JPH0235526B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic driving system for a vehicle running on a track, and particularly to one that performs both running control and operation management control of the vehicle.

In recent years, the control content of automated vehicle driving systems on railways has become more complex, and they are not only capable of automatically starting, running, and stopping the vehicle in a fixed position, but also include functions that combine it with a central operation control system. , change the driving mode according to the operating status of the entire system, modify the control contents according to route conditions such as curves and gradients, and make announcements in the train, etc.
Various functions are becoming required.

For this reason, automatic vehicle driving systems have a variety of functions mixed together, making it difficult to design and manufacture both hardware and software, and making it difficult to ensure performance and reliability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic vehicle driving system that eliminates the drawbacks of the prior art described above, is easy to design and manufacture, and can improve performance and reliability.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a travel control unit that inputs a point signal and vehicle speed and outputs a power running command and a brake command based on the input point signal and vehicle speed in a vehicle automatic driving system that performs both travel control and operation management control. and a management control unit that inputs operation management commands and manages the operation of the vehicle based on the commands, and the travel control unit and the management control unit are each provided with means for mutually transmitting and receiving data. That is.

Examine the control details of vehicle automatic driving devices individually,
When organized, it can be divided into two parts:

One of these concerns control, that is, travel control, in which a vehicle departs from a station, accelerates to a permissible speed, and finally stops at a predetermined point at the next station.

The other type of control is management control, such as control based on commands from the central operation control device that controls the entire fleet of vehicles, control according to route conditions, and control for in-car guidance announcements performed at each station. It is related to.

The former, by its nature, is required to execute dynamic control with good responsiveness, while the latter stores a lot of information such as track information and refers to it when necessary to issue a predetermined command. Rather than responsiveness, the ability to process a wide variety of information is required, such as making various decisions based on vehicle driving information and information from the central operation management control device.

In addition, from the standpoint of specification determination and design of automatic vehicle driving systems, although the former type of driving control needs to be compatible with vehicle performance, it is also necessary to consider customer requirements and route conditions during specification determination and design. Therefore, the content does not change greatly and there is some commonality, but the latter management control differs greatly depending on customer requests and route conditions, and there is no commonality, so the overall specifications must be changed each time. It is necessary to make decisions, designs, etc.

From this point of view, the automatic vehicle driving system of the present invention is configured such that a travel control section and a management control section are provided separately, and the control contents are assigned to each section.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the device, where 1 is a travel control section and 2 is a management control section.

3 is a point signal detector that detects a point signal from a beacon installed on the track a certain distance before the fixed station position, and 4 is for preventing rear-end collisions with other vehicles.
An ATC signal detector detects maximum permissible control speed information from an ATC (automatic train control system), and 5 is a speed sensor that detects vehicle speed. Further, 6 is a drive control unit that is activated by a power running command, and 7 is a brake device that is activated by a brake command.

The traveling control unit 1 inputs a point signal from a point signal detector 3, an ATC signal from an ATC signal detector 4, and a speed signal from a speed sensor 5, and issues a power running command to a drive controller 6 based on these inputs. A brake command is output to the brake device 7, and travel control is performed to cause the vehicle to depart from a certain station and stop at a fixed position at the next station.

Further, reference numeral 8 denotes a route information memory provided in the management control unit 2, which stores various route information such as track slope, curved sections, areas subject to special speed restrictions, and distances between stations. Reference numeral 9 represents a transmission device for exchanging data with the central operation control device, and reference numeral 10 represents driver's cab equipment for switching between automatic operation and manual operation. moreover,
11 is an in-vehicle broadcasting device, 12 is a display, 13 is an alarm, 14 is a data transfer unit installed in the travel control unit 1, and 15 is a data transfer unit installed in the management control unit 2.

The management control unit 2 inputs the speed signal from the speed sensor 5, the operation management command from the transmission device 9, the automatic or manual signal from the driver's cab equipment 10, and reads the necessary information from the route information memory 8.
Based on this information, the data transfer units 15, 1
4, it instructs the driving control unit 1 to change the driving mode, etc., and outputs predetermined commands to the in-vehicle broadcasting device 11, display 12, alarm 13, etc.

FIG. 2 shows details of the travel control section 1.

16 is a speed detector that inputs the speed signal from the speed sensor 5 and detects the speed of the vehicle, and 17 is a distance counter that integrates the speeds detected by the speed detector 16 to calculate the traveling distance. A first pattern 18 inputs the point signal from the point signal detector 3 and the mileage signal from the distance counting section 17 to generate a parabolic distance versus speed pattern connecting the point signal detection position to the fixed station stop point. Generator 20 is a second pattern generator of the same type. This second pattern generator 2
0 operates by detecting a beacon installed at a point closer to the fixed position stopping point of the station than the above-mentioned first pattern generating beacon, and is provided to improve the accuracy of stopping in a fixed position at the station. It will be done. Reference numeral 20 denotes a speed pattern generator for constant speed driving, which inputs the ATC signal from the ATC signal detector 4 and sets a target driving speed so as not to exceed the ATC speed limit. 21 inputs the ATC signal and the control signal from the management control unit 2, and outputs a brake command to prevent the vehicle from rolling when stopped, releases the brake command when starting, etc. This is a special control unit that performs control related to stopping.

22, 23, 24 are respectively the first pattern generators
8. Second pattern generator 19, speed pattern of constant speed running speed pattern generator 20 and speed detection section 1
6 and calculates a power running command or a brake command proportional to the deviation value so that the vehicle speed matches the speed pattern. 25 is each output calculation unit 22, 23, 2
This is a selection unit that selects which one of the power running command or the brake command calculated in step 4 is to be used depending on the traveling stage.

The running control unit 1 configured in this manner issues a power running command for departure from the special control unit 21 when leaving the station, and then when the vehicle starts running, it outputs a speed pattern generator 20 for constant speed running and an output signal. The calculation unit 24 issues a command for constant speed driving, and when the train reaches the next station, it inputs a first point signal and the first pattern generator 18 and output calculation unit 22 perform follow-up control to the first pattern. Then, when the fixed position stop point is approached, a second point signal is input, and the second pattern generator 19 and the output calculation section 23 perform follow-up control to the second pattern. In this way, the running of the vehicle from station to station is controlled.

FIG. 3 shows details of the management control unit 2.

26 is a communication control unit that sends and receives data to and from the central operation control device via the transmission device 9; 27 is used to set the number of the own vehicle in order to distinguish it from other vehicles when communicating with the central operation control device; A device number setter, 28 is a distance counting section that inputs a speed signal and calculates the traveling distance, 29 is a logic judgment section, and 30 is an output section. As mentioned above, 8 is a route information memory for storing route conditions, and 15 is a data transfer unit for transmitting and receiving data to and from the travel control unit 1.

The logic judgment unit 29 receives the operation management command from the communication control unit 26, the distinction between automatic operation and manual operation from the driver's cab equipment 10, the distance traveled from a predetermined position from the distance counting unit 28, and the travel distance from the data transfer unit 15. Various data from the control unit 1 and the route status are input from the route information memory 8, and based on this information, the communication control unit 26 and the transmission device 9 are sent to the central operation management device.
The driving status of the vehicle, for example, automatic driving or manual driving, etc., is output via the driving control unit 1, and a command to correct the driving target speed, for example, is output to the driving control unit 1 via the data transfer unit 15. , the display 12 and the alarm 13 via the output section 30 to output information necessary for in-vehicle broadcasting, display, and warning. In this manner, various management controls are performed in the management control section 2.

As mentioned above, the automatic driving device of this example is
Automated driving control is divided among separate driving control units and management control units depending on the content, and mutually necessary information is exchanged through the data transfer unit, thereby achieving smooth automated driving control as a whole. I'm starting to do it.

In the above embodiment, the speed signal is input to both the travel control section and the management control section, but this is because, while travel control requires highly accurate speed information and distance information, the management Since control does not require highly accurate information, there are differences in the speed and distance information required by both control units, and even if either the travel control unit or the management control unit fails, This is done to prevent the other function from stopping.
This method of inputting signals other than speed signals can also be adopted as necessary.

Further, the traveling control section in FIG. 2 and the management control section in FIG. 3 each show one specific example, and the internal components can be increased or decreased depending on the required functions. In particular, the travel control section and the management control section can each be configured with separate microcomputers.

Since the vehicle automatic driving system of the present invention has the above-described configuration, it has the following effects.

First, reliability is improved. For a vehicle automatic driving system, the loss of the driving control function is fatal, but the loss of the management control function is not a fatal hindrance, even if the smoothness of control is slightly impaired. In the present invention, the travel control section and the management control section are separated in terms of hardware,
Moreover, the management control unit performs functions that are not directly related to vehicle running, such as transmitting and receiving vehicle running status etc. to and from the central operation control device, and outputting information necessary for in-vehicle announcements, displays, and warnings. Therefore, the travel control section is not directly affected by the failure of the management control section.

Second, it becomes easier to ensure performance. As mentioned above, the driving control section is required to have dynamic responsiveness, whereas the management control section is required to perform control centered on logical judgment. By separately providing the travel control section and the management control section, it is possible to employ control means that match the control characteristics of each, and it is easier to ensure performance than when the entire device is configured as one unit.

Thirdly, it is easy to design and manufacture. As mentioned above, the running control unit controls only the functions of vehicle running control, such as the output of power running commands and brake commands, so there are generally few changes in specifications, whereas the management control unit , controls functions that are not directly related to vehicle operation, and responds to customer requests and
Specifications vary greatly depending on route conditions. By separating the two, each can be designed and manufactured separately, and the manufacturing period can be shortened.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle automatic driving device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a travel control section of the device, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a management control section of the device. FIG. 1... Travel control section, 2... Management control section, 3...
Point signal detector, 4...ATC signal detector, 5...
... Speed sensor, 6... Drive controller, 7... Brake device, 9... Transmission device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a vehicle automatic driving device that receives point signals, ATC signals, vehicle speed, and operation management commands, and performs travel control and operation management control based on these information, receives the point signals, ATC signals, and vehicle speed, and a travel control unit that outputs power running commands and brake commands based on the information, a communication control unit, a distance counting unit,
It has a route memory, a data transfer section, an output section, and a logic judgment section, and the logic judgment section receives operation management commands from the central operation management control device via the communication control section, automatic operation or manual operation from the cab equipment. Distinguishing whether driving, distance traveled from a predetermined position from the distance counter,
It receives the route status from the route memory and various data from the travel control unit via the data transfer unit, and outputs the vehicle travel status to the central operation control unit via the communication control unit based on this information. , outputs information such as correction commands for the target driving speed to the driving control unit via the data transfer unit, and outputs information such as in-vehicle announcements to the output unit.
An automatic vehicle driving device characterized by separately providing a management control unit that outputs information necessary for display and alarm.