JP2008197703A - Information providing device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To properly set the position for providing information in order to solve the problems that the distance from one's own vehicle to an intersection is conventionally calculated based on the current position of one's own vehicle and link information in road data, and the reference point for distance calculation is set in the center of the intersection to vary depending on the width of an intersection road intersecting with the own vehicle running road, so that an occupant supplied with the information often feel annoyed with the timing of providing information. <P>SOLUTION: This information providing device 1 for a vehicle, which provides an occupant of one's own vehicle with information on an intersection, includes: a GPS receiver 11 for detecting the position of one's own vehicle; a map data storage device 13 storing road data; an intersection recognizing part 21 for recognizing an intersection existing in the running direction of one's own vehicle based on the road data of the map data storage device 13; a first distance calculating part 22 for calculating a distance from the position of one's own vehicle detected by the GPS receiver 11 to the intersection recognized by the intersection recognizing part 21 based on the road data of the map data storage device 13; and a second distance calculating part 23 for calculating a distance from an intersection entrance end of the running road to one's own vehicle based on the distance calculated by the first distance calculating part 22 and the width information of road data of the map data storage device 13, wherein the information on the intersection is supplied based on the distance calculated by the second distance calculating part 23. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle information providing apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a method for calculating a distance to an intersection existing in the traveling direction of the host vehicle using road data used in, for example, a navigation device is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2005-182310 A

  However, conventionally, the distance from the own vehicle to the intersection is calculated based on the current position of the own vehicle and the link information in the road data, and the reference point for the distance calculation is set at the center of the intersection.

  Therefore, conventionally, the position at which the information is provided at the intersection varies depending on the width of a road (hereinafter referred to as an intersection road) that intersects a road on which the own vehicle is traveling (hereinafter referred to as an own vehicle traveling road). There is a case where a passenger who is provided with the information may feel uncomfortable with the timing of providing the information.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a vehicle information providing apparatus capable of appropriately setting a position for providing information.

The vehicle information providing apparatus according to the present invention employs the following means in order to solve the above problems.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, in a vehicle information providing device (for example, an information providing device 1 in an embodiment described later) that provides information at an intersection to an occupant of the own vehicle, own vehicle position detection that detects the position of the own vehicle. Based on the road data in the storage means (for example, the GPS receiver 11 in the embodiment described later), the storage means for storing the road data (for example, the map data storage device 13 in the embodiment described later), the vehicle Is recognized by the intersection recognizing means (for example, an intersection recognizing unit 21 in the embodiment described later) and the position of the own vehicle detected by the own vehicle position detecting means. First distance calculation means for calculating the distance to the intersection based on the road data in the storage means (for example, the first distance in the embodiment described later) The distance from the intersection entrance end of the road on which the host vehicle is traveling based on the distance calculated by the separation calculating unit 22) and the distance information calculated by the first distance calculation unit and the road data width of the storage unit And a second distance calculation means (for example, a second distance calculation unit 23 in the embodiment described later) for providing information at the intersection based on the distance calculated by the second distance calculation means It is characterized by performing.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, further comprising guidance means for guiding the host vehicle to a destination based on road data stored in the storage means (for example, a navigation device 12 in an embodiment described later). The intersection for providing information is an intersection that makes a right or left turn on the guidance route set by the guidance means.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the distance calculated by the second distance calculating means in the invention according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising receiving means for receiving information from a vehicle outside the host vehicle. The provision timing of the received information to the passenger is determined based on the above.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since information is provided at the intersection based on the distance from the intersection entrance end of the own vehicle traveling road to the own vehicle, the position where the information is provided is appropriate regardless of the width of the intersection road. Can be set to
According to the invention which concerns on Claim 2, the information provision of the intersection which makes a right-left turn on a guidance route can be performed at an appropriate timing irrespective of the width of an intersection road.
According to the invention which concerns on Claim 3, provision of the information regarding the other vehicle obtained by the vehicle-to-vehicle communication can be performed at an appropriate timing irrespective of the width of the intersection road.

Embodiments of a vehicle information providing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings of FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle information providing apparatus 1 in this embodiment includes a GPS receiver (own vehicle position detecting means) 11, a navigation device (guidance means) 12, and a map data storage device (storage means) 13. And an actuator 14 and an electronic control unit 20.

  The GPS receiver 11 corrects an error in the GPS (Global Positioning System) signal for measuring the position of the vehicle using an artificial satellite, for example, or an appropriate base station, for example, and corrects the positioning accuracy. A positioning signal such as a D (Differential) GPS signal for improvement is received and output to the navigation device 12 as the current position information of the host vehicle.

  The navigation device 12 detects the current position and traveling direction of the host vehicle based on the current position information of the host vehicle input from the GPS receiver 11 and the map stored in the map data storage device 13 based on the detection result. Map matching is performed on the data to control the display position of the current position of the vehicle on the display screen, and the current position of the detected vehicle is input by the operator via various switches, keyboards, etc. The map display on the display screen is controlled for an appropriate vehicle position.

  In addition, the navigation device 12 executes route search calculation processing based on appropriate destinations and waypoints input from the operator via various switches, keyboards, etc., and routes to the destination and waypoints along with road data. Information and various additional information are displayed on the display screen, and various voice messages are output from a speaker (not shown) to perform route guidance.

  In addition to the map display data for displaying a map on the display screen of the navigation device 12 and the road coordinate data required for the map matching process based on the current position of the host vehicle, the map data storage device 13 Data necessary for processing such as route search and route guidance, for example, each data of a node that is a point consisting of latitude and longitude at a predetermined position such as an intersection and a link that is a line connecting each node as map data In addition, various information is added to the nodes and links.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, with respect to an actual road having an intersection on the road ahead of the traveling direction of the host vehicle A, a plurality of nodes N1, N2,. , Links L1, L2,... L4 connecting the nodes N1, N2,. For example, for the node N2 indicating the position of the intersection, in addition to the latitude and longitude, intersection information such as the presence / absence of a traffic signal, the intersection angles and shapes of a plurality of roads, and the like are added to the links L1 to L4. The link length, road type (for example, national road, prefectural road, city road, etc.), road width information (for example, width data), and road structure information (for example, the number of lanes) are added.

  The actuator 14 controls, for example, the throttle opening and the brake fluid pressure in accordance with a command from the electronic control unit 20 to decelerate or accelerate the host vehicle.

The electronic control unit 20 includes an intersection recognition unit (intersection recognition unit) 21, a first distance calculation unit (first distance calculation unit) 22, and a second distance calculation unit (second distance calculation unit) 23. The travel support control unit 24 is configured.
The intersection recognition unit 21 determines that an intersection exists in the traveling direction of the host vehicle based on the current position and traveling direction of the host vehicle detected by the navigation device 12 and the map data stored in the map data storage device 13. recognize.

Furthermore, the intersection recognizing unit 21 determines whether or not there is a traffic signal at the intersection based on the intersection information regarding the intersection whose existence has been recognized, and the road type, road width information, road structure information, and the like of the road that intersects at the intersection. Based on the above, it is determined whether or not the vehicle traveling road is a priority road. For example, for road types, the priority is set to decrease as it changes to national roads, prefectural roads, and city roads. For example, for road width information, the priority decreases as the width decreases. For example, for road structure information, the priority is set to decrease as the number of lanes decreases.
Then, the intersection recognition unit 21 outputs these recognition results, determination results, and the like to the first distance calculation unit 22, the second distance calculation unit 23, and the travel support control unit 24.

  The first distance calculation unit 22 calculates the distance from the current position of the host vehicle detected by the navigation device 12 and the intersection information of the intersection recognized by the intersection recognition unit 21 to the node indicating the host vehicle and the intersection. Calculate and output to the second distance calculator 23. For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 2, the distance Ln between the host vehicle A and the node N2 is calculated. Here, since the latitude and longitude in the node information is the center of the road (in the case of an intersection, the center of the intersection), the distance Ln calculated by the first distance calculation unit 22 is the distance between the host vehicle A and the center of the intersection. Become.

Based on the distance Ln calculated by the first distance calculation unit 22 and the width information of the intersection road at the intersection recognized by the intersection recognition unit 21, the second distance calculation unit 23 calculates the vehicle from the equation (1). The distance L from the intersection entrance end of the travel road to the host vehicle is calculated and output to the travel support control unit 24. In Equation (1), W is the width of the intersection road.
L = Ln− (W / 2) (1)
Thereby, the distance to the own vehicle can be calculated with the intersection entrance end of the own vehicle traveling road as a reference point.

  The travel support control unit 24 travels the host vehicle based on the intersection information recognized by the intersection recognition unit 21 and the distance L from the host vehicle to the intersection entrance end calculated by the second distance calculation unit 23. In response to the processing result, information is provided to the occupant of the host vehicle via the display screen of the navigation device 12 or notifying means (not shown), or the actuator 14 is controlled.

  For example, when the host vehicle A is route-guided by the navigation device 12 and the intersection recognized forward is an intersection that turns right on the guidance route set by the navigation device 12 (right-turn intersection) as shown in FIG. When the host vehicle A enters the right turn intersection and waits for a right turn, the driving support control unit 24 determines whether or not there is a vehicle B (that is, an oncoming vehicle) B traveling in the oncoming lane. When it is determined that the oncoming vehicle B exists, the information is notified to the passenger of the host vehicle A by the display screen, the speaker, or other notification means of the navigation device 12.

  Note that whether or not the oncoming vehicle B exists is determined by a vehicle including a receiving unit that receives information from a vehicle outside the host vehicle (that is, another vehicle) and a transmitting unit that transmits the information of the host vehicle to the outside. You may detect based on the information (position information) of the other vehicle received by the vehicle-to-vehicle communication which exchanges information between each other.

  Next, the operation of providing information by the information providing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2 by taking as an example a right turn accident prevention support process that supports the prevention of an accident when the host vehicle turns right at an intersection. Note that the right turn accident prevention support processing routine shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2 is repeatedly executed by the electronic control unit 20 at regular intervals.

First, in step S01, based on the current position and traveling direction of the host vehicle detected by the navigation device 12 and the map data stored in the map data storage device 13, an intersection to turn right ahead of the traveling direction of the host vehicle. It is determined whether or not it has been recognized.
If the determination result in step S01 is “NO” (not recognized), the execution of this routine is temporarily terminated.

If the determination result in step S01 is “YES” (recognition), the process proceeds to step S02, and based on the current position of the own vehicle and the intersection information of the recognized intersection, up to the node indicating the own vehicle and the intersection. The distance Ln is calculated.
Next, it progresses to step S03 and the width W of the intersection road in the recognized intersection is acquired from the map data stored in the map data storage device 13.
Next, the process proceeds to step S04, and based on the distance Ln calculated in step S02 and the width W of the intersection road acquired in step S03, a distance L from the intersection entrance end of the own vehicle traveling road to the own vehicle is calculated ( L = Ln- (W / 2)).

Next, it progresses to step S05 and it is determined whether the distance L calculated by step S04 is smaller than zero.
If the determination result in step S05 is “NO” (L ≧ 0), the host vehicle has not entered the intersection, so the execution of this routine is temporarily terminated.
If the determination result in step S05 is “YES” (L <0), the host vehicle has entered the intersection, so the process proceeds to step S06, where is the host vehicle speed V smaller than the predetermined speed Vmin? Determine whether or not. Here, the predetermined speed Vmin is set to a slow speed (for example, 10 km / h).

If the determination result in step S06 is “NO” (V ≧ Vmin), the host vehicle is traveling in the intersection, so the execution of this routine is temporarily terminated.
If the determination result in step S06 is “YES” (V <Vmin), it is considered that the host vehicle is stopped in the intersection, the process proceeds to step S07, and the vehicle ( It is determined whether there is an oncoming vehicle.
If the determination result in step S07 is “NO” (no oncoming vehicle), there is no need to provide information to the passenger of the host vehicle, so the execution of this routine is temporarily terminated.
If the determination result in step S07 is “YES” (there is an oncoming vehicle), the process proceeds to step S08 to notify the occupant of the host vehicle that there is an oncoming vehicle through the display screen or speaker of the navigation device 12, and this Routine execution is temporarily terminated.

In the right turn accident prevention support of this embodiment, the distance L from the own vehicle to the intersection entrance end is calculated using the intersection entrance end of the own vehicle traveling road as a reference point for distance calculation, and depending on whether or not this distance L is less than zero. Since it is determined whether or not the host vehicle has entered the intersection, the determination accuracy is extremely high.
Therefore, when the own vehicle surely enters the intersection, information regarding the presence of the oncoming vehicle can be provided to the occupant. That is, information can be provided to the occupant at an appropriate timing.

[Other Examples]
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above.
For example, the embodiment described above is a mode of providing information for preventing a right turn accident when the host vehicle is waiting for a right turn in a right turn intersection. Good.

  Alternatively, in order to prevent encounter accidents at intersections, information may be provided to alert the passengers of the vehicle in front of accident-prone intersections, or temporarily stopped to passengers of the vehicle in front of the paused intersection. It may be information provision that prompts. In these cases as well, it is possible to calculate the distance to the host vehicle using the entrance end of the host vehicle road as a reference point, and to determine the position where information related to the host is provided. Therefore, the information provision position can be set appropriately, and passengers do not feel uncomfortable.

It is a block diagram in the Example of the information provision apparatus of the vehicle which concerns on this invention. (A) The figure of a real road, (B) It is a figure which shows an example of the node and link which comprise the map data corresponding to this real road. It is a figure which shows an example of the own vehicle which turns right at an intersection, and an oncoming vehicle. It is a flowchart which shows the right turn accident prevention assistance process in an Example.

Explanation of symbols

1 Information providing device 11 GPS receiver (own vehicle position detecting means)
12 Navigation device (guidance means)
13 Map data storage device (storage means)
21 Intersection recognition unit (intersection recognition means)
22 1st distance calculation part (1st distance calculation means)
23 Second distance calculation unit (second distance calculation means)

Claims (3)

In a vehicle information providing apparatus that provides information to an occupant of an own vehicle at an intersection,
Own vehicle position detecting means for detecting the position of the own vehicle;
Storage means for storing road data;
An intersection recognition means for recognizing an intersection existing in the traveling direction of the host vehicle based on the road data of the storage means;
First distance calculating means for calculating a distance from the position of the own vehicle detected by the own vehicle position detecting means to the intersection recognized by the intersection recognizing means based on road data in the storage means;
A second distance for calculating a distance from the intersection entrance end of the road on which the host vehicle is traveling to the host vehicle based on the distance calculated by the first distance calculating unit and the width information of the road data in the storage unit A calculation means;
And providing information at the intersection based on the distance calculated by the second distance calculating means. Comprising guidance means for guiding the host vehicle to the destination based on the road data of the storage means,
2. The vehicle information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the intersection that provides information is an intersection that makes a right or left turn on a guidance route set by the guidance unit. Comprising receiving means for receiving information from a vehicle outside the host vehicle;
3. The vehicle information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the provision timing of the received information to an occupant is determined based on the distance calculated by the second distance calculating unit.

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