JP2008279990A - Direction indicator operation system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a direction indicator operation system in which a failure to extend a direction indicator is prevented from occurring by automatically operating the direction indicator when the manual operation of the direction indicator takes a priority and the operation of the direction indicator is not manually performed and the intent of the driver is accurately transmitted to the vehicles therearound such as following vehicles. <P>SOLUTION: This direction indicator operation system comprises a positioning part for detecting the present position of a vehicle and a map data storage part for storing map data required for guiding the route. When the system determines that the vehicle reaches within a predetermined distance of a crossing on the route from the map data in the map data storage part and the present position of the vehicle acquired from the positioning part, if the direction indication is not operated manually, the system automatically operates the direction indicator. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a direction indicator operation system that operates in conjunction with a car navigation system.

  In the conventional direction indicator operation system, in order to prevent forgetting to turn off the direction indicator, vehicle state detection means for detecting the traveling state of the vehicle, intersection detection means for detecting intersection information, and intention of turning the vehicle left and right Based on the direction indicator that informs the vehicle, the vehicle running state detected by the vehicle state detecting means, and the intersection information detected by the intersection detecting means, the driver's intention to turn left and right is determined, and the direction indication There is one provided with right / left turn determination means for automatically lighting the device (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2001-18708 A

  Since the conventional direction indicator operation system is configured as described above, the determination by the right / left turn determination means and the driver's intention are inconsistent, and the direction indicator operation is performed contrary to the driver's intention. There was a problem that there was. In addition, when canceling the direction indicator, since the cancel operation can be performed only after the direction indicator has been operated, if the cancel operation is performed after the direction indicator has been operated, there is a problem in that surrounding vehicles are confused. there were.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and prioritizes manual operation of the direction indicator, and automatically operates the direction indicator when the operation of the direction indicator is not performed manually. Thus, it is an object to obtain a direction indicator operation system that prevents a driver from forgetting to turn out a direction indicator and accurately transmits a driver's intention to a surrounding vehicle such as a following vehicle.

  The present invention includes a positioning unit that detects the current position of the vehicle and a map data storage unit that stores map data necessary for the route guidance, and is acquired from the map data and the positioning unit of the map data storage unit. When it is determined from the current position of the vehicle that the vehicle has reached a predetermined distance with respect to the intersection on the route, if the direction indicator is not operated manually, the direction indicator is automatically operated. It was made to let it be made to do.

  In the present invention, when it is determined that the vehicle has reached a predetermined distance with respect to the intersection on the route, when the driver does not perform the operation of the direction indicator, the vehicle navigation system performs the route guidance. Since the direction indicator is configured to automatically operate, there is an effect that it is possible to prevent forgetting to turn out the direction indicator and to accurately transmit the driver's intention to surrounding vehicles such as the following vehicle.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
The direction indicator operation system according to the first embodiment interlocks the car navigation system and the direction indicator, and at the time of route guidance, when it is determined that the vehicle has reached a predetermined distance with respect to the intersection on the route, A system for automatically operating the direction indicator when the direction indicator is not operated manually, and incorporating a software for automatically operating the direction indicator into a car navigation system capable of voice guidance and voice recognition. It is realized by.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the direction indicator operation system according to the first embodiment, and detects a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, a direction sensor for detecting a direction, and a vehicle speed of the host vehicle. A positioning unit 1 that includes a vehicle speed sensor and detects the current position of the host vehicle, and accepts operations such as settings by the user (driver) of the direction indicator operation system according to the first embodiment, and outputs the setting contents. Input unit 2, map data storage unit 3 for storing map data necessary for route guidance, setting storage unit 4 for storing setting contents output from input unit 2, route guidance, setting of this system, etc. A voice display is provided from a display unit 6 for displaying a necessary screen, a direction indicator 7 for notifying a surrounding vehicle or the like of a driver's intention of turning left and right, and a microphone 11 From the voice guidance unit 8 that interprets the driver's voice inputted from the driver and outputs a cancel signal to the control unit 5, the map data in the map data storage unit 3, and the current position of the vehicle acquired from the positioning unit 1, When it is determined that the own vehicle has reached the predetermined distance stored in the setting storage unit 4 with respect to the intersection on the route, if the direction indicator 7 is not operated manually, the direction indicator 7 is automatically And a control unit 5 to be operated.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a setting method of the direction indicator operation system according to the first embodiment, and the driver performs the setting while looking at the setting screen displayed on the display unit 6. First, the driver sets a destination (step ST1). Next, it is set whether or not the direction indicator 7 is automatically operated (step ST2). When the setting is made such that the direction indicator 7 is not automatically operated in step ST2, the control unit 5 finishes the setting operation and does not operate the direction indicator 7 during traveling. When the setting for automatically operating the direction indicator 7 is performed in step ST2, the driver selects whether or not to skip the setting of items necessary for the automatic direction instruction (step ST3). When the item setting is skipped in step ST3, the control unit 5 refers to the setting storage unit 4 to determine whether the item setting has already been stored (step ST4).

  If the setting of the item is stored in step ST4, the control unit 5 finishes the setting operation and automatically controls the direction indicator 7 with the previously set content. If the item setting is not skipped in step ST3 or if the item setting is not stored in step ST4, how many meters (meters) before the intersection the driver performs voice guidance in the car (Hereinafter, in-car voice guidance start set distance) is set (step ST5). Next, the driver sets how many meters before the intersection to perform voice guidance outside the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as outside voice guidance start set distance) (step ST6). Next, when the driver sets how many meters before the intersection to operate the direction indicator (hereinafter, the direction indicator automatic operation start distance) (step ST7), the control unit 5 finishes the setting operation and is set. The direction indicator is automatically controlled according to the contents.

  Each distance is set to a smaller value in the order of the in-vehicle voice guidance start set distance, the outside voice guidance start set distance, and the direction indicator automatic operation start distance. By setting the distance to 0 m, the in-vehicle voice guidance function can be turned off. Similarly, if the outside voice guidance is unnecessary, the outside voice guidance function can be turned off by setting the distance to 0 m in step ST5. The contents set by the driver are stored in the setting storage unit 4.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the direction indicator operation system according to the first embodiment. Here, only the characteristic part of the direction indicator operation system according to the first embodiment will be described.
At the time of route guidance by the car navigation system, the control unit 5 refers to the setting contents of the setting storage unit 4 and checks whether or not the automatic operation mode is set (step ST10). When the automatic operation mode is not set in step ST10, the control unit 5 stops the direction indicator automatic operation (step ST20). When the automatic operation mode is set in step ST10, the control unit 5 determines whether the vehicle is approaching a right / left turn point, for example, an intersection, or the like, from the map data stored in the map data storage unit 3 and A determination is made based on the vehicle position information (step ST11). If the vehicle is not approaching the right / left turn point, the control unit 5 continues to operate until it approaches the right / left turn point. It is determined whether or not (step ST12). When the in-vehicle voice guidance start set distance is not reached, the control unit 5 continues to operate until the in-vehicle voice guidance start set distance is reached. The voice guidance unit 8 gives voice guidance from the in-vehicle speaker 9 to “activate the direction indicator at Xm ahead” (step ST13). Here, X is the distance set in step ST6 of FIG.

  Next, the control unit 5 determines whether or not a cancel operation has been performed by the driver via the microphone 11 (step ST14). If there is a cancel operation, the control unit 5 stops the automatic operation of the direction indicator (step ST20). When there is no cancel operation, the control unit 5 refers to the setting storage unit 4 and determines whether or not the vehicle outside voice guidance start set distance has been reached (step ST15). Note that the canceling operation in step ST14 is performed when the driver pronounces “unnecessary” toward the microphone 11 and the voice guidance unit 8 interprets this and outputs a cancel signal to the control unit. When the vehicle outside voice guidance start set distance is not reached, the control unit 5 continues to operate until the vehicle outside voice guidance start set distance is reached. When the vehicle outside voice guidance start set distance is reached, the voice guidance unit 8 is informed The voice guidance unit 8 gives voice guidance from the speaker 10 outside the vehicle (step ST16), and informs the surroundings in advance of the behavior of the vehicle such as turning left or right.

  Next, the control unit 5 refers to the setting storage unit 4 and determines whether or not the direction indicator automatic operation start distance has been reached (step ST17). When the direction indicator automatic operation start distance has not been reached, the control unit 5 continues the operation until the direction indicator automatic operation start distance is reached, and when the direction indicator automatic operation start distance has been reached, the driver has already manually operated. In step ST18, it is confirmed whether or not the direction indicator is operated. If the direction indicator has already been operated, the control unit 5 gives priority to manual operation of the direction indicator and stops the automatic operation of the direction indicator (step ST20). When the direction indicator is not operated manually, the control unit 5 instructs the direction indicator 7 to automatically operate the direction indicator (step ST19).

  As described above, at the time of route guidance, it is confirmed whether the driver has already manually operated the direction indicator, and if the direction indicator has already been operated, priority is given to the manual operation of the direction indicator. If the automatic operation of the direction indicator is stopped when the automatic operation of the direction indicator is stopped, the direction indicator is automatically operated when the direction indicator is not operated manually. There is an effect that the direction indicator is not operated against the intention, the driver's intention can be accurately transmitted to surrounding vehicles such as the following vehicle, and the direction indicator is not forgotten. In addition, since the driver's intention is confirmed by voice before operating the direction indicator automatically, the direction indicator must be operated against the driver's intention when the driver does not turn left or right. Since there is no, there is an effect that the surrounding vehicles are not confused. In addition, voice guidance is provided from the speaker 10 outside the vehicle, and the behavior of the vehicle is notified in advance to the surroundings, so that an accident can be prevented in advance.

  In the first embodiment, the microphone 11 is provided, and the driver's voice input from the microphone 11 is interpreted and a cancel signal is output. However, the microphone 11 is not provided, as shown in FIG. In addition, the cancel switch 12 may be provided at a position where the driver can easily operate, and the cancel signal may be output to the control unit 5 when the cancel switch 12 is pressed. In addition, the voice guidance start time is automatically set according to the traveling speed of the own vehicle acquired by the vehicle speed sensor of the positioning unit 1 so that the voice guidance ends just at the point set in steps ST4 and ST5 in FIG. You may comprise so that it may change into. The start point of the voice guidance may be automatically changed according to the type of road on which the vehicle is currently traveling, for example, whether it is a highway or a general road, or a combination of both. May be. If comprised in this way, there exists an effect which can prevent that operation | movement of voice guidance or a direction indicator is performed after passing the set distance. The type of road can be acquired from the map data in the map data storage unit 3.

It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the direction indicator operation | movement system by Embodiment 1. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a setting method of the direction indicator operation system according to the first embodiment. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the direction indicator operation system according to the first embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Positioning part, 2 Input part, 3 Map data storage part, 4 Setting storage part, 5 Control part, 6 Display part, 7 Direction indicator, 8 Voice guidance part, 9 Car speaker, 10 Car speaker, 11 Microphone, 12 Cancel switch.

Claims (5)

In an automatic direction indication system that automatically operates a direction indicator in conjunction with a car navigation system that performs route guidance,
A positioning unit that detects the current position of the vehicle;
A map data storage unit for storing map data necessary for the route guidance;
When it is determined from the map data in the map data storage unit and the current position of the vehicle acquired from the positioning unit that the vehicle has reached a predetermined distance from the intersection on the route, the direction indicator is manually Is not operated, a control unit for automatically operating the direction indicator,
A direction indicator operation system comprising: A voice guidance unit for performing voice guidance to automatically operate the direction indicator;
The control unit instructs the voice guidance unit to perform voice guidance when an intersection on the route reaches within a predetermined distance, and when a cancel operation is performed, automatic operation of the direction indicator The direction indicator operation system according to claim 1, wherein:   The setting storage unit includes an in-vehicle voice guidance start setting distance for starting voice guidance into the vehicle, an out-of-vehicle voice guidance start setting distance for starting voice guidance to the outside of the vehicle, and a direction instruction for starting the operation of the direction indicator. The direction indicator operation system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a device automatic operation start distance is stored.   4. The direction indicator operation system according to claim 3, wherein the control unit automatically changes the start point of the voice guidance according to the type of road on which the vehicle is traveling. It has a vehicle speed sensor that detects the running speed of the vehicle,
5. The direction indicator operation system according to claim 3, wherein the control unit automatically changes a start point of the voice guidance according to a vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor.

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