JP2006329725A - Route guidance device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a route guidance device for immediately presenting a new movement route, even if vehicle on the move has deviated from a set movement route. <P>SOLUTION: An ECU 8 resets a movement route, if the traveling direction of a lane on which the vehicle is moving does not coincide with the traveling direction of the set movement route, that is, the vehicle is moving on a lane deviating from the set movement route, when the vehicle approaches an intersection. Since the movement route is reset in this way, when it has become clear that the vehicle deviates from the movement route at a phase before the the vehicle deviates from the movement route, when the vehicle approaches the intersection, the movement route can be reset between the time when it has become clear that the vehicle deviates from the movement route and the time, when the vehicle has completely deviated from the movement route. As a result, even if a moving vehicle has deviated from a set movement route, it is possible to immediately present a reset and new movement route. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a route guidance device for guiding a moving route of a vehicle.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a navigation device having a function of resetting a moving route when a traveling vehicle deviates from the set moving route is known. In this conventional apparatus, while monitoring whether or not the vehicle is traveling along the set movement route, if it is confirmed that the vehicle has deviated from the set movement route, the vehicle position at that time is confirmed. Is used as a starting point to reset the travel route.

  However, in the conventional device, since the moving route is reset when the traveling vehicle deviates from the set moving route, the user determines the moving route to be traveled until the resetting of the moving route is completed. It becomes impossible to grasp.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a route guidance device that can immediately present a new travel route even when a traveling vehicle deviates from the set travel route. With the goal.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the route guidance apparatus according to claim 1, route setting means for setting a moving route of the vehicle, and the vehicle is traveling in any lane of a right turn lane, a left turn lane, and a straight lane If the vehicle is traveling on a lane that deviates from the movement route set by the route setting means from the recognition result of the recognition means when the vehicle approaches the intersection, the route setting is performed. And a control means for instructing the means to reset the movement route.

  Thus, in the route guidance device of the present invention, the recognition means recognizes which lane of the right turn lane, the left turn lane, or the straight lane is traveling. When the vehicle is traveling on a lane that deviates from the movement route set by the route setting means from the recognition result of the recognition means when the vehicle approaches the intersection, the control means To reset. Thus, in the route guidance device, when the vehicle approaches the intersection, when the vehicle is traveling in a lane that deviates from the travel route set by the route setting means, in other words, the stage before the vehicle deviates from the travel route. When it is clear that the vehicle deviates from the travel route, the travel route is reset. Therefore, the resetting of the movement path can be completed between the time when it becomes clear that the vehicle leaves the movement path and the time when the vehicle completely leaves the movement path. As a result, even when the traveling vehicle deviates from the set travel route, the reset new travel route can be presented immediately.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the recognizing means detects the traveling direction sign marked on the road surface of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling, and the vehicle moves from the detected traveling direction sign to the right turn lane, the left turn lane, or the straight line. It is desirable to recognize which lane of the lane is traveling. This makes it possible to reliably recognize whether the vehicle is traveling in a right turn lane, a left turn lane, or a straight lane.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the recognizing means detects a traveling direction indicator installed on the road of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling, and the vehicle is in a right turn lane, a left turn lane, a straight line from the detected traveling direction indication. It is good also as recognizing which lane of the lane it is drive | working. Even in this way, it is possible to reliably recognize which lane of the right turn lane, the left turn lane, or the straight lane is traveling.

  Preferably, the route setting means resets the movement route along the traveling direction in the lane in which the vehicle is traveling, based on the recognition result of the recognition means. Thus, the user can easily continue driving the vehicle.

  As described in claim 5, it is desirable to provide notifying means for notifying that the route setting means has reset the movement route. Thereby, the user can surely grasp that the movement route is reset.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a route guidance apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This route guidance device operates by being incorporated in a car navigation device.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the position detector 1 includes a geomagnetic sensor 11, a gyroscope 12, a distance sensor 13, and a GPS receiver 14, and detects the current position and the traveling direction of the vehicle.

  The geomagnetic sensor 11 has a configuration in which an exciting winding for exciting the annular ferromagnetic material such as permalloy, for example, and two orthogonal detection windings for direction detection are wound. And the voltage which generate | occur | produces in two detection windings by applying an alternating voltage to an excitation winding is measured, and the advancing direction of a vehicle is detected as an absolute direction based on this.

  The gyroscope 12 includes a crystal resonator, for example, and detects the yaw angular velocity (yaw rate) of the vehicle from vibration based on Coriolis force generated when the vibrator is vibrated.

  The distance sensor 13 detects the moving distance of the vehicle based on, for example, rotation signals of wheels and axles (not shown) mounted on the vehicle.

  The GPS receiver 14 receives a GPS signal for position measurement transmitted from a GPS satellite (not shown), which is an artificial satellite, and detects the latitude, longitude, and altitude of the point where the vehicle is currently traveling.

  The position detector 1 performs highly accurate position detection by interpolating the detection results of the four devices described above. Of course, depending on the required detection accuracy, it is not necessary to provide all the four devices described above. Note that the detection of the current position and the traveling direction of the vehicle may be performed based on detection signals from other sensors such as a steering sensor.

  The map data input device 2 has, for example, a hard disk as a storage medium, and includes map data including road information, lane information, building information, address information and zip code information of each area, and map image data for displaying a map image. And remember. Map data and map image data may be stored in a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or the like.

  The display 3 is a small vehicle-mounted display, and performs various navigation displays including display of map images. For the various navigation displays described above, an in-vehicle head-up display or the like may be used.

  The operation switch 4 includes a plurality of mechanical switches, and instructs the car navigation device to start and end various navigation operations. The various navigation instructions described above may be configured by a touch switch including a display panel that displays operation keys and a touch panel that detects that the operation keys displayed on the display panel are pressed. Further, it may be performed using voice recognition.

  The remote controller 5 is, for example, a multi-function remote controller provided with various function switches, and can perform almost the same operation as the operation switch 4 described above via the remote control sensor 6.

  The in-vehicle camera 7 is, for example, a CMOS camera, and generates image data by photographing a traveling direction sign marked on the road surface of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling. For the above-described shooting of the traveling direction sign, an in-vehicle CCD camera or the like may be used.

  The ECU 8 is a navigation ECU, and executes various navigation operations including map image display in accordance with instructions from the operation switch 4 or the remote controller 5. Specifically, the ECU 8 reads map image data around the current position of the vehicle from the map data input device 2 based on the current position and the traveling direction of the vehicle detected by the position detector 1 and indicates the current position of the vehicle. A map image on which the mark is superimposed is displayed on the display 3 and various voice guidance is performed from the speaker 9.

  In addition, the ECU 8 sets a movement route to the destination and also superimposes it on the map image displayed on the display 3. Specifically, when the destination is input from the operation switch 4 or the remote controller 5, the ECU 8 calculates a travel route from the current position of the vehicle to the input destination by, for example, a known Dijkstra method and the like. 3 is superimposed on the map image displayed in FIG. Regarding the calculation of the travel route described above, it is possible to input whether or not the expressway can be used and to calculate the travel route according to the input result. Alternatively, one or more waypoints to the destination may be set and the movement route may be calculated so as to pass through the point.

  Further, when the vehicle approaches the intersection, the ECU 8 resets the movement route when the vehicle is traveling on a lane that is out of the set movement route. Specifically, the ECU 8 operates the in-vehicle camera 7 when it is confirmed that the in-vehicle camera 7 is connected and the movement route is set when the vehicle approaches the intersection, The traveling direction sign marked on the road surface of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling is photographed. And while acquiring the image data which the vehicle-mounted camera 7 produced | generated and performing an image recognition process, whether the lane in which the vehicle is driving is a right turn lane, a left turn lane, or a straight lane from the photographed traveling direction indication Is determined. When the determined traveling direction of the lane does not coincide with the traveling direction of the set travel route, that is, when the vehicle is traveling in a lane that deviates from the set travel route, the ECU 8 determines whether the vehicle is traveling. The travel route is reset along the direction of travel of the vehicle, the reset travel route is superimposed on the map image on the display 3, and a guidance voice indicating that the resetting of the travel route is completed is output from the speaker 9. Let

  The memory 10 is used as a temporary storage area when the ECU 8 performs various operations. For the storage area described above, for example, a memory card or the like may be used.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart regarding processing for resetting a movement route in the route guidance device of the present embodiment. The process of this flowchart is executed each time the vehicle approaches each intersection when the vehicle is traveling along the set travel route.

  In step 201, ECU8 confirms whether the vehicle-mounted camera 7 is connected. If connection of the in-vehicle camera 7 is confirmed, the process proceeds to step 202. If not confirmed, the process ends. In step 202, it is confirmed whether or not a movement route is set. If the movement route is set, the process proceeds to step 203. If it is not set, the process is terminated.

  In step 203, the vehicle-mounted camera 7 is operated to photograph the traveling direction markings marked on the road surface of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling. In step 204, image data taken from the in-vehicle camera 7 is acquired, image recognition processing is performed on the data, and the lane in which the vehicle is traveling is turned to a right turn lane, a left turn lane, a straight line from the taken traveling direction indication. Determine which lane it is. By using the traveling direction marking, it is possible to reliably determine which lane of the right turn lane, the left turn lane, or the straight lane is traveling.

  In Step 205, whether or not the traveling direction of the lane determined in Step 204 is inconsistent with the traveling direction of the set travel route, that is, whether the vehicle is traveling in a lane that is outside the set travel route. Determine whether or not. If they do not match, go to Step 206. If they match, the process ends.

  In step 206, the travel route is reset along the traveling direction in the lane determined in step 204, and the reset travel route is superimposed on the map image on the display 3. By resetting the movement route along the traveling direction in the lane in which the vehicle is traveling, the user can easily continue driving the vehicle.

  In step 207, a guidance voice indicating that the movement route has been reset is output from the speaker 9, and the process ends. By outputting the guidance voice indicating that the movement route has been reset from the speaker 9, the user can reliably grasp that the movement route has been reset.

  Thus, in the route guidance device of the present embodiment, when the vehicle approaches the intersection, the ECU 8 determines that the traveling direction of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling does not match the traveling direction of the set travel route, that is, If the vehicle is traveling in a lane that deviates from the set travel route, the travel route is reset. Thereby, in this route guidance device, when the vehicle is traveling on a lane that deviates from the set travel route when the vehicle approaches the intersection, in other words, in the stage before the vehicle leaves the travel route, the vehicle When it becomes clear that is out of the travel route, the travel route is reset. Therefore, it is possible to reset the movement path from the time when it becomes clear that the vehicle deviates from the movement path until the vehicle completely deviates from the movement path. As a result, even when the traveling vehicle deviates from the set travel route, the reset new travel route can be presented immediately.

  Next, a modified example of the present invention will be described. In the embodiment described above, the in-vehicle camera 7 captures the traveling direction markings marked on the road surface of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling, and determines the traveling direction of the lane. In this modified example, the in-vehicle camera 7 A traveling direction indicator installed on the road of the traveling lane is photographed to determine the traveling direction of the lane. The points described above are the points of this modification.

  The in-vehicle camera 7 of the present modification shoots a traveling direction indicator installed on the road in the lane in which the vehicle is traveling, and generates image data.

  The ECU 8 of the present modified example captures a traveling direction indicator installed on a lane in which the vehicle is traveling, acquires image data generated by the in-vehicle camera 7, performs image recognition processing, and captures the captured progress. It is determined from the direction indication whether the lane in which the vehicle is traveling is a right turn lane, a left turn lane, or a straight lane.

  Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the above-described embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

  In addition, in the route guidance device of this modification, regarding the flowchart relating to the process of resetting the movement route, the vehicle-mounted camera 7 is operated in the flowchart of FIG. In place of the step of photographing the traveling direction markings marked on the road surface, the step of operating the vehicle-mounted camera 7 and photographing the traveling direction markings installed on the road in the lane in which the vehicle is traveling is provided.

  As described above, in the route guidance device of the present modification, the ECU 8 captures the image of the traveling direction installed on the road of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling, acquires the image data generated by the in-vehicle camera 7, and performs image recognition. In addition to processing, it is determined from the photographed traveling direction indication whether the lane in which the vehicle is traveling is a right turn lane, a left turn lane, or a straight lane. Even in this case, when the traveling vehicle deviates from the set travel route, the newly set new travel route can be presented immediately.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the present apparatus is incorporated and operated in the car navigation apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any apparatus having a road display function can be suitably used. However, it is to be noted that the most preferable case is when the apparatus is installed and operated in the car navigation apparatus.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a travel lane guide apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart regarding the process which resets a movement route in the route guidance apparatus of this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Position detector 11 ... Geomagnetic sensor 12 ... Gyroscope 13 ... Distance sensor 14 ... GPS receiver 2 ... Map data input device 3 ... Display 4 ... Operation switch 5 ... Remote control 6 ... Remote control sensor 7 ... In-vehicle camera 8 ... ECU
9 ... Speaker 10 ... Memory

Claims (5)

Route setting means for setting a moving route of the vehicle;
Recognizing means for recognizing whether the vehicle is traveling in a right turn lane, a left turn lane, or a straight lane;
When the vehicle is traveling along a lane that deviates from the travel route set by the route setting means from the recognition result of the recognition means when the vehicle approaches the intersection, the vehicle moves relative to the route setting means. A route guidance device comprising: control means for instructing to reset the route. The recognizing means detects a traveling direction sign marked on a road surface of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling, and the vehicle is selected from any of the detected traveling direction markings in any of a right turn lane, a left turn lane, and a straight lane. 2. The route guidance device according to claim 1, wherein the route guidance device recognizes whether the vehicle is traveling in a lane. The recognizing unit detects a traveling direction sign installed on a road in a lane in which the vehicle is traveling, and the vehicle is selected from any of the detected traveling direction sign to be a right turn lane, a left turn lane, or a straight lane 2. The route guidance device according to claim 1, wherein the route guidance device recognizes whether the vehicle is traveling in a lane. 4. The route setting unit according to claim 1, wherein the route setting unit resets a moving route along a traveling direction in a lane in which the vehicle is traveling based on a recognition result of the recognition unit. The route guidance apparatus described. The route guidance device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a notification unit that notifies that the route setting unit has reset the movement route.

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