JP2015004607A - Navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation device for presenting a current state of congestion together with a future trend of congestion.SOLUTION: Due to that the navigation device is provided with a congestion information processing unit 14 for analyzing, on the basis of traffic information acquired by a traffic information acquisition unit 11, the current location of a vehicle, and map data, information about congestion included in the traffic information and determining a congestion situation including at least the current state of congestion and a future trend of congestion and an output control unit 16 for having the determined congestion situation displayed on a display unit 6 in superposition on the map data, the current state of congestion is presented together with a future trend showing whether the congestion will stagnate and will be gradually eased or whether the congestion will continue to grow and increase in the distance of congestion, allowing a driver to grasp congestion information in greater detail, choose an optimum path referring to the congestion information, and travel more comfortably than otherwise possible.

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device that provides route guidance to a destination in a vehicle such as an automobile.

  In general, a navigation device mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile performs a route search to a set destination based on the vehicle position and map data, and displays or sounds to a user such as a driver. Provide route guidance.

  At this time, road traffic information communication system (VICS: Vehicle Information Communication System (VICS is a registered trademark / hereinafter abbreviated)) data is received and the congestion status of the route (road) being guided is displayed on, for example, a map. The user (driver) displays traffic information (congestion information). For example, the arrow indicating the direction drawn along the road is displayed in red if it is congested, orange if it is congested, and blue if it is flowing smoothly. Accident information, construction information, etc.).

  However, the update of VICS data is usually about every 5 minutes, even about 1 minute even on a highway, so the latest data is not received, and the traffic information is constantly There is a problem that the user feels dissatisfied with the traffic information presented by the user because the traffic is constantly changing and the traffic jam is resolved when the point is reached, or on the contrary, the traffic jam is long.

  In order to deal with such a problem, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses that when VICS data included in FM multiplex broadcasting is received and traffic information (congestion information, accident information, construction information, etc.) is displayed on a map. In addition, a navigation device that displays on the screen whether the traffic information is the latest or is not updated is disclosed.

JP 2002-228461 A

  However, in the conventional navigation device as shown in Patent Document 1, for example, it is only possible to determine whether the presented traffic information is the latest or old, even if it is the latest information. However, there is a problem that the user may be dissatisfied with the presented traffic jam information, such as when the distance of the traffic jam is gradually increased due to the road conditions that were crowded at that time.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and whether the current traffic jam state tends to be settled by stagnation, or whether the traffic jam continues to increase after that. It is an object of the present invention to provide a navigation device that presents a future traffic jam trend indicating whether the distance tends to increase.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a traffic information acquisition unit that acquires traffic information including at least traffic jam information in a navigation device that provides route guidance to a destination based on the current position of a vehicle and map data. Based on the traffic information acquired by the traffic information acquisition unit, the current position of the vehicle, and the map data, road information around the current position of the vehicle and traffic congestion information in the traveling direction of the vehicle included in the traffic information. A traffic jam information processing unit for determining a traffic jam situation including at least a current traffic jam state and a future traffic jam trend, and a traffic jam status display corresponding to the traffic jam situation determined by the traffic jam information processing unit in the map data And an output control unit that overlaps and displays on the display unit.

  According to the present invention, along with the current traffic congestion state, whether the traffic jam tends to stagnate and gradually disappear, or whether the traffic jam distance tends to increase afterwards, or whether the traffic jam tends to increase. Since the information is also presented, the driver can grasp the traffic information in more detail, select the optimum route with reference to the traffic information, and drive more comfortably.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device in Embodiment 1. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing traffic jam information processing of the navigation device in the first embodiment. It is a correspondence table | surface which shows the positive / negative combination of time change rate f '(t) and f "(t), and the traffic congestion condition type AD corresponding to it. It is a figure which shows the example of the transition of the traffic jam for demonstrating the relationship between time and the distance (length) of traffic jam, and traffic jam condition type AD corresponding to it. It is a table explaining the details of the traffic congestion status for each traffic congestion status type. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen which displayed the traffic congestion condition superimposed on the map displayed on the display part. It is the list of the example which showed the method of the traffic congestion status display superimposed on the map displayed on the display part for every traffic congestion status type. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing that voice output and character output are performed when a user operation is further performed in a screen example in which a traffic jam situation is superimposed and displayed on a map displayed on a display unit.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. This navigation device is a navigation device that is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile and performs route guidance to a destination based on the current position of the vehicle and map data, and includes a traffic information reception unit 1 and a vehicle position detection unit 2. A map data storage unit 3, a control unit 4, an operation unit 5, a display unit 6, and an audio output unit 7.

  The traffic information receiving unit 1 receives traffic information (congestion information, accident information, construction information, etc.) from VICS (Vehicle Information Communication System) data such as an FM multiplex receiving unit and a beacon receiving unit. .

  For example, in the case of an FM multiplex receiver, an FM tuner (not shown) for FM radio broadcast reception and a VICS decoder (not shown) for decoding VICS data included in the FM multiplex broadcast are provided. I have. Further, it may be a beacon receiving unit that receives traffic information transmitted from an optical beacon device or a radio beacon device installed on a road.

The own vehicle position detection unit 2 acquires longitude / latitude information using, for example, GPS (Global Positioning System), and detects the position of the own vehicle.
The map data storage unit 3 stores map data including information such as maps, roads, and buildings.

The control unit 4 includes a traffic information acquisition unit 11, a host vehicle position acquisition unit 12, a map data acquisition unit 13, a traffic jam information processing unit 14, a navigation unit 15, and an output control unit 16.
The traffic information acquisition unit 11 acquires traffic information (congestion information, accident information, construction information, etc.) including at least traffic jam information received by the traffic information reception unit 1.
The own vehicle position acquisition unit 12 acquires the current position information of the own vehicle detected by the own vehicle position detection unit 2.

  The map data acquisition unit 13 acquires map data from the map data storage unit 3. In this embodiment, the map data storage unit 3 is described as a storage medium such as an HDD or an SD card. However, instead of the map data storage unit 3, map data is received from a server or the like via the Internet. You may comprise so that it may acquire.

  The traffic information processing unit 14 includes the traffic information acquired by the traffic information acquisition unit 11, the vehicle position information acquired by the vehicle position acquisition unit 12 (the current position of the vehicle), and the map acquired by the map data acquisition unit 13. Based on the data, the road around the vehicle position included in the traffic information and the traffic information in the traveling direction are analyzed, and the traffic situation including at least the current traffic condition and the future traffic tendency is determined. Details of this process will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The navigation unit 15 is based on the own vehicle position information acquired by the own vehicle position acquisition unit 12 and the map data acquired by the map data acquisition unit 13 to reach the destination set by the user via the operation unit 5. Provide route guidance. Note that this processing is a navigation function processing that is generally performed, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  The output control unit 16 causes the route guidance processing result by the navigation unit 15 to be displayed on the map, and also displays the traffic jam status display corresponding to the traffic jam status determined by the traffic jam information processing unit 14 to the map data. The display unit 6 is instructed. In addition, an operation for outputting the route guidance processing result to the audio output unit 7 such as a speaker or requesting detailed information for the displayed traffic congestion status display is performed by the user via the operation unit 5. In this case, the voice output unit 7 is instructed to output the detailed traffic jam information explaining the traffic jam situation as voice, or the display unit 6 is instructed to present the information as character information.

  The operation unit 5 can be input by a user such as a remote controller or a touch key. For example, a destination setting or a scroll display instruction operation is performed. It is also used for performing an instruction operation to output the traffic information displayed on the display unit 6 as a voice. In this embodiment, the operation unit 5 is described as a touch key.

  The display unit 6 presents information to the user in response to an instruction from the output control unit 16 such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an organic EL display, and data such as maps, roads, buildings, etc. The location, route search, route guidance results are displayed, and traffic jam information is displayed. Moreover, it is a display integrated touch panel, Comprising: For example, you may be comprised from LCD and a touch sensor.

  The voice output unit 7 receives information from the output control unit 16 such as a speaker and presents information to the user. The voice output unit 7 outputs route guidance by voice or displays traffic information displayed on the display unit 6. When the user gives a touch instruction via the operation unit 5, the traffic situation is output by voice.

  The navigation device also includes a ROM for storing a program (firmware) in the control unit 4 and a RAM for temporarily storing data (such as data included in the received VICS information). Needless to say, illustration and description are omitted here.

  Next, the traffic jam information processing of this navigation device will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing traffic jam information processing of the navigation device according to the first embodiment.

First, the traffic information acquisition unit 11 acquires VICS information from the traffic information reception unit 1 such as an FM multiplex reception unit or a beacon reception unit (step ST1).
The traffic jam information processing unit 14 determines whether or not the VICS information acquired in step ST1 includes traffic information on the surrounding road and the traveling direction (step ST2). This traffic jam information includes information for deriving the traffic jam position and traffic jam distance (length).

  If the acquired VICS information does not include traffic jam information (NO in step ST2), the process returns to step ST1, and if the traffic congestion information is included (YES in step ST2), the acquired traffic jam Is stored in the RAM (step ST3). At this time, the stored information is stored as “congestion distance f (t)” which is a function depending on time t. Further, when the traffic jam information of a plurality of locations is acquired, the traffic jam distance (length) is stored separately for each location.

  Based on the traffic jam information obtained at each time t, the traffic jam information processing unit 14 calculates the time change rate f ′ (t) and f ′ (t) from the function f (t) related to the traffic jam distance depending on the time t. ) (Time change rate f ″ (t)) Since the acquired distance (length) of the traffic jam is a discrete value, each time change rate is expressed as a difference as shown in equations (1) and (2). To derive.

f ′ (t) = (f (t) −f (t−Δt)) / Δt (1)

f ″ (t) = (f ′ (t) −f ′ (t−Δt)) / Δt (2)

  Note that Δt is a VICS information reception time interval. In this way, the time change rate f ′ (t) of the traffic jam distance f (t) is calculated from the difference between the current traffic jam distance (length) and the previous traffic jam distance (length). . Similarly, the time change rate f ″ (t) of the time change rate f ′ (t) is calculated from the difference between the time change rates f ′ (t). Therefore, in order to derive f ″ (t). Needs to receive traffic information at least three times.

  Therefore, it is determined whether or not the traffic jam information has been acquired three times or more (step ST4). If the traffic jam information has not been acquired three or more times (NO in step ST4), the process returns to step ST1 and further traffic jam information is acquired. To do.

  On the other hand, when traffic jam information has been acquired three times or more (in the case of YES in step ST4), first, the time change rates f ′ (t0) and f ″ (t0) at a certain time t = t0 are calculated. (Step ST5) From the positive / negative combination of f ′ (t0) and f ″ (t0), it is determined which traffic jam situation corresponds to the traffic jam situation type shown in FIG. 3 (step ST6).

  FIG. 3 is an example of a correspondence table showing the positive / negative combinations of the time change rates f ′ (t) and f ″ (t) and the traffic congestion status types A to D corresponding thereto. Has correspondence table.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a traffic jam transition for explaining the relationship between the time and the traffic jam distance (length) and the traffic jam status types A to D corresponding thereto, and shows a traffic jam distance f ( The relationship between the time change rate f ′ (t) of t) and the positive / negative combination of the time change rate f ″ (t) is also shown.

FIG. 5 is a table for explaining the details of the traffic congestion status for each traffic congestion status type.
In the traffic jam type A, the traffic jam situation shown as A in the graph of FIG. 4 (b), that is, the current traffic jam state has been relaxed (decreased), and the relaxation (decrease) will continue in the future. This indicates that there is a high possibility of going.

  The traffic congestion status type B is a traffic congestion status around B indicated in the graph of FIG. 4A or B indicated in the graph of FIG. 4B, that is, the current traffic congestion state is alleviated (decreased). However, the mitigation (decrease) is likely to stagnate in the future. In other words, it indicates that there is a high possibility that the current congestion state will continue or the congestion will increase again in the future.

  The traffic congestion status type C is increased in the traffic congestion status around C indicated in the graph of FIG. 4A or indicated as C in the graph of FIG. However, the increase is likely to stagnate in the future. That is, it indicates that there is a high possibility that the traffic congestion state similar to the current one will continue or the traffic congestion will decrease in the future.

  The traffic jam status type D indicates that the traffic jam situation indicated as D in the graph of FIG. 4A, that is, the current traffic jam status has increased, and there is a high possibility that the traffic jam will continue to increase in the future. Show.

  In this way, it is determined to which traffic situation the current traffic condition and the future traffic trend (trend of traffic change) correspond. Then, the traffic congestion state determined in step ST6 is displayed in duplicate on the road on the map (step ST7).

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen in which a traffic jam situation is superimposed on the map displayed on the display unit 6. 6 (a) and 6 (b), there is a traffic jam in the traveling direction on the road 21 on the guide route on which the host vehicle 20 is traveling, and the traffic jam is increasing. The example of a display screen in the case of the traffic jam condition D (refer FIG. 5) which tends to do is shown.

  FIG. 6A shows the traffic congestion status display 31 in the case of the traffic congestion status D by blinking red, and visually gives the user an impression that the traffic congestion has increased and will continue to increase in the future. ing. In FIG. 6B, the traffic congestion status display 31 in the case of the traffic congestion status D is not blinking, but a gradation is added to red so that the farther forward direction (position far from the own vehicle 20) is more. The dark red color visually gives the user an impression that the increase in traffic congestion is even worse.

  6 (a) and 6 (b), there is a branched road 22 that is different from the guide route in the traveling direction of the road 21 on which the host vehicle 20 is traveling. Although the traffic congestion is increasing, the traffic congestion state C (see FIG. 5) in which the increase tends to stagnate in the future is shown.

  In FIG. 6 (a), as the traffic congestion status display 32 in the case of the traffic congestion status C, red and yellow are alternately displayed on the road so that the traffic congestion is currently increasing. Is visually giving the user an impression that is stagnating. Further, in FIG. 6B, the traffic congestion status display 32 in the case of the traffic congestion status C is displayed in red to indicate that the current traffic congestion state is increasing. By making the person (a position far from the vehicle 20) lighter red, the user is visually given the impression that the increase in traffic congestion is gradually alleviated.

FIG. 7 is a list of examples showing how to display a traffic jam condition to be superimposed on the map displayed on the display unit for each traffic jam type.
The traffic status display, such as the color of the traffic status and the blinking status, can be anything that visually gives the user an impression that the traffic is alleviating or even worse (increased). However, FIG. 7 shows an example.

The display pattern 1 is the same as the traffic congestion status displays 31 and 32 shown in FIG. 6A. In the traffic congestion status A, the yellow that gives the impression that the current traffic congestion is alleviated, and the relaxation is Green that gives the impression of continuing (decreasing) is displayed alternately.
Further, in the case of the traffic jam situation B, the yellow color that gives the impression that the current traffic jam is alleviated blinks, giving the impression that the relaxation is stagnant (will increase in the future).

In the case of the traffic jam situation C, a red color giving an impression that the current traffic jam is increasing and a yellow color giving the impression that the increase is stagnant are displayed alternately.
In the case of the traffic jam situation D, the red color giving the impression that the current traffic jam is increasing blinks, giving the impression that it will further increase in the future.

  As another display pattern, for example, as shown in display pattern 2 of FIG. 7, in the case of traffic congestion status types A and B, yellow, traffic congestion status type C, which gives the impression that the current traffic congestion state is moderate, In the case of D, a red color that gives an impression that the current congestion state is increasing is displayed.

  In addition, in the case of traffic condition type A, in order to give an impression that the future traffic condition will be eased (decreased), a gradation is added so that the farther from the vehicle position, the lighter yellow it will be. In the case of the situation type B, a gradation is added so that the farther away from the vehicle position, the darker the yellow, the deeper the traffic situation will be stagnant (in the future, it will increase).

  Similarly, in the case of traffic condition type C, a gradation is added so that the farther away from the vehicle position, the lighter the color will be in order to give the impression that the future traffic condition will stagnate (the increase in traffic congestion will stagnate). In the case of the traffic condition type D, a gradation is added so that the farther away from the vehicle position, the darker the red color is, in order to give an impression that the traffic condition will increase in the future.

  In this way, in step ST7 of FIG. 2, according to the traffic congestion status types A to D, it is possible to impress the user in an easy-to-understand manner, including the current traffic congestion state and the future traffic congestion trend (trend of traffic congestion change). In such a way, the color, blinking, or gradation is changed according to each traffic situation so that the traffic situation display is displayed on the road on the map.

  Further, when there is an operation for requesting more detailed information (in the case of YES in step ST8), the detailed traffic congestion information is output as voice or displayed as character information to the user. Present (step ST9).

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing that voice output and character output are performed when there is a further user operation in a screen example in which a traffic jam situation is superimposed on the map displayed on the display unit 6.
For example, when the traffic situation is displayed on the display unit 6 as shown in FIG. 6A, the user touches the traffic status display 31 that is flashing red as shown in FIG. 8A. When the detailed information is requested, for example, detailed information such as “congestion distance 5 km. Congestion is increasing and is expected to increase in the future” is output.

  FIG. 8B is an example of a display screen when detailed traffic jam information is displayed as character information instead of voice. For example, when the traffic situation is displayed as shown in FIG. 6A, when the user requests detailed information by touching the traffic situation display 32 in which red and yellow are alternately displayed, Traffic jam detail display 41 is displayed with text information “congestion distance: 5 km, which is slightly increased at present but is scheduled to increase soon.”

  Then, after the traffic jam situation is displayed in duplicate in step ST7, there is no request for detailed information (in the case of NO in step ST8), or after further detailed traffic jam information is presented in step ST9, the process returns to step ST1, By acquiring the VICS traffic jam information and updating the time change rate of the traffic jam distance f (t), it is possible to grasp a more accurate traffic jam situation.

  Thereby, for example, even when a traffic jam occurs on the travel route of the own vehicle, the user can grasp the traffic jam status more accurately, and the traffic jam is, for example, a traffic jam status type A Since there is a high possibility that traffic congestion will be resolved, users can obtain advantageous information for route search, such as expecting that a person who has traveled the route without going through a detour can arrive at the destination in a short time. Thus, it is possible to select a more appropriate route and perform efficient operation.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, along with the current traffic jam state, whether the traffic jam tends to stagnate and gradually disappear, or continue to increase and the traffic jam distance tends to increase. The future trend of whether or not there is also presented, so the driver can grasp the traffic information in more detail, select the optimal route with reference to the traffic information, and drive more comfortably.

  In the present invention, any constituent element of the embodiment can be modified or any constituent element of the embodiment can be omitted within the scope of the invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Traffic information receiving part, 2 Own vehicle position detection part, 3 Map data memory | storage part, 4 Control part, 5 Operation part, 6 Display part, 7 Sound output part, 11 Traffic information acquisition part, 12 Own vehicle position acquisition part, 13 Map data acquisition unit, 14 traffic jam information processing unit, 15 navigation unit, 16 output control unit, 20 own vehicle (own vehicle mark), 21 road on route guidance, 22 branched road different from guidance route, 31, 32 Congestion status display, traffic information details display with 41 character information.

Claims (5)

In a navigation device that provides route guidance to a destination based on the current position of the vehicle and map data,
A traffic information acquisition unit that acquires traffic information including at least traffic jam information;
Based on the traffic information acquired by the traffic information acquisition unit, the current position of the vehicle, and the map data, road information around the current position of the vehicle and traffic congestion information in the traveling direction of the vehicle included in the traffic information. A traffic jam information processing unit that determines a traffic jam situation including at least a current traffic jam status and a future traffic jam trend,
A navigation device comprising: an output control unit configured to display a traffic congestion status display corresponding to the traffic congestion status determined by the traffic congestion information processing unit on the display unit so as to overlap the map data. The traffic jam information includes information for deriving the traffic jam position and the traffic jam distance,
Based on the traffic jam information obtained at each time t, the traffic jam information processing unit calculates the time change rate f ′ (t) of the function f (t) related to the traffic jam distance depending on the time t and the time rate of change f ″. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein (t) is calculated. The navigation device according to claim 2, wherein the traffic jam information processing unit determines the traffic jam situation from a positive / negative combination of the f ′ (t) and f ″ (t). The output control unit changes the color, blinking, or gradation according to the traffic jam status, and displays the traffic jam status display. The navigation device according to item. When the operation for requesting detailed information is performed on the traffic jam status display displayed on the display unit, the output control unit outputs the traffic jam status corresponding to the traffic jam status display by voice or text information. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein

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