WO2007026881A1

WO2007026881A1 - Driving support system, driving support apparatus, driving support method, driving support program and recording medium

Info

Publication number: WO2007026881A1
Application number: PCT/JP2006/317348
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hiroaki Shibasaki
Original assignee: Pioneer Corporation
Priority date: 2005-09-01
Filing date: 2006-09-01
Publication date: 2007-03-08
Also published as: JPWO2007026881A1; JP4789948B2

Abstract

A driving support system (100) comprises a first communication apparatus (110), which is disposed in the vicinity of one of two routes meeting at a junction, and a second communication apparatus (120) disposed in the vicinity of the other route. The first communication apparatus (110) has a reception part (111), a determination part (112), a detection part (113) and a transmission part (114). The second communication apparatus (120) has a reception part (121), a determination part (122) and a transmission part (123).

Description

Specification

Driving support system, driving support device, driving support method, driving support program, and recording medium

Technical field

The present invention relates to a driving support system, a driving support device, a driving support method, a driving support program, and a recording medium that support driving of a moving object. However, the use of the present invention is not limited to the above-described driving support system, driving support device, driving support method, driving support program, and recording medium.

Background art

[0002] Conventionally, a technology has been devised to provide drivers with information for preventing accidents at and near junctions.

[0003] In such a conventional technology, signal information data indicating a change in signal is transmitted to a reception zone from an external transmitter provided at a traffic signal at a junction (intersection), and the signal is transmitted within the reception zone. An in-vehicle device installed in a car traveling on the vehicle receives the signal information data and outputs a corresponding warning message by voice and text to notify the driver. This makes it possible for the driver to know what action he should take and to prevent accidents in the vicinity of the merge point due to carelessness (for example, see Patent Document 1 below).

[0004] Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-077703

Disclosure of the invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

[0005] However, according to the conventional technology described above, it is impossible to know what kind of driving should be performed in relation to other vehicles passing through the junction. One example is the problem. In such a case, even if the driver of one vehicle observes the signal, if the driver of the other vehicle ignores the signal, it cannot respond to the actual traffic condition, and an accident at the confluence point. An example of this problem is that it cannot be prevented.

[0006] In addition, there are points where accidents occur frequently because there are no traffic lights, such as roads with poor prospects, merging points and continuous curves. However, because it is a point where accidents occur frequently, A traffic light is not always installed. In addition, even if it is installed, it takes time until it can actually be used, so the occurrence of traffic accidents at that point cannot be suppressed.

[0007] Further, as an example, there is a problem that a traffic light cannot be installed at a junction of an expressway, and the driver's driving technique must be relied upon. Drivers' driving skills vary greatly depending on their driving experience. For example, a driver who is unfamiliar with driving is likely to have a traffic accident when driving along a highway junction. Means for solving the problem

[0008] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the driving support system according to the invention of claim 1 is installed in the vicinity of one of the two routes joining the joining point. A driving support system comprising a communication device of 1 and a second communication device installed in the vicinity of the other route, wherein the first communication device is moving on the one route Based on the first receiving means for receiving the first moving body force information on the traveling direction of the first moving body and the information on the traveling direction received by the first receiving means, the first moving body Determining means for determining whether or not the vehicle is moving toward the junction, and first transmitting means for transmitting the determination result determined by the determining means to the second communication device. And the second communication device includes the first communication device. A second receiving means for receiving the determination result transmitted by the transmitting means, and a determination result received by the second receiving means are transmitted to the second mobile body moving along the other route. Second transmitting means.

[0009] Further, the driving support device according to the invention of claim 11 is installed in the vicinity of one of the two routes joining the joining point, the first communication device and the other route. A driving support device capable of communicating with a second communication device installed in the vicinity of the first communication device in the traveling direction of the first moving body moving along the one route. And receiving information related to the moving speed of the first moving body, and receiving information related to the direction of travel received by the receiving means. Is determined to determine whether or not the vehicle is moving toward the merging point, and is determined to be moving toward the merging point by the determining unit. When the determination is made, the detection means for detecting a temporal change in the movement speed based on the information on the movement speed continuously received by the first reception means, and the determination result determined by the determination means And a transmission means for transmitting the detection result detected by the detection means to the second communication device.

[0010] Further, the driving support method according to the invention of claim 12 is provided in the vicinity of one of the two routes joining the joining point, and the first communication device and the other route are installed. A driving support method using a second communication device installed in the vicinity, wherein the first communication device moves along the one route in the traveling direction of the first moving body. A first receiving step for receiving information related to the first moving body, and based on the information about the traveling direction received by the first receiving step, the first moving body A determination step for determining whether or not the vehicle is moving, a first transmission step for transmitting the determination result determined by the determination step to the second communication device, and the second communication device To receive the determination result transmitted in the first transmission step. A second reception step, and a second transmission step of transmitting the determination result received in the second reception step to a second mobile body that travels along the other route. Features.

[0011] In addition, the driving support method according to the invention of claim 15 is provided in the vicinity of one of the two routes joining the joining point, and the first communication device and the other route are installed. A driving support method using a second communication device installed in the vicinity, the information on the traveling direction of the first moving body moving along the one route from the first communication device And receiving the information about the moving speed of the first moving body continuously, and based on the information about the traveling direction received by the receiving process, the first moving body A determination step for determining whether or not the vehicle is moving toward the confluence point, and if the determination step determines that the vehicle is moving toward the confluence point, the first reception step continuously The movement speed received The second communication device includes a detection step for detecting a temporal change in the moving speed based on information obtained, a determination result determined by the determination step, and a detection result detected by the detection step. A transmission step of transmitting to the network. [0012] Further, a driving support program according to the invention of claim 16 causes a computer to execute the driving support method according to any one of claims 12 to 15.

[0013] In addition, a recording medium according to the invention of claim 17 is readable by a computer that records the driving support program according to claim 16.

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a functional configuration of a driving support system according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a driving support process of the first communication device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a driving support process of the second communication device.

[FIG. 4] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing traffic conditions to which the driving support system according to the first embodiment is applied.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the roadside machine.

[FIG. 6] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure of driving support processing performed by the main line side roadside machine.

[FIG. 7] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure of driving support processing performed by the main roadside unit.

[FIG. 8] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure of driving support processing performed by the merging side roadside machine.

[FIG. 9] FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing traffic conditions to which the driving support system according to the second embodiment is applied.

[FIG. 10] FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the driving support process performed by the main roadside unit farthest from the junction.

[FIG. 11] FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing the procedure of driving support processing performed by another main roadside unit.

[FIG. 12] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a driving support process performed by a merging roadside device farthest from the merging point.

[FIG. 13] FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a procedure of driving support processing performed by another merging side roadside machine. FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a functional configuration of the driving support system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the procedure of driving support processing of the driving support system.

[FIG. 16] FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing traffic conditions to which the driving support system according to Example 1 is applied.

[FIG. 17] FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a procedure of driving support processing performed by the main line side roadside machine.

[FIG. 18] FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a procedure of driving support processing performed by the merging side roadside machine.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a procedure of driving support processing of the driving support system according to the second embodiment. Explanation of symbols

[0015] 100, 2100 Driving support system

110, 2110 First communication device

111, 121, 2111, 2121 receiver

112, 2112 Judgment part

113 detector

114, 123, 2113, 2122 Transmitter

120, 2120 Second communication device

122 Judgment part

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0016] Exemplary embodiments of a driving support system, a driving support device, a driving support method, a driving support program, and a recording medium according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0017] (Embodiment 1)

First, the functional configuration of the driving support system 100 according to the first embodiment will be described. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the driving support system according to the first embodiment. FIG. In the block diagram of FIG. 1, the driving support system 100 is a first communication device 1

10 and the second communication device 120.

[0018] The first communication device 110 is installed in the vicinity of one of the two routes joining the joining point. In addition, the second communication device 120 is installed in the vicinity of the other route out of the two routes joining the joining point.

The first communication device 110 includes a reception unit 111, a determination unit 112, a detection unit 113, and a transmission unit 114. The receiving unit 111 receives information related to the traveling direction of the first moving body moving along one route where the first communication device 110 is installed in the vicinity, and also relates to the moving speed of the first moving body. Receive information continuously. In addition, when the determination result of the determination unit 122 is transmitted from the transmission unit 123 of the second communication device 120 described later, the reception unit 111 receives the transmitted determination result.

[0020] For example, the reception unit 111 transmits an acquisition request signal for information on the moving direction and moving speed to a communication device mounted on a mobile body that passes in the vicinity of the own device, and receives the returned information. To do. Further, for example, the moving direction and the moving speed may be obtained by emitting a velocity measurement radio wave to the moving body and receiving the reflected wave.

[0021] Here, the information related to the traveling direction of the moving body is, for example, moving direction information or destination point information of the moving body transmitted from a communication device mounted on the first moving body. The information on the moving speed is, for example, current speed information transmitted from a communication device mounted on the first moving body, the reflected wave of the speed measuring radio wave described above, and the like.

[0022] Further, continuously receiving may be information that is always connected to the first mobile unit, or may continue to receive information at regular intervals. Specifically, for example, an information acquisition request signal is transmitted to the first mobile unit at regular intervals, and the returned information is received.

[0023] Based on the information on the traveling direction received by the receiving unit 111, the determining unit 112 determines whether or not the first moving body is moving toward the joining point. Specifically, the determination unit 112, for example, if the traveling direction of the first moving body does not change and the vehicle travels along the road, the first moving body joins depending on whether or not the force reaches the joining point. Move towards the point and determine if it is! [0024] When it is determined by the determination unit 112 that the detection unit 113 is moving toward the joining point, the detection unit 113 is based on the information regarding the movement speed continuously received by the reception unit 111. Change is detected. Specifically, for example, the detection unit 113 stores information on the moving speed received by the reception unit 111, and compares the information received this time with the information received last time. Then, it is detected that there is a change when the information received this time is different from the information received last time, and no change is detected when the information received this time is the same as the information received last time.

[0025] In addition, the detection unit 113 may detect a change for each moving speed of the time to reach the joining point based on the current position of the first moving body and the distance between the joining points. In this case, for example, the detection unit 113 acquires current position information indicating the current position from the first moving body, and calculates the current position force and the distance to the merge point. Then, by dividing the calculated distance by the moving speed, the time for the first moving body to reach the confluence point (hereinafter referred to as the confluence time) is calculated.

[0026] In addition, for example, when the apparatus main body is installed in the vicinity of one route, the detection unit 113 approximates the position of the apparatus main body to the position of the first moving body, and The merging time of the first moving body may be calculated based on the information on the moving speed and the distance between the apparatus main body and the merging point. That is, the merging time may be calculated by dividing the distance between the apparatus main body and the merging point by the speed of the first moving body.

[0027] The detecting unit 113 may calculate the merging time by using all the information on the moving speed continuously received by the receiving unit 111, or the information received continuously is thinned out at a fixed interval. You may calculate time. The time to reach the meeting point (joining time) may be one that specifies a point on the time axis such as time, or may be a time having a certain range such as a time zone.

Transmitter 114 transmits the determination result determined by determination unit 112 and the detection result detected by detection unit 113 to second communication device 120. If the determination unit 112 determines that the first moving body is not moving to the joining point, the transmission of the information by the transmission unit 114 may be omitted.

[0029] Further, the transmission unit 114 is a transmission unit 123 of the second communication device 120, which will be described later. When the determination result of the determination unit 122 is received, the received determination result is transmitted to the first mobile unit.

Next, the functional configuration of the second communication device 120 will be described. The second communication device 120 includes a reception unit 121, a determination unit 122, and a transmission unit 123. The reception unit 121 receives the determination result and the detection result transmitted by the transmission unit 114 of the first communication device 110. The receiving unit 121 may receive information on the moving speed of the second moving body before and after transmitting the determination result and the detection result by the transmitting unit 114.

[0031] When information related to the moving speed of the second moving body is received by the receiving section 121, the determining unit 122 collides the first and second moving bodies based on the moving speed before and after the transmission of the information. Determine the possibility. For example, when the moving speed received by the receiving unit 121 changes before and after the transmission of information, the determining unit 122 calculates the difference between the merging times of the first and second moving bodies. If the difference in merging time is within a predetermined time, it is determined that there is a possibility of collision.

[0032] The transmission unit 123 transmits the determination result and the detection result received by the reception unit 121 to the second moving body that is moving on the other route out of the two routes that join the joining point. In addition, the transmission unit 123 transmits the determination result determined by the determination unit 122 to the first communication device 110.

Next, a procedure of driving support processing of the driving support system 100 will be described. Here, processing in first communication device 110 and processing in second communication device 120 will be described separately. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the driving support process of the first communication device. In FIG. 2, first, the first communication device 110 continuously receives information on the moving speed of the first moving body by the receiving unit 111 (step S201). In addition, the receiving unit 111 receives information related to the traveling direction of the first moving body (step S202).

Next, the determination unit 112 determines whether or not the first moving body is moving toward the joining point (step S203). When moving toward the junction (step S203: Yes), the detection unit 113 detects a change in the moving speed (step S204).

[0035] Then, the determination result obtained in step S203 and the detection result obtained in step S204. The result is transmitted to the second communication device 120 (step S205). On the other hand, when it is not moving to the merging point by force (step S203: No), the process returns to step S201, and the subsequent processing is repeated.

[0036] When the determination result and the detection result are transmitted to the second communication device 120 in step S205, the first communication device 110 is determined by the determination unit 122 of the second communication device 120 by the reception unit 111. It is determined whether or not the result has been received (step S206). When the determination result is received (step S206: Yes), the transmission unit 114 transmits the received determination result to the first mobile body (step S207), and the processing according to this flowchart is terminated. On the other hand, if the determination result is not received (step S206: No), the process returns to step S201 and the subsequent processing is continued.

[0037] Next, the procedure of the driving support process performed by the second communication device 120 will be described.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the driving support process of the second communication device. In FIG. 3, first, the second communication device 120 waits until the reception unit 121 receives the determination result and the detection result transmitted from the first communication device 110 (step S301: No loop). ).

[0038] When the determination result and the detection result are received (step S301: Yes), the received determination result and the detection result are transmitted to the second mobile unit (step S302), and the reception unit 121 determines the determination result and the detection result. Information on the moving speed of the second moving body before and after the transmission of the result is received (step S303). Then, the determination unit 122 determines whether or not there is a possibility of collision between the first moving body and the second moving body (step S304).

[0039] If there is a possibility of collision (step S304: Yes), information indicating that there is a possibility of collision between the first mobile unit and the second mobile unit is transmitted to the first communication device 110 ( Step S305), the process according to this flowchart is terminated. At this time, simultaneously with the first communication device 120, information indicating the possibility of a collision may be transmitted to the second mobile unit. On the other hand, if there is no possibility of collision (step S304: No), information indicating that there is no possibility of collision is transmitted to the first communication device 110 (step S306), and the processing according to this flowchart ends. . If there is no possibility of a collision, the transmission of information may be omitted.

[0040] As described above, according to the driving support system 100, two Among the routes, information on the presence or absence of the first moving body moving from one route to the meeting point is transmitted to the second moving body moving on the other route. can do. As a result, the second moving body can know whether or not there is a possibility of colliding with the first moving body at the junction.

[0041] In addition to the determination result, the detection result regarding the change in the moving speed of the first moving body is transmitted to the second moving body. As a result, it is possible to give information to the driver of the second moving body as a judgment material when taking measures to avoid a collision at the junction. Furthermore, based on the information on the moving speed, it is possible to provide a more detailed judgment material by detecting a change in the time at which the first moving body reaches the meeting point and transmitting it to the second moving body.

[0042] Further, it is determined whether or not there is a possibility of collision between the first moving body and the second moving body, and is transmitted to the first moving body. As a result, the driver of the first moving body can be provided with information that can be used as a judgment material when taking measures to avoid a collision at the junction. In addition, information on the moving speed of the first moving body is continuously received, and the detected change in moving speed is transmitted to the second moving body. As a result, the second moving body can perform an operation for avoiding a collision in accordance with the change of the first moving body on the route to the merging point.

[0043] Further, by approximating the position of the apparatus main body to the position of the first moving body, it is possible to calculate the time to reach the merging point without receiving information on the position from the first moving body. Yes, the first mobile strength can reduce the information received.

In the first embodiment, whether or not there is a possibility of collision between the first moving body and the second moving body is the force determined by the second communication device 120 in the first communication It may be judged by the device 110. In this case, the determination unit 122 is provided in the first communication device 110, and the information regarding the moving speed of the second moving body received in step S303 in FIG. 3 is transmitted to the first communication device 110. The determination unit 122 of the first communication device 110 determines whether or not there is a possibility of collision, and transmits the determination result to the first mobile unit and the second communication device 120.

[0045] In addition, a communication server capable of communicating with the first communication device 110 and the second communication device 120 may be provided. In this case, the first communication device 110 receives information related to the traveling direction of the first moving body and continuously transmits information related to the moving speed of the first moving body. And the reception result is transmitted to the communication server. The communication server performs the determination and detection in step S 203 and step S 204 in FIG. 2, and transmits the determination result and the detection result to the second communication device 120.

[0046] In this case, the communication server further receives information on the moving speed of the second mobile body before and after transmission of the determination result and the detection result from the second communication device 120, and the first mobile body and the second mobile body It may be determined whether or not there is a possibility of collision with the moving body. By installing the communication server in this way, the configuration of the communication device installed near the route can be simplified.

[Example 1]

Next, Example 1 of the driving support system 100 according to the first embodiment will be described. In the following embodiment, the driving support system 100 is applied to the driving support system 400 including the roadside devices 430 and 440 installed on the side of the road and the communication devices 411 and 421 mounted on the vehicles 410 and 420. explain.

[0048] First, the traffic situation to which the driving support system 400 according to the first embodiment is applied will be described. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a traffic situation to which the driving support system according to the first embodiment is applied. In FIG. 4, a confluence point P where the main road L1 and the confluence lane L2 of the expressway intersect is shown as an example of the confluence. In the vicinity of the confluence point P, drive the vehicle 410 (410a to 410c), 420 (420a, 420b) as a line of moving objects! The vehicle 410 is a vehicle traveling on the main line L1, and the vehicle 420 is a vehicle traveling on the merge lane L2.

[0049] Communication devices 411 (411a to 411c) and 421 (421a and 421b) are mounted on vehicles 410 and 420, respectively. The communication devices 411 and 421 communicate with roadside devices 430 and 440 installed on the sides of the roads on which the vehicles 410 and 420 travel, respectively, and transmit their own vehicle travel information and receive driving support information.

[0050] In addition, each vehicle 410, 420 has an ID for identifying its own vehicle uniquely assigned to each vehicle 410, 420, such as an IP address. This ID is given to the driver assistance system 400 and used as a communication address, and information is sent to the specific vehicle 410, 420 using the ID of the communication device 411, 421ί or the vehicle 410, 420. Can be sent. The ID of each vehicle 410, 420 is stored in each communication device 411, 421. [0051] The roadside device 430 is installed in the vicinity of the main line L1, travels on the main line L1, and communicates with the communication device 411 of the vehicle 410 passing the roadside device 430 side. The roadside device 440 is installed in the vicinity of the merging lane L2, travels on the merging lane L2, and communicates with the communication device 421 of the vehicle 420 passing through the roadside 440 side. Hereinafter, the roadside machine 430 is referred to as a main line side roadside machine 430, and the roadside machine 440 is referred to as a merge side roadside machine 440.

[0052] The communication ranges of the main line side roadside machine 430 and the merge side roadside machine 440 are areas A and B (hereinafter referred to as communication areas A and B) indicated by dotted lines in FIG. Communication areas A and B each include a junction P, and can communicate with vehicles 410 and 420 that travel at different speeds in the area and reach the junction P at the same time. In addition, the main line side roadside machine 430 and the merge side roadside machine 440 can communicate with each other.

[0053] The time required for the main roadside machine 430 and the merging side roadside machine 440 to arrive at the merging point P when the vehicles 410 and 420 travel at the average speed of the main line L1 or the merging lane L2, respectively. Installed at the same distance (hereinafter referred to as equal time distance). For example, if the average speed of the main line L1 is 80kmZh and the average speed of the merging lane L2 is 50kmZh, the main roadside machine 430 is installed approximately 2670m from the merge point P, and the merger roadside machine 440 is installed approximately 1670m from the merge point P. It is done. As a result, each roadside machine 430 is provided at an equidistant distance of 120 seconds until reaching the junction P.

[0054] Here, an outline of driving assistance performed by the driving assistance system 400 will be described. The main roadside unit 430 receives information such as the vehicle ID, the traveling direction, and the traveling speed from the vehicle 410 traveling on the main line L1, and the time at which each vehicle 410 reaches the merge point P (hereinafter referred to as the merge time). ) Is calculated and saved. Further, the merging side roadside machine 440 receives information such as a vehicle ID, a traveling direction, and a traveling speed from the vehicle 420 traveling on the merging lane L2, and calculates a merging time of the vehicle 420. Then, a verification request is made to the main road side roadside machine 430 for a vehicle 410 force S with a possibility of collision.

[0055] The main roadside unit 430 collates the merging time of the vehicle 420 with the stored merging time of the vehicle 410, and if there is a vehicle 410 within the predetermined merging time, there is a possibility of collision. The warning information is transmitted to the confluence side roadside machine 440. Upon receiving the warning information from the main line side roadside machine 430, the junction side roadside machine 440 sends the information to the communication device 421 of the vehicle 420 traveling on the merged lane L2. Send warning information. The communicator 421 displays the contents of warning information or outputs a sound to inform the driver of the vehicle 420 of the possibility of a collision with the vehicle 410 to avoid collision such as deceleration or lane change. Encourage them to take action.

[0056] On the other hand, main roadside roadside machine 430 continuously communicates with vehicle 410 that may collide with vehicle 420 (hereinafter referred to as the vehicle to be monitored) until it reaches junction P, and its speed and position. To monitor changes in merging time. Then, whenever there is a change in the merging time, it is transmitted to the merging side roadside device 440 each time. The merge side roadside machine 440 monitors the possibility of collision between the monitored vehicle and the vehicle 420 based on the information from the main line side roadside machine 430, and sends warning information to the vehicle 420 if the collision possibility disappears. continue. The monitored vehicle may be a plurality of vehicles 410. The driving support system 400 supports the driving of the vehicles 410 and 420 by the processing as described above.

[0057] In the following examples, the junction point is the junction point P of the main road L1 and the junction lane L2, but the junction point is an intersection where no traffic signal is provided or a signal. It may be an intersection where a unit is installed. If there is a traffic light at the intersection, the movement of other vehicles entering the intersecting lane force cannot be known, and there is a high possibility that an accident will occur. Even at intersections where traffic lights are provided, it is necessary to determine the possibility of collision with other vehicles, such as at night flashing traffic lights or when there are other vehicles traveling with neglected signals. This is because.

[0058] In addition, in the following embodiments, a force for explaining an example of a junction where two roads meet may be a four-fork road where two roads intersect, a three-way road, a five-way road, or the like. This is because it is necessary to judge the possibility of collision with other vehicles even at these junctions. In this case, for example, a vehicle (vehicle 420 in the following embodiment) that is about to reach a junction receives road information provided in the vicinity of each intersecting road and is provided with warning information.

[0059] Further, in the following embodiment, the merging side roadside device 440 requests verification of the main line side roadside device 430, but the mainline side roadside device 430 requests verification of the merging side roadside device 440. It may be done. In this case, the processing of the main line side roadside machine 430 and the merge side roadside machine 440 described below may be read in reverse.

[0060] (Hardware configuration of roadside machines 430 and 440) Next, the hardware configuration of the roadside machines 430 and 440 will be described. Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the roadside machine. In FIG. 5, roadside machines 430 and 440 include a CPU 501, a ROM 502, a RAM 503, a magnetic disk drive 504, a magnetic disk 505, an optical disk drive 506, an optical disk 507, an audio IZF (interface) 508, A microphone 509, a speaker 510, an input device 511, a video IZF 512, a display 513, and a communication IZF (interface) 514 are provided. Also, the components 501 to 514 are connected by a bus 520 !.

First, the CPU 501 governs overall control of the roadside machines 430 and 440. The ROM 502 records programs such as a boot program, a communication program, a database creation program, and a data analysis program. The RAM 503 is used as a work area for the CPU 501.

The magnetic disk drive 504 controls reading and writing of data with respect to the magnetic disk 505 according to the control of the CPU 501. The magnetic disk 505 records data written under the control of the magnetic disk drive 504. As the magnetic disk 505, for example, HD (node disk) or FD (flexible disk) can be used.

In addition, the optical disk drive 506 controls reading and writing of data with respect to the optical disk 507 according to the control of the CPU 501. The optical disc 507 is a detachable recording medium from which data is read according to the control of the optical disc drive 506. The optical disk 507 can use a writable recording medium. The removable recording medium may be a power MO of the optical disc 507, a memory card, or the like.

The audio IZF 508 is connected to a microphone 509 for audio input and a speaker 510 for audio output. Audio received by the microphone 509 is AZD converted in the audio IZF508. Audio is output from the speaker 510. Examples of the input device 511 include a remote controller having a plurality of keys for inputting characters, numerical values, various instructions, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, and the like.

In addition, video IZF 512 is connected to display 513. Specifically, the video IZF512 includes, for example, a graphic controller that controls the entire display 513 and a buffer memory such as a VRAM (Video RAM) that temporarily records image information that can be displayed immediately. And a control IC for controlling the display 513 based on image data output from the graphic controller.

[0066] Display 513 displays an icon, a cursor, a menu, a window, or various data such as characters and images. As this display 513, for example, a CRT, a TFT liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or the like can be adopted.

In addition, the communication IZF 514 is connected to a communication network via radio, and functions as an interface between the communication devices 411 and 421 and the CPU 501. The communication I / F 514 is further connected to a communication network such as the Internet via wireless and functions as an interface between the communication network and the CPU 501.

[0068] Communication networks include LANs, WANs, public line networks, mobile phone networks, and the like. Specifically, the communication IZF514 is composed of, for example, FM tuner, VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) Z beacon Resino, wireless communication equipment, and other communication equipment. Get road traffic information. VICS is a registered trademark.

[0069] It should be noted that the hardware configuration of the communication devices 411 and 421 is at least the CPU 501, ROM 502, RAM 503, audio IZF 50 8, speaker 510, video among the hardware configurations of the roadside devices 430 and 440 described above. I / F512, display 513, and communication I / F514 shall be omitted.

[0070] In the functional configuration of the driving support system 100 according to the first embodiment, the reception units 111 and 121 and the transmission units 114 and 123 are determined by the communication IZF 514 by the determination unit 112, the detection unit 113, and the determination unit 122. Each function is realized by the CPU 501 executing a program recorded in the ROM 502 or the like.

[0071] (Driving support processing of driving support system 400)

Next, details of the driving support processing of the driving support system 400 according to the first embodiment will be described. First, processing performed by the main line side roadside machine 430 will be described. 6 and 7 are flowcharts showing the procedure of the driving support process performed by the main line side roadside machine.

[0072] In the flowchart of FIG. 6, the main roadside machine 430 is in the communication area A of its own device. It is determined whether or not both 410 have entered (step S601). When the vehicle 410 has entered (step S601: Yes), the ID, traveling direction, traveling speed, and position information of the vehicle 410 are received from the communication device 411 of the entering vehicle 410 (step S602).

[0073] Specifically, the vehicle 410 is requested to transmit such information, and the returned information is received. The location information is requested to be transmitted when the vehicle 410 has a function of acquiring the current location of the vehicle, such as when a GPS radio wave receiver is installed. On the other hand, when the vehicle 410 does not pass (step S601: No), the process proceeds to step S605 in FIG.

Next, the main line side roadside machine 430 calculates a merging time at which the vehicle 410 reaches the merging point P based on the traveling direction and the traveling speed acquired in Step S602 (Step S603). Specifically, when the vehicle 410 travels as it is and reaches the junction P, the time to reach the junction P is calculated on the assumption that the current traveling speed is maintained.

[0075] In the calculation of the merging time, the distance between the vehicle 410 and the merging point P is calculated using the position information of the vehicle 410 received in step S602. Alternatively, the distance between the vehicle 410 and the merge point P may be used by approximating the distance between the main roadside machine 430 and the merge point P. In this case, the merging time can be calculated even if the vehicle 410 does not have a function of acquiring the current position information of the own vehicle. Also, the merging time may be calculated as a time zone having a predetermined width instead of the time, taking into account the speed change that may occur before reaching the merging point P.

Then, the main line side roadside machine 430 stores the received ID, traveling direction, traveling speed, position information, and the calculated joining time as a database (step S604), and proceeds to step S605 in FIG. The data stored in the database is stored at the main roadside unit 430 at least until the merging time elapses, and is subsequently deleted sequentially.

[0077] Turning to the description of FIG. 7, the main roadside unit 430 determines whether or not there is a database collation request from the merging side roadside unit 440 (step S605). Here, the database collation request means that the merge side roadside device 440 collates whether there is a vehicle 410 that reaches the merge point P at the same time as the merge time of the vehicle 420 traveling on the merge lane L2. Is. At this time, the collation request transmitted from the merge side roadside machine 440 includes the merge time of the vehicle 420. It is rare.

[0078] If there is a verification request (step S605: Yes), the database stored in step S604 is verified (step S606) to determine whether there is a vehicle 410 that may collide with the vehicle 420. (Step S607). If there is a vehicle 410 with a possibility of collision (Step S607: Yes), the vehicle 410 is listed as a monitored vehicle (Step S608), and the verification result is sent to the merging roadside unit 440 (Step S608). S609).

[0079] On the other hand, when there is no collation request (step S605: No), the process returns to step S601 and the subsequent processing is repeated. If there is no vehicle 410 with a possibility of collision (step S607: No), the collation result is transmitted (step S610), and the processing according to this flowchart is terminated.

[0080] In step S606, the main roadside unit 430 includes, for example, a vehicle 410 whose merging time is included in a predetermined time zone including the merging time of the vehicle 420 (for example, 15 seconds before and after the merging time). If there is, the merging time, traveling speed, position information, etc. are extracted with the vehicle as the monitoring target vehicle. Then, the main roadside machine 430 transmits the extracted joining time, traveling speed, position information, and the like of the vehicle 410 as a verification result. At this time, some warning information may be sent to the monitored vehicle.

[0081] On the other hand, if there is no vehicle 410 whose joining time is included in a predetermined time zone including the joining time of vehicle 420 (step S607: No), information indicating that there is no corresponding vehicle 410 is sent. I believe. Further, when there is no corresponding vehicle 410 as described above, transmission of information indicating that there is no corresponding vehicle 410 may be performed by omitting the transmission of the verification result.

[0082] After transmitting the collation result in step S609, the main roadside unit 430 receives the traveling speed of the monitored vehicle, etc. (step S611). The travel speed and the like are information such as the travel direction, travel speed, and position information received in step S602. Next, using the information received in step S611, the merging time of the monitored vehicle is calculated again (step S612).

[0083] Then, the calculated merging time is compared with the merging time calculated in step S603 to determine whether there is a change in the merging time (step S613). In this way, it is determined whether there is a change in the merging time when there is a change in the traveling speed or traveling direction of the vehicle 410 compared to when the traveling speed is first received. Losing place It is a force that has a match.

If there is a change in the merging time (step S613: Yes), the merging time change is transmitted to the merging side roadside device 440 (step S614), and the process proceeds to step S615. On the other hand, if there is no change in the merging time (step S613: No), it is determined whether or not the force has reached the merging point P (step S615). If the merging point P is reached (step S615: Yes), The processing by this flow chart ends. On the other hand, if the merging point P is not reached (step S615: No), the process returns to step S611, and the subsequent processing is continued to monitor the monitored vehicle.

Next, the processing performed on the merging side roadside machine 440 side will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the procedure of driving support processing performed by the merging side roadside machine. In the flow chart of FIG. 8, the merging side roadside device 440 waits until the vehicle 420 enters the communication area B of its own device (step S801: No loop). When the vehicle 420 has entered (step S801: Yes), the ID, traveling direction, traveling speed, and position information of the vehicle 420 are received from the communication device 421 force of the entering vehicle 420 (step S802).

[0086] Specifically, as with the main line side roadside machine 430, the vehicle 420 is requested to transmit these pieces of information, and the returned information is received. The location information is requested to be transmitted when the vehicle 420 has a function of acquiring the current location of the vehicle, such as when a GPS radio wave receiver is installed.

Next, merging side roadside machine 440 calculates a merging time at which vehicle 420 reaches merging point P based on the traveling direction and traveling speed acquired in step S802 (step S803). Specifically, when the vehicle 420 reaches the merging point P when traveling on the road as it is, the time to reach the merging point P is calculated on the assumption that the current traveling speed is maintained.

[0088] It should be noted that in calculating the merging time, the distance between the vehicle 420 and the merging point P is calculated using the position information of the vehicle 420 received in step S802. Further, the distance between the vehicle 420 and the merge point P may be approximated with the distance between the merge side roadside machine 440 and the merge point P. In this case, the merging time can be calculated even if the vehicle 420 does not have the function of acquiring the current position information of the host vehicle. Also, the merging time is calculated not as a time but as a time zone with a predetermined width, taking into account the speed change that can occur before reaching the merging point P. Or even ...

Then, merging side roadside machine 440 transmits a verification request including the merging time calculated in step S803 to main line side roadside machine 430 (step S804). The verification request is a request for verification by the merging side roadside device 440 whether there is a vehicle 410 that reaches the merging point P at the same time as the merging time of the vehicle 420.

[0090] Junction side roadside machine 440 waits until a reply to the verification request is received from main line side roadside machine 430 (step S805: No loop). If there is a response to the verification request from main line side roadside machine 430 (step S805: Yes), it is determined whether there is a possibility of collision between vehicle 420 and vehicle 410 based on the returned verification result ( Step S806).

The determination as to whether or not there is a possibility of collision is made based on the returned collation result. For example, if the received collation result includes the merging time, traveling speed, position information, etc. of the vehicle 410, it is determined that there is a possibility of collision. If the collation result is information indicating that there is no applicable vehicle 410, it is determined that there is no possibility of collision.

If there is a possibility of collision (step S806: Yes), warning information is transmitted to the communication device 421 of the vehicle 420 (step S807). At this time, for transmitting information to the communication device 421 of the vehicle 420, the ID of the vehicle 420 received in step S802 is used as a communication address.

Further, the warning information is information that warns the driver of the vehicle 420 of the presence of the vehicle 410 that may collide. Specifically, it is information such as the merging time, traveling speed, position information, and specific measures for avoiding the collision of the vehicle 410 that may collide. The communicator 421 of the vehicle 420 notifies the driver of the vehicle 420 of the presence of the vehicle 410 that is likely to collide by displaying the transmitted warning information on a screen or by outputting sound. Based on the information notified from the communication device 421, the driver of the vehicle 420 takes measures to avoid a collision with the vehicle 410 (for example, reduction of travel speed, lane change, etc.).

On the other hand, if there is no possibility of collision (step S806: No), the warning information is not transmitted, and the processing according to this flowchart is terminated. At this time, the vehicle 410 with the possibility of collision may send information to the effect!

[0095] After the warning information is transmitted in step S807, the merging side roadside device 440 determines whether or not it has received the information regarding the change in the merging time from the main line side roadside device 430 (step S808). The information related to the change in the merging time is information that the main roadside unit 430 transmits when there is a change in the merging time of the monitoring target vehicle in step S614 in FIG.

[0096] When the information on the change in the merging time is received (step S808: Yes), it is determined whether or not the collision with the monitored vehicle is avoided (step S809). For example, if the difference between the newly received merging time of the monitored vehicle and the merging time of the vehicle 420 is equal to or longer than the predetermined time, the possibility of collision is lost and the collision is determined. If it is determined that the collision has been avoided and the time is less than the predetermined time, it is determined that the collision is not avoided and the collision is not avoided.

[0097] If a collision with the monitored vehicle is avoided (step S809: Yes), the process according to this flow chart is terminated. At this time, information indicating that the collision has been avoided may be transmitted to the communication device 421 of the vehicle 420.

[0098] On the other hand, if the information regarding the change of the merging time is not received (step S808: No), or if the collision is not avoided (step S809: No), whether the vehicle 420 has reached the merging point P or not. Is determined (step S810). For example, whether or not the vehicle has reached the merge point P is determined by, for example, the force at which the merge time calculated in step S803 has elapsed or the vehicle 420 is continuously requested to transmit position information and returned. The current position information is cut halfway depending on whether the current location information has passed merging point P.

[0099] When the vehicle 420 has arrived at the junction P (step S810: Yes), it is not necessary to transmit warning information about the possibility of collision, so the processing according to this flowchart is terminated. On the other hand, when the vehicle 420 has not reached the junction P (step S810: No), the process returns to step S807, and continues to transmit warning information about the possibility of collision to the vehicle 420. The above is the procedure of the driving support process of the driving support system 400.

[0100] In Example 1, only the main roadside machine 430 detects a change in the merging time of the vehicle 410 traveling on the main line L1, but the merging side roadside machine 440 also travels on the merging lane L2. It is also possible to detect a change in the merging time of the vehicle 420 and feed it back to the main roadside unit 430. As a result, the main line side roadside machine 430 can provide more accurate information to the merging side roadside machine 440.

[0101] In addition, there is a possibility of collision of vehicles 410 (supervised vehicles) with the possibility of collision with the main roadside roadside machine 430. The merging time of the following vehicle may also be transmitted to the merging side roadside device 440. As a result, the merging side roadside machine 440 can propose measures for avoiding a collision including the following vehicle to the driver of the vehicle 420.

[0102] Further, the collision avoidance operation (hereinafter referred to as the collision avoidance operation) is not dependent on the driver's operation, and the driving assistance device or the automatic driving device (not shown) provided in the vehicles 410 and 420. This can be done automatically. At that time, information on the possibility of collision is transmitted to other vehicles 410, 420 having a possibility of collision, and at the same time, information on the type of collision avoidance operation such as deceleration or lane change ( Hereinafter, the avoidance operation information may be transmitted. The avoidance movement information is automatically transmitted according to the brake operation and steering wheel operation! ,.

[0103] The avoidance operation information transmitted to the other vehicles 410 and 420 is displayed with the contents of the communication devices 411 and 421 mounted on the other vehicles 410 and 420. When avoiding other vehicles 410 and 420 by driving by the driver, the driver of the other vehicles 410 and 420 recognizes that the other side has entered the avoiding operation, and does not perform the avoiding operation as it is. You can make a semi-U-stop to drive.

[0104] When the avoidance operation is performed by the driving assistance device or the automatic operation device, after receiving the avoidance operation information from the other side, permission to perform the avoidance operation on the other side is obtained and the force avoidance operation is performed. Do it. In this case, transmission / reception of such information, determination of whether to perform the avoidance operation, and execution of the avoidance operation are automatically performed by the driving assistance device or the automatic driving device.

[0105] Furthermore, in principle, a rule that the vehicle 410 traveling on the main line L1 performs the collision avoidance operation is promoted to the vehicle 410 from the vehicle 420 traveling on the confluence lane L2. A notification may be sent. Conversely, the vehicle 410 traveling on the main line L1 may send a notification that prompts the vehicle 420 to perform a collision avoidance operation. In this case, for example, if the vehicle 410, 420 is provided with a function that can automatically recognize the rear and side traffic conditions, the lane on the side that received the notification is unlikely to cause collision avoidance. Returns a signal that the vehicle cannot avoid, and the vehicles 410 and 420 on the side that sent the notification perform the collision avoidance operation. [0106] For example, if the driver avoids the vehicle 410, 420 by driving by the driver, "Decelerate to 〇kmZh" or "Change lane to the right lane." Please send avoidance action information including a specific avoidance action such as "/!". Further, if the avoidance operation is performed by the driving assistance device or the automatic driving device, a signal for controlling these devices is transmitted to the vehicles 410 and 420.

[0107] Further, whether or not there is a possibility of collision in step S806 in FIG. 8 may be determined by the main roadside unit 430. In this case, the main line side roadside machine 430 determines the possibility of collision based on the database of the merge time of the vehicle 420 and the merge time of the vehicle 410 included in the verification request transmitted in step S804. Then, the determination result is transmitted to the second communication device 120 instead of the database collation result. Also, in this case, if there is a change in the merging time in step S613 of FIG. 7, it is determined again whether there is a possibility of collision, and the determination result is transmitted to the merging side roadside device 440. As a matter of fact.

[0108] As described above, according to the driving support system 400 according to the first embodiment, the main road side machine 430 and the merging side road machine 440 identify the vehicles 410 and 420 that may collide, Monitoring can be continued up to the meeting point P. As a result, the driver of the vehicles 410 and 420 can perform a collision avoidance process such as deceleration or lane change while taking into consideration the movement of the other vehicles 410 and 420 that may possibly collide.

[Example 2]

In the driving support system 400 according to the first embodiment of the first embodiment, driving support for the vehicles 410 and 420 is provided by the roadside machines 430 and 440 installed on the main line L1 and the merging lane L2, respectively. In the driving support system 900 according to the second embodiment of the first embodiment, driving support for the vehicles 410 and 420 is performed by the roadside machines 930 and 940 installed on the main line L1 and the merging lane L2, respectively. As described above, by providing a plurality of roadside machines 930 and 940, it is possible to provide driving support that more reflects actual traffic conditions.

[0110] First, the traffic situation to which the driving support system 900 according to the second embodiment is applied will be described. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating traffic conditions to which the driving support system according to the second embodiment is applied. In FIG. 9, as in Example 1 shown in FIG. The merge point P where the main road LI and the merge lane L2 intersect is shown. Vehicles 410 (410a to 410c) and 420 (420a, 42 Ob) are traveling around the junction P as an example of a moving body. The vehicle 410 is a vehicle traveling on the main line L1, and the vehicle 420 is a vehicle traveling on the merging lane L2.

[0111] Communication devices 411 (411a to 411c) and 421 (421a and 421b) are mounted on vehicles 410 and 420, respectively. The communication devices 411 and 421 communicate with roadside devices 930 and 940 installed on the side of the road on which the vehicles 410 and 420 travel, respectively, and transmit their own vehicle travel information and receive driving support information.

[0112] In addition, each vehicle 410, 420 has an ID for identifying its own vehicle, for example, an IP address uniquely assigned to each vehicle 410, 420. This ID is assigned to the driver assistance system 900 and used as a communication address, and information is sent to the specific vehicle 410, 420 using the ID of the communication device 411, 421ί or the vehicle 410, 420. Can be sent. The ID of each vehicle 410, 420 is stored in each communication device 411, 421.

[0113] The roadside machine 930 (930a to 930n) is installed in the vicinity of the main line L1, travels on the main line L1, and communicates with the communication device 411 of the vehicle 410 that passes the roadside machine 930 side. The roadside machine 940 (940a to 940m) is installed in the vicinity of the merging lane L2, travels on the merging lane L2, and communicates with the communicator 421 of the vehicle 420 that passes the roadside machine 940 side. In the following, the roadside machine 930 is referred to as the main line side roadside machine 930, and the roadside machine 940 is referred to as the merge side roadside machine 940.

[0114] The main roadside unit 930 (930a to 930n) is installed in the vicinity of the main line L1 with an appropriate distance between the front points of the junction P. Of the main roadside unit 930, the farthest V from the junction P is the main roadside unit 930a, and the one closest to the junction P is the main roadside machine 930η. Further, the merging side roadside machine 940 (940a to 940m) is installed in the vicinity of the merging lane L2 with a front force at the merging point P with an appropriate interval. Of the merging side roadside machine 940, the one that is farthest from the merging point P is the merging side roadside machine 940a, and the one that is closest to the merging point P is the merging side roadside machine 940m.

[0115] Further, the main line side roadside machine 930 and the merging side roadside machine 940 are roadside machines for narrow area communication such as DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication), for example. , 421 The position of the vehicle 410, 420 at the time of communication with 421 It should be narrow enough to approximate the position of.

[0116] In addition, the main line side roadside machine 930 and the merge side roadside machine 940 can transmit and receive information to and from each other by communication through a network. Hereinafter, communication between the main line side machine 930 and the merge side road machine 940 with the vehicles 410 and 420 is referred to as “narrow area communication”, and communication between the main line road machine 930 and the merge side road machine 940 is referred to as “wide area communication”. .

[0117] The main line side roadside machine 930 and the merge side roadside machine 940 preliminarily hold their respective wide area communication addresses. On the other hand, the main line side roadside machine 930 and the merge side roadside machine 940 do not hold the address for narrow-area communication of the vehicles 910 and 920, and when the vehicles 910 and 920 pass in the vicinity of their own devices ( Obtain the communication address by making an ID) acquisition request.

Next, the details of the driving support processing of the driving support system 900 according to the second embodiment will be described. The hardware configuration of the roadside machines 930 and 940 is the same as that of the roadside machines 330 and 340 according to the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted. First, the processing performed by the main roadside unit 930a farthest from the junction P will be described. For convenience of explanation, the processing of the main line side roadside machine 930a farthest from the junction point P and the other main line side roadside machines 930b to 930n will be described separately, but in each main line side roadside machine 930a to 930n, Either process can be performed.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the driving support process performed by the main roadside machine farthest from the junction. In the flowchart of FIG. 10, the main line side roadside machine 930a determines whether or not the vehicle 410 has passed in the vicinity of the own apparatus (step S1001). If the vehicle 410 has passed (step S1001: Yes), the vehicle 410 ID, travel direction, travel speed, and position information are received from the communication device 411 of the passed vehicle 410 (step S1002).

[0120] Specifically, the vehicle 410 is requested to transmit these pieces of information, and the returned information is received. The location information is requested to be transmitted when the vehicle 410 has a function of acquiring the current location of the vehicle, such as when a GPS radio wave receiver is installed. On the other hand, when the vehicle 410 does not pass (step S1001: No), the process proceeds to step S1005.

[0121] Next, the main line side roadside machine 930a receives the traveling direction and traveling received in step S1002. Based on the speed, a joining time at which the vehicle 410 reaches the joining point P is calculated (step S1003). Specifically, when the vehicle 410 reaches the confluence P when traveling on the road as it is, the time to reach the confluence P is calculated on the assumption that the current traveling speed is maintained.

[0122] In calculating the merge time, the distance between the vehicle 410 and the merge point P approximates the distance between the main line side roadside machine 930a and the merge point P. In this case, the merging time can be calculated without the vehicle 410 having the function of acquiring the current position information of the host vehicle. Further, when the position information of the vehicle 410 can be received at step S1002, the received position information may be used. Also, the merging time may be calculated as a time zone having a predetermined width instead of the time, taking into account the speed change that may occur before reaching the merging point P.

Then, the main roadside unit 930a stores the received ID, traveling direction, traveling speed, position information, and the calculated joining time as a database (step S1004). The data stored in the database is stored at the main roadside unit 930a until at least the merge time elapses, and thereafter it is deleted sequentially.

Next, the main line side roadside machine 930a determines whether or not there is a database collation request from the merging side roadside machine 940 (step S1005). Here, the collation request of the database means that the merging side roadside device 940 collates whether or not there is a force of the vehicle 410 arriving at the merge point P at the same time as the merge time of the vehicle 420 traveling on the merge lane L2. It is what is requested. At this time, the verification request transmitted from the merging roadside machine 940 includes the merging time of the vehicle 420.

[0125] If there is a verification request (step S 1005: Yes), the database stored in step S 1004 is verified (step S 1006), and there is a force with the vehicle 410 that may collide with the vehicle 420. It is determined whether or not (step S1007).

[0126] If there is a vehicle 410 with a possibility of collision (step S1007: Yes), the vehicle 410 is listed as a monitored vehicle (step S1008), and the verification result is transmitted to the merging side roadside device 940 ( Step S1009). Then, information related to the monitoring target vehicle is transmitted to the other main line side roadside devices 930b to 930n (step S1010), and the processing according to this flowchart ends. The information about the monitored vehicle is, for example, the ID of the monitored vehicle. And information such as merging time and traveling speed. At this time, some warning information may be sent to the monitored vehicle.

On the other hand, if there is no collation request (step S1005: No), the process returns to step S1001, and the subsequent processing is repeated. If there is no vehicle 410 with a possibility of collision (step S10 07: No), the collation result is transmitted to the merging side roadside device 940 (step S1011), and the processing by this flow chart is terminated.

[0128] In step S1007, the main roadside unit 930 determines whether there is a vehicle 410 whose merging time is included in a predetermined time zone (for example, 15 seconds before and after the merging time) including the merging time of the vehicle 420, for example. Collate, and if there is, extract the merge time, travel speed, position information, etc. Then, the main roadside unit 930 transmits the extracted joining time, traveling speed, position information, and the like of the vehicle 410 as a verification result.

[0129] On the other hand, if there is no vehicle 410 that includes the merging time in a predetermined time zone including the merging time of vehicle 420 (step S1007: No), information indicating that the corresponding vehicle 410 is not present is displayed. Send. Further, when there is no corresponding vehicle 410 as described above, transmission of information indicating that there is no corresponding vehicle 410 may be substituted by omitting the transmission of the verification result.

[0130] Next, processing performed by the main line side roadside machines 930b to 930n other than the main line side roadside machine 930a will be described. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the procedure of driving support processing performed by another main roadside device. Note that the other main roadside units 930b to 930n receive the information on the monitored vehicle transmitted from the mainline side roadside unit 930a in step S1010 in FIG. 10 in advance.

[0131] In the flowchart of FIG. 11, the process waits until the vehicle 410 passes through the other main roadside machines 930b to 930n and the vicinity of the own apparatus (step S1101: No loop). When the vehicle 410 passes (step S1101: Yes), the ID is received from the vehicle 410 (step SI102), and it is determined whether or not the vehicle is a monitoring target vehicle (step S1103). Specifically, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is a monitoring target vehicle by comparing the ID included in the information related to the monitoring target vehicle received from the main line side roadside machine 930a with the ID received in step S1102.

[0132] In the case of a monitored vehicle (step S1103: Yes), the traveling direction, traveling speed, position information, etc. of the vehicle 410 are received (step S1104). And the received information power is The merging time is calculated (step SI 105), the merging time information that also includes the ID of the monitored vehicle and the calculated merging time force is transmitted to the merging side roadside device 940 (step S1106), and the processing according to this flowchart is terminated. .

[0133] It should be noted that a plurality of merge side roadside machines 940 are installed in the merge lane L2, but the merge time may be transmitted to all the merge side roadside machines 940 or any one of the merge side roadsides. Machine 940 may be used. When the power is transmitted to one merging side roadside device 940, the merging side roadside device 940 that has received the merging time transmits the merging time to the other merging side roadside device 940. On the other hand, if the vehicle is not a monitoring target vehicle (step S 1103: No), the process returns to step S 110 1 and the subsequent processing is repeated. The above is the processing performed by the main line side roadside machine 930.

[0134] Next, the driving support process performed by the merging side roadside machine 940 will be described. First, the processing performed by the junction side roadside device 940a farthest from the junction point P will be described. For convenience of explanation, the power to explain the processing of the merging side roadside machine 940a farthest from the merging point P and the other merging side roadside machines 940b to 940m in which of the merging side roadside machines 940a to 940m Processing may be performed.

[0135] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the driving support process performed by the merging side roadside machine farthest from the merging point. In the flowchart of FIG. 12, V that is farthest from the merge point P and the merge-side roadside device 940a waits until the vehicle 420 passes in the vicinity of the own device (step S1201: No loop). When the vehicle 420 has passed (step S 1201: Yes), the ID, traveling direction, traveling speed, and position information of the vehicle 420 are received from the communication device 421 of the passed vehicle 420 (step S 1202).

[0136] Specifically, as with the main line side roadside machine 930, the vehicle 420 is requested to transmit these pieces of information, and the returned information is received. The location information is requested to be transmitted when the vehicle 420 has a function of acquiring the current location of the vehicle, such as when a GPS radio wave receiver is installed.

Next, merging side roadside machine 940a calculates a merging time at which vehicle 420 reaches merging point P based on the traveling direction and the traveling speed acquired in step S1202 (step S1203). Specifically, when the vehicle 420 reaches the confluence P when traveling on the road as it is, the time to reach the confluence P is calculated on the assumption that the current traveling speed is maintained. [0138] In calculating the merging time, the distance between the vehicle 420 and the merging point P is used by approximating the distance between the merging side roadside device 940 and the merging point P. In this case, the merging time can be calculated without the vehicle 420 having the function of acquiring the current position information of the host vehicle. Further, when the position information of the vehicle 420 is received at step S802, it may be calculated using the received information. In addition, considering the speed change that can occur before reaching the confluence point P, the confluence time is calculated not as a time but as a time zone with a predetermined width.

Then, merging side roadside device 940a transmits a verification request including the merging time calculated in step S1203 to main line side roadside device 930 (step S1204). The verification request is for the merging side roadside device 940a to verify whether there is a vehicle 410 that reaches the merging point P at the same time as the merging time of the vehicle 420. In addition, although there are a plurality of main line side roadside machines 930, all main line side roadside machines 930 may send a verification request, or any main line side roadside machine 930 may send a matching request. .

[0140] Junction side roadside machine 940a waits until a reply to the verification request is received from main line side roadside machine 930 (step S1205: No loop). When there is a response to the verification request from the main line side roadside machine 930 (Step S1205: Yes), it is determined whether there is a possibility of collision between the vehicle 420 and the vehicle 410 based on the returned verification result. (Step S1206).

[0141] Whether there is a possibility of collision is determined based on the returned collation result. For example, if the received collation result includes the merging time, traveling speed, position information, etc. of the vehicle 410, it is determined that there is a possibility of collision. If the collation result is information indicating that there is no applicable vehicle 410, it is determined that there is no possibility of collision. As in Example 1, the determination of whether there is a possibility of a collision may be made by the main line side roadside machine 930.

[0142] If there is a possibility of a collision (step S1206: Yes), warning information is transmitted to the other merging side roadside devices 940b to 940m (step S1207), and the processing according to this flowchart ends. On the other hand, when there is no possibility of collision (step S1206: No), the warning information is not transmitted, and the processing according to this flowchart is terminated. At this time, information indicating that there is no possibility of collision! / Is sent to other merging roadside devices 940b to 940m. [0143] Here, the warning information is information that warns the driver of the vehicle 420 of the presence of the vehicle 410 that may collide. Specifically, it is information such as the merging time, traveling speed, position information, and specific measures for avoiding the collision of the vehicle 410 that may collide. The communicator 421 of the vehicle 420 notifies the driver of the vehicle 420 of the presence of the vehicle 410 that is likely to collide by displaying the transmitted warning information on a screen or by outputting sound. Based on the information notified from the communication device 421, the driver of the vehicle 420 takes measures to avoid a collision with the vehicle 410 (for example, reduction of travel speed, lane change, etc.).

[0144] Next, the procedure of the driving support processing performed by the other merging side roadside devices 940b to 940m will be described. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the procedure of driving support processing performed by another merging roadside device. In the flowchart of FIG. 13, the other merging side roadside devices 940b to 940m wait until receiving the warning information transmitted by the merging side roadside device 940a (step S1301: No loop). When the warning information is received (step S1301: Yes), the other merging roadside units 940b to 940m extract the vehicle 420 ID from the received warning information (step S1302) _o

[0145] Then, the other merging side roadside units 940b to 940m wait until the vehicle 420 passes in the vicinity of the own device (step S1303: No loop). When the vehicle 420 passes (step S 1 303: Yes), an ID is received from the passed vehicle 420 (step S 1304). Then, the received ID and the ID extracted in step S1302 are collated, and it is determined whether or not the destination is the warning information (step S1305).

[0146] If it is the destination of the warning information (step S1305: Yes), that is, if the ID received in step S1304 and the ID extracted in step S1302 are equal, the merge time of the vehicle 420 corresponding to that ID It is determined whether information has been received (step S 1306). Here, the merging time information is information transmitted from the other main roadside units 930a to 930n in step S1106 of FIG.

[0147] When the joining time information is received (step S1306: Yes), it is determined by referring to the received joining time whether the collision between the vehicle 420 and the monitored vehicle is avoided (step S13 07). . The judgment as to whether or not the collision has been avoided is, for example, a newly received monitored vehicle If the difference between the merging time of the vehicle and the merging time of the vehicle 420 is equal to or greater than the predetermined time, it is determined that the collision has been avoided and the collision has been avoided. Therefore, it is determined that the collision is not avoided.

[0148] When the collision is avoided (step S1307: Yes), the warning information received in step S1301 is not transmitted, and the processing according to this flowchart is terminated. On the other hand, if the collision is not avoided (step S1307: No), or if the merging time information is not received (step S1306: No), the warning information received in step SI301 is transmitted. (Step SI 308) The processing according to this flowchart is terminated.

[0149] The communication device 421 of the vehicle 420 to which the warning information is transmitted in step S1308 displays the transmitted warning information on a screen or outputs a sound, so that there is a vehicle 410 (monitoring target vehicle) that may have a collision. Is notified to the driver of the vehicle 420. The driver of the vehicle 420 can take measures to avoid a collision with the vehicle 410 (for example, reduction of travel speed, lane change, etc.) based on the information notified from the communication device 421.

[0150] As described above, in the driving support system 900 according to the second embodiment, the traveling state of the vehicles 410 and 420 is monitored by the roadside machines 930 and 940 installed in the main line L1 and the merging lane L2, respectively. . Thus, by providing a plurality of roadside machines 930 and 940, it is possible to grasp the traveling state of the respective vehicles 410 and 420 more accurately.

[0151] In the above-described embodiment, the roadside machine installed on the road is used to calculate the merging time and determine whether or not there is a possibility of collision. In order to perform these processes A communication server may be provided. In this case, each roadside unit receives ID, traveling direction, traveling speed, and position information from the vehicles 410 and 420 (for example, step S601 in FIG. 6, step S802 in FIG. 8, etc.) and transmission of warning information. Only processing (for example, step S807 in FIG. 8) is performed. Therefore, the configuration of each roadside unit 440 can realize driving support with a simple configuration with respect to the roadside unit installed on the road as long as it includes a communication unit and a communication unit with the vehicles 410 and 420.

[0152] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the traveling speed of the vehicle 420 is continuously monitored by the merging side roadside machines 440 and 940, and if there is a speed change, the main roadside roadside machines 430 and 930 are used. The vehicle 410 may be notified. As a result, the vehicle 410 traveling on the main line L1 In this way, it is possible to grasp the traveling state of the vehicle 420 traveling on the merging lane L2 and take measures to avoid the collision.

[0153] As described above, according to the driving support system, of the two lanes LI, L2 that merge at the merge point P, the presence or absence of the vehicle 410 that is moving from the main line L1 to the merge point P by force. Information about this can be sent to the vehicle 420 traveling in the merged lane L2. As a result, the vehicle 420 can know whether or not there is a possibility of collision with the vehicle 410 at the junction P.

[0154] In addition to the determination result, the detection result regarding the change in the moving speed of the vehicle 410 is transmitted to the vehicle 420. As a result, it is possible to provide the driver of the vehicle 420 with information that can be used as a judgment material when taking measures to avoid a collision at the junction P. Furthermore, based on the information on the moving speed, a change in the time when the vehicle 410 reaches the joining point (joining time) is detected and transmitted to the vehicle 420, so that more detailed judgment material can be given.

[0155] Further, it is determined whether or not there is a possibility of collision between vehicles 410 and 420, and is transmitted to vehicle 410.

As a result, the driver of the vehicle 410 can be given information as a judgment material when taking measures to avoid a collision at the junction P. Further, information regarding the moving speed of vehicle 410 is continuously received, and the detected change in moving speed is transmitted to vehicle 420. As a result, the vehicle 420 can perform an operation for avoiding a collision in accordance with the change of the vehicle 410 in the route to the junction P.

[0156] Also, by approximating the position of the roadside units 430 and 440 to the position of the vehicles 410 and 420, the time to reach the junction can be calculated without receiving position information from the vehicles 410 and 420. The information received from the vehicles 410 and 420 can be reduced.

[0157] (Embodiment 2)

First, the functional configuration of the driving support system 2100 according to the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the driving support system according to the second embodiment. In the block diagram of FIG. 14, the driving support system 2100 includes a first communication device 2110 and a second communication device 2120.

[0158] The first communication device 2110 is installed in the vicinity of one of the two routes joining the joining point. The second communication device 2120 is installed near the other route. Has been. The driving support system 2100 uses the first communication device 2110 and the second communication device 2120 to support driving of a moving body that moves near the junction.

The first communication device 2110 includes a reception unit 2111, a determination unit 2112, a transmission unit 2113, and a calculation unit 2114. The receiving unit 2111 receives information on the traveling direction of the first moving body that is moving along one route, the first moving body force. The information related to the traveling direction of the moving object is, for example, moving direction information or destination point information of the moving object transmitted from the communication device mounted on the first moving object.

[0160] In addition, the reception unit 2111 receives information on the moving speed of the first moving body. The information on the moving speed is, for example, current speed information transmitted from a communication device mounted on the first moving body, or a reflected wave of speed measuring radio waves as described later.

[0161] Receiving section 2111 transmits an acquisition request signal for information on the moving direction and moving speed, for example, to a communication device mounted on a moving body that passes in the vicinity of its own device, and receives the returned information. To do. Further, for example, a moving speed and a moving direction may be obtained by emitting a velocity measurement radio wave to a moving body and receiving the reflected wave.

Determination unit 2112 determines whether or not the first moving body is moving toward the joining point based on the information on the traveling direction received by receiving unit 2111. Specifically, for example, when the traveling unit travels along the road while the traveling direction of the first moving body does not change, the determining unit 2112 determines whether the first moving body joins depending on whether or not the merging point is reached. Judge whether or not to move to the point and hit.

Transmitting section 2113 transmits the determination result determined by determining section 2112 to second communication device 2120. For example, the transmission unit 2113 transmits the determination result of the determination unit 2112 in response to the determination result transmission request transmitted from the second communication device 2120.

[0164] In addition, the transmission unit 2113 may transmit information on the moving speed received by the reception unit 2111 to the second communication device 2120 together with the determination result. Further, when the time required for the first mobile unit to reach the joining point is calculated by the calculation unit 2114 described later, the calculation result may be transmitted to the second communication device 2120.

[0165] Calculation section 2114 calculates the time for the first moving body to reach the joining point based on the information on the moving speed received by receiving section 2111. Here, it reaches the confluence The reaching time may be a point on the time axis such as time, or a time with a certain range such as a time zone! /.

Specifically, for example, the calculation unit 2114 obtains current position information indicating the current position from the first moving body, and calculates the current position force and the distance to the merge point. Then, by dividing the calculated distance by the current travel speed, the time for the first moving body to reach the junction is calculated.

[0167] Also, for example, when the apparatus main body is installed in the vicinity of one route, the calculation unit 2114 approximates the position of the apparatus main body to the position of the first moving body, and Based on the information on the moving speed and the distance between the main unit and the meeting point, the time for the first moving body to reach the meeting point is calculated. That is, the time required to reach the merge point may be calculated by dividing the distance between the apparatus main body and the merge point by the speed of the first moving body.

Next, the functional configuration of second communication apparatus 2120 will be described. The second communication device 2 120 includes a reception unit 2121 and a transmission unit 2122. The reception unit 2121 receives the determination result transmitted by the transmission unit 2113 of the first communication device 2110. In addition, the receiving unit 2121 receives information on the moving speed of the first moving body or the time required for the first moving body to reach the joining point by the transmitting unit 2113 of the first communication device 2110. Receives information about the moving speed of the first moving body and the time for the first moving body to reach the junction.

Transmitting section 2122 transmits the determination result received by receiving section 2121 to the second moving body that is moving on the other route. In addition, when the reception unit 2121 receives the information related to the moving speed of the first moving body or the time when the first moving body reaches the junction, the transmitting unit 2122 receives the second moving body. In response to this, the information about the moving speed of the first moving body and the time for the first moving body to reach the meeting point are transmitted.

[0170] For example, when the second mobile unit passes the vicinity of the second communication device 2120, the transmission unit 2122 acquires the communication address of the second mobile unit and acquires the acquired communication address. V and send the judgment result to the second mobile unit.

[0171] Next, the procedure of the driving support process of the driving support system 2100 will be described. Fig 15 These are the flowcharts which show the procedure of the driving assistance process of a driving assistance system. In FIG. 15, first, the driving support system 2100 receives information on the traveling direction and speed of the first moving body at the first communication device 2110 (step S2201). The reception unit 2111 receives these information.

[0172] Then, the determining unit 2112 determines whether or not the first moving body is moving toward the joining point (step S2202). When the first moving body is moving toward the meeting point (step S2202: Yes), the calculation unit 2114 calculates the time (arrival time) for the first moving body to reach the meeting point (step) S2203). Then, the transmitting unit 2113 transmits information indicating that the first moving body is moving toward the meeting point and the arrival time, and transmits the second communication device 2120 (step S2204), and then proceeds to step S2206.

[0173] On the other hand, if the first moving body is not moving toward the joining point in Step S2202 (Step S2202: No), the transmitting unit 2113 causes the first moving body to exert a directing force on the joining point. Information indicating that it is not connected is transmitted to second communication apparatus 2120 (step S2205). In addition, you may abbreviate | omit transmission of the information that there is no moving body which is heading to a junction. In other words, when there is no information transmission from the first communication device 2110, the first mobile unit may indicate to the joining point! /, Or! /.

Next, the second communication device 2120 receives the determination result and the like transmitted by the first communication device 2110 (step S2206). The reception of these pieces of information is performed by the reception unit 2121 of the second communication device 2120. Then, the transmission unit 2122 [Thus, the information received in step S2206 is transmitted to the second mobile unit (step S2207), and the processing in this flowchart ends.

Note that the second communication device 2120 is provided with a calculation unit and a determination unit, and the first mobile unit transmitted from the first communication device 2110 includes only the determination result transmitted from the first communication device 2110. Compare the time to reach the merging point with the time to reach the merging point of the second mobile unit, determine the possibility of matching at the merging point, and send the result including the result. Also good.

[0176] For example, the reception unit 2121 of the second communication device 2120 moves along the other route in the same manner as the reception unit 2111 of the first communication device 2110, and relates to the traveling direction of the second mobile physical force. Receive information and information about travel speed. Then, the time for the second moving body to reach the joining point is calculated by the calculation unit from the current position of the second moving body and the distance to the joining point and the moving speed of the second moving body. Then, the determination unit compares the time to reach the meeting point of the first moving object and the time to reach the meeting point of the second moving object, and determines the possibility that both will match, The determination result is transmitted to the second mobile unit.

[0177] Furthermore, the same processing as the processing for the first moving body by the first communication device 2110 is performed as the processing for the second moving body of the second communication device 2120, and these processing are performed simultaneously. Thus, the determination results of the first communication device 2110 and the second communication device 2120 may be transmitted to the first mobile body and the second mobile body, respectively.

[0178] As described above, according to the driving support system 2100 according to the second embodiment, of the two routes merging to the merge point, the one moves from one route to the merge point and moves to V. Depending on the presence or absence of the first mobile body, all the information can be transmitted to the second mobile body moving along the other route. As a result, the second moving body can know whether or not there is a possibility of colliding with the first moving body at the junction.

[0179] Also, information on the moving speed of the first moving body is transmitted to the second moving body together with the determination result. As a result, it is possible to give information to the driver of the second moving body as a judgment material when taking measures for avoiding the collision at the junction. Furthermore, based on the information on the moving speed, the time for the first moving body to reach the joining point is calculated and transmitted to the second moving body, so that more detailed judgment material can be given.

[0180] Also, by approximating the position of the first communication device 2110 to the position of the first moving body, the time to reach the merge point is calculated without receiving information about the first moving body force position. And the information received by the first mobile strength can be reduced.

[0181] (Example 1)

Next, Example 1 of the driving support system 2100 according to the second embodiment will be described. In the following examples, the driving support system 2100 is applied to the driving support system 2300 including the roadside devices 2330 (2330a, 2330b) installed on the side of the road and the communication devices 2311, 2321 mounted on the vehicles 2310, 2320. The case will be described. In each example described below, the system configuration of the driving support system, the hard The configuration is the same.

[0182] First, the traffic situation to which the driving support system 2300 according to the first embodiment is applied will be described. FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a traffic situation to which the driving support system according to the first embodiment is applied. In FIG. 16, as an example of a merging point, a merging point P where the main road L1 and the merging lane L2 of the expressway intersect is shown. In the vicinity of the confluence point P, drive the vehicle 2310 (2310a to 2310c), 2320 (2320a, 2320b) as a line of moving objects! The vehicle 2310 is a vehicle traveling on the main line L1, and the vehicle 2320 is a vehicle traveling on the merge lane L2.

[0183] The vehicles 2310 and 2320 are equipped with communication devices 2311 (2311a to 2311c) and 2321 (2321a and 2321b), respectively. Communication equipment 2311, 2321ί, vehicle 2310, 2320 power ^ Each communicates with the roadside machine 2330 installed on the side of the road where it travels, and sends its own driving information and receives driving assistance information.

[0184] Also, the vehicles 2310 and 2320 are each uniquely assigned an ID for identifying their own vehicle, such as an IP address, for example. This ID is assigned to the driver support system 2300 [KOO! Telecom address] [Used!], And the information of a specific vehicle 2310, 2320 is transmitted using the ID of the communication device 2311, 2321 », vehicle 2310, 2320. Can be sent. The IDs of the vehicles 2310 and 2320 are stored in the communication devices 2311 and 2321, respectively.

[0185] The roadside machine 2330a is installed in the vicinity of the main line L1, travels on the main line L1, and communicates with the communication device 2311 of the vehicle 2310 passing the roadside machine 233Oa side. The roadside machine 2330b is installed in the vicinity of the junction lane L2, travels on the junction lane L2, and communicates with the communication device 2321 of the vehicle 2320 passing through the roadside machine 2330b side. In the following, when it is necessary to distinguish between the two roadside machines, the roadside machine 2330a will be referred to as the main line side roadside machine 2330a, and the roadside machine 2330b will be referred to as the merge side roadside machine 2330b.

[0186] The communication ranges of the main line side roadside machine 2330a and the merge side roadside machine 2330b are areas A and B indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 16, respectively. Areas A and B each include a meeting point P, and can communicate with vehicles 2310 and 2320 that travel at different speeds in the area and reach the meeting point P at the same time. Also, main line side roadside machine 2330a and merge side roadside machine 2330b Can communicate with each other.

[0187] The main roadside unit 2330a and the confluence side roadside unit 2330b are used until they reach the confluence point P when the vehicles 2310 and 2320 travel at the average speed of the main line L1 or the confluence lane L2. It is installed at a distance where the time is equal (hereinafter referred to as equal time distance). For example, if the average speed of main line L1 is 80kmZh and the average speed of merge lane L2 is 50kmZh, main roadside machine 2330a is approximately 2670m from merge point P, and merge roadside machine 2330b is approximately 1670m from merge point P. Provided. As a result, each roadside unit 2330 is provided at an equidistant distance of 120 seconds until the junction point P is reached.

[0188] Here, an outline of driving support performed by the driving support system 2300 will be described. The main line side roadside machine 2330a receives information such as vehicle ID, travel direction, and travel speed from the vehicle 2310 traveling on the main line L1, and the time at which each vehicle 2310 arrives at the merge point P (hereinafter referred to as the merge time). Is calculated and saved. Further, the merging side roadside machine 2330b receives information such as the vehicle ID, the traveling direction, and the traveling speed from the vehicle 2320 traveling on the merging lane L2, and calculates the merging time of the vehicle 2320. Then, the main line side roadside machine 2330a is requested to collate whether there is a vehicle 2310 with a possibility of collision.

[0189] The main roadside unit 2330a compares the merging time of the vehicle 2320 with the stored merging time of the vehicle 2310, and if there is a vehicle 2310 whose merging time is within the predetermined time, there is a possibility of a collision. Warning information is transmitted to the merging side roadside machine 2330b. When the merging side roadside device 2330b receives the warning information from the main line side roadside device 2330a, the merging side roadside device 2330b transmits the warning information to the communication device 2321 of the vehicle 2230 traveling on the merging lane L2.

[0190] The communicator 2321 displays the contents of warning information or outputs a sound to inform the driver of the vehicle 2320 of the possibility of a collision with the vehicle 2310, and to avoid collision such as deceleration or lane change. Encourage them to take measures to The driving support system 2300 supports the driving of the vehicles 2310 and 2320 through the processing as described above.

[0191] In the following examples, the junction point is the junction point P of the main road L1 and the junction lane L2, but the junction point is an intersection where no traffic lights are installed or It may be an intersection where a unit is installed. If there is a traffic light at the intersection, it is impossible to know the movement of other vehicles entering the intersecting lane force and an accident occurs. It is highly probable that Even at intersections where traffic lights are provided, it is necessary to determine the possibility of collision with other vehicles, such as at night flashing traffic lights or when there are other vehicles traveling with neglected signals. This is because.

[0192] In addition, in the following embodiments, a force for explaining the joining point of two roads as an example may be a four-fork road where two roads intersect, a three-way road, a five-way road, or the like. This is because it is necessary to judge the possibility of collision with other vehicles even at these junctions. In this case, for example, a vehicle (vehicle 2320 in the following example) trying to reach the junction receives information such as warning information from a roadside machine 2330 installed in the vicinity of each intersecting road.

[0193] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the merging side roadside device 2330b issues a verification request to the main roadside device 2330a, but the mainline side roadside device 2330a issues a verification request to the merging side roadside device 2330b. It is good as well. In this case, the processing of the main roadside machine 2330a and the merge side roadside machine 2330b described below may be read in reverse.

[0194] (Hardware configuration of roadside machine 2330)

Here, the hardware configuration of the roadside machine 2330 is the same as the configuration described in Example 1 of Embodiment 1, and thus the basic description is omitted here (see FIG. 5). Communication in FIG. 5 The IZF 514 is connected to a communication network via radio and functions as an interface between the communication devices 2311 and 2321 and the CPU 501. The hardware configurations of the communication devices 2311 and 2321 are at least the CPU 501, ROM 502, RAM 503, audio I / F 508, speaker 510, video I / F 512, display among the hardware configurations shown in FIG. It is assumed that 513 and communication I / F514 are removed.

[0195] In addition, in the functional configuration of the driving support system 2100 according to the second embodiment, the reception units 2 111 and 2121 and the transmission units 2113 and 2122 are communicated by the communication IZF 514, and the determination unit 2112 and the calculation unit 2114 are ROM502. Each function is realized by the CPU 501 executing the programs recorded in the above.

[0196] (Driving support processing of driving support system 2300)

Next, details of the driving support processing of the driving support system 2300 according to the first embodiment will be described. First, the processing performed on the main roadside unit 2330a installed on the main line L1 side will be described. Figure 17 shows the procedure of the driving support process performed by the main roadside machine. It is a flowchart to show.

In the flowchart of FIG. 17, main line side roadside device 2330a determines whether or not vehicle 2310 has entered communication area A of its own device (step S2501). When the vehicle 2310 enters (step S2501: Yes), the ID, traveling direction, traveling speed, and position information of the vehicle 2310 are received from the communication device 2311 of the entering vehicle 2310 (step S2502).

[0198] Specifically, the vehicle 2310 is requested to transmit such information, and the returned information is received. The location information is requested to be transmitted when the vehicle 2310 has a function for acquiring the current location of the vehicle, such as when a GPS radio wave receiver is installed. On the other hand, when the vehicle 2310 does not enter (step S2501: NO), the process proceeds to step S2505.

Next, the main line side roadside machine 2330a calculates a merging time at which the vehicle 2310 reaches the merging point P based on the traveling direction and the traveling speed received in step S2502 (step S2503). Specifically, when the vehicle 2310 force travels as it is and reaches the merge point P, the current travel speed is assumed to be maintained, and the time to reach the merge point P is calculated.

[0200] It should be noted that in calculating the merging time, the distance between the vehicle 2310 and the merging point P is calculated using the position information of the vehicle 2310 received in step S2502. In addition, the distance between the main roadside unit 2330a and the confluence point P, which the main line side roadside device 2330a stores, may be used by approximating the distance between the vehicle 2310 and the confluence point P. In this case, the merging time can be calculated even if the vehicle 2310 does not have a function of acquiring the current position information of the own vehicle. Also, the merging time may be calculated as a time zone having a predetermined width instead of the time, taking into account the speed change that may occur before reaching the merging point P.

[0201] Then, the main line side roadside device 2330a stores the received ID, traveling direction, traveling speed, position information, and calculated joining time as a database (step S2504). Data stored in the database is stored in the main roadside unit 2330a at least until the merging time elapses, and thereafter it is deleted sequentially. Next, the main line side roadside machine 2330a determines whether or not there is a database collation request from the merging side roadside machine 2330b (step S2505).

) o [0202] Here, in step S2505, the database collation request means whether there is a vehicle 2310 that reaches the merge point P at the same time as the merge time of the vehicle 2320 traveling on the merge lane L2. The machine 2330b requests verification. At this time, the collation request transmitted from the merge side roadside machine 23 30b includes the merge time of the vehicle 2320.

[0203] If there is a verification request (step S2505: Yes), the database saved in step S 2504 is verified (step S2506), and the verification result is sent to the merging side roadside device 2330b (step S2507). Then, the process according to this flowchart is terminated.

[0204] In step S2506, the main line side roadside machine 2330a has, for example, a vehicle 2310 whose merging time is included in a predetermined time zone including the merging time of the vehicle 2320 (for example, 15 seconds before and after the merging time). If there is, the time of merging, traveling speed, position information, etc. are extracted. Then, the main line side roadside machine 2330a transmits the extracted joining time, traveling speed, position information, and the like of the vehicle 2310 as a verification result.

[0205] On the other hand, if there is no vehicle 2130 including the joining time in a predetermined time zone including the joining time of the vehicle 2320, information indicating that there is no corresponding vehicle 2310 is transmitted. If there is no such vehicle 2310 as described above, the transmission of the verification result may be replaced with the transmission of information indicating that the corresponding vehicle 2310 is not!

On the other hand, if there is no database collation request in step S2505 (step S2505: No), the process returns to step S2501, and the subsequent processing is repeated. By repeating the above processing, the main roadside unit 2330a provides the merging side roadside unit 2330b with information on the vehicle 2310 traveling on the main line L1.

[0207] Next, processing performed on the merging side roadside device 2330b side will be described. FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a procedure of driving support processing performed by the merging side roadside machine. In the flowchart of FIG. 18, the merging side roadside device 2330b waits until the vehicle 2320 enters the communication area B of its own device (step S2601: No loop). When the vehicle 2320 has entered (step S2601: Yes), the communicator 2321 force of the entering vehicle 2320 also receives the ID, traveling direction, traveling speed, and position information of the vehicle 2320 (step S2602).

[0208] Specifically, as with the main line side roadside machine 2330a, the vehicle 2320 is requested to transmit such information, and the returned information is received. Also, the location information Request transmission when the vehicle 2320 has a function to acquire the current position of the vehicle, such as when a communication device is installed.

Next, merging side roadside device 2330b calculates a merging time at which vehicle 2320 reaches merging point P based on the traveling direction and traveling speed received in step S2602 (step S2603). Specifically, when the vehicle 2320 arrives at the junction P when traveling on the road as it is, the time when the vehicle 2320 arrives at the junction P is calculated assuming that the current traveling speed is maintained.

[0210] In calculating the merging time, the distance between the vehicle 2320 and the merging point P is calculated using the position information of the vehicle 2320 received in step S2602. Alternatively, the distance between the vehicle 2320 and the merge point P may be stored in the merge side roadside machine 2330b, and the distance between the merge side roadside machine 2330b and the merge point P may be approximated. In this case, the merging time can be calculated even if the vehicle 2320 does not have a function of acquiring the current position information of the own vehicle. Also, the merging time may be calculated as a time zone having a predetermined width instead of the time, taking into account the speed change that may occur before reaching the merging point P.

[0211] Then, merging side roadside device 2330b transmits a collation request including the merging time calculated in step S2603 to main line side roadside device 2330a (step S2604). The verification request is a request for verification by the merging side roadside device 2330b whether there is a vehicle 2310 that reaches the merging point P at the same time as the merging time of the vehicle 2320.

[0212] Junction side roadside machine 2330b waits until a reply to the verification request is received from main line side roadside machine 2330a (step S2605: No loop). If there is a response to the verification request from main line side roadside machine 2330a (step S2605: Yes), it is determined whether there is a possibility of collision between vehicle 2320 and vehicle 2310 based on the returned verification result ( Step S2606).

[0213] The determination of the possibility of collision is made based on the returned collation result. For example, if the received collation result includes the merging time, travel speed, position information, etc. of the vehicle 2310, it is determined that there is a possibility of collision. If the collation result is information indicating that there is no applicable vehicle 2310, it is determined that there is no possibility of collision.

[0214] Also, for example, the main roadside unit 2330a does not make any judgment due to the possibility of a collision, and when there is a verification request, it transmits the merging times of all the recorded vehicles 2310. It is good to do. In this case, the merging side roadside machine 2330b compares the merging time of the vehicle 2310 transmitted from the main line side roadside machine 2330a with the merging time of the vehicle 2320, and determines the possibility of a collision at the merging point. .

[0215] If there is a possibility of collision (step S2606: Yes), warning information is transmitted to the communication device 2321 of the vehicle 2320 (step S2607), and the processing according to this flowchart is terminated. Here, for information transmission to the communication device 2321 of the vehicle 2320, the ID of the vehicle 2320 received in step S2602 is used as a communication address.

[0216] Further, the warning information is information that warns the driver of the vehicle 2320 of the presence of the vehicle 2310 that may collide. Specifically, it includes information such as the time of merging, traveling speed, position information, and specific measures to avoid a collision of the vehicle 2310 that may collide.

[0217] The communicator 2321 notifies the driver of the vehicle 2320 of the presence of the vehicle 2310 having a possibility of collision by displaying the transmitted warning information on a screen or outputting sound. The driver of the vehicle 2320 takes measures to avoid a collision with the vehicle 2310 (for example, reduction of travel speed, lane change, etc.) based on information notified from the communication device 2321.

On the other hand, if there is no possibility of collision (step S2606: No), the warning information is not transmitted, and the processing according to this flowchart ends. At this time, the vehicle 2310 with the possibility of a collision may send information to that effect!

[0219] As described above, according to the driving support system 2300 according to the first embodiment, the presence of the vehicle 2310 to be merged from another lane vehicle and the merge time with respect to the driver of the vehicle 2320, Provide information such as travel speed, and provide judgment materials when taking measures to avoid a collision at junction P. As a result, traffic in the vicinity of the confluence point P can be performed smoothly. In addition, if the vehicle 2310 and the speed information of the vehicle 2320 are used to indicate specific measures such as a deceleration instruction, the safety of traffic near the junction P can be further improved.

[0220] Further, by determining whether there is a possibility of collision with the vehicle 2310 traveling in another lane with the roadside device 2 330, the communication device 232 1 (or the vehicle 2310 (or the vehicle 2310)) is installed. The configuration of the communication device 2311) can be simplified.

[0221] Note that the processing of the main line side roadside machine 2330a is the same as that of the merge side roadside machine 2330b. In addition, the main line side roadside machine 2330a may perform the processing of the above-mentioned merge side roadside machine 2330b on the vehicle 2310. If each judgment result is transmitted to each other, the existence of vehicles 2310 and 2320 traveling in other lanes can be known, and traffic at the junction can be made even safer. .

[Example 2]

In the driving support system 2300 according to Example 1 of Embodiment 2, only the main roadside device 233 Oa holds the database, and the merge side roadside device 2330b makes a database verification request. In Example 2 according to the second embodiment, a database of information on the vehicles 2310 and 2320 traveling in the respective lanes LI and L2 is shared between the main roadside unit 2330a and the merging side roadside unit 2330b. If necessary, each person sends warning information by referring to the shared database.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the driving support process of the driving support system according to the second embodiment. In the following, for convenience of description, the power described as the processing of the main roadside unit 2330a is the same as that of the main roadside unit 2330a and the merging side roadside unit 2330b.

In the flowchart of FIG. 19, main line side roadside machine 2330a waits until vehicle 2310 enters communication area A of the own apparatus (step S2701: No loop). If the vehicle 2310 has entered (step S2701: Yes), the ID, traveling direction, traveling speed, and position information of the vehicle 2310 are received from the communication device 2311 of the entering vehicle 2310 (step S2702).

[0225] Specifically, in the same manner as in the first embodiment, the vehicle 2310 is requested to transmit these pieces of information, and the returned information is received. The location information is requested to be transmitted when the vehicle 2310 has a function to acquire the current location of the vehicle, such as when a GPS radio receiver is installed.

[0226] Next, the main roadside unit 2330a calculates the merging time when the vehicle 2310 reaches the merging point P based on the traveling direction and the traveling speed received in step S2702 (step S2703). Specifically, when the vehicle 2310 force travels as it is and reaches the merge point P, the current travel speed is assumed to be maintained, and the time to reach the merge point P is calculated. [0227] In calculating the merging time, the distance between the vehicle 2310 and the merging point P is calculated using the position information of the vehicle 2310 received in step S2702. In addition, the distance between the main roadside unit 2330a and the confluence point P, which the main line side roadside device 2330a stores, may be used by approximating the distance between the vehicle 2310 and the confluence point P. In this case, the merging time can be calculated even if the vehicle 2310 does not have a function of acquiring the current position information of the own vehicle. Also, the merging time may be calculated as a time zone having a predetermined width instead of the time, taking into account the speed change that may occur before reaching the merging point P.

[0228] Then, the main line side roadside machine 2330a stores the received ID, traveling direction, traveling speed, position information, and calculated joining time in the shared database (step S2704). The main line side roadside machine 2330a and the merge side roadside machine 2330b store a shared database in their respective storage areas.

[0229] The main roadside unit 2330a and the merging side roadside unit 2330b are always connected, and the update of the shared database performed by each is reflected in real time in the database stored in both roadside units 2330 . The data stored in the database is stored at the main roadside unit 2330a at least until the merging time elapses, and thereafter it is deleted sequentially.

[0230] Next, the main line side roadside machine 2330a refers to the shared database to determine whether or not there is a vehicle 2320 that may collide with the vehicle 2310 (step S2705). In the shared database, updates made by the confluence roadside unit 2330b are also reflected in real time. Therefore, it is possible to know whether there is a vehicle 2320 that may collide with the vehicle 2310 by referring to the shared database.

[0231] For example, a vehicle 2320 that includes a merging time in a predetermined time zone including the merging time of the vehicle 2310 (for example, 15 seconds before and after the merging time) determines whether there is a collision possibility. Judge that there is a possibility. If there is a vehicle 2320 with a possibility of collision (step S270 5: Yes), warning information including the merging time, traveling speed, position information, etc. of the vehicle 2310 with a possibility of collision is transmitted to the vehicle 2320. (Step S2706). At this time, for the information transmission of the vehicle 2310 to the communication device 2311, the ID of the vehicle 2310 received in step S2702 is used as the communication address.

[0232] On the other hand, if there is no possibility of collision (step S2705: No), the warning information is not transmitted. The process according to this flowchart is terminated. At this time, the vehicle 2320 with the possibility of collision may send information to that effect!

[0233] As described above, the driving support system 2300 according to the second embodiment always connects the main roadside unit 2330a and the merging side roadside unit 2330b, and shares the database. As a result, the main roadside machine 2330a and the merging side roadside machine 2330b send warning information to the vehicles 2310, 232 0 traveling in the respective lanes LI, L2 by referring to the database stored on the own device side. be able to.

[0234] As explained above, according to the driving support system, the driving support method, the driving support program, and the recording medium, one of the two routes (lanes) LI, L2 that joins the junction P Information about the presence or absence of the vehicle 2310 moving from the main line L1 to the merge point P can be sent to the vehicle 2320 traveling on the other route, the merge lane L2. it can. As a result, the vehicle 2320 can know whether or not there is a possibility of collision with the vehicle 2310 at the junction P.

[0235] Also, information on the moving speed and joining time of the vehicle 2310 is transmitted to the vehicle 2320 together with the determination result. As a result, the driver of the vehicle 2320 can be given information as a judgment material when taking measures to avoid a collision at the junction P.

[0236] The driving support method described in each embodiment can be realized by executing a program prepared in advance on a computer such as a personal computer or a workstation. This program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, an MO, or a DVD, and is executed by being read by the computer. The program may be a transmission medium that can be distributed via a network such as the Internet.

Claims

The scope of the claims

[1] Of the two routes that join the junction, the first communication device installed near one route and the second communication device installed near the other route A rotation support system,

The first communication device is:

First receiving means for receiving, from the first moving body, information relating to the traveling direction of the first moving body moving along the one route;

Based on the information on the traveling direction received by the first receiving means, the judging means for judging whether or not the first moving body is moving toward the joining point, and the judgment means First transmission means for transmitting the determination result to the second communication device,

The second communication device is:

A second receiving means for receiving the determination result transmitted by the first transmitting means; and a determination result received by the second receiving means by moving the other route.

V, second transmission means for transmitting to the second mobile body,

A driving support system comprising:

[2] The first receiving means may continuously receive information on a moving speed of the first moving body together with information on a traveling direction of the first moving body.

The driving support system according to 1.

[3] When it is determined by the determination means that the first moving body is moving toward the joining point, the information on the moving speed continuously received by the first reception means is A detection means for detecting a temporal change in moving speed, wherein the first transmission means transmits the detection result detected by the detection means together with the determination result to the second communication device;

The second reception unit receives the determination result and the detection result, and the second transmission unit transmits the received determination result and the detection result to the second moving body. The driving support system according to claim 2.

[4] The first receiving means includes:

Receiving information on the moving speed of the first moving body;

The first transmission means includes

When it is determined by the determining means that the vehicle is moving to the junction, the information on the moving speed received by the first receiving means is transmitted to the second communication device together with the determination result;

The second receiving means includes

Receiving the information on the moving speed transmitted by the first transmission means, the second transmission means,

4. The information on the moving speed received by the second receiving means is transmitted to the second moving body that is moving on the other route. The driving support system described in 1.

[5] The first communication device includes:

Based on the information on the moving speed received by the first receiving means, the calculating means includes a calculating means for calculating the time for the first moving body to reach the joining point, and the first transmitting means includes:

When it is determined by the determination means that the vehicle has moved to the joining point, the calculation result calculated by the calculation means is transmitted to the second communication device together with the determination result;

The second receiving means includes

Receiving the calculation result transmitted by the first transmission means;

The second transmission means includes

5. The driving support system according to claim 4, wherein the calculation result received by the second receiving means is transmitted to a second moving body moving on the other route.

[6] The first communication device is installed in the vicinity of the one route,

The calculating means includes

Based on the information on the moving speed and the distance between the first communication device and the joining point, the time for the first moving body to reach the joining point is calculated. The driving support system according to claim 5, wherein

[7] The detection means includes

4. The operation according to claim 3, wherein a change for each moving speed of time to reach the joining point is detected based on a current position of the first moving body and a distance between the joining points. Support system.

[8] The second receiving means includes

Receiving information on the moving speed of the second moving body before and after transmission of the determination result and the detection result from the second transmitting means;

The second communication device is:

When information on the moving speed of the second moving body is received by the second receiving means, the possibility of collision of the first and second moving bodies is determined based on the moving speed before and after the transmission. A determination means for determining,

The second transmission means includes

The determination result determined by the determination means is transmitted to the first communication device, and the first reception means is

Receiving the determination result transmitted by the second transmission means;

The first transmission means includes

4. The driving support system according to claim 3, wherein the determination result received by the first receiving means is transmitted to the first moving body.

[9] The second receiving means includes

The second transmission means includes

Transmitting information on the moving speed of the second moving body received by the second receiving means to the first communication device;

The first receiving means includes

Receiving information on the moving speed of the second moving body transmitted by the second transmitting means; The first communication device is:

When information on the moving speed of the second moving body is received by the first receiving means, the possibility of collision of the first and second moving bodies is determined based on the moving speed before and after the transmission. A determination means for determining,

The first transmission means includes

4. The driving support system according to claim 3, wherein the determination result determined by the determination means is transmitted to the first moving body.

[10] The determination means includes:

10. The driving support system according to claim 8, wherein the possibility of collision of the first and second moving bodies is determined based on a distance between the second communication device and the junction point. .

[11] Communication is possible with the first communication device installed in the vicinity of one of the two routes joining the junction and the second communication device installed in the vicinity of the other route. A driving support device,

From the first communication device, information on the traveling direction of the first moving body moving on the one route is received, and information on the moving speed of the first moving body is continuously received. Receiving means;

Based on the information on the traveling direction received by the receiving means, a judging means for judging whether or not the first moving body is moving toward the joining point; and Detecting means for detecting a temporal change in the moving speed based on information on the moving speed continuously received by the first receiving means,

Transmitting means for transmitting the determination result determined by the determination means and the detection result detected by the detection means to the second communication device;

A driving support apparatus comprising:

[12] Operation using a first communication device installed in the vicinity of one of the two routes joining the junction and a second communication device installed in the vicinity of the other route. A support method, A first receiving step of receiving, by the first communication device, information on a traveling direction of the first moving body moving along the one route, the first moving body force;

A determination step of determining whether or not the first moving body is moving to the merging point on the basis of the information on the traveling direction received by the first reception step; A first transmission step of transmitting the determined result to the second communication device;

A second receiving step of receiving a determination result transmitted by the first transmitting step by the second communication device; and

A second transmission step of transmitting the determination result received in the second reception step to the second mobile body that travels the other route V;

A driving support method comprising:

[13] In the first receiving step, the information on the traveling direction of the first moving body is received, and the information on the moving speed of the first moving body is continuously received. The driving support method according to Item 12.

[14] When it is determined by the determination step that the first moving body is moving toward the joining point, information on the moving speed continuously received by the first reception step Further including a detection step of detecting a temporal change in the moving speed,

In the first transmission step, the detection result detected by the detection step together with the determination result is transmitted to the second communication device,

In the second reception step, the determination result and the detection result are received, and in the second transmission step, the received determination result and detection result are transmitted to the second moving body. The driving support method according to claim 13, wherein

[15] An operation using a first communication device installed in the vicinity of one of the two routes joining the junction and a second communication device installed in the vicinity of the other route. A support method,

How the first moving body traveling on the one route travels from the first communication device A reception step of continuously receiving information on the moving speed of the first moving body,

A determination step of determining whether or not the first moving body is moving toward the merging point based on the information on the traveling direction received by the receiving step; and A detecting step for detecting a temporal change in the moving speed based on information on the moving speed continuously received by the first receiving step,

A transmission step of transmitting the determination result determined by the determination step and the detection result detected by the detection step to the second communication device;

A driving support method comprising:

[16] A driving support program that causes a computer to execute the driving support method according to any one of claims 12 to 15.

[17] A computer-readable recording medium on which the driving support program according to claim 16 is recorded.