JPH11337355A - Navigation system and navigation method as well as recording medium for recording program for navigation - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology of a navigation for outputting a message corresponding to a date at a suitable time. SOLUTION: A retrieving unit 42 seeks a message corresponding to a date represented by date information from messages stored in a CD-ROM controller 12 or a non-volatile memory 45. An output controller 43 outputs a found message from an output unit 10 having a liquid crystal display panel, a synthetic voice unit or the like. An output recorder 44 records a date of outputting the message in the memory 45. A duplicate inhibitor 46 inhibits outputting of the message if the data represented by the received date information coincides with the date recorded in the memory 45. A question answering unit 47 and the controller 43 output a requested message irrespective of the date when recorded in the memory 45.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in a technique related to navigation, and more specifically, to output a message corresponding to a date at an appropriate time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a navigation system has been known as an electronic apparatus for automatically guiding a moving body represented by an automobile. The navigation system calculates the current position (own vehicle position) of the installed vehicle (own vehicle) using radio waves from artificial satellites and gyros, and calculates the current vehicle position on a display screen such as a liquid crystal display panel. While displaying computer graphics on a map, it guides the user where to turn next.

For such a navigation system, for example, a message (information) such as "Children's Day" is stored in correspondence with each date such as "May 5", and when the navigation system is started. In addition, a technique has been proposed in which time information and date information are obtained from a built-in clock, a GPS radio wave, or the like, and a message registered corresponding to the date is displayed in characters or read out by voice.

[0004]

However, such a conventional technique outputs a message every time only when the navigation system is activated. For this reason, there is a problem that the same message is output every time when the apparatus is frequently restarted by moving the car or parking, which is rather troublesome. Further, in a configuration in which information is output only at the time of startup, if the user wants to hear the message already output at the time of startup, the navigation system must be restarted only to listen to the message. And there was a problem that it was troublesome.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a navigation technique for outputting a message corresponding to a date at an appropriate time. To provide.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a first aspect of the present invention is a navigation system for navigating a moving object, comprising: means for storing a message corresponding to each date; and a navigation system. Is activated, means for receiving at least date information indicating a date at that time, means for searching a message corresponding to the date indicated by the date information from the stored messages, and outputting the found message It is characterized by comprising output means, and control means for controlling to output a message only once at the first time even if it is activated a plurality of times on the same date. The invention of claim 6 is
The invention of claim 1 is taken from the viewpoint of a method,
In a navigation method for navigating a moving object, a message is stored in correspondence with each date, and when the navigation system is activated, receiving at least date information indicating a date at that time; and Searching for a message corresponding to the date represented by the date information,
Outputting the found message, and controlling to output the message only once at the first time even if the message is activated a plurality of times on the same date. An eleventh aspect of the present invention regards the inventions of the first and sixth aspects in terms of a recording medium on which a computer program is recorded, and records a navigation program for performing navigation of a moving body using a computer. In the medium, the program causes the computer to store a message in correspondence with each date, and when the navigation system is activated, causes the computer to receive at least date information indicating a date at the time, and stores the message of the stored message. Among them, a message corresponding to the date represented by the date information is searched, the found message is output, and even if the message is activated a plurality of times on the same date, the message is output only once at first. Features. According to the first, sixth, and eleventh aspects of the present invention, even the message corresponding to the day is output only at the start of the day, so that the same message is not repeated many times every time the system is restarted.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the navigation system according to the first aspect, the control means includes means for recording a date when the message is output, a date represented by the received date information, and the recorded date. Means for suppressing the output of the message when the same is true. According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the navigation method according to the sixth aspect, the controlling step includes a sub-step of recording a date on which the message is output; A sub-step of suppressing the output of the message when the date indicated by the received date information is the same as the recorded date. According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, the invention of the second and seventh aspects is viewed from the viewpoint of a recording medium on which a computer program is recorded. A computer records the date when the message was output, and when the date indicated by the received date information is the same as the recorded date, suppresses the output of the message. According to the second, seventh and twelfth aspects of the present invention, the date is recorded when the message is output,
When the system is started next time, it is possible to determine whether or not the date indicated by the received date information is the same as the recorded date, thereby realizing control such that a message is output only at the first start of the same day. The “date when the message was output” to be recorded may be any information that substantially represents the newest date when the message was output, and the specific format is, for example, “the last activated date”. Including.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the navigation system according to the first or second aspect, request means for requesting output of the message, and output means for outputting the requested message irrespective of the date. When,
It is characterized by having. According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the navigation method according to the sixth or seventh aspect, a step for requesting the output of the message and the requested message are provided. And irrespective of the date.

According to the third and eighth aspects of the present invention, a message output at the first start of the day is output at any time when there is an inquiry from a user. The trouble of restarting bothersomely can be saved.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the navigation system according to the third aspect, the requesting means is configured to detect that a predetermined phrase for the request has been uttered by voice recognition. It is characterized by the following. According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the invention of the fourth aspect is viewed from the viewpoint of a method. In the navigation method according to the eighth aspect, the step of requesting is performed when a predetermined phrase for the request is used. The utterance is detected by voice recognition. According to the fourth and ninth aspects of the present invention, it is possible to request the output of a message by speaking a word, so that the operation is facilitated.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the navigation system according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the output means is configured to output the message by voice. According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the invention of the fifth aspect is viewed from the viewpoint of a method. In the navigation method according to any one of the sixth to ninth aspects, the step of outputting includes outputting the message by voice. It is characterized by outputting.

According to the fifth and tenth aspects of the present invention, since the message is output by voice, the user can easily understand the message without having to look at the display screen to read the message.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of a navigation system according to the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "embodiment") will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. In each of the drawings used in the following description, the same members and members of the same type as those in the drawings described earlier are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

This embodiment is realized by using various hardware devices and a computer controlled by software. In this case, the software is created by combining the instructions according to the description in this specification, and the common parts with the above-described prior art use the technique described in the prior art. Further, the software includes not only program codes but also data prepared in advance for use in executing the program codes. The software realizes the effects of the present invention by utilizing a physical processing device such as a CPU and various chipsets incorporated in the navigation system.

However, the specific hardware and software configuration for realizing the present invention can be variously changed. For example, depending on the circuit configuration and the processing capability of the CPU, a certain function may be realized by a physical electronic circuit such as an LSI, or may be realized by software. Regarding the part that uses software, various forms of software, such as a compiler, an assembler, and a microprogram, can be considered. A recording medium on which software for realizing the present invention is recorded is also an aspect of the present invention by itself.

As described above, there are various possible modes for realizing the present invention using a computer. In the following, a virtual circuit block for realizing individual functions included in the present invention and the embodiments will be described. The invention and embodiments will be described.

[1. Configuration] [1-1. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of this embodiment. That is, in this embodiment, an absolute position / azimuth detecting unit 1 and a relative azimuth detecting unit 2
, A vehicle speed detection unit 3, a main CPU and its peripheral circuits 4
, Memory group M, output unit 10, input unit 11, CD
-ROM control unit 12, FM multiplex reception and processing unit 13
And a voice recognition unit 14.

Of these, the absolute position / azimuth detecting unit 1
This is a means for calculating the absolute position coordinates and azimuth of the current position of the automobile (own vehicle) on the ground surface by receiving the GPS radio wave transmitted from the PS satellite. Where GP
The S radio wave includes time / date information indicating the date and time at each point in time. The absolute position / azimuth detecting unit 1 converts the date information indicating the date out of such time / date information. It also has a role as a means of receiving. The relative azimuth detecting unit 2 is a part that detects the relative azimuth of the vehicle using a gyro or the like. The vehicle speed detection unit 3 is a part that calculates a vehicle speed by processing a vehicle speed pulse obtained from the vehicle.

The CD-ROM control section 12 is a section for reading various information such as a program for a navigation system and road map data from the CD-ROM. It has a role as a means for storing messages. The content of the message prepared and output in this way is fixed so that it can be used by anyone, such as "National holiday", "Past famous event", "Celebrity birthday". Alternatively, the information may be registered in a non-volatile memory, for example, the date and the content of the message that the user wants to personally relate to and output.

The FM multiplex reception and processing section 13 is a section for receiving a radio FM broadcast by switching a plurality of antennas according to a reception state. Further, the speech recognition unit 14 is a speech recognition unit including feature parameter and waveform data representing features of each phrase to be recognized, that is, recognition dictionary data, and converts speech input from the microphone into a digital signal. This is a part for recognizing an uttered word by performing pattern matching with the recognition dictionary data.

[1-2. Role of Main CPU and its Peripheral Circuits] The main CPU and its peripheral circuits 4 are parts that play the role of a control circuit for controlling the entire navigation system. , Search unit 42 and output control unit 4
3, the output recording unit 44, the duplication suppressing unit 46, and the question answering unit 47.

The start detecting section 41 detects that the navigation system of this embodiment has been started. The search unit 42 is a means for searching a message corresponding to the date represented by the date information from various messages (called a database) stored in the CD-ROM control unit 12 and the nonvolatile memory 45. The output control unit 43 is an output unit for performing a process of outputting the found message from the output unit 10 having a liquid crystal display panel, a synthesized voice device, and the like.

The output recording section 44, the non-volatile memory 45, and the duplication suppressing section 46 are provided with control means for controlling such that a message is output only once at the first time even if the message is activated a plurality of times on the same date. It is. That is, the output recording unit 4
Reference numeral 4 denotes a date when the message is output,
The duplication suppressing unit 46 is a unit that suppresses the output of a message when the date represented by the date information received at the time of startup and the date recorded in the nonvolatile memory 45 are the same.

The question answering section 47 includes the voice recognition section 14.
Together, they constitute request means for a user to request output of a message. That is, the question answering unit 47
When the speech recognizing unit 14 recognizes some predetermined words and phrases, the output unit 10 causes the search unit 42 and the output control unit 43 to output a message item corresponding to which word is recognized. Is configured. The output control unit 43 also has a role as an output unit that outputs the requested message irrespective of the date recorded in the nonvolatile memory 45 by being controlled by the question answering unit 47 in this way. I have.

The output control section 43 is configured to output a message as a synthesized voice from a speaker or the like. Further, as the nonvolatile memory 45, any type of storage device can be used as long as the storage device does not lose its stored contents even when the power is turned off, such as an SRAM or a flash memory provided with a battery backup. It can also be used as the SRAM 7 shown in FIG.

Although not shown, the main CPU and its peripheral circuit 4 display the current position of the vehicle on a computer graphics map using the calculated vehicle position in addition to the above. And other processing units for performing various kinds of navigation processing, such as providing route guidance in accordance with a user's instruction, and using an unillustrated user interface including an I / O control circuit and a driver. It is configured to input and output important information. Further, the main CPU and its peripheral circuit 4 perform such various processings when the memory group M and the output unit 10
And the input unit 11.

[1-3. Other Configurations] That is, the memory group M includes various memories necessary for the operation of the navigation system of this embodiment, including the nonvolatile memory 45, that is, the ROM 5 storing the BIOS and the boot-up program. , A DRAM 6 used for a work area, an SRAM 7 serving as a non-volatile memory for recording information such as a registration file, and a VR used for video display, etc.
AM8.

The output unit 10 is a unit for outputting various information such as a map and an operation menu by using a liquid crystal display panel, a voice synthesizer, and the like. It is a part for inputting various information.

[2. Operation] This embodiment configured as described above operates as follows. [2-1. First, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process at the time of startup related to output of a message. That is, as shown in this figure, when the power of an ACC (accessory) or the like connected to the navigation system is turned on (step 21), the navigation system is started up and performs necessary initialization operations and the like (step 22). ), The absolute position / azimuth detecting unit 1 receives the date information transmitted on the GPS radio wave (step 23).

Subsequently, the duplication suppression unit 46 checks whether the output of the message has already been recorded for the date represented by the date information obtained from the GPS radio wave by referring to the non-volatile memory 45 ( Step 24) At the first start of the day, no message output has been recorded yet. In this case, the search unit 42 searches for a message corresponding to the date represented by the date information from a CD-ROM database inserted in the CD-ROM control unit 12 or a message registered in the nonvolatile memory 45. (Step 25).

As a result of this search, if any of the messages registered in the database is associated with a date that matches the date represented by the date information (step 26), the search unit 42 Is passed to the output control unit 43, and the output control unit 43 outputs the message searched in this way from a speaker (not shown) by voice synthesis, such as "Today is May 5, Children's Day" (step 27). When the message is output as described above, the output recording unit 44 records the date on which the message was output in the nonvolatile memory 7 (Step 28).

If the message is output and the date is recorded as described above at the first start of a certain day,
When the second and subsequent activations are performed, the date indicated by the received date information and the non-volatile memory 4
5 is determined to be the same as the last output date. Note that such determination may be made after the search, but even if a message with a matching date is found when searching a database or the like based on the received date information, the information has already been output on this day. Assuming that the information is not output, information is not output, and the subsequent processing is continued (step 29).

In step 25, as a result of searching the database, if there is no corresponding message, there is no need to particularly inform the user that there is no message, so the process is continued as it is.

[2-2. As described above, during the same date, no message is output in the second or subsequent startup, but regardless of such date, if there is a request from the user, the message is output. Is output. Here, FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when a message is output in a state where the navigation system has already been started. That is, even after the navigation system is activated, when the user wants to listen to the message for the current date, the user can output a message by uttering a predetermined word or performing a key operation or the like from the input unit 11. Request (output request).

Here, it is desirable to determine in advance a different phrase for each message item as the phrase of the output request. For example, in addition to "what day is today?""What day today?""What time now?" The speech recognition unit 14 recognizes the words spoken by the user, and sends which words are spoken in the form of a phrase code determined for each word. Also, when requesting output by key operation, different message items are assigned to some keys, and several items are listed on the display screen, and selected with the direction key or selection key etc. You may do so.

In the main CPU and its peripheral circuit 4 receiving such an input from the user (step 1),
The question answering unit 47 determines whether the given input indicates an output request (step 32). Here, if the request is not an output request, other processing according to the input content is performed (step 38). However, if the request is an output request, the question answering unit 47 indicates that the item requested by the user is of various types. Judge which item of the message (step 3
3), among the messages of the requested item, GPS
A database corresponding to the date represented by the received date information is searched from the database (step 34).

As a result of such a search, the requested item is added to the message registered in the database.
If there is a message that matches both the date and the day (step 35), the registered message is output from the speaker by voice synthesis or the like (step 36), but if there is no message corresponding to the requested item (step 36). In step 35), the fact that there is no corresponding message is output by synthetic voice such as "the item is not set" (step 37).

[3. As described above, in this embodiment, even the message information corresponding to the day is output only at the start of the first day of the day, so that the trouble that the same message is repeated many times every time the system is restarted is eliminated. .

In particular, in this embodiment, the date is recorded when the message is output, and the next time the system is started, it is determined whether the date indicated by the received date information is the same as the recorded date. With such a configuration, it is possible to realize a control in which a message is output only at the first activation of the same day. The “date when the message was output” to be recorded may be any information that substantially represents the newest date when the message was output, and the specific format is, for example, “the last activated date”. Including.

Also, in this embodiment, a message output at the first activation of the day is output at any time when there is an inquiry from the user. Therefore, it is bothersome to output the message as in the prior art. No need to restart. Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the output of the message can be requested by speaking the word, the operation becomes easy. In addition, in this embodiment, since the message is output by voice, the message can be easily understood without having to look at the display screen to read the message.

[4. Other Embodiments] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but includes other embodiments as exemplified below. For example, the navigation system of the present invention can be used not only for a so-called car navigation system mounted on an automobile, but also for other types of moving objects such as motorcycles.

Storing a message "by date" does not necessarily mean that a message corresponds to only one day out of 365 days of the year. "Monday" or "Tuesday"
365 messages a year, such as "Daian" and "Tomohiki"
Includes cases that correspond to multiple days of the day. The output of the message and the request for the output need not always be made by voice.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, a navigation technique for outputting a message corresponding to a date at an appropriate time can be provided, so that the message can be easily used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of startup related to output of a message in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure related to output of a message after activation in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Absolute position / azimuth detection part 2 ... Relative azimuth detection part 3 ... Vehicle speed detection part 4 ... Main CPU and its peripheral circuit M ... Memory group 5 ... ROM 6 ... DRAM 7 ... SRAM 8 ... VRAM 10 ... Display part 11 ... Input Unit 12 CD-ROM control unit 13 FM multiplex reception and processing unit 14 Voice recognition unit 41 Startup detection unit 42 Search unit 43 Output control unit 44 Output recording unit 45 Nonvolatile memory 46 Duplication suppression unit

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A navigation system for navigating a moving body, means for storing a message corresponding to each date, means for receiving at least date information indicating a date at the time when the navigation system is activated, Means for searching for a message corresponding to the date represented by the date information from the stored messages; output means for outputting the found message; And a control means for controlling so as not to output the navigation system. 2. The control unit includes: a unit that records a date when the message is output; and a unit that suppresses output of the message when a date represented by the received date information is the same as the recorded date. The navigation system according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: request means for requesting output of the message; and output means for outputting the requested message irrespective of the date. Navigation system. 4. The navigation system according to claim 3, wherein said requesting means is configured to detect, by voice recognition, that a predetermined phrase for said request has been uttered. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output unit is configured to output the message by voice.
5. The navigation system according to any one of items 1 to 4. 6. A navigation method for navigating a moving body, wherein a message is stored in correspondence with each date, and when the navigation system is activated, at least date information indicating a date at that time is received; Searching for a message corresponding to the date represented by the date information from the stored messages; outputting the found message; Controlling the output not to be output. 7. The controlling step includes: a sub-step of recording a date when the message is output; and suppressing output of the message when a date represented by the received date information is the same as the recorded date. The navigation method according to claim 6, further comprising the following steps: 8. The navigation method according to claim 6, further comprising: a step of requesting output of the message; and a step of outputting the requested message regardless of the date. . 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the step of requesting detects, by voice recognition, that a predetermined phrase for the request has been uttered.
Navigation method described. 10. The method according to claim 6, wherein the outputting includes outputting the message by voice.
The navigation method according to any one of the above. 11. A recording medium on which a navigation program for performing navigation of a moving object using a computer is stored, wherein the program causes the computer to store a message corresponding to each date, and When activated, it receives at least date information indicating the date at that time, searches the stored messages for a message corresponding to the date indicated by the date information, outputs the found message, and outputs the same message. Wherein a message is output only once at first even if it is activated a plurality of times. 12. The program causes the computer to record a date on which the message was output, and suppresses the output of the message when a date indicated by the received date information is the same as the recorded date. A recording medium on which the navigation program according to claim 11 is recorded.