JP2012007986A - Navigation device and route guidance method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that there is the case that a lane change is reported before a left/right turn is guided in left/right turn congestion in a general road by a conventional navigation device and a driver does not recognize when to make the left/right turn and cannot perform a smooth drive.SOLUTION: In the navigation device, after route guidance is started (S420), congestion car queue information to the next guidance point is acquired (S425). On the basis of the acquired congestion car queue information, the guidance timing of a route is computed, and reporting contents related to the lane change are determined (S430). When the guidance timing of the route comes (S435), reporting is performed by screen display or voice output on the basis of the determined reporting contents related to the lane change at the guidance timing of the route computed in advance (S440).

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device and a route guidance method for performing route guidance in consideration of traffic conditions.

  Some navigation devices execute route search calculation and required time calculation in consideration of traffic jam based on traffic information. However, since it is unclear what kind of traffic congestion is formed, for example, when the vehicle train at the exit traffic on the highway is long, the driver may not be able to follow the vehicle at the end of the vehicle train. Therefore, Patent Document 1 discloses a road guidance device that provides route information by voice so as to follow the tail of a congested vehicle train by road-to-vehicle communication.

  According to the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, based on signals corresponding to vehicle position and vehicle speed for road-to-vehicle communication from each vehicle supplied to a leaky coaxial cable disposed on the side of the traveling lane, The processing device detects a traffic jam situation. The processing device calculates a traffic jam distance, and the traffic jam distance is provided to the road guide device via a leaky coaxial cable. Based on the traffic jam distance, the road guidance device tells the driver the lane where the exit traffic jam and the tail of the exit traffic train are located at a predetermined distance to the tail of the exit traffic train. Notify that the lane should be changed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-141591

  According to the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, only the route information regarding the lane change is provided according to the traffic congestion length of the optimal interchange exit when heading to the destination, and the timing of the right / left turn guidance does not change. Therefore, when applied to traffic jams on right and left turns on general roads, lane changes may be reported before guidance for turning left and right, and the driver does not know when to make a right or left turn and can perform smooth driving. There is a problem that it cannot be done.

The navigation device according to claim 1, a search unit that searches for a route from the starting point of the moving object to the destination, a guide unit that guides a route in the vicinity of a guide point on the route searched by the search unit, An acquisition unit for acquiring traffic jam train information on the route, and a determination unit for determining a notification timing or a notification point of the content to be guided by the guidance unit according to the traffic jam train information acquired by the acquisition unit. Features.
The navigation device according to claim 7, a search unit that searches for a route from the starting point of the moving object to the destination, a guide unit that guides a route in the vicinity of a guide point on the route searched by the search unit, Acquisition means for acquiring traffic jam train information on the route, and the guidance means determines the contents to be guided according to the traffic jam train information acquired by the acquisition means.
The route guidance method according to claim 9 includes a step of searching for a route from the departure point of the mobile body to the destination, a step of acquiring traffic jam train information on the route, and a traffic jam near the guidance point on the route. The method includes a step of determining a notification timing or a notification point of contents for guiding a route according to vehicle train information, and a step of guiding a route based on the notification timing or the notification point.
The route guidance method according to claim 10 includes a step of searching for a route from the departure point of the moving body to a destination, a step of acquiring traffic jam train information on the route, and a traffic jam near the guidance point on the route. The method includes a step of determining contents for guiding the route according to the vehicle train information, and a step of guiding the route by informing the determined content to be guided.

  According to the present invention, when there is a right / left turn traffic jam, the driver of the vehicle can perform smooth driving without being notified of the lane change before the right / left turn guidance is provided.

It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the route guidance system including the navigation apparatus of this Embodiment. It is a figure which illustrates the structure of the navigation apparatus of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the outline | summary of the control processing in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the route guidance processing procedure in the navigation apparatus of this Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the alerting | reporting content regarding the guidance timing of a path | route in the navigation apparatus of this Embodiment, and a lane change.

  With reference to FIGS. 1-5, one Embodiment which mounted the navigation apparatus by this invention in the vehicle is described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a route guidance system including the navigation device of the present embodiment.

  The route guidance system shown in FIG. 1 includes a vehicle 10 equipped with the navigation device of the present embodiment, an information distribution server 200, a base station 300, and a wide area communication network 40.

  The information distribution server 200 is connected to the wide area communication network 40 via the network interface, and has a function of searching and collecting various information distributed in the wide area communication network 40, a function of managing the collected information as a database, It is a server provided with the function etc. which distribute such information to the navigation apparatus of each vehicle. The information accumulated in the information distribution server 200 is, for example, traffic congestion information distributed from a traffic information center (not shown), probe information collected from a plurality of vehicles, and traffic information collected from a roadside sensor (not shown). is there. The information distributed from the information distribution server 200 to the navigation device of the vehicle 10 is, for example, various information such as traffic jam information edited based on probe information in addition to traffic jam information.

  Base station 300 has a function of providing a wireless communication service to a mobile terminal such as the navigation apparatus of the present embodiment, and is connected to wide area communication network 40 as a gateway node.

  In the example of FIG. 1, the information distribution server in which the navigation device of the present embodiment mounted on the vehicle 10 is connected to the wide area communication network 40 when the vehicle 10 travels the route from the departure place to the destination. The congested vehicle train information from 200 is received via wireless communication with the base station 300.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the navigation device 100 according to the present embodiment. The CPU 110 is an arithmetic processing device that controls the entire navigation device 100, and the CPU 110 and its peripheral devices are connected to each other via a bus. The peripheral devices include a main storage device 115, an auxiliary storage device 140, a display module 150, and a communication module 170. The main storage device 115 has a work memory that is a work area of the CPU 110 and a program memory in which a control program is stored.

  In the CPU 110, signals from the current location detection device 120 and the user input device 130 are input. The current location detection device 120 is, for example, a GPS sensor, a gyro sensor, and a vehicle speed sensor, and can specify the current location by an input signal from the current location detection device 120. The user input device 130 is, for example, a touch panel, a push button switch around the panel, a remote control, and a joystick.

  The auxiliary storage device 140 is a storage device that stores road map data and POI (Point Of Interest) information used for navigation processing. The auxiliary storage device 140 is, for example, a hard disk drive, a CD or DVD storing road map data, a flash memory, other recording media, and a reading device thereof.

  The road map data is information relating to the map, and includes map display data, route search data, and guidance data. The map display data is data for displaying the road and the background of the road map. The route search data is data including branch information that is not directly related to the road shape, and is mainly used when calculating a recommended route (route search). The guidance data is data including intersection name, road name, direction name, and direction guide facility information, and is used when the user is guided based on the calculated recommended route.

  The display module 150 displays a screen based on image data including characters and figures output from the CPU 110, and the speaker 155 outputs sound based on the audio data output from the CPU 110. The monitoring device 160 is, for example, a camera, and collects information related to traveling conditions and positional relationships of other vehicles around the host vehicle. The communication module 170 performs communication with the information distribution server 200 via the access point 300 and the network 40 and inter-vehicle wireless communication with other vehicles via the antenna.

  Among the information collected by the monitoring device 160, image information obtained by monitoring the front vehicle and the rear vehicle is distributed by the communication module 170 together with information on the current position specified based on the input signal from the current location detection device 120. It is transmitted to the server 200 as probe information. The information distribution server 200 calculates, for example, a congested vehicle train length based on the probe information collected from each vehicle, and edits it as congested vehicle train information.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the control processing in the embodiment of the present invention. The own vehicle 500 equipped with the navigation device 100 is traveling in the right lane 540 of the two lanes 530 and 540 on one side in accordance with left-hand traffic. Since the host vehicle 500 is route-guided to turn left at the next intersection 550, it is scheduled to move to the left lane 530 before the intersection 550. In the left lane 530, if there is a traffic jam caused by the train 520 formed by the vehicle turning left at the intersection 550, the vehicle moves to the left lane 530 before reaching the last vehicle 510 in the train 520 Need to complete.

  However, in the navigation device 100, if the left turn waiting traffic jam 520 in the left lane 530 is not taken into consideration, according to the route guidance, the host vehicle 500 is ahead of the last vehicle 510 in the train 520. It may be necessary to interrupt the vehicle train 520 where the vehicles are closely connected. In addition, according to the conventional technique for detecting the congested vehicle train 520, it is possible that the cooperative operation with the route guidance cannot be performed, and the guidance for changing the lane may be notified before the guidance for the left turn is notified. Both are factors that hinder the smooth running of the host vehicle 500. Therefore, it is preferable to change the guidance timing of the route according to the length of the congested vehicle train 520 and to guide the lane change from the lane 540 to the lane 530 at the same time. In the navigation apparatus 100, the route guidance timing is changed according to the length of the congested vehicle train 520, and the lane change from the lane 540 to the lane 530 is also guided. Note that a known technique is used as a determination technique as to which of the lanes 530 and 540 the host vehicle 500 is traveling.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the route guidance process procedure in the navigation device 100 of the present embodiment. This processing procedure is executed by the CPU 110. In step S410, a route search is executed. Since the route search process is executed using a known technique, the description is omitted. In step S415, it is determined whether or not the host vehicle 500 equipped with the navigation device 100 has started running. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S420. If the determination is negative, the process described in step S415 is repeated.

  In step S420, route guidance is started. In step S425, the congested vehicle train information until the next guidance point is acquired. For example, the congested vehicle train information is acquired through communication with the information distribution server 200 using the communication module 170. Based on the acquired congested vehicle train information, in step S430, the route guidance timing is calculated, and the notification content regarding the lane change is determined. Specifically, this is performed as follows. The content of notification regarding route guidance timing and lane change will be described with reference to FIG.

(1) When the route guidance timing is calculated based on the distance to the intersection (1-1) As shown in FIG. 5A, there is no traffic jam or the vehicle train length L of the traffic train 520 Is less than the threshold value L1, the time when the vehicle 500 passes the position of the predetermined distance D1 to the intersection 550 is set as the route guidance timing. In the example shown in FIG. 5A, left turn guidance is performed. At this time, the notification regarding the lane change is not performed.
(1-2) As shown in FIG. 5 (b), when the train length L of the congested train 520 is not less than the threshold L1 and less than the threshold L2, the vehicle 500 has a distance to the intersection 550 of the predetermined distance D1 + L1. The time when the position is passed is used as the route guidance timing. In the example shown in FIG. 5B, left turn guidance is performed. If it is necessary to change the lane 540 in which the host vehicle 500 travels along with this route guidance, a notification regarding the lane change is given at the same timing. In the example shown in FIG. 5 (b), a notification that prompts the user to change the lane to the left lane 530 is given during the left turn guidance.
(1-3) As shown in FIG. 5C, when the train length L of the congested train 520 is greater than or equal to the threshold L2, the host vehicle 500 has passed the position where the distance to the intersection 550 is a predetermined distance D1 + L2. Time is taken as the route guidance timing. In the example shown in FIG. 5C, left turn guidance is performed. If it is necessary to change the lane 540 in which the host vehicle 500 travels along with this route guidance, a notification regarding the lane change is given at the same timing. In the example illustrated in FIG. 5C, a notification that prompts the user to change the lane to the left lane 530 is issued when the left turn is guided.

(2) When the route guidance timing is calculated based on the required estimated time until reaching the intersection (1-1) As shown in FIG. 5A, there is no traffic jam or a vehicle in the traffic jam train 520 When the column length L is less than the threshold value L1, the route guidance timing is determined when the required predicted time T until the host vehicle 500 reaches the intersection 550 falls below the predetermined time T1. In the example shown in FIG. 5A, left turn guidance is performed. At this time, the notification regarding the lane change is not performed.
(1-2) As shown in FIG. 5B, when the vehicle train length L of the congested vehicle train 520 is not less than the threshold value L1 and less than the threshold value L2, the required estimated time until the host vehicle 500 reaches the intersection 550 The time when T falls below the predetermined time T2 is set as the route guidance timing. However, the predetermined time T2> the predetermined time T1. In the example shown in FIG. 5B, left turn guidance is performed. If it is necessary to change the lane 540 in which the host vehicle 500 travels along with this route guidance, a notification regarding the lane change is given at the same timing. In the example shown in FIG. 5 (b), a notification that prompts the user to change the lane to the left lane 530 is given during the left turn guidance.
(1-3) As shown in FIG. 5 (c), when the vehicle train length L of the congested vehicle train 520 is greater than or equal to the threshold L2, the required predicted time T until the host vehicle 500 reaches the intersection 550 is a predetermined time. When the time falls below T3, the route is guided. However, the predetermined time T3> the predetermined time T2. If it is necessary to change the lane 540 in which the host vehicle 500 travels along with this route guidance, a notification regarding the lane change is given at the same timing. In the example illustrated in FIG. 5C, a notification that prompts the user to change the lane to the left lane 530 is issued when the left turn is guided.

  As a result of traveling of the host vehicle 500, in step S435, it is determined whether or not the route guidance timing has arrived. If the determination is negative, this determination is repeated until an affirmative determination is obtained. If it is affirmation determination, in step S440, it will alert | report based on the alerting | reporting content regarding the lane change determined at the route guidance timing calculated in step S430. As a notification form, the display module 150 displays the notification content on the screen. Alternatively, the notification content may be output by voice through the speaker 155. In the example shown in FIG. 5A, the train length L = 0 because there is no traffic jam, and the host vehicle 500 reaches the position where the distance to the intersection 550 is a predetermined distance D1 = 100 [m]. If it is, a screen for guiding a left turn at the intersection 550 is displayed on the display module 150. In addition, sound that guides the user to turn left at the intersection 550 is output from the speaker 155. In the example shown in FIG. 5B, the congested vehicle train 520 has a train length L = 80 [m] and a threshold L1 = 50 [m], and the distance between the host vehicle 500 and the intersection 550 is a predetermined distance. When the vehicle reaches the position of D1 + L1 = 150 [m], the display module 150 displays a screen for promptly changing the lane 540 in which the host vehicle 500 travels to the lane 530 and a screen for guiding a left turn at the intersection 550. indicate. In addition, a voice prompting to immediately change the lane 540 in which the host vehicle 500 travels to a lane 530 and a voice guiding the vehicle to turn left at the intersection 550 are output. In the example shown in FIG. 5C, the congested vehicle train 520 has a train length L = 150 [m] and a threshold L2 = 100 [m], and the vehicle 500 has a predetermined distance from the intersection 550. When the vehicle reaches the position of D1 + L2 = 200 [m], the display module 150 displays a screen for promptly changing the lane 540 in which the host vehicle 500 travels to the lane 530 and a screen for guiding a left turn at the intersection 550. indicate. In addition, a voice prompting to immediately change the lane 540 in which the host vehicle 500 travels to a lane 530 and a voice guiding the vehicle to turn left at the intersection 550 are output.

  In step S445, it is determined whether or not the host vehicle 500 has passed the guidance point. If the determination is negative, this determination is repeated until an affirmative determination is obtained. If the determination is affirmative, it is determined in step S450 whether or not the host vehicle 500 has passed all the guidance points included in the route to the destination. If the determination is negative, the procedure returns to step S425. As a result, since the latest congested vehicle train information is always acquired, the calculation of the route guidance timing for a plurality of guidance points that are scheduled to pass is recalculated, and the determination of the notification content regarding the lane change is redetermined. The If an affirmative determination is made in step S450, it is determined in step S455 whether or not the host vehicle 500 has arrived at the destination. If the determination is negative, this determination is repeated until an affirmative determination is obtained. If the determination is affirmative, the route guidance ends in step S460, and the processing procedure ends.

  The navigation device 100 according to the embodiment described above is configured such that the route guidance timing is calculated and the notification content regarding the lane change is determined according to the congested vehicle train length. Therefore, there is an effect that the vehicle can travel smoothly without being affected by the congested vehicle train length.

---- Modified example ---
The navigation device 100 of the embodiment described above can be modified as follows.
(1) In step S425 of FIG. 4 described above, the congested vehicle train information is acquired through communication with the information distribution server 200 using the communication module 170, for example. Specifically, the navigation device 100 transmits an acquisition request for traffic jam train information in a predetermined section to the information distribution server 200, and the traffic jam train information in the predetermined section transmitted from the information distribution server 200 that has received the request. This is realized by the navigation device 100 receiving. However, a traffic jam train in a predetermined section is transmitted from the navigation device 100 to the information distribution server 200 with the route information to the destination and the current position information at a certain time cycle and transmitted from the information distribution server 200 with a certain time cycle. You may implement | achieve when the navigation apparatus 100 receives information. Or you may implement | achieve when the navigation apparatus 100 receives the traffic congestion vehicle row information which the other vehicle of the vicinity received via communication between vehicles.

(2) In the above-described FIG. 4, since the latest traffic jam train information is always acquired in the process of repeating the processing procedure from step S425 to step S450, the route information about a plurality of guidance points that are scheduled to pass through is obtained. The guidance timing is calculated each time, and the notification content regarding the lane change is redetermined. However, the guidance timing may be calculated at the start of route guidance to determine the notification content, and the subsequent calculation and re-determination of the notification content may be suppressed.

(3) In FIG. 4 described above, when the processing procedure returns from step S450 to step S425, the latest congested vehicle train information is immediately acquired, and the guidance timing is recalculated and the notification content is re-determined. However, when it is detected that the vehicle 500 has passed a predetermined distance to the next guidance point, or a position in front of a predetermined number of blocks, or that the required time to the next guidance point is within a predetermined value. In addition, the latest congested vehicle train information in step S425 may be acquired and each subsequent step may be processed.

(4) In step S430 in FIG. 4 described above, when the train length L of the congested vehicle train is greater than or equal to the threshold value L1, notification regarding the lane change is made together with the route guidance at the predetermined timing. It is good also as performing either one of the alert | report regarding lane change.

(5) In FIG. 3 described above, a road with two lanes on one side is assumed, and therefore the number of lane changes is one. However, when the number of lanes is larger, for example, the lane change may be performed smoothly one by one by repeating the calculation of the guidance timing and the determination of the notification contents in the present invention a plurality of times.

(6) In FIG. 3 described above, a lane change on a two-lane road on one side is assumed, but the present invention may be used for a lane change due to a lane restriction due to a width reduction or road construction.

(7) In the above description of the present embodiment and the modified examples, the embodiment in which the present invention is applied to the navigation device 100 has been described. However, PND (Personal Navigation Device), PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), mobile phone, The present invention may be applied to portable personal computers and portable game machines.

  Each embodiment and each modification described above may be combined. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the device configuration in the above-described embodiment unless the characteristic functions of the present invention are impaired.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle 40 Wide area communication network 100 Navigation apparatus 110 CPU
115 main storage device 120 current location detection device 130 user input device 140 auxiliary storage device 150 display module 155 speaker 160 monitoring device 170 communication module 200 information distribution server 300 base station 500 own vehicle 510 last vehicle 520 congested vehicle train 530, 540 Lane 550 Intersection

Claims (11)

Search means for searching for a route from the starting point of the moving object to the destination;
Guidance means for guiding the route in the vicinity of the guidance point on the route searched by the search means;
Acquisition means for acquiring congested vehicle train information on the route;
A navigation apparatus comprising: a determination unit that determines a notification timing or a notification point of content to be guided by the guidance unit according to the congested vehicle train information acquired by the acquisition unit. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein
The contents to be guided by the guidance means include a direction instruction at the guidance point and a lane change instruction for causing the moving body to follow the tail of the congested train corresponding to the congested train information. Navigation device. The navigation device according to claim 1 or 2,
The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit repeatedly determines the notification timing or the notification point according to the congested vehicle train information repeatedly acquired by the acquisition unit. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the guidance means determines the content to be guided according to the congested vehicle train information acquired by the acquisition means. In the navigation apparatus of any one of Claims 1-4,
The acquisition means acquires the congested vehicle train information at a predetermined point,
The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined point is a predetermined position before the next guidance point. In the navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The acquisition means acquires the congested vehicle train information at a predetermined timing,
The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined timing is when a required time to a next guidance point is within a predetermined value. Search means for searching for a route from the starting point of the moving object to the destination;
Guidance means for guiding the route in the vicinity of the guidance point on the route searched by the search means;
Obtaining means for obtaining congested vehicle train information on the route,
The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the guidance means determines the content to be guided according to the congested vehicle train information acquired by the acquisition means. The navigation device according to claim 7,
The contents to be guided by the guidance means include a direction instruction at the guidance point and a lane change instruction for causing the moving body to follow the tail of the congested train corresponding to the congested train information. Navigation device. Searching for a route from the starting point of the moving object to the destination;
Obtaining traffic jam information on the route;
Determining the notification timing or notification point of the content to guide the route according to the traffic jam train information near the guidance point on the route;
Guiding the route according to the notification timing or the notification point. Searching for a route from the starting point of the moving object to the destination;
Obtaining traffic jam information on the route;
Determining content to guide the route according to the traffic jam train information near the guidance point on the route;
And a step of guiding the route by informing the determined content to be guided. The route guidance method according to claim 9 or 10,
The guidance contents include a direction guidance at the guidance point and a lane change instruction for causing the moving body to follow the tail of the traffic jam train corresponding to the traffic jam train information. Guidance method.

Images