WO2020162455A1

WO2020162455A1 - Streetlight

Info

Publication number: WO2020162455A1
Application number: PCT/JP2020/004135
Authority: WO
Inventors: 年矢松田; 拓也久保庭; 真弘塚本; 和久井上; 俊宏岡村; 誉博望月
Original assignee: 株式会社小糸製作所
Priority date: 2019-02-07
Filing date: 2020-02-04
Publication date: 2020-08-13
Also published as: JPWO2020162455A1; JP7514190B2

Abstract

A streetlight 100 is disposed near an on-street parking area 14. The streetlight 100 comprises: a light fixture 106 that can project, onto a road 10, a parking guidance image that indicates a useable parking space 14a in the on-street parking area 14; and a light fixture control unit 111 that controls the light fixture 106 so that the same projects the parking guidance image onto the road 10 in accordance with a parking request signal from a vehicle travelling near the streetlight 100. The parking guidance image may include an image of an arrow which points from the road 10 to the useable parking space 14a.

Description

Street light

The present invention relates to a street light.

Various proposals have been made from the viewpoint of increasing the added value of street lights. For example, a street light having an information display function of projecting advertising information or road guidance information on a road by illumination light (see, for example, Patent Document 1), and a size that an approaching vehicle fits in a nearby parking space. A street light that checks whether or not is proposed (for example, refer to Patent Document 2).

JP, 2009-145718, A Japanese Patent Publication No. 2018-517228

-Some roads have street parking areas that can be used for temporary parking. You can park your car if there is a vacant parking space on the street parking area, but it is difficult to find a vacant parking space in some situations. This is the case, for example, when driving at night or in places with poor visibility ahead. Alternatively, in a commercial area such as a downtown area, most of the street parking area may already be filled with parked vehicles. Drivers who are about to park will have to slow down to find an empty parking space. However, such a speed reduction is undesired in that it may obstruct the passage of the following vehicles.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and one of exemplary embodiments of a certain aspect thereof is to provide a street light that assists parking in a street parking area.

In order to solve the above problems, a street light according to an aspect of the present invention is a street light installed in the vicinity of an on-street parking area, and displays a parking guidance image indicating a usable parking space in the on-street parking area on a road. A lighting device that can be projected and a lighting device control unit that controls the lighting device so as to project the parking guidance image on the road according to a parking request signal from a vehicle traveling near the street light.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a street light that supports parking in a street parking area.

It is a figure which shows the streetlight which concerns on embodiment typically. It is a block diagram of the street light which concerns on embodiment. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of communication processing and street light control executed in the street light according to the embodiment. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating operation|movement of the street light which concerns on embodiment. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating operation|movement of the street light which concerns on embodiment.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings. The embodiments do not limit the invention and are exemplifications, and all features and combinations thereof described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the invention. The same or equivalent constituent elements, members, and processes shown in each drawing are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicated description will be omitted as appropriate. Further, the scales and shapes of the respective parts shown in the respective drawings are set for the sake of convenience of description, and are not to be construed as limiting unless otherwise specified. Further, the terms "first", "second", etc. used in the present specification and claims do not indicate any order or importance, and are used to distinguish one configuration from another configuration. Is.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a street light according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the street light according to the embodiment.

The street light 100 can be installed on the side of the road. Although a plurality of street lights 100 can be installed along the road 10, one street light 100 is shown as a representative here.

The road 10 has a driving lane 12 in which a vehicle such as an automobile travels, and an on-street parking area 14 in which the vehicle is temporarily allowed to park. The on-street parking area 14 is adjacent to a side (outside) of the traveling lane 12 and extends along the traveling lane 12 for a predetermined section. In the street parking area 14, a plurality of parking spaces 14 a are sectioned along the road 10. One parking space 14a is set to a size in which one vehicle can be parked. Each parking space 14a is sectioned by a section line such as a white line. However, such a lane marking may not be drawn in the street parking area 14.

The street light 100 is installed near the street parking area 14. Although details will be described later, the street light 100 is configured not only to illuminate the road 10 like a typical street light, but also to assist parking in the on-street parking area 14 by using road surface drawing. .. Therefore, the street light 100 can be said to be a street parking assist device.

Needless to say, the installation location of the street light 100 is not particularly limited. For example, in FIG. 1, the street light 100 is installed only in one lane, but when an on-street parking area is defined also in the oncoming lane, the street light 100 is installed in the on-street parking area on the oncoming lane side. It may be installed in the vicinity. Alternatively, the street light 100 may be installed on a road without an on-street parking area and simply used to illuminate the road.

The street light 100 includes a monitoring device 102, a street light control unit 104, and a lamp 106. As shown in FIG. 2, the street light control unit 104 includes a data processing unit 110, a lamp control unit 111, and a parking recording unit 112.

The monitoring device 102 monitors the parking status of the vehicle on the road 10 and the road parking area 14. The monitoring device 102 monitors, for example, a traveling vehicle in the traveling lane 12 and a parked vehicle in the roadside parking area 14 by image processing or by using radio waves or light. The monitoring device 102 generates output data D0 and outputs it to the street light control unit 104.

The configuration of the monitoring device 102 is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a camera, a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging), a millimeter wave radar, or another sensor or radar. When the monitoring device 102 is a camera, the output data D0 may be image data captured. The output data D0 may be point cloud data from LiDAR or millimeter wave radar.

The lamp 106 has a road surface drawing function and can project a desired image such as a parking guide image or a merge guide image on the road surface. The lamp 106 can project an image including letters, numbers, symbols, graphics, or a combination thereof. The image can be a color image or a monochrome image. In addition to the road surface drawing function, the lamp 106 has a road lighting function for illuminating the road surface with a desired brightness.

The parking guidance image shows the available parking space 14a in the street parking area 14 (hereinafter, also referred to as an empty parking space 14a). The parking guidance image may include an image of an arrow pointing from the road 10 to the available parking space 14a. The parking guidance image may include an image showing a unit charge (for example, a parking charge per unit time) of the on-street parking area 14. The merge guide image indicates that the parked vehicle is about to join the road 10 (for example, the traveling lane 12) from the on-street parking area 14. The merging guidance image may include an image of an arrow pointing from the parking space 14a where the parked vehicle starts to the road 10.

The specific configuration of the lamp 106 is not particularly limited. Regarding the road surface drawing function, the lamp 106 can include, for example, a light source such as an LED (light emitting diode) array, a lighting circuit that drives the light source to turn it on, and an optical system that projects light from the light source onto the road surface. The lighting circuit may be controlled by the lamp control unit 111 so that a target image such as a parking guide image or a merge guide image is projected on the road surface.

The data processing unit 110 generates approaching vehicle data D1 and parking status data D2 based on the output data D0 from the monitoring device 102. The approaching vehicle data D1 indicates information on the traveling vehicle in the traveling lane 12, and the parking status data D2 indicates information on the parking status in the on-street parking area 14. The data processing unit 110 processes image data captured by a camera, or processes point cloud data by LiDAR and millimeter wave radar, and detects approaching vehicle data D1 and parking status data D2 in real time. Various existing methods can be used for such data processing, and will not be described in detail here.

The approaching vehicle data D1 may indicate the presence/absence of a vehicle approaching the driving lane 12 toward the street light 100, for example. The approaching vehicle data D1 may indicate the position of such approaching vehicle. The approaching vehicle data D1 may indicate the speed of the approaching vehicle.

The parking status data D2 indicates, for example, the presence or absence of a parked vehicle in each parking space 14a. The parking status data D2 may indicate the behavior of the parked vehicle such as whether or not the parked vehicle starts from the parking space 14a.

The lamp control unit 111 controls the lamp 106 to project the parking guidance image on the road 10 in response to the parking request signal S0 from the vehicle 20 traveling near the street light 100. The parking request signal S0 is an arbitrary signal indicating that the vehicle 20 has the intention to park and is transmitted from the vehicle 20. The lamp control unit 111 receives the parking request signal S0 and generates the lamp control signal S1 based on the approaching vehicle data D1 and the parking status data D2. In this case, the lamp control signal S1 is an instruction to project the parking guidance image. The lamp 106 is controlled according to the lamp control signal S1 and projects the parking guidance image onto the road 10.

Further, the lamp control unit 111 controls the lamp 106 so as to project the merging guidance image on the road 10 when the parked vehicle starts. The lamp control unit 111 generates a lamp control signal S1 when the parked vehicle starts based on the parking status data D2. In this case, the lamp control signal S1 is for instructing the projection of the merge guide image. The lamp 106 is controlled according to the lamp control signal S1 and projects the merge guide image onto the road 10.

The parking recording unit 112 records at least one of the parking time and the parking charge of the parked vehicle based on the output data D0 from the monitoring device 102, and parks at least one of the parking time and the parking charge when the parked vehicle starts. Provide to the vehicle. The parking recording unit 112 generates parking recording data D3 based on the parking status data D2, for example. The parking record data D3 indicates the parking time of the parked vehicle in each parking space 14a. The parking record data D3 may indicate the parking fee together with the parking time. The parking recording unit 112 records, for example, a parking start time and a parking end time in each parking space 14a, and thereby calculates a parking time. The parking recording unit 112 calculates the parking fee from the parking time and the unit fee of the street parking area 14.

The street light control unit 104 can be implemented by a combination of a processor (hardware) such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), and a microcomputer, and a software program executed by the processor (hardware). For example, the data processing unit 110 can be configured by a digital signal processor, and may be configured by, for example, a combination of a CPU or a microcomputer and a software program, an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), an ASIC (Application Specified IC), or the like. You may comprise.

Further, the street light 100 has a communication device 114. The streetlight control unit 104 can communicate with the vehicle 20 traveling near the streetlight 100 through the communication device 114. The vehicle 20 is also equipped with a communication device that enables communication with other peripheral devices such as the street light 100. The communication device 114 has an antenna 114a, and the streetlight 100 and the vehicle 20 can wirelessly communicate with each other.

The vehicle 20 transmits the parking request signal S0 to the street light 100, and the street light 100 can receive the parking request signal S0 through the communication device 114. The street light 100 transmits the parking record data D3 to the vehicle 20 through the communication device 114, and the vehicle 20 can receive the parking record data D3.

As shown in FIG. 1, the street light 100 has a pillar 120 installed on the ground near the street parking area 14 on the side of the road 10, and has a monitoring device 102, a street light control unit 104, a lamp 106, The communication device 114 is attached to the column 120. The monitoring device 102, the lighting device 106, and the communication device 114 are installed on the upper portion or the upper end of the support column 120, and thus are arranged above the on-street parking area 14. The location of each device shown in the figure is an example, and other locations are possible.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of communication processing and lamp control executed in the street light according to the embodiment. In the figure, the communication process is shown on the left side of the broken line, and the lamp control is shown on the right side of the broken line. These processes can be executed by the street light control unit 104, and are composed of three steps of parking guidance (S10 to S13), parking record (S14), and merge guidance (S15 to S17).

First, the parking request signal S0 from the vehicle 20 is received by the street light 100 (S10). In response to the parking request signal S0, the lamp control unit 111 searches whether or not there is a vacant parking space 14a on the path of the vehicle 20 around the street light 100 (S11), and determines whether or not there is such a vacant parking space 14a. A judgment is made (S12). The lamp control unit 111, for example, based on the approaching vehicle data D1 and the parking status data D2, among the plurality of parking spaces 14a in the on-street parking area 14, has a vacant parking space 14a located in front of the traveling direction of the vehicle 20. Search whether or not. When there is no parking space 14a satisfying the conditions (N in S12), the parking space 14a is continuously searched. When there is the parking space 14a that satisfies the condition (Y in S12), the process proceeds to the lamp control.

The lamp control unit 111 detects whether the vehicle 20 is approaching the street light 100, and controls the lamp 106 so as to project the parking guidance image on the road 10 (S13). The lamp control unit 111 determines, for example, based on the approaching vehicle data D1 and the parking status data D2 whether the vehicle 20 is approaching the empty parking space 14a. When it is determined that the vehicle 20 is approaching the vacant parking space 14a, the lamp control unit 111 controls the lamp 106 to project the parking guidance image on the road 10. When it is determined that the vehicle 20 is not approaching the empty parking space 14a, the lamp control unit 111 does not project the parking guidance image on the road 10. Whether or not the vehicle 20 is approaching the vacant parking space 14a is known from the position of the vehicle 20 and the location of the vacant parking space 14a, for example.

Alternatively, the lamp control unit 111 may control the lamp 106 to project the parking guidance image on the road 10 when the vehicle 20 is traveling at a low speed in front of the empty parking space 14a. For example, when the vehicle 20 has a speed threshold value (for example, 20 km/h or less), it may be regarded as low speed running. This is because if the vehicle 20 is traveling at a low speed, it may be looking for an empty parking space 14a.

In addition, when the vehicle 20 has parked in the empty parking space 14a, when the vehicle 20 has passed the empty parking space 14a, and when the parking guidance image becomes unnecessary, the lamp control unit 111 turns off the parking guidance image. The lamp 106 is controlled so as to do so.

When the vehicle 20 is parked in the parking space 14a, the parking state of the vehicle 20 is monitored and the parking time is recorded (S14). As described above, for example, the parking recording unit 112 monitors and records the parking time and the parking charge of the vehicle 20.

It is determined whether the vehicle 20 starts from the parking space 14a (S15). The lamp control unit 111 determines whether or not the vehicle 20 starts from the parking space 14a based on the parking status data D2, for example. If there is no vehicle 20 to start (N of S15), the lamp control unit 111 determines again whether or not there is a vehicle to start at an appropriate timing thereafter. In this case, the merge guide image is not projected.

On the other hand, when there is a vehicle 20 starting from the parking space 14a (Y in S15), the parking recording data 112 is provided to the vehicle 20 by the parking recording unit 112 (S16). As a result, the recorded parking time (and parking charge) is notified to the vehicle 20. At the same time, the lamp control unit 111 controls the lamp 106 to project the merge guide image on the road 10 (S17). When the merge guidance image is no longer needed, such as when the start of the vehicle 20 is completed, the lamp control unit 111 controls the lamp 106 to turn off the merge guidance image. In this way, the communication processing and the lamp control shown in FIG. 3 are completed.

For example, a parking charge settlement system may be constructed using a mobile device such as a smartphone of the driver of the vehicle 20, or a terminal mounted on the vehicle 20, and parking may be performed according to the parking record data D3 notified to the vehicle 20. The fee may be settled automatically.

4 and 5 are schematic diagrams for explaining the operation of the street light system according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 shows parking guidance by the street light 100, and FIG. 5 shows merging guidance by the street light 100.

As shown in FIG. 4, the street light 100 specifies the vacant parking space 14 a located on the path of the vehicle 20 around the street light 100 in response to the parking request signal S0 from the vehicle 20. Then, the parking guide image 130 is projected on a place adjacent to the empty parking space 14a. As illustrated, the parking guide image 130 includes an image of an arrow from the road 10 (for example, the driving lane 12) toward the empty parking space 14a. The driver of the vehicle 20 can easily find the empty parking space 14a by looking at the arrow image drawn on the road surface ahead of the traveling direction.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, when the vehicle 20 starts from the parking space 14 a, the street light 100 identifies the vehicle 20 and joins the guide image 132 on the road 10 adjacent to the parking space 14 a. To project. As illustrated, the merge guide image 132 includes an image of an arrow heading from the parking space 14a to the road 10 (for example, the traveling lane 12). The driver of the other vehicle 22 can easily notice the vehicle 20 that is about to merge from the parking space 14a.

Therefore, according to the street light 100 according to the embodiment, the parking guide image 130 is projected on the road 10 in response to the parking request signal S0 from the vehicle 20 traveling near the street light 100. Therefore, it is possible to provide the street light 100 that supports parking in the street parking area 14.

The parking guidance image 130 includes an image of an arrow pointing from the road 10 to the empty parking space 14a. In this way, the vacant parking space 14a can be visually and clearly guided to the traveling vehicle 20.

Further, the street light 100 can provide the parking vehicle with the parking record data D3 such as the parking time and the parking fee when the parked vehicle starts by communication. It becomes possible to accurately record the parking time and parking fee. In addition, the driver can easily confirm the parking time and parking fee, which is convenient.

The street light 100 can also project the merge guide image 132 onto the road 10. The driver of another vehicle 22 can be alerted that there is a vehicle 20 attempting to join the road 10 from the on-street parking area 14, which helps improve safety.

The merge guide image 132 includes an image of an arrow pointing from the empty parking space 14a where the parked vehicle starts to the road 10. In this way, it is possible to visually and simply notify the driver of another vehicle 22 that there is a vehicle 20 that is about to merge.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications, and the embodiments and modifications may be combined and further modifications such as various design changes may be added based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. The embodiments and modified examples in which such combinations or further modifications are added are also included in the scope of the present invention. The above-described embodiments and modifications, and a new embodiment resulting from a combination of the above-described embodiments and modifications and the following modifications, combine the effects of the combined embodiments, modifications and further modifications. Hold.

The parking guidance image 130 may include another graphic indicating the location or range of the empty parking space 14a together with or instead of the arrow image. For example, a rectangle having a size corresponding to an empty parking space may be projected in the on-street parking area. Parking guidance image 130 may be projected in a specific color such as blue, which is set to display (guidance) an empty parking space. Further, the parking guidance image 130 may show fee information (for example, a number, a character, or a symbol indicating a parking fee per hour) together with the arrow image or instead of the arrow image.

A parking management system that manages a street parking area in the area where the street light 100 is installed may be provided. The street light 100 may be able to communicate with a parking management system. In that case, instead of searching for the empty parking space 14a using the monitoring device 102 of the street light 100, the street light 100 may acquire the empty parking space 14a from the parking management system by communication.

Although the present invention has been described by using specific words and phrases based on the embodiments, the embodiments only show one aspect of the principle and application of the present invention. Many modifications and changes in arrangement are possible without departing from the concept of the present invention defined in the range.

The present invention can be used for street lights.

10 roads, 14 street parking areas, 14a parking spaces, 20 vehicles, 100 street lights, 102 monitoring devices, 106 lights, 111 lighting controls, 130 parking guidance images, 132 merge guidance images, D0 output data, S0 parking request signal.

Claims

A street light installed near a street parking area,
A lighting device capable of projecting a parking guide image showing a usable parking space of the on-street parking area on a road,
A streetlight, comprising: a streetlight control section that controls the streetlight to project the parking guidance image on the road in response to a parking request signal from a vehicle traveling near the streetlight.
The streetlight according to claim 1, wherein the parking guidance image includes an image of an arrow pointing from the road to the available parking space.
A monitoring device for monitoring a parked vehicle in the street parking area,
Based on the output data from the monitoring device, while recording at least one of the parking time and the parking fee of the parked vehicle, at least one of the parking time and the parking fee when the parked vehicle starts to the parked vehicle The street light according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a parking monitoring unit provided.
The lighting device is capable of projecting a merging guide image indicating that a parked vehicle is about to join the road from the roadside parking area onto the road,
The street lamp according to claim 1, wherein the lamp control unit controls the lamp so that the merge guide image is projected onto the road when the parked vehicle starts.
The streetlight according to claim 4, wherein the merge guide image includes an image of an arrow pointing from the parking space where the parked vehicle starts to the road.