KR100561085B1 - A method for controlling switching timing of traffic signal using variable minimum green times - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an intersection with a traffic light and a signal control method applied to a single road. The present invention relates to a vehicle green signal that allows a vehicle to travel on a road and a pedestrian green signal that permits the crossing of a pedestrian to permit pedestrian crossing. It is about a method. The minimum time required for pedestrian crosswalk crossing is set as the minimum green time, and the time set by increasing or decreasing the minimum green time according to traffic conditions is set as the variable minimum green time. The traffic conditions used to set the variable minimum green time are the demand of the vehicle, the demand of pedestrians waiting to cross the crosswalk, the reception of disabled calls, and the current time (such as whether it is at night time). Various situations are contemplated, for example. Accordingly, by shortening or lengthening the signal time according to various traffic conditions or no signal, it is possible to control traffic lights optimized according to traffic conditions.

Signal, traffic light, vehicle green signal, walking green signal, walking green time, minimum green time, variable minimum green time

Description

How to control the signal lamp lighting cycle according to the variable minimum green time {A METHOD FOR CONTROLLING SWITCHING TIMING OF TRAFFIC SIGNAL USING VARIABLE MINIMUM GREEN TIMES}

1 is a view for providing a pedestrian right by simultaneously turning on a pedestrian traffic light of a pedestrian crossing adjacent to the right side of a straight vehicle traveling direction during a green signal time of a straight vehicle;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a shape of a crossroad where two roads, which are usually most present, cross each other;

3 is a conventional signal time configuration diagram,

4 is a view of the present invention,

5 is a block diagram of a traffic light lighting cycle control system according to the present invention;

6 is a flowchart illustrating a signal lamp lighting cycle control method according to the present invention controlled by the signal lamp lighting cycle control system of FIG. 5;

7 is a view showing a lighting state of a vehicle traffic light and a walking signal light in each state of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating another example of FIG. 7.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

10A, 10D: Vehicle traffic light 20A, 20D: Pedestrian traffic light

30: control unit 40: storage unit

50: vehicle detection unit 60: pedestrian detection unit

The present invention relates to a method for controlling a traffic light lighting cycle on a road, and more particularly, to a traffic light lighting cycle and a control method for smoothly flowing the traffic according to the traffic conditions on the road.

Intersections with traffic lights are provided with green and red traffic lights, in which case a pedestrian crossing may be provided for pedestrians to cross the road. In this case, as shown in FIG. 1, the pedestrian traffic light of the crosswalk adjacent to the right side of the straight vehicle traveling direction is simultaneously turned on during the green signal time of the straight vehicle, thereby providing a walking pass.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining an example in which such a crosswalk system is applied to an intersection in more detail, and is a diagram illustrating a form of a crossroad where two roads, which are usually most present, cross each other.

In Fig. 2, the horizontal direction (AC direction) is allowed to bi-directional left turn (step 1), and then the two-way straight road is allowed (step 2) and a left turn lane is installed, and the vertical direction (BD direction) is left turn and straight direction respectively. This is the case at the same time allowed (step 3, step 4).

In FIG. 2, the crosswalks adjacent to the right side are turned on (step 2) when the horizontal bidirectional straight road is allowed (step 2), and the crosswalks adjacent to the right side are turned on (step 3) when the vehicle is allowed to go straight in the vertical D direction. When the vehicle is allowed to go straight in the longitudinal B direction, a crosswalk adjacent to the right side is turned on (step 4).

In this way, the signal of the vehicle going straight and / or left turn is circulated by sequentially changing the steps for each road.In this case, the pedestrian traffic light of the pedestrian crossing in which the vehicle does not pass in accordance with the step of each vehicle traffic light is green. Lights up.

In order to guarantee the safe crossing of pedestrians, the pre-designated pedestrian traffic light green time is provided, which is called the minimum green time.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the traffic signal, the straight vehicle green time is composed of the minimum green time and the additional green time, of which the minimum green time is used as the walking green time. If the additional green time is zero, the straight vehicle green time is equal to the walking green time. In addition, once the green light of the straight vehicle is lit, the predetermined minimum green time must be maintained regardless of vehicle or pedestrian demand. However, the conventional traffic signal lighting cycle control method by the fixed minimum green time as described above has a problem that the active signal lighting control according to the demand of the vehicle and the pedestrian's demand that can be changed at every hour can not be effectively.

In other words, there is a limit to the conventional traffic signal lighting cycle control technique for the increase or decrease of the vehicle green time or the walking green time grasped by various sensors. The additional green time in FIG. 2 can be used when the vehicle green time needs to be increased. On the contrary, when the reduction of the vehicle green time is required, it is limited by the minimum green time. If the demand for straight vehicles is significantly reduced in the late-night hours, the reduction of green time is required. Furthermore, even when there is no demand for pedestrians, even if there is no demand for pedestrians, the straight green traffic light and the walking green traffic light are turned on.

On the contrary, when the demand for pedestrians is high, there is a problem that only a minimum green time of a specified value is provided. Even in a time when there are many pedestrians due to various sensors and recorded data, and it is necessary to increase the pedestrian green time, the conventional signal signal lighting cycle control method cannot flexibly cope with it. In particular, it is impossible to implement the conventional method even when it is required to recognize the pedestrian crossing when extending the walking green time for safe crossing. This is due to the fact that a single designated minimum green time is set in the conventional signal lighting cycle control method.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, the object of the present invention is a case where the demand of pedestrians in a specific crosswalk and / or the demand of a vehicle on a particular road is significantly higher or less significantly, as well as It is to provide a method of controlling the lighting cycle of the traffic light on the road to more effectively control the vehicle traffic at the intersection.

Traffic light lighting cycle control method according to the present invention for achieving the above object, the driving allowance signal for allowing the vehicle to run on the road, and the crossing permitting the crossing of pedestrians to cross the crosswalk in conjunction with the driving allowance signal A cycle control method such as a traffic light point of an allowable signal, the method comprising: (a) a minimum green time which is the minimum time required for the pedestrian crossing of the pedestrian crossing, and at least one set by increasing or decreasing the minimum green time according to traffic conditions; Setting at least the variable minimum green time; (b) detecting the traffic situation including at least one of demand of the vehicle on the road, demand of a pedestrian waiting to cross the crosswalk, reception of a disabled call, and a current time; (c) selecting any one of the minimum green time and the variable minimum green time according to the result detected in step (b); And (d) lighting the driving permission signal based on the time selected in step (c) and lighting the walking allowance signal in association with the driving allowance signal.

Preferably, the variable minimum green time includes a time whose length is zero, and when the variable minimum green time is set to zero and the variable minimum green time is selected in step (c), Substantially, driving of the vehicle and crossing of the pedestrians are not allowed.

Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings will be described in detail preferred embodiments of the present invention.

As an example to which the present invention is applied, an example applied to an intersection such as FIG. 1 will be described. 1 is a view showing a cross-sectional range, when the vehicle is allowed to go upward in the lower direction, the crosswalk adjacent to the right side in conjunction with this is shown to show a state where the pedestrian crossing is allowed.

Referring to FIG. 3, the lighting sequence is in order of green traffic light, yellow traffic light, and red traffic light. The green time of a straight vehicle consists of a minimum green time and an additional green time, and the minimum green time is a walk to ensure pedestrian crossing. It's like green time.

Referring to FIG. 4, as described above, in the prior art, the walking green time is set to the minimum green time, and the vehicle green time is extended according to the vehicle demand, and the minimum green time is set to a fixed value. In the present invention, the minimum green time can be set to the minimum green time or the variable minimum green time. In other words, if there are no pedestrians, the variable minimum green time is set to zero so that the vehicle green time is determined by the demand of the vehicle. If there are few pedestrians, the variable minimum green time is set to have the same or less time than the minimum green time. do. In addition, when the pedestrian is in a normal state, it is set as the minimum green time and can be operated in the same manner as in the prior art.In case of a large number of pedestrians or when there is a handicapped call, the variable minimum green time is set to be lower than the minimum green time. Give a lot of time.

That is, the variable minimum green time may be set when there is no pedestrian call or when there is no pedestrian, at midnight time zone, peak time zone of traffic volume, and when there is a call of the disabled, and is changed to different values.

Hereinafter, as another example of the present invention, a more specific example to which the present invention is applied in accordance with the manifestation period of each traffic light at a range will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8.

First, referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a view for explaining an example in which the control system according to the present invention is applied to an intersection in more detail. In general, FIG. 2 illustrates a form of a crossroad where two roads, which are most frequently present, cross each other. One drawing. In the present embodiment, the shape of the intersection and the simultaneous left or straight left turn simultaneous signal, etc. are exemplary, and in addition, various modified forms, such as left turn after going straight, or some of the roads are set to prohibit left turn, etc. In this case, the technical spirit of the present invention may be equally applied.

With reference to FIG. 5, the structure of the traffic light lighting cycle control system which concerns on this invention applied to FIG. 2 is demonstrated.

The general traffic light lighting cycle control system is a vehicle traffic light (10A) to D vehicle traffic light (10D) for controlling the flow of the vehicle entering the intersection on each of the road A to D road, the position adjacent to the intersection on the road A to D road A pedestrian traffic light 20A to D pedestrian traffic light 20D for controlling whether the pedestrian walks through the pedestrian crossing A to D pedestrian crossing provided in the program, and a program for controlling the lighting cycle according to the present invention and various data are stored The storage unit 40, the vehicle detection unit 50 for detecting the demand of the vehicle passing through each of the roads A to D, the pedestrian detection unit for detecting the demand of pedestrians to walk the crosswalk A to D crosswalk 60, and a control unit 30 for performing the control operation according to the present invention.

Each vehicle traffic light 10A to 10D is composed of a green light, a left turn indicator light, a yellow light, and a red light, and each pedestrian traffic light 20A to 20D is composed of a green light and a red light.

The storage unit 40 stores a program for performing control, and compares reference data on vehicle demand, comparison reference data on pedestrian demand, data on a plurality of minimum green hours, and Various data such as data for which a condition is set, data for an extended time, data for which a condition is set, and the like are stored.

The vehicle detecting unit 50 detects demand of vehicles waiting to pass or pass through each road. Such a vehicle detecting unit may employ and configure any type of vehicle as long as it is an existing means capable of detecting the existence and demand of the vehicle.

Pedestrian detection unit 60 is to detect the demand of pedestrians waiting to cross the crosswalk in front of each crosswalk, such as vehicle detection unit if the means to detect the demand of pedestrians, automatic, manual Regardless of its kind, it can be adopted and configured in any way.

The configuration of the vehicle detection unit 50 and the detailed configuration of the specific type and detection method of the pedestrian detection unit 60 are irrelevant to the gist of the present invention, and specific examples and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The control unit 30 is based on the data detected by the vehicle detection unit 50 and the pedestrian detection unit 60 according to the program and data stored in the storage unit 40, the vehicle traffic lights (10A ~ 10D) and pedestrian traffic lights Control 20A-20D.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a signal lamp control method controlled by the signal lamp lighting cycle control system of FIG. 5.

According to the traffic light control method of the present invention, first of the vehicle existing on the road corresponding to the vehicle traffic light to be converted into a green signal (going straight and / or left turn) through the vehicle detection unit 50 and the pedestrian detection unit 60 It detects the demand, and the demand of the pedestrian waiting to walk the pedestrian crossing installed with the pedestrian traffic light interlocked with the vehicle traffic light (S10). In other words, for example, if you want to turn on the green signal for straight and left turn on road B on the intersection, first, the demand of vehicles waiting to go straight and turn left on road B is detected. It detects the demand of waiting pedestrians on A crosswalk where green pedestrian traffic lights turn on.

Then, the detected vehicle demand and the pedestrian demand are compared with the number of reference vehicles and the number of pedestrians preset in the storage unit 40, respectively, to determine the traffic situation (S20). If it is determined that the general traffic situation, set the green lighting time of road B as the minimum green time (S30), otherwise determine the specific traffic situation to set the green lighting time based on the variable minimum green time. (S40).

Here, the specific traffic situation includes, as shown in Figure 6, whether there are no pedestrians, whether a call for the disabled is received, whether the traffic volume is significantly on the main road, whether the current time is a peak time or a late night time, etc. It is a comprehensive concept.

In addition, by detecting the vehicle demand and the pedestrian demand of the road (for example, A road and C road) where the next green traffic light is turned on in the present order (S70), similar processes (S10 to S50) are repeated.

On the other hand, the variable minimum green time may be set to zero as described above. In this case, the straight and left turn signals of the road B are omitted or have a small time, and the corresponding walking signal of the crosswalk A is omitted. Therefore, when the number of vehicles and pedestrians is extremely small or absent, the entry of vehicles and pedestrians through the corresponding roads and pedestrian crossings is substantially prohibited, and detection and lighting control of roads A and C to be lit next time are performed. .

According to this method, when the demand of the vehicle is a certain amount (usually in the case of traffic), the minimum green time calculated in the same manner as in the prior art is applied, and when the demand of the vehicle and the pedestrian is excessive or underestimated, it is larger or smaller. Apply the variable minimum green time for the time. Therefore, when the number of vehicles is large, it is possible not only to control the flow of traffic variably, but when the number of vehicles is remarkably small, the overall traffic communication is more smoothly by securing a large running time of a relatively different road.

Hereinafter, an example in which the above-described control scheme of FIG. 6 is applied to an actual intersection will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 2, 7, and 8.

In the table of FIG. 7, the appearances 1, 2, 3, and 4 denote lighting and blinking of traffic lights for vehicles and pedestrians determined by states 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. The turn-on sequence of the traffic light is in the order of the left turn and / or the straight signal green traffic light, yellow traffic light and red traffic light.

7 to 8, the minimum green time is MinG, the extension time is Ex, the left turn green signal time is GA, and the yellow time is collectively indicated as Y. This does not mean that the minimum green time and the like in all manifestations have the same value, and it will be obvious that the values of MinG, Ex, GA, and Y are determined differently for each manifest through the above-described process of FIG. 6. For convenience, the same notation is used.

In the table of FIG. 7, the present time 1 shows the state of each traffic light in the state 1 of FIG. 2, and the left turn green traffic light for the access paths A and C is lit. At this time, all other vehicle traffic lights and pedestrian traffic lights light red. The lighting time GA of the left turn green traffic light is determined by the demand for the left turn vehicle on the A and C roads as described above.

In the table of FIG. 7, the present state 2 shows the state of each traffic light in the state 2 of FIG. 2, and the straight green traffic light for the straight vehicles of the access paths A and C is lit. In addition, the green signal light of the pedestrian crossing adjacent to the right side is turned on in conjunction with this. All other lights turn on red lights.

In Present Time 2, the vehicle green time is composed of the sum of the minimum green time (MinG) and the extension time (Ex), and the minimum green time is set to the variable minimum green time extended by pedestrian demand. That is, the vehicle green time in the present time 2 shows that the extension time Ex is added to the variable minimum green time by the demand of the vehicle. At this time, the walking green time G lasts for the variable minimum green time MinG.

In the table of FIG. 7, the present state 3 shows the state of each traffic light in the state 3, and the straight green light and the left green light are turned on because the straight and the left turn is allowed to the access path D. FIG. At this time, the green traffic light of the crosswalk linked with this should be turned on, but there is no demand for pedestrians, the red traffic light is turned on, and the vehicle green time lasts only an extended time without a minimum green time. The minimum green time is set to the variable minimum green time, with a value of zero.

In the table of FIG. 7, the present state 4 shows the state of each traffic light in the state 4, and the straight green light and the left green light are turned on because the straight and the left turn signal for the approach path B are allowed. In addition, the green signal light of the pedestrian crossing adjacent to the right side is turned on in conjunction with this.

Present time 4 shows that the vehicle green time is determined by the minimum green time according to the demand of pedestrians, and there is no extension time due to the vehicle demand. At this time, the walking green time has the same value as the minimum green time.

Then, the state is switched back to the state of manifest 1, and the above process is repeated when the state is switched.

FIG. 8 illustrates another example of FIG. 7 in which manifest 3 is omitted. Compared with FIG. 7, the states of manifest 1, manifest 2 and manifest 4 are the same, but manifest 3 is omitted. That is, if it is determined that there is little or no pedestrian demand on the right side of pedestrian crossing on the right side of road D immediately before the end of Presence 2, the vehicle demand of D road, which is the target of control of Presence 3 of next, An example of applying green time to zero is shown. In effect, state 3 is omitted and transitions directly from state 2 to state 4. By doing so, the time required for state 3 is reduced, so that the communication on other roads is more smooth and the waiting time and delay time of vehicles and pedestrians on different access paths are reduced.

According to the present invention, the traffic of the vehicle is changed by varying the signal time in consideration of the demand of pedestrians at a specific pedestrian crossing and / or the demand of the vehicle at a specific road, and whether there is a late night time, peak time, or disability call. There is an advantage that can be smoothly and to facilitate the convenience of pedestrians.

Although the above has been illustrated and described with respect to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, those skilled in the art without departing from the gist of the present invention various modifications It will be understood that such modifications are within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims (3)

In the driving light control period control method of the driving allowance signal for allowing the vehicle of the road on the road, and the crossing allowance signal for allowing the crossing of pedestrians to cross the crosswalk in conjunction with the driving allowance signal, (a) setting a minimum green time which is the minimum time required for the pedestrian crossing of the pedestrian crossing, and at least one variable minimum green time which is increased or decreased according to traffic conditions with respect to the minimum green time; (b) detecting the traffic situation including at least one of demand of the vehicle on the road, demand of a pedestrian waiting to cross the crosswalk, reception of a disabled call, and a current time; (c) According to the result detected in step (b), if there is no pedestrian, the variable minimum green time is set to zero, and if there are few pedestrians, the variable minimum green time is set equal to the minimum green time. If the pedestrian is in a normal state or short, set to the minimum green time, if there are a lot of pedestrians or disabled call to set the variable minimum green time but give a time longer than the minimum green time; And and (d) lighting the driving permission signal based on the time selected in step (c) and simultaneously lighting the walking allowance signal in association with the driving allowance signal. The method of claim 1, The variable minimum green time includes a time whose length is zero; When the variable minimum green time is set to zero and the variable minimum green time is selected in the step (c), substantially no driving of the vehicle and no crossing of the pedestrian are allowed. Way. delete

Images