Foreign Object Detection System

Abstract

To provide an abnormal object detection system and a vehicle that can suppress transmission of erroneous abnormal object detection information.SOLUTION: An abnormal object detection system according to the present invention comprises: a vehicle equipped with a detection device for detecting an abnormal object present on a road on which the vehicle is traveling; and a server device that determines whether or not an abnormal object is actually present on the road on which the vehicle is traveling on the basis of a detection result from the detection device. The server device evaluates validity of an abnormal object detection result by comparing abnormal object detection results from detection devices and information related to a position where an abnormal object was detected among a plurality of vehicles.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a foreign object detection system that detects foreign objects, such as fallen objects, present on a road on which a vehicle is traveling, and to a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a system in which a discovering vehicle that detects a fallen object transmits a location information request to surrounding vehicles to acquire location information, surrounding vehicles whose distance to the fallen object is less than a threshold are grouped together and the discovering vehicle transmits a group membership status notification, and the discovering vehicle, which is a server vehicle, notifies the server vehicle of fallen object information. Patent Document 1 also describes a system in which the discovering vehicle periodically requests location information from the surrounding vehicles to acquire the location information of the surrounding vehicles, and when the distance between the server vehicle and the fallen object is greater than a threshold, the discovering vehicle, which is the server vehicle, transmits a server vehicle update request to the surrounding vehicles that are closest to the fallen object, thereby updating the server vehicle. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-117586 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The system described in Patent Document 1 does not evaluate the validity of the fallen object detection result. As a result, there is a possibility that erroneous fallen object detection information may be transmitted to surrounding vehicles, such as following vehicles. If information indicating a fallen object is transmitted to surrounding vehicles when no fallen object actually exists, the surrounding vehicles may be forced to take unnecessary measures, such as changing lanes or suspending power supply while driving. Against this background, there has been a demand for technology that can prevent the transmission of erroneous foreign object detection information.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has an object to provide a foreign object detection system and a vehicle that can prevent erroneous foreign object detection information from being transmitted. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The foreign object detection system of the present invention is a foreign object detection system comprising a vehicle equipped with a detection device that detects foreign objects present on the road on which the vehicle is traveling, and a server device that determines whether or not a foreign object is actually present on the road on which the vehicle is traveling based on the detection results of the detection device, and the server device evaluates the validity of the foreign object detection results by comparing the foreign object detection results by the detection device and information regarding the location where the foreign object was detected between multiple vehicles.

[0007] The server device may evaluate the validity of the foreign object detection result based on the number of vehicles determined to have a foreign object at the location where the foreign object was detected and the number of vehicles determined to have no foreign object at the location, thereby improving the accuracy of foreign object detection.

[0008] The server device may also transmit information to vehicles that have been determined to be in the minority group to urge them to have their detection devices serviced, thereby preventing the transmission of erroneous foreign object detection information due to a malfunction of the detection device.

[0009] The server device may also evaluate the validity of the foreign object detection result taking into account the weather and illuminance around the vehicle, thereby preventing the accuracy of foreign object detection from being reduced by the weather and illuminance around the vehicle.

[0010] The vehicle of the present invention is equipped with a detection device that detects foreign objects present on the road along which the vehicle is traveling, and notifies a server device that determines whether or not a foreign object actually exists on the road along which the vehicle is traveling based on the detection results of the detection device of the foreign object detection result by the detection device and the location where the foreign object was detected.

[0011] It is preferable to have the server device compare information about foreign objects between a plurality of vehicles.

[0012] Furthermore, the foreign object detection results from a plurality of vehicles may be aggregated, and the information may be notified to the server device so that the results may be used to evaluate the validity of the foreign object detection results based on the number of vehicles.

[0013] Furthermore, based on the results of foreign object detection collected by the server device, information urging maintenance of the vehicle's detection device may be received and notified to the user.

[0014] In addition, in order to have the server device evaluate the validity of the foreign object detection result taking into account the weather and illuminance around the vehicle, it is preferable to notify the server device of the weather and illuminance detected by the vehicle. [Effects of the Invention]

[0015] According to the foreign object detection system and vehicle of the present invention, the validity of the foreign object detection results is evaluated by comparing the foreign object detection results by the detection device and information regarding the location where the foreign object was detected between multiple vehicles, thereby preventing the transmission of incorrect foreign object detection information. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a foreign object detection system according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle shown in FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a power supply operation of a vehicle. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a modified example of the power supply operation of the vehicle. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of a foreign object detection process according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of a foreign object detection process according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining another example of the foreign object detection process according to one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] Hereinafter, a foreign object detection system and a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0018] 〔composition〕 First, the configuration of a foreign object detection system according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0019] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a foreign object detection system according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, foreign object detection system 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention is a system that detects foreign objects, such as fallen objects, present on a road on which vehicles 2 (2a to 2c) are traveling, and includes as its main components vehicle 2, edge server devices 3 (3a to 3c), and main server device 4. However, the functions of edge server device 3 and main server device 4 may be realized by a single information processing device.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle 2 is composed of a well-known vehicle such as an EHV (Electric Hybrid Vehicle), a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), a PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), or an FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle), and is equipped with a communication module 21, an on-board controller 22, and a detection device 23.

[0021] The communication module 21 is configured by a wireless communication circuit capable of performing wireless communication via a telecommunication line such as the Internet network or a mobile phone network, and controls information communication with the edge server device 3.

[0022] The in-vehicle controller 22 includes a processor having hardware such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), and an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), and a main memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) and a ROM (Read Only Memory). The in-vehicle controller 22 controls the overall operation of the vehicle 2 by executing a computer program stored in the main memory. In this embodiment, the main memory stores identification information (vehicle ID) unique to each vehicle 2.

[0023] The detection device 23 is composed of devices such as a LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), a camera, and a millimeter-wave radar, and detects foreign objects present around the vehicle 2. The detection device 23 outputs information about the detected foreign object and its position (longitude, latitude, etc.) to the on-board controller 22 as foreign object detection information. The detection device 23 also uses a raindrop sensor and an illuminance sensor to obtain information about the weather and illuminance around the vehicle 2 as surrounding environment information, and outputs the obtained surrounding environment information to the on-board controller 22.

[0024] In this embodiment, the vehicle 2 is configured to be able to receive power from a power supply device installed on the road. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b), the vehicle 2 individually transmits a power supply request to the power supply device 6 installed on the road, and the power supply device 6 that receives the power supply request performs an authentication process for the vehicle 2. If the vehicle 2 is authenticated, the power supply device 6 performs a power supply process for the vehicle 2. Instead of individually transmitting a power supply request to the power supply device 6, the vehicle 2 may sequentially transmit a power supply request to sections formed by a plurality of power supply devices 6 as shown in FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), and if the vehicle 2 is authenticated, the power supply devices 6 in each section may sequentially supply power to the vehicle 2.

[0025] 1 , the edge server device 3 is configured with an information processing device such as a workstation. The edge server device 3 acquires the vehicle ID, foreign object detection information, and surrounding environment information from the vehicle 2 for each road area on which the vehicle 2 travels via a telecommunications line, and transmits the acquired information to the main server device 4.

[0026] The main server device 4 is composed of an information processing device such as a workstation located at the information management center that operates the foreign object detection system 1. The main server device 4 acquires the vehicle ID, foreign object detection information, and surrounding environment information of each vehicle 2 from the edge server device 3 via a telecommunications line, and determines whether or not there is a foreign object on the road based on the acquired information. Then, based on the determination result, the main server device 4 transmits various information via the edge server device 3 to an administrator who manages the vehicles 2 and the power supply devices 6.

[0027] In the foreign object detection system 1 having such a configuration, the edge server device 3 and the main server device 4 execute the foreign object detection process described below to prevent the distribution of erroneous foreign object detection information. Below, with reference to Figures 5 to 7, the operation of the edge server device 3 and the main server device 4 when executing the foreign object detection process will be described.

[0028] [Foreign object detection process] Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of foreign object detection processing according to one embodiment of the present invention. The foreign object detection processing shown in Fig. 5 is processing performed when a fallen object OB actually exists on the road, when the first vehicle 2 of three vehicles 2 detects the fallen object OB, and when the detection device 23 of the second vehicle 2 is malfunctioning.

[0029] 5, first, when the detection device 23 of the first vehicle 2 detects a falling object OB (step S1), the on-board controller 22 of the first vehicle 2 transmits the position information of the falling object OB together with its own vehicle ID to the main server device 4 via the edge server device 3 (step S2). Next, when the main server device 4 receives the position information of the falling object OB transmitted from the first vehicle 2 (step S3), it stops the operation of the power feeding device 6 near the position indicated by the position information of the falling object OB and transmits the received position information of the falling object OB to the second and third vehicles 2 (foreign object position notification) (step S4, FIGS. 6(a) and (b)).

[0030] Next, the second and third vehicles 2 receive the position information of the falling object OB transmitted from the main server device 4 via the edge server device 3 (steps S5a and S5b), and transmit the detection result of the falling object OB at the position indicated by the received position information to the main server device 4 (steps S6a and S6b). As described above, in this example, since the detection device 23 of the second vehicle 2 is malfunctioning, the second vehicle 2 transmits information that there is no falling object OB at the position indicated by the position information, and the third vehicle 2 transmits information that there is a falling object OB at the position indicated by the position information (FIGS. 6(c) and (d)).

[0031] Next, the main server device 4 receives the detection results of the fallen object OB transmitted from the plurality of vehicles 2 (step S7) and determines whether the number of vehicles 2 for which it is determined that the fallen object OB is or is not present at the location indicated by the location information exceeds a predetermined threshold (step S8). If the determination result shows that the number of vehicles 2 for which it is determined that the fallen object OB is or is not present at the location indicated by the location information exceeds the predetermined threshold (step S8: Yes), the main server device 4 transmits a notification to the minority vehicles 2 that there is an abnormality in their detection devices 23 via the edge server device 3 (step S9). The vehicles 2 that receive the notification display information such as the need for maintenance of their detection devices 23 (step S10). In this example, the second vehicle 2 receives the notification and displays information such as the need for maintenance of the detection devices 23 (FIG. 6(e)). Note that the accuracy of foreign object detection by the detection devices 23 varies depending on the weather and illuminance around the vehicle 2. Therefore, the predetermined threshold may be changed depending on the weather and illuminance around the vehicle 2.

[0032] Furthermore, in parallel with the processing of step S8, the main server device 4 determines whether the number of vehicles 2 determined to have a fallen object OB at the position indicated by the position information is equal to or greater than a predetermined number (step S11). If the determination result indicates that the number of vehicles 2 determined to have a fallen object OB at the position indicated by the position information is equal to or greater than the predetermined number (step S11: Yes), the main server device 4 determines that a fallen object OB is definitely present at the position indicated by the position information and transmits information to the control device 7, which controls the power feeding device 6, instructing it to remove the fallen object OB (step S12). Then, upon receiving the information instructing it to remove the fallen object OB (step S13), the control device 7 instructs a worker to remove the fallen object OB (step S14). Note that the accuracy of foreign object detection by the detection device 23 varies depending on the weather and illuminance around the vehicle 2. Therefore, the predetermined number may be changed depending on the weather and illuminance around the vehicle 2. Furthermore, the determination results may be weighted between vehicles 2, for example, by giving more weight to the determination of a vehicle 2 with a larger number of sensors equipped in the detection device 23.

[0033] As is clear from the above description, in the foreign object detection system 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention, the main server device 4 evaluates the validity of the foreign object detection results by comparing the foreign object detection results by the detection devices 23 and information related to the locations where the foreign objects were detected between multiple vehicles 2, thereby preventing the transmission of erroneous foreign object detection information. Furthermore, the main server device 4 evaluates the validity of the foreign object detection results based on the number of vehicles 2 that determined that a foreign object was present at the location where the foreign object was detected and the number of vehicles 2 that determined that no foreign object was present, thereby improving the accuracy of foreign object detection. Furthermore, the main server device 4 transmits information to vehicles 2 that made the minority determination to prompt them to perform maintenance on their detection devices 23, thereby preventing the transmission of erroneous foreign object detection information due to a malfunction of the detection device 23. Furthermore, the main server device 4 evaluates the validity of the foreign object detection results by taking into account the weather and illuminance around the vehicles 2, thereby preventing a decrease in the accuracy of foreign object detection due to the weather and illuminance around the vehicles.

[0034] The above-described foreign object detection process was performed in the case where a foreign object is present on the road, the first vehicle 2 of the three vehicles 2 detects the foreign object, and the detection device 23 of the second vehicle 2 malfunctions. However, as shown in FIG. 7, the same process can also be performed in the case where there is no foreign object on the road, and the first vehicle 2 of the three vehicles 2 determines that a foreign object is present. That is, in this case, as shown in FIG. 7(a), first, when the detection device 23 of the first vehicle 2 detects a falling object OB that does not actually exist, the on-board controller 22 of the first vehicle 2 transmits position information of the falling object OB together with its own vehicle ID to the main server device 4 via the edge server device 3. Next, upon receiving the position information of the falling object OB transmitted from the first vehicle 2, the main server device 4 stops the operation of the power supply device 6 near the position indicated by the position information of the falling object OB, and transmits the received position information of the falling object OB to the second and third vehicles 2 (FIG. 7(b)). Next, the second and third vehicles 2 receive the position information of the fallen object OB transmitted from the main server device 4 via the edge server device 3, and transmit the detection results of the fallen object OB at the position indicated by the received position information to the main server device 4. As described above, since there is no foreign object on the road, the second and third vehicles 2 transmit information that there is no fallen object OB at the position indicated by the received position information (FIGS. 6(c) and (d)). Thereafter, the main server device 4 executes a process similar to the foreign object detection process described above. In this example, the first vehicle 2 displays information such as the need for maintenance of the detection device 23. Furthermore, since there is actually no fallen object OB, the power supply device 6 that was stopped is restarted.

[0035] Furthermore, the accuracy of foreign object detection by the detection device 23 varies depending on the weather and time of day. For example, there is a difference in foreign object detection accuracy between sunny daytime and rainy nighttime. Therefore, it is desirable to change the number of times (count value) that the detection device 23 detects a foreign object in the same location depending on the weather and time of day. For example, as shown in Table 1, weights of the count values ​​of each detection device 23 can be set according to the detection results of the raindrop sensor and the illuminance sensor (for example, the weight of the LiDAR count value when the weather around the vehicle 2 is rainy is 1), and the main server device 4 can execute the processes of steps S8 and S11 using the weighted count values. Note that the detection range of the detection device 23 can also be distinguished between ranges that interfere with vehicle travel or power supply and other ranges. For example, image recognition or the like can be used to determine whether a foreign object is present within the travel range. If it is determined that there is no interference with power supply, such as when a fallen object is on the roadside, power supply can be continued.

[0036] [Table 1]

[0037] Specifically, in the example shown in Table 1, the LiDAR count value is D1, the camera count value is D2, the millimeter wave radar count value is D3, the weight based on the detection result of the raindrop sensor is S1, and the weight based on the detection result of the illuminance sensor is S2, and the count value of the detection device 23 can be calculated using the following formulas 1 and 2.

[0038]

number

[0039]

number

[0040] Although the present invention has been described above as an embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the description and drawings that form part of the disclosure of the present invention. In other words, other embodiments, examples, and operational techniques that can be made by those skilled in the art based on the present invention are all included in the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0041] 1 Foreign object detection system 2, 2a, 2b, 2c vehicles 3, 3a, 3b, 3c Edge server device 4. Main server device 6 Power supply equipment 7 Control Device 21 Communication Module 22 In-vehicle controller 23 Detection Device OB Falling Objects

Claims

[Claim 1] A foreign object detection system comprising: a vehicle equipped with a detection device that detects foreign objects present on a road on which the vehicle is traveling; and a server device that determines whether or not a foreign object actually exists on the road on which the vehicle is traveling based on a detection result of the detection device, The server device evaluates the validity of the foreign object detection results by comparing the foreign object detection results by the detection device and information regarding the location where the foreign object was detected between multiple vehicles, and if it determines that the foreign object detection results are invalid, it restarts the power supply device installed on the road that was stopped in response to the foreign object detection, and if the foreign object detected by the detection device is not present in an area that would interfere with the vehicle's travel or power supply, it continues operating the power supply device installed on the road near the location where the foreign object was detected.

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