, that is, when many partition areas are set over a long distance, or , It is possible to cope with the case where many partition areas are set with a narrow width.

In this case, if the contents of a series of identification codes are specified so that the contents of the identification code group extracted according to the position in the traveling direction of the vehicle are different at all the positions in the traveling direction of the vehicle, the vehicle It is possible to prevent duplication of information (contents of the identification code group) acquired on the side.

Further, in the present invention, by setting identification codes having different contents in adjacent section areas of road markings, a problem caused by setting the same identification code in adjacent section areas, that is, any section area can be defined. It is possible to solve the problem that the information of the identification code obtained by detection cannot be specified.

According to the present invention as described above, a method of acquiring information from a road marking that can accurately identify the position of the vehicle in the traveling direction and provide necessary information to the vehicle or its driver in real time. Information acquisition systems and road markings can be provided.

It is a figure which showed the whole structure of the information acquisition system which is one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which showed the outside line of FIG. It is a block diagram which functionally showed the structure of the information acquisition apparatus of the same embodiment. It is a figure which showed the structure of the protrusion detecting means of FIG. It is an operation explanatory drawing of the same embodiment. It is a figure which showed an example of the whole code string used in the same embodiment.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an information acquisition system according to the present embodiment. In the figure, 10 is a vehicle traveling to the left in the figure, 12 is an outer line as a road marking that extends on the road surface in a band shape and separates the road shoulder and the lane, and 14 is a lane boundary that separates the lane and the lane. Line 16 is a stop line provided in front of an intersection or a pedestrian crossing.

In this example, the identification code described in detail below is set on the outer line 12 starting from the portion in contact with the stop line 16, and the information of the identification code is transmitted by the information acquisition device 30 attached to the vehicle 10. get.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the outer line 12. As shown in the figure, the outer line 12 includes a flat surface portion 20 formed on the road surface and a protrusion 24 protruding upward from the flat surface portion 20. The protrusion 24 is a detection target (scanning target) when information is acquired by using the information acquisition device 30, and has a circular shape in a plan view and an arc shape in which the apex is convex upward in a side view. If the width (outer diameter) of the protrusion 24 is too narrow, it is difficult to form a convex shape, and conversely, if the width is too wide, the amount of paint used increases. Further, if the height of the protrusion 24 is too low, it is difficult to secure the difference in the reflection intensity of the detection beam of the laser radar used for detecting the protrusion 24. On the contrary, if the height of the protrusion 24 is too high and the width is relatively narrow, it is difficult to secure the cross-sectional shape of the protrusion 24. In this example, the size of the protrusion 24 is 4 cm in outer diameter and 5 mm in height, and a flat surface portion with a width of 1.5 cm is secured between the protrusions 24 adjacent to the width direction (direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the vehicle). Has been done.
However, the shape of the protrusion 24 is not limited to this, and can be appropriately changed as long as the shape can measure the difference in reflection intensity and the difference in height. For example, instead of the above-mentioned protrusion 24 having a circular shape in a plan view, a rib extending in a rod shape in the vehicle traveling direction in a plan view may be projected from the plane portion 20 and the rib may be adopted as the protrusion. It is possible.

The outer line 12 has a partition area 22 set in the right direction in the figure, starting from a point in contact with the stop line 16 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2A, the compartmentalized areas 22 are compartmentalized at intervals of 5 cm in the traveling direction of the vehicle 10. Further, the compartment area 22 is divided into three regions 22a, 22b, 22c in the direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the vehicle 10 as shown in FIG. 2B, and is housed in the regions 22a, 22b, 22c. The protrusion 24 is formed as described above. As shown in the figure, the protrusions 24 arranged in the compartment area 22 are arranged in a row in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the vehicle. The width of the compartment area 22 is not limited to 5 cm, and can be appropriately changed within a range in which the protrusions can be accommodated.

The protrusion 24 can be simultaneously applied to the flat surface portion 20 by using a road marking paint, and at that time, glass beads are formed on the surface of the outer line 12 in order to secure a difference in reflection intensity between the road surface and the outer line 12. Etc. may be sprayed and fixed.

In this example, an identification code represented by any one of 0, 1, 2, ... 6, 7 is set for each division area 22 of the outer line 12, and the division area 22 is arranged corresponding to this identification code. The protrusion 24 is provided in the pattern.

Specifically, when the number of identification codes is expressed in binary notation, if the 1st place is "1", a protrusion 24 is provided in the area 22a, and if the 1st place is "0", a protrusion is provided in the area 22a. If 24 is not provided and the number of identification codes is expressed in binary notation as the 2nd place is "1", the protrusion 24 is provided in the region 22b and the 2nd place is "0". shall not provided with projections 24 in the region 22b, the protrusions 24 provided at two ^2's digit "1" if it region 22c in the case of representation further the number of identification codes in binary, 2 ^2-position If is "0", no protrusion is provided in the region 22c.

For example, when the identification code is 0, the binary notation is "000" and the protrusion 24 is not provided in the corresponding partition area 22. If the identification code is 1, the binary notation is "001", and the protrusion 24 is provided only in the area 22a of the corresponding partition area 22, and if the identification code is 7, the binary notation is used. Is "111", and protrusions 24 are provided in the regions 22a, 22b, and 22c of the corresponding partition region 22, respectively.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the information acquisition device 30 attached to the vehicle 10. The information acquisition device 30 uses a laser radar to detect the arrangement of the protrusions 24 in each division region 22, and the division region 30 is based on the arrangement information of the protrusions 24 for each division region 22. The identification code decoding means 34 for acquiring the identification code set in 22, the identification code group extraction means 36 for extracting the identification code group consisting of a plurality of identification codes from the acquired identification codes, and the extracted identification code group. It has an information providing means 38 that identifies the information associated with the vehicle 10 and provides the information to the vehicle 10 or its driver.

The protrusion detecting means 32 detects the arrangement of the protrusions 24 using a laser radar, and is attached to the left side surface of the vehicle body of the vehicle 10 (see FIG. 1). In the protrusion detecting means 32, as shown in FIG. 4, the laser beam (beam) emitted from the light emitting unit 40 is generated in the vehicle side region having a constant positional relationship with the vehicle 10 while the scanning angle is changed by the scanner 42. Scan. Then, the light receiving unit 44 receives the reflection from the outer line 12 located there, the light receiving unit 44 converts the reflected light into a signal, the control unit 46 performs a comparison calculation, etc., and the vehicle is in the compartment area 22. The position information (arrangement information) of the protrusions 24 arranged in the direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of 10 is calculated.
In the protrusion detecting means 32, if the arrangement of the protrusions 24 installed on the road marking can be detected, a means other than the above laser radar, for example, a detecting means using an image by a scanning method or an area method is used. Is also possible.

The identification code decoding means 34 sequentially decodes the identification code set in the partition area 22 based on the arrangement information of the protrusions 24 for each section area 22 obtained by the protrusion detection means 32. For example, in FIG. 5A, when the arrangement information of the protrusion 24 in the portion surrounded by the alternate long and short dash line is obtained, it is identified from the presence of the protrusion 24 in the regions 22a and 22c in the compartmentalized area 22. "5" is decoded as a code.
Further, when the arrangement information of the protrusion 24 of the portion surrounded by the alternate long and short dash line is newly obtained in FIG. 5B as the vehicle advances, the protrusion is formed only in the region 22b in the compartmentalized area 22. Since the body 24 is present, "2" is decoded as the identification code. The information of these decrypted identification codes is separately stored in the storage device.

The identification code group extraction means 36 uses the latest decoded identification code and the three consecutive identification codes from the identification codes decrypted by the identification code decoding means 34 and stored in the storage device. The identification code group is extracted.
For example, in the example of FIG. 5A, when "5" is decoded as the identification code, the latest decoded identification code "5" and the three consecutive identification codes "1,7,3" are used. The identification code group "5173" consisting of the above is extracted. Further, in the example of FIG. 5 (B) in which the vehicle 10 is further advanced from the state of FIG. 5 (A), "2" is newly decoded as the identification code, and the latest decoded identification code "2" and its continuity. The identification code group "2517" consisting of the past three identification codes "5, 1, 7" is newly extracted.

In this example, the latest decoded identification code and a continuous past identification code are linked to form an identification code group, but in some cases, a plurality of identification codes having a certain relationship with the latest identification code may be used. It may be concatenated and extracted as an identification code group.

The information providing means 38 identifies the information associated with the identification code group obtained above, and provides the information to the vehicle 10 or its driver.
In this example, since the compartment areas 22 are set at intervals of 5 cm in the traveling direction, a new identification code group is extracted every time the vehicle 10 advances by 5 cm. Therefore, if the distance information to the stop line 16 (FIG. 1) is registered in advance in the storage device in the vehicle in correspondence with the identification code group, the information providing means 38 can obtain the obtained 4-digit identification code group. Using the number as a key, it is possible to search the storage device and sequentially provide the distance information to the stop line 16 according to the position of the vehicle 10 to the vehicle 10 or the driver in units of a minimum of 5 cm.

According to this example, it is possible to provide various information according to the position of the vehicle 10. For example, by combining the distance information up to the stop line 16 with GPS, the position coordinates of the own vehicle can be specified with higher accuracy than when GPS alone is used.
In addition, if an external database is accessed based on such position information, pinpoint information (for example, traffic jam information, accident information, color information of a traffic light in front, etc.) according to the position of the own vehicle can be provided to the vehicle 10 or its driver. It is also possible to provide.

FIG. 6 is an example of an entire code sequence consisting of a series of identification codes set on the road markings. The entire code sequence shown in the figure is a 2747-digit sequence using numbers from 0 to 7. If one number constituting the entire code string is set as an identification code in each section area 22 of the outer line 12 provided at intervals of 5 cm in width, the identification code can be arranged over 137.35 m and at intervals of 5 cm. 2744 pieces of information according to the position of the vehicle (when a 4-digit identification code group is adopted, it cannot be associated with the information only by the first 3 digits of reading, so 3 less) information is sent to the vehicle 10 or its driver. Can be provided.

Since the numbers adjacent to each other are different in this overall code string, if the identification code is set according to the contents of this overall code string, for example, the same identification code is set in the adjacent partition area 22 of the outer line 12. It is possible to solve a problem that occurs, that is, a problem that it becomes impossible to identify which partition area is detected and the information of the identification code is obtained.

Further, in the whole code sequence of FIG. 6, no matter which part of the four-digit sequence is taken out, only one such partial sequence exists in the whole code sequence and does not overlap with the partial sequence taken out from other parts. Therefore, if the identification code is set according to the contents of the entire code sequence, only one 4-digit sequence obtained by the identification code group extraction means 36 always exists and is extracted at another vehicle position. Since the identification code group and its contents do not overlap, it is possible to effectively prevent a problem of providing incorrect information to the vehicle 10 or its driver.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, but this is merely an example.
The above embodiment is an example in which the identification code is provided on the outer line 12, but in some cases, the identification code can be set on the lane boundary line 14 that separates the lanes from each other. In this way, it is possible to specify not only the position information in the traveling direction of the vehicle but also which lane the vehicle is traveling in among the plurality of lanes.
Further, the present invention can be applied not only to ordinary roads but also to parking lots, theme parks, factories, etc., and the present invention can be implemented in a manner in which various modifications are made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

10 Vehicle 12 Outside line (road marking)
14 lane boundaries (road markings)
22 Section area 24 Projections 30 Information acquisition device 32 Projection detection means 34 Identification code decoding means 36 Identification code group extraction means 38 Information providing means

Claims (6)

Shoulder and lanes and road marking extending in strip shape in the traveling direction of the vehicle as a lane boundary line which divides the outer beam or lane and lane partitioning, and sets an identification code for each partition region defined in said traveling direction , A plurality of protrusion installation areas for installing protrusions corresponding to the values of the identification code are provided in the compartment area along the direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the vehicle, and the arrangement pattern corresponding to the identification code is used. The protrusion is provided in the protrusion installation area in the compartment area,
The protrusions are detected along the traveling direction of the vehicle by using the protrusion detection means attached to the vehicle side, and the protrusions are set in the compartment area based on the obtained arrangement information of the protrusions for each compartment area. A method of acquiring information from a road marking, which comprises acquiring the identified identification code. In claim 1, a plurality of identification codes including the latest identification code are concatenated from the identification codes acquired along the traveling direction and extracted as an identification code group according to the position of the vehicle in the traveling direction. A method of acquiring information from road markings, which is characterized by the fact that In claim 2, the content of the series of identification codes is defined so that the contents of the identification code group extracted according to the position of the vehicle in the traveling direction are different from each other at all the positions in the traveling direction of the vehicle. A method of obtaining information from road markings, which is characterized by being marked. The method for acquiring information from a road marking according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein identification codes having different contents are set in the compartments adjacent to the road marking. A road marking Ru extending in a band shape in the traveling direction of the vehicle and an outer line or lane and lane as the lane boundary line which divides partitions the shoulder and lane identification code for each partition region defined in said traveling direction A plurality of protrusion installation areas for installing protrusions that are set and correspond to the value of the identification code are provided in the compartment area along a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the vehicle, and correspond to the identification code. It said road marking said protrusion on said protrusions installation region of the segment area is provided in the arrangement pattern,
It has an information acquisition device that is attached to the vehicle side and acquires information from the road markings.
The information acquisition device acquires the identification code set in the partition area based on the protrusion detecting means for detecting the protrusion and the detected arrangement information of the protrusion for each of the compartment areas. An information acquisition system characterized by having a means of conversion. A road marking Ru extending in a band shape in the traveling direction of the vehicle and an outer line or lane and lane as the lane boundary line which divides partitions the shoulder and lane identification code for each partition region defined in said traveling direction A plurality of protrusion installation areas that are set and in which protrusions corresponding to the values of the identification codes are installed are provided in the compartment area along a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the vehicle, and the identification code is provided. A road marking which is characterized in that the protrusion is provided in the protrusion installation area in the division area with an arrangement pattern corresponding to the above.

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