KR102314541B1 - system for guiding pedestrian crossing route for the blind - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention supports the selective operation of the acoustic signal along the traversing direction through the traversing route guidance app mounted on the smartphone carried by the visually impaired, and provides an acoustic signal belonging to a number of crossing paths frequently used by the visually impaired with the visually impaired. It relates to a cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired to support motion to automatically respond based on the location information of an acoustic signal or to control the step-by-step transition and end time of a cross-path guidance app.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, it is installed on the pole of the walking traffic light and broadcasts a location guide sound and a signal guide sound for the visually impaired; a microcomputer that collectively controls the overall operation of the acoustic signal while storing the unique ID of the acoustic signal, the installation location, and the lane information of the crosswalk; A first wireless communication module for wireless communication with a wireless controller carried by the visually impaired; A second wireless communication module for mutual wireless communication with sound signals installed opposite to each other across a crosswalk and wireless communication with the BLE communication module of a smart phone carried by the visually impaired to receive desired functions from the visually impaired and provide necessary information There is provided a cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired including at least one acoustic signal having a private short-distance communication module for transmitting.

Description

Cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired {system for guiding pedestrian crossing route for the blind}

The present invention relates to a cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired, and in particular, supports the selective operation of an acoustic signal along the traversing direction through a cross-path guidance app mounted on a smartphone carried by the visually impaired, and is frequently used by the visually impaired. Crossing route guidance system for the visually impaired to support motion to automatically respond to acoustic signals belonging to multiple crossing routes based on the location information of visually impaired and acoustic signals, or to control step-by-step switching and end time of the crossing route guidance app is about

Compared with the non-blind, it is very dangerous or difficult for the visually impaired to cross the crosswalk by walking independently.

Since the National Police Agency standard was enacted in 2000, the acoustic signal for the visually impaired, which guides pedestrians to cross the crosswalk safely, has been steadily distributed and used. belonging to transportation facilities. The number of installed so far has reached hundreds of thousands nationwide, and the acoustic signal system is so widely distributed nationwide that it is installed in pedestrian traffic lights, which account for about 40% of all pedestrian traffic lights.

However, due to the nature of the disability, it is very difficult for the visually impaired to operate the sound signal by directly accessing the button installed on the pole of the walking traffic light. Standards have been established.

1 is a diagram illustrating the installation state of a sound signal in a general four-way crosswalk. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 51 denotes a visually impaired person, and 52 and 30 denote a walking signal light holder and a wireless controller carried by the visually impaired, respectively.

As shown in Fig. 1, in the case of a four-way intersection, two pedestrian traffic lights 52 are installed opposite each other across the crosswalk, and one acoustic signal is operated for each pedestrian traffic light 52. An operation button 54 is provided. The acoustic signals 53a and 53b are also configured to operate as a pair of two installed opposite each other with each crosswalk interposed therebetween.

Meanwhile, the wireless controller, which can be carried and carried by the visually impaired, is standardized so that it can be used for all sound signal devices nationwide by limiting the number of operation buttons to two for easy and convenient use.

However, the visually impaired and the National Police Agency are experiencing difficulties due to unexpected inconvenience and civil complaints for reasons such as convenience such as remote wireless control or simplification of operation buttons. For example, in the case of the 4th street as shown in FIG. 1, there are a total of 8 acoustic signal devices 53a and 53b installed in the walking traffic light 52. Where will the visually impaired 51 approach the 4th street? When the wireless controller 30 is operated toward an unknown acoustic signal, a plurality of nearby 2 to 8 acoustic signal units simultaneously receive the wireless signal according to the non-directional characteristic of the RF wave, resulting in the following problem.

First, it was difficult for the visually impaired to accurately grasp the contents of the broadcast due to simultaneous overlapping announcements through multiple sound signals, and excessive noise caused civil complaints from nearby shopping malls and surrounding citizens.

In consideration of this, the reception range is controlled by appropriately adjusting the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) of the acoustic signal device to prevent simultaneous operation of multiple acoustic signal devices. The reception range changes due to various environmental factors such as the influence of high voltage devices, and accordingly, it was never easy to operate at a desired distance.

Second, pedestrian traffic lights always have two transversal directions centered on the user, the east-west axis and the north-south axis. There was a risk of being exposed to a car crash by mistaken this for a pedestrian traffic light in the direction he was crossing and starting crossing according to the guidance of the acoustic signal in the other direction.

In this way, from the perspective of the visually impaired, in addition to a white cane, bag, and smartphone, it is inconvenient to always carry the wireless controller, and the wireless controller is operated every time at a crosswalk along the walking path, such as near home or work. The inconvenience of having to learn and use an acoustic signal that does not know where it is is aggravated, and the use rate of the acoustic signal through the wireless controller is very low.

On the other hand, in consideration of the above-mentioned problem, in the following prior art 1, the wireless controller is provided with four operation buttons for outputting a selection signal in each of the four directions of east, west, north, and south, and a corresponding direction code is also given to the sound signal so that the visually impaired want to go. A technique for operating only an acoustic signal in a desired direction is disclosed.

However, according to this prior art 1, since there is no compatibility between the previously installed and disseminated sound signal devices and radio controllers, it is necessary to replace the previously installed sound signal devices with new ones or to recover and renovate them one by one, which is economical. Not only was it impossible to realize due to the problem, but there were also problems in that it caused inconvenience in use and non-standardization of the National Police Agency due to an increase in the number of operation buttons of the wireless controller.

On the other hand, in the following prior art 2, in order to eliminate the inconvenience of carrying a wireless controller, a technology for implementing the function of a wireless controller through a smart phone that a visually impaired person always carries is proposed.

Figure 2 is an overall system configuration diagram of the crosswalk guide system for the visually impaired disclosed in the following prior art 2, since the reference numerals are different from those of Figure 1, so for convenience, the related reference numbers are used only in Figure 2 for convenience. In FIG. 2, the one-way solid arrow indicates that the beacon signal is unilaterally transmitted from the detector 20 to the smartphone 10, and the two-way solid arrow indicates that the smartphone 10 and the actuator 40, etc. transmit the signal through the Wi-Fi signal. It indicates that the signal input unit of the actuator (40, etc.) and the signal input unit of the sound signal device (30, etc.) are connected (wired connection).

As shown in Figure 2, the crosswalk guidance system (1) for the visually impaired disclosed in the prior art 2, a smart phone 10, a plurality of sensors 20, a plurality of sound signals (30, etc.), a plurality of actuators (40, etc.) and the application 50 for the visually impaired mounted on the smart phone 10.

In the above configuration, each detector 20 is, for example, installed at intervals of 1 to 2 m within a radius of 50 m from the center of the crosswalk. can be installed on The reason for doing this is to set the effective arrival distance of the beacon signal to approximately 50 m, and when a visually impaired person enters within 50 m near the crosswalk, the smart phone 10 detects the beacon signal transmitted by the detector 20 at once. In this case, the application 50 for the visually impaired can quickly find the shortest distance for guiding the visually impaired to a crosswalk because the location of the plurality of sensors 20 can be grasped at once.

Each detector 20 is given a unique identification number, and the transmitted beacon signal includes such a unique identification number. is saved Accordingly, the smart phone 10 determines the direction toward the crosswalk after identifying the current location of the visually impaired by distinguishing each detector 20 with a unique identification number included in the received beacon signal.

Each detector 20 includes a beacon signal, for example, a beacon chip 21 that generates a beacon signal using a Bluetooth communication method, a beacon antenna 22 that wirelessly transmits a beacon signal, and a power supply unit for supplying power to the all beacon chips It is composed of 24, the power supply unit 24 is composed of a primary or secondary battery.

Next, the acoustic signal device (30, etc.) is installed on the pole of the pedestrian signal located at the crosswalk, and informs the visually impaired of the crossing time and the current location by voice.

The actuator (40, etc.) is provided in pair with the acoustic signal device (30, etc.) to operate the acoustic signal device (30) paired with itself. Each actuator (40, etc.) operates at low power and generates a Wi-Fi signal by a low-power Wi-Fi chip 41, a Wi-Fi antenna 42 for transmitting a Wi-Fi signal, a power supply unit 44 implemented with a primary or secondary battery, and a Wi-Fi chip (41) and a microcomputer (43) for controlling the power supply (44). The microcomputer 43 is connected to a signal input unit (not shown) of the sound signal machine 30 , and when the microcomputer 43 inputs a signal to the signal input unit, the sound signal machine 30 is operated. Each actuator (such as 40) emits a different Wi-Fi signal.

On the other hand, when the smartphone 10 detects a beacon signal sent from the beacon chip 21, the application for the visually impaired 50 guides the visually impaired to the crosswalk through the speaker (not shown) of the smartphone 10. A voice is emitted until the blind person arrives at the crosswalk. When a visually impaired person arrives at a crosswalk, the application for the visually impaired 50 guides the visually impaired person to select any one of a plurality of actuators (40, etc.) to determine a direction to cross at the crosswalk.

In response, when the visually impaired person selects one of the plurality of actuators (40, etc.), the selected actuator (40, etc.) operates a pair of acoustic signals (30, etc.), and the operated acoustic signal (30, etc.) is visually Guide people with disabilities at the crosswalk in the direction they want to cross.

As described above, the guidance system according to the prior art 2 improves the convenience of use by implementing the function of the wireless controller in the form of an application program on the smart phone that the visually impaired always carry.

However, prior art 2 uses only the signal guide sound transmission function among the two functions provided in the already popular sound signal device, so there is a problem in that the effectiveness of the sound signal device is significantly reduced.

In this regard, in the prior art 2, in order to guide the visually impaired to the crosswalk while leaving the location guidance sound transmission function already provided in the sound signal, it is necessary to additionally install a large number of sensors, ranging from tens to hundreds, at each crosswalk. In addition, in order to connect the sound signal input unit and the actuator's microcomputer by wire or wirelessly through Wi-Fi, all sound signal devices already installed must be recovered and remodeled.

Above all, since the source of the location guidance sound up to the crosswalk is not an acoustic signal installed at the crosswalk, but a smartphone that the visually impaired have, the visually impaired must move along the source of the location guide sound for convenience through spatial sense of direction. Although it is possible to reach the crosswalk in a hurry, there was a problem that many difficulties follow the method of reaching the crosswalk by following the guidance provided by the smartphone.

Prior Art 3: Utility Model Registration No. 20-0364127 (Title of Invention: Pedestrian crossing sound signal device for the visually impaired) Prior Art 2: 10-1492913 Registration Patent Publication (Title of Invention: Pedestrian crossing guidance system for the visually impaired) Prior Art 3: 10-1580764 Registered Patent Publication (Title of the invention: walking guidance relay system and operation method of walking guidance relay system)

The present invention has been devised to solve the above problems, and supports the selective operation of the acoustic signal along the traversing direction through the traversing route guidance app mounted on the smart phone carried by the visually impaired, and many frequently used by the visually impaired. A cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired to support the operation to automatically respond to the acoustic signal belonging to the crossing route of the visually impaired and based on the location information of the acoustic signal, or to control the step-by-step transition and end time of the crossing route guidance app. intended to provide.

According to a first aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, it is installed on the pole of the walking traffic light and broadcasts the location guide sound and the signal guide sound for the visually impaired; a microcomputer that collectively controls the overall operation of the acoustic signal while storing the unique ID of the acoustic signal, the installation location, and the lane information of the crosswalk; A first wireless communication module for wireless communication with a wireless controller carried by the visually impaired; The second wireless communication module for mutual wireless communication with sound signal devices installed opposite to each other across the crosswalk and wireless communication with the BLE communication module of the smart phone carried by the visually impaired to receive the desired function from the visually impaired and provide necessary information There is provided a cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired including at least one acoustic signal having a private short-distance communication module for transmitting.

In the above configuration, the private short-distance communication module periodically wirelessly transmits its own ID and location coordinate information or, in addition, cross-direction information.

The private short-distance communication module transmits lane information and a crossing start signal synchronized with lighting of a green light.

The private short-distance communication module broadcasts a location guide sound based on the location of the acoustic signal device, and transmits an end signal after the broadcast ends.

In the case of an intersection with more than 3 distances, the average GPS coordinate value of the same point is stored as the location information for the acoustic signals in two adjacent directions without facing the crosswalk .

Among the sound signal devices located within the communication area, the sound signal with the mobile communication modem installed becomes the master sound signal, and at least one other sound signal becomes the slave sound signal. and after receiving the status information, it is transmitted to the management server through the mobile communication modem.

According to a second feature of the present invention, it is installed on the walking traffic light post and is installed in or near the walking traffic light post to form a pair with an existing sound signal that broadcasts a location guide sound and a signal guide sound for the visually impaired; a microcomputer that collectively controls the overall operation of the repeater while storing the unique ID of the acoustic signal, the installation location, and the lane information of the crosswalk; The first wireless communication module that performs wireless communication with an acoustic signal for a location guide sound or signal guide sound broadcast request, and the BLE communication module of a smart phone carried by the visually impaired to receive the desired function from the visually impaired and receive necessary functions There is provided a cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired including one or more repeaters having a private short-range communication module for transmitting information.

In the above configuration, the private short-distance communication module periodically wirelessly transmits its own ID and location coordinate information or, in addition, cross-direction information.

The private short-distance communication module transmits lane information and a crossing start signal synchronized with lighting of a green light.

The private short-distance communication module broadcasts a location guide sound based on the location of the acoustic signal device, and transmits an end signal after the broadcast ends.

In the case of an intersection with more than 3 distances, the average GPS coordinate value of the same point is stored as the location information for the acoustic signals in two adjacent directions without facing the crosswalk .

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is performed by an acoustic signal device for the visually impaired that is installed on a walking traffic light post and broadcasts a location guide sound and a signal guide sound for the visually impaired, and periodically transmits its own ID and location coordinates wirelessly. (a) step of sending to; Step (b) of performing a corresponding announcement when receiving a signal requesting a cross-direction guidance, location guidance sound or signal guidance sound from the crossing route guidance app while connected to the crossing route guidance app mounted on the smartphone carried by the visually impaired; and When a green light is turned on, a cross-path guidance method for the visually impaired is provided, including the step (c) of wirelessly transmitting a crossing start guide signal and lane information of a crosswalk in the jurisdiction.

According to the fourth feature of the present invention, it is wireless between the cross-path guidance app mounted on the smart phone carried by the visually impaired and the existing acoustic signal device installed on the walking signal light post to broadcast the location guidance sound and signal guidance sound for the visually impaired. (h) periodically transmitting its own unique ID and location coordinates wirelessly; In the state of being connected to the cross-path guide app installed on the smartphone carried by the visually impaired, when receiving a request signal for traversing direction guidance, location guide sound or signal guide sound from the cross-path guide app, the request signal is wirelessly transmitted to the sound signal ( A cross-path guidance method for the visually impaired is provided, including step i) and step (j) of wirelessly transmitting the crossing start guide signal and lane information of the crosswalk under the jurisdiction when the green light turns on.

According to the cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired of the present invention, based on the selective operation support of the acoustic signal along the traversing direction and the current location of the visually impaired in connection with the cross-path guidance app mounted on the smartphone carried by the visually impaired Transmitting information to know the approach location, crossing location, and whether or not crossing has been completed in consideration of the walking characteristics, it provides the time to switch and end the crossing route guidance app, and supports automatic response type sound signal operation support (saved route guidance, etc.) It is possible to minimize the inconvenience of using the sound signal for the visually impaired and provide efficient and systematic management service by providing a signal for

In addition, efficiency in terms of cost by receiving operation and status information by BLE communication from the remaining slave sound signal devices in the corresponding area through one master sound signal machine with a mobile communication modem installed among the sound signal machines in a certain area and providing it to the management server can be maximized.

1 is a state diagram of a sound signal installation state of a general four-way intersection crosswalk.
Figure 2 is an overall system configuration of the crosswalk guidance system for the visually impaired disclosed in the prior art 2 below.
Figure 3 is a block diagram of a cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a diagram for explaining a method of providing location information of each sound signal in the cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired of the present invention.
Figure 5 is a remote monitoring network configuration diagram of the cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired of the present invention.
6 is a sequence chart for explaining a method for guiding a cross-path for the visually impaired according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figures 7a and 7b is an exemplary view of the direction selection and sound selection screen in the cross-path guidance app of the present invention, respectively.
8 is a block diagram of a cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired according to another embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 9 is a sequence chart for explaining a guide method through the cross-path guide system for the visually impaired shown in Figure 8.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a block diagram of a cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired according to the present invention, and is a system block diagram including a new sound signal. As shown in FIG. 3, the cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired of the present invention is installed on a walking signal light post facing the smart phone 300 and the crosswalk carried by the visually impaired at all times and operates in one group. At least one pair of acoustic signal devices (100m), (100s) may be included.

In the above configuration, the smart phone 300 carried by the visually impaired at all times is equipped with a short-range wireless communication function, for example, a Wi-Fi wireless communication function or a Bluetooth wireless communication function, and the original function of the wireless controller, that is, a location guide button. An application program that supports the visually impaired to safely and conveniently move the desired crossing route (hereinafter referred to as the 'Crossing Route Guide App') ) is installed.

In this embodiment, Bluetooth communication, particularly Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), which is a low-power Bluetooth communication function, may be used as short-distance communication. As is well known, BLE is a 2.4 GHz frequency band-based low-power/low-capacity having a reach radius of approximately several hundred m at most. Bluetooth technology that can transmit and receive data. The main feature of BLE is that since the duty cycle is only about a few milliseconds (ms), power consumption is very low by operating in a sleep mode most of the time.

On the other hand, each acoustic signal device (100m), (100s), (10sl) constituting the guidance system of the present invention supports the selective operation of the acoustic signal device through the traversing route guidance app and an automatic response type operation considering the walking characteristics of the visually impaired. A microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as 'unique ID'), the location information, direction information, and lane information of the crosswalk under jurisdiction, that controls the overall operation of the acoustic signal device in order to support 105), the first wireless communication module 120 for wireless communication with the wireless controller 400 carried by the visually impaired while receiving the status signal from the walking signal, and the sound signal device installed opposite to the crosswalk ( BLE communication module ( 140) may be included.

Specifically, the BLE communication module 140 of the acoustic signal transmitter wirelessly transmits its own ID and location coordinate information or direction information in addition thereto at a given time period within, for example, 1 second. In addition, the BLE communication module 140 of the sound signal device transmits lane information and a crossing start signal synchronized with the green light lighting to the crossing route guidance app to provide a continuous walking route guidance service during road crossing, so that the crossing route guidance app is visualized Support for the disabled to determine the location of the crosswalk movement or whether the crossing has been completed.

A pair of acoustic signals are installed facing one crosswalk and operated as a pair, one becomes the main acoustic signal (100m) while the other becomes the sub acoustic signal (100m), and the configuration is the same.

Reference number 180 in the drawing is installed adjacent to the post of the walking signal light on which the corresponding acoustic signal devices (100m), (100s), (10sl) are installed, and the corresponding acoustic signal devices (100m), (100s), (10sl) are directly operated. button, 150 denotes a voice module that stores and outputs sound sources of various location guidance sounds or signal guidance sounds, and 160 denotes a speaker that converts electric signals output from the voice module 150 into sound waves and outputs them.

On the other hand, the unique ID of the acoustic signal device (100m), (100s), (10sl) is uniquely assigned to be used anywhere in the country, for example, it may be given in the form of HM-AAA-0001-01. Here, the first alphabet of "AAA" represents one of 17 metropolitan city names, the following two letters represent a city/gun, "0001" represents an intersection identification code in the corresponding city/gun, and "01" is Indicates the number for each installation location of the relevant intersection. In this way, by giving a unique ID to each sound signal device (100m), (100s), and (10sl), the crossing route guide app can easily distinguish the location information and direction information of each acoustic signal device, and based on this, the visually impaired can currently Text and voice guidance should be supported so that you can know the direction accurately.

4 is a diagram for explaining a method of providing location information of each acoustic signal in the cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, each of the sound signal devices 100m, 100s, and 10sl has the GPS coordinates for each installation location stored separately by hour/minute/second values. In the case of an intersection, the east-west axis and north-south axis Since pedestrian traffic lights in two directions are always installed nearby, the distance error of GPS considering the approach direction of the visually impaired is reduced by giving the average GPS coordinate value of the same point approximately equidistant to two adjacent acoustic signals. . According to this, since the GPS value of 4 points is given by pairing 2 to 8 pedestrian traffic lights at the 4-way intersection, no matter where the blind person moves toward the intersection, only the sound signals in the two directions are a pair. It is recognized by the crossing route guidance app.

As in the prior art, the first wireless communication module 120 uses a specific industrial frequency band, for example, a 358 MHz frequency band, and the second wireless communication module 110 uses another industrial frequency band, for example, a 235 MHz frequency band. It is stipulated in the National Police Agency standard for use, so it is manufactured to be implemented as it is.

The acoustic signal device of the present invention also has a remote monitoring and fault diagnosis function through a mobile communication modem, for example, LTE-M or NB-IoT (Narrow Band Internet of Things). This is the remote monitoring network configuration diagram of the route guidance system.

As shown in FIG. 5, one acoustic signal within a predetermined area centered on the intersection, for example, an area where BLE communication is possible (approximately a radius of 100 m) is designated as the master acoustic signal device (100 m), and only LTE-M or Install the NB-IoT communication module (modem) 130, and designate the remaining acoustic signal in the same area as the slave acoustic signal (100sl). In this state, the master acoustic signal device 100m collects predetermined operation and status information from the slave acoustic signal device 100sl through the BLE communication module 140 periodically, for example, at an interval of 1 hour or when an event such as a failure occurs. It is reported to the management server 600 through the LTE-M or NB-IoT communication module 130. For this purpose, each sound signal device may be given a device ID that is used only in the corresponding area separately from the above-described unique ID. Through this, the cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired of the present invention avoids the cost inefficiency of installing LTE-M or NB-IoT modems in all acoustic signals. Reference numeral 500 denotes a PC for an administrator connected to the microcomputer 105 through a predetermined interface, for example, an RS-232 interface, for the purpose of fault diagnosis or debugging.

6 is a sequence chart for explaining a method of guiding a cross-path for the visually impaired of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, first, in step S100, each of the acoustic signal devices 100m, 100s, and 100sl is, for example, periodically with a set time interval within 1 second of its own ID and location coordinates or this In addition, the cross-direction information is transmitted, and when the cross-path guidance app is executed on the smart phone 300 carried by the visually impaired, the BLE communication module built into the smart phone can be activated.

In this state, when a visually impaired person moves and approaches the intersection or presses the first road mode button, for example, the cross-path guidance app receives the location coordinates from a plurality of sound signals through the BLE communication module and then displays the coordinates of their current location. After selecting the acoustic signal to be traversed by calculating along with the GPS coordinates, it is output as a voice so that the visually impaired can know it (step S20).

However, as described above, in the case of a four-way intersection, since a pair of acoustic signals share the same GPS coordinates, as shown in FIG. 7A, a guide sound is output for the directions of two acoustic signals or the name of the intersection in addition to it. , the visually impaired can choose one of these in the desired transverse direction. Hereinafter, for convenience, descriptions are made on the screen of the smartphone instead of the voice.

On the other hand, the direction information of the acoustic signal can be obtained by accessing the cross-path guidance app by accessing the management server 600 through the Internet. You may be able to send Next, the cross-path guidance app establishes a connection between the selected sound signal device by communicating through each other's BLE communication module (step S30).

Next, the visually impaired selects a desired guide sound, that is, a location guide sound or a signal guide sound (step S40 or S70) on the screen illustrated in FIG. A location guidance sound request signal is transmitted (step S50) or a signal guidance sound request signal is transmitted (step S80).

Here, the crossing route guide app calculates the distance to the connected sound signal even if the visually impaired does not operate the desired guide sound button, and automatically transmits a location guide sound request signal according to the calculated distance, The location guidance sound end signal is transmitted, and even during the location guidance sound broadcasting, the signal guide sound request signal may be directly transmitted or the signal guide sound request signal may be automatically transmitted to control the signal guide sound to be broadcast.

Next, the connected acoustic signal performs a step S60 to broadcast a location guide sound or performs a step S90 to broadcast a signal guide sound. In this case, the acoustic signal may transmit a location guidance end signal to the crossing route guidance app after the location guidance sound broadcast (step S65).

According to the location guidance sound broadcasting function, for example, a voice guidance saying 'It is a crosswalk in the direction of ㅇㅇ at the intersection with the Minuet in G major' is transmitted for about 10 seconds. According to the signal guide sound transmission function, for example, if the light status of the pedestrian traffic light is red, 'Please wait. ㅇㅇ Intersection is a crosswalk in the direction of ㅇㅇ' is transmitted, and when the red light is changed to green light, the green light is turned on at the crosswalk, that is, at the crosswalk in the direction of ding dong ding ㅇㅇ. You may cross over.' A voice guidance is transmitted.

On the other hand, the acoustic signal determines whether the green light is turned on according to the active request of the visually impaired through the crossing route guidance app or the self-request of the crossing route guidance app in step S100. As a result of the determination in step S100, if the green light is not turned on, step S100 is repeatedly performed, whereas if the green light is on, step S110 is performed to provide a signal guide sound indicating that the green light has been turned on as described above. By performing step S120 together with broadcasting through the speaker and transmitting the crossing start guide signal and the lane information of the corresponding crosswalk through the BLE communication module, the current position on the crosswalk of the visually impaired or whether the crossing is completed after the crossing is started. Let the app know. In addition, this information can be used to request a location guidance sound or a signal guidance sound from an acoustic signal on the next moving route, or to calculate the end time of the crossing route guidance service.

8 is a block diagram of a cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired according to another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 8, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same components as those of FIG. 3, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted. In FIG. 8 , reference numerals 100'm and 100's denote an already installed sound signal device, and 105' denotes a control unit for controlling the first wireless communication module 120 , the second wireless communication module 110 , and the voice module 150 . .

As shown in Fig. 8, in the cross-path guidance system of this embodiment, to guide the cross-path to the visually impaired without any modification or modification to the already installed sound signal, the cross-path guide app communicates with the BLE communication module, A repeater 200 for relaying each other by communicating with the acoustic signal machine through the first wireless communication module is introduced.

Such a repeater 200 is a sound signal device (100'm), (100's) and a position adjacent to, for example, a walking traffic light post in which an acoustic signal device (100'm), (100's) is installed, an acoustic signal device (100'm), ( 100's), it is installed on the outside or inside of the main body case, and receives the location guidance sound transmission or signal guidance sound transmission request wirelessly from the smart phone 300 of the visually impaired to receive the acoustic signal device (100'm), (100's) Control it wirelessly.

Specifically, the repeater 200 includes a first wireless communication module 220 , a BLE communication module 210 and a microcomputer 205 for wireless communication with the sound signal machine 100'm, and the microcomputer of the repeater 200 is provided. (205) and the BLE communication module 210 has a function made between the microcomputer 105 of the sound signal device 100m shown in FIG. 3 and the cross-path guide app of the BLE communication module 140 as it is.

On the other hand, since the radio signal only needs to be transmitted to the repeater 200 according to the guidance system of the present embodiment in a short distance, within approximately 1 m, the transmission power is significantly reduced compared to the conventional radio controller 400 , for example, it may be minimized with a weak propagation of 3 mW or less. As a result, as the power transmitted by the repeater 200 is reduced in this way, the problem of transmitting a location guidance sound or a signal guidance sound by simultaneously reacting two or more acoustic signal signals according to the acoustic signal installation environment near the crosswalk will be solved.

As a power source of the repeater 200, a battery as an independent power source may be used or the AC power of the walking signal light or the sound signal device (100'm), (100's) may be directly rectified and used. It is desirable to use the power of the pedestrian signal light together so that it can be shared with others.

9 is a sequence chart for explaining a guide method through the cross-path guide system for the visually impaired shown in FIG. 8, and the same reference numerals are assigned to the same configuration as in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 9, first, in step S10', each repeater 200 periodically has a unique ID and a In addition to transmitting location coordinates or cross-direction information, the BLE communication module built into the smart phone may be activated when the cross-path guide app is executed on the smart phone 300 carried by the visually impaired.

In this state, when a visually impaired person moves and approaches the intersection or, for example, presses the first-way mode button, the cross-path guidance app receives the location coordinates from a plurality of repeaters 200 through the BLE communication module and then After selecting the acoustic signal to be crossed by calculating along with the GPS coordinates for the current location, it is output as a voice so that the visually impaired can know it (step S20).

However, as described above, in the case of a four-way intersection, since a pair of repeaters 200 share the same GPS coordinates, as shown in FIG. It is output, and the visually impaired can select one of them in the desired transverse direction. Hereinafter, for convenience, descriptions are made on the screen of the smartphone instead of the voice.

On the other hand, the direction information of the acoustic signal can be obtained by the crossing route guidance app accessing the management server 600 through the Internet, but in addition, when the unique ID and location coordinates are transmitted from each repeater 200 or embedded in the crossing route guidance app It may also be sent together. Next, the crossing route guide app establishes a connection between the selected repeater 200 by communicating through each other's BLE communication module (step S30').

Next, the visually impaired selects a desired guide sound, that is, a location guide sound or a signal guide sound (step S40 or S70) on the screen illustrated in FIG. ) to transmit a location guidance sound request signal (step S50') or transmit a signal guide sound request signal (step S80').

Here, the crossing route guide app calculates the distance to the connected sound signal even if the visually impaired does not operate the desired guide sound button, and automatically transmits a location guide sound request signal according to the calculated distance, and the repeater 200 ) transmits the location guide sound end signal, and even if the location guide sound broadcast is in progress, the signal guide sound request signal can be directly transmitted or the signal guide sound request signal can be automatically transmitted to control the signal guide sound to be broadcast. .

Next, the repeater 200 transmits the request of the crossing route guidance app to the sound signal operating in a pair through the first wireless communication module 220 (step S55 or step S85), and the sound signal transmits the step S60' to broadcast the location guide sound, or perform step S90' to broadcast the signal guide sound.

On the other hand, the repeater 200 determines whether the green light is turned on according to the active request of the visually impaired through the cross-path guide app in step S100' or the self-request of the cross-path guide app. As a result of the determination in step S100', if the green light is not turned on, step S100' is repeatedly performed, whereas if the green light is on, step S110 is performed and as described above, through the BLE communication module 210 By transmitting the crossing start guide signal and lane information of the crosswalk, the crossing route guide app can know the current location of the visually impaired on the crosswalk or whether the crossing has been completed after the start of the crossing. And this information can be used to request a location guidance sound or a signal guidance sound to an acoustic signal on the next moving route or to calculate the end time of the crossing route guidance service in the future.

Separately, when the green light is turned on (step S105'), the corresponding sound signal emits a signal guide sound to inform that the green light is turned on by its own operation (step S115) through the speaker.

Above, with reference to the accompanying drawings, the preferred embodiment of the cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired of the present invention has been described in detail, but this is merely an example, and various modifications and changes will be possible within the scope of the technical spirit of the present invention. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be defined by the description of the following claims.

In the following claims, a short-range communication module, for example, a BLE module or a Wi-Fi module of the above-described embodiment, is referred to as a 'private short-range communication module', and other private short-range communication modules may be used within the scope of the technical spirit of the present invention. make it clear that you can Similarly, it should be noted that other mobile communications may be used for mobile communications called LTE-M or NB-IoT. In addition, the term 'module' is provided for convenience of description and may be composed of a more subdivided configuration.

100m, 100s, 100sl: sound signal, 105: microcomputer,
110: a second wireless communication module, 120: a first wireless communication module,
130: NB-IoT communication module, 140: BLE communication module,
150: voice module, 160: speaker,
180: operation button, 200: repeater,
205: microcomputer, 210: BLE communication module,
220: a first wireless communication module,
300: smartphone, 400: wireless controller,
500: PC for administrator, 600: management server

Claims (13)

It is installed on the pole of the pedestrian traffic light and broadcasts the location guide sound and the signal guide sound for the visually impaired;
a microcomputer that collectively controls the overall operation of the acoustic signal while storing the unique ID of the acoustic signal, the installation location made of GPS coordinates, and the lane information of the crosswalk;
A first wireless communication module for wireless communication with a wireless controller carried by the visually impaired;
A second wireless communication module for mutual wireless communication with sound signal devices installed opposite to each other across a crosswalk; and
The visually impaired comprising at least one acoustic signal device equipped with a BLE communication module that wirelessly communicates with the BLE communication module of a smartphone carried by the visually impaired to receive information related to a request for cross-path guidance and to deliver location guidance or signal guidance-related information for cross-path guidance systems. The method according to claim 1,
The BLE communication module is a cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired, characterized in that it periodically transmits its own ID and installation location information or cross-direction information in addition thereto. 3. The method according to claim 2,
The BLE communication module is a cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired, characterized in that it transmits a crossing start signal synchronized with lane information and green light lighting. 3. The method according to claim 2,
The BLE communication module broadcasts a location guide sound based on the installation location of the sound signal device, and transmits a termination signal after the broadcast ends. 4. The method according to claim 3,
In the case of an intersection of three or more streets, the GPS coordinates of the same point for the acoustic signal in two adjacent directions without facing the crosswalk are stored as the installation location of the acoustic signal. 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Among the sound signals located within the communication area, the sound signal with the mobile communication modem installed becomes the master sound signal, and the other one or more sound signals become the slave sound signal,
The master acoustic signaler receives the operation and status information from the slave acoustic signaler through the BLE communication module, and then transmits the operation and status information to the management server through the mobile communication modem. It is installed on the pole of the pedestrian traffic light and is installed in or near the pole of the pedestrian traffic light to form a pair with an acoustic signal that broadcasts a location guidance sound and a signal guidance sound for the visually impaired;
a microcomputer that collectively controls the overall operation of the repeater while storing the unique ID of the acoustic signal, the installation location consisting of GPS coordinates, and the lane information of the crosswalk;
A first wireless communication module for performing wireless communication with a sound signal for a location guide sound or signal guide sound broadcast request; and
For the visually impaired including at least one repeater equipped with a BLE communication module that wirelessly communicates with the BLE communication module of a smartphone carried by the visually impaired to receive information related to a request for cross-path guidance and to deliver location guidance or signal guidance-related information Cross-Route Guidance System. 8. The method of claim 7,
The BLE communication module is a cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired, characterized in that it periodically transmits its own ID and installation location information or cross-direction information in addition thereto. 9. The method of claim 8,
The BLE communication module is a cross-path guidance system for the visually impaired, characterized in that it transmits a crossing start signal synchronized with lane information and green light lighting. 9. The method of claim 8,
The BLE communication module broadcasts a location guidance sound based on the installation location of the acoustic signal device, and transmits a termination signal after the broadcast is finished. 11. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10,
In the case of an intersection of three or more streets, the GPS coordinates of the same point for the acoustic signal in two adjacent directions without facing the crosswalk are stored as the installation location. delete delete

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