JP2008232956A - Navigation device and navigation method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology for performing support for travel on a narrow street by reducing anxiety or impatience felt by a driver when a vehicle travels on the narrow street in a region of low familiarity. <P>SOLUTION: Map information where roads are stored while narrow streets and main line roads are distinguished is acquired, information showing a current position of one's own vehicle is acquired, it is determined whether the current position of the own vehicle is the narrow street based on the map information, and information showing the familiarity to the region of a predetermined range including the current position of the own vehicle is acquired. When the current position of the own vehicle is the narrow street, and the familiarity to the region is lower than a predetermined value, a route from the current position of the own vehicle to the main line road is retrieved, and the route is guided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device and a navigation method.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technology is known in which travel history information by a vehicle is accumulated for each region by a navigation device mounted on the vehicle, and the familiarity of the driver of the vehicle with respect to each region is derived based on the travel history information. . Patent Document 1 describes that the display mode related to the attention point is changed according to the degree of familiarity. Patent Document 1 describes that the narrow street is not displayed when traveling in an area with low familiarity, and only main main roads are displayed to prevent entry into the narrow street. Has been.
JP 2006-258656 A

  In patent document 1, when the familiarity of the area where driving | running | working is low, it is assumed not to enter a narrow street, and it does not consider after having entered the narrow street accidentally. . That is, when the vehicle enters the narrow street, the driver cannot easily know how to get out of the narrow street while driving. Narrow streets may be narrow or have poor visibility, so unless you have a destination along the narrow streets or intentionally travel through narrow streets to avoid traffic jams, narrow streets It is more efficient to drive on other roads. Further, when driving on narrow streets in areas with low familiarity, the driver feels anxiety and impatience, increasing the burden of driving while paying attention to road signs such as one-way traffic and temporary stops.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is a technique for reducing the anxiety and impatience felt by the driver when traveling on a narrow street in a region with low familiarity, and providing support for traveling on the narrow street. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, when the current position of the own vehicle is a narrow street and the familiarity level is lower than a predetermined value, a route from the current position of the own vehicle to the main road is determined. The structure which searches and guides is adopted. That is, when it is determined that the host vehicle is on a narrow street in an unfamiliar area, the driver automatically searches for a route for exiting from the current position of the host vehicle to the main road and provides route guidance. With reference to the guided route, you can get out from the narrow street to the main road. Moreover, since driving in an unfamiliar area, route guidance can be performed without imposing a burden on a driver who cannot afford.

  The map information acquisition means can adopt various configurations as long as it can acquire map information in which roads are stored by distinguishing narrow streets and main roads. For example, you may acquire from the storage medium mounted in the vehicle, and you may acquire map information by radio | wireless communication. The road types include, for example, toll roads such as expressways, general roads such as national roads, prefectural roads, municipal roads, and narrow streets. For example, roads narrower than a predetermined interval with a width are classified as narrow streets. In this specification, the main road is a road other than at least a narrow street, and when the road type is classified as described above, for example, the toll road and the general road may be classified as a main road, Some of them may be classified as highways.

  The own vehicle position determining means determines whether or not the current position of the own vehicle is a narrow street. The structure which acquires the present position of the own vehicle may specify the present position of the own vehicle based on the signal and map information which were acquired from GPS, for example. A signal output from a geomagnetic sensor, a gyro sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, or the like may be used. Whether or not the road including the current position of the host vehicle is a narrow street can be determined by referring to the map information.

  The familiarity information acquisition means only needs to be able to acquire information indicating the familiarity with respect to an area within a predetermined range including the current position of the host vehicle. The familiarity can be derived from, for example, travel history information corresponding to the area. As a method of deriving the degree of familiarity from the travel history information, a conventionally known technique can be adopted. The area of the predetermined range may be set as appropriate according to the familiarity derivation method employed, but for example, indicates a rectangular area obtained by dividing the map into a mesh shape. It may be an area divided by administrative divisions such as municipalities.

  The route search means searches for a route from the current position of the own vehicle to the main road when the current position of the own vehicle is a narrow street and the familiarity with the area is lower than a predetermined value. The predetermined value determined in advance is a reference value for performing narrow street guidance according to the present invention. The specific value may be appropriately designed according to the familiarity deriving method.

  The information indicating the degree of familiarity may be information indicating that the degree of familiarity decreases as the number of times the host vehicle passes through the same point within a predetermined time. In this configuration, the route search means may search for a route when the host vehicle passes the same point a plurality of times within a predetermined time. A situation where the host vehicle repeatedly travels at the same point can be determined as a situation where the vehicle is straying. Therefore, according to this configuration, when straying on a narrow street, it is possible to automatically search and guide the route to the main road.

  Further, the route searched by the route search means may be a route to a signalized intersection where the main road and the narrow street intersect. If the intersection has no traffic light, it may be difficult to join the main road. Specifically, for example, it is difficult to merge because there is a large amount of traffic, or the driver can not enter the lane in which the driver wants to travel because there is a median. Therefore, by searching for a route using an intersection with a signal as a temporary destination among the intersections where the main road intersects with the narrow street, the driver can be guided to the route to the intersection that easily joins the main road. . As the signalized intersection set as the temporary destination, for example, a signalized intersection that is located within a predetermined distance from the own vehicle and has a low arrival cost from the own vehicle is selected from among the intersections that intersect the main road. The arrival cost is set based on the distance from the current position of the host vehicle and the required time from the current position of the host vehicle. Further, for example, a signalized intersection that is located within a predetermined distance from the host vehicle and that exists in the direction of a point that is already set as a destination in the navigation device may be selected. For example, a signalized intersection existing in the current traveling direction of the host vehicle may be selected.

  The guide means only needs to be able to guide the route searched by the route search means to the driver. The guidance mode may be configured to be displayed on a display or may be configured to be guided by voice.

  The guiding means may guide a trunk road existing within a predetermined range from the host vehicle as a candidate, and includes a receiving means for receiving information indicating the trunk road selected from the candidates in this configuration, The search means may search for a route to the selected main road. According to this configuration, the route for joining the main road selected by the driver can be guided. There is no particular limitation on the configuration of the reception unit, and for example, a configuration in which an operation of a touch panel or other switch is received may be used, or a configuration in which a voice emitted by a driver is received by a microphone may be used. Note that the predetermined range of the host vehicle may be set arbitrarily.

  Further, in the present invention, when the current position of the host vehicle is a narrow street and the familiarity level is lower than a predetermined value, the map is enlarged and displayed as compared with when the familiarity level is higher than a predetermined value. You may employ | adopt the structure to do. When the driver is on a narrow street in an area with low familiarity, the driver feels anxiety and impatience, increasing the burden of driving while paying attention to road signs such as one-way traffic and temporary stops. However, according to this configuration, if the degree of familiarity is low, the map displayed on the screen is magnified to display the actual road approaching in front of the host vehicle that can be seen from the driver's seat and the map that is magnified on the screen. Easy to link with other roads. Therefore, the driver can easily use the shape of the road or the road sign displayed on the screen as auxiliary information or caution information when traveling on a narrow street. As a result, it is possible to reduce anxiety and impatience that the driver feels when traveling on a narrow street with low familiarity.

  Further, in this configuration, the own vehicle position determining means may determine whether or not the own vehicle is traveling on a narrow street. Whether or not the host vehicle is running may be determined based on information output from a camera, a vehicle speed sensor, and other sensors that are mounted on the host vehicle and take images around the host vehicle, You may determine based on the change of the positional information received from GPS.

  Further, in this configuration, the guide means only needs to enlarge the map and display it on the display when the familiarity level is low than when the familiarity level is high. The map displayed on the screen by the guide means may be a planar map or a three-dimensional map. Note that the above-described enlarged map may be displayed on the screen even when the current position of the host vehicle is a narrow street and not traveling.

  Further, when the current position of the own vehicle is a narrow street and the degree of familiarity is lower than a predetermined value as in the present invention, the route from the current position of the own vehicle to the main road is searched and searched. When the current position of the vehicle is a narrow street and the familiarity level is lower than a predetermined value, the map is enlarged compared to when the familiarity level is higher than the predetermined value. The display method can also be applied as a program or method. In addition, the above navigation device, program, and method may be realized as a single navigation device, or may be realized by using parts shared with each part provided in the vehicle, and various aspects. Is included. Further, some changes may be made as appropriate, such as a part of software and a part of hardware. Furthermore, the invention is also established as a recording medium for a program for controlling the navigation device. Of course, the software recording medium may be a magnetic recording medium, a magneto-optical recording medium, or any recording medium to be developed in the future.

Here, embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following order.
(1) Configuration of navigation device:
(2) Narrow street guidance processing:
(3) Other embodiments:

(1) Configuration of navigation device:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device 10 according to the present invention. The navigation device 10 includes a control unit 20 including a CPU, RAM, ROM, and the like and a storage medium 30, and the control unit 20 can execute a program stored in the storage medium 30 or the ROM. In the present embodiment, the navigation program 21 can be implemented as one of the programs.

  In order to realize the narrow street guidance function according to the present embodiment by the navigation program 21, the own vehicle (the vehicle equipped with the navigation device 10) has a GPS receiver 40, a vehicle speed sensor 41, a microphone 42, an operation unit 43, and a display 44. And a speaker 45, and the exchange of signals between these units and the control unit 20 is realized by an interface (not shown).

  The GPS receiver 40 receives radio waves from GPS satellites and outputs a signal for calculating the current position of the host vehicle via an interface (not shown). The control unit 20 acquires this signal and acquires the current position of the host vehicle. The current position of the host vehicle is used to determine the road type of the road on which the host vehicle is located, the degree of familiarity, route search, and route guidance in the narrow street guidance process described later.

  The vehicle speed sensor 41 outputs a signal corresponding to the rotational speed of the wheels provided in the host vehicle. The control unit 20 acquires this signal through an interface (not shown) and determines whether the host vehicle is traveling. The microphone 42 is provided in the steering operation unit, for example, and converts a voice emitted by the driver into a voice signal and outputs the voice signal. The operation unit 43 includes a touch panel, a hard switch, and the like, and outputs a signal corresponding to the operation content. The display 44 displays various menu screens, route guidance screens, images of the surroundings of the host vehicle taken by a camera (not shown), and the like according to the control of the control unit 20. The speaker 45 outputs a voice for route guidance and alerting according to the control of the control unit 20.

  The storage medium 30 stores map information 30a and familiarity information 30b for performing processing by the navigation program 21, and the control unit 20 can acquire such information via an interface (not shown). The map information 30a includes node data indicating nodes set on the road, link data indicating connection between nodes, data indicating a target, and the like, specifying the current position of the host vehicle and searching for a route to the destination. Used for information and guidance. The link data includes road type information and road sign information.

  The road types include, for example, toll roads such as expressways, general roads such as national roads, prefectural roads, municipal roads, and narrow streets. For example, roads narrower than a predetermined interval having a width are classified as narrow streets. Arterial roads are roads other than at least narrow streets. For example, when the road types are classified as described above, toll roads and general roads may be classified as arterial roads, or some of them may be It may be classified as a main road. That is, the map information 30a only needs to store at least the narrow streets and the main roads.

  The control unit 20 executes the navigation program 21 to determine the current position of the host vehicle based on the various information acquired as described above, and the degree of familiarity with the road type of the road on which the host vehicle is located and its area. The narrow street guidance process described later is executed based on the above. In the present embodiment, the navigation program 21 includes a host vehicle position determination unit 21a, a travel determination unit 21b, a map information acquisition unit 21c, a familiarity information acquisition unit 21d, a route search unit 21e, and a guidance unit 21g.

The map information acquisition unit 21c acquires the above-described map information 30a from the storage medium 30, and stores it in a memory (not shown). The map information 30a may be acquired by wireless communication.
The own vehicle position determination unit 21a determines whether or not the current position of the own vehicle is a narrow street. Specifically, the current position of the host vehicle is specified based on the signal acquired from the GPS receiver 40 and the map information 30a. A signal output from a geomagnetic sensor, a gyro sensor, a vehicle speed sensor 41, or the like (not shown) may be used. The own vehicle position determination unit 21a refers to the link data of the link corresponding to the current position of the own vehicle specified in this way, and determines whether the road is a narrow street.

  The traveling determination unit 21b determines whether the host vehicle is traveling on a narrow street based on a signal output from the vehicle speed sensor 41. The traveling determination unit 21b may determine the traveling state based on an image captured by a camera (not shown) mounted on the host vehicle, or may determine based on information output from other sensors. Moreover, you may determine a driving | running state based on the change of the present position of the own vehicle specified from signals, such as the GPS receiving part 40. FIG. The traveling determination unit 21b may be omitted.

  The familiarity information acquisition unit 21 d acquires the familiarity information 30 b from the storage medium 30. The familiarity information 30b is information that is derived based on traveling history information that is accumulated as needed during traveling by a familiarity deriving unit (not shown) of the navigation program 21, and is updated in the storage medium 30. As a method of deriving the degree of familiarity from the travel history information, a conventionally known technique can be adopted. For example, a familiarity deriving unit (not shown) accumulates the accumulated travel distance for each region divided by a predetermined range, and stores it in the storage medium 30 in association with the region. You may accumulate | store the total travel distance of the narrow street for every area. The familiarity deriving unit calculates a travel ratio between the total travel distance of the host vehicle and the accumulated travel distance for each area described above for each area. Then, the familiarity is set for each region based on the calculated traveling ratio. The degree of familiarity derived by the familiarity deriving unit may be divided into any number of levels, but the degree of familiarity is set to be lower in the region where the traveling ratio is low than in the region where the traveling ratio is high. In this specification, information indicating the degree of familiarity (referred to as familiarity information) is assumed to be this degree. In addition, the area of the predetermined range may be, for example, a rectangular area obtained by dividing a map into a mesh shape, or may be an area divided by administrative divisions such as municipalities.

  The route search unit 21e searches for a route from the point set as the departure point to the point set as the destination. A known algorithm such as the Dijkstra method may be used for the route search. The route search unit 21e passes information indicating a route derived as a result of the search to the guide unit 21g. The reception unit 21f acquires signals output from the microphone 42 and the operation unit 43, and causes the navigation device 10 to execute various processes according to voices and operations made by the occupant.

The guide unit 21g is an image such as a map or an icon indicating the current position of the host vehicle based on information indicating the route searched by the route search unit 21e and the map information 30a and information indicating the current position of the host vehicle. Data is generated in a memory (not shown) and displayed on the display 44. Also, audio data for route guidance and alerting is output to the speaker 45 based on information indicating the route, the map information 30a, and the current position of the host vehicle.
The configuration of the navigation device 10 has been described above.

(2) Narrow street guidance processing:
Next, narrow street guidance processing performed by the navigation device 10 in the above configuration will be described. When the navigation program 21 is executed by the navigation device 10, the narrow street guidance process shown in FIG. 2 is repeatedly performed at regular intervals. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the host vehicle enters a narrow street from a state where the vehicle is traveling on a road other than the narrow street.

  First, the host vehicle position determination unit 21a determines whether the current position of the host vehicle is a narrow street (step S100). Specifically, the host vehicle position determination unit 21a acquires a signal from the GPS reception unit 40, and specifies the current position of the host vehicle based on the map information 30a acquired by the map information acquisition unit 21c. Furthermore, the own vehicle position determination unit 21a acquires the road type of the road including the current position of the own vehicle with reference to the map information 30a, and determines whether or not the current position of the own vehicle is a narrow street. Furthermore, in step S100, the travel determination unit 21b may determine whether or not the host vehicle is traveling, and may execute the processing from step S105 onward when the vehicle is traveling.

  Next, the route search part 21e determines whether the familiarity with respect to the area | region of the predetermined range containing the present position of the own vehicle is high (step S105). Specifically, for example, the familiarity information acquisition unit 21d acquires the degree of familiarity with respect to an area within a predetermined range including the current position of the host vehicle from the storage medium 30, and is equal to or greater than a predetermined predetermined degree. Determine whether. When the familiarity of the area is lower than a predetermined degree (when a negative determination is made in step S105), the guide unit 21g displays a message to switch to narrow street guidance on the display 44 (step S110). The narrow street guidance will be described later. Note that the processing in step S110 may be omitted, and may be executed only once when entering the narrow street from a road other than the narrow street.

  In the present embodiment, the display mode of the map displayed on the display 44 when the host vehicle is not on a narrow street is not particularly defined. FIG. 3 shows an example of a map displayed on the display 44 when the vehicle is on a narrow street but the familiarity with the area is a predetermined level or higher (when affirmative determination is made in step S105). If familiarity is high, even if you enter the narrow street, the processing after step S110 is not performed, but in order to make it easy to see the narrow street where the vehicle is traveling and its surroundings, drive outside the narrow street The map may be displayed at a scale larger than the scale of the map displayed at the time. If the scale of the map displayed when traveling on a road other than a narrow street is sufficiently easy to see, it may not be enlarged.

  Next, the route search unit 21e searches whether a signalized intersection exists on the main road around the host vehicle (step S115). Specifically, for example, the map information 30a is searched for whether there is a signalized intersection that intersects the main road within a predetermined distance from the host vehicle. When it is determined in step S115 that there is no signalized intersection that intersects the main road within a predetermined distance of the host vehicle, the route search unit 21e has the highest arrival cost from the host vehicle among the intersections that do not intersect the main road. Is set as a temporary destination (step S120). In step S115, when it is determined that there is a signalized intersection that intersects the main road within a predetermined distance of the host vehicle, the route search unit 21e selects a signalized intersection with the lowest arrival cost from the host vehicle among the signalized intersections as a temporary destination. (Step S125). The arrival cost is set based on the distance from the current position of the host vehicle and the required time from the current position of the host vehicle. Next, the route search unit 21e searches for a route from the current position of the host vehicle to the temporary destination (step S130).

  The reason why a signalized intersection is preferentially selected and selected as a temporary destination among the intersections that intersect the main road in steps S115, S120, S125, and S130 is that it is difficult to join the main road if there is no signal. This is because it is considered. Specifically, for example, there are situations where it is difficult to merge due to heavy traffic, or situations where the driver cannot enter the opposite lane where the driver wants to travel because of the presence of a median. Assisting drivers who are unfamiliar with the area to easily join the main road by guiding the route searched using the intersection with a signal as a temporary destination among the intersections of the main road and narrow streets can do.

  In addition, the intersection set as a temporary destination may be determined not only within a predetermined distance from the current position of the host vehicle as described above but also by adding the following conditions. For example, it is an intersection that exists in the traveling direction of the host vehicle, or an intersection that exists in the direction of a point that is already set as a destination in the navigation device 10 before the host vehicle enters the narrow street. .

  When a destination is set in advance in the navigation device 10 and route guidance is being performed toward the destination, the route to the preset destination is searched again from the intersection set as the temporary destination. Also good. That is, the route from the current position of the host vehicle to the preset destination is not searched again, but the route that passes through the temporary destination set as described above is searched.

  Next, the guide part 21g switches to the display for narrow street guidance (step S135). FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on the display 44 when narrow street guidance is implemented. In this embodiment, when narrow street guidance is implemented, the screen of the display 44 is divided into two, and the signalized intersection S and the own vehicle M for joining the main road are displayed in one area (left half in FIG. 4). A map for route guidance with a reduced scale is displayed, and a map for alerting that further enlarges the map for route guidance is displayed in the other region (the right half in FIG. 4). The attention-calling map is an enlarged map of the map (see FIG. 3) displayed when the familiarity level is higher than a predetermined level. In the present embodiment, when the narrow street guidance is being performed, the route guidance map and the alerting map are displayed on the display 44 so that the driver can grasp the rough route to the main road and Attention can be directed to information such as road signs that are approaching.

  On narrow streets with a low degree of familiarity, the driver travels with anxiety and impatience because of the lack of geographical knowledge in the vicinity and the narrowness of the road and poor visibility. Therefore, in a state where the above-mentioned map for alerting is not displayed, a psychological burden for traveling while paying attention to road signs such as one-way traffic and temporary stop is large. However, according to the present embodiment, when the familiarity level is low, the map is enlarged as compared with the case where the familiarity level is high. It is easy to link the road on the map. Therefore, the driver can easily use the shape of the road or the road sign displayed on the screen as auxiliary information or caution information when traveling on a narrow street. As a result, it is possible to reduce anxiety and impatience that the driver feels when traveling on a narrow street with low familiarity.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, in the map for alerting, a map image drawn using the map information 30a may be converted into a driver's view and displayed. That is, the road located in front of the vehicle may be displayed with a sense of perspective, imitating the scenery in front of the vehicle seen from the driver's seat. In addition, with reference to the map information 30a, information on a road sign ahead of the host vehicle may be acquired, and an image showing the road sign may be displayed. Like the mark marks 50, 51, 52 of FIG. 4, the mark mark 50 closest to the host vehicle may be displayed larger than the other mark marks 51, 52. As a result, the driver's attention can be most directed to the most recent sign.

  Next, the guide unit 21g performs voice guidance (step S140). Specifically, a sound for informing information on a road sign approaching the front of the host vehicle is output. For example, a voice message “Please pause” or a voice message indicating that it is a one-way street and cannot turn right at the next intersection is output. Instead of verbal guidance, guidance with alert sounds may be used. Further, for example, a route guidance voice such as “Please go straight at the next intersection” may be output. Note that the voice guidance in step S140 may be omitted.

  As described above, when the vehicle enters a narrow street in an unfamiliar area, according to the present invention, a route for automatically exiting from the current position of the vehicle to the main road is searched, I can guide you. Therefore, the driver can get out of the narrow street to the main road with reference to the guided route. In addition, since the narrow street guidance as described above is automatically started, it is not necessary to impose a further burden on a driver who cannot afford to drive because he is driving on a narrow street in an unfamiliar area. In addition, an easy-to-understand route for getting out onto the main road can reduce the anxiety and impatience felt by the driver.

(3) Other embodiments:
The above embodiment is an example for carrying out the present invention. When the current position of the own vehicle is a narrow street and the familiarity level is lower than a predetermined value, the current position of the own vehicle to the main road Various other embodiments can be adopted as long as the route is searched and the searched route is guided. For example, the familiarity level information is information indicating that the familiarity level decreases as the number of times the own vehicle passes through the same point within a predetermined time, and the route search unit 21e determines that the own vehicle passes the same point within the predetermined time. The process after step S110 described above may be performed when a plurality of times passes. A situation where the host vehicle repeatedly travels at the same point can be determined as a situation where the vehicle is straying. Therefore, according to this configuration, it is possible to automatically search and guide the route to the main road when it is determined that it is straying on the narrow street. As described in the above embodiment, the degree of familiarity in the area where the host vehicle is derived based on the travel history information is lower than a predetermined value, and as described above. When the same point is passed a plurality of times within a predetermined time, the processing after step S110 may be performed.

  Further, the navigation device 10 has a function of identifying the driver of the host vehicle, a familiarity degree deriving unit (not shown) stores familiarity degree information for each driver, and the familiarity degree information acquiring unit 21d is familiarity degree information 30b for each driver. May be obtained. As a method for identifying the driver, for example, the driver's face may be identified by taking an image of the face of an occupant seated in the driver's seat with a camera, or an ID stored in a storage medium built in the key. The driver may be identified by. Further, the identification may be performed based on the position setting such as the driver's seat or the steering wheel, or information for identifying the driver himself / herself may be input.

  In addition, the guide unit 21g may guide a plurality of main roads existing within a predetermined range of the host vehicle as candidates, and the reception unit 21f may receive information indicating the main roads selected from the candidates. Good. The route search unit 21e may search for a route to the selected main road. According to this configuration, the route for joining the main road selected by the driver can be guided. The receiving unit 21f may receive the operation information of the operation unit 43, or may receive the voice uttered by the driver with the microphone 42. Note that the predetermined range of the host vehicle may be set arbitrarily.

  In addition, as a map for alerting, an image ahead of the host vehicle is taken by a camera (not shown), and the current position of the host vehicle is matched with the position of a road or a structure in front of the host vehicle using map information 30a. A mark mark may be superimposed on the image and displayed. According to this configuration, the driver can more easily link the scenery in front of the vehicle seen from the driver's seat and the mark mark displayed on the display 44.

  In addition, when the current position of the vehicle is a narrow street and the familiarity level is lower than a predetermined value, as long as the familiarity level is higher than the predetermined value, the map is enlarged and displayed. Various embodiments can also be employed. In the above embodiment, the configuration in which the route search to the main road is performed to guide the driver has been described. However, the degree of familiarity is high when the user is on a narrow street in a region with low familiarity without performing route search and guidance. You may make it display a map enlarged rather than when it is in a local narrow street.

  Further, when the user is on a narrow street in a region with low familiarity, the alert map may be displayed on the display 44 without displaying the route guidance map described above. The attention-calling map may be a three-dimensional map with a perspective as in the above-described embodiment, or may be a planar map. Note that the above-mentioned map for alerting may be displayed even when the current position of the host vehicle is a narrow street and not traveling.

It is a block diagram of a navigation apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows a narrow street guidance process. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed when drive | working the narrow street of an area with high familiarity. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed when drive | working the narrow street of an area with low familiarity.

Explanation of symbols

  10: navigation device, 20: control unit, 21: navigation program, 21a: own vehicle position determination unit, 21b: travel determination unit, 21c: map information acquisition unit, 21d: familiarity information acquisition unit, 21e: route search unit, 21f: reception unit, 21g: guidance unit, 30: storage medium, 30a: map information, 30b: familiarity information, 40: GPS reception unit, 41: vehicle speed sensor, 42: microphone, 43: operation unit, 44: display, 45: speaker, 50: sign mark, 51: sign mark, 52: sign mark, M: own vehicle, S: signal intersection.

Claims (7)

Map information acquisition means for distinguishing narrow streets from highways and acquiring map information in which roads are stored;
Vehicle position determination means for acquiring information indicating the current position of the host vehicle, and determining whether the current position of the host vehicle is the narrow street based on the map information;
Familiarity information acquisition means for acquiring information indicating the familiarity with respect to an area within a predetermined range including the current position of the host vehicle;
Route search means for searching for a route from the current position of the host vehicle to the main road when the current position of the host vehicle is the narrow street and the familiarity with the area is lower than a predetermined value; ,
Guiding means for guiding the route;
A navigation device comprising: The information indicating the degree of familiarity is information indicating that the degree of familiarity decreases as the number of times the host vehicle passes through the same point within a predetermined time.
The navigation device according to claim 1. The route is a route to a signalized intersection where the main road and the narrow street intersect.
The navigation device according to claim 1 or 2. The guidance means guides a main road existing within a predetermined range of the host vehicle as a candidate,
Receiving means for receiving information indicating a main road selected from the candidates,
The route search means searches for a route to the selected main road.
The navigation device according to claim 1. Map information acquisition means for distinguishing narrow streets from highways and acquiring map information in which roads are stored;
Vehicle position determination means for acquiring information indicating the current position of the host vehicle, and determining whether the current position of the host vehicle is the narrow street based on the map information;
Familiarity information acquisition means for acquiring information indicating the familiarity with respect to an area within a predetermined range including the current position of the host vehicle;
When the current position of the host vehicle is the narrow street and the familiarity with the area is lower than a predetermined value, the map is enlarged compared with when the familiarity is higher than the predetermined value. Guidance means to display;
A navigation device comprising: A map information acquisition step of acquiring map information in which roads are stored by distinguishing narrow streets and main roads;
A vehicle position determination step of acquiring information indicating the current position of the host vehicle and determining whether the current position of the host vehicle is the narrow street based on the map information;
Familiarity information acquisition step of acquiring information indicating the familiarity with respect to an area of a predetermined range including the current position of the host vehicle;
A route search step of searching for a route from the current position of the host vehicle to the main road when the current position of the host vehicle is the narrow street and the familiarity with the area is lower than a predetermined value; ,
A guidance process for guiding the route;
Navigation method including. A map information acquisition step of acquiring map information in which roads are stored by distinguishing narrow streets and main roads;
A vehicle position determination step of acquiring information indicating the current position of the host vehicle and determining whether the current position of the host vehicle is the narrow street based on the map information;
Familiarity information acquisition step of acquiring information indicating the familiarity with respect to an area of a predetermined range including the current position of the host vehicle;
When the current position of the host vehicle is the narrow street and the familiarity with the area is lower than a predetermined value, the map is enlarged compared with when the familiarity is higher than the predetermined value. A guidance process to display;
Navigation method including.

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