JPH10124793A - Device for recognizing position of vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it almost unnecessary to execute maintenance after a device is once buried under a road, to make it resistant to rain or snow in a simple constitution, and to prevent adverse influence on surroundings. SOLUTION: This device is provided with plural oscillation circuits 1-3 with different oscillation frequencies which are constituted of a coil and a capacitor, and arranged with prescribed intervals at a road R side along the road width direction, and a detecting means provided at an automobile V side corresponding to each oscillation circuit 1-3. This detecting means is provided with plural oscillation circuits 11-13 with the same oscillation frequencies as each oscillation frequency of the oscillation circuits 1-3 which are constituted of a coil and a capacitor, and detecting circuit which detects the changing amounts of voltages generated in the oscillation circuits 11-13 by electromagnetic induction connection with the oscillation circuits 1-3, and which of the plural oscillation circuits 1-3 its own vehicle is positioned the closest to can be recognized from the output of the pertinent detecting circuit.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for recognizing a position of an automobile, and more particularly, to an apparatus for recognizing a current position of the automobile in a road width direction during traveling, which can be used particularly as a maintenance-free vehicle. The present invention relates to a position recognition device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various techniques for recognizing the position of an automobile while traveling have been proposed so far, but in many cases, the technique is based on an induction loop. That is, one guidance loop is buried at a predetermined interval on the road surface,
An alternating current is applied to this to generate an alternating magnetic field.

On the other hand, detection coils are provided on the left and right sides of the vehicle body, and the induced electromotive force generated in each detection coil by the alternating magnetic field of the induction loop is compared by a deviation detector via an amplifier. The current position is recognized based on the difference between the induced electromotive forces.

[0004]

However, in this method, an AC power supply for the induction loop must be provided on the side of the road, and maintenance including monitoring of the AC power is required. Moreover, when burying the induction loop, it is necessary to dig not only the buried portion but also the wiring portion of the cable connected to the AC power supply.

[0005] Further, since radio waves are transmitted and received, they are susceptible to the surrounding environment and have poor reliability. It is vulnerable to rain and snow, and may be useless especially in snowy areas. In addition, if a magnetic substance such as an empty can or a metal piece is dumped on a road, there is a possibility that the magnetic substance may be adversely affected. Conversely, the alternating magnetic field of the induction loop may affect other nearby electric facilities.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to eliminate the need for a dedicated AC power supply or the like, to be almost maintenance-free once buried in a road, and to have a configuration. An object of the present invention is to provide a position recognition apparatus for a vehicle which is simple, is resistant to rain, snow, and the like, and does not adversely affect surroundings.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vehicle position recognition device for recognizing a current position of a vehicle in the direction of road width during traveling, comprising a coil and a capacitor. A plurality of resonance circuits arranged at predetermined intervals along the road width direction with different resonance frequencies on the road side, and detection means provided on the automobile side with respect to each of these resonance circuits, The detecting means includes a coil and a capacitor similarly to the resonance circuit, and the same number of oscillation circuits as the resonance circuits, each of which has the same oscillation frequency as each resonance frequency of the resonance circuit,
A detection circuit for detecting a change in voltage (or current) generated in the oscillation circuit by electromagnetic induction coupling with the resonance circuit; and the output of the detection circuit allows the vehicle to be connected to any of the plurality of resonance circuits. It is characterized by recognizing whether it is at a close position.

According to this configuration, it is only necessary to embed a resonance circuit comprising a coil and a capacitor on the road side, and there is no need for an AC power supply or a connection cable therefor. Also,
Since it is electromagnetic induction coupling by a specific resonance frequency, there is no possibility of being affected by the environment such as rain or snow, and since it has a specific band, it is resistant to external noise.

In this case, it is preferable that each of the oscillating circuits is provided in a central portion of the automobile and is simultaneously oscillated. As described above, by placing each oscillation circuit under the same condition, it is possible to more reliably know which oscillation circuit is in the electromagnetic induction coupling state.

Each resonance circuit preferably has a switch that is turned on and off at predetermined time intervals by using an induced voltage generated in the resonance circuit by electromagnetic induction coupling with the oscillation circuit as a power source, and this is affected by the vehicle speed. Without this, the change in voltage (current) on the oscillation circuit side can be accurately detected.

According to the present invention, there is provided a vehicle position recognition device for recognizing a current position of a vehicle in a road width direction while the vehicle is running, the resonance circuit comprising a coil and a capacitor arranged at a predetermined position on the road side. Detecting means provided on the vehicle side with respect to the resonance circuit, wherein the detection means comprises a coil and a capacitor, each of which has a pair of left and right oscillations whose oscillation frequency is the same as the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit. And a comparison circuit for relatively comparing a change in voltage (or current) generated in each of the oscillation circuits by electromagnetic induction coupling with the resonance circuit, and installing the resonance circuit based on an output of the comparison circuit. The present invention is characterized in that the current position of the car is recognized based on the position.

That is, even in the case of using the same electromagnetic induction coupling method, in this case, the frequency of each oscillation circuit is the same for one resonance circuit, and the difference in the voltage (current) change in each oscillation circuit is obtained. Based on which is closer (or farther) to the resonance circuit, the own vehicle position is recognized.

In order to prevent mutual oscillation between the oscillation circuits, it is preferable that the oscillation circuits are magnetically shielded, and that the oscillation circuits are alternately oscillated at predetermined time intervals. .

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, in order to better understand the technical concept of the present invention, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show a first embodiment, and FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, according to the first embodiment, for example, three resonance circuits 1, 2, 3 are buried on the road R side along the road width direction. Each of the resonance circuits 1 to 3 includes a capacitor C and a coil L, and their resonance frequencies are set to different F1, F2, and F3, respectively. For example, the resonance frequency F1 of the resonance circuit 1 is set to 100 kHz.
z, the resonance frequency F2 of the resonance circuit 2 is 120 kHz.
z, the resonance frequency F3 of the resonance circuit 3 is 140 kHz.

The resonance circuit 1 is located closer to the center line CL of the road R, the resonance circuit 2 is located substantially at the center of one side lane of the road R, and the resonance circuit 3 is located near the shoulder RE of the road R. Although they are arranged in a line along the direction, in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG.
One row of the resonance circuits 1 to 3 is installed along the traveling direction at an interval of, for example, about 3 m.

On the other hand, the vehicle (vehicle) V side has 3
Two oscillation circuits 11, 12, 13 are provided. Each of the oscillation circuits 11 to 13 includes a capacitor C and a coil L similarly to the above-described resonance circuit.
Is equal to the resonance frequency of the resonance circuits 1 to 3:
1 corresponds.

That is, the oscillation frequency of the oscillation circuit 11 is F1 which is the same as the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit 1, the oscillation frequency of the oscillation circuit 12 is F2 which is the same as the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit 2, and the oscillation frequency of the oscillation circuit 13 is the resonance circuit 3 , And these oscillation circuits 11 to 13 are arranged concentrically at the center of the vehicle V.

As shown in FIG. 3, each oscillation circuit 1
One end of the LC circuits constituting the circuits 1 to 13 is connected via a frequency divider 21 to an oscillator 22 as an oscillation source, and the other end of the LC circuit is connected to a resistance element 23 for voltage detection. That is, the voltage change of the oscillation circuit (LC circuit) caused by the electromagnetic induction coupling with the resonance circuit on the road R side is detected by the resistance element 2.
3, and the next-stage differential amplifier 24 compares the voltage change with a predetermined reference voltage Vref.

The vehicle V runs with the respective oscillation circuits 11 to 13 excited simultaneously. Therefore, when the center of the vehicle V is on the central resonance circuit 2 buried on the road R side, for example, the oscillation circuit 12 and the resonance circuit 2 are most strongly electromagnetically inductively coupled, and the other oscillation circuits 11 and 13, the detected voltage changes most greatly. Similarly,
When the vehicle V is located on the center line CL side, the oscillation circuit 11 and the resonance circuit 1 are most strongly inductively coupled. When the vehicle V is located on the roadside RE side, the oscillation circuit 13 and the resonance circuit are connected. 3 is most strongly inductively coupled.

As described above, in this embodiment, any of the oscillation circuits 11 to 13 is buried on the road R side by the output of the differential amplifier 24 as a detection circuit provided in each of the oscillation circuits 11 to 13. CPU which is not shown in FIG.
(Central processing unit) recognizes the position of the vehicle.

By the way, the voltage change of the vehicle V side oscillation circuits 11 to 13 due to the electromagnetic induction coupling with the road R side resonance circuits 1 to 3 is affected by the vehicle speed. That is, when the vehicle speed is low, the time axis of the voltage change becomes long, and the rise and fall of the change curve become relatively gentle. On the other hand, when the vehicle speed is high, the time axis of the voltage change is correspondingly short, so that the rise and fall of the change curve are relatively steep.

As described above, the waveforms of the voltage changes of the oscillation circuits 11 to 13 are affected by the vehicle speed of the vehicle V. In order to reliably detect the position of the own vehicle regardless of the vehicle speed, in this embodiment, each resonance circuit 1 3 are configured as shown in FIG.

That is, a switch 31 is provided between a coil L as a resonance circuit and a capacitor C, and a switch drive unit 33 is connected to this resonance circuit via a diode 32 in parallel. In this case, the switch drive unit 33 is configured by a parallel circuit of an electrolytic capacitor 331 for storage and an oscillation circuit 332 that operates using the electrolytic capacitor 331 as a power supply.

By electromagnetic induction with the oscillation circuit on the vehicle V side,
A voltage is induced in the resonance circuit. According to this, the voltage is stored in the electrolytic capacitor 331, whereby the oscillation circuit 332 oscillates, and the switch 31 is turned on and off at a predetermined time interval by the output. Therefore, under the influence of this, the voltage on the oscillation circuit side also changes in a pulse shape as illustrated in FIG. Since the duty ratio of this pulse depends exclusively on the on / off time of the switch 31, it is possible to reliably detect the resonance circuit on the road R and the oscillation circuit on the vehicle V in the electromagnetic induction coupling state regardless of the vehicle speed of the vehicle V. it can.

Next, a second embodiment shown in FIG. 6 will be described. In the first embodiment, for example, three resonance circuits 11 to 13 are arranged in a line along the road width direction of the road R. In the second embodiment, for example, a center line of one lane of the road R is arranged. The resonance circuits 40 are installed at predetermined intervals along the distance. The resonance circuit 40 includes a capacitor C and a coil L as in the resonance circuit of the first embodiment, and the resonance frequency is F4 here.

On the other hand, on the vehicle V side, for example, oscillating circuits 51 and 52 are respectively arranged at two places on the left and right sides of the front face. The position is preferably symmetrical with respect to the center of the vehicle V. Each of the oscillating circuits 51 and 52 includes a capacitor C and a coil L. In this case, the respective oscillating frequencies are both the resonance frequency F4 of the resonance circuit 40.

Although not shown, each of the oscillation circuits 51, 5
As in the first embodiment, an oscillator as a drive source and a voltage detection circuit for detecting a voltage change due to electromagnetic induction coupling with the road R side resonance circuit are connected to the second circuit 2, respectively. In the second embodiment, the respective detection voltages are input to the difference circuit 53.

According to the second embodiment, the oscillation circuit 51,
52 are both electromagnetically coupled to the resonance circuit 40, and the strength of the coupling is proportional to the distance from the resonance circuit 40. That is, assuming that the distance between one oscillation circuit 51 and the resonance circuit 40 is D1, and the distance between the other oscillation circuit 52 and the resonance circuit 40 is D2, the oscillation circuit 51 is obtained when D1 <D2.
Is more affected by the electromagnetic induction coupling with the resonance circuit 40, and conversely, if D1> D2, the oscillation circuit 52 is more affected by the electromagnetic induction coupling with the resonance circuit 40.

Therefore, the difference circuit 53 uses the oscillation circuit 5
By comparing the voltage change of 1 with the voltage change of the oscillation circuit 52, it is possible to recognize which of the vehicle V is shifted with respect to the resonance circuit 40. In this case, the resonance circuit 40 may be configured as shown in FIG. 4 described above, whereby the own vehicle position can be reliably recognized regardless of the vehicle speed.

In the second embodiment, in order to prevent mutual interference (crosstalk) between the oscillation circuit 51 and the oscillation circuit 52, it is necessary to magnetically shield both of them.
Alternatively, the oscillation circuit 51 and the oscillation circuit 52 may be oscillated alternately. However, it is more preferable to oscillate alternately after providing a magnetic shield between them.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is only necessary to embed a resonance circuit consisting of a coil and a capacitor on the road side, and there is no need for an AC power supply or a connection cable therefor. That is, the road side does not need a power supply, and even if it is buried in the road, it is not necessary to dig up to the connection cable, and the burying work can be simplified.

Further, since the electromagnetic induction coupling is performed at a specific resonance frequency, there is no possibility of being affected by the environment such as rain or snow, and further, since it has a specific band, it is strong against external noises. Is done.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view for explaining a state in which each resonance circuit is embedded in a road in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration example of an oscillation circuit mounted on a vehicle side in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration example of a resonance circuit buried in a road in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a waveform chart showing a voltage change in an oscillating circuit mounted on a vehicle in an electromagnetic induction coupling state in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-3, 40 Resonance circuit 11-13, 51, 52 Oscillation circuit 23 Voltage detection resistor 31 Switch 33 Switch drive circuit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on front page (72) Inventor Tadanori Akagi 1-23-19 Asahicho, Machida-shi, Tokyo Inside Honda Electronics Research Institute, Inc.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle position recognition device for recognizing a current position of a vehicle in a road width direction while the vehicle is running, comprising a coil and a capacitor, each having a different resonance frequency on a road side along the road width direction. A plurality of resonance circuits arranged at predetermined intervals, and detection means provided on the vehicle side with respect to each of these resonance circuits, wherein the detection means comprises a coil and a capacitor similarly to the resonance circuit. The same number of oscillation circuits as the resonance circuits, each oscillation frequency of which is the same as each resonance frequency of the resonance circuit,
A detection circuit for detecting a change in voltage (or current) generated in the oscillation circuit by electromagnetic induction coupling with the resonance circuit; and the output of the detection circuit allows the vehicle to be connected to any of the plurality of resonance circuits. An apparatus for recognizing a position of an automobile, wherein the apparatus recognizes whether the vehicle is in a close position. 2. The vehicle position recognition device according to claim 1, wherein each of the oscillation circuits is provided in a central portion of the vehicle and is simultaneously oscillated. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the resonance circuits includes a switch that is turned on and off at predetermined time intervals using an induced voltage generated in the resonance circuit by electromagnetic induction coupling with the oscillation circuit as a power supply. The vehicle position recognition device according to any one of the preceding claims. 4. A vehicle position recognizing device for recognizing a current position of a vehicle in a road width direction during traveling, wherein a resonance circuit comprising a coil and a capacitor arranged at a predetermined position on the road side is used as a counterpart. As a pair of left and right oscillation circuits, each of which comprises a coil and a capacitor, each of which has the same oscillation frequency as the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit, A comparison circuit for relatively comparing a change in voltage (or current) generated in each of the oscillation circuits by electromagnetic induction coupling with the resonance circuit, and based on an output of the comparison circuit, based on an installation position of the resonance circuit. An apparatus for recognizing the position of a vehicle, wherein the current position of the vehicle is recognized. 5. The position recognition device for a vehicle according to claim 4, wherein each of the oscillation circuits is arranged on both right and left sides of the vehicle, and the respective oscillation circuits are magnetically shielded. 6. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein each of the oscillating circuits alternately oscillates at a predetermined time interval.