JPH0953949A - Navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a navigation system in which the guidance of course can be started immediately when necessary. SOLUTION: A driver inputs a starting point, a starting time and a destination previously at an I/O section 12. A navigation processing section 10 sets a course search starting time at a moment of time preceding the inputted starting time by a predetermined time and monitors concerning whether the current time recognized by a clock 104 having calendar function has reached the course search starting time or not. When the course search starting time has come, a course from the starting point to the destination is searched based on the data in an intersection data file 142, a node data file 143, a road data file 144, etc., in a data file 14. When the starting time has come, running is guided along a searched course.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device, and more particularly to a navigation device for searching a route to a destination.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a navigation system for guiding a driver who is not guided to a road to a destination has been actively put into practical use. In the navigation device, first, a destination to be visited is set and a route to the set destination is searched for, so that guidance along the searched route is provided. The destination is set by the vehicle driver by inputting the address, telephone number, etc. of the destination to the navigation device, and the route search is based on various road information, and the destination and the destination. This is done by searching for roads in between. In addition, for route guidance, for example, a mark indicating the searched route or the current vehicle position is displayed on the display device together with a map around the current position, and an arrow indicating the direction of the route (right turn, left turn, etc.) is displayed at an intersection where the route needs to be changed. It is done by displaying. In addition, there is a navigation device that guides a route by a voice such as "an intersection at a distance of ~ meters ahead, to the right (or to the left)."

[0003]

However, in the prior art, since the input operation of the above-mentioned destination must be performed after boarding, and the route search requires a certain processing time,
The driver was unable to leave immediately after boarding. Therefore, in the navigation device, shortening the time from getting on the vehicle to starting the guidance has been an important issue. In order to solve this problem, conventionally, there is a method in which a predetermined destination is registered in a memory in advance to shorten the input time of the destination after boarding. However, even in this case, there are operations to call the registered destination, and
Since it was necessary to perform route search processing after the operation, it was not possible to receive guidance immediately after boarding.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a navigation device that can immediately start route guidance when necessary.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, in a navigation device that guides a vehicle to travel, a guide start point acquisition unit that acquires a guide start point to start the travel guide, and the travel guide. A guide end point input means for inputting a guide end point, a road information storage means for storing road information, and a time information acquisition for acquiring time information indicating a predetermined time before the guide start time for starting the travel guidance. Means and a time indicated by the time information acquired by the time information acquisition means, from the guide start point acquired by the guide start point acquisition means to the guide end point input by the guide end point input means. And a route search means for searching based on the road information of the road information storage means in the navigation device. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the first aspect, a current location detecting means for detecting a current location of the vehicle is provided, and the time information acquisition means acquires a departure time of the vehicle as the guidance start time, The guidance start point acquisition means acquires the current location detected by the current location detection means a predetermined time before the departure time as the guidance start point. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the first aspect, the guide start point acquisition means acquires a point between the departure point and the guide end point as a guide start point, and acquires time information. The means sets the scheduled time at which the vehicle arrives at the guidance start point as the guidance start time.

[0006]

According to the navigation apparatus of the present invention, the guide start point for starting the travel guide, the guide end point for ending the travel guide, and the time information indicating a predetermined time before the guide start time for starting the travel guide are provided. obtain. Then, at the time indicated by the time information, a travel route from the guidance start point to the guidance end point is searched for based on the road information. In the navigation device according to the second aspect, the departure time is set as the inner start time, and the current location detected by the current location detection unit a predetermined time before the departure time is set as the guidance start point. In the navigation device according to the third aspect, a point between the departure point and the guidance end point is a guidance start point, and a scheduled time for the vehicle to reach the guidance start point is a guidance start time.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Each embodiment of the navigation device of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. FIG.
Is a block diagram showing the configuration of the navigation device. As shown in FIG. 1, the navigation device includes a navigation processing unit 10 that performs various processes such as a route search process for searching a route and a route guidance process for providing guidance according to the searched route. . The navigation processing unit 10 is an RO in which various programs such as a CPU 101 and a navigation program are stored.
An M102, a RAM 103 as a working memory, and a clock 104 with a calendar function for recognizing the time elapsed from a predetermined time or recognizing the hour, minute, second, etc. for specifying the date and time according to the calendar. The navigation processing unit 10 includes a bus line 105 such as a data bus.
The absolute position detecting device 11, the input / output unit 12, and each unit of the data file 14 described later are connected via the.

The absolute position detecting device 11 uses a GPS (Global Positio) for measuring the position of a vehicle using an artificial satellite.
ning System) receiving device 111, a beacon receiving device 112 that receives position information from beacons placed on the road and road conditions such as traffic jam, direction sensor 113, distance sensor 11
4, the steering angle sensor 115 and the like are used. Note that the GPS receiving device 111 and the beacon receiving device 112 can measure the position independently, but in other cases, the distance sensor 114
The absolute position is detected by a combination of the direction sensor 113 or the distance sensor 114 and the steering angle sensor 115.

Here, the direction sensor 113 is, for example, a geomagnetic sensor that detects the geomagnetism to determine the direction of the vehicle, a gas rate gyroscope or an optical fiber that detects the angular velocity of the vehicle and integrates the angular velocity to determine the direction of the vehicle. A gyro such as a gyro, a wheel sensor in which the left and right wheel sensors are arranged and the amount of displacement of the azimuth is calculated by detecting the turning of the vehicle based on the output pulse difference (difference in moving distance) between them is used. As the distance sensor 114, for example, a sensor that detects and counts the number of rotations of a wheel, a sensor that detects acceleration and integrates twice, or other measuring means is used. Further, as the rudder angle sensor 115, for example, an optical rotation sensor or a rotation resistance volume attached to the rotating portion of the steering wheel is used, but it may be an angle sensor attached to the wheel portion.

The input / output unit 12 includes a display device 121, an input device 122, a voice output device 123, and a communication device 125. From the input device 122, the current location (starting point) and destination (arrival point) at the start of traveling, the order of transit when there are multiple destinations, and various data corresponding to the destination are input. . Further, in this embodiment, time information indicating the departure time is input to the input device 122, and the navigation processing unit 10 searches for a route according to the departure time input from the input device 122. The process of is executed. Input device 12
2, the joystick, keys, touch panel,
Various input devices such as a mouse, a light pen, or a device which is connected to both sides of the display device 121 and displays keys and menus on the screen and inputs from the screen, or various input devices such as a voice recognition device are used. In addition, in the present specification, "time" means hour, minute, second, etc. for specifying a date (day of the week) and time according to a calendar,
A combination of some of these and one is also called "time". For example, information showing only the month and date,
Information that indicates only hours is also called "hours". Information indicating the passage of time from a certain moment, such as 30 minutes, 1 hour, or 3 days and 10 hours, is also referred to as "time".

The display device 121 displays the route set in response to the user's request, and displays a guide map along the traveling route. Also, a characteristic photo of an intersection or the middle of the route is displayed, the remaining distance to the intersection, an arrow indicating the direction of travel at the next intersection (straight, left turn, right turn), etc. are displayed, and various other guidance information. Is displayed. As the display device 121, a CRT, a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, a hologram device for projecting a hologram on the windshield, or the like is used.

The voice output device 123 appropriately outputs voice guidance information for guiding the driver. For example, it outputs guidance information such as 300 m before the intersection which is the guidance point or just before the intersection, "please turn right / left / go straight at the intersection 300 m ahead / next intersection". Further, operation explanations and comments at various operations such as destination setting are also output. This audio output device 1
As the voice guidance information from 23, a voice prerecorded on a tape or a synthesized voice by a voice synthesizer is used.

The communication device 125 is composed of various communication devices such as a car telephone and an FM receiver, and is configured to be able to input various data. This communication device 125 is connected to the navigation processing unit 10 via a modem 15, and, for example, ATIS which provides traffic information such as traffic jams and traffic accidents through a telephone line, and VICS (which provides traffic information by FM multiplex broadcasting). Various traffic information from the road traffic information communication system) is received.
In addition, the communication device 125 is used for optical communication using infrared rays or the like, FM radio waves, or mobile communication such as a car phone from a portable electronic device (PDA) such as an electronic notebook having a communication function or a personal computer. It receives the point information such as the place and the place of departure and the time information such as the departure time.

Navigation device data file 14
Includes a drawing map data file 141, an intersection data file 142, a node data file 143, a road data file 144, a searched route data file 145, a photograph data file 146, and other data files 147. The other data file 147 stores information on various areas such as hotels, gas stations, tourist information, etc. in each area, information on destinations such as addresses and telephone numbers, and the like. These files are, for example, floppy disk, hard disk, C
It is stored in a storage medium such as a D-ROM, an optical disk, a magnetic tape, an IC card, or an optical card. Each file has a large storage capacity, for example, it is preferable to use a CD-ROM. However, for individual data such as other data files and data for each area, an IC card may be used.

Here, the drawing map data file 141 stores drawing map data to be drawn on the display device 121. This drawing map data is stored as a hierarchical map, for example, drawing map data for each layer such as Japan, Kanto region, Tokyo, and Kanda from the highest layer. And each drawing map data, for example, there are various data such as coastline node sequence, prefectural border node sequence, national road node sequence, highway node sequence, national road number, city name, etc.
A map will be drawn on the display device 121.

On the other hand, what is used for route search is road network data composed of intersection data, node data, and road data stored in each of the intersection data file, the node data file, and the road data file. The intersection data file 142 stores the intersection number that identifies each intersection, the intersection name, the latitude and longitude of the intersection, the road number of the road where the intersection is the start or end point, and the presence or absence of a signal as the intersection data. ing. Further, the road data file 144 includes road numbers that specify each road, intersection numbers that are start points and end points, numbers of roads that have the same start point and end point, road thickness, prohibition information, guidance unnecessary information,
The photo number of the photo data, the number of nodes, the start address of the node string data, the length of the road, the speed limit, and the like are stored.

The node data file 143 stores node data including information such as latitude and longitude that specify the coordinates of each point on each road. That is, this node data is data about one point on the road,
When an arc is used to connect nodes, a road is represented by connecting arcs between a plurality of node strings.

In the search route data file 145, intersection sequence data forming the route generated by the route search,
Stores node string data and the like. The intersection sequence data consists of information such as the intersection name, the intersection number, the picture number of the characteristic landscape of the intersection, the turning angle, the distance, etc.The node sequence data is the east longitude, north latitude, and the intersection that represent the node position It consists of information such as numbers, attributes, angles, and distances. Moreover, these data consist of only the intersections that require guidance, excluding the intersections that do not require guidance. Therefore, the navigation device is designed to sequentially read this data corresponding to a predetermined position and output it to the input / output unit 12. Note that the photograph data file 146 stores photographs of each intersection and the characteristic scenery that can be seen while going straight ahead, corresponding to the photograph number. The photographic data is stored as digital or analog data depending on the format of the display device 121, or stored in a format such as negative film.

Next, the first example of the embodiment constructed as described above
The operation of will be described. The navigation device of the present embodiment performs a route search reservation process in which the route search is completed by previously designating (reserving) a scheduled departure time (departure time), a destination, and the like. . The route search reservation process is started by the driver selecting a predetermined processing mode. The selection of the processing mode is performed using, for example, the input device 122 of the navigation device, or an external terminal such as an electronic notebook or a personal computer having a communication function. In other words, boarding a few days or a few hours before departure, activating the navigation device and using the input device 122 to select the route search reservation process from the menu displayed on the display device 121 to select the mode. To do. Further, the navigation device is activated by transmitting a predetermined activation signal from the external terminal without getting on the vehicle, and the navigation device is set to the processing mode of the route search reservation process by transmitting the command designating the route search reservation process. .

FIG. 2 shows the flow of route search reservation processing. In the following, a case where the driver makes a reservation using the input device 122 of the navigation device will be described as an example, but the reservation may be made from an external terminal via the communication device 125. In the route search reservation process, first, the navigation processing unit 10 causes the display device 121 to display a destination setting screen for setting a destination that is the ending point of the travel guidance. For example, a list of place names is displayed in the order of prefecture name → city name → town name, or a screen for inputting a telephone number of a destination is displayed. Then, when the driver performs an operation such as sequentially selecting a predetermined place name from the place name list or inputting a telephone number and the destination is specified, the navigation processing unit 10 displays a map of the surrounding area. .

As a result, the driver sets a point by designating the desired point on the displayed map, and the navigation processing unit 10 sets the coordinate position (latitude, longitude) of the specified point, etc. Is recognized and stored as destination data in the RAM 103 or the like (step 1). Even after inputting the destination or setting the point, a message may be displayed on the display device 121 to confirm the input destination or the point set, and re-input or re-designation may be performed. Good. Next, the navigation processing unit 10 sets a departure place by selecting a place name using a place name list, inputting a telephone number, and setting a point using a map screen, similarly to setting a destination (step 2). .

When the setting of the departure place is completed, the navigation processing unit 10 causes the display device 121 to display a message or the like asking the departure time, or causes the voice output device 123 to output a voice. Then, when the time when the driver departs is input to the input device 122, this is RA
Store in M103 (step 3). At the same time, the activation of the input / output unit 12, the absolute position detection device 11, etc. is stopped, and the navigation device is put in a standby state. As a result, the driver can leave the vehicle until the time of departure after finishing the operation on the navigation device.

The departure time input by the driver is the time when the route guidance should be started (hereinafter referred to as guidance start time). To finish the route search by this guidance start time, The route search must be started earlier than the guidance start time by the required processing time.
Therefore, in this embodiment, the navigation processing unit 10
However, a time earlier than the guidance start time (departure time) is calculated by a predetermined time corresponding to the route search processing time, that is, the route search start time is acquired and stored in the RAM 103. When the navigation device is in the standby state, the navigation processing unit 10 monitors the current time recognized by the calendar function watch 104 and determines whether the current time is the route search start time (step 4). The predetermined time (time difference) provided between the route search start time and the guidance start time may be longer than the processing time required for the route search, and other than 10 minutes, for example,
It may be 5 minutes, 2 minutes, 1 minute, 30 minutes, 1 hour, or the like. The predetermined time is stored in advance in the ROM 102 of the navigation processing unit 10, for example.

When the predetermined time until the guidance start time, that is, the route search start time is reached (step 4; Y), the navigation processing unit 10 activates the entire navigation device, and the absolute position detection device 11 determines the current position of the vehicle. taking measurement. Then, by comparing the measured current position with the set starting point (step 2), it is determined whether or not the current position matches the starting point (step 5). 5; Y), the route from the set starting point to the destination is searched (step 6). That is, the road between the point indicated by the departure point data and the point indicated by the destination data respectively stored in the RAM 103 is searched based on the intersection data file 142, the node data file 143, the road data file 144, etc. of the data file 14. To do.

When the route to the destination is searched, the route data is stored in the searched route data file 145 of the data file 14 and the navigation device is powered off.
To At this time, if the route guidance start time is a short time (for example, one minute), the navigation device may be left in the activated state. On the other hand, if it is determined in step 5 that the current vehicle position does not match the starting point (N), a route search from the current position measured by the absolute position detection device 11 to the destination is performed (step 7). , Ends the process. As a result, even if the vehicle is moved after the departure place is set (step 2), the route search is performed with the destination as the departure place, so that the route guidance described later can be started from the point where the driver gets on. it can.

Next, the route guidance process performed based on the route searched by the above route search reservation process will be described. FIG. 3 shows the flow of route guidance processing. When the driver gets on the vehicle and starts the engine of the vehicle or turns on the power of the navigation device after the above-described route search reservation process, the navigation device enters a processing mode in which the route guidance process is automatically performed. . Further, the route guidance process may be started by selecting the predetermined mode as described above.

In the route guidance processing, first, based on the time recognized by the clock 104 with the calendar function, the navigation processing unit 10 determines whether or not the current time has passed the guidance start time (departure time) stored in the RAM 103. It is judged (step 8). When the guidance start time has elapsed (step 8; Y), a message requesting a guidance start instruction is displayed on the display device 121 or the voice output device 1
It is output from 23 to monitor whether or not there is an instruction from the driver (step 9). When the driver gives an instruction to start guidance by performing a predetermined input operation on the input device 122 (step 9; Y), guidance information output processing is executed (step 10). That is, by reading the route data from the searched route data file 145 of the data file 14, the searched route is displayed on the display device 121 together with the map around the current position drawn based on the map drawing data of the drawn map data file 141.

Then, based on the current position measured by the absolute position detecting device 11, various guidance information at the vehicle position on the searched route is output. For example, when an intersection that requires a change of course is approaching, the display device 12
1, an enlarged view of the intersection, an arrow indicating the direction of the route, etc. are displayed, and a guidance such as "The next intersection is to the right." Is output from the voice output device 123 by voice. In this guidance information output processing, the navigation processing unit 1
0 represents the destination data stored in the RAM 103 and the current position measured by the absolute position detecting device 11,
Whether or not the vehicle has arrived at the destination one after another is monitored, and when the vehicle arrives at the destination, the process is terminated.

As described above, in the navigation device of this embodiment, the route search is completed by the reserved time (guidance start time), so when the user actually departs for the destination, the guidance is promptly given. You can start. By the way, there are some other devices that perform a predetermined operation at a reserved time, such as recording reservation in a VCR. However, in the navigation device, since the processing contents of the route search differ depending on the position (starting point) that is the start point of the searched route, the navigation device is fundamentally different from other devices in that the position information is handled when making a reservation. In particular, in this embodiment, the current location is detected and the departure point is confirmed (step 5) when the route search is performed in consideration of the condition peculiar to the navigation device that the vehicle moves together with the vehicle. Even if the vehicle moves after the setting, appropriate route guidance can be started.

In the above embodiment, only the navigation device is activated when the route search start time comes (step 4; Y). However, at the same time, the engine of the vehicle is started and the driver operates. You may warm up until you get on. Further, when the navigation device is started, the air conditioner may be started according to the current season indicated by the calendar function clock 104, the outside air temperature, the vehicle interior temperature, or the like. For example, when the outside temperature is low, December or 1
If it is a month, the heater is activated, and the outside temperature is high.
If it is a month, activate the cooler. In addition, the absolute position detecting device 11 is always provided without setting the departure place (step 2).
You may make it search a route from the present location detected by.

Further, in the above embodiment, the predetermined time from the route search start time to the guidance start time was constant, for example, 10 minutes, but the navigation processing unit is adjusted according to the processing time required for the route search. 10 may be changed. That is, every time the driver performs an input operation such as a departure place or a destination, the navigation processing unit 10
The processing time required for route search between both points is estimated according to the distance between the starting point and the destination and the road conditions. Then, the time difference between the route search start time and the guidance start time is set to be the same as the estimated processing time. As a result, under the condition that the route search is completed before the guidance starts,
The route search is performed immediately before the guidance start time. Therefore, even when the vehicle moves immediately before the guidance start time, for example, 5 minutes to 3 minutes before, the processing time for the route search is 3
If it is shorter than the minute (estimated to be shorter), the route search is not performed until 3 minutes before the guidance start time, so that the route search can be performed with the destination of the vehicle as the departure place. That is, it is possible to prevent a discrepancy between the actual departure place and the departure place on the searched route.

Next, the second operation of the navigation device will be described. In the navigation device of this embodiment,
When the route guidance is required from the midway passage point to the destination, not from the departure point, the navigation processing unit 10 can input the passage point on the way and the expected time to reach the passage point in advance. The route search from the passage point to the destination is completed by the scheduled time.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a traveling route when route guidance is required from a passing point on the way.
For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when the driver knows the way from the starting point A to the passing point B when moving from the starting point A to the destination C through the passing point B, the route guidance is It is enough to go from the passage point B. Rather, if the driver knows the way to the passing point B and searches for a route from the starting point A, there is a route between the starting point A and the passing point B other than the one the driver knows. May be explored,
It is inconvenient for the driver to be guided on an unfamiliar road. Therefore, in this case, unlike the first embodiment that requires route guidance immediately from the point where the driver gets on (starting point), the starting point that requires route guidance (hereinafter referred to as the guidance start point) is set. It is more convenient to use the transit point B instead of the departure point A. Therefore, in this embodiment, by designating the passage point B and its estimated arrival time (for example, 15:00 shown in FIG. 4) in advance before departure, the passage point shown by the hatched portion in FIG. A route search reservation process for finishing the route search from B to the destination C is performed.

FIG. 5 shows the flow of route search reservation processing in the navigation system of the second embodiment. First, the navigation processing unit 10 inputs the destination C by the driver as in the first embodiment,
The destination is set (step 11). Next, in this embodiment, instead of setting the departure point, the passing point B is input, and this is acquired as the guidance starting point, and RA
The data is stored in a predetermined area of M103 (step 12).
The method of inputting the transit point is the same as that of inputting the destination.

Next, the navigation processing unit 10 schedules the arrival time at the passage point B (15:00 in the example of FIG. 4),
That is, the guidance start time for starting guidance is input by the driver, and is acquired and stored in the RAM 103 (step 13). Further, as in the first embodiment, the route search start time is acquired by advancing the guidance start time by a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes) and stored in the RAM 103. Each input operation by the driver may be performed immediately before the departure time (12:00 in the example of FIG. 4), or may be performed several hours before the departure time or several days before the departure time. However, if you perform each input operation several hours or days before the departure time,
Similar to the first embodiment, the absolute position detecting device 11, the input / output unit 12 and the like are stopped until the departure time to put the navigation device in a standby state. Further, when the above-described input operation is performed immediately before the departure time and the passenger departs immediately thereafter, the navigation device is left in the activated state.

Next, the navigation processing unit 10 compares the current time measured by the calendar function clock 104 with the acquired route search start time to determine whether or not the current time is the route search start time. Is determined (step 14). For example, when the predetermined time is 10 minutes,
In the example, the navigation processing unit 10 determines whether it is 14:50. When the route search start time has come (step 14; Y), the route from the guidance start point B acquired in step 12 to the destination C is searched (step 15), and the searched route data is used as data. The search route data file 145 of the file 14 is stored. The navigation device may be powered off together with the storage of the route data.

The route guidance is performed in the same manner as the route guidance process shown in FIG. In this route guidance process, when the driver departs immediately after performing various input operations such as a passage point and guidance start time, the route guidance process shown in FIG. 3 is executed immediately after the route search reservation process of FIG. To do. If the driver does not leave immediately after performing various input operations, the route guidance processing is started when the engine of the vehicle is started later or when the power of the navigation device is turned on, as in the first embodiment. To do.

In the route guidance process, the processes of steps 8 and 9 shown in FIG. 3 are not performed, and it is monitored whether or not the current position of the vehicle has reached the passage point B when the route guidance process is started. May be. That is, it is determined whether or not the current position measured by the absolute position detecting device 11 has reached the passage point B set in step 12, and when it is determined that the current point has been reached, the guidance information output process (step 10 ). However,
If the vehicle arrives at the passing point B earlier than the scheduled arrival time (15:00 in the example of FIG. 4) and reaches the guidance start time, if the vehicle has passed the already set passing point B. , Outputs guidance information according to the current vehicle location at that time. Further, in this case, when the vehicle deviates from the searched route by passing through the passing point B, the route from the current position to the destination may be searched again.

In this embodiment, there is one passing point,
It may pass through a plurality of transit points before reaching the destination, and when the expected arrival time at each transit point can be estimated, route search between the plurality of transit points may be reserved. FIG. 6 shows an example of a travel route when there are a plurality of passage points. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a passing point B and a destination C
Between the passing points B1 and B2, and between the passing points B and B1 as shown by the hatched portion in the figure, the driver does not know the road, and between the passing points B1 and B2. The road is a well-known section, and the passing point B2 and destination C
The section between and is a section that the driver does not know. When there are a plurality of sections where the road is unknown, the route search is reserved as follows. That is, before the departure (before 12:00), the passing point B as the guidance starting point and the expected arrival time at that point (15:00) are input in advance, and the passing point B1 is also input as the guidance ending point. In addition, the passing point B2 is the second
Is input as a guidance start point and the expected arrival time at that point (17:00) is input.

As a result, the navigation processing unit 10
Searches for a route between the passing points B and B1 by 15:00, while searching for a route between the passing point B and the destination C by 17 o'clock.
Search before time. Then, as soon as the vehicle reaches the passing point B, the route to the passing point B1 is guided,
Then, the vehicle reaches the passage point B2 and guides the route to the destination C.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the route search from the previously designated passing point to the destination is completed by the time when the route guidance is required. As soon as the vehicle arrives, route guidance from that point can be provided. In addition, if the driver knows the way to the passing point on the way, if a route search is performed from the starting point, a route that the driver does not know is searched for on the way from the starting point to the passing point However, in the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent such unnecessary and unnecessary tension from being given to the driver.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the guidance starting point can be a passageway point to the destination instead of the departure point, a plurality of waypoints are stopped before moving to the destination according to a predetermined schedule. In this case, route guidance can be provided according to the schedule. For example, on the schedule, companies a, b, c
If the time to visit the company and leave each destination is predetermined, and only the route between the company a and the company b is unknown, the location of the company a is set as the guidance start point before leaving the company. At the same time as entering, the time to depart from company a is entered as the guidance start time. Further, the company b is input as the destination (guidance end point). As a result, the navigation device can finish the route search between the companies a and b by the departure time from the company a, and immediately start the route guidance to the company b when the company a departs. As described above, when the destination and the departure time are determined by the predetermined schedule, the function of the navigation device according to the present embodiment is used to enable efficient movement according to the schedule.

In each of the above embodiments, the guidance start time acquired by the navigation processing unit 10 is specified by the time information such as the year / month / day (day of the week) according to the calendar and the hour / minute / second indicating the time. For example, this may be acquired as the guidance start time by inputting time information indicating the elapsed time from the present, such as 2 days, 3 hours, or 30 minutes from now. In this case, the clock with calendar function 104 measures the elapsed time from when the input operation is performed. Further, the navigation processing unit 10 subtracts a predetermined time corresponding to the processing time for route search from the elapsed time acquired as the guidance start time, and sequentially compares this with the elapsed time measured by the calendar function watch 104. Then, it is determined whether or not the current time has reached the route search start time.

In each of the above embodiments, the navigation processing unit 10 makes a time determination such as whether or not the current time is the route search start time. The function may be added so that the watch 104 with the calendar function may be used for monitoring.
Further, in each of the above embodiments, the navigation processing unit 10
However, the route search time was obtained by calculating a predetermined time before the entered guidance start time. However, the route search start time is directly input by the driver, and the calculation process is not performed. The route search time may be acquired.

[0045]

According to the navigation device of the present invention,
The guide start point for starting the travel guide, the guide end point for ending the drive guide, and the time information indicating a predetermined time before the guide start time for starting the drive guide are obtained, and the guide start is started at the time indicated by the time information. Since the travel route from the point to the guidance end point is searched based on the road information, the route guidance can be started immediately when necessary.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of route search reservation processing in the first operation.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of route guidance processing of the above.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a traveling route when route guidance is required from a passing point on the way in the second operation.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of route search reservation processing in the second operation of the above.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a traveling route when there are a plurality of sections unfamiliar with the road in the second operation of the above.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Navigation Processing Unit 101 CPU 102 ROM 103 RAM 104 Clock with Calendar Function 105 Bus Line 11 Absolute Position Detection Device 111 GPS Reception Device 112 Beacon Reception Device 113 Direction Sensor 114 Distance Sensor 115 Steering Angle Sensor 12 Input / Output Unit 121 Display Device 122 Input device 123 Audio output device 124 Communication device 14 Data file 141 Drawing map data file 142 Intersection data file 143 Node data file 144 Road data file 145 Search route data file 146 Photo data file 147 Other data file 15 Modem

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A navigation device for guiding a vehicle, wherein a guidance starting point acquisition means for obtaining a guidance starting point for starting the driving guidance, and a guidance ending point input for inputting a guidance ending point for ending the driving guidance. Means, road information storage means for storing road information, time information acquisition means for acquiring time information indicating a predetermined time before the guidance start time for starting the travel guidance, and time acquired by the time information acquisition means At the time indicated by the information, a travel route from the guide start point acquired by the guide start point acquisition means to the guide end point input by the guide end point input means is searched based on the road information of the road information storage means. And a route search means for performing the navigation. 2. A present location detecting means for detecting a present location of a vehicle is provided, the time information obtaining means obtains a departure time of the vehicle as the guidance start time, and the guidance start point obtaining means is a predetermined time before the departure time. The current location detected by the current location detection means is acquired as the guidance start point.
A navigation device as described. 3. The guide start point acquisition means acquires a point between the departure point and the guide end point as a guide start point, and the time information acquisition means the scheduled time at which the vehicle arrives at the guide start point. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein is set as the guidance start time.