JPS61134900A - Course guidance unit for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a vehicle route guidance device that reliably guides a vehicle to a desired destination.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various vehicle route guidance devices for guiding a vehicle to a desired destination have been proposed from the viewpoint of improving driving operability or driving safety.

The processing procedure of such conventional route guidance devices is generally to set the current location and destination, and then select intersections that will be the starting and ending points of the main guidance route based on information on pre-stored road maps. , set the main guidance route, and further,
The system selects an intersection to start route guidance, performs guidance processing based on the information obtained through these series of processes, and information on the road map, and reaches the destination.

By the way, in the above-mentioned processing procedure, conventionally, as a method for selecting an intersection to start route guidance, a named intersection is selected as a registered intersection with the smallest absolute distance between the set current location and the intersection registered in the storage means. The method used was to make decisions based solely on the numerical process of selection. However, in such a method, the selected intersection is
In general, even if an intersection has a name, drivers do not necessarily know it. Therefore, there is an inconvenience that the driver cannot reach the selected intersection regardless of the driver's intention, and as a result, there is a problem that it takes time to start the guidance process.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a route guidance device for a vehicle that can ensure that the route guidance reaches the initially set starting point.

(Summary of the Invention) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an apparatus for guiding a vehicle to a destination according to a preset guide route as the vehicle travels, as shown in FIG. an input means 1 which is operated by the driver and inputs at least the current location when setting the guidance route; A notification means 3 that uses information to notify intersections existing within a predetermined distance, and one of the intersections operated by the driver and notified.
and a guidance route setting means 9 that sets a guidance route using information stored in the storage means 7, with the designated intersection as a starting point for route guidance. The gist is that.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail using the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a route guidance device for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, numeral 21 denotes a route guidance control device composed of, for example, a microcomputer, and specifically, it is composed of, for example, three microcomputers as shown in FIG.

This route guidance control device 21 has a switch SW (1) 33.8W (2) 35 as its input, a keyboard 29 as an input device, a storage device 27 in which information regarding a road map is stored, and further 3 A direction sensor 23 and a vehicle speed sensor 25 are connected on one side, and a display device 31 is connected as an output thereof on the other hand. Therefore, the route guidance control device 21 appropriately inputs signals from those connected to these inputs, performs processing to be described later, and outputs the results to the display device 31.

According to the configuration example shown in FIG. 3, the route guidance control device 21 controls the microcomputers 41 and 43 in response to processing broadly classified into three types: vehicle position setting, guidance route setting, and display information control. I am using .45. The position setting microcomputer 45 receives detection signals from the orientation sensor 23 and vehicle speed sensor 25 and performs position detection. In the guidance microcomputer 43, the switch 5W
(1) 33.8W (2) In response to the status setting from 35, road information is received from the storage device 27 via the buffer memory 47, and the guide route setting process is performed while referring to this. The display microcomputer 41 is attached with a buffer memory 49 for temporarily storing display information and a CRTC 51 for controlling the display device 31, and controls the display of display information.

Switch 5W (1) 33.8 for setting the status of the entire device
Of W(2) 35, 5W(1) 33 is a map switch, which is the main switch of the route guidance device. Specifically, for example, by turning this on, the route guidance device sets a guidance route. If you do this, even if you turn the ignition switch to 0FF (IGN 0FF), the information on the set guidance route will be retained in the storage device 27.
Even when the IGN is turned ON again and the vehicle is placed in a running state, route guidance processing continues based on the guidance route information held in the storage device 27. Further, 5W(2) 35 is a start switch of the route guidance device, and is a start switch of the route guidance control device 2.
For 1, O indicates that the own vehicle is at the route guidance starting point.
It is set as N state and instructs to start route guidance processing.

The keyboard 29 as an input device is operated by the driver and has functions such as inputting the current location and destination to initialize a guidance route, and inputting selection instructions from the driver. On the other hand, the display device 31 has a function of displaying a route guidance starting intersection selected within a predetermined area and displaying information for guiding the vehicle during route guidance. As long as the driver can visually recognize the output information of the device, for example, a CRT or the like can be considered.

Next, the operation of the vehicle route guidance system according to this embodiment will be explained in detail based on the examples shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 using a flowchart not shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an example of a road map displayed on the display device 31. On this route map, it is assumed that route guidance from the current location P to the destination Q is to be processed.

Here, in the road map information stored in the storage device 27, information on registered intersections is classified into important intersections and general intersections, and on the map, as shown in FIG. The ◎ mark is displayed as an important intersection, and the O mark is displayed as a general intersection. For example, the criteria for differentiation is that important intersections are intersections of major roads, i.e., major national highways, bypasses, etc., and other general roads, i.e., intersections where the aforementioned major roads intersect with general national roads, prefectural roads, major local roads, and the aforementioned general roads. It is only necessary to consider a standard such that intersections where roads intersect are designated as general intersections.In addition, the information stored in the storage device 27 is used as information for setting guidance routes to create a main network that connects only the important intersections. The information includes all network information connecting all intersections registered in the storage device 37 for important intersections and general intersections.

The route guidance device sets a guidance route for the processing object shown in FIG. 6 based on the above-mentioned stored information. First, the principle of the method for setting the guidance route will be explained here. First, set the main guidance route. When making this setting, the current location P and destination Q are set based on the main network information 1 for the current location P1 and destination Q.
An important intersection that is included in an arbitrary angle 2α with respect to the direction of the destination Q at the current location P on the straight line PQ connecting the A method is adopted in which a route ending at B is set as the main guidance route.

Next, a method for setting a guide route from the current location P to the starting point A of the main guide route will be explained using FIG. Furthermore, the seventh
The figure shows a road map showing the vicinity of the current location P in FIG. 6 in detail. Here, the current location P and the starting point A of the main guidance route are set based on all the network information.

First, find the straight-line distance S from the current location P to the starting point A of the main guidance route, and multiply this by an arbitrary coefficient β (β>1) to provide redundancy.The diameter is βS, and the center is the straight line P.
Assuming a circle 101 at the center of A, an area inside this circle 101 or an area inside a square 103 including this circle 101 is set as an area for selecting a starting intersection for route guidance. Next, for example, if the area inside the square 103 is the area to be selected, the intersections (indicated by reference numbers 61 to 81 in FIG. 7) existing within this area are selected. Named intersections from the selected intersections are displayed on the display device 31 in order of distance from the current location P, without prompting the driver to select any of the intersections. Next, based on the intersection displayed on the display device 31, the driver inputs the selected intersection using the keyboard 29. Finally, the route with the shortest distance from the route guidance start intersection selected in this way to the important intersection A that is the starting point of the main guidance route, for example, the route with reference number 63 → 69 → 67 → A, is set as the guidance route. do.

The processing procedure performed by the route guidance device using the method principle described above for a processing object as shown in FIG. 6 will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 4.

The flowchart shown in FIG. 4 generally includes a processing flow related to initial settings (steps 120 to 140), a processing flow for setting a main guidance route (step 150), and a processing flow for selecting a starting intersection for route guidance (step 140). 1
60 to 200), a process of setting a guidance route from the selected route guidance starting intersection to the starting point of the main guidance route (step 210), and driving the vehicle to the destination according to the route set in the above process. It is divided into a processing flow for guiding and controlling (steps 220 to 230).

First, as an initial setting process, step 12 is performed to detect that the ignition switch of the vehicle is in the ON state.
o) Determine whether or not the map switch 5W(1) 33 of the route guidance device is in the ON state. Step 130) After confirming that the map switch 5W(1) 33 is in the ON state, display the current location and Initial settings are performed by inputting information indicating the location of the destination on the road map (step 140).

Next, the process of setting the main guidance route (step 150
), the main guidance route is set using the method principle described above for the set current location and destination.

Next, the process of selecting the starting intersection for route guidance is as follows:
Based on the method principle described above, a series of processes described below are performed. First, a predetermined area for selecting a starting intersection for route guidance is set (step 160), and intersections existing within this predetermined area are selected (step 170). Next, from the selected intersections, intersections with names are arranged in descending order of distance from the current location and displayed on the display device 31, for example, as shown in the display screen example shown in FIG. 5.Step 18
0), if the driver selects an intersection selected based on the displayed intersection, for example, the Funago intersection with number 3, inputs number 3 from the keyboard 29 (step 19).
0). Next, this input number is received and displayed on the display device 31 as the starting intersection for route guidance (step 200).

Next, a guidance route is set from the route guidance start intersection selected in this way to an important intersection serving as the starting point of the main guidance route (step 210), and a guidance route from the current location to the destination is set. is completed.
First, in the process of guiding and controlling the vehicle to the destination according to the guidance route set in the above series of processes, the own vehicle reaches the starting intersection for route guidance selected in the process (steps 160 to 200). Start switch 5W (2) 3
Step 220)
, the start switch 5W(2) 35 is in the ON state,
If it is determined that the own vehicle has arrived at the starting intersection for route guidance, the vehicle is subsequently guided to the destination according to the set guidance route (step 230).

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, when selecting the starting intersection for route guidance, the driver can arbitrarily select and specify from among several intersections within a predetermined area. Even if the selected intersection is a named intersection, there is no risk of inconveniences such as not being able to reach the selected intersection and not being able to start the guidance process because the driver does not know the intersection. It is possible to ensure that the vehicle reaches the point where the guidance process starts. Furthermore, when the vehicle heads to the selected starting intersection for route guidance, the driver himself/herself makes the decision and selects it, so even if there is a route that runs in the opposite direction to the destination,
Even if there is a detour route, the driver can be convinced to continue driving, and the driver can avoid the problem intersection when choosing the starting intersection for route guidance. It has the following advantages.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a complaint correspondence diagram, Fig. 2 is a configuration diagram of a route guidance device for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a detailed configuration diagram of a route guidance control device, and Fig. 4 is a diagram for the vehicle. A processing flowchart of the route guidance device, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the display status of the display device during the processing of FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is an example of a road map for explaining the processing of the vehicle route guidance device. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a road map that shows FIG. 6 in more detail. 1...Input means 3...Notification means 5...Selection instruction means 7...Storage means 9...Guidance setting means Fig. 5! l¥6vA f! I7 diagram Q+

Claims (1)

[Claims] A device for guiding a vehicle to a destination according to a preset guide route, comprising a storage means for storing information regarding a road map, and an input input operated by a driver to input at least the current location when setting the guide route. means for notifying an intersection existing within a predetermined distance from the input current location using information stored in the storage means; The present invention is characterized by comprising means for selecting and instructing one of them, and a guidance route setting means for setting a guidance route using information stored in the storage means, with the designated intersection as a starting point for route guidance. A route guidance device for vehicles.