JP4489619B2 - Navigation device and method for guiding relative position of own vehicle - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device and a guidance method for the relative position of the own vehicle, and more particularly to a mechanism for guiding a relative position of the own vehicle to a meeting person.

  When you are driving to the meeting place, you may want to inform the meeting person where your car is currently located and how long it will arrive. For example, if the meeting place with the person coming on foot is a roundabout in front of the station where there is no parking lot, and you cannot park for a long time, you must tell the meeting person real-time information about your vehicle. Even if you arrive at the meeting place, you may not be able to confirm well and smooth pickup may be difficult.

  Conventionally, in order to convey real-time information of the vehicle to the queuing person, the driver uses a hands-free device, or the passenger of the vehicle uses his mobile phone to talk to the queuing person. The location and estimated arrival time were reported in real time. However, such a response is not possible when the driver or passengers are not in the vicinity of the meeting place or when there are no passengers.

A system has been proposed that monitors the position of the shuttle bus on the route and automatically notifies the user that the shuttle bus has approached the pick-up place (meeting place) (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-150494 A

  However, in the case of this patent document 1, the meeting place is a fixed place determined in advance, and the operation route of the pick-up bus is also determined in advance. The person knows from the beginning. In addition, since the vehicle is a pick-up bus, the determination is easy. Therefore, in the system described in Patent Document 1, it is only necessary to tell that the shuttle bus has approached the meeting place, and it has only that function.

  On the other hand, in the case of general meeting, the meeting place is set at an arbitrary place, and the travel route of the vehicle toward the meeting place is also arbitrary. Therefore, from the meeting person, it is not known at all on which road the vehicle comes from. Therefore, it is not sufficient to just notify that the vehicle has approached the meeting place as in Patent Document 1.

  As a method for solving such problems, the current position information measured by the navigation device mounted on the vehicle is transmitted to the mobile phone of the queuing person, and the vehicle position is displayed on the map screen of the mobile phone. A method of making it possible is conceivable. However, when such a method is adopted, the following problems occur.

-In order to display a map on a mobile phone, the mobile phone needs to have a function for that purpose. Therefore, it cannot be handled when the meeting person does not have a mobile phone with a map display function.
・ Data communication of current location information takes some time. In addition, it is necessary for the mobile phone to convert the received current position information of the navigation device into a format for the mobile phone, and to display the vehicle position on the map screen. For this reason, a series of processing takes time and the real-time property is lowered.

・ In order for the meeting person to check the position of the vehicle in real time on the map displayed on the mobile phone, it is necessary to stare at the screen of the mobile phone. When the meeting person is staring at the meeting place and staring at the screen, the safety on walking is lacking.
If the map display is continued on the mobile phone, information other than the map (for example, web page information, e-mail information, games, etc.) cannot be displayed on the mobile phone at all.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to enable smooth waiting without displaying a map on the mobile phone of the meeting person. Specifically, it is an object of the present invention to make it possible for the meeting person to easily check the vehicle coming to the meeting place without displaying a map on the meeting person's mobile phone.

To solve the problems described above, in the present invention, on the basis of position information of the meeting place that are set as the destination, the route information and position information of the landmark to the meeting place, which landmarks relative to the meeting place The guidance information on whether the vehicle is approaching from the direction is generated and transmitted to the communication terminal of the meeting person .

In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a meeting place candidate database for storing a place near a facility corresponding to a landmark as a meeting place candidate. When setting a meeting place, the meeting place candidate database is used to set the meeting place candidate database. Candidates are read and presented.
Also, it is determined whether or not the place designated by the user as the meeting place exists in the meeting place database. If not, the meeting place candidate close to the place designated as the meeting place is extracted from the meeting place database. May be set.

  In another aspect of the present invention, based on traffic jam information received from the outside, it is determined whether or not there is a traffic jam in the vicinity of the location set as the meeting place. Other meeting place candidates that are close to the designated place are extracted from the meeting place database and set again.

  When the meeting place is set using the information of the meeting place candidate database in this way, the second guide information for guiding the set meeting place is generated and transmitted to the communication terminal of the meeting person. Is preferred.

According to the present invention configured as described above, guidance information indicating which landmark the vehicle enters from the direction of the meeting place is transmitted from the vehicle to the communication terminal of the meeting person. Therefore, the meeting person need only pay attention to the direction of the guided landmark according to the guidance information presented at his / her communication terminal, and rely on the facility that serves as a landmark visible from the meeting place. It is possible to easily confirm the proper approach direction and to perform the meeting smoothly. In addition, since the guidance information is made in an easy-to-understand manner with information limited to the range that can be seen from the meeting place, it is not necessary to display a map on the communication terminal of the meeting person to indicate the current position of the vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to solve all the problems associated with displaying the map on the communication terminal of the meeting person and guiding the current position of the vehicle.

In addition, when the meeting place is set using the information in the meeting place candidate database, a place where a landmark (facility) useful for guiding the approach direction of the vehicle can be seen nearby, that is, convenient for guidance. A good place can be set as a meeting place.
In addition, if there is a traffic jam near the meeting place that was initially set, if the meeting location database is used to re-set to another meeting location, it is difficult for the meeting person to check the vehicle due to the traffic jam. A place that is more convenient for meeting can be set as a new meeting place while avoiding the place. Therefore, the waiting can be performed more smoothly.

(First embodiment)
DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a navigation device 10 and a mobile phone device 50 connected to the navigation device 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a map recording medium such as a DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disk-Read Only Memory), which stores various map data necessary for map display, route search, and the like. Here, the DVD-ROM 11 is used as a recording medium for storing the map data, but other recording media such as a CD-ROM and a hard disk may be used. A DVD-ROM control unit 12 controls reading of map data from the DVD-ROM 11.

  The map data recorded on the DVD-ROM 11 includes a drawing unit composed of various data necessary for map display and a road unit composed of data necessary for various processes such as map matching and route search. . The drawing unit includes various landmark information (including its position information). A road unit corresponds to a road, a lane, or the like that connects information about a node corresponding to a point where a plurality of roads intersect, such as an intersection or a branch, and a node on the road and another adjacent node. Information about the link. That is, the road unit includes a connection node table storing detailed data of all nodes and a link table storing detailed data of links specified by two adjacent nodes.

  The connection node table includes information such as normalized longitude / latitude of nodes, attribute flags, the number of traffic regulations, and traffic regulation records for each existing node. The normalized longitude / latitude indicates a relative position in the longitude direction / latitude direction with respect to the section. The attribute flag includes an intersection node flag indicating whether or not the node is an intersection node. The number of traffic regulations indicates the number of traffic regulations when there is traffic regulation such as right turn prohibition or U-turn prohibition on the link connected to the node. The traffic regulation record indicates the specific contents of the traffic regulation corresponding to the number of traffic regulations described above, if any.

  Further, the link table includes information such as a link distance, a link cost, a road attribute flag, and a road type flag. The link distance indicates the actual distance of the actual road corresponding to the link. The cost of a link is obtained by calculating the time required for traveling on the link from the road type or the like, and indicating the time required for passing the link in minutes, for example. The road attribute flag indicates various attributes relating to the link. The road type flag indicates a type indicating whether the actual road corresponding to the link is an expressway or a general road.

  Reference numeral 13 denotes a position measurement unit that measures the current position of the vehicle, and includes a self-contained navigation sensor, a GPS receiver, a position calculation CPU, and the like. The self-contained navigation sensor includes a vehicle speed sensor (distance sensor) that outputs a single pulse for each predetermined travel distance to detect the travel distance of the vehicle, and an angular velocity sensor such as a vibration gyro that detects the rotation angle (movement direction) of the vehicle. (Relative orientation sensor). The self-contained navigation sensor detects the relative position and direction of the vehicle using these vehicle speed sensor and angular velocity sensor.

  The position calculation CPU calculates the absolute own vehicle position (estimated vehicle position) and vehicle direction based on the relative position and direction data of the own vehicle output from the self-contained navigation sensor. The GPS receiver receives radio waves transmitted from a plurality of GPS satellites by a GPS antenna and performs a three-dimensional positioning process or a two-dimensional positioning process to calculate the absolute position and direction of the vehicle (the vehicle direction is The calculation is based on the current vehicle position and the current vehicle position one sampling time ΔT before).

  A map information memory 14 temporarily stores map data read from the DVD-ROM 11 under the control of the DVD-ROM control unit 12. That is, the DVD-ROM control unit 12 inputs information on the current vehicle position from the position measurement unit 13 and outputs an instruction to read out a predetermined range of map data including the current vehicle position, thereby displaying a map display or guidance route. Map data necessary for the search is read from the DVD-ROM 11 and stored in the map information memory 14. The map data stored in the map information memory 14 includes the above-described drawing layer and road layer information. The map information memory 14 corresponds to a map data storage unit of the present invention that stores map data including road distance information and landmark position information.

  A beacon transmitter / receiver 15 performs two-way communication with a radio beacon transmitter / receiver mainly installed on a highway via radio waves, and is connected to an optical beacon transmitter / receiver mainly installed on a general road. By performing two-way communication between each other via light, VICS road traffic information sent from a road traffic information center (VICS center) (not shown) is received. This VICS road traffic information includes traffic jam information. Therefore, this beacon transceiver 15 corresponds to the traffic jam information receiving unit of the present invention.

  Reference numeral 16 denotes an operation unit such as a remote controller (remote controller) or the like. / Various operations (buttons, joysticks, etc.) for performing a reduction operation, manual map scrolling, numerical input, etc.). When waiting at a desired place, it is possible to set the desired meeting place as the destination by operating the remote controller 16. Reference numeral 17 denotes a remote control interface which receives an infrared signal corresponding to the operation state from the remote control 16.

  A processor (CPU) 18 controls the entire navigation device 10. Reference numeral 19 denotes a ROM which stores various programs (guidance route search processing program, own vehicle relative position guidance processing program, etc.). Reference numeral 20 denotes a RAM that temporarily stores data obtained in the course of various processes and data obtained as a result of various processes. For example, the CPU 18 searches for a guide route with the lowest cost connecting the current location to the destination using the map data stored in the map information memory 14 according to the guide route search processing program stored in the ROM 19. Process.

  Reference numeral 21 denotes a guidance route memory, which stores guidance route data searched by the CPU 18. The guidance route data stores the position of each node and an intersection identification flag indicating whether each node is an intersection, corresponding to each node from the current location to the destination. When the meeting place is set as the destination, the guidance route data stored in the guide path memory 21 includes the position information of the meeting place set as the destination and the current position of the vehicle to the meeting place. Route information. The guidance route memory 21 corresponds to the guidance route storage unit of the present invention.

  The CPU 18 also performs a process of guiding the vehicle to the destination based on the guidance route data stored in the guidance route memory 21. That is, a guidance route generation unit 26, which will be described later, is controlled to draw the guidance route thickly on the map screen while changing the color from other roads while the vehicle is traveling. In addition, when the vehicle approaches a guidance intersection on the guidance route within a certain distance, the direction of travel is guided by voice, or the guidance image of the intersection is enlarged and an arrow indicating the direction of travel is displayed. Provide intersection guidance.

  Reference numeral 22 denotes a time calculation unit which virtually estimates the road distance information included in the map data stored in the map information memory 14 and the current position information of the vehicle measured by the position measurement unit 13. The planned traveling time from the current position of the vehicle to the destination (meeting place) is calculated based on the vehicle speed information. Alternatively, the planned arrival time at the meeting place is calculated by adding the planned traveling time to the current time. Here, the virtually estimated vehicle speed information is, for example, a predetermined speed according to the road type indicated by the road type flag, a legal speed according to the road, or the like.

  Here, the estimated travel time to the meeting place is calculated from the road distance information, the vehicle current position information, and the vehicle speed information. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as the cost of a link, the required time for traveling on that link is preset, so add the required time for each link along the guidance route from the current position of the vehicle to the meeting place Thus, it is also possible to calculate the estimated traveling time to the meeting place.

  A display controller 23 generates map image data necessary for display on the display device 29 based on the map data stored in the map information memory 14. A video RAM 24 temporarily stores map image data generated by the display controller 23. That is, the map image data generated by the display controller 23 is temporarily stored in the video RAM 24, and the map image data for one screen is read and output to the image composition unit 28.

  Reference numeral 25 denotes a menu generation unit that generates and outputs a menu image necessary for performing various operations using the remote controller 16. A guidance route generator 26 generates drawing data of the guidance route using the processing result of the guidance route search processing program stored in the guidance route memory 21. That is, the guidance route data stored in the guidance route memory 21 is selectively read out from the map area drawn in the video RAM 24 at that time, and the guidance is overlaid on the map image and emphasized with a predetermined color. Draw a route.

  A mark generating unit 27 generates and outputs a vehicle position mark displayed at the vehicle position after the map matching process, various landmarks displaying a gas station, a convenience store, and the like. Note that the map matching process includes the map data read into the map information memory 14, the vehicle position and vehicle orientation data measured by the GPS receiver measured by the position measurement unit 13, and the vehicle estimated by the autonomous navigation sensor. This refers to processing for correcting the position of the vehicle on the road of the map data using the position and vehicle direction data.

  An image composition unit 28 synthesizes and outputs various images. That is, the map image data read out by the display controller 23 is overlaid with the image data output from each of the menu generating unit 25, the guide route generating unit 26, and the mark generating unit 27, and image synthesis is performed. Output to. Thereby, on the screen of the display device 29, the map information around the own vehicle is displayed together with the vehicle position mark and various landmarks. When a guide route to the destination is set, the guide route is displayed on this map.

  Reference numeral 30 denotes a voice generation unit that utters a voice for intersection guidance, a voice for various operation guidance, and the like. 31 is a speaker which outputs the sound generated by the sound generating unit 30 to the outside.

  Reference numeral 32 denotes a guidance generation unit, which is based on the position information of the meeting place stored in the guidance route memory 21 and the route information from the current position of the vehicle to the meeting place from which direction the vehicle is located. Guidance information representing whether the vehicle is entering (relative vehicle entry direction as seen from the meeting place) is generated. This guidance information is generated as audio information, for example. As a method of generating guidance information by voice, there is a method of extracting an appropriate one from a plurality of voice segments prepared in advance according to the meeting place and the situation of the guidance route and combining them. Applicable. Further, other known speech synthesis methods may be applied.

  The guidance generating unit 32 also includes landmark position information stored in the map information memory 14, position information of the meeting place stored in the guide route memory 21, and a route from the current position of the vehicle to the meeting place. Based on the information, guidance information as to which landmark the vehicle enters from the meeting place may be generated. Further, the guidance generation unit 32 may generate the guidance information including the planned traveling time or the planned arrival time obtained by the time calculation unit 22. The guidance information in these cases is also generated as voice information, for example.

  A communication interface (I / F) 33 exchanges data with the mobile phone device 50 in a wired or wireless manner under the control of the CPU 18. For example, in order to transmit the guide information generated by the guide generation unit 32 of the navigation device 10 to the communication terminal (for example, a mobile phone device) of the queuing person, the guide information is sent to the mobile phone device 50. . Thus, CPU18 and communication I / F33 comprise the guidance transmission control part of this invention. The operations of the guidance generation unit 32 and the communication I / F 33 are executed according to the vehicle relative position guidance processing program stored in the ROM 19.

  In the configuration of the mobile phone device 50, 51 is a communication I / F, which exchanges data with the navigation device 10 by wire or wireless. For example, the guidance information generated by the guidance generation unit 32 of the navigation device 10 and sent via the communication I / F 33 is received. A communication unit 52 communicates with a queuing person's mobile phone device (not shown) via a mobile phone network. The communication unit 52 includes a D / A converter therein, converts digital guide information passed from the communication I / F 51 into an analog voice signal, and transmits the analog voice signal to the mobile phone device of the queuing person.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of guidance information generated by the guidance generation unit 32. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the meeting place 61 is a station, and a meeting person 62 is waiting for a vehicle 63 to come at the station 61. The vehicle 63 is equipped with the navigation device 10 and the mobile phone device 50 configured as shown in FIG. 1, and a guidance route to the meeting place 61 is set in the guidance route memory 21 of the navigation device 10.

  When the guidance route is set, when the vehicle 63 approaches within a predetermined distance from the guidance intersection 64 in front of the guidance route, an enlarged map image of the approaching guidance intersection is generated by the guidance route generation unit 26. The information is displayed on the display device 29 via the combining unit 28. In addition, the guidance voice of the intersection such as “Turn right after 300 m” is generated by the voice generation unit 30 and output from the speaker 31.

  In addition to the guidance voice in the vehicle, voice guidance information is generated by the guidance generation unit 32 of the navigation device 10, and the communication I / F 33 waits via the communication I / F 51 and the communication unit 52 of the mobile phone device 50. The guidance voice is transmitted to the mobile phone device of the person 62. The guidance voice at this time indicates from which direction the vehicle 63 enters the meeting place 61, such as “I will enter from the right side of the station”. Further, as shown in “You will arrive at the station in about two minutes or less.”, The scheduled travel time (may be the planned arrival time) to the meeting place 61 obtained by the time calculation unit 22 may be included in the guidance voice.

  Further, when there is a facility having a landmark (XX building 65 in the case of FIG. 2) near the meeting place 61, the meeting place 61 is, for example, “I am heading to the station from the direction of the XX building”. Alternatively, a guidance voice indicating from which landmark direction the vehicle 63 enters may be sent. In the example of FIG. 2, the XX building 65 is located between the meeting place 61 and the vehicle 63, but when the XX building 65 exists on the side passing the meeting place 61 when viewed from the vehicle 63, for example, “ A guidance voice such as “From the opposite side of the XX building to the station” is generated.

  Further, information indicating the characteristics of the vehicle 63 (vehicle type, color of the vehicle, etc.) is registered in a vehicle information memory (not shown) of the navigation device 10 and such characteristic information of the vehicle 63 is included in the guidance voice. good.

  This is the timing at which the guidance voice is transmitted to the mobile phone device of the queuing person 62, but it may be the timing at which an explicit instruction is given in response to a manual operation by the passenger of the vehicle 63, or the navigation device 10 automatically The timing determined in the above may be used. It is also possible to use an incoming call from the mobile phone device of the meeting person 62 as a trigger.

  When the guidance voice is manually transmitted by a manual operation, for example, the menu generation unit 25 displays a predetermined menu screen on the display device 29 in accordance with the operation of the remote controller 16 by the user. When the user selects the “Guidance voice transmission” command on the menu screen by operating the remote controller 16, the guidance generation unit 32 generates a guidance voice and transmits it to the mobile phone device of the queuing person 62.

  When the guidance voice is automatically generated and transmitted at a predetermined timing, for example, when the current position of the vehicle 63 approaches within a predetermined distance from the meeting place 61 or from the current position of the vehicle 63. When the scheduled traveling time to the meeting place 61 becomes a predetermined time or less, the guidance generating unit 32 and the communication I / F 33 operate to generate a guidance voice and transmit it to the mobile phone device of the meeting person 62. In order to distinguish from normal guidance route guidance (when waiting is not performed and guidance voice need not be transmitted), the operation of the remote controller 16 indicates that it is traveling at the time of waiting (hereinafter referred to as pickup traveling). Therefore, it is necessary to set in advance in the navigation device 10 (for example, a system setting memory not shown).

  A specific procedure for transmitting the guidance voice is, for example, as follows. That is, the communication I / F 33 first receives a control from the CPU 18 and requests the mobile phone device 50 to make a call, and the communication unit 52 calls the mobile phone device of the queuing person 62. The telephone number of the mobile phone device of the queuing person 62 is registered in advance in, for example, a system setting memory (not shown) of the navigation device 10. When the communication I / F 33 requests the mobile phone device 50 to make a call, the communication I / F 33 reads the telephone number from the system setting memory and notifies the communication unit 52 via the communication I / F 51. To. The telephone number may be registered in a telephone number memory (not shown) of the cellular phone device 50, and the communication unit 52 may read and use the telephone number.

  When the mobile phone device 50 of the vehicle 63 and the mobile phone device of the queuing person 62 are connected by a mobile phone network, the guide information generated by the guide generating unit 32 of the navigation device 10 is communicated from the communication I / F 33 to the mobile phone device 50. The information is given to the communication unit 52 via the I / F 51 and sent to the mobile phone device of the queuing person 62. Here, the guidance information may be generated by the guidance generation unit 32 after the call between the mobile phone device 50 of the vehicle 63 and the mobile phone device of the queuing person 62 is established, or before the call is established. May be generated in advance by the guidance generating unit 32.

  Next, operations of the navigation device 10 and the mobile phone device 50 of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an overall flow of guidance processing for the relative position of the vehicle performed by the navigation device 10 and the mobile phone device 50 of the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 3, first, the CPU 18 determines whether or not information indicating that the vehicle is picking up is registered in the system setting memory of the navigation device 10 (step S1). If not registered, the vehicle relative position guidance process shown in this flowchart is terminated. On the other hand, if it is registered that the vehicle is picking up, the CPU 18 further determines whether or not a guidance route is set in the guidance route memory 21 (step S2). If the guide route is not set, the vehicle relative position guidance process shown in this flowchart is terminated.

  When the guidance route is set, the CPU 18 detects the current position of the vehicle measured by the position measurement unit 13, the map data (particularly, road distance information) stored in the map information memory 14, and the guidance route memory. Based on the position information of the destination (meeting place) stored in 21, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has approached the meeting place within a predetermined distance (step S3). If the vehicle has not yet approached the meeting place within a predetermined distance, the process returns to step S1.

  When the vehicle approaches the meeting place within a predetermined distance, the guidance generation unit 32 stores the position information of the meeting place stored as the destination in the guide route memory 21 and is stored in the same guide route memory 21. Based on the route information to the meeting place, voice guidance information indicating from which direction the vehicle enters the meeting place is generated (step S4). The generated guidance information is temporarily stored in the RAM 20 or the like, for example.

  Here, the landmark position information stored in the map information memory 14 may be used to generate guidance information as to which landmark the vehicle enters from the meeting place. . Further, the estimated traveling time from the current position of the vehicle to the meeting place or the estimated arrival time at the meeting place may be obtained by the time calculation unit 22 and included in the guidance information.

  Next, the CPU 18 controls the communication I / F 33 to request the mobile phone device 50 to make a call. At this time, the CPU 18 reads out the telephone number of the queuing person from a system setting memory (not shown) of the navigation device 10 and sends it to the mobile phone device 50 together with a call request. In the cellular phone device 50 that has received this request through the communication I / F 51, the communication unit 52 automatically makes a call to the queuing person's cellular phone device (step S5). When the communication state is established with the mobile phone device of the queuing person, the communication unit 52 notifies the navigation device 10 of this via the communication I / F 51.

  The CPU 18 of the navigation device 10 determines whether or not the establishment of the call state is notified from the mobile phone device 50 to the communication I / F 33 (step S6). If the call state is not established, the process of step S6 is repeated until it is established. On the other hand, when the call state is established, the communication I / F 33 reads the guidance information generated by the guidance generation unit 32 in step S4 from the RAM 20 and sends it to the mobile phone device 50 according to the control of the CPU 18. And the communication part 52 of the mobile telephone apparatus 50 transmits the guidance information acquired from the navigation apparatus 10 toward the waiting person's mobile telephone apparatus (step S7).

  As described above in detail, according to the first embodiment, based on the position information of the meeting place set as the destination of the guidance route and the route information to the meeting place, from which direction to the meeting place Information on whether the vehicle is entering is generated and transmitted to the mobile phone device of the queuing person. As a result, the meeting person need only pay attention to the direction guided by voice without displaying a map on his / her mobile phone device, and can easily check the vehicle coming to the meeting place. Will be able to meet smoothly.

  In addition, when generating and transmitting guidance information on the landmark direction from which the vehicle enters the meeting place, the meeting person relies on the facility that serves as a landmark visible from the meeting place. In addition, the relative approach direction of the vehicle can be easily confirmed. In addition, when the scheduled traveling time from the current position of the vehicle to the meeting place or the estimated arrival time at the meeting place is determined and transmitted, the meeting person is guided in the guided time zone in the guided direction. It is sufficient to pay special attention to the vehicle, and it is possible to more easily check the vehicle coming to the meeting place.

  In this embodiment, since guidance is provided by voice without displaying a map on the mobile phone device of the queuing person, guidance can be provided to all mobile phone devices including models that do not have a map display function. it can. Further, it is not necessary to perform time-consuming processing for displaying the current vehicle position on the map, and it is only necessary to make a phone call, so guidance can be provided in almost real time. In addition, since the meeting person does not need to stare at the screen of the mobile phone device, it is safe to look around while walking. Furthermore, since the map does not continue to be displayed on the screen, the queuing person can view the web page and send / receive e-mails while waiting for the vehicle to come.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the navigation device 40 and the mobile phone device 50 connected thereto according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, those given the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. 1 have the same functions, and therefore redundant description is omitted here.

  In FIG. 4, 41 is a meeting place candidate database, which stores a place near a facility corresponding to a landmark included in map data read from the DVD-ROM 11 as a meeting place candidate. The candidate for the meeting place stored here may be a mere facility, but may also specify a more detailed position of the facility. For example, in the example of FIG. 2, the meeting place 61 is “station”, but the meeting place candidate stored in the meeting place candidate database 41 may be “station” itself, “station west exit”, and “ It may indicate a more detailed position such as “East Exit of Station”. The information stored in the meeting place candidate database 41 includes at least the name and position information of the meeting place.

  Reference numeral 42 denotes a meeting place setting unit that performs the following processing. That is, the meeting place setting unit 42, when a meeting place is designated by the user operating the remote controller 16 when searching for a guidance route, the designated place exists in the candidates of the meeting place candidate database 41. It is determined whether or not. This determination is performed, for example, by matching the name of the place designated by the user with the name of the meeting place candidate. If an ID or the like is attached to each place, it can be determined by matching the ID.

  When the meeting place setting unit 42 determines that the place designated by the user does not exist in the candidates of the meeting place candidate database 41, the meeting place candidate database 41 selects a meeting place candidate close to the place set as the meeting place. And is set in the guide route memory 21 as the destination (meeting place) of the guide route. Here, the candidate for the meeting place to be extracted is, for example, the place closest to the place designated as the meeting place.

  In this way, when the meeting place setting unit 42 sets the meeting place, a place different from the meeting place recognized by the meeting person may be set. In that case, it is preferable to inform the meeting person of the set meeting place. Therefore, in the second embodiment, when the meeting place is set by the meeting place setting unit 42, the guidance generating unit 32 generates second guidance information for guiding the set meeting place. This second guidance information is also generated by voice. Then, the communication I / F 33 sends the second guidance information to the mobile phone device 50 and transmits it from the mobile phone device 50 to the mobile phone device of the queuing person.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an overall flow related to the meeting place setting process performed by the navigation device 40 and the mobile phone device 50 of the present embodiment. In FIG. 5, first, the CPU 18 determines whether or not a meeting place is designated as the destination of the guidance route by the user's operation of the remote controller 16 (step S11). If the meeting place is not designated, the meeting place setting process shown in this flowchart is ended.

  On the other hand, when the meeting place is designated as the destination of the guidance route by the operation of the user's remote controller 16, the meeting place setting unit 42 receives the instruction from the CPU 18, and the place designated by the user as the meeting place is the meeting place. It is determined whether or not it exists in the candidate database 41 (step S12). If it exists, the meeting place designated by the user is set in the guide route memory 21 as it is as the destination of the guide route (step S13), and the meeting place setting process shown in this flowchart is ended.

  If the meeting place designated by the user does not exist in the meeting place candidate database 41, the meeting place setting unit 42 extracts the meeting place candidate close to the place designated as the meeting place from the meeting place candidate database 41. The extracted meeting place is set in the guide route memory 21 as the destination of the guide route (step S14).

  Next, the guidance generation unit 32 generates second guidance information for guiding the meeting place set by the meeting place setting unit 42 (step S15). The generated second guidance information is temporarily stored in the RAM 20 or the like, for example. Then, the CPU 18 controls the communication I / F 33 to request the mobile phone device 50 to make a call. At this time, the CPU 18 reads out the telephone number of the queuing person from a system setting memory (not shown) of the navigation device 10 and sends it to the mobile phone device 50 together with a call request.

  In the mobile phone device 50 that has received this request through the communication I / F 51, the communication unit 52 automatically makes a call to the queuing person's mobile phone device (step S16). When the communication state is established with the queuing person's mobile phone device, the communication unit 52 notifies the navigation device 40 of this via the communication I / F 51. The CPU 18 of the navigation device 40 determines whether the mobile phone device 50 has notified the communication I / F 33 of the establishment of the call state (step S17).

  If the call state is not established, the process of step S17 is repeated until it is established. On the other hand, when the call state is established, the communication I / F 33 reads out the second guidance information generated by the guidance generation unit 32 in step S15 from the RAM 20 and sends it to the mobile phone device 50 in accordance with the control of the CPU 18. And the communication part 52 of the mobile telephone apparatus 50 transmits the 2nd guidance information acquired from the navigation apparatus 40 toward a waiting person's mobile telephone apparatus (step S18).

  After the meeting place is set as the destination in this way and the guide route to the destination is set in the guide route memory 21, the guidance processing of the vehicle relative position is executed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. The

  As described above in detail, according to the second embodiment, when the meeting place candidate database 41 is provided and the meeting place designated by the user as the destination of the guidance route does not exist in the meeting place candidate database 41, Waiting place candidates close from there are extracted from the waiting place candidate database 41 and set as destinations. As a result, even when the user first designates a place where there is no landmark (facility) that is useful for guiding the approach direction of the vehicle, the place where the landmark is near and convenient for guidance is a meeting place Can always be set as. Therefore, the queuing person can easily confirm the relative approach direction of the vehicle by relying on the facility that serves as a mark visible from the meeting place.

  In the second embodiment, the example in which the meeting place setting unit 42 automatically resets the meeting place has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when setting a meeting place as a destination of a guidance route, the menu generating unit 25 reads out a candidate for a meeting place from the meeting place candidate database 41 and supplies it to the image composition unit 28, whereby the candidate for a meeting place is selected as a menu. May be displayed on the display device 29. In this case, the user operates the remote controller 16 and designates a desired place from among the waiting place candidates displayed in the menu, thereby setting the waiting place in the guidance route memory 21. The menu generation unit 25 in this case corresponds to the candidate presentation unit of the present invention. In such a configuration, the meeting place setting unit 42 is not necessary.

  Moreover, in the said 2nd Embodiment, although the meeting place setting part 42 demonstrated the example which operate | moves at the time of the setting of a guidance route, it can also be operated during the guidance driving | running | working after a guidance route setting. For example, the meeting place setting unit 42 determines, based on the traffic jam information received by the beacon transceiver 15, whether or not there is a traffic jam near the meeting place set as the destination. If it is determined that the traffic is congested, another waiting place candidate close to the place set as the waiting place is extracted from the waiting place candidate database 41 and set as the destination.

  For example, when the west exit of a station was initially set as a meeting place, when it is detected by receiving traffic information that the vicinity is congested, the meeting place is changed to the east exit of the station. Even when the meeting place is changed in this way, the guidance generating unit 32 generates the second guidance information for guiding the reset meeting place. Then, the communication I / F 33 sends the second guidance information to the mobile phone device 50 and transmits it from the mobile phone device 50 to the mobile phone device of the queuing person.

  In this way, when there is a traffic jam near the initially set meeting place, if the meeting place database 41 is used to reset the meeting place to another meeting place, the meeting person can change the vehicle due to the traffic jam. A place that is more convenient for waiting can be set as a new waiting place while avoiding places that are difficult to check. Therefore, the waiting can be performed more smoothly.

  As another example, if the mobile phone device of the queuing person is equipped with a GPS receiver and the current position can be measured, the current position information of the queuing person is received from the mobile phone device of the queuing person. Then, the meeting place may be reset according to the received current position information.

  In this case, the communication I / F 33 corresponds to the current position receiving unit of the present invention, and receives the current position information of the queuing person from the queuing person's mobile phone device via the mobile phone device 50 of the vehicle. In addition, the meeting place setting unit 42 determines whether the current position information of the meeting person received by the communication I / F 33 is different from the position information of the meeting place set as the destination in the guidance route memory 21. If there is a difference, the current position information of the queuing person received by the communication I / F 33 is reset to the destination as the queuing place.

  With this configuration, even if the meeting person moves from the original meeting place, the moved place can be automatically set as the destination of the guidance route, It is possible to guide the vehicle appropriately to where it is. Thereby, even when the meeting person moves from the original meeting place, the meeting can be performed smoothly.

  In addition, each of the first and second embodiments described above is merely an example of a specific example for carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be interpreted in a limited manner. It will not be. In other words, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit or main features thereof.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful for a navigation apparatus equipped with a function for setting a guidance route and performing vehicle travel guidance.

It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the navigation apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment, and the mobile telephone apparatus connected to this. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of the guidance information produced | generated by the guidance production | generation part which concerns on 1st and 2nd embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the whole flow regarding the guidance process of the own vehicle relative position performed by the navigation apparatus and mobile telephone apparatus which concern on 1st and 2nd embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the navigation apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment, and the mobile telephone apparatus connected to this. It is a flowchart which shows the whole flow regarding the meeting place setting process performed by the navigation apparatus and mobile telephone apparatus which concern on 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

13 Position measurement unit 14 Map information memory 15 Beacon transceiver 18 CPU
19 ROM
21 Guide route memory 22 Time calculation unit 25 Menu generation unit 32 Guide generation unit 33 Communication I / F
41 Meeting place candidate database 42 Meeting place setting part

Claims (10)

A map data storage unit for storing map data including location information of landmarks;
A guide route storage unit for storing information on a guide route including position information of a meeting place set as a destination and route information from the current position of the vehicle to the meeting place;
Based on the location information of the landmark stored in the map data storage unit and the location information and route information of the meeting location stored in the guidance route storage unit, A guidance generator for generating guidance information on whether the vehicle is approaching from the direction of the landmark;
A navigation apparatus comprising: a guidance transmission control unit that controls the guidance information generated by the guidance generation unit to be transmitted to a communication terminal of a meeting person. A meeting place candidate database for storing a place near the facility corresponding to the landmark as a candidate for the meeting place;
A candidate presenting unit that reads out and presents candidates for the meeting place from the meeting place candidate database when the user instructs to set the meeting place as the destination. The navigation device according to 1 . A meeting place candidate database for storing a place near the facility corresponding to the landmark as a candidate for the meeting place;
It is determined whether or not the place designated by the user as the meeting place exists in the meeting place database. If not, a meeting place candidate close to the place designated as the meeting place is retrieved from the meeting place database. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a meeting place setting unit that extracts and sets the destination. It has a traffic information receiver that receives traffic information.
The meeting place setting unit determines whether or not there is a congestion near the destination set as the meeting place based on the traffic information received by the traffic information receiving unit. 4. The navigation apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein another waiting place candidate close to the place set as the meeting place is extracted from the meeting place database and set as the destination. The guidance generation unit generates second guidance information for guiding the meeting place set by the meeting place setting unit,
The said guidance transmission control part controls so that the said 2nd guidance information produced | generated by the said guidance production | generation part may be transmitted toward the said meeting person's communication terminal, The Claim 3 or 4 characterized by the above-mentioned. Navigation device. A current position receiving unit that receives the current position information of the meeting person from the communication terminal of the meeting person;
When it is determined whether the current position information of the meeting person received by the current position receiving unit is different from the position information of the meeting place stored in the guidance route storage unit. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a meeting place setting unit that resets the meeting person's current position information received by the current position receiving unit as the meeting place. Based on the landmark position information stored in the map data storage unit, the location information of the meeting place stored as the destination in the guidance route storage unit, and the route information from the current position of the vehicle to the meeting place A first step of generating guidance information as to which landmark the vehicle enters from the meeting place;
And a second step of transmitting the guidance information to the communication terminal of the queuing person. If the place designated by the user as the meeting place is present in the meeting place candidate database storing the place where the facility corresponding to the landmark is nearby as the meeting place candidate, and does not exist A fourth step of extracting from the meeting place database a candidate meeting place close to the place designated as the meeting place and setting it as the destination;
A fifth step of generating second guidance information for guiding the meeting place set in the fourth step;
The vehicle relative position according to claim 7 , further comprising: a sixth step of transmitting the second guidance information generated in the fifth step to the communication terminal of the meeting person. Guidance method. A seventh step of receiving traffic information;
Based on the traffic jam information received in the seventh step, it is determined whether or not there is traffic jam near the destination set as the meeting place, and if there is traffic jam, it corresponds to the landmark. From the meeting place candidate database that stores a place where the facility is nearby as a candidate for the meeting place, another meeting place candidate close to the place set as the meeting place is extracted and set as the destination. An eighth step;
A ninth step of generating second guidance information for guiding the meeting place set in the eighth step;
Of the vehicle relative position according to claim 7, characterized in that it comprises a tenth step of transmitting the ninth step said second guidance information generated by the to the communication terminal of the meeting's Guidance method. An eleventh step of receiving the current position information of the queuing person from the communication terminal of the queuing person;
It is determined whether or not the current position information of the meeting person received in the eleventh step is different from the position information of the meeting place stored in the guidance route storage unit. 8. The vehicle relative position guiding method according to claim 7 , further comprising a twelfth step of resetting the current position information of the queuing person received in the eleventh step as the queuing place. .

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