JP2006023158A - Navigation system for car - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a car navigation system capable of easily indicating an intersection where to turn with a novel means. <P>SOLUTION: The car navigation system, regarding the guidance intersection X, performs both the image display and the voice guidance when own car leaches this side intersection Y before the intersection X for route guidance when both the conditions that "the distance between the intersection X for route guidance and this side intersection Y is shorter than the prescribed distance" and that "the entrance lane to the intersection X, and the entrance lane to this side intersection Y are restricted by the guidance route" are satisfied. The image display displays the intersection X and this side intersection Y, entrance lanes to the intersection X along the guidance route and this side intersection Y, the designated lane 22 capable of entering the intersection X and enhanced displays 31 and 32 of both the two intersections. Moreover, the voice guidance performs the designation of the entrance lane capable of entering the intersection for the route guidance and the designation of the entrance lane capable of entering this side intersection. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle navigation apparatus that provides guidance for a guidance intersection and an intersection before the guidance intersection.

  Conventionally, a vehicular navigation apparatus is configured to guide a route by voice or the like when approaching a guidance intersection in a guidance route to a set destination. The guidance intersection is, for example, an intersection that turns right or left.

  In addition, when there is another intersection just before the guidance intersection, the user may be wondering which intersection to turn. FIG. 1 shows an overhead view of intersections A and B for showing such a case. The vehicle navigation device mounted on the vehicle 50 performs voice guidance such as “It is XX meters ahead, left” in order to guide the true guidance route that turns left at the intersection A, as indicated by the solid line arrow 51. However, since the user of the vehicle 50 is close to the intersection A and the intersection B, the user may be wondering which intersection to turn, and may eventually travel on the wrong route 52.

As a technique for solving such a problem, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for guiding by voice how many intersections are to be turned from the current position.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-83517

  However, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, there is a case where the intersection of the guided object and the intersection that must actually bend may be deviated due to a small deviation between the traveling timing and the guiding timing. FIG. 2 shows an overhead view of intersections C, D, and E for showing such a case.

  The vehicle navigation device mounted on the vehicle 53 uses a relative relationship between the current position of the vehicle and the positions of the intersections C, D, and E to guide a true guide route that turns left at the intersection C, as indicated by a solid arrow 54. Based on the relationship, voice guidance such as “the second intersection is to the left” is performed. However, if the timing of receiving the guidance is just when the vehicle 53 enters the intersection E, the user is wondering whether the second intersection points to the intersection D or C, and finally it is wrong. There is a possibility of traveling along the route 55.

  In view of the above points, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular navigation device that can easily convey an intersection to be bent by a novel method.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 determines that the distance between the guidance intersection and the nearest intersection that is one before the guidance intersection along the guidance route is not more than a predetermined value. (1) the guidance intersection, (2) an approach road to the guidance intersection along the guide route, and (3) a guide lane in the approach road, based on the determination of the distance determination means Image display means for simultaneously displaying images of designation of (4) the near intersection, (5) an approach road to the near intersection along the guide route, and (6) designation of a guide lane in the approach road A vehicle navigation apparatus comprising:

  In this way, if the guidance intersection is close to the previous intersection, (1) the guidance intersection, (2) the approach road to the guidance intersection along the guidance route, and (3) guidance in this approach road The lane designation, (4) the previous intersection, (5) the approach road to the previous intersection along the guide route, and (6) the designation of the guide lane in this approach road are displayed at the same time, so turn The intersection should be communicated in an easy-to-understand manner.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided distance determination means for determining whether the distance between the guidance intersection and the nearest intersection that is one before the guidance intersection along the guidance route is a predetermined value or less. , Based on the determination of the distance determination means, the designation of the guide lane in the approach road to the guidance intersection along the guide route, and the guidance lane in the approach road to the near intersection along the guide route A vehicle navigation apparatus comprising: voice display means for voice display of designation.

  In this way, when the guidance intersection is close to the previous intersection, the guide lane in the approach road to the guidance intersection along the guidance route is designated, and the approach road to the previous intersection along the guidance route The designation of the inside guide lane is displayed by voice so that the intersection to be turned is easily communicated.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, an approachable lane to the selected intersection, and an approachable lane at the near intersection that is one before the selected intersection along the guide route are determined by the guide route. Based on the determination of the restriction determination means for determining that the vehicle is restricted and the determination of the restriction determination means, the designation of the lane that is allowed to enter the selected intersection and the designation of the lane that is allowed to enter the preceding intersection are displayed simultaneously. And an image display means.

  In this way, when the lane that can be entered to the selected intersection and the lane that can be entered at the previous intersection are restricted by the guide route, the designation of the lane that can be entered to the selected intersection and the previous intersection The designation of the lane where you can enter is displayed on the screen at the same time, so you can easily understand the intersection to bend.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle navigation apparatus according to the third aspect, the image display means is based on the determination of the restriction determination means, (1) the selected intersection, (2) An approach road to the selected intersection along the guide route, (3) designation of a lane that can enter the selected intersection, (4) the near intersection, (5) to the near intersection along the guide route And (6) image display means for simultaneously displaying an image of designation of the lane that can enter the preceding intersection.

  In this way, if the lanes that can be entered to the selected intersection and the lanes that can be entered at the previous intersection are limited by the guidance route, (1) the selected intersection, (2) along the guidance route The road to the selected intersection, (3) designation of the lanes that can be entered to the selected intersection, (4) the previous intersection, (5) the approach road to the previous intersection along the guide route, and ( 6) Since the designation of the lane where the vehicle can enter the preceding intersection is displayed at the same time, the intersection to be turned is easily communicated.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, an approachable lane to the selected intersection, and an approachable lane at the nearest intersection that is one before the selected intersection along the guide route are determined by the guide route. Restriction determining means for determining that the vehicle is restricted, and voice for displaying the designation of the lane that is allowed to enter the selected intersection and the designation of the lane that is allowed to enter the preceding intersection based on the determination of the restriction determination means A vehicle navigation apparatus comprising: a display unit;

  Thus, if the lanes that can be entered to the selected intersection and the lanes that can be entered at the previous intersection are limited by the guide route, the designation of the lane that can be entered to the selected intersection, and The designation of the lane where you can enter the nearest intersection is displayed as a voice, so you can easily understand the intersection you should turn.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the vehicle navigation apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the selected intersection is a guidance intersection.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle navigation apparatus for identifying a guidance route to a set destination and guiding the guidance route, wherein the guidance intersection and guidance for the guidance intersection are provided. Distance determining means for determining that the distance to the nearest intersection along the route is equal to or less than a predetermined value, and based on the determination of the distance determining means, to the guidance intersection along the guide route Image display means for simultaneously displaying the designation of the guide lane in the approach road and the designation of the guide lane in the approach road to the near intersection along the guide route; It is a navigation device.

  In this way, when the guidance intersection is close to the previous intersection, the guide lane in the approach road to the guidance intersection along the guidance route is designated, and the approach road to the previous intersection along the guidance route The designation of the inside guide lane is displayed on the screen at the same time, so you can easily understand the intersection to be turned.

(First embodiment)
The first embodiment of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 3 shows a hardware configuration of the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment.

  The in-vehicle navigation device 1 includes a position detector 11, an operation switch group 12, an image display device 13, an audio amplifier 14, a speaker 15, an external storage medium 18, and a control circuit 19.

  The position detector 11 includes a well-known sensor (not shown) such as a geomagnetic sensor, a gyroscope, a vehicle speed sensor, and a GPS receiver, and the current position and direction of the vehicle based on the characteristics of each of these sensors. Is output to the control circuit 19.

  The operation switch group 12 includes a plurality of mechanical switches provided in the vehicle navigation device 1 and an input device such as a touch panel provided on the display surface of the image display device 13. The user presses the mechanical switch and touches the touch panel. Is output to the control circuit 19.

  The image display device 13 displays a video based on the video signal output from the control circuit 19 to the user. Examples of the display image include a map centering on the current location.

  The audio amplifier 14 amplifies the audio signal output from the control circuit 19 and outputs it to the speaker 15.

  The external storage medium 18 is a non-volatile storage medium such as an HDD, and stores a program read and executed by the control circuit 19, map data for route guidance, and the like.

  Map data includes road segments (links), intersections (nodes), connections between intersections and road segments, the number of lanes on each road, lane-exit direction correspondence information between each lane and exit direction, and movement between lanes It has lane restriction information about restrictions.

  Lane-exit direction correspondence information is information about entering a crossing from a certain road segment and exiting to another road segment connected to the intersection, and each lane of the approaching road segment and its lane It has a corresponding relationship with the exit road piece that is allowed to enter the intersection and exit.

  The lane restriction information includes information such as which part of the road piece is prohibited from moving from which lane to which lane.

  The control circuit 19 has a RAM, a ROM, and a CPU (not shown). The CPU executes a program for the operation of the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 read from the ROM and the external storage medium 18, and in executing the program, reads information from the ROM, RAM, and external storage medium 18, Information is written to the external storage medium 18, and signals are transmitted to the position detector 11, the operation switch group 12, the image display device 13, and the audio amplifier 14.

  Specific processing performed by the CPU of the control circuit 19 executing a program includes current position specifying processing, guidance route search processing, route guidance processing, and the like.

  The current position specifying process is a process for specifying the current position and direction of the vehicle using a known technique such as map matching based on the signal from the position detector 11.

  The guide route search process is a process of receiving an input of a destination by the user from the input device and calculating an optimum guide route from the current position to the destination. In the guidance route search process of the present embodiment, guidance schedule data indicating which type of guidance is to be used at which intersection in the guidance route specified as a result of the search is stored in the external storage medium 18. ing.

  The route guidance process reads map data from the external storage medium 18, displays the calculated guidance route, memory location, and the like together with the map data on the image display device 13, and outputs a guidance voice to the audio amplifier 14. This is a process of prompting driving along the guide route. Further, the route guidance process of the present embodiment performs guidance in a format according to the above-described guidance schedule data.

  Here, the guidance route search process will be described. FIG. 4 shows a guide route search program 100 for causing the control circuit 19 to realize this guide route search process.

  The control circuit 19 starts the execution of the guide route search program 100 by detecting a destination setting operation using the operation switch group 12 by the user. First, in step 110, a process for determining the guide route is performed. I do. That is, using the well-known Dijkstra method or the like, an optimum route from the current position specified by the current position specifying process to the set destination is calculated, and the calculated route is used as a guide route.

  Subsequently, at step 120, one guidance intersection is extracted from the current position along the traveling direction of the guidance route. The guidance intersection is an intersection that does not go straight in the guidance route.

  Subsequently, in step 130, it is determined whether or not there is a restriction on the approach to the extracted guidance intersection. Specifically, when there is at least one lane with a direction restriction among lanes (hereinafter referred to as approach lanes) of a road segment (hereinafter referred to as approach road segment) that enters the guidance intersection along the guide route, It is determined that there is a limit on entry to the guidance intersection. Here, a lane with a direction restriction means that even if a road piece that cannot be exited from the lane when entering the guidance intersection is one of the road pieces connected to the guidance intersection (excluding the entry lane). Say something. And when all the approach lanes are lanes without direction restrictions, it determines with there being no restriction | limiting in the approach to the said guidance intersection. This determination is made based on the lane-exit direction correspondence information in the map data.

  If there is a restriction on entry to the guidance intersection, step 140 is executed. If not, step 180 is executed.

  In step 140, it is determined whether or not the distance from the guidance intersection to the near intersection is within a specified value. The near intersection is an intersection that is one before the guidance intersection along the guidance route. The specified value is, for example, 50 m, 100 m, or the like. If it is within the specified value, then step 150 is executed. If it is larger than the specified value, then step 180 is executed.

  In step 150, it is determined whether or not there is a restriction on exit from the near intersection. Specifically, based on the lane restriction information in the map data, the lane change prohibition is prohibited at a point immediately after the exit road piece from the guidance intersection along the guidance route exits from the guidance intersection. Judgment is made by whether or not there is one. If there is a restriction on exit from the near intersection, step 160 is executed. If there is no restriction, step 180 is executed.

  In step 160, it is determined whether or not it is impossible to exit the road in the guidance direction at the guidance intersection unless the restrictions on the guidance intersection and the previous intersection are combined. Specifically, the determination is made based on whether or not the approachable lane at the guidance intersection and the approachable lane at the near intersection are restricted by the guidance route.

  The approachable lanes at the guidance intersection are limited by the guidance route. In order to enter this guidance intersection and exit this guidance intersection from the exit route according to the guidance route, the entry lane to this guidance intersection is limited. To be done. Specifically, based on the lane-exit direction correspondence information, whether there is a lane that cannot be exited on the exit road piece along the guide route among a plurality of approach lanes to the guide intersection. It is determined whether the approachable lane is restricted by the guide route.

  The approachable lane at the previous intersection is restricted by the guidance route. The entry to this nearest intersection is required to enter this nearest intersection and finally exit the guidance intersection from the exit route according to the guidance route. It means that the lane is limited. Specifically, based on lane-exit direction correspondence information and lane restriction information, there is a lane change restriction almost seamlessly from immediately before leaving the front intersection to the guidance intersection on the road piece connecting from the front intersection to the guidance intersection. In addition, depending on the lane to be taken when exiting from the near intersection to the road segment, it is determined whether or not there is a case where it is not possible to exit from the guidance intersection to the exit road segment according to the guidance route.

  If the approachable lane at the guidance intersection and the approachable lane at the front intersection are restricted by the guidance route, then step 170 is executed, and if not, step 180 is executed subsequently.

  In step 170, data for performing the guidance display combining the guidance intersection and the front intersection with voice and image is created and stored in the external storage medium 18 as guidance schedule data. The data to be created may be image data and audio data that are actually displayed when the vehicle approaches the intersection in front of the guidance intersection, and for displaying what image and what sound at that time. It may be data that specifies whether to generate the data.

  In step 180, guidance is created as a normal guidance intersection. That is, data for performing guidance without combining the front intersections with voice and images is created and stored in the external storage medium 18 as guidance schedule data.

  In Step 190 after Steps 170 and 180, it is determined whether or not the guidance intersection in the guidance route has been extracted to the end. If it has been extracted to the end, the execution of the guide route search program 100 is terminated. If there is a guidance intersection that has not been extracted, then in step 120, one of them is extracted.

  As described above, by executing the guidance route search program 100, the control circuit 19 determines that the distance between the selected guidance intersection and the preceding intersection is equal to or less than a predetermined value (see step 140). For image and voice guidance combining the guidance intersection and the front intersection based on determining that the lane at the guidance intersection and the lane at the front intersection are restricted by the guidance route (see step 160). Are stored in the storage medium as guide schedule data.

  Then, the control circuit 19 performs the above-described route guidance process based on the guidance schedule data having the guidance data for each guidance intersection as described above. That is, when the vehicle arrives within a predetermined distance from the target position for the image and audio guidance data, the image signal and the audio signal based on the data are output to the image display device 13 and the audio amplifier 14, respectively. To do.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of a screen display 19 performed by the route guidance process. In this display image, the host vehicle 21, the guide lane instruction line 22, and the like are displayed on a road map including the guide intersection X and the front intersection Y on the guide system road.

  In this example, the distance along the guide route between the guidance intersection X and the front intersection Y is not more than the predetermined distance described above. Moreover, the approach road piece to the guidance intersection X along the guide route is one lane on one side, and the approach road piece to the near intersection Y is one lane on one side. Further, the two lanes of the road segment from the guidance intersection Y to the near intersection X cannot be changed from the beginning to the end due to the separation zone 23. Further, as shown in the road paints 24 to 28, the leftmost lane of the road piece in front of the guidance intersection X is allowed to turn only left, and the second lane from the left end is only straight ahead. Is now allowed. Therefore, in order to turn left at the guidance intersection X according to the guidance route, it is necessary to pass through the center lane on the approach road piece to the near intersection Y. That is, the approachable lane at the near intersection Y is limited by the guide route.

  For such a guidance intersection X, the control circuit 19 writes in the guidance schedule data, and then the image displayed by controlling the image display device 13 when the host vehicle approaches this near intersection Y is as shown in FIG. On the map that includes the intersection X, the near intersection Y, the guidance intersection X along the guide route, and the approach road segment to the near intersection Y, the lane that can enter the guidance intersection X and the lane that can enter the near intersection Y are specified. The guide lane indicating line 22 is overlapped, and the circles 31 and 32 that emphasize the image display of the two intersections X and Y are overlapped.

  Then, the control circuit 19 displays such an image and informs the audio amplifier 14 that “the intersection Y should travel in the center lane. After that, it is the left lane. Is output.

  Thus, the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 selects one guidance intersection in the determined guidance route one by one, and for the selected guidance intersection, “the distance between the guidance intersection and the previous intersection is a predetermined distance. If both the conditions of `` shorter '' and the condition that `` the lanes that can enter the guide intersection and the lanes that can enter the front intersection are limited by the guide route '' are satisfied, When approaching, image display and sound display are performed together. And the image display is (1) the guidance intersection, (2) the approach road to the guidance intersection along the guidance route, (3) designation of the lane that can enter the guidance intersection, (4) the intersection before this , (5) The approach road to the previous intersection along the guide route, and (6) the designation of the lane that can enter the intersection are simultaneously displayed, and the image display of these two intersections is emphasized. The voice display guides the designation of the lane that can be entered to the guidance intersection and the designation of the lane that can be entered to the front intersection. Since such image display and sound display are performed, the intersection to be bent is easily communicated.

  In the present embodiment, the control circuit 19 functions as a distance determination unit by executing step 140 of the guide route search program 100.

  Moreover, the control circuit 19 functions as a restriction determination unit by executing step 160 of the guide route search program 100.

  The image display device 13 corresponds to an image display unit.

The audio amplifier 14 and the speaker 15 correspond to a sound display unit.
(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The hardware configuration of the vehicle navigation device 1 of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment. The operation of this embodiment is different from that of the first embodiment in that the control circuit 19 executes a guide route search program 200 shown in FIG. 6 instead of the guide route search program 100.

  Hereinafter, this guidance route search program 200 will be described. The control circuit 19 starts the execution of the guide route search program 200 by detecting a destination setting operation using the operation switch group 12 by the user. First, in step 210, the step 110 of the guide route search program 100 is started. Equivalent to the process for determining the guide route.

  Subsequently, at step 220, one intersection is extracted from the current position along the traveling direction of the guide route. The objects to be extracted here are not only the guidance intersections but all intersections.

  Subsequently, in step 230, it is determined in the same manner as in step 130 of the guide route search program 100 whether or not there is a restriction on the approach to the extracted intersection. If there is a limit, step 240 is executed. If there is no limit, step 270 is executed.

  In step 240, it is determined in the same manner as in step 150 of the guidance route search program 100 whether or not there is a restriction on leaving the intersection from the preceding intersection. If there is a limit, then step 250 is executed. If there is no limit, step 270 is executed subsequently.

  In step 250, it is determined in the same manner as in step 160 of the guidance route search program 100 whether or not it is impossible to exit from the intersection in the guidance direction unless the restrictions on the intersection and the preceding intersection are combined. If not possible, step 260 is subsequently executed, and if possible, step 270 is subsequently executed.

  In step 260, as in step 170 of the guidance route search program 100, data for guidance in which the intersection and the previous intersection are combined is created and stored in the control circuit 19 as guidance schedule data. After step 260, step 290 is subsequently executed.

  In step 270, it is determined whether or not the intersection is a guidance intersection. If the intersection is a guidance intersection, step 280 is subsequently executed, and if it is not a guidance intersection, step 290 is subsequently executed.

  In step 280, data for guidance as a normal guidance intersection is created for the intersection, as in step 180 of the guidance route search program 100, and stored in the control circuit 19 as guidance schedule data. After step 280, step 290 is subsequently executed.

  In step 290, it is determined whether or not the intersection in the guide route has been extracted to the end. If extracted to the end, the execution of the guide route search program 200 is terminated. If there is an intersection that has not been extracted, then in step 220, one of them is extracted.

  When the control circuit 19 executes such a guidance route search program 200, the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 is configured such that the approachable lanes at the selected guidance intersection and the approachable lanes at the near intersection are limited by the guidance route. (See step 250), the image and voice guidance data combining the intersection and the previous intersection are stored in the storage medium as guidance schedule data.

  And the control circuit 19 performs the route guidance process shown in 1st Embodiment based on the guidance schedule data which has the data for guidance about each guidance intersection in this way. That is, when the vehicle arrives within a predetermined distance from the target position for the image and audio guidance data, the image signal and the audio signal based on the data are output to the image display device 13 and the audio amplifier 14, respectively. To do.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of the screen display 19 performed by the route guidance process. In this display image, the host vehicle 21, the guide lane indicating line 29, and the like are superimposed on the road map including the intersection X and the front intersection Y shown in FIG. It is. However, since the guide route in the present embodiment goes straight without turning left at the intersection X, the intersection X is not a guidance intersection. Therefore, in order to go straight on the intersection X according to the guidance route, it is necessary to pass the rightmost in the approach road piece to the near intersection Y. That is, the approachable lane at the near intersection Y is limited by the guide route.

  For such an intersection X, the control circuit 19 writes in the guidance schedule data, and then the image displayed by controlling the image display device 13 when the own vehicle approaches this near intersection Y is shown in FIG. , The front intersection Y, the intersection X along the guide route, and a guide lane indicating line for designating an approachable lane to the intersection X and an enterable lane to the intersection Y on a map including an approach road segment to the near intersection Y 29, and circles 31 and 32 for emphasizing the image display of the two intersections X and Y are superimposed.

  Then, the control circuit 19 displays such an image and outputs an audio signal to the audio amplifier 14 that “Please cross the intersection Y on the right lane.

  Thus, the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 selects all the intersections in the determined guide route one by one, and for the selected intersection, “the lane that can enter the intersection and the intersection before this one” In the case where the condition that the lane where the vehicle can enter is restricted by the guide route is satisfied, when the host vehicle approaches the near intersection later, the image display and the audio display are performed together. Then, the image display includes (1) the selected intersection, (2) an approach road to the selected intersection along the guide route, (3) designation of a lane that can enter the selected intersection, and (4) The front intersection, (5) the approach road to the front intersection along the guide route, and (6) the designation of the lane that can enter the front intersection are simultaneously displayed, and the image display of these two intersections is highlighted. To do. The voice display guides the designation of the lane that can be entered to the selected intersection and the designation of the lane that is allowed to enter the preceding intersection. Since such image display and sound display are performed, the intersection to be bent is easily communicated.

  In the present embodiment, the control circuit 19 executes step 250 of the guide route search program 200 to function as a restriction determination unit.

  The image display device 13 corresponds to an image display unit.

The audio amplifier 14 and the speaker 15 correspond to a sound display unit.
(Other embodiments)
In the above-described first embodiment, in order to determine whether or not the condition that “the lane that can be entered to the guidance intersection and the lane that is allowed to enter the intersection in front thereof is restricted by the guidance route” is satisfied. In step 160, when there is a lane change restriction almost immediately without a break from the front intersection to the guidance intersection on the road piece leading from the front intersection to the guidance intersection, and when exiting from the front intersection to the road piece Depending on the lane to be taken, it is determined whether or not there is a case where it is impossible to exit from the guidance intersection to the exit road piece according to the guidance route.

  However, the determination as to whether or not “the lane that can be entered to the guidance intersection and the lane that is allowed to enter the intersection in front of the guidance intersection is limited by the guidance route” is not necessarily limited to such an example. Based on the correspondence information, if there are lanes that cannot be included in the approach road segment along the guidance route to the guidance intersection among the multiple approach lanes along the guidance route to the previous intersection, It may be determined that the lane where the vehicle can enter the intersection and the lane where the vehicle can enter the intersection in front of the intersection are limited by the guide route. FIG. 8 shows an example of image display performed by the vehicle navigation apparatus by route guidance processing when such a determination is made. In this display image, a host vehicle 41, a guide lane instruction line 42, a pop-up image 43, and the like are superimposed and displayed on a road map including a guide intersection P on the guide route and a front intersection Q.

  In this example, the distance along the guidance route between the guidance intersection P and the guidance intersection Q is not more than the predetermined distance described above. Moreover, the approach road piece to the guidance intersection P along the guide route is two lanes on one side, and the approach road piece to the near intersection Q is one lane on one side. There is no particular lane change restriction for the two lanes of the road segment from the guidance intersection Y to the front intersection X. Further, as shown in the road paints 44 to 47, the leftmost lane of the road piece in front of the guidance intersection P is allowed to go straight and turn left, and the second lane from the left end is Only straight travel is allowed. Further, the leftmost lane of the road change in front of the front intersection Q is allowed to turn left only, and the second lane from the left end is allowed only to go straight. Therefore, in order for the own vehicle 41 to turn left at the guidance intersection X according to the guidance route, it must pass through the left lane on the approach road piece to the near intersection Y.

  For such a guidance intersection X, the control circuit 19 writes in the guidance schedule data, and then the image displayed by controlling the image display device 13 when the host vehicle approaches this near intersection Y is as shown in FIG. On the map containing the intersection P, the previous intersection Q, the guided intersection P along the guide route, and the approach road segment to the previous intersection Q, the lane that can enter the guidance intersection P and the lane that can enter the preceding intersection Q are specified. The guide lane indicating line 42 to be overlapped, and circles 48 and 49 for emphasizing the image display of the two intersections X and Y are overlapped.

  Further, a pop-up image 43 for displaying a lane list may be further superimposed on this image. The lane list includes the lanes on the approach road segment to two intersections, the designation of the guide lane in the approach road to the guide intersection P along the guide route, and the road in the approach road to the previous intersection P along the guide route. The guide lane is specified at the same time.

  Further, in the first embodiment described above, the vehicle navigation device 1 determines that the condition that “the distance between the guidance intersection and its front intersection is shorter than a predetermined distance”, “the lane that can enter the guidance intersection, and its front side” When both of the two conditions that “the lane where the vehicle can enter at the intersection is restricted by the guide route” are satisfied, an image display and a voice display in which the guidance intersection and the near intersection are combined as shown in the first embodiment later. However, this is not necessarily the case. For example, even if the condition that “the lane that can enter the guide intersection and the lane that can enter the front intersection is limited by the guide route” is not satisfied, the distance between the guide intersection and the front intersection is more than a predetermined distance. If the condition of “short” is satisfied, an image display and a sound display combining the guidance intersection and the front intersection may be performed later.

  The image display in such a case is that the guide lane indicator line superimposed on the map including the guide intersection, the previous intersection, the guide intersection along the guide route, and the approach road piece to the previous intersection is guided along the guide route. In order to exit the intersection, it is not always necessary to travel in the lane, but any guidance lane indicating line that indicates a lane where it is desirable to travel in the lane may be used. For example, in FIG. 8, when the lane at the left end of the approaching road segment along the guide route to the near intersection Q is also capable of going straight ahead, to exit the guide intersection P along the guide route, You may pass through any lane of the approach road piece, but it is desirable to pass the left lane because the two intersections P and Q are close. In such a case, the lane at the left end is a lane “desirably traveling in that lane to exit the guidance intersection along the guide route”.

It is a figure which shows the example of the intersection guidance in a prior art. It is a figure which shows the example of the intersection guidance in a prior art. It is a figure showing composition of vehicular navigation device 1 concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart of a guide route search program 100. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen display which the image display apparatus 13 performs by the route guidance process of 1st Embodiment. 5 is a flowchart of a guide route search program 200. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen display which the image display apparatus 13 performs by the route guidance process of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the other example of the screen display which the image display apparatus 13 performs by the route guidance process by the control circuit 19. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle navigation apparatus, 11 ... Position detector, 12 ... Operation switch group,
13 ... Image display device, 14 ... Audio amplifier, 15 ... Speaker,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 18 ... External storage medium, 19 ... Control circuit, 21 ... Vehicle, 22, 29 ... Guide lane indicating line, 23 ... Separation zone, 100, 200 ... Guide route search program.

Claims (7)

Distance determining means for determining that the distance between the guidance intersection and the near intersection that is one before the guidance intersection along the guidance route is equal to or less than a predetermined value;
Based on the determination of the distance determination means, (1) the guidance intersection, (2) an approach road to the guidance intersection along the guide route, (3) designation of a guide lane in the approach road, (4) And (5) an image display means for simultaneously displaying an image of designation of a guide lane in the approach road, (5) an approach road to the near intersection along the guide route. A vehicle navigation device. Distance determining means for determining that the distance between the guidance intersection and the near intersection that is one before the guidance intersection along the guidance route is equal to or less than a predetermined value;
Based on the determination of the distance determination means, designation of a guide lane in the approach road to the guidance intersection along the guidance route, and designation of a guide lane in the approach road to the near intersection along the guidance route And a voice display means for voice-displaying the vehicle navigation device. Restriction determining means for determining that an approachable lane to the selected intersection and an approachable lane at the nearest intersection that is one before the selected intersection along the guidance route are restricted by the guidance route; ,
Image display means for simultaneously displaying an image of designation of the lane that can be entered to the selected intersection and designation of the lane that is allowed to enter the near intersection based on the determination of the restriction determination means; A vehicle navigation device. The image display means, based on the determination of the restriction determination means, (1) the selected intersection, (2) an approach road to the selected intersection along the guide route, (3) to the selected intersection (4) The near intersection, (5) The approach road to the near intersection along the guide route, and (6) The entry of the approachable lane to the near intersection are displayed simultaneously. The vehicle navigation device according to claim 3, further comprising: an image display unit configured to perform the display. Restriction determining means for determining that an approachable lane to the selected intersection and an approachable lane at the nearest intersection that is one before the selected intersection along the guidance route are restricted by the guidance route; ,
Voice display means for voice-displaying the designation of the lane that can be entered to the selected intersection and the designation of the lane that is allowed to enter the near intersection based on the judgment of the restriction judgment means; Vehicle navigation device. The vehicle navigation apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the selected intersection is a guidance intersection. A vehicle navigation device that identifies a guide route to a set destination and guides the guide route,
Distance determining means for determining that the distance between the guidance intersection and the near intersection that is one before the guidance intersection along the guidance route is equal to or less than a predetermined value;
Based on the determination of the distance determination means, designation of a guide lane in the approach road to the guidance intersection along the guidance route, and designation of a guide lane in the approach road to the near intersection along the guidance route A vehicle navigation apparatus comprising: an image display means for simultaneously displaying the images.

Images