JP2000357288A - Reporting device for coming vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a reporting device for coming vehicle which surely detects a vehicle coming close to an intersection or a crosswalk to report this coming vehicle to pedestrians and other drivers and is constituted with a low cost. SOLUTION: Lane markers 30 having LC resonance circuits 31 are arranged along a lane at prescribed intervals on a road R side, and a vehicle V is provided with an LC resonance antenna 10, which has the same resonance frequency as LC resonance circuits 31, and its transmission/reception means 20, and prescribed data is transmitted and received between the vehicle V and lane markers 30 by electromagnetic induction coupling between LC resonance circuits 31 on the road side and the LC resonance antenna 1 on the vehicle V side. Passage information on the vehicle V is transmitted from lane markers 30 to a road management control station 40, and a report means 50 set on the intersection or the crosswalk is operated on the basis of vehicle passage information by the road management control station 40.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle arrival alerting device for alerting a vehicle to an area requiring monitoring such as an intersection or a pedestrian crossing for traffic safety. The present invention relates to a vehicle arrival notification device that detects a passing vehicle by electromagnetic induction coupling between a circuit and an LC resonance antenna mounted on a vehicle (automobile) side, and notifies a pedestrian, a vehicle entering an intersection, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A traffic light is installed at an intersection of a high traffic volume, for example, at an intersection of a main road, and a traffic light dedicated to pedestrians is installed also at a pedestrian crossing which is not provided alongside an intersection. The safety of is planned.

[0003] Although there are overwhelmingly many intersections and pedestrian crossings without traffic lights in the whole country, it is not necessary to install expensive traffic signals on roads in sparsely populated urban areas with little traffic.

[0004] Therefore, at a dangerous intersection with poor visibility, a stop sign, a curve mirror, or the like is installed to alert the driver to prevent a collision accident due to encounters. That is the fact.

[0005]

However, collisions at unsightly intersections without traffic lights are not unending. In particular, poor visibility such as at dusk, rainfall, or snowfall is often the cause.

[0006] Accidents at pedestrian crossings are also constant.
When crossing the pedestrian crossing, you are disciplined from a small time when you look carefully at the left and right, and when you are thinking, it is common that everyone has once experienced There will be.

[0007] When an umbrella is used, the arriving vehicle may be missed. Furthermore, even if you check the approaching vehicle, it is not possible to accurately determine whether the vehicle is fast or slow, so there have been reports of accidents when trying to cross a pedestrian crossing because it was safe. I have. In particular,
Old people and children are the victims.

By the way, in order to ensure safety when crossing a pedestrian crossing, some pedestrians use music when a green light is emitted to call attention to pedestrians and drivers.
This is only an auxiliary means of the traffic light and is not enough.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object thereof is to detect an approaching vehicle (automobile) at an intersection or a pedestrian crossing where there is no traffic light, for example. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle arrival notification device that can be constructed at relatively low cost so that vehicle approach information can be notified to pedestrians and other drivers.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, lane markers having an LC resonance circuit composed of a coil L and a capacitor C are arranged at predetermined intervals along a lane on the road side. On the vehicle (automobile) side, an LC resonance antenna including a coil L and a capacitor C whose resonance frequency is the same as the resonance frequency of the LC resonance circuit, and outputs a carrier wave of a predetermined frequency to the LC resonance antenna. An oscillation circuit and transmission / reception means having a demodulation circuit for demodulating a reception signal received by the LC resonance antenna are provided. The electromagnetic coupling between the LC resonance circuit on the road side and the LC resonance antenna causes the vehicle to communicate with the vehicle. While predetermined data is transmitted and received with the lane marker,
The passing information of the vehicle is transmitted from the lane marker to the road management control station, and the notifying means installed in an area requiring monitoring such as an intersection or a crosswalk is operated based on the vehicle passing information by the road management control station. It is characterized in that the arrival of the vehicle is notified to the monitoring required area.

According to the present invention, since the electromagnetic resonance coupling between the LC resonance antenna on the vehicle side and the LC resonance circuit on the road side is used, the passage of the vehicle can be reliably detected without being affected by the environment such as rainfall or snowfall. can do.

Further, since power is supplied to the road side LC resonance circuit from the vehicle side LC resonance antenna, the road side L
There is no need to lay a separate power supply line in the C resonance circuit, and it can be used almost maintenance-free. In this case, it is preferable to provide a power supply smoothing capacitor connected in parallel to the LC resonance circuit via a rectifier diode as a power supply for the control means in the lane marker.

Further, since the degree of coupling of electromagnetic induction coupling is proportional to the distance, LC resonance antennas are provided at, for example, two places on the left and right sides of the vehicle, and the coupling degree of electromagnetic induction coupling between the two LC resonance antennas and the lane marker is determined. By judging the strength, the position of the vehicle can be recognized based on the installation position of the lane marker.

According to the present invention, the vehicle-side transmitting / receiving means is provided with a carrier wave modulating means for modulating a carrier wave with unique data set for the vehicle and transmitting the vehicle data from the LC resonance antenna. On the lane marker side, control means for inputting vehicle data received by the LC resonance circuit may be provided, and the control means may transmit the vehicle data to the road management control station.

In this connection, the lane marker control means writes, for example, identification data unique to the lane marker, road information data such as curves or straight roads, and climbing or descending slopes. It is also possible to transmit to the road management control station.

Further, it is preferable that the writing of the road information data to the control means of the lane marker is performed through the LC resonance circuit. According to this, even after the lane marker is installed, it is possible to write or correct predetermined road information data to the control means of each lane marker in a maintenance vehicle having the same LC resonance antenna and transmission / reception means as described above. it can.

In the present invention, in order to more reliably detect a vehicle with the lane markers, the lane markers are juxtaposed at predetermined intervals along the width direction of the road at a predetermined position on the near side of a required monitoring area such as an intersection or a crosswalk. Is preferred.

A predetermined number of lane markers installed on the near side of the monitored area are connected to the road management control station, and the road management control station calculates the vehicle speed of the passing vehicle based on the vehicle passage information from each lane marker. However, the notification means can be operated in different modes according to the vehicle speed, and this is one of the features of the present invention.

The notification means is not particularly limited, such as a speaker, a buzzer, and an indicator light. However, when the monitored area is an intersection, the notification means may be a warning indicator light installed on a road surface in the intersection. preferable. According to this, it is possible to more effectively prevent a collision accident caused by encounter at an intersection.

[0020]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings.

As shown in the schematic block diagram of FIG. 1, this vehicle arrival notification device is installed on the road R side with the LC resonance antenna 10 mounted on the vehicle V and its transmission / reception means 20. It is composed of a lane marker 30 and a road management control station 40 that controls the notification means 50 installed at intersections and pedestrian crossings.

First, the configuration on the vehicle V side will be described. The LC resonance antenna 10 is composed of a resonance circuit of a coil L and a capacitor C. Although only one is shown in FIG. The LC resonance antenna 10 is symmetrically mounted on the left and right sides of the vehicle V.

The transmitting / receiving means 20 includes the LC resonance antenna 10
An oscillation circuit 21 that outputs a carrier wave of a predetermined frequency via a drive amplifier 22, a voltage detection resistor 23 that converts a current flowing through the LC resonance antenna 10 into a voltage and detects the voltage, and detects a carrier signal from the detected voltage signal by removing the carrier wave. A demodulation circuit 24 for demodulating the voltage signal.

The transmitting / receiving means 20 includes a CP as a control means.
U (Central Processing Uni)
t) 25, and a frequency divider 26 is connected to the output stage of the oscillation circuit 21. The demodulation circuit 24
Is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 27 and input to the CPU 25.

Vehicle data as identification data set for each vehicle is written in a storage area of the CPU 25, and the vehicle data is given from the CPU 25 to the frequency divider 26. As a result, the frequency division ratio of the frequency divider 26 is changed to a predetermined value, and the carrier is frequency-modulated. That is, the carrier data is included in the carrier wave by the frequency divider 26.

Next, the lane marker 30 installed on the road R will be described. The lane marker 30 is a coil L
And an LC resonance circuit 31 including a capacitor C. The resonance frequency of the LC resonance circuit 31 is set to be the same as the resonance frequency of the LC resonance antenna 10. In this embodiment, the switch 32 is connected in parallel to the capacitor C of the LC resonance circuit 31.

A rectifier circuit 33 is provided in the LC resonance circuit 31.
A capacitor 34 for smoothing the power supply is connected via a power supply, and a CPU 35 as control means operating using the capacitor 34 as a power supply and a data transmission unit 36 are connected in parallel to the capacitor 34.

Although a half-wave rectifier diode is shown as the rectifier circuit 33 in FIG. 1, a full-wave voltage doubler rectifier circuit may be used. The generated power is charged in the power supply smoothing capacitor 34.

In the storage area of the CPU 35, in addition to the unique identification data assigned to each lane marker 30, road information data of the place where the lane marker 30 is installed, for example, whether a curve or a straight road, ascending or descending. The grade, the number of lanes, and the inclination angle of the slope road are written.

Therefore, the LC resonance circuit 31 and the CPU 35
A data signal line 37 including a DC blocking capacitor 371 is wired between the rectifier circuit 33 and the data signal line 37.

According to this, predetermined road information data is written to the CPU 35 of each existing lane marker 30 in a maintenance-only vehicle (not shown) having the same LC resonance antenna 10 and transmission / reception means 20 as described above. It is. However, the lane markers 30 may be set on the road R after the road information has been written in the CPU 35 in advance.

The CPU 35 turns the switch 32 on and off with a control clock signal having a predetermined frequency obtained by dividing the frequency of its own clock signal. Thus, the carrier transmitted from the vehicle V is modulated.

That is, when the switch 32 is off, the roadside resonance circuit 3 is connected to the vehicle side LC resonance antenna 10.
1 operates as a load, so that the LC resonance antenna 10
, A large amount of resonance current flows. In contrast, switch 3
When 2 is on, the tuning with the LC resonance antenna 10 is lost, so that the current flowing through the LC resonance antenna 10 decreases.

Here, transmission and reception of data between the vehicle V and the lane marker 30 will be described. By driving the oscillation circuit 21 of the transmission / reception means 20, the carrier wave including the vehicle data modulated by the frequency divider 26 is transmitted from the LC resonance antenna 10. Vehicle V is lane marker 3
0 when approaching the LC resonance circuit 31.
Electromagnetic inductive coupling M occurs between zero.

As a result, the electric power generated in the LC resonance circuit 31 is charged into the power supply smoothing capacitor 34 via the rectifier circuit 33, and the CPU 35 and the data transmission unit 36 enter an operating state using the power as a power supply. That is, the switch 32 is turned on and off at a predetermined cycle by the CPU 35, and AM modulation is applied to the carrier from the LC resonance antenna 10. As a result, a modulated wave appears on the LC resonance antenna 10.

As described above, since the carrier is AM-modulated in the LC resonance circuit 31 of the lane marker 30, the S /
The N ratio increases. Therefore, the modulated wave is accurately detected by the demodulation circuit 24, and the detection signal is transmitted to the A / D converter 27.
Is input to the vehicle-side CPU 25 via the. Vehicle CPU
Reference numeral 25 compares the detection signal with a detection signal from another resonance antenna (not shown), and recognizes the current position of the vehicle V based on the installation position of the lane marker 30.

On the lane marker 30 side, the vehicle data received by the LC resonance circuit 31 is input to the road side CPU 35 via the data signal line 37. Then, the CPU 35 reads the road information data from the storage area, and supplies the road information data and the vehicle data to the data transmission unit 36.

Thus, the road information data and the vehicle data are transmitted from the data transmission unit 36 to the road management control station 40. In this embodiment, the road information data required by the road management control station 40 is identification data unique to the lane marker 30, and other data is not particularly required.

In addition, when the vehicle data is included in the carrier outputted from the oscillation circuit 21, the carrier is frequency-modulated by the frequency divider 26 in this embodiment.
As shown in (a), by connecting a variable impedance VZ to the LC resonance antenna 10 and driving the variable impedance VZ with a modulation signal fm as vehicle data, the carrier wave of the LC resonance antenna 10 is amplified. It may be modulated. For reference, FIGS. 2B and 2C show configuration examples of the variable impedance VZ applied to this amplitude modulation.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the arrangement of the lane markers 30 and a case where the road R is one lane on one side and the area to be monitored is the crosswalk SC.
And the relationship between the road management control station 40 and the notification means 50 are illustrated.

The lane markers 30 can also be used as a vehicle position recognizing device as in the above-described embodiment. For this reason, many lane markers 30 are embedded along the traveling direction of the vehicle V. FIG. For example, seven lane markers 301 to 307 on the near side of the crosswalk SC are shown.

Of the seven lane markers 301 to 307, in this embodiment, odd-numbered lane markers 301 and 3 are used.
03, 305 and 307 are connected in parallel to the road management control station 40.

Further, on the side closer to the pedestrian crossing SC than the last row of lane markers 307, even if the vehicle V passes any position in the lane, it can be detected. For example, the four lane markers 30a to 30d Are buried at even intervals along the width direction of the road to eliminate dead zones.

Each of the lane markers 30a to 30d is also connected in parallel to the road management control station 40. In this case, the lane markers 30a to 30d can detect that the vehicle V has stopped just before the pedestrian crossing SC. Preferably, it is provided at a position.

The lane marker 3 for eliminating the dead zone
The positions of 0a to 30d may be arbitrary. For example, the positions may be arranged on the side of the pedestrian crossing SC away from the lane marker 301 in the front row, or may be arranged at the position of an even-numbered lane marker.

In this embodiment, the lane markers 301, 303, 305, 307 and 30a to 30d are connected to the road management control station 40 by wire. In addition to using a weak radio, the road management control station 40 may be provided with a receiving antenna to change to a wireless connection.

Although not shown in detail, the road management control station 40 has a CPU as control means. The road management control bureau 40 checks each lane marker 301, 303, 3
The notifying unit 50 is operated based on the vehicle data sent from 05, 307 and 30a to 30d.

At this time, the road management control station 40 also calculates the vehicle speed of the passing vehicle V based on the vehicle data sent from each of the lane markers 301, 303, 305, 307 in time series and the lane marker identification data. The notification means 50 is operated in different modes depending on whether the vehicle speed is low or high.

Further, the road management control station 40 determines that the pedestrian crossing S
When vehicle data is received from the lane marker closest to C, in this example, the lane markers 30a to 30d, the notifying unit 50 is operated in a further different manner in order to issue a warning to the pedestrian.

The notification means 50 may be any of those which appeal to hearing with a speaker or a buzzer, those which appeal visually with a signal light or a light emitting device, or those which use both of them.

Similarly, in the case of an intersection CR as illustrated in FIG. 4, a predetermined number of lane markers 30 are respectively buried along each lane in front of the intersection CR, and each of them is road management. It will be connected to the control station 40.

In the case of such an intersection CR, a light emitting device such as a red light emitting device, a yellow light emitting device, or the like is provided at the center of the intersection so as to be surely recognized by any driver on any road. 501 is preferably arranged.

Here, an example of the operation of the present invention in the case of the pedestrian crossing SC shown in FIG. 3 will be described. First, the road management control station 40 first determines from the lane marker 301 in the front row that there is a passing vehicle (vehicle data). ) Is received, if the notification means 50 is a speaker, the pedestrian is notified, for example, "Please note that a car is coming". In the case of an indicator light such as a traffic light, for example, the yellow light blinks slowly.

Next, the road management control station 40 obtains the vehicle speed of the passing vehicle from the vehicle data sent from the lane markers 303, 305, and 307 sent thereafter. "The car is approaching at high speed, please stop crossing." In the case of the indicator light, the yellow blinking speed is increased.

It is assumed that the vehicle V recognizes a pedestrian trying to cross the pedestrian crossing SC and stops just before the pedestrian. Assuming that the stop position is in the vicinity of the lane markers 303, 305, 307 or the lane markers 30a to 30d, vehicle data is continuously transmitted from any one of the lane markers 30 to the road management control station 40.

When vehicle data is continuously received from any one of the lane markers 30 for a predetermined period of time, the road management control station 40 determines that the vehicle V has stopped, and cancels the operation of the notification means 50. If the stop position of the vehicle V is out of the lane marker 30, the vehicle data is interrupted for a predetermined time. Therefore, also in this case, the road management control station 40 determines that the vehicle V has stopped, The operation of the notification means 50 is released.

On the other hand, when the vehicle V does not stop just before the pedestrian crossing SC, the road management control station 40 is notified of the lane markers 30a to 30d following the vehicle data from the lane marker 307 in the last row. Vehicle data is transmitted as a one-shot pulse from either of them.

As a result, the road management control bureau 40
Determines that the vehicle is passing the crosswalk SC, and notifies the speaker, for example, "A car is passing, dangerous, please stop crossing." In the case of the indicator light, it changes from yellow flashing to red display.

In the case of the intersection CR shown in FIG. 4, the light emitting device 501 is similarly controlled by the road management control station 40. That is, when there is a vehicle V approaching the intersection CR, the vehicle V is detected by the lane marker 30, and at the time of the detection, first, the light emitter 501 slowly blinks in yellow, for example.

Thereafter, the road management control station 40 sends the vehicle V
If the traveling speed is high, for example, the yellow blinking speed is increased accordingly. When the approaching vehicle V passes through the last row of lane markers 30 (the lane marker 30 closest to the intersection) without being temporarily stopped, the road management control station 40 displays the light emitter 501 as a constantly illuminated red light, for example.

In this embodiment, in the case of the intersection CR, even if the approaching vehicle V is temporarily stopped, the light emitting device 501
The warning display is continued without canceling the operation of the light emitting device 5 after confirming that the vehicle V has passed the intersection CR.
01 is canceled.

That is, when the vehicle V passes the intersection CR, the vehicle data is chronologically managed from the last row of each lane marker 30 on the road side other than the approach direction, regardless of whether the vehicle is going straight, turning right or turning left. It will be transmitted to the control station 40.

Since the order of arrival of the vehicle data is reverse to that when the vehicle enters the intersection CR, the road management control station 4
A value of 0 determines that the vehicle V has passed the intersection CR, and cancels the operation of the light emitter 501.

Although not shown in FIG. 4, it is preferable to provide lane markers 30a to 30d for eliminating dead zones also at the intersection CR as in the case of the crosswalk shown in FIG.

In the above embodiment, the lane markers 30 are arranged in one line along the vehicle traveling direction for each lane. However, the lane markers 30 may be arranged in a plurality of lines for each lane. Further, unlike the above embodiment, it is not always necessary to use this vehicle arrival notification device together with the vehicle position recognition device. This vehicle arrival notification device is also applicable to intersections and pedestrian crossings where traffic signals are already installed.

[0066]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Passing vehicles are detected by electromagnetic induction coupling between the vehicle side LC resonance antenna and the road side LC resonance circuit, so that passing vehicles can be reliably detected without being affected by the environment such as rainfall or snowfall. Then, it can be notified to a pedestrian or the like.

Further, since power is supplied to the road side LC resonance circuit from the vehicle side LC resonance antenna, the road side L
There is no need to lay a separate power supply line in the C resonance circuit, and it can be used almost maintenance-free. Therefore, a traffic safety system can be constructed at a low cost as a whole.

Further, taking into account the speed of the passing vehicle,
By notifying a pedestrian or the like of the arrival of a vehicle, safety can be further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block circuit diagram showing an embodiment of a vehicle arrival notification device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing a carrier modulation scheme different from the carrier modulation scheme of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram when the present invention is applied to a crosswalk.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram when the present invention is applied to an intersection.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 vehicle-side LC resonance antenna 20 transmitting / receiving means 21 oscillation circuit 23 voltage detection resistor 24 demodulation circuit 25 CPU 26 frequency divider 30 lane marker 31 road-side LC resonance circuit 32 switch 35 CPU 36 data transmission unit 40 road management control station 50 notification means 501 Light emitter

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Takahiro Imai 1-23-23 Asahimachi, Machida-shi, Tokyo F-term in Honda Electronics Co., Ltd. (Reference) 5H180 AA21 BB04 BB06 CC17 GG09 JJ01 JJ07

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A lane marker having an LC resonance circuit including a coil L and a capacitor C is arranged at predetermined intervals along a lane on the road side, and the resonance frequency of the lane marker on the vehicle (vehicle) side is determined by the LC An LC resonance antenna including a coil L and a capacitor C having the same resonance frequency as the resonance circuit; an oscillation circuit for outputting a carrier wave of a predetermined frequency to the LC resonance antenna;
Transmission / reception means having a demodulation circuit for demodulating a reception signal received by the C resonance antenna; and providing electromagnetic coupling between the road side LC resonance circuit and the LC resonance antenna to connect the vehicle to the lane marker. The predetermined data is transmitted and received between the vehicle and the lane marker, the passing information of the vehicle is transmitted to the road management control station, and the notifying means installed in an area requiring monitoring such as an intersection or a crosswalk crosses the road management control. A vehicle arrival notification device which is operated by a station based on the vehicle passage information and notifies the arrival of the vehicle to the required monitoring area. 2. The vehicle-side transmitting / receiving means is provided with carrier wave modulating means for modulating the carrier with data set in the vehicle and transmitting the vehicle data from the LC resonance antenna. 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising control means for receiving the vehicle data received by the LC resonance circuit, wherein the control means transmits the vehicle data to the road management control station. Notification device. 3. The lane marker is arranged at a predetermined position on the near side of the monitoring required area at a predetermined interval along a road width direction so as to prevent a dead zone from being formed between the lane marker and the vehicle. Or the vehicle arrival notification device according to 2. 4. The road management control station is connected to a predetermined number of the lane markers installed in front of the monitoring required area, and the road management control station transmits the vehicle passing from each lane marker. 4. The vehicle arrival notification device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle speed of the vehicle is calculated based on information, and the notification unit is operated in a different manner according to the vehicle speed. 5. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein when the monitored area is an intersection, the notification means is a warning indicator light installed on a road surface in the intersection. Arrival notification device.