JP2008286633A - Route information providing device and navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To grasp the cause when a difference is generated between the provided estimated traveling time and the actual traveling time. <P>SOLUTION: When it is determined that a difference between a required time in a road section measured by a navigation device 20 and an estimated traveling time in the road section is larger than the reference value determined beforehand, the transmission of a photographed image of the periphery of a vehicle and road section information from a peripheral image storage device 30 to a route information providing device 10 is instructed. The photographed image of the periphery of the vehicle and the road section information are transmitted from the peripheral image storage device 30 to the route information providing device 10, and is displayed on a display part of the route information providing device 10 (S304). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a route information providing device and a navigation device that calculate an expected travel time for each road section from a departure place to a destination based on conditions received from a navigation device and provide the estimated travel time to the navigation device.

Conventionally, section required time information indicating the required time of a road section measured as a vehicle travels is collected from a navigation device, updated and registered in a database, and an inquiry request for an estimated travel time of a planned road to travel is received from the navigation device. In addition, there is an information device that calculates an estimated travel time of a planned travel road based on section required time information registered in a database and distributes the estimated travel time to a navigation device (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-20288 A

  However, in the information device described in Patent Document 1, even if there is a difference between the provided expected travel time and the actual travel time, the difference is caused by traffic conditions such as traffic jams, or It is not possible to grasp whether it is caused by the will of the driver such as a break.

  For this reason, when a difference arises due to traffic conditions such as traffic jams, it is difficult to improve the quality by reflecting the actual travel time in the predicted travel time and improving the accuracy of the predicted travel time.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to grasp the cause when a difference occurs between the provided estimated travel time and the actual travel time.

  A first feature of the present invention is a route information providing apparatus that calculates an estimated travel time for each road section from a departure place to a destination based on conditions received from a navigation apparatus, and provides the estimated travel time to the navigation apparatus. The device is connected to a peripheral image storage device for storing image data obtained by photographing the periphery of the vehicle, and the navigation device measures the required time for each road section of the traveling road, When it is determined that the difference from the estimated travel time of the road section is larger than a predetermined reference value, the route information providing apparatus displays a captured image and road section information around the vehicle in the road section with respect to the peripheral image storage device. When the captured image and road section information around the vehicle are received from the peripheral image storage device, Display control means for displaying on the display unit the captured image and the road section information is that provided with.

  In such a configuration, when it is determined that the difference between the required time of the road section measured by the navigation device and the estimated travel time of the road section is larger than a predetermined reference value, the peripheral image storage device Since the captured image and road section information around the vehicle are transmitted and the captured image and road section information around the vehicle are displayed on the display unit, the operator has a difference between the expected travel time provided and the actual travel time. It is possible to grasp the cause of the occurrence of

  A second feature of the present invention is that the peripheral image storage device is configured using a drive recorder mounted for vehicle accident analysis.

  As described above, the peripheral image storage device can be configured by utilizing the drive recorder mounted for the purpose of analyzing the vehicle accident.

  According to a third feature of the present invention, the navigation device causes the peripheral image storage device to transmit the time including the time required for the road section, and the display control means receives the road from the peripheral image storage device. When the required time in the section is received, the required time in the road section is displayed together with the captured image around the vehicle and the road section information.

  In such a configuration, since the required time in the road section is displayed together with the captured image around the vehicle and the road section information, the operator compares the estimated travel time of the provided road section with the actual required time, It is possible to recognize how much difference has occurred.

  A fourth feature of the present invention is a selection control that prompts an operator to select whether or not to reflect the required travel time in the road section displayed on the display unit in the database that stores the estimated travel time for each road section. And means for reflecting the required time of the section displayed on the display unit in the database when the required time in the road section displayed on the display unit by the operation of the operator is selected to be reflected in the database. It is that it was equipped with.

  In this way, the operator can instruct whether or not to reflect the required time in the road section displayed on the display unit in the database storing the estimated travel time for each road section by the selection operation.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, an estimated travel time acquisition unit that acquires an estimated travel time for each road section from the departure point to the destination from the route information providing device, and image data obtained by photographing the periphery of the vehicle are stored. Peripheral image storage device connecting means connected to the peripheral image storage device, and the required time for each road section of the traveling road is measured, and the estimated time required for the road section and the predicted road section acquired by the estimated travel time acquisition means When it is determined that the difference from the travel time is greater than a predetermined reference value, the surrounding image storage device via the peripheral image storage device connection means, the captured image and road segment information around the vehicle in the road section Transmission instruction means for instructing to transmit to the route information providing apparatus.

  In such a configuration, when it is determined that the difference between the required time of the measured road section and the estimated travel time of the road section is larger than a predetermined reference value, the road section is Instructed to transmit the captured image and road section information around the vehicle to the route information providing apparatus, so the captured image and road section information around the vehicle in the road section are transmitted from the peripheral image storage device to the route information providing apparatus. Then, it is possible to display the captured image and road section information around the vehicle on the display unit of the route information providing device. Therefore, the operator of the route information providing apparatus can grasp the cause when a difference occurs between the provided expected travel time and the actual travel time.

  FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a route information providing device, a navigation device, a drive recorder, and a communication module according to an embodiment of the present invention. The route information providing device 10 is disposed in the information center 1, and the navigation device 20, the drive recorder 30, and the communication module 40 are disposed in the vehicle (automobile) 2.

  The route information providing apparatus 10 is configured as a computer including a CPU, a memory, a hard disk drive, a keyboard, a display, and the like.

  The hard disk drive of the route information providing apparatus 10 stores a database (not shown) that stores map data such as road data and facility data for searching for a guide route. The route information providing apparatus 10 performs a process of searching for an optimum guide route from the departure place to the destination based on the map data stored in the database. A Dijkstra method or the like is known as a method for searching for an optimum guide route.

  The database of the route information providing apparatus 10 stores an estimated travel time for each link. When the route information providing device 10 receives the route search condition including the departure point and the destination from the navigation device 20, the route information providing device 10 searches the guidance route from the departure point to the destination by referring to the database, and the route of the guidance route and the guidance route. A process for specifying the estimated travel time for each section and transmitting it to the navigation device 20 is performed.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the navigation device 20. The navigation device 20 includes a position detector 21, a display device 22, an operation switch group 23, a speaker 24, a communication interface 25, a drive recorder interface 26, a map data acquisition unit 27, and a control circuit 28.

  The position detector 11 includes a well-known sensor (not shown) such as a geomagnetic sensor, a gyroscope, a vehicle speed sensor, and a GPS receiver, and the current position and direction of the vehicle based on the characteristics of each of these sensors. Is output to the control circuit 28.

  The display device 22 includes a display such as a liquid crystal, and displays a video corresponding to the video signal input from the control circuit 28 on the display.

  The operation switch group 23 includes a mechanical switch disposed around the display of the display device 22, a touch switch disposed on the front surface of the display of the display device 22, and the like, and controls signals according to the switch operation by the user. It outputs to the circuit 28.

  The speaker 24 outputs sound corresponding to the sound signal input from the control circuit 28.

  The communication interface 25 is an interface for connecting to the communication module 40 shown in FIG. The communication interface 25 and the communication module 40 are connected via a cable.

  The drive recorder interface 26 is an interface for communicating with the drive recorder 30. The drive recorder interface 26 and the drive recorder 30 are connected via a cable.

  The map data acquisition unit 27 is a device for acquiring map data for map display and route guidance. The map data acquisition unit 27 reads necessary map data from a nonvolatile storage medium such as a hard disk drive in which the map data is stored in response to a request from the control circuit 28.

  The control circuit 28 is configured as a computer including a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, an I / O, and the like, and the CPU performs various processes according to a program stored in the ROM. Note that the CPU of the control circuit 28 in this embodiment has a timer function.

  As the processing of the control circuit 28, a position specifying process for periodically specifying the current position and direction of the vehicle based on information input from the position detector 21, and a vehicle position mark is superimposed on a map around the current position. Current location display processing, specifying a destination according to the user's operation of the operation switch group 13, destination specifying processing, route search processing for searching for a guide route from the current position to the destination, traveling according to the guide route There is a travel guidance process that provides guidance.

  In addition, the control circuit 28 in the present embodiment determines whether or not the own vehicle has reached the end point of the link, and also performs a process of measuring a required time for each link of the traveling road.

  FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the drive recorder 30. The drive recorder 30 is mounted on the vehicle for vehicle accident analysis, and includes a monitoring camera 31, an acceleration sensor (referred to as G sensor in the figure) 32, a communication interface 33, a navigation interface 34, a flash memory 35, and A control circuit 36 is provided.

  The monitoring camera 31 is a camera for monitoring the situation around the vehicle. In the present embodiment, image data obtained by photographing the situation ahead of the vehicle is sent to the control circuit 36.

  The acceleration sensor 32 detects acceleration in the front-rear direction, up-down direction, and left-right direction of the host vehicle, and outputs a detection signal to the control circuit 36.

  The communication interface 33 is an interface for connecting to the communication module 40 shown in FIG. The communication interface 33 and the communication module 40 are connected via a cable.

  The navigation interface 34 is an interface for communicating with the navigation device 20. The navigation interface 34 and the navigation device 20 are connected via a cable.

  The control circuit 36 is configured as a computer including a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, an I / O, and the like, and the CPU performs various processes according to a program stored in the ROM.

  As the processing of the control circuit 36, image data sent from the monitoring camera 31 is temporarily stored in the RAM for a predetermined time, image data temporary storage processing, detection signal from the acceleration sensor 32 by collision, sudden braking, sudden handle, etc. Is input, there is an image data storage process for storing in the flash memory 35 image data for a certain period of time before and after being stored in the RAM with reference to the point in time when the detection signal is input from the acceleration sensor 32. The flash memory 35 can store, for example, several hundreds of moving image data.

  In the present embodiment, when the host vehicle 2 reaches the end point of the link, a signal indicating that the end point of the link has been reached is input from the navigation device 20 to the control circuit 36. When a signal indicating that the end point of this link has been input is input, the control circuit 36 also performs a process of temporarily storing image data for a predetermined time stored in the RAM in the flash memory 35. If the amount of data that can be stored in the flash memory 35 is exceeded before the vehicle reaches the end of the link, the data is stored in the flash memory 35 as a separate case. Then, in accordance with an instruction from the control circuit 28 of the navigation device 20, a process of adding link information and a required time to the image data stored in the RAM and sending it to the route information providing device 10 via the communication interface 33 is also performed. Do.

  The communication module 40 is for performing wireless communication with the outside via a base station of a mobile communication network. The navigation device 20 and the drive recorder 30 of the vehicle 2 are connected to the base station of the mobile communication network via the communication module 40 and can communicate with the route information providing device 10 of the information center 1.

  Next, each process of the control circuit 28 of the navigation device 20 and the route information providing device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. When the ignition switch of the vehicle 2 is turned on, the navigation device 20 is activated. When the departure point and the destination are designated by the user's operation, the control circuit 28 starts the process shown in FIG.

  First, a route search condition including a departure place and a destination is transmitted to the route information providing device 10 of the information center 1 (S100).

  When the route information providing apparatus 10 receives this route search condition, the route information providing device 10 searches for a guide route to the departure point and the destination (S200).

  Then, the provided route information including the guide route and the estimated travel time for each link of the guide route is transmitted to the navigation device 20 (S202). The provided route information includes each link ID of the link row that constitutes the guide route.

  When receiving the provided route information from the route information providing device 10 (S102), the control circuit 28 of the navigation device 20 starts the travel guidance process according to the guide route included in the provided route information (S104). By this travel guidance process, for example, when the vehicle reaches a point a predetermined distance before the right / left turn guidance intersection, right / left turn guidance is performed.

  Next, a process for measuring the required time for each link on the road (referred to as real time in the figure) is started (S106). The required time is measured using a timer function.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has reached the end point of the link (S108). Specifically, whether or not the vehicle has reached the end point of the link representing the traveling road based on the current position specified by the position specifying process and road data around the vehicle position acquired via the map data acquisition unit 27 Determine.

  If the vehicle has not reached the end point of the link representing the traveling road, the determination in S108 is NO and the process returns to S104.

  When the vehicle reaches the end point of the link representing the traveling road, the determination in S108 is YES. Next, the difference between the measured required time of the link and the estimated travel time of the link included in the provided route information is determined in advance. It is determined whether or not it is less than a predetermined reference value P (S110). The reference value P can be changed in advance by a user operation. The reference value P can be changed according to a menu screen, for example.

  Here, when the difference between the measured duration of the link and the estimated travel time of the link is less than a predetermined reference value P, the determination in S110 is YES, and the process returns to S104.

  If the difference between the measured time required for the link and the estimated travel time of the link is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value P, the determination in S110 is NO and the drive recorder 30 is photographed around the vehicle on the link. The image is instructed to be added with link information, the measured link required time, and a time stamp (S112), and the process returns to S104. Although not shown, the control circuit 28 ends this process when the host vehicle reaches a point before the destination.

  The control circuit 36 of the drive recorder 30 adds link information, the required time of the measured link and a time stamp to the image data stored in the flash memory 35 in response to an instruction from the control circuit 28 of the navigation device 20. It transmits to the route information providing apparatus 10. As a result, a photographed image around the vehicle on the link for which it is determined that the difference between the required time and the estimated travel time is greater than the reference value is transmitted to the route information providing apparatus 10.

  Further, the control circuit 36 deletes the image data not transmitted to the route information providing device 10 from the flash memory 35 and leaves the image data transmitted to the route information providing device 10 in the flash memory 35 in response to an instruction from the navigation device 20. . Therefore, the image data of the link for which the difference between the required time and the estimated travel time is determined to be equal to or less than the reference value is erased from the flash memory 35, and it is determined that the difference between the required time and the estimated travel time is larger than the reference value. The image data of the linked link remains stored in the flash memory 35.

  When receiving the image data from the drive recorder 30, the route information providing apparatus 10 performs a process of reproducing the image data and displaying it on the display.

  Next, this process will be described with reference to FIG. The route information providing apparatus 10 performs the process shown in FIG. 5 in parallel with the process shown in FIG.

  First, it is determined whether image data is received from the drive recorder 30 (S300).

  When image data is received from the drive recorder 30, the determination in S300 is YES, and the received image data is stored in the hard disk drive (S302). Note that the hard disk drive stores image data in a format in which link information, a measured link required time, and a time stamp are added.

  Next, the image data is reproduced and displayed on the display (S304). Specifically, the image data, the link information, the time required for the measured link and information with a time stamp are read from the hard disk drive, and the estimated travel time of the link is read from the database and displayed on the display. Further, an image prompting the operator to select whether or not to reflect the required time of the displayed link in the estimated travel time of the database is displayed in an overlapping manner.

  FIG. 6 shows a display example of the display. This display displays the link information (link ID), time stamp, measured link required time (indicated in the figure as real time), and estimated link travel time on the image data playback screen. ing. Furthermore, images representing “YES” and “NO” are displayed so as to be selectable together with a message “Do you want to reflect in the database?”.

  Next, it is determined whether or not to reflect the required time of the displayed link in the estimated travel time of the database according to the selection operation of the operator (S306).

  From the display image on the display, for example, the operator is traveling at a low speed depending on the driver's will, whether the vehicle is traveling at a low speed behind the preceding vehicle due to traffic jams, or is traveling smoothly according to the traffic flow. It is possible to grasp the situation around the vehicle, such as whether or not it was taking a break.

  Here, if “YES” is selected by the operator, the determination in S210 is YES, and the required time of the displayed link is reflected in the estimated travel time of the database (S308). Specifically, the required time of the displayed link and the estimated travel time of the link are averaged and stored in the database as a new estimated travel time (S308), and the process returns to S300.

  If “NO” is selected by the operator, the determination in S210 is NO, and the process returns to S300 without reflecting the required time of the displayed link in the estimated travel time of the database.

  The above-described processing is repeatedly performed, and the required time for the displayed link is reflected in the estimated travel time of the database according to the selection operation by the operator.

  According to the configuration described above, when it is determined that the difference between the required time of the road section measured by the navigation device and the estimated travel time of the road section is greater than a predetermined reference value, Since the captured images and road section information around the vehicle are transmitted and the captured images and road section information around the vehicle are displayed on the display unit, the operator has a difference between the estimated travel time provided and the actual travel time. The cause of the occurrence can be grasped.

  In addition, it is possible to take a captured image around the vehicle using a drive recorder mounted for vehicle accident analysis.

  In addition, since the required time in the road section is displayed together with the captured image around the vehicle and the road section information, the operator compares the estimated travel time of the provided road section with the actual required time, and how much difference Can be recognized.

  In addition, the operator can instruct whether or not to reflect the required time in the road section displayed on the display unit in the database in which the estimated travel time for each road section is stored.

  Further, when the navigation device determines that the difference between the measured required time of the road section and the estimated travel time of the road section is larger than a predetermined reference value, the navigation device stores the road section Instructed to transmit the captured image and road section information around the vehicle to the route information providing apparatus, so the captured image and road section information around the vehicle in the road section are transmitted from the peripheral image storage device to the route information providing apparatus. In addition, it is possible to display captured images around the vehicle and road section information on the display unit of the route information providing device. Therefore, the operator of the route information providing apparatus can grasp the cause when a difference occurs between the provided expected travel time and the actual travel time.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Based on the meaning of this invention, it can implement with a various form.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which an image around a vehicle is captured using a drive recorder is shown, but the present invention is not limited to a drive recorder, and an image around a vehicle is captured using various peripheral image capturing devices. May be.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the link as an example as a road section, it is not limited to a link, For example, you may use a segment etc.

  In the above embodiment, an example is shown in which the required time of the displayed link and the estimated required travel time of the link are averaged and reflected in the database. However, the present invention is limited to such a method. It is not a thing.

  The correspondence relationship between the configuration in the above embodiment and the configuration of the claims will be described. S304 corresponds to the display control unit, S306 corresponds to the selection control unit, S308 corresponds to the information reflection unit, and the drive The recorder interface 26 corresponds to the peripheral image storage device connection means, S102 corresponds to the expected travel time acquisition means, and S112 corresponds to the transmission instruction means.

It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the route information provision apparatus, navigation apparatus, drive recorder, and communication module which concern on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of a navigation apparatus. It is a figure which shows the structure of a drive recorder. It is a flowchart which shows each process of the control circuit of a navigation apparatus, and a route information provision apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the process of a route information provision apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of a display display of a route information provision apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information center, 2 ... Vehicle, 10 ... Route information provision apparatus, 20 ... Navigation apparatus,
21 ... Position detector, 22 ... Display device, 23 ... Operation switch group, 24 ... Speaker,
25 ... Communication interface, 26 ... Drive recorder interface,
27 ... Map data acquisition unit, 28 ... Control circuit, 30 ... Drive recorder,
31 ... Surveillance camera, 32 ... Acceleration sensor, 33 ... Communication interface,
34 ... Navigation interface, 35 ... Flash memory, 36 ... Control circuit,
40: Communication module.

Claims (5)

A route information providing device that calculates an estimated travel time for each road section from a departure place to a destination based on conditions received from a navigation device, and provides the calculated travel time to the navigation device,
The navigation device is connected to a peripheral image storage device for storing image data obtained by photographing the periphery of the vehicle,
The navigation device measures the time required for each road section of the traveling road, and determines that the difference between the measured time required for the road section and the estimated travel time of the road section is greater than a predetermined reference value. In this case, the peripheral image storage device is instructed to transmit a captured image and road segment information around the vehicle in the road segment to the route information providing device,
And display control means for displaying on the display unit the captured image around the vehicle and the road section information when the captured image and road section information around the vehicle are received from the peripheral image storage device. Route information providing device. The route information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral image storage device is configured by using a drive recorder mounted for accident analysis of the vehicle. The navigation device is adapted to cause the peripheral image storage device to transmit including the time required for the road section,
The display control means, when receiving the required time in the road section from the peripheral image storage device, displays the required time in the road section together with a photographed image around the vehicle and the road section information. The route information providing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. Selection control means for urging the operator to select whether to reflect the required time in the road section displayed on the display unit in the database storing the estimated travel time for each road section;
Information reflection that reflects the required time of the section displayed on the display unit in the database when it is selected to reflect the required time in the road section displayed on the display unit to the database by the operation of the operator The route information providing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: means. An estimated travel time acquisition means for acquiring an estimated travel time for each road section from the departure point to the destination from the route information providing device;
Peripheral image storage device connection means for connecting with a peripheral image storage device for storing image data obtained by photographing the periphery of the vehicle;
The time required for each road section of the traveling road is measured, and the difference between the measured time required for the road section and the estimated travel time of the road section acquired by the estimated travel time acquisition means is greater than a predetermined reference value. When it is determined that the size is larger, the captured image and the road section information around the vehicle in the road section are transmitted to the route information providing apparatus to the peripheral image storage apparatus via the peripheral image storage apparatus connecting means. A navigation apparatus comprising transmission instruction means for instructing.

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