JP3137451B2 - Route guidance device for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicular route guidance device mounted on a vehicle for guiding a route to a destination, and more particularly to a device for indicating a road to be selected by a voice and / or display at a branch point.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various devices for reducing the burden on the driver have been studied and mounted on vehicles. Among them, a route for guiding along a route to a destination is included. There is a guidance device. The route guidance device has a function of notifying a driver of a route to be selected when passing through a branch point such as an intersection. There is a route guidance device provided with an image display device by a display to notify a driver of a route.

[0003] Further, in addition to such notification by image display, there is also known a device that performs route notification by voice.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-173819 discloses a device for giving a voice instruction when a vehicle reaches a predetermined position just before an intersection or a junction where a route is to be notified. According to such route guidance by voice, the driver does not need to look at the display or the like, and can concentrate on monitoring ahead.

[0004] Further, it is preferable that such guidance at an intersection or the like be announced to some extent before the intersection or the like. That is, the driver may not be able to cope with the route guidance even immediately before the intersection. For example, if the road on which the vehicle is currently traveling is two lanes and the vehicle is traveling on the left lane, it is not possible to immediately turn right even if the guidance of "turn right" is given. That is, it is necessary to change the lane to the right lane and then turn right. Like changing lanes,
It is necessary to perform a preparation operation for a left turn or a right turn in advance.

[0005] In order to make this extra time, it is necessary to give a notice to some extent before an intersection as described above. Then, stepwise guidance, such as providing guidance immediately before an intersection or the like, is preferable. by this,
Route guidance that enables smooth driving operation can be performed.

When the vehicle arrives at a preset destination, the driver is informed by voice that the route guidance is to be ended, and then the route guidance is terminated.

[0007]

However, in the above-described device, when the accuracy of the position measurement of the own vehicle is low, arrival is not determined even though the vehicle actually arrives at the destination, and route guidance is performed. May not end.

Further, when a pass point is set and a route is selected, the following problem occurs. When a passing point is set, a route search is performed using the passing point as a first destination, and a first route from the starting point to the passing point is determined first. Subsequently, a route search for the final destination is performed from this passing point, and this is determined as the second route. In such a case, the route guidance of the second route is not started unless it is determined that the vehicle has arrived at the first destination. That is, if the position measurement accuracy is low, or if you pass a place slightly away from the passing point and head for the final destination,
Since it is not determined that the vehicle has reached the passing point, the first route guidance does not end, and the route guidance to the final destination does not start.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems. For example, when the measurement accuracy of the current position is low, and when the vehicle does not pass through a set passing point, the present invention is applied.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicular route guidance device capable of deeming that the vehicle has reached the destination if the vehicle is approaching a predetermined distance, and terminating the route guidance.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a vehicle route guidance apparatus according to the present invention includes an approach determining means for determining that a vehicle has approached a destination within a predetermined distance; When approaching within a predetermined distance , to the destination
A guidance end judging means for judging whether or not the final route guidance is performed as the last one of the route guidance, the final route guidance by the guide end determining unit and that close to the destination by the approach determination means And terminating means for terminating the route guidance together with the message when it is determined that the operation has been performed.

[0011]

The present invention has the above-described configuration, and when the vehicle approaches the destination to a predetermined distance, it is considered that the vehicle has reached the destination, and the route guidance is terminated. At this time, the driver is notified of the end of the route guidance by voice and / or a message by display.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present apparatus. A map information storage unit 10 that stores information such as roads, place names, building names, river names, and the like is provided.
The stored map information can be read as needed. Also, a GPS receiver 14 using a satellite navigation system (hereinafter referred to as GPS) for measuring the current position of the vehicle, a direction sensor 16 for detecting the traveling direction of the vehicle based on geomagnetism, a steering angle of the steering wheel A steering sensor 17 for detecting a changed course and a distance sensor 18 for detecting a traveling distance based on the number of rotations of wheels are provided, and the current position measuring unit 12 determines the current position of the own vehicle based on the detection results of these sensors. Determine.

When performing route guidance to the destination, the destination is instructed on the screen of a display unit to be described later by the input unit 19, or is input by the place name or the like, and the current position calculated by the current position measurement unit 12 is calculated. A route from the position to the destination is calculated by the route calculation unit 22 included in the calculation unit 20, and the calculated route is stored in the route storage unit 24.

After inputting the destination and determining the route, actual route guidance is performed. The route guidance control unit 26 included in the calculation unit 20 reads map information around the own vehicle from the map information storage unit 10 and superimposes the current position and traveling direction of the own vehicle on the route stored in the route storage unit 24. Is displayed on the display unit 28.

The display section 28 is provided in the instrument panel near the driver's seat, and the driver can use the display section 28.
To check the position of the vehicle and obtain information about the future route. FIG. 2 shows an example of this display. In FIG. 2, the selected route is indicated by a thick solid line 100, and other roads are indicated by a thin solid line 102. The position of the host vehicle is indicated by a circle 104 and the traveling direction is indicated by a wedge-shaped arrow 106. For road markings,
The distinction can be made not only by the line thickness but also by changing the color.

At the intersection 10 where the position of the own vehicle is to be re-routed
When the distance approaches 8, the display screen changes as shown in FIG. 3, and the intersection name 110 and the distance 112 to the intersection are displayed. The route guidance control unit 26 also instructs the voice control unit 30 to generate a voice corresponding to the route guidance at the intersection at the same time as the display switching. The voice control unit 30 reads information stored as digital data in the voice storage unit, converts the information into an analog signal, and drives the speaker 34. Then, the driver gives route guidance to the driver such as "turn left at the next intersection." This voice instruction is performed at predetermined intervals until the vehicle passes through the intersection.

Further, the end of the route guidance when approaching the destination will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

As described above, in this embodiment, the GPS receiver 14, the azimuth sensor 16, and the steering sensor 1 are used.
7. The current position is measured by the current position measuring unit 12 from the distance sensor 18. The approach determination unit 26a constantly monitors the distance between the measured current position and the destination stored in the route storage unit 24 (step S100). When the distance becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value, the approach determination unit 26a determines that the vehicle has approached the destination. When this determination is made, the process proceeds to step S101, and the guidance end determination unit 26b determines whether there is a point for performing route guidance from the current position of the vehicle to the destination. In other words, it is determined whether the route guidance to the destination has already been completed. At this time,
If all route guidance to the destination has been completed, there is no problem even if it is determined that the destination has been reached and the route guidance is terminated. On the other hand, if there is an intersection where guidance such as right turn / left turn still needs to be performed, route guidance must be continued. Therefore, when there is a guide point between the current position and the destination, the process proceeds to step S102. Then, when the route guidance is performed, step S10 is performed again.
Return to 1. On the other hand, when the guide point does not exist to the destination, the end unit 26c included in the route guidance control unit 26 gives an instruction to end the guidance. Then, the voice control unit 30
And the display unit 28 inform the driver of the end of the guidance (step S103). The notification of the end of the route guidance may be made by either one of voice and display. When the end of the route guidance is notified, the end unit 26c terminates the route guidance (step S104).

In this embodiment, the predetermined distance is 2
00m. That is, 200 to the destination
If the vehicle approaches m and there is no point for route guidance from that point to the destination, it is considered that the destination has been reached, and the route guidance ends.

When a pass point is designated when a route search is performed, this pass point is also handled in the same way as the destination. That is, when approaching the designated passing point to a predetermined distance (200 m in this embodiment) and route guidance to the passing point has been completed, the route guidance ends at this point. Then, route guidance between the final destination or the next passing point is started.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, route guidance can be terminated when approaching a destination within a predetermined distance and there is no intersection or the like at which route guidance should be performed to the destination. it can. Therefore, when the measurement error of the current position is large, the route guidance does not end even though the vehicle has actually arrived at the destination. Furthermore, even if the vehicle has passed the passing point, the route guidance to the next destination does not start.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a preferred embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the apparatus according to the present embodiment, particularly illustrating an example of an enlarged display when approaching an intersection where a right or left turn is made;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for determining whether the apparatus of the present embodiment has approached a destination and determining whether to end route guidance.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 map information storage unit 26 route guidance control unit 26a approach determination unit 26b guidance end determination unit 26c termination unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Mitsuhiro Futamura 10 Takane, Fujii-machi, Anjo, Aichi Prefecture Inside Aisin AW Co., Ltd.・ Within AW Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toyoharu Hiyokawa 10th, Takane, Fujiicho, Anjo-shi, Aichi Prefecture Inside Aisin AW Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-3-62082 JP-A-61-212720 (JP, A) JP-A-63-261108 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01C 21/00 G08G 1/0969 G09B 29/00 -29/10

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A route guidance device for a vehicle, which provides guidance by voice and / or display according to a preset route and guides a route to a destination, wherein the own vehicle is located within a predetermined distance from the destination. Approach determination means for determining that the vehicle has approached, and a route plan to a destination when approaching within the predetermined distance.
A guidance end judging means for judging whether or not the final route guidance is performed as the last one of the inner, and that close to the destination by the approach determination means, the final route guidance line by the guiding end determining unit End means for ending the route guidance together with a message when it is determined that the vehicle has been touched, and a route guidance device for a vehicle.