ITS station for a vulnerable road user

Abstract

The disclosed subject matter relates to an Intelligent Transportation System station (ITS-S) for being carried by a Vulnerable Road User (VRU), comprising: a motion sensor for determining VRU motion data indicative of a VRU position, a VRU speed, and a VRU heading; a transmitter for transmitting a VRU message including the determined VRU motion data; a receiver for receiving, concerning a vehicle, vehicle motion data indicative of a vehicle position, a vehicle speed, and a vehicle heading; and a controller for controlling the transmitter; wherein the controller is configured to compare the determined VRU motion data with the received vehicle motion data and, when the result of the comparison meets a predetermined criterion, to suppress the transmitting of said VRU message.

Claims

1. An Intelligent Transportation System station (ITS-S) for being carried by a Vulnerable Road User (VRU), comprising: a motion sensor configured to determine VRU motion data indicative of a VRU position, a VRU speed, and a VRU heading; a transmitter connected to the motion sensor and configured to transmit a VRU message including the determined VRU motion data; a receiver configured to receive, concerning a vehicle, vehicle motion data indicative of a vehicle position, a vehicle speed, and a vehicle heading; and a controller connected to the motion sensor and to the receiver and configured to control the transmitter, wherein the controller is configured to compare the determined VRU motion data with the received vehicle motion data and, when a result of the comparison meets a predetermined criterion, to suppress the transmitting of said VRU message; and wherein said comparison comprises a determination of a position difference between the VRU position and the vehicle position, of a speed difference between the VRU speed and the vehicle speed, and of a heading difference between the VRU heading and the vehicle heading, and wherein said predetermined criterion is met when each of the position, the speed, and the heading differences falls below a respective predetermined threshold.

2. An Intelligent Transportation System station (ITS-S) for being carried by a Vulnerable Road User (VRU), comprising: a motion sensor configured to determine VRU motion data indicative of a VRU position, a VRU speed, and a VRU heading; a transmitter connected to the motion sensor and configured to transmit a VRU message including the determined VRU motion data; a receiver configured to receive, concerning a vehicle, vehicle motion data indicative of a vehicle position, a vehicle speed, and a vehicle heading; and a controller connected to the motion sensor and to the receiver and configured to control the transmitter, wherein the controller is configured to compare the determined VRU motion data with the received vehicle motion data and, when a result of the comparison meets a predetermined criterion, to suppress the transmitting of said VRU message; and wherein said comparison comprises a determination of a position difference between the VRU position and the vehicle position and of a heading difference between the VRU heading and the vehicle heading, and wherein said predetermined criterion is met when the position difference falls below a predetermined position threshold, the heading difference falls within a predetermined range, and the vehicle speed is substantially zero.

3. The ITS-S according to claim 2, wherein said predetermined range is one of from 30 degrees to 150 degrees and from 210 degrees to 330 degrees.

4. The ITS-S according to claim 1, wherein the motion sensor comprises a Global Navigation Satellite System based position sensor repetitively generating VRU position fixes and is configured to determine the VRU speed and VRU heading based on at least two of the generated VRU position fixes.

5. The ITS-S according to claim 1, wherein the received vehicle motion data comprises vehicle position fixes, and wherein the controller is configured to determine the vehicle speed and vehicle heading based on at least two of the received vehicle position fixes.

6. The ITS-S according to claim 1, wherein the VRU message is a Personal Safety Message, PSM.

7. The ITS-S according to claim 1, wherein the received vehicle motion data is included in one of a Basic Safety Message (BSM), a Cooperative Awareness Message (CAM), and a Collective Perception Message (CPM).

8. The ITS-S according to claim 2, wherein the motion sensor comprises a Global Navigation Satellite System based position sensor repetitively generating VRU position fixes and is configured to determine the VRU speed and VRU heading based on at least two of the generated VRU position fixes.

9. The ITS-S according to claim 2, wherein the received vehicle motion data comprises vehicle position fixes, and wherein the controller is configured to determine the vehicle speed and vehicle heading based on at least two of the received vehicle position fixes.

10. The ITS-S according to claim 2, wherein the VRU message is a Personal Safety Message, PSM.

11. The ITS-S according to claim 2, wherein the received vehicle motion data is included in one of a Basic Safety Message (BSM), a Cooperative Awareness Message (CAM), and a Collective Perception Message (CPM).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES

(1) The disclosed subject matter will now be described in further detail by means of exemplary embodiments thereof under reference to the enclosed drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows Intelligent Transportation System stations according to the disclosed subject matter on a road with other road users in a plan view; and

(3) FIG. 2 shows an Intelligent Transportation System with an Intelligent Transportation System station according the disclosed subject matter in a schematic block diagram.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(4) The example of FIG. 1 shows a part of an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) 1, in which several (here: three) vehicles C.sub.1, C.sub.2, . . . , generally C.sub.i, are located on a road 2, each at a respective vehicle position p.sub.C. Two of the vehicles C.sub.1, C.sub.2 are driving on the road 2, whereas a third vehicle C.sub.3 in this example is parking. Each vehicle C.sub.1 has its respective vehicle heading h.sub.C and vehicle speed v.sub.C, the speed v.sub.C of the third vehicle C.sub.3 being zero.

(5) Similarly, there are Vulnerable Road Users (VRU) U.sub.1, U.sub.2, . . . , generally U.sub.j, e.g., a cyclist U.sub.2, a pedestrian U.sub.3, a powered two wheeler (PTW) and/or an animal (not shown), on or alongside the road 2, each at a respective VRU position p.sub.U having a respective VRU heading h.sub.U and a respective VRU speed v.sub.U greater than or equal to zero. The VRU U.sub.1 in the example of FIG. 1 is a passenger or driver aboard the vehicle C.sub.1 driving on the road 2.

(6) Next to the road 2, there is a Road Side Unit (RSU) 3 of the ITS 1. For communication in the ITS 1, the RSU 3 comprises an ITS station (ITS-S) S.sub.R. Each vehicle C.sub.i optionally has a vehicle ITS-S S.sub.C of the ITS 1. Moreover, also the VRUs each carry a respective VRU ITS-S S.sub.U which optionally is integrated in a personal digital assistant, e.g., a smartphone, and shall now be described in greater detail with respect to FIG. 2.

(7) According to FIG. 2, the ITS-S S.sub.U of each VRU U.sub.j includes a motion sensor 4 which is configured to determine VRU motion data md.sub.U. The motion data md.sub.U is indicative of the VRU position p.sub.U, the VRU speed v.sub.U, and the VRU heading h.sub.U (FIG. 1). To this end, the motion sensor 4 optionally has a position sensor 5 which repetitively generates position fixes f.sub.U by locating itself with the help of satellites 6 of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), e.g., GPS, Galileo, Glonass etc.; other ways of determining the VRU position p.sub.U are known in the art, e.g., by means of triangulation in a cellular network etc., and may be applied. In some cases, the position sensor 5 directly generates the VRU speed v.sub.U and the VRU heading h.sub.U; in other cases, however, the motion sensor 4 determines the VRU speed v.sub.U and the VRU heading h.sub.U on the basis of two or more of the generated VRU position fixes f.sub.U, e.g., by means of a processor 7.

(8) The VRU ITS-S S.sub.U further comprises a transmitter 8, a receiver 9 and a controller 10. The transmitter 8 is connected to the motion sensor 4 and is configured to transmit a VRU message M.sub.U to a receiver 11 of the RSU 3 which is connected to a central server 12 of the ITS 1. The VRU message M.sub.U is, e.g., a Personal Safety Message (PSM) according to the SAE International Standard SAE J 2945/9 or a related standard, or a Cooperative Awareness Message (CAM) according to ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) Standard ETSI EN 302 637-2 or a related standard. The VRU message M.sub.U includes the VRU motion data md.sub.U determined by the motion sensor 4.

(9) As shown in the example of FIG. 2, each vehicle C.sub.i has a motion sensor 13 for determining vehicle motion data md.sub.C, and a transmitter 14 for transmitting a message M.sub.C which comprises the determined motion data md.sub.C, e.g., to the RSU 3 and the VRU ITS-S S.sub.U. The vehicle message M.sub.C may be any type of message which the receiver 9 of the ITS-S S.sub.U of the VRU U.sub.j is able to receive. Similarly, the motion sensor 13 and the transmitter 14 of the vehicle C.sub.i may be of any type. In the example of FIG. 1, the vehicle C.sub.i has its ITS-S S.sub.C, such that the motion sensor 13 determining the motion data md.sub.C and the transmitter 14 transmitting the message M.sub.C are optionally those of the vehicle ITS-S S.sub.C.

(10) The receiver 9 may optionally receive the motion data md.sub.C concerning a vehicle C.sub.i from another vehicle C.sub.i+1, from an RSU 3, or from the central server 12 in the ITS 1, particularly, when the vehicle motion data md.sub.C of a vehicle C.sub.i was perceived by the other vehicle C.sub.i+1 or by the RSU 3, which may optionally be the case. Moreover, the vehicle motion data md.sub.C may, e.g., be included in a Basic Safety Message (BSM) according to SAE J2735 BSM, a Cooperative Awareness Message (CAM) according to ETSI EN 302 637-2, and/or a Collective Perception Message (CPM) according to ETSI TS 103 324.

(11) The receiver 9 of the VRU ITS-S S.sub.U is configured to receive the vehicle motion data md.sub.C transmitted in the message M.sub.C of the vehicle C.sub.i. The vehicle motion data md.sub.C is indicative of the vehicle position p.sub.C, the vehicle speed v.sub.C and the vehicle heading h.sub.C of the vehicle C.sub.i. In one embodiment, the vehicle motion data md.sub.C directly comprises the vehicle position, speed and heading p.sub.C, v.sub.C, h.sub.C. In another embodiment, the vehicle motion data md.sub.C comprises vehicle position fixes f.sub.C determined by the vehicle motion sensor 13, e.g., by means of the satellites 6 of the GNSS. In this case, the controller 10 of the VRU U.sub.j optionally determines the vehicle speed v.sub.C and the vehicle heading h.sub.C on the basis of two or more of the vehicle position fixes f.sub.C received from the transmitter 14 of the vehicle C.sub.i. In this way, the vehicle position fixes f.sub.C comprised in the vehicle motion data md.sub.C are indicative of not only the vehicle position p.sub.C, but also of the vehicle speed and heading v.sub.C, h.sub.C.

(12) The controller 10 of the VRU U.sub.j is connected to the motion sensor 4 and to the receiver 9 and controls the transmitter 8. The controller 10 is configured to compare the VRU motion data md.sub.U determined by the motion sensor 4 with the vehicle motion data md.sub.C received by the receiver 9. When the result of this comparison meets at least one predetermined criterion, the controller 10 suppresses the transmitting of said VRU message M.sub.U, otherwise it lets the transmitter 8 transmit the VRU message M.sub.U.

(13) With reference to FIG. 1, examples for said predetermined criterion shall now be explained in detail.

(14) For meeting a first predetermined criterion, said comparison performed by the controller 10 comprises the determination of a position difference Δp between the VRU position p.sub.U and the vehicle position p.sub.C, of a speed difference Δv between the VRU speed v.sub.U and the vehicle speed v.sub.C, and of a heading difference Δh between the VRU heading h.sub.U and the vehicle heading h.sub.C.

(15) In the example of the vehicle C.sub.1 which has a passenger VRU U.sub.1, the respective position, speed and heading differences Δp, Δv, Δh should be exactly zero. Due to, e.g., inaccuracies in the respective motion sensors 4, 13 of the VRU's U.sub.1 ITS-S S.sub.U and/or of the vehicle C.sub.1 (or its ITS-S S.sub.C), their different positions in the vehicle C.sub.1, and/or different timing in determining the respective positions p.sub.U, p.sub.C etc., there may be minor deviations. Nevertheless, the position difference Δp in this example falls below a predetermined position threshold Tp. The same applies to the speed and the heading differences Δv, Δh, respectively, which fall below a predetermined speed threshold Tv and heading threshold Th, respectively, such that the first criterion is met and the controller 10 suppresses the transmitting of the VRU message M.sub.U.

(16) A different situation is shown for vehicle C.sub.2 in FIG. 1, which is about to pass the cyclist VRU U.sub.2. While, in this case, both the heading difference Δh and the position difference Δp fall below the respective thresholds Th, Tp, the speed difference Δv between the VRU speed v.sub.U of the cyclist and the vehicle speed v.sub.U exceed the predetermined speed threshold Tv such that the first predetermined criterion is not met and the controller 10 does not suppress the transmitting of the VRU message M.sub.U of the transmitter 8 of the ITS-S S.sub.U of the VRU U.sub.2.

(17) A different second predetermined criterion shall now be explained based on the parking vehicle C.sub.3 and the ITS-S S.sub.U of the VRU U.sub.3 in FIG. 1. In this situation, the comparison performed by the controller 10 of the ITS-S S.sub.U of the VRU U.sub.3 again comprises the determination of the position difference Δp between its VRU position p.sub.U and the vehicle position p.sub.C of the parking vehicle C.sub.3 and of a heading difference Δh between the VRU heading h.sub.U and the vehicle heading h.sub.C. In this case, the predetermined second criterion is met when the position difference Δp falls below a predetermined position threshold Tp, the heading difference Δh falls within a predetermined range a, and the vehicle speed v.sub.C is substantially zero. The range a is generally around 90 degrees and/or 270 degrees, e.g., from 30 degrees to 150 degrees and/or from 210 degrees to 330 degrees, or from 60 degrees to 120 degrees and/or from 240 degrees to 300 degrees; a different range a may alternatively be predetermined. As mentioned earlier, the motion sensor 13 of the vehicle C.sub.3 (or its ITS-S S.sub.C) may be slightly inaccurate in determining the speed v.sub.C and/or the position p.sub.C such that the determination may result in a very low (herein: “substantially zero”) speed v.sub.C when the vehicle C.sub.3 is actually parking. Hence, when the second predetermined criterion is met, it can be supposed that the VRU U.sub.3 is boarding the parking vehicle C.sub.3 as a passenger (or driver) and will, thus, continue driving aboard the vehicle C.sub.3.

(18) It shall be noted that the position, speed and heading thresholds Tp, Tv, Th optionally depend on circumstances such as speed v.sub.U, v.sub.C or the like and/or on the predetermined criterion, as shown in FIG. 1 for the respective position thresholds Tp for the VRUs U.sub.1 and U.sub.3.

CONCLUSION

(19) The disclosed subject matter is not restricted to the specific embodiments described in detail herein, but encompasses all those variants, modifications and combinations thereof that fall within the scope of the appended claims.