Information processing device

Abstract

To improve a technique for providing driving assist information to a driver of a vehicle to pass a railroad crossing.SOLUTION: An information processing device is mounted on a vehicle and includes a communication section, a positioning section, an imaging section, a control section, and an output section. The communication section acquires position information of an object on a road from a road-side machine disposed at a tip of a railroad crossing positioned in front of a road on which the vehicle is traveling. The positioning section detects a present position of the vehicle. The imaging section generates image information by imaging a front of the vehicle. The control section generates driving assist information for supporting driving of a driver of the vehicle based on the position information of an object, the present position of the vehicle, and the image information. The output section outputs driving assist information. The control section identifies a position of a first end close to the road-side machine of the railroad crossing based on the present position and the image information, so as to generate the driving assist information based on the position of the first end and the position information of the object.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing device. [Background technology]

[0002] In order to reduce railroad crossing accidents, it has been proposed that roadside units installed near railroad crossings transmit information indicating the traffic conditions on the road beyond the crossing to vehicles (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In Patent Document 1, the information transmitted from the roadside unit to the vehicle includes information on the location of the crossing, information on the distance between both ends of the crossing, information on the location of the preceding vehicle beyond the crossing, information on the traffic signal located beyond the crossing, etc. Furthermore, when the vehicle's system receives the information transmitted from the roadside unit, it displays information to alert the driver and / or performs deceleration control or no-entry control to stop the vehicle before the crossing. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-171942 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the past, roadside devices that provide position information of preceding vehicles did not always provide accurate position information of the edge of a railroad crossing when there was a railroad crossing on the road. As a result, the vehicle's system was sometimes unable to provide the driver with accurate information based on the vehicle's position, the position of the edge of the railroad crossing, and the position of the preceding vehicle. Therefore, in the prior art, there was room for improvement in the technology for providing driving assistance information to drivers of vehicles passing through railroad crossings.

[0005] The purpose of the present disclosure, made in consideration of the above circumstances, is to improve the technology for providing driving assistance information to drivers of vehicles passing through railroad crossings. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An information processing device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is an information processing device mounted on a vehicle, and includes: a communication unit that acquires position information of objects on a road from a roadside unit installed beyond a railroad crossing located ahead of the road on which the vehicle is traveling; a positioning unit that detects the current position of the vehicle; an imaging unit that captures an image of the area ahead of the vehicle and generates image information; a control unit that generates driving assistance information to assist the driver of the vehicle based on the position information of the object, the current position of the vehicle, and the image information; and an output unit that outputs the driving assistance information, wherein the control unit identifies the position of a first end of the railroad crossing that is closer to the roadside unit based on the current position and the image information, and generates the driving assistance information based on the position of the first end and the position information of the object. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to improve the technology for providing driving assistance information to drivers of vehicles passing through railroad crossings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a road traffic environment in which a vehicle equipped with an information processing device according to an embodiment travels; [Figure 2] 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a roadside unit included in FIG. 1. FIG. [Figure 3] 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information processing device mounted on the vehicle of FIG. 1. FIG. [Figure 4] 4 is a flowchart showing an example of processing performed by a control unit of the information processing device in FIG. 3. [Figure 5] 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for identifying the position of a first end of the railroad crossing of FIG. 4. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the drawings used in the following description are schematic. The dimensions and ratios in the drawings do not necessarily correspond to the actual dimensions and ratios.

[0010] (Road traffic environment to which this disclosure applies) FIG. 1 shows an example of a road traffic environment in which a vehicle 10 equipped with an information processing device 30 (see FIG. 3) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure travels. In the road traffic environment of FIG. 1, a road 11 crosses a railroad track 12, and the intersection of the road 11 and the railroad track 12 is a railroad crossing 13. Also, a traffic light 14 is provided at the end of the road 11 above the railroad crossing 13 in FIG. 1. The end of the railroad crossing 13 that is closer to the traffic light 14 is a first end 13a. The end of the railroad crossing 13 opposite the first end 13a is a second end 13b. The first end 13a of the railroad crossing 13 is the end that is closer to a roadside device 15, which will be described later. The second end 13b of the railroad crossing 13 is the end that is farther from the roadside device 15.

[0011] In such a traffic environment, if vehicle 10 attempts to pass through railroad crossing 13 from the bottom in FIG. 1 and road 11 beyond crossing 13 is congested with objects 18 waiting at a traffic light, etc., there is a concern that vehicle 10 will not be able to pass through crossing 13 and will be stranded on tracks 12. It is extremely dangerous for vehicle 10 to stop within crossing 13. Note that object 18 is a moving object on road 11 and includes other vehicles different from vehicle 10. Other vehicles include automobiles, motorcycles, etc. Object 18 is not limited to a moving object, and may also be an obstacle temporarily present on road 11.

[0012] As seen from the vehicle 10, a roadside unit 15 equipped with a sensor capable of detecting an object 18 on the road 11 is placed beyond the railroad crossing 13 on the road 11, i.e., on the traffic light 14 side of the railroad crossing 13. The roadside unit 15 detects traffic conditions within the railroad crossing 13 and on the road 11 beyond the railroad crossing 13, and provides information about the traffic conditions to vehicles 10 traveling around the roadside unit 15. The roadside unit 15 can provide information to vehicles 10 traveling in the vicinity via wireless communication. More specifically, the roadside unit 15 can detect objects 18 present within a detection range 17 on the road 11 and transmit position information of the detected object 18 to vehicles 10 traveling in the vicinity. When the object 18 is a vehicle, the roadside unit 15 may transmit the same information to the object 18. In this application, "in front of the railroad crossing 13" means a position closer to the vehicle 10 than the railroad crossing 13 as seen from the vehicle 10 when the vehicle 10 is traveling toward the railroad crossing 13. Further, "beyond the railroad crossing 13" means a position farther than the railroad crossing 13 as seen from the vehicle 10 when the vehicle 10 is moving towards the railroad crossing 13.

[0013] The vehicle 10 is, for example, an automobile, but is not limited to this and may be any vehicle. The vehicle 10 may be any of a passenger car, a bus, and a truck. The automobile may be, for example, a gasoline-powered automobile, a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), a HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle), a PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), or a FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle), but is not limited to these.

[0014] (Roadside unit configuration) The roadside unit 15 installed on the road 11 includes a plurality of components arranged on, for example, a telephone pole or a dedicated pole-like structure. As shown in FIG. 2 , the plurality of components include, for example, an external I / F unit 21, a control unit 22, a sensor unit 23, and a vehicle communication unit 24.

[0015] The external I / F unit 21 is a communication interface that connects the roadside device 15 to an external server or the like that manages the roadside device 15 so that the roadside device 15 can communicate with each other. The external server can transmit to the roadside device 15 information that the roadside device 15 should notify to vehicles traveling in the vicinity. For example, the external server may transmit to the roadside device 15 information about traffic regulations on surrounding roads. The external server may also transmit to the roadside device 15 an update program to be executed by the roadside device 15. The external I / F unit 21 may be compatible with a wired communication system such as an optical cable, or a wireless communication system such as a fourth-generation mobile communication system (4G) such as LTE (Long Term Evolution), a fifth-generation mobile communication system (5G), or WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access).

[0016] The control unit 22 is configured to include a single or multiple processors and memories. Processors include general-purpose processors that execute programmed functions by loading specific programs, and dedicated processors specialized for specific processing. The dedicated processors may be DSPs (Digital Signal Processors), ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays), etc. The control unit 22 manages each component of the roadside unit 15 and executes processing as the roadside unit 15. The control unit 22 can transmit information generated based on information detected by the sensor unit 23 to vehicles 10 traveling in the vicinity via the vehicle communication unit 24.

[0017] The sensor unit 23 is a sensor that detects an object 18 located within a detection range 17 on the road 11. The sensor of the sensor unit 23 includes a sensor selected from various sensors including, for example, a camera, an infrared sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a millimeter-wave radar, and a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging). Information detected by the sensor unit 23 is processed in the control unit 22 according to the type of sensor of the sensor unit 23. For example, if the sensor unit 23 includes a camera, the control unit 22 performs image processing to recognize the object 18 included in the image. As a result, the control unit 22 identifies the object 18 located within the detection range 17 along with its location information. The roadside device 15 has accurate coordinate information of its installation location, and can use this information to calculate the location coordinates of the detected object 18. The roadside device 15 may also be equipped with a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver to acquire the coordinate information of its installation location.

[0018] The vehicle communication unit 24 provides a road-to-vehicle communication function for communicating with vehicles 10 located in the vicinity of the roadside unit 15. The vehicle communication unit 24 may use a communication system conforming to ARIB STD-T109 or IEEE802.11p. The vehicle communication unit 24 may also use a 4G or 5G mobile communication system such as LTE. The vehicle communication unit 24 notifies the surrounding vehicles 10 of the presence or absence of an object 18 located within the detection range 17 and, if the object 18 is present, its location information. When the object 18 is a vehicle, the vehicle communication unit 24 may communicate with the object 18 in the same way as with the vehicle 10. Communication from the vehicle communication unit 24 to the vehicle 10 may be performed using a broadcast method or a multicast method.

[0019] In addition to the above, the roadside unit 15 may include various components such as a temperature sensor, a sensor for measuring people flow, a sensor for detecting road surface conditions, a speaker for providing audio information, etc. Furthermore, the roadside unit 15 may be equipped with devices and equipment for various purposes, such as a base station for wireless communication such as Wi-Fi or 5G, charging equipment for digital devices, street lights, solar panels, etc.

[0020] (Configuration of information processing device) An information processing device 30 that provides information to assist the driver in driving is installed in the vehicle 10. As shown in Fig. 3, the information processing device 30 includes a communication unit 31, a storage unit 32, a control unit 33, a positioning unit 34, an imaging unit 35, and an output unit 36.

[0021] The communication unit 31 includes a communication interface for performing V2X (Vehicle to Everything) communication with the outside of the vehicle 10. The communication interface may include a communication interface compatible with wide-area communication and short-range communication. The communication interface includes an interface for road-to-vehicle communication compatible with the communication method of the vehicle communication unit 24 of the roadside device 15. The communication unit 31 can acquire, from the roadside device 15, position information of an object 18 on the road 11 beyond the railroad crossing 13. The communication unit 31 may further acquire, from the roadside device 15, information indicating that a traffic light 14 is present beyond the roadside device 15. The communication unit 31 can acquire, from the roadside device 15, position information of a plurality of vehicles waiting at a traffic light as the position information of the object 18. The communication unit 31 may also acquire, from the roadside device 15, position information of the vehicle closest to the railroad crossing 13 among the position information of a plurality of vehicles waiting at a traffic light as the position information of the object 18.

[0022] The storage unit 32 includes one or more memories. The memories may be, for example, semiconductor memories, magnetic memories, or optical memories. Each memory included in the storage unit 32 may function as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 32 stores any information used in the operation of the information processing device 30. For example, the storage unit 32 may store system programs, application programs, embedded software, and the like.

[0023] The control unit 33 includes at least one processor, at least one dedicated circuit, or a combination thereof. The processor is a general-purpose processor such as a CPU or GPU, or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process. The dedicated circuit is, for example, an FPGA or ASIC. The control unit 33 controls each unit of the information processing device 30 and executes processes related to the operation of the information processing device 30.

[0024] The positioning unit 34 detects the current position of the vehicle 10. The positioning unit 34 includes a receiver compatible with the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The positioning unit 34 can obtain information such as the latitude and longitude of the current position of the vehicle 10 using signals from the GNSS receiver. The GNSS is a system that measures the position of the vehicle 10 using artificial satellites, and includes, for example, the Global Positioning System (GPS), GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou. The positioning unit 34 can transmit a signal indicating the positioning result of the current position of the vehicle 10 based on the GNSS signal to the control unit 33 at predetermined intervals.

[0025] The control unit 33 can detect the traveling direction of the vehicle 10 based on any information including a change in the current position of the vehicle 10 and the direction in which the vehicle 10 is facing detected by a direction sensor or the like. The control unit 33 can recognize the object 18, if any, ahead of the vehicle 10 based on the relationship between the position information of the object 18 acquired from the roadside unit 15 via the communication unit 31 and the current position of the vehicle 10 acquired from the positioning unit 34.

[0026] The imaging unit 35 includes one or more cameras capable of capturing images of the periphery of the vehicle 10. The imaging unit 35 is capable of measuring the distance to a subject included in the captured image. For this reason, the imaging unit 35 may be configured as a stereo camera including two cameras arranged side by side with their optical axes facing forward. When a stereo camera is used, the distance to the subject can be calculated based on the parallax between the subject images included in two images captured simultaneously by the two cameras. The imaging unit 35 is not limited to a stereo camera as long as it is capable of measuring the distance to the subject. For example, the imaging unit 35 may be configured with a single camera if it is capable of measuring the distance to the subject. Furthermore, the imaging unit 35 may be a time-of-flight (TOF) camera capable of measuring distance using infrared rays. A TOF camera can measure the distance to a subject based on the time it takes for light to be reflected by the subject and return.

[0027] The camera included in the imaging unit 35 includes an optical system such as a lens and an imaging element. The imaging element may include either a charge-coupled device image sensor (CCD image sensor) or a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor. The imaging element converts an image formed on a light-receiving surface by the optical system into an electrical signal. The imaging unit 35 can transmit image information of an image taken of the outside of the vehicle 10 while traveling to the control unit 33. If the imaging unit 35 includes a stereo camera, the control unit 33 may perform a calculation to calculate the distance to the subject of the stereo camera.

[0028] The control unit 33 can perform image recognition processing based on the image information acquired from the imaging unit 35. The control unit 33 can recognize the subject included in the image information acquired from the imaging unit 35 and calculate the distance to the subject.

[0029] The control unit 33 of the information processing device 30 of the vehicle 10 approaching the railroad crossing 13 can recognize an oncoming vehicle 19 (see FIG. 1 ) traveling in the oncoming lane from image information acquired from the imaging unit 35. The oncoming vehicle 19 temporarily stops just before the first end 13a of the railroad crossing 13 before entering the railroad crossing 13 in accordance with traffic regulations. The control unit 33 can calculate the distance to the oncoming vehicle 19 based on the image acquired from the imaging unit 35. The control unit 33 can calculate the relative speed of the oncoming vehicle 19 with respect to the vehicle 10 by continuously acquiring changes in the distance to the oncoming vehicle 19. The control unit 33 can calculate the speed of the oncoming vehicle 19 from the speed of the vehicle 10 itself and the calculated relative speed. As a result, the control unit 33 can determine that the position where the speed of the oncoming vehicle 19 becomes zero or equal to or less than a predetermined value is the position where the oncoming vehicle 19 has temporarily stopped. The control unit 33 can identify the position where the oncoming vehicle 19 has stopped, calculated from the distance between the current position of the vehicle 10 and the oncoming vehicle 19, as the position of the first end 13a of the railroad crossing 13.

[0030] The method by which the control unit 33 identifies the position of the first end 13a of the railroad crossing 13 from the image information is not limited to the above method. For example, the control unit 33 identifies structures located around the oncoming vehicle 19, along with the oncoming vehicle 19, from the image information. Examples of the structures include guardrails and telephone poles. When the relative positional change between the oncoming vehicle 19 and the structures in the time-series changing image information becomes zero or a predetermined value or less, the control unit 33 determines that the oncoming vehicle 19 has stopped temporarily, and can identify the position of the first end 13a of the railroad crossing 13.

[0031] When there is a preceding vehicle traveling in the same lane between the vehicle 10 and the crossing 13, the control unit 33 of the vehicle 10 can determine the position of the second end 13b of the crossing 13 in a manner similar to the manner in which the position of the first end 13a was determined. That is, the control unit 33 continuously measures the distance to the preceding vehicle and can determine the position where the preceding vehicle stops as the second end 13b of the crossing 13.

[0032] The output unit 36 ​​outputs information to the driver of the vehicle 10. The output unit 36 ​​includes, for example, a display that outputs information as an image and a speaker that outputs information as audio. The display may be a display selected from various displays, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic electroluminescence (EL) display, an inorganic EL display, a plasma display panel (PDP), or a field emission display (FED). The display may also be a head-up display (HUD). The HUD may project a displayed image onto the front windshield or a combiner disposed on the dashboard. The speaker converts an audio signal into physical vibrations to generate sound in space. The speaker may be an audio speaker installed in the vehicle 10. The speaker may be disposed in the door, dashboard, pillar, or the like of the vehicle 10. A well-known, general speaker may be used. The output unit 36 ​​outputs the driving assistance information generated by the control unit 33 to the driver of the vehicle 10 as an image and / or sound. The output unit 36 ​​may also be an output interface that outputs information to a device external to the information processing device 30.

[0033] The control unit 33 can cause the output unit 36 ​​to output driving assistance information that assists the driver of the vehicle 10 in driving. The control unit 33 can generate different driving assistance information depending on whether the vehicle 10 has passed the position of the second end 13b of the railroad crossing 13 and is entering the railroad crossing 13.

[0034] Before the vehicle 10 enters the railroad crossing 13, the control unit 33 can change the content of the driving assistance information based on the road conditions beyond the railroad crossing 13, i.e., information on whether there is space on the road 11 beyond the first end 13a of the railroad crossing 13 that the vehicle 10 can enter. The control unit 33 can further change the content of the driving assistance information according to the number of objects 18 within the detection range 17 detected by the roadside unit 15 beyond the railroad crossing 13 and / or the position of each object 18. When the current position of the vehicle 10 is between the first end 13a and the second end 13b, the control unit 33 can generate driving assistance information instructing the vehicle 10 to quickly exit the railroad crossing.

[0035] The driving assistance information is not limited to text information and may include graphical information. For example, the control unit 33 may generate the driving assistance information as image information showing the object 18, which is a vehicle stopped beyond the first end 13a of the railroad crossing 13, and the extent of the railroad crossing 13. The control unit 33 may display the generated image information on the output unit 36, which is a display. By looking at the image displayed on the output unit 36, the driver of the vehicle 10 can visually confirm whether there is space for the vehicle 10 to enter between the first end 13a at the end of the railroad crossing 13 and the rear end of the object 18.

[0036] (Information processing method) The flow of processing executed by the control unit 33 of the information processing device 30 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. The method disclosed in this specification can be executed by a processor included in the information processing device 30 according to a program. Such a program can be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Non-transitory computer-readable media include various types of recording media. For example, non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic recording media, magneto-optical recording media, and semiconductor memory. Magnetic storage media include, for example, hard disks and magnetic tapes. Magneto-optical recording media include, for example, compact disc read-only memories (CD-ROMs). Semiconductor memories include random access memories (RAMs), read-only memories (ROMs), and flash memories. Non-transitory computer-readable media are not limited to these.

[0037] First, while the vehicle 10 is approaching the railroad crossing 13, the control unit 33 detects a communication issued by the roadside device 15 via the communication unit 31 (S101). It is assumed that the roadside device 15 is broadcasting information to the vehicle 10 and other vehicles traveling in the vicinity.

[0038] The control unit 33 acquires position information of the object 18 located on the road 11 through communication from the roadside unit 15 (S102). When there are multiple objects 18 on the road 11, the control unit 33 may acquire position information of the object 18 closest to the railroad crossing 13. The object 18 is typically another vehicle waiting for the traffic light 14 beyond the railroad crossing 13 to change. The control unit 33 acquires the position information of the object 18 as information such as latitude and longitude.

[0039] The control unit 33 acquires the current position of the vehicle 10 based on the signal from the positioning unit 34 (S103). The current position of the vehicle 10 is, for example, information such as latitude and longitude. This allows the control unit 33 to grasp the positional relationship between the current position of the vehicle 10 and the position of the object 18. However, this alone does not allow the control unit 33 to grasp the positional relationship between the vehicle 10 and the railroad crossing 13, or the size of the space between the first end 13a at the end of the railroad crossing and the object 18.

[0040] The control unit 33 identifies the position of the first end 13a of the railroad crossing 13 from the image information acquired from the imaging unit 35 (S104).

[0041] An example of a process for identifying the position of the first end 13a of the railroad crossing 13 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0042] First, it is assumed that the imaging unit 35 of the information processing device 30 captures an image of the area ahead of the vehicle 10 at a predetermined frame rate and transmits the image information to the control unit 33. The control unit 33 recognizes an oncoming vehicle 19 from the image information (S201).

[0043] The control unit 33 tracks the oncoming vehicle 19 recognized in S201 and calculates the distance to the oncoming vehicle 19 (S202).

[0044] The control unit 33 calculates the relative speed with respect to the oncoming vehicle 19 by continuously acquiring the distance to the oncoming vehicle 19. The control unit 33 acquires information on the speed of the vehicle 10 from the vehicle 10 equipped with the information processing device 30. The control unit 33 calculates the speed of the oncoming vehicle 19 based on the relative speed with respect to the oncoming vehicle 19 and the speed of the vehicle 10 (S203).

[0045] The control unit 33 determines whether the oncoming vehicle 19 is temporarily stopped based on the speed of the oncoming vehicle 19 (S204). When the speed of the oncoming vehicle 19 is 0 m / s or less than a predetermined threshold, the control unit 33 can determine that the oncoming vehicle 19 is temporarily stopped. The predetermined threshold can be, for example, 0.1 m / s, 0.3 m / s, or 0.5 m / s.

[0046] If the oncoming vehicle 19 has not stopped temporarily (S204: No), the control unit 33 returns to S202 and continues to monitor the speed of the oncoming vehicle 19.

[0047] If the oncoming vehicle 19 has stopped temporarily (S204: Yes), the control unit 33 identifies the position where the oncoming vehicle 19 has stopped temporarily as the position of the first end 13a of the railroad crossing 13 (S205).

[0048] The control unit 33 returns to the processing of the flowchart in Fig. 4. The control unit 33 identifies the position of the second end 13b of the railroad crossing 13 from the image information acquired from the imaging unit 35 (S105). The control unit 33 can identify the position of the second end 13b by a method similar to that of the flowchart in Fig. 5 corresponding to step S104.

[0049] The control unit 33 determines whether the vehicle 10 has passed the position of the second end 13b of the railroad crossing 13 based on the position of the second end 13b identified in S105 and the current position of the vehicle 10 measured by the positioning unit 34 (S106).

[0050] If the vehicle 10 passes the second end 13b of the railroad crossing 13 (S106: Yes), it is not desirable for the vehicle 10 to remain within the railroad crossing 13. Therefore, the control unit 33 generates driving assistance information urging the vehicle 10 to quickly exit the railroad crossing 13, regardless of the presence and position information of the object 18 (S107). The control unit 33 outputs the generated driving assistance information to the output unit 36. That is, the control unit 33 displays the driving assistance information on a display, which is the output unit 36, and / or notifies the driver of the driving assistance information via a speaker. The control unit 33 stops generating and outputting the driving assistance information when the vehicle 10 passes the first end 13a based on the current position of the vehicle 10 measured by the positioning unit 34. While the vehicle 10 is traveling within the railroad crossing 13, the control unit 33 may cause the output unit 36 ​​to output the distance to the first end 13a based on the current position of the vehicle 10 and the position of the first end 13a.

[0051] If the vehicle 10 has not passed the position of the second end 13b (S106: No), the control unit 33 determines whether there is space available for the vehicle 10 to enter between the object 18 located closest to the railroad crossing 13 within the detection range 17 and the first end 13a of the railroad crossing 13 (S108). Whether there is space beyond the first end 13a of the railroad crossing 13 can be determined from the position information of the object 18 located closest to the railroad crossing 13 among the position information of the object 18 acquired from the roadside unit 15 in S102, and the position information of the first end 13a identified in S104.

[0052] If there is no space for the vehicle 10 to enter the road 11 beyond the first end 13a of the railroad crossing 13 (S108: No), when the vehicle 10 enters the railroad crossing 13, there is a risk that the vehicle 10 will not be able to exit the railroad crossing 13 and will be stuck inside the railroad crossing 13. For this reason, the control unit 33 generates driving assistance information that indicates to the driver of the vehicle 10 that the vehicle 10 should wait before entering the railroad crossing 13 (S109). The control unit 33 outputs the generated driving assistance information to the output unit 36. In this case, the control unit 33 may display a message such as "There is congestion beyond the railroad crossing. Please wait before entering the railroad crossing" on a display, which is the output unit 36, and / or issue an audio alert from a speaker.

[0053] On the other hand, if there is space on the road 11 beyond the first end 13a of the railroad crossing 13 that is sufficient for the vehicle 10 to enter (S108: Yes), the control unit 33 generates driving assistance information informing the driver that they can enter the railroad crossing 13 (S110), and causes the output unit 36 ​​to output the information. In this case, the control unit 33 may cause the display, which is the output unit 36, to display a message such as "There is space beyond the railroad crossing. Proceed with caution" and / or may issue an audio alert from the speaker.

[0054] As described above, according to this embodiment, the control unit 33 can identify the positions of the first end 13a and the second end 13b of the railroad crossing 13 based on image information captured by the imaging unit 35. As a result, the control unit 33 determines whether the vehicle 10 can enter the railroad crossing 13, and can provide appropriate driving assistance to the driver of the vehicle 10 based on the positional relationship between the current location of the vehicle 10 and the railroad crossing 13. Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the control unit 33 can acquire position information of the object 18 from the roadside unit 15, and can provide appropriate driving assistance to the driver of the vehicle 10 based on the road conditions beyond the railroad crossing 13. This improves the safety of the vehicle 10 traveling through or about to enter the railroad crossing 13. Furthermore, the information processing device 30 according to this embodiment does not need to be equipped with detailed digital map information, and can therefore be provided at low cost.

[0055] In one embodiment, the roadside device 15 may be configured to cooperate with the traffic light 14 and notify the vehicle 10 of the status of the traffic light 14. The control unit 33 of the vehicle 10 may generate driving assistance information according to the status of the traffic light 14 as well as the presence of a vehicle within the detection range 17 beyond the railroad crossing 13. For example, when the color of the traffic light 14 is "red," the control unit 33 may generate driving assistance information that inhibits entry into the railroad crossing 13. For example, when the color of the traffic light 14 is "green," the control unit 33 may generate driving assistance information that allows entry into the railroad crossing 13 even if an object 18 is present within the detection range 17.

[0056] Furthermore, the control unit 33 can estimate the width of the railroad crossing 13 from the positions of the first end 13a and the second end 13b of the railroad crossing 13. The control unit 33 may generate different driving assistance information depending on the width of the railroad crossing 13. For example, if the width of the railroad crossing 13 is wider than a predetermined value, the control unit 33 may display a message such as "It will take some time to pass through the railroad crossing" as driving assistance information on the display that is the output unit 36.

[0057] In yet another embodiment, the roadside unit 15 may transmit information to the vehicle 10 regarding the maximum number of objects 18 that can remain within the detection range 17 based on the length of the detection range 17. The control unit 33 may generate driving assistance information according to the maximum number of objects 18 that can remain within the detection range 17 obtained from the roadside unit 15 and the number of objects 18 detected by the sensor unit 23 of the roadside unit 15. For example, if a number of objects 18 exceeding the number that can remain within the detection range 17 are detected before the vehicle 10 enters the railroad crossing 13, the control unit 33 can determine that there is no space beyond the railroad crossing 13 where the vehicle 10 can remain. In this case, the control unit 33 may generate driving assistance information that prevents the vehicle 10 from entering the railroad crossing 13.

[0058] In the above embodiment, the control unit 33 presents driving assistance information to the driver using the output unit 36, such as a display or a speaker. However, the control unit 33 may generate information used for driving control of the vehicle 10 as the driving assistance information. In this case, the output interface that outputs the driving assistance information from the information processing device 30 to an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) of the vehicle 10 can be considered to be the output unit 36. For example, if the vehicle 10 is an autonomous vehicle, the vehicle 10 may stop before a railroad crossing 13 and enter the railroad crossing 13 based on the driving assistance information generated by the control unit 33. The level of automation of an autonomous vehicle may be, for example, any one of levels 1 to 5 in the classification system of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). The level of automation of an autonomous vehicle is not limited to these levels.

[0059] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and many variations and modifications are possible. For example, the functions included in each means, step, etc. can be rearranged so as not to cause logical contradictions, and multiple means or steps can be combined into one or divided. [Explanation of symbols]

[0060] 10 vehicles 11 Road 12 railroad tracks 13 Railroad Crossing 13a 1st end 13b 2nd end 14 Traffic Lights 15 Roadside unit 17 Detection range 18 Objects (other vehicles) 19 Oncoming vehicles 21 External I / F section 22 Control Unit 23 Sensor section 24 Vehicle Communication Unit 30 Information processing equipment 31 Communications Department 32 Storage section 33 Control Unit 34 Positioning unit 35 Imaging unit 36 Output section

Claims

1. An information processing device mounted on a vehicle, a communication unit that acquires position information of an object on a road from a roadside device installed at the end of a railroad crossing located ahead of the road on which the vehicle is traveling; a positioning unit that detects the current position of the vehicle; an imaging unit that captures an image of a front of the vehicle and generates image information; a control unit that generates driving assistance information to assist a driver of the vehicle based on the position information of the object, the current position of the vehicle, and the image information; an output unit that outputs the driving assistance information; Equipped with The control unit identifies the position of a first end of the railroad crossing closer to the roadside device based on the current position and the image information, and generates the driving assistance information based on the position of the first end and the position information of the object.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to identify, based on the image information, a position where an oncoming vehicle traveling in an oncoming lane will stop before entering the railroad crossing as the position of the first end.

3. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to identify the position of a second end of the railroad crossing that is farther from the roadside device based on the image information, and to estimate the width of the railroad crossing from the positions of the first end and the second end.

4. 2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to identify the position of a second end of the railroad crossing that is farther from the roadside unit based on the image information, and to generate the driving assistance information indicating that the vehicle can enter the railroad crossing when the current position of the vehicle has not yet passed the second end and there is a space of a predetermined size or greater between the position of the object and the position of the first end.

5. 2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to identify the position of a second end of the railroad crossing that is farther from the roadside unit based on the image information, and when the current position of the vehicle has not yet passed the position of the second end and there is no space of a predetermined size or larger between the position of the object and the position of the first end, generate driving assistance information indicating that the vehicle should wait before entering the railroad crossing.

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