JP2008185523A - Navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform lane guide in consideration of the position of an actual ETC lane in a tollgate. <P>SOLUTION: This navigation device includes a camera with a telephoto lens, a means for acquiring a camera image acquired by imaging by the camera with the telephoto lens, an ETC lane discrimination means for discriminating whether the ETC lane exists or not in each gate from the color of a gate mark of a tollgate included in the camera image, and a display means for displaying guide information by using a result discriminated by the ETC lane discrimination means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation apparatus, and more particularly to a technology for displaying information related to a lane corresponding to ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) of a toll gate.

  A system (ETC system) that automatically collects tolls on toll roads without stopping the vehicle has been introduced. Therefore, lanes corresponding to ETC (referred to as “ETC lanes”) are provided at the toll booth. However, not all vehicles are equipped with ETC in-vehicle devices, and even when ETC in-vehicle devices are installed, it is assumed that the ETC card is not installed. Therefore, the toll gate is also provided with a general lane that collects charges through humans as usual. In this way, in view of the existence of ETC lanes and general lanes, the lane arrangement is stored, the lane to be driven is determined according to whether or not an ETC card is installed, and the lane There is known a technique for guiding to the above (Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-294473 A

  By the way, even in the toll booth in the same place, the arrangement of the ETC lane and the general lane is not constant and is changed according to the road condition. Therefore, storing past lane arrangements is not always useful.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to perform lane guidance in consideration of the actual position of the ETC lane at the toll gate.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention is a navigation device, which is included in the camera image, a camera with a telephoto lens, means for acquiring a camera image obtained by imaging with the camera with a telephoto lens, and the camera image. ETC lane discriminating means for discriminating whether each gate is an ETC lane from the color of the gate sign of the toll gate, and display means for displaying guidance information using the result discriminated by the ETC lane discriminating means .

  The ETC lane discrimination means can discriminate an ETC lane from the camera image when the distance from the current position to the toll gate is a predetermined distance.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an in-vehicle navigation device 1 to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. As shown in the figure, the in-vehicle navigation device 1 includes a control device 10, a current position calculation device 20, an input device 30, a camera unit 40, a display device 50, and a communication device 70.

  The current position calculation device 20 is a device that collects information for calculating the current position, and includes a vehicle speed sensor, a gyro sensor, a GPS (Global Positioning System) reception device, and the like.

  The input device 30 is a device for receiving an instruction from a user. The input device 30 is, for example, a hard switch such as a touch panel capable of seeing through a display screen provided on the front surface of the display device 50 or a keyboard.

  The camera unit 40 includes a camera 41 and a telephoto lens 42. The camera 41 is a so-called front view camera that can image the front of the vehicle. The camera 41 can capture a distant landscape that is difficult for human eyes to see with the telephoto lens 42.

  The display device 50 includes a liquid crystal display device and the like, and is a unit that displays graphics information generated by the control device 10.

  The communication device 70 mediates communication between the in-vehicle navigation device 1 and an external server device.

  The control device 10 is a device for controlling other devices (current position calculation device 20, input device 30, camera 41, display device 50, communication device 70, etc.).

The control device 10 includes a connection terminal with the ETC in-vehicle device, and can receive an ETC card mounting status of the ETC in-vehicle device. The ETC in-vehicle device exchanges information (vehicle information, ETC card number, entrance toll gate, exit toll gate, toll, etc.) required for toll settlement with the automatic toll collection device at the toll gate through wireless communication. It is a device for.
The control device 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), an auxiliary storage device (HDD or the like), an interface with other devices, a bus connecting them, and the like. Consists of a general-purpose computer system.

  The control device 10 includes a main control unit 11, an input content analysis unit 12, a lane determination unit 13, a display processing unit 14, an ETC card detection unit 15, and a lane information transmission / reception unit 16 as functional units. Prepare. These functional units are achieved by executing a program loaded into the memory by the CPU. Therefore, a program for performing each process is stored in the ROM.

  The main control unit 11 is a central unit that performs various processes. For example, from the output of the current position calculation device 20, the current position is calculated by map matching processing using the map data 17 stored in the storage device. In addition, a user request is received via the input content analysis unit 12 and a process corresponding to the request is executed. In addition, information related to the ETC lane is displayed before a predetermined distance of the toll gate on the toll road, and lane guidance is performed.

  The input content analysis unit 12 analyzes a request from a user input via the input device 30 and sends the result to the main control unit 11.

  Based on the image captured by the camera 41 (referred to as “camera image”), the lane discriminating unit 13 is a lane that corresponds to whether each lane of the toll gate is an ETC-dedicated lane or a general lane ( "ETC / general lane").

  In this specification, the ETC lane means a lane of a gate corresponding to ETC, and includes an ETC dedicated lane and an ETC / general lane.

  The display processing unit 14 performs processing for displaying a map and a menu on the display device 40 in accordance with an instruction from the main control unit 11. Also, information for lane guidance is displayed in front of the toll gate on the toll road.

  The ETC card detection unit 15 acquires information on whether or not an ETC card is mounted from the ETC in-vehicle device, and sends it to the main control unit 11 as an ETC card mounting state.

  The lane information transmission / reception unit 16 transmits information related to the ETC lane to the external server device via the communication device 70 or receives information related to the ETC lane from the external server device according to the instruction of the main control unit 11. .

  In addition, map data 17, tollgate lane information 18 and the like are stored in a storage device such as a ROM.

  The map data 17 stores data on roads and buildings on the map. Specifically, data relating to links constituting the road on the map (such as link start node / end node, link length, road type) is stored. The link road type stores information indicating whether the road is a toll road.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the toll gate lane information 18 stores a record for each toll gate. Each record has a code (toll gate ID) 181 for identifying the toll gate, and a toll gate. Position 182, the number of lanes 183, and drawing data 184 are stored. The number of lanes 183 is the number of gates. The drawing data 184 includes an image displayed when performing lane guidance at a toll gate.

  [Description of Operation] Next, the characteristic operation of the vehicle-mounted navigation device 1 of this embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the toll gate lane guidance process.

  The main control unit 11 monitors the current position of the vehicle and checks whether the vehicle has passed the entrance of the toll road. And when it determines with having passed the entrance of the toll road, this flow is started.

  The main control unit 11 monitors the current position and determines whether or not the distance between the current position and the toll gate is within a predetermined distance (for example, 500 m) (S101). The predetermined distance is a distance at which an object cannot be clearly seen by a normal human being, and is a distance that can be captured by the camera 41 with a telephoto lens.

  When the distance between the current position and the toll gate is within a predetermined distance (Y in S101), the main control unit 11 determines whether or not the road from the current position to the toll gate has a predetermined linearity. Determine (S102). Specifically, the main control unit 11 refers to the map data, obtains the curvature of the road from the current position to the toll gate, and determines linearity based on whether the curvature is smaller than a predetermined curvature. In the map data, the curvature of the road is stored for each specific section.

  When the road from the current position to the toll gate does not have a predetermined linearity (N in S102), the main control unit 11 ends the flow of FIG.

  On the other hand, when the road from the current position to the toll gate has a predetermined linearity (Y in S102), the main control unit 11 acquires a camera image from the camera 41 (S103).

  Next, the main control unit 11 instructs the lane determination unit 13 to determine the type of each lane of the toll gate (whether it is an ETC dedicated lane, a general lane, or an ETC / general lane) based on the camera image. To do.

  In response to this, the lane discrimination unit 13 performs a process of discriminating the type of lane based on the camera image (S104).

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart of such lane discrimination processing. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining such a lane discrimination method.

  The lane discrimination unit 13 first extracts a toll gate sign area 44 from the camera image 43.

  This will be specifically described. The color of the sign indicating the ETC dedicated lane is usually purple. The label indicating the general lane is usually green. The label indicating ETC / general lane is usually purple on the left half and green on the right half. Using this, the lane discrimination unit 13 extracts a purple region and a green region from the camera image, and extracts a horizontally long rectangular region 44 in which the extracted regions are arranged almost horizontally.

  Next, the lane discrimination unit 13 divides the extracted rectangular area 44 by the number of lanes at the toll gate (S202). Specifically, a tollgate record existing in the vehicle traveling direction of the link where the current position exists is extracted from the tollgate lane information 18, and the number of lanes 183 stored in the record is extracted. Then, with the extracted number of lanes 183, the rectangular area 44 extracted in S201 is equally divided in the vertical direction. As a result, a divided region 44N having lane numbers 183 is generated.

  Next, the lane determination unit 13 determines the type of lane for each divided region 44N (S203). Specifically, the ratio of the purple region and the green region is obtained for each divided region 44N. Then, it is determined that the divided area 44N having the most purple ratio (for example, purple is 70% or more with respect to the divided area 44N) is an ETC-dedicated lane. On the other hand, it is determined that the divided area 44N having the most green ratio (for example, the green is 70% or more with respect to the divided area 44N) is a general lane. When the ratio of purple and green is substantially equal (for example, purple and green are 30 to 70% of the divided area 44N, respectively), it is determined that the divided area 44N is an ETC / general lane.

  The lane discrimination process in FIG. 4 has been described above.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the description will be continued.

  Next, the main control unit 11 acquires information on whether or not an ETC card is mounted on the ETC in-vehicle device from the ETC card detection unit 15. If no ETC card is installed, information for guiding to the general lane is displayed on the display device 50 (S106). On the other hand, when the ETC card is installed, information for guiding to the ETC lane is displayed on the display device 50 (S107).

  FIG. 6 shows a display example of the screen when the guidance information to the ETC lane is displayed (S107).

  The main control unit 11 displays an ETC card installation status 511 such as “ETC card installed” on the display screen 500.

  Further, the main control unit 11 uses the toll booth drawing data 184 in the toll booth lane information 18 to draw the state 520 of the toll booth lane. The lane type 521 is displayed in correspondence with the drawn lane.

  Further, the main control unit 11 displays a guidance arrow 522 to the ETC lane (ETC dedicated lane, ETC / general lane).

  Further, the main control unit 11 may display a message 512 that prompts the user to travel in the side lane to which the guide arrow 522 is directed, such as “Please drive in the right lane”. In addition, a message 513 notifying the gate to which the guide arrow 522 heads may be displayed, such as “We recommend the gate from the right”.

  When there are a plurality of ETC lanes, the main control unit 11 may display a guidance arrow for the plurality of ETC lanes, or may display a guidance arrow by selecting any one lane. Good.

  In addition, when a route to the destination is searched, the main control unit 11 selects an optimum lane according to the traveling direction of the route after leaving the toll gate, and displays a guidance arrow 522. May be.

  For example, when the route from the toll booth is a right turn, the main control unit 11 selects the rightmost lane among the ETC lanes and displays a guidance arrow 522 as shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, when the route from the toll gate is a left turn, the main control unit 11 selects the leftmost lane among the ETC lanes and displays a guidance arrow 522 as shown in FIG. Even in such a case, as shown in FIG. 7, a message 512 that informs the user of a lane that should be stopped can be displayed, such as “Please drive in the left lane”.

  Further, the main control unit 11 may display a message 514 informing that a right turn or a left turn is made at the end of the toll booth.

  6 and 7 show the case where the ETC card is installed, but when the ETC card is not installed, a guidance lane to the general lane or the ETC / general lane is displayed. It will be.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

  According to the above embodiment, even when the ETC lane is changed according to the road condition, the actual ETC lane position can be obtained before the distance that can be visually confirmed, so the timing for the user can be obtained. Well lane guidance can be performed.

  In addition, since the lane guidance is started when the distance to the toll gate approaches a preset distance, it is possible to notify the user of the existence of the toll gate and the possibility of changing the lane in a timely manner.

<Modification>
The above embodiment can be variously modified.

  For example, information related to the ETC lane (referred to as “ETC lane information”) may be shared among the plurality of in-vehicle navigation devices 1.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of such a system.

  The two in-vehicle navigation devices 1 are referred to as in-vehicle navigation devices 1A and 1B, respectively.

  It is assumed that the vehicle equipped with the in-vehicle navigation device 1A heads for the toll gate ahead of the vehicle equipped with the in-vehicle navigation device 1B. In such a case, the in-vehicle navigation device 1A can collect ETC lane information before the in-vehicle navigation device 1B of the subsequent vehicle. On the other hand, the in-vehicle navigation device 1B of the subsequent vehicle does not always succeed in lane discrimination from the camera image.

  Therefore, the main control unit 11 of the in-vehicle navigation device 1A attempts lane discrimination from the camera image via the lane discrimination unit 13. When the lane discrimination succeeds, the discrimination result (lane type) of each lane is associated with the toll gate ID of the toll gate ahead of the vehicle, via the lane information transmission / reception unit 16 through the network, to an external server. Send to device 200.

  The external server device 200 is configured by a general-purpose computer system that can be connected to a network, and stores ETC lane information transmitted from the in-vehicle navigation device 1A in the storage device. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the accumulated ETC lane information. The ETC lane information 210 stored in the server device 200 stores the lane type of each lane at each tollgate. Specifically, for each toll gate ID 211, a lane number 212 for identifying a lane existing at the toll gate and a lane type 213 are stored.

  The server device 200 transmits the ETC lane information of the requested toll gate ID according to the request from the in-vehicle navigation device 1B.

  That is, the main control unit 11 of the in-vehicle navigation device 1B tries to determine the lane from the camera image via the lane determination unit 13 (processing up to S104 in FIG. 3). When the lane determination is impossible, the toll gate ID of the front toll gate is transmitted to the server apparatus 200 through the network via the lane information transmitting / receiving unit 16 to request ETC lane information. Then, based on the ETC lane information acquired from the server device 200, display for lane guidance is performed as shown in FIGS.

  Note that the main control unit 11 of the in-vehicle navigation device 1B may access the server device 200 and acquire ETC lane information before attempting lane discrimination.

  Further, the main control unit 11 of the in-vehicle navigation device 1B may directly access the in-vehicle navigation device 1A without using the server device 200 to acquire ETC lane information.

  Note that the main control unit 11 failed in the lane discrimination when the lane discrimination gate marker region 43 could not be extracted, such as when the purple region or the green region in the camera image was too small compared to the camera image region. It can be. In addition, if it is 30% or less in both the purple region and the green region with respect to the divided region 44N, it can be determined that the lane determination has failed.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an in-vehicle navigation device to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of the tollgate lane information 18. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the lane guidance process at the toll gate. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the lane discrimination process (S104 in FIG. 3). FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a lane discrimination method. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the lane guidance screen. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the lane guidance screen. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of a system sharing ETC lane information. FIG. 9 shows the structure of ETC lane information.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... In-vehicle navigation system,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Control apparatus, 11 ... Main control part, 12 ... Input content analysis part, 13 ... Lane discrimination | determination part, 14 ... Display processing part, 15 ... ETC card detection part, 16 ... lane information transmission / reception unit, 17 ... map data, 18 ... toll gate lane information 20 ... current position calculation device 30 ... input device,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 40 ... Camera part, 41 ... Camera, 42 ... Telephoto lens 40 ... Display apparatus, 70 ... Communication apparatus

Claims (10)

A navigation device,
A camera with a telephoto lens,
Means for acquiring a camera image obtained by imaging with the camera with a telephoto lens;
ETC lane discriminating means for discriminating whether or not each gate is an ETC lane from the color of the toll gate sign included in the camera image;
A navigation apparatus comprising: a display unit that displays guidance information using a result determined by the ETC lane determination unit. The navigation device according to claim 1,
The ETC lane discrimination means
Extract the area corresponding to the gate sign from the camera image,
A navigation device characterized by determining whether an ETC lane or not based on the position of the ETC lane sign color and the position of the general lane sign color in the extracted image of the region. The navigation device according to claim 1,
It has gate number acquisition means to acquire the number of gates at toll gate
The ETC lane discrimination means
Extract the area corresponding to the gate sign from the camera image,
The image of the extracted area was divided by the number of gates acquired by the gate number acquisition means, and for each divided area, the ratio between the color of the ETC lane sign and the color of the sign of the general lane was obtained. A navigation device characterized by determining whether or not a gate corresponding to the divided area is an ETC lane according to a ratio. The navigation device according to claim 1,
Means for obtaining the current position;
Means for obtaining the location of the toll gate,
The ETC lane discrimination means
A navigation device, wherein an ETC lane is determined from the camera image when a distance from the current position to the toll gate is a predetermined distance. The navigation device according to claim 1,
The ETC lane discrimination means
A navigation device, wherein an ETC lane is determined from the camera image when a road from the current position to the toll gate has a predetermined linearity. The navigation device according to claim 1,
Means for determining whether or not an ETC card is mounted on the ETC in-vehicle device;
The display means includes
When an ETC card is installed, information for guiding to the ETC lane determined by the ETC lane determining means is displayed.
When no ETC card is attached, the navigation apparatus displays information for guiding to a lane that is not an ETC lane determined by the ETC lane determining means. The navigation device according to claim 1,
It has a means to get the route to the destination,
The display means includes
A navigation apparatus, wherein when there are a plurality of lanes determined as ETC lanes by the ETC lane determination means, guidance information to a lane close to a traveling direction after leaving the toll booth on the route is displayed. The navigation device according to claim 1,
A navigation apparatus, comprising: means for transmitting a result determined by the ETC lane determination means to an external server device. The navigation device according to claim 1,
A navigation apparatus, comprising: means for connecting to an external server device and receiving information related to the ETC lane of the toll gate when the ETC lane determination means cannot determine the lane. A display method of a navigation device,
Acquiring a camera image obtained by imaging with a camera with a telephoto lens;
An ETC lane discrimination step for discriminating whether or not each gate is an ETC lane from the color of the toll gate sign included in the camera image;
A display method for a navigation apparatus, comprising: performing a display step of displaying guidance information using a result determined in the ETC lane determination step.

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