JP2008164505A - Device for providing information - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for providing information according to a progression quantity after information provision, to reduce burdens on the part of a driver. <P>SOLUTION: A control processing part 11 sets the degree of information provision, according to the progression quantity after the previous information provision, at a location where information provision to a driver is necessary. The control processing part 11 determines whether to perform information provision to the driver, according to the degree of information provision at that location. For example, the driver is not informed of the existence of a certain stop line, each time a stop line is passed, but it is determined whether to inform the driver of the existence of the stop line, depending on the days that have elapsed after the previous notification. Since this notification is not made each time, burden will no longer be given to the driver. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information providing apparatus that provides information to a driver according to a place where a vehicle travels.

Conventionally, using a vehicle navigation system, after extracting the temporary stop point data stored in the map database, the distance to the temporary stop point closest to the current position of the vehicle is obtained, and is within a predetermined distance When judged, there was a device for generating a temporary stop notice or a deceleration warning. When approaching a temporary stop point, left and right confirmation guidance has also been performed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2000-046574 A

  By the way, since the conventional apparatus provides information such as a deceleration warning every time it passes through the same stop line, it may be bothersome for the driver.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an information providing apparatus that provides information according to the amount of elapsed time after providing information in order to reduce annoyance for the driver.

  An information providing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes a position detection unit that detects the position of a host vehicle, and an elapsed amount that measures an elapsed amount after information is provided in a place where information needs to be provided to a driver. Measuring means, information provision degree setting means for setting the degree of information provision when providing information to the driver according to the elapsed amount, and the information provision at the place where the information provision is necessary according to the degree of information provision Information providing means for providing information to the driver.

  Further, the information provision degree setting means may be configured to set the degree of information provision low as the elapsed amount increases.

  Further, the information provision degree setting means may be configured to set the degree of information provision to a predetermined degree or more when the elapsed amount becomes a predetermined value or more.

  The information provision degree setting means may be configured to separately set the degree of information provision for each or at least a part of the plurality of places where the information provision is necessary.

  In addition, when the driver determines that the driver is driving according to the information provision, and the driving state determination means determines that the driver is not driving according to the information provision, the information provision And re-providing means for performing again.

  In addition, when the driver determines that the driver is driving according to the information provision, and the driving state determination means determines that the driver is not driving according to the information provision, the information provision In order to increase the frequency of performing information, a degree changing unit that changes the degree of information provision may be further provided.

  The changing means may be configured to change the degree of information provision separately for each of a plurality of places where information provision is required or at least a part thereof.

  Further, when the necessity of providing information is determined based on the traveling environment of the host vehicle, and it is determined that the provision of information is unnecessary based on the traveling environment of the host vehicle, the traveling environment determination in which the information providing unit does not provide information Means may further be provided.

  Further, the travel environment determination means determines that the provision of information is unnecessary when a crossing barrier is going down, when there is a traffic jam, or when a preceding vehicle exists in front of the course of the host vehicle. May be configured.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the specific effect that the information provision apparatus which reduced the troublesomeness for a driver | operator can be provided by setting the degree of information provision according to the amount of progress after providing information is acquired. .

  Embodiments to which the information providing apparatus of the present invention is applied will be described below.

[Embodiment 1]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the information providing apparatus according to the first embodiment. This information providing device provides information to the driver according to the degree of information provision when the host vehicle is in a place where information needs to be provided to the driver. This degree of information provision is set according to the amount of elapsed time since the information provision processing was executed at that location last time, and in this embodiment, the number of days is used as the amount of elapsed time. Further, in the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not information provision is necessary, and information is provided to the driver as necessary. This “case where information provision is not performed” refers to the degree of information provision. This corresponds to the case of zero.

  “Information provision” means that the information providing device informs the driver of the presence of a temporary stop line in front of a temporary stop line, for example. This “information provision” is performed by sound or image, and the process of performing such “information provision” is referred to as “information provision process”. This “information providing process” is executed by the control processing unit of the information providing apparatus. Hereinafter, for example, a road sign such as a temporary stop line or one-way street, or a feature such as a railroad crossing or other information that needs to be provided with information to alert the driver is referred to as an “information provision target”.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the information providing apparatus 10 includes a control processing unit 11, a gyrocompass unit 12, a current position detection unit 13, a vehicle speed detection unit 14, a database 15, a memory 16, a front monitoring camera 17, a speaker 18, and a monitor 19. Is provided.

  The control processing unit 11 includes an arithmetic processing unit, a memory, and the like (not shown), and can be configured by an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) of a navigation device, for example. The control processing unit 11 functions as an elapsed amount measuring unit, an information provision degree setting unit, an information providing unit, an operation state determining unit, a re-providing unit, and a changing unit.

  The gyrocompass unit 12 may be a gyrocompass capable of detecting an absolute orientation, and may be a gyrocompass included in a navigation device, for example. The detected absolute azimuth is sent to the control processing unit 11 as azimuth data.

  The current position detection unit (position detection means) 13 may be configured to receive a GPS (Global Positioning System) signal and output position data that represents the current position of the host vehicle as an absolute position. It may be a position detection unit included in the apparatus. This position data is sent to the control processing unit 11.

  The vehicle speed detector 14 detects the vehicle speed based on a pulse signal sent from a vehicle speed sensor (not shown). Vehicle speed data representing the detected vehicle speed is sent to the control processing unit 11.

  The database 15 can be constituted by a hard disk memory of a navigation device, for example. The database 15 stores an electronic map for the navigation device, and the control processing unit 11 may be configured to be able to read the electronic map. The electronic map may be road link information including, for example, intersection and route position data.

  The database 15 also stores information providing object data in which a location where information needs to be provided to the driver is associated with the position data and the type of the information providing object. The information provision target data is collective data obtained by associating a number of information provision target types with their positions.

  The memory 16 is a memory for temporarily storing image data sent from the front monitoring camera 17 to the control processing unit 11, and can be configured by, for example, an internal memory of a navigation device.

  The front monitoring camera 17 may be any photographing means that can photograph the front of the vehicle. For example, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera for lane keeping control that is mounted in the vicinity of a rearview mirror in the vehicle interior is used. Also good. Image data representing an image captured by the front monitoring camera 17 is sent to the control processing unit 11.

  The speaker 18 may be any speaker that can output a predetermined sound in order to provide information to the driver when the control processing unit 11 determines that information providing processing is required for the driver. The speaker 18 may be a speaker of a navigation device or an audio system speaker.

  The monitor 19 may be any monitor that can output a predetermined image in order to provide information to the driver when the control processing unit 11 determines that the driver needs to provide information. This monitor 19 may be a monitor of a navigation device.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a processing procedure in the control processing unit 11 of the road determination processing device according to the first embodiment. The control processing unit 11 starts processing when the vehicle starts driving. In this processing procedure, it is assumed that a determination threshold for determining whether or not to provide information based on the amount of progress from the previous information providing process is set to 90 days.

  The control processing unit 11 determines the presence / absence of the information providing target (step S11). In this determination process, the information providing object in the information providing object data is searched based on the current position of the host vehicle, the traveling route and the traveling direction, and the information providing object is located at a predetermined distance in the course of the own vehicle. This is done by determining whether or not it exists. This predetermined distance is set to 100 m, for example. This determination process is repeatedly executed until the presence of the information providing object is confirmed.

  Information indicating the current position of the host vehicle, the route being traveled, and the traveling direction is based on the azimuth data and position data obtained from the gyrocompass unit 12 and the current position detection unit 13, and the current position of the host vehicle on the electronic map. It is detected as information indicating the position, the traveling route, and the traveling direction. These pieces of information are generally used in navigation devices.

  If it is determined that there is an information providing target, the control processing unit 11 determines whether 90 days or more have elapsed since the previous information providing process for the information providing target (step S12). This is a process of determining the necessity of information provision based on the number of days elapsed in order to monitor the amount of progress from the previous information provision process.

  If the control processing unit 11 determines that 90 days or more have passed since the previous information providing process at the place, the control processing unit 11 executes the information providing process, causes the speaker 18 to output a predetermined sound, and causes the monitor 19 to By displaying a sign indicating the information providing object, the driver is notified of the presence of the information providing object (step S13). This predetermined sound differs depending on the type of information provision object. If the information provision object is a pause line, the driver will be notified of a pause line such as “There is a pause line ahead”. Any content that reports presence is acceptable. At this time, a “Tare” sign indicating a temporary stop is displayed at one corner of the monitor 19.

  As described above, the information providing process at the location is not executed from the previous information providing process to the 89th day. Usually, if it is less than 90 days, it is considered that the information providing process executed last time remembers that there is a temporary stop line at the place, so as not to bother the driver. The determination threshold can be set to an arbitrary value, and may be configured so that the user of the vehicle can arbitrarily set it according to preference.

  When providing information to the driver in this way, if the number of elapsed days is equal to or greater than a predetermined number of days, the output of the speaker 19 may be set to be equal to or greater than a predetermined level. When the amount of progress is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, by making the degree of information provision greater than or equal to a predetermined degree, the driver who has not been providing information for a long time at that location is strongly impressed by the presence of a temporary stop line Because.

  Next, the control processing unit 11 determines whether or not the driver is driving according to the information provided before the predetermined time before the host vehicle reaches the information providing object (step S14). This alerts the driver who is not driving according to the information provided by determining whether the driver is driving according to the information provided after the information providing process in step S13. This is a process for determining whether or not it is necessary to provide information again. For example, when the information providing object is a temporary stop line, the time when the host vehicle is expected to reach the temporary stop line is predicted based on the position data and the vehicle speed data obtained from the current position detection unit 13 and the vehicle speed detection unit 14. 3 seconds before, it is determined whether the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than a predetermined value.

  Here, the position of the temporary stop line may be specified by collating the position data obtained from the current position detection unit 13 with the information providing object data, or information that is 100 m ahead of the host vehicle in step S11. You may identify based on the elapsed time from the time of recognizing a provision target, and vehicle speed data.

  In addition, when it determines with 90 days or more not having passed since the last information provision process in the place in step S12, the control process part 11 advances a procedure to step S14, and monitors a driver | operator's driving condition. . This is for monitoring whether or not the driver is driving according to the contents of the information provision even when the information provision in step S13 is not performed.

  Next, the control processing unit 11 provides information again (step S15). This is the second provision of information and is a process for alerting the driver. For this reason, the volume may be larger than in the case of providing information in step S13, or the sign to be displayed on the monitor 19 may be increased, or the voice guidance “This is a temporary stop” with a stronger tone. You may make it output.

  Next, the control processing unit 11 determines the driving situation of the driver when the information providing object passes through a certain position (step S16). This is a process to determine whether the driver has driven according to a road sign or the like (information provision object). When the information provision object is a temporary stop line, the driver paused at the temporary stop line. Or not. The determination as to whether or not the temporary stop has been performed may be made, for example, by determining whether or not the vehicle speed has fallen below a predetermined speed within about 1 m before the temporary stop line.

  If the control processing unit 11 determines in step S16 that the driver has driven according to a road sign or the like, the control processing unit 11 increases the threshold used when determining the elapsed amount in step S12 (step S17). This is to reduce the frequency of providing information in step S13 to a driver who has driven according to a road sign or the like. Note that such a threshold value may be registered in the database 15 in association with the position data of the information providing target object, and such a threshold value change may be performed by a number of information providing target items included in the information providing target data item. Each thing can be done separately.

  The control processing unit 11 determines whether the vehicle has finished traveling (step S18). This determination process is executed, for example, by detecting the ignition being turned off.

  The control processing unit 11 ends the process when the ignition is turned off. If the ignition is not turned off, the procedure returns to step S11, and a series of processing is repeatedly executed.

  If the control processing unit 11 determines in step S14 that the driver is driving according to the information provided before the vehicle arrives at the information providing object, the procedure proceeds to step S16. Let This is for determining whether or not the driver has finally driven in accordance with a road sign or the like even when the driver is driving in accordance with the information provided.

  Moreover, when it determines with the driver | operator not having driven according to a road sign etc. in step S16, the control process part 11 reduces the threshold value used when determining the amount of progress in step S12 (step S19). This is to increase the frequency of providing information in step S13 to drivers who have not driven according to road signs or the like. Note that such a threshold change can be performed separately for each of a large number of information providing objects included in the information providing object data.

  After completing the process in step S19, the control processing unit 11 advances the procedure to step S18 and determines whether or not the vehicle has finished traveling.

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus of the present embodiment, when the elapsed amount after the previous information providing process informing the driver of the presence of a temporary stop line or the like reaches a threshold until the next process is performed. Since the information providing process is executed, it is ensured that the driver does not bother the driver who runs the same place many times on a daily basis and when a predetermined number of days have passed since the previous information provision. An information providing apparatus capable of providing information can be provided. When there are few types of information to provide to the driver like a conventional navigation device, it is difficult to give annoyance to the driver, but in the future, the types of information to provide to the driver will increase. Accordingly, the effect provided to the driver by the information providing apparatus according to the present embodiment is further increased.

  In order to improve the detection accuracy of the current position of the host vehicle, for example, the information providing object data is registered by associating a feature such as a sign existing in a predetermined distance before the information providing object with its position data. In addition, it may be configured to improve the detection accuracy of the position of the stop line or the like by recognizing the sign in front of the predetermined distance of the information providing object using a CCD camera that monitors the rear of the vehicle. . As the CCD camera for monitoring the rear of the vehicle in this way, for example, a back monitor camera mounted on the tailgate or the like of the vehicle toward the rear may be used.

  Further, in the above description, the mode of determining the presence / absence of an information provision target such as a stop line using the information provision target data registered in the database 15 has been described. However, the information provision target data is registered in the database 15. The information providing object may be determined based on the image data output from the forward monitoring camera 17 without (provided). This is because the temporary stop line and the road sign can be identified by performing processing such as pattern recognition on the image data.

  In addition, when the information providing object can be detected by road-to-vehicle communication, the signal obtained from the roadside communication device is received by the vehicle side communication device, and the information provision target such as a temporary stop line is received based on the received signal. You may comprise so that the presence or absence of presence may be determined.

  In the above description, the temporary stop line is used as a specific example of the information providing object. However, the above-described temporary stop line is also used in front of various information providing objects such as a one-way exit and a sharp curve entrance. Information can be provided in the same manner as in.

  In the above description, the mode for determining whether or not to perform the next information provision process based on the number of days elapsed after the previous information provision has been described. The “degree of information provision to be set” is not limited to such a form.

  For example, the number of executions of the information providing process for each information providing object is integrated, and the information providing process for the information providing object is not executed when the integrated value of the number of executions exceeds a predetermined value. May be. For example, the number of executions of the information providing process to the driver for a certain temporary stop line is integrated, and when the predetermined number (for example, 3 times) is reached, the information providing process is not executed thereafter. It is. A place where information is provided many times by the information providing device is likely to be sufficiently recognized by the driver, and in such a case, the information providing process is not executed, so that the driver is bothered. It is because it is not necessary to give.

  In this case, as in the process in step S16 described above, the number of executions serving as a determination criterion for not executing the information providing process is reduced based on the monitoring result of the driving situation of the driver. May be.

  In addition, in the above description, the mobile phone that increases or decreases the determination threshold value based on the evaluation result of the driving situation of the driver has been described. However, the frequency of the information provision process is changed by fixing the determination threshold value and increasing or decreasing the elapsed amount. You may let them.

  In the above description, the mode for determining whether or not the vehicle speed has become equal to or lower than the predetermined speed before the pause line has been described, but whether or not the driver has completely stopped the vehicle before the pause line. In order to determine, it may be configured to determine whether or not the vehicle speed has become zero before the temporary stop line. When the information providing object is a temporary stop line, monitoring the vehicle speed to zero before the temporary stop line ensures higher safety of the host vehicle and vehicles traveling around it. It is.

  In the above, it is determined whether or not to provide information to the driver again by determining whether or not the vehicle speed is equal to or lower than the predetermined speed before the host vehicle reaches the information providing object. Although the form has been described, instead of the determination based on the vehicle speed or in addition to the determination based on the vehicle speed, whether or not the accelerator opening is equal to or greater than a predetermined opening, or the degree of braking is equal to or less than a predetermined degree It may be configured to execute the information providing process again by determining whether or not there is. This is to alert the driver so that the vehicle can be driven according to road signs without difficulty.

  In addition, the determination threshold value (predetermined elapsed amount) in step S12 may be changed for each information providing object according to the distance from the storage location of the vehicle such as home. For example, the decision threshold for information providing objects less than 1 km from home etc. is 90 days, the decision threshold for information providing objects less than 5 km from home etc. is 1 day, 60 days, information providing less than 10 km from 5 km from home etc. The determination threshold of the object is 30 days, the determination threshold of the information providing object of 10 km or more and less than 20 km from the home is 10 days, and the determination threshold of the information providing object of 20 km or more from the home is 0 day (information is provided every time The determination threshold value for each information providing object may be set according to the distance from the home or the like. This is because the closer to the home, the more likely that the driver is more familiar with geography and knows the existence of an information provision target such as a temporary stop line.

  Moreover, you may reduce the determination threshold value set according to such distance depending on whether the driver followed the sign.

  Furthermore, the integrated determination value of the number of times the information providing process for the driver is performed may be configured to perform the same determination process according to the distance from the home or the like.

  Further, in the above description, the case where the degree of information provision is zero is referred to as “when information provision is not performed”, and the mode for determining whether or not information provision is necessary has been described. The degree of information provision may be increased or decreased depending on For example, by reducing the volume output from the speaker 18 according to the number of days elapsed, or by reducing the size of the road sign image displayed on the monitor 19, the degree of information provision can be increased according to the amount of elapsed time. It is good also as making it small. In this case, when the elapsed amount is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the degree of information provision may be set to zero.

[Embodiment 2]
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the information providing apparatus according to the second embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the information providing apparatus 20 includes a control processing unit 21, a gyrocompass unit 22, a current position detection unit 23, a vehicle speed detection unit 24, a database 25, a memory 26, a front monitoring camera 27, a speaker 28, and a monitor 29. And a VICS (Vehicle Information & Communication System) receiver 30.

  The gyrocompass unit 22 to the monitor 29 of the information providing device 20 are the same as the gyrocompass unit 12 to the monitor 19 of the information providing device 20 of the first embodiment, respectively. Thus, the same information providing process as that of the control processing unit 11 in the first embodiment is executed. For this reason, in the following, the description of the differences will be described while avoiding redundant explanation with the first embodiment. The control processing unit 21 includes a travel environment determination unit in addition to functions as a position detection unit, an elapsed amount measurement unit, an information provision degree setting unit, an information provision unit, a driving state determination unit, a reprovision unit, and a change unit. As a function.

  The VICS receiver 30 included in the information providing apparatus 20 of the present embodiment only needs to be able to receive VICS information transmitted by radio wave beacons, optical beacons, or FM multiplex broadcasting. This VISC information may include, in addition to traffic jam information (traffic zone and distance), time required for traffic jam zone, traffic regulation, speed regulation, chain regulation, parking lot information, earthquake / tsunami emergency information, etc. .

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a processing procedure in the control processing unit 21 of the road determination processing device according to the second embodiment. The control processing unit 21 starts processing when the vehicle starts driving.

  The control processing unit 21 determines whether or not there is a crossing based on the position data and map data obtained from the current position detection unit 23 (step S20A).

  If it is determined that there is a railroad crossing, the control processing unit 21 determines whether or not the circuit breaker is descending based on the image data obtained from the front monitoring camera 27 (step S20B). This is because if the circuit breaker is down in front of the route, the driver may be aware of various information ahead of the route. The determination is made so that the It should be noted that the fact that the circuit breaker has been lowered is realized by pattern recognition of the image data.

  When it is determined that the circuit breaker is not descended, the control processing unit 21 determines whether there is traffic jam ahead of the route based on the VICS information obtained from the VICS receiving unit 30 (step S20C). This is because if there is a traffic jam ahead of the route, the driver may be aware of various information ahead of the route, so the presence or absence of information provision objects such as a temporary stop line is not determined (and no information is provided). ) To make a determination.

  If it is determined that there is no traffic jam, the control processing unit 21 determines whether or not there is a vehicle ahead in the course (step S20D). This is because if there is a vehicle in front of the course, the driver may be aware of various information in front of the course, so it is not determined whether there is an information provision object such as a temporary stop line (and thus no information is provided). ) To make a determination.

  If it is determined that there is a vehicle ahead in the course, the control processing unit 21 determines whether the distance from the vehicle is within a predetermined distance (step S20E). This is because if the vehicle ahead is far from the host vehicle, the driver may not be aware of the vehicle ahead. Is determined so as not to be determined (and thus information is not provided). In addition, the predetermined distance which becomes a determination threshold value here can be set to 50 m, for example. This predetermined distance may be set to be longer depending on the vehicle speed.

  When it is determined that the distance from the vehicle ahead in the course is equal to or less than the predetermined distance, the control processing unit 21 determines whether or not the vehicle has traveled without determining the presence or absence of the information providing object ( Step S28). This determination process is the same process as step S18 in the first embodiment, and is executed, for example, by detecting the ignition being turned off.

  Also, when it is determined in step S20B that the circuit breaker is descending, or when it is determined in step S20C that there is a traffic jam, the control processing unit 21 advances the procedure to step S28, and the information providing target object It is determined whether or not the vehicle has traveled without determining presence or absence (without providing information) (step S28).

  If it is determined in step S20D that there is no vehicle ahead in the course, or if it is determined in step S20E that the distance to the vehicle in front of the course is longer than the predetermined distance, the control processing unit 21 is provided with the information providing object. Whether or not there is is determined (step S21). This determination process is the same process as step S11 in the first embodiment.

  In the following, the processing from step S22 to step S29 is executed. Since these are steps having the same contents as Steps S12 to S19 in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted. If the control processing unit 21 determines in step S28 that the ignition is not turned off, the control processing unit 21 returns the procedure to step S20A and repeatedly executes a series of processes.

  Note that the processing procedures of steps S20A to S20F, steps S21 and S23 can be performed independently as steps S20A to S20H, as in the processing procedure shown in FIG. Here, Step S20F is the same processing as Step S28 shown in FIG. 4, Step S20G is the same processing as Step S21 shown in FIG. 4, and Step S20H is the same as Step S23 shown in FIG. It is processing.

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus of the present embodiment, driving is performed when a breaker is descending in front of a route, when there is traffic jam in front of the route, or when a vehicle is in front of the route. When it is considered that the driver is aware of various information ahead of the course, information is not provided, so that an information providing device that does not bother the driver can be provided.

  In the above, the mode in which the information providing process is not performed when the breaker is descending in front of the route, when there is traffic jam in the front of the route, or when the vehicle is in front of the route has been described. The processing content of the providing device is not limited to such processing.

  For example, in addition to the above processing or in place of any of the above processing, the information providing processing may not be performed when the headlight of the host vehicle is not turned on. On the contrary, the information providing process may be performed when the headlight is turned on.

  Further, the information providing process may not be performed when the wiper is operated. Further, the information providing process may not be performed when the headlight is turned on. In addition, the information providing process may not be performed when a dense fog warning or an alarm is received. In addition, the information providing process may be performed when the own vehicle is in the school zone and the student is in school.

  The information providing apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention has been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the specifically disclosed embodiment, and does not depart from the scope of the claims. Various modifications and changes are possible.

  The information providing device of the present invention can be used for a vehicle equipped with a navigation device.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a processing procedure in a control processing unit of the road determination processing device according to the first embodiment. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a figure which shows the process sequence in the control process part of the road determination processing apparatus of Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a figure which shows the process sequence in the control process part of the road determination processing apparatus of the modification of Embodiment 2. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

10, 20 Information providing device 11, 21 Control processing unit 12, 22 Gyro compass unit 13, 23 Current position detection unit 14, 24 Vehicle speed detection unit 15, 25 Database 16, 26 Memory 17, 27 Front monitoring camera 18, 28 Speaker 19 29 Monitor 30 VICS receiver

Claims (9)

Position detecting means for detecting the position of the own vehicle;
In a place where information needs to be provided to the driver, an elapsed amount measuring means for measuring an elapsed amount after the information is provided;
Information provision degree setting means for setting the degree of information provision when providing information to the driver according to the amount of progress;
An information providing device comprising: information providing means for providing information to the driver at a place where the information needs to be provided in accordance with the degree of information provision.   The information provision apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information provision degree setting unit sets the degree of information provision to be low as the elapsed amount increases.   The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information provision degree setting unit sets the degree of information provision to a predetermined degree or more when the elapsed amount becomes a predetermined value or more.   The information provision apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the information provision degree setting unit separately sets the degree of information provision for each of the plurality of places where the information provision is necessary or at least a part thereof. Driving state determination means for determining whether the driver has driven according to the information provision;
The information according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: a re-providing unit that re-provides the information when the driving state determining unit determines that the driver is not driving according to the information provision. Providing device. Driving state determination means for determining whether the driver has driven according to the information provision;
A degree changing unit that changes the degree of information provision in order to increase the frequency of providing the information when the driving state determination unit determines that the driver is not driving according to the information provision. Item 5. The information providing device according to any one of Items 1 to 4.   The information providing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the changing unit separately changes the degree of providing information for each of a plurality of places where information needs to be provided or at least a part thereof.   When the necessity for providing information is determined based on the traveling environment of the host vehicle, and when it is determined that the provision of information is unnecessary based on the traveling environment of the host vehicle, a traveling environment determining unit that does not provide the information providing unit with the information is provided. The information providing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising:   9. The travel environment determination unit determines that the provision of information is unnecessary when a crossing breaker is descending, when there is a traffic jam, or when a preceding vehicle exists in front of the course of the host vehicle. The information providing device according to 1.

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