Vehicle control system

• US 9,483,056 B2
• Filed: 01/20/2015
• Issued: 11/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Kanai, Masaki, Hamada, Tomoyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Trivedi, Atul
• Application Number:
  US14/600,269
• Publication Number:
  US 20150206433A1
• Time in Patent Office: 651 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1, 701/50
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0297 by controlling means in a control room
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/165 for passive traffic, e.g. including static obstacles, trees

Abstract

A vehicle control system is provided in which, if a position requiring caution for the contact with an oncoming vehicle on a track road is found also on an ex-post facto basis, the information thereof is easily fed back to the control of each vehicle. This vehicle control system has a GPS receiver 101 for detecting the position of each vehicle, an encoder 72 and an IMU 73 mounted on each vehicle, a specific spot setting unit 87 for setting a position requiring caution for the passing with an oncoming vehicle as a specific spot on the basis of a vehicle position, a slip ratio and a curvature that are computed from the values output therefrom, and a storage device for storing the positional information on a place set as a specific spot by a specific spot detecting unit.

Claims

1. A vehicle control system for controlling a plurality of vehicles traveling along a plurality of track roads, the system comprising:

a plurality of position detecting sensors installed on each of the plurality of vehicles and configured to detect a position thereof;

a plurality of parameter detecting sensors installed on each of the plurality of vehicles and configured to detect a parameter indicative of a possibility for a vehicle installed with the position detecting sensor, traveling on one of two adjacent track roads in a two-way traffic area formed by the two adjacent track roads different in vehicle traveling direction, to enter the other of the two adjacent track roads;

a specific spot setting unit configured to execute, on a basis of positions of the plurality of vehicles output from the plurality of position detecting sensors, parameters output from the plurality of parameter detecting sensors, and thresholds related with the parameter, a process setting positions at which the vehicle is likely to enter the other adjacent track road in the two-way traffic area as specific spots;

a storage device configured to store positional information on places set as the specific spots by the specific spot detecting unit; and

a specific area setting unit configured to, while a vehicle of the plurality of vehicles is traveling, set a specific area where traveling of another vehicle of the plurality of vehicles is not permitted, the specific area being a closed area of the two adjacent track roads in the two-way traffic area,

wherein the plurality of track roads are each divided into a plurality of segments,

wherein the storage device stores the positional information on the specific spots and the information on a time at which the parameters were detected; and

the specific area setting unit sets a first segment and a second segment as the specific area,

wherein a segment of the plurality of segments of one of two adjacent track roads in the two-way traffic area is set as the first segment when a number of times the specific spots are set within the segment within a predetermined period of time exceeds a threshold,

wherein the second segment is a segment of the plurality of segments of the other of the two adjacent track roads in the two-way traffic area that is adjacent the first segment.

2. The vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein the parameters include at least one of slip ratios of the plurality of vehicles, curvature of curves of the plurality of track roads, and distances from the plurality of vehicles to berms of the plurality of track roads.

3. The vehicle control system according to claim 2, further comprising:

a traveling permitted segment setting unit configured to execute a process of allocating at least one of the plurality of segments as a traveling permitted segment to each of the plurality of vehicles without overlapping segments of other vehicles in accordance with a track road and a position of each of the plurality of vehicles,

wherein if one of the plurality of vehicles is present in a segment related with one of the two track roads in the specific area among the plurality of segments, the traveling permitted segment setting unit sets the segment related with the one of the two track roads as a traveling permitted segment for the one of the plurality of vehicles; and

wherein the traveling permitted segment setting unit excludes a segment related with the other track road of the two track roads in the specific area among the plurality of segments from a traveling permitted segment of the other vehicles than the one of the plurality of vehicles among the plurality of vehicles.

4. The vehicle control system according to claim 3, wherein the traveling permitted segment setting unit further sets a segment related with the other track road of the two track road in the specific area as a traveling permitted segment for the one of the plurality of vehicles present in a segment related with one of the two track roads in the two-way traffic area.