JP3012504B2 - Route guidance device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention finds a route between a plurality of points, such as a navigation device mounted on a vehicle, and guides the route with images and sounds when traveling along the route. The present invention relates to a route guidance device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vehicle is provided with a route guidance device such as a navigation device to support driving of the vehicle. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-26918 discloses a prior art in which the position of a moving body is corrected on a road and displayed as an image by pattern matching between the traveling locus of the moving body and the road. Also, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-66586.
Discloses a prior art in which a vehicle guides a vehicle to a destination by voice and stops guidance when the vehicle deviates from a route.

FIG. 7 shows a conventional navigation device 1.
1 shows a schematic hardware configuration. The CPU 2 processes the input signal from the sensor 3 and displays the current position of the vehicle and the like on the display processing unit 5 together with the map with reference to the map data stored in the storage device 4. The operation of the CPU 2 is performed according to a program stored in a ROM in the main memory 6. Various data associated with the operation of the CPU 2 is stored in the RAM in the main memory 6. Sensor 3 is GP
It includes a GPS device, a distance sensor, and a direction sensor for receiving a radio wave from the S artificial satellite 7, and detects an absolute or relative position of the vehicle. The storage device 4 has a CD-RO
Detachable and large-capacity storage media such as M and IC cards,
Road data such as a hard disk is stored in advance.
The display processing unit 5 uses a display device such as a CRT or an LCD to display the current position of the vehicle together with the map, and when performing route guidance, performs display for guidance at an intersection or the like.

FIG. 8 shows an electrical configuration of the navigation device 1 of FIG. The direction sensor 10 as the sensor 3,
It includes a distance sensor 11, a GPS device 12, and the like.
The direction sensor 10 is realized by any one of a vibration gyro, a geomagnetic sensor, an optical fiber gyro, a gas rate sensor, or the like, or a combination thereof, and detects a vehicle direction indicating a traveling direction of the vehicle. Distance sensor 11
Is implemented by a vehicle speed sensor that derives a vehicle speed pulse corresponding to the running speed of the vehicle, and derives a signal corresponding to the running distance of the vehicle. The GPS device 12 receives radio waves from the GPS satellites 7 to absolutely detect the current position of the vehicle as latitude and longitude on the earth, and detects the traveling direction of the vehicle as an absolute direction using Doppler shift. You can also. A sensor signal processing unit 13 realized by a program operation of the CPU 2 processes a signal from the sensor 3 and provides a signal indicating a moving amount and a moving direction of the vehicle to a map matching processing unit 14. The map matching processing unit 14 reads the road data 15 in the storage device 4 via the road data reading unit 16, and corrects the vehicle position on the road when the similarity between the traveling locus of the vehicle and the road is high. The display processing unit 5 displays a map around a vehicle position, a road, and a route for providing route guidance.

[0005]

At present, the accuracy of detecting the position of a vehicle such as the direction sensor 10, the distance sensor 11, and the GPS device 12 is not always sufficient.
In a vibrating gyroscope widely used as an offset, the offset and the sensitivity coefficient easily change with temperature or with time, which causes an error. An error occurs in the distance detected by the distance sensor 11 due to meandering of the vehicle, slipping of wheels, and the like. The absolute position and the absolute azimuth detected by the GPS device 12 may not always be able to receive radio waves from the artificial satellite 7 in a good state during traveling.
An error may be larger than a detection value from the direction sensor 10 or the distance sensor 11. Map matching processing unit 1
In No. 4, the error from the signal from the sensor 3 is large, and therefore the error in the traveling locus is large, and the road data stored as the road data 15 also has an error. In some cases. Although the road data is treated as a continuous road having a plurality of links as direct sections, a distance error increases for a wide road, a turning period, or an undulating road. The error of the position correction in the map matching processing unit 14 increases when there are roads running in parallel.

[0006] The conventional route guidance device performs the following operation when the vehicle position is not on the guidance route. If there is an adjacent guide route, the vehicle position detection device performs position correction on the guide route with priority. In spite of the display state in which the vehicle position and the guide route are shifted, for example, if the vehicle is traveling on the guide route, the route guidance regarding the intersection is performed at the timing of approaching the intersection.

[0007] The above route guidance device has the following problems. Even when the vehicle is not actually traveling on the guide route, the position is preferentially corrected so as to travel on the guide route, so that the error may be increased and the accuracy of the position correction may be deteriorated. Apparently, there is no vehicle position on the route,
There is a sense of discomfort because the route is guided.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a route guidance apparatus capable of providing a route guidance without a sense of discomfort without affecting the accuracy of vehicle position correction.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a correction means for correcting a vehicle position on a road having a high degree of similarity based on the traveling direction and position of the vehicle and road data, and a method for driving the vehicle along a route to be traveled. In the route guidance device provided with guidance means for guiding according to the following, when the vehicle position corrected by the correction means and the route to be traveled satisfy a predetermined proximity condition, the vehicle position is displayed on the route to be traveled. A route guidance device comprising a control unit for displaying and controlling the route guidance. According to the present invention,
The correction unit corrects the vehicle position on a road having a high similarity based on the traveling direction and the position of the vehicle and the road data. Even when the road whose vehicle position is to be corrected is not a road to be route-guided, if the predetermined proximity condition is satisfied, the vehicle position is displayed on the route to be traveled and route guidance is performed. Outside the range that does not satisfy the proximity condition, it is possible to avoid a sense of discomfort such that route guidance is performed even though the vehicle position is displayed out of the planned traveling route. Even within the range that satisfies the proximity condition, the vehicle position itself is not corrected on the planned traveling route, so that an increase in error can be prevented.

In the control means of the present invention, the distance difference between the vehicle position on the road to be corrected and the planned traveling route and / or the azimuth difference between the vehicle traveling direction and the guided route is set in a predetermined range. When the distance is within the range, the proximity condition is satisfied. According to the present invention, the vehicle position is displayed on the road when the position on the road for which the vehicle position is corrected is close to the planned traveling route, so that the vehicle actually travels on the planned traveling route. Even when there is no route guidance, route guidance can be used effectively. By also referring to the azimuth difference between the traveling direction of the vehicle and the guidance azimuth, it is possible to prevent a correction to an expected traveling route having an apparently different azimuth, for example, being orthogonal.

In the control means according to the present invention, the proximity condition is satisfied when there is an expected travel route between the position on the road corrected by the correction means and the vehicle position in the travel history. It is characterized by. According to the present invention,
Since the scheduled traveling route exists between the vehicle position on the traveling history and the vehicle position on the road to be corrected, the traveling direction of the vehicle is instantaneously greatly changed, and the distance to the corrected road increases. Even in this case, it is possible to perform route guidance without discomfort by correctly displaying the route on the scheduled route.

[0012]

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a route guidance apparatus 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The route guidance device 20 includes a CPU 22 including a route search unit 21, a sensor 23, a storage device 24, a display 25, and the like. The route search unit 21 searches for a route between a destination and a departure place that is input in advance by a program operation of the CPU 22, and performs route guidance so that the vehicle can easily pass along the searched route. The storage device 24 is a CD-R
Road data is stored in advance in an OM, an IC card, a hard disk, or the like. The route search unit 21 performs a route search with reference to the road data stored in the storage device 24. The running locus after the vehicle starts running is stored in the running locus storage unit 26.

The sensor 23 includes a direction sensor 30, a distance sensor 31, a GPS device 32, and the like. The direction sensor 30 is implemented by any of a geomagnetic sensor, a vibration gyro, an optical fiber gyro, a gas rate sensor, or the like, or a combination thereof, and detects a vehicle direction indicating a traveling direction of the vehicle. The distance sensor 31
The traveling distance of the vehicle is detected using a signal representing the vehicle speed from a vehicle speed sensor representing the traveling speed of the vehicle. GPS device 32
Receives radio waves from GPS satellites and detects the absolute vehicle position and the traveling direction of the vehicle.

The azimuth detected by the azimuth sensor 30 is a relative azimuth representing an angle change from a reference azimuth, such as a traveling direction at the time of departure. Sensor signal processing unit 33 realized by program operation of CPU 22
Then, the moving amount and the moving direction of the vehicle are calculated based on the relative direction detected by the direction sensor 30 and the distance detected by the distance sensor 31. The traveling locus storage unit 26 sequentially stores the moving amount and the moving direction of the vehicle. The map matching processing unit 34 detects a road similar to the travel locus stored in the travel locus storage unit 26 by pattern matching, and corrects the vehicle position on a road having a high degree of similarity. The road data 35 stored in the storage medium of the storage device 24 stores roads as a series of links that are straight sections. The road data 35 is read by the map matching processing unit 34 via the road data reading unit 16, and the similarity calculation for pattern matching with the road trajectory is performed.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of data used in the route search section 21 of FIG. The route data 40 includes coordinate data of a point where guidance is to be provided on the searched route, and a guidance data number indicating the type of guidance. The guidance data 41 provides guidance on the start time, for example, with the guidance data number “0”, and provides guidance such as the name of an intersection at an intersection and an enlarged view of the intersection with the guidance data number “k−1”. Is set so as to guide the user to the goal point. The coordinate data constituting the route is “x1 y
The guidance data number "-1" when "1" indicates that there is no particular guidance information. The route is selected according to the result of the route search, and generally includes a plurality of roads, respectively. The connection point between roads is an intersection. There is a case where it is not necessary to provide a guidance for an intersection that goes straight ahead. Since the inside of one road is divided into links that are a plurality of straight sections, the direction may change at a connection point between the links. At such a simple direction change point, "-1" may be set as the guide number.

FIG. 3 shows the operation of the CPU 22 of FIG.
The operation starts from step a1, and in step a2, the signal of the sensor 23 is processed by the sensor signal processing unit 33 to detect the position of the vehicle. In step a3, the vehicle direction is detected. In step a4, the map matching processing unit 34
Thus, the vehicle position is corrected. Step a5
Then, it is determined whether or not the corrected vehicle position is close to the guidance route. If it is determined that the vehicle position is not close to the guide route, it is determined in step a6 whether or not a guide route exists between the vehicle position and the travel path. When it is determined in step a5 that the vehicle position is close to the guidance route, or when it is determined in step a6 that the guidance route exists between the vehicle position and the travel locus, the guidance route is determined in step a7. The vehicle position is corrected. When it is determined in step a6 that there is no guide route between the vehicle position and the traveling locus, or when step a7 ends, route guidance is performed in step a8. Step a
When the vehicle position detected in step 2 exists on the guide route from the beginning, when the position is corrected on the guide route in the position correction process in step a4, or the position correction process for the guide route is performed in step a7. In such a case, route guidance is performed as if the vehicle is traveling on a guidance route. The proximity determination as in step a6 may not be performed, and only the determination based on the distance in step a5 may be performed.

FIG. 4 shows the map matching processing unit 3 of FIG.
4 shows the basic concept of similarity determination. FIG.
Whether the vehicle position 44 shown in (a) can be corrected to the position h on the road indicated by the road data 45 depends on the distance L between the vehicle position and the road, the azimuth d indicated by the traveling direction 46 of the vehicle, and the like. The determination is made in accordance with the direction difference from the direction D of the road.
FIG. 4B shows a change in the azimuth similarity f with respect to the absolute value of the azimuth difference, and FIG.
Shows the change in If F and G are weighting factors applied to the azimuth similarity f and the distance similarity g, respectively, the similarity E
Is calculated as in the following first equation.

E = F × f + G × g (1) FIG. 5 shows an example in which position correction to a guide route is performed according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5A shows the guide route 50 and the road 5.
1 are close and parallel, and it is assumed that the vehicle position 52 is corrected toward the road 51 in the position correction by the map matching processing unit 34. Vehicle position 52 on road 51
If the distance from the guidance route 50 is within a predetermined range, for example, several hundred meters, and if the azimuth difference between the guidance route and the traveling direction of the vehicle is within a predetermined range, for example, within 60 °,
At the time of route guidance, a vehicle is displayed on the guidance route 50 as shown by a circle. FIG. 5B shows a guide route 50 and a road 51.
And meandering and parallel. Guidance route 5
When the vehicle is traveling on the road 0 or on the road 51, the degree of similarity changes each time the traveling direction of the vehicle changes, and the object whose vehicle position is to be corrected may be alternately displayed as indicated by an arrow. There is. In such a case, if it is displayed that the vehicle is traveling only on the guide route, natural route guidance can be performed.

FIG. 6 shows another example in which route guidance can be appropriately performed according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6A shows a case where the traveling direction of the vehicle traveling on the guide route changes greatly. When the traveling direction is changed at an intersection or a corner, the traveling direction takes an intermediate value, and when there is a road 51 having a link direction close to the traveling direction 53 around the vehicle, even if the distance is large, the similarity is obtained. There is a possibility that the correction will be made on the road. According to the present embodiment, even if the road 51 has a higher degree of similarity, since the guide route 50 exists between the vehicle position on the vehicle travel path 54 and the road 51, the vehicle position on the guide route 50 Is displayed to provide route guidance.

FIG. 6B shows a section in which the guide route 50 and the road 51 are approaching, and a section in which the guide route 50 and the road 51 are apart from each other.
The vehicle position 52 is displayed above, and the road 51
An example in which the vehicle position 52 is displayed above is shown. Although there is a high possibility that the vehicle is traveling on the road 51 even in the approaching section, since the distance and the direction are short, the guidance route 50
Even if you follow the guide, there will be no major discomfort. Rather, since guidance at an intersection and the like are different from those of the actual traveling road 51, an effect of prompting return to the guidance route 50 may be considered.

[0021]

According to the present invention described above, even if the vehicle position cannot be corrected on the planned traveling route,
When the predetermined proximity condition is satisfied, the vehicle position is displayed on the planned traveling route and route guidance is performed, so that route guidance without discomfort can be performed. In addition, since no correction is performed, an increase in the error of the vehicle position can be avoided.

Further, according to the present invention, when the distance between the road whose vehicle position is to be corrected and the planned traveling route is within a predetermined range, the vehicle position is displayed on the planned traveling route. If the guidance on the display on the planned route is provided within the range where there is a possibility that the vehicle is traveling on the route, and the vehicle position is far from the planned route, correction to the impossible planned route is impossible. Is not performed, and unnecessary guidance can be avoided.

Further, according to the present invention, when a planned traveling route is present between the vehicle position on the traveling history of the vehicle and the vehicle position on the road to be corrected, the vehicle position is displayed on the planned traveling route. Route guidance is performed, it is possible to perform route guidance without a sense of incongruity in a state where there is a high possibility that the vehicle is traveling on the planned traveling route.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic electrical configuration of a route guidance device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data structure of a guide route formed by a route search unit 21 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a CPU 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a concept of similarity calculation performed by a map matching processing unit shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the effect of the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the effect of the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a conventional navigation device.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a schematic electrical configuration of a conventional navigation device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 route guidance device 21 route search unit 22 CPU 23 sensor 24 storage device 25 display processing unit 26 traveling locus storage unit 30 direction sensor 31 distance sensor 32 GPS device 33 sensor signal processing unit 34 map matching processing unit 35, 45 road data 40 route Data 41 Guidance data 44, 52 Vehicle position 46, 53 Travel direction 50 Guide route 51 Road 54 Travel locus

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01C 21/00-21/24

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vehicle comprising: a correcting means for correcting a vehicle position on a road having a high degree of similarity based on a traveling direction and a position of a vehicle and road data; and a guiding means for guiding a route to be traveled according to the travel of the vehicle. In the route guidance device, when the vehicle position corrected by the correction unit and the route to be traveled satisfy a predetermined proximity condition,
A route guidance device comprising a control unit for displaying a vehicle position on a route to be traveled and performing control to perform route guidance. 2. The control means according to claim 1, wherein a distance difference between the vehicle position on the road to be corrected and the planned traveling route and / or a heading difference between the vehicle traveling direction and the guidance heading are within a predetermined range. The route guidance device according to claim 1, wherein the proximity condition is satisfied. 3. The controller according to claim 2, wherein the proximity condition is satisfied when there is a scheduled route between the position on the road corrected by the correction unit and the vehicle position in the travel history. The route guidance device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein