JP2006317246A - On-vehicle navigation device and route data generation method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an on-vehicle navigation device and a route data generation method capable of reducing a storage capacity used for preservation of route data. <P>SOLUTION: This method for generating the route data has a step (S12) for recording a starting place in the route data; a step (S15) for performing route calculation from a node to the starting place when the own vehicle position passes the node; a step (S16) for determining whether a route from the starting place to the node along which the own vehicle travels agrees with the route from the node to the starting place calculated based on the route calculation or not; a step (S17) for recording a node passed by the own vehicle prior to the node in the route data as a passing spot in the case of disagreement, and setting the prior node as a new starting place. The route data are constituted of the starting place, a destination and the passing spot. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle navigation device that guides a vehicle to a destination according to a guidance route, and is particularly adapted to save the searched route data in a new storage mode when saving the data for later reuse. The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted navigation device and a route data creation method.

  Conventional typical vehicle-mounted navigation devices include a control device such as a CPU that controls all processing related to navigation, a storage device such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) -ROM or an IC memory card that stores map data in advance, It has a display device, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, a detection device that detects the current position and current direction of the vehicle, such as a gyro and a vehicle speed sensor. Then, the control device reads out map data including the current position of the vehicle from the storage device, displays a map image around the vehicle position on the display device screen based on the map data, and indicates the current position of the host vehicle. The vehicle position mark to be displayed is superimposed on the map image, the map image is scrolled according to the movement of the vehicle, the map image is fixed on the screen and the vehicle position mark is moved, and where the vehicle is currently located. You can see at a glance whether you are driving.

  In general, in-vehicle navigation devices are equipped with a route guidance function that allows a user (for example, a driver) to set a desired destination and easily travel on the road without making a mistake. ing. According to this route guidance function, the optimum route connecting from the starting point to the destination is automatically searched by performing simulation calculation such as horizontal search method or Dijkstra method using the map data, and the searched route is used as the guide route. Remember, while driving, draw the guidance route on the map image with a different color from other roads and display it on the screen, or within a certain distance to the intersection where the vehicle should change the course on the guidance route When approaching, the user is guided to the destination by drawing an arrow indicating the course at the intersection where the course should be changed on the map image and displaying it on the screen.

  When searching for a route, the user sets a destination in advance, and sets a waypoint on the way to the destination as necessary. If necessary, various conditions (whether toll road priority or general road priority) are also set. In the navigation device, a plurality of routes to the destination are searched based on these set data, and the searched routes are displayed in different colors, for example, according to one route selected by the user. Give guidance. Such a navigation device is also equipped with a function that stores route data once traveled and can be used for route guidance at a later stage.

As a technique related to this, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a navigation device that can generate index data representing a travel locus of a host vehicle at a predetermined time interval or a predetermined travel distance interval and display it on a screen.
JP 2000-337897 A

  In a conventional navigation device, route data of a route traveled by the own vehicle is stored in a storage medium in a form of a link row corresponding to a road connecting between branch points (nodes) such as intersections. The individual link information in this link string is composed of data such as road attributes, road shapes, link lengths, etc., and has a capacity of around 80 bytes. For example, the capacity of the route data between Tokyo and Osaka represented by about 200 links is about 16 Kbytes. For example, in order to store 100 routes, a capacity of about 1.6 Mbytes is required. Furthermore, in order to record route data of other sections, a capacity corresponding to the number of links and the number of routes is required.

  Thus, a large storage capacity is required to store a lot of route data. For this reason, the use of other uses such as storage of music data is limited. In addition, there may be some route data stored in the storage medium that does not need to be saved. Saving unnecessary route data as it is is an efficient operation of the storage medium capacity. It is not preferable from the point.

  The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art, and reduces the storage capacity used for storing route data, and thus contributes to efficient operation of the storage medium, and An object is to provide a route data creation method.

  In order to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, according to one aspect of the present invention, a method for creating route data relating to a route traveled by a host vehicle in an in-vehicle navigation device, the departure point being recorded in the route data. A step of calculating a route from the node toward the departure point when the vehicle position passes the node, a route from the departure point to the node where the vehicle has traveled, and a calculation based on the route calculation A step of determining whether or not the route from the node to the departure point matches, and in the case of a mismatch, if the route does not match, the route data is set to the route data using the node that the vehicle passed immediately before the node Recording and setting the previous node as a new departure point and the steps after the step of calculating the route until the vehicle reaches the destination Route data creation method characterized by a step of returning Ri is provided.

  In the route data creation method of the in-vehicle navigation device according to this embodiment, the route calculation from the node to the departure point is performed for each node through which the vehicle passes from the departure point, and the route from the departure point to the node and the node If the route to the departure point is different, the node immediately before that node is set as a transit point.

  Since the data of a specific node (coordinate) is stored as route data in this way, the capacity of the storage medium used for storing the route data can be greatly reduced as compared with the case of storing conventional link information. . Thereby, when the capacity of the storage medium is the same as that of the conventional one, it is possible to store more paths than the conventional one. Further, it can be effectively used for other purposes such as storage of music data.

  Moreover, according to the other form of this invention, the vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus which implements the route data creation method which concerns on said form is provided. An in-vehicle navigation device according to one embodiment includes memory means, own vehicle position detecting means for detecting the position of the vehicle, and control means operatively connected to the memory means and the own vehicle position detecting means. The control means records the departure point in the memory means as route data, and when the own vehicle position detected by the own vehicle position detection means passes the node until the own vehicle reaches the destination, Whether the route from the departure point to which the vehicle traveled to the node and the route from the node to the departure point calculated based on the route calculation match. If they do not match, the node that the vehicle passed immediately before the node is recorded in the route data as a transit point, and the previous node is newly set as the departure point. And repeating and.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Configuration of in-vehicle navigation system)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an in-vehicle navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a storage medium in which map data and other guidance data are stored. In the present embodiment, a DVD (DVD-ROM) is used as a storage medium for storing such data, but a hard disk or other storage medium may be used. The map stored here is divided into longitude and latitude widths of appropriate sizes according to each scale level such as 1/1500, 1/25000, 1 / 50,000, 1/10000, etc. Roads, buildings, facilities, and other various properties included in are stored as a coordinate set of points (nodes) expressed in longitude and latitude. Map data includes (1) a road layer composed of a road list, a node table, an intersection configuration node list, etc., (2) a background layer for displaying roads, buildings, parks, rivers, etc. on a map image, (3) It consists of a character / symbol layer or the like for displaying a letter indicating a administrative division name such as a municipality name, a road name, an intersection name, or a map symbol.

  An operation unit 2 is provided with operation buttons and the like for operating the navigation apparatus body 10. In the present embodiment, the operation unit 2 includes a remote control transmitter and a remote control receiver, and the user can also operate the navigation apparatus body 10 with the remote control transmitter at hand.

  Reference numeral 5 denotes a GPS receiver that receives GPS signals transmitted from a plurality of GPS satellites and generates and outputs GPS data such as longitude and latitude of the current position of the vehicle. 6 denotes a self-contained navigation sensor. The self-contained navigation sensor 6 includes an angle sensor 6a such as a gyro that detects a vehicle rotation angle, and a travel distance sensor 6b that generates a pulse for every predetermined travel distance.

  Reference numeral 7 denotes a display device such as a liquid crystal panel. The navigation device main body 10 displays a map around the current position of the vehicle on the display device 7, guide routes from the departure point to the destination, vehicle marks, Other guidance information is displayed. Reference numeral 8 denotes a speaker for providing guidance information to the user by voice.

  The navigation device body 10 is composed of the following. Reference numeral 11 denotes a DVD controller that controls reading of map data from the DVD 1. A buffer memory 12 temporarily stores map data read from the DVD 1. Reference numeral 13 denotes an interface connected to the operation unit 2, 16 denotes an interface connected to the GPS receiver 5, and 17 denotes an interface connected to the autonomous navigation sensor 6.

  Reference numeral 18 denotes a control unit constituted by a microcomputer. The control unit 18 detects the current position of the vehicle based on information input from the interfaces 16 and 17, reads predetermined map data from the DVD 1 to the buffer memory 12 via the DVD controller 11, Various processes such as searching for a guidance route from the departure place to the destination are performed under the search conditions set using the read map data.

  19 is a map drawing unit that generates a map image using the map data read to the buffer memory 12, and 20 generates various menu screens (operation screens) and various marks such as vehicle position marks and cursors according to the operation status. This is the operation screen / mark generator.

  21 is a guide route storage unit for storing data related to the guide route searched for by the control unit 18, and 22 is a guide route drawing unit for drawing the guide route. The guidance route storage unit 21 stores all the nodes (coordinates of points expressed in longitude and latitude) from the departure point to the destination of the guidance route searched by the control unit 18. When displaying the map, the guide route drawing unit 22 reads the guide route information from the guide route storage unit 21 and draws the guide route with a color and line width different from those of other roads.

  An image composition unit 23 superimposes various marks and operation screens generated by the operation screen / mark generation unit 20 on the map image drawn by the map drawing unit 19, a guide route drawn by the guide route drawing unit 22, and the like. Display on the display device 7.

  An audio output unit 24 supplies an audio signal to the speaker 8 based on a signal from the control unit 18.

  The vehicle-mounted navigation device according to the present embodiment is basically a conventional vehicle-mounted navigation device except that the storage mode when the route (data) traveled is stored in the guidance route storage unit 21 is different as described later. The following operations are performed in the same manner as the navigation system for a vehicle.

  That is, when the on-vehicle navigation device is activated, the control unit 18 detects the current position of the vehicle based on the GPS signal received by the GPS receiver 5 and the signal detected by the autonomous navigation sensor 6. Then, map data around the current position of the vehicle is read from the DVD 1 and stored in the buffer memory 12. The map drawing unit 19 generates a map image based on the map data read into the buffer memory 12 and displays a map image around the current position of the vehicle on the display device 7.

  The control unit 18 detects the current position of the vehicle based on signals output from the GPS receiver 5 and the self-contained navigation sensor 6 as the vehicle moves, and displays the current position on the display device 7 according to the detection result. The vehicle position mark is overlaid on the map image, and the vehicle position mark is moved as the vehicle moves, or the map image is scroll-displayed.

  When the user operates the operation unit 2 to set the destination, the control unit 18 uses the current position of the vehicle as the starting point, and uses the map data of the DVD 1 to determine the optimum route from the starting point to the destination. Explore. Then, the route obtained by the search is stored as a guide route in the guide route storage unit 21, and the guide route is displayed on the map image. In addition, the control unit 18 appropriately outputs guidance information as the vehicle travels, and guides the vehicle to travel along the guidance route to the destination.

  As a basic feature of the in-vehicle navigation device according to the present embodiment, when creating route data of a route traveled by the own vehicle as will be described later, nodes necessary for making the travel route reproducible ( The coordinates of a specific node) on the route are stored as waypoints. By performing such processing, it is possible to reduce the storage capacity necessary for storing the route data, and various advantages can be obtained as will be described later.

(Route data creation method)
Next, a route data creation method according to the present embodiment will be described.

  2-4 is a figure explaining the process which concerns on preparation of the route data which the navigation apparatus of this embodiment performs. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data configuration of the created route data. Here, route data when the departure point is the node 30 is shown. Hereinafter, the process of creating the route data shown in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 2 (a) shows that the vehicle that has departed from the departure place 30 has passed through the node 31. At this time, the control unit 18 calculates a route from the latest node 31 that has passed through (hereinafter referred to as a passing node) to the departure point 30. In the case of FIG. 2A, the route 40a from the departure point 30 to the passing node 31 and the route 41 from the passing node 31 to the departure point 30 coincide.

  FIG. 2 (b) shows the vehicle passing through the next node 32. Similarly to FIG. 2A, the route calculation from the transit node 32 to the departure point 30 is performed. In the case of FIG. 2B as well, the route 40b from the departure point 30 to the passing node 32 and the route 42 from the passing node 32 to the departure point 30 are the same.

  FIG. 2 (c) shows the vehicle passing through the next node 33. At this time, the control unit 18 calculates a route from the passing node 33 to the departure point 30. In the case of FIG. 2C, the route 40c from the departure point 30 to the passing node 33 and the route 43 from the passing node 33 to the departure point 30 are different. In this way, when the round-trip route is different, the route data 60 is set with the node immediately before the passing node 33 (the node 32 in the case of FIG. 2C) as a transit point. In the route data 60, the coordinates of the waypoint (node 32) are set. In addition, the node 32 immediately before the passing node 33 is set as a new starting point as a starting point in the route calculation performed after passing through the passing node 33.

  FIG. 3 (a) shows the vehicle passing through the node 34. At this time, the control unit 18 calculates a route from the transit node 34 to the new departure point 32. The route 44a from the new departure point 32 to the passing node 34 and the route 45 from the passing node 34 to the new starting point 32 coincide.

  FIG. 3 (b) shows the vehicle passing through the node 35. At this time, the control unit 18 calculates a route from the passing node 35 to the new departure point 32. In this case, the route 44b from the new starting point 32 to the passing node 35 is different from the route 46 from the passing node 35 to the new starting point 32. Therefore, the route data 60 is set with the node 34 immediately before the passing node 35 as a transit point. In the route data 60, the coordinates of the waypoint (node 34) are set. In addition, a node 34 immediately before the passing node 35 is set as a new starting point as a starting point in route calculation performed after passing through the passing node 35.

  FIG. 3 (c) shows the vehicle passing through the node 36. At this time, the control unit 18 calculates a route from the passing node 36 to the new departure point 34. In this case, the route 47 from the new departure point 34 to the passing node 36 and the route 48 from the passing node 36 to the new starting point 34 are the same.

  This process is repeated until the vehicle reaches the destination, and the coordinates of a specific waypoint between the departure point and the destination (that is, the node immediately before the node when the round trip route is different) Are added to the route data 60 (FIG. 5).

  FIG. 4 shows a stage where the vehicle has passed through a node 36 on the way from the departure point 30 to the destination. At this stage, the route traveled is the sum of the links 50a to 50f. In the conventional method, all the link information is stored as route data. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, as described above, the coordinates of a specific node (two points of the node 32 and the node 34) between the departure point and the destination are set as a waypoint.

  FIG. 5 shows data stored as route data when the vehicle travels along the links 50a to 50f in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, route data is constituted by the coordinate data of the departure point, the coordinate data of the destination, and the coordinates of the node 32 and the coordinates of the node 34 as the waypoints.

  Thus, since it is sufficient to store only the coordinates of a specific waypoint (node) in addition to the coordinates of the starting point and destination, it is sufficient to store the capacity of the storage medium used for storing the route data. Compared to a significant reduction.

(Route data creation process)
Hereinafter, route data creation processing performed by the vehicle-mounted navigation device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 6 showing an example of the processing flow.

  First, in step S11, when the user presses a route recording button displayed on the operation screen, in step S12, the control unit 18 records the point as a departure point in the route data (FIG. 5). This route data is stored in, for example, the guidance route storage unit 21.

  In the next step S13, the control unit 18 determines whether or not the vehicle has reached a destination set in advance by the user. When the host vehicle reaches the destination, the route data creation process ends. On the other hand, if the vehicle has not reached the destination, the process proceeds to step S14.

  In the next step S14, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has passed a node indicating a branch point such as an intersection on the map data. The determination as to whether or not the vehicle has passed the node is performed as follows, for example. The control unit 18 detects the position of the host vehicle from the signal input from the self-contained navigation sensor 6 and the GPS signal received by the GPS receiver 5 as the host vehicle moves. The coordinate data corresponding to the detected vehicle position is compared with the coordinate data representing the node of the map data stored in the DVD 1, and if the coordinates are the same, it is determined that the node has passed.

  If it has passed through the node, the process proceeds to step S15. If it has not passed through the node, step S14 is repeated.

  In the next step S15, route calculation (route calculation) is performed from the node that has passed through to the departure point. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the route calculation from each node (31, 32, 33) to the departure point 30 is performed.

  In the next step S16, it is determined whether or not the route calculated in step S15 is the same as the route traveled from the departure place to the nearest node. If they do not match, the process proceeds to step S17. If they match, the process returns to step S13 and the above processing is repeated. In the example shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the route data from the nearest node that has passed through to the departure point is the same as the route traveled, so the route data is not updated.

  In the next step S <b> 17, the node that passed immediately before the node that is the starting point of the route calculation is set as a transit point, and the coordinates of this transit point are recorded as route data 60. At the same time, the node that has passed immediately before as the starting point for the route calculation is newly set as the starting point, and the process proceeds to step S13.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the route data is set to the node that has passed immediately before the node through which the vehicle has passed. This is because if the route search from the departure point to the destination is performed without using the previous node as a transit point, the previous node will not be included in the searched route, and at a later stage This is because the travel route cannot be reproduced when necessary. On the other hand, by using the previous node as a transit point, the travel route passing through the node can be surely reproduced by route search.

  In this embodiment, the departure place is updated so that the previous node is newly set as the departure place. The reason for updating the departure place is as follows. In other words, if the route is calculated from the node where the vehicle has passed to the departure place while leaving the original departure place, the actual traveled route and the calculated route will always be different. become. As a result, all nodes through which the vehicle passes thereafter are set as transit points, which not only lowers processing efficiency but also achieves the “reduction in storage capacity related to storage of route data” intended by the present invention. You can't do that either.

  On the other hand, the above problem is eliminated by setting the node immediately before the passed node as a new starting point. In other words, if the route calculated from the route calculation origin node to the passed node is the same as the travel route, the actual travel route and the route calculation between the new departure point and the node that is the origin of the route calculation This is because there is no need to record useless transit points (data) as route data.

(Reuse of route)
The route data recorded by the method described above is reused when searching for routes at a later stage. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of processing for reusing a travel route (route) recorded as route data.

  First, in step S21, the user selects a desired recording route from a list of recording routes displayed on the display screen of the navigation device.

  Next, in step S22, the route selected by the user is restored by calculating the route to pass through the selected route.

  As described above, when the route is reused, it can be used not only as a guide route but also as a drive course record or a travel diary.

  The reuse of the route may be performed before the vehicle travels or may be performed while the vehicle travels. For example, while driving, specify the distance as 10 km before the current location and restore a part of the stored route data, or specify the time as 30 minutes before the current location and store A part of the route data may be restored.

  Further, the path data of this embodiment can be small in storage capacity as described above. Therefore, even if it is a case where a travel route is transmitted to other vehicles, communication cost can be held down. Furthermore, route data such as recommended drive courses and escape routes to the server can be stored in the above-described structure and distributed from the server to the vehicle in a short time.

  As described above, in the route data creation of the in-vehicle navigation device according to the present embodiment, the nodes necessary for reproducing the route from the departure point to the destination are recorded in the route data as the waypoints. . The data constituting the route data are the coordinates of the departure point, the coordinates of the destination, and the coordinates of the waypoint, and each coordinate data is stored with a capacity of several bytes. As a result, the storage capacity used for storing the route data can be reduced.

  In addition, it is possible to store a larger number of travel routes than in the conventional storage medium having the same storage capacity. Furthermore, the storage capacity of the storage device can be increased, data used by other devices such as music data can be stored, and the memory can be used effectively.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the route calculation performed each time the own vehicle passes through the node has been described from the passed node toward the departure point, but the vehicle has passed from the departure point in the opposite direction. Route calculation may be performed toward the node. This case has the following advantages.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing nodes and links including a part of the travel route from the departure point to the destination. In FIG. 8, it is assumed that the own vehicle passes through the nodes 81, 82, 83 and reaches the node 84. Further, it is assumed that the link 85 has a one-way restriction in the direction from the node 81 to the node 83.

  Under such circumstances, the route 89 searched by the route calculation performed when the host vehicle passes through the node 83 matches the travel route (86, 87). Therefore, the node 82 is not set as a waypoint. As a result, when the route data is reused at a later stage, if a route from the departure point to the destination is searched, the link 85 is selected between the node 81 and the node 83, and the traveling route may not be restored. It is done.

  On the other hand, when the route calculation performed when the host vehicle passes through the node 83 is performed from the departure point to the node 83, the link 85 is selected between the node 81 and the node 83 as the optimum route, and the travel route ( 86, 87). In this case, the node 82 immediately before the node 83 is selected as a waypoint. As a result, in the route search from the departure point to the destination, a route that uses the node 82 as a route is searched, and the travel route can be restored.

  Even if roads with traffic restrictions are included in this way, it is possible to restore the travel route by calculating the route toward the node that has passed from the departure place.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIGS. 2A to 2C are diagrams (part 1) for explaining an example of processing related to creation of route data performed by the in-vehicle navigation device of FIG. FIGS. 3A to 3C are diagrams (part 2) for explaining an example of processing related to creation of route data performed by the vehicle-mounted navigation device of FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram (No. 3) for explaining an example of a process related to creation of route data performed by the in-vehicle navigation device of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the produced | generated route data. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process which concerns on preparation of the route data which the vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus of FIG. 1 performs. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process which concerns on utilization of the route data which the vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus of FIG. 1 performs. It is a figure for demonstrating the other example of the process which concerns on preparation of route data.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... DVD,
2 ... operation part,
5 ... GPS receiver (own vehicle position detection means),
6 ... Self-contained navigation sensor (own vehicle position detection means),
7 ... display device,
8 ... Speakers
10 ... navigation device body,
18 ... control unit,
21 ... Guidance route storage unit (memory means),
30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 81, 82, 83, 84 ... nodes,
37 ... Own vehicle position mark,
50, 85, 86, 87, 88 ... links,
60: Route data.

Claims (6)

A method for creating route data related to a route traveled by the vehicle in an in-vehicle navigation device,
Recording the departure location in the route data;
Performing a route calculation from the node toward the departure place when the vehicle position passes the node;
Determining whether or not the route from the departure place to which the host vehicle traveled and the node and the route from the node calculated based on the route calculation coincide with each other;
If they do not match, recording in the route data as a route that the vehicle passed immediately before the node, and setting the previous node as a new departure point; and
And a step of repeating each step after the step of calculating the route until the vehicle reaches a destination.   In the step of calculating the route, when the vehicle position passes the node, the route calculation is performed from the departure point toward the node instead of performing the route calculation from the node toward the departure point. The route data creation method according to claim 1, wherein:   3. The route data creation method according to claim 1, wherein the route data includes coordinate data of a departure point, coordinate data of a destination, and coordinate data of a waypoint. Memory means;
Own vehicle position detecting means for detecting the position of the vehicle;
Control means operably connected to the memory means and the vehicle position detection means,
The control means records the departure place in the memory means as route data, and from the node when the own vehicle position detected by the own vehicle position detection means passes the node until the own vehicle reaches the destination. Whether the route from the departure location where the vehicle traveled to the node is calculated and the route from the node to the departure location calculated based on the route calculation coincides with the route calculation for the departure location If the two nodes do not match, the node that the vehicle has passed immediately before the node is recorded in the route data as a transit point, and the previous node is newly set as the departure point. A vehicle-mounted navigation device that repeats.   In the route calculation, when the vehicle position passes a node, the route calculation is performed from the departure point to the node instead of performing the route calculation from the node toward the departure point. The in-vehicle navigation device according to claim 4.   The in-vehicle navigation device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the route data includes coordinate data of a departure place, coordinate data of a destination, and coordinate data of a waypoint.

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