Traffic monitoring device, traffic monitoring system, and method for providing maas (mobility as a service)
The traffic monitoring device improves collision avoidance by setting exclusive areas for various moving objects, enhancing safety and reducing unnecessary vehicle actions by accurately identifying and managing collision risks.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- JP2023110974
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2023-07-05
- Publication Date
- 2025-01-20
AI Technical Summary
Conventional collision avoidance systems focus solely on the vehicle in front, necessitating large determination areas that can lead to unnecessary deceleration and fail to consider other moving objects like bicycles, PMVs, and pedestrians, resulting in inefficient collision risk management.
A traffic monitoring device that sets exclusive areas around multiple moving bodies based on their movement information, communicating when these areas overlap to notify vehicles of potential collisions, using detectors and vehicle sensors to determine and manage collision risks accurately.
Enhances collision avoidance by precisely identifying potential risks with other moving objects, reducing unnecessary vehicle deceleration and improving safety through targeted notifications, supporting both human-driven and autonomous vehicles.
Smart Images

Figure 2025008641000001_ABST
Abstract
Description
[Technical field]
[0001] The present disclosure relates to a traffic monitoring device, a traffic monitoring system, and a MaaS (Mobility as a Service) providing method. [Background technology]
[0002] A driving support device that sets a judgment area in front of a vehicle has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). When at least a part of a leading vehicle overlaps with the judgment area, this driving support device issues a warning to the driver of the vehicle, indicating that there is a collision risk. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]
[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-62760 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]
[0004] In the conventional technology, a judgment area is set only in front of the vehicle to be assisted, and the risk of collision with the preceding vehicle traveling in front of the vehicle is judged. Therefore, in the conventional technology, in order to ensure safety, it is necessary to set a large judgment area, which may cause unnecessary deceleration and / or awkward movement. In addition, the conventional technology does not take into account the presence of vehicles other than the preceding vehicle, bicycles other than vehicles, PMVs (Personal Mobility Vehicles), pedestrians, and other moving objects, and their moving states.
[0005] An object of the present disclosure, made in consideration of the above circumstances, is to improve technology relating to collision avoidance for moving bodies in road traffic. [Means for solving the problem]
[0006] A traffic monitoring device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a communication unit configured to acquire movement information relating to the movement of a plurality of moving bodies including a vehicle and configured to communicate with the vehicle, and a control unit that sets an exclusive area around the moving body based on the movement information and generates a notification to be sent to the vehicle when the exclusive area around the vehicle overlaps with the exclusive area of a moving body other than the vehicle. Effect of the Invention
[0007] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to improve the technology related to collision avoidance in road traffic. [Brief description of the drawings]
[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a traffic monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of traffic on a road monitored by the traffic monitoring system of FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of an exclusive area when a vehicle travels straight. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of an exclusive region when a vehicle changes its traveling direction. [Diagram 5] 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating examples of exclusive regions of different types of moving objects. [Figure 6] 4 is a flowchart illustrating the procedure of a traffic monitoring method executed by a traffic monitoring device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings used in the following description are schematic. The dimensions and ratios in the drawings do not necessarily correspond to the real ones.
[0010] (Traffic monitoring system configuration) 1, a traffic monitoring system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a traffic monitoring device 10, one or more detectors 20, and one or more vehicles 30. The traffic monitoring device 10 and the detectors 20, and the traffic monitoring device 10 and the vehicles 30 are communicatively connected to each other via a network 40 such as a dedicated network or a Virtual Private Network (VPN) by wired communication means and / or wireless communication means.
[0011] The traffic monitoring device 10 is a computer that monitors road traffic. The traffic monitoring device 10 acquires information on the movement of moving objects 50 (see FIG. 2), including the vehicle 30, traveling on the road to be monitored from detectors 20 and / or vehicles 30 installed in the road infrastructure, and judges whether there is a risk of collision between the vehicle 30 and another moving object 50. An example of the vehicle 30 and the moving object 50 traveling on the road is shown in FIG. 2. When the traffic monitoring device 10 judges that there is a risk of a collision occurring, it notifies the vehicle 30 that is at risk of being involved in the collision.
[0012] Hereinafter, information related to the movement of the moving body 50 will be referred to as movement information. The movement information includes information on the position of the moving body 50, the speed of the moving body 50, and the traveling direction of the moving body 50. The movement information may further include information on the type of the moving body 50, information on the wet / dry state of the road surface on which the moving body 50 travels, and information on the steering angle of the vehicle 30 when the moving body 50 is a vehicle 30. The movement information may be acquired from at least one of the detector 20 and the vehicle 30.
[0013] The moving objects 50 include bicycles 51, personal mobility vehicles (PMVs) 52, and pedestrians 53 that move on a road. The moving objects 50 may further include vehicles 30. That is, when the traffic monitoring device 10 focuses on a specific vehicle 30 and determines the risk of a collision, other vehicles 30 may be treated as moving objects 50.
[0014] In one embodiment, the traffic monitoring device 10 and the traffic monitoring system 1 may be used to provide MaaS, which is a service that utilizes mobility. "MaaS" is an abbreviation for Mobility as a Service.
[0015] As shown in FIG. 1, the traffic monitoring device 10 includes a communication unit 11, a control unit 12, and a storage unit 13.
[0016] The communication unit 11 includes a communication interface for communicating with devices external to the traffic monitoring device 10. The external devices include the detector 20 and the vehicle 30. The communication unit 11 supports wired communication and / or wireless communication. The communication unit 11 communicates with the detector 20 and the vehicle 30.
[0017] The control unit 12 is configured to include a single or multiple processors and memories. The processors include general-purpose processors that execute programmed functions by loading specific programs, and dedicated processors specialized for specific processes. The control unit 12 can load programs for traffic monitoring and execute various processes for traffic monitoring. The control unit 12 integrates information acquired from multiple detectors 20 and information acquired from multiple vehicles 30 to determine the risk of the vehicle 30 colliding with another moving body 50. The control unit 12 generates a notification for the vehicle 30 that is determined to be at risk of collision, and transmits this notification to the vehicle 30 via the communication unit 11. In other words, the process executed by the traffic monitoring device 10 can be executed by the control unit 12.
[0018] The storage unit 13 includes at least one semiconductor memory, at least one magnetic memory, at least one optical memory, or a combination of at least two of these. The storage unit 13 functions as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 13 stores programs and data used in the operation of the traffic monitoring device 10, and data obtained by the operation of the traffic monitoring device 10. Each piece of information stored in the storage unit 13 may be updatable, for example, with information acquired from the communication unit 11.
[0019] For example, the storage unit 13 may store a map of roads within an area monitored by the traffic monitoring device 10. The storage unit 13 may also store the positions and detectable areas of each detector 20 in association with the road map. The storage unit 13 may also store various parameters required to set the exclusive areas 35, 55 (see FIG. 2).
[0020] The detector 20 is a sensor that detects a moving object 50 including a vehicle 30 on a road. A large number of detectors 20 may be arranged in an area monitored by the traffic monitoring system 1. The detector 20 may include an AI camera, an ultrasonic sensor, an optical beacon, a LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), or the like. For example, the detector 20 may be an edge AI camera equipped with an AI processing function, and may recognize the position, speed, and traveling direction of the detected moving object 50, and transmit information on the recognized moving object 50 together with an image of the moving object 50 to the traffic monitoring device 10. Such recognition processing of the moving object 50 may be performed by the traffic monitoring device 10 based on an image acquired from the camera. The detector 20 transmits information on the movement of the moving object 50 to the traffic monitoring device 10 as movement information.
[0021] The vehicle 30 includes, but is not limited to, passenger cars, trucks, buses, large and small special purpose vehicles, etc. The vehicle 30 includes various types of vehicles 30 that will be realized in the future. The vehicle 30 is capable of communicating with the traffic monitoring device 10 and can receive notifications from the traffic monitoring device 10. The vehicle 30 may be able to notify the driver of the received notification by image and sound.
[0022] The vehicle 30 includes, for example, a vehicle communication unit 31, a vehicle control unit 32, an on-board sensor 33, and an alarm unit .
[0023] The vehicle communication unit 31 includes at least one external communication interface that connects to the network 40 by wireless communication. The external communication interface is an interface compatible with mobile communication standards such as a fourth generation mobile communication system (4G: 4th Generation) such as LTE (Long Term Evolution) and a fifth generation mobile communication system (5G: 5th Generation). The vehicle communication unit 31 can transmit movement information of the vehicle 30 to the traffic monitoring device 10. The vehicle communication unit 31 can receive a notification indicating a risk of collision with another moving object 50 from the traffic monitoring device 10.
[0024] The vehicle control unit 32 is configured to include a single or multiple processors and memories, similar to the control unit 12 of the traffic monitoring device 10. The vehicle control unit 32 may be a control unit of an information processing device mounted on the vehicle 30. The vehicle control unit 32 may transmit movement information of the vehicle 30 obtained as a result of processing the output of the on-board sensor 33 to the traffic monitoring device 10 via the vehicle communication unit 31. Based on the notification from the traffic monitoring device 10 received via the vehicle communication unit 31, the vehicle control unit 32 can notify the driver of the risk of a collision occurring using the notification unit 34.
[0025] The on-board sensor 33 may include a sensor that detects the position, speed, and traveling direction of the vehicle 30. For example, the on-board sensor 33 includes a vehicle speed sensor, a steering angle sensor, and a direction sensor such as a gyro sensor. The on-board sensor 33 may also include a receiver compatible with the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The receiver compatible with the GNSS includes a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. The vehicle 30 can transmit these pieces of information as movement information to the traffic monitoring device 10. The on-board sensor 33 may further include a camera that captures an image of the road surface of the road on which the vehicle 30 is traveling. The vehicle control unit 32 may analyze the image of the camera to determine the wet / dry state of the road surface and transmit the determination result to the traffic monitoring device 10.
[0026] The notification unit 34 notifies the driver of the vehicle 30 of the notification received from the traffic monitoring device 10. The notification unit 34 may include a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display. The notification unit 34 may also include a speaker for notifying the notification by voice. The notification unit 34 can notify the driver of the vehicle 30 of instructions including deceleration and stopping by using images, voice, etc. according to the notification received from the traffic monitoring device 10.
[0027] The vehicle 30 may be an autonomous vehicle capable of at least partially autonomous driving. The autonomous driving includes, for example, levels 1 to 5 defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), but is not limited to these and may be defined arbitrarily. In this case, the vehicle 30 may be configured to control driving when receiving a notification from the traffic monitoring device 10 using the received notification. That is, the vehicle 30 may control driving by integrating information collected by the vehicle's own sensor and information acquired from the traffic monitoring device 10.
[0028] (Collision risk assessment) A method for determining the risk of a collision occurring using the traffic monitoring system 1 will be described below with reference to Fig. 2. A large number of detectors 20 are placed along roads in an area monitored by the traffic monitoring system 1. The detectors 20 may be placed so as to cover all the roads in the monitored area. The detectors 20 may also be placed with a focus on specific intersections or locations where accidents frequently occur.
[0029] The control unit 12 of the traffic monitoring device 10 calculates an exclusive region 55 around the moving body 50 including the vehicle 30 based on information acquired from the detector 20 and the vehicle 30. The exclusive region 55 is determined taking into consideration movement information including the current position, speed, and traveling direction of the moving body 50. The exclusive region 55 is a region where a collision may be unavoidable when another moving body 50 enters. Therefore, it is preferable that no other moving body 50 exists in the exclusive region 55 of a certain moving body 50.
[0030] The control unit 12 can set the shape of the exclusive region 55 based on the type of the moving body 50. The types of the moving body 50 include, for example, a bicycle 51, a PMV 52, and a pedestrian 53, in addition to the vehicle 30. The types of the moving body 50 are not limited to these. The shape of the exclusive region 55 takes into consideration the movement characteristics of each type of moving body 50, as described later.
[0031] The exclusive area 55 extends from the position of the moving body 50 in the traveling direction of the moving body 50. The length of the exclusive area 55 in the traveling direction changes depending on the speed of the moving body 50. The faster the speed of the moving body 50, the longer the length of the exclusive area 55 in the traveling direction.
[0032] The control unit 12 of the traffic monitoring device 10 arranges the exclusive areas 55 in a virtual space that reflects the positional relationship of the real moving bodies 50, and when the exclusive areas 55 of two or more different moving bodies 50 overlap, it determines that there is a risk of collision between these two or more moving bodies 50. For example, in the example of FIG. 2, the exclusive area 35 of the vehicle 30 and the exclusive area 55 of the pedestrian 53 overlap, so the control unit 12 determines that there is a risk of collision between the vehicle 30 and the pedestrian 53. When the vehicle 30 is included in the moving bodies 50 that may collide, the control unit 12 generates a notification notifying the possibility of a collision occurring, regarding this as a specific vehicle 30. The control unit 12 transmits the generated notification to the specific vehicle 30 via the communication unit 11. In this way, the traffic monitoring device 10 can predict the occurrence of a collision between the vehicle 30 and another moving body 50 and transmit a notification to the vehicle 30 to avoid the collision.
[0033] (How to set an exclusive area) As described above, the exclusive areas 35, 55 are determined by calculation according to the type of the moving object 50. The length of the exclusive areas 35, 55 in the traveling direction is determined based on the total length of the braking distance and the free running distance of each type of moving object 50. As a result, the exclusive areas 35, 55 expand and contract according to the speed of the moving object 50.
[0034] 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for setting an exclusive region 35 for a vehicle 30. In the example of FIG. 3, the exclusive region 35 includes a warning region 36 and a notification region 37. The notification region 37 is larger than the warning region 36.
[0035] The warning area 36 is, for example, a rectangular area including the vehicle 30, having a long side extending in the traveling direction of the vehicle 30 and a short side extending in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle 30. X1w and Y1w in FIG. 3 are the length of the long side and the length of the short side of the warning area 36, respectively. X1w and Y1w can be set as follows. In the following formulas, the values of α1 to α4 and β1 to β3 are constants that are set individually in each formula.
[0036] X1w [m] = vehicle length [m] + free running distance [m] + braking distance [m] Empty running distance [m] = Empty running time 1.5 [s] × Vehicle speed [km / h] ÷ 3600 × 1000 Braking distance [m] = (speed [km / h]) 2 ÷(254 × coefficient of friction) Y1w[m]=vehicle width[m]+α1[m]
[0037] The friction coefficient used to calculate the braking distance is calculated, for example, based on information from a detector 20 installed in the road infrastructure. The control unit 12 may acquire an image from the detector 20, which is, for example, a camera, and recognize the condition of the road surface from the image of the road surface. The control unit 12 may also acquire information from the vehicle 30 on the wet / dry state of the road surface on which the vehicle 30 travels. The control unit 12 makes the braking distance longer when the road surface is wet than when the road surface is dry. The friction coefficient is, for example, 0.7 when the road surface is dry, and 0.5 when the road surface is wet.
[0038] The notification area 37 is a rectangular area similar to the warning area 36. X1n and Y1n in Fig. 3 are the lengths of the long and short sides, respectively, of the notification area 37. X1n and Y1n can be expressed as follows.
[0039] X1n[m]=X1w[m]+α2[m] Y1n[m]=Y1w[m]+α3[m] α2 and α3 are margins in the vehicle travel direction and vehicle width direction with respect to the warning area 36.
[0040] As described above, by setting the notification area 37 and the warning area 36, the control unit 12 of the traffic monitoring device 10 can transmit a notification of danger to the vehicle 30 when the notification area 37 and the exclusive area 55 of the moving body 50 overlap. In addition, the control unit 12 can transmit an alarm to the vehicle 30 to notify the driver of a higher level of danger than the notification when the alarm area 36 and the exclusive area 55 of the moving body 50 overlap. The vehicle 30 can notify the driver of a danger in two stages upon receiving the notification and the alarm. In addition, when the vehicle 30 is an autonomous vehicle, the vehicle 30 can perform a collision avoidance operation in different ways in response to the notification and the alarm. The different ways include deceleration, lane change, and stopping. For example, the vehicle 30 may decelerate when it receives the notification, and stop when it receives the alarm.
[0041] A method for setting the exclusive region 35 when the vehicle 30 changes its traveling direction will be described with reference to Fig. 4. First, when the movement information of the vehicle 30 includes information on the steering angle of the vehicle 30, the control unit 12 calculates the front wheel position turning radius R according to the following formula.
[0042] R[m]=L[m] / sinθ Here, L is the wheelbase, that is, the length from the center of the front wheels to the center of the rear wheels of the vehicle 30. θ is the front wheel steering angle.
[0043] As shown in FIG. 4(a), the control unit 12 sets an exclusive region 35 curved like a circular arc so that the length along the circumference of the front wheel position turning radius R becomes X1w calculated by the above-mentioned formula.
[0044] 4(b), the control unit 12 may tilt the exclusive area 35a calculated for the vehicle 30 traveling straight toward the traveling direction in response to a change in the traveling direction, to obtain an exclusive area 35b after the change in the traveling direction. This method may be adopted when the movement information of the vehicle 30 does not include the front wheel steering angle θ.
[0045] Furthermore, the control unit 12 may hold the angle information before the change in the traveling direction for a certain period of time. The control unit 12 may set, as the exclusive region 35, a sector-shaped exclusive region 35c including two exclusive regions 35a and 35b calculated based on the current traveling direction and the traveling direction a predetermined time ago.
[0046] FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of a method for setting an exclusive region 55 for a different type of moving object 50 other than the vehicle 30. In FIG.
[0047] When the moving object 50 is a bicycle 51, the control unit 12 increases the ratio of the width of the exclusive area 55 in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction to the length of the bicycle 51 in the traveling direction as the speed of the bicycle 51 decreases. This is because the bicycle 51 is more likely to stagger, make sudden changes in direction, or fall over as the speed of the bicycle 51 decreases. The control unit 12 may set the exclusive area 55 so as to include a circular area 52a corresponding to the stagger, etc., with the bicycle at the center. As shown in FIG. 5(a), the control unit 12 may set the exclusive area 55 to a shape that spreads toward the traveling direction. This is because the bicycle 51 is more likely to change the traveling direction in an unpredictable way. When the speed of the bicycle 51 is high, the control unit 12 may set the ratio of the width of the exclusive area 55 in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction to the length of the bicycle 51 in the traveling direction to a small value. For example, the exclusive area 55 may be a part of a sector that spreads left and right with the traveling direction as the center. The control unit 12 can set the central angle θ of the sector to be smaller as the speed of the bicycle 51 increases.
[0048] For example, when X2w and R2w in FIG. 5(a) are respectively the total length of the exclusive area 55 of the bicycle 51 and the width of the exclusive area 55 at the position of the bicycle 51, X2w and R2w can be set by the following formulas.
[0049] X2w[m] = Total length of moving object [m] + Free running distance [m] + Braking distance [m] R2w[m]=moving object speed[m / s]×β1[s] The central angle θ of the sector is set according to the speed of the moving body.
[0050] When the moving body 50 is a PMV 52, as shown in FIG. 5(b), the control unit 12 can set the exclusive area 55 to a rectangle having a long side in the traveling direction. X3w and Y3w are the length of the long side and the length of the short side of the exclusive area 55, respectively. X3w and Y3w can be set by the following formula. Y3w, which is the width perpendicular to the traveling direction of the exclusive area 55, is set to be larger as the speed of the PMV 52 is higher. The PMV 52 has various forms, and the shape of the exclusive area may be changed according to the form. For example, in the case of a kick scooter where wobbling at low speed is expected, the shape may be similar to that of a bicycle 51, and in the case of a wheelchair where the direction can be changed on the spot, the shape may be similar to that of a pedestrian 53.
[0051] X3w[m] = Total length of moving object [m] + Free running distance [m] + Braking distance [m] Y3w[m]=moving object speed[m / s]×β2[s]
[0052] When the moving body 50 is a pedestrian 53, as shown in FIG. 5(c), the control unit 12 can set the exclusive area 55 to a shape in which a part of a circle centered on the position of the pedestrian 53 protrudes in the moving direction of the pedestrian 53. The pedestrian 53 may always suddenly change the moving direction. Therefore, the basic shape of the exclusive area 55 of the pedestrian 53 can be a circle. When the pedestrian 53 stops, the protruding part of the exclusive area 55 disappears and the entire area becomes a circle. X4w and R4w respectively indicate the length of the exclusive area 55 of the pedestrian 53 in the moving direction and the width of the exclusive area 55 at the position of the pedestrian 53 (i.e., the diameter of the circular part). X4w and R4w can be set as follows.
[0053] X4w=moving object speed [m / s]×β3[s]+α4[m] R4w=moving object speed [m / s]×β3[s]
[0054] (Traffic monitoring method procedure) An example of the procedure of a traffic monitoring method executed by the control unit 12 of the traffic monitoring device 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 6. The method shown in the flowchart of Fig. 6 can be executed by a processor included in the control unit 12 of the traffic monitoring device 10 according to a program. Such a program can be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium.
[0055] First, the control unit 12 acquires movement information of the moving object 50 from the road infrastructure detector 20 and the vehicle 30 via the communication unit 11 (S101). The moving object 50 includes the vehicle 30. The movement information includes information on the position, speed, and traveling direction of the moving object 50. The movement information may further include information on the type of the moving object 50, the wet / dry state of the road surface on which the moving object 50 travels, and the steering angle when the moving object 50 is a vehicle 30.
[0056] The control unit 12 sets an exclusive region 55 around each moving body 50 based on the acquired movement information (S102). The exclusive region 55 extends from the position of the moving body 50 toward the traveling direction of the moving body 50 by a length calculated based on the speed. When the movement information includes information on the wet / dry state of the road surface on which the moving body 50 travels, the control unit 12 may set the length of the exclusive region 55 in the traveling direction of the moving body 50 to be longer when the road surface is in a wet state than when the road surface is in a dry state. When the movement information includes the type of the moving body 50, the control unit 12 may set the exclusive region 55 to a shape and dimensions according to the type of the moving body 50. When the movement information includes information on the steering angle of the vehicle 30, the control unit 12 may set the exclusive region 35 of the vehicle 30 as a region including a circular arc-shaped region curved with a curvature according to the steering angle.
[0057] The control unit 12 maps the exclusive regions 55 of each moving body 50 to the same space associated with the actual position of the moving body 50 (S103). The same space may be a virtual two-dimensional space not including the height direction. Furthermore, in cases where collisions do not occur in the height direction, such as at intersections, height information may be added to the mapping. The control unit 12 may map the exclusive regions 55 of the detected moving bodies 50 for the entire area monitored by the traffic monitoring device 10. Furthermore, the control unit 12 may map only the exclusive regions 55 of moving bodies 50 passing around a specific intersection to the same space.
[0058] The control unit 12 detects an overlap between the exclusive region 35 of the vehicle 30 and the exclusive region 55 of a moving body 50 other than the vehicle 30, which are mapped in the same space (S104). If there is an overlap between the exclusive region 35 and the exclusive region 55, the control unit 12 determines that there is a risk of a collision occurring between the vehicle 30 and the moving body 50.
[0059] The control unit 12 generates a notification of a risk of collision for the vehicle 30 having an exclusive area 35 that overlaps with the exclusive area 55 of the moving body 50. The control unit 12 transmits the notification via the communication unit 11 (S105). When the exclusive area 35 of the vehicle 30 includes a plurality of areas as shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 12 may transmit the notification to the vehicle 30 in multiple stages. That is, the control unit 12 may generate a notification of a different importance each time a different area overlaps with the exclusive area 55 of the moving body 50. The control unit 12 may continuously transmit notifications to the vehicle 30 until the overlap between the exclusive area 35 of the vehicle 30 and the exclusive area 55 of the moving body 50 is resolved.
[0060] The control unit 12 may transmit the risk of a collision occurring between the vehicle 30 and the moving object 50 to appropriately selected infrastructure equipment and terminal devices in addition to the vehicle 30. The infrastructure equipment is a traffic light, a display board, a speaker, etc. provided in the road infrastructure. The terminal device is an information terminal such as a smartphone or a wearable device carried by a specific traffic participant, and welfare equipment having an information communication function. The traffic participants are the driver of the vehicle 30, a user of a bicycle 51 or a PMV 52, a pedestrian 53, etc. The welfare equipment may include a white cane with a navigation function, a hearing aid, etc. The infrastructure equipment and the terminal device may provide an appropriate notification or warning to the traffic participants to reduce the possibility of a collision.
[0061] When the specific vehicle 30 that has received the notification from the traffic monitoring device 10 slows down or stops, the exclusive area 35 shrinks. When the overlap between the exclusive area 35 of the vehicle 30 and the exclusive area 55 of the moving body 50 is eliminated, the notification from the traffic monitoring device 10 to the vehicle 30 may be canceled.
[0062] As described above, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible to improve the technology of collision avoidance in road traffic. The traffic monitoring device 10 of the present disclosure sets an exclusive area 35, 55 for each moving body 50 including the vehicle 30, and issues a notification when the exclusive areas 35, 55 overlap. Therefore, the traffic monitoring device 10 of the present disclosure can stably determine the risk of collision even if the exclusive area is made smaller than when the exclusive area 35 is set only for the vehicle itself. Therefore, when the traffic monitoring device 10 of the present disclosure is used, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of unnecessary deceleration and stopping of the vehicle 30.
[0063] Furthermore, in the traffic monitoring system 1 of the present disclosure, the detectors 20 installed in the road infrastructure detect movement information of the moving body 50, so that the traffic monitoring device 10 can determine the risk of collision between the vehicle 30 and a moving body 50 other than the vehicle 30. Furthermore, the traffic monitoring device 10 integrates the movement information of the moving body 50 acquired from multiple detectors 20, so that it can notify the vehicle 30 of the risk of collision even for a moving body 50 located in a blind spot from the vehicle 30 due to a building or the like.
[0064] Furthermore, the traffic monitoring device 10 of the present disclosure can set an exclusive area 55 with a shape suitable for the movement of the moving object 50 according to the type of the moving object 50. This improves the accuracy of judging the risk of collision between the vehicle 30 and the moving object 50. In particular, when the moving object 50 is a bicycle 51 traveling at a low speed, the shape of the exclusive area 55 is set taking into consideration the possibility of swaying and changing course, so that the risk of collision with the vehicle 30 can be further reduced.
[0065] Furthermore, the traffic monitoring device 10 can set the exclusive area 35 according to the steering angle of the vehicle 30. As a result, when the vehicle 30 changes its direction of travel, it does not overlap with the exclusive area 55 of the moving body 50 located ahead in the straight line of travel. As a result, the traffic monitoring device 10 does not need to notify the vehicle 30 of unnecessary warnings, as compared to a conventional system that predicts a collision based on the current direction of travel of the vehicle 30 and the distance to an object located ahead.
[0066] Furthermore, when the vehicle 30 is an autonomous vehicle, the traffic monitoring system 1 can share the exclusive area 55 of the moving object 50 around the vehicle 30 by wireless communication. This allows the traffic monitoring system 1 to more smoothly support the autonomous driving of the vehicle 30.
[0067] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and many variations or modifications are possible. For example, the functions included in each means, step, etc. can be rearranged so as not to cause logical inconsistencies, and multiple means or steps can be combined into one or divided.
[0068] In the above embodiment, the collision avoidance between a vehicle and another moving body has been described as a target, but the present disclosure may also include collision avoidance between moving bodies other than vehicles. In this case, information related to the movement of the moving body can be detected by a sensor installed in the road infrastructure. Any sensing means including a camera, LiDAR, etc. can be adopted as the sensor. In addition, the notification to the moving body can be notified not only by communication with the moving body but also by a front-end device or a smartphone installed in the road infrastructure. The front-end device includes, for example, a traffic light, a speaker, and an LED dial. This eliminates the need to equip the moving body with a special device. [Explanation of symbols]
[0069] 1. Traffic monitoring system 10 Traffic monitoring device 11 Communications Department 12 Control section 13 Storage section 20 Detector 30 Vehicles (moving objects) 31 Vehicle Communication Department 32 Vehicle control unit 33 In-vehicle sensors 34 Notification Department 35 Exclusive Area 36 Warning area 37 Notification area 40 Network 50 Mobile 51 Bicycle (mobile object) 52 PMV (mobile) 53 Pedestrians (moving objects) 55 Exclusive Area
Claims
1. A communication unit configured to be able to acquire movement information related to movements of a plurality of moving bodies including a vehicle and to be able to communicate with the vehicle; a control unit that sets an exclusive area around the moving object based on the movement information, and generates a notification to be sent to the vehicle when the exclusive area around the vehicle overlaps with an exclusive area of the moving object other than the vehicle; A traffic monitoring device comprising:
2. 2. The traffic monitoring device of claim 1, wherein the movement information includes information on the position of the moving body, the speed of the moving body, and the direction of travel of the moving body, and the control unit sets the exclusive area extending from the position of the moving body in the direction of travel of the moving body by a length corresponding to the speed of the moving body based on the movement information.
3. The traffic monitoring device according to claim 2 , wherein the movement information further includes information on a type of the moving object, and the control unit sets a shape of the exclusive area based on the type of the moving object.
4. 4. The traffic monitoring device according to claim 3, wherein when the type of the moving object is a bicycle, the control unit increases the ratio of the width of the exclusive area in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the bicycle to the length of the bicycle in the traveling direction as the speed of the moving object decreases.
5. A traffic monitoring system including the traffic monitoring device according to claim 1, a detector that detects the movement information, and the vehicle, A traffic monitoring system in which the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle capable of at least partially autonomous driving, and when the vehicle receives a notification from the traffic monitoring device, the notification is used to control the driving of the vehicle.
6. A method for providing MaaS (Mobility as a Service) using the traffic monitoring device according to claim 1.
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