Road rivet system for cross walk

Abstract

To eliminate the necessity of a control device integrally controlling light emission of a plurality of road rivets 20 emitting light while pedestrians P and the like cross a cross walk PC, for a road rivet system where the road rivets are arranged along the cross walk.SOLUTION: Each of road rivets for a road rivet system sends approach information depicting detection of pedestrian approach and the like within a specific area 21 from a position where the road rivet is arranged, and sends approach information again when receiving approach information sent by the other road rivet to make a light emitter 23 emit light during a specific period either of when detecting the pedestrian approach or receiving the approach information sent by the other road rivet.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to road studs that are placed on a road surface, and more specifically, to a road stud system for a pedestrian crossing in which a number of road studs are placed along a pedestrian crossing and configured to light up or flash when a pedestrian or bicycle (pedestrian, etc.) crosses the crosswalk. [Background technology]

[0002] Various systems have been proposed that are configured to arrange a plurality of light-emitting road studs along a crosswalk, and to make the road studs light up while a pedestrian or the like is crossing the crosswalk, thereby alerting drivers of vehicles traveling toward the crosswalk that a pedestrian or the like is crossing. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a system in which detectors that detect the entry and exit of pedestrians or the like onto the crosswalk are installed on both ends of the crosswalk, and a controller controls the plurality of road studs arranged along the crosswalk to light up in response to the detection of the entry of a pedestrian or the like onto the crosswalk. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2013-096200 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] As described above, in a system (road stud system) in which multiple light-emitting road studs are arranged along a crosswalk while pedestrians are crossing the crosswalk, if the light emission of the road studs is controlled autonomously by each road stud rather than being centrally controlled by one control device, a control device for centralized control is not required, which is advantageous in that a cheaper system can be constructed. Also, if each road stud can autonomously control the light emission, it will be possible to accommodate crosswalks of various road widths simply by adjusting the number of road studs.

[0005] Thus, one object of the present invention is to provide a road stud system in which a plurality of illuminating road studs are arranged along a crosswalk while a pedestrian or the like is crossing the crosswalk, which does not require a control device that centrally controls the illumination of the multiple road studs, and is configured so that each road stud emits light autonomously while a pedestrian or the like is crossing the crosswalk. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to the present invention, the above problem is solved by a road stud system comprising a plurality of luminous road studs arranged along a pedestrian crossing, each road stud being: A light emitter and A detector that detects the intrusion of a pedestrian or the like within a predetermined range from the installation position; a signal emitting / receiving means for emitting entry information indicating the entry of a pedestrian or the like when the detector detects the entry and for receiving entry information emitted by other road studs, and further for emitting the entry information when the detector receives the entry information emitted by the other road studs; a light emission control means for causing the light emitter to emit light for a predetermined period of time either when the detector detects the intrusion of the pedestrian or the like or when the detector receives the intrusion information transmitted by the other road stud; When any of the plurality of road studs detects the intrusion of the pedestrian or the like, all of the plurality of road studs emit light from their respective light emitters for the predetermined period of time. This is achieved by:

[0007] In the above configuration, the light emitter may be any light emitting means such as an LED that emits visible light. The detector may be any type of sensor means, such as an object detection sensor or a human presence sensor, that can detect when a pedestrian or bicycle (pedestrian, etc.) enters a predetermined range (detection range) that is appropriately set. The "entry information" is information that indicates that the entry of a pedestrian, etc. has been detected within the detection range as described above. Such entry information may be identification information (ID) of the road stud that detected the entry of the pedestrian, etc., or information including the same. The signal emission / reception means may be any type of communication means that emits and receives a signal that is entry information by wireless or wired communication. The light emission control means may be any type of means that causes the light emitter to emit light (light or blink) for a predetermined period of time when the detector detects a pedestrian, etc., or when it receives entry information transmitted by another road stud, that is, when at least one in the system detects a pedestrian, etc., as described above. The "predetermined period" may be set to any period during which the driver of the vehicle can recognize the light emission.

[0008] In the above-mentioned configuration of the system of the present invention, when a pedestrian or the like enters the detection range of one of the detectors of the multiple light-emitting road studs arranged along the crosswalk, that road stud emits light and transmits information about the pedestrian's entry (entry information), and transmits this entry information to at least the neighboring road studs, and the road studs that receive the entry information also emit light and transmit the entry information. As a result, according to the system of the present invention, while the light emission control of each road stud is executed autonomously, when a pedestrian or the like approaches or enters the crosswalk, each road stud starts to emit light almost simultaneously. And, in such a configuration, a control device that centrally controls the light emission of multiple road studs is not required, which reduces costs accordingly. In addition, since each road stud is configured to autonomously detect the entry of pedestrians, etc. or to be aware of the detection of the entry of pedestrians, etc. by other road studs, when installing luminous road studs on crosswalks of various lengths, it is only necessary to place road studs of the above configuration at appropriate intervals, and even if the number of studs placed is changed, there is no need to adjust the entire system, which is advantageous.

[0009] In addition, in the above-mentioned configuration of the system of the present invention, the entry information transmitted by the road stud that first detects the entry of a pedestrian, etc. is re-transmitted from the other road studs after being received by the other road studs, so that the road stud that first detects the entry of a pedestrian, etc. also receives the information. As a result, the road stud that first detects the entry of a pedestrian, etc. can confirm that the entry information it transmitted has reached the other road studs, that is, that the entry information has been properly communicated. Then, the road stud that first detects the entry of a pedestrian, etc. and transmits the information may be configured to transmit the entry information again while detecting the entry of a pedestrian, etc., if the entry information is not returned from the other road studs. The detector may be configured to detect the presence or absence of a pedestrian, etc. at an appropriately set period (detection notification), and the entry information received and stored by each road stud may be erased in sequence (this avoids the light emitter from continuing to light or flash after the pedestrian, etc. has left the crosswalk).

[0010] In the above configuration, in one embodiment, when a plurality of road studs detect the intrusion of a pedestrian or the like within their respective detection ranges, each road stud may be configured to transmit the first received intrusion information when it has already received the intrusion information of any of the road studs (it may be configured to receive intrusion information from each of the plurality of road studs), and to emit light from the light emitter as a trigger of the reception of the first received intrusion information. In this case, all road studs control the emission of light from the light emitter as a trigger of the reception of the intrusion information from the first received road stud. In another embodiment, when a plurality of road studs detect the intrusion of a pedestrian or the like within their respective detection ranges, each road stud may be configured to transmit its own intrusion information when it has already received the intrusion information of any of the road studs, if the received intrusion information includes the intrusion information transmitted by itself, and to transmit the first received intrusion information when the received intrusion information does not include the intrusion information transmitted by itself. In this case, when each road stud detects the intrusion of a pedestrian, etc. before receiving intrusion information from other road studs, it will execute light emission control in response to its own detection of the intrusion of a pedestrian, etc. (until the next detection cycle), and therefore there will be no change in the road stud that triggers the light emission control for each road stud in response to the intrusion of a pedestrian, etc., there will be no change in the trigger, and confusion in the timing control of light emission can be avoided.

[0011] However, in the above system, when approach information from a plurality of road studs arrives at a certain road stud at the same time, the signals of the approach information may disappear, and a phenomenon may occur in which none of the approach information is received by the other road stud. Therefore, in order to reliably transmit to one road stud that the approach of a pedestrian or the like has been detected at one of the road studs even when approach information from a plurality of road studs arrives at the same time from a plurality of road studs, in the above system of the present invention, when each road stud transmits approach information indicating that it has detected the approach of a pedestrian or the like, it may be configured to transmit the approach information at least twice at intervals specific to each road stud. With this configuration, even if the first transmitted approach information from a plurality of road studs arrives at a certain road stud at the same time, the second transmitted approach information from the plurality of road studs will arrive at the one road stud with a time difference and be reliably received.

[0012] In the above configuration, the light emitter lights up or blinks for a predetermined period of time, triggered by the detection of the intrusion of a pedestrian or the like by the detector and the reception or transmission of the intrusion information. Specifically, when the intrusion of a pedestrian or the like is detected or the intrusion information is transmitted or received, the light emitter may light up or blink for one to several seconds. The detection period may usually be set to 10 ms to 100 ms, and when the intrusion of a pedestrian or the like is detected and the intrusion information is transmitted or received during the intrusion or blinking of the light emitter, the light emitter or blinking period may be extended from the intrusion of a pedestrian or the like and the reception or transmission of the intrusion information in the new detection period to the end of the predetermined period. That is, the light emitter may light up or blink continuously from the last intrusion of a pedestrian or the like and the reception or transmission of the intrusion information to the end of the predetermined period. The blinking period when the light emitter is blinked may be set arbitrarily. Effect of the Invention

[0013] Thus, in the above-mentioned system of the present invention, each road stud autonomously controls the light emission of the light emitter in response to the detection of the intrusion of pedestrians, etc. and the transmission and reception of intrusion information from other road studs, so there is no need for equipment to centrally manage the operation of all road studs or equipment to detect the presence of pedestrians, etc. at both ends of the crosswalk. When installing the road stud system, when placing road studs at appropriate intervals along the crosswalk, it is sufficient to place an appropriate number of road studs according to the length of the crosswalk, and even if the number of road studs is changed during installation, since it is not a centralized control system, no adjustment is required, which is advantageous in that installation is easy. The system of the present invention is advantageously used to notify drivers of surrounding vehicles when pedestrians, etc. are crossing, especially at crosswalks without traffic lights.

[0014] Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] Fig. 1(A) is a schematic plan view of a pedestrian crossing and its surroundings to which the road stud system according to the present embodiment is applied. Fig. 1(B) is a block diagram showing the configuration of each road stud in the road stud system according to the present embodiment. [Diagram 2] Fig. 2(A) is a diagram showing, in the form of a flow chart, one aspect of the operation of each road stud in the road stud system according to the present embodiment. Fig. 2(B) and (C) are diagrams showing modified steps of the operation of each road stud in Fig. 2(A), respectively. [Explanation of symbols]

[0016] R...road, CL...center divider, SL...stop line, LL...side line, P...pedestrians, etc., PC...crosswalk, 10...vehicle, 20...light-emitting road stud, 21...detection range, 22...AC adapter, 23...light-emitting device (LED), 24...detector (microwave sensor), 25...signal communication device, 26...operation controller, 27...control signal line, 30...electric wire BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THEINVENTION

[0017] System Overview The road stud system of this embodiment (hereinafter referred to as "this system") is applied to a pedestrian crossing PC set on a road R as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1(A). Specifically, this system is composed of a number of road studs 20 embedded in the road along one or both sides of the crosswalk PC, and as will be explained in detail later, when each road stud 20 detects the entry of a pedestrian or bicycle (pedestrian, etc.) into its appropriately set detection range 21, it emits light and transmits that information (entry information) to the other road studs 20 (within the same crosswalk).Furthermore, the road stud 20 to which the entry information has been transmitted also emits light and transmits the entry information to the other road studs 20 (within the same crosswalk).As a result, while a pedestrian, etc. P is crossing the crosswalk PC in close proximity, each road stud 20 emits light (lights up or flashes) almost simultaneously, and the driver of the vehicle 10 approaching the crosswalk PC is notified that a pedestrian, etc. P is crossing the crosswalk PC or that a pedestrian, etc. P is present in the immediate vicinity of the crosswalk PC. In order to ensure that each road stud 20 emits light whenever a pedestrian P is present in any area on the crosswalk, the road studs 20 may be placed at appropriate intervals, as shown in the figure, so that the entire area of ​​a crosswalk is covered by the detection range 21 of the road studs 20 placed along the crosswalk, that is, so that the entire area within the crosswalk is covered by the detection range 21 of any road stud 20. Since each road stud 20 in the above-mentioned system autonomously detects the entry of pedestrians, etc., transmits and receives information, and controls light emission, there is no need for equipment at the crosswalk PC to centrally control the operation of all the road studs 20.

[0018] Configuration of each road stud As shown in FIG. 1B, each of the road studs 20 of the system may include an AC adapter 22 that converts AC power from an underground power supply line 30 into DC power, a light emitter 23 that emits light when power is supplied, a detector 24 that detects pedestrians, etc., a signal communicator 25 that communicates signals (entry information) with other road studs, and a controller 26 that controls the operation of these components. The light emitter 23 typically employs an LED, but is not limited to this. The detector 24 may be any detection means such as a microwave sensor that can detect the entry of a pedestrian, etc. into the detection range 21. The signal communicator 25 may be any type of communication means capable of transmitting and receiving wireless or wired signals. The controller 26 may be any microcomputer device that can control the operation of each of the above-mentioned components via a control signal line 27. Each road stud 20 may be configured to receive power from an underground power supply line 30 as shown in the figure, but each may also have a battery (not shown) and use the power stored in the battery.

[0019] Operation of each road stud As already mentioned, in this system, each road stud 20 autonomously detects the intrusion of pedestrians and the like into the detection range 21, transmits and receives intrusion information, and controls light emission, and the series of operations may be performed as illustrated in Figure 2(A).

[0020] More specifically, referring to the figure, at each road stud, the process of detecting the presence or absence of a pedestrian or the like within the detection range 21 of the detector (detection process-step 1) may be executed at each detection cycle of a predetermined length that is appropriately set, for example, at about 10 to 100 msec. Then, during each detection cycle (the period from one detection process to the next), signal transmission and reception and light emission control (steps 2 to 13) are executed in different processes depending on the presence or absence of detection of a pedestrian or the like at each road stud.

[0021] More specifically, first, when there are no pedestrians etc. on the crosswalk, even if the detection process is executed in the detector at each road stud (step 1), no pedestrians etc. are detected by the road stud (step 2), and therefore, until the next detection process, i.e., by the end of one detection cycle, no information of pedestrians etc. entering the road stud is transmitted from any of the other road studs, and no entry information is stored in the receiving buffer of the signal receiver of each road stud (step 3), so the light emitters of all the road studs remain off (step 4).

[0022] On the other hand, when a pedestrian approaches or enters the crosswalk, the pedestrian is detected by one of the road studs in the detection process (step 1). At that time, the road stud that first detects the pedestrian (step 2) has not received any entry information from any of the other road studs and has not stored any entry information in the reception buffer (step 8), so it transmits the earliest entry information (most advanced entry information) indicating that it has detected a pedestrian (step 9) and starts emitting light (lighting or blinking) from the light emitter (step 10). In step 9, the most advanced entry information may be information (ID) that identifies the road stud itself or information that includes it, to indicate that it has detected a pedestrian.

[0023] As described above, the most advanced information transmitted by at least one road stud is received by other road studs. When a road stud that has not detected a pedestrian or the like (step 2) receives the most advanced information, the most advanced information is stored in the receiving buffer of that road stud (step 3), and that road stud transmits the received most advanced information to other road studs (step 6), and the transmission and reception of the most advanced information triggers the start of light emission from the light emitter (step 7). Then, when the transmitted most advanced information is received by another road stud that has not received the most advanced information until then, the most advanced information is transmitted there again, and this process is repeated until the next detection process. Eventually, the most advanced information reaches all road studs, including road studs that have not detected a pedestrian or the like, and thus light emission from the light emitter is started in all road studs arranged along the crosswalk.

[0024] In addition, in the above process, the road stud that transmitted the most advanced entry information receives its own transmitted most advanced entry information from the other road studs, so it can confirm that its approach information has been properly communicated to the other road studs. More specifically, when the other road stud that received the most advanced entry information transmits its most advanced entry information (step 6), the most advanced entry information is also stored in the receiving buffer of the road stud that first transmitted its most advanced entry information (step 8). After that, if it is verified that the approach information that has arrived first in the receiving buffer of that road stud is its own most advanced entry information (step 11), it is confirmed that its own most advanced entry information has reached the other road studs, that is, that proper communication has been achieved. Then, when the road stud that first transmitted its most advanced entry information receives its own most advanced entry information from the other road studs, it may transmit its own most advanced entry information again (step 9).

[0025] In the above process, when a road stud detects the entry of a pedestrian or the like and transmits its own entry information, and then receives another entry information transmitted by another road stud after detecting the entry of a pedestrian or the like before its own entry information is returned from another road stud (steps 8 and 11), the other entry information becomes the most advanced entry information. In this case, in one embodiment, as shown in step 12 of Fig. 2(A), the most advanced entry information transmitted by the other road stud may be transmitted, and the light emitter may be illuminated in response to the reception and transmission of the most advanced entry information (step 13). In this case, the light emitters of all road studs will be illuminated according to the most advanced entry information (entry information transmitted by the road stud that first detected a pedestrian or the like among all road studs).

[0026] In addition, as another aspect of the case where a road stud detects the intrusion of a pedestrian, etc. and transmits its own intrusion information, and then receives another intrusion information transmitted by another road stud after detecting the intrusion of a pedestrian, etc. before its own intrusion information returns from the other road stud (i.e., when its own intrusion information is not the most advanced intrusion information), as shown in Fig. 2 (B), in step 11, each road stud searches whether its own intrusion information is present in the received intrusion information, and when its own intrusion information is found, it may transmit its own intrusion information again and continue to emit light from the light emitter according to the intrusion information. In this case, once it detects the intrusion of a pedestrian, etc. and starts emitting light from the light emitter according to that, the light emitter will be emitted according to its own intrusion information until the end of the current detection cycle, and the intrusion information that triggers the emission of the reference light emitter will not be changed in the middle, which can avoid confusion in control.

[0027] However, in the above system configuration, when the entry of a pedestrian or the like is detected by two or more road studs and the entry information transmitted by them reaches another road stud at the same time, a phenomenon is observed in which the entry information signals collide and disappear, and none of the entry information is received by the other road stud. In order to avoid such a situation, as shown in Figure 2 (C), in step 9, each road stud may transmit its own entry information twice at different intervals, that is, at intervals specific to each road stud. With this configuration, even if the first entry information disappears and is not received due to the collision of the entry information signals at one road stud, the second entry information arrives with a time difference, so that one of the entry information will be received.

[0028] In each road stud, the receiving buffer is composed of multiple areas, and in the above series of processes, the areas of the receiving buffer are checked in sequence, and the confirmed receiving buffer areas are cleared in sequence (step 5). In the next detection cycle, when the receiving buffer is checked, control processing is executed based on the approach information that has arrived at the receiving buffer after the above clearing. This prevents one approach information from being sent and received infinitely.

[0029] The light emission of the light emitter of each road stud may be triggered by the transmission or reception of the approach information, and more specifically, the light emitter may be turned on or blinked for a predetermined time period that may be set arbitrarily from the occurrence of the trigger. The predetermined time period for the light emitter to be turned on or blinked may be a time period that is sufficiently recognized by the driver of the vehicle, and is usually set longer than the detection period of the detector. Therefore, the light emitter may be turned on or blinked after a predetermined time period has elapsed from the last transmission or reception of the approach information (steps 8, 9, 12). Furthermore, when the light emitter is made to blink, the blinking period may be a period that is sufficiently recognized by the driver of the vehicle, and is usually set longer than the detection period of the detector.

[0030] The detection cycle of the detector (or the transmission and reception cycle of entry information) may be changed according to the moving speed of a detected pedestrian, etc. For example, the detection cycle of the detector may be made shorter as the moving speed increases.

[0031] Thus, according to this system, each road stud does not require equipment for centralized monitoring, and is controlled by autonomous distributed cooperative control to emit light almost simultaneously while a pedestrian is approaching or entering the crosswalk. This system may be advantageously applied, particularly, to crosswalks without traffic lights.

[0032] The above description has been given in relation to the embodiment of the present invention, but it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications and changes can be easily made thereto, and that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment exemplified above, but can be applied to various devices without departing from the concept of the present invention.

Claims

[Claim 1] A road stud system comprising a plurality of luminous road studs arranged along a pedestrian crossing, each road stud comprising: A light emitter, A detector that detects the intrusion of a pedestrian or the like within a predetermined range from the installation position; a signal emitting / receiving means for emitting entry information indicating the entry of a pedestrian or the like when the detector detects the entry and for receiving entry information emitted by other road studs, and further for emitting the entry information when the detector receives the entry information emitted by the other road studs; a light emission control means for causing the light emitter to emit light for a predetermined period of time either when the detector detects the intrusion of the pedestrian or the like or when the detector receives the intrusion information transmitted by the other road stud; When any of the plurality of road studs detects the intrusion of a pedestrian or the like, all of the plurality of road studs emit light from their respective light emitters for the specified period of time.

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