JP2012168129A - System and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To extract a potential warning target which has high possibility of becoming an actual warning target.SOLUTION: A system comprises: a GPS receiver 8 for detecting a position of a vehicle; a database 19 for storing position information of a warning target and road network information; and a control unit 18 for performing notification control on a display unit 5 and the like when a position of the warning target indicated by the position information and a current position of the vehicle have predetermined proximity relation. The control unit 18 searches for a recommendation route from the current position of the vehicle to a warning target existing around the vehicle by using the road network information to determine presence/absence of the proximity relation based on a travel distance which the vehicle travels through the obtained recommendation route.

Description

  The present invention relates to a system and a program for notifying information about an approach when a current position is in a predetermined approach relationship with an alarm target.

  In recent years, many vehicle speed measuring devices for measuring the speed of an automobile have been installed around the road. As an example of a vehicle speed measuring device, microwaves in a predetermined frequency band are emitted toward a vehicle, and the reflected wave is received to measure the traveling speed of the vehicle.

  In order to detect the presence of such a vehicle speed measuring device, a microwave detector configured to detect a microwave emitted from the vehicle speed measuring device and output an alarm is conventionally known.

  Also, some vehicle speed measuring devices cannot be detected by a conventional microwave detector. As an example, there is a type in which a loop-shaped coil is embedded in the ground and a vehicle speed is determined while detecting the vehicle passing over the coil, as called a loop type. Others detect the speed of the vehicle using light other than microwaves. Therefore, when the installation position information of the vehicle speed measurement device is stored in advance and the current position acquired by GPS (Global Positioning System) or the like approaches the stored installation position (when a predetermined approach relationship is reached). There is an in-vehicle electronic device such as a radar detector that issues a warning regardless of whether or not microwaves are detected (Patent Document 1). These various vehicle speed measuring devices are installed at locations where traffic accidents occur frequently or at places where speeds are likely to occur and traffic accidents are likely to occur, so it is particularly dangerous to notify these locations to the driver in advance. Safe driving that complies with traffic regulations can be encouraged at the place.

  As specific notification modes, for example, “Left direction 1 km ahead expressway H system”, “Immediately ahead general road N system” and the contents specifying the target content as voice information Outputting from a speaker or displaying characters or images representing them on a display unit is performed.

  There are various types of alarms such as fixed vehicle speed measuring device, N system (automatic car number reading device), traffic accident frequent occurrence zone, various control areas, inspection areas, etc. It can be selected.

  By the way, as one of the conditions for actually alarming the registered alarm target, the current position and the position of the alarm target may be in a predetermined approach relationship. Specifically, this approach relationship is obtained by calculating a linear distance between the current position and the alarm target position, and the linear distance is set to a reference value r (for example, 2 km, 1 km, etc.) or less. As a result, an alarm target existing in a circle with a radius r centered on the current position is extracted as an actual alarm target.

  At this time, there are often a plurality of alarm targets around the current position. In such a case, one alarm target that matches a predetermined condition is set as a target object, and alarm information indicating the relative positional relationship as described above is notified for the target object. In addition, when the display unit is provided, an object indicating the own vehicle is drawn at a predetermined position on the display screen, and when an alarm target exists in the space displayed on the display screen, the alarm target object Is drawn at the corresponding position on the screen. At this time, an object having a different aspect from that of other alarm target objects is drawn at the position of the alarm target as the target object so that the target object can be seen. By changing the drawing mode of the object in this way, the driver recognizes the presence of the target alarm target from the plurality of target alarms (objects) drawn on the display screen, and The relative positional relationship can be known.

JP 2008-64588 A

  The approach relationship, which is one of the conditions for extracting the alarm target, is determined based on the linear distance between the current position and the position of the alarm target. For this reason, for example, if an alarm target installed on a road different from the currently traveling road is at a straight distance equal to or less than a predetermined distance from the current position, the alarm target is notified. However, since the notified alarm target is not installed on the currently traveling road, it does not pass in front of the alarm target even if traveling as it is. That is, this alarm is an unnecessary alarm. By receiving such an unnecessary warning, the driver is annoyed. Furthermore, since it does not pass in front of the alarm target, the alarm target may not be actually found and the passage may not be confirmed, and an uneasy state may continue. Also, if such different roads are relatively close to the currently traveling road, and if the respective objects are drawn on the display screen at the position of the vehicle and the position of the alarm target, Since the object to be alarmed is drawn, there is a possibility that the alarm target is erroneously recognized as being on the road on which the vehicle is traveling. In particular, when the display screen is small, there is a high risk of erroneous recognition.

  In addition, for example, when the road ahead is greatly curved and there is an alarm target ahead of the road, the respective objects are drawn on the display screen at the position of the vehicle and the alarm target. Then, since the object to be alarmed is drawn at a position far away from the front in the traveling direction, the driver may mistakenly recognize that the road is different from the road on which the driver is traveling at first glance. . Conversely, if a warning target exists on a road that is a straight road that is curved ahead and that is different from the road that is running on the extension line of the straight road, the vehicle is displayed on the display screen. If each object is drawn at the position and the position of the warning target, the warning target object is drawn in front of the traveling direction, so there is a risk of erroneous recognition that the warning target exists ahead of the traveling road There is. In particular, in the case of a low-priced product that does not store map information, a map cannot be displayed when the position information of a point to be alarmed is stored and the position of the point is displayed.

  In addition, there is an alarm target notification function provided with a function of notifying the remaining distance to the alarm target. This remaining distance is based on the above linear distance. When the vehicle actually travels, the course may be changed by turning right or left at an intersection in the middle as well as when the road is curved. Therefore, the alarm target is often not on the extension line in the current traveling direction, and the difference between the remaining distance and the actual traveling distance is different, and the remaining distance decreases. Discomfort occurs.

  Furthermore, the distance traveled before actually arriving before the alarm target is naturally longer than the linear distance. And, as mentioned above, when you make a right or left turn from the current position until you actually reach the alarm target, the road is greatly curved, or when you travel according to the state of the road network or one-way traffic, etc. The difference can be very large. Then, the vehicle travels a long distance from when the alarm is first issued until it actually arrives at the alarm target, and it takes time. As a result, although the driver had an alarm, he / she could not visually confirm the target of the alarm and could be suspicious of the alarm. There is also a risk of a situation leading to an alarm target. Also, in many cases, it does not actually go to a place to be alarmed that arrives for the first time after repeated right and left turns. In such a case, an unnecessary alarm is issued, which is not preferable.

  On the other hand, in conjunction with increasing the types of alarm targets registered in the database, the number of alarm targets existing around the current position also becomes large. There is also a problem that the position becomes difficult to understand. In addition, in order to reduce the number of alarm targets to be alarmed, the type of notification is registered in advance, or an object existing in a fan-shaped area in the forward direction and at a predetermined angle is set as an alarm target.

  However, in the former case, if the alarm types are narrowed more than necessary, various registered alarm targets cannot be notified. In the latter case, an alarm target that exists at the end of a road that is curved significantly or at the end of an intersection may be located outside the fan shape and cannot be alarmed.

  As described above, this type of conventional vehicle-mounted electronic device has a problem in that it cannot sufficiently extract an alarm target existing in the vicinity and issue an alarm. In addition, when there are a plurality of alarm targets, when reporting detailed alarm information about a predetermined alarm target (target object), there is a problem that the driver wants to easily know which alarm target is being notified. is there.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, an in-vehicle electronic device according to the present invention includes (1) a position acquisition unit that acquires a current position of a vehicle, a current position of the vehicle acquired by the position acquisition unit, and an alarm target. A control unit that performs notification control on the notification unit when the position information of the alarm target obtained by accessing the position storage unit that stores the position information has a predetermined approach relationship; Then, a route from the current position of the vehicle to the alarm target is obtained using the road network information acquired by accessing the map data storage means for storing the road network information, and the presence or absence of the approach relationship is determined based on the obtained route. I decided to decide.

  The position acquisition means corresponds to the GPS receiver 8 in the embodiment. The position acquisition means of the present invention acquires position information about the current position of the vehicle from an external device / equipment as well as the position detection means that detects the current position like the GPS receiver of the embodiment. Including those with the function to do. Examples of the external device / device include an electronic device having a position detection function (GPS receiver) such as a car navigation device, a GPS antenna unit, and the like.

  The map data storage means corresponds to the database 19 in the embodiment. In this way, there are cases where it is built in the device, and some or all information is stored in an external device such as a server, and the necessary information is obtained by accessing the server by communication. is there.

  The route corresponds to the recommended route in the embodiment. This recommended route should be one that is commonly used in car navigation systems, and it is determined from among the many routes from the current position to the destination that have the shortest mileage or reach in a short time. To do. At this time, the type of road to be traveled (priority road / general road) may be specified, and a route meeting the conditions may be determined. In the present invention, the car navigation technology can be used, and a route to the alarm target may be obtained based on another condition.

  The conventional approach relationship is determined based on the straight distance connecting the current position and the alarm target. In the present invention, the determination is made based on the route determined using the road network information. The determination based on the route is, for example, whether the alarm target is ahead of the road on which the vehicle actually travels or another road, whether it is easy to reach the alarm target from the current position, etc. It is better to carry out based on conditions / situations that are more suitable for actual driving. In this way, even if there are a large number of alarm targets registered around the host vehicle, it is determined that the one corresponding to the actual travel has “a predetermined approach relationship”. Therefore, the user can know more appropriate ones among a large number of alarm objects existing around the own vehicle.

  (2) The said control means is good to obtain | require the distance at the time of drive | working the said path | route, and to determine the presence or absence of the said approach relationship based on the distance. Depending on the condition of the road network, that is, straight roads or curved roads, intersection positions, traffic rules such as one-way / right turn prohibition, etc., the distance between the current position and the target of the alarm and the target of the alarm along the route The distance (travel distance) when traveling up to is different. The distance is longer than the straight line distance, but the difference is also greatly different depending on the situation. Even if there is an alarm target that is close to a straight line distance, it may take time to reach the alarm target if it is necessary to travel a long distance by detouring until it reaches it. The necessity to do this is low, and the possibility of actually going to the location of the alarm target is low. On the other hand, it is preferable to issue an alarm to an alarm target that travels along such a route because the distance may be reached relatively quickly. In this way, by determining the approach relationship based on the distance traveled to reach the alarm target through the route and controlling the alarm, it is possible to extract and notify the alarm target that should appropriately issue the alarm.

  (3) The control means may obtain a time required when traveling on the route, and determine the presence or absence of the approaching relationship based on the time. The time may be calculated by using, for example, probe information of a traffic jam acquired by VICS or communication. When it takes time to reach the alarm target, the urgency to issue an alarm is low. Conversely, when the time is short, the urgency to issue an alarm is high. Therefore, it is preferable to determine the presence or absence of an approach relationship based on time.

  (4) The said control means is good to obtain | require the number of the intersection which bends when drive | working the said path | route, and to determine the presence or absence of the said approach relationship based on the number. In the route from the current position to the alarm target, the more the number of intersections that turn (turn left or right), the more complicated the route is to the alarm target. Therefore, it can be said that the route passing through a complicated route is less likely to actually go to the alarm target location. In other words, the fact that there is a low possibility of actually going to the location of the alarm target means that even if the straight distance is short, it is not approaching for the driving situation at that time (the approach relationship is low / none) . As described above, by determining the approaching relationship based on the number of intersections that bend and controlling the alarm, it is possible to extract and notify an alarm target to be appropriately alarmed.

  (5) In the invention of (4), the control means may prevent a normal alarm from being issued for an alarm target having two or more turning intersections. For example, if there is an alarm target on another road that is parallel (substantially parallel or not intersecting) with the road that is currently running, it will be off the road that is currently running in order to drive on that other road. Therefore, it is necessary to turn once at the intersection on the running road, and further, to enter another road, it is necessary to turn once at the intersection of the other road. Therefore, in order to travel on such another road, it is necessary to turn at the intersection at least twice. In other words, if there is a relationship that turns an intersection more than once before reaching the alarm target, the alarm target exists on another parallel road, or the route is complicated, and the alarm target is reached. Unlikely. Therefore, by using the present invention, even when the distance to the alarm target (straight distance and / or distance when traveling along the route) is short, the alarm target existing on other parallel roads or the like can be effectively used. Can be eliminated. Not performing regular alarms includes not only alarms but also alarms that are performed at a reduced level. The level is reduced by, for example, drawing an object that is inconspicuous compared to a normal alarm target at the position of the alarm target, or drawing detailed objects associated with the alarm target even if the object is drawn at the position of the alarm target. Warning information may not be output.

  (6) The control means extracts, from the current position and the position information of the alarm target, an alarm target existing in a circle or a sector area having a radius of a predetermined distance set around the current position as an alarm target candidate, The route to the extracted alarm target candidate is obtained, and the alarm target to be notified by the notification means may be determined based on the obtained route. By narrowing down the target for which the route is sought, the load on the control means is reduced. The fan-shaped area that serves as a reference for extraction of the alarm target candidate may be a fan-shaped area having a radius r and a central angle θ with respect to the traveling direction of the vehicle.

  (7) The predetermined distance may be equal to or less than a distance at which an approach relationship is determined when the presence / absence of the approach relationship is determined based on a distance when traveling along the route. The distance when it is assumed that the vehicle has traveled along the route road from the current position to the alarm target is equal to or longer than the linear distance from the current position to the alarm target. Therefore, by setting the predetermined distance to a distance that has an approaching relationship, it is possible not to extract an alarm target candidate that cannot be an alarm target to be alarmed. Furthermore, the travel distance and the straight distance are equal when the current position of the vehicle and the alarm target are connected by a single straight road, and in many cases, the straight distance is shorter. Therefore, by setting the predetermined distance to be shorter than the distance at which there is an approach relationship, the number extracted as the alarm target candidates can be appropriately reduced.

  (8) In the case of an alarm target that is better to issue an alarm when the alarm target approaches from a specific direction, register direction information indicating the specific direction in association with the alarm target in a predetermined storage unit, The control means determines whether or not to give a normal alarm based on the traveling direction of the vehicle when traveling on the road where the alarm target is installed and the direction information. Good.

  When a vehicle approaches an alarm target, it is better to issue an alarm regardless of the direction the alarm target is approached, and an alarm target is issued when approaching from a specific direction There is a good alarm target. For example, there are no directions, and it is better to issue a warning regardless of which direction you are approaching. The target of warning is a snooze driving accident point, a parking monitoring area, an intersection monitoring point, an accident-prone area, an on-vehicle aim There are frequent occurrence areas. On the other hand, for example, in the case of a vehicle speed measuring device or a device / system for monitoring a vehicle such as the N system, there are monitoring areas and monitored lanes (up lane / down lane), and approach from the opposite direction. If it is, it is not necessary to issue an alarm because it does not pass through the monitoring area / lane. The speed limit switching point is also a point that switches to the side where the speed limit is lower, so it is usually set to one side of the up lane or the down lane, so when driving in the opposite lane and approaching the alarm target There is little need to issue an alarm. Thus, when changing whether or not to issue a warning in the direction when approaching the alarm target, by registering the direction information for specifying the direction to approach the alarm target, When the final direction just before the alarm target is reached through the route and the direction specified by the direction information registered in the alarm target is not in the desired relationship , You can avoid issuing a regular alarm.

  That is, when the direction information is registered, what is important is not the relationship with the traveling direction of the vehicle at the current position, but the traveling direction of the vehicle immediately before the alarm target. In the present invention, since there is road network information and the traveling direction of the vehicle immediately before the alarm target is known, the direction specified by the direction information of the alarm target in advance and the traveling direction of the vehicle immediately before are in an appropriate relationship. It is possible to determine whether or not the alarm is correct.

  Note that the storage means for registering the direction information may be the same (partially incorporated) as the position storage means, or may be different. And this storage means may run in the apparatus provided with the control means, or may be realized as a storage device such as a server outside the apparatus. This specific direction corresponds to the installation direction in the embodiment. That is, since the specific direction is set based on the direction in which the device is installed (direction in which the monitoring area is specified), in the embodiment, the installation direction is assumed on the basis of the case where the alarm target is the device. However, it does not preclude that the alarm direction other than the device is specified as a specific direction.

  (9) In the case of an alarm target that is better to issue an alarm when the alarm target approaches from a specific direction, register direction information indicating the specific direction in association with the alarm target in a predetermined storage unit, As the route, on a road where an alarm target for which direction information is set exists, a route that proceeds toward the installation direction may be selected as a direction approaching the alarm target. By doing in this way, the path | route which approached the warning object in the direction different from a specific direction originally can be excluded.

  (10) The control means controls an alarm according to a remaining distance to a predetermined alarm target, and the remaining distance is a distance when traveling from the current position to the predetermined alarm target along the route. It is good to set as follows. In this type of system, the remaining distance to the alarm target is displayed with a numerical value or an indicator, the background color of the display unit is changed, or the remaining distance is notified by voice. In this case, by using the travel distance, an alarm based on the remaining distance can be performed at a more appropriate timing that matches the actual situation.

  (11) The notification unit includes a display unit, and the control unit draws a road map based on the road network information on the display unit, and displays a current position on the road map and a position where the alarm target exists. A corresponding object may be drawn, and a guide line connecting the object indicating the vehicle drawn at the current position and the object indicating the alarm target may be drawn along the obtained route. Since the guide line is drawn along the road, the driver can understand at a glance whether or not the route to the alarm target is the road he / she is going to drive, and whether the alarm target should be taken care of. Intuitively understand. Further, this guide line may be more conspicuous if it is drawn by animation, for example, gradually extending along the road from the position of the own vehicle and finally reaching the object to be alarmed. The guide line only needs to know the positional relationship between the current position and the alarm target, and the tip of the guide line may not be directly connected to the object indicating the own vehicle and the object indicating the alarm target. .

  (12) The notification unit includes a display unit, and the control unit draws a display board for displaying information on the alarm target on the display unit, and when there are a plurality of the alarm targets, the plurality It is preferable to draw each display board for the alarm target so that the set high priority order comes to the near side. It is preferable because the presence of a plurality of alarm targets and their order can be understood at a glance.

  (13) The program of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to realize the function of the control means in the in-vehicle electronic device according to any one of (1) to (12).

  According to the present invention, it is possible to extract alarm targets that are likely to actually reach alarm targets, appropriately narrow down the surrounding alarm targets to be alarmed / notified, and issue alarms for those narrowed alarm targets. . By narrowing down the alarm target to be alarmed, for example, even when the position of the alarm target is shown on the display unit, the number of displays is small, so the driver can easily check the individual alarm target, and by devising the drawing, When notifying detailed alarm information about a predetermined alarm target (object), the driver can easily know which alarm target is being notified.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the radar detector which is preferable one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of a radar detector. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a standby screen, a radar scope, and a GPS alarm. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the alarm screen in a radar wave alarm function. It is a figure which shows an example of the warning object which exists in the surroundings of the own vehicle position. It is a figure which shows the search result of the recommended path | route to each warning object candidate. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the installation direction set to the warning object, and the traveling direction of a vehicle. It is a figure which shows an example of a display screen. It is a figure which shows an example of a display screen. It is a figure explaining a function. It is a figure which shows an example of a display screen.

  1 and 2 show the configuration of a radar detector which is a preferred embodiment as an electronic device constituting the system of the present invention. The radar detector is usually mounted on the dashboard. As shown in FIG. 1, the radar detector has a solar panel 2 and a switch unit 3 disposed on the upper surface of the case body 1, and microwaves in a frequency band emitted by the speed measurement device are placed inside the front surface of the case body 1. A microwave receiver 4 to be detected is arranged. On the other hand, the display unit 5, the alarm lamp 6, the infrared communication device 7, and the remote control receiver 16 are arranged on the rear side of the case main body 1 (the side arranged behind the vehicle (driver side). A GPS receiver 8 is disposed on the upper surface side inside the main body 1. Further, an adapter jack 9 is disposed on one side surface of the case main body 1, and a power switch 10 and a DC (not shown) are disposed on the other side surface. In addition, a speaker 20 is built in the case body 1.

  In the present embodiment, the display unit 5 is a 2.4 inch small liquid crystal display, and the rear surface side of the case body 1 (side disposed on the vehicle rear side (driver side)) is used as the display surface. The height H on the rear side of the case body 1 on which the display unit 5 is mounted is larger than the height H0 of other parts.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the infrared communication device 7 transmits and receives data to and from a communication device incorporating an infrared communication device such as a mobile phone 12. The adapter jack 9 is a terminal for connecting the memory card reader 13. By connecting the memory card reader 13 to the adapter jack 9, the data stored in the memory card 14 attached to the memory card reader 13 can be taken inside, or the contents of the memory of the database 19 and the control unit 18 can be transferred to the memory card 14. Can be written on. More specifically, when the data stored in the memory card 14 includes update information such as alarm target information that is information related to a new target or other alarm target, the control unit 18 incorporates the update information in the apparatus. The database 19 is stored (downloaded) and the data in the database 19 is updated. The function of the memory card reader 13 may be configured to be built in the main body case 1.

  The database 19 is a nonvolatile memory (for example, EEPROM) in the microcomputer of the control unit 18 or externally attached to the microcomputer. In the database 19, alarm target information, which is information related to a certain alarm target at the time of shipment, is registered, and data and the like regarding the alarm target added thereafter can be updated as described above. Data update can also be performed via the infrared communication device 7.

  The DC jack is for connecting a cigar plug cord (not shown), and is connected to a cigar socket of the vehicle via the cigar plug cord so that power can be supplied. The wireless receiver 15 receives incoming radio waves having a predetermined frequency. The remote control receiver 16 performs data communication with a remote control (portable device: handset) 17 by infrared rays and performs various settings for the device. The switch unit 3 is also connected to the control unit 18 (not shown) so that the same setting as the remote controller 17 can be performed. The remote controller 17 includes a play button, a standby switching button, a setting button, a selection button, a cancel button, an enter button, and up / down / left / right cross buttons.

  The control unit 18 is a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a nonvolatile memory, an I / O, and the like, and is connected to each unit described above as shown in FIG. 2 and based on information input from each unit described above. Predetermined processing is executed and the above-described units are controlled to output predetermined alarms / messages and information. Note that these basic configurations can be basically the same as the conventional ones.

  The functions of the radar detector of the present embodiment are stored on the EEPROM of the control unit 18 as a program executed by the computer included in the control unit 18 and are realized by being executed by the computer included in the control unit 18. Functions realized by the computer by the program of the control unit 18 include a GPS log function, a standby screen display function, a radar scope display function, a GPS alarm function, a radar wave alarm function, a wireless alarm function, and the like.

The GPS log function is a function of storing the current position detected by the control unit 18 by the GPS receiver 8 every second in the memory card 14 as a position history in association with the detected time and speed (vehicle speed). This position history is a function of recording in the NMEA format, for example.
The standby screen display function is a function for displaying the speed, latitude, longitude, and altitude of the host vehicle detected by the GPS receiver 8 on the display unit 5 as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, the radar scope display function is also referred to as an alarm target (target, target, etc.) within a predetermined range (for example, within a range of about 1 km) from the current position detected by the GPS receiver 8. ) Is retrieved from the position information stored in the database 19 and the relative positional relationship between the vehicle position and the position of the alarm target is displayed on the display unit 5. In FIG. 3B, “W” on the left side indicates the west, “E” on the right side indicates the east, and “N” on the upper side indicates the north direction, and the horizontal line connecting “W” and “E” and “N” The icon at the intersection of the vertical line extending downward from "" indicates the vehicle position. Also, icons having characters such as “L”, “RD”, “P”, and “N” indicate the type and position (existing location) of the alarm target.

  When pressing of a standby switching button provided on the remote controller 17 is detected during execution of the standby screen display function as shown in FIG. 3A, the radar scope display function is switched to as shown in FIG.

  The control unit 18 performs a GPS alarm function, a radar wave alarm function, a radar wave alarm function according to an event that occurs during execution of the standby screen display function or the radar scope display function (hereinafter, these functions are collectively referred to as a standby function). Processing for realizing each function such as a wireless alarm function is executed.

  The radar wave warning function is displayed when the microwave receiver 4 detects a signal corresponding to a microwave in a frequency band emitted from a speed measurement device (mobile radar or the like (hereinafter simply referred to as “radar”)). This is an alarm function for displaying an alarm screen on the unit 5 and outputting an alarm sound from the speaker 20. For example, when the microwave receiver 4 detects microwaves in the microwave frequency band emitted by the radar, as shown in FIG. 4, a schematic diagram or a photograph of the radar stored in the database 19 is displayed on the display unit 5 as an alarm screen. In addition to the display, the voice data stored in the database 19 is read out, and a voice “Radar. Speed attention” is output from the speaker 20. During sound output, the alarm lamp 6 is turned on.

  The wireless alarm function is a function for issuing an alarm so that the wireless receiver 15 does not interfere with traveling or the like when a radio wave emitted by an emergency vehicle or the like is received. In the radio alarm function, the control radio, car radio, digital radio, special radio, police radio, police phone, police activity radio, wrecker radio, heli tele radio, fire helicopter radio, fire fight radio, emergency radio, expressway radio , Scans the frequency of security radio, etc., and when the radio is received at the scanned frequency, a schematic diagram showing that the radio corresponding to the frequency stored for each radio type is received in the database 19 is displayed as an alarm screen The voice data stored in the database 19 for each wireless type is read out, and an alarm sound indicating the wireless type is output from the speaker 20. For example, when a control radio is received, a voice is output like “control radio. Speed attention”. During sound output, the alarm lamp 6 is turned on.

  The GPS alarm function is executed at predetermined time intervals (1 second intervals) by an event from a timer included in the control unit 18 during execution of the standby screen display function of FIG. 3A or the radar scope display function of FIG. It is a process to be executed, and it is determined whether or not the alarm condition (predetermined access relation) is satisfied using the current position detected by the GPS receiver 8 and the alarm target information stored in the database 19, and an alarm is issued if the alarm condition is satisfied It is a function that emits.

  First, examples of types of alarms include a snooze driving accident point, vehicle speed measurement device (radar type / H system / loop coil / LH system), mobile vehicle speed measurement area, speed limit switching point, control area, Inspection area, parking monitoring area, N system, traffic monitoring system, intersection monitoring point, signal ignorance suppression system, police station, accident-prone area, on-vehicle frequent occurrence area, sudden / continuous curve (highway), branch / joining point ( Expressway), ETC lane advance guidance (expressway), service area (expressway), parking area (expressway), highway oasis (expressway), smart interchange (expressway), PA / SA petrol station (expressway) ), Tunnel (highway), highway radio reception area (highway), prefectural border notice, roadside station, view point There are various types such as parking.

  The alarm target information stored in the database 19 is information related to each alarm target, and includes position information including longitude and latitude for specifying the position of the alarm target, and an alarm target useful for the driver to specify the alarm target. There is specific information. In the present embodiment, the position information is absolute position information using longitude / latitude. This is preferable because the relative positional relationship with the current position detected by the GPS receiver 8 can be easily obtained.

  The alarm target specifying information includes type information indicating the type of the alarm target, character information indicating the position of the alarm target, audio information indicating the alarm target, image information indicating the alarm target, and the like. Audio information, image information, and the like indicating an alarm target are not stored as alarm target information for individual alarm targets, but are stored in a predetermined storage area as common information separately, if corresponding to the type information of the alarm target. You can also. When the alarm is issued, the control unit 18 can read out the type information stored as the alarm target information, acquire corresponding image information, audio information, and the like from the type target, and output an alarm.

  As common image information, there is image data such as a schematic diagram in which the type of alarm target can be easily understood. The schematic diagram is also a mark for enabling the type of the alarm target to be intuitively understood from the visual sense. For example, there is a vehicle speed device, a police car, a policeman, or the like created as an image in 3D or the like. These schematic diagrams are drawn and output on the display unit 5 at the time of notification, so that the type and content of the alarm target currently notified by the driver can be understood intuitively. Then, as will be described later, by drawing the vehicle icon at the vehicle position on the display area of the display unit 5 and drawing the schematic diagram at the position of the location to be alarmed, what position at what position It is more preferable because there is an intuitive understanding of whether there is an alarm target.

  For example, the audio information is output from the speaker 20 as audio information such as the relative positional relationship such as “Left direction 1 km ahead Expressway H system”, “Immediately ahead general road N system” and the type of alarm target. It is data for. In the above example, “Left direction”, “1 km ahead”, “immediately ahead” and other audio data indicating the relative positional relationship between the current position of the vehicle and the alarm target, The voice data for specifying the type and content of the alarm target as in the “Expressway H system” is separately managed and stored, and the control unit 18 outputs a combination of the respective voice data when informing.

  By separately managing fixed audio information (audio data) according to the type of alarm target, it is not necessary to register the same information as alarm target information for each alarm target, and it consumes memory space. The amount can be reduced.

  For example, during execution of the standby screen display function of FIG. 3A or the radar scope function of FIG. 3B, the database 19 is periodically accessed based on the current position, When the distance to the host vehicle is one of the approach warning distances 2 km, 1 km, or 500 m stored in the database 19, the schematic diagram or photo data of the loop coil that is the alarm target is read from the database 19. The display unit 5 displays the voice data stored in the database 19 and outputs a warning voice from the speaker 20 to perform an approach notification. For example, when approaching 500 m, as shown in FIG. 3C, a radar scope screen similar to that in FIG. 3B is displayed on the right side of the screen, and the position of the loop coil that is the alarm target and the vehicle position. In addition to displaying the relationship, a schematic diagram or photo data of the loop coil that is the alarm target indicating the loop coil is read from the database 19 and displayed on the display unit 5, and voice data “500m ahead loop coil, speed attention” is displayed. Read from the database 19 and output from the speaker 20. Further, the alarm lamp 6 is turned on during the output of the alarm sound.

  Further, the database 19 stores map data including road network information. This road network information is data necessary when searching for a recommended route in car navigation or the like, and includes information such as a road network (road layout) and traffic regulations such as one-way traffic. Furthermore, this road network information stores the position information (latitude / longitude) of the node with the intersection of the road and the road or the inflection point of the road as a node, and the connection relationship of which other node is connected to each node. Information to be stored is stored. Thus, based on the information which shows the connection relation of each node, adjacent nodes are connected and the connected nodes become a road link. In addition, since guidance to a destination is not provided unlike a car navigation device, there is no detailed data such as display data of facilities and houses, and the data is simple.

  In the present embodiment, the condition for issuing an approach warning is based on whether or not the distance between the current position and the position of the alarm target has become an approach warning distance. However, the distance is not a straight line distance, but the alarm obtained based on road data. It was made to use the distance (travel distance) when it was assumed that it traveled along the way to the object. Specifically, the control unit 18 executes the following processes (1) to (3).

  (1) First, the control unit 18 extracts an alarm target existing within a radius r (for example, 1 km, 2 km) from the own vehicle position (current position) (condition 1). This can be executed by the same algorithm as the extraction processing of the alarm target existing around the current position (circle of radius r) based on the conventional linear distance, and the extracted alarm target is set as the alarm target candidate. Here, r may be set to be equal to or less than a predetermined approach distance in the following (3). The distance traveled on the assumption that the vehicle has traveled along the actual road from the current position to the alarm target is equal to or longer than the straight line distance from the current position to the alarm target. Thus, it is possible not to extract the alarm target candidates that cannot be the target of the alarm. The case where the travel distance is equal to the straight distance is a case where the current position of the vehicle is connected to the alarm target by a single straight road, and in many cases, the straight distance is shorter. Become. Therefore, by setting r to be shorter than the predetermined approach distance in (3), the number extracted as the alarm target candidates may be reduced, and the load for performing the processing after (2) may be reduced.

  (2) Next, the control unit 18 performs a route search from the current position to each alarm target candidate. This is obtained by using a technique for searching for a recommended route in the car navigation system. That is, each alarm target candidate is regarded as a destination in the navigation system, the position information of each alarm target candidate is set in turn as the position information of the destination, and a recommended route from the current position to the destination is stored in the database 19. It calculates | requires based on the road network information memorize | stored. In the database 19, position information of nodes such as intersections and information indicating connection relations between the nodes are registered as road network information, so that the control unit 18 sequentially passes adjacent nodes from the current position. In addition, a route candidate that reaches the position of the alarm target candidate set as the destination is obtained, and one route that matches the condition is determined as a recommended route. As a recommended route condition, a route having the shortest distance between the routes is set as a recommended route. Further, the route that arrives in the shortest time instead of the shortest distance may be determined as the recommended route. Furthermore, when searching for a route, various conditions may be added, such as obtaining a general road with priority or obtaining a toll road with priority. As a method for calculating the recommended route, a known method such as a Dijkstra method can be used. Furthermore, the control part 18 calculates | requires the travel distance at the time of drive | working from the present position to the said warning object candidate along the determined recommended path | route. In the present embodiment, the recommended route is the route that has the shortest travel distance in the route up to the alarm target candidate, and therefore the travel distance obtained when making such determination is used.

  (3) The control unit 18 sets an alarm target to be alarmed when the travel distance traveled through the recommended route to reach the alarm target candidate is within a predetermined approach distance (for example, 2 km) (Condition 2) . Further, when the installation direction (monitoring direction) is registered in the alarm target, the control unit 18 has the travel distance within a predetermined approach distance and immediately before traveling on the recommended route and reaching the alarm target candidate. The alarm target that satisfies the alarm condition is extracted from the traveling direction of the vehicle and the installation direction of the alarm target, and is set as the alarm target to be alarmed (condition 3).

  For example, when the alarm target is a vehicle speed measuring device or the like, there is a monitoring area for measuring the traveling speed of the vehicle. When the vehicle speed measurement device emits microwaves, this monitoring area is a fixed distance from the vehicle speed measurement device within a predetermined angle range to the left and right with respect to the direction in which the antenna that emits the microwaves faces. Within the range. Therefore, if the vehicle speed measuring device approaches from the side opposite to the installation direction, the necessity of alarming the presence of the vehicle speed measuring device is low. Therefore, the direction of the vehicle speed measurement device (antenna) is registered as the installation direction, and whether the alarm target needs an alarm even if the distance to the alarm target candidate is short from the relationship with the traveling direction of the vehicle. Judgment can be made. As described above, the installation direction of the alarm target can specify the monitoring area, but is not limited to the range in which the microwave is emitted as described above, for example, only one of the up and down roads. When there is an alarm target to be monitored or the like, the direction in which one of the up / down roads extends may be set as the installation direction.

  Next, determination based on the above processes (1) to (3) will be described with specific examples. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, it is assumed that there are four items (satisfying condition 1) registered as alarm targets existing around the current position of the vehicle G (within radius r). Then, by executing the process (1), the control unit 18 extracts the four alarm targets as alarm target candidates K1 to K4. Subsequently, the control part 18 performs the process of (2), and carries out a route search for each of the alarm target candidates K1 to K4. That is, the control unit 18 searches the recommended route from the vehicle position by setting the alarm target candidate K1 as the destination. Then, for example, as shown in FIG. 6A, the control unit 18 determines a route R1 that turns left at the first T-shaped road and further left at the next cross road as a recommended route.

  Next, the control unit 18 searches for a recommended route from the vehicle position by setting the warning target candidate K2 as the destination, and after making a left turn on the first T-junction, for example, as shown in FIG. The route R2 that goes straight on is determined as the recommended route. Similarly, the control unit 18 searches for a recommended route from the vehicle position by setting the alarm target candidate K3 as a destination, and determines, for example, a route R3 as shown in FIG. 6C as a recommended route. Since the alarm target candidate K3 is set on the expressway, the vehicle traveling on the general road takes a route to enter the expressway after traveling to the interchange. Further, the control unit 18 next sets the warning target candidate K4 as a destination, searches for a recommended route from the vehicle position, and determines, for example, a route R4 as shown in FIG. 6D as a recommended route.

  Thereafter, the control unit 18 executes the process (3), and extracts alarm target candidates that satisfy the condition 2 or the condition 3. First, in the determination based on the travel distance traveled until reaching the alarm target candidate through the common recommended route under the conditions 2 and 3, the alarm target candidate K3 on the expressway is compared with the travel distance compared to the straight distance. Is far from the approach distance because it is too far away from the target to be alarmed. In this way, when the road type of the road that is currently traveling is different from the road where the alarm target is installed, it can be excluded from the alarm target in many cases without determining whether the road type matches or does not match.

  That is, in this type of radar detector, it is possible to switch between highway / general road / both and the like as a target to be notified. If “Both” is selected, it may be annoying if the alarm target is notified about the expressway when traveling only on ordinary roads. In this case, it is only necessary to select “general road” as a notification target, but switching of the setting is complicated and there is a risk of erroneous setting. Similarly, while traveling on a highway, it may be bothersome even if a warning target installed on a general road that runs concurrently is notified. In this case, it is only necessary to select “highway” as a notification target, but switching of the setting is complicated and there is a risk of erroneous setting. In addition, for example, if an alarm target is set at a point on a general road that is relatively close to the exit of the expressway, if the alarm target to be notified is set only on the highway, You will know the existence of the alarm object only after you enter. That is, there is a problem that the presence of the alarm target cannot be known near the exit on the expressway.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, when an alarm is issued on the condition that the travel distance traveled through the recommended route to reach the alarm target candidate is equal to or less than the approach distance, as shown in FIG. As described above, since the travel distance from the vehicle G traveling on the general road to the alarm target candidate K3 on the expressway is long, the alarm can be prevented from being issued. In addition, if a vehicle is present at the position of the alarm target candidate K3 (during traveling on the highway), the alarm target candidates K2 and K4 are actually close to the vehicle position although the straight line distance is very close. In order to reach the positions of the candidates K2 and K4, it is necessary to travel down the general road after returning to the general road at a far interchange exit, and the travel distance becomes very long. Therefore, the alarm target candidates K2 and K4 in such a case can also be excluded from the target to issue the alarm. On the other hand, although illustration is omitted, if the vehicle is traveling near the exit of the expressway, the travel distance to the alarm target installed on the first road around the exit should be at that exit. Since it is good, it becomes comparatively short and can be set as an alarm target that issues an alarm. Therefore, by judging based on the travel distance traveled through the recommended route to reach the target for warning, the warning target for different types of roads is usually warned while driving on general roads and expressways. The warning target that exists on the general road near the expressway exit while driving on the expressway, and vice versa, while the target road on the expressway is traveling on the general road near the entrance of the expressway. An alarm target near the entrance can be set as an alarm target.

  Further, in the case of the above-described example, since the installation direction is registered for all four alarm target candidates K1 to K4 (the arrow direction in the figure is monitored), does the control unit 18 satisfy condition 3? Judge whether or not. When the vehicle is traveling in the installation direction, the vehicle enters the monitoring area of the alarm target and is monitored as it proceeds. As an example, when the alarm target is, for example, a vehicle speed measuring device, the traveling speed of the host vehicle is measured, and when the alarm target is an N system, the license plate of the host vehicle is photographed.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 7A, when the traveling direction of the vehicle is opposite to the installation direction (monitoring direction) of the alarm target (the angle formed is 180 degrees), the warning is issued ahead of the traveling direction of the vehicle. It can be determined that there is an alarm target to be processed, and if it proceeds as it is, it can be determined that the alarm target monitoring area is entered. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the angle formed by the traveling direction of the vehicle and the installation direction of the monitoring target (monitoring direction) is 0 degree, the vehicle is traveling in the opposite direction to the alarm target, Even if the vehicle is moving toward the alarm target, the monitoring direction is different. Further, in the present embodiment, in the example shown in FIG. 7, when the angle is within a range of ± predetermined angle (for example, ± 90 degrees) with 180 degrees as the center, it is determined that the alarm is to be issued. Of course, the angle range is not limited to 90 degrees and can be set arbitrarily. A specific algorithm for determining whether or not the installation direction of the alarm target and the traveling direction of the vehicle have a predetermined angular relationship is realized by using, for example, a technique disclosed in JP-A-2002-228741 it can.

  And, what is important in this embodiment is that when traveling on the road where the alarm target is finally installed, what is the relationship between the traveling direction of the traveling vehicle and the monitoring direction of the alarm target? Is it? That is, for example, when attention is paid to the alarm target candidate K4, since the current traveling direction of the vehicle and the installation direction of the alarm target candidate K4 are substantially in the same direction, an alarm is issued based on the traveling direction of the vehicle at the current position. The result of the determination is that the alarm target is not to be alarmed, but when the alarm target candidate K4 is actually reached and passed in front of it, as shown by the route R4 in FIG. It becomes a warning object that should be alarmed.

  Further, focusing attention on the alarm target candidate K1, the current traveling direction of the vehicle and the installation direction of the alarm target candidate K1 are almost opposite to each other, so an alarm should be issued based on the traveling direction of the vehicle at the current position. Although the determination result is that it is an alarm target, when the alarm target candidate K1 is actually reached and passed in front of it, as shown by the route R1 in FIG. It will run in the same direction, and it will no longer be an alarm target that should issue an alarm.

  As a result, in the relationship between the traveling direction of the vehicle and the installation direction of the alarm target, the alarm target candidates K2 and K4 are the targets to issue an alarm, and the alarm target candidates K1 and K3 are not the targets to issue the alarm. Therefore, the control unit 18 extracts the alarm target candidates K2 and K4 as alarm targets that satisfy the condition 3.

  Of course, even in the conventional method disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-228741, when approaching the alarm target candidate K4, an alarm can be issued because the traveling direction of the vehicle is opposite to the installation direction of the alarm target. However, in this embodiment, an alarm can be issued from a position farther in advance. Further, in the above-described conventional method, the alarm target candidate K1 is once recognized as an object to be alarmed and an alarm is notified, and as the vehicle travels, it deviates from a predetermined angle range in front of the vehicle position. However, in this embodiment, since no alarm is issued from the beginning, it is possible to prevent an alarm / notification unnecessary for the driver.

  Further, the control unit 18 notifies the alarm target candidates K2 and K4 to be subjected to the alarm extracted in this manner using an alarm output unit such as the display unit 5, the lamp 6, and the speaker 20. The notification in this case can be basically the same as that conventionally known.

  That is, FIG. 8 occupies an example of the alarm screen based on the example shown in FIG. Here, two alarm target candidates K2 and K4 are set as actual alarm targets, and predetermined polygons are drawn at corresponding positions on the map in accordance with the alarm types registered in them.

  First, the layout of the screen area adopts a configuration in which a strip-shaped icon display area E2 is arranged above the rectangular main display area E1 that occupies most of the screen area. Of course, this icon display area E2 may or may not be provided at an appropriate position on the lower side or the left and right. The icon display area E2 includes an icon indicating the operation state of the apparatus, such as an icon I1 indicating that GPS is being received, and an icon I2 for notifying the type of alarm target. Such display is performed under the control of the control unit 18. Furthermore, the remaining distance to the alarm target is drawn on the right end of the icon display area E2. In order to make this remaining distance stand out, it may be drawn in a separate window at an appropriate position such as the lower right in the main display area E1. In this case, the current time or date and other information may be drawn at the right end of the icon display area E2. The remaining distance may be a linear distance as in the prior art, but is preferably a travel distance when a recommended route from the current position to the alarm target is taken. In this way, although the remaining distance value decreases (approaches), it matches the actual travel distance, so there is no sense of incongruity.

  The main display area E1 mainly indicates the positional relationship between the alarm target and the own vehicle, and is an area for displaying an object having a predetermined shape at each position. The display unit 5 draws each image or the like in a plurality of layers. Specifically, a background color is drawn on the lowermost layer. The background color is drawn with gradation so that the near side (the vehicle side: the lower side of the screen) becomes brighter, or drawn with a single color. Furthermore, the color is varied depending on the positional relationship with the alarm target. That is, when there is an alarm target but it is more than a certain distance (for example, 500 m or more), the base color is green, and when the distance to the alarm target is less than a certain distance, the base color is changed to a different color ( For example, change to “yellow”. Furthermore, when approaching, the driver can easily understand that he / she is approaching by changing the color as appropriate, such as based on red.

  This is the remaining distance to the alarm target as a reference for changing the color, but it may be based on the linear distance between the two as before, but preferably the travel distance when the recommended route from the current position to the alarm target is taken It is to do. By changing the color based on the distance traveled, even if the straight distance is very close as it exists on the adjacent road, the distance traveled by the recommended route to reach the candidate for the alarm In such a case, it is possible to make the driver understand that the vehicle does not arrive immediately by using the green base color.

  The control unit 18 calls the corresponding map data in the displayed space, and draws the map data (schematic road map) on the layer existing on the background color layer. And the control part 18 draws various objects in the layer above the drawing layer of the map data. An object (hereinafter referred to as “vehicle object”) Gob indicating the vehicle position is drawn at a predetermined position below the main display area R1. In the figure, a two-dimensional mark in which an arrow indicating the direction of travel is drawn in a circle is drawn. However, the own vehicle object Gob may be composed of a triangular pyramid or a quadrangular pyramid polygon and be more three-dimensional. In that case, when the control unit 18 draws the own vehicle object Gob, the apex of the triangular pyramid or the quadrangular pyramid faces the front in the traveling direction of the vehicle, and appears to be floating in the air. It is good to draw on (draw the shade below). In the following description, the control unit 18 draws each object and other images on the display screen of the display unit 5 even when there is no particular notice.

  When there is an alarm target to be alarmed in the displayed space, the alarm target object is drawn at a corresponding position on the screen. At this time, there are often a plurality of alarm targets registered in the database 19 in the vicinity. In this case, one that satisfies the condition is set as an actual alarm target (alarm target), and the alarm target object Kob is drawn at a position on the display screen corresponding to the position where the alarm target exists. For other alarm targets, the control unit 18 draws an object corresponding to the detected type of alarm target at a corresponding position as a POI (Point Of Interest) object Iob.

  In the figure, both the alarm target object Kob and the POI object Iob are two-dimensional marks in which a symbol indicating the type of the alarm target is described in a circle, and the alarm target object Kob can recognize its presence at a glance. This is indicated by a pair of triangular instruction marks. Further, in this alarm target object Kob, when the installation direction is registered, the direction is also indicated by an arrow. Thus, the driver can know at a glance whether or not there is an alarm target on the road on which the driver is scheduled to travel.

  Also, the alarm target object Kob and the POI object Iob may be drawn with a three-dimensional polygon in the same manner as the vehicle object. In this case, it is preferable that the alarm target object Kob has a three-dimensional shape imitating that related to the actual alarm target because its type can be understood more intuitively.

  Further, as a display mode of the alarm, a “guide line” connecting the own vehicle object Gob and the alarm target object Kob may be drawn in order to pay more attention to the presence of the alarm target object Kob. This guide line is drawn on or along the road on the route from the vehicle object Gob to the alarm target object Kob at both ends thereof in contact with or close to the vehicle object Gob and the alarm target object Kob. Is done.

  In particular, when there are a large number of POI objects Iob, it may be difficult to find an alarm target object at a glance. As shown in FIG. 8, it may be difficult to differentiate from other POI objects Iob only by adding triangular indication marks or blinking. In particular, in the case of a radar detector, car navigation Compared with the device, the area of the display portion is also small, so that the incomprehension becomes more remarkable. Therefore, it is preferable to connect the two with a dotted line or a guide line made of different colors. Then, the driver can easily find the alarm target object by following the guide line.

In this case, for example, as shown in FIGS. 9A to 9C, an animation is made so that the guide line S is shown as a dotted line from the own vehicle object Gob to the alarm target object Kob, and finally the tip of the alarm is alarmed. By reaching the target object Kob, the driver can easily understand the presence of the alarm target object Kob by watching the animation. In addition, the guide line S by the animation extends along the road, so it can be easily understood whether the driver himself is going to advance, and may be an alarm target to be careful or not related. Intuitively understand.
[Other recommended route determination methods]

  In the above-described embodiment, when obtaining a recommended route that is a reference for obtaining the travel distance in the process (2), the control unit 18 selects the shortest distance from a plurality of routes from the current position to the alarm target candidate. The route that satisfies the conditions is determined as the recommended route. When obtaining this recommended route, the installation direction used in Condition 3 may be taken into consideration. In other words, the general recommended route is to select the route with the shortest travel distance or the route that can be reached in a short time from among the many routes from the current point to the destination. As a condition at the time of selection, on a road where an alarm target candidate for which the installation direction is set exists, a route that travels toward the installation direction as a direction approaching the alarm target is set as a recommended route.

  Then, since the installation direction is already taken into account when obtaining the recommended route in this way, whether or not the alarm target to be issued in the above-described process (3) should be satisfied is satisfied. Do it. That is, the control unit 18 sets a traveling distance within a predetermined approaching distance (for example, 2 km) as a warning target to be warned, until a candidate for a warning target is reached through the recommended route.

  As an example, the alarm target candidate K1 uses a route from the left side instead of the route from the right side as shown in FIG. That is, in FIG. 6 (a), the travel distance is calculated as reaching the candidate for the alarm on a route (clockwise) from the opposite side to the current traveling direction, and if the distance is 2 km or more, the alarm Do not target.

[Determining whether an alarm should be issued based on the number of turns]
In the embodiment and the modification described above, the determination algorithm is based on the travel distance when the recommended route is traveled, as the determination algorithm as to whether or not the alarm is to be issued using the road network information. There is no limitation, and various methods can be used. As an example, there is one that performs the following (1), (2), (3) ′.

  (1) First, the control unit 18 extracts an alarm target existing within a radius r (for example, 1 km, 2 km) from the own vehicle position (current position) (condition 1). This can be executed by the same algorithm as the extraction processing of the alarm target existing around the current position based on the conventional linear distance, and the extracted alarm target is set as the alarm target candidate.

  (2) Next, the control unit 18 performs a route search from the current position to each alarm target candidate. In this case, the position information of each alarm target candidate is sequentially set as the position information of the destination, and the recommended route from the current position to the destination is obtained based on the road network information stored in the database 19. As a method for calculating the recommended route, a known method such as a Dijkstra method can be used.

  Although detailed description of the processing up to (1) and (2) is omitted, it is the same as described above. Further, when obtaining the recommended route in this process (2), it may be obtained in consideration of the installation direction of the condition 3 as in the above-described modification.

  (3) 'Next, the number of intersections that turn left and right when traveling from the current position to the alarm target candidate on the recommended route is obtained. Alarm target candidates whose number of intersections is n times or more (the number of intersections that pass straight through are not counted) are not alarm targets that should be alerted. In other words, an alarm target candidate having the number of intersections less than n times is set as an alarm target that issues an alarm. That is, in a case where the vehicle travels on a complicated route that does not reach the alarm target unless it makes a right or left turn at n or more intersections, there is a high possibility that the road on which the alarm target is actually set will not pass. In particular, even when the straight distance is close, there is a high possibility that the user will not go to the installation location of the alarm target in a case where it is necessary to turn the intersection many times in order to go there. Therefore, since it is difficult for the driver to give a warning which is unnecessary for the driver to notify the alarm target, the alarm target is not set as an alarm target.

  Thereby, it is possible to extract an alarm object that is relatively easy to reach (highly likely to reach) from alarm objects existing around a certain distance within a straight line distance, and to issue an alarm. In other words, by avoiding alarms that are unlikely to actually reach among the alarm objects that exist in the surrounding area, the number of alarm objects to be alarmed can be effectively reduced, and what is necessary for the driver can be reduced. It is possible to notify appropriately. Of course, even if it is less than n times, when the installation direction of the alarm target is set, there is provided a function for discriminating whether or not to make an alarm based on the angular relationship with the traveling direction of the immediately preceding road. May be.

  Further, it is preferable that n is 2 because an alarm target installed on another road that is parallel or close to the road on which the vehicle is traveling is not set as an alarm target that issues an alarm. That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 10A, when the vehicle G is traveling on the left road, it is assumed that the alarm target K is installed on the right road parallel thereto. In this case, if the vehicle is going straight on the left road, it will not reach the alarm target K on the right road. This alarm is useless, and it feels intrusive when alarmed.

  As is clear from FIG. 10 (a), in order for the vehicle G to travel along the recommended route and reach the alarm target K, it is necessary to turn twice at the intersection A and then at the intersection B. . Without being limited to this example, in the case where there are two roads that are substantially parallel (not intersecting), in order for a vehicle traveling on one road to reach the other road, at least because it deviates from the traveling road Change the direction of travel at the intersection on the road you are driving (right / left), and then you need to make a right or left turn at the intersection on the other road to enter the other road, so at least twice Will change the course. On the other hand, when there is an alarm target on a road that intersects with the traveling road, such as the alarm target candidate K2 exemplified in the above-described embodiment, the vehicle only needs to bend the intersection on the traveling road once. This may cause a situation that faces the alarm target.

  Therefore, by setting n = 2, it is possible to know the alarm target installed at the end of the intersection or the like before turning, and the alarm target installed on another parallel road or the like need not be notified. .

  In the case shown in FIG. 10 (a), as shown in FIG. 10 (b), when turning right at the intersection A, the recommended route from the current position of the vehicle G to the alarm target K is the intersection B. If you turn left once, you will reach the alarm target K, and you will be alerted at that time.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 10 (a), when traveling on the left road, there is an alarm target on the left road, and the travel target to the alarm target is installed on the right side. Even if it is longer than the travel distance to K, it is necessary to turn twice to the alarm target K, so the control unit 18 warns about the alarm target installed on the left road.

  In addition, regarding the way of alarming the display unit, when there are a plurality of alarm targets in the surrounding area, it is preferable to sort in order of decreasing number of turns, and rank so as to increase the priority as the number of such times decreases. When the number of times is the same, the closer the distance to the alarm target is, the higher the priority is. Of course, priority may be given in consideration of the priority according to the type of alarm target.

[Judgment based on time]
As another algorithm for determining whether or not an alarm target should be issued, an estimated time until the alarm target is reached may be used. That is, the control unit 18 obtains a recommended route by the method described in each of the above-described embodiments and modifications. And the control part 18 calculates | requires the prediction time until it reaches | attains a warning object, when driving | running | working on the calculated | required recommended route, and when the prediction time is below the preset reference value, it determines to the warning object which should issue a warning. The predicted time may be calculated by using, for example, probe information of a traffic jam acquired by VICS or communication.

[Alarm mode for display unit]
As shown in FIG. 11, with respect to the alarm target existing around the condition 2 or 3, the alarm information drawn on the virtual signboard 51 may be drawn so as to overlap in the front-rear direction with a depth. . Here, the alarm information described in the virtual signboard 51 is the type of the alarm target, the information specifying the installation location, and the remaining distance, but does not prevent other information from being displayed. Then, for example, when traveling on a straight road, the virtual signboard 51 is drawn smaller toward the back side so that there is a depth, imitating a scene where the intersection guide plates installed at a plurality of intersections from the front side to the back side can be seen. . Thereby, the level of priority can be recognized at a glance. Moreover, since the priority order of each alarm target also changes when the route changes with traveling, in such a case, the virtual signboard 51 may be rearranged before and after the priority order.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment and the modified example, those that do not satisfy the condition are not drawn on the display unit 5 as an alarm target that should not issue an alarm, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the display mode is not limited to this. You may make it draw by changing. That is, an object that does not satisfy the condition is prevented from being at least an alarm target object Kob (that notifies detailed alarm information). Furthermore, it is preferable that the content is also a POI (Point Of Interest) object Iob. For alarm targets that satisfy the condition 1 but are candidates for the alarm target but do not satisfy the conditions 2 and 3, a simple object (a simple form such as a circle or a small radius of the circle) is set at the corresponding position. Draw). Thus, the driver can know that there is some alarm, although it does not fall under the alarm target to be alarmed.

  In the above-described embodiment and modification, an example in which the present invention is applied to a radar detector as an electronic device has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be incorporated as a function of a car navigation device or other electronic devices.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment and modification, the apparatus includes a database 19 that stores various types of information, and the control unit 18 accesses the database 19 to read out necessary information and performs various types of processing. The invention is not limited to this. That is, part or all of the information registered in the database 19 is registered in the server. The radar detector and other electronic devices / devices may have a function of communicating with the server, and the control unit 18 may access the server as appropriate, acquire necessary information, and execute a process.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case main body 2 Solar panel 4 Microwave receiver 5 Display part 6 Lamp 7 Infrared communication device 8 GPS receiver 9 Adapter jack 10 Power switch 11 Mobile phone 12 Memory card reader 14 Memory card 15 Wireless receiver 16 Remote control receiver 17 Remote control 18 Control unit 19 Database 20 Speaker

Claims (13)

Position acquisition means for acquiring the current position of the vehicle;
Notification to the notification means when the current position of the vehicle acquired by the position acquisition means and the position information of the alarm target acquired by accessing the position storage means for storing the position information of the alarm target have a predetermined approach relationship Control means for controlling;
In a system comprising:
The control means obtains a route from the current position of the vehicle to the alarm target using the road network information acquired by accessing a map data storage means for storing road network information, and the approach based on the obtained route A system characterized by determining the presence or absence of a relationship.   2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit obtains a distance when the vehicle travels along the route, and determines the presence or absence of the approach relationship based on the distance.   The system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit obtains a time required when the vehicle travels along the route, and determines the presence or absence of the approaching relationship based on the time. (Original claim 3)
The system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit obtains the number of intersections that bend when the vehicle travels along the route, and determines the presence or absence of the approach relationship based on the number.   The system according to claim 4, wherein the control means determines that an alarm target having two or more turning intersections does not give a normal alarm.   The control means extracts, from the current position and position information of the alarm target, an alarm target that exists in a circle or a sector area having a radius of a predetermined distance centered on the current position as an alarm target candidate, and extracts the extracted alarm The system according to claim 1, wherein the route to the target candidate is obtained, and an alarm target to be notified by the notification unit is determined based on the obtained route.   The system according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined distance is equal to or less than a distance at which an approach relationship is determined when the presence or absence of the approach relationship is determined based on a distance when traveling on the route. .   In the case of an alarm target that is better to issue an alarm when the alarm target approaches from a specific direction, direction information indicating the specific direction is registered in a predetermined storage unit in association with the alarm target, and the control unit Determines whether to give a normal warning based on the traveling direction of the vehicle when traveling on the road where the alarm target is installed and the direction information. The system according to claim 1. If it is better to issue an alarm when the alarm object approaches from a specific direction, register the direction information indicating the specific direction in a predetermined storage means in association with the alarm object,
The road is a road that has a warning target for which direction information is set, and a route that proceeds toward the installation direction is selected as a direction approaching the warning target. Item 9. The system according to any one of Items 1 to 8. The control means controls an alarm according to a remaining distance to a predetermined alarm target,
The system according to claim 1, wherein the remaining distance is set to be equal to or less than a distance when traveling from the current position to the predetermined alarm target along the route. The notification means includes a display unit,
The control means draws a road map based on the road network information on the display unit, draws an object corresponding to the current position on the road map and the presence position of the alarm target, and the current position The system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein a guide line connecting an object indicating the vehicle drawn on the object and an object indicating the alarm target is drawn along the obtained route. The notification means includes a display unit,
The control means draws a display board for displaying information on the alarm target on the display unit,
12. When there are a plurality of the alarm objects, the respective display boards for the plurality of alarm objects are drawn so that the set high priority objects are on the near side. A system according to any of the above.   The program for making a computer implement | achieve the function of the control means in the system in any one of Claims 1-12.

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