JP4042622B2 - Route search device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a route search apparatus provided with route calculation means for calculating a route from a current position and calculating a required time or an estimated arrival time when a destination or waypoint is designated.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a route search device, for example, in a car navigation device, when a destination or a waypoint is set, a route search is calculated from the current location, and guidance is performed according to the searched route data. Further, the time required for traveling according to the searched route or the estimated arrival time can be calculated and displayed or guided.
[0003]
The user can surely arrive by traveling according to the guidance without knowing the route to the destination, and can concentrate on driving with peace of mind. In addition, since the estimated arrival time is known, it is convenient to make plans and plans.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional configuration as described above, a route search is usually performed using the shortest time, the shortest distance, or the most economical way to reach a destination or waypoint as an index, and the required time or arrival prediction is performed. Since the time is calculated, there are cases where it does not match the driver's needs in the following points.
[0005]
That is, in recent years, in driving a car, not only is it moving to a destination, but there is also a question about how the driver can be satisfied during the movement. For example, playing a CD or MD on a car stereo or listening to radio or various information is an important factor.
[0006]
In this respect, the above-described technology related to car navigation has many undeveloped parts, and for example, even if a CD music being played back by a car stereo is in the middle, it arrives at the destination. Sometimes. For this reason, in order to listen to the song being played to the end, the remaining part remains in the car after arrival. Also, if the playback of a song being played is terminated halfway when it arrives, it will be heard from the middle of the song the next time it is driven, and some users may find it unfavorable.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to correlate the operation of a music playback device such as a car stereo with the operation of a route search device, and the time required to move to the destination. When there is a margin, etc., it is an object of the present invention to provide a route search device that can spend time during driving as effective time that meets the needs of the driver.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when information related to music playback is sent from the music playback device, it is received by the music information input means, and music is being played back by the music playback device by the path recalculation means. When the remaining performance time of the song is given, if the remaining performance time is longer than the required time or the time until the estimated arrival time, at least the remaining performance time will elapse before arriving at the destination or waypoint So that the route can be set so that it arrives at the destination at the timing when the song being played is just finished. Also, it is possible to perform comfortable driving without being played from the middle of the song.
[0009]
According to the invention of claim 2, in the above invention, when the reproduction time information is given to the music to be reproduced from the music reproduction device, the route recalculation means is set to the destination or the transit point after the reproduction time has passed. Since the route recalculation process is performed so that it arrives, the music information of the song that is scheduled to be played in addition to the currently playing song can arrive at the destination or transit point after the playback is finished. It becomes like this.
[0010]
According to the invention of claim 3, when the destination or waypoint is specified, the route calculation means is scheduled to be played back by the music playback device when the information related to music playback is received by the music information input means. Since the route is calculated so that it arrives at the specified destination or waypoint after the time required for playing the song has elapsed, the user can set the destination by setting the desired music song. Or you will be able to play and listen to it before and after arriving at the transit point.
[0011]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first and second aspects of the present invention, when the destination or waypoint is specified, the route calculation means receives information related to music reproduction by the music information input means. In this case, the route is calculated so that the music playback device arrives at the designated destination or waypoint after the time required for playback of the song to be played has elapsed. By setting a desired music piece, it becomes possible to reproduce and listen to the music before reaching the destination or waypoint.
[0012]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, there is provided position information acquisition means for acquiring position information, and music information for designating desired reproduction position information and desired reproduction music is input from a music reproduction device. If the position information acquisition means obtains position information corresponding to the desired reproduction position by the path recalculation means, an instruction signal is sent to the music reproduction apparatus to start reproduction of the desired reproduction music. Since it is configured to give, the user can play the desired song at the point where it wants to play, and can produce an effective presentation, contributing to the improvement of the comfort of the moving space become able to.
[0013]
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect of the present invention, when music playback position information and music information specifying the playback desired music are input from the music playback device, the path recalculation means specifies the playback position. Since the route recalculation process is performed so that the desired music to be reproduced starts at the desired reproduction position, when the desired music to be reproduced is reproduced at a desired point, it is not switched suddenly but is reproduced immediately before. The desired playback position can be reached at the end of the current song, and the desired song can be played at a natural timing.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a car navigation apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows the function of this system in a block configuration, which is composed of a car navigation device 1 and an audio device 2. In the car navigation apparatus 1, the control circuit 3 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and various interface circuits, and stores programs related to route search and route guidance.
[0015]
The control circuit 3 includes a route calculation unit 3a and a current position measurement unit 3b as functional block configurations, and actually, these functions are realized by a program mainly by the CPU. The route calculation unit 3a functions as a route calculation unit and a route recalculation unit, and the current position measurement unit 3b functions as a position information acquisition unit.
[0016]
The control circuit 3 is connected with an operation unit 4, a display unit 5, a speaker 6 and an audio I / F unit 7 as music information input means corresponding to the route calculation unit 3a, and also corresponds to the current position calculation unit 3b. Thus, the GPS receiver 8 and the vehicle speed sensor 9 are connected.
[0017]
Next, in the audio apparatus 2, the music information input unit 10 reads music data from a music recording medium such as a CD 11 or MD 12, and outputs the music data to the music playback unit 14 via the playback time calculation unit 13. The music playback unit 14 outputs a signal obtained by converting data into sound to the speaker 15 for playback. The reproduction time calculation unit 13 calculates the reproduction time of the music data input from the music information input unit 10, and the information is transmitted from the audio I / F unit 7 of the car navigation apparatus 1 to the control circuit 3 through the I / F circuit 16. Send.
[0018]
Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. When the route guidance is being executed by the car navigation device 1 or when the route guidance is to be performed, the route search or route guidance operation is performed in conjunction with the setting state or operation state of the audio device 2 at that time. Configured to do. These operation controls are performed in accordance with a program in the control circuit 3 of the car navigation apparatus 1.
[0019]
In the following, the operation when the car navigation device 1 and the audio device 2 described above perform operations in association with each other will be described focusing on the operation of the car navigation device 1. The operation is configured such that various settings can be made by the user from the operation unit 4. Note that the route search process and the route guidance operation, which are the basic operations of the car navigation device 1, are well-known processes or operations. Therefore, the description is omitted here assuming that a general function is assumed. The operation of the invention will be mainly described.
[0020]
First, a control operation performed when music is played by the audio device 2 in a state where the route guidance operation is being executed will be described with reference to FIG. That is, the control circuit 3 executes a main program (not shown), and there is a routine shown in FIG. 2 that is executed in the main program, which is periodically executed.
[0021]
First, the control circuit 3 determines whether or not the route guidance is executed by setting the destination or waypoint (step S1). If “YES” here, the estimated arrival time (Ta) at that time is determined. Is calculated (step S2), and thereafter, it is determined whether or not music is being reproduced (step S3).
[0022]
In step S3, the control circuit 3 recognizes the information via the audio I / F unit 7 when the user is playing back music such as the CD 11 or the MD 12 by the audio device 2 and determines “YES”. Then, the information of the remaining time (t1) of the song being played back is taken in, and it is determined whether or not this remaining time t1 is longer than the estimated arrival time Ta (step S4). The route is recalculated so as to be equal to the remaining time t1 (step S5).
[0023]
This prevents the user from arriving at the destination or waypoint at least until the end of the song being played, and allows the user to listen to the song being played to the end while driving. Therefore, there is no need to listen to the rest after stopping and to start playback from the middle of the next driving again.
[0024]
If “NO” is determined in steps S1, S3, and S4, the process ends and the process returns to the main program. Note that such processing is performed at an appropriate timing even during route guidance, and is executed up to step S5 when the conditions match.
[0025]
Next, an operation in a setting state slightly different from the above will be described with reference to FIG. In the above-described example, the case where only the song being played back is set to be described has been described. However, the following is a case where setting is made so that the song being played and the next song arrive at the end.
[0026]
That is, in FIG. 3, the control circuit 3 executes the processing of the routine shown in FIG. 3 at an appropriate timing by executing the main program in the same manner as described above, and after steps S1 to S3, in the next step S6, The remaining reproduction time t1 and the reproduction time t2 of the next song are calculated.
[0027]
Next, it is determined whether or not the calculated time t1 + t2 is longer than the estimated arrival time Ta (step S7). If “YES”, route recalculation processing is performed so that Ta = t1 + t2 (step S8). ). As a result, the route can be set so as to arrive at the destination or the waypoint when the music being reproduced and the next music are finished.
[0028]
Next, another setting function will be described with reference to FIG. In this function, when the user reaches a point where the user wants to reproduce a desired piece of music, this is automatically reproduced. For example, it is possible to provide an effective presentation when the content of the music to be played is related to the point or when it is in line with the user's image.
[0029]
In this case, the user inputs a setting for a song that designates such a reproduction point in advance. This is performed by selecting from the menu while viewing the display unit 5 by the operation unit 4. When a CD 11 or MD 12, which is a music medium containing a song to be designated, is loaded in the music information input unit 10, the control circuit 3 sends necessary information such as reproduction time information from the audio device 2 via the audio I / F unit 7. Import and set the desired song. In addition, there are methods such as setting a point desired to be reproduced on a map displayed on the display unit 5 or directly specifying an address by inputting it.
[0030]
When the reproduction point designation music is set as described above, the control circuit 3 executes the program shown in FIG. 4 at an appropriate timing in the main program. During the route guidance, the control circuit 3 calculates the current position information from the GPS receiver 8 and the vehicle speed sensor 9 by the current position calculation unit 3b and inputs this information as the current position information to the route calculation unit 3a. Therefore, whether or not the designated point has been reached can be determined from the current position information.
[0031]
The control circuit 3 first determines whether or not there is a reproduction point designation song (step P1). If “YES”, the control circuit 3 determines whether or not the current position obtained by the current position calculation unit 3b is a reproduction point. Is determined (step P2). In the case of “YES” here, the control circuit 3 transmits an instruction signal to the audio apparatus 2 so as to start the reproduction of the reproduction point designated music piece. As a result, the audio apparatus 2 reproduces the designated song in accordance with the reproduction instruction signal input via the I / F circuit 16.
[0032]
Next, a description will be given of a process for preventing a song that has been played immediately before from being suddenly switched during playback of a playback point designation song. In this case, the control circuit 3 executes the program shown in FIG. 5 incorporated in the main program. That is, in the same manner as described above, the control circuit 3 determines whether or not there is a destination or waypoint setting (step Q1), and if “YES”, the estimated arrival time Ta is calculated (step Q2). .
[0033]
Thereafter, the control circuit 3 determines whether or not there is a reproduction point designated song (step Q3). If “YES”, the control circuit 3 calculates an estimated arrival time Tb to the designated reproduction point (step Q4). Subsequently, the playback time ts of another song to be played before the playback of the playback point designated song is calculated (step Q5).
[0034]
The control circuit 3 recalculates the route so that the estimated arrival time Tb and the reproduction time ts are the same as the calculated result (step Q6). As a result, it becomes possible to reach the point designated at the timing of playing the reproduction point designated song, so that reproduction of the reproduction point designated song can be started in a natural state, and the production effect is enhanced. Will be able to.
[0035]
According to the present embodiment, since the control circuit 3 enables the cooperative operation with the audio device 2, the destination is reached when the song being played back ends or when the time including the next song elapses. Alternatively, it is possible to reach the waypoint, and it is possible to produce a comfortable moving space by avoiding situations such as interruption of reproduction in the middle or reproduction from the middle of the next reproduction.
[0036]
In addition, since the desired song can be played by specifying the point where playback is desired, it is possible to play the song that is related to the place and the song that the user imagines effectively in a timely manner. And the production effect can be enhanced. In that case, since the path can be set by adjusting the start of the music to be reproduced, the reproduction point designation music can be reproduced with a natural impression without giving an unnatural impression.
[0037]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be modified or expanded as follows.
The above programs can be used in combination rather than individually. For example, the programs shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 can be applied even when a song to be played is designated in advance. As a result, even if there is a deviation in the estimated arrival time, such as when there is no traffic jam or the expected traffic jam, the process of replaying until reaching the destination or waypoint is handled according to this. Will be able to deal with.
[0038]
It is also possible to set other conditions while setting the reproduction point designation music. Furthermore, the music to be reproduced may be designated by a program, and the route search may be performed so as to reach the destination or the waypoint while ensuring the time for reproducing all of them. As a result, it is possible to enjoy comfortable driving while flexibly responding to diversifying user demands.
[0039]
Furthermore, in the route search process by the car navigation device 1, a song to be reproduced may be specified, and the scheduled departure time may be calculated backward by the user setting and inputting the arrival time. As a result, a comfortable drive can be enjoyed with a margin.
[0040]
In addition, by specifying both the song you want to play and the arrival time and departure time, you can also search for a route so that other songs that can be played within that range are played without excess or deficiency. .
[0041]
The car navigation device 1 and the audio device 2 may be integrated. Further, the speaker 6 and 15 may be shared.
As a medium for providing music information, the above-described medium for providing music information such as CD and MD has been shown as an object. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any medium having playback time information can be broadcast or wirelessly. Music songs that can be obtained from outside can be imported and played back based on the music information.
Furthermore, playback is not limited to music, but can also include conversation, language courses or lectures, entertainment information such as rakugo.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an electrical block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a music playback program (part 1).
[Fig. 3] Music playback program (part 2)
FIG. 4 Music playback program (part 3)
FIG. 5: Music playback program (part 4)
[Explanation of symbols]
1 is a car navigation device, 2 is an audio device, 3 is a control circuit, 3a is a route calculation unit (route calculation means, route recalculation means), 3b is a current position calculation unit (position information acquisition means), 4 is an operation unit, 7 is an audio I / F section (music information input means), 8 is a GPS receiver, 9 is a vehicle speed sensor, 10 is a music information input section, 13 is a playback time calculation section, and 14 is a music playback section.

Claims (6)

In a route search device equipped with a route calculation means for calculating a route from the current position when a destination or waypoint is specified and calculating a required time or an estimated arrival time,
Music information input means capable of receiving information related to music playback from the music playback device;
When the remaining performance time of the song being played by the music playback device is given from the music information input means, if the remaining performance time is longer than the required time or the estimated arrival time, at least the remaining performance A route search device comprising route recalculation means for performing route recalculation processing so as to arrive at the destination or waypoint after a lapse of time. The route search device according to claim 1,
The route recalculation means, when the playback time information is given to the music to be played from the music playback device, performs a route recalculation process so that the route arrives at the destination or waypoint after the playback time has elapsed. A route search device characterized by being configured to perform. In a route search device equipped with a route calculation means for calculating a route from the current position when a destination or waypoint is specified and calculating a required time or an estimated arrival time,
A music information input means capable of receiving information related to music playback from the music playback device;
The route calculation means is necessary for playing the music scheduled to be played by the music playback device when information on music playback is received by the music information input means when the destination or waypoint is specified. A route search device characterized in that a route is calculated so as to arrive at a specified destination or waypoint after a lapse of time. In the route search device according to claim 1 or 2,
The route calculation means is necessary for playing the music scheduled to be played by the music playback device when information on music playback is received by the music information input means when the destination or waypoint is specified. A route search device characterized in that a route is calculated so as to arrive at a specified destination or waypoint after a lapse of time. In the route search device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Position information acquisition means for acquiring position information is provided,
The path recalculation means obtains position information corresponding to the desired reproduction position when the reproduction information is inputted from the music reproducing apparatus and music information designating the reproduction desired music is inputted. The route search device is configured to give an instruction signal to the music playback device to start playback of the desired playback song. The route search device according to claim 5,
The route recalculation unit is configured to start the desired reproduction song at the designated desired reproduction position when the reproduction desired position information and the music information designating the desired reproduction music are input from the music reproduction device. A route search device configured to perform route recalculation processing.

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