JP2001304889A - Method of navigation for mobile body and its device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide useful route information even on narrow streets and perform flexible guidance by diversifying route selection at branching points such as intersections. SOLUTION: An intersection K10 and a vehicle's position mark M10 are displayed on a display 20, In Fig. (A), since progress is possible in the direction of a road L10, an arrow F10 is displayed there. Since a road regulation of prohibiting entry is imposed on roads L12, L14, no entry marks M12 and cross marks M14 denoting that progress is impossible are displayed there. Also, arrows M16 are displayed to roughly showing the direction of a destination. In Fig. (B), since progress is possible in the directions of roads L22, L24, arrows F10 are respectively displayed there. As to a road L20, although it has no regulation of prohibiting entry or the like, a cross mark M14 is displayed there because progress is impossible for a reason such as interruption of the road.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for navigating a moving object such as a vehicle, and more particularly, to a method in which data such as a narrow street is insufficient or a route to a destination is not provided. The present invention relates to an improvement of a guidance method suitable for a case where a plurality of guides exist.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a navigation device for a vehicle, there are roughly two methods for guiding from a current position or a departure point to a destination. The first one is,
This is a technique in which a navigation device specifies a route to a destination, and the navigation device continues to give a driver an instruction to travel on the route. According to this method, when approaching an intersection to be turned, voice guidance such as "Please turn at the intersection" is provided, and the direction to be turned is indicated by an arrow on the intersection diagram displayed on the display of the navigation device. You. The second method is to move at the discretion of the driver. A map is displayed on a display of the navigation device, and a destination is displayed thereon. Then, the driver refers to the road displayed on the map, selects a road to the destination, and proceeds.

[0003] By the way, the navigation device is a CD-R.
Road data and map data stored in storage media such as OM and DVD-ROM are limited, and not all roads have data. In particular, data on narrow roads called narrow streets are often unprepared or data. The navigation device can search for routes on major roads such as highways, general national roads, major local roads, and general prefectural roads, but cannot always search for narrow streets such as living roads.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, it is assumed that narrow street areas DA and DB exist around a home and a destination. In this case, the navigation device cannot search for a route in the narrow street areas DA and DB. For this reason, from the point PA on the road that can be searched for the route closest to the current position of the vehicle indicated by the mark MA,
A route to a point PB on a road that can be searched for a route closest to the destination indicated by the mark MB is searched. Therefore, the driver needs to start the search route starting point PA from the current location MA.
, The navigation cannot be received from the search route end point PB to the destination MB.

[0005] Even when the navigation device can search for a route, a plurality of routes may be searched. For example, in the example of FIG. 8, the routes LA to LD are searched. In such a case, in a general navigation device, a route with the shortest distance to the destination is set as a recommended route, a route with the shortest time to the destination is set as a recommended route, and a route with the least cost is set as a recommended route. Finally, one route is selected by such a method.

[0006]

However, from the driver's point of view, it is convenient if some kind of guidance is provided for narrow streets. On the other hand, when a plurality of routes are searched, it is often the case that the shortest route described above is selected, but depending on the situation, there may be a case where another route is desired to be selected. For example, there is a case where the searched route cannot be passed due to a traffic accident, or a case where it is desired to change the route for sightseeing or shopping.

The present invention focuses on the above points, and provides useful route information even on narrow streets, and diversifies route selection at branch points such as intersections to provide flexible guidance. The purpose is to carry out.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a route search for a destination,
When guiding the mobile unit along the searched route, it is determined whether or not the route search is possible at the local point. If it is determined that the route search is possible, the route search is performed, and The first mode guidance along the searched route is performed, and when it is determined that the route search is not possible, among the connecting roads at the branch point in the moving direction of the moving object, the traveling road is determined. A second mode guide that determines the possibility of progress with respect to the other connected roads and displays the result is provided.
It is characterized by the following. The above and other objects and features of the present invention,
Advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS <Apparatus Configuration and Basic Operation>... Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a navigation device according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the navigation device is mainly composed of a CPU 10, and is provided with a GPS sensor 12, a gyro sensor 14, and a speed pulse sensor 16 for detecting the current position of a vehicle on which the device is mounted. . Thus, the position of the own vehicle is detected by known GPS navigation or self-contained navigation.

Further, similarly to a general computer system, an input device 18, a display 20, a speaker 2
2, a ROM 24, a RAM 26, and a database 28 are also provided. A display 20 is used as the input device 18.
The touch panel provided thereon, various switches provided on the device panel, a remote controller, and the like correspond to the touch panel. As the display 20, a liquid crystal panel or a CRT panel is used. The speaker 22 is used, for example, when performing voice guidance. Various programs executed by the CPU 10 are stored in the ROM 24. The RAM 26 is used for loading the program and executing the program as appropriate. The database 28 is, for example, a CD-ROM or D
It is constituted by a VD-ROM, and stores data necessary for navigation.

The ROM 24 mainly includes a route search program 100 and a route guidance program 2
00 is stored. The route search program 100 includes a search determination program 101, an intersection / connection road detection program 102, a progress determination program 103, a destination direction calculation program 104, and a mileage calculation program 1.
05, a recommended ranking calculation program 106, and a circuit determination program 107 are included. In addition, the route guidance program 200 includes an intersection guidance display program 202. The database 28 further includes map data 300 for displaying a map on the display 20, road data 302 for route search, and facility data 3 for display guidance.
04, voice data 306 for voice guidance is prepared. The road data includes node point data and intersection data, and is classified into general roads on which a route can be searched and narrow streets on which a route cannot be searched. That is,
Of the data stored in the database 28, for a partial area such as a narrow street, data indicating the direction in which the vehicle can travel on roads within the partial area (designated data such as one-way traffic, two-way traffic, and vehicle entry prohibition). Is not included.

The basic operation of the present apparatus configured as described above will be described. First, when performing a route search, a user
The input device 18 is used to specify a destination. On the other hand, the current position of the vehicle is recognized from the detection result of the GPS sensor 12 or the gyro sensor 14 and the speed pulse sensor 16. In the CPU 10, a route search program 100 stored in the ROM 24 is executed, and the route search is performed with reference to the road data 302 while using the data of the current position and the data of the destination.

In this case, in this embodiment, the search determination program 101 determines the possibility of a route search at the current position. As described above, since data indicating whether or not a route search is possible according to the type of road is given to the road data 302, the possibility of route search is determined using this data. As shown in FIG. 8, when the vehicle is located in the narrow street areas DA and DB, the route to the destination cannot be searched because the surroundings are narrow streets. In this case, in the present embodiment, the operation in the first guidance mode is performed as shown in FIG. On the other hand, when it is determined that the route from the current position of the vehicle to the destination can be searched, the operation in the second guidance mode is performed. This corresponds to the case where the vehicle is located on the roads LA to LD in FIG.

When a route search is performed, a route guidance program 200 is executed by the CPU 10 to execute a guidance process according to the searched route. In other words, the present position of the vehicle, which changes every moment, is recognized based on the detection results of the GPS sensor 12, the gyro sensor 14, and the speed pulse sensor 16. The CPU 10 extracts a map corresponding to the recognized current position from the map data 300 and displays the map on the display 20. The corresponding facility is extracted from the facility data 304 and displayed on the display 20. Further, at a guidance point such as an intersection, the corresponding voice is extracted from the voice data 306 and output from the speaker 22 as voice guidance. That is, a route guidance display is performed on the display 20, and a route guidance sound is output from the speaker 22.

By the way, in this embodiment, FIG.
As shown in (B), in any guidance mode,
The intersection / connection road detection program 102 is executed, and the intersection ahead of the route where the vehicle will arrive next is detected (step S10). When the intersection is detected, the progress judgment program 103 and the destination direction calculation program 1
04, the travel distance calculation program 105, the recommended rank calculation program 106, and the circuit determination program 107 are executed, and information to be displayed at the intersection is calculated with reference to the database 28 (step S12). Then, when the vehicle has passed a point at which intersection guidance is started (for example, 500 m before the intersection) (step S14), the intersection guidance display program 20
2 is executed, and the corresponding intersection information is displayed (step S16). Hereinafter, each case will be described in detail.

<Intersection Display 1> Next, the intersection display 1 in the present embodiment will be described. This display operation is performed in the case of the first guidance mode shown in FIG. 2A, that is, in the case where road data represented by narrow streets is not yet maintained, and the route ahead of the detected forward intersection is detected. 7 is a display example when a search cannot be performed. As described above, among the data stored in the database 28, for a partial area such as a narrow street, data indicating the direction in which the vehicle can travel on roads in the partial area (designation data such as one-way traffic and two-way traffic) is used. ) May not be included. This example is a preferred example in such a case.

FIG. 3A is an example, and the display 20 shows the vicinity of an intersection ahead of the vehicle in the traveling direction. As shown in the figure, an intersection K10 and a vehicle position mark M10 indicating a vehicle entering the intersection K10 are displayed. Since the vehicle can travel in the direction of the road L10, an arrow F10 is displayed. However, since the roads L12 and L14 are prohibited from entering the road, the entry prohibition mark M12 and the X mark M14 indicating that the vehicle cannot proceed are displayed.
The same applies to a case where entry from the intersection side is impossible due to one-way traffic regulation. An arrow M16 indicating the approximate direction of the destination is also displayed. Note that when the vehicle is in the narrow street area DA of FIG. 8, the arrow M16 indicates the start point P of the search route.
A may be displayed so as to indicate A.

The first guidance mode is a case where data is not prepared, and it may be considered that the display of the traffic regulation and the direction of the destination as described above cannot be performed. In any case, by displaying various types of information within a possible range, it is possible to give the driver a sense of security more than when no guidance is provided.

In the example shown in FIG. 1B, since the vehicle can travel in the directions of the roads L22 and L24, arrows F10 are displayed. However, although it is unknown whether there is any restriction such as entry ban on the road L20, it is impossible to proceed because the road is interrupted or the like, so the cross mark M14 is displayed.

The determination of the possibility of progress as described above is performed by the progress determination program 103, and the corresponding display is performed by the intersection guidance display program 202. More specifically, when an intersection is detected ahead of the vehicle in FIG. 2B, the process shown in FIG. First, referring to the road data 302, the road connecting to the front intersection is
It is determined by the connection road detection program 102 (step S20). Next, the progress determination program 103 checks whether or not the entry road is restricted from entering the connection road (excluding the road on which the vehicle is running). As a result, when entry is prohibited, the marks M12 and M14 are displayed as shown in FIG. 3A (step S22). With respect to a road on which no entry prohibition is imposed (or a road for which it is unknown), it is checked by the progress judgment program 103 whether the vehicle can proceed further (step S24).
As a result, when it is determined that the vehicle can proceed, an arrow F10 is displayed, and when it is determined that the vehicle cannot proceed, an X mark M14 is displayed (step S26). The case of the example of FIG.

For example, it is assumed that a vehicle is traveling on a road 1 toward a contact point 1 in a road network as shown in FIG. In this case, the point of contact 1 becomes the front intersection, and the roads 1-4
Is the connecting road. In this example, there are no restricted roads. Roads 2 and 3 continue ahead,
Road 4 is interrupted. For this reason, it is determined that the roads 2 and 3 can proceed and the road 4 cannot proceed. Therefore, the display at the contact 1 is as shown in FIG.

Further, following the above-mentioned travel calculation, the CPU 10 executes a destination direction calculation program 104.
That is, the coordinates of the destination, the map data 300, and the road data 302 are referred to, and the direction of the destination as viewed from the front intersection is calculated (step S28). This direction is displayed by the intersection guidance display program 202 as shown by an arrow M16 in FIG.

As described above, even when the route to the destination cannot be searched due to insufficient data, the directions of the roads and destinations that can travel can be displayed for each intersection. The driver can proceed toward the destination with reference to these guidance displays.

<Intersection display 2> Next, intersection display 2 in the present embodiment will be described. The following example is mainly in the case of the second guidance mode in FIG. 2 (A).
In some cases, the distance to the destination can be calculated depending on the data held by the user. In such a case, the following intersection displays 2 to 4 can be performed in the first guidance mode. For example, this corresponds to a case in which only the travelable direction designation data such as one-way traffic is missing.

This example is a display example in which a plurality of routes to the destination are searched. As shown in FIG. 5A, the point that the distance display M20 to the destination is displayed. 3
This is different from the intersection display 1 in (B). In FIG. 5A, an arrow F10 indicating a direction in which the vehicle can move, and a mark M1 indicating no entry.
2. For the mark M14 indicating that the vehicle cannot proceed, the display is performed based on the determination result by the progress determination program 103 shown in FIG.

In this example, as shown in FIG. 5B, a route to the destination is obtained by the route search program 100 for each road connected to the intersection obtained at the time of the progress judgment (step S30). Then, for each of the obtained routes, the travel distance from the intersection to the destination is calculated by the travel distance calculation program 105 (step S32), and the calculation result is displayed as the distance display M20 by the intersection guidance display program 202 ( Step S34). FIG. 5C shows another example, in which roads L10 to L1 are shown.
Any of 4 can proceed. The distance to the destination is 250 m for L10, 120 m for L12, and 1 for L14.
00 m. According to this display example, the driver can determine the traveling direction with reference to the traveling distance to the destination.

<Intersection display 3> Next, the intersection display 3 in the present embodiment will be described. This is also a display example when a plurality of routes have been searched for to the destination.
As shown in FIG. 3A, the difference from the intersection display 1 in FIG. 3B is that the recommended rank M30 leading to the destination is performed. That is, the distance display M20 in FIG.
Is displayed instead of the recommended rank M30. In FIG. 6 (A), marks M12, which indicate no entry,
The X mark M14 indicating that the vehicle cannot proceed is displayed based on the determination result by the progress determination program 103 shown in FIG.

In this example, as shown in FIG. 6B, the travel distances of the respective roads calculated in the step S32 are compared by the recommended rank calculation program 106, and the recommended ranks are assigned in the order of shorter distance. (Step S40). The recommended rank thus obtained is displayed by the intersection guidance display program 202 (step S4).
2). In this example, as shown in FIG.
The traveling distance in four directions is "100 m", and the traveling distance in road L12 direction is "180 m". Therefore, the recommended order is “1” for the road L14 and “2” for the road L12.
These rankings are displayed as shown in FIG.

The arrows F12 and F14 in FIG.
May be displayed as an arrow with a thickness corresponding to the recommended order,
An arrow may be displayed in a color corresponding to the recommended order. For example,
The most recommended direction is displayed in green, the next recommended direction is displayed in yellow, and the direction not recommended is displayed in red, or the higher the recommended order, the darker the color. Further, a ratio according to the recommended ranking may be displayed in%. In this case, the sum of the ratios of all the routes is set to 100%.

As a method of determining the recommended ranking of a plurality of routes, in addition to the method of determining the length of travel distance as in the above example, various methods such as the number of right / left turns, travel time, and road thickness are used. Factors may be taken into account.

<Intersection Display 4> Next, the intersection display 4 in the present embodiment will be described. This is also a display example when a plurality of routes to the destination are searched. This example corresponds to the example shown in FIG.
As shown in (A), a cross mark M15 is displayed on a circuitous road.

In this example, as shown in FIG. 7 (B), the traveling distances of the respective roads calculated in the step S32 are compared by the circuit determination program 107, and the one which is longer than the shortest distance by a certain distance or more is determined to be the circuit path. Is determined (step S50). For example, it is 100 m or more longer than the shortest distance, and 30% longer than the shortest distance. In the example of FIG. 5C, the road L14 is the shortest distance “100 m” to the destination among the roads L10 to L14. On the other hand, the road L10 is “250 m”, and the shortest distance is also 1.5 times. Therefore, the road L10 is determined to be a circuitous route. For this reason, for the road L10, the intersection guidance display program 202 sets the
The mark M15 is displayed (Step S52). For other routes, an arrow F15 indicating that progress is possible is displayed.

As a method of determining the circuitous route, in addition to the method of determining the traveling distance as in the above example, various factors such as the traveling time, the degree of traffic congestion, and the thickness of the road may be considered. May be.

There are many embodiments of the present invention, and various modifications can be made based on the above disclosure. For example, the following is also included. (1) In the above-described embodiment, the case of guidance display at an intersection has been described, but the present invention is applicable to general cases where a road branches. (2) Each mark shown in the above embodiment is also an example, and various designs may be used as needed. (3) In the above-described embodiment, guidance is provided only by display on the display. However, for example, voice guidance may be added, for example, "It is possible to go straight and turn left." (4) The present invention is suitable mainly for displaying intersections on narrow streets, but is applicable to general road driving. In particular, when there are a plurality of routes to the destination, only one of the routes determined by the travel distance or the travel time is displayed in the related art. For this reason, the user has no freedom in selecting a route. However, according to the present invention, when there are a plurality of routes, they are displayed, so that the user can be given freedom of route selection, and flexible route selection according to the situation is made possible.

(5) In the above-described embodiment, the operations in the first guidance mode and the second guidance mode are switched based on the determination result on the navigation device side, but the guidance mode may be arbitrarily specified. . For example, if the area around the driver's home is a narrow street, the operation in the first guidance mode is performed at first, but it is considered that guidance is not usually required since the area around the home is familiar. In such a case, the setting is such that only the operation in the second guidance mode is performed. Further, as in a general navigation device, the operation in the guidance mode in which only the recommended route is indicated by an arrow and the operation in the second guidance mode in which a plurality of arrows are indicated may be switched. (6) As described above, there are two navigation methods, and there is also a method of moving at the discretion of the driver without performing a route search. The present invention can be applied to such a case. (7) In each of the above embodiments, the present invention is applied to a navigation system for a vehicle, but the present invention is also applied to a mobile terminal for a pedestrian, a navigation device using a communication system, map display software in a personal computer, and the like. It is equally applicable.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The following effects are obtained. Even if the data is not ready,
Since the possibility of proceeding on the junction connecting road is determined and the result is displayed, guidance is provided even when traveling on a narrow street or the like, and a sense of security can be given. When a plurality of routes are found, they are displayed and information for comparing the routes is provided, so that various and flexible route selections can be made.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a basic operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example 1 in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display procedure corresponding to the display example of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example 2 and a display procedure in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example 3 and a display procedure in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example 4 and a display procedure in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a relationship between a search route and a narrow street.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... CPU 12 ... GPS sensor 14 ... Gyro sensor 16 ... Speed pulse sensor 18 ... Input device 20 ... Display 22 ... Speaker 28 ... Database 100 ... Route search program 101 ... Search judgment program 102 ... Intersection / connection road detection program 103 ... Progress Judgment program 104: destination direction calculation program 105: mileage calculation program 106 ... recommended rank calculation program 107 ... detour determination program 200 ... route guidance program 202 ... intersection guidance display program 300 ... map data 302 ... road data 304 ... facility data 306 … Audio data

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Hiroki Ishikawa 2--19-12 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Equos Research Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takeo Hayatoma 2--19 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo No. 12 F-term in Equos Research Co., Ltd. (reference) 2C032 HB22 HC08 HC14 HC15 HC22 HC31 HD03 HD07 HD16 2F029 AA02 AB07 AB13 AC02 AC08 AC14 AC18 5H180 FF05 FF12 FF22 FF27 FF32 FF35

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. Searching a route to a destination,
A navigation method for guiding a moving object along a searched route, comprising: determining whether the route search is possible; performing a route search when determining that the route search is possible; The first mode guidance along the searched route is performed, and when it is determined that the route search is not possible, among the connecting roads at the branch point in the moving direction of the moving object, the traveling road is determined. A navigation method for a mobile object, comprising: determining a possibility of proceeding with respect to another connecting road excluding the vehicle; and providing guidance in a second mode for displaying the result. 2. While searching for a route to a destination,
A navigation device that guides a moving body along a searched route, wherein a search determining unit determines whether the route search is possible;
When it is determined by the search determining means that a route search is possible, a route search is performed and guidance along the searched route is provided; first guide means; When it is determined that it is possible, among the connecting roads at the branch point in the moving direction of the moving body, the possibility of progressing on other connecting roads other than the traveling road is determined, and the result is displayed. 2 means of guidance;
A navigation device for a mobile object, comprising: 3. A branch detecting means for detecting a branch point in a moving direction of a moving object; a connecting road detecting means for detecting a connecting road of the branch point detected by the detecting means; a connecting road detected by the connecting road detecting means. A travel determining means for determining a possibility of progress on a connecting road other than a traveling road; a display means for displaying a branch point detected by the branch detecting means together with a determination result by the progress determining means; The navigation device for a mobile object according to claim 2, comprising: 4. A device for calculating a direction of a destination or a start point of the searched route from a branch point detected by the branch detection unit, and based on a calculation result, the destination or the destination is calculated. 4. The navigation device for a mobile object according to claim 3, wherein the direction of the route start point is displayed on the display means. 5. A device for calculating a distance to a destination on each of the connecting roads determined to be able to proceed by the progress determining means, and displaying a result of the calculation on the display means. The navigation device for a mobile object according to claim 3 or 4, wherein 6. A means for judging a recommended order as a route on each of the connection roads judged to be capable of proceeding by said progress judging means, and a result of the judgment is displayed on said display means. The navigation device for a mobile object according to any one of claims 3 to 5. 7. A means for calculating a distance to a destination on each of the connection roads determined to be able to travel by the progress determination means; a means for determining whether there is a detour by using the calculation result. The navigation device for a mobile object according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein a result of the determination is displayed on the display means. 8. A navigation device for a mobile object for guiding a route from a current position of a mobile object to a destination, means for detecting a current position of the mobile object; Map data that does not include driving direction designation data, and for other regions,
Storage means for storing map data including data indicating a direction in which the vehicle can travel in a road in the other area; determining means for determining, based on the map data, whether the current position of the moving object is within the partial area; When it is determined that the current position of the moving object is within the partial area, the traveling directions of the roads connected to the branch point in the moving direction of the moving object except for the road corresponding to the current position are determined. Judge the possibility of
Control means for displaying the result on an image display means together with a map;