Roadside device

Abstract

To improve a technique relating to a roadside device.SOLUTION: A roadside device 20 comprises an imaging part 21, a communication part 22, a notification part 23 and a control part 25. The control part 25 receives vehicle information including relative position information between a first vehicle 10 as an automatic drive vehicle that approaches the roadside device 20, and a second vehicle 50 around the first vehicle 10, from an information processor 30 via the communication part 22, when detecting a pedestrian 60 near a driveway from a video image of the imaging part 21; and notifies the pedestrian 60 of notification information including the relative position information by the notification part 23.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to roadside devices. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there is known technology relating to roadside devices that notify pedestrians, vehicle drivers, driving assistants, etc. of the presence of vehicles or pedestrians. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a notification system that notifies vehicles other than autonomous vehicles or pedestrians, etc., whether they can pass or to warn them, depending on the behavior of the autonomous vehicles that are scheduled to pass through a predetermined traffic area. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-50629 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The behavior of an autonomous vehicle cannot be predicted from the behavior (gestures, eye contact, etc.) of the driver or driver assistant. Therefore, from a safety perspective, it is desirable to notify pedestrians of the presence of an autonomous vehicle. However, it can be difficult for pedestrians to determine whether a vehicle is autonomous or not just from an external appearance. Therefore, when multiple vehicles, including an autonomous vehicle, approach a pedestrian, the pedestrian may not be able to determine which vehicle is the autonomous vehicle, even if they are only notified that an autonomous vehicle is approaching.

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present disclosure is to improve the technology relating to roadside devices. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A roadside device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: The device includes a photographing unit, a communication unit, a notification unit, and a control unit, The control unit When a pedestrian near a roadway is detected from the image captured by the image capturing unit, vehicle information including relative position information between a first vehicle, which is an autonomous vehicle approaching the roadside device, and a second vehicle around the first vehicle is received from the information processing device via the communication unit; The notification unit notifies the pedestrian of notification information including the relative position information. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, technology relating to roadside devices is improved. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a first vehicle which is an autonomous driving vehicle. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a roadside device. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information processing device. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the roadside device. [Figure 6] 10 is an example of an image displayed on a display of a roadside device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described.

[0010] (Outline of the embodiment) An overview of a system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to Fig. 1. The system 1 includes a first vehicle 10, a roadside device 20, and an information processing device 30. The first vehicle 10, the roadside device 20, and the information processing device 30 are communicably connected to a network 40 including, for example, the Internet and a mobile communication network.

[0011] The first vehicle 10 is a connected car having a communication function with the network 40. The driving of the vehicle 10 is automated at any level. The level of automation may be, for example, any of levels 1 to 5 in the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) classification. The first vehicle 10 may be driven by a driver. The first vehicle 10 is, for example, an automobile such as a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle), PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), or FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle), but is not limited to these and may be any vehicle that can accommodate a human passenger. The system 1 may include one or more first vehicles 10.

[0012] The first vehicle 10 is equipped with a camera for detecting the second vehicle 50 around the first vehicle 10. In this embodiment, the second vehicle 50 does not have a communication function with the network 40, so the first vehicle 10 needs to detect the second vehicle 50 in order to obtain information about the second vehicle 50.

[0013] The roadside device 20 is installed in a position where a pedestrian 60 can be detected from the image of the mounted camera, for example, near the boundary between the roadway and the sidewalk. The roadside device 20 includes a notification unit 23 for notifying the pedestrian 60 of vehicle information. The notification unit 23 includes, for example, a display and / or a speaker.

[0014] The information processing device 30 is one or more computers such as a server device. In this embodiment, communication between the first vehicle 10 and the roadside device 20 is performed via the information processing device 30. For example, information about the first vehicle 10 and information about the second vehicle 50 detected by the first vehicle 10 are transmitted to the roadside device 20 via the information processing device 30. The information processing device 30 may communicate with the first vehicle 10 and continuously receive information about the first vehicle 10.

[0015] First, an overview of this embodiment will be described, and details will be described later. The roadside device 20 includes a photographing unit 21, a communication unit 22, a notification unit 23, and a control unit 25. When a pedestrian 60 near the roadway is detected from the image captured by the photographing unit 21, the roadside device 20 receives vehicle information including relative position information between a first vehicle 10, which is an autonomous vehicle approaching the roadside device 20, and a second vehicle 50 around the first vehicle 10, from the information processing device 30 via the communication unit 22. The roadside device 20 notifies the pedestrian 60 of the notification information including the relative position information using the notification unit 23.

[0016] According to this embodiment, a pedestrian 60 can grasp the relative position of an autonomously driven vehicle and other vehicles around the autonomously driven vehicle. This allows the pedestrian 60 to identify the autonomously driven vehicle from among multiple vehicles. This improves the safety of the pedestrian 60.

[0017] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the roadside device 20 can notify the pedestrian 60 of the presence of a vehicle located in a blind spot of the roadside device 20, which is created by multiple vehicles. For example, when an autonomous vehicle is located behind a large vehicle such as a truck or in front of a small vehicle such as a motorcycle, the roadside device 20 can notify the pedestrian 60 of information about the autonomous vehicle and information about vehicles around the autonomous vehicle. This allows the pedestrian 60 to recognize vehicles located in their blind spot, thereby improving the safety of the pedestrian 60.

[0018] As described above, this embodiment improves the technology related to the roadside device 20.

[0019] Next, each component of the system 1 will be described in detail.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 2, the first vehicle 10 includes a communication unit 11, a detection unit 12, a storage unit 13, and a control unit 14.

[0021] The communication unit 11 includes one or more communication interfaces that connect to the network 40. The communication interfaces are compatible with mobile communication standards such as, but not limited to, 4G (4th Generation) or 5G (5th Generation). The communication unit 11 may also include an inter-vehicle interface for communicating with a second vehicle 50 around the first vehicle 10.

[0022] The detection unit 12 includes one or more cameras capable of detecting one or more second vehicles 50 around the first vehicle 10. The detection unit 12 may include, for example, two or more cameras arranged in positions capable of capturing images of the periphery of the first vehicle 10, or an omnidirectional camera capable of capturing images of the periphery of the first vehicle 10. The detection unit 12 may further include a device for measuring the inter-vehicle distance, such as a millimeter-wave radar or LiDAR. The detection unit 12 may detect the second vehicle 50 by inter-vehicle communication using the inter-vehicle interface of the communication unit 11.

[0023] The storage unit 13 includes one or more memories. The memories may be, for example, semiconductor memories, magnetic memories, optical memories, or the like, but are not limited to these. Each memory included in the storage unit 13 may function, for example, as a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 13 stores any information used in the operation of the first vehicle 10. For example, the storage unit 13 may store system programs, application programs, embedded software, and information about the first vehicle 10. The information stored in the storage unit 13 may be updatable, for example, with information received from the network 40 via the communication unit 11.

[0024] The control unit 14 includes one or more processors, one or more programmable circuits, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination thereof. The processor may be, for example, but is not limited to, a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process. The programmable circuit may be, for example, but is not limited to, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array). The dedicated circuit may be, for example, but is not limited to, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). The control unit 14 controls the overall operation of the first vehicle 10.

[0025] (Configuration of roadside device 20) 3, the roadside device 20 includes a photographing unit 21, a communication unit 22, a notification unit 23, a storage unit 24, and a control unit 25. The roadside device 20 is installed in a position where a pedestrian 60 can be detected from the image captured by the mounted photographing unit 21, for example, near the boundary between the roadway and the sidewalk. The roadside device 20 may be installed near a crosswalk, an intersection, or the like. The roadside device 20 may or may not be fixed to the roadway or the sidewalk.

[0026] The photographing unit 21 includes one or more cameras for photographing the pedestrian 60. The cameras may photograph the first vehicle 10 or the second vehicle 50. For example, the photographing unit 21 may include two 90-degree cameras, two 180-degree cameras, or one 360-degree camera.

[0027] The communication unit 22 includes one or more communication interfaces that connect to the network 40. The communication interfaces correspond to, for example, but are not limited to, a mobile communication standard such as 4G (4th Generation) or 5G (5th Generation), a wired LAN standard, or a wireless LAN standard.

[0028] The notification unit 23 includes one or more notification devices for notifying information to pedestrians 60 near the roadside device 20. The notification devices may include a display and / or a speaker. The notification unit 23 may further include a notification device, such as an electronic signboard or a flashing light, for directly notifying the driver or driving assistant of the first vehicle 10 of information about the pedestrian 60.

[0029] The storage unit 24 includes one or more memories. Each memory included in the storage unit 24 may function as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 24 stores any information used in the operation of the roadside device 20. For example, the storage unit 24 may store a system program, an application program, embedded software, etc. The information stored in the storage unit 24 may be updatable with information obtained from the network 40 via the communication unit 22, for example.

[0030] The control unit 25 includes one or more processors, one or more programmable circuits, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination thereof. The control unit 25 controls the operation of the roadside device 20.

[0031] (Configuration of information processing device 30) As shown in FIG. 4, the information processing device 30 includes a storage unit 31, a communication unit 32, and a control unit 33.

[0032] The storage unit 31 includes one or more memories. Each memory included in the storage unit 31 may function as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 31 stores any information used in the operation of the information processing device 30. For example, the storage unit 31 may store system programs, application programs, embedded software, the location of the roadside device 20, map information, etc. The information stored in the storage unit 31 may be updatable with information received from the network 40 via the communication unit 32, for example.

[0033] The communication unit 32 includes one or more communication interfaces connected to the network 40. The communication interfaces are compatible with mobile communication standards such as, but not limited to, 4G (4th Generation) or 5G (5th Generation). In this embodiment, the information processing device 30 communicates with the vehicle 10 and the roadside device 20 via the communication unit 32 and the network 40.

[0034] The control unit 33 includes one or more processors, one or more programmable circuits, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination thereof. The control unit 33 controls the operation of the information processing device 30 as a whole.

[0035] (Operation flow of roadside device 20) The operation of the roadside device 20 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

[0036] S100: The control unit 25 of the roadside device 20 detects a pedestrian 60 near the roadway from the image captured by the image capturing unit 21.

[0037] The control unit 25 detects the pedestrian 60 appearing in the image by any object recognition process. The control unit 25 may identify that the pedestrian 60 is moving and the direction of movement of the pedestrian 60 from the change in the position of the pedestrian 60 appearing in the image. The control unit 25 may identify the pedestrian 60 moving toward the roadway as a "pedestrian near the roadway."

[0038] S101: The control unit 25 receives vehicle information including relative position information between a first vehicle 10, which is an autonomous vehicle approaching the roadside device 20, and a second vehicle 50 around the first vehicle 10, from the information processing device 30 via the communication unit 22.

[0039] Specifically, first, the control unit 25 of the roadside device 20 transmits a request to acquire vehicle information to the information processing device 30 via the communication unit 22. The control unit 33 of the information processing device 30 transmits the acquisition request to the first vehicle 10 via the communication unit 32. The control unit 14 of the first vehicle 10 detects the second vehicle 50 using the detection unit 12 in response to the acquisition request. In this embodiment, the second vehicle 50 does not have a communication function with the network 40, so the first vehicle 10 needs to detect the second vehicle 50. The control unit 14 of the first vehicle 10 may detect two or more second vehicles 50 using the detection unit 12. The second vehicle 50 may be moving or stopped. Furthermore, the control unit 14 transmits information about the first vehicle 10 and information about the detected second vehicle 50 to the information processing device 30 via the communication unit 11. The control unit 33 calculates relative position information based on information (e.g., positions) of the first vehicle 10 and the second vehicle 50. The control unit 33 further transmits the vehicle information including the relative position information to the roadside device 20 via the communication unit 32.

[0040] The relative position information may include any information regarding the relative positional relationship between the first vehicle 10 and the second vehicle 50. For example, the relative position information may include information indicating the number of first vehicles and second vehicles, information identifying the first vehicle 10 as an autonomous vehicle, and information indicating the order of the first vehicle 10 relative to the second vehicle 50 as viewed from the roadside device 20. The relative position information may include information indicating the positional relationship (front / back, left / right, diagonal) or distance between the first vehicle 10 and the second vehicle 50. For example, the relative position information may include information indicating that the autonomous vehicle (first vehicle 10) is traveling behind a truck or the like (second vehicle 50), or that the autonomous vehicle (first vehicle 10) is approaching from the side of a stopped motorcade (multiple second vehicles 50). The relative position information is not limited to the above examples, and may also include information such as the size, type, location on the road, distance from the roadside device 20, and speed (e.g., exceeding the legal speed limit) of the first vehicle 10 and the second vehicle 50. The relative position information may include information indicating that the first vehicle 10 or the second vehicle 50 is about to make a right or left turn, brake suddenly, exit a queue of vehicles in a traffic jam, or overtake a vehicle. The vehicle information is not limited to relative position information and may include any information regarding the first vehicle 10 and the second vehicle 50.

[0041] The relative position information may include an image displayed on the display of the roadside device 20 and / or a message output by a speaker of the roadside device 20. FIG. 6 is an example of an image displayed on the display. The image shows a first vehicle 10, a roadside device 20, a second vehicle 50, and a pedestrian 60 on a schematic map. The roadside device 20 is located near a crosswalk. The pedestrian 60 is located near the roadside device 20. The first vehicle 10 and the second vehicle 50 are traveling on the roadway and approaching the roadside device 20 and the pedestrian 60. The image shows that the first vehicle is traveling behind the second vehicle 50. The image displays, in text, information identifying the first vehicle 10 as an autonomous vehicle, the distance between the roadside device 20 and the second vehicle ("50 m" in FIG. 6), and the distance between the second vehicle and the first vehicle 10 ("20 m" in FIG. 6). The image may use color coding, arrows, flashing, etc. to emphasize that the first vehicle is an autonomous vehicle. By looking at the image, the pedestrian 60 can understand the number of first vehicles 10 and second vehicles 50, the order of the first vehicles 10 relative to the second vehicles 50 as seen from the roadside device 20, and the relative positions of the first vehicles 10 and the second vehicles 50. The messages output by the speaker include messages such as "Two vehicles are approaching from the right. The second vehicle from the front is an autonomous vehicle," and "A vehicle is approaching from 50 meters to the right. An autonomous vehicle is approaching 25 meters behind the front vehicle."

[0042] S102: The control unit 25 notifies the pedestrian 60 of the notification information including the relative position information by the notification unit 23.

[0043] The relative position information is notified to the pedestrian 60, for example, by an image displayed on a display of the roadside device 20 or by sound output from a speaker of the roadside device 20. The notification information may further include vehicle information other than the relative position information, crossing possibility information indicating whether the pedestrian 60 is allowed to cross the roadway, or attention alert information urging the pedestrian 60 to look left and right.

[0044] As described above, when a pedestrian 60 near the roadway is detected from the image captured by the image capturing unit 21, the roadside device 20 according to this embodiment receives vehicle information including relative position information between the first vehicle 10, which is an autonomous vehicle approaching the roadside device 20, and the second vehicle 50 around the first vehicle 10, from the information processing device 30 via the communication unit 22. The roadside device 20 notifies the pedestrian 60 of notification information including the relative position information using the notification unit 23.

[0045] This configuration allows pedestrian 60 to grasp the relative position of an autonomous vehicle approaching roadside device 20 and other vehicles around the autonomous vehicle. This allows pedestrian 60 to identify the autonomous vehicle from among multiple vehicles. This improves the safety of pedestrian 60.

[0046] Furthermore, with this configuration, the roadside device 20 can notify the pedestrian 60 of the presence of a vehicle located in the blind spot of the roadside device 20, which is created by multiple vehicles. For example, even if there is an autonomous vehicle behind a large vehicle such as a truck or in front of a small vehicle such as a motorcycle, the roadside device 20 can notify the pedestrian 60 of information about the autonomous vehicle and information about vehicles detected by the autonomous vehicle. This allows the pedestrian 60 to be aware of vehicles located in their blind spot, thereby improving the safety of the pedestrian 60.

[0047] Although the present disclosure has been described based on the drawings and examples, it should be noted that those skilled in the art may make various modifications and alterations based on the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and alterations are included in the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the functions included in each component or step can be rearranged so as not to be logically inconsistent, and multiple components or steps can be combined or divided into one.

[0048] The roadside device 20 may receive vehicle information from the first vehicle 10 without going through the information processing device 30. If the second vehicle 50 has a communication function with the network 40, the roadside device 20 may receive information about the first vehicle 10 and the second vehicle 50 from the first vehicle 10 and the second vehicle 50 with or without going through the information processing device 30, and acquire the vehicle information.

[0049] The roadside device 20 may transmit pedestrian information about the pedestrian 60 detected from the video image captured by the image capture unit 21 to a mobile device carried by the first vehicle 10 or the driver or assistant driver of the first vehicle 10 via the information processing device 30. This allows the driver or assistant driver of the first vehicle 10 to understand the behavior of the pedestrian 60 from the received pedestrian information. The pedestrian information may include information indicating the presence of the pedestrian 60, whether the pedestrian 60 is crossing the road, or whether the pedestrian has suddenly dashed out into the street. The mobile device may be, for example, a smartphone, tablet, or laptop computer. The information processing device 30 may further transmit stopping information recommending a stop to the first vehicle 10 or the mobile device carried by the driver or assistant driver of the first vehicle 10. The information processing device 30 may also notify the first vehicle 10 of vehicle information. This allows the driver or assistant driver of the first vehicle 10 to understand the behavior of the second vehicle 50, such as sudden braking by the driver of the second vehicle 50 upon seeing the pedestrian 60.

[0050] The roadside device 20 may directly notify the driver or driving assistant of the first vehicle 10 of pedestrian information using an electronic signboard or flashing light mounted on the roadside device 20 so that the driver or driving assistant of the first vehicle 10 can easily notice the pedestrian 60.

[0051] The vehicle information may be corrected by the information processing device 30 based on information about the first vehicle 10 and the second vehicle 50 detected from the video captured by the image capturing unit 21 of the roadside device 20. For example, if two or more second vehicles (e.g., large vehicles) are traveling between the roadside device 20 and the first vehicle 10 and the vehicle information (e.g., the number of first vehicles 10 or second vehicles 50) acquired from the roadside device 20 and the first vehicle 10 is inconsistent, the information processing device 30 may use the information about the first vehicle 10 and the second vehicle 50 detected from the video captured by the image capturing unit 21 of the roadside device 20 as the vehicle information. The information processing device 30 may further correct the vehicle information based on information acquired from another first vehicle 10, another roadside device 20, or a monitoring device such as a monitoring camera installed near the roadway. These monitoring devices may be located in positions that allow them to monitor all of the first vehicles 10 and all of the second vehicles 50. For example, two or more first vehicles 10 may be traveling on multiple lanes (e.g., an oncoming lane, two lanes on each side). Alternatively, for example, two roadside devices 20 may be installed near both ends of the crosswalk. [Explanation of symbols]

[0052] 1 System 10 First car 11 Communications Department 12 Detector 13 Storage section 14 Control Unit 20 Roadside equipment 21 Photography Department 22 Communications Department 23 Notification Department 24 Memory section 25 Control Unit 30 Information processing equipment 31 Storage section 32 Communications Department 33 Control Unit 40 Network 50 Second car 60 Pedestrians

Claims

1. A roadside device including an imaging unit, a communication unit, a notification unit, and a control unit, The control unit When a pedestrian near a roadway is detected from the image captured by the image capturing unit, vehicle information including relative position information between a first vehicle, which is an autonomous vehicle approaching the roadside device, and a second vehicle around the first vehicle is received from the information processing device via the communication unit; The roadside device notifies the pedestrian of notification information including the relative position information by the notification unit.

2. 2. The roadside device according to claim 1, wherein the relative position information includes information indicating the number of the first vehicles and the second vehicles, information identifying the first vehicle as an autonomous vehicle, and information indicating the order of the first vehicle relative to the second vehicle as viewed from the roadside device.

3. the second vehicle is detected by a detection unit included in the first vehicle; The roadside device according to claim 1 , wherein the relative position information is calculated by a control unit of the information processing device based on information about the first vehicle and the second vehicle received by the information processing device from the first vehicle.

4. 2. The roadside device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit further transmits pedestrian information about the pedestrian detected from the image captured by the image capturing unit to a mobile terminal carried by a driver or a driving assistant of the first vehicle via the information processing device and the communication unit.

5. The roadside device according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle information is corrected by the information processing device based on information about the first vehicle and the second vehicle detected from the image of the image capturing unit.

Images