JP2707834B2 - Route guidance device for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle route guidance device that is mounted on a vehicle and guides a passenger to a route to a destination.

[Prior art] Conventionally, as this type of apparatus, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-2230
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 17 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-86499, inputting to a destination prior to departure causes a shortest travel distance or travel time from the departure point to the destination as the current position of the vehicle. Some routes were searched from map data and presented to occupants. In this search, the route between the intersections is stored in advance as map data, and is performed based on the route between the intersections.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the conventional device, it is necessary to search all routes from the departure point to the destination using a huge amount of map data when the destination is input as described above, and there is a problem that it takes a very long time. .

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and has as its object to provide a vehicle route guidance device that can present a route to an occupant in a short time.

[Means for solving the problem]

A vehicle route guidance device according to the present invention includes a representative point-to-point route data memory that stores position information of representative points on a map and route data between representative points including a route between the representative points;
A representative point route search means for searching a representative point near the departure point and the destination and a route between the representative points from the map data and the representative point route data; a map, the searched representative point route and the vehicle position; An indicator for displaying is provided.

In the vehicle route guidance apparatus according to the present invention, the route between the representative points is stored as a road name column or an intersection column number column and an intersection column corresponding to this number.

In addition, the vehicle route guidance device according to the present invention further includes a route search unit that searches the map data for a shortest route from the searched representative point route to the departure place and the destination, and provides a route from the departure place to the destination. The route is displayed on a display.

(Operation)

In the present invention, the position information of the representative point and the route between the representative points are stored in advance, the representative point near the departure point and the destination and the route between the representative points are searched, and the route between the searched representative points is searched. Is displayed on the display together with the map and the vehicle position.

Further, in the present invention, the route between the representative points is efficiently stored by the road name column or the intersection column number column and the intersection column.

In the present invention, the shortest route from the route between the representative points to the departure place and the destination is searched from the map data, and the route from the departure place to the destination is displayed on the display.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a vehicle route guidance apparatus according to the first to third embodiments, wherein 1 is a representative point route data memory,
The representative point-to-point route data including the position information of the representative point and the route between the representative points is stored. The representative point is divided into, for example, a map in units of municipalities or rectangular units in which the latitude and longitude are from one to another, and are set for each of the divided units. As the representative point, for example, in the case of a municipal unit, a main road intersection near the location of the municipal office is applied. The number of routes between representative points is 100 × 100-1 if there are 100 representative points, for example.
00 = 9900 pairs of routes, and if the outbound route and the return route are common, the route will be half that of 4950 pairs. The position information of the representative point is stored in the representative point table, and an example is shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, the representative points are represented by A, B, and C, and their positions are stored as data using latitude and longitude as coordinate values. The route between the representative points is stored as follows. First, a table between representative points is shown in FIG. Seventh
In the figure, vertical A, B, C represent the representative point of the departure point,
A, B, and C on the side represent representative points of the destination, and P ₁ ,
Represents a pointer path table P ₂ will be described later. For example, locations starting the A point, when a destination point B, P ₁ is a pointer of the path table. Next, FIG. 9 shows an example of a route table in the case where the route is stored as a column of road names. In FIG. 9, P ₁ and P ₂ are pointers, and the route of P ₁ , that is, the route from point A to point B, starts on Route 140 in the map data shown in FIG. This is a row of roads represented by a series of road names.

Next, FIG. 12 shows an example of a route table in the case where the route is stored as an intersection column number sequence. In FIG. 12, P ₁ , P
Reference numeral ₂ denotes a pointer, and the numbers in the 200s are intersection column numbers in an intersection column table described below. The intersection is assigned a series of intersection numbers for each road name, and the intersection column number is the number of the intersection number column. FIG. 11 shows an example of an intersection row table, where the numbers in the top 200s are the intersection row numbers shown in FIG. 12, and the other numbers in the 100s are the numbers of the intersections. The upper intersection column number represents a set of corresponding lower intersections.

Again in FIG. 1, 2 is a vehicle position detecting means,
For example, there are those that use GPS satellites, those that detect the position of a vehicle from a distance sensor, a direction sensor, and map data. As the function, the position of the vehicle and the direction in which the vehicle is facing are output. Reference numeral 3 denotes an operation unit for inputting a destination. For input of the destination, for example, a map may be displayed on the display 6 and the occupant may indicate a position on the map using a touch switch, or a station name such as a railway or a bus may be indicated using a keyboard. Reference numeral 4 denotes a route search means between representative points.
When one point is given, a nearby representative point is searched from the representative point route data, then a route between the two representative points is searched, and the last searched route and the map stored in the map data memory 5 are searched. The coordinates of the road are obtained from the data, and the route is displayed on the display 6. FIG. 8 shows an example of map data, in which two lines represent national roads and one line represents prefectural roads, each of which has a road name. A mark indicates an intersection. The intersection is assigned a series of intersection numbers for each road name and has coordinates of latitude and longitude (not shown). A to D are representative points in the representative point table of the representative point route data memory 1 shown in FIG. The display 6 comprises, for example, a CRT and a display control device, and displays a map, a current position of the vehicle, a direction of the vehicle, a mark of a destination, and a route, and can reduce and enlarge the map.

Next, the operation of the configuration shown in FIG. 1 will be described. FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing this operation. First, in step 31, the occupant inputs a destination using the operation device 3 and the display device 6. This destination is, for example, R in FIG. 8, and when the destination R is inputted, the route searching means 4 between representative points starts operation. Next, in step 32, the vehicle position from the vehicle position detecting means 2 is set as a starting point, and this starting point is, for example, point Q in FIG. In step 33, the representative point closest to the departure point is searched from the representative point table of the representative point route data memory 1 shown in FIG. 6, and is set as, for example, point A in FIG. In step 34, a representative point closest to the destination is similarly searched, and this point is set to, for example, point B in FIG. In step 35 two representative points A, then retrieve a pointer of the routing table using the inter-representative point table of FIG. 7 from the B, for example, to P _1. In step 36, a route is searched from the route table. If the route is stored in the column of the road name, the pointer P ₁ retrieved by using the route table of FIG. 9
A row of road names up to the location of the END mark is searched, for example, five road names are searched. Next, in step 37, a column of the intersection is searched from the map data and the column of the road name. For example, point A is on Route 140, and at intersection 1
Follow intersection 143,115 from 44 and find prefectural road 110,
Next, the prefectural road 110 is searched, and at the intersection 115, 114, 102, the national highway 100 is found. In this way, the column of the intersection from the point A to the point B can be searched, and the column of the intersection is shown in FIG. A step 38 displays the roads between the intersection rows on the display 6 in a prominent color. In this way, the route from the representative point near the departure point to the representative point near the destination is immediately displayed, so that the occupant does not have to wait, and the display 6 shows the position and direction of the vehicle at that time. Since it is displayed at the same time and it is easy to know where to turn right and left, the occupant can easily travel on the optimum route.

Next, a description will be given of an operation when a route is stored as an intersection column number sequence as a second embodiment. Step 35 in Fig. 17
Up to this point is the same as above. In step 36, using the route table of the route data 1 between representative points shown in FIG.
From the pointer searched in the representative point table of FIG.
Search for the intersection row number up to where the END mark is located. For example, three intersections column number from P ₁ 211 to 213 is searched. In step 37, an intersection column corresponding to the intersection column number is searched not from the map data but from the intersection column table of the representative point route data memory 1 shown in FIG. remove. The result is the same as the intersection sequence shown in FIG. 10, and step 38 is the same as above.

Next, as a third embodiment, a case will be described in which the intersections in the intersection row table are set only when the road name changes, and the intersections between them are omitted. FIG. 13 shows the intersection row table in FIG. 11 from which intersections having the same road name are omitted.
The operation in this case is the same as that of the second embodiment until the intersection column number is retrieved from FIG. 12 in step 36.
In step 37, the intersection corresponding to the intersection column number is searched from the omitted intersection column table of FIG. That is, first, the first two intersections 144 and 115 corresponding to the intersection column number 211 are searched, then the intersection 143 between the intersections 144 and 115 is found from the map data, and they are connected. Next, at intersection 115
Find the intersection 114 between 102. In this way, the intersection sequence shown in FIG. 10 is searched from the representative point route data and the map data. Step 38 is the same as in the above embodiments.

Next, according to the above embodiment, it will be specifically described that a large storage capacity is not required to store the path. When the route between the representative points is stored as a row of intersections as described above, the result is as shown in FIG. In contrast, for example,
In the route table stored as the column of the intersection column number shown in FIG. 12, it can be seen that the storage can be performed with a small storage capacity.
However, in this case, the intersection row table shown in FIG. 11 or FIG. 13 is required, and the total of the route table and the intersection row table must be smaller than the intersection row in FIG. Here, a case where the representative points are four points in the map data of FIG. 8 will be described as an example. A to D are representative points. FIG. 15 shows a table between representative points in this case. Since there are four representative points, there are 4 × 4−4 = 12 sets of routes, and if the outbound route and the return route are shared, half of the six routes are provided. FIG. 14 shows an intersection column table in this case, in which the main road is National Highway 100, and one route from each of the representative points A to D to this main road is summarized as an intersection column, and the intersection column number is 211-215. Intersection column number
Reference numeral 212 denotes an intersection line of a main road. FIG. 16 shows a route table in this case. Since the route is 6, the pointer is also 6
In the case where the intersection column number has a minus sign, the order of the intersections in the intersection column table is reversed. As can be seen from FIG. 16, each route is made up of 2 or 3 intersection column numbers. That is, at most three intersection column numbers are the intersection column numbers from the representative point near the departure point to the main road, the intersection column numbers between the main roads, and the intersection column numbers from the main road to the representative point near the destination. You can memorize even the best route. Therefore, if the routing table is 2
2. The intersection column table can be stored with a total of 47 storage capacities of 25, but if six sets of routes are stored in an intersection column as shown in FIG. 10, a storage capacity of 61 is required. The case of four representative points has been described above. The more representative points, the more effective.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a fourth embodiment of the present invention,
6 is the same as FIG. 1, 7 is a route search means,
Given one point, an optimum route between the two points is searched from the map data. The search method is described in, for example, JP-A-58-223017, JP-A-62-86499, or "The Shortest Path Through a M" of EDWARDF.MOORE.
aze ".

Next, the operation of the configuration of FIG. 2 will be described. First, the operations of steps 31 to 38 in the flowchart of FIG. 17 are performed.
The display 6 displays the route between the representative points. For example, the road from point A to point B is displayed in a conspicuous color. The subsequent operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step 41, the search for the route between the representative points by the route search means between representative points 4 ends, and the operation by the route search means 7 starts. In step 42, the vehicle position detected by the vehicle position detecting means 2 is set as the departure place. In step 43, the optimal route between the representative point near the departure point searched by the representative point route searching means 4 and the departure point is set. Is searched from the map data. In step 44, this optimum route is displayed on the display 6, for example, the road between the departure point Q and the representative point A is displayed in a conspicuous color. In step 45, the optimal route between the representative point near the destination and the destination is searched from the map data, and this route is displayed on the display 6 in a conspicuous color. That is, the intersections 123, 122,
Roads that pass 161 are displayed in prominent colors. However, in this case, the road between the intersections 122 and 161 has already been displayed in a conspicuous color. As described above, since the route from the departure point to the destination is displayed in a short time, the occupant is less likely to wait, and the position and direction of the vehicle at that time are simultaneously displayed on the display 6, where the right Since it is easy to know whether to turn left or not, the occupant can easily travel on the optimal route.

FIG. 3 shows a configuration according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention,
Although the configurations shown by reference numerals 1 to 7 are the same, the operation is slightly different. That is, the representative point route searching means 4 performs the operations in steps 31 to 37 in FIG. 17, and in step 38, sends the searched route, that is, the intersection sequence in FIG.
The operation of the representative point route searching means 4 ends. Next, the operation of the route search means 7 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step 51, the operation of the representative point route searching means 4 ends. In step 52, the vehicle position from the vehicle position searching means 2 is set as the departure point. In step 53, the representative point searched by the representative point route searching means 4 is set. The shortest route between the inter route and the departure point is searched using the map data. This search is performed as follows. That is, an intersection closest to the departure point is selected from the intersections of the searched inter-representative point routes, and a route between the intersection and the departure point is searched. For example, the intersection 144 closest to the point Q, that is, the intersection 145 in FIG. 8, is selected from the intersection row in FIG. 10, and a search is made between the intersections 145, 144. In step 54, the shortest route between the searched route between the representative point and the destination is searched using the map data, that is, the intersection 122 closest to the point R is selected, and the intersection 123, 122 is searched. At step 55, the route searched by the representative point route searching means 4 and the route searched by the route searching means 7 are connected, and the connected intersection sequence is referred to as a twentieth intersection.
As shown in the figure, add an intersection 145 above the intersection 144,
The intersection 123 is selected instead of the intersection 161 in the figure. In step 56, the roads in the intersection row shown in FIG. 20 are displayed on the display 6 in a conspicuous color. Thus, the shortest route from the departure point to the destination is displayed in a short time.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention,
The representative point route data memory 1 stores the position information of the representative point on the map and the representative point route data including the route between the representative points, as in the above embodiments, but stores the route as a column of intersection column numbers. The routing table
The one shown in FIG. 21 is stored instead of the one shown in FIG. In FIG. 21, the number of routes sequentially from the pointer, the mileage of the route 1, the travel time, the expressway toll, the column of the intersection column number, the END mark, and the like in the following route 2 are stored. Stored similarly. Are paths provides two between the pointer P ₁ in the representative point, the first path is a path that does not use the highway, the second path is a path motorway. The operating device 3 designates a route in addition to the input of the destination. Route search means between representative points 4
Outputs information such as multiple routes and mileage. Reference numeral 8 denotes a route selection unit that selects one from a plurality of routes searched by the representative point route search unit 4.

Next, the operation of the configuration of FIG. 4 will be described. First, the representative point route search means 4 performs the operations of steps 31 to 37 in the flowchart of FIG. In steps 36 and 37, a plurality of routes are searched. In step 38, the searched route is sent to the route selecting means 8 with information such as the traveling distance, and the operation of the representative point route searching means 4 is terminated. Next, the operation of the route selecting means 8 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step 61, the route selecting means 8 starts operating at the same time when the operation of the representative point route searching means 4 is completed.
Now, the mileage sent from the representative point route search means 4,
The travel time, the expressway toll, and the like are displayed on the display 6, and in step 63, the occupant looks at the displayed information and instructs the most convenient route using the operation device 3. Step 6
At 4,65, the designated route is displayed on the display 6 in a conspicuous color. Note that the same operation can be performed when the number of routes between the representative points is two or more. As described above, in this embodiment, since a plurality of routes are displayed on the display together with the travel distance, the travel time, and the toll on the highway, the occupant can select the route that is most convenient for him / her.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of a seventh embodiment of the present invention. The inter-representative point route searching means 4 searches for N representative points and N ² routes. Reference numeral 9 denotes a route comparison unit that compares a plurality of routes retrieved by the representative point route retrieval unit 4 and determines an optimal route.

Next, the operation of the configuration of FIG. 5 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step 71, the occupant inputs a destination using the operation device 3 and the display 6, and when the destination is input, the representative point route searching means 4 starts operating. Step 72
Then, the detected vehicle position is set as the departure place. In step 73, N representative points are searched from the representative point table of FIG. 6 in the order of proximity to the departure place, and in step 74, N representative points are searched in the order of proximity to the destination. In step 75, since it searches a pointer route table by using the inter-representative point table of FIG. 7, the combination of the representative point are ^two N,
Search for N ² pieces of pointer. In step 76, when the route is stored as the column of the intersection column number, N ² routes are searched from the route table of FIG. 12, and each route is set to the column of the intersection from the intersection column table of FIG. I do. Steps
At 77, the N ² routes converted to the intersection row are sent to the route comparing means 9, and at step 78, the route comparing means 9 compares the N ² routes converted to the intersection row, and One route that is a distance is determined. In step 79, the determined route is displayed on the display 6 in a conspicuous color. Since the route was N ² in this embodiment, to find a more optimal route,
Can be displayed.

In each of the above embodiments, the route is displayed in a conspicuous color on the map, the position and direction of the vehicle at that time are displayed thereon, and the occupant looks at this and determines the course at the intersection, and It is very useful to automatically determine the route from the position and route of the vehicle and to present the route to the occupant as in the eighth embodiment shown in FIG. is there. In FIG. 24, the display 6 also displays the course, and the course is displayed by, for example, displaying a large right-pointing arrow on the CRT screen when making a right turn. Numeral 10 is a route judgment means, the operation of which is as follows. Now, assuming that the vehicle is at point Q in FIG. 8 and the occupant has set the destination to point R, the representative point-to-point route search means 4 displays the route from point A to point B in a prominent color on the display 6. indicate. The crew follows this route and goes straight on National Highway 140 to the left. The route determination means 10 determines an intersection to be turned right or left from the map data and the intersection sequence from the representative point route search means 4 and searches for the intersection and the immediately preceding intersection on the route. Upon entering, the course is displayed on the display 6. For example,
The intersection 115 is an intersection to be turned right, and the intersection just before is 143. Therefore, when the vehicle comes between the intersections 115 and 143, a right turn course is displayed. When the vehicle passes through the intersection where the vehicle should make a right or left turn, the course judgment means 10 cancels the course display and returns to the original course display. Thereafter, the same operation is repeated up to the destination.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, since the route between the representative points is stored in advance, it is not necessary to search for the route, and the route can be displayed immediately.

Further, according to the present invention, since the route between the representative points is stored as the column of the road name or the column of the intersection column number and the intersection column corresponding to this number, the storage capacity is small and the configuration can be made inexpensively. Can be.

Further, according to the present invention, the shortest route from the route between the representative points to the departure place and the destination is displayed, so that the shorter route from the departure place to the destination is displayed, which is beneficial for the occupants. is there.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the apparatus according to the first to third embodiments of the present invention, FIGS. 2 to 5 are block diagrams of the apparatus according to the fourth to seventh embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a representative point table according to the present invention, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing map data, FIG. 9 is a route table in the case where routes are stored in a road name sequence, and FIG. 10 is a route table. Figures shown in the intersection column, FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 are intersection column tables and route tables when routes are stored in intersection column number columns, FIG. 13 is an intersection column table omitting intersections where road names do not change, FIGS. 14 to 16 are an intersection row table, a table between representative points, and a route table when there are four representative points. FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 19 shows the fourth and fifth embodiments of the apparatus of the present invention. Flowchart showing the work,
FIG. 20 is an intersection sequence as a route obtained by the fifth embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 21 and 22 are route tables and flowcharts according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 24 is a flowchart of an eighth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 24 is a block diagram of the seventh embodiment of the present invention. 1 ... representative point route data memory, 2 ... vehicle position detecting means, 3 ... operating device, 4 ... representative point route searching means, 5 ... map data memory, 6 ... display, 7 ... Route searching means 8, route selecting means 9, route comparing means. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vehicle position detecting means for detecting a position of a vehicle, an operation device for inputting a destination, a map data memory for storing road map data, position information of a representative point of a road on a map, and the representative information. Representative point route data memory for storing representative point-to-point route data comprising a route between points; means for setting the vehicle position detected by the vehicle position detecting means as a departure point; Means for searching for the representative point and a route between the representative points from the map data and the route data between the representative points, and a display for displaying the map, the searched route between the representative points, and the detected vehicle position. A route guidance device for a vehicle, comprising a container. 2. The vehicle route guidance device according to claim 1, wherein a route between the representative points is stored in a road name sequence. 3. A route between representative points is represented by an intersection column, a number is assigned to the intersection column, and the route is stored in a column of intersection column numbers and an intersection column corresponding to this number. 2. The vehicle route guidance device according to 1. 4. A route search means for searching a map data for a shortest route from a searched route between representative points to a departure place and a destination, and a route from the departure place to the destination is displayed on a display. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein:
The route guidance device for a vehicle according to any one of the above.