JP2024080804A - Traffic Management System - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an operation management system capable of suppressing an unnecessary stop of a large-sized heavy machine while securing safety.SOLUTION: A controller 12 executes: information acquisition processing S1 for acquiring position information and peripheral information from each registration mobility; determination processing S2 for determining a safety level indicating a level of safety of each section set with respect to a road included in map information based on the position information and peripheral information of a vehicle acquired in the information acquisition processing S1; storage processing S3 for storing a determination result of the determination processing S2 in a storage device 11 by association with the map information; and sensitivity change processing S4 for changing obstacle detection sensitivity based on the safety level in the determined section with respect to a peripheral monitoring device 4 mounted on a large-sized heavy machine traveling or scheduled to travel by an automatic operation in the determined section being the section determined in the determination processing S2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a traffic management system.

For example, large heavy machinery such as dump trucks used in mines are equipped with peripheral monitoring devices such as stereo cameras and LiDAR for autonomous driving or driving assistance. For example, JP 2016-35707 A discloses a mining dump truck equipped with a display device that displays information about obstacles ahead acquired by a stereo camera to following vehicles.

JP 2016-35707 A

For example, a dump truck that performs autonomous driving, which is unmanned automatic driving, is configured to stop when a specified obstacle is detected by a perimeter monitoring device from the perspective of ensuring safety. However, due to the structure of large heavy machinery such as a dump truck, the mounting position of the perimeter monitoring device is higher than that of a typical vehicle. Therefore, the detection accuracy of the perimeter monitoring device mounted on the large heavy machinery is likely to be lower than the detection accuracy of the perimeter monitoring device mounted on the vehicle. As a result, obstacles that are not targets for stopping, such as pebbles or ruts, may be erroneously detected as obstacles that require stopping, causing the large heavy machinery to stop unnecessarily. When large heavy machinery stops unnecessarily, productivity, such as transportation efficiency in a mine, decreases.

The object of the present invention is to provide a traffic management system that can prevent unnecessary stops of large heavy machinery while ensuring safety.

The operation management system of the present invention is configured to be able to communicate with each of a plurality of registered mobility so as to manage the operation of the registered mobility configured to be able to acquire position information, and includes a storage device that stores map information, and a controller including one or more processors. Each of the registered mobility is equipped with a surroundings monitoring device that acquires surrounding information, which is information about obstacles around the registered mobility. The plurality of registered mobility includes one or more types of vehicles and one or more types of large heavy machinery larger than the vehicles. The controller is configured to execute an information acquisition process, a judgment process, a storage process, and a sensitivity change process. The information acquisition process is a process of acquiring the position information and the surrounding information from each of the registered mobility. The judgment process is a process of judging a safety level indicating the level of safety of each section set for a road included in the map information based on the position information and the surrounding information of the vehicle acquired in the information acquisition process. The storage process is a process of storing the judgment result of the judgment process in the storage device in association with the map information. The sensitivity change process is a process of changing the detection sensitivity of the obstacle based on the safety level of the determined section for the surroundings monitoring device mounted on the large heavy equipment that is traveling or is scheduled to travel autonomously through the determined section, which is the section determined in the determination process.

According to the present invention, the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device mounted on the large heavy equipment can be changed according to the safety level of the section in which the large heavy equipment is traveling. In safe sections, the detection sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device can be lowered so that relatively small obstacles are not detected. This makes it possible to prevent unnecessary stops of the large heavy equipment due to erroneous detection or overdetection of obstacles. Furthermore, when lowering the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device, the controller can set the detection sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device to a level equal to or higher than the minimum sensitivity required for safe traveling. In this way, according to the present invention, unnecessary stops of the large heavy equipment can be prevented while ensuring safety.

1 is a configuration diagram of a traffic management system according to an embodiment of the present invention; 4 is a flowchart showing a process flow of the traffic management system of the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the processing of the traffic control system of the present embodiment. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the flow of information in the traffic management system of the present embodiment. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a process flow of a traffic control system according to a modified embodiment of the present embodiment.

Below, as a form for implementing the present invention, a traffic control system 1, which is one embodiment of the present invention, will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition to the following examples, the present invention can be implemented in various forms with various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

The traffic management system 1 of this embodiment is a system configured to be able to communicate with each registered mobility so as to manage the operation of multiple registered mobility configured to be able to acquire location information. A registered mobility is a mobility that has been registered in advance in the traffic management system 1. A mobility is a moving body that travels on a road surface. The multiple registered mobility includes one or more types of vehicles and one or more types of large heavy equipment that are larger than a vehicle. That is, one or more types of vehicles and one or more types of large heavy equipment are registered as registered mobility in the traffic management system 1. More specifically, the vehicles are light vehicles such as passenger cars and pickup trucks. The large heavy equipment is, for example, a dump truck used for transportation work in mines, etc.

Large heavy equipment is, for example, a work mobility with a total weight of 11 t or more. For example, the weight of a mining dump truck is 100 t or more. The outer diameter of the tires of a mining dump truck, which is a large heavy equipment, is, for example, 2 m or more. The height of a mining dump truck is several times the height of a light vehicle. Therefore, the installation position of the perimeter monitoring device 4 of a mining dump truck is higher than the installation position of the perimeter monitoring device 4 of a light vehicle. In the operation management system 1 of this embodiment, a light vehicle is registered as a vehicle, and a mining dump truck (hereinafter simply referred to as a dump truck) is registered as a large heavy equipment. Information on the registered mobility is stored, for example, in a storage device 11 described later.

The traffic management system 1 manages the operation of multiple registered mobility vehicles. The functions of the traffic management system 1 are installed in at least one of the control system 9 and the systems within the registered mobility vehicles. The traffic management system 1 of this embodiment is part of the control system 9 and is installed in a facility that has wireless communication devices.

More specifically, the traffic management system 1 includes a storage device 11 and a controller 12. The storage device 11 is composed of one or more memories. Map information is stored in the storage device 11. The storage device 11 is communicatively connected to the controller 12, and is located inside or outside the controller 12.

The controller 12 is configured by an electronic control unit (ECU) or computer having one or more processors 12a and one or more memories (not shown). Various programs and data are stored in the memory. The processor 12a reads and executes programs from the memory to perform various calculations and controls. The memory of the controller 12 may be the storage device 11. In other words, the storage device 11 may be located within the controller 12. Communication within the mobility is performed, for example, by CAN (car area network or controllable area network).

The controller 12 is configured to be able to communicate with each registered mobility via a radio (not shown) and a communication network. The controller 12 receives various information from each registered mobility, such as identification information, location information, and sensor detection information. The controller 12 is configured to set a target route for a target mobility, which is a registered mobility for which a target route is to be set. For example, the target mobility that receives a target route from the operation management system 1 performs automatic driving based on the target route. The controller 12 can also instruct the target mobility on driving conditions, such as driving speed.

As shown in FIG. 1, each registered mobility is provided with, for example, a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver 2 and an autonomous driving ECU 3 that executes autonomous driving control. Each registered mobility is also provided with a radio (not shown) for communicating with the traffic management system 1. Each registered mobility transmits to the traffic management system 1 its own identification information, position information based on GNSS positioning data calculated by the receiver 2, and sensor detection information based on detection values of various sensors mounted on the registered mobility. Although not shown, sensors mounted on each registered mobility include, for example, a wheel speed sensor, a longitudinal acceleration sensor, a vertical acceleration sensor, a lateral acceleration sensor, a yaw rate sensor, a pitch rate sensor, a roll rate sensor, and a vehicle height sensor. The traveling speed can be calculated, for example, from the wheel speed.

In this way, the operation management system 1 receives identification information, location information, and sensor detection information from each registered mobility. The autonomous driving ECU 3 of the registered mobility executes autonomous driving control based on the target route and driving conditions (driving speed, etc.) received from the operation management system 1. The autonomous driving ECU 3 sends instructions to the drive system ECU, braking system ECU, and/or their actuators 7 within the mobility based on the target route and driving conditions (see Figure 4).

Each registered mobility is also equipped with a perimeter monitoring device 4 as an external sensor. The perimeter monitoring device 4 is a device that monitors (recognizes) the surroundings of the mobility itself. The perimeter monitoring device 4 is configured to include at least one of a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, or Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) 4a and a stereo camera 4b. The perimeter monitoring device 4 of this embodiment is configured to include one or more LiDARs 4a and one or more sets of stereo cameras 4b that capture images of the surroundings of the mobility itself (see FIG. 4). The perimeter monitoring device 4 may further include one or more millimeter wave radars that measure the distance between the mobility itself and objects around the mobility itself. The perimeter monitoring device 4 is a device that acquires surrounding information, which is information about obstacles around the mobility itself. The surrounding information, which is the detection result of the perimeter monitoring device 4, is transmitted to the operation management system 1 as sensor detection information.

The autonomous driving ECU 3 is capable of accurately recognizing the surrounding conditions and the vehicle's own position, for example, based on the detection results of the lidar and three-dimensional map data. The autonomous driving ECU 3 is configured to be able to execute local corrections to the target route based on the detection results of the periphery monitoring device 4. A sensitivity adjustment device 41 for adjusting the detection sensitivity (hereinafter also simply referred to as "sensitivity") of the periphery monitoring device 4 is connected to the periphery monitoring device 4. The sensitivity adjustment device 41 is configured, for example, by an ECU (such as the autonomous driving ECU 3) mounted on the registered mobility.

(Sensitivity change control)
The controller 12 is configured to execute sensitivity change control, which is a control for changing the sensitivity of the periphery monitoring device 4. In detail, as shown in Fig. 2, the controller 12 is configured to execute information acquisition processing S1, judgment processing S2, storage processing S3, and sensitivity change processing S4 as the sensitivity change control. The information acquisition processing S1 is a process for acquiring position information and surrounding information from each registered mobility. The storage device 11 associates (links) the position information with the surrounding information and stores them. The surrounding information includes information regarding obstacles.

The judgment process S2 is a process for judging the safety level for each section set for the roads included in the map information, based on the vehicle position information and surrounding information acquired in the information acquisition process S1. In the processing of the controller 12, the roads included in the map information are divided into sections at predetermined distances (see A, B, and C in FIG. 3). In other words, the roads in the map information are divided into a number of sections (areas). The controller 12 judges the safety level for each section. The safety level indicates the level of safety of the section. The higher the safety level, the higher the safety. The safety level is judged based on the size and type of obstacles located within the section.

The autonomous driving ECU 3 determines the presence or absence of an obstacle within the section, the size of the obstacle, and the type (attributes) of the obstacle based on the detection results of the periphery monitoring device 4. The size of the obstacle is determined, for example, by the height of the obstacle. The autonomous driving ECU 3 transmits the obstacle-related determination results to the controller 12 as peripheral information. Note that these obstacle-related determinations may be performed by the controller 12 or the periphery monitoring device 4. Furthermore, the autonomous driving ECU 3 makes it possible to stop the vehicle or locally change the target route according to the detection results of the periphery monitoring device 4.

A section with a high safety level is a section that is safe and has a low need for registered mobility to stop. For example, the larger an obstacle is, the more difficult it is for registered mobility to overcome the obstacle. For this reason, registered mobility traveling in a section where the obstacle is present must stop or avoid the obstacle. Therefore, the safety level of a section where such an obstacle is present is low.

For example, if the obstacle is an animal (including a person), large construction equipment, or a parked vehicle, it is necessary to prevent collision with or climbing over the obstacle regardless of the size of the obstacle. In this case, the registered mobility also needs to stop or avoid the obstacle. Therefore, the safety level of that section is low. In this way, in a section where there is an obstacle classified as a collision-prohibited attribute (for example, an animal, large construction equipment, or a parked vehicle), the safety level is determined to be low regardless of the size of the obstacle.

On the other hand, if the obstacle is a small natural structure such as a small wheel rut, a small lump of earth or sand, or a small rock, the heavy machinery can easily overcome or crush the obstacle and proceed. Also, overcoming an obstacle has little adverse effect on the heavy machinery. Therefore, the safety level of that section is high. For example, mines have many unpaved roads, and there is a high possibility that natural structures will form. Also, if there are no obstacles within a section, the safety level of that section will be the highest. Two or more safety levels are set. Note that wheel ruts are made up of grooves formed by tires and protrusions formed by raising both sides of the groove. The height of the wheel ruts can be said to be the height of the protrusions.

An example of the safety level settings will be described below. In this embodiment, the safety level is classified into three levels: high, medium, and low. If even one obstacle classified as having a collision-prohibited attribute or a natural structure of a predetermined height or higher is detected, safety is determined to be low and the safety level is determined to be low. If all of the one or more detected obstacles are natural structures of less than a predetermined height, the safety level is determined to be medium. If no obstacles are detected, safety is determined to be high and the safety level is determined to be high.

In the judgment process S2, the controller 12 judges the safety level for the section that overlaps with the vehicle's position based on the position information and surrounding information of the vehicle, which is a registered mobility. The controller 12 executes the judgment process S2, for example, periodically or each time it acquires the position information and surrounding information.

As shown in FIG. 3, when a light vehicle travels through sections A, B, and C, a safety level is determined for each of sections A, B, and C. In the example of FIG. 3, the safety level of section A is determined to be low, the safety level of section B is determined to be medium, and the safety level of section C is determined to be high. In this example, the surroundings monitoring device 4 mounted on the light vehicle detects a natural structure 81 of a predetermined height or more in section A, detects a natural structure 82 of less than the predetermined height in section B, and does not detect an obstacle in section C. The surroundings information includes, for example, information regarding the presence or absence of an obstacle, the size of the obstacle, and the type and attributes of the obstacle. Note that the surroundings information may be information of an abstract level or value, such as a safety level.

The storage process S3 is a process for storing the judgment result of the judgment process S2 in the storage device 11 in association with the map information. The controller 12 associates the surrounding information transmitted from multiple vehicles traveling in various locations with the map information and stores it in the storage device 11, thereby aggregating the information. The controller 12 updates the safety level of the judged section each time the judgment process S2 is executed. The safety level of each section stored in the storage device 11 becomes the latest one. In the example of FIG. 3, the storage device 11 stores the safety level of section A as low, the safety level of section B as medium, and the safety level of section C as high.

The sensitivity change process S4 is a process for changing the obstacle detection sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 mounted on a large heavy equipment that is traveling or is scheduled to travel in an automatically driven manner through a determined section, which is a section determined in the determination process S2, based on the safety level of the determined section. The controller 12 determines whether or not the large heavy equipment will travel in the determined section based on the target route of the large heavy equipment during automatic driving. When the large heavy equipment travels in the determined section, the controller 12 determines whether or not a change in the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 mounted on the large heavy equipment is necessary based on the safety level of the determined section. When the large heavy equipment travels in a section whose safety level has not been determined (an undetermined section), the controller 12 sets the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 of the large heavy equipment to the initial setting.

In this embodiment, the initial sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 is set to a sensitivity higher than the minimum sensitivity required for safe driving (hereinafter also referred to as the required sensitivity). In other words, the initial sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 is set to a sufficiently high sensitivity from the perspective of ensuring safety. In this case, when the large heavy equipment travels through an area with a low safety level, the controller 12 does not change the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 of the large heavy equipment from the initial setting. In other words, in areas with a low safety level, the perimeter monitoring device 4 is operated at a high sensitivity. Note that when the large heavy equipment travels through an area with a low safety level, the controller 12 may set the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 of the large heavy equipment higher than the initial setting.

When a large heavy machine travels through an area where the safety level is medium, the controller 12 sets the sensitivity of the periphery monitoring device 4 of the large heavy machine to be lower than the initial setting. More specifically, in this case, the controller 12 sets the sensitivity of the periphery monitoring device 4 to be equal to or higher than the required sensitivity and lower than the sensitivity when the safety level is low.

When a large heavy equipment runs through an area with a high safety level, the controller 12 sets the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 of the large heavy equipment lower than the sensitivity at a medium level. In this case, it is preferable that the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 is set to a required sensitivity or higher. Note that the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 in this case may be set to a sensitivity lower than the required sensitivity. For example, the perimeter monitoring device 4 may be set to a state in which it does not detect anything. In this way, in the traffic management system 1 of this example, the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 is set to a low level sensitivity (here, the initial setting sensitivity), a medium level sensitivity, and a high level sensitivity (low level sensitivity > medium level sensitivity > high level sensitivity ≧ required sensitivity).

The sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 corresponds to, for example, the size of an object that can be detected as an obstacle. The sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 corresponds to the size of an obstacle that can be detected. The sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 can be specified, for example, by the minimum volume or minimum height that can be detected. For example, the higher the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4, the smaller the object that the device 4 detects as an obstacle. Also, the higher the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4, the more the device 4 can determine the type and attributes of a small obstacle. When the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 is set low, the size of the obstacle that can be detected becomes smaller, and small obstacles are not detected, and only large obstacles are detected. The sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 can be changed, for example, by changing the sensitivity of the external sensor itself, such as a stereo camera or a lidar, or by changing the analytical performance for analyzing obstacles from the detection data of the external sensor.

The lower the sensitivity of the stereo camera, for example, the lower the image quality of the stereo camera and the smaller the distance at which an obstacle can be detected. In other words, when the sensitivity of the stereo camera is set low, small obstacles near the road surface are difficult to detect. Also, the lower the sensitivity of the LIDAR, for example, the longer the radar irradiation interval, the smaller the number of points in the point cloud data obtained, or the smaller the radar output level. In other words, when the sensitivity of the LIDAR is set low, the objects that can be identified as obstacles become limited, and small obstacles near the road surface are difficult to detect. In this way, lowering the sensitivity of the sensor is equivalent to reducing the effective detection range (e.g., detection distance) of the sensor.

As described above, the controller 12 may be configured to transmit a sensitivity change command only when it is necessary to change the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4. The controller 12 may also transmit, as a sensitivity change command, information on the sensitivity level according to the safety level of the target traveling section each time the traveling section of the large heavy equipment changes. In this case, the sensitivity change command is transmitted even if the sensitivity is not changed.

In the example of FIG. 3, because the safety level of section A is low, the controller 12 transmits a sensitivity change command to the dump truck that is about to travel through section A to set the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 to the initial setting. The sensitivity adjustment device 41 of the dump truck that receives the sensitivity change command changes the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 to the sensitivity of the command content. Note that, for example, if the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 immediately before the dump truck enters section A is in the initial setting state, the controller 12 does not need to transmit a sensitivity change command to the dump truck. In this case, the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 of the dump truck traveling through section A is maintained at the initial setting high sensitivity.

When the dump truck enters section B from section A, the safety level changes from low to medium. Therefore, the controller 12 transmits a sensitivity change command to the dump truck to lower the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4. As a result, the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 of the dump truck is changed from the initial setting (low level sensitivity) to medium level sensitivity.

When the dump truck enters section C from section B, the safety level changes from the medium level to the high level. Therefore, the controller 12 transmits a sensitivity change command to the dump truck to lower the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4. As a result, the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 of the dump truck is changed from the medium level sensitivity to the high level sensitivity.

For example, when a dump truck enters section B from section C, the controller 12 transmits a sensitivity change command to the dump truck to increase the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4. As a result, the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 of the dump truck is changed from high-level sensitivity to medium-level sensitivity.

In this way, under the control of the controller 12, the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 is set to a high level when the safety level is low, to a medium level when the safety level is medium, and to a low level when the safety level is high, depending on the section along which the large heavy equipment is traveling. In this way, in the sensitivity change process S4, the controller 12 lowers the obstacle detection sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 the higher the safety level.

As shown in FIG. 4, the controller 12 transmits the target route of the large heavy equipment to the automatic driving ECU 3 of the large heavy equipment. The automatic driving ECU 3 controls various actuators 7 of the large heavy equipment based on the target route, etc. The control of the actuators 7 by the automatic driving ECU 3 may be performed via an ECU corresponding to the actuator 7. The detection results of the surroundings monitoring device 4 are used for automatic driving.

On the other hand, the controller 12 of the control system 9 acquires position information and surrounding information from multiple vehicles. The controller 12 determines the safety level of the section where each vehicle has traveled based on the position information and surrounding information. The controller 12 determines the safety level of the section where the large heavy equipment is traveling and the section where it is scheduled to travel based on the position information of the large heavy equipment and the target route.

The controller 12 transmits a sensitivity change command corresponding to the travel section to the sensitivity adjustment device 41 of the large heavy equipment. At this time, the controller 12 may transmit a sensitivity change command for the planned travel section in advance in the sensitivity change command. When the large heavy equipment enters the target section, the sensitivity adjustment device 41 of the large heavy equipment changes the sensitivity of the surrounding monitoring device 4 based on the sensitivity change command received in advance.

According to this embodiment, the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 mounted on the large heavy equipment can be changed according to the safety level of the section in which the large heavy equipment is traveling. In safe sections, the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 can be lowered so that relatively small obstacles are not detected. This makes it possible to prevent unnecessary stopping of the large heavy equipment due to erroneous detection or overdetection of obstacles. Furthermore, when lowering the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4, the controller 12 can set the sensitivity of the perimeter monitoring device 4 to a level equal to or higher than the minimum sensitivity required for safe traveling. In this way, according to this embodiment, unnecessary stopping of the large heavy equipment can be prevented while ensuring safety.

(others)
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, when there are multiple types of large heavy machinery in the registered mobility, the safety level may be set for each type of large heavy machinery. That is, the controller 12 may set a type safety level for each type of large heavy machinery based on the set safety level in the judgment process S2. In this case, for example, the controller 12 sets a type safety level for each type of large heavy machinery based on the safety level after setting a reference safety level for the section as described above. When two or more large heavy machinery with different specifications are registered as registered mobility, when comparing the large heavy machinery of different types with each other, the size and tire diameter of the two may be different. The storage device 11 stores specification information for each type of registered mobility.

If the size of the mobility or the tire diameter is different, the size of the obstacles that can be safely overcome or crushed may differ. Therefore, a type safety level may be set for each type of large heavy equipment based on a safety level set as a standard. The type safety level may be set, for example, from the perspective of whether or not the large heavy equipment is damaged when an obstacle is overcome. The presence or absence of damage may be calculated based on the presence or absence of interference between the road surface and the body of the large heavy equipment. The amount of damage can be calculated, for example, based on the size of the obstacle, the tire diameter of the large heavy equipment, and the minimum ground clearance of the body.

The safety level is determined based on the latest surrounding information transmitted from the vehicle, but may be determined based on the weight of the accumulated surrounding information. In this case, the controller 12 sets weights for the acquired surrounding information based on a predetermined weight setting rule, for example. The higher the weight of the information, the higher the reliability. The controller 12 may adopt the surrounding information with the highest weight as a determination element for the safety level. As an example, as shown in FIG. 5, the controller 12 is configured to execute a weight setting process S11 between the information acquisition process S1 and the determination process S2. The weight setting process S11 is a process for setting weights for the surrounding information acquired in the information acquisition process S1 based on a predetermined weight setting rule. In the determination process S2, the controller 12 determines the safety level based on the weights set in the weight setting process S11. This enables flexible and situation-specific determination.

The weight setting rules may be set, for example, so that the newer the surrounding information, the greater the weight. It can be assumed that the newer the information, the more appropriate it is to the current situation. The surrounding information acquired from a light vehicle that has traveled through a section immediately before a large heavy machine travels through that section is considered to best represent the current situation of that section. Therefore, the controller 12 may preferentially use such latest information as a factor for determining the safety level.

The weight setting rule may be set, for example, so as to give a relatively large weight to peripheral information acquired by a vehicle in which the information acquired by the peripheral monitoring device 4 is likely to be highly accurate. The reason for the high accuracy of the acquired information may be that the peripheral monitoring device 4 itself is highly accurate, or that the mounting position of the peripheral monitoring device 4 on the vehicle is close to the road surface, etc. The weight setting rule may be set so that the weight of the acquired information increases as the performance of the image sensor such as a camera or the performance of the image analysis process increases. The controller 12 may increase the weight of peripheral information from the highly accurate peripheral monitoring device 4 and use that peripheral information as a factor for determining the safety level with priority.

For example, when the controller 12 acquires information on an environmental disturbance, such as a worsening weather condition, from the vehicle or the Internet, the safety level of the section affected by the environmental disturbance may be reset. This is because the environmental disturbance may cause the road conditions to change significantly, reducing the reliability of past surrounding information. In this way, the controller 12 may reset the safety level of a determined section based on weather information acquired from registered mobility or the Internet. Also, when a predetermined time or more has elapsed since the time the surrounding information was acquired, the safety level determined based on that surrounding information may be reset. This is because the surrounding conditions may have changed significantly if a large amount of time has elapsed since the surrounding information was acquired.

In addition, for example, if a vehicle travels through section C immediately before a large heavy equipment travels through section C and the controller 12 acquires surrounding information from the vehicle, it can be assumed that the reliability of the surrounding information is very high. If the safety level of section C is high and the difference between the acquisition time of the surrounding information that was the determining factor and the start time of the large heavy equipment traveling through section C is within a predetermined time, the surrounding monitoring device 4 of the large heavy equipment may be masked (in a non-detection state).

In addition, when the heavy equipment is being driven automatically with a passenger on board, the controller 12 may set the traveling speed of the heavy equipment taking into consideration the riding comfort of the passengers. The control system 9 has information on whether the heavy equipment is being driven automatically with a driver or in an unmanned state. In a section of the road where there are only small natural structures such as small wheel ruts that will not cause damage to the heavy equipment even if they are crushed, the controller 12 may reduce the traveling speed to improve the riding comfort if the heavy equipment is being driven automatically with a driver.

For example, if an animal or other vehicle is detected by the vehicle's surroundings monitoring device 4, the safety levels of multiple sections centered around that section may be set to a low level until the next time surrounding information for that section is acquired. For example, if a worker is detected in section B in FIG. 3, the controller 12 may set the safety levels of sections A and C, which are adjacent sections to section B, to a low level, similar to section B. Because workers, animals, other vehicles, etc. may move, the controller 12 may allow the detection result to affect the safety level over a wide range. Note that if the time elapsed since the detection time is less than a predetermined time, the safety level of that section may be set to a low level, and normal judgment may be performed for sections other than that section.

The controller 12 may also be configured with "multiple ECUs," "multiple computers," or "one or more ECUs and one or more computers." The controller 12 may also calculate the vehicle's travel trajectory based on the vehicle's position information (e.g., time-series data), and determine the section to be judged for the safety level based on the travel trajectory. The control system 9 may also transmit safety level information to the large heavy equipment, and the ECU of the large heavy equipment (e.g., the autonomous driving ECU 3) may execute the sensitivity change process S4. For example, the ECU of the large heavy equipment may transmit a sensitivity change command to the sensitivity adjustment device 41 based on the safety level information.

The traffic management system 1 of the present disclosure can also be described as follows. The traffic management system 1 includes an information acquisition unit that executes information acquisition processing S1, a determination unit that executes determination processing S2, a storage processing unit that executes storage processing S3, and a sensitivity change unit that executes sensitivity change processing S4. This also achieves the same effects as the present embodiment.

1... Traffic management system, 11... Storage device, 12... Controller, 12a... Processor,

Claims (7)

A traffic management system configured to be able to communicate with each registered mobility so as to manage the traffic of a plurality of registered mobility configured to be able to acquire location information,
A storage device that stores map information;
a controller including one or more processors;
Equipped with
Each of the registered mobility vehicles is equipped with a surroundings monitoring device that acquires surrounding information, which is information about obstacles around the vehicle.
The plurality of registered mobility entities include one or more types of vehicles and one or more types of heavy machinery larger than the vehicles;
The controller:
An information acquisition process for acquiring the location information and the surrounding area information from each of the registered mobility.
a determination process for determining a safety level indicating a level of safety of each section set on a road included in the map information, based on the position information and the surrounding information of the vehicle acquired in the information acquisition process;
a storage process of storing a determination result of the determination process in the storage device in association with the map information;
a sensitivity change process for changing the detection sensitivity of the obstacle based on the safety level of the determined section for the surroundings monitoring device mounted on the large heavy equipment that is traveling or is scheduled to travel by automatic driving through the determined section, which is the section determined in the determination process;
is configured to run
Traffic management system. In the sensitivity change process, the controller reduces the detection sensitivity of the obstacle by the periphery monitoring device as the safety level becomes higher.
The traffic management system according to claim 1. The controller sets a type safety level for each type of the large heavy machinery based on the set safety level in the determination process.
The traffic management system according to claim 1. the controller is configured to execute a weight setting process between the information acquisition process and the determination process;
The weight setting process is a process of setting a weight for the acquired peripheral information based on a predetermined weight setting rule,
The controller determines the safety level in the determination process based on the weight set in the weight setting process.
The traffic management system according to claim 1. The weight setting rule is set so that the weight is increased as the peripheral information becomes newer.
The traffic control system according to claim 4. The controller resets the safety level of the determined section based on weather information acquired from the registered mobility or the Internet.
The traffic management system according to claim 1. The surroundings monitoring device is configured to include at least one of a stereo camera and a lidar.
The traffic control system according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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