JPH03276867A - Limit measurement method and device using a running vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is a method for detecting whether or not there are obstacles such as buildings within the running range of a railway vehicle or within a predetermined peripheral limit range. This invention relates to a limit measuring method and device.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional technology for detecting the presence of obstacles such as buildings is
``Various Japanese National Railways test cars: Railway Victorian, Vol. 20, No. 9 pp. 26-27 (published September 1970)'' describes the Oki 31 type test car for building limit measurement and this for Shinkansen. There is a Shinkansen transportation limit measurement car, Tsuya 9o type. On these vehicles, the measuring blunder protrudes from the vehicle body,
If an obstacle comes into contact with this, the structure is such that it can detect which part has exceeded its limits.

In addition, as a prior art, there is an apparatus for inspecting the shape and defect of a filament body described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-12241,
In this process, the object is sent along a guide roller, and a slit light is projected onto it, targeting a filamentous body such as a rubber hose.
One detector detects the slit light from the side, and a light-shielding mask is placed on the real image plane to block light from the slit-shaped part of the non-defective striatum, and the light transmitted through this mask is collected and sent to the photoelectric converter. By detecting the deviation from the slit shape of a good filament, the unevenness of the filament is detected as the intensity of the output voltage of the photoelectric converter.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The former prior art described above has a problem in that since it is a contact type, it is dangerous and impossible to perform detection while the measuring vehicle is running at high speed.

Furthermore, the latter conventional technique has the feature of being able to continuously detect unevenness defects in a continuously fed filament.

This technology is based on the premise of detecting simple and smooth irregularities in the striatum, and is intended for use in a limited environment within a factory, so it can be used to detect diverse and discontinuous objects such as columns, stocks, and buildings. It is said that it is powerless against large changes in the amount of detected light caused by objects, or when a single detector's slit light is hidden behind the object and cannot be detected because the slit light becomes a blind spot from the detector side. I had an issue. Additionally, there is the problem that false detection occurs if there is external light such as sunlight reflected from obstacles or the surrounding background, or ambient light from nearby lighting equipment or oncoming vehicles at night.

The purpose of the present invention is to reliably detect the presence or absence of obstacles even when driving at high speeds of 350 km/h or higher, and to detect obstacles without being affected by ambient light such as the illumination light of an oncoming vehicle or sunlight at night. An object of the present invention is to provide a limit measuring method and device using a running vehicle that can reliably detect the presence or absence of a vehicle.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention uses a photosection method,
A limit mask is provided on the real image plane of the light projection surface of the detector that projects light in a planar manner around the vehicle and detects it, allowing only light inside the travel limit to pass through and blocking light outside the travel limit. Only the transmitted light from there is detected by a photoelectric converter.

In addition, in order to achieve the other objects mentioned above, the projected light is turned on and off according to a unique code pattern, and the presence or absence of the code pattern is extracted from the detection signal from the photoelectric converter. Furthermore, for the same purpose, the wavelength band of the detection light is limited in consideration of compatibility with the illumination light.

Furthermore, when an obstacle is detected in this way, the strobe camera is operated in conjunction with this, and the obstacle is recorded and displayed.

[Effect]

By emitting light in a planar manner and installing a limit mask on the real image plane of the detector that detects it, and detecting only the light that has passed through this, when an obstacle is within the travel limit, it is possible to detect The reflected light from the projected light enters the photoelectric converter, which detects obstacles.

In addition, by turning on and off the emitted light only for the code pattern and extracting the presence or absence of the code pattern from the detected light, it is possible to detect that while the light reflected from an obstacle always has a code pattern, the disturbance light does not. Therefore, there is no possibility of erroneously detecting ambient light as an obstacle. Further, by limiting the wavelength, the discrimination performance from disturbance light is improved.

Additionally, when an obstacle is detected, the strobe camera is linked to record and display the obstacle.

You can see what the obstacle is, and easily distinguish between a real fixed obstacle, such as a newspaper or water vapor that happened to be floating within the travel limit, for example.

In particular, railways in recent years have tended to become faster. Therefore, in order to respond to higher speeds of railways, the test vehicle was run between train schedules without disrupting the standard train schedule in response to changes in slope angles at curves and changes in railway facilities required for higher speeds. There is a need. However, according to the present invention, it is possible to sufficiently cope with this increase in speed.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. 1st
The figure is drawn as a plan view of the running limit measuring vehicle, and the vertical direction of the page is the running direction of this measuring vehicle. Reference numeral 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a measuring vehicle on which a measuring device of the present invention is mounted, and the measuring device includes a plurality of flat light projectors 2 and a detector 3.
, and a light projection control/detection signal processing circuitry (not shown in FIG. 1), and a reflection j! that bends some of the detection optical paths. 4
Consists of.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the light projection planes are a plane A-A (indicated by a broken line in FIG. 1) perpendicular to the traveling direction at the center of the vehicle and a plane B-B perpendicular to the traveling direction at the end of the vehicle. (indicated by broken lines in FIG. 1).

Here, the vehicle running limit means the outer edge line area 100 of the range defined around the vehicle 1 in the front view of the measuring car (vehicle) 1 in FIG.
There must be no obstacles such as buildings in the shaded area in the diagram. For this reason, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a plurality of floodlights 2a, 2b, 2c are installed inside the vehicle or outside it, and at two locations, at the center and at the ends.
Light is projected onto the A-A plane and the B-B plane in FIG. 1 in areas shown by diagonal lines in FIG. 3, so as to cover the entire necessary range of the outer edge line area 100. And also the outer edge line area 1
A plurality of detectors 3a to detect the entire required range of 00
, 3b, and 3c are arranged.

The reason why there are two light projection surfaces, the A-A surface and the B-B surface, is because in a curve, the center of the vehicle is located on the inside of the curve, and the end of the vehicle is located on the outside of the curve. This is because it is necessary to detect the presence or absence of an obstacle. In addition, the reflectors 4a, 4b, and 4C are used to enable detection from both sides of the vehicle end and to install the detectors 3a, 3b, and 3c inside the measurement vehicle, and are not shown in FIG. However, due to structures that do not obstruct the detection optical path, measurement vehicle 1
is fixed.

The more specific configuration and operation of this embodiment will be described below, but the explanation will focus on the projectors 2a and 2b.

2c and the detectors 3a, 3b, and 3c will be explained, and then the specific details of their control and signal processing will be explained.

FIG. 4 shows a plurality of floodlights 2a (2b) shown in FIG.

2c) and a pair of detectors 3a (3b, 3c). In this embodiment, the projector 2a (
2b, 2c) consists of a light source 5, a high-speed shutter 6, and a cylindrical lens 7. With this configuration, as shown in the side view of FIG. 5, the parallel beam emitted from the light source 5 is turned off by the high-speed shutter 6, and when the shutter 6 is open, the cylindrical lens 7
The light is refracted over a wide area, forming a light projection surface over a wide range. In FIG. 4, this light projection surface is indicated by a broken line 8. Although the light projection surface is described as a surface in the above description, it is actually a flat light beam having a certain thickness.

On the other hand, there are two sets of detectors 3a (3b, 3c) arranged in a plane-symmetrical positional relationship at 8 in FIG. It consists of a converter 13. Here, the limit mask 10 is located on the real image plane formed by the lens 9 of the light projection surface 8 (slightly tilted from the plane perpendicular to the optical axis as shown in FIG. 4), and the detection range assigned to the detector is the 6th In the case of the hatched area in FIG. 10A, as shown in FIG. 2B, the mask is transparent in the shaded area in FIG. The outer edge mill 14 in FIG. 6(b) is the detection field of the imaging lens 9, and the detection light does not leak outside this field. For this blackout mask.

After that, the reflected light of the projected light from an obstacle that has entered inside the limit outer edge line 5 advances, and the reflected light of the projected light from an object outside of the limit line 5 is blocked. Also, the limit outer line area 10
In the embodiment of FIG. 6(b), the area inside 0 and corresponding to areas other than the diagonal lines in FIG. 6(a) is shielded from light, but this area does not necessarily need to be shielded from light.

Next, FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of a light projection control/detection signal processing circuit system. This circuit system includes a code signal generator 15. Light projection drive circuit 16. Signal adder 17° detection signal processing circuit 18
and aggregation circuit 19.

In this embodiment, the code signal generator 15
One for A-plane projection and one for B-B plane projection. Note that there may be one for both light projection surfaces.

One light projection drive circuit 16 is provided for each of the light projectors 2a, 2b, and 2c. Note that a plurality of light projectors 2a are provided on each light projection surface.

There may be one for 2b and 2c. The signal adder 17 is
This is to add the photoelectric converters 13 of the two detectors 2a (2b, 2c) in FIG.
There is one in 3c). One detection signal processing circuit 18 is provided for each pair of detectors 3a (3b, 3c). Aggregation circuit 19
is one.

Moreover, one embodiment of the detection signal processing circuit 18 is shown in FIG. The detection signal processing circuit 18 includes a code signal differentiating circuit 20.
Detection signal differentiation circuit 212 Phase matching circuit 22. Delay circuit 23. Gate 24. Sensitivity correction circuit 25. It consists of a gain verification circuit 26 and a coincidence degree evaluation circuit 27.

Here, FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of the phase matching circuit.

This circuit includes a comparison gate circuit 28 which takes the output signal of the differentiation circuit 21 as input and outputs it when the input signal has a value equal to or higher than a preset threshold value VT, and a maximum detection circuit 2.
9. A comparison gate circuit 30 which takes the output signal of the differentiating circuit 21 as an input and outputs it when the input signal has a value equal to or less than a preset threshold value V T 2. Minimum detection circuit 31
, a pulse synthesis circuit 32 that synthesizes these output pulses,
The pulse evaluation circuit 33 evaluates the output pulse of the pulse synthesis circuit 32 using a preset delay time Δt and its error t', and is reset by a reset signal for each code signal sent from the code signal generation circuit 15. , a counter 34 . for counting the output pulses of the pulse evaluation circuit 33 . A shift register 35 holds the counter output value for the time required for signal processing by the sensitivity correction circuit 25 and the gain comparison circuit 26, and outputs the counter output value sequentially. The comparison circuit 36 instructs the gate 24 to open when the voltage exceeds a threshold value.

Moreover, one embodiment of the sensitivity correction circuit 25 is shown in FIG.

This circuit includes a frequency distribution counting circuit 37 which receives the detection signal from the gate 24 (this is reset for each code signal by a reset signal from the code signal generator 15).
, a frequency distribution memory 38 that stores the frequency distribution obtained from the frequency distribution counting circuit 37, a local maximum point detection circuit 39 that determines the two peak corrections and Vz at the time of turning on and off the light from the frequency distribution, and the one code signal time required for these processes. Delay circuit 40 for delaying the detection signal by . The results of the local maximum point detection circuit 39 and the preset reference value V. .

It consists of a correction calculation circuit 41 that corrects the sensitivity of the detection signal in the delay circuit 4o based on v2°.

Further, FIG. 11 shows an embodiment of the gain matching circuit 26. The gain matching circuit 26 converts the code signal (0, 1) from the code signal generator 15 into a reference value V set. +Vzo
a conversion circuit 42 that converts (■2o, ■, .) based on
The difference absolute value circuit 43 calculates the absolute value of the difference between this output and the sensitivity-corrected detection signal from the correction calculation circuit 41 of the sensitivity correction circuit 25, and the sum of the discrepancies obtained from the difference absolute value circuit 43 is calculated using the code It consists of a counting circuit 44 that calculates the value over one code signal period using a reset signal from the signal generator 15.

The above is the overall configuration of one embodiment. The operation of this embodiment will be explained below.

A code signal generator IS repeatedly generates an arbitrary code signal. An example of the code signal 15a is shown in FIG. t is a basic time interval, 0 corresponds to light emission off, and 1 corresponds to light emission on. In this example, the light emission ON signal for time t□, 2t, 4t is emitted in between the light emission off for t□, 2t, and after the light emission is turned off for 4t1, the light emission is turned on for time t1, and so on. ...is repeated. In accordance with this, the light projection drive circuit 16
turns on and off the high-speed shutters 6 of the projectors 2a, 2b, and 2c. Thereby, the light projection surface 8 (A-A surface in FIG. 1) is formed.

A light projection surface is generated on the B-B surface) by turning on and off according to the code signal 15a.

If there is no obstacle in the detection field of view of each detector 3a, 3b, 3c, that is, the area 100 corresponding to the transparent part (window) of the limit mask in FIG. 6(b), each detector 3a, 3b, 3c,
As for the output of the photoelectric converter 13 of 3c, only ambient disturbance light observed from the window is detected.

However, when an obstacle 45 such as that illustrated in FIG. A real image 46 formed by the reflected light from the photoelectric converter 13 is formed as shown in FIG. 13(b). Since the limit mask 10 blocks light in the area exceeding the vehicle travel limit 100, only the reflected light from objects inside the vehicle travel limit 100 is transmitted. The transmitted light is then focused by the condensing lens 11 onto the light receiving surface of the photoelectric converter 13. On the way, the condensed light is limited to light in a predetermined wavelength band by the filter 12, so much of the disturbance light from the surroundings is blocked or attenuated here. As the wavelength band, the main wavelengths of the projected light are usually used. For example, if a laser with a specific wavelength is used as the light source 5, the filter 12 is selected to transmit only that wavelength, and if an ultra-high pressure mercury lamp is used, the filter 12 is selected to transmit only some characteristic spectrum. ,is set up. The photoelectric converter 13 then converts the received light into an electrical signal.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, a pair of detectors 3a.

3b and 3c are provided on both sides of the light projection surface 8, for example.
When there is an obstacle 45 as shown in FIG. 4, it can be detected by the detectors 3a (3b, 3c) on the upper side of the figure, but cannot be detected from the detectors 3a (3b, 3c) on the lower side of the figure. If the detection is performed only from one side in this way, there is a risk that the obstacle 45 may become a blind spot due to itself or another obstacle, and this is to prevent the object from being overlooked due to this.

Then, the detection signal from the photoelectric converter 13 of the paired detector 3a (3b, 3c) is sent to the signal adder 1 as shown in FIG.
7 is added. Thereby, normal obstacles can be detected by both detectors 3a (3b, 3c), and the detection signals from them are emphasized. On the other hand, the disturbance light is detected by the opposing detector 3a (3b).

In 3c), different disturbance lights are detected because the detection directions are different, and by adding them in the signal adder 17, the S/N of the detection signal is relatively increased.

Now, the basic time interval t of the code signal 15a shown in FIG.
If 1 is 5 μs, 1 code signal is 14t1=70P
It takes s. If the running speed of the vehicle is 350km/hr, the vehicle or light projection surface will be 6.8m during one code signal.
+Move. Therefore, if the thickness of the flat plate (light projecting surface 8) for projecting light is set to be greater than this, any obstacle will not come out of the field of view during one code signal. In addition, the on/off of the projected light at 5 μs intervals is performed by a high-speed shutter 6, which uses optoelectronic ceramics such as E/○ deflector, A10 deflector, and PLZT (electro-optic ceramic whose transmittance is variable depending on the applied voltage). It can be realized with a conventional shutter, and in the future it can be used for the shutter function of liquid crystal shutters and various thin film optical elements. Moreover, various photoelectric converters such as a photomultiplier tube, a phototransistor, and a photodiode have sufficient response speed and are applicable to the photoelectric converter 13.

The detection signal detected as described above includes a signal component according to the code signal from the obstacle and a disturbance light component. The detection signal processing circuit 18 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 detects the presence or absence of a signal from an obstacle from this detection signal. Since the disturbance light component is light from an object that is off the focal plane, it generally passes through the limit mask in a defocused state, and its component frequency is lower than that of the code signal 15a. however,
Specular reflections of sunlight from mirror surfaces on building surfaces can be detected as extremely high-intensity pulsed light, and due to the periodicity of building surfaces, these pulses are instantaneously repeated. There is a possibility. Therefore, in this embodiment, the following signal processing is performed using the configuration shown in FIG. 8 to detect the presence or absence of a signal from an obstacle.

FIG. 15 shows an example of processing the detection signal. (This will be explained with reference to FIG. 9.) The figure (,) shows the code signal 15a (obtained from the code signal generator 15) given to the light emitting motion circuit 16, and the figure (b) shows the code signal 15a (obtained from the code signal generator 15). Detector 3a (3b, 3
It is assumed that the addition signal 17a of c) is the addition signal 17a obtained from the signal adder 17. The differentiating circuit 20 generates the pulse signal 20a shown in FIG. 2(c) from the signal shown in FIG. on the other hand,
The differentiating circuit 21 generates a differential signal 21a shown in FIG. 10(d) from the signal shown in FIG. 10(b). The phase matching circuit 22 inputs these differential signals 21a, and as shown in FIG.
The comparison gate circuit 28 and the maximum detection circuit 29 detect points having a maximum above the threshold value V□1 and the comparison gate circuit 30
The minimum detecting circuit 31 extracts points having a minimum below the threshold value V□2, and the pulse synthesizing circuit 32 combines these points to generate a pulse signal 32a shown in FIG. 3(e). Then, the pulse evaluation circuit 33 generates the differential signal 20a.
and the pulse signal 32a. FIG. 6(f) shows an enlarged example of the relationship between both pulse signals in the matching process. The pulse evaluation circuit 33 of the phase comparison circuit 22 checks whether a pulse of the same phase (+1 or -1) exists in the pulse signal 32a in the interval Δt±t' after the pulse generation of the differential signal 20a. . If so, the evaluation point is 1, otherwise the evaluation point is 0, and this is added by the counter 34 over one code signal. The perfect score for this code is 6 points. Then, when the evaluation point in the comparison circuit 36 is greater than a preset threshold value.

For example, when there are three or more points, the gate 24 is opened and the following processing is performed. The above processing is performed within one code signal generation time, which is 14t□ time in the case of the code signal of this embodiment. The output of the counter 34 is then transferred to a shift register 35. The delay circuit 23 delays the detection signal 17a by one code signal generation time. In addition, the floodlight 2a
, 2b.

2o and the value Δt corresponding to the time delay of the detectors 3a, 3b, and 3c, and the allowable error width t' thereof are set in advance.

Next, as shown in FIG. 10, the sensitivity correction circuit 25 receives the detection signal 17a (FIG. 15(b)) for one code signal input from the delay circuit 23 by opening the gate 24. On the other hand, a frequency distribution 37a (FIG. 15(g)) of the signal strength is obtained by the frequency distribution counting circuit 37, and this frequency distribution 37a
is input into the frequency distribution memory 38. Then, the correction calculation circuit 41 calculates the two maximum points v of the frequency distribution due to the on/off of light projection.
1. v2 and set it as a preset normal value V x
The sensitivity of the detection signal 17a from the delay circuit 40 is corrected so that o t V 20. That is, the correction calculation circuit 4
1 converts the detection signal 17a according to the following equation (1) to obtain the output signal V' (t).

Here, V (t) is the detection signal 1 shown in FIG. 15(b).
-7a, V'(t) is the output signal 25a of the correction calculation circuit 41.

Detection signal V' (t)25 whose sensitivity has been corrected as described above
a is compared with a reference signal by a gain matching circuit 26, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 11. Here, the reference signal is, as shown in FIG. Off is the value V 2 g
is converted into a signal pattern with The absolute difference circuit 43 outputs an output signal V'(t) 25a output from the correction calculation circuit 41 of the sensitivity correction circuit 25 and a signal pattern (Vlo, V2o) 42 output from the conversion circuit 42.
Find the absolute value of the difference from a. The counting circuit 44 calculates the sum of the absolute values of the differences obtained by the absolute difference circuit 43 for each one-coat signal, that is, the sum of the absolute values of the differences obtained by the absolute difference circuit 43, that is, the sum of the absolute values of the differences between the two signals 25. The mismatch area S between a and 42a is counted and outputted to the match degree evaluation circuit 27.

As shown in FIG.
Based on the mismatch area S input from 6 (when the gate 24 is closed, the counting circuit remains reset, the value is the mismatch area S at other times), the match degree is calculated for each code signal. be evaluated.

That is, as an evaluation method, for example, phase evaluation points ≧4 and S≦S
When o, it is considered that there is a match, and the value is set to 1, and otherwise, the value is set to 0 and output to the aggregation circuit 19.

Matching evaluation results from each pair of detectors 3a, 3b, and 3c are sent to the aggregation circuit 19 for each code signal. Normally they have the value O, but if there is an obstacle their value becomes 1. At this time, the totalizing circuit 19 can know from which pair of detectors, that is, in which field of view the obstacle is located.

Furthermore, by adding the elements shown in FIG. 16 to the aggregation circuit 19, the following functions can be realized. That is, by connecting to the odometer 47, it is possible to know at what distance on the railway road the obstacle is located.

It also has a combination of a strobe lighting device 48, a TV camera 49, a camera image processing/control circuit 50, and a TV monitor 51, where a plurality of strobe lighting devices @ 48 and TV cameras 49 are prepared corresponding to each shared field of view. And the light projection surface A-A surface,
It is installed behind the B-B plane, and the detected obstacle is T.
At the moment when the V camera passes within the field of view, a strobe is emitted by the strobe illumination device w48 corresponding to the shared field of view where the obstacle is present, the image is detected by the TV camera 49, and the image is displayed on the TV via the camera image processing/control circuit 50. The image can be displayed on the monitor 51 or stored for later viewing. At this time, the distance from the reference point and which field of view is shared can also be displayed in letters or numbers on the monitor screen.

In the above embodiments, the projected light was turned on and off by the high-speed shutter 6, but the high-speed shutter was connected to the first light-emitting code.
A mechanical shutter such as a rotary disk shutter 52 shown in FIG. 7 may be used.

Furthermore, instead of using a high-speed shutter, a method may be used in which the light source itself blinks. A semiconductor laser, a light emitting diode, or the like can be used for this purpose. Further, in this embodiment, a pair of system including one light source and two detectors has been described as illustrated in FIG. 4, but the light source and the detector may not form a pair.

The light source is a combination of a semiconductor laser 53, a convex lens 54 that converts the emitted light into parallel light, and a cylindrical lens 55 that spreads the light in one direction, as shown in the front view in FIG. 18(,) and the side view in FIG. 18(b). A large number of these may be installed outside the vehicle (for example, on plane A-A in FIG. 1). In addition, in the configuration shown in FIG. 18, an opening of an optical fiber is placed at the light emitting point of the semiconductor laser 53, and a large number of these are similarly installed on the outside of the vehicle, and the other ends of several optical fibers are connected together to form a light source such as an ultra-high pressure mercury lamp. The structure may also be such that a mechanical shutter (such as a disc-shaped shutter 52) is used between the mercury lamp and the end of the optical fiber assembly. Note that when using a mechanical shutter such as the disc 52, the shutter is opened and closed using a pair of a light source (a light source for projecting light can be substituted) and a photoelectric converter on the disc 52 to detect the presence or absence of an opening in the disc 52. By placing the two in between, it is possible to detect the photoelectric converter. This embodiment is shown in FIG. The light projecting section 56 on the front surface is a cylindrical lens 55 shown in FIG. A convex lens 54 and a semiconductor laser 53 are provided with an optical fiber end. In this embodiment, the optical fibers 57 are combined into one, and the light from the light source lamp 58 is passed through the rotary shutter 52 and entered into the combined optical fiber 57 by a condensing optical system.

Further, as another example of the means for realizing surface projection, scanning means such as a galvanometer mirror, a two-rotation hook surface, a resonance filter, and a parallel rotating prism can be used to scan at a sufficiently high speed to substantially achieve surface projection. It is also possible to realize

Further, the limit mask 10 may be a plate having the shape shown in FIG. 6(b), that is, the opening is cut out and removed, or it may be a glass mask with the opening being transparent and the rest being opaque. It's okay. Alternatively, a matrix-like liquid crystal filter or the like may be used that transmits light through necessary openings and does not transmit light through other areas.

Further, the signal pattern shown in FIG. 12 as the code signal is just one example, and any other signal pattern may be used. Some examples thereof are shown in FIG. Further, in limited environments such as at night or inside a tunnel, continuous light projection may be used instead of the two-L signal.

Further, in the embodiment of the inspection signal processing circuit 18, both the phase and the gain were evaluated, but either one of them may be evaluated. In addition, these evaluation methods and signal processing methods are based on the light emitting code signal, light emitting intensity, vehicle speed at the time of measurement, etc.
Various specific methods can be used.

Although the above embodiment has been described based on the overall configuration shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 21 is shown as another embodiment. In this example, a C-0 plane is newly added as a light projection surface, and thereby the reflections ji4a, 4b, and 4c of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 can be eliminated, and the same effect can be obtained. In addition, the second
Each component of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 can be used in the same combination as described in the first embodiment.

Moreover, FIG. 22 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the outward protrusion of the vehicle end in a curve cannot be detected. However, it is also possible to install the limit mask 10 in advance in consideration of the protrusion.

Furthermore, if the curve of the track is determined in advance, it can be used to determine the radius of the curve the vehicle is traveling on, or by measuring the speed and centrifugal force of the vehicle. Under such conditions, if a moving mechanism 59 is provided to move the limit mask within the mask plane, as illustrated in FIG. By calculating the limit mask being detected on the outside of the curve and moving it substantially outside the curve by that amount, the travel limit at the end can also be confirmed by measuring only the A-A plane. Alternatively, instead of using the moving mechanism 59, a liquid crystal shutter or a PLZT shutter having transmission pattern patterns corresponding to various positions of the outer edge line 5 as illustrated in FIG. 24 may be used as a limit mask and the positions thereof may be switched. good. Furthermore, it is also possible to realize the same function using a matrix-like liquid crystal filter or the like.

Furthermore, if you know the radius of the curve you are driving, you can also calculate the amount of inward penetration of the center of the vehicle. Even in terms of position, it is possible to detect the travel limit by taking into consideration the outside protrusion and inward penetration at curves using the above-mentioned method.

In the above embodiment, in order to prevent blind spots, it was explained that the light projection surface is mounted on one light projection surface and viewed from both sides as shown in Fig. 14. Because of the roundness, for example, when the tip of the obstacle 45 in FIG. 14 is illuminated, the obstacle can also be detected by the detector 3a on the lower side of the figure. Therefore, it may be possible to operate only from one direction at a slight sacrifice in reliability.

Furthermore, the optical detection method of the present invention is basically a light sectioning method, and the present invention is also applicable to other optical combinations known as the light sectioning method.

Some of those examples are shown in FIG. The figure (,) is an example in which the light projection surface is oblique and the detector optical axis is also oblique, and the figure (b) is an example in which the light projection surface is oblique and the detection optical axis is perpendicular to the vehicle running direction. , it is possible to realize the present invention by these as well.

Furthermore, there is no light cutting method for illuminating the light projection surface.

The same effect can also be achieved by a light cutting method that provides edge surfaces for light projection and non-light projection. FIG. 26 shows an embodiment of such a light projection system. In FIG. 26, two floodlights 2'a and 2'b illuminate only the shaded area from both diagonal directions. This can be achieved by providing a limit mask on the illumination side. Then, the intersection point 6 of those illumination areas
The edges are formed so that 0 is the running limit. 6
0 is a point because FIG. 26 is a plan view, but in reality, an intersection line is formed in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper, and this forms the outer edge line 5. The detector 3' detects this intersection line in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction. In other words, without using the limit mask 10, a slit opening as shown in FIG. 27 is provided at or near the detection real image plane of this intersection line, and in FIG. do. In this way, if there is an obstacle within the travel limit, it will be illuminated and detected brightly. Also, even if the light is outside the limit, it will not be illuminated and will not be detected. In addition, by using the methods described in the previous embodiments of the present invention, such as controlling the illumination light with a code signal, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be achieved. In addition, by controlling the shape of the limit mask on the projector side, the 22nd
It is also possible to correct the curved portion with a single system configuration as shown in the figure.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, reflected light from an object existing within the limit mask on the light projection surface reaches the photoelectric converter, so that if an obstacle is within the travel limit, it can be detected. Also, reflected light from objects outside the travel limit is blocked by the limit mask and is therefore not detected. Furthermore, since the disturbance light is out of focus, it is detected only as weak, slowly changing light, and by further limiting the wavelength bands of the illumination and detection light, the influence of the disturbance light is relatively weakened.

In addition, by turning the projected light on and off with a unique code pattern and detecting the presence or absence of this code pattern from the detection signal, it is possible to detect obstacles within the travel limit using this code pattern, whereas disturbance light does not have a code pattern. Because of the code pattern, obstacles can be detected extremely reliably. In addition, by detecting the light projection surface from both directions,
It is also possible to prevent blind spots from occurring due to obstacles themselves.

Further, the same effect can be obtained by performing bright and dark etch light projection instead of planar light projection and detecting that the area outside the etch is outside the running limit. Furthermore, by performing this from both left and right directions and detecting at the center, it is also possible to prevent blind spots caused by obstacles themselves.

Additionally, by operating a strobe camera in conjunction with obstacle detection, obstacles can be recorded and visually confirmed.

Furthermore, by allowing the travel distance information of the traveling vehicle to be input, it is possible to record and know where an obstacle is located.

Furthermore, since the system uses multiple detectors to detect areas around the vehicle, it is also possible to know in which area an obstacle is located.

Moreover, as detailed in the embodiment, the present invention has a speed of 350 km/h.
It can also be applied to high speed driving.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing a measuring vehicle for explaining an embodiment of the limit measuring method and device using a running vehicle according to the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a front view for explaining the running limit which is the object of the present invention. 3 is a diagram for explaining the illumination range of the floodlight in one embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a light projection/detection system in one embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. Fig. 5 is a side view showing the structure of the projector shown in Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 shows the detection range of one detector shown in Fig. 4 and the steps to realize this. FIG. 7 is a block diagram for explaining the overall configuration of an embodiment of the light projection control/detection signal processing circuit system according to the present invention shown in FIG. The figure is number 7
FIG. 9 is a diagram specifically showing the detection signal processing circuit shown in FIG. 8, FIG. 9 is a diagram specifically showing the phase matching circuit shown in FIG. FIG. 11 is a more specific diagram showing the gain matching circuit shown in FIG. 8, and FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the code signal generated from the code signal generator shown in FIG. 7. A signal waveform diagram showing one embodiment, FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the detection state of obstacles within each assigned detection field of view, FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining obstacles that cause blind spots, and FIG. The figures are from Figure 8 to Figure 1.
1 is a diagram showing signal waveforms processed in the circuit shown in FIG. Figure 18 showing an example of a disc for a high-speed shutter of a projector.
The figure shows another embodiment of the projector according to the present invention, FIG. 19 shows another embodiment of the projector according to the invention, and FIG. 20 shows a code signal according to the present invention. FIG. 21 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the measurement vehicle according to the present invention, which is different from FIG. 1, and FIG. 22 is a signal waveform diagram showing another example different from FIG. FIG. 23 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the measuring vehicle according to FIG.
2 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of another unit of the light projection/detection system used in the embodiment shown in FIG.
A diagram for explaining a limit mask that produces the same effect as the limit mask moving mechanism shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 25 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an optical system of another embodiment according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 27 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an optical system of another embodiment according to the invention, and is a diagram showing the mask shape of the detector shown in FIG. 26. l...Measuring car (vehicle), 28-2c...Floodlight, 3
8-3c...Detector, 4a-4c...Reflector, 5.
... Light source, 6... High-speed shutter, 7... Cylindrical lens, 8... Light projection surface, 9... Imaging lens, 10... Limit mask, 11... Condensing lens, 12 ... Optical filter, 13... Photoelectric converter, 15... Code signal generator, 16... Light projection drive circuit, 17... Signal adder, 18... Detection signal processing circuit, 19 ...aggregation circuit,
20.21... Differential circuit, 22... Phase matching circuit,
23... Delay circuit, 24... Gate, 25... Sensitivity correction circuit, 26... Gain matching circuit, 27... Matching degree evaluation circuit, 100... Outer line area inspection map red Zugogyu Zuken Map / 3 Kokan Mugi Sandwich 2tr (2b, 2c) Collection 6 Diagram (Q-) (l:)) 2 14811 Hatsudandankan 1 4 Uke no Mibe Ichi Utsukuri y y activity; A word power υ1 岨 ((Kikaki signal processing 41t+times exposure) to i 檄 minutes turn phase inquiry possible (8 flea ke 2 to bewitched friend support king collection Kane heat ν meeting the depression sea cotton Q (Gi HfI concave 4 ratio (Kate concave East F: 4 Ga Daikenya 8 way screw 1. Detection concave member pull pulse combination, Chau Ucho Shibarus' IA @ 8 way counter shift upper system 7 Comparison box road line IO Figure 1 Figure I Chesho demonstration circuit - 4+ Counting circuit 2 Figure tree 3 Figure (0-) (b) 稟/4- Figure 15 Diagramtactic distance meter strobe 'Illumination revenge i TV camera camera image trajectory Control #P8% TV model 7 Fig. 8 Fig. (OL) (b) Trl@(JEJ*”)-inter) Ronin)) Optical fiber light source, lampshade Fig. 20 (α) (b) △△△△ (C) //＼＼／＼（d） 71且几r＼ 感I Illustration collection 2 Illustration collection 3 Illustration collection 3 稟 ４ Illustration collection 25 Illustration (OL) (1)) 稟 ６ intentional 7 Figure

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Projection light is projected in a planar manner around the vehicle, and the light inside the driving limit is transmitted through a limit mask provided on the real image plane of the projection surface and converted into photoelectric conversion means. A limit measuring method using a running vehicle, which is characterized by detecting obstacles by detecting light reception. 2. Claim characterized in that the projected light is emitted according to a unique code pattern, and the presence or absence of the code pattern is extracted based on the signal obtained from the photoelectric conversion means to discriminate between disturbance light and obstacles. 1. A limit measuring method using a running vehicle according to 1. 3. The limit measuring method using a running vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that when an obstacle is detected, a strobe camera is operated in conjunction with this to record or display the obstacle. 4. A light projecting means that projects light in a planar manner around the vehicle, a limit mask that transmits light inside the travel limit on the real image plane of the light projecting surface, and receives the light that has passed through the limit mask. What is claimed is: 1. A limit measuring device for a running vehicle, comprising: a detection means having a photoelectric conversion means; and a signal processing means for detecting an obstacle based on a signal obtained from the detection means. 5. Further, a light projection control means for emitting light from the light projection means according to a unique code pattern, and a light projection control means for extracting the presence or absence of a code pattern based on the signal obtained from the detection means to detect disturbance light and obstacles. 5. The limit measuring device for a running vehicle according to claim 4, further comprising discriminating means for discriminating between. 6. The limit measurement by a traveling vehicle according to claim 4 or 5, further comprising a strobe camera means which operates in conjunction with the detected obstacle to record or display the obstacle. Device.