JPH06222125A - On-vehicle navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To readily obtain the name of the road on which a vehicle is traveling, the names of roads joined to that road, and the distance required, etc., while ensuring driving safety. CONSTITUTION:A road on which a vehicle is traveling is detected using a map- matching method and the name of the road detected on which the vehicle is traveling, the names of roads joined to that road, and the distances from the current position to the roads joined are superimposed on a road map and displayed. When the vehicle 20 travels on a road 21 (Route 1), roads 22 (Route 170), 23 (inner beltway) joined to the road 21 are retrieved. The name of the road 21 on which the vehicle is traveling is displayed on a window screen D in a road map display screen C, and the name of each road 22, 23 and the distances from the current position of the vehicle 20 to the roads 22, 23 joined are displayed on the window screen D.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted navigation device which is used by being mounted on a vehicle and which provides a driver with the current position of the vehicle detected based on the traveling distance and traveling direction of the vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to support the traveling of a vehicle on an unfamiliar land, a navigation device for displaying the current position of the vehicle on a display device such as a CRT together with a road map around the vehicle has been mounted on the vehicle. It is used. A so-called map matching method has been conventionally used to detect the current position of the vehicle in such a navigation device.

This map matching method is performed on the assumption that the vehicle travels on a road. That is, the estimated position data obtained by using so-called dead reckoning based on the outputs from the distance sensor and the azimuth sensor and the radio waves from the artificial satellites, and the roads stored in advance in the road map memory including a CD-ROM or the like. The correlation coefficient is calculated based on the map data, and the correlation coefficient indicating that the error with respect to the road is the smallest is selected. Then, the estimated position of the vehicle traveling on the road corresponding to the selected correlation coefficient is detected as the current position of the vehicle (see JP-A-63-148115).

Further, there is a prior art for correcting the current position of the vehicle in addition to the map matching method. That is,
The estimated position data calculated in the past is stored in the memory, the past estimated position data is read from the memory at a predetermined timing, the traveling locus of the vehicle is reproduced based on the read estimated position data, and then the traveling locus And a road map. Then, as a result, when the shapes match to the extent that a certain evaluation criterion is satisfied, the current position detected by the map matching method is corrected.

Although not directly related to the map matching method, a prior art which provides a driver with information about a road on which a vehicle will travel in the future is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-62-102113 and JP-A-2. -154111 gazette etc. are disclosed. The prior art disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-102113 detects the current position of a vehicle and detects a branch point (for example, an intersection) ahead of the detected current position in the traveling direction of the vehicle. Information about the detected branch point and a road connected to the branch point (hereinafter, referred to as “connecting road”) is displayed on the driver by the display means. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example in which information about the connecting road is displayed (corresponding to FIG. 5 of the publication). In this figure, the map display unit 1
At 00, the current position 101 of the vehicle, the branch point 102, and the road are displayed with the identification numbers A, B, and C added. Further, the branch point 102 is displayed on the branch information display section 110.
The information about the connecting road to which the name 111 and the identification numbers A, B, and C are added, for example, the connecting road name 112 and its accompanying information 113 are displayed. Therefore,
The driver obtained information about the current position of the vehicle, the branch point ahead, and the connecting road by looking at the displayed contents.

Further, the prior art disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-154111 detects the current position of the vehicle, detects the name of the next intersection on the route to the destination,
The information such as the name of the intersection and the connecting road to proceed to is displayed on the driver. Also in this prior art, since the name of the intersection and the information about the connecting road to be reached are displayed before reaching the next intersection, the driver obtains the information about the connecting road by looking at the displayed contents. .

[0007]

However, the above-mentioned JP-A-62-102113 and JP-A-2-1541 which detect the current position of the vehicle and provide information about the road on which the vehicle will travel in the future.
According to the prior art described in Publication No. 11, when the vehicle is driving in an area where roads are densely populated, for example, an area where a highway and its side roads are parallel, It may not be possible to detect a running road. If the road on which the vehicle is currently traveling cannot be accurately detected, the driver may be erroneously notified of information about the road on which the vehicle is traveling in the future.

Further, in the above prior art, when it is desired to immediately know the name of the road on which the vehicle is currently traveling, for example, in the prior art disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-102113, the map display section 100 is displayed. The identification number of the road passing through the current position 101 of the displayed vehicle is searched from A, B and C, and this identification number is selected from the identification numbers A, B and C displayed on the branch information display unit 110. You have to choose. Moreover, from the current position 101 of the vehicle to the branch point 1
When it is desired to know the distance to 02, the distance on the screen must be multiplied by the scale.

However, in areas such as where the denominator of the scale of the road map data is large or the roads are dense,
Finding the current position 101 on the screen may be difficult. In particular, when a plurality of roads are running in parallel, it is extremely difficult to determine which road the vehicle is currently driving. Therefore, it takes some time to perform the above operation. That is, attention was paid to other than driving for that amount of time, which could be dangerous for traffic safety.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to pay attention to the fact that the road on which the vehicle is currently traveling can be accurately detected by the map matching method, and this method is used to identify the name of the currently traveling road. An object is to provide a vehicle-mounted navigation device that can be easily recognized. Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle-mounted navigation device that can easily obtain information about a road connected to a road on which a vehicle is currently traveling.

[0011]

The on-vehicle navigation system according to claim 1 for achieving the above object is mounted on a vehicle and used, and the traveling distance of the vehicle detected by a distance sensor and a direction sensor. And the data corresponding to the estimated position of the vehicle estimated based on the traveling direction or the radio waves from the artificial satellite and the road map data stored in the road map memory are compared, and the vehicle travels from the past estimated position of the vehicle. A vehicle-mounted navigation system that obtains a trajectory, compares this traveling trajectory with the road shape obtained from the road map data, detects the road on which the vehicle is currently traveling, identifies the current position, and provides the driver with the result. In the device, the detected road name data of the currently running road is associated with the road map memory or the relationship between the road and the name of the road. The road name reading means for reading out from the stored memory and the road name read by the road name reading means are provided to the driver as a road name currently running, separately from the road map display or overlapped with the road map display. It is characterized by including an informing means for informing.

According to this structure, the road on which the vehicle is currently traveling is detected by using a so-called map matching method in which the road on which the vehicle is currently traveling is detected based on the past traveling trajectory of the vehicle. Then, the name of the road currently being traveled is read by the road name reading means from the road map memory or the memory that stores the correspondence with the road currently being traveled. Then, the read road name is notified to the driver by the notifying means as the road name of the currently running road separately from the road map display or overlapping the road map display. Therefore, the driver can easily obtain the name of the road currently running without searching the road map display screen. Further, since the map matching method is used to detect the road currently traveling, it is possible to accurately detect the road currently traveling.

A vehicle-mounted navigation device according to a second aspect of the present invention is a connecting road searching means for searching the road map memory for a road that is connected ahead of the detected traveling road of the vehicle in the traveling direction of the vehicle. And the name of the connecting road searched by the connecting road searching means from the road map memory or a memory stored in association with the detected relationship between the currently running road and the name of the road. Connecting road name reading means for outputting, distance calculating means for calculating a distance along the detected currently traveling road from the current position of the vehicle to a branch point of the connecting road searched by the connecting road searching means, The driver is notified of the connection road name searched by the connection road name search means and the distance calculated by the distance calculation means separately from the road map display or overlapped with the road map display. It is characterized in that and a second informing means.

According to this structure, the connecting road is searched by the connecting road searching means, and the connecting road name is stored in the road map memory or the memory storing the correspondence between the road on which the vehicle is currently traveling and the name of the road. It is read. Further, the distance calculation means calculates the distance along the road currently traveling from the current position of the vehicle to the branch point of the connecting road. Then, the connecting road name and distance are notified to the driver by the second notifying means separately from the road map display or overlapped with the road map display. Therefore, the driver can easily obtain the name of the connecting road and the distance to reach it.

An on-vehicle navigation system according to a third aspect of the invention is provided with a priority order storing means for storing in advance the priority order for notifying the driver of the road name for each road, and the second notifying means is the above-mentioned means. When a plurality of connecting roads are searched by the connecting road searching means, the connecting road names read by the connecting road name reading means are notified to the driver in descending order of priority stored in the priority storing means. It is characterized by

According to this structure, when a plurality of connecting roads are searched, the connecting road names are first read by the connecting road name reading means. Then, the read connecting road names are notified to the driver by the second notifying means in descending order of priority stored in the priority storing means.
Therefore, for example, if a desired priority order is stored in the priority order storage means in advance, a desired connecting road name can be preferentially obtained.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of the vehicle-mounted navigation device according to the embodiment of the present invention. This on-vehicle navigation device is installed in a vehicle and is used to display the current position of the vehicle along with the road map around it, and to display the name of the road currently running, the name of the connecting road, and the road currently running. The distance calculated from the current position to the connecting road (hereinafter referred to as “straight ahead distance”) is displayed by being superimposed on the road map.

This on-vehicle navigation system has a vehicle speed sensor 1 and a direction sensor 2 for detecting the traveling speed of the vehicle and integrating the traveling speed to detect the traveling distance of the vehicle. Based on the output of, the estimated position of the vehicle is calculated by so-called dead reckoning, and the current running road and the current position of the vehicle are calculated based on the calculated estimated position and the running trajectory of the vehicle. A locator 3 for detecting by a map matching method is provided. Further, the present position of the vehicle is given from the locator 3, the present position and the road map read from the road map memory 4 are provided to the display unit 5, and the present position is based on the presently running road or the present position. The control unit 6 that reads the names of roads and connecting roads that are running from the road map memory 4, calculates straight-ahead distances, and provides these road names, connecting road names, and straight-ahead distances to the display unit 5.
Is equipped with. The display unit 5 functions as a notification unit and a second notification unit.

The locator 3 is connected to an estimated position storage unit 7 that stores estimated positions calculated in the past. The estimated position storage unit 7 stores the calculated estimated position each time the locator 3 calculates the estimated position. Also,
A road map memory 4 is connected to the locator 3.
The road map memory 4 stores road map data including combinations of nodes and links. A node is generally a coordinate position for identifying an intersection or a bending point of a road, and node data includes data such as a node number and an address of a link connected to the node. A link is a connection between each node, and link data consists of link numbers, road names corresponding to the link numbers, link start and end node addresses, link distances, link azimuths, and other data. Become. However, the road name data in this link data is mainly the names of major roads such as national roads, prefectural roads, and prefectural roads, and does not include the names of small roads such as alleys.

The detection of the currently running road and the current position in the locator 3 is performed by the above dead reckoning and matching between the estimated position of the vehicle detected by this dead reckoning and the road map read from the road map memory 4. It is performed in combination with the Tori Map Matching method. That is, when the estimated position of the vehicle is calculated by dead reckoning, the locator 3 calculates a correlation coefficient based on this estimated position and the road map stored in the road map memory 4, and from this correlation coefficient, A correlation coefficient indicating that the distance to the road is the shortest is selected, the road corresponding to this correlation coefficient is detected, and the position on the road is detected as the current position.

Further, the detected current position of the vehicle may be corrected. That is, the traveling locus is obtained by connecting the estimated position of the vehicle calculated by the dead reckoning and the past estimated position stored in the estimated position storage unit 7. Then, this traveling locus is compared with the road shape read from the road map memory 4, and as a result of this comparison, if the shapes match to a degree that a certain evaluation criterion is satisfied, the current position is corrected.

The road map memory 4 is connected to the control unit 6. The control unit 6 reads the road name of the road currently being traveled from the road map memory 4 and the surrounding road maps from the road map memory 4. The read road name and road map and the current position detected by the locator 3 are provided to the display unit 5, and the current position of the vehicle is displayed on the display unit 5 so as to be superimposed on the road map. The road name is displayed overlaid on the road map display.

The control section 6 searches for a connecting road and reads the connecting road name. That is, the control unit 6
Also functions as connecting road searching means and connecting road name reading means. More specifically, the road map memory 4
Based on the link data in the road map data stored in, the links in the traveling direction of the vehicle are traced from the current position, and the links connected to the links having the address indicating the intersection are searched. Then, the road name data in the data of this connected link is read. The read road name data is provided to the display unit 5, and is displayed on the display unit 5 in the same manner as the above-mentioned road name of the currently running road is displayed and is superimposed on the road map display.

However, as shown in FIG.
Is currently traveling on the road A and the road name is not included in the link data in the road B, that is, when the road B is a small road such as an alley, the road B is searched even if the connection road is searched. Does not have road name data, no road name data is read. That is, the roads from which the road name data is read are limited to roads to which the road name is assigned. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 3 (b),
If no road name is given to the road B currently running and a road name is given to the connecting road A, the road name data of the road A is read.

The control unit 6 is connected to a priority order storage unit 8 as a priority order storage unit that stores the priority order when the connecting roads are displayed in advance. This is provided for the purpose of displaying the names of connecting roads and the like in the driver's desired order when a plurality of connecting roads are searched. Therefore, when a plurality of connecting roads are searched, the control unit 6 once reads the road name data of each connecting road from the road map memory 4, and thereafter, the priority order stored in the priority order storing unit 8 is high. The connecting road names are rearranged in order. Then, the connecting road names are displayed on the display unit 5 in the rearranged order.

Further, the control section 6 calculates a straight traveling distance. That is, the control unit 6 also functions as a distance calculating unit. More specifically, this straight traveling distance is obtained by adding up all the distances of the respective links from the current position to the branch point with the connecting road. The straight-ahead distance is also provided to the display unit 5, and is displayed on the display unit 5 together with the name of the connecting road having the straight-ahead distance on the road map display. When a plurality of connecting roads are searched, the respective straight-ahead distances are calculated, rearranged by the control unit 6 in descending order of priority, and then provided to the display unit 5. Then, each straight traveling distance is displayed on the display unit 5 together with each connecting road name for which each straight traveling distance is calculated.

An input switch section 9 operated by a driver or the like is connected to the control section 6. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation of the vehicle-mounted navigation device, and FIG. 1 is a table in the case where a road name is given to each of the road currently running and a plurality of connecting roads in the vehicle-mounted navigation device. It is a front view which shows an example. The operation of the vehicle-mounted navigation device will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4 and 1.

First, in FIG. 4, when the estimated position of the vehicle is calculated (step s1), the locator 3 detects the road on which the vehicle is currently traveling by the map matching method (step s2). Then, it is determined whether or not a road name is given to the detected road currently running (step s3). As a result, if a road name is given to the road currently running, the road name is read (step s4). On the other hand, if no road name is given to the road currently running, the road name is not read.

Next, it is judged whether or not there is a connecting road to which a road name is given (step s5). As a result of step s3, this process is performed regardless of whether or not a road name is given to the road currently running. As a result of this processing, when it is determined that there is a connecting road to which the road name is given, the road name of the connecting road is read (step s6), and the straight traveling distance is calculated (step s7). Then, in step s5, the process proceeds to the determination of whether or not there is a connecting road to which the road name is added, and thereafter, for a predetermined period,
The operations of these steps s5 to s7 are repeated.

As a result of the step s5, when it is judged that there is no connecting road to which the road name is given or there is no connecting road, whether or not the connecting road name is read is plural. Is determined (step s8). As a result, when there are a plurality of connecting roads, the roads are sorted in descending order of priority (step s9), and as shown in FIG. 1, the name of the road currently running, the connecting road name, and the straight-ahead distance are displayed on the road map. They are displayed in an overlapping manner (step s10). That is, for example, as shown in Fig. 1, a parallel road (Meishin Expressway)
While the vehicle 20 is traveling on the current road 21 (National highway No. 1) running parallel to 24, the connecting road 22 (National highway No. 170), 2
3 (inner loop line) is searched, and if the priority of these connecting roads is higher on the connecting road 22, the road name of the road 21 is displayed on the window screen D in the road map display screen C, and the connecting road is displayed. The names of the roads 22 and 23 and the distances from the current position of the vehicle 20 to the connecting roads 22 and 23 are also displayed on the window screen D with the connecting road 22 first.

On the other hand, if there is no connecting road to which a road name is given or if there is only one connecting road within a predetermined range, rearrangement is not performed. That is, if there is no connecting road, only the name of the road currently running is displayed, and if there is only one connecting road, the name of the road currently running,
The name of the connecting road and the straight distance are displayed. If there is no road name currently running in step s3, naturally the road name currently running is not displayed.

As described above, according to the vehicle-mounted navigation device of the present embodiment, the road on which the vehicle is currently traveling is detected by using the map matching method based on the traveling locus of the past vehicle. Even in areas where
It is possible to accurately detect the road currently running. Further, the name of the road currently being traveled, the name of the connecting road, and the straight-ahead distance, which are accurately detected by the map matching method, are displayed on the window screen D of the road map display screen C of the display unit 5, so that the driver By simply glancing at the displayed contents, it is possible to easily recognize the accurate road name of the currently running road and also the information about the connecting road. Therefore, the time required for the above-described recognition operation can be shortened as compared with the related art, so that the driving assistance can be performed safely and favorably.

The description of the present embodiment is as described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the name of the road on which the vehicle is currently traveling is displayed on the display unit 5, but the driver may be informed by voice using a speaker or the like. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the name of the road currently being run, the name of the connecting road, etc. is displayed in the window screen that overlaps with the road map display screen. However, for example, characters may be super-imposed in the screen. You may Further, another display unit may be provided, and one display unit may display the road map, and the other display unit may display the name of the currently running road, the name of the connecting road, or the like.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the road map data stored in the road map memory 4 includes the road name data has been described. However, for example, the relationship between the link number and the road name is described. A configuration may be employed in which a memory that is associated and stored is separately provided. Further, the correspondence relationship between the link number and the road name may be stored together with the priority in the priority storage unit 8, for example.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the estimated position of the vehicle is detected by dead reckoning based on the outputs of the vehicle speed sensor 1 and the direction sensor 2. However, the estimated position of the vehicle is received by receiving a radio wave from an artificial satellite, for example. GPS (Global Pos)
itioning System) may be used. In addition, various design changes can be made without changing the gist of the present invention.

[0036]

As described above, according to the vehicle-mounted navigation device of the present invention, the road on which the vehicle is currently traveling is detected based on the past traveling path of the vehicle, so that only the current position of the vehicle is detected. In comparison with the conventional technique in which the driver visually detects the road currently traveling based on the above, it is possible to more accurately detect the road currently traveling even in an area where the road is dense. In addition, only the correctly detected current road name is displayed by the notification means as the current road name separately from the road map display or overlapped with the road map display. It is not necessary to judge the road on which the vehicle is traveling from the position of the vehicle displayed on the screen and search for the name corresponding to the road on the screen. Therefore, the driver can shorten the time for the recognition operation of the road name that is currently running. In particular, when a plurality of roads are running in parallel, which road is currently running can be seen at a glance regardless of the scale of the screen. For this reason, the name of the road currently being traveled can be easily obtained, so that the travel support can be performed safely and satisfactorily.

According to the vehicle-mounted navigation device of the second aspect, the second notifying means notifies the name of the connecting road and the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the connecting road. Therefore, since it is not necessary to multiply the distance on the screen by the scale to obtain the distance as in the conventional case, it is possible to significantly reduce the time to obtain the information about the connecting road. Therefore, information about the connecting road can be easily obtained, so that the driving assistance can be performed safely and satisfactorily.

According to the vehicle-mounted navigation device of the third aspect, when a plurality of connecting roads are searched, the second notifying means notifies the driver of the connecting roads in descending order of priority. Therefore, for example, if a road on which a driver frequently travels is stored in the priority storage means as a high priority, information about the road can be obtained preferentially.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a display example on a display unit included in a vehicle-mounted navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of the vehicle-mounted navigation device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a searchable connecting road.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the navigation device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conventional display example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Locator 4 Road map memory 5 Display unit 6 Control unit 7 Estimated position storage unit 8 Priority storage unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Data corresponding to an estimated position of a vehicle, which is used on a vehicle and is estimated based on a traveling distance and a traveling direction of the vehicle detected by a distance sensor and a direction sensor or a radio wave from an artificial satellite. The road map data stored in the road map memory is compared, the traveling locus of the vehicle is further obtained from the estimated position of the vehicle in the past, the traveling locus is compared with the road shape obtained from the road map data, and these comparisons are made. In the vehicle-mounted navigation device that detects the currently traveling road of the vehicle based on the result, identifies the current position, and provides it to the driver, the detected name data of the currently traveling road is stored in the road map memory or the road. Road name reading means for reading from a memory in which the relationship with the name of the road is stored, and the road read by the road name reading means. The vehicle navigation apparatus which comprises a notifying means for informing the driver as the road name separately or road in the map displayed superimposed currently traveling the road map display. 2. A connecting road searching means for searching, from the road map memory, a road connected to the front of the detected traveling road of the vehicle in the traveling direction of the vehicle by the connecting road searching means. A connecting road name reading means for reading the name of the connected road from the road map memory or a memory in which the detected relationship between the currently running road and the name of the road is stored in association with each other; A distance calculating means for calculating the distance along the detected current running road from the current position of the vehicle to the junction of the connecting road searched by the connecting road searching means, and the connecting road name searching means for searching. And a second notifying unit for notifying the driver of the connection road name and the distance calculated by the distance calculating unit separately from the road map display or overlapping the road map display. Motomeko 1-vehicle navigation device as claimed. 3. A priority storage means for storing in advance the priority order for notifying a driver of a road name for each road, and the second notifying means comprises a plurality of connecting roads by the connecting road searching means. 3. The driver is informed of the connecting road names read by the connecting road name reading means in descending order of priority stored in the priority storing means when searched. In-vehicle navigation device.