Roadside apparatus

Abstract

To improve a technology for monitoring a vehicle having a communication feature.SOLUTION: A roadside apparatus (10) includes a first notification unit (15) and second notification unit (16) that notify a user of information, and a control unit (11). The control unit (11) determines whether a subject to which information concerning a vehicle (20) around the roadside apparatus (10) should be provided is present. When it is determined that the subject is present, the control unit uses the first notification unit (15) and second notification unit (16) to notify the subject of information suggesting an action, which is recommended in terms of a relationship to the vehicle (20), on the basis of at least either the position or motion of the vehicle (20).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] Conventionally, there are known technologies for monitoring vehicles with communication functions. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a notification system that notifies vehicles other than autonomous vehicles and pedestrians, etc., whether the vehicle is permitted to pass through a predetermined traffic area and warns them of caution, depending on the behavior of the autonomous vehicle that is scheduled to pass through the 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] There is a need for improved technology for monitoring vehicles with communication capabilities.

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present disclosure is to improve the technology for monitoring vehicles having communication capabilities. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A roadside device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a roadside device comprising a first notification unit and a second notification unit that notify information to users, and a control unit, wherein the control unit determines whether or not there is a target person to whom information regarding vehicles around the roadside device should be provided, and if it is determined that the target person is present, the first notification unit and the second notification unit notify the target person of information suggesting recommended behavior in relation to the vehicle based on at least one of the position and movement of the vehicle. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, there is an improvement in the technique for monitoring vehicles with communication capabilities. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the information processing system of FIG. 1; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] (Outline of the embodiment) 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing system 1 according to an embodiment. The information processing system 1 includes a roadside device 10, vehicles 20a and 20b, a server device 30, and a terminal device 40. Hereinafter, the vehicles 20a and 20b may be collectively referred to as "vehicle 20." The roadside device 10, the vehicles 20, the server device 30, and the terminal device 40 are communicably connected to a network 50 including, for example, a mobile communication network and the Internet.

[0010] The roadside device 10 notifies occupants of the vehicle 20 and pedestrians P, etc., of the approach of pedestrians P and other vehicles 20, etc., located in their blind spots using images, light, sound, etc., thereby fostering a sense of security in an environment where autonomous vehicles are traveling. The roadside device 10 may exclusively notify information related to autonomous vehicles. The roadside device 10 is installed on the roadside of a roadway, including, for example, near an intersection or a crosswalk. The roadside device 10 can obtain location information of the vehicle 20 and the terminal device 40 from the server device 30 and detect pedestrians P and vehicles 20, etc., attempting to cross the roadway from captured video. For example, when the roadside device 10 detects a pedestrian P, it notifies the pedestrian P of the presence or absence of a vehicle 20 approaching the roadside device. When the roadside device 10 detects a pedestrian P or another vehicle 20, it notifies the occupants of the vehicle 20 that has entered the detection area of ​​the roadside device of the presence of the pedestrian P or another vehicle 20. The roadside device 10 may be battery operated.

[0011] Vehicle 20 travels on roadways to transport people, objects, and the like. Vehicle 20 may be, for example, a gasoline-powered automobile, an electric vehicle (BEV; Battery Electric Vehicle), a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV; Hybrid Electric Vehicle), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV; Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), or a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV; Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle), but is not limited to these. Occupants of vehicle 20 may include a driver and a driving assistant. Vehicle 20 may be, for example, an autonomous vehicle capable of autonomous driving corresponding to any of levels 1 to 5 defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).

[0012] The server device 30 is one or more computers that can communicate with each other. The server device 30 communicates with each roadside device 10, each vehicle 20, and the terminal device 40 to monitor each vehicle 20. The server device 30 may receive and manage information such as the position, speed, travel route, and driving status including stop preparation and driving preparation from each vehicle 20. The server device 30 may transmit information on the driving status of the vehicle 20 to roadside devices 10 in the vicinity of the vehicle 20. The server device 30 is used, for example, by an operator at a control center.

[0013] The terminal device 40 is a device carried by a pedestrian P. The terminal device 40 has one or more GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receivers or GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers (positioning unit 26), and is capable of detecting its current location. The terminal device 40 is, for example, a smartphone, a smart watch, or a wearable device.

[0014] As described above, when the roadside device 10 detects a pedestrian P heading toward the roadway of the autonomous vehicle from the camera image, it notifies the pedestrian P and also notifies the occupants of the vehicle 20 approaching the roadside device 10. Such roadside devices 10 are not generally known, and users who use the roadside device 10 for the first time may find it difficult to understand the functions of the roadside device 10 and the meaning of the notifications. From the perspective of fostering a sense of security among users, it is desirable for the roadside device 10 to provide users with information about recommended actions in an easy-to-understand manner.

[0015] Therefore, the roadside device 10 according to the present embodiment notifies the user of information suggesting recommended behavior by combining two or more notification units, such as video and audio, or two videos. Specifically, the roadside device 10 includes a first notification unit 15 and a second notification unit 16 that notify the user of information, and a control unit 11. The users may include a pedestrian P and an occupant of a vehicle 20. The control unit 11 determines whether or not there is a target user who should be provided with information about the surrounding vehicle 20, based on the position information of the pedestrian P and the vehicle 20, and the analysis results of the captured video. If there is a target user, the control unit 11 notifies the target user of information suggesting recommended behavior in relation to the vehicle 20 via the first notification unit 15 and the second notification unit 16, based on at least one of the position and the movement of the vehicle 20.

[0016] In this way, when there is a target person to whom information about surrounding autonomous vehicles should be provided, the roadside device 10 notifies the target person of information suggesting recommended actions using multiple notification units. Therefore, the roadside device 10 can provide the user with information about recommended actions in an easy-to-understand manner, thereby fostering a sense of security in the user.

[0017] Below, an example will be described in which there is one roadside device 10, one server device 30, and one terminal device 40, and two vehicles 20, but these numbers are arbitrary. Below, an example will be described in which there is one pedestrian P, and the pedestrian P carries the terminal device 40, but there may be pedestrians other than the pedestrian P. There may also be pedestrians who do not carry the terminal device 40.

[0018] (Configuration example of roadside device 10) As shown in FIG. 1, the roadside device 10 includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, a communication unit 13, an image capturing unit 14, a first notification unit 15, a second notification unit 16, and a positioning unit 17.

[0019] The control unit 11 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, a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a dedicated processor, but is not limited to these. The control unit 11 controls the operation of the entire roadside device 10.

[0020] The storage unit 12 includes one or more memories. In this embodiment, the "memory" may be, for example, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic memory, or an optical memory, but is not limited to these. Each memory included in the storage unit 12 may function as, for example, a main memory device or an auxiliary memory device. The storage unit 12 stores any information including various programs and various data.

[0021] The communication unit 13 includes one or more communication interfaces for communicating with other devices. The communication interfaces correspond to, for example, a wired LAN (Local Area Network) standard, a wireless LAN standard, or a mobile communication standard, but may correspond to any communication standard. The communication unit 13 communicates with other devices via the network 50.

[0022] The photographing unit 14 includes one or more cameras capable of photographing the surrounding scenery. In this embodiment, the roadside device 10 is installed, for example, near the boundary between the sidewalk and the roadway so that the photographing unit 14 can photograph a pedestrian P moving from the sidewalk toward the roadway.

[0023] The first notification unit 15 and the second notification unit 16 include one or more notification devices that notify nearby pedestrians P or vehicles 20 of information. The notification devices are, for example, speakers, electronic bulletin boards, displays, etc., but are not limited to these and may be any notification device. The first notification unit 15 and the second notification unit 16 may be different types of devices (for example, one is a speaker and the other is a display) or may be the same type of device (for example, both are displays). The number of notification units included in the roadside device 10 is not limited to two and may be three or more.

[0024] The positioning unit 17 includes a positioning device that measures the position of the roadside device 10. The positioning device is one or more GNSS receivers or GPS receivers, but may be any other sensor.

[0025] (Example of configuration of vehicle 20) 1, vehicle 20 includes control unit 21, storage unit 22, communication unit 23, and positioning unit 24. Control unit 21, storage unit 22, communication unit 23, and positioning unit 24 of vehicle 20 can be configured in the same manner as control unit 11, storage unit 12, communication unit 13, and positioning unit 16 of roadside device 10, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0026] (Configuration example of server device 30) 1, the server device 30 includes a control unit 31, a storage unit 32, and a communication unit 33. The control unit 31, storage unit 32, and communication unit 33 of the server device 30 can be configured in the same manner as the control unit 11, storage unit 12, and communication unit 13 of the roadside device 10, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0027] (Configuration example of terminal device 40) 1, the terminal device 40 includes a control unit 41, a storage unit 42, a communication unit 43, an input unit 44, an output unit 45, and a positioning unit 46. The control unit 41, the storage unit 42, the communication unit 43, and the positioning unit 46 of the terminal device 40 can be configured in the same manner as the control unit 11, the storage unit 12, the communication unit 13, and the positioning unit 17 of the roadside device 10, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0028] The input unit 44 includes one or more input devices for detecting user input, such as, but not limited to, physical keys or a touch screen.

[0029] The output unit 45 includes one or more output devices that output information. Examples of the output devices include, but are not limited to, a display that outputs information as video, or a speaker that outputs information as audio.

[0030] (Example of operation) FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the information processing system 1 in FIG. 1. The operation of the information processing system 1 described with reference to FIG. 2 may correspond to one information processing method. Hereinafter, an example will be described in which the operation of each step in FIG. 2 is performed based on control by the control unit 11 of the roadside device 10. However, at least one of the steps in FIG. 2 may be performed by another device. For example, the control unit 21 of the vehicle 20, the control unit 31 of the server device 30, and the control unit 41 of the terminal device 40 may perform at least one of the steps in FIG. 2. In the following example, the roadside device 10 notifies the pedestrian P or the occupant of the vehicle 20a of information about the vehicle 20b. The vehicle 20b is an autonomous vehicle, but may also be a human-driven vehicle. For example, the vehicle 20b is capable of level 3 or 4 autonomous driving, and a driving assistant can override the driving operation in the vehicle 20 or remotely.

[0031] In step S1, the control unit 11 of the roadside device 10 captures an image of the surroundings using the image capturing unit 14. While the control unit 11 executes the following steps, the control unit 11 may continue capturing images using the image capturing unit 14 in parallel. Below, an example will be described in which the image capturing unit 14 captures an image of an area including a position that is a blind spot when viewed from the vehicle 20a, but the subject of the image capturing unit 14 is not limited to this.

[0032] In step S2, the control unit 11 of the roadside device 10 acquires position information of the pedestrian P and the vehicles 20a, 20b. Specifically, if the control unit 11 detects that the pedestrian P or the vehicles 20a, 20b are captured in the video captured in step S1, the control unit 11 may acquire the position information of the pedestrian P or the vehicles 20a, 20b based on an analysis of the video. Alternatively, the control unit 11 may acquire the position information of the terminal device 40 or the vehicles 20a, 20b measured by the positioning units 24, 46 from the terminal device 40 held by the pedestrian P and the vehicles 20a, 20b via the network 50. The roadside device 10 may receive the position information of the terminal device 40 or the vehicles 20a, 20b directly from the terminal device 40 or the vehicles 20a, 20b, or may receive the position information via the server device 30. The control unit 11 may repeatedly execute the process of step S2 at regular intervals.

[0033] In step S3, the control unit 11 determines whether or not there is a target person to whom information about the vehicle 20b around the roadside device 10 should be provided. Specifically, for example, the control unit 11 may determine that the target person is present if a pedestrian P or a vehicle 20a is detected based on an analysis of the video captured in step S1. Alternatively, for example, the control unit 11 may determine that the target person is present if the pedestrian P or the vehicle 20a is present within a certain geographical range (for example, a certain distance) from the roadside device 10 based on the location information acquired in step S1. If the control unit 11 determines that the target person is present (YES in step S3), it proceeds to step S4; otherwise (NO in step S3), it executes the process of step S3 again after a certain time period.

[0034] In step S4, the control unit 11 notifies the target person determined to be present in step S3 of information suggesting recommended behavior in relation to the vehicle 20b via the first notification unit 15 and the second notification unit 16. Specifically, the control unit 11 notifies the target person of information determined based on at least one of the position and the movement of the vehicle 20b.

[0035] By notifying information from multiple notification units, the control unit 11 can effectively communicate information to users who are unfamiliar with the roadside device 10. For example, the first notification unit 15 may provide visual information using a lamp or LED display, and the second notification unit 16 may provide auditory information using a speaker. This allows the roadside device 10 to effectively communicate information using not only the user's vision but also their hearing. Alternatively, for example, the first notification unit 15 may be a lamp, and the second notification unit 16 may be a display. In this case, the first notification unit 15 and the second notification unit 16 can effectively communicate information to the user using different visual information. Note that the visual information may be a still image or a moving image including an animation. The audio information may be a human voice directly explaining the action, such as "Check left and right before crossing," or a voice simulating a cuckoo's call, which more indirectly suggests that the road can be crossed.

[0036] The control unit 11 may notify different information content between the first notification unit 15 and the second notification unit 16. Alternatively, the control unit 11 may notify the pedestrian P of recommended actions using a red, green, or yellow lamp from the first notification unit 15. On the other hand, the control unit 11 may display an image suggesting the meaning of the notification content from the first notification unit 15 from the second notification unit 16, such as displaying an X mark when the lamp is red to suggest crossing the road, or displaying an image of outstretched arms when the lamp is blue. Alternatively, the control unit 11 may notify the pedestrian P of the approach of the vehicle 20b through the first notification unit 15 by audio, and may alert the pedestrian P by illuminating a red or yellow lamp through the second notification unit 16. The control unit 11 may also output an audio message from the first notification unit 15 informing the pedestrian P that the vehicle 20b should slow down, and display an image including the word "danger" on the display from the second notification unit 16.

[0037] For example, when a vehicle 20b is present in the vicinity and when the vehicle 20b is traveling or is expected to travel toward the roadside device 10, the control unit 11 may notify the pedestrian P of information to alert the pedestrian P via the first notification unit 15 and the second notification unit 16. When no vehicle 20b is present in the vicinity or when the surrounding vehicle 20b is traveling in a direction away from the roadside device 10 and the pedestrian P, the control unit 11 may notify the pedestrian P of information related to a general description of the roadside device 10 via the first notification unit 15 and the second notification unit 16.

[0038] Alternatively, for example, when vehicle 20b, which has stopped to allow passengers to board or disembark, is about to depart, if vehicle 20a approaches vehicle 20b from behind, first notification unit 15 and second notification unit 16 may notify vehicle 20a of information including that vehicle 20a will not overtake. If vehicle 20b is stopped in a blind spot of vehicle 20a while vehicle 20a is traveling, first notification unit 15 and second notification unit 16 may notify vehicle 20a of information to call its attention.

[0039] As described above, when the roadside device 10 detects a pedestrian P heading toward the roadway from camera footage, it notifies the pedestrian P and also notifies the driver assistant of the autonomous vehicle approaching the roadside device 10. Here, the roadside device 10 notifies information suggesting recommended behavior using two or more notification means (for example, a combination of video and audio, two or more videos, etc.), thereby providing information about recommended behavior in an easy-to-understand manner even for first-time users of the roadside device 10. Therefore, the roadside device 10 can contribute to fostering a sense of security in users. [Explanation of symbols]

[0040] 1: Information processing system, 20 (20a, 20b): Vehicle, 30: Server device, 40: Terminal device, 50: Network, P: Pedestrian

Claims

[Claim 1] a first notification unit and a second notification unit that notify a user of information; A control unit; A roadside device comprising: The control unit determining whether there is a person to whom information about vehicles around the roadside device should be provided; When it is determined that the target person is present, the first notification unit and the second notification unit notify the target person of information suggesting a recommended behavior in relation to the vehicle based on at least one of a position and a movement of the vehicle. Roadside equipment.

Images