JP2008082863A - Navigation device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation device for a vehicle by which a user can drive the vehicle smoothly without feeling disturbed. <P>SOLUTION: Under the condition that the user has registered a desired point, or the vehicle has reached the point, the node number of an intersection Z of a road through which the vehicle passes to reach the point is stored in correlation with an exit link ID of the exit road on which the vehicle has exited from the intersection Z corresponding to the node number. A control circuit, when the vehicle approaches the intersection Z corresponding to the node number, displays on a simple guidance map Y, that the point previously registered or reached exists on the side of the exit road indicated by the exit link ID correlated with the intersection Z. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle navigation apparatus for guiding a route of a user.

This type of vehicle navigation apparatus is useful when a user searches for a route. Many techniques have been developed in which the vehicular navigation device suggests the direction of the destination (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4). For example, in the techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3, guidance information is displayed by associating a branch point on a road on which the host vehicle travels with a direction guide. Further, according to the technique disclosed in Patent Document 4, in consideration of a case where the direction sign is overlooked, a guide map similar to the direction sign arranged at the branch point can be displayed on the display screen of the navigation device. .
JP 2005-156281 A JP 2005-164362 A JP 2005-283292 A Japanese Patent No. 3732008

  If the user has reached the destination even once, the user does not always use this navigation function. This has the annoyance that the user must search the destination by operating the vehicle navigation device and perform route calculation. If the user follows his / her own memory without taking such trouble, It is because it thinks that it can reach. In this case, the vehicle often starts to travel before setting the destination. However, when the user's memory is ambiguous, the user may not be able to remember the route that the user has previously traveled while traveling on the route to the destination. At this time, you may get lost in a place where the memory is ambiguous.

  In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2, although it is possible to display the direction guidance information for the previous branch point, it takes time and effort to set the direction guidance until reaching the destination desired by the user. It cannot be set in a short time. Even if the techniques disclosed in Patent Document 3 and Patent Document 4 are applied, the user is less confused, but when the user cannot determine the direction of the place name of his / her intended location. The user is confused because the route cannot be determined by himself / herself, causing trouble in driving.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular navigation device that eliminates the user's confusion as much as possible and enables smooth driving.

  The invention according to claim 1 operates as follows. The storage means associates the information on the branch point of the road that has passed through to the point and the information on the exit road that has exited from the branch point on the condition that the user has registered or reached the point desired by the point. And keep it in memory. When the notification control means reaches the branch point of the road stored in the storage means, the notification means notifies that there is a point on the exit road side associated with the branch point information. It is possible to know that there is a point that has been reached or registered before, and it is possible to remove the user's confusion as much as possible and to enable smooth driving.

  As in the inventions according to claims 2, 3, and 4, a destination or waypoint is included as a point desired by the user, a point registered by the user is included, or a point where the vehicle engine is stopped is included It is desirable to make it.

  When the storage unit stores a plurality of points corresponding to the exit road, the user may be confused if the notification control unit controls all of the information. Therefore, as in the invention described in claim 5, the point closest to the current location specified by the position specifying means is controlled, or the storage means corresponds to each exit road as in the invention described in claim 6. It is desirable to memorize the number of times of reaching and to control the notification of the point having the highest number of times of arrival.

  Further, as in the invention described in claim 7, the storage means stores the registered arrival type (for example, destination arrival by route guidance, memory registration by the user, engine stop) corresponding to the exit road. It is desirable to perform notification control on a point corresponding to the registered arrival type.

  There may be a plurality of passage paths corresponding to one point. In this case, as in the eighth aspect of the invention, the storage means stores the number of times of passage of the exit road corresponding to the location, and performs notification control of the location on the exit road side having the largest number of passes of the exit road. desirable. The user is less likely to get lost because the fact that there is a point on the exit road side that is frequently used is reported. According to the inventions of the fifth to eighth aspects as described above, it is possible to remove the user's confusion as much as possible and perform smoother driving.

  Further, when the information on the road area is stored in the storage means as in the above-described invention, a huge amount of information is stored. Therefore, information of road areas (ranges) with a small amount of information stored in the road information stored in the storage means is deleted in order from the oldest information stored in the storage means (Claim 9). It is left preferentially (Claim 10), or information on road areas (ranges) with a high number of travels is deleted from the road information stored in the storage means (Claim 11), or stored in the storage means. The information stored in the storage means can be managed by deleting the information of the road area (range) having a small number of travels in the existing road information (claim 12).

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an electrical configuration of a vehicle navigation apparatus.
As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 includes a control circuit 2, and a position detector 3, a map data input device 4, an operation switch group 5, an audio circuit unit 6, a memory for the control circuit 2. The device 7, the display device 8, and the voice recognition device 9 are connected.

  The control circuit 2 includes a CPU (not shown), a memory 2a, and the like, and has a function as notification control means. Among the components of the control circuit 2, the memory 2a is loaded with a navigation program and the like, and in addition to the program, processing data at the time of program execution, road map data acquired from the map data input device 4 and the like are temporarily stored. It is to be stored.

  The position detector 3 is, for example, a GPS receiver that receives a GPS signal from an artificial satellite for GPS (Global Positioning System), an angular velocity sensor (gyroscope) for detecting a yaw rate, and a vehicle speed. A vehicle speed sensor (both not shown) is provided. The position detector 3 includes an acceleration sensor for detecting acceleration in three axial directions orthogonal to each other and an inclination sensor for detecting an inclination angle in the pitching direction of the vehicle according to the detection accuracy and the like. It may be applied in place of a part of the constituent elements, or may be added. The position detector 3 is configured to detect the position with high accuracy while interpolating these detection signals and to supply the position detection signal to the control circuit 2. Although not shown, a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the speed of the vehicle is also connected to the control circuit 2.

  The map data input device 4 is a device for inputting map data using a large-capacity information storage medium such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, hard disk, or nonvolatile semiconductor memory. This map data includes map drawing data for map display, road data necessary for various processes such as map matching, route search, route guidance, intersection data (branch point data) consisting of detailed data of intersections, background In addition to the background data for displaying the layer, the place name data for displaying points such as the place name, the facility name data in which the facility names are arranged in, for example, the order of the Japanese syllabary, and the telephone number indicating the correspondence between the phone number and the facility Data that corresponds to maps, such as data, is targeted. These map data are recorded and databased for each data described above. Among these, the point data includes road data, intersection data, place name data, and facility name data, and is data indicating a predetermined point.

  The operation switch group 5 includes a mechanical switch disposed around the display screen of the display device 8, a touch panel formed on the display screen of the display device 8, and the like, and relates to operations of various data and setting items. A command, character information, and map designation instruction information are provided to the control circuit 2 as signals.

  The voice circuit unit 6 includes a voice synthesis circuit and the like, and is connected to a speaker 10 and a microphone 11. The voice circuit unit 6 generates a voice output according to voice information from the control circuit 2 and outputs the voice output to the speaker 10 as a notification unit The voice information from the microphone 11 is input.

  The storage device 7 is configured by a data rewritable nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory or a hard disk. This storage device 7 is provided for storing or calling predetermined data such as a history of a travel locus or arbitrary image data captured by a digital camera.

  The display device 8 functions as a notification unit and a display unit, and is configured by, for example, a color liquid crystal display for displaying a map screen or the like, and is installed near the driver's seat of the vehicle. On the display screen of the display device 8, a road map whose scale can be changed in a plurality of stages in normal times is displayed, and a pointer indicating the current position and traveling direction of the vehicle is displayed superimposed on the display. It has become. In addition, when a route guidance function based on a route calculation result to a destination performed using a well-known Dijkstra method is executed, a guidance route to be traveled while being superimposed on a road map is displayed. In addition, a point search by a user (generally a vehicle driver) such as a destination or waypoint, various menu screens and input screens for inputting these points, and various messages, information and help screens are also displayed. It is like that. Details will be described later.

  The speech recognition device 9 is configured to recognize speech information input from the microphone 11 and output the speech information to the control circuit 2 as a speech recognition result. The remote control sensor 12 receives an operation signal from the remote control 13 and gives it to the control circuit 2.

  The control circuit 2 identifies the current position based on the position detection signal detected by the position detector 3, and a well-known map display based on a command input through the operation switch group 5, the remote control sensor 12, or the voice recognition device 9. Function, route calculation function, route guidance function, phone number search function, postal code search function, search function using unique code such as map code (registered trademark), 50 sound search function, genre search function, nearest facility search It is configured to execute processing related to various support functions such as a function, a destination registration function, and a point registration function.

  The operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to the drawings. Since this embodiment has a feature in performing notification control so as to guide and display a registered arrival point direction that has been reached or registered before without setting a destination or a waypoint, that portion. The explanation will be focused on.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart schematically showing the registration processing operation. The control circuit 2 of the vehicle navigation device 1 performs a temporary storage process when it is detected by the vehicle speed sensor that the vehicle is traveling (step S1).

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart schematically showing the temporary storage process. As shown in FIG. 3, the control circuit 2 specifies the current position based on the position detection signal from the position detector 3 and the map data input from the map data input device 4, and the road intersection Z (branch) It is determined whether or not it passes (corresponding to a point: see FIG. 5) (step T1). The control circuit 2 performs the processing shown in steps T2 to T8 on the condition that it is immediately after passing through the road intersection Z (YES).

  In step T <b> 2, the control circuit 2 determines whether or not the information on the intersection Z of the road that has passed is stored in the storage device 7. In this storage device 7, information indicating from which road the user has entered and from which road has been stored is stored as history information.

  FIG. 8 shows the history information stored in the storage device in detail. In the storage device 7, the passage date and time, the node number of the intersection Z, the approach link ID indicating the approach road E0, the exit link ID (see FIG. 5) indicating the exit roads E1 and E2, and the related point information are stored. Stored in association. A different node number is assigned to each national intersection Z, and a different link ID (refer to “2331111”, “2331112”, “2331114” in FIG. 5) is assigned to each national road. ing.

  When the user drives the vehicle and passes through the intersection Z, the passage date and time and the node number corresponding to the intersection Z are stored in the storage device 7, and the entry link ID, the exit link ID, and the node number of the intersection Z are stored. Corresponding to the relevant point information that has been previously reached, passed, or registered as a point corresponding to the

  Returning to FIG. 3, the control circuit 2 determines whether or not the node number of the intersection Z of the road that has passed is stored in the storage device 7 (step T <b> 2), and the node number of the intersection Z is stored in the storage device 7. If it is, the exit link ID of the exit road and the entrance link ID of the approach road are temporarily stored in the memory 2a (steps T3 and T5), and the link ID of the exit road and the link ID of the approach road are set. The counter is incremented (steps T4 and T6), the exit link ID, the entrance link ID, and the counter data are registered in the database (step T8), and the process returns to step T1. Although not described in the processing routine of FIG. 3, the points reached or registered in the past are counted in the temporary storage processing routine and are indicated as “number of times (arrival, registration)” in FIG. Be counted.

  On the other hand, even when the node number of the intersection Z is not stored in the storage device 7 in step T2 (step T7), information on the link ID of the exit road and the link ID of the approach road is temporarily stored in consideration of the priority. 2a (step T7) and at step T8, it is registered in the database of the storage device 7. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, information on the approach road E0 that entered the intersection Z and information on the exit roads E1 and E2 that exited from the intersection Z are stored in the storage device 7 as a database.

  The control circuit 2 performs the determination process shown in steps S2 to S4 while sequentially registering the peripheral link road information of the intersection Z as a database. This determination process includes an arrival determination process (step S2) for determining whether or not the user has reached a destination or waypoint during a driving operation of the vehicle, or whether or not the user has registered a current position or other predetermined position. Registration determination processing (step S3) for determining whether or not, and stop determination processing (step S4) for determining whether or not the user has stopped the vehicle, the registration point desired by the user and the user arrival point by these determination processing Will be determined. In addition, as the registration point and the arrival point specified by the control circuit 2, the facility name information in the vicinity of the point in the map data input from the map data input device 4 is used or input from the map data input device 4. If the facility name is not registered in the map data, the address information in the vicinity is used.

  The arrival determination process in step S2 is a process performed when the user has set a destination or waypoint, and the current position detected by the position detector 3 is set to a preset destination or waypoint. If they match, the trigger is output and the determination is YES. If the determination is YES, the process proceeds to steps S5 to S6.

  The registration determination process in step S3 is a process for determining YES by outputting a trigger when the user registers the current position or another predetermined position. If YES, the process proceeds to steps S5 to S6. . The stop determination process of step S4 is a process of determining YES by outputting a trigger when it is determined whether the user has stopped the vehicle engine or the vehicle door has been opened. If yes, the process proceeds to steps S5 to S6.

  The control circuit 2 determines and stores the registration arrival type in step S5 (step S5) and performs a registration process (step S6). The registration arrival type determination in step S5 indicates a process for determining whether a trigger is output by any of the arrival determination process, the registration determination process, and the engine stop determination process.

FIG. 7 schematically shows the registration contents by the registration process.
The registration process of step S6 is a process performed to register a spot when it is determined YES in any of steps S2 to S4. If YES is determined in any of steps S2 to S4, a user-desired registration point or arrival point is determined. As shown in FIG. 7, when the point is determined, the control circuit 2 registers the position coordinates of the point, the name of the point, the number of times (the number of arrivals and the number of times of passage), and the registered arrival type as history information. The position coordinates of the point are represented by coordinates such as longitude and latitude. The number of times indicates how many times the place indicated by the point name has passed or how many times it has been reached when the registration process of step S6 is performed. Further, the control circuit 2 stores the points (arrival points, registered points) corresponding to the point position coordinates in the storage device 7 in association with each node number of the intersection Z as related point information shown in FIG.

  In the case where the storage capacity of the storage device 7 is limited, it is preferable to store the storage device 7 with priority by determining at least one of the following conditions, or in combination. (1) Delete in order from the oldest stored date, (2) Preferentially leave road information in the area with less stored road information, (3) Delete in order from road information with the highest number of travels, (4) Travel Delete the road information from the least frequently. This is because (1) is considered unnecessary information. (2) (3) is because the user is less likely to get lost if the number of times of travel is large, and the user is difficult to remember the information of the area with little road information. (4) is because the user may not be a frequent destination if the number of times of traveling is small.

  The main feature of the present embodiment is that when such a registration process is performed, when the vehicle reaches a registered intersection Z, simplified guide map information is created corresponding to the intersection Z and displayed on the display screen of the display device 8. The display is in control.

FIG. 4 shows this flow in a schematic flowchart.
The control circuit 2 executes the process shown in FIG. 4 even if the destination or waypoint is not set in advance when the vehicle C reaches the intersection Z while traveling on the road. As shown in FIG. 4, the control circuit 2 determines whether or not it is a predetermined distance (for example, 100 m) before the intersection Z (step U1). At this time, on the condition that the vehicle C has reached a predetermined distance before the intersection Z (step U1: YES), it is determined whether or not the node number of the intersection Z is registered in the database of the storage device 7 (step S1). U2). At this time, if registered (step U2: YES), the simplified guide map information Y (see FIG. 6) is created and the display of the simplified guide map information Y is controlled on the display screen of the display device 8 (step U3).

  5 and 6 illustrate this flow specifically. First, “△△ town (corresponding to point information 1)”, “xx town (corresponding to point information 2)”, “□□ town (corresponding to point information 3)” are registered as registered spot names shown in FIG. Has been. Note that “ΔΔ town” is a town having a destination setting history in the past, and is a town where destination guidance has been performed in the past along the route D1 (see FIG. 5). This is a point where the number of passes or arrivals is counted as 3. Further, “XX town” is a town where the engine has been stopped by reaching the point along the route D2 in the past, and the number of times of passing or reaching in the past is counted as ten times. The “□□ town” is a point where the memory has been registered by the user in the past, and the number of times of passing or reaching in the past is counted as seven times. The information of the point (“△△ town”), the point (“XX town”), and the point (“□□ town”) are registered as shown in FIG. 7, and the vehicle C is about to pass. The node number (number 11) of the road intersection Z is registered as shown in FIG.

  When the vehicle C reaches the intersection Z, the control circuit 2 determines that the vehicle has reached the intersection Z. Then, the exit link ID associated with the node number (number 11) of the intersection Z is specified. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, when the exit link IDs associated with the node number (number 11) are only “2331114” and “2331112” (see the first and second tiers in FIG. 8), the “2331114” Only the exit link ID of “2331112” is selected.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 8, when “spot information 1” is registered as related spot information corresponding to the exit link ID “2331114”, as shown in FIG. Is displayed as a simple guide map Y on the display screen of the display device 8 corresponding to the road with the exit link ID “2331114”.

  If “spot information 2” is registered as related spot information corresponding to the exit link ID “2331112”, as shown in FIG. 6, “XX town” corresponding to “spot information 2” in step U3. Is displayed as a simple guide map Y on the display screen of the display device 8 corresponding to the road with the exit link ID “2331112”.

  In this way, as shown in FIG. 6, the control circuit 2 controls display of the simplified guide map information Y together with the traveling state of the vehicle C. Then, the user can recognize that the point B2 ("XX town") where the engine was stopped along the route D2 in the past exists in the right turn direction of the intersection Z, and has been route-guided along the route D1 in the past. It can be simultaneously recognized that the point B1 (“ΔΔ town”) exists in the straight direction of the intersection Z.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of related point information may be stored corresponding to one exit link ID. This is because when the user uses the navigation device 1 for a long period of time, the number of points such as destinations and waypoints associated with the intersection Z of lifestyle roads such as around the home increases. In this case, according to the user's selection request, display control of the current location closest to the current location of the vehicle C detected by the position detector 3, registration arrival type (route (destination, waypoint)) guidance, engine stop It is desirable to display-control the point with the largest number of times according to the memory registration. This is because if the location where the user is likely to stop frequently is displayed, the convenience is improved, and the user's confusion is eliminated as much as possible to enable smooth driving.

  In the example of FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, it is determined that “XX town” that is the most frequently reached point B2 is a point frequently used by the user, and “XX town” (point information 2 ) Is selected, and “XX town” is displayed and controlled in the right turn direction in FIG.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the node number of the intersection Z of the road that has passed until reaching the point on condition that the user desired point is registered or has reached the point, and the intersection corresponding to the node number The exit link ID of the exit road that has exited from Z is stored in association with the exit road E1 and E2 indicated by the exit link ID associated with the intersection Z before reaching the intersection Z corresponding to the node number. Because the simple guide map Y displays that there is a point that has reached or registered, the user travels without setting the destination, and the user determines the destination location name Even if it is not possible, the user can drive smoothly without being confused.

In order to control the display of destinations and waypoints that have been set before, points registered by the user, and points where the vehicle engine has been stopped in the simple guide map Y, the direction in which the user frequently stops is simplified. It can be notified by the guide map Y.
Since the information on the approach road E0 and the exit roads E1 and E2 is stored in the storage device 7 in association with each other, it is possible to determine which route has reached a point such as a destination or a waypoint.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and for example, the following modifications or expansions are possible.
Although applied to the storage device 7 as storage means, it may be applied to the memory 2 a in the control circuit 2.
You may make it alert | report the presence direction of a point with an audio | voice etc. through the speaker 10. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 5, there may be a plurality of routes (routes D2 and D3) that have passed in the past corresponding to one point (for example, “XX town” B2). In this case, the number of passages of the plurality of exit roads E1 and E2 with respect to the intersection Z is stored in association with a predetermined point (for example, “XX town” B2), and the point on the exit road E2 side having the largest number of passages. The display may be controlled. If it does in this way, the road which a user uses frequently can be reported, a user's confusion will be removed as much as possible, and smoother driving will be enabled.

The block diagram which shows the electric constitution of the navigation apparatus for vehicles which shows one Embodiment of this invention. Flow chart showing operation (1) Flow chart showing operation (2) Flow chart showing operation (Part 3) A figure showing an example of the route and destination of an intersection Figure showing an example of the display screen A diagram showing an example of stored information (part 1) A diagram showing an example of stored information (part 2)

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 1 is a vehicle navigation device, 2 is a control circuit (notification control means), and 7 is a storage device (storage means).

Claims (12)

Registering a user-desired point or information on a branch point of a road that has passed through to the point on condition that the user-desired point has been reached and information on a leaving road exiting from the branch point of the road Storage means for storing and holding in association;
And a notification control means for performing notification control by the notification means that the point exists on the exit road side associated with the branch point information when approaching a branch point of the road stored in the storage means. A vehicle navigation device.   The vehicle navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the destination desired by the user includes a destination or a stopover.   The vehicle navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the user-desired point includes a point registered by a user.   The vehicle navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the point desired by the user includes a point where a vehicle engine is stopped. When the storage means stores a plurality of points corresponding to the exit road,
The vehicle navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the notification control unit performs notification control of the point closest to the current location specified by the position specifying unit. When the storage means stores a plurality of points corresponding to the exit road,
The storage means stores the number of times each point has been reached corresponding to the exit road,
The vehicle navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the notification control means performs notification control of a point having the highest number of times of arrival when notifying that the point exists. When the storage means stores a plurality of points corresponding to the exit road,
The storage means stores a registered arrival type of each point corresponding to the exit road,
The vehicle navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the notification control unit performs notification control of a point corresponding to the registered arrival type when notifying that the point exists. When the storage means stores the point corresponding to a plurality of exit roads,
The storage means stores the number of passages of the plurality of exit roads corresponding to the points,
8. The notification control means, when notifying that the point exists, performing notification control that the point exists on the exit road side having the largest number of passages of the exit road. The vehicle navigation device according to any one of the above.   The vehicular navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the storage date and time stored in the storage means are deleted in order from the oldest information.   10. The vehicular navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the road information stored in the storage means preferentially leaves road area information with a small amount of the stored information.   The vehicle navigation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein information on a road area having a large number of travels is deleted from road information stored in the storage means.   The vehicle navigation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein information on a road area with a small number of travels is deleted from road information stored in the storage means.

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