JPS63206900A - Automobile operation system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a vehicle operation system for controlling vehicle traffic.

[Conventional technology]

With the rapid increase in the number of automobiles in recent years, convenient automobile operation has become difficult for drivers and road administrators. Chronic traffic jams.

Irregular road construction and complicated road signs and road markings are cited as contributing factors.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Conventionally, road traffic information by broadcast or telephone, electronic display devices on roads, etc. have been used to solve this problem. However, time delays are unavoidable in the display and reporting by these devices, and only uniform and fragmented information is displayed and reported.
It was not possible to provide the more detailed information requested by individual motorists.

In addition, there are often times when driving a car, such as when it is the first time to go to a certain destination or when it is necessary to memorize a route that has been taken once.
The reality is that the only way to do this is to ask someone with experience or use a road map. However, since this information is also based on past experience, it often does not reflect real-time information such as the occurrence of traffic jams and traffic control zones, and is not necessarily what the driver desires.

From the standpoint of road administrators, it would be advantageous if road information could be communicated to each vehicle driver from moment to moment in order to minimize the impact of traffic regulations and prevent traffic congestion as much as possible. However, as mentioned above, the current road traffic information and electronic display devices cannot be said to be sufficiently effective.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to solve the above-mentioned problems in conventional vehicle operation systems, to detect the operation status of each vehicle in real time, and to detect the operation status of each vehicle in real time. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle operation system that enables each vehicle to operate according to an optimal operation method.

[Means for solving problems]

The above-mentioned object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle operation system that is operated by referring to road markings and signs installed on or near the road and displaying road guidance information or various markings and signs based on laws and regulations.・A sign/sign reading means for identifying the presence of a sign and reading its contents;
a driving condition calculating means for calculating the driving condition of the automobile based on the content read by the a11a reading means; driving condition recognizing means for recognizing various operating conditions of the automobile; and the driving condition calculating means and driving condition recognizing means. A vehicle operation system, characterized in that a vehicle operation unit is mounted on a vehicle, and a vehicle operation unit having a vehicle operation method determining means that determines an optimal vehicle operation method based on the content of the vehicle, or a vehicle operation system that identifies the presence of the road marking/sign. A sign/marker reading means for reading the contents, a driving condition calculating means for calculating the operating status of the vehicle based on the contents read by the sign/marker reading means, and an operating condition for recognizing various operating conditions of the automobile. A vehicle operation unit is mounted on the vehicle, and the vehicle operation unit includes a recognition means, a means for transmitting the contents of the operation status calculation means and the operation condition recognition means to the outside, and a means for receiving operation information from the outside. a driving method determining means for determining an optimal vehicle operating method based on the contents of the driving condition calculating means and the driving condition recognizing means transmitted from the driving method determining means, and transmitting information on the determination result by the driving method determining means to each vehicle. This is achieved by an automobile operation system characterized by providing an information center having means for

[Effect]

In the vehicle operation system according to the present invention, the operation status of each vehicle is detected from signs and signs on the road or near the road, and each vehicle determines the optimal operation method for itself, or the center determines the optimal operation method based on the above information. make appropriate judgments,
This will ensure that each vehicle follows the
It becomes possible for each vehicle driver and road administrator to achieve optimal vehicle operation.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 18 to 1n are road signs/road markings, 2a to 2n
Reference numeral 3 indicates an operation unit, which will be described later, and 3 indicates an information center, which will also be described later. The above road signs/road markings (hereinafter referred to as "road signs, etc.") la to 1n are installed on or near the road, and contain the contents of various road signs based on laws such as the Road Traffic Act, municipal numbers, and roads. Road guide information such as number, intersection number 9 destination, bridge/road name, etc. can be visually identified by letters (numbers) in a uniform typeface, bar code, Carla code, etc., and optically. target, magnetic, radio waves, or ultrasound.

Figure 0, which refers to displays using various automatic identification methods such as those using electromagnetic fields, shows displays using a combination of numbers and barcodes that should be read optically.

The operation units 2a to 2n are installed in each vehicle, and in detail, the road sign reading means 4
．． Operation status calculation means 5. Input/output means 6 and small wireless transmitter/receiver 7. It is composed of operation method determining means 8 and the like. The reading means 4 is for optically reading the road signs, etc., and the driving situation calculating means 5 is configured by a small computer or numerical processor, and calculates the current position and speed of the vehicle.

It has the function of calculating vehicle operating conditions such as the direction of travel. In addition, the input/output means 6 includes a driving condition recognition unit that recognizes various conditions for driving the car, such as the destination of the car, the expenses necessary for the operation, the desired time required to reach the destination, and their priority order. It has the function of a notification means for notifying the driver of operating conditions.

The small wireless transmitter/receiver 7 is a transmitting/receiving means for an operation method using UHF or SHF band radio waves or ultrasonic waves as a carrier wave, and the operation method determining means 8 is realized by a program function of a small computer.

The information center 3 is composed of a comprehensive operation method judgment means 9 and a comprehensive operation method transmission/reception means 10, and the comprehensive operation method judgment means 9 is composed of a large-scale computer for making judgments and a database for storing judgment criteria. ing. Further, the comprehensive operation method transmitting/receiving means 10 is a means for communicating with the above-mentioned small wireless transmitter/receiver 7.

The operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained below.

First, a case will be described in which each vehicle independently determines its optimal operating method without using the information center 3.

The reading means 4 in the operation units 2a to 2n mounted on each vehicle always reads road signs, etc. 1 on the road or near the road.
It is installed to capture road signs 1a to 1n that appear one after another, and identifies their meanings and contents.

Each time a road sign etc. 1a to 1n is captured, the meaning and content of the road sign etc. 18 to 1n is sent to the driving situation calculation means 5, and the geographical position, traveling speed, traveling direction or road The operating status of the vehicle, such as up and down directions, is calculated.

On the other hand, the driver uses the input/output means 6.

Enter operating requirements such as destination, stopover, minimum time, minimum amount of fuel consumed, etc. The operation method judgment means 8 is
Upon receiving the operation status from the operation status calculation means 5 and the operation requirements from the input/output means 6, it selects the optimal operation method based on the judgment logic determined in advance by the program,
The result is returned to the input/output means 6. The input/output means 6 is
The driver is notified of the above judgment result in the form of voice or display.

Next, a case will be described in which the information center 3 integrates information from each vehicle and then determines the optimal operating method for each vehicle.

In this case, when the operation method determining means 8 receives the operation status from the operation status calculation means 5 and the operation requirements from the input/output means 6, it transmits these to the information center 3 via the small wireless transceiver 7. . In the information center 3, the above-mentioned information is received by the comprehensive operation method transmitting/receiving means 10, and is reported and aggregated to the comprehensive operation method determining means 9.

The comprehensive operation method determining means 9 selects the optimum operation method for each vehicle, using information from all the vehicles that have transmitted information, based on a determination logic determined in advance by a program. The result of this selection is sent again to the general operating method transmitting/receiving means 10 and returned to each vehicle, and is reported to the operating method determining means 8 via the small wireless transceiver 7.

This information is then notified to the driver by the input/output means 6 in the form of voice or display.

This allows each motorist to determine the most advantageous mode of operation for his or her vehicle and, if necessary, to use reliable information based on a wide range of traffic-related information reported by a large number of vehicles. You can get the best operating method. On the other hand, for road administrators, it is possible to prevent or minimize road management obstacles such as traffic congestion caused by an increase in the number of cars on the road, various traffic regulations, traffic accidents, and the like.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing details of the reading means 4. The reading means 4 in the operating unit 28 to 2n installed in each motor vehicle consist in detail of a circuit 14.15.16. The circuit 14 is a television camera circuit, and the circuit 15 is a circuit that displays screen information 1 of the roads 4ilra, etc. 1a to 1n.
This is a mark detection circuit that constantly monitors whether or not a set of marks 13 specifying the existence range of 1 exists on the screen. When the mark detection circuit 15 detects the mark 13, screen information at that time is passed to the zooming circuit 16.

The zooming circuit 16 converts the distortion and absolute size and position of the image to be constant based on the output information of the mark detection circuit 15, and passes this image information to the code recognition circuit 18. Based on the position information of the mark 13 included in the output of the zooming circuit 16, the screen information 11 is cut out from the position where code information is expected to exist, and this part is compared with the contents of the code dictionary circuit 17. The code content of the screen information 11 is recognized.

During the above operation, the mark detection circuit 15 recognizes the size and location of the mark 13, and if the photographing range of the television camera circuit 14 is inappropriate, it issues a command to correct the photographing range. . In addition, the above road signs etc. 1a~
1n information is not screen information 11, but 12a, 1
Even when a code is displayed as shown in 2b, processing is performed in exactly the same way.

3(a) to 3(d) show other embodiments of the road sign etc. and the reading means 4. FIG.

FIG. 3(a) shows a case where the road signs 1a to 1n use radio waves as carrier waves. In this case, each of the road signs 1a to 1n is equipped with a code storage circuit 19 that stores display information unique to each road sign, etc., and the code information is repeatedly read out from here by the reading circuit 20. A radio wave signal having a specific frequency range is transmitted from the transmitting circuit 21 to each vehicle via the loop antenna 23a.

On the other hand, the reading means 4 includes the receiving circuit 22a and the code dictionary circuit 17. A code recognition circuit 18 is provided, and the radio waves transmitted from the transmitting circuit 21 are captured by a receiving antenna, demodulated by a receiving circuit 22a, converted into code information, and passed to the code recognition circuit 18. The code recognition circuit 18 recognizes the code information held in the code storage circuit 19 in the same manner as described above.

FIG. 3(b) shows a case where the road signs 1a to 1n use ultrasonic waves as carrier waves. In this case as well, each of the road signs 1a to 1n is provided with a code storage circuit 19 that stores display information unique to each road sign, etc., from which the code information is repeatedly read out by the reading circuit 20. An ultrasonic signal having a specific frequency range is transmitted from the transmitting circuit 21 to each vehicle via an ultrasonic generator 23b.

Hereinafter, the receiving circuit 22b in the reading means 4 and the code dictionary circuit 17. The code recognition circuit 18 converts the code information held in the code storage circuit 19 into H! as in the case of radio waves. FIG. 3(c) shows a case where the roads eAm, etc. 1a to 1n use lines of magnetic force as carrier waves. In this case as well, each of the road signs 18 to 1n is provided with a code storage circuit 19 that stores display information unique to each road sign, etc., and the code information is repeatedly read out from here by the reading circuit 20. A magnetic field line signal having a specific frequency range is transmitted from the transmission circuit 21 to each vehicle via a magnetic field line generator 23c.

Hereinafter, the receiving circuit 22c in the reading means 4 and the code dictionary circuit 17. The code recognition circuit 18 recognizes the code information held in the code storage circuit 19 as in the case of radio waves.

FIG. 3(d) shows a case where the road signs etc. 1a to 1n have portions with different reflectances or absorbances of radio waves or ultrasonic waves. In this case, each road sign, etc. 1
By combining a to 1n with parts having different reflectances or absorptions of the radio waves or ultrasonic waves, a part 24 storing display information specific to each road sign etc. is constructed.

Since the radio wave or ultrasonic wave transmitted by the transmitting circuit 25 is regularly reflected or absorbed by the portion 24, the receiving circuit 26 receives a reflected wave having an intensity different from that transmitted by the transmitting circuit 25. A signal with a specific reflected wave pattern is
As in the case of radio waves, the information is passed to the code recognition circuit 18, where the code information is recognized.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the vehicle is installed on or near the road. Each vehicle collects information obtained by referring to road markings/signs that display road guidance information or various markings/signs based on laws and regulations, and information on the operating status of each vehicle based on this information, and each vehicle makes its own judgment. Either the algorithm determines the optimal operating method, or the operating status of each vehicle is sent to an information center along with the operating requirements for each vehicle, the information center makes an appropriate decision, and the results are notified to each vehicle. By adopting this method, it is possible to realize a vehicle operation system that detects the operation status of each vehicle in real time and allows each vehicle to operate according to the optimal operation method accordingly. It is something.

Also, for road managers, for road managers,
It is possible to prevent or minimize obstacles to road management such as traffic congestion caused by an increase in the number of cars on the road, various traffic regulations, traffic accidents, and the like.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration example of the reading means, and FIGS. 3(a) to (d)
1 shows other embodiments of road signs and reading means. 1a to 1n: road signs, etc., 2a to 2n: operation unit,
3: Information center, 4: Reading means, 5: Operation status calculation means, 6: Input/output means, 7: Small radio transceiver, 8: Operation method judgment means, 9: Comprehensive operation method judgment means, 10: Comprehensive operation method Transmitting/receiving means, 11: Screen information, 12a, 12
b: =1-code display information, 13: information area mark, 14: television camera circuit, 15: mark detection circuit, 1
6: Zooming circuit, 17: Code dictionary circuit, 18: Code recognition circuit, 19: Code storage circuit, 20: Readout circuit, 21a, 21b, 21c: Transmission circuit, 22a
, 22b, 22c: receiving circuit, 24: reflection/absorption portion, 25: transmitting circuit, 26: receiving circuit. Patent applicant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation Figure 3 (a) Figure 3 (b)

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) The presence of road markings and signs in a vehicle operation system that is operated by referring to road markings and signs installed on or near roads that display road guidance information or various signs and signs based on laws and regulations. a sign/sign reading means for identifying and reading the contents; a driving status calculation means for calculating the operating status of the vehicle based on the content read by the sign/sign reading means; and a recognition means for recognizing various operating conditions of the vehicle. The vehicle is characterized by being equipped with a vehicle operation unit having a vehicle operation unit that has a vehicle operation condition recognition means for determining an optimal vehicle operation method based on the contents of the operation condition calculation device and the operation condition recognition device. Automobile operation system. (2) The existence of road markings/signs in a vehicle operation system that is operated by referring to road markings/signs installed on or near roads that display road guidance information or various markings/signs based on laws and regulations. a sign/sign reading means for identifying and reading the contents; a driving status calculation means for calculating the operating status of the vehicle based on the content read by the sign/sign reading means; and a recognition means for recognizing various operating conditions of the vehicle. A vehicle operation unit is mounted on the vehicle, and the vehicle operation unit includes an operation condition recognition means for determining the operation condition, a means for transmitting the contents of the operation condition calculation means and the operation condition recognition means to the outside, and a means for receiving operation information from the outside. a driving method determining means for determining an optimal vehicle driving method based on the contents of the driving condition calculating means and driving condition recognizing means transmitted from the vehicle driving unit; and information on the determination result by the driving method determining means to each vehicle. 1. An automobile operation system comprising: an information center having means for transmitting information to a destination. (3) The automobile according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the road marking/marker and the marking/marker reading means are configured to be optically readable actively or passively. Operation system. (4) The automobile according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the road marking/marker and the marking/marker reading means are configured to be magnetically readable actively or passively. Operation system. (5) Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the road marking/sign and the marking/sign reading means are configured to be readable actively or passively using radio waves.
Automobile operation system described in section. (6) Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the road marking/marker and the marking/marker reading means are configured to be readable actively or passively using sound waves.
Automobile operation system described in section.