FR2973503A1 - NAVIGATION SYSTEM AND METHOD OF MANAGING THE SAME - Google Patents

Abstract

Navigation system (10) for a vehicle comprising a card module (1) with a topographic map, a transmission facility (3) and a path determination facility (6). The path determination facility (6) is connected to the card module (1) and to the transmission facility (3). A calculation module (2) connected to the card module (1) determines the sun height corresponding to a position on the card, and the path determination apparatus (6) determines the path between a starting point and a point. destination by taking into account the height of the sun and provides this route to a user by a transmission facility (3).

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a navigation system for a vehicle comprising a map module with a topographic map, a transmission installation and a path determination installation, the path determination installation. being connected to the card module and the transmission facility. STATE OF THE ART According to the document US 2006/0175859 A1, there is known a device for automatically attenuating the incidence of the sun on the windshield; this device comprises a control device which actuates an installation equipping the windshield and the obscuring. The control unit is connected to a navigation system which determines the position and direction of the vehicle. With the help of the position one determines the height of the sun (position of the sun). The control unit is designed to control the darkening system in the area of the windshield to darken the sun that appears and fall on the driver's eyes, so as to avoid glare.

It is also known from US 2007/0112475 A1, a device that effectively utilizes the energy resources of the vehicle. This is done by collecting information about the vehicle environment, operating information and driving instructions as well as optional vehicle parameters. To efficiently utilize the energy resources, a journey to the destination is proposed from the position of the vehicle to the destination; this trip takes into account the energy to be supplied to reach the destination. The energy to be supplied is determined according to the meteorological conditions, such as the wind speed and a possible energy supply related to regenerative braking (dynamic braking). Also known vehicles such as http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wor1d-Solar-Chalange, which have a supply of energy provided by solar modules equipping the vehicle.

These vehicles participate for example in the global solar race for

2 reach a destination from a starting point with solar energy generated by solar modules. OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims to develop an improved navigation system and a method of managing such a navigation system. DESCRIPTION AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION For this purpose, the subject of the invention is a navigation system of the type defined above, characterized by. a calculation module connected to the card module and designed to determine a sun height corresponding to a position on the card, the path determination installation being designed to determine a path between a starting point and a destination point; taking into account the height of the sun and providing that route to a user through a broadcast facility. The invention also relates to a method for determining a journey to a destination for a motor vehicle comprising the following steps: - determining the height of the sun at a possible position on a map, and - determining a guide path to the destination on the map taking into account the height of the sun on the guidance path to the destination.

Finally, the subject of the invention is a computer program implementing such a method. Thus, the navigation system according to the invention provides the user with a path leading to the destination that prevents the vehicle is cut off from the sun for example by buildings or by a forest. This has the advantage that on demand, a driver cabriolet, preferably with a vehicle whose roof is open, will be able to circulate under the sun and secondly vehicles equipped with solar modules can circulate with a greater contribution energy.

According to another development of the invention, in determining the path to the destination, the alignment of the vehicle with respect to the position of the sun is taken into account. In this way, it will avoid for example to dazzle the driver or optimize the energy supply by a more advantageous alignment of the solar modules equipping the vehicle with respect to the position of the sun. According to another development of the invention, the path determination installation is connected to a module giving the state of the energy. The energy status module determines the energy consumption of the vehicle to travel the available path provided by the path determination facility and at the same time the energy input from the solar module of the vehicle for at least one path provided by the path determination facility. The path determination facility 15 is designed to select the path whose energy implementation, i.e., the energy consumption of the vehicle to travel the path and the energy input to the path. path, is generally the lowest. This makes it possible to have a path that requires only a very small amount of energy. According to another development of the invention, the calculation module determines the shadow projected on the vehicle and / or the solar module of the vehicle by means of a topography recorded in the map module card for each position of the vehicle. possible map and for the position of the sun corresponding to the position on the map. According to another development of the invention, a transmission and / or reception facility is coupled to the path determination facility. The transmitting and / or receiving facility receives weather forecast information for the intended route and the energy module is connected to the receiving facility to account for the weather forecasts thus received to determine the power consumption. energy on the way to the destination. This makes it possible to determine more precisely the coverage of the vehicle or solar modules of the vehicle, that is to say the possible energy input by the solar modules to have a more ecological path to the destination.

According to another development of the invention, the path determination installation based on the evolution of the position of the sun at the location where the vehicle is stopped determines the direction to be taken by the vehicle at its location. parking. This makes it possible to maximize the energy input of the stopped vehicle on its parking space by the solar modules. According to another development, the invention relates to a method for managing a navigation system in the form of a computer program with program code executed by a computer and / or recorded on a machine-readable medium. The use of machine-readable media such as flash memories, RAMs, ROMs and / or CD / DVD memories makes it possible to execute and store in an economical and simple manner the navigation and / or the method of managing such a navigation system. Drawings The present invention will be described below in more detail using a navigation system and its management method according to the invention, shown schematically in the accompanying drawings in which: - Figure 1 is a representation very schematic of a navigation system, - figure 2 shows the position of the sun on a square in Stuttgart, - figure 3 shows a diagram with several diurnal curves at a parking place, - figure 4 is a symbolic representation of a topographic map with a diurnal curve. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 is a very schematic representation of a navigation system 10. The navigation system 10 comprises a path determination installation 6, a card module 1, a power consumption module energy 7, a position determination installation 12, a calculation module 2 and a transmission and / or reception installation 3. The path determination installation 6 is connected to the card module 1, to the consumption module 7, the calculation module 2, the transmission and / or reception installation 8 and the input and output installation 3. The energy consumption 7 is connected to at least one sensor 11, the card module 1 and the calculation module 2. The calculation module 2 is also connected to the card module 1. The position determination system 12 is designed to determine the positio n of the navigation system 10 using the GPS signals received. The position thus determined can be used to determine the position of the vehicle on a topographic map recorded in the map module 1. The topographic map contains a lot of information, such as for example the nature of the roads, the climbs / descents of the roads, the building sites. as well as information on the height of constructions and / or other information concerning the use of surfaces, such as for example fields, forests or industrial areas. The transmission and / or reception facility is designed to establish a data link with another transmission and / or reception facility external to the vehicle to collect information concerning weather forecasts, traffic flows, traffic jams or closed roads. The input and / or transmission installation 3 provides a user with the position of the vehicle on the map. The input and / or output installation 3 can also be used to activate and display a guidance to a destination between a start point A and a destination point B. The path determination facility 6 is designed to determine the guiding a starting point A to the destination point B using the topographic map of the map module 1.

Figure 2 shows several diurnal curves 105, 106 of the market square in Stuttgart, as a function of time and date for a first fixed location 115. In addition, diurnal curves 105, 106, show position 181 of Sun. The position of the sun corresponds to the position of the sun in the sky, at a given location for a certain date and a certain time. The evolution of the position of the sun 181 during the day at the location 115, corresponds to the diurnal curves 105, 106. A horizon 107 is also represented defined by the profile of different buildings 101, 102, 103, 104. The position of the sun 181 thus has a considerable dispersion between the first diurnal curve 105 taken on December 21st and a second diurnal curve 106 taken on June 21st. Between the first diurnal curve 105 and the second diurnal curve 106, other diurnal curves 107 are shown at a different date. A sun position angle (sun height angle) at the first location 115 is defined by the sun level and the zero horizon 114. The first maximum possible height angle for the sun above the zero horizon 114 on December 21st, is considerably reduced compared to the second angle of height of the sun above the zero horizon 114 on June 21st. As a result, for a fixed location 115, a building 101 located above the first location 115, casts shade on the first location 115 according to the date and time of the day. This projected shadow is avoided either by a change of the first location 115 towards the north, or by a stay at another date and / or another time. However, a tower 104 may also cast shadow on June 21 at the first parking slot 115 in a short time interval which is of the order of 1 hour. FIG. 3 shows a diagram with several diurnal curves 105, 106, relating to a second location 116. Along the axis (x), there is the contour of the horizon 107. Between a first diurnal curve 105 corresponding to December 21 and a second diurnal curve 106 to 21 June, we have diurnal curves corresponding to the annual period. During a day, the sun moves along the diurnal curve 105, 106, between the sunrise 110, 111 and the sunset 112, 113. The height angle of the sun between the sunset 112, 113 and the zero horizon 114, depends on the diurnal curves 105, 106 and thus the location, date and time. This results in a third angle of sun height for the sunset 113 of the second diurnal curve 106 to 21 June will be different from the fourth angle of height of the sun for a second sunset 112 to 21 December. Likewise, the angle of elevation of the sun at survey 110, 111 is

7 in a different way. By changing the location 115, 116, the height angle of the sun can be reduced by, for example, locating 115, 116 at a higher position 115, 116 to be exposed longer to direct sunlight. This is for example possible if the vehicle 161 takes a road higher than the route road to be exposed longer to the sun. FIG. 4 shows a symbolic representation of a vehicle 161 on a topographic map 170 with a third diurnal curve 150. The topographic map has different routes 120, ..., 128. It has also been indicated starting point A and the point destination B for the route that the vehicle 161 must perform. To calculate a path, the path determination facility 6 uses the map topographic information to give several possible paths between the starting point A and the destination point B. The paths can be chosen as the shortest path, as a path the shortest in distance or time. The choice of possible paths may be limited by thresholds for the different possible paths, for example a maximum travel time and / or a maximum path distance. If the vehicle 161 is equipped with solar modules 160 or if the driver wishes to travel on a particularly sunny route, he can determine the guidance to the destination so as to take into account the total energy used to reach his destination. The total energy used consists of the energy consumption related to the movement of the vehicle 161 between the starting point A and the destination point B and the energy supply to the vehicle 161by the solar module 160. times the energy input by the solar module 160 and the energy consumed to reach the destination B, depend on the choice of the path between the starting point A and the destination point B. The energy consumption to travel a path between the starting point A and a destination point B can be determined by means of a cost function on a certain segment of the path. The calculation module 2 is designed to determine the variable height of the sun for all paths provided by the path determination facility 6 and the possible map positions of the vehicle 161 on the paths. For this, beside the starting point A and the destination point B, it is also necessary to know the departure time to calculate the different states of the sun along the possible path. To calculate the time at a possible map position of the vehicle 161 along the path, the cost function designed to determine the time required for the different possible paths can be used using the time required for the different road segments of the path. The height of the sun 180 can be calculated for the diurnal curve 150 from the map position, the data and the determined time. The evolution of the diurnal curve 150 is determined using the date and the map position. This evolution can be recorded as a mathematical function in the calculation module 2. However, it is also possible to determine the diurnal curve 150 by an association on a table between the date and the cartographic position. From the time determined for a certain cartographic position, the calculation module 2 determines the diurnal curve 150 for the state of the sun as a function of the cartographic position. Alternatively, one could also consider asking the height of the sun 180 for map positions to a database stored on a storage medium in the vehicle 161 and / or to call it using the installation of transmission and / or reception 8. The calculation module 2 is designed to determine the break of the solar module 160 of the vehicle 161 or the projection of shadow on the vehicle 161. For this, the sun heights 180 determined for the possible journeys along a certain path. The height of the sun 180 is recorded according to a cartographic position of the possible paths, thus fixing the possible shadow projected by a construction or a forest and its alignment. The level 180 of the sun and the height of the building 141 recorded in the topographic map 170, allow the calculation module 2 to determine the shadow projection of the vehicle 161 according to a map position. The power consumption module 7 is designed to determine the total energy consumption for the possible paths,

9 both the energy consumption to travel the possible paths and also the possible energy input by the solar module 160 on the possible paths. The energy consumption can be determined for example using known methods using a cost function.

For this, the nature of the roadway as well as the travel speed, the type of vehicle 161 and / or an average consumption of the vehicle 161 for each path segment are used, among other things, to determine the energy consumption. that of the vehicle on a journey. The energy supplied by the solar module 160 to the vehicle 161 also depends on the path, also the direction of the vehicle 161 relative to the position of the sun 180, that is to say, the position of the sun as such and shade projected by buildings or the forest. The contribution of energy to the vehicle 161 by the solar module 160 can be determined, for example, by determining, as a function of the direction of the vehicle 161 on a road segment and the time of travel of this segment of road, the position 180 of the sun with the angle of incidence for the respective solar module 160 of the vehicle 161. The energy that the solar module 160 can provide for this map position of the vehicle 161 on the road segment can be determined from the corresponding radiation angle, the maximum possible power of the solar module 160 and the density of the solar radiation which is determined as the position of the sun 180. The radiation density of the sun also depends on the meteorological conditions. Thus, a cloudy sky, fog or snowfall, reduce the radiation that the solar module 160 can receive. The meteorological conditions can be obtained via a data transmission using the transmission and / or reception facility 8 for the energy consumption module 7. In addition, for the energy input, we take into account the shadow projected by the buildings, the forest and / or the horizon. Depending on the position of the sun 180, the shadow projection on the vehicle 161 is determined using the possible map position and the angle of the sun, the profile of the construction and / or the horizon 107.

The determination of the projected shadow results in the reduction of the possible radiation density. The energy input calculated for the various map positions is calculated on the possible paths and this input is integrated to obtain the total energy input for the different paths. By forming a difference between the total energy input for the possible paths and the power consumption for these paths, the total power consumption for the respective paths is obtained. The total energy consumption for the possible paths is provided by the power consumption module 7 of the path determination installation 6. The path determination installation 6 is designed to select the path among the possible paths. whose total energy consumption is the lowest. It is also conceivable, alternatively, to determine not the projection of shadow from the possible height of the buildings 141 and the forests 130, but in that topographical zones 142, for example with a forest 130 or a route of road crossing areas with buildings 141, high density, have a shadow projection coefficient which reduces the possible energy input according to a shadow projection coefficient at the crossing of these areas 130, 141, 142. The shadow projection coefficient may be different depending on the crossed areas 130, 141, 142. The shadow projection coefficient may have, for example, a maximum at the passage of tunnel paths, long, while the passage of inhabited areas, the shadow projection coefficient may be lower than the shadow projection coefficient in the tunnel. This makes it possible to simply determine the energy input by the solar module 160 for the different segments 120, ..., 128. But if the vehicle 161 is not equipped with a solar module 160, the navigation system 10 may use a fictitious solar module to determine the undesired shadow projection by the driver on the vehicle 161. The transmission and / or reception facility 8 provides the calculation module 2 with information concerning the weather forecast. The weather forecast can be used to more accurately determine the shadow projection on the vehicle 161 on

11 different path segments 120, ..., 128. For this, we can apply an additional meteorological coefficient to the weather forecast for shadow projection, to determine the energy consumption of the solar module 160 in the same conditions only with the shadow projection coefficient. The calculation module 2 can furthermore use the meteorological forecasts to determine a necessary consumption of energy by the supply of solar energy into the interior volume of the vehicle 161 and thus determine its cooling. Determining the energy to be implemented can be done in a similar way to the determination of the energy input to the solar module 160. But then it is necessary to use in the calculation a weather forecast and / or the temperature outside the vehicle 161 and taken with the help of a sensor 11, to perform the calculation and determine the energy input to the interior volume of the vehicle to bring this contribution in relation with the ambient temperature of the vehicle 161. Thus, for for example, for cool outside temperatures, such as those encountered for example in winter, it may not be necessary to cool the interior volume despite a higher energy input by solar radiation in the cabin, while cabin cooling may be necessary for higher outdoor temperatures, such as those prevailing in summer. This cooling by an additional energy supply can be further increased by the solar radiation incident through the windows of the vehicle. This allows at the same time to increase the energy input to the solar module 160 for energy consumption to cool the interior volume of the vehicle. The calculation module 2 is designed to take into account the energy consumption to cool the vehicle 161 in the calculation of the total energy consumption for the possible paths. It can also be envisaged that when the vehicle 161 has arrived at the destination B, the path determination installation 6 proposes to the driver to align the vehicle 161 with the possible parking space, according to the level of the sun and according to the calculated route, during the stopping time at the parking place.

This solution has the advantage that during the downtime on the location, the solar module 160 of the vehicle 161, will be able to charge more energy into the vehicle battery. For example, the path determination installation 6 for a substantially southward-facing parking space provides for forward storage in the parking space for the rooftop solar modules 160 and the engine hood, do not project each other from the shadows through the own vehicle 161. If, for example, the parking space is aligned in the direction of the North, the path determination installation 6 proposes to the driver to stop the vehicle by back on the parking location to avoid projecting the shadow of the passenger compartment on the solar module 160 of the engine hood. It can also be envisaged that the navigation system 10 provides an optimum travel time for the journey to the destination. For this, the calculation module 2 provides the path determination installation 6, trips to the destination at different times, with a supply of energy. Since the energy input varies with time, we will have a variation of the total energy used for the different paths. The energy consumption module 7 gives the energy consumption for the possible paths thus determined by the path determination installation 6 which selects the path by the instant of departure from different possible paths and whose energy total consumption is the lowest. The path determination facility 6 provides the driver of the vehicle with a route as well as the optimum starting time for the journey via the transmission facility for guidance to the destination. It is also possible to use the calculation of the position of the sun to select a possible path which, according to the alignment of the vehicle 161, is chosen so that the sun does not dazzle if possible directly the driver when he travels this path while guiding the vehicle on an otherwise sunny destination route. This condition can be taken into account in comparing the alignment of the vehicle 161 and the position of the sun at a glare angle

13 possible driver. To compare the different paths with respect to driver glare, it is possible to integrate the time intervals during which the driver has been dazzled over a certain path so that the different paths have a glare time.

The path determination facility 6 is designed to select paths for which the glare duration is minimal. To evaluate the possible paths with their parameters such as total energy consumption, glare duration, travel time and / or distance traveled, the driver can give priority to one or more parameters and by choosing several parameters, we will select the optimum path vis-à-vis these parameters taking into account the deviation of the various parameters from the possible path. The deviations of a possible path can be summed for the different parameters in order to obtain a total distance; the path determination facility 6 selects the possible path of which the total distance will be minimum. The path selected by the path determination facility 6 is provided to the driver as a destination guidance via the transmitting facility 3.

It is obvious to those skilled in the art that the embodiment of the navigation system 10 is only one example. It is important that the navigation system be designed to determine the path according to the position of the sun.25 NOMENCLATURE 1 2 3 6 7 8 10 12 101, 102, 103, 104 105 106 107 110, 111 112, 113 114 115 116 120, ..., 128 130, 141, 142, 150 160 161 170 180 181 cartographic module calculation module transmission and / or reception installation path determination installation energy consumption module transmission installation and / or reception system navigation position determination system different building profiles first curve diurnal second curve diurnal cartographic position sunrise sunset horizon zero first parking space second parking space road segments crossed areas third diurnal curve module solar vehicle topographic map sun position sun position30

Claims (1)

CLAIMS 1 °) Navigation system (10) for a vehicle (161) comprising a card module (1) with a topographic map, a transmission facility (3) and a path determination facility (6), * the path determination device (6) being connected to the card module (1) and to the transmission facility (3), characterized by - a calculation module (2) connected to the card module (1) and designed for determining the height of the sun (180, 181) corresponding to a position on the map, - the path determination facility (6) being arranged to determine a path between a starting point and a destination point taking into account the the height of the sun (180, 181) and provide this path to a user by a transmitting facility (3). Navigation system (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the path determination installation (6) takes into account the alignment of the vehicle (161) with respect to the height of the sun to determine the path guidance to the destination. Navigation system (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the path determination device (6) is connected to an energy processing module (7) designed to determine the power consumption. vehicle energy (161) and the energy input by a solar module (160) of the vehicle (161) for a path to a destination, determined by the path determination facility (6), * the facility ( 6) being designed to select the path to the destination whose implementation of energy by energy consumption and energy input, is the lowest. 4 °) navigation system (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that 16 the calculation module (7) determines the projection of the shadow on the vehicle (161) and / or on the solar module (160) of the vehicle (161) by means of a topography recorded in the map module card (1) for each possible position on the map and for the height of the sun (180, 181) corresponding to the position on the map. Navigation system (10) according to claim 3 or 4, characterized by a transmission system and / or a reception system (8) coupled to the path determination system (7) and designed to obtain meteorological information on a possible route to a destination, * the energy consumption module (7) being connected to the reception facility (8) and designed to take into account weather forecasts to determine the energy consumption on the journey to the destination. Navigation system (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the path determination system (7) predefines the direction of the vehicle on its parking space by relying on the path obtained from the height of the vehicle. sun (180, 181) at the parking place of the vehicle. A method of determining a target guide variable for a motor vehicle (161) comprising: - providing a guidance path to the destination, characterized by the steps of: - determining the height of the sun (180) , 181) at a possible position on a map, and - determining a guide path to the destination on the map taking into account the height of the sun (180, 181) on the guide path to the destination. Method according to claim 7, characterized in that the alignment of the vehicle (161) with respect to the position of the sun (180, 181) is taken into account in determining the guidance path to the destination. Method according to Claim 7, characterized in that the energy consumption of the vehicle (161) and the energy input by a solar module (160) to the vehicle (161) are determined for at least one path. to the destination and the choice is on the path whose energy used is composed of the energy consumption and the energy input is the lowest. Method according to Claim 7, characterized in that a projection of shadow on the vehicle and / or on the solar module (160) of the vehicle (161) by the sun is determined by means of the recorded topography. in the map module map (1) for each possible position on the map and for the height of the sun (180, 181) corresponding to the position of the map. 11 °) Method according to claim 7, characterized in that the weather forecast information is collected for a possible guide path to a destination, the weather forecasts being taken into account to determine the implementation of energy to be guided to the destination. 12 °) computer program comprising a program code for implementing the method according to one of claims 7 to 11 when the program is executed by a computer and / or the program code is recorded on a machine-readable medium for carrying out the method according to any one of claims 7 to 11 when the program is executed in a computer.