JPH10141963A - Control system for car electrical equipment by car navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain safe running by making various car electrical equipment automatically operate as required, according to running to environment, and instructing a driver to operate them. SOLUTION: Based on a position information (a) from a car navigator 2 a car electrical equipment 30d required to be operated at a running position in driven, or a drivers instructed to drive it. With a tunnel assumed as the position information and a head light 30d as the car electrical equipment, if the light 30d is not turned on while running in the tunnel, turning-on is earned or the light 30d is turned on, or if the light 30d is turned on which not running in the tunnel, turn-off warning is issued or the light 30d is turned off, or, when entering a tunnel, the light 30d is turned on before the tunnel and turned off when coming out of it. With a railroad crossing or a once stop sign assumed as position information and a horn as car electrical equipment, the horn is made to issue a significant warning before the railroad crossing or the once stop sign.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for controlling various automotive electrical components such as headlights (headlights) based on positional information of a car navigation device (hereinafter simply referred to as a car navigation system).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a vehicle travels, it is necessary to appropriately operate on-vehicle electrical components according to the traveling position, environment, and the like. For example, in the dark place such as a tunnel, headlights are generally turned on from the viewpoint of safety. May continue to run. For this reason, various automatic light systems for automatically turning on and off the light have been invented, and all of these systems determine the light and darkness around the light (automobile) with a sensor and appropriately switch the light. Lit
It turns off the light.

[0003] As an improvement plan of this auto light system, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-48241 (publication 1). This technology includes a determination unit such as a solar cell for distinguishing between a state inside the tunnel and a state outside the tunnel, a warning unit such as a buzzer, and a control circuit, and the control circuit detects the inside of the tunnel by the determination unit. Only when the determination means is switched to the out-of-tunnel detection state when the state continues in the range of the set short time or more and the set long time or less, the warning means is driven, and the automobile is driven. When you go out of the tunnel, the warning device is automatically activated to urge the driver to turn off the light. It is said that the warning means does not need to be activated in a situation where a warning is substantially unnecessary, such as when the vehicle becomes out of the indoor parking lot or when the vehicle goes out.

[0004] Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 4-108443 (Publication 2) discloses a technique for controlling blinking of headlights according to travel position information from a car navigation system and time information from a clock. Will accurately determine the sunset and sunrise times of the driving point, and turn on the headlights appropriately.
It is said that it can be turned off.

[0005]

In the above-described auto light system, in a dark place such as a shade of a tree or an overpass, a sensor detects the dark place, and the light is turned on or off regardless of whether it is unnecessary.
It may turn off. In addition, the sensor reacts after entering the tunnel completely and it becomes dark, turning on the headlights. For this reason, in consideration of how the driver looks ahead, the light may be turned on and brightened after a moment of darkness, which may make it difficult to see.

In the technology described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-209, the unnecessary lighting / unlighting can be eliminated by judging the length of time in a dark place. Within the setting range of the inside detection state, there is a possibility of malfunction. In addition to the solar cell, a sensor that detects the difference in sensitivity between natural light and illumination light in the tunnel, and a sensor that detects harmonic components of the illumination light in the tunnel, as well as a solar cell, will be used as a sensor to detect the presence in the tunnel. Because it prevents malfunctions, many sensors are needed.

In the conventional car navigation system, a vehicle position obtained by GPS navigation, autonomous navigation, or the like is superimposed on a map in the car navigation system to indicate a traveling position on the map. The travel position is indicated by coordinates of longitude. That is, basically, position information (map information) of a tunnel, a bridge, and the like on a car navigation map cannot be extracted.

Therefore, the technology described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H08-27205 applies the traveling position information of the car navigation system to the control of turning on and off the headlights. The traveling position information is obtained from the coordinates of latitude and longitude, It is not location information. The sunset and sunrise are determined not by point information (position information) on a map such as a tunnel but by a certain area (a predetermined range on a map) such as a municipal village. For this reason, the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H11-157572 cannot be adopted for lighting control during tunnel traveling.

According to the present invention, under the above-described circumstances, various kinds of automobile electrical components are automatically and appropriately operated in accordance with the driving environment, or the driver is prompted to operate the components so that the vehicle can travel safely. The task is to

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention drives a vehicle electric component which needs to be operated at a traveling point or instructs a driver to drive the vehicle based on position information from a car navigation system. That is to say (claim 1).

The above-mentioned position information includes all of the information shown on the map, such as tunnels, railroad crossings, intersections, stop signs, and the like. On the other hand, headlights (headlights) and horns (speakers) are used for vehicle electrical components. , Window door elevating mechanisms, turn indicators, etc., all of which are preferably operated by their position information.

[0012] As a specific embodiment of the present invention, for example, when the position information is a tunnel and the vehicle electrical components are headlights, the headlights are not lit even though the vehicle is passing through the tunnel. In such a case, the lighting warning or the lighting of the light is performed (claim 2). If the headlight is turned on while the vehicle is not passing through the tunnel, the warning for turning off the light or turning off the light is issued. When entering the tunnel or when entering a tunnel, the headlight may be turned on just before the tunnel and turned off after passing through the tunnel (claim 4).

When the position information is a level crossing or a temporary stop sign and the vehicle electrical component is a horn, a warning can be issued from the horn just before the level crossing or the temporary stop sign. .

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The concept of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1 in which a car navigation 2 and various electric components 3 are connected to a judging means 1. The car navigation system 2 can send not only conventional longitude / longitude coordinates but also various kinds of position information a on the map, for example, tunnels and road signs shown in Table 1 as signals. The determination means 1 may be separately provided with an electronic unit (ECU) for control of the present invention, or may be shared with an existing ECU such as the car navigation system 2.

The electrical component 3 may be any component that can be controlled by the position information a.
Horns (loudspeakers), window door lifting / lowering mechanisms, running direction indicators, etc. At this time, the bidirectional signal is exchanged between the judging means 1 and each electric component 3, and when the driver operates each electric component 3 by his / her own judgment, the command from the judging means 1 is Not be done. The control content of the electrical component 3 based on the position information a is, for example, as shown in Table 1.
At this time, information such as ATIS and VICS can be added to the position information a.

[0016]

[Table 1]

2 and 3 show a more specific example of FIG. 1 and show a control block of a headlight 30d. FIG. 1 shows the position information a of the car navigation 2 and the O of the light switch 30a.
A determination means 1 for making a determination by combining N and OFF information is provided. When passing through a dark place such as a tunnel, the position information a of the tunnel is output at the entrance of the tunnel or the like, and the light switch 30a is turned off. In the case of, the warning is given to the driver by turning on the warning lamp 30b or generating a warning sound by the signal a. When the light switch 30d is turned on at the exit of a tunnel or the like, the warning signal 30b is also output by the exit signal a.
Lights or generates a warning sound to warn the driver.
The warning timing can be freely set by the ECU which is the determination means 1.

FIG. 2 shows the operation of automatically turning on and off the light 30d. When a signal a is input at the entrance of the tunnel when passing through a tunnel or the like, the light switch 30a is turned on.
Automatically turns on the light relay 30b when is OFF
The lights are turned on and the lights 30d and various lights are turned on. Also, at the exit of the tunnel, a light switch 30
If a is ON, the exit signal a
The light relay 30c is automatically turned off to turn off the light 30d and the illumination. At this time,
When entering a tunnel or the like, instead of just turning on the light at the time of entering the tunnel, the position information a of the tunnel is output to a certain extent, for example, at a position 10 m before the tunnel, and a function to turn on the signal is provided. Keep it. This function is the same for the control of various electrical components 3 by other position information a.

1 and 2, the information of the solar radiation sensor 4 is further incorporated into the discriminating means 1 so that the light 30d
During the night when the system needs to be operated, the operation of the system is stopped, and a function to keep the light 30d lit can be incorporated. These functions can be incorporated in the ECU of the car navigation system 2.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, the operation of the electric components is automatically performed based on the position information of the car navigation system or the driver is prompted to perform the operation. Operation can be performed accurately, and safe traveling can be secured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual block diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Judgment means (ECU) 2 Car navigation device (car navigation) 3 Electrical equipment 4 Sunlight sensor 30a Headlight switch 30b Warning means (horn) 30c Light relay 30d Light a Position information

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A method for driving, or instructing a driver to drive, a vehicle electrical component which needs to be operated at a required traveling point, based on position information a from a car navigation device. Control system for automotive electrical components in car navigation system 2. If the position information a is a tunnel and the vehicle electrical component 3 is a headlight 30d and the headlight 30d is not lit even though the vehicle is passing through the tunnel, The control system for electric components in a car navigation system according to claim 1, wherein a lighting warning or lighting of a light (30d) is performed. 3. When the position information a is a tunnel, and the vehicle electrical component 3 is a headlight 30d, and the vehicle is not passing through the tunnel, and the headlight 30d is on, a warning for turning off the light is issued. 3. The control system according to claim 1, wherein the light 30d is turned off. 4. When the position information a is a tunnel, and the vehicle electrical component 3 is a headlight, and when entering the tunnel, the headlight 30d is turned on just before the tunnel and turned off after passing through the tunnel. A control system for electric components of a vehicle by the car navigation device according to claim 1. 5. The position information a is a level crossing or a temporary stop sign, and the vehicle electrical component 3 is a horn 30b, and a warning is issued from the horn 30b before the level crossing or the temporary stop sign. An automobile electrical component control system using the car navigation device according to claim 1.