JP3663936B2 - Vehicle navigation device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle navigation device, and more particularly to a function for a plurality of vehicles to join at the same point.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, vehicle navigation devices that display map data and the current position of a vehicle on a display device and provide a guide route to a destination are known. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-62183 proposes a technique for communicating between a plurality of vehicles equipped with navigation devices and transmitting course information changed and set in a certain vehicle to other vehicles. .
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when a plurality of vehicles travel while communicating, there are many cases where they want to join at a point that is convenient for both vehicles. In the above-described conventional technology, the course information changed and set in a certain vehicle is only transmitted to other vehicles, and at which point to join, each vehicle must be separately determined based on the course information, There is a problem that it is complicated and cannot always join at the optimum position. Even if a junction point is determined once, the set junction point may become inappropriate due to subsequent changes in traffic conditions.
[0004]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle navigation device in which a plurality of vehicles can always easily join at an appropriate position.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the first invention is a position acquisition means for acquiring own vehicle position data and other vehicle position data, and merges from the own vehicle and the other vehicle based on the own vehicle position data and the other vehicle position data. Control means for calculating a position and setting it as new destination data of the own vehicle and supplying the new vehicle as new destination data.
[0006]
According to a second aspect, in the first aspect, the control unit recalculates the merging position after a predetermined time has elapsed.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0008]
FIG. 1 shows a configuration block diagram of the present embodiment. The position detection device 10 includes a GPS, a vehicle speed sensor, a direction sensor, and the like, detects the current position of the host vehicle, and supplies the detected position to the navigation ECU 16.
[0009]
The operating device 12 is a device for inputting a destination and a waypoint, and is provided in the vicinity of a vehicle driver's seat, for example, and supplies the input destination data to the navigation ECU 16.
[0010]
The storage device 14 stores map data, and is composed of, for example, a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM.
[0011]
The navigation ECU 16 is constituted by a microcomputer, displays the map data read from the storage device 14 on a display device (not shown), and superimposes the position data supplied from the position detection device 10 on the map data. Further, a route to the destination supplied from the operation device 12 is searched and presented to the vehicle driver as a guide route. The method of presentation is arbitrary, such as displaying on the display device with an arrow, or notifying by voice.
[0012]
The transmission / reception device 18 transmits the current position data of the own vehicle detected by the position detection device 10 to the other vehicle to be merged, and receives the current position data of the other vehicle transmitted from the other vehicle and supplies it to the navigation ECU 16. To do. Note that the transmission / reception of the position data can be performed directly with another vehicle or via an information center. The transmission / reception device 18 can be configured by a car phone, an infrared transmitter / receiver, or the like.
[0013]
The navigation ECU 16 that has received the current position data of the other vehicle from the transmission / reception device 18 arrives at the junction of the own vehicle and the other vehicle, specifically, the position of both vehicles in the shortest time based on the own vehicle position data and the other vehicle position data. A possible merging position is calculated, the merging position is set as new destination data, and a route from the current position to the destination is re-searched. As a search method, a known Dijkstra method or the like can be used. Further, after calculating the merge point, the merge position data is supplied as new destination data to the other vehicle using the transmission / reception device 18. The navigation ECU of the other vehicle that has received this merging position data sets a merging point as a new destination and searches for a route in the same manner as the navigation ECU 16 of the host vehicle, and presents the obtained route to the driver as a guidance route. .
[0014]
FIG. 2 shows a processing flowchart in the present embodiment. When a plurality of vehicles (for example, two vehicles) wish to join, a vehicle to be a communication master among these vehicles is determined (S101). The vehicle that becomes the communication master can be arbitrarily set, and the communication master vehicle has the authority to determine the junction of a plurality of vehicles.
[0015]
After determining the communication master vehicle, the vehicle that has become the communication master acquires the current position data of the other vehicle using the transmission / reception device 18 (S102). The current position data of another vehicle can be acquired by, for example, transmitting a request signal for requesting the other vehicle to transmit the current position data to another vehicle. Of course, all vehicles may always transmit their current position data at predetermined time intervals. After receiving the current position data of the other vehicle, the vehicle that has become the communication master, from each vehicle based on the acquired current position data of the other vehicle and the current position data of the own vehicle detected by the position detection device 10 of the own vehicle. A merging position (destination) that can be reached in the shortest time is calculated (S103). This merging position can be obtained by calculating the intermediate point when both vehicles are on the same road, and when both vehicles are not on the same road, the position of both vehicles is a straight line. It can be obtained by searching for a point on the nearby road closest to the midpoint. Of course, it is possible to calculate the merging position in consideration of not only the current position of both vehicles but also the vehicle speed of both vehicles.
[0016]
After calculating the merging position of the vehicle, the vehicle that has become the communication master sets the calculated merging position as a new destination, searches for a route to the destination, and executes route guidance (S104). Further, the vehicle that has become the communication master transmits, as destination data, the merging position calculated in the process of S103 to another vehicle, that is, the vehicle that has transmitted the current position data. When transmitting destination data, it is preferable to transmit a destination change request signal together (S105). Other vehicles that have received such destination data and a destination change request signal set the acquired destination data as a new destination, and search for a route to this destination, that is, a merging position, to provide route guidance. Is executed (S106).
[0017]
In this way, if a merging position is calculated with a certain vehicle, and a route is guided by setting it as a new destination of the plurality of vehicles, the plurality of vehicles can reliably merge at this merging position. There may be a case where the shortest merging position varies with time due to a change in the angle. For example, when two vehicles A and B merge, although vehicle A is running smoothly, vehicle B has a lower running speed due to traffic jams, and its current position has changed almost even after a certain period of time. It may not be. In such a case, if the joining position is fixed, as a result, it takes time until the two vehicles can join (vehicle B cannot easily reach the joining position).
[0018]
Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not a certain time (for example, 15 minutes) has elapsed after the calculation of the merging position (S107), and when the certain time has elapsed, the vehicle that has become the communication master again is the other vehicle. The current position information is acquired using the transmission / reception device 18 (S108). Then, the merge position is calculated again based on the acquired other vehicle position data and the current position data of the own vehicle acquired again by the position detection device 18 (S109), and the calculated merge position is different from the previous merge position. Performs route guidance by setting the recalculated merge position as a new destination (S110). Further, the re-calculated merging position is transmitted as new destination data to other vehicles (S111). The other vehicle that has received the destination data sets the destination data as a new destination and executes route guidance (S112).
[0019]
The above processing is repeatedly executed until the vicinity of the merging position is reached, and finally both vehicles merge at the merging position (S113).
[0020]
FIG. 3 schematically shows how the merge position is set in the present embodiment. FIG. 3A shows the current positions of the vehicles A and B at a certain time and the determined destination P (merging position). FIG. 3 (B) shows how the merging position is recalculated after a lapse of a fixed time from FIG. 3 (A). Vehicle A runs smoothly and the current position has changed greatly from A-1 to A-2, but vehicle B has only slightly changed from position B-1 to B-2 due to traffic congestion (or traffic accident). Suppose that In this case, the merging position is not set to the initial destination P, but to a position Q that is an intermediate point between the positions A-2 and B-2. Therefore, for the vehicle B, the joining position is reset to the front, and as a result, both vehicles can join in a short time.
[0021]
As described above, in this embodiment, a certain vehicle grasps the position data of the own vehicle and the other vehicle, determines the optimum merging point for both vehicles, sets it as the destination of the own vehicle, and Since the destination data is supplied, both vehicles can easily and reliably merge in a short time.
[0022]
In the present embodiment, it is also preferable that the time interval for recalculating the merge position is not fixed, but is gradually shortened (first 15 minutes, then 10 minutes, then 5 minutes,...).
[0023]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the merging points of a plurality of vehicles are automatically set, so that both vehicles can be merged easily and reliably.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a process flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of merging point resetting according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Position detection apparatus, 12 Operation apparatus, 14 Storage apparatus, 16 Navigation ECU, 18 Transmission / reception apparatus.

Claims (2)

Position acquisition means for acquiring own vehicle position data and other vehicle position data;
Control means for calculating a merging position of the host vehicle and the other vehicle based on the host vehicle position data and the other vehicle position data, setting the new destination data of the host vehicle and supplying the new vehicle as new destination data; ,
A vehicle navigation device comprising: The vehicle navigation device according to claim 1,
The vehicular navigation device, wherein the control means recalculates the merging position after a predetermined time has elapsed.

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