JP4496695B2 - Car navigation system and program - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted navigation device that provides travel guidance for a guidance target intersection when approaching a guidance target intersection existing on a destination route set as a route for reaching a destination.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art There is known a navigation device that detects a current position with GPS or the like as a vehicle travels, and displays the current position together with a road map on a display so that a destination can be smoothly reached. Furthermore, an in-vehicle navigation device that sets an appropriate route (destination route) from the current location to the destination and uses it as a guide is also known and contributes to smoother driving.
[0003]
In such a navigation device, there is known a device that performs travel guidance for a guidance target intersection by voice whenever approaching an intersection (guidance target intersection) to be guided to a user on a route. For example, "○○ meters ahead, right direction", such as voice guidance of the distance to the intersection and the direction of the turn, or "△△ meters ahead, the intersection of □□ 2-chome is left." It is also known that guides to the name of the target intersection. In this way, the user is notified in a timely manner, which is very convenient because the user does not need to pay attention to the positional relationship between the current location and the guidance target intersection frequently.
[0004]
For example, when the turning angle calculated based on the road shape is X degrees or more (X is a tuning value), the guidance target intersection in this case corresponds to an intersection entering from a prefectural road to a national road, an intersection with a traffic light, or the like. However, there are cases where it is better not to indicate all intersections existing on the route to the destination but to suppress such travel guidance. For example, contrary to the case described above, when the turning angle θ is less than X degrees, the user can drive the vehicle without hesitation without guiding in the right / left turn direction. In general, no guidance is provided. If guidance is provided at an intersection where there is no need for guidance, the effectiveness of guidance in a truly necessary scene decreases, so guidance is provided only in the necessary scene. Such a situation corresponds to, for example, a case where the road connection situation is “joining” as shown in FIGS.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, for example, even if it is a merged shape as shown in FIG. For example, as shown in FIG. 4 (d), if the vehicle is two-way traffic and the vehicle joins the left-hand traffic road from the right side, it does not cross the opposite lane from the approach road before the intersection to the exit road. I can not move. Therefore, there is a possibility (or necessity) to pause or decelerate before the intersection. Of course, this is not always the case. For example, as shown in FIG. 4 (e), even if the vehicle joins from the right side as in FIG. 4 (d), the approach lane and the exit lane actually have a continuous lane, and the other approach In some cases, the roads may merge substantially. In this case, it is exactly a “road” and no travel guidance is required.
[0006]
Accordingly, the present invention solves such a problem, and it is determined that the road is determined by the road determination based on whether the shape continuity of the approach road and the exit road before and after the intersection is ensured. However, an object of the present invention is to appropriately determine a case where it is actually recommended to be a guidance target intersection and improve the effectiveness of route guidance.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention]
The in-vehicle navigation device according to claim 1, which has been made to achieve the above object, determines whether or not an intersection existing on a destination route is a guidance target intersection, and determines that the intersection is a guidance target intersection. If it is, a predetermined travel guidance is performed every time the vehicle approaches the guidance target intersection. When determining whether or not this is a guidance target intersection, first, when passing through an intersection on the destination route, the main point of view is whether the shape continuity of the approach and exit routes before and after the intersection is secured. The way is determined. This “road determination” may be considered to be one of the conditions for determining that the road is an angle formed by the approach path and the exit path before and after the intersection is less than a predetermined angle (Claim 2).
[0008]
As a result of the determination, if continuity is ensured, the intersection is not regarded as a guidance target intersection because it is a road, but in the present invention, a lane crossing determination is further performed. For example, in the case of a merged road connection as shown in FIG. 4B, in the road determination, “the continuity of the traveling road before and after the intersection” is ensured, so that it does not become the guidance target intersection. Of course, traveling guidance is not necessary if the situation is simply a merge, but there may be a case where it is necessary to cross the opposite lane as shown in FIG. 4 (d), for example. In such a situation, there is a possibility that the vehicle may be temporarily stopped or decelerated before the intersection. Therefore, it is preferable to alert the user by running guidance. Therefore, in the present invention, traveling guidance is executed as a guidance target intersection even if it is a situation where the vehicle crosses the opposite lane even for an intersection that is not determined as a guidance target intersection in the road determination.
[0009]
For example, as shown in claim 3, it is conceivable that the lane crossing determination determines that the vehicle crosses the opposite lane when the following conditions (1) to (3) are satisfied.
(1) The exit route is not a one-way street.
(2) The lanes of the approach and exit routes are not continued.
[0010]
(3) When the vehicle is on the left-hand side, the approach road where the vehicle is present is on the right side of the other approach road to the intersection, and when the vehicle is on the right-hand side, The existing approach road exists on the left side with respect to the other approach roads to the intersection.
When the exit route is a one-way street, the phenomenon of crossing the oncoming lane cannot occur in the first place, so the condition (1) was defined. Also, as shown in Fig. 4 (e), if the lanes of the approach and exit lanes continue, the phenomenon of crossing the opposite lane does not occur even if the route itself is curved. It was. Also, if the vehicle is on the left side and the approach road where the vehicle is present is on the left side of the other approach road, or the vehicle is on the right side and the approach path where the vehicle is present is relative to the other approach road If it is on the right side, the phenomenon of crossing the oncoming lane does not occur. Therefore, the condition (3) indicating the opposite situation was set.
[0011]
As a travel guidance method, as shown in claim 4, it is conceivable that the travel guidance is executed by outputting a voice from a voice utterance device. Further, the travel guidance may be executed by outputting the voice from the voice utterance device and displaying the image on a display device that displays characters and figures on the screen. Considering the current navigation system and the like, since it is common to provide guidance with visual and auditory guidance by outputting sound together with the screen display, this is also preferable. In driving guidance, as an advantage of outputting by voice from the voice utterance device, the driver does not need to shift the viewpoint to the display device, so that safe driving is ensured better. Can be mentioned.
[0012]
On the other hand, the program for executing the process related to the determination as to whether or not it is a guidance target intersection in the above-described in-vehicle navigation apparatus is, for example, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, or the like. It can be used by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, loaded into a computer system and activated as necessary, or by being loaded and activated via a network.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings. Needless to say, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the following examples, and can take various forms as long as they belong to the technical scope of the present invention.
[0014]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a navigation device 20 as one embodiment. The navigation device 20 includes a position detector 22, a map data input device 24, an operation switch group 26, a remote control sensor 27, a display device 28, a speaker 30, an external memory 32, a communication device 34, and an electronic control unit (ECU) 36. The position detector 22 includes a known gyroscope 38, a vehicle speed sensor 40, and a GPS receiver 42 for GPS that detects the position of the vehicle based on radio waves from a satellite. Since these sensors 38, 40, and 42 have errors of different properties, they are configured to be used while being interpolated by a plurality of sensors. Depending on the accuracy, a part of the above may be used, and a geomagnetic sensor, a steering rotation sensor, a wheel sensor of each rolling wheel, or the like may be used.
[0015]
The map data input device 24 inputs map data stored in a recording medium. The map data includes data indicating road connection status (road network data), map matching data for improving position detection accuracy, and the like. As a recording medium for storing map data, a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM is generally used because of the amount of data, but another medium such as a memory card may be used.
[0016]
By the way, the format of the road network data includes link information, node information, and link connection information. The link information includes a “link ID” that is a unique number for identifying a link, a “link class” for identifying an expressway, a toll road, a general road, an attachment road, and the like, There is information about the link itself such as “coordinates” and “end coordinates” and “link length” indicating the length of the link. On the other hand, the node information includes “node ID” which is a unique number of nodes connecting the links, right and left turn prohibition at intersections, presence / absence of traffic lights, and the like. In addition, in the inter-link connection information, for example, data indicating whether or not traffic is permitted for reasons such as one-way traffic is set. Even in the case of the same link, for example, in the case of one-way traffic, it is possible to pass from one link but not from another link. Therefore, whether or not traffic is allowed is determined depending on the connection mode between the links.
[0017]
The operation switch group 26 is composed of various switches for operating the in-vehicle navigation device 20. Specifically, the operation switch group 26 is a switch for switching display contents to be displayed on the display device 28, and the user can reach the destination. A switch for setting a route (destination route) is included. In addition, as various switches which comprise the operation switch group 26, the touch switch comprised integrally with the display apparatus 28 may be used, and a mechanical switch may be used.
[0018]
The remote control sensor 27 is for inputting a signal from a remote control 27a provided with a switch or the like for the user to input various commands. The remote control sensor 27 receives the same commands as those using the operation switch group 26 described above. It can be input.
On the display screen of the display device 28, the vehicle current position mark inputted from the position detector 22, the map data inputted from the map data input device 24, the guide route to be displayed on the map, the mark of the set point, etc. The additional data can be displayed in an overlapping manner.
[0019]
The speaker 30 is configured to notify the driver of driving guidance by voice. In this embodiment, the driving guidance is given to the driver by both the display by the display device 28 and the voice output from the speaker 30. can do. For example, in the case of a right turn, a content such as “Please turn right at the next intersection” is output by voice. If the driver is notified by voice, the driver can confirm the traffic information of the set point without moving the viewpoint, and thus, further safe driving can be achieved.
[0020]
The external memory 32 stores the route set by the electronic control unit 36, and the stored contents are backed up by a power source (not shown).
The communication device 34 is a device for receiving information provided from, for example, an information center 10 for VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) and transmitting information to the outside. Information received from the outside via the communication device 34 is processed by the electronic control device 36. In addition, as a device used as the communication device 34, a mobile communication device such as a car phone or a mobile phone may be used, or a dedicated receiver may be used.
[0021]
The electronic control unit 36 is configured as a normal computer, and includes a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O, and a bus line for connecting these configurations. Then, according to the input from the position detector 22, the map data input device 24, the operation switch group 26, and the remote control sensor 27, the display device 28, the speaker 30, the external memory 32, and the communication device 34 are controlled to set and guide the route. Processes and other processes are executed.
[0022]
Here, the configuration of the information center 10 will be briefly described. The information center 10 stores various traffic information created based on external events such as road conditions collected from various sensors or the like attached near the road and a road map in the center area. Then, it communicates with the in-vehicle navigation device 20 via a wireless line such as a car phone or a mobile phone, and is based on the position data (current location and destination) received from the in-vehicle navigation device 20 and the stored information. To identify target roads such as traffic restrictions and traffic jams, and send the information.
[0023]
By having such a configuration, the in-vehicle navigation device 20 performs the following operation. That is, when the driver inputs the position of the destination by operating the operation switch group 26, the electronic control device 36 automatically sets (route setting) the optimum route from the current position to the destination, and the display device 28. And a voice guidance (route guidance) through the speaker 30. The main content of this route guidance is intersection guidance. This intersection guidance is performed when the user should be guided in order to travel in the direction along the route when passing through the intersection, and includes guidance in the direction of turning left and right. The left / right turn direction guidance is to guide the direction in which the vehicle should travel at an intersection, for example, “700 m ahead, diagonal right direction”.
[0024]
Next, processing relating to route guidance executed by the electronic control unit 36 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 2, when the process is started, in the first step S10, a route to the designated destination is set (route calculation). This route setting is generally performed as follows. That is, when the driver inputs the destination based on the map on the display device 28, the current location of the vehicle is obtained based on the satellite data obtained from the GPS receiver 42, and the Dijkstra method is used between the destination and the current location. A process of calculating the cost and obtaining the shortest route from the current location to the destination as the guidance route is performed.
[0025]
Thus, route guidance is started when the destination route is set (S20). When the route guidance is started in S20, the current location of the vehicle is calculated based on the information obtained by the position detector 22 (S30), and map data from the current location on the route to a predetermined distance ahead is acquired (S40).
[0026]
Then, based on the acquired map data, “guidance necessity determination” is performed for the next intersection located on the destination route (S50). This guidance necessity determination will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
When the guidance necessity determination is started, data on the determination target intersection is acquired (S501). This data is basically stored in a CD-ROM or the like as a recording medium, and is read out via the map data input device 24, but information obtained from the external information center 10 via the communication device 34. And so on.
[0027]
Then, it is determined whether or not the intersection to be determined has a merged shape (S502). As shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b), the merging shape here means that there is an approach path in addition to the approach path where the host vehicle exists for one exit path, and the presence of the host vehicle. The angle θ formed by the approach path (extension line) and the exit path is less than a predetermined value (a value that can be adjusted as appropriate). 4 (a) and 4 (b) show typical shapes of merging, but the vehicle is going straight from another approach road to the exit road, and somewhat from the approach road where the vehicle is located to the exit road. bent. Therefore, the approach road where the host vehicle exists is shaped to join the straight road.
[0028]
In the conventional intersection determination, it is determined that guidance is unnecessary for the intersection of the merged shape. In this embodiment, however, a lane crossing determination “whether or not to cross the opposite lane” is performed in S503 to S507. Suppose that guidance is necessary in the situation of crossing (S508), and guidance is unnecessary in the situation of not crossing (S509).
[0029]
If the intersection is a merged intersection (S502: YES), first, it is determined whether the exit path is one-way (S503). If it is one-way (S503: YES), it is determined that guidance is unnecessary. (S509). This is because when the exit route is a one-way street, the oncoming lane itself does not exist, so the phenomenon of “crossing the oncoming lane” cannot occur, so guidance is unnecessary (S509).
[0030]
On the other hand, if the exit route is not a one-way street (S503: NO), it is next determined whether the lanes of the approach route and the exit route continue (S504). This is because, for example, various connection situations can be considered if attention is paid to the lane even when the merging shape as shown in FIG. For example, in the case shown in FIG. 4D, the lanes of other approach roads and exit roads continue. On the other hand, in the case shown in FIG. 4 (e), the lanes of the approach path and the exit path where the own vehicle exists continue. Therefore, in the case shown in FIG. 4D, the vehicle cannot move from the approach road where the own vehicle exists unless it crosses the oncoming lane, but in the case shown in FIG. You can move to the exit road just by going straight on, and the phenomenon of “crossing the oncoming lane” will not occur. Therefore, when the lane continues (S504: YES), the guidance is unnecessary (S509).
[0031]
Further, when the lanes of the approach path and the exit path are not continued (S504: NO), it is determined whether the traffic direction of the vehicle is the left-hand traffic or the right-hand traffic according to the regulations (S505). For this, it may be possible to manually set whether the user or the staff at the dealer is left-handed or right-handed and to determine by referring to the setting information. Further, since the current location is detected in S30 of FIG. 2, the country / region may be determined from the current location, and it may be automatically determined whether the traffic is left-hand traffic or right-hand traffic. In this case, it is possible to cope with this by storing the correspondence between the country / region and left-hand traffic or right-hand traffic.
[0032]
Then, in the case of left-hand traffic, the process proceeds to S506, and it is determined whether or not the approach road where the vehicle is located is located on the right side with respect to other approach roads. The exit road is not one-way (S503: NO), the approach road where the own vehicle exists and the lane of the exit road are not continued (S504: NO), and the approach road where the own vehicle exists is changed to another approach road On the other hand, when it is located on the right side (S506: YES), the road condition is as shown in FIG. In other words, guidance is required because it is impossible to move to the exit route without crossing the oncoming lane (S508). On the other hand, when the approach road where the own vehicle exists is located on the left side with respect to another approach road (S506: NO), the road situation is as shown in FIG. That is, guidance is not required because the vehicle can move to the exit route without crossing the oncoming lane (S509).
[0033]
On the other hand, in the case of right-hand traffic, the process proceeds to S507, and this time, it is determined whether or not the approach road where the vehicle is located is located on the left side with respect to other approach roads. Although not shown, it may be considered in the same manner as in the case of the left-hand traffic described above. That is, if it is a shape that merges from the left side in right-hand traffic (S507: YES), guidance is required because it cannot move to the exit path unless it crosses the opposite lane (S508). On the other hand, if it is a shape that merges from the right side by right-hand traffic (S507: NO), it is possible to move to the exit path without crossing the oncoming lane, so guidance is unnecessary (S509).
[0034]
As described above, in the case of an intersection having a merging shape (S502: YES), it is assumed that guidance is necessary in the situation of “crossing the oncoming lane” in the processing of S503 to S507 (S508), and guidance is given in a situation where the vehicle does not cross. Is unnecessary (S509). On the other hand, when it is not an intersection of the merged shape (S502: NO), another road determination is performed to determine the necessity / unnecessity of guidance (S510). This “determination of other roads” is determined based on, for example, the case (national road / prefectural road, etc.) and the like as the roads of the approach and exit roads. For example, if the approach road where the vehicle is located is a national road but the other approach roads are prefectural roads and the exit road is a national road, it is determined that the movement from the approach road where the vehicle is located to the exit road is a road. And so on.
[0035]
When the guidance necessity determination shown in FIG. 3 is completed, the process proceeds to S60 in FIG. This right / left turn direction determination is based on the positional relationship between the approach path where the vehicle is present, other approach paths, and the exit path when it is determined that guidance is necessary as a result of the determination of necessity of guidance in S50. Determine the direction of your vehicle to turn right or left.
[0036]
Next, it is determined whether or not it is time to perform voice guidance (S70). As this determination, first, it is determined whether or not guidance is necessary by the processing so far. If guidance is necessary, the timing at which the guidance should be performed, for example, approaching a predetermined distance from the intersection. It is determined whether or not When it is not the voice guidance timing (S70: NO), other guidance is performed (S80), waiting for the voice guidance timing, and when the voice guidance timing is reached (S70: YES), the voice guidance is performed. (S90). The contents of this voice guidance include guidance in the direction of turning left and right. In the case of voice guidance in S90, display on the display device 28 may be performed in addition to voice.
[0037]
Thereafter, the process proceeds to S100 to determine whether the destination has been reached. If the destination has been reached (S100: YES), this process is terminated. If the destination has not been reached (S100: NO), the process returns to S30 and is repeated.
Thus, when determining whether or not the vehicle-mounted navigation device 20 of this embodiment is a guidance target intersection, first, when passing through an intersection on the destination route, the shape of the approach path and the exit path is determined. Judgment is made based on whether the continuity is ensured. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the angle formed by the approach path and the exit path before and after the intersection is a “merging shape” that is less than a predetermined angle. Even if the intersection is a merged intersection (S502: YES), in S503 to S507, a lane crossing determination “whether or not to cross the oncoming lane” is performed, and guidance is required in the situation of crossing. (S508). For example, as shown in FIG. 4 (d), in a situation where an opposite lane must be crossed, there is a possibility that the vehicle may be temporarily stopped or decelerated before the intersection. Therefore, it is preferable to alert the user by running guidance. . In this embodiment, even if it is determined that the road is a “middle road” because of the merged shape, the route guidance is executed as a guidance target intersection if the situation is when crossing the opposite lane. Can improve the effectiveness.
[0038]
[Others]
(1) In the above embodiment, the traffic direction was determined in S505 during the necessity determination of guidance in FIG. 3, but if it is assumed to be used only in Japan, for example, it is fixed on the left side. You may abbreviate | omit the process of S505 and S507. On the contrary, if it is assumed that it is used only in the right-hand traffic country, the processing of S505 and S506 may be omitted.
[0039]
(2) The above-described processing relating to the necessity determination of FIG. 3 or the program for executing the route guidance of FIG. 2 including it may be incorporated in advance in the electronic control unit 36, or the map data It can be used by storing together on a stored CD-ROM or the like and loading it into the electronic control unit 36 and starting it. Further, for example, it can be used by downloading from the information center 10 and starting up.
[0040]
(3) In the above embodiment, the vehicle while interpolating the error of the current position of the electronic control unit 36 based on the data detected by the position detector 22 comprising the gyroscope 38, the vehicle speed sensor 40, the GPS receiver 42, etc. Identified the current location. However, the position detector 22 is not necessarily required to specify the current position. For example, position information may be acquired from a roadside beacon or the like via the communication device 34, and the current position may be specified based on the position information. Further, a mobile phone, PHS, or the like may be connected to the navigation apparatus 1 and the current location may be specified by a position specifying function of the mobile phone, PHS, or the like.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an in-vehicle navigation device as an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing route guidance processing executed by the in-vehicle navigation device according to the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing guidance necessity determination processing executed in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific connection example of a road having a merging shape.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Navigation apparatus, 10 ... Information center, 22 ... Position detector, 24 ... Map data input device, 26 ... Operation switch group, 27 ... Remote control sensor, 27a ... Remote control, 28 ... Display apparatus, 30 ... Speaker, 32 ... External Memory 34, communication device 36, electronic control device 38, gyroscope 40, vehicle speed sensor 42, GPS receiver

Claims (5)

It is determined whether or not an intersection existing on a destination route set as a route for reaching the destination is a guidance target intersection, and if it is determined that the intersection is a guidance target intersection, the guidance A vehicle-mounted navigation device that performs predetermined travel guidance every time it approaches the target intersection,
When determining whether or not it is the guidance target intersection,
If the continuity of the shape of the approach and exit roads before and after the intersection on the destination route is ensured, the road is judged based on the main viewpoint, and if the continuity is not secured, it is not the road As a basis, the intersection is the guidance target intersection,
A lane in a direction opposite to its own traveling direction after passing through an intersection that has not been determined as the guidance target intersection because it is determined to be a road by the road determination An in-vehicle navigation device characterized in that a lane crossing determination is made as to whether or not to cross an intersection, and when the vehicle crosses an opposite lane, the intersection is the guidance target intersection. The in-vehicle navigation device according to claim 1,
The on-vehicle navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the road determination is one of the conditions for determining that the road is an angle between an approach road and an exit road before and after the intersection is less than a predetermined angle. The in-vehicle navigation device according to claim 1 or 2,
The in-vehicle navigation device characterized in that the lane crossing determination determines that the vehicle crosses the opposite lane when the following conditions (1) to (3) are satisfied.
(1) The exit route is not a one-way street.
(2) The lanes of the approach and exit routes are not continued.
(3) When the vehicle is on the left-hand side, the approach road where the vehicle is present is on the right side of the other approach road to the intersection, and when the vehicle is on the right-hand side, The existing approach road exists on the left side with respect to the other approach roads to the intersection. In the in-vehicle navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An in-vehicle navigation device characterized in that the predetermined travel guidance is output by voice from at least a voice generator. On the computer,
The program for performing the process which concerns on determination whether it is the said guidance object intersection in the vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus in any one of Claims 1-3.

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