Vehicle traffic control system

• US 6,169,495 B1
• Filed: 09/24/1998
• Issued: 01/02/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Koike, Shin
• Primary Examiner(s): POPE, DARYL C
• Application Number:
  US09/159,781
• Time in Patent Office: 831 Days
• Field of Search: 340/903, 340/436, 340/435, 340/905, 701/301, 701/300, 701/23, 701/24, 701/27, 701/200, 701/213, 701/214, 701/93, 701/98
• US Class Current: 701/302
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/12 Preparing schedules
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09675 where a selection from the received information takes place in the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096791 where the origin of the information is another vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096827 where the route is computed onboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096844 where the complete route is dynamically recomputed based on new data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096866 where the complete route is shown to the driver
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/161 Decentralised systems, e.g. inter-vehicle communication

Abstract

A vehicle traffic control system that does not cause course conflicts at intersections. A present position, speed, and destination of each vehicle are collected, vectors are generated to indicate possible courses for each vehicle on the basis of the collected information, and vectors indicating courses of each vehicle are combined to generate matrices. Only matrices where a plurality of vehicles do not approach an identical intersection at or around the same time, or even if such a situation occurs, only matrices where a course of a certain vehicle does not cross a course of another vehicle at that intersection, are employed. Of the employed matrixes, one is selected indicating a course set in which an average time required for each vehicle to reach a destinations is shortest.

Claims

1. A vehicle traffic control system covering an area in which a plurality of vehicles travel along a plurality of roads and/or tracks which intersect at various locations, comprising:

a possible course determination apparatus for generating course settings each of which is a combination of one vehicle'"'"'s possible course and other vehicles'"'"' possible courses which may be taken in the future in said area and for determining possible course patterns of said course settings;

a course determination apparatus for selecting possible course patterns with less conflict, said conflict being defined as a phenomenon that one vehicle'"'"'s course crosses another vehicle'"'"'s course at a common intersection at substantially the same time, and for determining one of the selected possible course patterns as a course pattern, said course pattern comprising course settings to be taken by the vehicles located within said area to avoid conflict;

a position detection apparatus for detecting present positions of vehicles, including a vehicle-under-control, by devices installed on said vehicles or provided externally of said vehicles, said vehicle-under-control being a vehicle located within said area and yielding to said course pattern determined by said course determination apparatus;

a destination detection apparatus detecting destinations for vehicles, including said vehicle-under-control, through input by passengers of the vehicles or through estimation based on movements of the vehicles; and

a course calculation apparatus determining courses of vehicles, including said vehicle-under-control, on the basis of detected present positions and destinations and speeds to be adopted on respective roads and/or tracks,

wherein said possible course determination apparatus generates said course settings on the basis of the courses determined by said course calculation apparatus.

2. The vehicle traffic control system according to claim 1, further comprising at least one allocator selected from the following group:

a traffic adaptive speed allocator allocating said speeds to be adopted on respective roads and/or tracks so that a relatively high speed is assigned to a road or a track for which traffic is predicted to be relatively heavy when respective vehicles in said area move according to said course pattern;

a start time adaptive individual speed allocator allocating said speeds to be adopted on respective roads and/or tracks so that a relatively high speed is assigned to a road or a track for which it is predicted that vehicles having relatively long start times pass in relatively high numbers when respective vehicles in said area move according to said course pattern; and

a start time adaptive speed allocator allocating said speeds to be adopted on respective roads and/or tracks so that said speeds are uniformly increased in accordance with increasing a predicted average start time for vehicles waiting to start, said predicted average start time being calculated under the assumption that respective vehicles in said area move according to said course pattern.

3. The vehicle traffic control system according to claim 1, further comprising:

said position detection apparatus further detecting a present position for each vehicle-out-of-control, said vehicle-out-of-control being a vehicle located within said area and not yielding to said course pattern;

said destination detecting apparatus further detecting a destination for each vehicle-out-of-control, the destination of said vehicle-under-control being detected through input by a passenger of the vehicle-under-control or through estimation of the movement of the vehicle-under-control, the destination of said vehicle-out-of-control being detected through estimation of the movement of the vehicle-out-of-control; and

said course calculation apparatus further determining courses of vehicles including said vehicle-out-of-control on the basis of detected present positions and destinations and said speeds to be adopted on respective roads and/or tracks;

wherein said possible course determination apparatus generates said course settings on the basis of the courses of both said vehicle-under-control and said vehicle-out-of-control.

4. The vehicle traffic control system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a hand-over vehicle count apparatus inputting information indicating possible courses of each vehicle which is predicted to enter said area in the near future,

wherein said possible course determination apparatus generates said course settings on the basis of the possible courses of both said vehicle-under-control and said entering vehicle.

5. The vehicle traffic control system according to claim 4, further comprising:

a controller-controller communication channel for connecting a control station covering said area and another control station covering another area,

wherein said hand-over vehicle count apparatus inputs from said another control station said information indicating said possible courses of each entering vehicle, and supplies to said another control station information indicating possible courses of each exiting vehicle which is predicted to exit said area, via said controller-controller communication channel.

6. The vehicle traffic control system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a vehicle—

vehicle communication channel for connecting vehicles-under-control to each other,

wherein each of said vehicles-under-control has a combination apparatus comprising said position detection apparatus, said destination detection apparatus, said course calculation apparatus, said possible course determination apparatus and said course determination apparatus,

wherein each of said vehicles-under-control receives information from other vehicles-under-control via said vehicle—

vehicle communication channel, operates said combination apparatus on the basis of the information from other vehicles-under-control, and transmits information obtained in processing by said combination apparatus to other vehicles-under-control via said vehicle—

vehicle communication channel.

7. The vehicle traffic control system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a controller-vehicle communication channel for connecting a control station covering said area and vehicles-under-control,

wherein each of said vehicles-under-control has a first partial processing apparatus, said control station has a second partial processing apparatus, and said first and second partial apparatuses provide, through connection via said controller-vehicle communication channel, a combination apparatus comprising said position detection apparatus, said destination detection apparatus, said course calculation apparatus, said possible course determination apparatus and said course determination apparatus,

wherein each of said vehicles-under-control receives information from said control station via said controller-vehicle communication channel, operates said first partial processing apparatus on the basis of the information from said control station, and transmits information obtained in processing by said first partial processing apparatus to said control station via said controller-vehicle communication channel,

wherein said control station receives information from said vehicles-under-control via said controller-vehicle communication channel, operates said second partial processing apparatus on the basis of the information from said vehicles-under-control, and transmits information obtained in processing by said second partial processing apparatus to said vehicles-under-control via said controller-vehicle communication channel.

8. The vehicle traffic control system according to claim 1, further comprising:

tracks for vehicles to move along, said tracks being disposed within said area;

depots for users to get on and off said vehicles, said depots being disposed along said tracks and being provided with facilities for the users to issue requests concerning vehicle allocation;

at least one scheduler, each scheduler controlling branching and linking operations of said tracks and being disposed at a corresponding intersection of said tracks; and

a control station covering said area and having a combination apparatus comprising said position detection apparatus, said destination detection apparatus, said course calculation apparatus, said possible course determination apparatus and said course determination apparatus, said control station, in response to users'"'"' requests, operating said combination apparatus and commanding each scheduler to control the corresponding intersection in accordance with said course pattern determined by said combination apparatus.

9. The vehicle traffic control system according to claim 1, further comprising:

tracks for vehicles to move along, said tracks being disposed within said area;

depots for users to get on and off said vehicles, said depots being disposed along said tracks and being provided with facilities for the users to issue requests concerning vehicle allocation; and

a control station covering said area and having a combination apparatus comprising said position detection apparatus, said destination detection apparatus, said course calculation apparatus, said possible course determination apparatus and said course determination apparatus, said control station, in response to users'"'"'requests, operating said combination apparatus and commanding each vehicle to move in accordance with said course pattern determined by said combination apparatus.

10. A vehicle traffic control system covering an area in which a plurality of vehicles travel along a plurality of roads and/or tracks which intersect at various locations, comprising:

a possible course determination apparatus for generating a plurality of course setting course settings each of which is a combination of one vehicle'"'"'s possible course and other vehicles'"'"' possible courses which may be taken in the future in said area and for determining a plurality of setting possible course patterns of said course settings; and

a course determination apparatus for selecting possible course patterns with less conflict, said conflict being defined as a phenomenon that one vehicle'"'"'s course crosses another vehicle'"'"'s course at a common intersection at substantially the same time, and for determining one of the selected possible course patterns as a course pattern, said course pattern comprising course settings to be taken by the vehicles located within said area to avoid conflict.

11. The vehicle traffic control system according to claim 10, further comprising:

an average expected time discriminator for calculating an average of expected times for vehicles located within said area to reach their respective destinations from their respective present positions for each of said possible course patterns with less conflict,

wherein said course determination apparatus determines said course pattern by selecting a possible course pattern having a relatively small average of expected times.

12. The vehicle traffic control system according to claim 10, wherein said vehicles include at least one vehicle-under-control, the system further comprising:

a start time determination apparatus for determining a time until start for each possible course pattern and for each vehicle-under-control waiting to be started so that said conflict does not occur for any other vehicles at any intersection, said vehicle-under-control being a vehicle located within said area and yielding to the course pattern determined by said course determination apparatus.

13. A vehicle traffic control method implemented in an area in which a plurality of vehicles travel along a plurality of roads and/or tracks which intersect at various locations, said vehicle traffic control method comprising the steps of:

generating a plurality of course settings each of which is a combination of one vehicle'"'"'s possible course and other vehicles'"'"' possible courses which may be taken in the future in said area;

determining a plurality of said course settings as possible course patterns;

selecting possible course patterns with less conflict, said conflict being defined as a phenomenon that one vehicle'"'"'s course crosses another vehicle'"'"'s course at a common intersection at substantially the same time; and

further selecting one of the selected possible course patterns as a course pattern, said course pattern comprising course settings to be taken by the vehicles located within said area to avoid conflict.

14. A vehicle apparatus installed in a vehicle and used in a vehicle traffic control system, comprising:

a position detection apparatus for detecting present positions of vehicles including a vehicle-under-control, said vehicle-under-control being a vehicle yielding to a determined course pattern and being located within an area in which a plurality of vehicles including said vehicle-under-control travel along roads and/or tracks intersecting at various locations;

a destination detection apparatus for detecting destinations of vehicles including said vehicle-under-control, through input by the vehicles'"'"' passengers or through estimation based on movements of said vehicles;

a course calculation apparatus for calculating possible courses of vehicles including said vehicle-under-control, on the basis of detected present positions and destinations of the vehicles and speeds to be adopted on respective roads and/or tracks;

a possible course determination apparatus for generating, by using the possible courses calculated by said course calculation apparatus, course settings each of which is a combination of one vehicle'"'"'s possible course and other vehicles'"'"' possible courses which may be taken in the future in said area and for determining possible course patterns of said course settings; and

a course determination apparatus for selecting possible course patterns with less conflict, said conflict being defined as a phenomenon that one vehicle'"'"'s course crosses another vehicle'"'"'s course at a common intersection at substantially the same time, for determining one of the selected possible course patterns as a course pattern, said course pattern course settings to be taken by the vehicles located within said area to avoid conflict, and for extracting a component indicating a course to be taken by said vehicle carrying said vehicle apparatus,

wherein said position detection apparatus and said destination detection apparatus receive information from other vehicles-under-control via a vehicle—

vehicle communication channel, and derive the present positions and destinations of at least some of the vehicles located within said area based on the information from other vehicles-under-control.

15. A vehicle apparatus installed in a vehicle and used in a vehicle traffic control system, comprising:

a position detection apparatus for detecting a present position of said vehicle carrying said vehicle apparatus, said vehicle located within an area in which a plurality of vehicles travel along roads and/or tracks intersecting at various locations;

a destination detection apparatus for detecting a destination of said vehicle carrying said vehicle apparatus, through input by said vehicle'"'"'s passenger or through estimation based on movement of said vehicle;

a course calculation apparatus for calculating possible courses of said vehicle carrying said vehicle apparatus, on the basis of detected present position and destination of said vehicle and speeds to be adopted on respective roads and/or tracks; and

a course determination apparatus for transmitting said possible courses calculated by said course calculation apparatus to a control station covering said area, via a controller-vehicle communication channel for connecting said vehicle and said control station, and receiving from said control station via said controller-vehicle communication channel, as a course pattern or its component, information indicating a possible course pattern or component thereof with less conflict relating to said vehicle carrying said vehicle apparatus, said conflict being defined as a phenomenon that one vehicle'"'"'s course crosses another vehicle'"'"'s course at an identical intersection at substantially the same time, and said course pattern indicating course settings to be taken by vehicles located within said area.

16. A vehicle apparatus installed in a vehicle and used in a vehicle traffic control system, comprising:

a position detection apparatus for detecting a present position of said vehicle carrying said vehicle apparatus, said vehicle located within an area in which a plurality of vehicles travel along roads and/or tracks intersecting at various locations;

a destination detection apparatus for detecting a destination of said vehicle carrying said vehicle apparatus, through input by said vehicle'"'"'s passenger or through estimation based on movement of said vehicle; and

a course determination apparatus for transmitting a detected present position and a destination of said vehicle carrying said vehicle apparatus to a control station covering said area via a controller-vehicle communication channel connecting said vehicle and said control station, and receiving from said control station via said controller-vehicle communication channel, as a course pattern or its component, information indicating a possible course pattern or component thereof with less conflict relating to said vehicle carrying said vehicle apparatus, said conflict being defined as a phenomenon that one vehicle'"'"'s course crosses another vehicle'"'"'s course at an identical intersection at substantially the same time, and said course pattern indicating course settings to be taken by the vehicles located within said area.

17. A controller set for use as a control station in a vehicle traffic control system for controlling a plurality of vehicles located within an area in which a plurality of roads and/or tracks intersect at various locations, comprising:

a position detection apparatus for detecting present positions of vehicles, including a vehicle-under-control, using devices installed on the vehicles or provided externally of the vehicles, said vehicle-under-control being a vehicle yielding to a determined course pattern and located within said area;

a destination detection apparatus for detecting destinations of vehicles, including said vehicle-under-control, through reception from the vehicle-under-control via a vehicle-controller communication channel connecting said vehicle-under-control and said control station, or through estimation based on movements of said vehicles; and

a course determination apparatus for transmitting information indicating detected present positions and destinations to said vehicle-under-control via said vehicle-controller communication channel,

wherein said vehicle-under-control determines a course pattern or its component relating to the vehicle-under-control on the basis of the information from said control station such that a course of the vehicle-under-control does not cross another vehicle'"'"'s course at an identical intersection at substantially the same time.

18. A controller set for use as a control station in a vehicle traffic control system for controlling a plurality of vehicles located within an area in which a plurality of roads and/or tracks intersect at various locations, comprising:

a position detection apparatus for detecting present positions of vehicles, including a vehicle-under-control, using devices installed on the vehicles or provided externally of the vehicles, said vehicle-under-control being a vehicle yielding to a determined course pattern and located within said area;

a destination detection apparatus for detecting destinations of vehicles, including said vehicle-under-control, through reception from the vehicle-under-control via a vehicle-controller communication channel connecting said vehicle-under-control and said control station, or through estimation based on movements of said vehicles;

a course calculation apparatus for calculating possible courses of vehicles, including said vehicle-under-control, on the basis of detected present positions and destinations of the vehicles and speeds to be adopted on respective roads and/or tracks; and

a course determination apparatus for transmitting information indicating said possible courses calculated by said course calculation apparatus to said vehicle-under-control via said vehicle-controller communication channel,

wherein said vehicle-under-control determines a course pattern or its component relating to the vehicle-under-control on the basis of the information from said control station such that a course of the vehicle-under-control does not cross another vehicle'"'"'s course at an identical intersection at substantially the same time.