JP4697607B2 - Traffic jam guidance device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a traffic jam guidance device, for example, a traffic jam guidance device for notifying a driver of a traffic jam occurring on a travel route.

There is a traffic jam guidance device that detects a traffic jam occurring on a travel route or around the current position of a vehicle and notifies the presence of the traffic jam, the traffic jam distance, the reason of the traffic jam, and the like.
For example, in Patent Document 1, the head position of a traffic jam queue is specified based on road data, traffic jam information, and traffic measurement information, and a traffic jam factor is identified from facility information and event information around the head position. A navigation device that outputs to a speaker has been proposed.
JP 2006-300771 A

However, in the conventional traffic jam guidance device, when there is traffic jam in the target section, the driver is uniformly notified, so there is a case where the traffic jam guidance is not always appropriate for the driver.
For example, when traveling at a special distance, such as leisure, or when driving over a long distance, it may be felt that the frequency of guidance is too high if repeated traffic congestion for a short distance is repeated.
On the contrary, in driving such as commuting and short distance, even a short traffic jam has a large influence, so a notification is required. However, there is a case where a traffic jam for a short distance is not notified at present.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to notify a traffic congestion more appropriate for the driver.

(1) In the first aspect of the invention, the traffic information acquisition means for acquiring traffic information including the position and distance of the traffic, the travel route acquisition means for acquiring the travel route, the travel distance from the current position to the destination, A traffic congestion guidance device comprising: distance determination means for determining a threshold distance based on at least one of the travel purposes; and a traffic congestion notification means for notifying a traffic jam that is present on the travel route and is longer than the determined distance. To achieve the above object.
(2) In the invention described in claim 2, in the traffic jam guidance device according to claim 1, the travel route acquisition means acquires a travel route by searching for a travel route to a destination. To do.
(3) In the invention described in claim 3, in the traffic jam guidance device according to claim 1 or 2, the distance determination means sets the destination type as a travel purpose, and determines a threshold value according to the type. It is characterized by.
(4) In the invention described in claim 4, in the traffic jam guidance device according to claim 2 or claim 3, estimation is made from the destination input by the destination input means or the position and time at which the traveling is started. And a destination acquisition means for acquiring the destination.

  In the present invention, a threshold distance is determined based on the travel distance to the destination and at least one of the travel objectives, and traffic jams longer than this distance are notified, so a more appropriate traffic jam is notified. can do.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the traffic jam guidance device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.
(1) Outline of Embodiment The traffic jam guide device of this embodiment is realized by a navigation device.
The navigation device acquires traffic jam information including the location and distance of the traffic jam from a beacon, an information center, or the like regarding the state occurring around the vehicle or on the travel route.
Then, a predetermined threshold (hereinafter referred to as a threshold distance) is determined according to the vehicle's travel purpose and the distance from the current position to the destination (hereinafter referred to as the scheduled travel distance), and the traffic distance (hereinafter referred to as traffic congestion) obtained from the traffic congestion information. The driver is informed about a traffic jam whose distance is equal to or greater than a threshold distance.
For example, in the case of the first embodiment, if the travel purpose is commuting or attending school, the traffic jam of 300 m or more is guided, and in the case of leisure, the traffic jam of 3 km or more is guided.
On the other hand, in the case of the second embodiment, for example, when the planned travel distance is less than 10 km, a traffic jam with a traffic jam distance of 300 m or more is guided, and when the planned travel distance is 100 km or more, a traffic jam with a traffic jam distance of 3 km or more is guided. .

(2) Details of Embodiment FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a navigation device to which the traffic jam guidance device of this embodiment is applied.
The navigation device is mounted on a vehicle and includes a current position detection device 10, an information processing control device 20, an input / output device 40, and an information storage device 50 as shown in FIG.

  The current position detection device 10 has the following configuration. The absolute direction sensor 11 is, for example, a geomagnetic sensor that detects in which direction the vehicle is located from detection in the N direction based on a magnet, and may be any means that detects the absolute direction.

The relative azimuth sensor 12 detects, for example, whether or not an intersection is bent, and may be an optical rotation sensor attached to a rotating part of a handle, a rotational resistance volume, or an angle sensor attached to a wheel part.
Further, a gyro sensor that detects a change in angle using an angular velocity may be used. That is, any means capable of detecting an angle that has changed relative to the reference angle (absolute direction) may be used.
The distance sensor 13 may be, for example, one that detects and counts the rotation of a wheel, or one that detects acceleration and integrates twice. That is, any means capable of measuring the moving distance of the vehicle may be used.

The GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 14 is a device that receives a signal from an artificial satellite, and includes various signals such as signal transmission time, position information of the receiver, moving speed of the receiver, and traveling direction of the receiver. Information can be obtained.
The beacon receiving device 15 is a device that receives a signal transmitted from a transmitting device installed at a specific point. In particular, VICS information can be obtained, and information related to vehicle travel such as traffic jam information, current position information, and parking lot information can be obtained.

The data transmission / reception device 16 is a device for communicating with the outside of the vehicle using a telephone line or radio waves and exchanging information.
For example, there are various usage methods such as car phone, ATIS, VICS, GPS correction, and inter-vehicle communication, and it is possible to input and output information related to traveling.

In the present embodiment, in addition to the case where the traffic information is acquired by the beacon receiver 15, the traffic information can be acquired from the information center via the data transmitter / receiver 16. As for the traffic jam information, the traffic jam information is acquired from the beacon receiving device 15 and the information center at predetermined time intervals or constantly.
The data transmitter / receiver 16 communicates with the information center by wireless communication, transmits the current position of the vehicle to the information center, and is transmitted from the information center corresponding to the transmitted current position. Information on traffic congestion occurring around the current position is acquired.
When traveling along the travel route while guiding the travel route searched for to the destination, the travel route and the current vehicle position are transmitted to the information center so that the information center can be moved forward of the vehicle on the travel route. Existing traffic jam information may be acquired.

Next, the information processing control device 20 performs calculation and control based on the information input from the current position detection device 10 and the input / output device 40 and the information stored in the information storage device 50, and displays the calculation result on the display 42. , A means for controlling to output to the output means such as the printer 43 or the speaker 44.
The information processing control device 20 has the following configuration.
The central processing unit (CPU) 21 performs overall calculation and control of the entire navigation device, voice guidance processing in the present embodiment, and the like.
The first ROM 22 stores a navigation program, in particular, a navigation program related to current position detection, route search, display guidance, voice guidance, and the like.
The sensor input interface 23 is a means for receiving information from the current position detection device 10.

The RAM 24 stores information input by the user such as destination information and passage point information input by an input device, which will be described later, and results calculated by the CPU 21 based on the user input information, as well as routes It is a storage means for storing the searched result or the map information read from the information storage device 50.
The communication interface 25 is a means for inputting / outputting information from the current position detection device 10, particularly information obtained from the outside.

The second ROM 26 stores a program related to navigation, particularly a navigation program related to travel route guidance and point guidance.
The image processor 27 is a processing means for processing vector information processed by the CPU into image information.
The clock 28 detects the current time.
The image memory 29 is means for storing image information processed by the image processor.
The audio processor 30 processes the audio information read from the information storage device 50 and outputs it to the speaker 44.

The input / output device 40 includes an input device 41 for inputting data such as a destination, a passage point, and a search condition by a user, a display 42 for displaying an image, a printer 43 for printing information, and a speaker 44 for outputting sound. The
The input device 41 includes, for example, a touch panel, a touch switch, a joystick, a key switch, and the like.
The display 42 displays a map around the current location and a travel route to the destination.

The information storage device 50 is connected to the information processing control device 20 via the transmission path 45.
The information storage device 50 includes a map data file 51, an intersection data file 52, a node data file 53, a road data file 54, a photo data file 55, a destination data file 56, a guidance point data file 57, a detailed destination data file 58, A destination reading data file 59, a threshold distance data file 60, and other data files 60 are stored.
The information storage device 50 is generally composed of a DVD-ROM or CD-ROM that is an optical storage medium, or a hard disk that is a magnetic storage medium, but various information such as a magneto-optical disk and a semiconductor memory. You may comprise with a storage medium.

In the threshold distance data file 60, the distance as a threshold for determining whether or not the detected traffic jam is a notification target is the travel purpose (in the case of the first embodiment) or the planned travel distance (in the case of the second embodiment). ).
In the first embodiment, a threshold distance is defined according to the purpose of travel. In other words, a threshold distance of 300 m (first threshold distance) is defined in the case of commuting or commuting to / from the destination where the arrival time at the destination exists (arrival time is determined) or traveling to a station or airport. A threshold distance of 3 km (second threshold distance) is defined when the driving purpose is leisure or the like (particularly not restricted by arrival time), and a threshold distance of 1 km (third threshold distance) is specified for other driving purposes. Is stipulated.
In the second embodiment, the threshold distance is determined according to the distance (planned travel distance) from the current position of the vehicle to the destination. That is, when the planned travel distance is less than 10 km, a threshold distance of 300 m is defined, when the planned travel distance is greater than 10 km and less than 100 km, the threshold distance is defined as 1 km, and when the planned travel distance is greater than 100 km. A threshold distance of 3 km is defined.
Note that the threshold distance value corresponding to each travel purpose and the threshold distance corresponding to the planned travel distance range are defined in advance, but these values can be set or changed by the user. Also good.

In the case of the first embodiment, the travel purpose is determined from the destination input by the user.
For this reason, a classification of a travel purpose is defined for each destination stored in the destination data file 56. For example, amusement parks and department stores are classified as travel purposes “leisure”.
In addition, when the destination is not set and the estimation which will be described later cannot be performed, the input of the traveling purpose is prompted by the display 42 or the voice, and when the user inputs the traveling purpose by the screen or the voice, the inputted traveling purpose is input. May be used.

Next, travel route guidance by the navigation device configured as described above will be described.
The navigation device detects the current position by the current position detection device 10, reads the map information around the current position from the map data file 51 of the information storage device 50, and displays it on the display 42.
When the destination is input from the input device 41, the information processing control device 20 searches for (calculates) a plurality of travel route candidates from the current position to the destination, and displays them on the map displayed on the display 42. When the driver selects one of the travel routes, the travel route is acquired by storing the selected travel route in the RAM 24 (travel route acquisition means).

The information processing control device 20 travels by transmitting the current vehicle position (or input departure point) and destination to the information processing center and receiving a travel route to the destination searched for by the information processing center. A route may be acquired. In this case, communication of the destination and the travel route is performed by wireless communication via the communication interface 25.
In addition, a travel route from the departure place to the destination is searched using an information processing device such as a personal computer at home, etc., stored in a storage medium such as a USB memory, and obtained via the storage medium reader. You may do it. The storage medium reading device in this case is connected to the information processing control device 20 via the transmission path 45.

  Further, for the travel route, a destination may be estimated from the current time and current position, and the route may be acquired by searching for the travel route to the estimated destination. In this case, the driving history data is saved, and the same time zone (day of the week is used, for example, when the vehicle is driven to work (location registration) around 7 o'clock on weekdays. Travel data from the same point to the same point is extracted, and the departure point, destination and departure time zone data base is created. And if it is a house at 7:00 on the current weekday, the destination is estimated to be a company, and a travel route from the house to the company is calculated and acquired.

When the vehicle travels, route guidance is performed by tracking the current position detected by the current position detection device 10.
The route guidance specifies the vehicle position on the map by map matching between the road data corresponding to the searched travel route and the current position detected by the current position detection device 10, and displays a map around the vehicle current position on the display 42. In addition to the display, the searched travel route and the current position are displayed on the map.
Also, from the relationship between the position of the guidance target on the searched travel route and the current position, the necessity of guidance, i.e., when traveling straight ahead for a predetermined distance or longer, guidance on a travel route such as a predetermined route change point, and direction guidance It is determined whether or not it is necessary, and if necessary, display on the display 42 and voice guidance are executed.

Next, the traffic jam guidance process in this embodiment will be described.
The traffic jam guidance process may be executed in parallel with the route guidance described above, or may be executed independently when the route guidance is not executed.
That is, when route guidance is being executed, guidance is given for traffic jams on the travel route that is the guidance target, and when route guidance is not being executed, guidance is provided for traffic jams in a predetermined range in the traveling direction of the vehicle. Even when the route guidance is not executed, as described above, when the destination and the travel route are estimated, guidance on traffic congestion on the estimated travel route is performed.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the contents of the traffic jam guidance process in the first embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 2, the information processing control device 20 acquires the traveling purpose of the vehicle (step 10).
That is, the information processing control device 20 uses the travel purpose when the user inputs the travel purpose from the input device 41, and acquires the travel purpose from the destination when there is no input.
In the acquisition of the destination, if the travel route is being guided, the destination of the travel route (including the input destination and the estimated destination) is acquired. If the travel route is not being guided, the estimated destination is acquired.
When the information processing control device 20 acquires the destination, the information processing control device 20 acquires a travel purpose corresponding to the destination defined in the destination data file 56.

When the travel purpose is acquired, the information processing control device 20 sets a threshold distance corresponding to the travel purpose in accordance with the threshold distance data file 60 and stores it in the RAM 24 (step 11).
Next, the information processing control device 20 monitors whether or not there is a traffic jam within a predetermined distance ahead of the vehicle based on the traffic jam information acquired from the beacon receiving device 15 or the information center (step 12).
When a traffic jam existing within a predetermined distance ahead of the vehicle is detected (step 12; Y), the information processing control device 20 acquires the traffic jam distance from the traffic jam information of the detected traffic jam, and the traffic jam distance is equal to or greater than the threshold distance stored in the RAM 24. It is determined whether or not (step 13).

When the traffic jam distance is greater than or equal to the threshold distance (step 13; Y), the information processing control device 20 provides guidance for the detected traffic jam (step 14). For traffic jam guidance, the distance to the traffic jam and the traffic jam distance are guided by voice.
After the traffic jam guidance and if the detected traffic jam distance is less than the threshold distance (step 13; N), the information processing control device 20 determines whether or not the traffic jam guidance has been instructed. In this case (step 15; Y), the traffic jam guidance process is terminated. The instruction to end the guidance of the traffic jam is determined to have been instructed to end the guidance when, for example, the ignition is turned off, the guidance stop input is entered, or the destination is deleted.
On the other hand, if the end of traffic jam guidance has not been instructed (step 15; N), the information processing control device 20 returns to step 12 and continues guidance for traffic jams of a threshold distance or more according to the purpose of travel.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the contents of the traffic jam guidance process in the second embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 3, the information processing control device 20 acquires the destination of the vehicle (step 20).
That is, the information processing control device 20 acquires the destination in the same manner as acquiring or estimating the destination when acquiring the travel purpose in the first embodiment, and stores it in the RAM 24 (step 20).
Next, the information processing control device 20 acquires traffic jam information from an information center or the like, and monitors whether there is traffic jam within a predetermined distance ahead of the vehicle based on the traffic jam information (step 21).

  When the information processing control device 20 detects a traffic jam existing at a predetermined distance ahead of the vehicle (step 21; Y), the information processing control device 20 calculates a planned travel distance L from the current position of the vehicle to the destination (step 22). A threshold distance corresponding to L is set according to the threshold distance data file 60 and stored in the RA 24 (step 23).

Then, the information processing control device 20 acquires the traffic jam distance from the traffic jam information for the traffic jam detected in step 21 and determines whether or not the traffic jam distance is greater than or equal to the threshold distance stored in the RAM 24 (step 24).
When the traffic jam distance is greater than or equal to the threshold distance (step 24; Y), the information processing control device 20 provides guidance for the detected traffic jam (step 25).
After the traffic jam guidance and if the detected traffic jam distance is less than the threshold distance (step 24; N), the information processing control device 20 causes traffic jam due to ignition off, guidance stop input, destination deletion processing, etc. It is determined whether or not an instruction to end the guidance has been issued. If so (step 26; Y), the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is not instructed to end the traffic jam guidance (step 26; N), the information processing control device 20 returns to step 21 and newly resets the threshold distance according to the planned travel distance L to the destination. Continue to provide guidance on traffic jams that exceed the threshold distance.

  As described above, according to the navigation device of the present embodiment, the threshold distance is determined based on the planned travel distance in the first example, and based on the travel purpose in the second example, and exists in front of the vehicle. When a traffic jam is detected, instead of guiding the uniformly detected traffic jam, the traffic jam guidance is provided when the traffic jam distance is greater than or equal to the threshold distance. Appropriate traffic jam guidance according to the situation can be performed.

As mentioned above, although one embodiment in the traffic jam guiding apparatus of the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited to the described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope described in each claim. .
For example, in the embodiment described above, when the threshold distance is determined, the threshold distance is determined based on the planned travel distance or the travel purpose. However, the threshold distance is determined based on both the travel purpose and the planned travel distance. May be.
In this case, a threshold distance table corresponding to the planned travel distance is created and stored in the threshold distance data file 60 for each travel purpose.

In the second embodiment described above, the case where the threshold distance is determined according to the distance from the current vehicle position to the destination has been described. In this case, the planned travel distance L changes as the vehicle travels. Each time a traffic jam is detected (step 21), the planned travel distance L is calculated (step 22), and the corresponding threshold distance is set (step 23).
On the other hand, the threshold distance may be determined according to the distance from the departure place to the destination.

1 is a system configuration diagram of a navigation device to which a traffic jam guide device of the present embodiment is applied. It is a flowchart showing the traffic jam guidance process in 1st Example. It is a flowchart showing the traffic jam guidance process in 2nd Example.

Explanation of symbols

10 current position detection device 20 information processing control device 40 input / output device 50 information storage device

Claims (4)

Traffic information acquisition means for acquiring traffic information including the position and distance of traffic;
Traveling route acquisition means for acquiring a traveling route;
Distance determining means for determining a threshold distance based on at least one of the travel distance from the current position to the destination and the travel purpose;
A traffic jam notification means for reporting a traffic jam that is present on the travel route and is longer than the determined distance;
Congestion guidance device characterized by comprising.
2. The traffic congestion guide device according to claim 1, wherein the travel route acquisition unit acquires a travel route by searching for a travel route to a destination.
The distance determining means sets the type of destination as a driving purpose, and determines a threshold according to the type.
The traffic jam guidance device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein
  The destination acquisition means for acquiring the destination input from the destination input means or the destination estimated from the position and time at which the vehicle started to travel is provided. The traffic jam guidance device described.

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