JP2008157820A - Device for providing sign information - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide information regarding the direction to which own vehicle should travel by utilizing a guide sign. <P>SOLUTION: The guide sign, installed on a road is photographed by a camera 41 and the image of the guide sign, is displayed on a display 45 to provide a driver with information of the guide sign. When the destination is designated by the driver, a guidance direction determination part 12 determines the direction to travel for reaching the destination. The direction to travel is displayed by superposition on the image of the guide sign so that even if the information is provided, which indicates the direction to travel with respect to a branch, even in a situation in which the destination is not designated, in advance. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sign information providing apparatus that provides a driver with information indicated on a guide sign, and more particularly to a sign information providing apparatus that can transmit to a driver the direction in which the host vehicle should travel.

  Information signs indicating which direction the vehicle is heading are installed at major branching points on the road, and the driver can proceed to the intended direction by referring to the information signs. Furthermore, in recent years, navigation devices that perform route guidance to a destination by a driver inputting the destination have been widely used.

  In addition, a technique has been devised that provides information on directions such as guide signs in route guidance to a specified destination. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for creating and displaying a direction guide map indicating which direction to proceed at a branch point on a route to a destination with the destination set. Document 2 discloses a technique for displaying an appropriate direction name on a connecting road at a guidance intersection at the time of route guidance to a destination.

  By the way, in the conventional navigation apparatus, it is necessary to receive designation of the destination from the user in order to perform route guidance. However, since there are many users who feel the input of the destination complicated, a technique has been devised that simplifies the designation of the destination or provides useful information even when the destination is not designated.

  For example, Patent Document 3 discloses a technique for reducing the operation for specifying a destination by performing navigation specifying an administrative district as a destination instead of specifying the destination accurately.

  Further, Patent Document 4 discloses a technique for providing information about a branch point when the route approaches the branch point even when the route to the destination is not set.

JP 7-174573 A JP 2003-14476 A JP 2004-177351 A JP 2002-122435 A

  In the information sign, the direction of each direction toward the branch is indicated by the place name, but if the name of the destination desired by the driver and the place name of the information sign differ, the destination desired by the driver is reached. In order to do so, there is a problem that it is not known in which direction (to which place name side) it should go.

  If the destination is specified in advance, as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3 above, it is possible to indicate which direction to proceed at the intersection (branch), but the destination must be specified. For example, in the conventional technology, it is impossible to present the direction in which the vehicle is to travel.

  Even using the technique disclosed in Patent Document 4, it only presents information accumulated in advance regarding the branch, as with the guidance sign, and presents information for proceeding to the destination desired by the driver at that time. I couldn't.

  That is, the conventional technique has a problem in that it cannot provide information on which direction to proceed with respect to a branch unless a destination is specified.

  In addition, there is a problem in that the display contents of the existing guide signs cannot always provide sufficient information for the user, and the signs may not be sufficiently visible.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems in the prior art, and provides a sign information providing apparatus that can provide information on the direction in which the host vehicle should travel using a guide sign. For the purpose.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the sign information providing device according to the present invention includes sign information obtaining means for obtaining guide sign information of a branch point existing in the traveling direction near the current position, and a destination. In the situation where no route is set, the input means for receiving information on the direction to travel from the user at the branch point, the guidance sign information acquired by the sign information acquisition means, and the input means Based on the information input, a direction determination unit that determines a direction to proceed at the branch point, and a notification unit that notifies the direction to travel determined by the direction determination unit are provided.

  According to the present invention, the sign information providing device acquires information indicated by the guide sign of the branch point existing in the traveling direction near the current position, and the branch point from the user in a situation where the route to the destination is not set. The information input regarding the direction to travel is accepted, and the direction in which the host vehicle should travel is determined at the intersection (branch point) and notified to the driver. There is an effect that a sign information providing device capable of providing information can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, a sign information providing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1. First, an overview of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the present invention, a sign image D00 having the same content as the guide sign installed on the road is created and displayed on the display. As a result, even if it is a guide sign that is difficult to see from the driver, the contents thereof can be visually confirmed, and the contents indicated by the guide sign can be confirmed at a timing desired by the driver.

  In the figure, the sign image D00 indicates that there is a branch that is 300 meters ahead and is divided into the Shinjuku area and the Shibuya area. The driver who has confirmed this information sign should be able to determine whether to turn left in the direction of Shinjuku or right in the direction of Shibuya, but there are cases where it is not clear which way to turn to get to the destination.

  Therefore, in the present invention, an input from the driver is accepted and a direction in which the host vehicle is to travel is notified.

  For example, when the driver wants to go to Shinagawa Station, he / she receives information input from the driver that the destination is Shinagawa Station by voice recognition or the like. Then, it is determined which direction to turn to Shinagawa Station, which is the destination, and a guidance direction display M01 (here, the name of the destination designated by the driver) is displayed on the guide sign image as in the image D01. By overlaying and displaying, it is notified that the branch should turn right (Shibuya direction).

  In addition, notification by voice output such as “Shinagawa Station is in the right direction, in the direction of Shibuya” may be performed in accordance with this display. Furthermore, without indication, only "(Shinagawa Station) is right" direction, only "(Shinagawa Station) is in Shibuya" direction, or "(Shinagawa Station) is in the right direction, Shibuya. The direction and direction may be only notified by voice output.

  As described above, the main feature of the present invention is that the image of the guide sign is displayed on the display, the direction in which the host vehicle is to travel is determined, and the information is provided to the driver by being superimposed on the guide sign image. .

2. Configuration Example of Invention FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of a sign information providing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the sign information providing system 1 includes a main control unit 10, a navigation unit 30, a camera 41, an image processing unit 42, a microphone 43, a voice recognition unit 44, a display 45, and a speaker 46 therein.

  The camera 41 is a photographing unit that photographs the front (traveling direction) of the host vehicle, and the image processing unit 42 performs image processing for identifying and extracting a guide sign from the photographed image.

  The microphone 43 is a sound collecting unit that collects the driver's voice, and the voice recognition unit 44 realizes voice input by the driver by performing voice recognition on the collected voice data.

  The display 45 is an output means for notifying the driver by display, and the speaker 46 is an output means for notifying by voice. The display 45 and the speaker 46 are used for output from the sign information providing system 1 and can be shared by various in-vehicle devices such as an in-vehicle audio device.

  The navigation unit 30 is a unit for setting and guiding a travel route using the current position of the host vehicle identified by communicating with a GPS (Global Positioning System) artificial satellite and the map information database 32.

  When a destination is designated in advance by the driver, the route search unit 31 inside the navigation unit 30 searches for a travel route from the current position to the destination, sets the route, and travels along the travel route. Provides route guidance.

  In addition to this, even when the destination is designated by the main control unit 10, the route search unit 31 searches for a route from the current position to the destination and notifies the main control unit 10 of the search result.

  The main control unit 10 is a control unit that controls the sign information providing system 1 as a whole, and includes a sign image creation unit 11, a guide direction determination unit 12, and an output control unit 20.

  The sign image creating unit 11 performs a process of creating a sign image to be displayed on the display 45 from the guide sign image extracted by the image processing unit 41.

  Further, the guidance direction determination unit 12 requests the navigation unit 12 to search for a route to the destination when the destination is designated by the driver using the recognition result by the voice recognition unit 44. Then, a search result is acquired from the navigation unit 30 to determine in which direction to guide the vehicle in the guidance direction, that is, the intersection (branch point) corresponding to the guidance sign.

  The output control unit 20 is a control unit that performs display output control for the display 45 and display output control for the speaker 46 based on the outputs of the sign image creation unit 11 and the guidance direction determination unit 12, and the superimposed display control unit 21 therein. Have

  The superimposition display control unit 21 performs position control as to which position in the guide sign image the guidance direction display is to be overlaid when the guidance direction determination unit 12 instructs the guidance direction. With this superimposition display control, the guidance direction display is superimposed on the image of the guide sign in accordance with the display of the direction in which the host vehicle should travel, and it is possible to clearly notify which direction the direction of travel corresponds to.

  Specifically, the guidance direction display may display the content input by the driver himself / herself with characters, or may be an arrow or the like. In addition, highlight the direction name of the created signpost (flashing, bold, color change, frame display, etc.), and highlight the arrow of the created signpost (flashing, color change, frame display, etc.) Also good.

  Next, the processing operation of the sign information providing system will be described with reference to FIG. The flowchart shown in the figure may be automatically repeated or may be started by an instruction from the driver. When starting with an instruction from the driver, the instruction can be accepted by a switch or the like, or voice recognition can be used.

  When the processing operation shown in the figure is started, first, a guide sign placed on the road (near the direction of travel) is photographed by the camera 41 (step S101), processed by the image processing unit 42, and a sign image is created. The unit 11 creates an image of the guide sign. And the output control part 20 displays the image of the guidance sign produced on the display 45 (step S102). In addition, you may make it display the guidance sign image | photographed with the camera as it is, without producing an image.

  Thereafter, the guidance direction determination unit 12 determines whether or not a direction guidance request has been received from the driver (step S103), and if there is no direction guidance request from the driver (the direction in which the driver should proceed only with the content of the guidance sign) If it is understood, the process is terminated as it is.

  On the other hand, when there is a direction guidance request from the driver, the guidance direction determination unit 12 specifies the destination from the input content (step S104). Here, the input from the driver is preferably performed by voice recognition. In addition, the input content from the driver may be the destination itself, designation of a general direction or district to be advanced, or a facility such as a station as a landmark.

  Then, the guidance direction determination unit 12 requests the navigation unit 30 to search for a route to the identified destination. The route search unit 31 of the navigation unit 30 searches for a route from the current position to the destination (step S105), and using this search result, the guidance direction determination unit 12 should turn to the intersection corresponding to the guide sign. Is determined (step S106).

  Then, based on the determination result of the guidance direction determination unit 12, the superimposition display control unit 21 specifies a position where the guidance direction display is superimposed (step S107), and guides the direction in which the host vehicle should travel by voice and display. (Step S108), the process ends.

  As described above, the sign information providing system 1 according to the first embodiment operates the information of the guide sign by photographing the guide sign installed on the road with the camera and displaying the guide sign image on the display 45. When the destination is specified by the driver, the direction to be reached to reach the destination is determined and displayed on the information sign so that the destination is specified in advance. It is possible to provide information as to which direction to proceed with respect to the branch even in a situation where the operation is not performed.

  In other words, by using the present invention, the driver starts driving without setting the destination, and when it is not clear which direction to proceed with only the guidance sign, it is possible to specify the destination and the rough direction. , You can receive information about the appropriate course.

  In the sign information providing system shown in the first embodiment, information on the guide sign is acquired by photographing the guide sign installed on the road, and the navigation unit is used for route search. It is not limited and can be implemented by appropriately changing the configuration. In the second embodiment, a modification of the configuration is given as a specific example.

  The sign information providing system 2 shown in FIG. 4 includes a sign information database 51 instead of the camera 41 and the image processing unit 42, and also includes a main location information database 52. Further, the main control unit 10 includes a sign image acquisition unit 13 instead of the sign image creation unit 11. Since other configurations and operations are the same as those of the sign information providing system 1 described in the first embodiment, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  The sign information database 51 is a database that stores the sign installation position and the sign contents (image) in association with each other, and the sign image acquisition unit 13 searches the sign image database 51 using the current position as a key. An image of a guide sign corresponding to a sign installed at a branch point existing in the vicinity of the traveling direction is acquired.

  The main location information database 52 is a database that stores main location names, district names, facility names, and the like and location information (for example, latitude and longitude) in association with each other.

  The guidance direction determination unit 12 searches the main location information database 52 using the destination input by the user as a key, and determines a relative direction from the current position of the host vehicle and the location of the destination. Then, based on the determined relative direction, it is determined which direction to turn at the branch point corresponding to the guide sign. As in the first embodiment, the destination may be a general area (place name), a district name, or a facility name such as a station serving as a landmark.

  In this case, it is not necessary to request the navigation unit 30 for a route search. On the other hand, since the relative direction and the guide sign image are overlapped, it is not always the optimum route to travel in accordance with the relative direction to the destination at the branch corresponding to the guide sign. . However, on the main road where the guide sign is installed, it can be expected that the relative direction of the destination and the appropriate traveling direction are almost the same.

  Furthermore, when a long distance remains to the destination or when the map display is a macro display (wide area display), the traveling direction is determined based on the relative direction using the main location information database 52. When the destination is approached to some extent or when the map display is micro display (detailed display), a route search by the navigation unit 30 may be requested, and a predetermined condition may be set and used properly.

  A specific example of display display based on the relative direction is shown in FIG. The sign image D00 shown in the figure indicates that there is a branch that is 300 meters away and is divided into the Shinjuku area and the Shibuya area. When an information input indicating that the destination is Shinagawa Station is received from the driver, the relative direction of the destination Shinagawa Station is determined, and a guidance direction display M02 (in this case, an image of a guidance sign as shown in the image D02). By overlapping and displaying the destination name specified by the driver) and the guidance direction display M03 (in this case, an arrow), the right turn (Shibuya direction) matches the relative direction of the destination. Notify that

  Further, notification by voice output such as “Shinagawa station is on the right” may be performed in accordance with this display.

  Next, the processing operation of the sign information providing system 2 will be described with reference to FIG. The flowchart shown in the figure may be automatically repeated or may be started by an instruction from the driver. When starting with an instruction from the driver, the instruction can be accepted by a switch or the like, or voice recognition can be used.

  When the processing operation shown in the figure is started, a guide sign is specified based on the current location (step S201), and an image of the guide sign is displayed on the display 45 (step S202).

  Thereafter, the guidance direction determination unit 12 determines whether or not a direction guidance request has been received from the driver (step S203), and if there is no direction guidance request from the driver (the direction in which the driver should proceed only with the content of the guidance sign) If it is understood, the process is terminated as it is.

  On the other hand, when there is a direction guidance request from the driver, the guidance direction determination unit 12 identifies the destination from the input content (step S204). And the guidance direction determination part 12 specifies the positional relationship of a destination and present location using the main location information database 52 (step S205).

  Then, it is determined to which direction the intersection corresponding to the guidance sign should be turned (step S206), and the superimposed display control unit 21 specifies the position where the guidance direction display is superimposed (step S207). The direction to travel is guided (step S208), and the process ends.

  As described above, the sign information providing system 2 according to the second embodiment can obtain the same effects as those of the first embodiment without using a camera or a navigation unit.

  In addition to the modification shown in the second embodiment, the present invention appropriately combines the configuration of the first embodiment and the configuration of the second embodiment (for example, a sign is photographed with a camera, but a route search is not performed) Needless to say, the present invention can be implemented by changing the configuration as appropriate. Further, it is possible to notify the direction (direction) to proceed at the branch point only by outputting sound without performing display. Furthermore, it goes without saying that it can also be applied to portable navigation, mobile phones, and the like.

  As described above, the sign information providing apparatus 1 according to the present invention is useful for providing information about the traveling direction of the host vehicle, and is particularly suitable for route guidance in a situation where a destination is not set in advance.

It is explanatory drawing explaining the outline | summary of this invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a schematic block diagram which shows the schematic structure of the label | marker information provision system concerning Example 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the processing operation of the label | marker information provision system shown in FIG. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the schematic structure of the label | marker information provision system concerning Example 2 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the specific example of the display display based on a relative direction. It is explanatory drawing explaining the processing operation of the label | marker information provision system shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 2 Sign information provision system 10 Main control part 11 Sign image creation part 12 Guidance direction determination part 13 Sign image acquisition part 20 Output control part 21 Superimposition display control part 30 Navigation unit 31 Route search part 32 Map information database 41 Camera 42 Image Processing unit 43 Microphone 44 Voice recognition unit 45 Display 46 Speaker 51 Sign information database 52 Main location information database

Claims (3)

Sign information acquisition means for acquiring guide sign information of a branch point existing in the traveling direction near the current position;
An input means for receiving information input about a direction from the user to travel at the branch point in a situation where a route to the destination is not set;
Direction determining means for determining a direction to proceed at the branch point based on the guide sign information acquired by the sign information acquiring means and the information input received by the input means;
Notifying means for notifying the direction to proceed determined by the direction determining means;
A sign information providing device comprising:   The sign information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information on the direction to travel is any one of a destination name, a direction name to travel, a district name to travel, and a facility name as a landmark.   The sign information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit also notifies information related to the direction to travel.

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