JP4458927B2 - Automotive electronic devices - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device that searches for a route to a destination and has a guidance function for the searched route, and in particular, navigation that can automatically change the route guidance mode according to the traveling conditions of the vehicle. Relates to the device.

  The navigation device detects the current position of the vehicle, reads map data around the vehicle position from the map database, draws the map on the display, and displays the vehicle mark on the map. When the current position changes due to the movement of the vehicle, the map scrolls and the vehicle mark moves accordingly.

  When the destination is set in the navigation device, the optimum route from the vehicle position to the destination is searched, and the route guidance is performed until the destination is reached. In the guidance guidance, for example, the direction of the left or right turn at the front intersection is notified with a screen or sound, the front curve is warned, or road traffic information such as traffic congestion is notified.

  Since it is cumbersome for the user to set the destination each time the vehicle starts to travel, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for solving this problem. In Patent Document 1, a past travel pattern is stored, and a destination is automatically inferred from a departure position and a departure time when traveling this time. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, when leaving home at 8:10 am on Monday, the traveling putter includes a company, a hospital, and a bank. In this case, the most frequently used company is among them. Can be inferred as a destination.

JP-A-9-13496

  In order to guide the guidance route in the navigation device, it is desirable that the destination is set and the route to the destination is recognized in advance. If so, the user is familiar with the route, and the route guidance may be uncomfortable for the user. In the navigation device, the user can set the details of the route guidance, but it is very complicated to force the user to change this setting every time the vehicle travels.

  Therefore, the present invention provides an in-vehicle electronic device having a navigation function that solves the above-described conventional problems and can automatically set and change the route guidance mode according to the traveling state of the host vehicle. Objective.

  An in-vehicle electronic device having a navigation function according to the present invention includes a discriminating means for discriminating whether the vehicle is traveling daily or extraordinary based on the traveling conditions of the vehicle, and simplified guidance for route guidance when it is determined that the vehicle is traveling daily. And a guidance mode setting means for setting the route guidance to the detailed guidance mode when the mode is set and the non-daily driving is determined. Preferably, the traveling condition of the host vehicle is a condition relating to the set destination, and includes, for example, a distance to the destination, a genre and a type of the destination. Furthermore, the traveling condition of the host vehicle may include a traveling start date and time. Preferably, the simple guidance mode is a mode for guiding a static situation, and the detailed guidance mode is a mode for guiding a static situation and a dynamic situation.

  Daily driving means driving on a road familiar to the user and means driving that does not require detailed guidance. On the other hand, the non-daily driving is driving other than daily driving, that is, driving on a road that is unknown to the user, a first road, an incomprehensible road, or a road that requires detailed guidance. In addition, the mode that guides the static situation is fixed guidance that depends on the map database, and includes, for example, curve warnings, level crossing warnings, prefectural border guidance, and when the destination is set. Includes guidance on the direction of travel at intersections. The mode for guiding the dynamic situation changes with time and includes road traffic information such as traffic jams, construction works, accidents, weather information, and the like.

  According to the present invention, it is determined whether the vehicle travels daily or unusually based on the traveling conditions of the host vehicle, and the simple guidance mode or the detailed guidance mode is set according to this. Therefore, it is not necessary to change the setting of the guidance mode, and it is possible to provide an in-vehicle electronic device that has a convenient navigation function that avoids the user's complexity.

  The navigation device according to the present embodiment has a function of determining whether or not the host vehicle is traveling daily and automatically changing the route guidance mode accordingly. Hereinafter, this detail will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the navigation apparatus 1. In the figure, a GPS receiver 10 receives radio waves from an artificial satellite (GPS satellite) and measures the current position and current direction of the vehicle. The self-contained navigation sensor 12 detects a vehicle speed sensor that detects a moving distance of the vehicle and a rotation angle of the vehicle. The VICS / FM multiple receiver 16 sequentially receives current road traffic information outside the vehicle via the antenna 14. The operation panel 20, the voice input unit 22, and the remote control operation unit 24 constitute an input of the navigation device 1. The operation panel 20 includes a touch panel of the display 52, for example.

  The storage device 30 is preferably composed of a large capacity hard disk drive (HDD). The hard disk can store map data, data such as addresses, telephones, and facilities, and programs for executing various navigation functions.

  Further, in this embodiment, in order to determine whether or not the vehicle is traveling everyday, the history information of the destination set by the user in the past and the daily traveling determination table are stored. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a storage example of destination history information. The destination set by the user in the past and the setting frequency are stored. Each time the destination is set, the contents of the history information are updated. The period stored as history information is a fixed period from the present to the past, and the period can be changed as appropriate. The daily travel determination table is shown in FIG. 6, and details thereof will be described later.

  The data communication control unit 32 enables data communication by radio or wire. The communication function may be built in the navigation device, or may externally connect a communication terminal such as a mobile phone. The navigation device is connected to the server 100 via a data communication control unit 32 and a network such as the Internet or a LAN.

  The voice output unit 40 includes a speaker 42 and outputs, for example, voice such as intersection guidance when guiding a route. The display control unit 50 is connected to the display 52 and displays the map data read from the storage device 30 or the data memory 70 on the display 52. Further, a vehicle mark indicating the current position of the vehicle, a route to the destination, an intersection guidance display, a facility landmark, and the like are synthesized and displayed on the map.

  The program memory 60 stores various programs executed in the navigation device, and the control unit 80 operates according to these programs. The program memory 60 may store a program in advance or may load a program from the storage device 30. The program memory 60 includes, for example, a program 62 for searching for a route to a destination, and a program 64 for performing various settings / changes such as a map displayed on the display 52. Furthermore, the present embodiment includes a guidance mode automatic change program 66 for determining whether the vehicle is traveling everyday or unusually and automatically changing the guidance mode according to the result.

  The data memory 70 stores processing results of various operations processed by the control unit 80, map data 72 read from the storage device 30, and guidance route data 74 to the destination. Further, when it is determined whether or not the vehicle is traveling daily, the above-described destination history information 76 and the daily traveling determination table are read from the storage device 30 and temporarily stored. The data memory 70 can be a DRAM, SRAM, flash memory or the like, and the contents of the data memory 70 may be transferred to the storage device 30. Further, an external memory that can be attached to the navigation device 1 may be used in combination with the data memory 70.

  Next, the operation of the navigation device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the navigation device is activated and the destination is set by the user (step S101), the control unit 80 determines whether or not the vehicle travels daily based on the travel conditions related to the destination (step S102). Daily travel is driving on a road familiar to the user, and non-daily travel is driving other than that, that is, driving on a road unfamiliar to the user.

  When it is determined that the vehicle is traveling everyday, the control unit 80 sets the guidance route guidance to the simple guidance mode (step S103), and when it is determined that the vehicle is traveling unusually, it is set to the detailed guidance mode. (Step S104). The simple guidance mode is preferably guidance only in a dynamic situation. In other words, it is guidance for a situation that changes over time, for example, guidance for traffic information received by the VICS / FM receiver 16, weather information received from the communication control unit 32, and the like. The detailed guidance mode is obtained by adding static situation guidance to dynamic situation guidance. The static situation guidance is fixed information guidance depending on the map database, such as right / left turn guidance at an intersection, a curve warning, and a railroad crossing warning.

  The control unit 80 automatically updates the previous guidance mode so as to become the newly set guidance mode (step S105). Thereby, route guidance to the destination is performed in the newly set guidance mode (step S106). It should be noted that the result may be displayed on the display 52 in order to inform the user whether the simple guidance mode or the detailed guidance mode is set. At this time, a selection button may be displayed together, and if the user does not desire the automatically set guidance mode, the guidance mode may be changed by the selection button.

  In this way, it is considered that the user knows the route to the destination in daily driving, so the guidance of the static situation is not automatically performed, and the discomfort to the user is eliminated. Yes. On the other hand, in the case of non-daily travel, guidance of dynamic and static situations is performed as in the conventional case. As a result, the user can save the trouble of making detailed route guidance settings each time the destination is set, thereby improving convenience.

  Next, a method for determining daily travel will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for determining whether or not the vehicle travels daily based on the history information of the destination. When the user sets a destination (step S201), the control unit 80 reads destination history information (see FIG. 2) 76 stored in the storage device 30 (step S202).

  Next, it is searched whether or not there is a corresponding destination among the destinations stored in the history information (step S203). For example, when the destination C is newly set by the user, the corresponding destination C is extracted from the destination history information of FIG.

  Next, when the corresponding destination is searched, it is determined whether or not the frequency is greater than a predetermined value n (step S204). That is, when the destination is set more than a certain number of times, it is estimated that the route to the destination is well known, and it is determined that the vehicle is traveling everyday. For example, if the predetermined value n is 5, traveling to the destination C is determined as daily travel. The predetermined value n can be changed as appropriate, thereby changing the criterion for determining whether or not the vehicle is running everyday. Further, when a new destination is set, history information is updated. If the destination C is newly set, the setting frequency is 8.

  On the other hand, when there is no corresponding destination and when the set frequency is smaller than the predetermined value n, it is determined that the travel to the destination is an extraordinary travel (step S206).

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart for determining whether or not the vehicle travels daily based on the travel date and time of the vehicle. When the navigation device is activated (step S301), the control unit 80 specifies the current time and day of the week from calendar information or the like (step S302). Next, the control unit 80 reads the daily travel determination table shown in FIG. 6 from the storage device 30 (step S303), and compares the identified date and time with the determination table (step S304).

  The daily travel determination table is a one-week time table in which time is arranged in the vertical direction and day of the week is arranged in the horizontal direction. In FIG. If the date and time of the start of travel corresponds to the shaded time zone, it is determined that the travel is normal (step S305), and if not, it is determined that the travel is non-daily (step S306).

  For example, when commuting by car every day from home to the office, the commuting route is the same, and the user is familiar with which road. For this reason, AM 7:00 to 8:00 and PM 17:00 to 20:00 of the commuting time zone from Monday to Friday corresponding to the work day are set as the daily driving time zone. Moreover, since it can be estimated that the time zone from 12:00 to 13:00 is traveling to the vicinity of the company, this is also assumed to be daily traveling. Other than the shaded time zone, it is a non-daily driving time zone.

  FIG. 7 shows the relationship between some traveling examples and the guidance mode. For example, if the vehicle starts traveling at 7:30 am on Wednesday (the navigation device is activated), it is determined that the vehicle is traveling daily. The guidance mode in this case is automatically set to guidance only for dynamic situations. In addition, when it starts running at 10:00 pm on Friday or when it starts running at 11:20 am on a Sunday on a holiday, it is determined that it is an extraordinary run, and the guidance mode is a static or dynamic situation. Automatically set for guidance.

  When it is determined whether or not the vehicle travels daily based on the date and time of the travel start, the destination setting is not necessarily required. If the destination is not set, there is no optimal route. In this case, it is assumed that the vehicle is traveling on the same type of road as the road on which the vehicle is traveling (for example, a highway, a national road, a prefectural road, etc.) , Guide the static situation of the road ahead of the vehicle. Similarly, the traffic situation information regarding such roads is also presented for the dynamic situation.

  In addition, although the daily travel determination table is shown in the time zone of one week, it can be set in the time zone in units of months or years. In this case, it is possible to consider holidays throughout the year. Further, the time zone for daily travel may be changed as appropriate by the user so as to match the user's profile.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart for determining whether or not the vehicle travels daily based on the distance to the destination. When the destination is set by the user (step S401), the control unit 80 searches for the optimum route from the vehicle position to the destination, and at the same time calculates the distance to the destination based on the optimum route (step S402). ).

  Next, the control unit 80 compares the calculated distance with a predetermined distance n set in advance (step S403), and if it is equal to or less than the predetermined distance n, it is determined that the vehicle is traveling everyday (step S404). If it is greater than the predetermined distance n, it is determined that the vehicle is traveling extraordinarily (step S405). This is because such a discrimination criterion is generally a short distance in the case of daily driving, and tends to travel far away in the case of non-daily driving. The value of the predetermined distance n may be set with reference to a past travel history, or may be changed as appropriate by the user.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart for discriminating whether or not the vehicle is traveling everyday from the genre of the destination. When the user sets a destination (step S501), the control unit 80 identifies the genre or type of the destination (step S502). The destination setting can be narrowed down hierarchically from the genre, for example. For example, when the upper hierarchy of the genre is a sight, a government office, an amusement park, a park, a lodging, etc., the user selects any one of the upper hierarchies and further selects a desired one from the lower hierarchies. The control unit 80 can identify a genre depending on which genre the user has selected.

  Next, the control unit 80 determines whether or not the identified genre corresponds to a predetermined genre determined in advance (step S503). When it corresponds, it discriminate | determines from daily driving | running | working (step S504), and when it does not correspond, it discriminate | determines from non-daily driving | running | working (step S505).

  For example, if the genre of the destination is an amusement park or a park, it is determined that the travel is unusual, and if it is a public office, it is determined that the travel is daily. The predetermined genre may be appropriately changed by the user.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above. However, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims. Deformation / change is possible.

  Although the method for determining whether or not the vehicle is running on a daily basis has been described individually in FIGS. 4 to 9, the determination may be performed by combining these determinations. For example, when the destination is set, both conditions of the destination history information and the distance to the destination may be considered. In this case, it is determined that the vehicle is traveling everyday when both conditions are satisfied. Furthermore, it is also possible to determine whether or not the vehicle is traveling everyday by combining the conditions related to the setting of the destination and the date and time of starting the traveling.

  The vehicle-mounted electronic device provided with the navigation function according to the present invention can be used in a navigation device, a navigation system, or an electronic device such as a computer including these functions. Further, the electronic device can be used in a multimedia-compatible electronic device having an audio function, a TV broadcast receiving function, etc. in addition to a navigation function, or an electronic system composed of a plurality of electronic devices having such a function. it can.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is the example of a memory | storage of the historical information of a destination. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the navigation apparatus concerning a present Example. 6 is a flowchart for determining whether or not the vehicle is running daily. It is a discrimination | determination flowchart whether it is other daily driving | running | working. It is a daily travel discrimination table. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the example of driving | running | working date, and guidance mode. It is a discrimination | determination flowchart whether it is other daily driving | running | working. It is a discrimination | determination flowchart whether it is other daily driving | running | working. It is a figure which shows the example which estimates the destination from the conventional departure time.

Explanation of symbols

1: Navigation device 10: GPS receiver 20: Operation panel 30: Storage device 32: Communication control unit 40: Audio output unit 50: Display control unit 52: Display 60: Program memory 70: Data memory

Claims (3)

An in-vehicle electronic device having a navigation function for guiding a route to a destination,
Storage means for storing a daily travel determination table showing a time zone for determining whether or not it is daily travel;
Discriminating means for discriminating whether it is daily running or extraordinary running based on the daily running discriminating table read from the storage means ;
A guidance mode setting means for setting the route guidance to the simple guidance mode when determined as daily driving, and setting the route guidance to the detailed guidance mode when determined as non-daily driving ;
The determination means compares the traveling start time of the vehicle, and a daily travel determination table, when the running time corresponds to the time zone set in the table, it is determined that the daily travel, if otherwise, the time period Discriminate it as an extraordinary run,
The discriminating means discriminates whether daily driving or non-daily driving in a state where the destination is not set,
The simple guidance mode guides the dynamic situation of the road ahead of the host vehicle, and the detailed guidance mode guides the static situation of the road ahead of the host vehicle,
Automotive electronic device. The simple guidance mode guides the dynamic situation of the road ahead of the host vehicle on the assumption that the host vehicle is traveling on the same type of road as the road on which the host vehicle is traveling. The vehicle-mounted electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle-mounted electronic device guides a static situation of a road ahead of the host vehicle on the assumption that the vehicle travels on the same type of road as The in-vehicle electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the simple guidance mode guides traffic jam information .

Images