JPS61220100A - Course guidance unit for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a vehicle route guidance device that reliably guides a vehicle to a desired destination.

[Technical Background of the Invention and Problems Therewith] In recent years, various vehicle route guidance devices for guiding a vehicle to a desired destination have been proposed from the viewpoint of improving driving operability or driving safety. An example of such a device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-112199. This disclosed device sets a guidance route in advance and stores it in a storage device, compares the current position with the preset guidance route while driving, and displays a warning when the guidance route is off. It is configured to guide the vehicle to its destination by moving the vehicle.

By the way, if an unexpected situation occurs during route guidance, for example, if you are in a hurry and the set guidance route is congested, or is impassable due to road construction, or if you have to take a detour for some other purpose. If the driver wants to do so, the driver will deviate from the set guidance route and take a detour. In such a case, the above-mentioned device only displays a warning from the point at which you deviate from the set guidance route by a predetermined distance; therefore, if you deviate further from the set guidance route, the following guidance Although route guidance according to the route becomes impossible, it is desirable for the driver to be able to perform route guidance for his/her own vehicle again after making the detour. However, in this case, it is necessary to confirm the current position and reset a new guidance route to the destination, which takes time to restart route guidance.

In addition, even if an attempt is made to reset the guidance route, the driver may not have sufficient knowledge of the detour route, for example, and may not be able to find out where the vehicle is currently in relation to the preset guidance route or in which direction it is traveling. If you get lost because you cannot recognize what you are doing, etc., you will not be able to set the settings. Alternatively, even if the current location can be recognized, there may be an inconvenience in that it is not possible to determine whether the current location is on the preset guidance route, and as a result, there is still the problem that it takes time to restart route guidance. Ta.

[Objective of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a route guidance device for a vehicle that can reliably restart route guidance with a simple operation even if a detour is taken during route guidance. It's about doing.

[Summary of the Invention] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a current position detection means for detecting the current position of a vehicle in a device that guides a vehicle along a preset guidance route based on stored road information. 1, a notification means 5 for notifying the relative position of the own vehicle with respect to the guide route when at least detecting that the vehicle has deviated from the guide route; and at least when the vehicle is traveling back to the guide route. The gist of the present invention is to include an input means 3 which is activated by the driver's operation to output a re-guidance start signal, and a guidance control means 7 which resumes guidance according to the guidance route when the re-guidance start signal is input. do.

[Embodiments of the invention] Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail using the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a route guidance device for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, numeral 31 is an arithmetic unit composed of, for example, a microcomputer. This calculation unit 31 includes, on its input side, a mileage sensor 33 and a direction sensor 35, a map data storage device 39 in which data related to a road map is stored, a setting device 41 for setting a guidance route, and an ON A return switch 4 outputs a re-guidance start signal in order to resume route guidance by setting the state to
7 is connected. On the other hand, a display bag W145 is connected to the output side of the calculation unit 31 via a display storage device 43 that temporarily stores display information signals.

That is, according to such a configuration, the calculation unit 31° stores information in the map data storage device 39 based on the positional information regarding the departure point and destination inputted by the setting device 41 when setting the guidance route. A guidance route is automatically set using map data, and during guidance control, the position of the own vehicle is detected from the detection signals from the mileage sensor 33 and the direction sensor 35, and the detected position is used as the guidance route. While performing comparative monitoring, it is possible to appropriately correct positional errors and provide guidance through the display bag e45.

In addition, if for some reason the vehicle deviates from the guidance route and takes a detour during route guidance, a "route error" message and the vehicle's travel trajectory will be displayed on the display, and after returning to the guidance route, When restarting route guidance according to the set guidance route, upon receiving a re-guidance start signal from the return switch 47, the map data stored in the map data storage device 39 or the current location re-inputted from the setting device 41 is used. Using this data, the current location on the guidance route can be appropriately corrected and route guidance can be restarted.

Note that the calculation unit 31 includes a calculation device 49 that executes the above-described processing, and a processed data storage device 51 that stores various data processed by the calculation device 49.

Next, the operation of the vehicle route guidance system according to this embodiment will be explained using the flowchart of the arithmetic unit 49 shown in FIG.

The flowchart shown in FIG. 3 is a processing flow (steps 120 to 16
0) and a processing flow (steps 200 to 700) for guiding and controlling the vehicle to the destination according to the set route.

First, the processing flow for setting a route to a destination will be explained below using steps 120 to 160 in FIG.

The route setting process includes setting the starting point, which is the current position of the own vehicle, and the destination where guidance will end (step 120), and selecting one of the registered intersections stored in the map data storage device 39. A registered intersection closest to the starting point is searched within a predetermined area determined in the direction from the set starting point to the destination, and this is registered as the starting intersection (step 130), and is stored in the map data storage device 39. Among the registered intersections, the registered intersection closest to the set destination is registered as the destination intersection (step 140
) process. Furthermore, in the route setting work, based on the registered departure intersection and destination intersection, the map data stored in the map data storage device 39 is used to determine the intersection to be passed during guidance control between the own intersections. A guidance route from the starting intersection to the destination intersection is set by registering the following (step 150). L. The host vehicle is guided to the starting intersection and guidance control is started (step 160).

Next, before explaining the guidance control process, in this process, the vehicle is reliably guided to the destination intersection by accurately determining the passage of intersections that exist on the guidance route. The principle of this will be explained with reference to FIG.

The fifth image) shows a road map in which a vehicle goes straight from a first intersection 61 to a second intersection 63 as indicated by an arrow 71 and then turns left at the next third intersection 65 as indicated by an arrow 73. It is something that exists. At the second intersection 63, a test date A67 and a test date B69 are shown with this intersection 63 as the center. Also, at the third intersection 65, this intersection 65
The test date B75 is shown centered on . The radius of inspection date A67 at the second intersection 63 is the radius of the first intersection 6
1 and the second intersection 63 is D, this distance is multiplied by a predetermined coefficient α (αXD),
The radius of test date B69 is the distance multiplied by another predetermined coefficient β. Similarly, the radius of inspection date B at the third intersection 65 is the radius between the second intersection 63 and the third intersection 65.
is obtained by multiplying the distance D' by the predetermined coefficient β.

That is, the size of test date A and test date B changes depending on the distance from the previous intersection. Test date A is used when going straight through an intersection, and test date B is used when turning left or right at an intersection. Then, when the vehicle starts traveling from the first intersection 61 toward the second intersection 63, the distance traveled is accumulated by the distance sensor 33, and the distance between the intersections stored in the map data storage device 139 is calculated. The verification date A67 is calculated from the distance, and it is checked whether the vehicle has entered this verification circle 67 or not. The vehicle enters A67 within this inspection area and crosses the first intersection 61.
When the cumulative distance from the intersection becomes equal to the distance between intersections, it is determined that the second intersection 63 has been passed, and at this time the cumulative distance is reset to zero and the cumulative distance to the next intersection is started. It is something that exists. In addition, if the cumulative distance and the distance between intersections do not match even though the vehicle has entered A67 within this test date, the vehicle will pass through the second intersection 63 when it exits A67 on this test date. It is determined that the That's what I do.

In this way, when the vehicle passes through the second intersection and then turns left at the third intersection 65, it is similarly detected that the vehicle has entered the inspection area B75 at the third intersection 65. At the same time, a reset direction when the vehicle turns left within this test date 875, that is, a reset direction intermediate between the direction of entering and the direction of exiting the intersection when turning left at the intersection 65 is stored in the map data storage device 39. This is compared with a pre-stored reset orientation, and if they match, it is determined that the vehicle has turned left at the intersection 65. That is, in order to confirm that the vehicle has passed through each intersection, which is a singular point of passage on the guidance route, by going straight, turning left, or turning right, the test is determined by the distance between the intersections from the previous intersection and the direction of travel at the intersection. When the vehicle enters this verification circle, it is determined that the vehicle has passed through the intersection.

Further, an area indicated by a chain line 77 surrounding both the first intersection 61 and the second intersection 63 indicates an error zone. For example, as shown in FIG. 5(b), for route guidance from intersection 61 to intersection 63, a radius of 1.1
The distance is 0.5D from the area outside the two circles of D and the guidance route.
This area is determined as the above area (shaded area in the figure).

Note that the coefficient β that determines the size of the radius on test date B is determined by the maximum error ratio between the direction sensor and the mileage sensor, and is β - (current position on the map - destination on the map) / (total distance to the destination). Therefore, this coefficient β multiplied by the distance between intersections corresponds to the maximum deviation width when the vehicle reaches its destination. In addition, the coefficient α that determines the size of the radius of test date A is this maximum,
It is about 1/3 (α-β/3) of the large error ratio β,
It is of a reasonable size to determine that the vehicle went straight through the intersection.

Next, the guidance control process performed based on the set guidance route will be explained based on the above-described principle of passing judgment at the intersection.

In step 160, when the starting intersection is reached and the start switch is operated to start guidance control, the coordinates (XS, YS) of this starting intersection are plotted in the buffer memory, and the software of the arithmetic unit 49 plots the coordinates (XS, YS) of the starting intersection. The coordinates Xs, Ys of the departure intersection are set as the initial values Xo, Yo for the calculations of the calculation processing unit (step 200).

In this way, once the coordinates of the starting intersection are set,
Proceeding to the next step 205, the processing from step 210 onwards is started, and the arithmetic unit 49 is interrupted by a distance signal generated from the mileage sensor 33 every fixed distance ΔD, and the processing unit 49 starts the interrupt processing shown in step 1000. conduct.

The interrupt processing shown in step 1000 calculates the cumulative distance by integrating the distance signals from the mileage sensor 33,
The current position of the vehicle is calculated, and the coordinates in the X direction and the Y
The direction coordinates are calculated one after another, and the calculated coordinate positions are supplied to a buffer memory and plotted.

The accumulation of the traveling distance and the calculation of the current position coordinates shown in step 1000 are performed by an interrupt operation based on a distance signal generated every fixed distance ΔD from the traveling distance sensor 33 even during the vehicle guidance control operation shown after step 210. It is something that is always done. And step 2
If this interrupt process occurs at a step in the middle of 10 or less vehicle guidance control operations, the vehicle guidance control is temporarily interrupted at that step, and after executing this interrupt process step 1000, the vehicle The guidance control operation is controlled to return to the original processing step.

In this way, the cumulative travel distance and the calculation of the coordinates of the vehicle's current position are performed by interrupt processing, and the vehicle guidance control operation first proceeds to step 210, with the starting intersection that it is currently attempting to pass through being the reference point. The number of the next intersection on the guidance route is read out, and the section distance 01 to the next intersection from the map data storage device 39, the position coordinates of the next intersection Read (steps 210 and 220).

Next, calculate the reset direction at the next intersection, that is, the reset direction between the entering direction and the exit direction, the above-mentioned test dates A and B, and the error zone (step 230), and store the map and travel trajectory in the display storage device 43. Via display device 4
5 (step 240). If the next intersection is the destination intersection, a comment such as "Next is the destination" is displayed on the display device 45 (steps 250 and 260).
).

If the next intersection is not the target intersection, it is checked whether the intersection is one to go straight through or one to turn at instead of going straight (step 270).

First, the case where the vehicle goes straight through the next intersection will be explained. In this case, flag FLG is set to 0 (step 280). This flag FLG is used in the next step 290
, 300.310, when a vehicle enters the inspection area A, it is set to "1" as in step 310 to indicate this. Therefore,
In step 280, first, this flag FLG is set to "
It is set to 0. Then, in the next step 290, it is checked whether the vehicle is within the inspection range A,
If the vehicle is within inspection date A, subtract the cumulative distance from the intersection it passed before from the distance between intersections, and check whether the difference is O (step 300).
. The fact that the difference between the two becomes 0 indicates that the cumulative travel distance from the previous intersection is equal to the distance between intersections, and the vehicle has reached the next intersection.

Now, if the difference between the two is not O, that is, the vehicle has not yet reached the next intersection, the process proceeds to step 310, where the flag FLG is set to "1", and step 29
Return to 0. That is, here, the flag FLG is "1".
'' means that the vehicle is within the inspection range A. Step 2
Returning to step 90, it is checked again whether the vehicle is within verification area A. If the vehicle is still within verification area A, the distance between intersections and the cumulative distance are compared, and the process continues in step 290 until both distances become equal. The processes from 310 to 310 are repeated.

If the distance between the intersections and the cumulative travel distance are equal, it means that the intersection has been passed, so the process proceeds from step 300 to step 320, and the coordinates Xn, Yn of the intersection passed are plotted in the buffer memory. , the initial value Xo of the calculation of the calculation device 49.

Set Yo to the coordinates Xn, Yn of the intersection (step 320), and set the cumulative distance to 0 (step 330). Thereafter, the next intersection is replaced as the intersection to pass through, the guidance intersection is advanced by one (step 340), and the process returns to step 210.

Further, as a result of checking whether the vehicle has entered the verification circle A in step 290, if the vehicle is not within the verification circle, the process proceeds to step 350, and the flag FLG is "0" or "1". As mentioned above, when the flag FLG is 1, it means that the vehicle has once entered the verification circle A, so the process proceeds to step 360 and determines whether or not the vehicle is within the verification circle. To check. If the vehicle is within the inspection circle, the vehicle exits from inspection circle B in step 370, and if the vehicle exits inspection circle B, the guidance intersection is advanced by one (step 370). 340), returning to step 210. Further, in step 350, the flag FLG is set to “
0'', that is, the vehicle has not yet entered the inspection area A, and if there is no vehicle within the inspection circle in step 360 (in this case, after the vehicle has entered the inspection area A) However, in step 380, it is checked whether the vehicle is within the error zone. If the vehicle is within the error zone, the process advances to step 390 to perform processing in a route error processing subroutine to be described later. Also, if the vehicle is not within the error zone, check whether the rcLEARJ key is rONJ or not. If it is "ON", it means that there is some distance and vehicle guidance control cannot be executed. Return to step 100 and start over from the beginning (step 400). In addition, the rCLEARJ key (not shown) provided in the setting device @41 is set to "ON".
”, the process returns to step 280 and repeats the above operation.

Next, a case will be described in which the result of the check in step 270 is that the vehicle does not proceed straight, that is, the vehicle turns left or right at the next intersection. In this case, step 27
The process proceeds from step 0 to step 500, where it is checked whether the vehicle has entered the verification inner circle. If the vehicle is entering the verification circle, the shape of the next intersection is displayed on the display device 45, and the distance to the next intersection is 100 m.
Check whether it is less than + (step 510
．． 520). If the distance to the next intersection is not less than 100 i, the distance is displayed every 100 m by displaying the approach to the next intersection (step 530). If the distance to the intersection is less than 100 m, the arrow indicating the direction of travel is blinked (step 540), and the direction data is read (step 550). Then, it is checked whether the read heading of the vehicle is a reset heading midway between the entering heading and the exiting heading read from the map data storage device 39 (step 560). When the reset direction is detected, it is determined that the vehicle has passed the intersection, the coordinates (Xn, Yn) of the intersection are plotted in the buffer 7 memory, and the initial value coordinates Xo, As Yo, the coordinates xn of the intersection to be passed through.

Yn is set and the cumulative distance is reset to O (steps 570 and 580). Then, the vehicle moves forward one guidance intersection (step 340), returns to step 210, and repeats the same operation. Said step 56
As a result of checking the reset orientation at step 0, if the reset orientation still does not match, the process advances to step 590 to check whether the vehicle is within verification date B, and if the vehicle is within verification date B. This loop is repeated until the reset direction is reached, and when the reset direction is detected, the process proceeds to step 570 to perform intersection passing processing.

However, if the result of the check in step 590 is that the vehicle deviates from within inspection date B, it is considered that the vehicle has deviated from the guidance route, so step 390
The process then proceeds to a route error processing subroutine to be described later. Further, as a result of the check in step 500, if the vehicle is not within the inspection date B, it is checked whether the vehicle is within the error zone (step 600), and if it is not within the error zone, the setting device 41 is After confirming that there is no operation of the rCLEARJ key (not shown), the process returns to step 500 and the vehicle is checked on inspection date B.
Wait for the user to come inside (steps 600, 610).

However, as a result of the check in step 600,
If the vehicle is within the error zone, the process advances to step 390 to perform processing in the route error processing subroutine.

Next, the processing of the route error processing subroutine (step 390), which is the main part of the present invention, will be explained in detail using FIGS. 4, 6, and 7. 4 is a flowchart showing the route error processing subroutine in detail, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a road map for explaining the process of FIG. 4, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the process of FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the display status of the display device 45 at the time.

6), the vehicle arrives at the intersection 81 along the guidance route (thick line route passing through reference numbers 81 to 85 in the figure) set in the processing of steps 120 to 160, and
It is assumed that the arithmetic unit 49 has completed the process of step 340, that is, the process of replacing the intersection 81 with a passing intersection. Furthermore, FIG. 6 (■) shows a state in which the vehicle subsequently deviates from the guidance route for some reason and approaches the error zone 91, and the arithmetic unit 49 determines that the vehicle is within the error zone 91 in the process of step 380, that is, the route. It is assumed that an error has occurred.

In response to such a route error occurrence state, the arithmetic unit 49 performs the following process as route error processing.

First, the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 can be roughly divided into a processing flow until the vehicle returns to the guidance route after a route error occurs (steps 700 to 740), and a processing flow until route guidance is resumed after returning to the guidance route (steps 740). 760
840) to 840).

Now, when the route error occurs, a route map is displayed on the display device 45 (step 700), and a chime sound is emitted from the speaker attached to the display device 45 to warn that a route error has occurred (step 710).・),
Next, the display device 45 displays a route error such as "You are far from the guidance route" as shown in ) in FIG. 7 (step 720). Furthermore, the return switch 4
The traveling trajectory of the vehicle continues to be displayed on the display device 45 as shown in FIG. 7(a) until an interruption is made by the re-guidance start signal from Step 7 (Steps 730 to 740).
. At this time, the driver deviates from the guidance route and takes a detour for some purpose, but after achieving this purpose, the driver returns to the guidance route and resumes route guidance. That is, when the driver determines from the guidance route on the display device 45 and the travel trajectory of the vehicle that the vehicle has returned to the guidance route (intersection 85 in FIG. 7(b)), the driver activates the return switch 4.
7 is turned on and a reread Nl1jfl start signal is output to interrupt the arithmetic unit 49 (step 730).

This interrupt causes the arithmetic unit 49 to control the mileage sensor 3.
3 and the direction sensor 35, the current position of the own vehicle is detected, and there is any registered intersection on the guidance route stored in the map data storage device 39 within a predetermined distance from the current position. It is sequentially checked to see if it is possible (steps 760 to 800). That is, first, the registered intersection on the guidance route immediately before the route error occurred is set as ■intersection (step 760), and then! It is checked whether the intersection is the final intersection on the guidance route (step 770). If the result of this check is that the intersection is not the final intersection, check whether the I intersection is within a predetermined distance from the current position of the vehicle, for example, whether the distance on the x coordinate is within 200 m and the distance on the y coordinate is within 200 m. It is checked whether or not (steps 780 to 790). As a result of this check, ■ If the intersection is within the predetermined distance range, proceed to step 810 and perform the processing described later; if it is not within the predetermined distance range, proceed to step 800; Reset the next registered intersection,
The process returns to step 770. Also step 770
If the I intersection is the final intersection in step 820, the process will be described later. In other words, the series of processes from steps 760 to 800 sequentially checks whether there is a registered intersection on the guidance route from the registered intersection immediately before the occurrence of the route error to the final intersection within the predetermined distance from the current position. Then, if a registered intersection exists, the process proceeds to step 810, and if there is no registered intersection, the process proceeds to step 820.

If there is a registered intersection within a predetermined distance from the current position in the processing of steps 760 to 800, the intersection is replaced with the intersection to be passed through as an intersection for restarting route guidance (step 810), and If there is no registered intersection within the distance, the display device 45 displays a message prompting the driver to input the current location as shown in FIG. If there is one (step 830), the current location is replaced with the intersection to be passed through as the point at which route guidance is restarted (step 840), and the route error processing is ended. Then, the process returns to step 210 and route guidance is resumed.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, when the vehicle deviates from a preset guidance route during vehicle guidance, the notification means 5 notifies the relative position of the own vehicle with respect to the guidance route. Then, when the driver returns to the guidance route and is traveling again, the route guidance is restarted by outputting a re-guidance start signal from the input means 3, and furthermore, the input means 3
Since the route guidance will be restarted from the current location entered by the driver, even if the vehicle deviates from the guidance route and takes a detour and wishes to have the vehicle route guided again, the route guidance will be restarted as before. To reliably restart route guidance with a simple operation, without problems such as not being able to set a new guidance route or requiring operational effort to newly reset a guidance route, and thereby to reliably guide a vehicle to a desired destination.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a complaint correspondence diagram, Fig. 2 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle route guidance device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a processing flowchart of the vehicle route guidance, and Fig. 4 is the same as that of Fig. 3. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a route error processing subroutine which is a part of the processing flowchart, and FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the processing principle of a part of the guidance control processing in FIG.
This figure shows an example of a road map for explaining the process shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 7 shows the display status of the display device during the process shown in FIG. 4. 1... Current position detection means 3... Input means 5... Notification means 7... Guidance control means Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 5 II (Q) Fig. 5 (b) Fig. 6 (Q ') Figure 7 (0) Figure 7 (b) Figure 7 (C')

Claims (1)

[Claims] A device for guiding a vehicle along a preset guidance route based on stored road information, comprising: current position detection means for detecting the current position of the vehicle; a notification means for notifying the relative position of the own vehicle with respect to the guidance route when the vehicle is detected; and a notification means activated by the driver's operation at least when the vehicle is traveling back to the guidance route to issue a re-guidance start signal. A route guidance device for a vehicle, comprising an input means for outputting an output, and a guidance control means for restarting guidance according to the guidance route when the re-guidance start signal is input.