WO2006106694A1

WO2006106694A1 - Route guidance system, route guidance method, route guidance program, and recording medium

Info

Publication number: WO2006106694A1
Application number: PCT/JP2006/306356
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hiroshi Ooue; Seiji Goto
Original assignee: Pioneer Corporation
Priority date: 2005-03-31
Filing date: 2006-03-28
Publication date: 2006-10-12
Also published as: JP4612678B2; JPWO2006106694A1

Abstract

A position acquisition section (101) acquires a candidate position indicative of the current position of a vehicle. An inclination angle calculation section (102) calculates the inclination angle of the vehicle in a predetermined road interval. A position acquisition section (103) acquires information on the inclination angle of a road on the periphery of the candidate position acquired by the position acquiring section (101). A correction section (104) corrects the candidate position based on the information on the inclination angle of the predetermined road interval calculated by the inclination angle calculation section (102) and on the information on the inclination angle of the road acquired by the inclination angle acquisition section (103). A determination section (105) determines, when a plurality of candidate positions are acquired by the position acquiring section (101), the current position of the vehicle from among the candidate positions corrected by the correction section (104). A display section (106) displays, on map information, the current position of the vehicle determined by the determination section (105). Each section is controlled at a control section.

Description

Specification

Route guidance device, route guidance method, route guidance program, and recording medium

The present invention relates to a route guidance device, a route guidance method, a route guidance program, and a recording medium that perform route guidance to a destination point. However, the use of the present invention is not limited to the above-described route guidance device, route guidance method, route guidance program, and recording medium.

[0002] Conventionally, a navigation device that searches and guides a route to a destination point recognizes the position of the vehicle based on information acquired from the outside, such as a sensor provided in the vehicle and GPS, and maps information Is displayed on the display screen. At this time, an error may occur between the vehicle position recognized by the navigation device and the map information. If such an error occurs, correct route guidance cannot be performed, so map matching is performed to correct the error and display the vehicle position so that it travels on the road in the map information.

[0003] The basic components of map matching are the direction and travel distance inputs of sensors provided on the vehicle, and road coordinate data of map information for comparison. In addition, if there is a difference in height, such as an elevated highway and a general road, the gravity angle applied to the vehicle and the gravitational acceleration force are calculated, Based on the road slope information recorded in advance, matching to the position with higher accuracy is performed (for example, see Patent Document 1 below).

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-253373

Disclosure of the invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

[0005] However, according to the above-described conventional technology, the location where the vehicle actually exists and the predicted position of the vehicle predicted by the navigation device due to an error in map information or an error in sensor output ( (Hereinafter referred to as a candidate) may cause an error. There is a height difference In the case of a place, the data used for map matching is in three dimensions, and there are many factors that cause errors compared to places with a difference in elevation. In this way, if there is a deviation between the actual position of the vehicle and the candidate, an example is the problem that accurate map matching cannot be performed.

Means for solving the problem

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the route guidance device according to the invention of claim 1 includes a position acquisition unit that acquires a candidate position that is a candidate indicating the current position of the vehicle, and a predetermined section. An inclination angle calculating means for calculating the inclination angle of the vehicle, an inclination angle acquiring means for acquiring information about the inclination angle of the road around the candidate position acquired by the position acquiring means, and the inclination angle calculating means. Based on the calculated inclination angle of the predetermined section and information on the inclination angle of the road acquired by the inclination angle acquisition means, correction means for correcting the candidate position, and control for controlling the respective means And means.

[0007] In addition, the route guidance method according to the invention of claim 8 includes a position acquisition step of acquiring a candidate position that is a candidate indicating the current position of the vehicle, and calculates the inclination angle of the vehicle in a predetermined section. An inclination angle calculating step, an inclination angle acquiring step for acquiring information about an inclination angle of a road around the candidate position acquired by the position acquiring step, and the predetermined section calculated by the inclination angle calculating step. And a correction step of correcting the candidate position based on an inclination angle and information on the inclination angle of the road acquired by the inclination angle acquisition step.

[0008] A route guidance program according to the invention of claim 9 causes a computer to execute the route guidance method according to claim 8.

[0009] In addition, a recording medium according to the invention of claim 10 is readable by a computer in which the route guidance program according to claim 9 is recorded.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0010] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a route guidance device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing map matching processing of the route guidance device. O

[FIG. 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a navigation apparatus that is effective in the embodiment.

Yes

[FIG. 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the positional relationship between the vehicle position and candidates.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing map matching processing performed by the route guidance unit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing map matching processing performed by the route guidance unit.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the processing of steps S501 and S502.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the processing of steps S504 to S506.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the processing of steps S504 to S506.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the processing of steps S505 to S508.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the processing of steps S505 to S508.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the processes of steps S505 to S508. Explanation of symbols

Route guidance device

101 Position acquisition unit

102 Inclination angle calculator

103 Inclination angle acquisition unit

104 Correction section

105 decision part

106 Display

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a route guidance device, a route guidance method, a route guidance program, and a recording medium according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0013] (Embodiment)

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a route guidance apparatus according to an embodiment. The route guidance apparatus 100 according to the embodiment includes a position acquisition unit 101, an inclination angle calculation unit 102, an inclination angle acquisition unit 103, a correction unit 104, a determination unit 105, and a display unit 106. Also The constituent units 101 to 106 are controlled by a control unit (not shown) that controls each unit.

[0014] The position acquisition unit 101 acquires a candidate position that is a candidate indicating the current position of the vehicle. Specifically, the position acquisition unit 101 calculates a candidate position based on, for example, vehicle position information received from a GPS satellite and information output from a direction sensor and a vehicle speed sensor. Also, there may be a plurality of candidate positions acquired by the position acquisition unit 101.

[0015] The tilt angle calculation unit 102 calculates the tilt angle of the vehicle. Specifically, the inclination angle calculation unit 102 calculates the inclination angle of the vehicle using, for example, an inclination angle sensor or a gyro sensor. In addition, the calculated inclination angle information is accumulated for a predetermined interval.

The inclination angle acquisition unit 103 acquires information related to the inclination angle of the road around the candidate position acquired by the position acquisition unit 101 (the road on which the candidate is traveling). Specifically, the inclination angle acquisition unit 103 acquires, for example, road inclination angle information included in the map information. It is desirable that the information about the inclination angle acquired by the inclination angle acquisition unit 103 is in a certain section that is equal to or greater than a predetermined interval in which the inclination angle calculation unit 102 calculates the vehicle inclination angle. In addition, when a plurality of candidate positions are acquired, information on the inclination angle of the road around the plurality of candidate positions is acquired.

[0017] The correction unit 104 is based on the information on the inclination angle of the predetermined section calculated by the inclination angle calculation unit 102 and the information on the road inclination angle acquired by the inclination angle acquisition unit 103. Correct. Specifically, the correction unit 104, for example, the pattern indicated by the information on the inclination angle of the predetermined section calculated by the inclination angle calculation unit 102, and the road inclination of the fixed section acquired by the inclination angle acquisition unit 103, for example. The candidate position is corrected based on the comparison result with the pattern included in the information on the corner. If a plurality of candidate positions are acquired, the plurality of candidate positions are corrected.

[0018] When the position acquisition unit 101 acquires a plurality of candidate positions, the determination unit 105 determines a predetermined section calculated by the inclination angle calculation unit 102 from the plurality of candidate positions corrected by the correction unit 104. The candidate position indicating the pattern most similar to the pattern indicated by the information on the inclination angle of the road and the pattern included in the information relating to the inclination angle of the road in the certain section acquired by the inclination angle acquisition unit 103 is the current position of the vehicle. Determine as. Display unit 10 6 displays the current position of the vehicle determined by the determination unit 105 on the map information.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing map matching processing of the route guidance device. In the following description, it is assumed that there are a plurality of candidate positions that the position acquisition unit 101 acquires. First, the position acquisition unit 101 acquires a candidate position that is a candidate indicating the current position of the vehicle (step S201). Next, the tilt angle calculation unit 102 calculates the tilt angle of the vehicle in a predetermined section (step S202). Further, the inclination angle acquisition unit 103 acquires information regarding the inclination angle of the road around the candidate position (step S203).

[0020] Then, the correction unit 104 selects candidates based on the information on the inclination angle of the predetermined section calculated by the inclination angle calculation unit 102 and the information on the road inclination angle acquired by the inclination angle acquisition unit 103. The position is corrected (step S204). Next, the determination unit 105 obtains the pattern and the inclination angle indicated by the inclination angle information of the predetermined section calculated by the inclination angle calculation unit 102 from the plurality of candidate positions corrected by the correction unit 104. A candidate position indicating a pattern most similar to the pattern included in the information related to the inclination angle of the road in the certain section acquired by the unit 103 is determined as the current position of the vehicle (step S205). The display unit 106 displays the current position of the vehicle determined by the determination unit 105 on the map information (step S206), and ends the process according to this flowchart.

[0021] As described above, according to the route guidance device 100, information on the vehicle inclination angle calculated by the inclination angle calculation unit 102 and information on the road inclination angle acquired by the inclination angle acquisition unit 103 are obtained. The candidate position is corrected based on the above, and the position of the vehicle can be obtained with higher accuracy. In addition, since the tilt angle information is used for correction, the position of the vehicle can be obtained with high precision, particularly in places where there is a height difference.

[0022] In addition, the pattern included in the information about the inclination angle of the predetermined section calculated by the inclination angle calculation unit 102 and the pattern included in the information about the inclination angle of the road in the certain section acquired by the inclination angle acquisition unit 103 By correcting the candidate position based on the comparison result, it is possible to efficiently and accurately perform correction.

[0023] Further, among candidate positions after correction, a candidate position indicating a pattern most similar to the pattern indicated by the vehicle tilt angle information is determined as the current position of the vehicle and displayed on the map information. More accurate map matching processing can be performed. Example

[0024] (Hardware configuration of navigation device 300)

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a navigation device that is effective in the embodiment. First, the hardware configuration of the navigation apparatus 300 that is useful in the embodiment will be described. The navigation device 300 searches for a route from the departure point to the destination point, and guides the user's vehicle along the searched route. In this example, the route guidance device 100 according to the embodiment is realized by the navigation device 300.

In FIG. 3, a navigation device 300 is mounted on a vehicle, and includes a navigation control unit 301, a user operation unit 302, a display unit 303, a position acquisition unit 304, a recording medium 300, The recording medium decoding unit 306, the guidance sound output unit 307, the communication unit 308, the route search unit 309, the route guidance unit 310, the guidance sound generation unit 311, and the speaker 312 are configured.

[0026] The navigation control unit 301 controls the entire navigation device 300. The navigation control unit 301 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes predetermined arithmetic processing, a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores various control programs, and a RAM (Random) that functions as a work area for the CPU. It can be realized by a microcomputer constituted by an Access Memory).

In addition, the navigation control unit 301 inputs and outputs information related to route guidance between the route search unit 309, the route guidance unit 310, and the guidance sound generation unit 311, and obtains the result. The information is output to the display unit 303 and the guide sound output unit 307.

The user operation unit 302 outputs information input by the user, such as characters, numerical values, and various instructions, to the navigation control unit 301. As the configuration of the user operation unit 302, various known forms such as a push button switch, a touch panel, a keyboard, and a joystick that detect physical pressing Z non-pressing can be employed. The user operation unit 302 may be configured to perform an input operation by sound using a microphone that inputs sound from the outside.

[0029] The user operation unit 302 may be provided integrally with the navigation device 300. V, and may be configured to be operated separately from the navigation device 300 like a remote control. The user operation unit 302 may be configured in any one of the various forms described above, or may be configured in a plurality of forms. The user inputs information by appropriately performing an input operation according to the form of the user operation unit 302. The information input by the operation of the user operation unit 302 includes, for example, a destination point or a departure point of the route to be searched.

[0030] Entering the destination or departure point is applicable by entering the latitude / longitude and address of each point, as well as specifying the telephone number, genre, keyword, etc. of the facility that will be the destination or departure point. The facility is searched and its location can be determined. More specifically, these pieces of information are specified as one point on the map based on background type data included in map information recorded on the recording medium 305 described later. Also, display map information on the display unit 303 described later, and specify a point on the displayed map.

In addition, a touch panel can be adopted as a form of the user operation unit 302. When a touch panel is used, the touch panel is used by being stacked on the display surface side of the display unit 303. The input information is recognized by managing the display timing on the display unit 303, the operation timing on the touch panel (user operation unit 302), and the position coordinates thereof. By adopting a touch panel stacked on the display unit 303 as a form of the user operation unit 302, it is possible to input a large amount of information without increasing the size of the form of the user operation unit 302. As the touch panel, various known touch panels such as a resistance film type and a pressure sensitive type can be used.

Display unit 303 includes, for example, a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), a TFT liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, a plasma display, and the like. Specifically, the display unit 303 can be configured by, for example, a video IZF or a video display device connected to the video IZF. Specifically, the video IZF includes, for example, a graphic controller that controls the entire display device, a buffer memory such as VRAM (Video RAM) that temporarily records image information that can be displayed immediately, and graphic controller power. Based on the output image information, it can be controlled by a control IC that controls the display of the display device. It is composed. The display unit 303 displays icons, cursors, menus, windows, or various information such as characters and images. The display unit 303 displays map information recorded on a recording medium 305, which will be described later, and information on route guidance.

[0033] The position acquisition unit 304 includes a GPS receiver and various sensor forces, and acquires information on the current position (own vehicle position) of the own apparatus. The GPS receiver receives the radio wave from the GPS satellite and determines the geometric position with the GPS satellite. GPS means Global Positioning

It is an abbreviation for System, and is a system that accurately determines the position on the ground by receiving radio waves from four or more satellites. The GPS receiver is composed of an antenna for receiving radio waves from GPS satellites, a tuner for demodulating the received radio waves, and an arithmetic circuit for calculating the current position based on the demodulated information.

[0034] The various sensors are various sensors mounted on the vehicle and the navigation device 300, such as a vehicle speed sensor, an angular velocity sensor, and an acceleration (tilt) sensor. The information output from these sensors is used to drive the vehicle. Find the trajectory. Thus, by using the information output from various sensors together with the information obtained from the external force by the GPS receiver, the position of the vehicle can be recognized with higher accuracy.

[0035] The vehicle speed sensor is detected from the output shaft of the transmission of the vehicle on which the navigation device 300 is mounted, and outputs a pulse signal having a predetermined cycle. Therefore, since the pulse signal is synchronized with the rotation of the wheel, counting the number of pulses allows the mileage to be calculated according to the number of pulses, considering the number of pulses per wheel rotation. . The angular velocity sensor detects the angular velocity when the host vehicle is rotating, and outputs angular velocity information and relative direction information. The acceleration (tilt) sensor detects and outputs the gravitational acceleration applied to the vehicle. Therefore, the tilt angle can be detected from the output of this acceleration (tilt) sensor.

[0036] The route guidance unit 310, which will be described later, uses the information output from the angular velocity sensor and the acceleration (tilt) sensor based on the information on the tilt angle accompanying the movement of the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as tilt angle information). The map position is corrected and the map matching is performed.

The recording medium 305 records various control programs and various information in a state that can be read by a computer. The recording medium 305 is used to write information by the recording medium decoding unit 306. And the written information is recorded in a nonvolatile manner. The recording medium 305 can be realized by, for example, an HD (Hard Disk). The recording medium 305 is not limited to HD. Instead of HD or in addition to HD, DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) and CD (Compact Disk) can be attached to and removed from the recording medium decoding unit 306. Use portable media as the recording medium 305. The recording medium 305 is not limited to DVD and CD. It can be attached to and detached from the recording medium decoding unit 306 such as CD-ROM (CD-R, CD-RW), MO (Magneto-Optical disk), and memory card. It is also possible to use a portable medium.

[0038] The map information recorded in the recording medium 305 includes background data representing features such as buildings, rivers, and the ground surface, and road shape data representing the shape of the road. On the display screen of the part 303, it is drawn two-dimensionally or three-dimensionally. When the navigation device 300 is guiding a route, the map information recorded on the recording medium 305 and the vehicle position acquired by the position acquisition unit 304 are displayed in an overlapping manner.

[0039] The background data includes background shape data representing the shape of the background and background type data representing the type of the background. The background shape data includes, for example, the representative point of the feature 'polyline • polygon' and the coordinates of the feature. The background type data includes, for example, text data representing the name, address and telephone number of the feature, and type data of the feature such as the building “river” ground surface.

[0040] The road shape data is a road network having a plurality of nodes and links connecting the nodes. A node indicates an intersection where a plurality of roads such as a three-way crossing such as a T-junction, a crossroad, and a five-way crossing. The link indicates a road. Some links have shape interpolation points, and curved roads can be expressed by these shape interpolation points.

[0041] The road shape data includes road slope information in addition to the road shape on the plane, and there is a height difference such as a three-dimensional intersection in combination with the data output from the position acquisition unit 304. The vehicle position can be recognized at

[0042] The road shape data further includes traffic condition data. The traffic condition data includes, for example, the presence or absence of traffic lights or pedestrian crossings for each node, the presence or absence of highway entrances and junctions, the length (distance) for each link, vehicle width, direction of travel, road type ( Highway Road, toll road, general road, etc.). In the traffic condition data, past traffic information is recorded by statistically processing past traffic information based on seasons, days of the week, large holidays, and times.

In this embodiment, the map information is recorded on the recording medium 305. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The map information may be provided outside the navigation device 300, not the information recorded only in the one integrated with the hardware of the navigation device 300. In this case, the navigation device 300 acquires map information via the network through the communication unit 308, for example. The acquired map information is recorded in RAM.

The recording medium decoding unit 306 controls reading of information on the recording medium 305 and Z writing. For example, when HD is used as the recording medium 305, the recording medium decoding unit 306 is an HDD (Hard Disk Drive). Similarly, when DVD or CD (including CD-R, CD-RW) is used as the recording medium 305, the recording medium decoding unit 306 is a DVD drive or a CD drive. When a CD-ROM (CD-R, CD-RW), MO, memory card, etc. is used as the writable and removable recording medium 305, information can be written to the various recording media 305 and various recording media. A dedicated drive device capable of reading the information recorded in 305 is appropriately used as the recording medium decoding unit 310.

[0045] The guide sound output unit 307 reproduces the guide sound by controlling the output to the connected speaker 312. There may be one speaker 312 or a plurality of speakers. Specifically, the guidance sound output unit 307 can be realized by an audio IZF connected to an audio output speaker 312. More specifically, the audio IZF is, for example, a DZA converter that performs DZA conversion of audio digital information, an amplifier that amplifies the audio analog signal output from the DZA converter, and an AZD conversion of the audio analog signal. A converter and force can be configured.

[0046] The communication unit 308 includes, for example, an FM tuner, a VICSZ beacon resino, a wireless communication device, and other communication devices, and performs communication with other communication devices. Information acquired by the communication unit 308 includes, for example, road traffic such as traffic jams and traffic restrictions. General information. Reception of road traffic information by the communication unit 308 is VICS (Vehicle

Information and Communication System) may be done at the time when the road traffic † blue bulletin is sent to the center, or by requesting road traffic information from the VICS center periodically. You can also obtain road traffic information for the desired area from the VICS information collected nationwide on the server via the network!

[0047] The route search unit 309 searches for an optimal route from the departure point to the destination point using map information recorded in the recording medium 305, VICS information acquired via the communication unit 308, and the like. To do. Here, the optimum route is a route that best meets the conditions specified by the user. In general, there are an infinite number of routes from a departure point to a destination point. Therefore, items to be considered in route search are set to search for routes that meet the conditions.

[0048] As the departure point of the route searched by the route search unit 309, the current position acquired by the position acquisition unit 304 or the departure point designated by the user from the user operation unit 302 is set. In addition to the destination point input by the user, a facility that has been searched for map data by means of a Jean search may be set as the destination point.

The route guidance unit 310 is obtained from the guidance route information searched by the route search unit 309, the own vehicle position information acquired by the position acquisition unit 304, and the recording medium 305 via the recording medium decoding unit 300. Real-time route guidance information is generated based on the map information. The route guidance information generated at this time may be information that considers the traffic jam information received by the communication unit 308. The route guidance information generated by the route guidance unit 310 is output to the display unit 303 via the navigation control unit 301.

[0050] The route guidance unit 310 performs various types of data acquired by the various sensors constituting the position acquisition unit 304 and the map information obtained from the recording medium 305 via the recording medium decoding unit 306, during the route guidance. Based on the above, it calculates which position on the map the vehicle is driving. At this time, V is corrected for various data acquired by the position acquisition unit 304, and map matching is performed to correct the vehicle position so that the vehicle travels on the road of the map information. In particular, in places where there is a difference in elevation, accurate map matching is performed using the vehicle's inclination information. Map performed by route guide 310 Details of the matching process will be described later.

[0051] The guide sound generator 311 generates tone and voice information corresponding to the pattern. That is, based on the route guidance information generated by the route guidance unit 310, the virtual sound source corresponding to the guidance point is set and the voice guidance information is generated, and this is transmitted via the navigation control unit 301. To the guide sound output unit 307.

[0052] It should be noted that the position acquisition unit 101 and the inclination angle calculation unit 102, which are functional configurations of the route guidance device 100 according to the embodiment, include an inclination angle acquisition unit by the position acquisition unit 304 and the route guidance unit 310. 103, the correction unit 104, and the determination unit 105 are realized by the route guidance unit 310, and the display unit 106 is realized by the control unit navigation control unit 301 by the display unit 303 and the route guidance unit 310.

[0053] (Map matching process of route guidance unit 310)

Next, details of the map matching process performed by the route guiding unit 310 will be described. As described above, the route guidance unit 310 recognizes the vehicle position based on the information acquired by the position acquisition unit 304, and displays the vehicle position at one point on the map information recorded on the recording medium 305. . At that time, map matching is performed so that the vehicle position is placed on the road of the map information.

[0054] The position acquisition unit 304 recognizes the position of the host vehicle from the GPS information and data output from various sensors provided in the host vehicle, but the data output from the various sensors has an error in calculation and output timing. May have. This error is a relative error and accumulates in proportion to the distance traveled. As a result, there may be a difference between the position where the vehicle is actually traveling and the vehicle position (candidate) predicted from the information acquired by the position acquisition unit 304.

[0055] Further, there may be an error with respect to the map information on the actual road. If these factors overlap, map matching performed by the route guidance unit 310 cannot be performed appropriately. In order to prevent this, the route guidance unit 310 that is helpful in the present embodiment performs the processing described below to display the vehicle position at an appropriate position on the map information.

[0056] FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the vehicle position and the positional relationship between candidates. Link L1-L5 The vehicle position R and the vehicle position candidates C1 to C3 that are actually displayed are shown. Links L1 to L3 have the same height in the horizontal direction with respect to gravity. The links L1 to L3 have different heights, such as elevated and under elevated, and the vertical positions are different. The route guidance unit 310 predicts a plurality of candidates for the vehicle position from the information acquired by the position acquisition unit 304, and sets the most likely (highest probability) candidate as the vehicle position. Candidates C1 to C3 are predictions of the vehicle position R with various data forces, but there is a deviation from the vehicle position R due to road errors in map information and output errors from various sensors.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are flowcharts showing the map matching processing performed by the route guidance unit. First, the route guidance unit 310 acquires the tilt angle information of the own vehicle and accumulates it for a certain distance (step S501). Here, the inclination angle information of the own vehicle is information on the inclination angle accompanying the movement of the own vehicle that is output from the position acquisition unit 304.

In addition, the route guidance unit 310 acquires inclination information (hereinafter referred to as map inclination information) within a certain range before and after the candidate from the map information recorded by the recording medium 305 (step S502). The map inclination information is acquired at a predetermined timing such as when performing map matching, or may be always performed during traveling. Map inclination information is acquired for all candidates when there are multiple candidates.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the processing of steps S501 and S502. In step S501, the inclination angle information of the vehicle position R is accumulated for the distance mO. In step S502, map inclination information in the range of distance m2 before and after candidate C2 is acquired. Although not shown, the map inclination information in the range of the distances ml and m3 in the front and rear directions is similarly acquired for the candidates CI and C3 shown in FIG.

[0060] Returning to the description of FIG. Next, a candidate to be determined is selected from the candidates (step S503). For example, candidate C1 shown in FIG. 4 is selected as a candidate for determination. Then, from the map inclination information of the candidate for determination acquired in step S502, a position most similar to the inclination angle information of the vehicle acquired in step S501 is detected (step S504), and a correction distance is calculated (step S504). S505). Also, the degree of similarity between the map inclination information at the most similar position and the inclination angle information of the own vehicle is calculated (step S506), and the process proceeds to A in FIG.

FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are explanatory diagrams for explaining the processing of steps S504 to S506. FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 show information acquired when candidate C1 is selected as a candidate for determination in step S503. In FIG. 8, the solid line indicates the inclination angle information MO of the vehicle position R accumulated for the distance mO. Also, the dotted line shows the map inclination information Ml before and after the candidate C1 obtained for the distance ml. The vertical axis in the figure is the tilt angle, and the horizontal axis is the horizontal distance.

The route guiding unit 310 compares these two pieces of information and detects the most similar position (pattern comparison process). The most similar position is detected by, for example, moving the inclination angle information MO of the own vehicle on the map inclination information Ml, detecting positions where the data shapes are similar, and detecting the map inclination information at each position and the own vehicle. This is done by calculating the cost of each slope information and comparing the costs. In the example shown in FIG. 8, as shown in FIG. 9, the position of Ma indicated by a two-dot chain line obtained by moving the tilt angle information MO indicated by the solid line by the distance dl is the most similar position. As a result, the correction distance is calculated as dl. In step S506, the similarity between Ma and Ml is calculated. The similarity is calculated, for example, by calculating the cost of each data.

[0063] When calculating the correction distance, the sum of squares of each data is taken so that the error in calculating the tilt angle information that also outputs the acceleration (tilt) sensor force does not affect the position detection, and this value is compared. To do. As a result, the numerical difference of the original data is emphasized, so that a small calculation error can be absorbed, and a more accurate correction distance can be calculated.

[0064] Turning to the description of FIG. The route guiding unit 310 moves the positions of all other candidates by the correction distance calculated in step S505 (step S507). Also, the degree of similarity between the tilt angle information and the map tilt information of each candidate at the moved point is calculated (step S508). The calculation of the similarity is the same as the processing in step S506.

FIG. 10 to FIG. 12 are explanatory diagrams for explaining the processing of steps S505 to S508.

Candidates C1 to C3 shown in FIG. 10 are the same as candidates C1 to C3 shown in FIG. For convenience of illustration, the illustration of the vehicle position R is omitted. The route guidance unit 310 calculates the correction distance dl by the process using the candidate C1 as the candidate for determination (step 505 in FIG. 5), and calculates the similarity with the map inclination information in Cla that has moved the candidate C1 by the distance dl. (Step S506 in Fig. 5). The other candidates C2 and C3 are also moved by the distance dl. The similarity with the map inclination information in 2b and C3c is calculated (step S508 in FIG. 6).

FIG. 11 shows map inclination information M2 around the candidate C2. In step S508 of FIG. 6, the similarity between the Mb obtained by moving the MO position in the candidate C2 by the distance dl and the map inclination information at the position overlapping with Mb is calculated. Fig. 12 also shows map inclination information M3 around candidate C3. Similar to FIG. 11, in step S508 of FIG. 6, the similarity between Mc obtained by moving the position of MO in candidate C3 by the distance dl and map tilt information at a position overlapping with Mc is calculated.

[0067] The above processing is repeated with all candidates as judgment target candidates. Until all candidates are determined as candidates for determination (step S509: No), the candidates for determination are changed (step S510), and step S503 is repeated, and the subsequent processing is repeated. In the illustrated example, the processes in steps S503 to S508 are repeated with candidates C2 and C3 as candidates for determination.

[0068] If all candidates are determined as candidates for determination (step S509: Yes), the calculated similarities of all candidates are compared (step S511). Then, the vehicle position is determined at the candidate position with the highest similarity (step S512), the determined vehicle position is displayed overlaid on the map information (step S513), and the processing according to this flowchart ends.

[0069] As described above, according to the route guidance apparatus according to the embodiment, the position of each candidate indicating the vehicle position is corrected by the correction distance calculated by the other candidates, and the map inclination information at the position is corrected. The degree of similarity between the vehicle and the inclination information of the own vehicle is calculated. The point with the highest similarity is determined as the vehicle position. As a result, it is possible to correct the deviation caused by the error of each data and perform an accurate map matching.

[0070] Further, the position of the candidate is corrected based on the inclination angle information of the point where the vehicle is actually traveling and the inclination angle information (map inclination information) of the road included in the map information. It is possible to obtain the position of the vehicle at a certain location with high accuracy.

[0071] In the present embodiment, a process of calculating a correction value using one of a plurality of candidate positions as a candidate for determination and correcting the plurality of candidate positions using the correction value is performed. Repeat until all of the positions are candidates for judgment! \ Of all the corrected candidate positions, the pattern with the inclination angle of the fixed interval acquired by the inclination angle acquisition means is the most. The candidate position indicating a similar pattern A force that exemplifies what is determined as the current position of both.

[0072] For example, for each determination target candidate, a highly established candidate is selected as a probable candidate position from among a plurality of candidates, and the respective candidate candidate positions in all the determination target candidates are compared. The most probable! The candidate position may be determined as the current position. Further, as in the above-described embodiment, a plurality of candidate positions may be corrected, and the candidate position may be determined as the current position with the highest probability among these!

[0073] Further, in this embodiment, the most highly established from a plurality of candidate positions !, a force indicating processing until the candidate position is determined as the current position. In addition to this, the current position of the vehicle is determined. The correction value (e.g., dl) applied to the determined candidate position is applied to other candidate positions, and the position acquisition hand 304 uses the corrected candidate positions as a basis for the other candidate positions. The acquisition of candidate positions is continued (for example, until the cumulative value of the azimuth angle of each candidate position becomes larger than a predetermined value, such that the candidate position for map matching does not hold), and the accuracy of map matching is improved. Even so,

Further, the route guidance method described in the present embodiment can be realized by executing a program prepared in advance on a computer such as a personal computer or a workstation. This program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, an MO, or a DVD, and is executed by being read by the computer. The program may be a transmission medium that can be distributed via a network such as the Internet.

Claims

The scope of the claims

[1] position acquisition means for acquiring a candidate position that is a candidate indicating the current position of the vehicle;

An inclination angle calculating means for calculating an inclination angle of the vehicle in a predetermined section;

An inclination angle acquisition means for acquiring information about the inclination angle of the road around the candidate position acquired by the position acquisition means;

Correction means for correcting the candidate position based on the inclination angle of the predetermined section calculated by the inclination angle calculation means and information on the inclination angle of the road acquired by the inclination angle acquisition means;

Control means for controlling each means;

A route guidance device comprising:

[2] The inclination angle acquisition means acquires information about the inclination angle of the road in a certain section that is equal to or greater than the predetermined section,

The correction means includes a pattern indicated by the inclination angle of the predetermined section calculated by the inclination angle calculation means, and a pattern included in the information regarding the inclination angle of the road of the certain section acquired by the inclination angle acquisition means. 2. The route guidance device according to claim 1, wherein the candidate position is corrected based on a comparison result with.

[3] The position acquisition means acquires a plurality of candidate positions,

The inclination angle obtaining means obtains information on the inclination angles of roads around the plurality of candidate positions,

The correction unit corrects each of the plurality of candidate positions,

Among the plurality of candidate positions corrected by the correcting means, a pattern indicated by the inclination angle of the predetermined section calculated by the inclination angle calculating means and the constant section acquired by the inclination angle acquiring means. Determining means for determining, as the current position of the vehicle, the candidate position indicating the pattern most similar to the pattern included in the information relating to the inclination angle of the road;

The route guidance device according to claim 2, further comprising:

[4] The position acquisition means acquires a plurality of the candidate positions,

The inclination angle acquisition means is information relating to the inclination angle of a plurality of roads around the candidate positions. Get each

The correction unit calculates a correction value using one of the plurality of candidate positions as a determination target candidate and corrects the plurality of candidate positions using the correction value. Repeat until it becomes a candidate for judgment,

The determination means shows a pattern most similar to the pattern indicated by the inclination angle of the certain section acquired by the inclination angle acquisition means from all the candidate positions corrected by the correction means. 3. The route guidance device according to claim 2, wherein the candidate position is determined as a current position of the vehicle.

[5] The correction means further applies the correction value applied to the candidate position determined as the current position of the vehicle to other candidate positions,

5. The route guidance device according to claim 4, wherein the position acquisition unit continues to acquire the candidate position until a predetermined condition is reached based on the corrected candidate position with respect to the other candidate position.

6. The route guidance device according to claim 3, further comprising display means for displaying the current position of the vehicle determined by the determination means on map information.

[7] The position acquisition means acquires the candidate position based on position information of the vehicle received from a GPS satellite and information output from a direction sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, and an acceleration sensor mounted on the vehicle. The route guidance device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

[8] A position acquisition step of acquiring a candidate position that is a candidate indicating the current position of the vehicle;

An inclination angle calculating step of calculating an inclination angle of the vehicle in a predetermined section;

An inclination angle acquisition step of acquiring information about an inclination angle of a road around the candidate position acquired by the position acquisition step;

A correction step of correcting the candidate position based on the inclination angle of the predetermined section calculated by the inclination angle calculation step and information on the inclination angle of the road acquired by the inclination angle acquisition step;

A route guidance method comprising:

[9] A route which causes a computer to execute the route guidance method according to claim 8. Route guidance program.

A computer-readable recording medium in which the route guidance program according to claim 9 is recorded.