JP3891231B2 - Vehicle navigation device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention belongs to the technical field of a vehicle navigation apparatus that performs route guidance to a destination input according to a preset route.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The vehicle navigation device searches for a route from the current position or a specified departure point to the destination based on the input of the destination, etc., and performs route guidance based on the searched optimum route, thereby making it inconvenient. It provides the driver with information on the route to the destination when traveling on the road. In a conventional vehicle navigation device, an estimated current position on road data in map data is obtained by map matching processing based on data from each sensor in the current position detection device, and based on the current position obtained by this processing. The route guidance is performed by outputting the guidance of the next intersection or branch point before a predetermined distance such as an intersection to turn right or left, or after passing the intersection using voice or arrow display.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in a conventional navigation device, when a driver is driving on a road having multiple lanes (lanes) and turns right or left at a certain intersection by route guidance, he / she currently travels in a right turn, straight drive, or left turn lane. There is a problem that the user may be aware that he / she is in a straight lane in front of the intersection and suddenly change to a right or left turn lane, or the lane change may not be possible.
[0004]
The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and when traveling on a road having a plurality of lanes, the vehicle controls the output of guidance information related to the lane to the driver according to the traveling lane, and appropriately relates to the lane. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle navigation apparatus that can provide guidance information.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a vehicle navigation apparatus that performs route guidance to a destination input according to a preset route, and is set with current position detecting means for detecting the current position of the host vehicle. Traveling direction acquisition means for acquiring the traveling direction at the guidance intersection from the route, traveling lane acquisition means for acquiring the traveling lane on which the vehicle travels, and the traveling direction and traveling lane at the guidance intersection do not correspond Guidance information output means for outputting guidance information relating to the lane, a point of a predetermined distance to the guidance intersection where the lane can be changed before reaching the guidance intersection, and detected by the current position detection means When the traveled lane does not correspond to the traveling direction at the guidance intersection where the current position is far from the point, the guidance information output means relates to the lane. When guidance information is output and the current position is closer than the point, the guidance information regarding the lane is not output, and the traveling lane acquisition means acquires lane information by communication means, The travel lane acquisition unit acquires lane information by an image recognition unit.
[0006]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an example of a vehicle navigation apparatus according to the present invention. The vehicle navigation apparatus according to the present invention includes an input / output device 1 that inputs and outputs information related to route guidance, a current position detection device 2 that detects or receives information related to the current position of the host vehicle, and a navigation device necessary for calculating a route. The information storage device 3 stores display / voice guidance data and programs (OS and / or applications) necessary for data and route guidance, and performs display / voice guidance processing necessary for route search processing and route guidance. The central processing unit 4 controls the entire system. First, each configuration will be described.
[0007]
The input / output device 1 inputs the destination and outputs the navigation information from at least one of voice and / or screen when the driver needs it. And a function of printing out the processed data and the like. As means for realizing the function, the input unit includes a touch switch 11 and an operation switch for inputting a destination by a telephone number or coordinates on a map, or requesting route guidance. Of course, an input device such as a remote controller may be used. Further, the output unit displays the input data on the screen, or automatically displays the route guidance on the screen in response to the driver's request, and is stored in the data processed by the central processing unit 4 or the information storage device 3. A printer 13 for printing out the data and a speaker 16 for outputting the route guidance by voice.
[0008]
Here, a voice recognition device for enabling voice input and a recording card reader for reading data recorded on an IC card or a magnetic card can be added. In addition, the data center necessary for navigation is stored and the information center provided via the communication line at the request of the driver, the personal computer such as the map data and the destination data stored in advance such as the personal computer A data communication device for exchanging data with the information source can also be added.
[0009]
The display 12 is composed of a color CRT or a color liquid crystal display, and all screens necessary for navigation such as a route setting screen, a section diagram screen, and an intersection diagram screen based on map data and guide data processed by the central processing unit 4 are displayed. Are displayed in color, and a button for setting route guidance, guidance during route guidance, and a screen switching operation is displayed on this screen. In particular, passing intersection information such as passing intersection names is displayed in color in a pop-up on the section diagram screen as needed.
[0010]
The display 12 is provided in an instrument panel in the vicinity of the driver's seat, and the driver can confirm the current location of the vehicle by looking at the displayed map, and can obtain information on the route from now on. . The display 12 is provided with a touch switch 11 corresponding to the display of the function buttons, and is configured to execute the above operation based on a signal input by touching the button. The input signal generating means including the button and the touch switch constitutes an input unit, but detailed description thereof is omitted here.
[0011]
The current position detection device 2 is a device that detects or receives information related to the current position of the vehicle, and includes an absolute direction sensor 24 composed of a geomagnetic sensor, a relative direction sensor 25 composed of a steering sensor, a gyro, and the like, wheels A distance sensor 26 that detects a travel distance from the number of rotations, a GPS receiver 21 that uses a satellite navigation system (GPS), and a communication device 5. The communication device 5 includes a VICS (Vehicle Information & Communication System) receiving device 22 or a data transmitting / receiving device 23 which is a traffic information acquiring unit according to the present invention. The traffic information is received by FM multiplexing, radio wave beacon, and optical beacon. The data transmission / reception device 23 is, for example, a mobile phone or a personal computer, and is required for navigation with a traffic information center (for example, ATIS) at the request of the driver. Exchange information. Further, by installing an image recognition device (for example, a video camera) instead of the communication device 5, lane information can be obtained from the image recognition device. Further, an image recognition device may be used in combination with the communication device 5.
[0012]
The information storage device 3 is an external storage device that stores a navigation program and data in an external storage medium such as a CD-ROM (hereinafter simply referred to as a CD), an optical CD, and an IC card. The program is composed of a map drawing unit, a route search unit, a route guide unit, a current position calculation unit, a destination setting operation control unit, etc., and is composed of an application unit and an OS unit that perform navigation signal processing. Program for performing processing such as, display output control necessary for route guidance, program for performing voice output control necessary for voice guidance and necessary data, and display information necessary for route guidance and map display Data is stored. The data includes map data (road map, house map, building shape map, etc.), intersection data, node data, road data, photo data, registration point data, destination point data, guide road data, detailed destination data, It consists of destination reading data, telephone number data, address data, and other data files, and stores all data necessary for the navigation device. The above program may be stored in a ROM in the central processing unit.
[0013]
Specifically, from the communication device 5, a program for setting a destination and a passing point based on position information from the current position detection device 2 and an input signal from the input device 11 and executing a route search using the searched road data A program for converting the searched road data based on the acquired traffic information and executing the route search again, or a program for determining the voice output timing and the content of the voice phrase along the map drawing, map matching, route, etc. Are started, and each function of navigation in the present invention is executed by starting the program stored in these information storage devices 3. That is, in the present embodiment, a program for realizing the functions of the present invention is stored in the information storage device 3 that is an external storage medium.
[0014]
The central processing unit 4 includes a CPU 40 that executes various arithmetic processes, and a flash memory 41 that reads and stores a program from the CD of the information storage device 3. The flash memory 41 erases an existing program so that it can be rewritten even if the program of the CD is changed. Further, the ROM 42 storing a program (program reading means) for performing a program check and update process of the flash memory 41, the set point coordinates of the destination, the road code No. RAM 43 for temporarily storing searched route guidance information and data being processed, image memory 44 storing image data used for screen display on the display, and an image based on a display control signal from CPU 40 An image processor 45 that extracts image data from the memory 44, performs image processing and outputs the image data to the display 12, voices read from the information storage device 3 based on a voice output control signal from the CPU 40, a phrase, a single sentence, A sound processor 46 that synthesizes sound and the like, converts it to an analog signal, and outputs it to the speaker 16; Interface 48, for entering date and time in internal diagnostic information It has a such as a total of 49.
[0015]
In the central processing unit 4, when data acquired by each sensor of the current position detection device 2 is fetched from the sensor input interface 48, the CPU 40 calculates the current position coordinates at regular intervals based on the data, and temporarily Write to RAM42. The current position coordinates are obtained by performing map matching processing in consideration of detection errors of various data. Further, the output values from various sensors are always corrected. Here, the route guidance is configured so that the driver can select either screen display or voice output.
[0016]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a search (guidance) road data file in which data necessary for route calculation by the route search unit is calculated, and FIG. 2A shows a data structure. 2 (B) is a diagram for explaining data. In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, the searched road data is divided into a plurality of blocks Bn having a radius of 3 to 10 km and managed for each block. For each of the n block numbers, there are m road numbers. For each road number, the coordinates of the start and end points, the road with the same start point, the road with the same end point, the length, the road attribute, It consists of data such as width, guidance unnecessary road, invasion prohibition, prohibition information such as one-way traffic, node data address, size and the like. The road number is set for each forward and return road for each road between intersections (branch points). The road attribute is data indicating the width and state of the road such as whether the road is a national road or a prefectural road, an elevated road or an underground road, and the number of lanes. The node data is coordinate data composed of east longitude and north latitude for each number of nodes when each road is divided into a plurality of nodes (sections).
[0017]
In the data structure of FIG. 2, the information about the intersection is stored in the road data. However, as shown in FIG. 4, the intersection data is provided separately from the road data, and the presence or absence of traffic lights and the roads to be connected. Information or the like may be stored. However, when the road data is provided with connection information, it is easier to have data indicating that a road from a certain road cannot enter, and the amount of data can be reduced.
[0018]
FIG. 5 shows an example of guidance phrase data. When a guidance sentence is divided into phrases such as a distance phrase, a direction phrase, and a feature phrase, and guidance voice data is output, the phrases are combined, for example, “ Make a right turn at about 300m "or" Turn the next traffic light on the left "and output it at the set guide point.
[0019]
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating transmission data transmitted from the VICS. VICS transmits road traffic information to vehicles by FM multiplexing, radio wave beacons, and optical beacons in real time. FM multiplexing transmits rough information over a wide area. Detailed information on a narrow area having a radius of about 10 km as the center, and can be received when the vehicle passes the beacon installation position. The VICS transmission data is based on the link number assigned to each road, such as the degree of traffic congestion (for example, inaccessibility, traffic congestion, congestion, heavy traffic volume, normal traffic, etc.), traffic jam head position, traffic jam length, regulation Corresponding to information (road construction information, closed roads, etc.), travel time (time required at a given speed), lane information (number of lanes, whether the lane is a right turn lane, straight lane, left turn lane, and beacon location) The lane is the number of information from the left). Alternatively, the traffic information may be obtained by accessing the traffic information center (for example, ATIS) using the data transmission / reception device (for example, mobile phone) 23. In this way, the traffic information is acquired at the user's request. In addition, an optimum route based on traffic information can be requested.
[0020]
By the way, since the road data of FIG. 2 generally stored in the CD of the information storage device 3 and the VICS link number of FIG. 6 may not correspond one-to-one, it is necessary to correspond to both. . FIG. 7A shows a correspondence table indicating which link of the road data stored in the CD the link number transmitted from VICS corresponds to, and FIG. 7B is a diagram for explaining the correspondence. It is. That is, as shown in FIG. 7B, the roads with VICS link number 1 are linked as CD link numbers 3, 4, and 5 so as to correspond to road numbers 3, 4, and 5 in the CD-ROM. The method of linking is not limited to this, and the link number transmitted from the VICS and the road data stored on the CD may be matched in advance. In this case, the search road data shown in FIG. 2 may be provided with a frame for storing data related to the traffic congestion information of the VICS, and the data obtained from the VICS may be stored therein to obtain the search road data.
[0021]
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the flow of the entire system of the vehicle navigation apparatus of the present invention. When the navigation program is activated by the CPU 40 of the central processing unit 4, first, the current position is detected by the current position detecting device 2, and the surrounding map is displayed around the current position, and the name of the current position is displayed. (Step S1). Next, a destination is set using a telephone number, an address, a facility name, a registered point, etc. (step S2), and a route search from the current position to the destination is performed (step S3). The route to reach the destination is set as guide road number data in which road numbers to be guided are arranged as shown in FIG. When the route is determined, guidance / display of the route is performed until the destination is reached while tracking the current position by the current position detection device 2 (step S4).
[0022]
The present invention relates to the guidance process at the intersection in the guidance / display process in step S4, and FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the intersection guidance process according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0023]
First, after obtaining the current position of the vehicle (S11), the guidance information of the next guidance intersection to be guided is obtained from the route data (S12), and the distance between the current position on the road data of the vehicle and the guidance intersection is calculated. To do. Next, traffic information (including lane information) from VICS is acquired in step S13. This traffic information may be performed every predetermined time or before a predetermined distance before a branch point or an intersection, and the traffic information acquisition process may be performed after the destination setting in step S2 of FIG. In step S14, it is determined whether or not there is a next intersection in the traffic information. If there is no next intersection in the traffic information, the process proceeds to step S18, and normal guidance such as “turn right at the next intersection” or “go straight at the next intersection” is output by voice or screen display.
[0024]
If there is a next guidance intersection in the traffic information in step S14, the travel lane of the host vehicle is acquired from the lane information up to the next guidance intersection in step S15. This is to obtain the traveling lane of the own vehicle from the VICS information based on the beacon installation position. For example, information on the left turn lane, the straight lane, the right turn lane, or the number of the lane from the left side can be obtained. Next, in step S16, it is determined whether or not there is a predetermined distance to the guidance intersection. This determines whether it is possible to change the lane before reaching the guidance intersection. If there is no predetermined distance to the guidance intersection, the process proceeds to step S19, and guidance in the direction of travel at the guidance intersection is output. .
[0025]
If there is a predetermined distance to the guidance intersection in step S16, it is determined in step S17 whether or not the traveling lane and the intersection traveling direction correspond to each other. For example, when the traveling lane of the vehicle is a left turn lane and the traveling direction is a left turn. If so, the process proceeds to step S19, and guidance in the traveling direction at the guidance intersection is output. If the traveling lane of the host vehicle does not correspond to the intersection traveling direction, guidance information is output based on the traveling lane and the intersection traveling direction in step S18. For example, if there are three driving lanes, the guidance at the guidance intersection is a left turn, and the driving lane of the vehicle is a straight lane or a right turn lane, the guidance information is output as "Please change to the left lane" . In addition, if the guidance at the guidance intersection is straight and the traveling lane of the vehicle is a left turn lane or a right turn lane, the guidance information is output as “change to the center lane”. Further, in the case of a road having a plurality of left-turn lanes and right-turn lanes, for example, guidance may be output as “Please change to the lane number from the left”.
[0026]
FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining lane change guidance processing according to another embodiment of the present invention. First, the information of the guidance intersection that outputs the next guidance is read and confirmed from the route information calculated in advance (step S21), and traffic information (for example, VICS information) is acquired (step S22). It is determined whether or not the next guidance intersection is included in the reception area of the acquired traffic information (step S23). If not included, the distance to the next guidance intersection is still far, so the current position Is detected (step S28), and the process is temporarily terminated.
[0027]
If it is determined in step S23 that the vehicle is within the traffic information reception area, the traveling direction at the guidance intersection obtained from the guidance intersection information confirmed in step S21 and the current traveling acquired in step S22 Compare / judge the current lane information (step S24). Next, it is determined whether or not the currently traveling lane is appropriate (step S25). If the travel lane you are currently driving is appropriate, for example, if the guidance in the direction of travel at the guidance intersection is a left turn, and if the vehicle is traveling in a left turn lane, lane change guidance is required. If it is determined that there is no, the process is temporarily terminated.
[0028]
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S25 that the travel lane is not appropriate, it is determined whether or not the distance from the current position to the guidance intersection is within a predetermined value (step S26). This process is repeated until the distance to the guidance intersection approaches. If it is determined that the vehicle has approached the guidance intersection within a predetermined distance, the lane change guidance is output by voice or display on how the lane should be changed (step S27).
[0029]
Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications are possible. For example, in the processing of FIGS. 10 and 11, the travel lane is detected using traffic information (VICS information), but information on the number of lanes (road attribute in FIG. 2A) is obtained from the information storage means 3. The travel lane may be detected based on the read and output from the current position detection means 2. Moreover, you may make it detect the present driving lane from an image using a video camera. In addition, although the lane change guidance is output in step S27 of FIG. 11, it is not necessary to separately provide the lane change guidance. For example, if turning left at the guidance intersection, a notification that the vehicle is traveling in the left turn lane is notified. It may be. Further, the processing of step S25 may be omitted, and the lane guidance may be performed by approaching the guidance intersection. Moreover, in a road having a plurality of lanes, there may be a plurality of left turn lanes and right turn lanes. By obtaining such lane information from the VICS information, external information other than the VICS information, etc. via the communication device 5, Alternatively, by reading out the lane information from the information storage device 3 that has been stored in advance, the lane guidance information in step S27 is “left two lanes are left turn lanes”, “right turn lanes are right two lanes” or the like. In this way, it may be output as simple lane guidance information.
[0030]
Further, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. If traffic information is acquired but the distance to the guidance intersection is long, it is expected that the lane will be changed from the current driving lane before reaching the guidance intersection, so guidance is based on the acquired traffic information. It is not appropriate to do. Therefore, when information on the traveling lane is obtained at a position far from the guidance intersection, it is detected whether there is a lane change with respect to the currently traveling lane. For example, detection means such as a rudder angle sensor, a gyro sensor, or a video camera is used to detect whether or not the lane has been changed. As described above, the combination of the received traffic information (for example, VICS information) and the detection means on the vehicle side can appropriately change the lane even if the traffic information cannot be received around the guidance intersection. it can.
[0031]
Furthermore, you may comprise so that the output of a lane guidance may be controlled according to a vehicle speed. In this case, the timing for performing the lane guidance process can be controlled by setting the predetermined vehicle speed. For example, when traveling at a speed of 60 km per hour, control is performed so that traffic information existing within 700 m of the guidance intersection is not processed. Alternatively, when it is determined that the speed is 30 km / h or less, control is performed so as not to process traffic information existing within 300 m of the guidance intersection. By controlling the output timing of the lane guidance based on the vehicle speed in this way, it is possible to prevent an unreasonable guidance from being output immediately before the guidance intersection, so that it is possible to drive with a margin. Further, when there is a traffic jam or the like, it becomes possible to process the guidance information at a position closer to the guidance intersection, and it is possible to output highly accurate guidance.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, when the current position is farther than a predetermined distance from the guidance intersection and the traveling direction at the guidance intersection does not correspond to the traveling lane, guidance information about the lane When the current position is closer than the predetermined distance of the guidance intersection, no guidance information about the lane is output, so when driving on a road with multiple lanes, Guidance information can be appropriately performed. For example, when you turn left at the next intersection, if the lane you are currently driving is not a left turn lane, you will output guidance information about the lane until the current position is a predetermined distance from the guidance intersection, and the lane will be closer to the predetermined distance Since no guidance information is output, a change to the left turn lane can be notified before the left turn guidance is performed, so that it is possible to drive with a margin without delaying the timing of the left turn.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an example of a vehicle navigation apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a searched road data file according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a road data management method;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of intersection data according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of guidance phrase data according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing VICS transmission data according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an example of linking road data and VICS transmission data in the information storage device according to the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the overall system flow of the vehicle navigation apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining guide road number data obtained by the route search of FIG. 8;
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of intersection guidance processing according to the embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a lane change guidance process according to another embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
2 ... Current position detection means, 3 ... Information storage device, 4 ... Central processing unit 5 ... Communication device (traffic information)

Claims (3)

In a vehicle navigation apparatus for performing route guidance to a destination input according to a preset route,
Current position detecting means for detecting the current position of the vehicle;
Travel direction acquisition means for acquiring the travel direction at the guidance intersection from the set route,
Traveling lane acquisition means for acquiring a traveling lane in which the vehicle travels;
A guidance information output means for outputting guidance information relating to the lane when the traveling direction at the guidance intersection does not correspond to the traveling lane, up to the guidance intersection where the lane can be changed before reaching the guidance intersection When a point of a predetermined distance is determined and the current position detected by the current position detection unit is far from the point and the traveling direction at the guidance intersection does not correspond to the traveling lane, the guidance information output unit A navigation apparatus for a vehicle that outputs guidance information about the lane and does not output guidance information about the lane when the current position is closer to the point.   The vehicle navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the travel lane acquisition unit acquires lane information by a communication unit.   The vehicle navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the travel lane acquisition unit acquires lane information by an image recognition unit.

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