Procedures for checking the speed and distance of motor vehicles in road traffic

Abstract

Method for monitoring the permissible speed and the permissible distance between motor vehicles in road traffic by radio transmission of data for identifying the vehicles and their speed to a receiving station, characterized in that the data for describing the identity and speed of the motor vehicles to be monitored originate from a measuring system with a coupled transmitting device installed in each of the motor vehicles to be monitored, wherein the measuring system is the online on-board system (OBD system) for all motor vehicles with combustion and / or electric motors, and wherein the data for identifying the motor vehicles by the respective vehicle identification number (VIN) and the respective vehicle speed are taken from the OBD system installed in each motor vehicle.

Description

[0001] The road traffic regulations stipulate, in essence, that motor vehicles must travel at appropriate speeds in public road traffic. This includes, in particular, compliance with the locally permitted maximum speed. To ensure this can be done objectively, all motor vehicles are equipped with speedometers and speed displays.

[0002] Motor vehicle drivers often unconsciously and frequently also consciously ignore the maximum speed limits indicated by traffic signs and the general permissible speed limits, which can lead to hazards, accidents and traffic obstructions.

[0003] Driving too fast and following too closely together results in traffic accidents, leading to significant intangible and material damage.

[0004] Autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles are programmed to avoid risks and thus accidents. If individual vehicles approach, merge into, or move within the flow of traffic too quickly, the autonomous vehicles are more likely to reduce their speed or brake suddenly to minimize the risk of a collision than to wait under a higher risk of collision and hope that "nothing happens." The consequence of these expected characteristics of autonomous vehicles in a mix of conventional vehicles and individual "reckless" drivers is undesirable traffic jams.

[0005] In autonomous road vehicles, their driving behavior depends on the surrounding stationary objects, such as the road layout and markings, moving and stationary vehicles, traffic signs, and all other moving objects, such as pedestrians and animals. The autonomous vehicle continuously calculates the vectorial velocities of all these objects and, using its own velocity vectors, determines the probability of a collision. Based on these values, it then makes possible corrections to its driving behavior to minimize the risk of a collision.

[0006] This means that in the coming decades, traffic will consist of a mix of autonomous and human-driven vehicles. This situation requires a high degree of discipline, which, based on experience, many people will not submit to voluntarily.

[0007] A significant increase in monitoring measures would improve overall road safety discipline and greatly simplify, if not enable, the desired diverse use of autonomous vehicles.

[0008] Even though autonomous vehicles already exist today, they will never account for 100% of all traffic in the near future because people like to be active. Not everyone uses trains and buses today either.

[0009] Since discipline is a prerequisite for smooth and accident-free coexistence in road traffic, an educational steering force must be generated. This steering force is significantly enhanced by the present invention through technical innovations.

[0010] Another aspect to consider when thinking about autonomous vehicles in a swarm of conventional vehicles is the distance between them. It can be observed that in heavy traffic, the distances between vehicles are significantly smaller than the recommended safety distances. Chain-reaction collisions demonstrate that drivers are undisciplined and inattentive. Therefore, autonomous vehicles will maintain a greater distance from the vehicle in front of them in a swarm of conventional vehicles and will consequently be slower. In this sense, autonomous vehicles act as disruptors in the undisciplined flow of traffic.

[0011] Ideally, drivers of conventional vehicles should be educated to maintain sufficient distances from the vehicle in front, in order to achieve a smooth flow of traffic with fewer risks of rear-end collisions. Current solutions to the problem

[0012] To determine the speed of motor vehicles for police monitoring, a measuring device is generally required. Various measuring devices exist, such as compressed air hoses on the road, light barriers beside the road, and mobile and permanently installed radar systems using lasers or radio beams in front of or behind the vehicles, beside or above the road. Radar systems are often equipped with cameras to identify drivers and license plates.

[0013] Utility model DE 20 2016 004 211 U1 proposes transmitting the license plate numbers of motor vehicles to a police station via a general radio device in the vehicle when a speeding violation is detected by a conventional speed measurement and a radio command for transmission is triggered by the measuring station. This is intended to enable the monitoring of cars, trucks, and motorcycles from the front.

[0014] In the patent application DE 10 2007 050 677 A1, it is proposed that vehicles based on a GPS navigation principle and suitable software should be able to detect violations of the road traffic regulations and report the violation directly, at least to a government agency, so that the violation can be punished.

[0015] In the patent application DE 10 2018 210 852 A1, a method for detecting unlawful driving behavior is described in which the vehicle's surroundings are recorded by vehicle sensors, an environment model is created based on the sensor data, unlawful behavior is recognized from the environment model, and the sensor data is stored as evidence within a time window of the recognized unlawful behavior, possibly by transmission to an external server unit.

[0016] Patent DE 103 29 038 B3 describes a method for monitoring the functionality of a temperature sensor for detecting temperature in a motor vehicle component, in which measured temperature values ​​are evaluated over a time interval. Monitoring of speed or distance, as well as their wireless transmission, is not included.

[0017] The police monitor compliance with speed limits using radio or laser radar measurements, measuring the speed and distance of vehicles from motorway bridges and helicopters. In cases of violations, police officers on the ground are deployed almost simultaneously to identify the vehicles in question via their license plates. Overall, monitoring distances is even more complex than monitoring speed.

[0018] Radio-based vehicle monitoring for safe and secure movement is used in air and maritime traffic to log processes, particularly in take-off, landing, and port areas, and to enable smooth and safe movement in densely populated areas. Airplane Condition Monitoring Systems (ACMS) continuously transmit data on aircraft type, turbine temperatures, turbine pressure, fuel level, and flight parameters to ground and satellite stations for further monitoring and to ensure safe flight operations.

[0019] All measuring devices share the characteristic of being very complex in terms of setup and operation. To prevent manipulation of traffic monitoring, these tasks may only be carried out by police officers. If the measuring devices are not equipped with a camera, police officers must identify and record the license plate numbers of the vehicles being monitored, or save them for later analysis. Furthermore, radar measuring devices are prone to errors, for example, due to incorrect setup or heavy traffic. To determine speeds with radar devices with sufficient accuracy within the required narrow limits, police officers must undergo thorough training.

[0020] Overall, the methods used are such that road traffic can only be monitored sporadically in terms of time and location using permanently installed devices or for limited periods at changing locations with a high level of personnel effort.

[0021] The necessity for the described monitoring of motor vehicle speeds is based on the prevention of speeding in order to avoid serious accidents and also to achieve the smoothest possible flow of vehicles in order to avoid traffic jams.

[0022] The demand for the most even possible flow of vehicles will play an even more important role in the future with the introduction of autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles. Description of the invention

[0023] The object of the present invention is to describe an improved method for verifying the compliance of motor vehicles with regard to speed and distance, in particular to increase the number of monitoring checks of speed and distance between vehicles, to increase the accuracy of the control values, to allow the locations for the control measurements to be chosen arbitrarily and to significantly reduce the costs of monitoring.

[0024] For this purpose, a method for monitoring the permissible speed and the permissible distance between motor vehicles in road traffic by means of radio transmission of data for the identification of the vehicles and their speed to a receiving station is to be used, which is characterized in that the data for describing the identity and the speed of the motor vehicles to be monitored originate from a measuring system with a coupled transmitting device installed in each of the motor vehicles to be monitored.

[0025] In the above-mentioned procedure, the measuring system and the transmitting device in the motor vehicles must be publicly approved by type approval.

[0026] In an advantageous embodiment of the method, the online on-board computer (OBD system) is considered the measuring system for all vehicles with combustion and / or electric motors. This system controls and stores not only combustion and exhaust gas purification but also all other vehicle functions. The vehicle identification number (VIN, formerly chassis number, standardized in the EU according to ISO standard 3779) is also stored in the OBD system. The vehicle speed is determined by the OBD system in real time from the transmission speed.

[0027] In a further advantageous embodiment of the procedure, the data for the identity and speed of the vehicles are sent as related data pairs.

[0028] In all versions of the procedure, a receiving device outside the vehicles receives the data as data pairs, adding further data about date, time, type of receiving device and location to the data pairs.

[0029] In all embodiments of the method, the data is preferably emitted continuously at time intervals of 10 ms while the vehicle is in motion.

[0030] In the preceding embodiments of the method, the data can also be continuously transmitted in a time interval of preferably 1000 ms if a reduction in radio activity is required.

[0031] In the preceding versions of the procedure, the data can also be transmitted only or additionally when this process is triggered by an external signal.

[0032] In all the aforementioned embodiments of the invention's method, the transmission power of the transmitter coupled in the vehicle can be designed such that its range preferably reaches 50 m to 200 m.

[0033] The procedures described above also allow for coordination between the described measuring, radio and receiving equipment and conventional external measuring, radio, receiving and recording equipment.

[0034] The novel solution for monitoring vehicle speed will utilize the on-board diagnostics (OBD) system, which is mandatory in all vehicles. On-board diagnostics were developed for vehicles with internal combustion engines and are currently only used for these. It is assumed that on-board diagnostics will also be used for vehicles with electric motors, with the monitoring criteria adapted to the electric drive. This assumption is supported by an article in "Automotive Electronics and Software, High-Voltage Inspection Guideline for Electric Cars," by Christiane Brünglinghaus, dated September 16, 2014.

[0035] The present invention is suitable for short-term implementation because, as described, a key prerequisite component is already installed in every motor vehicle, and missing components can easily be retrofitted. A similar situation, the regulation for the individual retrofitting of electronic immobilizers in older vehicles, already existed in the 1990s, initiated by the insurance industry.

[0036] Patent DE 103 29 038 B3 2005.02.24 describes a method for measuring temperatures in a vehicle using temperature sensors during test drives, which incorporates the function of the on-board computer (OBD) system installed in every motor vehicle. Measuring speed and transmitting it wirelessly is not included.

[0037] In the present patent application for a method for checking the speed and distance of motor vehicles in road traffic, speed and vehicle identification number are transmitted wirelessly, wherein the values ​​originate from a measuring system or an OBD system and an additional transmitting device in the vehicle, which transmits the data as a data pair, and wherein a receiving device outside the vehicle receives the data as a data pair, wherein the data pair transmitted by the vehicle consists of the identification of the vehicle, e.g. the international vehicle identification number (VIN), and the speed of the vehicle, preferably the OBD signal (On-Board Diagnostics).

[0038] The data transmitted by a transmitter installed in the vehicle should preferably be encrypted to prevent unauthorized reception and reading. An internationally valid encryption method, such as that used in international air traffic, should preferably be used. This would allow foreign vehicles to be included in the monitoring system at a later date.

[0039] In the present invention, the transmission power of the transmitter of the data pair in the vehicle is to be limited to a range of a few hundred meters in order to reduce the amount of received data available to the receiving station and also to reduce the overall electromagnetic load on the environment.

[0040] The transmitter and antenna should preferably be located in a hard-to-reach place in the vehicle, such as under the dashboard cover, to prevent or at least significantly hinder tampering. This location also has the advantage of virtually unimpeded electromagnetic radiation, since only plastic and the windshield glass need to be penetrated, but no metal.

[0041] The priority for recording received data in the receiving device should be determined by both the strongest intensity of the transmitted signals and the vehicle identification number. This ensures that both nearby vehicles with higher transmission power and equally nearby vehicles with lower transmission power are recorded equally. As a result, the data pairs of vehicle identification and vehicle speed for the entire fleet of vehicles passing the receiving device over a short section of the road are recorded multiple times.

[0042] For evaluation, individual or mean values ​​of the measured vehicle speed data, or preferably the median values, can be used. The median values ​​approximately represent the speed at the moment the vehicle passes directly by the receiving device, because in this scenario the distance between the transmitting and receiving devices is shortest, and thus the received transmission power from the vehicle in question is relatively highest.

[0043] After the data pairs have been captured and selected, each data pair should also include an identifier for the receiving device, the date and exact time of capture, and the GPS coordinates of the receiving location, all stored together as a six-data set.

[0044] The data can preferably be stored directly in the receiving device or, after radio transmission, fed into a radio network, e.g. the police radio network, and the data processed in a downstream system. Advantages of the invention

[0045] One advantage of this novel method is that the receiving device does not need to be inactive during transmission. This would allow the police to pursue a speeding driver with a police vehicle and determine the driver's speed via radio transmission from the driver's vehicle to the police vehicle.

[0046] Another advantage is that monitoring forces subordinate to the police, e.g. public order offices, can also be entrusted with this task, since no specific knowledge is required to receive the transmitted data on speed and identification of the motor vehicle, and thus traffic offenders are automatically recognized during normal patrols.

[0047] In another advantageous application of the concept of providing vehicle identification and speed data, the data is not continuously transmitted, but rather transmitted for a limited time upon request by the receiving device. This requires direct radio interception by the receiving device at the vehicle or, preferably, the use of transponders. The advantage of this type of application is the reduced exposure of the environment to electromagnetic fields and increased security against unauthorized data reception, since, in addition to decrypting the data sets, access to the transponder or the radio network would also have to be established.

[0048] When allocating suitable radio frequencies, it should be ensured that ideally a uniform frequency across Europe is used. This would allow all vehicles (domestic and foreign) on the road to be monitored. However, since the introduction of a general system will be phased (study-pilot project-local application, etc.), a radio frequency approved for model making (e.g., 5.8 MHz, maximum transmission power 25 mW, maximum range 1000 m) could preferably be used for the initial implementation. These frequencies are intended for applications with low transmission power and range, which also applies to the application in the present invention. The same right must apply to other identifying features, such as the vehicle identification number (VIN).

[0049] The advantages of the described method for determining the speed of motor vehicles in road traffic lie in the options for subsequent data processing. In standard speed enforcement, only vehicles exceeding the speed limit are of interest. Therefore, the receiving devices should preferably be equipped with the option to set the maximum speed to be monitored and should compare the current measurement with the set maximum speed during the measurement process. If the measured value falls below the set maximum speed, it should be immediately deleted. If the measured value matches and exceeds the set maximum speed, it should be stored along with the identification value. In this way, only relevant data is collected.

[0050] In addition to determining speeds and assessing whether the permissible maximum speed has been exceeded, the inventive measuring method for remote identification of the identity and speed of motor vehicles via radio transmission can also determine the distance between vehicles traveling one behind the other. However, some limitations must be observed. The inventive measuring method provides reliable results for the distance between two vehicles if the license plates of the vehicle in front and the vehicle closely behind can be visually identified by a police officer or via a video camera.In this application, the receiver must store the six-part data sets (identification, speed, receiver, date, time, GPS coordinates) for all vehicles so that at a later time the two vehicles driving close together can be identified by a computer-aided comparison of identification number and license plate.

[0051] In areas with low traffic density, it is advantageous that the distances between any two vehicles driving one behind the other can be determined directly from the measured speeds and times.

[0052] The accuracy of all measurements is also advantageous. This is a very important feature because it is likely that drivers will challenge the results. The crucial factor here is the measured speed. The speed displayed on the vehicle's speedometer has the same source in the vehicle's electronics as the measured value. The functionality (time and data processing) of the receiving device can be officially verified through calibration, just as is done with other monitoring devices.

[0053] The benefits for autonomous vehicle traffic will not become apparent immediately, but gradually, once the described procedure has been in place for some time and has led to a change in the driving behavior of unlawful drivers.

[0054] A further advantage of the described invention is that the described method does not affect the personal rights of vehicle drivers in any different way than the current situation, where vehicle identity via the license plate and vehicle speed are readily available as observation or measurement data at any time and in any location. Any citizen can observe vehicles at will, and authorized state officials can also photographically and electronically record and process the observed data to determine its admissibility. Vehicle license plates were specifically created for this purpose. Therefore, only authorized state officials can directly infer the identity of the vehicle owner from the license plate.With the new procedure, this process is rather more difficult because the vehicle identity is not determined via the license plate, but via the international vehicle identification number (VIN) registered with the Federal Motor Transport Authority.

[0055] The following analysis aims to illustrate the data-related requirements for the necessary transmitting and receiving equipment by means of an estimate. First, the number of vehicles for a specific period of time is determined: • This assumes a reception range of the receiver device of plus / minus 100 meters, i.e. a detection distance of 200 meters. • The speed of vehicles in this area should be 100 km / h, which is equivalent to a speed of 27.8 m / s. • The transit time of a vehicle through the detection zone is then 200 m divided by 27.8 m / s, resulting in 7.19 s. • The number of vehicles on the detection track of 200 m, i.e. in the reception area, is then 4 vehicles, assuming a safety distance and vehicle length of 50 m. • On three parallel lanes, a total of 12 vehicles move within 7.2 s, which corresponds to a vehicle rate of 1.67 vehicles per second.

[0056] The next consideration deals with the number of data pairs required to be processed by the transmitter in the vehicle: • Based on the performance of a Tetra network, which is also used by police and fire departments, a secure transmission rate of 19.2 kbit / s or 2.8 kByte / s would be available, which would correspond to the transmission capacity of approximately 2800 numbers per second. A sequence of 28 digits would then require 10 ms. The identification number and the speed could therefore be continuously retransmitted as a data set, with short pauses of, for example, preferably 30 milliseconds to approximately one second (exactly 950 ms), which would correspond to data rates of 20 / s to 1 / s. • Under these assumptions, the receiving device would receive 144 to 7.2 data records from each vehicle during the driving time of 7.2 s on the considered 200 m long recording route. • On three parallel lanes, 12 vehicles would be traveling during the recording period, which would therefore send 1728 to 86.4 data records in 7.2 s, which would correspond to a data rate for reception for the receiving device of 240 to 12 data records per second. • The necessary calculations to complete the data pairs with the identifier of the receiving device, date, time and GPS signal to form the six-data set, as well as queries and other calculations, are easily possible with the approximately 10 million calculations per second of today's computers. • In data processing programming, the expert therefore has a wide scope for design. Example 1: Receipt log of a speed monitoring system

[0057] Table (1) shows examples of the values ​​received via radio transmission and the supplementary data for a short period. The data supplementing the protocol, such as date, time, and possibly GPS coordinates, are preferably generated by the receiving device or, like location and speed limit, manually entered into the receiving device. With the aid of a suitably programmed computer, the police or other competent authorities can directly identify and penalize vehicles exceeding the speed limit by visual contact. Table 1: Example of the supplementary reception protocol of the receiving device (*) supplemented values ​​(**) values ​​received via radio parameter measurement measurement measurement Date (*) 23.11.2017 23.11.2017 23.11.2017 time (*) 16:20:1,10 16:20:1,15 16:20:1,20 Location (GPS) (*) B: 51.3378L: 13.49782 B: 51.3378L: 13.49782 B: 51.3378L: 13.49782 Permitted speed km / h (*) 50 50 50 Vehicle identity (**) SHRF55778H03678 SHRF55778H03678 SHRF55778H03678 Speed ​​limits km / h (**) 51,34 51,34 51.34 Example 2: Determining the distance between two vehicles

[0058] For clarity, Table 2 only lists the parameters required to determine the distance.

[0059] According to the physical equation "distance = difference in time * average speed", and taking into account the dimensions (1 km / h = 1000 m / 3600 s = 0.278 m / s), the distance between the vehicles can be calculated as 68 m. This value for the distance between the vehicles includes their length.

[0060] In this example, assuming an average vehicle length of 5 m, a distance of 68 m - 5 m = 63 m at a speed of 111 km / h can be considered permissible. Table 2: Example of determining the distance between two vehicles from the data in the receiving device's reception log parameter Measurement vehicle “a” Measurement vehicle “b” Time h:min:s 17:02:35,68 17:02:37,89 Time difference in seconds 2,21 Vehicle identity SHRF55778H03678 SHRF55778H5189 Speed ​​in km / h 110,39 111,05 Average speed in m / s 30,75 Vehicle length “a” in m (mandatory) 5 Distance between vehicles in m 63 Description of the illustrations

[0061] The new procedure for the low-effort digital verification of the legally compliant driving of motor vehicles with regard to speed and distance is described in detail below with reference to the figures.

[0062] The following explanations are intended only to illustrate preferred embodiments and are in no way meant to limit the invention. It is clear to those skilled in the art that modifications of these embodiments naturally fall within the scope of protection defined by the accompanying claims.

[0063] Fig. Figure 1 shows a simplified representation of a moving vehicle (1) with a built-in transmitter (2) that emits continuous radio signals (4) via an antenna (3). The radio signals contain the vehicle identification and speed data from the mandatory on-board diagnostics (OBD) system (5) of a motor vehicle. The radio signals, preferably limited to a range of 200 m to 100 m, are periodically received by the antenna (6) of a stationary receiver (7) as the vehicle passes by. One period preferably lasts between 10 ms and 200 ms.

[0064] The receiving device (7) adds to each set of received radio signals about vehicle identity and speed further signals about date, time, location and permissible speed to a complete log (see also Table 1).

[0065] Fig.Figure 2 shows an application of the inventive method for determining the distance "x" between two vehicles. Two vehicles (1a) and (1b) are shown, which periodically transmit radio waves (4a) and (4b) containing the respective vehicle identification and speed data. The receiver (6) and (7) is controlled by a radio signal via a light barrier (8). Preferably, one-way light barriers that emit a monochrome light signal should be used. When vehicle (1a) passes by, the light barrier (8) is activated and generates a radio signal for the receiver, whereby the measured values ​​of vehicle (1a) are marked in the receiver's log almost simultaneously. The same process occurs when vehicle (1b) passes by. This process provides data on the identification and speed of the passing vehicles, as well as their respective timestamps when they passed the measuring point (see also Table 2).

Claims

Method for monitoring the permissible speed and the permissible distance between motor vehicles in road traffic by radio transmission of data for the identification of the vehicles and their speed to a receiving station, characterized in that the data for describing the identity and speed of the motor vehicles to be monitored originate from a measuring system with a coupled transmitting device installed in each of the motor vehicles to be monitored, wherein the measuring system is the online on-board system (OBD system) for all motor vehicles with combustion and / or electric motors, and wherein the data for the identification of the motor vehicles by the respective vehicle identification number (VIN) and the respective vehicle speed are taken from the OBD system installed in each motor vehicle. The method according to claim 1, wherein the measuring system and transmitting device in the motor vehicles are publicly approved by type approval and wherein the transmitting device and an associated antenna are arranged at a location in the motor vehicle that is difficult to access during operation, preferably under the instrument panel cover, in order to prevent or significantly impede manipulation. Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the vehicle identification number (VIN) is stored in the OBD system and the vehicle speed is currently determined by the OBD system from the speed of the transmission. Method according to claims 1 to 3, wherein the data for identity and speed of the motor vehicles are sent as related data pairs from the transmitting device to the motor vehicles, each data pair comprising at least the vehicle identification number (VIN) and the vehicle speed. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the receiving device outside the motor vehicles receives the data pairs, wherein the receiving device adds to each data pair an identifier of the receiving device, date and exact time of acquisition as well as the GPS coordinates of the receiving location and stores as a data record. Method according to claims 1 to 5, wherein the data are continuously transmitted from the transmitting device at intervals of preferably 10 ms during the journey of the motor vehicles. Method according to claims 1 to 5, wherein the data are continuously transmitted from the transmitting device at intervals of preferably 1000 ms. Method according to claims 1 to 7, wherein the transmission of data on identity and speed from the motor vehicles is additionally effected by receiving an external radio signal. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the transmission power of the transmitter coupled in the vehicle is designed such that its range preferably reaches 50 m to 200 m. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein coordination takes place between the described measuring, radio and receiving devices and conventional external measuring, radio, receiving and recording devices.

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