JPH09147292A - Traveling lane guidance device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform the aural guidance of the right and left turn instructions and also the proper traveling lanes for vehicles based on the lane control information on the intersections and crossroads and on the traveling lane information. SOLUTION: An intersection information transmitter 4 which transmits by radio the traveling lane control information on an intersection having plural traveling lanes is placed on a road or its vicinity together with a traveling lane number transmitter 5 which transmits by radio the lane number information to identify the present traveling lane. On the other hand, a vehicle contains the receivers 2 and 3 which receive the lane control information and the traveling lane number information from the transmitters 4 and 5 respectively. Then a CPU 104 previously decides a proper traveling lane and gives the lane guidance to the vehicle driver via a voice generation part 108 when the vehicle turns to the right or left at the intersection based on the instructions of a route guidance device 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle lane guidance system for providing a traveling vehicle with traffic information at intersections and branch points in a vehicle route guidance system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a route guidance device (navigation device) for guiding a travel route to a destination of an automobile has rapidly become popular. First, the route guidance device uses GPS (Global
Positioning System) finds the current location, then when you enter the destination, it will search the driving route from the current location to the destination and display it on the screen. Further, the device is a device which constantly obtains the current position even while traveling and guides the route to the driver by voice or the like at intersections and branch points.

An example of the above-mentioned conventional route guiding device will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 shows the configuration of a conventional route guiding device. In FIG.
Reference numeral 101 is an artificial satellite for GPS, 102 is a GPS receiver, 103 is a current location calculation unit, 104 is a CPU, 105 is a map database, 106 is a display screen, 107 is an input unit, and 108 is a voice generation unit.

The operation of the route guiding device configured as described above will be described below. First, artificial satellite 101
The GPS receiver 102 receives the radio wave from. At least 3
The current position can be calculated by the current position calculation unit 103 from the radio waves from the artificial satellites. The CPU 104 collates the current location with the road map obtained from the map database 105, and displays the current location and the surrounding road map on the display screen 106. The current location is always obtained from the radio waves of the artificial satellite 101 even while the vehicle is running, and the road information and the current location in the map database 105 are displayed on the display screen 106 along the progress. When the route guidance function is used, the destination and, if necessary, the route point are input from the input unit 107. CPU 104
Then, the route from the current position to the waypoint and the destination is searched from the information in the map database 105, the recommended traveling route is obtained, and the recommended route is displayed on the display screen 106.
If you drive along the recommended route you have obtained, you can easily reach the destination even on the road you are using for the first time. In recent years,
When a right turn or a left turn is required while traveling along the recommended route, a function of instructing a right turn or a left turn point by voice before turning is provided. This voice guidance is performed by the voice generation unit 108.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional structure, although voice guidance is provided in advance for traveling at intersections or junctions (turning right or turning left), the road currently traveling is a plurality of lanes. In this case, the driver himself / herself must judge the lane selection according to the traveling direction. Therefore, for example, if you are suddenly instructed to turn left while driving in the right lane, or suddenly instructed to turn right while driving in the left lane, you are forced to change lanes. ,
In that case, if you are driving behind a large vehicle, it may be difficult to check the guide signs for each lane of right turn, left turn, and straight ahead, or if the traffic is heavy, it may be necessary to check the signs. Because of the stress on the road, unnecessary lane changes near the intersection and sudden lane changes right before the intersection may cause accidents due to inattention to the road ahead. Therefore, there is a problem in that only a voice instruction to make a right turn or a left turn is not sufficient to realize safe driving.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a travel route guide device capable of appropriately guiding a travel lane in travel route guidance at intersections and branch points.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a traveling route guiding apparatus of the present invention is provided with lane regulation information at an intersection or a branch point having a plurality of traveling lanes and a traveling lane in which the vehicle is currently traveling. By transmitting information wirelessly and receiving it on the vehicle side, when making a right turn or a left turn at an intersection or a branch point indicated by the route guidance device, the driver can judge the appropriate lane in advance and give a voice to the driver. It was made to inform by.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to notify the driver in advance of the lane suitable for the traveling direction at the intersection or the fork in accordance with the route guidance to the destination. The burden can be reduced and the vehicle can be driven safely without any difficulty.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is
A lane regulation information transmitting device that wirelessly transmits lane regulation information at an intersection or a branch point having a plurality of driving lanes,
A vehicle lane information transmission device that wirelessly transmits vehicle lane information for identifying the vehicle lane in which the vehicle is currently traveling is installed on or near the road, and the vehicle has lane control information transmitted from the vehicle lane control information transmission device. A lane regulation information receiver for receiving the lane information, a lane information receiver for receiving the lane information from the lane information transmitting apparatus, a route guidance device for instructing the traveling route of the vehicle, lane regulation information, the lane information and It is equipped with a CPU for instructing the driving lane guidance at the intersection or the fork from the traveling route, and a voice generation unit for giving a voice instruction content of the instruction of the CPU, at the intersection or the fork according to the route guidance to the destination. Since the driver can be informed in advance which lane is suitable for the direction of travel, the driver's burden of checking lanes can be reduced and the driver can drive comfortably and safely. Can.

The invention according to claim 2 of the present invention is provided with a traveling lane information transmitting device installed for each lane, and it is possible to surely inform the driver of the currently traveling lane. it can.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a traveling lane guiding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a route guidance device, which is composed of a GPS receiver 102, a current location calculation unit 103, a CPU 104, a map database 105, a display screen 106, an input unit 107, and a voice generation unit 108. Reference numeral 2 is an intersection information receiver that receives lane regulation information at the intersection, and 3 is a traveling lane number receiver that receives lane number information of the currently traveling lane. Reference numeral 4 denotes an intersection information transmission device for transmitting lane regulation information at the intersection, which includes an intersection information storage unit 41 and an intersection information transmission unit 42. Reference numeral 5 denotes a traveling lane number transmitting device that transmits the lane number information to a vehicle traveling in each lane, and includes a traveling lane number storage unit 51 and a traveling lane number transmitting unit 52. Reference numeral 101 is a GPS satellite.

FIG. 2 shows an example of an intersection, which is A, B, C,
D indicates a road. Road A is lane A1, A2, A3, A
Suppose there are 5 lanes of 4 and A5. Reference numeral 4 is an intersection information transmission device, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e are traveling lane number transmission devices provided in each lane, and 6 is a vehicle.

The operation of the traveling lane guiding device configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The GPS receiver 102 receives signals from the artificial satellite 101.
The operation for receiving the current position and obtaining the current position by the current position calculation unit 103 is the same as in the conventional example. In addition, the operation of displaying the road map and the current position on the display screen 106 while traveling by using the road information in the map database 105, and further, the input unit 107.
The operation of obtaining the travel route from the input to the destination and performing voice guidance by the voice generation unit 108 according to the progress is the same as in the conventional example.

The operation of the present invention will be described with reference to the case where the vehicle 6 turns left at the intersection shown in FIG. It is assumed that the vehicle 6 is traveling in the lane A2 on the road A. In the intersection information transmission device 4, the lane regulation information of the intersection is stored in the intersection information storage unit 4
The lane regulation information stored in advance in No. 1 is repeatedly transmitted from the intersection information transmitting unit 42 as a radio wave.
This lane regulation information may be output that can be received only in the vicinity of the corresponding intersection with weak radio waves. If there is a condition such as entry prohibition depending on the time of day, the lane regulation information in the intersection information storage unit 41 is updated as appropriate.

The traveling lane number transmitters 5a to 5d have the respective lane numbers "A1" corresponding to the traveling lane number storage unit 51.
"A2", "A3", "A4", and "A5" are stored, and the lane number is always transmitted by the traveling lane number transmitting unit 52. Each traveling lane number transmission unit 52 uses a transmission output or a directional signal that can be received only by a vehicle passing on each lane.

When the vehicle 6 approaches the intersection, the intersection information receiver 2 receives the lane regulation information at the intersection, and can know the approach possibility information of each lane at the front intersection. Here, it is assumed that there are lanes A1 to A5 on the road A, and the approachable directions of the lanes are as shown in FIG. When the vehicle 6 further advances and passes the traveling lane number transmitting device 5b, the traveling lane number “A2” recorded in the traveling lane number storing unit 51 is output from the traveling lane number transmitting unit 52 from the traveling lane number transmitting unit 5b. Since the call is always transmitted, it can be confirmed that the current lane is A2 by receiving the signal "A2" at the lane number receiver 3. Lane A2
Is a lane that can turn left or go straight, so you can turn left at an intersection without changing lanes to the left lane A1. This driving lane guidance is performed by the CPU 104, and the voice generation unit 1
The driver is informed through 08 that the vehicle is traveling in the left lane.

If the vehicle 6 is traveling in the lane A3, the lane regulation information is obtained by the intersection information receiver 2 as described above, and the traveling lane number " A3 "is received. In this case, since the traveling lane A3 is a straight lane, the CPU 104 determines that it is necessary to change the lane to the lane A2 or the lane A1 in order to turn left, and the voice transmission unit 108 notifies the driver of the determination result. .

The lane regulation information may be displayed on the display screen 106 as needed. Also, not only at intersections,
Even at a branch point having a plurality of lanes, it is possible to guide the vehicle to an appropriate traveling lane with the same configuration and operation.

As described above, according to the above embodiment,
An intersection information transmission device 4 for transmitting lane regulation information at an intersection and a traveling lane number transmission device 5 for transmitting lane number information for identifying a traveling lane provided in each lane are provided. Is received by the intersection information receiver 2 and the driving lane number receiver 3 mounted on the vehicle, and when the vehicle turns right or left at the intersection indicated by the route guidance device 1, an appropriate lane is preliminarily voiced. Can be guided to.

[0020]

As is apparent from the above-described embodiment, the traveling route guiding apparatus of the present invention provides lane regulation information at an intersection or a branch point having a plurality of traveling lanes and traveling lane information on which the vehicle is currently traveling. By wirelessly transmitting and receiving this on the vehicle side, when making a right turn or a left turn at an intersection or a branch point indicated by the route guidance device, the driver is informed by voice by judging the proper lane in advance. It is possible to inform the driver in advance which lane is suitable for the direction of the intersection or fork in accordance with the route guidance to the destination, thus reducing the burden of checking the lane of the driver. In addition to being able to do so, it is possible to drive reasonably and safely.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a traveling lane guiding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an intersection in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a list view of intersection information according to the embodiment

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional route guidance device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 route guidance device 2 intersection information receiver (lane regulation information receiver) 3 traveling lane number receiver (lane information receiver) 4 intersection information transmission device (lane regulation information transmission device) 5, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d 5e Traveling lane number transmission device (traveling lane information transmission device) 41 Intersection information storage unit 42 Intersection information transmission unit 51 Traveling lane number storage unit 52 Traveling lane number transmission unit A, B, C, D Roads A1, A2, A3, A4, A5 Lane number 101 Artificial satellite 102 GPS receiver 103 Current location calculation unit 104 CPU 105 Map database 106 Display screen 107 Input unit 108 Voice generation unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A lane regulation information transmitting device which wirelessly transmits lane regulation information at an intersection or a branch point having a plurality of traveling lanes, and wirelessly lane information for identifying a lane in which a vehicle is currently traveling. A traveling lane information transmitting device for transmitting is installed on a road or in the vicinity thereof, and a vehicle has a lane regulation information receiver for receiving lane regulation information from the lane regulation information transmitting device and a lane regulation information transmitting device from the traveling lane information transmitting device. A travel lane information receiver for receiving travel lane information, a route guidance device for instructing a travel route of a vehicle, and a CPU for instructing travel lane guidance from the lane regulation information, the travel lane information and the travel route at an intersection or a branch point. And a voice generation unit for notifying the CPU of the instruction content by voice. 2. The traveling lane guidance device according to claim 1, wherein a traveling lane information transmitting device is installed for each lane.