JP3508231B2 - Route guidance device for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention, for example, displays a current position of a host vehicle on a display means and recommends it as a recommended route connecting the shortest distance between the current position of the host vehicle for starting traveling and a destination. The present invention relates to a vehicle route guidance device that displays a route and guides a vehicle route.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a vehicle route guide device of this type, there is one disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-111969. This is an apparatus for sequentially storing a current position of a vehicle calculated based on a traveling direction and a traveling distance of the vehicle, reading the stored position, and displaying a traveling locus of the vehicle on a road map displayed on a display screen. In order to facilitate road changes at the intersection, the intersection position on the planned course and the road direction at the intersection are registered in advance, and the road direction is read when the vehicle approaches the intersection during traveling. The roads are displayed on the screen.

[0003]

However, in the case of the above-described conventional route guidance device for a vehicle of this kind, the creator of the data sets the planned traveling course by referring to the map, and the traveling course is set on the planned traveling course. Since it is necessary to input data on each of the intersection position and the course direction at the intersection, a large amount of manpower and time are required to input the data. Further, as a method of automatically detecting the position of the intersection to be displayed and the course direction, a device for calculating a recommended route from the destination and the current position (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-281903).
There is a method of using the device disclosed in the publication. According to this method, guidance display can be performed for the calculated intersection on the recommended route. However, if you use this method to display guidance for all intersections on the recommended route,
For example, meaningless guidance display is performed even at intersections that do not require a right turn or a left turn, and the display situation on the screen becomes troublesome. Therefore, when there is no need for a guidance display at an intersection, a device has been proposed in which only the map display is provided and the driver is presented with the vicinity of the present location.

However, depending on the intersection, it is often difficult to determine that there is no need for guidance display. this is,
The appearance of the intersection may be different to the driver depending on the subtle shape of the intersection, how to draw the lane, the thickness of the intersecting road, and the like. In short, there are large individual differences in determining whether or not to guide. Therefore, if the creator of the data creates intersection data that determines whether or not to perform guidance display at the intersection after viewing the intersection shape as in the conventional method, and then performs guidance display based on this intersection data, There is a problem in that the ratio of giving discomfort to persons increases.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to efficiently search an intersection for which a guidance display is made so that a driver does not feel uncomfortable. It is to provide a route guidance device.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a current position detecting means 1 for detecting the current position of a vehicle and map information including coordinates of an intersection as shown in FIG. Based on the stored map information storage means 2, the destination setting means 3 for setting a destination, the current position detected by the current position detecting means 1 and the destination set by the destination setting means 3 Recommended route calculation means 4 for calculating a recommended route from the vehicle to the destination, the current position of the vehicle and the recommended route calculated by the recommended route calculation means 4 are superimposed on the map read from the map information storage means 2. In the vehicular route guide device including the display unit 5 that displays the intersection, an intersection selection unit 6 that selects an intersection to be guided and displayed from the intersections existing in the recommended route,
First intersection storage means 7 for storing the coordinates of the selected intersection, and an intersection for detecting that the current position detected by the current position detection means 1 approaches the intersection stored in the first intersection storage means 7. The approach detection means 8, the intersection guidance means 9 for guiding the intersection by the guidance display showing the traveling direction of the own vehicle at the detected intersection, and the recommended route calculated by the recommended route calculation means 4 when passing the intersection Route departure determination means 11 for determining whether or not the position has departed, and second intersection storage means for storing the coordinates of the intersection of the position departed from the recommended route when the route departure determination means 11 determines departure. 12 and the intersections stored in the second intersection storage means 12 are selected by the intersection selection means 6 as intersections to be guided and displayed thereafter. The intersection selection criteria changing means 13 for changing the selection criteria of the intersection should be guided prompts, and having a.

[0007]

In the vehicle route guiding apparatus according to the present invention, the recommended route from the current position to the destination is calculated based on the current position detected by the current position detecting means 1 and the destination set by the destination setting means 3. Recommended route calculation means 4
Further, the display unit 5 displays the current position and the recommended route on the map read from the map information storage unit 2 and guides the vehicle by the intersection selection unit 6. If you select an intersection that should be guided from among the intersections existing in the recommended route,
The coordinates of the selected intersection are stored in the first intersection storage means 7.

Since the intersection approaching detection means 8 detects that the current position detected by the current position detection means 1 approaches the intersection stored in the first intersection storage means 7, the intersection guidance means 9 Intersection guidance will be performed with a guidance display indicating the traveling direction of the vehicle at the detected intersection.

Further, the route departure determination means 11 determines whether or not the current position of the vehicle has deviated from the recommended route stored in the recommended route storage means 10 calculated by the recommended route calculation means 4. When it is determined that the vehicle has left the vehicle, the coordinates of the intersection away from the recommended route are stored in the second intersection storage unit 12.

Then, the intersection selection criterion changing means 13
With respect to the intersections stored in the second intersection storage means 12, the selection criteria of the intersections to be guided and displayed are changed so that the intersection selection means selects the intersections to be subsequently displayed.

[0011]

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of a vehicle route guiding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This vehicle route guidance device is provided with a distance sensor 1
The traveling state of the host vehicle is displayed on the CRT display 5 as a display means under the control of the microcomputer 21 based on the detection signals of A and the direction sensor 1B.

The microcomputer 21 is a CPU that operates as a control center of the entire system and performs various calculations.
22 and a ROM 23 storing a system program
RAM 24 for temporarily storing various data, VRAM 25 for image display, and I / I serving as an external interface.
The CRT display 5 is connected to the system bus of the microcomputer 21 via the I / F circuit 26.

I / F circuit 2 of the microcomputer 21
6 includes a CRT display 3 and a keyboard 2
7, external memory 28, distance sensor 1A, direction sensor 1B
Are connected.

The keyboard 27 is used to input various information to the microcomputer 21. Also,
This keyboard 27 moves a cursor displayed on the map to display and set the current position and destination of the vehicle on the map displayed on the CRT display 3,
Or it has a switch that can scroll the map and change the scale of the map.

The external memory 28 is provided as a map information storage means, and in addition to the map data necessary for driving guidance of the vehicle, each node (intersection or interpolation point) on the map.
Node information (intersection information) is stored. For example, when considering the node (intersection) N ₁ in the partial schematic diagram of the map shown in FIG. 3, the following information shown in FIG. 4 is stored. That is, first, the node number (intersection number)
(It includes the position information on the coordinate of the corresponding node, specifically "N ₁ (x ₁ , y ₁ )"), secondly the adjacent node (all adjacent to the corresponding node on the coordinate. in the node number of the node (intersections), specifically a "N _2, N _4, N ₅ '), with the information as a condition to enlarge the intersection N ₁ inducing view display condition (corresponding to the third , Shows the route of entry and exit.When passing through the intersection N ₁ on that route, a guide map is displayed. Specifically, "N ₅ → N
₂ , N ₅ → N ₄ , N ₄ → N ₅ ”) are stored. Here, the reason that the route N ₂ → N ₅ is omitted as the guide map display condition of the intersection N ₁ is that the route N ₂ → N ₅ passes the intersection N ₁ along the road, and the guide map display is displayed. This is because there is no need to do it. In this embodiment, in order to set whether or not to display the intersection guidance enlarged view, the method of adjusting each intersection in advance is adopted. However, the angle formed by two roads passing through the intersection as the apex, and the two passing roads are set. It is possible to adopt a method of automatically creating data from the difference between the road widths of two roads (highway, national road, etc.) and two roads. Also, as the attribute data of node information, the name of the intersection, the intersection The shape of the three-dimensional intersection, the position of the white line, etc. are stored.

The distance sensor 1A detects the traveling distance of the vehicle, and generates a pulse each time the vehicle travels a unit distance. The azimuth sensor 1B detects the geomagnetism to detect the traveling direction of the vehicle, digitally converts the detected signal azimuth, and outputs the signal. This distance sensor 1A and direction sensor 1
B is used to detect the current position of the host vehicle, but the current position of the host vehicle may be detected using, for example, GPS (Global Positioning System).

The microcomputer 21 reads a map of an area where the vehicle is going to travel from the external memory 28 in response to an input operation of the keyboard 27 and displays it on the CRT display 3, and at the same time, a CRT in response to an input operation of the keyboard 27. The current position of the vehicle to start traveling is displayed on the map displayed on the display 3, and the traveling distance and the moving direction of the vehicle when the vehicle travels from this traveling start position are sequentially determined by the distance sensor 1A and the direction sensor 1B. The detected current position of the vehicle is displayed on the map displayed on the CRT display 3. Further, when the destination is set according to the input operation of the keyboard 27, the CR is controlled under the control of the microcomputer 21.
On the T display 3, the recommended route calculated as the recommended route connecting the shortest distance from the current position of the own vehicle to start traveling to the destination is displayed. Note that this recommended route is known as a distance parameter.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
Description will be given according to the flowchart of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the ignition switch is turned on and the engine of the vehicle is started, the system is operated at the same time (step 110), and the destination is input by the keyboard 27 to determine the coordinates of the destination. The recommended route is calculated based on the coordinate data stored in the external memory 28, and the guidance presence / absence determination data is calculated by associating the calculated coordinate data of the recommended route with the intersection information stored in the external memory 28. (Step 120)
(Compatible with intersection selection means). The calculated coordinate data of the recommended route is information consisting of nodes (intersection coordinates) and interpolation points (coordinates on the road other than the intersection for representing the road shape), and this information is stored in the RAM 24 as coordinate data. It is stored in the area (step 130) (corresponding to the recommended route storage means). Further, the calculated guidance presence / absence determination data is obtained when the intersection information is stored in the external memory 28 in the relationship described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, each intersection number N ₂ , N ₁ , N _5, N _6, N ₈ is information for determining whether to display the induction enlarged view per ....,
This information is stored in the display / non-display data storage area of the RAM 24 (step 140) (corresponding to the first intersection storage means). Next, in step 150, based on the intersection information stored in the external memory 28 and the information for determining whether to display the enlarged guide map stored in the display / non-display data storage area of the RAM 24, For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the name of the intersection F
1. An intersection guidance enlarged view showing the road F2 that has traveled before the approach, the white line F3, the intersecting road F4, the recommended road F5, the vehicle traveling locus F6, and the like is created. The intersection guidance enlarged view thus created is stored in the intersection guidance map storage area of the RAM 24 (step 160) (corresponding to the first intersection storage means). Next, the routine proceeds to step 170, where the coordinate data of the recommended route stored in the RAM 24 and the map data of the external memory 28 are associated with each other on the basis of the current position of the own vehicle that is to start traveling, so that they are superimposed on the map. The recommended route is displayed together with the current position of the vehicle displayed (corresponding to the display means).

In this way, when the recommended route is displayed together with the current position of the own vehicle displayed on the map and the route guidance is being performed, the distance sensor 1A and the direction sensor 1B are displayed.
Whether or not the current position of the host vehicle deviates from the recommended route specified by the coordinate data of the recommended route based on the current position data of the own vehicle obtained by It is judged (step 180) (corresponding to the route departure judging means). If it is determined that the current position of the host vehicle deviates from the recommended route, the process proceeds to step 190, and route deviation processing such as warning the driver that the host vehicle is off the recommended route is performed. , Return to step 180. If it is determined that the vehicle is traveling on the recommended route, step 2
In step 00, it is determined whether the host vehicle is traveling in the forward direction on the recommended route. If the vehicle is traveling in the opposite direction on the recommended route, the process proceeds to step 160 to perform route deviation processing such as warning the driver that the vehicle is off the recommended route, and then returns to step 180. Step two
If it is determined at 00 that the vehicle is traveling in the forward direction on the recommended route, the process proceeds to step 210 and the distance sensor 1
Based on the current position data of the own vehicle obtained by A and the azimuth sensor 1B and the coordinate data of the recommended route stored in the RAM 24, the approaching intersection is recognized and the intersection recognized from the current position of the own vehicle. Distance to
₀ is calculated (corresponding to the intersection approach detection means).
Next, the process proceeds to step 220 and the calculated distance S
_{If 0} is less than or equal to the predetermined distance L ₀ , it is determined that the host vehicle has reached the vicinity of the intersection, and the process proceeds to step 230. If S ₀ is L ₀ or less, the process returns to step 180. In this step 230, the RAM explained in FIG.
Based on the guidance presence / absence determination data of 24, the intersection recognized as gradually approaching is the guidance intersection that displays the intersection guidance enlarged view and performs the intersection guidance, or the intersection guidance without displaying the intersection guidance enlarged view It is determined whether the intersection is a non-guided intersection that is passed without performing (steps 200 to 230 correspond to the intersection selection means).

If it is determined that the intersection is a guidance intersection, the process proceeds to step 230, and the intersection guidance enlarged view as shown in FIG.
After reading from AM24 and storing in V-RAM25, CRT
Display with the map displayed in 5 (Step-2
40) (corresponding to intersection guidance means). Next, step 25
If 0, the process returns to step 180 if the traveling is not completed, and the route guidance is completed if the traveling is completed.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 230 that the approaching intersection is a non-guidance intersection that passes without displaying the intersection guidance enlarged view, the non-guidance process of step 260 is executed. become.

The processing at the time of non-guidance in step 260 is as follows.
As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, first, the distance S ₁ from the current position of the own vehicle to the intersection passing without guiding the intersection is calculated (step 2601), and the distance S ₁ obtained by the calculation is calculated in advance. It is determined whether the distance is smaller than the predetermined distance L ₁ (step 2602). S ₁
If it is determined that is not less than L ₁ , then step 2
Return to 601. When it is determined that S ₁ is smaller than L ₁ , it is determined that the intersection has been entered. That is, step 2
In 601 and 2602, when the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the intersection becomes a certain value or less, a process for determining that the own vehicle has entered the intersection and reached the intersection is performed. Then, after entering the intersection, it is determined whether or not the own vehicle has traveled a certain distance or more, and it is confirmed that the vehicle has surely passed the intersection (step 2603).
Proceed to 604. In this step 2604, in order to determine whether or not the own vehicle deviates from the recommended route for the non-guided intersection which is passed without performing the intersection guidance in step 230 of FIG. 6, the own vehicle passing through the intersection is on the recommended route. It is determined whether or not the vehicle is traveling (corresponding to route departure determination means). If the host vehicle is traveling on the recommended route, the process proceeds to step 250 in FIG. 5 and it is determined whether or not the traveling is completed. If the host vehicle deviates from the recommended route, the process proceeds to step 2605. In this step 2605, FIG.
In steps 200 to 230 of the above, the external memory 2 is used so that it can be determined that it is a guided intersection for guiding the intersection after the next time.
The contents of the intersection information explained in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 stored in FIG. 8 are changed (corresponding to the intersection selection reference changing means).

Changing the contents of this intersection information will be described in detail.

For example, in FIG. 3, N ₂ , N ₁ , N ₅
The route that passes through is calculated in advance as the recommended route, and N ₂
Suppose that the vehicle approaches N ₁ . N ₁ is said to induce presence determination data of Figure 7 that was created in advance before the starting based on the intersection information stored in the external memory 28, and a result road in N _1, intersection guidance enlarged view becomes not display Therefore, the enlarged view of the intersection is not displayed. However, the driver of the destination direction (the direction of a road) is considered to be a N ₄ direction, if you were running the vehicle in the direction of the N _4, the intersection of N ₁ in the case for running the future, this road Is displayed to judge that the intersection guidance should be performed, and the intersection information shown in FIG. 4 is rewritten as the intersection information shown in FIG. 9 (corresponding to the second intersection storage means 12). That is, in the future,
When navigating from N ₂ to N ₂ , it is better to display the intersection guidance enlarged map and guide to the regular route. Therefore, the information “N ₂ → N ₅ ] Is added. By this. Next time, the recommended route is N _{2 in} Fig. 3,
It is calculated on the route passing through N ₁ and N _5, and when traveling on this route, it is stored in the RAM 24 based on the information “N ₂ → N ₅ ” registered in the list (third guide map display condition). In the guidance presence / absence determination data, N _{1 in} FIG. 7 is “Yes”.
Can be rewritten as

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, when an intersection which is a road and does not require the guidance of the intersection is approaching the intersection where the route is wrong, the enlarged view of the intersection guidance is displayed from the next time. Will be done.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing node information (intersection information) stored in the external memory 28. In the case of the present embodiment, only the contents of the processing of step 2605 shown in FIG. 6 are different. Therefore, the description of the same parts as those in the first embodiment will be omitted. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3 of the first embodiment, there is approach / departure route information indicating whether or not to display an enlarged intersection image for each intersection, that is, third guidance enlarged display information. On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
Entry / exit route information “N ₂ → N ₅ , N ₂ → N ₄ , N
₄ → N ₂ , N ₄ → N ₅ , N ₅ → N ₂ , N ₅ → N ₄ ”
Alternatively, the difference is that guidance levels are provided that are divided according to the type of intersection shape.

[0029] That is, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, as the route road white line as it progresses from the N ₂ to N ₅ is quite another adds level 5 proceeds from N ₂ to N ₄ Level 1 is added to a route having the same white line and the same road attribute. In the meantime, for levels 2 to 4, levels 1 to 5 are equally divided and added.

In the initial setting, the intersection guidance enlarged view is displayed only when passing through the routes of levels 4 and 5. That is, the guidance presence / absence determination data as shown in FIG. 7, which is created in advance based on the intersection information stored in the external memory 28, is “executed” only when passing through the routes of levels 4 and 5.
Is set and written in the RAM 24.

[0031] Then, the intersection determining that uninduced intersection example in Step 2604 N ₄ → N ₁ → Level of N ₂ 2
In N ₁ on the route when the route mistakes more than a predetermined number, sets the RAM24 induction presence determination data for the intersection on the route of the levels 2 and "to" Level 2 later An enlarged view of the intersection guidance is displayed for all routes. In this way, when there are many mistakes even in the lightly weighted intersections, which are relatively hard to be mistaken and do not need to be guided, the intersection guidance is performed.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, while the vehicle is traveling on the recommended route, the vehicle deviates from the route toward the destination position at the intersection where it is not necessary to guide the intersection. When it is judged that the intersection has been passed in the direction of, the selection criteria of the intersection to be displayed as guidance should be changed so that the intersection is selected as the intersection to be displayed subsequently. It is possible to detect it well and not give the driver a feeling of strangeness.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram corresponding to a claim of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a vehicle route guidance device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial schematic diagram of a map.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of node information stored in an external memory.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a main routine of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing details of the processing at the time of non-guidance in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of guidance presence / absence determination data stored in a RAM.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an enlarged guide for intersection guidance.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a state after rewriting node information stored in an external memory.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of node information used in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a partial schematic diagram of a map.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Current position detection means 2 Map information storage means 3 destination setting means 4 Recommended route calculation means 5 Display means 6 Intersection selection means 7 First intersection storage means 8 Crossing approach detection means 9 Intersection guidance means 10 Recommended route storage means 11 Route departure judgment means 12 Second intersection storage means 13 Intersection selection criteria changing means

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A present position detecting means for detecting the present position of the own vehicle, a map information storing means for storing map information including coordinates of an intersection, a destination setting means for setting a destination, and the present position detecting means. Recommended route calculation means for calculating a recommended route from the current position to the destination based on the current position detected by the means and the destination set by the destination setting means, and the current position of the own vehicle and the recommended route calculation A route guidance device for a vehicle, comprising: a display means for displaying the recommended route calculated by the means on the map read out from the map information storage means; and a guidance display from intersections existing in the recommended route. Intersection selection means for selecting an intersection to be formed, first intersection storage means for storing the coordinates of the selected intersection, and the current position detected by the current position detection means An intersection approach detecting means for detecting an approach to the intersection stored in the first intersection storage means, an intersection guiding means for guiding the intersection with a guidance display indicating the traveling direction of the vehicle at the detected intersection, and an intersection passing means. Sometimes a route departure determination means for determining whether or not the current position of the vehicle has departed from the recommended route calculated by the recommended route calculation means, and if the route departure determination means determines that the vehicle has left, it departs from the recommended route. Second, which stores the coordinates of the intersection at the specified position
And the intersection selection means changing means for changing the selection criteria of the intersections to be guided and displayed so that the intersections stored in the second intersection storage means are selected as the intersections to be subsequently displayed in the intersection selection means. A route guidance device for a vehicle, comprising: 2. The map information storage means stores coordinates of intersections.
The route for entering and exiting the intersection is
Of guidance level or intersection shape based on
Intersections containing guidance level information separated by type
The point information is stored, and the information is recorded according to claim 1.
Vehicle route guidance device. 3. The intersection guidance means invites together with a map display.
The guide display is performed, and the guide display according to claim 1 or 2,
Vehicle route guidance device. 4. The intersection selection reference changing means is configured to change the route.
The number of times the departure determination means determines that the player is leaving
If the number of times determined by
Guide table to select the intersection as a guide display
Characterized by changing the selection criterion of the intersection to be shown
The route guidance device for vehicles according to claim 2 or 3.