JP7395837B2 - Navigation devices, navigation methods, and programs - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a navigation device, a navigation method, and a program.

2. Description of the Related Art Various obstacles occur on the road when a vehicle is running, and these obstacles pose a hindrance to the safe running of the vehicle. Patent Document 1 discloses that for each location where an obstacle such as a puddle or fallen leaves may occur, obstacle information is generated in which the type of the obstacle and the condition for the occurrence of the obstacle are associated, and map data is generated. A map data structure is disclosed.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-105967

When there are many obstacles on the road, such as pedestrians, bicycles, and vehicles parked on the road, the user driving the vehicle must operate the vehicle to avoid the obstacles. There are also more behaviors that can cause accidents, such as vehicles jumping out from behind. There is a need for a technology that can grasp the safety level of each road by using the number of obstacles on each road as map data.

Therefore, the present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems, that is, to detect obstacles that hinder safe driving of vehicles existing on the road, and to set the safety level of each road according to the number of obstacles. An object of the present invention is to provide a navigation device that can guide a user to a safer route by preferentially searching for roads with a high degree of safety.

In order to solve the above problems, one aspect of the navigation device of the present invention includes a route search section that searches for a route for a vehicle to travel, and a surrounding information acquisition section that obtains information around the vehicle including images of the surroundings of the vehicle. a safety degree determination section that determines the safety degree of roads around the vehicle based on the surrounding information; and a route presentation control section that presents the searched route to the user, and the safety degree determination section comprises: If an obstacle is detected from the image surrounding the vehicle, and it is determined that the obstacle exists in a position that obstructs the vehicle, the safety level of the road is determined to be relatively low, and the route is determined to be relatively low. The search unit performs a route search in which the possibility of selecting a road determined to have a relatively low safety level is set to be low.

One aspect of the car navigation method of the present invention includes a route search step of performing a route search with a low possibility that a road determined to have a relatively low safety level will be selected; and an image of the surroundings of the vehicle. a surrounding information acquisition step of obtaining information around the vehicle; and determining the safety level of roads around the vehicle based on the surrounding information, when an obstacle is detected from the image surrounding the vehicle, and the obstacle is an obstacle to driving of the vehicle. If it is determined that the road exists at a position where , the safety level determining step of determining the safety level of the road is relatively low, and the route presentation control step of presenting the searched route to the user.

One aspect of the program of the present invention includes a route searching step in which a computer performs a route search in which a road determined to have a relatively low safety level is set to have a low possibility of being selected; a surrounding information acquisition step of obtaining information surrounding the vehicle including information about the surroundings of the vehicle; If it is determined that the road exists in a position that poses a problem, the road includes a safety level determination step of determining the safety level of the road as relatively low, and a route presentation control step of presenting the searched route to the user. cause the process to be executed, including causing the process to be executed;

According to the present invention, by detecting obstacles and determining whether or not they pose an obstacle to safe driving of the own vehicle and determining the safety level of the relevant travel section, it is possible to make it safer for the user and to avoid obstacles. It is possible to provide route guidance that preferentially searches roads with a low possibility of collision.

1 is a diagram showing an overview of a navigation device 1. FIG. (Embodiment 1) 5 is a flowchart for explaining the processing of the navigation device 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of a navigation device 1. FIG. (Embodiment 2)

[First embodiment]
Hereinafter, a navigation device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram for explaining the functional configuration of a navigation device 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a navigation device 1 includes, for example, a route search section 10, a surrounding information acquisition section 20, a safety degree determination section 30, and a presentation control section 50. A monitor 60 and a speaker 70 may also be included. The navigation device 1 is implemented as part of the functions of a car navigation system installed in a vehicle, as well as a mobile phone or a mobile terminal that a user brings into the vehicle and uses.

The route search unit 10 includes a current position acquisition unit 11, a destination information acquisition unit 12, a map information database 13, and a route calculation unit 14. Calculate the appropriate route to the destination by referring to the map information database. The calculated route is output to the presentation control section 50.

The current position information acquisition unit 11 uses, for example, GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) 111 to acquire current position information of the vehicle. The current position information acquisition unit 11 may be configured to include the GNSS 111, or may be an input unit that acquires the current position information output by the GNSS 111. The current location information may be a value expressed in latitude and longitude, or may be information such as an address. May also include altitude information. The current location information acquisition unit 11 outputs the acquired current location information to the route calculation unit 14.

The destination information acquisition unit 12 acquires position information of a destination via, for example, a user interface (not shown). The user interface may use any known technology such as a touch panel, buttons, or acquisition via communication. Alternatively, the map information database 13 may be referred to to obtain information searched by facility name, address, or the like. The destination information may be values expressed in latitude and longitude, or information such as an address. May also include altitude information. The destination information acquisition unit 12 outputs the acquired destination information to the route calculation unit 14.

The map information database 13 is a database that stores map data. The map information database 13 includes a map information database management section 131 that manages map data. The map information stored in the map information database 13 stores information such as roads on which vehicles can travel, for example, as a set of link information and node information. Links are various types of roads, and nodes are road connections such as intersections, branch points, and merging points. Each road connecting each node becomes each road link. The map information database 13 includes a magnetic recording medium (for example, a flexible disk, a magnetic tape, a hard disk drive), a magneto-optical recording medium (for example, a magneto-optical disk), a semiconductor memory (for example, an EPROM (Erasable PROM), a flash memory), which the navigation device 1 has. The database may be stored in a ROM, RAM (Random Access Memory), or the like. The map information database 13 may be a database provided in an external server and accessed by a communication unit (not shown) included in the navigation device 1.

Here, the link information of each road link will be explained. In the navigation device according to the first embodiment, a road connecting each node is referred to as a road link. The link information for each road link includes, for example, information such as the link length, road width, road name, road type, and travel fee if the road is a toll road. Further, the node information of each node includes, for example, coordinate information such as latitude and longitude of each node, and information such as an intersection name.

The link information for each road link includes a link cost that is set according to the link length, road width, road type, etc. of each road link. Types of link costs are set, such as distance cost according to link length, road width cost according to road width, and travel toll cost when the road type is a toll road.For example, the longer the link length, the higher the distance cost. set high. Further, in the navigation device according to the first embodiment, as the type of link cost of each road link, the degree of safety of the road link is determined, and the link cost is set based on the determined degree of safety. This is called the safe link cost, and for each road link, if it is relatively safe, the safe link cost for that road link is set low, and if it is relatively unsafe, the safe link cost for that road link is set low. Set it high.

The map information database management unit 131 updates and searches information regarding these facilities and roads stored in the map information database 13, and also sets link costs for each road link according to the link length, road width, road type, etc. do. In the navigation device according to the first embodiment, the map information database management unit 131 sets a safety link cost for each road link based on the safety level determined by the safety level determination unit 30, which will be described later.

The route calculation unit 14 receives the above-mentioned vehicle current position information and destination information as input, and calculates an appropriate route from the current location to the destination while referring to the map information database 13. For example, cost calculation using Dijkstra's method may be used to calculate the route. An evaluation value is calculated using link costs according to link length, road width, road type, etc., and the route with the lowest link cost from the departure point to the destination is calculated as the appropriate route. For example, select distance-first search mode, which prioritizes routes with short distances to the destination, or time-first search mode, which prioritizes routes that arrive at the destination quickly, that is, short travel times. In each search mode, the weighting of each type of link cost described above can be changed to search for a route that meets the user's wishes.

In the navigation device according to the first embodiment, the route calculation unit 14 receives as input the safety degree output from the safety degree determination unit 30, which will be described later, and appropriately selects a route with a low possibility of collision with obstacles such as pedestrians and bicycles. Equipped with a safety-first search mode that calculates routes. More specifically, in the navigation device according to the first embodiment, cost calculation is performed using the Dijkstra method using a link cost in which the safety link cost is heavily weighted in a safety-priority search mode that emphasizes vehicle driving safety. By searching for a route to a destination, it becomes easier to set a route that is determined to be safer.

The surrounding information acquisition unit 20 includes, for example, an image information acquisition unit 21, and collects image information captured around the vehicle, sensors such as LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging), and millimeter wave radar. The information obtained is output to the safety degree determination section 30.

The image information acquisition unit 21 acquires image information around the vehicle using a camera 211 or the like. The image information acquisition unit 21 may include a camera 211, and may be an input unit that acquires image data output by the camera 211. For example, the camera 211 is installed facing the front of the vehicle, which is the traveling direction of the vehicle, but is not limited thereto, and may be installed facing the side of the vehicle or the rear of the vehicle, and is a camera group consisting of a plurality of cameras. It may be configured as

The safety level determination unit 30 includes, for example, an obstacle detection unit 31 and an obstacle position determination unit 32, and detects a bicycle running outside the vehicle travel lane or existing within the vehicle travel lane. Obstacles such as pedestrians are detected, and the safety level of the road on which the vehicle is traveling is determined based on information about these obstacles. The safety degree determination section 30 outputs the determined safety degree to the map information database management section 131.

The obstacle detection unit 31 detects obstacles such as pedestrians, bicycles, and vehicles parked on the street from the image information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition unit 20, for example, using image recognition technology such as pattern matching. The obstacle detection unit 31 is equipped with, for example, a person recognition dictionary and recognizes a person. Bicycle recognition and vehicle recognition are also performed using dictionaries that recognize bicycles and vehicles. By providing each image recognition dictionary, trees, puddles, signs, and utility poles can be recognized and detected as obstacles. The dictionary used for image recognition may be provided in the obstacle detection section 31, or may be provided in an external server or the like, and may be queried by a communication section (not shown). When an obstacle such as a pedestrian or a bicycle is detected, the obstacle information is output to the obstacle position determining section 32.

The obstacle position determination unit 32 determines the position of the detected obstacle based on the position on the image from the image information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition unit 20 and the obstacle information output by the obstacle detection unit 31. It is determined whether the position is a hindrance to the running of the vehicle. The obstacle position determination unit 32 determines in advance in which region the detected obstacle is present by predetermining on the acquired image an area that includes the predicted vehicle trajectory and an area that does not include the predicted vehicle trajectory. The location of the obstacle is detected based on the location of the obstacle. For example, the sky is photographed in the upper part of the image, so even if an obstacle is detected in the upper part of the image, it will not interfere with the driving of the vehicle. It is preferable that the area on the image that does not include the predicted travel trajectory of the vehicle be set by the user operating a touch panel or the like on the screen according to the mounting position and mounting angle of the camera 211.

The obstacle position determination unit 32 recognizes the boundary line of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling based on the image information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition unit 20, and determines whether the obstacle output by the obstacle detection unit 31 is the one in which the own vehicle is traveling. It may also be determined whether the vehicle is within the lane. When there are lane boundary lines on the left and right sides of the own vehicle, the obstacle position determination unit 32 determines that the inner side of the lane boundary line closest to the left and right own vehicle is the own vehicle travel lane area in which the own vehicle runs. do. Based on whether or not a detected obstacle, such as a bicycle, exists in the own vehicle travel lane area on the image, it is determined whether the position where the obstacle exists is a position that will impede the travel of the vehicle. The obstacle position detection unit 32 may detect a guardrail from the image, recognize the lane in which the vehicle is traveling, and determine whether a vehicle is present in the lane in which the vehicle is traveling.

For example, the safety level determining unit 30 determines that the obstacle detecting unit 31 detects an obstacle such as a bicycle, and the obstacle position determining unit 32 determines that the bicycle is present in a position that interferes with the traveling of the vehicle. In this case, the safety level of the road link on which the vehicle is traveling is determined to be low. Alternatively, the safety degree preset for the road link in question is changed to a lower value. The safety degree is calculated as a level from 1 (unsafe) to 10 (safe), for example. The safety level may be an evaluation of high, middle, or low, or may be a score with an upper limit of 100 points (safety). For example, on a road where the safety level is set to 5 (intermediate) in advance, if there is an obstacle such as a bicycle traveling within the vehicle travel lane as described above, the safety level determination unit 30 determines whether the safety level is safe or not. Lower the severity level and set it to 4.

The safety level determination unit 30 may obtain map information such as road width, speed limit, lane boundaries, sidewalks, presence or absence of guardrails, and predetermine the safety level for each road. Generally, roads in residential areas are narrow, and traffic lanes and pedestrian sidewalks are often not separated. On such roads, there is a relatively high possibility that children will run out or collisions between pedestrians and vehicles will occur. For example, the safety level of a road where guardrails are not set and the boundaries between lanes and sidewalks are unclear is set in advance to a low level, for example, 3 on a scale of 1 (unsafe) to 10 (safe). This makes it possible to more accurately determine the safety level of each road.

The presentation control unit 50 controls the output of route information so that the route information searched by the route search unit 10 is notified to the user via the monitor 60 and the speaker 70. More specifically, the presentation control unit 50 superimposes, for example, the route information searched by the route search unit 10 in the safety priority search mode based on the safety link cost, on the map information acquired from the map information database 13, and converts it into map image data. is generated and output to the monitor 60 for display. Further, route guidance of the searched route is provided to the user by audio output via the speaker 70.

With reference to FIG. 2, the operation of the navigation device 1 according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of route search based on the road safety level and travel cost setting of each road link in the navigation device 1.

In FIG. 2, in the navigation device 1 according to the first embodiment, in step (hereinafter abbreviated as S) 1, the current position information acquisition unit 11 uses the GNSS 111 to acquire current position information of the vehicle. After acquiring the current position information, the process advances to S2.

Next, in S2, the destination information acquisition unit 12 acquires position information of the destination via a user interface (not shown). After acquiring the destination information, proceed to S3.

Next, in S3, the route calculation unit 14 refers to the map information database 13 and calculates an appropriate route from the vehicle's current position information and destination information. At this time, by referring to the information on each node and the link information between each node stored in the map information database 13, links with low link costs are selected preferentially, and an appropriate route from the current position to the destination is selected. Calculate. In the first embodiment, route calculation is performed in a safety priority search mode, which is a route search mode in which the safety link cost, which is set based on the safety level of each road link determined by the safety level determination unit 30, is heavily weighted.

Next, in S4, the presentation control unit 50 generates image data in which the route information calculated by the route calculation unit 14 is superimposed on map information, outputs it to the monitor 60, and presents it to the user. The steps up to this point are the flow of route search and route presentation based on the safety level. After this, the flow changes to each road link based on the safety level.

In S5, the image information acquisition unit 21 uses the camera 211 to acquire image information around the vehicle.
After acquisition, proceed to S6.

In S6, the obstacle detection unit 31 performs image recognition from the acquired image information and detects an obstacle. After detection, the process advances to S7.

If an obstacle is detected in S7 (YES in S7), the process advances to S8. If no obstacle is detected (NO in S12), the process returns to S5 and continues the process.

In S8, the obstacle position determining unit 32 determines whether the detected obstacle is present at a position that will impede travel. If it is determined that an obstacle exists at a position that will impede the running of the vehicle (YES in S8), the process moves to S9. If it is determined that the obstacle does not exist in a position that would impede the running of the vehicle (NO in S9), the process returns to S5 and continues the process.

In S9, the map information database management unit 131 sets a low safety link cost for the road link on which the vehicle is traveling that has been determined to have a low safety level. After setting, proceed to S10.

In S10, if the vehicle stops running (YES in S10), the process ends. If the vehicle continues to run (YES in S10), the process returns to S5 and continues the process.

As described above, the navigation device 1 according to the first embodiment includes, for example, the route search unit 10, the surrounding information acquisition unit 20, the safety level determination unit 30, and the route presentation control unit 50, so that obstacles can be detected around the vehicle. and the obstacle is located at a position that will impede driving, the safety level of the road link is determined to be low, and the safety link cost of the road is set to be high. With this configuration, when there is a high possibility that the vehicle will be affected by obstacles such as bicycles or pedestrians, safety is prioritized by reducing the possibility that the relevant road will be guided as the recommended route. route search and route guidance.

[Second embodiment]
A navigation device according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram for explaining the functional configuration of the navigation device 1, which is an embodiment of the present invention. The navigation device 1 according to the second embodiment has the same basic configuration as the first embodiment, but differs in that it includes a vehicle information acquisition section 40. In the following description, components similar to those of the navigation device 1 according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same or corresponding symbols, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The vehicle information acquisition unit 40 determines whether the vehicle is running or stopped, for example, via a CAN (Controller Area Network) or using sensors 41 such as an acceleration sensor, a speedometer, and a gyro sensor. Vehicle behavior information related to vehicle running, such as vehicle speed, vehicle acceleration, and steering angle, and vehicle operation information related to user operations of the vehicle, such as accelerator and brake operations, steering operations, and horn operations, are acquired. Vehicle behavior information and vehicle operation information are referred to as vehicle information, and vehicle information acquisition section 40 outputs the acquired vehicle information to safety degree determination section 30.

The vehicle information acquisition unit 40 may be configured to include sensors 41, and may be an input unit that acquires sensing data output by the sensors 41.

The safety level determination unit 30 calculates the safety level of the road link based on the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit and the information regarding obstacles acquired by the obstacle detection unit 31 and the obstacle position determination unit 32. . More specifically, the safety level determination unit 30 determines that the obstacle is determined to be a potential obstacle to vehicle travel and that the user operated the vehicle to avoid the obstacle; If vehicle information indicating the vehicle behavior of the vehicle such as avoiding obstacles is acquired, it is determined that the safety level of the road link is low.

Vehicle information for avoiding obstacles is, for example, information such as steering in the opposite direction to avoid a bicycle traveling in the vehicle lane when the distance from the bicycle becomes short. This is vehicle information indicating that the vehicle has been turned off. Specifically, when the obstacle detection section 31 detects an obstacle and the obstacle position determination section 32 determines that the obstacle is present at a position that hinders running, the timing before and after that is determined. For example, when the vehicle information acquisition unit 40 acquires information indicating that a steering operation of a predetermined value or more has been performed within three seconds before and after, the vehicle information is determined to be such that the vehicle avoids an obstacle. Also, at this time, on the image acquired by the image information acquisition unit 21, it is detected that a recognized obstacle, for example, a bicycle, has moved toward the left and right ends on the screen, and vehicle information for avoiding the obstacle is provided. You may judge. On the image acquired by the image information acquisition unit 21, it is detected that a recognized obstacle, such as a bicycle, moves in the opposite direction to the steering operation on the screen, and vehicle information such as avoiding the obstacle is provided. You may judge.

Vehicle information to avoid obstacles is, for example, a vehicle that indicates that the vehicle should reduce its speed or stop when the distance from the pedestrian becomes short in order to avoid a pedestrian in the vehicle's driving lane. It is information. Specifically, when the obstacle detection section 31 detects an obstacle and the obstacle position determination section 32 determines that the obstacle is present at a position that hinders running, the timing before and after that is determined. For example, if the vehicle information acquisition unit 40 acquires information indicating that a brake operation of a predetermined value or more has been performed within 3 seconds before or after the vehicle information acquisition unit 40 acquires deceleration information of a predetermined value or more, the vehicle information acquisition unit 40 detects an obstacle. The vehicle information is determined to be avoidable. At this time, on the image acquired by the image information acquisition unit 21, a change in the moving speed of an obstacle, for example a bicycle, on the screen is detected, and it is determined that the vehicle information is such that the obstacle should be avoided. Good too. From the image acquired by the image information acquisition unit 21, by using technology such as motion detection or motion vector detection, it is possible to detect a change in the motion vector of the obstacle, and that change is in a direction that opposes the approach of the vehicle and the obstacle. It may also be possible to detect this and determine that the vehicle information is such that the vehicle should avoid obstacles.

Vehicle information to avoid obstacles is, for example, to alert the driver to a pedestrian in the lane in which the vehicle is traveling, and to sound the horn when the distance from the pedestrian becomes close. Contains vehicle information shown. For example, when the obstacle detection section 31 detects an obstacle, such as a pedestrian on the road, and the obstacle position determination section 32 determines that the pedestrian exists in a position that will hinder the movement of the vehicle. , further includes an obstacle movement determination unit (not shown) that determines whether the pedestrian is moving or not, and if the pedestrian is not moving, the user sounds the horn to call the pedestrian's attention. The operation is determined to be vehicle information such as avoiding an obstacle.

As described above, the navigation device 1 according to the second embodiment includes, for example, the route search section 10, the surrounding information acquisition section 20, the safety degree determination section 30, the vehicle information acquisition section 40, and the route presentation control section 50, so that the If there are bicycles or pedestrians in the vehicle travel lane, and the vehicle shows behavior to avoid the bicycles or pedestrians, the safety level of the road link is determined to be low, and the safety link cost of the road is determined to be low. Set it high. With this configuration, if the driving behavior of a vehicle is affected by bicycles, pedestrians, etc., the road in question can be guided as a recommended route by setting a high safety link cost for that road. It is possible to perform route search and route guidance that prioritizes safety and reduces safety. Furthermore, in addition to setting the condition of vehicle deceleration and steering operation, if the amount of vehicle deceleration or steering operation is large, the safety link cost is set higher, and the possibility that the relevant road becomes a recommended route is set. There may also be a form in which it is lower.

In the examples above, the program may be stored and provided to the computer using various types of non-transitory computer readable media. Non-transitory computer-readable media includes various types of tangible storage media. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic recording media (e.g., flexible disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives), magneto-optical recording media (e.g., magneto-optical disks), CD-ROMs (Read Only Memory), CD-Rs, CD-R/W, DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), BD (Blu-ray (registered trademark) Disc), semiconductor memory (e.g. mask ROM, PROM (Programmable ROM), EPROM (Erasable PROM), flash ROM, RAM ( Random Access Memory)). The program may also be provided to the computer on various types of transitory computer readable media. Examples of transitory computer-readable media include electrical signals, optical signals, and electromagnetic waves. The temporary computer-readable medium can provide the program to the computer via wired communication channels, such as electrical wires and fiber optics, or wireless communication channels.

Note that the program executed by the computer may be a program in which processing is performed chronologically in accordance with the order described in this specification, in parallel, or at necessary timing such as when a call is made. It may also be a program that performs processing.

Further, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the embodiments described above, and various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

The map information database 13 may be provided in an external server as described above. At this time, the map information database 13 communicates with the plurality of navigation devices 1 through a communication unit (not shown) included in the external server, and receives the safety degree determined by each navigation device 1. The map information database management unit 131 sets a safety link cost for each road link based on the received safety degree. Each navigation device 1 performs a route search in a safety-priority search mode based on a safety link cost that is set based on the safety degree determined by each of the vehicles. However, if there is a high possibility that the vehicle will be affected by obstacles such as bicycles or pedestrians, it is a route that prioritizes safety by reducing the possibility that the road in question will be guided as a recommended route. You can explore and route directions.

The map information database 13 may receive the safety degrees determined by a plurality of other vehicles from an information storage unit (not shown) included in an external server through a communication unit. At this time, the map information database management unit 131 sets a safety link cost for each road link based on the safety degree determined by the navigation device 1 of the own vehicle and the received safety degree determined by the other vehicle. Alternatively, the safety level determination unit 30 may receive information such as obstacles detected by a plurality of other vehicles from an external server through the communication unit, and determine the safety level. The obstacle detection unit 31 may detect obstacles by receiving surrounding information acquired by a plurality of other vehicles from an external server through a communication unit.

When determining the safety level based on information from a plurality of other vehicles as described above, the navigation device 1 may include an other vehicle information acquisition unit (not shown) that also acquires other vehicle information regarding other vehicles. The other vehicle information acquisition unit acquires vehicle information such as the vehicle width, vehicle height, and minimum turning radius of the other vehicle, and travel information such as the date, time of day, and travel speed of the other vehicle. The safety degree determination unit 30 determines the safety degree based on this other vehicle information, for example, by heavily weighting image information and obstacle information of other vehicles whose travel dates and times are small in deviation from the own vehicle's travel date and time. may be determined. The safety level determination unit 30 uses image information and obstacle information from other vehicles that are highly similar to the own vehicle, such as vehicle width similar to that of the own vehicle and driving time period similar to that of the own vehicle, to be heavily weighted. The safety level may be determined based on the following. The map information database management unit 131 may set the safety link cost based on the safety degree that is heavily weighted with the safety degree determined by another vehicle that is less distant from the own vehicle or similar to the own vehicle.

The map information database management unit 131 may set a safe link cost based on the safety level of each road link depending on the time of day, day of the week, and weather. Specifically, the safety level determination unit 30 determines the safety level based on detected obstacles such as vehicles parked on the street and bicycles for each time period such as commuting hours and nighttime, and the safety level determination unit 30 determines the safety level based on detected obstacles such as vehicles parked on the road and bicycles. 131 sets a safe link cost for each time period. The safety level determination unit 30 may determine the safety level for each type of weather, such as rainy or sunny weather. The surrounding information acquisition unit 20 may also detect obstacles specific to each type of weather, such as snow accumulation during snowfall or puddles when the amount of rainfall is greater than a predetermined value.

1...Navigation device 10...Route search section 11...Current position acquisition section 111...GNSS
12...Destination information acquisition unit 13...Map information database 131...Map information database management unit 14...Route calculation unit 20...Surrounding information acquisition unit 21...Image information acquisition unit 211...Camera 30...Safety degree determination unit 31...Obstacle detection Section 32...Obstacle position determination section 40...Vehicle information acquisition section 41...Sensors 50...Presentation control section 60...Monitor 70...Speaker

Claims (5)

a route search unit that searches for a route for the vehicle to travel;
a peripheral information acquisition unit that acquires peripheral information of the vehicle including peripheral images of the vehicle;
a safety level determination unit that determines the safety level of roads around the vehicle based on the surrounding information;
a route presentation control unit that presents the searched route to the user;
Equipped with
The safety degree determination unit determines the position of the obstacle on the surrounding image when an obstacle is detected from the surrounding image and the obstacle is located at a position that impedes the running of the vehicle. when the change in indicates the behavior of the vehicle to avoid the obstacle, changing the safety level preset for the road to be lower;
The route search unit is a navigation device that searches for a route with a low possibility that the road determined to have a low safety level will be selected. further comprising a vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires vehicle information including operation information of the vehicle,
The safety level determination unit further includes, when the obstacle is detected and the obstacle is located at a position that interferes with the running of the vehicle, the vehicle information indicates that a vehicle operation has been performed; and if it is detected on the surrounding image that the obstacle has moved in a direction opposite to the vehicle operation, and a change in the motion vector of the obstacle on the surrounding image indicates that the obstacle moves between the vehicle and the obstacle. In at least one of the following cases, the preset safety level of the road is changed to a lower level based on the behavior of the vehicle that avoids the obstacle. do,
The navigation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The safety level determining unit is configured to detect the obstacle at a predetermined timing according to the distance between the obstacle and the vehicle when the obstacle is detected and the obstacle is located at a position that obstructs the running of the vehicle. determining the safety level of the road based on the vehicle information obtained by
The navigation device according to claim 2, characterized in that: a peripheral information acquisition step of acquiring peripheral information of the vehicle including a peripheral image of the vehicle;
When an obstacle is detected from the surrounding image based on the surrounding information and the obstacle is located at a position that obstructs the running of the vehicle, the position of the obstacle on the surrounding image is determined. a safety degree determining step of changing a preset safety degree for a road around the vehicle to a lower level when the change in the vehicle indicates a behavior of the vehicle that avoids the obstacle;
a route search step of performing a route search with a low possibility that the road determined to have a low safety level will be selected;
a route presentation control step of presenting the searched route to the user;
A navigation method comprising: to the computer,
a peripheral information acquisition step of acquiring peripheral information of the vehicle including a peripheral image of the vehicle;
When an obstacle is detected from the surrounding image based on the surrounding information and the obstacle is located at a position that obstructs the running of the vehicle, the position of the obstacle on the surrounding image is determined. a safety degree determining step of changing a preset safety degree for a road around the vehicle to a lower level when the change in the vehicle indicates a behavior of the vehicle that avoids the obstacle;
a route search step of performing a route search with a low possibility that the road determined to have a low safety level will be selected;
a route presentation control step of presenting the searched route to the user;
A program that executes processing including.

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