Information processing device

Abstract

To provide an information processing device that enables highly accurate map matching. [Solution] An information processing device according to one embodiment of this technology comprises a storage unit, an acquisition unit, and a correction unit. The storage unit stores roads and types associated with the roads. The acquisition unit acquires the current position of a vehicle transmitted from a vehicle traveling on a route included in the roads. The correction unit corrects the current position acquired by the acquisition unit to a position on the road associated with a predetermined type, based on the roads and types stored in the storage unit. The predetermined type is a type associated with the route.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present technology relates to an information processing apparatus applicable to correction of the current position of a vehicle.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses an apparatus for determining the reliability of a vehicle's travel route. In this apparatus, the reliability of the travel route is determined based on the cost difference from other alternative routes. The cost is calculated based on, in addition to the length of the route, the presence or absence of right and left turns, road type, past driving history, etc. This makes it possible to quantitatively determine the reliability of the travel route.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In such a field, there is a need for a technology that enables accurate map matching (identifying the current position of a vehicle).

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present technology is to provide an information processing apparatus that enables accurate map matching.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present technology includes a storage unit, an acquisition unit, and a correction unit. The storage unit stores roads and types associated with the roads. The acquisition unit acquires the current position of the vehicle transmitted from a vehicle traveling on an operation route included in the road. The correction unit corrects the current position acquired by the acquisition unit to a position on the road associated with a predetermined type, based on the road and type stored in the storage unit. The aforementioned predetermined type is the type associated with the aforementioned operating route.

[0007] This information processing device corrects the vehicle's current location to a position on a road associated with the same vehicle type as the route it is assigned to. This enables highly accurate map matching.

[0008] The acquisition unit may acquire the route number of the operating route from the vehicle. In this case, the correction unit may determine the predetermined type according to the route number acquired by the acquisition unit.

[0009] The current position, the road, and the route before and after correction by the correction unit may be represented as two-dimensional position information.

[0010] The correction unit may correct the current position to the position on the road associated with the predetermined type that is the shortest distance from the current position.

[0011] The aforementioned categories may include at least one of the following: expressways, national roads, major prefectural roads, general prefectural roads, general roads with two or more lanes, general roads with one lane, and connecting roads to these.

[0012] The acquisition unit may acquire fixed object information relating to fixed objects present around the vehicle from the vehicle. In this case, the correction unit may correct the current position to a position associated with the predetermined type based on the fixed object information acquired by the acquisition unit.

[0013] The information processing apparatus may further include a transmission unit that transmits the signal schedule information of the traffic signal installed on the driving route and the corrected current position by the correction unit to an in-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle. In this case, the acquisition unit may acquire, from the in-vehicle device, first information indicating that the vehicle can pass through the traffic signal without stopping, or second information indicating that it is impossible. Further, the information processing apparatus may further include a control unit that executes priority control to allow the vehicle to pass through the traffic signal without stopping when the acquisition unit acquires the second information.

Advantages of the Invention

[0014] According to the present invention, accurate map matching can be performed.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0015] [Figure 1] It is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a signal control system according to an embodiment of the present technology. [Figure 2] It is a schematic diagram showing a functional configuration example of an information processing apparatus and an in-vehicle device. [Figure 3] It is a schematic diagram showing an example of map data. [Figure 4] It is a schematic diagram showing an example of a route line. [Figure 5] It is a schematic diagram showing an example of a processing flow of an in-vehicle device. [Figure 6] It is a schematic diagram showing an example of a processing flow of an information processing apparatus. [Figure 7] It is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example related to variations of priority control.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present technology will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0017] [Signal Control System] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a signal control system 1 according to an embodiment of the present technology. The signal control system 1 is composed of a bus 2, a radio base station 3, an information processing device 4, a signal control device 5, and a traffic signal 6. In this example, the traffic signal 6 is installed on a road 7, and the bus 2 is traveling on an operation route 8 included in the road 7. The bus 2 is traveling in the right direction in the figure but has not reached the traffic signal 6 yet.

[0018] The bus 2 is typically a public vehicle such as a regular bus, and includes a regularly operating bus or an extra trip bus that travels based on an operation schedule. Also, the bus 2 is not limited to these regular buses and may be a shuttle bus or the like that travels back and forth between public facilities and terminals such as stations based on a predetermined operation schedule.

[0019] In addition, in this embodiment, the bus 2 is an autonomous vehicle, but it may also be a normal vehicle driven manually by a driver. Furthermore, the present technology may be applied to any vehicle other than the bus 2. The bus 2 corresponds to an embodiment of the vehicle according to the present technology.

[0020] An in-vehicle device 9 is mounted on the bus 2, and the position information of the bus 2 is transmitted by the in-vehicle device 9. The radio base station 3 receives the position information from the in-vehicle device 9 and transmits it to the information processing device 4. As the communication line of the radio base station 3, typically an LTE (Long Term Evolution) line is used, but it is not limited to this.

[0021] The information processing device 4 performs predetermined processing after receiving the position information from the radio base station 3 and transmits sensing notification information to the signal control device 5.

[0022] The signal control device 5 is installed, for example, in a control box (not shown) attached to the support pole of the traffic light 6, and is electrically connected by wires to each of the signal lights (red, yellow, and blue) of the traffic light 6. The signal control device 5 uses commercial power as its power source and controls the illumination of each signal light according to a preset illumination time (display time in seconds, illumination time) and cycle. Furthermore, when the signal control device 5 receives detection notification information from the information processing device 4, it controls the illumination of each signal light according to the detection notification information.

[0023] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the information processing device 4 and the in-vehicle device 9. The in-vehicle device 9 includes a wireless communication device 12, a GNSS receiver 13, and a controller 14. These are interconnected via a communication bus 15. Instead of the communication bus 15, each block may be connected using a communication network or a proprietary, unstandardized communication method.

[0024] The wireless communication device 12 is a communication module for communicating with other devices via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network). It may be equipped with a wireless LAN module such as WiFi, or a communication module for short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth®. Communication equipment such as a modem or router may also be used. In this embodiment, communication with the bus 2 and the wireless base station 3 is performed via the wireless communication device 12.

[0025] The GNSS receiver 13 is a receiver related to GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), such as GPS (Global Positioning System). As shown in Figure 1, the GNSS receiver 13 receives GNSS information representing the position information of bus 2 from multiple GNSS satellites 16 at short intervals. Other systems, such as the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System, may also be used.

[0026] The controller 14 controls the operation of each block in the in-vehicle device 9. The controller 14 has hardware circuits necessary for a computer, such as a CPU and memory (RAM, ROM). Various processes are executed by the CPU executing a program related to this technology stored in a memory unit (not shown). As the controller 14, a device such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or other PLD (Programmable Logic Device), or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) may be used.

[0027] In this embodiment, the CPU of the controller 14 executes a program related to this technology (for example, an application program), thereby realizing the system number receiving unit 17, the location information generation unit 18, and the transmission unit 19 as functional blocks. Dedicated hardware such as ICs (integrated circuits) may be used as appropriate to realize each functional block.

[0028] The route number receiving unit 17 receives the current route number from the voice synthesis broadcasting device installed on bus 2. The route number is a set of letters and numbers associated with the route of bus 2. The route number is received via the wireless communication device 12 or by wired communication.

[0029] The position information generation unit 18 receives GNSS information from multiple GNSS satellites 16 via the GNSS receiving device 13, processes the received GNSS information, and generates position information including the latitude, longitude, and speed of the bus 2. In other words, this position information includes the current position of the bus 2 and is two-dimensional position information.

[0030] The transmitting unit 19 transmits the current system number received by the system number receiving unit 17 and the location information generated by the location information generation unit 18 to the information processing device 4 via the wireless communication device 12. Although the wireless base station 3 is not shown in Figure 2, in reality, transmission is performed via the wireless base station 3 as shown in Figure 1.

[0031] The information processing device 4 includes a wireless communication device 20, a storage unit 21, and a controller 22. These are interconnected via a communication bus 23. The wireless communication device 20 has a configuration similar to, for example, the wireless communication device 12 found in the in-vehicle device 9.

[0032] The memory unit 21 is a storage device such as non-volatile memory, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or SSD (Solid State Drive) may be used. In addition, any non-transient storage medium that can be read by a computer may be used.

[0033] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of map data. The memory unit 21 stores map data and the type of road for each route number. Map data is data that associates the type of road with each road. Figure 3A shows a portion of the map data stored by the memory unit 21. This portion includes four roads 7 (7a to 7d).

[0034] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a route line L. Each road 7 is represented as two-dimensional positional information. For example, as shown in Figure 4, in a geographic coordinate system with latitude and longitude as two axes, a representative point P is defined by the latitude and longitude of a point along road 7. n Road 7 is represented by a root line L, which connects points (n=0 to N) with lines. In other words, root line L is a line obtained by approximating Road 7 with multiple line segments.

[0035] Multiple representative points P n The location does not necessarily have to coincide with road 7, and is set so that the route line L can accurately represent road 7. For example, a representative point P may be located at a point on road 7 where the direction of travel of bus 2 changes significantly, i.e., at an intersection or curve. n This will be set.

[0036] Representative point P nThe number N can be arbitrarily determined based on the shape of the road 7, the capacity of the memory unit 21, etc. Note that the route line L does not have to be a straight line; for example, representative point P n An approximate curve obtained by extrapolating the curve may also be acceptable.

[0037] Since the road 7 is approximated as a line segment in the route line L, the data size can be significantly reduced compared to a curve that accurately represents the road 7. As a result, a large-capacity memory unit 21 is not required, leading to a more compact, lighter, and lower-cost design.

[0038] Each road 7 is associated with a category that indicates the type of road it is. In this example, the following 11 categories are defined. 1: Expressway 2: National Highway 3:Major local roads 4: General prefectural roads 5: Public roads (2 lanes or more) 6: Public roads (less than 2 lanes) 7: Access road to the highway 8: Access road to the national highway 9: Connecting road to a major local road 10: Connecting road to a general prefectural road 11: Connection road to a public road (2 lanes or more) Other arbitrary categories may be defined. For example, "connecting roads to general roads (less than 2 lanes)" may be included. There is also no limit to the specific number of categories.

[0039] Road 7a is associated with "1: Expressway," road 7b with "2: National Highway," road 7c with "5: General Road (2 or more lanes)," and road 7d with "6: General Road (less than 2 lanes)." In this example, roads 7a to 7c intersect each other at different levels, and road 7d is a branch road from road 7c.

[0040] For such map data databases, OpenStreetMap (registered trademark) can be used, but it is not limited to that, and any database may be used.

[0041] The type associated with each route number is information that links all the types included in the route of that route number to that route number. For example, if the route of a certain route number includes only national highways and major local roads, then two types, "2: National Highway" and "3: Major Local Road," will be associated with that route number. The memory unit 21 stores the types associated with all route numbers.

[0042] The controller 22 has a configuration similar to, for example, the controller 14 of the in-vehicle device 9. The controller 22 comprises a receiving unit 27, a matching unit 28, a priority control determination unit 29, and a sensing notification information transmission unit 30 as functional blocks.

[0043] The receiving unit 27 receives the current system number and location information transmitted from the in-vehicle device 9 via the wireless communication device 20. The receiving unit 27 corresponds to one embodiment of the acquisition unit related to this technology.

[0044] The matching unit 28 corrects the current location included in the location information received by the receiving unit 27 to a location on the road 7 associated with the same type as the type associated with the current route, based on the map data stored by the storage unit 21. The matching unit 28 corresponds to one embodiment of the correction unit according to this technology.

[0045] Specifically, the matching unit 28 first obtains the current route number from the receiving unit 27. Furthermore, by referencing the categories for each route number stored in the storage unit 21, the category associated with the current route number is obtained. As a result, the same category as the category associated with the current operating route is obtained.

[0046] In other words, the matching unit 28 performs a process to determine the type associated with the current route, according to the current route number. The road 7 associated with the determined type can be said to be a road 7 on which bus 2 may currently travel. Conversely, the road 7 associated with any other type can be said to be a road 7 on which bus 2 may not currently travel.

[0047] In this example, the current route includes only national highways and general roads with two or more lanes. Therefore, the matching unit 28 determines two types: "2: National Highway" and "5: General Road (2 or more lanes)". Figure 3A shows the roads 7 (roads 7b, 7c) associated with these types, highlighted in shaded areas.

[0048] Next, a process is executed to correct the current location to a location on road 7. At this time, the matching unit 28 refers only to road 7 associated with the determined type as the correction target. That is, road 7b or 7c will be the correction target in this example.

[0049] The specific method for correcting the current position will now be explained. The matching unit 28 corrects the current position to the position on the road 7 associated with the determined type that is the shortest distance from the current position. The route line L in Figure 5 corresponds to the road 7 associated with the determined type (i.e., roads 7b and 7c). Figure 5 also shows the current position V and a perpendicular line drawn from the current position V to the route line L. The intersection point I of this perpendicular line and the route line L is the position on the road 7 that is the shortest distance from the current position V. Therefore, the correction target is intersection point I. Hereafter, intersection point I may be referred to as the corrected current position V'.

[0050] The priority control determination unit 29 determines, based on the corrected current position V' and the speed of the bus 2 included in the position information, whether it is possible for the bus 2 to pass the signal 6 without stopping (hereinafter referred to as non-stop passing) if priority control is performed. Typical priority control is performed so that the signal 6 turns green when the bus 2 reaches the signal 6. For example, this includes extending the time the blue light of the signal 6 is on or shortening the time the red light is on. Due to the constraints on the duration of the signal 6's light color, if it is not possible to turn the light blue at the estimated arrival time of the bus 2, the unit may determine that non-stop passing is not possible.

[0051] The detection notification information transmission unit 30 transmits detection notification information to the signal control device 5 via the wireless communication device 20 when the priority control determination unit 29 determines that non-stop passage is permitted. This enables priority control of the traffic signal 6.

[0052] [Processing flow] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the processing flow of the in-vehicle device 9. The series of processes shown in Figure 5 are executed at a predetermined interval, for example, once every two seconds. First, the route number receiving unit 17 receives the route number from bus 2 (step 101).

[0053] The position information generation unit 18 receives GNSS information from multiple GNSS satellites 16 (step 102). The GNSS information is then processed to generate position information for bus 2 (step 103). Finally, the position information and route number are transmitted to the information processing device 4 (step 104).

[0054] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the processing flow of the information processing device 4. The series of processes shown in Figure 6 are also executed at a predetermined cycle. This cycle may be the same as or different from the cycle of the processing by the in-vehicle device 9 shown in Figure 5. First, the receiving unit 27 determines whether or not location information and system number have been received from the in-vehicle device 9 (step 201). If they have been received (Yes in step 201), the matching unit 28 determines the type based on the system number (step 202). The matching unit 28 corrects the current position V and generates the corrected current position V' (step 203).

[0055] The priority control determination unit 29 determines whether or not non-stop passage is possible by performing priority control (step 204). If it is possible (Yes in step 204), the detection notification information transmission unit 30 transmits detection notification information and priority control is performed (step 205).

[0056] If location information and route number are not received (No. in step 201), or if non-stop passage is not possible even if priority control is performed (No. in step 204), priority control will not be performed and the process will end.

[0057] In the information processing device 4 related to this technology, the current position V of the bus 2 is corrected to a position on the road 7 associated with the same type as the type associated with the route. This makes it possible to perform map matching with high accuracy.

[0058] If there are mountains, buildings, or other obstacles around bus 2, multipathing may cause the current location to be incorrectly determined. In such cases, it often becomes impossible to accurately perform priority control as described above.

[0059] In this technology, instead of referring to all roads 7 as correction targets, only roads 7 that are associated with the same type as the road type associated with the travel route are referenced. Therefore, the current position V will not be corrected to a road 7 that is not included in the travel route. Specifically, corrections to other parallel roads or other roads that intersect at different levels will be reduced. This improves the accuracy of the matching.

[0060] Figure 3B shows an example where the type of road 7 to be corrected is not limited; that is, all roads 7 are shaded. The inventor conducted an experiment to verify how much difference there is in matching accuracy between the case where the type of road to be corrected is not limited, as in Figure 3B, and the case where the type is limited, as in Figure 3A.

[0061] The experiment was conducted near an intersection in Kobe City. As a result, the matching success rate was 66% when the type was not limited, as shown in Figure 3B. However, when the type was limited to two types, "2: National Highway" and "5: General Road (2 lanes or more)", as shown in Figure 3A, the matching success rate improved to 96%.

[0062] Furthermore, this technology acquires the route number, and the type of service associated with the route is determined according to the route number. This makes it possible to determine the service type simply and accurately.

[0063] Furthermore, in this technology, the current position V before correction, the corrected current position V', road 7, and the travel route are represented as 2D position information. In this way, even when the position of road 7 and other elements in the height direction is unknown, this technology makes it possible to perform map matching with high accuracy.

[0064] Furthermore, this technology corrects the current position V to the position that minimizes the distance between the current position V on road 7 and the current position V on road 7. This makes it possible to perform corrections with high accuracy.

[0065] Furthermore, this technology includes at least one of the following categories: expressways, national roads, major prefectural roads, general prefectural roads, general roads with two or more lanes, general roads with one lane, and connecting roads to these. This makes it possible to define categories that are in line with the actual conditions of roads 7.

[0066] <Other Embodiments> This technology is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various other embodiments can be realized.

[0067] [Correction using fixed object information] The receiving unit 27 of the information processing device 4 may acquire fixed object information from the bus 2 regarding fixed objects present around the bus 2, and the matching unit 28 may correct the current position V based on this fixed object information. Fixed objects include, for example, lights and traffic lights 6 on the road 7, and as fixed object information, for example, an image of the sky above the bus 2 that includes the fixed objects is acquired as an ambient image.

[0068] The storage unit 21 of the information processing device 4 stores in advance the position information of a fixed object and an image of the fixed object taken with the camera pointed towards the sky. When the image matches the surrounding image, the current position V is corrected to the position of the fixed object.

[0069] Furthermore, if the corrected current position V' does not correspond to a position on road 7 associated with the same type as the type associated with the operating route, further corrections will be made using the method shown in Figure 4 or similar to ensure that it corresponds to a position on road 7 associated with the same type.

[0070] This allows for more precise map matching by limiting the types of objects and performing corrections based on fixed object information.

[0071] [Variations of priority control] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example configuration related to variations in priority control. Priority control may be performed based on the assumption of speed adjustment for bus 2. In this example, in addition to the configuration shown in Figure 2, the information processing device 4 further has a transmission unit 33, and the on-board device 9 further has a passage determination unit 34.

[0072] The memory unit 21 stores signal schedule information indicating the light color of the signal light 6 for each time period, and the transmission unit 33 transmits the signal schedule information and the corrected current position V' to the on-board device 9. The passage determination unit 34 of the on-board device 9 determines, based on the signal schedule information and the corrected current position V', whether or not the bus 2 can pass through without stopping by adjusting its speed.

[0073] If bus 2 travels too slowly, it will obstruct the passage of surrounding vehicles, and conversely, if it travels too fast, it will exceed the legal speed limit. Therefore, a speed limit is set for bus 2 in advance, and if it is possible to pass without stopping by adjusting the speed within this range, or even without adjusting the speed, a first piece of information indicating this is generated. On the other hand, if it would have to stop at traffic light 6 no matter what speed adjustment is made within the speed limit, a second piece of information indicating that passing without stopping is impossible is generated. Then, the generated first or second piece of information is transmitted to the information processing device 4.

[0074] The receiving unit 27 of the information processing device 4 receives either the first or second information described above. If the priority control determination unit 29 determines that the receiving unit 27 has received the second information, but that non-stop passage is possible by performing priority control, the detection notification information transmission unit 30 transmits detection notification information, and priority control is performed. On the other hand, if the first information is received, or if the second information is received and non-stop passage is impossible even with priority control, priority control is not performed. The priority control determination unit 29 and the sensing notification information transmission unit 30 in this example correspond to one embodiment of the control unit.

[0075] In this embodiment, it is first determined whether or not non-stop passage is possible by adjusting the speed, and only if it is not possible is a determination made regarding the execution of priority control. This prevents traffic around bus 2 from being obstructed by excessive priority control. In addition, since bus 2 will stop less often at traffic lights 6, it is possible to prevent delays in operation and a decrease in passenger comfort due to stops.

[0076] [Other variations] Correction may be performed only when the distance between the current position V and intersection point I, as shown in Figure 4, exceeds a predetermined threshold. Alternatively, correction may be performed only when the time during which the distance exceeds the predetermined threshold exceeds a predetermined duration.

[0077] The correction of the current position V in this technology may be performed for control purposes other than priority control. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0078] 1…Signal control system 2…bus 3… Wireless base station 4…Information Processing Devices 5... Signal control device 6… Traffic lights 7…road 8…Operating Route 9…In-vehicle device 12, 20… Wireless communication devices 13…GNSS receiver 14, 22… controller 15, 23... Communications bus 16…GNSS satellite 17... System number receiving unit 18...Position information generation unit 19, 33... Transmitter 21...Storage section 27... Receiver 28…Matching Department 29…Priority control determination unit 30...Sensing notification information transmission unit 34...Passage determination section I...intersection L... Route line V…Current position V'... Corrected current position

Claims

1. A storage unit that stores roads and the types associated with said roads, An acquisition unit that acquires the current location of a vehicle transmitted from a vehicle traveling on a route included in the aforementioned road, A correction unit corrects the current position acquired by the acquisition unit to a position on the road associated with a predetermined type, based on the road and type stored in the storage unit. An information processing device comprising, The aforementioned predetermined type is a type associated with the aforementioned operating route. Information processing device.

2. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1, The acquisition unit acquires the route number of the operating route from the vehicle, The correction unit determines the predetermined type according to the system number acquired by the acquisition unit. Information processing device.

3. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, The current position, the road, and the route before and after correction by the correction unit are represented as two-dimensional positional information. Information processing device.

4. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, The correction unit corrects the current position to the position on the road associated with the predetermined type that is the shortest distance from the current position. Information processing device.

5. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, The aforementioned categories include at least one of the following: expressways, national roads, major prefectural roads, general prefectural roads, general roads with two or more lanes, general roads with one lane, and connecting roads to these. Information processing device.

6. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, The acquisition unit acquires fixed object information relating to fixed objects present around the vehicle from the vehicle. The correction unit corrects the current position to the position associated with the predetermined type based on the fixed object information acquired by the acquisition unit. Information processing device.

7. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further, The system includes a transmission unit that transmits the signal schedule information of the traffic signals installed along the aforementioned route, and the current position after correction by the correction unit, to an on-board device mounted on the vehicle. The acquisition unit acquires from the on-board device first information indicating that the vehicle can pass the traffic light without stopping, or second information indicating that it cannot. The information processing device further includes a control unit that, when the acquisition unit acquires the second information, executes priority control to the traffic signal, allowing the vehicle to pass through the traffic signal without stopping. Information processing device.

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