Instruction device, instruction method, and recording medium

Abstract

Provided are an instruction device, an instruction method, and a recording medium capable of contributing to the prevention of worsening of traffic congestion and to the early elimination of traffic congestion on a road having a plurality of lanes.　The instruction device comprises: an acquisition means for acquiring the congestion status of each lane of a road section having a plurality of lanes; a generation means for generating, on the basis of the congestion statuses, a lane change instruction for equalizing the degree of congestion for each lane; and a transmission means for transmitting the lane change instruction to a vehicle scheduled to enter the road section.

Description

Instruction device, instruction method, and recording medium

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an instruction device, an instruction method, and a recording medium.

[0002] As a method for alleviating traffic congestion, a known method uses a car navigation system or an electronic display board to inform vehicles ahead of a congested section that there is a congested section on their travel route, and to prompt them to change their route or the like.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a driving support device that makes it easy for an occupant to determine that the host vehicle is traveling in a lane suitable for efficiently traveling to a destination when causing the host vehicle to travel to the destination along a target route. The driving support device described in this document sets a target route from the current position of the host vehicle to the destination, and sets a lane plan representing the lane in which the host vehicle is scheduled to travel based on the target route. Then, this driving support device determines the necessity of a lane change based on the congestion status of each lane of the road on the target route and whether it is possible to return to the planned lane.

[0004] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2024-10869

[0005] A cause of worsening traffic congestion or delaying the resolution of traffic congestion is the non-uniform number of vehicles staying in each lane. When the number of staying vehicles becomes non-uniform, drivers in a hurry change lanes to lanes with less traffic, which causes congestion in the destination lane. In addition, unnecessary lane changes cause merging, and as a result, phenomena such as worsening traffic congestion and delayed resolution of traffic congestion have been confirmed.

[0006] An objective of the present disclosure is to provide an instruction device, an instruction method, and a recording medium that can contribute to preventing the worsening of traffic congestion on a road with multiple lanes and enabling early resolution of traffic congestion.

[0007] According to a first aspect, there is provided an instruction device comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires the staying status for each lane of a road section having a plurality of lanes; a generation unit that generates a lane change instruction that equalizes the degree of staying for each lane based on the staying status; and a transmission unit that transmits the lane change instruction to vehicles scheduled to enter the road section.

[0008] From a second perspective, a method is provided for obtaining the congestion status of each lane in a road section with multiple lanes, generating a lane change instruction that equalizes the degree of congestion in each lane based on the congestion status, and transmitting the lane change instruction to vehicles that are planning to enter the road section.

[0009] From a third perspective, a recording medium is provided that records a program that performs the following: a process of acquiring the congestion status of each lane in a road section with multiple lanes; a process of generating lane change instructions that equalize the degree of congestion in each lane based on the congestion status; and a process of transmitting the lane change instructions to vehicles that are scheduled to enter the road section.

[0010] This disclosure makes it possible to provide an indicator device, an indicator method, and a recording medium that can contribute to preventing the worsening of congestion on multi-lane roads and to the early resolution of congestion.

[0011] This figure shows one configuration of the Disclosure. This is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the Disclosure. This is a diagram illustrating the operation of the Disclosure. This figure shows another configuration of the Disclosure. This is a flowchart illustrating another operation of the Disclosure. This is another diagram illustrating the operation of the Disclosure. This is another diagram illustrating the operation of the Disclosure. This is another diagram illustrating the operation of the Disclosure. This is another figure showing another configuration of the Disclosure. This figure shows the configuration of a computer constituting the instruction device or control system of the Disclosure.

[0012] First, an overview of one embodiment of this disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In this disclosure, the drawings are associated with one or more embodiments. The reference numerals in the drawings appended to this overview are provided for convenience as examples to aid understanding and are not intended to limit this disclosure to the illustrated embodiments. In addition, the connecting lines between blocks in the drawings and other references referred to in the following description include both bidirectional and unidirectional lines. Unidirectional arrows schematically indicate the flow of the main signal (data) and do not exclude bidirectionality. The program is executed via a computer device, which includes, for example, a processor, a storage device, an input device, a communication interface, and a display device as needed. This computer device is also configured to communicate with devices (including computers) inside or outside the device via the communication interface, whether wired or wireless. In addition, there are ports or interfaces at the input / output connection points of each block in the figures, but these are omitted from the illustration.

[0013] In one embodiment, this disclosure can be realized by an instruction device 10 comprising an acquisition means 11, a generation means 12, a transmission means 13, and a generating means 12, as shown in Figure 1. More specifically, the acquisition means 11 acquires the congestion status of each lane in a road section with multiple lanes. Here, "congestion status" refers to the distribution of vehicles remaining in a certain road section over a certain period of time. Such lane-specific congestion status can be acquired, for example, by tracking vehicles from images taken by a camera C capable of photographing the relevant road section.

[0014] The generation means 12 generates lane change instructions to equalize the degree of congestion in each lane based on the congestion status. For example, as shown in Figure 1, if there are many vehicles congested on one side of the two lanes, the generation means 12 generates a lane change instruction to instruct the vehicle to change to the less congested lane in order to equalize the degree of congestion. If the vehicle to which the instruction is directed is already traveling in the less congested lane, the generation means 12 may instruct the vehicle to maintain its lane.

[0015] The transmitting means 13 transmits the lane change instruction to the vehicle V that is scheduled to enter the road section.

[0016] The instruction device 10, configured as described above, operates as follows: First, the instruction device 10 acquires the congestion status for each lane in a road section with multiple lanes (step S01 in Figure 2). Next, based on the congestion status, the instruction device 10 generates a lane change instruction that equalizes the degree of congestion in each lane (step S02 in Figure 2). Finally, the instruction device 10 transmits the lane change instruction to a vehicle V that is planning to enter the road section (step S03 in Figure 2).

[0017] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the present disclosure. As a result of acquiring the congestion status for each lane in a certain road section, it is obtained that, as shown in Figure 3, there are three vehicles congested in the first lane and one vehicle congested in the second lane. In this case, the instruction device 10 transmits a lane change instruction to the vehicle V1 that is scheduled to enter the road section, at a point before the congestion occurs, to change lanes to the second lane. This equalizes the congestion status for each lane in the road section shown in Figure 3. Furthermore, as a result of equalizing the congestion status for each lane, it is possible to prevent the worsening of congestion due to unnecessary lane changes by vehicles caught in congestion, and to speed up the resolution of congestion.

[0018] [First Embodiment] Next, a first embodiment in which the present disclosure is applied to a control system for controlling traffic flow on a predetermined road will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 4 is a diagram showing one configuration of the present disclosure. Referring to Figure 4, a camera C capable of photographing a road with three lanes on one side and a control system 100 that performs control based on the image acquired from the camera C are shown. In the example of Figure 4, one camera C is shown, but the number of cameras C is not limited. Alternatively, a sensor capable of counting the number of vehicles, etc., may be used instead of the camera C.

[0019] The control system 100 corresponds to the instruction device 10 described above and includes an acquisition unit 101, a generation unit 102, a communication unit 103, and a selection unit 104. The acquisition unit 101 acquires the congestion status of each lane in a pre-set section of a three-lane road from the image of camera C. For example, in the example in Figure 4, there are 6 vehicles in the upper lane, 2 vehicles in the middle lane, and 4 vehicles in the lower lane. The acquisition unit 101 then sends the acquired congestion status of each lane to the generation unit 102. The acquisition unit 101 corresponds to the acquisition means 11 described above.

[0020] The generation unit 102 generates lane change instructions necessary to equalize the degree of congestion in each lane based on the acquired congestion status for each lane. Furthermore, the generation unit 102 requests the selection unit 104 to select vehicles to change lanes from congested lanes to less congested lanes. For example, in the example in Figure 4, the generation unit 102 requests the selection unit 104 to select vehicles to change lanes from the upper or lower lane to the less congested middle lane. The generation unit 102 corresponds to the generation means 12 described above.

[0021] The communication unit 103 receives vehicle information such as the lane the vehicle is currently traveling in, its destination, and its route from vehicles V1 and V2 that are scheduled to enter the road section, and sends this information to the selection unit 104. The communication unit 103 also sends a lane change instruction to the vehicle selected by the selection unit 104, requesting it to move to the designated lane. The communication method between the communication unit 103 and vehicles V1 and V2 can be a vehicle-to-infrastructure communication method or a mobile communication network method. The communication unit 103 corresponds to the transmission means 13 described above.

[0022] The selection unit (selection means) 104 selects a vehicle to change lanes from among the vehicles traveling in the lane specified by the generation unit 102, according to predetermined rules. The selection unit 104 then requests the communication unit 103 to transmit a lane change instruction to the selected vehicle. Examples of these predetermined rules include selecting a private car with a high degree of freedom in which lane to travel in, or selecting vehicles traveling in the relevant lane by thinning them out at regular intervals.

[0023] Furthermore, the selection unit 104 may select vehicles that are subject to lane change instructions by referring to the vehicle's destination and route. It is desirable to select vehicles that are not restricted by lane constraints when heading towards their destination, that is, vehicles that are likely to comply with lane changes. Some road lanes are for merging or branching off from other roads, or lanes where the direction of travel is set at an intersection. In such cases, the selection unit 104 can select vehicles that are likely to comply with lane changes by excluding vehicles that need to travel in these dedicated lanes from the list of vehicles subject to lane change instructions.

[0024] Furthermore, from the perspective of selecting a vehicle that can reliably respond to lane change instructions, the selection unit 104 may select an autonomous vehicle as the vehicle to which the lane change instructions are to be issued.

[0025] Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 5 is a flowchart showing another operation of this disclosure. Referring to Figure 5, first, the control system 100 acquires the congestion status of each lane in a pre-set road section (step S001).

[0026] Next, the control system 100 receives vehicle information such as the lane the vehicle is currently in and its intended route from vehicles V1 and V2 that are scheduled to enter the road section (step S002).

[0027] Next, the control system 100 selects a combination of lanes to be changed based on the traffic congestion status of each lane in the road section acquired. Specifically, the control system 100 selects the lane to be changed and the lane to be changed (step S003). In very simple terms, one or more lanes with little congestion can be selected as the lane to be changed, and any lane other than the lane selected as the lane to be changed can be selected as the lane to be changed.

[0028] Next, the control system 100 selects a vehicle from among the vehicles scheduled to enter the road section that is currently traveling in the lane it was originally intended to change (step S004).

[0029] Finally, the control system 100 sends a lane change instruction to the selected vehicle (step S005).

[0030] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating the traffic congestion on a road at a given point in time and the operation of the control system 100 in response. In the example shown in Figure 6, there are 6 vehicles in the upper lane, 2 vehicles in the middle lane, and 4 vehicles in the lower lane. In this case, the control system 100 selects the middle lane, which has the least congestion, as the destination for lane changes and sends lane change instructions to vehicles V1 and V2 in the other lanes, requesting them to change lanes to the middle lane. As a result, there are 6 vehicles in the upper lane, 4 vehicles in the middle lane, and 4 vehicles in the lower lane. By repeatedly sending such lane change instructions, the number of vehicles congested in each lane is equalized.

[0031] Figure 7 illustrates the traffic congestion on the road at a different point in time and the operation of the control system 100 in response. The traffic congestion is the same as in Figure 6. The difference from Figure 6 is that vehicle V11 needs to travel in the upper lane to reach its destination. In this case, the control system 100 excludes vehicle V11 from the lane change instruction and sends lane change instructions to vehicles V12 and V13 traveling in the lower lane.

[0032] Figure 8 illustrates the traffic congestion on the road at a different point in time and the operation of the control system 100 in response. The traffic congestion is the same as in Figure 6. The difference from Figure 6 is that the vehicles scheduled to enter the road section include the autonomous vehicles AV1 and AV2. In this case, the control system 100 prioritizes sending lane change instructions to the autonomous vehicles AV1 and AV2. Because the autonomous vehicles AV1 and AV2 reliably respond to the lane change instructions, the traffic congestion can be more reliably leveled out.

[0033] As described above, this embodiment makes it possible to efficiently level out the traffic congestion in road sections where congestion is occurring. This prevents reckless lane changes by congested vehicles, thereby preventing the worsening of congestion and delays in its resolution.

[0034] [Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment, which modifies the method for acquiring traffic congestion status for each lane, will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 9 shows another configuration of the present disclosure. The difference from the first embodiment shown in Figure 4 is that the acquisition unit 101a of the control system 100a acquires traffic congestion status for each lane from a traffic information collection server 200 that collects information from probe cars PV, rather than images from camera C. The other configurations are almost the same as in the first embodiment, so the following will focus on the differences.

[0035] In this embodiment, the probe car PV is equipped with a highly accurate position detection function that can identify the driving lane, and transmits vehicle information including position information to the traffic information collection server 200.

[0036] The traffic information collection server 200 is a server that collects vehicle information such as location and speed from probe cars PV traveling on roads and provides it as traffic information.

[0037] The acquisition unit 101a acquires traffic congestion status for each lane in the road section where congestion is occurring as traffic information from the traffic information collection server 200. The acquisition unit 101a then sends the acquired congestion status for each lane to the generation unit 102. The operation of the generation unit 102, communication unit 103, and selection unit 104 is the same as in the first embodiment, so a description is omitted.

[0038] As explained above, this disclosure can also be implemented using a probe car PV instead of a camera C. In particular, when using a probe car PV, roadside cameras C and sensors are unnecessary, so this disclosure can be implemented without problems even on suburban roads where such equipment is not available.

[0039] While the embodiments of this disclosure have been described above, this disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above, and further modifications, substitutions, and adjustments can be made without departing from the basic technical concept of this disclosure. For example, the network configurations, element configurations, and data representations shown in the drawings are examples to aid in understanding this disclosure and are not limited to the configurations shown in these drawings.

[0040] For example, the first and second embodiments described above can be combined. In this case, the control system acquires both the image from camera C and the traffic information from the traffic information collection server 200 to obtain the congestion status for each lane in the desired road section. With this configuration, it becomes possible to more accurately grasp the congestion status for each lane in the road section from which both sets of data can be acquired.

[0041] (Regarding Hardware Configuration) In each embodiment of this disclosure, each component of each device represents a functional unit block. Some or all of each component of each device is realized by any combination of an information processing device 900 and a program, for example, as shown in Figure 10. Figure 10 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing device 900 that realizes each component of each device. The information processing device 900 includes, as an example, the following configuration: ・CPU (Central Processing Unit) 901 ・ROM (Read Only Memory) 902 ・RAM (Random Access Memory) 903 ・Program 904 loaded into RAM 903 ・Storage device 905 that stores the program 904 ・Drive device 907 that reads and writes to the recording medium 906 ・Communication interface 908 that connects to a communication network 909 ・Input / output interface 910 that performs data input and output ・Bus 911 that connects each component

[0042] Each component of each device in each embodiment is realized by the CPU 901 acquiring and executing a program 904 that realizes these functions. That is, the CPU 901 in Figure 10 executes the congestion situation analysis program and the lane change instruction program, and performs the update process of each calculation parameter held in the RAM 903, storage device 905, etc. The program 904 that realizes the functions of each component of each device is, for example, stored in advance in the storage device 905 or ROM 902, and read by the CPU 901 as needed. The program 904 may be supplied to the CPU 901 via the communication network 909, or it may be stored in advance in the recording medium 906, and the drive device 907 may read the program and supply it to the CPU 901.

[0043] Various modifications exist for the implementation methods of each device. For example, each device may be implemented by any combination of a separate information processing apparatus 900 and a program for each component. Further, a plurality of components included in each device may be implemented by any combination of a single information processing apparatus 900 and a program. That is, each unit (processing means, function) of the above-described instruction device and control system can be realized by a computer program that causes a processor installed in the device to execute each of the above-described processes using its hardware.

[0044] Further, part or all of each component of each device is implemented by other general-purpose or dedicated circuits, processors, etc., or combinations thereof. These may be configured by a single chip, or may be configured by a plurality of chips connected via a bus.

[0045] Part or all of each component of each device may be implemented by a combination of the above-described circuits and the like and a program.

[0046] In a case where part or all of each component of each device is implemented by a plurality of information processing apparatuses, circuits, or the like, the plurality of information processing apparatuses, circuits, or the like may be arranged in a centralized manner or in a distributed manner. For example, the information processing apparatuses, circuits, or the like may be implemented as a form in which each is connected via a communication network, such as a client-server system, a cloud computing system, or the like.

[0047] The above-described respective embodiments are preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited only to the above-described respective embodiments. That is, without departing from the gist of the present disclosure, a person skilled in the art can make modifications or substitutions to the above-described respective embodiments, and construct forms with various changes.

[0048] A part or all of the above embodiments can be described as in the following appendices, but is not limited to the following.

[0049] [Note 1] An instruction device comprising: an acquisition means for acquiring the congestion status of each lane in a road section with multiple lanes; a generation means for generating lane change instructions that equalize the degree of congestion in each lane based on the congestion status; and a transmission means for transmitting the lane change instructions to vehicles that are scheduled to enter the road section. [Note 2] The instruction device described above may further be configured to include a selection means for selecting vehicles that are subject to lane changes from among vehicles that are scheduled to enter the road section according to predetermined rules. [Note 3] The selection means of the instruction device described above may be configured to select vehicles that are not restricted by the lane they are traveling in as vehicles subject to lane changes. [Note 4] The selection means of the instruction device described above may be configured to select autonomous vehicles as vehicles subject to lane changes. [Note 5] The acquisition means of the instruction device described above may be configured to acquire the congestion status of each lane from a server that collects information from probe cars and provides it as traffic information. [Note 6] An instruction method comprising: acquiring the congestion status for each lane in a road section with multiple lanes; generating a lane change instruction to equalize the degree of congestion for each lane based on the congestion status; and transmitting the lane change instruction to a vehicle scheduled to enter the road section. [Note 7] A recording medium that records a program that executes: a process for acquiring the congestion status for each lane in a road section with multiple lanes; a process for generating a lane change instruction to equalize the degree of congestion for each lane based on the congestion status; and a process for transmitting the lane change instruction to a vehicle scheduled to enter the road section. The forms described in each of the above notes can be combined with each other after making the necessary modifications. For example, a configuration that combines the contents of Note 2 and the contents of Note 5 is also included in the scope of disclosure of this specification. In this case, the instruction device acquires the congestion status for each lane from a probe car and selects a vehicle that is subject to a lane change according to a predetermined rule from among the vehicles scheduled to enter the road section. Furthermore, the forms described in appendices 6 and 7 above can be expanded into the forms described in appendices 2 to 5, respectively, similar to appendice 1.

[0050] Furthermore, each disclosure in the above-mentioned patent documents is incorporated into this document by reference and may be used as the basis or part of this disclosure as necessary. Within the framework of this disclosure (including the claims), further modifications and adjustments to the embodiments or examples are possible based on their fundamental technical concept. Also, within the framework of this disclosure, various combinations or selections (including partial deletions) of various disclosure elements (including each element of each claim, each element of each embodiment or example, each element of each drawing, etc.) are possible. In other words, this disclosure naturally includes the entire disclosure, including the claims, and various modifications and alterations that a person skilled in the art could make in accordance with the technical concept. In particular, with respect to the numerical ranges described in this document, any numerical value or sub-range included within that range should be interpreted as being specifically described, even if not otherwise stated. Furthermore, each disclosure item of the above-mentioned cited documents may, as necessary, be used in part or in whole as part of this disclosure, in accordance with the spirit of this disclosure, and this is also considered to be included in the disclosure items of this application.

[0051] 10 Instruction device 11 Acquisition means 12 Generation means 13 Transmission means 100, 100a Control system 101, 101a Acquisition unit 102 Generation unit 103 Communication unit 104 Selection unit 200 Traffic information collection server 900 Information processing device 901 CPU (Central Processing Unit) 902 ROM (Read Only Memory) 903 RAM (Random Access Memory) 904 Program 905 Storage device 906 Recording medium 907 Drive device 908 Communication interface 909 Communication network 910 Input / output interface 911 Bus AV1, AV2 Autonomous vehicle C Camera PV Probe car V, V1-V22 Vehicle

Claims

1. An instruction device comprising: an acquisition means for acquiring the congestion status of each lane in a road section with multiple lanes; a generation means for generating lane change instructions that equalize the degree of congestion in each lane based on the congestion status; and a transmission means for transmitting the lane change instructions to vehicles that are scheduled to enter the road section.

2. The indicator device according to claim 1, further comprising selection means for selecting a vehicle to be subject to a lane change from among vehicles scheduled to enter the road section, according to a predetermined rule.

3. The indicator device according to claim 2, wherein the selection means selects a vehicle that is not restricted by the lane it is traveling in as the vehicle to be changed.

4. The instruction device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the selection means selects an autonomous vehicle as the vehicle to be changed in the lane.

5. The instruction device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the acquisition means acquires the congestion status for each lane from a server that collects information from probe cars and provides it as traffic information.

6. An instruction method comprising: obtaining the congestion status of each lane in a road section with multiple lanes; generating a lane change instruction that equalizes the degree of congestion in each lane based on the congestion status; and transmitting the lane change instruction to a vehicle that is planning to enter the road section.

7. The instruction method of claim 6, further comprising selecting vehicles that are subject to lane change according to predetermined rules from among the vehicles scheduled to enter the road section, and transmitting the lane change instruction.

8. The instruction method of claim 7, wherein a vehicle that is not restricted by the lane it is traveling in is selected as the vehicle to be subject to the lane change.

9. The instruction method according to claim 7 or 8, which involves selecting an autonomous vehicle as the vehicle subject to the lane change.

10. A recording medium that records a program that performs the following: a process for acquiring the congestion status of each lane in a road section with multiple lanes; a process for generating lane change instructions that equalize the degree of congestion in each lane based on the congestion status; and a process for transmitting the lane change instructions to vehicles that are scheduled to enter the road section.

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