Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
  • G01S13/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of radio waves, e.g. radar systems; Analogous systems using reflection or reradiation of waves whose nature or wavelength is irrelevant or unspecified
  • G01S13/74—Systems using reradiation of radio waves, e.g. secondary radar systems; Analogous systems
  • G01S13/75—Systems using reradiation of radio waves, e.g. secondary radar systems; Analogous systems using transponders powered from received waves, e.g. using passive transponders, or using passive reflectors
  • G01S13/751—Systems using reradiation of radio waves, e.g. secondary radar systems; Analogous systems using transponders powered from received waves, e.g. using passive transponders, or using passive reflectors wherein the responder or reflector radiates a coded signal
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60Q—ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60Q1/00—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor
  • B60Q1/26—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic
  • B60Q1/50—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic for indicating other intentions or conditions, e.g. request for waiting or overtaking
  • B60Q1/525—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic for indicating other intentions or conditions, e.g. request for waiting or overtaking automatically indicating risk of collision between vehicles in traffic or with pedestrians, e.g. after risk assessment using the vehicle sensor data
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60Q—ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60Q9/00—Arrangement or adaptation of signal devices not provided for in one of main groups B60Q1/00 - B60Q7/00, e.g. haptic signalling
  • B60Q9/008—Arrangement or adaptation of signal devices not provided for in one of main groups B60Q1/00 - B60Q7/00, e.g. haptic signalling for anti-collision purposes
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
  • G01S13/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of radio waves, e.g. radar systems; Analogous systems using reflection or reradiation of waves whose nature or wavelength is irrelevant or unspecified
  • G01S13/88—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications
  • G01S13/93—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes
  • G01S13/931—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes of land vehicles
  • G01S2013/9329—Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes of land vehicles cooperating with reflectors or transponders

Definitions

• the invention relates to a method of signaling a potential obstacle, such as a pedestrian, to a vehicle driver, including a machine operator. It extends to a signaling device for implementing this signaling method.
• said transmitter To equip each pedestrian means of emission, said transmitter, able to deliver a presence signal of said pedestrian,
• the present invention aims to overcome these disadvantages and its primary objective is to provide a method of signaling obstacles such as pedestrians, consisting of equipping them with a transmitter whose detection is assured regardless of the orientation in the space of it.
• Another object of the invention is to provide a signaling method insensitive to the presence of structures and / or metal objects.
• the invention relates to a method of signaling a potential obstacle, such as a pedestrian, to a vehicle driver, in particular a machine operator, of equipping each obstacle with means of transmission, said transmitter, capable of delivering a presence signal of said obstacle, and each vehicle of means, said receiver, receiving presence signals emitted by the emitters obstacles.
• alarm means are triggered when an obstacle is present in the vicinity of a vehicle, the alarm means being of any type suitable for drawing the attention of the driver of the vehicle and / or a pedestrian close to the vehicle, such as means of audible and / or visual alarm.
• this signaling method is characterized in that:
• emitters comprising two transmitting antennas at least substantially orthogonal, and adapted supply means for delivering signals in quadrature phase to said antennas,
• receivers comprising two reception antennas that are at least substantially orthogonal.
• each transmitter is therefore equipped with two orthogonal transmitting antennas powered by quadrature phase signals so that these two antennas do not disturb each other and generate two magnetic fields in two different directions, while each receiver has two orthogonal receiving antennas.
• the receiving antennas of a substantially orthogonal receiver extend substantially in a plane, and only a signal emitted by a transmitting antenna substantially orthogonal to this plane is not picked up by this receiver. It will be understood that no orientation of the transmitter can result in the transmitting antennas being both orthogonal to the plane in which the two receiving antennas extend.
• the signaling method comprises one or more of the following characteristics, taken separately or in any technically possible combination.
• the two at least substantially orthogonal reception antennas of each receiver are arranged in such a way that said two reception antennas extend in an at least substantially horizontal plane.
• Such provisions are particularly advantageous because the inventors have found during tests in a hostile environment (site, mine ...) that the signals picked up by a reception antenna oriented along a vertical axis are very disturbed by the materials of the vehicle and the vehicle. ground. These disturbances are therefore greatly reduced by arranging the receiving antennas so that they extend in a substantially horizontal plane.
• this arrangement of the reception antennas makes it possible to guarantee the reception of the signals emitted by the transmitters whatever their orientation. Indeed, in the worst case corresponding to a supine position of the pedestrian, where one of the antennas of a transmitter is oriented along a vertical axis, the second antenna is necessarily in a horizontal plane, so that the transmitted signal by this second antenna is necessarily captured by at least one of the receiving antennas.
• the signals emitted by the two transmitting antennas necessarily include a horizontal component which ensures their reception by the receivers. equipping the vehicles.
• each transmitter is adapted to emit a presence signal with frequencies below 1000 KHz.
• Such provisions make it possible to ensure that a so-called area of interest within a radius of at least 30 meters around this transmitter is in the near-field radiation zone of this transmitter.
• the zones of interest are zones around the obstacles in which the presence of a vehicle equipped with a receiver must make it possible to trigger the means of audible and / or visual alarm.
• a vehicle equipped with a receiver will be in the area of interest of an obstacle, it will be in so-called near-field reception conditions.
• the near-field reception conditions are verified for a distance to the transmitter less than ⁇ / 2 ⁇ , where ⁇ is the wavelength of the presence signal. Since the area of interest is in a near-field radiation zone, the propagation regime of electromagnetic waves is not yet established so that there are no phenomena in the near field. of reflection that would disturb the reception of the presence signals.
• the presence signal emitted by each transmitter is an uninterrupted signal.
• the presence signal when it is emitted, is a permanent signal that does not contain silences.
• transmitting a presence signal it can be received at any time by a vehicle equipped with a receiver.
• the power supply means of each transmitter are adapted to deliver signals to the transmitting antennas such that, when transmitting a presence signal, at least one of said antennas is always powered by a non-zero signal.
• the emission of an uninterrupted signal makes it possible to improve the signal-to-noise ratio on reception and thus to detect the presence of a potential obstacle earlier. This is all the more important when the areas of interest are in a near-field radiation zone. In fact, we then measure the intensity of the magnetic field which decreases very rapidly with the distance (decreasing substantially as the inverse of the cube of the distance). By increasing the signal-to-noise ratio in reception, it will be possible to increase the minimum distance at which an obstacle can be detected.
• each of said transmitters is adapted to emit a presence signal consisting of a carrier that is unmodulated in frequency and not amplitude modulated.
• a presence signal is for example obtained by supplying the transmit antennas of the transmitter with substantially sinusoidal signals in phase quadrature (phase shifted by ⁇ / 2).
• Such arrangements make it possible to identify each transmitter whose signal is received by a receiver, to count the number of transmitters whose signals are picked up by a receiver, and to avoid interference in the event that the signals emitted by several transmitters are received simultaneously by a receiver.
• each transmitter advantageously comprises a specific transmission frequency dedicated to said transmitter
• each receiver advantageously consists of a multi-channel receiver comprising means for detecting independently the signals emitted by the different transmitters.
• This arrangement makes it possible to independently detect as many transmitters as channels of multichannel receivers.
• the use of presence signals consisting of non-frequency modulated carriers leads, for each presence signal, to a very low spectral occupation, so that the specific transmission frequencies of each transmitter can be very close, for example spaced 100 Hz. It is understood that many transmitters can then cohabit in a reduced frequency band.
• the presence signals are uninterrupted signals also contributes to the fact that the spectral occupancy of each presence signal is very low and that the presence signals of different transmitters do not interfere. Indeed, in the opposite case of an intermittent signal having silences, the spectral occupation is increased during transitions to / from the rests, which would be likely to create intermittent interference for the presence signals emitted by others. issuers.
• transmitting beacons comprising transmitting means adapted to deliver a signal for inhibiting the operation of the transmitters are positioned in so-called secure areas such as construction shelters, cabs of the vehicles, etc.
• each transmitter comprises then, advantageously, means for receiving the inhibition signals, and is adapted to interrupt the transmission of the presence signals when receiving an inhibition signal.
• beacons in the cabs of the vehicles makes it possible to interrupt the transmission of the presence signals by the transmitter carried by a pedestrian installed in the said cabin, and thus avoids an unwarranted and unjustified triggering of the alarm means.
• these beacons located in the cabs of vehicles also prevent vehicle receivers detect transmitters positioned in the cabins of other vehicles.
• tags when they are positioned in secure areas such as construction shelters ... such tags also make it possible to avoid untimely and untimely triggering of the alarm means.
• the beacons advantageously lead to controlling the operation of the emitters in a "standby" mode corresponding to a mode of low power consumption.
• beacons transmitting an inhibition signal and transmitters adapted to interrupt the transmission of the presence signals upon reception of an inhibition signal is intended to interrupt the transmission of the presence signals when an inhibition signal is received. transmission of presence signals when the transmitters are in secure areas. It is thus clear that the use of such beacons and such transmitters is not limited to signaling devices with transmitters having two at least substantially orthogonal transmit antennas and receivers having two receiving antennas at least substantially orthogonal. The use of such beacons and transmitters on the contrary extends to other transmitting antenna configurations and / or other receiving antenna configurations.
• the transmission means of the inhibition signal equipping each transmitting beacon consist of active RFID transmitters.
• each transmitter is advantageously equipped with a self-test circuit for detecting operating anomalies of said transmitter, and with means sound and / or visual and / or electromechanical alarm (buzzer ...) adapted to be activated when a malfunction is detected.
• This self-test procedure aims, in particular, to detect anomalies such as: low battery charge, insufficient generated magnetic field, anomaly of the frequency generator oscillator (HF driver) ...
• anomalies such as: low battery charge, insufficient generated magnetic field, anomaly of the frequency generator oscillator (HF driver) ...
• each receiver is advantageously equipped with:
• test circuit comprising a test loop arranged near the receiving antennas and supply means of said test loop in a predetermined test frequency signal
• the predetermined test frequency is a reception center frequency.
• the reception central frequency is defined as the frequency which, after translation into frequencies of the presence signals received in order to bring them back to baseband, is centered substantially at 0 Hz.
• the choice of such a test frequency is advantageous because this frequency is generally very disturbed, so that it can not be used to exchange data. However, these disturbances do not prevent detection and analysis, by the reception chain of the receiver, of a signal transmitted on this test frequency in order to detect a malfunction of the receiver.
• each vehicle is equipped with means for processing the presence signals emitted by the transmitters, able to calculate values representative of the distance separating each obstacle of said vehicle, and sound and / or visual alarm means adapted to be activated by the processing means when the distance between an obstacle and the vehicle becomes less than a determined threshold.
• processing means are then advantageously programmed to calculate, for each obstacle, the relative speed of approach between said obstacle and the vehicle equipped with said processing means, from the variations of the level (power, intensity of the magnetic field ...) of the presence signal received from the transmitter of said obstacle, and to adjust the activation distance threshold value of the alarm means as a function of the value of said approaching speed.
• This function of estimating the relative speed of reconciliation is intended to change the detection threshold to alert earlier at a fast reconciliation and later at a slow reconciliation. In addition, when moving away (negative approach speed), this function is used to stop the alarm.
• the invention extends to a device for signaling a potential obstacle, such as a pedestrian, to a vehicle driver, particularly a machine operator, comprising:
• transmission means capable of delivering a presence signal of said obstacle
• each vehicle means, said receiver, receiving the presence signals emitted by the emitters obstacles,
• alarm means adapted to be triggered when an obstacle is present in the vicinity of a vehicle, the alarm means being of any type suitable for drawing the attention of the driver of the vehicle and / or a pedestrian close to the vehicle, such as audible and / or visual alarm means.
• this signaling device is characterized in that:
• each transmitter has two transmit antennas at least substantially orthogonal, and activation means adapted to deliver signals in quadrature phase to said antennas,
• each receiver comprises two reception antennas that are at least substantially orthogonal.
• the signaling device comprises one or more of the following characteristics, taken separately or in any technically possible combination.
• the two reception antennas at least substantially orthogonal are intended to be arranged so that said two receiving antennas extend in a plane at least substantially horizontal.
• each transmitter is adapted to emit a presence signal with frequencies below 1000 KHz.
• the presence signal emitted by each transmitter is an uninterrupted signal.
• the signaling device advantageously comprises transmitting beacons intended to be positioned in so-called secure areas such as construction shelters, vehicle cabins, and having transmission means adapted to delivering a so-called inhibition signal, each of the emitters comprising means for receiving said inhibition signal and being adapted to interrupt the transmission of the presence signals upon reception of an inhibition signal.
• beacons and such transmitters are not limited to signaling devices comprising transmitters comprising two at least substantially orthogonal transmit antennas and receivers comprising two at least substantially orthogonal receiving antennas.
• the invention extends, in addition, to a signaling device comprising, taken alone or in combination, any of the features set forth in the claims of the present application and / or described in the description of the present application.
• FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a site of construction on which the premises, the personnel and the vehicles are equipped with the signaling device according to the invention
• FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a transmitter of the signaling device according to the invention.
• FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a receiver and means for processing the presence signals of the signaling device according to the invention.
• the signaling device according to the invention diagrammatically shown in FIG. 1 is intended to ensure the protection of pedestrians P traveling in a hostile zone with low visibility, such as a construction site, a mine ..., in which traffic circulates.
• V vehicles such as construction machinery.
• each pedestrian P of an emitter Em designed to emit a presence signal consisting of an unmodulated frequency carrier dedicated to each emitter
• each vehicle V of a receiver Re for reception of the presence signals emitted by emitters Em means for processing said presence signals, and alarm means adapted to be activated by the processing means when the distance between a pedestrian and the vehicle becomes less than a determined threshold, and to jointly warn the pedestrian P and the driver of the vehicle V.
• each Em emitter is in the form of a portable housing incorporating, in addition to the components described below, power supply means, such as an accumulator, (not shown) refillable for example at the level of a power supply table T located in a suitable room L such as building site, cloakroom ...
• power supply means such as an accumulator, (not shown) refillable for example at the level of a power supply table T located in a suitable room L such as building site, cloakroom ...
• each of these emitters Em comprises two antennas A 1, A2 conventionally constituted of a coil disposed around a ferrite bar, said antennas having according to the invention the particularities of being:
• each emitter Em comprises, as represented in FIG. 2, a frequency generating oscillator 1, a filtering module 2, a double output comparator 3 whose two outputs are connected to a divider module 4 and phase shifter whose outputs are connected to a control module 5 of the two antennas A 1, A2.
• A2 emits an uninterrupted presence signal consisting of an unmodulated carrier of frequency substantially between 400 KHz and 500 KHz.
• a presence signal is for example obtained by supplying the transmit antennas of the emitter Em with substantially sinusoidal signals of the same phase quadrature frequency (out of phase by ⁇ / 2).
• each transmitter (Em) has a specific transmission frequency dedicated to said transmitter.
• the frequencies of the transmitters can be selected in a frequency band centered on a median value of 450 KHz, with a pitch of 100 Hz between two neighboring frequencies.
• a so-called zone of interest included in a radius of at least 30 meters around this emitter is in a near-field radiation zone, insofar as the value of the ⁇ ratio / 2 ⁇ is, at 450 KHz, greater than 100 meters.
• Each Em transmitter also comprises a microprocessor 6 to which are issued two control signals representative of the magnetic fields emitted by each of the antennas A1, A2.
• This microprocessor 6 is notably programmed to have a self-test function based notably on the analysis of the signals coming from the two antennas A1, A2, for detecting operating anomalies of the emitter Em, such as: battery charge weak, insufficient generated magnetic field, anomaly of the oscillator frequency generator 1 (HF driver).
• HF driver oscillator frequency generator
• this microprocessor 6 is connected to an interface 7 including in particular audible and / or visual and / or electromechanical alarm means of any type known per se, adapted to be activated during the detection of a malfunction.
• each emitter Em has a receiver 8 adapted to receive muting signals from beacons B1, B2 positioned in secure areas, to which the microprocessor 6 is programmed to interrupt the transmission of the presence signals.
• the beacons B1, B2 are intended to be positioned:
• premises L such as building shelters ...
• each beacon B 1, B2 comprises an active RFID transmitter 28 or "active RFID identifier" whose coverage area is adjusted so as to correspond to the surface of the secure zone.
• Each multichannel receiver Re is, meanwhile, intended to be arranged on the roof of the cabin of a vehicle V.
• Each of these multichannel receivers Re comprises, as shown in Figure 3, two antennas Ax, Ay conventionally constituted d a winding arranged around a ferrite bar, the said antennas being:
• Each multichannel receiver Re further includes, associated with each antenna Ax, Ay, a reception channel at the output of which a signal Vx, Vy is respectively delivered, each of the reception channels comprising a differential amplifier 9, a filter module 10 and an asymmetric amplifier 1 1.
• Each multichannel receiver Re comprises, finally, a test circuit comprising a test loop 12 disposed near the receiving antennas Ax, Ay, adapted to be fed with a predetermined test frequency signal generated by the processing unit described herein. below, and intended to signal any malfunction of the reception chain.
• the means for processing signals Vx, Vy coming from a multichannel receiver Re comprise, in the first place, a processing unit Ts consisting of a housing intended to be housed in the cabin of a vehicle V.
• This processing unit Ts comprises, firstly, for each line Vx, Vy, an analog converter 13.
• This processing unit Ts also comprises a programmable logic circuit 14 and a microprocessor 15 adapted to convert the raw data from the converters 13 into a differential spectrum in a predetermined frequency band, and to process this differential spectrum in order to perform, for each reception channel, according to the received presence signal and the variations of the level of this presence signal, an estimate of:
• the programmable logic circuit 14 and the microprocessor 15 integrate, for each line Vx, Vy, a module “IQ” 16 for translation of the frequencies towards a frequency band centered on the value 0 Hz, a module 17 for filtering and formatting of the signals, and an "FFT” module for producing the Fourier transforms.
• This programmable logic circuit 14 and this microprocessor 15 comprise, finally, a single module 19 for processing the signals from the two "FFT" modules 18, at the output of which a series data stream is delivered.
• the signal processing means Vx, Vy also comprise an HMI alarm box intended to be housed in the cabin of a vehicle V, to which is delivered the series stream of data from the processing unit Ts.
• This HMI alarm box comprises, first of all, a microprocessor 20 comprising a module 21 for processing the serial stream, a module 22 for managing the different transmitters Em and a module 23 for generating alarms at:
• audible and / or visual warning means 24 intended to be arranged in the cab of the vehicle V in order to warn the driver
• a display 25 for, for example, the display of the number of emiters Em detected
• this HMI alarm box includes a brightness sensor 27 for adjusting the brightness of the display 25.
• Such a signaling device makes it possible, in the first place, to guarantee the reception of the signals emitted by the emitters whatever their orientation, and therefore in the case of pedestrians, whatever the position of the latter.
• this signaling device makes it possible to identify each transmitter whose signal is received by a receiver, to count the number of transmitters whose signals are picked up by a receiver, and to avoid interference when the signals emitted by several transmitters are simultaneously received by a receiver.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Radar, Positioning & Navigation (AREA)
• Remote Sensing (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
• Traffic Control Systems (AREA)
• Emergency Alarm Devices (AREA)

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• 2010
  • 2010-05-12 FR FR1053741A patent/FR2960066B1/fr active Active
• 2011
  • 2011-05-12 EP EP11719266A patent/EP2553492A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2011-05-12 WO PCT/EP2011/057707 patent/WO2011141552A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2011-05-12 AU AU2011251972A patent/AU2011251972A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2011-05-12 US US14/117,060 patent/US20140232537A1/en not_active Abandoned

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