JP2011237217A - On-vehicle information terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an on-vehicle information terminal for providing information to a user at an optimum timing, regardless of a situation of a vehicle.SOLUTION: A navigation device repetitively performs each one of steps to acquire announcement information to be issued to a driver of a self vehicle (step S10); to determine a degree of urgency in the announcement information (step S20); and to determine a driving load of a driver (step S60). Consequently, till it is determined that the degree of urgency in the announcement information is high in the step S20 or that the driving load of the driver is low in the step S60, processing of steps S20-S70 is repetitively performed so as to delay an announcement timing. Thus, the announcement timing of the announcement information is determined, and the announcement information is issued in accordance with the determined announcement timing (step S80).

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle information terminal used by being mounted on a vehicle.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228688 discloses an in-vehicle information providing apparatus that detects a traveling environment of a vehicle and determines a timing for providing traffic information, guidance information to a destination, and the like to a user according to the detected traveling environment. Further, Patent Document 1 describes that the urgency of information is taken into account when determining the timing of providing such information.

JP 2000-353294 A

  According to the in-vehicle information providing apparatus disclosed in Patent Literature 1, it is possible to determine the information provision timing according to the traveling environment of the vehicle and the urgency of the information, and to provide various information to the user according to the timing. it can. However, the information provision timing once determined does not change as it is even if the travel environment of the vehicle or the urgency of the information subsequently changes. Therefore, the optimal information provision timing may not be reached depending on the situation of the vehicle.

  An in-vehicle information terminal according to the present invention determines notification information acquisition means for acquiring notification information to be notified to the driver of the vehicle, urgency determination means for determining the urgency of the notification information, and determines the driving load of the driver. Based on the determination result of the driving load determination means, the urgency determination means and the determination result of the driving load determination means, the notification timing determination means for determining the notification timing of the notification information, and the notification timing determined by the notification timing determination means Therefore, a notification means for notifying the driver of the notification information is provided, and the urgency level determination means and the driving load determination means repeatedly determine the urgency level of the notification information and the determination of the driver's driving load, respectively, and determine the notification timing. Until the predetermined judgment result is obtained by at least one of the urgency judgment means and the driving load judgment means. It is intended to delay the notification timing.

  According to the present invention, information can be provided to the user at an optimal timing regardless of the situation of the vehicle.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the alerting | reporting process by this invention.

  The configuration of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in the block diagram of FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the navigation device 1 includes a control unit 10, a vibration gyro 11, a vehicle speed sensor 12, an obstacle information acquisition unit 13, a vehicle information acquisition unit 14, a GPS (Global Positioning System) reception unit 15, a VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System (registered trademark) information receiving unit 16, hard disk (HDD) 17, display monitor 18, speaker 19, and input device 20.

  The control unit 10 includes a microprocessor, various peripheral circuits, a RAM, a ROM, and the like, and executes various processes based on a control program and map data recorded in the HDD 17. The control unit 10 executes various processes as navigation processes for guiding the host vehicle to the destination. For example, destination search processing when setting a destination, destination setting processing, recommended route search processing to the set destination, detection processing of the current position of the host vehicle (own vehicle position), Image display processing, audio output processing, and the like are executed.

  Furthermore, a notification process is executed in the control unit 10 in order to notify the driver about the driving of the host vehicle (hereinafter referred to as notification information) at an appropriate timing. The details of this notification process will be described later.

  The vibration gyro 11 is a sensor for detecting the angular velocity of the host vehicle. The vehicle speed sensor 12 is a sensor for detecting the traveling speed of the host vehicle. By detecting the motion state of the host vehicle at predetermined time intervals using these sensors, the control unit 10 determines the moving direction (traveling direction) and the moving amount of the host vehicle.

  The obstacle information acquisition unit 13 acquires information related to obstacles around the host vehicle (hereinafter referred to as obstacle information). For example, an emergency vehicle such as an ambulance or a fire truck approaching the host vehicle, a vehicle traveling on a road different from the host vehicle toward an intersection or a junction point existing in front of the host vehicle, the host vehicle Information on pedestrians and motorcycles approaching toward the vehicle can be acquired as obstacle information.

  In the navigation device 1, various devices and systems according to the type of the target obstacle can be used as the obstacle information acquisition unit 13. For example, a radar system such as a millimeter wave radar, an obstacle detection system that combines a camera and an image processing device, an inter-vehicle communication system that transmits and receives various types of information between the host vehicle and another vehicle, and the like as the obstacle information acquisition unit 13 Can be used. At this time, a plurality of devices and systems may be used in combination. Or you may acquire obstruction information in the obstruction information acquisition part 13 by receiving the obstruction information transmitted from these apparatuses and systems with which the own vehicle was equipped.

  The vehicle information acquisition unit 14 acquires vehicle information output from the host vehicle and outputs the vehicle information to the control unit 10. Vehicle information is information relating to the driving state of the host vehicle. For example, operating states of operating members such as an accelerator, a brake, a shift lever, a blinker, a wiper, a headlamp, a steering angle, an angular speed and a traveling speed of the host vehicle, various behavior controls in the host vehicle (for example, ABS (Antilock Brake System ), Information indicating the operation state of TCS (Traction Control System), stability control, and the like) is transmitted from the own vehicle to the vehicle information acquisition unit 14 as vehicle information. In addition, transmission of the vehicle information from the own vehicle to the vehicle information acquisition unit 14 is performed, for example, via a CAN (Control Area Network).

  The GPS receiver 15 receives a GPS signal transmitted from a GPS satellite and outputs it to the controller 10. The GPS signal includes information on the position and transmission time of the GPS satellite that transmitted the GPS signal as information for obtaining the current position of the host vehicle. Therefore, by receiving GPS signals from a predetermined number or more of GPS satellites, the current position of the host vehicle can be calculated by the control unit 10 based on these pieces of information. Based on the calculation result of the current position of the host vehicle based on the GPS signal and the calculation result of the moving direction and the moving amount based on the detection results of the vibration gyroscope 11 and the vehicle speed sensor 12, the current position of the host vehicle is set every predetermined time. Is detected.

  The VICS information receiving unit 16 receives VICS information transmitted from the VICS center (not shown) to the navigation device 1. When the VICS information receiving unit 16 receives this VICS information, various road traffic information including traffic jam information is acquired in the navigation device 1. The VICS information received by the VICS information receiving unit 16 is output to the control unit 10 and used for displaying traffic jam information, searching for a recommended route, and the like. Further, the notification information as described above can be notified based on the VICS information. For example, information on traffic jams and accidents ahead of the road on which the host vehicle is traveling can be acquired from the VICS information, and the details thereof can be notified to the driver.

  The transmission of VICS information from the VICS center to the navigation device 1 is performed mainly by radio wave beacons installed on highways, optical beacons installed mainly on general roads, or FM multiplex broadcasting. . The radio wave beacon and the optical beacon transmit VICS information locally to the vehicle passing near the installation point by radio waves or light (infrared rays). In contrast, FM multiplex broadcasting can transmit VICS information to a relatively wide area.

  The HDD 17 is a non-volatile recording medium, and records a control program, map data, and the like for executing the above processing in the control unit 10. Data recorded in the HDD 17 is read out under the control of the control unit 10 as necessary, and is used for various processes and control executed by the control unit 10.

  The map data recorded on the HDD 17 includes route calculation data, road data, and background data. The route calculation data is data used when searching for a recommended route to the destination. The road data is data representing the shape and type of the road. The background data is data representing the background of the map. Note that the background of the map is various components other than roads existing on the map. For example, rivers, railways, green zones, various structures, etc. are represented by background data.

  The map data includes POI (Point Of Interest) data related to various types of facilities. For example, information on types and positions of various facilities such as accommodation facilities such as inns and hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and convenience stores is recorded in the POI data. Based on this POI data, an icon corresponding to the type of facility is displayed on the map.

  In map data, the minimum unit of each road is called a link. That is, each road is composed of a plurality of links respectively corresponding to a predetermined road section, and route calculation data and road data are expressed in units of links. In the route calculation data, for each link corresponding to each road section, a link cost corresponding to the time required for passing when the vehicle travels the road section is set. Based on this link cost, the navigation device 1 searches for a recommended route by obtaining a combination of links that minimizes the time required to pass from the departure point to the destination.

  In the above description, the map data is recorded on the HDD 17 in the navigation device 1. However, these may be recorded on a recording medium other than the HDD. For example, map data recorded on a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, memory card, or the like can be used. That is, the navigation device according to the present embodiment may store these data using any recording medium.

  The display monitor 18 is a device for displaying various screens in the navigation device 1 and is configured using a liquid crystal display or the like. The display monitor 18 displays a map screen, a recommended route guidance display, and the like. Furthermore, the notification information for the driver as described above can be output as a display screen of the display monitor 18. The contents of the screen displayed on the display monitor 18 are determined by screen display control performed by the control unit 10. The display monitor 18 is installed at a position where it is easy for the user as a driver to see, for example, on the dashboard of the host vehicle or in the instrument panel.

  The speaker 19 outputs various audio information related to the traveling of the vehicle under the control of the control unit 10. For example, route guidance voice for guiding the vehicle to the destination according to the recommended route, various warning sounds, and the like are output. Further, notification information for the driver may be output by sound from the speaker 19.

  The input device 20 is a device for a user to perform various input operations for operating the navigation device 1, and has various input switches. The user operates the input device 20 to input, for example, the name of a facility or point desired to be set as a destination, select a destination from pre-registered registered locations, or arbitrarily map a map. Or scroll in the direction. The input device 20 can be realized by an operation panel, a remote controller, or the like. Alternatively, the input device 20 may be a touch panel integrated with the display monitor 18.

  When the user performs an operation for setting a destination using the input device 20, the control unit 10 executes a destination setting process corresponding to the operation content, and sets the destination. When the destination is set in this way, the route search process is performed by the calculation of a predetermined algorithm based on the route calculation data described above, with the current position of the host vehicle detected as described above as the departure point. When a recommended route from the departure point to the destination is searched by this route search process, route guidance is performed according to the searched recommended route, and the host vehicle is guided to the destination.

  Note that the process for performing route guidance as described above is performed as a part of the above-described notification process in the control unit 10. That is, the route guidance information generated by the navigation process, for example, information on the shape of the guidance intersection, the distance to the guidance intersection, the traveling direction of the host vehicle at the guidance intersection, and the like is acquired as a part of the notification information by the notification process. The driver is notified by voice or voice.

  Furthermore, it searches based on map data whether there is a point corresponding to a specific road condition that requires a driver's attention (a point requiring attention) in front of the host vehicle, and notifies the searched point of interest. Information may be included in route guidance information as broadcast information. For example, traffic information such as traffic lights, temporary stops, railroad crossings, entry prohibitions, sharp curve points, accident-prone points, points that are likely to slip due to freezing, etc. Record it. Information for determining whether or not such a point of interest is in front of the host vehicle based on the map data, and if there is, information for alerting the driver about the point of interest by navigation processing performed by the control unit 10. Can be generated as route guidance information.

  In addition, you may acquire the information of the above critical points from the outside. For example, it can be acquired as a part of the VICS information received by the VICS information receiving unit 16. Or you may acquire via radio | wireless communication lines, such as a mobile telephone network, and may acquire using DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication).

  Next, the notification process executed in the navigation device 1 will be described. As described above, the navigation device 1 causes the control unit 10 to perform notification processing for notifying notification information regarding driving of the host vehicle at an appropriate timing. In this notification processing, various route guidance information generated by the navigation processing, traffic jam information and accident information included in the VICS information received by the VICS information receiving unit 16, and obstacle information acquired by the obstacle information acquiring unit 13 Are acquired as notification information and notified to the driver. At this time, the degree of urgency of the acquired notification information is determined, the driving load of the driver is determined, and the notification timing is determined based on these determination results. As a result, the notification information can be provided at an optimal timing for the driver.

  A flowchart of the notification processing according to the present embodiment is shown in FIG. This flowchart is executed by the control unit 10 when there is notification information to be notified in the navigation device 1.

  In step S10, the control unit 10 acquires notification information to be notified to the driver. The acquisition of the notification information is performed by a different method depending on the type of notification information to be acquired. For example, when the route guidance information generated by the navigation process is acquired as the notification information, it can be acquired by the process in the control unit 10. On the other hand, when acquiring the traffic jam information and accident information included in the VICS information as the notification information, the information can be acquired using the VICS information receiving unit 16. Moreover, when acquiring obstruction information as alerting | reporting information, this can be acquired using the obstruction information acquisition part 13. FIG.

  In addition, you may acquire alerting | reporting information using methods other than having demonstrated above. For example, notification information may be acquired via a wireless communication line such as a mobile phone network, or may be acquired by receiving notification information transmitted from an antenna for DSRC installed on a road. .

  In step S20, the control unit 10 determines whether the notification information acquired in step S10 is highly urgent information. Here, based on the type and content of the acquired notification information, the urgency level of the notification information can be determined by, for example, the following methods (1) to (3).

(1) When route guidance information is acquired as notification information In this case, the distance from the current position of the host vehicle to the guidance intersection or point of interest for which the route guidance information is targeted is obtained, and the urgency level is calculated based on the distance. Judgment can be made. That is, if the distance from the current position of the host vehicle to the guidance intersection or the point requiring attention is within a predetermined threshold value, for example, 100 m or less, it is determined that the urgency is high. to decide. The threshold value may be changed according to the contents of the route guidance information. For example, the threshold value of the route guidance information for the point requiring attention is set larger than the threshold value of the route guidance information for the guidance intersection. As a result, it is possible to determine that the route guidance information for the point requiring attention is high in urgency even at a distance farther than the guidance intersection.

(2) When traffic jam information or accident information is acquired as notification information In this case, the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the traffic jam or accident point indicated by the traffic jam information or accident information is obtained, and emergency is based on the distance Degree can be judged. In other words, if the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the point of occurrence of traffic jam or accident is within the predetermined threshold as described above, it is determined that the urgency is high, and if the distance is not less than the threshold, the urgency is low. Judge. Here, as described above, the threshold value may be changed according to the contents of traffic jam information and accident information. For example, the threshold value can be increased as the distance of traffic jams is increased, or the threshold value can be increased as the degree of traffic jams and accidents are serious.

(3) When Obstacle Information is Obtained as Notification Information In this case, the degree of urgency can be determined based on the content of the obtained obstacle information. For example, if the acquired obstacle information represents the approach of an emergency vehicle, a pedestrian, a two-wheeled vehicle, etc., it is determined that the urgency is high, while it represents the presence of another vehicle heading to an intersection or junction. Judge that the urgency is low. At this time, the urgency may be determined in consideration of the distance from the current position of the host vehicle to the obstacle. Or when obstacle information is acquired as alerting | reporting information, you may determine with urgency always high irrespective of the content.

  In addition, you may determine the emergency degree of alerting | reporting information by methods other than said (1)-(3). For example, information indicating the urgency level may be included in the notification information, and the urgency level may be determined based on the information.

  In step S20, the urgency of the notification information can be determined by the method described above. As a result, when it is determined that the urgency is high, the process proceeds to step S80, and when it is determined that the urgency is low, the process proceeds to step S30.

  In step S30, the control unit 10 acquires information related to the traveling environment of the host vehicle (hereinafter referred to as traveling environment information). Here, the travel environment information can be acquired based on the map data recorded in the HDD 17. For example, if the road on which the host vehicle is traveling or the road ahead of the host vehicle is curved, the size of the curve (radius, curvature, etc.) and the time to approach the curve are acquired as driving environment information. To do. The time to approach the curve can be calculated from the distance from the current position of the host vehicle to the curve start point based on the map data and the travel speed of the host vehicle. If there is a tunnel entrance in front of the host vehicle, the distance from the current position of the host vehicle to the entrance is acquired as travel environment information. Or you may acquire the map data of the predetermined range according to the present position of the own vehicle among the map data memorize | stored by HDD17 as driving environment information.

  Furthermore, the inter-vehicle distance with a vehicle traveling in front of the host vehicle may be acquired as traveling environment information. In this case, the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle can be measured by a radar or the like mounted on the host vehicle, and the measurement result can be acquired as travel environment information. The obstacle information acquisition unit 13 may be used. In addition to the above, various information related to the traveling environment of the host vehicle can be acquired as traveling environment information.

  In step S <b> 40, the control unit 10 acquires vehicle information related to the driving state of the host vehicle using the vehicle information acquisition unit 14. Here, as described above, information indicating operation states of various operation members mounted on the host vehicle, operation states of behavior control of the host vehicle, and the like is acquired as vehicle information.

  In step S50, the control unit 10 calculates a driving load frequency that represents the degree of driving load of the driver in the host vehicle based on the travel environment information acquired in step S30 and the vehicle information acquired in step S40. Here, for each of the travel environment information and the vehicle information, a frequency corresponding to the driving load for each event is set. By summing the driving load frequencies set for the traveling environment information and the vehicle information in this way, the driving load frequency in the host vehicle can be calculated.

  As for the driving environment information, for example, when a road existing in front of the host vehicle is curved, and information indicating the size of the curve and the time to approach the curve is acquired as the driving environment information, these values are A smaller power can be set as the driving load power of the driving environment information as the driving power decreases. In addition, when there is a tunnel entrance in front of the host vehicle and the distance from the current position of the host vehicle to the entrance is acquired as travel environment information, the smaller the distance, the greater the driving frequency of driving environment information. Can be set as As described above, when map data in a predetermined range corresponding to the current position of the host vehicle is acquired as the travel environment information, a curve or a tunnel entrance is located in front of the host vehicle based on the map data and the current position of the host vehicle. Is determined, and if it exists, the driving load frequency according to the determination can be set as described above. When a plurality of events are included in the travel environment information, a driving load frequency may be set for each event, and these may be summed to obtain the driving load frequency of the traveling environment information.

  On the other hand, for vehicle information, for example, the greater the number of operation members operated in the host vehicle, and the greater the number of types of behavior control in the operating state, the greater the driving load frequency of the vehicle information may be set. it can. At this time, you may change the magnitude | size of the driving load frequency set according to the kind of operation member, or the state of behavior control. Furthermore, a larger value can be set as the driving load frequency of the vehicle information as the steering angle of the steering and the traveling speed of the host vehicle are larger.

  Note that the driving load frequencies corresponding to each event as described above may be tabulated in advance and stored in the memory in the HDD 17 or the control unit 10. By using such a table value, the operating load frequency can be easily and quickly calculated.

  In step S60, the control unit 10 determines whether or not the driving load frequency calculated in step S50 is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value. The threshold is set to a value corresponding to the driving load frequency when it is estimated that the driver should concentrate on driving. For example, when the host vehicle is in any of the following situations (1) to (7), it is considered that the driving load is high and the driver should concentrate on driving. Therefore, it is preferable that the threshold value used for the determination in step S60 is set in advance so as to be smaller than the driving load frequency calculated at these times.

(1) Behavior is unstable If the vehicle information acquired in step S40 indicates that behavior control such as ABS, TCS, stability control, etc. is in operation, or if the steering angle of the steering is When the value exceeds the allowable value determined according to the speed, it is determined that the behavior of the host vehicle is unstable, so that the driving load is high and the driver should concentrate on driving.

(2) During sudden deceleration When the vehicle information acquired in step S40 indicates that the amount of brake operation is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, or when the rate of decrease in the traveling speed of the host vehicle is greater than or equal to a predetermined value Since the host vehicle is decelerating rapidly, it is determined that the driving load is high and the driver should concentrate on driving.

(3) During a sudden turn The rudder angle for a sudden turn is obtained from the traveling speed of the subject vehicle in the vehicle information acquired in step S40. If the steered angle of the steering is larger than the steered angle, the subject vehicle is turning suddenly. Therefore, it is determined that the driving load is high and the driver should concentrate on driving.

(4) Driving near the tunnel entrance The brightness of the surroundings changes abruptly near the tunnel entrance, so the driver's visibility is expected to deteriorate. Therefore, in the driving environment information acquired in step S30, when the distance from the current position of the host vehicle to the tunnel entrance is less than a predetermined value, the driving load is high because the host vehicle is traveling near the tunnel entrance and exit. It is determined that the person should concentrate on driving.

(5) When traveling on a sharp curve or immediately before entering the sharp curve In the travel environment information acquired in step S30, if the road on which the host vehicle is traveling or the road ahead of the host vehicle is curved, the radius of the curve Or a curvature is compared with the radius (safety radius) or curvature (safety curvature) of the curve which the own vehicle can drive | work safely. The safe radius or the safe curvature at this time can be determined based on the speed limit obtained from the map data or the traveling speed of the host vehicle in the vehicle information acquired in step S40. As a result, when the radius of the curve on the road on which the host vehicle is traveling is less than the safety radius or the curvature is greater than or equal to the safety curvature, it is determined that the driving load is high and the driver should concentrate on driving. On the other hand, if the curve radius on the road ahead of the vehicle is less than the safety radius or the curvature is greater than or equal to the safety curvature, the time to enter the curve is calculated based on the traveling speed of the vehicle, The safety time set in advance as the time required for the person to confirm the notification information safely is compared. As a result, if the time to approach the curve is less than the safe time, it is determined that the driving load is high and the driver should concentrate on driving.

(6) During lane change or right / left turn When the vehicle information acquired in step S40 indicates that the blinker is lit and the steering angle is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, Since the lane change or right / left turn is in progress, the driving load is high, and it is determined that the driver should concentrate on driving. At this time, the determination may be made by further using the angular speed or traveling speed of the host vehicle.

(7) The distance between the vehicle and the vehicle ahead is narrow. If the distance between the vehicle and the vehicle traveling in front of the vehicle is less than a predetermined value, for example, less than 10 m, in the travel environment information acquired in step S30, Since the distance between the vehicle ahead and the vehicle ahead is narrow, the driving load is high and it is determined that the driver should concentrate on driving. At this time, the inter-vehicle distance determined to be narrow may be changed according to the traveling speed of the host vehicle.

  The threshold value for determination in step S60 is set in advance so as to be a value lower than the driving load frequency when the situation described in (1) to (7) described above is applicable. In other words, when traveling environment information or vehicle information corresponding to each of the above situations is acquired, a driving load frequency larger than a preset threshold value is calculated in step S50. On the other hand, if the situation does not apply, an operation load frequency smaller than the threshold value is calculated in step S50. This makes it possible to determine whether the driving load on the driver is high or low.

  Even in situations other than the above (1) to (7), it may be determined that the driving load is high, assuming that the driving load frequency is equal to or greater than the threshold value. For example, it is determined that the driving load is high in a situation where a plurality of states that are not equivalent to the above (1) to (7) are occurring simultaneously. Specifically, when the host vehicle is traveling on a gentle curve, the distance from the preceding vehicle is greater than the predetermined value and less than another predetermined value, for example, 10 m or more and less than 20 m. Thus, it can be determined that the operation load is high.

  In step S60, it can be determined whether or not the driver's driving load is high by the method described above. As a result, when the driving load frequency is equal to or greater than the threshold value, it is determined that the driving load of the driver is high, and the process proceeds to step S70. On the other hand, when the driving load frequency is less than the threshold value, it is determined that the driving load of the driver is low, and the process proceeds to step S80.

  In step S70, the control unit 10 processes the notification information acquired in step S10. Here, since the timing at which the notification information is notified is delayed as described later, the content of the notification information is corrected as necessary according to the delay. For example, when route guidance information is acquired as notification information, the distance to the guidance intersection or point of interest for notification in the route guidance information is corrected based on the traveling speed of the host vehicle and the delay time per time. To do. Similarly, when traffic information or accident information is acquired as notification information, the distance to the traffic jam or accident subject to notification in the traffic information or accident information is also determined based on the traveling speed of the vehicle and the delay time per time. to correct. In this way, it is possible to correct the content of the notification information correctly in consideration of the movement of the host vehicle during the delay time. When the obstacle information is acquired as the notification information, the notification information can be processed by correcting the distance to the obstacle in consideration of the movement of the obstacle in addition to the movement of the host vehicle. preferable.

  If step S70 is performed, the control part 10 will return to step S20. That is, until step S20 is positively determined or step S60 is negatively determined, the control unit 10 repeatedly executes the processes of steps S20 to S70 in a predetermined processing cycle.

  On the other hand, in step S80, the control unit 10 notifies the driver of the notification information acquired in step S10. Here, the notification information can be notified to the driver by outputting the content represented by the notification information as a display screen of the display monitor 18 or by outputting it as a sound from the speaker 19. The output form may be changed according to the content of the notification information.

  If step S80 is performed, the control part 10 will complete | finish the flowchart of FIG. In this way, the notification process in the navigation device 1 is executed.

  As described above, when step S20 is negatively determined and step S60 is positively determined, the processing of steps S20 to S70 is repeatedly executed, and the notification timing of the notification information is delayed. The delay time at this time is obtained as a value obtained by multiplying the number of times of executing the processes of steps S20 to S70 by the delay time per one time corresponding to the processing cycle. In addition, when step S20 is affirmative determination or step S60 is negative determination in the 1st process, the control part 10 alert | reports immediately the acquired alerting | reporting information, without delaying alerting | reporting timing. The notification timing of the notification information in the navigation device 1 is determined by such processing of the control unit 10.

  According to the embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be achieved.

(1) The navigation device 1 obtains notification information to be notified to the driver of the host vehicle through the processing of the control unit 10 (step S10), determines the urgency of the notification information (step S20), and the driver The operation load determination (step S60) is repeated. The notification timing is delayed by repeatedly executing the processing of steps S20 to S70 until a predetermined determination result is obtained by at least one of these determinations. Thus, the notification timing of the notification information is determined, and the notification information is notified in accordance with the determined notification timing (step S80). Since it did in this way, the information which was acquired at the optimal timing can be provided to the user who is a driver irrespective of the situation where the own vehicle was put.

(2) When the notification information is acquired in step S10, the control unit 10 determines in step S20 whether the urgency of the notification information is high, and determines in step S60 whether the driving load on the driver is high or low. To do. As a result, if it is determined in step S20 that the urgency of the notification information is high, or if it is determined in step S60 that the driver's driving load is low, step S80 is immediately performed without repeating steps S20 to S70. Execute to notify the notification information. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S20 that the urgency of the notification information is low and it is determined in step S60 that the driver's driving load is high, the notification timing of the notification information is delayed by repeating the processing in steps S20 to S70. I tried to make it. Thus, the notification information can be notified to the driver at an optimal timing according to the urgency of the notification information and the driving load of the driver.

(3) When delaying the notification timing of the notification information, the control unit 10 processes the notification information according to the delay (step S70). As a result, it is possible to correct the content of the notification information correctly in response to the movement of the host vehicle during the delay time and changes in the surrounding situation.

(4) The control unit 10 acquires travel environment information regarding the travel environment of the host vehicle and vehicle information regarding the driving state of the host vehicle (steps S30 and S40). In step S60, the driving load on the driver is determined based on at least one of the travel environment information and the vehicle information thus obtained. That is, from the contents of the driving environment information and the vehicle information, it is determined whether the host vehicle is in any of the situations (1) to (7) described above. Judged that the load was high. Thereby, since the situation where the own vehicle was put can be recognized correctly, the judgment of driving load can be performed correctly from the recognition result.

(5) The navigation device 1 detects the current position of the host vehicle using the vibration gyro 11, the vehicle speed sensor 12, the GPS receiver 15, and the like, and stores map data in the HDD 17. In step S30, for example, the detected current position of the host vehicle and map data in a predetermined range corresponding to the current position of the host vehicle among the map data stored in the HDD 17 can be acquired as the travel environment information. When the host vehicle is traveling in a curve, the control unit 10 determines in step S60 that the host vehicle is traveling in a curve based on the travel environment information, and determines that the driver's driving load is high. Can do. Thus, the notification information with low urgency level is not notified during the curve traveling that the driver should concentrate on driving, and can be notified when the curve traveling is finished.

(6) The control unit 10 calculates a driving load frequency representing the degree of driving load of the driver (step S50). In step S60, the driving load of the driver is determined by determining whether or not the driving load frequency is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value. Thereby, the driving load can be accurately determined in various situations.

-Modification-
The embodiment described above may be modified as follows.

(1) The driving load of the driver may be determined without calculating the driving load frequency in step S50. In this case, in step S60, the control unit 10 determines whether or not the driver is in a situation to concentrate on driving based on the traveling environment information and vehicle information acquired in steps S30 and S40, respectively. The situations where the driver should concentrate on driving are, for example, the situations (1) to (7) described above. As a result, when it is determined that the driver is in a situation to concentrate on driving, the process returns to step S20 via step S70 to delay the notification timing.

(2) The notification information that becomes unnecessary by delaying the notification timing may be deleted without notification. For example, although route guidance information is acquired as notification information, if the host vehicle passes a guidance intersection or a point requiring attention for the route guidance information, it is preferable to delete it without notifying it. .

(3) In the above embodiment, the example in which the present invention is applied to the navigation device has been described. However, the present invention may be applied to an in-vehicle information terminal other than the navigation device. The present invention can be applied to any in-vehicle information terminal as long as it is mounted on a vehicle and acquires notification information to notify a driver.

  The embodiment and various modifications described above are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these contents as long as the features of the invention are not impaired.

1: navigation device, 10: control unit, 11: vibration gyro, 12: vehicle speed sensor,
13: Obstacle information acquisition unit, 14: Vehicle information acquisition unit, 15: GPS reception unit,
16: VICS information receiving unit, 17: HDD, 18: display monitor, 19: speaker,
20: Input device

Claims (6)

Notification information acquisition means for acquiring notification information to be notified to the driver of the vehicle;
Urgency determination means for determining the urgency of the notification information;
Driving load determination means for determining the driving load of the driver;
Notification timing determination means for determining the notification timing of the notification information based on the determination result by the urgency determination means and the determination result by the driving load determination means;
Notification means for notifying the driver of the notification information according to the notification timing determined by the notification timing determination means;
The urgency determination means and the driving load determination means repeatedly perform the determination of the urgency of the notification information and the determination of the driving load of the driver, respectively.
The in-vehicle information characterized in that the notification timing determination unit delays the notification timing of the notification information until a predetermined determination result is obtained by at least one of the urgency determination unit and the driving load determination unit. Terminal. The in-vehicle information terminal according to claim 1,
The urgency determination means determines whether the urgency of the notification information is high or low,
The driving load determining means determines whether the driving load of the driver is high or low,
The notification timing determination means includes
When the urgency determination means determines that the urgency level of the notification information is high, or when the driving load determination means determines that the driver's driving load is low, the notification information is sent to the notification means. Immediately notify,
When the urgency determination means determines that the urgency level of the notification information is low and the driving load determination means determines that the driver's driving load is high, the notification timing of the notification information is delayed. An in-vehicle information terminal. The in-vehicle information terminal according to claim 1 or 2,
An in-vehicle information terminal further comprising processing means for processing the notification information according to the delay when the notification timing of the notification information is delayed by the notification timing determination means. The in-vehicle information terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Driving environment information acquisition means for acquiring driving environment information relating to the driving environment of the vehicle;
Vehicle information acquisition means for acquiring vehicle information related to the driving state of the vehicle,
The driving load determination means determines the driving load of the driver based on at least one of the driving environment information acquired by the driving environment information acquisition means and the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition means. An in-vehicle information terminal characterized by judging. The in-vehicle information terminal according to claim 4,
Position detecting means for detecting a current position of the vehicle;
Map data storage means for storing map data;
The travel environment information acquisition means includes a current position of the vehicle detected by the position detection means, and map data in a predetermined range corresponding to the current position of the vehicle among the map data stored by the map data storage means; Is acquired as the driving environment information,
The driving load determining means determines whether or not the vehicle is traveling in a curve based on the current position of the vehicle and map data acquired by the traveling environment information acquiring means, and determines that the vehicle is traveling in a curve. In such a case, it is determined that the driving load on the driver is high. In the in-vehicle information terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A driving load frequency calculating means for calculating a driving load frequency representing the degree of driving load of the driver;
The in-vehicle information terminal characterized in that the driving load determining means determines the driving load of the driver by determining whether or not the driving load frequency is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value.

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