JP2007232578A - System and method for providing route information and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide route information which enables comparison of costs in the case of using an automobile with fares in the case of using public transport in consideration of the number of passengers in the case of using the automobile. <P>SOLUTION: A route information providing system can be mounted to a vehicle-mounted navigation system or an information apparatus such as a PC and a cellular phone used at home. A user inputs the number of passengers of an automobile and a destination to an input device. The route information providing system acquires map data and public transport data from an internal storage medium, an external database, or the like. An operation means computes a route using an automobile and cost per person using the automobile from a starting location to the destination in the case of using the automobile to compute costs using the automobile for each person on the basis of the number of persons. The operation means computes a route and fares using public transport from the starting location to the destination on the basis of the public transport data. A display means displays at least cost per person using the automobile and the fares using public transport on a display device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for providing information on a route to a destination and a necessary fee.

  Providing information such as the route to the destination and the transportation fee required to reach the destination to users connected to a server on the Internet using a personal computer (PC) or mobile phone Service is known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an apparatus that can collectively perform route guidance when traveling using public transportation such as a train or bus and route guidance when traveling using a private car. Has been proposed. On the other hand, in-vehicle navigation devices and the like are known that have a function of searching for a route from the current location to a destination and providing route information including necessary highway tolls.

JP 2003-315076 A

  The above-mentioned services on the Internet or navigation device functions provide a per-person fee when using public transportation, but provide a fee per private vehicle when using a private car. To do. In practice, however, a plurality of people often ride in private cars, and the more people ride, the lower the charge per person. In this regard, the service on the Internet or the function of the navigation device has a problem that it is not possible to compare charges considering the number of passengers in a private car.

  The above-mentioned thing is mentioned as an example as a subject which the present invention tends to solve. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide route information that allows a charge comparison with the case of using public transportation in consideration of the number of passengers when using an automobile.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a route information providing device, an input device for inputting at least the number of passengers and a destination of a car by a user, map data acquiring means for acquiring map data, and public transportation data Based on the map data, the public transportation data acquisition means for acquiring the vehicle usage route and the vehicle usage fee from the departure point to the destination when using the vehicle, the vehicle usage fee and the boarding Calculate the per-car charge from the number of people, and based on the public transport data, use the public transport route from the starting point to the destination and the public transport charge when using public transport. Computing means for calculating; display means for displaying on the display device the per-car usage fee and the public transportation usage fee; Characterized in that it comprises a.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a route information providing method executed by an information device including an input device, a display device, and a computer, and an input for receiving input to the input device at least about the number of passengers and a destination A process, a map data acquisition process for acquiring map data, a public transport data acquisition process for acquiring public transport data, and from the starting point when using a car to the destination based on the map data Calculate the vehicle usage route and the vehicle usage fee, calculate the vehicle usage fee from the vehicle usage fee and the number of passengers, and use the public transportation system based on the public transportation data. A calculation step of calculating a public transport use route and a public transport use fee from the destination to the destination; A display step of displaying the serial motorists per rates and the public transport fee on the display device, characterized in that it comprises a.

  The invention according to claim 5 is a route information providing program executed by an information device including an input device, a display device, and a computer, and receives an input to the input device regarding at least the number of passengers and the destination of the car. Means for acquiring map data, map data acquiring means for acquiring map data, public transport data acquiring means for acquiring public transport data, and a vehicle use route from the starting point to the destination when using a car based on the map data And the vehicle usage fee is calculated, the vehicle usage fee and the number of passengers are calculated per vehicle usage per person, and based on the public transportation data, the purpose from the starting point when using public transportation Calculation means for calculating public transport route to the ground and public transport charge, and And characterized by causing the computer to function the motor vehicle utilized per fee and display means for displaying on the display device said public transport rates, as.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the route information providing device acquires an input device for inputting at least the number of passengers and a destination of a vehicle by a user, a map data acquiring unit for acquiring map data, and acquiring public transportation data. Based on the public transport data acquisition means and the map data, the vehicle usage route and the vehicle usage fee from the departure point when using the vehicle to the destination are calculated, and from the vehicle usage fee and the number of passengers Calculate the per-car charge and calculate the public transport route and the public transport charge from the starting point to the destination when using public transport based on the public transport data A calculation means; and a display means for displaying the charge per car use per person and the public transport use charge on a display device; Provided.

  The above route information providing device can be mounted, for example, on a vehicle-mounted navigation device or a terminal device such as a PC or a mobile phone used at home. The user inputs at least the number of passengers and the destination of the car to the input device. Normally, the user also inputs the departure place, but if there is no input, the current position of the vehicle, PC, mobile phone, etc. may be automatically set as the departure place. Further, the route information providing apparatus acquires map data and public transportation data from an internal storage medium or an external database. Then, the computing means calculates a vehicle usage route and a vehicle usage fee from the departure point to the destination when using the vehicle based on the map data, and calculates a vehicle usage fee per vehicle usage fee from the vehicle usage fee and the number of passengers. calculate. In addition, the computing means calculates a public transportation use route and a public transportation use fee from the departure point to the destination when using the public transportation based on the public transportation data. The display means displays at least a charge per car use and a public transport use charge on the display device. Thus, the user can easily compare charges when using a car (private car) to the destination and using public transportation. Preferably, the calculation means calculates the charge per car use by dividing the car use charge by the number of passengers. The display means may further display the car use route and the public transport use route on a display device.

  In another embodiment of the present invention, a route information providing method executed by an information device including an input device, a display device, and a computer includes an input step of receiving input to the input device about at least the number of passengers and a destination of a car; A map data acquisition step for acquiring map data, a public transport data acquisition step for acquiring public transport data, and a vehicle use from the departure point to the destination when using a vehicle based on the map data Calculate a route and a vehicle usage fee, calculate a vehicle usage fee per vehicle from the vehicle usage fee and the number of passengers, and based on the public transportation data, from the departure place when using public transportation A calculation step of calculating a public transport use route to the destination and a public transport use fee; Comprising a display step of displaying the dynamic wheel usage per rates and the public transport fee on the display device.

  By executing this method using, for example, an in-vehicle navigation device, an information device such as a PC or a mobile phone, the user can use a car (private car) to the destination and use public transportation. It is possible to easily compare charges in the case of

  In still another embodiment of the present invention, a route information providing program executed by an information device including an input device, a display device, and a computer receives an input to the input device regarding at least the number of passengers and the destination of the vehicle. , Map data acquisition means for acquiring map data, public transport data acquisition means for acquiring public transport data, a car use route from a departure place to a destination when using a car based on the map data, and Calculate a vehicle usage fee, calculate a vehicle usage fee from the vehicle usage fee and the number of passengers, and based on the public transportation data, use the public transportation to determine the destination Calculation means to calculate public transport use route and public transport use charge to Beauty, the automobile use per fee and display means for displaying on the display device said public transport rates, as causing the computer to function.

  By executing this program on, for example, an in-vehicle navigation device, an information device such as a PC or a mobile phone, the user can use a car (private car) to the destination and use public transportation. It is possible to easily compare charges in the case of Note that this program can be suitably handled in a state of being recorded on a recording medium.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The following description shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a navigation device mounted on a vehicle.

[Navigation device]
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the navigation device 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the navigation device 1 includes a self-supporting positioning device 10, a GPS receiver 18, a system controller 20, a disk drive 31, a data storage unit 36, a communication interface 37, a communication device 38, a display unit 40, an audio output. A unit 50 and an input device 60 are provided.

  The autonomous positioning device 10 includes an acceleration sensor 11, an angular velocity sensor 12, and a distance sensor 13. The acceleration sensor 11 is made of, for example, a piezoelectric element, detects vehicle acceleration, and outputs acceleration data. The angular velocity sensor 12 is composed of, for example, a vibrating gyroscope, detects the angular velocity of the vehicle when the direction of the vehicle is changed, and outputs angular velocity data and relative azimuth data. The distance sensor 13 measures a vehicle speed pulse composed of a pulse signal generated with the rotation of the vehicle wheel.

  The GPS receiver 18 receives radio waves 19 carrying downlink data including positioning data from a plurality of GPS satellites. The positioning data is used to detect the absolute position of the vehicle from latitude and longitude information.

  The system controller 20 includes an interface 21, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 22, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 23, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 24, and controls the entire navigation device 1.

  The interface 21 performs an interface operation with the acceleration sensor 11, the angular velocity sensor 12, the distance sensor 13, and the GPS receiver 18. From these, vehicle speed pulses, acceleration data, relative azimuth data, angular velocity data, GPS positioning data, absolute azimuth data, and the like are input to the system controller 20. The CPU 22 controls the entire system controller 20. The ROM 23 includes a nonvolatile memory (not shown) in which a control program for controlling the system controller 20 is stored. The RAM 24 stores various data such as route data preset by the user via the input device 60 so as to be readable, and provides a working area to the CPU 22.

  A system controller 20, a disk drive 31 such as a CD-ROM drive or a DVD-ROM drive, a data storage unit 36, a communication interface 37, a display unit 40, an audio output unit 50, and an input device 60 are mutually connected via a bus line 30. It is connected to the.

  The disk drive 31 reads and outputs content data such as music data and video data from a disk 33 such as a CD or DVD under the control of the system controller 20. The disk drive 31 may be either a CD-ROM drive or a DVD-ROM drive, or may be a CD and DVD compatible drive.

  The data storage unit 36 is configured by, for example, an HDD and stores various data used for navigation processing such as map data and facility data.

  The communication device 38 includes, for example, an FM tuner, a beacon receiver, a mobile phone, a dedicated communication card, and the like, and traffic congestion and traffic information distributed from a VICS (Vehicle Information Communication System) center via the communication interface 37. Receive road traffic information and other information.

  The display unit 40 displays various display data on a display device such as a display under the control of the system controller 20. Specifically, the system controller 20 reads map data from the data storage unit 36. The display unit 40 displays the map data read from the data storage unit 36 by the system controller 20 on a display screen such as a display. The display unit 40 includes a graphic controller 41 that controls the entire display unit 40 based on control data sent from the CPU 22 via the bus line 30 and image information that can be displayed immediately, such as a VRAM (Video RAM). A buffer memory 42 that temporarily stores, a display control unit 43 that controls display of a display 44 such as a liquid crystal display or a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) based on image data output from the graphic controller 41, and a display 44 are provided. . The display 44 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display device having a diagonal of about 5 to 10 inches, and is mounted near the front panel in the vehicle.

  The audio output unit 50 performs D / A (Digital to Analog) conversion of audio digital data sent from the CD-ROM drive 31, DVD-ROM 32, RAM 24, or the like via the bus line 30 under the control of the system controller 20. A D / A converter 51 to perform, an amplifier (AMP) 52 that amplifies the audio analog signal output from the D / A converter 51, and a speaker 53 that converts the amplified audio analog signal into sound and outputs the sound into the vehicle. It is prepared for.

  The input device 60 includes keys, switches, buttons, a remote controller, a voice input device, and the like for inputting various commands and data. The input device 60 is disposed around the front panel and the display 44 of the main body of the in-vehicle electronic system mounted in the vehicle. When the display 44 is a touch panel system, the touch panel provided on the display screen of the display 44 also functions as the input device 60.

[Route Information Providing Device]
Next, the route information providing apparatus according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the route information providing apparatus. As shown in FIG. 2, the route information providing apparatus 110 includes an input unit 111, a calculation unit 112, a display unit 113, a public transportation DB (database) 114, and a map DB 115. When the route information providing device 110 is applied to the navigation device 1 shown in FIG. 1, the input device 60 configures the input unit 111, the system controller 20 configures the calculation unit 112, and the display unit 40 configures the display unit 113. Constitute. The map DB 115 can be provided in the data storage unit 36. Similarly, the public transport DB 114 can be stored inside the data storage unit 36. Instead, the public transportation DB 114 may be provided on an external Internet server, and the navigation device 1 may access the public transportation DB 114 using the communication device 38.

  The input unit 111 is used to input information necessary for the user to search for routes and charges. In the case of the navigation device 1, an input device 60 such as a touch panel or a remote controller is used as the input unit 111. The user operates the input unit 111 to input at least the destination and the number of passengers when using the car. Further, if necessary, the user inputs the departure place and detailed search conditions. In the case of the navigation apparatus 1, when the user does not input the departure place, the current position of the vehicle can be set as the departure place.

  The public transport DB 114 stores route data, fee data, and the like of the public transport network. Public transportation includes trains, buses, airplanes and the like.

  The map DB 115 stores map data, road data, and the like. The road data includes general roads, expressways, and toll roads. For expressways and toll roads, toll data indicating tolls is included.

  The calculation unit 112 calculates a route and a fee from the departure point to the destination for both the case of using public transportation and the case of using a car (private vehicle). Specifically, the calculation unit 112 refers to the public transport DB 114, and uses a route (hereinafter referred to as a “public transport use route”) and a charge when using public transport from the departure point to the destination (hereinafter referred to as “public transport use route”). Hereinafter, it is referred to as a “public transportation fee”. The public transportation usage fee calculated in this way is basically a fee per person.

  In addition, the calculation unit 112 refers to the map DB 113, and refers to a route (hereinafter referred to as “automobile use route”) and a charge (hereinafter referred to as “automobile use fee”) when a car is used from the departure point to the destination. .) Is calculated. This vehicle usage fee is a fee per vehicle, and includes tolls on expressways and toll roads for one vehicle. Note that the user may set the fuel consumption or use the fuel consumption information calculated by the vehicle to estimate the required fuel cost based on the distance of the vehicle usage route and include it in the vehicle usage fee.

  Furthermore, the calculation unit 112 calculates a fee per person (hereinafter also referred to as “fee per vehicle use”) by dividing the car use fee by the number of passengers input by the user. Then, the calculation unit 112 supplies the calculated public transport use route, public transport fee, car use route, car use fee and car use per person charge to the display unit 113. The display unit 113 displays these pieces of information on the display 44 that is a display device.

  Next, an example of a display screen during route and fee search processing by the route information providing apparatus 110 will be described. FIG. 3A is a display example of an input screen for route and charge search, and FIG. 3B is a display example of a search result for route and charge search.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, an input screen 120 for route and fee search includes a departure point input field 121, a destination input field 122, and an input method designation button 123a for designating a departure point and destination input method. To 123e, an automobile passenger number input field 124, a detailed condition setting button 125, and a search start button 126.

  In route and fee search, in principle, the user inputs both a departure place and a destination. However, in the navigation apparatus 1, the current position of the vehicle can be set as the departure place. The designation of the departure place and the destination can be performed by various methods corresponding to the input method designation buttons 123a to 123e. For example, when the user presses the map button 123a, a map is displayed on the display 44, and the user can specify a starting point or a destination by specifying a point on the map. When the user presses the name button 123b, a 50-sound character input board is displayed, and the user can specify a starting point or a destination by inputting a character string. In addition, when the user presses the genre button 123c, the telephone number button 123d, and the address button 123e, the departure place or the destination can be designated by inputting the genre, the telephone number, and the address, respectively.

  In addition, the user inputs the number of passengers in the case of going to the destination by automobile in the automobile passenger number input field 124. When the user presses the detailed condition setting button 125, a detailed condition setting screen is displayed, and the user can specify more detailed search conditions. For example, regarding public transportation to be used, it is possible to specify whether to use a bus, whether to use a reserved seat or a free seat in the case of the Shinkansen or limited express train.

  Thus, when the input of necessary items is completed and the user presses the search start button 126, a search result display screen as shown in FIG. 3B is displayed. As shown in FIG. 3B, the search result display screen 130 displays a per-car usage fee 131, a car usage route 132, a public transportation usage fee 133, and a public transportation usage route 134.

  As described above, the charge 131 per vehicle use is a charge obtained by multiplying the charge per vehicle by the number of passengers. In this example, the car use route 132 indicates a route that departs from A town, enters the expressway at the C interchange, descends the expressway at the D interchange, and heads for the B park. The public transport usage fee 133 is also a per capita fee. In this example, the public transport route 134 is a route from A town on foot to F station, by train to G station, taking a bus from G station to the H stop, and walking to B park. is there.

  In this way, according to the display of FIG. 3B, the charge when using a car and the charge when using public transportation are both displayed at the charge per person, so the user compares the two By doing so, it is possible to instantly know whether it is cheaper to go to the destination using a car or public transportation. Moreover, since the car use route 132 and the public transport use route 134 are displayed together with these charges 131 and 133, the user can know the route corresponding to each charge. Therefore, depending on the route, for example, it is slightly cheaper to use public transportation, but the user can know the situation that it is troublesome because it requires many transfers, and can make a more appropriate decision. It becomes.

  Next, route and fee search processing will be described. FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of route and fee search processing. This process is realized by the CPU 22 of the navigation device 1 executing a program stored in advance in the ROM 23 or the like and functioning as the calculation unit 112 shown in FIG.

  First, the user operates the input unit 111 such as the input device 60 to input a departure place, a destination, the number of passengers, and necessary search conditions, and the calculation unit 112 receives the information (step S11). Note that the minimum information necessary for performing the search is a departure place, a destination, and the number of passengers. However, in the navigation device 1, when there is no input of the departure place, the current position of the vehicle can be automatically set as the departure place. In that case, only the destination and the number of passengers are required input items.

  Next, the computing unit 112 refers to the map DB 115 and calculates a car use route and a car use fee (step S12). In addition, since the method of searching for a route using map data in a state where the starting point and the destination are determined is a known method implemented in an in-vehicle navigation device or the like, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Next, the calculation unit 112 calculates a charge per car use based on the car use charge and the number of passengers (step S13). Specifically, the vehicle usage fee (charge per vehicle) obtained in step S12 is divided by the number of passengers input in step S11, thereby calculating the vehicle usage fee per vehicle.

  Next, the computing unit 112 refers to the public transport DB 114 and calculates a public transport use route and a public transport use fee (step S14). Since this method is also a known method implemented in services on the Internet, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Thus, when each route and fee is obtained, the calculation unit 112 supplies them to the display unit 113, and the display unit 113 displays each route and fee on a display device such as the display 44 (step S15). Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, the display unit 113 displays a per-car use fee 131, a car use route 132, a public transport use fee 133, and a public transport use route 134. Further, if necessary, the display unit 113 may display a vehicle usage fee (that is, a fee per vehicle). When the search result is displayed in this way, the process ends.

  As described above, the route information providing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes the input unit 111 into which at least the number of passengers and the destination of a car are input by the user, and the map data and the public transport data from the map DB 115 and the public transport DB 114. And based on the map data, calculate a vehicle usage route and a vehicle usage fee from the departure point to the destination when using a vehicle, and calculate a vehicle usage fee per vehicle usage from the vehicle usage fee and the number of passengers. And calculating a public transportation route and a public transportation usage fee from the starting point to the destination when using public transportation based on the public transportation data; and A display unit for displaying a charge per car use and the public transport use charge on a display device. Therefore, the user can instantly compare the charges per person when going to the destination using a car and when going to the destination using public transportation.

[Modification]
In the above embodiment, the route information providing device of the present invention is applied to an in-vehicle navigation device. Instead, the route information providing apparatus of the present invention can also be applied to information equipment such as a PC, a terminal device, and a mobile phone that are connected to a server using a network. An example of application to such an information device is shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, the route information providing apparatus of the present invention is configured as an information device 141. The information device 141 is connected to the server 143 via a network 142 such as the Internet. The server 143 is connected to the public transport DB 144 and the map DB 145. That is, the input unit 111, the calculation unit 112, and the display unit 113 in the configuration of the route information providing apparatus 110 illustrated in FIG. Further, the public transport DB 144 corresponds to the public transport DB 114 in FIG. 2, and the map DB 145 corresponds to the map DB 115 in FIG. With this configuration, the user can easily compare charges when using a car to a destination and using public transportation using an information device such as a home PC or a mobile phone.

  In recent years, an in-vehicle navigation device in which a main navigation unit is configured to be detachable from a vehicle is known. This type of navigation unit is removed from the vehicle and used by connecting to a home PC or the like. In this case, as shown by a broken line in FIG. 5, the navigation unit 141x is connected to the information device 141, and is connected to the server 143 via the network 142, thereby obtaining information from the public transport DB 144 and performing a search. be able to. In this case, a route guidance program stored in the navigation unit 141x is activated using the information device 141, and a route and fee search is performed.

  In general, since the navigation unit 141x includes a storage medium such as an HDD that stores map data, it is not necessary to acquire map data via the network 142. However, for some reason, for example, the map data on the server is updated more frequently, the map data used for the search may be acquired from the map DB 145 via the network 142.

  In the above embodiment, the obtained search result is displayed on the display device. However, in addition to this, the search result may be output by voice.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the navigation apparatus by an Example. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of a route information provision apparatus. It is the example of an input screen of a route and charge search process, and a search result display screen example. It is a flowchart of a route and fee search process. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the route information provision apparatus which concerns on a modification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Navigation apparatus 10 Self-supporting positioning apparatus 18 GPS receiver 20 System controller 22 CPU
36 Data storage unit 40 Display unit 60 Input device

Claims (6)

An input device for inputting at least the number of passengers and the destination of the car by the user;
Map data acquisition means for acquiring map data;
Public transportation data acquisition means for acquiring public transportation data;
Based on the map data, the vehicle usage route and the vehicle usage fee from the departure point to the destination when using a vehicle are calculated, and the vehicle usage fee and the number of passengers are calculated from the vehicle usage fee and the number of passengers. A calculation means for calculating a public transportation use route and a public transportation use fee from the departure place to the destination when using public transportation based on the public transportation data;
A route information providing apparatus, comprising: a display unit configured to display the per-car usage fee and the public transportation usage fee on a display device.   The route information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the calculation unit divides the vehicle usage fee by the number of passengers to calculate the vehicle usage fee per vehicle.   3. The route information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit further displays the car use route and the public transport use route on the display device. A route information providing method executed by an information device including an input device, a display device, and a computer,
An input step of receiving input to the input device at least about the number of passengers and the destination of the vehicle;
A map data acquisition process for acquiring map data;
Public transportation data acquisition process for acquiring public transportation data;
Based on the map data, the vehicle usage route and the vehicle usage fee from the departure point to the destination when using a vehicle are calculated, and the vehicle usage fee and the number of passengers are calculated from the vehicle usage fee and the number of passengers. A calculation step of calculating a public transportation use route and a public transportation use fee from the departure place to the destination based on the public transportation data when using public transportation;
A route information providing method comprising: a display step of displaying the per-car usage fee and the public transportation usage fee on a display device. A path information providing program executed by an information device including an input device, a display device, and a computer,
Input means for receiving input to the input device at least about the number of passengers and the destination of the car;
Map data acquisition means for acquiring map data;
Public transportation data acquisition means for acquiring public transportation data;
Based on the map data, the vehicle usage route and the vehicle usage fee from the departure point to the destination when using a vehicle are calculated, and the vehicle usage fee and the number of passengers are calculated from the vehicle usage fee and the number of passengers. A calculation means for calculating a public transportation use route and a public transportation use fee from the departure place to the destination when using public transportation based on the public transportation data; and
A route information providing program for causing the computer to function as display means for displaying a charge per car use per person and a public transport use charge on a display device.   6. A recording medium on which the route information providing program according to claim 5 is recorded.

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