JP7465711B2 - Terminal equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a terminal device that provides information to users, such as visually impaired people.

Systems that extend the green light period have been proposed to enable visually impaired people to cross the crosswalk safely (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

In recent years, a pedestrian support information and communication system such as that described in Patent Document 3 is also being put to practical use. In this system, a pedestrian operates a button on a portable terminal device, and when the portable terminal device requests traffic light color information and intersection information such as the name of the intersection in accordance with the operation, the intersection information is transmitted by wireless communication from a transmitter installed near the traffic light, and the portable terminal device that receives this intersection information converts the intersection information into audio and outputs it.

JP 2008-129613 A JP 2009-294877 A JP 2002-150475 A

Patent document 3 also describes a push button for instructing an extension of the period during which the traffic light is green. It also describes that an extension of the green time can be instructed by transmitting a push button request signal from the above-mentioned portable terminal device.

When the above-mentioned push button is operated while waiting for acceptance (for example, "Please press" is displayed), it displays that the request has been accepted (for example, "Please wait") and changes the pedestrian traffic light to a green light, etc. If the push button is operated while the "accepted" message is displayed, it is ignored. This is to prevent the green light period from being extended indefinitely. Currently, push button request signals from portable terminal devices operate in the same way as this push button. In other words, when the pedestrian traffic light receives a signal indicating that the request has been accepted, it does not send a push button request signal until it receives a signal indicating that it is waiting for acceptance.

When operating a portable terminal device as described above, if a push button request signal transmitted from a portable terminal device that entered the service area earlier has been accepted, the portable terminal device that entered the service area later will not transmit a push button request signal. Therefore, the portable terminal device that entered the service area later must confirm that it is waiting to be accepted before transmitting a push button request signal again. In other words, the portable terminal device that entered the service area later will need to operate at least twice.

Such actions are inconvenient for people with mobility restrictions. For example, a visually impaired person carrying a white cane has one hand occupied, so repeatedly operating a terminal or the like is not desirable. The same is true for elderly people carrying a cane and wheelchair users.

Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a terminal device that is easy to use for people with traffic restrictions.

The invention described in claim 1, which has been made to solve the above problem, is a terminal device carried by a pedestrian, comprising: a crossing request receiving unit that receives a crossing request to a pedestrian traffic light; an intersection information acquisition unit that acquires intersection information at which the pedestrian traffic light is installed; a judgment unit that determines whether the pedestrian has completed crossing the crosswalk based on the intersection information; and a transmission unit that, when the crossing request receiving unit receives the crossing request, transmits the crossing request to the pedestrian traffic light until the judgment unit determines that crossing the crosswalk has been completed.

The invention described in claim 2 is the invention described in claim 1, characterized in that the intersection information includes information indicating a range in which the crossing request can be accepted, and the determination unit determines that crossing of the crosswalk has been completed by determining that the range in which the crossing request can be accepted has been exceeded.

The invention described in claim 3 is the invention described in claim 1, characterized in that the intersection information includes information indicating the positions of both ends of the crosswalk, and the determination unit determines that the pedestrian has completed crossing the crosswalk by detecting that the pedestrian has moved from one end of the crosswalk to the other end based on the positions of both ends.

The invention described in claim 4 is the invention described in claim 3, further comprising a current position acquisition unit that acquires a current position, and the determination unit detects that the pedestrian has moved from one end of the crosswalk to the other end based on the trajectory of the current position acquired by the current position acquisition unit.

The invention described in claim 5 is the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the intersection information includes information indicating that a crossing request has been accepted or information indicating that a crossing request is waiting to be accepted, and the transmission unit transmits the crossing request when it receives the information indicating that a crossing request is waiting to be accepted, and does not transmit the crossing request when it receives the information indicating that a crossing request has been accepted.

According to the invention described in claim 6, in the invention described in claim 5, when the crossing request reception unit receives information indicating that the crossing request has been received, the transmission unit waits to transmit the crossing request when the crossing request reception unit receives a crossing request, and then transmits the crossing request when the transmission unit receives information indicating that the crossing request is waiting to be received.

According to the present invention, when the crossing request receiving unit receives a crossing request, the crossing request is transmitted until the determination unit determines that the person has completed crossing the crosswalk. Therefore, once a crossing request is received, the crossing request can be transmitted automatically thereafter until the person has completed crossing. This improves usability for persons subject to traffic restrictions.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system including a terminal device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of the system shown in FIG. 1 . 2 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the mobile terminal shown in FIG. 1 . 2 is a functional configuration diagram when the mobile terminal shown in FIG. 1 functions as a terminal device according to the present embodiment. FIG. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the handling/confirmation indicator light signal and the transmission of a crossing request. 5 is a flowchart of the operation of the terminal device shown in FIG. 4 . 13 is a specific example of the operation of the mobile terminal. 4 is a flowchart of an operation of the terminal device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 9 is a specific example of the operation of the mobile terminal shown in FIG. 8 .

First Embodiment
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figures 1 to 7. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a system having a terminal device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The system shown in Figure 1 includes a mobile terminal 1 carried by a pedestrian Pe, a BLE roadside unit 2, and a signal controller 3.

In this embodiment, the pedestrian Pe carrying the mobile terminal 1 is described as a visually impaired person carrying a white cane C, but it may be any person with traffic restrictions, such as an elderly person, who has restrictions on movement such as a slower walking speed than able-bodied people. In addition, in this embodiment, "pedestrian" refers to a person who moves on the road in a manner other than by vehicle, and includes a person using a wheelchair for the physically disabled, a walking aid, or a car for children.

The BLE roadside unit 2 and the signal controller 3 are each installed, for example, on a support pole P on which a pedestrian signal S is mounted.

Figure 2 shows a functional configuration diagram of the system shown in Figure 1. The traffic light controller 3 controls the light color of traffic lights, including the pedestrian traffic light S, installed at the intersection. The traffic light controller 3 also controls changes in light color and extension of the green light period, etc., based on request signals from push buttons that request changing the pedestrian traffic light S to a green light or requesting an extension of the green light period of the pedestrian traffic light S.

The BLE roadside unit 2 is a device that communicates with the outside world via BLE (Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy). As shown in FIG. 2, the BLE roadside unit 2 includes a BLE transceiver unit 21 and a control unit 22.

The BLE transceiver 21 communicates with the outside world via BLE. In this embodiment, it communicates with the mobile terminal 1. Details of communication via BLE are already publicly known, so a detailed explanation is omitted.

The control unit 22 receives a light color signal and a handling/confirmation indicator light signal from the signal controller 3. The light color signal is a signal that indicates the light color (green or red) of the pedestrian traffic light S (it may also include information on the time until the light color changes). In other words, the light color signal is information that indicates the lighting state of the pedestrian traffic light. The handling/confirmation indicator light signal is a signal that is output to the above-mentioned push button to display an indication that a crossing request has been accepted or that a crossing request is waiting to be accepted, and in this embodiment, it is output not only to the push button but also to the BLE roadside unit 2. The handling/confirmation indicator light signal consists of two signals, a handling indicator light signal and a confirmation indicator light signal. The handling indicator light signal and the confirmation indicator light signal will be described later. In other words, the handling/confirmation indicator light signal is a signal that includes information indicating that a crossing request has been accepted or information indicating that a crossing request is waiting to be accepted.

The mobile terminal 1 can be, for example, a mobile device with a calling function, such as a smartphone. Note that even if it does not have a calling function, it can be a device that is capable of communicating with the BLE roadside unit 2 and is capable of performing the operations described below. In addition, the mobile terminal 1 does not need to be held by the pedestrian Pe, but can be a device that can move with the pedestrian Pe, such as being worn by the pedestrian Pe.

An example of the hardware configuration of the mobile terminal 1 is shown in FIG. 3. The mobile terminal 1 includes a microphone 11, a speaker 12, a control unit 13, a location information acquisition unit 14, a first communication unit 15, a second communication unit 16, an input unit 17, a display unit 18, a memory unit 19, a power supply control unit 1A, and a battery 1B.

The microphone 11 converts the voice spoken by the pedestrian Pe during a call or the like into an electrical signal. The speaker 12 outputs the speech of the other party as audio during a call. The speaker 12 also outputs sounds generated by various applications running on the mobile terminal 1. Note that in addition to the speaker 12, a device capable of outputting sounds from earphones or the like may be connected, and audio may be output from the connected device (earphones).

The control unit 13 is composed of, for example, a microprocessor having a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and memory. The control unit 13 functions as a crossing request reception unit 51, an intersection information acquisition unit 52, a determination unit 53, a transmission unit 54, and a current position acquisition unit 55 as shown in FIG. 4, and transmits a crossing request based on information transmitted from the BLE roadside unit 2. FIG. 4 will be described later.

The location information acquisition unit 14 includes a well-known GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver or the like, and detects and acquires the current location of the mobile terminal 1. The location information acquisition unit 14 may also acquire information on the current location detected by another device carried by the pedestrian Pe.

The first communication unit 15 includes a circuit, an antenna, etc. for communicating with the outside world during a call, etc. The first communication unit communicates with networks such as a mobile phone communication network and Wi-Fi (registered trademark). The second communication unit 16 includes a circuit, an antenna, etc. for communicating by BLE. The second communication unit communicates with the BLE roadside unit 2 as described above.

The input unit 17 is composed of, for example, a known touch panel. Operations for apps and the like are input to the input unit 17. The input unit 17 may also recognize voice input from the microphone 11 and convert it into an operation signal or the like. The display unit 18 is composed of, for example, a known liquid crystal display. The display unit 18 displays a screen for an app or the like. The storage unit 19 is composed of, for example, a non-volatile semiconductor memory. The storage unit 19 stores various data such as the OS (Operating System) of the mobile terminal 1 and apps.

The power supply control unit 1A supplies power from the battery 1B to the mobile terminal 1. The battery 1B is composed of a secondary battery such as a lithium ion battery. The battery 1B can be charged by an external power supply via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) terminal (not shown) or the like.

Figure 4 shows a functional configuration diagram of the above-mentioned mobile terminal 1 when it functions as a terminal device according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 4, the terminal device according to this embodiment includes a crossing request receiving unit 51, an intersection information acquiring unit 52, a determining unit 53, a transmitting unit 54, and a current position acquiring unit 55. These blocks can be configured as an app (computer program) that includes the functions of each block.

The crossing request receiving unit 51 receives, for example, an input operation of a crossing request indicating a change to a green light or an extension request input from the input unit 17. That is, the crossing request receiving unit 51 receives a crossing request for the pedestrian traffic light S.

The intersection information acquisition unit 52 acquires intersection information transmitted from the BLE roadside unit 2 via the second communication unit 16. In addition to the above-mentioned light color signal and handling/confirmation indicator light signal, the intersection information includes information such as the intersection name (intersection ID) and intersection position (latitude and longitude) where the pedestrian traffic light S is installed, and the service area (range of service). This service area information is information that indicates the range in which a crossing request can be accepted. The intersection position indicates the central position of service provision at the intersection where the BLE roadside unit 2 is installed.

The determination unit 53 determines whether the pedestrian Pe has completed crossing the crosswalk based on the intersection information acquired by the intersection information acquisition unit 52. Specifically, it determines that crossing the crosswalk has been completed by determining whether the pedestrian has left the service area of the BLE roadside unit 2. The service area of the BLE roadside unit 2 is predetermined (for example, 70 m from the intersection position). Therefore, it is possible to determine whether the service area has been exceeded based on the intersection position and the range of the service area included in the intersection information described above and the current location information acquired by the current location acquisition unit 55. In other words, the determination unit 53 determines that crossing the crosswalk has been completed by determining that the range in which a crossing request can be accepted has been exceeded.

When the crossing request receiving unit 51 receives a crossing request, the transmitting unit 54 transmits the crossing request until the determining unit 53 determines that crossing of the crosswalk is complete. In this embodiment, if the handling/confirmation indicator light signal indicates that a crossing request has been received, the transmitting unit 54 does not transmit a crossing request. If the handling/confirmation indicator light signal indicates that a crossing request is waiting to be received, the transmitting unit 54 transmits a crossing request. Note that, as described below, if a crossing request is received when the handling/confirmation indicator light signal indicates that a crossing request has been received, the transmitting unit 54 waits until the transmitting unit 54 receives a crossing request.

Figure 5 illustrates the relationship between the handling/confirmation indicator light signal and the transmission of a crossing request. In Figure 5, when the handling indicator light signal is high and the confirmation indicator light signal is low, it indicates that acceptance is awaited, and when the handling indicator light signal is low and the confirmation indicator light signal is high, it indicates that acceptance has been completed. Note that the discrimination based on low level/high level may be reversed. Also, since the handling indicator light signal and the handling indicator light signal are in an exclusive relationship as shown in Figure 5, they may be treated as one signal. For example, when the handling/confirmation indicator light signal (one signal) is low, it may indicate that acceptance is awaited, and when it is high, it may indicate that acceptance has been completed.

When a crossing request is sent from the mobile terminal 1 while waiting for acceptance at time t1 in FIG. 5, the BLE roadside unit 2 sends the crossing request to the signal controller 3. The signal controller 3 then changes the pedestrian signal S to a green light based on the received crossing request (the green light period may be extended). The signal controller 3 then sets the confirmation indicator signal to High (the handling indicator signal is Low), indicating that the request has been accepted, and outputs it to the BLE roadside unit 2. The BLE roadside unit 2 sends the input handling/confirmation indicator signal (handling indicator signal and confirmation indicator signal) to the mobile terminal 1 within its service area.

At time t2, which follows time t1, a crossing request is attempted to be sent from a mobile terminal 1 other than the one that made the crossing request at time t1, but since the handling/confirmation indicator light signal indicates that the request has been received, the request waits without being sent.

When the green light period based on the crossing request at time t1 ends, the signal controller 3 outputs the handling indicator light signal High and the confirmation indicator light signal Low to the BLE roadside unit 2. The BLE roadside unit 2 transmits the received handling/confirmation indicator light signal to the mobile terminal 1 within its service area.

When the handling indicator light signal goes high and the confirmation indicator light signal goes low, the other mobile terminal 1 transmits the crossing request that was in a waiting state at time t2 (time t3). In this way, the crossing request is only transmitted when the handling/confirmation indicator light signal is in a waiting state, and is not transmitted when the request has already been accepted.

The current location acquisition unit 55 acquires the current location of the mobile terminal 1 detected by the location information acquisition unit 14.

Next, the operation of the mobile terminal 1 (terminal device) configured as described above will be explained with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 6.

First, as a premise of the flowchart in FIG. 6, a pedestrian Pe carrying a mobile terminal 1 enters a service area of a BLE roadside device 2 and acquires intersection information. Upon entering the service area, the mobile terminal 1 notifies the pedestrian Pe that it has entered the service area by sound, vibration, etc.

In the flowchart of FIG. 6, the user of the mobile terminal 1 (pedestrian Pe) performs a crossing request operation (step S11). The crossing request operation may be performed by touching a touch panel or by voice input. Alternatively, the crossing request may be performed by an action such as shaking the mobile terminal 1. When this crossing request operation is performed, the crossing request receiving unit 51 receives the crossing request.

Next, the determination unit 53 determines whether a crossing request waiting to be accepted has been received from the BLE roadside unit 2 (step S12). In this step, as explained in FIG. 5, it is determined whether the handling/confirmation indicator light signal is in the waiting to be accepted state. If it is in the waiting to be accepted state (step S12; YES), the transmission unit 54 transmits a crossing request to the BLE roadside unit 2 (step S13). In other words, as explained in FIG. 5, if the handling/confirmation indicator light signal is in the accepted state, it cannot be transmitted, so the transmission unit 54 confirms that it is in the waiting to be accepted state before transmitting. On the other hand, if it is not in the waiting to be accepted state (step S12; NO), the process proceeds to step S14 without transmitting the crossing request.

Next, the determination unit 53 determines whether the vehicle is outside the service area of the BLE roadside device 2 (step S14). In this step, it determines whether the vehicle is outside the service area (has passed the service area) based on the intersection position and the range of the service area included in the intersection information and the current location information acquired by the current location acquisition unit 55. If the vehicle is outside the service area, the flowchart ends (step S14; YES). No further crossing requests are sent.

On the other hand, if the vehicle is not outside the service area (step S14; NO), the determination unit 53 determines whether a crossing request waiting to be accepted has been received from the BLE roadside unit 2 (step S15). In step S15, similar to step S12, it is determined whether the handling/confirmation indicator light signal is in the waiting to be accepted state. If the vehicle is not in the waiting to be accepted state (step S15; NO), the process returns to step S14 and the determination is made again whether the vehicle is outside the service area.

On the other hand, if the request is waiting to be accepted (step S15; YES), the transmitter 54 automatically transmits a crossing request to the BLE roadside unit 2 and returns to step S14 (step S16). In step S16, the handling/confirmation indicator light signal is in the waiting to be accepted state, so a crossing request is transmitted. The crossing request in step S16 is also transmitted automatically, regardless of the operation of the pedestrian Pe. The transmission in step S16 is not limited to cases where the result of the judgment in step S12 is NO, but is also transmitted even if a crossing request was transmitted in step S13. In other words, once step S11 is executed, a crossing request is transmitted until it is determined in step S14 that the vehicle is outside the service area.

However, once a crossing request is sent and accepted by the signal controller 3, the handling/confirmation indicator light signal will be in an accepted state, and no further crossing requests will be sent until the end of the next green light period. Therefore, crossing requests are sent intermittently, and are not sent continuously in a short period of time.

Figure 7 is a diagram showing a specific example of the operation of the mobile terminal 1 described above. Figure 7 is a diagram showing a pedestrian Pe carrying the mobile terminal 1 entering the service area ar of the BLE roadside unit 2, crossing the crosswalk cw, and leaving (going beyond) the service area ar.

In FIG. 7, first, a pedestrian Pe who has entered a service area ar performs a crossing request operation. As described above, the mobile terminal 1 determines that the pedestrian has entered the service area ar based on intersection information and its own current position information, and notifies the pedestrian Pe by sound, vibration, etc.

The mobile terminal 1 on which the crossing request operation has been performed operates as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, and transmits a crossing request when the handling/confirmation indicator light signal is in a waiting state for acceptance. The pedestrian Pe crosses the crosswalk cw when the green light is turned on after the crossing request has been transmitted. Then, when the pedestrian Pe leaves the service area ar, the mobile terminal 1 determines that the pedestrian has already crossed the crosswalk and stops transmitting the crossing request.

According to this embodiment, in the mobile device 1, the crossing request receiving unit 51 receives a crossing request for the pedestrian traffic light S, and the intersection information acquisition unit 52 acquires intersection information where the pedestrian traffic light S is installed. Next, the determination unit 53 determines whether the pedestrian Pe has completed crossing the crosswalk based on the intersection information. Then, when the crossing request receiving unit 51 receives a crossing request, the transmission unit 54 transmits a crossing request until the determination unit 53 determines that the pedestrian has completed crossing the crosswalk. In this manner, once a crossing request is received, it is possible to automatically transmit crossing requests thereafter until crossing is completed. Therefore, the traffic restricted person does not have to operate the mobile device 1 multiple times, improving usability.

The intersection information also includes information indicating the range of the service area of the BLE roadside device 2, and the determination unit 53 determines that crossing the crosswalk is complete by determining that the service area has been exceeded. In this manner, it is possible to determine whether crossing the crosswalk is complete based on the information transmitted from the BLE roadside device 2. Therefore, it becomes possible to easily determine whether crossing the crosswalk is complete only on the app side of the mobile terminal 1, without requiring any specification changes to the BLE roadside device 2 or the like.

The intersection information also includes a handling/confirmation indicator light signal, and the transmitter 54 transmits a crossing request when the handling/confirmation indicator light signal is in a waiting-for-acceptance state, and does not transmit a crossing request when the handling/confirmation indicator light signal has already been accepted. In this way, the operation of the mobile terminal 1 can be synchronized with the push button, and the function can be realized solely on the mobile terminal 1 side.

In addition, when the handling/confirmation indicator light signal is in an accepted state and the crossing request acceptance unit 51 accepts a crossing request, the transmitting unit 54 waits to transmit the crossing request, and then transmits the crossing request when the handling/confirmation indicator light signal is in a waiting-to-accept state. In this way, once a crossing request operation is accepted, the crossing request can be automatically transmitted at a timing when it is possible to transmit it. This can therefore improve convenience for the pedestrian Pe.

Second Embodiment
Next, a terminal device according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 8 and 9. Note that the same parts as those in the first embodiment described above are given the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the hardware configuration and functional configuration of the mobile terminal are the same as those in the first embodiment, but the method of determining whether crossing the crosswalk is complete is different. In this embodiment, crossing the crosswalk is determined to be complete by detecting that the user has crossed (moved) from one end of the crosswalk to the other end. The operation of the mobile terminal 1 (terminal device) in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 8.

In addition, in this embodiment, the intersection information includes not only the intersection location and service areas, but also the position information of both ends of all crosswalks installed at the intersection. For example, in the case of an intersection where a road extending in the north-south direction intersects with a road extending in the east-west direction, if there are two crosswalks crossing the road extending in the north-south direction and two crosswalks crossing the road extending in the east-west direction, the position information of both ends of a total of four crosswalks is included. Such information can be set in advance in the BLE roadside unit 2.

First, the user of the mobile terminal 1 (pedestrian Pe) performs a crossing request operation (step S21). Next, it is determined whether a crossing request waiting to be accepted has been received from the BLE roadside unit 2 (step S22). If it is in the waiting state (step S22; YES), the crossing request is transmitted to the BLE roadside unit 2 (step S23). On the other hand, if it is not in the waiting state (step S22; NO), the process proceeds to step S24 without transmitting the crossing request. Steps S21 to S23 are the same as steps S11 to S13 in the flowchart of FIG. 6.

Next, the determination unit 53 performs a trajectory determination based on the position information of the mobile terminal 1 (step S24). In step S24, the determination unit 53 determines the direction in which the pedestrian Pe is moving based on the temporal change (trajectory) of the current position information acquired by the current position acquisition unit 55. In other words, if there are multiple pedestrian crossings at an intersection, it determines which pedestrian Pe is about to cross.

Next, the determination unit 53 determines whether the crosswalk crossing determination point has been determined (step S25). The crosswalk crossing determination point refers to the end point (the other end) of the crosswalk identified as the crossing as a result of the trajectory determination in step S24. In this embodiment, as described above, the determination is made based on the trajectory of the position information, so unless a certain amount of trajectory is acquired, the end point of the crosswalk that the pedestrian Pe wants to cross cannot be identified. Therefore, the determination in step S25 is performed. If the crosswalk crossing determination point has been determined in step S25 (step S25; YES), proceed to step S28.

On the other hand, if the crosswalk crossing determination point has not been determined in step S25 (step S25; NO), the determination unit 53 determines whether a crossing request waiting to be accepted has been received from the BLE roadside unit 2 (step S26). In step S26, similar to step S15 in FIG. 6, it is determined whether the handling/confirmation indicator light signal is in the waiting for acceptance state. If it is not in the waiting for acceptance state (step S26; NO), the process returns to step S25 and it is determined again whether the crosswalk crossing determination point has been determined.

On the other hand, if the state is one in which the request is awaiting acceptance (step S26; YES), the transmitter 54 automatically transmits a crossing request to the BLE roadside unit 2 and returns to step S25 (step S27). In step S27, as in step S16 of FIG. 6, the handling/confirmation indicator light signal is in a state in which the request is awaiting acceptance, so a crossing request is transmitted. In steps S26 to S27, the fact that the crossing completion determination point has not been determined means that crossing has not yet been completed, so a crossing request is transmitted.

Next, in step S28, the determination unit 53 determines whether the crosswalk crossing determination point has been reached. In step S28, since it has been determined in step S25 that the crosswalk crossing determination point has been determined, it is determined whether the determined point has been reached based on the current position acquired by the current position acquisition unit 55. If the crosswalk crossing determination point has been reached (step S28; YES), the flowchart ends. No further crossing requests are sent.

On the other hand, if the vehicle has not reached the crosswalk completion determination point (step S28; NO), the determination unit 53 determines whether a crossing request waiting to be accepted has been received from the BLE roadside unit 2 (step S29). In step S29, as in step S26, it is determined whether the handling/confirmation indicator light signal is in the acceptance waiting state. If the vehicle is not in the acceptance waiting state (step S29; NO), the process returns to step S28 and it is determined again whether the vehicle has reached the crosswalk completion determination point.

On the other hand, if the request is waiting to be accepted (step S29; YES), the transmitter 54 automatically transmits a crossing request to the BLE roadside unit 2 and returns to step S28 (step S2A). In step S2A, as in step S27, the handling/confirmation indicator light signal is in a state of waiting to be accepted, so a crossing request is transmitted. In steps S29 to S2A, the crossing has not yet been completed because the crossing completion determination point has not been reached, so a crossing request is transmitted.

Figure 9 shows a specific example of the operation of the mobile terminal 1 described above. Figure 9 shows a process from when a pedestrian Pe carrying the mobile terminal 1 enters the service area ar of the BLE roadside device 2 to when he or she completes crossing the crosswalk cw.

In FIG. 9, first, a pedestrian Pe who has entered a service area ar performs a crossing request operation. As in the first embodiment, the mobile terminal 1 determines that the pedestrian has entered the service area ar based on intersection information and its own current position information, and notifies the pedestrian Pe by sound, vibration, or the like.

The mobile terminal 1 on which the crossing request operation has been performed operates as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8, and transmits a crossing request when the handling/confirmation indicator light signal is in a waiting state for acceptance. The pedestrian Pe crosses the crosswalk cw when the green light changes to green after the crossing request has been transmitted. During this time, the current position acquisition unit 55 identifies the crosswalk cw to be crossed based on the trajectory T of the current position acquired, and determines whether the pedestrian has reached the crossing completion determination point (star in the figure) based on the position information of the end of the identified crosswalk. Then, when the pedestrian Pe crosses the crosswalk cw, the mobile terminal 1 determines that the pedestrian has already crossed the crosswalk, and stops transmitting the crossing request.

In this manner, in this embodiment, the determination unit 53 detects that the pedestrian Pe has moved from one end of the crosswalk to the other end based on the trajectory of the current position acquired by the current position acquisition unit 55.

According to this embodiment, the intersection information includes information indicating the positions of both ends of the crosswalk, and the determination unit 53 determines that crossing the crosswalk is complete by detecting that the pedestrian Pe has moved from one end of the crosswalk to the other end based on the positions of both ends. In this way, the completion of crossing is determined when the pedestrian has moved to the end of the crosswalk, so that the accuracy of the determination of the completion of crossing can be increased. In addition, the transmission of the crossing request can be stopped immediately after the pedestrian has crossed, so that the transmission of unnecessary crossing requests can be suppressed.

The device also includes a current position acquisition unit that acquires the current position, and the determination unit detects that a pedestrian has moved from one end of the crosswalk to the other end based on the trajectory of the current position acquired by the current position acquisition unit. In this way, it is possible to easily detect that a pedestrian has moved from one end of the crosswalk to the other end, for example, by using a function such as a GPS installed in the mobile terminal 1.

In the above embodiment, the pedestrian Pe sends a crossing request when entering the service area of the BLE roadside unit 2, but the crossing request may be sent automatically when entry into the service area is detected.

In the above embodiment, if a crossing request is received when the handling/confirmation indicator light signal indicates that a crossing request has been received, the signal waits to be transmitted until the signal indicates that a crossing request is waiting to be received. However, the signal may be transmitted without waiting. In this case, the BLE roadside unit 2 or the signal controller 3 may determine whether to accept or ignore the crossing request. Therefore, the mobile terminal 1 intermittently retransmits the crossing request until it is outside the service area or reaches one end of the crosswalk.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. In other words, a person skilled in the art can implement the present invention by modifying it in various ways in accordance with conventional knowledge without departing from the gist of the present invention. As long as such modifications still have the configuration of the terminal device of the present invention, they are of course included in the scope of the present invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Terminal device 2 BLE roadside device 3 Signal controller 51 Crossing request reception unit 52 Intersection information acquisition unit 53 Determination unit 54 Transmission unit 55 Current position acquisition unit

Claims (6)

A terminal device carried by a pedestrian,
A crossing request receiving unit that receives a crossing request to a pedestrian traffic light;
An intersection information acquisition unit that acquires intersection information at which the pedestrian traffic light is installed;
a determination unit that determines whether the pedestrian has completed crossing the crosswalk based on the intersection information;
a transmission unit that transmits the crossing request to the pedestrian traffic light when the crossing request reception unit receives the crossing request, until the determination unit determines that the pedestrian has completed crossing the crosswalk;
A terminal device comprising: The intersection information includes information indicating a range in which the crossing request can be accepted,
The determination unit determines that crossing of the crosswalk has been completed by determining that the acceptable range of the crossing request has been exceeded.
2. The terminal device according to claim 1 . The intersection information includes information indicating both ends of the pedestrian crossing,
the determination unit determines that the pedestrian has completed crossing the crosswalk by detecting that the pedestrian has moved from one end of the crosswalk to the other end of the crosswalk based on the end positions.
2. The terminal device according to claim 1 . A current location acquisition unit for acquiring a current location is provided,
The determination unit detects that the pedestrian has moved from one end of the crosswalk to the other end of the crosswalk based on a trajectory of the current position acquired by the current position acquisition unit.
4. The terminal device according to claim 3. The intersection information includes information indicating that a crossing request has been accepted or information indicating that a crossing request is waiting to be accepted,
the transmission unit transmits the traversal request when receiving information indicating that the traversal request is waiting to be accepted, and does not transmit the traversal request when receiving information indicating that the traversal request has been accepted.
5. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device is a terminal for receiving a signal from the external device. The terminal device according to claim 5, characterized in that when the transmission unit receives information indicating that the crossing request has been accepted and the crossing request acceptance unit accepts the crossing request, the transmission unit waits to transmit the crossing request, and then transmits the crossing request when the transmission unit receives information indicating that the crossing request is waiting to be accepted.

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