JP2006053109A - Navigation system for vehicle, and route guide method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation system for a vehicle for properly avoiding a state performing sudden lane modification in response to a route guide. <P>SOLUTION: A navigation ECU constituting the navigation system determines a lane on a road positioned at a time point when the vehicle approaches up to 100 m to a branch point when guide performing right turning at the branch point on a route is planned by a display device and a speaker. The navigation ECU stops the guide when it determines that the determined lane is an improper lane in the case that the vehicle turns right at the branch point and retrieves the guide route up to a destination again. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention provides a vehicle navigation system that performs route guidance for a branch point whenever the vehicle approaches a branch point to be guided that exists on a destination route set as a route for reaching the destination from the departure point. The present invention relates to a route guidance method for a device and a vehicle navigation device.

In Patent Document 1, when a road having a plurality of lanes between a branch point where route guidance is to be performed and the vehicle position is included, a recommended travel that can appropriately proceed to the branch destination road to be guided There is disclosed a vehicle navigation apparatus that provides guidance in a lane.
JP 2000-18156 A

However, in practice, when the guidance is performed, the host vehicle is not necessarily in a situation where the traveling lane can be changed to the recommended lane. Therefore, when the vehicle cannot move to the recommended travel lane, it makes a right turn or a left turn according to the guidance, so it is necessary to make a sudden lane change just before the branch point, resulting in inappropriate guidance. It is also assumed that it becomes.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle navigation device that can appropriately avoid a situation in which a sudden lane change is performed according to route guidance, and a route guidance method for the device. Is to provide.

According to the vehicular navigation device of the first aspect, when the guidance means is scheduled to perform guidance for selecting a specific route at a branch point on the route, the control means may The lane on the road that is located when the point approaches a predetermined distance is determined. When the determined lane is determined to be an inappropriate lane for the vehicle to travel toward the specific route at the branch point, the guidance by the guidance unit is stopped.
The “inappropriate lane” as used herein refers to a case where, for example, a right turn is scheduled to be guided at a branch point, but the lane where the vehicle is located is a left turn lane or a straight lane. To tell. With such a configuration, it is possible to avoid performing guidance that prompts or suddenly changes the lane to the vehicle immediately before the branch point, thereby improving safety.

  According to the vehicle navigation device of claim 2, the control means re-searches the guidance route to the destination when the guidance means stops the guidance scheduled to be performed at the branch point. Even if the originally planned guidance route is deviated, the vehicle can be reliably guided to the destination.

  According to the vehicle navigation device of the third aspect, the control means determines the type of the road on which the vehicle is traveling based on the road information held by itself or the road information acquired from the outside. And the distance used as the timing which performs lane determination according to the determined kind of road is changed. That is, the traveling speed of the vehicle is usually different between a general road and a highway. Therefore, for example, in the case of an expressway, determination and guidance can be performed with sufficient time by setting a longer distance for performing lane determination than in the case of a general road.

  According to the vehicle navigation device of the fourth aspect, the control means obtains the traveling speed information of the vehicle from the vehicle speed detecting means provided on the vehicle side, and the timing for performing the lane determination according to the traveling speed. Change the distance to be. That is, as in claim 3, regardless of the type of road, according to the actual traveling speed of the vehicle, if the distance for performing the lane determination is set longer when the vehicle is at a higher speed than when the vehicle is at a low speed, It is possible to carry out determination and guidance with a margin.

  According to the vehicle navigation device of claim 5, the control means obtains the congestion situation of the road on which the vehicle is traveling and / or the road located in front of the road from the outside, and guide means according to the congestion situation. The guidance by is changed. In other words, it is difficult to change lanes when the road is congested. For example, the lane change guidance may be issued earlier or the lane change guidance may be canceled as in claims 1 and 2 By re-searching for a new route, guidance can be provided flexibly according to the congestion situation.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the in-vehicle navigation device 20 as one embodiment of the present invention. The in-vehicle navigation device 20 includes a position detector 24, a map data input device 26, an operation switch group 28, a navigation ECU (control means) 30 connected thereto, an external memory 32 connected to the navigation ECU 30, and a display device 34. And a speaker 35. The navigation ECU 30 is configured as a normal computer, and includes a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O, and a bus line for connecting these configurations.

  The position detector 24 includes a known gyroscope 38, a distance sensor 40, and a GPS receiver 42 for GPS (Global Positioning System) that detects the position of the vehicle based on radio waves from a satellite. Since these sensors 38, 40, and 42 have errors of different properties, they are configured to be used while being interpolated by a plurality of sensors. Depending on the accuracy, a part of the above may be used, and further, a steering rotation sensor, a wheel sensor of each rolling wheel, or the like may be used.

The map data input device 26 is a device for inputting various data including map matching data and map data for improving the accuracy of position detection. As a storage medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, or hard disk is generally used because of the amount of data, but another medium such as a memory card may be used.
The display device 34 is a color display device. On the screen of the display device 34, the vehicle current position mark input from the position detector 24, the map data input from the map data input device 26, and further on the map. Additional data such as a guide route to be displayed and landmarks of setting points to be described later can be displayed in an overlapping manner.

  Furthermore, it is configured to notify the driver of driving guidance by voice through the speaker 35, and driving guidance can be given to the driver by both display on the display device 34 and voice output from the speaker 35. For example, in the case of a right turn, a content such as “Please turn right at the next intersection” is output by voice. If the driver is notified by voice, the driver can confirm the traffic information of the set point without moving the viewpoint, and thus, further safe driving can be achieved. In addition to not only guidance for a branch point, but also when there are a plurality of lanes, lane guidance is given as to which lane is being driven. The navigation ECU 30, the display device 34, and the speaker 35 correspond to “guidance means” of the present invention.

The operation switch group 28 is, for example, a touch switch or a mechanical switch integrated with the display device 34 and used for various inputs. When the in-vehicle navigation device 20 inputs the position of the destination using the operation switch group 28, the in-vehicle navigation device 20 automatically selects the optimum route from the current position to the destination to form a guidance route, and the display device 34 and a so-called route guidance function that guides by voice through the speaker 35. As a method for automatically setting an optimal route, a method such as the Dijkstra method is known.
Further, the in-vehicle navigation device 20 includes a communication device 44. The communication device 44 is used for communication with the information center 10 as an external transmission source. As a device used as the communication device 44, a mobile communication device such as a car phone or a mobile phone is used. It may be used, or a dedicated receiver may be used.

  Here, the configuration of the information center 10 will be briefly described. The information center 10 collects an external event collection device 12 that collects external events such as road conditions from various sensors S attached near the road, and a variety of regulations and external event collection device 12 together with a road map in the center area. The road network data storage device 14 in which various traffic information created based on the external event is stored communicates with the navigation device 20 mounted on the vehicle via a wireless line such as a car phone or a mobile phone. Based on the position data (current location and destination) received from the communication device 16 and the navigation device 20 and the information stored in the road network data storage device 14, the target road such as traffic regulation or traffic jam is identified and the information is stored. And a control device 18 that is a main body of control to transmit via the communication device 16.

  By having such a configuration, the vehicle-mounted navigation device 20 performs the following operation. When the navigation ECU 30 selects a route information display process for displaying a guidance route on the display device 34 by a driver operating the operation switch group 28 from a menu displayed on the display device 34 after the power is turned on. The following processing is performed. That is, when the driver inputs the destination based on the map on the display device 34, the current location of the vehicle is obtained based on the satellite data obtained from the GPS receiver 42, and the Dijkstra method is used between the destination and the current location. A process of calculating the cost and obtaining the shortest route from the current location to the destination as the guidance route is performed. Then, the guidance route is displayed overlaid on the road map on the display device 44 to guide the driver of an appropriate route.

  In this guidance, “branch point guidance” and “lane guidance” are performed. The branch point guidance guides how to pass the guidance branch point every time it approaches the guidance branch point on the destination route. The “guidance branch point” refers only to a branch point that is determined to require guidance based on the road shape, surrounding conditions, or the like. Therefore, it does not indicate all the branch points that pass through on the destination route, but basically does not correspond to a branch point that passes only when traveling on a so-called “road”.

  The lane guidance provides guidance as to which lane to travel when there are a plurality of lanes that can be traveled. For example, only one right lane of two lanes is a right turn lane, If you are driving in a lane, you will be guided to the direction "700m ahead right. Please come to the right lane." Prior to this lane guidance, when a route having a plurality of driving lanes is included between the guidance branch point and the own vehicle position, the lane situation on the route between the own vehicle position and the guidance branch point changes. Based on the vehicle position, a recommended travel lane that can appropriately travel from the vehicle position to the route ahead of the guidance branch point is determined. And every time it approaches the point which should be guided in order to drive the determined recommended lane, predetermined lane guidance is performed.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing content executed by the navigation ECU 30 when determining the recommended travel lane. First, in the first step S1, whether there is a guidance branch point ahead of the position where the vehicle is present on the destination route, in this case, from the vehicle position to a predetermined distance ahead (for example, about 5 km / h ahead). It is determined whether there is a guidance branch point between the two. For example, the determination distance may be changed between a general road and an expressway.

  If a guidance branch point exists (step S1: YES), it is determined whether or not the road before the branch point (the vehicle position side) is two or more lanes. If there is one lane (step S2: NO), there is no need for lane guidance, so the process returns to S10. Determine the recommended travel lane for.

  In step S3, a lane that can travel to a branch destination at a guidance branch point is set as a recommended travel lane. In the following step S4, it is determined whether or not the point where the lane condition changes is traced to the own vehicle position contrary to the traveling direction, and if the tracking is not performed to the own vehicle position (step S4: NO), it continues. In step S5, it is determined whether the lane changes at the change point detected by reverse tracking. And when a lane changes (step S5: YES), a recommended travel lane is propagated according to the change content (step S6). In this way, the recommended travel lane from the vehicle position to the guidance branch point is determined by sequentially propagating the recommended travel lane from the guidance branch point to the host vehicle position. Then, as described above, based on the determined recommended travel lane, predetermined lane guidance is performed every time the vehicle approaches a point to be guided to travel the recommended travel lane. The details of the process for determining the recommended travel lane are disclosed in Patent Document 1.

Then, the navigation ECU 30 determines whether or not the vehicle has reached within 100 m before the guidance branch point (step S7), and if it has reached (“YES”), the vehicle has traveled in the recommended travel lane at that time. If it has not been reached (“NO”), the process returns to step S4.
If the vehicle is traveling in the recommended travel lane in step S8 (“YES”), the navigation ECU 30 returns to step S4. In this case, guidance as originally planned is performed at the guidance branch point. On the other hand, if the vehicle is not traveling in the recommended travel lane in step S8 ("NO"), the route to the destination that is appropriate when the vehicle travels on the traveling lane as it is is searched again (step S9). Return to S1.

  FIG. 1 shows a specific example relating to the processing of steps S7 to S9 in the flowchart of FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 1, in the initial guidance route, notification is made so as to prompt the driver to make a right turn at a branch point (intersection). That is, when the vehicle is driving in the right turn lane R 100m before the branch point (indicated by a broken line in the figure), the navigation ECU 30 may “turn right at the intersection 100m ahead” from the speaker 35, etc. Voice guidance is performed (step S8: YES).

  However, in the example of FIG. 1, the vehicle travels in the left turn lane L 100 m before the branch point, and the lane change prohibited zone is within 100 m from the branch point. Therefore, in this case (step S8: NO), the navigation ECU 30 performs voice guidance such as “Please go straight through the intersection 100m ahead. The route will be searched again” from the speaker 35. The notification that prompts the user to turn right is stopped, and the driver is notified that the guidance route is to be searched again because the traveling direction at the branch point is unscheduled.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the navigation ECU 30 constituting the navigation device 20 is supposed to perform, for example, guidance to turn right at the branch point on the route by the display device 34 and the speaker 35. If the vehicle determines the lane on the road that is located when the vehicle approaches 100 m, the determined lane is determined to be an inappropriate lane for the vehicle to turn right at the branch, The guidance was stopped. Therefore, it is possible to avoid performing guidance that prompts the vehicle to make a sudden or unreasonable lane change immediately before the branch point, and safety can be improved.
Further, the navigation ECU 30 re-searches the guidance route to the destination when the right turn guidance scheduled to be performed at the branch point is cancelled, so even if the navigation route that was originally planned is deviated, the navigation ECU 30 You can be surely guided to the ground.

(Second embodiment)
FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. Only different parts will be described below. The configuration of the second embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, and the contents of the control program executed by the navigation ECU 30 are slightly different.

  In the flowchart shown in FIG. 4, after executing step S <b> 6, the navigation ECU 30 determines the type of road on which the vehicle is traveling at that time from map data or information obtained from the information center 10 via the communication device 44. (Step S10). And according to the kind of the road, the distance (lane determination distance) used as the timing which performs lane determination in step S8 is set (step S11).

  That is, since the traveling speed of the vehicle is usually different between the general road and the highway, for example, the lane determination distance is set longer in the case of the highway than in the case of the general road. For example, in the first embodiment, if the lane determination distance for a general road is set to 100 m, the lane determination distance for an expressway is set to about 200 m. In step S12 instead of step S7, it is determined whether or not the distance from the guidance branch point is reached within the lane determination distance set in step S11. Other processes are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the navigation ECU 30 acquires the type of road on which the vehicle is traveling from the road information that it holds together with the map data, the road information acquired from the external information center 10, and the like. The lane determination distance is changed according to the determined road type. Therefore, determination and guidance can be performed with sufficient time in accordance with roads that generally have different vehicle traveling speeds, such as highways and ordinary roads.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 5 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, and only the parts different from the second embodiment will be described. In the third embodiment, when the navigation ECU 30 acquires vehicle speed information at that time from the vehicle speed sensor 40 provided on the vehicle side in step S13 instead of step S10, the acquired vehicle speed is set in step S14 instead of step S11. The lane determination distance is set accordingly. Other processes are the same as those in the second embodiment.

That is, as in the second embodiment, regardless of the type of road, according to the actual traveling speed of the vehicle, the distance used as the timing for determining the lane is set longer when the speed is higher than when the speed is low. For example, if the lane determination distance when the vehicle speed is 60 km / h is set to 100 m, the lane determination distance when the vehicle speed is 80 km / h is set to about 150 m.
According to the third embodiment configured as described above, the navigation ECU 30 acquires the travel speed information of the vehicle via the vehicle speed sensor 40, and changes the lane determination distance according to the travel speed. The determination and guidance can be performed with sufficient time according to the actual traveling speed.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and the following modifications are possible.
For example, as disclosed in FIG. 9 of Patent Document 1, the lane to which the lane is changed is congested, and if the lane change is guided at a normal guidance timing, for example, 700 m before the branch point, the lane is already in the lane. It is also assumed that the vehicle is clogged. Therefore, when the in-vehicle navigation device 20 acquires the traffic congestion status from the information center 10 via the communication device 44 and determines that it is better to give guidance early because the lane to which the lane is changed is congested. By guiding the lane change 900 m before the normal guidance timing, it is possible to make the driver change the lane in an easier situation.

In addition, the lane change guidance may be canceled in the same manner as in the first embodiment, or the route to the destination may be re-searched when the guidance is canceled, depending on the traffic situation. If comprised in this way, guidance can be performed flexibly according to the congestion condition of a road.
You may implement combining 2nd Example and 3rd Example. Furthermore, you may implement combining said control.

The 1st Example of this invention, The figure which shows the specific example regarding the process of step S7-S9 in the flowchart of FIG. A flowchart showing the processing content executed by the navigation ECU when determining the recommended travel lane Functional block diagram showing the overall configuration of the in-vehicle navigation system FIG. 2 equivalent diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 equivalent view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawing, 20 is a vehicle-mounted navigation device, 30 is a navigation ECU (guidance means, control means), 34 is a display device (guidance means), and 35 is a speaker (guidance means).

Claims (10)

A vehicle comprising guidance means for performing route guidance on a branch point whenever the vehicle approaches a branch point to be guided existing on a destination route set as a route to reach the destination from the departure point Navigation devices for
If the vehicle is scheduled to provide guidance for the vehicle to select a specific route at the branch point, the guide means is located when the vehicle approaches a predetermined distance from the branch point. The lane on the road is determined, and if the lane is determined to be an inappropriate lane for the vehicle to travel toward the specific route at the branch point, the guidance by the guidance unit is stopped. A vehicle navigation apparatus comprising control means for controlling in such a manner.   2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the control unit re-searches the guide route to the destination when the guide unit stops the guidance scheduled to be performed at the branch point. 3. Navigation device.   The control means determines the type of road on which the vehicle is traveling based on road information held by itself or road information acquired from outside, and determines the lane according to the determined type of road. The vehicle navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a distance to be performed is changed.   The control means acquires travel speed information of the vehicle from vehicle speed detection means provided on the vehicle side, and changes a distance as a timing for performing the lane determination according to the acquired travel speed. The vehicle navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   The control means obtains the congestion situation of the road on which the vehicle is traveling and / or the road located in front of the road from the outside, and changes the guidance by the guidance means according to the obtained congestion situation. The vehicle navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. A vehicle comprising guidance means for performing route guidance on a branch point whenever the vehicle approaches a branch point to be guided existing on a destination route set as a route to reach the destination from the departure point In the route guidance method of the navigation device for a vehicle,
When the guide means is scheduled to perform guidance that the vehicle should select a specific route at the branch point,
Determining the lane on the road that is located when the vehicle approaches a predetermined distance from the branch point;
When the lane is determined to be an inappropriate lane for the vehicle to travel toward the specific route at the branching point, the guidance by the guidance unit is stopped. Route guidance method.   7. The route guidance method for a vehicle navigation device according to claim 6, wherein when the guidance is stopped at the branch point, the guidance route to the destination is searched again.   The distance at which the type of road on which the vehicle is traveling is determined based on road information held by the vehicle or road information acquired from the outside, and the lane determination is performed according to the determined road type 8. The route guidance method for a vehicle navigation device according to claim 6 or 7, wherein:   The travel speed information of the vehicle is acquired from vehicle speed detection means provided on the vehicle side, and the distance used as the timing for performing the lane determination is changed according to the acquired travel speed. The route guidance method of the navigation apparatus for vehicles in any one of 8. 7. The congestion state of a road on which the vehicle is traveling and / or a road located in front of the road is acquired from the outside, and the guidance by the guide unit is changed according to the acquired congestion state. The route guidance method of the navigation apparatus for vehicles in any one of thru | or 9.

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