JP2009097916A - Navigation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation apparatus which can perform appropriate guide route search in accordance with the demand of a user when a travel caution point exists in which there is a possibility of people or animals crossing a road frequently and caution is required for the travel of a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: A control section 102 acquires road information and travel caution point information and, on the basis of these, specifies a road in which a travel caution point exists. The control section 102 performs guide route search with the cost of the road in which the travel caution point exists increased. The control section 102, in accordance with instructions from a user, re-searches for a guide route which bypasses the travel caution point. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device that is mounted on a vehicle and displays a map image.

  The navigation device detects the position and direction of the vehicle by GPS or the like. Then, map data corresponding to the position of the vehicle is read from a map data recording medium such as a hard disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM or the like on which a large amount of map data is recorded, and a map around the vehicle position is based on this map data. The image is displayed on the display device, the vehicle position mark is superimposed and displayed, and the map image is scrolled and displayed according to the movement of the vehicle so that the user can grasp the position of the vehicle. It has become.

  In addition, the navigation device has a route guidance function that allows the user to easily travel to the destination without making a mistake on the road. In this route guidance function, a guidance route having the lowest link cost from the starting point to the destination is searched using map data, and the searched route is stored as a guidance route. While the vehicle is running, the guidance route is drawn thickly on the map image with a different color from other roads, or the vehicle approaches within a predetermined distance from the intersection where the route on the guidance route should be changed. Sometimes, the vehicle is guided to the destination by displaying an arrow indicating a course at an intersection where the route on the map image should be changed.

Furthermore, some navigation devices prevent pedestrian accidents by acquiring pedestrian movement trajectory data and predicting caution points where pedestrian accidents are likely to occur based on the movement trajectory data. Exists (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2006-330822 A

  By the way, in many cases, the driver wants to travel while avoiding caution points as much as possible in route guidance to the destination. In addition, when a caution location exists on the guidance route, the driver often requests a guidance route that bypasses the caution location by searching for the guidance route again. However, in Patent Document 1 described above, when the vehicle reaches the vicinity of the caution location, the driver is only cautioned, and such a driver's request cannot be met.

  The object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, and there is a possibility that a person or an animal frequently crosses the road, and when there is a travel caution point that requires attention to travel of the vehicle, The present invention provides a navigation device capable of performing an appropriate guidance route search according to a request.

  The navigation device according to the present invention, which is mounted on a vehicle and searches for a guidance route to a destination and guides the vehicle, includes map data including road information composed of road position information and the cost of the road Map data acquisition means for acquiring vehicle travel location information acquisition means for acquiring location information of a travel attention location where a person or an animal frequently crosses the road and requires attention for vehicle travel, and the map Based on the position information of the roads constituting the road information included in the map data acquired by the data acquisition means, and the position information of the travel attention location acquired by the travel attention location information acquisition means, there is a travel attention location. A road specifying means for specifying a road to be corrected, a cost correcting means for correcting the cost of the road where the travel attention point specified by the road specifying means exists, and the cost The guidance route searched by using the cost of the corrected road by positive means, and having a guidance route searching unit for generating a guidance route information including the positional information of the road constituting the guidance route.

  According to this configuration, for roads where there is a possibility that a person or an animal frequently crosses the road and there is a travel caution point that requires attention for vehicle travel, the cost of the road is corrected and the guide route is corrected. A search is performed. Therefore, by increasing the cost of the road, it is possible to search for a guidance route according to a user's request to avoid a travel warning point as much as possible.

  The navigation device according to the present invention further includes a correction availability determination unit that determines whether the correction by the cost correction unit is possible, and the cost correction unit is determined to be correctable by the correction availability determination unit. In this case, the cost of the road may be corrected by multiplying the cost of the road on which the travel attention location exists by a weighting value.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to appropriately correct the road cost according to the user's intention and the like.

  The navigation apparatus according to the present invention further includes a correction setting unit that sets a weighting value to be multiplied by the cost of the road when the cost correction unit corrects, the cost correction unit using the correction setting unit. When the weighting value is set, the cost of the road may be corrected by multiplying the cost of the road where the travel attention location exists by the weighting value.

  According to this configuration, as the weighting value is increased, the cost of the road where the travel attention point exists increases, and the road is less likely to be included in the guidance route. By requesting and setting a weighting value according to the user's intention about how much he / she does not want to travel, a guided route search according to the intention can be performed.

  Further, the navigation device according to the present invention has a travel caution location setting means for setting the location of the travel caution location, and the travel caution location information acquisition means is set by the travel caution location setting means. You may make it acquire the positional information showing the position of this.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to add or modify a travel caution location, and to set a travel caution location according to a user's request.

  The navigation device according to the present invention, which is mounted on a vehicle and searches for a guidance route to a destination and guides the vehicle, includes map data including road information composed of road position information and the cost of the road The map data acquisition means for acquiring the information and the cost information of the roads constituting the road information included in the map data acquired by the map data acquisition means are searched for the guidance route, and the position information of the roads constituting the guidance route Guidance route searching means for generating guidance route information including the information, and travel caution location information acquisition means for acquiring position information of a travel caution location where a person or an animal may cross the road and requires attention for vehicle travel The position information of the road included in the guide route information generated by the guide route search means, and the position of the travel attention location acquired by the travel attention location information acquisition means. Based on the information on the guidance route, the travel attention location determination means on the guidance route for determining whether or not the travel attention location exists on the guidance route, and the guidance attention on the guidance route on the guidance route. If it is determined that there is a travel caution location, the guidance means for guiding the search for the guidance route again, and the guidance route search again based on the guidance prompting the guidance means to search for the guidance route again. And a guidance route re-search means for searching for a guidance route that bypasses the travel attention point.

  According to this configuration, when there is a possibility that a person or an animal frequently crosses the road, and a road where there is a driving caution point that requires caution when the vehicle is traveling is included in the guidance route, the driving caution point is determined. Prompt the user to search again for a guidance route to be detoured, and further search for a guidance route that bypasses the driving caution location, so that it is appropriate for the user's request to bypass the driving caution location It is possible to perform a simple guidance route search.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to search for an appropriate guidance route according to a user's request by searching for a guidance route that avoids a travel caution location as much as possible or that bypasses the travel caution location.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device to which the navigation device of the present invention is applied. A navigation device 100 shown in FIG. 1 is mounted on a vehicle, and includes a main body 10, a hard disk drive (HDD) 20, an operation unit 30, a VICS reception unit 40, a GPS reception unit 50, an autonomous navigation sensor 60, a display 70, and a speaker 80. Consists of.

  Among these, the main body 10 includes a control unit 102, a buffer memory 104, a map drawing unit 106, an operation screen / mark generation unit 108, a guidance route storage unit 110, a guidance route drawing unit 112, a traffic information drawing unit 114, and a guidance unit 116. And an image composition unit 118.

  The HDD 20 is equipped with a hard disk 22 and reads map data recorded on the hard disk 22. The map data recording medium is not limited to the hard disk 22, and may be a DVD, a CD-ROM, or the like, and a drive corresponding to the recording medium is prepared. The map data is provided for each rectangular area, which is specified by the longitude and latitude in the real space at the four corners, which is called a figure leaf. The map data for each leaf includes the longitude and latitude in the real space at the four corners of the rectangular area corresponding to the leaf, and is uniquely specified by these longitude and latitude. Further, the map data for each leaf includes map image data for the leaf. In addition, the map data for each leaf includes road information of a road existing in a rectangular area corresponding to the leaf. The road information is composed of node records and link records.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a node record and a link record that constitute road information. A road is represented by a start point and an end point (node) and a straight line (road link) connecting these nodes. The node record shown in FIG. 2A is provided for each node. The node number that is identification information of the node, the coordinates of the node (longitude and latitude in the real space), and the node And a connection link number that is identification information of a road link (connection link).

  On the other hand, the link record shown in FIG. 2B is provided for each road link. This link record includes a link number that is identification information of a corresponding road link, link attributes such as whether the road link is a general road or a highway, and identification information of a node that is the starting point of the road link. It includes a certain start point node number, an end point node number that is identification information of a node that is an end point of the road link, and a cost (link cost) when traveling on the road link. With these node records and link records, it is possible to specify the position of a road composed of two nodes, a start point and an end point, and a road link connecting these nodes.

  Again, returning to FIG. The operation unit 30 includes an operation button, a joystick, and the like (not shown), and is operated by the user in setting a destination when searching for a guidance route. The VICS receiving unit 40 receives VICS information including traffic information transmitted from a radio wave beacon or an optical beacon, or multiplexed and transmitted in FM broadcasting. The VICS information is updated and transmitted at a predetermined cycle such as an interval of 5 minutes.

  The GPS receiver 50 receives GPS signals from GPS satellites necessary for detecting the position of the vehicle. The autonomous navigation sensor 60 includes a gyro and the like for detecting the traveling direction of the vehicle, and a distance sensor that generates a pulse (vehicle speed pulse) at every constant travel distance.

  A control unit 102 in the main body 10 is configured by a CPU or the like, and controls the entire navigation device 100. Specifically, the control unit 102 determines the position and speed of the vehicle based on the GPS signal received by the GPS receiving unit 50, the traveling direction of the vehicle detected by the autonomous navigation sensor 60, and the output interval of the vehicle speed pulse. calculate. Further, the control unit 102 instructs the HDD 20 to read the map data recorded on the hard disk 22. The map data read by the HDD 104 in response to an instruction from the control unit 102 is stored in the buffer memory 104.

  In addition, the control unit 102 sets a rectangular area corresponding to the screen of the display 70 as a drawing range of the map image, and outputs information on the drawing range of the map image to the map drawing unit 106. The map image drawing range to be set is specified by longitude and latitude in the real space at the four corners. The map drawing unit 106 reads the map data stored in the buffer memory 104 and draws a map image in a drawing range corresponding to the screen of the display 70 based on the map data.

  Further, the control unit 102 issues an image drawing instruction to the operation screen / mark generation unit 108 according to the operation of the operation unit 30 by the user and the operation state of the navigation device 10. In response to this instruction, the operation screen / mark generation unit 108 draws various menu screens, a vehicle position mark, and an image of the cursor position.

  Further, the control unit 102 reads out map data stored in the buffer memory 104 in response to an operation by the user for the guidance route search of the operation unit 30, and based on the map data, a predetermined route search algorithm, For example, by using a simulation calculation such as a horizontal search method or a Dijkstra method, a guide route having the lowest link cost from the starting point to the destination is searched. Information on the guide route is stored in the guide route storage unit 110.

  The guide route drawing unit 112 generates a guide route image based on the guide route information stored in the guide route storage unit 110.

  In addition, the control unit 102 instructs the traffic information drawing unit 114 to select an image mode corresponding to the traffic information indicated by the VICS information received by the VICS receiving unit 40. The traffic information drawing unit 114 draws an image corresponding to the traffic information in a mode corresponding to this instruction.

  In addition, the control unit 102 instructs the guidance processing unit 114 to draw an image and generate a voice for guidance when the vehicle needs to turn at an intersection during route guidance based on the guidance route information. To do. The guidance processing unit 114 draws an enlarged image of an intersection and generates a guidance voice in response to an instruction from the control unit 102. The guidance voice is output from the speaker 80.

  Further, the control unit 102 instructs the image composition unit 118 to perform image composition in accordance with the operation of the operation unit 30 by the user and the operation state of the navigation device 100. In response to this instruction, the image synthesis unit 118 appropriately synthesizes various images drawn by the map drawing unit 106, the operation screen / mark generation unit 108, the guidance route drawing unit 112, the traffic information drawing unit 114, and the guide unit 116. Then, the obtained image is displayed on the display 70 as a display unit.

  Further, the control unit 102 generates sound according to the operation of the operation unit 30 by the user and the operation state of the navigation device 100, and causes the speaker 80 to output the sound via the guide unit 116.

  Next, details of the guidance route search in the navigation device 100 will be described. In the present embodiment, the navigation device 100 may search for a guidance route that does not travel as much as possible in a travel caution location that is a location where a person or an animal frequently crosses the road and requires caution when traveling the vehicle. A guidance route search that bypasses the location is performed.

  The information on the travel attention point is included in the road information. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the travel caution location information. The travel caution location means a location where a person or animal may frequently cross the road and needs attention for traveling of the vehicle. The travel caution location information shown in FIG. 3 includes a travel caution location number that is identification information of the corresponding travel caution location, the coordinates (longitude and latitude in real space) of the travel caution location, and a weighting value. The travel caution spot is an area, and the coordinates of the travel caution spot are a set of coordinates of the outer edge of the area.

  The weighting value is multiplied by the link cost when correcting the link cost of the road link where the travel attention location exists in the guidance route search, and has a value larger than 1. Since the link cost after correction is increased by multiplying the weight value by the link cost, the corresponding road link is less likely to be set as a guide route. This weighting value can be appropriately changed according to the operation of the operation unit 30 by the user.

  In addition to being included in the road information in advance as described above, the travel caution location information is also generated by a user request. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, a map image 200-1 and an image 250 at the cursor position that moves on the map image 200-1 by the operation of the operation unit 30 by the user are displayed on the display 70. Furthermore, when the cursor position is determined by the operation of the operation unit 30 by the user, the control unit 102 detects coordinates (longitude and latitude in the real space) corresponding to the cursor position in the map image 200-1. To do. As described above, the control unit 102 sets the longitude and latitude in the real space of the four corners indicating the drawing range of the map image, so based on the longitude and latitude in the real space of the four corners of the map image, It is possible to detect the longitude and latitude of the cursor position in the real space.

  Furthermore, the control unit 102 sets a predetermined area centered on the longitude and latitude of the cursor position in the real space as a travel caution location. In the map image 200-2 shown in FIG. 5, the shaded area 210 is the area where the driving attention is made. This region can be changed as appropriate by operating the operation unit 30. When the travel caution spot is set, the control unit 102 sets the travel caution spot number corresponding to the travel caution spot, the coordinates and weighting values of the travel caution spot, and generates travel caution spot information including these. The generated travel attention point information is output to the HDD 20. The HDD 20 identifies the map leaf including the travel warning location based on the coordinates of the travel warning location in the input travel warning location information, and adds the travel warning location information to the road information included in the map data corresponding to the map leaf. to add.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of guiding route search. The control unit 102 determines whether or not the destination is set by the user's operation of the operation unit 30 (S101). For example, in a state where the map image is displayed on the display 70, the user performs an operation of setting the cursor position on the map image as the destination by the operation unit 30. When the destination setting operation is performed, the control unit 102 detects coordinates (longitude and latitude in the real space) corresponding to the cursor position in the map image as the coordinates of the destination.

  Next, the control unit 102 calculates the position of the vehicle based on the GPS signal received by the GPS receiving unit 50, the traveling direction of the vehicle detected by the autonomous navigation sensor 60, and the output interval of the vehicle speed pulse (S102). ).

  Next, the control unit 102 instructs the HDD 20 to read out a predetermined range of map data from the calculated vehicle position to the destination. The predetermined range is, for example, a rectangular area including a vehicle position and a destination, and is specified by longitude and latitude in real space at the four corners of the rectangular area. In response to this instruction, the HDD 20 compares the longitude and latitude in the four corners of the inputted real space with the longitude and latitude in the four corners of the leaf (rectangular area) included in the map data. Then, the map data of the leaf overlapping the predetermined range is read from the hard disk 22 (S103). The read map data is stored in the buffer memory 104.

  Next, the control unit 102 determines whether or not a link cost correction instruction based on a weighting value has been made by the operation of the operation unit 30 by the user (S104). When the link cost correction instruction using the weighting value is not made, the series of operations ends. In this case, the link cost is not corrected by the weighting value, and the control unit 102 reads the node record and the link record constituting the road information in the map data stored in the buffer memory 104, as in the conventional case, Based on the node record and the link record, a guide route having the lowest link cost from the departure point to the destination is searched.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S104 that the link cost correction instruction using the weighting value has been made, the control unit 102 then determines whether or not the weighting value has been set by the operation of the operation unit 30 by the user. (S105). When the weighting value is set, the control unit 102 stores the set weighting value in a built-in memory (not shown) or the like (S106).

  After holding the weighting value in S106, or after determining that the weighting value is not set in S105, the control unit 102 specifies a road link where a travel caution location exists (S106). Specifically, the control unit 102 reads the node record, the link record, and the travel caution location information constituting the road information in the map data stored in the buffer memory 104. Next, the control unit 102 specifies, for each link record, a node record having a start point node number in the link record and a node record having an end point node number in the link record. Further, the control unit 102 sets a straight line having both ends of the node coordinates in the node record having the specified start node number and the node coordinates in the node record having the specified end node number, and determines the position of the straight line. Identifies the location of the road link. Further, the control unit 102 compares the identified road link position with the travel attention point coordinates in the travel attention point information, and when the road link position and the travel attention point coordinates overlap, or the position of the road link When the distance between the travel caution location coordinates is within a predetermined distance, the road link is specified as the road link where the travel caution location exists.

  Next, the control unit 102 corrects the link cost by multiplying the link cost in the link record corresponding to the identified road link where the travel attention point exists by the weighting value (S108). Here, the weighted value to be multiplied is the weighted value held in S106 when it is determined that the weighted value is set in S105, while the weighted value is not determined to be set in S105. Is a weighting value in the travel attention location information corresponding to the travel attention location existing on the road link.

  When the link cost is corrected in this way, the control unit 102, based on the node record and the link record read from the buffer memory 104, for the road link where the travel attention point exists, the corrected link cost, travel For road links where there is no cautionary point, the initial link cost is used, and the link cost from the vehicle position to the destination is the lowest by a predetermined route search algorithm such as a horizontal search method or Dijkstra method. Search for guidance routes. And the control part 102 produces | generates the information of the searched guidance path | route. The guide route information includes information on nodes that pass from the vehicle position to the destination. In addition, when there is a travel caution spot on the road link selected as the guide route, information on the travel caution spot is included. The generated guidance route information is stored in the guidance route storage unit 110.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the guidance route, and FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the guidance route information. As shown in FIG. 7, the nodes of node numbers # 1, # 5, # 3, # 8 and # 7 are passed in this order from the vehicle position to the destination, and node # 5 and node # 3 are connected. When a guidance route in which a travel attention point #A exists on the road link is searched, as shown in FIG. 8, the guidance route information includes a set of a node number and a node coordinate for each of these nodes, and travel. A set of a travel caution location number and a travel caution location coordinate for the caution location is arranged in the order to pass.

  In this way, when a guidance route is searched, route guidance based on the guidance route is performed. At the time of route guidance, the control unit 102 instructs the HDD 20 to read out a predetermined range of map data around the vehicle position to be calculated as needed. The predetermined range is, for example, a rectangular area centered on the vehicle position, and is specified by longitude and latitude in the real space at the four corners of the rectangular area. In response to this instruction, the HDD 20 compares the longitude and latitude in the four corners of the inputted real space with the longitude and latitude in the four corners of the leaf (rectangular area) included in the map data. The map data of the leaf that overlaps the predetermined range is read from the hard disk 22. The read map data is stored in the buffer memory 104.

  Next, the control unit 102 outputs, to the map drawing unit 106, the longitude and latitude in the real space at the four corners of the rectangular predetermined range corresponding to the screen of the display 70 to the map drawing unit 106. The map drawing unit 106 reads out the map data stored in the buffer memory 104, the map image data included in the map data, and the longitude and latitude in the real space at the four corners of a predetermined range of a rectangle corresponding to the screen of the display 70 Based on the above, the map image of the drawing range corresponding to the screen of the display 70 is drawn. The drawn map image is output to the image composition unit 118.

  In addition, the control unit 102 outputs the longitude and latitude in the real space at the four corners of the rectangular predetermined range corresponding to the screen of the display 70 to the guidance route drawing unit 112. The guide route drawing unit 112 is based on the longitude and latitude in the real space of the four corners of the predetermined range corresponding to the screen of the display 70 and the node coordinates included in the guide route information stored in the guide route storage unit 110. Then, an image of a guide route having an appropriate arrangement for superimposing on the map image is drawn. The drawn guide route image is output to the image composition unit 118.

  Further, the control unit 102 outputs the vehicle position and the longitude and latitude in the real space at the four corners of the rectangular predetermined range corresponding to the screen of the display 70 to the operation screen / mark generation unit 108. The operation screen / mark generation unit 108 is appropriately arranged to be superimposed on the map image based on the vehicle position and the longitude and latitude in the real space of the four corners of the rectangular predetermined range corresponding to the screen of the display 70. Draw an image of the vehicle position. The drawn travel attention point image and vehicle position image are output to the image composition unit 118.

  In addition, the control unit 102 reads the guide route information stored in the guide route storage unit 110 and includes the longitude and latitude in the real space of the four corners of the rectangular predetermined range corresponding to the screen of the display 70 and the guide route information. It is determined whether or not a travel caution location exists within a predetermined rectangular range corresponding to the screen of the display 70 based on the travel caution location coordinates. When the travel caution location exists in a predetermined rectangular range corresponding to the screen of the display 70, the control unit 102 displays the travel caution location coordinates on the real space at the four corners of the rectangular predetermined range corresponding to the screen of the display 70. Are output to the operation screen / mark generator 108. The operation screen / mark generation unit 108 is appropriately arranged to superimpose on the map image based on the coordinates of the travel attention location and the longitude and latitude in the real space at the four corners of the predetermined range corresponding to the screen of the display 70. Draw an image of the driving attention point. The drawn travel attention point image is output to the image composition unit 118.

  Further, the control unit 102 instructs the image composition unit 118 to perform image composition. In response to this instruction, the image synthesis unit 118 synthesizes the map image from the map drawing unit 106, the guidance route image from the guidance route drawing unit 112, and the vehicle position image from the operation screen / mark generation unit 108. . In addition, when there is a travel caution location in a rectangular predetermined range corresponding to the screen of the display 70, the image composition unit 118 reads the map image, the guide route image, the vehicle position image, and the operation screen / mark generation unit 108. Is combined with the driving caution location image. An image obtained by this synthesis is displayed on the display 70.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a map image at the time of route guidance. A map image 200-1 shown in FIG. 9 is superimposed with a vehicle position image 201, a guide route image 202-1, an image 210 indicating a position of a travel attention location, and a mark image 211 of the travel attention location.

  Next, an operation in the case where a guidance route that bypasses the travel attention point is searched again during route guidance will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation of re-searching for a guidance route that bypasses a travel attention point. The control unit 102 determines whether or not there is a travel caution location on the guidance route (S201). Specifically, the control unit 102 reads the guidance route information stored in the guidance route storage unit 110. Then, when the guide route information includes a set of a travel attention location number and a travel attention location coordinate for the travel attention location, the control unit 102 determines that a travel attention location exists on the guidance route. To do.

  If there is no travel warning location on the guidance route, the series of operations ends. On the other hand, when it is determined that the travel attention location exists on the guidance route, the control unit 102 specifies the position of the travel attention location based on the travel attention location coordinates included in the guidance route information (S202). Further, the control unit 102 calculates the position of the vehicle based on the GPS signal received by the GPS receiving unit 50, the traveling direction of the vehicle detected by the autonomous navigation sensor 60, and the output interval of the vehicle speed pulse (S203). .

  Next, the control unit 102 determines that the distance from the vehicle position along the guidance route is the longest based on the guidance route information, the position of the travel attention location on the guidance route specified in S202, and the vehicle position calculated in S203. The position of a nearby unpassed travel warning point is specified (S204). For example, the control unit 102 compares the vehicle position calculated at any time during route guidance and the travel caution location coordinates in the guidance route information, and if they match, a flag indicating that the travel caution location coordinates have been passed. By setting “1”, it is possible to discriminate between a travel caution spot that has passed and a travel caution spot that has not passed. And the control part 102 is the distance along a guidance route from the vehicle position to the highest thing among the driving attention point coordinates in which the flag “1” indicating that the vehicle has already passed in the guidance route information is not set. It can be specified as the position of the closest unpassed travel warning location.

  Furthermore, the control unit 102 calculates the distance along the guidance route from the vehicle position to the travel attention point specified in S204. Further, for example, in FIG. 7, when the vehicle position exists on the node # 1 and the vehicle heads for the node # 7, the travel caution spot #A is an unpassed travel caution spot, and the travel caution spot #A from the vehicle position. Is the sum of the distance between the node # 1 and the node # 5 and the distance between the node # 5 and the travel attention point #A. Next, the control unit 102 outputs information on the distance from the vehicle position to the travel attention point to the operation screen / mark generation unit 108. The operation screen / mark generation unit 108 draws an image of the distance from the vehicle position to the travel attention point and outputs the image to the image composition unit 118. The image composition unit 118 synthesizes a map image, a vehicle position image, a guidance route image, and a travel caution location image, and an image about the distance from the vehicle position to the travel caution location. The image obtained by this synthesis is displayed on the display 70 (S205).

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a map image at the time of route guidance including an image about a distance from a vehicle position to a travel caution spot. A map image 200-2 shown in FIG. 11 is superimposed with a vehicle position image 201, a guide route image 202-1, an image 210 indicating a position of a travel attention location, and a mark image 211 of a travel attention location, and from the vehicle position. An image 220 about the distance to the travel attention point is included. The image 220 regarding the distance from the vehicle position to the travel attention point includes a region 221 having a length proportional to the distance. The user can intuitively grasp the distance from the vehicle position to the travel caution location based on the length of the region 221.

  Again, referring back to FIG. Next, the control unit 102 determines whether or not the distance is within a predetermined distance (for example, within 1 km) based on the distance along the guidance route from the vehicle position calculated in S205 to the travel attention point on the guidance route. Is determined (S206). If the distance along the guidance route from the vehicle position to the travel attention point on the guidance route is not within the predetermined distance, the operation after the vehicle position calculation (S203) is repeated again.

  On the other hand, when the distance along the guide route from the vehicle position to the travel attention point on the guide route is within a predetermined distance, the control unit 102 guides the guide unit 116 to bypass the travel attention point. Instruct to do. In response to this instruction, the guide unit 116 draws a guidance image for prompting detouring of the travel attention point and generates sound. The drawn image is appropriately combined with another image by the image combining unit 118 and displayed on the display 70. The generated sound is output from the speaker 80 (S207).

  Next, the control unit 102 determines whether or not detouring of the travel caution point is instructed by the user's operation of the operation unit 30 (S101). If no detour instruction is given, the series of operations ends. In this case, route guidance for traveling the travel attention point closest to the vehicle position is continued. And after passing the said travel attention location, the operation | movement after vehicle position calculation in S203 is repeated again.

  On the other hand, when the detour instruction of the travel attention point is instructed, the control unit 102 performs a guidance route search for detouring the unpassed travel attention point whose distance along the guide route is the closest from the vehicle position. Specifically, in the guidance route information, the control unit 102 includes the node numbers included before and after the combination of the travel caution location number and the coordinates regarding the non-passing travel caution location whose distance along the guidance route is the shortest from the vehicle position. And a set of coordinates. The set of the two specified node numbers and coordinates is the node numbers and coordinates of the nodes at both ends of the road link where there is an unpassed travel attention point that is closest to the vehicle position along the guidance route. Next, the control unit 102 identifies a link record in the road information that includes the identified two node numbers as an end node number and an end node number. Then, the control unit 102 searches for a guide route with the link cost included in the identified link record being infinite. Alternatively, the guide route is searched assuming that the specified link record does not exist, and information on the guide route is generated. The generated guidance route information indicates a guidance route that bypasses the unpassed travel attention point that is closest to the vehicle position along the guidance route, and is stored in the guidance route storage unit 110 (S209). Thereafter, route guidance is performed based on a guidance route that bypasses an unpassed travel attention location that is the closest along the guidance route from the vehicle position, and whether or not there is a travel attention location on the guidance route in S201. The operation after the determination is repeated.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a map image at the time of route guidance that bypasses the travel attention point. A map image 200-3 illustrated in FIG. 12 includes an image 202-2 of a guidance route that bypasses the travel attention location corresponding to the image 210 indicating the position of the travel attention location.

  In the navigation device 100 described above, the HDD 20 and the control unit 102 correspond to a map data acquisition unit and a travel caution point information acquisition unit, and the control unit 102 includes a road identification unit, a cost correction unit, a guidance route search unit, a correction availability determination unit, Corresponding to the correction setting means, the travel attention place setting means, the travel attention place determination means on the guidance route, and the guidance route re-search means, the guide unit 116 corresponds to the guidance means.

  As described above, the navigation device 100 according to the present embodiment has a possibility that a person or an animal frequently crosses the road, and there is a travel caution location for a travel caution location that is a location that requires attention for vehicle travel. By increasing the cost of the road link to be performed, it is possible to perform a guidance route search that does not travel as much as possible. Also, when a guidance route that travels along the travel attention location is searched, a guidance route that bypasses the travel attention location is searched again according to the user's instruction. Therefore, it is possible to search for an appropriate guidance route according to the user's request that the user wants to travel while avoiding the travel caution spot as much as possible or to bypass the travel caution spot.

  In the above-described embodiment, the travel caution location information is described as being included in the road information. However, the travel caution location information may be included in the map data separately from the road information. Furthermore, the travel caution location information may be provided separately from the map data.

  As described above, the navigation device according to the present invention can perform an appropriate guidance route search according to a user's request when there is a travel caution location, and is useful as a navigation device. .

It is a figure which shows the structure of a navigation apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of road information. It is a figure which shows an example of driving | running | working attention location information. It is a figure which shows an example of the setting screen of driving | running | working attention location information. It is a figure which shows an example of the map image containing a driving attention location. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of a guidance route search. It is a figure which shows an example of a guidance path | route. It is a figure which shows an example of guidance route information. It is a figure which shows an example of the map image at the time of route guidance. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the re-search of the guidance route which detours a driving | running | working attention location. It is a figure which shows an example of the map image at the time of the route guidance containing the image about the distance from a vehicle position to a travel attention location. It is a figure which shows an example of the map image at the time of the route guidance which detours a driving attention location.

Explanation of symbols

10 Main body 20 Hard disk drive (HDD)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 22 Hard disk 30 Operation part 40 Communication part 50 GPS receiving part 60 Autonomous navigation sensor 70 Display 80 Speaker 100 Navigation apparatus 102 Control part 104 Buffer memory 106 Map drawing part 108 Operation screen and mark generation part 110 Guidance path memory | storage part 112 Guidance path drawing part 114 Traffic information drawing unit 116 Guide unit 118 Image composition unit

Claims (5)

A navigation device mounted on a vehicle and for guiding the vehicle by searching for a guidance route to a destination,
Map data acquisition means for acquiring map data including road information constituted by road position information and the cost of the road;
There is a possibility that a person or an animal frequently crosses the road, and a travel caution location information acquisition means for acquiring location information of a travel caution location that requires attention for vehicle travel,
Based on the location information of the roads constituting the road information included in the map data acquired by the map data acquisition means and the location information of the travel attention location acquired by the travel attention location information acquisition means, Road identification means for identifying the road where the
Cost correcting means for correcting the cost of the road where the travel attention point specified by the road specifying means exists;
It has a guide route search means for searching for a guide route using the cost of the road corrected by the cost correction means and generating guide route information including position information of roads constituting the guide route. Navigation device. A correction propriety determining unit that determines whether correction by the cost correcting unit is possible;
The cost correcting unit corrects the cost of the road by multiplying the cost of the road on which the travel attention point exists by a weight value when it is determined that the correction is possible by the correction propriety determining unit. The navigation device according to claim 1. Correction setting means for setting a weighting value to be multiplied by the cost of the road at the time of correction by the cost correction means,
The cost correcting unit corrects the cost of the road by multiplying the cost of the road on which the travel attention location exists by the weighted value when the weighting value is set by the correction setting unit. The navigation device according to claim 1 or 2. It has a travel caution location setting means for setting the position of the travel caution location,
The navigation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the travel caution location information acquiring unit acquires position information indicating a position of the travel caution location set by the travel caution location setting unit. A navigation device mounted on a vehicle and for guiding the vehicle by searching for a guidance route to a destination,
Map data acquisition means for acquiring map data including road information constituted by road position information and the cost of the road;
A guide route is searched using the cost of the road that constitutes the road information included in the map data acquired by the map data acquisition means, and the guide route information including the position information of the road that constitutes the guide route is generated. Guiding route search means;
There is a possibility that a person or an animal crosses the road, and a travel caution location information acquisition means for acquiring location information of a travel caution location that requires attention for vehicle travel,
Based on the position information of the road included in the guide route information generated by the guide route search means and the position information of the travel attention location acquired by the travel attention location information acquisition means, the travel on the guidance route A traveling caution point determination means for determining whether or not a caution point exists,
Guidance means for guiding the user to search for a guidance route again when the travel attention location on the guidance route is determined to be present on the guidance route;
Guidance route re-searching means for searching for a guidance route that bypasses the travel caution location when a guidance for a second guidance route is instructed in response to guidance prompting the guidance means to search for another guidance route. A navigation device characterized by that.

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