JP3715376B2 - IC nail and IC nail vehicle control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain two-way communications of information such as always changing traffic information, and to set this system on a road without damaging the appearance of the road. SOLUTION: An IC nail 1 is controlled by a controlling part 10 which controls the whole part, and this is provided with a receiving part 3, transmitting part 4, and arithmetic part 2 which operates an arithmetic operation as necessary through a communicating means interface 5. Moreover, the controlling part 10 is provided with a storing part 14 constituted of a control procedure storing part 11, fixed information storing part 12, and RAM 13. The communication of information is operated through the receiving part 3, the transmitting part 4, and a communication line C with a center, and the communication of transmission and reception is operated with an on-vehicle equipment mounted on a vehicle traveling on a road at which the IC nail 1 is provided.

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an IC nail and an IC nail vehicle control system which are composed of, for example, an IC nail laid on a road and a vehicle communicating with the IC nail.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a magnetic nail laid along a traveling road of the vehicle and a system in which the vehicle travels along the magnetic nail laid on the traveling road by the magnetic nail are known. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-334789 discloses a road sign technology incorporating a microchip. This is to provide information by wireless communication to pre-stored road information from a microchip embedded in the ground of a road to an in-vehicle device provided in a vehicle traveling on the road.
[0003]
Furthermore, VICS (vehicle information and communication system) has been put into practical use. VICS is a system that conveys traffic information in real time through a receiver such as a car navigation system. It provides the vehicle with the current position and traffic jam information from a beacon that stands on the roadside along the road, either wirelessly or optically. .
[0004]
However, the magnetic nail has a small amount of information and cannot provide position information fine enough to enable automatic steering of the steering wheel of the vehicle, for example.
In addition, the road sign with a built-in microchip has a drawback that it is difficult to obtain road information that changes every moment because the road information is stored in advance.
[0005]
In VICS, beacons set up on the road side must be arranged discretely from the viewpoint of aesthetics. On the other hand, for example, as described in the magnetic nail, when trying to provide position information that is so fine that automatic steering of the steering wheel of a vehicle is possible, the beacon stands and becomes like a birdcage. Is not acceptable. Further, since VICS is under the management of the center, there is a drawback that all information must be supplied from the center even though there is fixed information in the information to be provided.
[0006]
In addition, there is a drawback that information from magnetic nails, road signs with built-in microchips, VICS, etc. is only unilaterally given to the vehicle, and two-way information communication is not possible, and which vehicle is an information receiving vehicle. There is a definite disadvantage that it is completely unknown, and there is a problem that it is impossible to enable automatic steering of the steering wheel of the vehicle.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, the magnetic nail has a small amount of information, and the road sign with a built-in microchip has only road information stored in advance, so it is difficult to obtain ever-changing road information. Beacons must be arranged discretely from the viewpoint of aesthetics, and from these, there is a problem that information is only given to the vehicle unidirectionally and information communication in both directions is not possible. It was completely unknown whether the vehicle was an information receiving vehicle, and there was a problem that automatic steering of the vehicle handle could not be made possible.
[0008]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an IC nail that can be installed on a road without losing the aesthetic appearance of the road, enabling bidirectional communication of information such as road information that changes every moment.
[0009]
In addition, the present invention enables interactive communication of road information and the like that changes every moment, and communicates with this IC nail using an IC nail that can be installed on the road without impairing the aesthetics of the road, thereby automatically steering the steering wheel of the vehicle. An object of the present invention is to provide an IC nail vehicle control system that enables the above.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The IC nail of the present invention is a first nail for receiving information transmitted from the in-vehicle device in the IC nail laid on the road and communicating with the in-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle. Storage means for storing information received by the means, first transmission means for transmitting information stored in the storage means to an adjacent IC nail, and second information for receiving information transmitted from the adjacent IC nail The calculating means for calculating distance information obtained by sequentially adding the distances between the receiving means and the adjacent IC nails to be added to the information received by the second receiving means, and the distance information calculated by the calculating means The control means for controlling the added information to be stored in the storage means, and the information to which the distance information stored in the storage means is added by this control means is transmitted to the adjacent IC nail and mounted on the vehicle. That it is composed of a second transmission means for transmitting to the vehicle-mounted device.
[0015]
An information transmission / reception method between a plurality of IC nails according to the present invention is an information transmission / reception method between a plurality of IC nails laid on a road at a predetermined interval, and received by one of the plurality of IC nails. This information is transmitted / received between adjacent IC nails on the upstream side of the road as necessary, with the addition of distance information obtained by sequentially adding the distances between the IC nails.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an IC nail according to the present invention. That is, the IC nail 1 includes a control unit 10 that controls the whole, a calculation unit 2 that performs various calculations, a reception unit 3 that receives a signal from a vehicle-mounted device mounted on a vehicle, which will be described later, and a transmission unit that transmits the signal. And a communication means interphase 5 connected to the reception unit 3 and the transmission unit 4. The control unit 10 includes a storage unit 14 including a control procedure storage unit 11 that stores control procedures, a fixed information storage unit 12 that stores fixed information, and a RAM 13 that stores various types of information. The receiving unit 3 and the transmitting unit 4 are connected online via a communication line c with a center, which will be described later, and communicate information.
[0018]
FIG. 2 shows a state in which the IC nail 1 is laid on the road, and is laid at a predetermined interval or an interval enabling automatic steering of the vehicle at a substantially central portion of the white line and the white line. A vehicle travels over the head of the IC nail 1.
[0019]
Therefore, the vehicle passing side of the IC nail 1 laid on the road needs to be protected by a member that can withstand the pressure caused by the passing of the vehicle.
Let's calculate the pressure applied when a small passenger car passes over the IC nail 1. According to “Knowledge and characteristics of automobile tires” (by Takashi Maniwa), the pressure on the road surface of the tire of a small passenger car is related to the contact surface between the tire and the road. The shape of the ground contact surface is determined by the roundness of the tire tread, the load, and the air pressure, and has a shape close to a rounded square under normal use conditions. When the load is increased or the air pressure is lowered, the ground contact surface extends in the circumferential direction and becomes rectangular. The contact area of a general small passenger car tire is around 150 cm ² .
[0020]
If the weight of a small passenger car is 1t = 1000kg,
1000 kg / 4 wheels / 150 cm ² = 1.7 kg / cm ²
It becomes.
[0021]
Furthermore, since the conditions such as the number of passengers and traveling speed of small passenger cars are also added, the safety factor is set to 2.0 to 2.5, and the surface of the IC nail 1 is protected by a member that can withstand a pressure of about 4 kg / cm ^2. Need to be.
[0022]
Here, as a matter of course, since communication is performed between the IC nail 1 and the vehicle, it is also required to be a member that does not hinder the communication as much as possible.
As another alternative method, there is a method in which the weight of the vehicle is not directly applied to the IC nail 1.
[0023]
FIG. 3 shows a state in which the vehicle-side upper surface of the IC nail 1 laid on the road is surrounded by a protective member H. The IC nail 1 is protected by a member having a wide gap so as not to interfere with communication. The weight of the vehicle is not directly applied to the IC nail 1.
[0024]
In FIG. 4, the vehicle passing side of the IC nail 1 laid on the road is slightly depressed from the surrounding members including the road, and the weight of the vehicle passing right above is not directly applied to the IC nail. In this case, it is necessary to consider such as providing a drainage ditch so as not to be submerged by rain.
[0025]
FIG. 5 shows an IC nail vehicle control system using the above-described IC nail 1, in which all the IC nails 1,... Laid on the road are connected online with the center 20 via the communication line c. The in-vehicle device 30 loaded on the vehicle 40 traveling above and the IC nails 1,... Communicate information wirelessly.
[0026]
The in-vehicle device 30 includes at least receiving means for receiving information transmitted wirelessly from the IC nail 1, transmitting means for transmitting information wirelessly to the IC nail 1, and control means for performing automatic steering of the steering wheel from the received information. And are provided.
[0027]
The center 20 receives at least new registration or change of information stored in the IC nail 1, or input transmission means for inputting and transmitting road congestion information that changes every moment, and information transmitted from the IC nail. Receiving storage means for storing the information, and arithmetic processing means for calculating the stored information. Each IC nail 1 and the center 20 may perform information communication using radio.
[0028]
Next, the information communication operation among the IC nail 1, the center 20, and the in-vehicle device 30 in such a configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, the flow of information from the center 20 to the IC nail 1 to the in-vehicle device 30 will be described.
[0029]
From the center 20, new registration or change of input position information, linear information, town information, etc., or real-time information such as road traffic congestion information, accident information, etc. is sent to the receiving unit 3 of the IC nail 1 via the communication line c. Sent.
[0030]
The control unit 10 of the IC nail 1 stores the information received by the receiving unit 3 in the RAM 13 via the communication means interface 5 and the calculation unit 2 in accordance with the control procedure stored in the control procedure storage unit 11, and the fixed information New registration or change is stored in the fixed information storage unit 12.
[0031]
The control unit 10 of the IC nail 1 is provided on a vehicle that travels on the road from the transmission unit 4 through the calculation unit 2 and the communication means interface 5 with the necessary information stored in the fixed information storage unit 12 and the RAM 13. To the machine 30.
[0032]
When the in-vehicle device 30 receives the transmission information from the IC nail 1, the in-vehicle device 30 calculates the information and automatically controls the steering of the steering wheel, the vehicle speed, and the like.
The flow of information from the vehicle-mounted device 30 to the IC nail 1 to the center 20 will be described.
[0033]
The in-vehicle device 30 wirelessly transmits information such as vehicle type information from a memory (not shown).
The control unit 10 of the IC nail 1 stores information such as vehicle type information in the RAM 13 via the receiving unit 3, the communication means interface 5, and the calculation unit 2, and calculates information such as the vehicle type information stored in the RAM 13 when transmitting the information. The data is transmitted to the center 20 via the unit 2, the communication means interface 5, the transmission unit 4, and the communication line c.
[0034]
The center 20 receives and temporarily stores information transmitted from the IC nail 1 and performs various arithmetic processes.
Hereinafter, a vehicle 40 equipped with an in-vehicle device 30 capable of exchanging information with an IC nail laid on a road will be described as an AHS vehicle 40.
[0035]
Next, information transmitted from the in-vehicle device 30 when the AHS vehicle 40 has a self-diagnosis function will be described.
Self-diagnostic function of the AHS vehicle 40 that is running (monitors whether the vehicle is operating normally by various sensors mounted on the vehicle, and notifies the driver when a malfunction occurs or is detected, or an appropriate process according to a preset procedure. When the inability to continue running including a failure or accident is detected by the function), a Mayday signal is transmitted toward the IC nail 1 on the road.
[0036]
At this time, the information (Mayday signal) transmitted from the in-vehicle device 30 toward the IC nail 1 is configured as shown in FIG. This transmission information is composed of normal or Mayday or other types of abnormalities (normal, breakdown, accident, etc.), necessity of emergency, necessity of medical examination, and the like.
[0037]
For example, in the case of a failure or accident that hinders the operation of the following vehicle, a “Mayday” sign plus “failure / accident” information is transmitted from the AHS vehicle 40 to the IC nail 1.
[0038]
The IC nail 1 that has received this information (Mayday signal) adds the position information of the IC nail 1 and transmits the information to the upstream IC nail 1 in the information configuration shown in FIG. 8, for example. This transmission information includes, for example, Mayday, abnormal state, necessity of emergency, necessity of medical care, road type, road number, number of the IC nail 1 where the Mayday signal is first received from the broken / accident car, etc. It consists of
[0039]
This information is relayed to each upstream IC nail 1 as shown in FIG. In addition, what is necessary is just to set the reference | standard beforehand to how far information is transmitted. Needless to say, when the trouble vehicle and the accident vehicle are removed and the traffic is not hindered, the fact that the vehicle has returned to normal is sequentially transmitted on each IC nail 1 and restored.
[0040]
Assume that a Mayday signal is transmitted from the AHS car 40 on the IC nail number 1a in FIG. The information (Mayday signal) is sequentially transmitted on the IC nail 1 in the above procedure, and the AHS car 40 passing on the IC nail number 1n knows that some trouble has occurred on the road ahead. it can. In addition, for example, it can be seen how far the trouble has occurred from the difference between the IC nails number 1a and 1n, so that the avoidance action can be taken with a margin. This calculation may be performed by the calculation unit 2 of the IC nail 1 or by the in-vehicle device 30.
[0041]
Further, if the information of the IC nail 1 is transmitted to the center 20, information such as a failure or an accident is quickly transmitted to the traffic manager, and failure processing, accident processing, and post processing are performed.
[0042]
In the above description, the installation intervals of the IC nails 1 are assumed to be equal intervals. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, each IC nail 1 has distance information with respect to the previous IC nail 1, and the next stage is added while adding the information. It is also possible to transmit to the IC nail 1, and in that case, the calculation in the in-vehicle device 30 is not necessary. In addition, this method has an advantage that flexibility is provided in the interval between the IC nails 1.
[0043]
FIG. 10 shows another embodiment of the IC nail vehicle control system as shown in FIG. 5 described above. Information on the IC nail 1 is wired or wirelessly connected to the monitoring device 60 arranged on the roadside at an appropriate interval. Is transmitted to the road manager of the center 20 or the traffic manager at a remote location from the monitoring device 60 by wire, wireless, etc., and the failure processing, accident processing, post processing Is done. The monitoring device 60 and the center 20 perform information communication wirelessly, but may perform information communication by wire using a communication line.
[0044]
Further, as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, whether or not emergency or rescue (rescue) is necessary is transmitted at the same time, so that early morning emergency and rescue activities are possible. With this configuration, it is possible to give an information instruction to the specific IC nail 1 from the center 20 via the monitoring device 60.
[0045]
It should be noted that the signal output level from the IC nail 1 to the monitoring device 60 may be weaker than the signal output level from the monitoring device 60 to the center 20 (possible with low power). With this configuration, for example, when wireless is used, the frequency from the IC nail 1 to the monitoring device 60 can be repeatedly used by taking care not to interfere with others. Can be used efficiently.
[0046]
Next, the passage permission of the designated vehicle will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. There are roads where road vehicles are restricted (hereinafter referred to as restricted roads). For example, a bus lane.
[0047]
When the AHS car 40 reaches the IC nail 1 on the regulated road where the IC nail 1 is laid, vehicle type information is brought from the AHS car 40 to the IC nail 1. The first call may be from the AHS car 40 or from the IC nail 1. If the vehicle type information matches the permission conditions of the regulated road, the passage is permitted, and if not, the AHS vehicle 40 is warned.
[0048]
The restriction information including the permission conditions is stored in the IC nail 1 and may be changed according to an instruction from the center 20.
As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, since the IC nail is laid on the road, it does not stand along the road even if the density of the installation intervals increases, thereby eliminating the aesthetic problem. Can do. By laying an IC nail on the road, it can be used for lane keeping driving of automobiles.
[0049]
An IC nail is provided with fixed information and also has an arithmetic function, so that an unprecedented function can be realized. For example, the current position is known in a traveling vehicle (AHS vehicle). In addition, when an accident or the like occurs in the front, it is possible to know how far the accident has occurred and take evasive action with a margin.
[0050]
By using the communication function of the IC nail, an unprecedented service can be realized. For example, it is possible to transmit the generation of a Mayday signal and to provide information and instructions from the center.
[0051]
【The invention's effect】
As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an IC nail that can be installed on a road without causing any loss of the aesthetics of the road, enabling interactive communication of information such as road information that changes every moment.
[0052]
In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to interactively communicate information such as road information that changes every moment, and it is possible to communicate with this IC nail using an IC nail that can be installed on the road without impairing the beauty of the road. An IC nail vehicle control system that enables automatic steering can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an IC nail according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state where an IC nail is laid on a road.
FIG. 3 is a view showing a state in which a vehicle-side upper surface of an IC nail laid on a road is surrounded by a protective member.
FIG. 4 is a view showing a state in which a vehicle passing side of an IC nail is laid slightly depressed from surrounding members including a road.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an IC nail vehicle control system using an IC nail.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an information communication operation among an IC nail, a center, and an in-vehicle device.
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a Mayday signal.
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a Mayday signal to which position information is added.
FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining relay transmission of an IC nail.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration in which a monitoring device is provided between an IC nail and a center.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining a passage permission operation of a designated vehicle.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... IC nail 2 ... Operation part 3 ... Reception part 4 ... Transmission part 5 ... Communication means interface 10 ... Control part 11 ... Control procedure storage part 12 ... Fixed information storage part 13 ... RAM
14 ... Storage unit 20 ... Center 30 ... In-vehicle device 60 ... Monitoring device

Claims (2)

In IC nails that are laid on the road and communicate with in-vehicle devices mounted on vehicles ,
First receiving means for receiving the information transmitted from the vehicle device,
Storage means for storing information received by the first receiving means;
First transmission means for transmitting information stored in the storage means to an adjacent IC nail ;
Second receiving means for receiving information transmitted from adjacent IC nails ;
Calculating means for calculating distance information obtained by sequentially adding distances to adjacent IC nails to be added to the information received by the second receiving means ;
Control means for controlling to store the information to which the distance information calculated by the calculation means is added in the storage means;
A second transmission means for transmitting the information to which the distance information stored in the storage means is added by the control means to an adjacent IC nail and transmitting the information to an in-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle;
An IC nail characterized by comprising: An information transmission / reception method between a plurality of IC nails laid on a road at predetermined intervals,
The information received by one of the plurality of IC nails is added with distance information obtained by sequentially adding the distances between the IC nails between adjacent IC nails upstream of the road as necessary. A method for transmitting and receiving information between a plurality of IC nails, characterized by:

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