JP4726121B2 - Traffic information guidance device for navigation - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a traffic information guide device for navigation which can guide appropriate traffic information even when the vehicle is not traveling on a guide route.

  In recent years, it has become widespread that navigation devices are mounted on vehicles, and various high-function navigation devices are commercially available one after another, and research and development of higher-performance navigation devices are underway. Such a navigation device has a route guidance function that supports a user to move to an unguided point at a low cost.

  In a general navigation apparatus mounted on a vehicle or the like, a map / information data storage such as a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a hard disk, etc., which stores map data for drawing a map and facility information data for searching for a facility, etc. A vehicle, a data capture device that captures data from the map / information data storage medium, a monitor that displays a map, etc., and an autonomous navigation device that uses a GPS receiver, a mileage sensor, a gyroscope, etc. It has a vehicle position detection device that detects the position and the direction of travel, fetches map data including the current position of the vehicle from a map / information data storage medium, and monitors a map image around the vehicle position based on this map data The vehicle position mark is superimposed on the monitor screen, and the map image is scrolled as the vehicle moves. Le Show, or by moving the vehicle position mark is fixed a map image on a screen, so that seen the current position of the vehicle at a glance.

  Map data stored in a map / information data storage medium such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or hard disk is divided into longitude and latitude widths of appropriate sizes according to various scale levels. A road or the like is stored as a coordinate set of nodes expressed by longitude and latitude. A road consists of two or more nodes connected to each other. Map data displays a road layer consisting of a road list, a node table, an intersection configuration node list, etc., and roads, buildings, facilities, parks, rivers, etc. on the map screen. Map data such as a background layer to be used and information data for displaying characters, map symbols, etc., such as administrative division names such as city names, road names, intersection names, and facility names.

  The road links and nodes as described above are grouped for each unit area (parcel or mesh). As described above, a node is information on a point, and is composed of a point type and a point type such as a high-speed junction or a general intersection. On the other hand, the road link is road information, and includes the start / end positions of the road and the length / attribute of the road. Generally, the start point and end point of a road link are expressed as nodes, and the attributes include the type and width of a road such as a highway and a general road. FIG. 16 shows an example of a general map database having the above data. Since the road link stores the information of the start node and the end node in association with the node, the position and direction of the road link can be calculated by referring to the associated node.

  Further, a general navigation device has a route guidance function for enabling a user to easily travel on a road toward a desired destination or waypoint (hereinafter referred to as “destination”) without making a mistake. ing. According to this route guidance function, the destination is set by various means, and the type, travel distance, travel time, fee, etc. of the road to be used among the routes connecting these points from the departure point to the destination. In consideration of various conditions of the item to be prioritized, an appropriate route is calculated and presented. Also, the route selected by the user is stored as a guide route, and while driving, the guide route is drawn on the map image with a different color from other routes and displayed on the screen. When approaching an intersection where the course of course should be changed within a certain distance, the intersection is enlarged and displayed on the screen by drawing an arrow indicating the direction in which the course should be changed, or a right or left turn is guided by voice. This will guide the user to the destination.

  The vehicle navigation device as described above becomes more convenient by providing more functions such as presenting a detour route when obtaining the VICS information and detecting the occurrence of traffic congestion on the guidance route. ing. When a lot of people who use a vehicle need guidance of a navigation device, it is a time when they have to go to an unfamiliar land or an unguided place on the geography or road, and in such a case, the navigation device is an extremely effective means. It becomes. However, many of the daily vehicle travels include a round trip between home and work, a round trip to a shop or shopping district in the vicinity, a round trip to a close friend's house, a round trip to a meeting place for various hobbies, etc. There are many cases where route guidance by a navigation device is not required in many cases when the vehicle is constantly used.

  As described above, in the range where the user regularly uses the vehicle, in many cases, route guidance by the navigation device is not required, but for example, when traveling on a commuting route to home and work, or for shopping When heading to a specific point such as a supermarket, or when going home from such a point, there may be an intersection or road that is sometimes crowded on the road that is considered preferable, and such a road can be made It is desirable to run as far as possible.

  At that time, even in the conventional navigation device, the current traffic condition is acquired from the outside and presented to the user regardless of the guidance route guidance operation. Current traffic information provided from outside includes FM multiplexing / radio wave / optical beacons represented by VICS, and road traffic information broadcasting using a conventional AM band. The traffic information acquired from VICS is classified into levels. Level 1 is used for the purpose of displaying information such as traffic jams as characters. Level 2 is used for the purpose of displaying information such as traffic jams as images. It is used for the purpose of route determination for route guidance, detour search, and the display of traffic conditions on roads on a map screen.

  In particular, according to the level 2 or level 3 information, in the case of accident or regulation information, a mark indicating the occurrence event is displayed at the corresponding point on the map, and in the case of traffic status information, according to the link travel time transmitted, The traffic information can be guided to the user by changing the color of the arrow line along the road in accordance with the congestion situation between specific intersections.

  Therefore, a user of a vehicle equipped with a navigation device having such a function can be used even when the vehicle is traveling when traffic information regarding the intersection or road that is sometimes crowded is provided by VICS or the like. By starting up a navigation device mounted on the vehicle and capturing traffic information with VICS or the like, it is possible to know the current congestion situation of the intersection or road.

  As described above, in addition to the function for the navigation apparatus to reliably and safely guide the user to the unknown land along the guidance route, and to provide related facility information, the vehicle is steadily operated as described above. It can be said that the function of guiding traffic information is also an important function in the living area to be used.

In order to guide traffic congestion information even when traveling without setting a destination in the navigation device, the traveling road data of the vehicle is used to predict the traveling road of the traveling vehicle, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-266562 discloses a technique for receiving and guiding traffic information related to a traveling road.
JP 2000-266562 A

  When a user travels in his / her own living area, the user should go to a destination through a route avoiding the vicinity of the station where congestion is expected during commuting hours, or to avoid roads that are congested at specific times. In many cases, the vehicle travels along a route that satisfies the requirement of arriving at the earliest destination, such as going to the destination through a route avoiding the crowded road.

  In addition, users are not confident in their driving skills and do not want to go through roads with many curves, cars that are driving do not want to pass through narrow roads, or pass through roads with no signal as much as possible to improve fuel economy. The user travels to the destination through the route of the living zone that satisfies his various demands as much as possible, such as not wanting to pass the dark road.

  As mentioned above, user requests vary depending on, for example, traffic conditions in the living area, commuting hours, driving skills of users, size of cars owned, and expenses for driving. Change.

  However, since the route calculated by the conventional navigation system is calculated so as to satisfy the general request desired by the user, it cannot satisfy various requests different for each user. Even if the route calculated by the navigation system is used for guidance, the route being guided often does not completely match the route the user actually travels, and there is a high possibility that inappropriate guidance will be provided was there.

  In addition, even when the route guidance of the navigation system is not used, as described above, the user can obtain the traffic condition such as congestion, congestion, and regulations on the map to indicate the degree of traffic congestion and restrictions on the road to be driven. Thus, it is determined to detour the road or pass as planned. However, the display area of the display on which the navigation system displays a map is very small, and it is often impossible to grasp traffic information of the entire road to be traveled required by the user at once.

  In addition, when the user moves to a specific facility within the living area as described above, when the user displays information such as the occurrence of many traffic jams and traffic accidents on the map screen displayed while traveling Such traffic information is also displayed for roads that do not originally need to be known, which makes it difficult for the user to grasp the congestion of the roads that the user originally wants to know. Furthermore, in order to grasp the necessary traffic information, operations such as moving the map display position or changing the scale are repeated, which not only imposes a burden on the user, but also cares about the operation. There was a problem that it would interfere with safe driving.

  Also, if you try to guide the traffic information by voice when you are traveling in a living area, traffic information that is unnecessary for the user, such as traffic information far away and traffic information outside the area where the user normally travels, is endless. It will be guided and will also make the user uncomfortable.

  In addition, when traffic information is captured by a conventional navigation device, a user operates a remote controller or the like in order to switch whether to display congestion information guidance using a map or the like from the map display screen of a normal navigation device. It is necessary to activate the final traffic information guidance display by selecting the guidance implementation function. Therefore, there is a problem that it is necessary to perform the operation as described above every day when the vehicle travels daily such as commuting and shopping as described above, and the operation is troublesome.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a navigation device that can display only the traffic information necessary for the user in an easy-to-view manner and can provide optimum voice guidance in a region where the vehicle travels steadily. The main purpose is to provide a traffic information guidance device.

The traffic information guidance device for navigation according to the present invention detects the type of road that is currently running when the vehicle is running and detects that the vehicle has passed the intersection, and the road types of the entrance link and the exit link at the intersection are If it is different, it is assumed that the vehicle has made a right / left turn at the intersection.If the road type is the same, it is determined that the intersection has made a right / left turn when the angle difference between the entry link and the exit link is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. Discriminating means, an intersection determined to have made a right / left turn by the discriminating means during vehicle travel , a passing intersection history storage means for storing a history of the mode of passage at the intersection, the intersection having made a right / left turn, and then a right / left turn An intersection passage history storage means having an intersection passage order history storage means for storing a history of the intersection passage order by the intersection, and an intersection when the vehicle travels When the intersection detection unit detects that the vehicle has passed through the left turn, and when the intersection detection unit detects passage of the intersection, the intersection passing order history storage unit is searched for the next intersection to turn right and left, and between the two intersections. Inter-intersection route calculating means for calculating the travel route, passing intersection corresponding guidance information creating means for taking in traffic information on the traveling route calculated by the inter-intersection route calculating means, and generating guidance information, and the passing intersection corresponding guidance A traffic information guidance output means for passing intersections that outputs the guidance information of the traffic information when the guidance information produced by the information creation means is within a predetermined distance from the point of occurrence of the information for guidance. To do.

  Another navigation traffic information guidance device according to the present invention is the navigation traffic information guidance device described in the passing intersection history storage means for an intersection that turns right and left after being searched from the intersection passage order history storage means. The direction in which the user travels at the stored intersection, that is, the road on which the user travels after passing the intersection, is estimated, and the passing intersection correspondence information creating means also captures traffic information about the estimated road. It is characterized by creating guide information.

  Another navigation traffic information guidance device according to the present invention is the navigation traffic information guidance device, wherein the inter-intersection route calculation means uses the intersection passing order history storage means and then searches for an intersection that makes a right or left turn. Further, the intersection that makes the next right / left turn is retrieved from the intersection passing order history storage means, and the route to the next intersection that makes the next right / left turn is also calculated. Traffic information about the route to the intersection that turns right and left and the next route to the intersection that makes a right and left turn is also taken in and guidance information is created.

  Further, in another traffic information guidance device for navigation according to the present invention, in the traffic information guidance device for navigation, the intersection passage order history storage means updates and stores the number of times of passing between intersections, and the intersection The route calculation means selects the route from the next intersection that makes a right / left turn to the next intersection that makes a right / left turn, selects the intersection between the intersections having the highest number of passes from the intersection passage order history storage means, and A travel route is calculated, and the passing intersection corresponding guide information creating means takes in the traffic information of the travel route calculated between the intersections having the largest number of passages and creates guide information.

  In another navigation information information device for navigation according to the present invention, in the navigation information information device for navigation, the passing intersection corresponding traffic information guidance output means has a first predetermined distance to a generation point of information to be guided. The traffic information is displayed on the screen when approaching within, and the traffic information is guided by voice when approaching within the second predetermined distance.

  The present invention guides traffic information such as traffic congestion and congestion on the route connecting the intersection where the user has made a right or left turn, so that the user does not need to perform an operation for setting the destination in the navigation system. At the same time, redundant traffic information guidance is not provided, and especially when the user is a driver, attention to driving is less likely to be distracted. Also, even when making a right or left turn at the same intersection, if the approach road to the intersection or the intersection is different, it can be stored as another intersection passing history, so for example, different guidance may be executed on commuting and returning It becomes possible.

  Furthermore, the present invention displays only the traffic information on the route between the intersections that the user has passed on the map, so that it is not necessary to display redundant traffic information on the map, and the map can be easily viewed, and the voice can be heard. When outputting traffic information, it is possible to eliminate discomfort to the user due to unnecessary voice guidance. Further, since the roads that have traveled are not stored, but the intersections and their passing order are stored, the memory required for storage can be reduced.

  In addition, the present invention as described above estimates the route from the starting point to the destination, for example, as described in the patent document as the prior art presented as the prior art, and traffic information such as traffic congestion on the route This technique is greatly different from the technique for guiding the above in the following points, and provides the operational effects peculiar to the present invention. That is, in the prior art, the route, departure point, departure time, etc. that the user has traveled from the destination / departure point to the destination are stored as route data, and similar to the traveling pattern of the vehicle at the next and subsequent times. The route to be extracted is extracted from the stored route data, and traffic information on the extracted route is guided.

  On the other hand, the traffic guidance device according to the present invention guides traffic information such as roads between intersections where the user has made a right or left turn regardless of the position of the destination or traffic jams on roads connected to the intersections, Rather, it is an effective technique for traveling without setting a destination when traveling in a living area where the vehicle is regularly used. In addition, the traffic information guide device according to the present invention stores a history of intersections in which the user has made a right or left turn, an intersection that may make a right or left turn and then a right or left turn. Traffic information on the road to a high intersection can be guided.

  This point is compared by the running example of FIG. A solid line and a thick broken line in the figure indicate a travel route on which the user has traveled. A solid oval indicates the guidance target road of the prior art, and a broken oval indicates the guidance target road of the present invention. As shown in the figure, if the route estimated by the prior art when the vehicle traveled on the road was a route indicated by a thick solid line, it is included in the range of the solid line ellipse. The traffic jams 2 and 3 on the route are guided, and the traffic jam 1 is not guided. On the contrary, when the route indicated by the thick broken line is estimated, only the traffic jam 1 is guided.

  On the other hand, in the present invention, roads up to intersections that have made a right or left turn and roads connected to intersections that have made a right or left turn are also subject to guidance. All of the traffic jams 1, 2, and 3 on the road will be guided. In this way, the present invention guides the situation of the road around the position of the vehicle where the user has traveled. By targeting the road on which the user has passed, the user can You can expand the options of the road you will drive until you arrive at your destination. Furthermore, since the processing for traffic guidance according to the present invention is started at the time of passing through an intersection that has made a right or left turn, a road that is frequently used by the user regardless of the position of the destination is the guidance target. .

  In addition, when traveling in a vehicle in a normal living area, the same road is partially used, for example, when visiting a supermarket on the way home from the company, but the entire route may be completely different. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a travel route of a certain user, and an arrow indicated by a thick solid line indicates a route that the user uses to move to a supermarket or company. In such a normal driving mode, the user can get home early by accident, so if he / she wants to go to the supermarket on the way home and heads for the supermarket through a road as shown by a broken line, the traffic according to the present invention Since the guidance device has already memorized the intersections 1 and 2, it is possible to provide guidance even if it has never been to the supermarket on the broken line route.

  As described above, the traffic guidance device according to the present invention guides the road connecting the intersections, so even if the user changes the destination while heading for a certain destination, Guidance tailored to the driving situation is possible. On the other hand, in the case of a system for estimating a route and a destination as in the prior art, it is highly likely that the user will return to his / her home after work and give unnecessary guidance.

  In addition, as described above, in the present invention, it is possible to display only traffic information such as traffic jams occurring on the road in the minimum necessary range that the user has traveled on the map, and to provide voice guidance. As a result, the user can easily select a road that can arrive at the destination as smoothly as possible without looking at a complicated map screen, and does not hear unnecessary voice guidance.

  Furthermore, in the prior art, since the destination, the departure place, the route traveled from the departure place to the destination, etc. are stored, the destination must be set at least once, and whether or not the system is used. In contrast to operations such as confirmation, in the present invention, the user does not need to perform any operation and can be automatically activated. Further, while the route itself is stored in the prior art, the present invention stores an intersection, so that the storage capacity can be reduced. Furthermore, in the prior art, a lot of calculation is required until the route being traveled is estimated from the travel data of the own vehicle. However, in the present invention, it is only necessary to search from the intersection data stored in the stored intersection.

  In addition, since the above-described conventional technique is a method for estimating the destination using the traveled route data, there is a possibility that if the estimated route is not a place where the user wants to go, redundant guidance may be provided. In addition, since the route on which the user travels is estimated using the travel data, there is a problem that it is difficult to estimate a highly accurate route immediately after starting the travel. On the other hand, the traffic information guidance device according to the present invention has an effect that the guidance can be started immediately after passing the intersection where the user has traveled.

  The present invention aims to output only traffic information necessary for a user without having to take in traffic information in an area where the vehicle travels steadily, and an intersection that has made a right or left turn when the vehicle is traveling, and a passage at the intersection. The intersection passage history storage means for storing the passage intersection history storage means for storing the history of the above-mentioned aspect, and the intersection passage order history storage means for storing the history of the intersection passage order by the intersection that has made a right / left turn and the next right / left turn. Means, a passing intersection detection means for detecting that the vehicle has passed through an intersection when the vehicle travels, and when the passage detection of the intersection is detected by the passing intersection detection means, the next turn from the intersection passing order history storage means The intersection between the intersections and the route calculation means between the intersections. Passing intersection correspondence information creating means that captures traffic information on the travel route and creates guidance information, and the guidance information created by the passing intersection correspondence information creation means is within a predetermined distance from the point of occurrence of information to be guided It is realized by providing traffic information guidance output means for passing intersections that outputs guidance information of traffic information when approaching.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the main functions of a navigation traffic information guidance device according to the present invention and the functional block diagrams showing their interrelationships. By operating according to the operational flow shown in FIGS. Can be implemented. In the figure, each function unit that performs each function can also be referred to as a unit that performs each function.

  In the functional block diagram of FIG. 1, as in the conventional navigation apparatus, a ROM that records software for comprehensively performing various predetermined functions in the system control unit 10, a CPU and a RAM for processing the software Etc., and each functional unit connected thereto is controlled. In the illustrated navigation apparatus, a vehicle position detection unit 13 is connected to the system control unit 10 and position data of the GPS receiver 11 is input. Further, if necessary, a travel distance / orientation detection unit using a vehicle speed sensor or an angle sensor. By inputting the movement data of the vehicle from 12, the current position of the vehicle is accurately detected. Further, the current position on the map is also detected based on the map data.

  In addition, a VICS information input unit 14 including a VICS receiver and the like is provided, and traffic information such as VICS is taken in from beacons, FM broadcasts, and the like. In the present invention, in particular, by capturing this traffic information, as will be described later, it is possible to detect a traffic jam existing ahead of the vehicle in relation to the passing intersection.

  In the instruction signal input unit 17, an instruction signal for the remote controller 15 or the like by the user in the navigation device is input. Further, a signal from the voice recognition unit 16 that inputs a user instruction signal through a process of recognizing the user's voice as necessary is also input to the instruction signal input unit 17.

  The data fetching unit 19 fetches necessary map data and facility information from a map / information data recording medium 18 such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or hard disk, and the data recording medium is like a hard disk. When data can be easily written, data can be input to the data recording medium so that data imported from outside or data processed by other functional units can be read and used later. I have to. The map display unit 20 performs map display processing based on these data, and displays a map from the image output unit 22 to the image display unit 21. Further, the map display unit 20 displays the traffic information as described above on the map, and displays various data and information such as a guide route as needed.

  In the guidance route calculation unit 25, the current location of the vehicle detected by the vehicle position detection unit 13 is fetched, and the phone number is further input by scrolling the map by operating the cursor displayed on the screen or by inputting an address. The destination set by various methods such as the above is taken in, and the optimum guide route is calculated and presented under various conditions such as the shortest required time, the shortest distance, and the general road priority. The guidance route guide unit 26 displays the guidance route calculated as described above on the map screen of the display unit 21 from the image output unit 22, further enlarges and displays the right / left turn intersection, and also outputs the voice output unit 24. To the speaker 23 to provide voice guidance.

  The system control unit 10 is further connected with a traffic information guidance processing unit 30 which is a main functional unit for carrying out the present invention, and includes a passing intersection corresponding guidance processing unit 31, an intersection passing history storage unit 35, and a passing intersection corresponding traffic information. A guidance output unit 38 is provided. The passing intersection detection unit 32 in the passing intersection corresponding guidance processing unit 31 detects that the host vehicle has passed through the intersection, and can be detected by comparing the vehicle position detection unit 13 with map data. In this part, at the intersection or branch point where the vehicle passes, the passage of that point is monitored, and the road link (entrance link) that has been running before entering the intersection or branch point, and the vehicle is traveling when leaving The direction of the road link (exit link) and the road type are compared, and it is determined that the vehicle turns right or left at the point.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 8, when the own vehicle turns right at the intersection, that is, when the own vehicle travels from the position P1 to the position P2, the passing intersection detection unit 32 determines whether the own vehicle is the node N1 Get notified that you passed. The passing intersection detection unit 32 has an attribute of an angle D in the direction of the road link L1 that has traveled before passing through the node N1 and the direction of the road link L2 that has traveled after passing through the node N1. Since there is a difference, the passing intersection detection unit determines that the own vehicle has made a right / left turn (right turn in the figure) and outputs data to that effect to the intersection passing history storage unit 35.

  If the attribute of the node N1 is not an intersection or a branch, or if there is no difference in angle between the direction of the road link L1 and the direction of the road link L2, the passing intersection detection unit 32 makes the vehicle turn right or left at the intersection. It is judged that there is not, and monitoring of the passing of intersections and branch points of the own vehicle is continued. When the passing intersection detection unit 32 detects that the vehicle has passed through the intersection as described above, the passing intersection storage unit 35 stores information on the passing intersection such as the entry link, the exit link, and the passing node. Instruct.

  The passing intersection corresponding guidance information creation unit 33 in the passing intersection corresponding guidance processing unit 31 provides traffic information guidance on the road between the intersections where the user has made a right or left turn or after passing the intersection ahead. Implement as follows. In addition, when the intersection between the intersections is determined, the intersection calculation unit 34 calculates a route passing between the intersections. This calculation can also be performed using the processing function of the guidance route calculation unit 25.

  In the intersection passage history storage unit 35, a passing intersection history storage unit 36 that stores a history of information on intersections that have been passed, particularly information on the roads that have entered and exited, for intersections that have made a right or left turn; And an intersection passage order history storage unit 37 for storing a history regarding the passage order of intersections that have passed, particularly right and left turns. When the vehicle travels and makes a left or right turn at an intersection or a branch road, the passing intersection history storage unit 36 searches the passing history of the same intersection from the information of the intersection stored by itself, and the passing history of the same intersection is obtained. If it does not exist, it is stored as a new passing intersection history. In the case of a navigation device using an HDD, this storage means may be stored in this.

  When storing in the passing intersection history storage unit 36, for example, when passing through the intersection shown in FIG. 8, for example, recording is performed as shown in FIG. That is, the passing intersection history includes an intersection node, an entrance link, and an exit link. Passing intersection ID # 1 is a passing intersection history recorded when passing the intersection of the intersection node N1 shown in FIG. In the illustrated recording example, when entering the intersection from the entry link L1, it is recorded that the exit link has passed the roads L2 and L20, and for these data, the intersection IDs of # 1 and # 2 are recorded. It is attached.

  The intersection passage history storage unit 35 stores the order of passage through the intersection in the intersection passage order history storage unit 37 after storing the intersections that have passed and the manner of passage thereof as described above. For example, when the host vehicle travels as shown in FIG. 9, the passing intersection detection unit 32 instructs the intersection passing history storage unit 35 to store intersections that have made a right or left turn in the order of intersections 1, 2, and 3. That is, the passing intersection detection unit 32 instructs the passing intersection history storage unit 36 to store the history data of the intersection 1 as described above when the own vehicle passes the intersection 1. Furthermore, the passing intersection detection unit 32 instructs the intersection passing order history storage unit 37 to store the history data of the intersection 2 when passing through the intersection 2.

  The intersection passing order history storage unit 37 then stores the passing order of the intersection as the passing order history of the intersection. An example is shown in FIG. In the figure, the start intersection ID and the end intersection ID indicate the IDs of the passing intersections in the figure, and the number of times of passing indicates the number of times that the vehicle has passed the intersections in the same passing order. In the example of FIG. 9, since the vehicle has passed the intersection 2 after passing the intersection 1, the intersection passage order history storage unit 37 starts the intersection 1 (passing intersection ID # 1) and ends the intersection 2. The passing order S1 is stored as an intersection (passing intersection ID # 2). When passing through an intersection that has not passed in the past, the number of times of passing is newly stored as 1. If there is a history of traveling in the order from intersection 1 to intersection 2 in the past, the stored number of passes is increased by one.

  In the traffic information guidance processing unit 30, the passing intersection corresponding traffic information guidance output unit 38 displays the guidance information created by the passing intersection corresponding guidance information creation unit 33 as described above on the screen or by voice. In order to output, the vehicle output position is monitored by the guidance output point monitoring unit 39, and screen display or audio output is performed at the appropriate point.

  In the navigation traffic information guidance device composed of the functional blocks as described above, for example, the intersection passage history storage processing shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the traffic information guidance processing 1 to 3 corresponding to intersections shown in FIGS. It can be operated according to the operation flow of the vehicle surrounding traffic information guidance output process.

  2 and the example of FIG. 3 showing the process of step S20 in FIG. 2, when the vehicle equipped with this navigation device travels during the intersection passing history storage process of FIG. 2 (step S11), the current position is sequentially detected. (Step S12), it is determined whether or not the vehicle has passed the intersection (Step S13). In this operation, the data acquisition unit 19 uses the current position specified by the passing intersection detection unit 32 of FIG. 1 by the vehicle position detection unit 13, the GPS 11 and the travel distance / orientation detection unit 12, and the map data of the map / information data recording medium 18. , And by matching the road in the map data with the current position and determining whether or not the vehicle has left the intersection node of the road data, it is possible to determine whether or not the vehicle has passed the intersection. When it is determined in step S13 that the vehicle has not yet passed through the intersection, the process returns to step S11 to continue vehicle travel and detection of the current position.

  When the passing intersection detection unit 32 determines that the vehicle has passed the intersection in step S13, the road link (entrance link) before entering the intersection is detected (step S14), and the road link after exiting from the intersection (exit link). Is detected (step S15). Next, in the illustrated embodiment, the difference between the road types of the entrance link and the exit link is determined (step S16). When it is determined that the road type of the road of the entrance link is different, the process proceeds to step S18 and the intersection is turned right or left. It is determined that In many cases, when the road type is different at the intersection, the vehicle turns right and left, and the determination in step S16 determines whether or not the difference between the angles of the incoming link and the outgoing link to be determined next is greater than or equal to a predetermined value (step S17). Since it is possible to easily determine whether there is a right or left turn, the determination in step S16 is performed. However, this determination can be deleted when it can be accurately and easily determined in the next step.

  If it is determined in step S16 that the road types of the entrance link and the exit link are the same, it is then determined whether or not the angle difference between the entrance link and the exit link is greater than or equal to a predetermined value (step S17). Here, for example, as described with reference to FIG. 8, when the approach road link L1 and the exit road link L2 are at an angle D, it is determined that there is an angle difference between the two links and the right at the intersection of the node N1. A left turn can be detected. Here, when it is determined that the difference between the angles of the entrance link and the exit link is not equal to or greater than a predetermined value, it is determined that the intersection has proceeded without turning right and left, and the process returns to step S11 to repeat the operation.

  When it is determined in step S18 that the intersection has been turned right or left, the passing intersection detection unit 32 outputs the data at that time to the intersection passing history storage unit 35. As shown in FIG. 1, the intersection passage history storage unit 35 is provided with a passage intersection history storage unit 36 and an intersection passage order history storage unit 37, and the intersection passage history storage process as shown in FIG.

  In the intersection passing history storage process shown in FIG. 3 (step S20 in FIG. 2), information on the intersection that has made a right or left turn is input (step S21). These pieces of information are information to be stored in each storage unit and will be described in detail later. Next, the passing intersection history storage unit 36 determines whether there is a right / left turn history at the intersection. Here, when it is determined that there is no data of an intersection that has made a right or left turn, the new passing intersection data is used when the entrance link and the exit link do not match even if the intersection is a new intersection or has previously passed. Determine that there is.

  When it is determined in step S22 that the current right / left turn intersection history does not exist in the passing intersection history storage unit 36, a passing intersection ID is newly established in the passing intersection history storage unit 36, and as shown in FIG. Record node, entry link, and exit link data. In addition, you may record the data of the frequency | count which passed the corner intersection in the same aspect in this data as needed.

  Next, in the illustrated embodiment, it is determined whether or not there are a plurality of intersections stored in the passing intersection history storage unit 36 (step S24). When there is no intersection passing history, the process ends here, and the vehicle travels and the operation after the current position detection operation is repeated as shown in FIG. When it is determined in step S24 that there are a plurality of intersections stored in the passing intersection history storage unit 36, it is determined whether or not the same passing intersection order as the present exists in the intersection passing order history storage unit 37 (step S25). Note that data as shown in FIG. 15B is recorded in the intersection passage order history storage unit.

  When it is determined in step S25 that the same passing intersection order as the current one does not exist in the intersection passing order history storage unit 37, a passing order ID is newly established in the intersection passing order history storage unit 37, and the start intersection ID, the end intersection ID, and the number of passes. Record. Since the number of passages is the first recording of this data, it is recorded as one time and this processing is terminated (step S26). If it is determined in step S25 that the same passing intersection order as the present is present in the intersection passing order history storage unit 37, the number of times of passing is added to the data portion of the corresponding passing intersection order ID, and this process ends. When this process ends (step S28), step S20 in FIG. 2 ends, and the intersection passage history storage process shown in FIG. 2 ends.

  The storage process of the intersection passing history as described above is always performed during normal driving of the vehicle, and data is accumulated. When the vehicle travels with such data accumulated, traffic information guidance processes 1 to 3 corresponding to passing intersections are performed as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, for example. In the passing intersection corresponding traffic information guidance process 1 shown in FIG. 4, the intersection passing history storing process as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is first performed (step S31). That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle travels (step S11), detects the current position at that time (step S12), and passes through the intersection (step S13). (Steps S14 to S18), and when turning right or left, the data at that time is output to the intersection passing history storage unit 35 (step S19), and the passing intersection history storage unit 36 as shown in FIG. Data as shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B is stored in the intersection passage order history storage unit 37.

  This state is immediately after passing through the intersection, and the node of this intersection can be known from the map data, so the passage intersection history storage unit 36 is searched for the presence or absence of a passing intersection in order to guide traffic information between subsequent intersections. That is, a search for a passing intersection ID corresponding to the passing intersection is performed (step S32). Next, it is determined that the passing intersection ID, which is the history of the passing intersection, is present in the passing intersection history data as shown in FIG. 15A in the passing intersection history storage unit 36 (step S33). When the vehicle travels for the first time, or when there is no passing intersection ID composed of the same approach link and exit link, the process returns to step S31 and the above operation is repeated.

  When it is determined in step S33 that there is a passing intersection ID, it has passed after passing the current right / left turn intersection from the intersection passing order history storage unit 37 storing the data as shown in FIG. 15 (b). All the next right and left turn intersections with a search are searched (step S34). Thereafter, a route from the intersection that has passed through the current right / left turn to the next right / left turn is calculated (step S35). This operation is performed based on the data retrieved as described above from the intersection passage history storage unit 35 in the inter-intersection route calculation unit 34 of FIG. In addition, you may make it perform this route calculation process between intersections in the guidance route calculation part 25. FIG.

  Thereafter, the traffic information on each inter-intersection route calculated as described above is acquired from the VICS information input unit 14 in FIG. 1 (step S36). Next, the guidance output of the acquired traffic information is instructed. Here, only the guidance output of the traffic information is still instructed, and the timing at which the guidance is performed according to the instruction is most appropriate by the vehicle periphery guidance output processing shown in FIG. It will be performed by an appropriate method at the time (step S38).

  By the operation as described above, for example, when the vehicle as shown in FIG. 10 is running, the traffic information is guided as follows. That is, when the intersection passing history storage unit 35 stores the result of the vehicle traveling as indicated by the thick and dashed arrows in FIG. 10, the passing intersection corresponding guidance processing unit 31 is configured so that the vehicle passes the intersection 1. Intersections 2 and 3 that have made a right or left turn are acquired from the intersection passage history storage unit 35. The passing intersection correspondence processing unit 31 obtains the route from the intersection 1 to the intersections 2 and 3 from the inter-intersection route calculation unit 34, creates traffic information to be guided by the passing intersection correspondence information creation unit 33, and handles the passing intersection. The traffic information on the route is guided from the traffic information guidance output unit 38. Thus, in this embodiment, when passing through an intersection that has passed in the past, the intersection that made a right or left turn after passing the intersection is obtained from the history, and then from the intersection to the intersection that made the next right or left turn Guide traffic jams that occur on the route.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, in addition to guiding traffic information on a route connecting between intersections, it is also possible to perform guidance for roads connected to intersections that have made a right or left turn. The operation flow at that time is shown in FIG. In the traffic information guidance processing 2 corresponding to the passing intersection shown in FIG. 5, the next right / left turn intersection that has passed previously from the intersection that has made a right / left turn by first performing the operation from step S31 to step S36 in FIG. After calculating the route up to and obtaining the traffic information during that time (step S41), all the exit links from the current same approach link at the next intersection are searched from the passing intersection history storage unit 36 (step S42).

  Thereafter, for the escape link from the next intersection, the escape link that has traveled before, that is, the traffic information of the road that has traveled after passing through this intersection is acquired (step S43). Next, the traffic information guidance output obtained in the same manner as in FIG. 4 is instructed to the passing intersection corresponding traffic information guidance output unit 38 (step S44), and the vehicle periphery guidance output processing as shown in FIG. 7 is performed (step S45). ).

  For example, in the case where the road link L5 connected to the intersection 3 is congested and the road link L7 is congested in FIG. 11, which is an enlarged view of the intersection 3 shown in FIG. In addition to the guidance on the roads 1 to 3, the traffic links on the road links L5 and L7 are guided. Thus, by guiding the traffic information on the road that escapes from the intersection 3, the user can compare the road links L5 and L7 and select and drive a road that is not congested.

  Furthermore, the present invention can also provide traffic information guidance for a road between a next intersection that turns right and left at a fairly high frequency after making a right or left turn at a certain intersection, and a road that intersects the next right or left turn. The operation flow at that time is shown in FIG. In the traffic information guidance process 3 corresponding to the passing intersection shown in FIG. 6, by first performing the operations from step S31 to step S36 of FIG. 4 as in the operation flow of FIG. After calculating the route to the next right / left turn intersection and obtaining traffic information during that time (step S51), all the exit links from the current same approach link at the next intersection are searched from the passing intersection history storage unit 36. (Step S52).

  Next, in the example shown in FIG. 6, in order to prevent too much traffic information from being guided, a link with the highest travel frequency is selected from the escape links (step S53). Thereafter, the right / left turn intersection ahead of the link with the highest traveling frequency is searched from the intersection passage order history storage unit 37 (step S54), and the route from the next intersection to the next intersection is the same as that in step S35 of FIG. The same calculation is performed (step S55). In the above embodiment, it is estimated that the link with the highest travel frequency will be traveled this time as well, but only when it is determined that the next intersection is going to the next intersection at a predetermined frequency or more. A route from one intersection to the next intersection may be calculated.

  Thereafter, traffic information from the next intersection to the next intersection is acquired (step S56). Thereafter, the traffic information guidance output obtained in the same manner as in FIGS. 4 and 5 is instructed to the passing intersection corresponding traffic information guidance output unit 38 (step S57), and the vehicle periphery guidance output processing shown in FIG. A series of processing ends. In the above example, as shown in step S51, the passing intersection corresponding traffic information guidance process 3 in FIG. 6 is shown in a mode in which the subsequent process is performed after the processes from step S31 to step S36 in FIG. However, this can be set to continue after obtaining the traffic information of the escape link from the next intersection in step S43 of FIG.

In the above operation, for example, in the traveling example shown in FIG. 10, guidance processing is performed as follows. That is, in this embodiment, when the vehicle is traveling on the same road every day, guidance from the intersection that is most likely to turn right and left after a certain intersection turns to the next intersection that turns right and left For example, if the vehicle has passed the course indicated by the broken line in FIG. 10 100 times and the course indicated by the bold line three times, turn right at intersection 2 after the vehicle has passed intersection 1 Therefore, if you turn left at intersection 1 as shown by the arrow in FIG. 4, traffic information generated on the road from intersection 1 to intersection 2 and from intersection 2 to intersection 4 Will be targeted for guidance.

  After acquiring traffic information strongly related to traveling of the host vehicle as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, in the present invention, the acquired traffic information is guided at an appropriate timing for the user. The operation flow for this is shown in FIG. When the traffic information guidance output processing around the vehicle shown in FIG. 7 is performed, it is first determined whether or not the traffic information guidance output instruction is instructed in step S37 in FIG. 4, step S44 in FIG. 5, and step S56 in FIG. I do. In this embodiment, it is shown that all of the operations of FIGS. 4 to 6 are performed. However, in the present invention, for example, when only the operation of FIG. 4 is set, this processing is performed after step S37 of FIG. When it is set to perform only the process of FIG. 5 following the process of FIG. 4, this process is performed after step S44 of FIG.

  In step S61, when there is no traffic information guidance output instruction in each of those parts, the previous operation is repeated until traffic information exists, and when it is determined that there is a traffic information guidance output instruction, the guidance output point monitoring unit 39 It is constantly monitored that the distance from the traffic information guidance point for which guidance output is instructed has approached within the first predetermined distance L1 (step S62). Next, when it is determined in step S63 that the distance from the current location to the traffic information guidance point for which guidance output is instructed is not approaching within the first predetermined distance L1 in the state of monitoring as described above, in step S62 When the monitoring is continued and it is determined that the vehicle is approaching within the first predetermined distance L1 such as 3 km, for example, the corresponding intersection information is displayed on the map screen (step S64).

  Thereafter, it is monitored that the distance from the current location to the traffic information guidance point for which guidance output is instructed has come within a second predetermined distance L2 (<L1) such as 500 m (step S66). When it is determined that it has not yet approached within the second predetermined distance L2, the process returns to step S65 to continue monitoring, and when it is determined that it has approached within the second predetermined distance L2, traffic information that has approached within the predetermined distance L2 Is output with voice guidance (step S67).

  Because it operates as described above, traffic information such as traffic congestion, congestion, and regulations similar to those performed by conventional navigation systems is displayed on the screen, for example, when the vehicle is approaching within 3 km of the vehicle. The traffic information strongly related to is displayed on the screen, and for example, the traffic information within 500 m is guided by voice that can be transmitted to the user most reliably. The first predetermined distance L1 and the second predetermined distance L2 may be set to the same distance. In the travel example shown in FIG. 12, only the traffic jam 1 and the traffic jam 2 along the predicted travel route are guided. Similarly, the traffic jams displayed on the map are only the traffic jams 1 and 2, and the traffic jams 3 and 4 are not displayed. That is, the traffic information on the route between the intersections included in the passing order history and the exit link of the intersections in the passing intersection history is displayed on the map and is guided when the vehicle approaches a traffic jam or other event. The location traffic information is neither displayed nor guided.

  As described above, the present invention guides traffic information between intersections that the user has passed by storing intersections that have made a right / left turn and the order in which the intersections have made a right / left turn. Since the road to be guided is a road that the user normally uses, even if the user does not travel on the guided road, it is possible to infer the traffic situation in the vicinity from the guided information It becomes possible and can reduce the possibility of being involved in traffic jams and congestion.

  The present invention can be used as a traffic information guidance device in various navigation devices such as a navigation device directly brought into a vehicle and a navigation device that is brought into the vehicle from the outside and used.

It is a functional block diagram of the Example of this invention. It is an operation | movement flowchart of the intersection passage log | history memory process in the Example. It is an operation | movement flowchart of the intersection passage log | history memory process in the operation | movement flowchart. It is a 1st operation | movement flowchart of the traffic information guidance process for a passing intersection in the Example. It is a 2nd operation | movement flowchart of the traffic information guidance process for a passing intersection in the Example. It is a 3rd operation | movement flowchart of the traffic information guidance process corresponding to a passing intersection in the Example. It is an operation | movement flowchart of the own vehicle periphery traffic information guidance output process in the Example. It is a figure explaining the action | operation of the passing intersection detection part when the own vehicle turns right at the intersection. It is a figure explaining the example of a driving | running | working of the own vehicle, and the memory | storage form to an intersection passage history memory | storage part. It is a figure explaining the aspect of the guidance in the some example of driving | running | working of the own vehicle, and the guidance part between intersections. It is expansion detailed explanatory drawing of the intersection 3 part of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the traffic congestion guidance based on the driving | running | working log | history of the next passing intersection from the several passing example of the own vehicle, and the next passing intersection. It is a figure explaining the example of a driving | running | working in this invention, and the aspect of a traffic information guidance output. It is a figure explaining the other example of the example of driving | running | working and traffic information guidance output in this invention. (A) is an example of stored data in the passing intersection history storage unit in the present invention, and (b) is an example of stored data in the intersection passing order history storage unit. It is a figure which shows the example of a general map database.

Explanation of symbols

11 GPS receiver
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Travel distance and direction detection part 13 Current position detection part 14 Traffic information acquisition part 15 Remote control 16 Voice recognition part 17 Instruction signal input part 18 Map / information data recording medium 19 Data acquisition part 20 Map display part 21 Image display part 22 Image Output unit 23 Speaker 24 Audio output unit 25 Guide route calculation unit 26 Guide route guide unit 30 Traffic information guidance processing unit 31 Passing intersection corresponding guidance processing unit 32 Passing intersection detection unit 33 Passing intersection corresponding guide information creation unit 34 Inter-intersection route calculation unit 35 intersection intersection history storage section 36 intersection intersection history storage section 37 intersection passage order history storage section 38 intersection intersection corresponding traffic information guidance output section 39 guidance output point monitoring section

Claims (5)

Detects the type of road that is currently running when the vehicle is running and detects that the vehicle has passed the intersection, and determines whether the road types of the entry link and the exit link are different at the intersection. It is assumed that the vehicle has made a right or left turn at the intersection, and when the same road type is selected, when the difference between the angles of the entrance link and the exit link is greater than or equal to a predetermined value , An intersection that has been determined to have made a right / left turn, a passing intersection history storage unit that stores a history of the mode of passage at the intersection, and a history of the intersection passing order by the intersection that has made the right / left turn and the next right / left turn is stored. An intersection passage history storage means having an intersection passage order history storage means;
A passing intersection detecting means for detecting that the vehicle has passed by turning left and right at the time of vehicle traveling;
When the passing intersection detection means detects passage of an intersection, the intersection passing order history storage means searches for an intersection to turn right and left next, and calculates an inter-intersection route calculation means for calculating a travel route between both intersections;
Passing intersection corresponding guidance information creating means for taking in traffic information on the travel route calculated by the route calculation means between the intersections and creating guidance information;
A passing intersection corresponding traffic information guidance output means for outputting the guidance information produced by the passing intersection corresponding guidance information creating means within a predetermined distance from the point of occurrence of the information to be guided. A traffic information guidance device for navigation characterized by the above.   For an intersection that makes a right or left turn after searching in the intersection passage order history storage means, the passage intersection history storage means estimates a road on which the user travels after passing the intersection, and the passing intersection correspondence information creation means includes the The traffic information guide device for navigation according to claim 1, wherein the traffic information about the estimated road is taken in to create guide information. In the route calculation means between the intersections, with respect to the intersection that makes a right / left turn after searching in the intersection passage order history storage means, the intersection that makes the next right / left turn is further searched in the intersection passage order history storage means. Next, calculate the route to the intersection where you turn left and right.
The navigation information according to claim 1, wherein the passing intersection corresponding guidance information creating means takes in traffic information about the next intersection to turn right and left and the next route to the intersection to turn right and left and creates guidance information. down for traffic information guide device. The intersection passage order history storage means updates and stores the number of passes between intersections,
The inter-intersection route calculating means selects a route from the next intersection that makes a right / left turn to an intersection that makes a next right / left turn, and selects the intersection passage order history having the highest number of passages from the intersection passage order history storage means. , Calculate the driving route between both intersections,
2. The navigation according to claim 1, wherein the passing intersection corresponding guidance information creating means also takes in the traffic information of the travel route calculated using the history of the intersection passing order with the largest number of passages and creates guidance information. down for traffic information guide device. The passing intersection corresponding traffic information guidance output means displays the traffic information on the screen when it is within the first predetermined distance at the point of occurrence of the information to be guided, and is within the second predetermined distance. navigation for traffic information guidance device according to claim 1, wherein the guiding the traffic information by voice when.

Images