JP4670770B2 - Road map update system and vehicle-side device used in the road map update system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a road map update system and a vehicle side device used for the road map update system, and more particularly to a road map update system and a vehicle side device suitable for updating a road map used for an in-vehicle navigation device.

  It is desirable that the road map is updated as needed to reflect the latest road conditions. However, in order to create a road map reflecting the latest road conditions, it is necessary to check the newly created road and the surrounding conditions, so aerial photography and field surveys are required. However, frequent aerial photography and field surveys will increase costs, and therefore a certain limit on the frequency.

Thus, a road map update system that updates road map data using a navigation device mounted on a vehicle has been proposed. For example, this is the system described in Patent Document 1. In the system of Patent Document 1, the travel locus of the vehicle is detected, and if any road specified by the road map information stored in the navigation device does not correspond to the travel locus, the travel locus is The information for road map update including is transmitted to the information center. The information center receives the road map update information and updates the road map information based on the road map update information. The updated road map information is distributed to the navigation device.
JP 2002-54934 A

  In the system of Patent Document 1, the navigation device transmits only the vehicle travel locus and the detection time or the detection time interval of the point data constituting the travel locus. Therefore, the content of the road map information that can be updated in the information center is limited to the shape of the new road and the road width.

  However, in order to make road map information more useful, it is necessary to include information on roads other than the shape of the new road and road width, such as the number of lanes, in the updated road map information. These facilities must also be included in the road map information.

  Further, in the system of Patent Document 1, the road width is determined based on the travel speed by calculating the travel speed from the detection time or the detection time interval of the point data constituting the travel locus. Sometimes it was insufficient.

  The present invention has been made based on this situation, and an object thereof is to provide a road map update system capable of sequentially updating road map data to more useful contents.

In order to achieve the object, the invention according to claim 1 has a vehicle side device mounted on a vehicle for generating and transmitting a travel locus, and a map data management server for storing the center side road map data in an updatable manner. A road map update system comprising a map management device that receives a travel locus transmitted from the vehicle side device and updates the center side road map data,
The vehicle-side device includes an in-vehicle storage device that stores road map data, a position detector that sequentially detects a current position of the vehicle, and a current position detected by the position detector based on a current position detected by the position detector. New road determination means for sequentially determining whether or not the road is a new road that is not any road included in the road map data stored in the in-vehicle storage device; and an in-vehicle camera that images the surroundings of the vehicle; And determining that an image captured by the in-vehicle camera when the new road determination means determines that the road is a new road can be used for updating the center-side road map data based on weather information Based on what has been done, an image of the periphery of the vehicle captured by the in-vehicle camera when the new road determination means determines that the road is a new road Figure managing device adapted to transmit to the further
Based on the fact that the road on which the vehicle is traveling is determined to be a new road by the new road determination means, new road travel information including the position of the new road and the time of travel on the new road is transmitted. An imaging control means for starting imaging by the in-vehicle camera based on the road travel information transmitting means and the new road determination means determining that the road being traveled is a new road, and the new road determination means And a travel locus creating means for creating a travel locus of the vehicle when it is determined as a new road based on the current position of the vehicle sequentially detected by the position detector, and the travel locus The travel locus created by the creation means is transmitted prior to the image,
The map management device receives the new road travel information and acquires weather information around the vehicle when the vehicle is traveling on the new road based on the new road travel information. And an availability determination means for determining whether an image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera of the vehicle-side device is usable for updating the center-side road map data based on the acquired weather information, and from the vehicle-side device An update road determination means for determining whether or not a road indicated by the travel locus to be transmitted is an update-needed road that does not exist in the center-side road map data stored in the map data management server, and an image obtained by the availability determination means Is determined to be usable, and an image request signal is sent to the vehicle side device based on the determination that the update road determination means determines that the road is an update required road. And when the number of times that the updated road determination means determines that the road is an update-needed road is a preset number of times for the same new road, One or a plurality of images having the best definition among the images corresponding to the number of times of update corresponding to the number of times of update transmitted from the vehicle side device are determined as the optimum image, and the optimum image is determined. Request signal transmitting means for transmitting the image request signal to the imaged vehicle-side device,
The vehicle-side device determines that the image is usable based on receiving the image request signal, and transmits the image to the map management device .

  In this way, the vehicle-side device determines whether or not the road on which the vehicle is traveling is a new road in the new road determination means, and travels along the travel path when the vehicle is a new road. The vehicle surrounding image captured by the in-vehicle camera is transmitted to the map management device. Since the travel locus represents the shape of the new road, the map management device that has received the travel locus can determine the shape of the new road based on the received travel locus. In addition, since the image around the vehicle imaged by the in-vehicle camera when it is determined as a new road is received, more detailed information on the new road can be determined by analyzing the image, It is possible to determine what kind of facilities exist around the road. If the center-side road map data is updated including the information obtained from the image analysis, the center-side road map data becomes more useful.

  The vehicle side device transmits the image to the map management device only when the image can be determined to be usable for updating the center side road map data based on the weather information. This has the advantage of reducing the number of times image data with a large amount of data is transmitted, and the map management device also receives unnecessary images that cannot be used to update the center-side road map data despite the large amount of data. There is an advantage that it is not necessary to keep it.

The front Symbol vehicle-side apparatus creates the traveling locus of the vehicle when it is determined that the new road in the new road determination unit, based on the current position of the vehicle which is sequentially detected by the position detector The travel locus created by the travel locus creating means is transmitted prior to the image, and the map management device transmits the travel locus transmitted from the vehicle side device. Update road determination means for determining whether or not the road indicated by is a road requiring update not included in the center-side road map data stored in the map data management server, and the request signal transmission means The image is determined based on the fact that the image is determined to be usable by the determination means and is determined to be an update necessary road by the update road determination means. That sends a request signal. Therefore , it is possible to further reduce the number of times image data having a large amount of data is transmitted and received.

In addition, the request signal transmission unit may be configured to update the image based on the fact that the number of times that the update road determination unit determines that the road is an update-needed road is set to a plurality of update times in advance for the same new road. that sends a request signal.

Therefore, the map management apparatus has an advantage that it is not necessary to store image data until the number of image data becomes the number necessary for updating the center-side road map data.

The front Stories request signal transmitting means, for the same new road, when said number of updates is determined to be updated need roads in the road judging means becomes the number of updates, the vehicle for the same new road One or a plurality of images having the best definition among the images corresponding to the number of times of update corresponding to the number of times of update transmitted from the device are determined as the optimum image, and the optimum image is captured. that sends the image request signal to the vehicle-side device.

Therefore, since only the image optimal for updating the center-side road map data is transmitted from the vehicle-side device to the map management device, the number of times of image transmission / reception can be further reduced.

Further, as described in claim 2 , the vehicle-side device may acquire weather information and determine whether or not the image can be used in the vehicle-side device. The invention according to claim 2 includes a vehicle-side device that is mounted on a vehicle and generates and transmits a travel locus, and a map data management server that stores center-side road map data in an updatable manner, and the vehicle-side device A road map update system comprising a map management device that receives a travel locus transmitted from the center and updates the center-side road map data,
The vehicle-side device includes an in-vehicle storage device that stores road map data, a position detector that sequentially detects a current position of the vehicle, and a current position detected by the position detector based on a current position detected by the position detector. New road determination means for sequentially determining whether or not the road is a new road that is not any road included in the road map data stored in the in-vehicle storage device; and an in-vehicle camera that images the surroundings of the vehicle; And determining that an image captured by the in-vehicle camera when the new road determination means determines that the road is a new road can be used for updating the center-side road map data based on weather information Based on what has been done, an image of the periphery of the vehicle captured by the in-vehicle camera when the new road determination means determines that the road is a new road Figure managing device adapted to transmit to the further
Based on the fact that the traveling road is determined to be a new road by the new road determination means, weather information acquisition means for acquiring weather information at the current position, and weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition means Based on the image determination means for determining whether or not the vehicle-mounted camera can capture a clear image that can be used for updating the center-side road map data, and the image determination means can capture a clear image. Imaging control means that starts imaging by the in-vehicle camera when it is determined, but does not start imaging by the in-vehicle camera when it is not determined that a clear image can be captured. .

  Thus, the weather information may be acquired in the vehicle side device, and based on the acquired weather information, it may be determined whether or not the image captured by the in-vehicle camera can be used. Since the imaging is started when it is determined that the image can be captured, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to capture an extra image that cannot be used for the map update.

In addition, when the above-described new road determination means can determine whether or not the traveling road is a new road that is not included in the road map data stored in the in-vehicle storage device of the vehicle, in the third way, it is preferable to determine whether it is possible to update the road map data.

The invention according to claim 3 includes a vehicle-side device that is mounted on a vehicle and generates and transmits a travel locus, and a map data management server that stores center-side road map data in an updatable manner, and the vehicle-side device A road map update system comprising a map management device that receives a travel locus transmitted from the center and updates the center-side road map data,
The vehicle-side device includes an in-vehicle storage device that stores road map data, a position detector that sequentially detects a current position of the vehicle, and a current position detected by the position detector based on a current position detected by the position detector. New road determination means for sequentially determining whether or not the road is a new road that is not any road included in the road map data stored in the in-vehicle storage device; and an in-vehicle camera that images the surroundings of the vehicle; And determining that an image captured by the in-vehicle camera when the new road determination means determines that the road is a new road can be used for updating the center-side road map data based on weather information Based on what has been done, an image of the periphery of the vehicle captured by the in-vehicle camera when the new road determination means determines that the road is a new road Figure managing device adapted to transmit to the further
New road counting means for counting the number of times of new road travel for each preset update unit area, from the time when it is determined as a new road by the new road determination means until it is determined as not a new road, The update unit area that has reached the number of confirmations in the center-side road map data to the map management device based on the fact that the number of new road trips counted by the new road counting means is a preset number of confirmations An inquiry means for sending an inquiry signal for inquiring about update information of
The map management device, when receiving the inquiry signal from the vehicle side device, out of the update information for each update unit area of the center side road map data stored in the map data management server, the inquiry Update information transmitting means for transmitting server side update information representing update information of an update unit area determined by a signal to the vehicle side device;
The vehicle-side device further receives server-side update information transmitted from the map management device, the received server-side update information, and update information of road map data stored in the in-vehicle storage device, compared to the case towards the server side update information is new, provided with a message output control means for outputting a message from a predetermined output unit, which means that the User chromatography the possible to update the road map data It is characterized by being.

  Conventionally, even if it turns out that the road being traveled is a new road that is not in the on-vehicle road map data, is there a newer map data than the on-vehicle road map data and whether the on-road road map data can be updated? I could not know easily. In addition, since it was found that the vehicle road map data can be updated, even if the vehicle road map data is updated, the data is updated only in areas where the vehicle is hardly driven, and it is worth updating. I sometimes regret not having it.

However, in claim 3 , the number of times the vehicle has traveled on the new road is counted by the new road counting means, and the map management apparatus is informed based on the fact that the number of times the new road has traveled has been set in advance. Inquires about the update information of the center-side road map data, and when the update information of the center-side road map data is newer than the update information of the road map data stored in the in-vehicle storage device, the user updates the road map data. Since a message indicating that the road map data is possible is output, it can be easily known that the road map data can be updated. In addition, since the number of times of new road travel is counted for each update unit area and update information is inquired for each update unit area, it is possible to prevent the update of road map data having no value.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the road map update system according to the second or third aspect, the vehicle-side device determines that the road on which the vehicle is traveling is a new road by the new road determination means. The new road travel information transmitting means for transmitting new road travel information including the position of the new road and the time when the new road was traveled, and the new road determination means that the road being traveled is a new road. An imaging control means for starting imaging by the in-vehicle camera based on the determination,
The map management device receives the new road travel information and acquires weather information around the vehicle when the vehicle is traveling on the new road based on the new road travel information. And, based on the acquired weather information, an availability determining unit that determines whether an image captured by the in-vehicle camera of the vehicle side device can be used for updating the center side road map data, and the availability determination A request signal transmitting means for transmitting an image request signal to the vehicle-side device based on the fact that the image is determined to be usable by the means,
The vehicle-side device determines that the image is usable based on receiving the image request signal, and transmits the image to the map management device.
In this way, the information received from the vehicle side device is received, the weather information in the vicinity of the vehicle traveling on the new road is acquired by the map management device, and the image captured by the in-vehicle camera of the vehicle can be used for the map update. It may be determined whether or not there is.
When the map management device determines whether the image is usable based on the weather information, and transmits the image request signal to the vehicle side device when it is usable, In this way, only an image necessary for updating the center-side road map data stored in the map management server may be requested.
The invention according to claim 5 is the road map update system according to claim 4, wherein the vehicle-side device is configured to calculate a travel locus of the vehicle when the new road determination unit determines that the vehicle is a new road. The vehicle is provided with a travel locus creating means that is created based on the current position of the vehicle that is sequentially detected by the position detector, and the travel locus created by the travel locus creating means is transmitted prior to the image. The map management device determines whether or not the road indicated by the travel locus transmitted from the vehicle-side device is an update-needed road that is not included in the center-side road map data stored in the map data management server. The request signal transmitting means is further determined by the availability determination means to be usable by the image, and the updated road determination means Dude on the basis that is determined to be updated need roads, and transmits the image request signal. In this way, it is possible to further reduce the number of times image data having a large amount of data is transmitted and received.
Here, the center side road map data in the map management device may be updated from a set of travel locus and image data, but in order to make the updated center side road map data more reliable. The center-side road map data may be updated using a plurality of data on the same new road. The center-side road map data may be updated automatically by the device or by a person. As described above, when the center-side road map data is updated using a plurality of pieces of data on the same new road, it is preferable that the configuration is as in claim 6.
The invention according to claim 6 is the road map update system according to claim 5, wherein the request signal transmission means determines in advance the number of times that the update road determination means has determined that the road is an update-required road for the same new road. The image request signal is transmitted based on the number of update times set in plural.
In this way, the map management apparatus has an advantage that it is not necessary to store the image data until the number of image data becomes the number necessary to update the center-side road map data.
Further, it is more preferable to make it as in claim 7. The invention according to claim 7 is the road map update system according to claim 4, wherein the request signal transmission means is the number of times that the update road determination means determines that the road is an update-needed road for the same new road. When the number of updates is reached, one of the images with the best definition among the images for the number of updates corresponding to the new road travel information for the number of updates transmitted from the vehicle-side device with respect to the same new road, or A plurality of images are determined as optimal images, and the image request signal is transmitted to the vehicle-side device that has captured the optimal images.
In this way, since only the image optimal for updating the center-side road map data is transmitted from the vehicle-side device to the map management device, the number of times of image transmission / reception can be further reduced.
Further, an invention according to claim 8, a vehicle-side apparatus used for road map updating system according to claim 2, the configuration is the same as the configuration of the vehicle-side device in the road map updating system according to claim 2, Further, the function and effect are the same as the function and effect of the vehicle side device in the road map update system of claim 2 .

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an in-vehicle navigation system 10 having a function as a vehicle side device of the road map update system of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the map management apparatus 200 of the road map update system of the present invention. First, the configuration of the in-vehicle navigation system 10 in FIG. 1 will be described.

  The in-vehicle navigation system 10 in FIG. 1 includes a position detector 12, an in-vehicle camera 14, a communication unit 16, and a navigation device 100.

  The position detector 12 is a geomagnetic sensor for detecting the absolute azimuth of the vehicle, a gyroscope for detecting the relative azimuth of the vehicle, a distance sensor for detecting the mileage of the vehicle, and a radio wave from the satellite. It has a GPS receiver for a global positioning system (GPS) that measures position. And the present position of a vehicle is detected, complementing each other. In addition, although the position detector 12 may be configured by a part of the above, it is preferable to have a GPS receiver in order to obtain sufficient position detection accuracy. Further, another sensor or the like may be provided.

  The in-vehicle camera, that is, the image pickup means 14 is attached to a predetermined position of the vehicle so that a predetermined range in front of the vehicle including the running road can be imaged.

  The communication means 16 is a device for wireless communication with the outside, and can be connected to a VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) (registered trademark) sensor via a beacon laid on a road or FM broadcast stations in various places. It can also be connected to a public communication network. Since the VICS sensor receives road traffic information, weather information, date information, facility information, and advertisement information provided from the VICS center, the communication means 16 receives these information via the VICS sensor. Can do.

  The navigation device 100 includes a display 102, a touch panel 104, a hard disk 106, and a control device 110 that controls them. Although not shown, other than these, a speaker, a microphone, a mechanical switch, and the like are provided.

  The display 102 which is an output means is constituted by, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display, and a road map around the vehicle is displayed in a predetermined map display area. In addition, the current time, traffic jam information, and various messages are also displayed.

  The touch panel 104 functions as an input unit, and is affixed to the display surface of the display 102, and is operated when a user issues various operation instructions to the control device 110.

  The hard disk 106 functions as an in-vehicle storage device and stores road map data. This road map data consists of data such as road data, background data, character data, and facility data. The road data includes link data indicating the road and node data. This link connects nodes when the roads on the map are divided by a plurality of nodes such as intersections, branches, and merge points, and roads are configured by connecting the links. The link data includes a unique number (link ID) that identifies the link, a link length that indicates the length of the link, and link start and end node coordinates (latitude / longitude). Information such as road name, road type, road width, number of lanes, speed limit, etc. is included. On the other hand, the node data includes a node ID, a node coordinate, a node name, and a link ID of a link connected to the node, each node having a unique number for each node where roads on the map intersect, merge and branch. Information such as ID and intersection type is included.

  Based on the road map data and the current position sequentially detected by the position detector 12, it is determined which road the vehicle is traveling on, but the vehicle is traveling on a road not included in the road map data. If it is determined, new road data is created. This new road data is also stored in the hard disk 106. The new road data includes image data, new road travel information data, travel trajectory, new road travel count N, and the like. The contents of each data included in the new road data will be described later.

  The control device 110 is a normal computer and includes a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O, and a bus line for connecting these components. In the ROM, a program to be executed by the control device 110 is written, and a CPU or the like executes predetermined arithmetic processing according to this program. When the CPU executes the predetermined arithmetic processing, the control device 110 functions as various means shown in FIG. That is, the control device 110 includes a new road determination unit 112, an imaging control unit 114, a travel locus creation unit 116, a new road travel information transmission unit 118, a new road counting unit 120, an inquiry unit 122, a message output unit 124, and a map update. It has a function as means 126.

  Each of the above means will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. First, FIG. 3 will be described. Note that the processing shown in FIG. 3 is started when the accessory switch is turned on.

  In step S <b> 10, based on the signal from the position detector 12, it is detected where the current position of the vehicle is located in the road map data stored in the hard disk 106. Further, based on the position detected last time and the current position detected this time, it is determined whether or not the node has been passed. If it can be determined that the node has been passed, the node is stored.

  In the subsequent step S20, a so-called map matching process is performed in which a predetermined number of positions sequentially detected in step S10 are used to determine a travel locus of the vehicle, and the travel locus is matched with any road included in the road map data. Is executed, and it is determined whether or not the state is out of matching. This out-of-matching state is a state in which the travel locus cannot be matched to any road in spite of executing the map matching process. For example, the reference turning in which the travel locus is set to several tens of degrees When it is necessary to rotate more than an angle, it is determined that the matching has been lost.

  If step S20 is negative, that is, if the travel locus can be matched with any road in the road map data, the process returns to step S10 and the current position detection is continued.

  Step S20 is affirmative when the vehicle is traveling on a new road not included in the road map data. In this case, the process proceeds to step S30. In step S30, the vehicle-mounted camera 14 is turned on to start capturing an image around the vehicle. The captured image data is sequentially stored in the new road data storage area of the hard disk 106.

  Subsequent step S40 is processing as the travel locus creating means 116, which detects the current position of the vehicle based on the signal from the position detector 12. Note that the current position is a relative current position based on the time of out of matching, or an absolute coordinate position (latitude, longitude) based on a signal from a GPS receiver. Then, based on the detected current position, a travel locus after it is determined to be out of matching is created and stored in the new road data storage area of the hard disk 106.

  In the subsequent step S50, the above-described map matching process is executed using the latest part of the travel locus created in step S40. And it is determined whether it matched. This step S50 is a process for determining whether or not the vehicle has returned from a new road to a known road in the road map data. The above-described steps S10 to S20 and this step S50 are processes as the new road determination means 112. It is.

  If step S50 is negative, the process returns to step S40. On the other hand, when it is affirmation determination, it progresses to step S55, the vehicle-mounted camera 14 is turned off, and the imaging of the image around a vehicle is complete | finished. This step S55 and the above-described step S40 are processes corresponding to the imaging control means 114.

  The subsequent step S60 is processing as the new road travel information transmitting means 118. In the new road data storage area of the hard disk 106, the time when it is determined that the matching is lost in step S20, the time when it is determined that the matching is again performed in step S50, and the node immediately before it is determined that the matching is lost in step S20 , And the first node when it is determined that matching has been performed again in step S50 is stored as new road travel information. In step S60, the new road travel information is transmitted from the communication means 16 to the map management apparatus 200 as new road data together with the vehicle ID, the travel locus created in step S40, and the image presence / absence signal.

  Since the in-vehicle navigation system 10 of FIG. 1 includes the in-vehicle camera 14, the image presence / absence signal is a signal indicating the presence of an image, but the road map update system according to the present invention includes a plurality of components constituting the system. Some of the vehicle-side devices (the in-vehicle navigation system 10) may not include the in-vehicle camera 14. Therefore, the presence / absence of an image is indicated by the image presence / absence signal. Some vehicle-side devices may not have the in-vehicle camera 14 because a travel locus can be created even if the in-vehicle camera 14 is not provided, and the travel locus can be used as the center side of the map management device 200. This is because it can be used to update road map data.

  The vehicle ID is identification information necessary for the map management device 200 to specify the communication-target navigation device 100. The map management apparatus 200 determines whether or not to request an image based on the new road travel information, the travel locus, and weather information determined from the new road travel information. The image request signal is transmitted from the map management apparatus 200. When the image request signal is transmitted within a predetermined time after transmitting the new road travel information, the map management device stores the image data stored in the new road data storage area of the hard disk 106 in a step (not shown). 200. On the other hand, when the image request signal is not transmitted within a predetermined time, the image data and the travel locus are deleted in a step (not shown).

  Subsequent step S70 is processing as the new road counting means 120, and increments the number N of new road travels for a new road having two nodes included in the new road travel information as start and end points. The number N of new road travels is also stored in the new road data storage area of the hard disk 106.

  In the subsequent step S80, it is determined whether or not the new road travel number N is equal to or greater than a preset confirmation number for the new road in which the new road travel number N is increased in step S70. If this determination is negative, the process returns to step S10.

  On the other hand, if step S80 is affirmative, the map update control process of step S90 is executed. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the map update control process in detail.

  In step S91, an update unit area including a new road corresponding to the number N of new road travels that is equal to or greater than the number of confirmations is identified based on the node included in the travel information transmitted in step S60, and the identified update unit area is identified. An inquiry signal for inquiring about update information is transmitted from the communication means 16 to the map management apparatus 200. Note that this step S91 and step S80 in FIG.

  When the map management apparatus 200 receives the inquiry signal, the update information about the update unit area included in the inquiry signal among the update information of the center side road map data stored in the hard disk 212 of the map management apparatus 200 is received. Send back.

  In step S92, the update information returned from the map management apparatus 200 is compared with the update information of the update unit area corresponding to the update information returned from the map management apparatus 200 in the road map data of the hard disk 106, It is determined whether or not the road map data on the hard disk 106 can be updated. If the former update information and the latter update information are the same, it is determined that the update is not possible, and the process of FIG. 4 is terminated. On the other hand, if the former update information is newer than the latter update information, it is determined that the update is possible, and the process proceeds to step S93.

  Step S93 is processing as the message output control means 124, and causes the display 102 to output a message indicating that the road map data can be updated.

  In step S94, it is determined whether or not an update instruction has been given by the user operating the touch panel 104. When this step S94 is negative determination, the process of FIG. 4 is complete | finished as it is.

  On the other hand, if the determination is affirmative, step S95, which is a process corresponding to the map update means 126, is executed. In this step S95, a signal requesting the road map data of the update unit area corresponding to the map management device 200 is transmitted, and the latest road map data of the update unit area is acquired from the map management device 200. Then, the road map data on the hard disk 106 is overwritten on the acquired data.

  Next, the configuration of the map management apparatus 200 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the map management apparatus 200 includes an input unit 202, an output unit 204, a communication unit 206, and a map data management server 210.

  The input unit 202 is, for example, a keyboard, and is used by the user to input various commands to the map data management server 210. The output means 204 is a display, for example. The communication unit 206 is a device for wirelessly communicating with the outside, and can exchange information with the communication unit 206 of the navigation apparatus 100.

  The map data management server 210 includes a hard disk 212 and a control device 220. The hard disk 212 stores center-side road map data and unupdated data used for updating the center-side road map data. The unupdated data includes the number of determinations necessary for updating, vehicle ID, weather information, new road travel information, travel trajectory, and image data. Information included in the unupdated data will be described later.

  The control device 220 is a computer and includes a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O, and a bus line for connecting these components. In the ROM, a program to be executed by the control device 220 is written, and a CPU or the like executes predetermined arithmetic processing according to this program. When the CPU executes the predetermined calculation process, the control device 220 functions as various means shown in FIG. That is, the control device 220 includes a map data management unit 222, an update information transmission unit 224, an update road determination unit 226, a weather information acquisition unit 228, an availability determination unit 230, a request signal transmission unit 232, and a new road generation unit 234. It has the function of.

  The map data management means 222 is a means for managing the center-side road map data stored in the hard disk 212, and permits the center-side road map data to be updated, or the center-side road map data is transmitted from the communication means 206 to the in-vehicle navigation. To the system 10. The update / transmission of the entire map road data is possible for each update unit area.

  When the update information transmission unit 224 receives the inquiry signal from the in-vehicle navigation system 10, the update information transmission unit 224 returns update information of the update unit area included in the inquiry signal among the update information of the center-side road map data. .

  Other means 226 to 234 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The flowchart of FIG. 5 is repeatedly executed at a predetermined cycle.

  First, in step S100, it is determined whether or not new road travel information and a travel locus are received from the in-vehicle navigation system 10. If step S100 is negative, the process of FIG. 5 is once terminated. On the other hand, when step S60 of FIG. 3 is executed, step S100 is affirmative. In this case, the received data is stored in the unupdated data area of the hard disk 212. Then, step S110 and subsequent steps are executed.

  Step S110 is processing as the update road determination means 226. From the received new road travel information and travel track, it is necessary to update the road whose travel track is not in the center road map data, that is, the center road map data. It is determined whether or not the road needs to be updated. If this determination is a negative determination, the new road travel information and travel trajectory received in step S100 are unnecessary data for the map management apparatus 200, and therefore after proceeding to step S200 and discarding those data. Then, the process of FIG.

  On the other hand, if the determination in step S110 is affirmative, the determination count for the road requiring update is increased by 1 in step S120. Furthermore, in step S130, based on the image presence / absence signal received in step S100, it is determined whether or not the in-vehicle navigation system 10 has image data. Even when the determination in step S130 is negative, the process proceeds to step S200, and after the data received in step S100 is discarded, the process of FIG. 5 ends. When the process proceeds to step S200 via step S130, since the road trajectory of the road not included in the center side road map data is received, the center side road map data is updated without discarding the travel trajectory. It may be used.

  If the determination in step S130 is affirmative, step S140, which is a process corresponding to the weather information acquisition unit 228, is executed. In step S140, the weather information of the position and time determined based on the new road travel information received in step S100 is acquired from the outside via the communication means 206, and stored in the unupdated data storage area of the hard disk 212.

  The subsequent step S150 is a process corresponding to the usability determination unit 230, and it is determined whether or not the weather information acquired in step S140 is good weather. The good weather means the weather that allows the in-vehicle camera 14 to capture an image that is clear enough to be used for updating the center-side road map data, which corresponds to fine weather but may include cloudy weather. Even if it is fine or cloudy, it is not determined that the weather is good here at night, at dawn, or in the evening.

  Even when the determination in step S150 is negative, the process proceeds to step S200, and after the data received in step S100 is discarded, the process of FIG. 5 ends. In this case as well, the travel locus may be used for updating the center-side road map data without being discarded.

  If the determination in step S150 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S160 corresponding to the request signal transmission unit 232, and the image request signal is transmitted to the in-vehicle navigation system 10 specified by the vehicle ID received in step S100. In the subsequent step S170, the image data transmitted from the in-vehicle navigation system 10 in response to the image request signal is received and stored in the unupdated data storage area of the hard disk 212.

  In a succeeding step S180, it is determined whether or not image data corresponding to the number of update times set in advance is received. If this step S180 is negative, the process of FIG. 5 is once terminated.

  On the other hand, if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S200 which is processing as the new road generation means 234. In step S200, a new road shape is created from the travel locus and new road travel information stored in the unupdated data storage area, the center road map data is updated, and the image data is subjected to image recognition processing. Detects road width, number of lanes, intersection position, traffic lights, road signs, etc. In addition, it is a case where the information about the traveling direction is included in the traveling trajectory, and the road is based on the fact that the traveling trajectories for the same road requiring updating stored in the unupdated data storage area are all in the same direction. May be determined as a one-way street. The center side road map data is further updated based on the detected or determined information. In addition, update information of the update unit area including the updated road is also updated.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment described above, in the in-vehicle navigation system 10, the new road determination unit 112 determines whether the road on which the vehicle is traveling is a new road, and travels when the road is a new road. The trajectory and an image around the vehicle captured by the in-vehicle camera 14 while traveling on the new road are transmitted to the map management apparatus 200. Since the travel locus represents the shape of the new road, the map management apparatus 200 that has received the travel locus can determine the shape of the new road based on the received travel locus. In addition, since an image of the periphery of the vehicle captured by the in-vehicle camera 14 when it is determined as a new road is received, more detailed information on the new road other than the road shape can be obtained by analyzing the image. It is possible to determine what kind of facilities exist around the new road. Since the center side road map data including the information obtained from the image analysis is updated, the center side road map data becomes more useful.

  The in-vehicle navigation system 10 transmits image data to the map management apparatus 200 only when it can be determined that the image data can be used for updating the center-side road map data based on weather information. The navigation system 10 has the advantage of reducing the number of times image data having a large amount of data is transmitted, and the map management apparatus 200 is not required to be used for updating the center-side road map data despite the large amount of data. There is an advantage that it is not necessary to receive and store a new image.

  In the present embodiment, the new road counting means 120 counts the number of times the vehicle has traveled on the new road, and the map management is performed based on the fact that the new road travel count N has reached a preset number of confirmations. If the update information of the center side road map data is newer than the update information of the road map data stored in the in-vehicle navigation system 10, the device 200 inquires the device 200 about the update information of the center side road map data. Since a message indicating that the map data can be updated is output, it can be easily known that the road map data can be updated. Moreover, since the number N of new road travels is counted for each update unit area and update information is inquired for each update unit area, it is possible to prevent the update of road map data having no value.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, The following embodiment is also contained in the technical scope of this invention, and also the summary other than the following is also included. Various modifications can be made without departing from the scope.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, when a vehicle that has traveled on an update-needed road has an image when the update-needed road travels, and it is determined that the weather is good, an image must be displayed for that vehicle. Although the request signal has been transmitted, the image request signal may be transmitted only to one or a plurality of vehicles that can be determined to have the best weather. In this way, the number of image data transmitted from the in-vehicle navigation system 10 to the map management apparatus 200 can be further reduced.

  In the above-described embodiment, the weather information is determined by the map management device 200. However, the weather information may be determined by the in-vehicle navigation system 10. In this case, when the vehicle is traveling on a new road but it cannot be determined that the weather is good, it is preferable not to perform imaging by the in-vehicle camera 14. In this way, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to capture an extra image that cannot be used for updating the center-side road map data.

  In the above-described embodiment, the in-vehicle navigation system 10 can acquire new road map data by wireless communication and update the road map data on the hard disk 106. However, the road map data is not necessarily updated online. There is no need to be able to do it.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the center-side road map data is updated when the number of times of determination of the update-needed road reaches the update number. In other words, it is determined whether or not to update based on the number of determinations for each road unit. However, based on the total number of determinations in each update unit area, it may be determined whether to update the data in the update unit area.

  In the above-described embodiment, the center-side road map data is updated based on the data from the in-vehicle navigation system 10, but the center-side road map data is updated by a method similar to the conventional one. It may be. Even if it becomes like this, the advantage that it can be known easily whether the road map data of a vehicle-mounted navigation system can be updated is acquired.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted navigation system 10 which has a function as a vehicle side apparatus of the road map update system of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the map management apparatus 200 of the road map update system of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the content of the means which the control apparatus 110 of FIG. 1 has. It is a flowchart which shows in detail the map update control process of step S90 of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the content of the means 226 thru | or 234 which the control apparatus 220 of FIG. 2 has.

Explanation of symbols

10: In-vehicle navigation system (vehicle side device), 12: Position detector, 14: In-vehicle camera, 106: Hard disk (in-vehicle storage device), 112: New road determination means, 114: Imaging control means, 116: Traveling track creation means 118: New road travel information transmission means 120: New road counting means 122: Inquiry means 124: Message output control means 200: Map management device 210: Map data management server 224: Update information transmission means 226 : Updated road determination means, 228: weather information acquisition means, 230: availability determination means, 232: request signal transmission means, 234: new road generation means

Claims (8)

A vehicle-side device that is mounted on a vehicle and generates and transmits a travel locus;
A map data management server that stores the center-side road map data in an updatable manner, and includes a map management device that receives a travel locus transmitted from the vehicle-side device and updates the center-side road map data. A road map update system,
The vehicle side device
An in-vehicle storage device for storing road map data;
A position detector for sequentially detecting the current position of the vehicle;
Whether the road on which the vehicle is traveling is a new road that is not any road included in the road map data stored in the in-vehicle storage device, based on the current position detected by the position detector New road determination means for sequentially determining
An in-vehicle camera that images the periphery of the vehicle,
The image picked up by the in-vehicle camera when the new road determining means determines that the road is a new road has been determined to be usable for updating the center-side road map data based on weather information. Based on the vehicle, when the new road determination means determines that the road is a new road, the vehicle surroundings imaged by the in-vehicle camera is transmitted to the map management device ,
Based on the fact that the road on which the vehicle is traveling is determined to be a new road by the new road determination means, new road travel information including the position of the new road and the time of travel on the new road is transmitted. Road travel information transmitting means;
Based on the fact that the traveling road is determined to be a new road by the new road determination means, an imaging control means for starting imaging by the in-vehicle camera;
A travel trajectory creating means for creating a travel trajectory of the vehicle when it is determined to be a new road by the new road determining means based on the current position of the vehicle sequentially detected by the position detector; and,
The travel locus created by the travel locus creating means is transmitted prior to the image,
The map management device includes:
Weather information acquisition means for receiving the new road travel information and acquiring weather information around the vehicle when the vehicle is traveling on the new road based on the new road travel information;
Based on the acquired weather information, the availability determination means for determining whether an image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera of the vehicle-side device can be used for updating the center-side road map data;
Update road determination means for determining whether or not the road indicated by the travel locus transmitted from the vehicle-side device is an update-needed road not included in the center-side road map data stored in the map data management server;
An image request signal is transmitted to the vehicle side device based on the fact that the image is determined to be usable by the usability determining unit and the updating road determining unit determines that the image is a road that needs to be updated. When the number of times that the updated road determining means determines that the road is an update-needed road with respect to the same new road becomes a preset number of updates, the vehicle-side device regarding the same new road One or a plurality of images with the best definition among the images for the number of updates corresponding to the new road travel information for the number of updates transmitted from is determined as the optimum image, and the optimum image is captured Request signal transmission means for transmitting the image request signal to the vehicle side device,
The vehicle-side device determines that the image is usable based on the reception of the image request signal, and transmits the image to the map management device . A vehicle-side device that is mounted on a vehicle and generates and transmits a travel locus;
A map data management server that stores the center-side road map data in an updatable manner, and includes a map management device that receives a travel locus transmitted from the vehicle-side device and updates the center-side road map data. A road map update system,
The vehicle side device
An in-vehicle storage device for storing road map data;
A position detector for sequentially detecting the current position of the vehicle;
Whether the road on which the vehicle is traveling is a new road that is not any road included in the road map data stored in the in-vehicle storage device, based on the current position detected by the position detector New road determination means for sequentially determining
An in-vehicle camera that images the periphery of the vehicle;
The image picked up by the in-vehicle camera when the new road determining means determines that the road is a new road has been determined to be usable for updating the center-side road map data based on weather information. Based on the vehicle, when the new road determination means determines that the road is a new road, the vehicle surroundings imaged by the in-vehicle camera is transmitted to the map management device,
Weather information acquisition means for acquiring weather information of the current position based on the fact that the traveling road is determined to be a new road by the new road determination means;
Based on the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition unit, an image determination unit that determines whether the vehicle-mounted camera can capture a clear image that can be used for updating the center-side road map data;
When the image determination unit determines that a clear image can be captured, imaging by the in-vehicle camera is started, but when it is not determined that a clear image can be captured, the imaging control does not start imaging by the in-vehicle camera. A road map update system comprising: means. A vehicle-side device that is mounted on a vehicle and generates and transmits a travel locus;
A map data management server that stores the center-side road map data in an updatable manner, and includes a map management device that receives a travel locus transmitted from the vehicle-side device and updates the center-side road map data. A road map update system,
The vehicle side device
An in-vehicle storage device for storing road map data;
A position detector for sequentially detecting the current position of the vehicle;
Whether the road on which the vehicle is traveling is a new road that is not any road included in the road map data stored in the in-vehicle storage device, based on the current position detected by the position detector New road determination means for sequentially determining
An in-vehicle camera that images the periphery of the vehicle,
The image picked up by the in-vehicle camera when the new road determining means determines that the road is a new road has been determined to be usable for updating the center-side road map data based on weather information. Based on the vehicle, when the new road determination means determines that the road is a new road, the vehicle surroundings imaged by the in-vehicle camera is transmitted to the map management device,
New road counting means for counting the number of times of new road travel for each preset update unit area, from the time when it is determined as a new road by the new road determination means until it is determined as not a new road,
The update unit area that has reached the number of confirmations in the center-side road map data to the map management device based on the fact that the number of new road trips counted by the new road counting means is a preset number of confirmations An inquiry means for sending an inquiry signal for inquiring about update information of
The map management device, when receiving the inquiry signal from the vehicle side device, out of the update information for each update unit area of the center side road map data stored in the map data management server, the inquiry Update information transmitting means for transmitting server side update information representing update information of an update unit area determined by a signal to the vehicle side device;
The vehicle-side device further receives server-side update information transmitted from the map management device, the received server-side update information, and update information of road map data stored in the in-vehicle storage device, compared to the case towards the server side update information is new, provided with a message output control means for outputting a message from a predetermined output unit, which means that the User chromatography the possible to update the road map data A road map update system characterized by In the road map update system according to claim 2 or 3,
The vehicle side device
Based on the fact that the road on which the vehicle is traveling is determined to be a new road by the new road determination means, new road travel information including the position of the new road and the time of travel on the new road is transmitted. Road travel information transmitting means;
Based on the fact that the traveling road is determined to be a new road by the new road determination means, the imaging control means for starting imaging by the in-vehicle camera,
The map management device includes:
Weather information acquisition means for receiving the new road travel information and acquiring weather information around the vehicle when the vehicle is traveling on the new road based on the new road travel information;
Based on the acquired weather information, the availability determination means for determining whether an image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera of the vehicle-side device can be used for updating the center-side road map data;
A request signal transmission unit configured to transmit an image request signal to the vehicle-side device based on the determination that the image can be used by the availability determination unit;
The vehicle-side device determines that the image is usable based on the reception of the image request signal, and transmits the image to the map management device. In the road map update system according to claim 4,
The vehicle side device
A travel trajectory creating means for creating a travel trajectory of the vehicle when the new road determination means is determined to be a new road based on a current position of the vehicle sequentially detected by the position detector; and ,
The travel locus created by the travel locus creating means is transmitted prior to the image,
The map management device includes:
Update road determination means for determining whether or not the road indicated by the travel locus transmitted from the vehicle-side device is an update-needed road that is not included in the center-side road map data stored in the map data management server;
The request signal transmitting means determines that the image request signal is based on the fact that the availability determination means determines that the image is usable and the update road determination means determines that the road needs to be updated. A road map update system characterized by transmitting. In the road map update system of claim 5,
The request signal transmission unit is configured to generate the image request signal based on the fact that the number of times that the update road determination unit determines that the road is an update-needed road for a same new road is a preset number of updates. A road map update system characterized by transmitting In the road map update system according to claim 6,
The request signal transmission means transmits the same new road from the vehicle-side device when the number of times that the update road determination means determines that the road needs to be updated is the number of times of update. One or a plurality of images having the best definition among the images for the number of updates corresponding to the new road travel information corresponding to the number of updates to be performed is determined as the optimum image, and the vehicle side that has captured the optimum image A road map update system, wherein the image request signal is transmitted to an apparatus. A vehicle-side device that is mounted on a vehicle and generates and transmits a travel locus;
A map data management server that stores the center-side road map data in an updatable manner, and includes a map management device that receives a travel locus transmitted from the vehicle-side device and updates the center-side road map data. The vehicle-side device used in a road map update system,
An in-vehicle storage device for storing road map data;
A position detector for sequentially detecting the current position of the vehicle;
Whether the road on which the vehicle is traveling is a new road that is not any road included in the road map data stored in the in-vehicle storage device, based on the current position detected by the position detector New road determination means for sequentially determining
A travel locus creating means for creating a travel locus of the vehicle when the new road determination means determines that the vehicle is a new road based on the current position of the vehicle sequentially detected by the position detector;
An in-vehicle camera that images the periphery of the vehicle,
The image picked up by the in-vehicle camera when the new road determining means determines that the road is a new road has been determined to be usable for updating the center-side road map data based on weather information. Based on the vehicle, when the new road determination means determines that the road is a new road, the vehicle surroundings imaged by the in-vehicle camera is transmitted to the map management device ,
Weather information acquisition means for acquiring weather information of the current position based on the fact that the traveling road is determined to be a new road by the new road determination means;
Based on the weather information acquired by the weather information acquisition unit, an image determination unit that determines whether the vehicle-mounted camera can capture a clear image that can be used for updating the center-side road map data;
When the image determination unit determines that a clear image can be captured, imaging by the in-vehicle camera is started, but when it is not determined that a clear image can be captured, the imaging control does not start imaging by the in-vehicle camera. Means and
That it comprises a vehicle-side device for road map updating system according to claim.

Images