JP5292941B2 - Navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the accuracy of arrival time prediction. <P>SOLUTION: The time interval from a stop of a car performed just before a traffic signal installed on a traveling road up to its start, and the time interval from the start just before the traffic signal up to restopping of the car are measured and stored in an external memory 18 as signal change timing information. Based on this signal change timing information, the number of traffic signals existing on a guide route and a waiting time for each traffic signal existing on the guide route are determined. An estimated time of arrival at a destination is corrected so that the estimated time of arrival at the destination becomes later, as the larger the number of traffic signals existing on the guide route is, and the longer the waiting time for each traffic signal existing on the guide route is (S202). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device that searches for a guidance route from a departure point to a destination and displays an estimated arrival time at the destination when traveling along the guidance route.

Conventionally, the travel state of the vehicle is measured and accumulated as travel history information, and the progress of the travel history with respect to the statistical traffic information is compared by comparing the travel trajectory based on the travel history information with the travel trajectory based on the statistical traffic information. In some cases, the arrival time at an arbitrary point on the route including the destination is predicted by correcting the travel locus based on the statistical traffic information based on the degree of progress (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2005-241519 A

  However, the apparatus described in Patent Document 1 does not reflect the number of traffic signals on the route and the change characteristics of traffic signals in the prediction of arrival time, and thus has a problem that the prediction accuracy of arrival time is not sufficient. It was.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to improve the accuracy of predicting arrival times.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 is a navigation device that searches for a guidance route from a departure place to a destination and displays a predicted arrival time at the destination when traveling along the guidance route. there are, in based on the vehicle speed signal to determine whether the vehicle is stopped, if it is determined that the vehicle is stopped, after stopping in front of the installed traffic on the road traveling Signal change timing information storage processing for measuring the time until starting and the time from starting before the traffic light to stopping again and storing the signal change timing information indicating the change timing of the traffic light in the storage medium The signal change timing information of each traffic signal existing on the guidance route is obtained from the means and the storage medium, and the number of traffic signals existing on the guidance route and each traffic signal existing on the guidance route are obtained. As the number of traffic lights present on the guide route increases, the estimated arrival time of the destination is delayed, and as the waiting time of each traffic signal present on the guide route increases, the predicted arrival time of the destination is delayed. And a first destination arrival time correction means for correcting the expected arrival time.

According to such a configuration, based on the vehicle speed signal to determine whether the vehicle is stopped, before the host if the vehicle is determined to be stopped, the installed traffic on the road traveling Measuring the time from when the vehicle stops until starting and the time from starting before the traffic light to stopping again, and storing the signal change timing information indicating the change timing of the traffic light in the storage medium, Obtain the signal change timing information of each traffic signal existing on the guide route from the storage medium, specify the number of traffic signals present on the guide route and the waiting time of each traffic signal present on the guide route, As the number of existing traffic signals increases, the estimated arrival time of the destination will be delayed, and the expected arrival time of the destination will be delayed as the waiting time of each traffic signal present on the guide route increases. In, it is possible to improve the prediction accuracy of the arrival time.

  The signal change timing information storage processing means estimated from the estimated change timing of each traffic signal that there are a plurality of traffic signals controlled to be linked to adjacent traffic signals. In this case, the signal change timing information is stored in a storage medium with the plurality of traffic signals as one traffic signal group.

  Thus, when it is estimated from the estimated change timing of each traffic signal that there are a plurality of traffic signals controlled so as to be linked to the adjacent traffic signals, the signal change timing information with the plurality of traffic signals as one traffic signal group. Can be stored in a storage medium.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a current position specifying means for specifying a current position, a map data acquiring means for acquiring map data, and an intersection where a traffic light is installed based on the current position and the map data. If it is determined that the vehicle is located , the distance between the stop line of the intersection and the vehicle is calculated based on the current position and the map data , and the distance between the stop line of the intersection and the vehicle is calculated based on the distance between the vehicle and the vehicle. Estimate the number of vehicles waiting in front of the signal, and predict the destination arrival time so that the larger the number of vehicles waiting for the signal in front of the estimated vehicle, the later the expected arrival time And a second destination arrival expected time correcting means for correcting.

According to such a configuration, when it is determined that the vehicle is located in front of the intersection where the traffic light is installed , the distance between the stop line of the intersection and the vehicle is calculated based on the current position and map data , Estimate the number of vehicles waiting for a signal in front of the vehicle based on the distance between the stop line at the intersection and the vehicle, and there are many vehicles waiting for the signal in front of the estimated vehicle. Since the predicted arrival time of the destination is corrected so that the predicted arrival time of the destination becomes later, it is possible to further improve the prediction accuracy of the arrival time.
In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 4 is a navigation system for searching for a guidance route from a departure place to a destination and displaying a predicted arrival time at the destination when traveling along the guidance route. The device measures the time from when the vehicle stops before the traffic signal installed on the running road to the start and the time from when it starts before the traffic signal until it stops again. Signal change timing information storage processing means for storing the signal change timing information shown in the storage medium and the signal change timing information of each traffic signal existing on the guide route from the storage medium, and present on the guide route Identify the number of traffic lights and the waiting time of each traffic light on the guide route, and the more traffic lights on the guide route, the slower the expected arrival time at the destination. And a first expected destination arrival time correction unit that corrects the predicted destination arrival time so that the predicted destination arrival time is delayed as the waiting time of each traffic signal existing on the guide route is longer. When the timing information storage processing unit estimates from the estimated change timing of each traffic signal that there are a plurality of traffic signals that are controlled so as to be linked to adjacent traffic signals, the timing information storage processing unit signals the traffic signals as one traffic signal group. The change timing information is stored in a storage medium.
According to such a configuration, the time from when the vehicle stops before the traffic light installed on the running road and the time from when it starts before the traffic signal to when the vehicle stops again are measured. The signal change timing information indicating the change timing is stored in the storage medium, the signal change timing information of each traffic signal existing on the guide route is obtained from the storage medium, and the number and guidance of the traffic signals existing on the guide route are obtained. Identify the waiting time of each traffic signal on the route, the more the number of traffic signals that exist on the guide route, the slower the expected arrival time at the destination, and the longer the waiting time of each signal device on the guide route, the longer the purpose Since the predicted arrival time at the destination is corrected so that the predicted arrival time is delayed, it is possible to improve the prediction accuracy of the arrival time. Further, when it is estimated from the estimated change timing of each traffic signal that there are a plurality of traffic signals controlled so as to be linked to adjacent traffic signals, the signal change timing information is stored with the plurality of traffic signals as one traffic signal group. It can be stored on a medium.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The navigation device 1 includes a position detector 10, a map data input device 15, an operation switch group 16, an external memory 18, a display device 19, a transceiver 20, a voice controller 21, a speaker 22, a voice recognition device 23, a microphone 24, and a remote controller. A sensor 25 and a control device 17 to which these devices are connected are provided.

  The position detector 10 has sensors such as a well-known geomagnetic sensor 11, a gyroscope 12, a distance sensor 13, and a GPS receiver 14, and is used for specifying the current position and direction input by these sensors. Information is output to the control device 17. Further, the distance sensor 13 outputs a vehicle speed signal corresponding to the vehicle speed to the control device 17.

The map data input device 15 is a device for inputting map data from a map data storage medium (not shown) in which map data is stored. Map data includes road data indicating the distance of each link, road type, number of lanes, traffic signal position, etc., so-called map matching data for improving position detection accuracy, positions of rivers, lakes, seas, railways, facilities, etc. , Background data representing the shape and name, facility data indicating the name of each facility, location, facility type, and the like. Note that the map data in this embodiment includes the position (latitude and longitude) of the stop line at the intersection where the traffic signal is installed. As a map data storage medium, a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM is generally used based on the amount of data, but a memory card, HDD, or the like may be used.

  The operation switch group 16 includes a touch switch provided over the display of the display device 19, a mechanical switch provided around the display of the display device 19, and the like, and a signal corresponding to a user's switch operation is transmitted to the control device 17. Output to.

  The external memory 18 is a storage medium different from the memory provided in the control device 17 and stores various programs and various data. The external memory 18 is configured by a nonvolatile storage medium such as an HDD or a memory card.

  The display device 19 has a display such as a liquid crystal, and displays a video corresponding to the video signal input from the control device 17 on the display.

  The transceiver 20 is a device for transmitting and receiving various data to and from the VICS (registered trademark) sensor via a beacon or the like laid on the road. When the VICS sensor receives road traffic information, weather information, date information, facility information, and advertisement information provided from the VICS center, the VICS sensor sends the received information to the transceiver 20. In addition, vehicle information, user information, and the like input from the transceiver 20 are sent to the VICS center.

  The speech recognition device 23 performs speech recognition by collating speech signals input via the microphone 24 with lexical data (comparison target pattern) in a recognition dictionary (not shown) stored therein, and performs speech recognition. Are input to the voice controller 21.

  The voice controller 21 outputs a recognition result of the voice recognition device 23 to the control device 17 and outputs a voice signal input from the control device 17 to the speaker 22. In addition, the audio controller 21 causes the speaker 22 to output a sound corresponding to an audio signal input from the microphone 24 (talk output).

  The microphone 24 is for inputting a voice signal corresponding to the voice uttered by the user to the voice recognition device 23.

  The remote control sensor 25 outputs a signal received from the remote control 25 a that transmits a radio signal using infrared rays or the like to the control device 17 based on a user operation.

  The control device 17 is configured as a computer including a CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O, and the like. The CPU of the control device 17 executes various processes in accordance with programs stored in the ROM. The processing executed by the CPU of the control device 17 includes map display processing for displaying a map around the vehicle position, destination setting processing for setting a destination, route search processing for searching for a guidance route to the destination, destination There are an arrival time calculation process for calculating an estimated arrival time for the vehicle, a vehicle position detection process for detecting the vehicle position based on a signal input from the position detector 10, and the like.

  The control device 17 in the present embodiment measures the stop time and travel time of the host vehicle, estimates the change timing of each traffic signal installed on the traveling road, and changes the signal indicating the estimated change timing of each traffic signal. Processing for storing timing information in a storage medium is performed.

  Next, a process for estimating the signal change timing of the traffic signal installed at the intersection A at the intersection A where the traffic signal is installed and storing the signal change timing information indicating the estimated signal change timing in the storage medium will be described.

  FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of this process. The navigation device is in an operating state when the ignition switch of the vehicle is turned on, and the control device 17 periodically performs the processing shown in FIG.

  First, based on the vehicle speed signal input from the distance sensor 13, it is determined whether or not the vehicle speed of the host vehicle is 0 km / km (S100).

  When the host vehicle is running and the vehicle speed is not 0 km / h, the determination in S100 is NO and the determination in S100 is repeated. If the vehicle stops and the vehicle speed is 0 km / h, the determination in S100 is YES and the process proceeds to S102.

  In S102, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is located in front of the intersection A where the traffic light is installed based on the vehicle position and the map data.

  Therefore, when the traffic light installed at the intersection A turns red and the own vehicle stops before the intersection A, the determinations in S100 and S102 are YES, and then the timer 1 is started to start timing (S104). ). Specifically, after the timer 1 is reset, the timer 1 is started, and the identification information of the intersection A and the approach path to the intersection A are stored in the external memory 18.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has restarted based on whether or not the vehicle speed is 0 km / h or more (S106).

  If the vehicle is stopped and the vehicle speed is 0 km / h, the determination in S106 is NO and the determination in S106 is repeated. Therefore, the timer 1 continues timing.

  Then, when the traffic light installed at the intersection A becomes a green light, the own vehicle restarts, and the speed of the own vehicle becomes 1 km / h (km / h) or more, the determination of S106 becomes YES, and then the timer 1 At the same time, the timer 2 is started, the elapsed time 1 timed by the timer 1, the date, the day of the week, and the course direction are stored in the external memory 18 and the intersection A identification information and the approach to the intersection A It is stored in the external memory 18 in association with the road (S108). In this way, the elapsed time 1 from when the vehicle stops before the intersection A until the vehicle starts is stored in the external memory 18.

  In S110, it is determined again whether or not the vehicle speed of the host vehicle is 0 km / h based on the vehicle speed signal input from the distance sensor 13 (S110).

  When the host vehicle is traveling and the vehicle speed is not 0 km / h, the determination in S110 is NO and the determination in S110 is repeated. Therefore, the timer 2 continues timing.

  In S112, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has passed through the intersection A based on the vehicle position and the map data.

  Therefore, when the traffic light installed at the intersection A turns red again due to traffic congestion or the like, and the own vehicle stops again before the intersection A, each determination of S110 and S112 becomes YES, and then the timer 2 is stopped. At the same time, the elapsed time 2 and the date / time, day of the week, and course direction measured by the timer 2 are stored in the external memory 18 in association with the identification information of the intersection A and the approach path to the intersection A stored in the external memory 18 (S114). ). That is, the elapsed time 2 from when the vehicle restarts before the intersection A until the vehicle stops again is stored in the external memory 18.

  As described above, the external memory 18 stores the elapsed time 1 and the elapsed time 2 in association with the identification information of the intersection A and the approach path to the intersection A. That is, the signal change timing information indicating the change timing of the traffic light is stored in the external memory 18 where the elapsed time 1 is the time of the red light of the traffic light and the elapsed time 2 is the sum of the time of the green light of the traffic light and the time of the yellow signal. The

  When the vehicle stops after passing through the intersection A, the determination in S112 is YES, and the identification information of the intersection A stored in the external memory 18 and the approach path to the intersection A are deleted, and the timer 2 Is reset (S116), and this process ends.

  In addition, when estimating the time of the red signal of the traffic light using the above-described method, the time of the red signal can be estimated with relatively high accuracy when the vehicle stops immediately after the traffic light changes to the red signal. Although it is possible, if the vehicle stops just before the traffic light changes to a green light, the time of the red light is estimated to be short. Therefore, the elapsed time 1 is stored in the external memory 18, and the longest one of the elapsed times 1 stored in the external memory 18 is set as the red signal time.

  Further, the elapsed time 1 and the elapsed time 2 of each traffic light are stored in the external memory 18 as signal change timings, and the regularity of the signal change timings of the traffic signals stored in the external memory 18 is linked with adjacent traffic lights. It is estimated whether or not there are a plurality of controlled traffic signals, and when there are a plurality of traffic signals that are controlled so as to be linked to adjacent traffic signals, the signal change timing information is obtained with the traffic signals as one traffic signal group. The information is stored in the external memory 18. The frequency of stopping before a specific traffic light is compared with the frequency of stopping before this traffic light and the traffic light adjacent to the traffic light, and if each frequency is significantly different, both traffic lights are controlled to work together. Can be estimated.

  The control device 17 in the present embodiment performs a process of searching for a guidance route from the departure point to the destination and displaying the estimated arrival time at the destination when traveling along the guidance route.

  FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of this process. When a search for a guide route to the destination is instructed by a user operation, the control device 17 performs the processing shown in FIG.

  First, a destination is set (S200). Specifically, a destination facility or a destination point is specified according to a user operation and set as a destination.

  Next, the estimated arrival time from the departure place to the destination is calculated (S202). More specifically, a guide route from the current position to the destination is searched, and an estimated arrival time at the destination when traveling along the guide route is calculated. Here, the estimated arrival time at the destination is obtained by adding the time obtained by dividing the distance from the current position to the destination by the reference speed determined according to the road type or the like to the current time. Such a method for calculating the estimated arrival time at the destination is well known. In the present embodiment, the signal change timing information of the traffic light that exists on the guidance route and matches the current date and time, day of the week, and the direction of the route is acquired from the external memory 18, and the number and guidance of the traffic lights that exist on the guidance route. Identify the waiting time of each traffic signal on the route, the more the number of traffic signals that exist on the guide route, the slower the expected arrival time at the destination, and the longer the waiting time of each signal device on the guide route, the longer the purpose The predicted destination arrival time is corrected so that the predicted destination arrival time is delayed, and the corrected predicted destination arrival time is displayed on the display device 19.

  For example, an addition value (time) per traffic signal existing on the guide route is determined, and a value obtained by multiplying the addition value per aircraft by the number of traffic signals is added to the estimated arrival time at the destination as a correction amount. You may make it do. In addition, for example, an addition value (time) per unit is determined for a traffic signal whose waiting time (red signal time) is longer than a predetermined reference time, and the signal value is added to the addition value per unit. A value obtained by multiplying the number may be added to the expected arrival time as a correction amount. Also, the amount of correction may be determined so as to suit the actual situation by performing an experimental run.

  In S204, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has arrived at the destination based on the vehicle position and the map data.

  If the vehicle has not arrived at the destination, the determination in S204 is NO, and then it is determined whether or not the vehicle is located in front of the intersection where the traffic light is installed (S206). Until the own vehicle is located in front of the intersection where the traffic signal is installed, the determination in S206 is NO and the process returns to S204.

  If the own vehicle is located in front of the intersection where the traffic signal is installed, the determination in S206 is YES, and then the number of vehicles waiting for the signal in front of the own vehicle is estimated, and the estimated arrival time at the destination Is corrected (208). Specifically, based on the current position and map data, the number of vehicles waiting for signals in front of the own vehicle is estimated, and the number of vehicles waiting for signals in front of the estimated own vehicles is large. The expected arrival time is corrected so that the expected arrival time becomes later.

  FIG. 4 shows a state in which the host vehicle is waiting for a signal behind a plurality of vehicles in front of an intersection where a traffic light is installed. As shown in the figure, if the distance between the stop line of the intersection and the own vehicle is A, and the sum of the total length of the average vehicle and the average vehicle interval is B, the vehicle waiting for a signal in front of the own vehicle Can be estimated as A / B. The distance A between the stop line of the intersection and the own vehicle is obtained from the map data of the position (latitude, longitude) of the stop line of the intersection, and the linear distance between the position of the stop line of the intersection and the vehicle position is calculated. Can be obtained. The sum B of the average length of the average vehicle and the average distance between vehicles is, for example, B = 4 + 2 = 6 meters when the average length of the average vehicle is 4 meters and the average distance between vehicles is 2 meters. Become. If the distance A between the stop line of the intersection and the own vehicle is 18 meters, the number of vehicles waiting for a signal in front of the own vehicle is A / B = 18/6 = 3.

  Here, the predicted destination arrival time is corrected so that the predicted destination arrival time becomes later as the number of vehicles waiting for the signal in front of the host vehicle increases. For example, an additional value (time) for each vehicle waiting for a signal in front of the host vehicle is determined, and the added value per vehicle is set to the value of the vehicle waiting for the signal in front of the host vehicle. A value obtained by multiplying the number is added as a correction amount to the estimated arrival time at the destination, and the process returns to S204.

  According to the configuration described above, the change in the traffic light is measured by measuring the time from when the vehicle stops before the traffic signal installed on the running road and the time from when it starts before the traffic signal until the vehicle stops again. Signal change timing information indicating timing is stored in a storage medium, signal change timing information of each traffic signal existing on the guide route is acquired from the external memory 18, and the number of traffic signals existing on the guide route and guidance are obtained. Identify the waiting time of each traffic signal on the route, the more the number of traffic signals that exist on the guide route, the slower the expected arrival time at the destination, and the longer the waiting time of each signal device on the guide route, the longer the purpose Since the predicted arrival time at the destination is corrected so that the predicted arrival time is delayed, it is possible to improve the prediction accuracy of the arrival time.

  Also, if it is determined that the vehicle is located in front of the intersection where the traffic light is installed, the number of vehicles waiting for the signal in front of the vehicle is estimated based on the current position and map data, and the estimated The estimated arrival time is corrected so that the estimated arrival time of the destination is delayed as the number of vehicles waiting for the signal in front of the subject vehicle increases, so that the prediction accuracy of the arrival time can be further improved. Is possible.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Based on the meaning of this invention, it can implement with a various form.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the destination arrival time is not calculated in consideration of the weather or an event held in the vicinity. However, when the weather is rain or snow, the destination arrival time is The predicted arrival time at the destination may be corrected so as to be delayed, and also when the event is held in the vicinity, the predicted arrival time at the destination is delayed. In addition, when construction information, accident information, and traffic jam information are received via the transceiver 20, the predicted arrival time at the destination may be corrected so that the predicted arrival time at the destination is delayed.

  In the above embodiment, the signal change timing information indicating the change timing of the traffic light is externally set with the elapsed time 1 being the time of the red light of the traffic light and the elapsed time 2 being the sum of the time of the green light of the traffic light and the time of the yellow signal. Although the configuration of storing in the memory 18 is shown, for example, the elapsed time 1 may be stored in the external memory 18 as the total time of the red signal and the yellow signal of the traffic light and the elapsed time 2 as the time of the green signal of the traffic light.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the time from when the vehicle stops before the traffic signal installed on the running road based on the current position and the map data and the time from when the vehicle starts before the traffic signal to when the vehicle stops again. Although it is configured to perform processing for measuring time and storing signal change timing information indicating the change timing of the traffic light in a storage medium, for example, a camera that takes a picture of the front of the vehicle is provided, and a shot image that is shot using this camera Image recognition processing, and measure the time from the stop before the traffic light installed on the running road to the start and the time from the start before the traffic light until the stop again Also good.

  The correspondence relationship between the configuration in the above embodiment and the configuration of the claims will be described. The flowchart shown in FIG. 2 corresponds to the signal change timing information storage processing unit, the external memory 18 corresponds to the storage medium, S202 corresponds to the first expected destination arrival time correction means, the process of detecting the vehicle position based on the signal input from the position detector 10 corresponds to the current position specifying means, and the map data input device 15 S206 and S208 correspond to map data acquisition means, and second destination arrival time correction means corresponds to the map data acquisition means.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process which memorize | stores the signal change timing information in a storage medium by a control apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the process which displays the destination arrival estimated time. It is a figure for demonstrating the method of estimating the number of vehicles which are waiting for a signal in front of the own vehicle.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Navigation apparatus 10 Position detector 11 Geomagnetic sensor 12 Gyroscope 13 Distance sensor 14 GPS receiver 15 Map data input device 16 Operation switch group 17 Control apparatus 18 External memory 19 Display apparatus 20 Transceiver 21 Voice controller 22 Speaker 23 Voice recognition apparatus 24 microphone 25 remote control sensor

Claims (1)

A navigation device that searches for a guidance route from a departure place to a destination and displays an estimated arrival time at the destination when traveling along the guidance route,
And based on the vehicle speed signal to determine whether the vehicle is stopped until the start after a stop in front of the own when the car is determined to be stopped, the installed traffic on the road traveling Signal change timing information storage processing means for performing a process of measuring signal change timing information indicating a change timing of the traffic light in a storage medium, and measuring a time from starting before the traffic light to stopping again ,
Obtain signal change timing information of each traffic signal existing on the guide route from the storage medium, specify the number of traffic signals present on the guide route and the waiting time of each traffic signal present on the guide route, As the number of traffic lights present on the guide route is larger, the expected arrival time of the destination is delayed, and as the waiting time of each traffic signal existing on the guide route is longer, the expected arrival time of the destination is delayed. A navigation apparatus comprising: first expected destination arrival time correction means for correcting a predicted destination arrival time.

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