WO2005004080A1

WO2005004080A1 - A system for the automatic detection and report of a sudden traffic jam

Info

Publication number: WO2005004080A1
Application number: PCT/IT2004/000372
Authority: WO
Inventors: Raimondo Lo Forti
Original assignee: Tes Teleinformatica E Sistemi S.R.L.
Priority date: 2003-07-08
Filing date: 2004-07-06
Publication date: 2005-01-13
Also published as: ITRM20030331A0; ITRM20030331A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for detecting and reporting a sudden traffic jam, essentially having the object of reducing, as much as possible, the number of serious accidents that take place, first of all the highway. It is made up of a set of devices which, put together, create an original system able to automatically carry out controls and send pieces of information. The invention puts itself in the technical field of communication and control and in the applicatory one of human needs.

Description

A SYSTEM FOR THE AUTOMATIC DETECTION AND REPORT OF A SUDDEN TRAFFIC JAM

This invention relates to a system for the automatic detection and report of a sudden traffic jam, essentially having the object of reducing, as much as possible, the number of serious accidents that happen, first of all in highways. Such accidents are nearly always caused by a sudden slowdowns or to slamming on the brakes of one or more vehicles, maybe in the presence of fog, relative to many other motor vehicles that follow them in the normal traffic, notwithstanding them, accidents of the type: crash telescopings, steerings, etc. The accidents, often deadly, are sadly known, caused by chain telescopings first of all occurred in the last years. This invention, therefore, has the object of alerting, in a programmed way and as soon as possible, the automobiles that follow those that slow down or stop themselves. The presented invention is made up of a set of devices that, put together, create an original system able to automatically carry out controls and send pieces of information, as disclosed in the following.

Said devices are able to detect, other ones to receive and/or transmit pieces of information, the whole set being managed by a "control centre" CC that also includes a

dedicated software programme.

This invention puts itself in the technical field of communication and control and the applicatory one of human needs.

This invention is now disclosed, as a matter of illustration and not of restriction, based on an embodiment presently preferred by the Inventor and referring to the enclosed plates of drawings, listed in the following: Fig. la schematic representation of portion of a highway where motor vehicles A travel, with transceiver station RS, "dispenser of badges", assignment of temporary code and registration of the automobile DC, "control centre" CC.

Fig. 2 illustration of the constituent parts of the "badge". Fig. 3 transceiver stations, indicated by RS in Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 1 the system is made up of:

- a device that we shall call "badge" and that is delivered to the motorist at the moment of getting into the highway, at the tollbooth, or which the automobile will be endowed of, for instance, by the manufacturer or by the owner; -transceiver stations RS, placed along the highway in concomitance, for instance, with

SOS stands, able to collect and send all the pieces of information useful for managing said system and allow, through a specific software programme, to fast take decisions in the presence of a " sudden traffic j am" event;

-a "control centre" CC. By "badge" an electronic device is meant herein, having a restricted size, that is able to have various configurations.

Referring to Fig. 2, said badge is essentially made up of:

-a transceiver device a;

- a satellite position radiolocalizer or equivalent b; - an optical and/or acoustical alarm c;

- a battery d, which can also be that of the automobile;

- a processor e.

Said badge (see Fig. 2) is essentially made up of a transponder a, used for automatically responding to a message transmitted through a signal, generally encoded. In this case this one is specifically designed to-dialogue with transceiver stations RS. Radiolocalizer b is able to exploit the signals coming from a constellation of satellites or land stations to determine its own position.

The optical and/or acoustical alarm c, which allows the user to be warned about a danger state caused by a sudden traffic jam, is made up of one or more LEDs or by an acoustical signal emitter, or a loudspeaker, a transducer, etc.

Processor e outputs the controls necessary for the integrated operation of devices a, b, c and d.

Transceiver stations are made up of (see Fig. 3): a) two antenna systems, the first one AN1 made up of two antennas, assembled "back to back" and aligned along an axis parallel to that of the highway, the second one AN2 made up of an antenna bound- orthogonally to the previous axis and therefore oriented towards the travelling automobiles. The two antenna systems perform the function of receiving and/or transmitting the radio signal in two different modes (Ml and M2): - mode Ml: receiving and/or transmitting when the badge is not in the immediate proximity, by utilizing "back-to-back" antenna system AN1; - mode M2: receiving and/or transmitting the signal when the badge travels in the immediate proximity of the transceiver stations (for instance by exploiting doppler frequency variation to this end) through antenna system AN2; b) two transceivers al and bl, respectively connected with the two antenna systems; c) a processor cl for managing the station; d) an interface dl towards the telephone line or towards a radio link fl, making part of the system, to transmit and/or receive information to/from a "control centre" CC; e) a feed system el, autonomous or linked to the network. In connexion with the two antenna systems AN1 and AN2, which perform the function of processing the radio signal in two different modes, it is timely to explain what follows. In mode M2, the control centre, through the polling of the badges carried out through each transceiver station, is able to store all the codes of the badges that travel through it, based on the proximity of the passage of the badges themselves, on the variation of doppler frequency, etc. By utilizing this same information for the subsequent station, the system is able to know how many automobiles (badges) are present in the cell (i.e. in the tract between two subsequent transceiver stations).

Therefore, the control centre knows the association code-cell, independently of the event, at each time.

"Control centre" CC is made up of one or more computers having interfaces for receiving and/or transmitting data. Downstream of the detection of the traffic stop event the computer, or the computers, endowed with a SW for the "management of the event", generate the best strategy of the sequence of alarms to be routed to the single "badges".

If the stopping of one or. more automobiles takes place in a related condition, i.e. caused by a single event (therefore the event is defined), the badge detects the event of a rapid reduction of speeds through the data coming from its own radiolocahzer, and then activates the data transmission channel sending its own code, the speed before the event and its position to "control centre" CC. All that represents an alarm condition for

"control centre" CC.

"Control centre" CC, after receiving the warnings caused by a plurality of simultaneous

events, by utilizing a SW and/or HW algorithm for evaluating the event and considering the following data: - the position of the badges that have output the alarm,

- the speed of the badge on the vehicles,

- the tract code, will be able to relate, or not, to a single event of "sudden traffic jam". By "tract code" the determination is meant, through the association with a code, of the highway tract included between two contiguous stations that, for convenience, will be named the "cell".

Based on the mentioned data, "control centre" CC takes an operating decision consisting in generating or not generating an alarm for all the automobiles potentially interested in the sudden traffic jam.

The development is reported in short of the action having the system at disposal of the present patent application:

- the automobile having the "badge", braking suddenly, outputs the alarm and then sends, through the transceiver stations, its own code, the speed and its own position to the "control centre" CC; - having received the data, "control centre" CC intervenes at once with the first processing in order to have all the pieces of information and speed by polling the "badge" of the cell interested by the event; - "control centre" CC, after making a selection of the codes based on a previous processing, sends a signal containing the series of the codes (badges) that could be interested by the event itself;

- following to such a polling (operated by the "control centre"), all "badges" reached by the previous message, and then potentially interested by the event, respond indicating

their position and speed;

- at this point "control centre" CC has a complete mapping of the highway tract interested by the event. Moreover, knowing the position and the speed of all motor vehicles of that highway tract, "control centre" CC sets a progressive braking strategy so as to avoid further crash telescopings. In order to implement the selected strategy, "control centre" CC sends the sequence of alarms to each "badge" in a differentiated mode.

The decisions are taken automatically and then more fastly by "control centre" CC which also provides for warning the persons in charge of the management of the system of the event.

The so suggested system makes the work possible of "control centre" CC which is the more delicate loop of the system. In fact, "control centre" CC only manages the database of the cells and the alarm procedure, whilst the detection of the "probable traffic jam" event is made locally by the "badges". This automatic detection system, once extended, can be utilized, in addition to the highway network, on all urban and out-of-town routes of the road system.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1) A system for the automatic detection and report of a sudden traffic jam (Fig. 1), characterized in that it is made up of a badge, transceiver stations (RS), a control centre (CC), the whole being informatically controlled by a purposely conceived programme.

2) A system for the automatic detection and report of a sudden traffic jam, as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that said badge (Fig. 2) is made up of a transponder (a), a satellite position radiolocahzer or equivalent (b), an optical and/or acoustical alarm (c)a battery (d) and a processor (e). 3) A system for the automatic detection and report of a sudden traffic jam, as claimed in Claim 2, characterized in that said transponder, known in the art, is used to automatically respond to a message transmitted through a signal, generally encoded.

4) A system for the automatic detection and report of a sudden traffic jam, as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the radiolcalizer, known in the art, is characterized in that it is able to exploit the signals coming from a constellation of satellites or land stations to determine its own position.

5) A system for the automatic detection and report of a sudden traffic jam, as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the alarm can be optical, e.g. a LED/display, or acoustical, e.g. a sound of the type of a beep, or the like, a simple signal emitter, a microloudspeaker, a transducer, etc.

6) A system for the automatic detection and report of a sudden traffic jam, as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the control stations are made up of a system of antennas (three in the

best case, but such number can vary arbitrarily). 7) A system for the automatic detection and report of a sudden traffic jam, as claimed in preceding claims, characterized in that it operates under the control of two or more transceiver stations (RS).

8) A system for the automatic detection and report of a sudden traffic jam, as claimed in all the preceding claims, characterized in that it can be utilized, in addition to the highway network, on all urban and out-of-town routes of the road system.