JP2010230420A - Method and system of preparing parking lot entrance information, computer program for preparing the parking lot entrance information, and recording medium on which the computer program is recorded - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically and precisely specify the entrance of a parking lot of facilities in navigation information used in a navigation system. <P>SOLUTION: A travel history from a guidance end point corresponding to a destination to a parking lot position is stored. When the travel history satisfies a prescribed condition and the parking lot position is outside a link, a deviation point deviating from the final travel link is specified, a polygon on a map belonging to the parking position of a probe car is specified, and the specified polygon is compared with the destination. When the specified polygon is a site related to the destination, the deviation point is registered. The parking lot entrance of the destination is specified on the basis of the registered deviation point. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a parking lot entrance information creation method and system.

Even if the destination is set in the navigation system, in many cases, the route guidance ends on the road closest to the destination. In this case, since the guidance end point is on the road, the driver must search for the parking lot without finally receiving any guidance from the navigation system. Thus, it may be desired that the guidance end point of the navigation system be the destination parking lot entrance.
In order to use the guidance end point as the parking lot entrance of the destination, the location information of the parking lot entrance must be associated with the destination and stored in the navigation information storage unit.

There is a field survey as a method for obtaining information on the parking lot entrance, but it is preferable to automatically collect information on the parking lot entrance in view of the effort and cost.
Therefore, a method for automatically collecting the parking lot entrance position using a probe car has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).
In the method described in Patent Document 1, when the probe car is confirmed to be parked after the current position of the probe car is specified at a place other than the road from the road within a predetermined range from the destination, The departure point is registered as the entrance of the parking lot.

JP 2007-256207 A

In the above prior art, although the entrance of the parking lot is automatically identified, it is considered that all the probe cars parked at positions other than the road within a certain distance from the destination are parked in the destination parking lot. The point that deviates from the road is judged as the parking lot entrance. However, it cannot be said that all parking spaces within a certain distance from the destination are parking lots related to the destination. For example, when there is a convenience store adjacent to the destination, and the probe car is parked in the parking lot, the entrance of the convenience store parking lot is registered as the entrance of the destination parking lot.
With the prior art method that cannot eliminate the acquisition of such erroneous information, it is difficult to accurately identify the parking lot entrance.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to enable automatic and accurate identification of a parking lot entrance.
In order to achieve this object, the first aspect of the present invention is defined as follows.
Storing a travel history from a guidance end point corresponding to a guidance target destination of the navigation system to a parking position;
Identifying a departure point deviating from the last travel link when the travel history satisfies a predetermined condition and the parking position is outside the link;
Identifying a polygon to which the probe car parking position belongs;
Registering the departure point when facility information of the identified polygon is associated with the destination;
Identifying a parking entrance for the destination based on the registered departure point;
A parking lot entrance information creation method characterized by comprising:

According to the parking lot entrance information creation method of the first aspect defined in this way, it was verified whether the polygon to which the probe car parking position belongs is a site related to the destination, and the relationship between the two was confirmed. Only for the case, the deviation position from the last link is registered, and the parking lot entrance is specified based on the registered deviation position. In other words, when the polygon not related to the destination is the probe car parking position, it is not a target for the parking lot entrance information creation. Accordingly, erroneous information is surely eliminated as compared with the conventional example, so that accurate parking lot entrance information can be provided.
If the parking lot entrance information can be created accurately and automatically in this way, it can be used in the navigation system.

The second aspect of the present invention is defined as follows. That is, in the parking lot entrance information creation method according to the first aspect, the step of specifying the parking lot entrance specifies the parking lot entrance based on the distribution of the registered departure points.
According to the parking lot entrance information creation method stipulated in the second aspect prescribed in this way, the parking lot entrance is specified based on the distribution of the registered departure points, so the parking lot entrance is more accurately specified. .

The third aspect of the present invention is defined as follows. That is, in the parking lot entrance information creation method defined in the first or second aspect, the predetermined condition is that the end link to which the guidance end point belongs travels a predetermined distance or more from the guidance end point. Alternatively, the vehicle travels on a link other than the end link.
According to the parking lot entrance information creation method of the third aspect defined in this way, it is possible to create entrance information for a parking lot that is away from the guidance end point and is in a position with a poor visibility.
This is because if the entrance of the parking lot is in the vicinity of the guidance end point, there is no need to perform processing for specifying the entrance.

The fourth aspect of the present invention is defined as follows. That is,
A parking lot entrance information creation system for creating entrance information of a parking lot comprising a probe car and a server device,
The probe car is
Destination storage unit that stores destinations for guidance,
A travel history storage unit that stores a travel history from the guidance end point,
A parking position specifying unit for specifying a parking position,
A travel history processing unit that identifies a departure point that deviates from the final travel link when the travel history from the guidance end point to the parking position satisfies a predetermined condition and the parking position is outside the link;
Means for sending the destination, the parking position and the departure point to the server device;
With
The server device
A probe car information storage unit for storing the destination, the parking position and the departure point from the probe car;
A parking polygon identifying unit that identifies a polygon to which the parking position of the probe car belongs from the parking position;
When the facility information of the identified polygon is related to the destination, a departure point registration unit that registers the departure point;
Based on the registered departure point, a parking lot entrance identifying unit that identifies the parking lot entrance of the destination;
A parking lot entrance information creation system comprising:
According to the parking lot entrance information creation system defined in the fourth aspect defined in this way, the same effect as in the first aspect can be obtained.

The fifth aspect of the present invention is defined as follows. That is,
In the parking lot entrance information creation system defined in the fourth aspect, the parking lot entrance specifying unit specifies the parking lot entrance based on the distribution of the registered departure points.
According to the parking lot entrance information creation system defined in the fifth aspect defined in this manner, the same effects as those in the second aspect are achieved.

The sixth aspect of the present invention is defined as follows. That is,
In the parking lot entrance information creation system defined in the fourth or fifth aspect, the predetermined condition is that the end link to which the guidance end point belongs travels a predetermined distance or more from the guidance end point, or It is assumed that the vehicle travels on a link other than the end link.
According to the parking lot entrance information creation system defined in the fifth aspect defined in this way, the same effects as in the third aspect are achieved.

The seventh aspect of the present invention is defined as follows. That is,
A computer program for creating parking lot entrance information, comprising:
Means for storing a travel history from a guidance end point corresponding to a guidance target destination of the navigation system to a parking position;
Means for identifying a departure point deviating from the last travel link when the travel history satisfies a predetermined condition and the parking position is outside the link;
Means for identifying the polygon to which the probe car parking position belongs;
Means for registering the departure point when facility information of the identified polygon is related to the destination;
Means for identifying a parking entrance of the destination based on the registered departure point;
A computer program characterized by functioning as:
According to the computer program defined in the seventh aspect defined in this way, the same effect as in the first aspect can be obtained.

The eighth aspect of the present invention is defined as follows. That is,
In the computer program defined in the seventh aspect,
The means for specifying the parking lot entrance specifies the parking lot entrance based on the distribution of the registered departure points.
According to the computer program defined in the eighth aspect defined in this way, the same effects as in the second aspect are achieved.

The ninth aspect of the present invention is defined as follows. That is,
In the computer program defined in the seventh or eighth aspect,
The predetermined condition is that the end link to which the guidance end point belongs travels a predetermined distance or more from the guidance end point, or a link other than the end link travels.
According to the computer program defined in the ninth aspect defined in this way, the same effects as in the third aspect are achieved.

  A recording medium for recording the computer program defined in the seventh to ninth aspects is defined as the tenth aspect.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the parking lot entrance information creation system of embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which similarly shows the detail of a structure of a probe car. It is a conceptual diagram which similarly shows the hardware constitutions of a server apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the process by the side of a probe car. It is a flowchart which shows the process by the side of a server apparatus.

A parking lot entrance information creation system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In FIG. 1, the schematic structure of the parking lot entrance information creation system 1 of embodiment is shown.
This parking lot entrance information creation system 1 includes probe cars P <b> 1 to PM and a server device 60. A symbol N indicates a network connecting the probe cars P1 to PM and the server device 60.
Note that the information transmission between the probe cars P1 to PM and the server device 60 is not necessarily via the network N, and the information of the probe cars P1 to PM is temporarily written in an information recording medium such as a DVD, and the information is recorded via this information recording medium. Information on the probe cars P <b> 1 to PM may be transmitted to the server device 60.

Hereinafter, the probe car P1 will be described as a representative of the probe car.
The probe car P1 includes a destination storage unit 11, a guidance end point specifying unit 13, a parking position specifying unit 14, a travel history storing unit 15, a travel history processing unit 17, and an interface unit 18.
The destination storage unit 11 stores information on the destination specified by the navigation system. In accordance with the designated destination, the guidance end point specifying unit 13 specifies the guidance end point in the guidance route. Generally, a guidance end point is set on the nearest road of the destination.
The parking position specifying unit 14 specifies the position where the probe car is parked after the route guidance by the navigation system is completed, in other words, after passing the guidance end point. In this example, the parking position is specified by coordinates.

The travel history storage unit 15 stores a travel history from passing through the guidance end point to the parking position. This travel history is created from probe information of the probe car. This probe information includes position information, time information, direction information, and the like.
When the travel history satisfies a predetermined condition and the parking position specified by the parking position specifying unit 14 is not on the road, that is, outside the link, the travel history processing unit 17 determines a departure point deviating from the last travel link. Identify.
The interface unit 18 connects a probe car to the network N, and exchanges information with the server device 60 via the network N. In this example, the destination stored in the destination storage unit 11, the parking position specified by the parking position specifying unit 14, and the departure point specified by the travel history processing unit 17 are sent to the server device 60 as probe car information.
The interface unit 18 also has a function of writing information to a general-purpose information recording medium such as a DVD. Therefore, information can be exchanged with the server device 60 via the information recording medium.

FIG. 2 shows a detailed configuration of the probe car P1. For convenience of explanation, the same reference numerals in FIG. 2 denote the same elements as in FIG. The other probe cars P2 to PM have the same configuration.
The probe car P1 includes a navigation system, and the present invention uses the function of the navigation system. In FIG. 2, a control unit 21, a memory unit 23, an input unit 24, an output unit 26, an interface unit 18, an own vehicle position specifying unit 27, a navigation information storage unit 30, and a search unit 40 are components of a general-purpose navigation system. is there.
In the present invention, a post-processing unit 50 and a travel history processing unit 17 are added to a general-purpose navigation system. These elements are configured by directly using the hardware resources of the navigation system by adding a dedicated program to the navigation system.

  Here, the control unit 21 is a computer device including a CPU, a buffer memory, and other devices, and controls other elements constituting the probe car P1. A computer program is stored in the memory unit 23, and this computer program is read into the control unit 21, which is a computer device, and functions. This computer program can be stored in a general-purpose medium such as a DVD.

The input unit 24 is used for setting a destination and the like. A touch panel type input device that cooperates with the display content of the display can be used as the input unit 24.
The output unit 26 includes a display, and displays map information and other information necessary for navigation. The output unit 26 may include a voice guidance device.
The interface unit 18 connects the probe car P1 to a wireless network or the like.
The own vehicle position specifying unit 27 detects the current position of the user terminal using a GPS device or a gyro device.

The navigation information storage unit 30 includes a map information storage unit 31, a road information storage unit 33, a background information storage unit 34, and a facility information storage unit 36. The facility information storage unit 36 includes a parking lot information storage unit 37.
The map information storage unit 31 stores information about road elements for defining the map such as links and nodes, information drawn on the map, and the like. The road information storage unit 33 stores road information that defines the characteristics of each road element such as roads and intersections. The road information includes road width, road type, lane number, and the like. The background information storage unit 34 stores information for partitioning areas other than links and nodes on the map. Polygons indicating the site area (shape and coordinates) are stored in the background information storage unit 34. The facility information is stored in the facility information storage unit 36 in association with the site information. For example, for a polygon indicating a parking lot, the facility parking lot is stored. When a guidance end point unique to the destination is specified, the guidance end point is stored in the facility information storage unit 36. The facility information storage unit 36 includes a parking lot information storage unit 37 in which parking lot entrance information indicating the entrance coordinates of the parking lot is stored.

The search unit 40 includes a destination storage unit 11, a guidance end point specifying unit 13, and a route specifying unit 41. The destination storage unit 11 stores the destination input via the input unit 24. When the destination is designated, the guidance end point specifying unit 13 accesses the facility information storage unit 36, and when the guidance end point is specified corresponding to the destination, the guidance end point is read and specified. When the guidance end point is not specified, the nearest road to the destination is set as the guidance end point.
The route specifying unit 41 refers to the information in the navigation information storage unit 30 and searches for a route from the departure point to the guidance end point corresponding to the destination. The searched route is guided and displayed via the output unit 26.

  The post-processing unit 50 includes a parking position specifying unit 14 and a travel history storage unit 15. The parking position specifying unit 14 specifies the parking position of the own vehicle. Therefore, the position of the own vehicle specified by the own vehicle position specifying unit 27 is compared with the map information and the background information to confirm that the position of the own vehicle is off the link and is within the polygon. Furthermore, it recognizes that the own vehicle is in a parking state based on information such as the probe car shift range and ignition ON / OFF, and stores the position information at that time as a parking position.

  The travel history storage unit 15 stores the travel history from the guidance end point to the parking position. Specifically, the position information of the probe car from passing through the guidance end point until parking is stored in time series. The probe position information is preferably associated with the link by a general-purpose map matching technique.

  The travel history processing unit 17 reads the travel history stored in the travel history storage unit 15 and compares the travel history with a predetermined condition. When the travel history satisfies a predetermined condition and the parking position is outside the link (that is, inside the polygon), a point deviating from the last travel link is specified.

Returning to FIG. 1, information indicating the destination, parking position, and departure point sent from the probe car P <b> 1 is temporarily stored in the probe car information storage unit 61 in the server device 60.
The parking polygon specifying unit 63 compares the parking position with the polygon information of the background information storage unit 134 and specifies the polygon to which the parking position belongs.
The departure point registration unit 64 reads the facility information related to the polygon specified by the parking polygon specifying unit 63, and when the facility information is related to the destination, the specified polygon is the genuine parking of the destination. It is determined that it is a parking lot. Then, the deviation position stored in the probe car information storage unit 61 is registered in association with the specified polygon or destination and stored in the storage unit 65.

When the number of deviation position information accumulated in the accumulation unit 65 becomes a sufficient amount (for example, 5 or more), the parking lot entrance identification unit 67 identifies the coordinates of the deviation position on the final travel link, for example. And this coordinate is registered as a parking lot entrance.
When the registered deviation positions are dispersed along the final travel link, an area of a predetermined width is set along the travel link, and the area where the registered deviation positions exist most closely is extracted. The central point of the area can be the parking lot entrance.

Upon receiving a signal that the parking lot entrance has been specified by the parking lot entrance specifying unit 67, the parking lot entrance information creating unit 69 creates parking lot entrance information and stores the information in the parking lot information storage unit 137.
The parking lot entrance information stored in the parking information storage unit 137 is used in the navigation system as information stored in the navigation information storage unit 130. For example, the guidance end point specifying unit adopts this parking lot entrance as the guidance end point of the designated destination.

The navigation information storage unit 130 provided in the server device 60 preferably has the same data storage structure as the navigation information storage unit 30 of the probe car P1. Thereby, the latest navigation information which the server apparatus 60 has can be ported to a probe car easily.
The functions of the navigation information storage unit 30, the search unit 40, the post-processing unit 50, and the travel history processing unit 17 in the probe car can be transferred to the server device 60. Necessary information is input and output via the network N.

  The functions of the parking polygon specifying unit 63 and the departure point registration unit 64 in the server device 60 may be assigned to the probe car side. In this case, the deviation position may be transmitted to the server device 60 only when it is determined that the vehicle is parked at the destination parking lot. Thereby, the load of the server apparatus 60 decreases.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the server device 60 of the parking lot entrance information creation system.
The server device 60 of this system is obtained by connecting various elements to the central control device 121 via the system bus 122 in the same manner as a general computer system.
The central controller 121 includes a general-purpose CPU, a memory controller, a bus controller, an interrupt controller, and a DMA (direct memory access) device. The system bus 122 also includes a data line, an address line, and a control line. A memory circuit including a RAM (Random Access Memory) 123 and a nonvolatile memory (ROM 124, CMOS-RAM 125, etc.) is connected to the system bus 122. Data stored in the RAM 123 is read or rewritten by the central controller 121 or other hardware elements. The data in the non-volatile memory is read-only, and the data is not lost when the device is turned off. The system program for controlling the hardware is stored in the hard disk device 127 and is also stored in the RAM 123, and is appropriately read into the central control device 121 via the disk drive control device 126 for use. The hard disk device 127 has an area for storing a computer program for operating a general-purpose computer system as the server device 60.
A predetermined area of the hard disk device 127 is allocated for the navigation information storage unit 130.
Another area of the hard disk device 127 is allocated for the storage unit 65.

  The system bus 122 is connected to a flexible drive control device 131 that reads and writes data from and to the flexible disk 132 and a CD / DVD control device 133 that reads data from the compact disk 134. In this embodiment, a printer 138 is connected to the printer interface 137.

A keyboard / mouse control device 141 is connected to the system bus 122 to enable data input from the keyboard 142 and the mouse 143. A monitor 145 is connected to the system bus 122 via a monitor control device 144. The monitor 145 can be a CRT type, a liquid crystal type, a plasma display type, or the like.
An empty slot 151 is prepared in order to allow the addition of various elements (such as a modem).

  The system of the embodiment is connected to the network N through the network adapter 161. A probe car is connected to the network (Internet) N.

  Programs (OS program, application program (including those of the present invention)) necessary for operating the server apparatus 130 comprising this computer system are installed in the system via various recording media. For example, it is possible to install in the form of a non-write recording medium (CD-ROM, ROM card, etc.), a writable recording medium (FD, DVD, etc.), or a communication medium using the network N. Of course, these programs can be written in the nonvolatile memories 124 and 125 and the hard disk device 127 in advance.

Hereinafter, the operation of the parking lot entrance information creation system will be described (see the flowchart in FIG. 4).
The probe car P1 operates the navigation system to set the destination, and as a result, a point on the road such as the nearest road of the destination is specified as the guidance end point, and the route is guided toward here. To do.
In Step 1 and Step 3, it is determined whether the route guidance is finished and the probe car P1 is in a parking state. Specifically, the end of the route guidance is determined based on whether or not the guidance end point has been passed, and whether or not the vehicle is in the parking state is determined by whether the gear shift is parked and the ignition key is turned off or the parking state is When it continues for a predetermined time, it determines with a parking state.

When the route guidance is completed and the vehicle is in the parking state, the travel history from the guidance end point to the parking position is saved (step 5). Specifically, probe information representing the position is arranged in time series. At this time, it is preferable to associate the probe information with the link by map matching.
In step 7, it is determined whether the parking position is off the link. When the parking position is on the link (step 7: N), since the parking is on the road, the processing is stopped. If the parking position deviates from the link, any parking space is parked outside the road.

In step 9, when the travel history specified in step 5 travels over a certain distance (50 m in this embodiment) on the link (end link) to which the guidance end point belongs, or travels on a link different from the end link. If yes, go to Step 11.
Note that if the travel distance is less than the predetermined distance, the driver who arrives at the guidance end point easily notices the existence of the parking lot, so further guidance for the parking lot entrance is omitted. This is because excessive information is a burden on the apparatus and is not preferable for the driver.

In step 11, a point (deviation point) on the final travel link deviated from the final travel link in the travel history is specified. Since probe information is acquired at predetermined intervals, it is represented as point information on the map. In this example, each point is connected by a straight line, and a point where the straight line deviates from the final travel link is defined as a departure point.
The departure point, the destination, and the parking position are sent to the server device 60 (step 13).

FIG. 5 shows the operation of the server device 60.
In step 21, the departure point, the destination, and the parking position sent from the probe car P1 are stored in the probe car information storage unit 61.
In step 23, the parking polygon identification unit 63 reads the parking position from the probe car information storage unit 61, and further identifies the polygon to which the parking position belongs in light of the information in the background information storage unit 134 of the navigation information storage unit.
In step 24, the departure point registration unit 64 reads the destination from the probe car information storage unit 61, and the polygon specified by referring to the information of the facility information storage unit 136 relates to the read destination. Determine whether.

When the identified polygon is related to the destination (step 24: Y), the departure point registration unit 64 reads and registers the departure point from the probe car information storage unit 61 and stores it in the storage unit 65. To do.
In step 26, when the information amount n of the departure point stored in the storage unit 65 becomes a sufficient amount (5 or more in this example), the parking lot entrance specifying unit 67 stores all the registered departures stored in the storage unit 65. Read the points and specify their center coordinates. The center coordinates specified in this way are set as the center position of the parking lot entrance, and the coordinates are sent to the parking lot entrance information creation unit 69.

Upon receipt of these coordinates, the parking lot entrance information creation unit 69 converts the data into data suitable for storage in the navigation information storage unit 130, and writes and stores it in the parking lot information storage unit 137 (step 29).
In the above, step 23 to step 27 may be executed on the probe car side.

  The present invention is not limited to the description of the embodiments and examples of the invention described above. Various modifications may be included in the present invention as long as those skilled in the art can easily conceive without departing from the description of the scope of claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Parking lot entrance information creation system 11 Destination preservation | save part 13 Guidance end point specific | specification part 14 Parking position specific | specification part 15 Travel history preservation | save part 17 Travel history process part 30,130 Navigation information preservation | save part 60 Server apparatus 63 Parking polygon specific | specification part 64 Deviation Point registration section 67 Parking lot entrance identification section 69 Parking lot entrance information creation section

Claims (10)

Storing a travel history from a guidance end point corresponding to a guidance target destination of the navigation system to a parking position;
Identifying a departure point deviating from the last travel link when the travel history satisfies a predetermined condition and the parking position is outside the link;
Identifying a polygon to which the probe car parking position belongs;
Registering the departure point when facility information of the identified polygon is associated with the destination;
Identifying a parking entrance for the destination based on the registered departure point;
A parking lot entrance information creation method characterized by comprising:   2. The parking lot entrance information creation method according to claim 1, wherein the step of specifying the parking lot entrance specifies the parking lot entrance based on the distribution of the registered departure points.   The predetermined condition is that the end link to which the guide end point belongs travels a predetermined distance or more from the guide end point, or a link other than the end link travels. The parking lot entrance information creation method according to claim 1 or claim 2. A parking entrance information creation system for creating entrance information of a parking lot comprising a probe car and a server device,
The probe car is
Destination storage unit that stores destinations for guidance,
A travel history storage unit that stores a travel history from the guidance end point,
A parking position specifying unit for specifying a parking position,
A travel history processing unit that identifies a departure point that deviates from the final travel link when the travel history from the guidance end point to the parking position satisfies a predetermined condition and the parking position is outside the link;
Means for sending the destination, the parking position and the departure point to the server device;
With
The server device
A probe car information storage unit for storing the destination, the parking position and the departure point from the probe car;
A parking polygon identifying unit that identifies a polygon to which the parking position of the probe car belongs from the parking position;
When the facility information of the identified polygon is related to the destination, a departure point registration unit that registers the departure point;
Based on the registered departure point, a parking lot entrance identifying unit that identifies the parking lot entrance of the destination;
A parking lot entrance information creation system comprising:   The parking lot entrance information creation system according to claim 4, wherein the parking lot entrance specifying unit specifies the parking lot entrance based on the distribution of the registered departure points.   The predetermined condition is that the end link to which the guide end point belongs travels a predetermined distance or more from the guide end point, or a link other than the end link travels. The parking lot entrance information creation system according to claim 4 or claim 5. A computer program for creating parking lot entrance information, comprising:
Means for storing a travel history from a guidance end point corresponding to a guidance target destination of the navigation system to a parking position;
Means for identifying a departure point deviating from the last travel link when the travel history satisfies a predetermined condition and the parking position is outside the link;
Means for identifying the polygon to which the probe car parking position belongs;
Means for registering the departure point when facility information of the identified polygon is related to the destination;
Means for identifying a parking entrance of the destination based on the registered departure point;
A computer program characterized by functioning as:   8. The computer program according to claim 7, wherein the means for specifying the parking lot entrance specifies the parking lot entrance based on the distribution of the registered departure points.   The predetermined condition is that the end link to which the guide end point belongs travels a predetermined distance or more from the guide end point, or the link other than the end link travels. The computer program according to claim 7 or 8.   The recording medium which records the computer program as described in any one of Claims 7-9.

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