JP2008151678A - On-vehicle navigation apparatus and emergency information providing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an on-vehicle navigation apparatus and an emergency information providing method, which change emergency information acquired externally to an information presentation mode for output, according to the drive situation of a vehicle, and transmits the emergency information to a user appropriately. <P>SOLUTION: The on-vehicle navigation apparatus comprises: an external information acquisition means; a drive state acquisition means; an information output means; and a control means for calculating an operation margin indicating the operation situation of a vehicle from data obtained by the drive state acquisition means and changing the output mode of the emergency information according to the drive situation for outputting to the information output means. The control means may determine that the operation margin is small when detecting that the value of angular velocity acquired from the drive state acquisition means is not less than 3.3 deg/s, or may display the emergency information on the information output means for standard time when the operation margin is large or may display the emergency information longer than the standard time when the operation margin is small. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle navigation device, and more particularly to an in-vehicle navigation device and an emergency information providing method capable of appropriately transmitting emergency information acquired from the outside to a user.

  Conventional typical vehicle-mounted navigation devices include a control device such as a CPU that controls all processes 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-vehicle navigation devices are usually equipped with a function (route guidance function) that guides the user so that the user can easily travel on the road without making a mistake. According to this route guidance function, the CPU calculates the optimal route from the departure point (typically the current position of the vehicle) to the destination using map data, such as a horizontal search method or a Dijkstra method. The route searched is stored as a guide route, and the route can be distinguished from other roads on the map image while traveling (for example, the color is changed or the line width is increased). When the vehicle approaches a predetermined distance to the intersection whose course should be changed on the guidance route, a guide map of the intersection on the map image (an enlarged view of the intersection, the direction of travel at the intersection) Display an arrow, a distance to the intersection, the name of the intersection, etc.) so that the user can know which road to drive and which direction to proceed at the intersection. It has become.

  In order to provide such an optimal guidance route, road traffic information such as traffic jam information indicating a traffic jam situation on the road is used. Road traffic information is provided by a road traffic information communication system (VICS), and various road traffic information is transmitted from a VICS center to a vehicle via a beacon. The road traffic information includes safe driving support information such as obstacles on the road, emergency information such as earthquakes, and warning information that conveys the presence of vehicles, motorcycles, or pedestrians that are difficult for the driver to see.

Various techniques for presenting traffic information from such VICS have been studied. Patent Document 1 discloses a navigation device in which the length of display time when interrupting and displaying traffic information by VICS can be selected according to the type of road and the function mode (whether route guidance mode or not). Yes. Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a navigation device that displays interrupt information acquired by a beacon only for a time set according to the information content or road type.
JP 2002-267469 A JP 2006-105697 A

  As described above, it is possible to acquire safe driving support information such as emergency information indicating that there is an obstacle on the road via a beacon and present the information.

  However, when such emergency information is presented, the information is not always transmitted to the driver. If emergency information is presented when driving is available, such as when driving on a straight road without traffic jams, the driver can recognize the information and use it for subsequent driving. However, for example, when the vehicle is traveling in a section where the frequency of sharp curves is high or traveling in a section where lane change is necessary, emergency information is presented when more caution is required than normal traveling There are cases where you cannot afford to see or hear it. In such a case, if the driver overlooks or misses important information, the grasp of the danger occurrence state may be delayed, and safe driving may be hindered.

  The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art, and outputs emergency information acquired from the outside by changing the information presentation mode according to the traveling state of the vehicle and appropriately transmitting the emergency information to the user. It is an object of the present invention to provide an in-vehicle navigation device and an emergency information providing method capable of performing the above.

  In order to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, according to the basic form of the present invention, external information acquisition means for acquiring road conditions including emergency information via a beacon, and traveling state acquisition means for acquiring the traveling state of the vehicle And an information output means and a driving margin indicating a driving situation of the vehicle from the data obtained by the traveling state acquisition means, and adjusting the output mode of the emergency information according to the driving margin and adjusting the information There is provided an in-vehicle navigation device comprising control means for outputting to an output means.

  In the vehicle-mounted navigation device according to this aspect, the traveling state acquisition unit may be at least one of an angular velocity sensor, an acceleration sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, and a rudder angle sensor.

  In the in-vehicle navigation device according to this aspect, when the control unit detects that the angular velocity value acquired from the traveling state acquisition unit is 3.3 deg / s or more, the driving margin is small. Or when it is detected that the longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle acquired from the traveling state acquisition means exceeds ± 0.3 G, the driving margin may be determined to be small. When it is detected that the lateral acceleration of the vehicle acquired from the traveling state acquisition means exceeds ± 0.2 G, it may be determined that the driving margin is small.

  Further, in the in-vehicle navigation device according to this aspect, the control unit displays the emergency information on the information output unit for a standard time when the driving margin is large, and the emergency unit displays the emergency information when the driving margin is small. Information may be displayed on the information output means longer than the standard time, and when the driving margin is large, the emergency information is displayed on the information output means with characters of a standard size, and the driving When the margin is small, the emergency information may be displayed on the information output means in characters larger than the standard size, and when the driving margin is large, the emergency information is output with the standard brightness. The emergency information may be displayed on the information output means with a brightness higher than the standard brightness when the driving margin is small. When the driving margin is large, the emergency information is output to the information output unit at a standard volume, and when the driving margin is small, the emergency information is output to the information output unit at a volume higher than the standard volume. Alternatively, when the driving margin is small, the emergency information may be blinked and displayed on the information output means.

  According to the vehicle-mounted navigation device according to this aspect, emergency information is acquired from the outside via a beacon, and data indicating the running state of the vehicle is acquired from sensors such as an angular velocity sensor and an acceleration sensor. A driving margin is calculated from the data indicating the traveling state, and the emergency information output mode is adjusted and output according to the margin. For example, when there is not enough room for driving, the size of characters to be output and displayed is made larger than the size of standard characters, or the display time is lengthened. As a result, even if emergency information is acquired when there is no margin for driving, the driver can detect that emergency information has been received without paying attention to the display screen, and attention should be paid to the presence of emergency information. Can do. As a result, it is possible to transmit emergency information to the driver and contribute to driving safety.

  According to the other form of this invention, the emergency information provision method implemented in the vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus which concerns on said form is provided. The emergency information providing method according to one aspect includes a step of acquiring a road condition including emergency information via a beacon, a standard character size, a standard output time, a standard brightness, and a standard output that are predetermined according to the emergency information. Extracting a volume output mode from the storage unit; calculating a driving margin indicating a driving state of the vehicle based on data indicating a driving state of the vehicle; and determining the emergency information according to the driving margin. Adjusting the output mode and calculating an adjusted output value; and outputting the emergency information according to the adjusted output value.

  Hereinafter, embodiments 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 equipped with an external information providing 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.

  Further, the DVD 1 stores road data expressing the shape of the road used for map matching. This road data is composed of a shape node and a link between shape nodes having different distances between nodes according to the shape of the road.

  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 operate the navigation apparatus body 10 with the remote control transmitter at hand.

  Also, 3 receives GPS signals sent from a plurality of GPS satellites and generates and outputs GPS data such as longitude, latitude, PDOP (Position DOP) value and HDOP (Horizontal DOP) value of the current position of the vehicle. A GPS receiver is shown. Reference numeral 4 denotes a self-contained navigation sensor. The self-contained navigation sensor 4 is composed of an angle sensor such as a gyro that detects the vehicle rotation angle and a travel distance sensor that generates a pulse at every constant travel distance, and detects the travel speed of the host vehicle. Used.

  In addition, 5 is a communication device such as an in-vehicle phone for communicating with various service centers, and 6 is a light that receives safe driving support information and VICS (road traffic information communication system) information transmitted from a radio wave beacon or an optical beacon. The ITS onboard equipment which contains the beacon is shown. A beacon installed on the roadside is connected to a police station, a road manager, and an integrated center, and provides safe driving support information and traffic congestion information around the point.

  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.

  Reference numeral 9 denotes a sensor unit that acquires data related to the behavior of the vehicle, and includes an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration in the longitudinal direction and the lateral direction of the vehicle, and a vehicle speed sensor that is mounted on the vehicle.

  The navigation device body 10 is composed of the following. Reference numeral 11 denotes a buffer memory that temporarily stores map data read from the DVD-ROM 1 a via the DVD-ROM drive 1.

  Reference numeral 12 denotes a control unit constituted by a microcomputer. The control unit 12 has a built-in navigation program (a program for performing display output control necessary for route search processing and route guidance based thereon), and is output from the GPS receiver 3 in accordance with this program. The current position of the host vehicle is detected based on the signal, the traveling speed (vehicle speed) of the host vehicle is calculated based on the signal output from the autonomous navigation sensor 4, and the map data to be displayed is displayed in the DBD-ROM drive. 1 to the buffer memory 11 from the DVD-ROM 1a, and to search for a guide route from the starting point to the destination under the search conditions set using the map data read to the buffer memory 11, etc. Execute the process.

  13 is a map drawing unit for generating a map image using the map data read out to the buffer memory 11, and 14 is for generating 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.

  Reference numeral 15 denotes a guide route storage unit that stores the guide route searched by the control unit 12, and 16 denotes a guide route drawing unit that draws the guide route. The guidance route storage unit 15 stores all the nodes of the guidance route searched by the control unit 12 from the departure point to the destination. When displaying the map, the guide route drawing unit 16 reads the guide route information from the guide route storage unit 15 and draws the guide route with a color and line width different from those of other roads.

  Reference numeral 17 denotes a storage unit, which stores a result of calculating a driving margin based on data acquired by the sensor unit 9 and a standard value such as the size of an output character.

  An audio output unit 18 supplies an audio signal to the speaker 8 based on a signal from the control unit 12.

  Reference numeral 19 denotes an image composition unit, on which a map image drawn by the map drawing unit 13 is overlaid with various marks and operation screens generated by the operation screen / mark generation unit 14, a guidance route drawn by the guidance route drawing unit 16, and the like. Display on the display device 7.

(Configuration of external information providing device)
Next, the configuration of the external information providing apparatus will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the external information providing apparatus. The external information providing device is a part of the navigation device.

  The external information providing apparatus includes a sensor unit 9, a driving margin determination unit 22, an emergency information provision adjustment unit 23, the ITS on-board device 6 and the information provision unit 24. The driving margin determination unit 22 and the emergency information provision adjustment unit 23 are part of the control unit 12. The information providing unit 24 includes the display device 7 and the speaker 8.

  Among these, the sensor part 9 has the existing sensor which the navigation apparatus 10 has, and the existing sensor mounted in a vehicle. As existing sensors that the navigation apparatus 10 has, there are an angular velocity sensor and an acceleration sensor. Further, as existing sensors mounted on the vehicle, there are a vehicle speed sensor, an accelerator opening, a brake depression amount, and a steering angle sensor.

  The driving margin determination unit 22 acquires data from the navigation device 10 and existing sensors mounted on the vehicle, and estimates a driving situation. The driving situation refers to a case where the vehicle is traveling stably with few brake operations, or a case where there are many brake operations and attention is required for driving compared to normal driving.

  The emergency information provision adjustment unit 23 receives emergency information from the outside via the ITS on-vehicle device 6 and adjusts the output form of the emergency information according to the driving situation from the driving margin determination unit 22.

  The information providing unit 24 is a device that provides information according to the information output form adjusted by the emergency information provision adjusting unit 23, and is, for example, the image display device 7, the audio output device 8, or the notification sound generating device.

(Description of operation)
Next, the operation of the external information providing apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The control unit 12 of the external information providing apparatus acquires data regarding the behavior of the vehicle from the sensor unit 9 and acquires safe driving support information such as emergency information via the ITS in-vehicle device 6. Then, the driving margin determination unit 22 estimates the driving margin based on the vehicle behavior data, and the emergency information provision adjustment unit 23 adjusts the output mode of emergency information acquired from the outside according to the driving margin. This output mode ensures that emergency information is recognized by the driver. For example, when the size of characters is increased or when audio is output, the volume is adjusted to be increased.

  Data relating to vehicle behavior includes data such as speed, acceleration, or angular velocity. Here, the acceleration will be described as an example.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the emergency information presentation mode is adjusted according to a change in acceleration.

  The acceleration may be acquired by an acceleration sensor, or may be acquired by detecting the speed of a vehicle speed sensor mounted on the vehicle and differentiating the speed.

  When the driving margin determination unit 22 acquires the acceleration data, the driving margin determination unit 22 detects how the vehicle behaves from the acceleration value, the change in acceleration at a predetermined time interval, and the like. The driver's margin for driving is determined from this behavior (running state). Here, the margin is, for example, determined that the margin is large, that is, there is a margin for driving, since the vehicle is being driven at a constant speed during the period in which the acceleration is zero. Even when the acceleration is not 0, when the acceleration value is smaller than the predetermined value and the speed change is small, it is determined that the margin is large, that is, there is a margin in driving.

  FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B show an example of the time change of the acceleration acquired from the sensor unit 9. In FIG. 3A, the acceleration is maximized at the time t1, and the acceleration is 0 from the time t2. In this case, the acceleration changes until the time tn is only once when the acceleration at the time t1 becomes positive, and after the time t2, the vehicle is running at a constant speed, and the margin is large. Judge that there is.

  On the other hand, FIG. 3B shows a situation in which changes in acceleration frequently occur in the period up to tn compared to FIG. That is, the acceleration becomes maximum at the times t3 and t5, the acceleration becomes the minimum at the times t4 and t6, and the change in the acceleration occurs four times. In such a case, it corresponds to the case where the speed of the vehicle is frequently changed, for example, the other vehicle has interrupted and suddenly braked, or the rear vehicle is approaching at high speed and the speed is rapidly increased. A situation where the vehicle is speeding up can be considered, and the driver determines that there is no margin for driving, that is, the margin is small. Thus, when the acceleration value changes three times in a predetermined time, for example, 10 seconds, it is determined that the driving margin is small.

  The driving margin determination unit 22 determines the driving margin based on the data from the sensors as illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B, and then transmits the determination result to the emergency information provision adjustment unit 23. .

  The emergency information provision adjustment unit 23 adjusts the output mode of the emergency information in order to reliably transmit the emergency information acquired via the ITS on-board device 6 to the driver.

  For example, it is assumed that the emergency information notifies the other side of the running road of the existence of a vehicle that has stopped due to a failure or the like, and displays “this caution to stop traveling ahead”.

  When this information is displayed on the display screen, even if the navigation screen is displayed, it is emergency information and is displayed so as to overlap the navigation screen. The size of characters displayed as emergency information, the type of font, and the like are stored in advance in the storage unit 17 as standard characters.

  When the data shown in FIG. 3A is acquired, the driving margin is large, and the emergency information provision adjusting unit 23 that has acquired the emergency information is displayed on the display unit in the standard character output form. To.

  For example, as shown at 32 in FIG. 3C, the emergency information is displayed on the display screen 31 for a standard time with a standard character size (for example, 5 seconds).

  The emergency information may be output from the speaker 8 instead of being displayed in text. In this case, audio is output from the speaker 8 at a standard output volume stored in the storage unit 17 in advance.

  Thus, when there is a margin in driving, the driver can recognize emergency information even with a standard character size and standard volume.

  On the other hand, if the data shown in FIG. 3B is received and it is determined that the driving margin is small, the emergency information provision adjustment unit 23 sets the output mode of the information to be provided to the driver more than the standard output mode. Adjust to change to a mode that draws more attention. This means that if there is no margin for driving, even if emergency information is acquired from the outside and displayed on the screen, the driver may miss the display because it is concentrated on driving in the normal mode display. This is because there is a risk of hearing.

  For example, as shown at 33 in FIG. 3 (d), the display screen 31 adjusts and displays the character size of the emergency information “Caution for stopping the car ahead of stop” to a character larger than the standard character size.

  When outputting emergency information by voice, the volume is adjusted to a volume higher than the standard volume and output.

  Furthermore, the time for displaying or outputting the emergency information is adjusted to be longer than the standard output time, for example, continuously for 10 seconds, twice the standard time.

  In this way, when the driving margin is small, the characters are enlarged and displayed, so that the driver can detect that emergency information has been provided without paying attention to the display screen. . Further, it is possible to detect that emergency information has been provided by increasing the volume in the case of voice output. In addition, when the driving margin is small, the emergency information presentation time is set longer than the standard presentation time, so that the driver can be alerted that there is emergency information and contribute to reliable transmission of information. It becomes possible to do.

  Further, since the driving margin is calculated using an existing sensor such as an acceleration sensor, it is not necessary to add a new device, and the cost can be kept low.

  In the present embodiment, the text size, volume, and output time have been described as the emergency information output mode. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any output mode that draws the driver's attention may be used. For example, the output display may be blinked or the brightness of display characters may be increased.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the driving margin is determined based on the amount of change in acceleration during a predetermined time has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the driving margin is determined based on the magnitude of the acceleration. Also good. For example, when the longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle exceeds ± 0.3G, it may be determined that the vehicle is suddenly started or stopped and there is no allowance for driving. Further, when the vehicle lateral acceleration exceeds ± 0.2 G, it may be determined that there is a sudden lane change and that there is no allowance for driving.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, the output of display etc. is complete | finished after the fixed time progress according to a driving | running margin. However, since the driving situation changes from moment to moment, even if the driving margin is calculated to be large and the emergency information is output in standard time, the driving margin may be small while outputting the emergency information. Can happen. In order to cope with such a case, the driving margin is calculated even after the emergency information is output, and when the driving margin changes from large to small, the emergency information is changed accordingly. You may make it output adjusting to the output mode corresponded to small.

  In addition, when the driving margin is small, it is a situation where it is necessary to concentrate on driving, and if attention is given to emergency information for a long time in this state, it may cause trouble in safe driving. Therefore, when emergency information is received in a state where the driving margin is small, it is important to inform the driver that there is emergency information, and the specific information content is that the driving margin is small. The information content can be confirmed when the operation is taken out and there is a margin for driving. Specifically, the emergency information is continuously displayed in characters larger than the standard display characters while the driving margin is small, and the display is terminated after a predetermined fixed time, for example, 10 seconds after the driving margin increases. You may make it adjust so that.

  In the present embodiment, the acceleration sensor has been described as an example. However, information obtained from another sensor, for example, an angular velocity sensor or a vehicle speed sensor, may be used as vehicle behavior data.

  Below, the criteria for determining the driving margin will be described for typical sensors.

  The angular velocity sensor is calculated using, for example, a vibrating gyroscope and senses the direction of the vehicle. If this angular velocity sensor detects a change of 3.3 deg / s or more with reference to 3.3 deg / s, it is determined that the driving margin is small. This is because if the angular velocity sensor is larger than this reference value, the vehicle is traveling on a sharp curve and it is determined that attention is required for driving.

  Further, when such a vehicle is traveling on a sharp curve or changing lanes, the determination may be made based on the value of the steering angle sensor.

  The vehicle speed sensor outputs vehicle speed data even when the vehicle is traveling uphill or downhill, but if the speed is above a predetermined reference value, for example, legal speed, the driving margin is small. judge.

  Calculate the driving margin from the data obtained from these sensors, and if even one driving margin is small, the driving margin is determined to be small and the emergency information output mode is changed and output. To do.

  Further, the driving allowance obtained from a plurality of sensors may be comprehensively determined. For example, if the driving margin obtained from the vehicle speed sensor is small, but the driving margin obtained from the acceleration sensor is large, it is determined that the vehicle is traveling stably at high speed, and the driving margin is large. It may be determined.

  In this way, the relationship between the behavior of the vehicle and the driving margin depends on the driving situation, so a test run on a road with many curves or a traffic jam is assumed, and data such as acceleration and the driving margin are The relationship may be acquired in advance.

  In the present embodiment, a threshold value (reference value) is provided for data obtained from various sensors, and the margin is expressed in two levels, large and small, with the threshold as the boundary, and the output mode is in two states. On the other hand, the driving margin may be captured as a continuous amount. For example, the standard time (5 seconds) is set when the display time is the reference value, and when the reference value is exceeded, the display time is also increased in proportion to the value. In the case of audio output, the standard volume is set at the reference value, and when the reference value is exceeded, the volume is increased in proportion to the value. In this case, the logarithm may be changed in accordance with a human sense instead of a simple proportion. For example, the volume may be 2.3 times instead of 10 times when the reference value is 10 times.

  Moreover, although this embodiment demonstrated the case where emergency information was acquired via a beacon, you may make it acquire not only by a beacon but by receiving wireless communications, such as FM broadcast, for example.

(Emergency information provision method)
Next, the process of presenting emergency information will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  First, in step S <b> 11, the control unit 12 receives external data including emergency information from the beacon via the ITS on-vehicle device 6 and temporarily stores it in the storage unit 17.

  In the next step S12, the type of data received in step S11 is determined. The received data includes emergency information (including warning information) or standard information. The emergency information includes information for instructing the driver to stop or evacuate due to a highly urgent or dangerous disaster. Further, the warning information includes information on instructing a lane change due to traffic information, obstacles, construction, or the like ahead. The type of received data is determined by the emergency information provision adjusting unit 23 in the control unit 12.

  In the next step S13, the standard values of display size, display time, and audio output volume corresponding to the type of received data are acquired from the emergency / warning information display database stored in the storage unit 12. Unlike normal information such as route guidance, emergency information is preliminarily defined with an output mode that draws attention of the driving vehicle, for example, a standard value such as enlarging characters.

  In the next step S <b> 14, the driving margin is acquired from the storage unit 17 for the driving situation. The storage unit 17 stores information (driving margin) indicating a driving situation acquired from a sensor built in the navigation device 10 or a sensor mounted on the vehicle. This driving margin information is updated every predetermined time to reflect the latest driving situation.

  In the next step S15, the output mode such as the display data size, the display time, or the audio output volume of the emergency information is adjusted according to the driving margin acquired in step S14.

  In the next step S16, the emergency information is output according to the output mode such as the display data size, the display time, or the audio output volume adjusted in step S15, and this process is terminated.

  In the emergency information providing process described above, the emergency information is output in the output mode determined in step S15 after the driving margin is acquired in step S14. However, because the driving situation changes from moment to moment, even if the driving margin is calculated to be large and the emergency information is output in standard time, the driving margin is reduced while the emergency information is being output. Can also happen.

  In order to cope with such a case, the storage unit 17 is always monitored so as to obtain the driving allowance even after the emergency information is output, and when the driving allowance changes from large to small, accordingly, Emergency information may be adjusted to an output mode corresponding to a small driving margin and output.

  As described above, the driving allowance reflects the latest driving situation. The process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S21, the ACC power supply of the vehicle is turned on.

  In the next step S22, the driving margin determination unit 22 receives data from various sensors (such as a vehicle speed sensor and an acceleration sensor), and acquires vehicle behavior information such as acceleration.

  In the next step S23, the driving margin is calculated based on the data obtained by the driving margin determination unit 22 in step S22 and the driving margin is calculated. As described with reference to FIG. 3, the driving margin is calculated based on the relationship between the predefined sensor data value and the driving margin.

  In the next step S24, the operating margin calculated in step S23 is stored in the storage unit 17.

  In the next step S25, the process waits for a predetermined time. Immediately after calculating the driving allowance in step S23, it is considered that the driving situation does not change, so that the system waits for a certain period of time. This time can be set as appropriate, and the operating margin may be calculated continuously without waiting.

  In the next step S26, the control unit 12 determines whether or not the ACC power supply is turned off. If the power is turned off, the process ends. If the power remains on, the process returns to step S22 to continue the operation margin calculation process. That is, the driving margin is always calculated in accordance with the latest driving situation while the vehicle is traveling.

(Modification)
In the above embodiment, when the emergency information is acquired from the outside, the emergency information is output by changing the output mode according to the driving margin, but the output mode is adjusted and output only once for one emergency information. It was.

  In this modification, a plurality of pieces of emergency information are presented according to the distance from the occurrence point of the emergency event to the host vehicle so that the driver can grasp the emergency information more reliably.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an emergency information presentation method for presenting three levels of information according to the distance from the emergency event occurrence point.

  FIG. 6 shows a situation in which construction is being performed at the emergency event occurrence point 51 and the lane must be changed for construction regulation.

  FIG. 6B shows an emergency event presentation method at a point farthest from the emergency event occurrence point (50a in FIG. 6A) among the three stages of information presentation points. As shown in FIG. 6B, at this point, a simple graphic 53 is displayed on the display screen 52, and an emergency event occurrence point is presented.

  FIG. 6C shows an emergency event presentation method at a point (50b in FIG. 6A) that is closer to the emergency event occurrence point than FIG. 6B. As shown in FIG. 6C, at this point, a text display 54 is displayed on the display screen 52, and at the same time, audio output is used. When outputting the text and voice, the output form may be adjusted according to the driving margin as described in the above embodiment.

  FIG. 6D shows an emergency event presentation method at a point closest to the emergency event occurrence point (50c in FIG. 6A). As shown in FIG. 6 (d), emergency information is presented on the display screen 52 with text and graphics 55 at this point. Also in this case, text and graphics may be output after adjusting the output form according to the driving margin.

  As described above, emergency information is presented in three stages for one emergency event. Moreover, the content to be presented is changed according to the distance from the emergency event occurrence point. As a result, for example, even if the driving margin is small at the first presentation point and the emergency information is missed, the emergency information for the same emergency event will be presented later, so that the emergency information is reliably transmitted to the driver. Is possible.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the emergency information provision apparatus in the navigation apparatus which concerns on FIG. FIGS. 3A to 3D are diagrams illustrating the relationship between the sensor data and the emergency information display mode. It is a flowchart (the 1) which shows an example of the emergency information provision process in the emergency information provision apparatus which concerns on FIG. It is a flowchart (the 2) which shows an example of the emergency information provision process in the emergency information provision apparatus which concerns on FIG. 6A to 6D are diagrams illustrating an example of emergency information output of the emergency information providing apparatus according to the modification.

Explanation of symbols

6 ... ITS on-board unit (external information acquisition means),
9: Sensor unit (running state acquisition means),
10 ... navigation device,
12 ... control unit,
17 ... storage part,
22: Driving margin determination unit,
23 ... Emergency Information Provision Coordination Department,
24. Information providing unit.

Claims (23)

External information acquisition means for acquiring road conditions including emergency information via a beacon;
Traveling state acquisition means for acquiring the traveling state of the vehicle;
Information output means;
Control means for calculating a driving margin indicating a driving situation of the vehicle from the data obtained by the traveling state acquisition means, adjusting an output mode of the emergency information according to the driving margin, and outputting the emergency information to the information output means And a vehicle-mounted navigation device.   The in-vehicle navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the traveling state acquisition unit is at least one of an angular velocity sensor, an acceleration sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, and a rudder angle sensor.   The said control means determines with the said driving margin being small, when the value of the acceleration acquired from the said driving | running state acquisition means detects that it changed 3 times in 10 seconds. In-vehicle navigation device.   2. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein when the value of the angular velocity acquired from the traveling state acquisition unit is detected to be 3.3 deg / s or more, the control unit determines that the driving margin is small. The in-vehicle navigation device described.   2. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines that the driving margin is small when detecting that the longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle acquired from the traveling state acquisition unit exceeds ± 0.3 G. 3. Car navigation system.   2. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines that the driving margin is small when detecting that the lateral acceleration of the vehicle acquired from the traveling state acquisition unit exceeds ± 0.2 G. 3. Car navigation system.   The control means displays the emergency information on the information output means for a standard time when the driving margin is large, and the emergency information is longer than the standard time when the driving margin is small, and the information output means The in-vehicle navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the in-vehicle navigation device is displayed.   The control means displays the emergency information on the information output means in standard size characters when the driving margin is large, and displays the emergency information below the standard size when the driving margin is small. The in-vehicle navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a large character is displayed on the information output means.   The control means causes the information output means to display the emergency information with a standard luminance when the driving margin is large, and outputs the information with the luminance higher than the standard luminance when the driving margin is small. The vehicle-mounted navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the navigation device is displayed on a means.   The control means causes the information output means to output the emergency information at a standard volume when the driving margin is large, and outputs the information at a volume larger than the standard volume when the driving margin is small. The vehicle-mounted navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the vehicle-mounted navigation device outputs the information to a means.   The in-vehicle navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein when the driving margin is small, the control unit causes the emergency information to blink and display the information on the information output unit.   The control means adjusts the emergency information to an output mode corresponding to when the driving margin is small when it is determined that the driving margin is small while the emergency information is output in a standard mode. The vehicle-mounted navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, further outputting a predetermined time.   The control means determines that the driving margin is small, and determines that the driving margin is large in a state in which the emergency information is adjusted to an output mode corresponding to the output when the driving margin is small. The vehicle-mounted navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the output is continued for a time corresponding to the output mode. Obtaining road conditions including emergency information via a beacon;
Extracting a standard character size, a standard output time, a standard brightness, and a standard output volume output mode predetermined according to the emergency information from the storage unit;
Calculating a driving margin indicating the driving status of the vehicle based on data indicating a driving state of the vehicle;
Adjusting an output mode of the emergency information according to the driving margin and calculating an adjusted output value;
Outputting the emergency information according to the adjusted output value.   The emergency information providing method according to claim 14, wherein the driving margin is determined to be small when it is detected that the acceleration changes three times in 10 seconds from the data indicating the traveling state.   The emergency information provision according to claim 14, wherein when the value of the angular velocity is detected to be 3.3 deg / s or more in the data indicating the traveling state, it is determined that the driving margin is small. Method.   The emergency information providing method according to claim 14, wherein the driving margin is determined to be small when it is detected that the longitudinal acceleration exceeds ± 0.3 G among the data indicating the traveling state.   The emergency information providing method according to claim 14, wherein the driving margin is determined to be small when it is detected that lateral acceleration exceeds ± 0.2 G among the data indicating the traveling state.   The emergency information providing method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, wherein when the driving margin is small, a time longer than the standard output time is set as the adjusted output value.   The emergency information providing method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, wherein when the driving margin is small, a size larger than the standard character size is used as the adjustment output value.   The emergency information providing method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, wherein when the driving margin is small, a luminance higher than the standard luminance is set as the adjustment output value.   The emergency information providing method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, wherein when the driving margin is small, a volume larger than the standard output volume is set as the adjusted output value.   The emergency information providing method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, wherein when the driving margin is small, the adjustment output value is a value instructing blinking.

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