JP2004246484A - Parking lot guiding device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inexpensively configurable parking lot guiding device capable of shortening a processing time required for guiding a free space. <P>SOLUTION: This parking lot guiding device 100 is configured of a parking lot headquarter device 10 having a free space detecting part 11, a coordinate calculating part 12, a communicating part 13 and a control part 14 for controlling each processing part and an on-vehicle guiding device 20 having an on-vehicle communicating part 21, a self-vehicle location detecting part 22, a route calculating part 25, a guiding part 26 and a control part 27 for controlling the above processing parts. Only absolute coordinate information at a middle via spot on all the routes to a free space is communicated from the parking lot headquarter device 10 to each on-vehicle guiding device 20 so that the conventional communication of map information associated with the parking lot can be reduced. Thus, it is possible to shorten a processing time required for communication, and to inexpensively constitute the parking lot guiding device by making it unnecessary for the on-vehicle guiding device 20 which receives communication to load any memory with a large capacity. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a parking lot guidance device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method of guiding a vehicle to an empty space in a parking lot, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to detect an empty space in a parking lot and guide the vehicle to the detected empty space. In some cases, information is communicated to the vehicle to guide the vehicle to this empty space.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2001-229498 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In this case, the information necessary for guiding to the empty space is the map information of the parking lot, that is, the arrangement information of all the parking spaces, the passage information in the parking lot, and the detected empty space. Position information, drawing information for drawing these, and the like.
[0005]
By communicating the map information composed of such information, for example, in the case of a large-scale parking lot, the map information to be communicated becomes large-capacity information, and the communication time required for communication also becomes longer. . Further, a memory for holding the received map information must also be provided with a large-capacity memory, which makes the in-vehicle guidance device expensive.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of the above points. That is, it is an object of the present invention to provide a parking lot guidance device that can reduce the processing time required for guidance to an empty space and can be configured at low cost.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The parking lot guide device according to claim 1, wherein the empty space detecting means for detecting an empty space of the parking lot, and the absolute position of the empty space and absolute values of all intermediate waypoints from the entrance of the parking lot to the empty space. A parking lot headquarters device comprising: a coordinate calculating means for calculating coordinate information; a first communication means for communicating the absolute coordinate information calculated by the coordinate calculating means; and a first control means for controlling each of the means. And second communication means mounted on the vehicle and receiving the absolute coordinate information from the parking lot headquarters device; own vehicle position detecting means for detecting the own vehicle position of the vehicle; and the own vehicle position and the absolute Route calculating means for calculating a route to the empty space based on the coordinate information; guiding means for guiding the route calculated by the route calculating means; and a second control means for controlling each of the above-described means. , Characterized in that it consists of an in-vehicle guide device provided with a door.
[0008]
According to the present invention, since only the position of the empty space and the absolute coordinate information of the intermediate waypoint on the route to the empty space are transmitted from the parking lot headquarters device to each in-vehicle guidance device, the processing time required for communication is reduced. The length can be shortened, and the in-vehicle guide device on the receiving side does not need to mount a large-capacity memory, and can be configured at low cost.
[0009]
The parking lot guide device according to claim 2, wherein the empty space detecting means for detecting an empty space of the parking lot, and the absolute position of the empty space and absolute values of all intermediate waypoints from the entrance of the parking lot to the empty space. Coordinate calculation means for calculating coordinate information;
A current vehicle position of the vehicle in the parking lot communicated by the first communication means, a path calculation means for calculating path information to the empty space, the absolute coordinate information calculated by the coordinate calculation means, A parking lot headquarters device including a first communication unit that communicates the route information and a first control unit that controls each unit, a vehicle position detection unit that detects a vehicle position of the vehicle, A second communication unit mounted on the vehicle and transmitting the own vehicle position and receiving the route information; a guidance unit performing guidance corresponding to the route information received by the second communication unit; And a second control means for controlling each means.
[0010]
According to the present invention, since the route calculation is performed by the parking lot headquarters device and the route information is transmitted to the in-vehicle guidance device, it is not necessary to mount the route calculation means in the in-vehicle guidance device, and the in-vehicle guidance device can be configured at low cost. Can be done.
[0011]
The parking lot guide device according to claim 3, wherein the guide unit displays an image indicating a next direction in which the vehicle travels along the route when the vehicle reaches any of the waypoints on the route. It is a display means for displaying.
[0012]
According to the present invention, it is not necessary to draw and display the parking lot to guide the empty space position. Therefore, the in-vehicle guidance device does not need a memory for storing the drawing information of the parking lot, and the in-vehicle guidance device can be configured at a lower cost. Can be done.
[0013]
In the parking lot guidance device according to claim 4, when the vehicle reaches any of the waypoints on the route, the guidance unit emits a sound indicating a next direction in which the vehicle travels along the route. It is characterized by being an audio output means for outputting.
[0014]
According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the number of display means from each means constituting the on-vehicle guide device, so that the on-vehicle guide device can be configured at a lower cost.
[0015]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the parking lot guide device, when the vehicle travels on a route deviating from the route, the route calculation means calculates the route to the empty space again.
[0016]
According to the present invention, even if the vehicle travels on a route that deviates from the route while guiding the route to the empty space, the vehicle reroutes and guides the route again, so that the vehicle can always reach the empty space.
[0017]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a parking lot guidance device 100 according to the present embodiment.
[0018]
In FIG. 1, a parking lot guidance device 100 includes a parking lot headquarters device 10 and an on-vehicle guidance device 20. The parking lot headquarters device 10 corresponds to a parking lot headquarters device described in the claims. Further, the vehicle-mounted guide device 20 corresponds to a vehicle-mounted guide device described in the claims.
[0019]
The parking lot headquarters device 10 includes a vacant space detecting unit 11 that detects a vacant space position in a parking lot using a sensor or the like that detects whether a vehicle enters a parking space, and a vacant space detecting unit 11 that detects a vacant space position from a parking lot entrance position. A coordinate calculation unit 12 that calculates all the waypoints on the route and calculates absolute coordinate information of the waypoints; a communication unit 13 that transmits the calculated absolute coordinate information to the vehicle-mounted guidance device 20; And a control unit 14 for controlling.
[0020]
The above-mentioned empty space detection unit 11, coordinate calculation unit 12, communication unit 13, and control unit 14 correspond to an empty space detection unit, a coordinate calculation unit, a first communication unit, and a first control unit, respectively. Equivalent to.
[0021]
Here, the absolute coordinate information calculated by the coordinate calculation unit 12 is WGS84 (World Geodetic System 1984) which is geodetic system absolute coordinate information, a Japanese geodetic system, or latitude and longitude, and rectangular coordinates which are orthogonal coordinate information. , The kind does not matter. The coordinate producing unit 12 calculates various kinds of preset absolute coordinate information according to the settings. In addition, it is assumed that the vehicle guidance device 20 also guides the vehicle at the same absolute coordinates as the absolute coordinates calculated by the parking lot headquarters device 10.
[0022]
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing route points on all routes from the entrance of the parking lot to the empty space G. The black circles correspond to intermediate waypoints.
[0023]
The vehicle-mounted guidance device 20 mounted on the vehicle includes a communication unit 21 that receives the position of the empty space and the absolute coordinate information of all intermediate waypoints transmitted from the parking lot headquarters device 10, a GPS, a self-contained navigation sensor, and the like. A position detecting unit 22 for detecting the position of the own vehicle by using the storage unit 23 for storing the received position of the empty space and the absolute coordinate information of the intermediate waypoint and the detected own vehicle position information; If there is, the input unit 24 for inputting selection information for selecting which empty space to park, the absolute coordinate information of the intermediate waypoint, the own vehicle position information, and the selected empty space position information, A route calculation unit 25 that calculates a route to a space, a guidance unit 26 that guides a route based on the calculated route information, and a control unit 27 that controls the above-described units are provided. There.
[0024]
Each time the vehicle approaches an intermediate waypoint on the calculated route, the guide unit 26 displays an image of the direction in which the vehicle should travel next, or outputs the direction by voice. And an audio output unit 29 for performing the operation.
[0025]
The communication unit 21, the position detection unit 22, the route calculation unit 25, the guidance unit 26, the control unit 27, the display unit 28, and the voice guidance unit 29 are respectively a second communication unit, a position detection unit, They correspond to route calculation means, guidance means, second control means, display means, and voice guidance means.
[0026]
Next, the operation of the parking lot guide device 100 having the above-described configuration will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the vehicle-mounted guide device 20.
[0027]
In step S1, the communication unit 21 receives the vacant space position and the absolute coordinate information of the intermediate waypoint from the parking lot headquarters device 10.
[0028]
In step S2, the information received in step S1 is stored in the storage unit 23, and in step S3, all the route information up to the empty space position selected by the route calculation unit 25 is stored in the storage unit 23. The calculation is performed using the absolute coordinate information of the route point.
[0029]
In step S4, it is determined whether there is a plurality of pieces of route information calculated in step S3, and if there is more than one, one of the routes is selected in accordance with an instruction from the input unit 24 in step S5.
[0030]
In step S6, the current vehicle position information is acquired by the position detection unit 22, and in step S7, the nearest intermediate waypoint in front is acquired in accordance with the route information calculated in step S3.
[0031]
Next, in step S8, the distance between the current vehicle position information acquired in step S6 and the nearest intermediate waypoint acquired in step S7 is calculated and stored in the storage unit 23.
[0032]
At this time, when the vehicle approaches the nearest intermediate waypoint ahead, information on the next nearest intermediate waypoint ahead must be obtained, and guidance must be made toward that point. Therefore, the distance between the first nearest intermediate waypoint and the current position of the vehicle is compared with a predetermined distance, and the predetermined distance A is larger, that is, the vehicle is in the first position. When the vehicle has sufficiently approached the nearest intermediate waypoint in front of the vehicle, the absolute coordinate information of the second intermediate waypoint on the route is acquired.
[0033]
Next, in step S9, it is determined whether the vehicle is traveling along the route information calculated in step S3. That is, the distance calculated between the nearest intermediate waypoint in front of the vehicle and the current vehicle position calculated last time is compared with the distance calculated this time, and if the distance calculated with the intermediate point calculated this time is smaller than the distance calculated last time, When it is determined that the vehicle is normally traveling along the route information and the process proceeds to step S10, if the calculated distance is larger than the previously calculated distance, it is determined that the vehicle is running out of the route information. Then, the process returns to step S3.
[0034]
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the content of the determination processing in step S9. FIG. 3 shows a case where the vehicle is currently away from the intermediate route point P on the route initially calculated and is approaching the point Q. This shows a state in which a simple route is calculated.
[0035]
In step S10, an image or a sound for guiding the direction from the guide unit 26 (the display unit 28 or the sound output unit 29) to the nearest intermediate waypoint is output. FIG. 6 shows a display example in which the direction to the next nearest intermediate waypoint is output as an image on the display unit 28 when the vehicle reaches a predetermined intermediate waypoint.
[0036]
In step S11, it is determined whether or not the own vehicle position has arrived at a vacant space position which is the final destination, and if so, this flow ends. If not, the process returns to step S6.
(Modification)
In the above-described embodiment, the route is calculated on the in-vehicle guide device 20 side. However, as shown in claim 2, the route is calculated on the parking lot headquarter device 10 side, and the calculated route information is provided on the in-vehicle guide. It may be transmitted to the device 20. In this case, since the information to be communicated is not limited to the absolute coordinate information, the processing time required for the communication becomes longer, but the route calculation unit 25 can be reduced from the in-vehicle guidance device 20 side, so that the in-vehicle guidance device Can be constructed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a parking lot guidance device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing intermediate route points on all routes from a parking lot entrance to an empty space G;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the vehicle-mounted guide device 20;
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a place where a vehicle equipped with the vehicle-mounted guide device 20 is traveling toward an empty space.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of guidance contents displayed on a display unit 28.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a parking lot guide device 100 according to a modified example of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Parking lot headquarters device 11 Empty space detecting unit (empty space detecting means)
12. Coordinate calculation unit (coordinate calculation means)
13 communication unit (first communication means)
14 control part (first control means of parking lot headquarters device 10)
20 in-vehicle guidance device 21 communication unit (second communication means)
22 Position detector (position detector)
23 storage unit (storage means)
24 input section (input means)
25 Route calculation unit (route calculation means)
26 Guide (guide means)
27 control unit (second control means of vehicle-mounted guidance device 20)
28 display part (display means)
29 audio output unit (audio output means)

Claims (5)

Empty space detecting means for detecting an empty space in a parking lot;
Coordinate calculation means for calculating absolute coordinate information of all intermediate waypoints from the position of the empty space and the entrance of the parking lot to the empty space,
First communication means for communicating the absolute coordinate information calculated by the coordinate calculation means,
A parking lot headquarters device including: a first control unit that controls each of the units;
A second communication unit mounted on a vehicle and receiving the absolute coordinate information from the parking lot headquarters device,
Own vehicle position detecting means for detecting the own vehicle position of the vehicle,
Route calculation means for calculating a route to the empty space based on the own vehicle position and the absolute coordinate information;
Guiding means for guiding the route calculated by the route calculating means;
An on-board guidance device having a second control means for controlling each of the above-mentioned means. Empty space detecting means for detecting an empty space in a parking lot;
Coordinate calculation means for calculating absolute coordinate information of all intermediate waypoints from the position of the empty space and the entrance of the parking lot to the empty space,
The current own vehicle position of the vehicle in the parking lot communicated by the first communication unit, and a route calculation unit that calculates route information to the empty space,
The parking lot headquarters device including: the absolute coordinate information calculated by the coordinate calculation means, first communication means for communicating the route information, and first control means for controlling each of the means,
Own vehicle position detecting means for detecting the own vehicle position of the vehicle,
A second communication unit mounted on the vehicle and transmitting the own vehicle position and receiving the route information,
Guidance means for performing guidance corresponding to the route information received by the second communication means,
An on-board guidance device having a second control means for controlling each of the above-mentioned means. The guide means is a display means for displaying an image indicating a next direction in which the vehicle travels along the route when the vehicle reaches any of the waypoints on the route. Item 3. The parking lot guide device according to item 1 or 2. The guide means is a sound output means for outputting a sound indicating a next direction in which the vehicle travels along the route when the vehicle reaches any of the waypoints on the route. The parking lot guide device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The parking lot guidance device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein when the vehicle travels on a route that deviates from the route, the route calculation unit calculates the route to the empty space again.

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