WO2011024509A1

WO2011024509A1 - Navigation device

Info

Publication number: WO2011024509A1
Application number: PCT/JP2010/056649
Authority: WO
Inventors: 章山崎; 静夫野田
Original assignee: 三洋電機株式会社; 三洋電機コンシューマエレクトロニクス株式会社
Priority date: 2009-08-24
Filing date: 2010-04-14
Publication date: 2011-03-03
Also published as: JP2011043456A

Abstract

In the event that, for example, a road desired to be avoided is included in a guidance route which is presented, then a road fork which can serve as a change point when a route change is intended to be made is capable of being visually grasped by a user along with the guidance route displayed, even if the aforementioned user does not perform predetermined operations such as tracing. There is provided a specific fork extraction processing step wherein a road fork from which it is possible to move in a direction different from that of a guidance route is extracted as a specific fork, the aforementioned road fork being one of the road forks in a guidance route searched for by route search processing. The aforementioned specific fork is displayed on a monitor along with the aforementioned guidance route in such a way that distinctions are made between the specific fork and the other forks, which are nonspecific ones.

Description

Navigation device

The present invention relates to a navigation device that displays a guide route to a specified destination, and in particular, a road branch point that can travel in a direction different from the direction of the guide route among the road branch points in the guide route is visually displayed. The present invention relates to a navigation device that is displayed in an easy-to-understand manner.

Conventionally, navigation devices that search for a route from a desired departure point to a destination by using map data and road data and present a guidance route to a user are known. For example, a car navigation device that is installed in a car and guides the driver to the destination, or a mobile terminal is used to send a route search request to the route search server, receive the result, and guide to the destination Communication-type navigation devices that provide guidance have already been put into practical use.

Recent navigation devices also provide a function of acquiring road traffic information and displaying the traffic congestion status of the road, and the user can know the traffic congestion status of the searched guide route. In a navigation device having such a function, when it is predicted that a traffic jam will occur in the route part ahead of the current position while traveling on the searched guide route, it will take longer than the planned required time, There is also known a configuration in which a new route (a detour route) from a current position to an initial destination is searched and guided to a user.

As described above, when the user knows that there is a traffic jam in the guide route to be traveled, the user may have a desire to use another route different from the guide route. In addition, regardless of the presence or absence of traffic, there may be a desire to drop off the guidance route and drop in at a restaurant or shopping mall. In such a case, it is convenient if the guide route can be changed at a desired point.

Therefore, in these navigation devices, the monitor on which the guidance route is displayed is a touch panel type, and the user is a road starting from a road branch point on the guidance route displayed on the monitor, and There has also been proposed a navigation device having a guide route editing function in which a guide route can be partially changed so as to follow a traced route by tracing (tracing) a road extending in a direction different from the guide route. (For example, see Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-200809)).

However, in the navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 1, the guide route may not always be edited so as to pass through the traced road. This is because even if the traced road is a road that extends from the road junction on the guide route, it cannot be entered by one-way traffic or by traffic restrictions such as being inaccessible depending on the time of day. This is because selection as a guide route may be restricted. In addition, in the navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 1, it becomes clear that the route cannot be changed only after all the trace operations are completed and the guide route editing function is executed. There is a problem that it may have to be repeated.

In order to solve such a problem as much as possible, for example, in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-308311) described below, when a route being traced is not allowed when editing a guide route, Discloses a technique for notifying a user immediately after tracing the road.

That is, the navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 2 includes a display monitor that displays a road map, a pressed position detection unit that detects a pressed position on the road map displayed on the display monitor, and a road displayed on the display monitor. Storage means for storing the link information and node information, a corresponding link extracting means for extracting a corresponding link corresponding to the pressed position, an adjacent link extracting means for extracting an adjacent link adjacent to the corresponding link, and traffic restrictions on the adjacent link Based on the information, the entry determination means for determining whether or not the vehicle can enter the adjacent link from the corresponding link, and if the entry determination means cannot enter the adjacent link from the corresponding link, the traffic restriction information of the adjacent link is indicated by characters or symbols. Or it is comprised from the traffic regulation information output means output with an audio | voice.

Therefore, when you specify a route you want to pass by tracing a section that the user cannot pass with your finger, a traffic restriction mark, which is a road sign that is closed, is displayed on the display monitor, which is why you cannot specify a route. The restriction information is displayed as a balloon from the traffic restriction mark. In addition, the reason that the route cannot be specified even if the user traces the road is output from the speaker, and the user again specifies another desired route.

JP 2006-200909 A (paragraphs 0076 to 0120, FIG. 6 and the like) JP 2006-308311 (paragraphs 0020 to 0030, FIG. 3, FIG. 5, FIG. 6, etc.)

However, even in the navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 2, it is impossible to determine whether or not the road can be selected as a change route until the user traces the desired road. For this reason, there is a problem that it may take time and effort to repeat the tracing work until a changeable road junction is found.

As a result of various studies to solve the above problems, the inventor of the present application has decided that a road branch that can travel in a direction different from the direction of the guide route among the road branch points in the guide route searched by the navigation device. If the point is extracted as a specific branch point, and the specific branch point is displayed on the monitor together with the guidance route while distinguishing the specific branch point from other non-specific branch points, the above problem can be solved. Thus, the present invention has been completed.

That is, the present invention has an object to solve the above-described problems, and when a road to be avoided is included in the presented guide route, a road branch point that can be a change point when performing a route change, It is an object of the present invention to provide a navigation device that can be visually grasped together with the display of a guide route without the user performing a predetermined operation such as tracing.

In order to solve the above problem, the navigation device of the present application is a navigation device including a control unit that displays a route from a starting point or a current position to a destination on a display unit, and the navigation device stores map data. A map storage unit; and an input unit, wherein the control unit extracts, as a specific branch point, the road branch point that can travel in a direction different from the direction of the guide route among the road branch points on the route. The display mode of the specific branch point is different from the display mode of the non-specific branch point that is the road branch point other than the specific branch point, and the route is displayed on the display unit. To do.

Further, in the navigation device of the present application, when the road that extends in a direction different from the direction of the route starting from the specific branch point displayed on the route is selected via the input unit, The route is partially changed.

Further, the navigation device of the present application is characterized in that the control unit displays the specific branch point and / or the non-specific branch point in a display mode having visual characteristics.

In the navigation device of the present application, the control unit refers to traffic regulation information about a road extending in a direction different from the direction of the route from the road branch point, so that each road branch point is the specific branch point. It is characterized by determining whether or not there is.

Further, the navigation device of the present application is characterized in that the traffic regulation information includes any one or more information of a direction in which traffic is allowed, a time zone in which traffic is allowed, and a class of vehicles in which traffic is allowed.

According to the navigation device of the present application, since the user can easily visually determine a road branch point that can deviate from the route, a route change is scheduled when the route to be avoided is included in the presented route. The user can grasp in advance the road branch point that can be a change point at the time.

According to the navigation device of the present application, when the user executes the guide route editing work, the user can easily visually determine a node (road branch point) that can be selected as a change point and a node that cannot be the change point. The user can smoothly perform the guide route editing work.

According to the navigation device of the present application, the specific branch point and / or the non-specific branch point on the route are displayed in a display mode having a visual feature, so that the user looks at the specific branch point and the non-specific branch point at a glance. It becomes possible to grasp.

According to the navigation device of the present application, for example, it is determined whether or not it is a specific branching point with reference to traffic regulation information such as a trafficable direction, a trafficable time zone, and a vehicle class that can be traversed. A point can be discriminated.

It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the navigation apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a screen figure which shows an example of the monitor on which the guidance route was displayed. It is a screen figure which shows the relationship between the road branch point (node) on a guidance path | route, and the 1 or 2 or more link extended from each node. It is a screen figure which shows an example of the monitor on which the guidance route and the specific branch point on a guidance route were displayed. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of a specific branch point extraction process.

Hereinafter, specific examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples and drawings. However, the embodiment described below is an example of a navigation device that embodies the technical idea of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention only to this navigation device. The present invention includes all other navigation devices, such as a navigation device that does not have a guidance guidance function and only presents candidate routes through a personal computer or a car navigation system that does not have a route editing function, as long as they are included in the scope of the claims. It can be applied to.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the navigation device 1 according to this embodiment includes a control unit 10, a current position detection unit 11, an input unit 12, a display unit 13, a map data storage unit 14 (= map storage unit), and a voice notification unit. 15 and a communication unit 16.

The control unit 10 includes a processor including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown) and a RAM / ROM (Random Access Memory / Read Only Memory) (not shown), and is a navigation device according to a control program recorded in the RAM and ROM. The operation of each part 1 is controlled. Then, as a main operation, a guide route from the current position detected by the current position detection unit 11 or the departure point designated via the input unit 12 to the destination designated via the input unit 12 is converted into map data. A guide route search process is performed for searching by referring to the map data stored in the storage unit 14. The control unit 10 executes guidance guidance processing to the destination based on the searched guidance route. Furthermore, the control unit 10 executes “specific branch point extraction processing” which is a main part of the present invention. Details of the specific branch point extraction processing will be described later in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The current position detection unit 11 includes a GPS receiver that receives radio waves from a plurality of GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites orbiting the earth. The current position detection unit 11 includes a distance sensor, a direction sensor, and the like as a self-contained navigation device.

Note that, since the radio wave received from the GPS satellite includes date and time information, the current position detection unit 11 can also detect the current date and time.

The input unit 12 includes operation switches for the navigation device 1 and various switches for inputting a departure point and a destination.

The display unit 13 plays a role as a man-machine interface for displaying a map image and a guide route image so that the user can visually recognize the image, and is configured to include a monitor such as a liquid crystal display. In the present embodiment, the monitor of the display unit 13 includes a touch sensor and also serves as a part of the input unit 12. For example, selection input is performed when the user touches an icon displayed on the monitor. When the user traces a desired road from the specific branch point displayed on the monitor with his / her finger, the control unit executes a guide route editing process for editing the guide route. For the guide route editing process, a well-known technique as shown in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 can be applied, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the following embodiments, an example in which a monitor provided with a touch sensor is used as the display unit 13 is shown, and an arbitrary selection input is performed when the user touches the monitor. To do.

In the map data storage unit 14, in addition to a plurality of rectangular mesh data divided by predetermined longitude and latitude, node data having nodes as nodes and inflection points of road junctions such as intersections and T-junctions, Map data including link data that links roads connecting the nodes is stored. More specifically, the position of a road branch point (node, inflection point) is a node, and a road connecting each node is a link.

The node data includes the node number, node position coordinates, the number of links connected to the node, the name of the intersection when the node is an intersection, etc. , Guidance guidance data for guiding straight ahead and the like are included. In addition, the link data includes cost information (distance, required travel time) and traffic regulation information (accessible direction, passable time zone, passable vehicle classification) for all links. Further, the link data includes data such as a bridge, a tunnel, a railroad crossing, and a toll gate as a link attribute in addition to the node number, road type, number of lanes, and road width as starting and ending points. Here, the road type is information including types such as highways, toll roads, national roads, and prefectural roads.

The control unit 10 refers to the map data in the map data storage unit 14 to sequentially search for nodes and links from the starting point to the destination, and guides the route that follows the node and the link with the lowest link cost. The guide route search process specified as follows is performed. Then, the user is guided and guided to the destination via the guidance route using the monitor and the voice notification unit 15. As a method for such a guidance route search process, a known method called a label determination method or a Dijkstra method can be used.

Furthermore, the map data storage unit 14 stores facility data such as facility location, facility shape, and facility name, water system data such as coastline, lake, and river shape, administrative boundary data, and background data. These pieces of information are appropriately displayed with icons and characters on the monitor.

The voice notification unit 15 performs various voice notifications in the navigation device 1 such as an operation guide and voice guidance during guidance guidance, and is configured to include a speaker and the like.

The communication unit 16 is composed of a wireless communication receiver or the like, and acquires traffic regulation information such as traffic closure and entry prohibition. This traffic regulation information is, for example, VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) (registered trademark) information, and in the following description, this traffic regulation information is described as being VICS information.

Then, the control unit 10 stores the acquired VICS information such as traffic closure, entry prohibition, and traffic jam information in the RAM or the like in association with the map data stored in the map data storage unit 14. Further, in addition to the VICS information, it is possible to connect to a predetermined server via a predetermined communication network and obtain the latest map data via the communication unit 16. The acquired latest map data is used to update the map data stored in the map data storage unit 14.

Next, the state until the specific branch point is displayed on the guide route display according to the procedure of “specific branch point extraction process” (see FIG. 5), which is the main part of the present invention, is based on FIGS. explain.

FIG. 2 shows a guide route search process for a guide route from the current position (“START” point shown in the lower left in FIG. 2) to a destination designated by the user (“GOAL” point shown in the upper right in FIG. 2). It is a screen figure which shows a mode that the guide route searched and was displayed on the monitor. In the figure, an arrow (→) indicates a one-way road. Although omitted in the figure, various reference information such as facility information is displayed on the monitor in addition to the guide route.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the user presses (touches) the “edit” icon displayed on the upper left of the monitor, the control unit 10 is stored in the map data storage unit 14 as shown in FIG. 3. With reference to the node data and link data, all nodes (N1 to N14) on the guide route from the current location to the destination and all links (L1 to L31) extending from each node are extracted. FIG. 3 is a visual representation of the outline of the processing at that time, and this video is not actually displayed on the monitor.

Then, the control unit 10 extracts a node that can travel in a direction different from the direction of the guide route among all the nodes (N1 to N14) on the guide route as a specific branch point. At this time, the traffic regulation information in the link data, the VICS information stored in the RAM, and the like are referred to.

Here, the direction of the guide route is a link included in the searched guide route. For example, when attention is paid to the node N4, the link L7 and the link L9 are directions of the guide route. When there is a link L8 in a direction different from the directions of the guide routes L7 and L9 among the links L7, L8 and L9 connected to the node 4, the traffic regulation information in the link data and the RAM are stored in the RAM. With reference to the VICS information or the like, if it is possible to enter the link L8 from the node N4, it is determined that the vehicle can travel in a direction different from the direction of the guide route.

Specifically, the node N1 is recognized as a specific branch point because the links N1 and L2 that can be entered extending in a direction different from the direction of the guide route are branched and connected to the node N1. Similarly, an approachable link L8 extending in a direction different from the direction of the guide route is branched and connected to the node N4. The node N5 is connected to branch links L10 and L11 that extend in a direction different from the direction of the guide route. In addition, an approachable link L14 extending in a direction different from the direction of the guide route is branched and connected to the node N6.

Similarly, an approachable link L15 extending in a direction different from the direction of the guide route is branched and connected to the node N7. In addition, an approachable link L22 extending in a direction different from the direction of the guide route is branched and connected to the node N10. In addition, the nodes N11 are connected to branch links L23 and L24 that extend in a direction different from the direction of the guide route. In addition, an approachable link L28 extending in a direction different from the direction of the guide route is connected to the node N13. In addition, an enterable L30 extending in a direction different from the direction of the guide route is connected to the node N14.

These nodes N1, N4, N5, N6, N7, N10, N11, N13, N14 are recognized as specific branch points, and as shown in FIG. = Display mode having visual characteristics). On the other hand, even a node having another link extending from a road branch point in a direction different from the direction of the guide route is based on traffic regulation information stored in advance as link data or VICS information acquired via the communication unit 16. There are also nodes where it is determined that one or more of these other links are in a vehicle closed, no entry, or inaccessible time zone. Such a node is determined as a non-specific branch point that cannot travel in a direction different from the direction of the guide route. In the example shown in FIG. 3, nodes N2, N3, N8, N9, and N12 correspond to non-specific branch points. As shown in FIG. 4, no characteristic display is performed on the nodes N2, N3, N8, N9, and N12. In this way, the user can display specific branch points and non-specific branch points with different display modes, such as displaying the former with a specific mark and hiding the latter with a different mark from the former. A specific branch point can be easily identified.

An example of guide route editing processing will be described with reference to FIG. For example, if the user traces a road L14 extending in a direction different from the direction of the guidance route from the specific branch point N6 characteristically displayed on the monitor with a finger, the guidance route from N6 to L14 to the destination is searched again. Is done. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, it is rewritten and displayed as a new guide route via nodes N15 → N16 → N17 → N18 → N19 → N20 → N21 → N22 (not shown). As described above, since the specific branch point can be grasped in advance, the user's labor for route editing and route change is greatly reduced.

Next, the content of the specific branch point extraction process in the control unit 10 of the navigation device of the present invention will be described in detail using the flowchart of FIG.

The execution of the specific branch point extraction process is in a standby state until the “edit” icon on the monitor shown in the upper left of FIG. 2 is pressed by the user (step S1, NO). When pressing of the “edit” icon is detected (step S1, YES), execution of the specific branch point extraction process is started. First, the first node in the guide route (the node closest to the departure point. For example, in FIG. In the example shown, node N1) is extracted (step S2). The control unit 10 determines whether or not there is another link (links L1 and L2 in the example shown in FIG. 3) with the direction of the guide route connected to the extracted node (step S3, step S4). .

Here, when there is a link extending in a direction different from the direction of the guide route (step S4, YES), the control unit 10 refers to the traffic regulation information and the VICS information of the link data, and one or more of them are referred to. It is determined whether or not the link can enter from the node (step S5). If there is one or more links extending in a different direction from the direction of the guide route that can be entered from the node (step S5, YES), the node is determined to be a specific branch point, for example, the RAM in the control unit 10 (Step S6).

The specific branch point extraction process described above is performed for all of the nodes on the guide route (N1 to N14 in the example shown in FIG. 3) (step S7 NO → step S8 → steps S3 to S6). When the determination for all nodes in the guide route is completed (step S7, YES), for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the guide route and the specific branch point are displayed on the monitor (step S9). The specific branch point extraction process ends.

As is clear from the above description, according to the navigation device of the present embodiment, among the road branch points in the guide route, the road branch points that can travel in a direction different from the direction of the guide route are displayed visually in an easy-to-understand manner. To do. Therefore, even if the user does not perform a predetermined operation such as tracing a road branch point that can be a change point when changing the route, such as when a road to be avoided is included in the presented guide route, the guide route Can be visually grasped together with the display, and the convenience as a navigation device can be improved.

In the above embodiment, the specific branch point is characteristically displayed in a circle, and no mark is displayed at the non-specific branch point, and the specific branch point can be easily changed by changing the display mode. However, the characteristic display mode is not limited to this. For example, a specific branch point blinks, a specific color or shape mark, or a high brightness display A display mode having visual features can be applied. In particular, it is easier to identify specific branch points by applying blinking display, intermittent luminance changes, mark shapes, or dynamically changing display modes.

Moreover, in the said Example, even if there exists another link extended in the direction different from the direction of a guidance route from a road junction, via the traffic regulation information previously stored as link data in the map data storage part, or the communication part 16 When it is determined from the acquired VICS information that the link is in a vehicle closure, entry prohibition, or inaccessible time zone, a non-specific branch point is set. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when the link is a link that is not normally used for the guide route, or when the width of the roadway is extremely narrow by referring to the roadway width included in the link data, You may make it determine.

Further, when there is another link extending from the road branch point in a direction different from the direction of the guide route, it may be determined whether or not the link is inaccessible based on the inaccessible time zone. Specifically, for example, based on the required travel time and the guide route included in the link data, the expected arrival time to reach the node is calculated, and the calculated expected arrival time is compared with the inaccessible time zone. It can be determined whether or not it is impossible to pass.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Navigation apparatus 10 Control part 11 Current position detection part 12 Input part 13 Display part 14 Map data storage part (map storage part)
15 Voice notification unit 16 Communication unit

Claims

In a navigation device having a control unit for displaying a route from a starting point or a current position to a destination on a display unit,
The navigation device includes a map storage unit that stores map data, and an input unit,
The control unit extracts the road branch point that can travel in a direction different from the direction of the guide route from the road branch points on the route as a specific branch point, and displays the specific branch point display mode and the specific point A navigation device, wherein a display mode of a non-specific branch point that is a road branch point other than a branch point is set to a different display mode, and the route is displayed on the display unit.
The control unit partially changes the route when a road extending in a direction different from the direction of the route starting from the specific branch point displayed on the route is selected via the input unit. The navigation device according to claim 1.
The navigation device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit displays the specific branch point and / or the non-specific branch point in a display mode having a visual feature.
The control unit determines whether each road branch point is the specific branch point by referring to traffic regulation information about a road extending from the road branch point in a direction different from the direction of the route. The navigation device according to claim 3.
5. The navigation apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the traffic regulation information includes one or more information of a direction in which traffic is allowed, a time zone in which traffic is allowed, and a class of vehicles in which traffic is allowed.