JP2007085996A - Navigation unit and navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation unit or a navigation system capable of providing information for more assured use of a facility that a user desires to use. <P>SOLUTION: An information center 12 collects the usable information for the facility via the Internet 13, a control circuit 11 searches a guide objective facility existing in the periphery of a guide route, based on map information, and acquires the usable information as to the searched guide objective facility from the information center 12 via a communication device 5, when the user sets a kind of the guide objective facility via an operation switch or the like, in the navigation unit 1. The control circuit 11 controls the information of the facility judged usable, to notify it until a vehicle arrives at a destination on the basis of the acquired information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention includes a navigation device having a function of notifying information about facilities existing around a guidance route, and the navigation device, and an information center that collects information and provides it to the device as necessary. Relates to a navigation system.

  Conventionally, some vehicle navigation devices have a function of displaying a specific facility on a guidance route near the current location. However, it is not possible to determine whether there is a facility of the same type as that facility until the destination by simply displaying the facility near the current location. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to determine whether to stop at a facility near the current location or whether it is not necessary to stop yet. For example, when to stop at a gas station or convenience store (hereinafter referred to as a convenience store) is an important point in planning a drive, and whether there is such a facility of the same type on the guidance route to the destination There was a problem that it was difficult to understand and it was difficult to properly plan the drive.

As a technique for solving the above problems, there is a technique disclosed in Patent Document 1. This is the optimal timing for the user to use the facility by notifying how many facilities there are for a given facility along the driving route of the vehicle and what number of facilities are approaching now. Can be selected.
JP 2003-148978 A

The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 is designed so that the user can plan in advance so that the facility is confirmed in the traveling route, or at what timing during the traveling. This is based on the premise of proper use. However, even if the user has obtained in advance information on how many facilities are available, it is assumed that the business hours of the facility have ended when the user actually arrives at the last facility. Is done. In such a case, the information obtained in advance is not useful as a result.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a navigation apparatus capable of providing information so that a facility desired by a user can be used more reliably, and its navigation. The object is to provide a navigation system using the device.

According to the navigation device of the first aspect, when the user sets the type of the facility to be notified through the facility setting means, the search means searches for the notification target facility existing around the guidance route based on the map information. . And if the information acquisition means acquires the usable information about the notified object facility, the control means determines the information to be notified that is available until it arrives at the destination based on the available information. Control is performed so as to notify the information.
With this configuration, the facility information that can be reliably used can be notified to the user, so that the user can be notified before reaching the destination based on the provided information. It is possible to more appropriately determine when the facility should be used, and convenience is improved.

  According to the navigation device of the second aspect, since the control unit performs control so as to notify the number of facilities to be notified that are determined to be usable, the user arrives at the destination when the number of facilities that can actually be used is reached. You can be sure of how many you have to do.

  According to the navigation device of claim 3, the control means controls so as to notify the facility to be notified at each time point as the notification target facility in the guidance route and the remaining facility up to the destination. Therefore, the user can determine the timing of using the facility with reference to the notified number.

  According to the navigation device of the fourth aspect, since the control unit controls the notification of information by adding a condition related to the notification set by the condition setting unit, the user is notified of the information under conditions favorable to the user. Can be set.

  According to the navigation device of the fifth aspect, the condition set via the condition setting means is the remaining number of notification target facilities that can be used before arrival at the destination where the information notification is started. Therefore, the user can start notification when the remaining number of notification target facilities reaches, for example, “5”, and can determine at what timing the notification target facility is to be used with that as a base point. it can. In addition, it is possible to suppress notification at the time when the user is clearly unnecessary.

  According to the navigation device of the sixth aspect, since the condition set via the condition setting means is the time for starting the information notification, the user starts the notification when the time becomes, for example, 16:00. As described above, the notification can be started from the time when the possibility of using the notification target facility becomes higher.

  According to the navigation device of the seventh aspect, the condition set via the condition setting means is information related to the available time of the facility to be notified. That is, even if a previously searched notification target facility can be used by the time it arrives for the purpose, the user may not necessarily be notified of all of them. Therefore, the user more specifically designates a time zone in which the user is highly likely to use the notification target facility, for example, to notify the information about the facility that can be used even after 20:00. Notification can be started at a proper timing.

  According to the navigation system of the eighth aspect, the information center collects usable information of each facility via the communication network. And the information acquisition means of a navigation apparatus acquires the usable information about alerting | reporting object facility from an information center via a communication means. Therefore, since the navigation apparatus can acquire the latest available information collected by the information center for the notification target facility, the user can more reliably determine whether the notification target facility is actually available. Information can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment showing a navigation system of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the navigation system. The navigation device 1 includes a position detector (position acquisition means) 2 for detecting the current position of the vehicle, an operation switch (facility setting means, condition setting means) 3, a remote control terminal (hereinafter referred to as remote control) 4a, and a remote control (facility Remote control sensor 4 for inputting signals from setting means, condition setting means) 4a, communication device (communication means, information acquisition means) 5, VICS device 6, map data input device (storage means) 7, display device 8, voice input An output device (facility setting means, condition setting means, notification means) 9 and an external memory 10 for storing various data are provided. In addition, various processes are executed in accordance with information and data input via these, and a control circuit (search means, control means) 11 for controlling these is provided.

  The position detector 2 receives a radio wave transmitted from an artificial satellite for GPS (Global Positioning System) via a GPS antenna, and is added to the vehicle and a GPS receiver 2a that detects the position, direction, speed, etc. of the vehicle. A gyroscope 2b for detecting the magnitude of the rotational motion, a distance sensor 2c for detecting the distance traveled from the longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle, and the like, and a geomagnetic sensor 2d for detecting the traveling direction from the geomagnetism. Yes. Each of the sensors 2a to 2d has an error of a different property, and is configured to be used while complementing each other. Depending on the accuracy, some of the sensors described above may be used, or a steering rotation sensor, a wheel sensor for each rolling wheel, or the like may be used.

  As the operation switch 3 for inputting various instructions from the user, a touch panel installed on the display screen, a mechanical key switch provided around the display device 8 and the like are used. It is done. Note that the touch panel and the display device 8 are laminated and integrated, and there are various types of touch panels such as a pressure-sensitive method, an electromagnetic induction method, a capacitance method, and a combination thereof. May be. The remote controller 4a is an operation terminal for inputting various instructions in the same manner as the operation switch 3.

  The communication device 5 is connected to a car phone (not shown) and has a function of acquiring information from the information center 12 or connecting to the Internet and acquiring information from a server on the Internet. The VICS device 6 receives FM broadcast signals via a radio antenna (not shown), or receives radio waves from a fixed station for VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System, registered trademark) service arranged near the road. A beacon signal and an optical beacon signal are received. This received information is sent to the control circuit 11 for processing.

The map data input device 7 is a device for inputting various data including so-called map matching data, map data, and mark data for improving the accuracy of position specification. As a recording medium for these data, a CD-ROM or DVD is generally used because of the amount of data, but another medium such as a magnetic storage device such as a hard disk or a memory card may be used.
The road data in the map data is a map constructed by connecting a plurality of nodes such as intersections with links. For each link, a unique number (link ID) for identifying the link and the length of the link are set. Link length, x and y coordinates of link start and end, link road width, road type (indicating road information such as toll road), road ID for identifying road (eg national highway ○ Link information consisting of data on such roads). In the map data, place name information, traffic information, and facility information are stored together with their coordinates (x, y coordinates). In addition, the facility type and facility guidance information are stored together with the facility position coordinates as facility information.

  The display device 8 for performing various displays such as a map display screen and a TV screen is a color display device, such as a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or a CRT, any of which may be used. The display screen of the display device 8 includes a mark indicating the current location identified from the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detector 2 and the map data input from the map data input device 7, a guidance route to the destination, and a name. Additional data such as landmarks and various facility marks can be displayed in an overlapping manner. Also, a facility guide or the like can be displayed based on the facility information described above. The voice input / output device 9 recognizes the voice of the driver or the like input via a microphone (not shown), and also provides facility guidance and various guidance voices input from the map data input device 7, and communication devices 5 and 5. It is possible to output a reading voice of information acquired through the VICS device 6.

  The control circuit 11 is configured around a well-known microcomputer including a CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O and a bus line connecting these configurations. Based on a program stored in the ROM and RAM, Based on each detection signal from the position detector 2, the current position of the vehicle is calculated as a set of coordinates and traveling directions, or a map near the current position read via the map data input device 7 is displayed on the display device 8. Perform map display processing.

  The control circuit 11 selects a destination facility according to the operation of the operation switch 3 or the remote controller 4a based on the point data stored in the map data input device 7, and the optimum route from the current position to the destination. Route guidance processing is performed by performing route calculation for automatically obtaining. As a method for automatically setting an optimum route in this way, a method such as the Dijkstra method is known. In the route guidance process, the number of facilities of a specific facility type that the user passes by before reaching the destination is guided, and the notification target facility guidance process is performed to guide the facility on the condition that the user wants to stop by.

  On the other hand, the information center 12, for example, data uploaded to the information center 12 directly from each facility 14 (only one is shown) via a communication network such as the Internet 13 or content uploaded to a server. From the above, available information about each facility 14 is acquired. Here, the available information is information related to the date and time for using the facility, such as business hours such as shops, business days / regular holidays, and opening times and closed days such as museums. When the navigation device 1 accesses the information center 12 from the communication device 5 via a telephone communication network (not shown), the data of the usable information is downloaded via the communication device 15 on the information center 12 side. ing.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the facility guidance process performed by the control circuit 11. The control circuit 11 informs the user of the destination and the type of facility to be notified (for example, gas station, convenience store, post office, bank, hospital, etc. For example, if it is a chain store, the name of the chain store is the type of facility to be notified) May be displayed on the display device 8 to prompt input from the operation switch 3 or the remote controller 4a (hereinafter referred to as the operation switch 3 or the like) (step S1). The destination inputted from the operation switch 3 or the like and the type of the facility to be notified to be guided are stored in a memory inside the control circuit 11, and the control circuit 11 obtains a route from the present location as the departure point to the destination. Start route guidance.
Then, the control circuit 11 stores, in the map data input device 7, a facility having a coordinate adjacent to the coordinate of the route (referred to as a facility on the route) among the facilities corresponding to the type of the facility to be notified stored in the memory. Extraction is performed based on the facility type and the position coordinates in the facility information in the map data, and the number of extracted notification target facilities is calculated (step S2).

  Subsequently, the control circuit 11 determines whether one or more guidance target facilities (notification target facilities) are present in front of the guidance route (step S3), and if there is a guidance target facility (“YES”). ) It is determined whether or not the current position coordinate approaches the position coordinate of the latest facility (whether it is within a predetermined distance range, for example, the display range of the map on the display device 8) (step S4). If the facility is approached ("YES"), it is determined whether or not it is time to guide the facility at that time (step S5). The determination in step S5 is such that the guidance timing is set according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  If it is determined that it is the guidance timing (“YES”) in step S5, the control circuit 11 provides guidance for the facility to be guided (step S6), and then returns to step S3. Moreover, also when it is judged as "NO" by step S4 or S5, it returns to step S3. Then, when all the guidance target facilities disappear in step S3 (“NO”), it is determined whether or not the facility guidance is to be terminated (step S7). If the facility guidance is to be continued (“NO”), step S1 is performed. Return to.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing guidance timing setting processing. The control circuit 11 obtains the condition regarding the facility guidance notification set by the user together with the guidance target facility set in step S1 in FIG. 2 (step S11). Here, when the user sets any condition, at least “notify the facility that can be used when the vehicle travels on the day and passes the route in front of the facility” is the minimum condition (others Details will be described later). Also, there is a case where setting by the user is not particularly performed. Then, the control circuit 11 accesses the information center 12 via the communication device 5 and obtains usable information about the guidance target facility (step S12).

  Further, the control circuit 11 obtains the remaining distance to the destination and the remaining time until the estimated arrival time from the processing result of its own navigation function unit, and obtains the congestion information of the guide route through the VICS device 6. (Step S13). The traffic jam information is used for correcting the remaining time. Then, when the current date and time information is acquired from a clock function (not shown) (such as a real time clock IC) (step S15), guidance timing is set based on the various information acquired above (step S16).

  Here, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing details of the guidance timing setting process in step S16. First, the control circuit 11 determines whether or not the user setting obtained in step S11 has a setting condition regarding facility guidance notification (step S20). Here, when there is no setting condition (“NO”), the control circuit 11 determines the total number of guidance target facilities existing around the guidance route and the number of the first facility from the beginning. It sets so that it may notify at any time (step S21).

  If there is a setting condition related to notification in step S20 ("YES"), the control circuit 11 can be used from all the guidance target facilities until the expected time when the vehicle can arrive at the destination and that day. The total number of facilities and the current number of facilities remaining until the destination is set so as to be notified at any time (the aforementioned minimum condition, step S22). For example, if the current time is 15:00 and the estimated arrival time is 20:00, it can be used between 15:00 and 20:00 among the guidance target facilities existing in the guidance route. The thing is filtered, the total number of them is obtained, and the number of each facility up to the destination is notified at any time.

Subsequently, the control circuit 11 determines whether or not the user has set the number of remaining facilities as a notification condition by itself (step S23), and if the number of remaining facilities is set (“YES”). The facility filtered at step S22 is set to start notification from the time when the remaining number of facilities reaches the set value (step S24). For example, when the guidance target facility is “30” on the guidance route and the remaining facility number is set to “5”, the notification is started from the 26th facility.
Subsequently, the control circuit 11 determines whether there is an available time for notification for the guidance target facility (step S25). Here, “available time for notification” means, for example, the above-mentioned time 20:00 when notification is made for a store that is open even after 20:00. If this time condition is set (“YES”), the control circuit 11 sets so as to filter and notify the information corresponding to the condition from the facility information obtained in step S12 of FIG. 3 (step S26). ).

  Then, the control circuit 11 determines whether or not a notification start time is set (step S27). Here, the “notification start time” means, for example, the time 19:30 for causing notification after the current time reaches 19:30. If this time condition is set (“YES”), the control circuit 11 sets so as to notify after the current time becomes the set time (step S28). In the above flow, when the steps S22, S24, S26, and S28 are sequentially passed, these notification conditions are weighted (AND) control.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a more specific application example, and schematically shows a guide route from the current location to the destination. In this example, the current location is “Anjo City, Aichi Prefecture”, the destination is set to “Korankei” in “Asuke Town, Aichi Prefecture”, and “Toyota City” is routed along the way. . In addition, the guidance target facility is set to “convenience store (convenience store)”.
In this case, there are a total of 32 stores in the vicinity of the guide route, and the information center 12 acquires in advance information on the availability of these stores, and the navigation device 1 downloads the information. Convenience stores are concentrated in urban areas such as Toyota City, and the number of convenience stores decreases when going to a suburb far from the urban area.

Also, among these, if there is a store that happens to be closed on the day or is closed at that time, it cannot be actually used even if such store is notified. Therefore, if the driver who is the user sets the minimum condition in the user setting, useless notification is not performed for stores that cannot be actually used. For example, in FIG. 5, # 4 to # 10, # 20, # 22 to # 30 (not shown) are convenience stores determined to be unusable and are not subject to notification, and the number of stores that can actually be used is “ 15 ”.
For the driver who is a user, it seems that the purpose (for example, buying canned coffee) can be generally achieved by using any convenience store, but it is not always necessary to receive guidance from the first store # 1. In some cases. For example, if you can use any store from the store # 18 near the end of Toyota city to store # 32 in Asukecho just before the destination, you can say canned coffee at the right time by the driver. This is the case.

  If it is notified that there is a convenience store according to the above case, for example, if the number of remaining facilities “5” is set in the user setting, the notification is started from the store # 18 in step S24 of FIG. Be controlled. In this case, the first notification is given by the voice input / output device 9, for example, “The 15th convenience store that can be used now will soon arrive at the remaining fifth convenience store”. That is, if notification is made even in Toyota City, notification is performed at a high frequency even though there is no intention to use a convenience store. In order to avoid such unnecessary notification, the setting of the number of remaining facilities is effective.

  Or, when it is desired to start the notification at an approximate time without clearly setting the number of remaining facilities, for example, “Start the notification after 15:00 for stores that have been opened after 16:00”. If user settings are made, notification of a convenience store that can be used in steps S26 and S28 can be started after 15:00. Therefore, even when the traffic situation at that time or a detour is taken, it is possible to set an appropriate notification condition in a flexible manner.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the information center 12 collects the usable information of each facility via the Internet 13, and the navigation device 1 allows the user to select the facility to be guided through the operation switch 3 or the like. When the type is set, the control circuit 11 searches for guidance target facilities existing around the guidance route based on the map information, and obtains usable information about the searched guidance target facilities from the information center 12. And based on the acquired information, it controls to alert | report the information of the facility judged to be available before a vehicle arrives at the destination. Therefore, since it is possible to inform the driver of information on the facilities that can be used with certainty, the driver should use the facilities at any time before arriving at the destination based on the provided information. Can be determined more appropriately, and convenience is improved.

In addition, since the navigation apparatus 1 obtains usable information about the facility to be notified from the information center 12 that collects information via the Internet 13, it can always obtain the latest information. Whether or not the notification target facility is actually available can be obtained as more reliable information.
In addition, the control circuit 11 notifies the number of facilities determined to be usable, and the facility to be notified at each time point is the guidance target facility in the guidance route, and the number of the remaining facilities up to the destination. Therefore, the driver can surely know how many facilities are actually available before reaching the destination, and the timing of using the facilities with reference to the notified number. Can be determined.

Furthermore, since the control circuit 11 controls the information notification by adding a condition related to the notification set by the operation switch 3 or the like, the driver can make a setting so that the information is notified under conditions favorable to the driver. It becomes possible. Specifically, since the above condition is the remaining number of facilities that can be used until the arrival at the destination, which starts the notification, the driver will be notified when the remaining number of facilities to be notified reaches an appropriate value. Notification can be started, and it is possible to determine at what timing the facility is to be used with that point as a base point. In addition, it is possible to suppress notification at the time when the driver is clearly considered unnecessary.
Further, since the above condition is the time at which the information notification is started, the driver can start the notification from the time at which the driver is more likely to use the notification target facility. In addition, since the above conditions are information related to the available time of the facility, the driver more specifically designates a time zone in which the driver is likely to use the facility, and starts notification at an appropriate timing. be able to.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above or shown in the drawings, and the following modifications are possible.
The notification control conditions set by the user may be set by appropriately selecting necessary ones. Also, means for the user to set the notification control condition may be provided as necessary.
In order for the navigation device 1 to obtain available information from the information center, for example, if the above information is provided via the VICS infrastructure, the information can also be obtained via the VICS device 6.
Moreover, what is necessary is just to perform acquisition of VICS information as needed.
The communication network for collecting information that can be used by the information center 12 is not limited to the Internet 13, but may be a dedicated communication line, for example.
Further, the available information is not necessarily acquired from the information center 12, and may be stored in advance together with each facility in the map data. Therefore, in this case, the map data input device 7 also functions as an information acquisition unit, and the information center 12 is not necessary.
The present invention is not limited to a vehicle navigation device, and can be applied to other general navigation devices.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation system according to an embodiment of the navigation system of the present invention. The flowchart which shows the facility guidance process performed by the control circuit of a navigation apparatus Flow chart showing guidance timing setting processing The flowchart which shows the detail of the guidance timing setting process in step S16 of FIG. A diagram showing a more specific application example and schematically showing the guide route from the current location to the destination

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 1 is a navigation device, 2 is a position detector (position acquisition means), 3 is an operation switch (facility setting means, condition setting means), 4a is a remote control terminal (facility setting means, condition setting means), and 5 is Communication device (communication means, information acquisition means), 6 is a VICS device 6, 7 is a map data input device (storage means), 9 is a voice input / output device (facility setting means, condition setting means, notification means), 11 is a control Circuit (search means, control means), 12 is an information center, and 13 is the Internet (communication network).

Claims (8)

In a navigation device having a function of notifying information about a guidance route from a departure point or a current location to a destination based on map information and facilities existing around the guidance route,
Storage means for storing map information including facility information that associates the type and location of the facility;
Facility setting means for setting the type of facility to be notified;
Search means for searching based on map information stored in the storage means for a notification target facility set by the facility setting means existing around the guidance route from the starting point or the current location to the destination;
Information acquisition means for acquiring information (available information) about the date and time when each facility can be used for the notification target facility searched by the search means;
Control means for controlling so as to notify the information about the facility to be notified that is determined to be available before arrival at the destination based on the available information acquired through the information acquiring means; A navigation device comprising:   The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs control so as to notify the number of notification target facilities determined to be usable.   The said control means controls so that it may alert | report how many facilities remain | survived to the said destination by the alerting | reporting target facility in the said guidance route | guide facility in the said guidance route. The navigation device described. Comprising a condition setting means for setting a condition relating to the notification;
The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the notification of the information by adding the condition set by the condition setting unit.   5. The navigation according to claim 4, wherein the condition set through the condition setting means is the remaining number of notification target facilities that can be used until the arrival at the destination for starting notification of the information. apparatus.   The navigation apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the condition set through the condition setting means is a time at which the information notification is started.   The navigation device according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the condition set through the condition setting means is information relating to an available time of the facility to be notified. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
It is a navigation system composed of an information center that collects information to be provided to this navigation device and provides it to the device as necessary,
The information center collects the available information via a communication network;
The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein the information acquisition unit of the navigation apparatus acquires usable information about the notification target facility from the information center via a communication unit.

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