JP2009168506A - Car navigation system and onboard device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To detect an accident occurrence point in real time when an accident or the like has occurred and moreover to present a detour for avoiding an accident occurrence point when the occurrence point exists on a guidance route. <P>SOLUTION: If an accident occurs, the occurrence of the accident and its position are reported to an information center according to a report, etc. from eyewitnesses. When the report on the occurrence of the accident is received at the information center, the occurrence of the accident and location information thereon are delivered to members thereof. When an accident occurrence position exists on a guidance route according to accident occurrence information from the information center, a detour is searched for and displayed, together with a route under guidance, on a screen of a display unit in a member's vehicle. When an accident vehicle is incapable of moving, the onboard device is used to fix the detour as a new guidance route and to display it on the display unit. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a car navigation system and an in-vehicle device that can predict occurrence of a traffic jam at an early stage, search for a detour, and display on a display unit.

Some traffic information distribution systems are disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3. The thing of patent document 1 is a system which transmits the road condition ahead of the advancing direction of a vehicle from an information distribution center to an in-vehicle terminal, if present position information is transmitted to an information distribution center from an in-vehicle terminal.
The system of Patent Document 2 divides an in-vehicle device into a general in-vehicle device for general members and a specific in-vehicle device for specific members. When a traffic jam occurs, the specific vehicle first receives link cost information from the road traffic information center. Search for a route that avoids a traffic jam location, and after a vehicle equipped with a specific on-vehicle device avoids a traffic jam location, the vehicle on-board device receives link cost information from the road traffic information center and searches for a route that avoids the traffic jam location It is what I did.

In the system of Patent Document 3, when the driver reports from the in-vehicle device to the reporting center as the sighting information of the accident when passing through the accident site, the reporting center registers the received sighting information, and the vehicle of the member vehicle is mounted. When there is a transmission request from the aircraft, the registered data is transmitted to the vehicle-mounted device of the member vehicle, and the member vehicle displays a mark corresponding to the number of reports at the sighting position on the navigation screen.
JP 2003-399500 A JP 2005-339521 A JP 2003-288680 A

  In the systems of Patent Documents 1 and 2, after a traffic jam occurs, the location of the traffic jam location is notified, or a detour that avoids the traffic jam location is searched. However, since this is after the occurrence of traffic congestion, it is expected that the detour will also be crowded with vehicles that avoid traffic congestion locations. Also, when traveling along a guide route, even if you want to travel along that guide route as much as possible, it is after the occurrence of traffic jams, so you will not be able to travel away from the currently traveling guide route. No longer get. In order to avoid this, if an accident or the like causing traffic congestion occurs, a system that immediately notifies the vehicle-mounted device is required. In the case of an accident, the system described in Patent Document 3 can notify the in-vehicle device of the accident occurrence position from the notification center based on the notification from the witness, but the accident occurrence position is running. It is not possible to know whether or not it exists on the guide route, so there remains a complaint that it is not known whether it is necessary to search for a detour.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances. The purpose of the present invention is to promptly know the position where the accident has occurred when an accident or the like occurs, and the position where the accident has occurred is a traveling route on the road. In the case where it exists above, an object is to provide a car navigation system and an in-vehicle device capable of presenting a detour that avoids an accident occurrence position.

  In claim 1, only member vehicles equipped with communication means that can receive information from the information center know at an early stage the occurrence of a traffic fault (for example, traffic jam) (hereinafter referred to as an accident) and travel on the guide route. If it is, the detour that detours the accident occurrence position is searched and displayed on the display means. According to this configuration, when the driver knows that an accident has occurred, traffic congestion has not yet begun, so it may be allowed to travel on the guide route for a while, and it will eventually occur near the accident location. It will also be possible to avoid traffic jams at an early stage.

In claim 2, since the communication means mounted on the member vehicle transmits the accident to the information center together with the position where the accident occurred, when the member vehicle causes an accident, the other member vehicle generates an accident by distributing information from the information center. Can be known even faster.
In claim 3, the occurrence of an accident can be reported directly from another member vehicle to another member vehicle without going through the information center.

According to claim 4, it is possible to predict the occurrence of traffic jams based on the current position information of other member vehicles distributed from the information center, to determine that the traffic jams have occurred, When it is determined that a traffic jam has occurred, a search is made for a traffic jam predicted position or a detour that bypasses the traffic jam position, so that it is possible to travel while avoiding the traffic jam.
According to the fifth aspect, since a detour that avoids the travel route of the emergency vehicle is searched, it is possible to display a detour that avoids a road in which congestion is predicted when the emergency vehicle travels.
According to the sixth aspect, when there is one detour that can be detoured without making a U-turn from the current position, the detour is displayed as a new guide route on the display means, so the time for entering the detour is not lost.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, a communication means for receiving emergency information including the occurrence of an accident and its occurrence position from an information center or another vehicle is provided, and when the emergency information is received, a bypass is searched for and displayed. The same effect as item 1 can be obtained.
In claim 8, since the communication means can communicate with the communication means of other member vehicles outside the information center, it is possible to obtain the same effect as the above-described claims 2 and 3.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a car navigation system. An information center 1 is provided with an information processing device 2 comprising a computer as information processing means and a database 3 as data storage means for storing various data. Yes. The information center 1 is an emergency vehicle dispatched in response to a request from the in-vehicle device 6 of the service member vehicle 5 or the emergency information processing device 7 of the emergency notification system of the fire department or police station, the fire department or police station, etc. via the communication network 4. 8 is configured to be communicable with an in-vehicle device (not shown), for example, various information such as the in-vehicle device 6 of the member vehicle, the in-vehicle device of the emergency vehicle 8 and the emergency information processing device 7 by the WWW or e-mail over the Internet. Can be replaced. The service member vehicle is a member's vehicle that has a contract for receiving a distribution service from the information center 1.

  The traffic information collected by the information center 1 includes traffic congestion information indicating the traffic congestion position and traffic congestion section, emergency information indicating the occurrence of an accident / failed vehicle and the location of the accident, temporary regulations such as traffic closure / speed regulation / lane regulation, etc. Traffic regulation information including the cause, and parking lot information that informs the parking lot / service area / parking area full availability are included. The information center 1 distributes such information only to the in-vehicle device 6 of the service member vehicle 5 registered in the database 3.

  The in-vehicle device 6 mounted on the service member vehicle 5 of the information center 1 includes a navigation device 9 as navigation means and a communication device 10 as communication means for exchanging information with the information center 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the navigation device 9 is mainly composed of a control circuit 11 as control means, a position detector 12 as position detection means, a map data storage device 13 as map data acquisition means, and a group of operation switches. 14, a touch panel 15, a display 16 as a display means, a sound generator 17, a remote control sensor 18, a remote control 19 that is paired with the remote control sensor 18, and the like.

  The control circuit 11 has a function of controlling the overall operation of the in-vehicle device 6 and is mainly composed of a microcomputer. That is, the control circuit 11 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O, a bus that connects these, and the like (all not shown). Among them, the ROM stores an execution program for operating the navigation device 9 and the communication device 10, and the RAM temporarily stores temporary data at the time of program execution, map data acquired from the map data storage device 13, and the like. It has come to be.

  The position detector 12 includes a gyroscope 20 for detecting the traveling direction of the vehicle 5, a vehicle speed sensor 21, a GPS receiver 22, and the like. In order to detect the position, it is necessary to detect the travel distance of the member vehicle 5, which is obtained by integrating the speed of the vehicle 5 detected by the vehicle speed sensor 21. Since these sensors 20 to 22 have different detection errors, the sensors 20 to 22 are combined so that highly accurate position detection can be performed while correcting the detection errors. Note that, depending on the required detection accuracy level, it is not necessary to provide all the sensors 20 to 22, and a configuration can be provided by appropriately selecting. Furthermore, the position detector 12 may be configured by combining a steering rotation sensor, a wheel sensor for detecting rotation of each tire, and the like.

  The map data storage device 13 includes an information recording medium such as a DVD-ROM and a reading device that reads data from the information recording medium. The map data storage device 13 reads data from the information recording medium by the reading device and sends it to the control circuit 11. input. Here, the data included in the map data storage device 13 includes map data, map matching data, data for guiding a route by voice, and a position for searching a location on a map from an address or the like. Data, and genre-specific data for making it possible to search destinations by genre.

  The display 16 includes a liquid crystal display as a display screen for displaying map data, characters or symbols, and the transparent touch panel 15 is pasted on the surface of the liquid crystal display. The operation switch group 14, the touch panel 15, and the remote controller 19 are used as input means for inputting data, inputting setting items, and performing various inputs for destination setting. Is composed of, for example, a push button switch provided around the liquid crystal display.

  The control circuit 11 has a function as display control means, calculates the current position of the vehicle based on information input from the position detector 12, and displays a road map around the current position based on the map data. 16 is displayed on the liquid crystal display, and a pointer indicating the current position and traveling direction of the vehicle is displayed on the displayed road map. The scale of the road map displayed on this display screen can be changed by operating the operation switch group 14.

  The control circuit 11 has a function for setting a guide route to the destination (guide route setting means), and a travel guide function for instructing the direction in which the vehicle should travel in accordance with the route with the sound output from the sound generator 17 ( Travel guide means). That is, when a destination or waypoint is set by operating the operation switch group 14, the touch panel 15 or the remote controller 19, the optimum route from the current position to the destination is automatically searched as a guidance route, and the guidance route is displayed on the display. It is displayed in a color different from the normal road color on the road map displayed on the 16 liquid crystal displays. And the control circuit 11 guides the advancing direction of a vehicle with an audio | voice etc. according to a guidance route. The Dijkstra method or the like is used as a method for setting the optimum route.

  The map data stored in the map data storage device 13 is data for displaying a map on the liquid crystal display of the display 16 and includes link information, node information, and the like. This is to divide the road on the map into multiple parts by nodes that show inflection points such as intersections, branch points, merge points, curves over a predetermined angle, etc., define each link as a link, and connect these links Based on the idea of constructing a map.

For each link, the link information includes the link unique ID, the link length indicating the link length, the coordinates of the start and end of the link, the road width of the link, the road type (national road, city road, highway, etc.), etc. Consists of attribute information. The node information includes, for each node, node unique ID, coordinates, node attributes such as data indicating a three-dimensional intersection or a multi-lane intersection.
Further, the position data of the map data storage device 13 searches for the position when a departure point, a waypoint, or a destination is input by an address, a building name, a facility name, an intersection name, a telephone number, or the like. This is configured as map index data in which addresses, building names, facility names, intersection names, telephone numbers, and the like are associated with the corresponding coordinates on the map.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the control circuit 11 of such a navigation device 9 includes an airbag ECU 23 as an accident occurrence detection means, a vehicle situation detection means for detecting a vehicle situation, in addition to the communication device 10 described above. The various ECUs 24 are connected. The airbag ECU 23 is for opening an airbag (not shown) when an impact is applied to the member vehicle 5 due to a collision accident or the like. In addition, the ECU 24 for detecting the vehicle condition detects the depression of the brake pedal, detects the steering angle of the steering wheel, detects the operation of the side brake, detects the opening of the door, bonnet, and trunk. And various ECUs for detecting tire air pressure.

  The control circuit 11 then measures the current time measured by the time measuring means included in the control circuit 11 itself, the current position obtained from the position detector 12, the speed obtained from the speed sensor 21 (hereinafter simply referred to as the vehicle speed), and the airbag ECU 23. The air bag opening / closing status obtained from the vehicle, the amount of depression of the brake pedal obtained from the vehicle status ECU 24, various vehicle statuses such as side brake operation, etc. are probed from the communication device 10 to the information center 1 at regular time intervals. It is configured to transmit as A. In particular, when the airbag is opened, the control circuit 11 transmits the opening of the airbag and the current position as emergency information E from the communication device 10 to the information center 1 (see FIG. 5).

  Further, sighting information is also transmitted as emergency information from the communication device 10 to the information center 1. When the person on board the member vehicle 5 witnesses an accident, the sighting information is notified by performing a predetermined operation using the operation switch group 14, the touch panel 15 or the remote controller 19 (operation means). That is, when the predetermined operation is performed, the control circuit 11 creates emergency information including the fact that an accident has been witnessed and the current position of the reporting vehicle 5, and transmits the emergency information from the communication device 10 to the information center 1. . The transmission of sighting information from the member vehicle 5 to the information center 1 is not shown in FIG. And the information center 1 which received the emergency information E transmits the emergency information E to the information processing apparatus 7 of a fire department or a police station as the emergency call F.

  In addition, when the witness information is transmitted from the person who witnessed the accident to the fire department or police station, the emergency information processing device 7 of the fire department or police station transmits the accident occurrence position, time, etc. as an emergency report F. It is like that. Further, when the emergency vehicle 8 is dispatched from the fire department or police station, or in response to a request from the fire department or police station, the route information of the emergency vehicle 8 is transmitted from the emergency information processing device 7 of the fire department or police station to the information center 1. Is done. From the in-vehicle device of the emergency vehicle 8 that has been dispatched, the current position, the current time, and the destination hospital when an injured person is present are transmitted to the information center 1 as probe information B.

  Then, the information processing device 2 of the information center 1 periodically sends the probe information A, emergency information E, and probe information B transmitted from each member vehicle 5 to each member vehicle 5. To be delivered. The control circuit 11 of the in-vehicle device 6 of the member vehicle 5 detects the occurrence of an accident that is the cause of a traffic fault, or predicts the occurrence of a traffic jam or determines the traffic jam based on various information distributed from the information center 1.

  Here, the control circuit 11 of the navigation device 9 can detect the occurrence of an accident that is a cause of a traffic failure based on emergency information (distribution information) distributed from the information center 1. And when the vehicle which caused the accident is the member vehicle 5, depending on the probe information P from the accident vehicle 5 periodically delivered from the information center 1, the traffic jam occurs or the extent of the traffic jam Predict how much. For example, if the vehicle speed of the accident vehicle 5 is zero, the side brake is applied, the brake pedal is depressed, the door / bonnet / trunk is open, the tire pressure is abnormal, etc. Since it is assumed that No. 5 is stopped (impossible to travel), it is predicted that a traffic jam will eventually begin and that it will take a considerable amount of time before the traffic jam is resolved. Conversely, if the accident vehicle 5 is moving (the vehicle speed is not zero), the position is changing (it is pulled by a tow truck), the degree of traffic jam is low even if a traffic jam occurs. Or, predict that traffic congestion will be alleviated. This prediction result may be displayed together with the position on the display 16. In addition, when the accident vehicle is not a member vehicle, such a prediction cannot be made.

  Further, when it is detected from the probe information A of each member vehicle 5 distributed from the information center 1 that the vehicle speed is low and the vehicle speed becomes zero or the number of times the brake is stepped on, it is congested. It is determined that However, when the vehicle is traveling at a low speed (the vehicle speed is not zero) and the vehicle is rarely stopped (for example, one stop within a predetermined time), the vehicle is flowing, but there is a traffic flow. It is determined that there is a (slight traffic jam). This determination result may be displayed together with the place on the display 16.

When the route to the destination is set and the travel guidance is executed along the route, the control circuit 11 performs the processing shown in FIG. 3 for a certain period of time based on various information distributed from the information center 1. It is executed every time, and when an accident occurrence location or a traffic jam location is on the guidance route, a detour is searched and displayed on a map on the display screen of the display 16.
That is, when the routine shown in FIG. 3 is entered, the control circuit 11 of the in-vehicle device 6 first acquires information distributed from the information center 1 by the communication device 10 (“YES” in step S1). Then, this distribution information is analyzed (step S2), and it is determined whether there is an accident (emergency information) (step S3). If no accident occurs (“NO” in step S3), or if an accident occurs but the accident occurrence position is not on the guide route (“YES” in step S3, “NO” in step S4), control The circuit 11 determines whether there is travel route information of the emergency vehicle 8 (step S5).

  If there is no travel route information of the emergency vehicle 8 (“NO” in step S5), the control circuit 11 determines whether other member vehicles 5 are stopped within a predetermined long distance (extended distance of the road) from the current position. If there is no stopped vehicle ("NO" in step S6), it is determined that there is no traffic and the process returns. When there is a member vehicle 5 that is stopped, the control circuit 11 determines that there is a traffic jam ("YES" in step S6). At this time, the member vehicle 5 may be stopped waiting for a signal, or may be a temporary stop for use, so the stop position may be an intersection with a signal, or the stop time may be a predetermined time or less. If it is, it is determined that there is no traffic jam ("NO" in step S6).

On the other hand, when there is travel route information of the emergency vehicle 8 (“YES” in step S5), the control circuit 11 determines whether or not the travel route of the emergency vehicle 8 is on the guide route (step S7). Return ("NO" in step S7).
Then, the accident occurrence position is on the guidance route (“YES” in step S4), traffic congestion has occurred on the guidance route (“YES” in step S6), or the travel route of the emergency vehicle is on the guidance route. If there is ("YES" in step S7), the control circuit 11 searches for a detour (a detour candidate) that avoids an accident occurrence position, a traffic jam position, or an emergency vehicle travel route (step S8). In this case, it is assumed that the detour that avoids the travel route of the emergency vehicle 8 does not overlap the travel route of the emergency vehicle 8 (a position that intersects is not avoided). Also, detours that make a U-turn are excluded.

  Next, the control circuit 11 determines whether or not a plurality of detours have been searched (step S9). If a plurality of detours have been searched (“YES” in step S9), then an accident occurrence position, a traffic jam position, or an emergency It is determined whether or not other member vehicles are stopped on the guide route to the intersection with the vehicle travel route (hereinafter collectively referred to as the accident point) (step S10: traffic congestion determination means). When the other member vehicle 5 is not stopped on the guide route up to the accident point (“NO” in step S10), it can be determined that the traffic has not been jammed yet, so that the control circuit 11 does not have the control circuit 11 shown in FIG. ), The detours R1 and R2 searched for are displayed in a display color different from the guide route G (step S12), and the process returns. In FIG. 4A, the detour is shown as having been searched for two routes.

  If the accident vehicle is assumed to be unable to travel ("YES" in step S11: traffic jam prediction means), the traffic jam will soon start near the accident position, and the degree will be severe. One of the searched detours R1, R2, for example, detour R1 closest to the current position is set as the guide route Gm (step S13; see FIG. 4B: new guide route setting means), and return It becomes. Thereafter, the control circuit 11 performs traveling guidance along the new guidance route Gm.

  In the state of FIG. 4A in which a plurality of detours R1 and R2 are displayed, the detour that avoids the accident position after passing the intersection entering the detour R1 by proceeding as it is on the guide route G is Become one. Then, the control circuit 11 determines “NO” in step S9 for determining whether or not there are a plurality of detours, and as shown in FIG. 4C, the remaining one detour R2 is newly guided. The route G is displayed (step S13).

FIG. 6 illustrates the control by the control circuit 11 described above. However, a road map different from the road map of FIG. 4 is shown.
When the vehicle that caused the accident is not the member vehicle 5, the control circuit 11 is configured to perform the determinations in step S10 and step S11 based on the probe information of the member vehicle closest to the accident position. Yes. In addition, when there is a traffic jam that occurs outside the position designated as the accident location in the emergency information on the guide route G, or when the travel route of the emergency vehicle is on the guide route G, the traffic jam location or the emergency vehicle travel route It is also configured to perform the determination in step S10 and step S11 based on the movement of the member vehicle that is closest to the overlapping position.

  Thus, in this embodiment, when an accident occurs, this is immediately delivered to the member vehicle 5, and the in-vehicle device 6 of the member vehicle 5 searches for a detour that bypasses the accident occurrence position. At this time, if there are multiple detours, the detour is displayed together with the already set guidance route, and if the accident vehicle is unable to travel, it is expected that traffic jams will start soon. Immediately set the detour as a new guide route. For this reason, the member vehicle 5 can quickly know an accident that may cause a traffic jam and can travel on the detour. At this time, since only the member can know the accident, there is no fear that the detour will be congested. Eventually, other vehicles that knew about the occurrence of an accident with a general road information reporting system, such as VICS (registered trademark), searched for a detour to avoid the location of the accident for the first time, and the detour However, since the member vehicle 5 passes through the detour at that time, there is no fear of being involved in the traffic jam.

In addition, in the case of an accident that does not cause a traffic jam, the existing guide route is not deleted and a detour is displayed together with the preset guide route. The driver can enter the detour at any time.
Moreover, in the present embodiment, since the detour is set by removing the travel route of the emergency vehicle 8, even if the accident location can be avoided by passing the detour, the emergency vehicle 8 can travel smoothly. There is no longer a problem such as obstruction.
In addition, when there is only one detour, the detour is used as a new guide route, so it cannot enter the detour other than making a U-turn, and eventually loses the time to enter the searched detour. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of problems such as

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings, and can be expanded or changed as follows.
The member vehicle 5 may be divided into a general member vehicle and a specific member vehicle, and the emergency information E from the information center 1 may be distributed only to the specific member vehicle.
The probe information transmitted by the member vehicle 5 may be transmitted in a shorter cycle than usual in order to improve real-time performance after an accident has occurred.
When the member vehicle 5 causes an accident, the other member vehicle 5 acquires the probe information directly from the member vehicle 5 that caused the accident when the member vehicle 5 that caused the accident is in the directly communicable area. May be.
When searching for a detour, even if the travel route of the emergency vehicle and the search route overlap, if the distance from the current position of the emergency vehicle 8 is more than a predetermined distance, the search route is displayed on the display 16 as a detour. You may do it.

1 is a block diagram of an entire system showing an embodiment of the present invention. Navigation device block diagram Flowchart for bypass search during in-vehicle device route guidance The figure which shows an example of the display of a detour Accident occurrence information distribution sequence Illustration for explaining a search example of a detour after an accident

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 1 is an information center, 6 is an in-vehicle device, 9 is a navigation device (navigation means), 10 is a communication device (communication means), 11 is a control circuit, 12 is a position detector, 13 is a map data storage device, 16 Indicates a display (display means).

Claims (8)

An information center that distributes the occurrence of a situation that causes a traffic obstacle as emergency information together with the location of the occurrence,
A communication unit that is mounted on a member vehicle of the information center and receives the emergency information distributed from the information center, and a position where an occurrence of the traffic fault is caused by the emergency information received by the communication unit is a guide route A car navigation system comprising: an in-vehicle device provided with navigation means for searching for a detour and displaying on a display means when present.   The communication means can transmit the occurrence of a situation that causes a traffic fault to the information center together with the location when the situation occurs that the vehicle causes a traffic fault. The described car navigation system.   The communication means is communicable with communication means of another member vehicle, and is capable of transmitting the occurrence of a situation causing a traffic fault as emergency information together with its occurrence position to the communication means of another member vehicle. The car navigation system according to claim 1 or 2. The communication means intermittently transmits the current position of the host vehicle to the information center,
The information center distributes the current position information transmitted from each member vehicle toward the member vehicle,
The navigation means predicts or determines a traffic jam occurrence position based on the current position information of each vehicle distributed from the information center, and searches for a detour when the traffic jam occurrence position exists on a guidance route. 4. The car navigation system according to claim 1, wherein the car navigation system displays the information on a display means. The information center obtains emergency vehicle travel route information and distributes it to the member vehicle as emergency vehicle travel route information.
5. The navigation unit of the in-vehicle device, when the communication unit receives the emergency vehicle travel route information, searches the bypass route while avoiding the travel route of the emergency vehicle. The car navigation system according to any one of the above.   The navigation means of the in-vehicle device determines whether it is possible to search a plurality of detours that can proceed without making a U-turn from the current position of the host vehicle, and when there is one detour that can proceed without making a U-turn, 6. The car navigation system according to claim 1, wherein one detour is displayed on the display means as a new guide route replacing the current guide route. The communication means mounted on the member vehicle of the information center and receiving emergency information including the occurrence of the situation causing the traffic obstacle and the location of the occurrence from the information center, and the emergency information received by the communication means An in-vehicle device comprising navigation means for searching for a detour and displaying on a display means when the occurrence position is on a guidance route.   The communication means is capable of communicating with other member vehicle communication means outside the information center, and the occurrence of a situation causing a traffic fault as emergency information together with the location of the occurrence as an emergency information or the information The in-vehicle device according to claim 7, wherein transmission is possible to the center.

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