JP2815288B2 - Route search device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a route search device mounted on an in-vehicle navigation system for searching for a route to a destination to be guided.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, such a route search apparatus calculates and obtains a route which can be reached in the shortest distance among routes from a departure point to a destination based only on a map database storing map data. And display it on a display or the like.

[0003]

However, the original purpose of such a route search is to search for a route that can reach the destination in the shortest time, and the shortest distance obtained by the route search device according to the prior art is required. The route does not always match the shortest route. That is, even for the shortest distance route,
Depending on the traffic time, traffic may be congested and the route may not be reached in the shortest time.

[0004] In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved route search device having a function of searching for a route that can be reached in the shortest time in consideration of the dynamic congestion of a road. It is in.

[0005]

Generally, places and time zones where traffic is congested have a certain degree of regularity, and drivers of delivery cars and taxis have empirical knowledge of the information. The shortest route is selected during driving. The present invention achieves the above object by making the knowledge obtained by the experience of these experts into rules and realizing a route search device as a so-called expert system. The basic configuration is shown in FIG. It is.

That is, the route search device according to the present invention comprises:
A first storage device 1, a second storage device 2, and an input device 3
And a processing device 4 and a display device 5. Then, the first storage device 1 stores the information from the departure place to the destination.
It stores map data including road data from which a road along the route to be selected can be selected . The second storage device 2 is specified
In this case, a rule defining a dynamic congestion state for the road is stored. The input device 3 has at least a departure time,
A route search condition including a departure place and a destination is input. The processing device 4 searches for the map data and the route.
A route from the departure point to the destination based on conditions;
Road, and the rule for this road is
If stored, dynamic congestion for the road
Inference means 40 for performing a weighting operation in consideration of the situation and inferring the shortest time route from the departure point to the destination in the shortest time. The display device 5 displays the shortest time route.

[0007]

In the route search device configured as described above, the inference means 40 in the processing device 4 operates from the departure point to the destination.
Map containing road data that can select roads along the route to
Data and at least departure time, departure and destination
From the starting point to the destination based on the route search conditions
Select a road for the route that leads to
When the road is stored, the dynamic
A weighting operation is performed in consideration of the congestion state, and a shortest time route from the starting point to the destination in the shortest time is inferred.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a route search device according to one embodiment of the present invention.
In the case of this embodiment, each device in the basic configuration of FIG.
It is configured as follows. That is, the first storage device 1 in FIG. 1 includes a CD-ROM 11 and a CD-ROM control circuit 12 for controlling the CD-ROM 11. The CD-ROM 11 stores map data including the distance of each road, and constructs a map (static) information database. The second storage device 2 includes a hard disk 21 and a hard disk control circuit 22 for controlling the hard disk 21. The hard disk 21 stores rules that define the dynamic congestion status of each road,
A knowledge base for dynamic information is constructed. Thus, the second
By implementing the storage device 2 with a hard disk, the rules therein can be easily updated, and customization according to the application can be performed.

The input device 3 includes an input operation switch 3
1 and an interface circuit 32 corresponding thereto. Further, the processing device 4 includes a CPU 41 of a general-purpose microprocessor, a system bus 42 thereof, and an RO for storing a route search processing program executed by the CPU 41.
M43 and a RAM 44 for storing temporary data in the route search process. The inference means 40 in the processing device 4 is realized by the CPU 41 executing a route search processing program stored in the ROM 43. Further, the display device 5 includes a CRT display 51 and a display control circuit 52 for controlling the display. CD-ROM
The control circuit 12, the hard disk control circuit 22, the switch interface circuit 32, the ROM 43, the RAM 44, and the display control circuit 52 are connected to the CPU 41 via the system bus.

Next, the procedure of the route search processing executed by the CPU in the configuration of FIG. 2 will be described based on the schematic flowchart of FIG. 3 and the model processing example of FIG. First, a departure time, a departure place, and a destination designated by the user as route search conditions are input via the input operation switch 31 (step 102). For example, in the map of FIG.
It is assumed that a route search at 8:00, starting point = point A, and destination = point B has been designated. Next, referring to the map information database 11, the distance of each route from the departure place to the destination is calculated (step 104). FIG.
In the model of the above, it becomes as follows. [Path 1] A-Ro-C-Ha-B; distance 15 [Path 2] A-i-B; distance 10.8 [Path 3] A-D-D-E-H-F-F- B; distance 15

Next, with reference to the dynamic information knowledge base 21, a weighting operation is performed for each of the routes in consideration of the dynamic congestion state of the road (step 10).
6). The model processing of FIG. 4 will be described as follows. It is assumed that the following rules are stored in the knowledge base for this model. [Rule 1] On the road a, traffic congestion at level 3 occurs between 17:00 and 19:00. [Rule 2] A right turn at point C is a level 1 traffic jam. Here, traffic congestion is classified according to the degree of congestion,
It is assumed that the following weight coefficients are defined for each level. Level 1... Weighting factor 1.2 Level 2... Weighting factor 1.5 Level 3... Weighting factor 1.7
Rule 2 is applied to route 1 and rule 1 is applied to route 2, and the weighting calculation is as follows. [Route 1] Distance 15 × Weight coefficient 1.2 = 18 [Route 2] Distance 10.8 × Weight coefficient 1.7 = 18.4 [Route 3] Distance 15 × Weight coefficient 1 = 15

Next, in step 108, a path that minimizes the result of the weighting operation is extracted. In the example of the model processing, the path 3 corresponds. Finally, in step 110, the extracted route is displayed on the display 51 as the shortest route.

Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is of course not limited to this embodiment, and it is easy for those skilled in the art to devise various embodiments. For example, it is easy to realize a device capable of selecting both the conventional shortest distance route search mode and the shortest time route search mode of the present invention. Further, any technique such as the Dijkstra method may be adopted as the route search technique. Further, a receiving circuit for receiving transmission from a road beacon for transmitting traffic congestion or traffic regulation information due to construction or accidents may be provided, and a more detailed shortest route search may be performed. Further, various storage devices such as a semiconductor memory, a magnetic memory, or an optical memory may be used as the storage device of the database or the knowledge base.

[0015]

According to the present invention, as described above, in addition to the conventional static map information database, a knowledge base for storing dynamic information such as a place where traffic is congested and a time zone is referred to. Thus, the shortest time route search can be performed. Then, by making the knowledge base easily updatable, customization suitable for a region becomes possible. In addition, when the route search device of the present invention is used for business, even a novice driver can perform tasks such as delivery efficiently like a mature driver. The route search device of the present invention may be used for various applications, such as an in-vehicle navigation system and a traffic control system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a basic configuration of a route search device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a route search device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a procedure of a route search process executed by a CPU in the configuration of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a map for explaining an example of a route search process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 first storage device 2 second storage device 3 input device 4 processing device 40 inference means 5 display device 11 CD-ROM 12 CD-ROM control circuit 21 hard disk 22 hard disk control circuit DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 31 ... Input operation switch 32 ... Switch interface circuit 41 ... CPU 42 ... System bus 43 ... ROM 44 ... RAM 51 ... Display 52 ... Display control circuit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-62-60100 (JP, A) JP-A-1-141313 (JP, A) JP-A-4-188181 (JP, A) JP-A-5-Japanese JP-A-6-147907 (JP, A) JP-A-6-201389 (JP, A) JP-A-5-173479 (JP, A) JP-A-5-135300 (JP, A) JP-A-5-61409 (JP, A) JP-A-2-52116 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G01C 21/00 G08G 1/0969

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A road in a route from a departure point to a destination
First to store map data including selectable road data
Storage device (1), a second storage device (2) for storing a rule defining a dynamic congestion state for a specific road, and a route search condition including at least a departure time, a departure place and a destination. Selecting a road related to a route from the departure place to the destination based on the input device (3) and the map data and the route search condition.
And the rule for this road is stored
Inference means (40) for performing a weighting operation on the road in consideration of a dynamic congestion situation and inferring a shortest time route from the departure point to the destination in the shortest time;
And a display device (5) for displaying the shortest time route. 2. The route search device according to claim 1, wherein the rules stored in the second storage device are configured to be easily updated.