JP2007114008A - Car navigation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To notify a facility capable of visiting within a waiting time in addition to the waiting time, if there is a waiting time when entering in a toll road or when going out from the toll road so as to be fit to a passage money discount condition of the toll road, or to notify an interchange of going out from the toll road to receive a discount of the passage money. <P>SOLUTION: The interchange of going out from the toll road is changed when a travel distance on the toll road H exceeds a discount distance in a set guide route, and the waiting time and the facility capable of visiting within the waiting time are retrieved to be notified to a user when a predicted time of going out from the toll road is before the discount time, if the discount of the passage money is received when the travel distance on the toll road H is within a fixed distance and when a time of going out from the toll road is met to a discount time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a car navigation device having a function of guiding a toll road so as to meet a discount condition when there is a toll discount.

Some recent car navigation devices have various functions. For example, in the car navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a route to a destination is set, the number of facilities of the same type existing to the destination is notified, and the drive plan is It is easy to stand.
In addition, the car navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 2 performs route guidance so that the toll road can pass through the toll road during the toll discount time zone of the toll road.
JP 2003-148978 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-41760

By the way, in order to receive discounts on tolls on toll roads, it is necessary to meet discount conditions. The discount condition may be to exit from a toll road at a certain time zone, or within a certain distance within a certain distance.
The car navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 2 performs route guidance so that a toll road can be exited from a toll road during a toll discount time zone. However, when actually going out for a drive, it often happens that the general road before entering the toll road is vacant and leaves the toll road earlier than the time zone when the discount can be received. Such a problem cannot be solved by the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 as well as in Patent Document 1 described above.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to meet the toll road toll discount conditions, so if there is a waiting time when entering the toll road or leaving the toll road, the waiting is waited for. Notify the facilities that you can drop in on time and the facilities where you can spend the waiting time, or notify the interchange to exit from the toll road so that you can receive a toll discount An object of the present invention is to provide a car navigation device capable of performing the above.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides position acquisition means for acquiring the position of the host vehicle, map data acquisition means for acquiring map data, and toll road information acquisition for acquiring toll discount conditions for toll roads. And an estimated arrival time at an interchange entering the toll road and / or an exit from the toll road based on the position of the vehicle and the map data, and the estimated arrival time is the toll discount condition for the toll road. Accepting requirement detecting means for obtaining a waiting time when entering the toll road and / or a waiting time when leaving the toll road as a discount accepting requirement when the discount time is before the discount time, , Facility search for searching for facilities that can drop in within the waiting time or facilities that can spend the waiting time from the map data And the step, in a car navigation system comprising; and a notifying means for notifying the searched the facility by the facility searching means.

  According to this configuration, when the entry time to the toll road or the departure time from the toll road is in a certain time zone is a toll fee discount condition for the toll road, there is a waiting time until the time when the discount is received. If there is a waiting time, we will notify you of the facilities that you can drop in within that waiting time, so even if there is a waiting time, you can effectively use this while offering a toll discount service You can receive it effectively.

In this case, when a guide route to the destination has already been set, a facility that can be visited within the waiting time is searched from facilities near the route to the toll road and / or an accompanying facility on the toll road. be able to.
In this way, you don't have to travel in vain to stop at the facility, and there is no facility to stop by before you get to the interchange you plan to leave from the toll road, and before it is time to receive the discount service. It is possible to prevent problems such as leaving toll roads.

Further, the acceptance requirement detecting means, when the toll discount condition for the toll road includes a travel distance, an interchange to enter the toll road and / or to be adapted to the travel distance that can receive the discount The interchange that should exit from the toll road is determined as a discount acceptance requirement, and the notification means notifies the interchange to enter the toll road and / or the interchange to exit from the toll road that has been obtained by the discount acceptance requirement detection means. You may comprise.
According to this configuration, although the conditions for using toll roads during the discounted time period are satisfied, the mileage does not meet the discount conditions, and as a result, the toll discount cannot be obtained. Occurrence can be prevented in advance.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides position acquisition means for acquiring the position of the host vehicle, map data acquisition means for acquiring map data, and toll road for acquiring toll discount conditions for toll roads. Based on the information acquisition means, the position of the host vehicle and the map data, the travel distance of the toll road between the interchange entering the toll road and the interchange exiting from the toll road is obtained, and the travel distance of the toll road When the toll road exceeds the travel distance in the toll discount condition, the interchange and / or the toll to enter the toll road so that the travel distance can receive the discount of the toll Acceptance requirement detection means for obtaining an interchange to be taken off the road as a discount acceptance requirement, and the acceptance requirement detection means In car navigation device comprising; and a notifying means for notifying the interchange to exit the serial interchange and / or the toll road to enter the toll road.
According to this configuration, an interchange that was originally scheduled to enter a toll road can receive a discount service by entering from the notified interchange if it enters earlier than the time when the discount service is received. If you travel to the interchange that you were able to do or were scheduled to leave, the toll discount service can be offered by leaving the toll road from the notified interchange if the travel distance exceeds the discounted travel distance. You will be able to receive it.

In this case, when the guide route to the destination has already been set, an interchange different from the interchange entering the toll road and / or the exit leaving the toll road set as the guide route is obtained as the discount acceptance requirement. Only in some cases can this be notified by the notification means as an interchange after change.
According to this configuration, unlike the case where notification is made to the interchange user who enters and exits without any change, it is not necessary to give unnecessary misunderstanding to the user.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a car navigation apparatus 1 mounted on a vehicle. As shown in the figure, the car navigation device 1 is a control device 2 as a control means, a position detection device 3 as a position acquisition means, a map data storage device 4 as a map data acquisition means, and an operation as an input means. Switch group 5, touch panel 6 as input means, remote control sensor 8 paired with remote control 7 as input means, display device 9 as notification means, speech synthesis circuit 11 including speaker 10 as notification means, microphone 12 is connected to a voice recognition device 13 having a reference numeral 12, a VICS (registered trademark: Vehicle Information and Communication System) receiver 14 as a road traffic information acquisition means, a mobile telephone module 15 as a communication means, an external memory 16, a clock unit 17, and the like. Configured. Further, an ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) vehicle-mounted device 18 is connected to the control device 2 via an in-vehicle LAN or the like.

  The control device 2 has a function of controlling the overall operation of the car navigation device 1 and is mainly composed of a microcomputer. That is, the control device 2 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O, a bus that connects these, and the like (all not shown). Among these, the ROM stores an execution program for operating the car navigation device 1, an execution program for receiving toll discounts on toll roads, and the RAM stores temporary data and map data storage device 4 during program execution. The acquired map data, information acquired from the VICS receiver 9, the mobile phone module 15, and the like are temporarily stored.

  The position detection device 3 includes a G sensor 19 for detecting the pitch angle of the vehicle, a gyroscope 20 for detecting the roll angle of the vehicle, a distance sensor 21 and a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 22. ing. Since these sensors 19 to 21 have detection errors of different properties, combining these sensors 19 to 21 enables highly accurate position detection while correcting the detection errors. Note that, depending on the required detection accuracy level, it is not necessary to provide all the sensors 19 to 21, and a configuration in which the sensors are appropriately selected can be provided. Further, the position detection device 3 may be configured by combining a steering rotation sensor, a wheel sensor that detects the rotation of each tire, and the like.

  The map data storage device 4 is composed of an information recording medium such as a DVD-ROM and a reading device that reads data from the information recording medium, and reads data from the information recording medium by the reading device to the control device 2. input. Here, the map data storage device 4 includes data such as map data, map matching data, data for guiding the route by voice, and the location of the destination on the map. Data to be used, and data for making it possible to search for destination names by genre.

  The map data is data for displaying a map on the liquid crystal display of the display device 7 and includes link information, node information, and the like. This is to divide the road on the map into multiple parts by nodes that show inflection points such as intersections, branch points, merge points, curves over a predetermined angle, etc., define each link as a link, and connect these links Based on the idea of constructing a map. The link information includes, for each link, a link unique ID, a link length (road length) indicating the link length, coordinates of the start and end of the link, a road width of the link, and a road type (national road, prefectural road, etc. , Highway, etc.). The node information includes, for each node, node unique ID, coordinates, node attributes such as data indicating a three-dimensional intersection or a multi-lane intersection.

  The data (map search data) for searching the position of the destination on the map from the place name or the like is configured as map index data for searching the position on the map from the place name, the name of the building, the name of the facility, or the like. . Similarly, the data used to search destination names by genre is divided into various genres such as restaurants, hotels, stations, amusement parks, public facilities, etc. It consists of divided data. The above facilities include parks, amusement parks, hospitals, government offices, department stores, convenience stores, restaurants, expressway service areas, and the like.

  The display device 9 includes a color liquid crystal display as a display screen for displaying map data, characters or symbols, and the transparent touch panel 6 is pasted on the surface of the liquid crystal display. The operation switch group 5, the touch panel 6, and the remote controller 7 are used to input data and input setting items. The operation switch group 5 is, for example, a push button switch provided around the liquid crystal display. It is composed of

The voice synthesis circuit 11 synthesizes a voice according to a voice synthesis command from the control device 2 and outputs it from the speaker 10. Further, the voice recognition device 13 recognizes a voice by a voice signal input from the microphone 12 and inputs a recognition result to the control device 2. The VICS receiver 14 receives road traffic information transmitted from the external information source VICS and inputs it to the control device 2. The control device 2 detects a traffic restriction point, a congested road, a congested section, and the like based on the road traffic information input from the VICS receiver 14.
The mobile telephone module 15 can be connected to the information center 25 through the base station 23 and the communication network 24 of the mobile telephone system, and obtains toll road toll discount information and the like from the information center 25. The clock unit 17 measures the time and gives the current time information to the control device 2.

  The control device 2 has a function as display control means, calculates the current position of the host vehicle based on information input from the position detection device 3, and displays a road map around the current position based on map data. In addition to being displayed on the liquid crystal display of the device 9, a pointer (indicated by P in FIGS. 3, 4 and 6) indicating the current position and traveling direction of the host vehicle is displayed superimposed on the displayed road map. The scale of the road map displayed on this display screen can be changed by operating the operation switch group 5.

  In addition, the control device 2 synthesizes speech by the speech synthesizer circuit 11 in order to indicate a function as route search means for searching for a guide route to the destination and a direction in which the host vehicle should travel according to the route. It has a function as a travel guide means for outputting from the speaker 10 or displaying it on the liquid crystal display of the display device 9 on the screen. That is, when the operation switch group 5, the operation switch group 5, the touch panel 6 or the remote controller 7 is operated to set the destination or waypoint, the optimum route from the current position (departure point) to the destination is automatically set as the guide route. At the same time, the guide route is displayed in a color different from the normal road color on the road map displayed on the liquid crystal display of the display device 9. And the control apparatus 2 guides the advancing direction of a motor vehicle by an audio | voice etc. according to a guidance route. The Dijkstra method or the like is used as a method for setting the optimum route.

  When the guide route is set, the control device 2 determines the distance to the interchange of the entrance to the expressway, the required time, and the expressway when a toll road, for example, a toll expressway (hereinafter simply referred to as expressway) is in the guide route The distance to the interchange at the exit and the required time, the distance to the destination and the required time are calculated, the time of arrival at each point is predicted, and this is displayed on the liquid crystal display of the display device 9 together with the distance.

  The vehicle speed is required to calculate the required time, but when setting the guide route, the vehicle speed uses constants determined in advance for ordinary roads and highways. After traveling, the control device 2 obtains the actual speed by differentiating the detection data of the distance sensor 21 and obtains the speed, and the distance sensor 21 detects the average speed obtained by averaging this speed and the distance from the starting point to each point. The arrival time at each point is calculated and updated every predetermined time based on the remaining distance obtained by subtracting the travel distance.

  In this embodiment, when a guide route is set and a highway is included in the guide route, the control device 2 determines toll discount information on the highway that is part of the guide route from the information center 25. Get notified so that you can get the discount service. Hereinafter, the operation content of the control device 2 in the case of issuing a notification for enabling the reception of the discount service will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2 and the guide route diagram of FIG. In this embodiment, the toll discount conditions are based on the premise that the ETC on-board device is installed, and in addition to this, the travel distance on the expressway and the interchange exiting from the expressway (hereinafter referred to as the departure interchange) are passed. It is assumed that it is one or both of time and time.

  Further, the guide route of FIG. 3 is a route from the departure point through the general road S1 to the highway H from the Δ △ interchange, and from the highway H to the general road S2 through the XX interchange to the destination. There are facilities such as convenience stores along the general road S1 up to the expressway H, and the expressway H has a service area (SA) between the △△ interchange and the XX interchange. Suppose you are.

  When the guide route shown in FIG. 3 is set, the control device 2 makes an interchange from the current location (departure point) into the highway H (hereinafter referred to as an entrance interchange; Δ △ interchange) and an interchange from the highway H (hereinafter referred to as an exit interchange). ; XX interchange), the distance to the destination is calculated from the map data, and the predicted time of arrival at each point is calculated and displayed on the liquid crystal display of the display device 9. Here, it is assumed that the departure time is 14:00, the estimated arrival time of the Δ △ interchange is 14:30, the estimated arrival time of the XX interchange is 16:40, and the estimated arrival time at the destination is 17:10. .

  Now, when entering the processing routine of FIG. 2, the control device 2 first connects the mobile telephone module 15 to the information center 25, acquires the toll discount condition for the expressway H from the information center 25, and this discount condition. Is stored in a storage means such as a RAM (step S1). Here, it is assumed that the discount condition is that an ETC on-board device is installed and that the expressway H is exited after 17:00. Then, the control device 2 first detects the equipment on the own vehicle via the in-vehicle LAN. In the case of this embodiment, since the ETC vehicle-mounted device 18 is mounted, the discount conditions are satisfied for the equipment (“YES” in step S2 and “YES” in step S3). If the ETC vehicle-mounted device 18 is not installed, the control device 2 becomes “NO” in step S3 and ends the processing routine shown in FIG.

  Next, when the vehicle starts traveling, the control device 2 determines whether or not the traveling distance on the highway is in a discount condition (step S4). Here, since the travel distance is not included in the discount condition, “YES” is determined in the step S4, and the process proceeds to a step S8 in which the arrival time at the departure interchange is calculated.

  In step 8, the control device 2 calculates the actual vehicle speed of the vehicle after the start of traveling, and predicts the arrival time at the entrance interchange to the expressway H, the expressway H based on the vehicle speed and the distance from the current position. The estimated arrival time at the departure interchange from and the estimated arrival time at the destination are sequentially calculated. Further, the control device 2 acquires road traffic information by the VICS receiver 14 and corrects the estimated arrival time according to the traffic situation when acquiring information on traffic jams in the guide route.

  Next, the control device 2 proceeds to step S9, and determines whether or not the estimated arrival time from the highway H to the departure interchange is close to the time when the toll discount can be received. This determination is made based on whether or not the difference between the estimated arrival time of the leaving interchange and the discount start time is within a predetermined time, for example, within 30 minutes. It should be noted that the reference predetermined time for determining that the estimated arrival time of the departure interchange is close to the discount start time can be freely set by the user.

  Now, assuming that the estimated arrival time of the departure interchange (XX interchange) is 16:40 as originally expected, the controller 2 determines whether the estimated arrival time is close to 17:00 to 20:00, which is the discount time. Judge whether or not. Whether or not the estimated arrival time at the departure interchange is close to the discount time is calculated by calculating 20 minutes, which is a waiting time until the discount start time becomes 17:00, as a discount acceptance requirement (acceptance requirement detection means), Then, the determination is made based on whether or not the waiting time is shorter than a predetermined time, for example, 30 minutes. Since the waiting time is shorter than the standard predetermined time of 30 minutes, the control device 2 determines “YES” in step S9, and then, in order to make the passage time of the departure interchange later than the discount start time, Set the waiting time (hereinafter referred to as rest time) and the resting place. The break time is set so that the estimated time of passing the departure interchange is slightly later (about 5 minutes) than the discount start time.

  As for the resting place, priority is given to the facilities attached to the expressway H, for example, the service area between the entrance interchange and the exit interchange, and if there is no service area, a facility that can be visited near the general road leading to the entrance interchange ( (For example, a park or the like) or a facility (for example, a coffee shop or a convenience store) where a resting time can be spent is searched.

  That is, if the determination is “YES” in step S9, the control device 2 searches the map data in the next step S10 to determine whether or not there is a service area between the entry interchange and the exit interchange. . In the example of FIG. 3, since there is a service area between the entrance interchange and the exit interchange, the control device 2 determines “YES” in step S10, and exists between the entrance interchange and the exit interchange. Of the service areas, the service area closest to the departure interchange is selected and set as a resting place, and is displayed on the liquid crystal display of the display device 9 and output from the speaker 10 by voice so as to take a 20-minute break here ( Step S11, Step S12). In this case, the discount start time may be notified together. Then, when the rest place and the rest time are output, the control device 2 ends the processing routine of FIG. The reason why the service area to be rested is determined as the service area closest to the departure interchange is that the time of arrival at the departure interchange can be accurately adjusted by the time slightly after the discount start time.

  By the way, when setting a break place, as shown, for example in FIG. 4, there may be no service area between an entrance interchange and an exit interchange. In this case, the control device 2 becomes “NO” in step S10, and whether or not there is a resting place, for example, a coffee shop or a convenience store near the general road S1 that travels before moving to step S13 and entering the highway H. In step S14, the facility closest to the incoming interchange is notified as a resting place for adjusting the waiting time together with the waiting time, and the processing routine of FIG.

  Now, depending on the section of the highway, the mileage may be included in the toll discount conditions. For example, in the example of FIG. 5, on the assumption that the ETC on-board device is installed, the time zone during which the departure interchange passes is from 17:00 to 20:00, and the travel distance on the highway H is Assuming that the discount was within 200km, the departure time at the departure point was 16:30, the expected arrival time at the entrance interchange (XX interchange) was 17:10, and the expected arrival time at the departure interchange (□□ interchange) Assuming that the time is 19:30 and the travel distance (distance from the entrance interchange to the exit interchange) is 210 km, the passing time of the exit interchange meets the discount conditions, but the travel distance does not meet the discount conditions. .

  In this case, the control device 2 determines “YES” in step S4 to determine whether or not the travel distance is included in the discount condition, and in step S5 to determine whether or not the interval between the interchanges scheduled to enter and exit is within the discount travel distance. “NO”. If it is determined in step S5 that the mileage of the expressway is within the discount condition of 200 km in the initial guide route, the control device 2 determines “YES” in step S5 and arrives at the departure interchange. The process proceeds to step S8 for calculating time.

  However, in the example of FIG. 5, since the travel distance of the highway H exceeds 200 km, the control device 2 determines “NO” in step S5 and proceeds to step S6. In step S6, the control device 2 determines whether there is another interchange within the travel distance of the discount condition before the originally scheduled departure interchange (□□ interchange) based on the map data. The processing routine of FIG. 2 is terminated.

  If there is another interchange within the travel distance of the discount condition, the control device 2 determines “YES” in step S6, and goes out in the next step S7 so that the travel distance is within the discounted distance of 200 km. Change the power interchange before the original □□ interchange to ◎◎ interchange (acceptance requirement detection means) and display it on the liquid crystal display of the display device 9 and output it with sound from the speaker 10 to the exit interchange The process proceeds to step S8 for calculating the arrival time.

  By the way, in this embodiment, even when a guide route is not set, a notification is provided so that a toll discount for the expressway can be received. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, when the own vehicle is located within a certain distance R from the highway H or from the nearest interchange, the discount condition for the highway H is acquired from the information center 25. And when the discount condition is in the time zone that leaves the expressway H, you can enter the expressway H from the nearest interchange and exit within the discount time zone, or wait for a predetermined time (for example, 30 minutes) If there is an interchange that will be a discounted time zone, it will be notified together with the time to take a break and the service area to take a break.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when the highway H is included in the guide route, it is determined whether or not there is a possibility of receiving a toll discount for the highway H, that is, the waiting time until the discount start time The discount condition is determined whether or not the vehicle is within a predetermined time set in advance and whether the departure interchange can be changed to match the travel distance when the travel distance of the expressway is a discount condition. Since the notification is issued so as to meet the requirements, the opportunity to receive a toll discount increases.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and can be expanded or changed as follows.
If the toll discount condition is set as the time to enter the expressway, calculate the waiting time so that the time to enter the toll road becomes the discounted time, and search for facilities that can drop in at the waiting time Also good.
The toll road discount conditions may be recorded in advance in the map data and acquired from the map data.
The waiting time may be divided into two times before entering the expressway and after entering.
If the toll discount condition is on the mileage of the toll road and the mileage is set within a certain range, the departure interchange will be changed to the original interchange in order to match the mileage on the toll road to the mileage range of the discount condition. However, the present invention is not limited to the case where the interchange is changed to a previous interchange, and the incoming interchange may be changed to the outgoing interchange rather than the original interchange.

1 is a block diagram of a car navigation apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. flowchart The figure which shows the 1st example of a guidance route The figure which shows the 2nd example of a guidance route The figure which shows the 3rd example of a guidance route The figure which shows the example when there is no guide route

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 1 is a car navigation device, 2 is a control device (acceptance requirement detection means, facility detection means, route search means), 3 is a position detection device (position acquisition means), and 4 is a map data storage device (map data acquisition means). ), 9 is a display device (notification means), 10 is a speaker (notification means), 14 is a VICS receiver, and 15 is a mobile telephone module (toll road information acquisition means).

Claims (5)

Position acquisition means for acquiring the position of the host vehicle;
Map data acquisition means for acquiring map data;
Toll road information acquisition means for acquiring toll road toll discount conditions;
Based on the position of the host vehicle and the map data, an expected arrival time at an interchange entering the toll road and / or an exit from the toll road is obtained, and the estimated arrival time is included in the toll discount conditions of the toll road. An acceptance requirement detecting means for obtaining a waiting time when entering the toll road and / or a waiting time when leaving the toll road as a discount acceptance requirement when the discount time is before the discount time;
Facility search means for searching for facilities that can drop in within the waiting time or facilities that can spend the waiting time from the map data;
A car navigation apparatus comprising notification means for notifying the facility searched by the facility search means. A route search means for searching for a guide route to the destination is provided.
The acceptance requirement detecting means includes a waiting time when entering the toll road and / or a waiting time when leaving the toll road when there is a toll road that can receive a toll discount in the guide route. Seeking
The facility detection means is a facility that can be visited within the waiting time or a facility that can spend the waiting time as a facility near the road leading to the toll road in the guide route and / or associated with the toll road. 2. The car navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a search is made from among facilities. When the acceptance requirement detecting means includes a travel distance in the toll discount condition of the toll road, the interchange to enter the toll road and / or the toll to adapt to the travel distance that can receive the discount Finding the interchange to exit from the road as a discount acceptance requirement,
The car navigation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the notification means notifies an interchange to be entered into the toll road and / or an interchange to exit from the toll road determined by the discount acceptance requirement detection means. . Position acquisition means for acquiring the position of the host vehicle;
Map data acquisition means for acquiring map data;
Toll road information acquisition means for acquiring toll road toll discount conditions;
Based on the position of the host vehicle and the map data, the travel distance of the toll road between the interchange entering the toll road and the interchange exiting from the toll road is obtained, and the travel distance of the toll road is An interchange to enter the toll road and / or an exit to exit from the toll road so that when the mileage in the toll discount conditions is exceeded, the mileage can be discounted. An acceptance requirement detecting means for obtaining a discount acceptance requirement,
A car navigation apparatus comprising notification means for notifying an interchange to enter the toll road and / or an interchange to exit from the toll road determined by the acceptance requirement detecting means. A route search means for searching for a guide route to the destination is provided.
The acceptance requirement detecting means is provided only when an interchange different from the original interchange is required as the discount acceptance requirement when a toll road that can receive a toll discount exists in the guide route. 5. The car navigation apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the notification means notifies the change as an interchange after change.

Images