JP2007163404A - Navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation system, capable of verifying information about the facilities on a navigation screen, which belong to a small number of facility genres and to remote facility genres in another route driving for a shortest time in a dynamic manner re-routing, based on a change of a traffic condition, prior to the determination of a traveling route. <P>SOLUTION: The navigation system of the present invention comprises a route-specifying means for specifying a traveling route, from the present location to a destination; a traffic information acquiring means for acquiring traffic information, such as traffic congestion related road conditions from the outside; a routing means, using the traffic information acquired by the traffic information acquiring means and routing the shortest route for reaching a destination same as the specified destination during travel on the specified route; a facility genre information producing means for using the facility information on the specified route and producing display information related to a facility genre that satisfies specified conditions. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation apparatus that provides route guidance from a departure place to a destination.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, navigation devices that perform route guidance by setting a destination from a current location have been mounted on vehicles. This navigation device is configured to automatically derive and set a route from the deviated position to the destination again when the vehicle travels on a road that deviates from the route set at the time of departure while the vehicle is moving.

In addition, there is a navigation device that can re-search for an optimum route to a destination and guide a vehicle to the destination when the situation on the route scheduled to move changes at the time of departure (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).
JP 2002-90163 A

  However, in the conventional navigation device, when re-searching the route from the current location to the destination due to the change in the situation on the route, in order to re-search by giving priority to the arrival time to the destination and the shortest distance to the destination, I did not know what kind of facilities such as tourist spots and stores are in the newly re-searched route.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the conventional problems, and was searched when the navigation device re-searched the route from the present location to the destination in accordance with the change of the situation on the route. An object of the present invention is to provide a navigation device that provides facility information on each route candidate to the driver and allows the driver to select an optimum route from each route candidate.

The navigation device of the present invention, in a navigation device in which a road map is stored as electronic map data, a route search means for searching a road travel route from the current location to the destination;
Traffic information acquisition means for acquiring traffic information of the road, re-search means for searching for at least one route candidate to the destination when the traffic information is received, and each travel route searched by the re-search means Facility information searching means for searching for facility information therein, and information display means for simultaneously displaying the route candidate and the facility information.

  According to the navigation device configured in this way, when traffic information such as traffic jam information, accident information, traffic regulations, etc. ahead of the vehicle is received during route guidance, at least one route from the current position to the destination Because the facility information searching means searches for the facility information in the re-searched route candidates by the facility information searching means, and the facility information in each route candidate can be displayed simultaneously on the information display means. When selecting a route candidate, it is possible to select after confirming in advance the facilities in the route candidate. The facility information is public facilities such as convenience stores, gas stations, accommodation facilities, parking lots, and the like, and is stored in map data.

  Further, the information display means of the navigation device of the present invention is configured to display the estimated arrival time and / or travel distance to the facility for each route.

  According to the navigation device configured as described above, when facility information is displayed for each route candidate, it is possible to simultaneously display the time to arrive at each facility from the current location and / or the travel distance from the current location to each facility. Therefore, for example, when traffic information is received in a state where refueling is required and a plurality of routes are displayed, the travel distance to the gas station and the arrival time can be displayed at the same time.

  The information display means of the navigation device of the present invention is configured to acquire the current time when acquiring the traffic information and display the facility information based on the current time.

  According to the navigation device configured as described above, since the current time is acquired when the traffic information is acquired, the facility information that matches the current time is displayed when the re-searched candidate route is displayed. Can be displayed. For example, only facility information that can be used at the acquired current time can be displayed.

  In addition, the navigation device of the present invention includes facility visit history detection means for detecting facility visit history by type, and when displaying the facility information, the facility having a large visit history is preferentially displayed on the information display means. Is configured to do.

  According to the navigation device configured as described above, when the facility visit history is detected by type and the facility information in each route candidate is displayed simultaneously with each route candidate, the facility with the type having a large visit history is given priority. Can be displayed.

  In addition, the navigation device of the present invention comprises voice guidance means for notifying the facility information.

  According to the navigation device configured in this way, the driver can easily display the facility information in the route candidate by simultaneously displaying the route candidate and the facility information in the route candidate and notifying the facility information by voice guidance means. I can grasp it.

  The present invention re-searches for a new route from the current location to the destination when traffic information is received during route guidance travel, and simultaneously displays at least one route candidate and the facility information in the route candidate that have been re-searched. Therefore, it is possible to provide a navigation device that can select an optimum route according to the facility that the driver wants to use.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the navigation device.
As shown in FIG. 1, the navigation device N according to the first embodiment of the present invention detects an antenna 1, a GPS receiver 2, a distance sensor that detects the moving distance and speed of the vehicle, and a turning angular velocity of the vehicle. System unit for controlling the navigation device N, a sensor unit 3 including an angular velocity sensor, a VICS receiving unit 4 for acquiring VICS information from the outside, a map information storage unit 5 storing a road map as electronic map data The unit 6 includes an input unit 7 that inputs to the navigation device N, a display unit 8 that displays a map and route guidance, and a voice guidance unit 9 that outputs a voice during route guidance.

Next, the outline operation will be described.
The antenna 1 receives radio waves from a plurality of GPS satellites, generates a reception signal, and outputs it to the GPS receiver 2. As a result, the GPS receiving unit 2 generates current position information based on the position information included in the received signal and outputs the current position information to the system control unit 6.

  In addition, the sensor unit 3 generates position information indicating the current position of the vehicle independently obtained based on the detection result of the distance sensor that detects the moving distance and speed of the vehicle and the angular velocity sensor that detects the turning angular velocity of the vehicle. Output to the system control unit 6.

  The system control unit 6 mainly uses the current position information output from the sensor unit 3 and calculates the current position of the vehicle while correcting the current position information using the current position information output from the GPS receiving unit 2. Is output as display position information. The display unit 8 displays information on the map around the current position read from the map information storage unit 5 and information on the mark indicating the current position on the display screen. The system control unit 6 includes a storage unit that can store traffic information and route information.

  The VICS receiving unit 4 is a wireless device that receives VICS information including road traffic information, and outputs the information to the system control unit 6. Further, the map information storage unit 5 composed of a DVD-ROM device or an HDD device collectively stores the map information displayed on the display unit 8 and used for navigation processing, and the facility information existing on the map, Necessary map information and facility information are searched and the information is output to the system control unit 6. Further, the input unit 7 generates operation information corresponding to pressing of a switch installed on the main body of the navigation device N and operation of a menu displayed on the display unit 8 and outputs the operation information to the system control unit 6.

  On the other hand, the display unit 8 displays information necessary for navigation processing based on the display information output from the system control unit 6 and presents it to the driver. The information displayed on the display unit 8 includes map information for driving a vehicle and facility information existing on the map. An operation menu for requesting and setting navigation is also displayed. Also, the voice guidance unit 9 synthesizes and reproduces guidance voices necessary for navigation processing based on the voice information from the system control unit 6.

The processing of each of these components is performed in parallel under the overall control of the system control unit 6, and the navigation system is operating.
Next, the navigation operation including the facility information presentation process associated with the re-route search according to the change in the traffic situation according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the navigation device according to the present embodiment.
At the departure point A, the driver performs a menu operation on the map information and facility information displayed on the display unit 8 by the input unit 7 and inputs the destination point B and its route conditions. The route setting information is output to the system control unit 6.

  In the system control unit 6, the route setting means uses the route setting information to calculate the travel route information and holds it in the storage means. As a result, guidance information corresponding to the travel of the vehicle is output from the system control unit 6 to the display unit 8 and the voice guidance unit 9.

  In FIG. 2, a route is drawn in which a toll road enters the toll road from the nearest IC A to the departure point A, gets off at the nearest IC F at the departure point B, and travels to the destination point B. The driver follows the route guidance and travels toward the destination.

  Next, it is assumed that when the vehicle arrives at the point C, the VICS receiver 4 detects a traffic jam between IC D and IC F. The operation of the navigation device of the present invention at this time will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing of the navigation device in the first embodiment of the present invention.
When starting the engine of the vehicle, it is determined whether or not a route has been set by designating a destination (S3-1). When the route has not been set yet (S3-1, NO), it waits until the setting process is completed. On the other hand, when the route is set (S3-1, YES), the route guidance process according to the set route is started (S3-2).

  Thereafter, the reception of traffic information by the VICS receiver 4 is monitored (S3-3). At this time, if reception of traffic information is detected by the system control unit 6 (S3-3, YES), it is determined whether or not there has been a change in traffic conditions on the periphery of the set route held in the storage unit (S3- 4).

  At this time, when there is no change in the traffic situation on the set route (S3-4, NO), the process returns to monitoring of reception of traffic information (S3-3). If a change in traffic situation is determined (S3-4, YES), the search means provided in the system control unit 6 sets the same destination as the destination already set from the current position of the vehicle at that time. The shortest time route search process for reaching is executed (S3-5).

  At this time, it is determined whether or not another shortest time path exists by comparing the two paths (S3-6). When a route identical to the route that has already been set is searched, this process is terminated (S3-6, NO), and the process returns to monitoring of traffic information reception (S3-3). On the other hand, when another shortest route is searched (S3-6, YES), the facility genre narrowing process is executed (S3-7).

  Here, the facility genre narrowing process indicates a process of extracting the facility genre to be presented to the driver for the facility genre that is a classification related to the facility stored in the map information storage unit 5. As shown in FIG. 2, while traveling at point C between IC-B and IC-C, traffic information on the occurrence of traffic jam between IC-D and IC-E is received, and the shortest time route search is executed. It is assumed that a route to get off at IC-D that can arrive at the destination in a shorter time than the original set route is drawn. In this case, the toll road gets off at a point slightly away from the arrival place, and for example, it is predicted that there is no facility such as a gas station where the driver planned to stop by. Therefore, when the vehicle travels on another shortest time route that is dynamically searched for, a facility genre with a small number is extracted and information is presented to the driver. This extraction process is a process expressed as a facility genre narrowing process.

  Next, as a method for the facility genre narrowing process (S3-7), three methods will be described with reference to the drawings. 4, 5, and 6 are flowcharts illustrating the flow of the facility genre narrowing process.

First, the case of extracting facility genres with a small number or no facility genres existing on another shortest time path will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the facility genre information creating means of the system control unit 6 counts the number of facilities of the facility genre noted from the other shortest time path stored in the storage unit and the facility information stored in the map information storage unit (S4). -1).

  A determination process is performed to determine whether the count number is equal to or less than the threshold (S4-2). At this time, for example, if there are only two counts or less (S4-2, YES), information on the corresponding facility genre is stored in the storage unit (S4-3), and if it is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the process is performed. finish. Subsequently, the same processing is performed for the next facility genre of interest, and finally the processing for all the facility genres is performed, thereby completing the narrowing down of the facility genre.

Next, a case where a facility genre that is far from each facility genre among facility genres existing on another shortest time path is extracted will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the facility genre information creation means of the system control unit 6 calculates the shortest distance to the facility of the facility genre noted from the other shortest time path stored in the storage unit and the facility information stored in the map information storage unit. (S5-1).

  A determination process is performed to determine whether the shortest distance is greater than or equal to the threshold (S5-2). At this time, for example, when there is no facility of the corresponding facility genre of 20 km or more (S5-2, YES), the information of the corresponding facility genre is stored in the storage unit (S5-3). Subsequently, the same processing is performed for the next facility genre of interest, and finally the processing for all the facility genres is performed, thereby completing the narrowing down of the facility genre.

Next, a case where facility genres with a large number of visits are extracted from a driver's past route setting history will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the facility genre information creation means of the system control unit 6 uses the shortest time path stored in the storage unit and the facility genre noted from the facility information stored in the map information storage unit at the day of the week and the time zone at that time. It is determined whether the number of facilities with a large number of visit history is small or whether the distance is long (S6-3). At this time, for example, when the number of visits to a ramen shop is high on a holiday noon, but it is still on the day of the holiday, and there are few ramen shops on another shortest time route, or the distance to it is far (S6-3, YES), information on the corresponding facility genre is stored in the storage unit (S6-4).

  According to such a configuration, the facility genre information creation means can present to the driver information on facility genres that are few or do not exist on another shortest time path dynamically searched by the search means. After the facility genre narrowing process is performed in this way (S3-7), as shown in FIG. 3, it is determined whether there is a corresponding facility genre that meets the conditions (S3-8). (S3-8, YES), the facility genre information creation means creates an information list to be presented to the driver (S3-9).

  Then, after the process of creating the information list to be presented to the driver (S3-9), if the driver does not cancel the travel on another shortest time route (S3-10, NO), the process until the arrival at the destination During the interval (determined by S3-11), every time the facility approaches the facility (S3-12) in the facility genre information list, the driver's attention is urged by highlighting the facility mark on the map and voice guidance processing. Will be. (S3-13) For example, as shown in FIG. 2, “SA is the last note.” Is guided.

  Therefore, according to this configuration, when the search unit searches for the shortest time route different from the route set for the facility, the facility genre information creation unit generates the travel on the shortest time route. Based on the information, the facility mark on the map can be highlighted and voice notifications can be made, so it is possible to pass through facilities where the number is small, the distance is long, or the driver goes frequently on the route. It is possible to provide a navigation device comfortable for the driver that can prompt the driver to pay attention.

In addition, when traveling on another shortest route to the destination, if there is no facility where the driver wants to drop in or the vehicle is far away, the other route may be canceled (S3-10). In this case, for example, it is possible to specify a facility genre that does not exist on another shortest time route and search for the shortest time route to the destination via the relevant facility (S3-14). You can select multiple transit facilities. In this case, the route is re-searched by the search means and the route is set (S3-15). When the search via the corresponding facility genre is canceled, the state returns to a standby state for receiving traffic information.

  Therefore, according to this configuration, the search means can search for the shortest time route to the destination passing through the facility of the facility genre extracted by the facility genre information creating means, so that the facilities belonging to the facility genre that are not on the route A navigation device that is easy for the driver to easily search for the shortest route through the facility even when there is no facility belonging to the facility genre that is far away, or a facility genre that the user frequently visits Can be provided.

  The present invention provides information on the fact that there is no facility that the user wants to drop in on another shortest time route that has been dynamically searched for, information that the number is small, and information that the distance to the facility is long before determining the travel route. In addition, the driver can check and confirm the navigation screen, which is convenient and useful.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus in embodiment of this invention. Schematic which shows the process of the navigation apparatus in embodiment of this invention The flowchart which shows the process of the navigation apparatus of embodiment of this invention The flowchart which shows the facility genre narrowing-down process of the navigation apparatus in embodiment of this invention The flowchart which shows the facility genre narrowing-down process of the navigation apparatus in embodiment of this invention The flowchart which shows the facility genre narrowing-down process of the navigation apparatus in embodiment of this invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Antenna 2 GPS receiving part 3 Sensor part 4 VICS receiving part 5 Map information storage part 6 System control part 7 Input part 8 Display part 9 Voice guidance part N Navigation apparatus

Claims (5)

In a navigation device in which a road map is stored as electronic map data,
Route search means for searching for a road route from the current location to the destination;
Traffic information acquisition means for acquiring traffic information of the road;
Re-search means for searching for at least one route candidate to the destination when receiving the traffic information;
Facility information search means for searching for facility information in each travel route searched by the re-search means, information display means for displaying the route candidate and the facility information,
A navigation device comprising: a navigation device.   The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information display unit displays a scheduled arrival time and / or a travel distance to the facility for each route.   The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information display unit acquires a current time when acquiring the traffic information, and displays the facility information based on the current time.   The navigation device includes facility visit history detection means for detecting facility visit history by type, and preferentially displays facilities with a large visit history when displaying the facility information on the information display means. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the navigation device comprises voice guidance means for notifying the facility information.

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