JP2010249642A - Navigation device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide appropriate traffic information, etc. when traveling without setting destinations. <P>SOLUTION: In traveling without setting any destination, a current travel route from a start point of own vehicle to a present position of own vehicle is compared by a control circuit 2, with the travel route records stored in an external memory 9; a travel route shown by a travel route record corresponding to or approximating to the current travel route is deduced as being a forward travel route; and traffic information, etc. relating to the presumed travel route are acquired, and reported by means of a display 5 and a voice output system 7. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular navigation apparatus that provides information related to a travel route when a destination is not set.

  Conventionally, in a navigation device for a vehicle, a route from the current vehicle position to the destination is searched and guided in consideration of road information and traffic information only by inputting and setting the destination. Yes. By the way, the user (driver) does not always use the route guidance by inputting and setting the destination. For example, in the case of a relatively well driven area or a known road, The car position may be displayed. In such a case, road information and traffic information are not acquired. For this reason, there are problems such as a sudden accident on the road where the vehicle is supposed to travel ahead, traffic regulation, or information on traffic jams. As a countermeasure against this, a vehicle navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is provided.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-344349

  In the above-described vehicle navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 1, a road-like road is set as a road on which the host vehicle is expected to travel ahead. There was a problem that traffic information could not be acquired.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle navigation apparatus capable of guiding appropriate traffic information and the like when traveling without setting a destination. It is in.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when traveling in a state where the destination is not set, the current traveling route from the starting point of the own vehicle position to the current own vehicle position and the traveling route stored in the traveling history storage means Compared to the history, the travel route indicated by the travel route history that matches or approximates the current travel route is predicted as the future travel route. Therefore, the behavior pattern of the user (driver) The matched travel route can be optimally predicted as the travel route to be traveled. As a result, it is possible to notify (guide) appropriate traffic information when traveling without setting a destination.

  The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that the information acquisition means acquires traffic information or the like from an external information providing source as an information providing source. According to the second aspect of the present invention, the latest traffic information and the like can be obtained and notified sequentially from an external information providing source.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, time information is added to the current travel route, time information is also added to the travel route history, and the route predicting means includes the current travel route and the time information added thereto. The travel route history stored in the travel history storage means and the time information added thereto are compared with each other, and the current travel route and the time information added thereto are indicated by a travel route history that matches or approximates. It is characterized in that the travel route is predicted as the future travel route. According to this, it is possible to predict a further optimal travel route by comparing not only the travel route but also the time information.

The block diagram of the electric constitution which shows one Embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the own vehicle position indication state Flow chart showing control contents A diagram that schematically shows the current driving situation Figure showing an example of travel history (1) Figure showing an example of travel history (2) A diagram showing an example of travel history (part 3) FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of traveling history (part 4)

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram schematically showing the electrical configuration of the vehicle navigation apparatus. The vehicle navigation apparatus 1 includes a position detector (own vehicle position detection means) in a control circuit (corresponding to route search means, route guidance means, route prediction means, and notification control means) 2 having a function of controlling the navigation operation. 3, map database 4, display device (corresponding to notification means) 5, operation switch group 6, voice output device (corresponding to notification means) 7, remote control sensor 8, external memory 9 (corresponding to travel history storage means) The transmitter / receiver (corresponding to the information acquisition means) 10 is connected.

  The control circuit 2 is constituted by a microcomputer provided with a CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O interface and a bus line (not shown) for connecting them. The ROM stores navigation programs and the like, and the RAM temporarily stores road map data acquired from the map database 4 and data received by the transceiver 10 in addition to processing data at the time of program execution. .

  The control circuit 2 functions as route search means, route guidance means, and the like. The function as a route search means is to search (automatically calculate) a recommended travel route from the departure point (current position) of the vehicle to the destination when the destination is set. The law is used.

  The function as the route guidance means is to display a road map around the current location on the screen of the display device 5 so as to be movable along the travel route, and to display a current location mark indicating the current position and traveling direction of the vehicle on the road map. This is a function for displaying images in a superimposed manner. In this case, the display of the current location moves on the map as the vehicle travels, and the map is scrolled according to the position of the vehicle. At this time, map matching is performed in which the current location of the vehicle is placed on the road.

  The position detector 3 includes, for example, a GPS receiver 11 that receives a signal from a GPS satellite, a gyro sensor 12 that detects a yaw rate, an acceleration sensor 13 that detects accelerations in three orthogonal directions, and the like. This is a part for calculating the current position information of the vehicle.

  The map database 4 is constructed using a large-capacity information recording medium such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, hard disk, or nonvolatile semiconductor memory, and is used for map drawing for map display. In addition to road data necessary for various processing such as data, map matching, route search, route guidance, intersection data consisting of detailed data of intersections, background data for background layers, place name data for displaying place names, etc. Various map data are stored, such as a facility name database in which facility names are arranged in the order of 50 sounds, a telephone number database indicating correspondence between telephone numbers and facilities, and the like.

  The map drawing data is composed of a plurality of element data. Each element data is on an actual road such as a road (link), an intersection, a branch point, and a dead point (nodes at intersections, branch points and dead points). Corresponds to each part. Further, the map data includes data such as road shape, road width, road name, building, various facilities, their telephone numbers, place names, and terrain, and the road map is reproduced on the screen of the display device 5. It is comprised including the data of.

The display device 5 includes, for example, a color liquid crystal display for displaying a map screen or the like, and is installed in the vicinity of the driver's seat of the vehicle.
The operation switch group 6 includes mechanical switches arranged around the display device 5, touch panel switches formed on the display of the display device 5, and the like, and controls commands related to operations such as various data and setting items. 2 is provided.

The voice output device 7 includes a voice synthesis circuit, an amplifier, a speaker, and the like, and is configured to generate a voice output corresponding to voice information from the control circuit 2.
The remote control sensor 8 is configured to receive an operation signal from the remote control 14 and give it to the control circuit 2.

  The external memory 9 is composed of a rewritable non-volatile memory such as a flash memory. For example, the external memory 9 stores program software corresponding to an information recording medium of other standards, or specific data (running track history). Or any image data captured by a digital camera) or the like.

  The transceiver 10 includes a VICS (registered trademark) sensor unit, an FM multiplex broadcast tuner (both not shown), a wireless network service (for example, G-BOOK (registered trademark)), and the like. Traffic information (congestion, congestion, speed regulation, lane regulation, accident occurrence point, breakdown vehicle stop point, etc.) to be notified to the vehicle driver from external information sources such as VICS stations, broadcasting infrastructure, and information centers In addition, peripheral information such as commercial facilities and tourist facilities located in the traveling direction is obtained. The transceiver 10 may be configured to include an RDS-TMC (Radio Data System-Traffic Massage Channel) tuner. The event data as described above may be received through a communication infrastructure such as a satellite communication system, a mobile phone line, a wireless LAN, or a probe car communication system.

  Based on the command input through the operation switch group 6 or the remote control sensor 8, the control circuit 2 uses a well-known map display function, route calculation function, route guidance function, telephone number search function, postal code search function, map code (registration). Process related to a wide variety of support functions such as a search function using a unique code such as a trademark, a 50 sound search function, a genre search function, a nearest facility search function, a destination registration function, a point registration function, etc. It is configured.

  In addition, when the route guidance is executed after the route search, the control circuit 2 measures the passing point (milestone) of the travel route from the departure point to the destination at a predetermined timing, for example, every predetermined time. The external memory 9 is stored. In this case, the departure time from the departure place and the arrival time at the destination are also stored (time information is added). 5 to 8 show an example of the travel history. In addition, the predetermined timing of the above-mentioned measurement of the passing point may be every predetermined distance.

  Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. When the driver does not set the destination (the route search and route guidance are not performed) and the display device 5 displays the vehicle position (see FIG. 2), the control circuit 2 The control shown in FIG. 3 is performed. In FIG. 2, the symbol L indicates a road map, and the symbol M indicates the position of the own vehicle.

In step S1, the current travel route before the current position of the host vehicle is acquired from the departure point of the host vehicle (the first travel start point after the engine is started), and sequentially stored in the RAM of the control circuit 2, for example. In this case, the time at each point is also stored (time information is added). In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the departure place of the own vehicle is a point A, and the current position of the own vehicle is a point B.
In the next step S2, the current travel route before the current vehicle position from the departure location of the vehicle described above is compared with the travel route history stored in the external memory 9, and the current travel routes match or approximate. The travel route indicated by the travel history is predicted as the future travel route.

  Here, for example, when there are histories R1, R2, R3, and R4 as the travel route history stored in the external memory 9, as shown in FIGS. As the traveling history that matches or approximates, the history R1 (the departure place A is the same, the traveling route from the departure place A is the same, and the departure time is substantially the same) corresponds to this, and is indicated by the history R1. The traveled route is predicted as the future travel route. The history R2 is approximated as a travel route, but the travel time is significantly different from the travel time of the travel route of the host vehicle, so the prediction candidate rank is lower than the history R1. Hereinafter, in the case of history R3, the departure place and departure time approximate to the departure place and departure time of the current travel route, but the route itself is different and the prediction candidate rank is further lowered. In the case of history R4, Since the departure time is approximate but the departure place is different, the prediction candidate rank is further lowered.

  In step S3, traffic information related to the travel route predicted in step S2 (including peripheral information such as the commercial facilities and tourist facilities described above) is acquired from an external information providing source. In step S4, the display device 5 Are displayed (notified) or output to the audio output device 7 (notified).

According to this embodiment, when traveling in a state where no destination is set, the current travel route from the starting point of the vehicle position to the current vehicle position and the travel route stored in the external memory 9 Compared to the history, the travel route indicated by the travel route history that matches or approximates the current travel route is predicted as the future travel route. Therefore, the behavior pattern of the user (driver) The matched travel route can be optimally predicted as the travel route to be traveled. As a result, traffic information and the like can be appropriately notified (guided).
In addition, according to the present embodiment, the control circuit 2 acquires traffic information and the like from an external information providing source as an information providing source, so that it can sequentially acquire and notify the latest traffic information and the like from the external information providing source.

  According to the present embodiment, time information is added to the current travel route, time information is also added to the travel route history, and the control circuit 2 controls the current travel route and the time information added thereto. Is compared with the travel route history stored in the travel history storage means and the time information added thereto, and the current travel route and the time information added thereto are indicated by a travel route history that matches or approximates. Therefore, a more optimal travel route can be predicted.

  The travel history storage means is not limited to an external memory, and may be a non-volatile memory provided in the control circuit. Moreover, as a notification means, either a display apparatus or an audio | voice output apparatus is good.

  In the drawings, 1 is a vehicle navigation device, 2 is a control circuit (route search means, route guidance means, route prediction means, notification control means), 3 is a position detector (own vehicle position detection means), and 5 is a display device ( (Notification means), 9 is an external memory (running history storage means), and 10 is a transceiver (information acquisition means).

Claims (3)

Vehicle position detection means for detecting the vehicle position, route search means for searching for a route from the current vehicle position to the destination when the destination is set, and route guidance for the vehicle based on the searched route In a vehicle navigation device comprising route guidance means for performing
Travel history storage means for storing the travel route history of the vehicle;
When traveling when the destination is not set, the current travel route from the starting point of the vehicle position to the current vehicle position before the current vehicle position is compared with the travel route history stored in the travel history storage means, and the current travel route matches or Route predicting means for predicting the travel route indicated by the approximate travel route history as the future travel route;
Information acquisition means for acquiring traffic information on the predicted driving route from an information providing source;
Notification means;
A vehicle navigation apparatus comprising: a notification control unit that causes the notification unit to notify the information acquired by the information acquisition unit.   The vehicle navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information acquisition unit acquires traffic information or the like from an external information supply source as an information supply source. Time information is added to the current travel route, time information is also added to the travel route history, and the route predicting means includes the current travel route and time information added thereto, and the travel history storage means. The stored travel route history and the time information added thereto are compared, and the travel route indicated by the travel route history that matches or approximates the current travel route and the time information added thereto is determined as the previous travel. The vehicle navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the navigation apparatus is predicted as a route.

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