JP2018138907A - On-vehicle device and method for showing route - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an on-vehicle device which allows a driver to know facilities used for navigation.SOLUTION: An on-vehicle device 10 shows a route to a destination, and includes: current position detection means 11 for detecting a current position; route showing means 12 for showing a route, using facilities, when a driver was determined to come to a point where a navigation starts, on the basis of the current position; and facility announcing means 15 for announcing the navigation using the facilities before the point.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle device and a route guidance method.

  An in-vehicle device may guide a vehicle to a destination along a route. Such an in-vehicle device guides a right turn, a left turn, or a change of a driving lane slightly before a point where the vehicle changes its course. However, in the guidance only before the course is changed, the driver may miss the guidance or may not be able to respond.

  For this reason, the technique which makes a driver | operator grasp | ascertain the facility used as the standard of course change is considered before the point to change course (for example, refer patent document 1). Patent Document 1 discloses an in-vehicle navigation device that displays an icon of a facility searched by a driver on a route.

JP 2006-329678 A

  However, even if a facility icon is displayed as in Patent Document 1, if the driver does not know which facility is in the driver's field of view when traveling, the facility icon There is a problem that the driver cannot find the corresponding actual facility. For example, even if a supermarket icon that exists only in a rural area is displayed, the driver may not be able to find the supermarket in reality. In this case, the driver does not notice that the vehicle has passed the supermarket, and may not be able to handle the guidance slightly before the route change. Details will be described with reference to FIGS.

<Signal countdown>
First, a route guidance method called traffic signal countdown will be described. The traffic signal countdown is a guidance method for informing the driver of the grace period until some operation performed for the driver to move along the route by the number of traffic lights. Any operation may be any operation such as a course change, curve traveling, or deceleration.

  FIG. 1A is an example of a diagram illustrating a traffic light countdown. In FIG. 1 (a), a message 44 saying “the intersection with the second signal is in the right direction” is outputted as a voice, and the road shape schematically shows the road that is running. The in-vehicle device of the vehicle 8 sets a route 43 to the destination for turning right at “XX intersection”. The in-vehicle device displays the number of intersections until a right turn is displayed on the display or outputs a sound, thereby notifying the number of traffic lights until the driver makes a right turn. Since there are two traffic lights from the current location of the vehicle 8 in FIG. 1A to “XX intersection”, the in-vehicle device, for example, displays a message 44 “To the right, the XX intersection with the second signal”. Output. By counting down the number of signals notified each time the driver passes the signal, the driver can reliably identify the “XX intersection” that makes a right turn.

  However, in the traffic signal countdown, there is a disadvantage that it is difficult for the driver to know where the number of traffic signals starting from is notified. This will be described with reference to FIG. The vehicle 8 in FIG. 1B is approaching the first signal. In this state, for example, when the in-vehicle device outputs a message 44 that says “the intersection with the second signal is on the right”, the number of traffic lights up to “XX intersection” is two during the voice output. Therefore, it is difficult for the driver to determine whether or not to include the passing signal in the count. Therefore, it is considered to use some starting point for the traffic signal countdown.

  FIG. 2 is an example of a diagram illustrating a traffic light countdown using a starting point. In FIG. 2, the message 44 is output by voice, and the road shape schematically shows the road that is running. 2 is substantially the same as FIG. 1A, but a facility called “Toyosan” exists on the right side in the direction of travel of the vehicle 8 and faces the route 43.

  Since the in-vehicle device outputs a message 44 “Toyosan passes through Toyosan, right at XX intersection”, the driver finds the actual “Toyosan” from the front. After passing "Toyosan", it can be understood that it is only necessary to turn right at the second traffic light. From “Toyosan” as a starting point, you can know how much time is left before the course is changed, and you can change the course with a margin. In this way, the facility that is the starting point for counting the number of traffic lights in the traffic light countdown is referred to as a “starting facility”. The driver can easily grasp where the number of traffic lights should be counted down by finding the starting facility 40 that actually exists.

  By the way, the starting facility 40 is preferably a facility with little change in closing and opening. This is because if the facility used by the in-vehicle device for guidance is already closed or another facility with the same name is opened, the driver cannot identify these facilities. In addition, although it is preferable that the facility is commonly known to many drivers, it can be said that the facility related to the vehicle 8 is preferable because the driver is driving the vehicle 8. From the above, a car dealer or a gas station is often adopted as the starting facility 40. Since car dealers or gas station facilities are prominently equipped with signs and the like, it is considered that many drivers can easily find actual facilities.

  However, it is also true that there are car dealers and gas stations that are not well known. For example, if it is a car dealer, it corresponds to a car dealer of an imported car that is not sold so much, and if it is a gas station, it corresponds to a gas station that exists only in the region. Therefore, when these are adopted as the starting facility 40 and the traffic signal countdown message 44 is output as voice, the driver may find it difficult to find the actual facility.

  If the driver sees the road map displayed on the display of the in-vehicle device, the icon of the starting facility 40 is displayed, and the driver can find a signboard similar to the icon from the front view. However, the manufacturer's design of the in-vehicle device on the assumption that the driver looks at the display does not conform to the concept of Noruc guidance that the in-vehicle device is ideal.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle device that allows a driver to grasp a facility used for guidance.

  The present invention is an in-vehicle device that guides a route to a destination, a current position detecting unit that detects a current location, and a facility when it is determined that the route is guided based on the current location. Route guidance means for guiding the route using the facility, and facility notice means for notifying the route guidance using the facility before the point.

  It is possible to provide an in-vehicle device that allows a driver to grasp a facility used for guidance.

It is an example of the figure explaining a traffic light countdown. It is an example of the figure explaining the traffic signal countdown using the starting point. It is an example of the figure explaining the notice of an origin facility. It is an example of the figure which shows a vehicle-mounted apparatus. It is an example of the functional block diagram which shows the function which an vehicle equipment has in a block form. It is an example of the flowchart figure which shows the procedure in which a vehicle-mounted apparatus performs the traffic signal countdown using a starting point facility, and notifies a starting point facility. It is an example of the figure explaining the living zone and the presence or absence of a notice. It is an example of the figure explaining operation | movement of a vehicle-mounted apparatus in time series. It is a figure which shows another example of a display of the icon of the plant | facility notified in advance.

  Hereinafter, an in-vehicle device and a route guidance method performed by the in-vehicle device will be described as an example of an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

<Outline of in-vehicle device of this embodiment>
The vehicle-mounted device of the present embodiment notifies the driver of the starting facility 40 before guiding the route 43 by a traffic light countdown. The outline will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is an example of a diagram for explaining the advance notice of the starting facility 40. The road shape in FIG. 3 schematically shows a road that is running. The in-vehicle device 10 displays the icon 41 of the starting facility 40 on the display 18 and outputs the name of the starting facility 40 by voice before the starting facility 40 used in route guidance for traffic light countdown. The outline is as follows.
(1) The vehicle 8 stops at a signal in front of the starting facility 40.
(2) When the vehicle 8 stops within a predetermined distance from the starting facility 40, the in-vehicle device 10 notifies the starting facility 40. As shown in FIG. 3, the in-vehicle device 10 displays the icon 41 of the starting facility 40 on the navigation screen 410 and “1 km ahead, this sign will be a landmark.“ Toyosan ”. ”Is outputted as a voice. The icon 41 is created with the same or at least similar design as the actual signboard of the starting facility 40, and is visual information regarding the starting facility 40. The driver watches this icon 41 when stopping at a signal. Further, since the name of the starting facility 40 called “Toyosan” is output by voice, the driver can store the visually recognized signboard (icon 41) and the visually recognized name in association with each other.

  Thus, the vehicle-mounted device 10 according to the present embodiment notifies the starting facility 40 before the point where the traffic signal countdown route guidance is performed, so that the driver can prepare the sign and name of the starting facility 40. . Therefore, even if a facility that is not well known by the driver is guided to the route 43 using the traffic light countdown adopted for the starting facility 40, the driver finds the actual starting facility 40, counts the traffic light, and follows the route 43. Can drive.

<Terminology>
The “point where the route is guided” in the claims is a position where information on the route is output in order for the driver to drive the vehicle 8 along the route. Facilities are used for this route guidance.

  A facility is equipment prepared for some purpose. In the present embodiment, it refers to equipment that serves as a guide for route guidance. A signboard is preferably provided. An example is a car dealer or a gas station.

  A notice means to notify in advance. It may be expressed as predicting, predicting, or predicting.

<About in-vehicle devices>
FIG. 4 is an example of a diagram illustrating the in-vehicle device 10 of the present embodiment. The in-vehicle device 10 may be an electronic device that electronically processes information. However, in the present embodiment, the in-vehicle device 10 will be referred to as the in-vehicle device 10 because it will be described in an in-vehicle state. The in-vehicle device 10 includes a display 18 that is a display device and a speaker 17 that is an audio output device. The display 18 is installed above the center console of the vehicle 8, on the dashboard, or in a position such as the ceiling of the passenger compartment where the driver can watch. The speaker 17 is set on the inside of the center console, the dashboard, the door, or the like.

  The in-vehicle device 10 and the display 18 may be configured integrally, or only the display 18 may be configured to be movable. When the in-vehicle device 10 and the display 18 are integrated, the display 18 may appear to be drawn out in front of the user when the user uses the display 18 in a state where the display 18 is accommodated in the in-vehicle device 10 in a normal state. . The in-vehicle device 10 does not need to be fixed in the vehicle, and is installed so that the user can carry it and bring it into the vehicle, or the driver can take it out of the vehicle when the vehicle 8 is not running. It may be.

  The in-vehicle device 10 may be an in-vehicle electronic device or a general-purpose electronic device. An example of an on-vehicle electronic device is a navigation device. The navigation device is a device that searches for a route 43 to a destination using a road map and guides the traveling direction when the route is changed. In addition, it may have a radio or television reception function and a music or video playback function. In addition, the on-vehicle electronic device may have a function of communicating with a terminal device carried by the user by wire or wireless, and receives music and video reproduced by the terminal device to display the display 18 and the speaker of the vehicle 8. 17 can be output. Furthermore, when the terminal device has a navigation function, since the terminal device can guide the route 43, the in-vehicle device 10 may not have the navigation function. Examples of such terminal devices include smartphones, tablet terminals, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), and notebook PCs (Personal Computers).

  As a general-purpose electronic device, the terminal device is directly fixed to a dashboard or the like and used as a navigation device. In this case, a general-purpose electronic device provides a navigation function, a radio and television reception function, and a music and video playback function, so that an in-vehicle electronic device is not necessary.

  In addition, a communication function is generally mounted on the vehicle 8, and the in-vehicle device 10 can receive various services using the communication function. A vehicle 8 that provides services to passengers using a communication function is referred to as a connected car. A connected car is a collective term for vehicles that can provide a wide variety of services such as telematics services, operation management systems, map / traffic / weather information distribution services, and music / video distribution services.

The in-vehicle device 10 can acquire information by communicating with the Internet (various servers or cloud) using a mobile phone network, a wireless LAN network, a WIMAX network, or the like. There are various types of information to be acquired, such as news, traffic information, surrounding facility information, e-mail, or information on SNS (Social Network Service).
<About functions>
FIG. 5 is an example of a functional block diagram showing the functions of the in-vehicle device 10 in a block shape. The in-vehicle device 10 includes a current position detection unit 11, a route guide unit 12, a guidance success / failure determination unit 13, a facility evaluation unit 14, a facility notice unit 15, and a stop determination unit 16. Each of these functions is a function or means realized by operating hardware resources of the in-vehicle device 10 under the control of a CPU that executes a program. Each function may be realized as software or hardware.

  Moreover, the vehicle-mounted apparatus 10 has facility evaluation DB31 and road map DB32. The road map DB 32 is a database in which map data is stored. The facility evaluation DB 31 has three pieces of information (Tables 2 (a) to (c)) to be described later. Used to determine. The in-vehicle device 10 may not have the road map DB 32, and the road map DB 32 may be arranged on the Internet. The vehicle 8 only needs to have minimum data for drawing a road map ahead or around.

  First, the road map DB 32 will be described. The road map DB 32 has route search data and road map drawing data. The route search data is data having a structure in which a link representing a road and a node representing a branch are associated with each other. The actual road network is reproduced by following links and nodes. The node has position information (coordinates having latitude, longitude, and altitude), and the link has the distance and width of the node between two points. For this reason, the vehicle-mounted apparatus 10 can calculate the distance to the point where the course is changed. The road map drawing data is data having point, line, polygon, and facility attribute information for drawing road shapes and topography. Points represent facilities and signals, lines represent roads, etc., and polygons represent expansive terrain. Note that points, lines, and polygons are called vector data, and raster data (bitmap data) may be used instead of polygons.

Table 1 shows an example of facility attribute information. In Table 1, it has the industry of the facility which is a point, the name of the facility, an address, coordinates, an icon, and a related link. The industry name represents the industry (category) of the facility. The store name is the name of the facility. The address indicates the location of the facility, and the coordinates indicate the location of the facility by latitude, longitude, altitude, and the like. The icons are image data such as facility trademarks, logos, and landmarks. In this embodiment, it is preferable that the icon has an image similar to a signboard of a facility. The related link is an ID of a link (road) that the facility faces. Related links facilitate the search for facilities along the route. Thus, since each facility has position information, the in-vehicle device 10 can calculate the distance from the current location to the facility.

  Further, the in-vehicle device 10 performs route guidance using a traffic light countdown using the icons of the road map DB 32 and uses these icons for the advance notice of the starting facility 40.

Table 2 (a) shows an example of priority facility information stored in the facility evaluation DB 31. The priority facility information is used to determine a car dealer that is preferentially used as the starting facility 40. When the in-vehicle device 10 is an in-vehicle electronic device, vehicle type-specific data is set in the in-vehicle device 10. The vehicle type dedicated data is a dedicated parameter for each vehicle type necessary for the in-vehicle device 10 to operate properly. For example, since the relationship between the steering amount of the steering wheel and the rotation radius of the vehicle body differs depending on the vehicle type, the steering amount and the rotation radius are set as parameters so that the back guide monitor can display an appropriate route for the vehicle type. Further, the outer diameter of the tire used for estimating the vehicle position is also a parameter for each vehicle type. Since the vehicle type exclusive data includes information for specifying the vehicle type, the vehicle type can be identified by the vehicle type exclusive data.

  In the priority facility information, the manufacturer name and the priority facility are associated with the vehicle type dedicated data. The in-vehicle device 10 determines the priority facility associated with the mounted vehicle type as the starting facility 40 to be used in preference to the traffic signal countdown route guidance. In the example of Table 2 (a), since the vehicle type exclusive data is Prince, the manufacturer name is Honsan, and the priority facilities are Honpet, Honnets, Hoyora, and Honsan Net in descending order of priority. The in-vehicle device 10 uses these car dealers in the starting facility 40 preferentially.

  Note that the priority facility information as shown in Table 2 (a) is not prepared, and the driver may set the car dealer used for the starting facility 40 in the in-vehicle device 10. In this case, it is possible to set a car dealer that the driver knows regardless of the type of the vehicle.

  Table 2 (b) shows an example of usage history information in which past usage histories of gas stations are registered. The usage history information is used to determine a gas station that can be used as the starting facility 40. In the usage history information, a usage history and a learning result are set for the gas station name. The usage history indicates how many times a gas station having the same gas station name (for example, chain store, franchisee, etc.) has been used for refueling in the past. In the learning result, whether or not the starting facility 40 can be used is set according to the number of usage histories. Gas stations that have a usage history that is equal to or higher than a threshold (for example, two times or more) are registered as “usable”, and among the usable gas stations, the gas station that has the highest number of usage histories becomes the highest priority GS (gas station). . The in-vehicle device 10 uses the highest priority GS for the starting facility 40 when there are a plurality of usable gas stations.

  Note that whether or not the gas station has been used is determined based on the fact that the vehicle 8 has stopped for a predetermined time or more in the vicinity of the gas station (and that the remaining fuel has increased). The in-vehicle device 10 determines these, and if it is determined that the gas station has been used, the usage history information is updated.

  Table 2 (c) shows an example of the starting facility score information in which the score of the starting facility 40 used in the past is registered. In the starting facility score information, a score is associated with the use starting facility. The use starting facility is a facility that has been used as the starting facility 40 in the past, and the greater the score, the greater the number of successful guidance. Therefore, a high score means a high degree of recognition by the driver of the facility.

  The initial value of the score is, for example, 10 points. When the guidance facility is used for the starting facility 40, the score is increased by one point, and when the guidance is failed, the score is decreased by two points. The initial value, one point of increase, and two points of decrease are merely examples for explanation. The reason why the decrease in the case of failure is larger than the increase in the case of success is to make it possible to quickly determine a facility with low recognition.

  The in-vehicle device 10 uses a use starting facility whose starting facility score information score in Table 2 (c) is a first threshold or more as the starting facility 40. However, there may be a situation where there is no starting facility 40 with a score equal to or higher than the first threshold before the course is changed. For example, it may be a period when the vehicle starts to ride, or when traveling on a road that does not normally travel. In this case, the in-vehicle device 10 uses a car dealer registered in the priority facility information in Table 2 (a) or a gas station that can be used in the usage history information in Table 2 (b) as the starting facility 40.

  However, the car dealer registered in the priority facility information and the gas station that can be used in the usage history information may not exist before the facility changes its course. In this case, an arbitrary car dealer or a gas station in front of the course change is used for the starting facility 40. In this case, since there is a possibility that the driver does not know the starting facility 40, the in-vehicle apparatus 10 uses the traffic signal countdown for the use starting facility whose score is less than the second threshold (second threshold <first threshold). When used as the starting facility 40, the starting facility 40 is notified.

(In-vehicle device functions)
The current position detection unit 11 periodically detects the current position of the vehicle 8. For example, based on position information detected by a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor is accumulated in the traveling direction detected by the gyro sensor to detect the current position with high accuracy. Further, the current position is mapped on the road map, and the current position is detected as a position on the road.

  The route guidance unit 12 guides the driver to the destination based on the route 43 from the current location to the destination. The route 43 may be set by a Dijkstra method or the like that searches for a link combination that minimizes the total cost by converting the link from the departure point to the destination into a cost. The route search can be performed not only by the in-vehicle device 10 but also by a predetermined server. For example, the driver sets a departure point and a destination from a PC (Personal Computer) or the like before boarding and causes the server to search for a route. When the driver gets on the vehicle, the route is downloaded to the in-vehicle device 10 from the server. Thus, the in-vehicle device 10 may not have the route search function.

  The route guidance unit 12 performs route guidance based on a traffic light countdown using the starting facility 40 after passing a traffic light N + 1 ahead of a point (node) where the vehicle 8 changes its course. N is the number of traffic lights notified in the traffic light countdown. Since route guidance using a traffic light countdown is performed after passing N + 1 traffic lights, there are N traffic lights ahead.

  As described above, the route guidance unit 12 determines the starting facility 40 in the order of the use starting facility whose score is equal to or higher than the threshold, the car dealer of the manufacturer of the vehicle 8, and the usable gas station. If these facilities do not exist from the point where the route is changed to N + 1 traffic lights before, the route guidance by the traffic signal countdown is performed using any car dealer or gas station located from the point to N + 1 traffic lights. .

  Note that the route guidance unit 12 provides guidance for final course change slightly before the point (node) where the vehicle 8 changes course (for example, several meters to several tens of meters).

  The guidance success / failure determination unit 13 determines whether or not the vehicle 8 has moved along the route 43 based on the route 43 and the current location. When the traffic light countdown using the starting facility 40 is performed, the name of the starting facility 40 is acquired. When the traffic light countdown using the starting facility 40 is performed and the vehicle 8 moves along the route 43, it can be determined that the traffic light countdown using the starting facility 40 is successful.

  The facility evaluation unit 14 acquires the guidance success / failure and the starting facility 40 to evaluate the facility. That is, the score of the use starting facility registered in the starting facility score information of the facility evaluation DB 31 is updated, or the use starting facility and the score are set in the starting facility score information. As described above, if the traffic signal countdown route guidance using the starting facility 40 is successful, the score increases by one point, and if the route guidance fails, the score decreases by two points.

  The stop determination unit 16 determines whether or not the vehicle 8 has stopped. For example, it is determined whether or not the vehicle 8 is stopped based on the vehicle speed information. If the vehicle speed is substantially zero or less than a threshold that can be regarded as stopped, it is determined that the vehicle 8 is stopped. The stop of the vehicle 8 of the present embodiment may include any state where the vehicle 8 is stopped or parked. It is not limited to the case where the vehicle is stopped, but may be in a state where the driver can watch the display 18 in accordance with laws and social conventions. Further, it may be determined whether the shift position is parking or neutral. Whether or not the vehicle 8 is stopped may be expressed as whether or not the vehicle 8 is moving. It is possible to determine whether or not the position information is stopped by using the speed of change of position information detected by the GNSS, an acceleration sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, or the like.

  The facility notice unit 15 acquires the starting facility 40 from the route guide unit 12 and makes a notice of the starting facility 40 with reference to the facility evaluation DB 31. When the route guidance unit 12 performs route guidance for traffic light countdown using the starting facility 40, the route 43, the current location, and the starting facility 40 are acquired when it is determined to be performed. The score of the starting facility 40 is confirmed. When the score is less than the second threshold value, the vehicle is stopped within a predetermined distance from the starting facility 40, and the starting facility 40 is notified.

<Operation procedure>
FIG. 6 is an example of a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the in-vehicle device 10 performs a traffic signal countdown using the starting facility 40 and notifies the starting facility 40 in advance. The procedure of FIG. 6 is executed while moving along the path 43.

  The route guidance unit 12 determines whether there is a route change point ahead based on the route 43 (S10). The route change point is determined when the route 43 is set. The presence / absence of such a course change is determined, for example, by comparing the angle between the links with a threshold value, and determining the course change and the type of the course in the diagonally right direction (gradual course change) or right direction (right turn). . Since the forward range is a distance necessary for notifying the starting facility 40 when viewed from the point of course change, the distance is larger than the first predetermined distance in step S80 (about 1.2 to 2 times the first predetermined distance). It is. If the determination in step S10 is No, the process in FIG. 6 ends.

  If the determination in step S10 is Yes, the route guide unit 12 determines whether there is a car dealer (CD) or a gas station (GS) from the point of course change to the N + 1 previous traffic signal (S20). The presence or absence of a facility can be determined by referring to the related link in the road map DB 32. The reason why a car dealer or a gas station is used is that, as described above, there are few closings and opening, and the driver knows in common. However, the starting facility 40 is not limited to a car dealer or a gas station, and may be another facility that satisfies the same conditions.

  The specific value of N is not particularly limited, but is a number that allows the driver to count traffic lights, for example, about 2 to 5. It is preferable that N is 2 or more because the driver may not be able to respond even if the starting facility 40 immediately before the route change point is started. The driver may be able to set the value of N in the in-vehicle device 10.

  If the determination in step S20 is No, the route guidance using the traffic light countdown cannot be performed, and the process in FIG. 6 ends. In this case, the process of FIG. 6 is executed for the next route change point.

  If the determination in step S20 is Yes, the route guidance unit 12 determines whether there is a car dealer or a gas station whose score is greater than or equal to the first threshold (S30). This is because it is considered that the driver can easily find the actual starting facility 40 if the car dealer or the gas station whose score is greater than or equal to the threshold is the traffic signal countdown route guidance used for the starting facility 40.

  When the determination in step S30 is Yes, the route guide unit 12 determines the car dealer or the gas station having the highest score as the starting facility 40 from the point of the course change to the N + 1 previous traffic signal (S40). .

  If the determination in step S30 is No, the route guidance unit 12 has a car dealer registered in the priority facility information or a gas station that can be used in the usage history information from the point of the course change to the traffic signal N + 1 before. Whether or not (S35). This is because these car dealers or gas stations are facilities that the driver knows well and are therefore suitable as the starting facility 40.

  If the determination in step S35 is Yes, the route guidance unit 12 determines the car dealer registered in the priority facility information or the gas station that can be used in the usage history information as the starting facility 40 (S40). When there are both a car dealer and a gas station, for example, the car dealer has priority. The driver may be able to set which is prioritized.

  When the determination in step S35 is No, the route guidance unit 12 determines an arbitrary car dealer or a gas station from the route change point to N + 1 previous traffic lights as the starting facility 40 (S50).

  Next, the facility notice unit 15 determines whether the score of the car dealer or the gas station determined in step S40 or S50 is less than the second threshold value (S60). First, the determined starting facility 40 is registered as the starting starting facility in the starting facility score information. However, if the starting facility 40 is less than the threshold, it is estimated that the driver is less aware of the starting facility 40, so the facility notice unit 15 Determines that the starting facility 40 is to be notified (S70). When the determined starting facility 40 is not registered as the starting facility in the starting facility score information, it has not been used as the starting facility 40 in the past. In this case, it may be determined that there is a prior notice, or it may be determined that there is no prior notice. When notifying, since the facility used for the starting facility 40 for the first time is notified, the driver can surely change the course along the route 43. If not notified, the facility used for the starting facility 40 for the first time is not notified, so that the driver can be prevented from feeling troublesome.

  Next, the facility notice unit 15 determines whether or not the vehicle 8 has stopped within a first predetermined distance from the starting facility 40 using the route and the current location (S80). The first predetermined distance is a distance that does not forget the starting facility 40 for which the driver has been informed. As an example, it is 500 [m] to several [Km]. In addition, the driver may be able to set the first processing distance. The condition that the vehicle has stopped is that the driver can watch and memorize the icon 41 of the starting facility 40 displayed on the display 18 and that there is no road noise. This is so that the driver can hear the name of the starting facility 40 output from 17.

  When the determination in step S80 is No, the facility notice unit 15 determines whether the vehicle 8 has approached the second predetermined distance or less from the starting facility 40 (S90). The second predetermined distance is a distance shorter than the first predetermined distance, and is a distance at which it can be determined that the vehicle 8 cannot stop before passing through the starting facility 40. The second predetermined distance is, for example, about half of the first predetermined distance, or a distance to a predetermined number of traffic lights in front of the starting facility 40. If it is determined Yes in step S90, the icon 41 of the starting facility 40 is displayed while the vehicle 8 is traveling, but the driver can see the icon 41 while traveling. Since this icon 41 is information necessary for traveling, it is permitted by law. Thus, even when the vehicle 8 cannot be stopped, the vehicle-mounted device 10 can notify the starting facility 40 in advance.

  If the determination in step S90 is No, the process returns to step S80, and the determinations in steps S80 and S90 are repeated.

  When it is determined Yes in step S80 or step S90, the facility notifying unit 15 notifies the starting facility 40 (S100). An example of the notice will be described with reference to FIG.

  When the advance notice is given, the route guidance unit 12 determines whether or not the vehicle 8 has reached the point where the traffic signal countdown is performed (S110). The point where the traffic signal countdown is performed is traveling between the traffic signal N ahead and the traffic light N + 1 ahead of the point where the course is changed. For example, it is a point several meters after passing through N + 1 traffic lights. Thereby, the number (N) of traffic lights output by the traffic light countdown can be matched with the number of traffic lights actually counted by the driver.

  If the determination in step S110 is Yes, the route guidance unit 12 performs route guidance using a traffic light countdown (S120). That is, the icon of the starting facility 40 is displayed on the display 18, and the name of the starting facility 40 and the number of traffic lights from the point where the route is changed are output from the speaker 17. For example, the route guidance is such as “It is right direction at the XX intersection where there is an Nth traffic light after passing through Toyosan.”

  Thereafter, the vehicle 8 approaches the point of course change. The guidance success / failure determination unit 13 determines whether or not the vehicle 8 has reached the point of course change based on the route 43 and the current location (S130).

  If the determination in step S130 is Yes, the guidance success / failure determination unit 13 determines whether the route guidance using the starting facility 40 has been successful, and updates the score in the facility evaluation DB 31 (S140). For example, it is determined whether or not the present location is along the route 43 even after passing the route change point. When the route is along the route 43, it can be determined that the route guidance using the starting facility 40 has been successful.

  If successful, the facility evaluation unit 14 searches for the name of the starting facility 40 from the starting facility score information, and adds one point to the score if the name has already been registered. If the name of the starting facility 40 is not registered, the name of the starting facility 40 is newly registered in the starting facility score information, and the score is set to 11 points (10 points + 1). When it fails, the facility evaluation unit 14 searches for the name of the starting facility 40 from the starting facility score information, and when the name is already registered, the score is reduced by two points. If the name of the starting facility 40 is not registered, the name of the starting facility 40 is newly registered in the starting facility score information, and the score is set to 8 points (10 points−2).

  As described above, when performing route guidance for traffic light countdown using a facility with low driver recognition as the starting facility 40, the in-vehicle device 10 can notify the starting facility 40 in advance.

<< Judgment of notice by living area >>
You may adjust (increase / decrease) the score referred by determination of step S60 by whether the origin facility 40 exists in a living area.

  FIG. 7 is an example of a diagram illustrating the living area 411 and the presence / absence of a notice. The living area 411 refers to a range in which a person who drives the vehicle 8 (that is, a driver) moves on a daily basis. For example, a range including the garage of the home 401 and the work place 402, and a range including the facility 403 where the vehicle 8 regularly goes to the garage of the home 401. The facility notice unit 15 records a link through which the vehicle 8 passes, and estimates that a link having a certain frequency of passing is a living area 411. If the facility is in the living area 411, it may be determined that the driver is likely to know.

  Therefore, in step S60, it is determined whether or not the starting facility 40 exists in the living area 411. When the starting facility 40 exists in the living area 411, the facility notice unit 15 increases the score, and when the starting facility 40 does not exist in the living area 411, the score is decreased. When increasing the score, for example, a constant larger than 1 (for example, 1.2 to 2.0) is multiplied, and when decreasing the score, for example, a constant smaller than 1 (for example, 0.5 to 0.8) is multiplied.

  In the example of FIG. 7, a facility called Beta Romeo exists in the living area 411. When beta romeo is selected as the starting facility 40, the facility notice unit 15 increases the score of the beta romeo. On the other hand, since the facility called Omega Romeo does not exist in the living area 411, when Omega Romeo is selected as the starting facility 40, the facility notice unit 15 reduces the score of Omega Romeo.

  That is, before the determination in step S60 of FIG. 6, the score is increased or decreased (adjusted) depending on whether the car dealer or the gas station specified in steps S40 and S50 is the same as the living area 411. Since the car dealer or the gas station determined in step S40 has a score equal to or higher than the threshold value, or is included in the priority facility information or use history information, it can be estimated that the car dealer or the gas station is likely to be in the living area 411 and has a higher score. On the other hand, when the car dealer or the gas station determined in step S50 is not in the living area 411, the score becomes smaller, so that the possibility that the facility notice unit 15 notifies the starting facility 40 that is not in the living area 411 is increased. it can.

<Preliminary notice and guidance>
FIG. 8 is an example of a diagram for explaining the operation of the in-vehicle device 10 in time series. In FIG. 8, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that N = 2.

  t1: Since there is a car dealer named “Toyosan” up to N + 1 traffic lights in front of the point to change course (“XX intersection”), the route guide unit 12 determines this car dealer as the starting facility 40. When the score of Toyosan is less than the second threshold, the facility notice unit 15 determines that the facility is to be notified. For this reason, the facility notice unit 15 gives a notice of the facility of “Toyosan” at the timing when it stops at the fourth traffic light that is within the first predetermined distance from the point of course change. The icon 41 in FIG. 8 is the same as that in FIG.

The facility notice unit 15 may display the icon 41 on a HUD (Head Up Display). Since the HUD enters the field of view while the driver is traveling, the driver can easily compare the actual signboard and the HUD icon 41. For example, it is effective to display on the HUD when the starting facility 40 must be notified in advance.
t2: When the N + 1th signal (N = 2 in FIG. 8) passes from the point where the vehicle 8 changes its course, the route guidance unit 12 performs route guidance by traffic signal countdown using the starting facility 40. Specifically, a message 44 is output from the loudspeaker 17 that “Toyosan passes and there is a second signal. In addition, a road map 47 including a traffic light 46 and a “Toyosan” icon 41 is displayed on the display 18. Since the driver is preparing for the sign of “Toyosan” by the advance notice of the starting facility 40, he / she can find the sign of Toyosan from his sight without looking at the “Toyosan” icon 41 on the display 18. (Noroc guidance). The driver may check the “Toyosan” icon 41 on the display 18 to find an actual signboard.

  It is also effective that the facility notice unit 15 displays the icon 41 on the HUD at the timing of route guidance using this traffic signal countdown. The driver can find a signboard similar to the HUD icon 41 from the field of view with a small amount of line-of-sight movement.

  t3-1: When the vehicle 8 passes the “XX intersection” along the route 43, the facility evaluation unit 14 updates the score so as to increase the score.

  t3-2: When the vehicle 8 has not changed its course at the “XX intersection”, the facility evaluation unit 14 updates the score so as to decrease the score.

<Example of notice display>
FIG. 9 shows another example of a display example of an icon of a facility to be notified. In FIG. 9, a large icon 41a is displayed on the left side of the display 18, and a road map 47 including a small icon 41b is displayed on the right side. The driver can easily understand the signboard of the starting facility 40 by looking at the large icon 41a, and can easily understand the relationship between the starting facility 40 and the point where the course is changed by looking at the road map 47 on the right side.

  Further, the in-vehicle device 10 outputs a warning message 42 from the speaker 17 as “Turn right after 3 km. This sign is a landmark”. The driver can grasp that the sign turns right with this sign.

  The name of the facility is not output in the notice message 42 output by voice in FIG. In this way, the signboard of the facility in front of the point to change course is only foretold, the driver knows that this signage actually exists before the change of course, and after changing the course after changing the course You can prepare in advance.

<Summary>
As described above, the vehicle-mounted device 10 according to the present embodiment notifies the starting facility 40 before the point where the traffic signal countdown route guidance is performed, so that the driver can prepare at least the signboard of the starting facility 40. it can. Therefore, even if a facility that is not well known by the driver is guided to the route 43 by the traffic light countdown adopted for the starting facility 40, the driver finds the actual starting facility 40, counts down the traffic light, and follows the route 43. You can drive.

<Other application examples>
The best mode for carrying out the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. And substitutions can be added.

  For example, pedestrian navigation may provide the guidance of this embodiment. Pedestrian navigation refers to navigation performed when a pedestrian moves or a device therefor. When there is a point to change the course ahead of the route, the pedestrian navigation outputs or displays the number, distance, or time of the traffic signal from the facility to the change of the route. When the score of this facility is less than the threshold, the pedestrian navigation notifies the facility when approaching within a predetermined distance from the facility. The pedestrian navigation starting facility 40 may not be a car dealer or a gas station. For example, it may be a facility that pedestrians know well, such as banks, police boxes, and famous stores. As the device for performing pedestrian navigation, the above-described terminal device may be mentioned.

  In the present embodiment, the facility is foretold by displaying the facility icon 41, but the icon 41 may be a photograph of the facility imaged. If a photograph is displayed, it becomes easier for the driver to find a more realistic facility. The photograph may be stored in the road map DB 32, or may be downloaded from the Internet such as a facility website.

  In addition, the starting facility 40 may be a facility that is often used by the driver as well as a facility that the driver knows in common with few closings and opening.

  In this embodiment, the number of traffic lights after passing through the starting facility 40 is notified of the delay until the point where the route is changed, but the time until the point where the route is changed is replaced with the number of traffic lights or the number of traffic lights. Or you may alert | report grace using distance.

  In the present embodiment, the number of traffic lights, time, or distance may not be used for route guidance using the starting facility 40. For example, even if the starting facility 40 is notified in advance and it is only guided that the route is changed after passing through the starting facility 40, the driver can actually find the starting facility 40 and prepare for the route change.

  Further, the configuration example of FIG. 5 is divided according to main functions in order to facilitate understanding of the processing of the in-vehicle device 10. The present invention is not limited by the way of dividing the processing unit or the name. Moreover, the process of the vehicle-mounted apparatus 10 can also be divided | segmented into many processing units according to the processing content. Moreover, it can also divide | segment so that one process unit may contain many processes.

  The current position detection unit 11 is an example of a current position detection unit, the route guidance unit 12 is an example of a route guidance unit, the facility notice unit 15 is an example of a facility notice unit, and the facility evaluation unit 14 has a degree of recognition. It is an example of an estimation unit, and the stop determination unit 16 is an example of a stop determination unit.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 In-vehicle apparatus 11 Current position detection part 12 Route guidance part 13 Guidance success / failure judgment part 14 Facility evaluation part 15 Facility notice part 40 Starting facility

Claims (11)

An in-vehicle device that guides the route to the destination,
Current position detection means for detecting the current location;
When it is determined that the route is guided based on the current location, route guidance means for guiding the route using a facility;
Facility notice means for giving a notice before the point of guiding the route using the facility;
In-vehicle device having The route guidance means guides how long there is to change the course starting from the facility,
The in-vehicle device according to claim 1, wherein the facility notifying unit notifies the route using the facility by displaying visual information of the facility.   The in-vehicle device according to claim 2, wherein the facility notice unit notifies the route using the facility by displaying an icon that visually represents the facility. The route guidance means uses the name of the facility to guide how long it takes to change course,
The in-vehicle device according to claim 3, wherein the facility notifying unit notifies that the route is guided using the facility by outputting the name of the facility by voice. Recognizing means for estimating the driver's awareness of the facility,
5. The facility notifying unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the facility notifying means notifies the route using the facility only when the degree of recognition of the facility used for guiding the route is less than a threshold. The in-vehicle device according to item. The degree-of-recognition estimation means determines whether or not the in-vehicle device has moved along the guided route after the route is guided using the facility,
When it is determined that the facility has moved along the route that has been guided, the facility's recognition level is increased. When it is determined that the facility has not moved along the route that has been guided, the facility's recognition level is decreased. The in-vehicle device according to claim 5. The recognition degree estimating means records a living area of a person using the in-vehicle device,
If the facility used for guiding the route is the same as the living sphere, increase the awareness of the facility, and if the facility is not the same as the living sphere, reduce the recognition of the facility,
The in-vehicle device according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the facility notice unit notifies that the route is guided using the facility only when the degree of recognition is less than a threshold value. Having stop determination means for determining whether or not the in-vehicle device has stopped;
8. The facility notifying means for notifying that the route is guided using the facility at a timing when the in-vehicle device is determined to have stopped within a first predetermined distance from the position of the facility. The in-vehicle device according to any one of the above. If it is not determined that the in-vehicle device has stopped within a first predetermined distance from the location of the facility,
When the on-vehicle device approaches from the location of the facility to a second predetermined distance shorter than the first predetermined distance,
9. The in-vehicle apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the facility notice unit notifies that the route is guided using the facility.   The in-vehicle device according to claim 1, wherein the facility is a car dealer or a gas station. A route guidance method for an in-vehicle device that guides a route to a destination,
A current position detecting means for detecting a current location;
When it is determined that the route is guided based on the current location, the route guidance means guides the route using a facility;
A step of notifying before the point that the facility notice means guides the route using the facility;
A route guidance method comprising: