JP5577740B2 - Navigation device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device used in a vehicle such as an automobile.

  As a conventional navigation device, one that is mounted on a vehicle and guides a route to a destination using road information is known. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a navigation device that searches for routes while avoiding traffic jams.

JP 2006-153893 A

  By the way, in recent vehicles, there are cases in which driving operation support means for supporting the driving operation of the driver, such as an inter-vehicle distance control device (hereinafter referred to as “ACC”) and a brake hold function at the time of stopping, may be mounted. The driving load (driving load) of the driver is reduced. In this case, in the navigation device as described above, for example, a route that avoids traffic jams is guided even when the driving operation support means is operating, which may increase the driving burden on the driver.

  Then, this invention makes it a subject to provide the navigation apparatus which can reduce the driving | operation burden of a driver.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a navigation device according to the present invention is a navigation device that is mounted on a vehicle and guides a route to a destination using road information, and supports driving operation of a driver of the vehicle. A search means for searching for a route to the destination is provided according to at least one of the support contents and the use situation in the operation support means.

  In this navigation device, since the route is searched in consideration of at least one of the support content and the usage status of the driving operation support means, it is possible to realize route guidance that can reduce the driving burden on the driver by the driving operation support means. Become.

  At this time, the search means may search for a route according to the driving load reduction amount of the driver by the driving operation support means.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the driving burden on the driver.

It is a block diagram which shows the navigation apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the navigation apparatus of FIG.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the same or equivalent elements will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a navigation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a navigation apparatus 1 according to this embodiment is mounted on a vehicle 10 such as an automobile, and guides a route to a destination using road information. The navigation device 1 includes a road information acquisition unit 2, an operation unit 3, a route presentation unit 4, and an ECU (search means) 5.

  The road information acquisition unit 2 detects the current position of the vehicle 10 and uses the map information and road conditions (for example, traffic information, degree of congestion, road type, road condition, road width, etc.) relating to the current position as road information. get. This road information acquisition unit 2 uses a GPS (Global Positioning System) or the like.

  The operation unit 3 is an input interface for inputting a destination and a driver-focused item described later as operation information. The route presentation unit 4 is an output interface for presenting the route to the destination to the driver. As the route presentation unit 4, for example, a monitor that displays a route image (video) or a speaker that outputs route sound is used.

  The ECU 5 includes, for example, a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. This ECU 5 corresponds to the road information acquired by the road information acquisition unit 2, the operation information input to the operation unit 3, and the support content and usage status of the driving operation support device (driving operation support means) 6. Find the route to the destination. Then, the ECU 5 outputs the searched route from the route presentation unit 4 (details will be described later).

  The driving operation support device 6 supports the driving operation of the driver of the vehicle 10. The driving operation support device 6 here uses an ACC device, and performs full vehicle speed ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) control for controlling the driving operation of the vehicle 10 so as to follow the preceding vehicle in the entire vehicle speed range. Thereby, the driving operation from the stop to the start in the vehicle 10 is automatically controlled, and the driving burden on the driver is reduced even in a traffic jam.

  Next, the operation of the navigation device 1 described above will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, a target value is set and a driver-focused item is selected by the operation unit 3 (S1). Here, either the time priority mode that prioritizes the time taken to arrive at the destination or the driving burden reduction mode that reduces the driving burden on the driver is selected as the driver priority item.

  Subsequently, the ECU 5 executes the following process. That is, when the driving burden reduction mode is selected by the operation unit 3 (Yes in S2), it is determined whether or not the driving operation support device 6 is mounted on the vehicle 10 (S3). And when the driving operation assistance apparatus 6 is mounted in the vehicle 10, the usage frequency of the driving operation assistance apparatus 6 is determined (S4). The frequency of use of the driving operation support device 6 is learned in advance and stored in the ECU 5 during previous driving.

  Subsequently, when the usage frequency of the driving operation support device 6 is higher than a predetermined level, the cost (weight) linked to the road information acquired by the road information acquisition unit 2 according to the driving load reduction amount by the driving operation support device 6 ) Is calculated (S5). Specifically, the cost is calculated as exemplified below.

  For example, the full vehicle speed ACC control performed by the driving operation support device 6 is an inter-vehicle distance (inter-vehicle time) control with respect to the preceding vehicle. Therefore, when there is a preceding vehicle, the driving burden due to acceleration / deceleration is reduced. Therefore, in S5, when there is a preceding vehicle, the cost is calculated so that the cost of the straight traveling route (or the preceding vehicle route when the route of the preceding vehicle can be specified) is reduced.

  In addition, when the driving operation support device 6 is installed, the frequency of pedal operations during traffic jams is greatly reduced, so the driving burden due to acceleration / deceleration is greatly reduced, so it is necessary to actively avoid traffic jams. Sex is reduced. For this reason, in S5, the cost is calculated so that the cost of the traffic jam portion (the traffic jam avoidance route) is further reduced.

  On the other hand, when the driving load reduction mode is not selected by the operation unit 3 (No in S2), the driving operation support device 6 is not mounted on the vehicle 10 (No in S3), or the driving operation support device 6 is used. When the frequency is equal to or lower than the predetermined level (No in S4), the cost is calculated without considering the driving load reduction amount as usual (S6).

  Then, a route is searched (generated) based on the cost calculated in S5 or S6, the road information acquired by the road information acquisition unit 2, and the destination input to the operation unit 3. The route is output by the route presentation unit 4 and guided to the driver (S7).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, since it is possible to set a route in consideration of the support content and usage status of the driving operation support device 6 that supports the driving operation itself of the driver, route guidance that can reduce the driving burden on the driver is realized. It becomes possible. As a result, it is possible to prevent the driver's driving burden from increasing unintentionally when the vehicle 10 travels on the guided route.

  In particular, in the present embodiment, as described above, the ACC device that reduces the driving operation burden at the time of traffic jam is mounted as the driving operation support device 6, and the cost of the traffic jam avoidance route is reduced. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the traffic jam avoidance route from being always guided without considering the driving burden.

  Incidentally, in the case of using an ACC device that performs low speed ACC control that performs ACC control in a low speed region instead of full vehicle speed ACC control, the above-described effect of suppressing the traffic jam avoidance route from being always guided is of course. Played.

  Further, in the present embodiment, as described above, when the usage frequency of the driving operation support device 6 is high, cost calculation is performed in consideration of the driving load reduction amount (S4 → S5), and the usage frequency is low. Normal cost calculation is performed (S4 → S6). This is because the driving load is not reduced when the driver does not use the driving operation support device 6.

  By the way, in the case of a driver state where it is desired to temporarily reduce the driving burden during driving (for example, to take a break), if the ACC device is mounted as the driving operation support device 6, a route that actively passes through the traffic jam. Is preferably guided. On the other hand, there is a case where it is not desired to reduce the driving burden, but rather it is desired to arrive at the destination early. In this regard, in the present embodiment, a condition (driver-oriented item) is selected by the operation unit 3 for the driver itself (S1 above), and route guidance is performed on the condition, so a temporary driver state is also taken into consideration. Thus, the driving burden on the driver can be reduced.

  The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above. However, the navigation device according to the present invention is not limited to the navigation device 1 according to the embodiment, and can be modified without changing the gist described in each claim. Or may be applied to other things.

  For example, in the above embodiment, an ACC device is applied as the driving operation support device 6, but various devices can be applied to the driving operation support means as long as the driving operation itself of the driver is supported. For example, as the driving operation support means, in addition to the device that supports acceleration / deceleration of the vehicle 10, there are a device having a brake hold function at the time of stopping, a VGRS device that performs VGRS (Variable Gear Ratio Steering) control, and the like.

  Even in the driving operation support means that performs normal ACC control without stopping or starting support, the acceleration / deceleration of the vehicle 10 is somewhat automatically performed, so that the effect of reducing the driving load due to traffic congestion is somewhat realized. Thus, depending on the function of the driving operation support means, there are a realization region and a non-realization region of the reduction effect of the driving burden, and therefore in S5, the existence of the realization region and the non-realization region of the reduction effect are present. The cost may be calculated in consideration of That is, for example, if the speed of the vehicle 10 in a traffic jam is predicted based on the traffic jam amount and is, for example, 40 km / h or less, the driving load reduction effect by the normal ACC control is reduced and the driving load reduction effect by the full vehicle speed ACC control is reduced. It may be reflected in the cost calculation as half.

  In addition, even if a driver uses driving operation support means infrequently, the driving burden is greatly reduced by using the driving operation support means and passing through a traffic jam route (for example, when the detour is a beast road, etc.) There is. In this case, the route is calculated by cost calculation equivalent to that of a driver with high usage frequency, and the driver is actively notified of the use of the driving operation support means (for example, “Use the driving operation support means when there is a traffic jam). Please announce "

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Navigation apparatus, 5 ... ECU (search means), 6 ... Driving operation assistance apparatus (driving operation assistance means), 10 ... Vehicle.

Claims (1)

A navigation device mounted on a vehicle for guiding a route to a destination using road information,
In accordance with at least one of the support contents and the use situation in the driving operation support means for supporting the driving operation of the driver of the vehicle, the search means for searching the route to the destination,
When the use frequency of the driving operation support means is higher than a predetermined level, the search means calculates a link cost according to the driving load reduction amount of the driver by the driving operation support means , and based on the link cost A navigation device characterized by searching for a route.

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