JPH1063991A - Vehicle tracking device and traffic control system using the device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simply and exactly capture the traveling situation of a vehicle. SOLUTION: A vehicle tracing device constituted of a laser radar 2 and a vehicle tracing processing part 3 is arranged at the side part or upper part of a road. The laser reader 2 scans a laser beam having a prescribed spreading angle to the road, and measures a distance and direction from an observing position to a vehicle based on a time interval since the irradiation of the laser beam until the reception of a reflected light at each scanning position. The vehicle tracing processing part 3 calculates the present position of the vehicle from this measured value, and recognizes the traveling trace of the vehicle by using the timely details of this calculated result.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle tracking device for recognizing the trajectory of a vehicle traveling on a road, and a system for controlling traffic using the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a device for recognizing a traveling locus of a vehicle on a road, a method of processing an image obtained by installing a television camera near or above the road to detect the vehicle on the road is used. Things exist. The traveling trajectory of an airplane, a ship, or the like is generally recognized using a radio wave radar.

[0003]

When the traveling locus is recognized by image processing, the television camera is expensive, and it is necessary to provide an illumination device so that measurement can be performed even at night or in bad weather. There is a problem of getting high. In addition, if a telephoto lens is attached to detect a distant vehicle, the viewing angle will be narrowed, and if a wide angle lens is attached to widen the viewing angle, only vehicles at a short distance can be detected, and vehicles will be detected over a wide range. There is a problem that can not be.

In the case of the method based on image processing, the traveling locus of the vehicle is only estimated from the temporal change in the position of the vehicle on the two-dimensional image, so that highly accurate recognition cannot be expected. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to detect the position of the vehicle by performing three-dimensional measurement processing. However, this method requires a plurality of cameras and requires complicated processing for three-dimensional measurement. It is necessary to prepare enough hardware to do so, which further increases costs and complicates processing.

On the other hand, when it is considered to incorporate a radio wave type radar into this type of device, the size of the device is large, the cost is high, and it is almost impossible to easily install the device near a road.

In recent years, it has been proposed to detect a vehicle on a road by using a radar using a laser beam to recognize an inter-vehicle distance, a degree of road congestion, and the like. This recognition method scans a laser beam on the road from the vicinity of a running vehicle or road, receives reflected light at each scanning position, and determines the position of the vehicle based on the time from irradiation of the laser beam to light reception at each scanning position. It is to recognize. However, according to this method, the position of the vehicle at the present time is merely determined, and the traveling locus is not recognized.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and measures a position of a vehicle by scanning with a laser beam and recognizes a traveling locus of the vehicle based on a temporal change of the measurement result. Accordingly, a first technical problem is to provide a vehicle tracking device that can easily and accurately grasp the progress of a vehicle over a wide area on a road.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a traffic control system capable of safely and accurately controlling the flow of vehicles on a road by performing various types of traffic control using the vehicle tracking device of the above type. Technical issues.

[0009]

A vehicle tracking device according to the present invention comprises: a laser beam scanning unit that scans a road with a laser beam;
Light receiving means for receiving reflected light of laser light from each scanning direction, and at each scanning position, a vehicle on the road based on a time interval from the time when the laser light is irradiated to the time when the reflected light is received. It comprises a measuring means for measuring the position, and a recognizing means for recognizing the traveling locus of the vehicle using the temporal change of the position measured by the measuring means.

[0010] In the invention according to claim 2, the recognizing means associates the measurement result obtained by the measuring means with the measurement result obtained one step before, and uses the association result in the next step. Estimating means for estimating the position of the vehicle, and position setting means for temporarily setting the previously estimated position as the current position of the vehicle for a vehicle for which a measurement result corresponding to the measurement result at the previous stage was not obtained. I have.

[0011] The invention as set forth in claim 3 or less relates to a traffic control system including the vehicle tracking device. First, a traffic control system according to a third aspect of the present invention includes a discriminating unit for discriminating the presence or absence of an obstacle on a road using a traveling locus of a vehicle recognized by the vehicle tracking device, and an obstacle on the road by the discriminating unit. Notification means for notifying the result of the determination to the outside when the determination is made.

A traffic control system according to a fourth aspect of the present invention includes a traveling direction determining means for determining a traveling direction of each vehicle on a road;
For each vehicle, determining means for determining whether the traveling locus recognized by the vehicle tracking device matches the determined traveling direction, and output means for outputting the determination result by the determining means to the outside I have it.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a traffic control system for determining a traveling direction of a specific vehicle from a locus of a traveling direction recognized by the vehicle tracking device for a vehicle located ahead of the specific vehicle. And a notifying means for notifying the traveling direction determined by the discriminating means to a specific vehicle.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a traffic control system for a vehicle approaching a no-travel zone, using the travel locus recognized by the vehicle tracking device to determine whether the vehicle enters the no-travel zone. And warning means for outputting warning information to the outside according to the result of the determination by the determining means.

A traffic control system according to a seventh aspect of the present invention uses a traveling locus recognized by the vehicle tracking device for a vehicle traveling on a curved road to determine whether the vehicle is traveling in a direction deviating from the lane. The apparatus includes a determining unit for determining and a warning unit for outputting warning information to the vehicle or a vehicle on an oncoming lane in accordance with a result of the determination by the determining unit.

In the traffic control system according to the present invention, a vehicle specifying means for specifying a target vehicle at a position before the branch point, and the vehicle specified by the vehicle specifying means are recognized by the vehicle tracking device. The vehicle includes a determination unit that determines which direction the vehicle has traveled using the travel locus, and a control unit that executes a predetermined process based on a determination result by the determination unit.

[0017]

By scanning a laser beam on a road, a wide range on the road can be set as a processing range, and a traveling locus of the vehicle is recognized based on a temporal change in the position of the vehicle measured within this range. Thus, accurate recognition results can be easily obtained. In addition, since the detection method using a laser beam is employed, the configuration of the apparatus is simplified, and there is no need to add an illumination device as in the case of image processing, so that the cost of the apparatus is greatly reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, for each vehicle, the position measured most recently is associated with the position measured one stage before, and the result of the association is determined based on the result of the association. The position is estimated. Although the position was measured in the process one stage before, the position estimated in the previous stage is temporarily set as the current position for the vehicle whose corresponding position was not measured this time. As a result, even if a vehicle that has been recognized up to the previous cycle is hidden behind another vehicle and cannot be recognized, it is possible to continue the tracking of the traveling locus of this vehicle.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the presence or absence of an obstacle on the road is accurately determined based on the recognized traveling trajectory of the vehicle.
The result of the determination is reported to a subsequent vehicle or the like.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when the direction in which each vehicle should travel is determined, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is traveling in the correct direction based on the result of recognition by the vehicle tracking device.
The result of the determination is output to the outside.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the traveling track of the vehicle located ahead of the specific vehicle is recognized by the vehicle tracking device, the direction in which the specific vehicle should travel is determined based on the recognition result, and the specific vehicle is notified. Is done.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the vehicle tracking device accurately determines a vehicle that may enter the no-travel zone and outputs warning information. According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the vehicle tracking device accurately determines a vehicle that may deviate from a lane on a curved road, and outputs warning information.

According to the invention of claim 8, the target vehicle is specified at a position just before the branch point, and thereafter, the running track is recognized by the vehicle tracking device for the specified vehicle, and the processing based on the recognition result is performed. Is executed. As a result, of the vehicles extracted to perform a certain process,
Efficient processing can be performed, such as removing a vehicle that has not progressed in the assumed direction from the processing target in the initial stage.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of a vehicle tracking device according to the first and second aspects of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. According to the drawings following FIG.
Will be described step by step.

[0025]

FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of a vehicle tracking device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. A laser radar 2 for detecting a vehicle on a road with a laser beam and a detection signal from the laser radar 2 are shown. And a vehicle tracking processor 3 for recognizing the traveling locus of the vehicle.

As shown in FIG. 2, the laser radar 2 comprises a laser diode 4 (abbreviated as "LD" in the figure), an LD
It comprises a drive circuit 5, a scanning device 6, a scanning position detecting device 7, a photodiode 8 (abbreviated as "PD" in the figure), a light receiving circuit 9, a control circuit 10, and the like.

The control circuit 10 generates a timing signal at predetermined time intervals, and outputs the timing signal to the LD driving circuit 5 and the scanning device 6.
Output to The LD drive circuit 5 outputs a drive signal to the laser diode 4 in accordance with the timing signal. The scanning device 6 operates at the same timing as the drive signal and outputs the laser light output from the laser diode 4. Is scanned at every predetermined angle. Scanning position detector 7
Is for detecting the scanning direction of the scanning device 6, and the detection result is input to the control circuit 10.

The photodiode 8 is for receiving the laser beam reflected from the reflector of the vehicle on the road, and the detection signal is input to the control circuit 10 via the light receiving circuit 9. The control circuit 10 calculates the distance from the observation position to the vehicle based on the delay time from the irradiation of the laser beam to the light reception, and detects the direction of the vehicle as viewed from the observation position from the scanning position at this time.

The vehicle tracking processor 3 includes a laser radar 2
After calculating the current position of the vehicle on the basis of the distance and direction detected by the above, the traveling result of the vehicle is recognized by associating the calculation result with the position data of the same vehicle calculated one step before. This recognition result is stored in a memory inside the device, and is also appropriately output to various control devices described later.

FIG. 3 shows an installation example of the vehicle tracking device 1 together with a scanning area of a laser beam. The vehicle tracking device 1 in this embodiment accommodates and deploys the laser radar 2 and the vehicle tracking processing unit 3 in a housing, and is mounted on a support 12 provided on the road side of a road 11 (or a median strip). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the laser radar 2 may be mounted above the support, and the vehicle tracking unit may be mounted on the side of the support 12 or the like. The installation location is not limited to the side of the road,
As shown in another embodiment described later, a gantry may be used and provided at a position above a road.

The laser radar 2 is capable of moving θx,
A laser beam 13 having a spread angle of θy in the vertical direction is
It scans at a scan angle of η in the horizontal direction,
As a result, a wide area on the road is scanned by the laser light scanning area 14.
Contained within. Although the laser beam is one-dimensionally scanned here, the present invention is not limited to this.
May be two-dimensionally scanned with the laser light with the aperture narrowed down.

FIGS. 4 (1) and 4 (2) show specific examples of setting the scanning area of the laser beam on a road having two lanes on each side. FIG. () Shows images of the road observed from the side. The point O in the figure indicates the irradiation position of the laser beam, that is, the substantial observation position.
m and a height of 7 m. The angle θ
y is set to about 6 degrees, and the scanning angle η is set to about 10 degrees. In the illustrated example, the width of one lane is assumed to be 3.5 m, which indicates that large vehicles C1 to C5 such as trucks are running on the road.

In the case of the illustrated example, the road surface within a range of about 50 m ahead to 160 m ahead of the observation position O is included in the scanning area 14 by the above setting. In the drawing, regions r1 and r2 indicated by oblique lines are regions where the laser beam is blocked by the vehicle (hereinafter, these are referred to as “blind spot regions”).
In the illustrated example, the vehicles C1 to C5 run with a sufficient inter-vehicle distance (vehicles C1 to C3 and vehicle C2).
The laser beam has reached all the vehicles C1 to C5). The laser beam has reached about 35m between -C4 and about 55m between the vehicles C4 and C5.

Although not shown here, in the case of the above setting, when a small car is detected, the inter-vehicle distance of about 25 m is sufficient. Further, the setting of the detection area is not limited to the above, and is appropriately set according to the road width, the number of lanes, and the like.

FIG. 5 shows a control procedure of the vehicle tracking processing section 3. A series of procedures for recognizing a traveling locus will be described below with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 5, T indicates the scanning cycle of laser light (the time required for one cycle of scanning), and V indicates the highest traveling speed considered as a vehicle. L is the distance from the observation position O to the end of the detection area (hereinafter, this L is referred to as "maximum detection distance L").

The processing of the vehicle tracking processing section 3 is started when a new scan of laser light is started by the laser radar 2. When a vehicle exists in any one of the scanning directions, the processing of the vehicle is performed. Light reflected from the reflector enters the light receiving unit, and the distance and direction from the observation position to the vehicle are measured. Thereby, step 1 is "YES".
Then, the process proceeds to step 2 and subsequent steps.

First, in step 2, the vehicle tracking processing unit 3
After calculating the current position of the vehicle based on the measurement value input from the laser radar 2, the vehicle is closest to the measurement value among the vehicles detected during the previous processing (that is, at the time of scanning one cycle before the laser beam). The vehicle at the position is searched (step 3).

The internal memory of the vehicle tracking processor 3 stores measured values such as a detected position and a moving speed of the vehicle and an estimated position to be described later in association with data for identifying the detected vehicle. The information is stored in the order of processing (hereinafter, these information are collectively referred to as “vehicle information”), and the search processing in step 3 is performed by comparing the latest vehicle detection position in the vehicle information with the calculated position. Done. As a result, when the corresponding vehicle information is found, the vehicle tracking processing unit 3 calculates the distance from the latest detected position of the searched vehicle to the position measured this time in the next step 4, and calculates the calculated value. The maximum distance VT that the vehicle can travel during one cycle of scanning (hereinafter referred to as "maximum movement distance")
Compare with

For example, the scanning period T of the laser beam is 40 ms.
When the maximum speed V of the vehicle is set to 180 km / h under the conditions described above, the maximum distance the vehicle moves during one cycle of scanning is 2 m. Therefore, if the calculated value of the distance is within 2 m, the measured position is recognized as the latest position information of the searched vehicle, and the moving speed of the vehicle is calculated (step 5).

FIG. 6 shows the principle of calculating the moving distance and moving speed of the vehicle. When a certain vehicle moves from the point P to the point Q as in the illustrated example, the moving distance PQ of the vehicle is determined by the distances OP and OQ from the observation position O to the points P and Q, and the movement of the vehicle. The following (1) using the angle change θ
It is expressed by an equation.

[0041]

(Equation 1)

Here, the position of each point P and Q and the observation position O
Is already measured, the distances OP, OQ, and the angle θ are calculated from the measured values and applied to the equation (1) to calculate the movement distance PQ. Further, the moving speed v of the vehicle is calculated by applying the moving distance PQ and the scanning cycle T to the following equation (2).

[0043]

(Equation 2)

Next, the vehicle tracking processing section 3 assumes that the vehicle further moves in the same direction at the same speed, and estimates the position where this vehicle is detected in the next processing (step 6). As shown in FIG. 7, assuming that the detected position of the vehicle at the time of the next processing is point R, the moving distance QR of the vehicle at that time is equal to the moving distance PQ at the present time. The distance OR to the point R is calculated by the following equation (3).

[0045]

(Equation 3)

Since the scanning interval T is sufficiently faster than the moving speed v of the vehicle, it can be considered that the angle change θ ′ due to the movement from the point Q to the point R approximates the angle change θ. Therefore, the position where this vehicle is detected in the next scanning cycle of the laser beam is estimated from the distance OR and the angle change θ ′. The triangle OPQ and the triangle OPR may be applied to the cosine theorem to calculate the angle change θ ′ and the distance OR more accurately.

Returning to FIG. 5, the vehicle tracking processor 3
Determines whether the vehicle is present in the detection area at the next processing by comparing the estimated distance OR obtained by the above processing with the maximum detection distance L (step 7). When the determination is “YES”, the vehicle tracking processing unit 3 registers the estimated position of the vehicle together with the current position and the moving speed of the vehicle obtained in the steps 2 and 5 as the latest vehicle information. (Step 8).

On the other hand, the estimated distance OR is equal to the maximum detection distance L
Is exceeded, step 7 is “NO”, and the vehicle tracking processing unit 3 excludes this vehicle as a passing vehicle from the next processing target, and calculates the vehicle information based on the time-series data of the vehicle information generated so far. The traveling locus information of this vehicle is created (step 8). This information is output to a memory in the device or an external device.

When the scanning of the laser beam for one cycle is completed, step 10 becomes "YES" and the process proceeds to step 11, and the vehicle tracking processing unit 3 executes the processing up to this point.
It is checked whether new vehicle information has been generated for all vehicles detected during the previous process. If this determination is "YES", the process at this stage ends, and the process starts again at the start of the next scan of the laser beam.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step 11 that there is a vehicle for which new vehicle information has not been generated, the vehicle tracking processing unit 3 determines that this vehicle is currently in a blind spot area of another vehicle. The vehicle is recognized as being present (hereinafter, this vehicle is referred to as a "blind spot vehicle"), and the result of the recognition is registered in the memory (step 12). Further, the vehicle tracking processing unit 3
In the next step 13, the estimated position calculated in the previous process for this vehicle is provisionally set as the current vehicle position, and the process ends.

Further, the scanning of the next cycle is started,
When the determination in step 4 is “NO” after the processing in steps 2 and 3, that is, the distance from the previous detection position of the vehicle searched in step 3 to the current measurement position is the maximum movement distance L. When the vehicle count exceeds, the vehicle tracking processing unit 3 recognizes that the vehicle at the measured position is a vehicle different from the searched vehicle, and determines whether there is a vehicle registered as a blind spot vehicle in the previous process. It is checked whether or not it is (step 14). When the determination is “YES”, the vehicle tracking processing unit 3 further calculates the distance from the temporarily set position of the blind spot vehicle to the measurement position, and compares the calculated value with the maximum movement distance V · T. I do. If this determination is "YES", the measured value is recognized as information relating to a vehicle registered as a blind spot vehicle, and registration of the blind spot vehicle is canceled (steps 15 and 16).

Thereafter, the vehicle tracking processing section 3 proceeds to step 5
The speed is calculated for the vehicle from which the registration of the blind spot vehicle has been canceled by using the current detected position and the position provisionally set last time, and thereafter, the same processing as described above is executed. If the determination in step 14 or 15 is “NO”, the vehicle tracking processing unit 3 recognizes that the current detection result is that of a vehicle that has newly entered the detection area, and as new vehicle information. Register in memory (Step 1
7).

FIGS. 8 (1) to 8 (5) show two vehicles A and B.
Is shown at predetermined time intervals (every 0.5 seconds in the illustrated example). From the state where both vehicles are running together (at time 0), the speed of vehicle B increases and the speed of vehicle A increases. It is assumed that you have overtaken and changed lanes ahead of it. In the illustrated example, until the vehicle B changes lanes (until 1.0 seconds later), both the vehicles A and B receive the laser beam, and their positions can be detected. However, 1.
After 5 seconds, the vehicle B is in the process of changing lanes and is in the blind spot area r by the vehicle A, and it is impossible to detect its position.

FIGS. 9 (1) to 9 (5) correspond to FIGS.
It shows the detection result of the vehicle position at each stage of (1) to (5), and in the figure, the mark ● indicates the position directly measured by the laser beam. As described above, the position of each of the vehicles A and B is detected for one second after the start of the process, but the position of the vehicle B after 1.5 seconds is the position estimated by the process of the previous stage. (Indicated by a circle in the drawing).

Thereafter, when the vehicle B moves to a position far away from the vehicle A (after 2.0 seconds), it is detected again. FIG. 10 shows the recognition results J _A and J of the traveling trajectories of the vehicles A and B obtained from the transition of the detection results shown in FIG.
_In the figure, the running locus based on the actual measurement value is indicated by a solid line, and the running locus including the estimated position information is indicated by a broken line. By estimating the position of a vehicle that cannot be detected due to entering the blind spot area in this way, the traveling trajectory of one vehicle can be recognized without interruption, and the recognition accuracy is greatly improved. be able to.

The traveling trajectory information recognized by the vehicle tracking device 1 is input to another control device (either an independent device or may be incorporated in the vehicle tracking device 1) and used for various traffic controls. Hereinafter, a specific example of the traffic control system will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, FIG. 11 shows an example in which the presence or absence of an obstacle that hinders traveling is determined.
The vehicle tracking device 1 is deployed on the road in the traveling direction of the vehicle, and a display plate 16 for displaying warning information and the like is deployed toward the vehicle before passing through the gantry 15. ing. The road in the illustrated example has three lanes a,
Each of the lanes b and c is separated from each other at predetermined intervals according to the distance from the observation position, so that each time the vehicle travels a predetermined distance, which lane is located is recognized. In the drawings, L1 to L8 are symbols for identifying the arrival point of the vehicle.

FIG. 12 shows an example of the result of recognition of the traveling locus by the vehicle tracking device 1. In the illustrated example, the traveling trajectories of the three vehicles A, B, and C are shown in parallel, ignoring the order in which they are recognized, for the sake of simplicity.

FIG. 13 is a table showing the traveling locus of each vehicle shown in FIG.
When the vehicle travels to each of the positions L8 to L8, the lane a, b, or c is shown. In the illustrated example, the vehicle A always travels on the lane a, and the vehicle B changes the traveling route to the lane b when reaching the position L5. In the case of the vehicle C, the traveling route is changed from the lane b to the lane c at the position of L5, and then the vehicle C is immediately returned to the lane b.

A control device (not shown) checks a vehicle having a traveling locus whose lane is changed only at a certain position, such as the vehicle C, from the traveling locus of each vehicle. When it is recognized that a predetermined number of vehicles traveling in the same lane change lanes only at a specific position, it is determined that an obstacle exists at the specific position, and warning information is output to the display board 16. I do. In the case of the illustrated example, if a traveling locus similar to that of the vehicle C is recognized in a plurality of vehicles following the vehicle C, it is determined that an obstacle exists at the position of L5 in the lane b, and the warning information is output. Will be. If the control device is connected to a management center or the like via a line to transmit information indicating that an obstacle has been determined, the obstacle can be quickly removed.

FIG. 14 shows an embodiment in which an obstacle in a tunnel is detected by the above system. In this case, the vehicle tracking device 1 is provided near the entrance of the tunnel.
The laser beam is scanned over the region up to the exit in the tunnel. The display plate 16 is provided at a position in front of the tunnel, and when an obstacle is detected in the tunnel, the same warning information as above is displayed to the following vehicle 17. According to such a system configuration, it is possible to accurately recognize the traveling trajectory of the vehicle even if there is no illumination in the tunnel, and the cost is significantly reduced as compared with a device using conventional image processing. Become.

FIG. 15 shows an example in which the vehicle tracking device 1 is used.
An example is shown in which the progress of vehicles is arranged at a position upstream of a tollgate on a highway. This system guides a vehicle equipped with a card for automatically paying a high-speed toll and a general vehicle to different lanes, respectively, and a first gantry 15A provided at an identification point of the vehicle and a vehicle guidance system. A second gantry 15B for disposing the display board 16;
They are arranged at a predetermined distance.

In the first gantry, communication devices 18 for communicating with a card-mounted vehicle are provided.
A vehicle tracking device 1 according to the present invention is provided, and these devices 1 and 18 and a front display panel 16 are provided on the side of the road.
And a control device 19 for controlling the control. In the figure, a halftone dot portion 29 is a detection area of the vehicle tracking device 1, and a portion including a road completely in the scanning region of the laser beam is set as the detection area.

The communication device 18 transmits predetermined information to a vehicle passing below the gantry 15A, and determines that a vehicle responding to this information is a card-equipped vehicle and a vehicle that does not respond is a general vehicle. . The control device 19 inputs the discrimination result to determine the direction in which each vehicle should proceed, and instructs the vehicle on which the card is mounted to proceed to the non-stop lane, and proceeds to the normal manned lane for the ordinary vehicle. Is displayed on the display panel 16.

The second gantry 15B has a detection area 1
9 is installed near the extreme end. First gantry 15
The recognition result of the traveling locus of each vehicle that has passed A
9 and the control device 19 compares the input traveling locus with the result of discrimination of the vehicle, and checks whether each vehicle is traveling in an appropriate direction.
As a result, when a vehicle traveling in a direction different from the instructed direction is determined, the control device 19 transmits the determination result to a management center or the like in front of the tollgate. Thus, a vehicle traveling in the wrong direction is guided to another direction before entering the tollgate, and confusion can be prevented.

FIG. 16 shows a system for guiding a vehicle at a position immediately before a tollgate. A first gantry 15C is installed just before a branch point to each booth of a tollgate 22 and an upstream side thereof. In addition, a second gantry 15D is installed at a predetermined distance.

The first gantry 15C is provided with the vehicle tracking device 1 according to the present invention, and the traveling trajectory of the vehicle passing under the first gantry 15C is recognized. This recognition result is input to a control device (not shown),
The degree of crowding in each booth is determined, and from this determination result, it is determined which booth the subsequent vehicle is to be guided to.

A display plate 16 is provided on the second gantry 15D toward the upstream side. This display board 16
Is for displaying the information indicating the direction of travel determined by the control device to the following vehicle, whereby each vehicle is guided to proceed to the least busy booth and the toll booth 22 is displayed.
Can be passed smoothly. In the figure, 20 is
In the non-stop lane described above, the communication device 18 is provided upstream of the second gantry, and a vehicle to proceed to the non-stop lane is determined. As a result, for card-equipped vehicles, instruction information for proceeding to the non-stop lane is created and displayed on the display panel 16.

FIG. 17 shows another embodiment of the traffic control system. In this embodiment, a driving prohibited area 2 such as a construction site is used.
The vehicle tracking device 1 according to the present invention is provided at a position just before the no-travel zone, and determines the speed and travel locus of the vehicle approaching the no-travel zone 23. To check. In the figure, reference numeral 24 denotes a vehicle guidance line, and reference numeral 16 denotes a display plate for displaying warning information. Reference numeral 25 denotes an alarm device for notifying a worker or the like in a travel-prohibited area of danger.

FIG. 18 shows the embodiment of FIG.
2 shows a control procedure by a control device that receives a recognition result from the vehicle tracking device 1. First, the control device performs the first step 1
Then, the newly detected speed of the vehicle is checked, and when this speed exceeds a predetermined reference value _VTH , the display panel 1
6, information for prompting a deceleration instruction is displayed (step 2).

In the next step 3, the control device calculates the time required for the vehicle to reach the no-travel zone 23 from the current position and speed of the vehicle, and calculates the calculated value as a predetermined threshold value T ₁ . Compare. If the arrival time is less than the threshold value T _1, the operation proceeds to step 4 determination at the step S3 is "YES", the running locus of the vehicle is checked.
Note that the comparison process in step 3 is performed after the process in step 2 or when step 1 is “NO”, that is, regardless of the traveling speed of the vehicle.

When it is determined from the traveling locus recognized by the vehicle tracking device 1 that the vehicle is traveling on the lane 26 having the no-travel zone 23, the flow shifts to step 5 to change to another lane. Instruction information to move is displayed.

When it is determined from the output result of the vehicle tracking device 1 that the vehicle has changed lanes, step 6 becomes "YES" and the process returns to the initial processing. In contrast,
Further, when it is determined that the vehicle travels toward the travel-prohibited area 23, the process proceeds to step 8, and the time required for the vehicle to reach the travel-prohibited area 23 is equal to the threshold value T.
It is compared with a smaller threshold value T ₂ than _1. Also, if it is determined in step 4 that the vehicle is not traveling on the lane 26 with the no-travel zone 23, the traveling locus is further checked (step 7). If an intruding motion is recognized, the process proceeds to step 8.

[0074] time vehicle in step 8 reaches the travel-restricted area 23 when it is determined that the threshold T ₂ or more, movement of the vehicle is checked again returns to step 6. Eventually, the vehicle approaches the no-go area 23 without changing lanes, and the measured value of the arrival time is the threshold T.
_If it exceeds ₂ , step 8 becomes "YES" and an alarm is output from the alarm device 25.

According to the above-described processing, even if the vehicle is traveling on a certain lane in the no-travel zone 23, the warning is not activated if this vehicle is about to change lanes, so that construction work is performed. Work is not interrupted unnecessarily when it is done. In addition, vehicles that may enter the no-go area, such as a vehicle that is traveling in another lane suddenly changing course to the no-go area, can be accurately identified. Can be.

FIG. 19 shows another setting example of the traffic control system. This embodiment is for checking whether there is a possibility of colliding with an oncoming vehicle on a curved road, and in the vicinity of a corner, two vehicle tracking devices for recognizing a traveling locus of a vehicle traveling from each direction. Devices 1, 1 are provided.
In each direction, display plates 16 and 16 for notifying the traveling vehicle of danger are provided at positions before the corners.

The traveling locus data of the vehicle obtained by each vehicle tracking device 1 is input to a control device (not shown). The control device first checks the detected traveling speed of the vehicle as in the embodiment of FIGS. 17 and 18, and controls the vehicle traveling at a speed exceeding the safe speed determined from the radius of curvature of this curve. Execute warning processing such as displaying a deceleration instruction.

Further, the control device checks the detected traveling trajectory of the vehicle. This determination process is performed regardless of the speed of the vehicle, as in the above-described embodiment. If the vehicle deviates from the center line,
Warning information is output to the display panel 16 on the opposite lane side. Especially on a curved road, regardless of the running speed of the vehicle, collision accidents due to steering error etc. occur frequently. Therefore, it is necessary to accurately recognize the running locus of the vehicle using the vehicle tracking device 1 according to the present invention. Accordingly, a vehicle that may cause an accident can be accurately determined and an appropriate response can be made.

FIG. 20 shows an example in which the vehicle tracking device 1 is introduced into a system for measuring the time required for traveling between predetermined areas. The illustrated example shows the configuration at the start point of time measurement. The gantry 1 is located just before the branch point between the main line 27 of the highway and the introduction path 28 to the tollgate.
5, a number recognition device 30 for recognizing the vehicle number and the vehicle tracking device 1 are provided. In the figure, 31 is the observation position by the number recognition device, 32
Indicates a detection area of the vehicle tracking device 1.

The number recognizing device 30 has a television camera, and recognizes the vehicle number of the vehicle that has passed through the gantry 15 from an image obtained by imaging the observation position at a predetermined timing. This recognition result is transmitted to a center device (not shown) and registered as information for identifying the vehicle to be processed.

The vehicle tracking device 1 recognizes the running trajectory of the vehicle whose vehicle number has been recognized by the number recognition device 30. The recognition result is transmitted to the center device in the same manner as the vehicle number. You. The center device receives the transmission information, determines whether the vehicle registered as a processing target has proceeded to the main line 27 as it is or has changed its course to the introduction path 28, and determines the vehicle that has proceeded to the introduction path 28 as the registration information. Remove from.

According to the above-described processing, only vehicles traveling to the destination at the initial stage can be extracted, so that the processing can be made more efficient. Also, since there is no need to store a large amount of information on vehicles in the center device, the memory capacity can be reduced,
High-precision measurement processing can be realized at low cost.

[0083]

As described above, according to the present invention, the position of a vehicle on a road is measured by a laser beam scanned on the road, and the running locus of the vehicle is recognized by using the time change of the measured position. Therefore, a wide range on the road can be set as the processing range, and the traveling locus of the vehicle can be easily and accurately recognized within this range. In addition, since the detection method using a laser beam is employed, the configuration of the apparatus is simplified, and there is no need to add an illumination device as in the case of image processing, so that the cost of the apparatus is greatly reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, each time the laser beam is scanned, the position of the detected vehicle at the time of the next laser beam scan is estimated, and the position of the detected vehicle is determined in the next cycle. When the measurement value was not obtained, the previously estimated vehicle position was provisionally set as the current position, so it is possible to continue tracking the running trajectory of the vehicle that was hidden behind other vehicles and could not be recognized Thus, highly accurate recognition processing can be performed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the presence or absence of an obstacle on the road is determined based on the recognized traveling trajectory of the vehicle, and the result of the determination is notified to the outside. Accidents can be prevented. .

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, after the direction in which each vehicle should travel is determined, based on the recognition result by the vehicle tracking device,
Since it is determined whether the vehicle is traveling in the right direction and the result of the determination is output to the outside, it is possible to quickly and accurately determine the vehicle traveling in the wrong direction and take an appropriate response. it can.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, after the traveling track of the vehicle located ahead of the specific vehicle is recognized by the vehicle tracking device, the direction in which the specific vehicle should proceed is determined based on the recognition result, and the specific vehicle is notified. Therefore, the specific vehicle can be appropriately guided according to the traveling route of the preceding vehicle.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the vehicle tracking device determines a vehicle that may enter the no-go area and outputs warning information. According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the vehicle tracking device changes the lane on a curved road. Since the vehicle that may deviate is determined and the warning information is output, the vehicle that may cause an accident can be reliably recognized, and an appropriate warning process can be executed.

According to the invention of claim 8, after the target vehicle is specified at the position before the branch point, the running track is recognized by the vehicle tracking device for the specified vehicle, and the processing based on the recognition result is performed. Therefore, efficient processing can be performed, such as removing a vehicle that has not progressed in the assumed direction among vehicles extracted for performing a certain process from an object to be processed in an initial stage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a vehicle tracking device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of a laser radar.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an installation example of a vehicle tracking device together with a scanning region of a laser beam.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific setting example of a scanning region of a laser beam.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control procedure relating to recognition of a traveling route.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a principle of calculating a moving distance and a moving speed of a vehicle.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a principle of estimating a vehicle position in a next stage.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the history of traveling states of two vehicles.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a result of detecting a vehicle position in each stage of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a recognition result of a running locus for each vehicle in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration example of a traffic control system.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a recognition result of a traveling locus of a vehicle.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an example in which the recognition results of FIG. 12 are tabulated.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of the system in FIG. 11;

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the traffic control system.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the traffic control system.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the traffic control system.

18 is a flowchart showing a control procedure in the system of FIG.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the traffic control system.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the traffic control system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 vehicle tracking device 2 laser radar 3 vehicle tracking processing unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Takao Matsui Omron Co., Ltd.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A laser beam scanning unit for scanning a laser beam on a road, a light receiving unit for receiving a reflected beam of a laser beam from each scanning direction, and a reflection at each scanning position from the time when the laser beam is irradiated. Measuring means for measuring the position of the vehicle on the road based on the time interval until the light is received, and recognizing means for recognizing the running trajectory of the vehicle using a temporal change in the position measured by the measuring means And a vehicle tracking device. 2. The recognizing means associates a measurement result obtained by the measuring means with a measurement result obtained one step before, and estimates a position of the vehicle in a next step using the association result. And a position setting means for temporarily setting a previously estimated position as a current position of the vehicle for a vehicle for which a measurement result corresponding to the measurement result of the previous stage was not obtained. Vehicle tracking device as described. 3. A system including the vehicle tracking device according to claim 1, wherein the presence / absence of an obstacle on a road is determined by using a traveling trajectory of the vehicle recognized by the vehicle tracking device. A traffic control system comprising: a discriminating means for discriminating; and a notifying means for notifying a result of the discrimination to the outside when the discriminating means discriminates that there is an obstacle on a road. 4. A system including the vehicle tracking device according to claim 1, wherein a traveling direction determining means for determining a traveling direction of each vehicle on a road; A traffic comprising: discriminating means for discriminating whether or not a traveling locus recognized by a vehicle tracking device matches the determined traveling direction; and output means for outputting a discrimination result by the discriminating means to the outside. Control system. 5. A system including the vehicle tracking device according to claim 1, wherein a vehicle located ahead of the specific vehicle has a traveling direction recognized by the vehicle tracking device. A traffic control system comprising: a determination unit that determines a direction in which the specific vehicle should travel from a trajectory; and a notification unit that notifies the specific vehicle of the traveling direction determined by the determination unit. 6. A system including the vehicle tracking device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a vehicle approaching a travel-prohibited area uses a traveling locus recognized by the vehicle tracking device. A traffic control system comprising: a discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the vehicle enters the no-travel zone; and a warning means for outputting warning information to the outside according to a discrimination result by the discriminating means. . 7. A system including the vehicle tracking device according to claim 1, wherein a vehicle traveling on a curved road is determined by using a traveling locus recognized by the vehicle tracking device. Determining means for determining whether or not the vehicle is traveling in a direction deviating from the lane; and warning means for outputting warning information to the vehicle or a vehicle on an oncoming lane according to a determination result by the determining means. Traffic control system. 8. A system including the vehicle tracking device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a vehicle specifying unit that specifies a target vehicle at a position before the branch point, and the vehicle specifying unit. A determination unit that determines, in the direction specified by the vehicle, the direction in which the vehicle has traveled, using a traveling locus recognized by the vehicle tracking device; and a predetermined process based on the determination result by the determination unit. A traffic control system comprising: control means for performing the following.