JPH07249191A - Providing device for running information - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a running information providing device whereby conditions being more minute than conventional technique is referred to so as to provide a driver correct information to the utmost and also jam information with those minute conditions is recorded so as to make good use of them at the time of succeeding running. CONSTITUTION:A map information recording means 21 where map information containing a jam head position candidate and a map generation cause candidate is recorded, a jam state detecting means 12 detecting the jam state of one's own vehicle circumference classified by lanes, a nevigation means 11 detecting the present position of the vehicle, a jam cause estimating means 13 selecting the main cause for the occurrence of jam by the output of the jam state detecting means 12 and that of the navigation means 11, a jam information recording means 22 recording the outputs of the navigation means 11 and the jam cause estimating means 13, a data, a day of the week and the weather, a jam information retrieving means 14 reading jam information on the vehicle running lane ahead of the vehicle from the means 22 and a reporting means 6 reporting an output result by the means 14 to the driver are provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention provides a driver with information about the current traffic congestion from the current position and running condition of a vehicle, and records the information about the current traffic congestion for later retrieval. The present invention relates to a travel information providing device that enables reference.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, it often happens that it takes a very long time to get to a destination after getting on a car because of traffic congestion. In order to cope with such a situation, the required time for each section of the travel route is recorded for each travel by using the conventional technology, for example, the technology of "travel guide device" disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-18766. A device that uses the information at the next opportunity to estimate the time required to reach the destination is conceivable. In addition, a travel information providing device that provides the travel experience information collected by this device to the driver when traveling in the same area on the next occasion is conceivable. According to the device shown in the above example, it is possible to estimate a more realistic required time by referring to the actual required time in the past recorded in the traveling experience information, for the traffic situation that changes depending on the time zone or the time. You can

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above traveling guide device is
Map data including the start point to the end point of the travel route is read from the map file device, the current position and travel route are calculated by inputting the start point, vehicle speed and azimuth, and the travel route is divided into equal intervals. A means for calculating and recording the required time for each distance is provided, and the required time is predicted by referring to the data in which the specified route and the condition match from the past record, and the driver is notified of it. However, for example, when a driver is traveling to a destination in an area that is not familiar to the driver, and if there is a traffic jam line for only one of the lanes at an intersection on the way, the traffic jam line becomes the destination of the vehicle. If the lane is not related to the course heading toward, you should select a lane that is not congested, and conversely, if the lane is related to the course heading to your destination, quickly select a lane that will line up in that row. Should be. In order to make such a judgment, what causes the traffic jam (= the cause of the traffic jam),
It is necessary to know the lane to which the cause is related and check it with the driving plan of your vehicle. However, even if the traffic information obtained by the above-mentioned known device can estimate the traveling section and the degree of the traffic congestion, the information related to the lane is not learned or notified, so that the lane in which the vehicle should travel should be selected. It is inconvenient to use.

The present invention focuses on such a non-correspondence point of the prior art, provides more accurate information to the driver by referring to more detailed conditions than the prior art, and the detailed information thereof. It is an object of the present invention to provide a travel information providing device that records traffic congestion information with a condition and is used as a learning record when traveling thereafter.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, map information recording means for storing map information containing a congestion leading point candidate and a congestion occurrence factor candidate, and a vehicle As a traffic jam situation by surrounding lanes, the traffic jam start point and the traffic jam length are detected, the traffic jam situation detection means, the current position of the own vehicle, the navigation means, the traffic jam situation detection means and the output of the navigation means are used to map From the information recording means, a congestion factor estimating means for selecting a factor of the congestion occurrence near the congestion leaving point, a clock for knowing the current date and time, a calendar for knowing the current day of the week, a weather detecting means for knowing the current weather, A traffic jam information recording means for recording the output results of the navigation means, the traffic jam factor estimating means, the clock, the calendar, and the weather detecting means as traffic jam information is provided. Congestion information search means for reading the congestion information ahead of the traffic lane from the congestion information recording means using the output results of the condition detection means, the clock, the calendar, the weather detection means, and the navigation means, and the output results from this congestion information search means It has been decided to provide an informing means for informing the person.

[0006]

[Function] Learning of traffic congestion information by traveling is performed by the following procedure. That is, a point that can be the head of a traffic jam in advance on the road map of the map information recording means (= traffic jam leading point candidate)
And the candidate factors for the occurrence of traffic congestion are recorded. FIG. 5 shows an example of candidate factors for traffic congestion. If a traffic jam is encountered during traveling, the traffic jam condition detection means is caused to hold the traffic jam encounter point for each lane. After that, if it is determined that the traffic jam condition is left by the output of the traffic jam condition detection means or the driver's instruction, the section length from the traffic jam encounter point to the exit point is determined as the traffic jam section length. At the same time, the map information is checked to see if there is any congestion heading point candidate near the departure point. If there is a relevant point within the specified range from the departure point,
It is a target for recording congestion information. If there is no corresponding point, the departure point is set as the congestion top point, and the cause of the occurrence remains "unknown", and the congestion information is recorded. In addition, the lane in which the traffic jam continues until the end is the lane in which the cause is related.
The lane information related to the factors of occurrence is based on the lane in which the traffic jam continues until the end. When two or more lanes continue, the lane shown in FIG. 5 is adopted. At the same time, as external environmental factors at the time of encounter, the date, the day of the week, and the weather condition are obtained from the outputs of the clock, the calendar, and the weather detection means, respectively.

As congestion information, {congestion start point, congestion section, occurrence factor attached to start point, lane related to occurrence factor, external environmental factor} are recorded in the congestion information recording means. Notification to the driver is performed by the following procedure. That is, the traffic jam information set in advance or acquired by learning the traffic jam information described above is prepared in the traffic jam information recording means. As the traffic jam information, {the traffic jam start point, the traffic jam section, the occurrence factor attached to the start point, the lane to which the occurrence factor is related, and the external environmental factor} are used. As a trigger for reading out the traffic jam information, the detection of the traffic jam around the own vehicle by the traffic jam condition detection means is a trigger. When this trigger occurs, the congestion information recording means retrieves the congestion information closest to the vehicle position in front of the vehicle. Within a predetermined distance from the current position,
When the traffic jam information is retrieved, the external environmental factors included in the traffic jam information are compared with the current situation. As a result of the comparison, when a match of a predetermined level or more is found, the driver is informed that there is a high possibility that the searched traffic jam is occurring. If the congestion information cannot be retrieved within a predetermined distance from the current position, the map information recording means searches the congestion leading point candidate closest to the vehicle position in front of the vehicle and informs the driver. To do. By such means, information about the lane used by the driver to select a lane is recorded and reported.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a block diagram showing a configuration for realizing a function of “learning traffic congestion information by traveling” in an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a “notification to a driver” of the embodiment. "
It is a block diagram which shows the structure which implement | achieves a function. In these figures, 1 is a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the vehicle speed of the own vehicle, 2
Is a TV camera that captures the road conditions around the vehicle, and 3 is a GPS that receives radio waves from satellites and calculates the absolute position of the vehicle.
(Global Positioning System) Receiver, 4
Is an environmental factor collection means that outputs external environmental factor data.
A clock 4a for knowing the date and time when traveling, a calendar 4b for knowing weekdays / holidays of the day of traveling, a wiper switch 4c for detecting clear rain as weather detecting means at that time are included, and 5 is a driver input giving an instruction from the driver. Means, 6 is a driver informing means for informing the driver of congestion experience information, 11 is an absolute position data of the own vehicle output from the GPS receiver 3 and the map information of the map information recording means 21, and compares the own vehicle with respect to the road. The navigation means 12 for detecting the position extracts the degree of congestion of other vehicles around the own vehicle and the white line of the road from the visual information of the TV camera 2 by the image processing means, and considers the own vehicle speed by the vehicle speed sensor 1 for each lane. Congestion status detection means for detecting the presence or absence of the current traffic congestion, 13 is a congestion factor estimation means (the current position of the vehicle output from the navigation means 11 and the congestion status detection means 12) Using the traffic congestion situation that is input, the map information recording unit 21 is searched for the congestion leading point candidate and the congestion factor candidate, and the search result is output from the environmental factor collecting unit 4 and the congestion information recording unit 22 is used for the congestion. The traffic congestion information searching means 14 for searching information is used for the traffic congestion information searching means (the current position of the vehicle output from the navigation means 11 and the traffic congestion status output from the traffic congestion status detecting means 12). , The congestion information recording means 22 is searched for the congestion information, and the search result is outputted to the driver notification means), 21 is the map information in which the congestion leading point candidates and the map information containing the factors of the congestion occurrence are recorded. A recording means, 22 is a congestion information record in which the congestion leading point, the congestion length, the factors causing the congestion, the lanes related to the factors causing the congestion, the date and time of the occurrence, the day of the week, and the weather at the time are recorded as the congestion information. It is a stage.

The contents of the information recorded in the map information recording means 21 and the traffic jam information recording means 22 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows an example of a recording format of congestion leading point candidates and factors included in map information, and an example of a recording format of congestion information. In the figure, 51a and 51b are intersections of main roads and 52 is often used by people. Facility 53, 53, is a traffic jam. FIG. 4 shows that there is one left lane in front of the facility 52 and two lanes in front of it. Also, 6
1a, 61b, and 61c are examples of recording formats of congestion heading point candidates and factors included in map information. Further, 62 is an example of the recording format of the traffic jam information.

Next, the processing procedure of the above embodiment will be described with reference to the processing flow charts shown in FIGS. FIG. 2 is a processing flow chart for explaining a processing procedure for “learning traffic congestion information by traveling”. This processing is performed by the congestion factor estimating means 13 shown in FIG. 1, and the processing starts when the vehicle departs. In addition, the destination is set in advance before departure. As external environmental factor data, the date and time, the day of the week, and the weather at that time are read. The date and time is read from the clock 4a, the day of the week including the determination of weekdays and holidays is read from the calendar 4b, and the rainfall status is read as weather information from the on / off setting of the wiper switch 4c (step [1]). The current vehicle position is read from the navigation means 11. In this embodiment, the positioning result of the absolute position by the GPS receiver 3 is collated with the map information from the map information recording means 21 to obtain the vehicle position on which road the vehicle is traveling (step [2]). . From the present position of the own vehicle and the destination, it is checked whether or not the own vehicle has reached the destination (step [3]). When the destination is reached, the process ends (step [4]). If it has not arrived, the traffic jam status for each lane is read from the traffic jam status detection means 12 shown in FIG. In this embodiment, it is realized by image processing the foreground of the own vehicle by the TV camera 2. Image processing means
For example, the technique of "traveling road recognition method" disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-113678 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-170012.
This is realized by using the technology of "tracking type inter-vehicle distance meter" disclosed in the publication. Extract the white line on the road from the foreground of your vehicle,
Now we will get the lane information. On the other hand, the other vehicle in the foreground of the own vehicle is detected. By dividing the foreground for each lane according to the lane information, the position of another vehicle is determined for each lane. Further, the vehicle speed sensor 1 detects the own vehicle speed.

From the lane information previously obtained and the continuation state where the vehicle speed is equal to or lower than the predetermined value VL-1, the traffic congestion situation of the lane in which the vehicle is present is known. On the other hand, the absolute speed of the other vehicle is obtained from the position of the other vehicle and the speed of the own vehicle, and the traffic jam situation of the lane in which the own vehicle does not exist is similarly detected together with the lane information. In this embodiment, it is realized with a predetermined value VL-1 = 10 km / h (step [5]). The change in the current traffic jam condition is judged by the time-series investigation of the traffic jam condition and the instruction from the driver (step [6]). In step [6], if there is no congestion continuously or if there is a continuous congestion, return to (A) as it is,
Repeat from step [1] again. In step [6],
If there is no congestion until then, the current position of the vehicle is held as the congestion start point.
After that, the procedure returns to (A), and the steps [1] and are repeated again (step [7]). In step [6], if the situation during the congestion up to that time is changed to the situation of eliminating the congestion, the current position of the own vehicle is held as the congestion exit point (step [8]). Calculate the section length of the traffic jam from the stored positions of the traffic jam start point and traffic jam departure point (step

[9]). From the map information, the nearest congestion heading point candidate is searched within a predetermined distance LL-2 from the traffic congestion leaving point. In this embodiment, the predetermined distance LL-2 = 300 m. In the map information, the congestion leading point candidate and the congestion occurrence factor candidate are recorded in advance by the map information recording means. Congestion causes include: {main road intersections, lane reduction points, lane junctions and branch points, toll road toll gates,
Facilities that attract many people} (Step [10] ~
[11]).

If there is a congestion leading point candidate in step [11], the retrieved congestion leading point candidate is set as the congestion leading point to be recorded in the congestion information (step [1
2]). In addition, the congestion occurrence factor candidate associated with the congestion leading point candidate is set as the congestion occurrence factor to be recorded in the congestion information. Then, the process proceeds to step [14] (step [13]).
If there is no congestion leading point candidate in step [11], the congestion leaving point is set as the congestion leading point to be recorded in the congestion information (step [15]). In addition, the cause of traffic congestion recorded in the traffic jam information is “unknown factor”. Then, the process proceeds to step [14] (step [16]). Set the lane to be recorded in the traffic jam information and related to the cause of the occurrence. The lane information related to the factors of occurrence is based on the lane in which the traffic jam continues until the end. When two or more lanes continue, the lane shown in FIG. 5 is adopted (step [1
4]). In the traffic jam information, the traffic jam start point, the traffic jam length, the cause of the traffic jam, the lane in which the traffic jam occurs, the date and time of the occurrence, the day of the week, and the weather are recorded. At this time, the date of occurrence is recorded only in the month, the time is recorded in a time zone in which 24 hours a day is divided into six, and the day of the week is recorded as weekdays and holidays. After that, the process returns to (A), and the process from step [1] is repeated (step [17]).

FIG. 3 is a processing flow chart for explaining the processing procedure for "notifying the driver". This processing is performed by the traffic congestion information search means 14 shown in FIG. This processing starts when the vehicle departs, and the destination is set in advance before the departure. The processing of steps [1] to [5] is the same as in the case of the processing flow shown in FIG. From the traffic jam information, the nearest traffic jam start point is searched within a predetermined distance LL-3 from the current vehicle position. In this embodiment, the search is performed at a predetermined distance LL-3 = 10 km. The traffic jam information includes a traffic jam start point, a traffic jam length, a traffic lane, a lane related to the traffic jam occurrence factor, an occurrence date and time, an occurrence day of the week, and a weather at the time of occurrence. The traffic jam information is recorded in advance by the map information recording means (step [6]-
[7]). If there is a traffic jam leading point in step [7], the traffic jam information at the traffic jam leading point is used as notification information (step [8]). The external environmental factor at the leading point of the traffic jam is compared with the current situation. That is, the recorded data for the date of occurrence and the current month, the recorded data for the time and the current time in time zones of four hours, the recorded day of the week and the weekday and holidays of the current day of the week, and the weather Compare the rainfall situation as (step

[9] to [1
0]). Of all the external environmental factors in step [10],
If the factors of 3/4 or more match, the reliability of the congestion information is set to "high" (step [11]). Also 3/4
If only the factors below are met, the reliability is also set to "low". Then, it progresses to step [12] (step [13]). If there is no congestion start point in step [7], the closest congestion start point candidate is searched from the map information within the predetermined distance L1-4 from the congestion departure point. In this embodiment, the predetermined distance L1-2 = 10 km. The map information used is the step [10] in FIG.
The same as the one used in (Steps [14] to [1]
5]). If there is a congestion leading point candidate in step [15], the retrieved congestion leading point candidate is used as the notification information (step [16]). In addition, the reliability of the notification information is “low”. Then, the process proceeds to step [12] (step [17]). If there is no congestion heading point candidate in step [15], the notification information = “none”. Then, the process proceeds to step [12] (step [18]).

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, the traffic congestion information is provided not only to the traffic congestion point but also to the driver the traffic congestion occurrence factor and the lane information.
The effect of being able to select an appropriate driving lane according to the destination of the vehicle and the planned route can be obtained when the vehicle is approaching or in the traffic jam section. Further, since the traffic jam information including the cause of traffic jam and the lane information is recorded during traveling, the trouble of constructing the traffic jam information from the beginning is reduced. Furthermore, the traffic congestion information is recorded together with the external environmental factors at the time of collection, and the reliability of the traffic congestion information is presented by comparing it with the external environmental factors at that time when notifying the driver. Can make the judgment more easily.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an embodiment diagram of the present invention, in which (a) is a block diagram showing a configuration for realizing a function of “learning traffic congestion information by traveling”, and (b) is “notification to driver. Is a block diagram showing a configuration for realizing a function.

FIG. 2 is a processing flow diagram illustrating a processing procedure for “learning traffic congestion information by traveling” in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a processing flow chart illustrating a processing procedure for “notification to driver” of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the content and format of information recorded in the map information recording means and the traffic jam information recording means according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a congestion leading point candidate and a congestion occurrence factor candidate which are recorded in advance on a road map of a map information recording unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Vehicle speed sensor that detects the vehicle speed of the own vehicle 2 ... TV camera that captures road conditions around the own vehicle 3 ... GPS receiver that receives radio waves from satellites to calculate the absolute position of the own vehicle 4 ... External environmental factor data Environmental factor collecting means 4a ... Clock for knowing the date and time of running 4b ... Calendar for knowing weekdays / holidays of the day of running 4c ... Wiper switch for detecting clear rain as weather detecting means at that time 5 ... Instruction from driver Driver input means 6 for giving a driver driver information means for notifying the driver of the traffic jam experience information 11 ... The own vehicle absolute position data output from the GPS receiver and the map information of the map information recording means are collated to identify the driver to the road. Navigation means for detecting vehicle position 12 ... Image processing means extracts the degree of congestion of other vehicles around the vehicle and white lines on the road from the visual information of the TV camera, and the vehicle speed is detected by the vehicle speed sensor. Congestion status detection means for detecting the presence or absence of current traffic congestion for each lane taking into account the degree of congestion 13 ... Congestion factor estimation means 14 ... Congestion information retrieval means 21 ... Congestion head point candidates and map information accommodating factors of congestion occurrence Recorded map information recording means 22 ... Congestion information recording means for recording congestion start point, congestion length, lane related to factors causing congestion, occurrence date and time, day of occurrence, and weather at the time as congestion information 51a, 51b ... Intersections of main roads 52 ... Facility where many people gather 53 ... Congestion status 61a, 61b, 61c ... Example of recording format of congestion leading point candidates and factors included in map information 62 ... Example of recording format of congestion information

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A map information recording means for recording map information containing a congestion leading point candidate and a candidate for occurrence of congestion, and a congestion leading point and a congestion length as traffic congestion status for each lane around the vehicle. Congestion status detection means, navigation means for detecting the current position of the vehicle, and congestion factor estimation that selects the factors of congestion occurrence near the departure point from the map information recording means using the outputs of the congestion status detection means and navigation means Means, a clock to know the current date and time, a calendar to know the current day of the week, a weather detection means to know the current weather, a navigation means, a congestion factor estimation means, a clock, a calendar and the output results of the weather detection means A traffic information providing device for recording traffic information as information. 2. A traffic congestion information search means for reading traffic congestion information in front of the traffic lane from the traffic congestion information recording means and a traffic congestion information search means based on the output results of the traffic congestion condition detecting means, the clock, the calendar, the weather detecting means and the navigation means. The travel information providing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an informing unit for informing the driver of the output result.