JP2005164464A - Route search device and route search method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To search for the optimum connection point, when searching for a route from a starting place to a destination. <P>SOLUTION: Connection points 3g, 3i are searched for based on the starting place 3a, the destination 3b and user's own house 3c set by the user. A parking lot 4f in a prescribed range relative to the connection points searched for is retrieved. Routes on foot from the parking lot 4f to the connection point 3g and from the connection point 3i to the destination 3b are searched for, and automobile routes from the starting place 3a to the parking lot 4f and from the parking lot 4f to his/her own house 3c are searched for, and a public transport facility route between the connection points 3g, 3i is searched for. A route candidate is formed by combining the routes on foot, the automobile routes and the public transport facility route which are searched for. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a route search apparatus and a route search method that search for an optimal connection point when a route is searched by using walking, vehicles, and public transportation as a combination of each moving device.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a route search apparatus including a route search method that uses a vehicle and public transportation as a means of moving to a destination, and performs a route search for a rectangular area including all departure points, waypoints, and destinations. Are known.

JP 2000-161978 A

  However, in a conventional device that performs a route search for a rectangular area that includes all of the departure point, waypoints, and destination, a route search is performed based on road information and public transportation information in the target area. Therefore, the amount of information to be searched is large. For this reason, there has been a problem that the load of the search process is enormous, and further, the search takes a long time.

  The present invention relates to a route search device and a route search method for searching for a route by using walking, vehicles, and public transportation as a moving means, and combining the moving means based on a predetermined starting point, destination, and home. , Search for the nearest public transportation boarding location for the departure point, the nearest public transportation boarding location for the destination, and the nearest public transportation boarding location for the home as transfer points. Based on the location, the home, and the searched connection point, the forward route from the departure point to the destination and the return route from the destination to the home are searched.

  According to the present invention, a search is made as a transit point for a public transport boarding / exiting location located within a predetermined range from each of a departure point, a destination, and a home. As a result, when performing a route search, it is possible to narrow down the stations to be transferred in advance, reduce the processing load required for the route search, and shorten the processing time.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an information center and a route setting terminal on which an embodiment of a route search device according to the present invention is mounted. The information center 100 performs a route search based on a home, a departure place, a destination, various search conditions, and the like set by the user using the route setting terminal 200 and searches for an optimum connection point. The route setting terminal 200 is, for example, a personal computer installed at the user's home.

  The route setting terminal 200 displays a communication device 201 that communicates with the information center 100, an input device 202 for a user to input information necessary for route search, a route setting screen, and a route search result by the information center 100. A monitor 203; an external storage device 204 including a memory card slot or the like for storing data when data is exchanged with other route setting terminals; a clock 205 for acquiring the current time; and a control device 206. .

  The control device 206 displays a route setting screen on the monitor 203, holds the search conditions input by the user, and when the execution of the route search is instructed by the user, the input search conditions are sent to the information center. A route setting unit 206a for transmission is included. The path setting unit 206a is realized by the control device 206 executing a control program stored in the ROM 207 using the RAM 208 as a work area.

  The information center 100 that performs a route search based on the search conditions set by the route setting terminal 200 includes a traffic information acquisition device 101 that wirelessly acquires information such as traffic jam information and disruption of public transportation schedules, A clock 102 that acquires time, a communication device 105 that communicates with the route setting terminal 200, and a route search device 106 that performs a route search based on the search conditions received from the route setting terminal 200 are provided.

  The route search device 106 includes a control device 107, a public transportation route database 108 that stores route information of various transportation facilities, a pedestrian map database 109 that stores a map used when moving on foot, and an automobile ( A road map database 110 for storing road maps used for route guidance when traveling by vehicle), a traffic jam prediction database 111 for storing traffic jam prediction information predicted from past statistical information, a parking lot position, A parking lot database 112 that stores a charge system and a timetable database 113 that stores a timetable of public transportation are provided.

  The control device 107 includes a route search unit 107a that searches for a route that matches the search condition received from the route setting terminal 200 by referring to the various databases. The route search unit 107a is realized by the control device 107 executing a control program stored in the ROM 103 using the RAM 104 as a work area.

  Hereinafter, in the route search device according to the present embodiment, walking, automobiles and public transportation are used as moving means, and when searching for a route from the departure place to the destination and then returning from the destination to the home, Explore transit points that connect public transport. Then, a route that travels from the departure point to the destination via the connecting point (outward route) and a route that returns from the destination to the home via the connecting point (return route) are searched and provided to the user. . In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the user is in a car at the departure point, moves to the transfer point searched from the departure point, and moves to the parking lot near the transfer point. Change to public transport (train) and move to your destination. On the way back, the route is searched as if it travels from the destination to the transfer point by public transport, then takes a car from the parking lot near the transfer point and returns to the home. In addition, there is a section that needs to be moved on foot, for example, from a parking lot to a transit point while moving from the departure place to the destination.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart of search condition setting processing on the route setting terminal 200 and route determination processing after route search, which are performed in advance when performing the route search. In step S10, it is determined whether the search condition input by the user has been completed. Here, the user inputs the following information as a search condition.

  First, the user registers the home position in advance using the input device 202. Home here is a place where you park your car on a daily basis. Next, if there is a place other than the departure point, destination, and destination that the user wants to stop during the trip, the place is input as a waypoint. If the departure place is not designated, a preset home is set as the departure place.

  Next, conditions for route search are input. Search conditions include, for example, car priority, public transport priority, charge priority, time priority, express stop station priority, a station within a radius of 2 km from the departure point, a station that arrives within 10 minutes from the departure point, and a radius from the station There are parking lots within 1 km, parking lots within 5 minutes on foot from the station, departure time, stay time at the destination, arrival time at the destination, etc. In addition, it is possible to limit the type of public transportation to only railroads or buses. Note that the search conditions listed here are merely examples, and other search conditions may be input.

  When the user inputs the search condition and presses a “search” button displayed on the monitor 203, the route setting unit 206a determines that the input of the search condition is completed. If it is determined in step S10 that the input of the search condition by the user has been completed, the process proceeds to step S20, and the search condition input to the information center 100 is transmitted via the communication device 201.

  After transmitting the search conditions, a route search is performed by the information center 100 as described later, and the search result is transmitted to the route setting terminal 200. If it is determined in step S30 that the route search terminal 200 has received the route search result from the information center 100, the process proceeds to step S40.

  In step S40, the search result received in step S30 is displayed on the monitor 203. At this time, when a plurality of routes are included as route candidates in the received search result, all of them are displayed on the monitor 203.

  In step S50, the route setting unit 206a determines whether or not the route has been confirmed by the user. The user determines whether or not to set the search result displayed in step S40 as a route, and when setting as a route, presses the “route confirmation” button displayed on the monitor 203. Thereby, in step S60, the route setting unit 206a determines the route as a confirmed route. When a plurality of routes are displayed as candidates on the monitor 203 in step S40, the user selects a candidate to be set as a route, and then presses a “route confirmation” button.

  The determined route is transmitted from the route search terminal 200 to the information center 100 and stored in the RAM 104 on the information center 100. When performing route guidance based on the determined route, the route is downloaded from the information center 100 to a navigation system, a PDA terminal, or a mobile phone installed in a vehicle, and route guidance is performed on each terminal. Is called. Alternatively, route data determined by a memory card or the like via the external storage device 204 of the route search terminal 200 may be passed to a navigation system, a PDA terminal, a mobile phone, etc., and route guidance may be performed on each terminal.

  Hereinafter, a route search process performed in the information center 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. When the information center 100 receives the route search condition from the route setting terminal 200, the information center 100 executes the following processing. First, in FIG. 3, the departure place 3a, the destination 3b and the home 3c designated by the user are within the range set by the user, for example, “within a radius of 2 km from the departure place, the destination and the home”. The station is searched with reference to the public transportation route database 108 as a connection point. In FIG. 3, the range of conditions set by the user is represented by circles indicated by reference numerals 3d, 3e, and 3f.

  As a result of the search, the stations 3g and 3h are searched as transfer points based on the departure point 3a, the station 3i is searched as a transfer point based on the destination 3b, and the station 3j is searched as a transfer point based on the home 3c. Note that when a stopover is set by the user, the same processing is performed for the stopover. In the following explanation, it is assumed that the stopover point has not been set. However, even if a stopover point is specified, the route search including the stopover point is performed by performing the same process as described below. Is possible.

  Next, referring to the parking lot database 112 for the connecting points 3g to 3j searched in FIG. 3, a parking lot (for example, from a station) existing within a range designated in advance by the user on the route setting terminal 200 is shown. Search for a parking lot within a 1km radius). FIG. 4 shows that the parking lots 4e to 4j are searched in the ranges 4a to 4d set by the user for the connection points 3g to 3j in FIG.

  In FIG. 5, pedestrian map data is read from the pedestrian map database 109, and a walking route that exists while moving from the departure point, destination, and home is searched. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 5, the walking route (hereinafter referred to as walking route) 5a between the parking lot 4f and the connecting point 3g searched in FIG. 4, the connecting point (getting off station) 3i of the destination and the destination A walking route 5b to 3b is searched.

  In FIG. 5, only examples of searching for walking routes to the parking lot 4f and the transfer point 3g and the transfer point 3i and the destination 3b are shown as specific examples. However, the walking route is similarly searched for the parking lots from the other connecting points searched in FIGS. 3 and 4 to the respective parking lots. Further, in FIG. 5, only one route is searched for each section, such as 5a and 5b, but when there are a plurality of walking routes in each section, all routes are searched. Is done.

  In the following description, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, the contents processed for the transfer point 3g and its parking lot 4f are illustrated, but actually, for all the transfer points and their respective parking lots. Assume that the processing described below is executed.

  In FIG. 6, road map data is read from the road map database 110, and routes from the departure point 3a to the transfer point parking lot 4f and from the transfer point parking lot 4f to the home 3c (hereinafter referred to as an automobile route) are shown. Explore. At the same time, for the searched automobile route, the required time is calculated based on the traffic jam prediction of the route with reference to the traffic jam prediction database 111. In the example shown in FIG. 6, it is shown that the automobile route 6a from the departure point 3a to the parking lot 4f at the transit point and the automobile route 6b by the automobile from the parking lot 4f at the transit point to the home 3c are searched. Yes.

  In FIG. 7, the public transport route database 108 is referred to calculate the route such as the route (hereinafter referred to as the public transport route) 7a from the transit points 3g to 3i (hereinafter referred to as the public transport route) and the fare of the public transport. At the same time, the required time is also calculated by referring to the timetable database 113.

  As described above, the walking route, the automobile route, and the public transportation route searched in FIGS. 5 to 7 are combined to obtain the final route shown in FIG. In FIG. 8, the vehicle 6a is moved from the departure point 3a by car to the parking lot 4f. After parking the car in the parking lot 4f, walk along the walking route 5a to the transfer point 3g. The public transportation route 7a is moved from the transit point 3g to the transit point 3i using public transport. Walk along the walking route 5b from the transfer point 3i and arrive at the destination 3b. On the way home, the vehicle travels in the opposite direction from the destination 3b to the parking lot 4f, travels along the automobile route 6b by car from the parking lot 4f, and arrives at the home 3c.

  In FIG. 8, only one of the public transport routes searched for in FIG. 7 is illustrated, but in fact, all the public transport routes searched for in FIG. Combined. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the user is in a car at the time of departure place 3a. However, if it is necessary to move on foot from the place of departure 3a to a place where the car is stopped. The walking route is also searched for the section.

  The route search shown in FIG. 8 is also performed for other connection points that are not described above, and all routes that are assumed when moving to the departure point, destination, and home are searched. From all these routes, conditions set by the user in advance, such as “parking fee less than 1000 yen”, “public transportation fee less than 3000 yen” and “arrival at destination at 12:00” are satisfied. Only the route is extracted and set as a route candidate. If the user has previously specified a condition such as “the route with the least amount of money” or “the route with the shortest required time”, only the corresponding route is extracted.

  The route candidate is transmitted to the route setting terminal 200 via the communication device 105. As described above, in step S50 of FIG. 2, the user selects an arbitrary route from the route candidates on the route setting terminal 200. Thus, the route is determined.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart of route search processing in the present embodiment, which is processed in the information center 100 described above. The process shown in FIG. 9 is executed as a program that is activated when a search condition is received from the route setting terminal 200. Hereinafter, the processing flow will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S110, the public transport route database 108 is searched for the nearest station existing within a predetermined range (for example, within 2 km) set by the user from each of the starting point, destination, and home specified by the user. Refer to and search as a connection point. In addition, when a plurality of connection points are searched for each of the departure point, the destination, and the home, the plurality of connection points searched are targeted.

  In step S120, it is determined whether or not a connection point has been searched. If it is determined that no connection point has been searched, the process proceeds to step S130. In step S130, the search range is expanded until the nearest connection point is searched outside the range specified by the search conditions.

  In step S140, a parking lot around each connecting point is searched for all the connecting points searched in step S120. When searching for a parking lot, the parking lot data is read from the parking lot database 112, and a parking lot within a range corresponding to the search condition input by the user, for example, within a radius of 1 km from the station, is searched.

  In step S150, it is determined whether there is a parking lot within the range corresponding to the search condition from each connection point. If it is determined that the parking lot does not exist within the range corresponding to the search condition, in step S160, the search range is expanded until the nearest parking lot is searched outside the range specified by the search condition.

  If it is determined in step S150 that there is a parking lot, the route from the departure place to the parking lot, and the route from the parking lot to the home by car (hereinafter referred to as the car route), by walking from the parking lot to the transfer point A route (hereinafter referred to as a walking route), a route by public transport between connecting points (hereinafter referred to as a public transport route), and a route by walking from a connecting point near the destination to the destination are searched. Details will be described below.

  In step S170, pedestrian map data is read from the pedestrian map database 109, and a walking route in a walking section that exists while moving from the departure point, destination, and home is searched. In the present embodiment, a walking route between the parking lot near the connecting point and the connecting point, and a walking route from the connecting point near the destination to the destination are searched. When there are a plurality of routes in the same section, all routes are searched similarly.

  In step S180, the road map data is read from the road map database 110, and the vehicle route while moving from the departure point, the destination, and the home is searched. Here, a car route from the departure place to the parking lot near the transfer point and a car route from the parking lot to the home are searched. Further, the traffic jam prediction data is read from the traffic jam prediction database 111, and the estimated travel time of the automobile route is calculated. Here, if there are a plurality of automobile routes, all routes are searched.

  In step S190, each data is read from the public transport route database 108 and the timetable database 113, and the public transport route between the connecting points is searched. Similarly to the above, when there are a plurality of public transportation routes, all routes are searched. Also, the required time and the public transportation fee are calculated from the public transportation search result.

  In step S200, the walking route, the automobile route, and the public transportation route searched above are combined to complete the entire route moving from the departure point, the destination, and the home. When a plurality of routes are searched in any of the processes of steps S170 to S190, a plurality of entire routes are also created. In step S210, the parking lot data is read from the parking lot database 112, and the parking charges for all the routes created in step S200 are calculated.

  In step S220, route candidates are determined based on the search conditions specified by the user for all the entire routes created in step S200. As described above, for example, route candidates based on the search conditions are extracted in consideration of a parking lot fee, a public transportation fee, or a required time. If the search conditions are "parking fee less than 1000 yen", "public transport fee less than 3000 yen", or "arrival at destination at 12:00", only routes that satisfy these conditions are extracted. And a route candidate. If the user has previously specified a condition such as “the route with the least amount of money” or “the route with the shortest required time”, only the corresponding route is extracted.

  In step S230, the route candidate extracted in step S220 is transmitted to the route setting terminal 200 via the communication device 105. Thereafter, in step S50 of FIG. 2 as described above, the user selects an arbitrary route from the route candidates on the route setting terminal 200, and the route is determined.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(1) A station within a predetermined range from each of the departure point, the destination, and the home was searched as a connection point. As a result, it is possible to search for a connection point without performing a route search of a complicated road network, and to further narrow down stations to be transferred in advance when performing a route search. As a result, the processing load required for route search can be reduced and the processing time can be shortened.
(2) Since the connection point is searched based on the conditions set in advance by the user, it is possible to search for the connection point according to the user's request.
(3) A walking route, an automobile route, and a public transportation route are searched, and these are combined to create a route candidate. Thereby, a total route from the departure point to the destination and from the destination to the home can be provided to the user.
(4) Not only the outbound route from the departure point to the destination but also the return route from the destination to the home is searched. As a result, it is possible to provide the user with an optimal connection point that takes the return route into consideration.

  In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the user is in a car at the departure point, moves to the transfer point searched from the departure point by car, stops the car in a parking lot near the transfer point, and then public Change to transportation (train) and move to the destination. On the way back, we decided to travel to the transfer point from the destination by public transportation, and to search for the route as if we took a car from the parking lot near the transfer point and returned home. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it can search for all possible movement routes and provide them to the user as a search result.

  Although public transportation has been described as a train, it is not limited to this, and it may be a ship or an airplane.

  When searching for connection points, it was decided to search all stations within a predetermined range specified by the user from the departure point, destination, and home. Only a specific station such as “station” may be searched for.

  When the transfer point or the parking lot does not exist within the predetermined range, the search range is expanded and the search is performed again. In this case, the system may automatically expand the range, notify the user that the connecting point or parking lot does not exist within the specified range, and change the range condition to search for the user. You may be encouraged.

  The correspondence between the constituent elements of the claims and the embodiment will be described. The public transportation route search means, route search means, parking lot search means, vehicle route search means, walking route search means, and transit point search means correspond to the route search unit 107a. The route setting terminal 200 corresponds to condition setting means. Note that the present invention is not limited to the configurations in the above-described embodiments as long as the characteristic functions of the present invention are not impaired.

It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of the information center and route setting terminal which mount one Embodiment of the route search apparatus by this invention. It is a flowchart figure of the search condition setting process on the route setting terminal 200, and the route determination process after the route search. It is a figure which shows the specific example about the search of a connection point. It is a figure which shows the specific example when searching for the parking lot in a predetermined range from the transfer point. It is a figure which shows the specific example about the search of a walk route. It is a figure which shows the specific example about the search of a motor vehicle path | route. It is a figure which shows the specific example about the search of a public transport route. It is a figure which shows the specific example when producing the candidate of all the routes by combining a walk route, a motor vehicle route, and a public transport route. It is a flowchart figure of the route search process processed in the information center 100. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

100 Information Center 101 Traffic Information Acquisition Device 102, 205 Clock 105, 201 Communication Device 106 Route Search Device 107, 206 Control Device 107a Route Search Unit 108 Public Transportation Route Database 109 Pedestrian Map Database 110 Road Map Database 111 Congestion Prediction Database 112 parking lot database 113 timetable database 200 route setting terminal 203 monitor 204 external storage device 206a route setting unit

Claims (4)

In a route search device that uses walking, vehicles, and public transportation as moving means, and searches for a route by combining the moving means,
Based on pre-designated departure place, destination and home, the nearest public transportation boarding location for the departure place, the nearest public transportation boarding location for the destination, and the nearest public transportation boarding for the home A transit point search means for searching for a location as a transit point;
Based on the departure point, the destination, the home, and the connection point searched by the connection point search means, an outbound route from the departure point to the destination, and a return route from the destination to the home, And a route search means for searching for a route. The route search device according to claim 1,
Parking lot search means for searching for a parking lot existing within a predetermined range from each connecting point with respect to the connecting point searched by the connecting point searching means,
Vehicle route search means for searching for a travel section by a vehicle existing in the outbound route and the return route, and searching for a route of the travel section by the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as “vehicle route”);
A walking route search means for searching for a walking movement section existing in the forward route and the return route, and searching for a walking movement route (hereinafter referred to as “walking route”);
Public transport that searches for travel sections by public transport existing in the forward route and the return route, and searches for routes of the travel sections by the public transport (hereinafter referred to as “public transport routes”). Route search means,
The route search means combines the searched vehicle route, walking route and public transportation route to search an outbound route from the departure point to the destination and a return route from the destination to the home. A route search device characterized by the above. In the route search device according to claim 1 or 2,
It further has a condition setting means for setting in advance conditions for performing a route search,
The connecting point search means searches for connecting points based on the conditions set by the condition setting means,
The route search device characterized in that the route search means searches for a route based on the condition set by the condition setting means. In a route search method in which walking, vehicles, and public transportation are used as moving means, and a route is searched by combining each moving means,
Based on pre-designated departure place, destination and home, the nearest public transportation boarding location for the departure place, the nearest public transportation boarding location for the destination, and the nearest public transportation boarding for the home Search for locations as connecting points,
Based on the starting point, the destination, the home, and the searched connection point, a forward route from the starting point to the destination and a return route from the destination to the home are searched. A route search method.

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