JP2001116574A - Navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a navigation apparatus which guides a vehicle in such a way that a degree of importance with reference to a point, to be guided, in a set running route can be recognized. SOLUTION: When a vehicle advances straight on a crossing, to be guided, without changing a course according to a guide, the degree of importance of the crossing is judged on the basis of the increase amount of costs (the increase amount of a running distance). Then, a warning sound before the output of a guide voice is made longer and larger the higher the degree of importance of the crossing to be guided is, and the guide voice is output in a large sound volume. In addition, when a crossing detailed figure in which the crossing to be guided is expressed in detail is displayed by an image, a route part is displayed in a more noticeable color (e.g. in a red color) the higher the degree of importance of the crossing is. Thereby, a driver can recognize the degree of importance of the crossing, to be guided, on the basis of the guide voice or the display image. In the case of the crossing whose degree of importance is higher, the driver can change a course more surely to a guide direction. In addition, since the driver is not restrained by a guide in all crossings to be guided, a feeling of strain with reference to the output of the guide voice can be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device, for example, a vehicle navigation device that guides a traveling route to a searched destination.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a navigation device which sets a shortest distance from a current position of a vehicle to a destination and guides the set route (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-3135).
75). According to this navigation device, a guide point,
For example, guidance in the course change direction is executed by voice or image at a predetermined distance before an intersection (guide intersection) to be guided in the set route.

[0003]

When a conventional navigation apparatus provides guidance in a course change direction at a course change point such as an intersection, the same guidance is provided except for the difference in the guidance direction and the point. That is, the conventional navigation device does not consider the importance of providing guidance, the importance of reaching the destination, and the like for the guidance target intersection in the set route. However, the importance of the guidance intersection in the set route differs individually depending on the set route, destination, and the like.

[0004] For example, a travel distance to a destination when the vehicle travels along a specific guidance intersection in the direction of guidance (change of course) is compared with the travel distance to the destination when the vehicle travels straight ahead at the specific guidance intersection. Travel distance is very long (for example, 10
0 km increase). In this case, if the vehicle goes straight ahead by mistake at a specific guidance intersection, the vehicle will travel an extra distance.Therefore, it is highly necessary to travel in the guidance direction at the specific guidance intersection, that is, a guidance intersection of relatively high importance Can be considered. On the other hand, the traveling distance to the destination when traveling at the specific guidance intersection in the direction of the guidance street is substantially the same as the traveling distance to the destination when traveling straight ahead at the specific guidance intersection. There are cases. In this case, traveling straight ahead without following the guidance at a specific guidance intersection, or traveling straight by mistake, will not travel a greater distance than traveling in the guidance direction. It can be considered a low guidance intersection.

[0005] In addition, intersections of five or more difference roads, intersections where a relatively wide road and a narrow road intersect, and major intersections are more important than ordinary intersections where two roads intersect. Can be considered high.

As described above, it can be seen that there is a difference between the guide intersections in the set traveling route, the importance levels for providing guidance, and the importance levels for reaching the destination. Therefore, when the guidance of the traveling route is performed, it is preferable that the guidance according to the importance is performed in consideration of the importance of each guidance intersection.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide guidance so that the importance of a guidance target point on a set traveling route can be recognized. .

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a navigation device for a vehicle that performs guidance of a set traveling route, wherein the traveling route acquiring unit acquires the traveling route, and the traveling route acquiring unit acquires the traveling route. Importance assigning means for assigning importance on route guidance to a guidance target point which is a guidance target of a course change in a traveling route acquired by means, and importance assigned by the importance imparting means In response to the,
The above object is achieved by providing a navigation device with guidance means for changing the content of guidance and performing guidance of the guidance target point. According to the invention described in claim 2, in the vehicular navigation device that performs guidance of the set traveling route, a traveling route acquiring unit that acquires the traveling route, and a driving route in the traveling route acquired by the traveling route acquiring unit. For a guidance target point that is a guidance target of a course change, an importance storage unit that previously acquires and stores importance on route guidance, and an importance corresponding to the guidance target point is stored from the importance storage unit. The navigation apparatus further comprises: a reading unit for reading importance, and a guiding unit for changing the content of guidance in accordance with the importance read by the reading unit for performing guidance of the guidance target point. Achieve the goal.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a navigation device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIG. (1) Overview of Embodiment In a navigation device that provides route guidance, the importance of a guidance intersection is determined based on the degree of influence on the total route cost (time required to reach) at the guidance intersection, and a guidance method is determined according to the importance. Change. In this embodiment, the distance of each road is used as basic data for cost calculation. More specifically, when the vehicle travels straight at the guidance target intersection without changing the course as instructed, the importance of the intersection is determined from the increase in cost (the increase in travel distance). At a guidance intersection having a relatively high importance, the warning sound before outputting the guidance voice is made longer and the guidance voice is output at a higher volume. In addition, when displaying an intersection detail diagram that shows the guidance intersection in detail, an intersection with a higher importance level has a more conspicuous color (for example,
(Red) indicates the route. Thereby, the driver can recognize the importance of the guidance intersection from the guidance voice and the display image, and can more reliably change the course in the guidance direction in the case of the intersection with high importance. In addition, since the driver is not restricted by the guidance at all the guidance intersections, the tension on the output of the guidance sound can be reduced.

FIG. 1 shows the basic configuration of a navigation device according to this embodiment. This navigation device is a CP that performs various judgments and controls necessary for route guidance.
An arithmetic processing unit 20 having a U (central processing unit) 201, a ROM 202 storing various programs therefor, and a RAM (random access memory) 203 as a working memory is provided. The arithmetic processing unit 20 includes a storage device 24, a current position detection device 26, an input device 30, an image display device 32, an audio output device 34, and a communication control unit 3 via a bus line 22 such as a data bus.
8 is connected.

The storage device 24 stores a map database 24
1. Intersection data 242, road data 243, search route data 244, guidance data 245, intersection drawing data 246, and photographic information of characteristic points (not shown), and hotels and sightseeing guides of various regions for each region. It has other data in which information is stored. The various data 241 to 245 described above are stored in a large-capacity storage medium such as a CD-ROM. The storage medium may be another storage medium as long as it has a large capacity. For example, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or the like may be used. Further, a different storage medium may be used for each data. For example, the search route data 244 is used at the time of a route search and is frequently used in route guidance.
AM (The RAM 203 of the arithmetic processing unit 20 may be shared, or another RAM may be used.)
And other data may be stored on a CD-ROM, a hard disk, or the like.

Here, the map database 241 is composed of drawing data for drawing a map on the image display device 32. Each drawing data is, for example, 1
It is hierarchized for each scale of map from 1 / 1,000,000 to 1/10000. That is, a hierarchically structured database is constructed from the highest layer, such as Japan, the Kanto region, Tokyo, and Chiyoda ward. The intersection data 242 includes an ID number for specifying the intersection, a name of the intersection and its coordinate position, data for specifying the road constituting the intersection,
And detailed view presence / absence data indicating the presence / absence of a detailed view of each intersection.

The road data 243 includes, as data necessary for route guidance, a road ID for specifying each road, a thickness of each road, a road length (cost), and coordinate positions of a starting point and an ending point of the road; It is composed of prohibition information such as entry prohibition, guidance unnecessary information, and the like. FIG. 2 shows a part of the road data 243, and the road length (cost) for each road ID.
Is represented. As shown in FIG. 2, the length of the road is stored corresponding to each road ID.
This road length is used as cost data for calculating a cost increase in the present embodiment. Here, the unit of the road length (cost) is m.

The search route data 244 includes travel route data to a destination obtained by a normal route search and an increase in cost at a guidance target point such as an intersection.
The search route data 244 is obtained by route search and cost increase calculation in the navigation device, and transmits data such as a departure place and a destination to an external device such as an information providing center via the communication control unit 38. In some cases, the external device can obtain the results of the route search and the cost increase calculation. FIG. 3 conceptually shows the stored contents of the search route data 244. As shown in FIG. 3, the search route data 244 includes the intersection I of the intersection to be guided.
D, travel route data including an approach road ID of a road entering the intersection, a destination road ID of a road traveling after passing through the intersection, and a cost increase amount for determining the importance of each intersection in the present embodiment. It is configured. The travel route data and the cost increase amount are stored corresponding to each intersection. In the case of the example shown in FIG.
1, the vehicle enters the intersection A, goes from the intersection A, proceeds in the direction of the road R <b> 2, and then is guided in the order of the intersections B, C,. At the time of guidance at each intersection, the importance of the intersection is determined from the amount of cost increase, and guidance is performed by a method changed according to the importance. The cost increase is calculated in advance by the navigation device or the external device at the time of route search and is given to each intersection. However, even at the same intersection, the cost increase differs depending on the set traveling route.

The guidance data 245 stores the guidance contents of the guidance to be performed according to the importance of the guidance target intersection with respect to the set route. FIG. 4 conceptually shows the guidance contents of the guidance data 245. As shown in FIG. 4, the guidance data 245 includes a guidance method 1, which is selected for an intersection having the lowest importance, a guidance method 2, a guidance method 3, which are sequentially selected as the importance increases. It is decided to. When the guidance method 1 is selected, the volume of the guidance voice is low, and as the content of the guidance voice, a warning sound is not output and a proposal format such as "better in the direction of ★★" should be given. Drawing data 246
Is set to green in the route L (see FIG. 5) indicating the traveling direction in the intersection diagram displayed according to. When the guidance method 2 is selected, the volume of the guidance voice is set to the medium level,
A short attention sound is output as the content of the guidance voice (for example,
After the caution sound "pipo"), the instruction format is "Please turn in the direction of...", And the route L in the intersection diagram is yellow to call attention. When the guidance method 3 is selected, the volume of the guidance voice is increased, and a slightly longer caution sound is output as the content of the guidance voice (for example, the caution sound “pipipipo”). ★ Please turn in the direction ", and make the route L in the intersection diagram the most prominent red color. In addition, not only the guidance sound but also the volume of the caution sound may be output so as to increase as the importance level increases.

The intersection drawing data 246 is data for drawing a detailed view of an intersection. FIG. 5 shows a detailed view of the intersection displayed on the image display device 32 based on the intersection drawing data 246. This detailed intersection diagram is an intersection that draws the vicinity of the intersection (for example, a range of 100 meters or 200 meters from the center of the intersection) in more detail than the map of the most detailed scale (for example, 1/10000) in the map database 241. The figure and the intersection name are displayed. The intersection drawing data 246 includes not only the shapes of the roads constituting the intersection as the intersection diagram, but also data for drawing features such as hotels and gas stations that serve as landmarks. In this intersection diagram, the route L connecting the approach road to the intersection and the destination road is the search route data 244.
, And are displayed with colored arrows corresponding to the respective guidance methods shown in FIG. However, if the drawing data of the detailed drawing at all the intersections is stored in the storage device 24, the data amount becomes enormous. Therefore, in this embodiment, a main intersection, for example, an intersection constituted by a road having a constant width is used. Only the drawing data of the detailed view is stored in the storage device 24 as the intersection drawing data 246. The above-described detailed diagram presence / absence data included in the intersection data 242 indicates the presence / absence of the intersection drawing data 246.

The current position detecting device 26 is a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiving device 2 for measuring the absolute position (coordinates represented by latitude and longitude) of the vehicle using artificial satellites.
61, a beacon receiving device 262 for receiving position information from a beacon placed on the road, and a direction sensor 263.
And a distance sensor 264. Note that the GPS receiver 261 and the beacon receiver 262 can perform position measurement independently, but otherwise, the distance sensor 264 is used.
The position is measured by a combination of the directional sensor 263 and the azimuth sensor 263.

Here, the direction sensor 263 is, for example, a geomagnetic sensor for detecting the direction of the vehicle by detecting the geomagnetism, a gas rate gyro or an optical fiber for detecting the rotational angular velocity of the vehicle and integrating the angular velocity to obtain the direction of the vehicle. A gyro sensor such as a gyro, a wheel sensor in which left and right wheel sensors are arranged, and a turning amount of the vehicle is detected based on an output pulse difference (difference in moving distance) to calculate a azimuth displacement amount is used. . As the distance sensor 264, for example, various methods such as detecting and counting the number of rotations of a wheel, or detecting acceleration and integrating twice are used.

The voice output device 34 is for outputting guidance information by voice, and the signal processing unit 341 synthesizes a predetermined voice in accordance with a command from the arithmetic processing device 20,
Output is made from the speaker 342. For example, 300m before the intersection that is the guide point, "3
Turn right at the intersection at a distance of 00m and turn left at the intersection. Go ahead straight at the intersection at a distance of 300m. / Please turn left ”. The input device 30 is for inputting various operation commands to the navigation device. In this embodiment, the input device 30 includes a function key, a touch panel on which an input operation is performed by touching a display screen of the image display device 32, and the like, but includes a keyboard, a mouse, a light pen, a joystick, a voice recognition device, and the like. May be used.

As the image display device 32, a CRT, a liquid crystal display, a plasma display or the like is used. A hologram device that projects a hologram on a windshield of a vehicle may be used. This image display device 3
Reference numeral 2 denotes various kinds of guidance information sent from the arithmetic processing unit 20, that is, a map around the current location and the destination, a location of the destination, a current location of the vehicle, a searched route, a photograph image of a feature of the guidance point, and the like. , Map database 24 in storage device 24
1 and other data and the like are drawn and displayed. Also, when approaching an intersection requiring a course change, an arrow indicating the distance to the intersection and the direction in which the course should be changed (right turn, left turn) is displayed.
A detailed drawing of an intersection and the like based on the drawing data of No. 2 are drawn.

The communication control section 38 is a communication means for transmitting and receiving data to and from an external device such as an information providing center, a personal computer, and a portable electronic organizer having a communication function. As for the communication method, various types of wireless communication such as a method of transmitting and receiving data by communication using electromagnetic waves (for example, transmitting and receiving data using FM radio waves, a mobile communication such as a mobile phone, etc.) and a method of optical communication using infrared rays are used. By communication. The communication control unit 38 transmits data such as a departure place and a destination to an external device in addition to various types of communication, and receives the results of the route search and the cost increase calculation at the external device.
Further, the communication control unit 38 receives destination specifying data for specifying the destination, such as the address and telephone number of the destination, from the external device.

The arithmetic processing unit 20 operates in accordance with a navigation program stored in the ROM 202 or the like.
3 as a work area, a route search process for searching for a travel route to the destination input from the input device 30 and calculating the amount of cost increase at each guidance intersection, or a communication control unit obtained by a route search process. Route guidance processing is performed according to search route data obtained from an external device via the external device 38. In addition, the arithmetic processing unit 20 includes:
By the data map matching processing based on the coordinate data of the vehicle detected by the current position detecting device 26 and the map database 241 of the storage device 24, the position where the vehicle is currently traveling is recognized as the position on the map. ing.

The operation of the navigation device according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. (1) Principle of the Route Guidance Operation According to the Present Embodiment FIGS. 6 and 7 show differences in importance with respect to intersections according to the present embodiment, based on an increase in cost. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, when traveling from the departure point S to the destination E, the route a is set as the optimal traveling route, and the intersection A is the guidance target intersection.
In this case, right turn guidance is performed according to the travel route a at a point that is a predetermined distance before the guidance target intersection A. In FIG. 6, the cost C1 of the shortest route a (R1-R2-R3) to the destination when turning right at the intersection A according to the guide is C1 = (100 + 50 + 50) = 200. In contrast, the shortest route b (R1-R4-R5-R6-
The cost C2 of R3) is C2 = (100 + 150 + 50)
+ 150 + 50). Therefore, when the vehicle does not turn right at the intersection A as instructed (when traveling straight), the increase in cost is (C2−C1) =
It becomes 300, and the cost when the vehicle does not turn is 5 compared to the cost 200 when the vehicle turns along the intersection A according to the guidance.
It is more than twice different from 00.

On the other hand, in FIG. 7, the shortest route a (R7-R8) to the destination when turning right at the intersection A as instructed is shown.
−R9−R10) is C3 = (100 + 5)
(0 + 100 + 100) = 350. On the contrary,
Cost C4 of the shortest route b (R7-R11-R12-R10) to the destination when going straight ahead without turning right at intersection A
Is C4 = (100 + 100 + 51 + 100) = 351
It is. Therefore, even when the vehicle does not turn right at the intersection A according to the guidance (when the vehicle goes straight), the increase in cost is (C4-C3) = 1 as compared with the case where the vehicle turns right. Even if it does not turn, it will not change much.

As described above, it is understood that the guide intersections in the searched traveling route are not the same in the route guidance, but different in importance. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, for the guidance target intersection A, which is determined to have a large increase in cost and a high degree of importance, guidance is provided in an instruction format so that the course can be surely changed (specifically, the volume is reduced). Increase the volume of the caution sound and output a longer warning sound, etc.). For the guidance target intersection A that is judged to have a small increase in cost and a low importance, the proposal format (specifically, reduce the volume and pay attention No sound, etc.). If the amount of cost increase is extremely large and the importance is very high, the forced form (for example, as the content of the guidance voice, … Be sure to turn in the ★★ direction ”, etc.). In this way, for each guidance target intersection in the travel route, the guidance method of the guidance target intersection is changed according to the importance in performing guidance (importance for reaching the destination). This allows the user to recognize the necessity of changing the course.

Next, a description will be given of a route search process and a route guidance process in the navigation device of the present embodiment. (2) Details of Route Search Processing Operation FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the process operation of the route search process. The arithmetic processing unit 20 of the navigation device includes:
The destination input by the user is set by the destination setting process (step 10), and the departure point (the specified position if specified, or detected by the current position detecting device 26 if not specified). Search for a candidate of a traveling route from the current position of the vehicle) to the set destination (step 1)
2). In this case, the arithmetic processing unit 20 lists, for example, ten routes as candidates for the route to the destination, and executes the travel route data of each candidate (the travel route of the search route data 244 shown in FIG. 3). R)
Store it in AM 203.

Then, the arithmetic processing unit 20 determines the shortest traveling route from among the listed traveling route candidates,
The travel route data (data other than the cost increase amount) of the shortest travel route is stored in the search route data 24 as shown in FIG.
4 (step 14). And the arithmetic processing unit 2
0 is the determined shortest travel route length (total cost) C1
Is calculated (acquired) from the road ID of the road in the traveling route and the road length (cost) (see FIG. 2) corresponding to the road ID, and stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 203 (step 16). Then, it is determined whether or not the guidance target intersection exists in the shortest traveling route (step 18). If it does not exist (; N), the process returns to the main routine.

On the other hand, if the guidance target intersection exists in the shortest traveling route (step 18; Y), the arithmetic processing unit 20
Is the road length (total cost) of the shortest route from each of the candidate travel routes (excluding the shortest travel route) listed in step 12 when traveling straight at the guidance target intersection without changing the route as guided. ) Calculate (acquire) C2, and
3 (step 22). Then, the arithmetic processing unit 20 calculates the total cost C stored in the RAM 203.
From 1 and C2, a cost increase C2-C1 that increases when the vehicle goes straight through the guidance target intersection is calculated and stored in the search route data 244 of the storage device 24 as a cost increase corresponding to the intersection ID of the guidance target intersection. (Step 24).

Next, the arithmetic processing unit 20 calculates the amount of cost increase for all the guidance target intersections existing in the shortest traveling route, and judges whether or not it has been stored in the search route data 244 (step 26). If not completed (Step 26; N), the process returns to Step 20 and returns to Step 2.
By repeating the processing of steps 0, 22, and 24, the amount of cost increase at each guidance target intersection is calculated. On the other hand, when the calculation and storage of the cost increase amounts for all the guidance target intersections have been completed (step 26; Y), the route search processing ends, and the process returns to the main routine.

(3) Details of Route Guidance Processing Operation FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a route guidance processing operation. When the vehicle starts running, the arithmetic processing unit 20
Acquires the current vehicle position from the current position detection device 26 (step 30). Then, the arithmetic processing unit 20 determines whether or not the acquired current vehicle position is within the guidance data reading distance from the guidance target intersection (step 32). That is,
The arithmetic processing unit 20 obtains a distance from the acquired current position of the vehicle to the closest (to be passed next) guidance target intersection among the guidance target intersections stored in the search route data 244, and the distance is calculated as the guidance data. It is determined whether or not the distance is within the reading distance (in the present embodiment, for example, 700 m is set) (step 32). If the distance is not within the distance (; N), the process returns to step 30 to reach the guidance target intersection. Continue to monitor distance.

If the current vehicle position is within the guide data reading distance (step 32; Y), the arithmetic processing unit 20
The guidance data of the guidance target intersection is read (step 34). That is, the arithmetic processing unit 20 determines whether or not an intersection detailed view of the intersection exists by using the intersection data 24.
In step 2, if there is, the cost is read from the intersection drawing data 246, and the search route data 244 is used to read the cost increase (C2-C1) of the guidance target intersection and the guidance voice data at the guidance target intersection. As the guidance voice data, for example, voice guidance data such as “soon ○ m ahead, ▲ ▽ ▲ in the direction of ★★” is read. here,
In the guidance voice data, OO is determined by the guidance distance, and the course change direction ★★ is determined from the approach road ID and the destination ID for the intersection stored in the search route data 244,
For ▲ ▽ ▲, “I prefer to turn”, “Please turn”, etc. are determined by the guidance method decided after this.

Then, the arithmetic processing unit 20 reads the cost increase amount (C2-C1) of the read guidance target intersection,
Comparison is made with thresholds H1 and H2 related to cost (importance) for determining a guidance method according to the importance of the intersection (steps 36 and 38). In the present embodiment, since the cost increase is represented by the distance (m), the threshold H
1, H2 is also represented by a distance, for example, H1 = 150 m, H2
= 1000 m is set. Cost increase (C2-
C1) is less than the threshold value H1 (step 3)
6; Y), the arithmetic processing unit 20 determines the guidance method of the guidance target intersection to be the guidance method 1 (see FIG. 4) (step 40). When the cost increase (C2-C1) is equal to or more than the threshold value H1 and less than the threshold value H2 (step 3)
6; N, step 38; Y), and the arithmetic processing unit 20 determines the guidance method 2 (step 42). If the cost increase (C2-C1) is equal to or greater than the threshold value H2 (step 36; N, step 38; N), the arithmetic processing unit 20
Is determined as the guidance method 3 (step 44).

When the guidance method is determined, the arithmetic processing unit 20
Acquires the current vehicle position again from the current position detecting device 26 (step 46), and determines whether the current vehicle position is within the guidance execution distance (for example, 600 m and 300 m) from the guidance target intersection (step 46). 48). If the distance is not within the guidance execution distance (Step 48; N), Step 46 is executed.
And the monitoring of the distance to the guidance target intersection is continued.

If the current position of the vehicle is within the guidance execution distance (step 48; Y), the arithmetic processing unit 20 performs guidance of the guidance target intersection in accordance with the determined guidance method (a subroutine for executing the determined guidance method). Is executed) (step 50). For example, based on voice guidance data such as "soon xx m ahead, ▲ ▽ ▲ in the direction of ★★" read in step 34, as shown in FIG.
Then, without a beeping sound, at a low volume, "60 soon
It is better to turn right at the point of 0m. " In this example, since the distance to the guidance intersection is 600 m, the detailed view of the intersection shown in FIG. 5 is not displayed. For example, at the time of guidance at 300 m before the guidance target intersection, the detailed view of the intersection is also displayed on the image display device 32. At this time, the route L is displayed in green. In the case of the guidance method 2, the caution sound "pipo" is output at a medium volume, and then output at the medium volume in an instruction format such as "Please turn XX m ahead in the direction of ★★." When displaying the intersection detailed view, the route L is displayed in yellow. In the case of the guidance method 3, after outputting a slightly longer attention sound "pipipipo" at a large volume, a large volume is output in the instruction format "Soon turn XXm ahead in the direction of ★★". When displaying the detailed intersection diagram, the route L is displayed in red.

Then, the arithmetic processing unit 20 determines whether or not the guidance for all the guidance target intersections in the traveling route set to the destination has been completed (step 52). In N), the process returns to step 30 to execute the guidance according to the importance level for the next guidance target intersection, and when it is completed (Y), the route guidance process is completed and the process returns to the main routine. .

As described above, in the route search processing (FIG. 8) of the present embodiment, for each guidance target intersection in the traveling route obtained by the route search, the road length when traveling straight through the guidance target intersection. The importance of the guidance target intersection is given from the cost increase amount due to the above, the importance is acquired in advance together with the traveling route data and stored in the search route data, and in the route guidance processing (FIG. 9), each intersection is obtained. The driver changes the guidance method according to the importance of the vehicle and provides guidance. Therefore, the driver can recognize the importance of the guidance intersection from the guidance voice and the display image. The vehicle can travel in the guiding direction more reliably.
In addition, since the driver is not restricted by the guidance at all the guidance intersections, the tension on the output of the guidance sound can be reduced.

Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, the importance of the guidance target intersection is determined from the amount of cost increase when the user goes straight without changing the course at the intersection as instructed. Only the distance was used, but this second
In this embodiment, the amount of cost increase and the cost (road length) of the road are weighted according to the type of intersection, the situation of a predetermined area including the intersection, and the like. FIG.
FIG. 7 shows the correction of the cost increase at the intersection A when traveling from the same departure point S to the same destination E on the road shown in FIG. This FIG.
As shown in the figure, the traveling route b when traveling straight ahead of the traveling route a that makes a right turn at the guidance target intersection A has a cost increase amount of 1 calculated from the road length, but in actuality,
If the area B indicated by hatching is an area where communication is poor (or impossible), it is an area that the user who uses wireless communication means using a mobile phone, a car phone or the like does not want to travel as much as possible. Therefore, the importance of the guidance target intersection A needs to be higher than the importance determined simply from the increase amount of the traveling distance. Therefore, the roads included in the poor communication area B (R11 and R1 in FIG. 10)
In contrast to 2), a value obtained by multiplying a coefficient for increasing the cost due to the road length, for example, 1.5, is calculated as the cost (road length) of the road, thereby correcting the cost increase amount of the guidance target intersection A. .

Further, similarly to the communication-disabled area B in FIG.
Even when the road in the shortest distance route (excluding the same road as the travel route a) when the vehicle is traveling straight along the guidance target intersection A is under construction or is congested, the cost of the road during the construction or the like The cost increase may be corrected by multiplying (road length) by a predetermined coefficient (> 1).
In this case, the coefficient for performing the cost correction may be the same coefficient 1.5 as that in the case of the poor communication area B, or may be a different value. The data relating to the construction and traffic congestion is obtained in a route search and search from an external device such as an information providing center via the communication control unit 38.

It should be noted that if the vehicle goes straight ahead without following the guidance target intersection A as guided, the guidance target intersection A which must travel on a traffic congested road or a road under construction is required to travel to reach the destination. It is considered an important intersection for all users (including the driver) because of the longer time. On the other hand, when the road that passes when the vehicle goes straight ahead is a poor communication area, the importance differs depending on the user who uses the wireless communication means and the user who does not use the wireless communication means. Therefore, roads (including roads in the area) which are considered to have high importance in common to all users are multiplied by a coefficient in common, and roads whose importance changes depending on the user (roads in the area) ) Can be selected by the user as a consideration of the importance, and only when selected by the user from the importance selection screen of the image display device 32, the selected item (communication poor area, etc.) The cost correction of the corresponding road may be performed.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope described in the claims. For example, the importance of the guidance target intersection is determined by the absolute amount of the cost increase, but is determined from the ratio (ratio) of the total distance from the departure point or the current position of the vehicle to the target value, or the ratio to the total distance is added. Alternatively, it may be determined. For example, when the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the destination is 100 km, the cost increase 1 km is 1% of the entire distance, which is not so much a distance increase. When the distance is 1 km, the increase in cost of 1 km is 100% of the total distance, which requires twice as much traveling, so that the importance is determined to be high.
Further, for example, when the cost increase amount is 1000 m or more and the ratio of the remaining distance from the current position to the destination is 20% or more, the absolute value of the cost increase amount is determined as when the importance is determined to be the highest. The importance may be determined from both the and the ratio. In each of these cases, the absolute amount of the cost may be corrected according to conditions such as traffic congestion, as in the second embodiment.

The increase in cost may be determined not only from the distance but also from the increase in the time required to reach the destination. When determining the cost increase amount from the time increase amount, not only the road distance but also the road thickness is considered. In other words, the cost is a value obtained by multiplying the distance by a coefficient corresponding to the thickness of the road, and the cost of 500 m is obtained by multiplying the main road, such as a national road or a prefectural road, by a coefficient of 1.0 for the main roads. The roads (excluding roads listed in the wide area map) are calculated as 600 m multiplied by a coefficient of 1.2, and the roads listed in the detailed map (wide area, medium (Excluding the area map road) is calculated as 750m multiplied by a coefficient of 1.5.

In the embodiments and the modified examples described above, the importance of the guidance target intersection is determined by the cost (road length) of each road.
, And from the cost corrected based on the state of the road (traffic jam, construction, poor communication, etc.). However, the state of the guidance target intersection itself may be considered. For example, when the guidance target intersection is an intersection of five or more difference roads, an intersection where a relatively wide road and a narrow road intersect, or a main intersection, etc. It is considered that the importance is higher than a normal intersection where two roads having a width intersect. Therefore, by multiplying such a guidance target intersection by the coefficient (> 1) corresponding to the state of the intersection, the cost increase calculated by the first embodiment or the second embodiment is further multiplied. , May be corrected.

Further, in the second embodiment and the modified example described above, the case where the cost and the increase in the cost are multiplied by a predetermined coefficient has been described. However, in the present invention, the cost and the increase in the cost are reduced by a predetermined amount. The correction may be made by adding the cost.

In FIGS. 4 and 9, three types of guidance methods 1 to 3 have been described. However, a threshold value H3 whose cost increase is larger than the threshold value H2 is set.
When a cost increase is greater than the above, guidance may be provided in a compulsory format in order to ensure that the driver follows the route more than in the instruction format. For example, after outputting a loud and high-speed attention sound “pipopipopipo…”, be sure to output “…” with a loud volume and a slightly slow tone.
★ Please turn in the direction. " Then, the route L in the detailed view of the intersection is blinked in red. In this case, it may be displayed in red that “straight ahead is impossible” on the road when the vehicle is traveling straight ahead at the guidance target intersection.

In the embodiment described above, three types of guidance methods 1 to 3 shown in FIG. 4 have been described, and in the above-described modified example, a guidance method in a forced form has been described. The guidance method may be any one of the following methods (1) to (6), or a guidance method using a combination thereof. (1) Change the type of caution sound (2) Change the volume (3) Change the wording (4) Change the display (color) (5) Change the display content (The thickness of the route L is changed according to the increase in importance. (6) Change the combination (for example, display only, sound (attention sound, guidance sound) only, display and sound as the importance increases)

[0046]

According to the present invention, it is an object of the present invention to provide guidance so that a user can easily recognize the importance of a guidance target point on a set traveling route.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing a part of road data in the navigation device and showing a road length (cost) for each road ID.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view conceptually showing storage contents of search route data in the navigation device.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing guidance contents of guidance data in the navigation device.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an intersection detailed view displayed on the image display device based on the intersection drawing data in the navigation device.

FIG. 6 illustrates the difference in importance of an intersection in a navigation device from an increase in cost.

FIG. 7 is another example in which the difference in importance for an intersection in the navigation device is represented by an increase in cost.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of a route search process in the navigation device.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing operation of a route guidance process in the navigation device.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a case where a cost increase is corrected in the second embodiment of the navigation device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 arithmetic processing device 201 CPU 202 ROM 203 RAM 22 bus line 24 storage device 241 map database 242 intersection data 243 road data 244 search route data 245 guidance data 246 intersection drawing data 26 current position detecting device 261 GPS receiving device 262 beacon receiving device 263 Direction sensor 264 Distance sensor 30 Input device 32 Image display device 34 Audio output device 38 Communication control unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Takashi Sugawara 2-19-12 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Equos Research Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Satoshi Kitano 2-19 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo No. 12 Inside Equos Research Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Yamakawa 2-19-12 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo F-term inside Equos Research Co., Ltd. 2C032 HB02 HB06 HB08 HB15 HB21 HB22 HB24 HC08 HC22 HC24 HC27 HC31 HD07 2F029 AA02 AB01 AB07 AB13 AC02 AC09 AC14 AC18 AC19 AC20 5H180 AA01 BB04 BB05 BB13 CC12 FF04 FF05 FF13 FF22 FF25 FF27 FF33 FF35 FF40

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A navigation device for a vehicle that performs guidance of a set traveling route, comprising: a traveling route acquisition unit that acquires the traveling route; and a guidance for a course change in the traveling route acquired by the traveling route acquisition unit. An importance assigning means for assigning importance on the route guidance to the target guidance target point; and changing the contents of the guidance according to the importance assigned by the importance imparting means, and A navigation device, comprising: guidance means for performing point guidance. 2. A navigation device for a vehicle that performs guidance of a set traveling route, comprising: a traveling route acquisition unit that acquires the traveling route; and a guidance for a course change in the traveling route acquired by the traveling route acquisition unit. Importance storage means for acquiring and storing the importance of the route guidance in advance for the target guidance target point; and reading importance reading the importance corresponding to the guidance target point from the importance storage means. A navigation device comprising: means; and guide means for changing the content of guidance according to the importance read by the importance reading means and performing guidance of the guidance target point.