JP7105069B2 - Weather Guidance System, Weather Guidance Program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a weather guidance system and a weather guidance program.

Patent Literature 1 describes an in-vehicle device that prompts a passenger to carry rain gear based on precipitation probability information when getting out of the vehicle.

JP-A-2005-345293

However, for example, when returning home (when arriving at home and getting off the car), it is considered that there is little need to inform the user of the necessity of carrying rain gear.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for guiding useful weather information at a time useful to the user.

In order to achieve the above objectives, the weather guidance system includes a current location acquisition unit that acquires the current location, a current date and time acquisition unit that acquires the current date and time, a weather information acquisition unit that acquires weather information for the registered location, and a current location registered a guidance control unit for guiding weather information for the next day when the current date and time are included in a predetermined time zone.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, the weather guidance program comprises a computer, a current location acquisition unit for acquiring the current location, a current date and time acquisition unit for acquiring the current date and time, a weather information acquisition unit for acquiring weather information for a registered location, a current location is the registered place and the current date and time is included in the predetermined time zone, it functions as a guidance control unit that guides weather information for the next day.

That is, in this weather guide system and program, when the current location is the registered location at the time included in the predetermined time period, weather information for the registered location for the next day is provided. Even if the time is included in the predetermined time zone, if the current location is other than the registered location, weather information is not provided. Further, even if the current location is the registered location, if the time is not included in the predetermined time period, weather information is not provided. Therefore, the present weather guidance system and program can guide users with useful weather information at useful timings.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a navigation system; FIG. It is a flowchart which shows a weather guidance process.

Here, embodiments of the present invention will be described according to the following order.
(1) Navigation system configuration:
(2) Weather guidance processing:
(3) Other embodiments:

(1) Navigation system configuration:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a navigation system 10 including a weather guidance system according to the present invention. A navigation system 10 is provided in a vehicle as a moving body, and includes a control unit 20 including a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., and a recording medium 30 . The navigation system 10 can execute a program such as a navigation program stored in the recording medium 30 or ROM using the control unit 20 .

Map information 30 a is recorded on the recording medium 30 . The map information 30a includes node data indicating the positions of nodes corresponding to the end points of the road section on which the vehicle travels, shape interpolation point data indicating the positions of shape interpolation points for specifying the shape of the road section between nodes, It includes link data indicating connections between nodes, facility data indicating facilities existing around roads, and the like.

A navigation system 10 according to this embodiment includes a GNSS receiver 41 , a vehicle speed sensor 42 , a gyro sensor 43 , a communication section 44 , a user I/F section 45 and a clock section 46 . The GNSS receiver 41 is a device that receives signals from the Global Navigation Satellite System, receives radio waves from navigation satellites, and outputs signals for calculating the current location of the vehicle via an interface (not shown). The control unit 20 acquires the current location of the vehicle by acquiring this signal. The clock unit 46 clocks the current year, month, day, current time, and the like, and outputs information indicating the current date and time. The control unit 20 acquires the current date and time based on information from the clock unit 46 . The GNSS receiver 41 outputs a signal indicating the current date and time based on radio waves received from navigation satellites. The control unit 20 acquires this signal and corrects the current date and time. The vehicle speed sensor 42 outputs a signal corresponding to the rotational speed of the wheels of the vehicle. The control unit 20 acquires this signal through an interface (not shown) and acquires the vehicle speed. The gyro sensor 43 detects the angular acceleration of turning of the vehicle in the horizontal plane and outputs a signal corresponding to the orientation of the vehicle. The control unit 20 obtains the traveling direction of the vehicle by obtaining this signal. The vehicle speed sensor 42, the gyro sensor 43, and the like are used to identify the travel trajectory of the vehicle. The current location of the vehicle specified based on and is corrected based on the output signal of the GNSS receiver 41 .

The communication unit 44 is a wireless communication circuit for performing wireless communication with an external device. In this embodiment, the communication unit 44 can perform wireless communication with the server 50 . The server 50 transmits weather information indicating the weather for each area in response to a request from a client (for example, the navigation system 10).

The user I/F unit 45 is an interface unit for inputting instructions from a user (an occupant of the vehicle) and providing various kinds of information to the user. It has an input section and an audio output section such as a speaker. The user I/F unit 45 receives a control signal from the control unit 20, displays an image for performing various guidance such as route guidance on the display unit, and outputs sound for performing various guidance from a speaker. In this embodiment, weather guidance is included in the various types of guidance.

In this embodiment, the control unit 20 can execute a navigation program (not shown) recorded in a ROM or the like. The navigation program is a program that causes the control unit 20 to display a map including the current location of the vehicle on the display unit of the user I/F unit 45 and guide the user to the destination. The control unit 20 can set a destination and search for a route from a starting point to a destination using a navigation program, and can guide the vehicle along the route.

The navigation program has a function of registering arbitrary points on the map. By executing the navigation program, the control unit 20 displays the point registration screen on the display unit, acquires the position and type of the point input by the user as the registered point information 30b, and records them in the recording medium 30. can be done. The types of points include home, frequently visited places, and the like. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the location of the user's home has already been registered.

The navigation system 10 in this embodiment has a weather guidance function that guides the user to the weather information of the area where the home is included when the vehicle arrives at the home at the time included in the predetermined time period. The control unit 20 can display a user interface screen for switching the weather guidance function "on" or "off" on the display unit, and can acquire the user's selection of "on" or "off". can.

The control unit 20 has a weather guidance program 21 to implement the weather guidance function when the weather guidance function is in the "on" state. The weather guidance program 21 includes a current location acquisition section 21a, a current date and time acquisition section 21b, a weather information acquisition section 21c, and a guidance control section 21d. The current location acquisition unit 21a is a program module that causes the control unit 20 to implement a function of acquiring the current location of the vehicle. The control unit 20 acquires the current location of the vehicle based on output signals from the GNSS receiving unit 41, the vehicle speed sensor 42, the gyro sensor 43, and the map information 30a. In addition, the control unit 20 records the current location (and date and time) of the vehicle for each predetermined time interval in the recording medium 30 as the travel history information 30c.

The current date and time acquisition unit 21b is a program module that causes the control unit 20 to implement the function of acquiring the current date and time. The control unit 20 acquires the current date and time based on the output signals of the timer 46 and the GNSS receiver 41 . The weather information acquisition unit 21c is a program module that causes the control unit 20 to implement a function of acquiring weather information for a registered location. In the present embodiment, the control unit 20 requests the server 50 for the next day's weather information for the region where the home is included at the timing of weather information acquisition determined by the guidance control unit 21d, which will be described later. to get

The guidance control unit 21d is a program module that causes the control unit 20 to realize the function of providing weather information for the next day's registered location when the vehicle's current location is a registered location and the current date and time are included in a predetermined time period. be. In this embodiment, the registered place is the home registered in the navigation system 10 in advance. Then, the control unit 20 determines that the current location of the vehicle is the registered location when the vehicle moves from outside the range of a predetermined distance (for example, 50 m) around the house to within the predetermined distance. Also, the predetermined time period is the night time period, and in the present embodiment, the predetermined time period is the time period from 15:00 to 24:00. More specifically, in the present embodiment, the time period from 18:00:00 to 23:59:59 is set as the default time period.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, when it is determined that the vehicle has entered from outside the predetermined distance range to within the predetermined distance range centering on the home from 18:00:00 to 23:59:59. Then, the control unit 20 determines that it is time to acquire the weather information by the function of the guidance control unit 21d. Then, when the weather information for the area including the home is acquired from the server 50 by the function of the weather information acquisition unit 21c at that timing, the control unit 20 outputs a voice indicating the weather information from the speaker.

Weather information includes, for example, weather information such as sunny, rainy, cloudy, and snowy. In addition, for example, temperature, probability of precipitation, humidity, wind speed, expected rainfall amount, expected snowfall amount, weather advisory, weather warning, etc. may be included. Related information such as pollen scattering information and washing index may also be included.

In order to limit the number of times of weather information guidance during the same day, the control unit 20 records guidance history information 30d indicating whether or not guidance was provided during the same day in the recording medium 30. FIG. When the voice indicating the weather information is output from the speaker, the time at that time is recorded as the guidance history information 30d. The guidance history information 30d is reset at 00:00:00 every day.

With the above configuration, when the user drives the vehicle to go home at night, the user can be notified of the next day's weather information. In other words, the navigation system 10 can guide useful weather information at a useful timing for the user (occupant of the vehicle).

(2) Weather guidance processing:
Next, the weather guidance process executed by the control unit 20 will be described with reference to FIG. The weather guidance process is repeatedly executed at fixed time intervals (for example, 100 ms) when the vehicle navigation system 10 is on. When the weather guidance process is started, the control unit 20 determines whether or not the vehicle has arrived at home (step S100). The control unit 20 acquires the current location of the vehicle using the function of the current location acquisition unit 21a. Using the function of the guidance control unit 21d, the control unit 20 determines whether or not the radius from the home has entered from outside the predetermined distance range to within the predetermined distance range based on the travel history information 30c and the current location of the vehicle. When it is determined that the vehicle has entered from outside the predetermined distance range to within the predetermined distance range, in step S100, the control unit 20 determines that the vehicle has arrived at home. If it is not determined that the user has arrived at home in step S100, the control unit 20 terminates the weather guidance process.

When it is determined that the user has arrived at home in step S100, the control unit 20 determines whether or not the weather guidance function is set to "ON" (step S105). If it is not determined in step S105 that the weather guidance function is set to "on", the control section 20 terminates the weather guidance processing. If it is determined in step S105 that the weather guidance function is set to "ON", the control unit 20 determines whether the current date and time is included in the predetermined time zone by the function of the guidance control unit 21d ( step S110). If it is determined in step S110 that the current date and time are not included in the predetermined time period, the control unit 20 terminates the weather guidance process.

When it is determined in step S110 that the current date and time are included in the predetermined time zone, the control unit 20 determines whether or not guidance has already been given on the same day (step S115). That is, the control unit 20 determines based on the guidance history information 30d whether guidance of weather information has already been provided on the same day.

If it is determined in step S115 that guidance has already been provided on the same day, the control unit 20 terminates the weather guidance process. If it is not determined in step S115 that guidance has already been given on the same day, the control unit 20 acquires weather information for the next day (step S120). That is, the control unit 20 uses the function of the weather information acquisition unit 21c to request the server 50 for the next day's weather information for the region including the registered location, and acquires the weather information from the server 50. FIG. Subsequently, the control unit 20 determines whether or not the acquisition of the weather information has succeeded (step S125). If it is not determined in step S125 that the weather information has been successfully acquired, the control unit 20 terminates the weather guidance process.

If it is determined in step S125 that the weather information has been successfully acquired, the control unit 20 provides weather information for the next day using the function of the guidance control unit 21d (step S130). That is, the control unit 20 causes the speaker of the user I/F unit 45 to generate a voice indicating the weather information. It should be noted that when the weather information is provided in step S130, the control unit 20 records the date and time when the weather information is provided in the recording medium 30 as the guidance history information 30d.

(3) Other embodiments:
The above embodiment is an example for carrying out the present invention, and when the current location is a registered location and the current date and time is included in the predetermined time zone, as long as the weather information for the registered location for the next day is provided, Various other embodiments can be adopted. For example, the navigation system 10 may be a device mounted on a vehicle or the like, or may be a device realized by a portable terminal such as a smart phone. Furthermore, at least a part of the current location acquisition unit 21a, the current date and time acquisition unit 21b, the weather information acquisition unit 21c, and the guidance control unit 21d, which constitute the navigation system, may be divided into a plurality of devices. Also, part of the configuration of the above-described embodiments may be omitted, and the order of processing may be changed or omitted.

The current location obtaining unit only needs to be able to obtain the current location of the vehicle. Therefore, as described above, various configurations can be adopted other than the configuration specified by combining the autonomous navigation, GNSS, and map matching. For example, the configuration may be such that the current location is acquired by a combination of autonomous navigation and GNSS, or any of these.

The current date and time obtaining unit only needs to be able to obtain the current date and time. Therefore, various configurations can be employed other than the configuration for acquiring the current date and time based on the output signals from the timer and the GNSS receiver as described above. For example, a configuration may be adopted in which the current date and time are acquired from a server by wireless communication.

The weather information acquisition unit only needs to be able to acquire the weather information of the registered location. The above embodiment employs a configuration in which weather information is acquired at the timing when weather information is provided by the guidance control unit. You may employ|adopt the structure to preserve|save. In this case, the guidance control unit uses the weather information stored in the recording medium to provide guidance.

If the current location of the vehicle is the registered location and the current date and time is included in the predetermined time period, the guidance control unit only needs to be able to provide guidance on the weather information for the registered location for the next day, and various configurations can be adopted. be. For example, the registered place may be a pre-registered point other than the home (for example, a place of accommodation during a trip). Also, the registered location may be a location temporarily designated as the destination. Note that the registered location is not limited to the configuration directly registered by the user. For example, a configuration may be used in which the type of facility for which weather information is to be provided may be registered, and in that case, the facility of that type may be treated as the registered location. As the type of facility, for example, an accommodation facility such as a hotel may be assumed.

The predetermined time period may be set to include the check-in time period of the accommodation facility.
It should be noted that the configuration may be such that weather information for the next day is provided when the vehicle passes through the registered location at a time included in the predetermined time period.

The default time zone may be configured to be set by the user, or may be configured to automatically set the default time zone by extracting the lifestyle pattern of the user from the travel history information. Also, the predetermined time period may be variable for each day of the week.

Also, for example, if a user who drives a vehicle to work usually works from evening to early morning, and when the user leaves home in the evening, weather information for the next day's home is provided. good too. Further, for example, when the user returns home by car early in the morning, the weather information for the home on the current day may be provided together with the weather information for the home on the next day.

In the above-described embodiment, the weather information is provided by voice guidance, but the weather information may be provided visually. That is, the weather information may be displayed on the display unit provided in the vehicle. Also, both voice guidance and visual guidance may be implemented.

Furthermore, as in the present invention, when the current location is a registered location and the current date and time are included in the predetermined time zone, the method of providing weather information for the registered location for the next day can also be applied as a program or method. be. In addition, the system, program, and method described above may be realized as an independent device, or may be realized using parts shared with each part provided in the vehicle, and may include various aspects. It is a thing. In addition, it can be changed as appropriate, such as a part of which is software and a part of which is hardware. Furthermore, the invention is established as a recording medium for a program for controlling the system. Of course, the program recording medium may be a magnetic recording medium, a semiconductor memory, or any other recording medium that will be developed in the future.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Navigation system 20... Control part 21... Weather guidance program 21a... Current location acquisition part 21b... Current date and time acquisition part 21c... Weather information acquisition part 21d... Guidance control part 30... Recording medium 30a... Map Information 30b...Registered place information 30c...Travel history information 30d...Guidance history information 41...GNSS receiver 42...Vehicle speed sensor 43...Gyro sensor 44...Communication part 45...User I/F part 50 …server

Claims (4)

a current location acquiring unit that acquires the current location of the vehicle ;
a current date and time acquisition unit for acquiring the current date and time;
a weather information acquisition unit that acquires weather information for a registered location;
a guidance control unit that guides the weather information for the next day when the current location is the registered location and the current date and time are included in a predetermined time period;
with
The registered place is the home of the occupant of the vehicle,
In the guidance control unit, the number of guidance times of the weather information during the same day is limited;
weather guidance system. the predetermined time period is nighttime;
The weather guidance system according to claim 1. The predetermined time zone is a time zone from 15:00 to 24:00,
The weather guidance system according to claim 1 or 2. the computer,
a current location acquisition unit that acquires the current location of the vehicle ;
a current date and time acquisition unit for acquiring the current date and time;
a weather information acquisition unit that acquires weather information for a registered location;
A guidance control unit that guides the weather information for the next day when the current location is the registered location and the current date and time is included in the predetermined time period;
function as
The registered place is the home of the occupant of the vehicle,
In the guidance control unit, the number of guidance times of the weather information during the same day is limited;
weather program.

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