FR2866437A1 - Geographical point e.g. level crossing, approach warning device for e.g. car, has triggering unit to trigger sound and/or light alarm when distance between each geographical point position and vehicle position is less than given value - Google Patents

Abstract

The device has a global positioning system (GPS) antenna (1) and GPS receiver (2) to detect position of a vehicle at a time, and a subscriber identity module card (3) to record a position of geographical points. A microprocessor (4) has a unit to calculate a distance between the position of each point and vehicle position. An alarm triggering unit triggers a sound and/or light alarm when the distance is lower than a given value.

Description

2866437 1

  TERMINAL APPROACH WARNING DEVICE

AUTOMATIC SPEED CONTROL

  The present invention relates to a vehicle device enabling the driver to be notified of the location of an automatic speed control terminal (commonly called "fixed radar").

  In order to guarantee the safety of roads and motorways and to prevent accidents and traffic violations, governments, particularly the French government, have set up automatic speed control kiosks, or fixed speed cameras. These fixed radars are dissuasive rather than repressive and in general they are located in dangerous areas and must therefore be announced by a sign that informs of the proximity of a terminal. These signs are usually placed on the right of roads and highways, but sometimes they can be placed on the left, or alternatively left and right. They may be more or less visible by a driver, especially if it drives in the left lane of a highway or if it is in a situation to double. Moreover, these panels can cause a reduction of the attention of the driver and can paradoxically be the cause of accidents. In addition, the location of the automatic speed control kiosks must be communicated by the authorities and the specialized newspapers provide a list of the various locations in the territory. Motorists have the opportunity to know the location of all automatic speed control terminals in the country. However, these well known sites are not necessarily stored in the memory of a motorist or a professional who can forget them.

  To warn the driver of his approach to an automatic speed control terminal, the Applicant has developed a device that allows the approach of known geographical points, such as the location of automatic speed cameras. Thus, with such a device, the driver will know at any time if he is approaching a control terminal, and will be able to adapt his speed. Such a device allows the driver to always have his eyes fixed on the road and to be automatically notified of his approach to the location of a control terminal.

  The invention therefore aims to provide a warning device for approaching geographical points and more particularly speed control terminals. The device can be used to signal any geographical points such as dangerous points such as level crossings, or tourist sites, monuments, etc. The object of the invention is to warn by means of a signal that triggers automatically when approaching a given geographical point. The signal may be sound and / or bright.

  Another object of the invention is to provide a mobile warning device that can be embedded in any means of transport (for example, automobiles, coaches, trucks, boats, etc.).

  A method and system for detecting the modification of a speed limitation system of a vehicle is already known from US Pat. No. 6,573,827. This method includes recording the signal from a first position a GPS (Global Positioning System), record a first time value substantially simultaneously with the storage of the signal of the first position, record the signal of a second position from a GPS, record a second time value substantially simultaneously with the storage of the signal from the second position, calculate the average speed of the vehicle during the period of time, and compare it with a recorded value of a maximum vehicle speed.

  Also known is a method and a system for providing position information also using GPS, according to the patent application EP-A-1 207 405, filed by TOGASAKA MASANARI and published on May 22, 2002. This application describes a system for providing a position information, comprising a central apparatus (21) capable of duplex communication with a portable terminal (1) provided with position detecting means for measuring its position, characterized in that said central apparatus (21) is provided with geographic data control means for storing and controlling geographic data of a given position; means providing distance information for deriving, from position information transmitted by said portable terminal, distance information between said portable terminal and at least one pre-assigned point, recorded in said geographical data, and sending said distance information to said portable terminal. The portable terminal (1) comprises position detection means which is a G.P.S. receiver. (5) and the system includes in all embodiments a G.P.S. fixed (12) installed at known points. The distance between the data provided by the G.P.S. is calculated. (5) and those provided by G.P.S. (12). The means for controlling and storing geographic data located in the central unit (21) are connected to an Internet server which provides all the data concerning different golf courses in the country. The system therefore comprises a portable terminal (1), a terminal (13) connected by a modem via a link (22) to a central unit (21) which stores data supplied to it by an Internet server (24). Such a system makes it possible to calculate the distance between the portable terminal (1) and a known point at a time t. Such a system does not calculate the distance between the portable terminal and a known point continuously. This is a discontinuous measurement. The golf player at a certain point, at a certain point stops and measures the distance to the point where he is and the point that interests him. Then he moves, at the speed of a walker, about 4 km / h and another point, he remade between the point where he is and the point that interests him. In addition, this system is complicated because it comprises a portable terminal, a fixed external terminal, a WEB data server central unit connected to the fixed terminal by a modem via a telephone communication (22) and an Internet system (24).

  An object of the present invention is to provide an alert device for identifying geographical points continuously, at a speed at least greater than 30 km / h, preferably greater than 50 km / h, more preferably greater than 50 km / h, 90 km / h and even more preferably greater than 110 km / h. These limits correspond to the current speed limits on French territory.

  An additional problem that arises for such a device for alerting geographical points and in particular for geographical points such as automatic speed limiters is that these terminals are protected by law and any degradation or modification thereof is severely repressed. . The device according to the invention must therefore alert the driver without it being possible to fix a G.P.S device thereon. The problem is similar for the signaling of tourist sites, monuments and level crossings which are private properties and which can not be modified or degraded.

  Another problem that arises is that it is desired to alert the driver by any adequate means, for example visual or sound, well before the arrival of the vehicle at the location of the site, while the vehicle is moving.

  The above mentioned problems are solved by the device and method according to the present invention.

  To this end, the invention relates to a geographical point approach warning device intended to be placed in or on a means of transport (vehicle), characterized in that it comprises: position detection means Vt of the vehicle to a time t, means for recording the position P of geographical points, a microprocessor which comprises means for calculating the distance D between the position P of each of the geographical points and the position Vt of the vehicle at time t; triggering an alarm when the distance D between the position P of each of the geographical points and the position Vt of the vehicle at time t is less than a given value.

  According to the other characteristics of the device according to the invention, the means for detecting the position Vt of the vehicle at a time t are a G.P.S receiver.

  The means for recording the position of geographical points are a SIM card S8 (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-only Memory) or electrically erasable programmable read only memory having a length of 25 mm and a width 15 mm).

  The device further comprises means for saving points for which said distance is less than an upper limit, for example 30 km, means for sorting points for which said distance between the position of the vehicle at time t with the position of each geographical points is less than a lower limit, for example 2.5 km, and the points for which said distance is between the lower limit and the upper limit, for example between 2.5 km and 30 km.

  The device is such that it performs the vehicle position detection and the calculation of D every second.

  The value of the distance between the position P of each of the geographical points and the position Vt of the vehicle at the time t for which the alarm is triggered is 100 m × Prevention index.

  The prevention index is different depending on the nature of the road and the speed allowed there.

  The following description with reference to the appended figure will better understand how the invention can be put into practice.

  FIG. 1 represents a block diagram of the device according to the invention.

  The device according to the invention makes it possible to warn a vehicle driver of his approach to a point whose location is known, for example an automatic speed control terminal. With the device according to the invention, the driver in a moving vehicle can at any time know if he approaches a known geographical point, for example an automatic radar and can adapt its speed. The device of the invention allows the driver to always have his eyes fixed on the road and to be more vigilant, because it is automatically notified by sound and / or light signals of its approach to the location of a terminal control. On a practical level, the device is in the form of a small box which is fixed inside the vehicle, preferably behind the windshield. The device is connected to the vehicle's electrical circuit and can be turned on or off by means of an on / off switch.

  As can be seen in FIG. 1, the device comprises means for detecting the position of the vehicle at a time t. These detection means consist of a G.P.S. antenna. 1 and a receiver G.P.S. 2. The device comprises means for recording the known position of geographical points. These recording means are constituted by a SIM card 3 which can be inserted in the housing, in a similar way to a SIM card inserted into a mobile phone. This SIM card is an S8 EEPROM chip (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-only Memory). This SIM card includes a memory where are registered the geographical coordinates of these fixed speed cameras. Updates can be made by reprogramming these SIM cards. Thus, if fixed radars are added or deleted, the SIM card 3 can be modified according to these modifications. Preferably, the capacity of the EEPROM is 32 kilobytes (kb).

  A microprocessor 4 processes the information from the receiver G.P.S. 2 and the SIM card 3. This microprocessor 4 comprises 2 KB of RAM (Random Access Memory, RAM, 32 KB Flash ROM (Flash Read-only Memory) and 2 x 2 KB Dataflash). The housing is connected to the power supply 5 of the vehicle, an on / off switch 6, a buzzer 7 and a warning light 8. The warning light 8 is preferably a LED (light-emitting diode) and the buzzer 7 is preferably a buzzer.

  The operation of the apparatus according to the invention will now be described in more detail.

  As mentioned previously, the SIM card which makes it possible to record the known geographical points consists of a 32 kilobytes electrical memory using the 12C bus as write / read protocol. The memory is divided into 2728 records of 12 bytes. A record corresponds to the coding of a geographical point. The geographical position of a point is memorized on 8 bytes: 2 real numbers X and Y (coded in simple floating point, that is 4 bytes) represent the geographical coordinates of a place expressed in Lambert 93 (unit the meter). A value of 1 byte is provided for a prevention index (4 bits are used to express a defined value of 1 to 16) and a 4-bit speed limitation value for values of 30 to 130 km / h, 3 bytes. reserved for future options.

  The prevention index is a value between 1 and 16. This prevention index makes it possible to calculate the triggering distance of the signaling phase, thus of sound or light warning. The signaling distance of the fixed speed cameras will indeed be different according to the type of road taken. Thus, a terminal on the motorway will be 2866437 8 reported a first time 1 km before its position, a marker on a road will be reported a first time 500 meters before its position and a terminal in the city will be reported a first times 100 meters before his position. The prevention index is the multiplication coefficient of the minimum distance of 100 meters. For a fixed radar located on a highway, the prevention index being 10, the triggering of the warning phase will be given when the vehicle is at 100 m x 10, ie 1 km. For a fixed road radar, the prevention index is 5 and the trip is at 100 m x 5 (500 m) and for a fixed speed camera in the city, the prevention index is 1.

  We will now describe the operation of the device and more particularly the operations performed by the microprocessor 4.

  When it is powered, the device starts automatically and checks for the presence of the SIM card and its validity (verification of its "version" zone: consistency and data integrity).

  After 5 seconds, buzzer 7 sounds a long beep (500 ms).

  The On / Off pushbutton allows you to switch the device on and off at any time. This push button will be scanned with a software debounce of 100 ms.

  LED 8 lights solid red if the SIM card is not present, inserted incorrectly, or is not valid. Horn 7 emits a series of beeps (400 ms period square wave) for 5 seconds.

  LED 8 flashes green if everything is correct.

  Waiting for the first positioning The G.P.S .. receiver is switched on directly when the power is turned on. As long as no position is acquired, the green LED flashes.

  When the microprocessor 4 has recovered the first position of the vehicle Vo, the green LED 8 lights up fixedly. This first positioning is recorded as starting point Vo.

  Sorting Geographical Points If points are recorded in a page of the microprocessor memory, it checks the coherence of their presence (distance less than 30 km from the position found). An out of area point is cleared.

  The microprocessor reads one by one the different geographical coordinates of the points present in the SIM card.

  For each point, it calculates its distance from the position found D. If the calculated distance D is less than 30 km, the microprocessor 4 eventually adds this point to the table.

  Creation of tables in RAM The points thus identified and saved are then sorted in 2 separate tables: Table 1 includes the points whose distance D to the vehicle is less than 2.5 km from the calculated position; Table 2, includes points whose distance D to the vehicle is between 2.5 and 30 km.

  G.P.S .. continuous and permanent positioning The positioning frames are sent every second by the G.P.S. receiver. and allows the microprocessor to calculate Vt.

  For each new position and according to the previous context, the microprocessor performs one of the tasks described below.

  No points in the tables If the distance Vt Vo traveled from the starting point is greater than 25 km, the microprocessor proceeds to a new sort of all the points of the SIM card, and saves the last position as a new starting point.

Table n 1 empty

  As long as there are points referenced in Table 2: The microprocessor checks the validity of the points of Table n 2.

  If the tables are empty, the microprocessor recalibrates all the points on the SIM card, and saves the last position as the new starting point Vo.

  If the distance traveled Vt Vo with respect to the starting point is greater than 25 km, the microprocessor proceeds to a new sorting of all the points of the SIM card, and records the last position as new starting point Vo.

  Points referenced in Table 1 The microprocessor records the last position G.P.S. As an intermediate point M. Each geographical point of the SIM card has a numerical index which makes it possible to activate the warning phase according to different distances.

  As long as there are points referenced in this table: The microprocessor controls the distance D between each new position and the points of the Table n 1. It triggers the warning phase if necessary.

  The validity of the points in Table 1 is checked at each new position.

  If the distance traveled Vt V; between the last position and the intermediate point is greater than 1 km, the microprocessor sorts the Table n 2 and registers this position as a new intermediate point V. Warning phase It is automatically started when the vehicle is located in the approach area of a point. This approach area is calculated from its prevention index.

  The warning phase consists of: To emit a ring of 2 trains of 7 beeps, followed by trains of 2 beeps. The duration between each set of beeps is calculated according to the prevention index.

  A beep is a square signal with a period of 400 ms.

The LED flashes red.

  The warning phase ceases when the distance between the point and the position increases and that it is greater than 20% of the radius of the approach zone.

  The inter-train delay of the bell will be calculated from the prevention index value from 1 to 16. This delay is equal to: 1 s + prevention index x 400 ms. For example, the prevention index of a fixed radar located on a highway being 10, the delay will be 5 seconds.

  Loss of Positioning The microprocessor will assume that G. P.S. reception is lost, when 20 non-positioning frames will be received.

  When a position Vt will be read again, the sorting of the tables will be conditioned to the distance between this position and the last starting point kept (Vt Vo).

  Program the microprocessor The software will be flashed directly in-situ by connecting the flashing port of the device to the PC using a serial cable RS232 (to start the boot of the microprocessor, it will be necessary to put a jumper on the strap of flashing before feeding the card).

  Standard programming software for M16C is used.

  Of course, the description with reference to FIG. 1 is a nonlimiting exemplary embodiment of the present invention and this encompasses all the other embodiments falling within the scope of the present invention.

attached claims.

2866437 12

Claims (10)

  1. Warning device for approaching geographical points intended to be placed in or on a means of transport (vehicle), characterized in that it comprises: position detection means Vt of the vehicle at a time t, means of recording of the position P of geographical points, a microprocessor which comprises means for calculating the distance D between the position P of each of the geographical points and the position Vt of the vehicle at time t, means for triggering an alarm when the distance D between the position P of each of the geographical points and the position Vt of the vehicle at time t is less than a given value.   2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for detecting the position Vt of the vehicle at a time t are a G.P.S receiver.   3. Device according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the means for recording the position of geographical points are an S8 type SIM card (EEPROM memory chip (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-only Memory) or electrically erasable programmable read only memory).   4. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises means for saving points for which said distance D is less than an upper limit, for example 30 km, means for sorting points for which said distance between the position of the vehicle at time t with the position of each geographical point is less than a lower limit, for example 2.5 km, and the points for which said distance is between the lower limit and the limit higher, for example between 2.5 km and 30 km.   5. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the value of the distance between the position P of each of the geographical points and the position Vt of the vehicle at time t for which the triggering of the alarm is made will be 100 mx Prevention index.   6. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the detection of the vehicle position and the calculation of D are performed every second.   7. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the geographical points are automatic speed control terminals.   8. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the prevention index is different according to the nature of the road and the speed allowed there.   9. Device according to claim 8, characterized in that the prevention index is 10 for a terminal located on a highway, the prevention index is 5 for a road terminal and the prevention index is 1 for a terminal in town.   10. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the alarm is an audible alarm and / or a visual alarm.