Traffic signal control system

Abstract

To provide a signal light or the like that can detect the on / off state of each of multiple light fixtures. [Solution] The signal lamp 11 lights up and turns off based on the AC voltage DG supplied from the color wire LDG of the signal controller 100. The signal lamp 11 includes a light source 210, a rectifier circuit 220, a detection circuit 230, and a detection signal line LSG1. The rectifier circuit 220 outputs the drive voltage VDP of the light source 210 by rectifying the AC voltage DG. The detection circuit 230 detects whether the light source 210 is lit or off by detecting the drive voltage VDP and outputs a detection signal SG1, which is the detection result. The detection signal line LSG1 outputs the detection signal SG1 to the signal controller 100.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a signal lamp device, a traffic signal control system, and the like.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a traffic signal controller that controls the lighting and extinguishing of signal lamp devices installed at road intersections. This traffic signal controller includes a lamp switch unit that lights or extinguishes the signal lamp device, a power supply unit that supplies power to the lamp switch unit, and a control unit that controls the lamp switch unit and the power supply unit.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Current signal lamp devices do not have a function of outputting a lighting / extinguishing state, so there is a problem that it is difficult to know the lighting / extinguishing state of each signal lamp device provided at a road intersection. For example, when a plurality of lamp devices are connected in parallel to one lamp color line of a signal controller, it is difficult to detect the lighting / extinguishing state of each of the plurality of lamp devices connected in parallel from the signal of that one lamp color line.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a signal lamp device that lights and extinguishes based on an alternating voltage supplied from a lamp color line of a signal controller, including a light source, a rectifier circuit that rectifies the alternating voltage to output a drive voltage for the light source, a detection circuit that detects whether the light source is lit or extinguished by detecting the drive voltage and outputs a detection signal that is the detection result, and a detection signal line that outputs the detection signal to the signal controller.

[0006] Furthermore, other aspects of the present disclosure relate to a traffic signal control system comprising a first signal lamp which is the above-described signal lamp, a second signal lamp connected in parallel with the first signal lamp to the color lamp line, and a signal controller, wherein the second signal lamp includes a second light source, a second rectifier circuit which rectifies the AC voltage to output a second drive voltage for the second light source, a second detection circuit which detects whether the second light source is lit or out by detecting the second drive voltage and outputs a second detection signal which is the detection result, and a second detection signal line which outputs the second detection signal to the signal controller.

[0007] Furthermore, yet another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a traffic signal control system including the above-described signal lamp and the signal controller, the signal controller comprising a lamp drive unit that supplies the AC voltage to the lamp color line and a control unit that controls the on / off state of the signal lamp by controlling the lamp drive unit. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] An example of an intersection equipped with a traffic signal control system. [Figure 2] Circuit block diagram of a traffic signal control system. [Figure 3] An example of the configuration of a traffic light drive unit. [Figure 4] An example of a green traffic light configuration. [Figure 5] Example of a detection circuit configuration. [Figure 6] An example signal waveform to illustrate the operation of detecting the on / off state of a green traffic light. [Figure 7] First example of using signal monitoring information based on detected signals. [Figure 8] A second example of using signal monitoring information based on detected signals. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] Preferred embodiments of this disclosure will be described in detail below. It should be noted that the embodiments described below are not intended to unduly limit the scope of the claims, and not all configurations described in these embodiments are necessarily essential. For example, while the following description uses a vehicle traffic signal as an example, the on / off detection of this disclosure may also be applied to a pedestrian traffic signal. Furthermore, while the following description uses the on / off detection of green, yellow, and red lights as an example, the on / off state of this disclosure may also be applied to other lights, such as arrow indicator lights.

[0010] Figure 1 shows an example of an intersection 5 equipped with a traffic signal control system. Intersection 5 is a crossroads where roads L1 and L2 intersect. Hereafter, we will assume that road L1 is a road running in the north-south direction and road L2 is a road running in the east-west direction.

[0011] On road L1, signal lights 11 are installed for southbound vehicles 51 and signal lights 12 are installed for northbound vehicles 52. Signal lights 11 include a green light GL1, a yellow light YL1, and a red light RL1, and signal lights 12 include a green light GL2, a yellow light YL2, and a red light RL2. On road L2, signal lights 13 are installed for eastbound vehicles and signal lights 14 are installed for westbound vehicles. Signal lights 13 include a green light GL3, a yellow light YL3, and a red light RL3, and signal lights 14 include a green light GL4, a yellow light YL4, and a red light RL4. A signal controller 100 that controls signal lights 11-14 is installed in one of the four corners of intersection 5. Figure 1 shows an example where the signal controller 100 is installed in the southeast corner of intersection 5.

[0012] Figure 2 shows a circuit block diagram of the traffic signal control system 1. The traffic signal control system 1 includes a signal controller 100, a wireless device 190, signal lights 11 and 12. Although Figure 2 shows signal lights 11 and 12 installed on road L1, the configuration and connections are similar for signal lights 13 and 14 installed on road L2.

[0013] The signal controller 100 includes an I / F unit 110 (interface unit), a transmission unit 120, a control unit 130, a light drive unit 140, and a monitoring unit 150. Some of these elements may be omitted; for example, the transmission unit 120 or the monitoring unit 150 may be omitted.

[0014] The output of the lamp drive unit 140 is connected to the lamp color wires LDG, LDY, and LDR. The lamp color wire LDG is connected in parallel to the green lamp GL1 of signal lamp 11 and the green lamp GL2 of signal lamp 12. The lamp color wire LDY is connected in parallel to the yellow lamp YL1 of signal lamp 11 and the yellow lamp YL2 of signal lamp 12. The lamp color wire LDR is connected in parallel to the red lamp RL1 of signal lamp 11 and the red lamp RL2 of signal lamp 12. The lamp drive unit 140 drives the green lamps GL1 and GL2 by outputting an AC voltage DG to the lamp color wire LDG, drives the yellow lamps YL1 and YL2 by outputting an AC voltage DY to the lamp color wire LDY, and drives the red lamps RL1 and RL2 by outputting an AC voltage DR to the lamp color wire LDR.

[0015] The control unit 130 is, for example, a processor such as an MPU or CPU. The control unit 130 controls the lamp drive unit 140 according to predetermined on / off timings. As a result, the lamp drive unit 140 turns on or off each lamp at predetermined on / off timings. Specifically, as shown in Figure 3, the lamp drive unit 140 includes a power supply circuit 141 and a relay 142. The power supply circuit 141 outputs a power supply voltage PWS of AC100V. The control unit 130 outputs a control signal CTG that indicates the on or off of the green lamp. When the control signal CTG indicates on, the relay 142 turns on, and the power supply voltage PWS of AC100V is output to the lamp color line LDG as AC voltage DG. When the control signal CTG indicates off, the relay 142 turns off, and the power supply voltage PWS is cut off and no longer output to the lamp color line LDG. Although not shown in the figure, similar relays are provided for each of the lamp color lines LDY and LDR.

[0016] As described above, the color wire is connected in parallel to multiple traffic lights. Therefore, it is difficult to detect the on / off status of individual traffic lights based on the voltage or current of the color wire. For example, with voltage detection, even if a traffic light is out due to a circuit malfunction or disconnection, the output of the color wire does not stop, so the outage is not detected. Alternatively, with current detection, since the current value is in mA units, the detected value is difficult to keep constant due to wiring resistance, etc. Because the distance between the signal controller 100 located at intersection 5 and each traffic light is different, the cable length and thus the cable resistance differ for each traffic light, resulting in different currents, so adjustments such as those required for each intersection are necessary. With LED traffic lights that have become popular in recent years, the current is small, so the threshold for on / off in current detection is narrow, and it is easily affected by the rate of current fluctuation due to external factors such as frequency fluctuations. Furthermore, even if a malfunction in some traffic lights could be detected by voltage or current, it is not possible to identify which traffic light is malfunctioning based on the color wire at the base of the parallel connection. Thus, anomaly detection using colored light lines has the drawback of not being able to monitor whether each light is actually on or off, such as when the circuit of some of the lights malfunctions.

[0017] As shown in Figure 2, each traffic light has a detection signal line different from the light color line, and transmits the on / off state of each traffic light to the signal controller 100 via this detection signal line.

[0018] Specifically, the green light GL1 detects the on / off state of the green light GL1 and outputs the detection signal SG1 to the detection signal line LSG1. The yellow light YL1 detects the on / off state of the yellow light YL1 and outputs the detection signal SY1 to the detection signal line LSY1. The red light RL1 detects the on / off state of the red light RL1 and outputs the detection signal SR1 to the detection signal line LSR1. The green light GL2 detects the on / off state of the green light GL2 and outputs the detection signal SG2 to the detection signal line LSG2. The yellow light YL2 detects the on / off state of the yellow light YL2 and outputs the detection signal SY2 to the detection signal line LSY2. The red light RL2 detects the on / off state of the red light RL2 and outputs the detection signal SR2 to the detection signal line LSR2. The configuration for each light to detect the on / off state will be described later in Figure 4, etc.

[0019] In this way, by detecting the lighting and extinguishing states of each lighting device, it becomes possible to monitor whether each lighting device is actually lighting and extinguishing, such as when the circuit of some lighting devices fails. Also, it becomes possible to monitor the lighting and extinguishing states of each traffic signal device without being affected by the shape of the intersection, voltage fluctuations, etc.

[0020] Detection signal lines LSG1, LSG2, LSY1, LSY2, LSR1, and LSR2 are connected to the I / F unit 110. The I / F unit 110 includes, for example, a connector for connecting signal lines and a signal reception circuit for receiving signals input to the connector. The signal input to the I / F unit 110 is, as an example, an open / close signal (contact signal). In this case, the detection signal indicating lighting is one of the open signal and the close signal, and the detection signal indicating extinguishing is the other of the open signal and the close signal.

[0021] Conventionally, the signal controller 100 has a function for receiving contact signals and an I / F unit in order to connect to a push button box, a vehicle sensor, etc. The I / F unit 110 corresponds to that I / F unit. By utilizing such a conventionally provided function of the signal controller 100, it has become possible to draw the detection signal of the lighting and extinguishing state into the signal controller 100 and perform abnormality monitoring.

[0022] The transmission unit 120 performs wired communication with the outside of the signal controller 100. As an example, the transmission unit 120 performs wired communication with a control center that controls a number of traffic signal control systems. The transmission unit 120 may directly transmit the signal received by the I / F unit 110 to the outside. Alternatively, the control unit 130 may generate a signal for external transmission based on the signal received by the I / F unit 110, and the transmission unit 120 may transmit that signal to the outside. For example, the control unit 130 may integrate the signal received by the I / F unit 110 and the signal generated by the monitoring unit 150 to generate a signal for external transmission. Various wired communication devices may be adopted as the transmission unit 120, but for example, it is a network communication terminal device such as an ONU (Optical Network Unit) used for optical network connection.

[0023] The monitoring unit 150 monitors for abnormalities in the lamp drive. Specifically, the monitoring unit 150 monitors whether abnormal lamp drive is occurring by detecting the voltage or current of the lamp color lines LDG, LDY, and LDR. For example, the monitoring unit 150 performs what is known as GG detection. GG detection is the detection of whether green lamps that are prohibited from being lit simultaneously are lit at the same time. In Figure 1, simultaneous lighting of green lamps GL1 and GL2 on road L1 and green lamps GL3 and GL4 on road L2 is prohibited, and the monitoring unit 150 performs GG detection on the drive of these green lamps.

[0024] The wireless device 190 communicates wirelessly with vehicles 51 and 52 located near intersection 5. For example, vehicles 51 and 52 have an autonomous driving function. The control unit 130 generates information for autonomous driving based on the on / off status detection signal received by the I / F unit 110, or detection signals such as GG detection detected by the monitoring unit 150. The wireless device 190 wirelessly transmits this information to vehicles 51 and 52. If wireless communication with surrounding vehicles is not required, the wireless device 190 may be omitted.

[0025] Figure 4 shows an example configuration of the green light GL1. Other lights have a similar configuration. The green light GL1 includes a power supply board 280 and a light source board 290. Note that the board configuration in Figure 4 is just one example; there may be one board or three or more boards, and the placement of circuits on each board is arbitrary.

[0026] The power supply board 280 is equipped with a rectifier circuit 220, a bleeder resistor 240, a current limiting resistor 250, connector CN1, and connector CN2. The light source board 290 is equipped with a light source 210, a detection circuit 230, and connector CN3.

[0027] Connector CN1 and signal controller 100 are connected by a cable that includes the lamp color wire LDG, the common wire LCOM, and the detection signal wire LSG1. The common wire LCOM is a signal wire that supplies the common voltage COM of AC voltages DG, DY, and DR, and is connected to the lamp drive unit 140 of signal controller 100.

[0028] Connectors CN2 and CN3 are connected by a cable that includes the signal lines for the drive voltage VDP, the drive voltage VDN, and the detection signal line LSG1. The detection signal line LSG1 between connectors CN1 and CN2 is wired on the power supply board 280. Alternatively, the detection signal line LSG1 may be returned to the signal controller 100 without going through connectors CN1 to CN3.

[0029] The bleeder resistor 240 is connected in parallel to the rectifier circuit 220 to adjust the load between the light wire LDG and the common wire LCOM. One end of the bleeder resistor 240 is connected to the light wire LDG, and the other end is connected to the common wire LCOM.

[0030] The rectifier circuit 220 is a circuit that full-wave rectifies the AC voltage DG. The rectifier circuit 220 is, for example, a circuit with four diodes connected in a bridge configuration. The rectifier circuit 220 outputs drive voltages VDP and VDN to the light source 210 via the current limiting resistor 250. Hereafter, VDN will be considered to be 0V.

[0031] The current-limiting resistor 250 is a resistor that limits the current supplied from the rectifier circuit 220 to the light source 210, and is inserted in series between the rectifier circuit 220 and the light source 210. One end of the current-limiting resistor 250 is connected to the positive output of the rectifier circuit 220, and the other end is connected to the anode of the light source 210.

[0032] The light source 210 includes multiple LED groups connected in parallel between the drive voltage VDP node and the drive voltage VDN node. Each LED group includes multiple LEDs connected in series. For example, four LED groups are connected in parallel, with each LED group containing 27 LEDs, and the light source 210 as a whole consists of 108 LEDs. Note that the light source 210 is not limited to using LEDs, but may also use incandescent bulbs.

[0033] The detection circuit 230 detects the on / off state of the light source 210 based on the drive voltages VDP and VDN, and outputs the result as a detection signal SG1 to the detection signal line LSG1. The detection circuit 230 determines that the light source 210 is lit when a drive voltage VDP of a predetermined voltage value or higher is applied to the light source 210. Alternatively, the detection circuit 230 may determine that the light source 210 is lit when a current of a predetermined current value or higher is supplied to the light source 210.

[0034] Figure 5 shows an example of the configuration of the detection circuit 230. Here, an example of voltage detection using an open collector circuit is shown. The detection circuit 230 includes a bipolar transistor 231, a Zener diode 232, a load 233, and a power supply 244.

[0035] Power supply 244 provides a DC power supply voltage. The DC power supply voltage may be supplied to the signal lamp from, for example, the signal controller 100. Alternatively, AC 100V may be supplied to the signal lamp from the signal controller 100, and an AC / DC converter in the signal lamp may generate a DC power supply voltage from the AC 100V.

[0036] The bipolar transistor 231 is of the NPN type. A node with the drive voltage VDP is connected to the base of the bipolar transistor 231, a node with the drive voltage VDN is connected to the emitter, and the detection signal line LSG1 is connected to the collector.

[0037] The Zener diode 232 is a protection element for protecting the bipolar transistor 231. The anode of the Zener diode 232 is connected to the node of the drive voltage VDN, and the cathode is connected to the collector of the bipolar transistor 231.

[0038] Load 233 is provided as a load for bipolar transistor 231, and is, for example, a resistor. One end of load 233 is connected to the positive terminal of power supply 244, and the other end is connected to the collector of bipolar transistor 231.

[0039] Figure 6 shows an example of a signal waveform to illustrate the operation for detecting the on / off state of the green light GL1. Here, it is assumed that relay 142 in Figure 3 is a type that allows the signal to pass through when a control signal CTG higher than 0V is applied.

[0040] The power supply circuit 141 in Figure 3 outputs a power supply voltage PWS of AC100V. When the control unit 130 outputs a control signal CTG of 0V, the relay 142 turns off, and the AC voltage DG becomes 0V. The drive voltage VDP of the light source 210 becomes 0V, so the green lamp GL1 turns off. Since the drive voltage VDP is lower than the threshold voltage of the bipolar transistor 231 in Figure 5, the bipolar transistor 231 turns off, and the power supply voltage detection signal SG1 of the power supply 244 is output. When the control unit 130 outputs a control signal CTG that is higher than 0V, the relay 142 turns on, and the power supply voltage PWS is output as AC voltage DG. Since a drive voltage VDP higher than 0V is supplied to the light source 210, the green lamp GL1 lights up. When the drive voltage VDP exceeds the threshold voltage of the bipolar transistor 231 in Figure 5, the bipolar transistor 231 turns on, and the sink signal, i.e., the 0V detection signal SG1, is output. Thus, the detection signal SG1 becomes an open / close signal of 0V or the power supply voltage.

[0041] The detection circuit 230 is not limited to the open collector circuit described above; any circuit capable of generating an open / close signal from the drive voltage VDP is acceptable. The detection circuit 230 may be, for example, a mechanical relay or a solid-state relay.

[0042] Figure 7 shows a first example of the use of signal monitoring information based on detection signals. The transmission unit 120 transmits the signal monitoring information generated based on detection signals from each traffic light to the control center 300 via wired connection. The signal monitoring information only needs to be generated based on detection signals, and various forms are conceivable. For example, the signal monitoring information may be information indicating whether each traffic light is lit or extinguished, or information indicating an abnormality in the lit or extinguished state of each traffic light. In addition, the signal monitoring information may include information generated by the monitoring unit 150 in addition to the information based on detection signals. Furthermore, the signal monitoring information may not indicate individual abnormalities in each traffic light, but rather information indicating that the traffic signal control system 1 at the intersection 5 as a whole is abnormal if even one abnormality occurs.

[0043] This allows the control center 300 to remotely know the status of the traffic signal control system 1. For example, conventionally, monitoring abnormalities in the traffic signal control system 1 required either photography by a camera or visual inspection by a person. According to this embodiment, it becomes possible to remotely know about abnormalities in the traffic signal control system 1 through signal monitoring information based on detected signals.

[0044] Figure 8 shows a second example of the use of signal monitoring information based on the detection signal. The vehicle 51 includes an automatic driving control unit 61 and a wireless device 62. The wireless device 90 of the traffic signal control system 1 wirelessly transmits signal monitoring information based on the detection signal to the wireless device 62 of the vehicle 51. The automatic driving control unit 61 uses the received signal monitoring information to control the automatic driving of the vehicle 51. For example, the automatic driving control unit 61 may change the driving method when passing through intersection 5 depending on whether the signal at intersection 5 is normal or abnormal.

[0045] This allows the autonomous vehicle 51 to transmit information on whether the signal status of the intersection 5 being passed is correct or not. For example, the traffic signal control system 1 distributes information to the autonomous vehicle 51 indicating whether each signal light is lit in red, yellow, or green. This information is based on the control of the control unit 130. If this information differs from the actual lighting status for any reason, the vehicle 51 cannot determine whether the distributed information is correct unless it monitors the actual lighting status in some way. According to this embodiment, since the traffic signal control system 1 distributes signal monitoring information based on detected signals, the vehicle 51 can also determine the correctness of the distributed information from the distributed information itself.

[0046] In this embodiment, the signal lamp 11 lights up and turns off based on the AC voltage DG supplied from the color line LDG of the signal controller 100. The signal lamp 11 includes a light source 210, a rectifier circuit 220, a detection circuit 230, and a detection signal line LSG1. The rectifier circuit 220 outputs the drive voltage VDP of the light source 210 by rectifying the AC voltage DG. The detection circuit 230 detects whether the light source 210 is lit or off by detecting the drive voltage VDP and outputs a detection signal SG1, which is the detection result. The detection signal line LSG1 outputs the detection signal SG1 to the signal controller 100.

[0047] According to this embodiment, the signal lamp 11 has a detection circuit 230, which allows for the detection of the on / off state of each signal lamp. This makes it possible to monitor whether each lamp is actually on or off, for example, when the circuit of some lamps malfunctions. Furthermore, by detecting the on / off state internally within the signal lamp 11, the on / off state of each signal lamp can be monitored without being affected by the shape of the intersection, differences in cable length, voltage fluctuations, etc.

[0048] In this embodiment, when the detection circuit 230 detects that the light source 210 is lit, it outputs one of the open signal and the closed signal as the detection signal SG1. When the detection circuit 230 detects that the light source 210 is turned off, it outputs the other of the open signal and the closed signal as the detection signal SG1.

[0049] Conventionally, the signal controller 100 is equipped with a function and an I / F section for receiving contact signals in order to connect to a push-button box or vehicle detector, etc. According to this embodiment, by using the open / closed contact signal as the detection signal SG1, it is possible to utilize the functions conventionally provided in the signal controller 100 to bring in the detection signal for the on / off state and monitor for abnormalities.

[0050] In this embodiment, the detection circuit 230 determines that the light source 210 is lit if the drive voltage VDP is higher than a predetermined voltage. The detection circuit 230 determines that the light source 210 is off if the drive voltage VDP is lower than a predetermined voltage. In the example in Figure 5, the predetermined voltage is the threshold voltage of the bipolar transistor 231.

[0051] As explained in Figure 6, etc., when the circuit is functioning normally and there is no malfunction, the drive voltage VDP of the light source 210 is higher than 0V when it is lit and 0V when it is off. According to this embodiment, the detection circuit 230 can detect whether the light source 210 is lit or off by determining the drive voltage VDP at a predetermined threshold voltage.

[0052] In this embodiment, the detection circuit 230 is an open collector circuit including a bipolar transistor 231 to which a drive voltage VDP is input to the base.

[0053] An open-collector circuit is a circuit in which the collector sinks current when a voltage is applied to the base of a bipolar transistor 231. By using this, an open / close signal corresponding to the on / off state of the light can be output as a detection signal SG1.

[0054] Furthermore, the traffic signal control system 1 of this embodiment includes a first signal lamp, which is the signal lamp 11 described above, a second signal lamp connected in parallel with the first signal lamp to the color line LDG, and a signal controller 100. Hereinafter, the signal lamp 12 in Figure 2 will be referred to as the second signal lamp, and the green lamp GL2 will be used as an example. The second signal lamp 12 includes a second light source, a second rectifier circuit, a second detection circuit, and a second detection signal line LSG2. The second rectifier circuit outputs a second drive voltage for the second light source by rectifying the AC voltage DG. The second detection circuit detects whether the second light source is lit or off by detecting the second drive voltage and outputs a second detection signal SG2, which is the detection result. The second detection signal line LSG2 outputs the second detection signal SG2 to the signal controller 100.

[0055] When two or more traffic lights are connected in parallel to the color-coded light line LDG, it is difficult to detect the on / off state of each traffic light at the output of the color-coded light line LDG of the signal controller 100 for the reasons mentioned above. According to this embodiment, a detection circuit is provided for each traffic light, and this detection circuit detects the on / off state of each traffic light. Detection signals SG1 and SG2 are then input to the signal controller 100 via detection signal lines LSG1 and LSG2, which are provided separately from the color-coded light line LDG. This makes it possible to monitor the on / off state of each of the two or more traffic lights connected in parallel to the color-coded light line LDG.

[0056] In this embodiment, the traffic signal control system 1 includes a signal lamp 11 and a signal controller 100. The signal controller 100 includes a lamp drive unit 140 and a control unit 130. The lamp drive unit 140 supplies an AC voltage DG to the lamp color line LDG. The control unit 130 controls the on / off state of the signal lamp 11 by controlling the lamp drive unit 140.

[0057] In this embodiment, the control unit 130 determines an abnormality in the on / off state of the signal light 11 by comparing the on / off control signal CTG with the detection signal SG1 from the signal light 11.

[0058] According to this embodiment, the on / off state controlled by the control unit 130 is taken as the expected value, and by comparing the on / off state detected by the detection circuit of each lamp with the expected value, an abnormality in each lamp can be detected.

[0059] In this embodiment, the signal controller 100 also includes a transmission unit 120 that transmits signal monitoring information of the signal lamp 11 based on the detection signal SG1 to the control center 300.

[0060] According to this embodiment, the control center 300 can remotely know the status of the traffic signal control system 1, such as the on / off state of each traffic light, based on signal monitoring information derived from the detection signals of each traffic light.

[0061] In this embodiment, the traffic signal control system 1 also includes a wireless device 190 that wirelessly transmits signal monitoring information of the signal lamp 11 based on the detected signal SG1 to the vehicle 51.

[0062] According to this embodiment, the autonomous vehicle 51 can obtain information on whether the signal status of the intersection 5 it is passing through is correct or not, based on signal monitoring information derived from the detection signals of each traffic light. That is, the traffic signal control system 1 distributes information on the on / off status of the traffic lights based on the control unit 130, and signal monitoring information derived from the detection signals of each traffic light to the vehicle 51. The vehicle 51 can determine whether the distributed information is correct or not based on the signal monitoring information derived from the detection signals of each traffic light.

[0063] Although this embodiment has been described in detail above, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications are possible without substantially departing from the novelty and effects of this disclosure. Therefore, all such modifications are included within the scope of this disclosure. For example, any term that appears at least once in the specification or drawings together with a broader or synonymous term may be replaced with that different term anywhere in the specification or drawings. Furthermore, all combinations of this embodiment and its modifications are also included within the scope of this disclosure. In addition, the configuration and operation of each color lamp, signal lamp, signal controller, traffic signal control system, vehicle, and intersection, etc., are not limited to those described in this embodiment, and various modifications are possible. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0064] 1…Traffic signal control system, 5…Intersection, 11,12,13,14…Traffic light, 51,52…Vehicle, 90…Wireless device, 100…Signal controller, 110…I / F unit, 120…Transmission unit, 130…Control unit, 140…Light drive unit, 150…Monitoring unit, 190…Wireless device, 210…Light source, 220…Rectifier circuit, 230…Detection circuit, 240…Bleeder resistor, 250…Current limiting resistor, 280…Power supply board, 290…Light source board, 300…Control Center, DG, DR, DY…AC Voltage, GL1, GL2, GL3, GL4…Green Light, LDG, LDR, LDY…Light Color Line, LSG1, LSG2, LSR1, LSR2, LSY1, LSY2…Detection Signal Line, RL1, RL2, RL3, RL4…Red Light, SG1, SG2, SR1, SR2, SY1, SY2…Detection Signal, VDN, VDP…Drive Voltage, YL1, YL2, YL3, YL4…Yellow Light

Claims

1. A signal light that turns on and off based on the AC voltage supplied from the color wire of a signal controller, Light source and A rectifier circuit that outputs the driving voltage of the light source by rectifying the AC voltage, A detection circuit detects whether the light source is lit or off by detecting the aforementioned drive voltage and outputs a detection signal as the detection result. A detection signal line that outputs the detection signal to the signal controller, A signal light characterized by including [this].

2. In claim 1, The detection circuit is When the illumination of the light source is detected, one of the open signal and the closed signal is output as the detection signal. A signal lamp characterized in that, when the extinguishing of the light source is detected, it outputs the other of the open signal and the closed signal as the detection signal.

3. In claim 2, The detection circuit is If the drive voltage is higher than a predetermined voltage, it is determined that the light source is lit. A signal lamp characterized in that it determines that the light source is off when the drive voltage is lower than the predetermined voltage.

4. In claim 2, The detection circuit is A signal lamp characterized by being an open collector circuit including a bipolar transistor to which the drive voltage is input as a base.

5. A first signal lamp which is a signal lamp as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, A second signal light is connected in parallel with the first signal light to the aforementioned light color line, The aforementioned signal controller, Includes, The second signal light is, The second light source and A second rectifier circuit that outputs a second drive voltage for the second light source by rectifying the aforementioned AC voltage, A second detection circuit detects whether the second light source is lit or off by detecting the second drive voltage and outputs a second detection signal which is the detection result. A second detection signal line that outputs the second detection signal to the signal controller, A traffic signal control system characterized by including the following.

6. A signal lamp as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, The aforementioned signal controller, Includes, The aforementioned signal controller is A lamp drive unit that supplies the AC voltage to the lamp color wire, A control unit controls the on / off switching of the signal lamp by controlling the lamp drive unit, A traffic signal control system characterized by including the following.

7. In claim 6, The control unit, A traffic signal control system characterized by determining an abnormality in the on / off state of a traffic signal by comparing a control signal for on / off with the detection signal from the traffic signal.

8. In claim 6, The aforementioned signal controller is A traffic signal control system characterized by including a transmission unit that transmits signal monitoring information of the signal lamp based on the detection signal to a control center.

9. In claim 6, A traffic signal control system characterized by including a wireless device that wirelessly transmits signal monitoring information of the signal lamp based on the detection signal to a vehicle.

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