JP2661360B2 - Vehicle position detection device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle position detecting device, and more particularly to a vehicle position detecting device that detects a position of a vehicle with high accuracy.

(Prior Art) In recent years, the current position of a vehicle is sequentially calculated based on azimuth information from an azimuth sensor and distance information from a distance sensor, and the trajectory of the vehicle and the current position of the vehicle are displayed on a map. Various so-called navigation systems have been developed as described above (JP-A-61-243482).

In such a conventional navigation system, when the current position of the vehicle is sequentially calculated, the vehicle is controlled based on the current position data of the vehicle at every predetermined traveling distance or at every elapse of a predetermined time. Calculate the traveling locus of travel. Then, the calculated travel locus is compared with the shape of the road on the map to calculate the degree of coincidence between the two, and the current position of the vehicle is corrected on the road with the calculated degree of high coincidence. .

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, there is a case where a user goes to a resort area using a car ferry or the like that transports a vehicle.

When a vehicle is transported by a car ferry in this way, the vehicle is stopped from traveling and moved from the starting point to the arrival point of the channel, and the vehicle is moved from the starting point to the arrival point of the channel. During this time, data relating to the travel of the vehicle cannot be obtained because the vehicle is stopped.

For this reason, when a vehicle is transported using a car ferry or the like due to the existence of a sea route on the route, the vehicle travels on the road connected to the starting point of the sea route, and then passes through the sea route. There is no consistency between the traveling trajectory of the vehicle up to the destination on the road connected to the arrival point of the channel and the road shape on the map.

Therefore, when a vehicle is transported using a car ferry or the like due to the existence of a sea route on the route, it is necessary to manually correct the current position of the vehicle when the vehicle arrives at the arrival point of the sea route.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and the presence of a sea route on a route allows a vehicle between a starting point and an arrival point of the sea route to be transported using a car ferry or the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle position detecting device capable of appropriately detecting the position of a vehicle even when data relating to traveling cannot be obtained.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, as shown in FIG. 1, the present invention relates to a storage means 1 for storing map information on a travel route and a ferry route, and a vehicle. Detecting means 3 for detecting the traveling azimuth and the traveling distance of the vehicle, calculating means 5 for calculating the traveling locus of the vehicle on the traveling path stored in the storage means 1 based on the detection information of the detecting means 3, Creating means 7 for matching the departure point and the arrival point of the ferry route connected to the vehicle, and creating a travel path connected to the departure point and a travel path connected to the arrival point in a continuous travel path; When the traveling route is connected to the ferry route, the creation means 7
A comparison means 9 for comparing a traveling path created by connecting the departure point and the arrival point of the ferry route with the traveling trajectory calculated by the calculation means 5, and according to the result of the comparison by the comparison means 9, The gist of the present invention is to have a correcting means 11 for correcting the position of the vehicle.

(Operation) The present invention sequentially calculates the position of a vehicle traveling on a road, a so-called road, based on detection information from a detection unit 3 having an azimuth sensor, a distance sensor, and the like. The traveling locus of the vehicle on the traveling route is calculated with reference to the map information on the ferry route.

Further, a creating means 7 for matching the departure point and the arrival point of the ferry route connected to the travel path and creating a travel path connected to the departure point and a travel path connected to the arrival point in a continuous travel path shape. The traveling path created and connected by the creating means 7 is compared with the traveling locus of the vehicle.
The position of the vehicle is corrected according to the result of the comparison.

Therefore, even if data relating to the traveling of the vehicle cannot be obtained from the start point to the arrival point of the ferry route due to the presence of the ferry route on the route, the position of the vehicle is appropriately detected. be able to.

Embodiment An embodiment according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

 First, the configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

The microcomputer 13 is connected to an azimuth sensor 15 for obtaining azimuth information as a detecting means, a vehicle speed sensor 17 as a distance sensor for obtaining distance information, and various sensors and switches of an operation switch 19 via an interface circuit (not shown). Have been.

The direction sensor 15 that detects the traveling direction of the vehicle includes a geomagnetic sensor that detects the absolute traveling direction of the vehicle, a gyro sensor that detects the relative traveling direction of the vehicle, and the like.
It outputs a signal proportional to the direction in which the vehicle travels or the amount of change in the direction.

The vehicle speed sensor 17, which is a distance sensor for detecting the traveling distance of the vehicle, is, for example, a photoelectric sensor, an electromagnetic sensor, or a mechanical contact sensor, and generates a pulse signal every time the vehicle travels a predetermined distance. The vehicle speed sensor 17 outputs, for example, a pulse signal proportional to the number of rotations of the wheels.

The operation switch 19 is provided at an appropriate position such as a driver's seat and a passenger seat of the vehicle. The operation switch 19 includes various switches such as a switch for displaying the current position of the vehicle, a traveling locus, etc. together with map information, a switch for enlarging or reducing the display content, a switch for inputting the current position of the vehicle, and the like. It is composed of

The microcomputer 13 inputs sensor information from the direction sensor 15 and the vehicle speed sensor 17, and sequentially calculates the current position on the map of the road on which the vehicle travels based on the sensor information. More specifically, the microcomputer 13 has an arithmetic processing unit for performing arithmetic processing. When a pulse signal from the vehicle speed sensor 17 is input, the microcomputer 13 counts the number of pulses of the input pulse signal, and counts the number of pulses of the input pulse signal. Calculate the mileage. Further, the microcomputer 13 sequentially calculates the position of the vehicle on two-dimensional coordinates in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction based on the azimuth information from the geomagnetic sensor and the gyro sensor and the calculated traveling distance. .

Further, the microcomputer 13 calculates a traveling locus of the vehicle in accordance with the calculated position of the vehicle, and matches the departure point and the arrival point of the route connected to the road with the departure point. Creating means for creating a continuous road shape with a road connecting to the road and a road connecting to the arrival point;
A comparison unit configured to compare a road shape created by the creation unit with a traveling trajectory of a vehicle traveling on a road connected to the navigation route and conveyed along the navigation route, and according to a result of the comparison by the comparison unit; Correction means for correcting the position of the vehicle on a road having a high degree of coincidence with the traveling locus of the vehicle.

The CD-ROM 21 stores, for example, 1 / 100,000 map information, 1 / 25,000 map information, information on ferry routes, etc. in accordance with a preset format. More specifically, the CD-ROM 21 stores map information as shown in FIG. 4 and roads RTa, RTb, and RT on this map.
Information on d, RTe, the ferry route RTc, and the departure point Ps, the arrival point Pe, etc. of the ferry route RTc are stored. Also,
The CD-ROM 21 stores the coordinates (Xs) of the starting point, which is the starting point, for each of a plurality of types of routes as shown in FIG.
₁ , Ys ₁ ) and the coordinates of the ending point (Xe ₁ , Y
e ₁ ) ……… is stored. Also, the CD-ROM 21 stores coordinates (Xsj-Lx, Ysj-Ly)... When the starting point and the ending point of the channel are matched as shown in FIG. 6 (B). Here, Lx is the X of the starting point Ps and the ending point Pe of the route RTc.
Ly is the distance in the axial direction, and Ly is the starting point Ps and the ending point P of the route RTc.
This is the distance in the Y-axis direction from e.

The memory 23 is a ROM in which various control programs are stored,
It comprises a control RAM and the like for performing various control processes. The RAM temporarily stores, for example, data relating to the traveling locus of the vehicle.

The display device 25 has a CRT or the like, and displays the current position of the vehicle, a running locus, and the like together with map information.

Next, the operation of the embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, the operation when the vehicle is traveling on the road RTa shown in FIG. 4 will be described.

In step S1, the sensor signal, that is, the azimuth information from the azimuth sensor 15 and the distance information from the vehicle speed sensor 17 are converted into digital signals. The traveling direction θ and the traveling distance L of the vehicle are sequentially calculated based on the sensor information (Step S).
3). Subsequently, in step S5, the current position (X, Y) of the vehicle is calculated. Assuming that the previous position is (X ₀ , Y ₀ ), the current position (X, Y) of the vehicle is indicated as follows.

X = X ₀ + Lcosθ Y = Y ₀ + Lsinθ The current position (X, Y) of the vehicle calculated in this manner
Is stored in the CD-ROM 21 (step S7).
Then, the traveling locus of the vehicle is obtained based on the data of the current position (X, Y) of the vehicle.

Next, in step S9, it is determined whether or not the current position is to be corrected. That is, in step S9, it is determined whether a predetermined amount of data relating to the current position of the vehicle has been accumulated. If the accumulation of data relating to the current position of the vehicle is equal to or less than the predetermined amount, the process returns to step S1 and returns to the current position. Continue to accumulate data. If a predetermined amount of data on the current position of the vehicle has been accumulated in step S9, it is determined that the current position should be corrected, and the process proceeds to step S11. In step S11, the road data stored in the CD-ROM 21 is searched.

Subsequently, in step S13, it is determined whether or not there is a ferry route on the route on which the vehicle has traveled. If there is no ferry route, the process proceeds to step S17, and it is determined whether or not all routes have been extracted. If all the routes have been extracted, the process proceeds to step S19, and the degree of coincidence with the traveling locus of the vehicle is calculated for all the routes. Subsequently, in step S21, a route having a high degree of coincidence with the traveling locus of the vehicle is selected. Thus, in step S23, the current position of the vehicle on the road of the selected route is corrected.

The road data retrieved as described above is compared with the traveling locus of the vehicle, and the position of the vehicle is corrected on a road having a high degree of coincidence with the traveling locus of the vehicle according to the result of this comparison.

The point Pa shown in FIG. 4 indicates a point where the vehicle position has been corrected by the above method. Next, when the vehicle further travels on the road RTa from this point Pa, is transported on the route RTc by ferry from the starting point Ps, and travels on the road RTd from the arrival point Pe, the vehicle in the section from the point Pa to the point Pb The processing related to the position correction will be described.

As described above, when the traveling direction θ and the traveling distance L of the vehicle are sequentially calculated based on the direction information from the direction sensor 15 and the distance information from the vehicle speed sensor 17 (step S3), the current position of the vehicle (X , Y) is calculated (step S5), and the CD-R
It is stored in the OM21 (step S7).

Subsequently, in step S9, it is determined whether a predetermined condition set in advance has been reached to make a correction determination of the current position of the vehicle, and that the vehicle has traveled on the road RTd and arrived at the point Pb. Accordingly, it is determined that the current position should be corrected, and the process proceeds to step S11.

In step S11, the road data stored in the CD-ROM 21 is searched.

Next, in step S13, it is determined whether or not there is a ferry route on the route traveled by the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 5A, the starting point is located between the road RTa and the road RTd.
Since there is a route RTc from Ps to the arrival point Pe, the process proceeds from step S13 to step S15.

In step S15, the starting point Ps and the arriving point Pe, which are both landing points of the route RTc, are matched, and the road connecting to the starting point Ps
A road shape is created by connecting RTa and a road RTd connected to the arrival point Pe.

More specifically, as shown in FIG.
The ROM 21 stores, for each of a plurality of routes, coordinates of a start point as a departure point and coordinates of an end point as an arrival point, and extracts data relating to the route RTc from these data. When the data on the route RTc is extracted, the coordinates of the road RTd are converted using the distance Lx in the X-axis direction and the distance Ly in the Y-axis direction between the start point Ps and the arrival point Pe. CD-R
As shown in FIG. 6 (B), the OM 21 stores the coordinates when the starting point and the ending point of the route coincide with each other, and the corresponding data is extracted from these data.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 6A, the arrival point Pe coincides with the starting point Ps, and the road RTa and the road RTd are formed into a continuous road shape. That is, it is formed as a continuous route from the road RTa to the road RTd.

Next, in step S17, it is determined whether all the routes have been extracted. If not all routes have been extracted, the process returns to step S11 again, and the above-described processing is repeated.

FIG. 7 shows a route extracted as a result of the above processing. FIG. 7 (A) shows a continuous route from the road RTa to the road RTe, and FIG. 7 (B) shows a road RTa. Road R from
Shows a continuous path through Te.

If it is determined in step S17 that all routes have been extracted, the process proceeds to step S19. In step S19, the degree of coincidence with the traveling locus of the vehicle is calculated for all the routes.

More specifically, as shown in FIG.
The position coordinates (X, Y) of the vehicle that ran RTa and RTd are stored on the CD-ROM 21.
The traveling locus of the vehicle as shown in FIG. 8A is calculated based on the position coordinates (X, Y).

The traveling locus of the vehicle shown in FIG. 8A is compared with all the extracted routes. For example, a so-called residual sum of squares is calculated according to the difference between the traveling locus and each route to calculate the degree of coincidence.

FIG. 9 shows the route shown in FIG. 6 (A) and FIG. 8 (A)
Are superimposed on the running locus shown in FIG. As is clear from FIG. 9, a continuous path from the road RTa to the road RTd is selected as a path having a high degree of coincidence with the traveling locus of the vehicle (step S21). Therefore, in step S23, the current position of the vehicle is corrected on the road RTd, which is the selected route.

As described above, the starting point and the arrival point of the route connected to the road are made to coincide with each other, and the road connecting to the starting point and the road connecting to the arrival point are formed in a continuous road shape. The traveling locus of the vehicle and the shape of the road can be appropriately compared, and the current position of the vehicle can be accurately corrected.

In the above-described embodiment, when the data of the current position of the vehicle is stored in the predetermined amount in step S9, that is, the correction of the current position is performed for each predetermined traveling distance. The present invention is not limited to this, and may be configured to perform the correction judgment of the current position at an appropriate timing, for example, every elapse of a predetermined time.

With the above configuration, the device configuration can be simplified.

Further, a ferry boarding switch is provided, and when this switch is operated, the processing from step S13 to step S23, that is, the starting point and the arrival point of the route connected to the road are matched, and the road connecting to the starting point is set. And the road connected to the arrival point are created in a continuous road shape, and the continuous road shape is compared with the traveling trajectory of the vehicle to correct the current position of the vehicle. Can be

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the start point and the arrival point of a route connected to a road are matched, and a road connected to the start point and a road connected to the arrival point are determined. Since it was configured to create a continuous road shape and to compare this road shape with the traveling locus of the vehicle, between the starting point and the arriving point of the sea route, when data related to the traveling of the vehicle cannot be obtained. Even so, the current position of the vehicle can be detected appropriately.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a claim correspondence diagram, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the embodiment according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is stored in a CD-ROM. FIG. 5 (A) is an explanatory diagram showing an example of map information, FIG. 5 (A) is an explanatory diagram showing a case where a route RTc exists between a road RTa and a road RTd, and FIG. 5 (B) is a CD-ROM. FIG. 6A is an explanatory diagram showing data relating to the coordinates of the start point and the coordinates of the end point for each of the plurality of stored routes. FIG.
Explanatory diagram showing a case where RTa and road RTd are formed in a continuous road shape. FIG. 6 (B) is an explanatory diagram showing data relating to coordinates when a starting point and an arriving point of a route are matched. FIG. 7 (A) is an explanatory diagram showing a continuous route from the road RTa to the road RTe, FIG. 7 (B) is an explanatory diagram showing a continuous route from the road RTa to the road RTb, FIG. (A) is an explanatory diagram showing a traveling locus of a vehicle, FIG. 8 (B) is an explanatory diagram showing data relating to position coordinates of a vehicle traveling on roads RTa and RTd, and FIG. 9 is a diagram (A) in FIG. 9) is an explanatory diagram for explaining the degree of coincidence by superimposing the route shown in FIG. 8) and the traveling locus shown in FIG. 8 (A). DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Storage means 3 ... Detection means 5 ... Calculation means 7 ... Creation means 9 ... Comparison means 11 ... Correction means

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A storage means for storing map information relating to a travel route and a ferry route, a detection means for detecting a traveling azimuth and a travel distance of a vehicle, and a storage means for storing the information based on the detection information of the detection means. Calculating means for calculating a traveling locus of the vehicle on the traveling path; a traveling path connecting the starting point and the arrival point of the ferry route connected to the traveling path and connecting to the starting point; and a traveling connecting to the arrival point. Creating means for creating a continuous road with the road, and a running path created by connecting the starting point and the arrival point of the ferry route by the creating means when the running path of the vehicle is connected to the ferry route. And a correction means for correcting the position of the vehicle according to a result of the comparison by the comparison means.