JP2001059730A - Navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation device for reducing any troublesome operation at the time of selecting any of plural routes obtained by route retrieval. SOLUTION: When route retrieval is instructed, a route retrieval processing part 36 retrieves plural routes corresponding to preliminarily set plural retrieval conditions. When the position of its own vehicle indicates that its own vehicle is traveling on any guided route in a state that any of the plural guided routes is not selected by a user, a route selection processing part 43 selects the guided route including the position of its own vehicle as the guided route for route guidance.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device for displaying map information around a vehicle position and setting a route connecting a departure place and a destination by searching for a route.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an on-vehicle navigation device detects a current position of a vehicle, reads map data near the vehicle from a recording medium such as a DVD or a CD, and displays the map data on a screen. Also, a vehicle position mark indicating the position of the vehicle is displayed at the center of the screen, and map data in the vicinity is scrolled according to the progress of the vehicle around the vehicle position mark, so that the map information around the position of the vehicle is always known. It has become.

[0003] Most of the recent on-vehicle navigation devices are equipped with a route guidance function that enables a driver to travel to a desired destination without making a mistake on a road. According to this route guidance function, a route connecting the departure point to the destination is automatically searched for by a simulation such as a horizontal search (BFS) method or a Dijkstra method using map data, and the searched route is stored as a guidance route. You. During driving, when the guidance route is drawn on the map image in a different color from the other roads and is drawn thicker, or displayed on the screen, or when the vehicle approaches an intersection where the course should be changed, within a certain distance, The driver is guided to the destination by enlarging and displaying the intersection and displaying an arrow indicating the traveling direction.

[0004] In some navigation devices, a plurality of routes are searched simultaneously by one route search, and a desired route can be selected from the plurality of routes by a user's selection instruction. Since multiple guidance routes as a result of selection are displayed simultaneously on the display screen, the user can refer to the information (time, distance, road type indicating general road or highway, etc.) Since the routes can be compared and examined, an optimum route can be selected among them.

[0005]

In a conventional navigation apparatus for selecting one of a plurality of routes obtained by a route search, one of the routes is selected by a user who has viewed the search result. After that, a guiding operation along the route is performed, so that a selection operation by the user is necessarily required. However, just by looking at multiple routes as search results highlighted on the map,
When the traveling route can be determined, the operation of selecting any one of the plurality of routes may be troublesome.

For example, when the above-described route guidance function is used for traveling in a remote place or an unfamiliar land, there is often no knowledge about the road on which the vehicle is traveling. After the route selected by the user is determined, the vehicle travels along the route. However, when traveling on a familiar land, such as around a home, and selecting a route to avoid traffic congestion, there is knowledge about the road to be traveled. When displayed on the map screen, the user can know the route that he / she wants to travel, and can drive his or her vehicle on that route or toward that route. Therefore, in such a case, the user knows the route on which he / she travels without necessarily performing an operation of selecting one from the plurality of searched routes, and this selection operation is troublesome. In some cases.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to reduce a cumbersome operation when selecting one of a plurality of routes obtained by a route search. It is an object of the present invention to provide a navigation device capable of performing the following.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a navigation device according to the present invention includes a vehicle position detecting means, a route searching means, a route selecting means, and a route guiding means, thereby enabling a plurality of searching operations. A plurality of routes are searched in accordance with the conditions, and one of the routes is selected based on the position of the own vehicle during traveling to perform a predetermined guidance operation. The user
By simply driving the vehicle along the route to be selected, any one of the routes obtained by the route search can be selected, so that it is possible to reduce troublesome operations when selecting the route. .

It is desirable that the above-described route selection be performed when only one of the plurality of routes obtained by the route search includes the own vehicle position. The fact that the vehicle travels on one route means that the user wants to travel along that route even if no special selection operation is performed by the user. , By automatically choosing these routes,
Accurate route selection without erroneous judgment becomes possible.

Further, if the vehicle position deviates from a plurality of routes corresponding to the own vehicle position before one route is selected, a search condition set for the plurality of routes corresponding to the own vehicle position is determined. It is desirable to perform the route search again in consideration of the above. When the route search is performed again, the processing can be simplified by limiting the search conditions to be searched to only those corresponding to the own vehicle position.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A navigation device according to an embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(1) Overall Configuration of Navigation Apparatus FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied. The navigation apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes a navigation controller 1 for controlling the whole, a DVD 2 on which various map data necessary for map display, route search, and the like are recorded, and a disk reader 3 for reading the map data recorded on the DVD 2. A remote control (remote control) unit 4 as an operation unit for a driver or a passenger to input various instructions; a GPS receiver 5 and an autonomous navigation sensor 6 for detecting a vehicle position and a vehicle direction; Beacon transceiver 7 and FM multiplex broadcast receiver 8 for receiving road traffic information sent from a traffic information center (VICS center) by various communication methods, and a display device for displaying a map image and a guide route superimposed on the map image 9 and an audio unit 10 that outputs a predetermined voice when performing route guidance.

The above-described disk reading device 3 can load one or a plurality of DVDs 2 and reads map data from any one of the DVDs 2 under the control of the navigation controller 1. Remote control unit 4
Are a search key for giving a route search instruction, a route guidance mode key used for setting a route guidance mode, a destination input key, left / right / up / down cursor keys, a map reduction / enlargement key,
Various operation keys such as a setting key for fixing an item at a cursor position on the display screen are provided, and an infrared signal corresponding to an operation state of the key is transmitted to the navigation controller 1.

The GPS receiver 5 receives radio waves transmitted from a plurality of GPS satellites, performs three-dimensional positioning processing or two-dimensional positioning processing, and calculates the absolute position and direction of the vehicle (the vehicle direction is the current Is calculated based on the own vehicle position and the own vehicle position one sampling time ΔT before), and these are output together with the positioning time. The autonomous navigation sensor 6 includes an angle sensor 12 such as a vibrating gyroscope that detects the vehicle rotation angle as a relative bearing, and a distance sensor 14 that outputs one pulse every predetermined traveling distance. Detect position and orientation.

The beacon transceiver 7 performs bidirectional communication with radio wave beacon transceivers mainly installed on expressways via radio waves, and also mainly uses optical beacon transceivers installed on general roads. The two-way communication is carried out via light between the VICS center and the VI sent from the VICS center.
Receive CS traffic information. The FM multiplex broadcast receiver 8 is adapted to transmit a VI included in multiplexed data superimposed on general FM broadcast.
Receive CS traffic information. Comparing the above-mentioned radio beacon and optical beacon with FM multiplex broadcasting,
Although there is no fundamental difference in the point that the S traffic information can be received and its contents, the traffic information can be obtained in a wider reception area by FM multiplex broadcasting.

The display device 9 displays map information around the own vehicle together with a vehicle position mark, a departure point mark, a destination mark, etc., based on the image data output from the navigation controller 1, or guides the user on this map. Show directions.

(2) Detailed Contents of Map Data The map data recorded on the DVD 2 is in units of figures separated by a predetermined longitude and latitude, and the map data of each figure specifies a figure number. Thus, it can be specified and read out. In addition, the map data for each map includes a drawing unit including various data necessary for map display, a road unit including data necessary for various processes such as map matching, route search, and route guidance, and an intersection. An intersection unit consisting of detailed data of the intersection is included. Further, the drawing unit described above includes data of a VICS conversion layer necessary for specifying a corresponding road based on traffic congestion information sent from a VICS center, and a background necessary for displaying a building, a river, or the like. It includes layer data and character layer data necessary for displaying the names of cities, towns and villages, the names of roads, and the like. In the above-described road unit, a line connecting an intersection on a road to another adjacent intersection is called a link, and a point connecting two or more links is called a node.

(3) Details of Navigation Controller
Configuration and Operation Next, a detailed configuration of the navigation controller 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The navigation controller 1 includes a map buffer 16 for displaying a predetermined map on the display device 9 based on the map data read from the DVD 2, a map reading control unit 18, a map drawing unit 20,
The VRAM 22, the reading control unit 24, the image synthesizing unit 26, calculation of the position of the own vehicle, map matching processing, route search processing,
Data storage unit 30, vehicle position / azimuth calculation unit 32, map matching processing unit 34, route search processing unit 36, guide route memory 38, route search memory 40, guide route Drawing unit 4
2. Searched by the mark image generation unit 44, the intersection guidance unit 46, the reception data buffer 50 for displaying the VICS information received by the beacon transceiver 7, etc., the VICS information drawing unit 52, and the route search processing unit 36. A route selection processing unit 43 for selecting one guidance route from a plurality of guidance routes; a remote control control unit 60 for displaying various operation screens for a user and transmitting an operation instruction from the remote control unit 4 to each unit; A cursor position calculator 62;
An operation screen generating unit 64;

The map buffer 16 includes the disk reader 3
For temporarily storing the map data read from the DVD2. When the screen readout position is calculated by the map readout control unit 18, an instruction to read out map data in a predetermined range including the screen printout position is sent from the map readout control unit 18 to the disk reading device 3, and the map readout unit 18 needs to read the map data. Map data is read from the DVD 2 and stored in the map buffer 16. For example, map data corresponding to four sheets including the screen center position is read out and stored in the map buffer 16.

The map drawing section 20 creates a map image required for display based on the drawing units included in the map data of the four figures stored in the map buffer 16. The created map image data is stored in the VRAM 22, and the read control unit 24 reads one screen of map image data. The image synthesizing unit 26 adds the mark image generating unit 44, the intersection guidance unit 46,
Each image data output from each of the operation screen generating units 64 is superimposed to perform image synthesis, and the synthesized image is displayed on the screen of the display device 9.

The data storage unit 30 sequentially stores positioning position (own vehicle position) data output from the GPS receiver 5. Further, the vehicle position / direction calculation unit 32 calculates the absolute position and direction of the vehicle from the relative position and direction of the vehicle output from the autonomous navigation sensor 6. The map matching processing unit 34 uses the GP stored in the data storage unit 30
It is determined whether or not the own vehicle position by the S receiver 5 or the own vehicle position calculated by the vehicle position / azimuth calculation unit 32 exists on the road in the map data. The process of correcting the own vehicle position is performed. As typical methods of map matching, pattern matching and projection are known.

When the user moves the cursor to a specific location on the map by operating the cursor key of the remote control unit 4 by the user and presses the destination input key, the route search processing unit 36 The cursor position calculated by 62 is set as the destination of the route search. The set destination data is stored in the guidance route memory 38.

When the search key of the remote control unit 4 is depressed, the route search processing unit 36 sets the own vehicle position corrected by the map matching processing unit 34 as a departure place, and stores it in the guidance route memory 38. To store,
According to one or a plurality of search conditions such as distance priority and time priority, a route connecting the departure point and the destination with the lowest cost is searched and set as a guidance route. When a plurality of search conditions are set, a route is searched for each search condition, and a plurality of guidance routes are obtained as search results. The cost is a value obtained by multiplying a predetermined constant according to a road width, a road type (a general road or an expressway, etc.), a right turn, a left turn, and the like based on the distance, and the degree of appropriateness as a guidance route. Is a numerical representation of Even if there are two routes having the same distance, the cost differs depending on the search condition. For example, when performing a route search under time-first search conditions, the route search processing unit 36 is included in the VICS information received by the beacon transceiver 7 or the like and stored in the reception data buffer 50. After the cost is corrected based on the traffic congestion information, a route that minimizes the required time from the departure point to the destination is searched. As typical methods of route search, the Dijkstra method and the horizontal search method are known. Data (guidance route data) specifying each of the plurality of guidance routes searched for each search condition in this manner is stored in the guidance route memory 38.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of guidance route data stored in the guidance route memory 38. The guidance route data shown in the figure is composed of corresponding search condition information and a set of nodes NS, N1, N2,..., ND from the starting point to the destination required for specifying the guidance route. .

The route search memory 40 is for storing data of an intersection network list necessary for the route search, and the stored data is read out by the above-described route search processing unit 36 and is subjected to a predetermined route search process. Is performed.

The guidance route drawing unit 42 stores the guidance route memory 3
8 from the guidance route data stored in
Those included in the map area drawn on the RAM 22 are selected, and a guidance route which is superimposed on a map image with a predetermined color and emphasized thickly is drawn. When there are a plurality of searched guidance routes, the guidance routes are drawn, for example, in a color-coded manner so that they can be identified. The mark image generating unit 44 generates a vehicle position mark at the position of the own vehicle after the map matching processing, or generates a cursor mark having a predetermined shape.

The route selection processing unit 43 includes the route search processing unit 3
6, a plurality of guidance routes are searched, and when the plurality of guidance routes are displayed in a superimposed manner on the map image, the cursor is moved to any one of the guidance routes by the operation of the cursor key of the remote control unit 4 by the user. Then, when the setting key is pressed, the guidance route corresponding to the cursor position calculated by the cursor position calculation unit 62 is selected as the guidance route for route guidance.

When the guide route is not selected by the user, the route selection processing unit 43 determines the own vehicle position after the correction by the map matching processing unit 34,
Based on the plurality of guidance route data stored in the guidance route memory 38, it is determined whether there is only one guidance route including the position of the own vehicle, and if there is only one, the guidance route is determined. Select as a guidance route for route guidance.

The intersection guide unit 46 includes a route selection processing unit 43
In the guidance route selected by the vehicle, guidance at the intersection where the vehicle is approaching is provided by a display image and voice, and during actual route guidance, when the vehicle approaches within a predetermined distance from the intersection in front of the guidance route In addition, a guide map of the approaching intersection (enlarged view of the intersection, destination, traveling direction arrow) is displayed on the screen of the display device 9, and the traveling direction is guided by audio through the audio unit 10.

The GPS receiver 5, the autonomous navigation sensor 6, the data storage unit 30, the vehicle position / direction calculation unit 32, and the map matching processing unit 34 serve as the vehicle position detection means, and the route search processing unit 36 serves as the route search means. The route selection processing unit 43
Corresponds to the route selection means, and the guidance route drawing unit 42 and the intersection guidance unit 46 correspond to the route guidance means, respectively.

(4) Operation of Navigation Apparatus The entire navigation apparatus and the navigation controller 1 have the above-described configuration. Next, the operation of the navigation apparatus will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the navigation device when one guidance route is selected from a plurality of guidance routes. In the following description, it is assumed that two search conditions of time priority and distance priority are set in advance.

The route search processing unit 36 operates the cursor key of the remote control unit 4 to move the cursor to a specific location on the map, and then presses the destination input key, and further presses the search key. It is determined whether or not an instruction has been given (step 100).

When a route search is instructed by the user,
Next, the route search processing unit 36 performs a route search for each preset search condition (step 101), and sets a plurality of guidance routes (step 102). The plurality of guide routes that have been set are drawn by the guide route drawing unit 42, and are displayed on the display device 9 so as to overlap the map image (step 103).

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a map image on which a guidance route is displayed. As shown in the figure, a map image including a departure place A and a destination B is displayed, and each of the guidance routes C and D is highlighted in a predetermined color in a bold manner on the map image. The guidance route drawing unit 42 determines the display color of each guidance route based on the search condition information in the guidance route data, and the display color of the guidance route and the search condition correspond one-to-one.
In this way, the display color of the guidance route is determined for each search condition, so that the user can grasp which search condition is used for each guidance route based on the display color. Can be. Alternatively, the content of each search condition information may be displayed on a part of the screen.

Next, the route selection processing section 43 presses the setting key after any one of the guide routes is specified by the user operating the cursor key of the remote control unit 4 in the map image on which the guide route is displayed. To determine whether any guidance route has been selected (step 1).
04). For example, each time the cursor key is pressed, by switching the highlighted guidance route, one of a plurality of guidance routes can be specified, and the desired guidance route is highlighted. By pressing the setting key, the user can select any guidance route.

If the guidance route has not been selected, the route selection processing unit 43 next proceeds to the map matching processing unit 34.
Therefore, the vehicle position after the correction and the guidance route memory 38
Whether there is a guidance route including the own vehicle position based on the respective guidance route data stored in
05) If it exists, it is determined whether or not there is one guidance route (step 106). If there is no guidance route including the own vehicle position, or if there are a plurality of guidance routes, the process returns to step 104, and the process of determining whether a guidance route has been selected is repeated.

If there is only one guidance route including the position of the vehicle, a positive determination is made in steps 105 and 106, and then the route selection processing unit 43
Of the plurality of guidance route data stored in the guidance route memory 38, including only the one corresponding to the guidance route including the own vehicle position, and deleting the other guidance route data to include the own vehicle position. A guidance route is selected as a guidance route for route guidance (step 107).

As described above, when one of the guide routes is selected by the user, the selected guide route is selected for route guidance (step 108), or the selection by the user is performed. However, if there is only one guidance route that includes the own vehicle position, the guidance route is selected for route guidance, and route guidance is performed based on the selected guidance route (step 10).
9). For example, the guidance route drawing unit 42 highlights only the selected guidance route, and the intersection guidance unit 46 performs guidance according to the selected guidance route.

As described above, the navigation apparatus according to the present embodiment has a plurality of guidance routes obtained by the route search, even if the user does not perform an operation of selecting any of the guidance routes. The guide route can be selected by driving the vehicle along one of the guide routes, and the subsequent guidance operation can be performed. Therefore,
In the case where the user travels on a familiar land such as around the home and selects a route to avoid traffic congestion, a plurality of searched routes are displayed in a superimposed manner on the map screen. At this point, this route can be selected simply by driving the vehicle along the desired route, and the troublesome selection operation performed by the user can be eliminated.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, before one guide route is determined and when a plurality of guide routes are selection candidates, particularly when the company position largely deviates from those guide routes, Although not described, in such a case, the route re-search may be performed in consideration of the search conditions of the plurality of guide routes.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the operation procedure of the navigation device when re-searching is performed before one guidance route is determined. In the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, between step 103 and step 104, it is determined whether or not the traveling position of the own vehicle has deviated from one or a plurality of guide routes remaining as selection candidates at that time. Is different.

For example, immediately after a plurality of guidance routes have been searched by the route search process, if the vehicle position deviates from any of the guidance routes, an affirmative determination is made in step 200 described above and step 101 And the route search process for each search condition is performed again. In this case, a route search is performed for all of a plurality of search conditions set in advance, and a plurality of guidance routes corresponding to the respective search conditions are set (step 102).

After two or more guidance routes including the own vehicle position exist and a negative determination is made in step 106, if the own vehicle position deviates from these guidance routes, the above-described step 200 is executed. An affirmative determination is made, and the process returns to step 101 to perform the route search again only for each of the search conditions when searching for the plurality of guidance routes. When the route search is performed again, the search process can be simplified by limiting the search conditions to those corresponding to the own vehicle position.

In the above-described embodiment, time priority and distance priority are listed as search conditions, but various other search conditions can be considered. For example, a general road priority and an expressway priority may be used as search conditions. In the above-described embodiment, the map data is recorded on the DVD2.
For example, the information may be recorded on another disk-type recording medium such as a CD or another recording medium.

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to select any one of the routes obtained by the route search simply by driving the vehicle along the route to be selected. Therefore, it is possible to reduce troublesome operations by the user when selecting a route.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a navigation device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of guidance route data.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure of the navigation device when one guidance route is selected from a plurality of guidance routes.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a map image on which a guidance route is displayed.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the navigation device in a case where a re-search is performed before one guide route is determined.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 navigation controller 2 DVD 4 remote control unit 5 GPS receiver 6 autonomous navigation sensor 9 display device 30 data storage unit 32 vehicle position / direction calculation unit 34 map matching processing unit 36 route search processing unit 38 guidance route memory 42 guidance route drawing unit 43 Route selection processing unit 46 Intersection guidance unit 60 Remote control unit 62 Cursor position calculation unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 2C032 HB02 HB22 HB23 HB24 HC08 HD07 2F029 AA02 AB01 AB05 AB07 AB13 AC09 AC14 AC18 AC19 AC20 AD01 AD07 5H180 AA01 BB02 BB04 BB13 EE02 EE18 FF04 FF25 FF25 FF13 FF25

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle position detecting means for detecting a vehicle position during traveling, a route searching means for searching a plurality of routes according to a plurality of preset search conditions, and a detection by the vehicle position detecting means. Route selection means for selecting one of the plurality of routes obtained by the search processing by the route search means based on the determined vehicle position, and along the route selected by the route selection means And a route guiding means for performing a predetermined guidance operation. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the route selecting unit is configured to include, when one of the plurality of routes obtained by the search processing by the route searching unit includes the own vehicle position, one of the plurality of routes. A navigation device for selecting the route. 3. The route search unit according to claim 1, wherein the route search unit determines the plurality of routes corresponding to the own vehicle position before one of the routes is selected by the route selection unit. A navigation device that performs a route search again in consideration of the search conditions set for the plurality of routes corresponding to the own vehicle position when the vehicle deviates from the vehicle position.