JPH10122882A - Navigator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigator by which a route is searched so as to avoid a road estimated to be congested in advance at a starting point of time by a method in which a display means by which map information and a searched route are displayed on a screen is provided, congestion information from the outside is detected so as to be stored and the stored congestion information is read out. SOLUTION: A navigator 1 is composed of a present-position detecting device 11 which searches a running route up to a destination from a starting point so as to be displayed on a map and which guides the route, of a map database 12 and of the like. A congestion-information database 14 is composed of a RAM or the like which stores congestion information acquired by a vehicle information and communication system (VICS) or the like. A control part 13 reads out, from the congestion-information database, congestion information which is acquired by a VICS receiver 3 in the past so as to be stored, and it judges a congested state on the basis of whether congestion information corresponding to the state of a present point of time is contained in the congestion information or not.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device for guiding a traveling route of a vehicle, and more particularly to a navigation device capable of searching for a route while avoiding congested roads.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining a conventional navigation device. Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to the drawings. Reference numeral 1 denotes a navigation device that searches for a route from a departure place (current location) to a destination under set conditions and displays a map and guides a route. , A map database 12 such as a CD-ROM in which map information is recorded, a position detection unit 11, and a control unit 13 such as a microcomputer for specifying the position of the vehicle based on the map information in the corresponding map database 12.

[0003] Reference numeral 2 denotes a display composed of a liquid crystal or the like that displays the position of the vehicle and map information, and also displays a travel route searched under predetermined conditions on a map. 3 is VICS (Ve
hickle Information and Com
A VICS receiver that receives communication system (MN) information receives VICS information such as traffic information transmitted by FM multiplex broadcasting, a radio beacon, an optical beacon, or the like. In FM multiplex broadcasting, the reception range is wide, and in the radio beacon and optical beacon, the reception range is narrow and limited.

Next, the operation will be described. The position detector 11 sends the detected vehicle position data to the controller 12. The control unit 12 reads out map data corresponding to the position of the vehicle from the map database 12 and displays the map data on the display 2. In addition, a driving route from the current position to the destination is searched for, and the searched driving route is displayed on the display 2. The driver travels according to the displayed traveling route.

[0005] On the other hand, traffic (traffic jam) information is provided by VICS or the like, and the VICS receiver 3 can receive the traffic jam information. The received traffic congestion information is processed by the control unit 13 and is displayed so as to be superimposed on the map information on the display 2. When the driver obtains the congestion information from the VICS receiver 3, the driver instructs again to search for a traveling route from the current location to the destination, excluding the received congested road. The control unit 13 searches for a route that avoids a congested road and displays the route on the display 2. The driver can drive around the congested road according to the displayed new driving route.

[0006]

In a conventional method, a traveling route from a departure place to a destination is searched by a navigation device and displayed on a display 2.
When traffic information is obtained by the VICS receiver 3 during traveling, a route search is performed again at that point while avoiding the traffic jam road, and a new route is displayed. However, the route search that avoids the congested road is performed when the congestion information is obtained and for the subsequent routes. for that reason,
If you get out of the departure place and drive a considerable distance and get information just before a congested road, the information obtained may not be in time for the actual driving of the vehicle, and the newly searched route will be significantly detoured, In some cases, it may be too late for the vehicle to change its route due to the running of the vehicle.

An object of the present invention is to provide a navigation device which can perform a route search while avoiding a road which is presumed to be congested at the time of departure, that is, at the time of departure.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a position detecting means for detecting a position of a vehicle, and reading out map information corresponding to the position of the vehicle detected by the position detecting means. A navigation device comprising: a map information reading unit; a route searching unit that searches for a traveling route to a destination of the vehicle; and a display unit that displays the map information and the searched traveling route on a screen. Congestion information storage means for detecting and detecting traffic information by reception or a storage medium, and reading means for reading the traffic information stored in the traffic information storage means,
The route search means includes an exclusion means for searching for a traveling route of the vehicle, based on the congestion information read by the reading means, excluding a congested road having a high congestion frequency or a high degree of congestion. It is assumed that.

The traffic congestion information is composed of traffic congestion information corresponding to a plurality of different timing situations, and includes a situation detection means for detecting a current situation, and the exclusion means comprises The present invention is characterized in that a traffic congestion road having a high traffic congestion frequency or a high degree of congestion corresponding to the current temporal situation detected by the detection means is eliminated.

[0010] Further, the temporal situation includes a time zone, a day,
It is characterized by comprising a day of the week, a month, weather, a season, a specific season, and the like. The apparatus further includes traffic information receiving means for receiving traffic information transmitted from outside of the vehicle, and the traffic information stored in the traffic information storage means includes traffic information received at present or in the past by the traffic information receiving means. It is characterized by being made up of accumulated data.

The traffic congestion information comprises a plurality of pieces of traffic congestion information having different traffic congestion levels. The traffic congestion information includes comparison means for comparing the traffic congestion level with a reference level. When it is detected that the traffic level is larger than the reference level, the elimination means excludes only a congested road corresponding to the detected congestion level.

Further, the traffic congestion level is classified according to the congestion degree of the traffic congestion. Further, the traffic congestion level is classified according to the frequency of occurrence of traffic congestion. The apparatus further includes a distance comparison unit that compares a distance on the travel route searched without the congested road with a distance on the searched travel route without considering the congestion information. Excluding the congested road, if it is detected that the distance on the searched traveling route is larger than the distance on the searched traveling route without considering the traffic congestion information by a predetermined distance or more. It is characterized by comprising an exclusion suspending means for suspending.

[0013]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a navigation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
(A) is a processing flowchart performed by the control unit, (b) is a diagram showing a display example on a display. Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a navigation device for searching for a traveling route from a departure point (current location A) to a destination B under predetermined conditions (for example, the shortest distance), displaying the route on a map, and performing route guidance. A position detector 11 for detecting the position of the vehicle by a vehicle speed sensor or the like, a CD on which map information is recorded
A map database 12 such as a ROM and a position detector 11
And a control unit 1 such as a microcomputer for specifying the position of the vehicle based on the map information in the corresponding map database 12.
3

Reference numeral 14 denotes a VICS (Vehicle Inf)
operation and Communicatio
n System) is a traffic congestion information database such as a RAM that stores traffic congestion information acquired by the system. Reference numeral 15 denotes a release button for stopping a route search based on traffic congestion information. A level setting unit 16 sets an allowable traffic congestion level (degree of congestion). Reference numeral 2 denotes a display composed of a liquid crystal or the like that displays a position of the vehicle, map information, and a traveling route searched under predetermined conditions. Reference numeral 3 denotes a VICS receiver that receives VICS information.
V of traffic (traffic jam) information transmitted by optical beacon etc.
Receive ICS information. It should be noted that the method of detecting the traffic jam frequency is, for example, that the VICs in the sections A, B, and C
The traffic congestion information acquired in S is stored in the RAM as a weight point. If you have traveled 10 times in the past and have congested all 10 times in section A, you will get 10/10 points, if section B has congested 5 times, 5/10 points, if section C has been congested once, 1/10 points I will remember. And the control unit 13
Has a threshold value of 6/10, it is determined that the traffic jam frequency is high in section A and the frequency is low in sections B and C. The time zone at that time is also stored.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the processing flowchart of FIG. In step S11, the current situation is detected, and the process proceeds to step S12. In other words, traffic congestion is concentrated in the morning and evening commuting hours, at the end of the month, on the day of bad weather such as rain, during the holiday season, etc. In addition, the degree of traffic congestion varies depending on the specific day of the week and the specific season. Past traffic congestion information corresponding to is required. The status categories are month,
There are day, day, time zone, season, on-season, weather, etc., month, day, day, day, time zone, season, on-season are detected by the clock and calendar function of the navigation device 1,
As the weather, for example, the weather information of the VICS information received by the VICS receiver 3 is used.

In step S12, it is determined whether or not there is a congested road in the current situation, and if a congested road is included, the process proceeds to step S13. If no congested road is included, the process proceeds to step S16. . That is, the control unit 13 reads out the previously acquired and stored traffic jam information from the traffic jam information database 14 using the VICS receiver 3. Then, it is determined whether or not there is congestion information corresponding to the current situation. The traffic congestion information provided by VICS has three levels of congestion (congestion), “congestion”, and “none” as light or heavy (congestion degree). In this step, “congestion” and “congestion” indicate that there is a congested road. to decide.

In step S13, it is determined whether or not an allowable level has been input. If the allowable level has been input, the process proceeds to step S14. If the allowable level has not been input, the process proceeds to step S17. This allowable level is set in advance by the driver as a congestion level that the driver can endure. That is, the driver sets the level setting unit 16
Is determined by the choice of In the setting of the allowable level, the level 1 avoids the road if there is the information of “congestion” and “congestion”. Level 2 avoids the road if there is "congestion" information, but does not avoid the route with patience if it is "congested" information. Here, description will be made assuming that level 2 is set by the driver.

In step S14, it is determined whether or not the allowable level is exceeded. If the allowable level is exceeded, the process proceeds to step S15. If not, the process proceeds to step S16. In other words, the driver cannot endure if the traffic is "congested" and wants to avoid the road. However, if the driver is about "congested", the driver endures and chooses to travel on the road. Therefore, the level of the traffic jam information read from the traffic jam information database 14 is compared with an allowable level set by the driver.

In step S15, a travel route is searched for avoiding a "congested" road that exceeds the allowable level, and the process proceeds to step S18. That is, a route search is performed by the navigation function except for the “congested” roads exceeding the allowable level read from the congestion information database 14. FIG.
Referring to (b), since the route search is performed while avoiding only the “congested” road, points E, F, D
The route to the destination B bypasses the point.

In step S18, the driving route guidance is started, and the process ends. In other words, the searched traveling route is superimposed on the map on the display 2 and displayed to provide the traveling route guidance. In step S16, a normal route search is performed, and the process proceeds to step S18. That is, the traffic congestion information is not included in the traffic congestion information database 14, or the traffic congestion information is of a degree that the driver can tolerate, so that a normal route search is performed by the navigation function. Referring to FIG. 2B, since a route search is performed so as to be the shortest distance, A
The route from the current location to the point C, the point D, and the destination B is obtained.

In step S17, a search is made for a traveling route avoiding all congested roads ("congestion" and "congestion").
In other words, a search for a travel route is performed by the navigation function except for the congested roads (“congestion” and “congestion”) read from the congestion information database 14. Referring to FIG. And "congestion"), the route is routed from the current location A to the destination B by bypassing the points E, F, G, and H. The detour route is too detoured In order to stop the detour, the driver can press the release button 15 to return to the normal route search (the shortest distance).

A method for inputting traffic congestion information into the traffic congestion information database 14 will be described. The traffic congestion information is provided as VICS information by FM multiplex broadcasting or the like, and the VICS receiver 3
Is received by The received traffic information is stored in the RAM as a traffic information database 14 via the control unit 13. When the VICS receiver 3 supports the beacon, the information on the traveling route of the vehicle can be obtained, and when the VICS receiver 3 supports the FM multiplex broadcasting, a wide range of information can be obtained regardless of the traveling of the vehicle. The traffic jam information obtained by the VICS receiver 3 is classified (by month, day, day of the week, time zone, season, on-season, weather) and stored in the traffic jam information database 14. The month, day, day of the week, time zone, season, and on-season can be classified based on the time received by the clock and calendar function of the navigation device. The weather is, for example, VI
It can be classified based on the weather information of the CS information.

In the above description, the traffic congestion level is set according to the degree of traffic congestion. However, the level may be set according to the frequency of occurrence of traffic congestion. For example, if the risk of traffic congestion is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (for example, 30%) based on the frequency of reception of the traffic congestion information acquired by the VICS receiver 3 (the rate at which the road is congested), the road There is also a method of searching for a route avoiding the above.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when searching for a traveling route, traffic congestion at a departure point is estimated in advance based on past congestion information, and traveling is performed in order to avoid the road from route searching. The driving route is shortened than obtaining the traffic information on the way and then avoiding the route,
Expect smooth running. Also, the current situation is detected and only the corresponding traffic jam information is stored in the traffic jam information database 1.
By reading the data from 4, for example, traffic congestion occurs in the morning and evening hours, but the vehicle can travel smoothly in the daytime and nighttime. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the vehicle from traveling unnecessarily while avoiding the route. In this example, VICS is given as an example of receiving traffic jam information from the outside. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a route may be searched based on a traffic jam avoidance guide stored in another storage medium (CD-ROM) in advance.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a navigation device capable of searching for a route avoiding a road which is presumed to be congested based on past traffic congestion information when searching for a route using the navigation device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 2A is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by a control unit, and FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating a display example on a display;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining a conventional navigation device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Navigation device 14 ... Congestion information database 11 ... Position detector
2 ··· display, 12 ··· map database, 3 ··· VICS receiver, 13
... Control unit.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A position detecting means for detecting a position of a vehicle;
Map information reading means for reading map information corresponding to the position of the vehicle detected by the position detecting means, route searching means for searching a traveling route to a destination of the vehicle, the map information and the searched map information In a navigation device having a display means for displaying a driving route on a screen, detecting traffic jam information by external reception or storage medium,
Traffic information storage means for storing; and a read means for reading traffic information stored in the traffic information storage means, wherein the route search means, based on the traffic information read by the read means, traffic frequency or congestion A navigation device comprising an exclusion means for excluding a highly congested road and searching for a traveling route of the vehicle. 2. The traffic congestion information is composed of traffic congestion information corresponding to a plurality of different timing situations. The traffic congestion information includes a situation detection means for detecting a current situation. 2. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the congestion road having a high congestion frequency or a high degree of congestion corresponding to the current temporal situation detected by the detection means is excluded. 3. The navigation device according to claim 2, wherein the temporal situation includes a time zone, a day, a day of the week, a month, weather, a season, a specific season, and the like. 4. A congestion information receiving means for receiving congestion information transmitted from outside the vehicle, wherein the congestion information stored in the congestion information storage means is received by the congestion information receiving means at present or in the past. 2. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the navigation device comprises traffic information accumulated. 5. The traffic congestion information is composed of a plurality of traffic congestion information having different traffic congestion levels, and comprises comparing means for comparing the traffic congestion level with a reference level. 2. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein when it is detected that the traffic level is higher than a reference level, the elimination unit excludes only a congested road corresponding to the detected congestion level. 6. The navigation device according to claim 5, wherein the traffic congestion level is classified according to the congestion degree of the traffic congestion. 7. The navigation device according to claim 5, wherein the congestion level is classified according to a frequency of occurrence of congestion. 8. A distance comparing means for comparing a distance on the travel route searched without the congested road and a distance on the travel route searched without considering the congestion information, wherein the distance comparing means comprises: When it is detected that the distance on the travel route searched for excluding the congested road is larger than the distance on the travel route searched for without considering the congestion information by a predetermined distance or more, the exclusion means includes: 6. The navigation device according to claim 5, further comprising an exclusion canceling unit for canceling the exclusion of the vehicle.