JP2005332041A - Road shape collecting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the data amounts of running trajectory data to be recorded while making it possible to acquire an accurate road shape from the running trajectory data. <P>SOLUTION: In the data capture timing for each of its own vehicle travel of a predetermined distance (for example, 10m), a control part 4 acquires the data of the location and traveling direction of its own vehicle from its own vehicle location detecting part 2, and predicts the location of its own vehicle in the next data capture timing, and determines whether or not the deviation of a distance between its own vehicle location data acquired in the data capture timing and the predicted location of its own vehicle is not less than a threshold (for example, 1% of the traveling distance). Then, when it is determined that the deviation of the distance is not less than the threshold, the data of the location of its own vehicle at that time are recorded in a recording part 6 as running trajectory data. The location of its own vehicle to be predicted in the next data capture timing is calculated, on the basis of the location and traveling direction of its own vehicle in the previously (latest) recorded point, by extending the distance assuming that the traveling direction is maintained. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a road shape collection device that is mounted on a vehicle and collects travel locus data of the vehicle for creating a road map.

  A car navigation device mounted on an automobile includes a main body including a microcomputer, a display device, a GPS receiver, a map database (a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD storing road map data and a drive device thereof), and the like. Yes. And, it realizes a location function that detects its current position and displays it on a display device in a superimposed manner on a road map, and a route guidance function that searches and guides a recommended route to a destination specified by the user. It is like that.

  By the way, the road map data recorded on the above-mentioned recording medium reflects the situation at the time of recording, so when a new road is opened or a facility is newly established, The data will not match the actual situation. For this reason, in the past, recording media on which new road map data was recorded on a regular basis (for example, every year) were released, and the user responded by buying new ones as needed. Even though the road map data is updated only for the road map, it is not efficient and the economy is not good if it is newly purchased and exchanged in the whole road map data unit.

Therefore, in recent years, the car navigation device collects travel locus data traveled by the vehicle and transmits the travel locus data to the map producer's server, and the map producer's server side based on the travel locus data. A system has been considered in which a new road is discovered, road map data is updated as needed, and the updated road map data is distributed to a car navigation device (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). In this case, the collection of travel locus data is performed by recording data on the vehicle position detected at regular intervals.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-203243 JP 2002-54934 A

  However, in the system that collects the travel locus data as described above, the vehicle position data is recorded at regular time intervals, so that the vehicle position data is used even when the vehicle is hardly traveling due to traffic jams, for example. In other words, a lot of useless data is included, and the amount of data collected as a whole increases. For this reason, problems such as an increase in the capacity of a memory provided in the car navigation device and an increase in time and cost required for communication are caused.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6A, when the actual road shape R has a curve, data of the vehicle position (point P indicated by a black circle) is simply recorded at regular intervals. However, when the road shape is reproduced from the data, there is a problem that an accurate road shape cannot be obtained at the curve portion as shown in FIG. In this case, if the data is collected more frequently (the number of points P is increased), the road shape can be accurately reproduced. However, this further increases the amount of data to be recorded. .

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a road shape capable of reducing the data amount of the travel locus data to be recorded while allowing an accurate road shape to be obtained from the travel locus data. To provide a collection device.

  In order to achieve the above object, a road shape collection device of the present invention is mounted on a vehicle and collects travel locus data of the own vehicle for creating a road map, and determines the position and traveling direction of the own vehicle. The own vehicle position detecting means for detecting, the traveling distance detecting means for detecting the traveling distance of the own vehicle, and the own vehicle position detecting means from the own vehicle position detecting means at the data capture timing every predetermined distance traveling of the own vehicle or every predetermined time. Data acquisition means for acquiring the position and travel direction data of the vehicle, and position prediction means for predicting the position of the vehicle at the next data capture timing from the data of the position and travel direction of the host vehicle as maintaining the travel direction And the deviation of the distance between the vehicle position data acquired by the data acquisition means at the data acquisition timing and the vehicle position predicted by the position prediction means is greater than or equal to a threshold value. And a data recording unit that records data of the vehicle position at that time as travel locus data when the determination unit determines a deviation of a distance greater than or equal to a threshold value. It has characteristics (invention of claim 1).

  According to this configuration, the data capturing unit acquires the data of the position and the traveling direction of the host vehicle every time the vehicle travels a predetermined distance or at a certain time interval, and the position predicting unit acquires the host vehicle. The vehicle position at the next data capture timing is predicted from the data of the current position and the traveling direction, assuming that the traveling direction is maintained. Then, the determination means determines whether or not the deviation of the distance between the own vehicle position data acquired at the data capture timing and the predicted own vehicle position is greater than or equal to a threshold value. When it is determined that there is a deviation, the data recording means records the vehicle position data at that time as travel locus data.

  Here, in order to accurately specify (reproduce) the road shape from the travel locus data, it is necessary to frequently record the vehicle position data in a portion where the road is curved. On the other hand, if the road is a straight line, there is no problem even if the vehicle position data is roughly recorded. Since the position predicting means predicts the position of the vehicle at the next data capture timing assuming that the traveling direction of the vehicle is maintained, when the vehicle is traveling on a straight road, There is almost no deviation from the actual vehicle position. However, when the road is curved, the actual traveling direction of the own vehicle gradually changes, so even if the vehicle is a gentle curve, the predicted own vehicle position and the actual own vehicle position are shifted. .

  Therefore, when driving on a straight road, the vehicle position data at that timing is no longer recorded as travel locus data even at the data capture timing, and the actual road is curved. The vehicle position data is recorded more frequently in the part where the vehicle is running. As a result, important data can be recorded without excess and deficiency, and unnecessary data can be saved, and as a result, an accurate road shape can be obtained from the travel locus data. Thus, it is possible to obtain an excellent effect that the data amount of the travel locus data to be recorded can be reduced.

At this time, it is desirable that the vehicle position data at the start of the collection of travel locus data is recorded as travel locus data by the data recording means (invention of claim 2). As a result, the vehicle position data at the start of the collection of travel locus data can be used as the first reference of the position predicting means, and the reference can be set along with this.
In addition, it is possible to provide a specifying means for the user to specify the start and / or end of collection of travel locus data (invention of claim 3). As a result, the data is not collected when necessary, such as when data is not collected when traveling on a non-road location such as a parking lot or on the premises, or when traveling on the same road many times. Only the traveling locus data can be collected, and the collection of useless data can be prevented beforehand.

  In the road shape collection device of the present invention, communication means for transmitting the travel locus data recorded in the data recording means to an external map producer server can be provided (invention of claim 4). According to this, the collected travel locus data can be passed to the map maker server by communication and used for road map creation. Alternatively, the data recording means can be configured to record the travel locus data on a removable recording medium (invention of claim 5). According to this, the recording medium can be directly passed to the cartographer server to be used for road map creation, and the data on the travel locus of the recording medium can be installed in a personal computer or kiosk terminal (convenience store or station). Can be transferred to a map producer server through a network.

  Further, in the present invention, the position predicting means described above is based on the vehicle position and the traveling direction data at the data capture timing at which the travel locus data was recorded last time as a reference, and the vehicle position at the next data capture timing. Can be configured to predict (the invention of claim 6). Here, for example, in the case where the road is curving very gently (the traveling direction of the vehicle changes slightly at every data capture timing), the vehicle position always at the previous data capture timing In addition, when the traveling direction is used as a reference for prediction, it is conceivable that the deviation amount is small (less than the threshold value), and the data on the vehicle position is not recorded for a long section. On the other hand, as described above, if the vehicle position and the traveling direction data at the data acquisition timing at which the travel locus data was recorded last time are used as a reference, the amount of deviation increases due to the accumulation of slight deviations. Therefore, it is possible to record the vehicle position data at an appropriate timing, and as a result, a road shape closer to the actual road can be obtained.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Note that the road shape collection device 1 according to the present embodiment partially shares a function with a car navigation device mounted on a vehicle (automobile) (or is integrated into the car navigation device). Here, first, the configuration of the car navigation apparatus will be briefly described.
Although not shown in detail, the car navigation device is composed of a microcomputer as a main component and controls the entire vehicle, a vehicle position detection unit 2 (see FIG. 1) connected to the control circuit, and a travel distance detection unit 3. (Refer to FIG. 1), map database (hard disk or DVD medium storing road map data, and its drive device), display unit comprising a liquid crystal panel, key operation unit for user to input various instructions, voice input An output device and the like are provided. In addition, it has a location function that displays its current position and direction of travel on a display unit superimposed on a road map, and a route guidance function that searches for and guides a recommended route to a destination specified by the user. ing.

  Among them, the vehicle position detection unit 2 includes a GPS receiver and a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor, etc. mounted on the vehicle, and based on these signals, the current position, traveling direction, current time, etc. of the vehicle are highly accurate. It comes to detect in. The travel distance detector 3 detects the travel distance and speed of the host vehicle with high accuracy based on signals from a vehicle speed sensor or the like mounted on the vehicle. These own vehicle position detection unit 2 and travel distance detection unit 3 function as own vehicle position detection means and travel distance detection means, respectively.

  FIG. 1 schematically shows a configuration of a road shape collecting apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, which is mounted on a vehicle and collects travel locus data of the own vehicle for creating a road map. Here, the road shape collection device 1 is configured to include a control unit 4 that mainly includes a microcomputer and controls the entire device. The control unit 4 is input with the data of the vehicle position and the traveling direction from the vehicle position detection unit 2 and the data of the travel distance from the travel distance detection unit 3.

  The control unit 4 is connected to a selection operation unit 5 and a storage unit 6. Among them, the selection operation unit 5 is used to select whether or not to collect travel locus data, and includes, for example, a mechanical switch or a touch panel. The user (driver) can select (specify) the collection or non-collection (start, end) of the travel locus data by operating the selection operation unit 5. It is supposed to function as. The storage unit 6 includes, for example, a memory, and data recording means for storing travel locus data (a set of own vehicle position data including the position of the own vehicle, the traveling direction, and the travel distance) for specifying the road shape. It is supposed to function as.

  Further, the road shape collection device 1 includes a communication device 7 and a medium mounting device 8. As shown in FIG. 2, the communication device 7 is configured to be able to perform wireless communication with the communication device 10 connected to the external map producer's server 9 and is recorded in the storage unit 6. It functions as a communication means for transmitting the travel locus data to the map producer's server 9. The medium loading device 8 can be loaded with a removable storage medium 11 made of, for example, an optical disk, a magnetic disk, a card-type memory, and the like, and the traveling locus data recorded in the storage unit 6 with respect to the storage medium 11. Can be written. In this case, the external map producer is also provided with a medium mounting device 12 on which the storage medium 11 can be mounted, and travel locus data can be given to the server 9 via the storage medium 11. Yes.

  As will be described later in the description of the operation, the control unit 4 is driven by a predetermined distance (for example, 10 m) of the own vehicle (or for a certain time (for example, 1 second) by the software configuration (execution of the data collection program) )) At the data acquisition timing, the vehicle position detection unit 2 acquires the vehicle position and travel direction data (vehicle position data), and predicts the vehicle position at the next data acquisition timing. In addition, it is determined whether or not the difference in distance between the vehicle position data acquired at the data capture timing and the predicted vehicle position is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

  When it is determined that there is a distance shift equal to or greater than the threshold, the vehicle position data at that time is recorded (written) in the storage unit 6 as travel locus data. Therefore, the control unit 4 functions as data fetching means, position predicting means, and judging means. The collection of the travel locus data is performed only when the collection of the travel locus data is selected and designated by the selection operation unit 5, and when the start of collection is instructed or at the start of the travel The vehicle position data at that time is recorded as the first reference point. In addition, the travel distance data from the travel distance detection unit 3 is always input to the control unit 4 so that the travel distance can be determined.

  At this time, the predicted vehicle position at the next data capture timing described above is based on the data of the vehicle position and the traveling direction at the point recorded in the storage unit 6 at the previous time (latest). Assuming that the traveling direction is maintained, it is obtained by accumulating until the next data capture timing and extending the distance. In addition, the threshold value for determining the deviation of the distance between the predicted position and the vehicle position is, for example, 1% of the cumulative travel distance from the reference point (the point recorded in the storage unit 5 last time). It is set up.

  Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, when the traveling direction is the direction of arrow A at the reference point P0, the accumulated travel distance from the reference point P0 at the next data capture timing is Assuming L, the point P1 extending from the point P0 in the direction of arrow A by the distance L is the predicted position. If the cumulative travel distance L is, for example, 1 km, the threshold value is 10 m, and the distance between the predicted position P1 and the actual position P2 (detected by the vehicle position detection unit 2) is shifted. If the amount H is 10 m or more, the data of the vehicle position at the position P2 is recorded (written) in the storage unit 6 as travel locus data.

  Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. The flowchart of FIG. 3 shows an outline of a processing procedure for collecting travel locus data executed by the control unit 4. That is, when the process of collecting the travel locus data (vehicle travel) is started, first, in step S1, the vehicle position and travel direction data at the start of the collection of travel locus data (at the start of travel) are automatically determined. It is taken in from the vehicle position detection unit 2 and recorded in the storage unit 6 as travel locus data (first reference point).

  In the next step S2, the next data capture timing, in this case, the predicted position of the host vehicle after traveling a predetermined distance (for example, 10 m) is obtained. This calculation is based on the vehicle position and travel direction data at the reference point recorded last time (latest) in the storage unit 5 as described above, and predicts a point that has traveled a predetermined distance while maintaining the travel direction. It is supposed to be a position. In step S3, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has traveled for a predetermined distance from the previous data capture timing. If the vehicle has traveled for a predetermined distance (Yes in step S3), in step S4, the vehicle position detector 2 detects the vehicle position. And the direction data is captured.

  In step S5, a difference (displacement) in the distance between the captured current position of the host vehicle and the predicted position obtained in step S2 is calculated, and it is determined whether the difference is equal to or greater than a threshold value. The If the difference (displacement) in the distance between the current position of the vehicle and the predicted position is larger than the threshold value (Yes in step S5), it is read at that time in next step S6. The vehicle position and traveling direction data are recorded in the recording unit 5 as travel data. Then, as long as the travel locus data collection process (travel of the vehicle) does not end (No in step S7), the process returns to step S2 to obtain the predicted position of the vehicle at the next data capture timing. . At this time, the previous vehicle position and travel direction data recorded in step S6 are used as reference data for prediction.

  On the other hand, if the difference (deviation) between the current position of the vehicle and the predicted position is small (less than the threshold value) in step S5 (No), the storage unit is stored in step S8. 6, the vehicle position at the next data capture timing is predicted by extending the distance based on the vehicle position and travel direction data recorded at the previous (latest) point, and the process returns to step S3. In this case, the processing proceeds without the data of the vehicle position captured in step S4 being recorded in the recording unit 5.

  The travel locus data collection process is performed when the vehicle finishes running or when the user instructs the selection operation unit 4 to end the travel locus data collection process (Yes in step S7). Is terminated. In addition, the travel locus data is not recorded when the vehicle moves backward. Although not shown, the travel locus data collected in this way is sent to the map producer server 9 by wireless communication by the communication device 7 at an appropriate time. Alternatively, the collected travel locus data is written to the recording medium 11 and the recording medium 11 is directly passed to the map producer server 9. On the map producer server 9 side, a road shape is specified from the obtained travel locus data, and road map data is produced.

  With the above processing, when the vehicle is traveling on a straight road, the actual vehicle position and the predicted vehicle position are almost the same. The vehicle position data at that timing is no longer recorded as travel locus data. On the other hand, when the road shape is curved, the actual traveling direction of the vehicle gradually changes, so that even if the curve is a gradual curve, the predicted vehicle position and the actual vehicle position are shifted. Become. For this reason, in the portion where the road is curved, the data of the own vehicle position is frequently recorded as travel locus data.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5A, when the actual road shape R has a curve, the points P where the vehicle position data is recorded are dense (recorded at short intervals) in the curve portion. In other words, the vehicle position data is not recorded in the middle of the straight portion. As a result, the amount of data to be recorded in the storage unit 6 can be reduced compared to the conventional example shown in FIG. And, if the actual road is curved, the vehicle position data is recorded more frequently, so the road shape is reproduced from the data as shown in FIG. Even if it is specified), a more accurate road shape in the curve portion can be obtained.

  In addition, when the road shape is very gently curved (the traveling direction of the vehicle at each data capture timing changes very little), as shown in FIG. Data is not recorded every time, but the estimated position is obtained based on the vehicle position and travel direction data at the data capture timing when the travel locus data was recorded last time. The vehicle position data can be recorded at an appropriate timing at which the accumulation of the vehicle does not increase so much, and as a result, a road shape closer to the actual road can be obtained.

  As described above, according to the road shape collection device 1 of the present embodiment, the deviation of the distance between the actual vehicle position data and the predicted vehicle position at the data capture timing for each predetermined distance travel of the vehicle, Since the vehicle position data is recorded in the storage unit 6 as travel locus data only when the value is equal to or greater than the threshold value, when the vehicle is traveling on a straight road, the vehicle position data is It is no longer recorded as travel locus data, and the data of the vehicle position is recorded more frequently in a portion where the actual road is curved. As a result, important data can be recorded without excess and deficiency, and unnecessary data can be saved, and as a result, an accurate road shape can be obtained from the travel locus data. Thus, it is possible to obtain an excellent effect that the data amount of the travel locus data to be recorded can be reduced.

  In particular, in this embodiment, the user can specify the start and end of collection of travel locus data by the selection operation unit 4, so that, for example, when traveling on a place other than a road such as a parking lot or a business premises, It is possible to collect travel locus data only when necessary at the discretion of the user, such as not collecting data when traveling on the same road many times. Can be prevented. Furthermore, since the vehicle position at the next data capture timing is predicted based on the vehicle position and travel direction data at the data capture timing at which the travel locus data was recorded last time, the road Even when the car is curving very slowly, the vehicle position data can be recorded at an appropriate timing, and as a result, it is possible to obtain a road shape that is closer to the actual road. It is something that can be done.

  In the above-described embodiment, the data acquisition timing is set for every predetermined distance, but may be set for every predetermined time. In the above embodiment, both the communication device 7 and the medium mounting device 8 are provided to pass the travel locus data to the map producer server 9, but only one of them may be provided. Further, when the removable recording medium 11 is used, the travel locus data recorded on the recording medium 11 is taken into a personal computer, a kiosk terminal (information terminal installed at a convenience store or a station), etc., and the map producer server 9 is transmitted through the network. It is also possible to pass to.

  In addition, various modifications can be made to the configuration of the road shape collection device 1 and the car navigation device. In this case, the road shape collection device is integrated into the car navigation device or independent of the car navigation device. It is also possible to configure as a device. In addition, the specific numerical values of the predetermined distance (every 10 m), every fixed time (every second), and the threshold value (1% of the travel distance) are merely examples, and so on. The invention can be implemented with appropriate modifications without departing from the scope of the invention.

The block diagram which shows one Example of this invention and shows schematic structure of a road shape collection apparatus The figure which shows roughly the system structure for passing driving | running | working locus data from a road shape collection apparatus to the map producer server The flowchart which shows the process sequence of the collection of traveling locus data which a control part performs A diagram showing the situation when the road curves very gently The figure which shows side by side the relationship (a) of an actual road shape and a recording point, and the road shape (b) reproduced from travel locus data FIG. 5 equivalent diagram showing a conventional example

Explanation of symbols

In the drawings, 1 is a road shape collection device, 2 is a vehicle position detection unit (vehicle position detection unit), 3 is a travel distance detection unit (travel distance detection unit), and 4 is a control unit (data fetching unit, position prediction). Means 5 (selection means), 6 is a storage section (data recording means), 7 is a communication device (communication means), 9 is a map producer server, and 11 is a recording medium.

Claims (6)

A road shape collection device that is mounted on a vehicle and collects the travel locus data of the vehicle for creating a road map,
Own vehicle position detecting means for detecting the position and traveling direction of the own vehicle;
Mileage detection means for detecting the mileage of the vehicle;
Data capturing means for acquiring data of the position and traveling direction of the own vehicle from the own vehicle position detecting means at a data capturing timing for every predetermined distance traveling of the own vehicle or every predetermined time;
Position predicting means for predicting the position of the vehicle at the next data capture timing from the data of the position of the host vehicle and the traveling direction as maintaining the traveling direction;
Judgment means for judging whether or not the deviation of the distance between the own vehicle position data acquired by the data acquisition means at the data acquisition timing and the own vehicle position predicted by the position prediction means is equal to or greater than a threshold value. When,
A road shape collecting apparatus comprising: data recording means for recording data of the vehicle position at that time as travel locus data when the judging means judges a distance shift equal to or greater than a threshold value.   2. The road shape collecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data recording means records the data of the vehicle position at the start of the collection of travel locus data as travel locus data.   The road shape collection device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising designation means for a user to designate collection start and / or collection end of travel locus data.   The road shape collection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising communication means for transmitting the travel locus data recorded in the data recording means to an external map producer server.   The road shape collection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the data recording means is configured to record travel locus data on a removable recording medium. The position predicting means predicts the vehicle position at the next data capture timing with reference to the vehicle position and travel direction data at the data capture timing at which the travel locus data was recorded last time. The road shape collection device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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