JP2003344073A - Navigation apparatus and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation apparatus or the like which automatically executes a route guide for avoiding a traffic accident when the traffic disturbance is anticipated even when it is not under guidance to a destination set by a user. <P>SOLUTION: The navigation apparatus calculates a traveling route anticipating to receive the traffic failure (S110), and determines whether there is occurring a spot of failure on the anticipated traveling route or not (S120). The apparatus obtains the distance along a road from the present position to the spot of the failure if there is the failure on the anticipated route, and determines whether the distance is a predetermined distance or not (S130). The apparatus calculates a detoured route for avoiding the spot of the failure at the intersection on the anticipated route ahead of the spot of the failure as a destination if the distance is hot longer than the predetermined distance (S140), and executes the route guide based on the detoured route (S190). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device that provides route guidance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An on-vehicle navigation device (so-called car navigation device) is well known as one of navigation devices capable of executing route guidance by a user inputting a destination. In the conventional vehicle-mounted navigation device, a current location based on position information such as GPS or a point arbitrarily set by a user is set as a departure point, an address input by the user or a point arbitrarily specified on a map displayed on a display. As a destination, an arithmetic device calculates a recommended route based on map information such as a CD-ROM, and the route guidance is performed by displaying the calculated recommended route on a display or by voice guidance.

However, when the recommended route is calculated based on only the map information and the route guidance is performed in this way, the traffic conditions such as the actual traffic jam condition and the construction condition are not reflected, and therefore the route to be guided is not always required. It was not always the route that could reach the destination in the shortest time.

Therefore, in recent years, JP-A-62-95423, JP-A-2-129800, and JP-A-8-83.
In-vehicle navigation devices, such as those described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 399, etc., which receive traffic information around the current location and reflect the traffic information in the route guidance to provide route guidance have come to be sold. The traffic information is generally received via FM broadcasting, an optical beacon, a radio wave beacon, a mobile phone, or the like.

[0005]

However, in order to perform route guidance in consideration of traffic information in such a navigation device, it is necessary to set a destination and set a recommended route to the destination. As a prerequisite, if the destination is not set, it is not possible to execute the detour guidance in consideration of traffic information.

[0006] Usually, a driver uses an in-vehicle navigation device when making a destination a destination for the first time or when he / she is not sure about the route. Conversely, if the driver is going to use a place that he or she is used to as a destination or if the driver can be confident in the driving direction, it is common to not use the route guidance function because the operation of setting the destination is bothersome. Is.

[0007] Therefore, when the user is normally accustomed to a place where he or she is used to, or when he / she is confident about the route, route guidance in which the destination is set is not carried out. The driver has to choose whether to take the detour to avoid. At that time, drivers often get lost in choosing whether to go through a traffic jam or take a detour, and to encounter more traffic on the road that they went to avoid traffic or to get lost on the road that they went to avoid traffic. There was also. Further, it is possible to set a destination in the navigation device and guide the route of the detour for the first time when the existence of the traffic jam is known, but the setting operation is troublesome.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and it is expected that a traffic obstacle will be encountered even while route guidance is not being performed, that is, even if the user has not set a destination. Aims to provide a navigation device or the like that automatically executes route guidance to avoid the traffic obstacle.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention In the navigation device according to claim 1, which was made to solve the above problems, when the receiving means receives the traffic obstacle information,
Even if the route guidance to the destination set by the user is not being performed, the guide means determines whether the traffic obstacle is on the expected route of this navigation device, and the traffic obstacle is on the expected route. Is a navigation device that guides a route by calculating a detour route that avoids a traffic obstacle, with an intersection on the expected route ahead of the position where the traffic obstacle occurs as a destination. The predicted route here is, for example, a route that is estimated from the traveling direction and the past traffic locus.

Therefore, for example, when the destination is not set in the navigation device as when going to a place where one is used to, that is, when it is expected that a traffic obstacle will be encountered even if route guidance is not being performed. The route guidance for avoiding the traffic obstacle is executed, and the user can know an appropriate alternative route.

By the way, the guide means may calculate the detour route and provide route guidance whenever the traffic obstacle is on the expected route, but in the first place, the detoured traffic obstacle is expected. Due to the uncertainties of traffic obstruction on the route, the user may not be planning to go through the traffic obstruction point. It is meaningless for the user to perform route guidance that bypasses a point that is not planned to pass. Therefore, detour guidance should be implemented for traffic obstacles that are most likely to be encountered. To that end, it is preferable to target traffic obstacles that occur near the current location, and conversely, exclude traffic obstacles that occur far from the current location.

Therefore, as described in claim 2, the guide means obtains the linear distance between the current position and the occurrence position of the traffic obstacle before determining whether the traffic obstacle is on the expected route, and The determination may be performed only when the distance is less than or equal to a predetermined distance. Needless to say, when the distance is equal to or more than the predetermined distance, the determination is not performed, the bypass route is not calculated, and the route guidance is not executed.

With such a navigation device,
It does not guide detour routes for traffic obstacles that are located farther than a certain distance from the current location, and prevents detour routes that are less important to users, and detours for traffic obstacles that are not encountered. The probability that route guidance will be performed is reduced.

Further, as described in claim 3, the guide means determines whether or not the traffic obstacle is on the expected route, and as a result, when the traffic obstacle is on the expected route, further guidance is provided to the traffic obstacle. Alternatively, the route distance may be calculated by calculating the detour route only when the distance along the predicted route is calculated and the distance is less than or equal to a predetermined distance. Needless to say, when the distance is equal to or more than the predetermined distance, the detour route is not calculated and the route guidance is not executed.

With such a navigation device, the distance from the current position to the point of occurrence of the traffic obstacle can be calculated more accurately, the guidance of the detour which is less important to the user can be prevented, and the traffic obstacle which is not encountered is prevented. The probability that the bypass route guidance will be executed is reduced.

The predetermined distance referred to in claims 2 and 3 may be a fixed value such as 1 km or 4 km. However, the predetermined distance is defined in claim 4. The user may be able to arbitrarily set using the reception means. If it looks like this,
For example, since the moving speed is often slow in the city center, a short distance is set, and in the suburbs, the moving speed is often fast, so that a long distance can be set to execute the bypass route guidance. Therefore, the user can appropriately set the predetermined distance according to the situation of the usage area, etc., and thus it is possible to effectively prevent the guidance of the detour route that is less important to the user.

Further, the predetermined distance may be changed by the guide means according to the present location and used. This is based on, for example, determining which area (for example, the city center and the suburbs) the current location belongs to, selecting the distance of the corresponding area from the preset distance for each area, or based on the average moving speed in the near future Calculate the distance by multiplying the standard value by the coefficient. Then, the guide means uses the distance thus obtained.

[0018] With such a configuration, it is possible to effectively prevent the guidance of the detour route which is of little importance to the user, and the range of the traffic obstacle to be detoured is not operated by the user. Since it is changed in, it is easy to use. On the other hand, instead of the distance, the number of intersections may be used as described in claim 6. That is, the guide means determines whether the traffic obstacle is on the expected route, and if the traffic obstacle is on the expected route, further determines the number of intersections on the expected route up to the traffic obstacle, and The navigation device may calculate the detour route and provide route guidance only when the number is less than or equal to a predetermined number. Needless to say, when the number of intersections is a predetermined number or more, the detour route is not calculated and route guidance is not performed.

With such a navigation device,
It is possible to prevent the guidance of the detour route that is less important to the user without guiding the detour route for the traffic obstacle that occurs at a position farther than the predetermined number of intersections from the current position. The predetermined number of intersections may be a fixed value such as 3 or 5, but the predetermined number of intersections may be set by the user using the reception means as described in claim 7. You may be able to set to.

In this case, for example, the average moving speed is often slow in the city center, so a large number of intersections is set, and the average moving speed is often high in the suburbs, so a small number of intersections is set. Route guidance can be executed. Therefore, the user can appropriately set the predetermined number of intersections according to the situation of the usage area, etc., and thus it is possible to effectively prevent the guidance of the detour route that is less important to the user.

The predetermined number of intersections may be changed by the guide means according to the present location. This is, for example, determining which area (for example, the city center and the suburbs) the current location belongs to, selecting the number of intersections in the corresponding area from the number of intersections set in advance for each area, and the average moving speed in the near future. The number of intersections is calculated by multiplying the standard value by the coefficient based on.
Then, the guide means uses the number of intersections obtained as a result.

With such a configuration, it is possible to effectively prevent the guidance of the detour route that is less important to the user, and the range of the traffic obstacle to be detoured is not operated by the user. Since it is changed in, it is easy to use. In addition, depending on the distance to the point of occurrence, the target traffic obstacle is determined, and the case of determining the target traffic obstacle based on the number of intersections to the point of occurrence, the geography and the location of the traffic obstacle. The situation is different depending on the situation, so it is hard to say that either one is generally superior.

By the way, the guiding means may execute the route guidance whenever there is a traffic obstacle satisfying the conditions in the received traffic information. However, as described in claim 9, the guiding means uses the detour route. Before initiating route guidance, the user is informed of the outline of the detour route and the user is inquired whether or not route guidance is to be performed, and if the reception means receives a route guidance execution instruction from the user. Route guidance may be executed. At this time, the route information of the bypass is displayed on a display device such as a display, or the route information of the bypass is read aloud to ask the user. Then, the user operates the remote controller or touch panel,
It is preferable to be configured to be able to select whether or not to perform route guidance by voice input to a microphone. In addition, when selecting, when the user does not make a selection for a certain period of time, it may be determined that the user has selected to guide the detour route. Of course, it may be determined that it is selected not to provide guidance on the alternative route.

In this way, when the user does not want to go through the detour route for some reason, or when the detour route does not make sense because the expected route is not appropriate, etc.
It is possible to prevent the guidance of the detour route and improve the usability. By the way, when a plurality of alternative routes are listed as candidates as a result of the guide means calculating the alternative route, the alternative route is estimated to return to the predicted route in the shortest time as described in claim 10. It is good to select and guide. The time for each detour route may be calculated, for example, by multiplying the average speed expected from the traffic road by the distance.

With this arrangement, the delay in arrival time due to the detour can be minimized, which is convenient for the user. Further, as described in claim 11, a detour route which is estimated to be able to return to the expected route in the shortest distance may be selected and guided.

Even in this case, the increase in the distance due to the detour can be minimized, and as a result, the delay in the arrival time can be minimized, which is convenient for the user. As for the selection of the detour route, as described in claim 12, the user is informed of the outline of all or a part of the detour route, and the detour route corresponding to the selection result of the user accepted by the acceptance means is guided. You may be allowed to do so. In this notification method, the route information of the detour may be displayed on a display device such as a display, or the route information of the detour may be read aloud to ask the user. Then, it is preferable that the user can operate the remote controller, the touch panel, or the like, or can input a voice into the microphone to select a bypass route.

With this arrangement, the detour route can be selected according to the preference of the user, and the detour route can be selected in consideration of the experience of the user, so that more appropriate route guidance can be executed. Incidentally, although each means constituting the navigation device may be realized by hardware,
As shown in FIG. 3, it may be realized as a program for causing a computer to function as a navigation device.

If it is realized by a program as described above, it can be used by recording it on a computer-readable recording medium such as a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, a memory card, etc., and loading it into the computer and starting it as necessary. You can It can also be used by loading and starting it via a network.

[0029]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments in which the present invention is applied to a car navigation system will be described below. Incidentally, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the following examples,
It goes without saying that various forms can be adopted as long as they are within the technical scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows VICS (Vehicle Information an
d Communication System: A road traffic information system) A block diagram showing a configuration of a center 10 and a car navigation device 20. The VICS center 10 transmits traffic information such as traffic jam information and accident information to the car navigation device 20 via FM broadcasting, an optical beacon, a radio wave beacon, or the like.

The car navigation device 20 can input various instructions like the position detector 21 for detecting the current position of the vehicle, the operation switch group 22 for inputting various instructions from the user, and the operation switch group 22. A remote control terminal (hereinafter referred to as a remote control) 23a,
Remote control sensor 2 for inputting a signal from the remote control 23a
3b, an external information input device 24, a map data input device 25 for inputting map data and the like from an external storage medium recording map data and various information, and a display device 26 for displaying the map and various information. , A voice output device 27 for outputting various guide voices, and the position detector 2 described above.
1, the operation switch group 22, the remote controller 23a, the external information input device 24, various processing is executed according to the input from the map data input device 25, the position detector 21, the operation switch group 2
2, remote control sensor 23b, external information input device 24, map data input device 25, display device 26, voice output device 27
And a control circuit 29 for controlling the.

The position detector 21 receives a radio wave transmitted from an artificial satellite for GPS through a GPS antenna and detects the position, azimuth, speed, etc. of the vehicle, and a GPS receiver 21a.
A gyroscope 21b that detects the magnitude of the rotational motion applied to the vehicle, a distance sensor 21c that detects the distance traveled based on the longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle, and a geomagnetic sensor 21d that detects the traveling direction from the geomagnetism. It has and. Then, each of these sensors, etc. 21a to 21d
Are configured to be used while complementing each other because each has an error of different nature. Depending on the accuracy, a part of the sensors described above may be used, or a steering rotation sensor, a wheel sensor for each rolling wheel, or the like may be used.

The operation switch group 22 includes the display device 2
A mechanical key switch or the like, which is configured integrally with the touch panel 6 and is provided on the display screen and around the display device 26, is used. It should be noted that the touch panel and the display device 26 are laminated and integrated, and there are various types of touch panels, such as a pressure sensitive type, an electromagnetic induction type, a capacitance type, or a combination of these types. May be.

The external information input device 24 receives traffic information from the VICS center 10 via an antenna (not shown). The received traffic information is sent to the control circuit 29 and processed. The map data input device 25 is a device for inputting various data including so-called map matching data for improving the accuracy of position identification, map data, mark data, and intersection data. As a recording medium for these data, a CD-ROM or a DVD is generally used because of the amount of the data, but another medium such as a magnetic storage device such as a hard disk or a memory card may be used.

The display device 26 is a color display device,
There are a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, a CRT and the like, and any of them may be used. On the display screen of the display device 26, a mark indicating the current position identified from the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detector 21 and the map data input from the map data input device 25, a guide route to the destination, and a name. , Additional data such as marks and marks of various facilities can be displayed in an overlapping manner. Also, facility guides can be displayed. Then, the voice output device 27 can output voices of facility guides and various guidance input from the map data input device 25, and voices of traffic information read via the external information input device 24.

The control circuit 29 includes a CPU, ROM, RA
It is mainly composed of a well-known microcomputer including M, I / O and a bus line connecting these structures, and each detection signal from the position detector 21 is based on a program stored in a ROM and a RAM. The map display processing for calculating the current position of the vehicle as a set of the coordinate and the traveling direction based on the map and displaying the map near the current position read through the map data input device 25 on the display device 26, and the map data input device 25. Based on the point data stored in, the facility to be the destination is selected according to the operation of the operation switch group 22 and the remote controller 23a, and the route is calculated by automatically calculating the optimal route from the current position to the destination. It is possible to perform route guidance processing for providing guidance.

The receiving means in the present invention corresponds to the external information input device 24, and the guiding means mainly includes the display device 26.
The audio output device 27 and the control circuit 29 correspond to each other, and the operation switch group 22 and the remote controller 23a correspond to the receiving unit. Next, the detour route guidance process performed when the traffic information is received from the VICS center 10 while the car navigation device 20 is not performing the route guidance process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in S100, it is determined whether or not the received traffic information includes traffic obstacle information. If there is traffic obstruction information in the traffic information, the process proceeds to S110, and if there is no traffic obstruction information in the traffic information, this processing ends.
The traffic obstacle may be traffic jam information, accident information, construction information, or the like.

In S110, the expected travel route of the vehicle equipped with the car navigation system 20 is calculated. This may be the case, for example, when it is expected that the current traffic road will continue to follow the road as it is, and that route is used as the predicted travel route. At that time, if there is a branch point, it is expected that it will proceed to the one with a wider width or that it will follow a designated route such as a national highway or prefectural road. Further, in the case where it has a function of holding the past travel route information, the past travel route may be used as the predicted travel route by utilizing the information.

In subsequent S120, it is determined whether or not there is a traffic obstacle on the predicted travel route calculated in S110. If there is a traffic obstacle on the expected traveling route, the process proceeds to S130, and if there is no traffic obstacle on the expected traveling route, this processing ends. In S130, the road distance between the traffic obstacle occurrence point on the expected travel route and the current position is calculated, and if the distance is smaller than the preset reference distance, S1 is calculated.
If it is larger than 40, this process is terminated. This reference distance is set as a default value, for example, 3 km, but can be changed by operating the operation switch group 22 or the remote controller 23a. Further, instead of the distance, the number of intersections from the current position to the traffic obstacle occurrence point may be used for the determination. Also in this case, the number of intersections may be changed by operating the operation switch group 22 or the remote controller 23a.

In S140, the detour route is calculated. This detour route is a route that avoids a traffic obstacle from the current location to the destination, with an intersection on the expected travel route ahead of the traffic obstacle occurrence point as the destination. The Dijkstra method or the like is used as the method of calculating the route.

In the subsequent S150, the process branches depending on whether or not the detour route was calculated in S140. If even one bypass route can be calculated, the process proceeds to S160, and if no bypass route can be calculated, this process ends. In S160, among the detour routes calculated in S140, five routes (only if there are five routes) are selected in the order in which the route can return to the expected route in a short time, and the outline of each route is displayed on the display device 26. At that time, which operation path group 22 or remote controller 23a is selected which path is selected or which path is not selected.
It is displayed with a code so that it can be selected with. As an outline, it is possible to enumerate the names of intersections that make a right turn or a left turn, or to display the detour route on the map display data. Further, the time required to return to the predicted traveling route may be calculated by, for example, multiplying the average speed predicted from the traffic road by the distance of the detour route.

In the following S170, the user displays the display device 26.
Referring to the operation switch group 22 or the remote controller 23a
The input information of the code indicating the type of the bypass route or the input information indicating that no bypass route is selected is acquired. In subsequent S180, the process branches depending on whether or not it is input in S170 that no detour route is selected. If the input indicating that no detour route is selected has been made, this processing ends, and the input indicating that no detour route is selected is made, and the code indicating any detour route is input. If so, the process proceeds to S190.

In S190, route guidance of the detour route corresponding to the code acquired in S170 is performed. The route information is displayed on the display device 26 and the voice is output from the voice output device 27 to guide the route. This process ends when the end point of the route guidance (the destination set on the expected route) is reached.

Next, an example of route guidance of a detour route will be concretely described using the map shown in FIG. The lines drawn in the left-right direction and the up-down direction on the paper indicate roads, and the intersections indicate intersections. It is assumed that there is a congestion point 400 between the intersection 340 and the intersection 360, and the vehicle is located at the current position 200 and is proceeding in the direction of the arrow 205. Then, when the vehicle is located at the current position 200, the traffic information is received.

When the traffic information is received, it is determined whether the received traffic information includes traffic obstacle information (S in FIG. 2).
Equivalent to 100). An estimated travel route is calculated if the information on the traffic obstacle is included (corresponding to S110 in FIG. 2). In this example, the predicted traveling route is calculated as current location 200 → intersection 310 → intersection 340 → intersection 360 because the vehicle is traveling in the upward direction.

Next, it is determined whether or not the calculated obstacle route includes a traffic obstacle occurrence point (S12 in FIG. 2).
Equivalent to 0). In this example, the congestion point 400 is at the intersection 34
Since it is between 0 and the intersection 360, it is determined that the traffic trouble occurrence point is included in the expected travel route.

Then, it is determined whether or not the distance from the current position to the point where the traffic obstacle has occurred is within a predetermined distance (corresponding to S120 in FIG. 2). In this example, it is assumed that the distance is within a predetermined distance. Instead of the distance, the number of intersections from the current position to the traffic obstacle may be used for the determination.

Next, a detour route is calculated with the intersection 360 on the expected route ahead of the traffic jam location 400 as the destination (corresponding to S140 in FIG. 2). In this example, the current location is 20
Detour route A of 0 → intersection 310 → intersection 320 → intersection 330 → intersection 350 → intersection 360 and the current location 2
It is assumed that the detour route B of 00 → intersection 310 → intersection 340 → intersection 330 → intersection 350 → intersection 360 is calculated.

Then, the calculated two detour routes are displayed on the display device 26 (corresponding to S160 in FIG. 2). As a method of displaying the outline, a method of listing the names of intersections, a method of displaying the detour route on the map, and the like can be considered. The user guides the detour route selected by the user based on the outline of the detour route displayed on the display device 26 (S in FIG. 2).
170 to S190). Here, if the above-mentioned detour route A is selected by the user, the car navigation device 20 displays the current position 200 → the intersection 310 →
Intersection 320 → Intersection 330 → Intersection 350 → Intersection 3
Guide route 60.

As described above, according to the car navigation system 20, when the destination is not set in the car navigation system 20, for example, when going to a place where one is used to, usually during route guidance. However, if it is expected that a traffic obstacle will be encountered, route guidance for avoiding the traffic obstacle is executed, and the user can know an appropriate alternative route.

As a result of determining whether or not the traffic obstacle is on the predicted route, if the traffic obstacle is on the predicted route, the distance on the predicted route to the traffic obstacle is further obtained, and the distance is calculated. Only when the distance is less than a predetermined distance, the detour route is calculated and the route guidance is provided.
This prevents the guidance of the detour route that is less important to the user and reduces the number of times the detour route guidance is performed for traffic obstacles that are not actually encountered.

Since the predetermined distance can be arbitrarily set by the user using the operation switch group 22 and the remote controller 23a, the predetermined distance can be changed depending on, for example, the area of use, and the detour is performed. The range of traffic obstacles to be targeted can be adjusted appropriately, and it is possible to effectively prevent the guidance of detour routes that are less important to users.

In selecting the detour route, the user is notified of the outline of the detour route using the display device 26, and the user selects the detour route from the operation switch group 22 and the remote controller 23a.
Can be selected arbitrarily. Therefore, it may be estimated from the user's experience that other routes can be detoured in a shorter time than the optimum route calculated by the car navigation device 20, and in such a case, the user's experience is taken into consideration. You can select a detour route and it is easy to use.

In this embodiment, the detour route guidance process executed when the traffic information is received from the VICS center 10 in the state where the route guidance process is not executed has been mainly described. Needless to say, when the traffic information is received while setting the route to the destination and executing the route guidance to the destination, the conventional route guidance considering the traffic obstacle is performed. .

Another embodiment will be described below. (1) In the above embodiment, after calculating the expected traveling route, it is determined whether or not the detour route is calculated by obtaining the distance on the expected traveling route up to the traffic obstacle. Before calculating, determine the straight line distance from the current location to the point where the traffic obstacle occurs, and only if the distance is within the predetermined distance, calculate the expected travel route and determine whether the traffic obstacle is on the expected travel route. You may do it. Even in this case, the same effect as that of the above-described embodiment can be obtained, and the processing for obtaining the predicted travel route, which is considered to have a large calculation cost, can be reduced.

(2) When there are a plurality of traffic obstacles on the predicted travel route, the detour route may be calculated so as to avoid the plurality of traffic obstacles. In this way, the detour can be made more effectively. (3) In the above-described embodiment, the predetermined reference distance is used when determining whether or not the traffic obstacle is to be calculated for the detour route. The reference distance can be changed by the user operating the operation switch group 22 or the remote controller 23a. However, the car navigation device 20 itself may be used by changing the reference distance according to the current location. Specifically, for example, when the area of the current location is acquired from the map data input device 25 and the area is an area such as a city center where the traveling speed is generally estimated to be slow, a preset reference distance is set. Among them, the one with a short distance is selected, and if it is an area such as a suburb where the moving speed is estimated to be high, the one with a long distance is selected from the preset reference distances. And
A determination is made using the selected reference distance. Besides, the reference distance may be obtained by multiplying the reference value by a coefficient according to the area, or the reference distance itself may be obtained from the map data input device 25. . Alternatively, the average moving speed of the own vehicle may be obtained, and the standard distance may be multiplied by a coefficient based on the average moving speed to be used. As a specific example, when the average moving speed is 30 km / h, the average moving speed is 30 k
A reference distance of 5 km obtained by multiplying a standard distance of 10 km by a coefficient of 0.5 predetermined corresponding to m / h is used.

In this case, the traffic obstacle to be detoured can be appropriately selected without the user's operation, and thus the detour route guidance which is less important to the user without deteriorating the usability. Can be prevented. (4) In the above embodiment, the detour route guidance process is executed when the traffic information is received. Therefore, if the frequency of receiving the traffic information is low, the following problem may occur. It was initially excluded from the calculation of the detour route because it was a distant traffic obstacle, but it approached the traffic obstacle with the passage of time, and then encountered the traffic obstacle before receiving the traffic information. That is the case.
Even in such a case, in order to properly guide the detour route, once the traffic obstacle received is memorized, even if new traffic information is not received, the expected traveling route is periodically obtained and the expected traveling route is calculated. The route may be determined by determining whether there is a traffic obstacle on the route and guiding the user. With this configuration, even when the traffic information is received infrequently, or when the expected travel route is different from when the traffic information is received, the detour route is appropriately guided to improve usability.

It should be noted that when the stored traffic obstacle is approached by a certain distance, an expected traveling route is obtained, it is judged whether or not there is a traffic obstacle on the expected traveling route, and a detour route is obtained to provide guidance. May be. (5) Whether or not to execute the route guidance for the detour route may be determined depending on the degree of the traffic obstacle. For example, when the length of the traffic jam is 1 km or more, route guidance of the detour route may be executed. If this is done, a more effective alternative route can be guided.

(6) In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the car navigation device 20, but it may be applied to a mobile phone, a mobile terminal or the like having a function of grasping position information and acquiring traffic information. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a car navigation device and a VICS center.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a bypass route guidance process.

FIG. 3 is a map for explaining guidance of an alternative route.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... VICS Center 20 ... Navigation device 21 ... Position detector 21a ... GPS receiver 21b ... Gyroscope 21c ... distance sensor 21d ... Geomagnetic sensor 22 ... Operation switch group 23a ... remote control 23b ... remote control sensor 24 ... External information input device 25 ... Map data input device 26 ... Display device 27 ... Audio output device 29 ... Control circuit

Continued front page    F term (reference) 2C032 HB22 HB23 HB24 HC08 HC15                       HD03 HD07 HD16 HD23 HD24                 2F029 AA02 AB01 AB07 AB13 AC02                       AC09 AC14 AC18 AC20                 5H180 AA01 BB02 BB04 BB13 CC12                       EE18 FF04 FF05 FF10 FF12                       FF22 FF25 FF27 FF33

Claims (13)

[Claims] Claims: 1. Receiving means for receiving traffic obstacle information with information on the location of occurrence, guidance means for calculating the route from the current location to the destination and providing route guidance, and information input by user operation. A navigation device comprising: a reception unit for receiving the traffic obstacle information, wherein the guidance unit receives the traffic obstacle information even when the route guidance to the destination set by the user is not being performed. , Determining whether or not the traffic obstacle is on a route expected to be traveled by the navigation device, and if the traffic obstacle is on the expected route, the predicted route ahead of the occurrence position of the traffic obstacle A navigation device, characterized in that a detour route avoiding the traffic obstacle is calculated and route guidance is performed with the upper intersection as a destination. 2. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the guiding means sets a straight line between a current position and a position where the traffic obstacle occurs before determining whether the traffic obstacle is on the predicted route. A navigation device, wherein a distance is obtained, and the determination is performed only when the distance is equal to or less than a predetermined distance. 3. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the guide means determines whether the traffic obstacle is on the predicted route, and as a result, the traffic obstacle is on the predicted route. In the case of, the road distance on the expected route to the traffic obstacle is further obtained, and the detour route is calculated and the route guidance is provided only when the distance is a predetermined distance or less. Navigation device. 4. The navigation device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the predetermined distance can be arbitrarily set by a user using the reception means. 5. The navigation device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the guide unit changes the predetermined distance according to a current location and uses the predetermined distance. 6. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the guidance unit determines whether the traffic obstacle is on the predicted route, and the traffic obstacle is on the predicted route. In the case of, the number of intersections on the expected route to the traffic obstacle is further obtained, and the detour route is calculated and the route guidance is performed only when the number of intersections is less than or equal to a predetermined number. Navigation device. 7. The navigation device according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined number can be arbitrarily set by a user using the reception means. 8. The navigation device according to claim 6, wherein the guide unit changes the predetermined number according to a current location and uses the predetermined number. 9. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the guide means notifies the user of the outline of the detour route before starting the route guidance of the detour route. A navigation apparatus, which inquires of a user whether or not to perform the route guidance, and executes the route guidance when the accepting unit receives a route guidance execution instruction from the user. 10. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein it is presumed that the guide means can return to the predicted route in the shortest time when there are a plurality of the detour routes. A navigation device characterized by selecting and guiding a bypass route to be provided. 11. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the guide means is capable of returning to the predicted route in the shortest distance when there are a plurality of the detour routes. A navigation device characterized by selecting and guiding a bypass route to be provided. 12. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein when there are a plurality of the detour routes, the guiding means provides the user with an overview of all or part of the detour routes. Inform,
A navigation device which guides the detour route corresponding to the selection result of the user accepted by the accepting unit. 13. A program for causing a computer to function as the navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 12.