JPH041897A - Voice guiding equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To properly set timing for starting a guide in accordance with the speed of a vehicle by providing a reading end time calculating means and a guide start control means for actuating a voice rule synthesizing means at a timing calculated from a prediction time obtained from an arrival time predicting means and a reading end time obtained from the reading end time calculating means. CONSTITUTION:A reading end time calculating means H for calculating time for completely reading a guide text prepared by a text preparing means D and a guide start control means I for actuating a voice rule synthesizing means E at a timing calculated from prediction time obtained from an arrival time predicting means G and reading end time obtained from the reading end time calculating means H are provided. The guide start control means I compares the prediction time to arrival with the time for reading the guide text to actuate the voice rule synthesizing means E at a proper timing which is not tool slow or quick. The voice rule synthesizing means E converts the guide text into a voice signal to start a voice guide. Thus, timing for starting to read the guide text can be controlled according to the speed of vehicle.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention is a car navigation location system used for a moving object, such as a car, which detects the current position of the moving object and provides information to drivers, passengers, etc. near the current location. This invention relates to an audio guidance device that provides audio guidance on geographical information.

<Prior Art> Car navigation location systems have conventionally been provided that convey vehicle position information and route guidance information to drivers. This system is equipped with a geomagnetic sensor, a azimuth sensor such as a gyro, an odometer sensor that measures the distance traveled, a map memory, and a display.The system determines the current position of the vehicle and displays that position and the vector in the direction of travel on the display. It is displayed superimposed on the map.

The driver can see where the vehicle is on the map and in which direction it is moving by looking at the display.

In the above-mentioned car navigation location system, the driver has to look at the display while driving, which is dangerous, so the vehicle position information is displayed on the screen at the same time.
A device has been proposed that notifies the driver of place names, intersection names, and road names by voice so that the driver can obtain information without having to look at the screen (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 134-75911,
(See Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 16915/1983).

For example, when approaching an intersection, a voice message such as ``There is an intersection in 1 km'' or ``Please turn right at the three-way intersection'' may be issued to instruct the driver on the distance to the intersection or the direction in which to turn. can.

However, the above voice guidance device has the following problems.

■The system only uses common names such as ``intersection'' and ``three-way intersection,'' and cannot provide guidance based on actual place names such as ``Tokyo Station'' or ``Tenji X-chome intersection,'' so it has little power to appeal to drivers.

■Since only a limited number of fixed phrases are uttered, such as "Please turn right" or "Please turn right," the driver quickly gets tired of hearing it and stops paying attention to it.

Therefore, the present applicant has filed a patent application with the aim of providing an audio guidance device that can provide audio guidance based on actual place names, and that can provide audio guidance by creating sentences that are varied and not boring to listen to. (April 17, 1990, "Voice Guidance Device").

According to this audio guidance device, it is possible to create and audio-output a guidance text suitable for the local area on the spot, and it is possible to provide a wide variety of guidance texts.

Therefore, appropriate and abundant information can be provided to the driver while driving, and great assistance can be provided when the driver is geographically uncertain.

<Problem to be solved by the invention> However, one problem was how to set the timing for guiding the object.

For example, guidance may start when the distance between the vehicle and the target object approaches a certain distance, but if the vehicle is driving at high speed, the driver may pass the target object before finishing reading the guidance text. This is inconvenient because it is necessary to turn around to see the object.

On the other hand, if you are driving at low speed, you will finish reading the guidance text at a point too far away from the object, and you will not be able to make a connection between the guidance and the object you can see from the car window.

The present invention has been made to solve this problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a voice guidance device that can accurately set the timing of starting guidance according to the speed of the vehicle.

Means and operation for solving the above-mentioned problems> As shown in FIG.
, a guide information storage means B that stores information about a specific point on a road map in correspondence with the position of that point; a position detection means C that detects the vehicle position; When it is detected that the vehicle is approaching, it searches for information on the specific point and creates a guidance sentence, and the voice rule synthesis means E converts the created guidance sentence into an audio signal. The speed detection means F detects the position and speed obtained from the position detection means C1 and the speed detection means F, and the road map storage means calculates the amount of time it takes for the sentence generation means to reach the object to be guided. A, arrival time prediction means G that calculates using the geographical information obtained from the guide information storage means B, and reading time that calculates the time required to finish reading the guide text created by the text generation means. A device comprising a calculation means H, and a guidance start control means (2) that starts the speech rule synthesis means E at a timing calculated from the predicted time obtained from the arrival time prediction means G and the reading time obtained from the reading time calculation means H. It is.

According to the voice guidance device described above, the position of the vehicle is determined by the position detecting means C and transmitted to the text generating means. The text generation means searches the road map storage means A and the guide information storage means B according to the position of the vehicle, and creates a guide text. The reading time calculation means H calculates the time required to finish reading this guidance sentence, and sends the calculated time to the guidance start control means (2). On the other hand, the arrival time prediction means G calculates the time required to reach the guidance object from the position and movement speed obtained from the position detection means C1 and the speed detection means F, and sends the calculated time to the guidance start control means I.

The guidance start control means I compares the predicted time until arrival and the time required to read out the guidance sentence, and starts the voice rule synthesis means E at an appropriate timing that is neither too late nor too early. The voice rule synthesis means E converts the guidance sentence into a voice signal and starts the voice guidance.

<Example> Embodiments will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings showing examples.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the voice guidance device. The voice guidance device is installed in the vehicle body 11, and includes: - a road map database 4 that stores road map data; - a unique name for a specific point on the road map that corresponds to the location information of that point. - Geomagnetic sensor 10 installed on the roof of the vehicle body 11, - Wheel speed sensor 9 installed on the wheel of the vehicle body 11, - Direction information of the geomagnetic sensor 10 and travel information of the wheel speed sensor 9 A position/speed detection unit 8 that calculates the travel trajectory based on distance information and detects the current vehicle position and speed; - When it is detected that the vehicle is approaching a specific point on the map, it detects the current position and speed of the vehicle; A text generation unit 2 that searches for the unique name of the point based on the location information and creates a guide text by combining it with a fixed form text. - The time it takes for the text generation unit 2 to reach the target to be guided. an arrival time prediction unit 12 that calculates the position and speed of the vehicle obtained from the position/speed detection unit 8, road information obtained from the road map database 4, and the position of the object obtained from the guidance information database 1;・Reading time calculation section a 13 that calculates the time required to finish reading the guide text created by the text generation section 2; ・Predicted time obtained from the arrival time prediction section 12 and obtained from the reading time calculation section 13. A guidance start control unit 14 that starts the voice rule synthesis unit 3 at a timing calculated from the reading time, - A voice rule synthesis unit 3 that converts the created guide text into an audio signal, - A speaker that outputs the synthesized voice 7. Map obtained from road map database 4 and position/speed detection unit 8
The display controller 5 includes a display control section 5 for displaying the current vehicle position detected by the display 6 on the display 6, and a display 6.

The speaker 7 may be prepared exclusively, or a part of the audio equipment such as a car stereo installed in the vehicle may be used.

Also, a gyro (mechanical gyro, laser gyro, fiber optic gyro) can be used instead of the geomagnetic sensor 1o.
Orientation information may be obtained by detecting the turning angular velocity of the vehicle body and integrating it over time. Instead of the wheel speed sensor 9, the travel distance may be determined using an odometer attached to the vehicle. Also, the position/speed detection section 8
It is also possible to match the detected vehicle position with the road on the map and correct the error in the vehicle position by using the constraint that the car only travels on the road (
(See Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 148115/1983).

The guide information database 1 may be configured by, for example, a CD-ROM, and various other media such as an optical disk, a magnetic disk, and a semiconductor memory can be used. To reduce hardware costs, e.g. one CD-ROM
The area may be divided and shared between the road map database 4 and the guide information database 1.

The guidance information database 1 includes the unique name of the guidance target,
Coordinates and detailed description are stored. An example of stored data is shown in Table 1. (Margins below) Table 1 The sentence generation unit 2 is composed of, for example, the functions of a microcomputer, and has, for example, a fixed sentence such as ``xxxx will be available soon.'' This “××××
” is applied with the unique name obtained by searching the guide information database 1, and furthermore, the detailed explanation is searched from the guide information database 1 and outputted as voice.

Note that if the text generation section 2 and the display control section 5 are provided by the functions of one microcomputer, they can be shared by one piece of hardware, so it is possible to reduce the burden of hardware development and reduce costs. Arrival time prediction unit 12
, the reading end time calculation unit 13, and the guidance start control unit 14 can also be implemented using a microcomputer, so it is also possible to implement all of these functions in one microcomputer.

The speech rule synthesis section 3 uses a so-called text synthesis device that receives sentences containing kanji and kana as input. In the case of text synthesis, sentences containing kanji and kana are checked against a built-in dictionary, converted into readings, and then speech synthesis is performed.

Text can also be displayed on the display 6.

In the voice guidance system described above, the position/velocity detection section 8 detects the current vehicle position, and when it is determined that the vehicle is approaching Yamada Shrine, the position information is transmitted to the text generation section 2. The text generation section 2 searches the guide information database 1 according to the location of the vehicle, creates a guide regarding Yamada Shrine, and sends it to the speech rule synthesis section 3. For example, ``Yamada Shrine is coming soon.

It's a miraculous thing for matchmaking.

Seasonal flowers such as cherry blossoms, plums, and azaleas are in full bloom.

It was built in 1635, and was almost completely destroyed in a large fire at the end of the Edo period, but was rebuilt in the Taisho period.''

The reading end time calculation unit 13 calculates the time required to read this sentence and finish reading it aloud.

In this example, there are approximately 120 syllables, and if outputted at a rate of approximately 8 syllables per second, it would take approximately 15 seconds.

On the other hand, the arrival time prediction unit 12 predicts the time when the vehicle will arrive at Yamada Shrine. For example, if a vehicle is traveling at an average speed of 30 km/h, it is calculated that it will take 30 seconds to reach a point 250 m before Yamada Shrine.

The guidance start control unit 14 instructs the audio rule synthesis unit 3 to start outputting audio when the predicted arrival time (denoted as Tl) or the end time of reading the guidance sentence (denoted as T2) approaches. T1
The time when the value approaches T2 is, for example, when the following equation holds true.

T2 + (Correction time) - T1 Here, the correction time is the time from when the audio output ends until it passes the target object. If you want the audio output to end before the target object is reached, set it as a positive value. If you don't care if the audio output ends later, use a negative value. If you want the audio output to end before reaching the target object, set the correction time to a small positive value if the temporal fluctuation of the vehicle speed is small, and if the temporal fluctuation of the vehicle speed is large,
It is desirable to set the correction time to a large positive value. Specifically, correction time (average value of vehicle speed) + 2X (fluctuation of vehicle speed) The voice rule synthesis unit 3 receives the instruction signal to start outputting, converts the aforementioned guidance sentence into voice, and outputs the voice. If the output start timing is set as described above (correction time>0), it is possible to pass the vicinity of Yamada Shrine around the time when the audio guidance text is finished being output.

The voice rule synthesis unit 3 converts the guide text into a voice signal. The converted audio signal passes through an audio amplifier (not shown) and is output from the speaker 7, and is heard by the driver and fellow passengers.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, if the speech rule synthesis unit 3 is not intended to be displayed on the display 6 in the form of kanji and kana mixed sentences, it is limited to the text synthesis device. That doesn't mean it will happen. The sentence generation section 2 may directly generate a sentence expressed in the form of phonetic characters, and the speech rule synthesis section 3 may convert it into speech. In this case, it is preferable that the guide information database 1 is also registered in a reading format.

Furthermore, it is also possible to apply the present invention to mobile objects such as ships and aircraft (for example, pleasure boats and pleasure airplanes).

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, according to the voice guidance device of the present invention, the timing at which guidance text starts to be read can be controlled in accordance with the vehicle speed.

For example, it may be possible to pass the guided object just as the guidance is finished.

Therefore, the relationship between the contents of the guide and the object is always checked, and the guide can be provided in a way that is appropriate for the actual situation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a voice guidance device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a voice guidance device according to an embodiment. Fig. 1 A: road map storage means, B: guide information storage means, C: position detection means, D
...Sentence generation means, E...Speech rule synthesis means, F.
... Speed detection means, G... Arrival time prediction means, H...
・Reading end time calculation means, ■...guidance start control means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Road map storage means (A) storing road map data
a guide information storage means (B) that stores information about a specific point on a road map in correspondence with the position of that point; a position detection means (C) that detects a vehicle position; When it is detected that the system is approaching a specific point, a text generating means (D) searches for information on the specific point and creates a guide text, and a voice rule synthesis means (D) converts the created guide text into an audio signal. E), the speed detecting means (F) that detects the speed of the vehicle, and the position detecting means (C), the speed corresponding to the amount of time it takes for the text generating means (D) to reach the object to be guided. Arrival time prediction means (G) that calculates using the position and speed obtained from the detection means (F), geographical information obtained from the road map storage means (A) and the guide information storage means (B), and text generation. reading end time calculation means (H) for calculating the time required to finish reading the guide text created by means (D);
and guidance start control means (I) which starts the speech rule synthesis means (E) at a timing calculated from the predicted time obtained from the arrival time prediction means (G) and the reading end time obtained from the reading time calculation means (H). ) A voice guidance device characterized by comprising: