JP2002083393A - Schedule management system and in-vehicle device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To effectively use a schedule management function when visiting a plurality of places using a vehicle equipped with a device having a schedule management function. When an action start time for moving to a next visit place based on a set schedule is reached, a navigation device calls a mobile phone carried by a user and notifies that the action start time is reached. The user is notified that the notified mobile phone 50 is the action start time. For this reason, the user can be notified as long as he is in an area where the mobile phone 50 can talk. Since this action start time is set to a time that is set back from the departure time to the next destination by a predetermined preparation time, for example, visit a place where the site itself is wide, such as a zoo or various theme parks, and stop the vehicle. Even if it takes a certain amount of time to move to the parked position, it is possible to cope with the situation, and it is possible to prevent the schedule from being disordered.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method for setting a schedule for visiting a plurality of places using a vehicle.
The present invention relates to a technique for notifying a user of a guidance for acting according to a schedule even when a user is away from a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is a navigation apparatus that can set a schedule for sequentially visiting a plurality of places using a vehicle. For example, in the case of sequentially visiting A, B, and C as a plurality of places, setting an estimated time of arrival at each of the places A to C will result in
The route between AB and BC is searched respectively, and the required time of each route is calculated. And the time to depart to the next place is determined by calculating backward from the required time,
A technique for setting such a schedule and notifying the user is known. As an example of such a technique, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-64027 discloses that when it is time to depart to the next visiting place, the navigation device informs the keyless control unit of the departure, and the keyless control unit transmits the information to the keyless remote There is disclosed a technique of transmitting a radio wave to sound a chime with the keyless remote control to notify a user.

However, according to this technique, if there is no keyless remote control within a range where the remote control radio waves from the keyless control unit can reach, the chime cannot be heard in response to the information of the departure time. That is, it is necessary for the user having the keyless remote controller to be within the range of the radio waves of the remote controller, and there is no problem in the case where the user is near the vehicle. For example, when visiting a sightseeing spot, it is common to be considerably away from a parking place, and often enter a building. In such a case, a remote control radio wave cannot be received. Therefore, after all, it is necessary for the user to take care of the time on his own and to act as if it is in the next departure time, and the schedule management function cannot be effectively used.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to effectively use the schedule management function when visiting a plurality of places using a vehicle equipped with a device having a schedule management function.

[0005]

According to the schedule management system according to the first aspect of the present invention, which has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, an in-vehicle apparatus is used to notify a user based on a schedule. Calls the individual selective call receiving device when the action start time comes, and notifies that it is the action start time, and the individual selective call receiving device receiving the notification notifies the user that the action start time is (to the user).
Notify. According to the technology described in the above-mentioned publication, the user having the keyless remote controller needs to be within the range of the radio wave of the remote controller. However, according to the system of the present invention, the individual selective call receiving device is called via the wireless telephone line to take action. The user can be notified of the start time. Therefore, when visiting a plurality of places using a vehicle equipped with a device having a schedule management function, the schedule management function can be effectively used. In particular, if a mobile phone is used as the individually-selected call receiving device as described in claim 2, the notification can be received as long as the user is in an area where the mobile phone can talk, which is more convenient. Note that the individually selected call receiving device may be a pager. In addition, although the effect of portability is not obtained, it may be notified by a fixed telephone. For example, if notification is set to be sent to a fixed telephone at a visiting place, the notification can be received by the telephone.

It is conceivable to employ a navigation device capable of providing travel guidance on the searched route as the vehicle-mounted device. This is because if the vehicle is guided along a route in the related art and the vehicle travels along the route, the actual time required for the route movement tends to be closer to the expected required time, which is preferable in terms of schedule management.

Incidentally, when visiting a place where the site itself is wide such as a zoo or various theme parks, it may take some time to move the vehicle to the parked position. Therefore, if the notification is made at the departure time as in the technique described in the conventional publication, even if the action is started from the notification time, it is 10 minutes to 15 minutes when the vehicle reaches the position where the vehicle exists. It is also possible that minutes have passed and the schedule will go wrong.

On the other hand, if the notification is made at a time preceding the departure time by a predetermined preparation time as described in claim 4, such a problem can be avoided. That is,
Because of the premise that the vehicle is separated from the vehicle by a considerable distance, such a device from the viewpoint of "taking into account a predetermined preparation time" is adopted.

Although the predetermined preparation time may be fixed,
It is also an effective measure to allow the user to make any setting. For example, it is considered that it is often sufficient to fix 15 minutes as a predetermined preparation time, assuming that it takes about 10 to 15 minutes to the position where the vehicle exists as in the above specific example, For example, in a special situation requiring 30 minutes to move, it is necessary to change and set accordingly.

In addition, even if the user does not actually need 15 minutes to move, the user knows that the user is 15 minutes before departure, so that he or she can act on his / her own discretion and set a fixed preparation time. It is one idea to keep it. However, for example, when it is desired to stay at the visited place until the last minute, it is effective to change and set the preparation time according to the actual situation. For example, when it is possible to move in about 3 minutes, even if it is found that the user is 15 minutes before departure, it is conceivable that the user always acts while paying attention to the time until 3 minutes before departure. Therefore, it may be preferable to notify the last time when the action has to be started.

In some cases, the preparation time can be predicted before getting off the vehicle at the visiting place, but in some cases, it is difficult to make a prediction itself without actually going. Therefore, as set forth in claim 6, it is also preferable that the setting can be made by the user using the individual selective call receiving device.

Further, the schedule contents may be easily changed, for example, in a case where it is considered that the visit itself may be canceled depending on the situation. For example, A → B
Depending on the situation when visiting A in the course of → C, it may be possible to cancel the visit to B and change to the course of A → C. At this time, it is convenient if the schedule itself can be changed and set by the user using the individual selective call receiving device as described in claim 7. In this case, since the departure time from A to C is delayed, when the action start time based on the departed departure time comes, a notification is issued. In this way, when it is desired to change the schedule, the change can be performed without returning to the location of the vehicle-mounted device, and the notification based on the changed schedule can be realized.

Although the schedule management system having the in-vehicle device and the individually-selected call receiving device has been described above, the invention may be considered as an invention which focuses only on the in-vehicle device constituting the present system. Can be

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. It is needless to say that the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the following examples, and can take various forms as long as they belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of the schedule management system of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the system includes a navigation device 20 as an “in-vehicle device”.
And the mobile phone 50 as an "individually selected call receiving device" that the user always carries, thereby notifying the user of the "action start time" at which the user must start the action based on the schedule. Is what you do.

The navigation device 20 includes the position detector 2
1, a remote control sensor 22 for inputting a signal from a remote control terminal (hereinafter, referred to as a remote controller) 28, a mobile phone connection device 23, an external storage device 24, an audio output device 25, a display device 26, a communication device 30, A navigation control circuit 27 connected to these is provided. The navigation control circuit 27 is configured as a normal computer, and includes a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O
O, a timer, and a bus line for connecting them are provided.

The position detector 21 is a GPS (Global Posit
GPS for transmitting radio waves from artificial satellites for ioning systems
The vehicle includes a GPS receiver 21a that receives via an antenna and detects the position, azimuth, speed, and the like of the vehicle, a gyroscope 21b that detects the magnitude of the rotational motion applied to the vehicle, a vehicle speed sensor, wheel sensors, and the like. And a geomagnetic sensor 21d for detecting an absolute azimuth based on geomagnetism. Each of the sensors 21a to 21d has an error having a different property, and is configured to be used while complementing each other. Depending on the accuracy,
It may be configured using only a part of the above-described sensors 21a to 21d, or using a sensor or the like that obtains the direction by accumulating the steering angle of the vehicle obtained from the rotation difference between the left and right steered wheels. Is also good.

The mobile phone connection device 23 can connect to a mobile phone line network by connecting a mobile phone 29. The mobile phone 29 is controlled by the navigation control circuit 27 via the mobile phone connection device 23. In addition,
A car phone may be used instead of these configurations.

The external storage device 24 stores various data including data for so-called map matching for improving the accuracy of position detection, and data indicating road connection status (road network data). Note that this external storage device 2
As 4, a hard disk may be adopted, or a configuration in which a recording medium storing the above various data is read by a data input device may be adopted. As a recording medium, a CD-ROM or DVD is generally used because of its data amount.

The voice output device 25 is for outputting various guide voices and the like. The display device 26 is a color display device.
1, a current position mark indicating a current position obtained by a known method based on the information input from 1, a map data input from the external storage device 24, a destination mark indicating a set destination, and guidance to the destination. It is possible to superimpose and display a route, travel guidance useful for traveling on a set guide route, and other data such as character information and image information. In addition,
The above-described audio output device 25 can also output various guide audios and the like.

In this embodiment, the user can input various instructions by operating the remote controller 28.
Along with or instead of this, for example, a touch switch or a mechanical switch integrally formed with the display device 26 may be used. The communication device 30 is, for example, VI
CS (Vehicle Information and Communication System)
m) receives the information provided from the information center 40 for
It is a device for transmitting information to the outside. Information received from outside via the communication device 30 is processed by the navigation control circuit 27. In the present embodiment, the communication device 30 is used separately from the communication means by the mobile phone 29 (that is, a dedicated communication device). However, the communication device 30 may be configured to exchange data with the information center 40 using the mobile phone 29. Is also conceivable.

Here, the information center 40 will be briefly described. The information center 40 collects external events such as road conditions from various sensors attached near the road. Further, together with a road map in the center area, various traffic information created based on various regulations and collected external events are stored. Then, a recommended route is calculated based on the position data (current position and destination) received from the navigation device 20 and various stored information, and a target road such as traffic regulation or congestion is specified. Is transmitted to the navigation device 20.

The navigation device 20 of the present embodiment
Basically, when the ignition switch is turned off, power is not supplied and the normal navigation function cannot be performed.However, with respect to the function part for performing communication with the outside via the mobile phone 29, the ignition switch is turned off. Even if power is supplied, power is continuously supplied, and normal functions can be exhibited. In other words, when the action start time based on the schedule described later comes, the navigation control circuit 27 sets the mobile phone 2 connected by the mobile phone
9, the user can make a call to the portable telephone 50 carried by the user.

On the other hand, the mobile phone 50 of this embodiment carried by the user has an operation section 51, a voice output section 52, a display section 53,
A transmitting / receiving unit 55 and a telephone control circuit 57 connected thereto;
It has. The telephone control circuit 57 is configured as a normal computer, and includes a well-known CPU,
A ROM, a RAM, an I / O, a timer, and a bus line for connecting these components are provided.

Operation unit 51, audio output unit 52, display unit 53
Is a general configuration and will not be described in particular.
The transmitting / receiving unit 55 is connected via a rod antenna (not shown)
Wireless communication is performed with the base station on the mobile phone network side. The telephone control circuit 57 performs various control processes for realizing a function as a general mobile phone, that is, transmits a call signal for calling another telephone device from the transmission / reception unit 55 to the mobile phone network. The call processing to make the user output a ringing tone from the voice output unit 52 when a calling signal is transmitted from the base station, and display the contents of the incoming call on the display unit 53. When a command to connect the telephone 50 to the cellular phone network is input, the transmitting / receiving unit 55
A connection process for connecting the mobile phone 50 to a mobile phone network via a call and a calling process connect the called telephone device to the mobile phone network and enable a call with the called phone device. Or when the mobile phone 50 is connected to the mobile phone network by the connection processing and a call with the telephone device on the caller side becomes possible, the user inputs from a microphone (not shown). The voice signal is transmitted from the transmitting / receiving section 55 to the base station side, and voice input / output processing for generating voice from the voice output section 52 is performed based on the voice signal transmitted from the telephone device on the called side.

The telephone control circuit 57 displays the data transmitted from the navigation device 20 on the display unit 53, in addition to the various control processes for realizing the function as a general portable telephone device described above. It also performs a process and a process of transmitting data input by a user through the operation unit 51 to the navigation device 20. These processes will be described later in detail.

The operation of the schedule management system according to the present embodiment having such a configuration will be described. First, schedule information is input by the user (S1).
0). This process is a process in which the user inputs information necessary for the schedule setting via the remote controller 28. The schedule information includes initial setting information and visit place information. As the initial setting information, a departure time and a departure place are input. Note that when the current time is used as the departure time and the current location is used as the departure place, the substantial input processing is not performed, but only when it is desired to individually reset them. For example, to set a schedule the day before, the departure time is set to the designated time the next day. Further, the visit place information includes the visit place itself and a scheduled visit time to the place. For example, if you want to visit each place of A → B → C in turn, place C is the final destination,
Places A and B are set as transit points. In addition, the estimated visit time to each place is individually input.

When the schedule information is input in this way, in the following S20, a schedule is set based on the input schedule information. That is,
If the visit is made in order of A → B → C, the route to each visit place based on the visit order (the route between the departure point and A,
A route between A and B, a route between BC and B) are searched, and departure time from each visited place to the next visited place (that is, departure from A to B) in consideration of the time required for each route. Time, departure time from B to C), and set a schedule for the entire trip including the action start time calculated based on the departure time. This action start time is
A time that is set back from the departure time from a certain transit point (visited place) to the next transit point or destination (visited place) by a predetermined preparation time is set. For example, 10 minutes before departure or 15
It is conceivable to set minutes before as the action start time.

The route search uses, for example, the Dijkstra method. The route calculation using the Dijkstra method is based on road network data, and more specifically, a route from a departure point to each node using link information for links between nodes and connection information between links including traffic regulation. Calculate the cost (evaluation value for the route),
This is a well-known method in which when all cost calculations to the destination are completed, a link having the minimum route cost is connected to set a destination route.

The required time of the route is calculated, for example, as follows. Since it is conceivable that the travel time for a link or a part of the link constituting the searched route is included in the traffic-related information, the travel time for the link is estimated based on the traffic-related information. For example, since the time required between ICs on a highway may be included in traffic-related information, when the route between the ICs is included in the destination route, the information is used for the time required between the ICs. On the other hand, for other links, if the time required for traveling the link is included in the map data as link information, the travel time required for the link is estimated based on the time. If such link travel time is not stored as link information, the link travel time is estimated based on the average speed estimated from the link road type and road width.

When the schedule is set in this way, the traveling guidance based on the route searched in the subsequent S30 is performed. This traveling guidance is a well-known process of superimposing and displaying a guidance route on a road map displayed on the display device 26, guiding the driver to an appropriate route, and guiding the traveling direction at an intersection or the like.

After the start of the traveling guidance in S30, in S4
At 0, it is determined whether the vehicle has arrived at the destination. If the vehicle has not arrived at the destination (S40: NO), it is determined whether the vehicle has arrived at the transit point (S50). In addition, the destination here means C which is the last destination of the journey, and the transit point means A and B which are the destinations on the way.

When the vehicle arrives at the transit point (S5
0: YES), it is determined whether or not the parking brake has been turned on (S60). This is to determine whether or not the vehicle is in a parking state. Then, in the case of the parking state (S
60: YES), it is determined whether or not the setting of the notification function is turned on (S70). It should be noted that, for this notification function, for example, the setting of the notification function is on as a default unless a special operation is performed. This is because it is considered that it is normal to exert the notification function. However, if it is better not to be notified for some reason, the user can operate the remote controller 28 to turn off the setting of the notification function.

If the setting of the notification function is ON (S70: YES), it is determined whether or not the action start time for the next stopover or destination (visited place) has been reached based on the schedule. (S80). Then, when the action start time comes (S80: YES), a call is made to the designated telephone, here, the telephone number of the mobile phone 50 carried by the user to make a connection, and the action start time is notified (S9).
0). Specifically, when the user presses a response button or the like of the mobile phone 50 that has received a call from the navigation device 20, the two can be in a call-enabled state. Then, a guidance such as "15 minutes before departure time" is issued from the audio output unit 52 of the mobile phone 50. The same contents may be displayed in characters on the display unit 53.

In the following S100, it is determined whether or not there has been a change notification. This is because when the user who knows the action start time via the mobile phone 50 by the notification from the navigation device 20 wants to change the schedule itself, the user performs a predetermined change setting operation via the operation unit 51 via the operation unit 51. Enter 50. Then, the change instruction is transmitted from the mobile phone 50 to the navigation device 20, and the navigation device 20 performs a schedule change setting. The schedule change setting may be, for example, a change that delays the departure time, changes the estimated time of arrival at the next stopover or destination, or deletes the next stopover itself. When there is such a change notification (S100:
YES), in any case, the departure time from the current visiting place to the next place is delayed, so that the action start time is also delayed. Therefore, such a schedule is reset (S110), and the process returns to S80. That is, if it is time to start the action from the current visiting location to the next location based on the reset schedule (S80: YES), the user is notified (S90).

On the other hand, there is no change notification (S100: N
O) In some cases, notification of the notification itself may be made. In that case (S120: YES), the notification is stopped (S140), and the process ends. If there is no change notification or stop notification, the process proceeds to S130, and it is determined whether or not the vehicle has left the waypoint. This may be determined from a change in the position, or may be estimated from the fact that the ignition switch has been turned on or the parking brake has been turned off. If you depart from the transit point (S1
30: YES), returning to S30 and restarting the travel guidance.
In this way, when the vehicle arrives at each transit point, the action start time is notified in the same manner as described above, and when the vehicle arrives at the destination (S40: YES), this processing is ended.

According to the schedule management system of the present embodiment having the above-described system configuration and executing processing, when the action start time based on the set schedule comes (S80: YES), the navigation device 20 is carried by the user. The mobile phone 50 is called to notify the action start time, and the user is notified that the notified mobile phone 50 is the action start time (S9).
0). Therefore, the user does not need to be in the vehicle,
Also, as in the technology described in the gazette described as the prior art,
There is no restriction that a user with a keyless remote control must be within range of the remote control radio waves. That is,
The notification can be received as long as the user is in an area where the mobile phone 50 can talk.

Further, since the action start time is set to a time which is set back from the departure time by a predetermined preparation time,
For example, it is possible to cope with a case where it takes a certain amount of time to visit a place where the site itself is wide, such as a zoo or various theme parks, and move to the position where the vehicle is parked, thereby preventing the schedule from being disordered. . In this embodiment, since the preparation time can be set by the user, for example, in a special situation requiring 30 minutes for movement, the setting time can be changed and set accordingly.

In this embodiment, when the navigation device 20 notifies the mobile phone 50, the user can instruct to change the schedule. Therefore, for example, when the notification is issued 15 minutes before departure, if the user is actually in a place where preparations can be made in 5 minutes, it is possible to give an instruction to notify again 5 minutes before. On the other hand, for example, 15
Although the notification was set to be notified minutes before, it may be considered preferable to set to be notified 30 minutes before, because actually the distance to the parking lot is long when actually going to the visited place. Therefore, not only when the communication comes from the navigation device 20 but also when the user calls the navigation device 20 from the mobile phone 50 carried by the user, the user can positively instruct to change the preparation time (that is, change the action start time). What should I do? What can be changed is not limited to the preparation time, but may be the schedule content itself. That is, in the course of A → B → C, depending on the situation when visiting A, it is possible to cancel the visit to B and change to the course of A → C. Of course, you can make changes to add more places to visit.

[Alternative Embodiment] In the above-described embodiment, the traveling guidance is displayed on the display unit 53 in order to notify the guidance data by the portable telephone 50. The notification by such display is necessary for visual recognition, and furthermore, the audio output unit 5
The guidance voice may be output from the second voice. In other words, try to appeal to both sight and hearing.

Further, for example, a tactile sense may be appealed instead of the visual or auditory sense. If the mobile phone has a so-called vibrator function, the user may be notified of the action start time by a specific vibration pattern. The navigation device 20
The mobile phone 50 may be used as a pager instead of the mobile phone 50 as long as the information is only received from the mobile phone 50. Furthermore, although the effect due to portability is not obtained, it may be notified by a fixed telephone.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a schedule management system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a process related to schedule management executed by the navigation device.

[Explanation of symbols]

20 navigation device, 21 position detector, 21a
... GPS receiver, 21b ... Gyroscope, 21c ...
Distance sensor, 21d geomagnetic sensor, 22 remote control sensor, 23 mobile phone connection device, 24 external storage device,
25 audio output device, 26 display device, 27 navigation control circuit, 28 remote control, 29 mobile phone, 30 communication device, 40 information center, 50 mobile phone, 51 operation unit, 52 audio output Unit, 53: display unit, 55: transmitting / receiving unit, 57: telephone control circuit

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) G08G 1/0969 G08G 1/0969 H04B 7/26 H04B 7/26 F F term (reference) 2F029 AA02 AB01 AB07 AB09 AC02 AC09 AC13 AC18 5B049 BB32 CC02 CC32 DD01 EE01 FF03 FF04 GG03 GG04 GG06 GG07 5H180 AA01 BB02 BB04 BB05 BB13 BB15 CC12 FF04 FF05 FF12 FF13 FF17 FF22 FF25 FF27 FF32 5K067 AA34 BB04 DD28

Claims (8)

[Claims] When at least a plurality of places are visited by using a vehicle and a condition including a visit place and a scheduled visit time is input, a route to each visit place based on a visit order is searched for, and the route is searched. Take into account the time required, set a schedule that includes departure times from each visit to the next visit,
A schedule management system for notifying a user based on the schedule, wherein the system is capable of communicating with the in-vehicle device for setting the schedule and the in-vehicle device via a wireless telephone line, and at least visual, auditory and An individual selective call receiving device capable of informing the user by acting on any of the tactile senses, wherein the in-vehicle device does not start action for that based on the departure time to the next visited place When the action start time does not come, the individual selective call receiving device is called to notify that the action start time is reached, and the individual selective call receiving device is notified from the in-vehicle device that the action start time is reached. Then, a schedule management system that informs the user accordingly. 2. The schedule management system according to claim 1, wherein said individual selective call receiving device is a mobile phone. 3. The schedule management system according to claim 1, wherein the in-vehicle device is a navigation device capable of providing travel guidance for a searched route. 4. The schedule management system according to claim 1, wherein the action start time is a time that is set back from a departure time to the next visit place by a predetermined preparation time. And schedule management system. 5. The schedule management system according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined preparation time for determining the action start time can be arbitrarily set by a user. 6. The schedule management system according to claim 5, wherein the individual selective call receiving device is capable of receiving an instruction input from a user, and is capable of transmitting the input instruction data to the on-vehicle device. Wherein the predetermined preparation time can be set by a user's instruction input in the individually-selected call receiving device. 7. The schedule management system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the individual selective call receiving device has a function of receiving an instruction input from a user, and transmits the input instruction data to the on-vehicle device. The schedule management system is characterized in that the schedule can be changed and set by a user's instruction input in the individual selective call receiving device. 8. An in-vehicle device according to claim 1, wherein the schedule management system has a configuration described for the in-vehicle device.