JPH05233996A - Road traffic state predicting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ease traffic congestion by calculating present road traffic state data based on running data to be collected and stored in a storage device and predicting the future road traffic state based on the present road traffic state data. CONSTITUTION:On a display 1, the future road traffic state is displayed on the road map and the starring point, en route path, and destination can be touch-inputted. A road map table, traveling speed table, and average traveling speed table are set to a storage device 3 so as to collect and store prescribed road traffic information. A processor 4 predicts the future road traffic state data based on the prescribed road traffic information read out from the storage device 3. On the other hand, each vehicle KO being the slave station incorporates a running data reporting device 5, which recognizes its own location in traveling and receives the future road traffic state from the master station CN, sending the running data to the master station CN at each constant time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a road traffic condition system capable of predicting future traffic conditions for a desired route.

[0002]

2. Description of the Prior Art In recent years,
A traffic operation system has been realized in which a parent station creates road operation information based on data such as mileage and provides the created road operation information to a driver.

[0003]

By the way, the conventional traffic operation system has only the function of displaying the current position, current speed, traveling direction, etc. of the traveling vehicle on the display device provided in the master station. It was not possible to predict future road traffic conditions for roads, such as traffic conditions at various times, days of the week, seasons, and transit times.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a road traffic condition system capable of predicting future traffic conditions for a desired route.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is an operation data reporting device mounted on a vehicle for transmitting operation data indicating the current position of the vehicle, and the operation data. And a processing device that calculates current road traffic condition data based on the operation data sent from the notification device, collects and stores it in a storage device, and predicts future road traffic condition based on the current road traffic condition data. It is characterized by

[0006]

According to the above configuration, based on the current road traffic situation data that has been collected and organized (for example, speed data that has been classified and organized using road sections, days of the week, and time as factors), there will be a certain future season. It is possible to predict future traffic operation status such as traffic jam status and required transit time for a certain road (route) which is going to pass at a certain day of the week and a certain time.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the hardware of a road traffic condition prediction system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This road traffic condition prediction system includes an operation management center (hereinafter referred to as a parent station) CN and a vehicle K that is a plurality of child stations.
It consists of O and. As shown in the figure, the parent station CN is
It includes a display 1 with a touch panel, a keyboard 2, a storage device 3, and a processing device 4. On the display 1, the road map (video) of the future road traffic situation is displayed.
As well as being displayed on the screen, it is possible to input the starting point, the intermediate route and the destination by touch. A road map table, a traveling speed table, and an average traveling speed table, which will be described later, are set in the storage device 3, and predetermined road traffic information is collected and stored. Further, the processing device 4 calculates and predicts future road traffic condition data based on the predetermined road traffic information read from the storage device 3.

On the other hand, each vehicle KO, which is a child station, is equipped with an operation data reporting device 5. The operation data reporting device 5 recognizes its own position while traveling by a signal from a satellite or a gyro and receives future road traffic condition data from the parent station CN, and also at regular intervals or at regular intervals. Each time, operation data including its own position and mileage is transmitted to the parent station CN. In addition, when parking, the fact is transmitted to the parent station CN at the start. The parent station CN and the individual vehicles KO can communicate with each other wirelessly or by wire (for example, in the case of a trolleybus, train, etc.).

Road Map Table Next, the road map table set in the storage device 3 of the master station CN will be described. In this road map table, road coordinates and other road information are stored for each road segment. Here, the road segment refers to a divided portion of the road, and is obtained by dividing the road into several short and short parts in consideration of the road length, the curve, the traffic volume, and the like.

FIG. 2 is an example of a road map. In this figure, the road A is divided into six, and each road division is A in turn.
, A2, ..., A6. Further, the road B is divided into four, and each road division is sequentially B1, B2, B3.
It is called B4. Similarly, road C has four road sections C1, C2, C3, C4, and road D has two road sections D.
It is divided into 1 and D2. The arrow in the figure indicates the direction of definition. Here, the defined traveling direction is a concept for indicating in which direction the vehicle is traveling, and its details will be described later.

The road map table of this example is, as shown in FIG. 3, a road section name, a road start point position, a road end point position, a road section total length, a forward average speed table,
It consists of a backward average speed table.

Road section display field In the area for storing the name (or serial number) of the road section,
This is for designating a road shape file that stores the shape of this road segment. The contents of the road shape file include a road shape coordinate array. For example, the road shape files for the road segment A1 in FIG. 2 are (X _A11 , Y _A11 ), (X _A12 , Y
_A12 ), ..., (X _A1n , Y _A1n ) and so on. Here, (X _A11 , Y _A11 ) indicates the position of the road start point, and (X _A1n , Y _A1n ) indicates the position of the road end point. here,
The road coordinates refer to the position coordinates (X _mn , Y _mn ) of representative points that are set at constant (fine) intervals from the start point to the end point within an arbitrary road section. Therefore, a road in the road section is drawn by a set (trajectory) of individual road coordinates (X _mn , Y _mn ) in the road section.

Road starting point position field This area is used to indicate the starting point of this road section. If the ending point of the previously passed road section and this road starting point match, the traveling direction will be the same, so the traveling direction is specified. To use. It is also used to search for a road segment that is connected to a road segment that passed previously.

Road end position column This is an area for indicating the end point of this road division. Similar to the road starting point position field of (1), it is also used to specify the direction of travel and the road segment to which the previously passed road segment connects.

Road section total length This area indicates the total length of the corresponding road section.

Positive Direction Average Speed Table This column is a speed table used when the traveling direction of the vehicle is from the road start point position to the road end point position.
This table allows several average speeds to be obtained depending on the driving conditions of the vehicle. Parameters indicating the points of the table include day of the week, time of day, and special day. FIG. 3 shows an example in which the day of the week is distinguished from the time zone (morning, noon, and night). In addition, as a method of dividing the time division,
In addition to dividing into three types in the morning, noon and night, 1 at equal intervals
It is conceivable that the day may be divided into, for example, every 30 minutes, or may be divided into commuting hours, daytime, evening rush, and night, and the time divisions may not be divided into equal intervals. How to use this classification method is arbitrary.

Reverse Direction Average Speed Table This column is a speed table used when the traveling direction of the vehicle is from the road end position to the road start position.
Like the forward average speed table, this table is designed so that several average speeds can be obtained depending on the driving conditions of the vehicle. Similarly, the parameters indicating the points of the table include the day of the week, time of day, and singular day, but a classification method different from the forward speed average table may be used. In FIG. 3, the day of the week and the time zone (morning, noon, and night) are distinguished to simplify the description. In addition to the time division method, there are three types for morning, day, and night. In addition to dividing the day at equal intervals, for example, every 30 minutes, commuting hours, day, and evening. It is also possible to divide the time division into equal intervals, such as rush and night. How to use this classification method is arbitrary.

The traveling speed table is calculated as follows. The processing device 4 of the master station, based on the current position data of the currently running vehicle, the road section where the vehicle is located at the time of the previous reception, the direction of travel, and other road information described above, the processing device 4 of the master station Determine the road segment where the vehicle is located and the direction of travel.

Further, the processing unit 4 of the master station calculates the traveling speed of the vehicle based on the previous reception time, the current reception time, and the traveling distance data between the traveling automobile and the traveling automobile. This traveling speed is calculated from the distance from the starting point and the traveling time, and is obtained as one data per vehicle for one road section.

Further, the processing unit 4 of the master station can obtain the parameters for distinguishing the above-mentioned average speed table (forward direction and reverse direction) from the time of reception (including time / day of week information) this time. Then, classify the time.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the traveling speed data table. Similar to FIG. 3, this is also described by distinguishing between days of the week and time zones (morning, daytime, night). The item of the serial number is described for the purpose of explanation, and in order to calculate the average speed of the vehicle, the past N data are stored in the FIFO (First-In First
-Out) to reflect the latest data in the average speed table. That is, it is a pointer number for storing which is the latest data at present.

The item for indicating the position of the latest data does not have to exist in the traveling speed data table of FIG. 7, but a pointer table indicating how much of the item is used is required. , That is the traveling speed pointer table shown in FIG. The content of the traveling speed pointer table is incremented by 1 each time new data arrives within the range of values that the above-mentioned serial number can take. When the maximum value is exceeded, it starts again from 1.

Each time the processor 4 writes new traveling speed data in the traveling speed table, it recalculates the corresponding average traveling speed and updates the contents of the corresponding portion of the average traveling speed table.

When the traveling speed data calculated by the processing device 4 greatly deviates from the corresponding average traveling speed, it is prohibited to automatically write the traveling speed data in the traveling speed table. ing. In such a case, the fact is notified to the operator, and the operator is made to judge whether or not the traveling speed data should be stored in the traveling speed table. By operating the keyboard 2, the operator can select “store” or “not store”.

If the traveling speed can be predicted without collecting traveling speed data, the predicted value can be directly input to the average traveling speed table. The data of the average speed table thus obtained is referred to as current road traffic condition data.

Next, the operation at the time of prediction by the road traffic condition prediction system of this example will be described. [1] When predicting the road condition at a certain time First, the operator operates the keyboard 2 to key in the day of the week and the time to be predicted. When the processing device 4 receives an input from the keyboard 2 (the day of the week and the time of day to be predicted), it reads the corresponding day of the week, the road section belonging to the time section, and the average traveling speed for each traveling direction from the average traveling speed table. Then, after converting each traveling speed into a vector length, the vector is displayed on the display 1 for each road segment and traveling direction.

FIG. 4 is a display example in this case, in which the traveling speed and the traveling direction are displayed in vector for each road segment on the road map. In this case, the direction of the vector represents the traveling direction, and the length of the vector represents the traveling speed.

[2] Time of Predicting Arrival Time Next, the operation procedure for predicting the arrival time will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 5 and 6. The operator selects the arrival time prediction mode by inputting from the keyboard or touch panel. Then, the processing device 4 initializes the arrival time prediction mode (SP1). Next, the operator specifies a starting point, an ending point, and a route. The processing method is performed inside the processing device 4 as follows. For the input of the departure point, the road start point (or the road end point) closest to the point where the touch panel is pressed is searched from the contents of the road shape file. As a result of searching the road shape file, the point data of the departure point of the vehicle and the road classification name to be used are obtained. Since the starting point of the vehicle may be in the middle of the road division, it is necessary to search all points of the road shape file. The contents of the search result are the end points of the road division (road start point or road end point). When is selected as a starting point, there may be a plurality of road sections to be used, and there are cases where the road section is not fixed. (Step SP2)

Next, the final destination is designated. Also in this case, similar to the input of the departure point, the road start point (or the road end point) closest to the point where the touch panel is pressed is searched from the contents of the road shape file. It is possible that the end point is also in the middle of road division. (Step SP3)

After designating the starting point and the ending point, the route is input. A touch panel is also used for this input. By using the search results of step SP2 and step SP3, the route input can be executed in a selective manner (step SP4 to step S).
P10). The processing device 4 selects the road segment to be used from the point data of the departure place selected in step SP2. Here, the selection method differs depending on whether the starting point is the end point or the intermediate point. It is judged whether or not the departure place is the end point, and the program operated according to the result is changed (step 4). If the departure point is the end point, step SP5 is performed. If the departure point is the intermediate point, step SP6 is performed.

First, when the starting point is the end point, the road map table is searched for a road section whose starting point is the starting point position or the ending point position of the road section (step SP5). Naturally, there are a plurality of searched road sections. If any of the road segments searched here includes the ending point, it means that the end point has been reached, so it is determined whether or not the ending point is included (step SP7). If it does, the search program ends, so a road route list is created (step SP13). If the end point is not included, the retrieved road segment is displayed on the display by changing the blinking display or the brightness / luminance / color tone, and the road segment that can be used by the operator is specified (step SP).
8).

From among the road divisions, the operator
Step SP9 of waiting for input until the road segment to be used is selected is executed. Then, the direction in which the vehicle will travel is designated in the road section, and it becomes clear which of the forward average speed table and the reverse average speed table should be used. The end point different from the departure point (the end point if the departure point is the start point of the road section, the start point if the start point is the end point) will be the keyword when searching the road section to be used next,
From the road map table, a road segment whose end point is the start point position or end point position of the road segment is searched (step SP10). The searched road section includes a road section through which the vehicle has passed, and thus there are a plurality of road sections, but the road section through which the vehicle has passed is not included in the search result.

Here, if any of the searched road sections includes the end point, it means that the road has arrived to the end point, so it is judged whether or not the end point is included (step SP1).
1). If the search program is included as in step 7, the search program ends, so step SP13 for creating a road route list is executed.

When there is one searched road section excluding the passed road section, there is no room for selection, so that the road section is determined as selected and the next road section is searched. The program is executed so as to return to SP10 (step SP12). When there are multiple road divisions other than the road division through which the vehicle has passed, the retrieved road divisions can be used by the operator by blinking or changing the brightness / brightness / color tone and displaying them on the display. Program that clearly indicates (Step SP
Return to 8). From this road division, the operator
Select the road segment to be used and select the road segment to be used one after another. The search operation is completed when the road segment used in the list includes the end point.

If the starting point is the intermediate point, the road segment used in step SP2 for designating the starting point is determined, and therefore the next map including the start point and the end point of the road segment is selected from the road map table. Is searched for (step SP6). If the end point is included in the result of step SP6, the search ends (step SP).
7). Naturally, there are a plurality of road sections searched in step SP6. The retrieved road segment is displayed on the display by blinking or changing the brightness / brightness / color tone to clearly indicate the road segment that can be used by the operator (step SP).
8). The operator selects a road segment to be used from this road segment (step SP9). Next, the end point that is different from the end point that connects with the road section that includes the departure point of the selected road section becomes a keyword when searching the road section to be used next, and that end point is the road from the road map table. A road section other than the road section through which the vehicle has passed is searched from among the road sections that are the start point position or end point position of the section (step SP10). It is determined in step SP11 whether the end point is included in the plurality of searched road sections, and if it is included, the step S is performed.
The list creation program of P13 is executed. If not included, the number of connected road sections is determined in step SP12 to search for the next road section (step 1
0) Alternatively, step SP8 in which a blinking display or luminance / brightness / color tone is changed and displayed on the display to clearly indicate a road segment that can be used by an operator and a road segment is selected
And the program of step SP9 is executed.

As a result of the search operation, the processing device 4 obtains a list of the road segment used first, the road segment connected next, and the road segment used up to the end point. An example thereof is shown in FIG.

When the search operation is completed, the operator inputs the departure time using the keyboard 2 or the touch panel 1. As the program of the processing device 4, an input program waiting for input of a departure time is executed (step SP14). Departure time means the day of the week, time, and time when you can determine which parameter in the average speed table should be used.
Information such as specific days must be included. The processing device 4 uses the search program (from step SP3 to step S
The road section list obtained in P13) is read out, and the passing road section and the traveling direction of the road section are first determined (step SP15).

The traveling direction obtained from step SP15 is used to determine whether to use the forward direction or the backward direction of the average speed table. From the departure time (including information such as the day of the week) entered in step SP14, the parameters of the average speed table are determined, and from the traveling direction and road classification,
The average speed is read from the road map table (step SP17).

The estimated elapsed time can be calculated from the average speed read in step SP17 and the total length of the road section of the road map table. The elapsed time can be calculated by dividing the total length by the average speed. Next, the departure time (A) and the elapsed time (B) required to pass through the road section are added to calculate the time when the vehicle departs from the next road section. Then, the value of the departure time (A) is replaced with the added value (step SP18). If the time can be calculated, the process returns to step SP15 to find the next route, and the above-described processing is repeated.

In this way, steps SP15 to SP for all road sections on the route which are touch-inputted.
After the process of 18 is repeated, the ending condition is satisfied in step SP16. When it is determined that the processing is completed in step SP16, the processing device 4 displays the departure time (A) at that time as the arrival time on the display 1.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to quickly predict the traffic jam condition at any time in the future, the road traffic condition such as the required transit time, etc. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the traffic jam and pass through smoothly. Can be realized.

The road traffic condition prediction system of this example can, of course, not only predict the future operation condition but also show the current operation condition.

[0043]

As described above, according to the road traffic condition prediction system of the present invention, the current road traffic condition data (for example, road section, day of the week, time, etc.) that are collected and organized are sequentially classified and organized. Based on the speed data), it is possible to predict future traffic operation status such as traffic jam status and required transit time for a certain road (route) which is going to pass at a certain season, a certain day of the week, and a certain time in the future.

Therefore, the optimum traveling route can be grasped in advance, so that the traffic congestion can be avoided, and the smooth operation and eventually the traffic congestion alleviation can be achieved. This can save fuel and help prevent pollution.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing hardware of a road traffic condition prediction system which is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a road map used for explaining the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a structural conceptual diagram of a road map table used in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of a display used in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the first half of a flowchart used for explaining the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the latter half of the flowchart used for describing the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of a traveling speed data table used in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration of a traveling speed pointer table used in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of a road division list used in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Display with Touch Panel (Display) 2 Keyboard 3 Storage Device 4 Processing Device 5 Operation Data Notification Device KO Vehicle CN Master Station

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Shin Hamamoto 1-3-6 Fujimi, Kawasaki-ku, Kanagawa Prefecture Tokiko Corporation (72) Inventor Koyita Sugimoto 1-6-3 Fujimi, Kawasaki-ku, Kanagawa Prefecture Issue Tokiko Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An operation data reporting device mounted on a vehicle and transmitting operation data indicating the current position of the vehicle, and current road traffic condition data is calculated based on the operation data transmitted from the operation data reporting device. And a processing device for predicting future road traffic conditions on the basis of the current road traffic condition data.