Road marker magnetizing method

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method for magnetizing a road marker to provide road information such as the state or form of a road to a vehicle traversing the road. Such road markers are useful for automated piloting of vehicles and other purposes known in the art.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In recent years, various types of technology have evolved for automatically piloting a vehicle. In the typical application, the vehicle is piloted by supplying road information to an electronic unit on the vehicle that controls throttling, steering, and braking. Typical of these devices is the invention by the present inventor described in Japanese Patent Application No. 8-918314.

One of the technologies used for supplying road information is the use of magnetic markers attached to or embedded within a road. Examples of this technology are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,456 and PCT International Publication W.O. No. 92/08176. Magnetic marker technology typically uses a plurality of magnetic markers that have been previously magnetized with an N polarity or an S polarity and are subsequently embedded within a road. The premagnetized markers are embedded in a road so that they create a pattern corresponding to coded road information. By detecting this magnetic pattern, the vehicle detects necessary road information.

While the use of pre-magnetized markers as described above has successfully been used with automatically piloted vehicles, it has several disadvantages. In the first instance, the installation of pre-magnetized markers is precise, tedious work in that the correct spatial placement of correctly polarized markers is critical to system functionality. Also, once embedded, the information conveyed by the marker is fixed making it difficult to upgrade the overall system to provide additional information beyond that originally contemplated. In prior art systems using pre-magnetized markers, changing the information to be conveyed by a marker required digging out the embedded magnetic markers and re-embedding different pre-magnetized markers to properly convey the new road information.

Another disadvantage of the pre-magnetized markers of the prior art is the difficulty in cleaning off iron pieces or iron powder attracted to the marker due to leaked magnetic flux. When a magnetic road marker is embedded in a road and left there for a period of time, many foreign materials are attracted to the place in the road where the magnetic marker is embedded. This has the effect of disturbing the magnetic flux from the marker, which introduces errors into the road information detected by a vehicle.

Some prior art systems tried to correct the foreign material problem by weakening the magnetism of the embedded road marker to a level where, even if materials are naturally attracted to the place in the road where the magnetic marker is embedded, forces of nature are sufficiently strong to remove the foreign material. However, with this configuration, the magnetism of the marker is often so weak that the road information cannot be detected by a vehicle.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To overcome the deficiencies of the prior art, it is a first object of the present invention to provide an in situ road marker magnetizing method so that road markers can be embedded in road surfaces during construction without concern for their magnetic strength or polarization. It is a second object of the present invention to provide an in situ road marker magnetizing method so that the road information conveyed by embedded road markers is easily changed without the need to dig out and re-embed the markers. It is a third object of the present invention to provide an in situ road marker magnetizing method that makes it possible to easily remove foreign materials attracted by leaked magnetic flux while at the same time preserving full magnetic signal strength for reliable information transmission to a vehicle. It is a fourth object of the present invention to provide an in situ road marker magnetizing method that utilizes a magnetizing device mounted in a vehicle dedicated to magnetizing and de-magnetizing road markers and cleaning accumulations of foreign materials attracted to road markers.

To achieve the objects described above, the present invention provides a method for in situ magnetizing of road markers that supply road information to vehicles, consisting of the steps of embedding either pre-magnetized or un-magnetized road markers in a road, and then magnetizing or re-magnetizing the road markers embedded in the road with a pattern corresponding to coded road information.

In one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a magnetizing unit for magnetizing road markers, a code storing unit for storing codes corresponding to road information, and a magnetization control unit for controlling the magnetizing unit so that a road marker is magnetized in situ according to a pattern corresponding to the code stored in the code storing unit. Each road marker is magnetized in situ by the magnetizing unit so as to create a pattern corresponding to coded road information. With the unit described above, the installation of road markers is greatly simplified due to the elimination of the requirement that road workers carefully embed properly polarized road markers.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, road markers magnetized in situ with the magnetizing unit may also be demagnetized in situ with a demagnetizing unit. Also there may be provided an input unit for inputting the road information to be set into a road marker, and a coding unit for encoding the input road information into an appropriate pattern to be stored in the magnetized road markers. With this configuration, it is possible to update road information by demagnetizing and remagnetizing road markers to a new pattern corresponding to coded road information. This method for updating coded road information is vastly simpler and less costly than digging out and re-embedding pre-magnetized road markers.

It is also possible using the method of the current invention to detect the position of magnetized road markers with a detecting unit. Thus, even when the position of an embedded road marker can not be identified from the road surface, the position can be accurately identified with the detecting unit so that road markers can be reliably magnetized and de-magnetized. This makes possible further efficiencies in the process of constructing roads with embedded markers due to the fact that precise positioning of markers becomes less critical. A further embodiment of the detecting unit places the detection unit within a magnetic field generated by an excitation coil so that the position of road markers can be detected by sensing the change in the excitation coil's magnetic field.

Foreign materials attracted to a magnetized road marker may be removed with a cleaning unit. In this embodiment, foreign materials such as iron particles or iron powder can be removed, so that magnetic information provided by a road marker is not distorted and accuracy is preserved. In another embodiment, the detecting unit is used to not only detect the location of a road marker, but also to detect a road marker's polarization and degree of magnetization for maintenance and quality assurance purposes.

A further embodiment of the present invention specifies that magnetic road markers be embedded at standard intervals in the lateral direction across a road. When the magnetic road markers are so spaced, a plurality of magnetizing unit can be similarly spaced so that a plurality of magnetic road markers can be magnetized simultaneously resulting in increased efficiency. In a still further embodiment, a plurality of road markers are embedded along the lateral direction of a road and the magnetizing unit is mounted on the structure of the embodiment so that it can move along the lateral direction of the road. With this configuration, a plurality of road markers embedded along the lateral direction of a road can be magnetized without moving the embodiment of the invention itself A further embodiment of the present invention may be mounted in a vehicle. With this embodiment, magnetizing of road markers occurs as the vehicle passes yielding great efficiency. This efficiency is enhanced in yet another embodiment of the present invention in which the vehicle is automatically piloted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1

is a top down view showing the general configuration of a embedded road marker magnetizing system according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2

is a perspective view showing the configuration of a road marker;

FIG. 3

is a block diagram view showing the internal configuration of a vehicle dedicated to magnetizing road markers;

FIG. 4A

is a front view showing the embodiment of the present invention in which the detecting unit of the present invention is mounted in a vehicle dedicated to road marker work;

FIG. 4B

is a side view showing the embodiment of the present invention in which the detecting unit of the present invention is mounted in a vehicle dedicated to road marker work;

FIG. 5A

is a front view showing the embodiment of the present invention in which the magnetizing unit and demagnetizing unit of the present invention are mounted in a vehicle dedicated to road marker work;

FIG. 5B

is a side view showing the embodiment of the present invention in which the magnetizing unit and demagnetizing unit of the present invention are mounted in a vehicle dedicated to road marker work;

FIG. 6A

is an abstract view showing the process of demagnetizing a road marker from a South polarity or magnetizing a road marker to a North polarity;

FIG. 6B

is an abstract views showing the process of demagnetizing a road marker from a North polarity or magnetization a road marker to a South polarity;

FIG. 7

is a circuit diagram showing sample circuitry for a combined magnetizing-demagnetizing unit;

FIG. 8

is a front view showing the embodiment of the present invention in which the detecting unit of the present invention is mounted in a vehicle dedicated to road marker work; and

FIG. 9

is a block diagram showing the functions and configuration of the magnetization control unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Detailed description is made for the preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings.

FIG. 1

shows a top down view of the general configuration of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The preferred embodiment magnetizes and demagnetizes road markers

1

embedded in a road with a dedicated vehicle

2

. The road markers

1

are grouped and magnetized

3

so as to transmit coded information corresponding to road conditions.

A road marker

1

is a rectangular body made from magnetic material such as ferrite. A typical size for a road marker

1

is 5 cm (width)×30 cm (length)×1 cm (thickness) as shown in FIG.

2

. However, the present invention is not limited to any particular size of road marker

1

. An iron piece (yoke)

4

for collecting a leaked magnetic flux from the road marker

1

is attached to a bottom surface of the road marker

1

.

In embedding a group of markers

3

, road markers

1

are embedded in a plurality of rows along a lateral direction W of a road as well as along a longitudinal direction A of the road. Tight groups of markers

3

are typically embedded at places in a road where it is essential to convey information to an automatically-piloted vehicle, such as near a tunnel, before a sharp curve, or areas of limited visibility. Lengths of road without special hazards will require less information to be transmitted to an automatically-piloted vehicle and will require fewer embedded road markers

1

.

The lateral spacing (dw) and longitudinal spacing (da) of embedded road markers

1

will have a minimum value (dmin). dmin is set to reduce magnetic interference between adjoining road markers

1

to an acceptable level and is determined by the magnetic characteristics of the overall system. Another factor to consider in setting dw and da is the dimensions of the automatically-piloted vehicle.

Programming coded road information into a group of markers

3

is achieved by, for instance, magnetizing a road marker

1

at a corner of the group of markers

3

as a “start” marker and successively magnetizing other markers according to a pattern that conveys coded road information. The present invention is not limited to designating any particular marker as a “start” marker. The present invention is also not limited to any particular coding scheme for magnetizing successive markers.

In addition to road markers

1

embedded in a road, tape-formed road markers adhered to the surface of a road may be used. In addition, either non-magnetized, N-polarity magnetized, or S-polarity magnetized markers may be initially embedded or adhered. A great advantage of the present invention is that magnetization can be imparted or changed in situ which eliminates the need to select a marker with a particular polarity during road construction.

Referring now to

FIG. 3

, a block diagram showing a conceptual configuration of a dedicated vehicle

2

is disclosed. The dedicated vehicle

2

has a magnetization control unit (shown as control unit in the drawing)

10

which functions as a controller and comprises, in the preferred embodiment, a computer including a CPU, ROM and/or RAM. The dedicated vehicle

2

has a detecting unit (shown as marker position detecting unit in the drawing)

11

for outputting a position detection signal corresponding to the position of a road marker

1

. At a position spaced at distance d

1

from the detecting unit

11

, there is provided a combined magnetizing-demagnetizing unit (shown as magnetizing-demagnetizing unit in the drawing)

12

for magnetizing or demagnetizing road markers

1

and also for removing foreign materials attracted to the road markers

1

due to magnetic flux. At a position spaced at distance d

2

from the combined magnetizing-demagnetizing unit

12

, there is provided a second detecting unit (shown as magnetized state detecting unit in the drawing)

13

that is adapted for outputting a signal indicating the magnetized state of a road marker

1

.

The magnetization control unit

10

has a code storing unit for storing a coded road information database that stores road information to be imparted to the road markers

1

. The magnetization control unit

10

controls the operation of the combined magnetizing-demagnetizing unit

12

in response to signals from the detecting unit

11

so that road markers

1

are properly magnetized to convey the coded road information.

In the preferred embodiment, the dedicated vehicle

2

further includes a navigation device

14

for detecting the current position of the dedicated vehicle

2

. The navigation device may be based upon the GPS (Global Positioning System) technology or any other type of technology that accurately determines the current position of the dedicated vehicle

2

. In the most preferred embodiment, the navigation device

14

is GPS based and detects a current position of the dedicated vehicle

2

by using kinematic position survey techniques so as to detect the current position of the dedicated vehicle

2

within centimeters. Kinematic position measurement techniques are described in, for instance, “Precise Position Survey System with Satellites”, p. 166-67, Nov. 15, 1989, Japan Survey Association.

The navigation device

14

transmits vehicle position data to the magnetization control unit

10

.

Further, the dedicated vehicle

2

has an input unit and a coding unit (shown as input unit in the drawing)

15

for inputting instruction data, coding the data, and transmitting the data to the magnetization control unit

10

. Instruction data includes, for instance, information on new roads to be changed from time to time such as lane information, intersection information, or temporary construction information.

FIG. 4A

is a front view showing a preferred configuration of the detecting unit

11

.

FIG. 4B

is a corresponding side view. The detecting unit

11

comprises a position detecting sensor

21

for generating a position detection signal corresponding to the position of a marker

1

, a polarity determining sensor

22

for generating a polarity signal corresponding to the polarity of a road marker

1

, and a mechanism

23

for moving the position detecting sensor

21

and polarity determining sensor

22

laterally and longitudinally. The moving mechanism

23

has a long base section

23

a

provided along a lateral direction of the vehicle, and a movable section

23

b

that can extend vertically and also move longitudinally. The position detecting sensor

21

and polarity determining sensor

22

are attached to the movable section

23

b

, and can be displaced between a stand-by position indicated by a solid line and a processing position indicated by a double dash line in the FIG.

4

A.

The position detecting sensor

21

is made from a conductive material such as aluminum, and has a conductive shield case

21

a

with a bottom opening, an excitation coil

21

b

positioned on a top surface of the conductive shield case

21

a

, and two detection coils

21

c

provided at symmetrical positions inside the conductive shield case

21

a

in a longitudinal direction.

The detection of a road marker

1

is described below. (For a more detailed explanation refer to, for instance, “Movement of and guidance for the handicapped people and sensor technology. The handicapped guidance system utilizing ferrite” Wakaumi, Yamauchi, p. 87-88, Sensor Technology, August issue in 1991 Vol. 11, No.8). A magnetic field is generated by the excitation coil

21

b

. This magnetic field is guided downward along a top surface and a side surface of the conductive shield case

21

a

. If the road marker

1

is located under the position detecting sensor

21

, then the road marker

1

forms a reverse magnetic field, so that the magnetic field distribution near the detection coil

21

c

changes.

Magnetic fluxes generated by the two detection coils

21

c

and passing through each coil have substantially the same value when a road marker

1

is located between and substantially equidistant from the two detection coils

21

c

. On the other hand, when a road marker

1

is located closer one of the detection coils

21

c

, the magnetic flux generated by the detection coil closer to the road marker

1

is stronger than that generated from the other detection coil

21

c

. The position sensor

21

converts the relative magnetic flux of the detection coils

21

c

into a position detection signal.

The polarity determining sensor

22

is a magnetism sensor such as, among other things, a Hall element, a magneto resistive Wheatstone bridge, or a flux gate type magnetism sensor. In the preferred embodiment, the polarity determining sensor

22

can detect magnetic strength as well as the polarity of a road marker

1

.

FIG. 5A

is a front view showing the dedicated vehicle

2

with a combined magnetizing-demagnetizing unit

12

.

FIG. 5B

is a side view of the same. The magnetizing-demagnetizing unit

12

comprises a magnetizing-demagnetizing coil

31

with a coil section

31

a

for generating a magnetic field, a magnetism shield section

31

b

of conductive material for collecting magnetic flux generated by the coil section

31

a

, an air nozzle

32

from blowing away accumulated iron particles, and a moving mechanism

33

having configuration similar to that of moving mechanism

23

described above. The magnetism shield section

31

b

and air nozzle

32

are attached to the movable section

33

b

, and can move between the stand-by position indicated by a solid line and a processing position indicated by a double dashed line in

FIGS. 5A and 5B

.

Referring now to

FIG. 6A

, when current flows along a first feed direction (R

1

) in the coil section

31

a

, a magnetic field is generated in the coil section

31

a

from bottom to top as shown by the double dashed line. This magnetic field magnetizes road marker

1

so that the top edge of the road marker

1

is magnetized with N-polarity. As shown in

FIG. 6B

, when current flows in an opposite feed direction (R

2

) in the coil section

31

a

, a reversed magnetic field is generated which magnetizes road marker

1

so that the top edge of the road marker

1

is magnetized with S-polarity. In order to magnetize road marker

1

, the generated magnetic field must have an intensity approximately 3 times greater than the magnetic field of the road marker

1

. More specifically, when ferrite is used in the road marker

1

, the intensity of the generated magnetic field must be around 10.5 KOe to overcome the natural coercive force of ferrite which is around 3.5 KOe.

Demagnetization of a road marker

1

is achieved by generating a magnetic field of opposite polarity with an intensity substantially equal to a coercive force of the road marker

1

. More specifically, the current must flow in the R

2

direction in coil section

31

a

to demagnetize a road marker

1

whose top edge initially has N-polarity. Likewise, current must flow in the R

1

direction in coil section

31

a

to demagnetize a road marker

1

whose top edge initially has S-polarity.

FIG. 7

is a circuit diagram showing configuration of the combined magnetizing-demagnetizing unit

12

, and mainly shows a structure for feeding an electric current to the coil section

31

a

. The magnetizing-demagnetizing unit

12

has an AC current source

41

, an AC/DC converting circuit

42

for converting an AC voltage generated in the AC current source

41

to a DC voltage, and a charging circuit

45

having a charge switch

44

which is turned on when a capacitor

43

is to be charged. Further the magnetizing-demagnetizing unit

12

comprises a magnetizing-demagnetizing circuit

49

having a discharge switch

46

which is turned on when the capacitor

43

is to be discharged, a current adjusting resistor

47

, and a select switch

48

for selecting either the first feed direction R

1

or second feed direction R

2

for the discharged current into coil section

31

a.

To charge the capacitor

43

, the charge switch

44

is turned on with the discharge switch

46

and select switch

48

turned off. To discharge the capacitor

43

and feed current to the coil section

31

a

, the charge switch

44

is turned off and the charge switch

46

is turned on. The select switch

48

is switched to control the current direction through coil section

31

a

so that road marker

1

is demagnetized or magnetized with N-polarity or S-polarity. Specifically, to demagnetize an S-polarity road marker

1

or to magnetize a road marker

1

with N-polarity, the select switch

48

is positioned to connect terminal P

1

and cause current flow in direction R

1

. Likewise, to demagnetize an N-polarity road marker

1

or to magnetize a road marker

1

with S-polarity, the select switch

48

is positioned to connect terminal P

2

and cause current flow in direction R

2

.

FIG. 8

is a front view showing dedicated vehicle

2

and the detecting unit configured as a magnetic, state detecting unit

13

. The magnetized state detecting unit

13

comprises a magnetized state detecting sensor

51

, and a moving mechanism

52

having a configuration similar to that of the moving mechanism

23

. The magnetized state detecting sensor

51

is attached to a movable section

52

b

, and can be moved between a stand-by position indicated by a solid line and a processing position indicated by a double dash line. The magnetized state detecting sensor

51

is similar in construction to the polarity determining sensor

22

.

FIG. 9

is an amplified version of the system block diagram previously discussed above and shown in FIG.

3

.

FIG. 9

focuses upon the magnetization control unit (shown as control unit in the drawing)

10

. The magnetization control unit

10

has a marker position detecting section

61

for receiving the signal from the position detecting sensor

21

and outputting a trigger signal to the automatic driving control section

65

. Automatic driving control section

65

controls steering mechanism

62

, accelerating mechanism

63

, and braking mechanism

64

according the trigger signal from the marker position detecting section

61

and vehicle position data from the navigation device

14

.

The magnetization control unit

10

also controls a magnetizing-demagnetizing driving section

67

for driving the magnetizing-demagnetizing unit

12

in accordance with the polarity determination signal from the polarity determining sensor

22

, road information from the road information data base

66

. The magnetization control unit

10

also controls a magnetized state detection driving section

68

that drives the magnetized state detecting unit

13

. The automatic driving control section

65

has a magnetizing-demagnetizing data base

69

in which data required for magnetization and demagnetization is stored. The data includes vehicle-specific data such as first distance (d

1

) between the marker position detecting unit

11

and the magnetizing-demagnetizing unit

12

and second distance (d

2

) between the magnetizing-demagnetizing unit

12

and the magnetized state detecting unit

13

. The data also includes marker correlation data and road information data. The marker correlation data includes coordination data such as the location of a “start” marker for a group

3

of markers, the locations of other markers forming the group

3

of markers, and marker spacing (da and dw).

The road information data base

66

stores positional and road condition information such as horizontal state, lane information, branching and intersecting information, dimensional information such as width, construction information, and any other type of useful information in an encoded state. Road information is stored in correlation to each position on a road. Further, road information is stored in correlation to any group of markers embedded in a road. Road information stored in the road information data base

66

is periodically updated with an input unit

15

. New road information is put into the system through the input unit

15

, is encoded in the magnetization control unit

10

, and is written to the road information data base

66

.

The magnetization control unit

10

starts its operations when the dedicated vehicle

2

is run to a position near the group of markers

3

and the running mode is switched to automatic via the input unit

15

. The automatic driving control section

65

controls the dedicated vehicle

2

according to data coordinates for the “start” marker, road map data stored in the magnetizing-demagnetizing data base

69

, and positional data from the navigation device

14

so that the dedicated vehicle is positioned with the magnetizing-demagnetizing coil

31

directly over the “start” marker. Thereafter, the automatic driving control section

65

commands the dedicated vehicle

2

to drive slowly along the road in response to further inputs.

Marker position detecting section

61

continuously compares the value of the position detection signal from the position detection sensor

21

against a threshold value. When the value of the position detection signal is above the threshold value, it means that the position detecting sensor

21

is located over one edge of a road marker which causes a trigger signal to be sent from the marker position detecting section

61

to the automatic driving control section

65

to indicate the location of the road marker. Thereafter, the automatic driving control section

65

determines when the magnetizing-demagnetizing unit

12

is located over the road marker

1

with a time and speed calculation. At the same time, polarity determining sensor

22

detects the polarity of the road marker

1

and transmits a corresponding signal to the magnetization-demagnetization driving section

67

. The automatic driving control section

65

stops the dedicated vehicle

2

when magnetizing-demagnetizing coil

31

is positioned directly over the marker

1

. The automatic driving control section

65

then directs the magnetization-demagnetization driving section

67

to lower the magnetizing-demagnetizing coil

31

. The magnetizing-demagnetizing unit checks the polarity and strength of the magnetism of the road marker and, if the road marker is improperly polarized, electric current is fed to the coil section

31

a

so as to demagnetize and/or properly magnetize the road marker

1

according to road information stored in the road information data base

66

. In addition, upon a trigger signal is from the automatic driving section

65

, air is exhausted from the air nozzle

32

to blow away iron particles or other foreign materials adhered to the road in the road marker location.

Upon completion of “start” marker maintenance, the magnetization-demagnetization driving section

67

executes the same process at a laterally adjoining marker. Upon completion of a lateral row of markers, the dedicated vehicle

2

under control of the automatic driving control section so as to position the magnetized state detecting unit

13

directly over the “start” marker for quality assurance. The magnetized state detecting unit

13

evaluates all markers in a lateral row and sends signal triggers to the automatic driving section

65

. If any marker is incorrectly magnetized, then the automatic driving control section

65

repositions the dedicated vehicle

2

and controls the magnetizing-demagnetizing unit

12

to correct the deficiency. This process is then repeated on the successive lateral rows of markers

1

until the entire group

3

has been properly magnetized.

An alternative embodiment of the present invention is to provide a plurality of magnetizing-demagnetizing units

12

laterally spaced at length dw to match the spacing of embedded road markers

1

. This allows batch magnetizing of road markers

1

thus increasing the efficiency of the process.

The above embodiment has been described in relation to magnetizing road markers to provide road information to a vehicle, but the invention is equally applicable to magnetizing road markers to indicate the location of lane boundaries to prevent an automatically-piloted vehicle from exiting said boundaries.

Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure of the present invention, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.

Number	Date	Country
10162300	Jun 1998	JP
4101542295	Jun 1998	JP
02001101588	Apr 2001	JP

Road marker magnetizing method

Information

Patent Number

Date Filed

Date Issued

Inventors

Original Assignees

Examiners

Agents

CPC

US Classifications

Field of Search

US

International Classifications

Abstract

Description

Claims

Priority Claims (1)

US Referenced Citations (1)

Foreign Referenced Citations (3)