JP3451937B2 - Route guidance 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 guidance device that integrates an on-vehicle unit for an automatic toll collection system and a navigation system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a vehicle-mounted navigation system, a recommended route from a starting point to a destination point is searched in advance, and a signal from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite is received by a GPS antenna to detect the current position of the vehicle. Is detected to determine which point on the recommended route corresponds,
It is possible to display the vehicle's position along with the recommended route on the display, and when the vehicle approaches the branch point on the recommended route, the right and left directions can be displayed on the display in advance and route guidance with voice guidance by the speaker can be performed. it can.

On the other hand, in an electronic toll collection (ETC) system which has been developed in recent years, the procedure at an exit toll gate of a toll road where the roadside unit for the ETC system is installed is taken by a passenger on the vehicle. In order to guide you to the ETC gate at the exit toll gate, install a roadside ETC antenna at a position closer than the ETC gate by a specified distance, communicate with the in-vehicle unit compatible with the ETC system, and provide the necessary guidance for the in-vehicle unit display. It has a function to display information and route guidance information and to give voice guidance through a speaker.

[0004]

However, in the case of a vehicle in which a navigation system and an in-vehicle unit for an ETC system are installed side by side, when approaching an exit toll gate on a toll road, the navigation system guides the route of the exit destination. Presented by the display and speaker, and in parallel with this, ETC
The guidance route for automatic toll collection is presented independently and separately on the system onboard unit side by a separate display or speaker, so in some cases it may be presented as a navigation system side route and an ETC system onboard unit side route. There is a problem in that the output may be output at the same time, or the course presentation in the opposite directions may be output one after another.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional problems, and integrates the guidance route presentation output by the ETC system vehicle-mounted unit and the route guidance presentation output by the navigation system so that they can be distinguished from each other. 1
An object of the present invention is to provide a route guidance device that can be output from one display or a speaker and presented to an occupant.

[0006]

A route guiding device according to the present invention receives information sent from a roadside unit for an automatic toll collection (ETC) system through a roadside antenna and displays the information for ETC. or the ETC system in-vehicle unit for presenting the at least one of audio, and navigation system for the maneuver in Viewing Thus presented, the information presentation of the in-vehicle unit for ETC system, information for performing both the information presentation of the navigation system The display means, and a presentation information integration processing means that integrates the output of the presentation information on the side of the vehicle-mounted unit for the ETC system and the output of the presentation information on the side of the navigation system, and causes the information display means to output the integrated information. The information integration processing means is the in-vehicle unit for the automatic fee collection system, When ETC signal output from the roadside unit for receiving system is received, guidance to the said information display of route guidance obtained from the navigation system, leading to the ETC gate for the automatic toll collection
It is characterized in that the route display information in a form of combining routes is displayed on the information display means .

According to the route guiding device of the invention of claim 1, ET
The in-vehicle unit for the C system receives the information sent from the roadside unit for the ETC system through the roadside antenna and outputs the presentation information for the ETC to the information display means,
The navigation system outputs the route guidance information to the same information display means. Therefore, if the presentation information output from the ETC system on-vehicle unit side occurs while presenting the route guidance information on the navigation system side, the presentation information integration processing means integrates the presentation information of both of them so that they can be distinguished from each other, and the common information is provided. Output by the information display means.

Thus, even if the route guidance information on the side of the navigation system and the route guidance information on the side of the ETC system occur simultaneously or in tandem, the occupant is presented with both information in an easy-to-understand manner.

[0009]

According to the route guiding apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, the route guidance information and the E on the vehicle navigation system side are provided.
Even if the route guidance information on the side of the in-vehicle unit for the TC system occurs simultaneously or in tandem, the occupant can be presented with both information in an easy-to-understand manner.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show the configuration of a route guiding device according to one embodiment of the present invention. The navigation system 1 installed in the vehicle is a GPS (Global Pos
itioning System) GPS antenna 2 for receiving signals from satellites, map information storage device 3 for reading map information stored in a mass storage medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, a map for route guidance, An information presenting unit 4 including a display 4A for displaying other necessary information, a speaker 4B for performing route guidance and voice guidance for other necessary information, and a navigation unit 5 for performing various arithmetic processes for route guidance. ing.

The navigation unit 5 is provided with an input terminal 7 for inputting ETC information A from an on-vehicle unit 6 for an automatic toll collection (ETC) system, which will be described later. Further, the route guidance and the route particularly related to the present invention are provided. A route guidance control unit 8 for performing guidance processing and integrated processing of presentation information is provided.

The ETC system vehicle-mounted unit 6 is, for example, a device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-350908, and is installed at a position a predetermined distance away from the exit toll gate of the toll road. An in-vehicle ETC antenna 10 that communicates with a roadside ETC antenna 9 that is present is provided.

The route guidance control section 8 incorporated in the navigation unit 5 has a functional configuration as shown in FIG. 2, and detects the current position of the own vehicle based on the received signal of the GPS antenna 2. The map information of the necessary area is read from the unit 15 and the map information storage device 3, and the map information is compared with the own vehicle position B detected by the own vehicle position detection unit 15 to check the current position of the own vehicle on the map. Index and display 4A
A navigation processing unit 16 that performs route guidance by displaying a map on the screen of the vehicle, displaying the position of the vehicle on it, and displaying the recommended route searched in advance in a conspicuous manner from other map elements; The recommended route calculated by the navigation processing unit 19 is compared with the own vehicle position B, and when there is a branch point ahead of the route, the route guidance information C indicating whether to take the route to the right or the left is displayed on the display device 4A. A route guidance processing unit 17 for displaying and voice-guidance by the speaker 4B is provided.

The route guidance control unit 8 also receives the ETC information A from the ETC system vehicle-mounted unit 6 side via the signal input terminal 7, which is a characteristic part of the present invention, and performs navigation based on the processing procedure described later. The ETC information A is integrated with the route guidance information C by the system 1 side, the whole is displayed as the guide route information D on the display 4A of the information presenting unit 4, and the presentation information integration processing unit 18 that outputs the sound by the speaker 4B is provided. ing.

The navigation processing unit 16 inputs the vehicle speed signal and the azimuth signal from the gyro sensor together with the vehicle position signal B in the same manner as in the conventional case in order to more accurately guide the recommended route, and the GPS antenna 2 Has a function of complementing route guidance when it becomes unable to receive signals from GPS satellites.

Next, the operation of the route guiding device having the above configuration will be described. On the side of the navigation system 1, the GPS antenna 2 receives a signal from a GPS satellite and passes it to the route guidance control unit 8 in the navigation unit 5, and the vehicle position detection unit 15 of the route guidance control unit 8 detects the current position of the vehicle. B is detected by absolute coordinates such as latitude and route. The navigation processing unit 16 displays a map based on the map information of the corresponding area read from the map information storage device 3 on the display 4A, and is included in the area of the recommended route searched in advance from the starting point to the destination. The portion and the corresponding position of the own vehicle position B detected by the own vehicle position detection unit 15 are displayed in an overlapping manner, and the recommended route navigation is performed.

The route guidance processing unit 17 collates the recommended route information calculated by the navigation processing unit 16 with the own vehicle position B, and when there is a branch point in front of the route, whether to take the route to the right or the left. For displaying on the display 4A,
Further, the information for voice guidance by the speaker 4B is output to the presentation information integration processing unit 18.

The presentation information integration processing section 18 monitors whether or not the ETC information A is input from the input terminal 7, and when the ETC information A is not input, the route guidance information C is sent to the information presentation section 4. The route is output as it is, the route is displayed on the display 4A, and the route guidance is output by voice on the speaker 4B.

However, in the situation as shown in FIG. 3, that is, when the vehicle 41 approaches the exit toll gate 43 which employs the ETC system of the toll road 42, the roadside ETC antenna 9 is used to use the ETC system. When the in-vehicle unit 6 for ETC system receives the route guidance information and outputs the ETC information A to the input terminal 7, the presentation information integration processing section 18 causes the route guidance information C on the navigation system 1 side and the input terminal 7 ETC input from
Integration processing with the information A is performed.

The integration processing of this presentation information is as follows. FIG. 3 shows a display example of the display 4A.

(I) When the vehicle approaches the exit toll gate 43 of the toll road where the ETC system is adopted, but presents it when the ETC system vehicle-mounted unit 6 does not receive the ETC signal from the ETC system roadside antenna 9 side. The information integration processing unit 18 is the guide route 5 on the navigation system 1 side.
Display 0.

(Ii) When the ETC system vehicle-mounted unit 6 comes to receive the signal from the ETC system roadside antenna 9, the ETC system vehicle-mounted unit 6 side is set to E.
The navigation system 1 uses the ETC information A as route guidance information to guide the ETC gate 44 together with the TC procedure guidance.
Output to the input terminal 7 on the side.

On the side of the navigation system 1, this E
When the TC information A is input from the input terminal 7, the presentation information integration processing unit 18 integrates the ETC information A into the route guidance information C from the route guidance processing unit 17 side and guides the route 51 to the ETC gate 44. The route guidance information D in the form of a combination of the guide route 50 at the gate 44 is created and displayed on the display 4A.

(Iii) The vehicle 42 passes through the ETC gate 44, and ET from the ETC system vehicle-mounted unit 6 side is obtained.
When the C information A is no longer input to the input terminal 7, the navigation system 1 side performs the original navigation display and route guidance display.

When voice guidance is provided by the speaker 4B at the same time as the route guidance display by the display device 4A or in place of the route guidance display, E is input to the input terminal 7.
When the TC information A is entered, it will be integrated with the route guidance information on the navigation system 1 side, for example, in the format of "Left direction to ETC gate.""Beyond toll gate, right direction." The information is output as voice in a form that can identify both of them.

The above processing is shown in a flowchart of FIG. When the route guidance device is powered on and a command for starting navigation by the route guidance control unit 8 is input, this routine is started, and navigation operation is started so as to travel along the recommended route that has already been searched. If there is a branch point ahead (step S1), the left and right route guidance is displayed on the display 4A, or the route direction is notified by voice guidance (step S1).
2). After that, while the ETC information A is not input to the input terminal 7, a series of navigation processes are repeatedly executed at predetermined intervals (step S3).

When approaching the exit toll gate of the toll road that adopted the ETC system, the on-vehicle unit 6 for the ETC system E
When the TC information A is input to the input terminal 7, the route guidance information C and the ETC route guidance information A described above are integrated (steps S3 and S4), and the integrated route guidance information D is displayed on the display 4A. It is displayed or output as voice from the speaker 4B (step S5).

When the ETC information A is no longer input from the input terminal 7 during route guidance by the integrated processing, the navigation system 1 returns to the independent navigation, and step S
The processes of 1 to S3 are periodically repeated.

In this way, according to the route guidance device of this embodiment, the guidance route presentation output by the ETC system vehicle-mounted unit 6 and the route guidance presentation output by the navigation system 1 are integrated so as to be distinguishable from each other. Since the information is output from the one display 4A and the speaker 4B and presented to the occupant, the occupant can easily understand both of the presented information.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a route guidance control unit of the navigation system in the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of an integrated guide route according to the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a guidance route integrated presentation process according to the above embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 navigation system 2 GPS antenna 3 map information storage device 4 information presentation unit 4A display unit 4B speaker 5 navigation unit 6 in-vehicle unit for automatic toll collection (ETC) system 7 input terminal 8 route guidance control unit 9 roadside antenna 15 vehicle position detection Part 16 navigation processing part 17 route guidance processing part 18 presentation information integration processing part

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --- Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-10-31768 (JP, A) JP-A-8-304095 (JP, A) JP-A-7-272195 (JP, A) JP-A-8- 221622 (JP, A) International publication 97/047948 (WO, A1) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01C 21/00 G07B 15/00 510 G08G 1/09 G08G 1/0969

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An on-vehicle unit for an automatic toll collection system, which receives information transmitted from a roadside unit for the automatic toll collection system through a roadside antenna and presents information for automatic toll collection by displaying or at least one of audio. , a navigation system for the route guidance Accordingly presented Viewing, the automatic information presentation toll collection vehicle unit for the system, and both perform information display means and information presentation of the navigation system, the in-vehicle unit for the toll collection system The presentation information integration processing means for integrating the output of the presentation information on the side and the output of the presentation information on the side of the navigation system, and causing the information display means to output the presentation information integration processing means. From the roadside unit for the automatic fee collection system in the on-vehicle unit for the system When ETC signal power is received,
Said the information display of course obtained from the navigation system guide, the optimum to the ETC gate for the automatic toll collection
The route guidance information in the form of a synthesis of the guidance routes up to
A route guidance device characterized by displaying on a report display means . Wherein said presentation information integration processing unit, pre SL ET
The route guidance device according to claim 1, wherein the guidance to the C gate and the guidance after passing through the ETC gate are output by a voice guide.