JP2006267079A - Navigation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation apparatus to allow a user to easily compare a travel cost or the like, by displaying graphically differences in travel distances, differences in required times and the like in the travel on a current guide route as guided and the travel on a detour, while displaying the plurality of guide routes in parallel. <P>SOLUTION: The detour is computed when a congestion is detected on the guide route by a congestion detection part 31 for the induction path. A graph preparation part 35 for the current guide route displays the required time up to a destination in the travel on the current guide route, by a length of a band graph, and prepares a graph expressing a cut-out of a depth in response to a level of the congestion, in a rough position of a congestion generation position. A graph preparation part 36 for the detour displays the required time up to the destination in the travel on the detour, by a straight line length between the start point and the end point of a graph from the present position to the destination, and prepares a graph expressing a curved part in response to a detour distance, in a portion corresponding to a detour portion. The both graphs are displayed in parallel on a display part different from a map screen. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device that guides a vehicle to a destination along a guidance route, and in particular, makes it possible to compare a plurality of calculated guidance routes in an easy-to-understand manner, and bypasses this when a traffic jam occurs on the guidance route. The present invention relates to a navigation device that displays a detour on a portion other than a map screen in an easy-to-understand manner.

  In a general navigation apparatus mounted on a vehicle or the like, a map / information data storage such as a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a hard disk, etc., which stores map data for drawing a map and facility information data for searching for a facility, etc. A vehicle, a data capture device that captures data from the map / information data storage medium, a monitor that displays a map, etc., a self-contained navigation device that uses a GPS receiver, a mileage sensor, a gyroscope, etc. It has a vehicle position detection device that detects the position and the direction of travel, fetches map data including the current position of the vehicle from a map / information data storage medium, and monitors a map image around the vehicle position based on this map data The vehicle position mark is superimposed on the monitor screen, and the map image is scrolled as the vehicle moves. Le displayed, or moving the fixed vehicle position mark a map image on a screen, so that seen whether the vehicle is traveling where the current at a glance.

  Map data stored in a map / information data storage medium such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or hard disk is divided into longitude and latitude widths of appropriate sizes according to various scale levels. A road or the like is stored as a coordinate set of nodes expressed by longitude and latitude. A road is composed of a combination of two or more nodes, and map data displays a road layer consisting of a road list, a node table, an intersection configuration node list, etc., and roads, buildings, facilities, parks, rivers, etc. on the map screen. Map data such as a background layer, and information data for displaying characters, map symbols, etc., such as administrative division names such as municipalities, road names, intersection names, and facility names.

  In addition, this navigation device has a route guidance function for allowing a user to easily travel on a road toward a desired destination or waypoint (hereinafter referred to as “destination”) without making a mistake. Yes. According to this route guidance function, a destination is set by various means, and a plurality of guidance routes are calculated and presented in consideration of various conditions among routes connecting these points from the departure point to the destination. It is like that. Also, the route selected by the user is stored as a guide route, and while driving, the guide route is drawn on the map image with a different color from other routes and displayed on the screen. When approaching an intersection where the course of course should be changed within a certain distance, the intersection is enlarged and displayed on the screen by drawing an arrow indicating the direction in which the course should be changed, or a right or left turn is guided by voice. In this way, the user can be guided to the destination.

The navigation device as described above is equipped with a VICS receiver, which can automatically display various traffic information such as traffic jam information and traffic regulations, especially in the direction of travel on the guidance route. When it is detected that a traffic jam has occurred, a query is output to the user as to whether or not to present a route that bypasses the traffic jam. There has also been proposed a method in which a travel distance and a required time are displayed so that a user selects an appropriate one (Patent Document 1).
JP 2001-227965 A

  In a conventional navigation device, when a plurality of guidance routes are displayed on a map, it is difficult to compare including the travel cost of each guidance route, and it is difficult to see. In addition, in the case where a detour is further displayed on the map displaying the current guidance route as described above, and the travel distance and required time of those routes are displayed, this user is often a driver. Therefore, a plurality of guidance routes are displayed on the map screen, and further, the information is finely expressed with characters on the map, which makes the screen extremely difficult to see.

  In addition, in order to show the travel cost on the map, simply by displaying the distance traveled and the required time in text, the user traveled along each route in multiple guide routes, and further traveled along the current guide route It is difficult to compare and determine the time required when traveling on a detour and when, and if the driver tries to understand this display, the most important driving is expected to be hindered. In this way, there is a limit to displaying a detour on the map and displaying the travel distance and the required time as travel costs for those routes in an easy-to-see manner, and some measures are required.

  Therefore, the present invention can display a plurality of guidance routes so that an appropriate route can be easily selected from the plurality of guidance routes without making it difficult to view on the map. To provide a navigation device that can easily understand the difference in travel distance and required time between when traveling on the current guidance route as it is and when traveling on a detour by a technique. Is the main purpose.

  The navigation apparatus according to the present invention includes a plurality of guide route calculation means for calculating a plurality of guide routes, a travel cost calculation means for calculating a travel cost of a plurality of guide routes calculated by the plurality of guide route calculation means, and the travel cost. A graph creation means for creating a graph of each guidance route based on the data computed by the computation means, and a guide route comparison graph display means for displaying each guidance route graph created by the graph creation means separately from the map screen; It is characterized by providing.

  Another navigation device according to the present invention includes a traffic jam detection unit that detects traffic jam on a guidance route, a bypass route calculation unit that calculates a bypass when the traffic jam is detected, and a use to a destination at the time of traveling on the current guidance route. Current guide route graph creation means for creating a graph indicating the approximate location of the time and traffic occurrence point, and a detour for creating a graph indicating the required time to the destination during the detour travel, and the detour range and detour distance And a detour comparison graph display unit for displaying the current guide route graph and the detour graph separately from the map screen.

  Another navigation device according to the present invention is the navigation device, wherein the current guidance route graph is a band graph, the required time to the destination is represented by a length of the band graph, and the degree of congestion occurs in the occurrence of the congestion The approximate position of the point is represented by the depth of the notch with respect to the band graph.

  In another navigation device according to the present invention, in the navigation device, the detour graph is a line or a band graph, and the required time to the destination is represented by a linear distance from the start to the end of the graph, The detour distance is represented by the depth of the bent portion where the detour start point and the detour end point are bent.

  In another navigation device according to the present invention, in the navigation device, a mark similar to the mark displayed at the traffic jam occurrence point on the map screen is assigned to the approximate position of the traffic jam occurrence point on the current guidance route graph. Features.

  Another navigation device according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the navigation device, a mark similar to the mark displayed at the detour point on the map screen is given to the detour point of the detour graph.

  Another navigation device according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the navigation device, a display unit to be displayed separately from the map screen is a display unit of a display device adjacent to a map display monitor.

  Another navigation device according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the navigation device, the display unit displayed separately from the map screen is a display unit formed by dividing a screen of a map display monitor.

  Another navigation device according to the present invention includes a plurality of guide route calculation means for calculating a plurality of guide routes and a plurality of guide routes calculated by the plurality of guide route calculation means for calculating a travel cost for each road type. Each travel cost calculation means, a graph creation means for creating a graph of each guidance route based on the data calculated by the travel cost calculation means, and each guidance route graph created by the graph creation means are arranged separately from the map screen It is characterized by comprising a guide route comparison graph display means for displaying.

  Another navigation device according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the navigation device, the travel cost is a travel time based on data recorded on a data recording medium.

  In another navigation device according to the present invention, in the navigation device, the travel cost is a travel time that takes into account the degree of traffic jam based on the travel time based on the data recorded on the data recording medium. Features.

  Another navigation device according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the navigation device, a mark indicating the cause of the traffic jam is attached to a position of a graph corresponding to the traffic jam occurrence location.

  Another navigation device according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the navigation device, the graph is a folded band graph, and the band graph is bent in a direction corresponding to a traveling cost.

  Another navigation device according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the navigation device, the band graph changes and displays the width of the graph in accordance with the width of the road on which the vehicle travels.

  Another navigation device according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the navigation device, a lane is displayed on the band graph according to a road on which the vehicle travels.

  Another navigation device according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the navigation device, a landscape display corresponding to a traveling environment is displayed on the graph display portion.

  Another navigation device according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the navigation device, a mark for right / left turn is given to the band graph at a position corresponding to a right / left turn location.

  Another navigation device according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the navigation device, the band graph is bent at a position corresponding to a right / left turn point.

  Since the present invention is configured as described above, a plurality of guidance routes are not displayed on the map so as to make it difficult to see the map screen and the plurality of guidance routes, unlike the conventional ones. It can be expressed so that an appropriate route can be easily selected, and by the display method, the difference in travel distance and required time when traveling on the current guidance route as it is and traveling on the detour It is possible to provide a navigation device that can easily understand the difference and the like.

  At first glance, we will make an expression that allows you to easily select an appropriate route from multiple guidance routes, and depending on the expression method, when you are driving the current guidance route as it is and when you are driving on a detour A plurality of guidance route computing means for computing a plurality of guidance routes and a plurality of computations performed by the plurality of guidance route computation means for the purpose of easily understanding differences in travel distance and required time Travel cost calculation means for calculating the travel cost of the guide route, graph creation means for creating a graph of each guide route based on the data calculated by the travel cost calculation means, and for each guidance route created by the graph creation means This is realized by providing a graph display means for guiding route comparison that displays the graphs separately from the map screen.

  FIG. 1 shows a navigation device according to the present invention, in which a plurality of guidance routes are displayed in an easy-to-understand manner for a user, and in particular, a detour as one aspect of the guidance route is displayed in a more comprehensible manner than the current guidance route. An example is shown, and a functional block diagram showing various functional units centering on a detour presentation processing unit that presents a detour to the user during the display process is shown. In addition, each function part in the figure can also be said to be a means for performing each function.

  In the navigation apparatus shown in FIG. 1, as in the prior art, a ROM in which software for comprehensively performing various predetermined functions is recorded in the system control unit 10, a CPU and a RAM for processing the software, etc. And each functional unit connected thereto is controlled. In the illustrated navigation apparatus, a vehicle position detection unit 13 is connected to the system control unit 10 and position data of the GPS receiver 11 is input. Further, if necessary, a travel distance / orientation detection unit using a vehicle speed sensor or an angle sensor. By inputting the movement data of the vehicle from 12, the current position of the vehicle is accurately detected.

  In addition, a VICS information input unit 14 including a VICS receiver is provided, and VICS information is taken in from beacons, FM broadcasts, and the like. In the present invention, in particular, by capturing this VICS information, it is possible to detect a traffic jam ahead of the traveling direction on the guidance route of the own vehicle, as will be described later.

  In the instruction signal input unit 17, an instruction signal for a remote controller or the like by a user in the navigation device is input. Further, a signal from the voice recognition unit 16 that inputs a user instruction signal through a process of recognizing the user's voice as necessary is also input to the instruction signal input unit 17.

  The data fetching unit 19 fetches necessary map data and facility information from a map / information data recording medium 18 such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or hard disk, and the data recording medium is like a hard disk. When data can be easily written, data can be input to the data recording medium so that data imported from outside or data processed by other functional units can be read and used later. I have to.

  In the guidance route storage unit 20, for convenience of explanation, a guidance route calculated by the guidance route computation unit 32 described in the detour presentation processing unit 30 in the figure and then determined is stored. In this guidance route calculation unit 32, the current location of the vehicle detected by the vehicle position detection unit 3 is fetched, the map is scrolled by the operation of the cursor displayed on the screen, or the address is input, and the telephone number is further entered. The destination set by various methods such as inputting is taken in, and the optimum guide route is calculated and presented under various conditions such as the shortest required time, the shortest distance, and general road priority. The guidance route calculation unit 32 includes a bypass route calculation unit 33 that operates as a function of a bypass route presentation processing unit 30 to be described later, and calculates a guidance route that bypasses a part of the guide route that is initially set as described above. To do.

  The guide route stored in the guide route storage unit 20 is displayed by the guide route guide unit 21 so as to be superimposed on the map screen of the display unit 24 from the image output unit 25, and further, the right / left turn intersection is enlarged and displayed. The voice guidance is also performed by outputting from the unit 23 to the speaker 22. As will be described later, the detouring state is displayed on the display unit 24 in an easy-to-understand manner as a graph such as a band graph on another display unit arranged close to the display unit of the map screen. The guidance route storage unit 20 stores a detour described later when it is calculated and determined, and the guidance route guide unit 21 guides it as a new guidance route.

  The detour presentation processing unit 30 according to the present invention includes a traffic jam detection unit 31 on the guidance route. Based on the information from the VICS information input unit 14, the guidance route storage unit 20 further includes information from the Internet or the like as necessary. It is determined whether or not there is traffic jam ahead in the vehicle traveling direction on the current guidance route stored, and when there is traffic jam, the signal is output to the detour computation unit 33 of the guidance route computation unit 32, The detour calculation unit 33 calculates a detour that detours the traffic jam portion by the signal.

  The detour comparison graph creation unit 34 includes a current guidance route graph creation unit 35 and a detour route graph creation unit 36, and the current guidance route graph creation unit 35 uses the entire guidance route as a single band graph. The traffic jam position is shown as a notch from the side, and the graph created in this way is displayed and output to a display monitor or the like by the detour comparison graph display unit 37. The degree of traffic congestion is indicated by the depth of the notch, and the required time as travel cost is indicated by the straight line length from the start to the end of the band in the band graph. Therefore, the travel cost is calculated here. Furthermore, as necessary, information indicating the cause of the traffic jam at the location of the traffic jam is displayed on the cutout part, for example, a mark indicating that a traffic accident has occurred, a mark indicating that construction is underway, and the like display. A similar mark is attached to a predetermined position on the map screen so that the user can easily know these points by matching these marks.

  When such display is performed, for example, as shown in FIGS. That is, FIG. 2 (a) is a band graph showing the state of the guidance route when there is no traffic jam, and the length L1 indicates a guideline of the required time as the travel cost to the destination. Next, when two traffic jams occur on the guidance route, the calculation as shown in FIG. 2B is performed. That is, the first traffic jam on the front side occurs in the notch K1 portion indicated by hatching in the lower left in the figure, and further the second traffic jam occurs in the notch K2 portion indicated by hatching in the lower right in the figure. To do. In addition, you may make it the magnitude | size of the graph length direction of these notches represent the distance of traffic congestion as one aspect | mode of driving | running cost.

  At that time, the depth of each notch indicates the degree of each traffic jam, and when the width of the band graph is H, for the first traffic jam notch K1, the notch depth is H1, and thus H2 The remaining part of the width is shown. Further, the notch K2 of the second traffic jam has a notch depth H3, which indicates a remaining portion having a width of H4. At this time, when travel speed information is obtained as travel costs at a plurality of positions in each traffic jam portion, various display methods such as displaying the notch depth in an inclined manner according to the travel speed change, etc. Can be adopted.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), as a result of the presence of such a traffic jam, the required time extension to the destination is extended to the first extended time portion L2 by the cutout K1 of the first traffic jam. The required time extension due to the notch K2 of the second traffic jam is set as the second extended time portion L3, and as a result, the required time of L4 is extended as a whole. As a result, the total required time to the destination is L5. The graphs of FIGS. 2A and 2B are generated in the process of calculating the travel cost and creating the graph, and are not displayed on the display unit or the like. In such a band graph of the total required time L5, as shown in FIG. 2 (c), the traffic congestion points on the entire guidance route are indicated by the notches K1 and K2 as described above at the approximate positions. The depth of H2 is H1, thereby indicating the remaining portion of the width of H2, and for the second traffic jam notch K2, the notch depth is H3, thereby indicating the remaining portion of the width of H4. Has been. Thus, the degree of traffic jam can be understood at a glance by the size of the remaining part of the band graph.

  Such a band graph is appropriately arranged in a graphic form, for example, as shown in FIG. In the figure, a mark indicates that a broken vehicle exists in the first cutout K1, and a mark indicates that construction is underway in the second cutout K2. This mark or a similar mark is also displayed at a predetermined position on the map screen, and by correlating these marks, what kind of traffic congestion has occurred in which part of the guide route, and what is the cause You can see at a glance if there is.

  On the other hand, in the detour comparison graph creation unit 34 in the detour comparison graph creation unit 34 in FIG. 1, the detour range is indicated by the position of the broken line, and the increased distance as the travel cost increase due to the detour is expressed as the depth of the bend. The required time as the accumulated travel cost is indicated by the straight line length of the graph from the start to the end. Furthermore, if the same number as the number displayed on the map screen displayed separately is given to the position part that causes the traffic jam as necessary, the traffic jam part shown in this graph It becomes hot water that can clearly know which part is.

  Such a display is shown, for example, as shown in FIG. That is, in the figure, a broken line is shown as a basic form of display, and the vehicle travels on the first bypass route U1 that bypasses the first traffic jam at the point A1, returns to the original guidance route at the point A2, and the second at the point A3. An example is shown in which the vehicle travels along a second bypass route U2 that bypasses a traffic jam and returns to the original guidance route at a point A4. In this line graph, the depth J1 of the first detour U1 indicates the detour distance that increases as the first detour travels. Similarly, the depth J2 of the second detour U2 depends on the travel of the second detour. The detour distance as an aspect of increasing traveling costs is shown. Further, the total length L7 indicates the required time as the travel cost for traveling on the detour, and as a result, when the vehicle does not travel on the detour as described above, it is shown in FIG. Thus, while the travel time is increased by traveling along the detour to be presented, the travel time is reduced by L6 and the travel time is L7 as a whole. Can be understood at a glance.

  In this line graph, the detour distance J1 when traveling on the first detour U1 and the detour distance J2 when traveling on the second detour U2 are both bent downward in the figure, and thus the travel distance as travel cost. However, it is possible that the travel distance may decrease due to the detour. In this case, for example, as shown as a detour U3 in FIG. 2 (e), the broken line is bent upward in the figure by the reduced distance, and the travel distance is shortened by J4. Further, by traveling on this detour, the required time as the travel cost is reduced by L8 than when not traveling on the detour, and the required time can be reached at L9.

  The detour graph shown in FIG. 2 is shown as a line graph to show the basics, but can be displayed in various other ways, and the detour graph is a band graph, so this detour graph Also, it may be a band graph, and may be a folded band graph as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, if the number corresponding to the number of the traffic jam start position displayed on the map screen is displayed at the start of each fold, the position on the map that will be bypassed in this graph You will be able to know clearly.

  The current guide route graph creation unit 35 and the detour route graph creation unit 36 in FIG. 1 perform the graph creation process as described above, and the detour comparison graph display unit 37 displays these graphs from the image output unit 25 to the display unit. 24 are output and displayed. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, two 1DINs are used together, and one of them is a navigation device, or in a 2DIN type vehicle-mounted navigation device, the monitor 41 protruding upward includes a map and The guidance route and the current position are displayed in the same manner as in the prior art, and in the example shown in the figure, it is displayed that a faulty vehicle exists 3.5 km ahead on the guidance route and traffic congestion has occurred. Although it is not displayed in the reduced scale map of the figure, when a map of a wider area is displayed, it is shown that there is a traffic jam due to construction on the guidance route 6.5 km away from the current position.

  FIG. 4 shows an example in which the traffic jam information is collectively displayed at the bottom of the monitor 41. In the example shown in the figure, the front portion of the upper device of the vehicle-mounted device main body having two 1DIN types is the second display unit 42, and the second display unit 42 is a navigation device. In addition to this, when it also serves as an audio device, a touch panel display for operating the audio device and a display showing the reproduction status of CD, DVD, HDD, etc. are displayed. Further, it can be used as a display unit of a navigation device, and in that case, it can be used as an auxiliary information display unit of a monitor screen.

  Therefore, when the display regarding the detour is performed as described above, the graph as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the second display unit 42 as shown in FIG. As described above, the current route and the new route by detour are displayed on the second display unit 42 adjacent to the monitor 41 in the above-described graph, and further, the current route is 13.5 km from the current position to the destination. The estimated arrival time at the ground is 12:38, and in the case of a new route traveling on a detour, the 1.2km travel distance will increase, but the arrival at the destination will be shortened by less than 10 minutes. The state of various traveling costs is shown. In addition, by comparing the traffic congestion cause mark in the graph display portion of the current route with the similar traffic congestion cause mark on the map screen displayed on the monitor 41, various types of traffic congestion information in the graph can be known from the map screen, It is also possible to know at a glance the detour position from the detour position number in the graph display portion of the new route by detour and the same number display position on the map screen.

  The detour presenting process including the functional blocks shown in FIG. 1 and displaying as described above according to the present invention can be performed by sequentially operating according to the operation flow shown in FIG. 5, for example. In the detour presentation process shown in FIG. 5, the guidance route is calculated and set first (step S1), and the vehicle travels on the guidance route (step S2). Traffic jam information is captured during the travel (step S3), and it is determined whether or not there is traffic jam on the guidance route (step S4). If it is determined that no traffic jam has occurred, the process returns to step S2 again to continue traveling on the destination guidance route.

  When it is determined in step S4 that there is a traffic jam on the guidance route, a detour is calculated (step S5), and a linear band that presents the state when the current guidance route is traveled based on the traffic jam information Create a graph. The band graph is created by the travel cost computation and the computation result graph creation process as described above in the current guide route graph creation unit 35 of FIG. 1, and can be displayed as shown in FIG. It becomes. After that, or at the same time as the above processing, a line-shaped band graph that presents the state when traveling on the detour is created. The band graph is generated by the travel cost calculation and calculation result graph generation processing as described above in the detour graph generation unit 36 of FIG. 1, and the display as shown in FIG. 3B becomes possible. .

  Such a straight band graph indicating the current guided route traveling state when traveling in a traffic jam and a display of a broken band graph indicating the detour traveling state, a map of the monitor 41 as shown in FIG. 4, and these band graphs Are displayed in correspondence with the cause of traffic congestion, the detour position, and the like, so that the user compares the two-band graph (step S8) and determines whether it is better to select the detour. In step S9, it is determined whether or not the user has viewed such a graph display and has selected a detour. When the presented detour is selected and determined, the detour determined by the user is replaced with a new guide route. Then, the previous guide route is changed (step S10), and thereafter, the process returns to step S2 to travel on the guide route, and the operation is repeated.

  When the detour presented in step S9 is selected, in the illustrated embodiment, the navigation device inquires of the user whether or not another detour is to be presented (step S11). When an instruction input requesting presentation of a detour is made, the process returns to step S5 again to calculate a new detour, and thereafter the same operation as described above is repeated. If it is determined in step S11 that the user does not need another detour, the user returns to step S2 and continues to travel on the previous guidance route, and thereafter checks whether or not new traffic congestion occurs. Continue running.

  In the above-described embodiment, when the current guidance route traveling state and detour traveling state are displayed in a graph, this is displayed on the second display unit 42 different from the monitor 41 displaying the map as shown in FIG. In the case where such a large display portion does not exist, for example, as shown in FIG. 6A, an information display portion 44 is formed in a divided screen below the map display portion 43 of the monitor 41, The information display unit 44 may present the same detour information as described above. For example, as shown in FIG. 6B, an information display unit 46 is formed on the right side of the drawing adjacent to the map screen 45 on the left side of the drawing in the same manner as a normal divided screen. It is also possible to present detour information. In that case, as shown in the figure, as in the basic display form shown in FIG. 2, the current guidance route is indicated by a straight line graph, and the new guidance route as a detour is indicated by a line graph as shown. You may display.

  In the navigation device according to the present invention, among the methods for displaying a plurality of guidance routes in a user-friendly manner, the detour route as a new guidance route is particularly easily displayed in comparison with the current guidance route. As an example, this display method can be used in the same manner in various situations in which a plurality of guidance routes are presented. Change and use.

  FIG. 7 shows an example in which the display method of a plurality of guidance routes according to the present invention is used when presenting a plurality of guidance routes in a normal guidance route calculation process. Easy comparison of the total travel distance for each road type, travel time for each road type based on existing data and the total travel time for the total of those, and comparison of travel time for each road type taking into account traffic congestion An example that can be used.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, an example in which a multiple guidance route presentation processing unit 40 is used instead of the detour presentation processing unit 30 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is shown. In the multi-guide route presentation processing unit 40, for example, the shortest distance set in advance or designated by the user when calculating the guide route based on the current position detected by the vehicle and the destination input by the user. Routes that can be reached in the shortest required time even when using expressways that require separate fees, or routes that do not use expressways, etc. A multi-guide route calculation mode selection unit 41 is provided.

  The multi-guide route calculation unit 42 calculates a plurality of guide routes in the calculation mode selected by the multi-guide route calculation mode selection unit 41, and in the illustrated example, among the guide routes calculated in various modes , A recommended guidance route calculation unit 43 that calculates a guidance route that seems to be optimal, which is set in advance in the navigation device, and a highway priority guidance route that allows use of the expressway to reach the destination in as short a time as possible An example including a calculation unit 44 and a highway non-use guide route calculation unit 45 that calculates a guide route that does not use a highway is shown. In addition, a guide route calculation unit that calculates a guide route in various modes is provided. It is also possible to select and use those arbitrary calculation units as necessary.

  When displaying a graph for comparing a plurality of guide routes among the plurality of guide routes calculated by the multiple guide route calculation unit 42, the multiple guide route presentation processing unit 40 includes a plurality of guide routes in terms of travel distance. A multi-guidance route comparison graph display mode selection unit 46 is provided for selecting any of the display modes such as whether to compare the guidance routes or whether to compare a plurality of guidance routes in terms of travel time. Yes.

  In the travel cost calculation unit 47 for each road type, when displaying each guidance route in the display mode selected by the graph display mode selection unit 46 for comparing the multiple guidance routes, the road traveling on each guidance route is a national road, a prefectural road, etc. The travel cost is calculated for each road type such as a narrow street and an expressway. In the illustrated example, the travel distance for each road type calculates the travel distance for each road type and integrates them. Process. The simple travel time calculation unit 49 for each road type calculates the travel time based on the travel cost data recorded in advance in the data recording medium for each road with respect to the travel time for each road type. Process. Further, in the travel time calculation unit 50 that considers the traffic for each road type, when the traffic jam detection unit 51 detects that a traffic jam has occurred on each guidance route, the travel that takes into account the traffic for each road type. Processing to calculate the required time is performed. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the calculation of the degree of traffic jam in the detour comparison graph creation unit 34, the calculation of the required time considering the traffic jam, the calculation of the increased distance due to the detour, the required time when detouring This is the part where the running cost is calculated.

  In the multi-guidance route comparison graph creation unit 52, the calculation data of the various calculation units in the travel cost calculation unit 47 for each road type that is processed by being selected by the multi-guidance route comparison graph display mode selection unit 46 is used. A process for creating a band graph is performed. The calculation result of the road-type travel distance calculation unit 48 in the road-type travel cost calculation unit 47 is, for example, a graph as shown in FIG. Further, the calculation result of the simple travel time calculation unit 49 for each road type is generated by, for example, a graph as shown in FIG. Furthermore, the calculation result of the traffic time-considered travel time calculation unit 50 for each road type is generated by the road type traffic-consumption time required graph creation unit 55 for each road type, for example, as shown in FIG.

  When the graph is generated by the multi-guide route comparison graph generating unit 52 as described above, for example, a graph generating process as shown in FIG. 10 is performed. In the example shown in FIG. 10A, the calculated guidance route first travels on a national road as a general road, and thereafter, in the order of a narrow road on a general road, a prefectural road on a general road, an expressway, and a national road on a general road. When traveling, when the national roads and prefectural roads of the general road are set to the reference height, the narrow streets of the general road are indicated at a position (−a) lower than the reference height by a (−a) in order to indicate a difficult road. The expressway is shown in a polygonal line at a position (+ a) higher than the reference height by a to indicate that the traveling speed is high.

  The line graph shown in FIG. 10A is graphically transformed into a band graph shape as shown in FIG. 10B, which is the same as in the first embodiment, and can be easily distinguished from each other for each road type. Colored in the color shown. In the figure, these colors are indicated by different hatchings, but as an example, the national road is displayed in pink, the prefectural road is yellow, the narrow street is gray, and the highway is blue. Changes in the ease of traveling, the degree of ease of traveling, and the state of the changing points are displayed in an easy-to-understand manner depending on the direction and position of the band graph to be bent, such as national roads and prefectural roads. The user will be able to understand the difference between various types of roads at a glance.

  By displaying the folded band graph shown in FIG. 10B, for example, a plurality of guide routes as shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 10 (c), the guidance route calculated by the road type traffic jam-considered travel time calculation unit 50 of FIG. 7 is created and displayed by the road type traffic jam-considered travel time graph creation unit 55. An example is shown. In the figure, for a travel route with a short travel time, a recommended guide route graph A calculated by the recommended guide route calculation unit 43 in FIG. 10, a highway priority guide route B calculated by the highway priority guide route calculation unit 44, Three guide routes of the highway non-use guide route C calculated by the highway non-use guide route calculation unit 45 are shown side by side. In the illustrated embodiment, the usage fee for the highway used is displayed for the portion of the highway used, and is used as a reference for the user's guide route selection.

  In the recommended guide route graph A, the guide route travels in the order of national highways, prefectural roads, expressways (Tokyo outer ring road), national highways, and traffic jams due to construction on the first national highway that enters prefectural roads, etc. In other words, it is shown that construction congestion has occurred, and that natural congestion has also occurred at intermediate positions on expressways, and the travel time is calculated for each road type in consideration of such congestion, This is integrated and shown as one band graph. For such a traffic jam on the guidance route, based on the traffic jam information on the guidance route detected by the traffic jam detection unit 51 on the guidance route, the traffic location / cause output unit 56 creates a traffic time-dependent traffic time-dependent travel time graph. The information is output to the unit 55, and the road-specific traffic-considered travel time graph creation unit 55 displays the traffic location and the cause of the traffic as described above. When displaying the traffic jam location, the color may be displayed more conspicuously by making it brighter than others, such as by displaying the portion in a glow, instead of simply changing the color.

  In the expressway priority guide route B shown in FIG. 10 (c), the guide route travels in the order of a national road, an expressway (Tokyo outer ring road), a prefectural road, etc. in the same manner as described above, and travels on a prefectural road. In some cases, it is shown that an accident traffic jam occurs at an approximately intermediate position, the travel time is calculated for each road type in consideration of the traffic jams, and these are integrated and shown as one band graph. In addition, in the highway non-use guide route C, the guide route travels in the order of national road, narrow street, national road, narrow street, prefectural road, etc., and natural traffic congestion that takes a considerable amount of travel time at the approximate middle position of the second national road The travel required time is calculated for each road type in consideration of the traffic jam, and these are integrated and shown as one band graph. In addition, when displaying this multi-guide route, it is clearly shown whether the current display is a comparison based on travel distance or a comparison based on time, that is, whether the horizontal axis of each graph is distance or time Therefore, a display unit of “distance” and “time” is provided, and when the display is performed based on the required travel time as shown in FIG. 10C, for example, the item display of “time” is shown in an easy-to-understand manner.

  In order to display a plurality of guidance routes in an easy-to-understand manner using the above-described method, the graph display as shown in FIG. That is, in FIG. 11 (a), as in FIG. 10 (c), three band graphs of a recommended guidance route, a highway priority guidance route, and a highway non-use guidance route are displayed side by side. The comparison based on the travel distance is shown by displaying the item display of “distance” in an easy-to-understand manner. In FIG. 11 (b), similarly to the above, three band graphs of a recommended guidance route, a highway priority guidance route, and a highway non-use guidance route are displayed side by side. The comparison based on this is indicated by displaying the item display of “time” in an easy-to-understand manner. In addition, since the graph of the same aspect as FIG.10 (c) is shown in FIG.11 (c), description here is abbreviate | omitted.

  In the embodiment of the present invention comprising the functional blocks as described above, the graph display as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 can be performed by sequentially operating according to the operation flow as shown in FIG. 8, for example. it can. In the multi-guidance route display process shown in FIG. 8, first, the current location is input by a signal input from the vehicle current position detection unit or the like in the same manner as the calculation of a normal guidance route, Input (step S1).

  Next, when calculating the guide route from the current location to the destination, the user gives an instruction on what kind of guide route is calculated, or takes in a prescribed value (step S2). In accordance with the instruction or the like, a guidance route of a selected aspect is calculated among various guidance routes such as a recommended guidance route, a highway priority guidance route, and a highway non-use guidance route (step S3). . In FIG. 7, these calculations are performed when any one of the various calculation units 43, 44, and 45 of the multi-guidance route calculation unit 42 is selectively operated by selection of the multi-guidance route calculation mode selection unit 41.

  Thereafter, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, it is determined whether or not the comparison is made based on the travel distance (step S4). When it is determined that the comparison based on the travel distance is performed, the travel distance for each road type in each guide route is determined. Calculation is performed (step S4). This operation is performed when the road type travel distance calculation unit 48 in the road type travel cost calculation unit 47 of FIG. 7 is selected by the multi-guide route comparison graph display mode selection unit 46 to perform calculation processing. . Next, a process of creating a graph of the travel distance for each road type in each guidance route is performed (step S6). In this case, the road type travel distance graph creation unit 53 in the multi-guide route comparison graph creation unit 52 of FIG. 10 performs a graph creation process based on the calculation result of the road type travel distance calculation unit 48.

  In the example shown in FIG. 8, it is then determined whether or not the comparison is made based on the required travel time (step S7), and the user performs the comparison based on the required travel time in addition to the comparison based on the travel distance as described above. When an instruction to do so is given, the process proceeds to step S8, and a display process of a comparison multiple guidance route based on the required travel time as shown in FIG. 9 is performed. In the determination of whether or not to perform the comparison based on the travel distance in step S4, the same applies when the user gives an instruction not to perform the comparison or when such an initial setting is made. Proceed to step S8.

  In the comparison multiple guidance route display process based on the required travel time in step S8, as shown in FIG. 9, it is determined whether or not the comparison is made based on the required travel time in consideration of the first traffic jam. As a result of the determination, when the user gives an instruction to that effect, the traffic information on the guidance route is taken in (step S12). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not there is a traffic jam on each guidance route (step S13). When there is a traffic jam, a travel time is calculated in consideration of the traffic for each road type on each guidance route (step S14). A process of creating a graph of the required travel time in consideration of traffic jams in each guidance route is performed (step S15). These processings are performed when the traffic time-considered travel time calculation unit 50 shown in FIG. 7 detects a traffic jam by the traffic jam detection unit 51 on the guidance route, and the traffic congestion for each road type is based on the calculation result. This is performed by the required travel time graph creation unit 55 creating a graph as shown in FIG. FIG. 11C shows a graph similar to the example of creating the multi-guide route comparison graph according to the present invention shown in FIG. 10C.

  Thereafter, the congestion location and the cause of the congestion are displayed on the graph (step S16). This is performed by the traffic jam location / cause display unit 56 in FIG. 10 outputting the traffic jam on the guidance route detected by the traffic jam detection unit 51 to the travel time graph preparation unit 55 for each road type. Can do. Since the example of FIG. 11 (c) showing this state has already been described in the description of FIG. 10 (c), description thereof is omitted here.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S11 that the comparison is not performed based on the required travel time in consideration of traffic jams, and when it is determined in step S13 that there is no traffic jam on each guidance route, for each road type in each guidance route. The simple travel time is calculated (step S17), and a process for creating a simple travel time graph for each road type in each guidance route is performed (step S18). In this processing, based on the calculation data of the simple travel time calculation unit 49 for each road type in FIG. 7, the simple travel time graph creation unit 54 for each road type creates a graph as shown in FIG. Is done by doing. After the processing of step S16 and step S18, the process proceeds to step S9 of FIG. 8 in step S19, and the graph created in any of step S6, step S15, S16, or step S18 is displayed, and a plurality of guidance routes are displayed. The display process is terminated (step S10).

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the width of the band graph is drawn is shown. However, for example, a narrow street may be displayed thinly, and may be displayed depending on the thickness of the road. For roads with lanes, draw a center line, and for major heavy roads, display the band graph width and band graph according to the road conditions, such as dividing the line according to the number of lanes on one side. Lanes and the like can be displayed as appropriate.

  In addition, on the screen that displays a plurality of guidance routes, for example, BMP is displayed on the background of the graph in accordance with the atmosphere of each part that travels, such as residential areas, mountains, sea, buildings, etc. When the display is performed, it is possible to know the atmosphere in which the user travels, and it can be used as a reference when selecting the guidance route.

  Further, in each guidance route, a mark display such as an icon display for making a right / left turn may be performed at a right / left turn point, and the graph portion corresponding to the position can be actually folded and displayed in the right / left turn direction. .

  As described in the first embodiment, such a plurality of guidance routes may be displayed on the main monitor for the navigation device with the map screen and displayed on a separate screen as described above. Alternatively, the main monitor may be divided into screens and displayed as described above by temporarily using the entire screen when selecting the guide route.

  The present invention can be used in various modes in addition to the above-described embodiments. For example, the navigation device is not only directly mounted on a vehicle but also similarly applied to a device having various navigation functions brought into the vehicle. can do.

It is a functional block diagram of Example 1 of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a presentation process of the present route and a detour route in the Example. It is a figure which shows the example of presentation of the present route and a detour route in the Example. It is a whole view of the navigation apparatus in the Example. It is an operation | movement flowchart at the time of the detour presentation process of the Example. It is a figure which shows the other aspect of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of Example 2 of the present invention. It is an operation | movement flowchart at the time of the display process of the multiple guidance path | route in the Example. It is an operation | movement flowchart at the time of the multiple guidance path | route display process for a comparison by the travel required time in the same operation | movement flowchart. It is a figure which shows the example of graph creation and display for multiple guidance path | route comparison in the Example. It is the figure which showed the graph display mode for multiple guidance path | route comparison in the Example according to traveling cost.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 Vehicle position detection part 14 VICS information input part 17 Instruction signal input part 18 Map and information data recording medium 19 Data acquisition part 20 Guidance route memory | storage part 21 Guidance route guide part 25 Image output part 30 Detour route presentation process part 31 Guidance route Upper traffic jam detection unit 32 Guide route calculation unit 33 Detour calculation unit 34 Detour comparison graph creation unit 35 Current guide route graph creation unit 36 Detour graph creation unit 37 Detour comparison graph display unit

Claims (19)

A plurality of guidance route computing means for computing a plurality of guidance routes;
Travel cost calculating means for calculating the travel cost of a plurality of guide routes calculated by the plurality of guide route calculating means;
A graph creation means for creating a graph of each guidance route based on the data calculated by the travel cost calculation means;
A navigation apparatus comprising: a guide route comparison graph display means for displaying the guide route graphs created by the graph creation means side by side separately from a map screen. A traffic jam detection means for detecting traffic jam on the guide route,
Detour calculation means for calculating a detour when the traffic jam is detected;
Current guide route graph creation means for creating a graph showing the required time to the destination at the time of driving the current guide route and the approximate position of the congestion occurrence point,
A detour graph creation means for creating a graph indicating the required time to the destination during the detour travel, and the detour range and detour distance;
A navigation apparatus comprising: a detour comparison graph display means for displaying the current guidance route graph and the detour graph separately from a map screen.   The current guidance route graph is a band graph, the required time to the destination is represented by the length of the band graph, and the degree of traffic congestion is indicated by the notch depth relative to the band graph at the approximate position of the traffic jam occurrence point. The navigation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the navigation apparatus represents the navigation apparatus.   The detour graph is a line graph or a band graph, the time required for the destination is represented by a straight line length from the start to the end of the graph, and the detour distance is a curve between the detour start point and the detour end point. The navigation device according to claim 2, wherein the navigation device is expressed by a depth of a bent portion.   The navigation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a mark similar to the mark displayed at the traffic jam occurrence point on the map screen is assigned to the approximate position of the traffic jam occurrence point on the current guidance route graph.   The navigation device according to claim 2, wherein a mark similar to the mark displayed at the detour point on the map screen is assigned to the detour point of the detour graph.   The navigation device according to claim 2, wherein the display unit displayed separately from the map screen is a display unit of a display device adjacent to the map display monitor.   3. The navigation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display unit displayed separately from the map screen is a display unit formed by dividing a screen of a map display monitor. A plurality of guidance route computing means for computing a plurality of guidance routes;
A plurality of guide routes calculated by the plurality of guide route calculation means, a road cost for each road type for calculating a travel cost for each road type, and
A graph creation means for creating a graph of each guidance route based on the data calculated by the travel cost calculation means;
A navigation apparatus comprising: a guide route comparison graph display means for displaying the guide route graphs created by the graph creation means side by side separately from a map screen.   The navigation apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the travel cost is a travel distance.   The navigation apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the travel cost is a travel time based on data recorded on a data recording medium.   10. The navigation device according to claim 9, wherein the travel cost is a travel time that takes into account the degree of traffic jam based on the travel time based on data recorded on a data recording medium.   13. The navigation apparatus according to claim 12, wherein a mark indicating the cause of the traffic jam is attached to a position of the graph corresponding to the traffic jam occurrence location.   The navigation device according to claim 9, wherein the graph is a folded band graph, and the band graph is bent in a direction corresponding to a traveling cost.   The navigation device according to claim 14, wherein the band graph is displayed by changing a width of the graph according to a width of a road on which the vehicle runs.   15. The navigation device according to claim 14, wherein a lane is displayed on the band graph according to a road on which the vehicle travels.   The navigation apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the graph display portion displays a landscape corresponding to a driving environment.   The navigation device according to claim 9, wherein the band graph gives a mark of right / left turn to a position corresponding to a right / left turn place. The navigation device according to claim 9, wherein the band graph is bent at a position corresponding to a right-left turn place.

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