JP2023138609A - Congestion display device, congestion display method, and congestion display program - Google Patents

Abstract

To display congestion information of a given place by lanes.SOLUTION: A congestion display device 110 receives congestion information including levels of congestion by lanes at a given place, from a congestion information processing device 100 via a communication unit 111. According to a scale of a map displaying the congestion information, a congestion display processing unit 112 controls display of congestion by lanes on the map, and when the scale of the map is set for enlarged display, the congestion display processing unit displays levels and ranges of congestion by lanes included in the congestion information on the corresponding lanes. When the scale of the map is set for reduced display, the congestion display processing unit displays levels and ranges of congestion by lanes included in the congestion information in the vicinity of the congested road in a separate frame.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a traffic jam display device, a traffic jam display method, and a traffic jam display program that display traffic jam information. However, the use of the present invention is not limited to a traffic jam display device, a traffic jam display method, and a traffic jam display program.

Conventionally, the technology for displaying road congestion has been to obtain traffic congestion information at intersections from VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System: registered trademark) or servers, determine traffic congestion information for each lane, and display the information on the screen in different colors. A car navigation device has been disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1 below).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-17616

However, the above-mentioned conventional technology has a problem in that it can only determine the congestion state at intersections and cannot present congestion information at arbitrary locations on the road, for example, on straight roads other than intersections. For example, there is a problem in that it is not possible to display traffic jams caused by large numbers of vehicles entering facilities adjacent to straight roads.

In the conventional technology, the congestion status of lanes is displayed separately from the map, so it is difficult to understand at a glance which part of the map is congested. If you try to display the traffic congestion status by lane by superimposing it on a map, the enlarged map will display the roads larger, so you can display the traffic congestion status by lane, but if the map is reduced, the roads will be displayed larger. An example of this is the problem of not being able to display the traffic jam status by lane because the data is displayed small.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem and achieve the object, the traffic jam display device according to the invention of claim 1 is a traffic jam display device that displays traffic jam information for each lane acquired in response to a request for traffic jam information at a predetermined location. The present invention is characterized by comprising a display processing unit that controls display of traffic jams for each lane on the map according to a scale of a map on which the traffic congestion information is displayed.

Further, the traffic jam display method according to the invention of claim 9 is a traffic jam display method performed by a traffic jam display device that displays traffic jam information for each lane acquired in response to a request for traffic jam information at a predetermined location, The present invention is characterized by including a display processing step of controlling the display of traffic jams for each lane on the map according to the scale of the map to be displayed.

A traffic jam display program according to a tenth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that it causes a computer to execute the traffic jam display method described above.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a traffic jam display system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing for displaying traffic jams by the traffic jam display device according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the navigation device. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the server. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the content of the display processing of traffic congestion information using traffic congestion information. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of traffic congestion information. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another display example of traffic congestion information. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a traffic jam display during route guidance. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a display example of an image and traffic jam road information as traffic congestion information.

(Embodiment)
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a traffic jam display device, a traffic jam display method, and a traffic jam display program according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a traffic jam display system according to an embodiment. The traffic jam display system according to the embodiment can be configured by a traffic jam information processing device 100 and a traffic jam display device 110 that are communicatively connected to each other.

The traffic jam information processing device 100 includes an acquisition section 101, an image processing section 102, an information combination section 103, a storage section 104, a traffic jam information processing section 105, and a communication section 106. The traffic jam display device 110 includes a communication section 111, a traffic jam display processing section 112, and a display section 113.

The acquisition unit 101 of the traffic jam information processing device 100 acquires an image of a road from a navigation device 120 or the like mounted on a moving body. The photographed image is not limited to the navigation device 120, but may be configured to use a mobile phone, a smartphone, a portable personal computer, or the like to acquire an image photographed by a camera and transmit it to the traffic jam information processing device 100. At this time, the acquisition unit 101 acquires the photographed image as well as the position information at the time of photographing determined by a positioning unit (not shown) such as GPS and the time at the time of photographing.

Further, the acquisition unit 101 may acquire traffic congestion information from the VICS 121 or a server that manages traffic congestion information via a network or the like.

The image processing unit 102 of the traffic jam information processing device 100 performs image processing on the acquired captured image and extracts (detects) the road and vehicle indicated by the captured image. Then, the navigation device 120 detects the driving lane (own lane) in which the navigation device 120 is traveling, the number of lanes, and the number of vehicles in each lane. In addition, it is also possible to detect the model of each vehicle included in the photographed image.

The information combining unit 103 associates the photographed image transmitted from the navigation device 120 with information such as the photographing time and the photographing position, and stores the associated information in the storage unit 104 . Then, the information combining unit 103 associates (combines) the own lane information, which is the result of image processing by the image processing unit 102, using the same captured image (ID), and stores it in the storage unit 104 as traffic information. The information combining unit 103 also stores vehicle information by lane (road, location, number of vehicles by time zone) in the storage unit 104 as traffic information.

The traffic jam information processing unit 105 determines the traffic congestion status by time for each traffic information classified by road position and time zone stored in the storage unit 104, and stores the traffic congestion status in the storage unit 104 as traffic congestion information. At this time, a predetermined threshold is used to determine the range exceeding the threshold as a congested area. By providing a plurality of threshold values, it is possible to determine a congestion section according to a plurality of levels of congestion degree.

The storage unit 104 stores traffic congestion information based on changes in a plurality of captured images on the same road. At this time, since traffic congestion information for each lane is obtained based on captured images, the degree of congestion is determined based on the number of vehicles in each lane (corresponding to the distance between vehicles and the density of vehicles), and traffic congestion information for each lane is determined. Obtainable.

The traffic jam information has a range of multiple stages depending on the degree of traffic congestion in the vicinity of the location requested by the traffic jam display device 110. This traffic jam information is used to display traffic jams on the driving route to the destination, traffic jams near the destination, etc. in response to requests from the traffic jam display device 110. This calculation process of traffic congestion information may be calculated for each road (location) in advance, or may be calculated for a corresponding road (location) at the time of a request from the traffic congestion display device 110.

The traffic jam information processing unit 105 reads traffic jam information for a position or area corresponding to the traffic jam display request from the traffic jam display device 110 from the storage unit 104, and transmits it to the traffic jam display device 110 via the communication unit 106. At this time, the traffic jam information processing unit 105 transmits traffic jam information in which the location information (section) where the traffic jam is occurring and the degree of traffic congestion are added. Furthermore, since it is possible to determine the degree of congestion for each lane of the road, the congestion information includes the congestion section for each lane and is transmitted.

Although the traffic jam information processing device 100 described above is configured to determine the traffic congestion state of a road based on images, the present invention is not limited to images. For example, a configuration may be adopted in which the acquisition unit 101 acquires traffic congestion information from the VICS 121 or the like from the outside, and determines the traffic congestion state by including this traffic congestion information.

The traffic jam display device 110 requests the traffic jam information processing device 100, for example, via the communication unit 111, for traffic jam information on the travel route of the moving object and in a predetermined area near the destination. In addition, when a moving object searches for a route, it similarly requests information on the driving route and traffic jams in a predetermined area near the destination.

The traffic jam display device 110 can be configured using a navigation device mounted on a moving object (which may be the same device as the navigation device 120 in FIG. 1), a mobile phone, a smartphone, a portable personal computer, or the like. Furthermore, a personal computer or the like that is fixedly installed at home, facility (store), etc. can also be used.

The communication unit 111 of the traffic jam display device 110 receives traffic jam information transmitted from the traffic jam information processing device 100. The traffic jam display processing unit 112 of the traffic jam display device 110 has a map display function (not shown), and displays traffic jam information at the requested position on this map. In addition, if the traffic jam display device 110 is constituted by a navigation device or the like and has a function of guiding the current position of a moving body and a route, the traffic jam display device 110 (mobile body) may be configured to display the driving route of the moving body or a predetermined area near the destination. Display traffic information.

The traffic jam display processing unit 112 displays the traffic jam information received by the communication unit 111 and displays the information on the display unit 113. At this time, the traffic jam display processing unit 112 superimposes the traffic jam information on a map or an image of the road taken by a camera, or displays it as a pop-up. Congestion information is then displayed in different display formats depending on the scale of the map or image. At this time, regardless of the scale of the displayed map, a display is provided that allows easy identification of traffic congestion. As the image of the road taken by the camera, the one received from the traffic jam information processing device 100 may be used, or the image taken by the traffic jam display device 110 may be used.

Then, the traffic jam display device 110 receives traffic jam information including the position information (section) of each lane in which traffic jam is occurring and the degree of traffic congestion from the traffic jam information processing device 100. As a result, the traffic jam display processing unit 112 displays the traffic congestion section and traffic lane indicated by the traffic congestion information by superimposing the color indicating traffic congestion on the map or image for each lane. In addition, the traffic congestion status is displayed in stages by changing the color to become more conspicuous as the degree of traffic congestion increases, for example, from blue to yellow to red.

At this time, the traffic congestion display processing unit 112 can display traffic congestion in a predetermined section of the road based on the traffic congestion section. That is, instead of displaying congestion information for each road (link), it is possible to display congestion occurring in a finer range within a road (link). For example, it becomes possible to display partial congestion only in the vicinity of a facility that occurs on a straight road (one link) due to the large number of vehicles entering the facility adjacent to the straight road. In this case, since traffic congestion is not displayed for all road sections of one link adjacent to the facility, it becomes possible to display congestion that actually occurred.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing for displaying traffic jams by the traffic jam display device according to the embodiment. The content of the traffic jam display processing performed by the traffic jam display device 110 is shown. The traffic jam display device 110 requests the traffic jam information processing device 100 for traffic jam information that specifies a predetermined position (location), a traveling route of a moving object, or a predetermined area near a destination.

Then, the traffic jam display device 110 transmits traffic jam information on a predetermined position (place) corresponding to the request, a traveling route of the moving body, or a predetermined area near the destination to the traffic jam information processing device 100. The display device 110 receives this traffic congestion information through the communication unit 111 (step S201).

Next, the traffic congestion display processing unit 112 displays traffic congestion in the section and lane indicated by the received traffic congestion information (step S202). At this time, the traffic jam display processing unit 112 displays, for example, a color indicating traffic congestion on a map or image in an overlapping manner for each lane.

Further, the traffic jam display processing unit 112 changes the display form of traffic jams according to the display scale (step S203). For example, when the displayed map is enlarged, roads (links) are visible as surfaces. Normally, roads (links) are displayed as lines. However, the scale is difficult to display traffic jams by lane. When reduced, only major roads (links) are displayed, and the scale is such that it is difficult to display congestion by lane for each road.

The traffic jam display processing unit 112 changes the display form of traffic jams according to the scale of such display. When expanded, traffic congestion information by lane is displayed. In normal times, traffic congestion information is not superimposed on the road (link), but is displayed as a separate icon (pop-up, etc.) near the location where the traffic jam occurs. The icon display can include enlarging a congested lane or displaying an image of the congested traffic. When zooming out, traffic congestion information is displayed using the entire road (link) instead of by lane. At this time, even if the vehicle is on the same road, if it is possible to travel without congestion by using a lane other than the congested lane, the traffic congestion information may not be displayed on the road.

According to the embodiment described above, it becomes possible to present traffic congestion information on roads at a predetermined location. In particular, it is possible to show not only traffic congestion at intersections, but also traffic congestion at entrances to popular facilities along roads. At this time, it is possible to present congestion information at a specific location rather than the entire road (link) in question, making it possible to present congestion information in more detail.

In addition, since it is possible to display traffic jams by lane, it is possible to avoid congested lanes even when driving on the same road. Furthermore, by changing the display form of traffic congestion information depending on the scale of the map, necessary traffic congestion information can be appropriately presented regardless of the scale.

Examples of the present invention will be described below. In this embodiment, a navigation device 300 is mounted on a moving body (vehicle). When the navigation device 300 of each user transmits the above-mentioned captured image to the traffic jam information processing device 100 (function of the navigation device 120 in FIG. A configuration having an acquisition request (function of the traffic congestion display device 110 in FIG. 1) will be described.

(Hardware configuration of navigation device 300)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the navigation device. In FIG. 3, the navigation device 300 includes a CPU 301, ROM 302, RAM 303, magnetic disk drive 304, magnetic disk 305, optical disk drive 306, optical disk 307, audio I/F (interface) 308, microphone 309, speaker 310, input device 311, It includes a video I/F 312, a display 313, a communication I/F 314, a GPS unit 315, various sensors 316, and a camera 317. Each component 301 to 317 is connected to each other by a bus 320.

The CPU 301 is in charge of overall control of the navigation device 300. The ROM 302 records a boot program, a traffic jam display program, and the like. RAM 303 is used as a work area for CPU 301. That is, the CPU 301 controls the entire navigation device 300 by executing various programs recorded in the ROM 302 while using the RAM 303 as a work area.

The magnetic disk drive 304 controls reading/writing of data to/from the magnetic disk 305 under the control of the CPU 301 . The magnetic disk 305 records data written under the control of the magnetic disk drive 304. As the magnetic disk 305, for example, an HD (hard disk) or FD (flexible disk) can be used.

Further, the optical disc drive 306 controls reading/writing of data to/from the optical disc 307 under the control of the CPU 301 . The optical disc 307 is a removable recording medium from which data is read under the control of the optical disc drive 306. A writable recording medium can also be used as the optical disc 307. In addition to the optical disc 307, an MO, a memory card, etc. can be used as the removable recording medium.

Examples of information recorded on the magnetic disk 305 and the optical disk 307 include map data, vehicle information, road information, driving history, and the like. Map data is used when searching for a route in a car navigation system, and includes background data that represents features such as buildings, rivers, ground surfaces, and energy supply facilities, and road shape that represents the shape of the road using links and nodes. This is vector data that includes data.

The audio I/F 308 is connected to a microphone 309 for audio input and a speaker 310 for audio output. The audio received by the microphone 309 is A/D converted within the audio I/F 308 . The microphones 309 are installed, for example, on the dashboard of the vehicle, and the number of microphones 309 may be singular or plural. The speaker 310 outputs audio obtained by D/A converting a predetermined audio signal within the audio I/F 308 .

Examples of the input device 311 include a remote control, a keyboard, a touch panel, and the like having a plurality of keys for inputting characters, numbers, various instructions, and the like. The input device 311 may be realized in one form among a remote control, a keyboard, and a touch panel, but it can also be realized in a plurality of forms.

Video I/F 312 is connected to display 313. Specifically, the video I/F 312 includes, for example, a graphics controller that controls the entire display 313, a buffer memory such as VRAM (Video RAM) that temporarily records image information that can be displayed immediately, and output from the graphics controller. The control IC is configured to control the display 313 based on the image data displayed.

The display 313 displays icons, cursors, menus, windows, and various data such as characters and images. As the display 313, for example, a TFT liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or the like can be used.

The camera 317 captures an image of the road outside the vehicle. The video may be either a still image or a video. By photographing the road outside the vehicle with the camera 317, other vehicles traveling along with the road are photographed. This photographed image is image-processed by the CPU 301 and then transmitted to the traffic jam information processing device 100 (server 400 described later) together with the position information of the GPS unit 315.

Communication I/F 314 is connected to a network via wireless, and functions as an interface for navigation device 300 and CPU 301. Communication networks that function as networks include in-vehicle communication networks such as CAN and LIN (Local Interconnect Network), public telephone networks, mobile phone networks, DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication), LAN, and WAN. The communication I/F 314 is, for example, a public line connection module, an ETC (nonstop automatic toll payment system) unit, an FM tuner, a VICS/beacon receiver, or the like.

The GPS unit 315 receives radio waves from GPS satellites and outputs information indicating the current position of the vehicle. The output information of the GPS unit 315 is used together with the output values of various sensors 316, which will be described later, when the CPU 301 calculates the current position of the vehicle. The information indicating the current position is information specifying one point on the map data, such as latitude, longitude, and altitude.

Various sensors 316 output information for determining the position and behavior of the vehicle, such as a vehicle speed sensor, acceleration sensor, angular velocity sensor, and tilt sensor. The output values of the various sensors 316 are used by the CPU 301 to calculate the current position of the vehicle and to calculate the amount of change in speed and direction.

The CPU 301 shown in FIG. 3 implements the functions of the traffic jam display processing section 112 of the traffic jam display device 110 shown in FIG. 1 by executing programs stored in the ROM 302 and the like.

(Example of server configuration)
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the server. The server 400 constituting the traffic jam information processing device 100 also has the same configuration as the navigation device 300 shown in FIG. 3. Note that in the server 400, the GPS unit 315, various sensors 316, camera 317, etc. shown in FIG. 3 are not necessary.

The traffic jam information processing device 100 shown in FIG. 1 implements a traffic jam display function by having the CPU 401 execute a predetermined program using programs and data recorded in a ROM 402 or the like provided in the server 400. The above-mentioned traffic jam information and traffic jam display information are stored in the magnetic disk 405 and the like of the server 400. It also communicates with the navigation device 300 via the communication I/F 414 and outputs traffic jam display information corresponding to a request from the navigation device 300 to the navigation device 300.

Further, the server 400 may have a function of calculating the transmission time of the images transmitted from each navigation device 300 and the speed of the moving object on which the navigation device 300 is mounted. The server 400 can calculate the speed of the moving object based on the amount of latitude and longitude movement of the navigation device 300 and the required travel time.

The CPU 401 shown in FIG. 4 realizes the functions of the image processing unit 102, the information combining unit 103, and the traffic congestion information processing unit 105 of the traffic jam information processing device 100 shown in FIG. 1 by executing programs stored in the ROM 402 and the like. The magnetic disk 405, optical disk 407, etc. in FIG. 4 realize the function of the storage unit 104 shown in FIG. 1.

(Generation processing of traffic jam information by server)
The server 400 acquires the image and position information (photographing position) transmitted from the navigation device 300, as well as the speed and time of the navigation device 300 at the time of image reception. The server 400 may acquire the speed and time of these moving objects that are transmitted by the navigation device 300, or may use those that are generated within the server 400. When generating on the server 400 side, the time within the server 400 at the time of image reception is used as the time. For the movement of the moving body, the velocity of the moving body is calculated based on the amount of latitude and longitude movement of the navigation device 300 and the required travel time.

Then, the server 400 detects the vehicle, the driving lane, and the number of lanes from the acquired image through image processing by the image processing unit 102. At this time, for example, by converting the photographed image into an orthogonal image, the position and distance of the vehicle can be determined, and the number of vehicles in each lane can be detected. Additionally, in the orthoimage, the width of the vehicle's own lane is derived and the number of lanes on the road is determined.

Next, the server 400 uses the information combining unit 103 to associate information such as position information, speed, time, number of vehicles per lane, and own lane with each acquired image, and stores the information in the storage unit 104 as traffic information. Further, traffic congestion information corresponding to the degree of traffic congestion is stored in the storage unit 104 using a threshold value.

Furthermore, the server 400 may generate traffic jam information based not only on traffic information based on image processing but also on information acquired from externally input VICS 121, a server that manages traffic jam information, or the like. VICS121 currently provides congestion information for each road (link), not for each lane, but if this VICS121 further subdivides each link and provides congestion information for each lane, the congestion information from this VICS121 etc. can be used.

(Congestion display processing using traffic congestion information)
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the content of the display processing of traffic congestion information using traffic congestion information. A process in which the navigation device 300 requests the server 400 to obtain traffic congestion information at a predetermined location (position) and displays the acquired traffic congestion information will be described.

First, the navigation device 300 acquires traffic jam information for each lane from the server 400 (step S501). Next, the navigation device 300 checks the scale scale of each road in the current map display (step S502). If the scale is reduced (step S503: Yes), traffic congestion information is displayed in the reduced display format (step S504), and if the scale is not reduced (step S503: No), each road is enlarged. Alternatively, the traffic jam information is displayed in the normal display format (step S505).

After the processing in step S504 or step S505, the navigation device 300 determines whether there has been a change in scale (step S506), and if there has been no change in scale (step S506: No), the navigation device 300 determines whether there has been a change in traffic congestion information. (Step S507) If there is a change in scale (Step S506: Yes), the process returns to Step S502.

If there is a change in the traffic congestion information in step S507 (step S507: Yes), the process returns to step S501, and if there is no change in the traffic congestion information (step S507: No), the process returns to step S506.

(Example of display processing of traffic congestion information)
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of traffic congestion information. The navigation device 300 displays the traffic congestion information acquired from the server 400 overlapping the corresponding road on the map. The road 600 shown in FIG. 6 is a one-lane road having three lanes L1 to L3. The traffic congestion information includes information that the range D1 to D2 of the lane L3 on the road 600 is congested. It is also assumed that the range D1 has a high degree of congestion, and the range D2 has a lower degree of congestion than the range D1, but is still congested.

The traffic jam display processing unit 112 of the navigation device 300 displays the traffic jam range indicated by the traffic jam information by changing the display color, for example, so that the traffic jam range indicated by the traffic jam information can be visually recognized on the map. At this time, in the case of a scale that can display each lane of the road 600 (scale enlargement, etc.), the range D1 of the lane L3 is displayed in red, and the range D2 of the lane L3 is displayed in yellow.

Note that when the server 400 does not transmit the degree of traffic congestion (stages of ranges D1 and D2) as traffic congestion information, the traffic jam display processing unit 112 of the navigation device 300 transmits the level of traffic congestion (stages of ranges D1 and D2) to range D1 without having the stages of ranges D1 and D2. , D2 are displayed in the same color.

According to the above-mentioned traffic jam display, the traffic jam state for each lane of the road 600 can be shown in the horizontal axis direction. This makes it possible to suggest ways to avoid traffic jams by changing lanes. Further, in the vertical axis direction, the congestion ranges D1 and D2 within the link of the road 600 can be shown. This makes it possible to show that the traffic jam in lane L3 can be avoided by changing to lanes that are not congested at the end P1 and the tip P2 of the traffic jam range, which are the beginning and end of the traffic jam.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another display example of traffic congestion information. FIG. 7 shows a road 700 that intersects with the road 600. Assume that a traffic jam (for people waiting to enter the store 701) occurs in the lane L1 near the store 701 on the left in the middle of the road 600 (link). In this way, it becomes possible to display traffic jams even when traffic jams occur at intermediate positions on the road 600 (other than intersection C).

At this time, the navigation device 300 displays information (facility name, etc.) of a facility (store 701) near the location of the traffic jam in the received traffic jam information. Further, if the received traffic jam information includes information about the facility (store 701) where the traffic jam has occurred, the navigation device 300 displays this information.

Furthermore, as shown in the figure, an image 710 of the traffic jam location and enlarged traffic jam information 711 can be displayed by pop-up display from the location (position) of the traffic jam. Whether or not to display can be set in advance. Further, the traffic lane 710a may be displayed in a predetermined color on the image 710.

Even when zoomed in, displaying traffic congestion using only the area on the road 600 may be difficult to see, so by displaying it as a pop-up as shown above, details of the congestion location can be displayed more clearly. Become. The image 710 can be displayed by receiving the image included in the traffic information from the server 400, and the cause of the traffic jam can be confirmed from the image.

Since the map in the state shown in FIG. 7 is at an enlarged scale, it is possible to display congestion on the road 600 by lane, but when the scale of the map is normal or reduced, enlarged congestion information 711 is displayed. At this time, the road 600 does not display traffic jams by lane, but uses the entire road (all lanes on the horizontal axis) and displays the ranges D1 and D2 in predetermined colors.

Furthermore, the lane L1 of the congested sections D1 and D2 shown in the example of FIG. 7 is not shown on the entire vertical axis (traveling direction) of the road 600, but only partially on the congested section D1 and D2. There is.

Regarding map display, only major roads are displayed on a wide-area map when the scale is reduced, and when the scale is normal or enlarged, major roads such as arterial roads are displayed with a predetermined width. Correspondingly, the traffic congestion display processing unit 112 can easily present the traffic congestion state of a road arbitrarily by displaying traffic congestion information by lane or in a pop-up display according to the scale of the displayed map.

(Example of traffic jam display during route guidance)
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a traffic jam display during route guidance. The navigation device 300 has a function of searching for a route from the current position to the destination by inputting the destination, and guiding the user to a plurality of routes classified by required time and distance. During such route guidance, the navigation device 300 can provide guidance on traffic congestion on the guided route based on the acquired traffic congestion information.

The navigation device 300 transmits the guided route to the destination to the server 400. Server 400 transmits traffic congestion information on this route to navigation device 300.

Alternatively, the server 400 may receive information on the departure point and destination from the navigation device 300, search for a route on the server 400 side, and transmit traffic congestion information on the route to the navigation device 300.

Then, the traffic jam display processing unit 112 of the navigation device 300 displays and outputs traffic jam information on the route as shown in FIG. At this time, the status display processing unit 112 displays the lane through which the vehicle should avoid traffic jams. In the example shown in FIG. 8, on the guided route 800, a lane L1 is shown only for the congested sections D1 and D2. In this route guidance, the traffic jam display processing unit 112 can display that the left lane L1 is congested, but the center and right lanes L2 and L3 are not congested.

In addition, the traffic congestion display processing unit 112 displays lanes L2, L3 on the route 800, if traffic jams occur in some lanes (L1) on the route 800, but other lanes L2 and L3 do not. If the vehicle travels on L3, the vehicle will not be caught in a traffic jam, so the setting may be such that the traffic jam display shown in FIG. 8 is not displayed.

Furthermore, FIG. 8 shows the display state when the scale is enlarged, and when the scale is reduced, traffic congestion by lane cannot be displayed, and if you drive in the lanes L2 and L3, you will not get caught in the traffic jam. The setting may be such that the enlarged traffic jam information 711 is displayed or the traffic jam information is not displayed. Furthermore, when the scale is normal, instead of displaying traffic congestion by lane, the entire road (road width, all lanes on the horizontal axis) is used to display the ranges D1 and D2 in predetermined colors.

Note that, if the traffic congestion information affects the lane (route) in which the vehicle travels, the status display processing unit 112 displays traffic congestion information for each lane that has an influence.

(Other examples of traffic jam display)
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a display example of an image and traffic jam road information as traffic congestion information. If the traffic jam information acquired from the server 400 includes road information about the traffic jam, the navigation device 300 also displays the traffic jam information.

In the example shown in FIG. 9, the degree of congestion (or average speed) 902 for each lane (L1 to L4) is displayed in different colors as road information acquired from the server 400 on an image 901 of a congested area. 903 indicates the lane position of the own vehicle. Further, below the congestion degree 902, the average speed 904 of each lane included in the congestion information acquired from the server 400 is displayed. The number of vehicles or vehicle density for each lane may be displayed instead of the average speed.

Using only the image 901 of the traffic jam location, only instantaneous information about the traffic jam location can be obtained, and it is difficult to understand the sense of speed. However, as shown in FIG. 9, by adding and displaying traffic congestion road information for each lane, it becomes possible to clearly and intuitively present detailed road information of congestion locations.

According to the configuration described above, it is possible to present traffic congestion information at a predetermined location within a road (link), so traffic congestion information at a specific location can be displayed appropriately regardless of the scale, rather than congestion information for the entire link. Be able to present.

Furthermore, when the scale of the map is reduced, by pop-up displaying traffic jam information near congested roads, the entire map can be displayed, and detailed traffic jam information can also be displayed easily and visually. Furthermore, by displaying a traffic jam image, it becomes possible to confirm the cause of the traffic jam.

Congestion by lane can be displayed, and congested sections can be displayed by degree of congestion, so even when driving on the same road, it is possible to show the range of the beginning and end of congestion, and it is possible to show the range of the beginning and end of congestion even when driving on the same road. In such cases, it will be possible to present guidance that allows the driver to change lanes and drive on the same road without having to detour around other roads.

Furthermore, when providing route guidance, it is now possible to provide guidance on roads that can be traveled on by changing lanes, based on traffic jam information for each lane. This makes it possible to present the route before the change without unnecessary changes to other routes due to the occurrence of traffic jams.

Furthermore, the navigation device 300 may have the functions of the server 400 and generate traffic jam information based on images. In this case, the navigation device 300 can collect images from other navigation devices 300 and generate traffic congestion information at the location where the images were collected. The generated traffic jam information is not limited to being displayed on the navigation device itself, but can also be distributed to other navigation devices 300.

Note that the method related to traffic jam display described in this embodiment can be realized by executing a program prepared in advance on a computer such as a personal computer or a workstation. This program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a hard disk, flexible disk, CD-ROM, MO, or DVD, and is executed by being read from the recording medium by the computer. Further, this program may be a transmission medium that can be distributed via a network such as the Internet.

100 Traffic jam information processing device 101 Acquisition unit 102 Image processing unit 103 Information combining unit 104 Storage unit 105 Traffic jam information processing unit 106 Communication unit 110 Traffic jam display device 111 Communication unit 112 Traffic jam display processing unit 113 Display unit 120 Navigation device 121 VICS

Claims (1)

A traffic jam display device that displays traffic congestion information by lane acquired in response to a request for traffic congestion information at a predetermined location,
A traffic jam display device comprising: a display processing unit that controls display of traffic congestion for each lane on the map according to a scale of a map displaying the traffic congestion information.

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