KR101717938B1

KR101717938B1 - Apparatus for guiding the intersection entry and method thereof

Info

Publication number: KR101717938B1
Application number: KR1020150180397A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 최수지
Original assignee: 주식회사 경신
Priority date: 2015-12-16
Filing date: 2015-12-16
Publication date: 2017-03-21

Abstract

The present invention relates to an intersection entry guide apparatus and a method thereof. The intersection entry guide apparatus includes: a GPS reception unit receiving GPS signals for detecting the current location of a vehicle; a camera unit recording front images of the vehicle; an image processing unit processing the recorded images to detect signals therefrom; a traveling speed detection unit which detects the current traveling speed of the vehicle; and a control unit which detects the color of the traffic lights through the image processing unit, detects the time from a point of being changed to one color to another point of being changed to another color, calculates the distance from the current vehicle location to a point of the intersection designated in advance and the available distance for traveling based on the current traffic situation, and outputs guide information preventing the vehicle from entering the intersection when the calculated available distance for traveling is shorter than the distance from the current vehicle location to the point of the intersection designated in advance.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS FOR GUIDING INTERSECTION ENTRY AND METHOD THEREOF [0002]

The present invention relates to an intersection entry guide apparatus and method, and more particularly, to an intersection entry guide apparatus and method for determining whether a traffic light in an intersection changes from blue to orange, .

In recent years, there has been a tendency to deliberately or non-intentionally crossing an intersection (eg, a traffic light is blue but the vehicle is passing through at a low crossing speed) Various attempts have been made to prevent entry into the interior of the intersection (also known as tail tail), which interferes with the flow of vehicles in other directions and causes congestion at the intersection.

For example, at present, when a traffic light is a red signal, when a vehicle passes through a stop line and enters an intersection, a control is imposed on the object of imposing a rule. However, there is a problem that the traffic flow is obstructed when the intersection is stalled even if the orange signal enters the intersection. In order to prevent such a problem from occurring, in the case of stopping at the stop line without entering the intersection in the orange signal, There is a problem that the flow of the vehicle is disturbed.

Therefore, it is desirable to decide whether or not to enter the intersection in consideration of the overall traffic flow, even though it is an orange signal. Most of such decisions are made subjectively by the driver's driving tendency or situation judgment. Therefore, when the driver's judgment of the situation is wrong, there is a problem that intentionally causing the congestion of the intersection or obstructing the flow of the vehicle leads to an accident.

In order to prevent such a problem, it is necessary to provide a device that can judge whether the intersection can be entered objectively based on the situation of the intersection and to guide it.

Background Art [0002] The background art of the present invention is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-1999-0058323 (published on July 15, 1999, an intersection guidance method for a car navigation system).

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an intersection which is created in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and which can determine whether a traffic light of an intersection changes from blue to orange, And to provide an entrance guidance apparatus and method.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an intersection approach guide device comprising: a GPS receiver for receiving a GPS signal for detecting a current position of a vehicle; A camera unit for photographing a forward vehicle image; An image processing unit for processing the photographed image to detect a traffic light; A running speed detection unit for detecting a running speed of the current vehicle; And detecting a color of a traffic light detected through the image processing unit and detecting a time from a time when the color changes to a time when the color is changed to another color, A control unit for outputting guidance information for preventing entry into the intersection when the calculated travelable distance is shorter than the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the predefined point of intersection; And a control unit.

In the present invention, the control unit may control the camera unit to photograph an image in front of the vehicle from a predetermined point of several meters to several tens of meters at a point where a traffic light is installed based on the map data.

In the present invention, the running speed detecting unit may detect the running speed by using a sensor for detecting the wheel rotating speed of the vehicle or communicate with the electronic control unit (ECU) of the vehicle to receive the running speed information and detect the running speed .

In the present invention, when the calculated travelable distance is longer than the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the designated point of the intersection, the control unit outputs guidance information indicating that the vehicle can enter the intersection.

The information output unit may further include an information output unit for outputting information for informing whether or not to enter an intersection under the control of the control unit, And information for informing whether or not to enter the intersection by using video.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an intersection approach guidance method comprising: detecting a current position of a vehicle using a control signal received via a GPS receiver; The control unit controlling the camera unit to photograph a forward image of the vehicle; Processing the forward image through the image processing unit to detect a traffic light; Detecting the traveling speed of the current vehicle through the traveling speed detecting unit; And detecting the color of the traffic light and detecting the time from when the color changes to another color; Calculating a distance from the current position of the vehicle and a pre-specified point of the intersection based on the current driving situation; And outputting guidance information for preventing the control unit from entering the intersection when the calculated travelable distance is shorter than the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the predefined point of the intersection.

In the present invention, in the step of photographing the vehicle front image, the control unit controls the camera unit so as to photograph an image in front of the vehicle from a predetermined point of several meters to several tens meters at a point where the traffic lights are installed, .

In the present invention, when the calculated travelable distance is longer than the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the pre-specified point of the intersection, the control unit outputs guidance information indicating that the vehicle can enter the intersection.

In the present invention, in the step of outputting the guide information, the control unit may transmit information for informing whether or not to enter an intersection using audio and video through a cluster or an AVN (Audio, Video, Navigation) And outputs the output signal.

According to one aspect of the present invention, when a traffic light at an intersection is changed from blue to orange, it is possible to determine whether or not the vehicle enters an intersection and guide the traffic light.

Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is an exemplary schematic view of an intersection entry guide apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig.
2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of entering an intersection according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In this process, the thicknesses of the lines and the sizes of the components shown in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity and convenience of explanation. In addition, the terms described below are defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, which may vary depending on the intention or custom of the user, the operator. Therefore, definitions of these terms should be made based on the contents throughout this specification.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an intersection entry guide apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.

1, the intersection entrance guidance apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a camera unit 110, an image processing unit 120, a GPS receiver unit 130, a traveling speed detection unit 140, a control unit 150, And an information output unit 160.

The camera unit 110 photographs a traffic light in front of the vehicle.

Of course, the camera unit 110 does not photograph only a traffic light, but captures all of the surrounding environment in front of the vehicle.

However, since the load may be increased when photographing all the paths that the vehicle travels, only when it passes through the place where the traffic lights are installed, under the control of the control unit 150 referring to the map data (for example, digital map data usable in navigation) . In other words, it is possible to take an image of the front of the vehicle from several meters to several tens of meters before the spot where the traffic lights are installed.

The camera unit 110 may include a CMOS image sensor or a CCD image sensor (not shown). The camera unit 110 may be installed separately for operation related to the present embodiment, Other devices (such as a black box, navigation, smartphone, etc.) may also be used. For example, the other device (e.g., a black box, a navigation device, a smart phone, etc.) in a wired or wireless manner so as to receive an image shot by the device. However, the present embodiment assumes that a separate camera unit 110 is installed.

On the other hand, even if the camera unit 110 captures the forward image as described above, the signal lamp should be detected.

Therefore, the image processing unit 120 detects an object of a specified shape (for example, a rectangular shape in the horizontal direction and a shape in which three circular shapes exist in the horizontal shape) using an arbitrary algorithm set in advance.

That is, the algorithm is an algorithm for detecting a specified shape, for example, by applying a face recognition algorithm installed in a recent smart phone, or using any algorithm known in the art. Therefore, the algorithm itself will not be described in detail in the following embodiments.

When a traffic light object is detected through the image processing unit 120, the controller 150 detects a color of a signal on the traffic light.

Also, the controller 150 measures the time from when the signal color is changed to when it is changed to another signal color. That is, the time at which each signal color is maintained is monitored. The time at which each signal color is maintained may be different depending on a traffic light installed at an intersection.

Accordingly, the controller 150 may store time information indicating the signal colors of the traffic lights for each intersection in an internal memory (not shown).

However, since the time information in which the signal color of the traffic light is maintained can be changed at any time, it may be unreliable to determine whether to enter the intersection using the stored information.

Therefore, it is preferable to monitor the traffic lights before entering the intersection to detect time information in which the signal color of the traffic lights is maintained in real time as much as possible.

The GPS receiver 130 receives the GPS signal to enable the controller 150 to detect the current position of the vehicle.

The running speed detection unit 140 detects the running speed of the current vehicle.

The running speed detecting unit 140 may detect the running speed using a sensor (not shown) that detects the wheel rotation speed of the vehicle or may communicate with the electronic control unit (ECU) . For this, a communication unit (not shown) may be further included.

The controller 150 detects the current position of the vehicle on the map based on the information detected through the GPS receiver 130 and the digital map.

When the current position of the vehicle is detected as described above, the controller 150 can calculate the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the starting point of the intersection (e.g., the stop line before the intersection) and the distance to the end point of the intersection.

The control unit 150 determines whether the current speed of the road (for example, 60 km / h), the average speed (for example, 30 km / h) To determine traffic conditions (eg, traffic congestion).

For example, when the current speed is lower than the reference speed (or the average speed), the control unit 150 may calculate the difference (for example, the difference between the reference speed and the current speed or the difference between the average speed and the current speed) (Eg, traffic congestion). However, it is not necessary to distinguish the traffic situation.

The control unit 150 may calculate the travelable distance (e.g., per second) based on the determined traffic condition (e.g., traffic congestion). At this time, the travelable distance can be calculated by dividing the travelable distance in the continuous traveling state and the travelable distance in the stationary state.

For example, the travelable distance in the above-mentioned stationary state is generally shorter than the travelable distance in the continuous traveling state because the vehicle normally repeats traveling. Therefore, it is possible to more precisely calculate the distance that can be traveled by time (for example, per second), reflecting the current traffic situation (for example, traffic congestion).

The controller 150 detects a time point at which the traffic light turns orange, and calculates a movable distance to the current position of the vehicle during the time until the traffic light changes to red. And compares whether or not the calculated movable distance is shorter than the distance (i.e., the remaining distance) from the current position of the vehicle to the end point of the intersection.

If the current movable distance is shorter than the distance to the end point of the intersection (i.e., the remaining distance) according to the comparison result, the controller 150 outputs guidance information for preventing the vehicle from entering the intersection. Of course, if the current movable distance is longer than the distance to the end point of the intersection (i.e., the remaining distance) according to the comparison result, the controller 150 may output guidance information indicating that the intersection can be entered.

The information output unit 160 outputs information for informing whether or not to enter an intersection under the control of the controller 150. [

The information output unit 160 may output through an arbitrary display (for example, a cluster, an AVN (Audio, Video, Navigation) installed in the vehicle, or a separate display device .

That is, the information output unit 160 may output information for informing whether or not to enter an intersection by using audio (e.g., alarm, alarm, announcement voice) and video (e.g., text, image, light, etc.).

2 is a flowchart illustrating an intersection entrance guidance method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 150 checks whether a traffic light image is detected in the photographed image using the camera unit 110 (S101).

That is, the control unit 150 photographs a forward image from a position a predetermined distance before a predetermined position of the intersection through the camera unit 110, and checks whether a signal lamp is photographed from the captured forward image.

According to the result of the check, the controller 150 checks whether or not a traffic light is photographed from the forward image. That is, the control unit 150 recognizes the traffic lights in the captured forward image (S102).

The controller 150 checks whether the color of the recognized traffic light is orange (S103).

At this time, the control unit 150 does not merely determine whether the color of the current traffic light is orange, but detects the point of time when the color of the traffic light changes from blue to orange. In addition, the controller 150 may control the time at which the color of the traffic light changes (for example, the time at which blue is changed to orange, the time at which orange is changed to red, the time at which red is changed to blue) (I.e.

Generally, in a traffic congestion state, it is common to slow down (i.e., to run slowly or repeatedly) while at least one or more traffic light colors are repeatedly changed.

The control unit 150 may control the remaining time (that is, the time remaining until the color of the traffic light is changed to red) when the color of the current traffic light is orange (or changed to orange) , And the remaining distance from the current position of the vehicle to the end point of the intersection (or a specific point of the predetermined intersection), or the like (S104).

The control unit 150 determines whether intersection entry is possible using the calculated (or detected) information (S105).

For example, the control unit 150 detects a time point at which a traffic light turns orange, and calculates a movable distance to a current position of the vehicle during a time period until the traffic light changes to red. And determines whether or not the calculated movable distance is shorter than the distance (i.e., the remaining distance) from the current position of the vehicle to the end point of the intersection.

If the current movable distance is shorter than the distance to the end point of the intersection (i.e., the remaining distance to the preset point) according to the determination result (S105), the controller 150 controls the vehicle to prevent the vehicle from entering the intersection And outputs guidance information (S106).

The guide information may be output using audio (e.g., a warning sound, an alarm, a guidance voice, etc.) and a video (e.g., text, image, light, etc.).

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, I will understand the point. Accordingly, the technical scope of the present invention should be defined by the following claims.

110:
120:
130:
140:
150:
160: Information output section

Claims

A GPS receiver for receiving a GPS signal for detecting a current position of the vehicle;
A camera unit for photographing a forward vehicle image;
An image processing unit for processing the photographed image to detect a traffic light;
A running speed detection unit for detecting a running speed of the current vehicle; And
The color of the traffic light detected through the image processing unit is detected and the time from the time when the color changes to the time when the color is changed to another color is detected and the distance from the current position of the vehicle A control unit for calculating a distance to a predefined point of the intersection and outputting guide information for preventing entry into the intersection when the calculated travelable distance is shorter than the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the predefined point of intersection Including,
Wherein the control unit judges the current traffic situation based on the reference speed of the road on which the vehicle is currently traveling, the average speed per day and the time period, and the current speed, and the travelable distance is a distance And calculates the distance that can be traveled in the state,
Wherein the control unit controls the camera unit to photograph an image of the front of the vehicle from a predetermined point of several meters to several tens of meters at a point where the traffic lights are installed based on the map data.

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The driving force control apparatus according to claim 1,
Wherein the traveling speed detecting unit detects the traveling speed by using a sensor for detecting the rotational speed of the vehicle, or communicates with the electronic control unit (ECU) of the vehicle to receive the traveling speed information to detect the traveling speed.

The apparatus of claim 1,
And when the calculated travelable distance is longer than a distance from a current position of the vehicle to a predetermined point of intersection, guidance information indicating that the vehicle can enter the intersection is outputted.

The method according to claim 1,
And an information output unit for outputting information for informing whether or not to enter an intersection under the control of the control unit,
Wherein the information output unit outputs information for informing whether or not to enter an intersection using audio and video through a cluster installed in a vehicle or an AVN (Audio, Video, Navigation) device.

Detecting a current position of the vehicle using a control signal received through a GPS receiver;
The control unit controlling the camera unit to photograph a forward image of the vehicle;
Processing the forward image through the image processing unit to detect a traffic light;
Detecting the traveling speed of the current vehicle through the traveling speed detecting unit;
Detecting a color of the traffic light and detecting a time from a time when the color changes to a time when the color is changed to another color;
Calculating a distance from the current position of the vehicle and a pre-specified point of the intersection based on the current driving situation; And
And outputting guidance information for preventing the control section from entering the intersection when the calculated travelable distance is shorter than the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the predefined point of the intersection,
Wherein the control unit judges the current traffic situation based on the reference speed of the road on which the vehicle is currently traveling, the average speed per day and the time period, and the current speed, and the travelable distance is a distance And calculates the distance that can be traveled in the state,
Wherein the control unit controls the camera unit to photograph an image of the front of the vehicle from a predetermined point of several meters to several tens of meters at a point where the traffic lights are installed based on the map data.

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7. The method according to claim 6, wherein if the calculated travelable distance is longer than a distance from a current position of the vehicle to a predefined point of an intersection,
Wherein the control unit outputs guide information indicating that the vehicle can enter the intersection.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein in the step of outputting the guide information,
Wherein the control unit outputs information for informing whether an intersection is to be entered using audio and video through a cluster or an AVN (Audio, Video, Navigation) device installed in the vehicle through the information output unit.