RS20090395A - System for marking road edge in low visibility conditions using wirelessly coupled signalling devices - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention herewith described refers to the system for marking the road edge in low visibility conditions using wirelessly coupled signalling devices mounted near the road edge. The signalling devices dynamically emit signalling light in the direction of a vehicle movement. The signalling light is activated by the first signalling device, after its detection of a vehicle, which sends the message via the wireless communication to the next signalling device in the direction of the vehicle movement. After the the reception of the message, the next signalling device also activates the signalling light and based on the built in logic, decides whether to pass the message further to the next signalling device. Also, each signalling device which turns on its signalling light, initiates the turning on the signalling light by its signalling device pair on the other side of the road. In this way, the series of light sources is formed that illuminate both sides of the road in the direction of a vehicle movement, and in the way that road edge on the road side of the vehicle movement is marked in red light while the opposite direction road edge is marked in white light. Immediately after the vehicle passes the signalling device, it stops emitting the light. The system dynamic is accomplished therewith that only certain number of devices emits the signalling light in the direction of a vehicle movement, immediately ahead of the vehicle. The system can also work in the special signalling mode in which it provides information to drivers about unusual road circumstances (traffic accidents, road work ahead, traffic jam, passing of special purpose vehicles). The system enters this operating mode after receiving the appropriate message sent from the special purpose vehicles (police vehicle, fire-fighter vehicle, ambulance vehicle, road maintenance vehicle...).

Description

The system for marking the driver's lane in low visibility conditions

wirelessly coupled signal devices

Technical field to which the invention relates

The invention belongs to the field of electrical engineering, more precisely, the technique of electrical communications, i.e. devices specially adapted for special applications - for traffic information. The invention describes the architecture of traffic signaling systems and refers to systems for marking the edge of the roadway in conditions of reduced visibility with a series of light sources that are activated when a vehicle is detected and spread in the direction of its movement.

According to the International Classification of Patents (IPC), the designation is: H04H20/55.

Technical problem

The invention solves the problem of constructing a system for marking the edge of the roadway with a series of light sources that is activated in conditions of reduced visibility and upon detection of the presence of a vehicle and extends in the direction of its movement. Functional units of the system (signal devices) are autonomous units that are placed along the edge of the roadway and communicate with each other via wireless connection. During the part of the day when the visibility on the road is good, the system, i.e. the signal devices, work in a passive mode of accumulating electrical energy in batteries, which is obtained by converting it from solar energy. During part of the day with reduced visibility, the system, i.e. the signal devices work in active mode - the signal devices are powered by batteries, the approach of a vehicle is detected, upon detection of a vehicle, the signal light on the device that detected the vehicle is turned on and a wireless message is sent to the next signal device in the sequence indicating the presence of the vehicle, and for the next signal device to turn on the light and notify its next device... Also. each signaling device that turns on the signal light initiates the turning on of the signal light of its pair on the other side of the carriageway. In this way, a series of light sources is formed that marks both edges of the roadway in the direction of movement of the vehicle, in such a way that the edge of the roadway on the side of the road on which the vehicle is moving is marked in red and from the opposite direction is marked in white. Signal devices that the vehicle has just passed stop emitting their signal light. During the part of the day when visibility on the road is high and in conditions of reduced visibility when there are no vehicles nearby, the system or signal devices are in hibernation mode (reduced consumption), which is exited based on receiving a corresponding message or vehicle detection. The system can also work in a special mode of signaling to drivers about extraordinary circumstances on the road (traffic accidents, works, congestion, passing priority vehicles...). The system enters this mode of operation after receiving a corresponding message sent by a special-purpose vehicle (police, ambulance, firefighters, road maintenance services...).

State of the art

When we talk about the marking of the road edge of today's roads, it can be stated that there are many known solutions to this problem, but the reality is that the largest percentage of roads are still only marked with signposts.

Directional signs are signal devices that have reflectors placed normal to the direction of movement of the vehicle. In the direction of movement of the vehicle, the direction indicators have red reflectors, and in the opposite direction, they have white reflectors. l if the driver of the vehicle can see a red signal on the side of the road in the direction of the vehicle while a white signal is visible on the other side.

The obvious shortcomings of the signposts (distance from the roadway, poor visibility, obscuration by the unmaintained nature on the side of the road...) led to the proposal described in the patent DE4001980. This patent describes a signaling device that is mounted on the edge of the roadway, signaling to vehicles via LED (light emitting diodes) light source that is powered by an independent battery source. An independent battery source charging system through a solar cell was also considered. It is planned that the device will also have a photosensitive sensor that would achieve the function of distinguishing between day and night so that during the day solar energy would be accumulated in the batteries via the solar cell and at night the LED light source would be powered from the batteries.

In the patent VVO9705422, the use of rechargeable batteries as a source of energy to power the described device is mentioned as a drawback of the previously described solution: a regular service is necessary every couple of years when the batteries would be changed, given that the batteries are available for replacement. can also send objects of vandalism and theft. Instead of batteries, the solution of using capacitors for accumulating solar energy was proposed.

The signaling device described in patent EP0578413 is also intended to be mounted on the side of the road, to have a solar cell. LKD light source. to accumulate energy in the capacitors, but unlike the previous ones, it also introduces a certain dynamic into the system. It is planned to detect the arrival of the vehicle based on the front headlights of the vehicle, which would illuminate a suitably placed solar cell and then turn on the signal LED light. It is also provided that the energy used is accumulated only from the omnidirectional beam of the vehicle's headlights. That energy would charge the capacitor that would power the light source until all the energy is used up. In this way, the signal light of the device would turn on in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle and continue to. shutting down. illuminates for a while longer in proportion to the speed of the vehicle. When you look at the whole road. it is clear that a trail of light would appear that would remain behind the vehicle and slowly fade out. The meaning of the whole idea is that, in addition to marking the edge of the pool, there is also a notification to oncoming vehicles about the presence of vehicles on the road in front of them. In conditions of poor visibility, the described effect makes full sense.

All the polents mentioned so far were defined back in the early nineties and have a lot in common: independent power supply, LED lighting sources, conversion of solar energy into electricity. All poles are also defined by the complete independence of functional units - signal devices (the devices do not communicate with each other). The overriding reason is the impracticality of connecting the device by installing power cables. With the expansion of wireless communications, the idea of pairing devices in an efficient and practical way arose. PatentVVO2005080689 describes a signal device that contains, among other things, a wireless transceiver. Like all the previous ones, this signaling device also has an LED light source. solar cell, independent power supply. Signal devices are also able to receive a wireless message, turn on a signal light if the message is addressed to a device that received the message, and pass the message on. However, the patent itself does not explicitly deal with the problem of marking the edge of the roadway like all the previous ones, but with marking intersections, pedestrian crossings and other places where traffic flows cross, i.e. signaling about oncoming traffic from other directions at intersection points of traffic flows.

The solutions envisaged in this patent application have clear predecessors (all listed above) but also clear innovation in the field of road edge marking in conditions of reduced visibility. In relation to the first 3 mentioned patents, the system described in this patent application has dynamics (illumination of the road edge only immediately in front of the detected vehicle - signal devices stop emitting a signal light when the vehicle passes by them) which is achieved by wireless coupling between signal devices. The last-mentioned patent describes signal devices that have an integrated module for wireless communication, but the mentioned patent does not deal with the problem of marking the edge of the road, but rather with marking intersections. pedestrian crossings and other places where traffic flows cross.

Exposition of the essence of the invention

The patent relates to a system for marking the edge of the roadway in conditions of reduced visibility with a series of wirelessly coupled signaling devices mounted along the edge of the roadway. Signal devices dynamically display the signal light in the direction of the vehicle's movement. The signal light is activated after the vehicle is detected by the first signal device, which further sends a message via wireless communication to the next signal device in the direction of the vehicle's movement. Upon receiving the message, the next signal device also activates the signal light and, based on the built-in logic, decides to forward the wireless message to the next signal device. Also. each signaling device that turns on the signal light initiates the turning on of the signal light of its counterpart on the other side of the carriageway. In this way, a series of light sources is formed that marks both edges of the roadway in the direction of the vehicle's movement, in such a way that the edge of the roadway on the side of the road on which the vehicle is moving is marked in red and from the opposite direction is marked in white. Signal devices that the vehicle has just passed stop emitting their signal light. This achieves the dynamics of the system, simply because only a certain number of signal devices emit a signal light, in the direction of the vehicle's movement, directly in front of the vehicle. The system can also work in a special mode of signaling to drivers about extraordinary circumstances on the road (traffic accidents, works, congestion, passing priority vehicles...). The system enters this mode of operation after receiving a corresponding message sent by a special purpose vehicle (police, ambulance, firefighters, road maintenance services...).

The signal device consists of at least a housing, a means for converting an external energy source into electrical energy, a means for accumulating electrical energy, a microcontroller. subsystems for wireless communication, means for detecting the passage of vehicles, means for determining vehicle speed and means for detecting conditions of reduced visibility. The means for converting an external source of energy into electrical energy can be realized as a solar cell that converts solar energy into electrical energy. The vehicle detection means can react to the shaking of the road surface caused by the passing of the vehicle or light from the front headlights of the vehicle and thus perform the detection function.

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Brief description of the invention images

The invention is described in detail on the exemplary embodiment shown in the drawing in which:

Figure 1 - shows the layout of the signaling device.

Figure 2 - shows the block diagram of the signaling device

Figure 3 - shows the method of placing signal devices

Figure 4 - shows the functioning of the system when the vehicle is detected by the first signal device Figure 5 - shows the functioning of the system when the vehicle passes by the signal device

Figure 6 - shows the functioning of the system at the moment when the vehicle has just passed by

signaling device

Figure 7 - shows the functioning of the system in case of failure of one signaling device

Detailed description of the invention

The exposed images show a detailed description of the signaling device, the way of placing the signaling devices and a description of the system functions in different usage scenarios.

The appearance of the signaling device is shown in Figure 1. The upper part of the signaling device (104) is made of transparent, waterproof material (e.g. glass) in order to allow the passage of sunlight towards the solar cell (105) but also to protect the electronic components inside the housing (105, 106, 107, 108 and 109) from the influence of adverse weather conditions (e.g. rain or snow). On the front and back of the case there are reflective backgrounds (103 and 110) inside which LED light sources (102 and 111) are placed. The lower part of the device (101) is mounted in the ground (100) while the rest of the device lies on the surface of the ground - the road surface.

Inside the housing is a solar cell (105), an electronic printed circuit board with a microcontroller and a wireless communication subsystem (106), a battery unit controller

(109), a larger number of sensors (107 - motion detector, speed detector, low visibility condition detector...) and an independent storage battery unit (108).

Figure 2 shows the logical connections between the functional blocks of the signaling device. Microcontroller (201) processes information from sensors (202, 203, 204), such as the presence and speed of vehicles and visibility conditions, then information from the battery unit controller (206), such as the availability of energy in the battery unit (208) and information received from the RF subsystem

(207) e.g. messages from neighboring signaling devices. On the basis of these inputs and in accordance with the built-in program support, it controls the operation of the system, that is, individual functional blocks. The microcontroller controls the operation of the signal light (209), controls the operation of the battery unit controller (206) e.g. whether to direct the energy from the solar cell (205) to the battery, create appropriate messages and send messages to other signaling devices using the RF subsystem (207).

Figure 3 shows the method of placing signal devices. The signal device (eg 301) is placed right next to the edge of the roadway (300) in such a way that the signal light source (102) is directed towards the movement of oncoming vehicles. The distance between signal devices depends on road conditions and optical visibility between signal devices. On straight sections of the road, without physical obstacles between the devices, they can be placed at a distance of up to 50m.

Figures 4, 5 and 6 show in chronological order the basic functionality of the system for marking the edge of the road with wireless signal devices. It should be noted right away that the system works only in conditions of reduced visibility, while the rest of the time the signaling devices are in a state of accumulating electrical energy. In this connection, it follows that all further exposition about the functioning of the system implies that we are talking about conditions of reduced visibility, that is, the period of the day when the system is in full operational mode.

Figure 4 shows the moment immediately after the detection of the presence of a vehicle on the road by the first signaling device. At the moment when the oncoming vehicle (400) is electrified for the first time on the road by the siren of a signal device (401), the system wakes up from the state of reduced consumption and switches to full mode. After the vehicle (400) has been detected by the signaling device

(401) the signal device (401) turns on the signal light, creates a message and forwards it to the next signal device in the direction of the vehicle (402), but also a message to its pair signal device from the other side of the roadway (41 1) to turn on the corresponding signal light. The signal device on the other side of the carriageway (411) without further checking turns on the signal light in accordance with the received message from its pair device (401). Upon receiving a wireless message, the signal device (402) analyzes the content of the received message (whether the message is addressed to him, whether he should forward it...). it checks its own operating conditions (whether the system may be in some special mode of operation (e.g. flashing light to indicate speeding), whether the signal light is already on...) and then decides on an action. In the general case, the signal device (402) upon receiving the message intended for it, turns on the signal light, sends a wireless message to its steam device (412) and sends a wireless message to the next device in the front of the vehicle (403) which also turns on the signal light, sends a message to its steam device (413) to turn on the corresponding signal light and forwards the message on... Figure 4 shows the moment when the first three signal devices are already emitting the light (401. 402 and 403) red. their steam devices on the other side of the carriageway (411, 412 and 413) emit a white light and the wireless message (405) travels to the next signaling device

(404).

Figure 5 shows the moment when the vehicle (500) is already passing the first signaling device

(501) who performed the vehicle detection and initiated the operation of the system, i.e. marking the edge of the roadway. At this point the light trail. which is dynamically formed by a series of light sources from the signal hearings, is visible in its full extent (on both sides of the roadway), i.e. in its full length up to the last lighting pole in the series (5n).

Figure 6 shows the moment when the vehicle (600) has just passed the signaling device

(601). As soon as the vehicle (600) passes the signaling device (601). the device turns off the signal light, sends a wireless message to its peer device on the other side of the carriageway (611) to also turn off the signal light, and sends a corresponding message forward to turn on the new signal light at the end of the light track (60n+l). The message sent from the broadcast device (601) is accepted by the first next signaling device (602) which parses the content of the message and since the message is not addressed to it, forwards it further to the non-routine device which also forwards it until the message reaches the target device (60n-l) which recognizes that the message is addressed to it, based on the message turns on the signal light and with a wireless message initiates the lighting of the signal light at its paired signal device (61n+l).

Figure 7 describes how the system reacts in the event of broken signal devices. The picture shows the moment immediately after the detection of the vehicle (700) by the first signaling device (701). As already described, after the vehicle is detected, a light trail is formed. which marks the edge of the road, so that signal devices communicate with wireless messages. Upon detection of the vehicle (700), the signal device (701) turns on the signal light and forwards a wireless message to the next device in the direction of the vehicle (702), which turns on the signal light and forwards the signal message further to the device (703), etc. At the same time, each of the mentioned signal devices initiates the switching on of the signal light at its pair device from the other side of the roadway (711, 712 and 713). The picture shows the situation when the message sent by device 703 cannot be processed and sent further by device 704 because it is faulty. However, due to the nature of the process and the method of wireless communication, the message also reaches the device on the other side of the road (714), which is able to send it on based on the content of the message, and the message also reaches the device 705, and thus the light trail continues to form. Therefore, the functioning is preserved even if there are faulty signal devices in the system.

Apart from the primary function of the system - marking the edge of the road for better visibility, the system also has additional functions. Considering that signal devices have sensors for detecting the speed of passing vehicles, the system also monitors the speed of the vehicle and if the speed of the vehicle is above the permitted speed, it activates a flashing signal light in the direction of the vehicle. In this way, the driver is warned and adjusts the speed to the road conditions. Also. the system foresees that a different signal light can also be initiated from the stop of a special purpose vehicle (ambulance, firemen, police...) in order to inform drivers about unusual events on the road (works, traffic accidents, crowds), i.e. to enable the rapid passage of priority vehicles (ambulance, firemen).

Claims (24)

1. The signaling device consists of: housing (104), means for converting energy from an external energy source into electricity (105), means for accumulating electrical energy, a microprocessor (108), a wireless communication subsystem (106), means for emitting light (102 and 111), means for detecting vehicles (202), means for determining vehicle speed (203) and means for distinguishing visibility conditions (204); characterized in that said device is autonomous, has built-in control intelligence and has multiple operating modes. 2. The signaling device according to claim 1 is capable of emitting light of different wavelengths depending on the mode of operation. 3. The signal device according to claim 1 is capable of turning on and off the light coordinated with a time interval corresponding to the current operating mode. 4. The signal device according to claim 1 is capable of working with a different amount of solar energy which, among other things, depends on atmospheric conditions, geographic longitude and micro conditions where the device is located. 5. The signaling device of claim 1 is capable of automatically advancing its built-in logic based on a message received from an external source. 6. Means for converting an external source of energy into electricity according to claim 1 realized as a solar cell that converts solar energy into electricity. 7. The vehicle detection means according to claim 1 detects the vehicle based on the measurement of the vibration of the road surface caused by the passing of the vehicle. 8. Vehicle detection means according to claim 1 detects the vehicle based on the measurement of illumination from the front headlights of the vehicle. 9. The vehicle detection means according to claim 1 detects the vehicle based on the measurement of the wind force formed by the movement of the vehicle. 10. The vehicle speed detection device according to claim 1 is implemented as a microwave sensor that measures speed based on the Doppler effect. 11. Vehicle detection means according to claim 1 detects the vehicle based on the measurement of the sound produced when the vehicle passes. 12. The vehicle detection means according to claim 1 is capable of detecting road accidents. 13. The vehicle detection means according to claim 1 is capable of detecting exceeding the speed limit on the road. 14. The wireless communication subsystem of claim 1 is capable of accepting wireless messages from different external sources sent in different formats. 15. The wireless communication subsystem of claim 1 is capable of sending a wireless message to various external sources in various formats. 16. A monitoring and signaling system using a network of wirelessly coupled signaling devices mounted on the edge of the road consisting of: housing (104), means for converting energy from an external energy source into electrical energy (105), means for accumulating electrical energy (108), a microprocessor (201), a subsystem for wireless communication (106), means for emitting light (102 and 111), means for detecting vehicles (202), means for determining vehicle speed (203) and means of distinguishing visibility conditions (204); characterized by distributed intelligence and adaptive modes of operation. 17. The system according to claim 16 can detect the failure of individual network nodes and overcome the emerging problem by means of intelligent routing. 18. The system according to claim 16 can detect the presence of police vehicles, ambulances, fire engines, vehicles used by road workers or other special vehicles on the road and adapt the signaling accordingly. 19. The system according to claim 16 can be used for guidance during automatic or semi-automatic driving. 20. A method for dynamically broadcasting a signal light from a network of wirelessly connected signal devices, where the signal light is initiated by one signal device (401) which sends a wireless message to the next signal device (402) which, after receiving the message and based on built-in intelligence and detection of environmental conditions, decides on its own operating mode and on sending a wireless message to the next signal device (403). 21. The signal device according to claim 20 detects the vehicle and thus initiates the emission of the signal light. 22. The signaling device according to claim 20 can be activated by an external signal. 23. The signaling device according to claim 20 can be turned off after the detected vehicle passes by the signaling device. 24. The signaling device according to claim 20 can be turned off after a certain time interval has elapsed.