JP2022183728A - Navigation device, navigation method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a navigation device, a navigation method, and a program that preferably guide a vehicle at a prescribed passage point.SOLUTION: A navigation system 10 has an image data acquisition part 116, a measurement part 117, a selection part 118, and a guide part 119. The image data acquisition part 116 acquires image data at a prescribed passage point having multiple lanes. The measurement part 117 measures a degree of congestion of vehicles on a pre-set schedule route and a degree of congestion of vehicles on an alternative route differing from the schedule route based on the acquired image data, respectively. The selection part 118 selects the schedule route if a difference between the degree of congestion on the schedule route and the degree of congestion on the alternative route is less than a set threshold, and selects the alternative route if the difference is larger than or equal to the set threshold. The guide part 119 guides the selected schedule route or alternative route.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a navigation device, navigation method and program.

A navigation device that guides a vehicle, for example, has a setting that prioritizes shortening the distance to the destination, or a setting that prioritizes shortening the time it takes to reach the destination. It has a function to select conditions. In addition to the functions described above, the navigation device provides guidance to encourage smooth travel at passing points such as intersections and tollgates on toll roads on the route from the starting point to the destination.

For example, the navigation device described in Patent Document 1 obtains information about gates of a toll booth on a toll road, determines a recommended gate based on the information about the gate and information about the route after passing through the gate, and determines the recommended gate. guide the vehicle to

JP 2009-031205 A

However, when passing points with multiple lanes, such as toll gates, are congested, simply selecting a driving lane that is closer to the destination and driving will end up getting you caught up in the congestion, and you will have to wait. It may hang or make it difficult to run.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve such problems, and provides a navigation system or the like that preferably guides a vehicle at a predetermined passing point.

A navigation device according to the present invention has an image data acquisition section, a measurement section, a selection section, and a guidance section. The image data acquisition unit acquires image data at a predetermined passing point having multiple lanes. The measurement unit measures the degree of congestion of vehicles on a preset planned route and the degree of congestion of vehicles on a detour route different from the planned route based on the acquired image data. The selector selects the scheduled route when the difference between the degree of congestion on the planned route and the degree of congestion on the detour route is less than a set threshold, and selects the detour route when the difference is greater than or equal to the set threshold. select. The guidance section guides the selected planned route or detour route.

In the navigation method according to the present invention, a computer executes an image data acquisition step, a measurement step, a selection step and a guidance step. The image data acquisition step acquires image data at a predetermined passing point having multiple lanes. The measuring step measures the degree of vehicle congestion on a preset scheduled route and the degree of vehicle congestion on a detour route different from the scheduled route based on the acquired image data. The selection step selects the scheduled route when the difference between the degree of congestion on the scheduled route and the degree of congestion on the detour route is less than a set threshold, and selects the detour route when the difference is greater than or equal to the set threshold. select. The guidance step guides the selected planned route or detour route.

A program according to the present invention causes a computer to execute the following navigation method. The navigation method has an image data acquisition step, a measurement step, a selection step and a guidance step. The image data acquisition step acquires image data at a predetermined passing point having multiple lanes. The measuring step measures the degree of vehicle congestion on a preset scheduled route and the degree of vehicle congestion on a detour route different from the scheduled route based on the acquired image data. The selection step selects the scheduled route when the difference between the degree of congestion on the scheduled route and the degree of congestion on the detour route is less than a set threshold, and selects the detour route when the difference is greater than or equal to the set threshold. select. The guidance step guides the selected planned route or detour route.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a navigation device, a navigation method, and a program that preferably guide a vehicle at a predetermined passing point.

1 is a block diagram of a navigation system according to an embodiment; FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing executed by the navigation system; 1 is a first diagram showing a specific example of a vehicle equipped with a navigation system; FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the traffic which a navigation system calculates. It is a figure which shows the example of the congestion degree which a navigation system calculates. FIG. 2 is a second diagram showing a specific example of a vehicle equipped with a navigation system; It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a navigation system. It is a figure which shows the example of the variation of embodiment.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention, but the invention according to the scope of claims is not limited to the following embodiments. Moreover, not all the configurations described in the embodiments are essential as means for solving the problems. For clarity of explanation, the following descriptions and drawings are omitted and simplified as appropriate. In addition, in each drawing, the same reference numerals are given to the same elements, and redundant explanations are omitted.

<Embodiment 1>
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a block diagram of a navigation device according to a first embodiment; FIG. A navigation system 10 shown in FIG. 1 detects the position of a vehicle and presents a route from the position of the vehicle to a destination to the user who is the driver of the vehicle. Further, the navigation system 10 is communicably connected to an image data transmission device 90, acquires image data (image data) captured by a camera 91 of the image data transmission device 90, and uses the image data to obtain a predetermined image. Guide the route of the passing point. Although image data is described as a still image in the embodiment, it is not limited to this. For example, it may be a group of still image data that are periodically captured so that the state of movement of the vehicle included in the captured images can be confirmed. Also, the image data may be a moving image.

The navigation system 10 has a control device 100 that controls each component and a plurality of components connected to the control device 100 . The navigation system 10 has, as main components, a control device 100, a display unit 121, an operation unit 122, a map information storage unit 123, and a positioning information reception unit 124, which are communicably connected to the control device 100. .

The control device 100 will be described below. The control device 100 is, for example, a control circuit in which a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), a buffer memory, a plurality of interfaces, etc. are implemented, and executes a stored program to perform various Execute the process. Control device 100 mainly includes display control unit 111, operation reception unit 112, map information acquisition unit 113, position detection unit 114, route search unit 115, image data acquisition unit 116, measurement unit 117, selection unit 118, and It has a guide portion 119 . Also, these components described above are communicably connected by a bus 110 .

The display control unit 111 controls the display unit 121 to display various information. For example, the display control unit 111 generates image data in which an icon indicating the vehicle is superimposed on a surrounding map of the location where the vehicle exists, based on the map information and the position information of the vehicle, and displays the generated image data on the display unit 121. Let In addition, the display control unit 111 superimposes the route that the vehicle travels to the destination on the peripheral map. Further, when the vehicle passes through a predetermined passing point, the display control unit 111 causes the display unit 121 to display a guide map in which the passing point is enlarged. In addition, the display control unit 111 causes the display unit 121 to display time information, traffic information, facility information included in the peripheral map, and the like.

The operation reception unit 112 receives operation information generated by the operation unit 122 according to user's operation, and instructs each component according to the received operation information. Operations accepted by the operation unit 122 include, for example, map scrolling, enlarged display, reduced display, destination setting, route determination, route search, and the like.

The map information acquisition unit 113 acquires map information stored in the map information storage unit 123 . For example, the map information acquisition unit 113 acquires map information around the location of the vehicle from the map information storage unit 123 according to the position information of the vehicle, and supplies the acquired map information to the display control unit 111 .

The position detection unit 114 detects the position information supplied from the positioning information reception unit 124 and supplies the detected position information to the route search unit 115 and the map information acquisition unit 113 . The positional information includes, for example, information on the latitude, longitude and positioning time of the vehicle.

The route search unit 115 searches for a plurality of route candidates from the position of the vehicle to the destination, and determines a presented route to be presented to the user from the searched route candidates. For example, when searching for route candidates, the route search unit 115 calculates a link cost corresponding to each route candidate. In this case, after calculating the link costs of the route candidates, the route searching unit 115 determines the routes to be presented to the user according to the calculated link costs. The route search unit 115 may set the position information of the departure point or the destination according to the user's operation via the operation unit 122, and search for a plurality of route candidates from the departure point to the destination.

A link cost is a numerical value that relatively indicates whether or not a searched route is rational under predetermined conditions. A lower link cost indicates a more rational route searched. In the case of the navigation system 10 according to the present embodiment, the predetermined conditions are the distance of the route, the toll for traveling the route, the time to pass the route, the ease of passage of the route, and the presence or absence of an accident or a broken-down vehicle on the route. , traffic conditions, etc. For example, if the width of a road is relatively narrow and it is not easy for a vehicle to pass, the link cost of such a road is set higher than that of a relatively wide road.

A link cost is calculated for each searched route candidate. When calculating the link cost, the route search unit 115 sets, for example, a plurality of nodes (intersections, etc.) and links connecting the nodes for the route from the departure point to the destination. Then, the route search unit 115 refers to the link cost preset for each link, which is stored in the map information storage unit 123, and calculates the link cost of the route candidate when passing through each node using the Dijkstra method or the like. Aggregate and calculate. Note that the link cost according to this embodiment may simply be referred to as cost.

As a specific method for calculating the link cost by the route searching unit 115, other general route searching method may be used instead of the Dijkstra method described above. Other general route search methods are methods for calculating predetermined rationality for route candidates, and may be, for example, the A* algorithm (Aster algorithm) or the Bellman-Ford method.

The image data acquisition unit 116 acquires image data at a predetermined passing point having multiple lanes. More specifically, the image data acquisition unit 116 acquires image data from an image data transmission device 90 installed at a predetermined passing point. That is, the image data acquisition unit 116 includes an interface for communicating with the image data transmission device 90 via a predetermined communication line. The image data acquisition unit 116 recognizes the image data transmission device 90 existing around the vehicle from the position information detected by the position detection unit 114, for example, and communicates with the recognized image data transmission device 90 to acquire image data. The image data acquisition unit 116 may communicate with a plurality of image data transmission devices 90 in parallel. Also, the image data acquisition unit 116 may acquire a plurality of image data at once. The image data acquisition unit 116 supplies the acquired image data to the measurement unit 117 .

Upon receiving the image data acquired by the image data acquiring unit 116, the measuring unit 117 measures the degree of congestion on each of the plurality of lanes from the received image data. That is, the measurement unit 117 measures the congestion degree of vehicles on the set scheduled route. The measurement unit 117 also measures the congestion degree of vehicles on a detour route different from the scheduled route.

Here, the "planned route" is a route preset in the navigation system 10 so that the vehicle can travel smoothly when passing through predetermined passing points. The "planned route" is a route that is set in advance so that the vehicle can run smoothly from the current position of the vehicle, based on the destination and taking into consideration the branches that exist beyond the passing point. For example, the planned route is a route that selects the lane that connects the shortest distance from the position of the vehicle to the passing point. A "detour route" is a route that passes through passing points from the position of the vehicle, and is a route different from the planned route. For example, the selection of a lane on a detour route selects a plurality of lanes from which lane changes are possible, excluding the lane selected on the planned route.

Here, the “congestion degree” is the congestion degree for a predetermined passing point included in the scenery captured by the camera 91 of the image data transmission device 90 . The degree of congestion is a predetermined value that is used in the navigation system 10 to determine which route of passing points should be traveled. The degree of congestion may be a predetermined value including at least one of the number and speed of vehicles on the scheduled route and detour route included in the image data.

For example, the measurement unit 117 measures or recognizes the positions of vehicles, the number of vehicles, the size of vehicles, or the like in each of a plurality of lanes by detecting images of vehicles included in the image data. Further, the measurement unit 117 may recognize a group of vehicles in a congested state by a learning device that has learned by machine learning, instead of individually detecting images of vehicles in image data.

The selection unit 118 selects a route for the vehicle to pass through the passing point from the degree of congestion measured by the measurement unit 117 . More specifically, the selection unit 118 calculates the difference between the degree of congestion on the planned route and the degree of congestion on the detour route. The selection unit 118 selects the scheduled route if the difference is less than the set threshold, and selects the detour route if the difference is greater than or equal to the set threshold. If there are a plurality of detour routes, the selection unit 118 may select a detour route close to the planned route. The selection unit 118 supplies information about the selected route to the guidance unit 119 .

The guidance unit 119 receives information about the route selected by the selection unit 118 and guides the received information about the route to the user. More specifically, for example, the guidance unit 119 causes the display control unit 111 to generate image data for guiding the user regarding the selected route, and causes the display unit 121 to display the generated image data. Further, for example, the guidance unit 119 may generate voice data for providing guidance regarding the selected route, and output the voice data via a speaker (not shown).

In the above, each configuration mainly included in the control device 100 has been described. Next, each configuration connected to the control device 100 will be described.

The display unit 121 is, for example, a display device including a liquid crystal panel or organic electroluminescence. The display unit 121 displays various information under the control of the display control unit 111 . The display unit 121 is connected to the display control unit 111 and displays signals supplied from the display control unit 111 . The display unit 121 displays, for example, a map and a route superimposed on the map. The display unit 121 also displays information about the route selected by the guidance unit 119 .

The operation unit 122 is an interface that receives operations performed by the driver on the navigation system 10 . The operation unit 122 includes a touch sensor, an operation button, and the like, which are superimposed on the display unit 121 . The operation unit 122 may include a microphone that accepts operations by voice input. Further, the operation unit 122 may be a receiving unit for infrared rays or wireless communication, and may receive operation signals transmitted from a remote controller, a mobile device, or the like. The operating unit 122 supplies operation information, which is information about the accepted operation, to the operation accepting unit 112 .

The map information storage unit 123 is a storage device including a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory or SSD (Solid State Drive), and stores map information. Map information includes road information, which is information about roads on which vehicles travel, and facility information, which is information about facilities existing around roads on which vehicles travel.

Positioning information receiving unit 124 includes an antenna for receiving positioning information for positioning the vehicle from GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), which is a satellite positioning system such as GPS (Global Positioning System). When receiving a signal including positioning information via an antenna, the positioning information receiving unit 124 generates position information, which is information indicating the position of the vehicle, from the received signal. After generating the position information, the positioning information receiving section 124 supplies the generated position information to the position detecting section 114 .

The configuration of the navigation system 10 has been described above. The navigation system 10 is an embodiment of a navigation device. For example, the navigation system 10 may be configured by connecting the display unit 121, the operation unit 122, the map information storage unit 123, and the positioning information reception unit 124 as external elements to the control device 100. FIG. In that case, the control device 100 may be called a navigation device.

In the navigation system 10, the map information storage unit 123 may be included in the navigation system 10 as described above, or may be included in a predetermined server that is communicatively connected. In this case, the map information acquisition unit 113 may acquire map information from this server via a predetermined communication line.

The navigation system 10 may also have a traffic information receiving section and a traffic information acquiring section. The traffic information receiver includes an antenna for receiving traffic information from a system called VICS (registered trademark) (Vehicle Information and Communication System) in Japan, for example. The traffic information includes information such as congestion information, travel time required for a predetermined section, and traffic regulations. The traffic information receiver may receive traffic information from an external server, for example, via a predetermined communication network. The traffic information acquisition unit acquires the traffic information supplied from the traffic information reception unit and supplies the acquired traffic information to the route search unit 115 . The traffic information includes, for example, traffic congestion information and traffic regulation information regarding roads around the vehicle.

Next, the processing executed by the navigation system 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the processing executed by the navigation system 10. As shown in FIG. The flowchart shown in FIG. 2 shows the processing executed by the control device 100 of the navigation system 10. As shown in FIG. The flowchart shown in FIG. 2 shows a series of processes related to guidance when a vehicle equipped with the navigation system 10 passes through a passing point. The flowchart shown in FIG. 2 is started when, for example, a vehicle equipped with the navigation system 10 approaches a predetermined passing point and becomes able to communicate with the image data transmitting device 90 installed at this passing point.

First, the image data acquisition unit 116 acquires image data at a predetermined passing point (step S11). Next, the measurement unit 117 receives the image data and measures the degree of congestion of vehicles on a preset scheduled route and the degree of congestion of vehicles on a detour route different from the scheduled route (step S12).

Next, the selection unit 118 calculates the difference Cd between the degree of congestion on the planned route and the degree of congestion on the detour route. Then, the selection unit 118 compares this difference Cd with a set threshold value Cth, and determines whether the difference Cd is equal to or greater than the threshold value Cth. It is determined whether or not the above is satisfied (step S13). When determining that the difference Cd is equal to or greater than the threshold value Cth (step S13: YES), the selector 118 selects a detour route, and proceeds to step S14. On the other hand, if it is not determined that the difference Cd is equal to or greater than the threshold value Cth (step S13: NO), the selection unit 118 selects the scheduled route without selecting the detour route, and proceeds to step S15.

In step S14, the guide unit 119 guides the information on the detour route received from the selection unit 118 (step S14). Then, the control device 100 ends a series of processes related to passing point guidance.

In step S15, the guide unit 119 guides the information on the planned route received from the selection unit 118 (step S15). Then, the control device 100 ends a series of processes related to passing point guidance.

The processing of the navigation method executed by the navigation system 10 has been described above. According to the above-described method, it is possible to provide a navigation method for appropriately guiding a vehicle at a predetermined passing point.

Next, with reference to FIG. 3, a specific example of a case where a vehicle equipped with the navigation system 10 passes through a predetermined passing point will be described. FIG. 3 is a first diagram showing a specific example of a vehicle equipped with the navigation system 10. As shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 shows the vicinity of a toll gate 900 of a toll road as an example of a passing point. The toll booth 900 has a width of five lanes and is provided with gates 1-5. That is, the road in front of the toll booth 900 has five lanes. After passing through the tollgate 900, the road branches off to the right and left. A vehicle passing through the tollgate 900 will select whether to enter the road on the right side or the road on the left side depending on the direction of the destination. An image data transmission device 90 is installed near the tollgate 900 shown in FIG. The image data transmission device 90 photographs the scenery around the toll gate 900 and transmits image data of the photographed scenery to the navigation system 10 .

In the example shown in FIG. 3, at the passing point having the configuration described above, many vehicles are proceeding to the right at the branch. As a result, traffic is congested beyond the toll gate 900 due to vehicles proceeding to the right. Furthermore, beyond the gate 5, the broken-down vehicle A20 is stopped. As a result, vehicles traveling to the right are even more congested. Also, there are many vehicles moving to the right in front of the toll gate 900 . Therefore, vehicles are entering gates 3-5. On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 3, there are few vehicles proceeding to the left at the branch. Therefore, there are no vehicles at gates 1 and 2. The image data transmission device 90 photographs the situation shown in FIG. 3 and supplies the image data to the own vehicle A10.

In the situation described above, the host vehicle A10 equipped with the navigation system 10 is approaching the toll booth 900. FIG. After passing through the tollgate 900, the own vehicle A10 is scheduled to proceed to the right at the fork. Therefore, the scheduled route of the own vehicle A10 is a route that passes through the gate 4. FIG. That is, the arrow indicated by the solid line in FIG. 3 is the planned route. Four arrows indicated by two-dot chain lines are detour routes from the own vehicle A10 to gates 1, 2, 3 and 5, respectively. In the following description, the route leading to each gate number will be referred to by the route number corresponding to the gate number. For example, a route passing through Gate 1 is called Route 1. Similarly, a route passing through Gate 2, for example, will be referred to as Route 2. The same applies to the rest.

Next, a specific example of processing executed by the control device 100 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of traffic volume calculated by the navigation system 10. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, the horizontal axis indicates the route number, and the vertical axis indicates the traffic volume corresponding to each route number. Here, the traffic volume is the number of vehicles on each route in a preset section around the toll gate 900 . That is, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the traffic volume on route 1 and route 2 is zero. Also, the traffic volume on route 3 is 6 (that is, there are 6 vehicles). Thereafter, similarly, the traffic volume on route 4 is 7 and the traffic volume on route 5 is 4.

The measurement unit 117 recognizes the traffic routes from the image data, measures the number of vehicles on each route, and calculates the traffic volume as described above.

Next, an example of the degree of congestion will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of congestion degrees calculated by the navigation system. In FIG. 5, the horizontal axis indicates the route number, and the vertical axis indicates the degree of congestion corresponding to each route number.

The degree of congestion shown here is a predetermined value calculated by taking into account, for example, the number of vehicles on the scheduled route and detour route included in the image data, the moving speed, and the distance of each route. More specifically, the predetermined value is, for example, link cost. By using such a value, the navigation system 10 can highly evaluate the degree of congestion when there is a broken-down vehicle A20 as shown in Route 5, for example. The moving speed may be calculated by averaging the amount of movement of each vehicle from a plurality of image data captured by the camera 91 at predetermined time intervals (for example, every 500 milliseconds). You may acquire a moving speed using various sensors etc. of . For example, the image data transmission device 90 has a distance measuring sensor (not shown) that uses laser light, and the moving speed of each vehicle is calculated based on the wavelength change of the measurement data of the distance measuring sensor. good too.

In FIG. 5, Route 4, which is the planned route, shows a value of congestion degree C14. The length of the two-way arrow extending downward from the congestion degree C14 indicates the threshold value Cth. Here, the navigation system 10 can select the detour route when the difference between the degree of congestion on the planned route and the degree of congestion on the detour route is greater than the threshold value Cth. That is, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 5, the selection unit 118 can select the route 1 having the degree of congestion C11 or the route 2 having the degree of congestion C12 as a route having a difference larger than the threshold value Cth. On the other hand, the difference between the route 3 having the congestion degree C13 and the route 5 having the congestion degree C15 and the congestion degree C14 applied to the route 4 is smaller than the threshold value Cth. Therefore, the selection unit 118 does not select the route 3 and the route 5.

As described above, the selection unit 118 may select a plurality of less congested Route 1 or Route 2 routes. In this case, the selection unit 118 can select a route closer to the planned route. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 5, the selection unit 118 can select route 2 . By making such a selection, the navigation system 10 can suppress the burden of changing lanes due to a route change and excessive crossing between the own vehicle and other vehicles. Further, the selection unit 118 may select a less congested route from among a plurality of selectable routes.

Next, specific aspects of the guide portion 119 will be described. FIG. 6 is a second diagram showing a specific example of a vehicle equipped with a navigation system. FIG. 6 corresponds to the example described in FIGS. That is, host vehicle A10 shown in FIG. 6 shows a situation in which selection unit 118 has selected route 2 as a detour route. In this case, the own vehicle A10 passes through the gate 2 by following the route indicated by the chain double-dashed line, then gently turns to the right along the left side of the congested vehicle group, and joins other vehicles. merge. At this time, for example, the navigation system 10 notifies the driver by voice that "It will be a long detour to the destination, but please proceed to Gate 2." As a result, the navigation system 10 can prevent the driver from being confused or losing his attention when the driver performs an operation to bypass the congested toll gate 900 .

Next, display examples of the navigation system 10 will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of the display unit 121 of the navigation system 10. As shown in FIG. FIG. 7 shows an image D100 displayed by the display unit 121. As shown in FIG. In the image D100, the first guide image D101 is displayed on the left side, and the second guide image D102 is displayed on the right side. The first guide image D101 is an image used in a general navigation device in which map data, a planned travel route 300, and the vehicle position 201 are superimposed. A passing point 331 on the travel route is shown in the first guide image D101. The second guide image D102 shows route guidance at the toll gate 900 . In the second guide image D102, an image simulating a bird's-eye view of the tollgate 900 obliquely from above and an image of a detour route indicated by an arrow are superimposed.

As shown in FIG. 7, in the second guide image D102, an arrow starting from the position where the own vehicle A10 exists passes through the toll gate 900 and merges on the right side. By following the guidance, the user can make a roundabout route to the destination when the passing point is congested, and select a detour route that requires a merging immediately before the branch, thereby making the passing point more suitable. can pass to Note that the second guide image D102 may be superimposed by processing an image captured by the camera 91 . Thereby, the navigation system 10 can display information according to the latest conditions of the road on which the user is traveling, such as superimposing other vehicles in the surrounding area. Also, merging before branching as described above may not be preferred depending on the skill of the driver. In consideration of such a case, the setting of the threshold value Cth may be changed according to the driver's preference and past driving history.

In the above description, route 1, route 2, route 3, and route 5 are candidates for selection as detour routes for route 4, which is the scheduled route. For example, route 1, which is farthest from the right branch, may not be selected as a candidate in consideration of vehicle travel and so as not to block all routes with vehicles branching to the right.

Next, with reference to FIG. 8, an application example in which the own vehicle A10 equipped with the navigation system 10 passes through an intersection will be described. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a variation of the embodiment; FIG. 8 shows an example of an intersection with multiple lanes. At the intersection shown in FIG. 8, the road extending vertically in the drawing has six lanes, and the road crossing this road in the left-right direction has four lanes. In addition, the road extending in the vertical direction has two lanes dedicated to right turns. That is, the crossing shown in the drawing is a passing point having multiple lanes. An image data transmission device 90 is installed at one corner of the intersection.

At the intersection shown in FIG. 8, the own vehicle A10 is traveling along a route that turns right at this intersection as a planned route. Beyond the right-turn lane on which the host vehicle A10 is traveling, roads leading to the right include a first route R11 and a second route R12. In the example shown in FIG. 8, it is assumed that the degree of congestion of the first route R11 is relatively low and the degree of congestion of the second route R12 is relatively high. It is assumed that the difference between the degree of congestion of the first route R11 and the degree of congestion of the second route R12 is equal to or greater than the threshold value Cth. When the own vehicle A10 makes a right turn along the left turn lane, the own vehicle A10 continues on the first route R11. On the other hand, when the own vehicle A10 makes a right turn along the right turn lane, the own vehicle A10 continues on the second route R12.

In the case described above, the navigation system 10 acquires image data from the image data transmission device 90, and the measurement unit 117 measures the degree of congestion when the first route R11 is traveled. Similarly, the measuring unit 117 measures the degree of congestion when the second route R12 is traveled. Then, the selection unit 118 selects the left-hand right-turn lane by comparing the difference in the degree of congestion with the threshold. Further, the guidance unit 119 outputs guidance to the driver, for example, by voice such as "Please proceed in the right turn lane on the left side", or guides the driver to proceed in the right turn lane on the left side on the display unit 121. . Thereby, own vehicle A10 can pass an intersection suitably.

Although the embodiment has been described above, the configuration of the navigation system according to the embodiment is not limited to the content described above. For example, there may be a plurality of image data transmission devices 90 or cameras 91, and the measurement unit 117 may measure the degree of congestion from a plurality of image data. The degree of congestion may be the traffic volume shown in FIG. Further, the camera 91 may be one that captures visible light, or one that captures infrared light or electromagnetic waves. The camera 91 may be fixed so as to capture a predetermined scene, or it may pan, zoom and tilt.

It should be noted that the programs described above can be stored and supplied to the computer using various types of non-transitory computer-readable media. Non-transitory computer-readable media include various types of tangible storage media. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic recording media (eg, flexible discs, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives), magneto-optical recording media (eg, magneto-optical discs), CD-ROM (Read Only Memory) CD-R, CD - R/W, including semiconductor memory (eg Mask ROM, PROM (Programmable ROM), EPROM (Erasable PROM), Flash ROM, RAM (Random Access Memory)). The program may also be delivered to the computer by various types of transitory computer readable media. Examples of transitory computer-readable media include electrical signals, optical signals, and electromagnetic waves. Transitory computer-readable media can deliver the program to the computer through wired channels, such as wires and optical fibers, or wireless channels.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the scope of the invention.

10 navigation system 90 image data transmission device 91 camera 92 communication unit 100 control device 110 bus 111 display control unit 112 operation reception unit 113 map information acquisition unit 114 position detection unit 115 route search unit 116 image data acquisition unit 117 measurement unit 118 selection unit 119 guide unit 121 display unit 122 operation unit 123 map information storage unit 124 positioning information reception unit 900 tollgate A10 own vehicle A20 broken-down vehicle

Claims (5)

an image data acquisition unit that acquires image data at a predetermined passing point having multiple lanes;
a measurement unit that measures, based on the obtained image data, the degree of congestion of vehicles on a preset scheduled route and the degree of congestion of vehicles on a detour route different from the scheduled route;
When the difference between the degree of congestion on the scheduled route and the degree of congestion on the detour route is less than a set threshold, the scheduled route is selected, and when the difference is equal to or greater than the set threshold, the detour route is selected. a selection unit for selecting
and a guidance unit that guides the selected scheduled route or detour route. The degree of congestion measured by the measurement unit is a value based on at least one of the number and speed of movement of vehicles on the scheduled route and the detour route based on the image data.
Navigation device according to claim 1. The selection unit selects the detour route close to the planned route when there are a plurality of detour routes for which the difference is less than a set threshold.
3. A navigation device according to claim 1 or 2. the computer
an image data acquisition step of acquiring image data at a predetermined passing point having multiple lanes;
a measuring step of measuring, based on the acquired image data, the degree of congestion of vehicles on a preset scheduled route and the degree of congestion of vehicles on a detour route different from the scheduled route;
When the difference between the degree of congestion on the scheduled route and the degree of congestion on the detour route is less than a set threshold, the scheduled route is selected, and when the difference is equal to or greater than the set threshold, the detour route is selected. a selection step that selects
and a guidance step of guiding the selected scheduled route or detour route. an image data acquisition step of acquiring image data at a predetermined passing point having multiple lanes;
a measuring step of measuring, based on the acquired image data, the degree of congestion of vehicles on a preset scheduled route and the degree of congestion of vehicles on a detour route different from the scheduled route;
When the difference between the degree of congestion on the scheduled route and the degree of congestion on the detour route is less than a set threshold, the scheduled route is selected, and when the difference is equal to or greater than the set threshold, the detour route is selected. a selection step that selects
and a guidance step of guiding the selected scheduled route or detour route.

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